Without any warning, a jet-black blur shot up from somewhere on the ground, aiming straight for the center of the trio.
Ming Li glanced at it and gasped. "It's the Flower Calyx Smoke Demon Spindle! Scatter!"
The three of them burst apart like a bomb going off, each darting in a different direction. That black blur turned out to be a spindle-shaped object, incredibly fast. They had barely moved when it caught up, halting suddenly at the point where they'd just been standing. With force from both ends converging, it exploded, releasing a dense cloud of dark smoke.
The smoke seemed almost alive. Instead of drifting with the wind, it spread out rapidly on its own, blooming like a demonic flower in full, violent bloom. It split into three distinct petals, each one chasing after a different person. It looked slow, but in truth it was frighteningly fast.... easily outpacing even sword flight.
Vermilion Hook Sect was one of the most renowned artifact-forging sects in the Tongxuan Realm. Many of the realm's most fearsome magical weapons, especially demonic ones, originated from them.
Back when Li Xun was still on Lianxia Mountain, he'd heard of some of their more infamous "products." The Flower Calyx Smoke Demon Spindle was one of them.
It was a one-time-use item, a kind of expendable talisman, but its power couldn't be underestimated.
Inside the spindle was something called Soul-Binding Smoke Vines, which could split into hundreds of threads to pursue multiple targets. Hidden within those threads was Blue Star Sand, an extremely poisonous substance. Once the vines latched onto someone, the sand would follow, corroding flesh and severing meridians. It was cruel and deadly.
Faced with something so vicious, Li Xun didn't dare let his guard down. He didn't have any powerful magical weapons on him at the moment, so he had no choice but to rely on his own true breath to defend himself.
Fortunately, his cultivation had improved lately, and his mastery over the Nether Yin Flame had grown stronger. Just as the black smoke was about to touch him, he spun in place. The Yin Flame surged out of every pore and orifice, roaring to life with a sharp, hissing wind.
The light around him dimmed all at once. In that moment, within a three-foot radius around his body, normal space twisted and warped, opening a rift to who-knows-where. The expanding cloud of smoke behind him was sucked in like water pouring into a whale's mouth, vanishing without a trace.
Only after neutralizing the attack did Li Xun finally try to catch his breath.... only for a jolt of danger to flare up in his heart, just as the sharp whistle of Kitty rang out.
The situation was almost identical to the ambush they'd experienced two days earlier by the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect. But this time, Li Xun responded with far more ease.
With a single sharp sound, Nether One extended a finger from his hidden space, striking the blade that was hurtling toward him from behind.
Li Xun's body jolted as a shockwave slammed into him from behind, blasting him far away. But after a quick midair twist, he righted himself and turned with a grin. "Hundred Endings Blade?"
What he saw instead was a hazy gray blur. No surprise there.... this was one of the sects most skilled in assassination. The figure he suspected to be Hundred Endings Blade didn't say a word. In the blink of an eye, it vanished from sight.
Li Xun frowned. Along with the figure, all trace of their presence had disappeared. Assassins like this trained extensively in stealth and concealment. On top of that, they were notoriously cautious and cold-blooded. Never easy to deal with.
Almost as if to confirm his thoughts, two muffled groans rang out from the sky in the distance. Ming Li and You Wusheng.
Li Xun's heart jumped. He snapped his head around, and the next moment, just as he expected, a chill swept across the back of his neck.
"I was waiting for that," he murmured with a low chuckle. His neck suddenly went limp, folding like soft clay. At first glance, it looked as if his head had been sliced clean off. But this wasn't some secret technique from the Netherworld Record; it was something he had learned from Blood Wanderer's "Blood Demonization Heart" technique.
One of that technique's unique traits was the fusion of true breath and physical form, allowing the body to shift and reshape at will.
Li Xun hadn't yet reached the level of full-body transformation, but he could already manipulate specific limbs. Using it now caught his attacker completely off guard.
