Chapter 0: Emptiness is Form (4)
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In light of Liao Chen’s shocking transformation into the Demon Emperor, Lin Nan was sure that there must be something related to the Human Emperor lurking beneath the mountain stronghold, just to fit her expectations of this world.
As she rushed alongside the Fallen Species army led by Liao Chen towards the mountain stronghold, Lin Nan thought long and hard, ultimately deciding to check in on Leng Yi. She couldn’t help but wonder if that guy had managed to find the Human Emperor’s seal; what if he turned into the Human Emperor again? Now that would be a real party!
After all, Liao Chen was hell-bent on taking down the Human Emperor. If these two actually went toe-to-toe, who knows what kind of catastrophic mess would ensue?
She had singlehandedly turned the Low Martial World into one filled with demons and fairies, and she was definitely not ready for whatever backlash from Heaven’s Will was coming her way.
She’d prefer the Human Emperor to remain in hiding, tucked away in some hard-to-find corner of the world. Then Liao Chen would run out of options and stop getting fixated on resurrecting Frost North Snow.
Then, she could just live her life in peace till it was time to leave this realm.
Too bad wishing is sweet, but reality? It’s a real kick in the shins.
As soon as she got near Leng Yi, a “ding!” appeared in her retina from the system.
Of all times to get a system notification, just when Lin Nan was already on edge, fearing another ridiculous curveball from that cursed system!
【Ding! Leng Yi has triggered a plot related to the Human Emperor.】
【You have one chance to prevent him from awakening the Human Emperor. Do you accept?】
Of course she accepted.
As long as the Human Emperor remained in his eternal slumber, Liao Chen wouldn’t have a shot at a showdown.
So she had to stop that reckless idiot, Leng Yi, before he got tricked by the system and actually ended up as the Human Emperor.
Just as she jumped over as a spirit body, she found her consciousness suddenly crammed into a bottle, surrounded by barriers.
What the heck was going on?!
As her spirit kept getting smushed and bounced around, the bottle seemed determined not to let her escape. No matter how hard she tried, that bottle didn’t budge an inch.
She felt just like a ghost stuffed into a container by a ghostly master—totally unable to break free.
d*mn, what if the system really duped her?
Just then, a cracking sound echoed from above her. The bottle shattered!
Feeling instinctively drawn, her spirit wriggled through the broken bits, but before Lin Nan could even fathom what had just happened, she got sucked right into the statue of the Black Armored Knight next to her.
【Ding! You have acquired a body — Guardian Black Armored Knight.】
So this is what the system called a chance to stop them?
Playing guardian to prevent enemies from disturbing the Human Emperor’s snooze? Awesome!
【Side Quest: Stop intruders from resurrecting the Human Emperor.
Quest Reward: Removal of history related to the Human Emperor from the world line.】
The simpler the history, the smaller the backlash for her.
This way, with just the Demon Emperor left standing, her chances of living peacefully for the next month or so might become a reality.
On the other hand, if the Human Emperor were to return, the world would plunge into an ancient and relentless war.
Even though she was just a spirit, she could still feel the system’s meddling, so prettily disguised as the effects of changes in the world line.
So yes, she had to stop Leng Yi.
“Roar… roar!”
The Black Armored Knight’s growl reverberated through the underground palace.
Everyone was taken aback.
“d*mn it! Didn’t I tell you not to mess with stuff around here? Can’t you understand human language?!”
Leng Yi swung down his kn*fe, severing a disobedient soldier’s head with a cold glare.
He sensed that the Black Armored Knight could only be revived due to some powerful soul, exactly from several smashed pots lying around.
“Invaders! d*e!”
The Black Armored Knight gripped his reins, causing the heavily armored steed to rear up with a thunderous neigh.
Everyone scattered, well aware that the knight’s prowess didn’t just lie in his skills—if anyone got rammed head-on by that charging horse, they’d be toast.
While the underground palace was spacious, it certainly wasn’t a race track.
But then, the next moment left everyone dumbfounded.
The Black Armored Knight charged straight into a small squad and in a flash, one of their heads flew off.
It looked like he and his steed were about to smash into the wall, but miraculously, the knight showed no signs of slowing down. His hoof struck the wall as if gravity had no power over him. The knight flipped in the air, landing heavily back on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Everyone stood there, slack-jawed.
Such a mind-boggling thing could only happen in a dream.
Before Leng Yi could react, the Black Armored Knight followed up with two more strikes, chopping the right arms off two gang members.
The gang members were instantly sapped of their bravado and began retreating.
“Boss, this guy’s too tough, it’s a tight squeeze!”
“Are you kidding? You think you’re still robbing us?”
Leng Yi wasn’t backing down at all. He pulled out his trusty blade that had been with him for nearly ten years and stared coldly at the Black Armored Knight.
“k*ll me, and everyone here walks straight out! Come on!”
“Boom boom boom!”
With each of the knight’s charging steps, the entire cave rumbled.
This time, the knight drew his gleaming long kn*fe, aiming it squarely at Leng Yi’s neck.
“Just the way I like it!”
Leng Yi felt as though he’d traveled back in time to the moment he sliced off his boss’s head—relentless. Only being heartless could keep him moving forward.
“Hey!”
Just as the long kn*fe was about to pass him by, Leng Yi suddenly performed a bridge roll, narrowly avoiding that wind-slicing curved kn*fe.
His blade rushed by fast, slicing through the horse’s front leg.
“Snap…”
The horse’s leg was immediately severed, spraying out a fountain of thick, foul-smelling black bl**d.
The knight nearly fell with the horse but at the last moment, he slapped the horse’s back and jumped high from the collapsing steed, landing with a rumble right before Leng Yi.
“You! d*mn you!”
It wasn’t that Lin Nan didn’t want to say more, but the Black Armored Knight’s vocabulary was about as limited as an NPC’s, recycling just a few lines endlessly.
With just these lines, it didn’t seem likely to scare off that Masked Man.
“d*mn you!”
Leng Yi hadn’t felt this excited in a long time. As soon as the words left his mouth, he charged at the Black Armored Knight like a bat out of hell.
“Clang clang clang!”
The knight blocked several of Leng Yi’s attacks.
Even when the blade slipped through, the knight’s heavy armor absorbed most of the impact, rendering the damage quite negligible.
“k*ll! Hidden Hundred Demons Slash!”
Leng Yi flipped into the air, merging with his blade as a multitude of gleaming slashes enveloped the Black Armored Knight.
