"You…" Blood Shadow snarled, then snorted. "Well, it doesn"t matter. Brat, you"re on the must kill list, so I won"t let you go like Tong Xue."

"That"s exactly my point!" I bellowed, catching him off guard. Blood Shadow actually looked molliefied, completely taken aback by my reaction.

"What…?"

I didn"t let him finish.

"You"re supposed to be a skillful, veteran a.s.sa.s.sin with decades of experience, right? Yet why are you making such stupid amateur mistakes?" I then did a mocking pretense of him, waving my hands dramatically. ""Leaving so soon?" What the f.u.c.k, dude? If your goal was to kill me, why did you have to go announce your presence so loudly and forewarn us that you were coming, instead of just catching us unaware and stabbing us in the back? Like what any professional a.s.sa.s.sin would do – kill the target before he even realizes what hit him!"

"That"s…" Blood Shadow trailed away, realizing that I was right. He shrugged. "For dramatic purposes?"

My jaw dropped. Amazing…this guy had a sense of humor too?

"It doesn"t matter anyway," Blood Shadow continued. "You won"t be able to survive the night. You"re far too weak!" he grinned. "I was just giving you a chance. It wouldn"t be fun if I kill you instantly. I want to watch you struggle."

"Yup, you"re definitely not a professional a.s.sa.s.sin." I sighed and shook my head. "Real a.s.sa.s.sins don"t think about fun."

"Oh, shut up!"

Blood Shadow snapped and then softly whistled in a low tone. Thousands of blood tendrils seemed to snake out of the night and charged toward me at once.

"This sucks…" I muttered, getting a headache. Using Absolute Zero, I froze everything within ten meters with my concept. The blood tendrils all turned into ice and stopped just centimeters short of me. I panted heavily, using all of my qi to stop the blood tendrils while simultaneously bringing my Snow Aegis down to help me.

"The same trick won"t work twice!"

Having survived the barrage from my mobile turrets earlier, Blood Shadow deftly jumped away and disappeared into the shadows. However, I could still detect him with the infrared vision installed in my gla.s.ses and I directed my mobile turrets, firing qi beams on his position with uncanny precision. Blood Shadow was forced to withdraw several of his blood tendrils to defend himself.

"What the h.e.l.l is this?!" he demanded, astonished by the sheer firepower. "Even though I"m at the Pure Spirit Stage, I still can"t defend against attacks from a Qi Fusion Stage pract.i.tioner? What is this Spirit Weapon?"

Having no intention to inform him of my capabilities, I continued to bombard his position, forcing him to retreat. As my mobile turrets spun about wildly in midair, I quickly withdrew, joining Tong Xue as we tried to escape.

I knew I wouldn"t be able to hold Blood Shadow off for long.

"The whole plan is falling about," I complained to Tong Xue, who grimaced and nodded sourly as he hefted Lian Rou in his arms.

Originally, the plan we concocted with Lang Xie and Hai Rong was that I would momentarily distract Blood Shadow. When he attacked me, then Lang Xie would immediately a.s.sa.s.sinate Blood Shadow from behind (which was why I made a big fuss about Blood Shadow not being a professional a.s.sa.s.sin and pulling such amateurish stunts). Meanwhile, Hai Rong and Tong Xue would then seize the opportunity to rush toward Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou to release them.

At least that was what we decided. Unfortunately, as a famous general once said, no battle plan ever survived contact with the enemy.

As it turned out, this whole thing had been a trap, one elaborately planned out by the late Hu Mei Er. I was so glad I killed that b.i.t.c.h. It was all her fault that we were running the risk of getting killed. We never would have expected Di Shi Jiu and Yuan Tian Ya to show up!

If I wasn"t mistaken, Hu Mei Er must have secretly led all these members of Divine Shadow Sect inside Tushan City for this a.s.sa.s.sination mission! For her to pull this off…she must have been scheming with Divine Shadow Sect and perhaps the Martial Arts Alliance for a long time now. Since when did she betray us?

Ever since Liang Shao Yang died by my hands?

"Where is Lord Lang Xie and Instructor Hai?" I asked rhetorically, casting my glance around for the two adults, to no avail.

Tong Xue shook his head bitterly as he tightened his grip on Lian Rou.

"Lord Lang Xie is currently occupied by Di Shi Jiu and Yuan Tian Ya. Even if they somehow fail to defeat him, there is still Liang Yang Zu hiding nearby. Instructor Hai is currently fighting a shadow conjured from Blood Shadow"s blood."

