Chapter 638 – Behind the Curtain, Blade Laid Bare - Part 2

Li Yuan, meanwhile, was on the move again. He had one arm hooked around a large chest full of spirit stones, the Life Star Art stele strapped to his back, and Ying Zhuoyao dangling from his other hand. He sped forward at low altitude, racing toward Gemhill County.

The Yin and Yang energies in this region had basically vanished. Even he was starting to feel a creeping sense of unease.

That unease showed up directly in his combat power.

Up to now, he had been at 106k~5.16mil. But now the upper limit had begun to slowly dip, dropping by a few hundred points.

That meant he was in a weakened state and needed to recover.

The Central Plains was not the Eastern Sea.

The Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth in the Central Plains had already truly begun.

Three months later, Li Yuan’s upper limit had dropped below five million.

The speed itself was still barely acceptable, but...half of that loss had happened in just the last few days.

That meant that from here on out, the fall might turn into a sheer cliff.

By then, Li Yuan had already arrived in Gemhill County.

The land here was completely different from when he’d first come. You could even say it had taken on a bit of the flavor of an old cultural city. The Ginger Tavern still looked the same as before, but new houses had sprung up all around it.

Li Yuan walked closer for a look and discovered that the Ginger Tavern’s main building in Silver Creek wasn’t doing business anymore. A board stood outside instead, with four bold characters written on it.

“Former Residence of Yan Yu.”

It had become a modern cultural relic.

On the streets, there were far more smiles on people’s faces as well.

These days, the winds and rains came when they should; the common folk had food to eat and clothes to wear.

The only ones having a hard time were the martial artists and cultivators.

For the masses of living beings, life was honestly quite good now.

People who used to worry about having enough to eat were now bringing their kids out for a stroll to look at Yan Yu’s former residence.

Li Yuan heard the children chattering nearby, asking things like, “So Yan Yu really used to live here?” and “Isn’t Yan Yu a goddess? Did a goddess really live in a place like this?”

Ying Zhuoyao, driving the carriage, stayed at his side. In the carriage were the spirit stones and the secret art stele.

Every so often, a soft hissing came from inside.

The pile of spirit stones was shrinking the way snow melts in the sun. Even checking just a day and a night apart, it was easy to see the heap had visibly gone down.

Li Yuan was looking for Xie Yu.

He had a fire in his belly, but that didn’t mean he was going to give up.

He genuinely couldn’t understand what was going on in Xie Yu’s head.

You could call it a young lady throwing a tantrum, but what kind of young lady used her own life to throw a tantrum? Besides, Xie Yu was gifted to begin with, and her sword cultivation was nothing to sneeze at. That alone proved she had a good head on her shoulders. If so, how could she not figure this out?

He hadn’t deliberately deceived her. He’d explained himself, then silently done so many things for her afterward. Was all of that still not enough to get past this?

He had considered the possibility that Xie Yu was just waiting for him to come and admit he was wrong.

But after searching for so many days, he realized he was overthinking it.

Xie Yu was gone.

Even when he recklessly unleashed his power and spread his senses over all of Gemhill County and the surrounding area, he still couldn’t find any trace of her.

He started

sweeping

across all three counties.

Still no sign of Xie Yu.

He asked around in all kinds of ways. A red-clad female swordswoman like Xie Yu was eye-catching; there was a good chance someone would’ve seen her. But the result was the same, nothing.

Li Yuan remembered the message Sheng’er had sent previously, that someone saw a red-dressed female swordsman by the banks of the Eternal Rest River. So he searched up and down along that river as well.

Still nothing.

Xie Yu had vanished. Completely.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Time blinked by; another two months passed in a flash.

Li Yuan’s upper limit had already dropped below four million.

He couldn’t keep waiting anymore.

The Great Upheaval of Heaven and Earth was an unexpected factor beyond his control. Xie Yu...was another.

Li Yuan headed west in haste.

A month later, his spirit stones were completely used up.

Another month after that, he finally reached the Western Extremes and his stats had fallen to two million.

The previous Evernight Line was gone. Sunlight now poured in from the west, spreading over the land that had once been locked in eternal night.

The snow on the ground had melted. As far as the eye could see, there were green mountains and lush grass, the earth fresh and alive, nothing at all like the landscape it had been before.

Early summer was approaching. In many places, there was even a faint oppressive heat. Poisonous insects and wild beasts appeared, miasma seeping into the air, things that had never existed here in the past.

Caravans now traveled back and forth, the jingling of their bells echoing along the official road that had only been built a few years ago, forming a trade route in what had once been a barren land outside the passes.

As he traveled, Li Yuan spread his senses wide and picked up all sorts of news.

The Nine Flames Tribe had basically all left the depths of the Western Extremes because the nine bonfires had completely gone out. Sunlight was now shining down on land that had been frozen in darkness and blizzards for tens of thousands of years.

Another was that the Nine Flames were still in the Western Extremes. But instead of their old circling the bonfires on the ice fields and building tribal camps lifestyle, they now lived in caves.

Because they’d moved into the mountains, and the terrain here was strange to begin with, many wild beasts had appeared, along with all kinds of rare flowers and exotic herbs. These had quickly become special local products that the Nine Flames Tribe shipped to the Central Plains.

Over the past few years, the Son of Heaven of Great Zhou had sent no small number of talented people to help the Nine Flames Tribe. Thanks to that, the Ice Folk who had left the frozen plains hadn’t degenerated into actual savages.

Lastly, the faith here was still centered around the Crowmother.

The old Khagan had already been welcomed by the Crowmother into the Deathless Tomb.

Li Yuan suddenly realized that it had been a while since he last heard from Sheng'er.

In the past, Sheng'er’s eyes and ears were everywhere. No matter where Li Yuan went, sooner or later, Sheng'er would show up.

But now, Sheng'er had simply vanished.

Maybe she’s hit a critical point in cultivation?

Li Yuan thought.

Right now, though, he barely had time to care.

Since he’d already reached the Western Extremes, he continued heading west. He planned to get close to the Deathless Tomb, then use the Life Star Art and decide on his next move based on what happened.

If the situation turned bad, he’d have no choice but to hide inside the Deathless Tomb to ride out the catastrophe.

After all, the Life Star Art was only an insurance policy.

Until the very last step, he had no intention of just dying outright, entering reincarnation, and then reclaiming his power.