Chapter 541: You

There was a seemingly casual expression on Shen’s face as he stood before Chen Xiaolian. And yet, despite the indifferent smile on Shen’s face, Chen Xiaolian felt an extreme sense of agitation within his heart.

He gripped the Sword in the Stone tightly and pointed it at Shen.

When this fellow said the word ‘obtain’, Chen Xiaolian’s heart thumped.

Although they had never actually fought before, Chen Xiaolian understood that this man with a friendly and elegant demeanour was most certainly a terrifying master.

In fact, he was probably the strongest opponent Chen Xiaolian had ever encountered since getting involved in this world.

Not one of, but the strongest.

The Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild.

Back then, just one Tian Lie from Thorned Flower Guild had nearly killed off his entire guild.

It was not impossible to imagine what kind of power this Guild Leader of Thorned Flower Guild would possess.

“Last time, when I saw you in the instance dungeon, I had this strangest feeling. Perhaps, perhaps you are the key that I have been searching for all this time – now, it would appear that my sixth sense is quite accurate.”

Shen smiled. As he spoke, he turned to look at the sword that Chen Xiaolian was wielding. “You plan on using that sword to fight me? Mm, it is quite a good equipment. However, Chen Xiaolian, I have to politely tell you this fact. You are really no match for me.”

Chen Xiaolian turned to check the time.

Time until the appearance of the temporary teleportation portal: Three more minutes!

“What do you want to do by capturing me?” Chen Xiaolian calmed himself down and deliberately asked in a slow manner. “Torture? You think there is a secret you might be interested in on my person?”

“He he.” Shen’s smile remained nonchalant. He spread open his hands and casually stepped forward. “No, I would never do something so unpleasant. However… … I think you might be able to lead me toward something that I have been chasing after all this time. The answer might be inside you.”

Chen Xiaolian suddenly thought of something. “You are a Player!”

“Yes. What about it?”

“Since you are a Player, where can you keep me after capturing me?” Chen Xiaolian frowned and continued, “After this instance dungeon ends, you will still have to leave this world… … mm, even if you are a high-ranking Player with your own Exclusive Account, where can you bring me to? Could it be, you have a certain hidden place somewhere within this world? You…”

After reaching that topic, Chen Xiaolian deliberately paused before continuing, “You cannot possibly capture me and bring me out of this world! Bringing me… … into the outside world!”

Shen laughed.

He looked at Chen Xiaolian, his face revealing amusement. “You are a cunning one… … no, it would be more accurate to say, you are very smart. Even at this juncture, you still want to pry information from me?”

His finger gently drew a line across the air and a fine, black coloured crack appeared in the air.

“You want to know how the world beyond this looks like? Or should I say… … you want to know how the Players’ world looks like?”

Chen Xiaolian was silent.

“It is useless.” Shen sighed. “Useless, Chen Xiaolian. Regardless of how smart you may be, even if you managed to trick me into revealing some information, you will not be able to obtain that information. Why? Because of the existence of the rules. The rules will erase all the forbidden information that you received. You won’t even remember it – even if I tell you, you will not remember it.”

“And if I want to know? Even if for a few seconds, even if, after I find out about it, my memories get erased…” Chen Xiaolian stared at Shen. “Will you tell me?”

“… … …” Shen cast a lengthy stare at Chen Xiaolian before shaking his head. “I am sorry, I am unable to do so.”

“… unable to do so?”

“What I mean by that is, I am also bound by the rules of the system. I cannot give you the answer to your question.”

Shen shook his head. “Enough, time for questions is over – by the way, your actions of delaying time is, in fact, pointless.”

“… … …” Chen Xiaolian’s face gave a slight flicker.

“In a situation where there is a large difference in power, a minor trick like buying time is actually pointless. Defeating you would take me no more than 10 seconds.” Shen spread open his hands. “Of course, I know that my words would fall on deaf ears. Under such circumstances, you would definitely resist with everything you have. So… … you may take action now.”

Chen Xiaolian clenched his teeth tightly.

