An Unseen Ambush in the Night

A solitary, clear moon, its cold light bathing immortals and mortals alike, from ages past to the present day.

Ink-dark night embraced the contours of Wu Yin Capital, holding it in a soft, inky shroud.

The scattered lamplight from the market district appeared timid and scarce, and even the resonant beat of the night watchman’s clapper, warning ‘Dry weather, beware of fire,’ seemed to have its throat constricted by an unseen hand.

Its sound, traveling barely a hundred paces, trembled into nothingness, swallowed by the impenetrable depths of the oppressive darkness, leaving behind only a heart-wrenching stillness.

Two days had now passed since the upheaval that had sent tremors through the court and countryside.

The newly enthroned Empress of the Wu Yin Dynasty had been missing for two days as well.

Perhaps it was the frequent shifts in imperial power over the past century, with the ‘Nine Princes’ Succession Struggle’ having already drained the spirit and fervor from the populace, leaving fields drenched in blood.

Or perhaps, it was the meticulously crafted administrative structure that the current Empress had established during her time as Crown Prince regent.

Whatever the reason, the entire bureaucratic system displayed an unexpected resilience, tirelessly sustaining the smooth operation of the dynasty.

Had it not been for this, it was highly probable that the sole mortal dynasty in the Eastern Barrens, barely prosperous as it was, would have been consumed by blood and fire the very moment the Empress’s disappearance was confirmed.

A hundred li east of the city.

The ancient post road lay in ruins, swallowed by waist-high wild grass, with only fragmented steles and crumbling walls whispering tales of the once-bustling carriages and clamor of bygone years.

Yet, in this place of profound stillness, an anomaly suddenly manifested.

The night sky, resembling a polished slab of dark jade, suddenly rippled without a sound.

A circle of silvery-white waves spread across its surface, as delicate and intricate as the first breath of spring wind disturbing a placid pond.

Immediately thereafter, a long, narrow flying boat, like a phantom, glided silently from the very heart of the ripples.

The vessel was utterly devoid of adornment, its body a stark, profound black, with lines as rigid and formidable as a war spear.

It stood in stark contrast to the ostentatious and elaborate Immortal Alliance tower-boat Mo Tingbei and his companions had previously encountered.

Smaller and narrower, it exuded an aura of formidable lethality, akin to a dagger silently drawn from its sheath against the backdrop of the night sky.

Its hull was densely inscribed with countless intricate silver runes, which, as the vessel emerged into the moonlight, flickered on and off as if breathing, exuding a cold, perilous sheen.

At the bow, three figures stood shoulder to shoulder, each clad in dark, cloud-patterned Dharma robes of uniform design.

A small, golden sword-shaped token, intricately embroidered with silver thread, adorned the hem of each robe—the unmistakable emblem of an Immortal Alliance Patrol Envoy.

Were Mo Tingbei and his companions present, they would undoubtedly have discerned the subtle distinctions in the clothing patterns worn by these individuals, and more importantly, the formidable, rock-solid killing aura that emanated from the trio, though carefully restrained.

These details unequivocally declared that these were beings of an entirely different caliber than the previous imposters.

The leader, merely by standing at the ship’s prow, exuded an oppressive aura that filled the surrounding hundred li, as if an ancient, ferocious beast had materialized.

This potent presence compelled all wild beasts to retreat and silenced the myriad chirps of insects.

With a stern countenance and eyes like piercing lightning, he swept his gaze across the dormant Wu Yin Capital below, a slight furrow appearing between his brows.

In his hand, he held a divining compass, its needle emitting a faint yet urgent hum as it unerringly pointed towards the heart of the capital.

‘Wu Yin Capital shows anomalous residual spiritual energy fluctuations, along with traces of high-tier cultivators having engaged in combat,’ he intoned, his voice low and devoid of emotion.

‘Record: Sector B-1, an unrecorded energy burst indicative of a peak Purple Mansion cultivator has been detected, with suspected remnants of divine abilities.’

‘This necessitates an immediate assessment, as it strongly suggests cultivators have violated the Alliance pact by interfering with the succession of a mortal dynasty. Proceed to enter the city for immediate verification.’

The two patrol envoys behind him responded with solemn affirmations, not a single superfluous word passing their lips.

One of them, with a flick of their wrist, produced a jade slip.

Their divine sense stirred, and the directives along with the current situation were meticulously recorded.

The other, forming intricate hand seals, sent their ten fingers dancing like butterflies, channeling streams of spiritual light into the very core of the flying boat.

The runes adorning the vessel abruptly flared to life, their circulation intensifying, causing the entire flying boat to blur and grow translucent.

