The Death Warrior's Resolve

I am a death warrior, a death warrior of the Ascend to Immortality Realm.

Gan Fan felt that he had already died in that wilderness when he was six years old, torn apart and devoured by wandering beasts, becoming little more than a lone ghost.

His master had given him a way to live, given his family a way to live, and given him the chance to pursue Immortal Cultivation and live several hundred years longer.

Now, he was carrying out his final mission. Once it was done, he could hide his name and identity, never return to the Human Domain, find somewhere to spend the rest of his life comprehending the realm of immortals.

But this mission was not to kill someone. It was to...

"Gan Fan, beyond this barrier lies Women's Country. All who live within are women, and only one or two of them are above the Ascend to Immortality Realm."

His hooded master sent him this instruction:

"Your mission this time is to infiltrate Women's Country. In a few days, Ji Mo, the youngest son of the Ji Family of the Human Domain, will arrive in Women's Country. Then you will do this, this and that."

Ruining the reputation of the Ji Family's youngest son?

Why not simply kill him with a single sword strike?

Though the Nascent Soul Realm was not considered weak among cultivators who had yet to become immortals, Gan Fan could kill him with ease.

But this was a mission given by his master. Gan Fan did not ask why, merely lowered his head and accepted it.

Gan Fan did not know whom his master served, but after running errands for his master for so many years, he vaguely sensed that he was working himself to the bone for some great lineage.

Cultivators like him, whose souls bore layer upon layer of shackles and who could not break free no matter how high their cultivation became, were the 'Death Warriors' raised by great lineages.

At first, the plan had gone smoothly.

On the night Ji Mo and Ling Xiaolan arrived in Women's Country, Gan Fan infiltrated the National Preceptor's residence. He had originally been exceedingly cautious, afraid that the National Preceptor would swat him to death with one palm, but after entering the banquet, he suddenly discovered...

Though this National Preceptor possessed powerful Spiritual Sense, he would not need thirteen moves to kill her.

Another pitiful creature.

She only knew to pray to gods for the power of Spiritual Sense, yet did not understand how to cultivate herself and attain the Dao of longevity.

Using the Soul-Bewildering Pill he carried with him, along with a little ventriloquism—imitating a woman's voice—Gan Fan lured Ji Mo out of the National Preceptor's residence. While the other man's soul was still muddled, Gan Fan knocked him unconscious and carried him away, sealing his Nascent Soul.

What followed was somewhat beyond Gan Fan's expectations.

His master had devised the plan in meticulous detail, leaving Gan Fan, who had spent his whole life cultivating, training, honing his techniques, and running himself ragged on missions, slightly unaccustomed to it.

He had to spend nights of passion with multiple women of Women's Country in a short time.

These mortal women, and he, with his half-immortal body, actually...

Forget it. A death warrior had no right to pick and choose his missions. To carry out his master's command, Gan Fan had willingly defiled his half-immortal body.

Farewell, Pure Yang Immortal Body!

He slipped into the first woman's room. Not only did she not resist, she was instead incredibly proactive.

When he emerged, he suddenly felt refreshed and invigorated, as though the wind blew beneath his feet. His entire being seemed reborn, as if he had pushed open the door to a new world.

Then came the second house, the third house...

Like a general full of high spirits, he pointed out the rivers and mountains, splashed ink and wielded his brush, galloped unhindered across the field, and repeated his old tricks. Then, suddenly, he rested with spear for pillow awaiting battle, returned as a hero, stood in grim battle formation, remained ever prepared, and suffered grave losses to his vitality. Then he abruptly heard the sound of a wooden fish, as though weary of the world's strife; his sword had grown old and lost its gleam, his strength fell short, so he released his horse and returned to the fields, planting beans beneath the southern mountain, serenely watching the setting sun beside distant hills.

Gan Fan, who had never known fear and had never understood what terror was, that night... his legs went weak.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, changed his appearance, disguised himself as a woman, and while Ji Mo was being berated by the National Preceptor of Women's Country, he shrieked from the crowd:

"Beat him to death!"

The people of Women's Country were stirred into a frenzy and hung Ji Mo from the city wall.

Everything was perfect.

After recovering his spirits, Gan Fan completed the final step of the plan—using a magic treasure to record Ji Mo hanging from the city wall, covered head to toe in vegetable leaves, then placing that magic treasure at a designated location on the border.

Gan Fan did so, smoothly completing the final step of his mission.

Having received no further instructions, when he once again saw the capital of Women's Country from the clouds, flames rose in his eyes, and something strange stirred within his Dao heart.

Why could he not live another way?

At that moment!

At that very moment, a Northern Plains Divine Envoy suddenly appeared!

With only a few words, he saved Ji Mo, utterly disrupting the plan his master had arranged. He was even honored as a distinguished guest by Women's Country, exchanging coquettish glances with the current saintess of the Heavenly Origin Mystic Maiden Sect!

