Two black whips, one thick and one thin, danced through the air.
Though flexible, the whips moved like sharp blades and nimble snakes in their hands, constantly seeking blind spots in each other's defenses. They clashed together, ringing out with crisp cracks.
"Heh. Lord Du, the lingering poison in your system hasn't cleared. If we keep fighting like this, will your body be able to take it?"
During their relentless exchange, Du An's sleeve had slipped to expose his wrist. The smear of dark green on his skin was glaringly obvious to Gao Jingyan.
Du An's eyes turned cold at those words. "So it was you. Assassinating an official of the Imperial Court is no small crime. You've got nerve."
"Hah, don't forget that your assassin just tried to murder the prince. All of you dying here today is nothing less than you deserve!"
Du An narrowed his eyes, glancing toward the golden maid and the Cat Girl who had fought their way out the window.
"Is that so? This isn't the first time you people have cried thief to cover your own tracks."
Gao Jingyan's heart skipped a beat. He clamped his mouth shut, not daring to say another word.
Because of the poison, however, Du An had to suppress his strength. Unable to fight at full power, he allowed Gao Jingyan to take the upper hand.
Even so, Gao Jingyan found it difficult to defeat him quickly.
His whip carved deep gashes into the walls and floor, yet it never touched Du An.
Du An couldn't use his Skinning to attack, but he utilized it for an airtight defense. The two remained locked in a stalemate.
Furthermore, because the others didn't dare interfere in a battle between high-tier spirit practitioners, an empty zone formed around the four fighting men: Wan Chengming, Li Yuan, Du An, and Gao Jingyan.
Meanwhile, the Cat Girl and Li Yuan's maid had fought their way from the corridor to the windows.
One fought with wide, sweeping strikes, while the other moved with supple flexibility. Both were incredibly fast.
They, too, left no room for anyone else to intervene.
In terms of sheer momentum, however, Li Yuan's maid was actually suppressing the Cat Girl.
But the Cat Girl knew exactly why.
Light as swallows, the two flew out the window simultaneously, landing on the narrow stone ledge outside.
They clashed and parted in an instant, separating by half a meter to continue their standoff amid the chaotic din of battle.
"You want to betray Assassin Hall?" The maid's voice was very familiar to the Cat Girl, tinged with incredulous anger.
It was Yan Jiu's voice.
"It's not betrayal." The Cat Girl lifted her chin, a hint of pride in her smile. "I just want to break away from Assassin Hall completely, rather than remaining a tool you use when it's convenient and discard when you're done."
"What do you take me for?" Yan Jiu snapped. "Do you think I'm the previous hall master?"
"Is there any difference between you and him? When you ordered me to fake an assassination on Li Yuan to actually assassinate Wan Chengming, you never planned on leaving me a way out."
Compared to the furious Yan Jiu, the Cat Girl was unusually calm.
She carried an indifference born of long habit.
Yan Jiu gritted her teeth. "I am not him!" she hissed. "I prepared a 6th-tier identity for you, and I never wanted you to die! We're the same kind of people, aren't we? Besides, I need your help."
The Cat Girl slowly shook her head. "I believe you really think that right now. But Li Yuan is different. He will absolutely not let me live. And it will only take a few words of persuasion before you ultimately follow his orders."
The Cat Girl looked at Yan Jiu. Although the other woman was an imperial princess, her childhood had been incredibly tragic.
They were both beasts who had crawled their way out of the mud. They had supported each other once, and had sworn to rise above their stations together.
But relationships between people change.
Yan Jiu probably hadn't even realized it herself, but she had gone from a beast to Li Yuan's puppet.
She might be soft-hearted toward the Cat Girl, but Li Yuan absolutely would not be!
Li Yuan would never leave the Cat Girl alive for anyone to learn about his connection with Assassin Hall.
Yan Jiu still wanted to persuade the Cat Girl. As long as the Cat Girl returned to her side, Yan Jiu could free up her hands to help Li Yuan deal with Wan Chengming.
Wan Chengming's spirit beast had already been tricked into entering a critical moment of advancement; there was no way it could come out to help.
To achieve that, they had even sacrificed a hard-won 5th-tier spirit beast, all to sever Wan Chengming's ability to fly. Add to that Li Ban's impending sneak attack, which would make Wan Chengming too paranoid to even trust Du An. Left entirely isolated, his only end would be death.
Once Wan Chengming was dead, the others—including Du An—would be easy to manipulate.
But before she could speak, she suddenly noticed the Cat Girl's eyes.
Though her opponent's pupils weren't elements themselves, her beast blood granted her a few simple abilities.
