Su Muyu led Bai Hehuai to the end of the secret passage, where a stone door stood above them. Gathering his True Qi, Su Muyu struck the door with a forceful palm strike, pushing it open. He lowered his head and said to Bai Hehuai, "I'll go out first. Wait here for a moment."
"Alright," Bai Hehuai nodded.
Su Muyu leaped lightly and jumped out of the passage. Outside, it was just dawn, with a faint glimmer of light. Su Muyu looked up and saw a solitary pavilion standing before him. He recognized it—the Three-Mile Pavilion outside Nine Heavens City. He hadn’t expected the secret passage to be so deep, stretching all the way from the Spider Nest to the city’s outskirts. The pavilion had been empty at first glance, but when Su Muyu blinked, a white figure suddenly appeared at its center.
A ghost? Su Muyu froze for a moment before swiftly turning and slashing with his sword. The sound of flesh tearing echoed as his blade pierced the figure’s chest, yet the person made no sound and continued swinging their sword toward Su Muyu’s head. Su Muyu hastily withdrew his sword and retreated, his blade flashing as crisp clangs of metal rang out. In an instant, the two had exchanged over a dozen moves. Su Muyu’s sword moves were clearly more refined—though he had wounded his opponent multiple times, he remained unscathed. Yet no matter the injury, the other showed no reaction.
"Puppet Assassination Art," Su Muyu murmured.
The white-clad figure in the pavilion chuckled. "The Puppet Assassination Art shares the same origin as your Eighteen Sword Formation. The difference is that you control swords, while I control people."
"Mu Bai," Su Muyu said coldly. "How did you know the exit of this passage?"
"You forget—every formation within the Spider Nest bears the Mu Family’s touch. Though we may not grasp the full picture, traces can always be followed." The one waiting there was none other than Mu Bai, son of the Mu Family’s patriarch, Mu Zi Zhe. He spoke softly, "I’ve waited a long time for this battle with you."
Su Muyu kicked the puppet before him away, then turned and swung his sword to meet another puppet that had suddenly attacked. The two puppets quickly coordinated their assault, forcing Su Muyu to lean back sharply to evade a deadly strike.
"A pity you’ve already used your Eighteen Sword Formation. Now, with just a single sword, you stand little chance against my Puppet Assassination Art," Mu Bai sighed with feigned regret. "What a shame—I won’t get to enjoy a full battle with you."
Su Muyu remained expressionless in the face of Mu Bai’s taunts, his sword moving deftly as he held his ground against the two puppets. Rarely, a hint of sarcasm laced his reply, "If I hadn’t already used the Eighteen Sword Formation, would you even dare to face me?"
Mu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly before bursting into laughter. "Hahaha! It’s rare to hear you speak like this. Usually, even the slightest flicker of emotion is hard to spot on you. You must truly be desperate, trying to provoke me with such words."Su Muyu snorted coldly, "Both are applications of Puppet Silk. You inherited the Mu Family's most exquisite Puppet Assassination Art, while I revived the Su Family's Eighteen Sword Formation. Within Dark River, debates about who between us is stronger have persisted for years. But most believe I'm superior—because you merely inherited, whereas I revived. What you can do, Mu Zi Zhe can also perform, but what I've mastered, even the Su Family patriarch has never witnessed!"
"Such arrogance!" Mu Bai waved his hand, and another towering puppet descended from above, crashing before Su Muyu. Though Su Muyu retreated swiftly, a shallow sword mark still appeared on his chest. All three puppets wielded swords—while their techniques couldn't rival Su Muyu's finesse, they were already on par with first-rate swordsmen. When the three puppets attacked simultaneously, their previously flawed swordplay suddenly complemented one another, becoming flawless.
"A three-man sword array?" Su Muyu's slender sword darted out like a rainstorm—fine, dense, yet incredibly light. But the advantage he'd held moments ago vanished entirely with the third puppet's arrival.
In the secret passage below, Bai Hehuai listened to the clashing of weapons overhead with growing concern. Though Su Muyu had rested briefly earlier, the blade wounds from his fight with Xie Bu Xie hadn't fully healed. Now facing another formidable opponent, he might struggle to hold his ground. After a moment's deliberation, she made a decision.
Above ground, after exchanging a hundred moves, Su Muyu bore three new sword wounds. Yet he'd already deciphered the puppets' techniques. Parrying as he spoke, he said, "Your puppetry can't make them wield swords freely. Each puppet only knows fixed techniques—one uses the Xie Family's Zhanhuai Sword for offense, another the Su Family's Autumn Wind Fall for defense, and the third employs the Mu Family's Sleeve Technique adapted into White Sleeve Sword for ambushes. Three puppets forming a sword array, coupled with their inherent immortality, makes them nearly invincible."
Mu Bai frowned slightly. "Truly worthy of the Umbrella Ghost—to discern the composition of my Puppet Assassination Art's sword array in just a hundred moves. That makes sparing you impossible. But even if you've seen through it, you'll be dead before you devise a counter."
"Sword techniques are rigid; swordsmen are fluid. Puppets wield dead techniques—even the most exquisite swordplay can be broken." Su Muyu exhaled softly. "Now's about the time." He leapt forward, flashing behind the Autumn Wind Fall defense puppet. The White Sleeve Sword ambush puppet thrust its blade into the puppet before Su Muyu, who smiled faintly before turning to face the Zhanhuai Sword attacker.
Three lightning-fast strikes. The Zhanhuai Sword puppet's blade was knocked aside before Su Muyu's sweeping slash sent its head flying.
Spinning around, Su Muyu confronted the Autumn Wind Fall defender. His sword stance shifted abruptly, becoming overwhelmingly domineering—more akin to saber techniques than swordplay. Three moves later, the defense puppet's sword was sent spinning away, followed by a decisive strike that shattered its head.Mu Bai was greatly shocked. With a sharp pull of his right hand, he dragged the last Puppet back into the Three-Mile Pavilion. He said in a deep voice, "How did you find a way to counter it so quickly?"
Su Muyu sheathed his sword and took a deep breath. "I come from a place named after the sword. There, dedicated people study sword techniques from across the world and specialize in countering them—fast swords, offensive swords, defensive swords. My father once said that unless one is a Sword Immortal, no one has the right to even speak of the word 'sword' in their presence."
Mu Bai was stunned. "Swordless City? You're actually from Swordless City!"
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