He slowly raised the Sword in the Stone in his hand and took half a step back. His knees bent slightly. Next, he abruptly shot forward.

Chen Xiaolian exerted all his might to swing down with his sword.

Golden light burst forth and the [S] class power he received from Skyblade howled out.

Following his swing, a golden beam of light swept toward Shen. As for Chen Xiaolian, he quickly backed away.

This [S] class power from Skyblade had proven useful against others. At this moment, however, against Shen, he feared that it would not be that effective.

After unleashing the sword beam, Chen Xiaolian chose to run away.

He made a very wise choice.

The golden sword beam descended upon Shen, but he showed no intention of blocking it. Then, with a flicker of his body, he rushed forward.

He did not make any move to block it. He simply put up a finger before him before stepping forward.

Just like that, Shen’s figure moved right ‘through’ the golden sword beam.

Before Shen, the invincible power belonging to Skyblade became no more than a warm and harmless ray of light. Casually, he stepped out from the golden sword beam.

The golden sword beam failed to even ruffle his clothes.

Chen Xiaolian was rapidly retreating.

Right after unleashing the sword beam, Chen Xiaolian had begun combusting his attributes.

Goddess of Dawn! Fire!

After combusting all his attributes, Chen Xiaolian swung out a second time.

This time, the golden sword beam appeared more faint in colour. It was no longer a dazzling colour of yellow. Instead, it had a more beautiful pale golden quality to it.

Seeing that, Shen’s face revealed a slight flicker. “Mm? An interesting skill.”

Using the same finger, he then drew a circle before him.

A sphere of energy that resembled an umbrella appeared before him and he continued moving forward.

Once again, he made it past the beam. The attack using the Goddess of Dawn skill, which had combusted all of Chen Xiaolian’s attributes was broken through by Shen.

It failed to disturb even a piece of hair on Shen.

Chen Xiaolian continued retreating.

His mind had been utterly blown away.

He knew that Shen was very powerful. However, he had never expected him to be this powerful.

He can simply shrug off [S] class attacks?

Adding the power from combusting his attributes using the Goddess of Dawn and Skyblade’s [S] class power, putting them all into one attack, that was Chen Xiaolian’s limit.

However, this enemy casually dealt with this attack.

“It is as I have told you. The difference strength is too big. There is no point in you resisting.” Shen continued stepping forward nonchalantly toward Chen Xiaolian. “You strength is pretty good. That attack earlier has reached the realm of [S] class. However, there is something wrong with it. I get the feeling that the power does not belong to you. Rather, you ‘inherited’ it from some other place. Let me give you an advice. Inherited powers are not really your own. Although it may seem powerful, it is actually not a true [S] class power. The extent of the power is lacking compared to the titans of Zero City’s resident guilds.”

After a pause, Shen then smiled and pointed his finger at Chen Xiaolian. “You see, this is true [S] class.”

As Shen’s finger pointed at him, Chen Xiaolian’s pupils quickly contracted.

All he saw was a faint and seemingly non-existent flicker of light, almost like a blip. That tiny flicker of light suddenly magnified before his eyes and he was only able to put the Sword in the Stone up in defence before him before it violently sent him flying. He practically had no time for anything else.

The moment he put his sword up, the flicker of light landed upon the blade of his Sword in the Stone and he flew.

Chen Xiaolian’s body flew backward and he slammed head first into the pile of debris behind him. His figure burst through a large concrete wall, leaving a large hole on the wall.

Shen lowered his hand and looked at the hole in the distance. Then, he said coolly, “Stop playing dead. I know this attack would hurt you a lot, but it is not fatal. You are not that weak.”

Chen Xiaolian struggled to climb out from the pile of debris. Swinging his sword, he brushed away the debris before him and charged forward once more.

The third attack!

King’s Courage. Thanks to this complimentary skill of the Sword in the Stone, he was able to instantly recover his attributes. With that, he could even utilize the Goddess of Dawn skill once again.

However, Chen Xiaolian did not do so.

