My Whole Class Isekai'd to a Xianxia? Good Thing I Can Do Mind-reading

The blow had landed squarely between his legs.

Xiao Zendong couldn't understand. How could a Spirit Severing realm cultivator land a blow that caused him so much pain? With the spiritual qi that acted as a barrier against attacks, it should have been impossible. He could understand if Feng Fan had used a tier 8 array, but that wasn't the case.

Xiao Zendong's face twisted into a silent scream. His eyes rolled back, and his knees buckled. He tried to cry out, but the sound lodged in his throat like a jagged bone, leaving only a gurgled rasp.

Feng Fan stood behind him, grinning from ear to ear, one leg still raised in a perfect follow-through from the groin-crushing kick. "Have a good night, princess," he said.

Feng Fan waved his hand again, and several spiritual swords materialized in the air. They shot forward like divine judgment. Unlike before, Xiao Zendong was completely exposed—his stance broken, his defenses shattered. The swords pierced through his body without resistance, tearing into flesh and bone.

With a calm expression, Feng Fan walked up to the corpse, plucked the space ring and the immortal dagger from Xiao Zendong's hands, and tossed them into his own space ring. He then waved his hand once more, and the earth parted to swallow the mutilated body, burying it beneath the sand as if it had never existed.

Feng Fan returned to the array's core. With the flick of a finger, he activated another sequence of runes, and the few remaining Obsidian Court infiltrators were mercilessly hunted down by the array's will.

With five hundred corpses hidden beneath the sand, Feng Fan let out a long breath.

"If anyone else from Red Pole had been in charge of the defensive array," he muttered to himself, "we'd have lost the challenge today. Maybe Lu Bao wasn't wrong when he said most civilizations had no chance against any seat on the Intergalactic Council, and surrendering would be the best option."

Shaking off the distracting thoughts, Feng Fan sat cross-legged and resumed his cultivation. Only by becoming stronger could he ensure true victory. Relying on Red Pole's forces was a gamble he never intended to take. Personal strength was the only constant, the only insurance.

—

Several hours later, at the Obsidian Court's camp.

Pan Meilin stood stiffly before Commander Hou Zemin, her usual calm demeanor replaced by a rare expression of anxiety. The dusk light outside cast long shadows across the command tent, adding weight to her grim report.

"Commander Hou," she said, her voice low, "I'm afraid Xiao Zendong won't be returning."

Hou Zemin let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples. The moment she entered, he had sensed something was off. But hearing it confirmed made the dull throb in his head bloom into a full-blown headache.

Xiao Zendong's death was a political dynamite. The elders back at the Obsidian Court had been grooming him as a future leader. Once word reached them, their wrath would be impossible to avoid.

Still, Hou Zemin remained composed. "How did they die?" he asked.

Pan Meilin hesitated, her brows furrowing as if trying to make sense of her own words. "I don't know the specifics, Commander. But… it appears they were all eliminated without triggering a single alarm from Red Pole's camp. No one there reacted. No reinforcements. No counter-attack. Nothing."

Hou Zemin's expression darkened. "Are you saying they were wiped out… in silence?"

She nodded. "My guess is that the Array Master in charge of Red Pole's main defensive formation executed them all. One by one. Quietly."

The claim sounded absurd even to her ears. A single array master? From a barbarian planet like that? Capable of completely neutralizing a five-hundred-strong assassination unit—some of them Transcending Tribulation experts—without anyone noticing?

It defied logic.

"If they had been discovered," she continued, "an alert would've gone off. The entire camp would've been mobilized. But I was there, and I sensed no disruption. No fluctuation of chaos. From the moment they infiltrated to the moment I left… nothing. It was as if they were killed beneath Red Pole's very nose, and no one even noticed."

She took a breath. "That's the only explanation. The Array Master responsible for the camp's defenses didn't just detect the infiltrators—he hunted and killed them all without letting anyone else know. But why?"

Her eyes narrowed. "And more importantly… how can someone from this undeveloped backwater be that powerful?"

Upon hearing Pan Meilin's report, a smile slowly crept across Hou Zemin's face. Then, to her surprise, he began to laugh. A deep, genuine laugh that echoed through the tent.

Pan Meilin blinked, visibly puzzled. In all her years of service, she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen her commander smile—much less laugh like this.

"Commander Hou?" she asked cautiously.

Eventually, his laughter faded, and he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Ah… forgive me, Meilin. I know you've just witnessed something unpleasant. But I can't help it—I'm delighted."

"Delighted…?" she repeated, still confused.

"Yes. I thought the opposition this time would be nothing more than lambs led to slaughter. Who could've imagined such a brilliant Array Master was hidden among them?" He exhaled with a strange mix of awe and amusement. "To think someone on this undeveloped civilization could take down Xiao Zendong and five hundred elites in complete silence… Fascinating."

His tone turned thoughtful. "I'd love to meet this genius Array Master. Even better if we could somehow bring him into the Obsidian Court… Unfortunately, he killed Xiao Zendong. That makes recruitment… impossible."

His voice turned cold. "Prepare for war. Now that we know who the most dangerous piece on their board is, we can adjust our strategy accordingly. We eliminate the Array Master first. With him gone, Red Pole's defenses will crumble."

Pan Meilin nodded, but her brow furrowed with concern. "Commander Hou… are you considering a direct assault? Considering what this Array Master is capable of, a frontal attack may play right into their strengths."

Hou Zemin chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I don't intend to send myself to death like Xiao Zendong did. But now that I've seen what kind of enemy we're dealing with… I'll make sure to bring something special."