The Thousand Mechanisms Sect Had Betrayed Them Long Ago

Ying Huaixu's expression did not change after he killed the Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciple.

As far as Ying Huaixu was concerned, if you had an exclamation mark over your head, or were even part of a mission, he would not let you off, no matter who you were.

Experience points were simply far too important to him.

The two Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples who had been following Ye Ningshuang now looked at Ying Huaixu differently.

There was some respect in their eyes, but also some fear.

Compared to Ying Huaixu, they would much rather stay with He Xiuyuan.

At least He Xiuyuan would not attack out of nowhere.

Ying Huaixu's attack had been so sudden that they could not make sense of it.

Never mind those two-even He Xiuyuan could not help scratching his head.

He had not actually intended to kill the man.

So what if the man made what he had done public?

He did not care.

But he had never expected Ying Huaixu to care so much about his dignity.

He Xiuyuan smiled and said, "I don't actually care about my reputation. Whatever I do, all I ask is that my conscience is clear!"

Ying Huaixu: "???"

After a moment of stunned silence, Ying Huaixu finally caught on.

"Oh, I think you've misunderstood. I didn't kill him for your sake. I killed him because he was provoking our Divine Firmament Sword Sect!"

He Xiuyuan did not believe him.

He thought Ying Huaixu was simply making excuses.

He Xiuyuan had already formed his first impression of Ying Huaixu: "Cold on the outside, warm on the inside!"

Seeing that He Xiuyuan had misunderstood, Ying Huaixu could not be bothered to explain.

In Ying Huaixu's eyes, it did not matter.

What mattered now was completing this world mission.

They traveled without a word.

Only after nightfall did they settle down to spend the night in a ruined temple.

Everyone had received a Storage Bag when they joined the sect.

As such, they had all brought plenty of dry rations.

"Young master, this is for you!"

Ye Ningshuang came over and sat beside Ying Huaixu, then took a wrapped Beggar's Chicken and a jar of wine out of her Storage Bag.

Her gesture left all three Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples green with envy.

Ying Huaixu looked at the dry rations in his hand, then at what Ye Ningshuang was holding. In the end, he chose to let her provide for him.

Ye Ningshuang was even happier when she saw him accept her kindness.

As for He Xiuyuan, he pretended not to notice at all.

Ever since he realized that Ye Ningshuang had feelings for Ying Huaixu, he had rarely pestered her.

Still, he had to scrounge some food.

He Xiuyuan sidled over shamelessly.

"Junior brother, you can't play favorites!"

Ying Huaixu said nothing and simply held the roast chicken out to He Xiuyuan.

He Xiuyuan helped himself to a drumstick without hesitation.

Ye Ningshuang merely rested her face in her hands and quietly watched Ying Huaixu.

Honestly, her gooey, lovestruck gaze was almost more than Ying Huaixu could handle.

Ying Huaixu took a sip of wine and suddenly sank into thought.

He remembered this world mission all too well.

Put simply, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had betrayed them and laid a trap to usher in the first world boss.

Falling Radiance City, their destination, was merely one of the sites the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had set up in cooperation with the villains.

Even back when he was playing the game, this mission had been extremely important.

It was tied to a whole series of later missions, with links to both the Hongmeng Mission and world bosses.

It was precisely because the mission at this site failed that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect and those backing it sent more people.

There were even missions to fend off those hunting them down.

Back when he played the game, though, Ying Huaixu had never bothered to delve into the story.

Now, he had no choice but to think it through.

Looking at Ye Ningshuang only made his head hurt more.

"Ningshuang, you're only at body tempering first layer. What were you thinking, accepting this mission?"

Ye Ningshuang froze for a moment.

Then she gave an embarrassed smile.

"Well... I-I was just looking for a mission that suited me, but someone bumped into me, and I accepted the wrong one!"

Ying Huaixu: "..."

He Xiuyuan nodded as well.

"I was there. And once you accept a mission from the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, you have to carry it out. That's why I came along to help junior sister complete it!"

Ying Huaixu was speechless.

All he could say was that she truly lived up to being this world's leading lady. There were certain paths Ye Ningshuang simply could not escape.

At the same time, Ying Huaixu confirmed something else.

The plot that had unfolded in the game would not change.

But this was different from playing a game.

Back then, he might have been able to finish the story in a week.

Now, it would take his entire life!

Ying Huaixu suddenly sighed.

If that really was the case, didn't that mean the Pure Yang Sword Immortal actually existed too?

Ying Huaixu looked at He Xiuyuan.

"Old He, let me ask you something!"

He Xiuyuan was not annoyed by the nickname. If anything, he found it more familiar.

"Go ahead!"

"Have you heard of the Great Sun Sacred Ground?"

He Xiuyuan nodded.

"Of course. Like our Divine Firmament Sword Sect, it's one of the Ten Great Sacred Grounds!"

Ying Huaixu froze.

Wait, the game never mentioned that the Great Sun Sacred Ground and the Divine Firmament Sword Sect were on the same level!

You damn game designers! Would it have killed you to give us some backstory?

Ying Huaixu took a moment to calm himself.

"Have you heard of Xu Yaoyang?"

He Xiuyuan nodded as he ate his drumstick.

"I have. Supposedly, he's the Holy Son of the Great Sun Sacred Ground, but I've never met him!"

"Never mind me-even the people at the Great Sun Sacred Ground haven't seen him!"

Ying Huaixu nodded.

He Xiuyuan, however, was curious.

"Why did you suddenly bring up the Great Sun Sacred Ground?"

Ying Huaixu shook his head. "No reason. I was just asking!"

Suddenly, Ying Huaixu became rather curious about what sort of character He Xiuyuan was.

"Say, is everything you've told me common knowledge?"

He Xiuyuan shook his head. "Of course not. Take Xu Yaoyang, for example. Very few people know about him at the moment!"

Ying Huaixu was baffled.

"Then how do you know?"

He Xiuyuan chuckled but said nothing.

Ying Huaixu wanted to slap him across the face.

Since He Xiuyuan knew so much, Ying Huaixu decided to ask him plenty more.

"How much do you know about the Thousand Mechanisms Sect?"

He Xiuyuan's expression turned serious.

"That's no great secret. The Thousand Mechanisms Sect doesn't get along with our Divine Firmament Sword Sect. When our disciples fight in private, they practically fight to the death!"

Although Ying Huaixu knew the course of the story from the game, and knew that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect were villains, he had never expected details like these.

"Care to elaborate?"

With nothing else to do, He Xiuyuan treated it as idle conversation.

"It's simple. Whatever the Thousand Mechanisms Sect can do, our Divine Firmament Sword Sect can do too. Whatever they have, we have too. And whatever they don't have, we still have!"

"That's one source of the conflict. But the Thousand Mechanisms Sect kept accusing us of copying them and saying we were asking for death. It infuriated second senior brother so much that he smashed the teeth of countless Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciples. Anyone who said we were asking for death got their teeth smashed in. And that's how it became a blood feud!"