"We’ve finally reached the border." Nalan You looked travel-worn, with three people at his side.
Two women and one man, making for a party of four including him.
These were some of his few true friends. All his other ’classmates’ had either refused him or abandoned the journey midway.
Of course, the man’s loyalty was questionable. He had only come along because he was pursuing one of the women in their group.
As for the two women, they both harbored secret feelings for him, which was why they had followed him all this way.
So, while the team wasn’t large, its internal dynamics were incredibly complex.
This left Nalan You feeling secretly frustrated. ’I’m completely focused on using them to advance my own ambitions, but all they care about is so-called love.’
’But that’s precisely what makes them useful,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, how would I have gotten this opportunity?’
That’s why he had been secretly managing the group’s relationships, keeping things from falling apart until now.
"It gets more dangerous from here. We’ve used our Composite Sacred Objects to avoid the battlefield as much as possible, but we’ll still have to step onto it eventually."
"So, we must be extremely careful. At our level of strength, we’ll be dead for sure if we run into the regular army of the Eternal United States."
"Therefore, we have to..." Nalan You began laying out the plan and necessary precautions.
However, the three of them were lost in their own thoughts. Plus, they were rookies who had only heard of war’s horrors but never witnessed them, so they didn’t pay his words much mind.
"The Iron Armor Man is formidable. Our Sacred Objects are not enough to defeat him."
"Our only objective this time is to retrieve Xian Mei’s body." Seeing their distraction, Nalan You set a clear goal.
He felt a surge of frustration. ’These three are completely hopeless.’
The three gave a few half-hearted replies, making Nalan You begin to regret bringing them.
’Can these three really help me? At this rate, they’d be unqualified even as cannon fodder.’
’But we’ve come so far,’ he thought. ’I can’t just send them back now. What would that make of all the energy I’ve wasted on this trip?’
"I have a question. Feng Yaxian was the legitimate eldest daughter of Duke Feng. Why haven’t the Xuan Empire and Duke Feng’s Mansion taken any action? Why send just you?" Cui Ze, the other man in the group, voiced his suspicion.
Nalan You’s heart sank the moment he heard this. He had a bad feeling.
’He could have asked anytime, but he chose to ask now. It’s obvious he has an ulterior motive.’
"The Xuan Empire and Duke Feng’s Mansion can’t get officially involved. This is a matter between us juniors."
"Besides, I’m doing this to repay Duke Feng for his kindness in raising me."
"If you don’t think it’s appropriate, you can leave." Nalan You had no intention of playing mind games with him.
’It’s come to this. Worst case, I’ll just force him out.’
His hand, hidden from view, had already tightened its grip on the Forbidden Holy Object: Destiny Spear that he had pieced together.
Since they set out, he had been lucky enough to acquire several more Sacred Objects from the same series, making his Destiny Spear even more complete and powerful.
"Fine, have it your way! Nana, we’re leaving!" Cui Ze declared, reaching to pull Nana, one of the women in the group, away with him.
But his hand met only empty air.
"You can go by yourself!"
The words hit him like a slap. Cui Ze’s face flushed crimson. He’d just been made to look like a complete clown.
"You just wait. Don’t think I don’t know about you secretly assembling a Forbidden Sacred Object."
"As soon as I report you, the Xuan Empire’s secret forces will be here in no time..." Cui Ze roared, his composure shattered.
But he never finished his sentence. His voice cut off abruptly.
He stared down at his chest in utter disbelief. A spear of pure gold had run him through.
"You... H-how dare you kill me..." Cui Ze stammered, his face a mask of disbelief.
He had imagined that upon exposing the secret, Nalan You’s face would twist in horror, that he would panic and desperately beg him to keep quiet.
Then, the woman he desired would witness Nalan You’s disgrace, grow disgusted with him, and fall right into his arms.
But events had unfolded in a way he had never, ever expected.
He lifted his gaze and met Nalan You’s cold, detached eyes. A chill shot through his heart.
In that instant, he understood one thing: Nalan You had never been the person he’d imagined. It had all been in his own head.
Nalan You stepped forward and yanked the Destiny Spear free.
"This is the border of the Xuan Empire. We’re adults now, not kids in a classroom."
"Someone dying out here is no big deal," Nalan You whispered in Cui Ze’s ear. "There’s no one here to tattle to."
Cui Ze was dead. The two remaining women were frozen in shock, unable to believe that the man they had traveled with for so long had just been killed by Nalan You’s Sacred Object.
"Ah... no, don’t kill me..." one of them shrieked in terror, then turned and ran.
Nalan You’s expression darkened.
The Destiny Spear left his hand and, in a flash, pierced through her.
"Useless. Can’t even stand the sight of a little blood." As he spoke, Nalan You killed the last woman too.
"Too used to a life of comfort. They barely had the will to make it this far."
Nalan You felt a surge of indignation. All the energy he’d spent on them during the journey had gone to waste.
But no matter. He could just blame their deaths on the Eternal United States.
