The figure ahead gradually came into focus.
She was a female cultivator dressed in a plain gray outfit, her features so ordinary that she could easily get lost in a crowd. In her hands, she held a slender, curved saber, its blade shimmering with a faint blue light, clearly laced with potent poison.
Only her eyes were sharp as an eagle's, fixed intently on Xie Zhaolin, betraying a flicker of surprise.
She was supremely confident in her strength and in the timing of her ambush. The strike she'd just unleashed had been long in preparation, and even a peak Golden Core cultivator couldn't have taken it so lightly if caught off guard.
What unsettled her more was the calm, unruffled tone of the other party—as if she had expected this, her voice carrying a subtle mixture of comprehension and reflection, even a strange familiarity, as though she'd already guessed her identity.
Who was she?
Hui Xiao, Elder of the Enforcement Hall of Hehuan Sect, a peak Golden Core cultivator. Her duties were secretive, and she often operated in the shadows, tasked with guarding the Sect's key figures—especially Young Sect Master Yu Xiaotang.
Few had seen her, and even fewer could recognize her at a glance, except the Sect's inner circle and a handful of trusted disciples. And now, she was in disguise.
Could she have met this person before?
Hui Xiao's mind raced through possible faces, but none matched. She racked her memory and found nothing. This cultivator's aura was unfamiliar, her techniques strange… who could she be?
Xie Zhaolin, meanwhile, watched the brief flash of surprise and alertness on Hui Xiao's face with calm amusement.
She knew her. Hui Xiao, the hidden blade of the Enforcement Hall, had once protected her, back when she was still Yun Qingyue and a lowly cultivator in need of field training. The Elder had been her guardian from the shadows, a guide of sorts along her early path.
Though their interactions had been few, Xie Zhaolin remembered Hui Xiao's cold, decisive style and her unusual cultivation techniques.
Now, Hui Xiao was serving as Yu Xiaotang's bodyguard—no wonder she'd appear here. She was here to protect her Junior Sister's claim to the Soul Nurturing Wood.
Time had passed, circumstances had changed, and now they were enemies.
A flicker of sentiment passed through Xie Zhaolin's mind, but her eyes grew colder. Sentiment or not, when she struck, there would be no mercy.
She never showed mercy to enemies.
Xie Zhaolin didn't hesitate, giving Hui Xiao no time to react. In the instant Hui Xiao paused, her body blurred, leaving a faint afterimage as the real Xie Zhaolin darted forward.
She didn't use her usual ribbons. Instead, she extended two fingers like a sword. No light flashed from her fingertips, but immense, condensed spiritual power surged silently toward Hui Xiao's dantian.
Fast, precise, lethal, silent—this strike was designed to kill in one blow.
Hui Xiao's heart jumped. This was no ordinary mid-stage Golden Core cultivator. Had she concealed her true strength? Or cultivated an extraordinary technique?
Hui Xiao's extensive combat experience let her react in time. She twisted her body in an impossible angle, sliding a nearly transparent short blade from her sleeve, perfectly intercepting Xie Zhaolin's finger strike.
A trace of subtle, soul-eroding yin poison lingered along the blade's edge.
Cling—!
The sword fingers clashed with the short blade, ringing sharp and clear. A chill surged up Hui Xiao's arm. Her heart hammered—this cultivator's power was so refined, it rivaled her peak Golden Core!
Xie Zhaolin's assault continued like a relentless storm.
The deeper Hui Xiao fought, the heavier her heart sank, her expression darkened with horror.
Something was wrong. Too wrong.
The power fluctuations suggested only a mid-stage Golden Core, yet the ferocity of the attacks, the strangeness of the movements, the precision of timing—it all surpassed that level. Even worse, this person seemed familiar with the Hehuan Sect's techniques, and the shadowed assassination methods Hui Xiao often used.
Her secret strikes and unusual escape maneuvers barely got started before being interrupted or countered by swifter, deadlier attacks.
It was as if… this cultivator had watched her countless times. Maybe even practiced alongside her?
Impossible!
"You… who are you?!" Hui Xiao couldn't help but roar, voice trembling with shock and fury. She frantically searched her memory for a matching figure but found none.
Xie Zhaolin's assault faltered ever so slightly at the shout, just long enough to reveal a tiny opening.
It was almost imperceptible, but for a cultivator like Hui Xiao, it was enough. Instinctively, she thrust her short blade at Xie Zhaolin's left shoulder. One solid hit, and an arm could be ruined.
At the same time, a vague shadow appeared behind Xie Zhaolin, a dagger silently aiming for her back.
A perfect pincer attack, flawless in timing.
Yet Xie Zhaolin's lips curved into a faint, almost unnoticeable smile.
Her body spun in an impossible arc. Right hand condensed spiritual energy, striking precisely at the side of Hui Xiao's short blade. Left hand slithered under her ribs, fingers clawed, snatching at the shadowy figure's wrist.
Cling! Shh!
Two almost simultaneous sounds erupted.
Hui Xiao felt a strange shock through her blade, her arm going numb, halting her strike.
How was this possible? Both assassinations, from front and back, neutralized in a single instant?
Especially the shadowy figure—her stealth was top-tier. No one of equal rank should've detected her. Yet this cultivator acted as if they already knew. Her body's instinct made the decision before her mind could react. She retracted, trying to vanish back into the shadows.
But Xie Zhaolin didn't give her the chance. Anticipating her retreat, she pivoted, pressed forward faster than the shadow could move back, and struck with her fist condensed with baleful qi directly at the figure's chest.
The shadow's pupils shrank. Midair, with nothing to brace against, it could only watch as the crushing blow expanded before it.
Bang—!
A dull crash.
The shadow flew back like a broken kite, blood spewing from its mouth, chest caved in, aura instantly weakened. All of this happened in a flash—two or three breaths from start to finish, from the feigned opening to the pincer strike to the devastating counterattack.
Hui Xiao's eyes were wide with rage and shock. She finally realized—the so-called opening had been deliberately offered to lure out the shadow.
Xie Zhaolin had known the shadow was there all along.
Impossible! Their partnership had been secret for years. How could she know?
Before Hui Xiao could throw herself at Xie Zhaolin to save her partner, two sharp sounds of wind tore through the valley from behind scattered rocks.
Whoosh! Whoosh!