After that dizzying series of changes, the the sea of trees suddenly sank into an eerily strange silence.
Every gaze was fixed on the woman who had just slid her sword back into its sheath. Especially the members of the Underworld Monarch Sect. They seemed to have even forgotten to be shocked. Their eyes held nothing but blank confusion.
Watching that woman's calm, unruffled face, Li Xun pressed his lips together, trying to keep his own expression steady. But the way his pupils flared and contracted betrayed that the shock had not fully faded.
For one reason only: he thought he knew her.
Purple robes. Purple sword. And from Heavenly Vigorous Sect. Could it be her? Li Xun stared up at that figure in the sky, at once familiar and strange, and for a moment, his mind went blank.
Sixty years was more than enough time to forget many things.
And yet, somewhere in his heart, there was still a shadow of a young woman, her features blurred by time, whose image sometimes sent ripples across his thoughts.
The reason he remembered her at all was because he had personally taken that once delicate, innocent girl and stripped away her dignity, leaving her with sorrow, confusion, and finally, despair.
Gu Pin'er, that poor sacrifice, the "victim" who had vanished without a trace after the Songjing affair…
Now he was looking at this cool, decisive woman who seemed utterly indifferent to bloodshed, and he simply couldn't reconcile the two.
Li Xun's mind was full of questions, but now was no time to stand frozen. The death of the Nether General had shamed the Underworld Monarch Sect, but they hadn't lost their senses. The four surviving generals shot the woman in purple looks filled with venom, yet instead of pressing the fight, they broke away in four different directions.
A few mocking laughs rang out from nearby. Troublemakers enjoying the chaos. They were rogue cultivators who didn't know the backstory, but that didn't stop them from treating it as entertainment. In the open air, those voices sounded especially grating.
Li Xun stood hidden beneath a massive tree, watching the figures in the sky through layers of branches and leaves.
What held his gaze most was still the woman in purple.
Maybe he'd been staring too long, because from several miles away, she suddenly turned and looked in his direction.
Li Xun's heart skipped a beat. He shut his eyes. A moment later, heat rose to his face. It was clear her gaze had swept over him.
From that alone, Li Xun could tell her cultivation was formidable, perhaps even close to his own level.
It was starting to seem less and less likely she was Gu Pin'er.
Even so, for reasons he couldn't explain, staring at her indistinct silhouette from afar gave him a powerful premonition that tugged him away from reason.
Just then, a deep, steady voice poured into his ears. It was Ti Wujiu.
The voice wasn't loud, yet it set the air within hundreds of miles vibrating, making it feel as though the words were spoken right beside him, clear and natural.
"The Blood God Child is a demonic technique that harms others for one's own gain. Anyone who cultivates it will be struck down by the righteous path of the world! Though Heavenly Vigorous Sect is unworthy, we will never let it fall into the hands of evil."
Those stiff, old-fashioned words, spoken after one of his disciples had slain a Nether General, rang with steel and iron. Powerful and resounding.
From far off, Yuan Nan's voice drifted back. "How grand, how majestic! But, Clear Origin Master, if you said that right to Wei Bufan's face, now that would be truly entertaining!"
The words sounded mocking, but the fact that he had to invoke the name of Blood Wanderer to hold his ground made it clear he wasn't nearly as confident as he appeared.
Li Xun saw straight through Yuan Nan's thoughts and gave a silent smile. But…
Why the Blood God Child?
Ti Wujiu's words had sounded weighty, yet to Li Xun who was already half in the know, they felt oddly off the mark.
From the way the Underworld Monarch Sect had arranged things, and from the actions of the Vermilion Hook Sect, it was obvious both groups understood that the so-called "Blood God Child" was just a name. The real prize lay hidden behind the ancient temple's tight, secret formations. But Ti Wujiu's words seemed to suggest…
Do they not know there's a plot beyond the Blood God Child?
It seemed entirely possible. And if that was the case, the Heavenly Vigorous Sect's stance might be something he could take advantage of…
What?
A sudden jolt of danger sent a chill shooting down the back of his neck. The reaction came even faster than the warning from his two puppets.
Without a thought, he twisted his body and slammed into the trunk of the massive tree beside him. Then emerged a heartbeat later from the other side.
An instant earlier, a hand had plunged into the tree's bark. In that moment, the tough wood lost all moisture, withered, decayed, crumbled to dust, and collapsed.
