Chapter Forty-Eight: The Perfect Opportunity to Kill

This night was nothing short of miserable for Jian Hui.

He had inexplicably lost a fight during the day. After finally treating his injuries with spiritual medicine until he could move freely, it was already close to midnight in the secret realm.

He’d been to this mountain at the center of the secret realm four years ago. Before his luck soured and he began his streak of misfortune, even when entry to the secret realm was fiercely contested, he always secured a place if he wished. Yet to say the spiritual herbs and treasures nurtured by the mountain’s abundant energy no longer attracted him would be untrue. He simply had other priorities now. At this moment, his mind was consumed by a single thought: find Fang Hongjian, then kill her.

Accomplishing the first step was effortless for him. Whether it was the magical artifact “Flowing Melody” or the spatial pouch, he had tampered with them long ago. He was absolutely certain that with her limited cultivation and experience, the little girl would never notice his interference.

What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was that in the deep hours of the night, Fang Hongjian was accompanied by another person. He recognized the young man: a disciple from the Xianyun Sect, gifted with a wood spiritual root, and already apprenticed under the Nascent Soul cultivator Dai Mingchi.

From afar, he watched the two chatting and laughing as they searched for spiritual herbs, clearly old acquaintances with a close relationship.

Though the youth was still in the Qi Refining stage, he had spent more than a year training under a Nascent Soul master on Jinxiu Peak—certainly not someone easy to deal with.

Thinking of the challenge ahead, Jian Hui couldn’t help but grit his teeth. He never expected the seemingly clever and obedient Fang Hongjian would dare defy the sect’s taboo by secretly cultivating martial techniques before even establishing her foundation.

Her peculiar martial art...

This leverage was enough to have Fang Hongjian expelled from Wanchao Peak, and even Dan Cliff Sect would no longer tolerate her. But that wasn’t his intention. Jian Hui wasn’t driven by old grievances to pursue conflict with his junior sister; on the contrary, before she discovered that necklace, Fang Hongjian had always treated him with sincere respect—he felt it in his bones, just as she treated her master and Qin Baoxian. It made him feel comfortable.

Unfortunately, her luck was abysmal; she just had to discover that piece of jewelry lost in a crevice, and kept foolishly trying to hide it. She was like powder buried in the earth, refusing to explode. Every time he saw her, he couldn’t help but recall that chaotic night—Yao Zhen’s soft, fragrant body, her burning tears falling on his chest, and her words, so full of pity: “Uncle Jian, we are all people of misfortune.”

He didn’t want to remember any of this, yet the more he struggled, the deeper he sank. Hope followed by disappointment, again and again. Fang Hongjian refused to confront him and settle things. For Jian Hui, failing to break through to the mid Foundation Establishment stage wasn’t the worst—what terrified him was that his Dao heart had begun to waver, and he needed to sever all distracting thoughts quickly.

During the demon-heart trial in the first half of the sect’s secret realm, Jian Hui had seen Yao Zhen’s pale face again, which only deepened his resolve to kill. He wanted Fang Hongjian, who was connected to Yao Zhen, to vanish completely.

Would those two remain together? How could he separate them?

Jian Hui watched from a distance, seeing them join forces to kill a low-level demon beast—a Phantom Gold Frog whose cry sounded like a child’s wail. The young man summoned the “Demon-Subduing Vine” to bind the frog tightly. It struggled fiercely, its cries echoing far and wide, but even when “Moon Surge” struck it down, it never escaped. Jian Hui felt a chill; when the youth had been taken as a disciple by a Nascent Soul master, he was said to be at the seventh layer of Qi Refining. Judging by his performance now, he’d clearly advanced further in the past year.

Then came a further disappointment. Drawn by the frog’s cries, two more Qi Refining disciples arrived, and the four met up.

Jian Hui had no choice but to retreat. He wandered into the deep mountains, his mood gloomy. As he pressed on, the demon beasts he encountered grew stronger, and even he had to focus to handle them.

The mountain paths were steep, the forests dense. Occasionally, distant flames flickered—perhaps another sect brother exploring the woods. Since his cultivation had collapsed, Jian Hui rarely interacted with his peers; he had nearly no friends in Dan Cliff Sect. He avoided others, steering clear of any light. That night, he wandered restlessly, but by dawn he had gained a bit for his troubles.

The night had passed; surely those four couldn’t stay together forever? Jian Hui’s mind was always occupied with this, unable to focus on anything else. He finally couldn’t resist, turning back to search for Fang Hongjian again.

This time, she was in an even more remote location. Clearly, after a night of trials, his junior sister had gained more experience dealing with demon beasts and grown bolder. Jian Hui knew her spiritual sense far surpassed ordinary Qi Refining apprentices, so he dared not alert her. He stopped at a distance to carefully observe. To his delight, the area now contained only her; the other three Nascent Soul disciples had apparently departed together at some point.

Heaven-sent opportunity!

Jian Hui trailed her from afar. The previous defeat made him wary of her strange spell; he decided to wait for an even better chance to strike.

It seemed that even fate favored Jian Hui, for the opportunity soon arrived.

Fang Hongjian discovered a small mountain hollow. The entrance was choked with waist-high weeds, suggesting no one had been there before. She hesitated briefly at the entrance, glanced around as if checking for others nearby, then drew “Moon Surge” and entered. Soon, the sounds of demon beasts and combat echoed from within.

Now that she was engaged in battle, Jian Hui had no fear of being discovered. He quietly crept up the slope above the hollow, peering through dense foliage to find the small figure below.

Fang Hongjian was fighting a Rock Beast.

A creature of the earth element, the Rock Beast moved slowly but could burrow through soil and boasted formidable defenses. Fang Hongjian wrestled with it for a while, suffered once from its earth-burrowing trick, then learned her lesson. Agile and light, she kept just out of reach—barely more than an arm’s length away. The beast, lacking true intelligence, believed one more step would let it strike, refusing to waste more energy on burrowing, and so remained trapped, repeatedly battered.

In no time, the Rock Beast was nearly spent, about to collapse. Jian Hui counted her attacks: “Moon Surge” had struck twice. Based on his own experience yesterday, Fang Hongjian’s true energy could sustain a third attack from the artifact, but she paused, staying close and provoking the Rock Beast’s angry pursuit, obviously delaying for her energy to recover.

Jian Hui frowned; even at a moment like this, she was so cautious. The little girl truly possessed an extraordinary instinct for survival. If that was the case, he would lend the Rock Beast a hand.

He sprang from the rock above, landing directly behind Fang Hongjian. This time, he had learned from his last mistake: his left hand gripped “Shadow Mirror” but did not attack recklessly; his right fist launched a “Jade Dragon’s Roar,” striking at Fang Hongjian’s back in concert with the Rock Beast’s assault.