Hua Yi stood at the city gate of Luozhou, a creeping sense of unease and suspicion slowly rising in her heart.
She was strikingly beautiful, with a delicate, eye-catching appearance, a slender, tall figure draped in exquisite, ornate moon-white robes. Standing before the dilapidated, dust-stained city gate, she seemed utterly out of place.
This place was nothing like what her father had described. It bore not a trace of prosperity or liveliness, it was clearly a desolate, haunted city.
Two hours earlier, she had been sent by her father to Luozhou to search for a secret treasure. Oddly enough, this treasure had vanished from the world for centuries, yet recently, rumors had suddenly surfaced claiming it had reappeared in Luozhou.
The object was an ancient jade known as the Linglong Heart. Legend had it that merely wearing it could neutralize all poisons and enhance one’s cultivation. If used well, it could even help one break through realms and ascend. As soon as news of its appearance spread, every major immortal sect had dispatched their people.
Hua Yi walked slowly into the city, carefully observing her surroundings as she went.
Most of the shops along the streets were tightly shuttered. The occasional passerby seemed distracted and restless, glancing around nervously while hurrying along.
She silently pursed her lips. Her father had said Luozhou was lively and fun, she had been looking forward to it.
Though she was the young mistress of Yunque Marsh and her cultivation ranked among the best of her generation, her father never felt at ease letting her venture far on her own. This was her first time leaving home alone on a mission.
Seeing how eerie the city felt, Hua Yi decided to stop a passerby and ask what was going on.
She picked the most normal-looking person among the few on the street, cleared her throat softly, and stepped forward with a gentle smile. “Excuse me.”
But the moment her fingers brushed the person’s sleeve, he flinched as if electrocuted, violently shaking off her hand and turning to flee, shouting, “Get away! Get away! Don’t touch me! Don’t grab me, ahhh!”
Hua Yi was stunned for a moment, then irritation welled up inside her. She was stunningly beautiful and held a noble status, wherever she went, she was the center of attention, with people clamoring to please her. Who would dare tell her to get lost?!
She wasn’t a ghost, why did that man have to react as if he’d seen one!
Just as she was fuming, another figure in a cloak slammed into her shoulder and hurried past, nearly knocking her off balance.
“Who goes there!” Hua Yi, already irritated from being cursed at and shoved aside, felt her temper flare. “Sneaking around like that, halt!”
When the figure kept walking without a pause, Hua Yi directly drew her whip, Caiyin, and lashed it forward.
Caiyin was the name of Hua Yi’s signature weapon, a bell-whip custom-forged by her father specifically for her.
The whip was pale gold throughout, shaped like a blooming flower on a stem. The flower formed the bell, the stem the handle. Once unleashed, a flick of the wrist sent the long whip shooting out from the handle, the flower-bell spinning at the whip’s tip like a razor-sharp blade. It extended and retracted with exquisite precision, a marvel of intricate craftsmanship.
Caiyin coiled around the cloaked figure’s ankle, and Hua Yi yanked back, sending the person crashing face-first onto the ground before dragging them toward her.
“Quite a heavy frame,” she said, tilting her chin up to appraise the figure with a light snort. “Playing dead, are we? Don’t you watch where you’re going?”
When the figure remained motionless, Hua Yi narrowed her eyes in slight confusion.
…No way? She hadn’t even used spiritual energy, surely she hadn’t hit hard enough to knock them out?
She flipped the figure over with a kick. Indeed, they still made no sound, offered no resistance, and wore a mask.
With another flick of her whip, she precisely sent the mask flying, but the moment it left, she froze in place.
The figure’s cheeks were sunken, the face ashen and lifeless, the eyes hollow. It was a corpse!
Hua Yi’s fingers tightened around the whip. No wonder the figure moved stiffly, rigid and heavy. But how could a corpse walk the streets? An evil spirit must be controlling it.
She quietly channeled her spiritual energy, bending her knees slightly as she inched toward the corpse.
Suddenly, a wisp of black mist drifted out from within the masked figure’s shell.
She immediately stepped back and lashed out with her whip, a powerful burst of spiritual light striking the black mist. With a soft puff, the mist dispersed instantly, leaving only a faint trace of smoke in its place.
But before she could react, the black mist reassembled on its own, as if it couldn’t be destroyed, and fled ahead.
Hua Yi’s heart jolted. When she had swung her whip, she had activated the Flowing Flower Sound Technique, ordinary evil spirits couldn’t withstand it!
This black mist was clearly no ordinary thing. It looked like it had possessed a corpse as a host, perhaps it had drained the original living person dry to make them a corpse.
She quickly forgave the passerby who had shoved her away. No wonder he had been so terrified, with walking corpses roaming the streets, who wouldn’t be scared!
Though her mission was to find the Linglong Heart, with such evil lurking in Luozhou, there was no telling if the two weren’t connected. So Hua Yi didn’t hesitate to give chase.
Her lightness skill was exceptional. Seeing how bizarre Luozhou had become, she abandoned any pretense of walking and leaped directly across rooftops and walls in pursuit, her robes fluttering gracefully. Onlookers only saw a blur pass before their eyes, and she was gone, a truly striking sight.
