Stumbling upon an assassination?

The moon was dark, and the wind was high.

Curfew had fallen over the entire Cloud Radiance Sect.

Apart from the Law Enforcement Hall disciples still patrolling and standing guard, all the other disciples and visitors preparing to attend the master selection assembly had retired to their rooms.

Shen Leyan put on his newly purchased night clothes, covered his face with a black cloth, and tried taking a few steps through the darkness.

Hmm, I blend in pretty well. As long as I'm careful and stick to the trails through the woods, I should reach the Law Enforcement Hall without any trouble.

The youth used the Azure Shadow Profound Art, his movements graceful as he darted swiftly through the woods.

Along the way, he first spotted a pair of cultivation partners who had climbed a tree at midnight to count stars, then several disciples sneaking off to the dining hall for a late-night snack, followed by some inner disciples heading down the mountain overnight to carry out training missions.

Shen Leyan crouched in the undergrowth, hiding himself as he silently congratulated himself.

I knew the Cloud Radiance Sect's disciples weren't that obedient! Plenty of people sneak out at night just like me.

These night clothes were money well spent.

He headed toward the Law Enforcement Hall's location as he remembered it, walking for a quarter of an hour, then an hour, then two hours...

The youth stopped and looked around. The trees around him were growing denser, and the stone path beneath his feet no longer showed any signs of being swept. Dead leaves and mud covered it.

Only the wind and faint cries of cicadas remained around him.

He checked his Spiritual Root, which was frantically drawing in spiritual energy from the world to replenish him, then examined his rather empty dantian.

Reluctantly, he confirmed one thing: he had gotten lost yet again.

He had probably wandered deep into some mountain within the Cloud Radiance Sect.

Fortunately, every so often, elders from the Cloud Radiance Sect led groups of inner disciples to clear dangerous Demonic Beasts from the mountains, so no snake brother would suddenly spring out at him here like in the Southwestern Jungle.

He could stay here for the night, then use the sun's position to find his way back to the outer sect after daybreak.

Shen Leyan sat on the ground with his back against a tree. Perhaps because so few people came here, the spiritual energy was even richer than in the outer sect.

His Wind Spiritual Root greedily absorbed the spiritual energy around him. As he grew more proficient in his cultivation art, the spiritual energy in his meridians no longer needed his focused guidance to circulate. It would flow slowly on its own, cleansing and nourishing every meridian.

Naturally, meditating was still the fastest way to increase his spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy in his dantian was pale blue-green. Like wind chasing clouds across the horizon, it drifted freely through his dantian.

But his dantian was still too small. An invisible barrier seemed to surround it, preventing the wind spiritual energy inside from reaching a broader space.

As time passed, however, that barrier grew thinner and looser, as though the spiritual energy might break through it at any moment.

Once that barrier disappeared, he would probably enter the Middle Qi Refining Realm.

"Xiao Du, Xiao Du."

Shen Leyan called out in his mind to the system, Xiao Du, whom he had not heard from in some time—though, in truth, back in Glory Ancestors Village on the southwestern border, the moment he said he wanted to cultivate, Xiao Du had jolted upright from its deathbed and begun frantically broadcasting in his mind as if infected by a virus.

Congratulations on deciding to embark on the path of cultivation!

This system's hidden function has been activated to help you become the Immortal Dao Sovereign!

Detecting your needs... Ding! Detection successful! Your greatest need is—no one is allowed to die without my permission! Adjusting quest rewards according to your needs...

Immortal Dao Sovereign quest one: Break through to the Middle Qi Refining Realm. Quest reward: Special technique, "Playing Dead Method" (also known as the Turtle Breath Technique).

With his first system quest nearly complete, Shen Leyan summoned Xiao Du and carefully reread the introduction to the Playing Dead Method.

Playing Dead Method introduction: Although most villains in novels these days have wised up and learned that "villains die from talking too much, so always finish the job promptly," there are countless cultivators and Demons out there. You're bound to run into an idiot.

When you find yourself with nowhere to run, you can choose to use this technique. Once activated, you will bleed from all seven orifices, your body will turn cold, and your heartbeat will stop—you'll look more like a corpse than an actual corpse.

With any luck, whoever is trying to kill you will think you've kicked the bucket and confidently turn around and leave.

Shen Leyan said, "..."

Hmm...

I can't shake the feeling that this technique will get me killed at a critical moment.

Still, an extra skill never hurt, and he had not expected the system's very first quest to give him anything particularly good.

