Blind Spot
Chapter 530 - 487 completion 1

Chapter 530: 487 completion 1

At the foot of the Faceless Sword Sect’s mountain, Li Chengyi was often seen, visiting what were merely small villages nestled among the forest, occasionally interspersed with restful residences constructed by disciples from the mountain, resembling little mountain villas scattered among the trees.

The forest sea swayed, and from time to time, one could spot well-decorated, large estate-style attics that stood out starkly in the desolate mountain wilderness.

At this moment, at the mountain gate of the Sword Sect, Master Kui Ling and a few attendants escorted Li Chengyi to the outside of the gate.

Outside the gate, there was a huge pale blue protective barrier that cascaded down, covering the entirety of the Sword Sect.

An indescribable power fully safeguarded all the buildings here.

Li Chengyi and the other disciples undergoing their apprenticeship all stood before the vast mountain gate, surrounded by family members who were there to see them off.

After greeting the other families, Master Kui Ling’s attention focused on Li Chengyi.

"As per the rules, I cannot protect you along the way. You must complete the apprenticeship alone. There are designated locations; you need to visit the other three sects in turn, obtain marks from the disciples of those sects, and then circle back here to finish. In between, you have to complete a trial mission in a specified city," Master Kui Ling said with a hint of worry.

"But don’t worry; the trial missions are quite simple. For instance, your senior sister Yun Chen’s task was to buy a hundred candied haws that were already half-eaten by others, which was to increase interactions with the mundane world. The missions are mostly issued on the fly based on actual situations, and even the hardest tasks involve no more than capturing fleeing demon beasts, whose strength is not great; it’s just practice for you."

"I’ll be careful," Li Chengyi nodded.

"Just being careful is not enough..." Master Kui Ling thought for a moment and then took off a string of green beads that she had worn for a long time from her chest.

"Take this, remember not to take it off, wear it even when you shower."

"What’s this?"

"A life-saving charm; it can forcibly bring you back to the sect if you face extreme danger. But it can only be used once. You must cherish it," Master Kui Ling said softly.

"Also, your nurtured sword... remember to use it sparingly, but when you are out in the world, you will inevitably need a weapon at times. Here ..."

She took a long, narrow straight sword with a pink tassel from Brother Tie Zhu standing by her side and placed it into Li Chengyi’s hands.

"This is the Dingyuan Sword, which I used in my youth during my apprenticeship. There are three sword intents I’ve imbued upon it; you can use it as a common weapon on a daily basis, and when necessary, you can activate the sword intents with your mind but remember not to trigger them lightly. The power is too strong and could cause significant collateral damage."

"Um... how strong is one of my mother’s sword intents... I mean, the area of effect?" Li Chengyi hesitated, as he had never really witnessed the full extent of Master Kui Ling’s strength.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, he asked.

"Well..." Master Kui Ling blinked pondering, "The first one is a common sword intent; its power isn’t that great. If you’re concerned, you can try it in an open area after you leave. But the subsequent two grow progressively stronger, so be careful."

"Yes," Li Chengyi replied.

Following that, Master Kui Ling continued to caution him about various other miscellaneous things.

Fearing that Li Chengyi would suffer or face hardship outside.

Some of the more easygoing parents had already let their children leave.

The apprenticeship was not just for personal disciples, all disciples had to go through it, so the majority of those heading down the mountain this time were young disciples newly initiated into the sect.

The number was around thirty-five.

As Master Kui Ling finished her cautions, the sky was already growing dark.

Not many apprentices remained on the mountain, and seeing that it was getting late, Master Kui Ling gently patted Yun Chen beside her.

biu!

At Yun Chen’s whistle, a giant white crane with a height of two men and a wingspan of six meters swooped down from the sky, landing gently before the group.

"Xiao Ji, it’s a trouble, but could you please take Bai Lu down the mountain?" Yun Chen stroked the crane’s feathers and spoke softly.

The white crane raised its head and cried out, then turned to look at Li Chengyi.

