"Yan Xiangxue!"
Shi Mo's pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks. "Impossible!"
Her appearance caught him completely off guard.
Even though she had survived past the one-month mark and had returned to the White Qiang alongside Wang Yu, Shi Mo had still found that development acceptable.
His White Bone palm force was insidious and lethal, but Yan Xiangxue was an established Xiantian Grandmaster after all. She had even traveled to Mount Tianshan seeking aid. Prolonging her life with rare medicinal herbs or an expert's support was not entirely out of the question, provided she never channeled her internal energy and focused entirely on recuperation.
That was why, when infiltrating the White Qiang Royal Court, he had dispatched Zhaixingzi and Zhuixingzi to assassinate Zhao Yu while he lingered near the White Qiang royal tent waiting for an opening. He had never factored Yan Xiangxue into his calculations as a variable.
Even if she lived, she should have been completely incapable of fighting.
Yet her sudden entrance shattered everything Shi Mo believed to be true.
How could she have possibly recovered? Even if Ye Tianlin had intervened, his internal energy was also of the icy type—he could never have isolated Shi Mo's White Bone palm force from her own Glacial True Qi!
A wave of extreme, bone-chilling cold rolled over the area, colder even than the swirling snow raised by Gu Nanfeng. It felt as though heaven and earth had frozen into a realm of pure ice.
Zhao Rong bared his teeth. Even though Yan Xiangxue deliberately kept her aura from targeting him, his Flowing Fire True Qi was still forced back into his body, flaring in an instinctive defensive reaction against the intense, permeating frost.
*Swish!*
Yan Xiangxue swept forward like a phantom, swinging her crutch down straight at Shi Mo's head.
She might look like an old crone on the surface, but her strikes were ferocious and overbearing. The fine iron crutch moved with deceptive lightness, appearing as weightless as a wooden staff, yet it whipped up a shrill, piercing gale that shook the soul.
Shi Mo dared not take it head-on. Ducking low, he slipped aside. His White Bone Claws lashed out left and right, first deflecting Zhao Rong's saber, then parrying Gu Nanfeng's sword, before his body dissolved into an afterimage as he attempted to break away from the fray.
Just then, a flash of sword light blazed before his eyes, as though a second sun had risen in the sky.
Golden-red and brilliant, the radiant glow carried a melancholy desolation that dazzled the sight. The moment Shi Mo glimpsed the gleam, the tip was already about to pierce his eye.
Shi Mo's gaze sharpened. Raising a claw diagonally, the little finger of his skeletal claw tapped with pinpoint precision against the sword tip.
*Clang!*
Wang Yu spun backward through the air, his wrist trembling rapidly to dispel the White Bone force surging along the blade.
Yet that brief delay was all Yan Xiangxue, Gu Nanfeng, and Zhao Rong needed to close in, forming a triangular encirclement that trapped Shi Mo at the center.
"Little whelp!" Shi Mo roared in fury, though a flicker of disbelief showed in his eyes.
Wang Yu had actually stepped into Xiantian?
Wasn't he just a useless second-generation dandy squandering his life in the capital?
"Greetings, Senior Gu!" Wang Yu ignored Shi Mo for the moment and greeted Gu Nanfeng first.
To be frank, he had not expected Zhao Rong to bring members of the Tianshan Sect along, let alone four Xiantian experts: Gu Nanfeng, Yang Weiming, Feng Rigan, and Xin Yilong.
Apart from their Grandmaster, the sect had practically mobilized its entire elite force.
In his original plan, the enemy's experts had been Shi Mo, Qubi Amu, Zhaixingzi, and Zhuixingzi, while their side had Yan Xiangxue, Gulanrena, Zhao Rong, and himself.
Grandmaster against Grandmaster, Xiantian against Xiantian. Backed by their vast army and other skilled fighters, as long as they trapped the enemy in the midst of the ranks, they could slowly grind them down to death.
Yet events were unfolding far more smoothly than his most optimistic estimates.
The unknown Xiongnu envoy was gone, four powerful allies had arrived on their side, and Shi Mo's quartet had plunged right into the heart of their army. The advantage was so overwhelming that Wang Yu could not fathom how they could possibly lose!
