Chapter 8

Yichen gently placed Lin Lei on the ground, picked up the knife, stood up, and positioned himself in front of Lin Lei.

He knew that today's situation would not end well, so he decided to fight with all his might.

Since there was no place to run, he decided to fight to the death, even if it meant sacrificing his life.

Having made up his mind, Yichen performed the 'Earth Technique' to conceal himself, focused his mind, and used the Five Elements Qi to mask his own aura, merging it with the Five Elements realm to achieve complete silence and invisibility.

The Lightning-Resistant One-Legged Falcon suddenly lost its target and, in a daze, was slashed across its abdomen, the wound not deep but about a foot long.

Since the abdomen was covered with fine, soft feathers, it was the most vulnerable part of its body, almost its vital point.

Fortunately, Yichen's cultivation was not high, and he did not know any combat techniques. Although he struck with all his might, it was not fatal.

In pain, the beast swept its wings forward, instantly creating a fierce wind that felt like being cut by a knife.

Yichen hurriedly dodged but was still cut by the wind blades, his left arm covered in fine wounds.

At this moment, Yichen was surprisingly calm, as if his brain had a strange sense of perception.

Following this perception, he circled around to the back of the Lightning-Resistant One-Legged Falcon and waited for its wings to stop.

Then he suddenly stepped forward, stopped in front of it, and with both hands on the knife, he aimed at the abdominal wound and slashed, pulling the knife as he hit.

Good grief! With a "swish," the belly split open, revealing the internal organs. Without hesitation, he thrust the knife in.

"Puff"

This thrust was like a tidal wave, surging and turbulent.

Yichen was sprayed with a mixture of fluids, almost fainting from the stench.

At this critical moment, due to the huge gap in strength, Yichen's Five Elements Qi was greatly depleted, and his form gradually became visible. The Lightning-Resistant One-Legged Falcon saw him and clamped him between its wings.

During the stealth attack, Yichen had almost exhausted his Five Elements Qi and now had no strength to break free, hearing his bones crack.

Despite the intense pain, he remained conscious, and his knife continued to stir inside the beast's belly...

Gradually, Yichen felt the clamping force weaken, and after a moment, it finally released.

"Boom" The beast fell backward, and Yichen collapsed on top of it.

After a short while, Yichen got up from the beast, took out some pills, swallowed one himself, and gave one to Tian Tao, then carried Tian Tao to Lin Lei.

He then extracted the magic core and plucked the feathers from the wings, placing them in the storage space of the Sun and Moon Pot.

He prepared the ingredients needed for a fourth-grade pill and had the Sun and Moon Pot refine it, then sat down to meditate and recover.

An hour later, a fourth-grade pill the size of an egg was successfully refined, and Yichen had almost fully recovered.

Just as he was about to get up, the strange sense of perception in his mind reappeared, as if trying to communicate.

Yichen calmed his mind, cleared his thoughts, and had a conversation with the soul of the Golden Armor's owner.

"Yichen, I am a wisp of soul, residing in your body for two years. Absorbing your essence has gradually restored me, but it has also interfered with your spirit, causing your madness and regression in cultivation, bringing you pain. I understand your resentment and hatred."

"However, these experiences are not bad for you. On the contrary, the benefits will increase. You have a natural Five Elements body and dual souls, making you the only perfect candidate I have found in thousands of years. Only you can complete the mission I failed to complete ten thousand years ago. You must become stronger as soon as possible."

"What mission do you want me to complete? Why should I follow your instructions? What is the relationship between the Golden Armor and you?"

"I cannot tell you too much. You don't even have the ability to protect yourself, and keeping secrets is both painful and dangerous. You will know the appropriate things at the appropriate time."

"Before I fully recover, the Golden Armor will help you. He is my ancient mount, the Golden Armor Beast. From now on, he will obey you, and you are his master. You need to quickly send these two people to Huoning. You will meet them again in a month. I am very tired and need to rest. We will talk again when necessary."

Yichen wanted to ask more but lost the sense of perception.

He felt a mix of委屈 (grievance) and relief, an indescribable feeling.

"Master, I am here." The Golden Armor appeared out of nowhere, standing respectfully beside Yichen.

"Senior, you are my savior. How can you call me master, especially when you are much older than me?"

Yichen was grateful to the Golden Armor and couldn't accept the title of 'master.'

"Master, you are indeed young, but you are still my master. I hope it won't be long before you can command the world and complete your mission."

"Fine, what should we do now?" Yichen asked.

"First, we need to send these two people away. You sit on me." As he spoke, a flash of golden light appeared, and a five-meter-long Golden Armor Beast with a pair of wings, resembling a giant pangolin, stood before Yichen.

This was the 'magic beast' Yichen had encountered when he fell off the Eagle's Beak Cliff.

Yichen carried Tian Tao and the others onto the Golden Armor Beast, and the three of them flew out of the forest...

On the official road, the Yi family's convoy was slowly moving, approaching the Hundred Mile Forest.

Huoning reminded the guards that they might encounter magic beasts or bandits in the forest, urging everyone to stay alert and vigilant.

