Nighttime. A dark alley.

Dark huts flashed past Bai Yuan. His speed was no less than that of the Soul-Chasing Tower assassins pursuing him; in fact, he was even slightly faster.

Their footwork came from the same source.

The Soul-Chasing Tower assassins behind him recognized the technique Bai Yuan was using as their own Soul-Chasing Steps. They couldn’t help but wonder, ’Could that young man be a Soul-Chasing Tower mole inside the Divine Mansion Sect?’

’But if he’s a mole, why is he running?!’

Just as the Soul-Chasing Tower assassins were lost in thought, the young man, sure enough, stopped running.

"Done running?"

The masked, black-clad leader of the Soul-Chasing Tower assassins said coldly.

He felt that the young man before him was just one sentence away from revealing himself as a mole, turning them from enemies into allies.

Bai Yuan looked left and right. He had reached a dead end.

More accurately, it was a death trap he had prepared for the men in front of him.

The Blood Tiger Scimitar gave off an evil, red glow, staining even the moonlight a deep crimson.

The slaughter began...

"You..."

The Soul-Chasing Tower assassin at the Yijin level closest to Bai Yuan wore a look of utter disbelief.

Fresh blood seeped from his forehead, dyeing his vision crimson.

The blade was too fast. He hadn’t even seen the young man draw his weapon, but he was already dead.

THUD...

The Soul-Chasing Tower assassin crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide with shock and resentment.

The remaining Soul-Chasing Tower assassins’ pupils shrank as they watched.

’Is he really just at the Yijin Pass?!’

Even a Strong Internal Martial Artist would have a hard time killing a Yijin-level assassin from the Soul-Chasing Tower so cleanly, yet the young man before them had done it.

How could they not be shocked?

"Attack together!"

The strongest among them, a Strong Internal Martial Artist, barked the order, and they all charged.

They were assassins; as long as they could kill the boy, honor was irrelevant. All that mattered was the result.

The problem was, there was something demonic about the boy.

Even the Strong-Hearted Assassin felt his confidence falter.

Bai Yuan’s scimitar grew even faster.

’One against nine?’

’He was all too familiar with these kinds of odds.’

One after another, assassins fell before his Blood Tiger Scimitar, now stained completely crimson. Having tasted blood, the scimitar had transformed into a truly demonic blade. If anyone other than Bai Yuan were wielding it, they would have long since been overwhelmed by the scimitar’s Evil Qi and driven into a murderous frenzy.

In the heat of battle, a gust of wind from the Blood Tiger Scimitar tore away the Strong-Hearted Assassin’s black mask.

Beneath the mask was a handsome man!

Bai Yuan’s brow furrowed the moment he saw the assassin’s face.

He recognized the man.

This person was none other than Fang Ya’s fiancé—Wang Ding!

To the disciples of the Divine Mansion Sect, Wang Ding was nothing more than an ordinary disciple who had only gotten into the outer sect thanks to Elder Wang’s influence.

’To think he’d hidden his true strength. He clearly broke through the Strong Organ Pass long ago.’

A Strong Internal Martial Artist at only thirty years of age... even in the Divine Mansion Sect, that was considered well above average talent.

’And yet, he’d thrown in his lot with the Soul-Chasing Tower.’

’I wonder if Elder Wang is involved in this.’

Bai Yuan’s killing intent intensified.

’Since we’re old acquaintances, that’s all the more reason you have to die.’

Wang Ding watched Bai Yuan warily.

’Of course I recognize Dong Wanjun’s youngest disciple. If it weren’t for him, my plan to offer up my wife would have succeeded, and I would have already obtained the complete demonic arts from the Old Ancestor.’

That was right. The reason he’d had such a rapid breakthrough was because he and Elder Wang practiced the same evil art: plundering the Yin essence of women to supplement their own Yang.

On the surface, he was a refined gentleman, but in secret, he had brutalized countless women.

