"Don't let him recover his spiritual power!" came the chilling shout from behind. "Burn your essence blood, speed up!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three scorching auras erupted from behind. Xiao Chen glanced back and saw that the three men in black were surrounded by blood-red mist, and their speed suddenly increased several times. Their eyes flashed with a crazy red light—they were actually burning their essence blood to forcibly accelerate!
The first principle of Shadow Pavilion assassins: complete the mission at all costs.
Xiao Chen frowned, about to accelerate again, when he saw three men in black form a triangle, instantly circling in front of him and surrounding him. The crimson mist emanating from the three men converged, seemingly swallowing up the surrounding light and forming a strange, shadowy domain.
"Shadow Assassination Technique - Concealment!"
With a low shout, the three men in black vanished into the shadows, their presence completely concealed!
"Not good!" Xiao Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he gripped his rusty iron spear tightly, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.
The next second, several cold short blades stabbed from different directions, moving so fast that they were just afterimages! Xiao Chen hurriedly swung his spear to block, but he was still a fraction of a second too slow—a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder, right arm, and lower back at the same time, and three deep wounds that revealed the bone appeared instantly, staining his blue robe with blood.
"Can't see anyone?" Xiao Chen gritted his teeth, the excruciating pain from his wounds making him even more alert. These assassins' stealth techniques were too uncanny; in the shadows, their presence was completely undetectable.
What the eyes see may not be the truth.
Suddenly, Lin Zhou's words when he was instructing him on how to practice shooting flashed through his mind: "When chopping wood, you need to look at the wood grain; when drawing a sword, you need to look for weaknesses. But wood grain can be hidden, and weaknesses can change. If you only rely on your eyes, you'll get hit by a piece of wood sooner or later."
"With heart..." Xiao Chen suddenly closed his eyes!
He no longer tried to find the enemy with his eyes, but instead focused all his mind on the gun, allowing the gun's intent to resonate with the spiritual energy of the surrounding world—this is the "mind's eye" recorded in the "Prairie Fire Gun Manual," using the mind to perceive the rhythm of all things. No matter how fast or well the enemy moves, it will disturb the spiritual energy and leave traces!
The moment I closed my eyes, the world seemed to change.
The sound of the wind, the rustling of the grass, the flow of spiritual energy… everything was clearly perceived by him. And within the shadowy realm, three subtle yet rapid disturbances of spiritual energy were quickly approaching, carrying deadly intent!
"Found it!"
Xiao Chen's lips curled into a cold smile, and his rusty iron spear suddenly swung horizontally!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The three sharp sounds were almost consecutive as the spear tips precisely struck the three thrusting short blades! The hidden assassin clearly hadn't expected him to block the attack with his eyes closed, and his breathing became momentarily disordered.
"Now!"
Xiao Chen suddenly took a step forward, and the force of his spear exploded like thunder!
"Wildfire Spear Manual - Breaking Illusion!"
The spear tip burst forth with a dazzling white light, tearing apart the surrounding shadows. The three men in black, forced to reveal their true forms, groaned and were sent flying backward, each with a bloody hole in their chest!
"How is this possible?!" The lead assassin clutched his wound, his eyes filled with disbelief. "How could you..."
Xiao Chen didn't answer. He knew the Shadow Domain had been broken, and these assassins would no longer be able to hide. His immediate priority was to get rid of them. He turned to leave, but then he saw a resolute glint in the eyes of the three men in black. They burned their life essence again, their killing intent even stronger than before!
"Mission failed, we'll all perish together!"
The three transformed into three bloody shadows and pounced again, their moves ruthless, seemingly intent on perishing together with him!
Xiao Chen's eyes narrowed, and he was about to use his spear technique to counterattack when he suddenly felt a familiar heart palpitation—it was the "warning talisman" given to him by his master that was burning hot!
"An ambush?"
Without a second thought, he used the momentum of the spear to suddenly turn to the side, narrowly avoiding a poisoned needle that shot from his rear! At the same time, he swung his spear backhand, the tip of which carried a sharp intent, aiming straight at the direction from which the poisoned needle had been shot!
"Pfft!"
With a muffled thud, a dark figure fell from the tree, the tip of a rusty iron gun stuck in his chest, his eyes filled with astonishment—he had been lying in ambush there, intending to take advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack, but he never expected to be exposed on the spot!
This is the wonderful use of "mind's eye"—it can not only perceive visible enemies, but also detect hidden killing intent.
"Retreat!" Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining two Shadow Pavilion assassins stopped fighting and turned to flee.
Xiao Chen watched their retreating figures without giving chase—he knew that Shadow Pavilion assassins were endless, and continuing the pursuit would only be more dangerous. He drew his spear, glanced at the corpses on the ground, and his eyes were icy.
Shadow Pavilion, Xuantian Sect... this debt will be settled sooner or later.
He turned around and transformed into a streak of light once more, flying deeper into the secret realm—there, perhaps, there would be an opportunity to become stronger faster, or perhaps, he would meet his junior sister, Jiang Li.
Meanwhile, the four members of the Xuantian Sect who saw the Shadow Pavilion assassins retreating looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally could only stop in their tracks with reluctance—with their limited strength, chasing after them would only be suicide.
Above the dense forest, the crimson mist gradually dissipated, leaving only a few corpses and a mess on the ground, telling the story of the thrilling chase and counterattack that had just taken place.
Xiao Chen's figure had long since disappeared into the depths of the secret realm; only the bloodstains on the rusty iron spear gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
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