Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

On the other side.

The cave.

The biochemical avatar suddenly stood up and said,

"There is a monster with a comprehensive combat capability of the fourth level of the Law Realm climbing up from below the cliff, I must go fight it."

Xiao Mengyu looked at the robot with a complex expression, thought for a moment, and said,

"Do you have any last words? I'll pass them on to Shen Ye."

"Of course."

The biochemical avatar walked up to her, took a chip out of its chest, and handed it to her.

"What is this?" Xiao Mengyu asked.

"This is my archive, the real me."

"The real you? Then who is the one talking to me?"

"The one controlling the body right now is a small combat program I wrote—please give this archive to Shen Ye, that way I can still live on, thank you."

Having said that, the biochemical avatar turned and, with a burst of speed, dashed out of the cave and plunged down below.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Suddenly, a deafening explosion came from below.

Rolling waves of heat extended up along the rock wall.

Debris kept falling.

——It was as if the end of the world had arrived.

Xiao Mengyu carefully put away the chip and glanced back at Shen Ye.

Shen Ye was still unconscious.

"Guo Yunye," Xiao Mengyu said.

"What?" The Husky asked.

"The explosion might attract more monsters… You go and escape on your own, I'll just stay here," Xiao Mengyu said calmly.

"No way!" The Husky almost jumped up.

"The monsters here are too strong, I'm afraid we'll all be annihilated," Xiao Mengyu said.

"If we're going to die, we'll die together. We're all brothers, what's there to be afraid of!" The Husky said and then howled like a wolf.

Smack.

Xiao Mengyu slapped it.

"Quiet! Aren't you afraid of attracting monsters?"

"Awoo…"

The Husky obediently lowered its head.

A two-meter-long bat suddenly flew in from the entrance, fixing its gaze on the Husky.

It had indeed attracted a monster!

Swish——

A flash of sword light.

The bat was cut in two, falling from the entrance, raising continuous collision noises.

The noises gradually faded into the distance.

Xiao Mengyu sheathed her sword and said solemnly,

"Husky… Guo Yunye, next time you speak, just stop at 'brothers'; the last three words aren't necessary, understand?"

"Got it," the Husky replied, ears pressed against its head, obediently.

Suddenly.

A person appeared at the entrance.

This was a completely unfamiliar person.

He appeared middle-aged, dressed in leather armor with a dagger hanging on either side of his waist, crouched at the entrance, his gaze scanning inside the cave.

"Just some little rats," the man said.

The man's eyes were narrow, slightly squinting, emitting a murderous intent.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Shen Ye was still unconscious.

The Husky stared with wide eyes, trying to discern whether this person was a friend or foe.

Xiao Mengyu had already sensed death closing in.

At the moment when the man uttered "So, it's just a few little mice," she had already realized the precarious situation they were in.

The Dharma Aspect unfolded—

Seven ceaselessly spinning stars materialized behind Xiao Mengyu, the last of which burst into resplendent brilliance.

That was Yaoguang from the Seven Stars.

The power of the Yaoguang Star endowed her sword moves, immediately becoming Xiao Mengyu's most powerful swordsmanship.

—Seven Star Sword Palace · Luo Shui Heavenly Wind!

Xiao Mengyu, still holding onto Shen Ye, didn't move, but the Luo Shui Sword at her waist flew out with a "clang."

In that instant.

The man had just finished saying the word "mice."

A flash of cold light, and the long sword was already in front of his eyes!

Such a fast sword!

In usual combat, opponents would first probe each other, determining the other's level in the Law Realm and basic attributes before deciding how to engage.

But her first move was already her strongest!

The man was taken aback but was already prepared. His entire body moved, completely turning into a liquid state.

Whoosh—

The long sword passed through his neck and flew out of the cave.

The man, composed and with arms crossed, sneered:

"First Layer of the Law Realm? Too weak!"

"My Dharma Aspect has reached the pinnacle of the Law Realm Second Layer. I can merge with my body to become an invincible body of flowing water."

"—I can kill you with ease!"

Xiao Mengyu hid Shen Ye behind her and drew the Remnant Snow Sword from her side, guarding herself with it.

She stood motionless, holding her breath.

The man placed his hands on the daggers at his waist, his physique taut like a bow, as if ready to launch an attack at any moment:

"Are you out of moves? Then I—"

He didn't finish his sentence.

The long sword that flew out of the cave returned, stabbing into the back of his skull and piercing through his brow.

"Sword Control Technique?"

The man let the sword pass through his head, laughing:

"Hahaha, useless, I am the bane of bladed weapons, none of your sword techniques can break the Dharma Aspect that envelops my body."

Xiao Mengyu still didn't speak.

The man laughed a few times and then suddenly his body trembled, releasing billowing mist.

"No! Your sword—"

Before he could finish, Xiao Mengyu clenched a sword technique with one hand.

The long sword instantly rotated, severing the man's head completely.

The second sword light was already upon him.

Remnant Snow Sword!

The long sword plunged into the man's body, and with a great impact, it sent the headless body flying out of the cave entrance, hurtling down into the abyss below.

Only then did Xiao Mengyu speak:

"Even if you possess a body of streaming water, your body has already fallen, while only your head remains here."

"With your body and head separated, growing ever farther apart, unable to rejoin—how could you not die?"

The man became frantic.

"No, my body—"

The head tried to bounce towards the outside of the cave.

Snatch!

A soft clink.

The Luo Shui Sword pinned the head to the stone wall.

No matter how he struggled, he couldn't free himself from the Luo Shui Sword.

—After all, he now had no hands, no feet, and no body.

Just a head, what could he do?

"What kind of sword is this! Why can it immobilize me!"

