The scorching sun pierced through the thick clouds, casting its rays down from the sky.
Tang San trod the meticulously paved stone path, walking towards the academy while contemplating methods for practicing detached control.
Sunlight dappled the buildings lining the road. Perhaps due to the heat, the light in the air seemed to distort.
As he walked, Tang San glanced at patrons seated under the awnings of tea shops, his mind absentmindedly considering the next stage of his Blue Silver Grass cultivation.
Step by step.
Tang San frowned slightly as he looked at the street, which still seemed long and endless.
Strange... have I been walking slower because I was too engrossed in my cultivation thoughts?
Concealing his doubt, he began to silently count his steps.
A chill crept up his spine, and a thread of unease festered in his heart. Even the warm sunlight seemed to carry a faint, cold aura, like a viper coiling around its prey, flicking its icy tongue, ever ready to strike.
Tang San's eyes narrowed slightly. He blinked slowly, and when he opened them again, his dark pupils were tinged with a hint of purple, so deep that it almost blended seamlessly with the black, making it hard to detect.
With the Purple Demon Eye, which could pierce through all illusions, Tang San instantly pinpointed the anomaly that was out of place on the silent street.
The third jade stone embedded in the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges on his waist emitted a faint glow. The Zhuge Crossbow, forged from fine iron, appeared in his hand, aimed at the patron drinking tea under the sunshade.
"You're the one causing trouble, aren't you?"
He spoke with certainty, his expression stern.
A low chuckle escaped the man's lips. The upper half of the man's face was hidden in the shadow cast by his round hat, making his expression unreadable.
But after Tang San's pronouncement, the surrounding scene froze for a moment. The next second, like colored ink dissolving in clear water, blurring and indistinct, washing away the vibrant colors on a white canvas, the plain-looking man vanished from his seat. By the time he reappeared, he was silently standing thirty meters away from Tang San.
"As expected of Shrek Academy's most outstanding disciple, your vigilance is indeed strong. Unfortunately, it's too late." The middle-aged man with a sinister gaze wore a moon-white soul master robe, with the emblem of "Cang Hui Academy" inscribed on his shoulders.
Tang San, who had a minor scuffle with the Cang Hui Academy's team a couple of days prior when entering, felt a cold glint flash in his eyes. "So it's Teacher Shi Nian from Cang Hui Academy. May I ask what instructions you have for stopping me here?"
Though he asked, Tang San knew even better that Shi Nian's intentions were far from benign!
Shi Nian looked at the genius youth who had showcased his talent in the preliminaries, his eyes revealing intense jealousy and murderous intent. A slight curve formed on his lips, and his hoarse voice reached Tang San's ears, "No instructions, just... that you disappear."
As the last word fell, Shi Nian immediately activated his seventh spirit ability, Nightmare.
Tang San's body trembled. The sudden spiritual pressure caused a throbbing pain in his temples.
Shi Nian's maliciously laced laughter gradually faded from his ears, as if the person had already departed.
Tang San circulated his Profound Heavenly Skill. Without any futile rage or shouts for Shi Nian to get out, he simply sat down on the spot, silent. Dark Blue Silver Grass erupted from the ground, encircling him to form a natural protective barrier.
"Defense? Boy, do you think this will allow you to resist my seventh spirit ability, Nightmare?" Shi Nian's laughter rang out again, echoing in the open space. "Tang San, do you know what brings me the greatest joy in my life? It's watching geniuses like you, soul masters hailed as prodigies, die in agony within my residual dreamscape."
The last syllable trailed off as the surroundings began to distort. Tang San's vision went black. The Blue Silver Grass that had been coiled around him under his mental control vanished from his sight, yet he could still perceive its presence.
Besides that...
Crimson flames leaped in his eyes. Towering peaks, connected by thick, sturdy chains, replaced the verdant forest scenery. Ethereal clouds and mists encircled the solemn, imposing mountains, and traditional, antique buildings stood perched on rugged cliffs.
At this moment, Tang San was not sitting but standing at the edge of a cliff, at the precipice of a cliff he was intimately familiar with from his past life, just one step away from falling into the abyss.
This is...
"Gui Jian Chou?!"
Finding himself once again in a place so familiar that his very soul trembled from his previous life, Tang San's state of mind was severely impacted.
Gui Jian Chou... why was he at Gui Jian Chou?!
Tang San's eyes suddenly widened. For a moment, he forgot what he was doing, all his thoughts consumed by the cliff shrouded in wisps of cloud before him.
Because this place had left too deep, too profound a memory within him.
"Tang San, you have stolen our sect's Profound Heaven Treasure Record. Your sins are heinous."
"Tang San, the Tang Sect raised you and imparted its techniques upon you, yet you have committed such an act that angers both gods and men..."
Voices amplified within Tang San's mind. He turned his head, and behind him, more than ten white figures were becoming clearer, surrounding him, leaving him with no path to retreat.
Each of them, wearing masks bearing the Tang Sect emblem, was an indelible memory for him.
Suddenly, he lowered his head as if sensing something. Tang San clearly saw that his attire had changed. The traditional Chinese character for "Tang" written on his chest told him much.