Chapter 166: The Celestial Sage's Disciple
After escaping from the Phantoms, Su Tianhao finally made his way back to the Cloudveil Resthouse.
The modest building stood quiet, mist curling lazily around the rooftop like sleeping serpents. Everything appeared as he had left it—save for the wooden plaque above the entrance. It hung slightly crooked, tilted as if someone had brushed past it carelessly.
Su Tianhao caught the subtle change. His steps slowed.
'Something's wrong.'
He approached the door cautiously. But as his fingers reached for the handle, a chill swept through his chest—cold, sudden, familiar.
His hand froze mid-air.
Dragon Instincts.
Louder this time. More insistent. Like warning bells clanging in the depths of his soul.
Su Tianhao's brows furrowed.
'Didn't I already escape those Phantoms? What other danger could there be?'
He had naturally connected the earlier ambush to the Phantom Blade Faction. He was certain he had lost them. But the Dragon Instincts were never wrong—and that was precisely what unsettled him.
'Who else besides the Phantom Blade Faction would want to come after me?'
His mind turned over the possibilities.
Then a decision formed.
'It's useless thinking about it now. I have to leave.'
He turned sharply on his heel—
And froze.
"Ah!"
Before him stood a tall figure cloaked in dark hooded robes, shrouded in shadow. The aura radiating from him was far stronger, far more oppressive than anything the Phantoms had put out. The air around the man seemed to thicken—heavy, silent, saturated with unspoken violence.
"Hey."
The voice slithered out like cold wind through a tomb—hollow, malicious, laced with something buried and cruel. "You just got here. Why leave so early?"
Su Tianhao's heart hammered.
'Martial Soul Realm Expert.'
He forced himself to settle. His expression hardened, golden eyes narrowing.
"Who are you?" he asked coldly.
The cloaked figure chuckled—a sound like wind scraping through hollow bones. "Why don't you take a guess?"
Su Tianhao studied the man. Really studied him. The hooded cloak. The killing intent coiled just beneath the surface. That oppressive aura, controlled but absolute.
Clarity struck—the kind that brings understanding and dread in the same breath.
"You're from the Blood Shadow?" Su Tianhao's voice cracked slightly.
He prayed he was wrong, but—
"Indeed." The man's mouth curved beneath the hood's shadow. "I am from the Blood Shadow."
He stepped forward. His killing intent poured out like a tidal wave—relentless, suffocating.
Su Tianhao stood firm. He didn't flinch. Didn't retreat. His golden eyes met the shadowed face directly.
"What do you want?"
"Hahahaha!"
The man threw his head back—laughter that sounded more like a wail than amusement, twisted and unhinged.
Then, abruptly, it stopped.
The air went heavy. Cold.
"Isn't it obvious?" The voice carried the weight of a death sentence. "We're here for revenge."
The words struck like lightning. Su Tianhao's pupils shrank.
Two words in particular caught in his mind. We. Revenge.
'We' means this Martial Soul Realm expert isn't alone.
'Revenge' means they've connected Blood Grin's death to me.
Either way it was terrible news.
The cloaked figure smiled, reading his expression with satisfaction.
Before Su Tianhao could formulate a plan, the cloaked figure disappeared from view.
He panicked. His eyes darting sideways.
Just then—
A powerful hand clamped onto his shoulder with crushing force.
"Argh!"
He struggled instinctively, but couldn't break free. His body was far more durable than an ordinary cultivator's—a result of the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique—but durability wasn't the same as strength. Against a Martial Soul Realm expert, his full output barely registered.
"Stop resisting," the man hissed in his ear. "Let's go in."
Su Tianhao was immediately dragged inside, the door slamming behind them with a dull thud.
---
Inside was a completely different scene.
The female receptionist was bound behind her own desk—hands and legs tied with enchanted rope, mouth covered with a white talisman. Her eyes were wide with terror, dried tears lining her cheeks. Beside her, several colleagues and a group of men in Cloudveil Resthouse uniforms sat in the same condition. A closer look at the uniformed men revealed their auras—Peak-stage Martial Core Realm experts, the establishment's protectors.
But before the Blood Shadow Assassins, they had been helpless.
All of them were bound with the same enchanted rope, mouths sealed with white talismans. The ropes were inscribed with runes that suppressed the Qi circulation of those below the Martial Soul Realm entirely. The talismans prevented speech. Cultivators, after all, couldn't be restrained the same way as mortals.
Standing before the captives was a group of four.
One of them stood out, his presence demanding attention—a towering middle-aged man with a square-shaped face, well-trimmed beard, short hair, and a pair of dangling earrings glinting faintly in the dim light.
Blood Wood. 7th level Martial Master. Leader of the Blood Shadow Assassin Group's Oakwood City branch.
He was dressed in a long black robe adorned with crimson-green patterns, his piercing eyes landing on Su Tianhao with a predatory stillness.
Beside him stood three others, cloaked in the same dark hoods as the man who had dragged Su Tianhao inside. Their cultivation pressed against the air with the same oppressive weight—all Martial Soul Realm.
Su Tianhao's heart sank.
"So you're Su Tianhao..." Blood Wood said, stepping forward with what might pass for a harmless smile—but Su Tianhao wasn't fooled for a moment.
"I've heard a lot about you."
"Save it," Su Tianhao said sharply, meeting his eyes without flinching. "What do you want from me?"
He wasn't foolish. If the Blood Shadow wanted him dead, he would already be dead.
