Above the Galaxy

The journey through Shu is hard, harder than climbing to the skies.

Joker had never traversed the Shu path, but he felt that the mountain roads of Henshan were much harder to navigate.

Sssrip!

The sound of fabric tearing echoed.

Joker turned to look and then let out an exclamation of surprise, "Ah, my white suit..."

"This is my favorite suit..."

"What kind of crappy road is this? I'm going to kill you, kill you..."

He pulled out a double-barreled pistol from his waist and pulled the trigger at the thorny tree that had "ripped" his clothes, and with a loud 'bang,' the thorny tree was blasted into pieces, leaving a large hole where it had stood.

He, too, was struck by the powerful blast, scattering the little braid on the back of his head, transforming it into a wild and disheveled mess.

Mr. Shan He frowned and said angrily, "Joker, all this screaming and shouting will 'startle the grass and scare the snake'... And those Energy Bullets aren't meant to be used like that, you've wasted them all."

"Startle the grass and scare the snake?" Joker pointed to the Bald Man who was leading the group with a Mountain Opening Blade, cutting through the underbrush, and said mockingly, "With all the racket he's making up there, do we really need me to startle anything? We haven't seen so much as a mouse..."

Joker's abilities were unknown, but he was an expert at drawing ire.

As expected, the Bald Man was enraged. He charged at Joker, Mountain Opening Blade in hand, and threatened, "Do you believe I could chop off your head with one swing?"

Joker played with the pistol in his hand, a mocking expression on his face, "I don't believe you."

Click, click, click—not only was he good at provoking others, but also at courting death... Truly outstanding.

As the Bald Man gripped his Mountain Opening Blade, it blazed with a silver light, its blade trembling, infused with Yin Yang Qi. The Mountain Opening Blade was no longer an ordinary weapon.

Clearly, he was also a Cultivator.

And at least at the pinnacle of the Body Tempering Realm.

Joker blew on the barrel of his gun as if imbuing it with energy, clearly not taking the Bald Man's threat seriously at all.

"Seeking death!" The Bald Man roared, raised the Mountain Opening Blade high, ready to chop at Joker's head.

Snap!

A large hand grabbed his wrist, and Mr. Shan He shook his head at the Bald Man, saying, "Jing Ta, don't be rash."

Jing Ta growled, "Am I being impulsive? It was this Joker who provoked first."

"You know what he is like..." Mr. Shan He's eyes flickered with a red light as he said firmly, "And I assure you, if he dares to act out like this again, I'll personally twist his neck off."

Jing Ta glared fiercely at Joker, then drained away his Yin Yang Qi and, taking up the Mountain Opening Blade, moved to the front of the group again.

He was responsible for clearing the path ahead and, due to the special nature of his cultivation technique, he could provide comprehensive defense for the team when needed.

Once Jing Ta had moved off, Mr. Shan He turned to Joker and asked, "Did you hear what I just said?"

"I heard, I heard, I'm not deaf. How could I not hear?" Joker replied with a chuckle, looking at Mr. Shan He. He knew the old guy was truly angry. If he really got on his bad side, who knows, he might just make an example out of him.

"Mr. Shan He, I get what you're saying. You want to avoid conflict among the team, keep everyone united. In fact, I have a brilliant suggestion... How about we split up and move separately? Then everyone can be happy, right?"

"No way," Mr. Shan He immediately rejected the idea and said, "I've already made that mistake before, letting everyone split up, which led to the deaths of Shadowless and Wu Feng. The situation is quite clear now; our target has other capable companions... Therefore, we cannot give them a chance to defeat us one by one."

"Alright then. When people come together, friction is inevitable. If in a moment I get into another argument with them..."

"I'll still twist your neck off."

Mr. Shan He's patience with Joker had reached its limit. They had not yet seen a glimpse of Phoenix, and they had already sacrificed two strong members of their team.

If the commotion continued, he feared the whole group might face total annihilation.

As the leader of this team, he had to take responsibility for the entire group. Besides, he didn't want to die in this gloomy and miasmic place himself.

He wanted to return to New Star, where his pleasures and treasures awaited.

Joker simply shrugged his shoulders but this time did not retort against Mr. Shan He's words.

Henshan was lush with vegetation, thick with brambles, making every step a struggle. If not for Jing Ta constantly cutting through the undergrowth, many areas would be impassable.

Even though these Assassins all possessed extraordinary skills, navigating through the dark forest sapped their strength.

"Mr. Shan He, shall we continue the search tomorrow?" Snake Woman suggested, "The enemy is hidden, and we are in the open; navigating through dense forest like this is just too dangerous."

Mr. Shan He pondered for a moment before replying, "No. Wu Feng and Shadowless have already 'started the grass and scared the snake,' they know we are here. If we waited until daylight to search again, they would have long fled without a trace."

