Chapter 340: Conflict
The ‘shaking sword rainbow’ seemingly cut through the sky. A figure was riding over that sword rainbow.
A group of experts were closely pursuing that figure.
“Do not let it escape!”
“That is a ‘stunning sword code’!” (1)
“Grab it, and we will have immeasurable future prospects!”
Sword Code!
Ye Xiwen promptly opened his eyes, and condensed Real Elemental Energy in them to have a clearer vision. He immediately saw a figure riding over that sword rainbow. However, it was not a human being, but a thick ‘sword code’.
“Buried Sword Secrets!”
Ye Xiwen saw these three words written on that sword code; three large golden words. A chill ran all over his body. It felt as if it would destroy his very existence.
“Crap! Quickly chase it Ye Xiwen!” Ye Mo immediately shouted.
Ye Xiwen didn’t get enough time to think. He immediately pursued that figure.
“I haven’t seen a book running on its own. Could it be a book demon that has already cultivated successfully?” Ye Xiwen also began to tread on a rainbow. His body took the form of a lightning and advanced toward that figure.
“It shouldn’t be. It doesn’t have the soaring ‘demon energy’ of a book demon. It is only made of pure ‘sword energy’. Hence, I can say for certain that it is a ‘stunning sword code’. An ordinary secret book cannot have such mystical abilities!” Ye Mo said. (2)
The voices of the pursuers had started lagging farther and farther behind since they couldn’t match the speed of that sword rainbow.
It was moving at a scary speed. In fact, it was moving at such a fast speed that even Ye Xiwen couldn’t match its pace. He finally opened his devil wings and started to reduce the distance between himself and that sword rainbow; little-by-little.
It wasn’t clear as to how long it would take for Ye Xiwen to catch up. Suddenly, a giant stele arrived in front of his eyes. This stele seemed to have been thoroughly beaten by weather, and had already transformed beyond recognition. So much so, that it looked like an ordinary cliff covered entirely with weeds.
A huge cuneiform script (3) was engraved on it!
Such an engraved script would shake the minds of those who would see it. No one could tell whose hands were used to carve such a script. A person would only have an illusion of feeling the very suppression of heaven and earth upon seeing it.
No one knew when this giant stele was established or who did it — or what exactly was suppressed inside it.
Ye Xiwen was just about to overtake that stunning sword code. However, it suddenly entered that stele, and disappeared without a trace.
Ye Xiwen was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected that this sword code would submerge into that stele and vanish.
“How is this possible?” Ye Xiwen took several laps around that stele. But he couldn’t find where that sword code had gone to. He could only make speculations that this stele probably had some kind of relation with that sword code.
“This stele is quite strange isn’t it?” Ye Xiwen said. He didn’t know how long this had been such. However, he could tell that it must have been established at least over a hundred thousand years ago by the extent of its weathered appearance.
Even if something had been suppressed inside of it... it should’ve perished by now!
Ye Xiwen didn’t know whether there were any life forms which could live through eternity. But he certainly knew that the experts of legendary realm had a trivial lifespan of 1000 years. Even the top powerhouses of the sage realm had a lifespan of 2000 years. In fact, even the experts of the ‘Great Sage’ realm could only live for 5000 years. Hence, any living form would’ve been obliterated in the passage of 100,000 years.
In fact, this was truly the case. Ye Xiwen stepped onto that piece of land and felt that it was no different from an ordinary land. It didn’t seem to have any suppressive force either.
Then, Ye Xiwen heard a noise behind him. The experts who were chasing the sword code had finally appeared and surrounded him.
“Where is the sword code? Why can’t I feel the sword energy of that sword code? You must have taken it!” a middle-aged man stepped forward and said. He was clad in a magnificent robe, and appeared calm and composed. He was considerably stronger than the others.
“He has definitely taken it. Otherwise, how can it suddenly disappear like that? Moreover, we saw it coming this way a moment ago. So how come it’s not here anymore. He alone is here. He must have stolen it!” a young woman stepped-out and said. She was clad in a red robe and had a dainty stature. She had pearl-like white teeth and bright eyes. She looked extremely beautiful. She glared at Ye Xiwen as she spoke with her hands placed on her waist.
“I don’t have the sword code!” Ye Xiwen impatiently replied to this group of experts. The sword code had suddenly disappeared, and he himself was still puzzled.
“That’s impossible! We won’t believe you unless you let us inspect your spatial ring!” an expert shouted.
Ye Xiwen’s complexion suddenly changed. To let other people check one’s spatial ring was a matter of extraordinary shame and humiliation since it was a show of extreme distrust.
However, this was a normal thing in the eyes of those experts. It was impossible for Ye Xiwen to thoroughly consume and refine that sword code in such a short period of time. He could’ve only obtained it. Therefore, it was most probable that the sword code was inside his spatial ring.
“I said I don’t have it. And what will you do even if it is in my hands?” Ye Xiwen sneered and said, “First come, first serve. This is a truth that you don’t seem to know!”
“Young fellow, I advise you that you hand over that sword code. I will give you a reward if you will hand it over!” that middle-aged man said in a righteous manner.
