Despite Stella's confident words about taking Nox's head, she made no move to do so for one simple reason. She would likely die.

Her overconfidence had been an act from the start.

The initial thrust through Nox's lung? A complete stroke of luck. Stella had appeared behind Nox with Spatial Step right as the towering woman was distracted while eating pills. In a panic to strike before Nox realized someone had materialized behind her, Stella had guessed where Nox's heart was but missed by an inch.

Not entirely her fault. Nox's figure was obscured under layers of cloaks, and her body had been hunched over due to one leg being up on an exposed tree root as she ate the pills.

Then, I almost had a heart attack when Nox suddenly shot out bolts of shadows from her back with enough force to wipe out a section of the forest. If any of those had hit me, I would have died. Luckily, I reacted in time and teleported to the tree above.

Nox ignored Stella's taunting. The woman was too busy gazing at where the portal had snapped closed and took her hand adorned with spatial rings back to the Bastion.

Despite the distant and unfocused look in her eyes, Stella didn't make the mistake of attacking. If stabbing Nox through the lung had taught her anything, it was that Nox's body was that of a seasoned killer and would react with lethal intent. Which was evident to anyone who looked at her. Stella's earlier comment about Nox's hand being un-lady-like was true. It had been covered in scars and callouses that reflected a life of battle.

Even while distracted, shadows from all around were slithering across the forest floor toward Nox, up her robes, and gathering at her stump, which had stopped bleeding. From these shadows, a new hand was slowly reforming. Her shadow armor remained active, and Stella could see a real sword appear in Nox's remaining hand. The blade tip peaked from Nox's sleeve and glinted in the sunlight.

In truth, Stella had been prepared to trade her own arm during that earlier exchange. But to her surprise, her sword wreathed in her soul fire had cleaved through the Nox's conjured weapons, her shadow armor, and even sliced through her skin and bone.

When Nox's hand went flying, Stella didn't understand why and just rolled with it. But now that she looked at how the sunlight streaked through the stripped trees overhead and landed on Nox's shadow armor, she could see patches of her cloak underneath.

The sunlight significantly reduced the strength of her armor and shadow daggers. If not for Ashlock shrouding me with his Qi and my own surge in cultivation over the last month, the second Nox flexed her Star Core, the battle would have been over. But because of her arrogance, she destroyed the forest around her and, in turn, weakened herself.

Nox withdrew her reforming hand into the folds of her black cloak and looked up to stare directly at Stella.

Stella suppressed a gulp and refused to break eye contact. Keeping her Qi ready to Spatial Step away at a second's notice.

The large hood of Nox's cloak and the shadows shrouding her form usually obscured everything but her eyes, and when they had first met, Nox had been wearing a skull mask. But Nox wasn't wearing that creepy mask today, and due to the sunlight, Stella could study Nox in more detail.

Has she been using the beauty ointment she stole from me? Apart from the scars on her face, her skin looks relatively smooth. But her face certainly matches her more gruff way of speaking. Stella's hand tightened around her sword hilt when she returned to staring into Nox's eyes. The pure hatred and rage within that gaze made Stella want to turn tail and run.

Should I? My earring is most certainly within one of those spatial rings that had been on Nox's hand as my earring is now pulling me toward the Bastion behind me. So, in a way, the battle is won. Although I obviously want this bitch dead for what she did to me, but how?

"You're stronger than I thought," Nox suddenly said gruffly. She broke eye contact and lowered her head. The large black hood and shadows once again obscured her face from view. "Your Qi density and speed have improved by a staggering amount since we last fought. I'm impressed."

"You flatter me," Stella replied as arrogantly as she could while studying Nox's body for a weak point. The shadow armor had clear patches of weakness due to the sunlight. Such as her right shoulder and leg, but hitting either of these spots wouldn't secure victory. If a stab through the lung seemed to hardly faze the woman, a blade through the leg would be a sick joke to her.

"What is your secret?" Nox said, and the sword hidden by her robes slid slightly more into view. "You left a sliver of Qi behind when retracting your sword from my chestone does not ascend three stages in such a short time. Are you a demon of some kind?"

"No," Stella kept her eyes glued to the blade tip and spread her spiritual sense to the max. The Redclaws were almost here, and Larry lurked in the destroyed trees behind Nox. Both of these facts were definitely known to Nox, so why was she wasting time talking? Was Nox trying to buy time to heal her wounds? Had that sword thrust through her lung impacted her more than she was letting on?

I hate having such little battle experience. Stella cursed as she debated what to do. Monsters are far easier to deal with than century-old Merchants with silver tounges.

"Even if you had access to an unlimited amount of pills like the ones you gave me, such an advancement is impossible," Nox insisted. "We have no need to fight. All of this was a misunderstanding, to begin with."

"Oh yeah?" Stella snorted, "What misunderstanding could there possibly be? We opened our doors to you. The deal of a lifetime was presented, and you squandered it by stealing that which didn't belong to you."

"Such arrogance." Nox laughed, "If you taught me your cultivation method, I might be inclined to agree about it being the deal of a lifetime, but some pills were worthless compared to the artifact decorating the ears of a clueless child. Ever since I felt their power, I had coveted them."

"And now I have rightfully taken them back and more." Stella couldn't help but smile. The tense situation was keeping her on edge, but there was a bubbling excitement rising in her chest. She had done it. Nox may still stand alive, but she had heavily injured someone at the peak of the Star Core Realm in a fair one-on-one that had seemed like an impossible obstacle in her mind.

It really does come down to the environment. Without the sun's help, Nox would have laughed at me as she carved my face in two with those daggers made from her Qi. Likewise, I wouldn't have gotten the jump on her if not for the spatial storm blanketing the entire area in spatial Qi.

