The Lord's Demise

On the open ground before the armory, flames danced. Chen Qing settled A Ning in a relatively safe corner, set up a simple barrier of starlight, then wheeled around.

The two wounded hall masters of Shadow Kill Tower staggered out in the distance, blood spilling from their mouths, fear in their eyes. But they knew they had nowhere left to retreat. Even if they fled, they would be dead tomorrow. They might as well make one last stand.

Chen Qing's gaze turned icy as he fixed his eyes on the two Shadow Kill Tower hall masters charging at him once more—"Shadow" and "Sunder." The Ancient Star Ruins Scripture ran through his body at unprecedented speed. The faint starlight around him grew clearer, as though he had donned a glimmering suit of armor.

"Die!" Hall Master Sunder shouted. His twin curved daggers crossed, each strike vicious and unpredictable, aimed straight at Chen Qing's vitals.

Hall Master Shadow's movements grew ever more elusive. Like a real shadow skimming the ground, he darted forward, his short blade slashing at Chen Qing's ankles and joints. Working in tandem with Sunder's fierce assault, his attacks were insidious to the extreme.

Chen Qing stepped through the astral currents, shifting within a tiny space and calmly dodging their lethal attacks.

He used his palms and fingers, sometimes striking, sometimes tapping, as starlight surged and ebbed around him. When it clashed with the curved daggers, the impact rang out like a muffled explosion, splitting Hall Master Sunder's palm open. When it met the short blade, it sent Hall Master Shadow's blood and qi roiling.

"Fight to the death! Finish him with everything you've got!" Shadow shrieked, his attacks growing more urgent.

Chen Qing felt the pressure too. It wasn't pressure from their strength, but from his own lack of combat experience. The two men were battle-hardened assassins, fighting as if their lives depended on it, coordinating seamlessly. Every move was lethal, and their movements were bizarre, making them extremely taxing to deal with—both physically and mentally.

He also had to keep an eye on the other assassins nearby and the possibility of hidden arrows flying at him.

Starlight could protect him, but it wasn't inexhaustible; it drained away with continued use. A strike from an unnatural angle tore open his sleeve, leaving a shallow gash. Starforce sealed it at once and stopped the poison from spreading, but the wound still showed how difficult his opponents were.

I have to end this quickly! Thoughts flashed through Chen Qing's mind, and starlight blazed in his eyes.

He deliberately left an opening, dipping his shoulder slightly.

"Strong, strange inner force—so what? You're still going to die by our hands!"

Hall Master Sunder thought he had his chance and lunged with a vicious grin, thrusting with all his strength! But Chen Qing didn't retreat. He surged forward instead, his left hand darting out—not to block, but to curl his fingers and seize and pull at empty space!

The first minor divine ability of the Ancient Star Ruins Scripture—Star Vortex Pull!

An invisible, twisting force field sprang into being around his left hand! Hall Master Sunder felt the curved dagger in his hand plunge into a raging vortex. It veered out of his control, throwing his entire body off balance and sending him stumbling forward!

At that very moment, Chen Qing clenched his right fist. All the Starforce in his body surged toward it, and his fist seemed to transform into a miniature star, radiating a terrifying, immense power and scorching heat! Before the punch even landed, the air around it was already twisting and shuddering!

The first offensive divine ability—Star Shattering Fist!

"Boom!"

Simple, direct, and utterly domineering, the punch slammed straight into Hall Master Sunder's chest, where Star Vortex Pull had left him completely exposed!

Hall Master Sunder's pupils contracted. The shadow of death swallowed him in an instant. He desperately tried to twist his dagger around to block, but that strange pulling force held him fast. All he could do was watch the fist grow rapidly before his eyes!

"No—!"

"Crack—!"

A thunderous impact rang out! The force of the Star Shattering Fist crashed into his body without restraint, and its savage astral power instantly destroyed his organs and meridians! Hall Master Sunder flew backward like a broken sack, smashing through half of a burning wall. When he hit the ground, he was a twisted heap of mangled flesh, his eyes still filled with utter terror and disbelief.

It had all happened too fast! Hall Master Shadow hadn't even had time to change his move before his partner was dead!

He stumbled back in terror, trying to melt into the shadows and escape.

But Chen Qing wouldn't give him the chance. The instant he killed Sunder, he surged after Shadow without pausing, moving like a shadow on his heels. He joined his fingers like a sword, condensed highly compressed starlight at his fingertips, and jabbed straight at the vital point in Shadow's back! This strike was even more condensed and swifter than the one he'd used against Shadow Fox.

Shadow was terrified out of his wits. He twisted with all his might and held his short blade across his chest to block!

"Shhk!"

The starlight pierced through the fine-steel blade in an instant. Its force undiminished, it plunged straight into his heart!

Hall Master Shadow's body went rigid. He looked down at the charred hole in his chest, then up at Chen Qing's unruffled eyes. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Then he toppled to the ground, stiff as a board.

The two hall masters had died in moments, and the remaining assassins immediately fell into disarray. The guards, who had recovered their wits, and the ferocious Wolf King quickly cut them down.

Yet just as the danger to the armory seemed to have passed, an indescribable killing intent surged in from the side like a rising tide, instantly enveloping Chen Qing!

Chen Qing whipped around.