Since it was ineffective the first time around, repeating it would be pointless.

Chen Xiaolian decided to fight to buy time.

He slashed down the Sword in the Stone with his right hand while his left hand quickly made a grasping motion as he summoned out something that appeared like a glowing booklet.

The Starchart of Generals.

“Battalion Commander! Come out!”

Chen Xiaolian shouted.

A large number of figures flew out from the Starchart of Generals that he had previously acquired from the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang instance dungeon.

An army in circular formation appeared before Chen Xiaolian.

One hundred fully armed Qin terracotta soldiers appeared before Chen Xiaolian. All of them wielded pikes, acting as a shield before Chen Xiaolian.

Among the circular army formation were two senior-ranking terracotta soldiers. They wielded swords instead.

This was the new skill obtained after the Starchart of Generals levelled up. Battalion Commander: Summon 100 Qin terracotta soldiers to fight for him. Cool down duration for this summon was 30 minutes. [1]

After using the skill, Chen Xiaolian did not feel relieved. He knew all too well that these 100 terracotta soldiers were hardly capable of dealing any harm to Shen. Thus, right after summoning them, he turned tail and ran.

“A summon-type skill? Interesting.” Shen laughed. “You have quite the number of tricks up your sleeve.”

As Chen Xiaolian was running, the Qin terracotta soldiers gave a shout and proceeded to attack Shen.

Shen responded with a smile and took a step forward. With this one step, his figure flashed into the middle of the Qin army.

The surrounding Qin terracotta soldiers stabbed at Shen with their pikes and swords. Shen however, simply moved the same finger he used earlier to tap the air.

One tap.

Instantly, the hundred-strong terracotta army froze.

Next, they all shattered apart and crashed to the ground.

Shen kept his finger and turned to find that there were four more figures standing before Chen Xiaolian.

Four generals in black coloured Qin military armour stood in a row before Chen Xiaolian.

The four generals of the Meng clan.

Behind the four figures was another general in golden coloured armour. A spear was thrust into the ground before him while a longbow rested behind him.

Donglai – Taishi Ci.

Chen Xiaolian had summoned out five generals from the Starchart of Generals.

To his frustration, Bai Qi was still in a dormant state and could not be summoned. Otherwise, he might stand a chance of succeeding.

After seeing the five generals, Shen halted his steps. He narrowed his eyes as he regarded them for a moment. Then, he laughed.

“Starchart of Generals? The Big Dipper array? Why are there only five? Two are missing.”

Chen Xiaolian was startled.

Just with a glance, this fellow had recognized the origin of his summoning skill.

“Still too weak. Four of them are close to [A] class. Mm, the one with the bow does have [A] class strength… … Chen Xiaolian, this level of power is still far from enough.”

Shen sighed. “Collecting general-type War Souls is not easy. I believe you must have expended quite the effort to collect them. You need to know, once a War Soul is killed, it will disappear. Are you not afraid of losing these hard-won War Souls?”

Even as he spoke, the four Meng generals raised their weapons and charged at Shen. However, Shen did not even bother to look at them. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed upon Chen Xiaolian. Next, he casually pointed out with his finger.

Pu!

A buzzing sound rang out and general Meng Ge, who was the front most in the charge, had his armour torn apart. Next, his towering body blew up.

A War Soul whose power was close to [A] class was insta-killed.

Shen took another step and pointed out again.

General Meng Jian crashed down the ground.

The third step, he pointed again.

General Meng Jia’s body burst apart.

The fourth step, he flicked his finger.

General Meng Gong’s body turned to ashes.

By then, Taishi Ci had already grabbed his spear. This War Soul bellowed loudly and his body immediately swelled in size. After that, he hurled the spear with all his might toward Shen.

The spear streaked through the air like a meteor, but Shen simply stood there, watching as the spear shot toward him. His finger suddenly stretched out to make contact with the tip of the spear.

With a “pu”, the spear shattered.

Seeing the spear destroyed, Taishi Ci quickly pulled his longbow from the ground. He pulled his longbow until it bent like a moon.

