Chapter 519: A Sword Attracting the Heavenly River
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Duan Muxiao obtained this secret technique in his early years, but when he started practicing it, he found it increasingly challenging to continue. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t persevere.
Apart from the limited compatibility between Duan Muxiao and this Judgement Eye technique, the crucial factor was that practicing the Judgement Eye required simultaneous cultivation with other complementary techniques to reach its pinnacle.
However, Duan Muxiao only acquired the Judgement Eye and didn’t obtain any of the a.s.sociated techniques.
Chen Fei, on the other hand, had a breakthrough panel and didn’t require other complementary techniques. Even so, it took Chen Fei quite a long time to eventually reach the state of perfection in practicing the Judgement Eye.
The Judgement Eye shared some similarities with the Sword Return Eye; both involved some elements of causality.
The Sword Return Eye could capture residual auras from the past. If something existed in the past and had been destroyed in the present, the Sword Return Eye could still retrieve it from the past.
If this isn’t causality, then what is?
Similarly, the Judgement Eye worked in a similar manner. Just by observing a person, it could deduce a lot of information from various details about that person.
This was different from the previous Backtrack Vision, which truly relied on details to predict the future, making it well-founded.
The Judgement Eye, based on details, could sometimes come up with information that seems unrelated but still held true.
In the past, Duan Muxiao relied on the Judgement Eye to gather information about many a.s.sa.s.sination targets. That was also why, when tasked with a.s.sa.s.sinating Chen Fei, Duan Muxiao was so determined to personally lay eyes on him.
Duan Muxiao wanted to confirm various pieces of information about Chen Fei through the Judgement Eye.
Unfortunately, Duan Muxiao’s mastery of the Judgement Eye was lacking, and the information he obtained was limited. Before he could escape, he was forcefully injured by Chen Fei and lost a lifetime’s worth of savings to him.
“Did that evil person really not die?” Qin Haishan asked, somewhat surprised.
Before coming here, Qin Haishan had done a lot of research and knew that in this area, there was a person at the initial stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm who was evil.
At the time, Qin Haishan knew that this evil person couldn’t escape the pursuit of the Shadow Abyss Sect. However, he didn’t expect this evil person to be quite resourceful and managed to elude the grasp of the Shadow Abyss Sect.
As for Chen Fei being able to discern a person’s life or death from just a trace of aura, both Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu had already become accustomed to it.
Back during the Flag Capture Compet.i.tion, the number of secret techniques Chen Fei practiced had shocked several people.
Later, Qin Haishan continued to witness Chen Fei single-handedly suppressing the five factions. Regarding the talent Chen Fei displayed, Qin Haishan had nothing more to say. At most, when he encountered Tong Zhongqiu privately, Qin Haishan couldn’t help but make a few jokes.
Qin Haishan didn’t know where he heard it from, but he learned that in the past, Chen Fei had tried to join the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect and was rejected without even entering their gate.
When Qin Haishan heard this news, he was shocked and even questioned its authenticity.
With Chen Fei’s visibly extraordinary talent, was the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect deluded at the time, or were they blinded by something? Refusing entry even at the sect’s gate was an incredibly exaggerated matter.
If such a thing had happened in the Break Soul Sect, Qin Haishan would have torn apart and peeled alive those responsible for recruiting disciples; it would have been unbearable.
Hearing Chen Fei’s words, Tong Zhongqiu was also somewhat surprised. Master Xi Lian’s abilities seemed a bit too strong. He had managed to escape from the Shadow Abyss Sect, a sect dedicated to hunting the evil.
If it weren’t for the spiritual treasures in the Imperial City, Master Xi Lian would probably be unstoppable in this area.
After looking at the aura in his hand for a moment, Chen Fei’s gaze began to flicker more frequently, and strands of information appeared in his mind.
“Should we go take a look?” After a moment, Chen Fei looked up at Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu.
In the interest of protecting the people, there were some cases where dealing with evils was necessary. After all, evils, creatures like this, posed a greater threat to humanity than the bizarre.
Evils didn’t need to feed on blood; they could ingest and manipulate the elemental qi of the world and even cultivate normally.
The elemental qi of the world was indispensable for both martial pract.i.tioners and evils.
However, for human evils, without the sustenance of human blood and the wisdom contained within it, their human side gradually weakened, ultimately being completely devoured by their evil nature.
Therefore, if there was a chance to eliminate human evils, Chen Fei didn’t mind contributing his effort.
What was even more critical was that if there was an opportunity to refine human evils, it could greatly enhance his own strength. Among human evils, although the word “human” was present, most of it had become evil, a highly unique type of evil.
There were undoubtedly benefits to the various evils being actively hunted down by the Shadow Abyss Sect.
Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu exchanged glances, their interest piqued. Leaving aside everything else, Master Xi Lian still had the remains of a high-grade magical treasure in his possession.
Just this item alone would be a rare treasure for both of them.
Seeing the expressions of the two, Chen Fei understood their intentions. He smiled faintly, shifted his form, and flew towards another direction, with Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu closely following behind.
After flying for nearly half an hour, Chen Fei slowly came to a stop. At this point, the aura of Master Xi Lian had disappeared without a trace.
The aura had spread over such a long distance and lingered for so long; it had to be said that human evils had a severe impact on their environment.
