Gates of the Myriad Realms Chapter 491

“The Man Behind the Scenes.”

“A Primordial Era term, a hidden term of ‘Dragon Slayer,’ a secret name that has never appeared.”

“Description: Continuously generates prefixes for all things until they match their characteristics, altering their structure and power.”

“This action is difficult for sentient beings to perceive.”

“—Who broke the doll!”

Shen Ye was somewhat surprised.

He had never seen such a term that specifically provided prefixes for various items.

He wondered if the enhancement would be significant.

He simply picked up a stone.

“The Man Behind the Scenes” activated!

A constantly changing prefix appeared on the stone:

“Broken, beautiful, storied, noble, lowly, sinful, secret…”

“Stop!” Shen Ye called out.

The prefix stopped.

It was “destroyed.”

“Destroyed” stone.

Crash—

The palm-sized stone immediately crumbled to the ground.

Interesting…

Now he knew how the doll got broken.

As Shen Ye was thinking, a faint voice suddenly called out from within his Dharma Aspect.

A tombstone was embedded in the Dharma Aspect, with the inscription: “Failun, male skeleton, died young, succumbed to a companion’s request to feign death, extremely tormented inside.”

Shen Ye’s mouth twitched. He said, “Don’t be sad. I’ve prepared something tasty for you.”

The candle on the tombstone flickered and then dimmed.

A new line of small characters appeared on the tablet:

“The male skeleton is not very concerned with eating. He cares more about brotherhood. He hopes not to fake his death next time.”

Shen Ye snorted and casually pulled out a bloody piece of meat, muttering to himself:

“I heard there’s a skeleton that can transform into whatever it eats. So I secretly cut a piece of dragon meat earlier…”

“If that skeleton doesn’t like it, it’s no big deal. It’s just that my brotherly affection would be made a joke of. Oh well, oh well.”

The tombstone jumped, then fell back heavily. New small characters appeared on its surface:

“Dude! You’re awesome!”

“If anything like this happens again, your brother here will die a thousand deaths for you!”

Shen Ye mused, saying with some difficulty, “But my brother is a bit depressed. I don’t feel right bothering him again.”

Small characters reappeared on the tombstone:

“No problem! Sticking up for a brother is a common thing! Please rest assured and leave it to me!”

—It agreed!

Shen Ye chuckled softly, placed the dragon meat on the tombstone, and paid it no further attention.

He filled the pit where the long saber had been buried.

—The fragments of the bone saber would be buried here.

The big skeleton would resurrect anyway.

It was only a matter of time.

Next—

Shen Ye simply broke off a piece of stone, used it as a long saber, and began practicing his saber techniques there.

Through “Battle Dance Diva,” he had already tasted the sweetness of performing a high-level Lamenting Blade skill once.

—High-level Lamenting Blade skills can summon ten thousand saber glows, which are very powerful.

Why not practice it to a high level now!

He practiced his saber technique in the secret passage, lost in concentration.

In the real-time strategy base, the doppelganger also began cultivating this saber technique.

Time slowly passed.

Approximately two hours later.

The identity card vibrated slightly, bringing Shen Ye back to his senses.

New information appeared on the card:

“Wild monsters have issued a duel challenge to humans.”

“If humans fail completely in the duel, the city will be utterly destroyed by the wild monsters.”

“In this critical moment, you have been chosen by the city!”

“Please return to the city immediately to prepare, you will ascend the challenge stage as a duelist!”

Shen Ye was stunned.

—The Parasitic Queen had done well.

She had actually come up with such an efficient method to filter out personnel.

He looked at the lines of fate on his hand again.

Two lines of fate formed a seesaw, moving up and down.

One was black, the other white.

One represented death, the other survival.

Well, this was good.

Life and death were uncertain.

Shen Ye pondered for a moment, but didn’t feel there was anything to worry about.

—The Parasitic Queen was more anxious about this than anyone.

This was merely a means to get all the Blood Emperors to appear before her as quickly as possible.

What kind of master would she choose?

He wasn’t sure.

Forget it, becoming stronger himself was the way to go.

He had to reach the eighteenth level of the Dharma Realm quickly!

Nangong Sirui sent a message:

“The rescue team has arrived. Are you coming?”

Of course, he was coming!

Shen Ye replied to him, immediately dropped the stone, and walked back the way he had come.

As he walked, he gestured with his fingers, practicing moves.

When he reached the cliff, several lines of shimmering text subtly appeared:

“Congratulations.”

“After more than ten days of continuous dedicated practice, your saber technique ‘Lamenting Blade’ has advanced to high-level.”

“The number of saber glows possessing true damage power has reached three thousand.”

It was done!

One saber strike was three thousand saber strikes!

A surge of confidence filled Shen Ye’s heart. He quickened his pace again, meeting Nangong Sirui and Zhang Xiaoyi on the cliff.

The three waited for over ten minutes.

The broken walls, earth, and rocks around them were sucked away by a force, disappearing instantly.

Over a dozen professionals appeared around them.

The leader shouted:

“Who is Shen Ye?”

“I am.” Shen Ye raised his hand.

“Teleport immediately, it’s almost time for you to go on stage!”

The person gestured behind him.

Several professionals immediately produced various materials and began to lay out a teleportation array.

“Arena?” Nangong Sirui glanced at Shen Ye.

“‘Blood Emperor’ level means fighting in the arena—against monsters,” Shen Ye transmitted.

