On the top floor of the overseer's castle, Lord Kai kneeled before an old man wearing luxurious red robes. A black sash was wrapped around the robe that had a silver crest inscribed with the surname Tao.

This old man was Tao Mu, elder of the Tao Clan and overseer of the border between the Storm Province and the Tang Province!

"Tao Kai, what happened out there for you to return with such serious wounds? From the looks of things, you seem to have barely escaped with your life." Tao Mu said with concern in his voice.

"Yes father, in order to escape I had to sacrifice a portion of my soul. Initially, I believed that the intruders were two Spirit Waking cultivators and a peak Spirit Manifestation cultivator like myself. However, it turns out that one of them is actually at the Virtue Seeking realm."

"Hmm... There are many Virtue Seeking cultivators in the Tang Province. Could you identify which clan they were from?"

"I'm afraid not. All I know is that she is a female cultivator in her early twenties at most. However, for someone so young her battle prowess is unparalleled. Even if I had my bag of holding with me, I still do not think I would have won. If it wasn't for the Golden Bull Wrist Guards given to us by the Tang Clan I would not have survived." Tao Kai had a grateful expression on his face as he gazed at the golden wrist guards fastened to both his arms.

Tao Mu's eyes narrowed.

"A Virtue Seeking cultivator in their early twenties? Perhaps even younger? Talent such as this cannot be some unknown genius."

"Tao Kai, use as many resources as necessary to find the identity of this girl. If a person such as this continues to remain unknown, there will likely be grave consequences for us in the future."

"..."

"What is it? Why are you so silent? Even though your cultivation has taken significant damage, I still hold a decent position with the Tang. I will make sure you receive the best treatment possible and ensure you maintain the respect and authority you have always had."

"Father, we do not need to do anything to get that girl to reveal herself. In fact, you will probably be able to see her yourself."

"Oh? What makes you say such a thing?"

Boom~

The entire castle shook as the sound of a massive explosion could be heard coming from the main gate. Shouts of panic echoed throughout the fortress as countless guards mobilized to investigate the cause.

Tao Kai let out a deep sigh as if he knew this was going to happen.

"Because she has come to us..."

Veins of rage popped out of Tao Mu's forehead.

"Courting death! This girl believes she can take over my domain with the help of two Spirit Waking cultivators?"

Spreading his spiritual sense over the entire fortress, Tao Mu sent out a voice transmission that was heard by every single cultivator in the area.

"Everyone, this is command from your Lord Overseer! There are three intruders that have entered the castle, two Spirit Waking and one Virtue Seeking! I do not care how they are dealt with, you will be rewarded either way. If they are brought to me alive, the reward will be greater, but if not so be it!"

At the front gate of the castle, bodies and rubble littered the ground as Yin Hui and Yu Zhuwa made their way inside. Most of the guards outside were in the Impurity Cleansing realm and thus stood no chance against them. Once they were all dead, Yin Hui used the Evil Fiend Devouring Technique to extract their souls. Just from the front gate alone, he had already acquired fifty souls.

"Aren't Impurity Cleansing cultivators basically mortals still? Since we're planning to leave the province do we really need to kill them?" Yu Zhuwa asked. He understood why the top figures of the outpost needed to die, but felt sympathy for the lower ranking members who were just following orders.

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"Yu Zhuwa, when fighting against an enemy you must be thorough. Immortals, mortals, men, women, children, they are all the same. Pull the weeds from their roots and you will never have to watch your back."

Yu Zhuwa had a depressed look on his face.

"It's just so ruthless. Is there really no other way?"

"This is the world we live in. The quicker you accept it, the better. Now come. We need to attract more attention for Su Jia. The inside of the castle is full of shadows for you to take advantage of. Even though the sun is still out, there are plenty of places for you to hide and ambush."

"Alright..." Yu Zhuwa entered a large shadow cast over the ceiling and began to travel through it.