Wang Ding was clever, however. He never touched women from Huanglong Prefecture City, instead targeting those from outlying counties. That was how he’d remained undetected.

’It’s disgusting, I know, but that doesn’t matter. As long as I can get stronger, that’s all that counts.’

Without that evil art, he never would have broken through the Strong Organ Pass so quickly.

What he never imagined, however, was that he wasn’t the only one hiding his true strength. Bai Yuan was too.

"Damn it!"

A fierce light returned to Wang Ding’s eyes.

They were both at the Strong Organ level. He refused to believe he would lose...

Now that his identity was exposed, he stopped holding back. He unleashed the distinctive swordsmanship of the Divine Mansion Sect, every strike aimed for a vital point.

Veins bulged on the back of Bai Yuan’s scimitar-wielding hand, but they were a bizarre, scarlet red.

’I have to admit, Wang Ding is pretty strong.’

’But this is where it ends...’

Wang Ding saw a spectral tiger’s head burst from the bizarre, blood-red scimitar and fly straight at his face.

The spectral image moved so fast he had no time to react.

In the next instant, his world turned blood-red.

"AARGH..."

A tearing pain in his skull made him cry out, and his vision cleared.

A stream of scarlet blood flowed down, painting his vision red once more.

Except this time, it wasn’t an illusion.

"I... I won’t accept this."

Wang Ding stared intently at the young man before him. He had schemed and plotted to become stronger, even willing to personally offer his wedded wife to the Old Ancestor, only to find that in the end, it was all for nothing.

"If I’d known... I should have just been a rich playboy..."

Bai Yuan glanced at Wang Ding’s corpse.

He crouched down and quickly searched the body.

Just as he expected, no assassin from the Soul-Chasing Road was stupid enough to carry valuables while out on a kill.

Just as he was preparing to go back and lure out a couple more Soul-Chasing Tower assassins, torches flared to life, bathing a distant, dilapidated courtyard in a crimson glow.

"The Soul-Chasing Tower fiends have all been put to death!"

A powerful voice rang out, so clear that Bai Yuan could hear it perfectly despite being nearly a mile away.

Only a handful of people in all of Huanglong Prefecture possessed such Inner Strength.

Bai Yuan even recognized the voice. It was his master, Dong Wanjun.

Old Dong had finally made his move!

...

「The next day.」

The residents of Huanglong Prefecture City, emerging from their homes just after waking, looked up and saw several new black dots atop the distant city gate.

Upon closer inspection, they saw they were heads—seven of them!

These were the heads of the seven strongest members of the Soul-Chasing Tower in Huanglong Prefecture, second only to the Tower Master himself.

In a single night, Dong Wanjun had single-handedly slaughtered all of the Soul-Chasing Tower’s top masters.

Once again, Dong Wanjun’s name sent shockwaves through Huanglong Prefecture.

No one could have imagined it. Dong Wanjun was supposed to be thousands of miles away, yet here he was in the city. It was utterly unbelievable.

「The summit of Wan Jun Peak.」

「Wan Jun Hall.」

Bai Yuan stood with his eyes downcast, the very picture of a well-behaved disciple. You Shengnan and Xiongshan stood beside him.

A short distance in front of the trio, Dong Wanjun—the man who had slaughtered seven top masters the night before—was casually sipping his morning tea as if nothing had happened.

"Master."

The three of them bowed together, speaking respectfully.

Bai Yuan straightened up and looked at Old Dong.

He hadn’t seen the old man in the six months since his discipleship ceremony.

"Bai Yuan, the Martial Hall said your token was fake?"

Old Dong slowly set down his teacup and raised his eyelids slightly.

Even though Bai Yuan wasn’t always by his side, You Shengnan was. So of course, Old Dong knew everything that had happened to Bai Yuan in the Divine Mansion Sect.

"That did happen," Bai Yuan confirmed.

"Some old fool giving you trouble?"

"One or two, yes."

"Let’s go."

"Master, are you going to take action?"

"No. You are."