Chapter 398: Reappearance, Encountering Ancient Chinese Script

Jiang Chen's hand again produced a Long Sword, deftly slipping through a gap in Ye Jinrong's armor and thrusting straight into his body.

Ye Jinrong let out a painful wail, yet still could not awaken from the killing‑qi‑shrouded illusion.

Jiang Chen's hand continuously spawned various Weapons, and in the blink of an eye Ye Jinrong seemed to become a hedgehog studded with blades.

Their wail never ceased, and their breath gradually waned.

At last, they were about to regain consciousness.

Jiang Chen switched to an axe in his hand; the axe flash sliced off the right arm, which flew into the sky.

Then another flash, and Ye Jinrong's right leg detached from the body.

Ye Jinrong crashed to the ground with a thud, and at that moment finally regained consciousness.

Limbs severed, blood gushed like a spring, and he moaned in pain amid the pool of blood.

Now only his last breath remains.

Jiang Chen whispered, "I wonder if you can be revived after dying here."

Ye Jinrong's face showed terror as they begged, "Don't kill me, please don't kill me, I don't want to die yet."

Jiang Chen shook his head, "I can't find any reason not to kill you."

Ye Jinrong continued pleading, "I can give you information about the Demon‑Worship Society, a lot of it."

Jiang Chen still shook his head, "I told you, what right do you have to cooperate with the Demon‑Worship Society? You're only fit to be a dog, and what can a dog know?"

Saying that, Jiang Chen raised the axe.

Ye Jinrong finally passed away completely, leaving only pain and terror.

Jiang Chen retracted the Weapons in his hand, among them several Platinum Tier gear, all of which are valuable assets that can be sold.

The crowd in the distance breathed a sigh of relief; they had already taken many potions, and their injuries were rapidly healing.

Practitioners have strong regenerative ability; as long as they don't die, even wounds heal quickly.

Jiang Chen glanced at the distant crowd, then returned to Jiang Ruo and the other two, "All set, I'll go change clothes."

At that moment his body was drenched in blood, and his clothes were torn by sword light.

Jiang Ruo smiled faintly, "Go ahead, go ahead. Rest assured, we won't peek."

Jiang Chen walked into the orchard and vanished.

Lin Caier'er, still trembling, said, "Sister, how did you know Jiang Chen could kill him?"

Jiang Ruo laughed, "If he says he can, he definitely can. Trust him."

Hearing that, Lin Caier'er nodded.

Exactly, trust him!

Yi Ning asked, "If Jiang Chen doesn't act, what should we do?"

Jiang Ruo smiled calmly, "Then I'll step in, just a leaping clown, I can handle it with ease."

Yi Ning believed Jiang Ruo's words; a mystery radiated from her.

Not only does she have a powerful mysterious teacher, she herself is the same.

So Jiang Ruo showed no sign of panic; the way Jiang Ruo looked at Ye Jinrong clearly treated him as a leaping clown.

Soon, Jiang Chen changed clothes and returned.

The bloodstains on his body were wiped clean, leaving no trace of a scent.

The purifying elixir still worked, leaving no odor on his body.

At that moment a group of people walked over.

"Thank you, Divine General Jiang, for the rescue."

"Luckily Divine General Jiang intervened; otherwise we'd all be dead."

"Divine General Jiang is truly amazing, killing him even without his Skill attributes sealed."

At that moment, these people all became supporters of Jiang Chen.

They each admired Jiang Chen to the point of prostration.

Lin Tian Ce said to Jiang Chen, "You saved me again."

Jiang Chen shook his head, "We're both Human Race, no need for formalities."

The remark instantly won the crowd's favor, another round of flattery.

The Soul‑Erasing Barrier, after persisting for a while, finally vanished.

The group had rested enough, adjusted their condition, and moved on.

Ye Jinrong's corpse remained here forever, becoming fertilizer for the orchard.

This time, it was Jiang Chen's turn to lead.

Everyone dutifully followed Jiang Chen, no one daring to surpass him.

Jiang Ruo laughed, "Xiao Chen, you're so imposing now; should I call you Xiao Chen or Divine General Jiang from now on?"

Jiang Chen replied, "Sister, stop teasing me."

Jiang Ruo sighed, "Fine, fine, a sulky dummy, not fun at all. At least we have Little Cai Er to joke with."

In the ancestral land, everyone relies on ability, so competition is minimal.

Ye Jinrong almost killed everyone this time; this grudge has been recorded.

