Yu Furen felt a slight chill in his heart. This Five Star Formation was shrouded in various legends—he had only heard his master mention it and had never seen it with his own eyes. What exactly was this fragrant air in the formation? Was someone hiding here, or was it some strange poison? Just as he was concentrating his attention, suddenly flames rose at the five star points before his eyes. In an instant, he was already trapped in a sea of fire! With a thunderous shout, Yu Furen leaped up, his sleeves stirring up a swift wind as he rushed toward the center of the five stars where the fragrance was strongest.

Tang Lici stood outside the formation, his eyes moving slightly. Something was wrong! He saw flames suddenly burst two zhang high from the Five Star Formation. Yu Furen thrust both palms forward into the formation, but with a cracking sound as if something had shattered, the fragrant air intensified greatly and, ignited by the surrounding flames, exploded. Yu Furen’s whole body caught fire and was blown skyward by the thunderous explosion. Tang Lici followed like a shadow, catching Yu Furen in one swift motion, then flew horizontally backward, leaving the Five Star Formation.

The flames on Yu Furen’s body were immediately extinguished. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and his face was pale. The flames in the formation weren’t particularly fierce—what was fierce was that instantaneous explosive force that had injured his internal organs. “Young Master Tang… this formation defies the five elements and is extremely powerful…”

Tang Lici reached into his robes, took out a white pill, and put it in Yu Furen’s mouth, then pressed something into Yu Furen’s palm. “First apply medicine to yourself, then sit aside and meditate to regulate your breathing.”

Yu Furen was shocked. “What do you intend to do?” This formation was so powerful—hadn’t he seen the cautionary example? Was he going to charge into the formation alone again?

Tang Lici smiled slightly. “This is a pentagram. Drawing from the top point to the lower right in one stroke creates a summoning technique to summon fire spirits. The five-pointed shape in the center is a demon’s gate that imprisons demons. So when you walked toward the top point, the formation caught fire. When you rushed toward the center, it exploded. The pentagram follows the ending stroke as its standard—lower right is fire, upper right is water, lower left is earth, upper left is wind, and the top point is spirit. So drawing from the lower left starting point to the top point creates the closing form that allows one to exit the formation.”

He leaped onto the upper left star point and walked along the star-drawing path, indeed passing safely to the opposite top point, then returned. “How about that?”

Yu Furen was both surprised and delighted, but full of doubts. “But didn’t you say you don’t understand formations? This formation is so peculiar—why do you know it so thoroughly?”

Tang Lici stood in the night wind, his white robes fluttering. Though he stood close, in Yu Furen’s eyes he seemed distant and ethereal. He heard him say, “This isn’t a formation—it’s a kind of legend. Western Region people believe this pattern can prevent the invasion of demons, ghosts, and spirits, and can seal demons in the center of the five-pointed star, so it’s widely circulated. Each point of the five-pointed star represents a different power, and this so-called ‘formation’ is merely trying to express the meaning conveyed by the Western Region pentagram. When you rushed into the formation and triggered the flame power, it told me the direction each point represents. Knowing the direction, I know the way out.”

Yu Furen sighed. “If not for your broad learning and extensive knowledge, everyone would be rushing around blindly in the formation and inevitably die under strange mechanisms. But why do you understand Western Region legends so well?”

Tang Lici’s lips curved slightly. “You may admire me.”

Yu Furen was startled, then suddenly laughed freely. Speaking of admiration, he truly felt a bit of admiration rising. Looking down at what Tang Lici had placed in his hand, it was a small box carved with golden dragons. Opening the lid, inside was some remaining black medicinal paste, which he immediately applied to the areas where he had been burned by flames. After a moment, Yu Furen finished applying the medicine and the paste in the box was used up. Tang Lici casually threw the exquisitely carved golden dragon box worth a considerable sum into the weeds, put his sleeves behind his back, and said, “Let’s go.”

The two passed through the Five Star Formation. On the other side was a river with a bridge spanning it.

“Easily passing the Five Star Formation—Tang Lici truly lives up to his reputation.” With a long laugh, a man wielding twin sabers walked imposingly from the other end of the bridge. “I am ‘Seven Yang Saber’ Helan Po. Though Young Master Tang is elegant and carefree, and I greatly admire your reputation, tonight I cannot let you pass. Please forgive me.”

This man had a square face with thick eyebrows, stood eight feet tall, and was dignified in appearance—clearly not some wretched, treacherous villain.