Before long, Hua Yi had gradually caught up to the black mist. Noticing that it was skilled at concealing itself along the way, flickering in and out of sight, she drew out Caiyin and channeled her spiritual power. The flower bells at the whip’s tail immediately let out a series of crisp chimes.
This bell sound could control people’s minds and also detect ghosts and spirits. She raised Caiyin to probe her surroundings, then decisively lashed out in the direction where the bells rang most urgently.
The mist indeed revealed its form and was dispersed once more, but it then re-coalesced, carrying Hua Yi’s pale golden spiritual power, its presence even stronger than before.
Hua Yi let out an impatient “tch,” then raised her hand to form a seal. Her spiritual power surged abruptly, layers of spiritual light rushing along Caiyin to the whip’s head, slamming fiercely toward the black mist like flowing fire and startling thunder.
“Clang!”
Accompanied by a crisp sound, a sharp silver sword aura slashed across out of nowhere, forcibly scattering the spiritual power she had unleashed. A blinding flash burst forth in an instant.
Hua Yi found the light dazzling and couldn’t help narrowing her eyes slightly, only to hear a young man’s clear, cold voice fall: “Stop.”
A youth in dark black robes stood before Hua Yi, precisely blocking the dazzling light from moments ago.
Hua Yi was already tall, and most ordinary men were only slightly taller than her, yet this youth stood a full head above her, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, with an imposing bearing.
She took note of his attire: it shimmered with a faint dark ink mountain pattern, with fine silver threads adorning the shoulders and sleeve edges. The fabric was exquisite, carrying an air of refined nobility.
So he was from the Xuanmo Mountain Xie Clan.
Hua Yi said coldly, “I wasn’t aware that Xuanmo Mountain had taken to keeping company with demons and evil spirits.”
She looked up, and the youth was looking at her as well.
The youth’s ink-black hair was tied high and fell down his back. Light and shadow fell across his sharply defined profile, rendering his extraordinarily handsome features cold and clear. His brows and eyes carried an innate sharpness, his gaze as calm and deep as the night, impossible to read.
There was no need to ask who he was. The immortal clans frequently interacted, and the younger disciples generally knew one another, though some had more dealings than others. But this one before her, his name was known to all.
Hua Yi, annoyed at having her attack interrupted, said with little patience: “So it’s Xie Jue, Young Master Xie. I’ve heard much about you. Might I ask which of Young Master Xie’s friends or relatives this black mist happens to be?”
Xie Jue seemed not to have expected such a direct remark from the beautiful woman before him; a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
He lowered his gaze to sweep over the still-churning black mist, and a slender jade pendant hanging beneath his left ear swayed gently as he tilted his head.
“If you strike again, you’ll only help it grow stronger. This thing has considerable cultivation, your spiritual power is nothing but nourishment to it.”
Hua Yi was taken aback, her fingers unconsciously tightening around Caiyin as she frowned. “And how would you know that?”
Xie Jue said flatly, “Isn’t it obvious? You could tell after just two exchanges.”
As he spoke, he swept a meaningful glance over Hua Yi. “If you’d actually unleashed that formidable spiritual power of yours just now, this thing would probably be ready to worship you as its second mother.”
The corner of Hua Yi’s mouth twitched violently.
How did this man manage to cut people to the bone with such an air of effortless calm?
She was about to retort when she saw that the black mist, which had already absorbed no small amount of spiritual energy, had unknowingly expanded several times over. It suddenly transformed into a massive pitch-black maw, lunging viciously toward the two of them.
Xie Jue immediately stepped forward and said, “Stand back.”
He drew his long sword and held it horizontally across his chest. A barrier of silver sword aura formed, blasting the black mist back repeatedly as the murky fog churned without end.
Seeing how easily he handled it, Hua Yi remained where she was and said with leisurely composure, “So do you know what this thing is?”
“No. Let’s observe for now.”
And here I thought you knew everything. Hua Yi raised an eyebrow but said nothing more.
The black mist, unable to break through after a prolonged assault, suddenly scattered, but rather than fleeing far, it merely circled some tens of zhang ahead.
Hua Yi immediately followed without looking back, and Xie Jue trailed unhurriedly behind her. The two chased the black mist through a stretch of wild forest until they entered a dilapidated ancient shrine.
The shrine was dark and silent within, its walls carved with faded, archaic patterns, not at all like an ordinary ancestral hall.
Hua Yi had intended to adopt the same aloof demeanor as Xie Jue and refrain from speaking with him, but she was not one to hold her tongue easily. After half a moment, she couldn’t help but murmur quietly, “This isn’t an ordinary place, it looks more like a site for suppressing demons or offering sacrifices to heaven.”
When Xie Jue didn’t answer, Hua Yi let out an indignant huff, her clear voice tinged with a hint of girlish pique: “Are you deaf?!”
Damnable man, what was he playing at!
Xie Jue finally reacted. He slowly turned to the side, the dim light tracing the sculpted contours of his brow and eyes.
“I heard you.” His tone was utterly flat.
Hua Yi grew even more displeased. “If you heard me, why didn’t you answer? Cat got your tongue?”
