Li Xun shook his still-dazed head and stopped bothering to hide. Straightening up, he stood a little behind and to the side of Yin Wanderer, looking down from over her shoulder.

A murmur spread through the valley, and dozens of eyes turned sharply toward him.

But the only one who actually looked at Li Xun was Luo Yuji. Everyone else had their eyes locked on Yin Wanderer, their stares sharp as blades, filled with hatred so fierce they looked ready to tear her apart right then and there.

And who could blame them? Back in the day, the “One Emperor, Two Lords, and Five Marquises” of the Three Emperors Sword Sect were figures of unmatched glory, dominating the realm with no rival in sight. Then Yin Wanderer appeared out of nowhere. And with a flick of her hand, turned one of their mighty “Heavenly Monarch” into a madman.

If that had been the end of it, perhaps the wound would have healed. But in the centuries that followed, even though the sect was still filled with powerful masters, not one of them could do a thing to the murderer.

That kind of stain, on a legacy a thousand years in the making, was like a blot of ink on white silk. Impossible to ignore.

Yin Wanderer, of course, couldn’t have cared less.

From her high vantage point, she looked down into the valley, ignoring everyone else as if they didn’t exist. She smiled slightly. “You toothless old tiger,” she said to the cultivator, “shouldn’t you be back in Glazed Heaven chanting sutras instead of howling like a stray ghost out here? What are you after?”

The cultivator glanced around at his companions, whose emotions were clearly running high. A look of pure frustration crossed his unremarkable face.

“Fellow Daoist Yin,” he said, “it’s one thing for you to come and go like a ghost all these years; but must you always turn every meeting into some narrow-road drama?”

Yin Wanderer smiled without answering. Instead, he turned his head and gestured toward Li Xun. “You see him?” he said. “That devout believer before you, don’t underestimate him. A few thousand years ago, he was a butcher of countless lives, a demon who threw the whole realm into chaos.”

Of course… Li Xun finally realized who this unassuming, low-key cultivator was.

A man who had spent the first half of his life steeped in blood, and the second half in sincere devotion to the Buddha. There was only one such figure in the history of the Tongxuan Realm:

The Winged Flying Tiger who once rampaged across the world, now the guardian of the Western Zen Sect’s mountain gate. Ban Cheng the Lay Monk.

Looking at the title he bore now, who would ever believe that he too, just like the Demon Phoenix and Shui Die Lan, was once counted among the Seven Demons of the World?

Since Li Xun had come prepared, his expression remained calm. He stepped forward half a pace and bowed. “This junior, Hundred Ghosts, greets the honored the Lay Monk.”

This left no doubt in anyone's mind that there was something going on between him and Yin Wanderer.

What puzzled him was his own “fate” with the Seven Demons.

To ordinary cultivators, each of the Seven Demons was a being of terrifying power. So elusive that most would never even glimpse one in their entire lives. And if they did, the meeting rarely ended well.

Yet somehow, he had already met six of the seven, and not only survived, but even formed rather close ties with several of them.

Could this really be what people call “destiny”?

The thought made him chuckle to himself. As for how that smile looked to the cultivators down in the valley. That was none of his concern.

“So this is Hundred Ghosts… You’re quite different from what those little monks described. Hmm, and not nearly as hideous as Yuji’s child made you out to be.”

Ban Cheng the Lay Monk nodded, cnot even a bit fazed by Yin Wanderer’s teasing. Then he chuckled. “But I call myself a Daoist, and yet a Daoist woman shows up instead. What sort of trick are you playing this time, Fellow Yin?”

Yin Wanderer gave her whisk a small flick and smiled back. “You, a once-mighty demon, went off to Glazed Heaven just to serve as a humble temple guardian; many say you’ve wasted your talent. But today, I’m serving as a guardian myself. Tell me, what do you make of that?”

Everyone else thought she was joking or trying to provoke a fight, but Li Xun could hear the self-mockery in her words.

Still, Ban Cheng’s response was just as intriguing. He clapped his hands lightly. “Just from that one line, I can tell your cultivation has deepened. If the old Sect Master could have said something like this back then, the Yin-Yang Sect today would be a very different place.”

At those words, Li Xun could clearly sense a faint stir within Yin Wanderer’s heart.

But not a trace of it showed on her face. She only shook her head with a slight smile. “The tiger’s lost its teeth, but its mouth has gotten sweeter. Pity, though. While your words sound nice to me, the bunch of useless fools around you clearly don’t feel the same. You’re so busy looking ahead you forget what’s behind. Seems like all that vegetarian food from the Western Zen Sect fills the belly but not the brain.”

The hot-tempered Dongyang Hermit drew his sword with a ringing sound. “Yin Chonghua!” he shouted. “Your arrogant days are over! Today, I’ll settle the score for what you did to my second brother back then. Get down here and die!”

As his roar echoed, even those who hadn’t drawn their blades before unsheathed them now. The air was thick with the tension of an impending battle.

Idiots... Li Xun clenched his teeth. A man could be reckless, but this was beyond stupid.

With that one shout, all the atmosphere the Lay Monk had carefully built collapsed in an instant. All his good intentions went to waste. Once the two grandmasters of the True One realm started fighting for real, anyone nearby who got caught in it would have no one to blame but themselves.

Yin Wanderer’s eyes swept over Dongyang Hermit, cold enough to pierce bone. She hadn’t struck yet, but the murderous pressure radiating from her made Dongyang instinctively draw in his breath and brace himself.

