Ye Xiu watched the shifting sands with cold intensity. The entire ground trembled, and the thick layer of grey dust that lay upon it began to float slowly into the air. There was no wind, yet the particles churned restlessly, as if agitated by some unseen force—like a ball of clay being squeezed and released by an invisible hand, swelling and shrinking, rising and falling erratically.

“Careful!” Old Liu donned his sunglasses, seemingly discerning a pattern in the energy flow. He was about to slip a small pouch into his trouser pocket when a sudden surge of sand rushed toward the stone table, striking the pouch squarely and flinging it into the air.

Ye Xiu dodged the assault of sand grains and leaped upward, intending to snatch the pouch mid-flight. But at that instant, a sharp flash of light descended. He saw only a halberd thrusting upward, hooking the pouch precisely ahead of him. As the halberd retracted, a soldier—gaunt, covered in grey dust, and utterly headless—stood bolt upright in the center of the clearing. Sand rained from its body, and the only notable features were a crimson pennant tied above where its neck should be and the ‘V’-shaped rivets on its armor—the classic attire of the late Qin Dynasty.

Old Liu sucked in a sharp breath and jumped to Ye Xiu’s side, his eyes fixed on the headless soldier in the center. “This really is a training ground. And now there is one sentinel left—is he guarding the Soul Weapon Talisman?”

“Look how ancient his entire body seems, yet that spear glints with cold light. It looks like we’ll have to fight for it now,” Ye Xiu said, summoning violet flames in his hand. He hurled an attack, intending to incinerate the headless soldier to ash, but the soldier reacted as if sensing danger, executing a sidestepping counter-thrust that split the violet flame in two, narrowly avoiding destruction.

“Oh, looks like he’s not showing you much respect,” Old Liu muttered, dropping low and darting swiftly beside the soldier. His Thin-Face Blade was aimed squarely at the soldier’s wrist, the one gripping the halberd. However, as his blade swept across the hand, it provoked a violent eruption of yellow sand from the surroundings. It turned out the soldier was merely a tangible mass of earth and sand, not a true living being; its entire form was composed of the surrounding grit and was impervious to conventional attack.

“Whoosh!” The soldier’s wrist, instantly severed by the blade, reformed just as rapidly from accumulating sand. Seemingly angered, it lowered the halberd and lunged, aiming to pierce Old Liu’s back.

Sensing disaster, Ye Xiu darted forward, his sickle snapping into place to firmly block the spear. But the soldier’s strength was immense; this single thrust, even blocked by the sickle, forced Ye Xiu down onto one knee, grinding his teeth. “Damn it, quickly disable him!”

Old Liu seized the moment, leaping up to snatch the pouch hooked on the halberd’s tine. He spun around and flung his Thin-Face Blade at the soldier’s chest. The blade plunged in, knocking loose several pounds of sand, but Old Liu was not deterred. He immediately summoned the Seven Swords of Demon Breaking, viciously stabbing toward the soldier’s legs, which instantly shattered him into flying dust.

“Hoo…” Seeing the halberd’s force wane, Ye Xiu sprang back up. The jade ring on his finger began to glow once more. As the headless soldier dispersed, streaks of yellow souls drifted into the air.

“Master, let me absorb them!” Su Su activated her ability, once again using the jade ring as a nexus to inhale the yellow souls. She grinned slyly at Ye Xiu. “These are Power Souls. We just used up most of the Speed Souls, so using Power Souls to empower the sickle will greatly increase its penetration!”

Hearing Su Su’s explanation, Ye Xiu brought the jade ring close to his sickle. A burst of yellow radiance shot from the ring into the blade, causing the entire sickle to radiate a celestial glow. Unable to resist, Ye Xiu brought the sickle down with tremendous force into the center of the clearing, cleaving open a bottomless fissure.

“Whooo...” An endless wind surged from the rift, and all the flying sand stirred up by the sickle rushed toward it. A gigantic hand, composed entirely of sand and earth, suddenly shot out and slammed down in front of Old Liu.

“Damn it, trying to kill me!” Old Liu stumbled backward, rolling clear. He gasped for breath, his scalp tingling as he stared at the massive limb. “Look what good deed you’ve done; what kind of monster have you summoned now?”

“I’m afraid there’s more than one monster…” Ye Xiu pointed to the surrounding scene. Emerging along with the colossal earthen arm were rows of headless soldiers from the training ground, all clad in leather scraps, each gripping a gleaming halberd whose points were aimed directly at Old Liu. “Is this the work of the talisman? Their target seems to be you.”

Old Liu realized this too, but even in this perilous situation, he refused to discard the pouch. Suddenly, Old Liu leaped high, his hands sweeping upward to command the seven swords behind him, sending them soaring into the sky. After he chanted a few words, the seven swords zipped across the entire scene at incredible speeds. The headless soldiers and the giant hand were all beaten back into fragments of sand, and in an instant, the entire clearing darkened, losing all sight of the sky.

Ye Xiu turned his back, sweeping the mist before him with his eyes, inwardly cursing Old Liu for going too far—taking someone’s property and then wrecking their ancestral home. “Acting so arrogant just because you have a few broken swords…”

“Hahahaha, now you’ll see how powerful I am!” Old Liu descended triumphantly from the sky, but the instant his feet touched the ground, a massive greatsword pressed heavily against his back. Through the swirling grey dust and smoke, a headless figure in heavy armor, resembling a general, materialized steadily beside the stone table.

“Hand over the pouch immediately, or this greatsword will take your life.” A crisp, small voice pierced through the dust. On the table, a blue-haired girl in a playfully demure dress stood, wagging her right hand as if manipulating an invisible substance that controlled the headless general. “I don’t care who you two are; that pouch is mine.”

Old Liu froze, too terrified to move. Though the general was made of dust, the sword’s weight pinned him to the ground. The renowned successor of the Ancient Dao arts might actually die at the hands of a mere girl. “Let’s talk this over peacefully. Whatever you want, I can give you.”

Ye Xiu turned back to look at the girl. While this girl lacked the willfulness of Hong Ling, the allure of Mo Xi, or the sensuality of Su Su, her attire made her look small and captivating—with large eyes and a round face, revealing tiny canine teeth when she spoke.

“Bring it up here for me…” The girl extended her other hand, wiggling her fingers as if summoning something. Suddenly, a column of sand erupted beside Old Liu, instantly coalescing into the form of another headless soldier. With its halberd, it precisely hooked the pouch from Old Liu’s trouser pocket. After steadily handing the pouch to the girl, it dissolved back into a pile of grey dust.