Nightfall was nearing its end, the deepest darkness before dawn enveloping Green Stone Town. The inn was deathly silent, even Wang Tiechui's snores had become faint. Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, appearing to be in meditation, but in reality, his Spiritual Sense was like an invisible spiderweb, covering a ten-zhang radius around the room, where no disturbance could escape his perception.
His Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivation had already stabilized, Chaos Spiritual Energy flowing steadily through his meridians, bringing a sense of power and control far beyond what he had felt before. Yet, his heart held no trace of relaxation. The shadowy figure that had spied on him last night was like a venomous snake hidden in the dark, making him dare not be careless in the slightest.
"Rustle... rustle..."
An extremely faint sound, like fallen leaves brushing against the ground, came from the inn's rooftop. If Ye Chen's Spiritual Sense had not been highly concentrated, he would have almost ignored it.
They're here!
Ye Chen's eyes suddenly snapped open, a cold glint flashing within them. He didn't act immediately, but like the most patient hunter, he waited quietly.
The sound on the rooftop paused for a moment, as if confirming the movement below. Then, a shadow darker than the night itself, as if weightless, silently slid down from the roof, precisely hovering outside the window of their dormitory room. A blade as thin as a cicada's wing, shimmering with a faint blue glow, was silently inserted into the gap of the window frame, gently prying the inner bolt.
The technique was skillful, the movements silent; an expert in assassination! His cultivation... Qi Refining Layer 5!
Ye Chen made a judgment in an instant. The opponent's cultivation was higher than his, and he was skilled in stealthy attacks, so a direct confrontation was not the best course of action. His mind raced, and a plan instantly took shape.
He moved his lips slightly towards the opposite bed, using Spiritual Power to send a barely perceptible sound precisely into Wang Tiechui's ear: "Tiechui, you're awake, pretend to sleep, someone's here."
The snoring continued.
But Ye Chen could feel Wang Tiechui's originally relaxed muscles instantly tense like a drawn bowstring, yet his breathing rate remained unchanged. The tacit understanding forged through months of shared life and death needed no further words.
"Click."
With a soft sound, the window bolt was pried open. The black shadow floated into the room like a ghost, landing silently. His gaze swept over the two "soundly sleeping" figures on the bed, finally locking onto Ye Chen. The faint blue blade drew a fatal arc in the darkness, stabbing directly at Ye Chen's throat! The speed was so fast that only an afterimage remained!
Just as the blade was about to touch his skin—
"Bang!"
The hard wooden bed beneath the "sleeping" Ye Chen suddenly exploded! Amidst flying wood chips, his body moved backward with the force of a mechanism, shifting three feet back, narrowly dodging this killing blow!
At the same time, the figure like a giant bear on the other bed erupted! Wang Tiechui's eyes widened. Although his Chaos battle intent was not fully unleashed, his terrifying strength had already gathered at his fist. Without any fancy moves, he threw a punch, carrying a fierce wind, directly at the black shadow's side! If this punch landed, it would be enough to crack stone!
The black shadow clearly hadn't expected both of them to be prepared and react so swiftly! His assassination attempt missed, and a heavy punch was coming from the side. He remained calm in the face of danger, his toes touching the ground, his body twisting strangely as if boneless. He managed to evade Wang Tiechui's heavy punch at the last moment, and simultaneously, he swung his dagger back, slashing at Wang Tiechui's wrist, the faint blue blade light carrying a bone-chilling cold.
"Swoosh!"
Although Wang Tiechui retracted his hand in time, his fist wind was still grazed by the blade light. A shallow cut instantly appeared on his arm, and a cold energy began to invade upwards along his arm meridians, causing his movements to falter slightly.
"Be careful, the blade is poisoned!" Ye Chen whispered, having already stabilized himself. He didn't rush to attack, but quickly formed hand seals—not any profound spells, but the most basic 《Fire Drawing Art》 and 《Water Condensing Art》 he had learned from those few Jade Slips!