It was on the verge of vanishing into the void once more, poised to execute a silent infiltration.

However, in that precise, fleeting instant, as the flying boat teetered between dispersion and solidity, between the ethereal and the tangible—

The desolate wilderness below, appearing to be nothing more than withered grass and crumbling ruins, utterly devoid of life, underwent a sudden, cataclysmic transformation!

Countless twisted, scarlet runes, as if meticulously drawn with fresh blood, erupted without warning from the very ground, from jagged rocks, and even from the seemingly empty void itself!

They writhed and intertwined with the frenzied vigor of living entities, expanding and spreading in a mere breath, rapidly coalescing into a colossal net that blotted out the sky.

Upon this colossal net, a viscous, blood-like dark light surged and flowed, exuding an overwhelming miasma of defilement and utter desolation.

It seemed to embody all the negativity and despair in the world; merely being brushed by its sinister glow caused one’s divine soul to involuntarily tremble and wail in agony.

Buzz—!

The flying boat violently shuddered, as if it had collided with an indestructible yet invisible and intangible barrier.

The protective spiritual light swirling around it emitted a pained shriek, instantly dimming, while the runes on the vessel’s surface, in the midst of activating their stealth capabilities, erupted in a cacophony of grating cracks.

Spiritual light scattered wildly as the boat was forcibly wrenched from its void-stealth state, solidifying once more in the open!

‘Enemy attack! Form the Three Talents Defensive Formation!’

The leading patrol envoy, undeniably a master of the Purple Mansion realm, reacted with astonishing speed.

His fierce roar, like a sudden clap of thunder, instantly silenced all other sounds.

His hand seals shifted with lightning-like rapidity, and an incomparably dense, emerald-jade-like barrier of light instantly expanded, firmly encasing the entire flying boat within its protective embrace.

Though the other two had yet to reach the Purple Mansion realm, they were far from ordinary cultivators.

Almost in unison with their leader’s command, they sprang into action.

A flying sword, pristine as autumn water, sang as it leaped from its sheath, its clear, resonant hum transforming into a serpentine streak of sword light that coiled protectively around the vessel’s flank.

Simultaneously, an ancient bronze treasure mirror ascended, its polished surface radiating a brilliant, clear yellow light that stabilized the turbulent spiritual energy in their immediate vicinity.

Despite the varying strengths of their individual auras, the moment they converged, they became seamlessly integrated, forming an impregnable battle formation, simultaneously offensive and defensive, in mere seconds.

Their vigilant, icy gazes, sharp as honed blades, swept across the blood-red rune net writhing in the surrounding darkness.

The mountain forest was enveloped in a deathly silence, broken only by the colossal blood-red rune net, which silently burned and writhed, casting shifting, eerie, and grotesque shadows.

Its malevolent glow transformed the surrounding several li into a terrifying semblance of the Nine Nether Purgatory.

‘What vile fiend dares to lurk in the shadows and assault Immortal Alliance Patrol Envoys?!’ the stern-faced leading cultivator demanded, his voice laced with cold fury.

In his hand, he already clutched a warm, smooth jade token.

Upon the jade token, the ancient seal script characters for ‘Immortal Alliance’ pulsed with an immense aura of righteousness and the force of divine law.

This artifact could, at any moment, activate a distress signal or unleash potent defensive spells concealed within.

His challenge was met by an eerie, soft chuckle, its precise origin impossible to pinpoint, yet it resonated as if directly within the deepest recesses of one’s very soul.

“Immortal Alliance? Patrol Envoys?” the voice rasped, hoarse and distorted, possessing an inhuman, layered, and utterly bizarre quality, as if countless vengeful spirits were simultaneously hissing, or perhaps like a dull blade scraping against bone.

“You are precisely who we’ve been awaiting.”

No sooner had the words faded than the sky-blotting blood-red rune net abruptly began to contract inwards!

From the interstices of the net, countless pitch-black chains, forged from pure resentment and malevolent filth, burst forth like venomous dragons or colossal pythons emerging from the deepest chasms of the Nine Nether.

They disregarded all spatial distance, overwhelming everything in their path, imbued with the ultimate malice to annihilate all life, as they coiled towards the flying boat and the three vigilant patrol envoys.

Even more chillingly, these sinister chains utterly disregarded the trio’s myriad protective measures, piercing directly through them as if they were nothing, aiming to devour the very divine soul origins of the three cultivators within the formation!

‘The Soul Devouring Curse?! This is an ancient evil art long thought lost!’

The leading patrol envoy’s face finally contorted in a drastic change, his eyes flashing with an expression of utterly incredulous horror.

‘You… you are the remnants of the ‘Guixu Sect’?!’