Hidden Murder

Without any discernible movement from him, the blocked long saber, like a striking viper, morphed into seven ghastly white, phantom-like blades!

Like seven claws of skeletal bone seeking to reap a soul, the blades tore towards Lu Qiancha’s vital points in a fan-shaped arc, carried on a bone-chilling wind!

The angles were vicious and cunning, sealing off all avenues of escape!

Lu Qiancha’s body, driven by the Cloud Sea Dragon Step, became a distorted afterimage!

By a hair’s breadth, she barely dodged two fatal strikes aimed at her heart and dantian!

(TL note: A Dantian (丹田) is a Chinese term referring to energy centers in the body, often translated as “elixir field,” “sea of qi,” or “energy center”. )

Then, Lu Qiancha’s fingers swept across her storage pouch.

She whipped out a vial of thick, pure-black medicinal liquid and, using her backward momentum, flicked her wrist and hurled it at her opponent.

“Hmph, overestimating your own strength.”

The gray-clothed man sneered inwardly.

Beyond his shock and anger, he was filled with a brutish rage ignited by an ant’s futile resistance.

“Mountain Condense! Immovable!!!” Spirit Transformation peak spiritual energy circulated in his hands, and a three-foot-thick, pitch-black, ancient giant shield, inscribed with countless complex mountain patterns, materialized out of thin air. “This Divine Pattern Shield! Forged from the essence of a ten-thousand-year-old cold mountain! The divine patterns on it were carved by a Mahayana realm expert! Let alone a Nascent Soul brat like you, even an ordinary Tribulation…”

The gray-clothed man’s arrogant declaration still echoed in the forest, but the seemingly ordinary vial of medicinal liquid had already struck the dark shield with a vicious arc—

Splat!

The vial shattered on impact!

A strange thing happened.

Instead of splashing everywhere with the fragments, the liquid in the vial instantly vaporized, transforming into a thick, sticky, foul-smelling cloud of poison.

As if alive, this poisonous cloud ignored the divine might of the shield, passed through it like a maggot burrowing into bone, and lunged at the gray-clothed man’s arm.

“Wh—?!”

The gray-clothed man’s triumphant expression instantly froze, replaced by utter horror.

He felt a chill on his arm, immediately followed by an explosive tide of pain.

Hiss—!

A chilling, corrosive sound was clearly audible!

His sleeve and flesh, where the poisonous mist had touched, began to rapidly dissolve and rot as if gnawed by an invisible beast.

In an instant, all that remained was… a shocking section of withered black bone.

Before the gray-clothed man could even catch his breath, another vial of liquid was thrown at him like an arrow released from a bowstring.

His face changed drastically.

Just as he was about to use a movement technique to dodge, he saw a long spear pierce through the wind.

With a squelch, the tip of the spear penetrated his chest, killing him instantly.

Seeing this, Lu Qiancha unhesitatingly retrieved a Soul-Capturing Pearl from her storage pouch and threw it directly at the corpse.

The pearl spun lightly in the air, and a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of pale green light was sucked into it.

In an instant, not even a remnant of his soul was left; it had completely dissipated between heaven and earth.

With a beckoning gesture, the Soul-Capturing Pearl and the man’s storage pouch flew into her palm.

Then, with a slight movement of her spiritual sense, the long spear embedded in the ground hummed and shot into the forest bushes like an arrow from a bowstring, precisely striking a lurking black beetle.

With a crisp ‘pop’, the beetle was blown to smithereens.

She picked up the cube that had fallen to the ground and was about to leave when a voice sounded in her ear.

‘Little Qiancha, such pure spiritual energy. Wouldn’t it be a waste to let it dissipate?’

Can Xin’s voice echoed in Lu Qiancha’s mind. ‘Why not let me devour it? I can even share some of the benefits with you.’

“No, thanks. It’s best not to use such demonic methods if I can avoid it.”

Lu Qiancha said flatly.

Advancing in realm too quickly would result in an unstable foundation, like walking on clouds with the constant risk of falling into an abyss.

“Heh,” Can Xin sneered, her tone arrogant. “Who told you this spiritual energy can only be used to stack realms? Use it to nourish your magical artifact, and it will be enough to make it even more powerful!”

