Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Escape from the Tide of Lamentation?

The whole mountain is shrouded in blood mist.

How to escape?

In which direction should we escape?

——However, this seems to be a normal exam task.

"Thank you both for your protection just now, now let's help you in return," Zhang Xiaoyi said.

"Can you find a way to escape this place?" Shen Ye asked.

"Doggy can!" Zhang Xiaoyi exclaimed.

Both turned their gaze to Doggy.

Doggy proudly raised its head.

"Today it's a police dog, best at finding clues through the slightest traces."

Zhang Xiaoyi said and then crouched in front of Doggy, taking out a bag of dog food:

"Please, we need to escape the range covered by the Tide of Lamentation, help us find a way out."

Rustle rustle.

The dog food scattered on the ground.

Doggy joyfully started to eat, and soon there was none left.

"Is that enough?" Shen Ye asked.

"Woof!" Doggy barked once and dashed off in a direction.

The group hurried to follow.

By then, the great sword, Mu Tou, as well as the statues of Zhang Xiaoyi and Doggy had flown over, following by their side once again.

After about ten minutes.

Everyone arrived at a plain covered in thick mist.

"Haven't we reached it yet?" Shen Ye asked.

"Almost there——huh? What's that?" Zhang Xiaoyi pointed in a direction.

Everyone looked and saw a light flickering deep in the mist.

The Candlelight Flame.

Strange.

There was no longer any need for the Candlelight Flame.

"Who's there?" Xiao Mengyu called out.

Several figures quietly emerged.

The leader, a boy holding the Candlelight Flame, and the others looked towards Shen Ye.

"We're here to return something."

The leader said.

Another boy added, "That's right, this Candlelight Flame originally belonged to Shen Ye, but it was accidentally packed with my things, now we've come to return it."

He grinned and spread his hands: "I'm Li Yinghuai, ranked sixth among the newcomers."

The leading boy looked toward Xiao Mengyu: "Yinghuai and I have been waiting here specifically for Shen Ye—Miss Xiao, please step aside, this doesn't concern you."

"Wang Dingzhou... what do you mean by that?" Xiao Mengyu asked.

"If you don't leave, you'll just have to die with them," Li Yinghuai said with a smile.

Xiao Mengyu let out a cold laugh, slowly placed her hand on the sword hilt, and said to Shen Ye, "Wang Dingzhou, second on the newcomer ranking, and Li Yinghuai is sixth."

Shen Ye turned to glance at Zhang Xiaoyi and quickly said, "Run!"

Zhang Xiaoyi made a swift decision.

He and Doggy were no match for a scion of the noble family.

——Rather than staying and becoming a burden to the two, it was better to run away!

Not holding Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu back was already a success!

Zhang Xiaoyi bent down, scooped up Doggy in his arms, and dashed madly in another direction.

Woof woof woof!

Doggy's barks echoed from afar, as if it was utterly unwilling, but it had already been carried away.

"Don't leave any witnesses, go, kill that person," Wang Dingzhou ordered.

Two youths immediately gave chase.

Left behind were Wang Dingzhou, Li Yinghuai, and five other youths.

"Shen Ye," Xiao Mengyu said.

"Hmm?"

"Let me handle this, you run first," Xiao Mengyu said.

"Don't be ridiculous, you——" Shen Ye didn't finish his sentence when a sudden pang struck his heart.

He looked at Xiao Mengyu and saw that her condition seemed different from usual.

An extremely subtle and sharp Sword Qi quietly emerged, lingering around her, without dispersing at all.

This way, none of the contestants could sense it.

But still, it was no good.

——How could you alone withstand a group of them?

It would be a miracle if you weren't killed on the spot!

Besides, if they wanted to chase, they just needed two people to hold you back, while the others circled around, and they could quickly catch up to me.

"Stop arguing, let's fight together," Shen Ye said with a heavy voice.

The youths opposite also heard Xiao Mengyu's words and couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.

Wang Dingzhou shook his head, "My family also has a Divine Artifact, it's just that our family rules are strict, and there are no people who would defy superiors like you——"

"If I had a Divine Artifact, I would definitely rank much higher than you!"

"You think a Divine Artifact would just recognize anyone like you? Are you worthy?" Xiao Mengyu retorted with a sneer.

Wang Dingzhou was furious.

"Shall I kill her?" Li Yinghuai asked softly.

"No, let's all be cautious and attack together. Everyone must make a move," Wang Dingzhou ordered.

"Hmph, I thought I'd get to enjoy myself——" Li Yinghuai said with crossed arms, "I haven't been out and about for a while, which is why I've dropped to sixth, otherwise, what is she?"

Both stood side by side, though speaking dismissively, they had already assumed a battle stance.

The youths around were even more so.

Xiao Mengyu placed her hand on the Remnant Snow Sword, thought for a moment, then pushed the Remnant Snow Sword back and brought the Luo Shui Sword forward.

