You Shouldn't Have Let Me Get Close

Meanwhile, thirty miles outside the Black Wind Valley, at the back of Black Wind Ridge.

After inspecting the auction, Wang Wudi pressed on without rest and arrived at the back of Black Wind Ridge, where he had already been resting for two hours.

When the first streak of lightning flashed across the sky, he suddenly opened his eyes. The aura of the Martial God burst forth explosively from his body. Behind him, the presence of twenty Ancestors of the Skyborne Realm simultaneously erupted, twenty pillars of energy shooting straight into the heavens, tearing apart the clouds in the night sky.

“Full army, advance!” Wang Wudi clenched his fist and pointed toward Black Wind Valley. “Target—the Shadow Guard stronghold in Black Wind Valley. Leave no one alive!”

Five thousand elite True Intent Realm Forbidden Army soldiers—the Yulin Corps—shouted in unison as they surged over the ridge behind Black Wind Ridge like a tidal wave, flooding toward Black Wind Valley.

Their armor was affixed with special anti-detection talismans crafted by the Ministry of Works. Under the cover of the shielding formation plate, they had moved silently, undetected even by the Shadow Guard’s sentries.

Now, with the shield lifted, the murderous aura of five thousand warriors converged into a visible crimson wave of bloodlust, coalescing above Black Wind Valley into a roaring blood-red war wolf—the totem spirit of this army.

On the Eagle Sorrow Cliff at the valley’s entrance, five figures moved simultaneously.

Xu Lingjun, the formation master, struck first. He had spent three days thoroughly mapping the three-layer formation array of Black Wind Valley.

His hands formed a complex formation seal, triggering dozens of formation plates buried throughout the valley to explode simultaneously. Each plate corresponded precisely to the key nodes of the three-layer killing array, detonating at the critical energy flow junctions.

The operation of the triple-layered killing formation stalled for a single breath—brief, but enough time for the other four to enter the fray.

Xiao Chen finally unsheathed his heavy ruler. This was his second battle as a Skyborne Realm warrior and a child of destiny.

The moment the heavy ruler was drawn, the gravity throughout Black Wind Valley suddenly tripled. The first three Shadow Guards, still reeling from the explosion of the thunder pearl, were crushed by the sudden weight, their legs buckling as they collapsed to their knees.

With an expressionless face, Xiao Chen swung the ruler in a horizontal arc. The triple gravity enhancement amplified the impact as the heavy ruler slammed into the chests of the three men. The sound of shattering bones echoed in unison as the three were flung like broken kites, crashing into the rocky walls and leaving three human-shaped dents.

Ye Guyun’s sword remained as cold as ever.

The Cold Abyss Sword traced a silver-white thread through the night sky, its sword intent crystallizing into ice. With a single thrust, it pierced the chest of the fourth Shadow Guard.

At the last moment, the Shadow Guard tried to escape using Shadow Escape, but Ye Guyun’s sword was too fast—so fast that even his shadow couldn’t shift in time.

This was the first lesson he taught these assassins: Shadow Escape may be swift, but it can never outrun the sword of a sword cultivator.

The instant the sword’s intent locked onto its target, the shadow’s shift was already half a beat behind—and that half beat was the difference between life and death.

Lu Chenzhou did not engage head-on.

He leapt silently from the cliff face, gliding soundlessly over the head of a Shadow Guard. Landing without so much as a glance at his target, he spun around and drove his blade straight through the man’s kidney. Drawing his sword free, he pressed onward toward the next victim, snatching a storage ring from their person. The entire sequence flowed like water—effortless and precise—muscle memory honed from thirty days of collecting corpses in the secret realm.

Wanyan Gu’s method was far more primal. He didn’t rely on any fancy footwork; instead, he simply jumped down from Eagle Sorrow Cliff, swinging his massive wolf-tooth club—broad as a door panel—in a wide arc, smashing into the crowd.

Three Shadow Guards raised their blades simultaneously to block. Their swords shattered, their arms broke, and all three were flung, weapons and all, crashing to the ground, gouging a three-zhang-wide crater beneath them. Standing in the center of the pit, Wanyan Gu grinned broadly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. “Wanyan Gu of the Eastern Wasteland, invites you all to your deaths!”

