Chapter 519: Let Chi Jiuyu Take the Fall?

The thirty-seventh star system of Guiling, the seventh planet.

A continuous mountain range far from Wang Cheng, blanketed in snow year-round.

Because the terrain was steep and rugged, and home to some savage creatures, even the planet's alien races would not set foot there lightly.

Yet at this moment, most of the mountain range had already been leveled, pockmarked with craters everywhere.

In a transverse rift valley cleaved by sword Qi, one could see scalding lava waterfalls sliding down both sides of the rift.

The searing heat made even the air waver faintly.

Three figures chased each other within the rift; storms were annihilated amid the scattered blade-light, and deep purple Lei Guang howled like a furious python, melting the surrounding rock into rolling lava.

"As expected, it's still a bit of a stretch…"

Chi Jiuyu held her sword in one hand, retreating backward just above the lava's surface, her eyes flashing with Jin Guang fixed tightly on Ji Ge and Jiu Fu in close pursuit.

Though her foundation was only so-so, she was, after all, at the 'Half-Step Return-to-Void Peak Great Perfection,' and fighting two opponents at once…

'That's about right.'

The various emotions in her eyes subsided, and calm returned once more.

She wiped away a thread of fresh blood at the corner of her lips and held the jade talisman in her hand.

She had always liked testing just how much she had improved during missions; after all, it was usually hard to experience true life-and-death combat in reality.

As for the Sword Sect's battle-net constructing the 'Immortal Realm'…

Although every sense was identical, she always felt something was missing, so unless she had broken through to a new realm and her strength was sufficient to challenge the rankings,

she almost never went.

Boom!

She raised her hand and slashed out a sword gleam to force back Ji Ge and Jiu Fu in pursuit, then looked up at Wu Qi high above and muttered a line.

"Ahem! It's been this long and you still haven't noticed — you can't blame me for this."

The reason she hadn't used her trump card right away, apart from testing how much she had improved after the Xian Sect Grand Competition and satisfying her own curiosity,

was that she wanted to wait for this star system's garrison commander, Fuling Zhenjun, to come, and then seize the scales off that brain-dead one's body.

After all, this was only one scale of a Dao-Soldier Guai-Beast; the complete Dao-Soldier Guai-Beast was still out there somewhere!

But now…

As a wisp of magic power was channeled into the jade talisman, the power sealed within was instantly triggered.

"Wait!"

Everything on the entire planet froze at that single word — the howling air currents, the flowing lava, the melting snow…

Ji Ge and Jiu Fu, brimming with madness and brutality, and even Wu Qi, with mockery lingering in his eyes.

Smell, sound, light…

Everything, absolutely everything, came to a standstill at the instant that word spread outward.

The entire seventh planet became a completely motionless painting.

However, it was still too late.

Hum~!

In the completely frozen world, only a single seven-colored rainbow light rose.

Overwhelming, truly overwhelming…

The purple that had coated the entire sky was like snow meeting the blazing sun — like pigment on paper, easily wiped away.

Where the rainbow light shone, it laid bare the seven emotions of the mortal world, expounding the sorrows and joys of all things.

On the entire seventh planet, every sentient being had their seven emotions stirred, recalling past bitterness and former joys.

The unattainable, parting from the loved, the meeting of hatred…

Attainment, reunion…

Even Fuling Zhenjun, who arrived afterward, could not avoid having the seven emotions within stirred, a look of pain crossing his face.

Finally, the rainbow light faded, and when she raised her head again—

Only a single seven-colored figure remained standing in the heavens, and a calm, unruffled voice spread outward.

"Slash."

Slash!

Fuling Zhenjun's expression changed, and he hastily said:

"Senior, wait a moment! He carries the scale of a Dao-Soldier Guai-Beast; we need to borrow the scale to deduce the whereabouts of the traitorous humans who…"

Before he could finish, a ring of seven-colored halo suddenly bloomed before his eyes.

Boom!

Clearly, Chi Jiuyu had only triggered a wisp of Dao-Union-level power.

But compared to a true Dao-Union cultivator, the power unleashed by the jade talisman was immeasurably more masterful in its application.

Even Fuling Zhenjun, who was himself at Dao Union, felt an irresistible, overwhelming force bearing down on him, and his entire body uncontrollably pressed to one side.

Ji Ge and Jiu Fu, Wu Qi high above and the Dao-Soldier Guai-Beast scale between his brows, and all the alien races that had been polluted and bewitched—

Even the entire thirty-seventh star system of Guiling was enveloped by a ring of seven-colored halo spreading outward, and the power leaking from the Dao-Soldier Guai-Beast scale was completely evaporated within that halo.

……

……

After a long while, all the strange phenomena subsided.

The sky of the seventh planet once more returned to a state of clear brightness.

Chi Jiuyu stared blankly upward, awe still lingering in her eyes.

Holy shit!

Fuck!!!

This is insane!

Since the jade talisman was activated by her, she witnessed everything that just happened.

This was her first time using the jade talisman given to her by her senior brothers and sisters.

She had assumed it would be just as ordinary as "Master, save me!"—the opponent would simply turn to ash and vanish.

But the scene after activating the talisman was far more extravagant than she expected!

Especially that utterly majestic "Cut!"

It felt even more impressive than the "Cut!" her senior uncle had shouted during her challenge against him in the Gray Mist Realm.

"Little sister, don't speak recklessly!"

A voice suddenly came from the jade talisman.

"Seventh Senior Brother?"

"Mm."

Uh…

Is Seventh Senior Brother really that afraid of Senior Uncle?

