Chapter 17: Two-In-One (Part 2)

After registering the delivery locations and packing the magic artifacts into special boxes, He Nian carefully compared everything and distributed the tasks one by one.

Hidden-Edge Cranes were famed for their speed. He Nian alone could not deliver that many packages, so Lu Yan came up with an idea. He told He Nian to pick a few trustworthy members from his own clan and hire them with spirit plant spaces as compensation.

He Nian did not even need to do much persuading. The spirit plant spaces opened, spirit rice was distributed, and a flock of Hidden-Edge Cranes fought to come work at Divine Creation Sect.

The most precious Extreme Element ring was handed to Xuncang.

The restriction the wolf king had worn on his wrist had long since been removed, but Xuncang had remained at Divine Creation Sect the entire time. Occasionally, he went out to fight a few matches and defend his position as wolf king. The rest of the time, he stayed on Qionggu Peak raising chickens, ducks, and rabbits, with little barbecues three meals a day.

His life was so comfortable that he had visibly grown two points sturdier.

The sturdy Xuncang put the Extreme Element ring into his innate space and said with a dark expression, “If some blind fool runs into me, I don’t care whether they live or die.”

Without waiting for Lu Yan to speak, Xuncang turned into a streak of light and flew in the direction of Houtu City.

Late at night, all was still.

A crescent moon hung across the night sky, and the stars flickered. Several tiny hummingbirds circled above the high mountains, emitting a faint fluorescent glow that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

Someone stood on a sword, his hair flying wildly in the wind. Like an expert, he looked down at the winding mountains below and the lively, thriving sect beneath the mountain-protecting grand array. A strange battle intent shone in his eyes as he murmured, “So this is…”

Suddenly, a streak of light flew out from the defensive grand array and scattered the hummingbirds patrolling above along their route. That streak of light paused in midair. Then it dove down even faster!

The person standing on the sword noticed nothing. He only sensed the faint chirping of insects by his ear, felt the wind brushing over his body, and immersed himself in this silent night.

“Bang!”

The streak of light slammed straight into him. The man was caught completely off guard and let out an “awoo.” His flying sword instantly lost control and fell with its master, crashing heavily to the ground.

Xuncang, who had thought it was an enemy attack: “…”

What kind of idiot was this? Looking at scenery in the middle of the night?

Ying Sanliang, who had fallen face-first onto the ground: “So this is… Divine Creation Sect.”

To be able to knock him down from his flying sword in a single move—there was actually a great power with such terrifying strength keeping watch here!

Ying Sanliang crawled up and recalled his flying sword. His sword was very unusual. There was a chip at the tip, as if it were some secondhand good dug out from an obscure corner.

Three days ago, Ying Sanliang had accepted a mission: break through Divine Creation Sect’s defensive grand array. If he could successfully force his way in, he would receive five hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

At the time, no one in the hall had accepted that mission. Ying Sanliang had been in closed-door cultivation for ten years and had only recently come out. He was so poor his pockets jingled. He thought the mission had just been posted and that he had happened to pick up a bargain, so he had hurried to Divine Creation Sect to investigate.

Wasn’t it just a mere defensive grand array? No sect’s defensive grand array could be harder than a sword cultivator’s sword!

He completely failed to see that after he left, the eyes of everyone in the mission hall looked at him as if they were looking at a warrior generously going to his death.

Ying Sanliang lovingly touched the chip at the tip of his sword.

Although this sword of his did indeed have a few flaws.

That was not important.

Ying Sanliang untied the wine pouch at his waist, pulled out the stopper, and carefully poured the last mouthful of wine into his stomach as if it were precious.

The cheap wine did not taste much like wine, but it was enough for Ying Sanliang to find his state. He looked at that quiet sect and said softly, “Sorry. For the sake of my five hundred spirit stones, I’ll be gentle!”

Inside Divine Creation Sect, the disciple on night duty observed the scene outside the defensive grand array through the hummingbirds’ eyes.

Ever since the little martial uncle had appeared out of nowhere, very few people had dared trespass into Divine Creation Sect. Especially after the little martial uncle remade an entire set of mountain-protecting grand arrays, there were puppets patrolling the ground and hummingbirds patrolling the sky. Anyone who came over would have to lose a layer of skin.

“The wolf king almost knocked a hummingbird flying.” A disciple dizzyingly clutched his head, narrowed his eyes, and continued looking outward. He saw a figure appear outside the sect. His head was still spinning as he said, “Has the wolf king returned after leaving… Holy crap, quick, notify the little martial uncle!”

That figure held his sword with both hands, sank his qi into his dantian, and fiercely hacked down onto the defensive grand array.

Another disciple asked, “What happened?”

“Someone is trespassing into the sect!”

The next moment, there was only a thunderous boom that shook heaven and earth.

On Neverfall Peak, Lu Yan abruptly raised his head.

“Boom.”

