Archfiend

Chapter 162: Fate

Xu Yangyi’s gaze swept over each person. All of them looked at each other, shaking their heads.

“It’s nothing… Continue.” The light of Xu Yangyi’s eyes twinkled as he lowered his gaze. Just now, he’d heard… a kind of weird sound. It was no illusion! That sound had originated from his chest! From the half-box.

Moments ago, the half-box on his chest began to softly tremble. So much... that it even revealed a kind of excitement mingled with battle intent, as if it had encountered its natural enemy! It seemed… to be shouting at him!

In his ears, he heard Peony’s report, yet it blew past like wind, simply unable to enter his memories. He was pondering that sensation from a second ago.

Seconds prior, his heartbeat suddenly sped up, and the blood in his veins came to an instant boil. Absent of any indication or word. However… like a wave, an intense feeling of warning was born at the bottom of his heart!

It resembled… an old tiger meeting a lion. Even if they were separated by an incalculable distance, the pheromones in the wind brought both sides unbounded exhilaration. They waited for dawn as they rested on their spears to clash in battle.

Mutual enemies? Xu Yangyi hung his eyes low and thought inwardly. The Animus Armament’s natural enemy?

Just as he raised this thought, he immediately recalled the Millennium Grudge he saw back then with Jadewave. Golden light like muslin and rootless lotus… If said that the Animus Armament even had a natural predator, then according to what he knew, there was only one!

The Xuan-Yuan Sword! The Xia-Yu Sword! The most powerful Umbran Armament in legend!

“This… It’s urging me? Or… calling me?” He softly pursed his lips. “Jadewave once said… the greater the opportunity, the greater the risk. That he dared not should this karma. In that case…”

In his mind, an extremely absurd thought suddenly emerged. Nonetheless, like flickering light and passing shadow, it could no longer be vanquished.

If… he was considered the chosen of that emperor’s Millennium Grudge, its inheritor, in that case… the inheritor of the Xuan-Yuan Sword which had originally slain the monarch… where was that person now?

Akin to a predator, that boiling battle intent moments ago was nearly beyond his control. Was this… the Xia-Yu Sword initiating a challenge to a formidable opponent after a thousand years? A challenge crossing over a millennium?

In the lotus sea that stretched to the end’s horizon, the back of the tremendous fish, the strongest Umbran Armament the Xia-Yu Sword, and the sole Animus Armament in 5,000 years… As soon as Xu Yangyi even thought of this scenario, he felt his mind sway.

If it wasn’t the Xia-Yu Sword… then what was it?

In the end, he was none the wiser. However, he only knew that this reaction in the darkness was akin to the twistings of fate in a continuous and unchanging direction.

The west.

“Commander?” Peony timely interjected, “Your opinion?”

Xu Yangyi regained his wits from his abrupt musings. He settled the thoughts in his heart and laughed. “There is no yes or no.” He gently tapped the insignia on his chest, laughing. “They won’t have complaints.”

“Okay…” Peony raised a brow and then pursed her lips. “In that case… Commander, according to the plan, all below the middle stage won’t be recruited and neither will all middle-stage cultivators over thirty years old. Right?”

“Of course.” Xu Yangyi nodded. Presently, his legion had wealth but lacked personnel! And who was he lacking?

Geniuses, true geniuses! At the very least like him, a true genius that was able to narrowly survive from dire straits, nine deaths yet still alive! If they weren’t adequate in recruitment, he alone wouldn’t even want them. 

“Then…” Peony held a wisp of indescribable excitement. “Commander, are you really going to personally test the legionnaires?”

“No doubt.” Xu Yangyi laughed matter-of-factly. “Everyone knows where out first mission’s objective was selected. If they can’t even make it past my hands, what’s there to even discuss about exploring a deadland?”

“Understood.” Peony swiftly jotted down. “Lastly, the items that we scheduled in advance have already been purchased, Commander. The money will be taken within the month. Would you like to take a second look whether there’s a mistake on the list of names I reported?”

“Sure.”

