Chapter 632 - 627: Dark Abyss
Chapter 632: Chapter 627: Dark Abyss
Fang Han gripped the hilt of his sword.
SHING—!
The Wind Shocking Sword was unsheathed.
An incredibly clear sword-song exploded across the open field, drowning out the hiss of the silvery sword light as it tore through the air.
The blade was a faint cyan, as clear as the sky after a rain. In the afternoon sun, a heart-stopping radiance flowed along its length.
The blade’s edge was as thin as a cicada’s wing, yet it exuded an aura of ultimate sharpness, as if it could even slice apart one’s gaze.
The Inner Qi from the Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture inside his body surged at an unprecedented speed, pouring completely into the Wind Shocking Sword.
His Wind Sword Intent was pushed to its absolute limit, and the Void Wind God Sword technique was unleashed without reservation.
A dark-green radiance erupted from the Wind Shocking Sword’s blade, transforming into a near-transparent yet tangible sharpness.
And on top of that, the Wind Shocking Sword, being a Low-Grade Spiritual Soldier, doubled his combat power!
He slashed out.
This slash held no fancy moves, just a simple, direct strike.
But the moment the sword fell—
An utterly terrifying dark-green Sword Qi shot out from the blade’s edge.
The Sword Qi was as condensed as a solid object, its color as clear as an emerald sea.
The air at its edges silently split apart into pitch-black fissures, as if space itself was being torn asunder by the slash.
The moment the silvery-white sword light touched this dark-green Sword Qi, it was split in half as if it were made of paper.
Yi San’s pupils suddenly contracted to the size of a pinprick.
He tried with all his might to dodge, but his body was already in mid-air, with no way to change his momentum.
He could only watch helplessly as the faint cyan Sword Qi sliced through his own sword light and pressed forward.
The next instant—
THUD—!
The dull sound of a blade sinking into flesh echoed across the open field.
The faint-cyan Sword Qi sliced diagonally into Yi San’s left shoulder and continued downward, nearly cleaving his entire body in two.
His gray robes split open silently. The powerful physique he had gained from breaking the Flesh Body Barrier was torn apart like paper. The Sword Qi passed through his body and slammed into the earth behind him.
The ground trembled. A ghastly, bottomless fissure dozens of zhang long appeared on the official road, extending straight into the distance.
COUGH, COUGH—
Yi San’s forward-charging figure froze abruptly in mid-air.
He looked down, struggling to see the ghastly wound on his chest that had nearly split him in two.
Blood gushed from the wound like a fountain, his internal organs churned to a pulp.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only managed a few muffled, gurgling coughs, like air leaking from a tire.
In those unremarkable eyes, the light of life faded quickly, like a candle flame blown out by the wind.
After a final flash of extreme terror and disbelief, his entire body fell backward like a puppet with its strings cut, landing on the ground with a dull thud.
Blood spread rapidly from beneath him, staining the shattered official road a shocking, dark red.
’If my strength hadn’t improved so much recently, this battle would have been dangerous...’
Fang Han stood his ground, his Wind Shocking Sword angled toward the earth, the last drop of blood slowly sliding off its tip.
It dripped onto the official road, which had been torn to shreds by the Sword Qi, kicking up a tiny puff of dust.
His gaze fell upon Yi San’s body, which was nearly cleaved in two. He was silent for a moment before slowly letting out a long breath.
As a Second Stage Martial Artist who had comprehended the Fast Sword Intent—even if it was just a superficial understanding—his opponent’s combat power had surpassed the limits of Breaking the Second Gate, approaching the Grandmaster Realm.
And that Breath Concealment Secret Technique was incredibly strange and unpredictable; he hadn’t detected him until he was within a few dozen meters.
’If I hadn’t reached the Entry Level of the Void Wind God Sword, increasing my swordsmanship’s power by more than tenfold—if my cultivation hadn’t broken through to First Grade, improving the quality and quantity of my Inner Qi and boosting my combat power by another tenfold or more—the outcome of today’s battle might very well have been reversed.’
’Just who was he?’
Fang Han sheathed his sword, returned the Wind Shocking Sword to his Storage Ring, and then walked toward the corpse.
He crouched down and examined Yi San’s face.
He was around forty years old, with no distinguishing features in his brows, eyes, nose, or lips—the kind of face that would disappear into a sea of people.
Fang Han quickly searched his memory, confirming that he had never seen this person before and could not determine which faction had sent him.
He reached out and began to carefully search the corpse for clues to his identity.
His fingertips touched a slight bulge in the man’s robes. Reaching inside, he pulled out three Jade Bottles.
He uncorked them and sniffed—two bottles contained elixirs for cultivation, and one held a Healing Elixir. None were of a low grade.
Fang Han put the Jade Bottles into his Storage Ring and continued his search.
A moment later, his fingertips brushed against a hard, cold object at the corpse’s waist.
He took it out and examined it in his palm.
It was a Jade Token about half the size of his palm. It was pitch-black, with a cold, heavy texture that gave off a faint, sinister chill to the touch.
On the front of the Jade Token, two simple, ancient words were carved in a dark font—
"Yi San."
’Yi San... is this his codename?’
Fang Han’s gaze fell on those two words, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
He flipped the Jade Token over. The back was carved with a symbol—a pitch-black abyss.
Around the edge of the abyss were countless hairline engravings, like innumerable ghostly claws reaching out from the depths, exuding an indescribable, sinister eeriness.
Fang Han’s expression suddenly changed.
Yi San.
The abyss symbol.
These two clues combined reminded him of something he had once read in the sect’s records.
"Dark Abyss..."
