The beautiful figure inside the stone pavilion, who had remained calm all along, suddenly stood up from the chair upon witnessing the scene. Her face turned gloomy with anger as she stared at the disciples of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion falling one after another near the distant wall.
Even Elara, who had only come into contact with the Heavenly Craft Pavilion today, could see it clearly. Someone had silently tampered with the traps in this secret courtyard!
The mechanisms of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion were known as the finest in the continent. For them to be controlled and altered without even the Pavilion disciples noticing, there was only one possibility.
A traitor existed within the Pavilion!
This traitor not only leaked all the secrets of the mechanisms in the courtyard but even colluded with outsiders to kill the beautiful figure in the pavilion!
In less than two seconds, all the defense mechanisms the disciples had activated—originally meant to fend off enemies from outside—turned inward, becoming accomplices that struck at their true master.
This once elegant and refined secluded residence instantly turned into a deadly, self-contained slaughterhouse.
The people of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion were skilled in all sorts of mechanism techniques, capable of crafting terrifying weapons.
But those talented creators within the Pavilion generally lacked high martial prowess!
Just like the people of the Divine Doctor Valley.
The more one devoted themselves to the study of intricate mechanisms, the less time they had to train their body or cultivate martial skills.
Now, the powerful trap mechanisms around the courtyard, which were supposed to protect them, had turned against them! Within moments, more than half of the disciples inside the pavilion had been slain!
In the central courtyard, the beautiful Pavilion Master was also being forced back several steps by the mechanisms now running amok and turning against him.
He had become one of the Pavilion Masters at a young age. That meant he was one of the most gifted among their geniuses. Since childhood, he had immersed himself in mechanical studies. Though he had internal energy and martial skills, he wasn't skilled in combat.
He had only decided to leave the Pavilion for this outing that very afternoon, never expecting such a major crisis. He hadn't prepared for this.
Now he was forced into a corner by mechanisms he had once crafted with his own hands. His face burned with increasing fury.
And as the screams of the disciples echoed ceaselessly in his ears, he began to throw one self-defense device after another from his robes. While protecting himself, he also tossed them toward the remaining disciples to shield them.
But the assassination attempt tonight had clearly been long in the making. Just as the Pavilion Master and the remaining disciples managed to survive the internal barrage of hidden darts, a new rain of arrows came flying from outside the courtyard!
At the same time, more than ten masked assassins silently climbed over the wall and charged toward the Pavilion Master with blades drawn.
Elara and Uno were hiding in a corner of the courtyard, managing to avoid most of the incoming darts.
But as the scene became more chaotic, Elara's brows furrowed even tighter.
She was the one who had invited this Pavilion Master out tonight!
They had been so close to reaching an agreement. If he died suddenly like this, wouldn't all her previous efforts be in vain?
More importantly, if the Pavilion Master were really assassinated by another force, those assassins who only dared strike at night could very well shift the blame onto her! Or worse, the Heavenly Craft Pavilion might believe she was in league with them! In that case, her situation wouldn't just be a wasted effort. She could end up being hunted by a top-tier power on the continent. The consequences would be dire.
Thinking of this, Elara's brows tightened even more. She quickly made a decision in her heart and whispered to Uno behind her, "Uno, sneak out and see which direction offers the easiest escape. Don't attract their attention. Wait for my signal."
Uno seemed to have already guessed what she was planning. But even though Elara's martial prowess now ranked among the best on the continent, Uno had never seen his carefully guarded master willingly walk into danger.
His hands around her tightened slightly. His eyes stared fixedly at her. His lips pressed together, and for once, he didn't immediately obey her command.
Elara looked at his face, knowing he was worried. She raised her hand and pinched his cheek. The two were so close that she was practically in his arms. She gently lifted her face, letting her nose brush lightly against his, her voice soft but firm:
"Go, Uno. We can't afford mistakes at a time like this. If something goes wrong, the consequences will be even worse. None of us can bear that. Be good. Don't worry about me. Go now."
Uno's body tensed at the gentle touch of her nose, but when he met Elara's serious gaze, he pressed his lips tightly together. Finally, he forced himself to let go, gave her one last look, and disappeared behind her.
Elara turned her gaze back to the courtyard, where the beautiful Pavilion Master had been forced into a corner by hidden arrows. His once elegant deep-blue robe was now stained with blood.
Elara's eyes grew cold and sharp. Her slender body, hidden behind the plants, slowly tightened into the stance of a drawn bow ready to strike.
She had never used her martial skills to save someone before.
But no matter what, this beautiful Pavilion Master must not die today.
There were far fewer of them.
The assassins kept coming from all directions. Even if they managed to break through the mechanisms, they could not get past Elara and Uno's defenses.
So gradually, as time went on, the number of attackers finally started to decrease.
From behind another mountain in the distance, faint rumbling sounds could be heard.
"My brother is here! You two just hang in there a little longer!"
Zishu Jingming's voice rang out behind them. But just as his words fell, the assassins who had already been badly wounded by the traps and by Elara and Uno suddenly charged forward like they had lost their minds!
