Chapter 44: Shadowy Murder Plot? I'll Just Raid Their Nest!

The threat of the Shadow Pavilion was like a sharp sword hanging over his head, and Lin Xuan would naturally not sit and wait for death. Passive defense was not his style; taking the initiative to nip danger in the bud was his guiding principle.

He did not leave the Four Seas Pavilion, as it was the safest place for the moment. However, he knew that the Shadow Pavilion's assassins were pervasive, skilled in lurking and delivering one-hit kills; waiting for them to come to his door was far too passive.

"Since the Zhao family has hired the Shadow Pavilion, then I shall start with these 'shadows'." Lin Xuan already had a plan in mind.

First, through Qian Duoduo, he used the channels of the Four Seas Trading Firm to purchase, at a high price, the most detailed intelligence available regarding the Shadow Pavilion. Although the Shadow Pavilion was mysterious, their style of operation, habitual methods, and some unsolved cases suspected to be related to them were not entirely without traces among top-tier powers.

Combining the intelligence with his own analysis, Lin Xuan arrived at several key points:

1. Immense patience: Shadow Pavilion assassins are skilled at waiting for the optimal moment, potentially lurking for days or even months.

2. Expert at disguise: They may disguise themselves as anyone—beggars, peddlers, or even... low-level servants of the Four Seas Pavilion.

3. Pursuit of efficiency: Once an opportunity is confirmed, they strike as fast as lightning, aiming for a one-hit kill; if they fail, they flee a thousand miles away.

4. Always have a backup plan: Important missions usually involve a handler or an observer.

"To lure the snake out of its hole, one must create an opportunity they believe is 'foolproof'," Lin Xuan mused. A target who has just experienced a great battle, might be relaxed, or is about to leave a safe house best fits an assassin's expectations.

He decided to use a two-pronged approach.

On the surface, he had Qian Duoduo spread the word that "Elder Mu Xuan," having gained some insights, would head to the "Luoxia Lake" on the outskirts of the city in three days to undergo closed-door meditation for several days. Luoxia Lake had a serene environment but was not a blessed land, and it was a certain distance from the Four Seas Pavilion, fitting the expectations of being "relaxed" and "leaving the safe house."

In secret, Lin Xuan himself, relying on the Turtle Breath Technique, the Shadow Stealth Art, and the system's deep disguise, quietly left the Four Seas Pavilion without alerting anyone. The place he was going to was a secret stronghold of the Nether Sect in the slums of the western district of the Imperial Capital, which the system had previously detected! He wanted to take advantage of the Shadow Pavilion's attention being drawn to "Luoxia Lake" to first pull out this Nether Sect nail, and incidentally... see if he could find clues related to the Shadow Pavilion, or give the Zhao family a "surprise"!

The night was deep in the western district of the Imperial Capital. It was completely different from the prosperity of the eastern district; sewage flowed everywhere, buildings were low and dilapidated, and the air was filled with the scent of poverty and chaos.

Like a ghost in the dark night, Lin Xuan followed the coordinates locked by the system and silently infiltrated a seemingly abandoned courtyard. The courtyard had a hidden world underground, covered by a simple array. The interior space was not large and was filled with a faint, deathly aura of the Nether. A Nether Sect cultivator at the early stage of Jin Dan was meditating inside, clearly lurking there to pass on messages or receive accomplices.

Lin Xuan did not give him any chance to react. With "Shrinking Ground to an Inch" to close the distance and the "Nine-Turn Thunder Gang Body" erupting, he shattered the cultivator's protective spiritual light with a single punch. Amidst the cultivator's horrified gaze, he crushed his throat and simultaneously forced his powerful spiritual sense into the cultivator's sea of consciousness to perform soul-searching!

Due to the disparity in cultivation and the fact that the opponent's mind was caught off guard, the soul-searching proceeded quickly. Fragmented memories flooded into Lin Xuan's mind: one-way contact with superiors, receiving vague instructions from the direction of the Black Wind Mountain Range, monitoring the movements of the Imperial Capital... and, most importantly—an instruction regarding a handover with the "Shadows"! Tomorrow night, at the abandoned wharf in the southern part of the city, he was to hand over a batch of "supplies" and follow-up instructions to a Shadow Pavilion envoy codenamed "Shadow Bat"!

"So there is collusion!" A cold light flashed in Lin Xuan's eyes. He casually collected the valuable items and the Nether token representing the cultivator's identity, then used a true fire to burn the corpse and all traces clean.

The next day, news that "Mu Xuan" would head to Luoxia Lake for closed-door meditation indeed spread in a small circle. Lin Xuan could vaguely feel that the hidden, watchful eyes around the Four Seas Pavilion seemed to have become a bit more active.

He remained hidden in the shadows, like the most patient hunter.

Night fell once again. At the abandoned wharf in the southern part of the city, the moonlight was obscured by thick dark clouds, and only the sound of the river water lapping against the shore added to the eeriness.

