Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 321: Summer Comes Late on the Western Border

After they left the stone chamber, Ye Wuzong did not follow them right away.

Why would he do that? If he did, then that would make the game too boring.

Xia Chichi had been mostly silent inside, listening to Zhao Changhe chat with Ye Wuzong. Now, she quietly transmitted her voice, asking, “What’s your plan? Are you just going to keep holding onto it?”

Actually, as long as Zhao Changhe was not involved, she would generally be a cold and reserved saintess, a trait she had developed since she was moving around as Luo Qi. Working together with Zhao Changhe this time had made her very happy. They traveled together, ventured into dangerous places, killed formidable enemies, and even faced a Ranking of Earth expert together. It was something he had done together with Yue Hongling in Saibei, and now it was her turn to go through the same experience.

It should have been me long ago!

Standing quietly by his side, watching him chat so confidently with a Ranking of Earth expert, Xia Chichi could not be happier.

Neither the sword pellet nor the dragon-tiger resonance mattered to her as much as simply being with him.

Zhao Changhe responded, “If I just hold onto it, he’ll just take it. Not properly guarding your belongings and letting them get stolen would still make it an act of theft for him. Do you really think he’d be so close-minded?”

Xia Chichi did not really mind. “If he steals it, then so be it. I still think that it really isn’t necessary to offend him.”

Zhao Changhe said, “But don’t you think he’ll respect us more if he fails to steal it?”

Xia Chichi smiled and said, “He is a strange and interesting man. It might really be as you say... But are you sure you’re not just doing this to get me the sword pellet?”

Zhao Changhe chuckled.

He naturally did want to keep the sword pellet for Chichi. How could he possibly be doing all this to entertain some old man?

Xia Chichi was obviously happy. She whispered, “What’s the plan? I doubt we’re any more familiar with this place than he is, so I don’t think hiding it anywhere would be that effective. And if we choose to run, there’s no way we’d outrun him.”

Zhao Changhe moved closer to her and whispered in her ear. “I’m fairly certain of where we might be able to find a secret realm. As long as we can get out of his sight for a while and slip into the secret realm, he won’t be able to take it from us. If we stay there for three days, we win the game.”

Xia Chichi’s ears slowly turned pink. Her ears felt tickled, and so did her heart. She really felt attracted to the idea of hiding in a secret realm with him for three days.

Zhao Changhe, seeing her adorable earlobe, could not resist kissing it.

Xia Chichi pushed him away bashfully and kicked him playfully. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Back to the city.” Xia Chichi turned and moved away gracefully. “If we do end up winning, then that’s great; if not, it’s no big deal. We can just act as if this never happened and focus on our own matters. Being able to work together with you has already made me happy. It doesn’t matter if I still get the sword pellet or not.”

Zhao Changhe smiled and followed after her. This woman...

The sword pellet would help her a lot, yet she was more carefree about it than he was.

She truly had a bit of Xia Longyuan’s spirit. Her vision was far beyond that of ordinary people. Just like how she had decisively thrown the jade pendant at him back then as if it were nothing of value when it could actually be used to inherit the empire.

He had to admit that he did not understand her very well back then. She never did show much of her true self when she was acting as Luo Qi. It was only through these repeated encounters that he began to understand who she was bit by bit. To him, it felt almost like he was experiencing something similar to those who fell in love after marriage.

I was really lucky to be by her side so early on. If it wasn’t for that, it wouldn’t have been easy to win over someone like her...

Zhao Changhe suddenly felt a little grateful to the blind woman for giving him such a great starting point.

Oh wait, I drew that starting point myself. It was fate.

Chichi’s right... Even though hiding in a secret realm would indeed allow us to win, just getting to the secret realm in the first place is already an incredibly difficult challenge.

Ye Wuzong’s movement art was unmatched in the world, and his ability to hide and track was likely to be among the top few in the world. You would not even know he was observing you if he did not want you to know. While you might be thinking that you managed to leave his sight, he was more likely to still be watching you from somewhere out of sight.

