Chapter 120 Incorrect Path

Qin Ye focused all his attention on the bronze box.

During the few seconds Gu Shen pondered, his thoughts wandered briefly, a rare occurrence... Ten years ago, in the Lion Alley on that rainy night, his conversation with Lu Cheng lasted less than ten minutes.

In fact, as an Apostle of the Source Tower, that was the first time he had traveled such a great distance to carry out a mission.

The target was tricky.

He was one of the most powerful, most influential, and wealthiest men in the entire capital.

However, he didn't live in a luxurious villa, a high-rise apartment, or even in the prosperous main district, but in a remote, desolate, dilapidated house without any Deep Sea link.

In Qin Ye's view, it was a place that had long been abandoned by the times, where no one would want to live.

Because of this… the Deep Sea could not be used. In the end, he couldn't find what he wanted in the house. He could only return to Zhongzhou with a portion of the Lion's Awakening technology from Lu Cheng's mind, barely fulfilling the mission of the Source Tower.

But in the ten years that followed, he often dreamed of his conversation with Lu Cheng.

The man, who had almost no supernatural abilities, showed no surprise or vigilance when he saw him, but instead seemed to be meeting an "old friend."

"We will eventually meet."

These were Lu Cheng's exact words.

A man who had foreseen his future death, who had prepared every day of his life to welcome the Apostle, so when that day truly came, he remained calm and composed.

It wasn't so much that he found Lu Cheng.

Rather… Lu Cheng was waiting for him here.

The exchange in Lion Alley was very simple.

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

Lu Cheng calmly delivered a long monologue, clearly his prepared last words, "But I will not hand over the Lion's Awakening technology to the Federal Government. If the Apostle's goal is truly to benefit all mankind, to rebuild a perfect and orderly new world, then I hope that at some point in the future, you will realize that humanity has taken a completely wrong path."

The conversation ended there.

It was too late when Qin Ye invaded his mind. This man had long been prepared… He chose suicide rather than being killed by the Apostle. His spiritual ocean collapsed in an instant. Even with his artifact, he could only intercept a small portion of complete information. It was through this spiritual information that the Source Tower analyzed the core extraction process of the Lion's Awakening technology and, through Deep Sea calculations, modifications, and deductions, developed a preliminary method to allow ordinary people to "awaken" their supernatural abilities.

In the next ten years, Zhongzhou's scholars did their best, and the Deep Sea invested a massive amount of computing power. The two worked together, overcoming difficulties layer by layer, until now that the "awakening technology" has been fully perfected... In fact, this is still just a counterfeit. Alan Turing and Lu Cheng's research results were locked away in an unknown location. The Federal Government's research has now encountered a bottleneck. To improve the process, the fastest and most convenient method, besides continuing to invest more computing power and wait longer, is to find the lost Lion's Awakening research data.

But the moment the key was inserted into the box.

Qin Ye found that a terrible thought appeared in his mind.

He actually recalled what Lu Cheng had said ten years ago.

"Humanity has taken a completely wrong path."

For a moment, he felt confusion, a moment of wavering.

And the next moment, all his thoughts were interrupted by the furious blade light.

…

…

In the underground secret passage, the gentle breeze instantly became sharp.

Countless strands of fine wind, like blades, intertwined and slaughtered each other.

It was wind.

Even more, it was a blade!

Gu Shen's body blocked Qin Ye's entire view, and behind him… Madam supported her "unconscious" sister. The latter's body seemed limp, but in reality, one hand had already silently rested on the hilt of her blade.

After taking her sister and realizing the strangeness of the underground secret passage, Madam injected the antidote for the mental dissolving agent.

And after Lu Nanjin "woke up," she cooperated very well by remaining still. She silently listened to all of Qin Ye's conversation… and quietly waited for a suitable opportunity to strike.

The flowing wind in the underground was her final signal.

Lu Nanjin could only believe that Gu Shen, who had seen her 'Arashi Cut', should know what the change in wind direction meant…

To survive in front of an Apostle, there was no other way.