Just as he finished his instructions, two people emerged from the forest, each carrying a person, heading straight for the convoy.

Huoning immediately shouted, "Who are you?"

"Uncle Huo, it's me, Yichen." Yichen was covered in dirt, and Huoning couldn't recognize him.

Everyone helped carry Tian Tao and Lin Lei onto the cart, and Yichen went to the roadside ditch to wash his face and change his clothes.

He briefly recounted his recent experiences, but he concealed the identity of the Golden Armor, saying he had met a senior expert.

This senior expert, the Golden Armor, had taken a liking to Yichen and wanted to take him on a journey. Yichen happily agreed and then said to Huoning, "Uncle Huo, please take care of these two brothers for me. The items in Tian Brother's pocket are from me. I will meet you all in Tianyun City in a month."

Yichen gave Tian Tao the pills and the magic core of the Lightning-Resistant One-Legged Falcon. Tian Tao needed a fourth-grade magic core to complete his mission, and Yichen couldn't let him fail.

Only Huoning knew about this, and he didn't tell anyone else.

After a few days, Yichen seemed more mature and responsible, like an adult, which made Huoning very happy.

After chatting for a while, Yichen and the Golden Armor left the convoy and headed deeper into the Tianluo Mountains.

On the way, the Golden Armor told Yichen a legend from tens of thousands of years ago...

Tens of thousands of years ago, one of the ancestors of humanity, Tian Wujie.

He had the ability to connect with the heavens and, at the peak of Tianluo, he suddenly understood the secrets of the boundary, breaking through his own spiritual barrier. He could sense everything in the world, no matter how big or small, how far or near, all under his control.

His mental power was incomprehensible, able to endlessly draw on the power of the heavens for his own use.

He roamed the heavens and earth, ruling the world, with all living things as his subjects.

For a person to do one thing well in a lifetime is already difficult; to do it perfectly is a kind of fulfillment and success.

Success often comes with flaws, and it is precisely because of these flaws that success is precious.

A person cannot have everything; the wise control their desires and reduce their greed.

The way of heaven is boundless, and without desire, one is strong. Contentment brings happiness, which is the wisdom of the wise.

But Tian Wujie did not seem to be wise; he wanted too much.

Although no one dared to disobey him, and no one could disobey him, he was already the ruler of the world, high above, but he still constantly demanded everything.

Finally, the overwhelming power from the heavens gathered and expanded within him. He ignored the maximum limit his life force could bear and lost control.

Thus, he concentrated all his vitality and mental power in his spine, hoping to escape the disaster.

But Tian Wujie could not escape the explosion and death, leaving only a segment of his spine, which formed a sword called Wujie.

As for Tian Wujie's death, some said he was trapped by his own creation, others said he was punished by heaven, with various theories.

But this was no longer important. What was important was that the only thing Tian Wujie left behind, the Wujie Sword, was a real treasure.

It was said to have the power to destroy the heavens and earth, and its owner would dominate the world.

In the following tens of thousands of years, any news about the Wujie Sword, regardless of its authenticity, would trigger a battle.

Sects, royal families, mercenaries, power groups, and independent cultivators all wanted to be the owner of the Wujie Sword, causing constant bloodshed in the martial world.

Some even used others to kill their enemies, and a rumor could make an opposing sect disappear overnight.

The Wujie Sword, however, never appeared...

Until twenty thousand years ago, on the battlefield of the human-ghost war.

The human war god, Yixian, fought four Hell Kings alone, slaying three and wounding one, and finally sealed the ghost realm in the Great Rift Valley of the Yinyang Mountains.

This battle ended the tens of thousands of years of conflict between humans and ghosts and established a boundary between them.

The sword Yixian used was the legendary Wujie Sword, and he created a combat technique called the Thirteen Forms of Yixian, also known as the Thirteen Forms of Wujie.

After the battle, Yixian was never seen again, like a dragon whose head is seen but not its tail.

The Wujie Sword was sealed as a ghost-repelling treasure in a certain place.

Thus, the treasure hunt began again, with people constantly approaching the Great Rift Valley of the Yinyang Mountains, and many disappearing.

At first, large groups went, but none returned, and gradually, fewer people went.

But some still went, driven by the temptation that the sword was unowned and the first to arrive would get it.

Curiosity can be fatal, and greed can lead to disaster.

Everyone has a侥幸 (侥幸) heart; not going means no chance, so they decided to take a look, just in case...

But they didn't think about the fact that the seal was unbreakable, or how the ghosts would react to human intrusion.

The ghosts, after all, were not human...

Thus, the chaos continued for nearly ten thousand years until everyone finally gave up.

The reason was a Daoist named Cangmu, a war king-level cultivator, nearly a war emperor, one of the top ten experts at the time, known as the "Sword Obsessive."

He could enter the ghost realm undetected, and after multiple searches, he found the Wujie Sword but could not retrieve it due to the strong seal. Cangmu was severely injured from overexertion and soon died.

After that, the Wujie Sword was gradually forgotten...