In the darkness, a flash of swordlight bloomed like dazzling fireworks.
Sun Guishou’s figure, like a kite cut loose, flew straight backward!
“Cut wide…”
Xia Xiaochan sighed regretfully.
Although the sword strike came unexpectedly, it only hit Sun Guishou’s chest and failed to deliver a fatal blow.
It seemed her sword technique was still lacking.
If she could keep up with Senior Brother Yi’s cultivation, this strike would never have been dodged but would have already severed the vital throat.
A coughing sound came slowly from ahead.
“Cough, cough… Not bad, not bad! Damn it, I really misjudged you. Which Sect are you from?”
Bathed in moonlight, Sun Guishou slowly got up from the ground, his back hunched, a deep sword wound gaping on his chest.
His sunken eyes burned fiercely as if ready to devour someone alive.
“Great Void Sect.”
Xiao Chan replied calmly, revealing her Sect without hesitation.
“Great Void Sect… so fast you came, and from Great Void Sect!?”
Sun Guishou’s eyes flickered.
He had long known that his large-scale abduction of young girls would attract those hypocritical righteous cultivators’ retaliation — the only question was when.
That was why he planned to act tonight — as long as the sacrificial ritual was completed, even if Great Void Sect disciples arrived tomorrow, he could just dust himself off and slip away.
The only thing he didn’t expect was their arrival so soon — Great Void Sect was thousands of miles away!
Most importantly… Sun Guishou looked at the empty dungeon and realized all the girls he had painstakingly gathered had escaped!
Decades of scheming, all ruined…
“Then you’ll stay here!”
Sun Guishou howled and transformed into a shadowy afterimage, flying straight toward Xia Xiaochan!
From the previous strike, he had already gauged her cultivation — merely Qi Refinement Realm…
She was alone, with no reinforcements, so this would be simple — just severely injure her.
Although her identity was hidden, the Eight Characters from her birth fate calculation could not lie.
She must be a Phoenix in the Clouds Fate!
So even sacrificing just her was equivalent to ten Yin Pure Girls.
He still had a chance to ascend to the Golden Core Stage!
Fate was still on his side!
The next moment, Sun Guishou raised his hand, and suddenly a massive ghostly claw, like a carriage wheel, slammed down on Xiao Chan’s head!
Compared to spells and sword techniques…
Scattered cultivators naturally lacked the variety of Sect disciples.
But the power of a strong scattered cultivator was this — a single decisive move that conquered all.
Sun Guishou wasn’t his real name, but a nickname… because he mastered a formidable technique called the Yama Hand!
With this skill, he could even hold his own against Sect disciples of the same realm.
Taking down a Qi Refinement Realm opponent was easy!
“Boom—!”
After a tremendous crash, the ground was left with a giant claw-shaped crater.
But Sun Guishou furrowed his brow.
Beneath the claw mark, there was no sign of Xiao Chan’s figure…
At that moment,
Xia Xiaochan was already behind Sun Guishou!
A thought of a thousand mountains kicked!
Just before, she had silently cast Dunshu to dodge the Yama Hand attack, and now she had gauged his spiritual power.
At least two realms above her…
In other words, Sun Guishou was at Golden Core Stage!
However, Xia Xiaochan did not shrink back. So what if he was Golden Core?
She was trained by Senior Brother!
Sword Intent!
Condensing her awakened Sword Intent, Xia Xiaochan swung her sword, unleashing the Sealed Lotus Sword Technique to its fullest, rapidly executing three sword moves consecutively, all thrusting toward Sun Guishou!
Although Sun Guishou sensed it and quickly used his spiritual power to defend, he was shocked to find he couldn’t block the Sword Intent within the strikes.
Three blood holes appeared on his arm, leg, and shoulder respectively.
With one hit, Xia Xiaochan held the sword in her right hand, palm fire in her left, stepping on the Jiezi Seal, pressing forward again, forcing Sun Guishou to retreat repeatedly.
