Chapter 296 – Untitled

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

More action and emotional scenes, so… erm…

In order to use their Spiritual Weapons more freely, Cultivators would often leave a trace of their soul inside to increase affinity and promote harmony. The higher the level of the Cultivator, the higher the likelihood of them leaving a piece of their souls in their weapons.

For many Cultivators, once they die, the soul left within the Spiritual Weapon would eventually dissipate over time. Other times, if the weapon happened to be robbed or snatched, the Spirit within would be forcefully stifled and dispelled.

As a Demonic Cultivator, Li Tian’s Soul Drawing Flag was a Demonic Item. Shiyu and the rest of them had no experience with high-level Spiritual Weapons and their Cultivations were too low to detect the anomaly within the Flag. 

“I’ll have people go look for it now!” if Li Tian really escaped, he might do evil again.

“No need to worry, the probability of something happening right away is low. Though, of course, it would be best if we could destroy the flag to avoid potential problems,” said Suo Lan. “However, even if the flag contained his soul, it’s not a major problem for the time being.”

Shiyu said nothing, just waiting for his next words.

“The soul inside the flag is only a fragment, as time goes by the soul will eventually dissipate. If you are that fragmented piece of soul, what would you do?”

Shiyu final caught a glimmer of understanding.

“In other words, if he wants to be resurrected, he will stay hidden inside the Soul Drawing Flag and… wait for an opportunity?”

Suo Lan laughed, “He’s just a fragment piece of soul and cannot last long. The most annoying thing about Demonic Cultivators is their tendency to absorb other Cultivator’s souls to increase their own power. An ordinary person’s soul would only maintain the current condition of his soul. He would have to absorb the souls of Cultivators to heal himself.

He is evil and greedy but he is no fool. He can’t even kill ordinary mortals on a large scale in his present condition. It will only make him die sooner. He definitely cannot go after Cultivators either. Therefore, he would most likely hide and conserve his strength, making it more difficult for you to track him down.

This is as far as my knowledge goes. I can take care of matters regarding the Eastern Empire for you. As for the rest, I’m afraid I can only hand responsibility back to you. ”

Shiyu fell silent for a long time.

This was a tricky matter indeed. Under the Ninth Realm there were the vast 6 Great Continents, aside from the Spiritual Beast Mountain Range and the major seas, there were over 200 empires and countries here.

Each country has tens of billions of people and the total land area of one country is nearly equivalent to Earth’s total landmass.

To find a single Soul Drawing Flag in such a huge place would be tantamount to finding a needle in the vast seas.

However, it was not something they could ignore. Otherwise, who knows when their heads would fall to this knife if they ignore this oversight?

“I will need a topographic map, one that covers the whole of Ninth Realm,” said Shiyu.

“So, you decide to go after it? You could probably track it down eventually but it would probably take you a long time, perhaps a few years even. If you immediately leave for the Upper Realms, your Cultivation will improve more quickly. Are you sure you wish to remain at the Ninth Realm?”

“It’s something I have to take care of, so I must do it properly. Do you have the map?”

“Of course,” Suo Lan searched his space ring for a moment before handing a box over to Shiyu. “I relied on this map when I first came to the Eastern Empire, I shall give it to you now,”

Shiyu took the topographic map and said seriously, “Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Once I leave the Ninth Realm, I shall come and speak with you further. If you need any help then, just mention it.”

Suo Lan spread out his hands, “You should do your best to survive first,”

Shiyu did not waste any words. After taking the topographic map, she returned to the College where one of the black-cloaked people was being held.

Since this person sold Li Tian out by telling them his death point, Shiyu elected to let him live for now.

She was starting to believe that this person was probably afraid of death and greedy for life. Perhaps she could dig more information out of him. [1] These people tended to be selfish and self-serving, let’s threaten him a bit before luring him with some benefit.

[2a] 

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Shiyu made her way straight to the area where the prisoner was kept and found Ding Qi already there, staring at the prisoner. [1] His eyes were very wide.

[1] What surprised Shiyu was that there was more shock than hatred on Ding Qi’s face.

