“How’s that possible? She only left two hours ago…”

The words were barely out of his mouth when a low whump rumbled out from the distant dark. The shockwave hit a moment later, rattling the snow on the ground. Li Xun’s next words died in his throat.

Li Xun looked up, his eyes locking straight onto the darkness ahead.

Frostwind Valley was one of the guest manors of Yemo Heaven. A place of high status. Despite sitting on a frozen plain that was blasted by icy winds all year round, the deep valley's natural layout and a thermal hot spring worked together to shut out the cold. They'd even managed to cultivate stunning, exotic flowers and plants there, making the place a vibrant, bursting-with-life oasis.

The last three times Li Xun had “visited” Yemo Heaven, he’d stayed at Frostwind Valley. There, the fine wine flowed freely, the beauties never left his side, and there was always an endless supply of rare elixirs and magical items.

But this time, that calm was nowhere to be found. His chest felt weighed down, as if a heavy scale stone were pressing against it.

Li Xun had rushed onto the scene just in time to see the proud figure of Mistress Tianzhi stepping into the valley over the corpses of dozens of rogue cultivators and demons

Alarms blared through Frostwind Valley, wave after wave of sharp whistles cutting through the thick darkness and echoing endlessly. But even so, the relentless roar of explosions and the screams of the wounded still dominated the scene.

If Li Xun hadn’t understood before why Mistress Tianzhi had so easily decided to relocate her entire sect, he at least understood one thing now: she had completely lost it.

Even if Zhong Yin himself returned to the world, facing the might of Yemo Heaven -- with its five True One grandmasters, dozens of True Person experts, and tens of thousands of rogue cultivators and demons -- he would have to think carefully about the consequences before making a move. So what did Tianzhi think she was relying on?

“Of course it all comes down to cultivation,” Yin Wanderer said calmly. “Judging from the level of that Aurora Primordial Magnetism just now, Tianzhi’s ‘Aurora Thousand Transformations’ technique has clearly reached perfection. The way she shifts between real and illusory, light and dark. Maybe her force of presence can’t quite match the Immeasurable Heaven Sect’s ‘Nine-Ren Celestial Balance,’ but she’s just as skilled at turning weakness into strength and winning with less against more. If you don’t know how to deal with it, even a dozen True Person–level cultivators attacking together would be no different from one.”

Another piercing cry echoed through the valley, as if to prove her words. No one could tell which unlucky soul had just been struck down by Tianzhi, but the scream quickly faded into the distance.

More sword-lights and figures were gathering toward the spot. Narrowing his eyes, Li Xun looked at the sky above Frostwind Valley, where more and more rogue cultivators and demons were converging. Though they were miles away, he could see every face as if they were right in front of him. Some bewildered, some astonished, others gripped by fear.

He drew in a deep breath and made up his mind in an instant.

He leapt into the air and slipped perfectly through a gap left by a passing a sword-light. Moving seamlessly, he fell in behind several cultivators, blending into the crowd of rogue cultivators before anyone noticed a thing.

Li Xun didn’t call out to Yin Wanderer. He knew that, at a time like this, her own judgment was far more reliable than any order he could give.

Hovering above Frostwind Valley, he looked down to see the crescent-shaped gorge filled with purple figures of the Guard Division. One after another, they released bursts of true breath, weaving together into a dense net, trying to trap the silver-white figure at the center.

The “net” tightened tentatively, but each time it did, two or three cultivators in front of the silver-white figure were sent flying, unable to get back up. Over and over, no matter what they tried, they couldn’t stop Tianzhi in the slightest.

This was Li Xun’s first time seeing Tianzhi in action. Her moves, like her personality, were clean and direct. Totally no-nonsense.

Unlike most female cultivators, she didn’t care about graceful or elegant movements. In the midst of her attacks, she used everything. Fists, palms, elbows, knees, even open-handed slaps.

It was precisely that simple, straightforward style that kept her tall, slender body brimming with tension and power. At the same time, it made her enemies, and even the onlookers around her, feel her single, undeniable purpose:

To move forward.

Another sharp slap cracked through the air. The cultivator blocking her path spun backward and crashed to the ground, limbs twitching, too dazed to get up.

He was the last one standing in her way.

Which meant the grand “net” the guardians had painstakingly woven was torn apart. In an instant, the once-orderly formation fell into chaos.

Tianzhi took a single step forward, her body slicing ahead. Just a hundred feet before her lay the long passage leading to the Heart Garden.

Li Xun remembered his so-called senior sister once mentioning that this passage had a name... the Thousand Turns Gate.

They called it passageway, but really, it's a kind of void zone. A blank stretch of space born from the unique flow of Yama Heaven’s primordial qi.

All around this passage stretched a desolate wasteland, where violent primordial qi of Heaven and Earth ran rampant. The air wasn’t filled with snow or ice, but with a deadly heart-freezing poison. A chill that had built up over millions of years in the polar extremes. Only this narrow band, less than ten zhang wide and stretching for nearly ten thousand li long, offered a safe way through, leading straight to the Heart Garden.

The worst part was, the passage didn’t have a fixed path. It shifted constantly with the ebb and flow of primordial qi. Sometimes even changing in length.

The only things that stayed the same were its two endpoints: Frostwind Valley at one end, the Heart Garden at the other. So anyone thinking of memorizing the route or cutting in halfway could forget about it.

In the blink of an eye, she closed the hundred-foot gap. The two cultivator closest to Tianzhi saw her about to step into the Thousand Turns Gate. With cries, they lunged from both flanks to cut her off in a pincer attack.