This was his country, his future paradise!

Gan Fan's reason told him not to touch this Northern Plains Divine Envoy, or he would only create needless complications.

Northern Plains was the strongest region of human forces beyond the Human Domain and was quite famous even within the Human Domain. It possessed the Star Invocation Technique, and the grand Moon Sacrifice of the Star Invocation Technique was widely believed to wield strength equivalent to the realm of immortals.

He concealed himself in the clouds, intending to quietly wait for these people to leave Women's Country, but...

A nameless fire kept rising in his heart. Whenever he thought of that Divine Envoy sitting in a magnificent carriage and accepting everyone's bows, while the entire country bloomed like a peony solely for that Divine Envoy!

Kill him, frame Ji Mo.

Kill him, frame Ji Mo!

Would that not allow him to better complete the mission his master had assigned?

Perhaps the master behind his master feared the power behind Ji Mo, but Northern Plains was full of simple-minded brutes. Perhaps this could severely cripple the Ji Family.

And then, by relying on such merit, he could live freely and happily in Women's Country, become the shared property of all the women of Women's Country, and become the one and only...

Immortal of Women's Country!

Gan Fan did not think long or hesitate much. The instant his thoughts became clear, he used Skyward Flight to reach the skies above the National Preceptor's residence, his gaze locking onto the Northern Plains Divine Envoy's quarters, which he had investigated earlier.

Ambush him once, and he was as good as dead!

First, he imitated Ji Mo's voice and sent it over to lure him to the door:

"Brother Xiong, are you resting?"

He came.

This Divine Envoy could never imagine that Gan Fan would suddenly appear in this corner at such a moment!

Didn't expect that, did you, pitiful man? Hahaha! Even Gan Fan himself had not expected it!

Only this way could he catch his opponent unprepared. Only this way could he leave no trace and strike him before he had time to react!

Ji Mo should be rather skilled with a sword. Fine, then...

Sword Embodiment of a Thousand Spirits, Calamity and Fortune Arise!

With a flick of his longsword, he unleashed countless streaks of Sword Qi, shooting them toward the figure behind the wooden door!

At this distance, there was no way the other man could evade a sword using fifty percent of his strength...

He dodged it!

The cruel smile at Gan Fan's lips froze. The young man he meant to kill was rapidly retreating, while two artifact spheres the size of heads erupted with brilliant, cold radiance!

A vast surge of Star Power crashed straight at him like mountains collapsing and seas overturning, pushing him into a rapid retreat!

Then a yard-long ice shard shot toward him. Ferocity flared in Gan Fan's eyes, anger tinging his cold face as the immortal sword in his hand, which had drunk the blood of untold beings, slashed out dozens of sharp streaks of Sword Qi.

Each Sword Qi was like a bolt of silk, each wave shaking heaven and earth.

Wings unfurled behind the Northern Plains Divine Envoy's back, yet he darted left and right beneath Gan Fan's second killing move.

The entire wooden building looked like a sandcastle on the verge of collapse!

Just then!

Gan Fan's Spiritual Consciousness leaped wildly. At the edge of his vision, he caught a blooming lotus. Layer after layer, its petals unfolded, and a figure had already appeared eerily behind him, stabbing several sword strikes toward him.

With no time to think, Gan Fan twisted through the air. Dozens of black streaks flew from his sleeves, and he also saw who the person attacking from behind was.

She stood in the air a hundred yards away, dressed in white, her veil like snow. It was Ling Xiaolan of the Leaping God Realm!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sword Qi collided, sword shadows clashed, and Gan Fan was actually beaten back again and again. Blood spurted from his shoulders and arms in streams.

Gan Fan was deeply shaken. Was Ling Xiaolan not a cultivator of the Leaping God Realm? Was her cultivation not a whole major realm beneath his, making it difficult for her to harm him?

Look at Ling Xiaolan... her right foot tapped downward, her left leg curled up, her long hair streaming behind her. Seven lotuses danced around her, breathtakingly beautiful, yet beneath that beauty lurked boundless killing intent...

Gan Fan gritted his teeth. At this moment, he had no confidence whatsoever in defeating this woman head-on, and his figure immediately prepared to flee into the air.

"The Goddess once said, heaven and earth have their boundaries!"

A loud cry suddenly rose from the ground. Gan Fan lowered his head and happened to see the National Preceptor, whose chest heaved like rolling waves, whose sins were profound, whose clothes were revealing, and who could not withstand his thirteenth sword strike, raising an exquisite short staff high overhead.

Intense Spiritual Sense fluctuations spread outward with the National Preceptor at their center!

With a bang, Gan Fan's rising body seemed to slam into an invisible wall.

Just then, a graceful figure suddenly stepped out from behind the National Preceptor. She raised both hands as though gripping something, pulled her right hand back in the motion of drawing a bow, and light condensed in her palm, forming a bow of light and shadow.

