For hundreds of years, under the Han family's rule, Hanshan City had remained relatively peaceful. While the occasional spell duel did break out within city limits, the City Guard would quickly step in to quell the disturbances. The only event that could truly be called a major incident was over a century ago, when Han Yunzhi's only son and several Han disciples were killed or injured during a brawl. The perpetrators fled with their entire clan, prompting a citywide manhunt by the Han family.
So when the Black-Eyed Blue suddenly appeared in the city's bustling district, roaring furiously at the crowd, most people didn't even have time to react before they were pounced on and torn apart.
A shrill whistle echoed through the sky as the City Guard rapidly assembled and rushed to the scene. The location was densely packed with shops, many filled with valuable goods and cultivators still shopping inside who hadn't yet managed to escape. This left the City Guard in a dilemma, unable to strike without causing collateral damage, they were forced to find a way to lure the creature away to a less populated area.
But this chaos was merely a feint, a classic diversion tactic meant to draw the City Lord's forces away. Even though it was obviously a trap, the City Lord's estate had no choice but to respond. Taking advantage of this, the Zhong family's disciples, along with their amassed vassal forces, launched a full-scale assault on key Han family locations and affiliated establishments like the Zhishi Hall, massacring anyone bearing the Han family name.
Chen Xiao, at this moment, knew nothing of the larger battle unfolding across the city. The fight right in front of him was already heart-pounding enough. After recovering from the tremors and regaining some strength, he scrambled to his feet and shouted at Tong Nuonuo and Du Rong, whom he had shielded just moments before, "Go! Get out, this place is coming down!"
The three of them stumbled and crawled out through the collapsed front gate, bursting onto the street. Chen Xiao quickly scanned the area and bolted uphill.
He had no choice but to flee. He had seriously injured one of the attackers at the Golden Core stage, but there was still another one left.
High above, Xi Yunqing kept a close eye on them even as he fought his own battle, barely maintaining a balance against his opponent. When he saw that the three weren't entirely helpless, he felt slightly relieved. His gaze turned icy as he focused on the opposing Nascent Soul cultivator. Stretching out his arms, a massive, snow-forged greatsword materialized in his hands.
A sword cultivator, wielding a heavy sword, no less!
The Nascent Soul cultivator across from him instinctively widened the gap between them. Martial cultivators were dangerous in close combat, and heavy-sword sword cultivators were infamous for their dominance in one-on-one duels. Keeping distance was essential.
Xi Yunqing twisted his wrist and pressed downward with force. A massive sword shadow emerged from the heavy blade, expanding rapidly with the wind until it towered several dozen meters high. It crashed down like a mountain aimed straight at the Nascent Soul cultivator.
Alarmed and furious, the cultivator hastily summoned a huge, earthen-yellow shield to take the blow. The mountain-sized sword shadow slammed down, instantly crushing him half a head shorter. The blade was laced with razor-sharp metal essence, nearly splitting the massive shield in two. Fear gripped his heart as he desperately channeled more earth-element essence into his shield, thickening it to resist the onslaught.
With just one strike, Xi Yunqing shifted from defense to offense. However, his opponent was still a Nascent Soul cultivator, seasoned in battle. Despite Xi Yunqing's relentless attacks, he couldn't break through the man's defenses.
Meanwhile, Chen Xiao was sprinting with all his might down the wide avenue. His lungs were on fire, his legs heavy and aching like they were weighed down by sandbags.
Tong Nuonuo, despite being useless in a fight, still had a stronger physique than Chen Xiao and quickly overtook him to lead the way. Du Rong followed close behind, glancing back every so often.
"Are they chasing us?!" Chen Xiao gasped, trying to soothe his burning throat.
"No!" Du Rong replied.
"Did we blow them both up?" Tong Nuonuo asked.
"We seriously wounded one. The other one was farther away and probably got blown back. Don't count on luck, he's definitely still alive," Du Rong said grimly. He had been facing the blast when it hit and vaguely saw the second Golden Core cultivator get flung by the explosion's surge of spiritual energy. But it was only a fleeting glimpse, he couldn't be sure if the man had been caught in the blast or had dodged it.
The street was wide, and though the houses were spaced far apart, the deafening explosion had been heard by everyone. As they ran past, some residents opened their doors to investigate. Seeing their clueless expressions, Chen Xiao yelled, "Cultivators fighting, stay inside!" Before his words even finished, he was already sprinting past them. The residents' faces changed as they processed his warning, slamming their doors shut immediately.