Tianzhi didn’t even glance back. Her sleeve flicked outward, and both blades were sent flying. The force didn’t fade there; the two cultivators watched in horror as their faces hurtling toward each other. By then, it was far too late to avoid the collision.

There was a dull thud

. Then a sharp crack. Their foreheads collided, blood spraying as they crumpled to the ground, lives uncertain.

What a move!

Li Xun couldn’t help but silently admire her. Every cultivator in this valley was at least at the Transformation of Infant stage. If they really put their lives on the line, leveling mountains and shaking the earth would be nothing to them.

Yet under Tianzhi’s hand, they looked like nothing more than clumsy peasants swinging sticks.

It wasn’t that they weren’t trying. Under the radiant pull of Tianzhi’s Aurora Primordial Magnetism, their true breath couldn’t flow properly at all. The moment they got close, their techniques fell apart, leaving them helpless before her. How could they hope to survive that?

By now, no one could stop Tianzhi from entering the passage. As she stepped into the Thousand Turns Gate, the rogue cultivators and demons watching from above stirred uneasily. But not a single one dared move to block her. Or even follow.

Li Xun blinked, then remembered: the Thousand Turns Gate led straight to the Heart Garden, the very heart of the Miaohua Sect’s domain. The Rogue Cultivators’ Alliance, though nominally independent, stood apart from that sect. So their hesitation wasn’t cowardice; it was simply that they couldn’t go any farther.

But now, Li Xun found himself in a tight spot.

He’d originally planned to blend in with the crowd, watch the fight, and act when the time was right. From his high vantage point, all he could see toward the Thousand-Fold Gate was a thick, endless white mist. No matter how sharp his eyes were, he couldn’t make out a thing inside.

Worse still, everyone around him was a seasoned cultivator, sharp and suspicious. With Tianzhi gone, their attention was no longer fixed on her. It was only a matter of time before someone recognized him.

Some of the bystanders were already retreating with murmurs of excitement. Li Xun frowned, finally deciding to slip away for now. But just as he started to move, a light tap landed on his shoulder.

“Hey, long time no see!”

Li Xun paused. The voice was so familiar that his mind blanked for a moment. And the conclusion that flashed through his thoughts was almost impossible to believe.

He turned around. And there it was. A face he didn’t recognize, smiling at him with a look he knew all too well.

“Shui… Zhuang… what do you call yourself now?”

“Don’t bother remembering. This face won’t last long anyway.”

Shui Die Lan smiled gently. Right now, she looked like an ordinary female cultivator. So plain it was almost forgettable. If Li Xun hadn’t been familiar with her smile and her tone of voice, he probably wouldn’t have recognized her at all.

But if his memory was right, she should have left Nightless City along with the Heavenly Vigorous Sect after his own retreat.

Then again, if he could make it here, and Mistress Tianzhi could too, it wasn’t surprising that Shui Die Lan could as well. Still… why disguise herself like this?

A thought flashed through Li Xun’s mind. His gaze sharpened, and he lowered his voice. “You’re here changing faces… is it because of Mistress Tianzhi?”

Shui Die Lan didn’t answer, just smiling. But that smile was all the confirmation Li Xun needed.

There was no doubt about it. The most skilled female assassin in the Tongxuan Realm had set her sights on none other than Mistress Tianzhi. That explained a few things that had been puzzling Li Xun.

No wonder Shui Die Lan had been so eager to “accidentally” witness his conversation with Tianzhi that day. She’d probably been sizing up Tianzhi’s strength, preparing for today’s move.

Catching the thoughtful look on his face, Shui Die Lan shot him a sidelong glance and sneered, “What’s this? Feeling sorry for her?”

Where did that come from? Li Xun couldn’t help but give a wry smile. Still, to be fair, watching a beauty like Tianzhi become someone’s prey would unsettle any man, wouldn’t it?

But he knew better than to let emotion cloud his head. He gave a small shake of it.

“From the look of things, you won’t even get a chance to make a move,” he said quietly. “Once the alliance closes in, even Zhong Yin would have a hard time, let alone Tianzhi. Tell me, who was clever enough to hire you to assassinate a sect master?”

Shui Die Lan pressed her lips together and gave him a sidelong glance. “Oh, I almost forgot to mention,” she said with a bright little smile. “Gu Yin promised me a seat in the Discussions Hall. Of course, that only counts after I kill Tianzhi.”

Li Xun sucked in a sharp breath of cold air and nearly choked on it. His eyes went wide. “Gu—”

He cut himself off halfway through. With so many eyes and ears around, it wasn’t the time to say that name out loud.

Shui Die Lan arched a brow. “Surprised? You really find it strange that she’d recruit a stray dog like me, as long as I still have some bite left?”

Li Xun slowly shook his head. The initial shock faded quickly, and calm settled back over him.

She wasn’t wrong. At this point, Shui Die Lan was a rogue cultivator with no sect and plenty of enemies. Both the Vermillion Hook Sect and the Falling Feather Sect were hunting her down. Under those circumstances, extending a hand to her and offering a high position was exactly the kind of smart move a recruiter would make.

And with the power of the Rogue Cultivators' Alliance behind her new patron, there was no need to fear those two sects anyway.

“She knows who you really are?”

There was clear meaning behind the question. Shui Die Lan’s lips curved into a slight smile. “Of course she does. After all, I’ve made quite a name for myself over the past few centuries.”

“Oh. I see.”

Li Xun understood immediately. Gu Yin didn’t really know Shui Die Lan’s true background. If she did, she would’ve offered her a far more prestigious position than just a seat in the Discussions Hall.

But… to kill Tianzhi?

“You really think it’ll come down to you?” he asked quietly.