True Solution of the Sword Dao

"The Eastern Orthodox Church has already sealed off the entire city; do you still delude yourself with thoughts of escaping with the mark?" the Silver Armored Knight said, pacing his breath calmly. "Although I don’t know which power you belong to, you cannot take this mark with you."

Lin Fei watched the two quietly. If there had been only one, perhaps he could have dealt with them swiftly, but a moment ago, the two had attacked him simultaneously, clearly intending to eliminate an outsider first. As a result, he was forced to reveal part of his true strength. And now that the two were working together, it wasn’t something he could resolve quickly.

The three stood in a silent standoff.

Both the Silver Armored Knight and the black-robed Priest were stalling for time, waiting for reinforcements, while Lin Fei was not confident he could quickly repel the two working in unison.

With each passing moment, the situation grew increasingly unfavorable for him. But under the current circumstances, he couldn’t obtain the mark without defeating the two. If he were to use Extreme Shadow to rush in and snatch the mark, it might be a solution, however, in the presence of such B-level experts fully concentrated, they might not keep up with Lin Fei’s speed, but they were capable of anticipating attacks. The main characteristic of Extreme Shadow was that Lin Fei couldn’t freely control its direction; he could mostly only move in a straight line—it was a speed he still couldn’t master.

The atmosphere became increasingly tense.

Lin Fei’s Longsword fell, and the shadow behind him suddenly dissipated. Ultimately, he did not swing his sword. The opponents’ aura receded as well, as such an eruption would have been a significant waste of energy.

"I have always held the Eastern Orthodox Church in high regard. Since you wish to intervene, naturally I will step aside," Lin Fei said, smiling faintly as he sheathed the Black Demon Sword. "Please, be my guest." With a light tap of his foot, Lin Fei swiftly retreated backward, soon blending into the shadows behind him.

Almost the moment he left, two beams of light, meteor-like, fiercely crashed down onto the concrete surface of the parking lot in front. Instantly, countless cracks spread outward like a spider’s web.

"Crus! How dare you!" an aged voice roared in anger.

Lin Fei tried to suppress the waves in his heart; the scent of the false True Force within urged him on as if it were the very thing he needed the most. This intense craving was like the sight of water when one is extremely thirsty.

He quickly left his original position, and suddenly from that direction, a silver and golden halo burst forth. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

From the shadows, Lin Fei stopped, turned, and looked back.

The direction from which he had come was now half illuminated by bright light. Concomitantly, wave after wave of auras were gathering there, clearly the Eastern Orthodox Church’s many powerhouses converging.

The sense of urgency within him grew stronger; it was as if the mark contained something essential that he lacked. Lin Fei snorted coldly, forcibly suppressing that need.

"It would be nice to get it, but if the cost is too high, then it’s not worth it." Even without the change in pseudo True Force, maintaining the status quo meant he would be alright, but if he recklessly charged in to snatch the mark, the consequences would likely be severe injury or death.

The two young-looking B-level experts from before, as well as the two B-level Peak experts that arrived later, not to mention whether they possessed Holy Artifacts or the like. Lin Fei would absolutely not engage in such an uncertain battle.

"Just an invisible desire and need alone are not enough to make me take such a huge risk; it’s obviously impossible," Lin Fei forcibly suppressed the agitated resonance that resembled True Force. In the end, he took a deep look at the battlefield behind him, which glittered like fireworks, then turned and strode away.

"The mark of Elisa’s Gate allows one to participate in the battle for control of the gate. Only those with the mark are entitled to join the contest. With such a thing in my possession, with my current power and influence, it would be impossible to protect thoroughly, and it might even attract greater disasters." Lin Fei was very clear about this in his heart. Elisa’s Gate concerned a reshuffling of fortunes and the division of rights within the entire Li Shijie power structure. It was a small matter for Level B powerhouses to join in, and perhaps Level A ones would appear later on. According to legend, Level A powerhouses, who hadn’t been seen in the outer world for hundreds of years, were significant to the numerous Level B powerhouses stuck at their peak and unable to advance. For those Level As, every advancement equated to a living legend, with experiences so astounding they could be turned into the finest novels or films. To this day, no records of Level A powerhouses have been left behind.

Even now, in the battle for the mark of the gate, only a few Level B powerhouses have appeared from the Eastern Orthodox Cult, not to mention Level As; there was only one at the peak of Level B. Legendary figures like the Pope seemed not to show themselves either.

Faced with a conflict only top figures could join, Lin Fei was very much aware of his limits. There was absolutely no way he could withstand it now. Perhaps in the future, but definitely not now.

As for the mark, he had no intention of completely controlling it for himself; he was just interested in the information it contained.

"There will be opportunities in the future..." Lin Fei gently touched his face, the memory of Sulan Bei’er’s countenance perhaps leaving a profound impression on those people just now. Whether or not they would suspect Sulan Bei’er, Lin Fei didn’t care, as long as the disguise served its purpose. And more importantly, like her, Sulan Bei’er also possessed the aura of True Force—and a pure one at that, not mixed with any pseudo True Force. It was a part Lin Fei had directly cut from the Divine Artifact Crystal before filtering. And more pure than Lin Fei himself...

Lower-level powerhouses might not identify it, but it’s different for high-level ones. Plus, with the same aura, Lin Fei could imagine the frantic scene that Sulan Bei’er would be in.

