Chapter 2633: Silent Extinction Mark

There were many exceptionally talented individuals present who had cultivated for many years, yet their efforts paled in comparison to these unknown assassins who had appeared out of nowhere, and by a wide margin. They even began to question the meaning of cultivation.

Only Zu'an could discern that these Ghost Pavilion assassins hadn't truly reached this realm through cultivation; instead, they had been imbued with the power of Nirvana, which forcibly elevated their current level.

Logically, they would no longer be able to advance in their cultivation. However, he didn't understand the promotion system under the true gods.

If the god of Nirvana were willing to grant them divine power, they might improve much faster than through their own cultivation.

The positions of the ace assassins seemed to form a mysterious array, suppressing him within it.

At this moment, Zhao Yuan's face revealed a victor's smile. "Regent," he said, "although we are adversaries, I still admire you. To grow from a son-in-law in a remote small town to your current standing in just a few years—your talent could truly be called first in human history."

"You know too little about human history to claim anything is 'first,' " Zu'an said, recalling his several traversals through time and indeed having seen too many astonishing figures. "Besides, flattering me won't work; I don't admire you in the slightest."

Zhao Yuan's smile stiffened, and his expression turned somewhat grim. "Does the Regent truly believe himself invincible under heaven?" he said. "Indeed, from a human perspective, that might seem true, but you probably don't know the power of true gods."

Seeing his smug expression, Zu'an couldn't help but feel speechless. He wondered what this guy's reaction would be if he knew Zu'an had been 'favored' by a true god.

He certainly wouldn't explain this to the other party. Instead, he seized the opportunity to ask, "I heard this rebellion is being carried out in the name of the Imperial Grandson. Did you abduct Concubine Bai and the Imperial Grandson?"

"Abduct?" Zhao Yuan's expression turned strange. "I've long heard the Regent is quite fond of women. I didn't expect you'd still be thinking of Concubine Bai even at death's door."

Everyone present immediately wore peculiar expressions. Some wondered why they hadn't heard news of Concubine Bai for so many years. A few insiders mused, wasn't she secretly executed? Many more simply wore expressions of keen interest.

So the Regent and Concubine Bai also had a secret affair?

It seems the popular romance novels on the market were still too conservative.

Bi Linglong frowned slightly. Concubine Bai had been a secondary consort in the Eastern Palace. She hadn't expected her to come back now to compete with her for A'Zu. It truly seemed they were destined to be at odds.

Zhang Zitong, on the other hand, felt a surge of indignation. These people were just making wild conjectures about the Regent. Didn't she know whether he was fond of women or not?

So many times she had subtly hinted to him, yet he had never shown the slightest inclination to take advantage of her. The Regent was clearly a true gentleman!

Wait, could it be that she held no attraction for the Regent at all?

At this thought, her small face instantly fell.

Murong Qinghe looked at the figure in the sky, wanting to speak but hesitating. She thought, "My brother-in-law is good in every way, except he's too much of a playboy."

Brother Chu is much more devoted, but...

"Death's door? Are you so certain you've won?" Zu'an chuckled softly.

"Does the Regent not feel any abnormality in his body? If not, I'm rather disappointed." Zhao Yuan shook his head, looking disdainful.

Hearing his words, Bi Linglong and the others anxiously looked towards Zu'an, wondering what was wrong with him.

"So you've weakened my physical defense, agility, divine sense, and so on, right?" Zu'an's expression was calm. As soon as the surrounding ace assassins appeared, they began setting up an array and simultaneously cast secret spells targeting him.

He wasn't in a hurry to act. He was about to go to that wondrous land, where he would likely have to deal with powerhouses from various worlds and some true god's followers. Understanding the capabilities of the Nirvana path here in advance would prevent him from being caught off guard in the future.

"It seems you're testing our abilities?" Zhao Yuan saw through his thoughts, a strange smile appearing on his face. "The Regent is indeed as skilled as he is bold, but unfortunately, you've miscalculated this time."

"You've already been marked by the Nirvana Seal, which is dreaded throughout all realms. Any target marked by this seal will have all their abilities weakened. You deliberately stalled for time just now, but that only allowed these seals to stack to their maximum layers. Now, all your attributes have been weakened by half. You can't possibly think you can still deal with us with only half your abilities, can you?"

"Weakened by half?" Everyone present was shocked. It was known that similar arrays existed in armies, often increasing their own damage and weakening enemy defense. But both sides usually had similar abilities, and on average, a 20% impact after all layers was considered remarkable.

Crucially, these arrays rarely worked on super powerhouses. After all, military arrays were complex to cast, and top powerhouses wouldn't simply stand still, waiting for you to cast an array.

How long had these ace assassins surrounded the Regent? That amount of time wasn't even enough to prepare an array!

Did they have some secret technique that bypassed the array casting process and directly affected the Regent?

"Nirvana Seal, an interesting ability." Zu'an felt a faint, subtle mysterious power influencing him and found it quite novel.

Seeing no panic whatsoever on his face, but rather an abnormal calmness, Zhao Yuan finally felt a sense of unease. He no longer dared to delay. "Attack!"

Almost the instant he gave the order, the ten ace assassins all vanished from their spots.

"Be careful, that's the Ghost Assassins' specialty, phasing into the void!" Many people in the area quickly shouted out warnings.

Especially, a few women exchanged glances, all feeling their mutual concern for Zu'an. But at this moment, they couldn't afford to be distracted and immediately refocused on the battle in the sky.

At this moment, Zu'an's brow furrowed slightly. He had seen this move before; Night Elves, in particular, excelled at it.

Normally, with his current realm of cultivation, even if weakened by that Nirvana Seal, his control over the will of heaven and earth meant enemies couldn't hide from him even if they concealed themselves in the void.

Yet, at this moment, he couldn't perceive the presence of the ace assassins at all.

Was it the power of Nirvana concealing them...?

Zu'an wasn't flustered. Phasing into the void was something he could do too.

Almost simultaneously, he too vanished from his spot, phasing into the chaotic void.

He was about to investigate where the ace assassins were when his expression suddenly changed. A slender sword, like a venomous snake, attacked his vital points from an unexpected angle.

Zu'an, however, smiled. He wasn't afraid of their sneak attacks, only of them never showing themselves.

In his eyes now, all sword techniques had lost their meaning.

In the blink of an eye, the ace assassin discovered, to his utter horror, that his lethal sword had somehow changed direction and directly slit his own throat.

He hadn't even clearly seen how his opponent had moved!

However, Zu'an's brow furrowed at this moment, because he found that his life force seemed to be draining away.

At that moment, Zhao Yuan's mocking voice echoed from the void. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," he said, "anyone marked by the Nirvana Seal loses ten percent of their life force for every person they kill who cast the Nirvana Seal. Go on, kill them all if you can."