“Did you…enjoy…toying…with your inferior…?” An aged and raspy voice permeated through the tranquil night, like a chilly breeze in a midsummer night, cold and, well, only slightly ominous…

Leisurely soaring across the treetops was the figure of a baby-faced young man, adorned in a simple armor woven out of beast hide.

“Hehe…what’s life without a bit of fun? Besides, they’ll both be fine…” The young man replied lazily. “Well…that Tie tou might not be perfectly sound, but…I did give him a ‘Profound Life Pill’ that I personally brewed…”

“That’s…what I’m worried…about…” The voice sounded out once more, from within the young man’s chest. “The pills…you make…are…questionable…at their best…”

“Screw you, old hag! That’s only because you’re not a good teacher!” The young man pouted, his expression strangely alluring…

“Do not…blame…your inability…to concoct…proper pills…on me…” The voice rebuked. “Your…abhorring…lack…of patience…is appalling…enough…do not…add…inability to…accept criticism…into your…long…list…of…flaws…”

“Ah! Just shut up! Shut up or I swear I’ll bury you in beast manure!” The young man exclaimed angrily.

“Spoken…by a…little lass…who refuses…to even…be within…five zhang of…unrefined water…because of…fish…dung…” The voice responded leisurely, unperturbed by the young man’s threat. “Can you even…get close…enough…to…beast manure…to bury me…in it…?”

“Ugh…how is that even weird? It’s disgusting how people bathe in lake water! Just imagining all the filth accumulated in it through the years makes me keel…” The young man complained, shivering slightly at the thought of the abominable creatures that shat into the very water they themselves lived in… “besides, I could get the little rascal to bury you in it for me!”

“Put me…in his…hands…and…I can…easily…turn him…against you…” The voice countered coldly, before warning the young man in an ominous tone. “And…if…I speak…of…your…secrets…he will be…very eager…to act…especially…if he hears…of…that…”

“Ai-yah~ isn’t that big gate up there the entrance to the encampment?” The young man replied in a fluster, eager to change the topic.

Up ahead, past the dense thickets of the forest was a large clearing, and past that was a large gate. It stood over twenty zhang tall and looked to have been carved out of stone. At the moment, the stone gate had been swung open fully, and a group of soldiers, some dressed in brilliant silver armor, some in aged leather armor, clustered before the entrance.

Sat at the center of the ring of people was the slobbering mess of a middle-aged man, Captain Ling!

As the young man stepped out into the clearing, he stepped onto a withered tree branch, and all eyes instantly fell upon him.

“T-T-Tie…t-t-tou!” Captain Ling stuttered; his fingers pointed towards the youth. “Y-Y-You…h-h-how a-a-are you s-s-still a-a-alive?! Y-Y-You d-d-died!”

“Uh…hi?” The young man hesitated for a moment, before responding. Breaking into a bashful smile as pat his own chest a few times, the young man replied heartily, “well…it’s me! Tie tou! Captain…you shouldn’t curse your subordinates like this, right? As you can see, I’m very much alive and well!”

Instantly, the leather armored men became more vigilant, and the more quick-witted among them now had their hands on their weapons. Clearly, the words spoken by the youth hadn’t garnered the effect he had hoped for…

“Who are you!” A bushy-bearded middle-aged man stepped forward, his sword pointed towards the youth, “why have you taken Captain Tie’s form, you imposter!”

“Eh…oh! I…um…well…err…” The young man ummed and ahhed, his head spinning trying to come up with an excuse. To think the illiterate idiot was a captain as well! ARGH!

But before the young man could form a cohesive sentence in his head, one of the silver armored men charged forward in a blur, swinging a moon-shaped halberd, nine chi long, towards the young man. However, in the same instant, the young man transformed into a flash of white, and phased through the halberd-wielding man as the blade fell past him. The halberd smashed into the ground with a deafening *boom*, rocking the ground within a ten zhang radius, and leaving behind a three zhang fissure in the dirt.

*Clap* *clap* *clap*

“Not bad…not bad at all…” Among the silver armored men stood a refined youth, dressed in simple white robes, “no ‘Noble Lord’ would have been able to dodge that…much less decapitate the man in the same breath…”

As the youth finished his sentence, a thin red line formed around the throat of the halberd-wielding man, and his head toppled off soundlessly.

“Well…there goes plan A…” The young man, no, the young woman, muttered sourly.

Her charade having been seen through; the young woman had returned to her original appearance, and in the very moment the men’s eyes fell upon the young woman’s countenance, they were all spell bounded…

At a glance, the young woman appeared to be in her late teens, with silky black hair, flawless ivory skin, limpid eyes, soft lips, and a tall nose. Even at this young and tender age, the young woman embodied every single definition of the word ‘beauty’.

“Fellas…if you keep staring like this, I’ll get embarrassed…” the young woman spoke bashfully, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

The young woman’s words having brought him out of his stupor, a lecherous smile began to form on the corner of the youth's lips as he teased,

“hehe…little fairy, impersonating a captain of the imperial army is a grave crime, and warrants a little punishment, but if little fairy follows me back, I’m sure we can work things out, and make other arrangements…”

“Hmm…? What kind of arrangements are you referring to, big brother?” The young woman replied, her tone coy.

