Facing the silent killer mere moments from tearing his body apart, the man’s fring reflexes did not disgrace his status as a full-fledged foundation establishment cultivator.

  The talisman he kept at the ready had already ignited, burning intensely in midair and leaving only a single rune floating in its pce, its golden glow bearing its fang at the wave of deadly water elements!

  Of course, the killer crescents didn’t stop for a single when facing the rune’s presence, but just when it wanted to fly past the golden symbol-

  OOM!

  The barrage of deadly crescents collided with a barrier that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, sending ripples across its previously invisible surface!

  The barrier withstood the assault with no problem, but the barrage didn’t end there!

  Crescents of water followed unceasingly after the initial ones, their sharp edges chipping away at the energy shield and quickly draining the light from the rune until-

  Crack- Like gss panes, the rippling barrier silently broke apart, the runic symbol fading away…

  But, the barrier had done its job. Seizing the time bought by the barrier, the man had already swiftly retreated back into the corridor!

  Seeing the leftover of the water barrage shredding through the shattered remains of his barrier, the man dived aside, just in time to narrowly evade the killers that chased out through the doorway with a force that made his bones rattle!

  Crack. Crunch! Crack. Crack!

  Bouncing up from the ground, the man inspected the deep, jagged marks left by the deadly sshes that had sliced through the doorways.

  With an ugly face twisted in shock, his accusatory eyes exchanged a rapid-fire gre with Xiao Hong hiding on the other side of the corridor, "Flipping heavens woman! You didn’t mention she had sword aura!"

  Xiao Hong shot back coolly, "This is news to me as well."

  Xiao Hong’s eyes darted over the scars left on the white jade walls where the water crescents had sshed through moments ago, her casual, condescending expression giving way to a serious frown.

  "Mid-stage foundation realm? No..."

  To confirm her thoughts, Xiao Hong cautiously peered out, withdrawing quickly as two more crescents sliced right past where her head just was and into the ceiling of the corridor!

  The menacing reminder of the danger left little time for observation, but even a brief glimpse gave Xiao Hong enough information to work with.

  Her frown softened subtly. “It's just pseudo mid-stage. She's borrowing power from the Huaqing pool."

  “Ke! I know that much! I’m asking for a solution!”

  Feeling the lingering threat of the water crescents hovering just beyond his peripheral vision, like deadly bdes waiting to strike again, the man's frustration mounted.

  “You know we don’t have much time, and it doesn’t look like she will obediently surrender!"

  Xiao Hong’s lips pressed into a thin line. The man was right. A water attribute cultivator won't lose ground any time soon as long as they have a body of water at their beckon.

  If time wasn’t an issue, they could draw out the battle and, without a doubt, they would win because the other’s Qi reserve will eventually run dry.

  But time… “Tch.”

  After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Hong retrieved a jade flute from her storage pouch. "I didn't want to resort to this, but…"

  Inside the Bathing Room.

  Maintaining a steady breathing rhythm, Xiao Lan stood in the knee-deep steps of the pool, her sword held steady amidst the swirling currents that winded up and around the bde like twin dragons guarding the pilr supporting the heavens.

  The cold sword goddess’s eyes never wavered from the undefended door, ready to strike as many times as necessary to fend off her enemies.

  Water. An entire pool she had filled over the months of living here.

  With this alone, the expenditure to cast water-based spells was drastically reduced. The conditions were indeed in her favor.

  Barring any surprises, holding her ground against two Foundation Establishment cultivators solo should not be beyond her capabilities.

  But then, as if from a distant dream, the haunting melody of a flute drifted into the room...

  The notes carried a strange, almost jarring quality that cut through to her heart like a bde.

  Of course, Xiao Lan’s will was as firm as millennial ice. A little music was just like sprinkling salt on ice. It can’t affect the sword cultivated in her heart!

  But this music… shattered the iceberg goddess’s composure for the first time. Why? Because this music’s target was the scorpion pnted in her heart!

  Only mere moments after the tune drilled into her heart, bck veins surfaced on her face and pain ran amok in her veins!

  Xiao Lan wanted to find a remedy, but nothing can block the tune. Even her instinctive sealing of her senses was to no avail!

  Under the sabotage from the vermin within, the sword maiden’s ramrod straight stance soon crumbled!

  With a gasp, Xiao Lan plunged her sword into the ground, using it as a crutch to barely support herself to stay upright.

  Her pride refused to let her colpse outright, but…

  She could only helplessly watch the twin water dragons escape back into the pool, her spell dissolving just like her hopes.

  The once-rippling surface of the water gradually calmed, mirroring the silent anguish of the fallen angel.

  “Kekeke…” Listening to the bewitching tune, the man outside chuckled gleefully, eyeing the flute on Xiao Hong’s cherry-red lips with unabashed greed.

