Chapter 195: Chapter 194: Unless
On the road, Le Yu claimed, "I really admire the Extreme Divine Weapon’s reputation," and, paying with a piece of jewelry worth dozens of gold coins, he managed to touch Chen Chenchen’s Extreme Divine Weapon, the Veil of Strife.
Of course, he wasn’t trying to use the Saint’s Relic to replicate the Veil of Strife, he just wanted to understand what effects other Divine Weapons had.
It was obvious that the Veil of Strife was a field-type Divine Artifact designed specifically to give Sword Concealers a decisive advantage. In Guanghui, apart from Sword Concealers, every other Martial Artist was almost reduced to an ordinary person in the darkness—worse, in fact, than an ordinary person.
If the theoretical physical limit of a human was 10, then an ordinary person’s abilities in normal light could reach 15, but would drop to 5 in the dark. As for Martial Artists, in light, their abilities were at least 80, but in darkness, they plummeted to 8!
Ordinary people at most lost two-thirds of their abilities, but Martial Artists lost at least ninety percent!
"That level of disparity was enough to crush anyone’s psychological endurance!"
Of course, not just any darkness could achieve this effect.
"No matter how gloomy the night, there was always some moonlight, and with torches or lamps, Martial Artists could usually maintain at least forty percent of their power. If they stood under a lamp, they could even perform at full strength."
"That’s why there were large amounts of lighting equipment on every street across Guanghui. The authorities on top demanded it, the people below needed it. Even though this world had no Edison, they’d brute-forced solar-powered street lamps with black tech."
But the Veil of Strife was different, it could create a zone of "absolute darkness!"
Based on the weakened version he’d conjured, Le Yu roughly deduced the true effect of the authentic veil,
"Extreme Divine Weapon, Veil of Strife"
"Effect ①: Veil of Strife—centered on the user, creates an absolute, light-devouring darkness within a radius of 10-50 meters (range determined by the user’s Spiritual Power). No light source can illuminate it."
"Effect ②: Chaos—anyone caught in the Veil of Strife is subjected to weakened willpower, intensified fear, diminished rationality, and other mental disturbances; at best, they tremble helplessly, unable to resist; at worst, they fall into madness, attacking others or even harming themselves to escape the darkness. The weaker the Spiritual Power, the greater the effect."
"Effect ③: Dawn’s Light—in this environment, all radiant attacks deal increased damage."
"This was a Divine Weapon made for Sword Concealers!"
"Never mind the absolute darkness—what was even crazier was how the darkness infiltrated and affected the minds of everyone within its range, leading to insanity, self-harm, and terror. It was perfect crowd-control. Le Yu could hardly imagine what would happen if this thing was unleashed in a busy city square."
"’Dawn’s Light’ was even wilder. Besides Sword Concealers, who else could channel radiance inside their body and attack with light inside utter darkness?"
Back at the Silver Blood Association, Chen Chenchen had only mentioned the darkness-creating ability, naturally to keep the Extreme Divine Weapon’s true powers secret. Because, honestly, it was just too damn overpowered.
If a normal Sword Concealer was just an assassin, then a Sword Concealer with the Veil of Strife could go full Berserker and charge in rampaging—no problem at all.
Of course, such a powerful tool didn’t come without a cost. According to Le Yu’s tests of his bootleg veil, the artifact required an immense amount of Spiritual Power. Any Martial Artist with average Spiritual Power would be drained dry in a matter of moments.
But was there ever a Sword Concealer without strong Spirit?
"Every one of them had endured almost Purgatory-like self-mutilation to master the Hidden Sword Technique. The pain was so intense that even skimming through Yin Yinyin’s memories, Le Yu found it unbearable. But all that tribulation had forged their Spirit into something incredibly strong and resilient. In short, if you were a Sword Concealer, you could use the Veil of Strife effortlessly."
But Le Yu also remembered Yin Yinyin once said Extreme Divine Weapons, Illusion Divine Weapons, and Absolute Divine Weapons were all national treasures crafted by the Imperial Court using the combined power of all under heaven. So why did the Extreme Divine Weapons include such a tool seemingly custom-made for Sword Concealers?
Unless...
In the past, Sword Concealers must have been the Imperial Court’s designated assassin corps.
Yet now, Sword Concealers were nothing but pariah rats hunted by everyone... Just from the effects of the Veil of Strife, Le Yu could vaguely glimpse a portion of hidden history. But that wasn’t the point.
The point was, after unraveling the Veil of Strife’s effects, Le Yu decided he would personally help with the assassination.
He honestly couldn’t see any way Qing Lan could survive: absolute darkness stripped away abilities and vision, and a white-haired assassin was waiting to kill him. As soon as Qing Lan got within five paces of Chen Chenchen, he was fated to end up splattering blood across the table.
Since Qing Lan was doomed, Le Yu figured he’d lend a helping hand too—at least it would be some small revenge for Qian Yuliu. Plus, with a move as gutsy as his, "facing down an army solo," it wouldn’t be hard to snatch some sway in the coming fight for president.
"Luo Zhen, Quan Xin, and the rest all trembled before Qing Lan, acting as meek as brides who hadn’t even passed the threshold yet. Once I take down Qing Lan, and flex a little after, wouldn’t they all drop to their knees on the spot?"
The biggest problem with this operation was, after Qing Lan was dead, how would the Silver Blood Association secure their alliance with the Linhai Army, having just killed their top commander?
Initially, Le Yu and the others thought it wouldn’t be so hard—after all, the Linhai Army was a hastily assembled coalition force. But how much loyalty did they really have to Qing Lan?
As long as the Silver Blood Association demonstrated its strength by assassinating Qing Lan, then offered some bribes, surely someone in the Linhai Army would step up to replace Qing Lan and work with them.
