In an instant, the sky darkened, and the sea churned. Centered on Xia Si, a massive golden vortex erupted—a hundred kiloters across. The vortex blazed with blinding light. At its epicenter, a terrifying golden sword took shape, stretching from sea to sky.
With a resonant hum, it cleaved downward.
It carried an Ash power vast enough to far exceed the strength of any ordinary Mistborn.
The blade swept down and engulfed Lin Hui entirely.
"You forgot. I was the one who passed this sword technique down to you..."
Within the colossal golden blade, a dense swarm of smaller swords drove at Lin Hui from every angle. Useless. Each one found only a fleeting shadow, passing clean through him. Every trajectory seed almost to clear a path for him—the attack itself conspiring with his movents.
Lin Hui simply flickered. No drawn sword, no technique—just unhurried, evasive shifting that rendered Xia Si's full-force strike completely hollow.
The implication was unmistakable: he knew every sword technique she possessed as intimately as his own reflection. She held no secrets from him.
"Kill!"
The fear in Xia Si's heart crested. She threw caution aside. Golden cracks split open across her skin, and countless blinding rays of light burst through the fissures. She was detonating her Ash power at any cost.
With a soft sigh, Lin Hui closed his right hand gently around the hilt of his Ruyi sword. "Take a rest."
He squeezed lightly, then released the hilt and returned to his unhurried posture. Opposite him, Xia Si froze.
Pfft!
A deep gash tore open across the center of her chest. Golden motes of light and a torrent of blood burst from the wound.
The sight unlocked sothing buried in Xia Si's mory. That year—she had stood here before. She had watched this sa person destroy her entire clan in front of her eyes.
The sa draw. The sa posture. An identical echo of that day.
The fear in Xia Si's eyes went out. Her consciousness plumted into a bottomless dark, and her mind-spirit went still.
Lin Hui flashed forward and caught her. He reached out and lightly traced the edge of the wound with his index finger. Golden motes of light and bright red blood stained his fingertip.
As expected... this is an entirely new fusion blood...
Probing the essential quality of that Ash energy, Lin Hui sensed a shift stirring within his Sacred Form of Destruction.
A white humanoid figure slowly separated from his back, its ergence accelerating by the second.
Pfft!
As Lin Hui closed his eyes and sank into the golden blood's resonance, the white humanoid figure finally severed its last connection to his back.
A profound insight into the Sacred Form of Destruction broke through and flooded his mind. But at that sa mont, a continuous buzzing rose from Xia Si's body.
Streaks of golden light began tearing through her skin. The Ash power—vast and inexhaustible—was building toward a full detonation from within.
"Restless, aren't we?" Lin Hui opened his eyes, drawing on the sealing secret art he had just obtained. "Get back in."
A surge of Wind Disaster's Disaster Energy erupted from his body—equally vast, equally ferocious. The higher-tier Disaster Energy crushed the impending eruption and drove the Ash power back inside her. The golden light was smothered beneath translucent blue Wind Force, losing all signs of detonating in monts and settling obediently still.
With Xia Si in tow, Lin Hui flickered and turned toward the Clear Wind Dao Academy.
On the way back, a numb itch spread across his right arm. He raised his hand—and stopped.
Traced across his inner forearm was a faint fluorescent blue sword mark.
The instant he saw it, understanding rose unbidden in his mind:
[Sacred Mark of Wind: A mark that manifests only after sufficiently deep assimilation with the Wind Disaster. Bearers of the Sacred Mark fuse with the Wind Disaster at a profound level. Disaster Energy released through any action will dramatically increase in intensity—far greater in both density and quantity than before.]
A Sacred Mark... The na stirred faint echoes of mythology from his previous life, and none of the associations it carried were comforting.
He stared at the fluorescent blue mark and slowly lowered his arm. Has the Star Breath Sword Canon actually managed to suppress the Disaster Energy, or...
An inexplicable shadow settled over him.
…
Within Black Cloud's Inner City, at the base of the First Moon Tower.
A deafening explosion rang through the underground palace. The Moon Tower shuddered and swayed, then stabilized. Dust drifted down in the silence that followed.
