The Prodigies War

Clang!

The icy glimmer transformed into sword will as a blurry silhouette was revealed behind it. The silhouette did not appear to exist on this plane, as if it was just a shadow.

The sword will approached once more at an inconceivable speed, aiming to take Lin Xun's head. The attack felt unbelievably sudden as if it had appeared out of nowhere.

The strike was unmatched in sneakiness, and the sword will was terrifyingly powerful. It embodied the essence of a sure-hit attack. Moreover, if it landed, it would destroy both the spirit and body, leaving no possibility of survival.

Shhhhreeeeee!

Time seemed to slow. A strand of Lin Xun's hair was cut even before the attack reached him, causing him to shiver as if he was in a freezer.

At the critical moment, he grunted and abruptly twisted, displacing himself from his original location.

It was one of the extreme uses of the Hornless Ice Dragon Step!

However, it still wasn't enough. Even surpassing the limits of his speed was insufficient to avoid the sword attack that was already at his skin.

It was a terrifying assassination technique that would relentlessly follow its target with deadly force. Mere dodging would never be enough.

Lin Xun found himself in unprecedented danger. It was already too late to use the Nine Heavenly Destructions Art or the Heavenly Yuan Blade Art.

In other words, the assassin's timing and positioning were excellent and left Lin Xun no chance to properly face the attack.

Boom!

Time slowed to a crawl. Lin Xun no longer tried to dodge. Instead, his back suddenly resembled a giant dragon that was jerking its head upwards!

Bixi Collision!

It was the second transformation of the Tribulation Dragon Nine Transformations!

All of the force in his body had gathered into his spine before being unleashed like a giant dragon rising from his back. A Bixi phantasm emerged from Lin Xun’s back, and its dragon head, turtle body, qilin tail, and phoenix claws were covered in steel-like scales and filled with unmatched ferocity.

In ancient times, the charge of a Bixi could topple a heavenly pillar and destroy everything it collided with.

Lin Xun had used the secret at the most crucial juncture, causing a Bixi to rise from his back and smash into the sword will.

Boom!

Amidst a loud collision, the Bixi phantasm shattered, but allowed Lin Xun to narrowly avoid the attack. Despite this, he still sustained an injury on the back of his head that nearly pierced his skull!

Blood flowed out, dyeing his hair dark red.

No matter how heaven-defying Lin Xun’s strength was, he would still die if his head was pierced. Although he had barely avoided death, it made him nearly go crazy with rage and hatred.

He had never suffered this much since he had started his cultivation journey! No one had ever come close to piercing his head!

Clang!

The Broken Blade hacked through the air with red-hot fury.

A soft sigh sounded as if in regret as the illusory shadow disappeared from the room.

Boom!

How could Lin Xun possibly take this lying down? He immediately bolted out of the room and looked around, only to find nothing but a silent boat and the endless Spirit Burial Sea. There was no trace of even the enemy’s shadow.

It made him feel frustrated as his face turned terrifyingly frosty. He hadn’t even managed to get a single good look at the enemy from start to end which was humiliating, to say the least.

“Lin Xun, what happened?”

Although the disturbance had been small, it had occurred in the limited confines of the boat. As such, Zhao Jingxuan was quickly alerted and soon appeared beside Lin Xun.

Her expression immediately darkened when she saw the blood flowing from Lin Xun’s head and neck. Her clear eyes flashed murderously as she asked, “Someone tried to assassinate you?”

Lin Xun acknowledged with a grunt.

By this time, Xiao Ran, Yun Che, Su Xingfeng, Yang Wen, and the others had also arrived after sensing the disturbance. Even Gong Yangyu was there.

Upon discovering that someone had tried to assassinate Lin Xun in his room, the Spirit Treasure Holy Land successors revealed shocked expressions as if surprised by what had happened.

After all, the ship was their territory and was being overseen by Elder Gao Yang. How could an enemy sneak in without anyone noticing?

Lin Xun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger as he secretly began to observe Xiao Ran and the others.

Lin Xun could not help but suspect that these Spirit Treasure Holy Land disciples were trying to harm him.

Zhao Jingxuan also realized this as well. Her clear eyes coldly looked at Xiao Ran and the others. “I did not expect that somebody wouldn’t even tolerate the presence of my attendant!”

“Junior Sister Zhao, what do you mean? Are you suspecting us?” Su Xingfeng unhappily said. He realized that Zhao Jingxuan was examining him very closely which made him very uncomfortable.

Zhao Jingxuan questioned back, “Do you think someone from the outside can sneak into our ship?”

“That is not impossible.” Su Xingfeng displayed an indifferent expression.

Wen Xiang quickly said, “Senior Sister Zhao, you’ve wronged Senior Brother Su. I was having a dao discussion with him earlier, so it’s impossible for him to be the culprit.”

“Hmph!” Zhao Jingxuan icily said, “Who knows, you two might have been working together!”

Wan Xiang immediately cried foul, feeling that he had been wrongly accused.

Su Xingfeng’s expression was ice-cold as he darkly said, “Junior Sister Zhao, there is some inaccuracy in your words. If I wanted to kill him, I would never have bothered to go to such great lengths to hide it!”

