Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 97: Shocking Changes in the Sword Lake

The Four Idols Cult was certainly not solely relying on this small group to carry out their plan this time. They had members of the cult hidden throughout the bamboo forest, secretly securing the area. When Zhao Changhe started causing trouble, the ruckus was loud enough to be heard from all over, and the members that were hidden immediately rushed to his location.

Among them were individuals at the seventh and eighth layer of the Profound Gate, showcasing the formidable strength that the Four Idols Cult possessed.

Zhao Changhe felt like a tiny ant being chased by a herd of elephants as he desperately fled into the bamboo forest.

Han Wubing was stunned. You didn’t make this scenario seem that serious. Did you put yourself in this incredible danger because you were afraid that I would lose control and grab the sword? How selfless!

Xia Chichi furrowed her brow. She knew that Zhao Changhe would never intentionally sabotage her plans unless he believed that it was detrimental to her. It seemed that because he could not find an opportunity to convey the message, he could only take the risk of disrupting the ceremony.

There had to be something Zhao Changhe had discovered over the past few days that everyone else had missed. With that in mind, Xia Chichi decisively said, “Stop the ceremony immediately!”

The elders were all stunned. “Saintess, even if a vermin like that makes some trouble, it does not affect the results of our ceremony.”

“Since I told you to stop, then stop immediately! Are you the saintess, or am I?” said Xia Chichi sternly. “I have no need to explain my orders! Cease the ceremony at once!”

With Xia Chichi having called upon her authority as their superior, the elders exchanged uncertain glances with one another. In the end, they did not want to oppose the saintess over such a trivial matter as this treasure hunt, so they reluctantly complied with her orders and stopped the ceremony.

Xia Chichi let out a sigh of relief, intending to think of a way to help Zhao Changhe make his escape from the forest when she suddenly felt something was amiss.

The tremors coming from the bottom of the lake did not cease with the halting of the ceremony. On the contrary, they were even becoming increasingly pronounced. At the same time, the sword qi had grown so thick that even ordinary people could see it!

“No, someone else is still chanting!” The Blue Dragon Protector suddenly raised his head and turned to look at a group of seemingly ordinary treasure hunters on the other side of the lake. “The Maitreya Cult!”

His temper would have driven him to immediately rush over the water and kill the other party, but he held himself back. He hesitated for a moment before finally launching himself into the air, saying, “The Four Idols Cult’s matters are not for outsiders to meddle in! Stay out of this!”

“Elder You, please calm down. We merely wanted to see what the legendary ancient sword looks like. Thanks to the Four Idols Cult, we learned that the ceremony must be held at noon at the beginning of summer.” A plump, bald man flew up above the lake’s surface, preventing Elder You from getting closer to his allies. “In any case, your Four Idols Cult’s saintess has already ordered you to give up on the sword, so how can our actions be considered to be interfering in your cult’s matters?”

When put this way, the Maitreya Cult’s reasoning did seem to be sound. After all, they had waited for the Four Idols Cult to give up before taking action. They had not really broken any rules. Understanding this, Elder You felt quite frustrated. Just what is up with the saintess? She needlessly compromised our position.

However, the demonic cults were not famous for listening to reasonable arguments. Elder You paid no heed to the plump man’s words and struck out with his palm.

Bang!

The fat man similarly extended his chubby hand, their two palms clashing head-on above the surface of the lake.

The clash between powerful experts on the Rankings of Man was so impactful that the water in the lake below surged upward. It was as if someone had thrown a huge boulder down into the lake.

The area became chaotic.

A group of experts from the Four Idols Cult looked at their saintess with some resentment, curious about how she would handle the situation.

Xia Chichi said, “It is impossible for those from the Maitreya Cult to meet the conditions for the divine sword to choose its master. We should retreat, the farther, the better. Let them summon the sword, the sword will naturally return on its own.”

Her decision was ruthless, but it also meant that she had completely given up on their mission this time. The members of the Four Idols Cult truly had no idea what she was thinking. Could it be that this mission was actually a cover, and their true goal was to kill a group of members from the Maitreya Cult?

However, such an outcome would not be unfavorable at all. The relationship between the Four Idols Cult and the Maitreya Cult was far from amicable. Hearing her explanation, those from the Four Idols Cult did not voice any objections and immediately began to withdraw. At the same time, Xia Chichi transmitted a message to those in the forest, “Everyone, retreat. There’s no need to pay any attention to that rat!”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Well, since you are so obedient, I’ll let your insults slide.

