108 Maidens of Destiny

- TL: AmeryEdge

- ED: Istaripanda

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The Mountain Lake legacy had quite an interesting design. The walls were decorated with painted murals and carvings, vaguely hinting at a glorious past. At the end of a long hallway, there was a square room. The room had been stripped clean of valuables. The only things left were the illustrations of mountains and lakes on its walls.

There was, however, a single lengthy block of stone lying still within the room.

The stone was of the common kind found at waterfalls. On it, a saying was carved.

“See mountains as mountains, lakes as lakes;

look at mountains not as mountains, lakes not as lakes.

Discern that the mountains are still mountains, and lakes are still lakes.”

“This seems to be in a strangely shabby state.” Shu Jing spoke. After lingering in the room for some time, he began to stare at the mural that was about to crumble at a moment’s notice.

“Friend, I heard that previously there were many cultivators who failed to solve the riddle of this legacy. They had turned this place upside down, not sparing even a small pebble, but they still failed to find the Soul Technique the expert had left behind.” Xun Tian smiled and explained.

“If they damaged the room to this extent and still found nothing, the Soul Technique must have been found by the first person. That person must have pretended that nothing happened, leading all the others to waste their time.” Shu Jing casually said.

Xun Tian Daoist nodded, “That’s definitely a possibility!”

“But aren’t there some hidden traps or formations here?” Shu Jing clearly remembered that the Lesser Relic Blade he was at had hidden Spirit Engulfing Flood Dragons inside the Astral Gemstone. With that kind of trap, whoever entered would encounter some difficulty. But at a glance, this Mountain Lake legacy really seemed to be a forgotten ruin, completely broken and dilapidated. These decaying remnants caused Shu Jing to recall a saying: All beauty withers, all pretension fades.

“Perhaps there used to be one, but it must have already been destroyed.” Xun Tian Daoist replied.

“Oh, I wonder if Daoist could reveal the meaning behind this saying?” Shu Jing asked.

“Embarrassingly, my advancement in cultivation is too little, and I am still not enlightened about this matter.”

“Daoist!” One of the male cultivators couldn’t help but shout out a reminder when he saw Xun Tian Daoist and Shu Jing standing around exchanging pleasantries.

Xun Tian Daoist apologized and then turned and walked off. The group of people then suppressed their voice to a low whisper, so Shu Jing failed to hear whatever else they were talking about.

Shu Jing’s eyes return to the mountains and lakes on the walls of this room.

“Young Master, have you figured out the meaning of the saying?” Song Lu saw Shu Jing’s contemplating expression and asked curiously.

“This place definitely has a strong connection with that mountain and lake saying, but unfortunately it has been destroyed to the point of being almost unrecognisable. After all these years, even if there was originally some clue, it’s probably already gone. Wanting to figure it out is harder than climbing into the sky.” Shu Jing replied dejectedly.

Song Lu seemed somewhat disappointed. 𝒇𝘳𝐞𝚎𝓌𝑒𝑏𝒏𝑜𝙫ℯl.c𝚘𝒎

Seeing her disappointment, Shu Jing chuckle quietly chuckle in his heart. He casually asked, “Song Lu, do you know the total number of sayings that are connected to this place?

“I heard there were 17.”

“That many?” Lin Yingmei asked in surprise.

“Very many. To my knowledge, some people have even found up to thirty kinds of mountain and lake sayings connected to this place.” Song Lu shook her head.

Shu Jing nodded, returning his attention to the mural.

Everyone who entered the legacy looked at the Mountain Lake mural in order to find clues. However, Shu Jing was only briefly interested in it. He gave it a quick look over before moving onto other areas, his demeanor carefree. At a glance, one can tell that he was not really paying much attention.

“Daoist?” The female cultivator’s eyes were as cold as ice.

Xun Tian Daoist raised his arm, signalling for them to not be too impatient.

He began to put up a front of searching for clues in the legacy. When the others saw the most powerful cultivator there, the Daoist, not saying anything, their faces could only darken and they stayed quiet.

A while later, Shu Jing smacked his lips in an exaggerated yawn.

“Ying Mei, let us go, there’s nothing here to see.” Shu Jing turned around and left.

