The moon was hanging high in the sky.

The weather seemed to be getting cooler. The wind was blowing through the woods, and the moonlight looked cold.

​​

Few would choose to lock their doors and head to bed early on such an idyllic night like tonight, where there was wind but no rain. Most would step out into their compounds to admire the view.

A black and a white figure flew to the mountains behind the council hall, looking like they were in a hurry.

"Are you sure Xu Xiaoshou really trespassed into the Inner Yard?" Zhao Shu still couldn't quite believe what Yuan Tou had told him. He zipped past a few leaves on the ground, and a slight layer of ice formed on the ones his feet touched.

Yuan Tou's sleeves were billowing in the air as the winds blew. He glanced at Zhao Shu and added, "Even if he didn't trespass inside, the point is that he's most probably inside the Inner Yard right now. My intel can't possibly be wrong.

"Even if he was summoned to the Inner Yard in secret, his presence has yet to be announced, and both you and I didn't know about it. As such, that counts as trespassing.

"Members of the 33 acted on their own accord and killed the wrong guy… this is the only chance you'll get in the next three days. Are you telling me you're going to let this opportunity pass you by?"

Yuan Tou then chuckled dismissively. "Do you really think he's going to head outside the spirit palace just so you can kill him, eh?"

Zhao Shu was silent as he leapt about in the woods without slowing down for one bit. "Why are you telling me all this? Is there something between you and Xu Xiaoshou?"

"There's nothing between him and I… Do you really think I'd have told you all this if that was the case?" Yuan Tou paused and recalled the message from Lan Xinzi. He then sighed and added, "But I'm not going to kill him."

"You're using me!"

"Indeed." Yuan Tou, surprisingly, didn't deny it. "If I were to do it, he would suffer grave injuries and be sent to the Tribunal at most, and his slot to enter the Tianxuan Gate would still remain, and you… would still stand no chance."

Zhao Shu clenched his fists. He knew that his once-in-a-lifetime chance was at stake. The Tianxuan Gate was something that he'd waited three years to get a shot at, and he couldn't afford to miss the opportunity again.

But then again, even if the excuse for it was righteous, he'd still be killing someone in the Inner Yard...

"Are you sure Xu Xiaoshou has no one backing him?"

"He has none."

"You know that for sure?"

"I know indeed."

Just to put Zhao Shu at ease, Yuan Tou then added, "Don't you think if he did have someone backing him he would've gotten into the Inner Yard after becoming champion instead of still being stuck in the Outer Yard?"

Zhao Shu stopped moving all of a sudden. He focused his killing intent, and the ice beneath his feet spread all over the canopy of the tree he was standing on.

Yuan Tou stopped and doubled back, slightly flustered as to why Zhao Shu had stopped all of a sudden.

"Hey, I thought we had a deal," he thought. "Are you really going to keep your hands to yourself and let me do it? This is the perfect opportunity for you right there, man…"

"Alright, the most I could do is get you someone to lighten your sentence." Yuan Tou tried harder to sound a little bit more sincere.

Zhao Shu ignored what Yuan Tou said and fished out a drawing, turning his gaze to somewhere down below where, not far away, a tall, lanky young man was curiously looking about.

"Is that him?"

Yuan Tou then followed Zhao Shu's line of sight and was rather baffled by what he saw.

"Xu Xiaoshou?"

"Why is he here?"

…

Xu Xiaoshou had a serious case of insomnia.

He'd taken a cold bath and had still been unable to fall asleep.

He figured that his biological hardwire had gone haywire after burning the midnight oil too many times. While he did look rather exhausted from the outside, he was all vigorous and ready to roll as soon as he closed his eyes.

Yeah, that must be it.

He'd picked his own place and was at considerable ease. As such, he'd gone outside to take a stroll, taking in the scenes around him while plotting out his escape route, figuring that it might come in handy some time in the future.

"There are always people out there wanting to kill me," he thought.

A figure wearing white clothes dropped before him, emanating intense killing intent.

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless. "Sh**, they're here already?

"It's not raining right now, and this place isn't some place like the woods out there in the Outer Yard where no one passes by it. I actually saw several Inner Yard disciples along the way!

"Someone actually dared to come here to do it?"

"So you're Xu Xiaoshou?" Zhao Shu asked icily.

"I'm not."

Doubted, Passive Points +1.

Xu Xiaoshou innocently blinked his eyes. "My name is Wen Ming, and I'm supposed to be meeting two friends of mine around here…" He then bowed. "Well met, brother."

