498: Chapter 491: Nether Shadow Step 498: Chapter 491: Nether Shadow Step Staring at the Sword Map, Ye Qingqing flipped it over and over, watching it for a full fifteen minutes.
Unfortunately, it was still of no use.
As someone with a slight understanding of painting, every time she saw the knotted little mountain on the scroll, she couldn’t help but think of painting skills or art.
No matter how she looked at it, she thought the drawings on the Sword Map were extremely ugly.
The lines were incoherent, and the brushwork seemed to lack any strength.
Normally, this kind of situation would indicate a fixation in thinking, a difference in cognition, resulting in such an outcome.
However, after knowing that this scroll was what the people from Ten Thousand Sword Sect used to test for talent, Ye Qingqing refrained from further saying that the painting was child’s scribbling.
With clear discouragement on her face, she fell silent, not uttering a word.
“The method of talent testing used by Ten Thousand Sword Sect is not necessarily accurate.”
“Picking out the child with Immortal Cultivation talent from tens of thousands they tested—isn’t it just one in the end?”
“If you don’t have the talent, you just don’t have it, Qingqing, there’s no need to be disheartened.”
“Even if you cannot cultivate, there are other ways to extend your life!”
Seeing Ye Qingqing like this, Chen Hai knew what was going on.
Although slightly disappointed in his heart, he didn’t show any abnormalities outwardly.
Instead, he smiled and comforted Ye Qingqing.
To be honest, his act of stealing the Sword Map for Ye Qingqing to test her talent was really just a shot in the dark.
After all, among all the children in the entire county, only one was found to have the talent anyway.
Considering Ye Qingqing’s age, the chances of her having the talent for Immortal Cultivation were probably even lower than a blind cat running into a dead mouse.
Thinking about it now, this result was actually quite within reason.
“The common lot of humanity is to be born, to age, to fall ill, and to die, Chen Hai, you really didn’t need to do all this for me!”
Her gaze leaving the Sword Map, Ye Qingqing looked at Chen Hai with a complicated expression and sighed.
“Walking the Path of Immortality alone is rather tasteless.”
“Without you, Qingqing, what’s the point of living longer?”
“I’ve said that I can make you regain your youth and preserve your beauty, and I will definitely be able to do it.”
Chen Hai said, smiling lightly.
His words seemed like a joke, but in fact, they were the true reflections of his heart.
Ye Qingqing opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
“These items that look like bones are quite strange; I don’t know what they actually are?”
To avoid dwelling on the melancholic subject of everlasting life, Chen Hai deliberately changed the topic and turned his attention to the other items he had picked up.
From a pouch made of animal skin, he poured out dozens of coin-like objects made of an unknown material.
The objects varied in color.
White, silver, gold, purple—these were the four colors of the coins, and there were varying numbers of each.
“Could it be that these coins are the currency of this world?”
Holding these coins, he examined them and this thought crossed his mind.
He chuckled and shared his speculation with Ye Qingqing.
Hearing him say this, Ye Qingqing grew curious.
She picked up the oddly colored coins and took a closer look.
“The material is very special; it must be the currency of this world, no doubt.”
“The different colors of the coins must represent different denominations.”
“Let’s keep them safe; in the future, they should come in handy.”
Ye Qingqing agreed with Chen Hai’s guess and nodded in concurrence.
Chen Hai put the coins back into the animal skin pouch and secured it.
His gaze then fell upon the other two objects with ancient and strange patterns that resembled bones.
He picked up one of them and examined it thoroughly.
Then, he started to scrutinize the ancient patterns more closely.
Suddenly, his expression became distant.
In a vaguely discernible way, he seemed to see a shadowy figure walking between heaven and earth, each step carrying an endless mystery…
The feeling was profoundly mystical, wonderfully mysterious, seemingly comprehensible only through intuition and utterly ineffable.
‘Pfft…’ He shook violently and abruptly awoke from that state.
“Swift as the wind, moving like lightning, the inheritance of Nether Shadow Step?”
In an instant, Chen Hai clearly felt that his mind was filled with new information.
With his eyes closed, he organized the information in his mind and couldn’t help feeling overjoyed.
Footwork is a methodology for using strength; strictly speaking, it is also a technique.
If Chen Hai truly mastered the Nether Shadow Step and integrated it, his combat power would definitely improve significantly.
He picked up the object that carried the Nether Shadow Step inheritance and examined it once more.
Not knowing if it was because he had acquired the Nether Shadow Step inheritance, the patterns on the object eerily vanished for the most part…
…
Near the sports square, on the street where Zhang Yushan had fallen unconscious.
Chen Hai had left less than ten minutes ago.
Yang Jin and Junior Sister Ning, having just stepped out of the hotel and planning to wander aimlessly around Liuyuan County, also appeared on this street.
