45: Chapter 45 Want to steal kills? First learn how to be a teammate.

He hadn't slept long, about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, when he was awakened by a piercing cold wind.

Outside the ice cave, the wind and snow had stopped, replaced by a deathly silence.

Shen Xiao stood up and stretched his stiff limbs. The wound on his back had scabbed over, but that was only on the surface; his internal Meridians were still in a semi-crippled state.

Xia Lengbai was already standing at the cave entrance, her back to him, her skirt fluttering slightly in the wind.

"Awake?" She didn't turn around, her voice devoid of emotion. "The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons is in the far south; crossing the Endless Forest is the fastest route."

"The Endless Forest?" Shen Xiao walked to her side, gazing at the endless expanse of black forest in the distance. "That place isn't exactly peaceful."

"So what? Do you have a better route?" Xia Lengbai finally turned her head, her eyes looking exceptionally cold and detached in the morning light. "Or, are you, Brother Shen, planning to take a three-month detour, letting Lin Yun digest the heart of the demon emperor in the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons?"

Shen Xiao was choked up by her words, rubbed his nose, and didn't say anything else.

The two set off immediately.

The border of the Endless Forest was at the end of the ice plains. After walking for less than half a day on the frozen, hard tundra, the scenery before them changed abruptly.

Those towering black trees were like pillars supporting the sky, their branches and leaves blocking out the sun. The forest was as dim as dusk, and the air was filled with a damp, decaying scent.

Shen Xiao walked in front, with Xia Lengbai three steps behind him, maintaining a distance that was neither intimate nor distant.

Less than a mile into the forest, the first wave of trouble arrived.

An iron-armored savage bear, the size of a small hill, suddenly lunged out from the bushes. Its body was covered in pitch-black scales, and its scarlet eyes stared fixedly at the two, drool hanging from its maw.

Shen Xiao didn't waste words; his figure flickered as he charged forward.

His fighting style had always been this way: if he had to fight, he would smash it to pieces, clean and efficient.

Even with injuries on his body, he was accustomed to using the most violent and direct method to solve problems, avoiding any drag.

The iron-armored savage bear was struck in the chest by his punch, its scales shattering. It let out a painful roar as its massive body staggered back a few steps.

Shen Xiao pressed his advantage, condensing Spiritual Qi in his palm into a long blade and hacking down relentlessly.

However, just as he was about to deliver the finishing blow, two more savage bears lunged out from the bushes on his left and right, pouncing at him.

Xia Lengbai stood in the rear, watching Shen Xiao instantly fall into the encirclement of three iron-armored savage bears, her brows furrowing slightly.

She tapped her fingertips lightly, and three ice walls were erected precisely beside Shen Xiao, blocking the pounces of the two bears on his left and right.

Immediately after, the power of frost spread from the ground, freezing the four legs of the three savage bears and restricting their movements.

Shen Xiao seized the Opportunity and severed the neck of the first savage bear with a single blade strike; fresh blood gushed out.

The remaining two savage bears had their lower limbs frozen and their movements hindered. Shen Xiao followed suit, and within a few breaths, he had slaughtered them all.

The battle ended quickly, but Xia Lengbai's expression was not pleasant.

"You are courting death." She walked to Shen Xiao's side, looking at the three bear corpses, her tone cold. "You could have clearly used your Divine Sense to scout the surroundings first and ensure there were no ambushes before acting, yet you insisted on rushing in like a brute."

Shen Xiao shook the blood off his blade and shrugged indifferently: "If you're going to fight, just fight; why so many twists and turns? Dragging it out only makes accidents more likely."

"Dragging it out?" Xia Lengbai sneered. "Do you know what would have happened if those two ambushers hadn't been frozen in time? You are still recovering from serious injuries, with less than thirty percent of your Peak Spiritual Qi. Once surrounded at close range by three Yao Beasts, you would be nothing but a pile of meat paste."

Shen Xiao was a bit annoyed by her retort, but he suppressed his temper and didn't argue with her.

He knew Xia Lengbai made sense, but he also had his own considerations. He was accustomed to using the most direct means to solve problems; that meticulous, step-by-step style was better suited for someone as delicate-minded as Xia Lengbai.

For the rest of the journey, the two's coordination remained bumpy.

When encountering a pack of Wind Wolves, Shen Xiao still charged first, using the most violent method to disrupt the wolf pack's formation.

Xia Lengbai, meanwhile, calmly set up frost traps behind him, freezing the Wind Wolves that attempted to flank them one by one.

