The Mysterious Man

"What a remarkable Purple Tenuity Heavenly Heart Formula..."

The man in black recognized Princess Taiping, yet seemed utterly fearless. In a hoarse voice, he praised her leisurely. "What a fine Heavenly Pivot Falling Star Palm... When the Plum Blossom Guards were alerted, I thought that old hag Zhao Lanjun would come! To think it would be you instead. Daring to venture into danger alone-I admire your courage!"

Princess Taiping gave a cold laugh at his words. "So you do have some backing. I suspected as much. Anyone capable of stirring up wind and clouds here on Zhongnan Mountain, so close to the capital, could hardly be some common wanderer of the martial world. You must have wealth or rank, with eyes and ears reaching all the way to heaven..."

She paused, her tone suddenly sharpening. "That is precisely why This Palace had to come myself, using my own person as bait to draw you out... Did you truly think This Palace came unprepared?!"

Her words had barely fallen.

"Screee-"

Suddenly, a piercing, high-pitched eagle cry rang out without warning from the distant heights of the night sky!

Some strange power infused that sound, making the dozen or so rampaging Blood-Colored Giant Apes below freeze in unison. A flicker of instinctive wariness crossed their scarlet eyes.

At the same time, two figures seemed to descend with that eagle cry, plunging from the moonlit heavens!

Like falling stars bearing the weight of ten thousand tons, they struck the heart of the battlefield with unerring precision!

Boom!

Waves of air surged, lifting a light veil of dust.

One figure was slender and upright, dressed in a plain dark teal robe, silver strands faintly visible in her hair. An aura of utter yin and biting cold radiated from her. She was Taiping's wet nurse, Zhao Lanjun, who held the title of Lady Guizhou.

The other person who landed beside her was an elderly woman in fitted black attire, with austere features and a tranquil gaze. She carried no weapon, yet merely standing there casually, she exuded a heavy, unfathomable presence like towering mountains. Her might was not the least bit inferior to Zhao Lanjun's!

Just as I thought...

Lu Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief. He had known someone as clever as Taiping would never truly play the white dragon disguised as a fish...

Her cultivation realm was high, but this world hid dragons and crouching tigers. There was no shortage of capable people.

Besides the Ten Absolutes, there were plenty of others in the Great Grandmaster realm.

To name just two, the Great Vehicle Sect's left and right guiding envoys could exchange a few moves with her.

Its leader, Yue Longyuan, the "Great Vehicle Bright King," was an elite Great Grandmaster. He had once fought Xiao Changchun, the tenth of the Ten Absolutes, the "Myriad Poisons Primordial Lady," to a draw. If someone like him launched a surprise assassination, even she could hardly be certain of escaping danger.

Lu Changfeng looked up, carefully studying the enormous black eagle overhead, its wings spanning more than fifty feet. With its golden plumes and jade claws, its distinctive traits were unmistakable. He recognized it at once as a powerful exotic beast described in the Record of Strange Tales from Mountains and Seas: the Cloud-Howling Eagle.

-"There is a bird shaped like an eagle, with black feathers, three golden plumes upon its wings, and jade claws like frost. Its name is 'Yun-Howling.' Its voice is like metal and stone splitting the sky. When it cries, wind and clouds gather, and its call shakes the heavens, dispelling monstrous miasmas and cowing all beasts. It often roosts amid clouds and mist on the highest peaks. Proud and fierce by nature, its spread wings resemble clouds draped across the sky, and its eyes flash like lightning. Wherever it passes, all birds scatter."

The Princess's Residence was, after all, the Princess's Residence.

In the dozen or so days Lu Changfeng had spent there, he had never heard a single eagle cry... Taiping truly had no shortage of hidden cards!

Zhao Lanjun's gaze, like two spikes of ice, instantly locked onto the slightly startled man in black. Her cold, clear voice rang across the battlefield:

"Vermin, I... have been waiting for you for quite some time!"

The other woman was Mu Qinghong, formerly a close attendant of Wu Zetian and the inner court mistress of ceremonies responsible for palace discipline.

She took a slight half-step forward, seemingly casual, yet sealed off another possible escape route for the man in black.

Her voice was low, but it shook the soul. "For disturbing Her Highness, death is your due!"

In an instant, attacker and defender changed places!

Princess Taiping and Lu Changfeng, who had seemingly fallen into an encirclement, were now revealed as bait. The true hunters-two Great Grandmaster-level experts of unfathomable cultivation-had descended. Together with Princess Taiping, they formed a triangular encirclement, trapping the man in black and his Blood-Colored Giant Apes in a killing ground instead.

The night wind suddenly quickened, and killing intent filled the wilderness!

Under the pressure of the two elderly women's vast auras, the man in black sank slightly despite himself. For the first time, gravity entered his eyes. Yet a moment later, he sneered. "The vanished Cloud-Howling Eagle, and Mu Qinghong, who supposedly died of illness... appearing together. That demon empress left you quite a few things..."

At that epithet, Princess Taiping, Zhao Lanjun, and Mu Qinghong felt their hearts sink, their gazes turning razor-sharp!

