Chaotic World Book
Chapter 172 - 168 I Am the Bad Woman

Chapter 172: Chapter 168 I Am the Bad Woman

Zhao Changhe had indeed been suppressed by the Sword Domain, but when he discovered that his Back Eye was unaffected, he began to secretly decode it.

The Back Eye, a gift from the blind man, is of a level that can disregard this Sword Domain. Regardless of whether the blind man is the Spirit of the Chaotic World Book, the level of a Heavenly Book could only be higher than that of the Back Eye, also capable of ignoring this Sword Domain.

The envelopment of the Sword Domain wasn’t targeting people; the Heavenly Book clasped in his bosom would be attacked by the Sword Domain as well. Since even a smear on the Heavenly Book’s face would show disdain, wouldn’t it resist being violated by the Sword Domain?

Zhao Changhe tried to channel his True Qi into the gold leaf he held, and indeed, for the first time, he felt a sense of "communication."

A vague yet immense will emanated from the gold leaf, roughly conveying that domains are merely one of the applications of Martial Arts. By deciphering it, it’s like breaking down a move. So what if the Sword Domain boasts of its power—it dares to suppress me?

Oh, you’re too weak, even if you unravel it, you won’t see. But you have the Back Eye.

The Back Eye resonated with the gold leaf, and before Zhao Changhe’s eyes, the space seemed deconstructed, as if watching a movie about dream theft, where everything before him was "digitalized". He could clearly see the flow of energy, the operation of Sword Qi, and even a vague "intention" seemed to materialize, but he simply couldn’t understand it—the gap in Martial Arts comprehension was too wide.

But that was already enough. When you don’t understand water, you drown, but once you get it, you can use its power.

Not only was the Sword Domain no longer constricting him, his slash actually harnessed the sword domain’s energy, unleashing even greater strength than normal!

However, Zhao Changhe didn’t show it and continued to pretend that he was heavily suppressed and struggling.

Under the observation of the Back Eye, Sisi’s expression was always strange. One must never forget, the initial meeting with Sisi was her attempt to control him—don’t assume that the recent minor familiarity really made them friends.

In dark and dangerous places, one cannot be without guard against others.

But he hadn’t expected that her plan had started last night already.

"Clang!" Zhao Changhe unleashed all his pent-up frustration on the Sword Guard before him. Their blades furiously clashed, sending energy ripples expanding outward like a storm-tossed breeze!

The Sword Guard, having been wounded by a sword thrust from Tang Wanju, had already lost the astonishing Sword Intent it initially had, yet its power remained formidable. Zhao Changhe was knocked back several feet, sliding backward, his shoes dragging long marks on the ground.

His shoulder and cheek stung, the result of just now being grazed by the overflowing Sword Qi from the clash.

So strong... No telling how much of its millennium worth of power had been eroded, wounded on the neck by Tang Wanju, surrounded by a host of clay soldiers in a Sword Array still assaulting, and in the midst of all this, the Sword Guard could still return such a powerful blow... What level of strength must it have possessed in its heyday? And this was just a "secondary guard" according to Sisi?

But that wasn’t the main issue. The bigger problem was that Zhao Changhe could see that Tang Wanju didn’t dare kill the Sword Guard... Otherwise, with her strength, even though her power was being restricted by the Sword Domain, her last strike at the neck should have been able to instantly kill the Sword Guard. Instead, she was merely trying to limit and weaken it.

She was probably afraid killing the Sword Guard would enrage the Imperial Mausoleum, causing an irreversible disaster. This must be why good people often suffer at the hands of bad ones... too many concerns, too constrained.

But this Sword Guard, transformed into a corpse, was as hard as steel. Conventional methods were no longer applicable to defeat and restrain it without killing it, one could only gradually wear it down, exhaust its power, and let it slip back into slumber.

Sisi must have figured all this out already... What she wanted was for everyone to be tied down while she went for the so-called "sword seal," practically a steal.

The location of the sword seal wasn’t too far. While they had been entangled here, Sisi had already obtained the sword seal and was turning back.