After several rounds of pursuit and retreat,
“Enough!”
Sun Guishou roared, once again releasing the ghostly claw afterimage.
While sweeping away Xia Xiaochan, he pulled himself up and held her aloft in midair.
Standing above, he looked at the girl suspiciously.
Her sword moves were unpredictable;
Her Dunshu made her spiritual presence hard to detect;
Her spells were unfathomable…
Indeed, that terrifying fire condensed in her palm had yet to be unleashed but was a constant threat.
Is this really the power of a Qi Refinement Realm cultivator?
Could all Great Void Sect disciples be this formidable?
Sun Guishou couldn’t understand it.
The only certainty was her combat methods were incomplete, as no defensive spell was seen.
In other words, facing his attacks, she could only evade with Dunshu.
So, if the Yama Hand hit her once, with his Golden Core-level spiritual power, she absolutely couldn’t withstand it.
Confidence returned to Sun Guishou.
“Take this!”
This time, he poured almost all his spiritual power into the ghostly claw, covering the entire County Office.
Instantly, the ground cracked, buildings collapsed!
Countless ghostly claw afterimages appeared from all directions, toppling structures and converging in the center, leaving no corner untouched.
“Now, let’s see where you can run!”
Sun Guishou sneered, certain of victory.
Xia Xiaochan’s brow tightened.
Indeed, the endless ghost claws covered the entire County Office, sealing all escape routes. Under such an assault, she had nowhere left to hide.
She slowly turned to face him…
Exhaling calmly, she pressed her sword tip to her nose, and with a clear voice shouted:
“Godflame Transformation!”
On the Spirit Boat,
Lin Ci and the other two sat in a circle, discussing matters.
Buliuguyue spoke first:
“At this rate, we’ll soon reach White Pine Town.”
Lin Ci nodded. Three days and three nights to reach the border between the Central State and the Western Regions — he was quite satisfied with the progress.
“Let’s discuss the mission details first… Xiaoying, you speak.”
Buliuguyue then looked to Ruan Huoying.
Ruan Huoying hummed, took out a yellow mission paper, and began to explain: “According to the mission record, this Sun Guishou is a scattered cultivator with no Sect affiliation, skilled in a technique called ‘Yama Hand’, and his cultivation is early Golden Core Stage.”
“Half a month ago, he bought the White Pine Town County Office with a large sum of silver, then used his authority to greedily extort the people and enslave the refugees, causing the surrounding villagers great suffering and rising resentment.”
“Recently, he has grown more violent, commanding soldiers to abduct young girls from the countryside — girls with pure Yin Eight Characters — likely for some dark ritual.”
“Hmm.”
Lin Ci listened, “Early Golden Core Stage, killing him won’t be difficult.”
Of course, that was assuming his two elder sisters guided him…
“Indeed.”
Buliuguyue took over, “But he is a scattered cultivator, and such people are extremely wary. At the slightest sign of trouble, he’ll flee, and finding him again won’t be easy.”
Lin Ci pondered briefly.
“So, we strike by surprise. Tonight, we go straight to the White Pine County Office and kill Sun Guishou before he senses danger?”
Buliuguyue nodded slightly, “That’s my thought as well.”
“Good.”
Lin Ci decided, “I’ll block the exits, you two kill him!”
After finalizing their plan, the Spirit Boat continued flying toward White Pine Town.
Under the night sky, before long, the lights of the county town came into view.
Buliuguyue’s delicate hand moved, slowing the Spirit Boat as it hovered over White Pine Town.
Ruan Huoying gazed downward, searching for the County Office.
Lin Ci was casually idling.
Soon,
Ruan Huoying suddenly pointed toward the dark night: “Look, the County Office should be right there.”
The three looked in the direction she indicated.
At that moment,
Suddenly, a dazzling flame shot up from the center of the County Office, tearing through the night sky…