Yu Furen was startled upon hearing this. The demon who had recently caused chaos in the martial world and slaughtered countless people was actually Tang Lici's master? Tang Lici withdrew his palm and smiled with his hands behind his back, "Senior is indeed extraordinary, able to discern my lineage in just one move." His words confirmed it. Yu Furen exhaled deeply. Bai Nanzhu was at most only a few years older than Tang Lici—how could he have been his master?
The Porcelain-Masked Man burst into laughter, "Even Bai Nanzhu might not possess skills like yours! Since I couldn’t kill Bai Nanzhu back then, killing you now is just the same. Watch carefully—second move!" His right fist clenched and swiftly grabbed the air while his right leg spun in a kick. With a thunderous crack, the kick struck nothing, yet he coldly shouted, "Liangzuo Wanji!"
Tang Lici twisted midair to evade. Though the kick seemed aimed at nothing, it carried with it a storm of sand, grass, and twigs from the ground. Treating it as an empty strike would mean letting those lethally charged projectiles pierce through his body, killing him instantly! After dodging, the Porcelain-Masked Man unsheathed his sword with a resonant hum, "Eternal Prosperity of the Great Enterprise—" The sword light dazzled, with three chilling gleams that struck terror into the heart. Yu Furen paled in horror—the man’s sword had three blades on a single hilt! The strike bloomed like a flower; where an ordinary swordsman could produce two or three sword blossoms, his single slash conjured eight or nine, concealing seventy or eighty follow-up variations!
Tang Lici was still midair, not yet landed, making this a sneak attack. But the sound of a copper flute slicing through the air rang out—three sharp clangs as Tang Lici exchanged a single move with the triple-bladed sword, using the momentum to drift away. He smiled faintly, "This is clearly the Thirteen Movements of the Short Sword. Senior Wei has renamed it—truly unique."
The Porcelain-Masked Man faltered. Tang Lici had addressed him as "Senior Wei," and Yu Furen gasped, his expression shifting slightly, "Wei Beiyin!"
This masked eccentric, wielding a long sword yet employing short-blade techniques, was actually Wei Beiyin! It was said that during the battle at Jiangnan Manor, he had been wounded by Rongyin and Yuxiu before vanishing. Yet here he was, hiding as the master of the Camellia Prison—utterly bizarre, and surely hiding deeper secrets. Wei Beiyin’s martial prowess was renowned throughout the world. Back then, it had taken Rongyin and Yuxiu working together to gravely injure him. Now, with Tang Lici standing alone, could he possibly escape unscathed?
Wei Beiyin’s blade split the wind. With his short-sword techniques exposed, he abandoned pretense and thrust three rapid strikes. Tang Lici had discerned his identity within three moves—this man had to die! Just as Wei Beiyin’s three strikes multiplied into nine, three figures leaped swiftly from the woods, encircling Tang Lici—Yu Qifeng, Lin Shuangshuang, and the black-clad man!
Yu Furen’s face turned deathly pale. With Wei Beiyin and these three combined, Tang Lici stood no chance. What could be done? Even if he jumped into the Camellia Prison now, it would only give the four the opportunity to seal the exit and trap him inside. No doubt Chi Yun had been forced to leap down under similar circumstances...Tang Lici saw the four closing in on him, yet the corners of his lips curled upward. "Come at me together!" he said. Instantly, three swords were thrust toward him—two from Lin Shuangshuang's dual blades and one from Wei Beiyin's longsword. The combined force of the three swords was immense. With a crisp snap , Tang Lici's robes tore at the chest, revealing a corner of the Floating Red Silk. Yu Furen leaped forward, Little Peach Red flashing like a streak of light as it intercepted one of Lin Shuangshuang's swords. A sharp clang rang out—Little Peach Red's edge was incomparably sharp, and Lin Shuangshuang's green sword snapped in half. Yu Furen staggered back two steps, panting heavily.
In that brief moment, Tang Lici raised his flute to his lips. Yu Qifeng, quick-eyed and swift-handed, thrust his sword toward Tang Lici's wrist, while the black-clad figure moved like a ghost, striking out with a palm strike. Yu Furen roared, sword light erupting as he unleashed the Sword Control Technique skyward, barely managing to block the combined assault of the two.
