At the depths of the harbor in Stargazer Navalia.
Phainon led a group of completely awestruck believers, walking through the silent shadows.
His steps were unhurried, everything was under his control.
Contacting Phantylia and intimidating the The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus was merely the raising of the curtain; it wasn't time to take the stage yet.
Currently, another key objective was Blade of the Stellaron Hunters.
To find that man entangled in karma, the most direct clue was in the hands of General Jing Yuan's disciple—
Yanqing.
The Cloud Knights youth hailed as a genius.
[Current Emotion: Rational]
With the help of rationality, a fragment of memories from his past life, buried in over thirty million cycles of reincarnation, was reassembled.
The deduction began.
At this moment, Yanqing was alone, tracking Blade's whereabouts.
No.
Not alone, it should be two people.
Then, ahead, it must be the point of convergence.
As long as he found Yanqing and intercepted information from his jade abacus, he would obtain a precise map leading to Blade.
"This lord…" The believer beside him finally couldn't hold back and asked tremblingly,
"By Chief's command, we should proceed to the Scalegorge Waterscape to rendezvous, but why…"
Phainon stopped, turning his gaze slightly.
The believer's voice cut off abruptly, his body stiffening, instantly standing at attention,
"I understand, my lord! Everything is unspoken! I await your command!"
—
At the same time.
"Uh… Jingliu sister, let me lead you for a while first."
Yanqing scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, the youth's vitality and goodwill evident.
"It might be a bit of a detour, but I promise to get you safely to the Cloud Knights."
He pointed forward, then realized the gesture was meaningless and quickly retracted his finger, adding awkwardly,
"Sorry, I didn't mean to."
Upon hearing this, the woman with black silk covering her eyes spoke in a clear, unblemished voice, "Little brother, are you usually this talkative?"
"Ah… I just thought, making more noise would help you know my position. Can you keep up?"
"I will listen." Jingliu's response was always concise.
Yanqing said no more, carefully leading the way, deliberately heavying his footsteps.
The crisp echo was exceptionally clear in the empty harbor.
Before long, Yanqing's footsteps stopped.
"What's wrong?" Jingliu asked.
Yanqing put a finger to his lips, his aura shifting from a boy next door to a sharp sword.
"Shh! Quiet, there's trouble ahead."
He gripped his sword hilt, and a beautifully crafted longsword appeared at his thought, their blade shimmering as if alive.
"Big sister, you stay here and don't move, I'll be right back."
Before he finished speaking, the youth, stepping on his flying sword, transformed into a dazzling blue electric flash, tearing through the darkness ahead.
At the street corner, a dozen distorted figures, monsters with branches and leaves growing from their backs, were gathered together.
They were followers of the The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, who had completed their evolution and completely fallen into the Demonic Yin (Mara).
Yanqing's figure suddenly appeared before them, his sword intent formidable.
"Who are you people? What mischief are you causing here!"
The leader turned his head, his face, which had completely lost their humanity, was full of greed and malice.
"Good timing… What a fresh little brat, your flesh and blood will irrigate the immortal traces!"
Amidst the roars, a dozen monsters rose from the ground, like a swarm of locusts, pouncing on the youth.
Yanqing's lips curved into a confident smile.
He made a sword seal.
Clang—
Six intelligent swords materialized out of thin air, suspended behind him, their sword qi chilling.
"It seems, young master, I must teach you a good lesson today!"
Sword light erupted!
Six streams of light wove into a dense sword net, freely moving through the monster crowd.
Each rotation brought forth a spray of green blood and precisely severed branches.
Yanqing himself moved gracefully, and wherever his sword tip pointed, the demonic bodies shattered.
In just a few breaths.
The monsters, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, were all slain.
Only two remained, pinned to the wall by flying swords, clinging to life.
Yanqing pressed his sword tip against the throat of one of the monsters, questioning coldly.
"Speak, who exactly are you? What are you doing here?"
Jingliu, though her eyes were closed, could perceive the entire battlefield just by listening.
The sound of blades cutting through the air was clear, swift, and agile.
Yanqing was indeed an unpolished gem; given time, he would certainly achieve greatness.
However, he focused solely on offense, not knowing how to conceal his edge… he still had some way to go before becoming a true master.
However, just as the thought flashed through her mind.
Jingliu's icy aura, which enveloped her, suddenly solidified.
A wave of heat silently permeated from the shadows.
The air was igniting.
Yanqing also noticed the anomaly; he sharply redirected his sword and shouted, "Who's there!"
From the shadows, a tall, black-robed figure slowly emerged.
He wore a golden mask, and behind him, a group of The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus believers followed, not daring to breathe loudly.