For example, when her eyes widened into perfect circles, she looked incredibly cute and obedient. But in reality, it meant she was rapidly analyzing the surrounding environment—a prelude to an attack.
Realization struck Yan Jiu, and she instantly threw her guard up.
The Cat Girl abruptly stepped forward, stomping hard on the outer edge of the stone ledge.
The sturdy stone shattered inch by inch.
Yan Jiu immediately grabbed the window frame with one hand and leaped up.
Just as she jumped, her body still in midair, the Cat Girl lunged at her.
Her silhouette shifted several times in midair, erratic and unpredictable.
It was impossible to tell where her attack would come from.
Though Yan Jiu had one hand on the window frame, her center of gravity wasn't stable.
At that critical moment, a faint, ethereal chime of bells rang out.
The Cat Girl's large, furry ears—which had been drooping naturally—suddenly pricked up.
Her movements turned clumsy, as if she had suddenly lost all sense of balance.
Yan Jiu effortlessly blocked the Cat Girl's attack and even launched a counterstrike.
In terms of overall strength, the Cat Girl had always been inferior to Yan Jiu.
It was only thanks to her rich combat experience and willingness to use any dirty trick in the book that she had managed to drag the fight out this long.
But the moment Yan Jiu deployed her elemental ability, the Sin Bell, the Cat Girl—who had no counter for it—instantly fell to a disadvantage.
The Sin Bell was a mental-type element that stripped away the balance of anyone who heard its chime.
Their silhouettes crossed. Unable to maintain her balance or dodge in time, the Cat Girl took a golden fist to the chest and abdomen. She instantly spat blood and plummeted toward the base of the tower.
Below the tower, several of the prince's personal guards were already raising their spears, waiting for her to fall so they could skewer her like a hedgehog.
Yan Jiu's eyes flashed, but in the end, she didn't retract the Sin Bell's effect from the Cat Girl.
The other woman had betrayed her. Therefore, she had to die!
Perhaps when Grand Prince Li Yuan first suggested having the Cat Girl fake the assassination, he had already accounted for both their personalities, knowing they would ultimately walk this path.
The Cat Girl was no obedient child, and Yan Jiu was ultimately not a soft-hearted person.
Tumbling through the air, the off-balance Cat Girl struggled to adjust her posture, bracing for a brutal collision with the men below. Suddenly, the power binding her balance vanished.
Her brain stopped spinning. In the final split second, she flipped her body over.
She grabbed the highest raised spear and spun in midair, using the momentum to knock away all the other thrusting spear tips.
Landing steadily in the midst of the prince's guards, she was instantly swarmed from all sides.
However, she was incredibly agile. She could twist her body into angles impossible for an ordinary person, dodging the attacks from every direction.
Over a dozen guards surrounded her, yet none of them could harm a single hair on her head.
The Cat Girl, meanwhile, swung her hands wildly. With her razor-sharp claws, every swipe claimed a head.
She even found the leisure to cast a malicious glance up at Yan Jiu by the window.
A trickle of blood was actually seeping from both of Yan Jiu's ears.
Just a moment ago, as she was using the Sin Bell to suppress the Cat Girl's movements, her brain had inexplicably seized with a burst of intense pain.
It only lasted a second, but it directly interrupted the release of her spiritual rhinoceros.
Having her ability forcibly interrupted triggered a backlash on her own body, causing her ears to ring and bleed.
The injury was nothing to her, and the sharp stabbing pain faded quickly.
But this unprovoked mental attack still left Yan Jiu deeply shaken.
She had no idea who had suddenly activated an ability to save the Cat Girl, nor did she know how often it could be used or what maximum damage it could cause.
For the time being, Yan Jiu didn't dare to use the Sin Bell again.
But she couldn't just let the Cat Girl slaughter the low-tier spirit practitioners below.
Otherwise, there would be no one left to stop the low-tier spirit practitioners of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda from escaping.
Until Li Yuan achieved his goal, word of this could not be allowed to spread.
'Did that bastard fall on purpose?'
Yan Jiu gritted her teeth, spread her arms, and bounded down the outer wall of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda, her feet thudding heavily against the stone.
'Li Yuan is a 7th-tier prince, after all. He won't have any trouble dealing with Wan Chengming. He still has several 4th- and 5th-tier spirit practitioners with him,' Yan Jiu thought. Without breaking her momentum, she threw her fists at the Cat Girl. 'I need to keep the Myriad Ancient Pagoda completely locked down!'
While the Cat Girl was carrying out her assassination, Li Ban had been keeping a close eye on her movements.
He guessed that the gold-covered maid was actually Yan Jiu.
