Volcanic Age

One of the madmen with bloodshot eyes rushed forward with a short sword as if he had been waiting for them.

A sharp whistle sliced through the air, narrowly missing Zhou Xuchuan’s head. He effortlessly dodged it by tilting his head to the side.

A Phantom?

The footwork technique the madman had just used was the Phantom Steps.

No.

The madman\'s breathing was too rough to be a Phantom. It was too rough compared to the type of control an assassin should have.

"Die!!!"

Moreover, he was even shouting, his voice full of murderous intent.

This was no longer an assassin. It was an animal, driven wild by the sight of its prey.

Zhou Xuchuan made a quick judgment, tilting his head back to dodge the madman\'s short sword and immediately counterattacked. His sword glided across the air and sank deep into the center of the madman\'s chest.

"Ugh!"

Even in his final moments, the madman glared at him as he fell.

"Senior brother, there aren\'t any normal enemies!"

Unlike Zhou Xuchuan, Luo Xiaoyue struggled to detect the Phantoms. Zhou Xuchuan was familiar with the Phantom Steps, while Luo Xiaoyue wasn\'t. More importantly, detecting the Pseudo-Phantoms was difficult, even if one had knowledge of the Phantom Steps and could sense their faint presence. Although Zhou Xuchuan thought the Pseudo-Phantoms had terrible breath control for real assassins, they weren’t as bad as they seemed, which made it harder for her to track them by their breathing.

No matter how much of a martial arts genius Luo Xiaoyue was, she had never fought an assassin before, making it difficult for her to know how to respond.

Still, it was impressive how long she had held out.

"If you\'re struggling, just focus on defending yourself," Zhou Xuchuan shouted at Luo Xiaoyue while parrying an attack.

Then, he spoke to the Phantom right next to him.

"We came to help you, so please don\'t misunderstand our intentions. If it\'s okay with you, I\'d like to talk after the battle ends."

The Phantom turned his head to look at him. Although his eyes were covered by cloth, Zhou Xuchuan could tell he was being looked at.

“…”

Since Zhou Xuchuan couldn\'t see the Phantom\'s eyes, he couldn\'t tell what he was thinking. He would have liked an answer, anything, but the Phantom just kept his mouth shut.

He couldn\'t even see an inch of the Phantom\'s skin, making it impossible to read his expression.

The Phantom eventually nodded instead of answering.

What a relief!

The Valley of Phantoms was rumored to turn witnesses into corpses without questioning them in order to protect their secrets. Fortunately, that didn\'t seem to be the case here.

Feeling relieved, Zhou Xuchuan moved closer to Luo Xiaoyue to fight the remaining nine madmen.

This was the first time he had seen Luo Xiaoyue fight in this life, and as expected of a genius and future Plum Blossom Swordsman, she was incredible.

Though she couldn’t land fatal blows due to the Phantoms’ unique movements, she blocked every attack with skill and precision.

"Die!"

Assassins specialized in surprise attacks and ambushes, with all of their movements and attacks focused on that goal.

Most of what they knew focused on instant kills. The downside was that if they failed and were forced into a head-on battle, they would lose half of their fighting strength.

A Peak realm assassin could assassinate a Transcendent expert, but in a head-on fight, even a First-Class warrior could defeat them.

While this weakness was less apparent with Phantoms, due to their mysterious techniques, there was still a limit to what they could do.

More importantly, since Zhou Xuchuan was a master who had reached the Harmony Realm, nothing they did worked.

Zhou Xuchuan stabbed a madman in the side and swung his sword diagonally.

His sword cut through the madman\'s chest with a wet sound, and blood poured out as cloth and skin split under his bade.

The nine madmen were reduced to eight. However, the fight wasn\'t over yet.

One madman charged in from the right.

Zhou Xuchuan turned, ready to counter, but before he could strike, Luo Xiaoyue stepped forward and thrust her sword with all her strength.

The tip of her sword pierced the back of the madman\'s head and emerged through his forehead.

Then, another madman appeared behind him.

"Behind you!"

Luo Xiaoyue pulled out her sword and hurriedly turned around.

However, at that moment, something unexpected happened.

