Qingxuan awoke the next day, almost at sundown. "I must've blacked out.." He rubbed his forehead feeling the mild migraine. His eyes had been in constant use for hours on end yesterday, analyzing, breaking down symbols and whatnot. And afterwards, he had beaten down those three from Punishment Hall.
Qingxuan shook his head. He poured water into a porcelain cup and took a long sip. He spotted meals neatly arranged and covered up by Aunt Lin with a letter underneath a bowl. 'You better eat up otherwise I'll tear your ear off brat!!' He felt a shiver run down his spine and touched his ear unconsciously.
"Sigh. I'm starving.." He finished the meal in less than 5 minutes and lay back on his bed.
This was one of those days where he just wanted to curl up in bed and just sleep off till he was tired, but he couldn't.
Mu Jiang Rong's people were just going to keep coming and coming after him. He couldn't waste time. Also, the warrior's selection tournament was just a month away.
The Warrior's Selection Tournament was a battle between the younger generation of the branch clan. Those who finish top 3 in the competition would be transferred to the main clan as guards and warriors, the fighting force of the main clan.
Qingxuan on his own didn't need such an opportunity. If it was up to him, he'd just leave the clan, leave it all behind and go start afresh elsewhere, but Aunt Lin wouldn't want to.
So this was his only way of getting her out of this piece of shit branch clan without having to move her from the land of her birth. Their new life would begin in the main clan, that much was obvious. Before he considered making any big change concerning his life, he needed to make sure Aunt Lin was safe and secure. He was a man of his word afterall, hence it was imperative that he finished at least top 3 in the clan.
It wasn't going to be easy. He knew it. Mu Jiang Rong alone was a hurdle he had to overcome to reach his goal.
Rumors were, that he had already broken through the Earthly Yuan Realm months ago and would most likely break through before the competition.
Qingxuan had to improve.
He took a quick bath after the meal, dressed up and took a seat cross legged. Taking out the second piece of medicine he had received from that young maiden he chewed on a piece of it, and took out several low grade Yuan stones to recover.
If he wanted to improve, staying in the clan wasn't going to help much. He had to go where the action was going to be, and that was back into the mountain range.
He sat there for almost two hours, feeling the shimmering seal symbol shimmer faintly in between his brows.
For some reason, the Symbol Seal had anchored itself to his eyes and only released its power through them. His eyes were acting as a conduit for the release of his mental energy. He didn't know the reason why. He'd probably ask the old man later..
After another hour of meditation, Qingxuan felt refreshed. He put on another layer of extra clothing. A sleeveless top on top of his short sleeved shirt, and wrapped his wrists with white bandages.
He took the piece of paper Aunt Lin had written the death threat on it and wrote down a short goodbye letter for her. He'd be back at the start of the tournament.
After making sure he had packed everything he needed into his interspatial ring, he made his way out.
Previously, he had made Aunt Lin get him spices, fruits, dried meat, stale bread etc.. medicines and even a sleeping bag for if he'd ever go back to the mountain range to train.
He whipped the Yin Shadow Cloak over his figure and zipped down to his torso, before walking out calmly towards the exit. Night was already falling by this time.
At the exit, Qingxuan spotted a group of youths dressed in robes standing there as if waiting to enter the mountain range themselves.
Qingxuan wanted no business with them and simply ignored, heading another direction. The moment they spotted him, they sized him up for a while. Qingxuan saw their reactions with his peripheral vision. These guys were not ordinary branch clan members. Per the average cultivation, they seemed to be talented and would probably participate in the Warrior's Selection.
He could see the pride and arrogance reflected on their faces as he walked by, some even going as far as to clench their nose.
But in their midst, there was one young girl with short dark hair, dressed in battle robes. Her face was beautiful like an angel, but her eyes were strained on him and her brows furrowed. She could feel something off about him, as he walked past them.
Qingxuan spotted her and praised her perception. The others had barely noticed anything off with him and noted him down as harmless.
Suppose he was an assassin, he would've been able to creep around them effortlessly and finish them off one after the other, probably with the exception of that girl.
She kept staring at his back as he walked by, and then tapped one short smallish girl beside her.
"Ling'er, Do you know who that fellow is?" The young girl asked her smallish friend. The girl watched Qingxuan disappear and tried to remember if she had seen him before, but ultimately shook her head.
"That fellow is Mu Qingxuan, senior sister Su. He's the one that humiliated Mu Jiang Rong's younger brother few weeks ago and then beat down Punishment Hall's Mu Fan just yesterday.." One young boy seemed to have overheard her asking and simply told her about Qingxuan.
She heard him loud and clear, but barely responded. Instead she kept her eyes strained on Qingxuan's figure and whispered. "There's something off about him.."
-
Night had fallen. The mountain range turned dark, but not for Qingxuan. Once he made sure to escape their range of vision, he activated the Shadow Trace Phantom Steps / Wind like foot.
The Yin Shadow Cloak flapped behind him, turning him into a ghostly blur and then he zoomed off into the distance.
He whizzed from tree to tree, moving at incredible speeds.