The very air grew taut, and the valley echoing with the shriek of sword qi. A killing aura spread in every direction.

Just as the fight was about to break out, the Lay Monk let out a quiet sigh. No doubt exasperated by Dongyang Hermit’s impulsiveness.

Still, after thousands of years of ascetic practice, his composure was second nature. He quickly steadied his mind, his face returning to its usual calm and gentle expression.

In the frozen tension of the moment, his voice sounded especially soft. “If the Buddha were here, he would remind us that revenge only breeds more revenge. But alas, I lack the Buddha’s great compassion. I can’t dissolve this conflict with a wave of the hand; and I won’t stand by and do nothing either. Fellow Daoist Yin, it’s been a long time since we last exchanged a few moves. How about we take this chance today?”

Smiles flickered unconsciously across the faces of Dongyang Hermit and the others.

This was their greatest source of confidence in daring to challenge Yin Wanderer.

Yin Wanderer was formidable, yes. But the title “Winged Flying Tiger” wasn’t for nothing. With him taking the lead and several other experts ready to assist, their odds of victory today looked very good.

From high above, Li Xun chuckled coldly.

Yin Wanderer cast the faintest glance in his direction before smiling. “Very well. You may not have mastered the Buddha’s divine powers, but you’ve certainly picked up his sanctimonious airs. I suppose this is your version of ‘If I don’t go to hell, who will’? Tell me, is it really worth it... for a bunch of useless trash like them?”

The words carried a hint of truce. But only someone with sense would have caught it.

Just as the Lay Monk’s expression eased a little, Dongyang Hermit took offense.

Fueled by his hot-blooded temper, he let out a furious roar and shot skyward on his sword. Dragon Madman beside him tried to grab him but couldn’t; he just grunted and followed him up.

A flash of icy light gleamed in Yin Wanderer’s eyes. Ever since her rebirth, nothing had gone smoothly for her, and now, finally, she had a chance to vent her anger. How could she possibly turn it down?

She shifted her body just slightly, letting the sword’s edge pass by, then countered straight for her opponent’s vital point.

The move itself was simple, yet the ease and grace with which she moved through the raging tide of sword qi spoke volumes about the vast gulf in power between them.

The air thrummed with a deep, vibrating hum as Dragon Madman closed in behind.

That broad sword shot straight out from Dongyang Hermit’s shoulder. Its sword aura was vast and forceful, even stronger than Dongyang Hermit’s own. In steadiness and skill, it far surpassed him.

Dongyang Hermit, for all his recklessness, did have real ability. Seeing his senior brother come to his aid, he turned with him, their sword auras merging seamlessly, their movements perfectly in sync.

A flash crossed Yin Wanderer’s eyes, and she moved like a mountain spring flowing over stone. With a perfectly timed twist, she slipped right through the tiniest gap in their combined sword aura.

The abrupt shift in the flow of qi was so jarring it almost made the two swordsmen gag. Their sword momentum faltered on their own.

Had Yin Wanderer countered in that moment, at least one of them would have been seriously injured. Maybe worse.

But as she slipped out of the swirling field of sword qi, she suddenly shot upward, soaring straight into the sky and passing right by the two of them.

By then, sweat had already soaked through the back of Dragon Madman’s robe. When he turned his head, he saw a gray-robed man silently rising into the air.

A low Buddhist chant echoed through the sky. In that brief instant of transition, Ban Cheng had already exchanged a move with Yin Wanderer.

Both swordsmen froze for a heartbeat. There wasn’t much visible disturbance in the surrounding qi, yet everyone present felt their breath catch and their skin tighten. Only when they shifted into a deeper breathing rhythm did the pressure ease a little.

From above came Yin Wanderer’s sigh. “Back in the day, when the Tiger-Soul Demon Blade roared like the wind, what a sight it was. So bold, so fierce. And now it’s nothing but withered wood chanting scriptures. Those bald donkeys from Glazed Heaven really did have their schemes.”

Her wrist flicked. The horsetail whisk swept out, and silver threads poured down like rain. The dazzling light and sharp hiss split the air, shattering the heavy pressure that had just weighed down on everyone.

Though those on the ground knew this “Silver Thread Rain” was not aimed at them, they couldn’t help but stir nervously in the face of such a fierce, unstoppable attack.

Hu Buli, the “Azure Skies Guest,” frowned deeply at the sight.

When True One grandmasters cross hands, the shifts in qi would change a thousand times in an instant, and even a stray blow could prove deadly. No one could say when disaster might strike.

The wisest choice now would be to step back to a safe distance. But if he did that, wouldn’t it mean pushing off a mess of their own making onto someone else’s shoulders?

No matter how it ends, the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect’s reputation was bound to take a serious hit this time. Dongyang really messed things up. Reckless beyond belief!

As he thought this, he stepped forward to shield Luo Yuji. But the young lady behind him was clearly someone who didn’t know her limits. Seeing how cautious he was, she grew impatient.

“Uncle Hu, since Uncle Hu the Tiger is keeping that Yin Wanderer busy, this is the perfect chance to teach that Hundred Ghosts guy a lesson. Why are we hiding like this? What sense does that make?”

Hu Buli gave a bitter smile. He hadn’t even figured out how to respond when Luo Yuji shouted again, “Hundred Ghosts is running away! Uncle, we have to go after them!”