“The subterranean lighting magik artifacts are all automatic. Their brightness isn’t harsh on the eyes and the distance from the user goes up to a full three meters. The set brightness is around 80%, that which demonbeasts can accept and not judge as an attacking light source. The Xingtian Legion’s purchase of a set is priced at 3,000 medium-grade spirit stones.” 

“The foresight magik artifacts are all automatic and can examine qi in a twenty meter radius around the body. Regardless of heavenly treasures or demonbeasts, nothing can escape detection. Priced at 5,000 spirit stones.”

“Vajra Formation, completely automatic with auto-defense. Each hour requires an additional ten medium-grade spirit stones. Priced at 10,000 spirit stones.”

“Four Divisions Formation, completely automatic with independent attack. It forms a complete formation with the Vajra Formation. Also ten medium-grade spirit stones per hour. Priced at 10,000 spirit stones.” [1] 

“The Heavenly Eye, an environment detection magik artifact and completely automatic. It self-distinguishes air, climate, and is connected to the carrier’s spiritual sense. It still needs ten medium-grade spirit stones per hour. Priced at 10,000 spirit stones.”

“Shadowblink Talisman, ten per person and 300 medium-grade spirit stones per piece. Altogether 3,000 spirit stones”

“Three-Eyed Spirit Ape Puppet, a single one for a hundred medium-grade spirit stones. Three hundred at a price of 30,000 medium-grade spirit stones.”

No one spoke. This preparation list was rather long, but they understood even more clearly what the recruitment was for. The Eight Great Deadlands, even if their expedition was Danxia Temple’s surroundings, ampler preparation wouldn’t be over exaggerated!

After no less than ten-odd minutes, Peony finished reading aloud all the equipment. Xu Yangyi narrowed his eyes as he carefully assessed. Just the bare preparations had consumed 138,000 medium-grade spirit stones! If it wasn’t for the auction, using his resources in itself simply wouldn’t be enough to explore a deadland’s surroundings!

“Very good…” He took a deep breath and stood up, stretching his muscles as they cracked. “Next, let me do the testing on how much the cultivators who want to join our Xingtian Legion are worth!”

I haven’t moved around in too long. My bones are already screaming for battle, heh...

He didn’t see Peony quietly make a peace sign with her hand and then swiftly mess around on her cell phone. ‘I’m really too excited!’ In the Yangyu Fan Club group, Peony sent countless emojis and quickly typed. ‘Yangyu is preparing to test the legionnaires himself! I’m the first to even see the Commander make a move!’

‘Really?!’

‘Geez… The video HAS to be recorded!’

‘How lovely! Our quiet support of him for so long wasn’t in vain!’

‘Eh? Personally taking action! I’m afraid… I-I joined the registration, too…’

A month’s time passed in the turn of an eye.

In this month, Xu Yangyi was in seclusion. He didn’t choose to cultivate the Smelting God’s Treasure Mirror but instead began to familiarize himself with the two divine abilities obtained from the two steps of pill-congealing and pill-forming. 

One of the two was called Pill Cauldron Builds Spirit. This divine ability could make spiritual sense strengthen in a flash. The highest it could attain was 50% or more!

The function of spiritual sense was extremely great. If his spiritual sense was inadequate, Xu Yangyi wouldn’t have originally discovered the scouts of three major C-rank legions. Spiritual sense was like a person’s eyes, ears, and five senses. The higher one’s spiritual sense, the more capable a person was at perception, a resistance against enemies in the intangible.

However, there almost weren’t any methods to increase spiritual strength. Apart from the time of advancement which allowed spiritual sense to sharply increase, the present cultivation world had no other ways at all. Perhaps the ancient cultivators once had a unique skill, but in modern times it had been lost long ago.

As for the other one...

In the cultivation room, he felt the high-grade Spirit Focusing Formation’s boundless spiritual force. His gaze carried a sliver of burning expectation, and he looked at his body.

The Spiritcleaver Pulse!

If it was only Pill Cauldron Builds Spirit, the skill could even be rated as minor in value. However, paired with the Spiritcleaver Pulse, Pill Cauldron Builds Spirit could become one of the supreme skills among his secret aces!

