Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 347 - 84: Untitled
As Zhao Jincheng bowed and saluted, his heart was actually filled with anxiety and bewilderment.
Because there was too much inexplicable irrationality in this situation.
Why would the Deputy City Lord of Shen City, Shen Jinghai, run alone into the depths of the mountains for slaughter? Why was the legendary Red Leaf Fairy Realm stained with boiling blood all over? Why was this attraction, which hosted a million tourists every year, located within the Chaos Death Land? Ordinary people coming here to admire the red leaves wouldn’t have enough lives even with ten attempts—do the people of Shen City have no humanity at all?
All these questions seemed to point to one thing: the man in front of him was not Shen Jinghai, and these blood-soaked mountains were not Red Leaf Mountain; he had merely encountered a mysterious stranger in a desolate mountain.
However, looking at it from another perspective, this assumption was equally irrational.
The person before him possessed such striking beauty, unparalleled in Zhao Jincheng’s life—even in the Zhao Family, renowned among the Seven Great Noble Families for their looks, no one could compare to this person. The only one close might be his sister in disguise...
Many people say beauty is subjective; someone’s Xi Shi might appear plain to others. However, it cannot be denied that some appearances transcend subjective limits and reach a universal level. Such individuals with remarkable beauty are rare across the Xiangzhou Continent, and few remain obscure; most become famous for their looks.
To randomly encounter a stranger of earth-shattering beauty in the wilderness is a classic "novel encounter" trope where one gains divine skills after a fall off a cliff. Excluding such an extreme coincidence, the most reasonable explanation is to search among the known figures around Shen City.
Before leaving Golden Jade City, Zhao Jincheng had done some preliminary studies and knew that the Deputy City Lord of Shen City, Shen Jinghai, had astonishing good looks, especially rare in the manliness-oriented Shen City; he was a rare type of elegant and handsome gentleman. So when Zhao Jincheng saw the man in white, he thought of Shen Jinghai. Encountering such an extraordinary handsome man around Shen City, it was most likely Shen Jinghai.
Moreover, Shen Jinghai had indeed arranged to meet him at the entrance of the Red Leaf Mountain attraction. This place was blood-red all over the mountains, and the resemblance to their agreed location was uncanny. To say this was a coincidence would be too far-fetched.
Considering all this, Zhao Jincheng boldly assumed the figure was Shen Jinghai, and this place was Red Leaf Mountain. The so-called blood-drenched scenic fairyland was formed by the immersion of living beings’ blood, the people of Shen City were inhumane, and countless tourists unknowingly became fertilizer for Red Leaf Mountain each year. By accidentally revealing this, he faced the risk of being silenced.
Therefore, while outwardly greeting, Zhao Jincheng was also preparing to fight desperately.
With cultivation at the Rain Cover Realm, it was impossible to contend with Shen City’s Deputy City Lord at the Mountain-Overturning Realm, so he couldn’t seek victory, only survival. Relying on the Jade Talisman given by his sister hanging on his chest, even in the Chaos Death Land, he was confident of escaping alive. In a crisis, fully unleashing the Jade Talisman would ensure his safety despite great risks... yet reaching that point, he could hardly face his sister.
But just when Zhao Jincheng’s mind was racing, the man in white on the mountaintop glanced down at him, then shook his head.
"I am not Shen Jinghai."
Zhao Jincheng was taken aback immediately, his heart as tumultuous as the five lakes and the four seas boiling.
He was not Shen Jinghai!?
There are two possibilities: first, he indeed wasn’t Shen Jinghai, and all this was as I suspected, just an incredible coincidence. I had stumbled upon an extraordinarily beautiful butcher in white by a million-to-one chance in the wild mountains. Mathematically speaking, the likelihood would be less than one in a million. To disbelieve, one should try exploring a hundred wild mountains across the Xiangzhou Continent, sending ten thousand people to each, to see if such a handsome man in white could be found!
The second possibility was that he indeed was Shen Jinghai, just as I suspected—the immersion of living beings’ blood on Red Leaf Mountain was undoubtedly a well-kept secret. Due to getting lost and arriving late, I hadn’t entered Red Leaf Mountain at the correct time and stumbled upon the Shen Family setting up, thus exposing their secret! And so, in a hurry, the person outright denied their identity! 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
Reflecting on this, Zhao Jincheng couldn’t help but regret not preparing more thoroughly beforehand... If he had at least looked at a portrait of the Deputy City Lord Shen Jinghai, he would have more proof to ascertain the person before him was indeed Shen Jinghai upon the outright denial!
Yet as Zhao Jincheng racked his brains to confirm the person’s identity, the man in white on the mountain furrowed his brow.
"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Hearing this, Zhao Jincheng, in his heart, jumped again.
My goodness, this question is certainly no trifle—the first question announces he doesn’t know my identity, suggesting I am a mysterious stranger to him. The second question subtly accuses me of wrongfully being here. These two questions unfold into a situation of a nameless stranger trespassing forbidden grounds.
After this, fearing it would serve as a pretext for murder to silence him!
Zhao Jincheng became vigilant, his True Essence along with Divine Sense beginning to circulate tensely, the True Essence Talismans given by his sister ready to fully explode at any moment, unleashing terrifying power.
Engaging an expert one realm higher from the Rain Cover Realm, saying it’s nine-death-and-one-life is optimistic, so Zhao Jincheng obviously prepared fully for a full-force exposure. His actions were relatively covert, the secret techniques and mantras being exclusive skills personally taught by City Lord Golden Jade, making it exceedingly difficult for even someone at the Mountain-Overturning Realm to see through his hidden preparations.
