Chapter 65: The Swift Assault

Meanwhile, Qian Ye naturally understood the secret of using the Jie Mie Slash and the sword technique. The dark origin power on the page completely disappeared, and the figure holding the sword gradually faded away.

The Black Book automatically flipped back to the table of contents, with the only line of text, “Refinement,” becoming faint. When Qian Ye tried to turn the page again, it wouldn’t open. He exited his inner vision and pondered carefully; it seemed that this was what the Black Book meant by “refinement”—refining combat techniques.

When he activated this function earlier, he had thought of sword techniques. Thus, the Black Book simplified the hundreds of basic sword techniques that Qian Ye knew, refining them and combining them with his usual weapon, the Dongyue, to create the Jie Mie Slash.

The process of refining combat techniques consumed the Black Book’s dark origin power, which came from blood essence. However, the amount of consumption was truly astonishing. Qian Ye calculated that it was roughly equivalent to the blood essence of two third-rank viscounts.

If the quantity of blood essence had been slightly insufficient, the refinement might have stopped at the first few moves of the sword technique, and the final Jie Mie Slash would not have appeared. Yet, this sword technique was tailor-made for Qian Ye, simple and pure, and its power far exceeded the usual family-secret martial arts.

This discovery brought Qian Ye great joy. An’duia’s True Sight Eye, the Original Wing, and the Black Book could all be considered divine objects.

However, while divine objects were powerful, the Original Wing and the Black Book were also voracious in their demand for blood essence. Two third-rank viscounts’ blood essence was just enough to feed one page of the Black Book, making it clear that if he wanted to use the refinement ability again, he would need at least the same amount of blood essence. And this was just for a single sword move; if he wanted to refine more advanced combat techniques in the future, he would need even more blood essence.

Refinement was just the first page of the Black Book. Without thinking, he knew that reading more pages would require a massive amount of blood essence.

Compared to the Black Book, the Original Wing was even more frightening. The dark golden blood essence had already consumed an enormous amount of blood essence but had only lit up half a feather. Who knew how many strong warriors would die under Qian Ye’s hands when both wings were fully illuminated?

Qian Ye couldn’t help but smile wryly. With the bottomless pit of the Original Wing and the Black Book, the growth of the three types of blood essences in his body had slowed down significantly—more than halved. This was indeed a happy problem, and it seemed he would have to go to the battlefield more often in the future.

He picked up the Dongyue, walked out of the camp, and released his motorcycle in a secluded area, heading towards the wilderness to test the power of the Jie Mie Slash.

A few kilometers northwest of the Dark Flame Black Ridge base was a quiet valley. Near the entrance was a cliff face several dozen meters high, smooth and suitable for testing combat techniques. This place was far enough from the camp that even if they made a big noise, it wouldn’t disturb others.

Qian Ye drew his sword and silently channeled his origin power. Suddenly, he let out a loud shout, and the Dongyue, charged with the power of wind and thunder, struck the distant cliff with a Jie Mie Slash.

As the Dongyue slashed, a thread of dark origin power was drawn from the void, merging with the sword blade and integrating with the origin power Qian Ye channeled. A faint black aura rose on the sword, and a barely visible, faint sword light burst forth, cutting through the cliff face ten meters ahead.

With a thunderous roar, a crack appeared in the middle of the smooth cliff face, spreading out in a web-like pattern, and fragments of stone fell like rain. In a blink, a sword mark over ten meters long and two meters deep appeared before Qian Ye.

The power was so great that even though Qian Ye had anticipated it, he was still greatly surprised.

He carefully recalled the process of releasing the Jie Mie Slash, catching the thread of dark origin power from the void, which might be the key to its unexpectedly powerful effect. In the past, Qian Ye could also channel origin power during attacks, but that was from the surrounding environment, not from the void.

With the Jie Mie Slash, Qian Ye’s greatest weakness—lacking a powerful combat technique—was remedied. The only drawback was that both the Original Wing and the Jie Mie Slash consumed a tremendous amount of energy, and once used, his sustained combat power would drop sharply.

In his prime, Qian Ye estimated he could only perform the Jie Mie Slash three times. He put away the Dongyue, touched the now-rough rock wall, and after confirming the power of the sword technique, left the valley.

As soon as the motorcycle entered the camp gate, Zhao Yuying appeared from nowhere. This beauty was quite disheveled, her face covered in black soot, almost unrecognizable. Her combat uniform was torn and tattered, not much better than the residents of the Evernight garbage dump.

Seeing Qian Ye, Zhao Yuying didn’t waste any words. She jumped onto his motorcycle, directly sitting in the driver’s seat, pushing Qian Ye to the back. “Come with me!”

“What is it?” Qian Ye asked, slightly startled.

“Something very important. I think I’ve discovered the old spider’s secret!”

From the sudden appearance of the vampires and the yet-to-be-cracked origin array, Qian Ye knew that Stuka must have some scheme. Generally, dark races had long lives, so they were always plotting something, or else life would be as dull as a stagnant pond.