With a furious blade cry, Lu Nanjin flashed out, gliding out from behind Gu Shen.

She gripped her long blade, instantly drawing out the long and short blades from her waist as she rose. Two streams of silver light slashed out in the narrow secret passage, a whirlwind like a tornado. The Arashi Cut filled the secret passage in an instant. The surrounding circular stone walls of the underground instantly dried up and shattered, as if the sound of a dragon's roar reverberated from the depths of the earth!

Before drawing her blade, she was within arm's reach of Qin Ye.

After drawing her blade, the two long and short blades suddenly intersected, forming a cross, intending to engulf Qin Ye's entire body within the blade's momentum.

The swaying black trench coat was shattered like ink—

Nanjin's pupils contracted. In an instant, she slashed out dozens of times, almost cutting through everything in the underground secret passage for ten meters in front of her. Even the air was shattered by the Arashi Cut.

As the blade aura swept forward, colliding with countless obstacles, its power gradually diminished, and after finally dissipating, the trench coat swayed and restored itself.

He was like a ghost in the night, without any true substance.

Blade strikes, sword slashes… were all ineffective.

Qin Ye slowly recovered from his daze.

He looked at the woman in front of him, his gaze gradually turning gloomy… What an ironic scene. He had just reminded Tie Wu, but he had made almost the exact same mistake himself.

Why… would his thoughts become so muddled at such a crucial moment?

Qin Ye reached out and pressed his palm towards Lu Nanjin's head.

A sense of foreboding arose.

He frowned.

In the darkness, there was no more sudden blade light, nor furious sounds.

Lu Nanjin advanced instead of retreated, enduring the Apostle's palm, and drew the third blade from her waist.

It was a black Obstruction Blade. This was a very ancient blade weapon. As the name suggests, it was used to obstruct the body and defend against enemies. The entire blade was black and concealed, short and sharp. The moment it was drawn, it required getting as close to the enemy as possible.

True killing intent was often silent.

The distance of this blade strike was even closer than within arm's reach.

The two almost collided!

Lu Nanjin's pupils contracted the moment she drew her blade. This time, she understood why her previous blade strikes had missed… The surrounding space changed the moment the blade was drawn. Even though there was only one centimeter of distance, enough to stab Qin Ye, that one centimeter was constantly lengthening.

But… people have limits.

If the speed of the blade strike was fast enough, the distance between them was close enough, and the strength of the wielder was strong enough.

Then they could break through this final barrier.

The howling wind slowly dissipated as it echoed through the underground secret passage.

The silent killing intent also gradually dissipated.

Qin Ye remained in the posture of reaching out his palm, just a little bit away from pressing down on Lu Nanjin's head.

The momentum of that blade strike had been completely exhausted… From concealment to release, there was no sound, yet it was an incredibly stunning killing technique.

It had to be said.

This blade was terrifying.

If Lu Nanjin's realm was higher, and her strength was greater, then Sumeru would not have been able to lengthen the distance of this blade strike.

Perhaps this blade would have pierced his heart.

But now… it was a pity.

There was a small gash on Qin Ye's palm, barely noticeable unless one looked closely. It was actually a layer of skin broken by the blade aura… Not even blood flowed out.

This blade strike could not be considered a complete miss. From a physical perspective, Lu Nanjin's final slash, at the moment her momentum was exhausted, ultimately touched Qin Ye's skin.

It just didn't cause any damage.

“…It’s over.”

Qin Ye looked at the three of them and said softly, "You will pay the price for your foolish actions."

He was about to press down his palm, then his expression changed slightly.

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

A broken wound, even if it didn't bleed, was still a wound…

A small flame ignited on Qin Ye's palm.

…

…

(ps: Last night's two thousand words were a bit short, so this chapter will also be counted towards the extra update for one thousand monthly votes. I'll continue to ask for monthly votes. I hope to reach one thousand five hundred votes this month, so I can continue to update more.)