Chapter 27: Yu Yue's POV

Yu Yue opened her eyes in a panic. She quickly jumped out of bed, terrified. The speed of her movements almost made her lose her balance and fall to the ground. Although she was a fighter and it was impossible for her to lose her balance so easily, her extreme panic made her lose much of her ability to control her body.

Yu Yue didn't care about any of that. She quickly ran to the mirror, gripped the table with all her strength, and looked at herself in the mirror. Quickly, she removed her shirt and looked at her chest. She laughed when she saw that the spiritual mark of Shun had disappeared from her right side. She screamed loudly:

"I am finally free! That cursed Shun is finally dead. I can hardly believe that the person I hated most in my life died so easily at the hands of an unknown girl like Feng Yan!"

But her joy was cut short when she remembered someone even more terrifying than Shun – Feng Yan. Fear reappeared in Yu Yue's heart as she recalled Feng Yan's incredibly frightening image from the last memories Shun had of her before dying in the battle against Feng Yan. Yu Yue tried to search her memories for any clue that could confirm Feng Yan's death along with Shun. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything because Shun lost consciousness after Feng Yan's fist hit her face and completely shattered it. Yu Yue tried to calm herself, saying:

"Feng Yan used an unstable concept to achieve balance for a limited time. To do so, she had to burn her life essence. So, it's very likely she is dead now along with Shun!"

Although the initial probabilities suggested that Feng Yan's chances of survival were very low, Yu Yue knew from what she learned about Shun that if Shun died before Feng Yan's life essence ran out, Feng Yan's chances of survival would be very high. And because it was impossible to accurately measure the amount of life essence Feng Yan had, the possibility of her survival was not small at all.

This possibility instilled terror in Yu Yue's heart!

"I must kill Feng Yan quickly before she regains her strength. Even if she is alive, her depleted life essence will leave her very weak. So if I act fast, I can kill her before it's too late!"

Quickly, Yu Yue changed from her nightclothes into battle attire. In less than a minute, her appearance was completely different. She wore a shirt and trousers that were neither too tight nor too loose to hinder her movement, with very light armor under her clothes. Yu Yue tied her long hair into a short ponytail, placed her sword on her waist, and took a large cloak to completely hide her identity. She decided to leave.

Yu Yue opened the door to her room. As soon as she stepped out, a man emerged from a dark corner, blending in with the shadows. He was kneeling on the ground, bowing his head, and he asked respectfully:

"Your Majesty, how may I assist you?"

"Dark Serpent, I need to know exactly who you sent to handle our sacrifice tonight."

"Your Majesty, due to the Feng family's extremely weak power, with Feng Yan being the only remaining member and the family having no experts at all, I sent a three-star demon, Fat Demon, along with four of his team members, demons of either two or one star. Is there any problem, Your Majesty?"

In reality, sending a three-star demon to eliminate a family with no experts was a great exaggeration. However, the Feng family mansion was unlike any other place. It housed a monster like Feng Yan, a monster who could crush fifth-level fighters as easily as crushing insects. Even if Feng Yan were in a weakened state, attempting to kill her with a three-star demon, equivalent to a third-level fighter, would be suicidal.

Even if Feng Yan were indeed dead and no longer alive, her body was a valuable treasure because it was the key to entering the Eternal Tower. If that foolish Fat Demon touched Feng Yan's body, he would undergo a trial, and without someone crazy like Shun, he might pass all the trials and likely become the heir to the Eternal Tower. Although this probability was not very high, Yu Yue could not allow such risks when she could prevent them.

"Dark Serpent, take me directly to the Feng family mansion now!"

"At once, Your Majesty!"

Without any hesitation, Dark Serpent moved, turning into a line of darkness, moving swiftly over the rooftop of the Yu family mansion. Yu Yue also turned into a white line and followed Dark Serpent very quickly. They moved across the heavily guarded mansion of the Yu family, with powerful experts everywhere. But due to their knowledge of every path and corner of the mansion, they were able to bypass all kinds of defenses and easily exit the mansion.

