I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The Blood Shadow Hall assassin, who was just about to use the Blood Burning Escape to escape, suddenly had his pupils shrink!

A bone-chilling cold suddenly exploded from his dantian!

He lowered his head in disbelief.

A third-tier longsword wreathed in crimson flames silently pierced through his back, its tip emerging through his body, precisely penetrating his dantian!

On the blade, the blazing and domineering Phoenix Blood True Fire was like a hungry wolf that had smelled blood.

Instantly detaching from the blade, it transformed into countless fine fire snakes, frantically coiling, drilling into, and enveloping the golden elixir engraved with four blood-red patterns!

"Snap—"

A crisp, ear-piercing cracking sound suddenly rang out inside the assassin's body!

On the surface of the golden core, the first crack spread like a spider web, followed by a second, a third...

The four-patterned golden elixir that he had painstakingly cultivated for a hundred years and inscribed with four divine powers began to shatter from the inside out under the burning of the Phoenix Blood True Fire and the impact of the sword intent!

"Uh...ha..."

The assassin let out a hoarse, unintelligible sound from his throat, and with the last of his strength, slowly turned his head.

What came into view was a cold face that had appeared three feet behind him like a ghost at some unknown time.

The assassin's unfocused pupils were filled with confusion and disbelief.

How could that be...?

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but only gushing blood foam came out.

Lin Che did not give him an answer.

He calmly and steadily withdrew the long sword from his dantian.

As the blade was removed from the body, the assassin's last shred of support was completely severed.

His body went limp, and he fell helplessly from the sky, crashing onto the rocks below with a "bang," raising a cloud of dust, and then fell silent.

Lin Che stood in mid-air, looking down at the lifeless corpse, a cold smile slowly curving his lips.

When it comes to assassination, Lin Che is confident that he is second to none among assassins.

Faced with this absolute emptiness and concealment divine power that transcends matter and energy and appears as nothing under any divine sense, eye technique, spell, or divination, it remains to be seen who the hunter and who the prey are.

From the moment he decided to go all out, he had no intention of giving this person any chance of survival.

The moment Lin Che learned the detailed information about the enemy, he had already planned out his tactics.

As expected, everything went exactly as he predicted.

Just as his true form fell out of the void, before he could even regain his footing, and while his entire mind was still reeling from the backlash of his exploding clone and the terror he felt towards the dragon beast…

Lin Che made his move.

Lin Che, who was waiting behind him at the point of his repositioning with "Absolute Concealment", thrust out the long sword infused with the true fire of phoenix blood the moment his aura was revealed.

Until the tip of the knife pierced the dantian, until the crisp sound of the golden elixir shattering exploded within the body.

This battle-hardened top assassin couldn't even sense the slightest trace behind him.

This is an example of using someone's own methods against them.

Lin Che lowered his head, met the gaze of the Yaren Dragon Beast looking up below, and nodded slightly.

Immediately, Lin Che waved his hand.

The Heavenly Sacred Sparrow, the Hellfire Fiend Tiger, and the Yabeng Dragon Beast, along with the assassin's corpse, were all taken into the Azure Profound Secret Realm.

With a wave of his hand, he transformed the Phoenix Blood True Fire into several tiny fire snakes, efficiently clearing away traces of the battlefield.

The bloodthirsty aura was burned away completely.

The shattered remains of flesh and blood vanished into nothingness.

The disordered spiritual energy fluctuations were forcibly calmed down.

Even the faint, lingering smell of blood in the air was completely purified by the flames.

In less than ten breaths, the sky and the mountains below had returned to normal, as if the thrilling battle between Golden Core cultivators had never happened.

Lin Che gave one last look, confirming there were no flaws, then his figure flickered, transforming into a pale blue sword light, and instantly disappeared into the horizon.

……

Outside the Burning Bone Pass, where one can leap across a precipice.

When Lin Che's sword light finally landed leisurely in front of Qin Yulin, the short formation master rolled his eyes without any politeness.

"Hello—slow—oh!" she drawled, her tone revealing undisguised disdain.

"If I'd known you'd be dawdling like this, I would have asked you for the exact location of your family's territory and flown there myself!"

