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Surrounded by crackling electricity and rumbling booms, Wang Chen’s Smokewight doppelgänger quickly made repairs to the teleportation portal. At the same time, he made adjustments to change the destination they would teleport to. Considering that Holytide Black Guard cultivators had been stationed here in an ambush, it was entirely likely that the mission had been compromised. The safest option seemed to be teleporting to a different location.

As Wang Chen worked, Kong Xianglong looked in the direction of the border of Holytide territory, his expression unreadable.

“This ambush couldn’t have been set for us specifically. There’s no way they could have known our group would be the ones coming here. And if they were here for us specifically, they wouldn’t have sent so few people.”

Keeping his voice low, Xu Qing said, “It seems more likely they were here to lock down this teleportation portal in general. This must not be the only fort where something like this is going on.”

“What if the Holytides are already at our target destination, searching for the agent?” asked Sir Mountain-River.

“Hold on,” Duskspirit said, looking surprised. “Could it be that we were assigned to extract the actual agent?” She looked around suspiciously. As they had already speculated, whichever group was assigned to actually extract the agent would likely have an extremely powerful expert planted secretly among the operatives.

“Not necessarily,” Kong Xianglong said, his eyes glittering. “Most likely it proves that the Holytides don’t know where the agent is going to be. They must be searching all along the prefectural border.”

Xu Qing nodded.

They had all known from the beginning that their mission was likely just a distraction to draw attention away from the real extraction team. In all likelihood, there would be nine decoy mission groups and a single real one. That would make it much more difficult for the Holytides to determine where to strike. It was a given that there were Holytide agents in Sea-Sealing County, which meant that if only one mission group were sent, they would easily be able to report about it. That was why multiple teams had been sent.

In fact, Xu Qing had the feeling that all of the teams which had been openly sent on the mission were probably decoys. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if there was also a secret team no one knew about. It was also possible that the returning agent didn’t even need a team to escort them.

This entire thing was a complex game. That said, it also emphasized to him how much humankind was in decline. Even though Nascent Soul cultivators couldn’t cross the border, the fact remained that lower-level Holytide cultivators could cross it. And that showed just how weak Sea-Sealing County was. Everyone else understood the same principle.

Eventually, after a series of thunderous rumbling sounds, the teleportation portal was repaired.

Regardless of whether their mission was a distraction or real, they still had work to do. They flew onto the teleportation portal, light flared, and as the rain continued to fall, they disappeared. When they reappeared, they were near the border of Tidefall Prefecture, in a location hidden in a ravine.

“Stay on guard, everyone,” Kong Xianglong said. “It’s not likely there will be large numbers of Holytide infiltrators here. Let’s go check the rendezvous spot. Hopefully, the agent we’re extracting is still alive, whether it’s a decoy or not.”

With that, Kong Xianglong pulled out a geomantic compass. The swordsages had a number of secret ways to establish communication with each other, and on missions like this, only the mission leader would know which one to use. For example, this geomantic compass was a special magical device prepared just for this mission, and would lead them directly to the location of the agent. The mission protocol was to use the geomantic compass to find the agent, then leave as quickly as possible. [1]

Xu Qing was familiar with the generalities, as they had been explained during his training.

Kong Xianglong performed an incantation gesture and pointed at the compass, the needle of which spun briefly, then settled on a fixed direction. A simple map appeared in the air above. There was a faint, flickering red dot on the map not too far away from their current position.

When they saw the red dot, all of them breathed sighs of relief. That indicated that the agent they were meeting was alive.

Kong Xianglong’s face lit up, and he immediately assigned everyone what to do next.

Extraction missions couldn’t be handled impulsively. If they weren’t careful, it was possible they could reveal the agent’s position to the enemy. The plan was to lure any nearby Holytide cultivators into the open, make sure the area was clear, and then swoop in to extract the agent.

Xu Qing was responsible for making sure the area was clear, and he would be working with Duskspirit. Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen would be drawing the Holytide cultivators into the open. Kong Xianglong would actually extract the agent.

