The sun had set over the Imperial City.
In the vast expanse of Mount Cangmang Grey Crow, a continuous mountain spring etched the last rays of the sun into its waters.
Xu Mu crouched by the stream, cupping the water in his hands and gazing at it quietly. His travel-worn face and cracked lips were reflected in the water, his bloodstains mingled with the dust and sand.
He had been pursuing Xian'er Jiu for an entire day, and this was his first rest.
Both his spirit and body were exhausted to the extreme, and he undoubtedly needed a drink of water.
But after meeting his reflection in his palm for a moment, Xu Mu silently let go, returning the stream water to the spring, his gaze calmly fixed on a dense thicket of bushes not far away.
The thicket was large and dense, obscuring all sight, like an impenetrable mud wall.
Xu Mu stared intently at this mud wall, as if a famished wolf, capable of tracking prey for a thousand miles by scent alone, had finally found its quarry, tearing a massive opening in the mud wall with its gaze.
Xian'er Jiu emerged from within.
She was cloaked in a simple, unadorned grey hooded robe, her cheeks fair, without heavy makeup. Her jade-like hands rested casually at her thighs, and her gaze towards Xu Mu held a hint of strangeness.
"I truly didn't expect you to find me here."
Xu Mu slowly straightened up, the weariness in his brows vanishing with the dirt that shook off his body.
He appraised Xian'er Jiu from head to toe, his expression momentarily dazed. After confirming she was the one he sought, Xu Mu chuckled and grasped the hilt of his saber.
In that instant, he seemed to have returned to the nights in Fengqing Village, his eyes revealing a ferocious killing intent understood only by demons and beasts.
Xian'er Jiu understood this killing intent, and she spoke with bewilderment:
"Did you really think that by barging into my flower boat and threatening me a few times, I would sincerely cooperate with you? You actually pursued me all the way here?"
Xu Mu took a step forward and said,
"The retreat plan of the Weaving Heaven Pavilion was different from what you told us. You killed many of us!"
Xian'er Jiu calmly replied, "But you are still alive."
Xu Mu shook his head. "I almost died, and so did my brothers."
Xian'er Jiu said calmly,
"You should know who stands behind the Weaving Heaven Pavilion. If someone is to die in the struggle for that throne, and you have gotten involved, you could also die."
Xu Mu shook his head.
"I don't want to die, and I won't die."
Xian'er Jiu sneered.
"Whether you live or die can be decided by the two princes, the esteemed patrons and elders of the Five Realms, the ministers who watch from the sidelines, and by me, the chess player who appears to be in the open but is actually in the dark. You cannot decide."
"Because you are just an insignificant pawn."
Xian'er Jiu's posture was arrogant.
The Weaving Heaven Pavilion's chess pieces belonged to the First Prince, but the true player was her. The life and death of everyone was in her hands.
Yet, she had never intentionally caused any pawn to die; she only created conflicts, leaving outcomes to fate, which was already immense mercy.
For someone like Xu Mu, his survival today, in Xian'er Jiu's view, was due to her mercy.
"You threatened me on my flower boat and even managed to escape with your life, and you still aren't satisfied, daring to chase me here!"
Xu Mu strode directly across the mountain spring, his hunting saber clanging as it was drawn.
The warm evening sunlight glinted off the blade, reflecting a coldness akin to death. A gust of wind suddenly rose with his draw, and the leaves in the forest rustled with a crackling sound.
"I don't know how you evade the sanctions of the Heavenly Dao, but even if the Heavenly Dao cannot touch you, I will kill you!"
This saber strike was simple and direct, devoid of any fancy moves, but it was Xu Mu's most practiced way of wielding a blade.
It was the posture he most often used when hunting and chopping firewood, capable of cleaving even the thickest tree stumps in two, and forcing the most ferocious wolves to whimper in pain under his blade.
But Xian'er Jiu was neither firewood nor prey.
She was the hunter.
The maiden's fingertips were wreathed in a ball of murky, dark energy.
