Chapter 203 — The Mysterious Figure
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 6 of 6
And out of the great pit in the ground, amid a few startled cries and yelps of pain, three figures came tumbling and stumbling—thud, thud, thud—and who should they be but Zhou Yixuan and his companions? Their faces were much begrimed with dust; Zhou Yixuan's was mottled black and blue, plainly the worse for a hidden thrashing, yet he seemed to have no time to spare for such matters: he only lifted his head to look at the mysterious man, his face full of astonishment.
That eerie, mysterious figure stood coldly at a distance, watching them. He gave a snort and said in his hoarse voice: "I never thought you'd know spells long lost to the world—the Five Ding Golden Armor, the Little Ghosts' Hauling—and that you could work both of those strange arts at once with Earth Escape. I nearly underestimated you. In such arts alone, I fear there is no one in the world who surpasses you."
Zhou Yixuan's face was grave; comical as he looked, he said in a low voice: "How did you see through it?"
The man said lightly: "Did you not say I was of the Canglan Sect? These little tricks of the jianghu were the Canglan Patriarch's stock-in-trade in his day. Even if I cannot work them, could I fail to recognize them?"
Zhou Yixuan slowly rose to his feet, yet his mind was racing. Facing this mysterious figure, he truly felt himself outmatched: the man's cultivation was unfathomably deep, and he feared that in all the world there was none to stand against him. What bewildered him was that this man seemed to be of the Canglan Sect, and his attainment in the Way of Supreme Mystery and Pure Clarity was the highest Zhou Yixuan had ever seen—yet the murderous aura upon him was likewise heavier than any he had ever known. How could such a person exist, and why would he appear late at night within this mortuary of the flying corpse?