Bai Xieren rolled her eyes indifferently. “Wait until the rest arrive.”
Damien shrugged and spread his awareness to cover the floating island. He watched as four others, including Long Chen, made their way to the courtyard using various methods.
To the East was a woman submerged in shadows. Her body moved from shadow to shadow indiscreetly, slowly making her way to the room. It was a method Damien had used before by borrowing Zara’s power.
To the North was a man with a lanky build, almost to the point of looking malnourished. As Damien watched, his body disappeared, leaving only his clothes to fall to the floor.
On the ground below, a small green snake slithered unnoticed through the crowd, its destination the same as the previous woman’s.
To the Northwest, another woman, but her following actions made Damien unsure of her gender. Her physical form shifted and morphed constantly, taking the visage of other members of the Moon Squadron and using their appearances to slip through the crowd without raising eyebrows.
And finally, to the southeast where Damien just came from was Long Chen, the least graceful of the four. Yet, his performance was the one Damien was most curious about.
Ever since Damien knew him, he knew Long Chen as a sword cultivator. The mana he used was always attributeless and imbued into his Sword Aura.
But, would his sword skills help him with stealth? Damien really had to wonder how he was going to manage.
As Damien watched, Long Chen stood motionlessly among the crowd, seemingly pondering on how to move.
His eyes closed lightly as he did so, his awareness spread to the brim.
‘This is a stealth mission. Why would I be chosen for a stealth mission? My strong suits aren’t geared toward stealth at all…’
He was utterly confused. He’d been in this state since the moment he was chosen for the Moon Squadron instead of Tian Yang’s Celestial Squadron.
But, he didn’t have a choice in this matter. Besides, there was no way those powerful Sect Master-level personages didn’t understand his strengths and weaknesses. His placement must’ve held some meaning.
For him to understand that meaning, however, he needed to first complete Bai Xieren’s challenge.
Long Chen hesitated. ‘I’m confident in my speed, but there are high-level 4th-class beings present. I am not fast enough to avoid their detection. Do I really have no choice but to…?’
Long Chen’s face wrinkled in frustration. To be honest, he truly hated his elemental affinity. There was a reason he completely forwent it to become a swordmaster.
But this was a situation he didn’t think he could get through without using it.
Long Chen clicked his tongue in resignation. ‘How did they even find out? I’ve only practiced it intermittently, and that was in complete privacy…’
In the end, he shook his head. There was no point in trying to justify the actions of people he didn’t understand.
‘Fine. If that is what you wish, then I’ll accompany you to play.’
Elemental affinities were strange. Most of the time, they perfectly matched the personality and ideology of the individual who possessed them. There was a reason the individual had an “affinity” toward a specific element.
But sometimes, this rule didn’t hold steady. Some people were born with affinities that completely clashed with them, and these were the people who pioneered fields like Sword Laws or Formations.
So when Long Chen’s body became hazy, and a colorless, formless poison spread from his skin to infect the people around him, it became clear that he was the latter case.
‘Tch. Even the strongest poison in my body will only neutralize a 4th class being for a few seconds. I must hurry.’
The poison spread rapidly and infected everyone within several meters. One by one, their gazes become cloudy and their minds confused.
‘Now.’
At the most opportune moment, Long Chen’s body bent like a bow and released like an arrow, zooming through the dazed crowd and arriving at the rear courtyard within an instant.
His speed was nothing to scoff at. And because of his strange clearing method, he actually arrived in the room second to Damien, who was sitting and watching him with an entertained grin on his face.
“Who would’ve thought you’d be born with a poison affinity? Haha, the Heavens must’ve been jealous of your sword talent.” Damien joked.
Long Chen smiled wryly in response. “I must be quite talented then, since they gave me a special poison physique along with this affinity.”
“What?! A physique too?” Damien’s brow quirked in curiosity.
“That’s right, I have the Heart of Poison. My blood is capable of storing and assimilating poisons that I can later dilute and excrete through my skin or use directly through blood. What, are you scared now?” Long Chen bragged.
Damien scoffed in return. “Scared? Why would I be? If there’s one person your poison will never affect, then it’s me.”
“Do you want to test that?” Long Chen grinned evilly.
Damien matched his grin. “Oh? If you want to test me, you’ll have to be willing to lose something.”
“If you win, I’ll submit and let you be the big brother.”
“I’m already the big brother though?”
“Tch, minor details.”
As the two continued to converse, the other three participants slowly made their way to the room.
First to arrive was the woman with the transformation ability, followed by the snake man and then the shadow woman. Once they all successfully completed the trial, Bai Xieren nodded in satisfaction.
“Good. This team should do for now, but it’ll need to be expanded in the future.”
As she stood indifferently, the snake man hesitantly raised his hand to ask a question.
“What?” Bai Xieren asked off-handedly, “speak if you have something to say.”
“I-I apologize f-for my brazenness, b-but…w-what are we being g-gathered for?” He asked, barely stuttering his way through the question.
“Hm?” Bai Xieren looked up at the group. “Ah, I see you have not yet been told what your task is. Very well, I shall give a short explanation.”
Standing up from her seat, Bai Xieren towered over the five seated individuals that had been called for this mission.
“Starting tomorrow, until the day this mission ends, you will no longer be known by your names. Everything that signifies your unique identity as an individual will be erased, and you will be placed under a Mana Oath to prevent information leaks.
“And once that process is finished, you will be assigned new identities as the Hidden Dragon Group.”
“H-hidden Dragon Group?” The snake man repeated, confused.
The shadow woman narrowed her eyes instead. “I see, so these people must have similar skill sets to me. I didn’t think the grand experts of our world would use such petty tactics.”
“Petty tactics?” The transformation woman scoffed, “this is war, little lass. There is no such thing as a petty tactic.”
Damien nodded his head in agreement, while Long Chen looked slightly uncomfortable with the words. As for the snake man, he was still utterly confused about what was happening.
“C-can somebody p-please explain to m-me?!” He said, practically spilling tears.
The shadow woman looked over at him in derision. “You still don’t get it?”
Her gaze panned across the room, seemingly gauging the individuals around her.
“This ragtag group, ahem sorry, the Hidden Dragon Group we’ll be forming…”
Her gaze returned to Bai Xieren, who sat indifferently as if nothing concerned her. The shadow woman was forced to ignore her and continue her thought.
“We are the assassin division hidden within the Moon Pavilion, and what might very well be its main purpose.”