CHAPTER 349: CHAPTER 347: ONE FOOT ON SIX BOATS (PART 1)

Le Yuxin didn’t expect that his personal integrity would be tested before his chastity—no beautiful girls have disrobed to challenge his pure-hearted stance as the War God yet, but someone is asking him to betray his recently made promise.

I’m not that kind of person, don’t insult me like this!

Seeing Le Yuxin’s expressionless face and silent refusal, the young man quickly said: "Actually, rather than eliminating other cheaters, we’re more aiming to counter Niruo—I must admit, I can compete with Niruo in normal circumstances, but when Niruo wears the ’Madness Mask,’ I’m indeed no match."

"Qin Le Yin, your skills have been acknowledged by Niruo, and I’ve seen you in action in class. Combined, the two of us might not be able to kick Niruo out, but we can maintain a standoff, allowing Dailan Palace and Shuiyun Palace behind us to cheat smoothly."

"As for who can seize the title of Eye of Omniscience, it all depends on everyone’s cheating skills. But if we fight separately, we might be picked off one by one by Niruo, so forget about the title, we might not even get ranks like Heart of Universal Learning or Seeker’s Apprentice—at least Dailan won’t, her mind is emptier than the sky above Canglan District."

Le Yuxin was intrigued and wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, silently offering the young man to sit down and served him a cup of honey Five-Flower Tea: "You are really speaking ill of your own Sword Master behind their back, seems like the Holy Sword’s Radiance hasn’t influenced your Spirit much."

The young man gave Le Yuxin a curious look: "What else? Spirit influence might work on ordinary people, but I’ve been guarding the border between Dawn and Dusk in Summer for ten years as a Beiwei Elf, how could the Holy Sword’s Radiance control my mind?"

Le Yuxin nearly spat out his Five-Flower Tea listening to that: "Beiwei Elf?"

"Yes, it’s the highest honor for our Beiwei Army General, having temporary tactical command authority, all soldiers prioritize listening to the Elf’s command over the officers’. Hence, currently only five Elves are appointed in the Beiwei Army, and all five are invincible battlefield Kings. I’m one of them," the young man said proudly.

Le Yuxin wiped the water from the mouth’s corner again: "I’ve heard of the Beiwei Army, but why is the highest honor title for generals an Elf?"

"The terrain in Summer is peculiar, though not like the massive mountains in Canglan District, it’s high and steep. Within a day, a single mountain can showcase all four seasons. Even the Beiwei Army struggles due to the climate changes. The Elf title means ’Mountain Spirit and Earth Wizard,’ referring to strong generals who can ignore climate changes, moving effortlessly even in snowy mountains and marshlands."

At this point, the young man glanced at Le Yuxin: "Though you’re strong, there’s a great gap to becoming a Beiwei Elf. Fighting in such special environments takes years, even decades of adaptation and learning. No matter how extraordinary the Combat Technique is, it’s easy to be eroded by Summer’s bizarre weather, turning a pillar of a man into a thin needle."

Le Yuxin waved his hand: "Alright, alright, I know you’re the Elf who turns iron pillars into needles."

The young man blinked, feeling something was off but couldn’t pinpoint it, so he resumed the topic: "Are you willing to cooperate with me?"

"I need to think about it." Le Yuxin said thoughtfully: "Since even you, the Sword Sheath, say the Sword Master of Dailan Palace isn’t bright, why should I collaborate with someone whose mind isn’t sharp...?"

"That’s not what I meant!"

The young man stood up abruptly: "She... she just isn’t skilled at learning and doesn’t like thinking about complex problems, but she has many virtues—she’s a good Sword Master!"

"Such as?"

"Such as, she eats a lot and doesn’t get fat... like..."

The young man raised his fist and mumbled for a while, suddenly his face turned red, and he punched the table: "So, do you agree to cooperate with us? If not, I’m leaving!"

"Hey, hey, hey, don’t go, don’t go, I didn’t say I won’t agree, just have some reservations." Le Yuxin quickly persuaded him, but inside, he understood the Holy Sword’s Radiance had influenced him.

Initially, he thought the mental influence of the Holy Sword’s Radiance was like a headband’s curse, where any disrespectful thought like ’the Sword Master is a complete fool’ would cause a sting in the Sword Sheath’s handmark.

Under such efficient and immediate punishment, even the toughest men would be tamed like ragdoll cats over time. If severe, they might even enjoy this strange sense, truly becoming the Sword Sheath, eager to be pricked by the sharp Sword every day.

Le Yuxin’s speculation wasn’t a twisted sense of humor; after all, every Sword Sheath has the mark on the back of their hand. By detective story standards, if a gun appears in the story, it must be fired before the story ends. Following this logic, the mark must serve a purpose; it can’t be just for decoration, right?

Looking at it now, perhaps it’s indeed decorative.

The mental brainwashing of the Holy Sword’s Radiance surpasses Lady Guanyin controlling Sun Wukong—it seems to make the Sword Sheath see the Sword Master as family.

Earlier, the young man criticized his Sword Master, Ming Dailan, yet when Le Yuxin echoed and doubted Ming Dailan’s mental capacity, the young man got furious—my Sword Master, I can criticize, but others can’t!

He’s only fifteen after all, and Le Yuxin could easily see his genuine sincerity in the rebuttal.

He genuinely couldn’t bear others slandering Dailan Palace and had no resistance to this protective behavior.

"By the way, what do you usually call Dailan Palace?" Le Yuxin suddenly asked, "I’ve seen you attend class with her, you can’t always be calling her Sword Master, Master, Doggy Man Bitch, can you?"