Just then, a clear, piercing note from the flute cut through the air. The moment it sounded, Wei Beiyin swiftly retreated, covering his ears as he channeled his inner energy to resist Tang Lici's Sound Assassination. The black-clad figure vanished in the blink of an eye. Yu Qifeng, one hand pressed to his ear, let out a harsh laugh and still thrust his sword forward. Only Lin Shuangshuang, whose power had been suppressed, remained largely unaffected, unleashing three rapid, relentless strikes as fiercely as ever.
Yu Furen, having barely withstood two attacks, was drained of strength. Tang Lici's Sound Assassination made no distinction between friend and foe—his head spun, the world tilting violently before he collapsed backward, consciousness slipping away. The last thing he heard was the unceasing whistle of blades and the flute's melody leaping through a few erratic notes...
Then, darkness.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when his Inner Energy suddenly smoothed out, a warm and gentle True Power seeping into his chest, guiding his blood and qi in slow circulation. Yu Furen coughed a few times, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth—he must have vomited blood at some point. When he opened his eyes, the energy had already dissipated, and darkness still surrounded him. After a long while, he realized he was in a natural cave, a dim ray of light filtering from high above. It took him even longer to recognize that this was the depths of the Camellia Prison.
He sat up abruptly and saw a corpse beside him, drenched in blood—Lin Shuangshuang, her appearance horrifying.
"How do you feel?" someone asked softly beside him. Yu Furen turned sharply to see Tang Lici sitting nearby, his white robes torn, the Floating Red Silk draped over his shoulders. In the darkness, only his silver hair was faintly visible.
"What happened after I fell?" Yu Furen blurted. "Where are they?"
Tang Lici's hair was slightly disheveled, a few silver strands falling along his cheeks. His face was pale, lips faintly curved. "They... one is dead, one is severely injured, and two fled."
Yu Furen's heart pounded wildly. "Who... who was injured?"
Tang Lici smiled faintly. "Your father."
Yu Furen's face paled, and he fell silent. After a while, he asked, "Just you alone?"
Tang Lici nodded.
Yu Furen exhaled deeply. Just Tang Lici alone had managed to kill Lin Shuangshuang, severely injure Yu Qifeng, and drive off Wei Beiyin and the black-clad figure—it was... almost mythical.
"How did you do it?""They forced me—if I hadn’t done it, wouldn’t we both be dead by now?" Tang Lici said softly. "When pushed to the brink, people are capable of anything." Yu Furen gave a bitter smile. "You... ah... you..." He truly didn’t know what to say. Tang Lici stood up. "Since you’re awake and there are no ambushes outside to trap us, let’s move forward." Yu Furen struggled to his feet, still feeling dizzy and ears ringing. "Your Sound assassination... it’s really..." Tang Lici chuckled lightly. "Too terrifying?" Yu Furen said, "Even Wei Beiyin fled at the sight of it. Isn’t that invincible?" Tang Lici continued to laugh softly. "Invincible... haha... let’s go." He walked ahead at a steady pace. Below the entrance of Camellia Prison was a naturally formed cave. After just a few steps, the faint light disappeared, plunging them into complete darkness.
A sliver of flame slowly brightened as Tang Lici lit the Jade Smile Fire. Yu Furen quickened his pace, and the two walked side by side. After advancing no more than twenty meters into the cave, bones began to appear on the ground—first scattered fragments, then, another thirty meters in, piles upon piles of skeletal remains. The twisted, contorted postures of the skeletons suggested agonizing deaths, with some bones fractured, clearly from fatal injuries. The two exchanged a glance. "Poisoned!" Yu Furen murmured. Tang Lici nodded. The unnatural poses of the skeletons indicated half had died by blade or sword, while the other half bore no wounds—those who died twisted without injuries must have been poisoned. But what had happened in Camellia Prison to cause so many deaths? And where were the numerous notorious criminals of the Martial Arts World said to be imprisoned here? Had they all turned to bones?
