True Solution of the Sword Dao

Lin Fei took one last look at the white trail in the sky. Then he turned his gaze to one of the trails.

"Is it too early to leave now?" he suddenly said.

"These people are planning to treat me this way, and I haven’t had the chance to repay them. Moreover, it’s rare for everyone to gather together like this."

Rocky and the Night King were also slightly startled.

"Are you saying we should eliminate one or two of them?" whispered the Night King.

"Is that not possible?" Lin Fei retorted.

"You don’t want your Divine Artifact anymore?" Ning Que suddenly asked from the side.

"How could I not want it, merely a projection can resolve the issue. Besides, opportunities to intercept people from the Holy See are not many. And we might even seize one or two Holy Artifacts. Especially the one from earlier, it seems to be used to restrain Divine Level strong individuals. They should know a Divine Level has clones, but still, they prepared this to constrain me. This means the Holy Artifact might have the capability to also severely injure clones, or perhaps track and locate other clones. You mentioned the name of this Holy Artifact earlier, Night King. Could you tell us about its functions?"

The Night King frowned.

"Adarosha Hourglass, the legendary Hourglass of Cause and Effect, possesses the ability to erase existence. I only know this much. However, as far as I know, this Holy Artifact has always been in the hands of a high-ranking heretic in the Inner World, it is also his signature Holy Artifact. I didn’t expect it to be in Feis’s hands. It seems the heretics in the Inner World are likely losing against the Holy See. They even lost such a Holy Artifact."

"Erase existence?" Lin Fei wondered.

Rocky seemed to have never heard about it, his gaze turning towards the Night King, waiting for him to explain.

"Indeed." The Night King waved his hand, dispersing a ring of black points, which condensed into a black mirror in the air. Suddenly, the white beam of Feis fleeing at high speed appeared on it.

In the white beam, Feis clutched his left shoulder tightly, his complexion pale, and he occasionally looked back, clearly frightened that someone might be following him. He appeared utterly panic-stricken.

As the three of them watched the mirror, they heard the Night King continue.

"To erase existence, that is the most terrifying power of the Adarosha Hourglass, and it supremely counters beings with clones. Specifically, within its full activation range, any strong individual who is killed will be completely erased by the power of the Hourglass. Put simply, if someone’s clone dies inside, the Hourglass will destroy that person’s remaining four clones as well. Of course, if you have more than five clones, you naturally wouldn’t fall so easily."

"Destroy the clone??" Lin Fei and Rocky’s faces turned somewhat cold.

Rocky pressed, "There must be some restrictions on its use, right? Otherwise, such a Holy Artifact wouldn’t be in the hands of an ordinary Divine Level person. It would have long been taken by the Pope to be used as their primary Holy Artifact."

"There are indeed restrictions on its use. It can only be used once a month, then it needs to accumulate the necessary Holy Power again. The most crucial aspect is that this thing is quite faulty. If a strong individual attacks the Hourglass from the outside, they can fairly easily break the Holy Artifact’s Barrier, resulting in failure. Just like what just happened."

"That’s better, but it still seems rather ineffective. If you can’t completely ambush the enemy, it doesn’t work at all. And this Holy Artifact is the least suitable for use in large-scale engagements. In a large battlefield, there are countless strong individuals outside the Barrier," Lin Fei pondered.

"So, the best use of this Holy Artifact is for lightning warfare, ambushes, and sneak attacks," the Night King said with a smile. "Feis has already flown far away. If we’re going to make our move, we better hurry."

"No worries, there’s still time," Lin Fei’s eyes flashed a few times, then he turned to Rocky to inquire. "Mr. Rocky, what exactly is the origin of those old men? As far as I know, there shouldn’t be so many unknown top-level strong individuals in the outer world, right?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Rocky chuckled.

"Naturally, those old men are all magic research fanatics, with the leader among them named Rocky, one of the Fiv-Ring Mages of the Tower of Wisdom, a well-known research fanatic in both the outer and Inner Worlds. He likes nothing else but to research summoning magic from alternate planes, studying live specimens summoned from other planes. These specimens often include individuals with formidable strength. So, centered around him, an area of several hundred kilometers is extremely dangerous. After causing several major incidents in the Inner World, the people of the magic side simply united to expel him to the outer world, letting the strong individuals of the Alliance of Cities watch over him to prevent any major destructions. After all, legendary individuals of the magic side have been out of sight for thousands of years, the strongest traceable now in both the outer and Inner Worlds are just Divine Level! Even the Pope is only at Divine Level, not yet exceeding this limit. In terms of strength between the outer and Inner Worlds, it’s really just about how many Divine Levels there are."

"Summoning magic? So it’s that old fellow..." the Night King seemed to recall something. With his long experience, he naturally had broad knowledge and mixed memories.

"I remember now, isn’t this Rocky the one who once summoned the energy-absorbing demon?" he suddenly asked.

"That’s him," Rocky nodded.

"Hiss..." the Night King suddenly gasped. "It’s really that crazy old man!"