That line came from a story Wang Hao once told; it just felt right—full of power and momentum.

In the valley, cold sweat finally broke out on the foreheads of the Shadows.

They watched as the decoy slowly vanished in the crackling lightning, then glanced toward the Eastern Wasteland army surging through the valley entrance—and the five aerial prodigies descending from the sky. These five early-stage Sky-Walking Realm elites possessed combat power far beyond their expectations, even surpassing warriors at the peak of the Sky-Walking Realm.

Suddenly, the Shadows realized one undeniable truth—from start to finish, this was never an assassination.

It was a counterattack.

Wang Hao was never the prey. He was the hunter—the mastermind who had driven fifty Shadow Guards like cattle into a trap.

“Retreat!” the Shadow leader barked sharply.

“Activate the teleportation array! Everyone, fall back to the main headquarters!”

No one answered.

Because at the very spot where the teleportation array was located, a figure now stood.

Wang Hao.

Emerging from the shadows beside the just-activated teleportation array, he still held half a nine-colored immortal fruit, unfinished.

He bit into the fruit, juice trickling down the corner of his mouth, dripping onto the dark red earth and forming tiny splashes. His expression was leisurely. Above his head, the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower slowly rotated, all eight layers opening their gates. Thunder beasts inside the tower emitted deep roars, causing the surrounding air to tremble faintly.

If not for the New Heavenly Emperor Sword currently in slumber and evolving, Wang Hao would have had his enforcers fully assembled.

“Commander-in-Chief, this teleportation array is quite ingenious,” Wang Hao said, chewing the immortal fruit as he looked down at the array’s runes.

“Three layers of nested spatial folding runes combined with a directional coordinate-locking formation—an array like this must have cost at least fifty million spirit stones to set up. The Dark City really is flush with cash. Far richer than I imagined.”

The Shadow leader stared at him, his hands trembling slightly beneath his black robe.

Not out of fear—fear was a word absent from the dictionary of the Dark City’s Commander-in-Chief. His trembling was born of humiliation. He had schemed for seven whole days, deploying the highest-grade assassination squad of the Shadow Guards, only to be toyed with from the very beginning.

“How did you pull this off?” the Shadow’s voice was hoarse.

“Your decoys, your thunder orbs, your ambush troops—none of these could escape our scouts’ notice. We searched every inch of land within a hundred li, confirming there was no trap anywhere.”

“A hundred li?” Wang Hao finished the last bite of his celestial fruit, casually tossed the core to the ground, and wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

“Their ambush was set a hundred and one li away. Your scouts are indeed professional; within a hundred li, not even an ant could slip past. But beyond a hundred li, are you really sure you know what’s out there?”

He raised a finger, as if lecturing a student: “Rule number one—never trust the limits of your own reconnaissance. You think ten li is far enough, so I set the trap a hundred li away. You think the God of War’s speed can only cover eight thousand li in half an incense stick’s time? My great-grandfather did it in one-third of that. You think I only have one decoy talisman? Sorry, I have plenty more up my sleeve.”

Shadow’s pupils contracted sharply.

An ambush a hundred li away meant Wang Hao had already calculated all the distances and timing three days ago. They weren’t being caught off guard today—they had been trapped since the moment the invitation was sent out.

“Rule number two,” Wang Hao continued.

“The Tear of the Abyss is indeed a formidable weapon. It can pierce the aura shield of an early God of War, colorless, odorless, and fast-acting—any other God of War would have died here today.”

“But I stayed in Jiejin City for three days. You thought I was busy with the auction, but actually, I was searching for a way to counter the Tear of the Abyss. Your Dark City’s poison is deadly, but not unbeatable—I happen to have a Wudu Invulnerability Talisman. It’s not sold on the market, but I have one.”

He pointed to the four thunder orbs still radiating residual energy in the sky. “Rule number three: disposable thunder orbs need no introduction; you have them too. But mine are two grades higher. These things are a bane to your Dark City’s martial arts and formations—sorry, they’re heaven’s counter.”