In the distance, a thick shadow cast by the burning flames seemed to come alive. It writhed and rose, then gathered into a figure cloaked in black, his face hidden behind a pale mask.

It was the lord of Shadow Kill Tower, "Faceless"!

Chen Qing had no idea when he had silently crept so close!

"Very good." The lord's dry voice sounded as his gray eyes fixed on Chen Qing. "You were worth the trip."

Before the words had even faded, he flicked his black robe. His whole body seemed to merge with the shadows beneath the flames, vanishing in an instant!

The next moment, Chen Qing sensed deadly danger from his left, his right, and behind him! Three nearly identical figures of "Faceless" lunged out of the shadows, their claws, daggers, and palms striking at three vital points! Each figure radiated an utterly convincing aura and a bone-chilling killing intent!

Shadow Clones! And extremely sophisticated ones, capable of launching physical attacks all at once!

Chen Qing's pupils contracted. The Scripture of the Star Ruins surged to its limits as he spread his senses with all his might. His body swayed rapidly like willow branches in the wind, narrowly evading two attacks while slapping at the claws of the third figure!

"Bang!" Their forces collided. That figure wavered, its form seeming slightly insubstantial. But the other two, whose attacks he'd dodged, immediately lunged again without missing a beat!

At the same time, the lord's real body remained blurred and elusive. From impossible angles, he would flick out hair-thin, oddly iridescent poisoned needles or scatter poisonous fog capable of corroding inner force. He was utterly unscrupulous, resorting to every treacherous trick imaginable!

Chen Qing had already used up a great deal of Starforce, and was immediately forced onto the defensive.

The lord's martial arts were bizarre in the extreme. His movements were ghostlike, his attacks coated in poison, and his clones disrupted his focus, making it impossible to tell what was real and what was false. The battle was draining Chen Qing's mind and Starforce at a furious rate.

In several exchanges, his robe was slashed open in more places. His exceptional reflexes and starlight barrier had spared him any serious injuries, but his Starforce was draining at an alarming rate, and his breathing had grown slightly ragged.

A poisoned needle skimmed his arm, leaving a black line and a prickling numbness. He quickly forced it out with Starforce and neutralized the poison, but his brow still creased.

"Your power is certainly unusual. It counters ordinary inner force. But under absolute speed, deception, and attrition, how long can you last?" The lord's voice came from all directions, tinged with the cold amusement of a cat toying with a mouse. "Hand over the secrets of your technique, and I may grant you a quick death."

Chen Qing said nothing, but his eyes grew deeper and brighter. As he dodged and blocked, he continued using his senses to detect the minute differences in energy flow and aura between the lord's real body and his clones.

He had only one chance!

He deliberately showed weakness. The starlight around him flickered, and his movements slowed by half a beat.

One clone seized the opening and sprang at him, its claws reaching straight for his heart! The other two clones and several poisoned needles sealed off his escape routes from different directions!

Just as the killing trap closed around him, Chen Qing's eyes flashed!

He ignored every other attack. His body twisted at an impossible angle as he gathered all his remaining Starforce—and even the power he could wring from his own limits—into his right fist without holding anything back!

This time, it wasn't a mere flicker of light. His entire right arm seemed to transform into flowing starlight. A point of dazzling, utterly concentrated light flared atop his fist, as if he had truly plucked a tiny star from the heavens!

"Found you!" Chen Qing shouted, unleashing the Star Shattering Fist with the force to annihilate all before it. But instead of striking the clone in front of him, he aimed at a seemingly empty patch of shadow to his rear!

"What?!" For the first time, the lord's usually dry, placid voice rippled with shock he couldn't conceal!

His real body was forced out of the shadows, staggering into view. He crossed his arms to block the punch in haste, trying to withstand it head-on!

"Boom—!!!"

"Crack!"

The sound of bones breaking rang out clearly!

The lord's crossed arms twisted out of shape in an instant. The terrifying force of the punch broke through his defense and slammed into his chest!

"Pfft—!"

A mouthful of black blood mixed with chunks of organs sprayed from beneath his mask! His body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming hard into the armory's thick stone wall before sliding slowly to the ground.

With a crack, the pale mask split down the middle, then half of it fell away, revealing the colorless, contorted face of a middle-aged man in agony. His lifeless gray eyes now brimmed with shock, confusion, and... the utter disbelief of someone witnessing a myth come to life!

"N-no... impossible... This power... can't be... martial arts..." Each word brought more black blood spilling from his mouth, and his life force ebbed rapidly. "Is it... an... immortal art?! How can this world... truly have..."

Before he could finish, his head lolled to the side. The grayness in his eyes froze completely, and his life went out.

The infamous lord of Shadow Kill Tower had fallen!

Chen Qing breathed slightly hard and lowered his fist. The starlight around his arm slowly faded. He went over to the lord's corpse and searched it, pulling a cold Mysterious Iron Token from beneath his black robe. The character "Shadow" was carved on its front, while intricate, cryptic patterns covered the back. He also found a small roll of silk, wrapped in special oiled paper and seemingly covered in coded writing.

He put away the token and the silk, then didn't spare the corpse another glance.

The flames still blazed, but the cries of battle gradually died down. The Wolf King approached with a low growl and rubbed against Chen Qing's leg. In the distance, the fear in A Ning's eyes slowly faded, leaving nothing but complete trust.