Chapter 208: Weak Aura
Translator: TYZ Editor: X
Yu Mingqiu spat out a mouthful of saliva. When he saw the flying beasts in the distance, his face darkened.
The difficulty of the battles had far exceeded his expectations.
These blood birds were far more troublesome than what he had anticipated. The most troublesome thing was that there was a huge number of them. In less than half a day, he had killed more than 10 blood birds that had nine blood traces on each of their bodies. He had encountered a variety of species such as falcons, vultures, etc. There were also a lot of species that he had never seen before. It was possible that these unknown species might have mutated after being inflicted with the blood poison, causing them to become drastically altered so that he was unable to recognize them.
There were all kinds of odd-looking blood fiends, but all of them had one thing in common—they had nine blood traces on their bodies.
He might appear nonchalant on the surface, but he was an experienced and well-trained elite after all, so he definitely would not miss such an obvious characteristic such as the nine blood traces. He conjectured that the number of blood traces might have something to do with the base level of the blood fiends. Dire beasts also had such unique marks to indicate their base level.
The nine traced blood birds were rather powerful, but in the eyes of Yu Mingqiu, who was a vice division leader, they were weak. However, there were truly too many blood birds, and they were very crafty. The soaring blood birds in the distance did not expect Yu Mingqiu to specialize in archery. After he killed several blood birds in one shot, these blood birds flew further away from him.
To free himself from these blood birds, Yu Mingqiu flew down into the blood forest below him. However, the situation in the blood forest was even worse. Blood fiends surged toward him like tidal wave.
He had no choice but to ascend to the sky again.
To break free from the blood bird flock, he could only fly forward at his top speed. However, every time he was about to break free from the pursuing blood birds, he would encounter a new concentrated legion of blood birds that flew toward him from his front. He had no choice but to engage them in battle.
Once he engaged, his flying speed would slow down.
To kill each subsequent group of blood birds that were obstructing his forward path, he would exert himself strenuously and the pursuing blood birds behind him would catch up to him. In the end, the number of blood birds that surrounded him was getting larger and larger.
"Why am I so popular? Is it possible that I’m considered handsome among the blood fiends?" Yu Mingqiu muttered to himself with a helpless look on his face.
All along, he suspected that there was a mastermind commanding the fiends from the shadows. However, even after he racked his brain, he could not pinpoint the perpetrator. He had experienced countless battles of all sizes, but this was the first time he had encountered such an unusual situation.
I will kill all these birds and see if you will reveal yourself!
"The life of a handsome man is never easy!"
Yu Mingqiu sighed with sorrow and helplessness as he thought about his life. With a jolt of his body, he suddenly appeared a few hundred metres away from a particular nine traced blood bird. Pulling the bowstring with all his might, he released his arrow and shattered its head in one shot.
"Why wouldn’t the blood birds be attracted to me too? Oh, you are male. Sorry. Regardless of the gender, a true handsome man will kill anyone, male or female."
Killing two birds with one stone!
"Perfect archery! Perfect man! A man that even Mingxiu can’t resist! Luckily senior is not here…."
Yu Mingqiu kept on uttering nonsense nonstop. His hands did not slow down. His body was as fast as lightning, darting left and right. The glint of his arrows appeared and disappeared unpredictably, yet they never missed their targets.
In the blink of an eye, the entire sky was painted with blood and feathers were scattered everywhere.
He cleared the horde of blood birds in exactly 10 minutes. Panting heavily, he had satisfied look on his face.
"I’m really pitiful. How can a perfect man like me do such heavy manual labor? It’s really not appropriate."
This time around, it appeared that he had stunned the shadowy mastermind. After flying for a long while, he did not encounter a single blood bird.
As he continued to fly forward, he realized that something was off.
He stopped flying and took a look at his surroundings. He was surrounded by a sea of blood forest and could not even see the end.
His face turned pale white. Damn it! How could he forget such an important thing…
This handsome man had a poor sense of direction…
…..
