Chapter 171: The Dreadful Duo!

“It’s unmistakable, it was that exact feeling that Luo Xin Zhuipo gave me, only this sword energy was hundreds, maybe thousands of times stronger than when Luo Xin Zhuipo used it back then!”

Ye Rong remembered that when Luo Xin Zhuipo activated the Sword Embryo inside him, it gave the same sensation—sword supreme above all, sword breaking all techniques.

“Shangxin Xiaojian! Heir to the Ancient Sword Path!”

The Long-Legged Lady called out first, as if she recognized the identity of the player who launched the sneak attack and seemed to know something about him.

“Shangxin Xiaojian ranks sixty-first on the Heavenly Ranking. He hasn’t joined any Sect, he just received an unknown inheritance from an ancient sword immortal. He can’t use any offensive-type Magic Treasures, nor can he cultivate any Dao Spells unrelated to sword energy. However, his innate Flying Sword is twice as powerful as those of others at the same rank, its lethality truly terrifying!”

“Huh, it really is the exact same limitation as Luo Xin Zhuipo. Since when has the Ancient Sword Path inheritance become so cheap?”

It had been a long time since they last met, and no one knew how much Luo Xin Zhuipo had grown by now, but it was estimated that he couldn’t match this Shangxin Xiaojian before them. Otherwise, he would surely have gained great fame within Qingcheng by now.

And judging by what Shangxin Xiaojian had shouted, that so-called Master Xunhua was actually a disciple of the Divine Monk White Brow. This came as a huge surprise to Ye Rong.

A Buddhist giant of Divine Monk White Brow’s level probably wouldn’t take disciples directly. Master Xunhua’s luck was just too good.

Why hadn’t he been directly accepted as a disciple by the Blissful Child himself! If so, his seniority within the Qingcheng Sect would be even higher than it is now!

“He must be a disciple of the Divine Monk White Brow’s disciple generation—perhaps a disciple of Monk Cai Bi Zhu Youmu or the Great Venerable Dafan, Divine Ape Li Ning. It couldn’t be White Brow’s direct disciple. Buddhist figures like Tianmeng and Divine Monk White Brow, or your Qingcheng’s Blissful Child and the Elders Tiandu Minghe—these soon-to-ascend big shots cannot take disciples directly. If they did, just giving out a random treasure would be at least Ninth Rank—how would other Players even compete then?”

The Long-Legged Lady spoke calmly, and her explanation made the most sense. Someone like her master, Yan Yingmu, was already the highest-level NPC the System would allow Players to learn from. Anything higher was impossible, no matter how high your Fortune Affinity, how many tasks you completed, or how much karma you accumulated—it all meant nothing before the System Deity!

Shangxin Xiaojian’s sword strike came forth as if it could split the sky. The heavy, dense yellow earth energy was pushed aside, making way for it, as if it too feared such sharp sword energy.

It was almost easy to picture the very next moment: the bald guy would be dead.

“Namo Amitabha!”

A deep Buddhist chant rang out. At this critical moment, Master Xunhua finally revealed the strength befitting a disciple of Divine Monk White Brow’s lineage. A precious umbrella, adorned with strings of pearls as large as dragon eyes hanging down, was thrust forward, clashing directly with the sword energy. In an instant, hundreds of those dragon-eye pearls were shattered to dust by the force of the impact.

Retreating again and again, the umbrella spun rapidly, finally managing to block this staggering strike.

“What a strong Defensive Magical Treasure. Probably a whole level stronger than my Hundred Poison Cold Light Barrier, though of course it can’t compare to the Long-Legged Lady’s Taiyi Five Smoke Net. I’d guess it’s a Sixth-Rank Magic Treasure!”

Ye Rong was inwardly shocked and silently evaluated their strength.

His conclusion was that if he were caught by this sneak attack without noticing it beforehand, he definitely wouldn’t be able to block Shangxin Xiaojian’s staggering sword strike—the single strike that condensed all his power and essence into one assassination attempt. However, he had at least three ways to ensure that, before dying, he could drag Shangxin Xiaojian down with him, making his opponent pay with his life as well and accompany him back to the Resurrection Point.

If he detected the ambush ahead of time, it went without saying—whether striking first or retreating to evade—he would never let this blow land on him.

As for Master Xunhua’s strength, it was hard to judge just from what was superficially visible now, but a Sixth-Rank Defensive Magical Treasure wasn’t yet at a level his own attack power couldn’t reach. After all, it wasn’t like the Seventh-tier Taiyi Five Smoke Net.

The Chongxu True Scripture’s twenty-five percent boost to Flying Sword attack power wasn’t just for show; when stacked up, it was truly fearsome.

Ye Rong glanced at the shifting, elusive five-colored smoke and light enveloping the Long-Legged Lady and sighed inwardly. A top-tier Seventh-tier Defensive Magical Treasure like that—he had absolutely no way to deal with it.

“Even among Seventh-tier Magic Treasures, I’d guess Taiyi Five Smoke Net is still half a level above that precious umbrella. The Wutai Sect’s Primordial Chaos Patriarch’s signature treasure was no joke; only a terrifying female immortal like Yan Yingmu could have the ability to seize it. If Shangxin Xiaojian’s strike had been aimed at the Long-Legged Lady, I’d guess it would at most lower the Defense Value of the five-colored smoke and light a lot, but it would never break through!”