Lu Qiancha was slightly taken aback by these words.

Strengthening her magical artifact—this time, she was genuinely tempted.

“What do I need to do, specifically?”

Lu Qiancha composed herself and asked.

This was a deal with no downside, so she was definitely going to take it.

‘Just insert my blade into that man’s body.’

Can Xin instructed with a light laugh.

Lu Qiancha did as she was told.

She summoned the rust-covered longsword, held it with both paws, and with the tip pointing down, steadily plunged it into the corpse’s chest.

Hum—

A strange phenomenon occurred!

Points of crystalline light instantly appeared above the corpse and, as if drawn by an invisible force, rapidly converged towards the cube in Lu Qiancha’s hand.

The runes on the cube’s surface pulsed with a faint glow several times. After flickering a few times, it gradually fell silent and returned to normal.

Lu Qiancha immediately extended her spiritual sense to perceive it carefully.

The structure and material of the cube itself seemed unchanged, but… the channels for activating it had become smoother.

The usage interval had shortened.

The cube, which previously required a four-hour interval between uses, now only needed three and a half hours.

‘Hmm, a significant improvement.’

Lu Qiancha’s fingertips caressed the warm, smooth surface of the cube, a hint of satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

‘Plus this man’s wealth, this training trip has already been quite fruitful, even if I haven’t gathered any herbs.’

In the soul fragments collected by the Soul-Capturing Pearl, Lu Qiancha saw many memory fragments and, from them, learned of this group’s objective and plan.

The assassin who had ambushed her was named Zhenjiu, a cultivator at the peak of the Spirit Transformation realm, hired with spirit stones to do dirty work.

The reason he attacked her was for the communication jade she carried.

He wanted to use it to lure the tiger away from the mountain, drawing Martial Aunt Xuan to this location.

As soon as Martial Aunt Xuan arrived, this group would attack Bai Yan and Zhuang Yang, then use them as bait to lure Martial Aunt Xuan into a trapping formation… and their true target was that… Sixth Princess of some kingdom—Shangguan Yunzhu.

However, the group’s objective was not to kill Shangguan Yunzhu.

Such an elaborate plan seemed to be for a more sinister purpose.

Judging from the information obtained from the assassin’s memory fragments, the mastermind behind all this seemed to be her kind and good Junior Brother Qingfeng, or some secular power behind him.

The corner of Lu Qiancha’s mouth twitched slightly, and she lamented inwardly, “You really can’t judge a book by its cover. This warm-hearted gentleman is only warm on the surface, not in the heart.”

But none of this had anything to do with her.

Her objective for this trip had never changed: to obtain the main ingredient for the Soul-Returning Pill—the Origin Returning Fruit.

As for their plot to trap Martial Aunt Xuan…

‘To go to such great lengths to lure Martial Aunt Xuan into a trapping formation, they obviously don’t dare to face her directly.’

Lu Qiancha saw no need to worry about her.

On a beach by the Eastern Sea, hundreds of disciples were engaged in a fierce battle with shrimp soldiers and crab generals continuously charging out of the sea.

In a corner of the battlefield, behind several large reefs, a few Qi Refining stage disciples were forming hand seals, supporting the senior brothers and sisters fighting at the front.

But their gazes were all drawn to the graceful figure standing not far away.

Gan Tang gently raised her fair hand, and from a lustrous white porcelain vial, she sprinkled a few drops of crystalline medicinal liquid.

She exhaled a wisp of pure spiritual energy, which blew across the scattered liquid droplets.

Instantly, the medicinal liquid transformed into a cloud of dark gray mist, as deep as ink, and rolled towards a dozen charging shrimp demons.

The movements of these shrimp demons immediately became sluggish, as if they were trapped in an invisible mire.

No matter how hard they struggled, their speed was as slow as a heavy trek.

Gan Tang, carrying a short sword, gracefully flew out and finished them off one by one.

Her strikes were precise, directly piercing their demon cores, her movements filled with an immortal grace.

Soon, she turned and gracefully flew back to her original spot, waiting for the next wave from the sea, completely unaware that she had become the object of observation for many of her fellow disciples.