Chapter 2010: The Assassination Strike

The Lin Family, as a subordinate clan controlled by the Ghost King Grandmaster, naturally received the information this time.

Lin Youxi thought that the Grandmaster was making such a big move to deal with a tiny Martial Cultivator and even wanted to capture him alive; it must be that Ye Liuyun has something important that the Grandmaster needs in his hand, perhaps something that could bring the Grandmaster to his death.

Therefore he came early under the pretense of responding to the Grandmaster's summons.

He had previously worried that he alone could not defeat Feng Hong Xiu and Ye Liuyun, so he never revealed himself.

When Feng Hong Xiu left, he felt the opportunity had arrived.

Ye Liuyun searched his cultivated technique again; it was the same as the Grandmaster's, with no real difference.

He thought it over and decided to devour Lin Youxi's Divine Soul Power, leaving no survivor, to avoid having to explain anything to Feng Hong Xiu.

He tossed Lin Youxi's Physical Body to the Monster Beast.

The pair of wings on his back, however, was a rare Eighth-tier Treasure; not only could it be used for flight, it could also deflect attacks.

"This treasure is just what I need! With this, my speed can catch up to Feng Hong Xiu!"

Ye Liuyun strapped the wings onto his body and kept testing them repeatedly.

At first he wasn't used to such speed, but after getting accustomed, he found that using the wings together with his Sky‑walking Boots allowed him to catch Feng Hong Xiu with no problem.

With this treasure, Ye Liuyun no longer rushed to leave; instead he turned back to chase Feng Hong Xiu.

He thought that if his clone's special Golden Pupil launched a surprise attack, the effect might surpass Feng Hong Xiu's.

He planned to, after Feng Hong Xiu's successful ambush, launch another ambush against the Grandmaster's group.

Meanwhile, Feng Hong Xiu had not yet encountered the Grandmaster's party.

On the road she directly killed any Seventh Realm Martial Cultivator she met, to prevent them from troubling Ye Liuyun.

Feng Hong Xiu walked and paused along the way; her speed wasn't particularly fast.

But soon her Divine Sense also detected that group of the Grandmaster's Martial Cultivators.

In the center of the formation was a big carriage pulled by two dragon‑elephants.

The carriage was lavish and fully enclosed, with a Formation barrier, making its interior invisible from outside.

It was presumably where the Grandmaster was.

However, the strength and number of these Martial Cultivators surprised her greatly.

Among them were now five Eighth Tier Early Stage Martial Cultivators, over twenty Seventh Realm mid‑late stage Martial Cultivators, and over twenty Seventh Realm Early Stage Martial Cultivators.

Their strength and numbers had already doubled compared to when they first left.

This formation was clearly prepared to counter the Sharp Knife Squad accompanying Ye Liuyun.

Even if Ye Liuyun deployed the Sharp Knife Squad, facing so many powerful Martial Cultivators was destined to be unresistable.

Fortunately, they still lacked any Mid‑Eighth Realm Martial Cultivators, so Feng Hong Xiu wasn't overly worried.

But with so many Eighth Tier Early Stage Martial Cultivators, a single assassination—even killing one—would have little effect.

Thus she changed her plan, intending to wait for a chance to directly assassinate the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster's real name is Jiang Yuan, and Feng Hong Xiu knows his appearance.

Because he had spent years cultivating Divine Soul Power, he had become as skinny as a stick, like a zombie, and was therefore called the Ghost King Grandmaster.

His Physical Body's defensive power was not strong.

Feng Hong Xiu didn't know that half of his Soul had been devoured by Ye Liuyun.

Even if she knew, she could not guarantee that Jiang Yuan's Sea of Consciousness contained no traps, and she absolutely dared not launch a Divine Soul Attack against a Soul‑stronger being.

But now Jiang Yuan was inside the carriage.

Jiang Yuan's carriage, without a doubt, possessed defensive capabilities.

