Dusk.

At the city gate, the convoy was ready to depart.

A group of Forging Masters, who had just been disappointed at the Divine Smith Grand Ceremony, showed no signs of dejection. Instead, their faces were filled with eagerness as they gathered around Ouyezi’s carriage window, reluctant to leave.

Murong Chen, the newly accepted apprentice, peered through the window, his old face etched with reluctance.

“Master, you’ve only been in Skyfire City for two days, why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

“Why not stay a few more days? It would allow your disciple to properly show filial piety and entertain you!”

“That’s right! Great Master Ouyezi!” Master Chen from the Imperial Capital quickly agreed, “Please stay a few more days. We still have many questions about forging that we’d like to ask you.”

“Exactly! Great Master Ouyezi, when you come to Chuan Du, you must let me know!”

Facing everyone’s enthusiastic pleas to stay, Ouyezi in the carriage merely shook his head calmly.

He leaned back in his seat, his expression serene.

“I still have many matters to attend to in Donghai City, so I cannot stay long.”

“Everyone, take care.”

“May we meet again.”

Seeing that he had made up his mind, no one dared to force him to stay.

Murong Chen could only step back and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting.

“Then Master, take care on your journey!”

“I will definitely go to Donghai City to see you when I have time!”

“If you have a chance to come to the Demon Capital, you must let me know in advance. I will surely sweep the house to welcome you!”

Under the reluctant gazes of the crowd, the black convoy slowly started, drove out of the Skyfire City gate, and merged onto the national highway leading to Donghai City.

Inside the car.

Lin Wei, acting as the temporary driver, cautiously glanced at Ouyezi, who was resting with his eyes closed in the back seat, through the rearview mirror.

She hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but speak.

“Great Master Ouyezi, why... why are we traveling through the night?”

“I heard that the wilderness at night is very dangerous, and the number of exotic beasts doubles.”

In the back seat, Ouyezi still had his eyes closed and replied simply:

“Drive your car.”

“Don’t ask about anything else.”

Lin Wei’s heart tightened, and she quickly sat up straight, no longer daring to say anything more.

She didn't see it.

The young man in the back seat curled his [N O V E L I G H T] lips into a meaningful arc, muttering in a voice only he could hear:

“If I don’t take risks, how will the fish... take the bait?”

The vehicle drove smoothly on the empty national highway.

Night, like spilled ink, quickly swallowed the last trace of light between heaven and earth.

A crescent moon quietly climbed into the night sky.

Just as the convoy entered a secluded section of the road flanked by dense forests.

“Screech—!”

A piercing screech of brakes cut through the silence of the night.

Lin Wei was thrown forward by the immense inertia, then sharply pulled back by her seatbelt.

Still shaken, she looked up.

Just ahead, in the middle of the road, several heavy trucks were haphazardly blocking their path.

Dozens of dark figures, armed with weapons, slowly emerged from behind the trucks, casting long, distorted shadows under the headlights.

“Gr-Great Master!”

Lin Wei’s face instantly turned pale, her voice tinged with a sob.

“We... we seem to have encountered robbers!”

“What do we do? What do we do?”

Zhou Huai, in the back seat, slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at the tense scene outside the car and smiled.

“They came quite quickly.”

He patted the front seat, his voice calm.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“Stay in the car, and don’t go anywhere.”

Lin Wei nodded distractedly, clutching the steering wheel tightly with her small hands, her knuckles white from the effort.

Having never encountered such a situation, she was already terrified and at a loss.

“Clang, clang, clang!”

The doors of the escort vehicles behind them opened one after another.

The dozen or so guards arranged by Gu Yan quickly dismounted, swiftly forming a defensive formation, firmly protecting the vehicle Ouyezi was in at the center.

The captain of the guards stepped forward, his long saber pointing straight ahead, and asked in a deep voice:

“Who are you?!”

“Why are you blocking our path?”

On the other side, the leading burly man let out a sinister laugh.

He did not answer the guard captain’s question, but simply gave a cold command to his subordinates behind him.

“Capture that Ouyezi alive.”

“Leave no one else!”

“Kill!”

At his command, dozens of dark figures pounced like hungry wolves.

The battle erupted instantly!

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The clanging of metal, the dull thuds of blades entering flesh, and the painful screams were incessant.

They cooperated tacitly, striking viciously, every move lethal.

In just a few breaths of time.

The guard team sent by Gu Yan was steadily pushed back, suffering heavy casualties.

Except for the guard captain, who was over Rank 30 and barely able to hold on, everyone else almost collapsed at the first touch, slaughtered like melons and vegetables.

Just as this small guard team was about to be wiped out.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Dozens of even swifter dark figures suddenly shot out from the dense forest on both sides of the road!

They wore uniform black tight-fitting suits.

On their chests, a silver crescent moon emblem shimmered with a cold light under the moonlight.

They moved silently, like ghosts in the night.

With the addition of these figures, it was like a red-hot blade cutting into hot butter.

The tide of battle instantly reversed!