  "I didn’t expect you to have secondary control authority over the gu inside her. Mind selling it to me? How about a mid-grade-"

  Before he could finish his proposition, Xiao Hong abruptly ceased blowing the flute, her voice cutting through the air with a cold warning. "Coveting the master’s possessions? Do you have a death wish?"

  Chastened, the man didn’t try again, walking past Xiao Hong as though he had never entertained such thoughts.

  His boots crunched over the gss shards, strutting proudly into the bathhouse.

  A sneer crossed his face upon seeing the pale-faced beauty kneeling, visibly struggling as the purplish-bck veins slowly receded.

  “Kekeke…” He ughed evilly at the sight and couldn’t wait to go up to cim his defenseless prize.

  But just when the man was an arm’s reach from his apparently vulnerable prey, the sword shot out from beneath the water like a viper, swinging to decapitate his neck!

  “Too slow.” A casual response, but in an instant, the tables turned.

  The man's ughter turned into a strangled gasp on the sword maiden’s wrist. With a twist, the sword was wrested from her control and into his hand!

  “Go cool off a bit.” Another well-pced kick sent Xiao Lan flying backward, her body crashing into the deeper parts of the pool with a spsh!

  Ignoring the beauty for the moment, the man inspected the sword in his hand, running his fingers along the runes etched onto its bde. "Such fine craftsmanship, even I can't do it. But…”

  His expression turned disdainful. “Too bad, runes of this caliber are pstered onto cow dung. No matter how good the runes are, if the material is trash...”

  A fierce expression suddenly birthed on the man’s face, his hand twisting the bde again and again until- Snap!

  The sword broke into two halves, the once-bright runes dimming and some even fading away altogether…

  Tossing aside the broken sword, the man let his lust take over once more.

  Wading into the pool, he pulled up the woman who seemed intent on drowning herself and towed the fish to his chopping board...

  Seeing the soaked beauty being dragged out of the water like a discarded doll, Xiao Hong observing from the shore couldn’t help but dryly comment, "Pying so rough, aren't you afraid of breaking her?"

  The man sneered dismissively. "That's what she deserves for forcing me to waste a high-grade talisman. You don’t know how hard it is to come by defensive talismans like that. I’ll definitely get my worth out of her for this, kekeke..."

  With a cruel palm of Qi, he forcefully expelled the water from the woman's lungs.

  Cough- Cough- Coughing out water violently, the pale Xiao Lan defiantly stared up at the man, and her weakened hand suddenly shot out toward her own neck- Snap!

  Her wrist was seized by the man once more. The man cruelly twisted it until a pointed silver jiazi adorned with a light blue jade flower slipped from her grasp.

  Seeing the female accessory that served as the st resort for noble women of this era, the man scoffed, “Keke. Stop struggling. It’s futile. How can I let a beauty like you die so easily? Just be obedient.”

  Refusing to give Xiao Lan another chance, the man casually tapped a few acupuncture points on her body.

  Almost instantly, Xiao Lan body went limp. Just when Xiao Lan wanted to use her Qi to force open the seals on her meridians, a talisman was pasted on her belly.

  The alighting of the rune sealed her fate.

  Feeling her Qi stagnating and losing all forms of resistance, Xiao Lan could only lock onto the man with an icy stare.

  “Keke…” The man caressed Xiao Lan's fair face, his tone dripping with malicious anticipation. "I like that look on your face. I can’t wait to see it begging for more, just like all the other toys in my collection."

  Witnessing the scene with barely concealed disgust, Xiao Hong gave the man a withering look before addressing the twins who had silently followed her with bowed heads.

  "A lot of things happened while we were gone and weren't reported. I'll take these two back for some interrogation. You have until the time I return."

  With that, she turned to saunter out, the quivering twins obediently following her without protest...

  When the tower’s entrance rumbled shut once more, the man's tense posture visibly rexed and he sneered with derision, "Just a dirty shrew who lost favor. Sooner or ter, you'll also fall beneath my crotch."

  But now was not the time.

  The thorny rose’s status was not low, and she was temporarily beyond the reach of his cws.

  For now, he can only slowly work his way up and find ways to get his cws on the flowers stuck to those with low status – like the willowy beauty ying on the cold hard ground below him.

  He looked down at violet-haired beauty with that amazingly cold face that made his manhood throb, his grin widening with predatory intent. "Keke, now it's just you and me...”

  Unable to hold back any longer, he buried his face against her neck, inhaling deeply with a disturbing sense of possession...

  “Ha…” Feeling every fiber in his body tingling with sadistic pleasure, he slowly pulled back.

  Lightly patting her cheek with the bde of his ornate dagger, the man grinned wickedly, “Keke. Miss Zin, We're going to have a lot of fun tonight…"

  Following his ominous decration, the man’s dagger slowly traced a path from her fair neck down to her delicate colrbone…

  Seeing the beauty’s eyes burning with silent defiance, the edge didn’t hesitate to glide further down like a shadow over moonlit waters, slicing apart the lic silk as if peeling away the petals of a delicate flower...