“Wow, the Jaegal Clan has some weirdly fascinating martial arts.” Daiyu muttered after witnessing the young disciple from Jaegal Clan emerge as the victor of the match.

“It’s close to witchcraft, actually. They are obsessed with studying witchcraft and keep their doors closed, considering that they almost got looted a few times hundreds of years ago.” Tang Xia spoke with a dispassionate voice to correct Daiyu. The Jaegal Clan was very mysterious, even to people who were well-connected in the Jianghu. They rarely ever stepped out of the mountains and not many people knew about their techniques.

“The atmosphere feels a bit off today.” Tang Bo frowned. He looked at the audience sitting around the arena with suspicious eyes.

“Does it?” Daiyu cocked her head and looked in the direction where Tang Bo’s eyes were directed. A number of people in dark hooded cloaks were scattered throughout the audience. It was not weird to see people concealing their faces that way, but the people looked strangely connected. It was almost as if they were from the same group.

“How odd.” Haoran mumbled in a low voice. He had seen cloaked people sitting in the audience since the beginning of the competition. However, there were way more people gathered there today. Something was definitely going on.

“It looks suspicious. You should be careful today, brat.” Daiyu’s eyes widened at his words. What was their motive? It would be suicidal to try attempt anything in the middle of a tournament when so many masters of numerous sects had gathered together.

“I’m going to go talk to my elder brother. Good luck for your upcoming match.” Tang Bo gave a tight smile before disappearing in the middle of the crowd.

Daiyu kept her eyes glued to the cloaked people throughout the matches that day. It was only when her turn was called that she averted her gaze. So far, nothing suspicious had happened and the people looked like genuine onlookers, with their occasional applause and shouts of encouragement.

She walked up to the podium and looked up to see a tall boy who had a rather muscular body. She already knew that she was supposed to go up against a disciple of the Peng Family. However, something about his gaze made her feel uneasy. It wasn’t full of venom or contempt, rather, he looked almost pleased to see her. However, the aura he was giving off definitely felt ominous.

“I’m Peng Hua from the Peng Family. It’s an honor to cross swords with the famous Sword Butterfly Maiden.” Peng Hua bowed to show his respect with a sinister smile on his face. She had heard that the Peng Family was chivalrous and virtuous, but the young disciple’s expressions were anything but that.

“Let the match begin!” The commentator let out a loud shout to mark the beginning of the match and Daiyu made the first move. Peng Hua was holding a solid spear, which meant that his range was wider than that of a sword. She had yet to fight a spear wielder and his overall demeanor did not make her feel comfortable either.

Daiyu closed the distance between the two of them in an instant. However, the moment she closed in on him, she saw him grinning widely. Before Daiyu could even attack with her sword, Peng Hua’s fist had already connected with her stomach with an unimaginable speed and Daiyu went flying back several meters.

“Ack!” She coughed up blood when she tried to get back up. How did Peng Hua manage to attack her with such speed? It was something she expected out of masters who had already reached a deep understanding of martial arts. However, Peng Hua, who was definitely a talented martial artist, did not show such levels of martial prowess in his previous matches. Had Daiyu missed something?

“Stop! Stop this match right now!” Zihan ran down from his seat to get to the young princess. Even though martial artists could be ruthless, there was no reason for a young disciple from the Peng Family to use such a lethal technique during a simple tournament. It was even weirder that he was able to deal such damage to Daiyu, considering that she was a prodigy herself.

Daiyu lifted her head and saw a twisted expression on Peng Hua’s face. His wide grin that bared his teeth looked threatening and there was madness being reflected in his eyes.

“Pfft! Stop? Why? When we are having so much fun?” He took out a dagger from his belt only to cut his palm and let his blood drip on the floor. It was a bizarre sight to see someone intentionally wounding themselves.

“Peng Hua! What the hell are you doing?” Someone from the audience roared. Zihan, who had almost reached the podium, let out a scream of anger the moment Peng Hua cut his palm. Daiyu looked around in confusion, barely being able to get up when an indescribable pressure began weighing down her body. Peng Hua was laughing like a maniac as his palm bled and an ominous red qi rose up from his body.

“No! Princess, get away!” Daiyu could barely breathe from the dark pressure that was pressing down on her senses. It was almost as if someone was suffocating her. She tried to circulate qi within her body to recover but it was almost as if something was blocking it.

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Zihan was kneeling down a few steps away from the podium with a pained expression on his face. Daiyu could hear screams resonate through the arena but she couldn’t make sense of them. She could barely tell what was happening around her.

Suddenly, a pair of shoes entered her line of sight and she looked up to see Peng Hua’s deranged face staring down at her.

“Why…” She choked out and Peng Hua began laughing loudly the moment she said that.

