"One sword strike? Beauty, are all Westerners as arrogant as you? This old man's magic is not something that can be easily broken. Even if your sword is strong, can it surpass that girl named Zhilan? Even she could only be trapped in this old man's magic—"

"Where did all this useless talk come from,"

Tiran impatiently brandished her sword across her chest, "You have two choices now. If you want to fight, then come out and let me beat you up, or if you dare not, just wait for me to cut this place with one sword and then beat you up!"

A day ago, her sword might indeed not have been as good as Zhilan's, but that was a different story now.

Covered by her clothing on her back, Tiran could feel the newly inked Magic array starting to work, enhancing her perception sensitivity and range multiple times. At the same time, her mental strength surged like a raging river in her mind, accompanied by intense pain and dizziness.

But that didn't matter; what mattered was that the rules that she hadn't been able to use effortlessly since leaving the magitech capital had once again integrated into her sword.

After activating the array, using her mental strength in conjunction with Chi to drive the rules was like mixing diesel into a gasoline-driven car, pure suicide, as it couldn't run far. But Tiran didn't need this "car" to go far right now; a little push was all she needed.

Just one sword.

Raising her sword from her chest, she pushed it out horizontally, sliced, extended, forming an arc, without Chi or special effects, just like a strike rehearsed hundreds, if not thousands, of times in training, yet leaving a mark in the space in front of her.

After one sword, the scenery in Tiran's eyes, the night sky and the stars, began to shake, and the mark was like the first touch of dominoes falling, everything around starting to collapse.

"Long time no use, a little rusty."

Enduring the intense dizziness caused by the side effects, Tiran lowered her sword and walked forward. By the seventh step, the surroundings had returned to the brightly lit Five Creeks Inn before she slept.

"An Earth Immortal...?"

Several tens of meters away in front of Tiran, on the wall of Five Creeks Inn, a man dressed somewhat like a Taoist stood there, fingers splayed out as if playing a stringed instrument, with a dark look in his eyes.

"No, using the Westerners' term, Holy Rank, right? An extraordinary figure."

Without any hesitation, Tiran raised her hand and struck again with her sword, forming a light blade with Chi that crossed dozens of meters to split the man on the wall in half, so smoothly that Tiran herself was momentarily stunned.

The man, struck by Tiran's light blade, fell straight back, his voice not silent, "Seems like I've hit a snag... This time I'm unlucky. Beauty, until next time!"

He wasn't eliminated, another troublesome fellow.

Tiran gritted her teeth. If she could chase after him, she would, but the spatial strike she just unleashed added pressure on her, making it difficult to maintain normal movement. Not to mention pursuing that guy with his tricky moves.

And right now, the most important thing for her was the safety of Mimi and the others.

…

"All been attacked? A bit of a misstep... Sorry, Princess Tiran, I should have ensured everyone's safety."

Ten minutes later, inside the main building of the inn, Moyi said with some self-blame.

"…I accept the personal apology, but whether the mercenary leader and Mimi and the others accept it is up to them."

Tiran glanced at Beinrich beside her, his shoulder wrapped in bandages, while Li was performing healing magic on him.

"Me?" The mercenary leader who was suddenly being addressed was stunned, immediately grimacing in pain as he covered his wound and whimpered, "Ouch... It hurts... I'm gonna die... I won't be able to get up without at least a million or two in medical expenses..."

"Don't move! The effects of the Magic will be disrupted!"

Li, acting as the temporary doctor, kicked the mercenary leader mercilessly in the waist, showing no concern for the fact that he was an injured patient. Indeed, Beinrich was stabbed in the shoulder by a sudden attack from his own body climbing in during his sleep, the knife carrying poison on it.

The injury was not light, but after Li used a Purification Spell to dispel the poison, it was just a shallow cut. The forceful stab from the body didn't even pierce through his shoulder due to his strong muscles.

Moreover, Li, as a petite and cute female mage, didn't have much power even when kicking with all her might. The mercenary leader groaned as if receiving a massage, and even seemed to enjoy it...

"Pathetic." Shuma, standing nearby, glared at him with disdainful eyes, coldly tossed a remark, and then walked out of the hall.

"Huh? Hey, wait, why are you getting mad? Can't I even make a joke? Hey?" The mercenary leader hastily got up and chased after Shuma who was leaving, interrupting the faint healing light.

"I told you not to move!"

Annoyed, Li gave him another kick, this time landing on his buttocks with little effect.

Meanwhile, Mimi entered with Chirp already asleep in her arms, the beast-eared loli soundly asleep. In the recent attack, Mimi was the one with the most style and panache.