Squelch!

Two Phantoms, one male and one female, flew in silently and severed the arms of the madman attacking Luo Xiaoyue from behind.

Then, they swiftly stabbed him with their secondary weapons—short swords held in their other hands—striking his neck and abdomen, ending his life.

"T-thank you…" Luo Xiaoyue said with a dumbfounded expression, stunned that they had protected her.

The Phantoms didn\'t respond to her thanks and stepped back, turning back to face the other madmen.

What\'s going on?

Zhou Xuchuan was confused. The assassins of the Valley of Phantoms shouldn\'t be this kind. They were the type to kill everyone, even those who aided them, under the pretext of leaving no witnesses.

It was strange enough that the Phantoms weren’t attacking them—now, they were actively helping!

Zhou Xuchuan put his doubts aside and focused on the remaining madmen. With only six left, they were easier to handle.

Zhou Xuchuan’s sword killed many of them, and within a quarter of an hour, all were defeated.

The ten real Phantoms were still alive, though some were injured. The others treated them with Golden Sore Ointment.

Zhou Xuchuan waited for them to finish their treatment before approaching them.

"It\'s nice to meet you. My name is Zhou Xuchuan, a Fourth Generation Disciple of Mount Hua."

As a member of the Righteous Faction, who pursued justice and righteousness, his view of assassins matched that of the others in his faction, which wasn\'t very favorable.

Those of the Righteous Faction pointed fingers at them, spewing insults about how cowardly and untrustworthy they were. They were always on edge, wary of the threat of assassination, and naturally stood in opposition to the Phantoms.

Since Zhou Xuchuan was in a position where he had to make the Valley of Phantoms his allies, instead of being hostile, he showed favor instead.

He particularly liked the fact that they had saved Luo Xiaoyue from danger.

"I just wanted to verify, but you are the assassins from the Valley of Phantoms, right?"

A tall man among the Phantoms nodded.

The ten Phantoms were all different.

Their ages ranged from children to the elderly. The genders were also mixed, including both male and female.

Some were tall, some were short. The only thing they all had in common was that they were all thin.

"You must be confused by the visit of an outsider. First, I would like to speak with whoever can represent you," Zhou Xuchuan said, cupping a fist.

Luo Xiaoyue, standing beside him, looked somewhat displeased. Her expression seemed to question whether Zhou Xuchuan needed to be this polite, but she didn’t voice her thoughts.

"We don\'t have a representative." a short old man answered. Judging by the wrinkles on his exposed skin, he was well advanced in age.

"No representative?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, confused.

"We are one," a woman whose age couldn\'t be determined continued.

"And all," another person finished.

The ten Phantoms kept the conversation going, finishing each other\'s sentences as if they were one person with multiple bodies.

Are they saying that they\'re all equal?

It was essentially the same as their admitting that they didn\'t have a hierarchy. However, something still bothered him.

No, that\'s not it. I don\'t know about all of the Phantoms, but there\'s at least one person who\'s different. One person who can represent them.

The Phantom Sovereign!

That name had been passed down for centuries. Even in his past life, the Phantom Sovereign had existed. The one Phantom that led the entire organization.

The Phantom Sovereign was the one who received the commissions and chose the ones the organization carried out.

Are they hiding them?

However, he couldn\'t guess why they were hiding the Phantom Sovereign. To be frank, the entire situation was confusing, and Zhou Xuchuan could only keep thinking useless thoughts.

He hesitated, and instead of asking outright, he decided to try speaking indirectly.

"I think I may have misspoken. Is there anyone who can represent this organization other than you?"

"Yes, there is," a young girl answered.

Like the other Phantoms, her voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Aren\'t they answering you a little too obediently?" Luo Xiaoyue muttered, her tone skeptical. Zhou Xuchuan agreed with her.

They were answering all his questions without hesitation.

While it was convenient, it didn\'t make any sense.

Still, no matter how suspicious it seemed, he couldn\'t threaten those who might become his allies.

Hiding his true feelings, Zhou Xuchuan continued.

"If so, can I talk to them?"

This time, all the Phantoms nodded in unison. Every single one of them.

It was creepy.