As this energy appeared, even the setting sun seemed to flee in fear, and the forest plunged into sudden darkness.
Xu Mu activated his Shadow ability, and the dark world became clear.
"Clang!"
And so he clearly saw Xian'er Jiu point a finger from a distance, and those dark energies, which made him shudder, intercepted his saber, emitting a crisp metallic clang.
Immediately after, the dark energy crept up the saber's tip. An invisible suction force generated in the space, as if wanting to pull him into the dark abyss ahead.
Xu Mu reacted swiftly, dropping the saber hilt and leaping to the side, crashing through a large tree before rolling several times on the ground to escape the entanglement of darkness.
Xian'er Jiu watched this scene, chuckling mockingly. "A mere third-stage martial artist, where do you get the courage to hunt me?"
Xu Mu remained silent. He had actually long suspected that Xian'er Jiu's strength might be more than just third-stage, very likely fourth-stage, and he had prepared himself for fighting above his level.
But what he hadn't expected was this sudden darkness, this darkness that made him shudder, he had seen it before.
Xu Mu took out another hunting saber, its blade as black as ink. He looked at Xian'er Jiu expressionlessly and said,
"This is not an ability that humans can wield."
"Are you a Dark Elf?"
Xian'er Jiu's mocking smile froze on her face. Her pupils constricted, and she stared at Xu Mu in shock.
"How did you guess!"
Xian'er Jiu exclaimed, her voice even losing its composure.
She completely couldn't comprehend how Xu Mu had guessed her identity. The strange abilities and martial arts of the human world were myriad. The humans who had died at her hands before had at most asked curiously what elemental ability she possessed, before she silenced them.
No one had ever, like Xu Mu, directly guessed her identity. It was simply impossible!
For their elven race had not yet left Alfheim. To humans, elves were still a legendary species!
But how could this insignificant pawn before her have guessed?
Xu Mu gazed at Xian'er Jiu, his brows furrowed.
Of course, she wouldn't guess that he had once visited their realm, delved into that inverted sea of realms with elf kings of various races or powerful elf king guards, and even, using the remnants of Fuxi's scripture, snatched the holy relic, the Elf Bow, and tricked and killed a multitude of elf kings!
"Dark Elf, why aren't you staying in the Elven Kingdom and instead coming to the human world?" Xu Mu asked, re-examining Xian'er Jiu, his voice filled with confusion.
Although the Great Zhou Dynasty bordered the Hundred Races Alliance, it was not close to Alfheim. Moreover, this was the Imperial City, and Xian'er Jiu's identity was a branch leader of the Weaving Heaven Pavilion. What conspiracy did she have for coming to the human world?
"Who are you!"
After her panic, a calm filled with killing intent emerged.
Xian'er Jiu stared at Xu Mu, vigilant.
This human had recognized her true identity, so he had to die. But before he died, she had to understand how all this had happened!
Xu Mu's expression was solemn. "You answer my question first. Why did you come to the human world, join the Weaving Heaven Pavilion, and plot for us to both suffer heavy losses? What is your conspiracy!"
"Stop your nonsense!"
Xian'er Jiu lost all patience. A surge of the darkest magic erupted from her back, pressing down on Xu Mu like a heavy tsunami.
Facing this terrifying tide of dark magic, Xu Mu stomped on the Xun trigram and rose with the wind, holding his hunting saber horizontally before him, suddenly unleashing a pure black saber energy that merged wind and fire.
"—Boom!"
Xu Mu's saber cleaved through the dense, hard darkness, like a mountain colliding with the sea. The dark magic, as hard as steel, was cut open with a massive gash. The heavy darkness was washed away by the saber intent, flowing past him without touching his clothes.
"What!"
Xian'er Jiu was greatly alarmed. She hadn't expected Xu Mu to be able to cleave her dark magic after switching sabers, and the darkness on the saber, as viscous as ink, was even blacker than her dark magic!
Xu Mu broke through the heavy waves, surging forward with an unstoppable momentum. Wind and fire transformed into lightning, and he slashed down at Xian'er Jiu's chest.