“Well, little fairy will have to follow me to find out…” the refined youth responded…

Although earlier, the refined youth appeared at ease and confident, and at this moment, he was the very image of a debauched young master, in his heart he was scared, no, terrified! Right now, every single fiber of his body was fully poised, ready to, at any single moment, draw out every bit of energy in his body to…run!

This refined youth wasn’t just some random nobody, his name was Deng Xishen, and he was the beloved junior brother of the revered guest, of the ‘Celestial Moon Palace’, at this place! Because of this, for his safety, he was warned by the revered guest, about this so-called ‘Malicious Moon Devil’…

In truth, the revered guest was very doubtful that this ‘Malicious Moon Devil’ was responsible for the massacre of the ‘Celestial Moon Brigade’ that protected the ‘Celestial Moon Envoy’. The revered guest deduced that it was most likely that the envoy himself had caused their deaths!

The revered guest knew that the envoy cultivated a vile ‘Manual’ that allowed him to increase his own strength temporarily by indulging in the blood energy of others. The revered guest being a person of questionable morals himself, had met the envoy in the past, so he clearly knew, as a person cut from the same cloth, that there was no way, no, it was entirely impossible for the envoy to not have done such a thing in a life or death situation!

The ‘Celestial Moon Envoy’ in the larger scheme of things, could not be considered a powerful cultivator, but after sacrificing his five hundred strong ‘Celestial Moon Brigade’, the revered guest roughly estimated that the envoy would attain about a quarter of his own fighting strength. This could not be considered much in the revered guest’s eyes, but in the scope of this place?! Such a strength was completely unmatched by any other living figure on this continent other than himself!

At the envoy’s cultivation, without a large difference in strength or a cunning strategy, it was nigh impossible difficult to slay your adversary! Yet, the envoy was slain by ‘Malicious Moon Devil’ within no more than a full shi. The revered guest knew this, for the envoy had crushed a ‘Long-Distance Messaging Talisman’ to notify him of an assailant, and to request his help. Yet, by the time the revered guest arrived, less than half a shi later, the envoy had already turned into a headless corpse…

The revered guest had only been able to piece together the situation from the testimony of the more fortunate, who had been able to flee from the devastating battle. Of course, he had killed them all afterward, after all, this whole business could only be described as an unacceptable blemish on the spotless entity that is the ‘Celestial Moon Palace’! Unfortunately for him, there were other survivors still, and the exaggerated tale of how the ‘Celestial Moon Envoy’s met his demise was still spread across the land, nonetheless.

As an overlord of a world, it was obvious the ‘Celestial Moon Palace’ would have a few enemies, and the revered guest was sure that this ‘Malicious Moon Devil’ was just a more troublesome one among them, so he had warned this junior brother of his to be careful.

Ever the cautious person, upon hearing his senior brother’s warnings, the refined youth, Deng Xishen, had kept his eyes opened and ears peeled for all sorts of news about this ‘Malicious Moon Devil’. If even his senior brother was wary of this ‘Malicious Moon Devil’…how could he disregard such a figure?

Deng Xishen had been keeping track of all sorts of news related to this ‘Malicious Moon Devil’, no matter how big or small the cases were, no matter how ridiculous they sounded. Earlier, when this drunk fool had claimed to have seen the ‘Malicious Moon Devil’, Deng Xishen had hurriedly gotten dressed and brought along his best men as he rushed over, even sending someone to notify his senior brother of this news. But the moment Deng Xishen saw the drunken slob, he instantly became terribly furious, turns out, all his worry has been over nothing! This drunk man had clearly drunk himself into a pitiful mess!

Deng Xishen was about to cut off the man’s head and go back to sleep, when the young woman, disguised as Tie tou, showed up. When her disguise wore off and her true face was revealed, Deng Xishen was only stunned for a few moments before he began to think, trying to recall if he had ever seen her face anywhere before…with her face, if he had seen her before, he would most likely remember, right?

Despite wracking his brains for a few breaths, he couldn't recall a face like the young woman's at all, but he remembered, he had once met another woman like her, a heavenly fairy of the ‘Celestial Moon Palace’! Well, he didn’t really get to meet this fairy, since he wasn’t allowed anywhere her. Recalling that moment, Deng Xishen remembered, he was akin to a tiny, insignificant firefly marveling at the distant moon. But, more importantly, what made Deng Xishen so wary of this young woman, was due to the fact that the aura she exuded was exactly the same as that fairy’s! An aura that is borne of absolute and unshakable pride!

Although her current demeanor didn’t reveal any trace of arrogance or aloofness, there was no reflection in her gaze…it was clear, this woman had never, ever acknowledged an equal, much less a superior, in her entire life! Even without a shred of evidence on his hands, Deng Xishen knew that this young woman was more than capable of slaying the ‘Celestial Moon Envoy’!

But what was he meant to do…if even the envoy could not escape from this woman…he would be instantly cut down the moment he turned his back to her…

“Hehe, big brother…you’re a pretty good poser…” the young woman suddenly spoke, shaking Deng Xishen out of his stupor, before breaking into a charming smile as she continued in a sweet tone, “for that…I’ll give you a three breath head start…”

As soon as the young woman finished, without even a single instant of hesitation, the refined youth turned and bolted towards the stone gate. Seeing this, without even needing to be commanded, the dozens of silver armored men surged forward fearlessly, their weapons drawn…