A Bold Move

The team Gu Jinlai was traveling with was the Jiang Family's convoy, transporting moonlight grass to the provincial capital.

This herb was one of the auxiliary ingredients for refining Spirit Nourishing Pills. It could only be transplanted after bathing in moonlight at night, so the convoy would not only hurry with all its might but also travel by night and lie low by day for the next several days.

"When is the convoy leaving?"

Gu Jinlai asked.

The leader was the middle-aged Gang Condensing man who had followed Jiang Xiyu around during the day. His name was Shao Hong.

"We'll set out once the Fang Family's garden sends over the herbs. It should take about two hours."

Shao Hong replied.

Gu Jinlai nodded.

He looked once more toward the streets of Changjun City shrouded in darkness.

He was leaving soon.

A dignified Spirit Refiner, forced to slink away; not only could he no longer remain a Spirit Refining Giant, he had to switch careers and become a Celestial Master.

Although Celestial Masters held exalted positions, refined artifacts, tamed beasts, and had money pouring in, repeatedly refining qi into spirit left their bodies frail—even weaker than Body Tempering martial artists. They were worlds apart from Spirit Refining True Persons, who wielded boundless might in a single body.

He could practically be made into a cautionary tale for the Spirit Refining world.

"I'll be back."

Gu Jinlai muttered to himself.

Looking at Changjun City beneath the night sky, faint melancholy welled in his eyes.

This journey...

He gazed to the ends of the earth, down the road of parting, with no idea what year he would return.

Sigh.

Gu Jinlai sighed again.

Yet before he could finish that breath, a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

He was leaving anyway.

He had already decided to abandon evil and embrace good anyway.

He did not even want to bother with the Purgatory Demon Sect's mess anymore.

He was going to change careers and become a Celestial Master anyway.

So...

Should he make one last haul at the Demon Refining Hall before he left?

It wasn't as though he had to fight and kill.

He only needed to "take" some things that belonged to him.

The Demon Refining Hall's people had swallowed the lion's share of his achievements. Surely they could at least let him drink some soup.

Besides, refining artifacts cost a fortune in raw materials.

The moment he thought of this, Gu Jinlai could no longer sit still.

He climbed down from the carriage and said to Shao Hong, "I forgot to bring something. I'll be back in half an hour."

Shao Hong was startled. "Then please hurry, Elder Gu."

"I won't keep you waiting."

Gu Jinlai spoke briefly, then quickly followed the veil of night toward the Demon Refining Hall.

The Demon Refining Hall had three Spirit Refining hall masters, and its six halls and twelve courtyards were fraught with danger.

Wearing a Demonic Beast mask, Gu Jinlai carefully infiltrated it under cover of night.

He moved through the outer courtyard, trying to figure out where Zhang Xiu lived, only to discover something unexpected...

The hall master wasn't here?

The Demon Refining Hall's hall master, Yun Guantian, had gone somewhere unknown. Apart from a few disciples, there was no movement in the courtyard.

Of the Demon Refining Hall's three hall masters, one had gone to Star Province's provincial capital a month ago and had yet to return.

Now Yun Guantian was absent as well, leaving only Zhang Xiu in the entire Demon Refining Hall.

"In terms of wealth, how could Vice Hall Master Zhang Xiu compare with Hall Master Yun Guantian? Besides, the Heaven and Earth Universe Diagram requires Yun Guantian to activate it personally. He must have been involved in swallowing my achievements and handing over the Great Sun Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method."

Gu Jinlai changed targets.

He had not come for slaughter, only to vent the anger in his heart.

Naturally, he would cause the Demon Refining Hall as much damage as possible.

This time, no one was there to draw the attention of the Spirit Refining True Person Zhang Xiu away for him.

But on his way there under cover of night, Gu Jinlai had already made his preparations.

Attack what must be defended.

The Heaven and Earth Universe Diagram!

The Heaven and Earth Universe Diagram was located in the rear hall and required a formation to nourish and sustain its operation.

Otherwise, even a Spirit Refining True Person could not support the consumption of a dao artifact.

As Gu Jinlai headed toward the rear hall, quite a few fireworks and firecrackers had already appeared in his hands.

There were plenty of guards at the rear hall.

There were more than a dozen Qi Refiners, and there had to be one or two Core Forming experts stationed there as well.

Using fireworks and firecrackers to burn down the Heaven and Earth Universe Diagram would be a pipe dream.

But Gu Jinlai only needed to draw their attention. The Heaven and Earth Universe Diagram was of enormous importance. Once the firecrackers went off, no matter how confident Zhang Xiu was in the rear hall's defenses, he would have to investigate and eliminate the danger.

He placed the fireworks and firecrackers he had picked up along the way in a hidden corner of the rear hall, rigged a simple trigger, lit it, and hurried toward the hall master's courtyard.

"Whoosh! Bang!"

By the time he infiltrated the area outside Hall Master Yun Guantian's courtyard, the ear-piercing noise had ripped across the night sky, accompanied by dazzling flames.

"Be on guard! Watch out for enemies!"

"There's firelight at the rear hall!"

"The rear hall!? Quickly! Get over there! Protect the Heaven and Earth Universe Diagram!"

