Chapter 2450: Chapter 2450
"If your spiritual power were strong enough, you should have sensed that assassin approaching. This is actually a way to enhance your spiritual energy," the Book Demon explained to Ye Liuyun.
"Are you saying his spiritual power surpasses mine?" Ye Liuyun countered.
"Not necessarily. He might have trained specifically in perception—it doesn’t always mean his spiritual power is stronger. But one thing’s certain: his spiritual energy is far from weak," the Book Demon replied.
"Alright, then I’ll train it!"
Without hesitation, Ye Liuyun draped himself in his invisibility cloak and activated his Invisible Skill. Holding his breath, he focused his mind and extended his spiritual senses to detect the assassin’s location.
At the same time, he summoned his doppelganger. Clad in armor and gripping a gleaming blade, the double also donned an invisibility cloak and employed the Xenocide Veil technique.
Since this relied on spiritual power, the two could complement each other’s senses while also confusing their enemy.
Meanwhile, the assassin was speeding through the shadows, cloaked in stealth. But when Ye Liuyun suddenly vanished from his perception, he froze momentarily.
"Now this is a worthy opponent," he mused, a smirk curling his lips as he quickened his pace.
During Ye Liuyun’s exchange with the Book Demon, the three rats had already teleported twice using the maze’s spatial distortions.
Keeping count, Ye Liuyun knew he would encounter them after the fourth shift.
Moving cautiously side by side, he and his doppelganger tread carefully. The maze’s overlapping spaces shifted unpredictably, and the duration of each distortion was uncertain. They couldn’t afford to be separated.
By the third shift, Ye Liuyun was poised to strike.
Sure enough, after the fourth, he spotted the three rats—though a wall still stood between them. They would meet at the next turn.
Ye Liuyun focused intently, his golden pupils tracking the movements of the rats beyond the wall, while his doppelgänger kept its eyes shut, sensing their positions as they cautiously advanced toward the corner.
The three rats, just as before, sniffed the air and crept forward in search.
"Let the first one pass—it’s yours. I’ll strike when the second one shows itself!"
Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger had already devised their plan.
Soon, the lead rat turned the corner.
But rats were naturally cautious creatures. As it reached the bend, it hesitated for just a moment.
At that instant, the doppelgänger—eyes still closed—suddenly sensed danger and struck preemptively. A flash of cold steel shot from its hand, pinning the rat to the ground in one swift motion.
Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger shared a single mind. The moment the doppelgänger moved, Ye Liuyun acted as well, reaching around the corner with his arm and thrusting toward the second rat he had spotted with his golden pupils, pressed against the wall.
That rat, too, sensed the threat—but before it could react, the dagger *Soundless* slipped silently into its body.
The last rat instantly recoiled in shock, then rapidly began to swell in size.
Ye Liuyun withdrew his hand, and the doppelgänger retrieved its blade.
The other assassin, though still unable to see them, had witnessed the cold flash of steel as it killed the first rat.
*Soundless* remained firmly in Ye Liuyun’s grip, so the assassin had no idea how the second rat had died—leaving him utterly baffled.
"That’s one hell of a dagger," he mused inwardly as the doppelgänger absorbed the blade back into itself.
With their targets down, Ye Liuyun and his doppelgänger immediately turned and bolted, not even stopping to collect the crystalline shards left behind by the slain rats. They sprinted back three times before finally putting some distance between themselves and the now-enlarged rat.
Then the two of them stopped in a relatively spacious passageway, holding their breath as they stood on either side of the corridor.
The remaining rat, after chasing for a while, also teleported twice before its body gradually shrank back down. It turned its head as if to check on its companion, took a couple of steps forward, then hesitated and crawled back before continuing onward.
When it teleported again, sure enough, it reappeared near Ye Liuyun. And just like before, it seemed accustomed to hugging the right wall as it moved. Following its path, it would soon collide with Ye Liuyun, who stood waiting by the wall.
This time, Ye Liuyun closed his eyes, focusing on the sensation of impending danger, while his doppelganger kept a sharp eye on the rat.
The rodent crept forward, then suddenly reared up on its hind legs, sniffing the air.
"Damn it—the daggers still carry the scent of its companion’s blood!"
Seeing this, the doppelganger acted without hesitation. A flash of cold steel shot out, pinning the rat to the ground.
The creature’s body began to swell abruptly, but the moment its life faded, it shrank back down.
This time, Ye Liuyun distinctly sensed the rat’s fury and murderous intent. Had his doppelganger not struck first, he would have had to act immediately.
"So that’s what it feels like! But this was just a rat. If it were an assassin, our reaction wouldn’t have been fast enough!"
Sharing thoughts with his doppelganger, neither of them moved a muscle. They remained perfectly still, waiting for the assassin to reveal itself.
The crystal left behind by the rat this time was swiftly collected by Ye Liuyun into his storage space.
This realization confirmed that the rats were products of the maze itself, unrelated to the assassin. Knowing the killer had no accomplices put his mind at ease somewhat.
To ensure the assassin wouldn’t escape if their first strike failed, they coated their daggers with a potent toxin, turning each blade into a lethal weapon.
Then, both closed their eyes, extending their spiritual senses to calmly perceive the subtle shifts in the surrounding aura.
After a while, they could even detect the faint spatial ripples caused by the assassin moving through overlapping dimensions.
“I think he’s getting closer!” Ye Liuyun communicated with his clone, confirming his intuition.
Under the oppressive weight of impending death, their senses sharpened rapidly.
Soon, both Ye Liuyun and his clone detected a faint disturbance in space nearby, and their nerves instantly tensed.
Though they couldn’t see the assassin, they could feel his presence drawing near.
The killer had spent a long time in this maze, slaughtering countless martial practitioners, honing his instincts to an almost supernatural edge.
The moment he moved closer, he, too, sensed danger.
All three stood frozen in place, invisible to one another, yet acutely aware that their opponent was mere steps away.
Before long, the assassin realized Ye Liuyun and his clone weren’t moving. Cautiously, he took a single step forward.
Ye Liuyun and his clone felt the threat intensify—the killer was closing in.
The assassin advanced with painstaking slowness, each step deliberate.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun and his clone remained motionless, focusing on the encroaching danger, straining to pinpoint the assassin’s exact location.
Both sides were seasoned killers. A misjudged strike would expose their position, handing the enemy a fatal opportunity.
Frustration gnawed at the assassin. The threat loomed so close, yet its source remained elusive—just beyond his grasp.