“The Dark Thunder Orbs are powerful. If they hadn’t been triggered by the heavenly lightning, they might have taken half my life.”

Shadow’s face darkened completely. He finally understood why the three Gods of War had died at his hands, but Wang Hao remained unharmed—because every move Shadow made had already been anticipated by Wang Hao.

Shadow was scheming against Wang Hao, but Wang Hao’s schemes were deeper, farther-reaching, and darker.

“So you never intended to negotiate with us from the start,” Shadow gritted his teeth.

“You planned to wipe out the Shadow Guard from the very beginning.”

“Negotiate?” Wang Hao laughed, sending a chill down Shadow’s spine.

“Commander, you sent me a blood-letter, saying I would die within seven days.”

“Then you sent an invitation, threatening to attack the city if I didn’t attend. From start to finish, you never had any intention of negotiating. Why on earth would I negotiate with you?”

“Besides, your gambling den still owes me spirit stones, and you threatened me—I hate being threatened more than anything. And when I first arrived in Jiejin City, your Dark City’s gambling den rigged the odds to cheat me out of my spirit stones. You remember that, don’t you?”

He took a single step forward—just one step—and from the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower overhead came a deep, rumbling roar. Within the windows of all nine floors, the Thunder Beasts howled in unison. The combined pressure of these nine beasts pressed down on Shadow's head like nine towering mountains.

“You think I’ve come just to collect debts?” Wang Hao’s gaze had turned icy cold. “In truth, collecting debts is merely an afterthought. What I truly want is your Dark City.”

Shadow trembled all over.

Those words carried an unbearable weight.

Though Dark City was not counted among the Five Great Powers, it was the supreme stronghold of all the dark forces in the world, controlling the entire underworld’s black industry chain.

If the Sixteen Holy Lands of Central Continent were the empire bathed in sunlight, then Dark City was the kingdom hidden in shadows. Wang Hao’s desire to seize Dark City was equivalent to planting the Black Dragon flag on both the light and dark sides of this continent.

“You’re insane,” Shadow spat through clenched teeth.

“Insane?” Wang Hao shook his head.

“I’m not insane. Your Eight Gangs Alliance has entrenched itself in Dark City for thousands of years, amassing more spirit stones than all the Sixteen Holy Lands combined. I need spirit stones to develop the Eastern Wasteland, and you have them. It’s the simplest supply and demand. I only want your money—but you want my life instead—that’s just unfair, isn’t it?”

Shadow fell silent. He knew there was no chance of walking away unscathed today.

Fifty Shadow Guards had been trapped in the valley by the Eastern Wasteland army; the teleportation array was seized by Wang Hao; the formation was broken; the poisonous mist purified—every trump card had been exposed, leaving only desperation.

He drew a deep breath, his body beginning to change.

The black robe stirred without a breeze. Beneath the hood, two eerie green lights flickered—signs that his dark energy cultivation had reached its peak. His body began to swell; bones cracked and popped. In just three breaths, his originally lean figure expanded to nearly twenty feet tall. The black robe tore apart inch by inch, revealing dark green scaled armor beneath.

His hands morphed into deadly claws, each finger sprouting three-foot-long bone blades.

The edges of the blades shimmered with a ghostly green poison—the concentrated essence of the Abyssal Tear. It didn’t evaporate, but was far deadlier; a single scratch could coagulate a God Warrior’s blood within three breaths.

From his back, a pair of jet-black bat wings unfurled, spanning fifty feet. Along the edges were embedded thirty-six throwing knives, each a unique sinister weapon ranked within the top five hundred of the Deceptive Arsenal List. Together, these thirty-six knives formed a throwing knife formation—the ultimate secret weapon Shadow reserved for his final move.

With the teleportation array sealed and his escape blocked, there was no retreat. The supreme leader of Dark City would rather die fighting than flee like a beaten dog. This was his code—three centuries without a single defeat, a pride that forbade him from retreating in disgrace.

“Wang Hao!” Shadow flapped his wings. Simultaneously, the thirty-six throwing knives detached from the edges of his wings, spinning together in a deadly rotating blade formation.

“You shouldn’t have let me get close.”