“Hurry! Protect the Pavilion Master!”

“Do you have any idea what you are doing? She is the Master of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion! If a single hair on her head is harmed, my Pavilion will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!”

Outside the defensive perimeter, Elder Chen roared in fury, his voice cracking with desperation. He tried to turn back, to carve a path through the enemy lines to rescue his young mistress, but he was hopelessly outnumbered.

The ambushers, well-prepared and ruthless, immediately moved to cut off his retreat.

“Hunt us down?” one of the black-robed figures scoffed, his voice dripping with malice. “Once we grind you all to dust, who will be left to tell the tale?”

“The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion should understand the oldest rule of the cultivation world better than anyone,” another assassin jeered, his aura flaring. “Possessing a jade is a crime in itself.”

“We gave you a choice. You refused to hand over the legacy. Since we have already drawn our blades, none of you will leave this place alive.”

The attackers didn’t know exactly what Wan Xiaobei had obtained in the Falling Rain Valley. But they knew the logic of probability. As the one who received the Rain Ghost’s protection, she was the most likely candidate to hold the Immortal Fate.

For a chance at Immortality, killing the leader of a continent-spanning trade conglomerate was a risk worth taking.

They were confident. They had numbers, they had the element of surprise, and a Soul Formation expert watched from the shadows, ensuring their victory.

For the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, this was a catastrophe.

Inside the airship, the situation was even more dire.

“Kill!”

The squad of enemy Golden Core cultivators who had breached the hull didn’t waste breath on words. Eyes cold and weapons drawn, they charged straight for Wan Xiaobei like a pack of starving wolves.

The few Golden Core guards remaining on the deck stepped forward, swearing to defend their mistress with their lives.

But it was futile.

Most of the Pavilion’s high-level combatants had been drawn outside by Elder Chen. The remaining defenders were outnumbered and outmatched. In the first clash alone, the Pavilion’s line collapsed, their cultivators coughing up blood and retreating under the overwhelming pressure.

“Pavilion Master! Guest Elder Feng!”

A bloodied Golden Core guard shielding Wan Xiaobei gritted his teeth, speaking rapidly without looking back. “There is a small, concealed teleportation array in the ship’s secret hold. The enemy’s jamming formation will make the transfer unstable, but it is our only chance!”

“Please, Pavilion Master, take Guest Elder Feng and retreat! We will hold them back with our lives!”

The guard’s face was etched with tragic resolve. He knew he was a dead man walking. Around him, even the Foundation Establishment disciples gripped their weapons with white knuckles, ready to die for their sect.

Merchants valued profit above all else. But the people of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion valued their oaths even more.

However, in the face of absolute power, courage was nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree.

The enemy didn’t even bother to finish off the wounded guards. Their goal was singular. They surged past the defensive line, lunging straight for Wan Xiaobei to prevent her escape.

“You have a death wish!”

The loyal guard roared, burning his blood essence to intercept the charge.

But just as he moved, one of the black-clad assassins flicked his sleeve with a sneer.

Hiss!

A streak of emerald light shot out from his cuff—a jade-green viper with translucent wings, moving faster than the eye could follow.

“It’s the Azure Sky Serpent! You’re from the White Qilin Sect!”

“Damn it! Pavilion Master, dodge!”

The defenders screamed in horror. The White Qilin Sect was infamous for their beast-taming arts, and the Azure Sky Serpent was their most insidious killer. A Rank 4 Demon Beast, its venom was instant death, and its speed rivaled a Foundation Establishment Grand Perfection cultivator.

Used in a surprise attack like this, it was a guaranteed kill.

The warning came too late. The serpent was already there, its jaws unhinged, fangs dripping with necrotic venom as it snapped at Wan Xiaobei’s throat.

“Pavilion Master!”

“NO!!!”

Eyes widened in despair. But just as the fangs clamped down, a calm voice cut through the panic.

“I’m fine.”

Snap.

The serpent’s jaws closed on empty air. Wan Xiaobei had flickered backward, her body leaving behind a lifelike afterimage that dissolved into mist.

But before anyone could sigh in relief, the air around her began to hiss.

Shhh-shhh-shhh!

More emerald streaks burst from the shadows. Three, four, five serpents—they shot toward her from every angle, sealing off all avenues of retreat. This was a carefully laid kill box. They intended to shred her to pieces.

