Chapter 10: Borrowing a Knife to KillInside Star Luo City, Dai Youheng stood by the window of his hotel room, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of rooftops, settling on the formidable White Tiger Dukes Mansion."The opportunity has finally arrived…" Dai Youheng murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming with a cold, sharp light. Traveling alone meant the target was now outside the two strongest sanctuaries: the Duke's Mansion and the Star Luo Imperial Palace.But he wasn't blinded by the impending hunt. Instead, he analyzed the situation with exceptional calmness."I still can't be careless," he turned and said to the phantom of the Snow Empress in the air. "No matter how useless that guy is, he's still the White Tiger Duke's illegitimate son. Even if he's not favored, it's impossible for him to travel alone without a single guard. Most likely, the Duke's Mansion arranged for guards of Spirit King or even Spirit Emperor level, to ensure his basic safety without making too much of a fuss."Spirit King, Spirit Emperor. For him, who currently only had seventeen levels of spirit power and was essentially a food system Spirit Master, this was a force he couldn't directly contend with.Even with the enhancement of the snow soul condensing ice pill and Emperors Palm, ambushing an unsuspecting Spirit Elder might be possible, but simultaneously dealing with an experienced, constantly vigilant Spirit King or Spirit Emperor guard carried extremely high risk and could easily backfire."I need a helper." Dai Youheng's fingers lightly tapped the window frame, his mind racing. "A helper who can draw fire for me, or even eliminate the guards for me."A cruel radian curved at the corner of his mouth. Killing with a borrowed knife was always the most efficient and effortless method.So, where should he find this "knife"?The target was quickly locked. With Xu Jiujiu's beauty, status, and position, her admirers in Star Luo Imperial City were enough to form an augmented regiment.That Simp Youheng was merely the most extreme and obvious one among them.Among the other suitors, there must be many who felt extreme dissatisfaction and disgust with the bootlicker's behavior, like a toad wanting to eat a swan.Soon, a name entered his sight — Huang Heyun.The vice-captain of the Star Luo National Academy's battle team, his spirit power level was similar to Xu Jiujiu's, also at the Spirit King level, but he was several years older, approaching twenty.His Spirit was the Dark Demonic Tiger, which countered the Dai Family's White Tiger Spirit. Furthermore, his family had held a ducal title for generations, constantly vying with the White Tiger Dai Family, and their relationship was extremely poor.More importantly, this Huang Heyun also harbored feelings of admiration for Xu Jiujiu. And Xu Jiujiu's attitude towards him was significantly "gentler" than the pure disgust she showed towards the former Youheng.Of course, Dai Youheng saw clearly that this was by no means because Xu Jiujiu had any special affection for him, but purely because Huang Heyun and his family had utilitarian value.The Star Luo Xu Family's imperial throne was seized from the White Tiger Dai Family back then.Over the years, although the imperial family relied on the Dai Family to guard the frontier, deep down, they were constantly wary of the Dai Family growing too powerful, and even feared they might one day reclaim the throne.And the Huang Family, possessing the Dark Demonic Tiger Spirit and having the strength to contend with the Dai Family, naturally became the best pawn for the imperial family to check the Dai Family.As an imperial princess, Xu Jiujiu had long regarded her marriage as a political bargaining chip. She was willing to offer herself as a chip to whoever was useful to her Xu Family and to the Star Luo Empire. Therefore, she would naturally give Huang Heyun some fleeting hope, binding him firmly to the imperial family's chariot.And this Huang Heyun was much smarter than that bootlicker Dai Youheng.He knew deeply that a woman like Xu Jiujiu could never be obtained by bootlicking. He trained even harder, increasing his own value, because he understood that only by proving his usefulness to Star Luo and the Xu Family could he possibly obtain that bargaining chip called marriage."He's the one." Dai Youheng confirmed his target. A perfect thug who was already dissatisfied with Simp Youheng, strong enough, and easy to provoke.Huang Heyun practiced every night in the Star Luo National Academy's simulated training area, making it easier to strike.After patiently waiting a few more days, confirming that the bootlicker, after a final wave of ineffective fawning, finally had to pack his bags, preparing to return to Shrek Academy the next day.Otherwise, if he was late, he would be expelled.Expulsion wasn't the main issue; the important thing was, if he was expelled, how could he stay in the Academy to continue pleasing Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, and others? He had to cling to the protagonist group's thigh.The time had come!That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.Dai Youheng quietly left the hotel, like a shadow merging into the night, sneaking towards the Star Luo National Academy. The academy during the holidays was exceptionally desolate, especially the Dark forest of the simulated training area, specifically prepared for dark-attribute Spirit Masters, which was even more deserted late at night.And Huang Heyun, as Dai Youheng expected, was diligently cultivating there. For the Dark Demonic Tiger Spirit, night cultivation yielded the best results.Dai Youheng stealthily entered the training area like Gui Mei, his extremely low presence allowing him to pass by patrolling academy guards unnoticed. He quickly located the figure meditating cross-legged in the most concentrated area of dark energy.Without hesitation, he directly summoned the fate reversal heavenly demon pill."First Spirit Ability, snow soul condensing ice pill."A phantom of an ice-blue pill merged into his body, an extreme chill circulating, and an ice-crystal-like luster flashed beneath his skin. Power, defense, and an absolute sense of control over ice elements instantly filled his entire body.He silently slid behind Huang Heyun, the entire process completely soundless, not even disturbing the surrounding dark energy. He slowly raised his right palm, and within his palm, an extreme chill was highly contained, causing the air to subtly distort.Emperors Palm, Great Cold Without Snow, though not fully mastered, its essence of freezing everything had already taken initial form!His palm strike also had three parts of mastery. Achieving such progress in such a short time, even the Snow Empress had praised Youheng's talent."Pfft!"Youheng's palm strike lightly landed on Huang Heyun's defenseless vital acupoint on his back!"Ugh ah —!"Huang Heyun was abruptly and forcibly interrupted from his meditation. A terrifying chill he had never experienced before instantly invaded his body, raging wildly, freezing his spirit power and icing his meridians!The blood he spat out turned into ice crystals in the air, and his body stiffly fell forward, his face filled with horror and pain!"Who? Which rat dares to ambush me?" He was furious and shocked, desperately urging his spirit power to resist the terrible cold, but to little avail, making it difficult for him to move for a moment!The spirit power contained in this palm strike was not strong, at most about level seventeen, not enough to seriously injure him, but it did render him immobile for a while. He felt his palms stiffen.At this moment, a cold hand grabbed his collar, roughly pulling him up and forcibly twisting his body to make him face the attacker."Kid, take a good look, who am I?" A cold and mocking voice sounded.Huang Heyun struggled to lift his head, and in the faint light, he saw that face. That face he utterly loathed, belonging to the Dai Family's bootlicker illegitimate son!
