C91 Everything Could Not be Fixed

"I can't believe my luck—I managed to strike the assassin right on target!"

Seeing Lee Yu still had the spirit to joke around, Cui breathed a sigh of relief but quickly voiced her concern, "Young Master, are you hurt anywhere?"

"This?"

Lee Yu glanced down, lifted his shirt slightly, and clarified, "This is his blood, not mine. You're worrying about the wrong person."

Cui followed his gesture and saw a man in black collapsed on the ground, his severed arm nearby, still oozing blood.

Lee Yu surveyed the scene. "Looks like my surprise move threw a wrench in the assassin's plans, huh?"

The Azure Sun Army was coordinating well in response. Despite most of the assassins being of the Seventh Grade, they were losing ground. With time, the soldiers' seamless teamwork would likely reverse the stalemate.

If this was truly a trap for him, the opposition seemed... somewhat underwhelming.

If the Azure Sun Army couldn't handle it, what chance did they have against him?

"Young Master, please be cautious," Cui advised, opting not to join the soldiers and instead holding Lee Yu back from taking action.

She swiftly ended the struggle of the wounded dead soldier with her blade.

'Should've kept one alive for questioning...'

Lee Yu started to speak.

With a flick of her long knife, Cui tore open the dead soldier's clothing to reveal two black pouches. "These dead soldiers are well-trained. Young Master, never underestimate your opponent, no matter how weak they seem. Notice the poison concealed within these pouches."

"Their training is designed to maximize impact with minimal force. Next time you face such adversaries, Young Master, you must strike with even greater force."

Cui's eyes settled on the chest of the man in black, marked by a deep fist imprint—the true cause of his downfall. Without that blow, he would have fought fiercely, even with a broken arm.

Lee Yu nodded in acknowledgment. "Understood!"

He was aware that Cui was imparting valuable lessons on handling such situations, lessons born from experience—lessons Lee Yu would be sure to remember.

The knowledge in this area likely came at the cost of countless lives. He didn't consider himself to be under any special protection from the cosmos. To underestimate these matters could come with a price he feared he couldn't afford.

Take, for example, the recent distraction caused by the soldiers. If Lee Yu hadn't enhanced his five senses, he might have missed the faint sounds behind him while his attention was drawn elsewhere.

"Judging by the sounds earlier, I'm not sure what they did, but it seems they've been cut off," Lee Yu observed, noting the now stable situation around them.

"Don't worry, their tactic won't last long," Cui reassured.

The area was flanked by red stones. Regardless of what preparations the deathsworn had made, it was implausible for them to cause widespread destruction. If they had such capabilities, it would have been more effective to tamper with the ceiling and use the red stones to cause damage without expending their forces.

The only plausible explanation was that they had sacrificed their own to delay the Azure Sun Army's reinforcements.

"So, do we just wait here?" Lee Yu scratched his head, turning to find that the two individuals he had recently positioned were not present.

'Were they separated during the incident?' Lee Yu wondered, but didn't dwell on it.

"It's rare for two assassins to be assigned to the same location," Cui explained. "If we move hastily, we might run into another assassin still in hiding."

Lee Yu understood and refrained from further questions as the battle's tide became increasingly clear.

The fight had escalated from a few soldiers per assassin to now seven or eight soldiers on one. The battle was decidedly turning in their favor.

'Now is the moment!'

A figure clad in black had been lurking within the stone wall, like a viper waiting to strike. He had remained concealed until his prey let down their guard, ready to unleash his venomous bite.

The man in black burst through the stone wall's paper-thin disguise and leaped into action!

"Fifth Grade cultivation?"

The man in black's spiritual energy roiled around him. He harnessed the fire attribute spiritual energy within the Spiritual Domain, shaping it into a colossal sword aimed at Lee Yu's head.

But he didn't stop there; he invoked a brutal secret technique that injured him before it could harm others. Suffering from the backlash, he coughed up blood, and the sword he conjured expanded to three times its original size.

He bellowed, "Qing Yuan, meet your end!"

Lee Yu: ?

Cui: ?

Without another word, Lee Yu soared into the air, his Thunder Spiritual Force erupting as he formed a long sword. The spiritual energy around him pulsed at the Sixth Grade level.

"You've got the wrong guy, buddy!"

Lee Yu's sword effortlessly shattered the black-clothed man's Spiritual Domain and thrust towards his head.

Heeding Cui's advice, Lee Yu didn't hold back and went straight for a lethal move.

"Thunder attribute? How?" The black-clothed man was utterly astounded, taken aback by the electrifying force of Lee Yu's Thunder Spiritual Force. In that split second, all he could manage was to tilt his head.

The sword, forged of spiritual energy, plunged deep into his right shoulder. Writhing in pain, he unleashed the fire spiritual energy within his domain, repelling Lee Yu.

"That's what I meant by you've got the wrong person!" Lee Yu said with a nonchalant shrug.

The black-clothed man's misjudgment was understandable.

Only those of the Fifth Grade could break through the Crimson Stone.

Their squad had set out to ambush Qing Yuan, whose cultivation, according to intelligence, was at the Fifth Grade. Hence, the black-clothed man's cultivation matched this level. Moreover, he possessed a secret technique that allowed him to temporarily boost his strength at the cost of his lifespan and cultivation.

Under these circumstances, an unprepared Qing Yuan would surely face execution. Any member of the Qing's, no matter how well-trained, wouldn't have the time to react!

Even though Qing Yuan had just by chance struck an assassin in hiding, they were forced to act hastily, preventing another accomplice from joining the fray.

But the black-clothed man had made his own calculations. He had quickly signaled the expendable troops to distract 'Qing Yuan'.

Bare-handed, he had pierced through a stone wall and, relying solely on his physical strength, had slain another assassin. The man in black recognized that this 'Qing Yuan' was a formidable opponent, launching an attack in his prime condition. Yet, he never anticipated his target would suddenly manifest a thunder attribute, causing him to lose his edge.

"You're Lee Yu!"

"So the rumors of a Sixth Grade defeating a Fifth Grade weren't just Qing's smoke and mirrors... You truly possess that power!"

The man in black whispered to himself.

He clearly had a handle on the Qing's selection process, effortlessly disclosing Lee Yu's identity.

Cui unleashed her Sixth Grade spiritual energy, positioning herself protectively in front of Lee Yu to thwart any last-ditch effort from the man in black.

"Be on your guard, Young Master!"

Lee Yu attempted to tug Cui out of the way, but when his efforts failed, he let go.

After all, he was right behind her, and a Fifth Grade Assassin whose vitality was already fading posed no real threat to him in safeguarding Cui.

"Weren't you the one who said it was safe to stay in the same spot?"

Lee Yu suddenly remembered.

Cui: ...

"Rare doesn't mean impossible, Young Master. This incident teaches us to avoid rigid thinking," Cui said, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I refuse to believe there's another one lurking!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth,

A hand shot out from the ground near Cui's feet, seizing her ankle in a firm grip!