Chaotic World Book
Chapter 99 - 97 Sword Lake’s Sudden Change

Chapter 99: Chapter 97 Sword Lake’s Sudden Change

The Four Symbols Sect could not have been acting with just the group of people present here; individuals were lying in ambush all around the nearby bamboo groves. At Zhao Changhe’s disruption, alarm bells rang from all corners, everyone rushing in the direction of Zhao Changhe.

Among them were individuals of at least the Seventh or Eighth Layer of the Mystical Gate, highlighting the Four Symbols Sect’s formidable strength.

Zhao Changhe was like a tiny ant being chased by a herd of elephants, rapidly fleeing into the bamboo forest.

Han Wubing watched, dumbfounded. You hadn’t shown that it was this serious before. Were you afraid I wouldn’t be able to resist drawing my sword so you intentionally put yourself in danger? How admirably loyal!

Xia Chichi also frowned. Zhao Changhe would certainly not sabotage his own mission on purpose, unless he felt it was not to his advantage but he couldn’t convey the message and had to risk destruction.

There must be something important here that we’ve missed, something Changhe has uncovered these past few days. Xia Chichi made a decisive call, "Stop the ritual immediately!"

The elders were stunned, "Holy Daughter, just because a rat causes trouble, it shouldn’t affect our ritual."

"When I say stop, stop immediately! Who’s the Holy Daughter here, you or me?" Xia Chichi said sternly, "No reason needed! Stop at once!"

With an order from the top, the elders looked at each other. It wasn’t worth falling out with the Holy Daughter over such a minor matter of treasure hunting, so they reluctantly ceased.

Xia Chichi breathed a sigh of relief and was about to find an excuse to leave the forest to help Zhao Changhe escape when she suddenly felt something was amiss.

The trembling from the bottom of the lake had still not subsided despite the halt of the ritual. In fact, it had become more apparent, the Sword Qi already so dense that even ordinary people might soon sense it!

"This isn’t right, someone else is continuing the Spirit Communication!" The Azure Dragon elder abruptly looked up towards a group of ordinary-looking Sword Seekers at the opposite side of the lake: "Maitreya Sect!"

Normally, he would have already crossed the water to kill, but this time, he hesitated for a moment before he started to fly: "How dare outsiders intervene in the affairs of the Four Symbols Sect! Stay behind!"

"Elder You, please remain calm. We merely wished to see what the Ancient Sword of legend looked like. It seems that it must be midday in summer for the ritual, and we thank the Four Symbols Sect for clearing up the confusion." A shiny-headed, fat man with a greasy smile rose into the air and blocked Elder You on the lake’s surface: "Since your Holy Daughter has declared forfeiture, we’ll proceed with the matters. How could that be considered interference in your Sect’s affairs?"

With those words, the Maitreya Sect did seem to have a point. They waited until you gave up to get involved; they didn’t break any rules. Elder You felt somewhat stifled in his heart. What was the Holy Daughter doing, carelessly throwing away their advantage?

However, the Demon Sect was not a place for reasoning. Elder You ignored the chubby man’s words and struck him with a palm.

With a "bang," the chubby man extended his plump hand, and the two exchanged a palm strike over the lake.

The encounter between combatants on the Human List triggered a surge of Qi Force, exploding and causing waves to rise on the lake’s surface as if someone had thrown a thousand-pound boulder into it.

The situation began to grow chaotic.

A group of Four Symbols Sect powerhouses looked at their Holy Daughter with a hint of blame, waiting to see how she would handle the current situation.

Xia Chichi said, "Based on the Maitreya Sect’s people, they could not possibly meet the criteria for Divine Sword’s selection. We withdraw, the farther the better. Let them summon the sword and kill themselves; the sword will naturally return."

It was ruthless, but it meant completely abandoning their mission. The members of the Four Symbols Sect truly didn’t understand what she was thinking. Was the mission just a decoy, actually meant to trap and kill a group of Maitreya Sect followers?

