I Can Traverse Multiple Worlds-Chapter 52: The Ineffable Wonder of Fate

On a rugged mountain path.

A group of Demon Cultivators were escorting over a hundred commoners toward the border.

These commoners were a mix of boys and girls, almost all of them teenagers.

They were shackled in iron chains, herded forward like a flock of sheep by the Demon Cultivators.

"Move it, faster! Anyone who falls behind, I’ll eat them!"

"Tsk tsk, what a bunch of fresh meat. Ah, I’m dying to take a bite."

"These are offerings for the City Lord. If you dare to touch them, watch out for your life."

"Dammit, the City Lord is nothing! Once I eat a few more people and get stronger, I’ll kill him and take his title sooner or later!"

"Hehe, then you’ve got your chance. Celestial Sword Mountain just issued the Demon Extermination Order. Almost every Sect from the Central State has come to our Wilderness. As long as you’re strong enough, you can eat anyone you want from those Sects."

"I heard someone already got to eat a juicy, delicious female hero. The texture, the flavor... tsk tsk, you have no idea how tender it was."

The group of Demon Cultivators chatted unscrupulously as they herded the teenagers.

It seemed that in their eyes, cannibalism was already a mundane, everyday affair.

They even took pride in who ate more and who ate better quality ’meat’.

They looked human, but in reality, they had completely lost their humanity.

Their minds were filled with nothing but a lust for blood!

The teenagers they herded simply walked forward numbly.

Even when their feet were worn raw and bleeding, they didn’t dare to stop for a moment.

They had personally witnessed laggards being torn apart and devoured by these Demon Cultivators—a horrific way to die!

To survive, their only choice was to keep walking.

However, their stamina was ultimately limited.

A girl in ragged clothes, her feet festering, finally couldn’t go on and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, the boy next to her hurried forward to help her up. His dry, peeling lips parted, and he spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Sister, get up! Hurry and get up, or they’ll eat you!"

The girl’s face was pale, her voice so faint it was nearly inaudible:

"Brother, you go on. I can’t walk anymore. Don’t worry about me."

The boy gritted his teeth. "No. Climb on my back. I’ll carry you."

He tried to lift the girl onto his back, but after days of forced marching, his own stamina was long gone. How could he possibly support her?

THUMP.

The two of them collapsed to the ground together.

"Haha, some food finally gave out! I call dibs on the girl’s humerus. The meat there is the plumpest!"

A few Demon Cultivators hurried over, drool dripping from the corners of their mouths as they stared at the fallen girl.

The boy trembled and quickly knelt on the ground to beg for mercy:

"Sirs, please spare us! We can still walk! If you have to eat someone, eat me! Don’t eat my sister."

One of the Demon Cultivators grinned.

"Hehe, male flesh is gamy and tough, not even good enough to have with wine. Who would want to eat you? Female flesh is much tastier. With its delicate texture, it’s only fragrant when it’s cooked."

As he spoke, he kicked the boy aside and reached for the barely breathing little girl on the ground.

However, at that very moment.

ZING!

The clear ring of a sword echoed out.

The Demon Cultivator’s arm was instantly severed, flying through the air.

He had just begun to scream when the sound was cut short.

Because his head had flown off as well. Blood gushed from his headless neck like a fountain, spraying several feet into the air.

"Who—who dares to intercept our convoy?! You must have a death wish!"

The other Demon Cultivators all drew their blades, warily staring ahead.

However, all they saw were flashes of Sword Shadows before their heads were separated from their bodies. They collapsed to the ground, and blood pooled around them.

The surrounding teenagers screamed in terror at the sight, immediately covering their heads and crouching on the ground.

"Don’t panic, don’t panic! Oh dear, what a headache. Was I too rough? I didn’t scare you, did I?"

A woman in a worn-out robe with a sharp sword on her back walked out slowly from a side path.

She was about five feet seven inches tall, with a slender figure, but her hair was disheveled and her face was grimy.

Her eyes, however, were as brilliant as the stars, as if the night sky was twinkling within them.

The group of teenagers looked at the approaching woman, finally snapping out of their shock, and quickly knelt on the ground.

"Thank you for saving our lives, milady!"

"Thank you for saving our lives, milady!"

The woman waved her hand.

"Oh, now, don’t be like that. It was nothing, really. I’ll take you to the nearest outpost of the Righteous People. Someone there will take care of you."

She divided what little food and water she had left among the teenagers.

Then she led them toward the outpost of the Righteous People.

However, she didn’t notice a figure hidden nearby, silently watching everything unfold.

[Analyzing...]

[Analysis Complete]

[Xu Muying: Age 20. As an infant, was brought into the Sect by Celestial Sword Mountain’s Priest, Li Jiuyan. Successfully gained the recognition of the Celestial Sword and became the next Sword Holder. At age one, she achieved Refining Flesh; at age two, Bone Refining... At age twenty, she reached the rank of Half-Step Celestial Being. Her talent is extraordinary, her Sword Technique sublime.]

Wang Xiao looked at the lines of text that had popped up before him and sighed inwardly with emotion:

’Fate... it truly works in mysterious ways.’

He had been about to step in and save the teenagers himself, but the woman had beaten him to it.

So, he had hidden himself nearby to observe in secret.

He never expected that this woman was the very person he was looking for on this trip: the next Sword Holder of Celestial Sword Mountain!

Moreover, it was the first time Wang Xiao had ever discovered someone with such incredible aptitude!

She could almost rival him!

’As expected of the next Sword Holder. She really is extraordinary.’

Of course, Xu Muying’s Half-Step Celestial Being rank was different from Wang Xiao’s.

Wang Xiao’s Half-Step Celestial Being was a new path he had created by combining the Martial Arts of two lifetimes.

It was several times stronger than an ordinary Half-Step Celestial Being.

Soon, Xu Muying led the group of teenagers back the way they came. After walking for about a day, they finally saw an outpost of the Righteous People.

She didn’t meet with the Righteous People at the outpost. Instead, she just handed a letter to the boy who had protected his sister earlier and said:

"Kiddo, give this letter to the person in charge of the outpost. He’ll make sure you’re all taken care of."

After she spoke, her figure flickered, and she drifted away.

「One hour later.」

She arrived at the shore of a lake, slipped off her robe, revealing her delicate collarbones and long, slender, fair legs.

However, the sword on her back remained with her.

SPLASH!

She leaped into the lake. Bubbles gurgled to the surface, but she did not emerge.

「A moment later.」

Wang Xiao walked to the edge of the lake. He looked at the robe on the ground and the calm water, frowning.

’Where did she go?!’

He had planned to observe Xu Muying’s movements to see what she was doing in the Wilderness.

Then he would reveal himself and say hello.

But he never expected her to just dive into the lake and disappear.

Just as Wang Xiao was pondering this...

BANG!

A figure burst from the lake, sending a massive curtain of water into the air!

A flurry of Sword Shadows shot toward Wang Xiao like raindrops!

Wang Xiao’s eyes flashed. Inner Qi surged around his body, instantly shattering the Sword Shadows.

THUD!

Xu Muying landed, smoothly scooping up the robe from the ground. In her other hand, she held several wriggling crucian carp strung on a wire. She looked at Wang Xiao and said:

"What’s with the sneaking around? What do you want?"