A blanket of stunned silence covered the courtyard after the echoes of Cade’s callout finally faded.

  “Marlyn…? Does he mean Malon?” someone muttered.

  “Elanis… the Dog?” A group of black-robed Sword Dao Monastery disciples choked on laughter.

  “A blindfolded fellow at the middle stage of Skeletal Reinforcement dares to antagonize two geniuses a tier above him? Does he have a death wish?!” A tall fey man with indigo-colored hair laughed derisively.

  ”True! There are less painful ways of reincarnating,” another person from Malon’s group—a female elf wearing a Tower martial gown—nodded in agreement.

  “Bastard, you dare?! I’ll eat your heart!” Elanis roared, throwing himself at Cade. In his eyes, the man standing in front of him was nothing. He crossed half the distance in a blur, pulling out a nasty, serrated sword, and then his body dissolved into the surroundings.

  I see. A body concealment art that hides the life signature as well. Too bad there’s no hiding from my eyes.

  Cade instantly recalled the moment Master Salizar had paid him for the three cores belonging to the trial assassins. The bald elder had vanished immediately afterward, just like Elanis did moments ago. But the elf’s version was far from perfect—the outline of his silhouette visibly warped in the air. While the art rendered him invisible to ordinary sight, it didn’t improve his speed. Elanis had just reached the late stage of Skeletal Reinforcement; he was fast for his realm, but no match for the Asura.

  He calmly waited for his opponent’s weapon to enter his reach. The elf’s drawn face was full of hatred as his whole body formed a spear pointed straight at Cade's heart. Right before the sword struck, Cade grabbed the blade with his left hand sheathed in blood qi, activating the energy-dissipating laws contained within the two fleshy bumps on his back. His silhouette flashed with scarlet radiance as he expelled the energy from the elf’s strike.

  Elanis felt as if his sword was clasped by an immovable titan. The shock of being so brutally stopped in place threw him off balance, leaving his chest wide open.

  “Weak,” Cade stated flatly as his right arm blurred forward, carrying primed blood qi.

  Feral Path: Heartbreaker!

  The last time he had used this move was during the fight with Tiarsus. At that time, he had greatly limited himself in order to keep the inner court disciple alive. Now, he had no such reservations.

  The Asura’s palm landed dead center over the elf's heart with a flash of crimson, as two stacking formation circles rapidly spun in opposite directions. Elanis’s eyes flashed with terror and regret right before his upper body exploded into a bloody mist with a meaty, muffled boom. His limbs and head were forcefully launched into the air, and nearby spectators frantically leaped away to avoid being struck by the bloody projectiles.

  Silence befell the courtyard like a burial shroud. All the disciples stared at the tiny crimson droplets falling down at an unnervingly slow pace. Somewhere in the back, a dropped sword clanged on stone, and then the first cries rose above the crowd—some of surprise, others of horror and disgust.

  The Asura glanced at the jagged blade in his hand, nodding with appreciation—it was doubtlessly expensive—and sent it into his storage ring. In that moment, a loud, resentful roar reached him, followed by the sound of furniture being kicked into splinters.

  “Ward, I’ll murder your whole family three generations back!” Cara screamed, her face twisting in a grimace of absolute hate, flecks of spit flying from her mouth. Her hand swiped through the air, and around four dozen arrows leaped out of her storage ring, lining up into a large formation above her head, all aiming at him. An exquisite elven bow appeared in her hand. As she drew an arrow, all the projectiles above lit up with a venomous light, pulling back as if they too were drawn.

  “Mhm,” Cade said dismissively, clasping his hands behind his back. He was in no rush.

  “Corpse Poison Veil?! Miss Long has mastered it to such a degree?!” one of the female dark-robed disciples exclaimed in admiration.

  “Four dozen poisoned arrows… This arrogant bastard might as well slit his own throat. It’ll be a less painful way to go,” her male friend said, his eyes gleaming viciously.

  Cade swapped to his mind avatar, and the whole world slowed down. His pupils narrowed as his gaze focused on one of the arrows. Unexpectedly, his vision magnified tremendously, and the faint energy barrier around its arrowhead resolved itself into tiny glowing threads he recognized as blood-clotting laws. Shocked, he briefly stared at the vibrating strings before a terrible pain struck his eyes. He shook his head, blinking away bloody tears that soaked into the tribulation cloth.

  His new sight magnified reality far beyond what a cultivator at his level should be able to see! That single boon alone made every bit of torment he'd experienced worthwhile. But examining this ability in detail would have to wait—Cara was already moving.

  This woman is quite vicious. Every arrow of hers could kill a peak Skeletal Reinforcement cultivator if they didn’t bring enough blood-thinning pills.