Xie Jue’s gaze shifted slightly, as if he were seriously pondering for a moment, then he replied with an almost innocent calm: “I did answer.”
Hua Yi was momentarily speechless. Just as she was about to press further, she heard him leisurely add the second half of his sentence, a trace of faint amusement hidden in his clear, cool voice: “I answered with silence.”
Hua Yi stood frozen for a long moment before the meaning sank in. A surge of frustration rushed straight to her head. She gave her sleeve a sharp flick, refused to look at Xie Jue again, and strode deep into the shrine.
Hypocritical, putting on airs of purity! She wouldn’t waste her breath on someone like him!
But the black mist continued to swirl above the stone platform at the center of the ancestral hall, not fleeing, but deliberately hovering back and forth as if taunting them.
Hua Yi’s brow twitched. This black mist was only dodging, not retreating, it was clearly waiting for them, or rather, luring them in.
But since it could absorb spiritual energy, she couldn’t risk striking it rashly. Hua Yi was momentarily at a loss for what to do. Just as she was pondering, she suddenly felt something trembling at her waist.
She abruptly realized she had brought a sword with her, a magnificent blade she had specially picked from the armory before leaving, wanting to look elegant and impressive while flying on it.
She glanced down, sure enough, it was that very sword! It was emitting a faint, continuous hum.
How strange. They say famed weapons possess spirits, could this sword have some connection to this place?
Hua Yi sheathed her sound-controlling instrument and instead drew the sword, gripping it in her hand. Sword-light rippled across its surface, making her skin appear even more luminous and fair.
But the sword was behaving oddly. This morning when she had flown on it, it had obeyed her call readily. Now, for some reason, it seemed to struggle in her grasp, forcing her to divert her focus to keep it under control.
Xie Jue noticed Hua Yi’s abnormality and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “If you can’t handle a sword, don’t force it.”
Hua Yi bristled instantly. “Shut up!!” Seizing a gap in the fight, she easily dodged a sweep of black mist and shot Xie Jue a furious glare. “If you can’t speak properly, don’t speak at all!”
Before her words even faded, the black mist suddenly burst into a thick cloud of ink, enveloping and swirling between the two of them, obscuring their vision.
Then, seizing the opportunity, it split into countless fragmented shadows, launching wave after wave of fierce attacks at the sword in Hua Yi’s hand, wrapping around it, slamming into it, covering the blade in dense layers. The sword vibrated with an unending hum, as if an invisible force were trying to wrench it from her grasp.
Hua Yi sensed something was wrong. Why was the black mist reacting so violently after she drew the sword? She decided to sheathe it, but the blade was trembling uncontrollably, and with the black mist’s impacts interfering, she couldn’t get it back in.
A thought crossed her mind. She simply loosened her grip on the sword. “Since you have a spirit, then go where you will.”
With a sharp whoosh, so fast it was nearly impossible to react, the sword flew out on its own, plunging straight toward the black mist.
The black mist drifted teasingly around the stone platform at the center of the ancient hall, and the sword drove straight into that spot, burying itself to a depth that was staggering.
The entire blade sank almost completely into the stone platform. Had it been longer, it might have pierced straight through to the earth’s core, the force behind it seemed born of some blood-deep grudge.
Before she could even pull the sword out, in an instant, the entire ancient hall shook violently, and the stone platform split apart layer by layer.
A warm jade, gleaming with lustrous light, the size of a pigeon’s egg and shaped like a heart, slowly rose from the center of the platform. Within it, seven golden threads flowed like heart-veins, radiating vast spiritual energy that washed over them.
Hua Yi’s gaze sharpened, she recognized it at a glance. This was exactly what she had been searching for: the Linglong Heart.
The moment the jade’s light appeared, a gentle yet pure power swept through the entire hall. The black mist let out a short, shrill cry in the glow, then vanished without a trace.
Both Hua Yi and Xie Jue were stunned.
“Where did it go? That easily?” Hua Yi blinked, somewhat puzzled.
Xie Jue raised a hand, channeling spiritual energy to probe the surroundings. He detected not a trace of residual evil aura, yet something felt off.
Hua Yi noticed the sword seemed to want to move again. Fearing it might lose control and shatter the Linglong Heart, she abandoned her earlier hesitation about using spiritual power and lunged forward, channeling her energy to suppress the blade.
As she was sheathing the sword, she felt Xie Jue staring at her.
Utterly infuriating! Ever since meeting this man, she hadn’t managed to gain the upper hand even once, and he always seemed to catch her in flustered, chaotic moments!
Hua Yi fumed inwardly, but she didn’t want to turn around, so she pretended not to notice and muttered under her breath, “Could this be a sword that automatically slays demons? But Father never mentioned anything this good. I’ll have to ask him when I get back…”
But before she could dwell on it, Hua Yi snapped back to attention. Reacting swiftly, she reached out to seize the Linglong Heart.
Xie Jue moved almost simultaneously, his tall figure blocking her path as he raised his hand to take the jade.
“Xie Jue!” Hua Yi grabbed hold of him, her tone sharp. “I reached first!”