Ch. 921 - Kill, Ambush

They traveled for five days straight, stopping only for brief rests along the way.

During these five days, the two barely spoke to each other.

Ji Ruobing, being the cold and frosty type, had stopped initiating conversation ever since she was brushed off by Xu Zimo the last time she tried.

Xu Zimo also enjoyed the silence.

Although they traveled together, they were no different from strangers.

That afternoon, the two had just left a city named Yuecheng.

Xu Zimo, who had been lying on the back of the Darksky Tiger, suddenly sat up.

“There’s killing intent,” Ji Ruobing also said with a grave expression.

“Who would be hunting us? Did you cause trouble?” Xu Zimo asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s you who did,” Ji Ruobing shot back without yielding.

While they spoke, their mounts suddenly stopped.

Looking ahead, they saw three figures seated not far away.

In the middle of these three figures, a bonfire burned slowly.

The red flames outlined the image of blood.

The three were silent, simply sitting by the fire.

One held a jade flute, another was painting with a brush, while the last quietly polished a longsword.

The three of them together formed a strange and eerie picture.

At this moment, less than twenty meters apart, they faced one another across the fire.

“The fire is about to die out,” the man with the brush said blandly.

“The fuel has arrived,” the sword-wielding man replied hoarsely.

The last one only gave a sinister, chilling smile, saying nothing.

“Do you gentlemen have some business?” Ji Ruobing stepped forward and asked.

“Just borrowing something,” the swordsman slowly lifted his head.

His face was pale, unnaturally pale.

Dead-fish eyes, wind-blocking ears, a long face.

He looked at people the same way one would look at a corpse.

“Borrow what?” Ji Ruobing asked.

“Your head,” the man answered calmly, still unhurriedly polishing his sword.

“This has nothing to do with me and her,” Xu Zimo coughed a few times on the side and said. “I’m blind, I didn’t see anything. If it doesn’t concern me, I’ll just leave, all right?”

Hearing this, Ji Ruobing glared at him furiously.

“Little guy, don’t play dumb,” another man looked at Xu Zimo and laughed. “I know during the calamity of Heavenly Dao Academy you had major contributions. You’re not so simple.”

“You investigated me so thoroughly?” Xu Zimo scratched his head awkwardly.

“The Holy Son of True Martial Sacred Ground, how would we dare neglect that?” the jade flute man said with a smile.

“So you plan to kill me too?” Xu Zimo asked.

“No, we only need to take you to meet someone. But she must die,” the man pointed at Ji Ruobing as he spoke to Xu Zimo.

“Lu Changhen sent you, didn’t he?” Ji Ruobing laughed coldly, as if realizing something from their words.

“Senior Brother Lu has really gone to great lengths. I’ve been away from the lineage so long, yet he still keeps me in mind.”

“Who’s Lu Changhen?” Xu Zimo asked curiously.

“You should know our Slaughter Immortal lineage has both a Holy Son and a Saintess,” Ji Ruobing explained. “I am the Saintess, and Lu Changhen is the Holy Son. Although it’s supposed to be fair competition, open and hidden struggles are inevitable. That senior brother of mine very much wishes to see me dead.”

“Shouldn’t have asked you to come along,” Xu Zimo shook his head regretfully. “Now I’ve been dragged into this mess.”

“Can’t you take a little responsibility?!” Ji Ruobing snapped angrily at his words.

“Responsibility? We’re not even close,” Xu Zimo replied. “But looking at the situation, it seems I can’t just walk away either.”

………

Seeing the three opponents, Ji Ruobing slowly drew the longsword from her waist.

Frost spread along the sword tip.

“Master Xu, better stay aside for now. Our target is the Saintess Ji,” the man with the brush said.

He drew a stroke in the air with his brush.

In the next moment, the entire sky trembled.

Xu Zimo noticed that a formation appeared beneath his feet.

To be precise, it wasn’t an ordinary formation, it was a talisman formation.

The formation was formed from enlarged talisman characters, directly separating Xu Zimo from the Darksky Tiger.

It was like an independent space, trapping Xu Zimo within.

All around him, countless talismans were plastered, different colors, different patterns.

“A talisman formation, this is the first time I’ve seen one,” Xu Zimo chuckled.

“I know you’re powerful, Holy Son Xu. But this talisman formation was created especially for you,” the brush-holder said. “This formation contains forty-nine layers, designed with the principle of nine nines returning to one. I won’t hide it, this formation can’t hold you forever, but it can restrain you for a while.”

Xu Zimo frowned slightly. To break the formation, he had to study its changes.

He brought out the Heaven-Derivation Astrolabe, a tool he had prepared for formations.

Using the star disk to deduce the variations of the formation would take time.

Meanwhile, the other two had already stopped wasting words with Ji Ruobing.

One of them raised his longsword, and in an instant, the sword grew to hundreds of times its size.

He hurled the massive sword forward.

The giant sword tore through silent space, shattering illusions, slashing straight at Ji Ruobing.

From sheer size alone, it was dozens of times larger than Ji Ruobing herself.

Seeing it approach, Ji Ruobing frowned.

She swung her sword to try and divert the giant sword’s path.

A deafening boom erupted as the two swords clashed.

Ji Ruobing’s figure was knocked flying backward, but the giant sword was also deflected off to the side.

The man’s figure flickered, leaving countless afterimages in the air.

In the next moment, he was already behind the giant sword.

Lifting it again, he cleaved down at Ji Ruobing.

This strike was heavy and unstoppable, splitting the void itself, descending with overwhelming might.

Ji Ruobing’s expression grew grim. With a twist of her wrist, her sword traced a flower-like pattern, unleashing an ancient sword technique. Her body became ethereal and elusive.

But when the blow landed, she was still blasted backward.

“Overwhelming strength,” Xu Zimo remarked on the side.

This man used nothing but brute force, no fancy tricks.

He was clearly far beyond the entry level of the Immortal Realm.

Ji Ruobing steadied herself in the void. Behind her, the Myriad Tribulation Cone spun relentlessly.

She directly summoned her True Fate, the pressure from her opponent was greater than ever before.

“Lightning Tribulation,” she called out softly.

From the cone, countless bolts of lightning descended.

“As expected of a Saintess. Interesting,” the man laughed.

Meanwhile, the jade flute wielder slowly stood up as well.

His blue lips parted slightly, and the sound of the flute filled the air.

At the moment it played, the heavens and earth fell into emptiness.

It was as though all things became utterly still.

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