Chapter 1809

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　　”Sister Quyin…”
　　A late-stage Heaven-reaching Realm expert said with a grim expression, “They’re all dead.”
　　Yun Quyin’s gaze turned cold and sharp as she said, “Can you tell whose handiwork this is？ Yun Zhan was at least at the mid-stage of the Star-Plucking Realm. Even a peak-stage Star-Plucking Realm expert couldn’t have killed him so quickly… and without a sound.”
　　The late-stage realm man then added, “It must have been a sneak attack, executed with extreme speed. There are also traces of a formation here, likely used to conceal the battle’s aura, which is why we didn’t sense it.”
　　Hearing this, Yun Quyin’s eyes turned cold and sharp.
　　”Who　was　it？”
　　”Someone from the Profound Heaven Mansion？”
　　After a moment of thought, Yun Quyin said, “Send someone immediately to inform Yun Quyan, Xing Hanwen, and Nangong Shang. There might be Profound Heaven Mansion members still lurking here, killing our people… or perhaps… someone is tailing us.”
　　”Tailing us？”
　　”Sister Quyin, who could follow us without being detected？” One person found it unlikely to be tailing, suspecting it was more probably a Profound Heaven Mansion expert left behind as a rearguard.
　　Yun Quyin then said, “Earlier, the blood-corpse puppets left by Yun Quyan were killed. Among them, the puppet made from Lin Yunjin after her death had at least late-stage Star-Plucking Realm strength, yet it was also slain. It”s highly likely the work of a peak-stage Star-Plucking Realm expert… or even several…”
　　”Peak-stage　Star-Plucking　Realm？”
　　In the entire Tianyuan Continent, the total number of Star-Plucking Realm martial artists might barely exceed a thousand.
　　As for those who have reached the peak level, apart from a very few rogue cultivation experts, most are high-ranking figures within top-tier forces.
　　Who could it be？
　　”It could be anyone！”
　　Yun Quyin immediately said, “We’re being watched. This isn’t good. Notify them at once and see what they think.”
　　”Understood！”
　　Yun Quyin looked at the corpses on the ground—each one had been slain by a sword.
　　”A skilled swordsman…” Yun Quyin said indifferently. “The Heavenly Dao Palace, Qingyang Hall, and Profound Heaven Mansion all have such experts. Who could it be…”
　　Soon, Yun Quyin’s subordinates collected the corpses properly and left the area.
　　A hundred yards away, in a second-floor room of a tavern at a street corner, Ye Wushuang, Huang Yu, and Zhou Yuan gathered.
　　”That was so satisfying.”
　　Huang Yu chuckled. “Now, seven are dead—five at the Arrogant Myriad Realm and two at the Star Transformation Realm, one of them mid-stage. Feeling better now, Brother Ye？”
　　”This is far from enough！”
　　Ye Wushuang watched Yun Quyin’s group depart and then said, “Let’s go too. Leave this area and find squads from the Spirit Sword Pavilion and the Nangong family.”
　　”Agreed.”
　　The three of them left together.
　　And so…
　　In less than half an hour, within the four major teams, squads were successively wiped out, dying in various districts of the ancient city.
　　Soon, Xing Hanwen, Nangong Shang, Yun Quyan, and Yun Quyin gathered together.
　　Originally, the team had about 150 people, but now, only a little over 120 were gathered.
　　Over thirty had died.
　　”Who　did　this？”
　　Nangong Shang angrily cursed, “At least someone at the peak of the Stellar Transformation realm, sneaking around like this is disgusting.”
　　No wonder Nangong Shang was the most furious—about four or five squads had been wiped out, including two eight-member squads from the Nangong family, making his losses the greatest.
　　It must be noted that these two squads had four early-stage Stellar Transformation experts, with the rest all at the Delusional Realm.
　　Such losses were hard not to feel painful.