“Pfft!”

A Tianhuo Guild member didn't even see how the enemy struck, but felt a chill on his neck, and his vision spun.

Each of these newly appeared black-clad individuals was like a top-tier killing machine.

Their movements were concise, efficient, and lethal.

Every strike was bound to take a life.

The Tianhuo Guild members, who had originally held an absolute advantage, now found themselves being slaughtered.

Seeing this, the leading burly man’s face instantly darkened.

He forced back the guard captain in front of him with a single strike and roared at the group of black-clad individuals:

“Who are you?!”

“Do you know who we are? How dare you obstruct the Tianhuo Guild’s good business!”

However, no one answered him.

His only response was the continuous screams of his companions.

Night was their domain.

Under the enhancement of the “Night Demon” state, each member of the Eternal Night Guild unleashed terrifying combat power far exceeding their own Rank.

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, a ruthless glint flashed in the burly man’s eyes.

He no longer lingered in battle, stomped his foot abruptly, and his body shot out like a cannonball, forcefully knocking aside the two black-clad individuals in front of him, and lunging directly towards the car Ouyezi was in.

To catch the bandit, first catch the king!

As long as he captured Ouyezi, tonight’s mission would be complete!

“Bang!”

He smashed the back seat window with a punch, and amidst Lin Wei’s piercing scream, his calloused hand grabbed at the calm young man inside the car.

However, just as his fingertips were about to touch Ouyezi’s clothes.

A wider, more powerful hand, like an iron pincer, firmly gripped his wrist.

The burly man’s heart jumped, and he turned his head sharply.

He met a pair of heavy-lidded eyes filled with boundless domineering aura.

It was Xiang Yu.

“You seek death!”

The burly man roared, pulled out a short saber from his waist with his other hand, and with all his might, fiercely slashed at Xiang Yu’s neck.

Facing this powerful and heavy blow, Xiang Yu did not dodge or evade, not even batting an eyelid.

“Clang—!”

The short saber struck Xiang Yu’s neck squarely, but it produced the sound of clashing metal, with sparks flying.

A crimson damage number floated above Xiang Yu’s head.

【-2581】

The burly man’s pupils contracted sharply.

His full-power strike only caused so little damage?

How could this guy’s defense be so terrifying?!

However, before he could recover from his shock.

A more intense, heart-wrenching pain suddenly came from his chest.

He looked down and saw a terrifying wound, deep enough to expose bone, had appeared on his chest at some unknown point.

Blood gushed out like a fountain.

An even more terrifying damage number floated above his own head.

【-5162】!

His already unhealthy health bar instantly bottomed out.

“This... what kind of monster is this...”

The burly man’s face was filled with terror and incomprehension.

These were his last words in this world.

Xiang Yu released his hand expressionlessly, letting his body fall softly.

【Armor of Dragon Scales】 reflects 100% physical damage.

The harder you hit me, the faster you die.

With the fall of the leader, the remaining battle quickly came to an end.

The Tianhuo Guild forces were completely annihilated.

Zhou Huai, controlling Ouyezi, unhurriedly pushed open the car door and stepped out.

He glanced at the corpses on the ground and smiled.

“I gave you a chance, but you were useless.”

“Then don’t blame me.”

Soon, all the Eternal Night Guild members quickly cleared the battlefield and came before Ouyezi.

“Thump!”

They knelt on one knee in perfect unison, their movements fluid and graceful.

A wave of fervent and respectful voices converged, echoing in the silent night.

“Greetings, Master!”

In the driver’s seat, Lin Wei, who witnessed this scene through the shattered car window, was completely dumbfounded.

Her mouth was open wide enough to fit an egg.

Ma-Master...?

Great Master Ouyezi... when did he become Master again?

...

At the same time.

Skyfire City, a splendid high-end nightclub.

Inside the luxurious private room, the air was thick with the smell of alcohol.

Xie Boyu, with two voluptuous young women in his arms, laughed as he comforted the man with venomous eyes on the sofa.

“Master Nakamura, rest assured!”

“My men have already been dispatched. I believe it won’t be long before that ignorant Ouyezi is brought back to you!”

Nakamura Shin'ichiro was already flushed from drinking.

He raised his glass, downed the spicy liquid, his eyes filled with venom.

“When the time comes, I will surely make him feel a hundred, a thousand times the humiliation!”

He said, staggering to his feet.

“I’m going... going to the restroom.”

However, just as he pushed open the door to the private room’s restroom.

On the ground, a dark shadow, almost blending in with the floor tiles, silently slipped in with him.

A long time passed.

Xie Boyu, seeing that Nakamura Shin'ichiro hadn’t returned after such a long time, couldn’t help but frown.

“What’s going on? Taking so long in the restroom?”

He gave a look to his subordinate beside him.

“Go check.”

The subordinate immediately got up and pushed open the restroom door.

The next second, the expression on his face instantly froze.

“Pre... President!”

“Something’s wrong! Master Nakamura... he’s gone!”