“Senior Brother, it looks like someone is lying over there?”
Women are naturally more detail-oriented.
Just a few steps after they walked out, Zhang Yushan, who was unconscious by the roadside, had already caught Junior Sister Ning’s eye.
Pointing to where Zhang Yushan lay unconscious, she tugged at Yang Jin’s sleeve and said,
“People are inherently sinful; with those from the new world suddenly merging with ours, anything can happen under the endless panic!”
“But what does their life or death have to do with us?”
“Let’s go, let’s not bother with him.
With such a beautiful time and scenery, you and I should be drinking and singing, questioning the meaning of life.”
“The person lying by the roadside, whether he’s alive or dead, would only spoil the view for you and me and dampen our spirits.”
Without so much as a second glance at Zhang Yushan, Yang Jin called to Junior Sister Ning, ready to move on.
“That’s not right, Senior Brother, the person who’s fainted, it looks like Uncle Master…”
Ultimately, women tend to be softer-hearted.
While walking away, Junior Sister Ning took another look at Zhang Yushan.
Though the moonlight was hazy, with her keen eyesight and getting a little closer, she could see the person lying by the roadside—Zhang Yushan—clearly.
Zhang Yushan, who had just left a step ahead of them, now lay by the roadside, with no one knowing whether he was dead or alive…
After confirming this fact, Junior Sister Ning’s expression changed, and she let out an exclamation of alarm.
In just a couple of steps, she had rushed to Zhang Yushan’s side, knelt down, and began examining him.
“What!
How could Uncle Master with his skills be fainted by the roadside?”
Full of disbelief, Yang Jin’s reaction was clearly much slower than Junior Sister Ning’s.
With their joint efforts to rescue him, Zhang Yushan finally came to faintly.
As soon as he opened his eyes, his face still carried a hint of panic.
However, when he saw that Yang Jin and Junior Sister Ning were beside him, his mind calmed down, and he immediately seemed to relax.
“Uncle Master, what’s wrong with you?
How did you faint and end up lying by the roadside?”
Full of concern, Junior Sister Ning was the first to speak up, probing for answers.
“Even Old Horses stumble.
I’m not too familiar with this small town.
I carelessly tripped over something and fell.
Is that so strange?”
Brushing the dust off his clothes, Zhang Yushan stood up.
He scanned the surroundings, and quickly, his gaze fell on a sewer entrance nearby without its cover.
“These people from the new world are really peculiar.
Such a smooth road surface, and yet suddenly there’s a big hole in the ground.”
“Building the road like this is clearly a trap for others to fall into.”
“Fortunately, your Uncle Master is highly skilled and reacted in time.
I just took a fall and fainted, that’s all.”
“If it had been you who encountered this, you would have surely tumbled into the hole, unknowing even in death!”
With composure, Zhang Yushan explained.
Of course, while making excuses for his fainting, he certainly didn’t forget to indirectly belittle Yang Jin and the others a few sentences.
As for the real reason behind his unconsciousness, he knew well enough himself.
In front of the younger generation, would he, Zhang Yushan, admit to being knocked out by a slap?
“Uncle Master is impressive.
I just looked at that hole, it’s bottomless, and who knows how many deadly dangers are hidden inside.”
“It’s only because you are Uncle Master.
If it were me, I would have definitely fallen straight in.”
“Maybe then, I would have just…
disappeared…”
Knowing well that Zhang Yushan’s fainting surely had more to it, but since he put it that way, Yang Jin and the others naturally did not press further.
They smiled and nodded in agreement, tagging along.
“Good that you know!” Zhang Yushan nodded.
Then he added, “This small town is not simple.”
“Don’t run around everywhere.
Come, follow me back.”
“To prevent accidents from happening, stay in the inn tonight, don’t leave Li Ying’s side, understand?”
Waving his hand, Zhang Yushan instructed.
From his perspective, his instructions were indeed for the benefit of Yang Jin and Junior Sister Ning.
After all, no one understood better than him just how terrifying the Ghost-faced Man was.
With his strength, holding the White Cloud Sword, he could kill people from over a dozen miles away.
But that Ghost-faced Man, with a single punch, had not only crushed all his sword light but had also sent him flying.
Without using any magic artifact, just the pure physical power alone could achieve this…
In Zhang Yushan’s experience, only those within the Demon Path who solely cultivated their physical bodies could reach such a level.
The Undying True Demon Body, unique to the strong ones of the Ninth Realm of the Demon Path.
If things were as he guessed, and the Ghost-faced Man was that powerful, perhaps only the Supreme Elder of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect would be his match.
Considering such a powerful figure had entered this small town, how could he rest assured if Yang Jin and Junior Sister Ning still wanted to go out and wander around?