When Lu Yunxian saw Zhou Wen grip his hilt, he believed that Zhou Wen had discovered an enemy. He hurriedly circulated his Primordial Energy Art and looked around warily.
Zhao Xin and company tensed up as well. Although Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian entered on their own accord, absolving them of any fault if they ended up dying, no one was willing to see their own kind beheaded in such a strange place.
Suddenly, Zhou Wen’s figure vanished as he appeared in front of a broken stone pillar like a ghost. With sabers tightly gripped with both hands, he slashed at the stone pillar in front of him as a sanguine arc beam slashed out.
Crack!
The stone pillar was split into two by Zhou Wen’s saber. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, but blood spewed out from the cut. Lu Yunxian and the other three were stunned.
“Young Master Wen, is this the source of the strange spatial wind in the ruins?” Lu Yunxian asked as he walked up to take a look at the Realmwind Insect’s corpse.
As Zhou Wen rummaged through the corpse of the Realmwind Insect, he nodded. “That’s right. There should be more than one. Don’t go too far away from me, lest something happens.”
Unfortunately, the Realmwind Insect did not drop a crystal or a Companion Egg.
While Zhou Wen led Lu Yunxian forward, Zhao Xin and company wore odd expressions outside.
“Brother Zhao, that punk, Zhou Wen, wasn’t bullsh*ting. Even Adjutant An failed to find the dimensional creatures in the ruins. Yet, he managed to find them. It looks like he’s really capable. Should we go in?” one of them asked Zhao Xin.
“What are we going in for? To send ourselves to our deaths? If there’s one, who knows how many of them there are? If they make a mistake, they’ll still die in there. Since Adjutant An got us to stand guard here, we’ll wait here for them. Why should we risk our lives?” Zhao Xin said as he walked back. However, Zhou Wen’s slash kept surfacing in his mind. He couldn’t help but mumble, “That punk is a little odd.”
Zhou Wen didn’t expect the location of the Realmwind Insects to be identical to the ones in the game. He didn’t give the Realmwind Insects a chance to use Realmwind, killing them within their stone crevices.
Lu Yunxian followed Zhou Wen and watched as he charged forward as though he was a prescient god. The Bamboo Blade saw blood every time it was unsheathed. It killed the strange insects hidden in the rocks. The way he looked at Zhou Wen became odder.
He had also seriously observed his surroundings, but he didn’t notice anything abnormal. It was impossible for him to know where the Realmwind Insects were hidden. Yet, Zhou Wen struck with his saber with zero hesitation, decisively killing every Realmwind Insect.
The ruin, that was originally enveloped in horror, seemed to become less terrifying because of the youth in front of him. In Lu Yunxian’s eyes, Zhou Wen seemed to emit light and warmth, illuminating this land of terror.
This feeling... is so familiar... I’ve experienced it before... Lu Yunxian couldn’t help but be reminded of the past when he charged into a dimensional zone with An Tianzuo.
At that time, An Tianzuo was probably a little older than Zhou Wen. He was almost twenty. Back then, An Tianzuo had already been the head of the An family for several years and was known by everyone in Luoyang. They addressed him as “young overseer.”
However, An Tianzuo back then wasn’t as accepted as he was now. Even the An family had many members against him.
Once, a new dimensional zone appeared in Luoyang’s south district, causing a large group of citizens to suffer a calamity. An Tianzuo wanted to send men to suppress the dimensional zone in the south, but because of the clan’s obstruction, only a small number of soldiers were sent.
An Tianzuo had no choice but to personally lead the troops into the dimensional zone. Back then, Lu Yunxian was not a battalion commander, but a mere section commander. They had four sections that followed An Tianzuo into the perilous dimensional zone where they encountered many bizarre dimensional creatures.
The reinforcements that should have arrived didn’t get there on time.
Back then, many soldiers had already given up hope. They thought that they would definitely die in battle. Even Lu Yunxian had thought the same.
However, it was that young man who held a revolver in one hand and a large sword in the other; he led them through the dimensional zone, storming a bloody path through the dimensional beast horde and led them out.
At that time, An Tianzuo was like the youth in front of him, emitting light and heat like the sun.
After that battle, many of the surviving soldiers and low-ranking officers, like Lu Yunxian, later became the bedrock of the Sunset army. They were also very loyal to An Tianzuo.
The first thing An Tianzuo did when he returned to Luoyang was to rush to the residence of the An family’s elder, An Huaishan, who had violated the military order. He then personally slew all the men who were above sixteen years of age.
That night, the An family’s blood flowed like a river. The man who used to be like the sun had his military uniform covered in blood. He was like the devil that made it impossible for anyone to approach him. Only a handsome youth followed behind him, carrying a gunny sack on his back walking to the martyrs’ cemetery.
They walked all the way, blood dripping from the gunny sack. When they arrived at the warriors’ tomb in the dimensional zone, the handsome youth opened the cloth bag and bloody heads rolled out, stunning everyone.
An Huaishan’s family-from An Huaishan to his 16-year-old grandson-and all the men who had been part of the military were beheaded. All their heads were here, and they were hung in front of the mass grave to honor the deceased warriors.
After that, An Tianzuo took control of the An family’s power one step at a time. The Sunset army also gradually became synonymous with An Tianzuo.
It’s been so many years... I’ve never seen anyone like him again... Lu Yunxian looked at Zhou Wen with mixed emotions.
Perhaps due to the environment they had grown up in, this youth and An Tianzuo had completely different personalities, but when they put their mind to doing something, they were surprisingly similar. It was as if they could do anything they wanted. They exuded a blinding radiance that was fatally attractive to others.
Crack!
Zhou Wen slashed open the stone pillar with his saber. A Realmwind Insect had its body cleaved apart, causing a rhombic crystal to roll out.
Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the crystal. The crystal was transparent and flawless, and there seemed to be wind swirling within it. It was obvious that it was different from an ordinary crystal.
Could this be a wind stat crystal? Zhou Wen hurriedly picked it up before secretly snapping it with his phone.
‘Wind Crystal: 11.’
The information displayed on the phone delighted Zhou Wen as he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
If there were only 17 Realmwind Insects in real life, with him already killing 13, he would have to give up on the Realmwind Insect Crystal in-game if the wind stat crystal didn’t drop.
Without any hesitation, he immediately absorbed the Wind Crystal. He felt a faint breeze enter his body, and his attributes had an additional wind element with a value of 11.
Having reached the requirements needed to absorb the Realmwind Insect Crystal, Zhou Wen chose to absorb it. The crystal immediately turned into transparent wind that permeated the blood-colored avatar’s body, forming a new Primordial Energy path and circulation in his body.