Calamity Messenger-Chapter 93 - 73: Heaven-Covering
"Legendary Token...?"
Zhou Ye, Chen Linchuan, Jie Zilong, Shang Yue looked at Jiang Shi, their expressions filled with suspicion and uncertainty. Although they were encircling Jiang Shi, at this moment they stood still, daring not to approach, as if the positions between enemies and allies had reversed.
With a resounding blast, Jiang Shi stamped out a deep pit in the grassland, charging like a war chariot or iron cavalry. The Bingzi Pepper Forest extended a three-meter-long Heaven-Covering Blade Aura, illuminating the forest with its brilliance!
"Block her!" Zhou Ye roared, slashing out a Flame Saber Mist.
Impossible to block!
Jiang Shi waved the Bingzi Pepper Forest, the blade aura sweeping across everyone like a ribbon. Even though their Heart-Protecting Mirror barriers could block the blade aura, the moment the aura shattered, it would instantly reorganize, and even their offenses were nullified by the blade aura.
The so-called advantage in numbers was utterly insignificant in front of the Legendary Token.
Yet, the crowd showed joy on their faces.
"Her token is of high grade but its strength is very low!" Chen Linchuan quickly said, "Its damage is at most only Second-Turn level—it simply cannot break the Heart-Protecting Mirror’s defense!"
"Also, her state cannot last," Jie Zilong noticed an important detail, "The orange-red glow on her body has been steadily weakening, such a powerful state must have a time limit!"
"Prolong it, prolong until her Legendary Token fails, then we can claim another Legendary Token as spoils of war!"
Everyone was invigorated. In their view, Jiang Shi was already at her last, a desperate struggle, the Legendary Token was her final trump card but not enough to break the current predicament!
But this naive thought was quickly shattered. Zhou Ye fled in panic from the battlefield, constantly dodging, with an expression of anger and fear, shouting loudly, "Quickly help block her, I need to replenish spiritual power!"
Zhou Ye, who could barely resist just now, was now completely unable to hold out.
Their assessment wasn’t wrong; Jiang Shi’s attacks were at most only Second-Turn level, needing at least six slashes to break the Heart-Protecting Mirror’s defense. But the problem was—Jiang Shi only needed two seconds to slash six times.
This was different from before; previously, Jiang Shi relied on Moon Ring Slash for output, and Moon Ring Slash had a casting delay. Plus, Jiang Shi needed to keep dodging. Even wielding two White Iron Straight Sabers, she could only slash twice per second, needing a second or two later before she could output again.
But now, wielding the Bingzi Pepper Forest, her regular attacks could slash out Heaven-Covering Blade Aura, and with dual wielding, her high Qi Blood and high agility advantage were fully maximized, effortlessly slashing three times a second. Added with Heaven-Covering’s ’Unshakeable’ state, Jiang Shi could choose not to dodge to gain more output time, relying on high Qi Blood + potion consumption to endure damage, since their attacks couldn’t interrupt Jiang Shi’s onslaught!
Actually, the damage Jiang Shi received was minimal because the blade aura could nullify the majority of the damage. Instead, under Jiang Shi’s two-second six-slash assault, Zhou Ye and others’ Heart-Protecting Mirror defense fell rapidly, forcing them to take time to replenish spiritual power. This back and forth, the battlefield balance tilted towards Jiang Shi.
The surrounding people watched in shock. Initially, many wanted to flee due to the heavy damage on the Divine Strategy Camp soldiers, but this scene was so captivating they couldn’t look away—four Third-Turn Messengers, actually being chased and hacked by one Second-Turn Messenger, not daring to retaliate.
Strength reversed here.
"Qunyu Book!" Zhou Ye shouted in near panic, "Are you still going to stand by and watch?!"
With an inevitable sigh, a blue lock chain connected the four of them. The damage Jiang Shi dealt to Zhou Ye was shared with the others, drastically reducing the pressure Zhou Ye faced.
