Chapter 22: If You Dare Strike First!
’At most, peak Core Formation!’ Uncle Yan’s thought, attempting to drown out the lingering terror he had felt moments ago. ’He relies on a soul-defense artifact to project that ocean, and he uses an illusion to hide his true face! He is a fraud masking his limits behind a mountain of Spirit Stones!’
The old man’s eyes narrowed into murderous slits. His Young Master, Xu Tianyang, was too polite, too bound by the noble etiquette of the inner city to strike down a man in broad daylight. But Uncle Yan was different. He was someone whose sole purpose was to bite the throats of those who dared to disrespect his master.
If this mysterious fraud died here, the Xu Clan could casually claim his Spirit Stones and the weathered painting from his corpse. It was the perfect solution.
Without waiting for Xu Tianyang’s command, Uncle Yan silently circulated qi into his right arm. The spiritual energy condensed violently, turning his hand a sickly gray. He aimed directly at the space between Lin Yuan’s shoulder blades.
He prepared to launch a silent assassination strike.
But Uncle Yan had fundamentally underestimated the monster he was dealing with.
Lin Yuan did not need to turn around. He did not even need to project his Divine Sense. With his staggering awareness due to his newfound comprehension, the sudden, spike in killing intent radiating from the someone behind him was as subtle as a roaring bonfire in a pitch-black room.
’A dog that bites without barking,’ Lin Yuan mused internally. ’How utterly tiresome.’
He could have easily turned around and slapped the old man into a fine mist. However, doing so inside the crowded corridors of the guild would undoubtedly cause a massive scene, potentially endangering Bai Qingyue in the crossfire.
"Hold tight, Qingyue," Lin Yuan whispered softly, his arm tightening securely around his wife’s waist.
Before Uncle Yan’s lethal strike could even leave his fingertips, Lin Yuan triggered his movement spell.
Immortal Cloud Step.
Whoosh.
Xu Tianyang’s fan slipped from his grasp, clattering loudly against the floor. The head steward of the guild, who was bowing nearby, fell backward onto his rear, his eyes bulging with terror.
"They... they vanished!" an attendant shrieked, pointing at the empty space.
"Teleportation!" the head steward gasped, his voice cracking as his mind processed the impossible. "He tore through the void! that was no Core Formation expert! He is a Nascent Soul Monster!"
The words Nascent Soul echoed through the corridor like a divine judgment, sending a wave of suffocating dread through every cultivator present. To the inhabitants of Azure Cloud City, a Nascent Soul expert was a walking god.
Xu Tianyang’s face turned paper-white. He slowly turned his head to look at his Dao protector, a profound fear creeping into his usually composed eyes. If he had pushed his arrogance any further... he would have brought absolute annihilation upon the entire Xu Clan.
But Uncle Yan’s reaction was entirely different.
The old man’s face twisted into a mask of denial.
"Impossible! A Nascent Soul almighty in this backwater city?! Ridiculous!" Uncle Yan roared, his pride completely overriding his logic. "It is an illusion! A high-grade spatial talisman! He used a treasure to flee because he sensed my killing intent! I will not let a fraud humiliate the Xu Clan and escape!"
"Uncle Yan, stop!" Xu Tianyang ordered, his voice filled with genuine panic.
But Uncle Yan had already slipped its leash.
Ignoring his master’s command, he stomped his foot against the floor, shattering the tiles into powder. He erupted into a streak of gray light, bursting out of the Guild’s grand entrance and rocketing directly into the sky.
Once above the rooftops of the inner city, Uncle Yan unleashed the signature ability of a Core Formation expert. He manipulated the surrounding qi, forcefully solidifying the air beneath his feet.
He was controlling the sky.
Hovering high above city, Uncle Yan aggressively expanded his Divine Sense, sweeping over it like a predatory hawk searching for a fleeing hare.
Then, after a moment of searching....
"Found you, you rat!" Uncle Yan sneered, his eyes locking onto the figure standing calmly below.
Uncle Yan swooped down, halting his descent about fifty feet above the ground. He stood firmly, looking down at Lin Yuan and Bai Qingyue with murderous contempt.
"You run fast for a fraud!" Uncle Yan’s voice boomed down, echoing like rolling thunder. "But illusions and talismans cannot save you from absolute strength! If you are truly a supreme expert, then control the sky! Ascend and fight me above the ground, where most cannot interfere!"
Down below, Bai Qingyue clung tightly to Lin Yuan’s robes. Even with the protective cushion of his qi, the suffocating pressure of a Core Formation expert bearing down on them from the sky was terrifying.
"Lin Yuan..." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
"Do not fear the barking of a stray dog," Lin Yuan replied softly, his voice a steady anchor.
Lin Yuan slowly looked up, his eyes piercing through the morning light to meet the arrogant gaze of the old man hovering in the sky. He did not bend his knees, nor did he attempt to use a flying sword. He simply stood on the ground, entirely unbothered.
"You are a remarkably foolish creature," Lin Yuan spoke, his voice not loud, yet it carried an unnatural resonance that reached the Uncle Yan. "I gave your young master a lesson in grace, yet you followed me like a rabid beast. I will give you one chance to turn around and fly back to your kennel."
Uncle Yan laughed. "Big words for a man hiding on the dirt!"
"I am merely stating the obvious," Lin Yuan continued. "If you strike first, do not blame me for striking back. You came to me with killing intent, over a matter that does not concern you, unprovoked. When I erase you from this world, the heavens will bear witness: I will be entirely in the right for killing you."
Hovering in the sky, Uncle Yan’s eyes narrowed as he analyzed the situation.
’He speaks of such, yet he remains firmly planted on the ground,’ Uncle Yan mused, a wicked smirk spreading across his face.
In the Nine Provinces, any true Core Formation expert whose pride was challenged would instantly rise into the sky to meet their opponent face-to-face. To remain on the ground while being mocked from above was a supreme loss of face. The only reason a cultivator would refuse to take to the sky was if they physically couldn’t.
’He cannot control the sky!’ Uncle Yan deduced. ’A spatial talisman allowed him to flee, but his true cultivation is exposed! He is below Core Formation! This is all a bluff!’
Everything about this mysterious senior was strange and contradictory to the old man, but his viciousness blinded him to the glaring warning signs. He did not probe further. He did not consider the horrifying alternative that the man below simply didn’t view him as a threat worthy of ascension.
"Keep your warnings for the King of Hell!" Uncle Yan roared, his patience entirely exhausted.
He then raised his right hand high above his head. The dense, gray spiritual qi violently erupted, swirling into a massive palm.
"Die, fraud! Great Shattering Print!"
With a thrust of his arm, Uncle Yan sent the handprint hurtling down, aiming to flatten Lin Yuan, his wife, and the very floor they stood upon.