Xun Tian Daoist greeted them, “Friend, have you finished viewing this place? Did you find anything interesting?”

“It has been here for hundred of years, yet no one has found anything. What could I and my little bit of deductive power do?” Shu Jing laughed and said. His outward appearance was that of someone who had really lost all interest in this legacy.

“Then I really don’t have any method either.” The Daoist spoke regretfully.

“In that case, let us depart.”

Shu Jing brought Lin Yingmei and Song Lu to leave.

Xun Tian’s smile turned malicious, and he glanced at the other eyes of the other three people. They immediately followed his train of thought, revealing fierce expressions.

“Let’s go!”

The four of them acted at the same time.

Four small steel knives flew directly towards Shu Jing’s back with no hesitation.

Sounds of metal colliding rang out.

The small knives were deflected by a single flash of blue light.

Lin Yingmei who was on guard this entire time casually turned around. Without even lifting her arm, she had resolved all their attacks.

“Friends, what are you trying to do?” Shu Jing smiled icily.

Seeing Lin Yingmei easily deflecting their attacks, their faces became temporarily stunned. Only when they remembered that they all had the advantage of higher cultivation level did they calmed down.

“We just want to be enlightened by a Star Master. Isn’t it dangerous to walk around with your Star Knight in the open?” Xun Tian Daoist made some small talk.

“Ah, Star Knight? What are you guys talking about?” Song Lu was startled.

Shu Jing looked at her for a while, then turned his unchanging expression towards the cultivators. “What do you mean?”

“Daoist, why are you wasting words with this useless cultivator? Let’s directly kill him.” The impatient bald cultivator threw out a hammer that was radiating intense killing intent, causing the air to turn numb.

His Stardust Middle Stage cultivation was also no longer contained. He was really planning to kill in one move.

Although he was in a narrow space without room to retreat, Shu Jing remained calm as the weapon flew toward his forehead. It even almost seemed like he was ignoring it.

A sharp metallic colliding sound rang out inside the quiet legacy, a noise that was piercing to the ears.

A silver spear stopped the large hammer in its tracks. There was a flash of light, and a person appeared between the hammer and Shu Jing, her hair long and flowing, her bright aura chilling to the bone.

It was, of course, Lin Yingmei and her serpent spear.

“I knew it, you are a Star Knight!” The nervous cultivator shouted.

“Watch as I turn you into minced meat.” The large man laughed, all his strength concentrating on the hammer. The pressure he gave off was like that of a mountain.

Yingmei grunted in disdain and spun the spear counter clockwise. A cold light slashed out as if it was a god of death.

At that moment, the hammer was suddenly split in half.

The large man’s smile was immediately replaced by a stunned look. A sort of fear penetrated deep into his soul, and he scrambled to think of a way to retaliate. But a cold chill had already made its way into his heart, causing it to feel like it had frozen stiff, and completely stopped him from making any movement.

There was almost no one there who could tell how this happened.

Lin Yingmei gently pulled out her spear. Quietly, the spear tip that pierced directly through the large man’s heart showed itself.

The cultivators shook in fear.

“Watch out, she’s a Combat Star Knight!”

Xun Tian Daoist was paying attention. At a glance he could tell Lin Yingmei was extraordinary. He immediately dashed out, releasing the aura of a late stage cultivator with the power of a Stardust Late Stage Technique assisting him. The aura surrounded the narrow legacy walls.

The two other cultivators also unleashed their strength. A small knife and sword followed the wind and flew towards Shu Jing. They also understood that to deal with a Star Knight, killing their Star Master was the easiest method.

Lin Yingmei smiled coldly. She jumped lightly, her Arctic Star Serpent Spear breaking apart their overwhelming weapons with ease. Seeing their weapons being destroyed so quickly, the cultivators’ faces grew even more frightened. They now realised that the Star Knight in front of them was no ordinary Stardust Early Stage cultivator.

“Want to harm my master? None of you have the qualification!” 𝑓𝘳ℯ𝒆w𝘦𝘣𝙣𝘰ѵ𝘦𝚕.c𝗼𝓶

Lin Yingmei coldly asserted.