The black-robed disciple had opened his ear and eye acupoints. He was several times stronger than Cheng Yong and Cheng He, and extremely wary. When he saw his fellow disciples split up, he was briefly taken aback, but immediately reacted.
With a flick of his sleeve, five flashes of cold light shot out, aimed straight at Xiang Yuan's chest and face.
He was using offense as defense, forcing Xiang Yuan to parry. He was also clearly an experienced fighter.
Xiang Yuan had picked the wrong opponent. Seeing an unremarkable face, he had assumed the man was a junior, only to go straight for the senior brother, Duan Wei. If he'd chosen to ambush either of the other two, he would certainly have killed one more.
One chance in three, and he'd drawn an SSR. His luck was unbelievable.
As the hidden weapons came flying, Xiang Yuan abandoned his attack and swept his blade in a net of steel. Pear blossoms burst across the tree as he knocked away all five flashes with a series of sharp clangs.
By the time he tried to press the attack, it was too late. The other two black-robed men had come over, and the three of them surrounded him.
Duan Wei's face turned ashen. He demanded three answers in a row: "Who are you? Where did you get your information? Who betrayed me?"
Xiang Yuan had used Yellow Springs Dao movement techniques and could command yin wind, moving among the ghosts without being attacked. Duan Wei had therefore taken him for a fellow disciple.
A conspiracy swiftly took shape in his mind.
He had gathered people to refine a ghost god, and his fellow disciples were jealous. They didn't want him to succeed. If they could steal the ghost god for themselves, so much the better. If not, they would ruin his great opportunity so that no one could have it. That was only fair.
At the thought, Duan Wei was nearly bursting with rage. His fellow disciples were killing one another and dragging each other down. How could the Yellow Springs Dao prosper with shortsighted fools like them?
They deserved to waste their whole lives among the outer disciples!
The movement technique Xiang Yuan was using was the Thirteen Transformations of Yin Wind and Ghost Mist, drawn from the Three Yin Book of Life and Death. He also had a set of palms called the Blood Transforming Divine Palm. Since this was his first time simulating them in actual combat, his yin energy was insufficient, making the techniques look rather awkward. Duan Wei mistook them for the outer disciples' inherited movement technique, Soul-Chasing Steps.
His imagination was simply too limited. He could have dared to think bigger: the Yellow Springs Left Envoy's possession attempt had failed, and the matching techniques had fallen into the outside world.
Xiang Yuan kept his expression cold and held his blade across his body. He ignored Duan Wei's questions. Yin energy swirled around him, his presence wavering, as if he were practicing in the middle of the encirclement.
He really was practicing.
He divided his attention three ways: Cold Blood practiced the technique, Steady refined the yin energy and merged it into the Thirteen Transformations of Yin Wind and Ghost Mist, making it easier for the Formless Seal Method to simulate the technique more fully.
The name alone made it clear that this movement technique imitated ghosts. At the Acupoint Opening stage, its user could already dart between shadows like a phantom. As the yin wind howled and dense fog spread, the user's body became a ghostly silhouette, appearing and vanishing in the mist like a specter in flight, impossible to pin down. It was one of the finest movement techniques at the Acupoint Opening stage.
Its only drawback was that it was too distinctive. If anyone recognized it, they would surely connect him to Spiritual Light Old Devil.
Good heavens! The Yellow Springs Left Envoy had possessed a new body and started cultivating again. He was back!
Xiang Yuan's yin energy was insufficient, making his use of the technique awkward. Duan Wei lacked the keen eye to recognize the sect's Left Envoy. Seeing Xiang Yuan say nothing and stare coldly at his neck and vital organs, he grew even angrier.
"Kill him. Seize his soul and send it into the formation."
Duan Wei snorted. His right hand rose from beneath his sleeve, wearing an iron claw that covered his entire palm in metal plates. Sharp talons extended from it, each tipped with a razor edge. A mechanism could launch the blades as hidden weapons.
Of the three, he was the strongest.
Xiang Yuan faced danger without flinching and charged straight at Duan Wei. As the two black-robed men closed in from either side, his footwork abruptly shifted. His body moved like a phantom, making a sharp right-angle turn without losing momentum as he struck at one of them.
Cold light glinted along his blade. Its edge pointed forward as the wind roared around it, chilling the air.
His strange footwork seemed to dance in the black-robed man's heart. Xiang Yuan's eyes flashed like lightning; he looked like death itself, approaching with blade in hand and not a trace of emotion. A chill ran through the man.
Fear took hold, and his steps faltered. He unconsciously retreated a pace.
In a killing ground, once your nerve broke, you lost everything.
The black-robed man's weakening resolve sent Xiang Yuan's momentum surging. True qi coursed through his limbs, and his speed suddenly skyrocketed. He abandoned the ghostly footwork, his body flashing through the dense fog like a shooting star. In the next instant, he was at the man's neck. His blade flashed, swift as lightning, its momentum like Lone Star Chasing Moon.
The black-robed man had planned to keep his enemy at least three paces away, then slowly deal with him once his senior brother arrived. He felt a chill at his throat. His head had already separated from his body and rolled to the ground.
Cold Blood's saber work was clean and decisive. His heart remained still, unmoved by outside things and without a trace of hesitation. In his eyes, there were only the corpse before him and the next target.
"Something's wrong. His saber style is wrong..."
