The Trouble Caused by a Precious Saber

A crescent moon hung obliquely in the night sky. Countless stars twinkled and reflected each other's light. In the deep mountains and wilderness, this land, ravaged by fire during the day, was pitch black under the moonlight.

Right there in this place where the daytime battle raged, Yue Qianchou gazed at the fifty Special Forces Team soldiers in front of him. Apart from their team uniforms, they had all changed into ordinary people's clothes, revealing their true appearances.

"Hmm! You all look to be in good spirits." Yue Qianchou said with a faint smile, "I remember when you first joined Utopia, most of you were still in the Core Formation stage. In just a few short years, you have all reached the early Tribulation stage. It was worth all the effort I put into training you."

Fifty men stood in unison, clenching their right fists at their chests and bowing slightly. Yue Qianchou raised his hand, his expression gradually becoming serious, and said in a deep voice, "We've been training soldiers for a thousand days to use them for one! A few days ago, I asked your Chief Instructor for fifty capable and shrewd team members. General Guan has chosen you, and I hope you won't disappoint me."

"We will dedicate ourselves to the cause until our dying breath!" the fifty people replied in unison in a low voice.

"I don't want you to die, I want you to live, I want you to live and complete the mission. Our efforts today are for a better future, this is the ideal we Utopia people strive for our whole lives. So I don't need you to die," Yue Qianchou said calmly yet affectionately.

The fifty men clenched their fists and saluted again, somewhat excitedly. Yue Qianchou nodded in satisfaction and said, "The code name for this mission is 'Reconnaissance.' Do you all understand the mission's objective?"

"Keep a low profile, keep a low profile, keep a low profile even more," the fifty people replied in a low voice.

"Not bad!" Yue Qianchou smiled faintly, "You don't need to fight or kill. When carrying out missions, you are like black bats in the night, trying to avoid being discovered by anyone. During breaks in missions, you are just ordinary mortals, and you can't let anyone know that you are cultivators. Have you received all the elixirs, weapons, equipment, and supplies that I asked Manager Chen to provide for you?"

"Got it!" the fifty people replied again.

"Alright!" Yue Qianchou nodded. "In case of emergency, immediately send out a distress signal. Don't be reckless. Remember, I don't need you to die. I will do my best to save each and every one of you, because each of you is Special Forces Team member I have painstakingly trained. Although there will be sacrifices in the struggle, I don't need you to make pointless sacrifices. That would mean nothing to you, to your comrades, to the entire Utopia, or even to me. Do you all understand?"

"Clear!"

"After the mission is completed, send a signal, and I will bring you back to Utopia." Yue Qianchou glanced at the sky and nodded. "As planned, the mission will begin in the Great Yang Kingdom, and then you will each carry out your assigned tasks. Orders!"

Fifty people stood at attention. Yue Qianchou said in a deep voice, "'Site Reconnaissance' operation, now begins, move out!"

"Long live the leader!" the fifty men shouted softly, then, having determined their direction, quickly scattered without the slightest hesitation.

Yue Qianchou slowly turned in circles, watching his team members disappear into the night... Some time ago, he began preparations, constantly sending data to Guan Yu so that Guan Yu could select personnel and create a detailed plan. Taking advantage of having detailed topographical maps of various countries, the plan was quickly finalized, and the mission was named Operation 'Site Reconnaissance'.

The so-called reconnaissance operation involves sending team members to infiltrate various countries and secretly plant teleportation points needed by Yue Qianchou in important locations within the Cultivation World of those countries. For example, this preparation needs to be made in advance near important places such as Spirit Stone mine and various sects.

As Yue Qianchou brought Spirit Stone back to Utopia, the number of early Tribulation stage cultivators within Utopia increased significantly, enough for him to plan a large-scale attack. However, it seemed unrealistic for him to travel across various countries alone to plant teleportation points.

First, the kidnapping of Yin Wufeng to blackmail Yin Baikang went wrong, exposing his identity. Now he's too conspicuous, and he'll likely be watched wherever he goes. Second, his cultivation level isn't high enough; even if he didn't expose his identity and traveled between countries, it would still take him a considerable amount of time.

Currently, sending a group of Special Forces Team members to carry out the mission covertly would be ideal. With over 300 countries and 50 Special Forces Team members, each assigned to a few countries would suffice. If all goes well, it should be completed in about six months.

Of course, sending over three hundred Special Forces Team soldiers at once would be faster, but that would make them too conspicuous. Also, to minimize losses in case of unforeseen circumstances, it's best to keep the personnel as lean and efficient as possible. Besides, things often happen unpredictably, and he hasn't been here long enough to fully understand the situation.

His open and aboveboard travels among the countries have another major advantage: they can clear him of suspicion, preventing others from suspecting him. For example, if an accident occurs in country A, but he is in country B, thousands of miles away, who could connect the two events to him?

The next day, Zhang Peng went to participate in his martial arts contest to find a husband, much to the frustration of the contestants from the Biyuan Kingdom. With this guy around, none of them had the confidence to beat him. They figured the trip was a waste of time.