Originally, when he was making his escape through the bamboo forest, he had nearly been caught. But now that the members of the Four Idols Cult had stopped chasing after him, he doubled back and hid at the edge of the forest to see how the situation would play out.

Upon receiving the order from the saintess, Elder You, who was in the middle of clashing against the chubby man, threw one more angry slap at the chubby man before retreating.

Farther away, a monk who was twice as fat as the previous chubby man was sweating profusely as he confronted Tang Wanzhuang, who stood in his way. “First Seat Tang, it should be in your best interest that the Maitreya Cult and the Four Idols Cult fight, so why are you preventing me from killing the saintess?”

Tang Wanzhuang sighed. “I did not expect you to be so shameless, picking on someone so much younger and weaker than you... But there actually is a reason behind the Demon Suppression Bureau’s actions. If Xia Chichi were to die here, we would have to face a rather troublesome situation. With that said, I request that you return, Maitreya.”

Maitreya took a deep breath. “With your lung meridian damaged, you might not be my opponent. Do you really have what it takes to stop me?”

Tang Wanzhuang smiled slightly. “You can try and see.”

Seeing Tan Wanzhuang bring out her Spring Water Sword, Maitreya’s expression turned grave.

Knowing the boundless potential of the Four Idols Cult saintess, he decided to personally carry out the disgraceful mission of assassinating her. While he had considered that Vermillion Bird or perhaps some others might come out to protect her, he never would have thought that the person who would come out for that purpose would be Tang Wanzhuang.

Damn it.

While Maitreya was considering whether or not to engage in this fight, something peculiar happened. At the same time, Tang Wanzhuang’s expression changed. They both turned their gaze toward the sword lake simultaneously and could not help but exclaim, “What’s going on?”

The ceremony had not been completed, and the Maitreya Sect had only just interrupted the Four Idols Cult. In theory, the divine sword should not have emerged just yet, but as soon as the members of the Four Idols Cult withdrew, an overwhelmingly fierce killing intent erupted from the bottom of the lake, breaking through the water’s surface.

The chubby man who was still above the lake suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and looked down. As soon as he lowered his head, he saw that invisible and formless sword qi had reached his rear end.

Despite being a powerful expert on the Rankings of Man, he was so terrified by the sword qi that seemed to have jumped through space that he swiftly turned around and bolted. Even when he reacted so quickly, the sword qi still managed to graze his buttocks as it shot straight into the sky, slicing off a large chunk of his flesh.

While clutching his bleeding behind, the chubby man was filled with both fury and anxiety. “Are all of you stupid? I’m still on the lake, so why did you summon the sword?! Are you trying to kill me?!”

The members of the Maitreya Cult who were performing the ceremony were all dumbfounded. “The ceremony is not complete! We’ve barely managed to connect to the other dimension. The divine sword shouldn’t even be awake right now!”

The chubby man: “?”

He suddenly realized that the event had likely not transpired due to a simple spiritual summoning, but that after they had connected to the dimensional fragment, the divine sword sensed an extremely hateful aura and woke up. It had moved on its own initiative! He was probably just an unfortunate victim of the unexpected event.

Still trembling with fear, the chubby man turned his head and saw that after the sword qi passed through his butt, it completely ignored him and continued to rush toward its target—the retreating Xia Chichi.

Xia Chichi: “?”

Zhao Changhe: “?”

Are you fucking insane? If you want to kill unfaithful lovers, there are plenty of them around. Hell, you can even call me a cheating bastard, but what did Chichi ever do? There’s no way that she’s been unfaithful!

“This is bad.” Tang Wanzhuang thought about saving Xia Chichi, but Maitreya blocked her path with a smile.

“First Seat Tang, it seems that it is fate, so why force it?”

Whoosh!

The sword qi arrived in an instant.

A group of powerful members of the Four Idols Cult stood in front of Xia Chichi, bracing themselves with their swords. It was only at this moment that they saw the appearance of the divine sword. It had an icy blue glow. It was very beautiful, but within that beauty was a deadly killing intent.

As Zhao Changhe and Tang Wanzhuang had guessed, this sword was incredibly agile. It was very troublesome to intercept it when it was on the move, especially considering the severe disconnect between techniques of the ancient and modern eras. The power of this sword was derived from the realms of immortals and Buddhas, and its might was immeasurable. Even if those in front of it were at the eighth or ninth layer of the Profound Gate, or even on the Rankings of Man, so what? Such a divine weapon wouldn’t even spare them a glance.

