182 - When Shadows Stand in the Light (6)
As soon as the transaction was completed, his team of shadows was deployed towards the Ye Sect. The inn remained peaceful, just as it was when he arrived and now that he left.
Quick, soundless footsteps with speed no mortal eye could catch. They were all trained assassins with similar or higher strength than Ye Hua, and thus, aside from the times verbal orders were necessary, their group made no sounds or unnecessary movements.
Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they encountered a group of men emitting bloodlust. Without a word, the masked assassins nearest to them disposed of them, reaping lives with every hit of their short swords. There was no order, but it wasn’t one that needed a verbal order in the first place.
185 - They Are Finally Out! (1)Little Yin was embarrassed, but she knew better than to delay time by explaining the ins and outs of the situation towards the husband of the body she’s currently borrowing.However, Ye Hua was stubborn.In this scenario, it would be faster for Little Yin to ignore Ye Hua and simply let the young man silently escort her.“Xuan’er…?”Ye Hua was bothered by his wife’s strange behavior, but regardless, she was someone he trusts. Thus, he sighed in defeat.“I won’t ask questions now,” he relented, but he put a special emphasis on the word ‘now’.
186 - They Are Finally Out! (2)This miracle was created thanks to Little Yin’s original knowledge as well as the advantage she gained from having Yun Yang’s two hundred years worth of memories. It allowed Little Yin to combine the ancient laws she knew together with the foundation of this mortal realm.At the basic level, the natives of Ancient Xia Continent could only use runes to attract the spiritual energy in the area around them with limited range. It was the usage of the laws of the world to control the qi and embed them on a physical object as its core.It was like using fuel to make a vehicle move. By themselves, the fuel and the vehicle would not be able to function, even if a person were to shout or kneel before them in worship. Understanding the fundamentals as well as the cause and effect were neces
187 - They Are Finally Out! (3)Inside the Main Peak…A single sword could be seen swinging slowly in one little corner inside the barrier surrounding the Main Peak.A lone sword cultivator was executing the dreary repetitive actions of stabbing, cutting and blocking, using a bamboo practice sword that anyone trapped alongside him could crush with a single finger.However, nobody looked down on that cultivator and his sword.What is a sword?Everyone observing the man had different ideas about a sword, yet in front of him, they felt like he was becoming a sword himself.A sword that cuts everything in his way.
187 - They Are Finally Out! (3)Inside the Main Peak…A single sword could be seen swinging slowly in one little corner inside the barrier surrounding the Main Peak.A lone sword cultivator was executing the dreary repetitive actions of stabbing, cutting and blocking, using a bamboo practice sword that anyone trapped alongside him could crush with a single finger.However, nobody looked down on that cultivator and his sword.What is a sword?Everyone observing the man had different ideas about a sword, yet in front of him, they felt like he was becoming a sword himself.A sword that cuts everything in his way.
189 - Outside Ye Sect (1)At the first sign of communications being cut off, the army that was resting in the palace of the territory lord of the Northern Mei was mobilized towards the Ye Sect of the first-tier Leaf City.Although there was no order coming from the Purple Plumed General, her subordinates were competent and decisive enough to act on their own, willing to shoulder blame and responsibility in her absence.And that decisiveness proved to be a correct decision.“The Hua Troop, deal with the first and second sector! The Namgoong Troop, follow behind me! The rest, advance!”For Rao Aimin, the vice-leader of the battalion under the Purple Plumed General, her advantage was in her technique, experience, and c
190 - Outside Ye Sect (2)After reading the contents of the scroll, Rao Aimin’s cold face twisted in anger.“These demonic bastards!”In addition to Leaf City, two more cities were seemingly isolated all at the same time, making three of the eight first-tier cities within the Northern Mei territory unreachable, cutting off communications within the city lords and the army. Worse, even the people from the imperial capital could not be reached despite the usage of the highest level thousand-mile communication talismans. It was as if powder kegs exploded all over the Qing Blessed Land.‘The moment they realized the Qing Clan noticed their existence, they immediately launched their plan ahead of plan, not even giving us breathing room.’
