Chapter Sixty-Two: Fighting Desperately

Song Yue never underestimated anyone in this world; for his age, he was already cautious enough.

But George and Louis, those two old hunters, were simply too cunning.

In their eyes, this young fox was already clever and alert enough. If it had been them at his age, they wouldn’t have reached such a level.

In fact, when Song Yue slipped right under their noses through the water, they didn’t notice anything unusual at first—just the sense that a big fish had swum past. But years of experience allowed them to make a precise judgment in an instant.

This river shouldn’t have fish that large.

So it must be a person.

At a time like this, for someone to silently swim away beneath the surface, who else could it be but Song Yue?

Though they couldn’t be absolutely certain, they were at least ninety percent sure.

The two of them rose to their feet, leaving their fishing gear behind—expensive, yes, but meaningless compared to fifty million.

George dashed across the water’s surface. If one looked closely, his feet didn’t quite touch the water; with each step he shot hundreds of meters forward, his figure so fast it was almost impossible to make out. His not-so-long blond hair streamed behind him in the night, and his age-spotted face seemed to regain the stern, icy vigor of youth.

Louis, with dark hair, used a magical device that allowed brief flight, floating high in the sky and overseeing the scene from above. His life was a bit straitened; his wife often complained they couldn’t afford new clothes she liked. Yet, if he wished, he could sell just one of the magical items he carried and instantly become truly wealthy.

But such a thing had never even crossed his mind.

Much like a true scholar would never sell their books just because they couldn’t afford new clothes, he was a true Archmage, with his own dignity and pride, and a boundless passion for his craft.

He genuinely enjoyed earning money like this.

He knew George did too.

No matter what he said about not wanting to repeat the past, just look at him now—anyone with eyes could see the excitement radiating from him.

Beneath the surface, Song Yue shot forward like a swiftly swimming fish.

He was moving incredibly fast.

Having emerged from the secret realm, he’d been unlucky enough to fall straight into the river, and wasted no time deciding to escape by water—with barely a moment’s hesitation.

Yet, he was still being tracked.

At first, Song Yue didn’t notice; the water was deep, and his spiritual power wasn’t strong enough to recklessly extend his senses. Still, something felt off.

First, the Jade Void Celestial Stele trembled lightly.

Then came the unmistakable feeling of being watched.

His Celestial Lord’s spiritual arts were warning him.

There was still some distance to the small city, and now that he’d been marked, even if he made it there, it would only spell disaster for innocents.

Song Yue leapt from the water, circulating his energy to dry himself instantly, and gazed back into the distance.

A figure raced across the water’s surface; another soared above, riding a flying device.

Song Yue quietly took out the Dragon Pattern Immortal-Slaying Blade, shrank the Jade Void Celestial Stele to a tiny size and tossed it out, then, after a moment’s thought, slipped the small harmonica Wu Dongshan had given him into his pocket as a precaution.

George and Louis were both shocked to find that Song Yue wasn’t fleeing but was instead standing on the riverbank, waiting for them.

According to their information, this young man from the East was a martial artist, not yet twenty, with the cultivation of a grandmaster. He also specialized in a formidable spiritual technique, strong enough that even someone like Ouyang Fu—a cultivator who focused solely on spiritual power—had suffered a heavy loss at his hands.

But seeing was believing. Now, witnessing Song Yue’s early awareness of pursuit and his calm emergence from the water, they fully believed the reports.

His spiritual power was indeed extraordinary.

“Hey there, little one, relax—there’s no need to be so tense,” George said, his age-spotted face breaking into a kindly smile. “We just want to invite you somewhere for a chat.”

Old fraud.

Song Yue regarded the two expressionlessly. Though they tried to appear harmless, he could feel the faint, intimidating aura they gave off.

They were undoubtedly top-level experts.

“You’re looking for me?” Song Yue asked, wary and cold-eyed. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Song Yue, young friend from the East, we’d like you to come with us. Please cooperate,” Louis replied, his temper shorter. Seeing the young man’s wariness, he dropped all pretense. “If you behave, we won’t make things difficult for you. But if you resist… well, you’ll get to experience the wonders of Western magic.”

A blatant threat.

George frowned; he didn’t want to come across too forceful. He was retired, after all, and wanted to be a kindly old grandpa.

He glanced at Louis and waved to Song Yue. “Don’t listen to his scare tactics. It’s true—someone wants to see you, but we mean you no harm.”