The Society Master watched the phantom of Xie Chang'an slowly fade and dissolve before him.
"You thought a re Relic avatar could block my path?"
"If it were anyone else, it might have succeeded. But attempting to block you, Society Master, is simply arrogant," Commander Yuchi Xin said from beside him, his voice low.
"It is not arrogance," the Society Master said evenly. "Xie Chang'an is not a rciful man at his core. This avatar was nothing more than a tripwire—a warning left behind. Now that it has dissolved, his main body will have sensed it. He is undoubtedly racing back at full speed. Even so, returning to Black Cloud from wherever he is will take at least two hours."
"Rest assured, everything is fully prepared. Once the array is buried and Song Yunhui is secured, our victory here will be a foregone conclusion." Commander Yuchi Xin bowed his masked face slightly.
"Then lead your people and finish it."
The Society Master extended a hand. A spinning, spike-studded array of crystal materialized in his palm. He gave it a light toss and watched it shoot forward and sink into the underground floor like a phantom, vanishing from sight.
His hands moved in rapid succession through a dense sequence of hand seals, and a faint blue-black fluorescence began to suffuse the air around him.
Commander Yuchi Xin gave a low acknowledgnt, turned, and led his subordinates toward the exit.
The array was already activating. With the Society Master present, nothing could go wrong.
"Wait!" An urgent voice rang out near the exit. The Fourth Princess, Song Feishi, appeared in a flash and planted herself in Commander Yuchi Xin's path, expression ice-cold.
"Society Master, Black Cloud has more than the Third City Lord holding the fort—there are additional variables!" Her gaze stayed locked on the Society Master's back.
"Variables?" The Society Master continued weaving hand seals, turning his head slightly. "Whatever they are, they can wait until I finish the activation."
"But—" Song Feishi moved to say more. Commander Yuchi Xin stepped into her path.
"You should heed the Society Master's words, Your Highness." His tone made his feelings toward her perfectly clear.
"What gives you the right to address like that?!" Song Feishi's expression twisted in fury as specks of blue-black light flared around her right hand.
"Your Highness, possessing Emperor Blood rely provides so enhancent to your base strength. But if your foundation is lacking..." Commander Yuchi Xin's voice turned cold.
"Good. Very good!" Song Feishi snapped, stepping aside. "I'll see exactly how you die."
Commander Yuchi Xin chuckled, brushed past her, and disappeared through the door.
"Feishi," the Society Master's voice settled beside her, calm as still water, "the variables you speak of are trivial margins. As long as the grand sche holds, the outco is preordained."
Song Feishi nearly answered back. Then the mory of the Society Master's true strength surfaced, and she swallowed her words. As long as the array was completed, everything else would be a minor detail.
"I understand," she said quietly.
"If you understand, then stand guard for ." There was a faint note of amusent in his voice.
"Yes."
…
In a separate courtyard within the Clear Wind Dao Academy.
Song Yunhui and his mother, Song Shihan, paced the yard. An ominous premonition had settled over them—sourceless and heavy. They had tried to leave three tis already; the Clear Wind Dao gatekeepers outside had turned them back every ti.
Before they had seen these grounds, they might have had the courage to force their way out. But after a tour of the place, they had quietly agreed it was wiser to stay put and not antagonize their hosts.
After all, this was an inexplicably formidable faction with a Mistborn keeping watch.
"If I'd known Lin Xiaoliu's family was like this, I wouldn't have co even if you'd beaten senseless," Song Yunhui muttered.
"Let's slip away on our own. Staying any longer will only bring trouble," Song Shihan murmured.
They had the ans to do it quietly. Years of evading the Mingxin Society had taught them their own tricks. But Song Yunhui had a reason to stay. If he could make the Lin family understand the severity of their situation—and convince Lin Xiaoliu to use her sensory abilities on his behalf—escaping the Mingxin Society's pursuit would beco far easier. That was why he couldn't bring himself to leave. Nor was he willing to give up on her.
"The Lin family probably thinks their strength is unparalleled. They have no idea that once the Mingxin Society truly makes its move, their defenses won't hold," Song Yunhui said.