The bowstring snapped and golden light filed the air.

“Oh? A burst-type? His strength broke through,” said Shen with a smile.

The moment Taishi Ci let loose the bowstring, golden light engulfed Shen.

However, by taking just one step, Shen suddenly appeared beside Taishi Ci.

His finger lightly tapped Taishi Ci’s back.

Pu!

The sound could be clearly heard and a hole burst out from War Soul Taishi Ci’s chest.

This War Soul fell to the ground with a crash.

Shen sighed. “[A] class War Souls are not easy to get, I will spare you.” After saying that, he clasped his hands behind his back and took a step back.

Seeing that, Chen Xiaolian quickly summoned Taishi Ci back into the Starchart of Generals. He cast a dumbfounded gaze at the terrifying Shen.

He had used every last skill he possessed, but all of them were casually crushed by Shen.

Utterly crushed.

Such power… … even if Bai Qi was available, he would probably be unable to win.

Unless…

At that moment, facing this monstrously power being that was powerful enough to push him to the brink of a mental collapse, Chen Xiaolian could only think of one thing: In order to deal with such a monster, among all the masters I know of …

Not even Skyblade would be able to win!

Even those [S] class experts from Zero City may not be his match!

Unless…

Perhaps, only the mysterious umbrella-bearing Mr San.

Looking at the gaze Shen was giving him, that smile that was not quite a smile, Chen Xiaolian subconsciously stepped backward. He checked the time once more.

One and a half minutes.

However, there was no way for him to hold on for another one and a half minutes.

He had this feeling. If Shen were to seriously attack, he would not last for even a few seconds.

How could he be so strong?!

“Zero City!” Clenching his teeth, Chen Xiaolian growled in a hushed tone. “Help!”

Zero City’s answer was simple. “Calculation result shows that this opponent’s power has exceeded the cap limit. I am powerless.”

“Then… … what about the trick you used back then, the one where you controlled me to defeat the Electronic Guardians? Can’t you do that one more time?”

“Calculation result shows that there is no way to fight back.” Zero City suddenly said something that left Chen Xiaolian flabbergasted, “Target is beyond the scope of my calculations.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be omnipotent here? Could it be even you are powerless against him?”

“The target's power is no longer at the same standard as that of participants.”

This reply stunned Chen Xiaolian once more.

No longer at the same standard as that of participants?

What is that supposed to mean?

“It means the target possesses a power that is beyond my control. My analysis reveals that this enemy is a very special existence and I am incapable of interfering.”

Seeing Chen Xiaolian mumble to himself with a lost look, Shen’s eyes immediately shone.

“You, you can really communicate with Zero City!”

Shen abruptly extended his hand in a grasping manner. This time, Chen Xiaolian’s body flew forward into Shen’s grasp. Shen’s hand held Chen Xiaolian’s neck, leaving his body hanging in the air.

“Chen Xiaolian, the number of shocking things on your person is getting higher and higher. You can communicate with the system? Zero City’s system is part of the main system. To think that you can communicate with the system… … interesting!”

Ignoring Chen Xiaolian’s attempt to struggle out from his grip, Shen suddenly raised his head up and shouted, “Zero City’s system! I know you are here! You want to protect this fellow, don’t you? If so, come on out and talk to me!”

A few seconds after Shen shouted that, the crushed stones on the ground before him floated up to form words.

“What are you?”

Finally, Zero City had appeared before someone else besides Chen Xiaolian.

Strangely, this question from Zero City was very thought provoking.

Zero City had not asked, “Who are you?”

Instead, it had asked, “What are you?”

The corners of Shen’s mouth revealed a peculiar smile and he said, “I do not want to answer that question.”

The stones floating in the air moved around to form another set of words.

“What do you want?”

Shen laughed.

He slowly spat out one word. “You!”

…

1 Back in Chapter 505, this skill should have been Bai Qi’s. I am not sure if this is a revision by the author or if there is something else at play here, given Zero City's abilities; so I will leave it as it is.↩