Duan Wei suddenly came to his senses. "He isn't one of our disciples. He's an agent of the Six Doors!"
The black-robed man beside him didn't recognize the subtlety of the saber technique. Seeing the man wielding a blade like a ghost, he clearly took him for a fellow disciple and edged toward Duan Wei with a few short steps.
Useless. You're already scared out of your wits. What good are you?
Duan Wei left the useless man to fend for himself and surged forward, his iron claws sweeping through the yin wind.
He was a skilled fighter with superb claw techniques and abundant true qi. He met Xiang Yuan head-on and halted his advance. As his iron claws opened and closed, ghost fire flickered between them. Yin energy coiled into a skull-shaped mist, tearing through the wind and sending out one mournful, haunting wail after another.
Xiang Yuan met him blade to claw. After three or five exchanges, he was suppressed. He favored killing his enemies with a single strike. Though that looked impressive, he didn't have much combat experience. He suffered a slight disadvantage and was gradually forced onto the back foot.
Fortunately, Cold Blood was cold enough to keep his saber work steady. Whether he had the upper hand or not, every stroke went straight for Duan Wei's vitals.
To Duan Wei, this fearless, death-defying style looked like proof that Xiang Yuan was confident of victory and had everything under control.
Unable to think of another explanation, Duan Wei guessed there were more Six Doors agents lying in ambush nearby. With a low growl, he raised all five fingers. A terrifying gust howled forth, pressing Xiang Yuan back again and again.
That retreat took him directly into the dense fog beyond the formation, where hundreds of ghosts wandered. Their bodies were stiff and unnatural. Under Duan Wei's command, they all turned their heads in unison and stared at Xiang Yuan.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on him, their gazes so eerie and sinister that most people would have been frightened.
Cold Blood shot them a sidelong glance. He knew only that ghosts had health bars, and he had a saber. They were the ones who should be afraid of him.
He paid the ghosts no mind and started toward the edge of the fog. After several steps, he still couldn't find a way out. He realized he had fallen into a formation.
What kind of formation was this?
Senior uncle, help me!
Outside the fog formation, Duan Wei held a small triangular flag. It was entirely black, covered in red and yellow symbols that looked like ghostly scrawls. Just looking at it brought a sense of ill omen.
He muttered for a while, stabilizing the formation. Once Xiang Yuan was trapped, he handed the flag to the black-robed man beside him. "Junior brother, go finish him off."
"What? Me?"
The black-robed man was horrified. He could still see Xiang Yuan cutting people down as easily as chopping vegetables. His fellow disciple's ashes weren't even cold yet. How could he possibly fight a monster like that?
"He's trapped in the formation. Hold this, and he won't be able to see you. Hide your killing intent and take him out with one strike!"
Duan Wei glared viciously at his junior brother. So timid—he'd never amount to anything. Next time, he absolutely couldn't team up with these useless fools. Otherwise, he'd be dragged down by them and die a pointless death.
The black-robed man heard this, and his fighting spirit soared. He took the small flag and entered the dense fog.
Duan Wei snorted. There was something he hadn't said: the Six Doors were lying in ambush nearby. Everything had to be done quickly. He had to activate the great formation and refine the ghost god at once. Sending his junior brother to kill Xiang Yuan meant he wouldn't have to divide his attention, and would save some strength for dealing with the Six Doors.
As for whether his junior brother exhausted his true qi or got badly wounded... Well, everyone had their own fate. You couldn't force it.
Inside the fog-shrouded formation, Xiang Yuan had Senior Uncle's help and knew three ways to break out.
The first was One Force Breaks Ten Thousand Methods: forget what kind of formation it was and just smash through it.
The second was that every formation in the world relied on the interactions of yin and yang and the five elements. Find the pattern governing its operation, and you could leave unharmed.
The third was to destroy the artifacts used to set up the formation.
Xiang Yuan, with Cold Blood at the wheel, favored the first. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough, so it remained wishful thinking. The second was no better. His knowledge was too limited; even if the pattern were right before his eyes, he wouldn't understand it.
The third was even less likely. His enemy had already trapped him inside the formation. There was no reason to bring the artifacts used to set it up inside with him. No one could be that stupid.
"I'll just have to take my time..."
Xiang Yuan murmured. Seeing the ghosts rush toward him, their claws raised as yin wind carried them forward, he gripped his saber and charged straight into their ranks.
He would kill every last ghost. Then he'd see if the formation could still keep running!
His blade swept out like a torrential storm. His ghostly figure was sometimes wind, sometimes mist, stirring up a vortex of yin energy. He looked more like a ghost than the ghosts themselves, leaving them unable to track him.
Xiang Yuan moved as though through an empty field. Not one ghost survived a single exchange. Each time he appeared, a flash of cold light followed; each time he vanished, a wail was left behind. An ordinary Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber looked like an ultimate martial art in his hands.
As he watched one ghost after another fall, the black-robed man trembled. Remembering what Senior Brother Duan Wei had said, he tightened his grip on the small flag, summoned the fog to envelop him, and hid within it as he cautiously crept toward Xiang Yuan.
It's fine. This monster can't see me. I'll get behind him and tear out his heart with one claw!
He raised all five fingers. Then, all at once, his gaze met Xiang Yuan's cold eyes as he turned around...
Oh no. He's seen me!
Eight updates, twenty thousand words. Please vote for me with your monthly tickets, fellow readers!
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