However, under the enhancement of the pure Spiritual Power quenched by the 《Primordial Dao Foundation Chapter》, even these lowest-tier spells displayed extraordinary power!
A cluster of crimson flames and a ball of turbid water condensed almost simultaneously before him, and then he forcefully merged them together with his Spiritual Sense!
"Boom!"
The collision of water and fire produced a muffled explosion! A large amount of white steam instantly filled the room, making the vision completely blurry!
This was not intended to injure the enemy, but to create chaos and disrupt the opponent's senses!
"Hmm?" The black shadow clearly hadn't expected Ye Chen to use such a "low-level" tactic. His vision was obstructed, and his movements involuntarily slowed.
In this instant—
Ye Chen moved! He seemed to merge into the steam, and relying on his Spiritual Sense, which far surpassed that of his peers, and his precise control over his own strength, he silently closed in on the black shadow's left side! His fingers formed a sword, Chaos Spiritual Energy highly condensed at his fingertips, without the slightest sound of wind, pointing directly at the vital point below the opponent's ribs! This strike condensed all his cultivation after his breakthrough, aiming for a single blow to break through the defense!
The black shadow was also formidable. Despite his vision being obstructed, he still sensed the danger on his left based on his combat instincts. He brought his blade back to defend, precisely parrying Ye Chen's finger!
"Clang!"
A crisp sound of metal striking metal! The fingertip and the blade edge collided, even sparking a few sparks!
Ye Chen felt a sharp, cold, rebounding force from his fingertip, but his Spiritual Power was of extremely high quality, and he managed to dissolve the force, using it to retreat.
The black shadow, however, trembled violently. The arm holding the blade went numb, and for the first time, a look of horror appeared in his eyes: "Your Spiritual Power... is wrong!"
He clearly felt that the condensation of the Spiritual Power from the opponent's fingertip far surpassed that of an ordinary Qi Refining Layer 4 cultivator, even giving him a heavy sense of pressure! This was definitely not a common Rogue Cultivator!
The steam gradually dissipated, and the three stood in a standoff in the small room. The black shadow was masked, revealing only a pair of sinister eyes, staring intently at Ye Chen. Wang Tiechui shook his slightly numb arm, standing in front of Ye Chen like a thick wall.
"Who sent you?" Ye Chen's voice was icy, and he secretly adjusted the Spiritual Power within his body that had been slightly agitated by the previous clash.
The black shadow remained silent, his gaze flickering, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. His attack had failed, and he was facing two opponents. Especially the big one, who possessed immense strength and a tough physique, and the target youth's Spiritual Power was bizarrely strong. If he continued to fight, he likely wouldn't fare well.
He suddenly raised his hand, and several cold stars shot towards Ye Chen and Wang Tiechui. At the same time, his body retreated rapidly, intending to escape through the window!
"Trying to leave?" Ye Chen was already prepared. He flicked his sleeve, and a gentle yet resilient Spiritual Power surged out, sweeping away all the poisoned hidden weapons. Simultaneously, he stomped his foot, shattering the bluestone slab on the ground. His body moved like lightning, arriving before the black shadow, blocking the window!
"Stay!"
Ye Chen whispered, pushing his palms forward. The formidable Physical Strength from the 《Basic Body Tempering Art》 combined with his Chaos Spiritual Energy, transforming into a palm strike like an overwhelming tide, sealing off all the opponent's escape routes!
The black shadow had no way to evade. A trace of ferocity flashed in his eyes, and the faint blue blade erupted with a dazzling light, clearly intending to fight to the death!
However, just as his old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet arisen, and he was fully engaged in dealing with Ye Chen's palm strike—
Wang Tiechui, who had been waiting for an opportunity, charged forward like a charging elephant! He didn't attack the black shadow's vital points, but instead, his arms like iron hoops, tightly grabbed the opponent's legs!
"Get down!"
Wang Tiechui roared, his entire body erupting with strength. Like pulling a radish, he forcefully dragged the black shadow, who was trying to leap up, down, and slammed him heavily onto the ground!
"Pfft!"