With Ye Jinrong's death, the vendetta now rests on the Ye Family.

After returning, we must settle scores with the Ye Family properly.

After passing the orchard, a cliff appeared before the crowd.

Ahead lies only a hanging bridge leading into the misty clouds.

The crowd stopped at the cliff, and Jiang Ruo said, "Cross this bridge, and the Second Stage begins."

"From here on, we must part ways; wherever we end up, we have to rely on ourselves."

"You should all be clear on the specific rules now, so go for it."

Everyone understands the rules.

The previous Forest and orchard were the First Stage; from now on is the Second Stage.

Those who have been here before returned with vague, incoherent accounts.

Their memories are mostly jumbled, but they have managed to summarize something.

From here on, we can only rely on ourselves.

"Don't push yourself too hard; just do your best and stay safe."

Jiang Chen gave a reminder, stepped onto the hanging bridge first, and in the blink of an eye vanished into the mist.

The wind blew, and the hanging bridge swayed slightly in the air.

Jiang Ruo also stepped onto the hanging bridge and disappeared into the mist in an instant.

Then Yi Ning and Lin Caier followed up onto it.

When everyone had crossed the hanging bridge, the world fell silent, with only the wind howling.

The orchard emitted a soft sound as all the fruits fell to the ground and vanished.

A crack opened beneath Ye Jinrong's corpse, and a vine coiled out, dragging Ye Jinrong's body away.

Even the severed limbs were not spared.

Then, thick fog rose from somewhere, enveloping everything.

An extreme stillness, terrifyingly quiet!

The hanging bridge wasn't very long; after passing through the mist, a platform appeared.

The platform stood like a solitary peak, rising between heaven and earth.

The platform was small, about twenty meters in diameter.

On it stood several stone tablets.

The stone tablets bore some illustrations, accompanied by text.

The illustrations were marvelous—they were actually alive.

If you focus your attention, you can see the illustrations move.

The illustrations seemed to demonstrate a certain Skill.

It is a Skill belonging to swordsmen; the demonstrator in the illustration wields a Long Sword, with a fierce, unparalleled swordsmanship that looks powerful.

Jiang Chen didn't waste much time on the illustrations and turned to read the text beside them.

The moment he saw the text, Jiang Chen was struck as if by lightning, stunned on the spot.

"Skill: Wind Slash"

"Wind Slash: basic sword technique, can cut through a breeze."

The moving illustrations didn't surprise Jiang Chen.

Such a basic sword technique could not possibly astonish Jiang Chen.

What shocked him was the text.

Familiar Chinese characters.

"No, it's not exactly the same as the Chinese characters I mastered in my previous life,"

"It's more primitive, somewhat like ancient Chinese script."

The characters etched on the stone tablet were robust and powerful, containing a unique charm.

If you concentrate, you seem able to sense the meaning embedded in the characters.

Jiang Chen seemed to grasp that here he must achieve Comprehension to learn the Skill on the stone tablet.

This is the test.

Comprehension of the Skill can be achieved through the moving illustrations or through the text.

When the two are combined, Comprehension of the Skill is not particularly difficult.

"Seems not difficult..."

After a few glances, Jiang Chen had a rough understanding and felt he wouldn't need much time to master this Skill.

But on second thought, he realized he had been mistaken.

It's like this for himself, hard to tell others.

He had consumed the "First Fruit", boosting his attributes; the hidden attribute Comprehension should have increased considerably.

Moreover, he could grasp the true meaning of the text.

Thus, he could achieve more with less effort.

As for others…

"I wonder if Detection Technique is useful."

Detection Technique flew out from his fingertips.

"Skill Stone Tablet (Low Level)"

"Allows learning Skills through the stone tablet."

Detection Technique accurately revealed the stone tablet's function, but did not specify the Skill engraved on it.

On this platform, there were exactly three stone tablets of the same size.

He went to examine the other two stone tablets.

"Skill: Wood Slash"

"Wood Slash: basic sword technique, can cut through hard wood."

Skill: Stone Slash

Stone Slash: a basic sword technique that can cut through green stone.

It is also one of the two basic sword techniques.

Jiang Chen looked a few times and then concluded that the three sword techniques each differ.

Wind Slash follows a light path, the fastest in speed but the weakest in power.

Wood Slash follows a skillful path, flexible and varied.

Stone Slash follows a forceful path, straightforward and steady, with heavy, stable power.

Jiang Chen realized that the next stage of the trial should be related to these three skills.

He immediately began to study seriously.