He muttered these two words, his voice tinged with an irrepressible gravity.
It was an assassin organization that operated in the underworld of multiple counties, extremely mysterious and terrifying.
Unlike ordinary factions, they didn’t have a sect or territory; instead, they hid in the dark, like vipers lurking in the shadows.
From the sect leaders of top-level factions down to common Martial Artists, anyone could become their target, as long as someone could afford the price.
What was most feared was the rumor that the Dark Abyss had Grandmaster Level assassins among its ranks.
’Someone posted a contract in the Dark Abyss for my assassination!’
Fang Han’s fingers holding the Jade Token tightened slightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
There was no mistake.
This Jade Token was definitely the Identity Token of a Dark Abyss assassin.
Someone had posted a contract in the Dark Abyss for his assassination.
An indescribable sense of crisis surged from the bottom of his heart like an icy tide, instantly spreading to his limbs.
Although this assassination had failed, the matter was far from over.
The Dark Abyss might not have a "fight to the death" policy, but they would never halt an assassination simply because of one failure.
’Which faction posted the assassination contract?’
Fang Han took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and began to speculate which faction had posted the contract with the Dark Abyss.
The first one that came to mind was the Netherworld Pavilion.
The Qingxuan Sect and the Netherworld Pavilion had a long-standing feud, and their open and hidden clashes had never ceased.
More than one True Inheritor, Steward, and even Elder from the Netherworld Pavilion had already fallen at his hands.
The Netherworld Pavilion had more than enough motive and financial resources to issue such a contract.
The second suspect was Thunderlight Pavilion.
Lei Zheng and his two companions had died at his hands. Although he had erased all traces of the battle, he couldn’t guarantee that Thunderlight Pavilion’s investigation wouldn’t uncover the truth.
The White Tiger Demon’s features were too distinct, and many people had seen it. To completely erase all traces, he would have had to slaughter the hundreds of people in that city who had seen it.
But a person must have their limits. Without them, what was the difference between a man and a beast? He truly couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing.
If Thunderlight Pavilion investigated and found that he was connected to the disappearance of Lei Zheng’s group, it was also possible that they would issue an assassination contract in retaliation.
The third possibility was sects like the Lingyun Sword Sect, the Overlord Blade Sect, and the Vajra Temple, which were also located in Qingyang County along with the Qingxuan Sect.
Although the Qingxuan Sect’s relationship with these sects was decent, competition was inevitable since they all resided in the same county.
As the number one figure of the younger generation in the Qingxuan Sect and even all of Qingyang County, his death would undoubtedly be a devastating blow to the Qingxuan Sect.
There were even other factions he had offended, or those he had overshadowed at the Martial Arts Assembly, who also had a motive.
There were simply too many suspects.
The hand Fang Han used to hold the Jade Token slowly lowered, his handsome face a mask of shifting expressions.
’This isn’t the time to be thinking about this!’
After a long while, Fang Han finally calmed the turmoil in his heart. There were many suspects, but now was not the time to consider them.
His gaze swept over the silver-gray longsword that had fallen to the ground beside the corpse.
The sword looked very ordinary, just like Yi San’s face—it would never attract any attention if thrown into a pile of Weapons.
But Fang Han knew that a weapon used by an expert of Yi San’s caliber could not be ordinary.
He bent down, picked up the longsword, and flicked the blade lightly with his fingertip.
DING—
The blade emitted a crisp, melodious hum. The sound was clear and pure, without the slightest impurity.
His gaze fell upon the blade.
The blade was slender and incomparably sharp. Even after the violent clash just now, its edge had no nicks or cracks.
’A Middle Grade Magical Soldier.’
Fang Han came to a conclusion. This had to be a sword that had reached the Middle Grade Magical Soldier level.
His Cloud Splitting Sword was already shattered. The Wind Shocking Sword could double his combat power, but its might was so astonishing that he couldn’t show it to others casually.
This sword was of a high grade and could serve as a perfect replacement for the Cloud Splitting Sword in his daily battles.
’Now that the Dark Abyss is targeting me, what’s my next move?’
Fang Han’s first thought was to immediately return to the Qingxuan Sect.
The Sect had a Grandmaster watching over it; no matter how brazen the Dark Abyss was, they wouldn’t dare attack the sect’s gates directly.
But just as he was about to move, he stopped. The Dark Abyss was strong, but there was no need to panic.
Yi San was dead. The Dark Abyss wouldn’t know the mission had failed for a short while.
Even if the Dark Abyss learned of the failure and immediately dispatched a new assassin, it would take a considerable amount of time to mobilize and travel.
This much was easy to deduce. The dead assassin’s codename, "Yi San," was a very high rank, which was enough to show that there were not many assassins of his caliber.
’I can definitely take care of the engagement before the Dark Abyss has time to react...’
Fang Han estimated that the time between the Dark Abyss discovering the failure and a new assassin arriving would be enough for him to handle the engagement and return to the Sect.
And if he didn’t handle the engagement before the Dark Abyss reacted, as someone targeted by them, he probably wouldn’t get another chance to leave the Sect for a long time.
’Even if a new assassin arrives faster than expected, with my current strength, it’s not as if I can’t handle them!’
The main reason Fang Han dared to make such a decision was his own strength.
Although the Dark Abyss had Grandmaster Level assassins, killers of that level would not be mobilized lightly, and the bounty for the contract was very unlikely to be high enough to hire one.
After discovering the failed assassination, the new assassin sent by the Dark Abyss would most likely be stronger than Yi San, but not at the Grandmaster Level.
With his current strength, as long as it wasn’t a Grandmaster attacking, he was confident he could hold his own.