"How could a disciple speak ill of their elders behind their back? That is grave disobedience."

Chi Jiuyu's expression turned solemn: "Exactly! Me too!"

She truly respected her Master!

When her Master told her to go east, she never went west.

When her Master told her to catch a dog, she never grabbed a chicken!

"..."

Lin Ji seemed to fall silent for a moment.

By the way, Senior Brother, isn't it better not to keep the scale of that Dao-Bot demon beast?

"No problem. It's a trivial matter, no need to worry about it."

The Central Continent today is not the Central Continent of the past.

"Complete your mission and return as soon as possible."

"Oh."

Though several sentences had been exchanged, only an instant had passed in the outside world.

Soon, a suppressed, angry voice came from beside them.

"Do you know what you just did?!"

Huh?

Chi Jiuyu floated out of the canyon and looked to the side.

She found Zhenjun Fuling standing nearby, his expression extremely grim.

The scale of that Dao-Bot demon beast held by the foreign race is a crucial token for tracking the traitorous human—if this allows that human to infiltrate the Central Continent, can you bear the responsibility?!

The instant he recognized it as the Jade Talisman of the Seven Emotions Sword Master, he dared not delay another moment.

But he was still one step too late.

Damn it—Chi Jiuyu's strength should have been enough to hold out longer...

Hearing his words, Chi Jiuyu froze, then burst into furious curses!

"Fuck you! You call yourself a HeDao?! I, a Soul Transformation, held out this long and you still didn't show up!"

This idiot actually wanted to pin the blame on her!

"I've never seen such a worthless HeDao! Just like your worthless second grandson—only good at shirking responsibility, right?!"

Zhenjun Fuling was completely stunned by Chi Jiuyu's words.

As a HeDao, being cursed face-to-face by a Soul Transformation—this was his first time...

"Audacious!"

A furious roar came from the sky, surpassing the limits of sound, thundering directly into Chi Jiuyu's ears.

"Which upstart dares speak so boldly before a HeDao?!"

Hum~

The jade talisman, still active, flared again with seven-colored light, landing ahead.

It took the form of a tall, godlike man, his brow marked with a colorful sigil, his eyebrows sharp as swords, his eyes bright as stars.

Ji Ling Zhenjun, who had descended from the sky with a furious expression, instantly turned pale upon seeing him.

"S-Seven... Seven Emotions Sword Master, Elder!"

"Which upstart?"

Chi Jiuyu glanced at Lin Ji, who had suddenly appeared, then looked past him at the newly arrived Ji Ling Zhenjun, raising an eyebrow:

"Old man... I'm the Chief Disciple of the Sword Sovereign! Should I kneel down and bow to you like I do for my Master?"

Ji Ling Zhenjun, who had only now clearly seen Chi Jiuyu's face due to the talisman's lingering power, went weak at the knees from her words.

Fuck!

The one sent here on this mission was Chi Jiuyu?!

Senior Brother never clarified this!

Lin Ji also frowned:

"Little sister."

That went too far.

"Didn't he ask for it himself?"

Chi Jiuyu shrugged.

She had been dragging things out, exhausting herself to buy time, and in the end this bastard not only refused to show up, but the moment he did arrive he tried to pin the blame on her.

Damn it!

Absolutely infuriating!

"Fine, fine, Senior Brother, you handle it."

Chi Jiuyu dropped down, dragged her broken leg as she limped to a relatively flat spot and sat, swallowed a medicinal pill and a few bottles of spiritual liquid, and began regulating her breathing.

Fuling Zhenjun and Jiling Zhenjun's hearts sank at the sight.

Looking up at Lin Ji, they found, as expected, that this famous Seven Emotions Sword Lord looked very displeased.

The Seven Emotions Sword Lord was famously both protective and not protective of his own.

It sounded contradictory, but that really was the case.

Juniors he had taken a liking to, he would shield fiercely.

But those who failed to earn his approval—even if they were juniors of his own clan suffering misfortune—he wouldn't spare a second glance.

"My martial uncle only has these two disciples." Lin Ji spoke slowly.

"……"

Wait, he's jumping straight to the level of the patriarch?!

"She is young, and admittedly a little impetuous in how she handles things, but this time, I don't see that she did anything wrong."

Fuling Zhenjun hesitated. "But the scales of that Dao-soldier strange beast…"

"……" After a brief silence, Lin Ji suddenly smiled. "Very well, then let's lay this whole matter out in the open."

Gulp!

For some reason, Jiling Zhenjun felt a chill in his heart and subtly shifted a little to the side.

"As the Garrison Commander of this star system, you privately disclosed the mission progress of the Third Investigator to the First Investigator."

"As a Harmonization cultivator, not only did you fail to suppress the Dao-soldier strange beast's scales the moment they ran amok, you deliberately stalled for time."

"Not to mention the relationship between the First Investigator of this mission and yourself—anyone can see you are very fond of him."

"So you used 'worry about delaying things' as an excuse to convince yourself not to seize the Dao-soldier strange beast's scales the instant you arrived."

"Your sole purpose was to make my junior sister look more wretched."

As a Harmonization cultivator, would it really have taken Fuling Zhenjun any time at all to seize the Dao-soldier strange beast's scales from a member of an alien race who wasn't even at the Return-to-Void stage to begin with?

The answer hardly needs saying…

Of course, this could also be explained away as a 'miscalculation.'

He could even use that as a reason to convince himself.

Unfortunately, the one he was facing was no ordinary person.

Even if he could fool himself, there was no way he could fool Lin Ji. (End of Chapter)