Chapter 166: 【Deducible Martial Art Detected: Dark-Ice Force. Proceed with Deduction?】

On the water.

Duan Xiao stared fixedly in the direction Zuo Muxian had vanished. His back, at some point, had been soaked through with cold sweat.

The Three Refinements of Transforming Strength!

Refining Qi, Refining Essence, Refining Spirit!

That man had already stepped into late-stage Transforming Strength.

‘No wonder he had the nerve to come to my Chenjian Wu alone…’

‘How old is he? Thirty at most, and already at this level. That kind of talent — among the younger generation of Nanxiang’s four great sects, how many could stand against him?’

Duan Xiao drew a deep breath and steadied his heart.

The gulf between early and late Transforming Strength was nothing short of a chasm. One was still tempering force; the other had already touched the arcane domain of spirit. Between them yawned a gap that could not be crossed.

Duan Xiao still had cards he hadn’t played…

But a chief disciple of a colossus like Zhaixing Sect — would he lack killing moves of his own?

If it came down to a genuine fight to the death, Duan Xiao might well have perished on Yunshui Lake tonight.

“Fortunate… that he came only for Gao Fu. No mortal grudge with my Chenjian Wu. Otherwise, the outcome would have been grim indeed.”

Duan Xiao sighed.

But quickly, his brow knotted again. A wisp of doubt surfaced.

‘Gao Fu aside — why did Jia Pingxiu suddenly turn traitor?’

‘He’d spent seven or eight years on the island, toiling away like a good, obedient dog. I’d planned to let him stew another two years, grind the edges off his temper, then pass him the Transforming Strength mental cultivation method…’

His frown deepened, thoughts racing.

‘That’s it. He’d hinted at wanting the method several times, and I’d put him off by saying his cultivation wasn’t ready. He must have grown resentful — and Zuo Muxian seized the opening, dangling a Transforming Strength method as bait to flip the fool.’

‘Hmph!’

Duan Xiao snorted inwardly, but his emotions gradually cooled.

‘Just one restless mutt gone. Cutting out the rot — that may not be a bad thing. Lu Juncheng and the Blood Ascetic are loyal beyond question. With them holding the fort, Dongyi Island won’t fall apart, and I can focus on real business.’

At that thought, a feverish gleam passed through Duan Xiao’s eyes. He wheeled toward Dongyi Island and broke into a sprint, leaving only a murmur to scatter in the night wind.

“I hope the old ghost Bai keeps his word. Once he merges with the Yin-Fiend School, that ancient demonic art should finally fall into my hands.”

…

The shore of Yunyi Island.

Moonlight spilled like silk across the quiet, rocky beach.

Shen Xiuhan stood at the water’s edge. His bones emitted a rapid-fire string of CRACK-POP-CRACK — like beans in a hot pan.

The Tortoise-Breath Phantom-Face Art dissolved. The bloated, corpulent features melted away. In a few breaths, the sharp, cold-edged lines of his true face reasserted themselves.

He let out a long exhale and rolled his stiff neck and shoulders.

A breeze stirred the lakeside reeds.

Zuo Muxian’s moon-white figure had materialized a zhang ahead, soundless as a thought.

Robes hanging still, not a drop of water on him — as though he’d been standing there all along.

Shen Xiuhan clasped his fists and bowed, his tone sincere.

“Brother Zuo, I owe you a great deal tonight.”

“Owe me nothing. We each got what we came for.”

Zuo Muxian waved it off, then in the same motion took custody of Gao Fu from Shen Xiuhan’s hands.

Gao Fu’s eyes were wide open, brimming with panic and desperate pleading, but his body remained rigid as a plank — he couldn’t move a finger.

Zuo Muxian looked down. The smile on his lips was warm enough to chill the blood.

He reached out and lightly patted Gao Fu’s sweat-drenched cheek, his voice as gentle as if coaxing a child.

“Scared?”

“Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared.”

