While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

"clang!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the woods.

It wasn't the sound of a blade piercing flesh, but rather the sound of a blade striking metal.

The man's expression changed.

He felt as if his short knife had hit a wall, and a huge recoil force traveled from the tip of the knife to the hilt, making his hands go numb and almost unable to hold the hilt.

The blade stopped on Tianyan's back, piercing through a layer of fabric, but could not go any further.

Through the tear in the fabric, a layer of black iron-colored material was revealed underneath.

It's not clothing, it's not protective gear.

It's bone.

Black iron scales peeked out from beneath the fabric, layer upon layer, like a suit of armor woven from bones. The edges of each scale were as sharp as blades, gleaming with a cold, chilling light in the dim corridor.

The man's pupils suddenly contracted.

His first reaction was not to attack, but to retreat. He touched the ground with his toes and his body sprang backward like a spring, covering a distance of three or four meters in the corridor.

He held the short sword horizontally in front of him, the tip pointing towards Tianyan. He crouched slightly, lowering his center of gravity, assuming a stance ready to defend or counterattack at any moment.

Tianyan slowly turned around, sunglasses perched on his nose, his expression calm, revealing no emotional fluctuations.

He looked at the middle-aged man, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Uncle, what does this mean?"

Tianyan's voice was soft, carrying a hint of a half-smile: "Trying to take all one hundred million for yourself?"

The uncle's smile froze for less than half a second before he quickly regained his nonchalant expression, lowered his knife, and chuckled a few times.

"Hahaha... Don't misunderstand, buddy. I just wanted to test the mettle of my partner."

He twirled the dagger in his hand, as if to prove his harmlessness: "In our line of work, who can trust a complete stranger? What if you're the kind of person who stabs you in the back? My old bones can't take that kind of trouble."

He paused, then his smile widened further: "I've tried it, buddy. Yours is pretty good. I'd be happy to split the reward."

Tianyan looked at him without saying a word.

The alleyway fell silent for a moment.

Then Tianyan laughed.

That smile was different from before; it wasn't a polite, curving smile, but rather a smile tinged with helplessness, like watching someone with terrible acting skills forcefully putting on a performance.

"Uncle," Tianyan said, his voice still calm, but with a newfound certainty in it, "Stop lying."

"That slash was aimed at my heart. The force, angle, and speed were all deadly moves. It wasn't a test or a probe; it was a killing blow."

"Uncle Yamamoto".

Tianyan tilted his head, looking at the uncle's frozen face: "You wouldn't happen to be the curse master secretly stationed by the Panxing Sect, would you?"

……

Panxing Sect Internal

The office of Sonoda Shigeru, the highest leader of the Panxing Sect, was a well-furnished room with a mahogany desk, a genuine leather chair, a calligraphy plaque with the words "Tianyuan Loves All Beings" hanging on the wall, and several neatly trimmed potted plants on the windowsill.

But at this moment, Sonoda Shigeru, who is usually calm and composed in front of believers, is pacing back and forth in his office like a cat whose tail has been stepped on.

His forehead was covered in sweat, and a few strands of his hair were wet and stuck to the tumor on his forehead, making him look disheveled. His well-maintained face no longer had its usual composure, but instead showed an uncontrollable panic.

"What to do, what to do, what to do..." He kept muttering to himself, his voice hoarse and trembling.

A woman was sitting on the sofa in the office.

She had shoulder-length pink hair, delicate features, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips. She crossed her legs, held a cup of black tea in her hand, and looked as elegant as if she were attending an afternoon tea party in high society.

"Could you please stop spinning?" Her voice was soft and calm, but despite being addressed to the highest leader of the Panxing Sect, her tone was commanding.

Sonoda Shigeru stopped and turned to her, his face filled with unease: "Do you know what's happening outside? Someone has put a bounty of 100 million on the Panxing Cult! 100 million!"

She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and then slowly placed it back on the coffee table: "I know."

"You know that?!"

Sonoda Shigeru's voice rose a notch: "You knew all along, and you're still so calm?"

"Has our hiring of a sorcerer to intercept the asteroid been exposed?"

"Now the people from the vocational college are coming after us!"

She looked up at his face, which was contorted with fear, and the smile on her lips widened.

"High School wouldn't do something like that. They consider themselves the righteous side, and they wouldn't actually place a bounty on a website specifically for curse masters. So this bounty is just to divert the pressure of protecting the Star Magma. Don't take it to heart."

She looked at Sonoda Shigeru, her smile deepening: "And you forgot one thing: sorcerers cannot attack ordinary people at will. This is a basic principle of the sorcery world. If they dare to use force directly, the higher-ups will not stand idly by."

"In other words, they can only deal with us using non-violent means. Investigations, exposure, and legal proceedings are their weapons. As for those curse masters who come for money..."

Sonoda Shigeru's complexion improved slightly, but his brows were still furrowed: "But what if a curse master sees that bounty..."

"That bounty has now been modified by the backend so that it is only visible to people from the High School faction. Even if a curse master saw it before and still insisted on coming, it won't be possible."

She paused, a meaningful smile curving her lips: "I've already arranged for people to wait for them outside."

Sonoda Shigeru finally let out a long breath, relaxing from his tense state. He took out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and finally managed a smile.

"You're very thoughtful."

He crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it into the trash can, opened the door and left the office, walking along a corridor to a large hall.

Dozens of members dressed in uniform white uniforms were standing there, their faces showing varying degrees of tension and panic.

When they saw Sonoda Shigeru come out, all their eyes turned to him.

"Lord Sonoda Shigeru! Someone outside said we have a bounty on our heads!"

"What exactly happened?"

"Are we safe?"

Sonoda Shigeru took a deep breath, and the calm smile that he only showed in front of believers returned to his face. He raised his hands and pressed them down, like a conductor comforting his orchestra.

"Everyone, don't panic."

He paused, his smile deepening. "With Lord Tianyuan protecting us, you all just need to pray devoutly as usual."