[1] When she looked at the prisoner, she saw an equally stunned look on the person’s face. So much so that the prisoner actually said, “It’s you, ah… so, looks like justice has caught up …”

[1] Shiyu’s eyes flickered between them once, but she has no interest in their personal drama. Instead, she sent Ding Qi out and stood before the prisoner.

“What is your name?”

The man looked at her with some surprise. He was their prisoner but there was no fear on his face, “Lian Cheng.”

Now that she knew his name, Shiyu did not waste words with him.

“Lian Cheng, I want to know everything about Li Tian. Of course, if you do not wish to speak, I have other ways of finding out. However, if you freely volunteer your information, we can be generous and not kill you. Moreover, we could also let you have a limited amount of freedom.”

Lian Cheng did not seem interested to hear Shiyu’s conditions. Instead, he looked straight at her and said, “Was it to avenge the mortals at Dawn City? Is it worth it?”

“I don’t know if it’s worth it. But my heart cannot settle if I don’t do it,”

“Good, good,” Lian Cheng’s eyes seemed to shiver. “I shall tell you. You were looking for his Soul Drawing Flag? Then, you should also know that a trace of his soul remains in the flag. However, it will be very difficult for him to resurrect.

He would either find a place with sufficient Spiritual energy and nest there for a hundred years or attempt to absorb some rare herb or celestial stone that could increase the lifespan of the soul. However, such things don’t exist in the Ninth Realm. The final thing he might do is swallow the soul of others.

Also, the master of the Profound Sky Empire has a close relationship with him. If she found out that you killed Li Tian… heheh. I hope you can find him soon.”

At this, Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief.

That’s because even though Profound Sky Empire was the centre of the Ninth Realm thanks to the teleportation formation to the Ninth Realm, the distance between Eastern Martial Empire and Profound Sky Empire was [2b] quite far. It would take a flying beast more than half a month of non-stop travelling to reach it.

Such a faraway place would certainly tax the energy of Soul Drawing Flags. [3] No matter what, if it came down to a race, she would reach Profound Sky Empire on foot before the flag.

She would have plenty of time to stop Li Tian before he could reach for help.

“That’s right, do you know where is Tan-Tai Chu?” asked Shiyu. This person should know some information about her.

“No need for you to worry. Third Miss is confident that this matter is already a done deal and returned to the Eighth Realm in full confidence. Once she’s there, she will be sent to the close Cultivation by her family and will only exit after three years.”

When Shiyu heard this, she breathed a sigh of relief. [3] Three years. As long as they properly make use of this time they should be in a completely different situation by then.

“Many thanks!” Shiyu saluted him. “I shall put in a good word to the Dean for you. We shall also honour the promises I gave you earlier.”

With that, she quickly left.

What Lian Cheng said mirrored Suo Lan’s words. She had also checked with Old Gu about how remnant souls could resurrect, therefore, she was sure that Lian Cheng did not lie to her.

Since Lian Cheng did not lie to her about this, she was fairly sure that his claims about Li Tian trying to find his way to Profound Sky Empire would be true.

Shiyu studied the map in her hand. She traced the area between Eastern Martial Empire and Profound Sky Empire with her finger.

Her finger stopped at a certain point…

[Gumihou: Profound indeed…]

We now have Glossaries for Character, Cultivation Terms, Clan Names, Restaurants & Places

[1] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Clearly building up to a revelation. Refine the text a bit. Okay, refined text a lot and adjust the logistical issue of prisoner, Ding Qi and Shiyu’s meeting. Also, put everything under Shiyu’s POV, avoid pivoting POV that shook out just one paragraph for the prisoner.

[2] Deleted Stuff:

[a] However… the person wasn’t as disdainful.

As per Note 1, the ‘however’ ruined the effect of building Shiyu’s emotional ‘grr’ against the person she left alive to interrogate. Gumi also added a page break to increase the tension. Show the ‘wasn’t as disdainful’ instead of just saying it.

[b] …was not bad

Unsure if author was trying to make Shiyu sound pithy or not but the remark is certainly unnecessary.

[3] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Give a bit more perspective on the distance between Eastern Martial Empire and Profound Sky Empire.

[4] Adjusted Details for Dramatic Purpose: Adjusted sentence for maximum impact.

 

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