"These skeletons all show signs of corrosion—unnaturally so. Someone must have used a flesh-dissolving agent to reduce the bodies to bones," Yu Furen said, bending to pick up a fragment. "That means there were survivors in Camellia Prison after these people died." Tang Lici stared intently at the piles of bones. Where was Chi Yun? Was he among these remains, or... "A poison capable of killing so many people must either spread through the air or be highly contagious," Yu Furen whispered. "Be careful."
"No need. I’m immune to all poisons," Tang Lici replied with a low laugh. "Step aside and follow me." He walked ahead, sleeves draped behind him, using his foot to clear a path through the scattered bones for Yu Furen. The two moved forward, one after the other, slowly advancing deeper.
Amid the sea of corpses and unexplained deaths, what had truly happened in Camellia Prison, where countless Martial Arts World criminals were imprisoned? The further Yu Furen walked, the more bewildered and horrified he became. A rough estimate suggested at least five hundred skeletons lay on the ground. Who had wanted to kill them? Who had wanted to kill so many? Who were the survivors in Camellia Prison? And what kind of terrifying poison had caused such mass death? Ahead, Tang Lici’s silhouette remained eerily calm. The cave was windless, and the steady glow of Jade Smile Fire illuminated every detail around them with stark clarity.Passing through the piles of skeletal remains, they came upon an open space covered in yellow earth. None of the usual cave dwellers like centipedes, cockroaches, or earthworms were to be seen, nor was there any bloodstain on the ground—only a long, deep blade mark. The area was eerily empty, as if the skeletal remains had frantically fled from the depths of the cave, too terrified to linger even for a moment on this open ground, and thus perished at the entrance.
"There's someone ahead," Yu Furen whispered. Having trained in the assassin's path when he first learned swordsmanship, his sensitivity to sound and breath was extraordinary. Tang Lici smiled faintly. Not only was there someone ahead, but there was more than one.
Under the glow of their torchlight, the yellow earth stretched endlessly. After what felt like a long walk, countless spiderwebs suddenly appeared before them. There were no insects in these underground passages, so it was unclear what these spiders fed on. From where the webs began, small caves lined the sides of the passage, each barred with iron grates—likely cells meant to imprison notorious criminals of the martial world. But the iron grates lay shattered on the ground, broken beyond repair. Clearly, they had been destroyed long ago.
"It seems Camellia Prison was ruined quite some time ago," Yu Furen remarked. "Those imprisoned here afterward may not all have been so-called 'notorious criminals.' But without supreme lightness skill, no one could escape through that entrance. Once the prison was breached, all sorts of people must have crowded inside—hundreds of them—only to die together later."
Tang Lici's voice was gentle. "Indeed... you're very clever." Hearing this, Yu Furen was taken aback, suddenly feeling too embarrassed to continue. Instead, Tang Lici asked, "How are your injuries?"
"After walking this far, my inner energy has stabilized. Though not fully recovered, it's no longer a hindrance." Yu Furen thought of something and asked in return, "Were you injured?" Tang Lici had faced four of the martial world's top masters alone, yet he appeared unscathed.
Tang Lici smiled faintly. "No." Yu Furen was genuinely impressed, and any lingering resentment over Tang Lici's severe wounding of Yu Qifeng had completely faded.
As they passed through the prison caves, the path gradually narrowed until it ended at an uneven black stone wall. Faint golden veins shimmered across its surface, traces of some mineral deposit. Here, the cave turned upward, its destination unknown, but this marked the deepest point of Camellia Prison.
"No one's here," Yu Furen murmured, gazing up at the dark opening above. "Or... they're hiding up there." But the passage overhead was barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through—hardly a comfortable hiding place. The voices they had heard earlier had vanished here.
Tang Lici lifted his right knee, stepping onto a rock to peer upward.
A few glimmers of light flickered faintly at the mouth of the overhead passage. Yu Furen's heart stirred—those were spider threads. Shifting his gaze to the black stone wall before them, he saw that the golden veins were densely covered in silk, shimmering brilliantly under the torchlight. There was something unusual about these strands."Ha..." Tang Lici suddenly let out a low laugh, its tone making Yu Furen's entire body jolt. He looked up in the direction Tang Lici was gazing, only to see shimmering spider silk slowly descending. From the dark, cavernous hole, an enormous spider web gradually lowered—first revealing mere strands of golden silk, then... slowly, two shoes became visible on the web.