Lin Xuan had long since used his concealment abilities to lurk in the shadow of a huge, abandoned wooden crate at the wharf, his "Eye of Truth" operating silently as he observed his surroundings.

Just past the hour of the Rat, a figure that had almost merged with the darkness glided over like a bat and landed in the open space of the wharf. The person was shrouded in a black robe, their aura restrained to the extreme; had it not been for the "Eye of Truth," even a peak Jin Dan cultivator would have found it hard to detect them. It was the Shadow Pavilion envoy codenamed "Shadow Bat," with a cultivation at the mid-stage of Jin Dan, but possessing excellent concealment and speed.

He looked around vigilantly, holding a black storage bag in his hand.

A moment later, another figure quietly emerged from the river water, soaked through but not a drop of water clinging to them; it was a Jin Dan early-stage death warrior from the Zhao family.

The two did not speak, simply approaching with a tacit understanding to hand over the storage bag.

Just at this moment—

"You two, it's the dead of night, why are you meeting in private here?"

A calm voice rang out abruptly in the deathly silent wharf, startling the Zhao family death warrior into a tremor! Shadow Bat's pupils shrank, and without a second thought, he retreated violently, intending to merge into the darkness and escape!

However, it was already too late!

Lin Xuan's figure appeared on Shadow Bat's retreat path like a ghost, without any warning! The terror of the minor completion of "Shrinking Ground to an Inch" was displayed to the fullest at this moment!

"Stay!"

Lin Xuan pointed his fingers like a sword, condensing chaotic spiritual power. A grey sword aura struck first despite being launched later, piercing straight toward Shadow Bat's heart! The sword aura looked unremarkable, yet it contained an aura that could annihilate everything!

Shadow Bat was terrified. In his haste, he turned back, two poisoned pitch-black daggers sliding from his sleeves to cross and block!

*Chi—!*

The grey sword aura struck the daggers, and those high-grade daggers were easily pierced through like rotten wood! The sword aura continued unabated, instantly penetrating Shadow Bat's chest!

"Pfft!" Shadow Bat spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief. He felt his life force being rapidly extinguished by a strange power! "You... you are not Mu Xuan! Who exactly are you?!" he hissed, the opponent's methods completely exceeding the intelligence description!

Lin Xuan did not answer at all. His figure moved again, already behind the Zhao family death warrior who was attempting to jump into the river to escape. With a similar hand-blade strike containing the power of the Thunder Gang, he directly broke the warrior's cervical spine!

In the blink of an eye, two Jin Dan cultivators—one dead, one severely injured!

Lin Xuan picked up the severely injured, dying Shadow Bat and the corpse of the Zhao family death warrior like he was carrying two small chickens, and quickly disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind only a faint scent of blood at the wharf, which was soon blown away by the river breeze.

Inside a secret cave far from the wharf, Lin Xuan performed soul-searching on Shadow Bat. The souls of Shadow Pavilion assassins were all set with restrictions, making soul-searching extremely difficult and dangerous, but with the assistance of the system's power, Lin Xuan still forcibly stripped away some fragmented information:

·Confirmed that the Zhao family's Third Master (the uncle of Zhao Lie) placed the order through an intermediary, paying a high price to hire the Shadow Pavilion to assassinate "Mu Xuan."

·The Shadow Pavilion initially assessed the target as "Danger Level," and had dispatched the gold-medal assassin "Ghost Blade" (late-stage Jin Dan, skilled in concealment and breaking defenses) to execute this mission.

·"Ghost Blade" had arrived in the Imperial Capital today and was gathering intelligence on the target, looking for the best time to strike. The news about Luoxia Lake had already been learned by him.

·Shadow Bat's mission this time, besides handing over resources to the Zhao family, was to deliver an "Array-Breaking Nail" capable of briefly interfering with and weakening arrays to Ghost Blade.

Lin Xuan searched Shadow Bat and found the pitch-black "Array-Breaking Nail" covered in strange patterns, along with some of the Shadow Pavilion's special poisons and communication talismans.

"Ghost Blade... gold-medal assassin... Array-Breaking Nail..." Lin Xuan weighed the nail in his hand, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

His original plan was to pull out the nails and create a distraction. But now, a bolder and more thorough plan took shape in his mind.

He completely disposed of the bodies of Shadow Bat and the Zhao family death warrior, and with the "Array-Breaking Nail" and the communication talisman found on Shadow Bat specifically for one-way contact with "Ghost Blade," he returned to the vicinity of the Four Seas Pavilion to lurk.

The next day was the day "Mu Xuan" was to head to Luoxia Lake.

At the gate of the Four Seas Pavilion, a cultivator wearing the green robes Lin Xuan usually wore, sporting a bamboo hat, and with an aura simulated to look like Lin Xuan (disguised by a guest elder of the firm who was skilled in such matters, found by Qian Duoduo), boarded a carriage surrounded by several firm guards and headed toward Luoxia Lake on the outskirts of the city in a grand procession.

