The Stars Beyond

Chapter 33: Shortcut To The Inner Landscape

Chapter 33: Shortcut To The Inner Landscape

The two male assassins, both around forty years of age, bore unremarkable faces. They were practitioners of Iron Sand Palm martial arts with bulky frames. But it was their right hands that stood out most. They had once been massive, but now they were a bloodied mess. They had honed their physical skills for over thirty years, and had just begun to feel a sense of extraordinary accomplishment by this age. Yet they were defeated by a young man in his early twenties. It was a reality that was hard for them to swallow.

Not far away, the female assassin had regained consciousness. Her face and arms throbbed with pain. Wang Xuan walked over to her, grabbed her, and broke her other arm as well with a crisp snap. The pain nearly made her scream out loud.

Wang Xuan thought to himself, All three of them are desperados. They’re killers. If he had not incapacitated them, there was no telling what other tricks they might pull. They might suddenly draw a gun or attempt to knock him out with some sort of poison.

His caution did not go unnoticed by the trio, who now saw him as an increasingly formidable force, a monster who treated human lives as disposable.

"End it quickly," rasped one of the Iron Sand Palm practitioners. His voice was hoarse, and his body was riddled with fractures as he was left sprawled on the ground. He had barely any energy left.

"Which organization do you belong to?" Wang Xuan asked.

"Ashen Blood," surprisingly, the man on the ground responded willingly. He did not attempt to conceal the information.

Wang Xuan's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he was somewhat surprised. The man was unexpectedly cooperative; he had not expected such open disclosure of his background.

In truth, the assassins trained in Iron Sand Palm were unnerved. Having witnessed Wang Xuan's casual brutality—breaking arms, and disfiguring the once-attractive face of the female assassin—they believed he could be exceedingly savage. Fearing further suffering, they figured they might as well come clean. After all, they held no secrets that could jeopardize the Ashen Blood organization.

The trio answered every question posed to them. They were not die-hard loyalists, but assassins who acted solely for payment. Their allegiance was never absolute.

The Ashen Blood organization had suffered heavy losses tonight as their strongholds in the old territories had been taken down one by one. Still, some members remained hidden and unscathed. The three had been tasked to kill Wang Xuan amid the chaos of that night. Regardless of the outcome, they had been instructed not to act recklessly come morning.

Wang Xuan's expression remained impassive. The upheaval in the Old World had had its intimidating effect, but the audacity of these assassins to target him on this final night was outrageous. Do they really think of me as a weakling?

"Indeed, someone has upped the bounty on your head, but we truly do not know who," one of the assassins admitted.

After receiving their orders, they were merely responsible for carrying out the assassination. They had no way of knowing who was behind the staggering amount of bounty for Wang Xuan's life.

As for the inner workings of the higher echelons of the Ashen Blood organization, they were completely out of the loop. The organization was compartmentalized. Security was tight, and there were many fail-safes in place. Even if a large number of their assassins were captured, it would not disrupt the operations of the Ashen Blood.

Targeted time and again, even the meekest of men would reach their breaking point. Wang Xuan was no exception. He was growing increasingly intolerant of being the continual target of the Ashen Blood organization at the behest of some unseen mastermind.

He looked at the trio sprawled helplessly on the ground, and raised his hand to deliver blows that would end their lives. But ultimately, his hand did not fall.

Wang Xuan knew full well that these three were merely tools of murder. They were far removed from the mastermind orchestrating this vendetta. Killing them would neither affect that shadowy figure nor significantly impact the Ashen Blood organization.

When the assassination attempt had occurred, Wang Xuan’s heart had been filled with rage. But his murderous intent faded away as he slowly calmed down. Upon reflection, the idea of executing the assassins in his own residence seemed distasteful. It would soak his place of living in blood. That was why he hesitated.

"Where are the people who were sent to kill me last time?" Wang Xuan inquired.

"They've retreated. One of them is now in a coma, and another is barely hanging on to life with an artificial heart. Their lives are as good as over," replied one of the Iron Sand Palm-trained assassins. Even this middle-aged man, known for his cold-bloodedness, felt a shiver crawl down his spine when he considered the fates of his predecessors. The young man standing before him was truly a force to be reckoned with, his actions inducing not just fear, but sheer terror.

Wang Xuan felt a tinge of surprise. The stone he had thrown last time had caved in one assassin's forehead, turning him into a vegetative state. Another had suffered a torn heart due to a steel rod impaling him, yet had somehow survived.

"Well, at least I've never taken a life yet," Wang Xuan mused. To the three assassins, this statement was anything but benign. They even thought he was being sarcastic.

Wang Xuan looked down at them and suggested, "Why don't the three of you take your own lives? Or perhaps assist each other in doing so."

The color drained from the assassins' faces, their bodies tensing in terror. Is that a joke?

Wang Xuan was not even willing to get his hands dirty; he was making them consider killing each other or themselves. He was undoubtedly a ruthless person.

Of course, they had misunderstood him. Wang Xuan genuinely had no desire to kill, but he also felt that he could not be overly merciful when facing down the individuals, who moments ago, were attempting for his life.

Frozen on the ground, the trio simply did not know what to do next. Should we really end it ourselves? The thought was profoundly disheartening. They still believed that Wang Xuan, a dangerous man in their eyes, would have other ways of making them suffer.

