Chapter 863: Assassin's Secret

At that moment, the assassin finally realized he could not escape Ye Liuyun.

Since he couldn't get away, he simply stopped fleeing, manifested himself, and confronted Ye Liuyun.

"Come out! I didn't expect someone at the Yin-Yang Seventh Layer to have such ability," the assassin said calmly.

Ye Liuyun did not appear, and Wu Qingcheng had also been an assassin. So he knew many assassins have their own signature moves, some even resort to self‑detonation to perish together with their target.

He directly used his Cross‑Space Golden Pupil to yank the assassin's Soul into his Yin Yang Realm and began a Soul Search.

In the search, he unexpectedly uncovered a big secret.

That person had originally been a disciple of a major Sect, but was drawn into the assassin organization.

The assassin organization is called Shadow. Shadow members are also disciples from various major Sects. They were captured by Shadow members while training here, then joined Shadow.

After leaving here, they use their identities as Sect disciples to carry out assassination missions.

However, this person knows little about the Shadow organization beyond that; he is merely an ordinary member.

Yet the Shadow members he is aware of number in the hundreds.

These people have likely already infiltrated the major Sects, possibly even becoming core inner‑door disciples of a major Sect.

In his Sea of Consciousness, Ye Liuyun also found his practiced invisibility art, the Shadow Concealment Technique.

He made a rough assessment and discovered that this Shadow member's cultivation of the Shadow Concealment Technique was far from proficient.

So he immediately collected the corpse, moved to a place with no one around, and began studying the method.

He wasn't aiming to master it instantly, but to understand it so he could ward off approaching Shadow members.

After cultivating this Shadow Concealment Technique, he can sense others who have also practiced the same art.

Just after Ye Liuyun left, several Shadows arrived silently. After observing for a while, three of them revealed their true forms.

"There are bloodstains. It seems our member sent a distress signal and met disaster! Yet there are no other traces nearby," one of them frowned and said.

The scene showed no trace of Ye Liuyun; they had no tracking clues.

"It must be a master. Spread out and search; if nothing, forget it. Don't go too far, lest you get counter‑killed!" a Shadow ordered.

Thus the three reverted to Shadow form, scoured the surroundings, found no clues, and withdrew directly.

Ye Liuyun hid in an empty spot to cultivate, and just reached the entry‑level stage when he was disturbed, interrupting his practice.

It was two other disciples chasing each other.

He thought that, although he could not yet wield the Shadow Concealment Technique skillfully, it should allow him to sense nearby Shadows. So he stopped cultivating and instead observed the two dueling disciples.

One of them was at the Yin-Yang Ninth Layer, the other at the Zao Hua Second Realm—clearly different tiers. The Yin-Yang disciple, however, relied on a treasure, fighting while fleeing.

Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil flashed, pulling the Zao Hua Second Realm disciple into the Storage Ring, letting Ghost Butterfly and Ice Demon Tiger eliminate him.

The Yin-Yang Ninth Layer disciple, seeing the pursuer behind him vanish suddenly, immediately grew nervous, thinking the opponent had used some technique to kill him, and even forgot to run.

But under Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil, even if he tried to flee, he couldn't get far.

Thus he too was shifted by Ye Liuyun into the Storage Ring and was killed.

Afterwards, Ye Liuyun placed the acquired treasure that blocks Divine Sense detection on himself and continued to hunt for targets.

He did not employ the Shadow Concealment Technique, yet could sense its presence. Whenever he encountered a place where Shadows existed, he avoided it in advance, so he never faced serious danger.

Around the outskirts of the assassination battlefield, most were Sect disciples of Yin-Yang Eight-Nine Layers or Zao Hua First and Second Realms. Some had already adapted to the environment, others had not.

As for the mid‑to‑late Zao Hua strong ones, they do not kill low‑realm disciples on the outskirts; they strike in the central area, targeting Martial Cultivators of comparable realms.

Ye Liuyun deduced the pattern and began circling the outskirts.

He plans to familiarize himself with the outskirts for a few days, improve the Shadow Concealment Technique, then move toward the core area.

For two consecutive days, whenever he encountered an empty area, he stopped to cultivate the Shadow Concealment Technique. Thus he progressed quickly, and now he can transform into a shadow, hiding in the dark.

The assassination battlefield is already pitch‑black; a single shadow, if not examined carefully, would be undetectable.

Ye Liuyun even suspects that the royal court created this battlefield specifically for the Shadow organization.

However, that is not something he can handle now.

For now he must press on cultivating the Shadow Concealment Technique, hunting more disciples to accumulate Sect points for himself.

Next, he began training to routinely use the Shadow Concealment Technique for assassinations. At first he failed often, the switch between himself and Shadows being very clumsy.

Whenever he failed, he used his Golden Pupil to shift the person into the Storage Ring, handing them to Ghost Butterfly and Ice Demon Tiger for elimination.

After another two days of practice, he could switch freely and mastered this assassination art.

Then he began advancing toward the central area.

This time, he no longer evaded Shadow members; instead he launched ambushes or counter‑kills. Only by sparring with Shadow members could he assess the gaps in his Shadow Concealment Technique.

After testing, his Shadow Concealment Technique finally rose to the level of ordinary Shadow members.

He no longer cultivates this technique. The assassination battlefield is fraught with danger; he must focus his energy to handle any threats.

Especially as he moves toward the center, the Martial Cultivators encountered are of higher realms. In this segment, they are mostly at Zao Hua Third and Fourth Realms.

When Ye Liuyun uses spatial power to shift them again, it becomes taxing. Fortunately the Shadow Concealment Technique is very handy, and he currently does not need to summon Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly for assistance.

Just as he had just ambushed a Zao Hua Third Realm Martial Cultivator and secured the corpse.

Suddenly he sensed a wave of spatial fluctuation, a very familiar sensation.

He instantly slipped into the eighth‑level void. The space was empty, yet Ye Liuyun clearly sensed the presence of Azure Fire.

"Qing Lin? Xue Er?" Ye Liuyun shouted inside, immediately releasing Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly.

"Remember the scent of this Azure Fire and chase it. They are more important to me!" He feared his own sense of smell wasn't as keen as a beast's, lest he lose Qing Lin.

Ice Demon Tiger and Ghost Butterfly, having memorized the scent, both pursued in the same direction.