Chapter 259.1– Grandmaster

“That’s the reason why the School of Mo’s secret hall has become a fire attracting moths, including you and me. We brave unknown dangers to enter the hall not because of curiosity, but purely to understand its power. And even…”

Xia Xue looked into the horizon, raised her right hand, and clenched it into a fist, as if grasping something invisible.

“– obtain its power.”

She retracted her hand and cast her gaze at Xue Qilin again.

“You should understand it when I say it like this, right?”

Xue Qilin was silent for a moment.

“… I do.”

Although she has yet to enter the School of Mo’s secret hall to investigate, but Xue Qilin has already seen mechanism weapons that are said to have been brought out of the secret hall and has a rough understanding of their power.

Even so, the mechanism weapons of the School of Mo still give Xue Qilin a brand new impression, nearly subverting her previous understanding.

In the past, she believed that mechanism weapons are just gimmicks that aren’t very practical. She believed that mechanism arts could at most be used to change the shape of weapons, or to install some mechanism functions in weapons. But if what she saw and heard after she arrived in the town is true, then mechanism weapons are certainly not limited to that.

— cannons, giant crossbows.

If these things are mechanism weapons of the School of Mo, then the subtlety of the School of Mo’s mechanism arms must go far beyond Xue Qilin’s initial expectations and can even pose a non-negligible threat to martial practitioners.

Should the power of mechanism arts be equal to that of martial arts, or even magic, then they will become the object of everyone’s pursuit. In fact, the School of Mo’s secret hall has attracted countless people to explore, proving that they have enough power for people to pay attention to them.

Therefore, it is impossible for Xue Qilin not to understand what Xia Xue said. She already knows that the objective of her trip is not so simple as to come here and to see what’s going on.

As these thoughts revolved in Xue Qilin’s head, Xia Xue suddenly uttered something strange, saying, “Maybe… eventually turn weird.”

Xue Qilin looked up in amazement and found Xia Xue pointing at her head.

“Eh, what do you mean by that… Are you saying that I will turn weird?”

Hearing Xue Qilin reply absentmindedly like this, Xia Xue couldn’t help smiling. What appeared on her face was not the usual smile full of banter.

It is a smile that purely stems from hearing something funny.

“Ha-ha, no. You’re too paranoid! I’m not teasing you.” Xia Xue said with a smile.

So she can also smile like this… Xue Qilin thought dully. Since making Xia Xue’s acquaintance, she has virtually never seen the other party smile like this.

However, this smile didn’t last long. She soon shed it and said with a sigh, “I’m serious. People can turn weird.”

Her gaze unfocused and fell somewhere faraway, as if she is recalling some past event.

“Hey, I didn’t understand.”

Xue Qilin scratched her head blankly.

“What I mean is that power can turn people weird.”

With that, as if feeling that she said too much, Xia Xue shook her head and murmured, “That’s so unlike me.”

There was a flash of intense worry and dejection on her face.

However, Xue Qilin, who has fallen silent because of Xia Xue’s words, missed these minute emotions.

— power can turn people weird.

Xue Qilin ruminated this sentence.

Power fundamentally isn’t good or bad. It all depends on the wielder. However, power will eat away at the wielder’s heart.

People have desires, and power is often the means to realize said desires. When the power a person wields is enough to free them from the shackles of the world, they will become superior to most people and have the power to realize their desires.

Therefore, people continue to pursue power, pursue might. Because power is the path, the path leading to happiness they are pursuing. In this way, power not only becomes the means to realize their desires, but also becomes a nutrient that expands their desires.

Perhaps some people can keep their original aspirations under the constant expansion of desires, but this state of mind is more difficult to have than power.

If they can’t keep a pure heart after gaining power, people will gradually become puppets of desires and ambitions.

— maybe that’s what Little Xue means.

Xue Qilin mused thus.

“Nevertheless, we are still constantly pursuing power. Because only with power can we protect the people we value, realize our dreams, and guard our happiness.”