Sword qi and the defensive grand array abruptly collided. Golden, mysterious runes faintly flashed into sight, supporting a semicircular defensive net. Waves of air rippled outward layer by layer. The circling hummingbird drones were directly blown away, spinning and clattering to the ground in who knew what direction.

After that one strike, the runes vanished, and the defensive grand array hid itself again. The mountains protected beneath it showed not the slightest damage.

Apart from that great boom and the briefly flashing runes, it was as though nothing had happened.

“As expected of a five-hundred-spirit-stone mission. It really is impressive!”

Ying Sanliang felt that mouthful of wine dissolve through his organs, burning until his entire body was about to boil. Ying Sanliang turned his wrist, and frost spread across the long sword with the broken corner. In the space of a few breaths, ice covered the blade, and even the surrounding air carried a chill.

“Take another strike from me!”

Ying Sanliang exhaled a mouthful of white mist, gripped his sword with both hands, and carved a snow-white edge through the black night.

“Boom, boom, boom, boom…”

The ground shook, as if some enormous creature was gradually approaching.

Ying Sanliang’s second strike had not yet fallen.

He felt that booming sound intertwine with his heartbeat until they synchronized. After they synchronized, his divine sense began giving frantic warnings. It seemed to be a danger signal, urging him to leave this place!

Ying Sanliang hesitated.

Sword cultivators should never hesitate. Their swords only moved forward. If there was danger, they would cut it open!

The enormous creature stopped directly in front of Ying Sanliang.

Ying Sanliang was in the sky. The enormous creature was on the ground.

It was a giant puppet made from a mixture of wood and metal. Its style was extremely rough and bold. Its limbs and torso bore marks as if carved by knives, chisels, and axes. What gave people pressure was the pair of scarlet eyes on its head.

It clearly had to look up at him, yet Ying Sanliang actually saw within those eyes a pressure no less than that of a Nascent Soul great power!

Ying Sanliang brought his sword down!

The giant puppet’s scarlet eyes flashed twice. Then it raised its left hand. One array after another spread out in circles from its shoulder to its elbow joint to its wrist. With one hand, it caught that sword intent until it dissipated completely!

Ying Sanliang’s pupils shrank slightly.

What the hell was this thing!

That strike just now had carried Ying Sanliang’s Nascent Soul cultivation, the sword intent he had comprehended through ten years of closed-door cultivation, and the augmentation brought by his ice spiritual root. Yet it had been caught by a puppet with one hand!

The giant puppet then raised its right hand. An array flashed in its palm, and crimson flames transformed into a cannonball of tremendous power, blasting toward Ying Sanliang!

“Boom!”

“Awoo!”

The attack came both viciously and steadily. Ying Sanliang could not dodge in time. The cannonball struck his shoulder, and he fell straight from midair, landing by the puppet’s foot.

The giant puppet was too big. Ying Sanliang was only a little bigger than the puppet’s foot. His shoulder was a mess of blood and flesh, and blood had seeped through the coarse cloth he wore.

Nascent Soul cultivators were very difficult to kill. Putting aside their extremely powerful self-healing abilities, even if the physical body perished, the Nascent Soul inside the dantian would carry the soul away to seize another body, or else cultivate a new body again.

“Click.”

A door opened in the giant puppet’s back, and a young man jumped down, landing lightly on the ground. The young man wore white Daoist robes. He crouched down curiously and poked Ying Sanliang’s head. “Are you alive?”

Ying Sanliang lay face-down, the hair on his head spread flat over the ground. After being poked, he cried “Ouch, ouch” twice, then rather strenuously propped up half his body with his uninjured shoulder and flipped himself over like a pancake.

He coughed twice and said faintly, “These five hundred spirit stones were not worth earning at all.”

The young man was none other than Lu Yan. Originally, he had wanted to see who was daring enough to trespass into Divine Creation Sect at night. He just had not expected the intruder’s first words after being injured to actually be about spirit stones.

Lu Yan became interested and asked, “What five hundred spirit stones?”

Ying Sanliang regretted it. He regretted it very much. “Whoever can break into Divine Creation Sect’s defensive grand array gets five hundred spirit stones.”

Lu Yan stood up, raised a brow, and leaned against the puppet’s leg. “Our sect’s grand array is only worth five hundred spirit stones? Supreme-grade or high-grade?”

Ying Sanliang: “Mid-grade…”

Lu Yan: “…”

It had been a very long time since Lu Yan had met someone who dared use mid-grade spirit stones to measure his work.

Especially when the mountain-protecting grand array was one of the works he was proud of.

The damage was not great. The insult was extremely strong.

Ying Sanliang had a big heart. After all, someone without a big heart would not take a map and run to Divine Creation Sect to challenge its array without investigating anything, all for a mere five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. He used the innate talent of his ice spiritual root to freeze the wound on his shoulder, then punched the ground. “I knew it! No wonder nobody accepted that mission. Such a loss! How could five hundred spirit stones be enough? At the very least, they should add another thousand!”