Wave after wave of chaos and commotion quickly spread from the Demon Refining Hall.

The Demon Refining Hall, composed of six palaces and twelve courtyards, instantly became incredibly lively.

Vice Hall Master Zhang Xiu also noticed the disturbance outside. But these fireworks and flames clearly showed that someone was using a diversionary tactic. His first move was to summon his disciples and order them to guard their own courtyards, making sure no one broke in. Only then did he hurry toward the rear hall.

As for Hall Master Yun Guantian's courtyard...

It had never even crossed his mind.

When a fire suddenly broke out, everyone's first concern was the damage to their own possessions. Even if other people's private property in the house burned down, they would not have time to make the connection in the short term.

Besides, Zhang Xiu and Yun Guantian were nowhere near being family.

Gu Jinlai had slipped toward the courtyard before the fire started.

But he had not cultivated any movement techniques, and he was unfamiliar with the courtyard where Yun Guantian lived. Less than a breath after he entered, a furious shout rang out.

"Who's there!"

Immediately afterward, a Core Forming expert charged out with three Gang Condensing experts.

Gu Jinlai was not surprised.

He drew his sword directly from its sheath.

It was the superior-grade sword Jiang Xiyu had given him.

He ultimately could not bring himself to take back something he had already given away. How could the value of these external possessions compare with his life?

Because of his generosity, Gu Jinlai's poorly maintained inferior-grade sword had been allowed to retire.

The superior-grade sword made his sword astral energy even sharper.

Gu Jinlai drew his sword and charged, sword astral energy crisscrossing the air. The Core Forming expert who met him head-on threw out a fist astral energy, but the sword astral energy cleaved it apart on the spot.

"Bang!"

Astral energy burst outward. Amid the exploding waves of force, his body was knocked back several steps.

"Peak Core Forming!? Number Six, go call for help! Number Three, Number Four, fall back inside with me and hold the line until reinforcements arrive!"

After instantly judging Gu Jinlai's level, the fist expert gave the order.

One of them possessed exquisite movement skills and flew away. The other two formed a pincer with him, creating a formation as they rapidly retreated.

This was the Demon Refining Hall!

They only needed to hold out for a moment before reinforcements arrived. The leader of the Core Forming experts had chosen the safest tactic.

Gu Jinlai strode forward, sword in hand, and charged. The true qi inside him surged like the blazing sun, carrying explosive might amid its fierce heat.

However, just as he was about to unleash his sword astral energy again and crush—or even heavily injure—the three men, the corner of his eye suddenly caught something.

Light!

Karma like fire, a dark-red light as red as blood!

The dark-red Karma was less than twenty paces away from him, directly along the retreating path of the Core Forming expert.

Once he unleashed his sword astral energy and launched a savage strike at the Core Forming expert and the two men beside him, that mysterious existence could attack with utter ruthlessness and kill him instantly.

What Gu Jinlai found most unbelievable was that although the corner of his eye had already "seen" that dark-red, blood-red Karma, although less than twenty paces separated them...

He had sensed not the slightest trace of aura.

Nor had his naked eyes discovered where the figure was.

This art of concealing one's aura and hiding one's presence...

Gu Jinlai's heart chilled.

Clearly, the Core Forming expert's supposed retreat to defend the building was merely a facade.

The key was to provide the hidden attacker with a chance for a killing blow.

If this had been any other peak Core Forming expert, they would probably already have been dead the next second.

At that moment, Gu Jinlai's thoughts raced at their absolute limit.

The sword astral energy slashing toward the fist-wielding Core Forming expert did not change in the slightest. It even grew stronger!

The true qi cultivated through the Great Sun Demon Radiance Art was squeezed out to the last drop, surging and churning through his entire body like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

To outsiders, it seemed that he feared the situation would grow more dangerous the longer he delayed, so he poured all his true qi into one sword. As that sword fell, its speed soared, and its sword astral energy shook the heavens.

The violent friction between the sword astral energy and the air rumbled like muffled thunder.

A ring of visible white air exploded from the tip of the sword, spreading in ripples, whipping up a hurricane that swept in every direction.

"Die!"

Just as Gu Jinlai unleashed this thunderous, earth-shaking sword meant to secure victory, the figure that had remained absent from his "perception" until now finally moved.

"Whoosh!"

Silent as death, like a specter that had crossed over from the depths of the Nine Hells, it thrust out a life-taking streak of cold light with unbelievable speed.

In the next instant, the dagger flashing with a ghostly radiance would sweep across his throat and sever his head.

But...

There would be no next instant.

Just as the figure's dagger was about to cut off Gu Jinlai's head, a net formed just as silently beside him.

A net of death woven from invisible, intangible sword qi.

As the ghostlike figure charged at Gu Jinlai, it was like a car speeding straight into razor-sharp steel wires.

Under the tremendous relative speed between the two, in the end...

"Slash, slash, slash!"

Sword qi intertwined.

A mist of blood filled the air.

The ghostlike figure's dagger stopped less than three centimeters from Gu Jinlai's throat.

Then, abruptly, its body collapsed.

Invisible, intangible sword qi had cut it into more than a dozen pieces, scattering them across the ground.

He had hidden without a sound, and he died without a sound as well.