The two flew through the sky. Yu Yue looked at the ancient cityscape, shining like a sea of radiant pearls. Under normal circumstances, she would have enjoyed this view, but tonight she had no mood to enjoy nature's beauty at all. She quickly followed Dark Serpent over the rooftops, moving with such speed and lightness that no one sensed their presence, not even the rooftops felt anyone passing over them, their movements as light as a breeze.

Throughout the journey, Yu Yue's mind was preoccupied with what she would do if the worst-case scenario occurred, how she would handle the situation at that time. Her heart was beating erratically. Although Dark Serpent was silent, executing orders, he could sense Yu Yue's extremely volatile mood. He knew something was definitely not right but didn't dare to ask.

...

After three minutes,

"Your Majesty, we have arrived. The mansion in front of us is the Feng family mansion."

They finally arrived at the Feng family mansion, which was very quiet. The mansion's gate was guarded by two ordinary guards with regular metal armor and spears. They were chatting comfortably without any concern at all. When Dark Serpent saw this, he sneered sarcastically and said:

"Your Majesty, do you see the level of the Feng family guards? Their presence is as good as their absence. What a pitiful family!"

Yu Yue didn't answer Dark Serpent's question. She immediately stood on top of the outer wall and descended into the mansion's garden. With incredible speed, they moved and jumped over the tallest trees. From one look, both Yu Yue and Dark Serpent could determine where the main section was, where Feng Yan would be, being the only member of the Feng family.

The two moved quickly through the corridors without making a sound, like ghosts. They even passed by some guards, and all the guards felt was a strong gust of wind hitting their faces. They didn't think much of it. The two reached the door of Feng Yan's courtyard, which was open and unguarded, even though it was Feng Yan's residence. However, there was something even stranger that both Yu Yue and Dark Serpent noticed:

The smell of blood!

Yu Yue's heart rate increased as she smelled the strong scent of blood. Although this was normal because Fat Demon and his followers were there, and they usually enjoyed playing with their victims before killing them, this didn't calm Yu Yue, as there were many possibilities. Despite this, she decided to enter.

Doom-boom, doom-boom, doom-boom!

As Yu Yue entered through the courtyard gate of Feng Yan, her heartbeats increased rapidly, unmatched by anything. Dark Serpent didn't need any special techniques to hear Yu Yue's heartbeats from where he stood. The two walked through the corridor until they saw the garden of the courtyard, and their expressions turned ugly as they shouted in unison:

"Who did this??"

The bodies of Fat Demon's followers were scattered everywhere around the courtyard, drenched in their blood. From a first glance at their corpses, it was clear they had died from a single, extremely fast and explosive strike that caused tremendous damage to their bodies. Both Yu Yue and Dark Serpent looked around and saw something that terrified them even more: the body of a fat, large man crucified to a tree, with the tree branches piercing through his body to keep him from falling. They recognized the owner of the body at first glance:

Fat Demon!

"Impossible!"

"Your Majesty, we must escape from here. Whoever defeated Fat Demon is not less than a fourth-level fighter. We must flee quickly!"

"Is it now the time for intruding and meddling in the Feng family's territory?"

They quickly turned to the source of the voice. A few meters from the tree where Fat Demon was crucified, there was an artificial lake, and next to that small lake was a stone table and two seats. In one of the seats was a girl with black hair as dark as night and eyes that sparkled like stars, with delicate white skin. She was wearing a very loose white robe with sleeves fluttering in the wind. She held a cup of tea with her slender fingers, took a small sip before putting the cup back on the table, and looked at Yu Yue and Dark Serpent with a quick glance before saying:

"You two, this wasn't in the plans. I only prepared two cups and one additional seat. This is bad!"

"Feng Yan, you are still alive!"

"Your Majesty, we must escape quickly. This monster in front of us is very powerful. I can't measure her strength at all!"

At that moment, all of Yu Yue's hopes were shattered. She felt as if the world had completely abandoned her and there was no other way to live. But after reconsidering under the intense pressure of fear of death, Yu Yue discovered that to survive the clutches of the monster in front of her, despite it being very dirty, she had no problem doing whatever it took to save her life.