However, as soon as Zhao Jincheng began to act, the man in white on the mountaintop furrowed his brow.
"Demon assassins? I didn’t expect to see such scum after all this time. In this vast, bright world, how could any good human willingly align with the exterminated Demon Race? It’s truly disgusting and beyond comprehension."
After speaking, a pure white long sword appeared in his hand.
And at the moment the White Sword emerged, Zhao Jincheng felt a sharp pain in his forehead, followed by his True Essence inside exploding like boiling oil poured into hot water.
Just now, he had been secretly brewing an eruption, accumulating an immense power but choosing not to release it, relying on an extremely ingenious True Essence suppression technique. With his Primordial Spirit at the core, he divided his True Essence into several pivots, restraining each other to maintain dynamic balance. The fluctuations of True Essence canceled each other out, showing nothing on the outside, making it nearly impossible for anyone to notice that he was on the edge of making a life-and-death strike.
However, on the other hand, this dynamic balance is quite fragile. Once it encounters an external impact, structural collapse is likely, and the fluctuations of the various pivots no longer cancel each other out, but rather superimpose, causing the immense power to explode before even leaving the body.
Zhao Jincheng immediately felt as if he had swallowed a volcano, and as his throat was hit with a great force, his mouth involuntarily opened wide, and a fountain of blood spurted forth. The blood evaporated into steam in mid-air, vaporized by the intense heat generated by the True Essence explosion.
Zhao Jincheng smiled bitterly, thinking he didn’t expect to be defeated so thoroughly even before he could make his move, and lost so miserably... This internal explosion was so violently sudden, and since it stemmed from his own strength, even if his sister received the news, it would be too late to come to his rescue.
What a regret, after thirty years of cultivation, to die such a wretched death in these desolate mountains... Indeed, the outside world is scarier than what those Elders had described. He thought that coming from Golden Jade City with exceptional cultivation he could roam the world, but it was such naivety!
Someone who gets lost in his own bedroom, where did he get the confidence to roam the world? Indeed, he should have stayed obediently under his sister’s protection as a sheltered young master and shouldn’t have ventured out. Now, it’s too late for regrets.
Just as Zhao Jincheng was considering his last words, he saw a white silhouette flicker at the mountain peak, and the young man holding the sword had already appeared in front of him. The White Sword swung down from above, the sword tip moving toward his forehead.
Zhao Jincheng closed his eyes, awaiting death, but the next moment he felt a slight coolness on his forehead, followed by a burst of blood scent spreading. A scorching hot stream instantly transmitted from his forehead throughout his entire body.
The True Essence, which was rampaging wildly and exploding impulsively inside, was immediately dissipated by this hot stream. And the hot stream entering his body, apart from eliminating the berserk True Essence, very precisely avoided all critical points, not harming a hair.
In just a breath or two, Zhao Jincheng felt the exploding True Essence inside had been suppressed.
After the storm calmed, the situation was much better than expected. Although his internal organs all took a hit, because the explosion ended as quickly as it began, the berserk True Essence hadn’t had time to destroy everything... It was just akin to a minor inner demon; swallowing a few Elixir Pills and resting for a few days would allow recovery.
And all this was thanks to that hot stream injected from his forehead!
Opening his eyes, Zhao Jincheng saw a slightly apologetic smile.
"Sorry, it seems I mistook you for someone else. I didn’t expect you to have Zhao Family blood, such pure bloodline; you shouldn’t have any connection with the Demon Race."
Zhao Jincheng was taken aback: "What?"
The other explained: "If truly remnants of the Demon Race, they’re absolutely at odds with the Zhao Family. Even if they recruit some human traitors, they would choose those with diluted Jiu Immortal Venerable bloodlines. Just as humans treat the Demon Race, they absolutely wouldn’t let any Demon General live, those sent to the rear as live exhibits are mostly lower-level Demon Soldiers."
Zhao Jincheng listened, bewildered, but there was at least one thing he was clear about.
"Your Excellency... you really aren’t Vice City Lord Shen Jinghai?"
The man in white shook his head—Zhao Jincheng found this person’s head shaking particularly pleasing to the eye—and said apologetically, "Indeed, I’m not Shen Jinghai; my current name is Wang Jiu."
"Wang... Jiu?" Zhao Jincheng pondered over the name, feeling he had heard it somewhere before, but couldn’t recall for the moment.
Unable to figure it out, Zhao Jincheng decided to set it aside for now, and facing the man in white before him, Zhao Jincheng sincerely cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your life-saving grace; it was all a misunderstanding earlier. I had thought Your Excellency was Shen Jinghai coming to silence me, so I prepared to strike first; unexpectedly, before I could act, I was broken through entirely."
At this point, Zhao Jincheng spoke with admiration: "I always thought this family-taught ’Hidden Blade’ was unbreakable in the world, unexpected it couldn’t escape Your Excellency’s eyes, and by utilizing the principle of affecting the whole with a slight touch, gently shook my Primordial Spirit, breaking my entire set of techniques with just a lift of a hand! What’s even more admirable was your method of saving lives afterwards. Although my cultivation isn’t particularly profound, after Hidden Blade’s True Essence exploded, it was suppressed in an instant; such Divine Skill is unheard of!"
"Oh, that move is called ’Penetration.’"
"... What?"