All of this naturally fell into the eyes of countless secret observers.

Lin Xuan's true self, like the most patient hunter, hid on the only path from the Four Seas Pavilion to Luoxia Lake, his "Eye of Truth" operating at full power, searching for traces of the gold-medal assassin "Ghost Blade."

He believed that faced with this "seemingly perfect" assassination opportunity, especially with the target leaving the protection of the Four Seas Pavilion's array, Ghost Blade would never miss it!

Sure enough, when the convoy reached a stretch of forest road with relatively few people, Lin Xuan keenly captured a trace of an extremely faint, obscure fluctuation in the shadow of an ancient tree to his side, which was completely out of place with the surrounding environment!

The fluctuation was hidden extremely deep, almost merging with the tree's shadow; had it not been for the "Eye of Truth's" ability to see through falsehoods, it would have been impossible to detect!

"Found you!" Lin Xuan's eyes sharpened.

He did not act immediately, but quietly circled to the back of the ancient tree, approaching silently like a king in the shadows.

Just as the fake convoy passed below, and the fluctuation in the ancient tree's shadow slightly condensed, the moment before the killing intent was about to erupt—

Lin Xuan moved!

He did not attack, but instead used a clever technique with the "Array-Breaking Nail" obtained from Shadow Bat, mixing in chaotic spiritual power, and shot it with extreme precision toward the core of that shadow like a hidden weapon! At the same time, he simulated Shadow Bat's soul fluctuation and sent a very brief, panic-filled thought to the shadow through the one-way communication talisman:

"Lord Ghost Blade! It's a trap! Run!"

This move could be called a stroke of genius!

That shadow (Ghost Blade) was preparing to launch a thunderous strike at the convoy below, his mind completely locked onto the target. Caught off guard by receiving a warning from his "companion," and feeling the aura of an "Array-Breaking Nail" specifically designed to target arrays and protective spiritual light attacking from behind, he was instantly thrown into chaos!

He subconsciously assumed the trap had been exposed, and his companion had been forced to issue a warning and intervene against pursuers!

Just that split second of hesitation and distraction—

For Lin Xuan, it was already enough!

"Shrinking Ground to an Inch"! Close the distance!

"Nine-Turn Thunder Gang Body"! Power erupts!

Chaotic spiritual power! Annihilation characteristic!

"Die!"

Lin Xuan's fist, wrapped in pale golden thunder gang and grey chaotic air currents, as if crossing the distance of space, landed solidly on the shadow's back before it could fully condense into a physical form!

"Pfft—!"

A sound like tearing leather rang out!

The shadow shield around Ghost Blade, capable of withstanding a full-force strike from a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator, shattered like paper under the erosion of the chaotic spiritual power! The violent force penetrated his body, instantly shattering his heart meridians!

He struggled to turn his head, only to see a pair of cold, ruthless eyes and that slightly ordinary young face.

"You... are not... Mu Xuan..." he made a rattling sound in his throat, filled with unwillingness and disbelief. Until his death, he did not understand why the target would appear behind him and possess such terrifying, strange power.

"Of course I am," Lin Xuan said calmly, his chaotic spiritual power erupting completely, shattering the assassin's internal organs and even his Jin Dan into dust!

The Shadow Pavilion's gold-medal assassin, the late-stage Jin Dan Ghost Blade, was killed in seconds by Lin Xuan in a single encounter, using intentional calculation against the unsuspecting, relying on an information gap and absolute crushing strength!

Quickly cleaning up the battlefield, he collected Ghost Blade's storage ring and the recovered Array-Breaking Nail, and turned the corpse into ashes as well.

After doing all this, Lin Xuan acted as if he had done a trivial matter, his figure once again hiding in the darkness as he quietly returned to the Four Seas Pavilion.

And at this moment, the fake convoy heading to Luoxia Lake had just arrived at its destination, knowing nothing.

Not long after, in the Shadow Pavilion's mission hall, the life jade slips representing "Ghost Blade" and "Shadow Bat" shattered one after another.

When the news spread, the interior of the Shadow Pavilion was shaken! Losing two Jin Dan cultivators at once, including a gold-medal assassin, was extremely rare in recent years! The danger level of the target "Mu Xuan" was instantly raised to "Extremely High"!

After the Zhao family's Third Master received the news, he was shocked and furious, and also felt a hint of fear! That Mu Xuan was actually this terrifying?! Even the Shadow Pavilion's gold-medal assassin had fallen?

Through this battle, Lin Xuan not only resolved a fatal assassination attempt but also severely damaged the arrogance of the Shadow Pavilion and the Zhao family, revealing his ruthless, decisive methods and unfathomable strength to all those lurking in the shadows!

The waters of the Imperial Capital became even murkier and more dangerous because of his counter-attack this time.

(End of Chapter 44)