Xiao Ran finally spoke up, “Alright, stop fighting. This matter will be investigated. Before we discover the truth, no one should suspect others because you might end up wrongly accusing someone innocent.”

“Naturally. I can’t believe an assassin appeared on the ship. This is a warning for us not to let our guards down.”

Gong Yangyu nodded in agreement.

In the end, the matter was put aside because Lin Xun was merely a lowly attendant who wasn’t worth their attention.

The other reason was that the culprit did not leave any traces, leaving them with no leads to follow.

……

In the room, Lin Xun carefully tended to his wounds. Fortunately for him, they were only superficial injuries and were not serious. However, the thought of the earlier assassination attempt he had experienced made it impossible for him to relax.

Who on this ship was trying to kill him?

Lin Xun naturally thought of Su Xingfeng because he was the biggest suspect!

After all, it was not the first time Su Xingfeng had displayed hostility toward him.

Zhao Jingxuan was also aware of this. Her pretty face was frosty as clenched her jaw and said, “It must be Su Xingfeng! That darn bastard is ruthless alright!”

“It might not be him.”

However, Lin Xun suddenly shook his head. “If you can guess that it’s him, the others can as well. Su Xingfeng isn’t an idiot and should know that he will definitely draw your ire if he dares to assassinate me.”

Zhao Jingxuan was taken aback. “If not him then who? On this ship, only Junior Brother Yun Xiang has managed to develop his own unique sword dao and wields the murder dao. Could it be him?”

Lin Xun recalled the details of the assassination encounter and said, “The culprit did wield a terrifying sword dao technique. However, since he dared to use it, he must not be worried that it will reveal his identity. I have a hunch that it isn’t Yun Xiang.”

“Then who is it?” Zhao Jingxuan frowned.

“Regardless of who it is, they must have some goal for killing me. Perhaps they are eyeing something I possess or they do not wish for me to stay by your side. Whichever it is, we need to be more alert.”

By this time, Lin Xun had already accepted the situation. “Before we ascertain the culprit, everyone on the ship is a suspect.”

“Everyone? Including…Elder Gao Yang?” Zhao Jingxuan’s pupils shrank.

“That’s right.” Lin Xun nodded as he looked at her with his deep black eyes.

……

Who was the assassin?

No one knew, but from that night onward, the atmosphere on the ship quietly turned tense.

Each of Spirit Treasure Holy Land disciples had their own thoughts on the matter.

In the room, Su Xingfeng frowned as he asked Wen Xiang, “It really isn’t you?”

Wen Xiang helplessly replied, “If it was me, he would already be dead. How could I possibly have allowed him to live?”

“Then it must be either Xiao Ran or Yun Che.” Su Xingfeng’s eyes turned deep as he fell into thought.

Wen Xiang’s eyes flickered in thought. Like how Su Xingfeng had suspected him, he also suspected Su Xingfeng.

They both knew that there was an incredible treasure in Lin Xun’s possession, and it was only natural that they sought to take it for themselves.

“How troublesome.” After a long time, Su Xingfeng sighed.

Wen Xiang asked, “Should we try to probe Xiao Ran and Yun Che?”

Su Xingfeng shook his head. “No need. It will be pointless since they will not admit to it. What we need to do now is to keep a close eye on Lin Xuan. As long as we watch him, there will be no need to worry about someone else stealing the pagoda without us noticing.”

Wen Xiang immediately nodded. “If the assassin appears again, we will also be able to uncover their identity.”

He secretly glanced at Su Xingfeng, but found that he was expressionless. There was no hint of any reaction.

Spirit Burial Sea was strangely silent and covered in a dark fog. Its boundless waters were filled with unknown terrors and dangers.

With such danger already constantly looming over their heads, the addition of a mysterious assassin made everyone’s hearts feel a little heavier.

The heavy atmosphere lasted until the third day before it was finally broken.

At long last, the ship had left the deathly silent sea region, and the scenery before it finally changed.

Clean blue skies spread out as far as they could see as waves ferociously surged on the black ocean, giving off a certain sensation of life that had been missing before.

It was a vastly different scene from the strange, eerie, and silent waters that were filled with numerous dangers.

The new scenery made everyone feel a little more relaxed.

“We’ll be there soon.”

Elder Gao Yang walked out of the cabin and peered into the distance. There was a slight trace of happiness on his face.

The others jerked to attention. They were finally about to reach the legendary secret domain?

Meanwhile, Lin Xun looked back at where they had come from. The sea was covered in an eerie dark fog that seemed to be filled with a strange and ominous aura.

I guess we’ve left the Dao Burial Sea Mound…

Lin Xun muttered in his heart.

“Quickly look over there! My god! Is that a real dragon?”

All of a sudden, the colorfully clothed, child-like Wen Xiang cried out as he excitedly pointed at the distance.

Everyone followed his finger and saw multi-colored light rise from the surface of the sea. It shone brilliantly, releasing bright light that illuminated the surroundings.

From a distance, it looked as if a dragon was leaping out of the sea and soaring into the clouds with a swish of its tail, giving off a sensation of indescribable awe!