Ace, carrying both Liu i, and Shan Yifeng stepped into a wide hallway, though it felt more like a ceremonial room than a simple corridor.
The ceiling arched high above them, supported by old stone pillars marked with faded carvings.
Soft blue light glowed from orbs fixed along the walls, giving everything a muted, dreamlike tone.
The air was still, heavy with a strange pressure, as if the room itself was holding its breath.
In the center, the stone floor leveled out into a circular clearing.
A young man sat cross-legged there, perfectly still, eyes closed. His presence was calm, but it carried an odd tension, like a blade hidden beneath silk.
"I've been waiting for you," he said quietly, without opening his eyes.
Ace ca to a halt.
Shan Yifeng froze beside him, eyes narrowing with caution.
Liu i leaned forward from Ace's arms, squinting curiously.
"Hey… he kinda looks like Sister Soho. Is he one of her brother?"
The young man slowly opened his eyes and locked it with Ace.
In that instant, the air shifted, thick with killing intent.
Without a word, Liu i leapt from Ace's arms, landing in a defensive stance.
Her eyes glead coldly as she hissed at the man.
Shan Yifeng slid off Ace's back, stepping forward without hesitation, positioning himself between Ace and the threat.
Ace, still standing there, sighed internally.
Oh boy…
Of all the battles today, this was by far the most humiliating.
Hiding behind won? Sure, people had criticize that.
But no one ever said anything about hiding behind kids...
I should be fine... right?
...Right?
His expression remained calm, but his inner voice cracked.
He adjusted his collar, pretending to inspect the surroundings.
anwhile, Liu i's killing intent flared back at Giyo's with matching fury, and Shan Yifeng calmly drew his brush, eyes deadly focused.
"What a fine pair," giyo remarked with a calm, asured tone.
"I am King Giyo Verilith of the Tharz Kingdom. I co with an offer: In exchange for my sister, Soho Verilith, and the Blood Puppet General of yours safety... I want your Divine Garden."
Ace raised an eyebrow, but before he could respond, Liu i stepped forward. Her eyes sharpened.
"You're in no position to make demands," she said coldly, her aura flaring to life.
The pressure of a Minor Legend Rank spread outward, but Giyo didn't even flinch.
Despite being an Initial Legend Rank cultivator, and despite being one minor realm lower than her, he didn't lose in composure.
Calmly, he drew a gleaming spear from his spatial bracelet.
"Think carefully before you force my hand, human who has the divine garden," he warned. "There'll be no Princess Soho left to save if you take the wrong step here."
"Hmph. I've got a weapon too," Liu i replied, unfazed.
In a flash, she revealed her pair of silver daggers, their edges gleaming with spiritual light.
Off to the side, Shan Yifeng had already begun drawing intricate formation lines across the ground, his brush moving in seamless rhythm.
Giyo's smirk faded. "So you have chosen death, then."
He dashed forward without hesitation.
Liu i moved instantly, her body flickering like a ghost, reappearing behind Giyo in a blur.
But Giyo's instincts were sharp.
He twisted, slashing his spear backward to block her. Sparks flew.
Undeterred, Liu i vanished again, this ti erging from the ground itself, slicing upward with both daggers.
Giyo leapt, planting his foot on the shaft of his spear mid-air to dodge the deadly arc.
Liu i slashed again, both daggers clashing against the spear's length, but not even leaving a scratch.
Giyo grinned. But then—
He sensed a presence at his back.
Ace lunged, swinging wide.
Giyo twisted out of the way effortlessly. "Tch."
"Master!" Liu i called out.
"I'm fine," Ace said, straightening. "Let's beat him together, alright?"
"But what if you get hurt?"
"I'll live," he replied, just as Giyo's next spear strike slashed toward them.
Liu i dodged like water flowing past a blade.
Ace gritted his teeth and pulled out the sickle he had taken earlier, pouring his soul force into it.
The blade shimred, alive with power. He slashed.
Giyo blocked with his spear only to be thrown backward several ters.
"To think you have sothing stronger than a flood-grade dragon spear," he muttered, regaining his footing. "Interesting."
Ace, with a sickle in hand and Liu i, with her daggers gleaming.
The two stared down their enemy, Giyo, now spinning his spear in sweeping circles, building montum.
"And… done," ca a voice from behind.
A shimring wall of light rose, sealing the chamber in all directions.
Shan Yifeng stepped forward, grinning brightly. "You're trapped now."
Giyo let out a low chuckle. "Oh really?"
Instead of panicking, he sat down leisurely, cross-legged in the center of the battlefield.
"From where I'm sitting… I'm not the one that's trapped. You're the ones trapped in here with ."
Suddenly, from his body, a soul-like projection floated upward, a seductively dressed woman with long lashes and dark crimson lips.
Her eyes scanned the group and landed on Ace first. Then on Shan Yifeng.
"Well, well…" she purred. "What fine young n we have here."
"Eww," Liu i said imdiately, her nose wrinkling. "Master, she's ugly."
Her voice was filled with genuine disgust.
"Stay alert," Shan Yifeng warned, eyes never leaving the projection.
Ace braced himself. For better or worse, his disciples had him covered.
Giyo coughed up blood, staining his lips, yet he still had a smile plastered across his face.
"Master… it is just as you predicted."
The ghostly woman hovering above him shimred, her spectral form solidifying, reshaping.
In seconds, the grotesque visage was gone, replaced by a stunning woman clad in revealing robes that clung to her like silk on fla.
She turned her head slightly, brushing a strand of hair from her face as she looked down at Giyo.
"I told you, didn't I? You just have to trust ," she said gently, her voice dripping with an eerie softness.
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