For whatever reason, the Cat Girl had not only suddenly turned on the Grand Prince, but had also gotten into a fight with Yan Jiu.
Most likely, Zhai Liu or Du An was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Li Ban rarely used Mental Piercing, the second ability of his Flute Sound.
This ability, sublimated from a good-grade element, consumed far too much spiritual rhinoceros.
Using it continuously also placed a massive mental strain on Li Ban himself.
The first time he used it on Li Yuan, he felt the prince merely pause for a split second without being overly affected. At the time, he assumed Mental Piercing was just a mediocre ability.
To his surprise, his second use seemed to interrupt the ability Yan Jiu was channeling, directly causing her ears to bleed.
The sheer shock and fury on her face made it obvious that someone had ruined her plans and injured her in the process.
Only then did Li Ban realize that a good-grade element lived up to its name—it allowed one to fight above their tier.
After all, Yan Jiu and Li Yuan were 6th-tier and 7th-tier spirit practitioners, respectively. Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible for Li Ban—who wasn't even a full 3rd-tier spirit practitioner—to harm a single hair on their heads.
The Cat Girl should be fine for now. It wasn't easy for her, a 5th-tier, to clash head-on with a 6th-tier and a 7th-tier.
As the sounds of slaughter rose once more, Li Ban plunged into the melee, unable to worry about the Cat Girl for the time being.
On the surface, Li Ban was just a prison guard. Combined with his special identity, no powerful spirit practitioners targeted him for now.
No one paid any attention to the prisoner Lin Han behind him. Still wearing his shackles, he curled up in the center of the battlefield, hugging his head and trembling. On the other side, Zhou Gu looked grim, yet he expertly blended into the crowd of Myriad Ancient Pagoda spirit practitioners, neither pushing to the front nor hiding in the very back.
He glanced toward Du An every now and then, seemingly very concerned about his superior.
Seeing this, Li Ban knew it was his turn to act.
Feigning defeat, he bobbed and wove through the cramped stairway.
In reality, he was squeezing through the crowd, covertly making his way toward the stairs leading to the seventh floor of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda.
As a triple agent, all three of his covert missions were somehow connected to the seventh floor.
The mission from Assassin Hall was to approach Wan Chengming under the guise of offering assistance, and then launch a sneak attack.
With his body partially transformed into a black tiger, Wan Chengming possessed a resilient physique that ordinary weapons couldn't pierce.
Because of this, Assassin Hall never expected Li Ban to actually assassinate him.
Yan Jiu had prepared a special weapon for him that specifically targeted Wan Chengming's elemental ability.
Since Li Ban was someone Du An had brought along, Wan Chengming wouldn't be overly guarded against him.
Furthermore, with a formidable enemy like Li Yuan drawing his attention, all Li Ban had to do was inch closer and use his Sleeve Arrow to shoot a specially made hollow pellet at Fang Chengming's head.
Upon hitting its target, the hollow pellet would shatter and release the potion inside.
This potion had a unique scent that would drive felines, tigers, and leopards into a frenzy.
In his half-tiger state, Wan Chengming's sense of smell would also become incredibly acute.
Once splashed with the potion, Wan Chengming's mind would be thrown into chaos, even though no one else would be able to smell it.
If Wan Chengming stopped using his ability and reverted to his normal human form, he could avoid the potion's effects.
But in his normal form, he wouldn't be able to utilize his maximum combat strength.
No matter which option he chose, he would be trapped in a dilemma.
Once Wan Chengming realized that his attacker was one of Du An's trusted subordinates, and with a few carefully placed provocations from those around him, a rift would inevitably form between him and Du An.
If Du An knew what was good for him and defected to the Grand Prince, they could pin the crime of the Mutated Element entirely on Wan Chengming and clear Du An's name.
However, Li Ban was destined never to complete this mission.
He could, however, use it as an excuse to get close to Wan Chengming while Li Yuan intentionally let him slip by.
At that moment, Wan Chengming and Li Yuan were exchanging blows right next to the stairs leading to the seventh floor.
Both possessed terrifying destructive power, leaving cracks across the surrounding walls and making it seem as if the structure might collapse at any moment.
Li Yuan's wind-controlling abilities created a near-vacuum zone, making it almost impossible for anyone else to get close to them.
After much difficulty, Li Ban finally made his way behind Wan Chengming. He instantly felt a compressed gale in the immediate vicinity. Crossing that threshold, he found it hard to breathe, the ferocious winds distorting his face.
Yet even under these conditions, Wan Chengming was trading blows evenly with his opponent. His frontal combat prowess was simply astounding.
