Lu Yuan's sixth-level body refinement had finally completed its final stage.

Lyu Yanzhang exhaled a long breath of relief.

His cultivation breakthrough was successful, and he turned to inform Meng Bai, who stood guard nearby. "Meng Bai," he said. The young disciple promptly retreated to his room across the hall to rest. Night had already fallen by then. They both intended to catch some sleep before exploring Wuling Mountains tomorrow—after all, as a local, Meng Bai would take Lu Yuan on an extensive tour of the area.

Lu Yuan now held a bottle of wine and leaned against the wall. Around him he sensed numerous cultivators present—the handover ceremony at Wuling Immortal Gate was indeed a major event, drawing this many fellow xianmen members together.

He glanced down at his small platter of snacks with some disappointment. His wine needed better accompaniment to be truly satisfying.

With that thought, Lu Yuan rose from his seat and reached for the door—just as something changed in an instant.

A young woman burst through the entrance before he could fully open it. She wore a red floral qiju robe paired with black embroidered blouse, her crimson attire making her bright eyes and pearly teeth all the more striking. Her face was flushed with panic as she stumbled straight into Lu Yuan's arms.

The cultivator froze in confusion—why would a woman suddenly rush through his door like this? He could feel her slender frame trembling against him, barely an inch shorter than himself. A faint floral scent lingered between them.

The robed girl gasped and turned crimson immediately, realizing too late that she'd collided with a complete stranger. Eighteen years of sheltered upbringing had never prepared her for such embarrassment. But the urgency in her eyes betrayed deeper troubles—she wasn't here by accident.

Without another word, Lu Yuan felt himself pushed back as the girl scrambled beneath his bed. He could only stare at the empty space where she'd vanished moments ago.

The woman peered from under the bedframe and made a silencing gesture with her finger to her lips.

Sighing, Lu Yuan shrugged off his bewilderment and returned to his snacks—salted peanuts, pickled cucumbers, and marinated beef. Just as he reached for another sip of wine, an explosion shattered the hotel's entrance.

The inn was located near the famed Xianren Bridge in Wuling Mountains. This natural stone span created a miraculous effect at night—the rushing water below seemed to produce heavenly music like celestial orchestras performing beneath. The phenomenon earned it the name "Xianqiao Tianle" (Heavenly Music of the Immortal Bridge).

With such renown, many cultivators attending the Wuling Immortal Gate leadership ceremony naturally made pilgrimages here. The current inn hosted dozens of xianmen representatives among its guests.

All heads turned toward the entrance as two gaunt middle-aged men strode in—their appearances immediately drawing attention. One wore flowing robes with foreign patterns suggesting distant origins, while his companion was entirely clad in black from head to toe, including a pitch-black sword slung over his back.

"Brother Duan," the black-clad man said, "I just saw that girl darting into this establishment."

Duan nodded toward the foreign-styled cultivator. "If we capture Miss Zhong tonight, your name will be etched in our records."

The dark-cloaked swordsman chuckled and raised his voice to address everyone present: "Esteemed guests, I am Dark Sword Guest Meng Ruan'an of the Black Sword Sect, partnered with Daoist Le from Great Qin Empire. We seek only one person—a young woman currently hiding among these rooms. We ask for your cooperation."

The name struck Lu Yuan like a physical blow. Meng Ruan'an—the infamous assassin who'd once tried to kill him? The man was supposedly nearing the eighth level of body refinement when he was expelled from his sect and hunted by both Black Sword Manor and Hua Shan Sect. Yet here he stood, openly hunting someone else.

And what about "Miss Zhong"? Lu Yuan's mind raced through the geopolitical landscape between kingdoms—Great Qin possessed four powerful factions: Dafa Hua Temple of Buddhism, Xieyao Immortal Gate with its unique cultivation techniques like Nanming Xiao Yao Fa and Tianshang Xiaobu, Wu Jian Immortal Gate with their legendary Nine-String Invisible Sword technique, and Chi Long Sect with its thirty-thousand disciple network.

The Zhong surname carried special significance in Great Qin—among the Wu Jian Immortal Gate's teachings, only descendants of a particular bloodline could inherit their most secret techniques.

Meng Ruan'an now brandished a magical artifact enclosing the entire inn, preventing anyone from escaping as he began systematically searching each room. When confronted by Zhang Qingshu of Wudang Immortal Gate who refused to yield his chamber, Meng Ruan'an simply dismantled the Wudang formation with a laugh before advancing toward Lu Yuan's room.

For the black-cloaked assassin, this meeting was long overdue. The man now leaning against the wall in plain robes had haunted his nightmares for years—the one who'd ruined all his carefully laid plans.