“Bastard! You actually dare kick my butt! Chen Xi, you’re dead! No one has dared kick my butt since I was a child!” Long Zhenbei roared with fury as he flashed swiftly through the crack like a kite that had its string cut off. However, when he inadvertently turned around to look back, he saw a wisp of a black shadow that carried an extremely dim and cold sword light flash before his eyes.

Shockingly, the target of the black shadow was Chen Xi who’d already retreated explosively to the side!

“Hmm? An Assassin? A surprise attack? So...Chen Xi saved me?” When Long Zhenbei reacted to what had happened, he was already standing at the other side of the crack.

After he realized all this, his expression instantly darkened as his brows knit tightly together. He felt ashamed and worried for Chen Xi, and he actually stared blankly while being at a loss for what to say.

“What! Someone launched a surprise attack at Chen Xi?” An Wei who was waiting at the other side of the crack since a long time ago exclaimed with shock, and her beautiful appearance couldn’t refrain from revealed a furious expression.

“Someone really did launch a surprise attack, and the strength of the assailant is probably extremely formidable.” Long Zhenbei’s expression had already become extremely serious, and he narrated the scene he saw earlier in detail to An Wei.

“Dammit! Exactly who dared to make a move against someone from our Nine Radiance Sword Sect!?” Even with An Wei’s indifferent disposition, infinite rage couldn’t help but be aroused in her at this moment, and her beautiful brows knit together tightly while she seethed with killing intent.

“Chen Xi saved my life this time. If anything happens to him, then I’ll seek revenge tenfold for him. No matter who it is, I’ll annihilate their entire family!” Leng Zhenbei gritted his teeth, causing his voice to seem to have been squeezed out from the cracks between his teeth, and it was icy cold, bone piercing, and filled with boundless ghastly killing intent.

He understood that if it wasn’t for Chen Xi kicking him earlier, he would have properly suffered a disaster earlier!

The reason was extremely simple. Even if the target of the surprise attack wasn’t him, such an unexpected event would surely catch him off guard, and while between that crack, it was extremely likely that he would be crushed to death by the force emitted by the circulation of the stars.

“We can only do that for now.” After she calmed down, An Wei couldn’t help but sigh deeply and feel worried for Chen Xi’s fate. She’s never imagined that Chen Xi would actually suffer a mishap before they’d even entered the Dark Parasol’s Abyss, and this was simply an exceedingly heavy blow to their group.

“Let’s go. Junior Brother Chen Xi is a lucky fellow, and he probably won’t die so early. Let’s head to the Dark Parasol’s Abyss first. So long as he’s still alive, we should have an opportunity to meet him again.” Long Zhenbei patted An Wei on the shoulder to display his consolation. From this moment onwards, Chen Xi was a figure of little to no important in his heart any longer, and Chen Xi was a companion that was worthy of him entrusting his life to.

If Chen Xi died, he would annihilate all the people that had offended Chen Xi without leaving a single person alive!

This was a type of promise, and even though he hadn’t spoke it out loud, it was already branded within his heart.

...

“You failed?” The Nether Spring Devil Sect’s Qiu Jun said with surprise, “That’s extremely rare to come by. If news of this is spread out, Chen Xi might rise to fame because of this.”

He had a gaunt appearance that could only be considered to be ordinary. However, he seemed like a mountain that was impossible to move, solid, alone, and towering. Strands of pure devilish qi fluttered about around him, causing him to carry a mysterious aura.

The masked assassin stood silently before him like a shadow, and the assassin’s pitch black mask and devilish violet eyes caused others to feel horrified in their hearts.

Qiu Jun knew this masked assassin extremely well. No one knew this person’s real name, but he possessed an extremely famous nickname — Shroud.

Shroud represented mysteriousness, uncertainty, and elusiveness, just like his style as an assassin. He came and went without a trace while walking within the darkness, and he killed every single target with a single strike and had never failed.

Amongst all the Nether Transformation Realm cultivators in the entire Dark Reverie, Shroud’s assassination techniques could be ranked in the top 10, and he was a top expert that was renowned in the world.

But even though Shroud was said to walk in the darkness, he wasn’t bloodthirsty and ruthless. Conversely, besides the targets of his assassination, he’d practically never made a move against anyone else. Even if someone humiliated and cursed at him, it wouldn’t draw the slightest killing intent from him.

In other words, Shroud was a harmless person while he wasn’t carrying out an assignment, and he would utterly not cause trouble for anyone.

It was precisely because of this that a person like this would seem to be extremely terrifying.

However, even Qiu Jun was extremely shocked when Shroud decided to make a move against Chen Xi. After all, he had absolutely not instructed Shroud to do this.

Even more shocking to Qiu Jun was that Shroud’s attack had actually failed!

His first reaction when he obtained this news was to feel that it was impossible! Even if he’d already seen Shroud with his own two eyes now, he was still slightly unwilling to believe it.

How could a little fellow from an ordinary dynasty in a minor world, a Seed Disciple that had just joined the Nine Radiance Sword Sect for less than half a year possibly be able to make Shroud, a top assassin that was renowned in the world since a long time ago, fail?

Shroud’s reaction proved that this news was true!

Qiu Jun couldn’t help but purse his lips and ask. “Exactly why did you decide to make a move against Chen Xi earlier? Could it be that you noticed something?”

“Intuition.” Shroud valued his words like gold, and he only said a single word.

“Intuition?” Qiu Jun was astounded. He’d never imagined that Shroud would actually give him such an answer, and it exceeded all his expectations.