Their schemes often involved internal strife, more so than wars with humans. So, initially, Qian Ye hadn’t paid much attention to the Spider Earl’s secrets.

But seeing Zhao Yuying’s expression, it was clear that things were not as simple. Stuka’s plan might involve humans, or it might be related to huge interests. Otherwise, this unique-thinking lady wouldn’t be so anxious.

“What does Stuka want to do?” Qian Ye asked.

Zhao Yuying didn’t answer. She lifted the cover of the motorcycle’s dashboard, revealing a row of hidden switches. Qian Ye was stunned; she had never told him about these switches.

Zhao Yuying quickly pushed all the switches, and the vehicle began to vibrate violently. The engine’s sound became low and powerful.

“Hold on tight!” she shouted, and the motorcycle roared, jumping and spinning, leaving two deep tracks in the sand.

The motorcycle shot forward like a bullet, and Qian Ye nearly flew off. Instinctively, he tightened his grip and held onto Zhao Yuying’s waist. The motorcycle quickly accelerated, and the surroundings blurred as they sped by.

Zhao Yuying, impatient to even turn and go through the camp gate, drove the motorcycle straight towards the camp wall.

Qian Ye shouted, “Where are we going?” but his voice was almost completely drowned out by the roaring engine and friction sounds.

Zhao Yuying steered the motorcycle slightly, and the engine’s sound surged again, reaching lightning speed. The motorcycle climbed a small hill, then leaped into the air, soaring over the several-meter-high wall, tracing a parabolic path, and landing heavily.

Despite the heavy landing, the motorcycle handled it without a problem, and continued to roar, driving far away.

In Zhao Yuying’s hands, the motorcycle truly lived up to the word “ferocious.” Compared to this, Qian Ye’s driving style was like guiding a docile lamb.

“Where are we going?” Qian Ye shouted into Zhao Yuying’s ear. This impulsive lady truly acted on a whim. If she had discovered a lead, she should have made better arrangements. Rushing out like this, without even a word to Dark Flame, was too rash.

“To a mine!” Zhao Yuying shouted back.

The engine roared like thunder, and without shouting, they wouldn’t hear each other.

Knowing that Qian Ye was likely criticizing her in his heart, Zhao Yuying shouted again, “Those burdens don’t need to come!”

Qian Ye was speechless, but he suddenly remembered, “Weren’t you supposed to dispatch troops to attack a settlement?”

“Ah! I forgot!” Zhao Yuying answered confidently.

“And what about the company that went with you?!”

“They have already started fighting… right?” This was a typical response from a noble lady.

Qian Ye was furious and shouted, “You let them fight a settlement on their own?!”

“So what! Just a tiny settlement. I can take down seventeen or eighteen in a night. They have a whole company. If they can’t take it down, what good are they?”

“You…!”

For the size of the settlements in this area, a company of Dark Flame soldiers would usually be enough. But here, deep in the dark territory and not in a military buffer zone, if they had bad luck and encountered a traveling dark powerhouse, it would be disastrous.

If that powerhouse was at Qian Ye’s or Zhao Yuying’s level, not even a battalion would return.

Zhao Yuying suddenly accelerated again, and the engine’s roar was deafening, making it hard to speak. Qian Ye closed his mouth. He vaguely heard Zhao Yuying’s last words, something about armies that couldn’t fight independently being useless, and armies with bad luck being useless.

The motorcycle tore through the night, startling all the creatures within a few kilometers. The wilderness was filled with panic, and countless ferocious birds and beasts watched in fear as the steel monster raced across the land at incredible speed, heading into the distance.

Only after the motorcycle’s roar completely faded did they dare return to their nests, but it would take a long time for them to fall asleep again.

Halfway there, Qian Ye finally couldn’t hold back and shouted, “With all this noise, won’t the dark races know?”

“So what? Who dares to come and die? The old spider?”

Qian Ye fell silent. Indeed, as Zhao Yuying said, besides the Spider Earl, anyone else who came would be courting death.

After nearly two hours, the motorcycle finally reached its destination. Qian Ye noticed that the mine wasn’t on the common map of the region, but it was one of the spots Zhao Yuying had pointed out as having potential. It seemed that there were also skilled surveyors among the dark races, who had chosen this spot, just like Zhao Yuying.

The buildings ahead became clearer, and the mine’s scale was larger than the one Qian Ye had burned down. It was also clearly heavily guarded, surrounded by high walls, with a ten-meter-tall gate, and three heavy fire towers on either side, with menacing gun barrels visible from afar.

This was no longer a mine; it was a fortress!

The motorcycle’s roar attracted the guards’ attention from a distance, and guns poked out from the shooting holes in the wall, and the fixed cannons on the towers began to turn.

“Go straight in?” Qian Ye asked.

“Go straight in!” Zhao Yuying answered.

The motorcycle’s roar reached its peak, and it charged straight towards the mine’s gate.