Light Fortress
Chapter 249 - 225: Flame

Chapter 249: Chapter 225: Flame

All of Qin Ye’s attention was focused on that bronze box.

As Gu Shen pondered for a few seconds, his thoughts also briefly flitted about—revisiting the rainy night at Lion Alley ten years ago, where his conversation with Lu Cheng lasted less than ten minutes.

In fact, as an Angel Envoy of the Source Tower, that was his first time traveling such a great distance for a mission.

The mission target was tricky.

It was one of the most powerful, prestigious, and wealthy men in Da Du.

Yet he did not live in a luxurious detached villa, nor in a grand high-rise, nor even in the wealthy main city district but in a secluded, uninhabited, old mansion without a Deep Sea link.

In Qin Ye’s view, it was a place already obsolete by time, where no one would choose to live.

For that very reason... with the Deep Sea unusable, he ultimately failed to find what he wanted in the mansion. He could only return to Central Continent with a part of the Lion Awakening technology from Lu Cheng’s mind, barely fulfilling the mission of the Source Tower.

In the ten years that followed, he often revisited the exchange with Lu Cheng in his dreams.

The man, nearly devoid of Extraordinary Abilities, showed no surprise or vigilance upon seeing him, merely treating him as an "old friend."

"We will eventually meet."

Those were Lu Cheng’s original words.

A man who had long predicted his own death had prepared every day of his life for the arrival of the Angel Envoy; therefore, when the day truly came, he was calm and composed, poised even in demeanor.

Rather than say he found Lu Cheng.

It would be more accurate to say... Lu Cheng was waiting here for him.

The exchange at Lion Alley was very simple.

"I won’t make it difficult for you. You can take my life, anytime, anywhere."

Lu Cheng calmly delivered a long monologue, clearly a eulogy he had prepared long ago, "but I won’t hand over the ’Lion Awakening Technology’ to the Federation Government. If the goal of the Angel Envoy is truly to benefit all of mankind, for the sake of rebuilding a perfect new world order, then I hope you realize at some point in the future that mankind has taken a completely wrong path."

The conversation ended there.

By the time Qin Ye invaded the spirit, it was too late. The man was already prepared... calmly facing his own death, and instead of letting the Angel Envoy kill him, he chose suicide. The Spirit Ocean collapsed in an instant, and even though he used a talisman, he could only intercept a small portion of the complete message remnants. Through these spirit messages, the Source Tower analyzed the core refinement process of the Lion Awakening Technology, and with the computation of the Deep Sea, engineered, and inferred a method for ordinary people to achieve "Extraordinary Awakening."

In the ten years that followed, scholars of Central Continent went all out, and the Deep Sea also invested massive computing power, working together to overcome challenges layer by layer, until now when "Awakening Technology" was comprehensively perfected... in fact, it was still a counterfeit, as Allen Turing and Lu Cheng’s research was locked away in an unknown location. The Federation Government’s research had now encountered a bottleneck, and the quickest and most convenient way to enhance the level of craftsmanship, aside from continuing to invest more computing power and waiting longer, was to find the lost Lion Awakening research data.

But the moment the key was inserted into the box,

Qin Ye found himself grappling with a terrible thought.

He suddenly remembered what Lu Cheng had said ten years ago.

"Mankind has taken a completely wrong path."

In his heart, a moment of confusion and wavering arose.

But in the next moment, all thoughts were disrupted by the furious strike of Sword Light.

...

...

In the underground secret tunnel, the gentle breeze flowing tenderly became sharp in an instant.

Countless fine strands of wild wind sliced through each other like knives.

That was wind.

And also swords!

Gu Shen’s body blocked all of Qin Ye’s sight, and behind him... the lady supported her "sleeping" sister, whose body seemed limp but in fact, one hand was already quietly resting on the scabbard.

Upon taking over her sister, realizing the strangeness of the underground secret tunnel, the lady had already injected the antidote for the Spirit Dissolver.

And after Lu Nanjin "awoke," she cooperated very quietly, listening to all of Qin Ye’s dialogues... and silently waited for a suitable moment to take action.

The flowing wind underground was her final signal.