“Why, you ask? Ah, well. We were only asked to kill you but…” He looked around with a proud expression on his face before busting out laughing again. “No one said we couldn’t wreck a bit of havoc. Especially when it helps our cause.”

Peng Hua moved his spear and aimed it at Daiyu with a twisted grin on his face. The pungent smell of blood overpowered her senses as she tightly gripped her sword and struggled to move.

“Consider it your bad luck.” He thrusted his spear in Daiyu’s direction. She could only watch the sharp blade of the spear closing in while she struggled to get up or dodge it.

‘Is this the end for me?’

A terrifying sensation swelled up in her heart. She had seen this sight before when those assassins had attacked her at the Black Jade Palace. Was she still that weak and helpless? Visions from the past began flashing before her eyes. She could see Haoran’s smug face, Tang Bo’s cheerful smile and finally, her father’s cold yet gentle expression when he looked at her.

She had hardened her heart as her impending death approached her when something pushed the spear back. Daiyu looked around to see Zihan standing in front of her with his sword in his hand. Cold sweat was running down his face and it was clear that he was struggling to fight against the dark pressure that was weighing him down.

“You managed to get up already? I guess there is a reason why they call you the Crimson Dragon Guardian I suppose.” Peng Hua snickered as he looked at Zihan’s resolute face. What kind of loyalty pushed him to fight against the Thousand Death Array?

“Run away, Princess. You must get up and run.” Zihan spoke while looking ahead at the terrifying monster who was standing before him. He had already guessed that the young man was not Peng Hua.

“I- No!” Daiyu shouted with tears blurring her vision. Why did everyone around her have to die? Zihan might be strong but she was certain that he was unable to use his qi right now. How was he going to fight against that monster?

“Just listen to me and run! It is my duty.” Zihan began rushing towards Peng Hua, who threw his spear away and thrusted his palms out. A black and red flame appeared on his hands as he continued to laugh.

“How touching! Goodness, you almost moved my heart.” Zihan slashed his sword down but he was instantly pushed back by Peng Hua’s palm technique. A searing red burn had appeared in the place where his palms had touched him and he could sense something disgusting crawling inside his veins.

Daiyu managed to lift up her body and tears kept streaming down her eyes. She looked around but what she saw made her body freeze up in horror. People were running around screaming while those men cut them down mercilessly with their swords. A one-sided bloodbath was unfolding right in front of her eyes.

The horrific sight and the smell of blood made bile rise up her throat as she retched. Why was this happening? What had those innocent people done for them to die such a horrible death?

“Snap out of it and listen to me.” A familiar voice snapped Daiyu back to her senses. Haoran was standing beside her with a furious expression on his face.

“These bastards have used an array to surround this area which suppresses qi and dulls the senses. I know how to break it but I need you to do something first.” He knelt down by her side and drew a pattern in the air.

“Draw it. Use your blood.” Daiyu was speechless. What was he saying?

“That guy is not going to last more than a few minutes. Soon, the evil qi is going to spread in his body and devour him from inside out. That is, unless he can circulate it out with his internal energy. Which will only happen if this array is broken. You can save your life along with the people in here, so snap out of it and start drawing.” Haoran’s eyes were burning with an indescribable emotion. Daiyu looked past him to see Zihan who was injured in several places and Peng Hua, who was clearly toying with him.

“I have to do it. I have to.” Daiyu muttered to herself and used her sword to make a deep cut on her palm. There was no way she was going to let anyone close to her die anymore. Even if she had to go to hell and fight the King of the Underworld, she was going to protect the ones she cherished.

“Tell me.” Daiyu’s determined eyes were fixed at Haoran. He closed his eyes for a second before letting out a small laugh.

“That’s more like it. Now, draw a line like this and draw another line here.” He began instructing Daiyu, who moved her hand according to his instructions. Red lines began appearing on the blue stone of the podium as a complex diagram painted with her blood began unfolding.

“That’s it.” Haoran walked behind Daiyu and knelt down again to place his palm on Daiyu’s back.

“I’m going to force your internal energy to move with mine. You need to place your palm on the pattern and channelise your qi into it. It will be very painful but you can’t pass out. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” The moment she said that, a burning sensation began spreading through her body. Daiyu could finally sense her qi moving through her body along with Haoran’s familiar one. She let out a loud scream as she began pouring all of her energy into the pattern. Her vision began blurring but she continued to do as Haoran had instructed. She couldn’t afford to fall unconscious yet. There were people she needed to protect.

A light began emerging from the lines on the floor as she continued to channel her qi into it.

“Someone, get that bitch!” Someone screamed from afar and a bright light spread out the arena and encompassed everyone.