Chapter 569: Dare Not Move

At the top of the mountain outside of the city, the man clothed in white who hailed from the School of Kismet State, and had appeared once previously, stood up abruptly. Disbelief flooded his expression alongside extreme surprise as well as unspeakable rage and grief.

"All traces of Elder Yan and the Providence Flag have disappeared!"

His face instantly turned as white as paper, followed by a flush of panic and the inability to react properly.

What did it mean for the both of them to disappear together?

Although he asked the question, he knew full well what it meant.

Although proficient cultivators possessed the capability to suppress and even temporarily remove their own traces, alongside the spirit item that owned a similar instinct, there was only one situation that the disappearance of both could happen.

The person, dead; the flag, destroyed!

It was only when both perished at the same time could their traces vanish simultaneously. There was no other possibility besides this.

"What cultivation base does Elder Yan have? Even when you consider all the masters in the world, he should still rank right at the top! Even if Ling Xiaozui and Dugu Chou were to collaborate and target him, the most they can do is make Elder Yan leave; they would be hard-pressed to kill him! Who is it then, who has such a capability to thoroughly defeat Elder Yan?"

"As for the Providence Flag... It is a spirit gem that subdues the continent's providence; it hasn't been damaged for thousands of years. It is the true epitome of invincible; even when it is struck by lightning, the flag would hardly be damaged. How then, can this be?"

"What... What is going on?"

The man dressed in white wore intense fear in his eyes.

He had thought of something else. To kill the one who could terminate Elder Yan easily and crush the Providence Flag, it would not such a simple task, like that of slaughtering a chicken.

"Oh my God..."

The man turned pale as a sheet.

"I must report this to the school at once! Why didn't I think of this before? Why did Elder Yan suddenly come here bringing the Providence Flag? Could the objective of his trip be the cause of his demise?"

...

Throughout this single day, Yun Yang had been shocked, dumbfounded, charmed, surprised, and had even lamented and regretted his actions due to the many turns of events. It could be said that he had been through a rollercoaster ride of emotions, the feelings running into each other and colliding into a complex mix. He could hardly calm himself down, but it was also the same for the others!

The dark clouds had vanished all of a sudden after it had appeared so violently, gushing forward to blanket heaven and earth. It had drawn back even more abruptly, unbelievably fast. One could only catch glimpse of the entire process, before it was quickly over.

The entire Tiantang City was puzzled, shocked, and in disbelief.

All the martial people, the assassins, and the schools or sects were stupefied.

No one understood what had just taken place, but all of them were certain that something must have happened.

When the inky mass descended, everyone could feel the arrogant and irresistible force contained within. It was real, it was not a fraction of their imagination; how could such a powerful source vanish in an instance?

On a hill outside the city's southern sector, two silhouettes had appeared, without prior warning or preamble. Upon their arrival, the trace of the Providence Flag inside the city disappeared. Both of them exchanged glances, only to see the deeply embedded fear in each other's eyes.

It was an emotion far too foreign to the both of them. Even when they had gone against the Nine Supremes back then, there was no fear, despite the knowledge that it would be a tricky manoeuvre. However, at this point in time, they felt the gnawing fangs of fear.

"Killed?"

Mr. Nian sucked in a deep breath. His voice was incredibly grim. It sounded like a question, but it also resounded like an affirmation.

"It isn't as simple as getting himself killed. He didn't even have a chance to counterattack and was taken down within a single clash!" The other person's eyes were gleaming, goosebumps racking his entire body.

"This fellow brazenly appeared to find fault and was even set to kill. It is simply impossible to consider that he was ambushed. Besides, no one in Yutang would be able to pull such a feat off!"

Mr. Nian uttered clearly, "In addition, even if it were an ambush, what sort of capability must one have in order to annihilate him with a single strike?"

"This fellow may not be the sharpest knife out there, but his cultivation base was not too much lower than ours. At the very least, only the both could defeat him; it's near impossible to kill such a person. It would be impossible to eliminate him even if we were to both work together, let alone an individual job. As for an ambush... if we collaborated, we could of course deal a heavy blow with a single strike. We could possibly kill him, but to speak of killing him within one single strike..." the other person analyzed the situation with wonder.

Mr. Nian frowned and commented, "This is truly unbelievable."

"If the person who killed him were to come against us..." The other person's face was rather pale, subconsciously raising this question that was troubling him.

"We would face the same outcome."

Mr. Nian was certain. "Only death awaits us with no exception!"

"Could there be such a powerful person in this world? How is this possible? What is even more frightening that this person must be residing within Tiantang City..." The person was as pale as a sheet. "How could we not have heard of him in the past?"

Mr. Nian did not answer the question which was rather stupid. Who could even come across such a person if they were to intentionally hide, given their masterly levels?

"What I'm concerned about now isn't about who this person is, but to find out if this person killed the idiot from the School of Kismet State due to his manual manipulation of providence or some other reason. In any case, the both of us mustn't enter Tiantang City now." Mr. Nian said, "Let us wait and observe. We shall see how things develop from here."

"But if we don't enter, I'm afraid that the tower's strength in Tiantang City will hardly contend with the collaboration of the world's assassins," the other person said worriedly.

"A smart man does not stand under a crumbling wall. Our own safety is the priority." Mr. Nian said, "Besides... perhaps our strength will attract the person's attention more easily. At most, draw out more of your hidden forces. I believe that will suffice."

The person chuckled bitterly, "Old Nian, what about yours?"

Mr. Nian replied coldly, "The entire Four Seasons Tower is my force."

The person choked upon the reply and could not help mumbling to himself, "We are the same; what pretense are you putting up!"

"I beg your pardon?" Mr. Nian's eyes took on a chilling look.

"I will arrange for more manpower!"

...

The precipitous arrival and departure of the dark mass of clouds were full of mystery and terror. It stirred one's mind and imagination. However, the arrival and subsequent the clouds caused the initial uptight tension in Tiantang City to simmer down considerably.

Be it the assassins, the Four Seasons Tower, or the princes who bore various motives, while they were lost about what had happened, they would instinctively choose not to make any move.

The top-notch assassins who had come to the city for the Dictum of Death had heard of the incident the moment they entered the place. All the anticipating killers bemoaned their fate inwardly.

'F*ck, I thought spring has come for the assassins when Dictum of Death finally greets the world, but coming here... Is this spring?'

'This is obviously freezing winter!'

When they arrived at Tiantang City, no one actually dared to move.