Remould the Glory of Sword Art
Chapter 40 - 40 40 A B C D All are Pawns

40: Chapter 40: A, B, C, D, All are Pawns 40: Chapter 40: A, B, C, D, All are Pawns Chenqing Mountain, midnight, cool as water.

Xie Xuanyi, in somber black, sat crossed-legged on a large rock, resting with closed eyes and his long sword lying across his knees.

A “ding” sound.

A crisp striking noise echoed from afar.

Chenqing Mountain was full of purple bamboo, and the sound was that of a sharp weapon colliding with the bamboo.

Xie Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes.

In the bamboo forest at midnight, shrouded in a faint mist, the meeting at this moment was just like the soul encounter inside the demon artifact three days ago.

The two stood ten feet apart, each only showing a rough outline.

Neither could see the other’s true face.

The figure ten feet away stood tall as a mountain, consistent with the image of the soul in the demon artifact.

“Did you bring the item?”

However, at this moment Jia Liu’s voice came from all directions.

If one closed their eyes, they could not tell the direction from which the speaker was actually located.

“Of course I brought it.”

Xie Xuanyi looked towards Jia Liu and slowly began, “My lord, the Venerable had stressed repeatedly that this mission must not fail…

You arrived in Lichao City three days ago, why not make contact sooner?”

“Now eight hundred miles of Qing State are strictly forbidden, and Lichao City is full of spy eyes.

After entering the city, one must make some preparations.”

Jia Liu murmured, “…Where is the item?”

Xie Xuanyi smiled and retorted, “And my item?”

“Your item…”

Jia Liu paused for a moment, realizing what Xie Xuanyi meant, and spoke coldly, “The Zi Yuan Pill, of course, is ready.

Once I verify the authenticity of the token, report to the Venerable, and complete the mission, I will give it to you.”

“My lord is in such a hurry?”

Xie Xuanyi smiled again, “Aren’t you going to verify my identity first?”

Jia Liu’s tone was unwavering, “First verify the token, then the person.”

With that,

this huge figure began to step forward, heading straight for Xie Xuanyi.

The dense mist in the bamboo forest and the crowded purple bamboo were compressed and leaned over, some nearly bending to the ground.

Xie Xuanyi let out a light sigh.

Seeing Jia Liu’s reaction, he knew…

the Demon Country’s arrangements were indeed as he had anticipated.

The spy network that the Demon Country had set up in the Northern County of Qing State was not a particularly ingenious organization.

The shallow spies within this large net actually only took orders from one direct superior.

Under these circumstances,

whether Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, they were all just pawns.

As the chess player, looking down upon the game, one would find that these pawns…

their greatest use was to burn themselves out and then “die.”

That was why the Demon Race didn’t give Shen Yan a specific code name.

In the eyes of the Demon Race,

Shen Yan was not a “living” person.

If he hadn’t intervened in the Tai’an City incident…

would Xu You have honored his so-called promise?

Xie Xuanyi thought it was highly unlikely.

If the Lingluo Mountain sect extermination case attracted severe investigation by the Imperial City officials, Xu You would treat Shen Yan as a disposable piece, and might even take steps to protect himself before the Imperial City officials got involved in the case.

Because Shen Yan had already performed the task a pawn should.

Task completed, a worthy death.

In such a situation…

Not dying would actually be a waste and might even bring trouble to others.

Following this logic,

upon closer thought, it becomes apparent.

In actuality, in this highly secret mission of transporting Saint White Marsh’s finger bone, “Yi San,” or Xu You by code name, was essentially no different from Shen Yan.

What he was supposed to do was cross the Qing State defensive line, taking advantage of his identity and position, to successfully deliver the object into “Jia Liu’s” hands.

For this case,

there was only one person who would receive the absolute trust of the Venerable.

That was “Jia Liu,” who ultimately obtained the finger bone and was also responsible for reporting to his superiors.

So, if Demon Country wished for this mission to remain absolutely confidential, the best course of action Jia Liu could take against Yi San would be

to kill him and silence him permanently.

Xie Xuanyi let out a long sigh, “So identity doesn’t matter at all…

right?”

A voice caused Jia Liu to stiffen slightly.

Xie Xuanyi lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, kicking his black sword into the air like a rapidly shot arrow, slicing through the wind, and heavily striking Jia Liu in the chest with the scabbard.

“Bang—”

Jia Liu’s vision blurred for a moment, and then a shadow appeared before him.

Xie Xuanyi was already up close, moving even faster than the sword he had just kicked away, his knee strike smashing directly into Jia Liu’s jaw!

A dull booming sound erupted!

Jia Liu’s hulking figure soared into the air as he looked incredulously at Yi San before him.

The Yi San described in the reports

didn’t seem to be like this…

Now grasping his sword in his hand once again, Xie Xuanyi nearly “rode” atop this massive giant, looking down indifferently at the Demon Country spy, who was a rank higher than himself.

From the moment their divine souls had met, he found it odd—how could such a tall person be assigned the important task of “transporting the finger bone”?

Currently, Qing State had strict prohibitions in place, and Lichao City wouldn’t even allow a mosquito to fly in without being detected by the “fly eye” surveillance!

So towering, so muscular.

From the moment Jia Liu entered Lichao City, he would be watched!

Let’s not even talk about carrying out his mission; it would be difficult for him to even protect himself under the scrutiny of the fly eyes!

Xie Xuanyi’s gaze swept over the hulking giant’s entire body, his skin as hard as jade sculpture, utterly lacking the texture of flesh and blood.

At this moment, his body erupted with blue array patterns!

Especially at the jaw recently struck by Xuanyi’s knee, where there was the crackling flash of thunderous light!

“Nanli mechanical techniques?”

Xie Xuanyi chuckled scornfully, “I knew it… Jia Liu was someone else.”

With a booming sound!

The colossal giant roared in anger, bringing his hands together suddenly as if to swat a mosquito, aiming to crush Xie Xuanyi.

The wind howled on either side, bursting with killing intent!

Xie Xuanyi instantly disappeared, and the giant’s powerful palm strike hit only air, his clapping force so terrifying it sent ripples of energy billowing all around!

The next moment, Xie Xuanyi reappeared back in his original spot, showing no mercy as he thrust the sword scabbard down!

Though the sword remained sheathed, the thrust was filled with lethal intent!

“Boom!!”

The scabbard pierced through the gap in the giant’s palm, entering his chest and exiting his back, nailing the massive giant to the ground with the overwhelming force of wind and thunder!

“Ahh—”

The towering giant, controlled by the mechanical techniques, let out a pain-filled, angry howl.

“Eh?”

Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow.

Mechanical techniques were considered a declining “Left Path Technique” that had fallen out of favor for many years; within Da Chu territory, the majority of people believed that only those cultivators lacking innate talent would waste time studying such a useless path…

As a result, the number of great mechanism masters was even fewer than that of array masters.

However, Nanli Kingdom was a different story.

Within Nanli Kingdom, mechanical techniques held a high status and were greatly esteemed; several of the past State Preceptors had practiced the art of mechanisms, and almost all of the great mechanism masters within Nanli had received the personal imperial seal of “Defender of the Nation,” the highest honor in Nanli Kingdom.

Xie Xuanyi had initially thought that this “Jia Liu” before him was a creation of mechanical techniques, purely inanimate.

But after his thrust, he realized something was wrong.

Could Jia Liu actually be crying out in pain?

Mechanical puppets are supposed to be incapable of feeling pain…

On closer inspection, although the surface of Jia Liu’s skin appeared rigid, one could faintly see blood flowing beneath the skin!

This was a living person!

A living person…

transformed into an object!