Heaven’s Shadow

Lu Chen took a step back, appearing as though he was alarmed. With a tensed expression, one hand guarded his chest whereas the other laid motionless by his side. Then, under the shadows, this stationary hand quietly stretched for his back and seemed to have grabbed something in the darkness.

At that instant, the sword was as brilliant as the moon, its radiance illuminating the entire forest. The wind blew furiously through them, resembling a torrential flood. But in the next instance, the blade, basking in radiance, stopped abruptly right before Lu Chen's face.

The sword radiance that lit the entire sky descended, as though a rain of shooting stars, and gradually converged, silently returning into the brilliant sword. In tandem, darkness gushed forward to reclaim their territory, and the figure just opposite was buried within the shadows.

Very vaguely, it seemed to be a lady.

Her appearance could not be discerned clearly. The only thing that was shining in entire the dark forest was the sword she held in her hands.

The wind started blowing in the forest once more, and little droplets fell from the sky. Crimson-red blood.

※※※

A droplet of red blood fell upon the edge of the sword and trembled gently, creating a view of soul-stirring and peculiar beauty.

Lu Chen could only feel a chilling sensation between his brows, as though a formless sword had indeed pierced through just a moment ago. That sword had stopped right before his eyes, and it fell silent in the darkness.

"Why didn't you dodge?"

The calm but pleasant voice of a female echoed from the shadows before him.

Lu Chen took in a deep breath and said, "Your cultivation is much higher than mine. Your sword is too swift, I am unable to dodge."

The female in the darkness harrumphed, "If so, what do you mean by the weapon you hold behind your back?"

Lu Chen immediately raised his right hand, which hung by the side of his body, and without any hesitation, tossed out the black dagger. After a moment, pu, the black dagger had stabbed into a nearby tree.

Lu Chen displayed both his hands openly, gesturing that he was unarmed, before putting them down slowly. However, that brilliant longsword that had stopped right before him did not waver in the least. The female did not seem to possess any intentions of retracting it.

The night wind blew across and the blood droplet sitting on the sword's edge trembled slightly before abruptly splitting into two, then flowing down from both edges of the sword before dripping onto the dark ground surface.

At that instant, the sword seemed to have dimmed in brightness. The sharp-edged sword also seemed to have been raised slightly. In the silence, Lu Chen peered deep into the shadows, his eyes narrowing inconspicuously

Just that, the moment passed swiftly in an instant, and the sword retracted suddenly and silently, melding into the darkness. It fell to the side of the female figure before disappearing from view.

A glimmer of light remained within the shadows. It seemed to be her bright and clear gaze. She stared at Lu Chen, and without saying a word, turned around to leave. In the blink of an eye, she had already disappeared into the darkness.

But at the moment that she turned around, the darkness parted slightly. Amidst the shadow, a delicate crimson radiance flickered. Even though fuzzy, Lu Chen could vaguely make out a crimson-feathered shawl.

As though the feathered wings of a bird, it unfurled behind her and flew into the night sky, slowly drifting into the distance.

Lu Chen stood on the same spot for some time, eyebrows gradually knit together, as he seemed to be contemplating. Then, he walked toward the tree to retrieve his black dagger. Inconceivably, with a slight movement in the darkness, that black dagger had disappeared without a trace.

After which, Lu Chen took a few steps forward before he squatted down. The scent of blood had started to set in in the surroundings. Fresh blood dyed the grounds of the forest red, and not far off, the corpse of a fearsome demonic beast laid in two halves on the floor.

"Black Demonic Bear..." Lu Chen muttered silently. Then, he walked over and fumbled with the corpse using his legs. "The Demonic Core isn't here. She probably took it. Given the power of that single slash of hers... It should be the 'Grand Moon Slash'?"

He mused for a moment before standing up. Staring into the distant darkness, he murmured under his breath, "When did such an incredible young genius appear in Kunlun Sect?"

"However, that shawl..." At which, Lu Chen paused for a moment. Then, he shook his head and said no more. Turning around, he returned back on the path from which he came.

In an instant, the darkness seemed to follow suit and cloaked over him. In a split second, he had disappeared into the shadows.

※※※

The next morning, after Han Nanzu and the others had woken up, the party of four continued on their journey toward the Black Armored Mountain.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were gradually heading deeper and deeper into the Confounding Lands, they started to encounter a significantly greater amount of demonic beast as compared to the day before. However, under Lu Chen's lead, they had managed to avoid most of the dangers on the way. Half a day later, they finally caught sight of the peak of the Black Armored Mountain.

Because it was almost impossible for ordinary humans to enter the Confounding Lands, those who came were all human cultivators. Thus, most of the time in the wilderness, there were no signs of habitation, as such, there were not many pavements.

However, there were exceptions. For example, between popular spots which human cultivators often travel to and fro, from the accumulative effects of footsteps, a path would slowly appear. At this very instant, Lu Chen and the others were standing at the bottom of a hill and three paths appeared before them.

Lu Chen pointed to the path at the southwest direction, turned to Han Nanzu's party, and said, "If we go by this direction, we will be able to reach Black Armored Mountain in at most an hour."

Han Nanzu nodded his head. Glancing at that seemingly unimpressive mountainous peak, a hint of a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth.

Standing by the side, Yi Xin was looking around curiously. Eventually, her sight fell on the paths before her and she asked, "Brother Lu, you said that these are paths created by those who were here previously?"

Lu Chen replied, "Indeed."

Yi Xin asked, "Could it be that everyone was headed for the Black Armored Mountain? Doesn't that mean that all of the spiritual materials on the mountain had already been taken by others already?"

Lu Chen chuckled, "That's not it. Even though there are Dusk Mist Flowers and other spiritual material on the Black Armored Mountain, they belong to the lowest tier 1-mark spiritual materials. As such, it doesn't hold much allure to others. The cultivators who passed by were mostly headed elsewhere."

"Elsewhere?" Yi Xin's gaze drifted toward another path. The path was winding and it was headed in the southeast direction. "What about that path? Where does it lead to?"

Lu Chen pondered for a moment before replying, "Heading a few hundred li southward from here, there are indeed quite a few famous spiritual material production sites, such as the 'Blue Sunflower Cave', 'Five Peak Mountain', and the 'Yellow Quagmire'. Cultivators would often head there."

"So that's the case." Yi Xin nodded her head. She chuckled, "Brother Lu, you are indeed knowledgeable."

Lu Chen shrugged with a smile, "Don't forget that this is what I do for a living."

Yi Xin smiled brightly in response. By her side, He Gang looked extremely discontented as he harrumphed, "Even though there are a few good spots over there, the most famous one isn't there."

Yi Xin was taken aback. She asked, "Senior, do you know something about it?"

With an arrogant expression, He Gang stated, "Before I came, I have done my research. Eight hundred li south from here is the famous battlefield between the orthodox sects and the demonic sects. It is where the famous 'Barren Valley' is. That is where most of the cultivators wish to head to."

"Brother Lu, am I right?" He Gang glanced at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen was silent for a moment. Then, he replied calmly, "You're right."

...