"What happened?" Lin Fei and Ning Que were also quite curious. At their level, not many things could stir their emotions, but this Rocky could elicit such a reaction from the Night King, clearly his legendary deeds were of an extraordinary nature.

The Night King swallowed, looking uneasy.

"This Rocky, when he summoned the energy-absorbing demon that year, was the main culprit that destroyed our previous civilization. Energy-absorbing demons can reproduce without limits, as long as there is energy in the air. Initially, this plant filled half of Earth in just two days, then it directly entered the Inner World through Elisa’s Gate and as a result..."

Lin Fei and Ning Que were both shocked to the core.

"What happened then?"

"Do you know how our Outer World initially went to war with the Alliance of Cities of the Inner World? Originally, everyone got along very well, exchanging resources and trading for energy stones, and the Alliance of Cities had strength not inferior to the Temple of the Gods. All was peaceful. It was this energy-absorbing demon that triggered the great war between the two sides," the Night King said gravely.

"To put it precisely, it was the demon that unilaterally occupied several cities of the Alliance of Cities. Do you think, with the strength of the Alliance of Cities, they would easily give up such a large territory to our Outer World?"

"Are you saying..." Lin Fei started, astonished.

The Night King looked solemn and slowly nodded. "Correct, it was this energy-absorbing demon. This plant, originally in the Outer World where the energy concentration wasn’t strong, was considered quite a tenacious species. But once it entered the Inner World, in that high-energy environment, its true terror was fully revealed. They could turn originally energy-rich energy stone veins into useless mines, and massively absorb energy and rays from the air to grow, and this growth was completely unrestricted. The most crucial point is that after these energy-absorbing demons mutated in the Inner World, they turned into a form where no kind of energy attack, including high-temperature assaults, could do anything but provide them with energy for growth. They only feared physical attacks. Unfortunately, after mutating in the Inner World, their roots had the defensive power of a B-level fighter. They simply couldn’t be eradicated on a large scale."

"How were they eventually destroyed?" Lin Fei asked directly.

"I don’t know. Some say it was probably the direct action of a divine being, others say they mysteriously dwindled away. Either way, opinions vary. But it’s definitely true that this creature turned a large region of the Inner World into a desert, that much is certain—I was there during that time and saw it with my own eyes, and it’s absolutely true!"

"And this Rocky, after causing such a disaster, still lives well." Ning Que wondered.

"That’s his strength. While he may not be good at other things, his level of research in planar space is absolutely unmatched in both the Inner and Outer Worlds. That’s why everyone still hasn’t decided to hunt him down; eventually, he was saved by the legends of the Tower of Wisdom, becoming one of their top elders in both the Summoning System and the Enchantment System. He also holds the title of joint honorary professor in several towers. There were a few malfunctions at Elisa’s Gate and several city-to-city teleportation formations in the Inner World that he personally set up—no one else could manage that. So, this person is definitely an antique-level master in both worlds," the Night King said seriously.

"Also, there are other characters with Rocky, none of them are simple. Each one is close to A-level or has been in A-level for many years, old guys who are either from the Tower of Wisdom or other powerful towers. Their latent power is astonishing; therefore, the Holy See’s four began to flee upon seeing them—this isn’t about whether they can fight or not, even if they could, they wouldn’t dare to take action against the entire magic side. The question is how Rocky managed to mobilize these old timers?"

Rocky smirked slyly.

"It’s quite simple because among them, two old mages are the monarchs of the Dark Alliance. I just casually mentioned a few things, and then when that Rocky guy was experimenting with a bunch of old men... hehe, I just did a little tinkering..."

"You, with your ability to disguise, truly are cunning," the Night King said exasperatedly.

Lin Fei and Ning Que could only respond with a wry smile.

"Alright, now we should chase after this Feis to prevent him from getting too far away."

Lin Fei turned towards the direction where Feis had fled.

"I’ll go intercept him; you can follow up later."

He bent slightly, ready to move.

"That won’t be necessary," the Night King suddenly said. "I have set up several teleportation formations around here; in Moncari, there are exactly three. No matter where he flies, we can easily catch up."

"That’s very kind of you," Lin Fei said with a smile.

"It’s nothing."

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

Over Moncari City

A white beam of light streaked across the sky like a shooting star, leaving a white line flying toward the outskirts of Turin Province.

If anyone looked up at the sky, they likely wouldn’t be able to see what it was inside; at most, they would think it was merely an insignificant meteor.

This white beam of light, however, enveloped an old priest in a black robe adorned with a Silver Cross on his chest.

The priest was Feis, a powerful member of the Holy See who had flown out from Turin City. Previously surrounded by Rocky and others, after a collective beating, he had been forced to flee in an embarrassing sprint. Without much thought until now that he finally had a chance to breathe, he realized that something was amiss, having finally shaken off those old chasers. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote with a recommendation ticket or Monthly Ticket at qidian.com; your support is my greatest motivation.)