Killing Intent in the Secret Realm, Three Elites Defeated in an Instant

Liu Qi gently pressed his palm against the stone wall. As his blood qi circulated, a dark red gleam flashed across his palm.

Without any grand movement from him, the stone wall quietly cracked apart, revealing a fist-sized hole.

Through the hole, Liu Qi cautiously observed everything on the other side.

Torches had been lit everywhere opposite, illuminating the entire cave brightly.

Two bandits leaned against a stone wall, chatting idly.

Liu Qi casually picked up several pebbles and flicked his wrist. The stones shot out through the fist-sized hole, striking every bandit.

A moment later, several bodies hit the ground.

Liu Qi pressed his right palm against the stone wall and gave his body a shake, unleashing a burst of force.

The next instant, the stone wall shattered into fine fragments that pattered down, revealing an opening large enough for one person to pass through.

Tao Yuan was the last to emerge from the opening, immediately surveying the surroundings.

Three figures lay sprawled haphazardly on the ground, their pupils dilated. Each had a bloody hole in the throat that still gave off lingering warmth.

He Cheng stood at a branching passage and called out:

"Follow me."

That passage led deeper inside. As the three looked toward it, they found it exceptionally dark and deep, and an inexplicable chill rose in their hearts.

Liu Qi steadied himself and followed He Cheng's footsteps, with Tao Yuan close behind. The three advanced onward.

As for the three corpses, no one paid them any mind.

Along the way, they could hear only their own footsteps. A torch had been fixed into the cave wall at every stretch of the path.

Gazing at the torches, Liu Qi fell into thought. Even this deep underground had been explored by the bandits.

After roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick, the space before them suddenly opened up.

"This..."

The instant the three walked out of the passageway, all their steps halted at once.

What lay before them made the three blood qi martial artists hold their breath without prior agreement.

The passageway opened onto a steep stone cliff. Beneath their feet was a stone bridge only wide enough for two people to walk abreast, suspended over a bottomless abyss.

The bridge had neither railings nor pillars. Like a finger growing from the cliff face, it trembled as it stretched toward the depths of darkness.

And that palace stood at the end of the bridge.

It floated in midair, thick iron chains as wide as a child's arm wrapped around it.

Every chain was drawn taut, extending from all sides of the palace and driven into the surrounding rock walls and ceiling, as though the weight of the entire mountain had been used to nail it in place.

The palace itself was pitch-black throughout. It was impossible to tell what material it had been built from. Its surface bore neither patterns nor carvings, so clean it did not seem man-made.

Yet its outline was unmistakably that of a grand hall.

Upturned eaves, bracket sets, layer upon layer of roof tiles—every line exuded an ancient air. It simply hung there in silence, like a colossal beast lurking in deep water with its eyes closed.

Now and then, the iron chains gave off an exceedingly faint tremor, like a sigh—the humming scrape of metal echoed through the empty abyss for a long time before fading away.

Other than that, there was no sound at all.

No wind, no water. Even the three men's heartbeats seemed crushed beneath the silence, heavy and clogged in their chests.

Tao Yuan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Liu Qi stood at the front, staring at the palace for a long while before finally murmuring:

"...This place looks eerie."

His voice was soft, yet it seemed especially jarring in the empty abyss, like a stone thrown into still water.

He Cheng said nothing, merely tightening his grip on the probing claw hidden in his sleeve.

The night wind was cold, but the three had long since forgotten the chill.

The chains hummed again. This time, the sound was even softer, as if something deep within had turned over in its sleep.

The three exchanged glances and saw the same thought in one another's eyes—since they had already come this far.

Yet none of them took the first step.

The bridge hung in midair. Beneath it lay endless darkness, while beyond it stood a locked palace.

This bridge looked like it had been made for the living to see, not for the living to cross.

Just as the three were locked in a stalemate, an ancient voice rang out abruptly.

"Since you have come, why do you hesitate to advance?"

The voice had come out of nowhere. The three exchanged looks, each seeing surprise and even vigilance in the others' eyes.

Then, as if by agreement, they leaped out of the passageway and headed onto the protruding bridge.

At the far end of the bridge, a black-robed figure sat cross-legged on the ground, utterly devoid of any aura.

Liu Qi and the other two wore grave expressions as they quietly stopped.

Tao Yuan pointed at the man and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

He Cheng exchanged a glance with Liu Qi.

"This man doesn't look like he's from Blackwind Stronghold."

"His aura is deep and unfathomable. We should proceed with caution."

The black-robed man smiled faintly and slowly rose to his feet. A series of crisp cracks rang out from his limbs and bones, as though he had not moved for a very long time.

As he stretched, the faint sounds of tiger roars and thunder rumbled from deep within his chest, making the stone bridge tremble slightly.

"You barged into the underground palace, yet you ask who I am?"

His tone was calm, but the killing intent in his words was utterly undisguised. "I am the one who will send you on your way."

Before his words had faded, the black-robed man abruptly vanished from where he stood.

"Careful!" He Cheng hurriedly warned.

Tao Yuan's pupils contracted sharply, and his heart jolted.

His body's instincts, honed through decades of martial training, reacted even faster than he did.

He instinctively stepped back, his body shifting slightly. Without a second thought, he clenched his right hand into a fist seal. The power of blood qi surged through him, transforming into the Sky-Filling Blood Qi Long Fist as he blasted it out.

Tao Yuan sought to use this move to stop the black-robed man and buy himself some time.

Liu Qi and He Cheng behind him were also charging over. He only needed to hold the man back.

With that thought, Tao Yuan's face turned cold. He was about to shout a rebuke, but the sight that followed filled him with boundless shock.

A crimson blood qi membrane appeared around the black-robed man. The countless fist seals Tao Yuan had thrown struck that crimson membrane, raising only faint ripples and causing no effective damage.

Then, like a black phantom, the black-robed man charged straight before Tao Yuan.

His right hand shot out, five fingers clawed, lunging directly for Tao Yuan's face. Before the claw even arrived, it whipped up a piercing gale.

Caught off guard, Tao Yuan had time only to raise his arm before his face. The blood qi membrane on his arm was like paper, dispersing at the first touch.

Three bloody claw marks appeared on Tao Yuan's arm. The black-robed man pressed his advantage without mercy and was about to widen his gains when Liu Qi and He Cheng's attacks finally arrived.

The black-robed man's eyes shifted. With a flying kick, he sent Tao Yuan heavily flying away. Then he struck out with both hands, sending forth two crimson claw seals that forcibly crushed Liu Qi and He Cheng's attacks.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

The violent collision erupted outside the underground palace, and the shockwaves shook the iron chains as the underground palace trembled faintly.

Using the impact from the collision, Liu Qi and He Cheng retreated to Tao Yuan's side.

"You alright?" Liu Qi asked.

Tao Yuan spat on the ground and waved his hand. "I'm fine."

"This black-robed man is no ordinary opponent. Not only is he incredibly fast, his blood qi is immensely powerful. He can easily tear apart my blood qi membrane."

As he spoke, Tao Yuan looked at the black-robed man with eyes full of apprehension, his previous composure nowhere to be seen.