Strike It Down at the Most Critical, Most Triumphant Moment of Its Breakthrough

In the shaded depths of the dense forest outside the mass graveyard, Xu Jin and Wang Lei rested against thick tree trunks. There was still more than half a shichen before the noon yang energy reached its peak.

Wang Lei pulled the mission logbook from his robe, flipped through two pages, and looked toward the depths of the mass graveyard. "Brother Xu, judging by the old cases of yin fiends recorded by the Containment Faction, this Night Charm has been calculating every step with great precision."

He slowly worked it out on his fingers. "First, it exploited a loophole in the seal and used the Sha Qi of the yin soldiers to pile its cultivation up to the peak of the Lesser Demon realm. That step has already succeeded. Next, it'll definitely slowly devour the scattered remnants of the yin soldiers' souls, refine their military Sha Qi into itself, and once it can command more than a dozen yin soldier corpses, it'll tear open the seal and release them. By then, forget one Willow Family Village—even every living thing within three to five li will be sucked dry into mummies."

"Evil fiends that cultivate by borrowing the yin baleful energy of the earth veins are the hardest to deal with. They'll never show themselves easily before securing their foundation." Wang Lei curled his lip, sounding faintly sarcastic.

"Still, this monster really knew how to pick a spot. It latched straight onto the yin soldiers' Sha Qi buff. If I had a ready-made cultivation treasure ground like this, I'd be floating too."

Xu Jin nodded slightly. Wang Lei's deductions were more or less the same as his own judgment.

"We'll strike at noon." His voice carried an excitement he could not suppress.

"At the most critical, most triumphant moment of its breakthrough—when its yin baleful energy is most dispersed and its guard is weakest—we'll break its breakthrough with a single blow."

"Right! Catch it completely off guard!" Wang Lei's eyes lit up, but then he scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"To be honest, I used to deal with Monster-Bone Serum every day in the Containment Faction. This is my first time actually coming out to slay demons. I was afraid I'd drag my teammates down, but following you, Brother Xu, puts my mind much more at ease."

Xu Jin glanced at him from the side.

From preparing every supply before departure, to investigating the case in advance and bringing the internal files, to not charging in rashly when the time came but first probing their enemy's depths—Wang Lei's prudence and attentiveness had indeed made up for many of his own shortcomings.

"Your reconnaissance was thorough. You saved me a lot of trouble." His words held genuine approval. "For future missions, we can keep partnering up as usual."

Delight immediately spread across Wang Lei's face, and he nodded heavily.

Most of the initial restraint between them had faded. Leaning against the tree trunks, the two chatted on and off. The tension before battle eased considerably, while their tacit understanding as partners grew stronger by the moment.

Deep within the underground cavern, it was an entirely different scene.

A layer of black frost clung to the cold, damp stone walls. From the crack in the seal at the center, streams of black, vicious baleful energy continuously poured forth.

The Night Charm sat cross-legged before the crack. Its translucent body was wrapped in yin baleful energy until it had nearly solidified, its cultivation already standing at the threshold of the peak Lesser Demon realm.

It greedily inhaled and exhaled the yin soldiers' Sha Qi, feeling the power throughout its body surge wildly.

In another half a shichen, so long as it borrowed another half a shichen of military Sha Qi to nourish itself, it would pierce that final sheet of window paper and step into the Spirit Monster realm!

At that point, it would be able to command nearly half of the dozens of yin soldier soul remnants sleeping beneath the seal.

How could a mere Willow Family Village possibly be enough for it to feast on?

The three to five surrounding villages and towns would all become its rations. It would suck the entire clan of those who had killed it back then completely dry!

Its frigid consciousness was filled with swelling ambition.

These yin soldier soul remnants were defeated soldiers of the previous dynasty. Dead for centuries, they had long since lost their independent awareness, leaving behind only the instinct of their military Sha Qi. Whoever possessed sufficiently powerful yin energy and could suppress the Sha Qi could command them.