And about that black substance that had entered Sulan Bei’er’s body, there had been no movement since. It was unclear what had happened."

***************

Australia

In an underground cave near Sydney, as spacious as a movie theater hall.

In complete darkness, a figure lay quietly on his back on a flat piece of land, with dim milky white dots slowly floating around him, emitting a soft white light.

The white light illuminated the upper half of the figure’s body. His face was deathly pale with not a hint of color, his lips were dry and cracked, his eyes lifeless, and his skin lacked any lustre, as if he was on the brink of death. It was Sulan Bei’er, who had once received a True Force seed from Lin Fei.

"Damn it! What exactly is this thing?!"

He growled unwillingly.

"I haven’t enjoyed enough of my life to die here!" White light shone intermittently from Sulan Bei’er’s body, and he shakily extended a hand, pulling a small scroll from his bosom. The scroll was a pale yellow, seemingly made of some kind of leather.

A deep, low chanting began to rise slowly from Sulan Bei’er’s lips. The sonorous deep voice was chanting in a language that was not known on Earth.

"Kunus... Li Alan... Halinuk! Great The Light of Darkness! Holy The Dark Divine Force! Please remove any impurity within me!" Sulan Bei’er roared with the last of his strength.

The scroll in his hand suddenly darkened as if soaked in ink, the ebony color spreading swiftly from where he grasped it, and in a short time, the entire scroll was completely black. Amidst the darkness, specks of silver light flickered in and out of visibility.

Sulan Bei’er gazed at the scroll, filled with hope.

"The Tower of Wisdom’s eleventh-level Prime Dark Purification Technique is indeed extraordinary. Even a level eleven black-robed Mage can rival the strength of a ’B’ grade fighter. I wonder how much more powerful the legends of level fourteen, sixteen, and even twenty will be..."

In an instant, the entire scroll turned into a mass of darkness and melted into an orb of black energy, twinkling with stardust. Then it was quickly absorbed into Sulan Bei’er’s body.

"Ah!!"

Sulan Bei’er suddenly screamed in agony.

An indescribable, intense pain spread throughout his entire body in an instant. Waves of torment almost blinded him to anything else, as if even the visual signals from his eyes were being blocked by the overwhelming pain.

The energy of the purification spell began to drill out from his chest bit by bit. This star-speckled black Energy, carrying bits of pure black matter, slowly seeped out. It passed through his skin and above his chest formed a small black spherical shape. In its hollow center was stored the black matter that Sulan Bei’er had previously absorbed along with True Force. However, despite the purification spell’s efforts to completely pull it out, the black matter clung on as if alive, desperately burrowing back towards Sulan Bei’er’s chest.

Crack!

A soft sound.

The orb of purification energy suddenly burst like a soap bubble. The black matter once again seeped into Sulan Bei’er’s skin like flowing water.

"Ah!!" The skin on Sulan Bei’er’s face rapidly began to wither. Like aged and weathered skin, his previously pale complexion suddenly became aged, with his eye sockets deeply sunken. It was as if all the moisture in his body was quickly evaporating. "No!!! No!!!" He yelled out loud, frantically covering his face.

The screams abruptly stopped, and the entire cave fell silent, with only the previous echoes lingering. The white specks of light extinguished in an instant, and all was silent.

*************

Bucharest streets

Lin Fei casually strolled along the sidewalk, appearing like a common tourist, but in reality, he was closely monitoring the energy fluctuations from the direction he had previously left.

"Today’s fireworks are so beautiful! Is there some kind of event going on?"

"I’m not sure, maybe some big company’s opening, or some sort of celebration?"

Two young Romanian girls walked past Lin Fei, discussing the fireworks they had seen that day.

This was what most people around were doing, walking while trying to guess the reason behind the fireworks.

The city of Bucharest was shaken by the massive energy clashes coupled with the bursting fireworks - all due to a tiny mark of Elisa’s Gate.

Boom!!

Another white firework ascended into the sky.

Lin Fei looked up and saw not fireworks but a white beam of light shooting straight into the sky. That familiar aura was definitely from the Holy See.

Lowering his head, Lin Fei was about to turn back when suddenly, a cold voice echoed in his mind.

"The Trial Space is experiencing instability. Unknown memory fragments have entered the space. Choose whether to accept them."

Lin Fei was slightly startled. He had just managed to suppress the agitation of the faux True Force, blocking out that almost suicidal impulse. Now, unexpectedly, problems were also starting to emerge in the Sword Canon.

"Unknown memory fragments? What is this?" Lin Fei pondered for a moment and then said softly in his mind, "Is it possible to choose to tentatively accept a portion?"

"Yes, fragments will dissipate at a rate of ten percent per second after ten seconds."

"Then first accept ten percent," Lin Fei responded. He was somewhat prepared for such a situation, as it often happened with the Sword Canon. Based on his previous experiences, such memory fragments were probably similar to when he resurrected Yuan Yicheng, likely to be fragments of memory as well.

But in the very next moment, Lin Fei’s face turned pale, and he abruptly stopped, bracing himself against the wall of a shop on the roadside, almost unable to stand steady.

Two minutes later, he began to slowly recover.

"I never expected it to be memories of Sulan Bei’er... one-tenth of a person’s life can hold so much. It’s a good thing I chose to accept only one-tenth. Otherwise..." Lin Fei’s complexion slowly returned to normal. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to cast your recommendations, Monthly Ticket, your support is my greatest motivation.)