Kicking away a soldier swinging a blade, Li Ban was just wondering how to squeeze past the edge of the wind pressure when he suddenly felt the gale in front of him weaken significantly.
With his level of strength, he could now force his way in.
Li Ban quickly pushed in behind Wan Chengming. Li Yuan, knowing Li Ban's identity and mission, immediately increased his attack speed to fully occupy Wan Chengming's attention, even using his inferior physical strength to lock down Wan Chengming's arms.
Li Ban squeezed and pushed his way through, finally arriving right behind Wan Chengming.
And then—the wind pressure vanished in an instant.
All Li Ban had to do was raise his hand and release the poison to complete his mission.
Yet, the very moment the wind pressure disappeared, Li Ban turned and lunged in the opposite direction.
He didn't lunge at Wan Chengming, nor did he fire his hidden weapon. Instead, he took advantage of the opening to dive forward, clearing the distance in two steps and bounding up the stairs toward the seventh floor.
Seeing Li Ban's actions, the look in Li Yuan's eyes changed entirely.
No matter what, Li Ban shouldn't have been heading to the seventh floor!
Wan Chengming seized the opportunity to surge forward, throwing both fists in a brutal strike aimed straight at Li Yuan's chest.
Li Yuan hastily brought his spear up to block.
As the fists met the spear shaft, it shattered with a loud crash!
Although Li Yuan managed to block the blow, the destruction of his Frost Spear caused his face to instantly flush red, as if he had suffered an internal injury.
"That's impossible! How could you shatter the Frost Spear?!"
The Frost Spear wasn't an energy-type element; it was a creation-type.
As such, Li Yuan couldn't simply condense a new one.
The destruction of an element had also inflicted internal damage. The spiritual rhinoceros within him churned violently, disrupting the wind pressure around them.
Wan Chengming didn't bother to answer. Taking advantage of the opening, he unleashed a flurry of savage punches, intending to hammer the Grand Prince to death on the spot.
Horrified, Li Yuan could no longer spare a glare for Li Ban. He hastily retreated, raising his left arm to defend himself.
With his element shattered and his body severely wounded, he was actually being overpowered and beaten back by Fang Chengming.
Just then, a ring of blue light flared on the pinky finger of Li Yuan's left hand.
A Plain Ring!
Wan Chengming swung another fist right at Li Yuan's brow, only for it to slam into solid ice with a heavy thud.
A thick layer of ice had suddenly appeared, encasing and protecting the Grand Prince like an eggshell.
At the same time, the massive wind pressure vanished, finally allowing the others to approach.
The prince's guards instantly rushed forward to protect him.
But they were kicked away by Wan Chengming's sweeping leg, before being tangled up by the Myriad Ancient Pagoda practitioners coming from behind.
Just then, an otherwise unremarkable guard suddenly leaped onto the ceiling like a spider, intending to scurry right over Wan Chengming's head to chase after Li Ban.
Thrusting his hand upward, Wan Chengming sprang a zhang into the air.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him. Losing his balance, he quickly dropped back to the ground, crouching halfway to steady himself.
The golden maid who had left earlier reappeared.
Clearly, it was her ability that had stopped Wan Chengming from striking.
However, blood was flowing from her nose and mouth. She had only maintained the ability for a split second before being forced to stop.
But that was enough for the soldier on the ceiling to slip past and head for the seventh floor.
Right at that moment, another person charged out of the crowd. With a flick of the hand, several virtually invisible threads shot out.
The flying threads were impossibly fast.
The man on the ceiling managed to dodge a few, but the final thread struck his ankle.
His speed plummeted. He whipped his head back in shock. "Love Silk? You're actually not dead?"
Lu Qinghe, disguised as one of the Myriad Ancient Pagoda's floor masters, didn't say a word. She merely charged forward to block the man's path.
With his injured ankle, the man on the ceiling could no longer scurry along the walls. Forced to drop down, he was quickly entangled in combat with Lu Qinghe.
Left with no choice, he drew a soft sword hidden at his waist.
Against Lu Qinghe, he had to bring out his true skills. Otherwise, a moment of carelessness would see him killed by those hair-like threads.
With both sides locking down each other's forces, there was actually no one left to pursue Li Ban.
Yan Jiu, her body already covered in golden dust, was no match for Wan Chengming.
Yet both of them were intensely curious as to why Li Ban had suddenly run up to the seventh floor.
Thus, they fought their way toward the stairs. But when they reached the seventh floor, they were stunned to find the heavy doors firmly shut.
Not only that, but through the gap between the doors, Wan Chengming could see the three heavy deadbolts on the other side slowly sliding into place!