Prelude on Bích Hải Island
The moon hung suspended high in the heavens, its silvery glow spilling onto the rippling sea. The sound of waves lapping the shore softly echoed like the gentle sighs of lost spirits in the night.
Quang Minh sat at the edge of a rocky cliff, his broken sword resting across his knees. Drops of seawater still clung to the blade, glittering like tears. The sea breeze tossed his hair wildly, and his eyes gazed out toward the vast ocean, deep as if trying to pierce the very vault of heaven.
From behind, Bích Thủy approached, her azure robe fluttering lightly. Her voice was soft as night rain:
"Senior brother… I just heard war drums. Is the martial world on the brink of some great upheaval?"
Quang Minh was silent for a moment, then sighed:
"Lê Hoàng Tử is surely making his move. He will not let the Dragon Soul Diagram slip from the grasp of the Lục Phong Sect. Chaos will soon sweep across Đại Việt."
Bích Thủy looked at him, worry clouding her beautiful eyes:
"Is there… truly no way for us to avoid this?"
Quang Minh gripped his sword tightly:
"There's no place for bystanders in this martial world."
An Unexpected Ambush
Before he could finish, the sound of air splitting suddenly rose behind them. Bích Thủy barely gasped when five shadowy figures descended upon them, black robes billowing like bats in the night.
Leading them was none other than Hắc Bào Tôn Giả, one of the four guardian elders of the Lục Phong Sect. He was tall and thin, with sunken eyes and a perpetual sinister smile curled on his lips.
Hắc Bào Tôn Giả chuckled coldly:
"Nguyễn Quang Minh, where is the Dragon Soul Diagram? Hand it over, and I might spare your life."
Quang Minh gave a frosty smile:
"You want the Dragon Soul Diagram? Then come and take it—if you have the skill."
Hắc Bào Tôn Giả flicked his sleeve. At once, four black-clad men surged forward to encircle Bích Thủy, blades flashing like shooting stars.
Bích Thủy drew her sword, the blade quivering and singing like a silver bell. She shouted:
"If you want to take my life, step over my corpse first!"
The Battle Erupts
Hắc Bào Tôn Giả laughed coldly, thrusting his palm forward. A wave of black energy, reeked of a foul, rotting stench, swept toward them like a raging tide.
Quang Minh swept up his broken sword to block it. The shimmering blade glimmered like mercury, meeting the dark wave head-on.
"BOOM!" Both men staggered back three paces, cracks splitting the stone underfoot. Sea winds whirled the white sand into blinding clouds.
Bích Thủy fought fiercely as she retreated, but the four black-robed attackers pressed her relentlessly, their blades flashing like a net of steel. Her robe was slashed in several places, blood soaking into the torn silk.
Quang Minh's eyes blazed with fury, and he roared:
"NO ONE TOUCHES HER!"
Drawing a deep breath, he channeled his energy into his dantian. His left hand swept outward, and sea water condensed into a blade over a zhang long, gleaming under the moonlight.
The Third Massive Explosion of Power
"BEHOLD MY STRIKE—CONDENSING FROST INTO RAIN!"
He swept the watery sword in a wide arc. Thousands of tiny water droplets sprayed out, transforming into a storm of icy needles, shooting directly toward the black-clad assassins.
Bích Thủy quickly pulled back out of range. In the moonlight, countless white icy needles sparkled like silver dust, piercing through the dense wall of blades. Blood sprayed in crimson arcs as four men collapsed to the ground without a single cry.
Hắc Bào Tôn Giả's face twisted in shock. With a long scream, he vaulted into the air three zhang high, his black-clad sleeves unfurling like a raven's wings.
"BRAT! TASTE MY HẮC SÁT VÔ ẢNH CHƯỞNG!"
His palm strike tore through the night air, sending a wave of black energy crashing down on Quang Minh. Beneath the moonlight, shadows spread across the ground like creeping death, cold as an underworld gale.
Quang Minh drew a deep breath. In that instant, he let go of the watery sword, sweeping all murderous thoughts from his mind.
His right hand formed a mystical seal, from which a chilling white mist streamed forth.
"BOOM!" The two forces collided violently. Waves towered as high as mountains, and the moonlight was swallowed in a blizzard of sea spray.
Hắc Bào Tôn Giả shrieked in agony, his body hurled off the cliffs into the ocean, disappearing amid the boiling silver waves.
After the Explosion
The ocean still roared in fury. Quang Minh collapsed to one knee on the rocks, panting, his face pale as paper. Sweat streamed down his brow like rain.
Bích Thủy ran to his side and caught him, her voice trembling:
"Senior brother… are you all right?"
Quang Minh looked at her, blood staining the corner of his mouth, but his eyes still blazing with defiance:
"I'm fine… Bích Thủy, listen to me… if anything happens to me, you must leave the martial world. Don't let the Lục Phong Sect ever find you…"
Tears spilled from Bích Thủy's eyes, falling like a rainstorm:
"I'm not leaving! Even if I die in this martial world… I'll stay by your side!"
A Mysterious Figure Emerges
Just then, soft applause echoed through the night. A solitary figure stepped out from the shadows, cloaked in a flowing black robe, a jade pendant shaped like a coiling dragon hanging from his wrist.
He spoke with a chilling smile:
"Well done, Nguyễn Quang Minh. I didn't expect you to master the Divine Art of Transforming into a Dragon to such a level. But… it's still not enough to defeat me."
Quang Minh lifted his gaze, eyes gleaming with cold vigilance:
"Who are you?"
The black-robed man pulled back his hood, revealing a pale, almost translucent face, with eyes sharp as blades:
"They call me… Long Ảnh Chủ."
Suddenly, the roaring waves fell silent. The entire island seemed wrapped in an eerie, deathly stillness. Moonlight fell across Quang Minh's face, illuminating eyes filled both with burning resolve and exhausted sorrow.
Quang Minh whispered:
"Long Ảnh Chủ… at last you appear."
Far off, the war drums boomed once more, deep and relentless as the breath of an oncoming storm.