The two had vastly different styles, but they happened to complement each other—one attacking, one controlling. Although their coordination was raw, they didn't have any major mishaps.

The only problem was that after every battle, Xia Lengbai would sarcastically mock him a few times.

"Brother Shen, do you think your life is particularly tough?" After another battle ended, Xia Lengbai squatted on a rock, using an ice shard to pick bloodstains from under her fingernails, saying without looking up, "In that last pack of wolves, if you had retreated one step later, your left leg would have been bitten off."

Shen Xiao sat on a tree root opposite, bandaging a scratch on his arm, and replied irritably: "If you had sealed the left flank earlier, I wouldn't have needed to retreat at all."

"I did seal it." Xia Lengbai looked up at him, her eyes calm. "But you charged too fast; I didn't have time to seal the second one."

The two looked at each other, seeing both dissatisfaction and helplessness in each other's eyes.

This problem of tacit understanding could not be solved in a day or two.

Three days later, the two finally walked out of the edge of the Endless Forest and arrived at a small town for Cultivators called "Falling Star Town".

The town was not big, but it was fully equipped, with inns, Spirit Medicine shops, markets, and even a bounty board.

Cultivators came and went in the town; most were Loose Cultivators out for training, but there were also a few Disciples wearing Sect attire.

As soon as Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai entered the town, they felt gazes coming from all directions.

There was no help for it; although their clothes had been simply treated, the luster and Spiritual Qi fluctuations unique to top-tier spiritual materials were hard to completely hide.

In a place like Falling Star Town, such attire was like scattering a handful of pearls in a dirt pile; it was hard not to attract attention.

Shen Xiao had intended to low-key resupply and leave, but after walking only a few steps, he saw a large crowd gathered in front of the bounty board, buzzing with discussion.

He curiously leaned in to take a look, and his pupils contracted slightly.

In the most prominent position on the bounty board was a portrait of him. In the painting, his face was sinister, his eyes fierce, and it was framed in blood red, clearly written:

"Shen Xiao, colluding with the Demonic Path, kidnapping the Saintess of the Qingming Sect, Xia Lengbai, guilty of heinous crimes. Anyone who can capture or kill him will be rewarded with one Heaven Rank Magic Treasure, one million Spirit Stones, and the right to select one Cultivation Technique from the Scripture Pavilion of the Qingming Sect."

The artistry was quite good; it captured his rogue-like demeanor vividly.

Next to it was a portrait of Xia Lengbai, but the style was completely different. In the painting, Xia Lengbai looked miserable, with tears in her eyes, wearing a plain white robe—the spitting image of a pitiful Saintess abducted by a villain.

The accompanying text was even more outrageous: "Saintess Xia is pure and chaste; to protect her purity, she would rather die than submit. She is currently trapped in the hands of the Devil Head Shen Xiao. All fellow righteous Sect members must make every effort to rescue her."

After reading it, Shen Xiao's mouth twitched.

He turned his head to look at Xia Lengbai beside him.

Xia Lengbai also saw the portrait, her eyes falling on the four words "pure and chaste." She was silent for a few seconds, then a curve slowly appeared at the corner of her mouth.

That smile was cold and piercing, carrying an indescribable sarcasm.

"Pure and chaste?" She softly repeated the two words, as if tasting something disgusting. "They are quite good at making things up."

Shen Xiao asked in a low voice: "In the eyes of the Qingming Sect, you are a victim right now. Do you want to rush out and shout for help? You might just get a hero-saves-the-beauty scenario."

Xia Lengbai glanced at him, her eyes carrying a hint of disdain: "Do you think I look like a victim?"

Shen Xiao looked at her expression, which looked like it could freeze him into an ice sculpture at any moment, and shook his head decisively.

The two didn't stay long in the town; they bought some dry rations and Medicinal Pills, then found a remote inn to settle down.

Closing the door, Xia Lengbai took out two crystal-clear glazed masks from her Storage Ring and handed one to Shen Xiao.

"Thousand Illusion Glazed Mask," she explained. "After putting it on, you can completely change your appearance and aura. Detection methods below the Heaven Rank cannot see through it at all."

Shen Xiao took the mask; it felt warm and smooth in his hand, like holding a piece of ice that had just melted.

The surface of the mask was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting his currently somewhat disheveled face.

Just as he was about to put it on his face, Xia Lengbai suddenly reached out and pressed his wrist.

"Wait."

Shen Xiao raised an eyebrow at her.