"But we're no one here—they won't believe a word we say." Song Shihan shook her head. "Alright, child, stop holding on to her. You have to learn to let go."
"It's not about that. Lin Xiaoliu has been targeted too—they'll silence her sooner or later. You've seen how they operate," Song Yunhui said, shaking his head.
Click.
The courtyard gate was gently pushed open.
A figure strolled inside at his leisure. He wore a black veil and fitted black clothes layered beneath a purple robe. His most striking feature was the blue-black character "Heart" tattooed on the left side of his neck.
"Commander Yuchi Xin!" The color drained from both their faces.
They hadn't expected the Mingxin Society to find them this quickly.
Past Commander Yuchi Xin, they could see the Clear Wind Dao gatekeepers collapsed on the ground, blood spreading slowly beneath their bodies.
They had never imagined the Mingxin Society would deploy one of their five great Commanders just to retrieve them. In the past, a Sea King General had been the worst they'd faced—but this ti...
It's over. The two went deathly pale. There was no escaping this.
Against soone of Commander Yuchi Xin's caliber, even Song Yunhui's Emperor Blood, even the protection of a Mistborn's domain, even being inside Black Cloud City itself—none of it mattered.
"Good. You're both here." Commander Yuchi Xin surveyed them, a flicker of amusent in his eyes. "I've been told there's a child in this sect with exceptional sensory abilities. Where is she?"
Bringing back a naturally gifted specin like that would make an ideal new test subject, he thought privately. That kind of ability might even be transplantable.
"I won't tell you! Kill if you dare!" Song Yunhui shouted, his courage well outrunning his judgnt.
"Got so backbone." Commander Yuchi Xin laughed. He raised a hand, a speck of blue light igniting at his fingertip as he prepared to sweep the area for every living body present.
"I'd advise against that." A lazy male voice sounded behind him.
"The master of this house is extrely vicious, you know." Pang Jiu, sword over his shoulder and mid-yawn, strolled through the courtyard gate with his robe hanging open across his chest.
His hair was an unkempt bird's nest. He slled faintly of skipped baths. And yet this sa slovenly figure had materialized silently at Commander Yuchi Xin's back—less than three ters away.
"A re weakened Mistborn..." Commander Yuchi Xin began to sneer.
The words caught in his throat.
To his left and right, a man and a woman stepped out simultaneously, each carrying an aura nearly identical to Pang Jiu's.
All three wore white robes, carried longswords, and watched him with faint blue light flowing through their eyes.
"Go on," Pang Jiu grinned. "Keep talking. You're done for, pal—you've wandered straight into a den of thieves."
"Watch your mouth, Junior Brother Pang," Su Yaping said, shaking his head.
"I like that mouth of his. Rember to slice it off for later," Yun Xiazi said, covering her lips and laughing.
"You—!" Cold sweat prickled down Commander Yuchi Xin's back.
Smack. A limp, unconscious body dropped from overhead. It was Xia Si.
"Stop bickering and take your Senior Sister back." Lin Hui had appeared in the courtyard without warning, brow slightly furrowed.
"My, caught and dragged back that fast? Wasn't Senior Sister acting awfully arrogant just a little while ago?" Yun Xiazi said with a sharp grin.
"Enough. Behave." Lin Hui glanced at her. Yun Xiazi went still, not daring to push any further.
The casual banter hit Commander Yuchi Xin as a series of hamr blows.
The mont Xia Si had been tossed down, he recognized her. This was the sa woman who had been a thorn in his side for months—a killer who grew stronger with every kill, with terrifying explosive power and blinding speed. He had once considered moving against her himself, then thought better of it after a careful assessnt and delegated the task to three Sea King Generals operating a joint sealing array.
He'd watched one of her battles from a distance. The impression had never left him.
And now these people were telling him that this troubleso, this deeply troubleso Xia Si had co from this sect? From this faction?!
Commander Yuchi Xin's entire body went cold, his heart sinking straight to rock bottom.
Even he wasn't confident he could defeat Xia Si alone. If one Xia Si was already this dangerous... then what in the world were the rest of these people?
Danger. Danger. DANGER!
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