Chapter 39 Trapped

The corridor stretched ahead in eerie silence, lit only by the faint glow of spirit lanterns embedded in the stone. Their flames didn't flicker, didn't sway—as if the air itself held its breath.

Jin Ye walked at the front, calm as ever. The mark on his palm from the legacy trial still pulsed faintly, a subtle warmth that kept his senses sharp. Every so often, his fingers brushed the hilt of his sword, as if making sure it was still there.

Behind him, Shen Li sauntered with his arms behind his head, giving the illusion of ease—but Jin Ye knew better. The slight bend in his knees, the way his eyes scanned corners, he was coiled like a spring.

"Quiet," Shen Li said, voice low. "Too quiet. Even for this place."

Bai Xueqing walked to their left, her fan closed but held loosely in her fingers. "It's not just quiet," she murmured, eyes narrowed. "There's no Qi flow here. Not even residual traces."

Jin Ye nodded. "Someone's sealed this path. Or something."

Shen Li chuckled, though his tone was tight. "We're walking into a mouth and hoping it doesn't bite."

"Then keep your blade ready," Jin Ye said, his voice calm. "Because something's about to close its teeth."

The wall to their right shuddered.

Jin Ye's eyes narrowed a half-second before it happened—the stone corridor split, a dividing wall slamming down with thunderous force, cutting Bai Xueqing off mid-sentence.

"—something's not right about this layou—"

Boom.

The formation sealed tight. Shen Li cursed. "It's a trap."

Jin Ye didn't reply. He had already stepped back into a guarded stance. His spiritual sense prickled. Not just one presence—multiple, converging. Fast.

Then, like shadows peeling off the walls, figures emerged.

Wang Yiran walked forward first, his jade spear resting against his shoulder, expression calm but his eyes seething with satisfaction.

"Been a while," he said. "You know… I didn't think you'd make it this far. But now that you're here…"

He gestured, and five cultivators stepped out behind him.

Two were peak 9th-stage, aura coiled tightly around them like drawn blades. Another wore Ren Clan robes, fingers crackling with formation Qi. One was a silent girl with a double-bladed halberd and a cruel smile.

The last man didn't need introduction.

He stood apart—quiet, expression unreadable. But the pressure that rolled off him told the truth.

Foundation Establishment.

Jin Ye's gaze flicked briefly toward him, then returned to Wang Yiran. "Hiding behind someone stronger again?"

Wang Yiran's smirk faltered for half a heartbeat. "You're not walking out of here."

The Ren cultivator raised his hands, runic patterns lighting the walls with a deep blue glow. The air tightened, compressing Jin Ye's senses.

A locking formation.

The trap had sprung.

And Jin Ye was already moving.

The first peak 9th-stage came from the left, thrusting forward with a wide-arc saber, his Qi pulsing in waves—Mountain-Tide Saber Form.

Jin Ye met him with a sidestep—Shadow Phantom Step activating, his body flickering into a blur. He reappeared behind the attacker just as the saber finished its sweep.

Flowing Phantom Blade – First Movement: Gliding Cut.

The blade whispered out, catching the cultivator across the back. Not deep, but clean. Blood arced into the air.

The second enemy moved in faster than expected—his fists coated in dark yellow light, a Qi-hardened body refinement style. His punch connected with Jin Ye's ribs—

Or it should have.

The impact landed, but Jin Ye didn't stumble.

The reinforced war robe flared with internal light, dispersing the blow. Beneath it, his drake-enhanced body absorbed the residual force, leaving only a shallow ache.

The man stared, eyes wide. "That should've broken bone…"

Jin Ye's expression didn't change. He drove his sword upward in a tight arc—forcing the man to retreat as the tip kissed the underside of his chin.

A sudden barrage of formation glyphs struck the air around him—spatial anchoring lines meant to restrict movement.

The Ren Clan cultivator activated Constricting Hex Net, a series of Qi threads designed to bind his legs and lock down evasive techniques.

Jin Ye pivoted in a blur. The threads coiled—

And missed.

A flicker of his step, Shadow Phantom shifted again, this time crossing his own afterimage in mid-air. The Qi threads laced into a pillar behind him, binding stone instead.

A glint of steel caught the corner of his eye. The halberd came whistling in low. He twisted, the blade scraping his shin—first blood.

But she overextended.

Jin Ye let the pain ground his senses and struck low with the pommel, slamming it into her knee with a brutal crack. The girl shrieked, stumbling back.