Getting a technique like this was already pretty decent.

The youth closed his eyes. The spiritual energy absorbed by his Spiritual Root flowed through his meridians, then gathered in his dantian after its impurities were removed. The pale blue-green energy swept like the wind, battering the barrier around his dantian again and again.

Fine cracks gradually appeared in the barrier.

Shen Leyan focused, condensing the spiritual energy gathered in his dantian as much as possible and compressing it before the barrier.

Once his dantian was full, its owner deliberately held the spiritual energy back, preventing it from breaking through the barrier. It could only disperse and flow back through his meridians.

His meridians grew increasingly resilient under the spiritual energy's repeated scouring.

Only when his dantian could hold no more spiritual energy did Shen Leyan release his restraint. The energy he had accumulated surged toward the barrier in a single rush.

The cracks rapidly spread across the barrier, forming an enormous spiderweb.

Finally, it shattered with a crash!

His dantian filled with spiritual energy as never before, and even breathing became much easier.

Xiao Du's jubilant voice rang out. "Congratulations on breaking through to the Middle Qi Refining Realm! Immortal Dao Sovereign quest one complete! Distributing your quest reward, the Playing Dead Method."

An antique scroll materialized and landed in his palm.

Shen Leyan unrolled it and took a look. Illustrated instructions explained how to play dead in clear, thorough detail.

Xiao Du said, "This technique won't be difficult for you. You should master it in about two hours—Immortal Dao Sovereign quest two has been updated. Immortal Dao Sovereign quest two: Successfully become a master's disciple. Quest reward: Universal Concealment Talismans ×3."

"What are Universal Concealment Talismans?"

"You can only unlock the reward description after completing the quest and receiving the reward, my dear host~"

Although this quest did not specify whom he had to take as his master, it was not something he could rush. He would have to wait until the Cloud Radiance Sect's master selection assembly began.

He nodded. "What time is it now?"

"Just past the hour of the ox."

There were still several hours until dawn. Shen Leyan was about to settle down and study the Playing Dead Method when he suddenly caught a faint trace of blood on the night breeze blowing toward him.

Perhaps because he had a Wind Spiritual Root, he was more sensitive than most to the sounds and smells carried by the wind.

There should not have been any dangerous Demonic Beasts in these mountains, and evil cultivators certainly could not have slipped past the Cloud Radiance Sect's formations.

Why is there a smell of blood? Did another Cloud Radiance Sect disciple get lost like me and wander into these mountains?

Faint, sharp sounds of weapons cutting through the air also reached him on the wind.

Shen Leyan hesitated, then quieted his footsteps as much as possible, suppressed his spiritual energy, and headed toward the scent of blood.

As he walked, he silently made up his mind.

If whatever was happening was something he could handle, and the injured person was someone he knew, he would find a way to help.

If it was beyond him, he would run immediately, fetch reinforcements if needed, or pretend he had seen nothing if that was the wiser choice...

The smell of blood gradually thickened. The faint birdsong and cicada cries in the woods vanished, leaving an eerie silence all around.

Shen Leyan silently retied the black face covering he had removed earlier to get some air.

Thrum—

The sound of a sharp weapon striking a tree trunk rang out abruptly, particularly piercing in the dead of night. Judging by its volume, it was not far from him.

Shen Leyan immediately slipped behind a tall tree and peered intently into the dark depths of the forest.

In the treacherous darkness, the faint creak of drawn bowstrings, the sounds of figures leaping through trees and grass, and the glints of swords and long sabers emerging from their sheaths wove together into a deadly clash of steel. Even the crescent moon hidden behind thick clouds seemed veiled in a faint bloody hue...

This place was only a little over two hours' walk from the Cloud Radiance Sect Outer Gate, yet it was a completely different world from the scattered lights there.

He could not tell how many figures there were in the distance. As they chased, fled, and fought, they gradually moved toward him.

Someone seemed to tap his shoulder lightly from behind.

Completely focused on the movements in the woods, Shen Leyan instinctively gestured for silence and whispered, "Shh—"

The person behind him kept tapping his shoulder.

Shen Leyan finally turned around. "You—"

He had barely begun to utter the word when cold sweat broke out across his back, soaking his night clothes. He swallowed everything else he had been about to say.

Behind him stood a broad, powerfully built man dressed in night clothes much like his own, still tapping his shoulder. Only a pair of hawklike eyes were exposed, gleaming with cold cunning. One glance was enough to tell that he had killed countless people and had no telling how much blood on his hands.