One thousand five hundred mid-grade spirit stones totaled fifteen high-grade spirit stones.

Fifteen stones were not even enough to buy the cheapest spirit plant space.

Lu Yan knocked on the puppet’s leg to signal the pancake-sprawled brother on the ground to come back to his senses. “Fellow Daoist, what is your surname and name, and where is your home?”

Ying Sanliang answered on instinct, “I do not change my name when traveling or my surname when sitting. Ying Sanliang!”

Lu Yan really had heard Ying Sanliang’s name before. Once, when Fuyi had returned from Sword Sect, perhaps because her sparring had not been satisfying enough, she had exuded an air of “this old lady is very unhappy” from head to toe. “I really miss that fellow Ying Sanliang right now. He gets excited as soon as he drinks two mouthfuls of wine. Fighting him is satisfying. Too bad he went into closed-door cultivation before I broke through and still hasn’t come out.”

“All right, Fellow Daoist Ying.” Lu Yan flexed the joints of his fingers, guessing that the other party must have left seclusion not long ago, and asked, “Do you know how many spirit stones those hummingbirds you sent flying with your first sword strike were worth?”

Ying Sanliang snapped his head around. Stretching his neck, he looked at Lu Yan, his face clearly written with the words, “Don’t try to scam me.” “Th-th-th-those were just a few birds, weren’t they?”

Lu Yan flipped his hand and took a hummingbird out of his storage bag. The hummingbird was small and exquisite. No one knew what it had been refined from, but its exterior looked no different from that of an ordinary bird, seamless and flawless. Lu Yan tapped the tip of the hummingbird’s tail, and the previously quiet little bird’s eyes lit up. It spread its wings and flew into the sky.

Ying Sanliang sucked in a cold breath and could not help shifting himself outward. “H-h-h-how many spirit stones per bird?”

“Not expensive.” Lu Yan said with a beaming smile, “Only fifty high-grade spirit stones each. I usually release four into the sky for patrol every day, so two hundred high-grade spirit stones in total.”

Two hundred high-grade spirit stones!

Ying Sanliang, dying and wounded, sat up in shock. He had never used that many spirit stones in his entire life combined. “Why don’t you just rob people!”

Lu Yan signaled for him not to get angry. “The hummingbirds are a small part. I don’t care that much about two hundred high-grade spirit stones. That’s only two days of rations for the sea, land, and air trio I keep at home.”

Divine Creation Sect was one of the richest sects in the cultivation world.

Ying Sanliang thought back carefully. Before he entered closed-door cultivation, Divine Creation Sect should not have been this extravagantly wealthy.

For example, Fuyi, who had always sparred with him, had been so poor her pockets jingled. Every day, she thought of ways to fleece others and get by.

Lu Yan pointed at the mountain-protecting grand array behind him. “Divine Creation Sect’s mountain-protecting grand array is supplied by an entire spiritual vein. Did you think you were hacking at a defensive net? No, Fellow Daoist Ying. What you hacked at was all spirit stones.”

Ying Sanliang was an unaffiliated cultivator and had never seen what a spiritual vein looked like. His sword had managed to chop at one first.

Lu Yan then patted the puppet’s thigh. “This one is a little cheaper. The only thing that takes effort is the arrays. They decrease with each use, and I still have to draw them again. To be honest, arrays I personally draw are actually not cheap either.”

Not cheap? That was putting it mildly. Arrays and runes personally drawn by Martial Uncle Lu Bupo of Divine Creation Sect could fetch sky-high prices outside.

Ying Sanliang sniffed, feeling that he had perhaps reached the end of his life. “May I ask who you are, Fellow Daoist?”

If he had to sell himself into labor later, at least he would have something to think about.

Lu Yan cupped his fists in greeting. “Divine Creation Sect, Lu Bupo.”

Lu Bupo. That name truly sounded familiar.

Ying Sanliang pondered for a long time. A flash of inspiration finally passed through his frozen-stiff head.

“Lu Bupo, who discussed the Dao with Heavenly Evolution Sect?”

Lu Yan nodded. “That’s me.”

The outside world widely spread the story of the Dao discussion on Qionggu Peak. Ying Sanliang had only heard a little bit of it and had no idea that freaking Qionggu Peak was one of Divine Creation Sect’s peaks!

Forgive Fuyi. She had wanted a mountain peak only to fleece it for spirit stones. When she fought outside, no one knew her peak was called Qionggu Peak.

After all, what sword cultivator with a screw loose would name the place they lived “Poor Gu”!

Ying Sanliang made one last struggle. For some reason, his voice sounded shaky. “Fellow Daoist Bupo, there is one thing I would like to ask.”

Lu Yan swept his sleeve. “Please, Fellow Daoist Ying.”

“What exactly is this big thing?”

Having his sword strike caught one-handed by a puppet—without an answer, Ying Sanliang would not die with his eyes closed.

Lu Yan suddenly understood. His eyes curved as he introduced it. “Care to learn about Gundam?”

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