Xian'er Jiu's expression turned solemn. She no longer dared to underestimate him. In an instant, a black rose grew from her chest, its petals of various colors carrying the dying aura of death.
With a soft exhalation, all the petals fell into the sea of dark magic. The enraged sea roared, and the giant waves churned. The darkness compressed to its extreme, erupting in an instant, and various terrifying spells burst forth, engulfing Xu Mu's figure.
Xian'er Jiu's body transformed into a wisp of black mist and instantly moved to a branch dozens of meters away. Where she had stood, a spherical darkness had formed, the flowing magic solidifying and engulfing and fixing Xu Mu at its center.
"No matter how you guessed my identity, or where you came from, you will die today."
The roots of the rose on Xian'er Jiu's chest gradually retracted. She clasped her hands together, her fingernails pure black, her eyes enlarged, and her ears pointed. Clearly, to unleash this dark magic, she could no longer maintain her human form.
Dark magic surged wildly, terrifying energy swirling on its spherical surface. Xian'er Jiu made a hand seal, and the dark magic sphere collapsed inward. The dozens of meters wide and long sphere instantly compressed, and dark fire and saber intent flowed through the gaps of the surging dark energy.
All impurities were cleared. What remained was only Xu Mu within, and as this dark magic sphere shrank, Xu Mu would be devoured by the dark magic, leaving no bones behind, dying without a sound.
But Xu Mu would not wait for death.
The moment this dark sphere collapsed inward and that monstrous, terrifying energy squeezed towards him, a row of ancient statues appeared around his body. They held blades, shields, and armor, and torrents of saber intent flowed into the very center of the dark energy sphere, being swallowed as if rivers flowing into the sea, seemingly unable to resist.
But as golden light bloomed on Xu Mu's body, and he held the Demon God's Horn, thrusting his hands downward towards that small point, the dark energy sphere, condensed from dark magic, reached its limit of absorption.
With a "crack," Xu Mu shattered the bottom of the dark energy sphere. The dark magic, as heavy and terrifying as mountains and seas, instantly dispersed, causing a great backlash to Xian'er Jiu.
Before she could react in shock, she immediately wanted to detonate it, but Xu Mu had already used the terrifying saber momentum to charge into the ground. The hard, rocky ground parted before him, and the wind and fire on the blade re-gathered. The next second, he would cleave from beneath the ground to above, bisecting Xian'er Jiu's body!
"Disperse!"
Xian'er Jiu roared. Rolling dark magic, carrying the force of thunder, pressed down onto the earth. As a result, the surrounding mountains simultaneously sank three meters, and trees dozens of meters tall were crushed from top to bottom. Soil and rock mixed together, as hard as iron.
Xian'er Jiu was utterly enraged. Without pausing, she struck out at the ground ten feet in front of her, unleashing a dark magic energy missile.
The moment the dark magic missile contacted the ground, the sphere shattered, and the darkness within surged out like a hurricane. As a result, all the trees, soil, and rocks within a hundred-meter radius instantly turned to nothingness, evaporating from existence as if they had never been there.
All of this happened in an instant.
Xian'er Jiu calmly retracted her hand, looking at the hundred-meter-deep pit on the ground. A hint of disdain flickered in her eyes.
Even the strongest third-stage was just a third-stage.
She was a noble and powerful Dark Elf, mastering powerful and sacred dark magic. Victory was inevitable.
But then, her pupils contracted to an extreme again. An intensely dangerous, evil feeling made her shudder.
Xian'er Jiu's face changed drastically. Two balls of dark ghost fire circled her body, acting as guards. She looked around in all directions, but couldn't locate the source of the danger.
"Here."
From the hollow, dark bottom of the pit, Xu Mu's voice echoed. The next second, a young man with tattered clothes and a physical aura like a ferocious beast surged out from the bottom of the pit, carrying countless statues on his back, and unleashed the darkest saber strike that obscured all darkness.
...