"Passing through."
Phainon's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.
He glanced at the scattered corpses on the ground and the living ones pinned to the wall.
"So, this detachment was dealt with by you?"
Yanqing subconsciously glanced at Jingliu behind him.
He just felt that the black-robed man's tone of voice was somewhat similar to that of the icy big sister, terrifyingly cold!
"Passing through? Do you take me for a three-year-old child?" Yanqing's eyes became incredibly focused,
"This Stargazer Navalia harbor has been sealed off, why would so many people suddenly appear?"
"I said, I'm just passing through…"
Phainon hadn't finished speaking.
A swift sword light had already pierced through the air, striking directly at his face!
He merely tilted his head slightly.
The flying sword, capable of piercing metal and shattering stone, grazed his golden mask, passing by precariously.
Not even a faint white mark was left on the mask.
[Current Emotion: Rational → Excited]
"Heh heh…"
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh!"
Beneath the mask, suppressed, crazed laughter, like boiling water, spilled out.
Phainon's eyes, in an instant, shifted from icy stillness to boiling delight!
[Current Emotion: Boiling (Intensifying...)]
[Emotion Threshold: 80%]
The legends of Luofu are endless?
A person has five names, and four of them you can't defeat, so I'm just one more.
Phainon slowly raised his hand, and a heavy sword as black as night silently materialized in his palm.
Seeing this, Yanqing stopped his idle talk.
With a thought, six flying swords shot out simultaneously, transforming into six deadly cold gleams, weaving a net that sealed off all possibilities for Phainon to evade!
Phainon smiled slightly.
His body split into four dark illusions, which, instead of dodging, allowed the flying swords to pierce their chests.
The next moment, the four illusions simultaneously reached out, gripping the sword blades tightly!
Yanqing's eyes widened suddenly.
What kind of sorcery was this?
The illusions could actually interfere with solid objects, directly locking down his flying swords!
He focused his mind and immediately activated the remaining two flying swords, slashing towards Phainon's main body.
But the next moment, Phainon vanished.
Vanished into thin air!
Oh no!
Yanqing's hair stood on end; he hadn't even seen the opponent's movements!
The next instant.
A scorching aura was already close to the back of his neck.
Extremely fast!
Extremely eerie!
He didn't even have time to turn around, only able to rely on his battle-hardened instincts to swing his sword back to parry.
But the black sword edge didn't clash with him; it lightly grazed his hair, passing by.
"Are you provoking me?!" Yanqing suddenly turned around, the golden mask was incredibly close, exuding immense pressure!
His heart sank.
Run!
Run quickly!
Just then.
A sword qi, imbued with bone-chilling coldness, swept across, precisely striking at Phainon.
Phainon's body immediately retaliated, striking back with a dark sword edge.
Hiss—
Extreme ice and extreme heat collided at point-blank range.
There was no earth-shattering roar, but instead, a dense cloud of white steam exploded, hissing.
Space was distorting.
"Little brother, you are not his match."
Jingliu had appeared beside Yanqing at some point, her face beneath the black silk facing Phainon.
"I'll deal with this person."
"If you die here, I cannot explain it to Jing Yuan."
"Big sister, you… you can't see, can you?" Yanqing's face was filled with the shock of having narrowly escaped death.
"I never said I couldn't see." Jingliu's voice remained cold, "You saw my eyes covered with black gauze and made an assumption."
She tilted her head slightly, her tone carrying an undeniable warning, "Step back and don't get caught in the crossfire."
Yanqing gritted his teeth; despite his extreme unwillingness, he clearly knew that in that instant, he had indeed been defeated, without any suspense.
He could only retreat unwillingly.
The next moment, only Phainon and Jingliu remained in a standoff.
Within three feet of Jingliu, the air froze, and all things withered.
And at Phainon's feet, the earth cracked, and hot air waves scorched everything.
One ice, one flame.
One cold, one hot.
Two diametrically opposed terrifying forces silently clashed and collided in the small harbor.
The The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus believers were already prostrate on the ground, trembling!
"I was already deeply mired in the Demonic Yin (Mara), and I did not wish to commit further atrocities." Jingliu's scarlet eyes pierced through the black silk, meeting Phainon's ice-blue eyes.
But the corners of her mouth slowly curved upwards, and an uncontrollable madness seeped from her icy aura,
"However, if the sword is drawn and achieves nothing, it is disrespect to the Emperor-Bow!"
"Hahahahaha…"
With that, she unconsciously began to laugh.
[Current Emotion: Frenzied]
[Emotion Threshold: 100%]
Phainon did not respond, only letting out more frantic laughter from beneath his mask,
"Heh heh heh heh…"