This was a precious place to borrow power from, one that both folk yin cultivators and evil fiends coveted. Unfortunately, it had been personally sealed by a Hundred-Household Officer of the Demon Suppression Bureau thirty years ago, and no one had dared set their sights on it for decades.

Yet it had been lucky enough to encounter a crack in the seal after years of disrepair. It had crashed right in and obtained this heaven-sent opportunity.

Just as it was reveling in its triumph, it suddenly sensed the blood and qi of two living humans outside the hill, standing motionless in the dense forest.

Far from panicking, the Night Charm felt a touch of amusement.

With the yin soldier soul remnants as its backing, no matter how many people came, they were simply delivering themselves to the chopping block.

It just so happened that it would need two mouthfuls of yang energy to fill its belly after successfully breaking through. Since blood food had delivered itself to its door, it could not be blamed for being impolite.

It closed its eyes and focused once more, drawing forth even more military Sha Qi from the depths of the seal as it launched its final charge toward the Spirit Monster realm.

The black qi around its body grew denser and denser, faintly taking the form of a ferocious ghostly face, arrogant to the utmost extreme.

In the dense forest, Wang Lei suddenly furrowed his brows. He sniffed the air and concentrated on discerning the qi, his expression gradually turning grave.

"Brother Xu, something's wrong." He lowered his voice.

"That thing's yin energy has risen by a huge amount again, and it's drawn out a great deal of the vicious baleful energy deep in the seal. Is it... starting to break through?"

Xu Jin raised his eyes toward the depths of the mass graveyard. As far as he could see, there were still only wild grass and barren graves, but he could vaguely sense that the frigid aura was rapidly growing stronger.

"Can you determine how many yin soldier soul remnants are inside?"

"I can't pin it down." Wang Lei gave a bitter smile and frankly admitted his weakness.

"It's too far away, and there's military Sha Qi interfering. I can only tell their general strength and approximate numbers. I can't make out the exact count or their arrangement at all."

"When the fight starts, I'll guard the cavern entrance, protect myself, and keep watch for you. If any stray yin souls or the Night Charm try to escape, I'll do my best to stop them."

"I'll try not to let them get out and harm the villagers."

Xu Jin grunted in acknowledgment. "Be careful yourself."

Neither of them spoke again.

The sun crept bit by bit toward the top of the sky, and the shadows in the forest shrank shorter and shorter. Yet the frigid aura drifting toward them only grew stronger, carrying undisguised arrogance and provocation.

The Night Charm had clearly reached the most critical point of its breakthrough. Its arrogance was at its height, and it did not regard the two "mortals" outside the hill as a threat at all.

Wang Lei tightened his grip on the saber at his waist, his palm sweating faintly.

He knew perfectly well that there was not just a single Night Charm inside, but an entire cavern full of yin soldier soul remnants.

But when he looked at Xu Jin's calm profile beside him, his suspended heart somehow settled again.

With an expert like him here, even if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up.

At last, the sun rose to the very center of the sky.

The forest shadows had shrunk to their shortest. The yang energy between heaven and earth climbed to its peak at this moment, and even the frigid aura in the woods was scattered considerably.

"Brother Xu! It's noon!" Wang Lei abruptly opened his eyes, his voice urgent. "It's going all out to break through!"

Before his words had even faded, Xu Jin's gaze sharpened.

The lead pellet beneath his tongue shot out in response, transforming into a streak of snow-bright white light. A faint crimson-gold aura wrapped around the sword, carrying pure upright yang energy as it shot straight toward the underground cavern entrance deep within the mass graveyard.

Boom—

A muffled explosion thundered out. The broken steles and rubble blocking the cavern entrance were instantly pierced through by sword qi, sending shards of stone flying and dust billowing into the air.

The frigid aura that had been pouring outward was scattered on the spot by the upright yang sword qi.

Xu Jin followed close behind, stepping over the pile of rubble and walking straight into the cavern entrance.