Dodging that vicious strike, Li Xun didn't hesitate. He spun and thrust a palm backward—Ghostflame Palm.
Mastered to its peak, this technique could summon Nine Nether Ghost Spirits, creating a soul-devouring, soul-consuming Yin Flame. Nothing could even brush against it without being scorched.
Li Xun's cultivation wasn't strong enough to unleash its full destructive power, but as his palm struck out, the air around him turned scorching hot. The heat shimmered, distorting the light, and waves of flame roared out. All of it together stirred a restless agitation in the enemy's heart.
And that emotion, once sparked, seeped into the six senses and seven apertures. Hallucinations followed, feeding the ghostflame and setting the mind ablaze from within. This was a flexible use of Soul-Severing Yin Tribulation.
Ghostflame Palm was an advanced application of Nether Yin Flame. Soul-Severing Yin Tribulation was an exquisite art of Soul-Driving, Spirit-Refining, Mind-Binding Great Technique.
The fact that Li Xun could weave these completely different techniques together in a single palm strike, and do it with such effortless control, was something even the likes of Underworld Flame Yama or Lady Yan would have to applaud.
That palm strike had been nothing short of brilliant. Even someone like Hundred Endings Blade wouldn't take it lightly.
Behind Li Xun came a sharp metallic clang, like blades clashing. The ringing sound shattered the soul-stirring sound of his attack, and a blast of fierce blade qi swept away all the oppressive heat in the area.
It was a clash in midair. Li Xun felt a tightness in his chest, then a sudden chill across his back; he'd been hit by the blade qi's aftershock. He knew he couldn't take the next hit head-on. Without looking back, he urged his flying sword forward and shot off into the distance.
Only then did he glance toward where Ming Li was. And what he saw made his eyes freeze.
Half a mile away, Ming Li and You Wusheng were falling from the sky, both at roughly the same height. Like two stones, they dropped straight down and crashed into the forest below. There was no sign of movement. No telling if they were dead or alive.
What the hell.... are they down just like that? A cold sweat broke out on Li Xun's back. It didn't make any sense.
Ming Li and You Wusheng weren't amateurs. They were direct descendants of major families within their sect—pillars of the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect's future. Even that time on Chicheng Mountain, when they were struck down in one blow, it was only because they'd been caught completely off guard by a vastly stronger enemy.
But now? They had been fully alert, well-prepared. And still, someone had taken them out as easily as swatting flies? That…
He hadn't even finished the thought when a sudden premonition hit him. Every hair on his body stood on end, and without a second of hesitation, Nether Two extended a hand from the other-dimensional space and braced it against Li Xun's back.
There was no sound. Only a slender, elegant hand pressed lightly against his back. Just as a surge of energy was about to be released, a soft "Hm?" rang out, and the hand withdrew.
The high-altitude wind howled past. The spot on his robe where the palm had touched disintegrated into gray ash.
"How interesting." The voice that followed was light, almost casual, androgynous in tone, drifting right past his ear.
If that had been the end of it, it would have been unsettling enough. But what truly rattled Li Xun was this: he knew for a fact the speaker was right around him, yet he couldn't sense a single hint of their presence.
This feeling of emptiness and lack of any grip was eerie enough to send chills down his spine.
This should have been impossible. If Nether Two hadn't intervened at the critical moment… if the attacker had struck again instead of pulling back… Li Xun would probably have ended up just like Ming Li and You Wusheng.
What level of speed was this?
A jolt of clarity shot through Li Xun's mind. No... something's not right....
He had specifically gotten intel from Ming Li about the people Vermilion Hook Sect had sent this time.
Of the two dangerous ones, Hundred Endings Blade was a master at going off the radar, slipping into blind spots and delivering deadly strikes. Bright Emperor Halberd, on the other hand, used a unique technique. When he wielded his dazzling, seven-colored halberd, it blazed like the midday sun, too bright to look at directly. And yet, hidden within the shadows cast by this 'open and aboveboard' brilliance, he employed every dirty trick imaginable.
