Illusion

Several hours passed.

Only then did Qin Lian finish circulating his qi and regulating his breathing, recovering a little.

Yet his body still felt as weak as if he had stayed awake for three days and nights.

Despite the broad daylight, an indescribable chill clung to him.

It was even worse than stepping out of an internet café after an all-night session.

While he circulated his qi and regulated his breathing, Xiao Qing had taken some men to investigate in the direction the black-robed man had retreated.

By the time Qin Lian opened his eyes, he had returned with his men.

"The enemy has gone."

Xiao Qing said, "The attacker was almost certainly an expert from Ten Thousand Swords Manor. Both its first and second manor lords died in the internal strife. The only Second Grade experts left are Ye Yingxiong, Jiang Heng, and Mu Ling."

He quickly analyzed the situation. "Mu Ling is a woman, which doesn't match that man in black. Barring anything unexpected, the attacker should be Jiang Heng."

"It should be him."

Liu Xu and Xiao Hong nodded in agreement.

Qin Lian, however, was somewhat surprised. "As far as I know, Jiang Heng is Ye Wuji's backer, and we came at Ye Wuji's invitation. It makes no sense for them to attack us. Ye Yingxiong, on the other hand..."

"It couldn't have been Ye Yingxiong."

Xiao Hong shook his head outright. "Ye Yingxiong practices inner and outer cultivation, and his strength has reached peak perfection among Second Grade experts. In all of Chunyang, no one except the sect master would dare claim they could defeat him alone! It would take two Second Grade experts joining forces to gain the upper hand over him! In fact, to leave nothing to chance, at least three would have to surround and attack him!"

He already believed Qin Lian possessed combat strength comparable to a Second Grade expert, but to say he could fight Ye Yingxiong to that extent...

That was simply unimaginable.

After hearing this, Qin Lian likewise raised no further doubts.

Even at its height, Ye Yingxiong had been Ten Thousand Swords Manor's second strongest expert, behind only First Manor Lord Ye Hui.

With Ye Hui dead from qi deviation, he was Ten Thousand Swords Manor's biggest boss!

Surely a Third Grade like him couldn't have just come down the mountain to farm a few resources on the outskirts of Spirit Radiance Commandery, only to "coincidentally" run into the final boss?

Being targeted for revenge by a Second Grade grandmaster was already rotten luck.

But thinking about it, it wasn't entirely down to bad luck.

In theory, a Second Grade divine intent expert should be facing another Second Grade divine intent expert, but none of the Pure Yang Sword Sect's Second Grade experts were weak newcomers.

He, on the other hand, was only Third Grade, yet bore the title of Heaven Ranking Grandmaster, with fame to rival those Second Grade experts...

Who else would they attack?

I got careless. I didn't run.

The thought arose in Qin Lian's mind.

By running, he didn't mean fleeing back to Shouyang Mountain, but avoiding the enemy's edge at the outset and calling over the forty-odd brothers on Cloudmist Peak.

Against someone who bullies the weak like this, there's no need to bother with codes of honor. We should just pile on together. With forty-odd experts, all at least in the True Qi Realm, rushing him, plus me and three Third Grade experts, we could wear him to death!

The main problem was that everything had happened too suddenly.

They had met on a narrow path.

Running hadn't even occurred to him. He had gone straight into fight-or-flight mode and fought for his life.

Thirty-seven consecutive sword strikes under Blood Burning...

Had he not broken through to Third Grade, even a Nine Suns Returning Heaven Pill couldn't have saved him.

Fortunately, I won.

As a Third Grade, he had overcome a Second Grade...

That deserved to be called the bearing of a prodigy, no matter how one looked at it!

Qin Lian looked toward the Heavenly Splendor Treasure Tree nearby...

This batch of fruit could help him max out both the Liuhe Duzun Sword Art and the Chasing the Wind and Pursuing the Sun movement technique!

Perfecting the Liuhe Duzun Sword Art and activating the [Swordsmanship] trait should raise the power of his swordsmanship another step.

If the Chasing the Wind and Pursuing the Sun movement technique successfully activated the [Wind Riding] trait, then from that day onward, vast as the world was, he could likely go wherever he pleased.

Even if activation failed, with the Chasing the Wind and Pursuing the Sun movement technique combined with the power of [Swiftness], he reckoned that if he faced that Second Grade grandmaster again...

Even if he couldn't win, escaping wouldn't be a problem.

Thus, as long as he held out for the next month or two until the Heavenly Splendor Fruit fully ripened, he would no longer have to worry about danger like today's.

Blood Shadow Divine Escape damages one's vital essence. He probably won't come back anytime soon. I need some rest myself, too. Also...

