Chapter 2717: Eighty-one Slashes
The older cultivator who was inside the wooden house had intended to go visit some friends, so when he opened the door and saw Snack Sage’s sign, he immediately became angry. He saw Snack Sage, and knew who it was. The man did not want to offend Snack Sage, so he just turned around and left.
"Coward! On to the next one," Snack Sage said disdainfully.
The older man grew furious. His cultivation was greater than Snack Sage’s, and he had not refused the challenge out of fear or losing, but because he did not want to offend the youth due to his high status. For the older man, losing would be embarrassing, but winning would cause problems. However, even just trying to ignore the challenge was seeing him insulted.
"Stop that!" the older man yelled angrily.
Snack Sage sneered. "What? You want to argue?"
"Originally, I didn't want to get involved with you for Senior Food Sage’s sake, however, given your arrogance, I will teach you a lesson for insulting Sage Hua’s people!" the older cultivator shouted fiercely.
Some distance away, Lu Yin heard the conversation, and was surprised by the older man’s words; he was one of Sage Hua’s followers?
"Sage Hua’s people? Alright, let's have fun!" Snack Saint responded with excitement.
Soon, the older man’s arm was shattered, and his blood dripped onto the ground as he stared at Snack Saint in shock.
The man heard for a long time that Snack Saint possessed an incredible level of physical strength, just the same as Food Sage, but the man had never taken those rumors seriously. After all, the older man possessed much greater cultivation than Snack Sage, so he had never considered that he would be unable to put up any sort of resistance at all.
"Bastard. On to the next one." Snack Saint immediately started antagonizing another person, by blocking the entrance to another wooden house. He then even erected his sign taller than ever so that it could be seen by everywhere on Hanging Island, instantly insulting everyone on it.
Lu Yin was able to stay out of everything, but for the next few days, Hanging Island became quite busy. Jiang Xiaodao, Luo Zang, Mu Mu, Xu Jie, and many others all took action, though not against Snack Sage. Instead, they competed against older cultivators, and not just with arm wrestling, but included everything. Gong Yu competed against others in archery, Xu Jie competed with his mastery of control of voidforce energy, and so on.
Lu Yin had no idea how things had developed into such a situation.
These older cultivators were not ordinary people. Ordinary cultivators were unable to establish enough of a relationship with the Lost Clan to be able to obtain a card. Things were no longer simply Snack Sage antagonizing people, but had developed into a competition between different generations of cultivators.
Lu Yin did not get involved. He remembered what he had heard from Xu Wuji, and simply spoke to someone from the Lost Clan and asked to see Xiao Fang.
The person from the Lost Clan appeared terribly confused; Xiao Fang?
Lu Yin repeatedly mentioned the name Xiao Fang, who was definitely some powerhouse from the Lost Clan, yet the person from the Lost Clan member had no idea who the person was even after thinking about it for a long time. In the end, Lu Yin had no choice but to call on Zhi Bing.
"Xiao Fang? Did Xu Wuji ask you to speak with them?" Zhi Bing gave Xuan Qi an odd look.
Lu Yin shrugged. He was already aware that there was something a bit off with the name Xiao Fang. Xu Wuji’s entire attitude had been strange when he had asked for a package to be delivered, but that had nothing to do with Xuan Qi. "That’s right, the Bureau Director asked me to deliver something to Xiao Fang."
"What is it?" Zhi Bing asked.
Lu Yin shrugged. "The Bureau Director specified that the package needs to be delivered directly to Xiao Fang."
Zhi Bing shook his head. "Very well, if you want to see her, I will take you. However, her name is not Xiao Fang. The only person in the entire Sixverse Association who calls her that is Xu Wuji. Her name is Fang Yi, and she is an elder of my Lost Clan."[1]
A short time later, Lu Yin met with the Xiao Fang Xu Wuji had mentioned.
Lu Yin saw a very young woman, but she only looked young. After all, she was from the same generation as Xu Wuji.
Zhi Bing left, but before leaving, he reminded Xuan Qi not to call the woman Xiao Fang.
"This junior is Xuan Qi. Greetings, Senior Fang Yi," Lu Yin spoke with a respectful tone.