Lin Che remained calm and did not reveal that he had been assassinated, as if he had simply been slowed down by the speed of the flying sword.

His face also carried a perfectly measured hint of helplessness:

"I've kept Master Qin waiting. It seems I really should consider purchasing a decent spirit boat. Flying on a sword... is indeed a bit too slow."

Qin Yulin rolled her eyes at him again, her gaze clearly saying, "You only realize that now?"

She reached her hand to her waist and pulled out a third-tier flying sword with an extremely exquisite design, flowing with a pale blue spiritual light, and a long and beautiful blade.

She gripped the sword hilt and waved it triumphantly in front of Lin Che, her expression clearly saying, "Come and envy me."

"This master is not an unreasonable person." She coughed lightly, trying to appear generous, and raised her chin.

"I'll travel the rest of the way on my sword!"

As for why Lin Che wasn't allowed to ride in her faster and more comfortable spirit boat?

...Are you kidding me!

That's my precious spirit boat!

The interior is covered with soft cloud brocade sourced from the East Continent trade route. The array plate is a top-of-the-line shock absorption and sound insulation system that I personally tuned. Even the small incense burner on the tea table is a custom-made third-tier calming artifact.

How could we let just anyone set foot here!

Although they hadn't known each other for very long, Lin Che had already figured out some of Master Qin's temperament.

A knowing smile flashed across his eyes. He bowed respectfully and said sincerely, "Then I will trouble Master Qin to condescend to accompany me on my sword journey."

"Hehe, easy, easy!" Qin Yulin immediately beamed with joy. With a wave of her hand, the excellent-quality third-tier flying sword was unsheathed and hovered steadily in front of her.

She leaped lightly onto the sword, her back ramrod straight, exuding the air of a "senior master".

Two sword lights, one after the other, streaked across the sky at a leisurely pace, flying steadily towards Chuyang City.

During the flight, Lin Che remained calm, staring straight ahead.

My heart was filled with coldness!

On his way here, he was wondering who had hired Blood Shadow Hall assassins to assassinate him.

The Zhou family was the first to be ruled out.

Zhou Wanhong offered 500,000 spirit stones as an apology and offered to become a vassal, yet he secretly hired Golden Core assassins from the Blood Shadow Hall to carry out assassinations—this is illogical and defies common sense.

Their fear and submission, though perhaps partly theatrical, did not seem feigned; rather, their eagerness to survive and their fear of causing further trouble were genuine.

Neither the Li nor the Sun family has the strength or financial resources to hire assassins of this caliber, nor is it necessary for them to do so.

Then the answer is obvious.

The Zhao family's formation.

At this moment, Lin Che realized something.

He has fallen into a misconception.

More than ten years ago, not long after Lin Che arrived in Chuyang City, he was attacked by the Blood Shadow Hall on his way back from Zifen Bone City.

After extensive investigation and finding clues, he began to suspect the Zhao family.

He came from the Demon Palace of Rebellion, so he knew the details of the Blood Shadow Hall. He also habitually believed that the cleanest and most efficient way to get rid of a person was to hire a hitman.

However, this is not the mindset of a normal cultivation family.

What would be the first reaction of a normal cultivation family with its own martial arts system when encountering a troublesome figure from an opposing force?

It involves using the best fighters from one's own clan.

This is the simplest, most direct, and most controllable method.

Elders, honored guests, and other important figures in the clan...

These people use their family's resources to cultivate, precisely so that they can solve problems for their family at crucial moments.

If you don't even have the courage to use your own forces, but instead spend huge sums of money to hire outsiders, isn't that putting the cart before the horse and seeking the distant over the near?

Moreover, the price paid for Blood Shadow Hall is not cheap.

So, why would the Zhao family, which had not faced the crisis of extermination or been driven to the brink of extinction more than a decade ago, choose the unconventional path of hiring assassins instead of relying on its own military strength?

Unless—this family's way of thinking is the same as mine back then!

The Zhao family is far more than just a local Foundation Establishment power that exists in a remote corner of the world.

Behind them, or rather, in themselves...

There's definitely something wrong.