It was a very well-done ruse. Not only did he deny that he was the person the icy man was seeking, but he even mentioned that his friends were about to show up as a way to deter said icy man. And, to finish it up, he even added the bit of pleasantry in the end.

It would've made the other man look unreasonable if he'd made a move right then and there.

Zhao Shu was momentarily speechless.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had a drawing of the kid and that Yuan Tou was sending him messages telepathically, he would've actually bought what the kid said.

"Shut him up and kill him with a single hit. You won't have many chances after this." Zhao Shu then heard yet another voice say, "The longer you drag this out, the greater the chance for things to go wrong."

If Zhao Shu had yet to see the target, he might have hesitated for a while more, yet he seldom hesitated in anything that he made up his mind to do.

Xu Xiaoshou was about to walk, when he found a layer of ice beneath his feet, which completely glued his feet to the ground.

Ice type?

Zhao Qingteng's powers?

His pupils contracted. He very well remembered that "Formless Great Cold" move from the match. That move had inspired and led to the development of his "All Things are Swords" move.

"You…"

This place wasn't his compound, and there was no barrier to protect him. He could still call for help, yet, as soon as he opened his mouth, his face froze and the ice crackled.

Bone-chilling cold seeped into his body in an instant and began to spread all over him, freezing him inside-out. That other man's powers were far greater than Zhao Qingteng's.

The man hadn't even touched him yet, and no snow was falling. It seemed like the man could actually freeze someone to death with just one look.

Attacked, Passive Points +1.

Attacked, Passive Points +1.

"…"

Xu Xiaoshou was inwardly panicking. He was most afraid of these types of people, who got to fighting right away without bothering to say much, as it meant he had chance of duping them.

An ice sculpture was silently finished in mere moments.

Zhao Shu was feeling rather doubtful. This man before him seemed a lot weaker than what Yuan Tou had described.

But then again, this guy was only at Spiritual Cultivation Level nine. How could he stand a chance against one of the Inner Yard Thirty-three?

He took out a short sword and cautiously looked up, not getting near the ice sculpture. He then threw the blade out.

The sword shot out like an arrow and hit the ice.

Clang!

The sword didn't manage to penetrate the ice as he'd expected. A clang was heard, and the short sword was sent flying by a massive force, resulting in the sword shooting back at him.

Zhao Shu lowered his head to evade it. He saw that the ice sculpture seemed to have kicked up massive ripples from the move, which then exploded and sent shards of ice flying everywhere.

"What's going on?" he thought. "My 'Ice-caster' shouldn't have reacted like that. How did he manage to break the ice?" Zhao Shu was shocked.

That spiritual technique at the peak of Innate Level could be immediately cast over thin air without the need for seals or close-contact with its target. He could hit everything within sight, and there was no way for someone to avoid it.

He wondered how was it possible for his technique to be pulverized with just a throw of the sword.

Xu Xiaoshou was burning in roaring Infernal Heavenly Flames. He dispelled the bone-chilling cold completely, enabling him to regain control of his body.

"This is something," he thought.

"This really is something.

"It took only an instant for that guy to freeze me over. D*mn it, I shouldn't have bowed to him in the first place.

"And man, isn't that spiritual technique a little too d*mn terrifying? If it hadn't been for the short sword shaking the ice, which then shook me, and me shaking the ice which then shook the blade, he would have gained complete control over me!"

"You're doing this in the Inner Yard?" Xu Xiaoshou asked coldly.

Zhao Shu stuck two fingers out, and ice patterns appeared beneath his feet. Cold light spread out from the ground and came into being in their surroundings, conjuring a small "Ice Crystal Barrier," which enveloped the two of them.

"You won't be making any noise," Zhao Shu said, his face deadpan.

"Why are you trying to kill me?" Xu Xiaoshou recalled Lan Xinzi. So, she'd sent someone instead of doing it herself. Was she trying to wash her hands clean of this, then?

Zhao Shu shook his head and said nothing.

"How much did she offer you? Whatever the price, I'll pay 10 times the amount."

Zhao Shu was puzzled about the mention of money. He was only doing it for a slot into the Tianxuan Gate, after all.

"100 times!"

"…"

"I have a lot of Origin Court Pills. I could give you 10 of them."

"…"

"20."

Zhao Shu's expression had turned entirely glum, and the corners of his eye kept twitching.

"I'm here to take your life!" he thought. "What do you think this is? An audition or something?"

"You're going too far." Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath.

"30 pills. Take it or leave it."