Strange Cave

The square stone platform beneath Han Fei's feet slowly rose. This altar had been buried deep underground, and as it ascended, it pushed up vast amounts of soil.

Han Fei muttered, "No wonder I blasted such a huge pit in the ground a few days ago and still didn't see this altar. It was buried this deep."

The golden runes floating in midair around him grew brighter and brighter. The golden radiance they emitted complemented the altar, as though the two shared some kind of connection.

At the same time, in the mountains not far from this place, the Black Veil Woman darted swiftly through the forest. Her destination was precisely the area where Han Fei was.

Fu Jiahao and the Black Robe Maidservant followed close behind her. Although the Black Veil Woman was at the same cultivation level as the two of them, all being at the sixth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm, the difference between the three was as vast as heaven and earth.

The Black Robe Maidservant was somewhat stronger than Fu Jiahao, while the Black Veil Woman was somewhat stronger than the Black Robe Maidservant. Thus, there was a slight difference in their speed. Still, the two of them were able to keep up with the Black Veil Woman.

With a swish, the Black Veil Woman arrived atop one of the three peaks and looked down. Between the three mountain peaks, a massive light barrier twenty to thirty meters in diameter appeared.

Through the barrier, she could vaguely make out what was happening inside. Han Fei stood on a square stone platform. The platform was jade green, unlike ordinary stone, and looked overall like an altar.

The appearance of the Woman in Black Veil did not draw Han Fei's attention. At the moment, all his attention was focused on the slowly rising altar.

Drawing her Purple Light Sword, the Woman in Black Veil immediately launched an attack at the golden light barrier.

A black shadow, trailing purple light, shot rapidly toward Han Fei.

She had originally assumed that the golden barrier would be difficult to break through. Yet when her spirit-energy-infused sword touched it, she encountered no obstruction whatsoever. Since she had used too much force, the instant she passed through the barrier, she slammed straight into the altar.

Han Fei had initially been startled by the woman's imposing aura, but he had not expected the Woman in Black Veil to be so fierce that she did not slow down even when she was so close to him.

What he did not know was that it was not that she had refused to slow down. She simply had not had time to.

With a bang, the Woman in Black Veil failed to strike Han Fei and instead crashed directly into the altar with a dull thud.

Han Fei blinked. The scene before him was simply too shocking.

Honestly, Han Fei knew perfectly well that the woman had come with hostile intentions, but this way of making an entrance caught him completely off guard.

Han Fei said quietly, "Hey, if you did that where I was born, people would call it a scam. I was standing here perfectly fine, so why did you crash into me?"

The Woman in Black Veil took a moment to recover, then slowly climbed to her feet. She gripped her sword tightly in her right hand and said hatefully, "I wasn't trying to crash into you. I was trying to kill you, you—"

Smack! Han Fei slapped the Woman in Black Veil across the face, knocking the rest of her words back down her throat.

The Woman in Black Veil was stunned. She had grown up in Asura Hall. Although she had four older brothers, her status was the highest—not because her cultivation was stronger, but because she was more intelligent. At such a young age, she was already an absolute high-ranking figure in Asura Hall.

This had made her personality extremely prideful and unyielding. At nineteen years old, she had already reached the peak of the sixth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm. Among people her age, almost no one could achieve such a level.

Yet despite being such a distinguished, heaven-favored daughter, she had been slapped by Han Fei. How could she not be stunned?

Meanwhile, Han Fei had already jumped five meters away. Standing at the edge of the altar, he bounced back and forth as he mocked, "Kill me? Plenty of people want to kill me. Who the hell do you think you are?"

The Woman in Black Veil took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her fury as she raised her sword and attacked Han Fei.

"You actually dared to hit my face! I—"

With a swish, just as she was about to make her move, Han Fei used short-range Teleportation and appeared directly in front of the Woman in Black Veil. He slapped her across the face once more.

That slap finally cowed the Woman in Black Veil. She immediately crouched on the ground and began to cry.

Han Fei blinked. Having lived two lives, he had barely interacted with women aside from Qi Xuanxuan, much less knew how to comfort one.

At that moment, Han Fei could only numb himself by treating this woman as an enemy.

As he watched the surrounding light barrier gradually solidify, Han Fei intended to throw the Woman in Black Veil outside it.

At that moment, the Black Robe Maidservant and Fu Jiahao arrived at the mountaintop almost simultaneously. Looking through the barrier, they happened to see the Woman in Black Veil being beaten.

