Chapter 472: I Am Waiting for That Person

Thirty li outside Xuan Yin Valley, an unnamed hilltop.

Qin Nanxian stood atop the hill, clad in a jet-black robe embroidered with gold, hands clasped behind her back.

The autumn wind whipped her loose hair, revealing a face as cold and pale as snow.

Behind her, three hundred Silver Rank officers formed a rigid square, utterly silent, their weapons glinting coldly in the slanting sunlight.

"Commander, the scouts have returned."

The Deputy Commander stepped forward and spoke in a low voice.

Qin Nanxian did not turn, only gave a slight nod.

The dark shadow shot up from the cliffside, knelt on one knee, and spoke with rapid urgency: "The main gate of Xuan Yin Valley is wide open, its defenses less than thirty percent of normal. Most disciples have left the valley to hunt down the rumor-mongers, leaving only the elderly, weak, and clerks behind. But a powerful aura emanates from the Ice Prison Hall—likely Li Yuan himself stationed there."

"Li Yuan."

Qin Nanxian's lips curled into a faint smile, yet her phoenix eyes held no warmth: "He's clever—he knows the real strike is yet to come."

She raised her hand, about to give the order—

BOOM!!!

In the distant horizon, a blood-red blade of light slashed across the sky, carrying overwhelming killing intent, straight toward the gate of Xuan Yin Valley!

The blade was hundreds of zhang thick; where it passed, clouds were torn apart, leaving a horrifying crimson scar across the heavens.

The spectral shadows of vengeful souls entwined around the blade screamed and writhed—its chilling wail could be heard even dozens of li away.

"Fu Canglong!"

Qin Nanxian's eyes blazed with sharp light, her waist-length sword humming in its scabbard: "This old bastard is here sooner than expected."

Ten li beyond the main gate of Xuan Yin Valley, the void tore open like tattered cloth.

Fu Canglong stepped forth from the rift.

He was very old.

So old his wrinkles resembled cracked tree bark, so old his stance looked like a statue on the verge of crumbling.

But the moment he opened his eyes, the temperature of heaven and earth plummeted—those eyes held no age, only a pure, centuries-deep crimson killing intent.

Behind him, three hundred Blood Guards surged out like a tide from the rift in the void.

Each wore dark red blood robes, wielded varied weapons, and their eyes glowed red.

"Li Yuan—"

Fu Canglong spoke, his voice ancient yet thunderous across the sky: "I've come to collect your corpse!"

Before he finished speaking, he reached out and grasped the air.

Yin Po Dao transformed into a hundred-zhang crimson flash and slashed down from the heavens!

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—

The mountain gate's protective array of Xuan Yin Valley activated instantly.

A layer of ghostly blue ice curtain materialized midair and collided with the blood blade—earth trembled, sky shook, shockwaves swept in all directions!

The ice curtain quivered violently, cracks spreading like spiderwebs, yet it did not break.

The Xuan Ice Mountain Protecting Array—a top-tier defensive formation.

"Xuan Ice Mountain Array…" Fu Canglong sneered, "Li Yuan, hide in your turtle shell and wait to die!"

He waved his hand.

The three hundred Blood Guards roared in unison, becoming a crimson flood rushing toward the gate.

"Zhen Wu Si—"

Qin Nanxian no longer hesitated; she drew her sword.

The sword was named Han Shuang. The instant it left its scabbard, the temperature within a hundred zhang plummeted.

The blade's light streaked like a ribbon, slicing straight toward the rear ranks of the Blood Guards!

PSHHH—The blade swept through; seven or eight Blood Guards, unable to dodge, were cut cleanly in half!

"Qin Nanxian!"

Fu Canglong whirled around, his eyes blazing with crimson light: "How dare you take advantage of me?!"

"Take advantage?"

Qin Nanxian sneered, rising into the air, "Fu Canglong, I've watched you for ten years—today, I'll settle everything at once!"

BOOM~!

The qi of two peak Tiangong realm experts collided with explosive force.

Below, the three hundred Silver Rank officers of Zhen Wu Si clashed with the three hundred Blood Guards of Ri Yue Mo Sect.

…

Inside Xuan Yin Valley, Ice Prison Hall.

Li Yuan stood with his hands clasped behind his back, behind the hall's door.

He did not step out.

The earth-shattering sounds of battle outside echoed clearly into his ears.