  These were no projections either. Cara’s arrows were built of hardened wood with a broad tip of tempered steel, perfect for striking soft, unarmored flesh. However, today wasn’t going to be a good day for the beautiful assassin. Tempered steel was classed as an early Rank 2 material—dangerous to an ordinary second-tier expert, but far from enough to pierce his fortified flesh. Even if the arrows somehow got through, their poison laws posed no real threat to his powerful blood qi. It was her bad luck that his greatest asset—a body tougher than granite—completely countered her move.

  “If I'd known this would take so long, I’d tell Marlyn over there to put the kettle on,” Cade noted with disinterest. His gaze briefly shifted to Malon, who had at first appeared relaxed, but once Cade’s comment reached his ears, his face turned an unhealthy shade of red.

  “Worthless insect!” Malon snarled hatefully. “Once Cara’s poison turns you into a pile of compost, I’ll relieve myself on top of it!”

  “Don’t involve others in your twisted fantasies,” the Asura grimaced, sharply turning his head away in disgust.

  It had to be said that many of the experts observing the show tried hard to restrain their laughter—laughing at Elanis was one thing, but no one fancied offending those two powerful families. And yet, most failed miserably, with sounds of partially stifled chortles erupting all over the courtyard.

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  Malon jumped to his feet, staff spinning in hand, but Cara’s voice rooted him in place.

  “Malon, this funny fucker is mine!”

  Cade chuckled to himself. These so-called prodigies really don’t know how high the sky is. Even after someone dies, they still treat this as a duel? If I were in their shoes, I’d immediately gang up on me.

  “The audacity! To form enmities with both the Long and Voidwalker geniuses?! Does anybody know who he is?” one of the female elves from the Water School asked those around her.

  “Just an inner disciple of our Sword Dao who’s tired of living,” a grim-faced, white-robed core disciple from the monastery commented, his tone spiking with jealous contempt.

  At that moment, Cara finally released the bowstring with a shrill twang. With the sound of fifty bows firing at once, a writhing cloud of death hissed through the air, converging toward Cade’s solitary figure.

  “It’s good to have pride, but this…” the same female elf who had asked about his name sighed, shaking her head. The Water School disciples standing behind her nodded in agreement.

  Cade smiled lightly, coating his muscles with ignited qi, ready to counter the blood-clotting laws in case some of the incoming projectiles managed to break through his reinforced skin.

  “It’s time you all learned how misplaced your confidence is,” he remarked coldly.

  The onlookers gasped in grim anticipation. However, as Cara’s condensed barrage struck Cade, the deadly finale they all expected never occurred. Instead, hundreds of eyes bulged in disbelief.

  Amid a cacophony of clattering noises, nearly all the arrows bounced harmlessly off Cade, many breaking in the process, with a single exception. That solitary shaft embedded itself in the center of his forehead, managing to penetrate merely a fraction of an inch into the thick bone. The Asura flicked it with a lazy gesture, and the arrow dropped onto the pile of shattered shafts at his feet with an echoing thunk. The small wound healed itself instantly.

  Cara blinked, breathing heavily, her pupils stretching wide in sheer disbelief. Her mind stubbornly refused to accept what she had just witnessed.

  Surprisingly, the first to break out of their stupor was Malon. Gripping his long staff tighter, the large orange gem at its tip began radiating potent fiery qi. Despite their momentary stupefaction, the disciples around him instantly retreated, shielding their eyes from the wave of relentless heat. His face was no longer relaxed.

  Cade slowly wagged his finger at the stunned Long heiress before his right arm shot to the side, his thumb tracing the red band on his index finger. Legion materialized mid-air, floating blade down. Aria’s dumbfounded expression quickly narrowed into one of suspicion, and the Asura swore inwardly. He had completely forgotten he made the exact same wagging gesture after his fight with the dragon.

  “How…?” over a hundred astounded murmurs merged into one.

  “He… he must have the Invincible Physique!” an older disciple from Shadow Dao Palace exclaimed.

  Cade quickly searched his memory. He could only recall a short snippet he had read in a treatise so old the parchment was falling apart: the Invincible Physique was a special kind of inherited body, a rare human bloodline from an era long past. It granted incredible resistance to physical damage and rapid healing, allowing its owner to fight above their rank.

  “Impossible! It hasn’t been seen for hundreds, if not thousands of years!” another man nearby countered, but his voice lacked conviction. It was hard to deny what had just happened.

  The female elf from the Water School released a dreamy sigh, and she wasn’t the only one. Most cultivators worshipped strength above all else.

