bookcurios 81. Attack on the official road
81. Attack on the official road
The trip to the Yin Sha Cave took Gao Zhun nearly a month. With less than six and a half years left until the seven-year agreement, she did not return to the Yun family with the Yun family cultivators after leaving the Yin Sha Cave. Instead, she continued to do her own mission.
Of course, it is worth mentioning that during the final work at the Yin Sha Cave, they indeed discovered many corpses of cultivators that should not have been there. These were people who had secretly sneaked into the cave after breaking through the formation and restrictions. At that time, everyone was in the main chamber fighting wits and courage with the Yin corpses, so naturally no one noticed and they were unable to escape to rescue them. Thus, these people died because of their own greed.
Meanwhile, Gao Zhun and Ah Zhong also discovered an unexpected item in the storage ring left behind by a corpse.
At this moment, Gao Zhun and A Zhong were walking on an ordinary official road. Gao Zhun did not forget to set up a barrier around herself and A Zhong while speaking. She asked again and again, "A Zhong, are you sure you didn't mistake that token?"
Gao Zhun had asked this question countless times along the way, but Ah Zhong's answer showed no impatience. After all, he also knew that this matter was of great importance, so he replied in a deep voice: "Master, that token is indeed exactly the same as the one worn by the masked cultivators I saw in the dungeon. It can be seen that the deceased cultivator must have been a member of that organization."
Although Gao Zhun had heard Ah Zhong's answer so many times she was almost sick of it, she still couldn't help but sigh when she heard it again. Ever since she learned about Ah Zhong's imprisonment for thirty years, she had wanted to find out more about that organization. If possible, it would be good to destroy it. But she never expected the opportunity to come so quickly.
Although Gao Zhun's current cultivation level is not enough for her to do such a risky thing, it has given her and Ah Zhong a glimmer of hope. As long as their cultivation level increases, there will be a day when they can use that token, right?
Just as Gao Zhun was pondering what else to say to Ah Zhong, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. It seemed as if someone was spying on her nearby. If she hadn't been discussing confidential matters with Ah Zhong, and her vigilance towards the outside world hadn't been at its highest, she wouldn't have noticed this faint presence.
The fact that she could remain undetected by her own divine sense at such close range, and even deceive her eyes, made the words "Concealing Breath Technique" instantly appear in Gao Zhun's mind.
The so-called Breath Concealment Technique, as its name suggests, is a spell that can conceal a cultivator's aura and assimilate with the surroundings. It is most often used by cultivators for tracking and assassination.
The faint aura that Gao Zhun sensed showed no signs of moving, and the slight fluctuation seemed to have only appeared when the person saw him and issued the order. All signs indicated that the person in the shadows was not following him. Recalling what Mo Nishang had said to him in Yongcheng, Gao Zhun felt a pang of unease. How could she have been so reckless as to go out on a mission? Didn't she know perfectly well that someone from the Gao family was lurking in the shadows, eyeing her life?
Despite her thoughts, Gao Zhun did not act rashly. She had not forgotten that, according to Mo Nishang, the mission issued by the mysterious person in the Demon Palace had even attracted a demon with strength equivalent to the Mahayana stage. This demon risked great danger to infiltrate the outer courtyard of the Gao family and used the Soul-Devouring Incense to annihilate the soul of the original owner of this body. This showed that the person hiding in the shadows was definitely not simple and was far beyond what she and A Zhong, who were only at the early Nascent Soul stage, could handle.
Although Gao Zhun quickly regained his composure after a brief moment of unease, Ah Zhong still noticed it. The reason was simple: as a servant, he had been observing his master closely, and no change in Gao Zhun's expression escaped his notice. Of course, the most important factor was the unspoken understanding developed between them through their many battles together. It was this understanding that allowed him to instantly perceive the subtle unease that emanated from Gao Zhun's unusual behavior.
Ah Zhong said nothing, his expression remained unchanged, but his divine sense was focused on his halberd and storage ring, ready to engage in battle at any moment.
Almost at the same time that Ah Zhong was ready, a beam of golden light shot toward Gao Zhun at near the speed of light. Ah Zhong was horrified and tried to intercept it, but he was no match for the speed of the golden light. His halberd strike missed its mark, and he could only watch helplessly as the golden light streaked past not far in front of his halberd head and flew straight toward Gao Zhun's heart.
"There's no time to dodge." That was Gao Zhun's first thought, but his second thought changed: "Why should I dodge?"
After thinking it over, Gao Zhun revealed a sly smile. The true essence in her body circulated wildly, surging out from her dantian and meridians, nourishing her body cells. At the same time, her special Purple Night Thunder Spirit Body was fully activated, and a layer of light purple lightning shield protected her body completely.