Martial pract.i.tioners, even those in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, would leave no lingering aura behind after pa.s.sing through a place for an extended period. But human evils were different; their cold, damp, and chilling presence seemed to seep into one’s soul.
So, after all this time, the original location of Shangwu City still had that dark brownish ground.
The capture and death of Master Xi Lian had occurred two months ago, but his aura had spread such a long distance and disappeared only at this location.
Tong Zhongqiu and Qin Haishan also sensed the disappearance of the human evil aura and turned to look at Chen Fei, curious about his next move.
Chen Fei’s right hand formed a sword gesture, pa.s.sing over his own forehead, creating a crack in the position of his eyebrow. In the next moment, a faint beam of light emerged from it.
The Heavenly Eye!
Previously, it had combined the Sword Return Eye, Backtrack Vision, and Star Gazing Art, forming a unique eye technique. Now, with the addition of the Judgement Eye, the power of the entire secret technique had become even more formidable.
Of course, the mental strain on Chen Fei also became significantly severe.
Chen Fei raised his head slightly, and in his field of vision, the entire world turned black and white, with countless lines intersecting within it.
Compared to the previous Heavenly Eye, with the addition of the Judgement Eye, Chen Fei could now see even more lines.
Each of these fine lines contained vast amounts of information, and each one had the potential to drain Chen Fei’s mental energy in an instant.
Therefore, Chen Fei instinctively ignored these lines and instead selected the one he needed.
Chen Fei’s gaze shifted, and he quickly found the black fine line. Compared to the other lines, this black line seemed insignificant, and as a result, the mental energy consumption it imposed on Chen Fei was within acceptable limits.
Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu watched in amazement as the light blossomed from Chen Fei’s brow.
They felt a slight, piercing sensation in their own minds, indicating that the light contained a significant mental impact from Chen Fei.
This was their first time witnessing Chen Fei using this technique, and they could faintly understand how Chen Fei had located the opponent’s flag during the Flag Capture Compet.i.tion.
“Let’s go!”
Chen Fei’s figure flickered and disappeared from his original position. Compared to before, his speed had increased several-fold.
The rapid depletion of his mental energy forced Chen Fei to pick up the pace. Otherwise, he feared that he would run into problems with his mental faculties before finding Master Xi Lian.
Despite continuously eliminating heart evils over the past few years to strengthen his mental energy, this sustained consumption was taking its toll on Chen Fei.
An hour pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye, and Chen Fei still hadn’t located Master Xi Lian.
During the journey, Chen Fei had to intermittently stop the continuous use of the Heavenly Eye technique and instead use it for a period, then close it after confirming the direction.
The persistence of Master Xi Lian in evading pursuit had widened Chen Fei’s perspective somewhat. It was no wonder he had managed to elude the Shadow Abyss Sect’s pursuit.
Master Xi Lian never stayed in one place for more than a day in his efforts to avoid the Shadow Abyss Sect’s pursuit, immediately moving to another location afterward.
Despite the pervasive and strong cold aura, Master Xi Lian managed to completely erase it.
However, Chen Fei also noticed that the Shadow Abyss Sect disciple chasing Master Xi Lian should be in the later stages of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. After pursuing Master Xi Lian for some time without success, they had temporarily given up.
Evidently, that person had shifted their focus to the spiritual resonance.
Even in the later stages of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, they weren’t qualified to contend for the broken spiritual treasure. Spiritual resonance was a more practical pursuit for them.
Compared to the spiritual resonances, the value of Master Xi Lian’s evil was decent, but it still fell far short in comparison.
If too much time were spent on Master Xi Lian’s evil, the late-stage Combined Aperture Tempering realm expert might start worrying whether they’d make it back in time to share the spiritual resonances.
The broken spiritual treasure had been regarded as a forbidden fruit by several peak Combined Aperture Tempering realm experts. The spiritual resonances dispersed by the treasure had also been divided among several influential factions.
The major share was kept for themselves, while the small portion that leaked out was considered a meager offering to others.
After a journey filled with stops and starts, three hours later, Chen Fei stopped once again.
Qin Haishan and Tong Zhongqiu watched Chen Fei’s figure, knowing his character and having witnessed his many wonders. They understood that this almost erratic search had no discernible pattern, and they couldn’t possibly follow Chen Fei if they didn’t have faith in him.
Because they trusted Chen Fei, they refrained from making any comments even after three hours of aimless wandering.
“It’s over there,” Chen Fei said softly, looking at the Heaven’s Pa.s.sage River in front of him.
After taking a circuitous route, Chen Fei hadn’t expected Master Xi Lian to end up inside the Heaven’s Pa.s.sage River, which was a hundred miles away from Shangwu City.
This Heaven’s Pa.s.sage River had a myth from the past, where a sword could draw the river up to the heavens. Countless young martial enthusiasts had once aspired to it, dreaming of mastering the way of the sword.
However, within this Heaven’s Pa.s.sage River now, there was no celestial river water; all that remained was a struggling human evil.
Typically, when a river was contaminated by evils, it would have been filled with floating corpses long ago. But in the case of the Heaven’s Pa.s.sage River today, it seemed completely unaffected.
It was unclear whether this was due to Master Xi Lian’s own techniques or the influence of that broken high-grade magical treasure.
Beneath the Heaven’s Pa.s.sage River, in a pebble-sized stone, an eyeball suddenly opened. The eyeball was entirely white, with only a pin-sized pupil..