Chapter 75: Outside Lumen City Lies the Deer Platform (13)
In the end, of course, Yan Yi didn’t manage to change into new clothes. Bai Chunsheng warned him that if he stirred up more trouble again, he’d make sure Yan Yi paid the price.
Only then did Yan Yi settle down.
The entrance to the Wutong Tree Sea was hidden on a branch of a towering ancient tree deep in the forest. Its trunk was a rich brown, and its leaves shone like emeralds—this was a Windvoice Tree. The leaves were hard as iron, like countless tiny wind chimes. When the wind blew, the entire tree would emit a clear, melodious sound—it was the sound of the wind.
The moment Bai Chunsheng saw this tree, he knew they had arrived. He leapt up to the highest branch, and behind the dense foliage hung an actual wind chime.
This wind chime was as thin as a cicada’s wing and had a faint green tint. Only by looking at the edges could one see that it was, in fact, a sharp blade.
Seeing this, Bai Chunsheng was pleased. He pricked the index finger of his left hand with the chime and carefully smeared some blood onto its surface.
In an instant, dazzling light burst forth, as if tens of thousands of rays of heavenly light were hidden within this tiny, sharp ornament. The light slowly descended from the sky, drawing closer and closer to the Windvoice Tree’s branch. Yan Yi stood just behind Bai Chunsheng. Seeing Bai Chunsheng’s unabashed joy, Yan Yi couldn’t help but relax his frown slightly.
But something was off. Almost immediately, Yan Yi’s brows knitted again. Something didn’t feel right—hadn’t for a while now. This unease came purely from instinct, and he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what was wrong.
And now, the ominous feeling was growing stronger.
As the radiant light gradually condensed, the corners of Bai Chunsheng’s mouth curled higher. He was thinking that the Wutong Tree Sea could only be entered by one with the bloodline of the White Phoenix and not a bonded Dao companion. In other words, Yan Yi would be left outside.
Ha—he couldn’t wait to see the moment when he would have to tell Yan Yi, through the closed entrance, that he never liked him. That they used to be enemies. That if Yan Yi wanted to enter, he’d have to kneel and beg. Bai Chunsheng had seen all kinds of things, but a sword sovereign begging? That, he had never seen.
As for whether he would let Yan Yi in then? That would depend on his mood.
No matter how powerful Yan Jingqiu was, what could he do—come inside and grab him? Let a few years or days drag by, maybe Yan Yi would give up and leave. Let’s see how long he could wait.
Just as Bai Chunsheng was lost in his triumphant thoughts, without even the chance to laugh, an arrow wreathed in poison flew toward him. It instantly disintegrated into ashes in the gusts over the cliff. Yan Yi’s sword aura had already obliterated the arrow before Bai Chunsheng even saw it clearly.
The arrow had come from the opposite mountain. Bai Chunsheng’s sharp eyes spotted a tall woman standing there, a quiver strapped to her left leg and a large bow in hand. Her skin was slightly tanned, her features striking, and her presence fierce like a tiger descending a mountain—clearly someone not to be underestimated.
Bai Chunsheng had seen her before—in the tavern of the Ancient Forest Spirit Realm. It was her arrows that had nearly sent him to the afterlife.
The radiant light that was still forming began to collapse uncontrollably. The Windvoice Tree rang loudly as the wind picked up, dispersing the light that had nearly coalesced into a hidden realm. But instead of vanishing completely, the glow scattered with the wind like a lone boat drifting on the sea—slowly floating toward the distance.
Toward a spatial pouch.
That pouch was nestled in the arms of a stunning woman. After many days apart, Shen Yuying had dressed to the nines today, with a flower ornament painted on her forehead like blooming red lotus petals.
Shen Yuying laughed sweetly and said, “Gentlemen, long time no see.”
And this explained why no one had tried to hunt down Bai Chunsheng from the beginning—they had known all along that he would come here.
This, too, was likely the source of Yan Yi’s lingering unease.
The moment he saw the tall woman with the bow, Bai Chunsheng’s alarm bells went off. His left eyelid twitched nonstop. Yan Yi drew his sword and pulled Bai Chunsheng behind him, speaking without a hint of fear: “You came looking to die again?”
Shen Yuying no longer appeared weak. She flipped open her folding fan, covering her mouth as she smiled. “You’re welcome to try.”