Lu Nanjin could only hope that Gu Shen, having seen her "Lan Qie", would understand what the anomaly in the wind direction meant...

In front of an Angel Envoy, there was no other way to survive.

With a "buzz," a furious sword hum erupted.

Lu Nanjin dashed out in a sliding kneel from behind Gu Shen.

Clutching her long sword, she stood up instantly, pulling out the long and short swords at her sides, two shining waterfalls lashing out in the narrow tunnel, the wild wind spiraling like tornadoes, Lan Qie filling the tunnel in a flash, the circular stone walls around the tunnel instantly desiccated and shattered, as if a dragon’s roar vibrated from beneath the ground!

Before she drew her sword, she was only inches away from Qin Ye.

After drawing her blade, two long and short swords violently intersected in a cross, enveloping Qin Ye’s entire body within the Sword Force.

The coat, fluttering like ink, was slashed to pieces just like ink itself.

Nan Jin’s pupils constricted as she delivered dozens of slashes in an instant, almost shredding everything in the underground secret tunnel for ten meters in front of her, even the air was minced by Lan Qie.

As the Sword Gang swept across, diminishing in layers of distance until it finally dissipated, the coat fluttered back to its original form.

He was like a ghost in the night, essentially lacking a real body.

Slash with the blade, slash with the sword... truly ineffective.

Qin Ye slowly came back to his senses from his daze.

He looked towards the woman in front of him, his gaze growing increasingly gloomy... what an ironic scene, he had just reminded Tie Wu, yet he himself made almost the exact same mistake.

Why... did his thoughts become so disordered at such a critical moment?

Qin Ye stretched out his hand, pressing it towards Lu Nanjin’s head.

A foreboding premonition emerged.

He frowned.

In the darkness, there was no longer the sudden brightness of sword light, nor were there any furious voices.

Lu Nanjin, instead of retreating, advanced; against the Angel Envoy’s palm, she drew the third blade at her waist.

It was a black parrying dagger, an ancient type of blade, named for its use in blocking the body against enemies—entirely black and concealed, small and sharp, in the moment the blade was drawn, one needed to be as close as possible to the enemy.

The true intent to kill is often silent.

The distance of this blade’s strike was even closer than a mere few inches.

The two almost collided!

As Lu Nanjin drew her blade, her pupils constricted. This time she understood why her previous strike had missed... the space around her had changed at the very moment she struck; the distance to pierce Qin Ye was only a centimeter, but that centimeter kept stretching.

But... everyone has their limits.

If the speed of the strike is fast enough, the distance between them close enough, and the striker’s power strong enough,

then it is possible to break through this final barrier.

The gale slowly dissipated in the echo of the entire underground secret tunnel.

The silent killing intent also slowly faded.

Qin Ye still maintained the posture of his stretched-out palm, just a tiny bit away from pressing on Lu Nanjin’s head.

The momentum of that blade had been completely exhausted... from concealment to release, there wasn’t the slightest sound, yet it was an incredibly stunning killing technique.

It has to be said.

This blade was terrifying.

If Lu Nanjin’s realm had been a bit higher, her strength a bit stronger, then Xumi would not have been able to stretch the distance of this blade.

Perhaps this blade would have pierced through his heart.

But now... unfortunately.

There was a tiny slit on Qin Ye’s palm, barely visible unless looked at closely — that was actually a layer of white skin sliced by the Sword Gang... not even blood had flowed out.

This blade, could not be considered a complete miss; in physical terms, Lu Nanjin’s final slash at the moment her momentum was exhausted had indeed touched Qin Ye’s skin.

But it caused no damage.

"... It’s over."

Qin Ye looked towards the three people, speaking softly, "You will pay the price for your foolish actions."

He was about to press down his palm when his expression subtly changed.

At the site of the wound, a strange burning sensation suddenly ignited.

The broken wound, though it had not bled, was still a wound...

A flicker of flame ignited in Qin Ye’s palm.

...

...

(PS: Last night’s 2000 words were a bit few; this Chapter is also considered part of the extra update for 1000 monthly tickets, I continue to ask for monthly tickets. I hope we can reach 1500 tickets this month so that I can continue to add more updates.)