“Helan Po, the Seven Yang Saber’s might shakes the region, and you’re not a treacherous villain. Young Master Tang is an honored guest of the Central Plains Sword Society and a pillar of the martial world. You block the road in the dead of night—what is your purpose?” Yu Furen called out loudly. “For the sake of the Sword Society, please make way.”

Helan Po crossed his twin sabers. “I know Young Master Tang climbed the mountain in the dead of night to save someone. Being able to brave fire and water for friends is something I, Helan, greatly admire. But circumstances are unavoidable—tonight, this road cannot be yielded.”

Yu Furen’s brow furrowed deeply. “Since you know Young Master Tang came to save someone, why won’t you let him pass?”

Helan Po said, “In my life I have one great enemy—’Floating Ghost Shadow’ Yin Sanhun. Yin Sanhun killed my brothers, poisoned my wife and children, and stole my treasures. This enmity is irreconcilable. Now this person is imprisoned in the Camellia Prison of West Wind Garden. When Young Master Tang goes to save someone, you will surely break the prison. Besides Young Master Tang’s friend, there are many other martial world tyrants and treacherous thieves in the prison. Once the Camellia Prison is broken, the disaster will be endless, so—”

Yu Furen and Tang Lici exchanged glances. Tang Lici smiled. “I wonder who built this Camellia Prison and who is imprisoned within?”

Helan Po laughed heartily. “The Camellia Prison was left by the former martial world alliance leader Jiang Nanfeng. People in the martial world respect his achievements, so when they capture martial world criminals, they often imprison them in the Camellia Prison. The location of the Camellia Prison is secretive and originally few knew of it, but recently for some reason, the number of people who know about it has suddenly increased, and the number of prisoners held there is also growing.”

Tang Lici said gently, “But Chi Yun is definitely not a martial world criminal who should be imprisoned in the Camellia Prison. He was locked in the prison—don’t you have questions about this?”

Helan Po shook his head. “I’m not the one guarding the Camellia Prison, so I don’t know the details. We only know that we were notified that Young Master Tang would come to break the prison recently. The Camellia Prison allows entry but not exit—once the prison is broken, it cannot be remedied. So although I deeply admire Young Master Tang’s noble character and integrity, I cannot let numerous martial world criminals escape for the sake of one person’s mistake.” His eyes showed guilt. “We will find a way to handle Chi Yun’s matter, but tonight we absolutely cannot let Young Master Tang break the prison.”

Tang Lici’s white robes fluttered in the night wind, scattered silver hair rising at his temples. “Then can you tell me how he is now?”

Helan Po was startled. “This…” He had only learned of Chi Yun being in the Camellia Prison today and wasn’t clear on the exact situation. “As for why Chi Yun was imprisoned and how he is, I’m not very clear either. He should be fine.”

Tang Lici smiled slightly. “An innocent person—why was he imprisoned, how was he imprisoned, and how is he after imprisonment? You know none of this, yet you claim to uphold justice? How can such ambiguous martial world righteousness convince people? In the Camellia Prison, how many others suffer injustice like Chi Yun? Do you know?”

His tone was cultured and elegant, calm and composed, yet his words made Helan Po’s face change slightly. “This—”

Yu Furen said in a deep voice, “Seven Yang Saber, make way! I don’t want to fight you.”

Helan Po clashed his twin sabers together with a ringing sound. “Helan is deeply sorry, but if you insist on forcing your way through, I have no choice but to offend you.”

Yu Furen stepped forward. Though his azure robes were somewhat damaged from the fire, he still carried extraordinary bearing. “Then let me first experience the Ghost-Slaying Seven Yang Saber!”

Helan Po stopped being polite. His twin sabers, one front and one back, swept along the ground. The sound of the blades cutting through air was extremely loud, clearly showing his profound skill with the twin sabers was extraordinary.

Yu Furen stepped in the Seven Star pattern. Being wounded, he didn’t wait for prolonged combat but immediately used his ultimate technique—one palm strike “Primordial Chaos Dividing Forms” aimed at Helan Po’s chest. When the two clashed, the palm force met the twin sabers with crackling sounds like a cold blade inserted into an oil pot. Helan Po’s twin sabers danced with sweeping, open momentum and magnificent power. Yu Furen’s palm broke through both sabers, but unfortunately the palm force stopped just short of the chest, unable to advance another step to injure the enemy. Helan Po quickly withdrew his twin sabers and was about to secretly call out his luck when Yu Furen’s sleeve followed his palm, striking later but arriving first, lightly brushing against his chest. Helan Po froze, cried out loudly, spat fresh blood and fell backward.