It was even to the extent that he slightly anticipated that it was because Shroud knew that Chen Xi was the person he wanted to deal with, so Shroud wanted to help him and took the initiative to attack.

Now it would seem like he was obviously flattering himself. The reason Shroud had acted in this way was actually because of the practically imaginary thing called intuition!

No matter how he wracks his brains, that fellow Chen Xi would probably be unable to figure out that Shroud would make a move against him because of this, right? Qiu Jun couldn’t help but indulge in a train of thoughts.

“He’ll interfere with our objective.” Shroud’s voice was icy cold and indifferent, and it didn’t contain the slightest feelings.

“Interfere with our objective?” Qiu Jun’s pupils constricted, and he instantly understood what Shroud meant. “You’re saying that your intuition told you that he’ll affect what we want to do?”

Shroud nodded.

Qiu Jun instantly went silent as he pondered. He knew that there were many mysterious and unfathomable things about Shroud, and it was one of the reasons that Shroud had never failed.

Even though what Shroud said seemed to be absurd, he gradually started believing it for some unknown reason.

After a long time, Qiu Jun suddenly started laughing as his brows relaxed, and he seemed to be really extremely happy as he said, “It’s good this way as well. I was worrying about how to find him once we enter the Dark Parasol’s Abyss. Since it’s like this, I can seize this opportunity to capture him!”

“For the Terminus Dao Insight?” Shroud asked abruptly. He’d always seemed to be extremely quiet and valued his words like gold, yet at this moment, he’d taken the initiative to ask. Obviously, he wasn’t indifferent to everything in his heart.

“Exactly.” Qiu Jun glanced at Shroud. He knew that such a matter was impossible to be concealed because Shroud was from the Nether Spring Devil Sect just like him.

But the only difference was that Shroud was an existence that only obeyed the orders of the Sect Master. He was like a secret trump card, and even the numerous elders of the sect mostly didn’t know that Shroud was actually a disciple of their sect.

“He’s very formidable.” Shroud was silent for a long time before saying another few words, and it seemed to be extremely sudden.

“You’re in the shadows while I’m out in the open. Will we be able to succeed if we join forces against him?” Qiu Jun was stunned and felt a trace of unusualness in his heart because Shroud’s reaction abnormal reaction caused him to start taking Chen Xi seriously.

“Yes.” Shroud nodded.

“Alright, I just hope that kid doesn’t get lost in the sea of clouds and become trapped to death. That would be too much of a pity.” Qiu Jun heaved a sigh of relief as he was really worried that he would get a negative answer from Shroud.

After that, he turned around and said to Shroud, “Let’s go, he who strikes first gains the upper hand, and he who strikes last suffers calamity. The others have probably already arrived at the Dark Parasol’s Abyss now...”

Swoosh!

As soon as he finished speaking, Shroud had already transformed into a shadow that vanished completely, and it was impossible to notice Shroud any longer.

But Qiu Jun knew that Shroud was nearby, and then he couldn’t help but shake his head and smile without end. He felt that the life of an assassin like Shroud was really boring, and he wondered what the point of Shroud having to walk in the darkness and be unable to see the light was.

...

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Within the boundless sea of clouds.

The stars circulated as the suns and moons rose and fell, and it created wave after wave of extremely terrifying temporal tides that swept out. Raging storms of flames and torrents of ice filled the entire surroundings while some chaotic flows of energy that were practically thousands of times more ferocious that the ferocious wings high above in the sky flowed about. Nether Transformation Realm experts would be exhausted and be trapped to death within this boundless sea of clouds.

Yet it was within this extremely dangerous environment that Chen Xi flickered about repeatedly like a bullet, and he moved forward while searching for safe paths that might exist.

Fortunately, the Dark Parasol Divine Tree sapling was already rooted within his Blackhole World, and the Immortal Energy emitted by it ceaselessly provided him with True Essence, causing him to have no need to worry that his strength would be exhausted.

Otherwise, if someone were to ceaselessly flash about within the sea of clouds like him, then the person would sooner or later die of exhaustion.

Wait, even though I’ve been moving forward along a straight line, this place is filled with revolving stars, suns and moons that rise and fall, and heavy mist. I’m utterly incapable of confirming my location, and if this goes on, I’ll probably be unable to find a safe path at all. Suddenly, Chen Xi stopped moving and looked at his surroundings from afar, and his brows couldn’t help but knit together tightly.

Never had he imagined that this sea of clouds would actually be so vast, and it was simply like a natural large scale Illusion Formation. Even if he was skilled in the art of deduction, he was utterly unable to find the slightest chance of escaping.

No wonder the Dark Parasol’s Abyss has been called a place of great danger since ancient times. Merely this sea of clouds is probably capable of annihilating most cultivators. Chen Xi muttered and sensed the extraordinariness of the Dark Parasol’s Abyss even more deeply.

Rumble!

Right at this moment, from an exceedingly enormous star ahead, a beast claw covered in crimson red colored scales suddenly covered the heavens and the earth as it clawed fiercely towards Chen Xi.

This beast claw had four fingers, and every single finger was like an enormous pillar that could hold up the skies. They were covered in layer upon layer of scales that were icy cold like metal, and they surged with a myriad of rays of light. The might of this claw seemed like a god had stretched out his hand, and it caused him to arouse a powerless feeling as if he was unable to escape.

Under the might of this beast claw that was covered in crimson red scales, the surging temporal tide dispersed to the side, and an entire area of 500km froze under this terrifying aura.

Chen Xi was vaguely able to see that a monster of unknown size was behind the crimson red scaled beast claw, and it stuck out its head that was like an enormous mountain from atop one of the stars!