Chapter 15 – Arrival
“I mustn’t give him a chance… I must ensure that old Liang follows closely behind me.”
Si Bai Rong was genuinely worried about Xue Ying and his devious tricks that could befall him during the mission.
“For now, this young master will spare you, Xue Ying brat! I will not bother to argue with you. Humph! Wait until the end of this mission… You’ll see how this young master is going to deal with you.”
A twenty-two-year old Silver Moon Knight?
The gap between a Silver Moon Knight and a Legend ranker was a single step… yet this one step was as large as the the sky.
In order to successfully cultivate from an ordinary Human Knight to a Silver Moon Knight, one could simply depend on his or her own innate talent, coupled with the use of resources and a powerful dou qi cultivating technique. As for Si Bai Rong, it was precisely the fact that he had good innate talent, along with the support of his family, that allowed him to reach the ranks of Silver Moon Knight. Yet… he had been stuck at this stage for a very long time.
One needed to have a powerful soul in order to cross into the Legend rank. Other than this, a cultivator also reach the level of ‘One with the World’ before he could utilise the forces of the heaven and earth to overcome the obstacles between the Silver Moon stage and the Legend stage.
Becoming ‘One with the World’?
Si Bai Rong had already been a Silver Moon Knight for many years… Needless to say, Tang Xiong and Liang Yong, these two much older experts, had been stuck at this stage for a very long time. The reason behind that was because they could not comprehend the idea of being ‘One with the World’.
……
That being said, the path of Mages was different from that of the Knights.
Knights were heavily dependent on one’s body and strength. Conversely, mages attached a greater importance to the power of knowledge and wisdom.
A mage was required to investigate and discover the wonders of nature in all its greatness, and the many laws within it before being able to grasp magic. Therefore, the greater the power a mage had, the more wisdom he would hold. Generally, mages who were able to reach the level of Silver Moon were extraordinary in terms of wisdom. It was precisely for this reason that the world was shocked by how frighteningly talented Yu Jing Qiu was. Entering the ranks of Silver Moon at such a young age, if she were to continue with her path of discovery in understanding nature in all its greatness… within the next hundred or so years of her life, there was a great chance of Jing Qiu reaching the state of being ‘One with the World’.
Mages had to rely on research in order to reach the realm of ‘One with the World’!
As for the aspiring Knights who wished to achieve that state of being ‘One with the World’, it was of multitude times harder than for Mages! Most Knights around the world were uneducated, and thus did not even have the possibility of knowing what being ‘One with the World’ was. Thus, even though Xue Ying had managed to become a Silver Moon Knight at such a young age, Yu Jing Qiu did not put much thought into it. After all, in the eyes of the public, Xue Ying was someone who had depended on his great innate talent and his luck in order to achieve what he was today.
However, only Xue Ying himself knew of the six years of effort that he had spent within that bamboo house of his, cultivating and trying to understand the laws of nature. Even though Xue Ying’s spear technique had reached the Grandmaster level by incorporating some of nature’s laws within it, he had yet to achieve the state of being ‘One with the World’.
Regardless of that, Xue Ying still had a very powerful body which gave him the strength of a Legend Knight. The moment he utilised his primordial bloodline, he could even become several times stronger.
Thus, it could be said that Xue Ying had already stepped into the rank of a Legend Knight.
“Just a simple brat with good luck, and yet he dares to go against me? How foolish…” Bai Rong scoffed behind his back, before heading back towards the cabin of the flying ship.
“Jing Qiu!” Bai Rong called out.
“What is it?” Jing Qiu opened her eyes from her meditation.
“You best be careful when we assault the castle of the Lu family later, and especially pay attention to that Dong Bo Xue Ying. That brat is still young and immature. I am afraid that when the assault begins, he might do something behind our back. That is why I think you should just follow me and old Liang. We will certainly protect you from any danger.”
“Doing something behind our back? Why would Xue Ying do that?” Jing Qiu hesitated.