Just as the lightning shield rose around Gao Zhun, the golden light pierced her heart. The expected blood splattering did not occur. The golden light lost its effect upon colliding with the lightning shield around Gao Zhun. Its super-speed, which was almost comparable to the speed of light, instantly dropped to zero. With a ding, it fell limply to the ground.
Gao Zhun glanced coldly at the Blood Transformation Golden Dart lying on the ground. The person who ambushed her from the shadows was actually an assassin from the Blood Transformation Pavilion. Here, she didn't need to worry about insufficient spiritual energy. With her full power activated, the lightning shield was like a thick tortoise shell she had put on herself. If the other party wanted her life, they would have to break her lightning shield first.
Seeing that her prized secret technique couldn't even break through the opponent's protective spiritual shield, the assassin from the Blood Transformation Pavilion couldn't help but exclaim, "Eh!" Gao Zhun quickly determined the assassin's location based on this sound. With her mind at ease, the Azure Light Sword quietly appeared above her head. Although the flying sword controlled by Gao Zhun's divine sense wasn't as fast as the opponent's Blood Transformation Divine Dart, it still pierced through the air with lightning speed, quickly forcing the assassin to reveal himself.
"I have no grudge against the Blood Transformation Pavilion, so why did you ambush me here and try to kill me?" Gao Zhun knew that the Blood Transformation Pavilion specialized in taking on missions and engaging in shady dealings, but he still asked the question, instantly establishing a 'fool' image in the other party's mind.
The assassin remained silent, but the only response to his silence was the roar of a halberd. Startled, the assassin realized that the weapon wielded by Gao Zhun's servant, who was also at the early Nascent Soul stage, was a celestial artifact. This enraged him, who had always risked his life to obtain even a small amount of cultivation resources. Fueled by the anger from his failed sneak attack and being forced to reveal himself by Gao Zhun, he flew towards Gao Zhun like a large bird. The pressure emanating from the assassin's flying body nearly caused Gao Zhun and Ah Zhong to lose their footing. This assassin was actually a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, just one step away from advancing to the Divine Transformation stage.
Although the mysterious person's actions this time were for some reason smaller—compared to the previous attack by the Mahayana stage demons—Gao Zhun and A Zhong still faced immense pressure.
Logically speaking, with their numerous immortal artifacts and perfect teamwork, Gao Zhun and A Zhong shouldn't have been overwhelmed by a mere late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. After all, they had once joined forces to kill a demon beast equivalent to a human at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm in their family's secret realm. Moreover, it was a common understanding in the cultivation world that demon beasts were much stronger than human cultivators of the same level. However, the person they were facing now was not an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, but a well-trained assassin from the Blood Transformation Pavilion.
As an assassin, that person possessed the richest combat experience and a plethora of killing methods. While demonic beasts, no matter how powerful, were limited by their intelligence and singular attack methods before they could transform into human form, their advantage diminished when facing a powerful opponent like Gao Zhun, who carried a tortoise shell. However, the assassin was a genuine human cultivator, someone who had honed their skills through countless battles with their prey.
They are ruthless and decisive, and the assassins of the Blood Transformation Pavilion even have a rule: complete the mission or die. That is to say, if an assassin fails to take Gao Zhun's head, then the upper echelons of the Blood Transformation Pavilion will take his head. And it is precisely this cruel rule that has allowed the Blood Transformation Pavilion to rise unexpectedly in the Immortal Spirit Continent, which is almost entirely divided between inherited families and super-grade sects. In just a million years, the scale of their wars has been so great that even some of the lowest-ranking super-grade sects and inherited families have become wary of them.
It seems that the person who wanted to kill her really went to great lengths. When encountering the assassins of the Blood Transformation Pavilion, basically only one side can survive. However, Gao Zhun had no intention of killing the person who wanted to take her life. Rather, no matter how much malice others showed towards her, she never thought of killing them, even the mysterious Gao family member who had tried to kill her time and time again.
After the Blood-Transforming Divine Dart failed, the man did not launch a second attack, but instead took out a sword from his storage ring.
Ah Zhong was somewhat surprised to see this. An assassin actually used a sword? However, he keenly noticed that when the man's sword was revealed, sparks flew between Gao Zhun, who was also a swordsman, and the assassin. This was a duel between two swordsmen!
Although worried and knowing Gao Zhun's chances of winning were slim, Ah Zhong, at Gao Zhun's signal, sheathed his halberd and stood aside, coldly watching the Blood Transformation Pavilion assassin. It seemed that if the situation turned even slightly wrong, he would not stand idly by. (166 Reading Network)