The vast sky grew clearer, and rays of golden light shone down, illuminating the riverbank.
But the great river remained eerily still. The sunlight, upon touching the water’s surface, seemed to melt into viscous ink, failing to raise the slightest ripple.
"Still haven’t recovered?"
Gu Nanzhi sat in the dense forest, her gaze sweeping past the corpse of the Mountain-Smashing Dragon beside her to the slender young man on the bank.
Her eyes rested on Lin Shu’s handsome profile.
After an entire night, his complexion hadn’t improved. In fact, he looked even paler and more pained than when he had started.
’That tyrannical Secret Technique... to think the price is so steep!’
Gu Nanzhi opened a medicine box and gently touched the vibrant Dragon Bone Plum with her fingertip. A sudden thought surfaced in her mind.
’Lin Shu’s Master is probably even more cold-hearted than I imagined.’
’To push someone into this state for a mere trial.’
’If he’s being treated this way, what right do I have to let my guard down?’
"Sigh."
She exhaled softly.
Too much time had passed. It was already dawn. If even one member of the Black Water Gang returned to North City, they would discover that something was wrong at Chenlong Hall.
If the two of them, both in such a wretched state, were cornered outside North City by the remaining two "Dragons," they would be finished.
At this thought, she dismissed the idea of taking the Dragon Bone Plum back to be refined into a pill.
A wisp of Sword Qi appeared at her fingertip. She planned to extract the medicinal liquid to first suppress the chaotic energy within her.
Just then, a piercing golden light suddenly burst into her vision.
A rich, golden radiance soared into the sky.
It was as if another scorching sun had appeared in the heavens!
A nine-foot-wide ball of fire shot over from the distance, hanging high above the riverbank. Its brilliance formed a curtain of light that swiftly swept across the land.
Even Gu Nanzhi, hidden in the dense forest, found her body speckled with motes of golden light.
Her expression changed drastically, and she shot to her feet.
"The Golden Sun Demon-Subduing Talisman?!"
The appearance of the Dragon Bone Plum was strange enough, but now this Immortal Talisman floating in the sky finally shattered the last sliver of hope in Gu Nanzhi’s heart.
The Immortal Descendant who wanted to devour Black Water City hadn’t just trapped this place and left it alone.
Instead, they had left behind a pair of eyes, watching her and the others at all times!
HISS HISS.
The Black Mist spread like fine veins across the County Captain’s fair neck.
This was the sign of a backlash from forcefully mobilizing her Spiritual Power again, but she had no time to worry about that now.
The Golden Sun in the sky was a talisman used to seek out Demon Fiends.
The golden glow staining her body was like a conspicuous marker.
As long as she was within the range of this Immortal Talisman, there was nowhere to hide. The only path left was to fight back with all her might!
At that moment, the sound of two sets of footsteps grew clearer.
"Interesting."
Cheng Yi formed a seal with one hand, all traces of his usual yawning fatigue gone.
His face was impassive, but the slight twitch of his brow revealed the nearly crazed killing intent in his heart.
’Hmph. Someone actually dared to covet the Magical Artifact in the river.’
’Master ordered me not to interfere in the city’s affairs easily. He wants to refine the purest aura of despair and hostility to help this Top Grade Magical Artifact gain sentience.’
’But there is one exception.’
’If someone dares to covet this treasure.’
"Hooo."
Cheng Yi’s pace was slow, as if he had cast off the shackles that bound him.
He was no longer satisfied with the shock his revealed identity caused.
Now, at last, he had the chance to let this group of lowly Loose Cultivators glimpse the true techniques of an Immortal Sect Disciple.
"Gu Nanzhi?"
The Sea-Covering Dragon followed the golden light and quickly spotted the beautiful woman in the dense forest.
She stared at the fine veins of Black Mist on the other woman’s neck; she had clearly just been through a brutal Magical Combat.
Then her gaze shifted to the half-open square box in the woman’s hands.
The Sea-Covering Dragon’s body suddenly began to tremble.
"Husband!!"
She let out a mournful shriek.
The two of them had been partners since they were young, adventuring together, learning their skills together, and then joining forces to establish the Black Water Gang.
To ensure the Mountain-Smashing Dragon could secure his position, she had not hesitated to give herself to Cheng Yi.
But now, her husband had actually been murdered by this County Captain!
Gu Nanzhi’s red lips were pressed tightly together, but a trickle of dark blood still seeped from the corner of her mouth.
Fortunately, she managed to mobilize her chaotic Spiritual Power.
Fighting the Mountain-Smashing Dragon alone had already been incredibly difficult; she hadn’t even managed to take him down with a sneak attack.
In her current depleted state, the chances of stopping two Foundation Establishment Cultivators—one of whom even wielded Immortal Techniques—were so slim as to be hopeless.
In her panic, Gu Nanzhi looked toward the riverbank again.
She saw that the young man seemed not to have noticed anything amiss. His eyes were tightly shut, still in a state of focused recovery.
’If this young man can still unleash the power he showed last night...’
’...if I risk my life and we team up, we might have a chance to break through their encirclement, get a message back to the County Yamen, and summon the two Tributors for help.’
’But in this situation now... it’s over!’
’The Immortal Descendant will definitely protect Lin Shu, but will they protect me as well?’
She recalled the cold indifference ’It’ had shown when arranging this trial.
Gu Nanzhi’s confidence slowly crumbled.
An expression of ferocious, do-or-die determination appeared on her face.
Their eyes met.
The killing intent of the two women clashed invisibly, only to be suddenly overwhelmed by an even colder, more menacing aura.
One had lost her husband, the other was trapped in a desperate situation, but their intense emotions couldn’t compare to the sudden, explosive rage of the remaining person.
"Why... is it you?"
The Golden Sun Demon-Subduing Talisman had only located two people.
Cheng Yi stopped in his tracks and looked at the figure sitting cross-legged on the riverbank, their back to him.
He had, indeed, admired the other’s greed and arrogance.
That was because the man’s perspective was too narrow; he posed no threat to Cheng Yi and was even helpful in carrying out his Master’s Immortal Order.
But that didn’t mean the man could abuse his favor and do whatever he pleased!

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