Jin Ye exhaled evenly, sword at his side, his aura steady despite the closing ring.

The Foundation cultivator still hadn't moved.

But Jin Ye could feel it now—the real fight hadn't even started.

The battle turned brutal.

Jin Ye's breath came slower now—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer intensity of motion. The formation trap pressed in on his senses, spatial distortion tugging at his footing. Every movement felt slightly off, like trying to fight underwater.

The Ren Clan cultivator stood at the edge of the chamber, weaving Disruption Hexes mid-air. Each glyph flared with pale green light, sending out pulses that staggered Jin Ye's sense of direction.

To a lesser cultivator, it would have been disorienting.

To Jin Ye, it was an inconvenience.

He twisted mid-step, letting his Shadow Phantom Step ripple off a glyph line, bending it outward. As the Ren cultivator summoned another net, Jin Ye ducked low and hurled his sword in a rising arc—

Flowing Phantom Blade – Second Movement: Severing Drift.

The blade didn't strike the caster directly. It sliced through the glyph line connecting the web. The formation shattered like broken glass, sparks flying as the Ren disciple reeled back, Qi trembling.

That gave Jin Ye his opening.

He lunged forward, reclaiming his blade mid-motion, and pivoted into a tight, spiraling slash.

The saber-wielding peak 9th-stage cultivator met him head-on, this time pouring everything into a technique.

Twin-Moon Breaker Slash!

A double-layered saber arc erupted from his weapon, glowing white-hot with condensed Qi. The ground beneath them cracked, and even the air sizzled from the energy.

Jin Ye didn't dodge.

He planted his feet, war robe fluttering around him like a banner.

The saber strikes crashed into him—and didn't break through.

The Qi-reactive alloy wove the impact through the robe's reinforced matrix, and the drake-enhanced body beneath absorbed what little force remained.

The attacker froze, eyes wide. "That's… that's impossible."

Jin Ye's response came in silence.

Flowing Phantom Blade – Third Movement: Phantom Current.

A tight arc spun low and carved clean through the cultivator's thigh. He collapsed screaming, blade clattering from his grip.

Only three remained.

The halberd girl, now limping and furious.

The Ren Clan formation caster, trembling but still active.

And the Foundation Establishment guardian—still watching in silence.

Jin Ye didn't let up. He stepped in toward the girl.

She roared and activated Split Fang Arc, a spinning halberd move that kicked up dust and Qi in a vicious tornado.

He let her spin. Watched her overextend.

Then vanished.

He reappeared just as she committed to her last rotation—a ghost-step to her exposed back—and drove his sword straight through her lung.

She choked on blood, dropping without a sound.

The Ren Clan cultivator turned to flee. Jin Ye flicked his wrist.

A narrow beam of sword Qi caught the man in the calf, sending him crashing forward.

But before he could finish it—

A hand clamped onto his shoulder.

Cold, firm. Immovable.

Jin Ye spun around and met the gaze of the Foundation cultivator.

He didn't speak. He didn't need to. His aura said everything.

Pressure slammed into Jin Ye like a mountain, forcing his knees to bend slightly. The man's Qi was deep—refined, stable, not something Jin Ye could play around with.

The cultivator stepped back into stance, feet sliding into position as he drew a narrow-bladed saber with no flourish, only finality.

Jin Ye's instincts screamed.

The man blurred forward—Bladed Stone River, a technique from the Wang Clan's internal manuals, designed to break through fortified defenses with continuous pressure.

Steel met steel.

Jin Ye deflected the first strike, caught the second with his sword's flat edge, and was still driven back five steps.

The Foundation cultivator's strikes weren't elegant—they were relentless.

Jin Ye panted, but his stance remained unbroken. He licked the blood from his lip where a Qi lash had cracked skin.

"About time," he muttered.

Then, his aura shifted.

Not just killing intent—refinement. Focus.

The Foundation cultivator raised his blade again.

Jin Ye's sword lifted slowly, his free hand steady at his side.

Flowing Phantom Blade – Fourth Movement: Whispering Cut.

Sword Intent pulsed faintly behind the technique—not yet released, but there, waiting.

The two clashed again.

The cultivator vanished mid-swing, reappearing at Jin Ye's flank with a reverse slash. Jin Ye twisted—barely—sword flashing up to catch the blow.

The ground cracked. Sparks flew.