“Just heed my words and be careful. That’s all.” Bai Rong left after that.
Yu Jing Qiu frowned at that. Looking at Bai Rong who was walking further away from her and the black-clothed Xue Ying sitting cross-legged on the other end, she whispered to herself, “What exactly happened outside at the deck? Did an argument break out between the two of them? Looking at Xue Ying… He doesn’t look like a reckless person. Ah… I hope that nothing unexpected will happen in this mission…”
She was feeling a bit anxious.
“Huu…”
Xue Ying sat down cross-legged and both his heartbeat and breath grew slower and slower. At the same time, his awareness towards the surrounding became even clearer, even the breaths of everyone around him. Jing Qiu’s breathing, Tang Xiong’s, Bai Rong’s, Liang Yong’s, the breathing of those two experts controlling the flying-ship, and even the passing wind outside. He could feel all of it.
With a heart as calm as still-water, as tranquil as the surface of a mirror, he had become one with the world.
……
The sky was slowly turning dark.
The silvery-white flying-ship had been flying nonstop among the clouds.
“We have arrived.” Xue Ying’s breathing and heartbeat rate turned back to normal as he ended his state of meditation. He looked outside and sensed that the entire flying-ship slowing down.
“Fellow experts, you can start preparing to land from the flying-ship. We will be reaching the Lu family’s castle soon,” the ship-controller expert said.
“We’ve already arrived?”
“We will be assaulting the castle soon.”
One by one, the experts began standing up. Even though they were all partaking in the same mission, with a single goal, they all had different feelings about it.
This was Si Bai Rong’s first time participating in such a dangerous mission. As a result, he decided to bring a Silver Moon Knight from his family with him. Even so, he was still feeling uneasy, but he dared not show any sign of weakness in order to prove his strength and resolve to Jing Qiu, .
Tang Xiong, on the other hand, was calm. Having lived for over a hundred and sixty years, he felt as if nothing could stand in his way.
Liang Yong was alert. After all, his foremost task within this mission was to protect young master Bai Rong.
This was Yu Jing Qiu’s very first mission. Although she was feeling kind of anxious, her mentality as a mage allowed her to face everything with a calm mind.
As for Xue Ying? He did not have any fear with the strength of a Legend rank knight. All he had was a somewhat puzzling curiosity towards the Lu Clan’s castle.
“Fellow experts.”
Xue Ying and the rest of the experts began walking towards the deck. Looking downwards from the flying-ship, they could clearly see a majestic castle. Right now, they were just about 300 metres away from the castle. However, because of the mist shield produced by the Arrays on the flying-ship, people looking up from below couldn’t see the ship at all.
“Fellow experts! I will be using my magic to create a shroud over everyone , in order to make us less visible in a moment. We will then directly jump down and penetrate right into the castle. It would be best if it is possible to assassinate Lu Huai Ru before the guards find out,” Jing Qiu stated.
“Good. Let us all follow what Jing Qiu said,” Bai Rong replied.
“Indeed… It is to our fortune that we have a Silver Moon Mage with us.” Tang Xiong laughed.
Qiang. Instead of replying, Xue Ying started his preparation of fixing the two parts of the Flying Snow God Spear before the battle.
Looking at Xue Ying, Bai Rong scoffed before unsheathing his two-handed great sword.
Everyone was fully prepared, and ready to enter battle at any time.
“Huu~~~” The azure-robed Jing Qiu began casting a spell with the staff in her hands, causing a gust of wind to sweep across everyone.
“Let’s head down now,” she said.
“Let’s.”
Hu… Hu… Hu…
The five experts jumped down simultaneously. With their strength, it was entirely possible to fall 300 meters without being injured. The purpose of the wind cast by Jing Qiu though was solely for the sake of adjusting the landing point and to hide the presence of the experts from any unwanted eyes.