Song Yue sized them up, calculating his chances of escaping if he made a run for it now.

Louis spoke again: “Don’t even think about running. Nearly twenty people have died because of you. Some people hate you with a passion. To use your Eastern saying, they’ve cast a net across heaven and earth. You can’t escape.”

“You’re assassins?” Song Yue asked.

“No, no, child—we’re not so lowly,” George said gently. “Trust me, just come with us to meet the person who wants to see you. You won’t be harmed.”

Song Yue sighed, and the Dragon Pattern Immortal-Slaying Blade vanished from his hand.

Louis’s eyes sparkled—another storage artifact!

If it wasn’t their client’s property, he and George could make a fortune. Even the smallest storage artifact fetched a huge price, and if the internal space was great enough, it could be worth a king’s ransom.

“It seems I really am no match for the two of you,” Song Yue said with a sigh. “I’ve been hiding in that forest for days, only to be found by you in the end. What rotten luck.”

“Don’t take it too hard, child. Many things in this world are beyond our wishes. Here—put this on, don’t worry. We just need to make sure you don’t suddenly lash out. After all, a grandmaster martial artist… is quite dangerous,” George said kindly, producing a pair of special handcuffs and tossing them to Song Yue.

In the instant his arm lifted, a bolt of lightning as thick as a chopstick whipped toward Song Yue.

At the same time, Louis—his longtime partner, with whom he shared perfect coordination—struck as well.

A blue-glowing rope shot toward Song Yue, woven from condensed water.

Water Binding Spell.

Louis was a master of water magic.

The good cop, bad cop routine was all to lull the young man’s guard. Especially pulling out the handcuffs at the last moment—right at the point where anger would spike.

No matter how gentle the approach, the moment the cuffs appeared, anyone would feel fury.

Almost no one would submit quietly—especially a martial artist, whose blood naturally ran hotter than most.

George wanted that split-second of emotional turbulence. That was the perfect moment to strike.

So much for a peaceful solution. The organization had lost too many people because of him—how could they possibly let him go?

But, unexpectedly, in the same moment George threw the cuffs and unleashed his lightning, Song Yue moved too.

His protective energy blocked the lightning. He showed no emotional reaction, remaining as calm as a machine.

His blood energy surged, and he stepped into the Phantom Mist Steps.

Left hand: a Star-Cleaving Palm at George. Right hand: a Thunder Fist at the Water Binding Spell.

The three were only a dozen meters apart—for a martial artist like Song Yue, practically point-blank range.

In the deep night, dazzling starlight burst forth before Song Yue, accompanied by crackling arcs of electricity.

A defensive artifact lit up faintly on George, blocking the starlight, but not the sword-like wind of Song Yue’s Star-Cleaving Palm.

His defense shattered instantly, but just then, George’s age-spotted face broke into a proud grin.

You fell for it, kid!

A surge of powerful blood energy erupted from him, shattering the palm wind from Song Yue’s attack.

A Grandmaster!

George was a dual-cultivation expert of both magic and martial arts.

Not only did he excel at lightning magic, his martial prowess was astonishing.

Meanwhile, Song Yue’s Thunder Fist shattered the Water Binding Spell, but in the next instant, more watery ropes whipped toward him from all directions.

Song Yue manipulated the Jade Void Celestial Stele with his spiritual power, transforming it into a stone needle and launching it like a flying sword at Louis.

But Louis, too, had powerful defensive artifacts. Though the stone needle pierced his defense, Song Yue was too preoccupied with handling the terrifying George—he couldn’t follow up.

Thus, Louis escaped with nothing more than a cold sweat.

“This kid’s as freakish as you—he’s mastered both magic and martial arts!” he shouted to George.

George, revealing his full martial cultivation, fiercely clashed with Song Yue at close quarters, occasionally hurling a bolt of lightning—not to hit, but to disrupt.

Song Yue could see that George’s true strength lay in his martial prowess.

That was a relief; magic was harder to counter, but martial arts were more manageable. Even if his opponent was a grandmaster, Song Yue himself had opened many acupoints and awakened his spiritual field—he was nearly a grandmaster himself.

George’s lightning techniques were nothing special—fine against ordinary foes, but nearly useless against someone with protective energy like Song Yue.

Because the fight had become a close-quarters brawl, Louis, a water mage, found it difficult to intervene.