Fang Yi hummed as she observed Lu Yin. "Did Xu Wuji ask you to see me?"
"Yes."
"Tell me exactly what he told you; don’t leave out a single word or change anything at all," Fang Yi ordered, her expression cold.
Lu Yin blinked. "The Bureau Director told me to deliver this box to Fang Yi. ‘Make sure you give it to her directly, and don't let anyone give it to her for you. If you aren’t able to see Xiao Fang, just bring the box back to me intact. Don’t let anyone touch it, or even see it.’"
Fang Yi then stared at Lu Yin. "That’s what he said?"
Lu Yin nodded. "His exact words."
Fang Yi's expression improved. "Give me the box."
Lu Yin quickly handed the box over, but Fang Yi paused after taking it. "Have you seen inside it?"
"Absolutely not," Lu Yin assured.
Fang Yi glanced at Xuan Qi, but said nothing further.
"I’ve delivered the box, so I will take my leave now." Lu Yin made to leave, but Fang Yi asked him to wait. She then casually opened the box right in front of him, but after a single look at its contents, her expression changed drastically, and it twisted into a very ugly expression.
Lu Yin saw the woman’s expression change, but he had no idea what Xu Wuji had placed in the box. Whatever it was, it had caused the woman to have a very strong reaction.
Fang Yi’s breathing grew heavy, and her expression constantly fluctuated, showing anger, embarrassment, and frustration. Many different emotions were clearly expressed.
Lu Yin wanted to leave, but did not dare speak up at all.
Some time later, Fang Yi recovered and put the box away. She then took a deep breath and looked at Lu Yin. "Wait a moment. I also have something to send to Xu Wuji, so please help me deliver it."
She then turned and left.
Lu Yin was very curious as to what was in the box that caused Fang Yi, a powerhouse equal to a Semi-Progenitor, to become unable to control her emotions.
A full hour passed before Fang Yi returned, and she handed Lu Yin the same box. She then stared at him. "Give this to Xu Wuji, and don't open it. You cannot give it to anyone else. You must hand it to Xu Wuji yourself."
Lu Yin nodded. "This junior understands. You don’t need to worry, Senior."
Fang Yi repeated her warning, "It needs to be given directly to Xu Wuji by your own hands, and you absolutely cannot allow anyone to open it, or else you will be responsible for the consequences."
Lu Yin's face twitched. "This junior understands."
Fang Yi grunted, and then a smile suddenly appeared on her face. "After you give that box to Xu Wuji, you should get away from him so that you don’t suffer from the opening of the box. Of course, while I’m warning you, don’t say anything to Xu Wuji, alright?"
The moment Lu Yin heard the warning, he glanced at the box that suddenly felt hot in his hands. Nothing could be allowed to happen to it.
He quickly put the box away and left.
When Lu Yin saw Zhi Bing again, he asked what sort of relationship existed between Xu Wuji and Fang Yi.
Zhi Bing’s expression turned strange, and he did not answer. Instead, he told Xuan Qi not to ask any more questions, and he led the young man straight back to Hanging Island and then left.
Lu Yin touched his cosmic ring. He really wanted to open the box, but reason told him not to.
He regretted accepting Xu Wuji’s request. Lu Yin felt that he should have checked what was in the box that Xu Wuji had sent to Fang Yi, at least to check that it had been nothing dangerous.
Just as he was about to return to his quarters, Lu Yin saw Snack Sage sitting by the door, so Lu Yin simply turned around and left. He did not want to get involved with the guy.
Unable to return to his own wooden house, Lu Yin found a secluded place to sit down. No one else was nearby, and unless someone searched every bit of Hanging Island, Lu Yin would not be found.
He decided to stay in this place until the Shangsan Festival started
On this day, the moon overhead was extraordinarily round.
The moonlight fascinated Lu Yin, and he unknowingly became immersed in it. He did not realize it, but the moonlight covered him like a saber, a blade that sliced down across him with silver light. The moonlight was like water, while the blade was like light. Lu Yin remained frozen in place as he stared at the moonlight and forgot everything.
Inexplicably, a saber appeared in front of him, slashing at him.
