First Primordial Dragon: I summoned The Strongest From The Start!-Chapter 32: Xue Ying’s True Strength

"If I’m not wrong, she should be the ancestor of the Ebonmist Sect, which specializes in assassination." Old Bai introduced her as he looked at the middle-aged woman in the distance.

"You’re correct, that old hag is indeed the ancestor of the Ebonmist Sect." The ancestor of the Golden Lion Empire responded with a chuckle.

"Old bastard, I dare you to say that again." She gritted her teeth, her eyes flashed with killing intent.

Before it escalated further, Aetherion chimed in as he waved his hand casually. "You don’t need to worry about that. Even if you do manage to kill us, you guys won’t be held accountable for it."

...

After some discussion among themselves, they finally decided on the three people who were going to take the first challenges.

One of them was the ancestor of the Ebonmist sect, who had reached the Peak-level Saint rank, while the other two were from two different factions, and they were both High-level Saint rank.

The old men from the top three strongest factions didn’t join this time, as they had their own ideas.

Xue Ying looked a little bit disappointed when she saw that her opponents were only that many.

Even though she had sealed herself to the Peak-level Saint Rank from the moment she took the first order, it was more than enough to even kill someone at the Low-level Great Saint Rank.

Let alone the fact that her opponents were merely a Peak-level Saint Rank and two High-level Saint Ranks.

"My Lord, what do you want me to do? Kill them quickly or just pretend to struggle first?" Xue Ying asked through their connection.

"Do whatever you want." Ash replied with a smile, then looked at Old Bai. "Why are there so many saints gathered here?"

Ash thought to himself that even if there were many saints, the resources in here shouldn’t be able to satisfy them. That’s why most saints would usually leave and go to the main continent instead of staying in this barren place.

"That’s because there will be a big event in a month or so. It’s a—" The old man wanted to explain further but was cut off by Ash.

"You don’t need to explain it in detail." Ash chuckled, thinking that he wouldn’t stay on this continent after clearing the secret realm anyway.

...

In the middle of the grassland, Xue Ying stood at the center of that silence with a lazy, almost bored poise while twirling one of her twin Nightfall Daggers between her slender fingers.

Across from her, three opponents took their marks. The first was a middle-aged woman in midnight silks, her veil half-lowered to hide a smirk. She was the ancestor of the Ebonmist Sect, Mei Shulan.

The second, a broad-shouldered man with gray hair and a double-edged spear taller than himself. He was known as a genius who wasn’t affiliated with any faction and yet managed to reach the saint rank with his own effort, Fenric.

The third was an old man with white brows and a back like a withered bow, leaning on a cane engraved with a few talismans. He was one of the best array masters in the Mossvale Continent, Gao Shenyun.

Mei Shulan looked Xue Ying up and down, seemingly sizing her up. "A butler playing with kitchen knives," she sneered. "Interesting... But you should’ve poured tea for your lord instead of playing with something you shouldn’t have."

Ash shook his head slowly, thinking to himself. ’She’s dead as fuck as you can be!’

Xue Ying’s smile thinned as a flicker of cold threaded her eyes. "If you want, I’ll show you a little of my skill." She said lightly, "The three of you can even attack me at once, it won’t matter anyway."

Fenric spat to the side and lifted his spear. "You’ll regret those words, girl."

Gao Shenyun’s old eyes narrowed. He tapped his cane twice, and lines of faint white light unspooled across the ground in a spiderweb radius, then sank into the soil.

"Come at me then." Xue Ying said.

At her call, everyone moved at once.

The faint hiss of Mei Shulan’s poison mist spread across the field, but Xue Ying simply twirled her Nightfall Daggers, the motion so smooth it seemed as if her wrists were weightless.

Her expression didn’t change, even as the toxin-laden fog began to crawl along the ground toward her boots.

Fenric stomped forward, the ground cracking beneath his steps as flames burst to life along the shaft of his Lionspine War Spear. "Let’s end this quickly," he growled, heat distorting the air around him.

Gao Shenyun tapped his Thousand-Seal Cane again, lines of formation light sinking deeper into the grass. "Don’t underestimate her," he warned the other two. "Her presence is faint—unnaturally so."

Mei Shulan sneered. "I’ve dealt with assassins for centuries. She won’t be any different."

Xue Ying tilted her head ever so slightly, then vanished into thin air without any sound.

The trio tensed instantly, their instincts screaming danger. In the soft glow of the morning, shadows seemed to ripple unnaturally across the grass, creating faint afterimages of Xue Ying in three different places at once. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Mei Shulan lashed out, her Silken Ghostwire glinting in the sunlight as it sliced through one of the afterimages... only for the real one to appear a step behind her.

’Shit!’

Mei Shulan tried to pivot, but a flash of silver-black light passed through her vision, with one dagger nicking the hem of her veil while the other traced a thin mark across her back.

Fenric roared, swinging his spear in a wide, flame-wreathed sweep meant to force Xue Ying away, the bright arc momentarily overpowering the soft daylight. But she was already gone as another afterimage dissolving into shadow.

Gao Shenyun’s cane struck the ground hard. "Four Locks Earthward Array!"

Four golden pillars of light erupted around Xue Ying’s position, but only to close on empty air.

A whisper of breath grazed his ear, and Gao’s heart sank as he noticed that she was behind him.

But she didn’t strike him. Not yet.

Because her true target was Mei Shulan.

"Whispering Death." Xue Ying’s voice was like frost under the morning sun.

A single thrust of a silent and impossibly fast blade slipped beneath Mei Shulan’s armguard. No blood spilled as dark-element energy flooded her body, seizing her heart and snuffing out life in less than a heartbeat.

Her smirk froze in place as the strength left her limbs. She crumpled onto the grass with her eyes wide open in disbelief.

Just like that, one opponent was down.

Fenric bellowed in rage, molten energy spiraling along his spear.

"Molten Lunge!"

He became a streak of fire and steel, cutting through the air toward her.

Xue Ying sidestepped, her form blurring into the long shadows cast by the morning sun.

She then activated her [Voidstep Assassination] skill as she vanished into the spear’s shadow and reappeared behind him mid attack.

Both daggers flashed, one cutting at the back of his knee, the other carving a deep line along his ribs.

Fenric gritted his teeth through the pain, sweeping his spear in a blazing backhand arc.

Xue Ying reacted by crouching low and driving a dagger into the soaked ground. Then, she activated her [Dark Lotus Severance] skill.