Chapter 860: Run Fast

The whole body rose out of nowhere, his body supported in midair by that tuft of azure‑gold light, hair falling over his shoulders, and the hem of his clothes fluttering in the surge of the radiance.

At that moment, the surface of the Ancient Sea stirred.

The surface, which had been Calm as a mirror, suddenly roiled violently; a water curtain shot up from the lake, tracing a massive arc in the air, enveloping Dan Heng entirely.

Bathed in the azure‑gold light, the water curtain appeared a translucent teal, its ripples flowing like living things, layering upon each other to coil around his body.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

The water curtain suddenly burst outward, splashing droplets everywhere; the water beads were shattered by the shockwave into a sky‑full of fine mist, which refracted a ring of multicolored rainbow in the cold light of the Ancient Sea.

Then a figure stepped out of the mist.

His waist‑long, jet‑black hair was lifted behind him by the shockwave.

The pair of translucent aqua‑green dragon horns atop his head flashed the instant the mist cleared, their material like solidified lake‑glass, emitting a semi‑transparent, clear sheen under the refracted light; the natural dragon‑scale patterns on the horns faintly glowed with a pale cyan light.

Long, pointed ears peeked from his black hair; his cold‑white skin bore a face with ice‑blue glassy pupils, ethereally calm, while a large gradient of crimson eye shadow fanned upward from the outer corners, like a perfectly placed dash of cinnabar on his pale skin.

The white, collarless, sleeveless inner garment clung to his slender torso, and a large lotus‑shaped cutout on his back let the faint hue of inner teal gauze show through the gaps.

The wide, split, expansive sleeves unfolded behind him like two massive cloud wings; the Golden Thread embroidered cloud patterns and dragon‑scale motifs at the cuffs glittered in the mist.

Yin Yue!

He hovered in midair, the vapor beneath his feet still lingering, his hem and flowing ribbons rustling in the shockwave.

Those ice‑blue glassy pupils were now as cold as frost, their gaze piercing straight through the mist, Locking onto the crouching figure on the distant stone wall.

The blade was half‑crouched atop the stone wall, its right hand still maintaining the momentum after having thrown a sword blade.

Band‑wrapped fingers were slightly spread, the joints at the fingertips emitting an abnormal pale‑blue hue beneath the bandage.

The pair of scarlet eyes peeking from the gaps in his black tangled hair stared fixedly at the figure standing on water in midair, pupils shrinking into two frantic dots.

The curve of his mouth cracked from a faint grin into a maniacal laugh, the syllables leaking from his lips sounding hoarse and disjointed, as if something had shattered them in his throat and reassembled them.

"A person has five names, the price has three—"

He pressed his left hand onto his knee and rose slowly.

The figure standing on the stone wall was somewhat unsteady, swayed slightly in the wind, yet his eyes never left the silhouette in midair from start to finish.

"Yin Yue—"

His voice was hoarse as if rubbed with sandpaper, each word carrying a madness that surged up from deep within his throat.

With a flick of his right wrist, the rebounding crimson blade reappeared in his palm; the cracks on the blade were denser than before, lava‑like orange‑red light seeping out of the fissures, and the whole sword buzzed as if ready to explode.

He then leapt down from the stone wall, landing as lightly as a dead leaf falling from a withered branch.

"You finally dared to come out!"

Dan Heng gave no reply.

He raised his left hand, palm upward, and gently gathered his five fingers together.

The water beneath his feet rose in response, a column of water shooting up from the Ancient Sea, coalescing in his palm into a sphere of azure‑gold water, its surface swirling with luminous patterns.

Then he tilted his head slightly toward the rear, toward the spot where the white‑haired Fox Ears girl had stood, speaking in a volume only the two of them could hear.

"You go first. I'll guard this place!"

There was no response behind.

Dan Heng slightly furrowed his brow and glanced aside.

Not a single white fox hair remained on the vacant stone slab floor.

And the Fox Ears girl seemed completely erased from this space, vanishing without a trace.

Dan Heng's eyes widened.

The cold within those ice‑blue glassy pupils cracked open a slit, revealing a defenseless bewilderment underneath.

"…What?"

He instinctively turned his head a few more degrees and scanned again, nothing.

Behind the stone wall, none.

In the direction of the pier, none.

Not even a ripple rose on the water's surface.

The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.

"Did you run that fast?"

At that stunned moment, a red beam sliced in front of his face.

Dan Heng's body moved before his consciousness, the vapor at his waist side exploding outward, propelling him three feet to the left; the crimson blade slashed the ribbon on his right shoulder, cutting away a strip of pale‑blue fabric, the cut end still smoldering from the high heat.

The strip of ribbon twirled twice in the air, and before it could touch the ground, a second red beam cleaved it in half.

The blade's attacks gave no pause.

The moment the first sword missed, he already used the momentum to spin, pulling a short sword from beneath the bandage with his left hand; a red flash traced a horizontal slash in the air, aiming straight at Dan Heng's waist.

The sound of the blade cutting through the mist was as sharp as a whistle, and where it passed, the air itself was scorched, leaving a twisted heat scar.

Dan Heng leaned back, the water sphere arcing upward from below, striking precisely at the guard of the short sword.

The instant the objects collided, a burst of intertwined cyan‑red sparks erupted, the impact thrust both of them several steps backward.

Dan Heng's boot soles left two long white water trails on the surface; using the momentum of his retreat, he lifted half his body upward, re‑establishing his balance in midair.

His jet‑black hair slipped from his shoulders, the tips fading to ink‑green that glowed a faint cold cyan in the Ancient Sea's chill light.

"You have no room to be distracted now!"

The blade's voice came from the mist, laced with a smile.

He stepped out of the mist, each hand wielding a sword; the long and short blades left two parallel red streaks in the air, and where the tips brushed the water's surface, the Ancient Sea's water vaporized into hissing white steam.

The scarlet eyes peeking from the tangled hair shone as if they could drip blood.

"Look at me! Look at me, Yin Yue. The one you're supposed to watch— is me!"

Dan Heng drew his gaze back from the direction of the bare stone wall and locked onto the figure before him, shrouded in black aura.

He remained silent, simply switching the water ball in his left hand to a proper grip while his right hand swept from his waist, sending another water column up from the ancient sea that condensed into a second water ball.

Holding the twin balls, azure‑green markings trailed two chilling Light Arcs through the air.

He drew a deep breath, sealing that brief moment of distraction and the vanished Fox‑Eared girl deep within his consciousness for the time being.

Ren moved.

Twin Swords flashed forth, red light tracing two intersecting arcs in the air, so fast that the naked eye could only catch their afterimages.

Dan Heng raised his twin balls to meet the attack; cyan light and scarlet flare collided, bursting into a visible shockwave that pressed the water surface within ten zhang into a huge depression, driving the ancient sea water outward and revealing a half‑buried stone platform on the seabed.

The water mist shattered into fine droplets that pattered against the two combatants' faces with a soft rustling.

Ren's laughter came in broken bursts amid the clashing of swords, like shattered glass shards.

His attack contained no defensive element; every strike was a reckless, all‑out assault, with wide, sweeping motions that left no regard for how many openings he exposed.