As the sleeve wind settled, Yu Furen stood under the moon, truly distinguished and outstanding. Tang Lici clapped twice, smiled slightly, and without further concern for the unconscious Helan Po on the ground, took the lead in rushing into the dense forest behind the bridge. Yu Furen followed closely, worried in his heart—indeed as Tang Lici had predicted, the dungeon held not only Chi Yun but countless martial world criminals. These people were the mastermind’s hostages and leverage. Tonight’s meeting at the West Wind Garden Camellia Prison was extremely dangerous. Could the Camellia Prison be broken? If it couldn’t be broken, how could they save anyone? If it was broken, how would they handle the aftermath? Who exactly had captured Chi Yun and was able to imprison someone in the Camellia Prison?

Two rows of firelight appeared in the dense forest. Tang Lici was in front. With a “tap,” his left foot landed on the first torch on the left side. Yu Furen, startled, followed by stepping on the torch on the right. Both moved like lightning—after a series of wind sounds, all the torches in the forest were extinguished and darkness returned. Yu Furen estimated he had extinguished a total of twenty-three torches. These torches were stuck in the ground with no one guarding them—what was the purpose? While he was puzzled, figures suddenly appeared ahead, flipping and jumping about in considerable numbers. Yu Furen gathered his energy to strike, but felt a sharp pain in his chest—his internal injuries from earlier hadn’t healed, and his true power was unsteady. He heard a series of soft “pop pop” sounds by his ear. A white shadow seemed to turn several circles in the darkness, and the figures immediately stopped moving. Tang Lici laughed lightly. “Let’s go.”

Yu Furen followed behind him and saw more than ten black-clothed men holding black short knives frozen in place in the dense forest, their hands posed in various strange positions—clearly their acupoints had been struck. Tang Lici had struck out in the instant he extinguished the flames, disrupting the enemy formation, and could strike so fast and accurately—it was unimaginable. Cold sweat streamed down Yu Furen’s forehead. With Tang Lici’s martial arts, that he could injure him with a sword was even more unimaginable.

“Are you tired?” Tang Lici’s right hand supported him under the ribs, carrying him forward in swift flight. Yu Furen’s previously unsmooth internal breathing suddenly flowed freely, and his leaping momentum became fluid too. “No problem.”

Tang Lici supported him as they rose and fell in flight, saying nothing more, his movements rarely so neat and agile. The two had rushed less than a hundred zhang when suddenly sword light flashed—a sword slashed down from the dense forest directly at them. Strangely, though the sword momentum was treacherous, it was completely silent. Tang Lici flicked his sleeve, and the approaching sword was deflected to one side by his sleeve wind. Suddenly a second sword from the dense forest brought a shocking, sharp whistle, stabbing straight at Yu Furen’s chest—the attacker was actually wielding twin swords, and both sword blades were three feet longer than ordinary swords, causing the swords to emerge while the person remained unseen, still hidden in the forest.

Yu Furen hastily avoided one sword and cried out, “Divine Hymn Ghost Weeping Peerless Swords—it’s ‘Ghost God Twin Swords’ Lin Shuangshuang! Master Lin, why are you—” Before he could finish his sentence, a person leaped from the forest, holding a sword in each hand. The left-hand sword had a slender, light, soft blade that gleamed silver; the right-hand sword was blue-black in color with a broad blade containing three hollow rings—that strange sharp whistle came from this sword.

The person was called “Lin Shuangshuang”—like a woman’s name—and indeed had a pale face with delicate eyebrows, but his entire face was gloomy, so he could hardly be called handsome, much less elegant and distinguished. But don’t let this person’s strange demeanor fool you—he was ranked sixth in the Sword Society, his “Ghost God Twin Swords” shaking the martial world. Legend said that when both swords were deployed together, he had only been defeated once in total. Yu Furen was a junior in the Sword Society and had only seen Lin Shuangshuang once before. Suddenly seeing him appear to block the road, he couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

Lin Shuangshuang stared coldly at Tang Lici. “To break into the Camellia Prison, first become a ghost under my sword.”

Tang Lici reached into his robes and drew out a pink dagger—it was Xiao Tao Hong.

Lin Shuangshuang said, “I have twin swords, you have only one sword. If both of you come at me together, that would be even.”

He had hidden in the forest to launch sneak attacks, which originally damaged a master’s dignity, but now saying these words showed magnanimous bearing and high self-regard.