Thinking this over, Qin Lian turned to the others. "Everyone, sorry for the trouble, but please strengthen security to prevent the enemy from making a comeback! Also, inform the supreme elder of what happened here as quickly as possible! Ideally, ask Peak Master Yan Chixia to come to Heavenly Splendor Mountain and track down Jiang Heng..."

"I've already ordered everyone to heighten their vigilance, and the message has been sent. If things go quickly, we'll hear back in a day or two."

Liu Xu spoke.

Qin Lian nodded.

"Grandmaster Qin, focus on recuperating. If you notice anything, call out loudly at once."

Liu Xu added.

"Understood."

Qin Lian answered.

With that, Liu Xu, Xiao Qing, Xiao Hong, and the others continued leading their men on patrol.

As for Qin Lian...

After taking a moment to collect himself, he seemed to catch sight of something from the corner of his eye and suddenly raised the Azure Firmament Sword before him.

Chips!

Small chips scattered along the blade.

And...

A gap visible to the naked eye that had left the sword half ruined.

Qin Lian thought back carefully, then started in realization...

It was that sword!

The small chips had all been left during his clash with the black-robed man.

But this gap...

Had been left when he knocked aside that sharp sword wrapped in cloth, which seemed to bear patterns of starlight.

I unleashed my strength to knock that sword aside, and my own sword cracked?

Qin Lian froze for a moment.

He abruptly stood and walked toward a patch of bushes a dozen or so meters away.

Soon, a treasure sword appeared before his eyes, its blade covered in engraved patterns of starlight, as though words were flowing within it.

"Not a scratch!?"

He picked up the sword and examined it carefully.

This sword...

After chipping the Azure Sky Treasure Sword he had spent a fortune having forged, it had actually emerged without a scratch!

"A top-tier treasure sword!? A peerless treasure sword!? Or... a divine weapon?"

Qin Lian carefully recalled the way the black-robed man had thrown the sword before fleeing...

It hadn't looked as though he was throwing it as a hidden weapon.

Instead...

Had he deliberately meant to leave this sword behind?

A sword like this, delivered right to my doorstep?

Qin Lian couldn't make sense of it, but he couldn't help examining the sword, trying to determine its exact grade.

Yet as he focused on it...

The patterns of starlight already on the blade seemed to come alive.

Countless patterns interwove, gradually coalescing into a phantom that tugged at Qin Lian's mind.

"This is..."

Qin Lian immediately sensed something was wrong and tried to withdraw his mind.

But this power seemed to penetrate his very essence and reach deep into his soul, making him feel as though even his soul had been captured.

Numerous illusions also sprang up around him, as though he had been forcibly dragged from Heavenly Splendor Mountain onto a battlefield.

Countless soldiers, living beings, and even spirit birds, exotic beasts, and tribal barbarians fought madly on this battlefield.

Terrifying, savage baleful intent churned violently above it.

Qin Lian shifted his foot and felt that the blood where he stood had soaked completely into the soil, turning it sticky.

A pungent, bloody stench assaulted his face!

When he looked around...

Slaughter!

Slaughter!

Endless slaughter!

Humans slaughtered humans, beasts slaughtered beasts, and demons slaughtered demons.

The ground, the rivers, the sky...

Fighting erupted everywhere.

As his view continued to pull back, even the dimension of his vision seemed to rise, allowing him to see more clearly the countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood filling every corner of his sight.

Accompanying it was a sense of utter despair!

The chronicle of human survival was one of merciless slaughter of all things in the world!

Killing beasts, killing fiends, killing demons-even humans themselves fought one another endlessly!

People slaughtered people, nations destroyed nations!

What meaning was there in such lives, such a race, filled with slaughter and destruction?

What need was there for them to exist!?

These many thoughts intertwined with the mountains of corpses and seas of blood before him, battering Qin Lian's mind and tugging at his soul, seemingly seeking to bury his entire being in this world of slaughter.

Yet the reason deep within Qin Lian told him this was wrong!

He must have been affected by some kind of power...

Sword intent?

Illusions?

Or had he fallen prey to an even more sophisticated soul technique?

But even though he knew he was trapped deep in the mire, he still had no way to break free!

Just like when "Qin Lian" had faced that Mirage Demon!

He could only watch helplessly as his soul sank...

No! Break free! I have to break free of this illusion! Otherwise, the consequences... will be unthinkable!

Breaking free of the illusion...

Just as "Qin Lian" had desperately tried to break free of the Mirage Demon's illusion back then.

But the only way to break free of an illusion of that level...

Was divine intent!