The black shadow was caught off guard, thrown so hard that his Qi and Blood churned, and his Body Protection Spiritual Light became disordered.
Opportunity!
Ye Chen's eyes shot out a sharp light. His fingers formed a sword, Chaos Spiritual Energy highly compressed at his fingertips, transforming into an incredibly condensed, inch-long ray of light. Like piercing thin paper, it instantly broke through the black shadow's hastily condensed Body Protection Spiritual Light and accurately pierced into his Dantian Sea of Qi!
"Ugh—!"
The black shadow let out a shrill scream. The Spiritual Power throughout his body rapidly drained like a deflated ball, and he instantly became listless, collapsing to the ground. With his Dantian broken, his cultivation was completely destroyed!The battle began in a flash and ended just as abruptly.
The room was a mess, the beds shattered, the ground pitted, filled with the bloody and scorched smell of Spiritual Power collisions.
Ye Chen slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, his face a little pale. The continuous casting of spells, the hard clash, and the final strike that condensed all his strength had consumed him significantly. He walked to the collapsed black shadow, pulled off his mask, revealing a pale and unfamiliar middle-aged face.
"Now, can you tell me?" Ye Chen squatted down, looking at him with calm eyes, beneath which lay a chilling coldness: "Who sent you? Why are you targeting us?"
With his cultivation gone, the assassin's eyes were filled with despair and malice. But looking at Ye Chen's eyes, which seemed to see through everything, and Wang Tiechui beside him, who was like an angry Vajra, his will to resist finally collapsed.His lips trembled, and he uttered a name:
"It... it was 'Shadow Pavilion'... Someone... posted a bounty in town... to capture you alive... or bring back your head... especially... you..." He stared intently at Ye Chen, "Someone recognized... you might be... the Abandoned Child of the Ye Family who escaped from the Black Marsh... you have something... they want..."
Ye Chen's pupils contracted.
Black Marsh! Ye Family! As expected, he was exposed! Was it because of Zhao Hu's death, or did they leave some trace when they left? Or perhaps... the Ye Family itself was looking for him? And "Shadow Pavilion," it sounded like an assassin or intelligence organization.
"Who posted the bounty? The Ye Family?" Ye Chen pressed.
"No... I don't know... Shadow Pavilion only recognizes Tokens and Spirit Stones... they don't ask about the employer's origin..." the assassin weakly shook his head, "I only know... the bounty was very high... enough for me to take the risk..."
Ye Chen fell silent for a moment, then reached out and searched the assassin. Besides some scattered poisons, hidden weapons, and a small amount of mortal Gold and Silver, he only found a palm-sized black wooden token, engraved with a twisted shadow pattern, presumably a token of "Shadow Pavilion." There were no clues that could directly point to the employer.He stood up and gave Wang Tiechui a look.
Wang Tiechui understood and stepped forward.
"No... don't kill me... I'm already useless..." The assassin's eyes showed fear.Ye Chen turned his back and looked out the window. At the horizon, a hint of fish belly white had already appeared.
A muffled thud came from behind him, and then everything returned to silence.
【Killed a Qi Refining Layer 5 Shadow Pavilion assassin, Combat Experience greatly increased.】
【Obtained 'Shadow Pavilion Token' x1.】
【《Primordial Dao Foundation Chapter》 Proficiency +20!】
The system's prompts were cold and objective.
"Clean up, and leave immediately," Ye Chen's voice was low. Since the Shadow Pavilion's bounty had been issued, it was unlikely there would only be this one wave of assassins. Green Stone Town had become a place of trouble, and they had to flee at once.
Wang Tiechui silently disposed of the assassin's corpse and any traces.
Ye Chen stood by the window, gazing at the gradually brightening east, his eyes deep. Ye Family... Shadow Pavilion... The road ahead seemed to be filled with more thorns and traps.
But he clenched his fist, feeling the power surging within him.
No matter who came, he would never sit idly by and wait for death.
Dawn had arrived, the killing had stopped, but the journey was not over.