When Kong Xianglong explained everything, Xu Qing nodded. Kong Xianglong was doing everything by the book, which was to be expected. After the explanations, they split into three groups.

Xu Qing quickly stole out into the night to start searching for any enemies. Duskspirit did the same, as did the Field Operations Office swordsages who were working with them.

Time passed. About an hour later, rumbling sounds filled the air, along with the fluctuations of magical techniques.

Looking over, Xu Qing saw that it came from the direction of Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen, who were trying to draw the attention of any Holytide cultivators that were nearby.

However, Xu Qing quickly frowned. For one thing, Xu Qing himself had not encountered any signs of Holytide cultivators this entire time. It seemed almost like there weren’t any in the area. It didn’t make sense, considering their previous assumption that the Holytides were scouring the border looking for the agent.

Something’s not right! Xu Qing’s guard went up even further than before.

Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen had come to a similar conclusion. Their work to draw out Holytide cultivators hadn’t resulted in anything. It was a very bizarre situation, and they both had a bad feeling about it.

A short while later, a bright light shot up into the sky. It was a magical technique used to create a signal. Specifically, the signal called for the mission team to regroup urgently.

When Xu Qing saw that signal, his heart sank as he realized that something must have gone wrong. The reason was that the signal was coming from the direction where Kong Xianglong had gone to extract the agent. If things had proceeded according to plan, Kong Xianglong would never have needed to send up that signal. He would have taken the agent away and notified the rest of the team when he was safe.

Xu Qing shifted directions and headed toward the spot where the signal had come from. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he could see Kong Xianglong, Sir Mountain-River, and the others off in the distance.

They were in the middle of a sprawling plain. Shockingly, only a few hundred meters in front of them, a person lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

It was a young man of about fifteen or sixteen years of age. He was covered in countless wounds that cut down to the bone and left him covered in blood. In fact, if you looked closely, you would realize that other than his face, which seemed normal, he didn’t have any skin on the rest of his body! It had been sliced off!

It was only possible to imagine the pain and suffering he was experiencing. Most of his bones were broken, and all of his dharma apertures had been destroyed. Before they were destroyed, there had been a hundred and twenty of them, indicating that this young man was a chosen cultivator of some sort. One of his eyes was missing, having been dug out of his skull, and both of his ears were gone. He had also been poisoned, causing much of him to start rotting. There was no way he would survive, and he clearly had only moments to live. He looked extremely ghastly.

Xu Qing looked on with a grave expression and coldly glittering eyes. As he approached, he noticed that the area for 300 meters surrounding the young man was actually a spell formation. Xu Qing was no expert when it came to spell formations, but he could sense a towering killing intent within this one. Clearly, this extraordinary spell formation was extremely deadly. As for the young man, he had been placed right in the middle of that formation.

“He’s not the agent,” Kong Xianglong growled through gritted teeth. His eyes were bloodshot. “But he must be connected to the agent. He was like this when I got here. And the Holytides left this jade slip behind!”

He activated the jade slip, and a cold, brutal voice spoke.

“Hello, swordsages. Sadly, I can’t be there to talk to you in person. The Black Guard just wanted to leave you a little gift. Hope you like it. Enjoy!”

The message ended with cold laughter.

Duskspirit and the rest of the swordsages had just hurried over. They, along with Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen, all heard the message. Afterward, their eyes burned with rage.

The situation was clear. They didn’t need to spend a lot of time analyzing it. Everyone knew what was going on. The Holytides created a diversion at the fort to delay the team. With the time bought, they managed to find this young man. The young man wasn’t the actual agent, therefore, they had brutally tortured him until he was on death’s door, then left him in this deadly spell formation.

The Holytide Black Guard wanted the swordsages to personally witness his death.

If anyone entered the formation, the young man would die. So would every person who stepped into the formation. In fact, it was possible it would do more than that. Perhaps the spell formation would detonate and kill people outside of it. Regardless of whether or not the spell formation exploded, the young man would die. He was already about to breathe his last.

This was the vicious manner in which the Holytides operated.

Everyone stood there silently.

Wang Chen, who knew the most about spell formations, knelt and examined the formation. A moment later, he looked up at Kong Xianglong with a bitter expression.