  “Legion, sever his arms and ensure he doesn't wander off,” Cade commanded in a voice devoid of emotion.

  The Invincible Physique? Great idea, another problem solved, he smiled inwardly. He no longer had to worry about explaining his uncommon toughness. Today, everything was going suspiciously well.

  “Haha, kneel before your ancestor, little boy! Grandpa Legion will teach you the meaning of respect in place of your parents!” Legion chortled, only adding to the collective befuddlement, before his form vanished from sight with a piercing whoosh.

  Even though the spirit had only recovered its cultivation up to early Rank 3, nearly all of its strength was centered around close combat using blinding speed—not exactly Malon’s strong point. To make the silver-haired fey’s situation worse, Legion was a weapon forged hundreds of thousands of years ago; even well-trained body refiners would struggle to defend against his attacks while at the same stage.

  In the next moment, Malon—who had already started casting seals with one hand, his staff aimed at Cade—cried out in pain as his left arm was neatly separated from his torso at the shoulder. Blood erupted from the short stump. The fey stared at his missing limb in utter bafflement before his survival instincts finally kicked in. Throwing away his staff, his remaining arm quickly flashed several seals.

  “How fast! That’s a flying spirit sword!” someone exclaimed in disbelief. Flying swords were nigh-mythical. In the stories from the ancient eras, their incredible speed, sharpness, and striking precision were highly praised.

  “Malon has already lost one arm… this sword’s so quick… you can barely see it,” a disciple from the Tower’s Fire School mumbled to himself, shaking his head. His astounded gaze remained fixed on his senior brother.

  Despite the shock of his grave wound, Malon managed to erect a bubble of qi around himself right before Legion struck again. The bubble resisted, and the fey quickly swallowed several pills, his pale face a mask of dread as his barrier began to dim under the sword’s merciless onslaught.

  “Little fellow, I hope you have prepared something better than this, otherwise… hehe,” Legion laughed raspily in a menacing tone, effortlessly flickering through the air.

  “Fellow Daoist, let’s talk! I’ll compensate you and your friends!” Malon called out in panic, devouring pills by the handful as if they were candy.

  Cara had finally regained her senses. While her expression once again reflected utter hatred, her eyes briefly betrayed her true feelings, concealing a shadow of fear. Her hands quickly flashed seals, and a massive bow, at least a hundred feet tall, began forming above her.

  “Are you mad?! He’s a walking calamity! Bring out your best trump card!” she yelled at Malon with a ferocious determination born out of growing desperation. The enormous bow above her drew back, a huge arrow manifesting on its bowstring, radiating an ominous green light. In the next moment, the whole projection was set ablaze with green fire, burning like a massive beacon in the sky.

  “Brothers and Sisters, help!” Malon screamed as his barrier began to crack. He closed his eyes, and a towering fiery figure began to materialize behind him—a thirty-foot rhino made of pure fire energy and complex laws.

  “That’s Brother Malon’s fire spirit! Brother, hold on, I’m coming!” A young, overzealous Fire School disciple wanted to rush forward, but his Senior Brother grabbed his shoulder, holding him back.

  “Wait,” the man hissed. “That big fellow is not simple. Since he didn’t offend the Tower and there are no benefits to be had, it’s best not to get involved.”

  Malon’s barrier broke. A harrowing cry erupted from the fey’s throat as his other arm fell to the ground, blood spraying from his severed artery amidst Legion’s metallic laughter. His physical abilities were below average, likely because most of his time was spent mastering fire qi. His blazing rhino was already charging at Cade, its intense heat cracking the stone underneath its thick feet and curling the nearby disciples’ hair. If this had been a lightning spirit, he wouldn’t be concerned. But this…

  “Die! Arrow of the Dead God!” Cara released the enormous arrow, burning with sickly green flame. It tore through the air with an intense buzz that made everyone leap back in alarm, their hair standing on end.

  Cade’s danger sense rang in an urgent, head-splitting alarm. Both attacks were dense with spiritual energy and offensive laws, enough to seriously injure him. If he got hurt, opportunistic vultures hiding in the crowd would immediately swoop in.

  Yet neither Malon nor Cara thought clearly. As noble heirs, they lacked the hard lessons of life-and-death combat. Instead of working together to pin him down, they opted to unleash everything at once, certain that sheer power would crush him before he could react.

  “Did I promise I would stand here and take your best shots?” Cade chuckled, but the smile never touched his eyes. He ignited the mist within his Blood Wings, sensing his total qi drop sharply by a tenth. Right before both of their attacks landed, his figure shimmered, vanishing from sight with a resounding rumble of air being forcefully torn apart.