In the blink of an eye, the three reached the end of the road, only to find it wasn't the uphill path Chen Xiao had hoped for, but a dead-end alley.
Tong Nuonuo stopped in confusion and looked back innocently.
Chen Xiao was panting hard, cursing under his breath, "Damn it, it's a dead end!" Clearly, at some point while leading, Tong Nuonuo had veered off the main road. Chen Xiao, too focused on keeping up and not falling behind, had completely forgotten that Nuonuo had zero sense of direction.
Du Rong, catching his breath, said, "Getting this far was already more than we could've hoped for. It's too late to double back now, let's make our stand here!"
Chen Xiao nodded, checked his weapon, then turned to Tong Nuonuo. "Same plan as before, I'll distract him. When there's an opening, you blow him up!" He handed one of his remaining bombs to Du Rong. "Here, take one. Wait for the right moment, then toss it and hit the ground fast. Protect yourself."
"Got it!" Both Tong Nuonuo and Du Rong answered in unison.
"Hahaha! So you ran and ran, just to end up in a dead end?" the Golden Core cultivator had finally caught up, his clothes tattered, hair disheveled by the blast's spiritual energy. His face was pale from the earlier explosion, now twisted with rage. He spat viciously, "I really underestimated you three little rats. What, I thought taking a little detour would lose me?"
Did we even take a detour? The thought flashed across Chen Xiao's mind but he pushed it aside. Bracing himself, he planted his feet, positioned one arm across his chest, and leveled his umbrella-shaped contraption just as Tong Nuonuo had taught him.
The attacker noticed his stance and laughed in fury. "What, you think this old man's going to fall for the same trick twice?" He raised his hand into a casting gesture. "Die!"
A blast of blazing red light surged forward, streaking toward them at breakneck speed, far too fast for Chen Xiao to react. Fortunately, Tong Nuonuo dashed forward, holding the mechanical box up like a shield.
"Ahhhh!!" Even though the device blocked most of the fire-based attack, the searing residual energy still had her screaming in pain.
"Nuonuo!" Chen Xiao cried out, panicked but afraid to move closer.
Du Rong remained calm and precise. He waited until the enemy's spell was nearly finished, then hurled the bomb he held. He aimed directly at the spell, triggering an explosion the instant it made contact.
"BOOM!!!"
A blinding flash of red and white filled everyone's vision. The ground trembled, spiritual energy surged in all directions, and even the air felt like it exploded, knocking everyone off their feet.
This time, Chen Xiao was ready. He quickly regained his bearings and scrambled over to the fallen Tong Nuonuo.
"Nuonuo! Are you okay?"
Tong Nuonuo's condition was utterly miserable, his front had been scorched so badly that the skin had split open, exposing bone in the more severely burned areas. It was only thanks to his Foundation Establishment cultivation that he'd survived at all; if it had been someone like Du Rong, he would've been roasted alive.
"Still not dead…" Tong Nuonuo gritted his teeth against the pain, trying to reach for his face, but both his hands and his face were in too much agony to bear even the slightest touch. In the end, he gave up on checking whether his face had been disfigured and, ignoring the heat, reached behind him and dragged the mechanism box over. He quickly pulled out a metal cylinder from within. "Cultivator Du, use this. I'm out of commission for now, but these bombs are the only things that can deal with him."
Du Rong hurriedly took it and said, "I think we've made it through."
Tong Nuonuo replied, "That man was right. No one falls into the same trap twice."
As a mechanist, Tong Nuonuo knew better than anyone that such weapons had this flaw: they relied on the element of surprise and could only be effective once. If the enemy caught on, their effectiveness plummeted.
And sure enough, he was right.
Moments later, as the lingering waves of spiritual energy dissipated, the Golden Core attacker returned, laughing heartily. This time, he was clearly prepared. The moment Du Rong threw a bomb, he had already begun retreating. Other than getting blown around a little, he was unharmed.
"Is that all you've got?" he sneered. "Now it's this old master's turn!"
He flipped his hand and took out a jade talisman, preparing to crush it.
But this time, Chen Xiao seized the initiative. The moment the attacker showed himself, Chen Xiao aimed his weapon and pulled the trigger. Though the metallic spiritual energy needles weren't particularly powerful, more like a porcupine's quills pricking a Golden Core cultivator, they felt very different when thousands of them came all at once.
The attacker quickly summoned a flaming red layer of true essence around him as a shield. The spiritual energy needles were too weak and scattered into dust as soon as they hit the barrier.