Gan Fan had never seen this sudden newcomer before, but at first glance, he remembered her beautiful figure.

The bowstring trembled!

Gan Fan's vision went dark. Before he could make any response, his Primordial Spirit suddenly withered, as if someone had viciously punched the back of his head before he began cultivating.

Ling Xiaolan had already reached him. Lotuses bloomed one after another, and blood arrows burst from Gan Fan's entire body!

This was, this was a trap!

There should not have been many people in all of Women's Country stronger than him, yet the few who could threaten him had actually lain in ambush here!

They had even hidden in cabinets, hidden atop beds!

Gan Fan fiercely bit the tip of his tongue. Several secret patterns lit up across his back, and his figure abruptly shifted dozens of yards to one side as he lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.

A gigantic disk appeared overhead. The disk was formed from rings, each rotating at a different speed, containing within it the principles of the stars.

Women's Country has a god called the 'Goddess,' who later vanished without a trace.

This was the divine power borrowed by the National Preceptor!

The skies were blocked. He could only find another way!

Gan Fan caught sight of Ji Mo also rising into the air, charging toward this place in a blaze of fury. Ji Mo even held several Immortal Treasures in his hands!

With an angry roar, he endured the wounds all over his body and fired out streams of light, hurling the artifacts hidden in his sleeves toward Ling Xiaolan in a surging torrent. His figure first circled halfway around, then without warning plummeted rapidly, one palm pressing down toward that Northern Plains Divine Envoy!

Take the weakest one hostage, then escape!

"Brother Xiong!"

Ling Xiaolan indeed cried out anxiously. The National Preceptor and that beautiful unfamiliar female immortal also looked toward the Northern Plains Divine Envoy in alarm.

Die!

But not until this poor Daoist borrows your life to escape.

Suddenly, Gan Fan's pupils contracted sharply, and warning bells rang madly in his heart!

He had been careless. There was no way to dodge!

Gan Fan could only instinctively unleash all his immortal power around himself, manifesting the phantom of a giant python dozens of yards long. Opening its jaws, it bit down toward the man on the ground!

That Northern Plains Divine Envoy... suddenly crouched.

A string of strange syllables came from his mouth, while the three enormous Crystal Balls floating around him blazed with light. Those strange syllables came because he was chanting too quickly, while the Crystal Balls amplified Spiritual Sense!

The wooden plank floor shattered, revealing the glowing six-pointed star beneath. Boundless Star Power gathered from the ground, and a silver-white dragon head formed, roaring earth-shakingly at the giant python charging down from above!

The Divine Envoy leaped up, landing atop the silver dragon's forehead.

The Star Dragon burst from the earth. Its body was seemingly transparent, and the shadows of countless constellations could be seen within. Its jaws opened and swallowed the giant python in one gulp, then charged into the heavens and crashed against that disk...

When the starlight exploded, Gan Fan felt someone seize his neck. A powerful Spiritual Sense battered his heavily wounded Nascent Soul. His Nascent Soul had shattered, and his Golden Core had exploded.

"Tsk, the Star Invocation Technique's power dropped so much after leaving Northern Plains... though this Ascend to Immortality Realm cultivator seems even more watered down."

Gan Fan heard the man muttering and barely managed to see the Northern Plains Divine Envoy's face.

The other man muttered, "Was this Ascend to Immortality Realm cultivated by piling up pills?"

"You! You..."

Ling Xiaolan flew over from the side. "Brother Xiong! Keep his soul and interrogate him!"

"No need. The Star Invocation Technique has a spell that lets one view a living being's memories from the past few months by burning its remnant soul."

That was the last thing Gan Fan heard before he seemed to fall into endless darkness.

Memories... viewing memories... then would that not reveal everything that happened that night to them...

Is this what men are like? It's nothing much after all. Sorry for scratching you. I was too nervous before.

Is it over? Wasn't it just... Well, why do you look so dejected? Is there anything I need to do for you?

Don't be sad. You already worked very hard. So this is the marital rite of the Human Domain. The process is so quick.

"Ah!"

Gan Fan suddenly opened his eyes. A layer of fire ignited across his forehead, startling Wu Wang into throwing his mutilated body away.

Ling Xiaolan frowned. "He actually burned his final Primordial Spirit."

"He was probably a death warrior."

Wu Wang shook his head and looked toward the ruler and National Preceptor below, who were preparing to slip away quietly. He called out brightly, "As expected of Your Majesty, so brilliantly calculating. You knew someone would come to attack tonight and had laid an ambush here long ago.

Many thanks to Your Majesty and the National Preceptor for saving us!"

The ruler of Women's Country looked up at Wu Wang, then could not help letting out a snort of laughter as she raised her hand and waved it forcefully.

"Come find me in the palace at dawn!"

Wu Wang agreed with a smile, slowly descending from the sky. Ji Mo, who had arrived half a step too late, could only inspect the corpse and do the work of a coroner.