The morning breeze carried a faint chill, yet it sharpened my senses the moment it touched my face. I held River's hand as we walked the familiar path to school. The silent bell around his neck swayed gently with each step, not making a single sound.

"Dad, will the cafeteria have fried chicken legs today?" River tilted his little face up at me, still looking half-asleep.

"Probably," I said with a smile, ruffling his hair. "But you have to actually pay attention in math class this morning, or the chicken legs might fly away."

He gave a solemn, earnest nod and quickened his pace.

Watching his bouncing figure trot ahead, warmth spread through my chest — but the bronze ring on my palm was quietly heating up, as if nudging me toward something. Ever since I broke through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refinement, the ring had been reacting more frequently, especially when danger drew near.

After dropping River off, I turned back toward home, planning to swing by the market to collect today's fish from Old Wang. As I passed through the quiet alley behind the residential compound, a faint, coppery reek began seeping through the air...

My chest tightened. I slowed my steps, quietly channelling spiritual energy into my palm. With a subtle motion, I eased the meteorite-iron chopping block partway out of my canvas bag — its dark golden runes glinting with a subdued light in the early morning sun.

"Ethan Lu. Taking a leisurely stroll, are we." A gravelly voice drifted from behind the trash bins on the left.

I spun around. Three men in black jackets stepped out of the shadows. The one in front bore a scar across his face, his gaze cold and venomous — and half a row of pale green scales showed at his cuff. Fifth Layer of Qi Refinement. The other two were at the Fourth Layer each, clearly hired blades sent by Baizhen Pavilion.

"Baizhen Pavilion?" I let out a cold laugh and tightened my grip on the chopping block. "Was the bounty generous enough? They sent just the three of you to die?"

Scar-face said nothing. A flick of his hand was all it took — the other two fanned out from both sides, each clutching a short blade that gleamed with a bone-cold light, thin tendrils of black qi coiling along the edges. Poisoned, obviously.

"Enough talk — your life is mine!" The lean one snarled and lunged first, driving his blade straight at my abdomen.

I didn't dodge. I let him come. The moment the blade was little more than ten centimetres from my body, I twisted sideways and swung the meteorite-iron chopping block in one clean arc. A dull, heavy crack rang out. The short blade crumpled like twisted taffy, and the lean man was hurled backward by the shockwave, slamming into the wall and coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"Some ability." A flicker of surprise crossed Scar-face's eyes. Then his hands formed a seal. A dense, fetid stench surged forward, and behind him a massive serpent-shade rose up — its forked tongue flickering as it spewed a cloud of black-violet poison mist.

"Ten-Thousand-Serpent Devouring Venom?" My pupils narrowed. I'd seen this at the water-plant underground base. Corrosive to an extreme degree. I dared not take it lightly. I pushed spiritual energy through both palms and pressed them together — a curtain of water materialised from nothing, spreading across my front.

The poison mist struck the water shield with a hissing, sizzling erosion. Ripples ran across its surface, but it held. Seizing the opening, I kicked off the ground and surged forward, closing the distance on Scar-face in an instant. The Wave-Breaker Blade appeared in my hand, and I unleashed a Flowing Surge Slash in one fluid stroke.

A pale-blue water-blade tore through the air, driving toward Scar-face with savage momentum. He clearly hadn't expected my speed to be this sharp. In his haste he raised a black scale-shield to block. The water-blade crashed into it with a boom, sending a spray of droplets in every direction. A deep crack split the shield's face, and the impact left Scar-face's arm numb, forcing him stumbling back step after step.

"Fall back!" Scar-face could see there was nothing to gain here, and stunned by my strength, he gave the order without hesitation.

All three turned and bolted.

"Going somewhere?" I poured spiritual energy into my legs and gave chase. As I drew level with the lean man, I flung a water-arrow — it struck the back of his knee with precision. He screamed and pitched face-first to the ground. Scar-face and the stocky one plunged into the alley entrance without a backward glance and vanished.

I didn't pursue them. I walked over to the lean man instead. He was clutching his leg and wailing, his eyes brimming with terror.

"Talk. Who sent you? Who issued the bounty order?"

He ground his teeth together and said nothing. I gave a cold smile, raised the meteorite-iron chopping block, and made a show of bringing it down. "Not talking? Then I'll give you a complimentary makeover."

"No no no!" The lean man went white with fright. "It — it was Baizhen Pavilion's headquarters that issued the bounty. Who specifically, I don't know. We're just loose cultivators who took the job..."

"Where is the headquarters?"

"I... I don't know. We just handle the killing — nothing else..."

He didn't look like he was lying. I couldn't be bothered pressing further. One kick rendered him unconscious. I trussed him to a utility pole, left a water-arrow-technique sigil on him so Old Zhang and the others could deal with it, and stepped back.

Only when it was all done did I notice that my forehead was slick with a fine film of sweat. A Fifth-Layer Qi Refinement assassin really was a handful. If I hadn't surged in strength after my breakthrough, combined with the Body-Tempering Pill giving me a physique far sturdier than an average cultivator's — and with the meteorite-iron chopping block and my water-style bladework on top of that — I might very well have been left here today.

I caught my breath and straightened my clothes. I was just about to leave when a familiar cough echoed from deeper in the alley. Old Wang shuffled into view, a vegetable basket dangling from one hand.

"Young Ethan, at it again with your morning exercises?" Old Wang beamed at me, though his eyes had already swept over the bloodstains on the ground and the trussed-up lean man. "The feng shui in this alley is bad. Come here less often."

I smiled wryly. There was no hiding anything from him. "Old Wang — you saw all of that?"

"I did," Old Wang nodded. "Baizhen Pavilion's people are getting more and more reckless. Daring to make a move in a residential area like this."

End of Chapter 25: The Morning Ambush