“Xiaojian, you actually ambushed me!”

Master Xunhua was extremely angry. He had gotten too excited after seeing the Bodhi Tree and had neglected his surroundings, nearly allowing the sneak attack to succeed.

The Bodhi Tree itself wasn’t much of a concern. Like Ye Rong, he valued the Merit Fruit most. Several of his Buddhist Dao Spells required not Experience Points but Karma Points for advancement.

Even if he didn’t want to cultivate them, once he learned those Dao Spells, they automatically drew Karma Points for cultivation from the monsters he usually killed.

This very situation kept his own Karma Points from accumulating, creating a very frustrating dilemma. His craving for Karma Points was perhaps even crazier than Ye Rong’s.

“Just testing whether your skills have deteriorated!”

Shangxin Xiaojian had sharp eyebrows and starry eyes. His piercing gaze swept around, vaguely looking toward the various dark corners.

“All of you, come out! What are you doing hiding there so sneakily?”

A light shout, but he had already used the sword-sound technique from the Ancient Sword Path. A ripple passed through the air, and with a series of thuds, several people tumbled out.

“What riff-raff dares to covet the Bodhi Tree here? All of you, get lost! Otherwise, don’t blame me for killing!”

Shangxin Xiaojian was clearly someone with extremely heavy murderous intent. With one furious sweep of his eyes, he intended to drive all these people away.

“I only want the Merit Fruit. How about I leave the Bodhi Tree to you? If the two of us fight, we’ll probably both be injured. It would make continuing to explore further on very difficult and disadvantageous.”

Master Xunhua’s words also showed he paid no attention to the others, already discussing the division of spoils with Shangxin Xiaojian on his own. Of course, that precious umbrella still hovered above his head.

“I want ten Merit Fruits. I estimate there are nearly a hundred Merit Fruits on it. For you to take them all would be too much of an advantage. I kill often, so my Karma Points drop quickly; I need a few for emergencies.”

“Fine, it’s settled then!”

Four Players in total were forced out of hiding by Shangxin Xiaojian’s sword-sound. One of them immediately turned and left without a word. The remaining three gathered together, clearly a team.

“Even if both of you are Heavenly Ranking Experts, isn’t this too overbearing? Those who see it share it—this Bodhi Tree wasn’t discovered by you alone!”

“Disciples of the Mount Mao Shangqing Temple—a small Sect.”

In response to the Long-Legged Lady’s whisper in his ear, Ye Rong only said, “Hmm.” The two of them seemed to have been forgotten, no one paying them any mind.

It couldn’t be helped. Yijian Kurong’s reputation was mostly limited to the area near the Qingcheng Sect. The news of him just having killed Haoshou Qiongjing hadn’t spread yet; it wasn’t circulating that quickly. As for Graceful Dream Butterfly, her strength surpassed that of most Heavenly Ranking Experts, but she had been in seclusion before, only recently emerging. She never made it onto the Heavenly Ranking, so her name was even less known.

“Hey, they all look down on us so much. Why don’t we make a name for ourselves here in the Yellow Emperor’s Tomb this time, what do you think?”

The Long-Legged Lady suddenly rested her chin on Ye Rong’s shoulder, speaking softly. This sudden girlish behavior startled him; he almost pushed her away right then. It was so unlike her usual self.

“Um, yeah… that’s a pretty good idea. What should we call ourselves?”

“The Dreadful Duo, how’s that?”

“I…”

…

Over there, Shangxin Xiaojian and Master Xunhua had already reached an agreement. They paid no attention to the three Mount Mao Shangqing Temple Players, the two of them simply flew up, heading straight for the mound at the center of the lake.

“Senior Brother, what should we do?”

“Should we try to team up with that couple over there? With five people united, I guess even Shangxin Xiaojian would have to think twice, right?”

“Hmph! That pair didn’t even dare to stand up and say a word, just watching this kind of treasure slip through their fingers. They’re clearly two greenhorns without much strength. Team up with them? That’s just asking to die faster—dragging two more burdens along!”

That Mount Mao Shangqing Temple senior brother was covered in a dazzling array of jade ornaments—jade pieces, jade tablets, jade pendants, jade rings… he was practically a walking jade exhibition stand, a human mannequin.

But this senior brother’s looks left much to be desired. Who knew how he set his appearance when entering the game? Even after tweaking and adjusting, was this the result?

“Let’s go! We can’t let them take all the Bodhi Tree and Merit Fruit!”

The three of them flew up together on a huge jade disk. A layer of jade light enveloped all three, and their bodies immediately turned semi-transparent, faint and elusive. If the jade light faded and you didn’t look closely, you’d hardly notice them.

So it turned out this jade disk Magic Treasure was how they managed to hide their presence earlier without being detected.

“Let’s head in too. They look down on us? I want to see whose hands this Buddhist treasure ends up in!”

Ye Rong and the Long-Legged Lady exchanged a smile, both filled with absolute confidence. With their combined strength, what did it matter if the others were Heavenly Ranking Experts?

Ye Rong alone could easily defeat Haoshou Qiongjing with his sword, let alone now, with the advantage of planning against the unprepared. Add in the Long-Legged Lady—a super fierce girl, a powerhouse who could instantly kill Heavenly Ranking Experts.

Shangxin Xiaojian and Master Xunhua were absolutely going to pay the price for their poor judgment.