"No...!"
The side-flip and knife-throwing maneuver had exhausted the last bit of strength in Xiaoxiao's body. All she could do was scream hysterically and wail, her tears mixing with the rainwater and flowing into her mouth, bitter and astringent.
She kept crying like that until half an hour later, the rain finally stopped.
A woman dressed entirely in black walked over and looked surprised when she saw Xiaoxiao sobbing on the ground.
"Tsk tsk... So you survived. How interesting!"
She didn't care who the victor was. There were plenty of orphans like the one in the courtyard in the Flame Blessing Tribe. She wouldn't feel sorry for them even if they all died.
"Alright! Since you won, congratulations! You can now have an official assassin codename. Do you have a codename you like?"
My name is Mingye!
Xiaoxiao stood up and stared straight at the assassin leader in front of her.
After tonight, Xiaoxiao will be dead. The one who survives is called Mingye, Ming means death and Ye means tonight, which is the beginning of his transformation.
"Okay, that's a good name. From now on, you'll be called Mingye."
The assassin leader nodded, agreeing to Xiaoxiao's naming request.
At that moment, the whole world suddenly underwent a tremendous change.
Suddenly, Mingye grew up and became a man in his twenties, while the assassin leader took off his mask, revealing a bewitching and cold face.
" Mingye, do you want to leave here?"
If you want to leave, just kill me! If you kill me, you won't have to be an assassin anymore, you won't have to kill anymore, you can escape your fate and become a free person.
Come on! Kill me! Hahaha..."
The leader of the assassins was none other than Miao Min, Mingye's first master, the woman she regarded as both a god and a demon.
Mingye's face turned cold. He drew his dagger and charged towards Miao Min.
Clang! Clang!
Two assassins wielding daggers clashed, each strike aimed at vital points, each moment intent on killing the other.
" Mingye, all your skills were taught to you by me, how could you possibly defeat me?"
Clang...!
Mingye's dagger was knocked away by a single blow, and the cold blade pressed against her neck.
"Actually, you have another way to gain your freedom: let me kill you. Do you want that?"
Miao Min smiled; killing was as casual as talking about everyday matters to her.
Mingye moved with lightning speed, grabbing Miao Min's hands that were wrapped around his neck, and with a quick movement, he broke free from her grip.
"I won't die! I want to live on for A Yue and for everyone else in the courtyard."
She rolled over, picked up the dagger from the ground, and charged at Miao Min again.
Ta-da!
Mingye tried desperately to kill Miao Min, but Miao Min was always stronger and always managed to defeat her.
The world seemed to be caught in a vicious cycle: Mingye couldn't kill Miao Min, so she couldn't gain her freedom, and Miao Min couldn't kill Mingye either, because Mingye didn't want to die.
To survive, she must continue killing; only through killing can she live.
In the void, Chen Mu witnessed everything and finally learned about Mingye's past.
She didn't want to kill, but she wanted to live. As long as she lived, she couldn't escape the control of the assassin organization; this was her inner demon.
Although Mingye has become stronger than Miao Min today, the shadow left by his childhood cannot be shaken off simply by becoming stronger.
Like a baby elephant tied to a post from a young age, even if it can easily break free of the post when it grows up, its subconscious will always tell it that it can never break free of the post.
" Mingye, come out! You've already broken away from the Tuoba Lineage; you're free."
In the illusionary world, Chen Mu suddenly appeared beside Mingye and slapped Miao Min away with a palm strike.
"Who are you...?"
Mingye didn't seem to recognize Chen Mu at first glance.
"Let's go home!"
Chen Mu smiled, grabbed Mingye's hand, and pulled her into the sky.
In a daze, Mingye recalled that night with the huge bonfire burning, and it was this same man who spoke to her.
"Alright, from now on we're comrades! Come on, let me introduce A Huo and my sister to you."
Chen Village, in the center of the square.
Mingye opened his eyes and found that the Spiritual Power and Death Qi in his dantian had disappeared, leaving only an inner core radiating Yin and Yang Qi hanging in the very center.
"Condense!"
She clasped her hands together, and a vortex formed above her body, beginning to absorb the surrounding Spiritual Power of heaven and earth to transform her physical form.
call...!
The vortex of Spiritual Power above her head was even more terrifying than the Chen Mu had condensed back then.
She swept away all the Spiritual Power of heaven and earth within a radius of more than ten kilometers, and even absorbed some other Spiritual Power that ordinary people could not sense.
"Warning!! Unidentified magnetic field interference detected. Base energy consumption is too high. Activate weapons for counterattack? Please advise! Please advise!"
Xiaozhi's warning echoed in Chen Mu's mind.
He quickly opened the control panel and gave Xiaozhi commands.
"Ignore the interference, increase the operating power of the isolation shield, and protect the equipment from being affected!"
Furthermore, set up Spirit Gathering Array in the plaza where Mingye is located. I authorize you to use fifty percent of the base's reserve energy to maximize the Spiritual Power concentration there.
Chen Village currently has energy reserves exceeding the total Spiritual Power of ten thousand Core Formation Realm cultivators. No matter how much Mingye absorbs, it's impossible for him to absorb that much. Chen Mu's actions are merely a precaution.
Throughout the inner city of Chen Village, all martial arts practitioners noticed that the surrounding Spiritual Power had become unusually thin, making them feel very uneasy.
However, compared to the Heavenly Tribulation scene just now, I feel much more at ease now.
In Chen Village Square, pillars engraved with mysterious runes rose one after another.
These cylinders, about half a meter in diameter, are scattered in every corner of Chen Village. They were all driven into the foundation during the Chen Village's renovation in recent years.
Soon, a total of eighty-one cylinders surrounded Mingye in a specific pattern, and then they all lit up with green light.
Nine-Nine Profound Mystery Spirit Gathering Array!
After the formation was completed, the vortex above Mingye's head expanded to cover an area of over a hundred miles.
Moreover, Spiritual Qi also spewed out from inside the Spirit Gathering Array, all of which was absorbed by Mingye.
With the help of the Spirit Gathering Array, Mingye can obtain more Spiritual Power to optimize her cells, which means she can transform her physical body into something even more perfect.
And so, an hour, then two hours passed.
The people of Chen Village gradually got used to the thin Spiritual Qi around them, and Chen Hongjie also notified everyone that someone in Chen Village was breaking through to a higher realm, and that Chen Village would return to normal in a few days.
Chen Hongjie lifted the lockdown order, and Chen Village returned to normal operations.