Blind Spot
Chapter 545 - 501 Contact Three

Chapter 545: 501 Contact Three

The autumn wind brushed past, carrying a chill that seeped into the bones.

Members of the Faceless Sword Sect were arranged to stay in a small cluster of guest buildings around Yuheng Sect.

The light red buildings, closely packed together, one after another, with faint semi-transparent light screens separating and keeping them confidential.

Because of their indifferent, even somewhat cold relationship with Yuheng Sect, Elder Yun Ling of the Faceless Sword Sect didn’t interact much with them, merely gathering everyone to give a few instructions before retreating to his building to rest alone.

As night fell, members of the Qingmu Sword Sect arrived, breaking through the air. Unlike Faceless Sword Sect, they embodied the standard bearing of sword cultivators, each standing on their own flying swords, shrouded in a glow condensed from their True Yuan.

Unlike the Faceless Sword Sect, which purely cultivated the primordial spirit through intent, the Qingmu Sword Sect followed a balanced path, focusing on attack, defense, and recovery alike.

Thus, their foundational Qinghe Celestial Movement Technique was also known as the Ten-Complete Sword Art, implying it covered a bit of everything.

It even included benefits for longevity and health maintenance, striving for thorough understanding and security, and advocating for moderation and balance.

But contrary to the intent of the technique, precisely because they were comprehensive and not extreme, the growth of Qingmu Sword Sect far surpassed the other three sects, attracting disciples with superior talents. This positive cycle enabled them to develop even faster, and they subtly exuded a sense of superiority.

At night, one could hear the complaints of Yuheng Sect members who had gone to receive those from Qingmu Sword Sect on their way back.

"In this era, only Brother Huo of the Faceless Sword Sect is worthy to be compared with oneself. The rest are mere ants."

In the dead of night, Li Chengyi was awakened by a long chant, irritated from being disturbed just as he was sound asleep by a voice so full of self-satisfaction.

He turned over silently, got out of bed, and with a flash of Shadow Flash, he appeared instantly outside at the corridor, looking up at the sky.

In the distant night sky, two bright lights floated, looking like two giant light bulbs.

One bulb was entirely red, burning with the distinctive brilliant life flame unique to Yuheng Sect.

In the flames was a young lady with short hair, beautiful faced but with a brow that betrayed her anger and shame.

In the other blue bulb was an elegantly poised man, dressed in a deep blue Taoist robe with long hair.

The man held a similarly red long sword, its blade casually pointed downward, his face unabashedly serene.

Serene in his disdain, serene in his contempt.

This clear disdain was openly apparent in the man’s eyes.

"Ding Zao!!!"

The woman, facing such discrimination, had her chest heaving rapidly with anger, nearly bursting with rage.

"Ah...!!! I’m going to kill you!!!" Her life flame soared sky-high. In an instant, it rose from several meters to more than ten meters.

Her long sword was about to strike at her opponent on the spot.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a transparent light screen blocked between the two, splitting the night sky in half.

"Before the great competition, private fights are not allowed."

A cold female voice drifted faintly from afar below.

"Chong Xinyao, come back." The female voice disappeared.

The young lady in the red bulb, with her face flushed red, shouted again at Ding Zao.

"You wait!! Tomorrow you will see just why blood is so red!!"

With a whoosh, she turned and flew away, departing from that expanse of night sky.

Ding Zao gave a slight smile, his gaze dropping below as if looking towards the residential area of the Faceless Sword Sect.

Then he too turned and transformed into a streak of blue light, disappearing into the residential district of Qingmu Sword Sect.

"Where’s the senior brother?" There were many disciples of the Faceless Sword Sect awakened by the noise, and a distant, low voice asked.

"Don’t know, he should be resting, the isolation formation is up, probably can’t hear the noise."

"That’s Ding Zao... indeed very arrogant."

"It’s just that senior brother isn’t here, else, heh..."

Amidst the jumbled noises mixed with yawns, Li Chengyi returned to his room speechless.

From the novels he remembered reading in his past life, there was often someone who would suddenly let out a long howl. It was one thing in the wild, but within a sect, such howling was likely to earn a beating.

No matter how much insight you gain in the middle of the night, howling would still provoke widespread anger.

Now actually encountering someone who howled in the middle of the night, Li Chengyi felt nothing but embarrassment, sheer embarrassment.

It was like someone on a bus, dancing a square dance all by themselves, twisting and turning, and then asking everyone after finishing if there was anyone on the bus who could be compared with them, calling the rest trash.

Most people would find it laughable.

’But... even with all this, senior brother hasn’t made a move... did he really not hear... or...’

His eyes narrowed slightly, something felt off based on what he sensed during the day, and he pondered deeply.

*

*

*

Deep beneath the night’s curtain, at the edge of a cliff lay a vast sea of trees.

Moving along the sea of trees towards the distance, thousands of miles away from Yuheng Sect, there was a hundred-meter-tall dark green pine forest.

Mist twined between the trees, phosphorescence flickered in and out of sight on the forest floor.

Huo Qingkong walked slowly, proceeding through the forest.

He gripped the hilt of his sword, his expression neutral as if pondering something, or perhaps reminiscing.

Suddenly, he halted his steps and stood still.

"People from An Xiang?"

His low voice unexpectedly sounded in the still of the forest.

Shick, shick, shick!

Three consecutive soft sounds, and three shadows in black appeared beside him, surrounding him from three sides.

These were three figures in black garb, each with a golden, bizarrely masked face.

Each held a curved black blade, their presence flickering in and out of perception, almost unnoticeable without close attention.

