Tianzhu Township.
Somewhere within the underground grotto-heaven of Snake Valley, the space was lit by a supernatural glow. A crimson light bathed the area, and the air was thick with the heavy, metallic scent of blood.
An old general clad in black armor and red robes casually tossed a fainted, burly man onto the ground.
"I’ve brought the person you wanted."
A few meters in front of him stood a stone platform shrouded in a swirling, churning blood mist. A man sat cross-legged upon the platform, regulating his breathing and circulating his qi.
He was a man with effeminate features and thin, blade-like lips. His long hair was slightly disheveled. A striking wound stretched from beneath his jaw down to his chest, staining his red robes a deep, dark crimson.
It looked as if he had been cleaved open by a sword. Upon closer inspection, traces of lingering sword intent could be seen within the wound.
Hearing the commotion, the young man slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was cold and vertical, carrying an icy exhaustion that resembled the eyes of a serpent.
He glanced at the unconscious man on the ground and then looked up at the old general, whose grey beard was as stiff as halberds. His lips curled slightly as he rasped, "The old general is indeed as formidable as ever. Your valor has not diminished with age."
The general spoke solemnly, "Your injury?"
The young man smiled. "I won't die from it."
Standing as steady as a pine tree, the old general asked in a deep voice, "Have the other three been dealt with?"
The young man replied slowly, "The girl at the nascent soul stage has already been suppressed beneath the Blood Infant Pool. As for the youth at the core formation stage, the old ghost personally took action, so naturally, there will be no accidents..."
The general’s eyes darkened with a natural, commanding authority. "And the young boy?"
The young man exhaled a breath of turbid air and said nonchalantly, "A small accident occurred, but it’s fine. He's merely at the foundation establishment stage; he can't run far."
Murderous intent leaked from the old general, causing a sudden wind to howl through the grotto-heaven. He barked a sharp reprimand.
"You should be well aware that if anything goes wrong, both you and I will die."
The young man’s tone turned devout. "I know what I’m doing. You can rest easy, General."
The general pulled back his murderous intent, and the winds died down. He warned, "It had better be so."
The young man gave a forced smile.
The general continued solemnly, "Though we have captured them, the Wendao Sect has already been alerted. We don't have much time left. The plan must be moved forward. Our Master sent me to ask you: how soon is the earliest?"
"Three days from now, on the night of the full moon on the sixteenth. Provided I have enough baby girls."
The general paused for a moment before asking, "How many?"
The young man held up three fingers, his expression bordering on manic. "Three thousand. Not one less. I need them by midnight tomorrow."
"Three thousand? Do you think you’re just buying vegetables at a market?"
The young man sneered defiantly. "If we can't get them, we all die together. Or we could wait until next month—if those bastards from the Wendao Sect haven't found us by then, haha."
The general raised his hand, pointing at the youth in warning. "If you fail again three days from now, I will take your head to see the Master."
The youth narrowed his eyes, smiling without a word.
The old general turned to leave, his voice echoing through the grotto-heaven.
"I will deliver the people to you tomorrow. You’d best do as you promised."
The youth watched him go, his voice soft and effeminate. "Safe travels, General!"
He looked down at the wound on his chest. Even with the power of a nascent soul nourishing it, the blood refused to stop flowing. He gave a sinister laugh. "Truly a thorny rose."
"Someone, come here."
A dark figure emerged from the shadows, fist pressed to chest in a slight bow.
"Venerable One."
The youth looked at the burly man on the ground and ordered, "Throw him into the blood pool as well."
"As you command."
The youth sneered, "Be gentle. If you kill him, we both die. Do you understand?"
The man in black shuddered and said respectfully,
"Understood."
Outside Snake Valley.
Using the Pupil of Insight to mask his presence, Xu Xian hid himself within the darkness of the night. High in the hundred-mile sky, under the moon's glow, streaks of light flashed repeatedly.
At least dozens of people were flying back and forth.
Xu Xian didn't need to think twice to know these people were searching for him.