Sword.

Moved.

A streak of sword light flew out, instantly transforming into a curved beam of Sword Qi—

Clang!

The sword returned to her.

It was only then that Xiao Mengyu spoke, "Some people always think Divine Artifacts accept masters indiscriminately."

"Could the head of our Luo family be brainless? Could it be that Grandfather simply let me obtain the Divine Sword without any prior planning, leading to our family's decline?"

She couldn't help but complain.

"That's called pride and prejudice," Shen Ye said.

"Spot on!" Xiao Mengyu laughed and continued, "This is one of the world's renowned Sword Artifacts, capable of unleashing Sword Qi through the air as if the sword itself had struck, and I have inherited my grandfather's true teachings, with just enough strength to execute the first technique of the Luo Shen Sword Technique."

"If the Sword Artifact is this formidable, the swordsmanship must also be exceptional," Shen Ye said.

He couldn't help but feel a bit of awe.

The name of Sword Saint, combined with the might of the Divine Sword, was enough to instantly annihilate a group of peers.

Who could compete with her now?

Nangong Sirui?

Unless Nangong Sirui also had a Divine Artifact like this!

"This move is really powerful; with my abilities, I must exhaust all my strength and spiritual power to barely bring it forth," Xiao Mengyu admitted.

"Is that not too risky?" Shen Ye asked.

"Indeed," Xiao Mengyu agreed, "If I don't hit the target, once I am drained of my strength, I can only be at the mercy of others."

"But you still used that sword," Shen Ye said.

"Because they were standing too close together, I couldn't help but want to take a gamble. Especially since you were by my side, I went all out," Xiao Mengyu replied.

Her form slightly swayed as she continued,

"I might fall asleep for a little while, and you need to protect me."

"Okay," Shen Ye said.

Xiao Mengyu nodded, gently knelt on the ground, her eyes lightly closed, and then remained still.

Just a few seconds.

Her breathing became slightly heavier, the rhythm of her breaths long and steady.

—She had actually fallen asleep like that.

In front of her.

Where those youths had originally been standing.

—There were no longer any living people.

All the bodies had been bisected by that one sword strike.

Bodies lay decapitated, scattered across the ground.

In face of Xiao Mengyu's Luo Shen Sword Technique and the Luo Shui Sword, they didn't even have a chance to make a move before they were slain.

Shen Ye sighed.

—Is this the power of a Sword Saint?

And that strike just now was definitely out of the ordinary, certainly of the Purple Grade.

Speaking of which—

How did these guys find me?

Shen Ye thought about stepping forward to ask but was somewhat repulsed by the blood and viscera everywhere.

"Hey!"

He shouted from a distance, "How did you know our whereabouts?"

Among the many corpses, one of the youths' bodies responded:

"Someone was specifically broadcasting your location; he must have received the blessing of the newcomer deck, enabling him to search for specific targets."

"—So, the moment we received the message, we came to block you."

Shen Ye nodded.

So that was it.

His own blessing was "Flesh," Xiao Mengyu's was "Team Leader," and one of the candidates on the other side also received some kind of tracking blessing.

But—

"Why do you want to kill me? I don't even know any of you," Shen Ye said.

Wang Dingzhou's voice replied:

"Originally, they wanted you to be eliminated during the exam."

"At first, my orders were to cooperate with everyone to besiege you, making you lose your combat capability and preventing you from continuing the exam."

"Who gave the orders?" Shen Ye shouted from afar.

"You should know," Li Yinghuai continued, "Those scions of great families, they all belong to the senior grades—they designed the whole thing together."

His body had been split in two by that sword and he was already dead, but his soul was compelled to return, clinging to the corpse, to answer Shen Ye.

"Who are they?" Shen Ye asked.

"I don't know the specifics; I just received a mark and a password, which assigned me to this task," Li Yinghuai said.

"You come to kill me without even knowing who they are?" Shen Ye was somewhat speechless.

"The mark doesn't lie, plus, if I killed you, I could join their circle and become one of them," Li Yinghuai explained.

"You go die!" Shen Ye roared angrily.

Li Yinghuai died once again.

Shen Ye pondered for a moment, then asked, "Is there anyone else who knows more than he did?"

"The original plan was to flunk you," Wang Dingzhou's voice emerged, "but then you suddenly entered the 54-card newcomer deck and received a guaranteed pass."

"The plan was changed at the last minute."

"Killing you was the safest bet."

"Tell me their names," Shen Ye said.

"I don't qualify to enter their circle unless I killed you. Then a 'Guide' would come forward to introduce me and let me join," Wang Dingzhou replied.

"A Guide?" Shen Ye inquired.

"Yes, he's overseeing the entire affair, currently somewhere on the island," Wang Dingzhou said.

"Also a candidate?" Shen Ye asked precisely.

"He sounds very old, not like a candidate," Wang Dingzhou replied.