Xiao Wuzi flicked his wrist, and an unseen force sent Ace hurtling backward. He barely managed to land on his feet, skidding across the ground as he dug his heels in to stop himself.
Ace wiped the blood from his lips and narrowed his eyes.
"You know," Xiao Wuzi mused, strolling forward at a casual pace, "I expected more. You, the great Xiao Zhi, the man who haunted for millennia, reduced to this? A re gold-realm warrior struggling to stand?"
Ace didn't rise to the bait. Instead, he tightened his fists, trying to analyze the situation.
His movents weren't restricted like Xie Ninger and Shan Yifeng. He was completed unaffected.
anwhile, Xiao Wuzi—no, Yu Zhong—also stood unshaken, his aura flickering in and out of suppression as if it barely affected him.
Xiao Wuzi chuckled. "Oh? No witty coback? No threats? Don't tell you're actually afraid."
Ace exhaled sharply. "Not afraid. Just thinking."
"Thinking won't save you."
Xiao Wuzi blurred from sight.
Ace's instincts scread at him to move. He twisted to the side just as a crushing force slamd into his previous position, splitting the ground open in a deep crater.
Too fast.
Ace had barely caught a glimpse of the attack, and even then, it had been a re shadow.
Xiao Wuzi clicked his tongue. "You dodged? Lucky."
He appeared again, this ti right in front of Ace, his finger flicking out lazily.
Ace reacted on instinct, bringing up his arm to block.
CRACK.
Pain shot up his forearm as the force sent him tumbling through the air.
He twisted mid-flight, barely regaining control before landing on his feet again.
Xiao Wuzi let out an exaggerated sigh. "This is boring. Co on, Xiao Zhi, where's that overwhelming presence you used to have? Where's the man I feared?"
Ace clenched his jaw. "I told you already. That man isn't ."
Xiao Wuzi's smirk grew. "Not yet. But given enough ti, you will be."
His eyes glead. "That's why I'm here. To end the problem before it begins."
Ace's mind raced. He needed an edge. So kind of opening. For the old man in front of him was insane!
Xiao Wuzi tilted his head. "Oh? Thinking of stalling for ti?"
He raised his hand lazily, and suddenly the air itself seed to grow heavy. Ace's breath caught in his throat.
"Let's play a ga," Xiao Wuzi said, his voice light. "How many bones do you think I can break before you collapse?"
He snapped his fingers.
Ace barely registered the movent before a force slamd into his ribs, sending him flying again.
CRACK.
Pain exploded through his body as he crashed against the ground. He coughed, blood splattering against the dirt.
Xiao Wuzi sighed theatrically. "One."
Ace forced himself up. His vision swam, but he grit his teeth. He couldn't afford to pass out now.
Xiao Wuzi gave him an amused look. "Oh? Still standing?"
Ace inhaled deeply, ignoring the burning pain in his side.
His mind buzzed as fragnts of knowledge poured in. Techniques, thods, recipes, and then his eyes sharpened.
Xiao Wuzi chuckled. "What's that look for? Finally thinking of fighting back?"
Ace raised his hand, and a small, almost imperceptible shimr ford between his fingers.
A pill was taking shape.
Xiao Wuzi's expression shifted, his eyes narrowing slightly. "…Alchemy? You're going to make a pill right now?"
Ace smirked, despite the pain wracking his body. "What can I say? Desperate tis call for desperate asures."
He closed his fingers around the forming pill, feeling its energy pulse between his fingertips.
And then, with a flick of his wrist, he threw it directly at Xiao Wuzi's feet.
A burst of violet smoke erupted around them.
Xiao Wuzi's expression darkened. "You—"
Ace didn't waste a second. But just as he turned, a spear of black energy cut through the smoke, so fast it seared through the air beside him, leaving a thin line of fire along his arm.
Xiao Wuzi's voice, half amusent, half annoyance, echoed through the haze. "Slippery."
Ace clenched his jaw bearing the pain. "Yifeng, the formation—?!"
Shan Yifeng, still focused, grit his teeth. "Almost… there…!"
Behind them, Xiao Wuzi's voice echoed through the smoke, amused.
"Oh, now this is interesting."
The smoke swirled as Xiao Wuzi's aura flared.
"Run while you can, Xiao Zhi. I'll enjoy hunting you down."
Ace didn't look back as he carried shan Yifeng and xie Ninger as he ran away.
Slowly watching Ace disappeared from out of his sight, he suddenly coughed out blood.
"Damn it, that woman…! Why the hell would you ddle in Xiao family affairs?" His voice was laced with venom, his breath ragged from exertion.
Then, shifting his attention, he turned to the hollow-eyed figures standing before him, his human puppets.
"Go," he commanded.
The puppets jerked forward, heads lolling as if their necks were snapped. Their eyes, void of recognition, void of thought, blinked out of sync.
A sickening pop echoed as one twisted its arm unnaturally, bending at an angle no living human could endure..
Xiao Wuzi barely spared them another glance before exhaling sharply.
With a flick of his sleeve, the air around him warped, revealing the entrance to a hidden formation.
He stepped inside.
The stench was suffocating. Rot. Blood. The tallic tang of death saturated the air so thickly it clung to his skin. Beneath his feet, limbs were piled high.
At the center of this limb mountain, a massive formation was carved deep into the stone beneath the view.
Dark veins of energy slithered across the ground, seeping into the blood-drenched limbs like leeches feeding on flesh.
Xiao Wuzi clicked his tongue, his expression one of mild disappointnt.
"Not enough bodies," he muttered, his gaze sweeping over the mound. "Tch. Should've taken a few more."
Still, it would suffice.
He took his place at the heart of the formation, pressing his palm to a sigil carved into a broken ribcage at his feet.
A surge of energy rushed through his body, the stolen lifeforce seeping into his core like a thousand writhing worms burrowing into his soul.
And then a soft groan resounded in the place.
Xiao Wuzi turned his head slightly, a smirk curling his lips.
A short distance away was Xiao Ling, the Xiao family's so-called genius, lay sprawled on the cold stone floor, bound tightly with thick ropes.
His face was pale, his lips cracked. Bruises lined his arms, and a faint line of blood traced from his temple to his jaw.
His breath hitched, and then, in a voice barely above a whisper, "…help… …"
[3]
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