An Alchemist's Path to Eternity

Pearl-Returning Pavilion’s assassins were divided according to cultivation realm into three classes: Copper, Silver, and Gold, corresponding to Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core. Within these three, there were finer distinctions, although the general public was obviously not privy to the details. In any case, whoever was assigned to today’s battle had to be among the pavilion’s elite.

The world knew nothing of Wu Gou, and the mask on his face did not let them find out anything about his identity. But his capabilities quickly revealed themselves before a hundred thousand cultivators. Cen Guangyi was defeated; in only ten exchanges, he fell to Wu Gou’s hands.

From the stands, Luo Chen looked at Cen Guangyi’s disbelieving expression and shook his head lightly. ”Assassins pursued a single decisive strike. Cen Guangyi attempted to drag the fight into a prolonged battle, using his deep cultivation to wear his opponent down. A sound idea, but difficult to execute. And that enchanted treasure is quite peculiar....”

Cen Qiusheng’s expression also darkened. Cen Guangyi was the strongest Initiate among the younger generation of the Cen family and was praised as the second only to Cen Qiusheng himself. Yet he had suffered repeated defeats in the battle, which was quite embarrassing. Worse, the embarrassment fell on the Cen family. Their force was already the weakest among the three forming this alliance, and now even their juniors...

”Eh, Cen Guangyi cannot be blamed. That weapon Wu Gou used was a mystical enchanted treasure made in Skysail City. Even if it was inferior to the true Little Crimson Hook, it still had seventy percent of its power. To lose to such a weapon is no shame.” Diwu Qi laughed heartily, helping Cen Qiusheng out of the awkwardness.

With this excuse given, Cen Qiusheng’s expression eased slightly.

”Judging from the strength Wang Yuan has displayed so far, Wu Gou should not threaten him too much.”

”You seem to think very highly of my fellow sect member,” Luo Chen said mildly, though his tone carried sarcasm.

Diwu Qi shrugged and spread his hands. ”Dan Chenzi, you have either been in seclusion or refining pills these years. You know too little about your own people. I am not overestimating Wang Yuan; you are underestimating him.”

Beside them, Jiang Yu added, ”Perhaps concern clouds judgment.”

Luo Chen arched a brow and said nothing more. He turned his attention back to the battle. Pearl-Returning Pavilion had easily defeated Cen Guangyi. By logic, with three fighters against Wang Yuan alone, he stood no chance. Even if one lost, they could wear him down.

Yet he immediately noticed that their posture showed no hint of carelessness. When Wang Yuan stepped slowly onto the platform, Wu Gou even behaved as if facing a truly dangerous enemy.

Wang Yuan was as calm as still water. He raised his hand slightly and said, ”I am Wang Yuan of the Luo Tian Sect. Please make your move.”

Almost the instant their words fell, countless white lights burst across the Debate Platform, and thin curved hook shadows manifested in the air. Although Wu Gou was the name of a saber[1]. However, the assassin who borrowed this name did not use a saber. Instead, he wielded an imitation of the Little Crimson Hook, a White Soul Hook.

The moment the hooks appeared, Cen Guangyi’s expression shifted drastically. He had been defeated by this very strike. It was clearly the killing move of that imitation mystical enchanted treasure. Wu Gou was shameless enough to activate his treasure’s killing move right from the start.

He blurted out instinctively, ”Fellow Daoist Wang, be careful!”

At the warning, Wang Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He glanced at his opponent, then curled four fingers of his right hand, extending only his index finger to point forward. If you want to end it in one strike, who am I to disappoint you?

This was Wang Yuan’s own killing move, the Divine Blood Tribulation Finger. Yet this technique had undergone remarkable changes through years of refinement, and it was nothing like what Luo Chen knew.

The moment blood light appeared, the air suddenly rang with a piercing shriek.

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

Luo Chen’s eyelid twitched. Diwu Qi was right. He had been in seclusion too long and truly did not understand how far those around him had progressed. Just this one strike proved that Wang Yuan’s power surpassed most peak Initiates. So what if his opponent was using an enchanted treasure?

The next instant, countless crimson lights and white lights collided on the platform. Suddenly, a streak of energy pierced through the shredding field of white hooks and struck Wu Gou’s lower abdomen.

Wu Gou stared in disbelief at the hole in his stomach.