“This is the Black Guard’s signature Spirit-Heart Fatality Formation. Supposedly they learned it from the Nightshades. It uses a person as the heart of the formation. That young man is fused with the formation now, so any attempt to get to him will activate it. Not even sending a grue in will do anything. The lieutenant governor is still researching the details of this formation, so at the moment there’s literally nothing we can do. It’s a single-use formation, so once it’s activated, that’s it. As for the young man... he’s at the end of the line.”

Kong Xianglong’s eyes were completely bloodshot and he was breathing heavily.

Keeping his eyes on the unconscious young man, Xu Qing walked to the edge of the formation. He wasn’t sure if his shadow could do anything, so he said, “I can try something. I’m not sure if it’ll work....”

Kong Xianglong’s hands were balled into fists as he opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could, the young man in the formation slowly opened his eyes. Pain flickered in his eyes as he looked blankly in the direction of Xu Qing and the others.

“Are you... swordsages?” His voice was weak, but even still, it was possible to detect the distrust in his words.

Xu Qing drew his command sword. Kong Xianglong and everyone else did the same. The glittering light of their swords pierced through the darkness to illuminate the young man’s eyes.

“Thanks to the seal my father placed on my soul, I can sense that you’re swordsages.... I’m sorry that you had to see me like this.” The young man clearly thought highly of swordsages, and wanted to maintain his dignity. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to. “My father is human. My mother is a Holytide.... So no, I’m not a swordsage. But I mastered one of your secret magics. My father taught me. I didn’t tell anything to the Black Guard. No matter what they did to me, I didn’t say a thing!”

The young man tried to muster his strength. He forced a smile onto his face, but the pain he was in robbed that smile of any beauty.

“Father wanted me to bring something here to give to you swordsages. He told me I mustn’t break it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to take it with you after I died. Looks like I accomplished my mission.”

The young man was still smiling. Apparently accomplishing that final mission was the last bit of dignity he had. Eventually, his smile became one of true contentment. But his torment ensured that the smile was already fading. He was growing weaker. Because of the agony he was in, his voice trembled when he talked.

“My father was a swordsage, and he always talked about their glory. I wanted to become a swordsage too. I’m not human, but he said if I could accomplish this mission that I might be able to stay in Sea-Sealing County, and maybe I could become a swordsage after all! I accomplished my mission, but it doesn’t look like I’ll become a swordsage....”

His words struck Xu Qing’s heart. Kong Xianglong and the others were similarly moved.

“I wish... that I could be a swordsage like my father....”

The young man was so weak that he couldn’t keep his eyes open. As they slowly fluttered shut, he performed an incantation gesture, causing his personal dimensional space to open. A bag appeared next to him. Everyone present was shaken to the core. River-drying, sea-draining waves of emotion filled them.

“You are a swordsage!” Kong Xianglong said loudly. Then he lifted his command sword. “I am willing to become a swordsage, loyal to my post, not afraid to sacrifice my life.”

As he recited the oath of the swordsages, the others present joined him, including Xu Qing. The young man shivered, and his closed eyes opened. As he looked at them, he recited the same words.

“I am willing to become a swordsage, never to betray humankind, always ready to fight.

“I am willing to become a swordsage, to fight for humanity, to defend my people.

“I am willing to become a swordsage, to sever the doom of dawn, to cause the light of heaven and earth to blossom.”

The young man’s voice became one with the others. Then his eyes closed, and his smile became fixed for all eternity. When he died, the formation activated. A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering boom rang out as the formation exploded. As the shock wave rolled out, whipping the clothing and hair of everyone present... the young man’s corpse was ripped to shreds and scattered in the wind.

The only thing left behind was a box, sitting on the spot where he had died. It was a wish box, which was the delivery container for the intelligence report. It was open.

1. I believe this is the first time geomantic compasses have been mentioned in this novel. Also called a Feng Shui compass (or luopan if transliterated), they have a bunch of concentric rings plus a needle that, in real life, points to the magnetic south pole. Here is a small gallery showing a few different versions of what they can look like. ☜