As soon as she finished speaking, in the blink of an eye, sword aura rained down like a violent storm toward her. The memory of death surged back into her heart—her legs nearly gave out. If not for leaning against the Windvoice Tree’s trunk, she might’ve collapsed already.
But the pain didn’t come. Something had blocked the sword aura.
The surrounding forest remained eerily still. One… two… three seconds passed—and then, in utter silence, all the trees crashed down. Yet their leafy branches stayed vivid green, fluttering wildly in the wind.
What had blocked the attack looked like a person—delicate features, empty eyes. In its hand was also a sword, silver-white in color, with flickers of fire faintly dancing around it.
Yan Yi’s lips curled into a smile. Because he was guarding Bai Chunsheng, he didn’t dare stray far, but that much was enough to strike. The flurry of silver sword light dazzled the eye, but this unknown figure seemed to anticipate every move, blocking each one.
No, not quite. It didn’t fully block Yan Yi’s attacks.
A few more seconds passed. The figure suddenly retreated dozens of meters. A gentle wind blew by, slicing a gash across its face.
And through that wound, what appeared wasn’t flesh and blood, but white jade.
It was a remarkably lifelike jade puppet.
Having just emerged from the ruins of Changliu Mountain, Bai Chunsheng and Yan Yi immediately recognized it. But why did the dragons of the Water Abyss Realm have it—and why was it this strong?
“You’ve been to Changliu Mountain?” Bai Chunsheng couldn’t help but ask. It was a reasonable suspicion. If they’d had such a powerful puppet from the start, they could’ve used it during the first attempt to capture him. Even if he had burned through his own bloodline, he probably wouldn’t have escaped.
Shen Yuying didn’t seem to know where this realistic jade puppet had come from. “Changliu Mountain? What place is that?”
She didn’t care much about it. Steadying herself against the Windvoice Tree’s branch, she stood upright again, bolstered by the presence of the jade puppet.
Seeing how effective the puppet truly was, Shen Yuying silently marveled again at the foresight of the Revered Lord. He had predicted that months after his departure, the world would see the rise of a mysterious sword cultivator whose talent rivaled Yan Jingqiu’s.
This swordsman had unpredictable movements and a strange temperament. It was entirely possible that, because of his erratic nature, he might side with Bai Chunsheng.
Dealing with such a swordsman, though, was actually quite simple. Bo Yan, dressed in a black dragon robe and wearing a pure gold mask, had spoken to her while she knelt on the ground with her head bowed, not daring to lift her eyes.
“When the time comes…” she had heard Bo Yan’s voice, cold and tinged with amusement, “there will be a fatal flaw in his sword technique.”
“The Bibo Spirit Realm is on the brink of collapse. When it does, those useless dragon whelps will come begging us to take them in. Those good-for-nothing weaklings, hollowed out by their luxurious indulgence, have already gathered all the treasures worth anything from their realm in hopes of gaining refuge here in the Water Abyss Realm”
“Among those items, you will find a jade puppet shaped like a real human. With your skills, of course, you won’t see its secrets. Just take it with you. This young swordsman’s sword aura will awaken it.”
At this point, Shen Yuying had finally asked, her voice trembling, “If it requires sword aura… our Water Abyss Realm is full of talent. But what if… what if I’m too dull to recognize the right jade puppet? Could we test them one by one…?”
“Test them? Why don’t you just carry them all with you?” Bo Yan had let out a cold laugh. “If you know you’re stupid, don’t say things that make people laugh harder.”
“This jade puppet was crafted by the cultivator Lian Guang before his death in hopes that it might one day kill him. He had fallen deep into qi deviation, utterly lost to his madness. If he hadn’t died suddenly, this final, half-finished sword puppet would have been destroyed in battle. No one in the world could bring it to life—except someone who fully inherited his sword technique.”
“Ye Jingxing is dead. That leaves only one person in the world who can inherit his swordsmanship completely.”
“Where do you think you’ll find a second one?”
Author’s Note:
And so, honest Miss Shen really did carry all the jade puppets with her. Of course, only one of them had actually been created by Ye Jingxing.
Yan Jianhang, Yan Jingxing, Yan Fengxing—
They were, in fact, three brothers…
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
