「Keke ke... Got you.」
Amid the stunned gazes of everyone present, "Liu Yue" let out a sinister, gurgling laugh, her skin turning ashen and coarse right before their eyes.
Hiding in the shadows, you watched as "Sun Qian's" chest was pierced through—and suddenly, everything clicked. The vague sense of unease you'd felt earlier finally made sense.
This woman was none other than the Thousand Shadows Assassin—the one who'd been lying in wait outside the hotel, having cultivated the Thousand Shadows Demon Art, ready to take your life.
But because you'd refused to take the bait earlier, she'd gone into hiding, biding her time until today to strike again.
And this Thousand Shadows Assassin was clearly the trump card of the entire ambush!
The others tried to rush forward to save "Sun Qian," but the Sixth Realm assassin cut them down with ease. Only Li Yang managed to escape with his life.
Delighted by how effortlessly her plan had succeeded, the Thousand Shadows Assassin threw her head back and laughed triumphantly. She reached out, ready to finish off her target and tear out his spinal cord—but then she suddenly froze, sensing something was wrong.
「Cough… cough cough… Kill me, and the Sun family will never let you get away with this…」
"Sun Qian" stared down at the gaping wound in his chest in horror, letting out a grief-stricken roar. A peculiar Talisman suddenly materialized in his hand.
「No! It's a Self-Detonation Talisman!」
Li Yang and the others paled in terror.
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion erupted. "Sun Qian" was instantly swallowed by the blazing inferno, reduced to nothing but ash and dust.
The Thousand Shadows Assassin, who'd been laughing just a moment ago, was sent flying by the blast, her face a picture of utter bewilderment.
Wait a second! Why did the target just blow himself up and die?!If he's dead, what happens to my mission?!
「Young Master Sun!!!」
Witnessing "Sun Qian's" death, Sun Zhong's eyes turned bloodshot with rage. His entire body trembled with fury, sending the black-cloaked powerhouse before him stumbling backward in alarm.
The black-cloaked powerhouse braced himself, expecting Sun Zhong to fly into a suicidal rage and fight to the death—but instead, the enraged Sun Zhong spun on his heel and fled without a second glance!
Black-cloaked powerhouse: ???
「A bit of a twist of fate, but at least the escape plan worked half-way.」
Watching your double self-destruct and Sun Zhong make his getaway, you nodded to yourself. Your plan was already half a success.
Still, the Thousand Shadows Assassin was a loose end—and judging by the look on her face earlier, she seemed to have sensed something was off.
This loose end had to be eliminated.
You frowned slightly, your gaze drifting to Ye Fan—the fated protagonist who'd just killed Zhao Kun with barely any effort. A wicked grin tugged at the corner of your lips as an idea sparked in your mind.
You stayed hidden in the shadows, then raised your voice in a disguised shout:「Monster! You killed Liu Yue, stole her appearance, and murdered Young Master Sun! The Sun family will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!」
Not far away, Ye Fan—who'd just dispatched Zhao Kun with ease, still wondering why his opponent had been so weak—heard the cry and looked up. His eyes widened as he spotted the grotesque, ashen creature wearing the clothes of… his Yue'er. Rage boiled in his veins.
「You bastard! What did you do to Yue'er?! I'll tear you to pieces!!!」
「Nine! Steps! Of! Treading! The! Heavens!」
Blinded by fury, Ye Fan gripped his sharp blood-red blade tightly. He took two steps forward, and his aura exploded exponentially.
Fourth Realm Arcane Power!....Fifth Realm Mountain & River!....Sixth Realm Transcendence!....
「Holy shit!」
Even though you'd long known Ye Fan was a total cheat as the fated protagonist—having witnessed it once during the second Villain Simulation—watching him burst through two major realms in an instant and reach the Sixth Realm of Transcendence still made your jaw drop.
Are you kidding me?!Is this even allowed?!
「Nine Steps of Treading the Heavens!」
「So this is the secret technique that lets Ye Fan break through major realms in a row!」
「Looks like I got lucky—finding out about this ahead of time is a huge advantage.」
「Judging by this, he must have obtained this secret technique only in the past few days. Otherwise, he would've used it when he was being hunted down during the second simulation.」
Piecing together all the information you had, you quickly came to a conclusion.
This Nine Steps of Treading the Heavens—a secret technique that could skyrocket one's cultivation and realm in a short time, granting immense combat power—was almost certainly the "opportunity" Ye Fan had stumbled upon these past few days.
But wait a minute…These past few days, Magic City had been pretty quiet. There hadn't been any unusual incidents or rumors of treasures…
Wait!
Your eyes narrowed, a sudden thought dawning on you.
Young Master Sun, a mysterious secret realm appeared in the Magic City waters a few days ago. It's drawn quite a crowd of cultivators looking to claim its treasures.
A snippet of conversation echoed in your mind.
「Liu Yue mentioned this to me during the second simulation. And my double Su Meng also brought it up in the third simulation.」
「Back then, I thought it was just another trap set by the mastermind. But now that I think about it… that might not be the case at all.」
「If there was any place in Magic City that could possibly hide a heaven-defying opportunity, that mysterious secret realm would be the top candidate.」
「Besides, during both simulations, after Ye Fan lost his arm, he vanished without a trace. We turned Magic City upside down searching for him, but he was gone without a trace.」
「It's highly likely that he'd hidden himself inside that secret realm, claiming the opportunity for himself!」
Pieces of the puzzle clicked into place in your mind.
At that moment, it was as if you'd already glimpsed the "truth" ahead of time.
And just like that, you'd locked onto a future powerhouse-level opportunity—a secret technique that could boost your cultivation and realm in an instant, granting you terrifying combat strength.
How could you possibly pass that up?!Even if it came with some kind of side effect—so what?!
「Everything makes sense now.」
「That mysterious token in the storage pouch reacted when Ye Fan used the Nine Steps of Treading the Heavens. Could it be… the key to entering that secret realm?」
You still hadn't forgotten that in the Villain Simulator, you'd seized a mysterious token from Ye Fan's hands.
「Next time I run the simulation, I'll have to try and seize that opportunity before he does.」
The moment Ye Fan unleashed the Nine Steps of Treading the Heavens, you felt the mysterious token on your person stir.
Your mind raced as you pieced together the origin of Ye Fan's technique, and you couldn't help but sigh. You'd missed out on this heaven-shaking opportunity not once, but twice.
Instead, it was Ye Fan—who'd lost his arm twice in a row—who'd gotten there first, claiming this incredible chance to rise to power in one fell swoop.
「This… this can't be…」
Watching Ye Fan descend like a god of war, his combat power skyrocketing, the Thousand Shadows Assassin's face drained of all color. Terror filled her eyes as she turned to flee—but it was already too late.
SPURT!
With a single slash of his blade, Ye Fan cut the Thousand Shadows Assassin down where she stood, killing her instantly.
This sudden, explosive display of power left everyone else frozen in shock. But Ye Fan, who'd just cut down two people in quick succession, suddenly paled. His body swayed unsteadily, his aura flickering wildly. Then, he transformed into a streak of white light and fled the scene.
Everything had happened in the blink of an eye—too fast for anyone to react.
Even the black-cloaked powerhouse hovering above was left dumbfounded.
One second, their target Sun Qian was killed—but he'd blown himself up in his final moments. Then Sun Zhong, his protector, had fled instead of avenging him.The next second, their own ally, the Thousand Shadows Assassin, was cut down by this random nobody named Ye Fan.And then Ye Fan ran away too!
To top it all off, Zhao Kun—the man who was supposed to be their scapegoat—had also been killed by Ye Fan.
This entire operation was a complete and utter mess.