His mood was naturally splendid. He had already begun taunting before even arriving, and the moment he showed up, he immediately made sure to greet Gu Nanfeng.
Seeing Wang Yu hold Shi Mo back, Gu Nanfeng looked at him with undisguised admiration. "Your Highness possesses extraordinary talent! Splendid, truly splendid!"
"Senior overpraises me. It was merely good luck that allowed me to break through," Wang Yu replied modestly from the perimeter. Then he turned toward Shi Mo. "Greetings, Senior Shi. Last year in the Western Regions, you blocked my path and cordially invited this prince to visit the Black Qiang Royal Court as your guest.
"At the time, this prince had urgent matters to attend to and had no choice but to decline. Little did I expect that between this spring and summer, Senior would extend such an earnest invitation once again. If this prince were to refuse you a second time, it would truly be ungrateful of me.
"And so, this prince has come. Senior, do not be in such a hurry to leave. Let us have a thorough talk this time—about the future development of the Black Qiang, and about the happy lives the Black Qiang people will lead from now on."
Shi Mo's eyes flared with rage, nearly bursting from fury at Wang Yu's mocking words.
"Didn't Senior strongly advocate for the unification of the two Qiang branches? This prince gave it some thought and found it makes complete sense," Wang Yu drove the dagger in deeper. "Therefore, I have decided to honor Senior's dying wish and bring about the reunion of the Black and White Qiang once more."
Wang Yu was already treating Shi Mo as a dead man.
Qubi Amu stood nearby, and upon hearing this, he barked furiously, "My master isn't dead yet!"
Yet Shi Mo suddenly quieted his anger instead. His paired White Bone Claws pecked, locked, hooked, and thrust, maneuvering through the combined assault of Yan Xiangxue, Gu Nanfeng, and Zhao Rong. Relying on his elusive footwork and unpredictable maneuvers, he barely held his ground.
Wang Yu's eye twitched. Recognizing the pattern of Shi Mo's footwork, he instantly guessed the man's intention, quickly retreating while calling out to Yan Xiangxue and the others.
"Be careful, seniors! I leave Shi Mo to you. He won't be escaping this time; the army alone can wear him down to death. Please prioritize your own safety!"
The next instant, Shi Mo let out a harsh cry. Channeling his internal energy to shield himself, he braced to take a saber slash from Zhao Rong across his back, slipped past Gu Nanfeng's flank with a burst of speed that left afterimages in his wake, bypassed Yan Xiangxue by a zhang in two strides, and lunged straight for Wang Yu.
Even if he were to die, Shi Mo was determined to drag Wang Yu down with him. He had cast aside his desire to kill Yan Xiangxue solely to ensure he could take Wang Yu to the underworld.
This time, however, the three experts were on high alert. Gu Nanfeng possessed the greatest lightness skill; with a swift twist and flash of his body, his sword shot diagonally toward Shi Mo's ribs, while Yan Xiangxue's fine iron crutch swept toward his legs.
If Shi Mo tried to force his way forward, he would suffer far more than a single saber slash. Before he could even reach Wang Yu, he would be completely crippled.
Shi Mo was forced to halt. Zhao Rong caught up immediately, and the three of them hemmed him in once more.
Shi Mo had resolved to fight to the death, but Zhaixingzi and Zhuixingzi had no wish to die.
Years ago, Zhao Zheng had severed their limbs. Even though Zhao Zheng had suffered grave injuries in that clash, killing them would still have been effortless. Yet once Zhao Zheng swore an oath to spare their lives, they surrendered *All Streams Returning to the Source* just to survive.
If they had not possessed the courage to die back then, they were even less willing to throw their lives away for the Black Qiang now.
Seeing the overwhelming number of enemy experts and the arrival of Yan Xiangxue, the two realized their cause was lost. With sharp cries, they forced Yang Weiming and Feng Rigan back for a brief moment and darted away in rapid retreat.
Yang Weiming and Feng Rigan thrust out their swords in unison to intercept them.
Yet while Tianshan's lightness skills were formidable, the Star-Chasing Steps of the Constellation lineage were no less agile. Leaping into the air together, the two made to break out of the battle formation.
Right at that moment, Gulanrena arrived.