"After landing some hits and taking my hand and wealth, you may believe you have won. But history is written by the one who lives to tell lies." Nox turned her hooded head and glanced up at the sun, shifting the spots of weaknessthere was now one on her neck. "And in my eyes, your death is just a matter of time"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it.

Stella didn't wait to hear what Nox had to say. There was an opening, and she planned to take it. Her Star Core burned with power as she entered the spatial plane. Using her Qi, she forcefully collapsed the grids into a single plane, and when she let go, her body was hurled alongside the world righting itself from her manipulation.

But while her body was hurled through the compressed space, she saw a massive tear open up through the spatial plane and knew someone powerful was coming.

"Stella, don't!" Ashlock's voice rang in her mind, "Pull back quickly."

I know, I know. Stella cursed in her mind as she tried to pull herself back the other way, but she was already hurtling through compressed space, and within a fraction of a second, her body lurched forward, and she was now right before Nox.

Unlike the previous times, Nox reacted instantly by parrying Stella's sword with the metal sword she had held in her remaining hand. A loud clang reverberated through the forest, and a shower of sparks illuminated Nox's face.

The scars across her cheek curved into a vicious smile, filling Stella with dread. It had been a trap all along. Of course, it had been, and like an idiot, she had fallen for it.

An immense force that beat the wind out of her lungs sent her and her sword flying in two different directions. Tumbling to a stop on the wet forest floor, Stella grunted as she got back to her feet and summoned the black wooden handle daggers in a flash of silver while her eyes darted between Nox, who slowly lowered their knee, and her sword nestled in a pile of branches.

Why didn't Nox kill me? Stella wondered as she circulated her Qi and tried to ignore the pain in her ribs. It doesn't make sense. A blast of shadow bolts at that range would have finished me.

"Live until nightfall," Nox said cryptically as she turned to face the space behind her that ripped open a second later. Through the portal was the blurry outline of ornate buildings made from jade and two figures.

The two people stepped through with measured steps and glanced around. Both wore strange jade masks that hid everything, including their eyes, and much like Nox, they wore baggy black robes that helped conceal their hands.

"Cousin? Are you alright?" The taller of the two with long, messy black hair that covered the top of his mask said to Nox in a calm male voice. "I haven't seen you place or take a bounty in a long time and thought you died out here in the boonies playing merchant. Which would have been terrible! The leader only left closed-door cultivation a few months ago, and heaven only knows what he would do if you were dead."

"Always so foul-mouthed." Nox clicked her tongue. "The leader... how is he?"

The two masked men exchanged a look.

"He... hasn't changed one bit." The black-haired one sighed.

"The first thing he did after ascending to the 6th stage of the Nascent Soul Realm was try and pick a fight with your betrothed from the Lunarshade family." The other said, "As usual, a section of the sect was destroyed, and your bounty was raised by the Lunarshade family in retaliation. Did you know it's reached 30,000 Yinxi Coins now?"

Nox nodded, "I heard from the Lotus Informant. So cousin, have you come to claim my bounty?"

"Everyone knows that bounty is a joke to keep the Lunarshade family at bay," Nox's cousin laughed, "Can you imagine me bringing your head on a silver platter to the leader? I may walk out with the bounty, but I would be surprised if our family wasn't wiped out by sunrise in his childish rage."

"What a tyrant." Nox laughed.

The two newcomers nodded.

What are they talking about? Bounty? Lotus Informant? Stella wondered. All three of them practically ignored her, so while listening intently, she tried to use telekinesis to regain her sword but found herself unable to. What? Why is my Qi not responding to me?

"Don't bother trying." The shorter blonde-haired man said. His voice was muffled and altered by the jade mask. "I didn't waste a month of spatial Qi getting over here for my bounty to escape."

"This bastard knows how to use Spatial Lock," Ashlock said in her mind, and Stella agreed. It felt similar to when Ashlock tested it on her, but it was like an iron grip.

Nothing was making sense. Why wasn't Nox trying to kill her now that she had allies? Why were these men so casual with her standing right here? She could tell from a glance they were far above her in cultivation. Did they just see her as an insignificant bug they could crush after their little chat?

"Now, cousin, I have a question." The black-haired man stepped forward and placed a firm hand on Nox's shoulder. "What trick are you playing? 12,000 Yinxi Coins to kill this Star Core brat? Have you gone insane? Or is this an elaborate trap of some kind?"

Stella's face paled. There was a bounty on her head?

Nox laughed, "As a Merchant, you should know how frugal and careful with money I am. I believe 12,000 Yinxi Coins to be a reasonable price, and if you don't believe me..." Nox looked over her shoulder at Stella, "Then I challenge you to try and kill her by nightfall."

"Stella, run," Ashlock said urgently, and Stella felt a ripple through space to her back. A portal had appeared behind her, and through it, she could see the surface of the Bastion. She didn't think twice and bolted toward it as she couldn't use Spatial Step.

"There was another spatial cultivator here?" The blonde man cursed in a distorted voice and materialized before Stella a second later, blocking the path to the portal. He raised a sword ablaze with impure spatial flames as if ready to execute her.

Stella activated her earring, and the man froze up like a statue at her eldritch gaze. Skidding past him, she threw her body through the portal and ate the stone of the Bastion.

"Close it!" Stella shouted as she looked over her shoulder at the still wide-open portal.

"Why would I say no to free snacks?" Ashlock said with a chuckle, "Just sit back and relax. You did a fantastic job."

Another portal opened, and her sword dropped before her. Reaching for it, Stella saw a void lake spread out from Willow.

"You're such a glutton," Stella smirked as she stood up and waved at the spatial cultivator with a beaming smile.

I wonder which one of these fools Ashlock will enjoy eating the most. Stella considered as the two jade-masked bounty hunters stepped through, their bodies ablaze with soul flames as the portal collapsed behind them.