C12 The Black Hand Appeared

Bai Wujian watched the white smoke swirling around Chen Yuan's body with a grave expression. He found himself pondering the same question.

Why hasn't he run yet?

He could now be certain that Chen Yuan, a remnant of the Vast Sea Nation, was indeed a Body Cultivator. Moreover, he was a Body Cultivator whose meridians had been sealed!

A Body Cultivator capable of entering the second form, the cloud form!

Chen Yuan himself might not even be aware of what the white smoke enveloping him signified.

Body Cultivators differed from Runecasters. Their levels were distinctly categorized into four stages: Xing, Yun, Flow, and Water. Chen Yuan had officially surpassed the first stage and stepped into the second form, the cloud form.

The cloud form indicated that such Body Cultivators had transcended the boundaries faced by ordinary cultivators. Their bodies were on the verge of breaking free from the confines of space, and the white cloud surrounding them was the ultimate testament to their struggle against spatial constraints.

"A Body Cultivator in the second form, the cloud form, is beyond the scope of this mission."

Bai Wujian mused, the thought of retreat taking hold.

Just then, the uproar and battle cries from outside Sunsetwood Grove snapped him back to reality, jolting his spirit!

"What's going on!" Lee Bufan's complexion turned ashen. A realization seemed to strike him, and his voice quivered, "They... They've penetrated Sunsetwood Grove's outer defenses! They've breached our sanctuary!"

Who could they be?

"Yu Bai, at last, you've broken through. My role as the inside man here wasn't in vain."

Bai Wujian smirked, a sense of relief settling in, contrasting with Lee Bufan's frantic state.

With Yu Bai joining the fray, even a Body Cultivator in the second form might not stand a chance against him.

"Yu Bai? The one who was after us?" Liu Xiaoxiao recognized the name. Locking eyes with Chen Yuan, they both arrived at the same conclusion.

It was the Shadowmancer, the one referred to as the Spiritual Sage by the Gloomwraith — Yu Bai!

He had actually followed them? And he had even managed to take Sunsetwood Grove by storm!

"What do we do now?" Chen Yuan swiftly moved away from the area where he had been entangled with Bai Wujian and approached Liu Xiaoxiao. "It's too late to run. With our speed, we stand no chance of outpacing a Shadowmancer."

"Then we fight!" Chen Yuan's fists tightened, his resolve steeling, eyes ablaze with an unquenchable will to battle.

Bai Wujian and Yu Bai were in league with each other, and they knew about our affiliations with the Vast Sea Nation. These facts alone left Chen Yuan with no room for retreat. He was eager for a fight, to prove himself and to show that the people of the Vast Sea Nation were not the failures they were made out to be.

"Now's not the time for rash actions," Liu Xiaoxiao cautioned, hesitating.

"Have you forgotten what Qiu Changfeng left for us?" Chen Yuan asked, his voice gentle, a reminder of their hidden ace.

The green light? Liu Xiaoxiao wanted to protest, but Chen Yuan shook his head and positioned himself protectively in front of her.

In the distance, a white silhouette emerged, starkly different from his last appearance on a rainy night. This time, Yu Bai was backdropped by a purple and red sunset, its afterglow setting the skyline ablaze.

Yu Bai closed the distance with swift strides.

"Weren't they supposed to be dead?" Yu Bai quirked an eyebrow, his gaze landing on Chen Yuan and Liu Xiaoxiao, a mix of surprise and delight evident on his face.

"They were meant to die, but fate had other plans," Bai Wujian commented as he joined Yu Bai's side.

Bai Wujian had shared every detail of the events at Sunsetwood Grove with Yu Bai. Lee Bufan's decision to cast Chen Yuan and Liu Xiaoxiao into the Sunken Cave had emboldened Bai Wujian to initiate the assault on Sunsetwood Grove without second thoughts.

The plan had been a resounding success. Yu Bai had managed to breach the defenses of Sunsetwood Grove from the outside, and they regrouped within.

"It's fortunate they didn't die. I would have had to go to great lengths to find their bodies otherwise. Now, it's much simpler."

"Exercise caution. That remnant from the Vast Sea Nation is likely a second form Body Cultivator," Bai Wujian warned.

"A second form Body Cultivator? Isn't he from the Vast Sea Nation? Why would he be a Body Cultivator? And if he truly is one, is there still value in taking him back for research?" Yu Bai couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," came the reply. "But he did engage me in combat just now, and there's no doubt—he's a genuine Body Cultivator."

"Even so, a Body Cultivator is hardly a threat to us."

Their conversation was quiet, yet their dismissive tone infuriated many of the Sunsetwood Grove disciples. They seethed with resentment towards Bai Wujian for betraying their order and were even more incensed by Yu Bai, who had breached their defenses.

One after another, the Sunsetwood Grove disciples charged forward, starting with the first, then the second, and soon the third.

Lee Bufan joined in as well.

They were unaware of the vast chasm in strength between themselves and their foes. All they knew was the frustration boiling inside them—a frustration that, if unexpressed, would likely haunt them for life.

So they charged at Yu Bai and Bai Wujian, undeterred.

They advanced towards the setting sun, now dipping below the horizon, the fiery sky resembling a flickering candle flame.

And they, like moths to that flame.

"Overestimating yourselves," Yu Bai mocked coldly. He lifted his right hand, conjuring a fist-sized sphere of water from thin air before him.

With a flick of his finger, a droplet finer than a grain of sand shot forth.

It pierced the forehead of a Sunsetwood Grove disciple with unerring precision.

Blood sprayed in all directions.

Yu Bai's fingers danced elegantly, as if composing a beautiful melody. With each flick, another disciple fell, and within mere moments, over a dozen lay lifeless.

In an instant, the already devastated Sunsetwood Grove was turned into a bloodbath.

"Enough! They are not your enemies!" Chen Yuan finally intervened, stepping forward. He should have acted immediately.

Yet even he had been stunned by the Sunsetwood Grove disciples' courageous resolve to face death. He believed they deserved respect—for their choices and for their unwavering dedication to the Sunsetwood Grove.

Including Lee Bufan.

"Sunsetwood Grove is now a thing of the past. And for that, I owe you all a debt of gratitude for hastening its downfall."

Bai Wujian smiled as he produced a token from his pocket, the very one Liu Xiaoxiao had exchanged with him to revive Chen Yuan.

"This token grants access to the dean's inner chamber, where Qiu Changfeng's treasures are kept. Now, they all belong to me. Are you filled with regret?"

Instead of words, a fist shadow, swifter than lightning, was the response!

"How insolent!" Yu Bai fumed, outraged that someone would dare to strike in his presence, a blatant challenge to his authority.

He clenched his right hand into a fist, then flung it open, dispersing the water orb before him into a crystal-clear water screen.

"I underestimated you before and suffered a light injury, never expecting you to be such a deeply concealed Body Cultivator!"

"But today, you're still going to die!"