　　Yun Quyin then said, “Initially, the squad I discovered that was wiped out clearly had skilled swordsmen. Later, when examining other squads, some were killed by fist techniques, others by palm strikes. Moreover, the person behind this is proficient in formations, setting up illusion arrays that made even the fiercest battles inside appear unchanged from the outside, preventing us from noticing immediately.”
　　Xing Hanwen frowned and said, “If the opponent came openly, I wouldn”t be afraid. But these underhanded tactics are just vile.”
　　”Here’s what we’ll do.”
　　Xing Hanwen looked at the three of them and said, “From now on, let’s not separate. I’ve seen that searching this small half of the ancient city has yielded almost nothing unusual. The people from Xuantian Mansion must have scoured it clean. Let’s head toward the mountain range behind the ancient city and take a look.”
　　”Mm.”
　　”Okay.”
　　And so, the grand procession of over a hundred and twenty people, arranged in an orderly staggered formation, moved along the main road of the ancient city toward the mountain range behind the town.
　　Five miles behind the large group.
　　Ye Wushuang, Huang Yu, and Zhou Yuan stood atop a tall tower, watching the group depart.
　　”Heh, they’re running away！”
　　Huang Yu chuckled, “We only killed thirty-something of them. Not satisfying enough.”
　　Ye Wushuang gripped the Holy Heaven Sword tightly and said calmly, “No rush. There will be more opportunities later.”
　　Seeing Ye Wushuang’s expression, Huang Yu understood.
　　This guy must be thinking of keeping all these people here permanently.
　　However, among them was Xing Hanwen, a Great Perfection expert of the Stellar Transformation Realm, and Nan Gongshang, a Perfection expert of the same realm.
　　Huang Yu knew that Ye Wushuang could even kill ordinary peak-level Stellar Transformation Realm experts.
　　But facing Perfection and Great Perfection-level opponents? That was hard to say.
　　And there was more than one of them.
　　So, the three of them followed the large group led by Xing Hanwen and others, heading all the way toward the rear of the ancient city.
　　Soon, a team of over a hundred people appeared in front of the mountain range. After a brief probe, they proceeded into the forested mountains.
　　Along the way, things remained peaceful.
　　Until they reached the depths of the mountains.
　　Ahead, seven towering mountains stood out prominently in sight.
　　These seven mountains were actually relatively shorter compared to the surrounding peaks, each falling just short of a thousand zhang in height.
　　Moreover, at the waist and summits of these seven mountains stood some extremely ancient structures—towers and tall buildings—all appearing heavily dilapidated.
　　Xing Hanwen raised an eyebrow, and the group came to a halt at that moment.
　　”I’ll take some people to check it out！”
　　Nan Gongshang spoke up, selecting a few skilled individuals to climb one of the mountains.
　　After about a quarter of an hour.
　　Atop the central mountain.
　　Boom…
　　A deafening explosion suddenly rang out, followed by Nan Gongshang and the others retreating mid-air, their gazes fixed on the mountaintop.
　　”People from the Xuantian Mansion are here！” Nan Gongshang shouted.
　　Soon, several figures emerged from the summit of the central mountain, stepping into the air.
　　At the forefront was a woman, heroic and spirited, with a hint of charm between her brows and eyes, her gaze cold and sharp as she looked at Nangong Shang and the others, then turned her eyes to Xing Hanwen, Yun Quyin, and the rest before the mountain.
　　”Xuan Qingyi！！！”
　　Xing Hanwen’s voice rang out.
　　Xuan Qingyi’s gaze turned cold as she said sharply, “Xing Hanwen, you really are like lingering ghosts.”
　　The two sides faced off, and the atmosphere immediately grew tense.
　　Soon after, from the peaks of other mountains, one after another, Xuantian Mansion warriors emerged—ranging from the Reckless Realm to the Stellar Transformation Realm—totaling around forty to fifty people.
　　”Xuan Tianyi！”
　　”Muge！”
　　Xing Hanwen’s voice was icy as he said, “We’ve finally caught you.”