"Huo Qingkong... truly a once-in-a-millennium genius of the Faceless Sword Sect."

One of them spoke softly, a distinctly feminine voice.

"We have come to sincerely invite you to join An Xiang and conspire in a great plan," the woman said without waiting for Huo Qingkong to respond and continued.

"Don’t be too quick to refuse, you might want to know why we formed An Xiang and why we are willing to join it."

"Oh?" Huo Qingkong was about to make a move, but upon hearing this, he stopped.

He had long heard of the organization An Xiang, but he was not clear about the reasons behind their establishment.

"Let me introduce myself first, my name is Chun Shiqi. In An Xiang, we are divided into departments according to the four seasons, and every member uses their ranking at the time of joining as their codename," the woman took a step forward.

"Most of us are the elite from within various factions; in terms of identity and status, we really don’t need to engage in matters that could potentially lead to our whole family being executed. But why did we still do it?" she sighed.

"You can speak faster, I am naturally impatient by nature," Huo Qingkong’s expression gradually turned cold.

"Alright, I’ll cut to the chase. Huo Qingkong, do you know that each of the Four Sects has an ancestor who once achieved Transcendence?"

"I know. What then?"

"Then, do you know that they, as strong individuals of that level, wouldn’t be aware of the flaws in the martial arts techniques they left behind?" the woman asked again.

"...!" Huo Qingkong fell silent.

He had actually long harbored suspicions about this matter. Individuals at the level of Transcendence had an unimaginable depth of insight; could they really fail to see the hidden dangers in their martial arts techniques?

No one would believe it if he said it out loud.

"But why don’t they care?" asked Chun Shiqi of An Xiang,

"Indeed... why don’t they care? Why do they let their descendants continue down the wrong path?" Huo Qingkong lowered his head, "Do you know the answer?"

"If you want the answer... come to the Yan Yun Mountain Range. Whenever you dare to come, we will give you the truth you seek," Chun Shiqi spoke softly.

Clang!!

In an instant, a streak of green light illuminated the surrounding darkness.

A green sword light burst out from behind Huo Qingkong, transforming into three terrifying spikes in an instant. Crossing a distance of over ten meters at an unimaginably frightening speed, it struck the three people.

The green halo lit up everything, resembling a flash of lightning in the night sky, gone in an instant.

After a breath, the halo circulated and flew back.

The whole process was like a green whip lashing out, splitting into three, then converging and returning.

All settled back into tranquility.

Chun Shiqi and her two companions stood frozen in place. She opened her mouth, whispering as if trying to make a sound again.

But it was already too late.

"Instant Prison..." she managed to squeeze out two words. "Why...?"

"Tedious," Huo Qingkong released his grip on the sword handle and turned to leave.

"I gave you the time to speak, but sadly, you didn’t cherish it."

With a flash of green light, he disappeared from the spot.

The three left behind glowed with the brilliance of the Origin Seal on their chests, clearly showcasing two with Third Seals and one with Five Seals.

Especially the one with Five Seals—such a level was sufficient to hold a high-ranking position within the Four Sect.

In silence, the flesh beneath their clothes quickly dissolved, turning into wisps of colored vapor that drifted away.

Soon, only three sets of clothes and their weapons remained on the spot.

Before long, a figure silently appeared at the location, crouching to examine where the three had stood.

"Such intense murderous intent... Chun Shiqi is a pity...."

"Just how powerful has Huo Qingkong become? To instantly slay Chun Shiqi, he must be at least three levels higher than her," a strange voice echoed from the forest.

"Chun Shiqi’s Origin Seals were almost all for defense. To be instantly killed while having the defense of the Five Seals, one would need the pure offensive power of the Eight Seals to do so," the figure sighed.

"...There’s another possibility... a compound Origin Seal," the voice from deep within the forest declared solemnly.

"No matter what, since the negotiation has broken down, prepare to act and completely eliminate him," said the figure.

"It will be difficult. He must have something given to him by the Old Spirit of the Faceless Sword Sect to protect his life."

"When the time comes, we’ll join forces, we can’t afford to give him more time to grow. Since we can’t win him over, we’ll deal with him."

"Right..."

Hiss!!

Just then, a streak of green light, like lightning, instantly traversed hundreds of meters, shooting from the distant woods.

The speed of the green light was too great, not just in sheer velocity, but as if time itself sped up in the perception of the two individuals.

The moment they saw the green light flare up, the next instant it was already in front of them.

’Instant Prison!?? Huo Qingkong hasn’t left!!?’

Boom!!

In an instant, the pine forest erupted with green and red light clashing fiercely.

Ten seconds later.

Huo Qingkong walked out of the pine forest with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened, took to the air, and flew toward the Yuheng Sect.

Behind him, deep in the pine forest, two mysterious figures in black robes appeared.

*

*

*

Early the next day.

The participants from the Four Sects had already arrived at the venue.

Li Chengyi, excited and having not slept at all, followed Bai He to the competition ground—Linquan Palace.

The Linquan Palace of the Yuheng Sect is the venue used year-round for settling internal disputes through competition.

The round protective firewall, layer upon layer, formed a highly protective multi-layer compound array.

On the round, gray-white grounds, once everyone arrived, the head of the Yuheng Sect spoke first.

The head was a woman with long white hair and a countenance as delicate as a young girl, with a cold and beautiful appearance.

Her name, like that of Faceless, no matter what it was before, had to be replaced with a fixed title upon taking the position of head.

Therefore, the name of the head was also Yuheng.