Xia Lengbai withdrew her hand, crossed her arms, and leaned against the window, looking at him with an amused gaze: "I can give you the mask, but I have a condition."

"What condition?"

"After we go to the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons, who will be in charge of the operation?" Xia Lengbai's voice was unhurried. "Our personalities are incompatible, and we lack coordination. If we encounter unexpected situations and have to make split-second decisions, we will only miss our opportunities."

Shen Xiao understood what she meant. "So?"

"So, before we take action, we must determine who has command." Xia Lengbai jumped down from the windowsill and walked to the center of the room. With a flip of her palm, an ice-blue longsword condensed out of thin air. "Let's have a fight. Whoever wins will have the supreme decision-making power for the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons operation."

Shen Xiao looked at the ice sword radiating cold air in her hand, then at his own bandaged arm, and couldn't help but laugh. "Is this fair? I'm a wounded man right now."

"Fair?" Xia Lengbai tilted her head, as if savoring the absurdity of the word. "Brother Shen, when have you ever seen fairness in this world? I want competence, not fairness."

Shen Xiao was silent for two seconds, then nodded.

"Fine, let's fight."

The two arrived in the dense forest outside the small town and found a relatively open patch of ground.

Moonlight filtered through the sparse branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground.

The surroundings were so quiet that only the chirping of insects and the sound of the wind remained.

Xia Lengbai stood in the center of the clearing, her ice sword pointing diagonally at the ground, her gaze focused and calm.

She was in no hurry to make a move, waiting for Shen Xiao to strike first. This was her consistent style: observe first, then respond.

Shen Xiao did not stand on ceremony with her.

He knew that since his serious injuries had not yet healed, he would definitely not be her match in a direct confrontation; he had to use his brain to fight.

Taking a deep breath, he launched the attack first. His figure shot toward Xia Lengbai like an arrow, Spiritual Qi in his palm condensing into a long saber that he slashed toward her shoulder.

Xia Lengbai dodged sideways, and the ice sword followed up with an upward slash, forcing Shen Xiao to withdraw his saber and retreat.

Their first clash was mainly exploratory, and neither used their full strength.

Shen Xiao took a few steps back, steadied himself, and his mind raced.

A direct collision would be a dead end.

Her control over ice-type Spells was extremely strong. Once she created distance and established a position, he wouldn't even have a chance to get close.

The only chance of winning was to force her to make a mistake.

Shen Xiao raised his head, looked into Xia Lengbai's eyes, and suddenly grinned.

"Have you heard how the previous Saintess of the Qingming Sect died?"

Xia Lengbai's movements faltered slightly.

Shen Xiao continued, his voice unhurried, as if telling an unimportant story: "It is said that the Saintess had extremely high talent, but she pursued perfection too much, wanting to control her Spiritual Qi perfectly every time she cast a Spell. As a result, once while fighting a Yao Beast, in order to pursue the aesthetic of a one-hit kill, she forcibly activated a forbidden technique beyond her control, causing a backlash of Spiritual Qi that severed her Meridians on the spot."

As he spoke, he slowly closed in on Xia Lengbai: "Tell me, isn't this a kind of irony? People who pursue perfection often die the most miserably."

Xia Lengbai's fingers gripping the ice sword tightened slightly.

She certainly knew this story—that was the previous Saintess of the Qingming Sect, and also her Revered Master.

Shen Xiao's words were like a needle, precisely piercing the place in her heart she was least willing to touch.

"Shut up." Xia Lengbai's voice was icy. The ice sword in her hand suddenly erupted with blinding cold light, and a large number of ice cones shot toward Shen Xiao like a rainstorm.

Shen Xiao had expected this and dodged behind a large tree; the ice cones riddled the tree trunk like a hornet's nest.

But he didn't stop talking; on the contrary, he became more animated: "Do you know? I've seen those kinds of people. They always want to keep everything under their control, but end up driving themselves crazy. Just like you right now, you could have easily defeated me in the simplest way, but you insist on pursuing absolute control—do you think that's the only way to be worthy of your dignity as a Saintess?"

"I said, shut up!"

Xia Lengbai roared, her Spiritual Qi surging violently around her. She formed seals with both hands, and a frost storm several feet in diameter formed in front of her, sweeping toward Shen Xiao with bitter cold winds.

The power of this move was enough to raze a forest to the ground, but the consumption was equally massive.

The moment Shen Xiao saw the storm, a triumphant smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

This was the moment he had been waiting for.