He then began to loot the corpses, quickly finding all three of their Sacred Objects.
After dismantling the items into their component primal Sacred Objects, a smile finally broke across his face.
"Hahaha, you deserved to die here!"
"You were truly blind."
"To think each of your Composite Sacred Objects contained a primal Sacred Object from the Destiny Spear series."
"With these three, killing the Iron Armor Man might not be impossible after all." Nalan You felt like his luck had completely turned around.
He thought he was in for a world of trouble, but he never expected this kind of windfall.
"Good riddance. A truly good riddance." Nalan You’s gaze grew even colder.
’I have no power, no backing. If I want to make a name for myself and climb to the top, I have to be ruthless.’
The Xuan Empire doesn’t care about your methods or your morals. It only cares if you have what it takes.
After integrating the three primal Sacred Objects from the Destiny Spear series into his own, he began to dispose of the evidence.
It was a simple matter of finding a place to dump the bodies.
He wouldn’t bury them; that would look too deliberate.
As for someone using a Sacred Object to retrace the events later? He wasn’t worried in the slightest.
The Destiny Spear, a Forbidden Sacred Object, was known for killing without leaving a karmic trace. As long as there were no eyewitnesses, any investigation using other Sacred Objects would turn up nothing.
Furthermore, it possessed two abilities: "Sure-Hit" and "Sure-Kill." Anyone struck by the Destiny Spear was certain to die.
These three abilities alone were enough to make it incredibly powerful.
But it had its flaws, such as its speed and the palpable killing intent it emitted. It was fine for dealing with rookies, but a true master of Sacred Objects could easily sense the threat.
Moreover, its Sure-Hit ability had a limited range that required more primal Sacred Objects to enhance.
If an enemy was too far away, or if the Destiny Spear reached the limit of its throwing distance, the ability would fail.
As for Sure-Kill, it couldn’t slay just anyone. If the target’s Composite Sacred Object possessed defensive capabilities and was composed of more primal Sacred Objects than the Destiny Spear, the effect would weaken, eventually failing altogether.
Only a complete Destiny Spear possessed its full power.
Of course Nalan You knew that the ultimate evolution of a Forbidden Sacred Object was a Destructive Sacred Object.
To become a true King, the entry requirement was possessing a Destructive Sacred Object.
In this world, only the King of the Eternal United States and the Emperor of the Xuan Empire had one.
One possessed the *Apocalypse*, and the other, the Six Heavens’ Ancient Qi.
These were secrets he had learned in Duke Feng’s Mansion, intel he had acquired along with the Forbidden Sacred Object itself.
War was just a game for those two Kings.
Every time he thought about it, Nalan You found it laughable. That was why he was so determined to climb his way up, by any means necessary.
’And then... I’ll become one of the Kings. I won’t be a pawn in their game. I will be a King, one of the players.’
"It starts with the Iron Armor Man, my first stepping stone." Nalan You pulled his gaze back from the direction of the Xuan Empire’s capital.
He then stepped across the border, heading towards the location of the Iron Armor Man indicated by the tracking Sacred Object.
-----------------
"Seriously, why do I have the chills again...?" Qi Suian glanced over his shoulder. Nothing there.
The feeling that someone had walked over his grave grew stronger.
’Danger can’t be closing in again, can it?’ Qi Suian narrowed his eyes, pushing the strange feeling aside.
"Mastermind, what are your thoughts?"
At this point, he might as well ask Mastermind.
He certainly didn’t have any ideas.
[Insufficient data for analysis.]
Of course, Mastermind didn’t know either. It could only "empathize" through Qi Suian’s own feelings.
To Mastermind, however, this "feeling" was more akin to a biological phenomenon—in other words, Qi Suian really did seem to have plot armor.
Otherwise, it would have told Qi Suian that it was just his imagination and explained the scientific principles behind the sensation.
As the Tai Sui God’s evolution count and armor value increased, Mastermind’s own capabilities had grown by leaps and bounds, especially with the support of the "chip" and "server" modules.
"I still have a bad feeling."
"The launch silo and intercontinental missile should be done by tomorrow."
"Let’s do this: forget tomorrow. I’ll drop what I’m doing. You take control of the Tai Sui God and get it done within five hours."
"Are you confident you can do it?" Qi Suian was still uneasy.
Once can be dismissed, but this is the second time. It has to be taken seriously.
[Based on my calculations, it will require approximately eight hours. Completion within five hours is not feasible.]
"Fine, eight hours it is." Qi Suian wasn’t someone who would haggle over two or three hours.
[Alert: A native of the Sacred Artifact World has entered the reconnaissance network. Based on their trajectory, you are the high-probability target.]
Mastermind suddenly added.
When Qi Suian heard this, his heart sank.
"It couldn’t be him, could it?" Qi Suian immediately became alert. "Get ready. Don’t let our guard down."
"Give me his data report. Let’s see what kind of person dares to come after me all by himself."