Chapter 73: Heaven’s Veil
Known: Game characters can store items in the Public Storage.
Known: In "The Messenger", Yan Qing was identified as one of the game characters.
Then, could Yan Qing store items in the Public Storage and exchange them with other game characters?
The conclusion was yes.
It did not take Yan Qing much time to test the specific method. First, he had to know all the information about an item. For instance, with a piece of Roasted Lamb Leg, he needed to know the producer, production time, freshness, satiety increase, and most importantly—the system remark of the Roasted Lamb Leg.
In short, it was the item description displayed for the Roasted Lamb Leg in "The Messenger".
Then, while recalling the information of the Roasted Lamb Leg, he had to touch it and say, “Store the Roasted Lamb Leg into the Public Storage.”
After completing these steps, the Roasted Lamb Leg would be transferred into the Public Storage.
Although discovering this function was a great breakthrough for Yan Qing, if one were to draw an analogy, it was comparable to a primitive man millions of years ago discovering gravity after being struck on the head by an apple. Its practical significance was about the same—virtually none. He had hoped he could retrieve items from the storage just like other game characters. If that was not possible, then at least being able to transfer any item into storage meant he wouldn’t need a sack to rob from the rich and give to the poor. A simple touch, and everything would be cleared out cleanly.
But transferring items required knowing the item's information. The rest might be guessed, but Yan Qing suspected that the "system remark" was something randomly generated by the developers using AI. Some were domineering, some sinister, some foolish, and some downright bizarre. Who would have thought that the system remark for the Roasted Lamb Leg was ‘a rare delicacy craved by Gray Wolf’?
This meant the items Yan Qing could store in the Public Storage must have already been touched by other game characters; otherwise, he would not know their detailed information.
But if other game characters had already interacted with the items, why wouldn’t they just store them in the storage themselves?
Yan Qing felt like he was squatting in a public restroom and found there was no toilet paper. To buy some, he had to pull up his pants and go out, but once he pulled up his pants, there was no need for the paper anymore.
This redundant function only became valuable to Yan Qing after obtaining the Bingzi Pepper Forest. After he enfeoffed the White Iron Straight Blade through Bingzi Pepper Forest, he could directly store it into the Public Storage and hand it over to ‘Ye Si’ and ‘Jiang Ten’. When necessary, Yan Qing could also use the Public Storage to hand over Bingzi Pepper Forest to the alternate characters, since the Thieves' House had already displayed the item information of Bingzi Pepper Forest to him.
What was such a necessary moment?
It was now.
Right at this very moment.
I know that Shang Yue and the others must think I’m a fool, a mad dog, a violent thug who relies on his strength to act recklessly. I also know that even if Shang Yue and Jie Zilong were offering timely help, they genuinely wanted to assist me and invest in my future. And I understand that compromise only benefits me, never harms me; I could gain even more, and gain what suited me better.
But I was still furious.
They might have thought I was merely angry for being framed, but my anger went far beyond that. My rage stemmed from that broken corpse, from Qian Gongyu’s family servant Lin Shu who took part in framing me—these were the true sources that ignited my fury.
I had led a stranger to be killed, just because I had the motive to murder him.
I had caused Qian Gongyu’s servant to flee, just because he had the means to frame me.
Of course, I knew the mastermind was someone else. I was merely a victim and had no need to feel guilty. But I could not stop my conscience from aching faintly, like the shame of causing the whole class to stand in military posture during training.
I did not think I had done anything wrong, yet two strangers' lives were overturned because of me.
I did not kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me.
It was truly humiliating. Even while hiding behind the mask of ‘Jiang Ten’, I could feel my face burn with shame. But it was also because I was wearing the mask of ‘Jiang Ten’ that I could express my true thoughts, no longer bound by education, society, or reason.
My belief was the same game principle I always followed—
Shame must be washed away with blood, and conscience must be reforged with a sword.
When I play the game, keep quiet.
Heaven’s Veil, activate.
"Effect · Heaven’s Veil: Even if you stand alone, you can shake the heavens and the earth!
You must expend all your current Spirit Energy to activate Heaven’s Veil. Once activated, all enfeoffed weapons within a fifty-meter radius will be destroyed. Your wounds will instantly heal, and you will release a shockwave to repel nearby enemies and flying projectiles.
