The night was still, the air heavy with tension. Candlelight flickered faintly, casting long, wavering shadows across the wooden walls. The room appeared undisturbed—just another quiet night in the manor. But beneath the stillness, a trap had been meticulously set.
Liu Yu lay motionless on the bed, her breathing slow and steady, mimicking deep sleep. A thin blanket draped over her, concealing the short iron spikes she had hidden beneath. She had deliberately left the window unlocked, an unspoken invitation for their unseen adversary.
Inside the massive wardrobe, Kai and Liu Yue crouched in silence, waiting. Liu Yue peered through a tiny crack between the doors, while Kai, lacking Qi but not wits, kept a firm grip on the nearly invisible trap trigger. His fingers tightened around the thin thread, his heart pounding in anticipation.
Then, it happened.
A sudden shift in the air. Not a gust of wind, not an unnatural chill—but movement.
The candle flames barely flickered, but Liu Yue felt it. Fast. Too fast.
From the corner of the room, a blur of motion appeared—a figure moving with unnatural fluidity, silent as a whisper, swift as a shadow.
No footsteps. No creaking floorboards. No heavy breaths.
One moment, the room was empty.
The next—someone was standing at the foot of the bed.
Liu Yue's breath caught in her throat.
The stealth was absolute. The speed, inhuman.
Kai barely suppressed a shudder. He couldn't even see how the intruder moved—only the faintest ripple in the air, the barest outline against the darkness. This was a cultivator who had reached the pinnacle of lightness techniques and movement arts.
Liu Yu remained still, but her fingers twitched beneath the blanket, ready to strike.
Kai exhaled silently. He's in position.
With a flick of his fingers, the suspended capture net above the bed snapped free, dropping in an instant. The weighted threads were laced with Qi-disrupting energy, meant to ensnare and suppress.
But the figure reacted in an instant.
There was no hesitation. No moment of surprise.
Just movement.
The figure twisted its body in an unnatural arc, slipping through the falling net like water through a sieve. It should have been impossible, yet he did it without effort, his form shifting mid-air, limbs moving faster than the eye could track.
A shadow flickered. A blur of motion—he was already moving for the window.
Liu Yue's secondary formation activated—iron bars slammed down, sealing the exit.
Still, no hesitation. The figure simply redirected, rebounding off the wall like a phantom, not stopping for even a breath.
Kai reacted. Now or never.
His fingers darted into his sleeve, pulling out a Thunderclap Pellet—a small, smooth sphere crafted from alchemical powders and compressed Qi-infused minerals. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he hurled it to the ground.
The pellet detonated on impact, releasing a thunderous crack followed by a searing flash of golden-white light.
The explosion of light erased all shadows, momentarily turning night into day. The masked figure flinched—a fraction of a second's hesitation, but enough. His movement, previously ghost-like, stuttered as his senses reeled.
A cloud of reflective dust exploded across the room, catching the shadow mid-movement. For a fraction of a second, his figure was fully visible.
The intruder wasn't just a ghost in the night—he was a man.
Draped in deep gray robes, masked, eyes like slits of cold steel. His frame was thin and wiry, built for speed rather than brute strength, yet every movement exuded precision and deadly efficiency. His limbs seemed unnaturally long in the dim glow, each motion controlled, calculated, like a blade honed to perfection.
A cultivator of high mastery.
Liu Yue moved instantly.
The masked figure kicked off the wall mid-fall, twisting his body through the lingering ink cloud. He landed in a crouch, gaze snapping toward the wardrobe—toward them.
He knew.
Liu Yue flung her hand forward, launching a set of hidden needles.
But the figure twisted mid-air, a sharp blur of motion as he avoided the projectiles.
A flurry of attacks erupted in the dimly lit room.
Liu Yue attacked from the side, fingers flashing as she sent Qi-infused, needle-thin projectiles straight for his pressure points.
Liu Yu, aggressive and relentless, closed the distance, wielding her short blades in a deadly flurry of strikes.
The masked figure dodged with impossible precision, bending, twisting, shifting between their attacks like a wraith. But he was still on the defensive—the sisters' coordination was too strong.
They pressed their advantage, moving as one, their strikes weaving into a dance of steel and precision.
Liu Yu feinted left, then spun low, aiming a brutal kick toward his ribs.
Liu Yue took the opening, sending a burst of palm strikes at his exposed back.
For a brief moment, it seemed like they had him.
He adapted.
The instant their rhythm became predictable, he exploited it.
His footwork shifted—a single pivot, and he vanished from Liu Yue's strike zone entirely.
Before she could react, his hand lashed out, gripping her wrist with unrelenting force.
Liu Yue gasped as a wave of force sent her flying backward, slamming against the wooden wall.
Liu Yu reacted immediately, lunging to intercept, but he was already moving.
Faster.
More precise.
In a flash, his leg swept out, catching Liu Yu off guard. Her balance faltered—
In that moment, he struck.
A single, controlled palm against her chest—not enough to kill, but enough to send her crashing to the floor.
The battle had shifted in mere seconds.
Kai, still crouched inside the cramped wardrobe, hurriedly whispered his question to the Celestial Eclipse Manual, his fingers gripping the ancient pages with tense urgency. The air inside was stifling, but the cold sweat on his back made it feel like ice.
A golden glow flickered to life, casting eerie shadows against the wooden panels as glowing characters rearranged themselves on the page.
Unknown Cultivator
Cultivation Level: Core Formation (Advanced Stage)
Strength Rating: 44/100
Speed Rating: 84/100
Techniques:
??? (Lightness type)
??? (Absorption type)
Kai's eyes locked onto the cultivation level. Core Formation (Advanced Stage).
Liu Yu and Liu Yue were fighting someone above their level. But there were two of them—maybe that was enough to even the odds.
His eyes flicked back to the page, a question gnawing at his mind. Why weren't the techniques fully revealed? Every other time he had used the manual, it had provided the full names and descriptions of abilities. But now, all it showed were their types.
Was this because the figure was too strong? Or… did it mean the techniques were somehow hidden?
Absorption-type techniques?
Kai's breath hitched. What exactly did that mean?
Did they drain Qi? Life force? Souls?
So far, the shadowy figure outside hadn't used anything resembling such techniques.
Kai swallowed hard, forcing himself to stay still. If that figure truly had a technique that could steal from others…
Then he couldn't afford to be caught.
Liu Yue pushed herself up, breath ragged, blood trickling from her lip. Liu Yu staggered to her feet, blades trembling in her grip.
The masked figure, standing unharmed in the center of the room, tilted his head slightly, assessing them.
Then he moved again.
A blur of motion—before Kai could even register it, the sisters were down.
Silent. Swift. Unstoppable.
Kai's breath caught in his throat. His hands clenched around the manual.
The masked figure turned to face him.
And then—he stepped forward.
Not in a rush. Not in a flurry of motion.
Just a single, deliberate step.
Kai was next.