”How is this possible...”

”Thanks for letting me win,” said Wang Yuan, yet dissatisfaction flickered in his eyes. Why so weak!? Aiyaah...

Wu Gou parted his lips, but no sound came out. He was still standing with most of his strength intact and barely harmed. Yet he knew very well that if Wang Yuan had not deliberately shifted his finger a little downward, that strike would have pierced his heart. In the end, he lowered his head bitterly.

”I lost.”

The Golden Core elder of the Sword Sect stepped forward and announced Wang Yuan’s victory in the first match, and only then did the audience finally react. That was it? It ended just like that? This quickly?

The organizer gave the competitors no time to recover. The second assassin of Pearl-Returning Pavilion had already stepped onto the stage.

”I am Zhao Yingzi, a Silver-class assassin of Pearl-Returning Pavilion. I request your guidance!”

Wang Yuan’s expression shifted faintly. He sensed a dense fiend qi from his opponent, the kind accumulated from a few too many kills. She was a female cultivator, but he held no such prejudice. To him, people were either strong or irrelevant.

”She should be a worthy opponent,” he murmured, then clenched his hand. His knuckles crackled like firecrackers as streams of qi moved across his body like coiling dragons. Then—

”I’ll make my move!”

This time, he no longer chose to defend. He attacked first. The moment his words fell, he shot forward like an arrow, pouncing fiercely toward Zhao Yingzi.

In that instant, the assassin felt as though a ferocious tiger was lunging at her. Ordinary cultivators maintained distance, exchanging blows with enchanted artifacts and treasures, spells, and talismans. Almost no one fought like this, recklessly rushing into close combat.

”A physique cultivator!?”

Zhao Yingzi’s expression shifted, and she desperately retreated. At the same time, a bronze mirror appeared on her wrist. She slapped it, and a large bronze mirror instantly materialized in the arena.

Boom!

Wang Yuan punched down, and Zhao Yingzi’s body shattered into four pieces. The scene drew gasps from the entire stadium.

”Such speed!”

”He did not even use an enchanted treasure, did he? How can he be this savage?”

”Did that assassin...”

”She’s not dead!”

On the Debate Platform, Wang Yuan withdrew his fist and looked three zhang to the side. There stood a bronze mirror as tall as a person, and Zhao Yingzi slowly appeared on its surface. She stared at Wang Yuan coldly and slapped the mirror again from within.

Wumm!

A humming sound rang out, then a second and third bronze mirror appeared. This was her personal treasure—it could produce multiple mirror projections, and she could travel between them. So long as the enchanted treasure remained intact, she could do that however many times she wanted, which practically meant she was unkillable. Moreover, once she set up a mirror formation, her opponent would be a turtle in a jar.

Wang Yuan looked at the scene coldly and drew a deep breath. The next instant, he charged again.

One punch. Two punches.

One spirit energy-infused bronze mirror shattered after another. Zhao Yingzi, having barely slipped away, couldn’t help but feel shocked. This man’s combat instincts are razor-sharp; he sees through my intent in an instant. But if he thinks this is all I have....

She gave a soft snort. Then, she pressed both hands against the bronze mirror beneath her and pulled hard.

In an instant, thirty-six bronze mirrors spread out across the Debate Platform in the pattern of the Eight Trigrams. After completing this step, Zhao Yingzi let out a faint breath of relief. With a twist of her wrist, a dagger appeared in her hand. And that’s going to be the end of...

Boom!

Under the mirror’s reflection, Wang Yuan’s fist gave rise to howling wind as it came crashing straight down. Zhao Yingzi had just been about to shift her position, but the spirit power in her body suddenly stalled.

”Get out!” Wang Yuan let out a low growl, and his power pierced through all the bronze mirrors at once! His large hand thrust into the depths of the mirror’s pocket space and directly dragged the assassin out!

Zhao Yingzi’s face flushed as his fingers locked around her throat. She stared in disbelief. How had he found her true body?

1. In APTE, Wu Gou appears as a character name. Yet historically, 吴钩 (wú gōu) referred to a curved saber forged in the Wu Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period. Fun fact, 钩 (gōu) in Chinese commonly denotes a hook-type weapon such as a Chinese hook sword. The term Wu Gou in this historical context referred to a saber rather than a hooked weapon. ☜