"Eight hundred miles east of the mountain is Kui Yuan City, a thousand miles west is Shangxi Town, and to the south lies Phoenix Tail Mountain. Do you have a detailed plan?" Yun Chen looked at Li Chengyi.

"Yes, I already have one," Li Chengyi nodded.

"Then off you go," Master Kui Ling said, giving his antlers a final rub.

Li Chengyi leapt up nimbly and settled lightly onto the crane’s back.

With a powerful flap of its wings, Bai He Xiao Ji soared into the sky, climbing over ten meters in an instant. After circling in the air, the crane dived toward the mountain below.

Looking back from midair, Li Chengyi saw Master Kui Ling and the others looking towards him from afar, standing motionlessly in front of the mountain gate.

As the distance grew, the wind continually tousled his hair.

Having not cut his hair for years, Li Chengyi’s long locks nearly reached his waist and were now blowing wildly behind him.

Sitting atop the white crane, he held onto its slender neck, looking down at the forests that swiftly passed by below.

The woodlands surrounding the Faceless Sword Sect were quickly left behind, and beyond the dividing line of the deep abyss cliff was a vast mundane territory belonging to the Blind Spot World.

"Bai Lu, shall I directly take you to the first destination of the Four Sects, Shangqing City?" A clear female voice echoed in Li Chengyi’s mind.

It was Xiao Ji. She was also a spiritual beast of the Sword Sect, one of the disciples cultivating the Faceless Sword Technique.

"Is that possible?" Li Chengyi asked.

"Of course, but I can only take you to the first destination. After that, you’re on your own," replied Xiao Ji.

"Alright, thank you, Xiao Ji. I’ll treat you to a banquet of a hundred insects when I return," Li Chengyi said with a laugh.

"I’ll hold you to that," Xiao Ji responded with a chuckle.

Having stayed at the Faceless Sword Sect for so long, Li Chengyi had naturally not been idle.

He had learned much about this Blind Spot World.

The entire area of Panguang was roughly comparable in size to Earth-Moon, but Panguang did not represent the entirety of the Blind Spot World. Panguang was simply the area governed by the Four Sects and collectively referred to as Panguang.

Beyond Panguang lay vast uncharted territories, perilous and wild, teeming with all sorts of strange beasts. Humanity, under the protection of the Four Sects, had established empires of varying sizes.

The so-called Four Sects consisted of the First Qingmu Sword Sect, the Second Suyue Sect, the Third Yuheng Sect, and the Fourth Faceless Sword Sect.

Among them, the Suyue Sect was one entirely comprised of spiritual beasts, and its disciples were predominately various kinds of spiritual beasts.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Ji, have you ever seen a real demon beast? I’ve been on the mountain for so long and haven’t seen a single one," Li Chengyi said out of curiosity.

"Demon beasts... Many of them are kept in captivity. They are different from our spiritual beasts. You know that in our Panguang, practicing any technique will have serious side effects, and these side effects must be transferred out by various means. To transfer them to our own kind is too cruel, so many of our predecessors thought of a method."

Xiao Ji explained.

"That is, to open the spiritual wisdom of many wild beasts and, in exchange, transfer the side effects of the techniques to them as a cost. That’s the origin of demon beasts."

"I see..." Li Chengyi felt enlightened.

"The number and strength of demon beasts are actually determined by the number of cultivators. Like our Faceless Sword Sect, every person practicing the Holy Spirit Technique has to find at least seven demon beasts as Holy Infants. Generally, Holy Infant demon beasts will end up going mad, losing their sanity, and then be killed. Unless you are lucky enough to encounter a genius who has complete control over their sanity, then you can gain a companion that can help you."

Xiao Ji spoke of the demon beasts with some emotion.

"When it comes down to it, demon beasts are really made by us cultivators. We gave them the opportunity, but it’s filled with thorns and dangers. Whether they feed or drink, it’s all fate."

"How can there be so much fate," Li Chengyi retorted. "If fate were that miraculous, why would anyone bother trying hard? Wouldn’t it be better to just rely on fate to get by?"

"You are still young." Xiao Ji smiled and did not argue.

