The crossbow bolts shot through the air, piercing through the rain and darkness, tearing up the surrounding space and glinting with terrifyingly cold, sharp light.

The dense volley of arrows shared a single target, like a concentrated downpour. There was no escape!

But the young lord didn’t try to escape.

His clothes rustled, and he waved his folding fan repeatedly in the air.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The bolts, each of which was strong enough to bore a hole through a wall, snapped in mid-air, shattering into pieces.

Although the first round of bolts slowed the young lord’s approach, he quickly reduced them to nothing but metal fragments. 

They broke as easily as rotting wood!

Upon witnessing this unbelievable sight, the armored girl and the guards’ expressions shifted.

This was their first time witnessing someone break through the concentrated joint attack of so many Godshadow Crossbows so easily!

But the guards were well-trained. Despite their shock, their movements didn’t slow down, and they fired yet another volley of explosive attacks.

The young lord’s clothes billowed as he stood there, his bearing forceful as he easily shattered their attempts to stop his approach. 

But his brow still furrowed.

This was because the concentrated volley of arrows was influencing the speed of his approach.

Before he could draw any closer, a third round came flying straight towards him. 

“Hmph!” He snorted coldly, his handsome features suddenly dark and murderous. Wisps of bloody light blazed in his eerie, bright red eyes.

A hoarse, low whistle left his lips, spreading through the downpour.

Sinister winds gathered, shaking everything around them.

In response to his call, one swarm of Ghoul Worms after another flew in on the howling winds, hurtling towards the uniformed girl and her guards. 

“This is bad!” Their expressions shifted.

Each individual Ghoul Worm was only about the size of a human thumb. Against opponents like this, there was only one option left to them—

They cast aside their Godshadow Crossbows, took out their blades, and slashed at the worms.

But this was no different from giving the young lord an opportunity to approach.

They could neither advance nor retreat!

“Protect the young miss! I’ll deal with him!” Uncle Yong charged explosively from a distance. 

His blood and qi blazed as if they were on fire. He attacked valiantly, his hands gripping the radiant Heavenly Frost Sword. Murderous intent billowed around him, and his energy pierced right through the downpour.

The young lord furrowed his brow. 

Of the eighteen vicious ghosts he’d just unleashed, only six remained, all of them grievously wounded. 

But when he saw Uncle Yong’s wounds, his red eyes flashed with unconcealed disdain.

There was no way he’d miss that Uncle Yong was fighting with his life on the line. This was no different from killing a thousand enemies, only to lose eight hundred of your own troops in the process! 

`“Fine. If you’re seeking death, I don’t mind sending you on your way. It’s just a pity about that lovely skin of yours….” The young lord sighed.

Swoosh!

He suddenly turned. As he fluttered his fan, streak after streak of malevolent, ghostly energy surged forth, like countless knives.

He clearly wasn’t holding back anymore. This time, he struck to kill.

Dark, baleful energy surged, like a current of countless sharp blades, wreaking havoc in the rain and darkness.

Uncle Yong attacked fearlessly with his sword, but he was well aware of just how dangerous their situation was!

Their opponent was too terrifying; he was on par with a Grandmaster, or perhaps even stronger!

Furthermore, there were still four vicious ghosts remaining, and they fought like mad, with no regard for their own safety. If not for the Heavenly Frost Sword, he couldn’t possibly have held out this long.

What worried him even further was that the girl and his companions were under attack too. Ghoul Worms had them surrounded. Even if he kept the young lord occupied, they had no chance to escape at all. 

“Don’t tell me… We’re really going to die here?” Uncle Yong’s heart filled with indescribable bitterness.

At the end of the day, he’d been overly confident. He’d assumed that his peak Qi Accumulation cultivation was enough to fight any ghosts or goblins haunting Mother Ghost Ridge. 

Who would have thought that, so soon after entering the mountains, he’d encounter such a limitlessly powerful foe?

Rumble!

The skies darkened, as if night had fallen. Fierce winds ran rampant.

The dilapidated temple was now a battlefield of asuras, their combat shaking the heavens.

With so many people to protect her, the uniformed girl had nothing to worry about, at least for now. 

But even so, her pretty face was deathly pale, her panic and terror written on her face.

She’d grown up in the lap of luxury.

But even if her status were loftier, she was still just a sixteen-year-old girl. When had she ever experienced such violence and bloodshed?

Especially since their current predicament wasn’t just perilous; it was eerie and terrifying. This was a haunting; conflict with ghosts was nothing like ordinary combat between martial artists!

The girl’s mind went blank. She didn’t know what to do.

Even if they wanted to run now, it was too late!

“Don’t tell me we’re all going to die here…?” The girl’s expression was bleak. She felt overcome with indescribable regret.

She was the one who insisted on visiting Mother Ghost Ridge. Her goal was simple; she was after a certain spiritual medicine, which she planned to give her father as a birthday present. Who would have thought that in doing so, they’d run the risk of total annihilation?

If she’d known it would be like this….

It was then that she caught a glimpse of a tall figure out of the corner of her eye. 

She was stunned, and she subconsciously asked, “What are you going to do?”

“Kill the enemy,” said Su Yi offhandedly.

“Are you insane? Don’t make trouble, okay? You’re still so arrogant and opinionated even now!? Can you please just not make this even worse?” The girl shouted.

Su Yi had been getting on her nerves this entire time. Now, all of her accumulated anger and displeasure erupted. Her panic and helplessness transformed into rage and burst forth.

The nearby guards, who were engaged in vicious slaughter with the Ghoul Worms, had unsightly expressions too.