The outcome wasn’t bad, after all, the Four Symbols Sect and the Maitreya Sect were not on good terms... Without opposition, they immediately began to retreat. Xia Chichi also sent a message into the forest: "Retreat, ignore that old rat Zhao Changhe!"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Alright then, in consideration of your obedience, I’ll let the insult pass.

He had been frantically escaping through the bamboo forest, really nearly caught, but now as they stopped pursuing him, he once again doubled back, hiding at the edge of the woods to see how the situation would develop.

In the midst of the intense battle between Elder You and the fat man, upon receiving the Holy Daughter’s retreat command, Elder You, still reluctant, exchanged another palm with the fat man and turned to leave.

Further away, a fat, big Buddha-like monk, twice as fat as the previous one, was in a sweaty mess as he faced Tang Wanju: "Chief Tang, it should please you that our Maitreya Sect and the Four Symbols Sect are fighting. Why then do you stand in my way of killing the Holy Daughter of the Four Symbols Sect?"

Tang Wanju sighed: "I didn’t expect you to be so shameless, to bully the weak and kill them off. This matter also concerns the Demon Suppression Department. If Xia Chichi dies here, it would be problematic for us, so please turn back, Maitreya."

Maitreya took a deep breath, "Your lung energy has been damaged, you may not be my match. Must we really fight?"

Tang Wanju smiled slightly, "You might as well try."

The Spring Water Sword was drawn, and Maitreya’s expression turned extremely grave.

Knowing the immense potential of this Holy Daughter of the Four Symbols Sect, he, being the Sect Hierarch of Maitreya, shamelessly came to assassinate a future threat. He had anticipated support from the Vermilion Bird and others, but never did he expect the one to protect the Demoness would be Tang Wanju.

This was utterly unexpected.

Just as Maitreya was hesitating whether to fight this battle, he felt a sudden change. Tang Wanju’s expression shifted too, and both simultaneously looked in the direction of Sword Lake, blurting out, "What’s going on here?"

Against all expectations, the ritual was supposed to be incomplete, and Maitreya Sect had only just started the process. By logic, the Divine Sword should not even be close to appearing yet, but as soon as the Four Symbols Sect members had retreated, an unmatched murderous intent suddenly surged from the bottom of the lake, breaking the water surface.

The fat man, still on the surface of the lake, felt a chill, looking down; the invisible, intangible Sword Qi was already at his backside.

Even the formidable warrior from the Human List was terrified by this sword strike that seemed to traverse space, deftly twisting his body as the Sword Qi grazed his buttocks, slicing off a large chunk of his flesh.

The fat man, clutching his bleeding buttocks, was both angry and anxious, "Are you all idiots! I’m still on the surface of the lake, and you summon the sword to bring about your deaths?"

The Maitreya Sect followers were dumbfounded, "We haven’t even completed it! At most we’ve only established a dimensional connection, we might not even have awakened the Divine Sword yet!"

Fatty: "?"

Suddenly, he realized that this was probably not just about Spirit Communication summoning. It was a Divine Sword awakening to an extremely hateful presence after dimensional communication, actively coming forth on its own! It seemed he was just an innocent casualty.

The still-shaken Fatty turned his head and saw that after the Sword Qi had brushed past his buttocks, it didn’t bother with him anymore. The Sword Qi howled past, aiming straight for — Xia Chichi, who was retreating.

Xia Chichi: "?"

Zhao Changhe: "?"

Are you out of your mind? If you’re after betrayers, there’s a whole bunch of them here. I’m one of them, too. Since when did Chichi draw so much hate? She couldn’t possibly be the incarnation of your faithless man!

"Damn it." Now it was Tang Wanzhuang’s turn to think about saving someone, but Maitreya blocked her with a chuckle, "Elder Tang, this is the will of the heavens, why resist it?"

"Whoosh!" The Sword Qi arrived in an instant.

A group of strong Four Symbols Sect members raised their swords in front of Xia Chichi, only then catching a glimpse of the Divine Sword’s appearance — it was shrouded in a faintly visible icy blue glow, extremely beautiful, but with a deadly intent.