Shi Xueman understood the mayor’s office very well. Together with Duanmu Huanghun, they headed to the government building. Even though Wang Zhen was very surprised that the A-1 unit was interested in the blood crystals, he still gave them all of his support.
Not only did he grant them all of the blood crystals from the other units, he also dispatched a team of his subordinates to help them collect artifacts and artifact remnants.
However, the mayor could not help them recruit blacksmiths and they could not even find one.
It was also at this point in time that Shi Xueman and the rest learned that the official strategy revolved around Master Han Yuqin’s concept of "treating the city as a piece of cloth."
At such a critical time, the efficiency of the mayor’s office was extremely high. No one wanted to waste any time.
When Shi Xueman and Duanmu Huanghun returned to the Vanguard Training Hall, they discovered that the first batch of blood crystals, artifacts, and artifact remnants had already been delivered.
The job of processing the blood crystals was fully given to Lou Lan.
"Treating the city as a piece of cloth." Shi Xueman cast a glance at Ai Hui. "The designer of this plan is your master, Wang Shouchuan. The administrator of this plan is your mistress, Master Han Yuqin."
When Shi Xueman heard about the concept of "treating the city as a piece of cloth," she was very surprised. Treating the city as a piece of cloth, what an imposing idea! If not for the fact that this plan had been approved by the embroidery master Han Yuqin, Shi Xueman would have thought that it was a bullsh*t concept.
No one had ever done something like this before.
The one who designed the plan was Wang Shouchuan, who was Han Yuqin’s husband and Ai Hui’s master. Other than this background information, she knew nothing about Wang Shouchuan and had never heard of his name before.
She did not know the specific details, but when she saw how the mayor and the dean both praised the concept to high heaven and how all of the deployments revolved around this plan, she felt extremely confident.
"Master and mistress!" Ai Hui was shocked. However, he soon calmed down and spoke without any hesitation, "I absolutely believe in master and mistress. Tell me more about this concept."
Upon discovering that his master and mistress were taking actions, Ai Hui immediately felt more at ease. His master and mistress were proud individuals. If they were willing to take action, it meant that they had confidence in what they were doing. Ai Hui was rather excited to see his master and mistress display their magnificence.
Shi Xueman explained, "Generally speaking, the entire plan is split into two parts. The first part is to produce nine gigantic gold needles. Reportedly, the nine gold needles are extremely fine. Right now, the blacksmiths are forging them with all their might. We will not be of any help for this part. Once the gold needles are completed, they will be nailed to nine specific points in Central Pine City. This step will allow for the conduction and direction of the elemental energies in the city, forming a network.. Our mission will most likely be focused on the second part of the plan."
Ai Hui rubbed his palms together with an eager look on his face. "I hope the gold needles can be completed soon."
As a disciple of his master, he could not miss such a big event no matter what!
This was the first time that Shi Xueman saw such a facial expression on Ai Hui. From her impression of Ai Hui, no matter what time it was, he was always calm and cool-headed. Many times, he was so calm that he seemed unreasonable.
It was only at this moment that she saw Ai Hui express an emotion that belonged to their young age.
"We have to endure through this period of time," Shi Xueman reminded. "The attacks from the blood traced fiends will get more and more ferocious. Our situation will be more dangerous and arduous as a result. The elite unit has suffered massive casualties. At the least, we have to endure until the day Master Han takes action."
She felt slightly sad since the Shi Clan Training Hall had already had a few men that were sacrificed.
Since the Shi Clan Training Hall’s guards were more competent than the average guards, they had been enlisted into the elite unit. The last battle had a very high number of casualties.
She was worried about Uncle Yong Zheng, but she did not use her status to influence the mayor despite her concern. The mayor might agree to protect Uncle Yong Zheng, but this would be considered an act of misappropriation and would only bring shame to both Uncle Yong Zheng and her family.
The point of conscripting the whole city was to make sure that everyone contributed part of his or her strength and life. No one was exempt.
