"ZHANG KUN!"

  Everyone froze, Zhang Kun spun around, his eyes wide with shock. "Fu Yang?!"

  The two hooded figures immediately released their cultivation pressure. Foundation establishment realm crushing down.

  But I ignored them and focused entirely on Zhang Kun. "You're a spy!" I shouted. "Working for Crimson Sword Sect! Selling out the sect that took you in!"

  Zhang Kun's face went through several expressions. Shock. Fear. Then it turned into a cold calculation.

  "You followed me," he said quietly.

  "Of course I followed you! I knew something was wrong with you from the start!" I used righteous anger to fill my voice. "All those suspicious activities you were projecting! YOU!"

  "Fu Yang, you don't understand—"

  "I understand perfectly!" I took a step forward. "You're a traitor. And I'm going to drag you back to the sect and expose you to Elder Yun!"

  That was the signal.

  The moment I moved toward him, Zhang Kun's hand went to his weapon. The two hooded figures stepped forward, ready to eliminate me.

  And that was when Chen Wu appeared—just as I had expected…...He dropped down from a tree branch about twenty feet away, landing in a crouch and Su Ling appeared a second later from the other side of the clearing.

  My eyes widened with genuine surprise, not because Chen Wu had followed us, which I knew but he'd brought Su Ling too.

  "Nobody moves!" Chen Wu's voice was commanding. His sword was already drawn, pointed at the hooded figures. "This clearing is surrounded. Clouded Peak Sect disciples have you trapped."

  That was a bluff. There were no other disciples.

  The male hooded figure laughed. "You're a bold child but foolish."

  "Zhang Kun is under arrest for espionage,"

  Chen Wu said. "The rest of you can flee now, or you can join him in chains."

  "Chen Wu," I said urgently. "Be careful. Both are in the Foundation establishment realm!"

  "I know." His eyes didn't leave the hooded figures. "Su Ling, guard Fu Yang. I'll handle this."

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  Su Ling moved to my side, her cultivation pressure flaring. She was also Foundation Establishment like Chen Wu, but at peak stage. Stronger than most.

  "You shouldn't have come," she hissed at me. "This is way above your level."

  "I was investigating! How was I supposed to know—"

  "Quiet!"

  The standoff held for three heartbeats, but still I moved, not away from danger but toward it.

  I lunged at Zhang Kun with a scream. "YOU TRAITOR!"

  My hand was already wrapped around a concealed knife—something I'd taken from the outer disciple armory earlier.

  If I could kill Zhang Kun right now, in the chaos, it would solve everything. Chen Wu's quest wouldn't be complete. The problem would disappear and I just needed one clean strike.

  Zhang Kun saw me coming, his eyes widened.

  But he was just too slow. After all, I was at the Foundation Establishment not like him, at a lower level.

  The knife went straight for his throat, but right then everything went wrong……

  Zhang Kun's expression changed, the fear completely transformed into determined confidence.

  His hand went to his chest and he pulled out a small black token covered in crimson runes.

  "No!" The female hooded figure shouted.

  "Don't! That's only for—"

  But Zhang Kun still crushed the token and the next instant, the clearing exploded with power. Not with force but presence.

  A massive figure materialized above us. Transparent and ethereal. And the cultivation pressure was so intense that everyone dropped to their knees.

  It was a man or the projection of one. Fifty feet tall, made of condensed spiritual energy. His features were sharp, cruel. His robes marked with the Crimson Sword Sect insignia.

  And his cultivation was immense, likely at the peak of the mortal realm : Nascent Soul.

  I immediately guessed this had to be the Sect Master of Crimson Sword Sect or at least a fragment of his power transmitted through that token.

  Everyone was frozen. Even Chen Wu and Su Ling were pressed down by the sheer pressure.

  The projection looked down at Zhang Kun.

  "You used the emergency token."

  "Mission compromised, Master!" Zhang Kun gasped. "They discovered me!"

  The projection's eyes swept the clearing. Took in Chen Wu. Su Ling. The two hooded figures.

  Then settled on me.

  I was still mid-lunge, knife in hand and aimed at Zhang Kun.

  Our eyes met and I saw recognition in that gaze. Not recognition of who I was. But recognition of what I was doing.

  I was trying to kill his deciple.

  The projection's face twisted with a strange smile."You DARE—"

  His massive hand reached down—not toward me, but toward Zhang Kun.

  Spiritual energy wrapped around my former roommate like chains of light, lifting him off the ground and unexpectedly, with a casual flick, the projection threw Zhang Kun into the sky.

  Zhang Kun's body shot through the air like an arrow, arcing high above the forest and disappearing into the distance, heading far away from Clouded Peak Sect.

  Everyone stared in stunned silence.

  Then the projection's hand shifted and pointed at me."BRAT!" The voice boomed like thunder, shaking the trees and making the ground tremble. Spiritual energy condensed around the projection's finger. Building and gathering into a single devastating attack.

  Aimed directly at me.

  "I WILL KILL YOU!"

  The pressure crashed down.

  I tried to move and my whole body started trembling. The cultivation pressure was too strong. I was pinned in place like an insect under glass…

  (Move……….Move!)

  My body wouldn’t respond.

  (Move, damn it—!)

  Pain shot through my meridians as I forced spiritual energy to surge. Something inside me screamed.

  “Aaaah—!”With a roar I tore myself free. The pressure cracked beneath raw effort alone.

  In the next instant I moved. Behind me, the beam descended where I had been standing and exploded. The ground erased as if it had never existed.

  A chill ran down my spine.

  The projection shifted, finger lifting again.

  Locking onto me once more, I felt like time had slowed down as thought raced in my mind.

  ( Think, think, think There has to be another way, There has to be another way, There has to be another wayyyy.) I thought about every possibility, but the opposite power was just too strong, there was no chance for survival. But right then, unconsciously my gaze shifted toward Chen Wu..

  (.................Yes, only a Chosen One could survive something like this……If he intervenes, even for a second, it might disrupt the attack and…)

  So, I did the only thing left. I called for help…..

  “ BROTHER HELP ME……..”

  This was it, Chen Wu moved first."BROTHER!"

  He lurched forward despite the pressure crushing down on him. His face contorted with effort.

  But at that exact moment, Su Ling grabbed his arm. "Chen Wu, stop! That's a

  projection from someone at Nascent Soul Realm! Maybe even half-step You can't—"

  My eyes widened seeing this, ( Fu*k this bitch..)