"Clang!" Zhao Changhe made a diagonal slash, parrying the Sword Guard’s blow, as Tang Wanju stabbed again at the Sword Guard’s chest. Spring-like energy entwined, Sword Qi binding, and actually "tied" the Sword Guard in place.

Countless clay soldiers surrounded and firmly pinned down the Sword Guard.

The next moment, Zhao Changhe and Tang Wanju, as if by prior agreement, turned their weapons in unison, and together rushed towards Sisi at the end of the passage.

Sisi sighed and suddenly raised the sword seal.

"Swish swish swish!" As if obeying an imperial command, countless clay soldiers rushed out from both sides, blocking the entrance of the passage thoroughly.

Not only that, the clay soldiers holding down the Sword Guard also surged over and sealed off the rear as well.

Sisi, hiding behind the clay soldiers, sighed, "The Sword Emperor hasn’t been provoked into awakening, nothing happened... You can break through these clay soldiers to get out without much danger, there’s no more risk. I’ll find another way to leave, and we’ll no longer cross paths. Must you really break the formation now and pursue me to the death?"

Zhao Changhe responded coldly, "This is your reason for scheming against us? For a sword seal?"

"Do you know what this sword seal is?" Sisi sighed, "Apart from the core ultimate arts, most of the essence of the Sword Emperor’s sword skills are converged here. It’s almost the general outline of all the swordsmanship under heaven."

Zhao Changhe said, "Why are you deluding yourself? This isn’t the main tomb, just the perimeter. How could such valuable treasure be placed here?"

"People of the previous epoch, I understand better than you... Before his death, he couldn’t be certain of his resurrection and wasn’t willing to let his legacy die out. He would always leave part of his destined inheritance in a relatively simpler place outside. As long as you pass the Sword Slave’s test and obtain the sword seal, that makes you his successor in the Sword Dao. However, the true core ultimate arts wouldn’t be so hastily handled. You need to fully comprehend what the sword seal imparted, and then continue exploring further inside, passing various tests before you can truly become the Sword Emperor’s successor."

Recalling the Azure Dragon Seal, Zhao Changhe knew that Sisi spoke true. The way these people managed their inheritance was indeed straightforward—it chiefly depended on fate. If it was too difficult to obtain, then only an elite powerhouse could inherit it, and they wouldn’t value such inheritance as much since it was designed for the less powerful descendants.

Unfortunately, Sisi was not Chichi.

Seeing him silent, Sisi sighed again, "We don’t know what kind of test the Sword Slave will present, perhaps not even a battle. Anyway, I’m not a sword practitioner, so it would be almost impossible for me to pass such a test. Not to mention the fear of killing the Sword Slave, lest we provoke the Imperial Mausoleum. Isn’t that unsolvable? We can only rely on stealing it. When I learned that Sister Tang was going to enter, I knew there was a way... Sister Tang is so powerful, not only capable of withstanding the Sword Slave but certainly can also exercise restraint, not killing lightly—simply flawless. Thus I sneaked in here in advance and prepared something..."

Zhao Changhe coldly said, "You could have discussed it directly."

Sisi smiled, "I believe if it was with your help, you might be willing to do this favor, and you wouldn’t even compete with me for the sword seal. But the Demon Suppression Department is a governmental affair, and the sword seal’s inheritance is also very valuable to Great Xia. Sister Tang wouldn’t agree... If I have to borrow her strength, it’s an unsolvable situation, so I can only play the villain... Actually, I’ve always been a shameless little demoness, haven’t I?"

Zhao Changhe did not reply.

"You can hate me, curse me, and if you want to beat or kill me later, I won’t blame you. But Zhao Changhe, from the moment you knew me, I came for these things..." Sisi spoke softly, "Your story is intriguing... Let me share mine with you, haven’t you been wanting to hear it for a long time?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Go ahead."

"Duan Yu is me, yet not me; he left home because he didn’t want to learn martial arts, but I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to learn the Witchcraft of our clan. Quite the opposite, I was the most outstanding among my peers in the clan. But what of it? Living in ignorance, complacent within our confines, a visitor came to the Forbidden Land, and the entire clan kneeled in submission. They were even happy about it, saying they could inherit the legacy of the ancient Divine beings. But kneeling among the crowd, I felt only disgrace."