*Swish, swish, swish—!*
Her scimitar whistled through the air, weaving a flurry of blade shadows like driving snow, carrying a chilling aura of frozen expanse that blocked the slightly slower Zhuixingzi.
*Clang!*
Zhuixingzi parried Gulanrena aside, only for Yang Weiming and Feng Rigan to bar his path once more.
When he glanced up again, he saw that Zhaixingzi had not looked back even once. Stepping off the shoulders of several Zhenxi soldiers, he had already vaulted clear of the army lines.
"Senior Brother!" Zhuixingzi called out, his heart sinking like a stone.
"Don't worry. Go on down and wait for him—I'll send your senior brother to join you shortly!"
A voice suddenly reached Zhuixingzi's ears, and a silhouette zipped past him like the wind, chasing directly after Zhaixingzi.
"Senior Yang, Senior Feng, I'll trouble you two to ensure they all go down together in good order!"
By the time Wang Yu's final word drifted back, he was already far in the distance.
"What marvelous lightness skill!" Feng Rigan praised.
"Indeed, remarkable!" Yang Weiming nodded, then turned to Gulanrena. "The two of us are enough here. Go assist Prince Zhao!"
"Understood!" Gulanrena did not waste time with pleasantries, wheeling around to pursue Wang Yu.
Just as she cleared the central army, she saw Ardai riding toward her. Seeing Wang Yu chase Zhaixingzi past the ranks, Ardai was preparing to spur her horse to follow.
Gulanrena leapt forward and blocked Ardai's path. "That is a fight between Xiantian experts. Don't go getting in the way!"
"Oh!" Ardai obeyed meekly, then instantly surrendered her mount to Gulanrena. "Then Senior Sister, go quickly! Zhaixingzi is very formidable—don't let Big Brother Zhao get hurt!"
Gulanrena swung into the saddle, reached out to tap Ardai's forehead, and teased with a laugh, "Found yourself a sweetheart and completely forgot your senior sister, have you?"
Ardai's cheeks flushed slightly as she added, "Be careful too, Senior Sister!"
Gulanrena laughed aloud. Watching Zhaixingzi knock a cavalryman off his mount and flee on horseback, with Wang Yu spurring his horse right behind, she hesitated no longer. Raising her crop, she urged her mount forward. "*Hya!*"
Leaving aside Shi Mo, Qubi Amu, and Zhuixingzi trapped within the ranks of the Zhenxi Army, and leaving aside Gulanrena pursuing Wang Yu and Zhaixingzi as the three riders veered away from the battlefield toward the north—
Meanwhile, the Black Qiang King, Yuan Dingle, was directing the main battle. He had watched Shi Mo's quartet lead a detachment of cavalry plunge into the Zhenxi central army, and had been waiting with high hopes for chaos to erupt in the enemy's core.
Yet he waited and waited, but nothing came. All he could see was the Zhenxi signal cart, where the flagbearers waved red and black banners in endless, shifting patterns.
The thirty-thousand-strong Zhenxi Army adjusted its deployment, gradually assuming a half-moon formation that enveloped the Black Qiang forces.
To the rear of the Black Qiang, White Qiang cavalry and three thousand Chengyuan troops surged in like a tide. The Black Qiang horsemen charged left and right but failed to break the encirclement, and more and more warriors dismounted to surrender.
Yuan Dingle's hand shook around his whip. He glanced at his son, Yuan Nahe, and then at Shi Mo's third disciple, Li Fengyi, who was assigned to guard him personally.
"Why hasn't Master Shi succeeded yet? Why hasn't their army fallen into chaos?" Yuan Dingle gritted his teeth, turning to Li Fengyi. "How about you take men to reinforce Master Shi?"
Li Fengyi gave no answer, his face dark, his gaze shifting erratically.
Yuan Nahe felt as though enemies surrounded them on all sides and could not help blurting out, "Father, let us flee!"
Yuan Dingle's heart skipped a beat. Turning around, he saw fear written across the eyes of his personal guards.
Ahead, the Zhenxi central army remained completely unshaken; behind, two detachments of White Qiang cavalry led by Asuli and Huona were closing in fast. Yuan Dingle finally broke, wrenching his horse toward the northeast.
"Retreat!"
Chapter 125