Chapter 10
The low, guttural growl echoed from the darkness ahead, followed by the terrifying sound of earth and stone grinding together. Ye-Liyun was trapped in a collapsing tunnel, and a massive, spiritual beast was hunting him.
"Liyun! Run! The beast is a Ground-Shaker Wyrm! It senses the spiritual energy of the Crimson Sun Grass in your body! It's coming for you!" the Emperor screamed, his mental voice a frantic, high-pitched alarm.
Ye-Liyun scrambled backward, his hands scraping against the rough, damp earth. He couldn't go back—the entrance was blocked by the heavy cobblestone he had just used for cover. He had to go forward, deeper into the collapsing, sewage-scented tunnel.
He ran blindly, the growl growing louder, closer. The tunnel walls began to shake violently, and dust and debris rained down. He could feel the immense spiritual pressure of the beast—it was at least a Foundation Establishment level creature, far beyond his ability to fight. The thought of being crushed and devoured by a massive subterranean worm was a terrifying end to his short-lived freedom.
"The tunnel is too narrow for it to move quickly! We have a chance! Look for a side passage! Any opening!"
Ye-Liyun spotted a faint, flickering light ahead. He pushed his body to its limit, sprinting toward the light just as the tunnel behind him collapsed with a deafening roar. The air pressure from the collapse slammed into his back, propelling him forward.
He burst into a small, damp cavern. The light came from a single, flickering torch mounted on the wall. The cavern was filled with discarded crates and barrels—a smugglers' staging area.
"Liyun! Quick! The beast is digging through the collapse! It will be here in minutes! We need to mask your spiritual signature!"
Ye-Liyun frantically searched the crates. He found a small, clay jar filled with a thick, foul-smelling black paste.
"That's Shadow-Mire Clay! It's used to mask spiritual energy! Rub it on your body! Now!"
Ye-Liyun didn't hesitate. He smeared the cold, sticky paste over his face, neck, and hands. The moment the paste touched his skin, the spiritual energy radiating from his body—the very energy that was attracting the beast—was instantly suppressed.
The roar of the Ground-Shaker Wyrm was now right outside the cavern. The rock wall separating them began to bulge inward, cracking under the beast's immense power.
"It can't sense you, but it knows you're close! We must leave! There is a hidden exit! Look for a faint array formation on the far wall!"
Ye-Liyun found the faint, shimmering lines of a simple teleportation array hidden beneath a pile of crates. He placed his hand on the central nexus.
"It needs Qi! A burst of Qi to activate it! Use the spiritual stones! All of them!"
Ye-Liyun poured the remaining four hundred low-grade spiritual stones onto the array. He circulated the Supreme Immortal Body Refinement Art, aggressively draining the Qi from the stones and forcing it into the array. The stones instantly crumbled to dust, and the array flared with a blinding white light.
He jumped onto the array just as the wall of the cavern exploded inward. The massive, serpentine head of the Ground-Shaker Wyrm, its eyes burning with hunger, lunged for him.
The teleportation array activated, and Ye-Liyun vanished in a flash of light, escaping the beast by a hair's breadth.
Ye-Liyun slammed onto a cold, hard floor. He was in a small, dusty warehouse near the South Gate—the very location mentioned in the Broker's scroll. He was alive, but he was broke, covered in mud, and the Shadow-Mire Clay was already beginning to itch.
"Liyun! We are here! The Viper's hideout! The Broker's test begins now! You have no money, no spiritual stones, and no time to rest! You must complete the mission!"
Ye-Liyun pushed himself to his feet. He was at the entrance to a massive, abandoned warehouse. The air was thick with the faint, complex spiritual energy of a powerful defensive formation.
"The Blood-Key Array is active! It's a powerful formation! It will kill anyone who tries to force their way in! We need the key!"
Ye-Liyun looked at the scroll in his hand. "The Viper is currently hiding in the abandoned warehouse near the South Gate. He is protected by a powerful, spiritual formation that can only be bypassed by someone with a unique, inherited bloodline..."
"The Broker is testing you! She knows you can't get the key! This is a suicide mission! You must get the key from the Array Master! But he is a powerful Foundation Establishment master, and he is obsessed with his artifacts! If you try to steal it, he will kill you!"
Ye-Liyun's mind raced. He had to infiltrate the most secure building in the city to steal an artifact from a powerful master, all to kill a gang leader he couldn't fight, just to get a herb to keep him alive.
"Emperor! What is the plan? I can't fight a Foundation Establishment master!"
"You don't fight him! You use your knowledge! The Array Master is currently at the City Lord's Annual Artifact Appraisal Gala! He will be distracted! You must infiltrate the Gala, steal the Blood-Key, and escape before he realizes it's gone! Go now, Liyun! The Gala is tonight!"
Ye-Liyun looked at the warehouse, then back toward the Inner City. He was going from a banished trash cultivator to a master thief in a single night. He had to find a way into the City Lord's Manor.
He began to run, using his new body to move silently through the shadows of the slums. He reached the outer wall of the Inner City—a massive, fortified barrier. He couldn't sneak past the guards. He had to find a way to get inside the Manor.
"The Manor is protected by a massive, complex array! It's a masterpiece, but it has a single, fatal flaw! It's a flaw that only an Immortal Emperor would know!"
"Tell me the flaw, Emperor! I need a way in!"
"The flaw is in the South-West Corner! There is a small, decorative fountain! The water flow is tied to the Array's power source! If you can disrupt the water flow for three seconds, the Array will momentarily flicker, and you can slip through!"
Ye-Liyun found the South-West Corner. The decorative fountain was a beautiful, multi-tiered structure, guarded by two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Liyun! You must distract the guards! And you must disrupt the water flow! You have no Qi! You must use cunning!"
Ye-Liyun looked around. He spotted a pile of old, dry leaves and a discarded oil lamp. He had an idea.
He crept forward, moving silently like a true assassin. He reached the pile of leaves and quickly poured the oil from the lamp onto them. He then used the friction from the wooden ring to generate a tiny spark, igniting the leaves.
A small, smoky fire erupted.
"Fire!" one of the guards shouted, distracted. "The leaves are burning! Put it out!"
As the two guards rushed toward the fire, Ye-Liyun sprinted toward the fountain. He reached the base and, with a grunt, slammed his foot onto the main water pipe, bending the soft metal just enough to disrupt the flow.
The water flow stopped.
The massive, shimmering array protecting the City Lord's Manor flickered, a brief, silent moment of vulnerability.
Ye-Liyun didn't hesitate. He threw himself at the wall, and his body passed through the shimmering barrier as if it were air.
He was inside the City Lord's Manor. He was a thief in the most secure building in the city, and he was hunting a priceless artifact.
"Liyun! You are in! Now, the Gala is in the Grand Ballroom! The Array Master will be there! The Blood-Key will be on display! You must find it and steal it! But be warned! The Array Master is not the only one who knows the key's value!"
Ye-Liyun heard the faint sound of music and laughter echoing from the Grand Ballroom. He was a banished boy in torn robes, about to crash the most exclusive party in the city. He had to succeed, or he would die before dawn.