Chapter 697: How many people have the same dream?
"Boom", a thunderous roar echoed in her mind, as if a long-sealed door within her soul had been flung open. Han Yan’s heart brightened, and the turbulence in her chest subsided completely.
And her figure vanished before Jiang Yuzhe and the others.
Han Yan could clearly feel a transparent barrier formed around her body, clinging to her clothes. The light that struck the barrier was twisted and bent, directed behind her body, rendering her invisible to others’ eyes.
Such a marvelous barrier! It was her first time experiencing the wonder of a barrier, and Han Yan was thrilled.
With a single step, she moved behind Jiang Yuzhe.
There was no faint afterimage or any trace of her presence, far more perfect than when Jiang Yuzhe used the barrier technique, where his afterimages lingered and his body scent leaked.
Without a second thought, Han Yan knew it was all because of the ancient spell that had suddenly surfaced in her mind. She wasn’t sure whether to call it a spell or a chant, but judging by its chant-like tone, it probably resembled a spell more.
"It’s impossible, how can there be no trace of her presence at all? How... how did he do it?" Jiang Yuzhe was utterly focused and could not detect any fluctuation of Han Yan’s energy, his surprise turning into a deep shock as he murmured in dismay.
To master this Shifting Shadow Technique, he had endured countless hardships and had only achieved minor progress. But Han Yan, in her first attempt at Cultivation, succeeded flawlessly and so perfectly, leaving him utterly disheartened.
Seeing the defeated expression on Jiang Yuzhe’s face, Han Yan almost laughed out loud.
Perfect, yes, this barrier of the Shifting Shadow Technique was simply flawless.
She vividly remembered that Ye Yanran’s barrier could also hide one’s form, but at the cost of suppressing one’s cultivation. Undetected, it was fine, but if someone did discover her, even a person without any cultivation could easily stab her to death with a sword—or without a sword, a mere brick might suffice to bruise her gravely. If not for Star Illusion Thousand Machine’s timely intervention, she would have certainly been killed by her own accidental blow the last time.
However, inside this Shifting Shadow Barrier, Han Yan could clearly feel that her cultivation was unaffected. Compared to Ye Yanran’s barrier, this one was not only more perfect but also more practical.
Han Yan stretched out her hand, intending to pat Jiang Yuzhe’s head and tease him a bit, but suddenly stopped. It was only then that she realized, although her cultivation remained intact, to launch an attack, she would need to first dispel the barrier. During the instant the barrier was lifted, her energy would rush back, and her cultivation would still drop significantly, perhaps only slightly less drastic than Ye Yanran’s complete suppression.
More importantly, in just a moment, she felt the turbulence in her chest rising again. Whether she liked it or not, the barrier would dissolve on its own, and her strength would briefly plummet sharply.
It seemed there truly was no perfect barrier in this world. But then again, if there were a perfect barrier, why would anyone bother to cultivate martial arts and skills? Simply biding time would suffice, since no amount of strength could compare to someone stealthily stabbing from behind with a cold dagger.
Han Yan compared the barriers of Jiang Yuzhe and Ye Yanran, still finding some differences.
Ye Yanran’s barrier lasted longer, but it came at the expense of suppressing her cultivation, hiding her form while leaving her utterly defenseless and unable to attack, vulnerable to an untimely, unexplained death. Even upon dispelling the barrier, it would take a long time for her to recover.
Meanwhile, although Jiang Yuzhe’s Shifting Shadow lasted only a short time, his strength remained unaffected, only dipping the instant the barrier was lifted. If used wisely, it still served as a divine technique for stealth attacks and backstabbing.
While pondering how to maximize the power of the Barrier, Mu Hanyan did not notice that the Barrier had already undone itself, until Jiang Yuzhe let out a startled "ah."
"When did you get behind me?" Jiang Yuzhe asked, looking at the palm that Mu Hanyan had stopped above his head, his face turning pale as he spoke. It was always he who used the Shadow Shifting against others; only when this ghostly move was used on him did he realize it was not a pleasant feeling at all. It was truly frightening.
Eldest Young Master Jiang suddenly felt that Mu Yuying’s slap wasn’t too harsh; if it were not for knowing how strong Mu Hanyan was, he too would have liked to give a slap.
"Just now, sorry to scare you," Mu Hanyan said with a chuckle, teasingly.
"Quick, tell me, how did you do it?" Jiang Yuzhe regained his composure and urgently grabbed Mu Hanyan’s arm, asking eagerly.
He sensed that, although Mu Hanyan used his Shadow Shifting Technique, it was countless times more potent than his; there was utterly no trace of aura leakage, no afterimage, and most importantly, no damn body scent.
Actually, what’s called body scent is merely the fragrance emitted when the qi and blood flow in reverse. In swordsmen’s body refining, the most crucial aspect is to temper the body and toughen the bones; their physique is much cleaner than normal people, hence that reversed qi blood emits a faint distinctive fragrance, quite different from the actual body scent. Of course, Jiang Yuzhe was clueless about this at the moment.
"First tell me, did you really derive this Shadow Shifting on your own?" Mu Hanyan asked. She simply couldn’t believe that Jiang Yuzhe, with just a set of Shadowless Sword Technique, could decipher such a profound and mysterious Barrier Technique.
"Actually, it was like it suddenly appeared in my mind out of nowhere, just like in a dream," Jiang Yuzhe pointed to his head and said, "But I never fully grasped it until last time I followed you to the Mu Family, then suddenly, the inspiration struck, and I figured it out all at once."
"Was it the day I went to the Treasure Vault?" A spark of realization flashed in Mu Hanyan’s mind as she promptly asked.
"Yes, exactly that day. It was strange, while I was pondering over the Shadow Shifting, some mysterious voices echoed in my head, saying things like ’Divine Martial descends upon the world, traversing the Eight Desolates,’ just like in a dream," Jiang Yuzhe recalled, saying.
"What!" Huayue and Zirong were both startled and turned to look at Jiang Yuzhe simultaneously. Dreaming, could it be that a few of them had the same dream?
Mu Hanyan also felt a thrill in her heart; Huayue and Zirong didn’t know that it was exactly that day when she had obtained the Heavenly Destiny Star Plate left by Mu Tianlie, the Heavenly Heart Technique advanced again, and she also unblocked the Hidden Meridian, embarking on an extraordinary Cultivation path unlike ordinary people.
If there was anything truly unique about her own bloodline, it would be traced back to when she unblocked the first Hidden Meridian, which was when her bloodline began to awaken.
Could it be that all this was related to her?
It seemed that a trip to the Capital was necessary; only from her grandfather could she know the real answers.
"What’s wrong?" Seeing the shocked expressions of Huayue and Zirong, Jiang Yuzhe asked, puzzled.
Huayue and Zirong did not hold back either and told Jiang Yuzhe about the incidents that occurred when their powers had greatly advanced the last time.
After listening, Jiang Yuzhe was equally taken aback and confused.
"What’s going on, how could such a thing happen?" Jiang Yuzhe murmured to himself.