Through his Pupil of Insight, he could see that aside from a few core formation experts, most of the others were at the foundation establishment stage. In a one-on-one fight, Xu Xian was confident he could win decisively.
Of course, the enemy wouldn't fight him fairly.
Fortunately, he was in the dark while the enemy was in the light; Xu Xian could utilize sneak attacks.
Currently, his Pupil of Insight could only maintain his concealment for twelve hours at most. This meant that after twelve hours, he would be exposed to the divine sense of a nascent soul expert.
If he wanted to live, he had to break the deadlock within twelve hours.
Run?
With that sealing formation in place, escape was impossible.
Breaking the formation wasn't something that could be done quickly. Even if he could break it, the enemy would have already closed in on him during the time it took to do so.
While his Pupil of Insight could hide his aura, people weren't blind.
Reinforcements?
Without anyone to send word, it might be months before anyone noticed they were missing. By the time help arrived, he would have long been dead.
Currently, the only way to break the situation was to brave the tiger's den, quietly rescue Nangong Ning and the others, and then break out together.
Although it was risky—and he knew nothing about the internal situation—it was indeed his only chance.
Sitting around waiting for death was not in Xu Xian’s nature.
Didn't they treat him as prey?
Why couldn't Xu Xian treat them as prey instead?
No one understood hunting better than he did.
If he wanted to save them, he had to make the enemy chaotic first. The messier, the better.
Lure the snakes out of their holes.
Then, use the chaos to rescue the others. The most effective way to create that chaos was to kill them—kill them all, one by one.
If he couldn't kill the big ones, he would kill the small ones.
Fighting a nascent soul was out of the question. Fighting a core formation expert was strenuous. But killing foundation establishment cultivators was as easy as slaughtering pigs or dogs; he could do it with one hand tied behind his back.
No sooner said than done.
Xu Xian transformed into a hunter, slipping into the night to find targets, track them, set traps, and slay his prey.
"Who's there?"
"Die!"
"Ah!"
Cold sword light flashed, screams rang out, and blood stained the dense forest.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four...
As his companions died one after another, the group of black-clad men grew increasingly panicked. Their leader roared in fury,
"You son of a bitch! When I catch you, I'll skin you alive!"
Hiding in the darkness, Xu Xian couldn't help but criticize in his mind, 'Is that all? Their mental fortitude is pathetic.'
As time passed, the number of lives Xu Xian took grew, and so did the number of people chasing him. During a brief glimpse, Xu Xian even spotted a nascent soul old beast.
At this moment, within Snake Valley, the group was driven mad with rage. Even the two nascent soul Venerables had become exceptionally irritable.
A single foundation establishment brat had killed one of their core formation experts and over twenty foundation establishment cultivators in a single night. Yet, they hadn't even seen a glimpse of his shadow.
He was like a mountain spirit in the dark night, a soul-reaping reaper that came and went without a trace.
You couldn't see him, but you knew he was there.
He was in some dark corner, watching you, waiting to pop out and take your life with a single sword strike.
This placed immense psychological pressure on them, leaving them in a state of constant dread. The prey in their eyes had become a bloodthirsty predator, and this role reversal was jarring.
The nascent soul experts were furious. The subordinates began to cluster together.
"Keep searching!"
"He must have a treasure on him that masks his aura!"
"Even if you have to flip the mountains over, find him!"
"Rest assured, Venerable. The sun is about to rise. He won't be able to hide then."
Seeing the light of dawn approaching and noticing the enemies grouping together, leaving no chance for an attack, Xu Xian took advantage of the moment everyone was searching for him. Under the cover of the last bits of moonlight, he arrived at the headquarters Jiang Ying had mentioned.
Snake Valley was a literal valley where the bamboo grew even denser. In the center of the valley was a deep pool of dark green water. There were signs of battle all around. Xu Xian looked beneath the surface of the deep pool, where he saw the faint glow of seven swords.
Three of them were very familiar to him.
There was no need to guess. Song Qingshu and Ruan Zhong had definitely fallen as well.
'It seems there's another world beneath this water...'
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