Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Contraction
Shen Hao was surrounded by an open space, and people were only further away. Moreover, those people were all trapped in the Illusion Realm, so it was impossible for them to spy on him.
Later, Shen Hao consciously tried several times. As long as he calmed his mind, that similar sensation would appear—as if countless invisible little hands were waving and greeting his Sea of Consciousness and perception.
He didn’t sense malice, just found it strange.
After trying many different places several more times, Shen Hao finally figured out some patterns. What he actually sensed as "spying" wasn’t from people, but the Cloud Swords drifting around him.
The more Cloud Swords there were, the more "greetings" Shen Hao could feel when he calmed his mind. Conversely, if he calmed his mind while among a bunch of garrison soldiers trapped in the Illusion Realm, that sensation was extremely weak.
Why was this?
Shen Hao wasn’t sure, but he guessed it must have something to do with the golden soul he had previously devoured from the six Cloud Swords. This guess made him deeply uncomfortable.
Could it be that after devouring souls, he ended up with the soul’s scent "tagged" onto him? If this kept going, would that mean he’d be marked by countless "tags"? It all felt very awkward.
But after thinking it over again, something didn’t add up. By his understanding of the Black Beast Tattoo, soul-type energies didn’t directly enter his body when he devoured them. Instead, they first underwent a conversion inside the Black Beast Tattoo, where various soul energies were miraculously and mysteriously unified into their most original form of energy and then infused into his body at a certain efficiency.
In other words, after passing through the Black Beast Tattoo’s transformation, the energy Shen Hao absorbed shouldn’t have any connection whatsoever to its original owners, let alone be "tagged."
But then, what were those sensations coming from the Cloud Swords?
"Maybe those ’greetings’ weren’t even directed at me at all? But instead at... the Black Beast Tattoo?"
A flash of insight flickered in Shen Hao’s mind. He hurriedly pulled open his collar to look down, convinced the problem had to be with his Black Beast Tattoo.
At first glance, the Black Beast Tattoo looked the same as ever; not much seemed to have changed, except it had gotten glossier and appeared more lively. Especially those eyes: staring at them for too long made him feel as if they were meeting his gaze—kind of eerie.
After inspecting it closely, Shen Hao gave a soft "eh?"—he really did discover something different about the Black Beast Tattoo. Its left forelimb, on one of the claws, now had a faint dark-gold sheen.
Dark gold... This immediately made Shen Hao think of those walnut-sized golden souls he’d devoured.
The souls were dark green, and shouldn’t have been gold—unless something else had been blended into them. And whatever was blended in seemed to be absorbed by the Black Beast Tattoo, forming some kind of connection to the Cloud Swords?
But Shen Hao didn’t dwell on it, because a dull thud sounded distantly, thundering like a rumble, sending an inexplicable shudder through his heart.
He traced the sound—it was coming from the direction of Caiyuan Village.
Had something happened?
Not long after, unusual changes began to appear throughout the Cloud Sword Domain. First, those Cloud Swords that had been drifting aimlessly and lazily all began to move rapidly and uniformly toward the direction of Caiyuan Village.
Was this a contraction?
Shen Hao instinctively moved closer to the edge of the Cloud Sword Domain, and soon discovered that the one-way barrier at the edge was also retreating, albeit slowly.
But several Xuanqing Guard soldiers closer to the boundary had already left the Cloud Sword Domain, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
This omen delighted Shen Hao. Though he didn’t know exactly what had happened, the contraction of the Cloud Sword Domain meant many soldiers trapped inside and at risk of starving or dying of thirst might be spared.
Half an hour later, Shen Hao calculated that the Cloud Sword Domain had shrunk to a ten-mile radius—seventy percent smaller. Those who’d been trapped in the Illusion Realm regained freedom the moment they left, most collapsing to the ground; cries for "Water, food" echoed everywhere, hunger nearly driving them mad.
Shen Hao didn’t join the exodus out of the Cloud Sword Domain. He still needed to verify the outcome of the scenario he had staged earlier.
Sure enough, those cultivators who had previously rushed into Caiyuan Village now began to flee. Time was running out for them, with large numbers of Cloud Swords returning, and only one entrance to the tomb passage in Caiyuan Village. It was easy to imagine how clogged it would get. And the Tomb Beasts roaming outside Caiyuan Village also swarmed toward the passage, scrambling to get in.
Shen Hao originally intended to stand guard outside Caiyuan Village, but as he drew near he had to stop. The approaching Cloud Swords had grown incredibly dense, especially the giant ones—standing before them, he had to crane his neck just to look up. Who dared touch those? And with the Cloud Swords moving much faster now, it was safest to keep a distance.
The first to emerge were people from the Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute, including Nie Yun, who had entered first. "Shen, you haven’t left yet? Hurry and come with me!" Nie Yun grabbed Shen Hao and shot out together, leaving the last remaining area of the Cloud Sword Domain in moments.
Next out were three Golden Sword Cultivators, followed by two from the Celestial Toad Sect and several other cultivators from second- and third-tier sects.
Shen Hao noticed there were at least half as many people as he remembered, and what gratified him more was that Wind Bell and Xiao Hai hadn’t appeared. He also saw the two Celestial Toad Sect members radiating killing intent, clearly having settled some scores.
All of them were injured, bloodstained from head to toe. Nie Yun looked the worst, as if he’d been dragged out of a Blood Pool; were it not for the decent color on his face, Shen Hao would have worried he might collapse as he walked.
"The Sword Emperor’s Tomb is sealed. All of you have reaped plentiful rewards—you may as well disperse now."
"Sealed? Wasn’t it you Golden Sword Guard types who, for no good reason, tried to seize the Sword Emperor’s Sword and caused the tomb to quake and close early? Now you even want to chase us off? Shameless!"
"Bullshit! It was clearly you idiots from the Celestial Toad Sect who tried to take the stone tablet at the main tomb chamber’s entrance and triggered the restriction, causing contraction. And now you dare shamelessly accuse us? Talk about thick-skinned. With a sect like yours, no wonder no one likes you wherever you go, and you end up with people always chasing you down when something goes wrong."
"You!"
No one made a move, nor did anyone show signs of it, but the war of words was fierce.
Standing to the side, Shen Hao overheard most of it, and could see from the faces of Nie Yun and the other two Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute members that they were actually the most frustrated. A fortuitous place that only they knew about had suddenly been thrown into chaos and ruined in a few quick moments, and the culprits were none other than the Celestial Toad Sect and the Golden Sword Guard. In any case, Nie Yun and his companions looked at both sides with nothing but disdain.
