Naked Sword Art

Chapter 470: Divination Art

"Tell him... Yu Shenyi is dead."

.

.

.

The quiet one’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Shenyi is... what?"

Yu Shenyi, a recently ascended heavenly realm cultivator, had only jumped down through the clouds just a moment ago. As reckless as he might’ve been, he couldn’t believe someone with his strength could be defeated in such a short period of time.

"Ready yourself. He’s coming for us next."

Unable to contain himself, the quiet one rushed to the edge of the pavilion to see it with his own eyes. And there it was — a massive crater carved into the earth, with Yu Shenyi’s bloodied body impaled by a spear at its center.

"Impossible!" he gasped, stumbling back in fright.

"There shouldn’t have even been enough time for them to exchange words... Did that boy really do all this before confirming whether Shenyi was a friend or foe?" the quiet one muttered in disbelief.

The silver-haired man shared the same thought but knew better. Only a fool would’ve failed to sense Shenyi’s hostility. Yet to kill him without hesitation — without even knowing why

— made Xiao Fang seem dangerously unstable. Not to mention that he did that to a Heavenly Realm cultivator, there was no telling what kind of danger they were in, still the silver-haired man’s composure was calm and unyielding.

"And the boy?" the quiet one asked, voice trembling. "Where’s the one who did that to him?"

"Adjust your eyes and use your divination technique," the silver-haired man replied coldly. "The boy possesses the [ Stealth ] ability."

Forgetting about the message he needed to send to Investigator Han, the quiet one hastily began his casting.

Golden threads of fate wove together in the air, spiraling like an inscription formation circle.

[ Divination Art: Clairvoyance ]

When the Divination Art was complete, his eyes widened — Xiao Fang’s presence had been revealed.

"Above us!" the quiet one exclaimed a bit louder than his usual whisper.

And there Xiao Fang was, his translucent body was now illuminated by a subtle golden shimmer created by the Divination technique. He could be seen standing on top of the transparent pavilion looking down at them.

For the first time since encountering Xiao Fang, the silver-haired man finally had a break in character. He was wrong to assume Xiao Fang was hasty. The Xiao Fang he was looking at now was cold and calculating. It nearly sent a chill down his spine.

"What is he doing?" the quiet one asked.

"He’s watching us," the silver-haired man replied, his voice low and tense.

The [ Stealth ] skill wasn’t meant for open combat. It was best used to hide from afar — and its effectiveness depended entirely on the observer’s visual prowess. Unfortunately for Xiao Fang, both men possessed vision far keener than the average cultivator’s, and they were already on guard. Against opponents like them, [ Stealth ] was all but useless.

’If he were just a few steps closer, I would have detected him on my own,’ the silver-haired man thought grimly. ’This boy... his senses are too sharp.’

"What do we do?" the quiet one pressed.

"We fight," the silver-haired man answered. "His strongest weapon is still buried in the ground. Up here, we have the advantage. Let’s restrain him — quickly."

Despite his nerves, the quiet one nodded. Two against one — the odds were in their favor. With the divination technique locked onto Xiao Fang’s body, no [ Stealth ] or [ Illusory Body ] trick would work against them. The thought steadied his breathing... a little.

But doubt lingered. The look on Xiao Fang’s face — that calm, calculating stillness — wasn’t the expression of someone cornered.

The silver-haired man felt it too. Xiao Fang was unpredictable. And that made him dangerous.

"Why isn’t he attacking?" the quiet one asked.

The silver-haired man didn’t answer. He simply stared up at Xiao Fang, as if trying to decipher his thoughts — but the boy’s face was unreadable, his gaze cold and lifeless, like someone already looking at a corpse.

Then it hit him.

Around them, the pavilion’s edges began to shimmer and fade. Now that Yu Shenyi was dead, there was no one that could keep the pavilion in the air.

The silver-haired man’s brows furrowed as the structure let out a long, ominous creak.

The air trembled. Thin cracks of light split across the pavilion’s surface like veins of lightning. Both Heavenly Fate disciples braced themselves as the platform groaned.

Then came the lurch — the sickening pull beneath their feet.

The pavilion was falling.

"Shit, we’re going down."

"This must be what he was waiting for," the silver-haired man thought outloud, eyes still locked onto Xiao Fang.

Just as he expected, Xiao Fang finally made his move.

A faint ripple passed through the air — subtle, yet sharp enough for both of them to feel it crawl across their skin.

The atmosphere turned electric.

In the next instant, Xiao Fang stopped using [ Stealth ], and his figure wreathed in a bluish-white glow. Lightning danced across his skin, and his hair turned stark white under its brilliance.

At the same time 3 [ Solid Clones ] emerged from his body.

However, the two Heavenly Fate disciples had their eyes still locked onto Xiao Fang’s real body. Xiao Fang immediately assumed it was because of the Divination technique the quiet one casted on him earlier. So Xiao Fang focused his gaze on him... then the color of his eye changed, becoming a dark eerie purple.

[ Fear ]

The bright sky seemed to darken in an instant, their vision twisting and blurring as illusions of unspeakable horrors flooded their minds.

Though the world around them remained unchanged, the fear in their hearts distorted reality itself. Terror swelled until it was no longer something imagined — it was felt, raw and paralyzing, as if they had been plunged into a living nightmare.

This was no mortal power.

The Qi fueling Xiao Fang’s [ Fear ] technique was drawn from his Death Reaper dantian, and it carried the oppressive weight of a Heavenly Realm cultivator.

"Hanlin—this demonic power..." Yu Liangcheng managed to say.

"I know," the silver-haired man cut in sharply.

Both of them stood frozen, paralyzed by fear alone. The sensation was beyond comprehension — a force that crushed not their bodies, but their very will.

Yet the despair didn’t last long. In the next instant, the [ Fear ] technique abruptly faded.

They blinked, confused — and then they saw it.

Xiao Fang was coughing up blood, one hand gripping his face. From his closed eye, a stream of crimson spilled down his cheek.

They didn’t immediately understand what was going on, but then it became clear — Xiao Fang was suffering a backlash.