"How do you know all that?" I asked, astonished. It was a rhetorical question, and I wasn"t really expecting a reply.

Tong Xue smiled sourly. "Smart Shadow Sect"s techniques. I had netflies scattered into the atmosphere to keep tabs on them." he held up a cogitator gauntlet, which projected holographic images that displayed Lang Xie and Hai Rong fighting for their lives against their respective opponents, and one screen even showed Liang Yang Zu hiding in the bushes, waiting for his chance to ambush the unsuspecting Lang Xie.

"What the h.e.l.l?! Are you supposed to be an a.s.sa.s.sin from the Va.n.u.s temple now?"

"The what temple now?" Tong Xue repeated incredulously. I shook my head.

"Never mind. Anyway, keep an eye on them. And take Qi Hong." I pa.s.sed Tang Qi Hong to a bewildered Tong Xue. "Go! I"ll distract Blood Shadow for now. His target is me."

"But you…" Tong Xue protested even as he obediently shifted Tang Qi Hong over his shoulder. I grinned.

"…won"t die so easily."

Tong Xue stared at me for a moment, and then he nodded, as if saying that he trusted me. He then sped away just as Blood Shadow smashed the ice and summoned a new swarm of blood tendrils to launch at me again.

"You think you can get away?" he snarled, throwing a bunch of serpentine blood tendrils at the fleeing Tong Xue. Before any of them could reach him or the girls, six brilliant qi beams seared through the air and incinerated them, vaporizing the blood.

"You think you can chase them?" I responded sarcastically.

Blood Shadow"s eyes narrowed. "Brat, don"t think too highly of yourself! And worry about yourself before you try and save your friends!"

He had a point. Thousands of blood tendrils were whipping mercilessly toward me, stretching out as if to ensnare me.

Pushing my gla.s.ses up my nose, I smiled.

Closing my eyes, I reached into my mind, allowing my consciousness to sink into the freezing tundra that formed the bedrock of my soul. Gathering as much pure qi as I could, and remembering the lessons from the snow-patterned Spirit Engraved Pillar, I used the Heavenly Snow Terminus Body in conjunction with the Nine-Tailed Frost Fox Formula. This time, I didn"t just use Absolute Zero, but combined Absolute Zero with Heavenly Snow Terminus Body.

My freezing qi gushed out of my body, which was being slowly coated with a layer of frost. Extreme cold flooded out from my spiritual sea and into reality, altering the world itself. With me as the core, the world around me distorted as it froze and reality itself turned into ice. The courtyard was transformed in an instant, turning into a snow-white tundra.

The blood tendrils were unable to withstand the extreme cold, every single one of them turning into ice before fragmenting into powder and crumbling away from existence. Crystalline and sparkling ice expanded across the whip-like contusions, turning them from crimson-red to azure-white. They resembled nothing more than frozen sculptures before their demise, lending to their frozen forms a transient beauty that couldn"t last long.

The icy concept spread from my body and continued to freeze not just the blood tendrils or Blood Shadow"s techniques but the entire courtyard, altering the very landscape itself. Winter had descended upon us a few months too early. Such was the power of Absolute Zero that I could even change the very weather itself.

It wasn"t just any winter, but the coldest winter that Tushan City had ever experienced.

The mansion was coated in ice, with icicles beginning to dangle from the eaves, and a layer of frost solidifying thickly over the roof. Even the ground beneath our feet had become slush with snow, which was actually pretty hard.

"Br…"

Even though Tong Xue managed to escape to a safe distance, he could still feel the unnatural chill this far away. His teeth were chattering and his face had grown pale. If he hadn"t drawn his qi about him, he wouldn"t have been able to move, and might even end up frozen along with the mansion and poor trees surrounding me.

"…"

Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou couldn"t speak, even as their bodies were covered by frost, and their long hair encased in ice as well. They could only look at me in surprise.

Underneath his mask, Blood Shadow"s eyes widened in shock, but then they narrowed ferociously, blazing demonically. Unfortunately for me, he wasn"t affected by my enhanced Absolute Zero technique, what with his superior strength and amount of qi. Glancing nonchalantly at his frozen blood tendrils that were crumbling away into nothingless rapidly, he shook his head and scowled.

"You really are a skilled young man. To think you"ll be able to reach this level of ice technqiues at such a young age…it"s just too bad…"

Blood Shadow dashed toward me, a dense b.l.o.o.d.y aura shrouding his body. I used Tui on reflex, widening the distance between us, and causing Blood Shadow to miss with his first attack. His fist smashed the ice on the ground, and for a moment it seemed that he had elevated the temperature and returned it to normal, neutralizing my technique.