"With the difficulties we're facing traveling at night, how far could they possibly get?"

"Don't forget the owner of that small courtyard is Tang Fei, the most formidable Hunter in the Henshan Gathering Area," Mr. Shan He said. "Evidently, when they left, they also abducted Tang Fei and his family. Otherwise, why would his house be completely empty?"

"Just an ordinary Hunter... no matter how formidable, how great can he truly be?" Snake Woman disdainfully spoke of Tang Fei, saying, "Don't forget, we are the professionals when it comes to tracking and killing."

"We can't take risks," Mr. Shan He insisted, "We must eliminate the target within a controllable range. Once the mission is completed, we all return to New Star... Won't we have whatever we want then?"

"Alright, I was just saying. Let's follow Mr. Shan He's commands." Snake Woman nodded in agreement.

"Has your little snake sent back any information yet?" Mr. Shan He asked.

"Ever since the images were sent back an hour ago showing them entering the dense forest and heading in this direction, we've lost their tracks... I suspect they have discovered the existence of the scouting snakes." Snake Woman's face showed concern. "However, I have issued new orders to it, to alert us immediately once it finds even a trace of them..."

Just then, Jing Ta, who was leading the way, suddenly roared, "Careful, it's an ambush!"

As he spoke, he had already used his Mountain Opening Blade to chop down several bamboo arrows flying toward them.

The others also immediately rolled in all directions, seeking cover.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...

The bamboo arrows swept across in rows, covering the entire area.

They parried with knives, slashed with swords, or dodged with agile movement techniques.

After several volleys of bamboo arrows, not a single assassin was injured.

"Child's play!" Shan He scoffed. "This is the most primitive arrow formation, it requires triggering a mechanism or pulling a rope to activate..."

"Now that we've encountered an arrow formation, it means they're just ahead. Let's push on, take them out, and then we can head back for a hot shower."

"Kill them all!" Jing Ta, gripping his Mountain Opening Blade, was the first to charge forward.

The others followed closely behind, not wanting to fall even half a step behind—what if this hulk of a man chopped up the little bird, then where would they plead their case?

Crash...

Jing Ta felt his body suddenly lifted into the air, a large net sweeping up from below and enveloping him completely.

Jing Ta was shocked, trying to use his Mountain Opening Blade to cut through the net, but found he couldn't move his hands or feet at all.

He was like a fish caught in a net, with extremely limited space to move; the more he struggled, the tighter the net bound him.

At this moment, Jing Ta felt a chill down his spine, the crisis awareness of a top-level assassin informing him that he was being targeted by a powerful Qi.

The night was as dark as ink, and an arrow darker than the ink itself appeared from the shadows, thundering towards Jing Ta, who was suspended in midair.

A combo kill move!

Jing Ta felt his mouth go dry, dignity as an assassin forgotten as he cried out in desperation, "Save me!"

Snap!

The rope broke, and the net rapidly fell downwards.

Mr. Shan He stepped forward, catching Jing Ta's body as it almost hit the ground.

He was not as bulky as Jing Ta but possessed incredible strength, like the mythological Tota Heavenly King, holding Jing Ta steady in mid-air with one hand.

And that arrow narrowly missed the top of Jing Ta's head, shooting towards a large tree further away.

Bang!

The first tree couldn't withstand the force of the arrow and snapped into two pieces right in the middle.

What was even more terrifying was that the arrow's force didn't diminish, it continued to pierce through.

The second tree, the third tree...

A series of thunderous explosive noises followed.

It was only when it buried itself deep into the fifth tree that it stopped, unable to move.

Everyone's pupils dilated, faces filled with terror.

What kind of archery was this? In the cover of darkness, it still achieved a shot as precise as splitting a willow a hundred steps away.

And what kind of power was this? One arrow penetrated the trunks of four large trees before finally coming to a halt on the fifth.

"Qi Manipulation Skill..." Mr. Shan He said hoarsely, "And there's another master of this skill."

He was very clear that without the augmentation of Yin Yang Qi, this arrow would not be this formidable and wouldn't possess such terrifying penetration power.

An arrow shot out, first weakens, then decays, eventually exhausted...

Are you still talking sense after piercing through the fifth tree?

He now understood the situation with the hole in Shadowless's neck—that was the tremendous might of a master at the Qi Manipulation Skill and Yin Yang Qi, capable of defeating even nanometer-scale battle armor.

Snap!

A crisp sound came through, like the slicing of leek by a sickle.

Shan He felt something wet on his face, reaching to touch it, and sticky warm liquid stuck to his palm.

It was blood!

A Dog Leg Knife spun above their heads and landed in the hands of a young man not far away.

And Jing Ta, whom he held aloft with his left hand, had his head 'plop' to the ground separate from his body.

Along with a piece of the net that was wrapped around his head.

This was the Ultra Kill!