Chen Xiao's eyes gleamed, energy was energy, and that barrier could still trigger a bomb. He gestured subtly to Du Rong, then turned and dove to the side. Du Rong understood immediately and hurled another bomb.
The Golden Core cultivator dodged swiftly. The purplish-red sphere missed his barrier, arced downward, and rolled to a stop nearby.
That was when the attacker realized the fatal flaw of this hidden weapon. These two cultivators couldn't activate it without spiritual energy. As long as he didn't use any himself, he didn't need to fear these little toys at all.
This realization pleased him immensely. Instead of clashing head-on with the two still-capable cultivators, he kept moving and casting spells from a distance, preventing them from getting close enough to launch any more sneak attacks.
Du Rong only had one bomb left. If it failed, they were doomed.
His gaze flicked to the purplish-red sphere lying not far away. With a glint in his eyes, he handed the cylinder to Chen Xiao and said, "Cover me. I'm going to retrieve that one."
"No!" Chen Xiao reached out but missed. His heart sank.
Du Rong dashed toward the sphere, his intentions immediately spotted by the Golden Core attacker. The moment he realized they were out of hidden weapons, the attacker charged at Du Rong.
Tong Nuonuo turned his head in their direction, eyes wide in shock, mind gone blank.
Chen Xiao clenched his teeth, aimed at the attacker, and roared, "Throw it, now!"
Du Rong heard him. With only one bomb left, he had no time for hesitation. He threw it.
He thought the Golden Core cultivator would dodge like before, but the man didn't even flinch, letting the purplish-red sphere hit him squarely. Without any spiritual energy protecting him, it was like being tapped, barely a tickle.
The attacker sneered viciously at Du Rong, just as the latter turned and dove away. Confused by the odd reaction, the attacker had no time to piece it together before he suddenly felt a thousand needles pierce his entire body.
"Tricked—" was his final thought before a massive spiritual energy explosion tore through him, obliterating his consciousness.
Tong Nuonuo stared blankly as the attacker's body was blown apart, limbs scattering. A strong gust of wind forced him to shut his eyes.
Cough, cough! This time, Chen Xiao hadn't managed to avoid the shockwave. It flung him backward in a tumble, his mouth full of dirt.
As the aftermath finally faded, Chen Xiao shook the dust off his head. He sat up and glanced over, seeing the Golden Core attacker lying far away, barely breathing, no longer a threat. Only then did he relax and collapse back down.
Then he suddenly remembered something and turned his head toward Tong Nuonuo, only to hear him muttering to himself, "It seems that delayed detonation works better than immediate activation. But how do I install a delay mechanism internally? Hmm… maybe if I…"
Chen Xiao rolled his eyes skyward. Clearly, he was fine.
Not far off, Du Rong also staggered to his feet, covered in dust. Still wary, he approached the barely breathing attacker and, to prevent any chance of revival, swiftly finished him off with a final blow.
After catching his breath for a bit, he picked up the unused bomb, then came over to help Chen Xiao up. "Nice work," he said. If not for Chen Xiao's quick thinking, Du Rong would already be dead.
Chen Xiao grinned sheepishly, then frowned, suddenly worried about Xi Yunqing. How was he doing?
Xi Yunqing was currently locked in an intense battle with a Nascent Soul cultivator. After the two loud explosions from earlier, the contrast in their reactions couldn't be more obvious. Xi Yunqing was calm, but the Nascent Soul cultivator had grown impatient.
The three of them weren't particularly valued within their faction. Otherwise, during such a critical mission, the Han family or Zhishi Hall would've sent their own people. Instead, the task of eliminating a mere Golden Core cultivator who had only briefly appeared alongside Steward Han was left to them.
The Nascent Soul cultivator had initially been frustrated by the insignificance of the target and how excessive it seemed to send three of them for such an easy kill.
But they hadn't expected him to have allies. One Golden Core had already fallen at the start of the fight. The other had chased off someone and never returned. If another was lost, they'd suffer over 50% casualties. Not only would they gain no credit, they'd be held responsible.
Now desperate to end the fight and check on the others, the Nascent Soul cultivator grew more aggressive. But to his surprise, this sword cultivator, despite only being at the Golden Core stage, was proving infuriatingly difficult to deal with.
With a cold gleam in his eyes, the Nascent Soul cultivator made a subtle move.
Moments later, Xi Yunqing, who had been on the defensive, suddenly noticed a faint green mist drifting toward him.
Poison gas?! Xi Yunqing's expression changed instantly.
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