191 - Outside Ye Sect (3)Tapping on the four gates surrounding the walled city as marked on the map, Rao Aimin quickly started delegating tasks. She knew that time was of great essence at this point, as the faster the army moved, the more innocent lives would be spared from the wanton slaughter of the enemies.“We have three main objectives: first, to stabilize the situation by rounding up the demonic practitioners with the help of the local cultivators fighting within the city. Two, to get the main troop to enter the Ye Sect with utmost efficiency, and three, to secure the safety of the Purple Plumed General and her party.“The captains, lead your squadrons to pierce through the enemies scattered within Leaf City so that the main troop can head towards the Ye Sect unimpeded. As communication talismans wo
192 - Outside Ye Sect (4)Many buildings within Leaf City were ruined as an aftermath of the fight between cultivators. Though the local soldiers under the City Lord Manor and the members of the small sects and guilds were trying their best to protect the civilians, many of them were too low-level to protect their own necks, much less repel the enemies while looking out for ordinary people.It would take at least ten peak-level Body Washing Realm cultivators to handle a single early Foundational Spirit Realm practitioner, and at least fifteen if the said Foundational Spirit Realm practitioner was a sword cultivator.What more the crazy bunch of demonic cultivators?The demonic cultivators only comprised a small percentage of those who walked the Dao of the Blood and Destru
Scholar Rai held the ancient scroll between two calloused fingers, studying the faded ink with narrowed eyes. The papyrus was brown with age, the content written in a verbose and grand manner, as was usually the case with writings from hundreds of years ago. Its importance could not be translated into words. In fact, it surprised him that his lord father managed to keep these imperial treasures away from the capital.It had taken him twice the usual time to understand the runes. He found himself impressively overwhelmed not only by the sheer historic importance of these documents, but also because the prophecies spoke of the expiration of the bloods of the Old.He feared that the first of the visions written have come into passing.The scrolls he found were written by the last of the true prophets, during a time of historic darkness, the Legaliath Cross, back when magic was free to be harnessed by every man and woman and child. The Legaliath Cross was a devastating war that decimated
"You find this funny, Silver?" This was the first time that Lakas had directly addressed her in a conversation. She could not help but shudder at the slight amusement that colored his normally stern voice. "He could have killed you."Her smile widened.Lakas almost mirrored her expression, but then when he realized that he had spectators in the form of the other three girls inside her cage, he erased any trace of emotion from his face. "The four of you are currently part of the most prized collection of the emperor, but let me warn you. Not all warriors in this camp think the same as I do. You girls are precious, but you are replaceable. Think before you act."As soon as he left, the oldest of the girls, a beauty with curly flaxen hair and foliage green eyes scooted close to her. It was the first time anyone attempted to communicate with her. Most of the time, she was simply left alone in her corner of the cage. "That man just protected you, Silver," Green Eyes laughed excitedly. "He
The survivors were placed in metal cages where the heathens could openly leer at them, appreciating the goods before they were sold. The young warrior called Lakas looked incredibly silly with parchment and quill in his bloody hands, and his annoyed look did not escape her when he was tasked to make an inventory of the slaves."Name?"While the prisoners around her sobbed and wailed for their losses, Enna merely tried to make herself small in a corner. She never spoke. She never raised her head.Lakas snatched her chin. He was scowling. "Name?"When she refused to answer, the bald man behind Lakas growled before backhanding her. "Stupid girl! Tell us your name so that we can be done with this sham and leave!"Elbows shaking, she sat up, gazing at them with tired silvery eyes. Still, she did not open her mouth."You – "Lakas stopped the man with a wave. "Drop it. I will simply write Silver."The man smirked. "Yes, a name befitting a horse."They could call her whatever they want. Why
*She woke up to a strangled sound akin to an injured animal.Crying.Someone was crying.As the sound grew louder, she stirred, slowly, groaning due to the escalating pain at the base of her skull. Opening her eyes, she saw bloody bodies around her. Bile rose, and she emptied the contents of her stomach into the scarlet snow. After a few fuzzy seconds, she realized with relief that most of the bodies around her appeared to be moving. Bloody, but alive. She profusely thanked the good Spirits that there were people who still lived, despite the nagging thought that most of them would have preferred to have died along with their dignity and families.Her arms and feet were bound. Bound with thick ropes. She tried to stretch her legs, grasping too late that she was merely a stride away from the big fire that her captors made.She flinched from the pain.It was the same kind of burning pain that paralyzed her before she blacked out.It was also her first memory. Awakened by a burning pain