“Zhaixing Sect’s techniques are wonderfully suited to the art of prolonged suffering. You’ll have plenty to experience over the next few days.”

The despair in Gao Fu’s eyes thickened visibly. Terror was practically leaking out of him. His throat quivered, producing a thin, whistling hiss.

Zuo Muxian smiled with satisfaction, then lifted his gaze to Shen Xiuhan.

“With this business settled, I’ll be riding through the night back to Shitan County. I need this animal’s head to pay my respects at my sister’s grave. I won’t linger.”

“Of course. Safe travels, Brother Zuo.” Shen Xiuhan said at once.

Zuo Muxian nodded.

“As for the matter you mentioned — early August. I’ll arrive ahead of time and send word. If nothing changes, we proceed as planned.”

With that, his toe-tip brushed the ground.

FWOOSH!

Air tore apart.

Zuo Muxian’s figure launched skyward like a great roc spreading its wings — soaring dozens of zhang into the air.

Shen Xiuhan craned his neck. The moon-white silhouette traced a parabola across the night sky. By the time it descended, it had already cleared several hundred paces of open water.

A toe-tap on the lake surface, another bound — two or three leaps and he was gone, swallowed by the vast darkness.

“Hiss…”

Shen Xiuhan watched the vanishing figure, brows climbing, shock plain in his eyes.

‘So this is what a Transforming Strength master is capable of?’

A single leap spanning dozens of zhang. A single landing covering hundreds of paces.

At that rate, killing a man and taking his head was the work of a breath or two.

He inhaled deeply, pressed the awe back down, and turned toward the boatman’s mooring.

…

Day three since Chenjian Wu’s Fourth Chief Jia Pingxiu was scattered to the winds.

Changyun County.

The Shen courtyard on Apricot Blossom Alley.

Shen Xiuhan sat cross-legged in his side-room, breathing and circulating his qi.

For three days he’d barely left the house.

Stance training at dawn, instructing disciples at the hall in the afternoon — days monotonous but rigorously structured.

The relentless cultivation, supplemented by treasure pills, had brought him ever closer to cracking open the fifth aperture — the Huiyin.

More importantly, the points accumulated on his Intelligence panel had finally crossed the thirty mark again.

Once techniques entered the Transforming Strength tier, the Intelligence cost multiplied.

Shen Xiuhan suspected that at Astral Strength, the price would climb yet another level.

At that point, every single Deduction would cost an astronomical sum.

And right now, the techniques crying out for Deduction were numerous:

Movement arts. Body-hardening methods. The newly acquired Abyssal Frost-Fiend Sea-Overturning True Scripture. And the Ice-Soul Misty Rain Sword.

After careful deliberation, Shen Xiuhan decided to put his steel where it cut deepest — and Deduce the divine power’s subordinate method first.

Dark-Ice Force!

Startled Swan, Roaming Dragon hadn’t been Deduced, but he’d never stopped training it on his own. It had reached Initial Mastery, performed admirably in combat, and would serve well enough for now.

Iron Bone Art still kept pace with his progress. Besides, ever since acquiring the Lion-Lock Armor, he’d worn it against his skin at all times.

The two together meant no common fighter could so much as scratch him.

As for the Ice-Soul Misty Rain Sword — even less urgent.

No matter how brilliant the swordplay, it still rested on cultivation. Without the realm to support it, the finest technique was wasted.

And the wonders of divine-power arts — those, he’d already experienced firsthand.

Whether it was the Void-Gazing Eye’s ability to expose weaknesses, or Thousand Lakes Fishing’s remote retrieval — both were supreme tools for fighting above one’s station.

Dark-Ice Force, as an offensive method, surely had unique strengths of its own.

Shen Xiuhan sat in the side-room, stilled his mind, and called inwardly:

‘Deduction!’

【Deducible martial art detected: Dark-Ice Force. Proceed with Deduction?】

‘Yes!’