Tail the Pursuers, Celestial Pivot Assassins Enter the Fray

"Your swordsmanship... was truly so 'gentlemanly'!"

Su Yan tossed out a jab as she led the way ahead, moving as swiftly as a streaming wind.

Guo Hongtao ran behind them, panting so hard he could barely catch his breath, yet he still gave Jiang Yuan a thumbs-up, his face plainly saying, "Brother, I get you."

"That's only natural. You use whatever swordsmanship suits whoever you're dealing with. Since they refuse to reason, I have to teach them what rules are."

Jiang Yuan casually slung the Thunderfire Broken Sword back over his shoulder, his breathing steady, as though that uproar just now had been nothing more than an after-dinner stroll.

At his words, Su Yan stumbled and nearly fell from the tree trunk beneath her feet.

She shot Jiang Yuan a glare, her eyes clearly saying: You call stripping people naked teaching them rules?

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

Su Yan took a deep breath, shook those chaotic thoughts from her mind, and pointed toward a stretch of cliff face ahead that had been artificially carved unnaturally smooth.

Below the cliff, the massive entrance to a mine gaped open like the maw of some colossal beast. At either side of the entrance, several female disciples dressed in Evil Union Sect attire were speaking with a few people in strange uniforms. The atmosphere did not look harmonious.

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 uniforms leaped out. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, and they landed without a sound, every inch of them radiating an aura 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 spirit 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!"

The five-man squad did not hesitate in the slightest. Like hunting cheetahs, they sped toward the mine entrance.

The Evil Union Sect 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 beam of deep blue light shot from the short staff in one Celestial Pivot assassin's hand and struck her dantian with pinpoint accuracy.

The arrogance on the female cultivator's face instantly froze. She only felt the true qi within her being drained dry in an instant; her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground on the spot.

"Enemy attack!"

The remaining Evil Union Sect disciples drew their swords one after another. But the cultivation arts they had been so proud of were utterly unable to withstand these superbly equipped assassins.

The black-clad assassins coordinated with flawless precision. Two used their staffs to suppress the enemy, two surged forward to attack, while the last prowled in the rear, searching for a chance to deliver a fatal blow.

In barely a dozen seconds, every guard at the mine entrance had been brought down, their forces collapsing like an army in disarray.

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

The leader's voice was icy and devoid of emotion. He took a silver disc from his back and hurled it fiercely into the air.

The silver disc spun rapidly in midair, instantly unfolding into a massive net of light that covered a hundred-meter radius and came crashing down over Jiang Yuan and the other two!

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

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

Jiang Yuan followed close behind. The instant he stepped into the mine, the light net came crashing down, sealing the entire entrance shut. Silver radiance flowed through its mesh, emitting energy fluctuations that made one's heart tremble.

"Brother Yuan, wh-what is this thing? It feels like the inner force in my body won't even circulate!"

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

Jiang Yuan also sensed that something was wrong. Within the area covered by the light net, there seemed to be a special force field constantly suppressing the circulation of energy inside martial artists' bodies. Even his formidable 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 at an unhurried pace.

The Meridian-Sealing Short Staffs in the five men's hands lit up at once. The energy cores at their tips gave off a low hum, and five invisible force fields intertwined, raising the suppression inside the cave to its absolute limit.

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

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

"He said your day of death has arrived."

The instant his words fell, two assassins closed in from left and right like ghosts, their short staffs thrusting straight toward the vital acupoints all over Jiang Yuan's body.

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

These people's equipment had been made specifically to counter martial artists!

"Careful! Their techniques are extremely strange!"

Su Yan gave a sharp cry and advanced with her sword. 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, like willow catkins drifting through the air.

She did not clash head-on with the assassins. She merely used her clear, gentle sword intent to disrupt their attack rhythms and footwork again and again, ensuring that their seamless combined assault was always just a little off.

"Pure Union Sect's Spring Breeze and Drizzle Art? Interesting. But you're only buying time!"

The leader snorted coldly and joined the battle himself. His short staff swept through the air, leaving streaks of afterimages that forced Su Yan back step after step.

"Brother Yuan! This won't work! We're being suppressed 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, which he had always relied upon, had been weakened without limit. Relying on physical strength alone, he could gain no advantage against these coordinated and well-equipped assassins.

"Fall back!"

Jiang Yuan made his decision without hesitation. With one strike, he forced back the two assassins before him, grabbed Guo Hongtao, and retreated deeper into the mine.

"Trying to run? Chase them!"

The leader gave the 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 terrain inside the mine was complicated, with countless branching tunnels.

Jiang Yuan led the other two charging left and right through them, yet he could never shake the pursuers behind them.

Just as they were forced into a dead end with no path of 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 tunnel, half-covered by scattered rocks.

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

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

His Nine Yang Inner Force seemed to have sensed something as well, beginning to stir restlessly beyond his control.

"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 desperate corner. Instead, a smile appeared there—one that felt strangely familiar to Guo Hongtao.

"Since they like being hunters so much, let's find them something big to play with."

Jiang Yuan turned around and flashed Su Yan and Guo Hongtao a grin.

"A good show needs a worthy finale to be truly exciting."