But along the way, the Linhai Army’s discipline—and the fact that Qing Lan personally met with the Silver Blood Association—made his importance clear.
If Qing Lan died now, Silver Blood Association would be in deep trouble.
Still, there was no turning back now. They’d have to play it by ear.
As Chen Chenchen was about to strike, but before the Veil of Strife activated, Le Yu reacted instantly—he flung his chopsticks, stabbing hard toward Qing Lan from three or four meters away, at the same time letting out a furious roar!
Chen Chenchen had never intended to let others in on the assassination details. He was afraid these spoiled Silver Blood brats would blab, so he had no plans to let them help and attacked almost without warning!
But Le Yu activated his "Ice Blood Physique"—the ultimate calm brought ultimate reaction speed, turning him into the brightest damn guy at the table just before the darkness hit!
Combined Combat Technique, Thunderstrike!
Formless Battle Technique, Divine Spear!
Both techniques merged—his chopsticks shot toward Qing Lan like a bullet!
And then—the darkness came, followed by the desperate screams—
"Assassins! Assassins!"
"Turn on the lights!"
"General Qing is hurt! Where’s the Medical Officer? Medical Officer, where are you!?"
"So many assassins, I’ll kill all of you! Kill every last one!"
"Don’t kill me! I’m not an assassin!"
"Bang—"
"Aaaahhh—"
Le Yu sat still, feeling his strength draining away. He even felt weak-limbed, which reminded him of those exhausting all-night solo matches with Qing Lan, too evenly matched for either to win by dawn.
He strained to identify Qing Lan’s voice, but all he heard was turmoil. Oddly enough, the area around Qing Lan was nearly silent, as if nothing at all had happened.
Qing Lan wasn’t speaking, either.
Did that mean he was dead?
"Wei, are you scared?"
Suddenly, he heard Qin Leyin’s voice on his left. Le Yu cocked an eyebrow, "Didn’t you start calling me Young Master Jing?"
"Sorry. I’m a little scared, that’s all."
"Understandable, but I’m not scared."
Qin Leyin muttered, "Is this the confidence of the strong?"
Le Yu, "No, honestly, it’s just a bloodline thing."
"No wonder you’re a child of Blackthorn."
"..."
The Jing Family’s strange reputation grew again.
"Le Yu thought that, at this rate, the Jing Family was bound to become Dongyang’s blight. Pretty soon, whenever people asked what the Jing Family had done this time, no one would be surprised. They’d just say, ’Well, it’s the Jing Family, what did you expect?’"
Of course he felt no nervousness or fear. The Ice Blood Physique made him immune to all the negative emotions conjured by the Veil of Strife; all he felt now was anticipation and excitement.
"Didn’t you say you wanted to help?"
"I already did," Qin Leyin replied, "just nothing as flashy as the Young Master. You’re like a firefly in the night; no matter how you try to hide, you still shine."
You’re using my magic against me, eh... Le Yu snorted, "What, mocking me makes your fear easier to swallow?"
"Not at all, I’m being completely sincere." Qin Leyin asked, "So Young Master Jing, you’re certain Qing Lan’s finished?"
"I’m even guessing those two assassins have already escaped," Le Yu said, smiling.
Chen Chenchen alone should have been more than enough for Qing Lan. Who’d have guessed Silver Blood was so generous this time, splurging on the Assassin Organization to send two dyed-hair assassins for a pincer attack?
Based on Le Yu’s extensive assassination—(gaming)—experience, those two assassins were probably throwing on soldier uniforms right now, smearing themselves with some blood, and getting ready to run out shouting that someone tried to kill Qing Lan, then stroll out of the camp like nothing happened.
As for the rest of the Silver Blood crowd? Not their problem. The Assassin Organization never took protection contracts, only assassination deals.
Le Yu asked, "So you think something else is up?"
"No," Qin Leyin said, "but regardless of success or failure, I’ve already prepared myself mentally."
"I only believe that destiny cannot be defied."
Suddenly,
The lights came back on.
The warehouse flooded with brightness, as if nothing at all had happened.
But the soldiers who’d been protecting Qing Lan were either curled up on the floor trembling, brawling with their comrades, or, in some cases, shoving pistols into their own mouths.
The Veil of Strife—terrifying as hell.
The folks at the table weren’t much better. Quan Xin had snapped his favorite double-headed dragon pen in half, Luo Zhen had impaled his own palm with chopsticks, and Lan Jianbo and Tingchao didn’t seem outwardly changed, but both had clearly visible slap marks on their cheeks—looked like they’d played rough in the dark.
Right now, though, no one cared about the others’ embarrassing moments.
Because Qing Lan wasn’t dead.
Chen Chenchen’s dagger was nearly at Qing Lan’s neck, but Qing Lan had clamped onto the blade with his bare hand, stopping it cold. Meanwhile, Qing Lan’s other hand had seized Chen Chenchen’s throat, pinning him to the table. Chen Chenchen’s face was frozen in disbelief.
The other assassin, the one who’d brought food, was already on the ground, his throat pinned by a sword courtesy of Yin Guyue. Yin sat on the dead assassin, making no effort to help Qing Lan, just chilling and watching the show.
A Hidden Sword Assassin, defeated in the dark?
Everyone, including the Linhai soldiers, was dumbfounded by this scene that flew in the face of everything they knew.
After all, everyone believed that darkness was a Sword Concealer’s world. No one could survive a Sword Concealer’s hunt in the dark.
Unless...
"Why would you all assume,"
Qing Lan, meeting Chen Chenchen’s near-hopeless gaze, casually took the dagger, slammed it into the table by Chen Chenchen’s ear,
"that I’d never trained in the Hidden Sword Technique?"