After going through such an ordeal, everyone was extremely exhausted. Everyone was relieved after resolving the main problem. Even an iron lady like Shi Xueman could not handle it.
Duanmu Huanghun stood motionless at one side, resembling a stationary wooden stake. Upon closer examination, one would realize that this guy had actually fallen asleep. A strand of crystal-clear drool could even be seen on the corner of his mouth.
Today, he was completely worn out.
Everyone lay all over the hall, fast asleep.
Ai Hui did not sleep. He sat cross-legged on the ground while holding the brand new Dragonspine Inferno in his hands. The more tired he was, the better time it was for him to train. If he could endure the extreme fatigue, his training results would be exceptionally good.
In a state of extreme fatigue, one’s mental state and thought process were scattered and disorganized. It would be very difficult for one to stay concentrated.
Ai Hui, who possessed a sword embryo, was different from the others. The essence, breath, and spirit were used to nurture the sword embryo.
The essence, breath, and spirit were incorporeal energies. A corporeal entity like the sword embryo was usually nurtured using incorporeal energies. Ai Hui’s everyday training had established a solid foundation for this process.
During his training, Ai Hui quickly felt that his sword embryo was behaving differently from usual.
Its slow pulsation made Ai Hui feel as if he was in a creek between a valley. The sound of water flowing resounded through his ears. However, within a short of period of time, the sound disappeared and Ai Hui felt another type of pulsation.
This one was extremely weak, resembling a lit candle placed in a windy area that would be extinguished at any moment.
This was…
Ai Hui calmed himself down and tried to understand what was going on. He filtered the undulations of elemental energy in his mind and tried to locate this extremely weak pulsation.
Dragonspine Inferno!
When Ai Hui found the source of the pulsation, seven weakly-lit dots of light appeared in his consciousness.
Their luminosity was so weak that he could even differentiate them from one another.
Their auras were similarly weak.
The faint aura… a somewhat familiar aura… the sword’s aura!
Ai Hui’s mind jolted suddenly, almost causing him to lose his focus.
These seven artifact remnants might have been part of a flying sword or a sword-related artifact. Even though they had been corroded by the Silver Mist Sea for thousands of years, the remnants still emitted a faint tinge of sword consciousness after being stimulated by a small amount of spiritual force. It was as if he had wiped off the dust from an ancient treasure, revealing its original radiance.
Ai Hui was overjoyed.
It was a lifelong dream for him to be able to comprehend the sword consciousness that could only be found in the Cultivation Era.
He suppressed his ecstasy, gradually calming his mind again.
He was feeling the faintly discernible sword consciousness.
There was absolute silence in the training hall.
In the depths of the training hall, there was a room that was brightly lit.
Lou Lan, who had been given a heavy responsibility, was busy going through experiments.
"Deconstruction of the blood crystal, trial number 12. Sand core, begin recording. Test subject, artifact remnant number 12. Attempting to derive the unknown energy. Failure!"
...
"Deconstruction of the blood crystal, trial number 37. Sand core, begin recording. Test subject, artifact remnant number 37. Attempting to derive the unknown energy. Success. Beginning power analysis. Analyzing in process. Type of energy, unknown. Setting up a template. It’s called blood spiritual force. Undergoing deeper analysis…"
...
"Ratio analysis between blood spiritual force and elemental energy, trial number 19. Sand core, begin recording."
...
"Interaction between blood spiritual force and elemental energy. Sand core, begin recording."
...
"Blood spiritual force and earth elemental energy are colliding against each other. Sand core, begin recording… Warning! Sand core is being invaded by the blood spiritual force! Defense mechanism of the sand core activated! Defense mechanism of the sand core failed! The sand core seal is being damaged! The sand core seal has been removed! Warning! Elemental energy in the sand core has been depleted… Substitution mechanism has activated. The sand core will begin to absorb the blood spiritual force… Absorbing the blood spiritual force in progress… Absorbing… Absorbing…
...
"Absorption completed."
"Midnight activated."