Chapter Sixty-Seven: A Bloodbath for the Shadow Assassins!

A hundred meters apart, he arrived in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Yu stepped ashore with his hands behind his back, not a drop of water touching him. These feats, while possible for ordinary experts, seemed like immortal arts to common eyes.

His divine sense swept over the city like a vast ocean, instantly enveloping this international metropolis. Wherever his mind reached, every detail became clear, as though seen with his own eyes.

The rapid flutter of a fly’s wings as it took flight; the drifting dust in the shadowy cracks of a wall; spilled wine splashing from clinking glasses in nightclubs—under his divine sense, nothing remained hidden.

“I am about to break through the Foundation Establishment stage. My bodily senses, and even the form of my life, are evolving to a higher plane. Once I do, my flesh, bones, and organs will be transformed completely, becoming a true innate Dao body. Then, I’ll be able to sense the pulse of the earth itself; only then will I be considered an innate cultivator.”

The long-lost sensation surged in his heart once more.

Since his rebirth, Jiang Yu had felt as though his senses were shrouded, unable to perceive much. Now, with the evolution of his life, it was as if the veils had been lifted; in an instant, the world revealed itself with crystalline clarity.

Within Yuzhou City, Jiang Yu sensed the presence of many Shadow Assassins—besides those dozen or so killers secretly lurking aboard the cruise ship, many more were scattered around the city’s outskirts.

"Shadow Assassins are truly persistent. Even after I slew Shen Wan’an, their half-step grandmaster, they still choose to follow me to Yuzhou, hoping to overcome me through sheer numbers?"

Jiang Yu found it amusing. Since Shadow Assassins had a true master among them, they must know that below the grandmaster level, all are mere ants—no amount of numbers could bridge that gap.

The night was dark and the wind high—the perfect time for killing. The hunt had begun.

He would cleanse Shadow Assassins with blood and seize the snow lotus.

As for Gu Feifei, Ma Tianzong, and the others, Jiang Yu had no worries. Aside from Li Hao's consummate cultivation, Lin Wangtian, a true internal-strength grandmaster, was present.

Unless a grandmaster appeared, Shadow Assassins could do nothing to them.

Jiang Yu took a step forward, vanishing into the thick night.

At Yongsun Club in Yuzhou, the inner hall glittered with red lights and wine, men and women of all kinds swaying their hips on the dance floor. Many knew Yuzhou for its two beauties, but few realized it was famed as the city of romantic encounters—a reputation even Shadow Assassins were drawn to.

A burly man, arms around two women, watched as the beauty at his side, pinky raised delicately like a southern belle, gently picked up a grape and fed it to him.

“Maybe we should leave. I have an uneasy feeling. Better not stumble in these places of pleasure,” said another, nervously. He wore round gold-bronze glasses, resembling a teacher from the Republic era.

The burly man laughed arrogantly. “Relax! This time, Shadow Assassins sent twenty-five people, all armed with high-caliber weapons. Once we secure the snow lotus, we’ll leave China immediately.”

Jiang Yu had guessed wrong—the Shadow Assassins’ large-scale infiltration was not for revenge, but because a rare snow lotus was rumored to appear in Yuzhou. If they could acquire it, their master might glimpse the realm of the earth immortals.

Otherwise, why would they send mere small fry to court death at Jiang Yu’s hands?

“I heard the peerless master who killed Shen Wan’an is in Yuzhou too. Let’s hope we don’t run into him,” the scholarly man murmured.

With countless experts in China, they would rather not set foot here unless absolutely necessary.

During their conversation, a plain-looking youth, about eighteen or nineteen, ascended directly to the second floor, smiling as he sat opposite the two men.

The scholarly man’s heart jolted. As a killer, he had not sensed when the young man appeared. For some reason, the smile on his lips made him feel cold all over.

“Who are you?”

The scholarly man, as if facing a deadly enemy, reached for the pistol at his waist.

Jiang Yu took a sip of wine and set down his glass. “Weren’t you just discussing me?”

The man was stunned; the more he looked at this face, the more familiar it seemed. After Jiang Yu killed Shen Wan’an, his photo was sent to Shadow Assassins’ overseas headquarters, seen by nearly every member.

In a flash, the scholarly man shouted, “You’re that master?”

Jiang Yu gripped his glass, nodded, and smiled. “You guessed right!”