"That's right... This is how the world works. I am living proof of that. When my clan was brought to near extermination I can't imagine how many innocence were slaughtered. They may have missed a couple roots, but I will not. When the time comes for the Tang Clan to fall, I will eliminate every single being born with the surname Tang." Yin Hui muttered. He pictured the faces of Tang Jiao and Tang Bian. No matter what, he declared in his heart that he would not be able to share the same sky as them. Either they would fall before him, or he would die trying.

However, when thinking of Tang Jiao, Yin Hui also thought of Tang Li as well.

"I forgot... Tang Li is also a member of the Tang Clan. When the time comes, what will I do..."

Since they first met, Tang Li had always been Yin Hui's sole friend and benefactor. If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have even became a cultivator in the first place.

"Will I really have to kill Tang Li...? What would that make me in the end?"

"Big brother look out!"

Hearing the warning, Yin Hui immediately ducked his head. A fireball the size of a large basket flew over him and destroyed a piece of rubble outside. Forty meters in front of him were three male cultivators, each carrying a different weapon. One had a sword, another had a bow, and the last carried a small fan.

"It looks like his reflexes are pretty good." The cultivator wielding the fan said.

"He was warned by someone. Considering how this person didn't take action against us and called out to his friend instead, it is safe to assume he is not the Virtue Seeking cultivator." Said the man carrying the sword.

"Strange. The intruder before us has spiritual sense, which implies he has achieved the third aspect. However, his actual qi reserves are that of a second aspect Spirit Waking cultivator." The bow cultivator said with a puzzled expression.

"Don't mind the details, this is a great opportunity for us! So what if the intruders have bizarre techniques and cultivation? They are still Spirit Waking cultivators! We are at its peak and should have no trouble taking down those in the same realm as us! Get them quickly before anyone else arrives! You two look for the other one, I'll take down the one right in front of us!"

The man with the sword broke off from the group and began charging down the hall towards Yin Hui.

As the man approached him, Yin Hui took out the broadsword from his bag of holding. The sword cultivator swung down hard onto Yin Hui, who assumed a defensive stance and met the blade with his own. The attack was so powerful that the floor beneath his feet cracked when he blocked the strike.

Due to the difference in qi reserves, his opponent's attacks were much stronger and faster than his own. Therefore, Yin Hui was mostly on the defensive the entire time. Knowing that being on the receiving end of such powerful swings would eventually tire him out, he created some distance between him and his opponent.

"Ha! I wonder why a Virtue Seeking cultivator would bring such trash with them. Did they really think that just because we are in the outskirts that all the cultivators would be weak?"

Laughing, the sword cultivator tried to take a step forward, but found that his feet wouldn't move. He looked down and noticed that the ground itself had transformed into vines that wrapped around his ankles.

Woosh~

A blast of pressurized air came from the ceiling above him, shattering the earthen vines tangling his feet and smashing the sword cultivator into the ground.

"Gah!" The sword cultivator coughed out a mouthful of blood.

"Now!" Yin Hui rushed toward his fallen opponent and aimed his blade at the man's heart.

However, before he could deal the finishing blow, Yin Hui saw a flurry of arrows fly at him. He parried the one's closest to him and shot a Wind Bullet at the rest. The Wind Bullet deflected all the subsequent arrows and headed straight for the other two cultivators observing the fight.

Opening his fan, the fan cultivator threw out a blast of air of his own. The force of the wind was no weaker than Yin Hui's Wind Bullet and cancelled the attack completely. Afterwards, he created another gust of wind that carried the sword cultivator back to their position.

Recovering from the initial attack, the sword cultivator clasped his hands towards the cultivator carrying the fan.

"Thank you for your help. I got careless."

The fan cultivator ignored the words of gratitude and looked up at the ceiling.

"You saw that didn't you?" The bow cultivator asked.

"Yes. It seems that the other cultivator has some kind of technique that allows them to merge into shadows." The fan cultivator replied.

"I trust you have a solution to this then? After all, even in broad daylight the castle is full of shadows. Letting someone with that kind of ability roam free would be disastrous." The sword cultivator added.

The cultivator holding the fan smiled.

"Of course. Follow this plan and our hidden enemy will have no choice but to reveal themselves."