Does being given this small bit of time even count as an advantage? I guess it doesn’t. His tracking skills should also be among the best in the world. He’ll probably be able to catch up to us in no time. Running is pretty much impossible. That’s probably why he’s able to comfortably stay inside, giving us some time to escape, playing this game of cat and mouse with us for some entertainment. Well, with that being the case, why bother running? Why should we act like the mouse?

The two of them held hands, openly and honestly, as they headed straight back to Kunlun City, doing their own thing, not caring about anything else.

Ye Wuzong came out of the stone chamber, studied the tracks, and was surprised to find that the two had returned to the city. He was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.

They really are an interesting young couple.

He quickly followed the tracks and he soon saw their figures from a distance.

The two were walking hand in hand in the snow-capped mountains, with the sky slowly being filled with golden light, their backs illuminated by the light as if highlighting them.

Ye Wuzong looked up at the sky, knowing what the Tome of Troubled Times was going to say this time.

At the beginning of the twelfth month, Xia Chichi, joining hands with Zhao Changhe, defeated Tarantula in Kunlun City and vanquished Tian Lingzi in a secret poison cave.

Tarantula was at the ninth layer of the Profound Gate and had mastered poison arts to an extraordinary degree. She was ranked fifty-eighth on the Ranking of Man, and yet she was defeated by Xia Chichi and Zhao Changhe and later died due to a trap in a secret realm. Ye Tianling, a disciple of Thief Saint Ye Wuzong, had unlocked the first layer of the Profound Mysteries and was ranked fifty-second on the Ranking of Man. After being defeated by Xia Chichi and Zhao Changhe, he was killed by Ye Wuzong in a housecleaning effort.

Even if they didn’t directly kill a figure on the Ranking of Man, the Tome of Troubled Times would include them in the report. Subsequently, the rankings would shift forward.

This time, the whole world was taken aback.

Two figures on the Ranking of Man had fallen at once!

Killed by two hidden dragons? No... they were not the ones to kill them, but they at least defeated them!

From the tone of Tome of Troubled Times when it said, “Xia Chichi, joining hands with Zhao Changhe,” it appears that the protagonist this time was Xia Chichi. Fuck, that’s a relief. If it was Zhao Changhe again, we’ll really start suspecting that the Tome of Troubled Times has a secret affair with him.

As if to avoid suspicion, the Tome of Troubled Times actually added, Zhao Changhe’s combat power does not yet reach the standards of the Ranking of Man, and thus his ranking remains.

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

The rankings of those on the Ranking of Man will move forward.

Xia Chichi has unlocked the first layer of the Profound Mysteries. Although she defeated Tarantula with the help of another, she had the upper hand against Tarantula when fighting her alone, so she can take her place on the Ranking of Man.

Rank 58: Four Idols Saintess Xia Chichi.

Summer comes late on the western border, shining brightly on Kunlun after rising in the east.

People were stunned.

When Chi Li and Yue Hongling entered the Ranking of Man, both prideful individuals did not just barely make it in. They both challenged figures who were ranked sixty-sixth and sixty-eighth respectively, aiming for spots past the seventieth.

Yet, Xia Chichi was even more awesome, immediately taking the fifty-eighth place as soon as she entered the ranking!

All of the recent events suddenly gave people the impression that the Ranking of Man was not actually that difficult to ascend.

In reality, it was far from simple. It was not that Tarantula was weak; it was just that Xia Chichi was stronger. Chi Li and Yue Hongling had challenged those on the Ranking of Man before unlocking the Profound Mysteries, while Xia Chichi only did so after breaking through, hence her higher ranking.

Although summer came late on the snowy mountains of Kunlun, it also shone brightly after coming from the east.

The more important question is, how did she already unlock the Profound Mysteries? How old is she? They say her mother was the previous White Tiger Saintess... Who’s her father? Judging by her genes, her father is not some random nobody.

Those who have done their fair share of research could already see that the stars of these troubled times were beginning to shine brightly in the sky. It was becoming increasingly difficult for those who were at the ninth layer of the Profound Gate but had not unlocked the Profound Mysteries to enter the Ranking of Man. In the future, if they continued to remain behind the doors of the Profound Mysteries, they would soon be reduced to mere stepping stones.