This may be something that cannot be helped. Because the world is cruel and people’s hearts not only contain goodness, but also have a hidden darkness.

Therefore, people pursue power. Only power can safeguard their happiness.

— it’s like when Xihe expelled the humans from the Martial Demon Realm with her power.

“… yes, it may be something that cannot be helped.”

Xia Xue focused her eyes and stared at Xue Qilin.

“Since you understand this, then why don’t you cherish Phecda?”

“What?”

“You should know about Phecda’s power better than anyone else. Her power, her might — you should know it better than us.”

Xia Xue showed a smile of derision and gazed at Phecda rubbing against Xue Qilin’s thigh.

“Young Ancestor, she is sweet poison… There are a lot of people spying on her.”

Xue Qilin finally understood Xia Xue’s meaning.

Phecda’s power is self-evident and her allure is absolutely no weaker than that of mechanism weapons. In this case, how many people are there that want this unique power for themselves?

Xue Qilin doesn’t know, but there must be a lot.

“Power can make people strange, and Phecda’s power is no exception. From the moment she appeared, she was doomed to be coveted at all times, but you let her go around? Maybe there are not many people who can snatch her away, but there certainly is no shortage. Moreover, she is a fatal temptation.”

After that, Xia Xue suddenly beckoned at Xue Qilin.

“What’s the matter?”

“Come here for a second.”

Xue Qilin made an “oh” sound and followed suit. She first placed Phecda on the ground, and then went to Xia Xue.

Consequently, as soon as she arrived in front of Xia Xue —

Shiiing!

A sword ray suddenly flooded her vision.

Xia Xue pulled out the sword suspended horizontally on her back and slashed at Xue Qilin’s neck.

Caught off guard, Xue Qilin couldn’t react at all. She didn’t expect that Xia Xue would suddenly attack her. If the sword tip hadn’t stopped beside her fair neck, Xue Qilin would have died.

A few strands of hair were taken away by a gust of wind. Xue Qilin opened her eyes wide in disbelief. Her eyes reflect Xia Xue’s slightly sad face.

“Xue Qilin, even people you know can’t be completely trusted.”

Xia Xue slowly moved the sword away from Xue Qilin’s neck.

However, Xue Qilin seems to be able to feel the chill remaining on her skin.

“– in the face of desires, the human heart is perpetually fickle.”

Xue Qilin watched absentmindedly Xia Xue sheath her sword, speechless.

“Even the people you trust most may betray you one day.”

Xia Xue raised the corners of her mouth into a self-mocking arc, and a trace of bitterness appeared in her eyes.

Who is she talking to? Me? Or herself? Xue Qilin’s mind lingered on this question.

Xia Xue stood up slowly and patted the dust off her skirt.

“Okay, I’ll go take care of the food, while you’ll be responsible for the tent. Anyway, you said you can do odd jobs.”

As if nothing happened, Xia Xue said so flatly.

Without giving Xue Qilin time to respond, she turned around and left in the direction of the town.

Following her lonely back with her eyes, Xue Qilin thought that Xia Xue, who likes to hurl insults at others and make fun of them, may have an unknown side to her.

Well, she appears to have taken a glimpse of a corner of Xia Xue’s heart today.

As for Xia Xue’s words, there is no need to contemplate them, because Xue Qilin realized that those words have been forcefully engraved into her heart.

“Little Phecda, I still don’t cherish you enough?”

Xue Qilin turned around, looked at Phecda snoring loudly on the ground, and whispered this softly.

Her voice was like a white breath in winter. As soon as it left her mouth, it dissipated into the air without reaching anyone’s ears.

“… however, weren’t those words a little too severe?”

Xue Qilin looked in Xia Xue’s direction again, thinking that the other party is too sensitive. Xia Xue should already be used to her and Phecda fighting, yet she had such a big reaction and, in a rare fashion, earnestly told her so many reasonable things.

Maybe she is so sensitive because of some kind of experience she had. Xue Qilin thought thusly.

Nevertheless —