Your attacks can unleash a Heaven’s Veil Blade Light ranging from three to thirty meters in length. The damage ranges from ten to seventy percent of your base damage—the farther the distance, the lower the damage. You can adjust the length of the Heaven’s Veil Blade Light.
Heaven’s Veil lasts for ten seconds.
For every enfeoffed weapon within fifty meters, your base attack power increases by 50 points, and the duration of Heaven’s Veil is extended by three seconds."
Before the effect of Heaven’s Veil ended, you would be in the 'Unshakable' state, making it difficult for any displacement, stun, or interruption effects to affect you.
...
...
Jiang Ten raised Bingzi Pepper Forest, exhaling a long breath of white mist like a deity releasing a sword pill. This was because the temperature dropped at night in Mansu Woodland, and her Vital Energy and Blood were abundant, causing her breath to mist like that of an immortal.
"Legendary Token...?"
Zhou Ye, Chen Linchuan, Jie Zilong, and Shang Yue looked at Jiang Ten, their expressions a mix of suspicion and astonishment. Clearly, they were the ones besieging Jiang Ten, but at this moment, they hesitated and did not dare to approach, as if the positions of enemy and ally had been reversed.
With a loud bang, Jiang Ten stomped into the grass, forming a deep pit as she charged like a war chariot, like iron cavalry. Bingzi Pepper Forest extended a three-meter-long Heaven’s Veil Blade Light, brilliantly illuminating the forest!
"Stop her!" Zhou Ye slashed out a flame blade mist and roared.
She couldn't be stopped!
Jiang Ten swung Bingzi Pepper Forest, and the Blade Light sliced through everyone like a ribbon. Even though their Heartguard Mirror barriers could block the Blade Light’s damage, the Blade Light instantly reformed the moment it shattered. Even their attacks were neutralized by the Blade Light.
The so-called strength in numbers meant nothing before a Legendary Token.
Yet everyone revealed pleased expressions.
"Her Token may be high-grade, but its strength is very low!" Chen Linchuan quickly said, "Its lethality is at most Second Job Change level—it can't possibly break the defense of the Heartguard Mirror!"
"And her state can’t last long," Jie Zilong also noticed an important detail, "The orange-red glow on her body is steadily fading. Such a powerful state surely has a time limit!"
"Stall her! Stall until her Legendary Token wears off. Then we’ll have one more Legendary Token as loot!"
Everyone was invigorated. In their eyes, Jiang Ten was already a spent force, a trapped beast fighting back. The Legendary Token was her final trump card, but it was insufficient to turn the tide of her predicament!
But such naive thoughts were soon utterly shattered. Zhou Ye fled the battlefield in panic, constantly dodging, his expression both furious and terrified as he cried out loudly, "Help me block her! I need to replenish my Spirit Energy!"
Zhou Ye, who could barely hold on just moments ago, now could no longer withstand her.
Their judgment wasn’t wrong—Jiang Ten’s attacks were at most Second Job Change level. Breaking the Heartguard Mirror's defense required at least six slashes, but the problem was—Jiang Ten could unleash six slashes in just two seconds.
This was different from before. Previously, Jiang Ten relied on Moonring Slash for output, and Moonring Slash had a wind-up period. Coupled with the need to dodge constantly, even wielding two White Iron Straight Blades, she could only slash twice per second, and would need one or two more seconds before she could strike again.
But now, wielding Bingzi Pepper Forest, her normal attacks could unleash Heaven’s Veil Blade Light. And since she wielded the blade with both hands, her advantages of high Vital Energy and Blood and high Dexterity were fully maximized. Three slashes per second were easily achieved. Combined with the 'Unshakable' state granted by Heaven’s Veil, Jiang Ten could choose not to dodge and gain more time for output, relying on high Vital Energy and Blood and potions to withstand damage—since their attacks couldn’t interrupt her offense at all!
In truth, Jiang Ten didn't take much damage, because the Blade Light canceled out most of it. Instead, under her six-slash burst every two seconds, Zhou Ye and the others’ Heartguard Mirror defenses rapidly depleted, forcing them to spare moments to replenish Spirit Energy. With this ebb and flow, the battlefield tilted in Jiang Ten’s favor.
Those around were dumbfounded. Many had been frightened into wanting to flee because the Divine Crossbow Battalion soldiers were severely injured, but the scene before them made it impossible to look away—four Third-Stage Messengers were actually being chased and hacked down by one Second-Stage Messenger, too afraid to even turn and fight.