"!!!"

Jumping back as far as I could, I watched Blood Shadow cautiously.

"Isn"t this b.l.o.o.d.y cheating?" I complained as Blood Shadow pulverized the ice I had so painstakingly created.

Honestly, I shouldn"t have expected anything different. I was still a greenhorn, a sapling who had yet to grow. In contrast, Blood Shadow had decades of experience and cultivation. He was probably at his peak, a powerful martial artist on par with Yuan Tian Ya and the sect leader of Snow Valley Sect or Dark Valley Sect. As much as I hated to admit it, he was a topnotch martial artist in the Great Zhou Empire, even if his a.s.sa.s.sination skills left something to be desired.

However, he was speaking the truth when he said he could easily kill me anytime he wanted. That begged the question then.

Why hadn"t he killed me already?

Using my footwork techniques, I did my best to weave through the frozen courtyard, dodging and evading Blood Shadow"s relentless attacks. Thankfully I had my Snow Aegis, which bombarded the a.s.saulting Blood Shadow from above and sometimes forcing him to veer away from launching what would otherwise be a lethal strike. Despite our combined efforts, I was under the impression that Blood Shadow was closing in on me, slowly tightening the noose around my neck – a noose that he placed on me a long time ago without me realizing it.

But as long as I was alive, there was still hope. And I spent the next few seconds simultaneously evading while cracking my head to think of a strategy that I could use against such a powerful foe. If only Instructor Hai would return and help me out!

Wait…didn"t Tong Xue say that she was fighting a shadow that Blood Shadow conjured? If it was powerful enough to keep her occupied, then Blood Shadow must be investing quite a lot of qi into it to maintain it. Otherwise there was no way the renowned Hai Rong would be unable to defeat it. If Blood Shadow was splitting his strength to deal with both me and Instructor Hai at the same time, then perhaps I might have some hope of beating him!

First, I focused my Heaven and Earth sense on Blood Shadow. Yup, he was the real thing. Unlike before, when he spread his presence out, which made him vulnerable to my multiple qi beams, Blood Shadow"s qi and presence was concentrated around his physical form right now.

That meant, if I delivered an attack powerful enough, I would be able to defeat him. Or at the very least, drive him back.

Glancing up at my mobile turrets, I began formulating a plan.

"Still haven"t given up yet?" Blood Shadow taunted as he dove at me, striking with his fist. I managed to bring the core of my Snow Aegis up to deflect his punch, but both my Spirit Shield and I were battered away from the sheer impact.

That was too close! I realized, gasping as I hit the ground and rolled back to my feet. Thinking he could exploit my moment of weakness, Blood Shadow dove to finish me off, but he suddenly pulled back as six deadly qi beams criss-crossed the air in front of him.

"Oh? A feint? Very clever." He smirked as he hopped to safety and stared at me admiringly before glancing at the hovering mobile turrets. "You almost got me there."

I clicked my tongue, despite knowing it wouldn"t be that easy. If Blood Shadow hadn"t pulled back out of reflex, I would have nailed him and everything would have been fine. Unfortunately, as I was finding out, Blood Shadow was proving to be quite the formidable opponent. Those years of experience were really giving him an overwhelming edge.

There was no way I could hold out for much longer.

"Huff…"

Drawing a deep breath, I began to stumble back, and my mobile turrets followed me, the DRAGOON system kicking into protector protocols.

"He he he!"

Blood Shadow was laughing as he charged at me in an almost playful manner. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d was toying with me. He really believed that I was nothing more than an infant, and he intended to play me like a child and drive me to despair before taking my life.

While it was true that he had every reason to believe that, I was going to ensure he paid dearly for underestimating me.

"Come on! Don"t tell me that"s all you have? Surely you still have several tricks up your sleeve? Pull them out for me to see!"

I couldn"t help but smirk.

"You"ll regret it if I do resort to using my trump card."

Blood Shadow"s eyes narrowed at what he perceived to be an affront, as I knew he would. "We"ll see about that. Try it!"

"Make me!" I sneered. Blood Shadow grinned under his mask.

"My pleasure!"

He then charged forward, weaving through the volley of qi beams that my mobile turrets spat at him and reached me. He then struck out triumphantly, trying to pulverize my Snow Aegis.

"Is that all you have?"