But this person clearly wasn't operating like either of them. The way he or she moved, almost teleporting, vanishing mid-air.... didn't feel like someone from Vermilion Hook Sect's camp. If anything, it reminded him more of someone else, someone equally infamous in the world of assassination...
That person suddenly popped into his mind.
The sky, which had just been in complete chaos, abruptly fell still. Hundred Endings Blade, who moments ago had been trying to kill him, was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
There wasn't a soul in sight.
But Li Xun's instincts screamed at him. Someone was still out there. Someone who could end his life in an instant, lurking just outside his line of sight.
He stayed frozen, neck already aching from the tension. He didn't dare move. After a long, quiet pause, sensing the other person wasn't planning to speak first, he finally worked up the nerve to ask:
"Fairy Shui?"
"You can see me?"
The voice was androgynous, but now that his mind was focused, Li Xun could hear a distinct softness in it, unmistakably feminine. And hearing her confirm it, he suddenly felt like he might pass out.
Shui Die Lan... It's really her. That traitor from nearly a century ago who defected from the Falling Feather Sect and joined their mortal enemies, the 'Rebellious Water Hook' Shui Die Lan...?
Li Xun's heart sank. When he took on this mission, it never even crossed his mind that three of the Nine Great Killers of Vermilion Hook Sect would show up.
These three might not be quite as powerful as the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect, but right now\... he didn't even have a dumb girl with him to use as a human shield.
His lips twitched. Then he gave in and let out a bitter smile. "So it really is you, Fairy Shui. This Hundred Ghosts was clueless and just guessing, but to witness the Fairy's Reverse Shadow Escape Technique.... what a blessing it is!"
The woman behind him let out a soft laugh. "Hundred Ghosts? What a terrible name. And so pretentious, too… You're actually kind of funny!"
Her tone didn't carry the slightest trace of arrogance. That offhand comment felt as casual and friendly as if it came from a sister next door. Li Xun had never encountered that kind of ease from any high-level cultivator before; but he wasn't naïve enough to think she was easy to deal with.
Among Vermilion Hook Sect's Nine Great Killers, none of them were harmless, and Shui Die Lan was especially notorious. In the years before and after the Forty-Ninth Heavenly Tribulation, she'd been the most dazzling female cultivator around.
She had mastered techniques from both sects, her cultivation rivaled the heads of major clans, and she was sharp as a blade, ruthless, cunning, and far more dangerous than someone like Luo Qichang, who at least had a daughter to hold him back.
Yet oddly enough, in this moment, Li Xun actually felt a bit more relaxed. He gave a casual shrug.
"Thanks for the compliment, Fairy. But if you ask me, your sect is the one that's really interesting."
"Oh? How so?"
"It's just an Old Residence, nothing more. Why go to such lengths over it?" He reached into his robes and pulled out a pair of bronze wings, giving them a light toss in his hand. "Feels a bit like using a butcher's blade to kill a chicken, doesn't it?"
"Maybe. But what if the chicken doesn't die..... even with the butcher's blade? Wouldn't that be worse?"
As her words were still hanging in the air, the weight in Li Xun's hand suddenly disappeared. The bronze wheels were gone.
An instant later, he heard Shui Die Lan's voice again: "Heaven-Seer Wheels? You don't see these much anymore."
"Oh, really?" Li Xun asked, turning around as naturally as if nothing had happened.
The next second, he felt a light tap on his forehead.
There was no true breath in the touch.... just the soft graze of a woman's fingernail, tickling his skin.
Even then, he still didn't get a look at Shui Die Lan's face.
All he saw was the smooth, pale arm of a woman as her wide, pale-blue sleeve slipped down. Her features remained hidden behind this silk sleeve. Just barely visible.