One of them directly called out, “Young Miss, never mind him. I never liked the look of him anyway. If he wants to get himself killed, let him!”

Guo Bing was frantic, his expression overwrought with concern. “Sir, hurry! Come back!”

“This particular prey is the reason I came to Mother Ghost Ridge in the first place,” said Su Yi flatly.

With that, beneath their indignant, disbelieving gazes, he walked outside.

Although no one noticed it, as Su Yi passed, the nearby Ghoul Worms retreated, not daring to draw near. He encountered no obstacles in his path!

Meanwhile, Uncle Yong’s plight was already incomparably perilous.

He’d already slaughtered the four remaining vicious ghosts, but he’d paid a heavy price to do so. Malevolent yin qi was already corroding his body, and his skin was stained black and blue.

And when he clashed with that young lord, the shock of their collisions left him hacking up blood. The power of his Martial Dao was like a candle flickering the wind.

The young lord’s attacks were swift and ferocious, his beautiful yet eerie face cold and murderous. He waved his folding fan, his killing intent like a blade slicing apart the very air itself. He was terrifying!

But he wasn’t going all out; he resembled a cat playing with a mouse. His icy, blood-colored eyes carried amusement and disdain.

If not for his dread of the Heavenly Frost Sword, defeating someone on Uncle Yong’s level would have been as easy as turning over his fist.

Uncle Yong sighed bleakly.

He’d wandered Cloudriver Prefecture unimpeded for decades, but against all expectations, it seemed highly likely he’d perish here in Mother Ghost Ridge. 

The most ridiculous part was that even now, he couldn’t determine his opponent’s origins or cultivation….

Fine. I’ll just have to use this old life of mine to buy the young miss a chance at survival! Suddenly, Uncle Yong’s gaze filled with staunch determination.

His body blazed like a furnace, shaking the air. His energy surged, baleful and resolute, instantly making him stronger.

But before he could even go all out, the young lord laughed coldly. “Is that the limit of your abilities?”

Boom!

He shook his folding fan, and a bloody mist of murderous intent surged forth, as if all of heaven and earth had been plunged into the depths of winter. A bone-chilling, malevolent chill spread out. Throughout the surrounding area, both the pouring rain and the fallen dust froze solid.

This was a mouthful of the Six-Yin Baleful Aura the young lord had cultivated. It was as cold as could be; a single breath could encase an entire river in ice, freezing and killing every living thing in its waters.

Any mortal who drew near would freeze into an ice statue, and their life force would slip away!

Uncle Yong was already nearing the end of his rope, and he’d been caught off guard. No matter how desperately he swung his sword, the bloody, icy, baleful aura relentlessly invaded his body.

He felt as if he’d been plunged into an endless icy abyss. He froze, rooted to the spot, like a fish trapped in a layer of ice. He could no longer move a muscle.

From a distance, his companions saw the bloody, baleful mist freeze around him. They could only dimly discern the weak flow of his blood and qi.

“Uncle Yong!” The girl shrieked in shock and panic.

When the other guards saw Uncle Yong in peril, it was as if they’d been struck by lightning. Uncle Yong was the strongest among them. If he fell here, who among them was worthy of being that young lord’s opponent?

We’re finished…. Uncle Yong wasn’t dead yet, but he could feel the end coming for him. 

He despaired, and was just about to give up all resistance when he saw someone draw near.

Wait!

What’s that Su Yi kid doing, rushing out here?

Uncle Yong’s impression of Su Yi wasn’t exactly “good.” He thought Su Yi ridiculously haughty and contemptuous. 

He wouldn’t have guessed that at a time like this, the boy would risk his life like this. Although he seemed like a moth throwing himself into the flames, this fearlessness in the face of death left Uncle Yong moved.

This kid…. He’s not so bad after all!

It’s just a shame that courage alone isn’t enough to turn this situation around…

Su Yi had already walked over. He looked at the nearby young lord and said calmly, “I wouldn’t have guessed that a mere Six-Severings Yin Corpse like you would achieve sentience or use human skins to cultivate. Alas, your vicious nature remains. You’ve yet to truly refine your natural murderous yin energy, so this is your limit.”

The young lord froze, then whipped around, his bright red eyes staring at Su Yi in surprise. “How did you tell?”

“I’m in no mood to explain that to an evil creature like you.” Su Yi shook his head. “But I’ll give you a chance. If you get down on your knees and beg for mercy, I’ll grant you a painless death.”

“You…. You want me to get down on my knees and beg?” The young lord’s expression was strange, as if he couldn’t quite believe a mere youth had said such a thing to him.

Su Yi shook his head and sighed.

As expected, an evil creature like this had no powers of discernment.

He no longer hesitated. He waved his sleeves, and eighteen streaks of green appeared. They revolved smoothly through the air. Upon closer inspection, they were bamboo talismans, their green surfaces lustrous and carved with mysterious symbols.

Every last bamboo talisman fired a dazzlingly bright illusory sword, They crisscrossed and gathered in the air, condensing into a single streak of jade-green sword light.

The sword light was as radiant as a miniature green sun. It hung in the air, a full three feet across, with fluctuating wormlike patterns shifting around its surface. It emanated an aura as lofty as the skies and intangible as the workings of fate.

Its appearance lit up the rain and darkness, its radiance piercing the eyes, like a sun rising from the darkness of the Netherworld.

Su Yi stuck out his arm and grabbed the air. The green sword light fell directly into his palm.

He looked like a god carrying the sun, its light so dazzling, it could illuminate the entire human world.