Who exactly was this man?!

How did he know so many palace secrets?!

And judging by that epithet, he was clearly a surviving remnant of the opposition to Wu Zetian!

Before the three could consider it further, the man in black made his move. He knew the advantage of knowing his enemies while remaining unknown himself would vanish in a heartbeat. He had to seize this opportunity to strike first. He swept his hand!

"ROAR!!!"

At his command, the twelve Blood-Colored Giant Apes' eyes blazed crimson, and savage malice surged skyward. Ignoring even the Cloud-Howling Eagle's intimidation, they charged wildly at the group like twelve mountains of blood-red flesh, bringing a reeking wind with them. Thick-skinned and immensely strong, their combined assault could shake mountains!

Without waiting for instructions, Lu Changfeng immediately retreated to the cave entrance.

There was simply no room for him to participate in a battle at this level. He kept his eyes fixed on the battlefield, carefully studying and sensing the shifts in their energies to prepare for his own future breakthroughs.

"You court death!"

Zhao Lanjun practiced a cold-aligned art and loathed such seething, savage creatures most of all. Faced with the Giant Apes closing in, she advanced rather than retreating. She raised her right palm slightly, then slammed it toward the ground. A visible white tide of cold surged forth like a heavenly river bursting its banks!

Where the cold passed, the air froze. The foremost Giant Apes were instantly frozen into enormous ice sculptures, still poised mid-lunge, the crimson light in their eyes abruptly extinguished. The apes behind them were also invaded by the extreme cold, their movements becoming sluggish as thick ice formed over their bodies. They let out agonized howls.

But just as Zhao Lanjun paused to draw breath after that full-force strike, her spent strength gone and fresh strength not yet gathered, a sudden change erupted!

The man in black blurred, scarlet light blazing around him!

In an instant, nine flame doubles appeared out of thin air, identical to him even in their auras. With his true body, there were ten figures in all, the real indistinguishable from the false. They cackled eerily in unison and lunged from different directions like ten meteors, straight at Princess Taiping behind Zhao Lanjun's protection!

Li Fire Doubles...

Princess Taiping's eyes turned icy. She had already guessed his identity. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Lu Changfeng had withdrawn to a safe distance and cast aside her final concern!

Facing ten fiery figures hurtling toward her with thunderous force, she stood tall and graceful, neither dodging nor retreating. The surging true qi of her Purple Tenuity Heavenly Heart Formula erupted around her. Her robes fluttered and snapped without wind as both palms traced arcs before her. Her movements seemed slow, yet they drew upon the power of the stars throughout the heavens!

-Harness the spirit of heaven and earth, gather the first breath of the qi sea, converge the power of the flowing stars, and channel it into both palms!

Invisible stellar power seemed to be drawn down from the night sky, gathering and compressing between her palms!

Brilliant specks of purple starlight coiled and flowed like a miniature river of stars, radiating heart-stopping waves of destruction.

The splendid, majestic Golden Phoenix Dharma Form behind her solidified once more. It folded its wings in a protective posture and raised its head, letting out a clear, stirring cry that challenged the eerie laughter of the ten fiery figures.

"Protect Her Highness!"

At the sight, Mu Qinghong acted without hesitation. Her black-clad figure flashed, and she was already standing before Princess Taiping. True qi erupted around her as she crossed her palms and sank her qi into her dantian. The towering phantom of Kunlun faintly emerged behind her. A vast, weighty aura, immovable as a mountain, spread outward as she prepared to take all ten attacks head-on, buying time for Taiping and Zhao Lanjun to counterattack!

But this was precisely the killing opportunity the man in black had painstakingly created!

"Mu Qinghong, oh, Mu Qinghong. After all these years, you are still so... utterly foolish!"

The man in black clearly knew Mu Qinghong's reactions and cultivation art inside out. He knew she would throw herself forward regardless of her own safety. He also knew that although her Great Pagoda Formula offered unparalleled defense, it was an art of rapid advancement. Its foundations were unstable, leaving a vulnerable point!

Whenever she circulated her power at full strength, the pull of her energy would leave an extremely brief opening at the Gate of the Chapter Acupoint on her flank!

This was the very moment he had been waiting for!

Among the ten Li Fire Doubles, the one with the most concealed aura vanished like a phantom the instant it approached Mu Qinghong's defensive range. In the next heartbeat, it had somehow appeared behind her flank!

At its fingertip gathered a speck of dark-gold flame, condensed to the utmost, without the slightest trace of smoke or heat. It struck toward Mu Qinghong's Gate of the Chapter Acupoint with flawless precision!

Pfft!

A faint, muffled sound rang out.

Mu Qinghong's vast, mountainlike presence abruptly faltered. The faint Kunlun Dharma Form behind her shook violently, then shattered! Her face turned deathly pale, and she spat a mouthful of blood. Like a kite with its string cut, she staggered several steps forward, her aura visibly withering away! Her cultivation art had been broken, and her true qi had recoiled against her!