Blood Sect's Siege, Qingwan and Wuchen Break the Enemy Together

The roof tiles let out a faint cracking sound, as if someone were slowly moving through the gaps. I stared at the falling withered leaf, which hung in mid-air, completely still.

The air was frozen by some kind of power.

The red lines on Yan Jiuxiao's arm had climbed to his shoulder, and blood beads were seeping from beneath his skin. Ye Qingwan quickly sprinkled medicinal powder onto the intersection of his meridians. The grayish-white powder ignited upon contact with blood, sending up a wisp of green smoke.

"It won't hold them for long," she whispered.

I didn't answer, my gaze sweeping across the four walls. The dark red patterns climbed upward like living things, and a cold, fishy scent began to pour from the cracks in the corners of the walls. In the eye sockets of the three dried corpses, blood flames reignited, their joints creaking as they slowly stood up.

They were about to activate the formation's core.

I snatched the pale gold crystal from under the offering table and stuffed it deep into my sleeve. This thing was a bet I'd won last night, and it was also my final sensory fuse—as long as the formation completely closed, it would immediately feedback the surrounding spiritual power flow.

"Don't circulate your energy," I said in a low voice. "They're using spiritual pressure to locate us."

Before I finished speaking, the roof tiles above exploded.

A dark figure leaped down from the hole, the Blood Crystal in his palm emitting a scarlet glow as he chanted an obscure incantation. Two more figures followed, lunging towards the temple door and the back window respectively. They inserted short blades into the doorframe, instantly carving runes.

The formation's eyes were taking shape.

I stomped on the ground, my Pseudo-Primordial Body spinning rapidly within me. A pale golden light shield erupted from the soles of my feet, enveloping the three of us like a bell. The assassin who lunged at me hit the light barrier and was sent flying, crashing into a beam and coughing up a mouthful of black blood.

The other two swung their blades. The moment the edges touched the light wall, they emitted a piercing screech, and their blades chipped.

"Such tough protective qi!" one of them exclaimed.

I ignored them and turned to Ye Qingwan, "You said earlier that the Soul-Burning Powder could last for ten breaths?"

She nodded, her hand already reaching into her hundred-treasure pouch.

"Sprinkle it now," I said.

Her eyes flickered, and she flicked the powder from the bottle towards the two spell-casting assassins at the door. The reddish-black powder ignited in the wind, turning into a gray mist that spread out. One of them inhaled it, his pupils contracting sharply. He suddenly turned and slashed at his companion's neck. The other, not to be outdone, bit down on his opponent's wrist, blood splattering everywhere.

The chaos lasted only a few moments, but it was enough to disrupt the formation's balance.

Seizing the opportunity, I kicked over the offering table. The wooden board struck the blood light projected by the formation's core, emitting a muffled "chi" sound. The red light, condensed in mid-air, instantly twisted and dissipated.

"City Lord Yan," I called out in a low voice, stepping aside. "Throw the token out."

He paused for a moment, seemingly not understanding.

"The token!" I emphasized. "Throw it now! Throw it outside the courtyard!"

He gritted his teeth and finally reached out, tossing the dark jade seal outside the door.

Almost simultaneously, the two assassins guarding the door immediately chased after it, scrambling and lunging towards the token as it landed.

The opportunity had arrived.

I grabbed Ye Qingwan's wrist and leaped towards the hole in the roof. She didn't resist, using my momentum to flip up, the hem of her clothes brushing against a broken roof beam. I followed closely, using the crumbling wall to push off with my right foot, and kicked the last ambusher hard in the chest with my left.

The man hadn't even had time to form a hand seal before he was sent flying backward, crashing through the earthen wall and falling into the weeds.

Ye Qingwan had already steadied herself on the roof ridge, her hair fluttering slightly, her gaze sharp. She glanced back at me without a word, then turned and sprinted towards the ruins on the east side.

I followed close behind.

Roars and the clash of weapons came from behind us. Clearly, there were more waiting assassins outside. Yan Jiuxiao leaped onto the roof a moment later. The blood lines on his left arm had broken inch by inch, and his face was as pale as paper, but he still gritted his teeth and followed.

We moved swiftly, stepping over collapsed courtyard walls, shattered pottery, and rotten door panels, finally entering a cluster of abandoned kilns. This had once been where the old city fired bricks, but now only ruins remained, with several half-collapsed kilns standing askew like the remains of giant beasts.

I leaned against a scorched stone wall, panting, my palm feeling slightly warm. A faint vibration came from the System—another wisp of Heaven-Slaying Origin had quietly accumulated. There were already two and a half wisps now, only half a wisp away from transforming into a Pseudo-Primordial Body.

Ye Qingwan squatted on the ground, tearing off a strip of her sleeve to bandage the wound on her shoulder. Blood soaked through the cloth, but her movements were steady, her brow unfurrowed.

Yan Jiuxiao stood at the cave entrance, his back to us, one hand pressed tightly to his chest where he hid the fake token. His breathing was heavy, and sweat mixed with blood trickled down his forehead.

"You knew the token was fake from the start?" he finally asked, his voice hoarse.

"Not from the start," I said. "I noticed something was off from the cracks in the seal. Your City Defense Department changed the clay mixture three years ago. The seal on the token at the trading post was the old cross pattern, but the one you have is the new spiderweb pattern."

He was silent for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. "So I'm a scapegoat? The entire ambush plan wasn't aimed at me at all?"

"They were after the 'token holder'," I corrected him. "Whoever held the token became the target. Even a beggar, if he had this jade seal, would be treated as someone who leaked secrets."

"But why did you give the token to me?" he suddenly turned around. "You knew it was fake!"

"It was useful precisely because it was fake," I said, looking at him. "As City Lord, you're the most conspicuous. They assumed you'd protect the token with your life, which is why they pursued you so relentlessly. The real breakthrough was never the token itself."

He stared at me, his expression complex.

Ye Qingwan looked up then, her gaze shifting between Yan Jiuxiao and me. She suddenly asked, "Then who are you, really? How could a disgraced eldest young master get a partial scroll of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art in the black market? And how could you recognize the Blood Demon Sect's markings at a glance?"

I didn't answer.

She didn't wait for my answer, simply looking down at her palm, where a faint trace of pale golden light remained—the Origin Power I had pressed into her hand earlier.

"Your protective light shield's frequency is very unusual," she said softly. "It's not a normal spiritual energy circulation path; it's more like... a leakage of some kind of rule."

The wind outside grew stronger. In the distance, flames surged from the direction of the ruined temple. Vaguely, figures could be seen moving bodies, and the sound of chains dragging on the ground.

Yan Jiuxiao slowly sat down, leaning against the cold stone wall, his fists clenched.

I closed my eyes, feeling the Heaven-Slaying Origin in my body slowly circulating. The more dangerous the situation, the faster it accumulated. As long as I didn't act, I could remain hidden.

But sometimes, even if you don't act, you have to let people see your strength.

Ye Qingwan suddenly stood up and walked over to me, crouching down in front of me, very close. She raised her hand, her fingertip gently brushing the edge of my sleeve—where a little pale gold dust, not yet dissipated, still clung.

"Next time you sprinkle the powder," she said in a low voice, "remember to tell me the dosage first."