Their inner strength and martial arts power surged all at once, as if they had taken some kind of drug! Each of their strength levels suddenly rose to nearly ninety percent of Elara's, and they charged forward with their blades like a swarm of ants, dense and relentless!
Elara's heart went cold. She shouted for Uno and told him to immediately take a few of the pills Oswyn had given them that could quickly replenish physical strength and restore inner power. Then she used the Holy Spirit Blood Amber to command him to prioritize protecting his own life. Only after that should he use his remaining strength to hold off the enemy.
She did the same herself. After reserving some inner power, she pulled out the medicine pouch Oswyn had prepared for her and took a few pills. Then she reached behind her waist and drew out the long spear she had been carrying folded on her back. She quickly assembled it. Her fair palm gripped the spear tightly, and she was fully ready to unleash her power.
It had to be said that with the strong inner power accumulated through Oswyn's and the Divine Healer Valley's various medicines, and her three months of intense training, when Elara gripped her long spear and activated her inner force, the assassins surging toward her in droves were once again blocked outside. No matter how hard they tried, they could not break through her defense. On the contrary, they were counter-killed by her strikes.
The spear in Elara's hand was taller than she was. The slender weapon twirled in her palm with more speed, precision, and decisiveness than any martial arts master she had ever seen in her past life.
She had mainly learned her spear skills from Francis and had even mastered the Qi family's ancestral spear technique within those three months.
The Qi family spear technique was made for battlefield slaughter. Faced with this many assassins, it became particularly effective in her hands.
With a swing of her spear powered by inner force, assassins all around were thrown off their feet in waves.
As Elara fought, she began to feel a surge of excitement. Since mastering martial arts and inner power, this was the first time she had fought so freely and without reservation.
Whenever she got tired, she would pull out more of Oswyn's pills. Uno guarded her side, blocking those trying to launch sneak attacks, and they had Lucian's mechanisms aiding them from behind.
This wave of the assassins' offensive was entirely blocked by them. Not a single one broke through their defense.
In the distance, the approaching movement had grown much closer in just a short time.
Aid from the Heavenly Craft Pavilion was nearly there.
But just as Elara and Lucian were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a jarring sense of danger suddenly surged through Elara's heart. It was something she hadn't foreseen.
The next moment, in the valley nestled between two great mountains, the air that had been calm suddenly began to stir.
A fierce wind blew from behind the assassin horde, and with it came a smoke-like white mist.
"Master, this is bad. It's deadly poison. Even someone with strong inner power will die instantly upon contact."
The System's urgent warning exploded in Elara's mind.
As it spoke, Elara had already lunged toward Uno, wrapped her arms around his head, and pressed it into her chest to shield him. She held her breath and suppressed her energy.
As the wind filled with white mist blew past, the assassins rushing toward them all collapsed one after another. Within seconds, they were bleeding from every orifice, convulsing violently, and dead.
The assassins who had just been attacking like a tidal wave now fell like dominoes.
Elara held Uno tightly, her gaze heavy as she stared at the scene.
To kill one director of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion, they were willing to sacrifice hundreds of professional assassins. They would rather all die than let him live.
The wind thick with white mist hit Elara's face and even entered her lungs. But aside from a burning sensation in her airways, it had no other effect on her.
Thanks to Oswyn's nurturing, Elara's body was already immune to all poisons.
No toxin could penetrate the body that had been carefully fortified with the Divine Healer Valley's sacred pills and daily treatments.
As the mist passed, Elara didn't release Uno. She was about to cut her hand to feed him her blood when Uno grabbed her wrist. With a slightly flushed face and ears, he lifted his head from her embrace and spoke in a low voice.
"Master, I'm fine. Don't you remember? You gave us your blood months ago. And with the awakening of the Holy Spirit Blood Amber in your body, our constitution is now similar to yours. This poison can't hurt me."
Elara was stunned, then suddenly remembered that she had indeed consulted Oswyn about strengthening the Wei family's bodies. Oswyn told her that their physiques were now nearly identical to hers. As long as she was safe, they would be as well.
Elara let out a breath of relief, loosening her hold on Uno. Then she instantly recalled that the person they were protecting now was the man behind them.
But when she turned around, Lucian was already lying on the ground, blood continuously dripping from the corners of his mouth.
She quickly rushed over and half-lifted his upper body. She took out her dagger and still sliced her fingertip open, then shoved her bleeding finger into Lucian's mouth, forcing him to drink her blood.
Lucian's body also seemed to have a degree of poison resistance. At least while the other assassins had died instantly, he managed to hold on. Though blood leaked from his mouth, he hadn't bled from every orifice.
Elara didn't care about the surprise and confusion in his weak gaze. She pried open his mouth and forced him to suck on her finger.
"My blood can cure poison."
Lucian, held in her arms, understood her words. His Adam's apple moved faintly, his pale face filled with complicated emotion. Then he weakly used his tongue to gently wrap around Elara's finger, slowly drawing in her blood.
Seeing him start to drink willingly, Elara breathed a little easier.
With his body's resistance and her blood, even if he didn't recover quickly, at least his condition wouldn't worsen.
But just as she thought that, a sudden sharp pain shot through her fingertip.
Lucian had started biting her.