The Iron Saber Gang, Flying Eagle Castle, and the Liu Family had made no moves since their last major defeat.

Everything seemed to have returned to calm.

Only those involved knew that this was the calm before the storm.

Xinchou was very busy.

The Ten Thousand Spirits Festival required more than just sacrifices; it involved numerous rituals, and he had to verify every single one. If even the slightest thing went wrong, begging for death would become a luxury.

The Soul-Chasing Tower’s methods of torture were as unparalleled as their assassinations.

Just as he was inspecting the altar, an assassin from the Soul-Chasing Tower came before him.

The assassin presented a thick book to him.

"Tower Master, this is the information you had me investigate."

Xinchou nodded in satisfaction and took the book.

The tall envoy placed great importance on that young man from the Li Family, so naturally, he dared not be negligent.

For the Soul-Chasing Tower, gathering intelligence was a simple matter. Only a day had passed, and the report on the young man was already in his hands.

The information on the young man filled an entire book, covering matters both large and small.

"Bai Yuan... Huwei Arts Hall... True Disciple."

Xinchou read through it carefully.

Although there was a great deal of information on the young man named Bai Yuan, there was nothing about him taming monsters.

Clearly, the young man had hidden his true abilities.

However, the report suggested that the young man had no legacy or powerful backing.

"Send Lu to bring this Bai Yuan to me."

"But, tonight is the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival..." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Soul-Chasing Tower assassin hesitated.

Xinchou glared at the kneeling assassin. "Since when do you get to question my orders?"

The assassin instantly fell silent, not daring to utter another word.

Watching his subordinate leave, Xinchou’s expression turned grim.

’How could I not know that tonight is the Ten Thousand Spirits Festival?’

’The Ten Thousand Spirits Festival is important, but so are the envoy’s orders. A mistake in either could cost me my life, so I have to handle both perfectly.’

Lu wasn’t a name, but a codename.

The sixth-ranked assassin of the Soul-Chasing Tower was known as Lu, an assassin at the Yijin Pass.

Although Lu was only ranked sixth, it was because the top five were all at the Strong Organ Pass. In other words, Lu was the Soul-Chasing Tower’s strongest Yijin Pass assassin, a testament to the organization’s terrifying power.

Assassins were already masters of killing, let alone one who was an entire realm higher. This showed just how seriously Xinchou was taking the matter.

’As for what the Huwei Arts Hall might think, I couldn’t care less.’

’Because after tonight, the Huwei Arts Hall will no longer exist.’

.....

Night fell.

A cloud drifted over the high moon, plunging the world into deeper darkness.

It was nearing midnight. The streets of Qinghe County were deserted, save for a few staggering drunks. Even the ever-boisterous Xiangnuan Pavilion had, for once, closed its doors early.

In the pitch-black darkness, over a hundred figures in Night Clothes and black masks flitted across the rooftops without a sound.

The sleeping Bai Yuan suddenly snapped his eyes open.

’Someone’s here... and more than one!’

The faint sound of shifting roof tiles did not escape his ears.

Before he could even get up, a blood-curdling scream shattered the silence, plunging the Huwei Arts Hall into chaos.

"Enemy attack!"

A furious shout exploded in the night, faintly recognizable as the voice of Zhang Yang.

Almost simultaneously with the shout, the sound of shattering tiles echoed as a man in black dropped into the room from the ceiling.

Seeing the man in black drop from above, Xiao Qiaoniang’s first instinct was to get up and grab her spear.

She was no longer the delicate woman she once was.

But Bai Yuan was faster. He rolled out of bed, his right hand darting under his pillow. A foot-long curved blade was instantly unsheathed, its gleaming steel colder than the moonlight itself.

The man in black was, of course, Lu, who had been sent by Xinchou to capture Bai Yuan.

Lu’s expression was icy. ’A mere brat at the Bone Forging Pass. Nothing to worry about.’

’He’s surprisingly vigilant, hiding a blade under his pillow. Interesting...’

The corners of Lu’s mouth lifted into a slight smirk, though no one could see it behind his black mask.

But in the next instant, his smirk froze.

’This strike... it’s too fast!’

It felt as if the young man wasn’t holding a blade, but a vicious tiger that had been starved for days, descending from the mountains to devour its prey.

The man in black, Lu, instinctively swung the long saber in his hand.

The long saber and the curved blade collided in mid-air.

Lu’s pupils shrank!

He watched as his long saber was cleaved in two by the curved blade as if it were made of tofu.

’What a sharp blade!’

Its momentum unchecked, the curved blade sliced through the moonlight streaming into the room and cut Lu in half at the waist.

The fight was over.

MVP Reward: +123 Enhancement Points

It all happened so fast that his feet hadn’t even touched the ground before he was sliced in two.

"Fuck, is this really the fucking Bone Forging Pass?!"

"Xinchou, you son of a bitch, you’ve killed me!"

Lu’s upper body thudded to the floor. He clung to a final shred of consciousness. If the report hadn’t stated his target was only at the Bone Forging Pass, he at least wouldn’t have died so quickly.

"Let’s go!"

Bai Yuan glanced at the body on the floor.

’From his clothes, he’s clearly an assassin from the Soul-Chasing Tower. Combined with Zhang Yang’s shout, it’s obvious the Soul-Chasing Tower is making its move tonight.’

He grabbed some nearby clothes and draped them over Xiao Qiaoniang.

He then bent down, grabbed a stone slab, and heaved it aside, revealing a dark, hidden tunnel.

It was a secret tunnel Bai Yuan had dug himself, and tonight, it finally had a use.

He helped Xiao Qiaoniang into the tunnel.

Seeing that Bai Yuan had no intention of following, Xiao Qiaoniang grew anxious. "Brother Yuan, aren’t you coming in?"

Bai Yuan shook his head resolutely. "Sister Qiao, you stay here. The man in black is dead, so no one else should come looking for you in here."

With that, he slid the stone slab back into place.

The tunnel was stocked with enough food and water for her to survive for a long time.

After erasing any trace that the slab had been moved, Bai Yuan pushed open the door and departed, saber on his back.

The curved blade from under his pillow had been given to him not long ago by Old Xue. It was the weapon of his grandmaster, the Black Evil Elder, forged from incomparably sharp Outer Divine Iron. But because the material was so expensive, the blade was very short.

Bai Yuan was still more comfortable with his thick, heavy Firewood Cutting Saber.

He could have chosen to hide in the secret tunnel with her and wait for everything to blow over.

’But I’m not willing to...’

’I practice martial arts not just to protect myself, but to protect those I care about. Otherwise, what’s the point of becoming so powerful?’

’If I don’t act tonight, Li Ting, Zhang Yang... even Old Xue could die.’

’The strong must accept the responsibilities of the strong.’

’Besides, what speedrunner can resist the temptation to farm some mobs!’

The moment he stepped out of his courtyard, his ears were filled with cries, shouts, and curses.

The Firewood Cutting Saber in Bai Yuan’s hand became a soul-reaping chain from the Underworld, harvesting the lives of every Soul-Chasing Tower expert he passed.

The Huwei Arts Hall—no, all of Qinghe County—was shrouded in chaos and fear.

Slaughter erupted in every corner of the city; not even civilians were spared.

Bai Yuan’s heart sank.

’What in the world is the Soul-Chasing Tower trying to do?’

’Massacre the entire county?!’