Ji Chen froze at the words.
Spirit Eyes?
Then he remembered—a foundational spell recorded in the Celestial Genesis Tome. No time to hesitate.
He followed the mental incantation, channeling energy to his eyes.
The world instantly shifted.
Everything was overlaid with glowing auras—Su Wan shimmered in pure silver-white, while the three intruders were cloaked in murky green-gray. On the red-eyed man's chest, Ji Chen spotted a pulsing black-red orb—a spiritual core, dimly connected to his other meridians by fraying threads.
"His chest! Lower right side—there's a weakness!" Ji Chen shouted.
Su Wan instantly changed stance. Her silver bow morphed into a long sword, thrusting toward the weak point Ji Chen had identified.
The red-eyed man's eyes widened. In a panic, he spat out a mouthful of black blood, forming a wall of flame in mid-air.
The flames blocked Su Wan's strike—but left Ji Chen exposed.
The other two attackers lunged toward him.
Panicking, Ji Chen swung his glowing phantom blade wildly. His form was clumsy, untrained—but the golden light was potent enough to drive them back.
One of them suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a thin green thread. Ji Chen couldn't dodge in time.
A sharp sting hit his left shoulder. Burning cold spread through his body like a creeping frost.
"It's poison!" he gritted his teeth, trying to stay upright.
Su Wan's expression hardened. She bit her fingertip and drew a symbol mid-air in blood.
"Qingluan, manifest!"
The blood sigil ignited.
A silver phoenix of flame burst forth, screeching as it soared. It devoured the black fire in an instant.
The red-eyed man's face turned pale. "That's... a Su clan secret art! Retreat!"
The three attackers dissolved into mist, fleeing out the window. The phoenix chased them into the night.
A moment later, a distant scream echoed—and then, silence.
Su Wan staggered, face deathly pale. She dragged herself to Ji Chen's side and inspected his wound.
"Yinshade poison. Nasty, but not fatal."
She took out a small jade vial, poured a green pill into her palm, and handed it to him.
"Swallow this."
Ji Chen did. A wave of cooling relief spread through his body, dulling the pain in his shoulder.
"Did... did you kill them?" he asked between breaths.
"One escaped. Two are badly hurt," Su Wan replied, slumping into a chair. "That phoenix—it's a forbidden technique. It cost me a lot."
Ji Chen noticed her right palm—it was scorched, pitch black.
He was about to ask, but she shook her head. "We can't stay here. Reinforcements will come."
Ten minutes later, they were in a taxi. Su Wan gave the driver an address Ji Chen had never heard before.
"Number 44, Bamboo Lane."
The driver frowned. "Isn't that place demolished?"
Su Wan slipped him a 100-yuan bill. "Just drive. You'll know when we arrive."
He shrugged and started the engine.
Ji Chen gazed out the window as the city flickered by. Rain-slicked neon lights blurred into drifting streaks of color. His shoulder throbbed, a reminder that what had just happened was terrifyingly real.
The car stopped in front of a crumbling alleyway in the old district. It looked utterly abandoned.
Su Wan pulled Ji Chen out, waited until the taxi disappeared down the road, then retrieved a bronze coin from her pocket. She held it to the moonlight, then pressed it against a cracked section of the wall.
Ripples spread across the bricks—like water disturbed by a pebble.
"Come on," she said, pulling Ji Chen through the illusion.
What unfolded before him made Ji Chen forget how to breathe.
Gone was the abandoned alley.
In its place was a lively ancient market, stretching along a wide cobbled street. Lanterns floated through the air without strings. Shops on both sides glowed with warm light, and people bustled about—some in modern clothes, others dressed like they'd stepped out of a costume drama.
"Where... is this?" Ji Chen whispered.
"Jiangcheng's underground cultivation market," Su Wan replied casually. "Bamboo Lane's demolition was just a cover. The entire street is cloaked by an illusion formation. Only those with a Tombao Coin can pass through."
Ji Chen stared around, wide-eyed. He spotted a sign reading "Thousand-Year Ginseng", and the root in the display case was moving. Next door, an old man was dripping blood onto a sword. The blade hummed with a sound like a dragon's roar.
"Don't stare," Su Wan warned, tugging his sleeve. "Here, staring at someone's wares is considered provocation."
Ji Chen quickly looked away. "Why'd you bring me here?"
"To gear up." She pointed at a humble-looking shop ahead. "You're too weak to survive another Night Owl ambush without a proper artifact."