The young man hesitated for a moment, seemingly feeling that it wasn’t worth hiding, and then honestly said, "She wants me to call her Sister Dailan."

So that’s it, he regards Ming Dailan as his own sister... Le Yuxin glanced at the scythe and hammer mark on the back of his hand and suddenly had a feeling—perhaps the significance of the mark is to establish a bloodline connection between two strangers, making the sword sheath see the Sword Master as the family member it first lays eyes on at birth.

Although this binding isn’t highly coercive, it’s astonishing enough, and don’t forget, this is just a part of the power revealed by the Absolute Divine Weapon.

If Le Yuxin didn’t have the Ice Blood Physique, he might now see Ming Shuiyun as his own little sister. But given Le Yuxin’s attitude towards sisters, Ming Shuiyun wouldn’t theoretically receive much better treatment.

The decision made, Le Yuxin suddenly laughed and said, "Since you came to cooperate with me, shouldn’t you introduce yourself? I still don’t know your name."

"Ya." The young man paused, "Execution Hall Ya."

"...I’m asking for the name registered in the roster, not the killer code name you chose for yourself."

"My name really is Ya." Execution Hall Ya said helplessly, "I’m an orphan, and the Beiwei Army adopts orphans with hall names. The names usually lack any warmth, and ’Execution Hall’ is quite good already. There are others like ’Killing Hall,’ ’Punishment Hall,’ ’Paradise,’ etc... If you’ve seen the Beiwei Army’s roster, you’d know my name is considered rather nice."

I know your Beiwei Army is a center for old-school gamers... Le Yuxin asked, "So, let me confirm our cooperative content: We will jointly resist Niruo from Shuangli Palace. If we can’t drive Niruo out, we’ll maintain our three-family standoff, excluding other cheating aides. No problems, right?"

"No problem."

"Alright, Execution Hall Ya." Le Yuxin extended his hand, "Pleasure working together."

Execution Hall Ya shook his hand, "Pleasure working together. I’d better be heading back now—"

"Actually, I wanted to ask a question." Le Yuxin said, "Since you consider Niruo the strongest, why didn’t you seek cooperation with Niruo?"

"Because Niruo’s strength is relative; more importantly, Shuangli Palace is also very strong." Execution Hall Ya said, "Collaborating with Niruo would mean granting Shuangli Palace greater advantage. Cooperating with you, I at least have some confidence that Dailan Palace can surpass your Shuiyun Palace. But if I join forces with Niruo, I think Dailan Palace doesn’t have any chance of victory."

"And if Shuangli Palace gains a certain advantage in this first game, relying on her and Niruo’s strength, this advantage could turn into a snowball rolling down Summer Sunset Snow Mountain, quickly growing larger and causing avalanche-level effects, completely obliterating all Sword Seekers."

"In the battle for sword-seeking supremacy, ultimately, there can only be one victor."

Le Yuxin understood Execution Hall Ya’s point—in a zero-sum game, no one would cooperate with the first place because everyone’s ultimate goal is to become the first.

And the terrifying advantage of Niruo and Ming Shuangli becomes the basis for others’ alliance. No one would sit by and watch the emergence of a winner, just like a Mario Kart racer who throws shells and ink at the first place; everyone would unanimously gang up on Niruo.

Though Execution Hall Ya mentioned maintaining a three-sided standoff, other sword sheaths wouldn’t stand idly by, possibly evolving into Niruo facing off against six sword sheaths, with everyone uniting to eliminate Shuangli Palace from the game first.

The real intent behind Execution Hall Ya was for their two parties, together with others, to kick Niruo out first, and then gradually eliminate the rest, turning the Eye of Omniscience exam into a battle between Ming Shuiyun and Ming Dailan.

As for why Niruo sought alliance with Le Yuxin, it’s simpler—he doesn’t really care who he teams up with; Le Yuxin was simply the nearby choice, considering Niruo lives on the fourth floor and Le Yuxin on the second.

Niruo wasn’t lying; he just didn’t mention the possibility of ’other sword sheaths ganging up on him.’ But with Le Yuxin as an ally, they just need to strike first, at least eliminating one or two sword sheaths, turning the situation into a two-on-four or two-on-three. Once others realize they have no confidence in defeating Le Yuxin and Niruo, they naturally won’t make futile efforts, and Niruo’s predicament will dissolve without effort.

Since Niruo was the first to abandon righteousness, Le Yuxin naturally could act shamelessly too, taking advantage of both sides, adapting as the situation unfolds.

Thinking of this, Le Yuxin felt a bit more amiable towards Execution Hall Ya. If not for Execution Hall Ya, he might foolishly become Niruo’s tool, sharing half of Niruo’s hatred, forced into battles with other sword sheaths for hundreds of rounds...

Furthermore, Execution Hall Ya, young and endearing, even somewhat silly, though he’s already a sycophant for Dailan Palace, doesn’t mean a sword sheath can only be sycophantic to one person. Perhaps he could develop Execution Hall Ya into a new kind of tool; it’s worth recruiting...

Seemingly because of the conversation, Execution Hall Ya felt a bit thirsty and picked up the honeyed Five-Flower Tea, taking a sip, only to spit it out the next second, "So sweet!? What the heck? Is this drinkable!?"

Five seconds later, Execution Hall Ya was kicked out of Le Yuxin’s dorm.

"Cooperation ends here. Next time we meet, it’s a matter of life or death. Scram!"

Bang!

Staring at the heavily shut door before him, Execution Hall Ya was still somewhat stunned—weren’t they getting along so well just now? Why did Qin Le Yin suddenly throw a fit?