C67 The Troublemaker
Yu Yuan awoke with a start!
The moonlight was like water, and it was deep into the night.
Ten meters away, Zhao Yafu and Yu Feifei were whispering among themselves. Yuan Ting was engrossed in his cultivation, while other trial-takers from the Zhao and Yuan families roamed about.
They were at the bottom of another deep pit, surrounded by a sparse and unremarkable Moon Shard.
"Strange..."
Yu Yuan, newly awakened, held his breath and concentrated, silently sensing his surroundings.
The bones in his arms, marked with numerous tiny points of sword light, suddenly felt searing hot.
The heated sword light had roused him.
Using his heaven soul, he tried to perceive the essence of the sword light...
Each point of sword light radiated an eager and sharp desire to break free and obliterate something.
This was the innate instinct of the sword light.
Yet, these points of sword light possessed only intent and sword spirit, lacking any physical form.
"There must be a sword!"
Yu Yuan had an epiphany.
The sword light branded on his arm bone must represent the sword spirit, will, and spell of a sword. Only by merging with that sword could the sword light unleash its full potential.
It must be an ancient sword with a vast and powerful aura.
"Could this sword be located somewhere in the forbidden area?" Yu Yuan pondered with a furrowed brow.
...
On another fragment of the Moon Shard.
Feng Xin stood motionless, but her hand, pressed against the sword pattern, suddenly burst forth with a dazzling green divine light.
The sinister and chilling green light streamed out from her palm, entering the Moon Shard and other sword-shaped patterns.
"Crack, crack!"
The massive Moon Shard couldn't bear her power and began to fissure.
A sword-shaped pattern burst forth from the Moon Shard, flying towards her.
"Pfft!"
Before it could even approach, the sword-shaped pattern etched into the Moon Shard disintegrated into dust.
Then, more sword-shaped patterns surged towards her.
One by one, all the sword-shaped patterns burst into powder.
Not even the Moon Shard was spared; it too shattered into fragments.
At the bottom of the pit, only smaller pieces of the Moon Shard remained.
"It's merely a sword spell without a soul."
Feng Xin's demeanor was detached. "The fact that the sword spell can still be activated indicates the soul is present. I'm curious to see how much power it can still exert after all these years."
She fixed her gaze on Gao Hong's lifeless body.
Gao Hong's eyes began to whirl in their sockets.
As his body rapidly withered, his eyes, eerily animated, reflected the myriad scenes he had witnessed before his death, like mirrors to his past.
"One Yu Yuan and one Van Le. These two are the prime suspects."
Having gleaned what she needed, Feng Xin withdrew her attention from Gao Hong's remains and proceeded up the stone steps.
...
"The Pearls of Illusion are damaged and can no longer connect to the Veil of Illusions."
Lee Yuchan's demeanor grew grave. "Something must have occurred in the forbidden area. It's the only explanation for the destruction of six Pearls of Illusion in such a brief span."
The old general lost his casual air. "We're barely into the half-year trial of the forbidden area. Barely a month has passed; we can't afford a catastrophe now."
"Should I personally investigate?" Lee Yuchan proposed.
After a moment's consideration, the old general nodded. "Go have a look. I'll remain here and keep an eye on other developments."
"I'll find those six Pearls of Illusion and determine the cause of their sudden failure." With resolve, Lee Yuchan, upon receiving the nod, transformed into a breeze and soared into the forbidden area.
...
"There's someone below."
A strange voice suddenly echoed above Yu Yuan and his companions.
All of Asvetaesi was jolted into alertness, their gazes shooting skyward.
One by one, figures began to materialize.
"Asvetaesi's own," sneered one of them. "Encountering them here is so dull. I suspect the Moon Shard below isn't worth our time."
"Yan family!" Yuan Ting's face darkened with recognition.
Descending from above was none other than a trial-taker from the illustrious Yan family!
Yan Lu, who had nearly collided with Yu Yuan atop the Berserk Golden Rhino, had left an indelible mark on them.
Recognizing a member of the Yan family, Yuan Ting abandoned any further plans. He was ready to yield, leaving the seemingly unremarkable Moon Shard below for the Yan family to explore first.