This move could allow spiritual sense to shape into an attack! It didn’t attack the physical body but spiritual sense! If a cultivator’s qi sea was destroyed, they still wouldn’t die. Nonetheless, if one’s spiritual sense was annihilated, death came as eternal oblivion, not a shred of life remaining!

Moreover, this divine ability didn’t leave any marks that could be followed. It arrived shadowless and left traceless. So long as the spiritual sense was below his own, the target was bound to suffer severe damage!

Xu Yangyi was no talent at management. In this month, all work was handed over to others. He, as the Xingtian Legion’s flag, only needed to cultivate, cultivate, and cultivate. One month was just enough for him to begin cultivating these two divine abilities.

“Anyways, my divine abilities are up to four now… Should I try out the Smelting God’s Treasure Mirror?”

He hesitated for very long. Ultimately, he gave up. His abilities were still too few. Among the four moves, three of them were primary-assault divine abilities. He wanted a fusion like Falling Moon, an attack bearing efficacies of other divine abilities. To him, the quality of a purely offense-fused divine ability was in no way great. It was far inferior to a harmony of attack and support.

Swoosh… At this time, the jade slap that he had entered with suddenly emitted a clear light screen. Peony’s figure emerged on the surface. “Commander, today is the day of the Xingtian Legion’s legionnaire recruitment.There are still five hours until it starts. Please arrive at the appointed location as soon as possible.”

“So soon?” Xu Yangyi was somewhat absent-minded. Even though he had already entered seclusion three times, he was still rather unused to this closing and opening of the eyes. A sensation that tens of days had already passed.

“Alright.” He laughed softly as he stood up. After a few seclusions, his temperament was further inclined towards steadiness. Under his assessment rules, he also wanted to test how many people were able to leap over the Dragon Gate that was his hand and join the Xingtian Legion. 

He dared to use the number of people able to join his legion as a guarantee that one was undoubtedly a true genius selected from among ten thousand! Moreover—the crook of his mouth slightly curved upwards—it just so happened that he wanted to test out the two divine abilities he’d begun to explore.

The Xingtian Legion’s recruitment assembly was being held in Mingshui Province’s Heavens Law. Each province’s Heavens Law had its own unique martial arena. Some were big and some were small. For example, the Unrivaled Beneath the Heavens Arena that Daomaster Floatingcloud had originally constructed below Fengyi City was one of China’s ten famous and awesome martial arenas.

The martial arena of Panshan City’s Heavens Law was in no way large, the size of a normal basketball court. Ordinarily, the location was a cold and lifeless expanse, yet today, even though there was still one more hour until things started, the inside could already be considered rather crowded.

But oddly, each person was very much quiet. So silent that it caused one to believe that a silent movie was being filmed here.

“So many people, eh…” A youth excitedly sized up everyone present. He appeared young, and chattered incessantly. “Fifth Uncle! Fifth Uncle, you see! That person over there is pretty strange! He’s covered in a black cloak from head to toe! He’s got seven or eight blades sticking from his back… Did his back move?”

“Don’t point at people randomly!” A middle-aged man who had been called fifth uncle was so scared that he immediately blocked the youth with his hand. He said solemnly, “Ziqi, remember, don’t consider our Longsu Province’s Zhao Clan a big shot. In the whole country, the Zhao Clan isn’t even more than a quasi-top clan on the low end! Clans that are stronger than the Zhao Clan are everywhere here today! You must not offend the others!”

He looked at the youth who had been pointed at with lingering fear. Entirely wrapped in a black cloak, the “strange person” was leaning against a wall in the corner. He gulped. “That’s… Beijing’s Yao Clan. They… are a real top clan! The Seven Devilslayer Blades… A true genius in the clan must comprehend it. A genius like that is a candidate with the strength to contest the position of the next Yao Clan elder… T-Today, how could he be here, too…”

1. Four Divisions refers to the Chinese constellation division, as in White Tiger/Azure Dragon/Black Tortoise/Vermilion Bird.