Though her voice sounded young, she was actually hundreds of years old.

Bai He flew past in the sky, extremely fast. Li Chengyi estimated its speed to be between three and four times the speed of sound.

Like Blood Essence, Bai He was also wrapped in a layer of transparent power that prevented friction with the air from causing a sonic boom.

Sitting on Bai He’s back, with one stretch of woodland flowing into the next below him, Li Chengyi had lost track of time.

Finally, the sky turned completely dark, the moon hung high, and around him flocks of startled birds scurried in flight.

A gigantic creature like Xiao Ji was also a top predator in the natural world.

Li Chengyi even saw several black hawks and golden eagles scared into turning tail and fleeing.

"There’s a fight down below," suddenly Xiao Ji transmitted her voice.

Li Chengyi immediately looked down from the side of the crane’s neck to the ground.

Indeed, he saw two teams of sword sect disciples in training, entangled in a struggle against a giant black wolf with eyes emitting black smoke.

The giant wolf was five to six meters long and two meters tall, covered in dense black fur, with flames faintly visible on its four feet. It looked extremely ferocious.

"That’s a Ying ChiLang, one of the more common demon beasts in the nearby mountains, but not a native species, belonging to a clan category of the third generation or less," Xiao Ji spoke up.

Li Chengyi responded and watched as the two paired disciples moved swiftly, their figures dashing around the Ying ChiLang, occasionally unleashing a piercing green sword light.

The sword light could only inflict shallow wounds on the giant wolf’s body.

From above, they looked like two small insects, flying around a large creature, harassing it in various ways.

Li Chengyi noticed that the two active disciples were common disciples of a sword sect, both around 23 to 24 years old.

They each had a sect’s uniform longsword in their hands.

Their footwork was swift, not weak either, covering tens of meters in a second, which to ordinary people would seem very powerful.

But in the eyes of direct disciples, almost any one of them was just at the threshold of the speed of sound.

The gap between them was immense.

"Let’s go. It looks like they have no problems; they just need to wade through time to win," Li Chengyi said out loud.

"Okay."

With a flap of her wings, Xiao Ji continued to shoot away into the distance.

Soon, half an hour later, Xiao Ji landed gently at the edge of a brightly lit colossal city.

In the night, the sky above was dotted with stars.

Li Chengyi got off her back and thanked Xiao Ji with a fist salute.

Bai He cried out crisply and turned to fly away.

Standing in the woods, Li Chengyi looked towards the huge city not far away. That was Shangqing City, the largest city closest to the Qingmu Sect.

"It’s time to find out what this city is really like..."

He took a step forward, intending to head that way.

Suddenly, sounds of fighting accompanied by the clinking of weapons came from a distance.

Li Chengyi couldn’t be bothered with it and was about to leave, but suddenly, he seemed to sense something. His expression shifted, and he darted towards the noise in a flash.

In an instant, he covered a distance of several hundred meters.

Soon, in a forest clearing that was violently knocked open.

A group of tall men with black deer antlers were fighting against two black giant wolves burning with blue flames on all fours.

The wolves were much smaller than the previous Ying ChiLang and much slower too.

Of course, the men with antlers were much weaker as well; they were obviously hesitant to face the giant wolves head-on.

Their movements were clumsy, far inferior to the common disciples who were in training.

They seemed to be just at the level of ordinary martial artists who had practiced some martial arts.

Upon seeing the two black giant wolves burning with blue flames, Li Chengyi immediately recalled their information.

"Blue Flame Wolves, also known as rotten wolves, eating dry tinder, with an extremely poor taste... Highly prolific, giving birth to dozens in a single litter, considered a source of rubbish meat on the mountain that even spiritual beasts won’t touch, typically used to feed pets..."

The strength of these antlered men was similar to that of ordinary people with a bit more power and speed, and Li Chengyi could see they were just marginally beyond the human limit.

"Perhaps I should create an overall power assessment system to establish the different levels and difficulties of the Blind Spot World."

As Li Chengyi watched the skirmish, an idea took root in his mind.