CSMCDB - Chapter 137

Chapter 137

Wen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment, then felt a sense of relief. After all, having demonstrated so much value, it was impossible for her not to be taken seriously.

After the Empire made its stance clear, the stronghold was preserved for the time being. Wen Yuncheng could return to make use of it whenever her strength reached a sufficient level.

Wen Yuncheng, for her part, began her campaign of disruption.

The Mechanical Apostles had no time limit, which meant Wen Yuncheng could leave the instant she was exposed.

She found a high vantage point and deployed Number One, Two, and Three before activating her own stealth and slipping to the bottom of the lake. Upon reaching the trading area, Wen Yuncheng first walked around to confirm the connection range with her Apostles. Then, she had them line up and move outward bit by bit to test the maximum distance.

After carefully testing the range and recalling Number One and Number Two, Wen Yuncheng swapped positions with the stationary Number Three and immediately recalled it. After the swap, Wen Yuncheng remained still. She crouched down, left a mark beneath the grass, and buried a small, deep blue sea crystal halfway in the mud as a marker.

For the sake of concealment, Wen Yuncheng reluctantly sprayed all three Apostles with green paint so they wouldn't stand out against the grass. With her preparations complete, she returned to her inn to rest for a day, officially making her move on the second.

She positioned Number Three by the marker, Number Two midway between the marker and a cliff edge, and Number One at the cliff's edge. This way, she could instantly teleport out no matter the situation.

With everything ready, Wen Yuncheng donned a cloak and a white fox mask, activated her camouflage skill, and used the token to slip to the bottom of the lake.

She made her way to the trading area with practiced ease. Having scouted the location multiple times, Wen Yuncheng was now quite familiar with it.

Some stalls simply had signs listing what they had to offer and what they were looking for, while less important goods were displayed openly. Wen Yuncheng planned to take advantage of this and pilfer a few items.

Of course, she couldn't be too obvious about it.

Wen Yuncheng stealthily approached a man who was hesitating over an item at a stall. Just as he raised his hand to pick up a piece of jade, Wen Yuncheng's eyes lit up. She moved swiftly, snatching the jade and tucking it into her storage ring.

Not daring to linger, she held her breath and retreated a couple of steps before turning her attention to the other stalls.

"Where did it go?" the customer asked, stunned.

"What do you mean, where did it go? Didn't you just put it in your storage ring? Stop playing dumb! Pay up!"

"Pay up? For what? I never even touched it!" the man retorted, growing frantic.

"Bullshit! I saw you take it with my own two eyes!" the stall owner shot back, displeased. "Let me see your storage ring!"

"Why should I let you see my storage ring?" The man likely had some treasures of his own and was unwilling to expose them. The two were now at a complete impasse.

Wen Yuncheng didn't dare make a peep. She glanced at the remaining time on her camouflage skill and, no longer in the mood to be picky, took advantage of the other stall owners being distracted by the commotion. She quietly swiped a few random items from several stalls, stuffing them into her storage ring before instantly swapping places with Number Three and recalling it.

Wen Yuncheng wiped the sweat from her brow and recalled Number One and Two. While her camouflage was still active, she quickly used her Mechanical Wings to fly back to town.

...That was thrilling. Way too thrilling. If she had stayed a moment longer, her pounding heart might have given her away. Back at the inn, Wen Yuncheng rubbed her face and sighed. "I'm becoming more and more shameless."

A proper, ambitious Long Aotian would never resort to such petty theft. Still, since she was taking advantage of Fu and could sow internal chaos, Wen Yuncheng was quite satisfied.

It wouldn't be long before the trading area descended into chaos. A member stealing from their own organization... the matter wasn't huge, but it wasn't insignificant either. The main problem was that Fu would be unable to find the culprit, which would create a real mess.

Wen Yuncheng spent a few days hanging around the Dueling Arena in the Imperial Capital and gave the stolen goods to Yan Ling to sell. She hadn't managed to grab anything particularly useful, though the piece of jade was a good material for forging a Spirit Treasure. Unfortunately, Wen Yuncheng wasn't a blacksmith. Checking her experience points, she noticed Lin Jinyu had already completed four bounties. Such efficiency... truly impressive.

One of the traders marked on her map was still at the base, but the other had moved to a different location. Wen Yuncheng didn't rush to investigate the second one, instead choosing to infiltrate the underwater stronghold again.

This time, security in the trading area was much tighter, and there were more patrols. A Star King was even sitting at the entrance, cultivating with his eyes closed. But despite his meditative state, he could react instantly to the slightest disturbance.

Holding her breath and focusing her mind, Wen Yuncheng entered the trading area and repeated her previous maneuver with practiced ease. This time, the buyer and seller had barely begun to argue before they realized something was wrong. The Star King arrived in an instant and sealed off the entire area.

"Nobody leaves! Hands in the air, and don't move a muscle. Search everyone!"

This order... was perfect.

Wen Yuncheng held her breath and tiptoed past the stalls. Perhaps due to the previous theft, the items on display were even less valuable this time. Still, she didn't hold back, picking out inconspicuous items and sweeping them into her storage ring.

As she passed one stall, however, she spotted a Yellow-rank scimitar.