Tang Lici drew Xiao Tao Hong but held it out horizontally to Yu Furen with a slight smile. “Why does Ghost God Twin Swords block my path? The Central Plains Sword Society is facing turbulent times—as a senior ranked sixth in the Sword Society, why aren’t you at Haoyun Mountain?” His gentle questioning about ordinary matters carried implications sharp as knives.

Lin Shuangshuang said ominously, “Are you suspecting that I’m attacking the Central Plains Sword Society while it’s down, deliberately targeting you, Tang Lici?”

Tang Lici stepped forward and said softly, “Correct.”

Lin Shuangshuang pointed his sword toward the mountain peak and said coldly, “Do you know how many people are imprisoned in the prison?”

Tang Lici smiled beautifully and took another step, putting his sleeves behind his back and half-turning to look sideways at Lin Shuangshuang. “I don’t need to know how many people are imprisoned in the prison. I only need to see that you, Senior, appear so perfectly dressed and armed in this desolate mountain wilderness at such a midnight hour to know that you must be deliberately targeting Tang Lici—otherwise—could it be that Master Lin, Senior Lin, you’re guarding this godforsaken place where chickens don’t lay eggs and birds don’t shit purely as a hobby?” His sleeve behind his back shook slightly, the hem fluttering long in the wind. “Targeting Tang Lici—isn’t that attacking the Central Plains Sword Society while it’s down? And attacking the Sword Society while it’s down shows your interests align with the Elegant Shop…”

“Yellow-mouthed child, spouting nonsense!” Lin Shuangshuang said coldly. “Just based on your cunning ways, the Sword Society shouldn’t obey your commands! The Camellia Prison has held many criminals recently. I came to assist in guarding at the prison master’s request—what’s wrong with that?”

Tang Lici said gently, “Then who is the Camellia Prison master afraid might come to break the prison—that requires deploying someone of your caliber, Senior?”

With these words, Lin Shuangshuang was immediately speechless and angrily said, “You—”

Tang Lici smiled slightly. “I have divine foresight and am extraordinarily intelligent?”

As soon as these words left his mouth, Lin Shuangshuang’s left-hand silver sword thrust out, flicking toward Tang Lici’s chest, while his right-hand sword whistled with extremely mournful sound, swiftly attacking his throat!

Yu Furen gripped Xiao Tao Hong and changed color at the sight. He had witnessed Lin Shuangshuang’s twin sword power once before—it was comparable to Yu Qifeng in battle. Though his swordsmanship was superb, his power was divided in half between the twin swords, so the force of twin swords was inferior to a single sword, and he was defeated when Yu Qifeng broke his sword. But defeat didn’t mean Lin Shuangshuang’s swordsmanship wasn’t high—the Divine Hymn Ghost Weeping Peerless Swords were among the highest sword techniques in the world today! Left hand yin force, right hand yang force, with completely opposite internal powers that few in the world could match.

Tang Lici stood empty-handed, facing the fastest, most vicious sword sounds in the martial world that most disturbed one’s spirit. The silver sword suddenly flicked its blade and shot straight toward Lin Shuangshuang’s right-hand blue sword. Lin Shuangshuang urgently channeled his internal force, and the silver sword blade suddenly straightened. The twin sword assault was like rushing thunder and flashing lightning, already striking Tang Lici’s body! Tang Lici floated back in urgent retreat. Yu Furen’s palm gripping Xiao Tao Hong was covered in cold sweat. He saw the white shadow swaying, Lin Shuangshuang’s sword points like locusts urgently pursuing Tang Lici’s elusive figure. The sword wails sounded like weeping, with ghost cries and wolf howls, mournful sounds filling the sky. Leaves from surrounding trees rustled down like violent wind and urgent rain.

The leaves knocked down by the sword wind hurt to the bone when they hit the body. Tang Lici urgently retreated while Lin Shuangshuang attacked more and more fiercely. The twin swords divided yin and yang, and the more they fought the more they flowed like moving clouds and flowing water, with energy like a rainbow. Just when leaves danced wildly and sword energy was like dragons, suddenly an extremely sharp whistle sound broke through the air. Lin Shuangshuang cried out hoarsely and changed color, saying, “This is—”

Tang Lici gracefully turned around, holding a copper flute in his hand. The copper flute had just swept through the air with one sound, shattering the soul-stirring sword wail. That just an empty flute sweeping through wind could break sword wails naturally shocked Lin Shuangshuang. If he actually played it, what then? Immediately he increased the force of his twin swords, creating sounds of wind and thunder. Wild wind swept fiercely through the night sky as if twin dragons coiled and flowed, wanting to devour Tang Lici completely.