Xie Zaiye gripped his bow, staring intently at the incoming rain of swords. He wasn't frozen in fear—rather, he had already envisioned countless countermeasures in his mind, yet none would suffice. This was an inescapable killing move.
A strike that severed all hope of survival.
Damn it!
With no other choice, Xie Zaiye raised his longbow once more, nocking every remaining arrow from his quiver onto the string.
"No need to try. Your death is certain," a booming voice suddenly rang out from behind Xie Zaiye.
"Grandfather...?" Xie Zaiye froze in surprise.
A white-haired elder abruptly stepped in front of Xie Zaiye. The old man raised his hand with a furious shout: "Begone!" A vast surge of True Qi erupted forth, meeting the seventeen blades head-on.
Seeing this, Su Muyu immediately waved his left hand, recalling the seventeen blades before landing steadily.
Su Changhe strolled over, whistling nonchalantly while twirling a dagger in his hand. "As expected, every crisis threatening Dark River's survival requires the two of us working together to resolve."
"If you'd arrived earlier, the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower would already be demolished," Su Muyu replied, a hint of reproach in his tone.
"Oh?" Su Changhe chuckled. "Are you blaming me for being late?"
Su Muyu sighed softly. "Because these three... don't look easy to deal with."
Apart from the white-haired elder who had just intervened, two other old men now stood before them. One was gaunt and skeletal, his white robes fluttering in the night wind like a hanging skeleton. The other had refined scholarly features, sporting a trim beard—the very image of an erudite scholar. The first to act was burly and imposing, his voice resonant with natural authority.
"So you two are Dark River's current leaders? You seem quite young," the burly elder remarked.
Su Changhe smiled. "Su Changhe, current Dark River Grand Master, greets the three elders. Beside me is Su Muyu, present head of the Su Family."
"Was that technique he used earlier Su Shiba's Eighteen Sword Formation?" asked the white-robed elder in a raspy, barely discernible voice.
Xie Zaiye started. "The Eighteen Sword Formation?"
"Yes," Su Muyu confirmed.
"Ha... hahahaha!" The white-robed elder's laughter was eerie and unsettling. "To think I'd live to see the Eighteen Sword Formation reappear in this world."
Su Muyu frowned. "From your words, elder, you've seen this formation before? You've met Su Shiba?"
"When I was a child, Su Shiba was already in his seventies. I was fortunate to witness his final use of the Eighteen Sword Formation. How many years has it been now?" The white-robed elder began counting on his fingers. "Sixty? Seventy?"
"Don't calculate. Counting too clearly will count away your remaining days," the scholarly elder gently advised.
"You're right. Without remembering the years, one doesn't remember how long one has lived—and thus can keep living," the white-robed elder said, lowering his hand.
Su Muyu and Su Changhe exchanged glances, both seeing mutual astonishment in each other's eyes. Su Shiba—creator of the Eighteen Sword Formation, Dark River's foremost assassin from generations past—was a name that existed only in legends. Yet this man before them had truly witnessed that legend.
"May we ask the elders' honorable names?" Su Muyu inquired solemnly.The refined elder smiled, "This junior must think the three of us are also renowned figures after hearing your earlier words. I'm afraid you'll be disappointed—we three are nobodies in the martial world."
"Even if we once had fame, it wasn't under our real names," the white-robed elder murmured.
"My name is Xie Pi You," the burly elder declared loudly.
"I am Mu Fusheng," the white-robed elder's voice remained hoarse and indistinct.
"And I am Su Ziyan," the refined elder still wore a faint smile.
These three names—Su Changhe and Su Muyu had genuinely never heard them in their over twenty years of experience in the martial world. Yet when the three elders spoke their names, the shock they felt far surpassed hearing the names of any legendary masters.
Because these three were clearly surnamed Xie, Mu, and Su.
These were the surnames of Dark River's three families.
"Who are you?" Su Changhe's pupils slightly contracted.
"Hahaha, they're quite startled by our surnames," Su Ziyan laughed. "Indeed. We share the same origin as your three branches of Dark River. Back then, some of our ancestors ventured into the martial world, while others remained here. The three of us are descendants of the lineage that stayed in Heaven Revelation City."
"Only your ancestors, not the two of us," Su Changhe sneered.
"Oh?" Su Ziyan's smile gradually faded. "What do you mean by that?"
Su Muyu lightly flicked one of his seventeen blades: "Both Changhe and I were born as Nameless Ones. We were merely taken in by Dark River as children—our blood carries none of those three clans' lineage."
"So that's how it is. I never agreed with this Nameless Ones plan back then. As expected, Dark River's three families are now controlled by outsiders. No wonder they'd barge in here to oppose our Shadow Sect," Xie Pi You's voice carried a hint of anger.
"The old giving way to the new is simply the way of the world. Even dynasties cannot last forever, let alone something as insignificant as Dark River," Mu Fusheng remarked calmly. "Young men, have you come today to storm this Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower?"
"Yes. Though Dark River is now under our leadership, most of its members still descend from the three clans—your fellow clansmen. We ask that you three elders step aside to avoid conflict," Su Muyu said solemnly.
"This tower holds neither treasures nor martial arts manuals—only the world's most guarded secrets. Why would you storm this place?" Xie Pi You questioned.
"If it contains the world's secrets, naturally that includes Dark River's secrets," Su Ziyan suddenly understood.
Mu Fusheng sneered, "You wish to destroy the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower?"
"Burn all the secrets within," Su Changhe stroked his mustache.
"And sever all connections between Dark River and the Shadow Sect," Su Ziyan rested his hand on the sword at his waist. "It seems whether you succeed or not, our ancestors' founding-era wish of using shadows to protect the world will ultimately be shattered."
"It was shattered long ago. Dark River and Shadow Sect ceased being the shadows guarding this world ages past," Su Muyu raised his left hand, sending seventeen blades hovering. "We're merely pawns in the power struggles of those who stand in the sunlight!""Stay back, stay far away." Xie Pi You gently pushed his grandson aside. "Let me face this legendary Eighteen Sword Formation."
Su Muyu leaped forward: "The honor is mine!"
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