Wan Xiaobei’s face went pale. She had no room to dodge. Her hand flashed to her waist, grabbing a defensive jade talisman. It was her last resort.

She channeled her Qi, preparing to activate the barrier and hard-tank the strike.

But then… she felt it.

A gentle breeze brushed against her cheek.

Drip.

A single, cold raindrop landed on her nose.

Wan Xiaobei looked up, blinking in confusion. They were inside the airship, protected by layers of defensive formations. How could it be raining?

As she stood there, bewildered, a familiar voice drifted into her ear, calm and instructional.

“Watch carefully.”

“This is how Rainfall Leaves Traces is truly used.”

As the last syllable fell, Gu Xiu took a slow, deliberate half-step forward.

He moved leisurely, like a scholar strolling through a garden. Yet, the moment his boot touched the deck, the world… stopped.

Freeze.

The rain falling from the ceiling suspended in mid-air, glittering like diamonds.

The Azure Sky Serpents, inches away from tearing Wan Xiaobei apart, hung frozen in space, their forked tongues motionless.

The Pavilion guards, their faces twisted in screams of terror, were locked in statuesque panic.

Everything was still.

Wan Xiaobei’s pupils dilated. Her mind was racing, screaming at her limbs to move, but her body refused to obey. It was as if time itself had solidified into amber, and they were the insects trapped within.

The only thing that moved was Gu Xiu.

He raised his hand, forming a sword finger. He turned his palm upward, gently catching a single suspended raindrop.

“The technique is called Rainfall Leaves Traces,” Gu Xiu murmured, his voice resonating in the unnatural silence. “But the essence lies in the rainfall, not the traces.”

“Rain falls to form a realm.”

“And dripping water… can pierce stone.”

Hum.

A terrifying Sword Intent erupted from his fingertip. It was sharp enough to slice the heavens, heavy enough to crush mountains. Yet, instead of exploding outward, this apocalyptic power collapsed inward, vanishing entirely into that single, tiny raindrop.

The drop didn’t change shape. But within its crystalline depths, a microscopic sword shadow now flickered.

Gu Xiu turned his wrist. He positioned his thumb against his middle finger and simply… flicked.

Thwack.

He flicked the raindrop into the air.

The water droplet shattered into a fine mist.

And in that instant, the frozen world shattered with it. Time resumed.

The rain continued to fall. The serpents lunged. The guards screamed.

Wan Xiaobei turned her head, staring at Gu Xiu in a daze.

Gu Xiu smiled faintly, his lips parting to utter a single command.

“Pierce.”

Vwoom!

Every eye on the deck bulged.

The rain—the thousands of gentle raindrops drifting down around them—suddenly changed. Within every single drop, a tiny, distinct shadow appeared.

It was the shadow of a man’s finger, forming a sword.

Then, the rain fell.

“ARGH!”

“Damn it! What is this?!”

“The rain! It’s Sword Qi! Defend!!”

Agonized screams tore through the air. The arrogant Golden Core assassins, who had been slaughtering their way forward a moment ago, were now flailing wildly. They summoned shields, artifacts, and barriers, trying to block the deluge.

But the rain was relentless.

Each drop hit with the weight of a sledgehammer and the cutting power of a divine blade.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The assassins coughed up blood, their defenses riddled with holes, their bodies lacerated by a million tiny cuts.

But their horror had only just begun.

They looked toward Wan Xiaobei, expecting to see her corpse. Instead, they saw a cloud of red mist.

The Azure Sky Serpents—the terrifying beasts that had surrounded her—were gone.

The rain had passed through them.

The crisscrossing Sword Qi hidden within the droplets had minced the serpents into a fine, bloody powder before they could even close their jaws.

“Puh!”

The beast masters connected to the serpents doubled over, vomiting blood as the backlash of their pets’ instant death hit their souls.

Silence descended on the deck, broken only by the groans of the dying.

Slowly, stiffly, everyone turned their heads.

They looked at the figure in the bamboo hat.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his aura indistinguishable from a mortal’s. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And yet… he had suppressed the battlefield with a flick of his finger.

Gu Xiu ignored the awe and horror in their eyes. He simply turned to the stunned girl behind him.

“Did you see clearly?”