Strength and weakness were reversed.
"Qun Yushu!" Zhou Ye shouted in near panic, "Are you just going to stand there and do nothing!?"
With a helpless sigh, a blue chain linked the four of them together. The damage Jiang Ten inflicted on Zhou Ye was now distributed among the others, greatly reducing Zhou Ye’s pressure.
However, Qun Yushu spurted two streams of foul blood from his nose, his face pale as he knelt on the ground and hurriedly pulled out Spirit Jade to replenish his Spirit Energy. The representative Token of the Qun Family was indeed the most functional in the Great Liang, but the cost was the simultaneous consumption of both Spirit Energy and life force. Linking four Third-Stage Messengers nearly cost Qun Yushu half his life.
Facing Jiang Ten, they all brought out their trump cards—but to no avail!
The moment Jiang Ten noticed they were sharing damage, the Blade Light of her long blade extended to ten meters, ensuring each slash struck all four of them! The shared damage now became a death sentence. If previously Jiang Ten could only deal 200 damage to Zhou Ye, then now a single slash would deal 200 × 0.3 (the ten-meter Blade Light attenuation factor) = 60 damage. But due to damage sharing, each person would additionally suffer 60 × 0.25 (four-person share) × 4 (all four hit) = 60 damage, meaning each took 120 damage, and the total damage dealt was 480!
This was undoubtedly drinking poison to quench thirst—using more than twice the Spirit Jade to keep Zhou Ye alive. But everyone insisted, thinking that if they could just endure until Jiang Ten’s Legendary Token expired, the battle would turn around—
But Zhou Ye could no longer hold on.
To maintain his defensive barrier, his Spirit Energy was nearly depleted. Since the battle began, Jiang Ten had relentlessly targeted him alone, breaking two White Iron Straight Blades in the process. Zhou Ye had previously scoffed at such arrogance, but now he was finally paying the price for underestimating her.
Once the Heartguard Mirror's defensive barrier was completely shattered, it would enter a cooldown period of at least five seconds, during which it could not activate. Even if there were no cooldown, he would not have enough time to absorb Spirit Jade to replenish his Spirit Energy.
The advantage accumulated over countless moments in the past had finally turned into victory at this moment.
"Jiang Ten!" Zhou Ye forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart and roared sternly, "Are you really going to offend us, offend the Heads of the Seven Great Clans, and offend the Court of Great Liang!?"
"You’ve already proven your strength. If you stop now, there might still be a chance for forgiveness!"
"Don’t think defeating us means anything. Great Liang commands a hundred thousand elite soldiers, countless Messengers, Foundation Messengers guarding its ranks. If you stand against the Court, you’ll have nowhere to run, no place to hide!"
"You—"
Pa!
Jiang Ten's Bingzi Pepper Forest swept out a radiant Blade Light, completely shattering Zhou Ye’s Heartguard Mirror barrier. Witnessing this, everyone held their breath, like onlookers at a public execution, waiting for the bloody moment to unfold.
"Jiang Ten!"
"Stop, we can still negotiate!"
"You mustn't—"
Jie Zilong and the others all cried out, yet Zhou Ye remained silent. He had raised his blade to avenge his friend. His earlier outburst was his final survival instinct as a man, but now, he only wished to preserve the last shred of dignity for the Zhou Family.
He swung his Flame Blade, unleashing a final blaze across the battlefield!
But how could fire possibly contend against Blade Light?
Jiang Ten brushed past him, and Bingzi Pepper Forest slashed down in a Kasaya-style cut, nearly slicing Zhou Ye in two. Screams echoed through the camp, many wailed in grief, faces pale with fear.
Zhou Ye was dead.
The Zhou Family’s Third Elder, the External Affairs Supervisor of Baicao Garden, former lecturer at White Deer Cave Academy—Zhou Ye—had perished in Mansu Woodland. Though he had no official post in the Court, Zhou Ye was known for his kindness and broad connections. In Jiangnan City, he was among the foremost figures, with close personal ties to many noble families and had secured much support for the Zhou Family.
In Jiangnan City, his death would be enough to shake the great clans and even prompt inquiries from the palace.
But here, his death didn’t even mark an end.
Jiang Ten showed no hesitation. The orange-red glow on her body had already faded by half, and with the time remaining, it was enough to kill one more.