The heathens burned the temples. They attacked the farms. They destroyed everything from tiny peasant homes to historical monuments more than hundreds of years old. People who resisted died. People who surrendered died. The snow-clad village of Cardia was stained red. Blood of men. Blood of women. Blood of children.The enemy's arrival was silent; their attack sudden. The sleepy spell brought by winter on the border village was broken by animalistic screams of pain. Cries of people burning were everywhere. There were shrieks of villagers dying. By midnight, half of Cardian population was slain mercilessly by the bronze-skinned men covered in wolf pelts.The invaders relished the sight of the pale people bleeding, enjoying every slash of sword and arrow released as the village burned. They meant to annihilate every Northerner. They were humans on bloodlust — hungry predators on the hunt.They proudly called themselves the sons of Summer. The Cardians called them heathens from the Sout
Even if the Mind Forgets, the Soul Remembers (3)A fair-skinned human girl no taller than the height of his waist, wearing a satin robe that was neither stained by blood or mud. Big eyes on a small face, perfectly arranged black hair in a style of braided bun, delicately balanced features that indicated she would surely grow into a gorgeous young lady given a few years.Her adorable appearance made one have an urge to pinch her chubby cheeks, and if there were any females around, Ye Mo felt that they would fawn over how the little girl looked like a beautiful living, breathing doll.‘And it’s not a sight that should be seen in the middle of a battlefield.’Ye Mo tried to open his mouth to say something, but he remained unable to utter even a single word.‘Dangerous.’It didn’t make sense, but that was what his intuition was telling Ye Mo. His body wasn’t responding—there was no flight impulse, no, there wasn’t even an attempt to fight against the girl, even if it’s a last act of survi
265 - The Girl Who Cannot be Remembered (2)“This body is truly inconvenient.”Little Yin sighed as she sat on the eaves of the roof, looking like a tomboy leisurely camping when in fact she’s trying to reconstruct her soul with the help of moonlight.At first, she thought of leaving the Ye Clan while Ye Mo was unconscious. She felt like staying would give her a huge headache, but she was tied up by all the connections she made in this city.The Qing Blessed Lands had officially entered the state of war.Though communication was crippled, Little Yin was able to overhear the intelligence gathered by the hidden experts brought by the Purple Plumed General.Immortal Wuwei’s timely arrival managed to save Ye Sect and the entire Leaf City, but that wasn’t the same with the other cities. Even the news about the situation in the imperial capital could not be found.That little pretty boy, Qing Wu You, wanted to return to check on his family. Just last night, he came to visit her, asking if i
264 - The Girl Who Cannot be Remembered (1) “Uncle, are you all right?” It was Ye Hua who first noticed that Ye Mo was acting strange. The man’s eyes were looking at the people in the room as if they were people he had not seen for a long time. There was recognition in his gaze, as well as a kind of dissonance. “Huh? Yeah…yeah…” After staying unconscious for days and almost crossing the fine line of life and death, it was reasonable for Ye Mo to be in a daze, and everyone thought so as well. But Ye Hua’s intuition was telling him that his uncle was not just confused, but actually not in a normal state of mind. However, he decided to stay quiet. Because he felt that Little Yin had something to do with this. The young man’s eyes glanced in the direction of the little girl, who brought them all towards the room saying that Ye Mo should be waking up soon. Ye Hua remembered that incident several days ago, that eerie darkness that made his soul tremble. A power that could oppose n
263 – Even if the Mind Forgets, the Soul Remembers (5)‘I died?’Ye Mo tried to remember the last thing that happened to him, but only fragmented pieces of images appeared in his mind. Confusion was the only thing he could feel aside from the head-splitting pain, though he was trying to calm himself and follow the words of the little girl to embrace his memories.‘Since I died, shouldn’t I undergo samsara? Why am I seeing the memories of my former reincarnations?’What happened to him before he appeared and walked around that endless darkness?No, wait, what was he doing before the little girl appeared?He was swinging his sword against—The little girl frowned when she saw the images swimming inside his mind.“Outers.”Gaaaasp!She reached out her small chubby hands and touched the crown of his head, and she channeled her spiritual energy inside his body, focusing it on erasing those images that did not belong to him or to this era.“You are in so much pain because you took a peek at