บท 17: Are You Underestimating Me?
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
Stone Village was shrouded in the darkness of the night as the ancient willow tree stood just right outside its borders, emitting specks of light. The sacrificial altar right next to the tree had a few pieces of flesh and blood as the residents of Stone Village sincerely prayed in front of it.
On another side of the willow tree, a blade of grass blended in with the mat of green under the shade, going completely unnoticed by anyone. And no one could have guessed that the sword Qi that came to their rescue that day had actually come from this blade of seemingly-ordinary grass.
The sacrificial ceremony came to an end, but there was still a buzz of excitement in the atmosphere. The villagers still could not stop thinking about the sword Qi from earlier.
Everyone had questions and speculations but no one knew how to answer or get rid of them. Because of this, no matter how tired or exhausted they were from the day, hardly any of them could fall asleep.
In the end, they gave up on sleeping and gathered around the ancient willow tree to discuss the matter to get things out of their system.
Most of these people had grown up within Stone Village and had hardly, if not never, gone out to see the world. As such, they had never encountered such powerful sword techniques as the one demonstrated by the sword Qi.
"Village Chief, you are the only person in our village who has traveled the Great Wastelands. Do you have any ideas about the sword Qi that we witnessed?
"Could it be that our village has some kind of hidden treasure that can trigger a long-distance attack in urgent and threatening situations like the one Shi Hao was in?" asked Huang Feijiao as they all looked expectantly at the village chief.
"If the village chief ever placed such a treasure in our village, don't you think Shi Hao's parents would still be alive today?" Huang Linhu felt Huang Feijiao's train of thought was simply unbelievable.
"It must have been the willow tree guardian spirit then, right? Otherwise, why did we see the sword Qi coming from this direction?" Huang Feijiao still had plenty of deductions to throw out.
"Er...The guardian spirit is only a willow tree. So far, it has only moved one branch, and that was to awaken the ancestral inheritance of Little Purple. Do you really think that it would be able to form such a formidable sword Qi with such brilliant sword light? Village Chief, what do you think?"
The village chief smacked his lips. He did not know how to reply.
After all, he did not know why such a thing had happened or where the sword Qi had come from.
He was also confused and could not think of any reasonable explanation.
As the village chief of Stone Village, he had lived in the village for decades. Thus, he knew the village like the back of his hand.
But no matter how many memories he recalled, none of them could be used to explain recent events.
He too was not sure who had come to their aid in their time of crisis.
The village chief started to feel a little awkward and pretended to cough. "Well, I don't really understand the origin of the sword Qi either. However, we all know that the sword Qi that fell from the sky is of great benefit to Stone Village. Perhaps it was sent by the experts who had died here."
His voice came out strong at the beginning, but it began to falter the longer he spoke. It was obvious that the village chief was not too confident in the latter half of what he had just said. After all, he was not sure if there were deceased experts who had been or could be secretly helping them.
As expected, the moment the village chief finished speaking, Huang Feijiao immediately rebutted the village chief.
"Village Chief, now you're just spouting nonsense. This is Stone Village we're talking about. What kinds of experts, past or present, could we possibly have to help us? Why don't you just tell us that we have a third guardian spirit who is skilled in sword techniques?"
The village chief became embarrassed. His expression changed as he helplessly said, "Who knows? You know what? Let's discuss this again in the future. It is already late and we have already talked for an entire day. It is better to get some good rest."
"Since we still haven't figured it out yet, let's give the credits to the willow tree and continue making sacrificial offerings to it for now," said someone, and the others agreed.
They had always been worshipping the willow tree anyway.
With that, the villagers paused the discussion and dispersed to get the rest they needed. But the brilliance of the sword light and the might of the sword Qi would forever be imprinted in their memories.
The village chief fell into deep thought as he watched his people leave.
"Too much confusion has taken root in the depths of our hearts. No one knows what the truth is but we have to continue searching for it. In the meantime, we shall continue worshipping our guardian spirit."
Still, the village chief also couldn't stop wondering. What kind of existence could be so powerful?
Little did the people of Stone Village know that the 'other' guardian spirit that they had once suspected of existing was actually just a blade of grass.
But Ye Yun liked it that way.
It wasn't like he had that many abilities anyway. If he were to grow impatient and truly make his presence known, he might just draw more trouble to himself.
Once the others had finished the sacrificial ceremony, Ye Yun started to collect a large amount of energy from the sacrificial offering. That put him in a good mood, so he quickly called up the system to open the virtual screen and check out his attributes.
[Host: Ye Yun
Identity: Nine Heavens Jasper Grass
Status: Early Energy Storage phase of Growth
Item: Sacrifice Acceptance Ability (can be accumulated), Art of Nine Revolutions Essence, Breath Concealing Technique, Shu Shan Sword Method, Blood of the Dragon Son (can be upgraded), Guardian Spirit Essence
Influence: 15
Grade: Ordinary Rank 9
Ability: Divine Healing, Sacrifice Acceptance Ability (to heal others), Sword Control Attack, Sword Qi Slicer]
It seemed that only his Influence and Grade had increased slightly. Also, he had obtained the Blood of the Dragon Son. The rest had not changed at all.
"Wait, what the hell?"
Ye Yun noticed something that had not been reported by the system and was confused.
"Guardian Spirit Essence? How is this possible?" Ye Yun clicked on it for more details.
[Guardian Spirit Essence is a drop of essence condensed from the entire body of a guardian spirit. It can be used to restore one's vitality and obtain the energy of sacrificial offerings. The accumulation of the energy of sacrificial offerings would then lead one to become a guardian spirit.]
"Hah, now would you look at that. All of these sound impressive but it is of no use to me," said Ye Yun.
"And I already have obtained the energy of the sacrificial offerings, though it was directly from the altar and not the Willow Deity's essence.
"Also, what need do I have for vitality? Am I not already full of it?
"And if I were to become a guardian spirit, I would have to help them do things every day. Wouldn't that just be troublesome?"
Ye Yun didn't want to look at the new item he had obtained and closed the virtual panel.
However, on second thought, he called out to the system again. "System, what is the purpose of Influence?"
[Dear host, there are many uses for Influence. However, due to the host's current lack of Influence, the system is unable to explain any further.]
Wha-?
"Are you underestimating me?!" Ye Yun could not help but laugh.
[This system intends to serve the host well and has no intentions of underestimating him. This system upholds the principles of utmost honesty. I hope the host can be understanding.]
But Ye Yun was not angry. He just wanted to tease the system, as usual.
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