Fu Canglong's wild laughter, Qin Nanxian's sharp cries, the Blood Guards' roars, the Silver Officers' screams—he heard every one clearly.

Yet he stood there, motionless.

Behind him, on the cold jade platform, Hu Nianjing was bound tightly by Soul-Binding Chains. She lifted her head, gazing at Li Yuan's back, her eyes filled with scorn.

"Aren't you going to save your Xuan Yin Valley?" Her voice was hoarse. "Your disciples are fighting outside, and you, the valley's master, hide here like a coward?"

Li Yuan did not turn.

"Outside are Fu Canglong and Qin Nanxian."

His voice was unnervingly calm: "If I step out? Then what? Get surrounded and killed, leaving Xuan Yin Valley leaderless and utterly destroyed?"

Hu Nianjing sneered, "So you're just waiting here to die?"

"Waiting to die?" Li Yuan finally turned around, looking at her, his eyes devoid of anger, only an eerie calm, "I'm waiting for that person."

"Who?"

"The one who set this trap."

Li Yuan walked slowly to the Cold Jade Platform, looking down at the bound Hu Nianjing.

"We've clashed for decades. Our unspoken agreement on the fifteenth of every month was known only to you and me. Why could the Dragon-Tiger Sword Sect ambush you so precisely? Why choose the fifteenth? Why did they know the Xuanming Pearl was in your possession?"

Hu Nianjing fell silent.

"Because someone told them," Li Yuan continued, "someone who knows our secrets, knows your movements, knows the true state of Xuan Yin Valley—he even knew that after hearing the rumor, I would fly into a rage, send disciples out to hunt, and leave Xuan Yin Valley defenseless."

"Then he sent letters to Qin Nanxian and Fu Canglong, telling them to attack simultaneously."

"Everything is linked, every step carefully planned—from Ying Chun Gorge, to the rumor, to today's siege—it's all a trap."

Hu Nianjing stared at him, a complex flicker in her eyes.

"Are you so certain?"

"Certain," Li Yuan's lips curled into a cold smile, "because from start to finish, I never actually fell for it."

He turned, gazing toward the hall's entrance.

"The disciples I sent out—only three-tenths were real search teams. The remaining seven-tenths are hidden across the Xuan Yin Mountains, ready to return at any moment."

"I stand here not to hide, but to wait—for the one who set this trap, to believe Xuan Yin Valley is empty, to believe I, Li Yuan, am consumed by rage and lost my composure—wait for him to lose patience and act himself."

"That will be the true moment to close the net."

Hu Nianjing remained silent for a long while, then spoke slowly, "What if he doesn't come?"

"He will come," Li Yuan said calmly, "isn't that precisely why he built such a grand trap?"

"What does he want?"

"I don't know," Li Yuan shook his head, "but it must be inside Xuan Yin Valley. Maybe a person, maybe an object. Whatever it is, he will come to take it."

Outside the hall, the sounds of battle drew nearer.

The great formation guarding the Xuan Yin Valley gate finally collapsed with a thunderous crash!

Fu Canglong's wild laughter echoed across the sky.

"Li Yuan! Come out, old man!"

Qin Nanxian's sword light swept across the valley entrance.

"Zhen Wu Si, follow me into the valley!"

……

Thirty zhang beneath the earth.

Chen Mu moved like a silent fish, swiftly gliding through the soil.

He had already collected over ninety cards from the dead, victims of the Zhen Wu Si and Mo Sect's battle.

From the outer edges to the periphery, from the periphery to the core, he moved like a shadow of death, slipping between corpses.

But his target had never been these minor players.

His spiritual sense probed aboveground, sensing the battlefield's flow.

Fu Canglong and Qin Nanxian had already stormed into the valley, fighting fiercely with the disciples left behind to guard Xuan Yin Valley.

The three Tiangong realm experts had not yet clashed—Li Yuan had not appeared.

Chen Mu frowned.

Li Yuan's reaction was completely different from what he had expected.

No rage. No impulsiveness. No personal intervention.

He was waiting.

Waiting for whom?

Chen Mu's pupils shrank slightly.

He's waiting for me!

Li Yuan knows someone is setting the trap.

He didn't fall for it.

He deliberately left Xuan Yin Valley defenseless, deliberately sent disciples out, deliberately let Qin Nanxian and Fu Canglong storm in—

All to lure the "person" behind the trap into the open.

Li Yuan is indeed no ordinary man.

But Chen Mu's lips curled slightly upward.