"Forget it, I can't bring myself to do it," Wang Xuan finally said, sighing and shaking his head. "After all, I've never killed anyone and don't wish to make an exception now."

Wang Xuan’s words were like a ray of sunshine had suddenly pierced through the dark clouds looming over the trio’s lives. Could destiny really take such a favorable turn?

He glanced at them and said, "What are you thinking? Your hands are stained with the blood of others. To let you go would be to condone evil. I won't give you another chance to commit murder. I’m simply leaving you to the professionals."

He immediately contacted Qing Mu to handle the situation. After all, disposing of the bodies of the three men would be a problem, and he had always been a law-abiding citizen.

The assassins on the ground felt their hope rise, only to be dashed moments later. The emotional whiplash was torturous. They were convinced that Wang Xuan was a dangerous man who was merely toying with their emotions as some form of cruel sport. It was even worse than if he had killed them outright. He was truly a mastermind at psychological manipulation.

Wang Xuan remained oblivious to their internal turmoil. He simply sighed, "I'm still too soft, aren't I?"

Upon hearing this, the trio felt even more terrible. It was as if they had plummeted into hell. They became increasingly convinced that they were dealing with the Devil himself.

Qing Mu arrived in person upon receiving the message, clearly angered. He had recently spoken to Wang Xuan about the Ashen Blood organization being uprooted in the Old World and advised him that everyone would have to keep a low profile.

"Is this their final act of insanity, or have they just become overly arrogant?" Qing Mu thought when he found out that the Ashen Blood organization had made another attempt on Wang Xuan's life on this final night.

Upon entering the room and seeing the situation, Qing Mu grinned, "Wow, Little Wang, you really did a number on them. What did you do to that female assassin's face?"

"Why don't you give them a quick end?" he suggested.

"I've never taken a life before," Wang Xuan firmly declined.

Sucking his teeth in irritation, Qing Mu replied, "Fine, I'll interrogate them myself and then take care of it."

With a wave of his hand, a few people came in to remove the three assassins. They also professionally cleaned the room, removing all traces of blood.

Wang Xuan asked him about the silver beastskin scroll he had acquired during his last adventure on Qingcheng Mountain. He wanted to know if its value had been assessed, and when he would receive his compensation. Qing Mu had mentioned that the beastskin scroll was too astonishing a discovery, far surpassing the usual findings of their expeditions. According to the organization's internal rules, there would be additional rewards.

"No, it's still being deciphered. The strange symbols on it have stumped our group of experts. “Why? Are you in need of money right now?" Qing Mu looked puzzled.

Wang Xuan sighed, "You see, the landlord said that this desk is made of mahogany. I'm just a recent graduate who hasn't even received his first monthly paycheck. I can't afford to pay for the damages."

Qing Mu looked at Wang Xuan's serious expression, then at the three paralyzed assassins who were being dragged away. He was speechless. The situation was strangely incongruent.

"Fine, I'll lend you some for now." Qing Mu asked Wang Xuan for his account information and then turned to ask, "Haven't you thought of other ways to get money? You could have had those assassins transfer funds to you."

Wang Xuan responded, "I'm afraid of attracting attention from the authorities. I don't want any illegal money flowing into my account. Everything I have must be earned legitimately."

"You're something else," Qing Mu slapped him on the shoulder, completely at a loss for words, and left the room with his team.

Left alone in the room, Wang Xuan cleaned up and muttered to himself, "I hope those two Ascension Stones don't disappoint me."

It was precisely because he had recently mastered the Golden Body Technique, and thus had sufficient strength, that he had been able to subdue the three powerful assassins so easily.

"What the future holds, I don't know. But I must rise swiftly to calmly face all challenges ahead, including the Ashen Blood organization," Wang Xuan mused. "If I become powerful enough to make them fearful, they might even willingly expose their backer to me."

He believed that, at all times, his true power should exceed what others expect of him. This would allow him to better protect himself and be more efficient when it comes to dealing with enemies.

Wang Xuan held the two Ascension Stones in his hands with a smile, full of expectations and hopes for a pleasant surprise. The room was silent. Mysterious energies from the Ascension Stones surged into Wang Xuan's body, nourishing his mind and rejuvenating his bones and muscles.

Soon after, he found himself once again near the edge of the Inner Landscape, albeit quite blurry. He longed to approach it. Even though he had not activated his Hyper Perception today, he could still see that desolate land through the power of the Ascension Stones.

Wang Xuan was incredibly eager. If he could enter that place again, there was no doubt that it would be a significant gain for him. However, even though his spirit was vibrant and he was currently utilizing the core technique from the Early Qin practitioners, he was still unable to get close to that elusive territory.

Though he could see it, Wang Xuan felt a persistent distance separating him from that elusive place.

"Crack!"

With no hesitation, Wang Xuan crushed one of the Ascension Stones. A surge of potent mystical energies instantly enveloped him, and he found the distance to the Inner Landscape closing dramatically—it was almost within arm's reach now.

"Crack!"

He shattered the other Ascension Stone just as decisively, and was swathed in an even thicker cloud of mystical energies.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Xuan found himself within the Inner Landscape. He had truly succeeded. However, he noted that this Inner Landscape appeared slightly different from the one he had accessed previously.