As the frost storm struck, he didn't resist it head-on but turned and ran, using the cover of trees to constantly change direction, exhausting the storm's duration.

Xia Lengbai maintained the storm, her complexion turning pale at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Three breaths later, the storm dissipated with a boom. She leaned on her ice sword, breathing rapidly, and a slight lag appeared in her circulation of Spiritual Qi.

At that very instant, Shen Xiao moved.

He lunged out from behind a tree, the Spiritual Qi in his palm transforming into a short sword, which he pressed against Xia Lengbai's throat.

The cold blade pressed against her skin, and Xia Lengbai's body froze.

She looked down at the short sword pressed against her throat, then looked up at Shen Xiao. The emotions in her eyes were complex and hard to distinguish—there was anger, unwillingness, but more than that, a strange excitement.

"You lost." Shen Xiao withdrew the short sword, his tone calm. "Your command is mine now."

Xia Lengbai stood in place, silent for a long time.

Then, she suddenly smiled.

There was no anger in that smile, but rather a hint of morbid satisfaction.

She stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked her slightly cracked lips, her voice hoarse: "Interesting."

She put away the ice sword and looked at Shen Xiao, her eyes holding a hint of something that hadn't been there before: approval.

"Fine, the command is yours."

Shen Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, reached out to take the Thousand Illusion Glazed Mask, and put it on his face.

The moment the mask adhered to his skin, a cool sensation surged into his facial bones, as if an invisible force was reshaping his features.

A few breaths later, his originally slightly roguish face had turned into an unremarkable square face, his skin tone had darkened a bit, and his aura had changed from a "dangerous element" to a "passerby A, B, or C."

Xia Lengbai also put on a mask; her face turned into that of an ordinary-looking female Cultivator with no distinctive features, and even her aura became mediocre.

The two looked at each other and both saw a sense of absurdity on the other's strange face.

"Let's go." Shen Xiao stepped forward first. "The matter of the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons cannot be delayed any longer."

The two disguised themselves as Loose Cultivators and flew south for a full day and night, finally arriving at the entrance of the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons at dusk the next day.

The Cave of Ten Thousand Demons was located in a desolate mountain range in the extreme south of the continent. It was rumored to be the last bastion of the Yao Race in the primordial era, burying the remains of countless demon emperors and sealing away Opportunities that would drive any Cultivator crazy.

However, when Shen Xiao saw the entrance of the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons from afar, his heart sank.

In the original work, although the entrance to the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons was filled with Demonic Qi, it was only scattered wisps, far from being dangerous.

But at this moment, a blood-red Demonic Qi, thick enough to materialize, shot into the sky like a beacon of smoke, dyeing half the sky red, and a nauseating stench of blood permeated the air.

At the entrance, a dense crowd of the Yao Race was neatly lined up, from the lowest-level Yao soldiers to the terrifyingly powerful Yao generals, layer upon layer, with at least a thousand of them.

At the very front was a minotaur holding a giant axe, nearly three zhang tall, covered in pitch-black iron armor, with two horns on its head like scimitars, gleaming with a metallic luster.

It stood there like an impassable mountain, the sense of oppression rushing toward them.

Shen Xiao and Xia Lengbai stopped a hundred zhang away from the entrance, not daring to get any closer.

There were many other Cultivators who had heard the news and arrived, some from major Sects, others Loose Cultivators, but everyone was blocked outside by that blood-red Demonic Qi and that army of the Yao Race.

The minotaur held its giant axe, its voice ringing like a great bell across the entire wilderness: "The demon emperor is about to return to its throne, and the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons will be sealed for a hundred years. Trespassers will die!"

As its voice fell, the army of the Yao Race behind it roared in unison, their Demonic Qi raging, shaking the very earth.

The surrounding Cultivators were in an uproar; some were indignant, some whispered, but no one dared to step forward and seek death.

Shen Xiao stood at the edge of the crowd, watching that sky-piercing blood-red Qi and the battle-ready Yao army, his eyes darkening bit by bit.

The intervention of the Heavenly Dao had not only accelerated Lin Yun's Opportunity but had also triggered the plot line of the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons ahead of schedule.

Xia Lengbai was also looking at him, her eyes—now ordinary after the disguise—carrying a silent question: What now?

Shen Xiao didn't speak, his gaze turning back to the minotaur.

The minotaur stood on the altar at the entrance of the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons, its gaze like lightning, sweeping over all the Cultivators present, as if declaring an unquestionable authority.

Shen Xiao subconsciously clenched his fists.