Lu Yin was startled; where had this blade come from? He tried to dodge, only to discover that he was completely unable to move at all.
Seeing the saber move closer and closer, he wanted to use the power within his chest, Inverse Step, or see the spatial lines and use them to escape, but he found that nothing at all was possible. All he could do was watch as the saber fell towards his head, the attack trying to slice him in half.
Lu Yin had never felt so helpless in his entire life. He felt even more helpless than when he had been tossed onto Driftcharge Planet. At least he had been able to move at that time, whereas he was completely frozen beneath this saber. Both the slipper and the bone spur were in his cosmic ring, yet he was unable to even take them out.
He was unwilling to simply give up. He could not accept being completely helpless. He wanted to fight back! Move! Move! Move!!!
Yet he was completely unable to move. The saber fell, and the top of his head grew cold. Lu Yin could only watch on in horror.
Am I about to die?
However, at the very last moment, the blade vanished. He stared upwards in a daze and tried to move his fingers. He found that he could once again move, and sensation had returned. He was actually not dead?
Suddenly, the saber reappeared, this time slashing at him from the side.
Lu Yin was startled; again?
Once again, he was completely unable to move at all, and could only watch helplessly as the saber slashed at him. Again and again, the saber slashed at him from every direction. Eighty-one times the saber appeared, and from the first to the last, Lu Yin was unable to dodge a single attack. After a bit, he gave up even trying, and instead simply watched as the blade passed by. It looked as though the blade had cut through his body, yet it also seemed that it had not.
Was this what it was like to die from a thousand slashes?
Where did this saber come from? Who was attacking?
Lu Yin was completely unable to access or use his domain, spiritual force, runes, or any other power. Beneath the saber, Lu Yin was rendered as powerless as a baby.
He watched as the eighty-first slash appeared, and the saber rose up from below. It was the same as the first attack, and yet there was something different about it that Lu Yin could not explain.
As the saber fell, the void collapsed. Lu Yin took a few steps back, once again able to move. He subconsciously dodged, and then glanced around, but there was nothing at all. Was he still in the same place as before? He had clearly been slashed by a saber eighty-one times, yet nothing at all had changed around him. The dew was the same, the moonlight, and even the grass. Nothing at all had been touched.
Had it all just been an illusion?
Lu Yin's pupils flickered and sweat dripped from his forehead. It had not been an illusion. After all, he was a powerful cultivator who could fight against Progenitor level powerhouses; how could he not distinguish between an illusion and reality? Still, what had just happened?
He had been slashed eighty-one times, but by who? Lu Yin’s attacker absolutely had to be unimaginably powerful, as Lu Yin had not been able to notice a thing. If that person had genuinely wanted to kill him, Lu Yin would have been slashed to pieces by the numerous slashes.
A chill swept over him, and he felt as though he had just died.
At this moment, the void condensed where he had previously been sitting, and as he watched, a tiny saber appeared. It was about as big as his palm, which was quite small, and it floated in mid-air.
Lu Yin stared at it in a daze. This was the exact same saber that had just slashed him eighty-one times. There was not a single difference.
He looked around again, and then offered a deep bow. "This junior is Xuan Qi. If I have disturbed you, I ask that Senior won’t take any offense."
No one answered.
Lu Yin called out again, and then tried to release his domain. It spread out until it nearly reached the people who were present for the Shangsan Festival, yet Lu Yin was unable to find a single person. There was no trace of whoever had attacked him.
It must have been a peak powerhouse, and one of the most powerful alive.
Lu Yin took a deep breath, and then slowly approached the palm-sized saber. However, there was no reaction from the blade.
He reached out and grabbed the saber.
The moment Lu Yini made contact with the saber, he felt a blood connection. The scene of when he had been slashed eighty-one times flickered through Lu Yin's mind once again, and he stared at the saber in his hand in shock. This was a saber, yet it was also not a saber. This little blade held the power of the eighty-one slashes, or rather, it could be said that the eighty-one slashes that Lu Yin had endured had formed the saber.
1. This "xiao" is the endearing form that means little, but since Lu Yin misinterprets the woman's name, it didn't work to refer to her as "Little Fang." ☜
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