Spirit Vessel

From the outside looking in, the mansion of the king looked quite serene, no different from an ordinary day.

The black walls and majestic gate were still there. Guards with arrows and sentry towers were ready with beasts flying overhead.

All of this was an illusion.

The towering walls have crumbled; the palaces a complete mess with corpses everywhere. Not a single eunuch and maid were left alive. Even the hired cultivators have been assassinated.

The old followers of the previous Divine King were dead as well. Blood gathered in the pond and turned the color red. This was a scene of hell without the screams because no one was alive.

No one could imagine how the mighty mansion had fallen.

Anyone who entered the mansion for any reason would be eliminated instantly. No living being shall enter nor get out.

Long Shenya was feeling quite good standing from a high vantage point watching the whole thing. Grasping the lives of others in his hand was an amazing feeling. He found himself becoming a god looking down at the world.

"You're all suicidal for going against me. Die already." He was quite handsome with a strong, eagle-like nose. He held a jade ruler looking like his symbol of authority.

The air rippled nearby and a black-cloak old man walked out. He had a Black Tortoise Stick and was in a foul mood.

"Feng Feiyun activated the seals of the Divine Kings so we lost many excellent assassins, one was a supreme elder, a Giant. Five were half-step Giants, all died for nothing."

Top assassins were hard to train. Grooming a half-step assassin was three times harder than three ordinary half-steps and required more resources. Grooming a Giant took it to a whole new level.

Even the greatest assassin organization in Jin couldn't handle the losses.

Long Shenya's eyes batted as he said insipidly: "There are only seven seals, he had used six now. Just make him use the last and kill him."

The old man sneered: "The last seal is from the first king, unbelievably strong. Whoever comes will die, you can tell your death squad to go suicide first then!"

Shenya snorted back: "We have lost many experts too, don't tell me you assassins are afraid of death."

"Assassins do not fear death, but that does not mean we go to our death for no reason."

Shenya contemplated before smirking: "We just need to get through this one last seal, can't we just send some random fodders?"

"Not that easy. Regular experts aren't his match. Only half-steps and up can force him to use a seal. The half-steps I brought with me are almost all dead, I'm not telling another to go and die." The old man coldly uttered, not expecting the heavy losses from just trying to kill Feng Feiyun. He didn't know what he will be telling the palace master after coming back. No more losses from now on.

Shenya knew about the true power of the king's faction than anyone. Once they found out what was going on, they would come to help. All would be for naught then.

"Call the Fire God Camp, tell them to turn the mansion into a river of lava in one hour." He gave the order.

The old man's eyes flashed. He had heard of the five camps of the Beiming Clan. They were the most mysterious and strongest forces of this clan, existing since the clan's foundation. The most destructive one was the Fire God.

Their legends were written everywhere, albeit in only bits and pieces. Many believed they were only rumors.

One stated that the clan recruited from all over the world, taking only half-step Giants into the five camps.

The leader of the camp was a Super Giant while each camp had less than one hundred people, all true masters. Of course, they needed to be powerful since they were the protectors of the Beiming's five mountains.

The coming of the Fire God Camp meant that this place was about to be refined.

***

Feiyun was covered in blood; his robe was stained red long ago. Blood dripped down his cheeks but he remained undaunted.

In the distant, specters were roaming around nonstop. Of course, they weren't ghosts but rather assassins and members of the Beiming Clan.

Nevertheless, these assassins were frightened; the death squad members overwhelmed with fear.

They didn't dare to come forward because too many of their men have fallen to him today. If it wasn't for the poison melting away the corpses, there would be a mountain of them.

The weaker ones were afraid of Feiyun's weapon essence.

The stronger ones were afraid of his king's seal.

"Click, clack." A figure came out from the fog, his appearance became clearer.

This was a very young assassin, dressed in a shabby manner while lifting a rusty saber.

Du Shougao, the greatest young assassin of the palace, fifth on the lower historical list.

He stood there calmly without any murderous intent. However, he exuded a chilling aura. The murderous intent has been refined and ingrained in his body.

"Want to kill someone now? Find Du Shougao." Feiyun recited his defining phrase.

Feiyun didn't think this guy was an assassin because an assassin would never kill anyone so openly on top of revealing their true face. On top of that, none would give up after one slash.

The guy would never slash again if the first one failed. He was an assassin with rules and principles.

Of course, this showed his self-confidence but someone like this was not suitable to be an assassin. He wouldn't survive for that long.

The two of them stood ten meters away, facing each other. Shougao looked just like an ordinary person as he said: "This will be my third attempt."

Despite a lack of aura, Feiyun could sense an eruption happening in his body. No one could speculate how terrifying the next slash will be.

"And you will fail just like before." Feiyun was also very confident in himself.

"Have to try and see." Shougao's sword became animated and dazzling. A layer of frost appeared out of nowhere.

He looked like an unsheathed divine sword, ready to kill all existences.

Feiyun relaxed his pores and the weapon essence turned into a spear. It also illuminated as he posed without moving.

Ningshuai and Cangyue weren't far from there. They felt the urgency as if the air was being frozen.

"Such pure murderous intent, that's why he's the best assassin of the young generation." Ningshuai got goosebumps all over.

Despite being a first-rate escape artist, he would definitely die in one slash to Shougao.

"It's a shame that he's facing Feiyun." Cangyue said.

"Feiyun's cultivation is higher than Shougao by a little bit, but he's not as good as killing."

"You underestimate Feiyun too much. If he could be killed so easily, he would have died to me a thousand times over." Cangyue couldn't see through Feiyun, thinking that the guy had a big secret.

Ningshuai gave her a strange stare, unaware of the feud between the two of them. He thought to himself: 'What? Why do all the fiancee want to kill their fiance?'

At this moment, the two combatants attacked at the same time like two lightning bolts crossing the sky. It only took the blink of an eye before the flash disappeared.

They returned to the initial spots except they have switched side.

"Clank." Du Shougao's sword crumbled and fell to the ground.

This one move decided the winner on top of declaring a death sentence.

His head had been severed by the weapon essence. Alas, this weapon was too sharp so it remained on his neck, not even showing a string of blood.

A sad wind came about and blew the snowflakes on him. After multiple layers of frost, he turned into a never-falling statue.

"The best young assassin… Feiyun took him down…" Ningshuai's eyes were about to come out of their socket.

Feiyun's neck had a shallow cut as well, only skin-deep. He explained: "My speed is faster than his, but his unsheathing is faster than me. That's a top assassin for you. I won because my weapon was sharper and destroyed his sword. Otherwise, I would be the one dead right now."

Feiyun stared at the standing corpse with respect. This name shall be remembered because not too many assassins would choose this open style.

This was the end of a historical genius. Nevertheless, he still had a burial of ice, much better than the outcome of other cultivators.

The path of cultivation was a sad one. Even the most talented and wondrous could die in the wild, their corpses eaten by dogs. Even the most beautiful of an era would eventually wither and become an ugly old woman, beaten by time.

World-renowned sages - bones under the mud. Fair-skinned fairy - gray hair grandma, abandoned by all and died alone in their room.

Life was both unexpected and full of sadness.

The path towards immortality was shrouded in a mist, how many people could actually find the way?

Because of this, Feiyun remained unmoved. He could be the one dying tomorrow on this cruel path. Thus, he lived every day to the fullest and enjoyed all pleasure so that he could die without regrets.