Li Xun quickly raised both hands in an innocent gesture, playing it safe. Just then, he heard her soft laughter near his ear:
"You really are a funny one. No wonder old Luo ended up embarrassing himself because of you... I've got high hopes for you."
Coming from Luo Qichang, that same sentence had sounded serious, heavy, and absolutely literal. But from Shui Die Lan, it felt more like a friend teasing you... nothing you could take at face value.
Still, just from that one remark, Li Xun instantly realized: Back when he'd been negotiating with the Three Sovereign Sword Sect, Shui Die Lan had already been nearby, hidden somewhere. Even just her ability to stay undetected in front of someone like the Eastern Emperor was seriously impressive.
There was a soft tap, and her finger lifted from his forehead. That same hand seemed to perform a little magic trick as it flipped out the two bronze rings, holding them right in front of his eyes.
"Here, your Heaven-Seer Wheels. You can have them back."
"Huh?"
"What's wrong? Didn't understand me? Or do you just not want them?"
"No, I do..." Li Xun had no idea what game she was playing, but right now, acting clueless might actually work to his advantage.
Impatiently, he reached out and snatched the wheels back. As his eyes naturally glanced forward, there was.... there was no one there.
Puzzled, he scanned the area. Just then, several streaks of sword light shot up from the forest below and soared into the sky, covering seven or eight li in the blink of an eye. Li Xun could clearly see that among them were Hundred Endings Blade and Bright Emperor Halberd.
They left? What the hell is going on?
He was just about to look around some more when a voice suddenly spoke up behind him, making him jump.
"Those Heaven-Seer Wheels are useless to us, so giving them to you doesn't matter. But if we go back empty-handed.... if the butcher's blade fails to kill the chicken, people back at the sect might laugh at us. So... what do you think we should do?"
Shui Die Lan was still here. Still saying strange, pointless things.
Her odd attitude was giving Li Xun a serious headache.
Thankfully, he hadn't let himself get too flustered by all the back-and-forth.
What to do? Whatever you want, really.
Li Xun understood better than anyone who held the upper hand right now. He gave a dry laugh and, wisely, said nothing.
Sure enough, Shui Die Lan seemed to appreciate his silence and tact. She chuckled.
"Good. You really do get it. In that case, I'll be taking it with me. Fair trade, wouldn't you say?"
Trade. The word echoed in his head, but before the meaning could settle, a sharp screech split the air.
His whole body jolted, and he whipped around. A flash of crimson light streak shoot off into the sky. Behind the red trail, space itself shimmered and blurred, and a woman emerged.
The woman reached out effortlessly and pinched the red light between two fingers, stopping it cold. A second later, the screech turned into a desperate, tortured wail.
Li Xun cried out in shock, "Kitty!"
Whether it heard him or simply sensed what was coming, Kitty cries grew more frantic, more shrill.
Li Xun stared blankly, all his shock and anger momentarily stunned into silence. The woman gave a casual little wave with Kitty in hand, then, like a bubble popping, vanished without a trace.
"You....Shui Die Lan."
In that instant, Li Xun's blood surged with fury. He roared at the top of his lungs and hurled the bronze wheels in the direction she had disappeared.
The wheels screamed through the air, spinning wildly for miles before finally losing momentum and crashing to the ground.
As they fell, Li Xun unleashed every filthy curse he'd ever learned in his life, spilling them out in a furious stream. He didn't stop until his throat was hoarse and his whole body felt drained.
He doubled over, hands on his knees, gasping for air.
This feeling was the worst. Not just because Kitty, his new little "friend," had been snatched away.
But more because of how disgusting it was to feel completely played and controlled. He honestly thought he'd never have to go through that again in his life.
Closing his eyes, he forced down the storm inside him. At last, his lips twitched into a crooked smile.
"Fine. Shui Die Lan… best of luck to you. And if luck's really on your side… then make damn sure you never fall into my hands."