The swirling dust made Li Xun narrow his eyes, blurring the attacker's face. He had no time to get a clear look. Before the haze had even settled, the next strike came barreling in, the sharp pressure of the air against his skin like a thousand tiny blades scraping his face.
With a sharp, piercing scream, the yin flames within and around the Bottomless Underworld Ring surged, roiling like boiling clouds before suddenly flaring outward. At his level, NetherYin Qi could take on any form he willed, shifting endlessly. The instant its leading edge touched the opponent's true breath, it changed form on its own, slipping through the gaps in that breath and letting out a humming roar.
The dust in the air was instantly driven into nothingness. At this level of cultivation, neither man was bound by the limits of the body; their power resonated with the heaven and earth's primordial qi. When their true breaths met, the very air let out an explosive boom. Countless strands of qi mechanisms tore loose from their places, churning the heavens' vitality into a storm of chaotic currents.
That single clash was enough for the Heavenly Vigorous Sect cultivators several miles away to sense it at once and turn their eyes toward the scene.
Li Xun, however, had no attention to spare for them.
The killing intent pouring off his opponent was so tangible it crushed the air from his lungs.
Their bodies first split apart, only to be yanked together again as if by an enormous invisible hand.
In the instant their figures crossed, Li Xun dodged no fewer than seventeen hand-blades. Each one vicious enough to sever a limb; but in doing so, he finally confirmed the attacker's identity.
And he understood his purpose.
For some reason, the man had not drawn his infamous demon blade. Yet even with just his palm in place of steel, the same deadly, merciless aura of the Slaughtering the Six Realms technique was still there.
The storm of blade-like strikes compressed Li Xun's body, driving him entirely onto the defensive.
If he were to unleash the 'God-Eroding Crimson Yard' that made his name, what kind of monstrous power would that be?
After blocking and dodging his way through the flurry of strikes, Li Xun let out another sharp, piercing cry. The nether flames roared like a gale rushing through a canyon, whipping the fire into a sudden sweep that forced his opponent back for an instant. Then he shouted, "Eroding God Blade! You dare ambush me?"
The only reply was an even more vicious hand-blade.
Li Xun shifted positions three times in quick succession before barely slipping past the strike. His mouth, however, didn't stop. "Who sent you to kill me?"
Only he knew the words were complete nonsense.
But to his opponent's ears, they carried a different weight.
Right after he said it, the man's blade slowed slightly, and in an icy voice he asked, "Half a quarter hour ago, where were you?"
Li Xun cursed inwardly, but on his face he furrowed his brow just enough to look convincingly puzzled. "Not a contract? Interrogating a criminal? Since when does the Nine Killers' Guild stoop to such tricks… what kind of game are you playing?"
After that brief exchange, the distance between them opened a little. Their movements eased just enough for Li Xun to take a proper look at the man who was said to be the coldest, most ruthless executioner of them all—Eroding God Blade, ranked first among the Vermilion Hook Sect's "Two Blades, Four Edges, and Three Little Hooks" in both kills and success rate.
He wore a gray robe, his face severe, with two thick, drooping mustaches that made him look like a man in his middle years.
But what struck Li Xun most were his eyes. Dull, cold, and gray, like staring into a lifeless graveyard. Within them seemed to be imprisoned countless wailing, tormented souls.
That was not just the effect of some special technique. It no doubt had plenty to do with the bloody, vengeful spirits that clung to his hands.
At Li Xun's words, the man's brow furrowed slightly, though the cold gleam in his eyes didn't fade. Another hand-blade came slashing down.
The passing edge of his palm left even the air smelling faintly scorched.
Li Xun assumed the strike was no different from the last, but the moment he raised his hand to counter, he knew something was wrong.
Whatever technique the man had used, Li Xun felt his qi channels snap shut under the blow. His NetherYin Qi, normally as responsive as his own limbs, flickered and stalled. The sensation passed quickly, but it was more than enough to cost him dearly.
He watched, helpless, as that vicious, unstoppable hand-blade sliced toward his chest. Using his pure, refined true breath, he forced his muscles and bones to contract inward by half an inch, yet the attacker's fingertips still scraped across him.
The thought of the great tree that had withered to ash in an instant made his skin crawl.
Fortunately, decades of battle had given Li Xun a wealth of experience. Without so much as glancing at the wound, he drove the NetherYin Qi forward with one hand to push Eroding God Blade back. With the other, he swept across his chest—tearing away the flesh around the injury by force, exposing bone.
"Come with me. I won't kill you. Not yet."
The words had barely left Eroding God Blade's mouth before another hand-blade came flashing down.