"Then, if you please…"

Zhou Xuchuan stopped mid-sentence as the young Phantom raised her hand and pointed at him.

“What?”

Zhou Xuchuan instinctively turned to check behind him, but there was no one there. He heightened his senses, but aside from the eleven people present, there wasn’t even an ant nearby.

He looked at them, puzzled. But none of them responded.

Then, one by one, starting with a young man, all the Phantoms raised their index fingers and pointed at him.

Zhou Xuchuan stepped to the side with a look of doubt. As he did so, their fingers followed him.

"T-they\'re just messing around, right?"

Luo Xiaoyue looked at Zhou Xuchuan with astonishment.

"Ha…"

Zhou Xuchuan was speechless.

When he realized that all of the Phantoms were pointing at him, all of the questions he had up until now were naturally answered.

From the fact that they hadn’t been hostile to him, an outsider, to how they had saved Luo Xiaoyue when he shouted, ‘Behind you!’.

The way they obediently answered his questions.

It all flashed through his mind.

Suddenly, the possibility that came to mind cleared up all his doubts.

In his previous lifetime, the Valley of Phantoms had followed the Dark Heavens Association.

No, to be exact, they had followed the Dark Heavens Association Leader.

“What is the name of the Phantom Sovereign?” he asked out of curiosity.

All of the Phantoms responded in unison.

“Zhou Xuchuan.”

It was as if thunder resounded in his mind. It felt like he had been struck in the back of the head with a hammer.

The fog of confusion that had clouded his thoughts all this time had suddenly lifted. The tangled threads unraveled, leaving his mind clear.

"W-what\'s going on?" Luo Xiaoyue asked in confusion, but none of the Phantoms answered her.

“Please tell me everything you know about the Divine Phantom Art.”

"The number one cultivation method of the Valley of Phantoms."

This time, the Phantoms answered immediately.

"It\'s not that different from the Phantom Art," the man answered first.

"Its cultivation method, footwork technique, even its hidden weapon technique are all similar in terms of difficulty and ability to the Phantom Art," a woman continued.

"There\'s only one difference."

"The ability to control."

"No Phantom can escape its control."

"No Phantom can have murderous or hostile intentions to the one who cultivates the Divine Phantom Art."

It was eerie to hear all ten of them speak at once, but there wasn’t time to dwell on that. The existence of the Divine Phantom Art was crucial.

I now understand why the Valley of Phantoms had disappeared as if they had never existed when the Dark Heavens Association Lord died in my previous life.

The Valley of Phantoms had followed the Dark Heavens Association Lord, not the Association itself.

“Then who has been leading the Valley of Phantoms all this time?”

“The previous Phantom Sovereign left behind a list of instructions. We\'ve been following his commands."

Most likely, the list of instructions also included raising more Phantoms.

"How long have you been acting under those instructions?"

"Three hundred years."

It was longer than he had thought. It was surprising that they had lasted this long without a leader.

"So it\'s been three hundred years since you lost the Divine Phantom Art?"

"It wasn\'t lost."

"It wasn\'t lost? What…"

"The previous Phantom Sovereign hid it for the future generations."

"Hid it? Does the Phantom Sovereign have a connection to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief?"

The Divine Phantom Art had been discovered in the Three-Eyed Godly Thief\'s Treasury. It hadn’t been in the form of a manual either, so it wasn’t something that had just been lying around.

Moreover, the Treasury also hadn\'t been found for three hundred years.

However, the answer he received was far beyond anything he could have imagined.

"No."

"Then?"

"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief was the Phantom Sovereign."

Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue’s jaws dropped at the Phantoms\' revelation.

"...!"

"T-that\'s impossible!"

Both of them froze before Luo Xiaoyue suddenly screamed.

It was the first time he had seen her react like that, but considering what they had just heard, it was no surprise.

However, if one thought about it, it all made sense.

No one knew exactly when the Valley of Phantoms had emerged. The only information the murim had regarding it was the existence of the Phantom Sovereign.

To think, the Valley of Phantoms had been active for over three hundred years without their Divine Art! Moreover, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief\'s active period had actually been over three hundred years ago!