The dignified Elder You, who had been proudly displaying his might just moments ago, found himself unable to even delay the divine sword in the slightest. The sword effortlessly slipped past him, and its unrivaled edge continued to rush toward Xia Chichi.

Xia Chichi gritted her teeth and raised her sword in an attempt to parry the incoming divine sword. There was a loud clang, and an overwhelming force pushed against her. Her sword snapped, and she had to force back the blood that had gushed into her throat. She made use of the massive impact force to send herself flying backward into the bamboo forest.

The divine sword pursued her relentlessly. While it chased after her, the members of the Four Idols Cult chased after the divine sword as quickly as they could, but it only got further and further away from them.

Seeing the divine sword in a relentless pursuit of their saintess, and the latter sent flying into the bamboo forest, the members of the Four Idols Cult turned pale.

“This is bad.”

This mission was nothing major, and the Four Idols Cult had attempted the same thing many times in previous years without any major issues. Who would’ve thought that it would go so horribly wrong? Even when the one who managed to take hold of the sword was chopped to pieces, nothing like this had ever happened. Regardless, how could they possibly just give up on their saintess?

By this point, they had completely forgotten about the complaints they had held against the saintess. They now felt that she had actually acted responsibly and decisively, and it was their own incompetence that had led to this catastrophe where they were not even able to protect her. They desperately rushed into the bamboo forest, not knowing what fate awaited them.

Nobody knew what was going on inside the bamboo forest at this moment.

Xia Chichi tumbled into the forest, ultimately finding herself falling into a warm embrace. Before she could react, her position abruptly shifted, and she saw someone standing between her and the divine sword.

Looking at Zhao Changhe’s resolute and determined face, everything seemed to slow down, and her heart ached.

Our relationship was never really that deep... Who knows, I might even end up forgetting about you...

So why? Why are you doing this...

Strangely, the sword suddenly hung in the air motionless behind Zhao Changhe.

Zhao Changhe turned around, sweating profusely, but the sword seemed to intend to bypass him and stab Xia Chichi.

Zhao Changhe followed the movements of the sword and moved in turn, protecting Xia Chichi tightly behind his back.

The divine sword: “...”

Zhao Chang and Xia Chichi looked at each other, both feeling utterly confused.

Naturally, both of them thought that the sword would simply chop him to bits and then do the same to her. They had never expected that he would be able to remain unscathed, while the sword continued to direct its hatred at her.

After a brief stalemate, the divine sword suddenly seemed to grow impatient. It appeared as if it no longer intended to spare Zhao Changhe, planning to pierce through both of them.

However, at the very moment before it struck Zhao Changhe, Xia Chichi suddenly exerted force and shifted positions such that Zhao Changhe was now shielded by her.

“Fuck, have you gone insane?” Zhao Changhe cursed subconsciously.

Just as he started raging, Xia Chichi noticed that something was amiss. Why isn’t the sword stabbing me?

When she turned around, she saw that Han Wubing had arrived at some point, and he was holding the sword’s hilt. The divine sword trembled slightly, but it no longer exhibited its earlier hostility.

Han Wubing, appearing to be out of breath, had a strange expression on his face. “The divine sword told me to tell the two of you to get lost. It wants to kill those who are unfaithful, not watch a couple of lovebirds who are willing to die for each other. It fears that if it watches you two corny idiots for a moment longer, it won’t be able to hold itself back from hacking you to pieces.”

Xia Chichi jumped up to her feet and protested, “When have I ever been unfaithful? Explain!”

Zhao Changhe tugged at the hem of her clothes from behind her and whispered, “The Azure Dragon Seal.”

Xia Chichi suddenly realized something and took out the Azure Dragon Seal that she always carried.

The divine sword began trembling violently, and even Han Wubing could not hold onto it anymore. The sword lightly touched the Azure Dragon Seal, and the three of them suddenly felt the world start spinning.

When they opened their eyes again, the scenery that met their gaze was completely different.

At the same time, the members of the Four Idols Cult finally reached that part of the bamboo forest. All they could do, however, was watch Zhao Changhe seemingly restraining Xia Chichi and disappearing without a trace together with Han Wubing.

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