“Reward? Someone like you thinks he can give me a reward?” Ye Xiwen looked coldly at him.
“Boy, you are quite presumptuous!” That middle-aged man said angrily, “Where do you think you are right now? You are just a rookie in front of me. You are nothing more than a baby who has just crawled out of its cradle.”
One couldn’t judge the skill of an expert by looking at their face; however, one could easily guess a person’s age. Ye Xiwen didn’t even look 30.
Those experts had judged that he must be a new disciple who had fled from the rear of the battlefield.
They were actually a step ahead in entering True Martial University, and had entered prior to Ye Xiwen and his batch of young geniuses. Also, the number of these old geniuses was quite enormous. It ranged up to hundreds of thousands of experts. This included including ones with tyrannical cultivations of more than hundred years. They simply didn’t pay attention to experts like Ye Xiwen who wasn’t even 50 years old.
Many of these old experts also belonged to the generation of highly talented people. In fact, their talent wasn’t worse than Ye Xiwen and the other young geniuses. However, their cultivation time was far more than Ye Xiwen’s. Many of these experts had missed the True Martial University’s last term of recruitment due to various reasons. According to them, experts below the age of 50 years were like rookies.
“Rookie, you say? You’ve been cultivating for more than hundred years. Yet, you still couldn’t enter the sage realm. A trash like you who cannot even cultivate properly shouldn’t be talking to me in that condescending tone!” Ye Xiwen sneered as anger flourished in his heart. His age was an advantage when considering his cultivation level. However, it was a disadvantage for him this time.
The complexion of those experts had immediately changed; especially the complexion of that middle-aged expert, who appeared to be their leader. His complexion had turned ashen. His age had already surpassed 150 years. Hence, he would be considered as a fairly old man among the new disciples.
Normally, these experts would be considered young geniuses at this age due this type of cultivation. However, they were practically worthless in True Martial University; a place where the geniuses were in abundance.
“It seems that you wish to die. Just kill him, and the stuff in his spatial ring will be ours!” that middle-aged expert roared. He shot his fist towards Ye Xiwen. A burst of cold fist energy rushed forth. It carried an ice-cold aura, and instantly swept towards Ye Xiwen.
The fist energy had frozen the air. The space itself had frozen, and was chipping bit by bit. It was not clear how far had the temperature dropped below zero degree. This was extremely terrifying.
“You think you can kill me!” Ye Xiwen sneered. He immediately shot a big hand, and it happened so fast that no one could see him do it. His big hand and that ice energy collided into each other. This led to an explosion.
It had seemed as if the sky would collapse at the time when his big hand grabbed that ice energy and crushed it.
The difference between the strength of both the sides was pretty clear. That expert was at legendary seventh stage. Comparing his strength with that of Ye Xiwen’s — was like distinguishing between mud and cloud.
“Clang!” Ye Xiwen’s big hand shot a startling sword intention into the sky. It seemed to shatter the entire world as it immediately arrived in front of that middle-aged expert.
“Puchi!” That sword intention pierced its way into that middle-aged expert like a long sword.
“Splash!” Blood splashed out from that middle-aged expert’s body. He simply didn’t think that Ye Xiwen would attack so fiercely and ruthlessly.
It seemed as if he had forgotten that it was actually him who wanted to kill Ye Xiwen first. This had thoroughly aroused Ye Xiwen’s killing intent.
Kill the person who tries to kill you!
Ye Xiwen’s logic was quite simple. Whoever would try to kill him — he would kill that person instead!
“You... You...” That woman in red robe was stunned. She and her group of experts also belonged to a vicious and merciless generation. No one knew how many people had died in their hands. However, the main point was that they had blundered by underestimating Ye Xiwen. He had merely been a lamb for slaughter in their eyes. ...if he had acted obediently, they might have spared his life; if not, then they would’ve killed him.
However, Ye Xiwen had suddenly launched a counterattack in revolt, and had effortlessly slaughtered their most formidable expert. This pretty much explained why they were so shocked.
“Get lost!” Ye Xiwen coldly said. He did not mean to be ruthless with them.
Those people bitterly looked at Ye Xiwen. Now they were certain that he had stolen the sword code. However, they didn’t dare to continue confronting him. They could only bitterly depart from there.
Ye Mo opened his mouth as he saw those people leave, “Ye Xiwen, do you see how strange this matter is. The appearance of that sword code is also very strange. Other people may not have seen, but we clearly saw that it submerged into that stele. It seems that the problem lies inside that stele!”
“Well, that sword code attracted so many people, but actually disappeared all of a sudden... ” Ye Xiwen frowned and said.
“But, if those people were to think that you took the sword code... then they would’ve naturally launched an attack!” Ye Mo said.
“Whoever dares to cause trouble for me shall be slaughtered!” Ye Xiwen coldly said.
(To be continued)
Stunning Sword Code: This can also be termed as ‘sword rule’ or ‘sword law’. It’s basically a set of rules to practice a certain set of secret sword skills. That is why it’s called a code.
With passage of time, a secret book can gain wisdom and turn into a book demon.
Cuneiform: It denotes to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly on clay tablets.