[◝₍ᴑ̑ДO͝₎◞]

Although the man had concealed his aura, the fact that he had approached from behind without Shen Leyan noticing meant his cultivation had to be at least at the Nascent Soul Stage!

Showing up in night clothes at the scene of a bloody fight... There's no way this guy is a good person!

“Did the Gate Master order you to stand guard here?”

Seeing him turn around, the man immediately asked in a low voice.

Shen Leyan lowered his eyes and adjusted his black face covering to hide his loss of composure.

The man had not attacked him on sight and had asked that question in an ordinary tone. Clearly, seeing that Shen Leyan was also wearing night clothes, he had instinctively mistaken him for a fellow operative.

His mention of a “Gate Master” meant that these people belonged to a sect. Whether it was a righteous sect, a Demon clan, or an organization of evil cultivators remained unknown.

Shen Leyan nodded, doing his utmost to stay calm, and turned back to watch the depths of the woods as though concentrating on his assignment.

The man did not suspect anything.

“You don't need to be so nervous. Your batch of recruits only just joined the Peacock Gate, and your cultivation is still low. The Gate Master won't give you anything too difficult. Several Guardians are personally overseeing this assassination of Great Xia's crown prince. Ji Lianyi won't get away.

“Even if he's lucky enough to escape the encirclement and make it here, he'll be spent, a bolt at the end of its flight. He certainly won't be a match for us. I actually hope Ji Lianyi escapes this way. If we kill him ourselves, the Gate Master will be delighted. Gold, jewels, concubines, beautiful women—we'll have them all!”

The Peacock Gate!

Shen Leyan quickly searched his memory. In the original novel, the Peacock Gate was a famous assassin organization in Great Xia that straddled the line between good and evil.

As long as the payment was sufficient, they accepted any commission, whether from Great Xia's imperial family and righteous sects or from demons and evil cultivators.

Which faction hired the Peacock Gate to assassinate Great Xia's crown prince, Ji Lianyi?

How did these Peacock Gate assassins disguise themselves and enter the Cloud Radiance Sect's territory? Have they planted people inside the sect? Or... is the person who wants Ji Lianyi dead a powerful disciple, or even an elder, of the Cloud Radiance Sect?

Countless thoughts surged through Shen Leyan's mind, but he could not make sense of them yet.

Nor did he have time to think them through.

Fortunately, he remembered that Ji Lianyi had not died in the Cloud Radiance Sect in the original novel. That meant he probably would not die this time either.

He nodded in response to the assassin behind him, who gave his shoulder an encouraging pat. “Keep watch here. If you see Ji Lianyi coming, remember to stop him—I'll go take a look.”

The assassin headed toward the distant woods. When he reached a patch of absolute darkness, his figure suddenly distorted, then vanished into thin air—as though he had entered another world!

Shen Leyan's pupils contracted slightly.

If his guess was right, the Peacock Gate had established a domain here.

Cultivators who reached the Grand Ascension stage all possessed domains of their own. Some exceptionally gifted Nascent Soul Stage cultivators with a unique understanding of the Heavenly Dao could also master them.

A domain was a space woven from one's spiritual energy. Those within it were shielded from outside detection. Every blade of grass, every tree, every gust of wind, and every drop of rain inside could become a killing weapon.

Within that space, the domain's owner was like the Heavenly Dao, able to rule over everything inside.

According to that assassin, several Peacock Gate Guardians were participating in this assassination together... With an expert who had mastered a domain involved, Shen Leyan truly could not imagine how Ji Lianyi would escape.

Could it really be like those martial arts novels, where he's driven into a corner and jumps off a cliff, then meets a secluded master in a cave below and finds an unparalleled cultivation manual?

Thrum—

The air at the boundary between the real world and the domain suddenly churned. In the next instant, a young man in black robes fell to the ground, supporting himself on one knee as he spat a mouthful of blood across the surrounding grass.

The sickly-sweet smell of blood drifted over on the wind.

Although Ji Lianyi's black robes concealed the extent of his injuries, his lips were covered in blood. His exquisite, androgynous face was pale as paper, and his light brown eyes had lost their luster, withered like fallen leaves.

He knelt there, gasping for half an hour, before slowly pushing himself up and staggering forward one step at a time.

There was no unusual reaction from the domain behind him. Ji Lianyi probably had some magical treasure that concealed his aura, allowing him to evade the Peacock Gate assassins' pursuit for the moment.

Shen Leyan stepped out from behind the tree and ventured, “...Your Highness?”