The scar-faced assassin captain slowly walked toward them.
Both Yu Qingci and Li Chen suddenly felt the air grow thin, a suffocating pressure swallowing the space around them.
Yu Qingci, who was at the Nascent Soul stage, felt an indescribable hesitation surge within her.
She clutched Li Chen's arm and whispered with urgency,
"Husband, don't confront him directly... Something is off with this assassin."
The scar-faced man came to a halt, maintaining only five steps of distance between them.
His gaze locked onto Yu Qingci, and a twisted smile curled on his lips.
"Not bad, not bad, beauty. At least someone here has more sense than this brute who only knows how to charge head-on."
He gave a mocking chuckle and tilted his head.
"I quite like you, beauty. May I know your name, please?"
Li Chen, who had been analyzing the best way to defeat this strange killer, suddenly felt his mind blaze with uncontrollable hatred.
His muscles tensed, veins bulging, and he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, ready to strike in one clean motion.
Sensing his intent, Yu Qingci tugged at his sleeve, her voice soft but firm.
"Husband, no... not now."
The scar-faced man's grin widened with enthusiasm.
"Beauty, no need to be shy, alright? I'm a very friendly person," he said with mock innocence.
"How about I go first and tell you my name?"
Yu Qingci remained silent, refusing to respond to his playful taunts.
Undeterred, he continued with a gleeful glint in his eye.
"I'm Huang Jin. My subordinates call me 'Tree Demon' behind my back, and you know what? I love that name the most. Want to know why?"
He began to circle them slowly, as if savoring their tension.
"Because when demons become strong, others can only hate them, mock them, or curse them behind their backs. But no one dares to confront them directly."
A cold laugh erupted from him.
"Hahahah… it's not really funny, is it? Hahahaha…."
Li Chen narrowed his eyes. He now realized this man was far more dangerous than any of the assassins they'd faced before.
Without warning, Huang Jin launched forward like a beast released from its cage. His hand shot out and grabbed around Li Chen's neck, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.
His voice was low, almost amused.
"And now... we can start with you."
Li Chen, struggling for breath, quickly formed a hand seal. His fingers moved in the air as he activated a binding technique—and to his surprise, it worked.
Huang Jin's body froze mid-motion. His hand lowered involuntarily, and his face twisted—not in pain, but in shock.
For the first time, a trace of fear flickered in his eyes.
His limbs stiffened, sensation fading from every corner of his body.
On the other side, Li Chen's gaze sharpened. He drew his sword, gripping the hilt tightly, and slashed from right to left. A subtle ripple cut through the air as his blade moved with lethal precision.
Just as the blade was about to slice through Huang Jin's neck—
He vanished.
In an instant, his figure disappeared from where he had been standing.
Li Chen's heart pounded wildly in his chest.
He hadn't expected the binding spell to fail so suddenly.
His mind raced.
"His strength… it's beyond the third level of Nascent Soul," he muttered under his breath.
Without hesitation, he formed another hand seal and shouted,
"Cici! Shoot! Aim for his head—kill him in one shot as he appears!"
Yu Qingci didn't need to be told twice.
She had already drawn her bow, and now she pulled the string taut, her focus was like razor-sharp.
Just as he appeared in the air , with a burst of spiritual energy, she released her strongest, most precisely aimed arrow.
The projectile tore through the air like lightning
and pierced through Huang Jin's skull.
A loud thud echoed through the trees as his body collapsed to the ground.
Li Chen exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was still standing and slowly his knees began to bend.
Yu Qingci rushed to his side, catching him before he staggered.
"Husband..." she whispered, concern etched across her face.
He gave her a tired but warm smile.
"I'm fine, Cici. Just... Just need some rest."
Yu Qingci helped him gently to a nearby tree, where he could recover.
Then, without delay, she began to clean the battlefield, moving with practiced efficiency to eliminate all traces of their presence.
She incinerated the corpses and collected anything useful from their storage rings.
Once Li Chen had regained some of his vitality, the two resumed their journey without wasting another moment.
In a private inn tucked away within Moonshadow City…
The atmosphere inside the room was calm and serene. A gentle breeze filtered through the open window, rustling the delicate paper screens.
The faint scent of tea leaves lingered in the air.
Bai Ling sat across from an elderly man, her posture upright, but her expression tense. After a moment of silence, she spoke in a low voice.
"Elder Song, I can't determine the level of that formation… but I'm certain—not even a Nascent Soul cultivator could break into it."
Elder Song took a quiet sip of his tea, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
"Hmm..." He set the cup down with a soft clink.
"Lingling, are you saying... even you can't break through that formation?"
She nodded solemnly.
"Yes, Elder Song. I'm not capable of it either."
He leaned back, stroking his beard with a contemplative air.
"Then that means… only someone at the Void Realm or above could even attempt to breach it. That would place the formation at fourth, perhaps even fifth grade."
The moment those words left his mouth, Bai Ling's eyes widened in disbelief.
She knew what that meant—formation masters of such levels were not ordinary experts. They were revered like ancestral figures, seldom seen and nearly impossible to approach.
Elder Song continued gently,
"You'll need to request help from either your sect leader or one of the Great Elders. I'm only a third-grade formation master. I won't be able to assist with something of that scale."
Bai Ling lowered her eyes, clearly disheartened.
"Elder Song..."
But before she could continue, the old man stood up and chuckled, waving his hand.
"Alright, alright. I'll go take a look at the formation first, I guess that should suffice for now, right?"
A smile broke across Bai Ling's face. She stood quickly and embraced him like a spoiled granddaughter.
"Thank you, Grandpa Song!"
The old man laughed and patted her head affectionately.
"You only call me Grandpa when you want something. Otherwise, it's 'Elder Song' or 'Senior Song.' You really know how to twist this old man around your finger."
She grinned mischievously and hugged him tighter.
"Hehe… Grandpa~."
Elder Song shook his head, amused.
In his heart, he thought,
"This girl… who would ever believe that cold, aloof Bai Ling could have such a playful side?"
He sighed lightly and continued to pat her on the back, a rare moment of warmth shared between generations.
------------------
Deep within the Mirrorleaf Forest...
The quiet battlefield where Li Chen and Yu Qingci had fought moments earlier was now eerily still. Then, the ground began to tremble.
Thick vines emerged from the soil like serpents,spreading through the forest floor like a wildfire.
They twisted and coiled together, rising higher—forming a humanoid shape, solidifying like a bizzare sculpture carved from barks.
From within this living wood, a strange cracking sound echoed.
As if a bird were hatching from an egg, the figure slowly split open.
Huang Jin emerged, reborn.
His aura had completely changed.
Now, crimson light glowed in his eyes—cold, bloodthirsty, and unnatural.
Tree-bark-like stitches formed around his eyes, slowly crawling over his face, covering his new gaze into something eerily normal… almost human.
He crouched, chest heaving, sweat soaking his robes as he gasped for breath.
Then, standing upright with a crooked smile, he whispered hoarsely to himself,
"Haha... interesting. So that's how it feels... when someone dies."
He glanced toward the direction Li Chen and Yu Qingci had gone, his smile widening.
"Beauty... and her dear companion... we'll meet again."
A sinister chuckle followed, light but chilling.
"I hope you'll be just as good as this time."
Then, in a singsong tone, he began to hum a strange tune to himself.
"La la... lalal la la..."
And vanished from sight.