Wen Yuncheng made a mental note of it. After browsing the other stalls, she returned. The instant her hand closed around the scimitar and placed it in her storage ring, she swapped places with Number Three and recalled all her Apostles.

It was a shame she couldn't stick around to witness the ensuing chaos, but a safe escape was more important. Back in the Imperial Capital, Wen Yuncheng once again handed the goods over to Yan Ling. The other materials were fine, but the Yellow-rank scimitar couldn't be auctioned off right away, or it would give her away. For now, Wen Yuncheng decided to hold onto it, storing it in her own ring.

After all, who knew when she might have a use for it?

After fooling around for half a month, Wen Yuncheng took the two seniors from the auction house to meet up with Lin Jinyu and tackle some bounties together. Since her camouflage couldn't hide Xiao Shi'er, the little fox always stayed with Lin Jinyu; as a Star King, it made for a decent bodyguard. Now, with two Star King-level seniors acting as their guardians, Wen Yuncheng set her sights on large-scale bandit strongholds.

For the next while, Wen Yuncheng and Lin Jinyu worked together to eliminate bandit strongholds across the land. They gathered all the relevant bounties, listed them out, and chose which ones to accept.

Lin Jinyu needed combat experience to level up, so Wen Yuncheng let her handle the bandit leaders, giving her opportunities to fight opponents beyond her rank. Xiao Shi'er assisted from the sidelines to prevent any mishaps. If any bandits tried to flee, the two Star King seniors would intervene and cut them off.

Wen Yuncheng, meanwhile, was responsible for bombarding and destroying the strongholds with her Star Cannons and the Air Wing, then finishing off any low-level bandits who managed to survive the initial assault.

This continued for another three months.

By the time Wen Yuncheng snapped out of it, she realized her hands seemed to be stained with blood. Of course, she believed her actions were "righteous." Whether she was executing members of Fu or eliminating bandits, she felt no guilt. It was only when she considered the act of killing itself that she belatedly realized she might have become a little too cold.

But, to a certain extent, that was uncertain.

The constant fighting and killing had imbued Lin Jinyu's sword intent with the stench of blood and a murderous aura. Compared to her previously cold and sharp sword intent, this new version, suffused with killing intent, seemed even more powerful. Lin Jinyu's own understanding of combat had also reached a new level.

Some say that life has three stages of understanding. In the first, you see mountains as mountains and water as water. In the second, you see mountains not as mountains and water not as water. In the third, you see mountains once again as mountains and water once again as water. The realms of the sword path seemed to share some similarities with this philosophy.

When Lin Jinyu beheaded a 3rd Layer Star Spirit bandit leader with a single strike, a frigid aura froze the blood in its tracks. As she sheathed her sword and the corpse fell, not a single drop was spilled. But the flash of bone-chilling killing intent that erupted with that strike made Wen Yuncheng worry that Lin Jinyu might be developing inner demons.

"...I'm fine," was Lin Jinyu's reply. As she looked at Wen Yuncheng, she reined in her aura. "I control the sword intent; it does not control me."

"...Alright, then." Wen Yuncheng reached out to touch the hand Lin Jinyu used to hold her sword. They should have been cleaning up the battlefield, but with Lin Jinyu's sword intent growing so mature, Wen Yuncheng was too worried about her condition to care about anything else. Lin Jinyu put her sword away in her storage ring and took Wen Yuncheng's hand.

Wen Yuncheng's hands were always warm, putting her at ease.

They held hands in silence for a moment before Wen Yuncheng started cleaning up the battlefield. After helping them collect the storage rings, Xiao Shi'er was too embarrassed to watch the affectionate couple, so it put on a profound air, sat down on the ground, and stared blankly at the two Star King seniors.

After collecting the rings and the heads for the bounties, Wen Yuncheng disposed of the bodies. Then, she and Lin Jinyu returned to the bounty hall.

Their three-month bounty-hunting spree came to a temporary close. Lin Jinyu's mental state had advanced, and now was the best time for her to return to the Flowing Cloud Sect to reflect on her experiences and enter seclusion once more.

And as for Wen Yuncheng?

Host: Wen Yuncheng
Race: Human
Age: 21
Class: Mechanical Overlord
Level: 53
Experience: 39185/56000
Points: 15,806

She glanced at her status, then checked the locations of her trackers. She removed the one on the Fu member who had remained stationary at the bottom of the lake, freeing up a slot. She planned to investigate where the other member, the one who had left the stronghold, had gone.

What if it was a small stronghold she could handle on her own?

First, I'll go scout it out. If it is a stronghold... I'll map it out and give the map to the First Princess before going in to investigate the specifics, Wen Yuncheng thought. Fu is hidden so deep, and their network is so fragmented. Moreover, none of the strongholds exposed so far seem to have any connection to the visitors from the other world.

If I want to find a stronghold like that... would I... need to plant a tracker on a Star Venerate, or even a Star Emperor? Where would they hide? In the mountains, in a lake, underground? Or even at the bottom of the sea? Wen Yuncheng mused, unconsciously touching her white fox mask. In any case, it would have to be an extremely secret location, protected by all sorts of formations... That was all still a bit out of reach for her at the moment. Wen Yuncheng let out a soft laugh and put the mask on.

Regardless, the Starry Sky Continent still had time. And so did she.

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