Gritting my teeth as I struggled to withstand his punch with Snow Aegis, I reached out with my right hand and drew my Azure Lotus Sword. Before Blood Shadow realized what was happening, I slashed at him.

"!!!"

Blood sprayed in the air and Blood Shadow stumbled back. He gaped at the ice that was rapidly spreading over his arm.

Unfortunately, I had only nicked him. It was nothing more than a slight graze, and even the bleeding had stopped because of the ice that was quickly expanding over his arm. I swore under my breath.

"d.a.m.n it, I was hoping I could at least take one of your arms."

"Nice try." Blood Shadow turned back to grin at me. He flexed his fist, about to shatter the ice that now encased his arm. "But…"

I didn"t give him the chance to finish his sentence or free his arm. I was immediately springing at him, slashing my Azure Lotus Sword down with all my might.

"!!!"

Blood Shadow caught my blade before it could cleave him in half, both his palms pressing firmly onto it and stopping it a few centimeters away from his mask. Ice still continued to encase his left arm, but it didn"t seem to affect his strength at all.

The ground beneath his feet crumbled and exploded as my Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike expended its qi uselessly against Blood Shadow, but despite his fingers and palms bleeding from the tremendous blast, he continued to hold onto my blade tightly.

Swearing under my breath, I tried to free my sword, but he clamped his bleeding fingers onto my blade tightly, refusing to let go.

What a monster! He had just received the full blast of my Heavenly Draconic Meteor Strike, and he was still virtually unscathed. Save for the cuts on his hands, there wasn"t so much a scratch or bruise on the rest of his body!

"Impressive, but it"s not enough…"

"Enhance Armament!"

Yelling, I unleashed my frosty qi and entrapped the stunned Blood Shadow in a tomb of ice. While he uttered an oath and tried to stagger back, I was able to pry my sword free from his grip and used Tui to escape.

Blood Shadow was not so fortunate. He found himself completely enveloped in ice, his body locked in a thick block of frost.

"It won"t work!" he snarled, already breaking free and shattering a good chunk of the ice. He then smiled. "I"ll admit, you"re a very impressive youngster, with a keen strategic sense and having mastered such advanced techniques at so young an age. No wonder they call you Lang Xie"s successor." He shook his head slowly. "If you survive, you"ll surely lead Nine-Tailed Fox Sect to glory and allow it to achieve heights otherwise unimagined, allowing it to surpa.s.s the other seven major sects in the Martial Arts Alliance."

He sighed and shook his head dramatically.

"It"s a pity, though, that the Martial Arts Alliance is afraid of that. Well, they aren"t afraid of you specifically, and I"m sure they would rather recruit you into their own ranks than eliminate you. But too bad you"re Lang Xie"s disciple." His smile widened. "And I"ve sworn revenge against Lang Xie. If you want to blame anybody, blame him for killing your grand master (basically grandfather-master, the master of my master)."

I paid no attention to him and plunged my Azure Lotus Sword into the ground.

"Enhance Armament!" I yelled, unleashing my frosty qi and trapping Blood Shadow in a block of ice again.

"This technique again?" Blood Shadow raised an eyebrow as he smashed his way out of the ice, as I knew he would. "It won"t work. You won"t be able to defeat me with this, no matter how many times you use it."

"I know," I replied. "But it was never my intention to defeat you with this technique."

Blood Shadow frowned, sensing that something was amiss. Sensing a great amount of qi, he glanced down at his feet and saw a spherical device that glowed fiercely.

"W…what is this?"

I didn"t reply. There was no point in telling him that the Spirit Bomb was my prototypical Sunburst, one of the first few of its model that I completed with Tang Qi Hong"s help. No doubt if she was here, Tang Qi Hong would also recognize it, but currently she had been ferried by Tong Xue to a distance far away enough to be safe from the explosion.

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d…!"

Recognizing the tremendous amount of qi that was threatening to blow up from the Sunburst, Blood Shadow desperately shattered the ice and tried to escape.

But he was too late. There was too much ice for him to free himself in time. Before he could smash away the last vestiges of ice that was holding him down, the timer of my primed Sunburst went off and it detonated.

BOOOOM!

A thunderous explosion blasted across the mansion"s premises, tearing a ma.s.sive hole in the earth with apocalyptic impact, a conflagration that expanded violently like a sun having gone supernova, and engulfed Blood Shadow.

As the shadowy a.s.sa.s.sin disappeared in the blinding inferno that temporarily turned the dark night into bright day, he let out a scream so terrible that it almost burst my eardrums.