Yue Qianchou lost all interest in visiting the palace; there was no point in watching that ridiculous martial arts competition. He spent the next few days leisurely strolling around the Dayang City, catching up with Xin Lao San. Yue Qianchou found having a friend like Xin Lao San to be quite beneficial; Xin Lao San could ask him any questions he had.

Following Xin Lao San visited his friends' patrons. Although the others didn't particularly like Yue Qianchou, they still reluctantly entertained him out of respect for Xin Lao San. However, after visiting several patrons and learning some news, Yue Qianchou's expression darkened, and he lost all interest in visiting any more patrons.

The two returned to the embassy of the Biyuan Kingdom, and Xin Lao San's expression was rather unpleasant. The reason was simple: Yue Qianchou's actions this time had caused all countries to lose face, and many experts had been ordered to come to take Yue Qianchou's life and regain the lost face.

A close friend of Xin Lao San revealed that the real reason for trying to save face was actually that cultivators from various countries coveted Yue Qianchou's two treasured swords. Under the watchful eyes of many, those Spirit Transformation stage behind the scenes, while wanting to seize the swords, couldn't openly take something from a junior.

Actually, this is just empty talk. If no one knew, do you think Spirit Transformation stage would intervene? It's not uncommon for cultivators to secretly steal treasures and elixirs in the Cultivation World. Saying they're mindful of their status is just a pretext; Spirit Transformation stage experts have done it countless times. Most importantly, once one Spirit Transformation stage makes a move, the others certainly won't hold back. At that point, Spirit Transformation stage from different countries would be thrown into chaos.

So they all secretly reached an agreement: send their elite disciples to seize the treasure, and whoever brought it back would keep it. Fortunately, Huo Zongming didn't want his capital Dayang City, to suffer, and said he would find a way to drive Yue Qianchou out of Dayang City. The other countries where Spirit Transformation stage resided also had capitals, and everyone put themselves in the same boat. They didn't want to break this rule, otherwise retribution could come to their own territories at any time, so they could only wait until Yue Qianchou left Dayang City before making any further moves.

Knowing that experts from all over the world were rushing here, and that the Dayang City was about to become his death zone, it was no wonder Yue Qianchou couldn't be happy. Even fighting one or two late Tribulation Transcendence stage Transcending cultivators was difficult; imagine hundreds or thousands coming at once—it would be deadly!

Inside the courtyard, Xin Lao San was looking at the flowerbed in the middle of the yard in astonishment. The flowerbeds on both sides were thriving with green leaves and fresh flowers, but how come the middle section was completely dead? It was really strange.

Yue Qianchou sat on the swing, swaying back and forth. He asked weakly, "Xin Lao San, are my two knives really that tempting?"

Upon hearing this, Xin Lao San walked back and asked in astonishment, "Don't you know what kind of treasure you have? I heard in Lingfang Valley that you held a Blade Drawing Tournament in the Huaxia Cultivation World. The news from there says that the two swords you have are spiritual treasures from the 'Eastern Pole Sacred Land'. The Spirit Transformation stage here have been itching to make a move for a while. If it weren't for being restrained by that Number One Expert Under Heaven, you would have been in trouble."

"I..." Yue Qianchou was speechless. Back then, in order to make more money, he had claimed that the Black Fire great saber was a treasure from the 'Eastern Pole Sacred Land,' but unfortunately, the conference was not a success. He never expected that a single fabricated sentence would bring him such a big problem.

What frustrated him most was that although many people in the Huaxia Cultivation World coveted it at the time, none of them had made such a big fuss! It made him somewhat dismissive of it.

He failed to consider that he had long maintained close ties with the Four Great Families and the number one sect of righteous and demonic cultivation in the Huaxia Cultivation World, and that some sects, such as the Wangyue Sect, also seemed to have some ambiguous relationship with him. Those who wanted to seize the treasure dared not act rashly without understanding the details, fearing that they would invite unnecessary disaster; otherwise, they would have already been ruthless towards him.

"Actually, everyone was still somewhat skeptical at first, not really believing that any treasure could have leaked out of the Eastern Pole Sacred Land. But the problem was that you shouldn't have flaunted it last time. Think about it! You, a Nascent Soul Realm, almost killed a late Tribulation Transcendence stage with just a sword. Everyone witnessed the power of that sword. Now, even if it's not a treasure leaked from the Eastern Pole Sacred Land, with such great power, who wouldn't be drooling over it?" Xin Lao San clicked his tongue in amazement.

Yue Qianchou looked at him, frowned, and said, "You're befriending me because you're also after my two treasured swords?"

"Uh..." Xin Lao San shook his head and said, "You've really misunderstood. For me, friends are more important than a precious sword."

Upon hearing this, Yue Qianchou's expression showed deep skepticism.

Xin Lao San coughed awkwardly and said, "Let me put it this way! While this precious sword is indeed excellent, it's practically useless in the hands of cultivators below the Spirit Transformation stage. A better flying sword would be more practical. But it's a different story in the hands of Spirit Transformation stage. Battles between Spirit Transformation stage often rely on their superior cultivation for close-quarters combat; long-range attacks are almost impossible to injure them because everyone's speed is incredibly fast. Just imagine. If such a precious sword fell into the hands of a Spirit Transformation stage, its usefulness would be immense!"

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