Zhao Yafu, feeling equally resigned, shrugged at Yu Yuan.
She was well aware that she was no match for Yan Lu.
"No matter, if they are from the Yan family, there's no point in resisting," Yu Yuan said, taking it in stride. The Moon Shard they faced held little promise, and there was no harm in letting the Yan family take a look first.
"Asvetaesi..."
Yan Lu, a towering figure, halted midair and paused.
He cleared his throat.
The other Yan family members momentarily stopped as well, awaiting his next command.
Yan Lu's gaze swept below, passing over Yuan Ting and Zhao Yafu, before settling on Yu Yuan. "Any discoveries?" he inquired.
It was clear to all that his question was directed solely at Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan maintained a steady demeanor. "Nothing noteworthy. Just a run-of-the-mill Moon Shard with no unique features. Why, does the Yan family have an interest?"
Yan Lu appeared somewhat uncertain.
"If you're interested, feel free to check it out. Trying your luck wouldn't hurt," Yu Yuan generously offered, surprisingly extending an invitation. "It's all the same to us; we haven't discerned anything special."
The rest of the Yan family members exchanged puzzled looks.
Previously, when they had followed Yan Lu and encountered teams from other cities, they had charged ahead without hesitation to assess the situation.
If they spotted something extraordinary, they'd have the other teams wait while they explored it first.
If nothing of interest was apparent, they'd move on without fuss, promptly heading to a new location.
Until now, no team from any other city had dared to confront them.
Yet now, facing the seemingly weakest team from Asvetaesi, Yan Lu was hesitating, which they found incomprehensible.
"Forget it," Yan Lu decided, shaking his head. "Since you've invited us, there's likely nothing worth seeing. Had you refused, I might have been compelled to insist."
With that, he ascended directly.
The trial-takers from the Yan family, though filled with questions, had no choice but to follow suit.
"Young Master, why not let me go down for a closer look?" one of the Yan family trial-takers asked after a moment, rubbing his head. "Against such a feeble team from Asvetaesi, I alone could keep them at bay."
He shared Yan Lu's late-period Golden Sanctum cultivation level but was slightly older.
An outsider to the Yan family, he had been brought in specifically to support Yan Lu through the grueling two months of combat ahead.
At a critical juncture, he was willing to sacrifice his own life as long as it meant saving Yan Lu's.
"If there truly is something extraordinary beneath us, I'll certainly investigate," Yan Lu said with a furrowed brow. "But as far as I can tell, there's nothing down there. My time is precious, and I have no intention of squandering it on trivial pursuits."
"Young Master, why did you bypass Yuan Ting and instead inquire with Yu Yuan?" the man pressed.
"Because Yu Yuan is the linchpin of Asvetaesi, and he's far more challenging to handle than Yuan Ting," Yan Lu replied offhandedly.
The revelation left the other Yan family members in a state of shock.
...
In a cave's corner, Lee Yuchan stared at the ground, littered with the powdered remains of the Pearl of Illusion.
The Pearl of Illusion, though embedded within a stone and concealed by other materials, was still discovered and obliterated in an instant—reduced to dust.
The most horrifying aspect was that the Veil of Illusions had failed to detect any of this.
The only explanation was that the destroyer of the Pearl of Illusion hadn't physically come to the site; they had merely projected some form of power onto it.
Thus, outside the forbidden area, she had seen nothing through the Veil of Illusions.
"To think that the Pearl of Illusion could be so easily destroyed from such a vast distance, and that the force delivered could grind it to powder!" Lee Yuchan mused, her mood somber and her expression stern.
"Who could be behind this? The Crimson Sun Empire, perhaps?"
The Silvermoon Empire and the Crimson Sun Empire had been fierce adversaries for many years, clashing intermittently. The two nations were sworn enemies. There were precedents of the Crimson Sun Empire's elites covertly infiltrating and extinguishing the Silvermoon Empire's future prospects.
She harbored a strong suspicion that a high-ranking individual from the Crimson Sun Empire was lurking somewhere within the forbidden area, intent on slaughtering all the trial-takers.
