Now, we can only hope for that slim chance of survival...

Yun Xi stood by the ruined edge of Lanyue Pavilion, her bloodstained gown swept up by the night wind.

Back then, the boy hiding in the shattered temple waiting for death had only opened his clear, bright eyes, staring at the drifting fluff of reeds in the air.

Tonight, the owner of those eyes was moving through the darkness of the back mountain, with the bloodlight of a massacre at his back.

When it came to reading people, Yun Xi had never misjudged.

Yun Ying had forged a golden core in just sixteen years…

And his decisiveness and resolve already far surpassed that of many so-called geniuses.

If he can manage to survive tonight…

Then perhaps the hatred nurtured from the annihilation of the sect could let him grow, over a millennium, to a height ordinary men could never reach.

But could he truly survive?

The night on the back mountain was thick, impenetrable.

The so-called “path” from the back mountain to the foothill was actually seventeen floating Cloud-Stepping Stones.

By day, mist and clouds coiled among them, and disciples stepped down from stone to stone, robes fluttering like immortals.

That was the face of Yin Yang Sect.

“Cloud-Stepping Stones…” Yun Ying’s voice was low and steady: “We can’t go that way. Too obvious.”

At this moment, he made a decision that defied his master’s instructions—heading toward the Spirit Beast Yard.

The Spirit Beast Yard lay at the westernmost edge of the sect, backed by a sheer cliff, and rarely visited on normal days.

Here were kept the gentle spirit beasts raised for the sect’s meals, a kind of deer-like creature.

Dozens of these beasts gathered together; their unique aura was enough to mask the faint spiritual energy fluctuations of cultivators.

“Forgive me, senior sister,” Yun Ying murmured softly, helping Yun Yao climb over the low wall.

Inside the yard, the mix of scents was strong: the rank odor of beast droppings, the mustiness of piled hay, the bitterness of some leftover medicinal herbs…

Yun Yao instinctively pinched her nose, but saw Yun Ying had already bent down, grabbed a handful of droppings, and smeared it evenly over both their bodies.

“Junior brother, you—” Yun Yao’s eyes went wide.

“We’re not going down the mountain… Mmph—”

“Don’t speak.”

Yun Ying’s movements showed no hesitation. He tossed a few handfuls of hay scraps into Yun Yao’s hair.

He was only at the Golden Core stage… If a divine sense from someone above that realm swept over, it would detect spiritual fluctuations—but if those fluctuations read as a spirit beast’s…

There might still be a chance they’d be skipped…

But if the enemy was deranged enough to kill even the beasts…

They were in danger.

His hand pressed over Yun Yao’s lips.

That gesture made both of them freeze for a moment.

The two had grown up together, sparring often, so physical contact in training was unavoidable. But a posture this intimate was a first.

Yun Ying could feel his senior sister’s eyelashes brush over his fingers, and her heartbeat—suddenly racing—through his palm.

But there was no tenderness in his eyes, only the alertness of a hunting leopard.

In the distance came a sound of splitting air.

A streak of light tore across the sky, heading with no attempt at concealment straight toward the direction of the Cloud-Stepping Stones.

The light was dark and vicious as ink.

What was terrifying was its arrogance—it wasn’t trying to hide its trail at all, as if the entire Kongxuan Mountain was already its hunting grounds.

That dark streak hovered over the Cloud-Stepping Stones for a few moments, as if conducting an inspection.

About the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, it finally turned northwest and vanished behind the mountain peaks.

Yun Ying did not move.

Yun Yao trembled slightly beneath his hand. She wanted to speak, but he stopped her with a look.

The expression in his eyes was unfamiliar to her. It was no longer the gentle, steady junior brother she knew. It was like refined iron: cold and heavy.

They held that posture for nearly half an hour.

Cricket sounds started again. The shadow cast by the moonlight had slowly shifted by three inches.

Only then did Yun Ying finally release his hand.

He let out a long, suppressed breath.

He had held it too long; when exhaled, it condensed into faint white mist in the air.

“Who was that… is he gone?”

Yun Yao, even if she hadn’t fully understood, now realized something was terribly wrong.

“Maybe…” Yun Ying leaned against the earthen wall, finally letting a trace of exhaustion show. “But he might come back to search. Let’s head down the mountain—quietly.”

Yun Yao finally voiced the question: “What… happened?”

There was a last glimmer of hope in her eyes. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding?

“Yin Yang Sect is finished.” Yun Ying decided it was best to tell her clearly; otherwise, escape would be far more complicated.

Yun Yao blinked, as if trying to understand the phrase.

Those two words didn’t make sense. “Finished.” What did that mean? How could a sect just be… finished?