Thus Feng Hong Xiu could only stay at a distance, using Divine Sense to follow the carriage frame, waiting for Jiang Yuan to reveal himself.

Coincidentally, she didn't wait long before Jiang Yuan emerged from the carriage, ordered the group to stop and rest, then prepared to chase Ye Liuyun in one breath.

"Mid‑Eighth Realm! This old fellow's realm has risen again!"

Feng Hong Xiu confirmed that the person was Jiang Yuan—skinny as a stick, with a face as ghastly as a ghost—no mistake.

Feng Hong Xiu hesitated a bit, fearing Jiang Yuan surely possessed defensive armor or similar treasures.

"We have to try it; even if he has a Defense Artifact, we need to probe its defensive capability to prepare for the next assassination.

Otherwise, if he keeps hiding inside the carriage frame, we'll have even less chance to kill him."

Thinking this, Feng Hong Xiu immediately sprinted at full speed toward Jiang Yuan, striving to get as close as possible before being spotted.

At the same time, she retrieved from storage a ten‑inch bone spike, as thick as a finger.

The bone spike emitted an icy blue glow, resembling an ice spear, forged from the fin bone of a giant whale at the Ninth Layer of Divine Realm; even Eighth‑tier armor could be easily pierced by it.

She possessed only three of these bone spikes in total.

With this weapon, she was confident that unless Jiang Yuan wore Ninth‑tier armor, his defense would basically be unable to block her full‑power strike.

"Ten li, nine li, eight li…" Feng Hong Xiu calculated speed and distance in her mind.

Once the distance was sufficient, if nothing went awry, Jiang Yuan would essentially be doomed!

Mid‑Eighth Realm masters moved at meteor‑like speed, spending most of their time traversing the Void.

By the time the few Eighth Realm Martial Cultivators near Jiang Yuan sensed the Void's violent fluctuations, Feng Hong Xiu had already struck.

Years of assassin training had made her believe she could guarantee a one‑hit kill.

Feng Hong Xiu's speed was already high; infusing True Essence into the bone spike before hurling it made the spike even faster.

When Jiang Yuan realized the bone spike was thrust from the Void, it had already closed in.

Jiang Yuan never reacted; the bone spike pierced him through the brow, exited his back, and lodged into the ground.

At that moment Feng Hong Xiu rushed forward, gestured, and recalled the bone spike.

The bone spike had already been refined by her, and she was reluctant to discard it.

But that slight delay allowed other Martial Cultivators to catch up to her.

Feng Hong Xiu raised a hand, and the bone spikes flew out again, directly piercing the two Martial Cultivators standing in front of her.

The bone spikes were so sharp that they pierced anything without a sound, not even a speck of blood staining them.

Feng Hong Xiu summoned the bone spikes back again.

She thought that since Jiang Yuan was dead, the remaining people wouldn't desperately chase her.

Many of these Martial Cultivators had strong members of their own families controlled by Jiang Yuan, and they were not necessarily following Jiang Yuan voluntarily.

As soon as Jiang Yuan dies, their Divine Soul Contract will vanish, so many should no longer fight desperately for him.

However, her delay caused even more Martial Cultivators to surround her.

Moreover, those few Eighth Realm Martial Cultivators reacted quickly and immediately launched attacks on her.

Feng Hong Xiu was not afraid of their attacks.

In the Eighth Realm, the gap between the mid‑stage and the early stage is even larger.

But if she were surrounded and attacked in succession, she could not hold out.

So she immediately warned those Martial Cultivators: "Jiang Yuan is already dead; what are you still risking your lives for?"

But the Martial Cultivators surrounding her remained unmoved.

At that moment, the carriage's door curtain was suddenly opened, and a gaunt ghostly face glanced at Feng Hong Xiu.

"So you're the assassin from Red Luan Pavilion! As the reputation says, you destroyed one of my duplicates with a single strike."

National Master Jiang Yuan was still seated in the carriage!