A thunderous force shot through his fingers; the glass shattered, and, under the terrified gaze of several alluring women, Jiang Yu flicked the shards toward the two men. They had no time to react—their throats were slashed in an instant, collapsing onto the women's laps.

Blood pooled on the floor, a shocking sight.

“Second one.”

Jiang Yu rose, brushed the dust from his clothes, and left leisurely.

The bar descended into chaos.

Ten minutes later.

In a hotel room somewhere in Yuzhou, a nearly naked blond man shivered as he faced Jiang Yu.

He stared wide-eyed, unable to believe even as he died that the youth before him had caught a bullet bare-handed. It was a custom armor-piercing round, crafted by Shadow Assassins’ specialists—capable of punching through the toughest bulletproof glass in the world.

On the bed, a woman screamed, disregarding her exposed body as she fled barefoot from the room.

“Third one!”

Jiang Yu tossed aside the bullet, leaped from the seventh-floor window.

“So their goal this time is the Qingyan Snow Lotus? No wonder there isn’t a true grandmaster among them—so they weren’t here for me.”

Amid the traffic, Jiang Yu lit a cigarette, exhaling slowly.

Just then, a car swerved and nearly hit him—he was standing in the middle of the road, vision obscured by night, who would notice someone courting death in the street?

“Damn, looking to die?”

The driver had just returned from a banquet, had drunk a few shots of baijiu, and, in panic, pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. At that moment, his mind went blank, wondering how many years he’d get if someone died.

Bang!

The speeding sedan struck Jiang Yu at the waist. The window burst, airbags deployed, but most striking was the crumpled hood—the impact drove the engine cover a dozen meters away. Yet the youth stood unmoved, like a mountain, one leg lodged in the wrecked engine.

He shifted, pulled his leg free, brushed the dust from his pants, and walked away nonchalantly.

The driver rubbed his eyes. “Did I see that right?”

He was puzzled—he hadn’t drunk that much, so why was he hallucinating?

Half an hour later, in a park.

Jiang Yu looked thoughtful. “This must be the eighth one.”

He ignored the stunned couple on the bench, approached with a smile. “May I borrow a tissue?”

The young man was already paralyzed with fear, slumped on the bench; the girl, trembling, handed him a packet of tissues. Jiang Yu wiped the blood from the back of his hand, shook his head. “To have a blood disorder and still become a killer?”

When Jiang Yu’s figure disappeared, the couple finally dared glance at the corpse—there was a fist-sized hole in the chest. As for the heart, they still remembered how the youth had crushed it moments ago, turning it into a mist of blood.

Jiang Yu had deliberately left the body behind—by morning, word would spread. The killers’ identities would soon be revealed, shocking Shadow Assassins and alerting the Huating group: he had arrived.

That night, corpses were discovered all across Yuzhou.

There were dozens of witnesses, yet all described the murderer’s face as shrouded in mist—no one could make out his features. All testimonies were remarkably consistent.

The victims’ identities were quickly uncovered—each was a member of the notorious overseas assassin organization, Shadow Assassins, for which a joint bounty of five hundred million dollars had been offered in 2004.

Many wealthy figures received a signal that night: that man had come to Yuzhou.

“Only five remain.”

On the roof of a villa, Jiang Yu stood with hands behind his back. A cold wind swept by, and behind him hung a full moon, brighter than on any previous night.

Below, on the tree-lined path, several faces showed panic as they hurried past.

Suddenly, the leader halted, sensing something, and looked up.

Under the huge moon, a dark figure stood.

“He’s here.”

The leader lowered his head, his clothes soaked in cold sweat.

Jiang Yu smiled. “We meet again.”

This man was the one who had vied with Ma Tianzong for the snow lotus. Now, of the twenty-five Shadow Assassins, only five remained. The opponent’s uncanny killing skills had already terrified them beyond measure.

Jiang Yu stood atop the roof, reached into the void with one hand, and instantly golden light burst forth, illuminating the night as if it were day.

“How did you find us?”

The man’s eyes widened in terror. The dazzling golden light swept overhead; in the moment before his vision faded, he saw his four companions beheaded.

A willow tree as thick as a barrel also crashed to the ground.

His vision dimmed, and as he died, he watched the youth descend from the rooftop, stepping through the air as if climbing a celestial ladder.

Bending down to pick up the wooden box containing the snow lotus, Jiang Yu spoke softly.

“Twenty-fifth.”