Trailing the Pursuers, Celestial Pivot Assassins Cross the Border

"That swordsmanship of yours... was truly so 'gentlemanly'!"

Su Yan cracked a joke as she led the way ahead, moving as swiftly as a gust of wind.

Guo Hongtao ran behind them, gasping for breath, yet still managed to give Jiang Yuan a thumbs-up, his face plainly saying, "Brother, I get you."

"Naturally. You use whatever swordsmanship suits the person you're dealing with. Since they refused to be reasonable, I had to teach them what rules are."

Jiang Yuan casually sheathed the Thunderfire Broken Sword across his back. His breathing remained steady, as though that earlier uproar had merely been an after-dinner stroll.

Hearing this, Su Yan stumbled and nearly fell from the tree trunk.

She shot Jiang Yuan a glare that clearly said: You call stripping people naked teaching them rules?

"Enough nonsense. Up ahead is the spiritual mine entrance where they trade with Celestial Pivot Industries. It's also the closest place to the marked crash site on the map!"

Taking a deep breath, Su Yan tossed those messy thoughts from her mind and pointed at a stretch of cliff face ahead that had been unnaturally flattened by excavation.

Below the cliff, a massive mine entrance gaped open like the maw of a beast. On either side, several female disciples in Evil Harmonious Union attire were speaking with several people wearing unusual uniforms. The atmosphere did not seem friendly.

Just then, the space not far above the three of them suddenly rippled like water.

An irregular rift was forcibly torn open, and five figures clad in black skintight combat suits leaped out. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, and they landed without a sound, radiating an air of iron-blooded slaughter.

The leader removed a tablet from his tactical vest. A red dot on the screen was moving rapidly.

"The target is in the spiritual mine area below. Mr. Chu has given the order: dead or alive, retrieve the item at all costs!"

His voice was transmitted clearly to every team member through their bone-conduction earpieces.

"Understood!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the five-man squad rushed toward the mine like hunting cheetahs.

The Evil Harmonious Union disciples at the mine entrance had clearly noticed these uninvited guests as well. A female cultivator who looked like a supervisor immediately stepped forward to stop them.

"Who are you? This is a forbidden ground of the Harmonious Union Sect. Leave at once..."

Before she could finish, a dark-blue beam shot from the short staff in one of the Celestial Pivot assassins' hands and struck her dantian with precision.

The arrogance on the female cultivator's face instantly froze. She only felt the true qi within her body being drained away in an instant. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed on the spot.

"Enemy attack!"

The remaining Evil Harmonious Union disciples drew their swords, but the cultivation arts they prided themselves on were utterly insignificant before these well-equipped assassins.

The black-clad assassins worked together with flawless coordination. Two wielded staffs to suppress their opponents, two charged in to attack, while the last roamed behind them, seeking an opportunity for a fatal blow.

In barely a dozen seconds, every guard at the mine entrance had been brought down, their formation completely shattered.

"Target confirmed. Eleven o'clock, three hundred meters away. Prepare to cast the net!"

The leader's voice was cold and emotionless. He pulled a silver disk from his back and hurled it into the air.

The silver disk spun at high speed in midair, instantly unfolding into an enormous light net spanning a hundred meters in every direction as it descended upon Jiang Yuan and the others!

"Not good! It's Celestial Pivot Industries' Meridian-Sealing Light Net! Get into the mine!"

Su Yan's expression changed drastically. She clearly recognized the device, and grabbing the still-dazed Guo Hongtao, she was the first to rush into the mine.

Jiang Yuan followed close behind. The instant he entered the mine, the light net crashed down, sealing the entire entrance tight. Silver radiance flowed through the mesh, giving off an unsettling pulse of energy.

"Brother Yuan, wh-what is this thing? It feels like I can't even circulate my inner force!"

The moment Guo Hongtao entered the mine, he felt as though he had fallen into a swamp. His previously smooth circulation of blood and qi had become unbearably sluggish.

Jiang Yuan also sensed that something was wrong. Within the area covered by the light net, a special force field seemed to be constantly suppressing the circulation of energy within martial artists. Even his immense Nine Yang Inner Force had been forcibly slowed by more than thirty percent.

"Hmph. Turtles in a jar."

The Celestial Pivot squad leader led his team into the mine with steady, unhurried steps.

The Meridian-Sealing Short Staffs in all five men's hands lit up at once. The energy cores at their tips emitted low hums as five invisible force fields intertwined, raising the suppressive effect within the cave to its peak.

"Jiang Yuan, my young master asked me to pass along a message."

The leader looked at Jiang Yuan with the teasing expression of a cat toying with a mouse.

"He said your time to die has come."

The moment he finished speaking, two assassins closed in from the left and right like ghosts, their short staffs stabbing straight toward Jiang Yuan's vital acupoints.

Jiang Yuan raised his sword to block. When the broken sword collided with the short staffs, there was no clang of metal. Instead, a strange vibrating force traveled up the blade, numbing his arm and nearly scattering his Nine Yang Inner Force.

Their equipment had been designed specifically to counter martial artists!

"Be careful! Their techniques are strange!"

Su Yan gave a sharp cry and thrust her sword forward. Her swordsmanship was no longer as cold and aloof as before; instead, it became incomparably soft and gentle, like a spring breeze brushing one's face or willow fluff drifting through the air.

She did not clash with the assassins head-on. Instead, she used her clear, gentle sword intent to disrupt their attack rhythms and footwork time and again, leaving their seamless joint attack technique always just a little off.

"The pure Harmonious Union Sect's Spring Breeze and Drizzle Art? Interesting, but it's merely buying time!"

The leader snorted and personally joined the fight. As he swung his short staff, it left behind streaks of afterimages, forcing Su Yan back again and again.

"Brother Yuan! This won't work! We're being countered too badly!"

Guo Hongtao was sweating profusely with anxiety.

Of course Jiang Yuan knew this could not continue. Under the effects of the Meridian-Sealing Force Field, the advantage of his inner force had been severely weakened. Relying on physical strength alone, he could not gain any advantage against these coordinated, well-equipped assassins.

"Fall back!"

Jiang Yuan made his decision at once. With one slash, he forced back the two assassins before him, then grabbed Guo Hongtao and retreated deeper into the mine.

"Trying to run? Chase them!"

At the leader's command, the five-man squad immediately tightened its formation and followed at an unhurried pace, like seasoned hunters driving prey already caught in their net.

The interior of the mine was complicated, with countless branching tunnels.

Jiang Yuan led the other two through the tunnels, twisting and turning, but could never shake the pursuers behind them.

Just as they were forced into a dead end with nowhere left to retreat, Jiang Yuan stopped.

He did not look at the pursuers drawing ever closer behind him. Instead, he fixed his gaze on a deep fissure at the end of the mine tunnel, half-covered by scattered rocks.

A faint, brutal, ancient aura was slowly drifting out from the depths of that fissure.

That aura made even Jiang Yuan's perfected Metal-Stone Body feel a slight tremor.

His Nine Yang Inner Force seemed to have sensed something as well and began to churn uncontrollably.

"Brother Yuan? Has the vein-guarding beast revived?"

Guo Hongtao looked at Jiang Yuan's profile, unable to make sense of it.

There was no panic on Jiang Yuan's face despite being driven into a corner. Instead, a familiar smile appeared, one that gave Guo Hongtao a strange sense of recognition.

"Since they enjoy being hunters so much, let's find them a big toy to play with."

Jiang Yuan turned and grinned at Su Yan and Guo Hongtao.

"A good show needs a proper finale to make it truly exciting."