The man cried out in alarm and fury.

Xiao Mengyu slowly said:

"You speak of the Luo Shui Sword, it harbors the power of 'Invisibility', you won't sense it;"

"And any living being struck by it would be 'God Shaken' and immobilized—"

"You're complacent with your flowing water physique; have you never considered that I might possess a divine artifact?"

Angry, the man retorted, "Who the hell would expect a high schooler to have a divine artifact!"

He struggled violently, but could only be nailed to the wall, trembling nonstop.

Completely unable to break free.

Several breaths passed.

He became motionless.

His entire head gradually solidified, oozing fresh, red blood.

—He was dead.

A streak of light flew back into the cave from outside.

It was the Remnant Snow Sword.

Both swords were in motion, "clang" "clang" they sounded, flying back into their sheaths.

The severed head also rolled down from the rock wall, falling through the cave entrance, and soon was out of sight.

Xiao Mengyu let out a long sigh of relief.

She took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead and took out a pill to swallow.

"Here, take this."

She handed a pill to Husky.

Husky shook its head, saying ashamedly, "I wasn't of any help just now, I didn't realize I should've acted immediately."

"His killing intent was so intense, solely directed at us—he looked down on us completely, hence he didn't bother to conceal it," Xiao Mengyu explained.

"What is killing intent?"

"...Fight more for a while, and you'll naturally understand."

They were conversing when suddenly,

Sounds echoed from the rock wall outside.

People?

Or monsters?

Xiao Mengyu gently placed Shen Ye on the ground, stood up, and whispered:

"Classmate Guo Yunye, you can start digging this cavern, try to dig deeper, and then hide Classmate Shen Ye inside."

"What about you?" Husky asked.

Xiao Mengyu walked to a position two meters from the cave entrance, hand on sword, and declared:

"I'll fight."

Husky glanced at the unconscious Shen Ye, then at Xiao Mengyu, and clenched his teeth.

Dammit.

When will I be able to fight like her?

It turned quietly and began to dig at the wall from the corner, soon unearthing a large hole.

Xiao Mengyu stood at the entrance of the cave, quietly waiting for the enemy to arrive.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Suddenly, in the void outside the cave, two figures clinging to iron chains emerged.

A boy and a girl.

"Ah, the idiot who went to scout has been taken out," the boy said.

"Such a simple task and still fails; these professionals from society haven't been through proper education, they're just too trash," the girl remarked.

Both turned their gaze toward Xiao Mengyu.

Xiao Mengyu also sized them up and asked:

"Are you seniors from Azure High School, or from Guixu High School?"

"Azure," the boy replied.

"I heard that only first-year students are in school for Xi Rang, so you must be a first-year. We are third-years," the girl said with a smile.

In the darkness above the cliff.

Yun Ni squatting there, her expression detached as she looked below.

To interfere or not?

She had no obligation to care for anyone beyond Shen Ye.

Chaos Spirit Light hadn't requested it.

Xu Xingke hadn't mentioned it either.

So—

It would be better for the girl beside Shen Ye to die.

That way, perhaps with the merit of long-term protection, she could gradually influence him and make him stop wanting to kill her.

She won't interfere.

Yun Ni leaned back, blending into the darkness, quietly waiting for the battle to end.

In the battlefield below.

Xiao Mengyu held her swords, saying:

"Third-year... that means you've reached the strength of the Law Realm Second Layer, currently progressing toward the Third."

"In the past, I definitely couldn't have beaten you."

A phantasmal blazing sun rose behind her.

In the same orbit, a crescent moon appeared, illuminating alongside the burning sun.

The Luofu Sun and Moon Cloak!

When The Skinner first saw this technique, he became cautious immediately, even uttering, "Fotunate that the divine sword is not in your hands, else I would've had no choice but to flee."

But—

"Useless,"

The boy scoffed, as infinite shadows of flying knives slowly appeared behind him.

A pupil appeared above the girl's head.

—They unleashed their own Dharma Aspects!

"Our Dharma Aspects are of the Second Layer realm, easily capable of breaking through your attack," the girl declared.

Movement flickered in the pupil above her head.

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, countless iron chains sprouted from the void around Xiao Mengyu, voraciously binding toward her.

Taking advantage of this moment!

The boy grinned:

"Let her flesh be pierced through."

Infinite knives pierced through the ether in a dense swarm, stabbing into the cavern.

It was a matter of life and death!

Xiao Mengyu drew out the Remnant Snow and Luo Shui Swords, maintaining a proper grip on Luo Shui and a reverse grip on Remnant Snow.

She held her breath, eyes slightly wide, converging all her strength and will in one place.

The wind.

Stirred slightly.

Blowing through her long hair.

Behind her, among the sun and moon, seven stars fell from the sky, enshrouding them.

Law Phase · Seven Star Sword Palace!

With the Dharma Aspect's enhancement, the sun, moon, and stars gathered at once.

The sword became the divine Luo Shui, reflecting on Remnant Snow above.

This technique was finally complete.

—Ancient Sword Style · Cosmic Edge.

As the twin swords moved, they split the nothingness.

Just in an instant. Enjoy new tales from empire

Iron chains and knives were all repelled by an invisible force.

The surroundings plunged into darkness.

The boundless darkness burst into a sky full of stars.

"Cut."

The girl uttered a single word.

The wind—

Suddenly became fierce, stirring the stars into emitting intermittent beams of light in the dark cosmos.

Shooting stars.

It was an impossibly swift meteor shower.

Yet unlike a meteor shower, those fleeting lights had no unified direction.

They spread across the void, front, back, left, right, up, and down, intertwined, slashing out ceaselessly brilliant trajectories.