Zhong Yi's Illusion Realm world.
Ashina Town, Tiger Gate Steps.
Zhong Yi crouched low, huddling like a maggot beside the stone steps, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Thud, thud, thud...
The Red Oni's enormous feet landed on the snow-covered stone steps. With every step, the stairs trembled faintly.
The Red Oni walked past the steps where Zhong Yi was hiding, exposing his back.
"Now!"
Zhong Yi took a deep breath and stood up.
When launching a sneak attack outside an enemy's field of vision, a red dot would appear over a fatal weak point.
"Deathblow!"
Without hesitation, Zhong Yi thrust at the red dot, driving Kusabimaru cleanly through the Red Oni's chest.
"Aaargh!!"
The Red Oni let out an agonized howl. One of his two lives vanished instantly, and he turned his crimson eyes on Zhong Yi.
"As long as you assassinate an enemy while they're off guard, you'll trigger a Deathblow. First, we lure the Red Oni out, then leave his aggro range and hide somewhere he can't see us, waiting for a chance to land a Deathblow. That lets us take one of his lives without suffering any damage... So, fellow cultivators, did you get all that?"
Zhong Yi quietly retreated several steps, feigning composure as he explained things to his livestream viewers.
The livestream's danmu erupted in applause.
[Impressive, impressive! Learned something new!]
[And then? How do you handle the second life?]
[After that? After that, brothers, you'll have to walk the road yourselves, because Lao Zhong doesn't know either.]
[I've been watching Lao Zhong fight the Red Oni for an hour. The Streamer only ever takes his first life!]
[Poor Buddha Carver's about to cough his lungs out.]
"Ahem, as for dealing with his second life, I have made some progress."
Zhong Yi's face