He retreated to a distance, quietly admiring his old partner’s prowess.

George might be old, but he’d lost none of his power!

And the young man was remarkable too, with formidable strength…

As he analyzed, Louis suddenly noticed George’s expression change—he saw runes flicker on Song Yue’s fist.

The next instant, George, possessing grandmaster-level martial arts, was forced back several steps.

Louis seized the chance, hurling another Water Binding Spell.

Even through the protective energy, he managed to bind Song Yue.

Song Yue roared, his strength surging, and shattered the spell on the spot.

But in that brief moment, George recovered and struck Song Yue’s chest with a palm strike. He didn’t hold back—ordinarily, such a blow would cripple, if not kill, a grandmaster martial artist.

To their surprise, although the strike shattered Song Yue’s protective energy, it failed to seriously injure him.

Hidden beneath his clothes, faint and broken runes lit up across Song Yue’s skin, absorbing most of the force.

A trickle of blood escaped Song Yue’s lips, but he frantically gathered his thunderous qi and punched Louis right in the heart.

Lightning flashed!

A surge of power, many times greater than before, shattered George’s defenses.

George’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

He spewed a mouthful of blood and was sent flying.

Song Yue had poured every ounce of his power into that punch.

In the next moment, he commanded the Jade Void Celestial Stele to transform into a massive stone mountain, which came crashing down on George where he lay.

Boom!

Song Yue was struck by a huge ice sphere conjured in Louis’s fury, sending him flying.

At the same time, the Jade Void Celestial Stele smashed down on George.

“George!”

Louis went mad on the spot.

A sure-win mission had cost him his brother-in-arms.

“I’ll kill you!” Louis unleashed a forbidden spell—massive ice spheres rained from the sky.

Blood streamed from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears; casting such a spell took a heavy toll, but he no longer cared.

His old friend had been slain—if he didn’t avenge him, he’d never face his friend’s family again.

Song Yue’s protective energy couldn’t withstand the wild onslaught of a top-tier mage, but he quickly drew the Dragon Pattern Immortal-Slaying Blade and hacked at the falling ice spheres.

One, two... he smashed more than a dozen.

But there were simply too many!

The ground shook as if from a minor earthquake; some ice spheres hit the river, sending water shooting dozens of meters high.

Song Yue was reaching his limit.

Even after activating his thunderous qi and consuming the Purple Gold Ginseng, he was still too young. Killing a dual-cultivation grandmaster like George was already legendary. Now, facing a berserk Louis, he was barely holding on.

Just then, a blaze lit the sky, melting the ice spheres in an instant.

A woman’s voice called out, “Don’t be afraid, child. I’m here to help!”

A sea of fire engulfed Louis.

Water vapor billowed around him as he roared, “Who are you? A Westerner helping an Easterner?”

“He’s my junior,” the woman replied gently, her voice serene, though the flames around Louis grew fiercer.

“It was you who killed those people. You’re finished!” Louis turned to flee.

He knew he couldn’t kill the young man now; this newcomer was terrifyingly strong. Under normal circumstances, he might not even be a match—he had to escape and report what had happened.

Song Yue, barely standing, took out his harmonica, activated his Celestial Lord’s art, and played toward Louis.

A shockwave of sound burst forth.

Mid-sprint, Louis’s body seized up—his spirit sea was struck by agony.

He screamed.

The flames surged, engulfing him completely.

Song Yue staggered, spat a mouthful of blood, and his vision darkened. He braced himself with the Dragon Pattern Immortal-Slaying Blade, refusing to fall.

He watched as Louis, swallowed by fire, stumbled into the river and vanished.

Then a great white bird dove into the water after him.

Moments later, a massive wave erupted—the entire area instantly vaporized!

Was this the power of a top-tier cultivator?

Song Yue slowly walked to the riverbank and saw a figure fleeing into the distance.

Then the white bird emerged and transformed into a beautiful Western woman who approached him.

“Aunt Catherine?” Song Yue called hesitantly.

“It’s me, child. It’s a pity that one got away—he’s a water mage, very hard to kill,” Catherine said, a trace of regret on her face.

Song Yue managed to recall the Jade Void Celestial Stele. George had been crushed to death, his corpse mangled beyond recognition, though his grandmaster’s body remained more or less whole.

Catherine burned it to ash.

“Come,” she said, taking Song Yue’s arm—barely able to stand—and soaring high into the night, carrying him far away.