Yet Qunyu Book spurted two lines of foul blood from his nose, his face pale as he knelt on the ground, hurriedly scooping out Spiritual Jade to constantly replenish spiritual power. Although their Quan Family’s representative token was functionality unrivaled in the Liang Kingdom, the cost was simultaneously consuming spiritual power and life force. Linking four Third-Turn Messengers, Qunyu Book was nearly half dead.
Facing Jiang Shi, they all took out their trump cards, but—it was useless!
Upon noticing their shared damage immediately, Jiang Shi’s long blade aura extended to ten meters, ensuring every slash could hit all four of them! Now, shared damage became a death sentence; if Jiang Shi previously dealt 200 damage to Zhou Ye, now her blade first dealt 200×0.3 (ten-meter blade aura’s decay coefficient)=60 damage, but due to shared damage, everyone would additionally bear 60×0.25 (four-person distribution)×4 (all four hit)=60 damage, meaning each person bore 120 damage, the whole took 480 damage!
This was undoubtedly drinking poison to quench thirst, akin to using more than double the Spiritual Jade to save Zhou Ye’s life. But everyone persisted; as long as they held out until Jiang Shi’s Legendary Token expired, the tide of battle would turn—
Yet Zhou Ye couldn’t hold out.
To maintain the defense barrier, his spiritual power was nearly depleted. Since the battle started, Jiang Shi relentlessly pursued him alone, smashing two White Iron Straight Sabers for that. Zhou Ye once sneered at such arrogance; now he had to face the consequences of underestimating.
Once the Heart-Protecting Mirror’s defense barrier completely shattered, it would enter a cooldown of at least five seconds during which it couldn’t activate. Even without a cooldown, he wouldn’t have time to absorb Spiritual Jade to replenish spiritual power.
The advantages built up countless times in the past finally transformed into a favorable position at this moment.
"Jiang Shi!" Zhou Ye forcibly suppressed his inner fear, yelling sternly, "Do you really want to offend us, the Seven Great Families, and the Liang Kingdom Court?!"
"You’ve proven your strength, stop now while there’s still a chance for forgiveness!"
"Don’t think defeating us has any meaning; the Liang Kingdom has an army of ten thousand soldiers, countless messengers, Foundation Establishments in reserve. You make enemies of the Court, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide!"
"You—"
Snap!
Jiang Shi’s Bingzi Pepper Forest carved out a brilliant blade aura, completely shattering Zhou Ye’s Heart-Protecting Mirror barrier. Seeing this, everyone held their breath as if spectators at a market-place execution, awaiting the bloody scene.
"Jiang Shi!"
"Stop, we can still negotiate!"
"You must not—"
Jie Zilong and others shouted. Zhou Ye, however, remained silent. Originally, he raised his saber for a friend’s revenge; his previous comments were his last instinct to survive as a person. But now, he wanted to preserve the Zhou Family’s last dignity.
He swung the Fire Saber, slashing out the last intense blaze!
But how could flames possibly compete with the blade aura?
Jiang Shi brushed past him, the Bingzi Pepper Forest slicing with a kesa-giri, nearly cutting Zhou Ye in half. The camp erupted in countless screams, many acting as though they’d lost their loved ones, faces full of horror.
Zhou Ye was dead.
The Zhou Family’s Third Elder, Hundred Herbs Garden’s external affairs steward, former lecturer at White Deer Cave Academy, Zhou Ye, died in Mansu Forest Land. Although he held no court position, Zhou Ye was kind-hearted, widely connected, a top figure in Jiangnan City, and deeply acquainted with many prominent families, providing substantial support for the Zhou Family.
In Jiangnan City, his death would surely rattle the families, even prompting palace inquiries.
But here, his death didn’t even signal the end.
Jiang Shi showed not a hint of hesitation; the orange-red glow on her was half gone, but with half remaining, it was enough to kill another!