Qingxuan's left eye of Heavenly perception glimmered for a moment. He hurled himself up from one tree and grabbed the branch of another. There, he swung upwards onto the crown of said tree and vanished into the darkness like a ghost.
Several seconds after he had disappeared, two figures wearing straw hats and wrapped in sackcloth soared out from the darkness into light.
"Did he discover us?" One of them looked to the other and asked.
"I think so. The brat's perception is unusually high. I think he noticed us in the beginning and lured us here…" The other thought for a moment and the spoke in a grave voice.
"Lured us here? How-.." The voice had not even finished the statement when projectiles tore through the air at breakneck speeds.
The second figure pushed the first backwards with his hand and backflipped off the momentum.
Right where they stood seconds ago, several arrows ripped into trees behind them.
"Go!!" The second assassin cried to the first and took the lead. They zipped through the dark mountain range at incredible speeds.
But they failed to notice the ghostly figure that rushing above the tree tops.
The active ability of the Yin Shadow Cloak's active ability, Yin Camouflage, merged him into the darkness, concealed his aura, and any sounds he made, virtually turning him invisible.
Qingxuan caught up with one assassin instantly, he knocked one arrow onto the bowstring, leapt off a tree branch spun in the air and released the arrow.
SOU!!
The arrow tore through the air, nearly shattering the sound barrier. The assassin, despite his deadly instincts could absolutely not see in the dark, much at less an object hidden in the dark, travelling at near sonic Speed.
The arrow buried itself in the assassin's brain, and he dropped dead before he even touched the ground with a defeaning thud.
The other assassin paused and the turned back. Seeing his partner on the floor he raged and unsheathed a katana at his waist.
"I'll kill you brat!!"
He roared into the deep dark forest, and the only thing that answered him an arrow. His katana slashed the arrow into two. Qingxuan blurred into flipping motion around him. The arrow in his hand twisted like a dagger and then he let it rip into the assassins head.
The katana slashed out, cleaving through the arrow and forcing Qingxuan back. He used the momentum to flip backwards, land on both feet and then kick out.
"Shadow Severing Kicks!" Combos exploded out so fast, even the assassin had to retreat for a moment. But, not matter how fast Qingxaun kicked, he could never hit the man. Qingxuan gave chase. He knocked another arrow onto his bow and let it fly.
SOU!
The assassin who obviously couldn't see in the dark seemed to have a way of sensing his surroundings. Qingxuan thought for a second before figuring it out. This was the hallmark of a ninth Body tempering Realm cultivator.
He refused to attack head on any longer. It was no wonder the assassin was faster than he was. In a head on daytime battle, he'd surely lose in combat, but now, he had the advantage. His environment.
His divine eyes stirred open, as a ripple of invisible mental energy surged towards the man.
He felt his soul stiffen instantly as he froze on the spot, shivering. Of course, Qingxuan didn't need the effect to be as exaggerated as when he used it on Mu Fan. But an instant was enough.
His form blurred into the shadows, disappearing like a ghost and almost instantly, an arrow came ripping towards the man's heart.
Having his mind affected by Qingxuan's mental energy slowed him down for a moment. But even then, his instincts were as terrifying as ever. He moved his figure, letting the arrow pierce into his shoulder instead of his heart and slammed into the ground.
Qingxuan materialised in front of him and grabbed the katana that had fallen from his hand. The moment a swordsman loses his blade, the battle was over.
"Who sent you.. Tell me. I might spare your life.." Qingxuan's voice resounded with a heavy sigh. "Heh heh! I see. So that's your secret isn't it? Mental Energy. A body tempering realm brat who has cultivated mental energy. I don't know whether to use terrifying or unprecedented to describe you.."
The killer laughed as he forced himself to his knees. Qingxuan's gaze never left his form.
"But.. in my world. Geniuses like you die everyday and no one ultimately gives a damn!!
Shadow Piercer!!"
Rows of inch wide pins shot from sleeve towards Qingxuan with incredible speed. As they ripped into his form, the man laughed viciously, however, his form dissolved into shadows that disappeared.
"What?!"
RIIP!!
Before the man could even react, a ghastly figure dropped from above blade cocked back and then let it rip into the man's head without hesitation.
His head burst like a watermelon, as blood spurted out like a fountain, painting a rather gory scene. Qingxuan slowly removed the katana from the man's brain and looked into the distance.
He removed the man's interspatial ring and rummaged through his belongings and that was when he found out everything he needed to know..
"Mu Jiang Rong. This was the plan all along wasn't it?" Qingxuan laughed as his exhausted form leaned against a tree.
Mu Fan and the others were just a smokescreen to force him into hiding knowing he was after him. And because he was known for going into the mountain
Ranges, he hired assassins to take care of him once and for all.
Had it been any other victim, the plan would've worked, but Qingxuan was different.
He had already spotted the assassins hiding in plain sight the moment he left the clan. All he needed to do was lure them into the darkness and finish them.
Had it been in the daytime, this battle would've ended differently. Assasins were normally trained for killing. Hence they exchanged strength and stamina for incredible speed, agility and dexterity. The faster, the better.
That was why Qingxuan had finished off that ninth body tempering realm assassin so quickly. If he had been a regular cultivator, he wouldn't have dared to get so close..