‘Someone else came again? Do they really think the Great Xia Imperial Palace is a place where they can come and go as they please?’

Jiang Zirou frowned slightly.

She gently set down the scroll in her hands.

Her toes tapped lightly.

Her entire body shot into the sky, turning into a streak of motion as she dashed after the intruder.

* * *

Back mountain, ancestral grounds.

A lean, pitch-black figure landed lightly atop a cluster of stone formations.

Moonlight trickled down, reflecting in the man’s blood-red pupils.

He was like a wandering specter.

‘So the Great Xia Dynasty truly has lost all its former majesty. For the imperial ancestral mausoleum to have reached this point—there isn’t even a Grandmaster stationed here anymore. Truly lamentable.’

Not far away.

Inside the old imperial uncle’s secluded cultivation chamber, the massive stone door was sealed shut with nine layers of black-iron chains. Not a trace of aura leaked out.

‘The War God of the Central Plains… is this where the Old Prince secluded himself? He’s been in seclusion for nearly twenty years. Who knows whether he’s alive or dead now. Since I’ve already arrived and he still isn’t reacting, that means he’s most likely no longer alive… But if that’s the case, then who killed Blood Demon and Youming?’

The distinctive blood-colored pupils.

This black-clad figure was none other than Tiansha, the Grandmaster-rank assassin of Dead Man Lake.

He stood before the Old Prince’s secluded tomb, filled with wariness.

Because over the years, the Old Prince’s reputation had been far too dominant. For decades, the number of Grandmasters who died under his hand was beyond count. Back then, he was the embodiment of invincibility and under his protection, none dared violate the dignity of the Great Xia Dynasty.

‘The Old Prince is almost certainly gone. Today, the realm of Great Grandmaster has already become a legend. If he were still alive, how could he allow me to run rampant here? Enough. I’ll go inside and see for myself!’

Before the words finished falling, Tiansha’s figure blurred as he moved to enter the mausoleum.

“Imperial mausoleum forbidden grounds—how could petty villains like you be allowed to act with impunity here?”

At that moment, a cold, ethereal voice sounded behind him.

Instantly, every hair on Tiansha’s body stood on end. Every nerve screamed danger.

“Who are you?”

He shot into the air in a flash and as he turned, he flung a throwing knife.

Jiang Zirou caught it between her fingers.

“Just an ordinary palace maid.”

Jiang Zirou released the knife, realizing the intruder possessed the cultivation of a Grandmaster—one of the martial world’s rare peak experts.

“Leave now. I can spare your life.”

Tiansha’s silhouette drifted like a dead leaf.

He landed atop a giant boulder not far away.

But the instant he saw that the one confronting him was a young girl, he was startled again.

“Blood Demon and Youming… they died by your hand?”

“I don’t know who they are… but two assassins died by my hand two months ago.”

“Then that settles it… heh. Truly worthy of the Great Xia Dynasty, producing a Grandmaster martial prodigy this young. If I don’t eliminate you today, in another ten years the Great Xia will birth a new War God of the Central Plains.”

Seeing how young she was, Tiansha let out a rasping laugh. His voice was coarse and grating, disturbing to the ears.

It sounded like ghostly wailing rather than laughter.

“Little girl, you and I are both Grandmasters, but different Grandmasters excel in different paths… Some Grandmasters excel in charging through armies to take the enemy general’s head. Some excel in close-quarters combat, capable of cutting down demons. But I, as an assassin, excel above all in killing…”

Tiansha’s figure vanished from before her eyes.

But his hoarse voice drifted from all directions, carried by the night wind rustling through the forest.

Jiang Zirou slowly closed her eyes, serene and still, like a moonlit immortal.

“Go! Raging Rain Pear Blossom Needles!”

Countless razor-sharp strands of qi shot from every direction, endless and overwhelming, pouring down like a torrential storm that covered every blind spot.

Jiang Zirou’s expression did not change.

On her pale forehead, a ripple unfolded—like layers of blooming golden lotus petals.

True Martial Body · Dissolve!

Under the radiance pouring out, like snow melting beneath the blazing sun, the tiny threads of qi were worn away one after another.

“Impossible!?”

Tiansha was shocked. He couldn’t believe his signature technique had been broken so easily.

He closed in instantly.

A blood-red short dagger appeared in his hand, striking toward the slender, delicate neck of Jiang Zirou from behind.

“Sword Control Art!”

Jiang Zirou’s calm voice rang out.

Tiansha suddenly realized that the weapon he wielded as naturally as an extension of his arm had forcibly turned its direction—toward his own neck.

Fortunately, Tiansha’s experience was immense. With a twist of his wrist he severed the strand of qi coiling around his weapon.

But by now, the distance between them was still no more than three steps.

Jiang Zirou smiled, heroic and breathtaking.

Her right palm pressed forward lightly—surging qi crashed like waves.

Tiansha hurriedly countered with his own palm, but he never imagined that although the girl looked only eleven or twelve years old, her physical strength surpassed his by far.

A muffled groan escaped him.

A crisp, cracking sound came from his arm—followed by piercing pain.

Not daring to linger, Tiansha borrowed the force of her palm, flew into the sky, landed on the eaves of a distant ancestral hall and staggered into the darkness.

Jiang Zirou did not kill him.

Partly because the opponent’s skill was not weak—it would not be easy to keep him even if she wished to.

But more importantly, if the clash grew any louder, it would inevitably alert others.

* * *

After the black-clad assassin fled, Jiang Zirou assumed he would not return within a short time and prepared to leave.

But when her eyes fell upon the black-iron chains sealing the mausoleum, a faint, indistinct voice seemed to drift out from within.