Xue Ying looked towards the ground. Along with the descent, the wind aided in bringing the five experts towards the inner courtyard. The entire inner region of the castle was shaped as if it was a mysterious octagonal creature lying on the ground. At the same time, the gust of wind began sweeping away the dust and leaves in the surroundings, preventing the soldiers of the castle from even opening their eyes.
Sou…Sou…Sou…Sou…Sou…
With the aid of the wind, the five experts landed on the roof of the castle quietly.
“Let’s enter the castle!” Bai Rong wielded his two-handed great sword, ready to take down anything that came his way.
“Omm—-”
Right at this moment, a sudden piercing brightness shone right on the roof of the castle. Xue Ying and the other four experts had nowhere to hide.
“Assassins!” A cold, piercing voice broke out from within the castle, reverberating throughout the entire inner courtyard. “Right there on the roof! Kill them!”
“Assassins!”
“Over there! Let’s kill them!”
Right on the castle walls that separated the inner courtyard from the outer region, there were many soldiers patrolling. Within moments of being alerted, over two hundred Star Breaking Crossbows were pointed at the five experts. Naturally, with the strength of a Meteor Mage who was an expert in refining plus four other Meteor Knights commanding the soldiers, the security of the entire castle was extremely tight.
“We have been discovered,” Tang Xiong announced.
“Humph! So what if we were discovered? No big deal. Just kill all of them!” Bai Rong laughed with condescendence.
“Everyone, our target this time is the Lu Clan. It has nothing to do with you all! But if you decide to go against us, you will die!” Jing Qiu warned the soldiers. That statement was clear and right to the point. Coupled with a clear and beautiful voice, it could hypnotize anyone into becoming subservient to her. However, underneath the surface was a deadly intent. The entire surrounding air became colder and colder, causing frost to appear on the surfaces of the courtyard.
Within the blink of an eye, even the small soil particles on the ground became frozen solid. The entire majestic castle of the Lu Clan was turning into an ice castle. Soldiers all around began shivering from the bite of the icy-cold air.
“Cold… “ Some soldiers began falling onto the ground as they lost the energy to overcome the frigid surroundings.
“Retreat from the area touched by my Frost Domain and you may survive. Otherwise, the only path for you will be death,” Jing Qiu warned those mortal, insignificant soldiers with a tiny bit of kindness. After all, she had no grievances with them.
“Hu…”
Xue Ying looked at the frost around him. He felt amazed towards Jing Qiu’s fine control over the element of ice. Even though he knew that she was an expert in the field of ice element, this was clearly beyond his expectations. Being able to extend her frost domain accurately across the entire castle, and to lower the temperature of the surroundings enough to make the soldiers surrender without death, Jing Qiu was clearly an expert in the field of ice element.
Still, even with such a fine control, over time, the frostbite could kill.
“Let’s quickly leave!” Several soldiers who had stronger physique began pulling those who were weaker than them out of the area of effect. Servants within the castle also took the chance to escape from the battle that was about to begin.
Under the power of Jing Qiu’s Frost Domain, those two to three thousand soldiers had no hopes of prevailing. The only choice they had was to escape as far as possible. After all, was there any hope of winning the battle under such conditions that their entire bodies were numbed to the point that they couldn’t even control their limbs?
“Let’s continue.” Staff in hand, Jing Qiu jumped off the roof with the four other experts.
Since they could not assassinate Lu Huai Ru, the next best choice would be to simply kill him openly.
……
“Humph! A bunch of idiots. What use do they have?” Lu Huai Ru began shaking his head as he looked outside the castle at the soldiers who were trying to escape. “Now the only one I can depend on is myself and the traps that I’ve laid inside the castle. Whoever dares to enter and come after me will surely die a terrible death.” Lu Huai Ru scuttled his way across the corridor, with a single goal in mind – to enter the secret passage within the castle.
Lu Huai Ru was confident.
He was confident that the arrays he set could easily kill three to five Silver Moon Knights. Furthermore, there was still the Demon God’s Emissary living within the castle! All of these factors made him overflow with confidence.