"Straight to the point." Blood Wood's eyes gleamed. "I like that."
His expression turned serious, gaze boring directly into Su Tianhao's eyes.
"Tell me—who is your master?"
Su Tianhao's heart lurched.
'My master?'
He didn't have one.
But calm followed quickly, and realization bloomed in its wake.
'The Phantom Master.'
The fabricated figure. His fabricated protector.
'So that's it,' he thought, clarity spreading through him like warmth. 'The Blood Shadow is afraid of my fabricated master. They don't dare act until they confirm whether he's real or not.'
The more he thought it over, the more his confidence steadied.
'They're trying to intimidate me—hoping I'll slip and reveal something useful.'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'Too bad for them.'
Blood Wood's voice thundered again, heavier this time, laced with killing intent designed to crush a person's will.
"Who is your master?!"
Su Tianhao remained calm. He even smiled—a faint, composed curve of his lips—and regarded Blood Wood with mild amusement.
"You want to know about my master? Fine. I'll tell you."
He slipped free from the cloaked man's grip, clasped his hands behind his back, and straightened.
His bearing shifted. The air around him deepened—ancient, unhurried, unfathomable. A commanding presence surged from him so quietly and so completely that even Blood Wood felt something flicker beneath his own certainty. Something uncomfortably close to inferiority.
"My master's name is Tian Chenyuan," Su Tianhao said, voice placid as still water. "Also known as the Celestial Sage."
The room went quiet.
The assassins exchanged glances. The way he spoke—the weight behind the words—it was far too convincing to dismiss outright.
Su Tianhao smirked inwardly. He had taken "Tian" from his mother, Tian Yuexin, and "Chenyuan" from his father, Tunlong Chenyuan, to form the name. The backstory to support it was already constructed and waiting.
"How can we be certain you aren't lying?" Blood Wood sneered, though the frown on his face betrayed a crack in his composure.
'Could he really have a Martial Lord's backing?'
Though he tried to hide it, Su Tianhao saw the cracks forming. And he filed them away quietly.
"Celestial Sage," Blood Wood breathed, as if weighing the words in his mouth. 'Never heard of him, but the cultivation world is vast, I need to be careful.'
The room fell silent.
Even the other assassins exchanged cautious glances, their confidence considerably less certain than it had been a moment ago.
"I've answered your question," Su Tianhao continued, his tone unchanged. "If you doubt me, then act. I only hope you're prepared for what follows when my master unleashes his anger."
No raised voice. No theatrics. Just the calm of someone who didn't need volume to carry weight.
Blood Wood's jaw tightened. The words settled in the room like stones dropped into water.
'What if the boy isn't bluffing?'
He couldn't take that risk—not yet. Killing the wrong person could bring catastrophic consequences down on the Oakwood branch. If this Celestial Sage was actually a reclusive powerhouse with ties to ancient clans or powerful sects, a single misstep could endanger far more than one branch. It could spell the end for the entire Blood Shadow.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue. Then his eyes sharpened.
"You think you've won." His voice went cold. "But you killed a member of the Blood Shadow. Master or no master—there are consequences."
Su Tianhao's brow tightened, eyes narrowing sharply.
"You might have a master's protection," Blood Wood continued, something cruel flickering in his gaze, "but as long as I don't kill you or go too far, there are other ways to make you pay."
"Break one hand and one leg—then I'll let you go!"
The command echoed through the room like a war drum struck at midnight.
"Such recklessness!" Su Tianhao spat. "I'm surprised the Blood Shadow is still even standing."
"Hahahaha!" Blood Wood laughed. "If your master is as esteemed as you claim, he wouldn't concern himself with the mundane world. As long as I don't kill or cripple his disciple—what is a little roughing up? No Martial Lord would bring down an entire organisation over a minor injury to a disciple who had already killed one of their own. To a figure like that, this would be nothing but a lesson. If he shields you from everything, how will you ever grow?"
The logic spread through the room. The other assassins straightened, their confidence returning.
"Exactly. I was almost fooled."
"As long as we don't kill or cripple him—what's a little punishment?"
"Hahahaha! In the end, everyone who goes against the Blood Shadow pays."
The sound of knuckles cracking filled the air as the assassins slowly surrounded Su Tianhao.
Blood Wood's smirk widened, rage simmering beneath his eyes. "Choose, Su Tianhao. Break your own hand and leg—or let my men do it for you."
Su Tianhao's expression paled as he shifted into a defensive posture.
'These Blood Shadow bastards—willing to stake their future just to take revenge for a comrade. Their men can kill others, but others can't retaliate?' He seethed inwardly. 'What kind of logic is that?'
And yet—beneath that fury—he couldn't help but feel the faintest thread of dark admiration. The loyalty of the Blood Shadow was real.
"I'll count to three," Blood Wood said, aura flaring. "If you haven't chosen, don't blame me for what comes next."
"One."
Su Tianhao tensed.
"Two."
His muscles coiled—though he knew there was nowhere to go.
Just as Blood Wood drew breath to call three—
Boom!
A deafening explosion tore through the entrance from behind. The door obliterated inward, sending dust, debris, and shattered wood spraying in every direction.
Su Tianhao spun toward the ruined entrance. A thick cloud of dust swallowed everything—whatever had caused it was still obscured, still hidden within the haze.
"What the hell?!" Blood Wood snarled, eyes cutting toward the settling cloud.
Silence.
And then, through the swirling dust, a figure stepped forward—slow, deliberate, unstoppable.