Chapter 1632: Shadow Manipulation (II)

Demonic energy surged faintly around Mu Guyue. She was finding it increasingly difficult to suppress the waves of killing intent roiling in her heart.

‘Since he has set his sights on this, he likely won’t stop,’ Li Yan replied. ‘My current mission has already been assigned, and I depart in over an hour. It’s too late to withdraw. However, you needn’t worry. Zhao Haiyang doesn’t have the authority to dictate the specific content of the missions—those are determined by the high command. He can only influence which squads I am placed in, ensuring I’m always in the high-risk “Death-Wind” units. Now that we know the cause, it’s easier to formulate a response.’

Li Yan paused, his mind working quickly. ‘This mission will last between twenty days and a month. When I return, I will ensure I appear “heavily injured.” This will grant me a period of recovery. If you are still in the camp a month from now, we will meet and finalize a plan. If you are sent out, you must also find a way to get “injured” to delay your next assignment until I return.’

As Li Yan spoke via voice transmission, he analyzed the variables.

‘Regardless of the plan, we must find an opportunity to slaughter that man!’ Mu Guyue was not one to forgive or forget. In the past, whenever a cultivator lusted after her, she would kill them the moment she had the strength to do so. She never believed in waiting.

‘If the opportunity arises, I won’t let him off,’ Li Yan agreed. ‘But we must ensure that whatever we do does not bring disaster upon the Broken Army Sect.’

This was the core of the problem. They were in Ghost-Severing City, stationed within a military camp. Their opponent was a Vice-General and a mid-stage Void Refining cultivator. With so many constraints, dealing with him was no simple task. Even a minor provocation could mean their deaths if they weren’t careful.

Mu Guyue knew he was right. She suppressed her rage, forcing herself to endure for the time being. ‘But now that he has spoken, he won’t stop just because of my refusal. On the contrary, you will become a thorn in his side, a grain of sand in his eye. Your situation will only become more perilous.’

‘What is our ultimate goal?’ Li Yan asked. ‘It is to leave the Northern Shepherd Realm. Once we are gone, we will likely never cross paths with these people again. When I return from this mission, we cannot afford to wait any longer. To avoid drawing his attention prematurely, I will use my “recovery period” as a pretext to find a suitable mission—any mission that takes us toward our goal.’

His eyes flickered with a sharp, calculated light. ‘We will accept that mission together under the guise of “recovering,” catching him off guard. We’ll see if we can get close to Ghost Sound City. Once we return—if we return—we can file a formal complaint with the Hall of Elders. We have a solid reason: why was I repeatedly assigned to different Death-Wind squads? That alone should be enough to draw the attention of the Pure Yang Hall’s Elders. But the most important thing is that we cannot leave any trail that leads back to the Broken Army Sect. And our chance… will likely only come once.’

Mu Guyue’s eyes narrowed as she listened, a cold, focused light reflecting Li Yan’s own.

Back in the Dark Domain Swamp, Li Yan flew slowly through a region of churning black smoke. His five companions had already fanned out, maintaining a distance of several li between each other. The area was a morass of mud and filth. Li Yan skimmed just above the black mire, his Divine Sense constantly scanning the surroundings.

The terrain was treacherous, so the five of them stayed within range to regroup at a moment’s notice. While a few li was a trivial distance for a cultivator, any deliberate obstruction could prevent them from merging, which was their greatest fear. Being isolated meant they would be exposed and quickly overwhelmed by the swamp’s inhabitants.

Although Li Yan was concealed, he wasn’t using the full power of his “Stealthy Night Art.” He was part of a team, and he couldn’t afford to reveal his most secret techniques. In this squad, Li Yan’s displayed cultivation remained the lowest, a fact that had initially caused resentment among his teammates, including the captain. They were a Death-Wind squad, and they believed someone of his level would only compromise their safety.

However, after their previous mission had left them severely diminished, the high command had assigned Li Yan and another mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator to fill the gaps. The female captain had initially frowned at the sight of Li Yan’s cultivation. But after a visit to the Deacon Hall, she had returned without replacing him, leading the group out as planned.

The others eventually learned that Li Yan had already survived other Death-Wind assignments. With such results, there was no need for further questions. Everyone knew that realm wasn’t the sole measure of a person’s worth, but in the absence of a deeper understanding, it remained the only standard of comparison.

Under the leaden, greyish sky, barren trees coated in dried mud rose from the swamp. The mud on their trunks had cracked into deep, jagged fissures. The air was thick with the scent of death, devoid of any signs of life.

As Li Yan passed between two skeletal trees, he came to an abrupt halt, his gaze sharpening. At the base of one of the trees was a hollow about half the height of a man. The hollow was filled with black sludge that occasionally released a thick bubble with a wet, guduo sound.

On the surface, there was nothing unusual about it. Such sights were common in this mire. Li Yan’s Divine Sense had already probed thousands of li beneath the swamp, finding only a chaotic mess of mud, decaying branches, stones, and the rotting carcasses of demonic beasts. He had even spotted a White Zombie standing perfectly still in the mud, as if it had been there for centuries, enveloped in a faint restrictive barrier.

Li Yan knew that a White Zombie typically commanded the Black Zombies in its territory. While they spent most of their time in hibernation—a form of cultivation for them—they remained fiercely territorial. Should they wake and find an intruder, they would strike without hesitation.

Because of the pervasive death energy in the swamp, the group’s Divine Senses were limited to about four thousand li, which was already the extent of Li Yan’s displayed power. Some of his teammates could only scan half that distance. During their briefings, Li Yan had listened to their reports and claimed his own range was only seventeen hundred li. No one questioned this; they assumed his Divine Sense was average even if his combat power was high.

But Li Yan’s eyes remained fixed on the hollow. While his Divine Sense detected nothing out of the ordinary, the Five Elements laws within his body sensed a slight anomaly in the external world.

‘There is a trace of Yin energy there… it has pierced through the surrounding death energy and miasma, drifting outward…’

The concentration of miasma and death energy in the Dark Domain Swamp was terrifyingly high. Even a Spirit Transformation cultivator had to hold their breath and consume a purifying pill every hour to neutralize the toxins seeping through their skin. Failing to do so for six months would result in a grim transformation—the cultivator would either die or become a zombie themselves.

Yet, in that tree hollow, there was a trace of pure Yin energy!

While Yin energy existed throughout the swamp, it was usually suppressed and confined deep within the mire, unable to drift into the air.