The silence in the Great Plaza was so thick it felt physical. The thousands of spectators who had just been cheering for Ye Chen's easy victories now sat with their mouths agape, their eyes darting between the radiant "Golden Boy" of the Cloud Mist Sect and the masked shadow standing before him.
Ye Chen's face was a theater of shifting emotions—confusion, irritation, and finally, a deep, prickling fear that he tried to drown in a surge of rage. He was the Senior Brother! He was a genius at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment! To be spoken to like a dog by a masked girl was a stain on his honor that only blood could wash away.
"You speak of debt?" Ye Chen spat, his Solar Sword flaring with a harsh, golden light that pushed back the creeping grey mist. "The only thing I owe a rat like you is a quick death! If you want to play at being a 'debt collector,' then pay with your life!"
Ye Chen didn't wait for a signal. He moved with the speed of a falling star, his blade tracing a brilliant arc through the air.
"Solar Strike: Blinding Radiance!"
The move was designed to overwhelm the opponent's senses. The sword didn't just cut; it emitted a flash of light as bright as a miniature sun, intended to sear the retinas of anyone facing it. The audience shielded their eyes, and many lower-level disciples cried out in pain.
But Su Lan didn't blink. Behind her silver mask, her purple eyes remained cold and steady. To her, the "Blinding Radiance" was nothing more than a flickering candle.
[Ding! Scanning Enemy Technique...]
[Observation: High-intensity light energy. Weakness: The 'Shadow' is its anchor.]
[Suggested Action: Void Grip. Extinguish the light.]
As the blade reached her neck, Su Lan didn't draw her own sword. She didn't even move her feet. She simply raised her left hand, her fingers curved like a claw.
Schroom.
The golden light of the Solar Sword didn't hit her. Instead, it seemed to be sucked into her palm. A swirl of black Void energy erupted from her skin, meeting the golden fire and swallowing it whole. The "miniature sun" vanished, leaving Ye Chen's blade looking like a piece of dull, cold iron.
"What?!" Ye Chen gasped, his momentum stalling. "My spirit energy... it's being drained!"
"Light is only meaningful if the darkness allows it to exist, Senior Brother," Su Lan said. Her voice was right in his ear.
Before he could react, she lunged forward. Her hand, still wreathed in black mist, slammed into Ye Chen's chest.
CRACK.
The sound of his high-grade spirit-armor shattering rang out across the plaza. Ye Chen was sent skidding backward, his heels carving two long furrows into the jade arena. He coughed up a spray of bright red blood, his face turning a ghostly shade of white.
"Impossible!" Qinghe roared from the balcony, his hand crushing the stone railing. "That girl... she didn't use a technique! She used pure energy suppression!"
The other Sect Leaders were now leaning forward, their eyes narrowed. They could sense it now—the aura coming from the girl in black wasn't just "strong." It was predatory. It was an energy that shouldn't exist in the lower realms.
Ye Chen struggled to his feet, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The arrogance was gone, replaced by a frantic, cornered desperation. "You... what demon are you? Master! She's using demonic arts! She must be executed!"
"Demonic arts?" Su Lan took a slow, deliberate step forward. Step. Step. Step. Every footfall sounded like a hammer hitting a coffin nail. "Is that what you call it when someone is stronger than you? When someone you betrayed comes back to haunt you?"
She reached up and slowly unbuckled the silver mask. It fell to the jade with a heavy clank.
The silence that followed was even deeper than before. Lin Yue, who had been watching with a smug smile from the balcony, suddenly fell back into her seat, her face turning gray.
"Su... Su Lan?" Lin Yue's voice was a terrified whisper.
The name rippled through the crowd like a wildfire.
"Su Lan? Wasn't she the one who died in the Abyss?"
"The 'waste' disciple? But look at her aura... it's deeper than Senior Brother Ye's!"
"She's alive... and she's come back for revenge!"
Su Lan looked up at the balcony, her purple gaze locking onto Qinghe and Lin Yue. "I see you're still wearing my clothes, Lin Yue. And you're still sitting in my seat, Master. It's a pity. You both look so much better in the dirt."
"GUARDS!" Qinghe screamed, his Nascent Soul pressure finally exploding, shaking the very foundations of the palace. "KILL HER! I DON'T CARE WHO SHE IS! DESTROY THAT MONSTER!"
Fifty elite guards, all at the Foundation Establishment level, leapt from the shadows, their spears leveled at Su Lan. They formed a killing circle around her, their weapons glowing with a collective golden light.
Su Lan finally reached for the hilt of the Heaven-Slaying Sword.
As her fingers touched the black leather grip, the sword let out a low, hungry hum that caused the spirit-spears of the guards to tremble.
"You want to see a monster?" Su Lan asked, her voice dropping to a deadly, melodic whisper. "I'll show you what a month in the Abyss does to a girl's soul."
She drew the blade.
There was no flash of light. Only a ripple of absolute darkness that seemed to cut the world in half.
"Void Style: First Form—Shadow Harvest."
Su Lan became a blur of black ink. She didn't move past the guards; she moved through them. In less than three seconds, she appeared on the other side of the circle, her sword already being wiped clean with a piece of silk.
For a moment, the fifty guards stood perfectly still. Then, in unison, their spirit-spears snapped in two. Their armor fell away in pieces, and fifty lines of blood appeared on their chests. They collapsed to the jade floor, not dead, but their meridians had been perfectly severed. They were now, all of them, "wastes."
Su Lan looked at the sword, then back at the balcony.
"Forty-nine to go," she said, her eyes fixed on Ye Chen. "Senior Brother, I believe you still have two hands. I only need one for the debt."
Ye Chen backed away, his sword shaking in his hand. "No... stay away... get back!"
"The Saintess is watching, Ye Chen," Su Lan mocked, her voice echoing. "Don't you want to protect her? Don't you want to be the hero one last time?"
She lunged. This time, there was no mist, no tricks. Just raw, terrifying speed.
Ye Chen raised his Solar Sword in a desperate parry, but the Heaven-Slaying Sword didn't hit his blade. It passed through it, slicing the high-grade spirit weapon as if it were a stalk of wheat.
SHRED.
Ye Chen screamed as the black blade continued its path, neatly severing his right hand at the wrist. The Solar Sword hit the ground, still gripped by the severed fingers.
[Ding! Target 'Ye Chen' has been Maimed.]
[Reward: 5,000 System Points for 'Poetic Justice'.]
[Host's Hatred Resonance: 100%.]
Su Lan stood over him, her sword-tip resting against his throat. She didn't look at his crying face. She looked at Lin Yue, who was trembling so hard she could barely stand.
"One hand for the treasury," Su Lan said coldly. "Next, I think I'll take a spiritual root for the life you tried to steal."
She looked at the Sect Leader, who was now hovering in the air, his eyes glowing with a murderous, golden fire.
"Qinghe! Your 'Genius' is broken," Su Lan shouted. "Why don't you come down and show me how a real Master fights? Or are you afraid of a 'waste' like me?"