Chapter 639: A Sudden Arrow

「In the Divine Capital, inside a teahouse.」

Qin Ya sat in a secluded corner, sipping from a bowl of tea.

‘As expected of the heart of the Divine Country,’ he thought. ‘Even the tea from a roadside stand is rich with Primordial Qi. If a Martial Artist below the Extraordinary Realm drank this, their Cultivation would surely soar.’

It was also sweet and refreshing, and Qin Ya couldn’t help but drink two more bowls.

“Speaking of which, on that day, that Qin Tianjue wielded a twelve-foot black spear and charged into the Wu Family’s territory, fighting his way in and out seven times! When he struck, he was accompanied by Wind, Fire, and Thunder—it was truly terrifying! No enemy he faced could withstand a single one of his blows…”

“In the end, the Wu Family’s Great Elder, Wu Xue, even unleashed a Secret Skill! In an instant, a river of blood surged forth, and from it, figures made of blood appeared one by one, their resentment piercing the heavens! Wu Xue’s combat prowess swelled to an unimaginable degree…”

Inside the teahouse, an old man stood with one foot on a chair, recounting with great animation the story of the Wu Family’s suppression, with a special focus on Qin Ya’s exploits.

As he spoke, the surrounding Primordial Qi surged, conjuring a vision of a Blood Sea where thousands of soldiers clashed with innumerable figures made of blood!

This was the manifestation of the old man’s Mysterious power.

Although the old man’s Cultivation was nothing special—King Level at best—he had earned a significant amount of Cultivation Resources by relying on this Mysterious skill for his storytelling.

Within the vision of the Blood Sea, a handsome young man with eyes like starlight held a long spear. Heroic and extraordinary, he charged into the horde of blood-figures, scattering a thousand troops with a single sweep of his spear.

“So that’s Qin Tianjue? He truly has a god-like martial bearing.”

“He really is worthy of being called the greatest genius the Divine Country has seen in a thousand years.”

“With a spear in hand, the world is mine! Incredible!”

“How many people of such stunning talent have there been throughout history?”

The listeners all around were full of praise, their eyes shining with excitement. But Qin Ya, sipping his tea off to the side, simply shook his head and smiled. ‘The old man has clearly never actually seen me,’ he thought. ‘While the spear-wielding figure in the illusion bears some resemblance, no one would ever connect us based on facial features alone.’

Just then, a burly man who had been drinking tea slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet.

“What is this nonsense? That person isn’t Qin Tianjue at all.”

The burly man’s shout snapped the old storyteller out of his performance. He turned to the man and said, “This old man has never personally seen Qin Tianjue. I only know a little from fragments I’ve heard from others. I hope you’ll forgive me, sir.”

The burly man was a straightforward sort. Realizing the old man had never seen Qin Ya, he didn’t press the matter. He just pursed his lips and said, “So you’ve just never seen him.”

Suddenly, he caught sight of Qin Ya not far away. His eyes lit up, and he said to the old storyteller, “Look! Qin Tianjue looks a lot like that young man over there. From now on, you should just use him as the model for your stories.”

Hearing this, everyone turned to look at Qin Ya.

“Oh, so that’s what Qin Tianjue looks like.”

“King Level Cultivation, and the resemblance is uncanny… Heh, what a coincidence.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think…”

The teahouse patrons muttered amongst themselves, studying Qin Ya for a few moments. Then, suddenly, it was as if their throats had been seized, and they could only make choked, gurgling sounds.

‘What do you mean, “looks a lot like him?” This is damn well Qin Tianjue himself!’

Gods, a Celestial Nobility was actually sitting in a teahouse with them, listening to a storyteller?

It was something they had never even dreamed of.

After all, every one of those lordly Celestial Nobilities was high and mighty, utterly untouchable to common folk like them. They were great personages it was difficult to even catch a glimpse of on a normal day.

And yet, a Celestial Nobility was sitting right here before them.

Seeing that he’d been discovered, Qin Ya gave a faint smile, tossed down some money for the tea, and left. Only as they watched his departing figure did the crowd snap back to their senses.

The old storyteller had a flash of insight. “Now that is the real Qin Tianjue!” he exclaimed.

With a flicker of his Divine Thought, he manifested his Mysterious power. The face of the spear-wielding youth in the Blood Lake Illusion Realm shifted, the features sharpening until the face was unmistakably Qin Ya’s.

“With his long spear, Qin Tianjue battled fiercely against Wu Xue…”

The storyteller’s voice continued, but Qin Ya was already far away.

As he walked on, a sudden sense of alarm flared in Qin Ya’s mind.

‘Danger!!’

A sharp whistling sound tore through the air as a rainbow-like streak of light shot toward him.

Qin Ya activated his True Meaning of Speed. His figure flickered, and in an instant, he dodged the streak of light!

BOOM! The streak of light slammed into the ground, kicking up a gale that shot out like razor blades. The faces of the surrounding pedestrians drained of color as they scrambled desperately to get out of the way.

The streak of light was revealed to be… a feathered arrow!!

The arrow glowed with a faint cyan light. Half its shaft was buried in the ground, and a web of cracks spread out from it for a full ten zhang!

“What’s going on? Which bastard shot that arrow?”

“Shhh, keep your voice down! An arrow with that much power could kill an Era-Defining King! If you value your life, you’ll shut up before they put one in you.”

“That arrow… it seems familiar.”

“Huh, now that you mention it, I think so too.”

“It’s… the Cyan Wind Feather Arrow!!”

As those words were spoken, many people in the crowd gasped.

A cold glint flashed in Qin Ya’s eyes. He looked up into the distance and saw, in a magnificent Restaurant several thousand zhang away, a young Martial Artist looking back at him with a smirk, slowly lowering a cyan longbow.

In the Restaurant’s private room, besides the young archer, there were more than a dozen other young men and women. All were dressed in lavish attire and wore arrogant expressions.

Among them was a man who bore a grudge against Qin Ya: Bai Lintian!

Seeing that Qin Ya had dodged the arrow unscathed, Bai Lintian was somewhat disappointed. He turned to the young archer and said, “Noble Lady Zhang, your archery seems to have declined.”

The smirk on the young archer’s face slowly faded. He turned to Bai Lintian and said, “I didn’t even use half my strength for that shot. It’s only natural I didn’t hit Qin Ya. After all, he’s a master who even Noble Lady Bai had to concede to.”

Hearing this, Bai Lintian’s face darkened for a moment before returning to normal. “What,” he said coolly, “Is Noble Lady Zhang looking down on me?”

“I wouldn’t dare. Noble Lady Bai is a candidate for Celestial Nobility, after all. How could I possibly dare?”

The young archer deliberately emphasized the word “candidate.” The sarcasm was obvious to anyone, making Bai Lintian even more furious.

“Hmph. What wouldn’t Noble Lady Zhang dare to do? I heard you once shot and killed a cousin from your own clan who offended you,” Bai Lintian retorted.

“Heh, I didn’t think Noble Lady Bai paid attention to such gossip.”

“And what if I do? Are you saying the rumor is baseless…?”

“Alright, stop your bickering. It’s getting annoying.”

Just as Bai Lintian and the young archer were trading barbs, a cold, indifferent voice cut in. Seated in a chair in the private room was a young man with a full head of red hair. His eyes were narrowed, and a cold light glinted within them.

Bai Lintian and the young archer both trembled slightly and immediately fell silent.