There was a person stuck to the spider web.
This impossibly large web descended slowly from the cave, first revealing the shoes, then legs... then a waist... with a sword at the hip...
The person adhered to the web wore white robes and carried a sword, appearing very young.
Tang Lici slowly withdrew his right foot from the rock. The figure descending with the web was Chi Yun.
But it wasn’t Chi Yun.
Chi Yun descended with the web, landing softly before turning to face Tang Lici.
His expression was blank, his clothing and appearance unchanged, as though nothing had happened to him since entering the prison. But his eyes, usually bright and carefree, were different now—pupils unnaturally dark, dull and lifeless, the whites streaked with bloodshot veins, some areas bruised from burst vessels, turning them a deep crimson.
A pair of blood-red eyes.
Devoid of any self-awareness, only emptiness.
Yu Furen's face paled slightly. "Chi—" He cut himself off. Tang Lici hadn't called out. This was Chi Yun, yet it wasn’t Chi Yun.
Above them, something stirred in the cave—a spider the size of a human head, grotesquely shaped and clearly malevolent. It kept peering at Chi Yun, retracting slightly, then hissing twice before peeking out again.
Chi Yun held a sword in his right hand and a gold-green medicine bottle in his left, its rim stained yellow-green, emitting a pungent odor.
"Were the 586 lives in this cave all taken by you?" Tang Lici faced Chi Yun, his lashes slightly lowered, the corners of his lips upturned in an expression that was neither concern nor amusement, but carried a chilling killing intent. "Are you the king of this prison? The last survivor of their mutual slaughter?"
Chi Yun didn’t respond, only staring ahead with hollow, sinister eyes—wide open, faintly reminiscent of his usual carefree self, yet utterly devoid of emotion, making it indescribably eerie and horrifying."So this is the so-called best candidate to kill Tang Lici..." Tang Lici truly laughed, "What a vicious scheme, what a ruthless heart." He swept his sleeve to block Yu Furen as they retreated slowly together. While stepping back, he said softly, "Do you see the faint red spots on his face?" Yu Furen strained his eyes to look. The cave was dimly lit, and with the firelight in Tang Lici's hand, it was indeed hard to discern. From such a distance, spotting any red spots on Chi Yun's face required exceptional eyesight. After staring for a long while, he nodded. Tang Lici continued in a low, gentle voice, "The poison that killed the 586 people outside was the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill, and the solution that dissolved the corpses is held in Chi Yun's left hand." Yu Furen was shocked, "What... Could it be that Chi Yun is also poisoned by the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill? What should we do?" Tang Lici's delicate face appeared even more beautiful under the firelight as he spoke, "I suspect he was forced to jump into the Camellia Prison, unaware that it had already descended into chaos. Someone poisoned the prisoners, and the toxin spread among them, seeping into their bones. After Chi Yun jumped in, he was immediately exposed to the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill's poison." Yu Furen nodded, his heart aching at the thought of the scene—Chi Yun, a true hero with formidable martial skills and grand ambitions, trapped in the Camellia Prison, forced to contract an incurable, deadly poison.
"To survive—" Tang Lici murmured, his voice soft but chilling to Yu Furen's ears. There was no emotion in that gentle tone, not even a trace of sympathy despite the cruel and tragic words. "Chi Yun went on a killing spree, marking a boundary to force the others to stay far away from him, gathering at the entrance of the Camellia Prison while he retreated deep into the cave, hoping isolation would spare him. However—" His tone shifted strangely, as if admiring the cunning of the scheme while also harboring profound pity, "deep in this cave lies something even more terrifying than the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill..." Yu Furen's throat tightened with bitterness. "These spiders?" Tang Lici smiled faintly. "According to the Rebirth Scroll, this is a type of Gu Spider. Gu Spiders do not naturally inhabit this place, so one this large must have been deliberately released here."