As Zhao Changhe and Tang Wanzhuang had guessed before, a sword so agile was a headache to pin down, let alone considering the severance between Ancient Times and today. The divine power from back then was how many times stronger than now? You have Human List experts and several people at the Eighth and Ninth Layer of the Mystical Gate, think you’re impressive? Does the Divine Sword even glance at you?

Elder You, who had been so commanding just before, suddenly found that he couldn’t stop the Divine Sword even for a moment. It easily slipped past him, the ferocious tip still heading straight for Xia Chichi.

Xia Chichi gritted her teeth and crossed swords, "clang!" An unmatched force surged toward her. The short sword in Xia Chichi’s hand broke, and she restrained the blood that almost reached her throat, using the momentum to fly back into the bamboo forest.

The Divine Sword pursued relentlessly, and now a group of Four Symbols Sect Members were chasing after it, only to be left farther and farther behind.

As the Holy Daughter flew backward into the bamboo forest, the Divine Sword instantly followed. The faces of the Four Symbols Sect members turned ashen.

"It’s over." Who would have thought this seemingly simple task, one that the Four Symbols Sect had done several times in the past with no major issues — at most, the Sword Seeker got chopped — would turn out so disastrously this time? The Holy Daughter had decisively given up, yet the sword was still unrelenting?

By this time, they had forgotten their previous complaints about the Holy Daughter, now feeling that the Holy Daughter was truly decisive. Instead, they were the incapable ones, unable to protect her. Each of them rushed desperately into the bamboo forest.

No one knew what the scene inside the bamboo forest was like at the moment.

Xia Chichi fell in and immediately landed in a warm embrace. Before she could react, the newcomer positioned himself between her and the Divine Sword with a swift move.

Looking at Zhao Changhe’s resolute and determined face, Xia Chichi felt time slow down, her heart turning to ash in that slow-motion scene.

Our affections for each other aren’t that deep... I don’t even know when I might forget about you.

Why would you do this...

Strangely, the sword suddenly stopped moving behind Zhao Changhe.

Zhao Changhe, sweating profusely, turned around to look, and the sword seemed to be planning to bypass him to continue stabbing at Xia Chichi.

Zhao Changhe moved with the sword, protecting Xia Chichi steadfastly.

The divine sword: "..."

Zhao Changhe and Xia Chichi exchanged glances, their minds a blur.

Originally, Zhao Changhe was supposed to be turned to mush, and Xia Chichi would be far down the list to be chopped. Who knew that all the hatred was on Xia Chichi, and Zhao Changhe was unharmed?

After a standoff, the Divine Sword grew impatient, as if it no longer wanted to spare Zhao Changhe’s feelings, planning to pierce through both of them.

However, just as it thrust down, Xia Chichi suddenly exerted force, reversing positions to shield Zhao Changhe behind her.

"Fuck, are you stupid?" Zhao Changhe cursed instinctively.

As the curse left his lips, he realized something was off. Xia Chichi’s expression was normal, and the Divine Sword hadn’t stabbed down?

Looking up, Han Wubing had arrived at some point, his hand on the hilt of the sword. The Divine Sword trembled slightly but finally ceased its Vicious Energy.

Han Wubing looked a bit out of breath, but his expression was strange: "The Divine Sword told me to tell you two to get lost. It wants to kill faithless and ungrateful people, not to watch a couple ready to die for each other having a lovey-dovey stare in front of it. If it watches any longer, it can’t help but chop you both together."

Xia Chichi sprang up, "What did I do to be faithless and ungrateful? Explain yourself!"

Zhao Changhe pulled at her clothes from behind, whispering, "The Azure Dragon Seal."

Xia Chichi suddenly realized and took out the Azure Dragon Seal she always carried with her.

The Divine Sword trembled violently, shaking so much that even Han Wubing couldn’t hold it. As the sword lightly touched the Azure Dragon Seal, the three felt the world spin, and when they opened their eyes next, they had disappeared from the spot.

The Four Symbols Sect members entered to see, as it seemed, Zhao Changhe and Han Wubing kidnapping the Holy Daughter with no idea where they went.

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PS: More coming tonight, seeking monthly tickets~