During the illusion attack, Mimi fought one-handed while holding Chirp in the other, as the attacker sent numerous life-sized paper figures to besiege Mimi. Despite their large numbers, none could get close to her as she swung a silver whip burning with demon flames, executing a flawless defense and offense, all while Chirp remained sound asleep.

"...Seems like there's no issue."

Tiran sighed, turning back to look at Moyi. "Judging by your expression, you must have some knowledge about the guy causing all this havoc, right?"

"I don’t know this person, but I've heard of the techniques he used," Moyi replied.

In the world of cultivation in China, there were three thousand paths to enlightenment. The majority of these paths seemed otherworldly and esoteric, but only a few of them were truly combat-oriented.

Among these few paths, there was one called "Guishu," or Deceptive Arts, which was considered the most mysterious path, lacking a complete system like Martial Arts or Alchemy but excelling in endless and bizarre methods.

It was said that the origin of this art came from the Tang Family in the Shu region, starting with poisons and concealed weapons. However, as a separate branch emerged, their techniques expanded, their power grew, eventually establishing themselves in Wushan as the Wushan Guishu.

Practitioners of Guishu might not fare well in direct combat, but their methods of movement and illusions were exceedingly enigmatic.

"Gai Xia doesn't have students who practice this art, so my understanding is limited to just this much."

"Alright, let's leave aside the troublemaker for now. What are your plans for this inn in the future?" Tiran pointed down.

At this mention, Moyi's expression turned grim.

Among the group they came with, apart from Chirp, everyone could fight. However, all the staff at the inn had been cursed. The attacking undead that Tiran fought were all former staff members who had died from poisoning and then used as puppets. Moyi had encountered similar bodies, and after the attacker escaped, they searched the entire inn, finding over twenty preserved bodies. The only one still alive was Xia Yu, but due to being deluded, he remained unconscious.

"Perhaps when we arrived at this place, we had already fallen into the trap of that guy. Mr. Xia's memory of 'the death of his men under his command' after being put into a trance by him may have deviated, but everything else remained the same, just suitable as bait to lure us in," Mo Yi became increasingly discouraged. "Looking back now, after entering the relay station, I didn't pay attention to the situation of the other men. Because I only knew Mr. Xia, my attention was all on him... Oh no... this relay station is actually the property of Princess Ling!"

"Stop, stop, if you keep blaming yourself like this, it'll be dawn soon," Tiran quickly interrupted him. "Moreover, don't you cultivators all emphasize on transcending worldly matters? Shouldn't you not care about material wealth?"

"Who said that! Cultivators also need to eat! Not everyone practices fasting!" Mo Yi retorted.

"No, why are you suddenly getting worked up over such an inconsequential issue..." Tiran said, somewhat speechless.

"Cough, please don't mind. Anyway... let's first inform Princess Ling," Mo Yi shook his head slightly, seemingly recovering from self-blame.

As he spoke, Mo Yi took out a stack of communication spirit charms from his own storage bag, causing Princess Ling to exclaim that she finally saw something that matched her impression of the cultivation world. After infusing it with spiritual energy, the topmost spirit charm automatically burned, but the spell drawn on it did not burn along with it, instead lingering in the air.

"Mo Yi, why are you contacting me at this time?" a slightly hoarse yet alluring female voice resonated from the location of the spirit charm, marking Tiran's first time hearing the voice of this unfamiliar princess.

"I apologize for disturbing you at this time, Princess Ling!"

"No need to apologize, what's the reason?"

"Five Creeks Relay Station has been attacked. Tiran and his party are unharmed, but aside from Mr. Xia, none of the station personnel survived."

Mo Yi took a moment to explain the situation of the night, while on the other side of the spirit charm, Princess Ling listened silently from the borderland.

"That's how it is, Princess Ling. We still don't know the relationship between the attacker and the Witch Mountain, but he did use sorcery."

"...Mo Yi, you just mentioned that the guy who attacked used the illusion of 'grassland people's attack' as a reasonable explanation for the deaths of the men. Right?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Initially, there should have been arrows left on the body you saw, right? Go check it out. You've at least been with me at Yanmen Pass for some time, don't disappoint me."

Although Mo Yi didn't quite grasp his own princess's train of thought at once, he obediently went to the cellar to retrieve the arrow.

"Is this...?!"

"What's wrong?" Tiran also couldn't resist curiously approaching to examine.

Mo Yi held an arrow wrapped in white cloth. To the average eye, it was a rather fine arrow, with smooth feathers, a straight shaft, and a sharp head. It could easily pierce through a heart when shot from a strong bow.

"The problem is that this arrow is too good."