"Gu Spider?" Yu Furen whispered. "The catalyst of the Five Poisons." Tang Lici nodded. "Exactly. In ancient times, to refine Gu, the Five Poisons were placed in a vat, left to fight until only one remained. The venom of the Gu Spider is what drives them to kill each other. Someone intentionally released the Gu Spider into the Camellia Prison, then forced Chi Yun inside. The entire underground is saturated with the Gu Spider's miasma. After being poisoned by it, Chi Yun emerged from the cave and slaughtered the gathered prisoners—that explains the shattered bones. Over five hundred prisoners turned on each other, spreading the lethal poison among themselves. When all but one had perished, the last survivor became the Gu Human." His voice dropped lower. "This is the method of refining Gu using humans."
Yu Furen broke into a cold sweat. Every person Chi Yun killed here strengthened the Gu curse on him. With each death outside, his killing intent grew. Now, the Chi Yun before them had long lost his humanity, reduced to nothing but a killing machine—and one enhanced by the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill's poison, transformed into an unfathomable Gu Human!“Very cruel, isn’t it?” Tang Lici asked softly, though it was unclear whether he was addressing Yu Furen or the mindless Chi Yun. Yu Furen stared at Chi Yun, recalling his usual charm, elegance, and carefree demeanor, and his heart ached unbearably! Whoever had devised such a scheme to reduce Chi Yun to this state—even if they were later torn limb from limb—could never atone for the harm inflicted. How could anyone in this world be so cruel and vicious? So sinister and terrifying? Could such a person even be called human?
“Very cruel…” Tang Lici’s gaze slowly shifted to Chi Yun’s eyes. “For someone who has rarely suffered, it truly is cruel…” The strange scent of the Gu Spider in the cave grew increasingly pungent, the enormous creature above them exhaling incessantly. Chi Yun’s eyes grew wilder with madness. With a sweep of his arm, Tang Lici pushed Yu Furen back several steps. He then advanced, facing Chi Yun directly, a faint smile playing on his lips. “What do you want?”
Chi Yun slowly raised the Moon Crossing Ring in his hand, the blade pointing straight between Tang Lici’s eyes. Tang Lici took another step forward, smiling. “Do you want to cleave me in half with one strike? Then strike.”
A sharp whistle cut through the air as Chi Yun’s blade flashed like lightning. He had always been swift, but now, under the poison’s influence, his speed was dizzying. The moment the blade’s whistle was heard, it was already at Tang Lici’s brow. With a graceful backward spin, Tang Lici evaded, his silver hair fluttering as the Floating Red Silk around him billowed, sweeping the ground. Chi Yun paid no heed to the drifting silk, gripping the Moon Crossing Ring tightly, each slash more relentless than the last. The blade’s gleam grew brighter, the sound of its cleaving air intensifying, echoing through the deep cavern like eerie wails.
The swordsmanship was astonishing. Chi Yun’s sleeves guided the wind, his blade’s trajectory shifting unpredictably, making it nearly impossible to anticipate. Yu Furen watched from the sidelines. Tang Lici’s movements were elusive, dodging each strike, but Chi Yun grew increasingly frenzied. If he were to throw his blade in this narrow cave, given its overwhelming force, evading entirely would be nearly impossible. And if sound assassination were to be employed here, Yu Furen feared he would perish from it first. A bitter smile crossed his face. Why had he come along? Tang Lici had told him to turn back—he had been right. Following him had only made him a hindrance.
Just as Yu Furen wallowed in self-reproach, a strange, shrill cry pierced his ears. Chi Yun had indeed released the Moon Crossing Ring. The blade’s light flickered incessantly, carried by the sleeve’s wind, drifting slowly toward Tang Lici’s face.
"Life-crossing—" Chi Yun's rigid lips abruptly spat out two harsh words. The glimmering blade light aimed at Tang Lici grew increasingly brilliant, indicating the sword was trembling violently. Tang Lici stood with his sleeves folded behind him, still smiling faintly. "Do you remember what I told you?" Chi Yun remained silent, unclear whether he'd heard. Then came Tang Lici's gentle voice: "I am the world's number one."
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