The two immediately planned to rush down. However, the barrier had nearly fully solidified by then and had begun shrinking frantically.

The instant they touched the barrier, an irresistible force sent them flying. Both fell ten meters away. Fu Jiahao spat out a mouthful of blood, while the Black Robe Maidservant merely gave a muffled groan. Evidently, she had forcibly swallowed her blood back down.

In the end, the barrier enveloped the entire three-tiered altar. After a flash of light, the two people atop the altar vanished.

The altar also turned completely golden. Then the earth began to tremble once again as it started sinking downward.

The Black Robe Maidservant rose to her feet, her eyes narrowed as she watched helplessly while the golden altar disappeared into the huge pit in the ground.

Fu Jiahao let out a breath. "What do we do now? The young lady is gone."

The Black Robe Maidservant snorted coldly. "What the hell does that have to do with me? I'm not from Asura Hall. You're her direct subordinate, so you should be thinking about how you'll die if something happens to her."

Fu Jiahao frowned and said nothing more. He hurriedly began summoning people, calling over his trusted subordinates as well.

Meanwhile, Han Fei and the Woman in Black Veil arrived in a pitch-black cave.

With a boom, a row of torches automatically ignited along the walls on both sides, illuminating the surroundings.

The two of them were now inside an underground cave. This cave did not seem naturally formed, because Han Fei could see traces of man-made excavation on the walls.

The Woman in Black Veil was still crouched on the ground, crying bitterly. Though she was brilliant and clever, she had little experience in the world. She understood everything she should about the cultivation world, but in terms of dealing with people and her self-esteem, she was not even as mature as a child.

Especially when it came to her pride—once it suffered a setback, her mind collapsed completely.

The Woman in Black Veil also understood now that she was no match for Han Fei. Over the years, those she had killed were mostly low-level Martial Artists. Although her sparring partners had all been high-level cultivators, none of them had dared to truly fight her.

Only now did she understand just how weak she was. She could not even defeat Han Fei, who was five levels below her.

How could she have known that Han Fei had used Teleportation to slap her twice? Even if she had sensed it, she would have been unable to dodge, because her blocking movements were not faster than Teleportation.

Han Fei lowered his head slightly and looked at the Woman in Black Veil, who was still crouching on the ground and crying. "Hey, are you done yet?"

The Woman in Black Veil slowly raised her head. Her eyes were red, and the left side of her face was somewhat swollen. Half of it was concealed by the black veil, so Han Fei could only see her eyes. Her aggrieved expression was enough to make anyone feel sorry for her.

The Woman in Black Veil looked around and discovered that the two of them had appeared inside a cave.

Although Han Fei had slapped the Woman in Black Veil until she cried, he did not feel the slightest sympathy for her. When she had rushed toward him, he had seen Fu Jiahao and that mysterious woman in black robes appear on the mountaintop.

Since Fu Jiahao and the Woman in Black Veil were together, they were undoubtedly enemies.

Han Fei said coldly, "You'd better not get any more crooked ideas. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."

Han Fei did not care much about the Woman in Black Veil. After all, she was no match for him.

As Han Fei spoke, he turned and walked deeper into the cave. Unexpectedly, the Woman in Black Veil suddenly took out a palm-sized round disc and hurled it directly toward Han Fei.

Han Fei spun around sharply and drew the broken sword from his back.

"Courting death..."

With a clang, Han Fei's broken sword struck the disc, instantly knocking it flying to the side, where it slammed into the wall.

Yet in that instant, Han Fei saw the upward curve of the woman's lips through her veil and knew things could not be that simple.

Sure enough, after the palm-sized disc struck the stone wall, it immediately lit up. The light formed a great net of spirit energy that wrapped around Han Fei entirely.

The Woman in Black Veil's face was filled with anger. She had already disliked Han Fei, and now that he had slapped her twice, she wanted even more to vent her rage.

The Woman in Black Veil narrowed her eyes. "This is a mid-grade Magic Treasure specially made to trap people. The light net can isolate all spirit energy. As long as your cultivation has not reached the Martial Origin Realm, once you're trapped by my Magic Treasure, don't even think about escaping."

As she spoke, the Woman in Black Veil put away her weapon and instead took out an iron rod. She strode forward furiously, intending to teach Han Fei a lesson and make sure he remembered it.