“The raiders are at least at the Void Refinement stage. More than one person: one holding off Master, the other tasked with slaughtering disciples and elders… This was a calculated annihilation.”

Yun Yao opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Her world was collapsing.

That meant her fellow apprentices she had grown up with—the harsh but kind elders, the always-smiling cook, the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree at the back mountain where she had secretly carved her name—they were all… gone?

“Why…”

“What did we do wrong? Our master spent his life doing good deeds; the sect never bullied the weak—why…”

“The cultivation world doesn’t need a why.” Yun Ying’s voice was eerily cold.

“Senior sister, I’ll take you to refuge in Ten Thousand Swords City.”

Ten Thousand Swords City was the world’s greatest trade city, located at the confluence of the Six Provinces canals, ruled by fourteen sects together.

More importantly, it was a sacred place for sword cultivators—and tonight’s attackers, even from just a distant glance, had radiated the fierce aura of blade cultivators.

Conflict between sword and blade cultivators ran deep. There, no blade cultivator would dare act recklessly.

But all of that depended on whether they could survive the journey to Ten Thousand Swords City.

Thirty thousand li, pursuers at their heels—two youths, at most the Golden Core stage. How could they make it?

Yun Ying carefully plotted their route. Then, suddenly, every hair on his body stood on end!

It wasn’t something he heard or saw. It was a feeling—the air was vibrating!

“Get down!”

He only had time to push Yun Yao aside before he himself was slammed by an immense force into the earthen wall. Bricks splintered; his golden core automatically activated to protect his body, but still his ribs gave two distinct cracks.

A black shadow entered the Spirit Beast Yard.

It didn’t “land” so much as “crash” in—like a meteor falling to earth. Dust exploded. The nearest dozen spirit beasts didn’t even have time to scream before they were pulverized into bloody mist.

Spiritual pressure casually shattered the surrounding fences, crushed the slab-stone ground, and carved a deep crater a full yard across.

In the center of the pit, a man in black slowly rose.

He was not tall, but the bulging muscles on his exposed arms were crisscrossed with scars.

His face was not unpleasant to look upon, almost handsome with a bit of youthful features.

But that did nothing to soften the near-mad grin on his face. What was most terrifying was the thing in his hand—

A human head.

The cut at the base of the neck was ragged—obviously torn off by force.

And yet that head was still alive! The eyes were moving; the lips trembling; the grizzled beard soaked in blood—it was the law-traditions Elder Liu of Yin Yang Sect!

“Elder Liu!”—Yun Yao’s scream tore through the night.

At the sound of her call, the face of the severed head flared with a last spark of light. The lips moved, but only blood bubbles came out.

It looked to Yun Yao, then to Yun Ying, its eyes filled with utter despair.

The black-clad man curled his lips into a grin.

“Finished means…” He lifted the head to look at it like a piece of art. “Exactly—this.”

His fingers began to tighten.

The skull made that sickening, grinding sound.

Elder Liu’s eyes bulged. His last traces of life slipped away swiftly—but in his final moment, he mouthed two words:

Run…

Pfft.

Like squeezing overripe fruit.

Yun Yao collapsed to her knees, retching.

She had seen blood before. She’d even been injured in sparring. But this—

but had never before witnessed such naked cruelty.

Yun Ying straightened his body.

Two and a half ribs were broken, his organs were shaken, and his spiritual energy was in chaos.

His gaze shifted from the bloody mess on the ground to the big man’s face, terrifyingly calm.

“The Spirit Severing Realm,”

he said—not a question, but a statement.

The big man raised an eyebrow: “Kid, your eyes are sharp. To survive one of my strikes at the Golden Core stage, you really are a standout from the Yin-Yang Sect.”

“You flatter me.” Yun Ying even clasped his hands in a bow, his etiquette as impeccable as if he were greeting an elder. “May I ask the senior’s title? So that my junior sister and I can die knowing who we’re dealing with.”

The big man was stunned for a moment, then burst into wild laughter: “Interesting! Truly interesting! Old man here is Liu Yishou—remember that name!”

Before the words had even faded, Yun Ying moved.

Three Explosive Flame Talismans, five Thunderfire Pearls.

And the life-preserving Sword Pill given by his master!

In an instant, lightning, fire, and sword light shot into the sky, turning the night as bright as day!

Liu Yishou instinctively narrowed his eyes and spread his divine sense, locking onto every flying object!

In that fleeting, lightning-flash moment,

Yun Ying grabbed Yao Yao and poured all his spiritual energy into running.

Now, he could only pray for a sliver of hope...

Unfortunately...

the gap in their realms was far too vast.

Liu Yishou waved his sleeve, scattering the lightning and fire, then struck out in fury. A massive blood-colored hand materialized in the air, reaching for the two of them.