“On your left! Swarm!” Ruo Ma shouted, his voice hoarse. The Blaze Bear he was standing beside pivoted. Fire issued forth from the Spirit Beast’s maw, as Ruo Ma’s own hands came up. [Howling Gale Palm!] The blaze erupted into a full conflagration, the flames going from red and yellow to something nearly white for an instant. The diving swarm of hornets burned. The Blaze Bear and Ruo Ma staggered back, panting, before shoving themselves forward again to maintain the ring. Their lines had completely overlapped with the bears by this point—It was really weird fighting with the terrifying monsters his parents had told him stories about as a child, but Ruo Ma liked to think of himself as a flexible sort. Probably why he and Bat got along so well. They were Spirit Beasts, but it helped to imagine them like Master Gen’s kin. Ruo Ma couldn’t understand a lick of monkey, but they were clearly intelligent and were helping out, so it made that part easier. Even though they were winning, it was clear that everyone was starting to flag. They had probably burned more Qi in this fight than had been burned in the last hundred years in the Azure Hills. Still, as he scanned the sky and saw light instead of shadow… they had to be through the worst of it. “You still holding up, Hui?” Ruo Ma asked. His human partner nodded. “I’m fine. And I’m asking Lady Ri Zu to marry me when this is over.” “Isn’t she with Master Jin’s First Disciple, (...)