Zhao Changhe and Tang Wanju exchanged a look, neither speaking.

That statement contained a lot of information, especially for Tang Wanju, perhaps with more to analyze.

"Our existence is unknown to the people of the Divine Continent, yet we discovered the entrance to the Divine Continent long ago and occasionally came out to trade. Although our clan is small and powerful members may not necessarily surpass those in the Divine Continent, the clan has strict rules against using our arts outside to prevent revealing our presence and creating unnecessary trouble. Mainly because they also believe that the martial arts of the Divine Continent are still nascent and not worth emulating compared to the ancestral practices... But I disagree."

"I believe that even if the martial arts of the Divine Continent are only recently developing, they are blooming like a hundred flowers, certainly better than stagnation. Furthermore, whether there’s value to emulate, you must first deeply understand, not dismiss based on arrogance. They accused me of disrespecting our ancestors and looking down on our ancestral teachings." Sisi smiled sweetly, "I said yes, the ancestral teachings that have us kneeling as servants. How impressive is that?"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

"I argued fiercely with them, and we had an agreement. If I insisted on going to the Divine Continent, fine, but on the condition that I not reveal our clan’s affairs or use our clan’s arts; and if I can’t bring back any martial arts that change everyone’s mind, then I should never return, forfeiting all my inheritance rights."

Zhao Changhe finally said, "So after you left, you did not hesitate to become the disciple of a thief, associate with debauched monks, and be a humble maid... To conceal your cultivation background, you’d rather kneel to me."

"A woman needs to know how to bend and stretch. To not have to kneel in the future, what’s the harm in pretending a time or two? Anyway, from your perspective, the one kneeling was the Heavenly Girl, not I, Xiang Simeng." Sisi said gracefully, "And there’s the matter of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation... I believed you had a secret that would be of immense value to my clan. Alas, back then, I was too foolish, restricted by my oath and refrained from using Witchcraft—otherwise, I would have dug it out sooner. Why did I have to kiss you innocently, leaving my master now thinking me a wanton..."

Zhao Changhe sighed, "Still talking about this..."

"Hmhm..." Sisi cooed, "If it’s being wanton, then so be it. I haven’t learned your etiquette. It’s my mouth, I’ll use it as I please. It’s my own loss, no need for others to gossip, right? But now, thinking about the person being my master, it doesn’t seem too bad of a deal."

Tang Wanju had remained silent throughout, but finally said, "You bring the sword seal back, would that fulfill your goals? But that is martial arts from the previous epoch, not from the Divine Continent."

Sisi clicked her tongue twice, "Head of the Department is also so single-minded. Does one learn martial arts just for the sake of learning? I sought out the martial arts of the Divine Continent to find a path where I no longer have to kneel and submit. The sword seal can already achieve this, and there’s even the hope of deeper inheritance later on. Why must I continue to learn the martial arts of a hundred houses?"

Tang Wanju: "..."

Sisi continued, "Furthermore... this proves that the vast Divine Continent holds endless relics, infinite variables, and an undetermined future for development. A territory limited to a solitary mountain can only ever remain stagnant water. What I needed to prove is already sufficient, it will surely inspire change in my clan, instead of just becoming another Jiumozhi."

At this point, she smiled again, "Maybe because I’ve learned acting, I get too immersed. When master tells a story, I always feel like everyone is me, making master so angry he wants to hit me... But there is at least one significant figure I’ve never put myself in the shoes of, so why not do it now as an apology."

A bad premonition rose in Zhao Changhe’s heart, "Who are you planning to impersonate now?"

Sisi smiled sweetly, "Duan Yanqing, who drugged Duan Yu and Mu Wanqing in the prison—I’m such a villain."

Suddenly, without him knowing, a pink mist had spread down the corridor, growing denser with her words and rapidly igniting a restless heat in the depths of the heart.

Beyond the mist, Sisi’s sigh was fading away, "Do you know why I had to trigger the tremors early... I was afraid that if I kept playing around with you, I might lose the heart to do any harm. I enjoyed your stories so much... it’s just unfortunate that the next time we meet, I don’t know if you will strike straight at my heart..."