“Why didn’t you handle the term issue? Isn’t this an act of suicide?” Nangong Sirui couldn’t help but transmit.

“…It’s a long story, but this is my choice,” Shen Ye said.

He stepped onto the newly laid teleportation array.

Whoosh—

Shen Ye’s figure vanished from the ruins.

Nangong Sirui’s face showed a complex expression, and he whispered:

“He’s asking for death… damn it… is there any way to help him…”

City.

Shen Ye appeared in a spacious lounge.

Looking around—

Above the heads of the dozen professionals resting there, the tag “Blood Emperor” appeared.

Shen Ye also released his own tag, blending in with everyone.

“Hey kid, move aside, you’re blocking the screen!”

Someone spoke up.

Shen Ye looked back and saw that behind him was indeed a huge display screen.

The screen was broadcasting the battle in the arena in real time.

A bloodied man was seized by a seven-meter long, scale-armored serpent demon, coiled by its tail, lifted high, and then slammed violently onto the ground.

Splat—

Blood splattered everywhere.

He was dead.

“This serpent demon has already killed two people.”

“Yes, its defense is too strong, and its moves are full of power. Without being at least at the Eighteenth Tier of the Dharma Realm, one really can’t block it.”

“It seems to be resistant to many elemental damages.”

“This is going to be tough.”

The professionals discussed animatedly.

Shen Ye, however, was thinking about the implications behind the whole affair.

—Originally, the “Blood Emperors” were supposed to duel each other, but after the Dragon Clan joined, the Parasitic Queen seemed to have changed her mind.

So.

What should he do?

To retreat was to die.

If he advanced, and was taken as a puppet, wouldn’t that be worse than death?

Su Rong’s voice suddenly rang out:

“Don’t be afraid, you have already completed the recognition ceremony with the will of the multi-layered cosmos.”

“But the ceremony is secret, and the Parasitic Queen doesn’t know about it.”

“If you are chosen, and she tries to enslave you, or forces you to complete the recognition ceremony with her—”

“The ceremony will definitely fail.”

So that’s how it was.

“I just knew it, I’m Shatilai’s man, I wouldn’t be snatched by anyone else.” Shen Ye let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest.

“…You don’t need to be so calm, the Parasitic Queen wants to devour the entire multi-layered cosmos,” Su Rong said.

Shen Ye nodded.

Therefore, there was still one more thing to do at this moment—

“How can I take all the sentient beings and worlds from ‘Lan’ and bring them into my sect?”

He asked.

Su Rong explained:

“When she was parasitic back then, the multi-layered cosmos split into two. The ‘Lan’ side was used to deal with the Parasitic Queen, while the ‘Shatilai’ side tried to deduce a countermeasure.”

“The Three Arts were created by countless multi-layered cosmos, exhausting the power of eons.”

“I suspect that among the Three Arts, there must be one that can counter the Parasitic Queen.”

Shen Ye nodded slightly.

The strength of the multi-layered cosmos lay in its ability to constantly evolve.

Since there was an art that could counter the Parasitic Queen, he knew what to do.

—Stall for time.

The longer he stalled, the more time his doppelganger would have to cultivate.

At the very least—

He had to wait until his full attributes grew, reaching a point where he could summon the Spirit of Spells, Lan Xi, and unleash the true Heaven-Shaking Art!

To be more precise.

If he could summon three spell spirits, then this battle would be stable.

But that was difficult.

Ultimately.

It still needed time.

The identity card vibrated slightly.

Shen Ye picked it up and saw a line of text:

“Next match, you’re up.”

It’s my turn!

The door to the lounge opened, and two uniformed professionals walked towards Shen Ye.

“You’re up next.”

One person said.

“Do you have any questions about this battle? You can ask them now,” the other person said.

“During my previous adventure, my saber broke. So now, I have no weapon to use in battle,” Shen Ye said, spreading his hands.

The top floor of the arena.

In a secret room.

The young girl Su Su tapped the table with a finger, musing:

“Given that the team acquired an dwarf demon treasure and achieved an S-rank evaluation, let him choose any long saber from the armory.”

Before her words faded, the professional cards in the hands of the two vibrated.

One person read aloud:

“Given that the team acquired an dwarf demon treasure and achieved an S-rank evaluation, you can choose any long saber from the armory.”

“Such good treatment, it makes me even more motivated,” Shen Ye said with a smile.

He followed the two into the armory, eventually reaching the weapon rack where bladed weapons were stored.

Among the many weapons.

Shen Ye immediately picked out that long saber.

It was a fiery red long saber.

—Exactly the opposite of the green bone blade the big skeleton transformed into.

Not only was it wider, but it was also heavier, even larger than a typical saber—

This saber was nearly two meters long!

Shen Ye stepped forward and grasped the saber in his hand, immediately feeling a blazing power surge through him like fire.

Lines of shimmering characters instantly appeared:

“Cloud Shadow.”

“Unsharpened, ancient secret legendary blade.”

“Description: For a single target, as the number of attacks increases, the fire element power on the long saber continuously rises, reaching infinity.”

“—The longer it lasts, the more invincible it becomes.”

Good saber!

Shen Ye’s eyes lit up, and he casually swung the long saber.

With that casual movement, streaks of fiery light shimmered like a flowing stream, reflecting in the air like dazzling twilight.

—This is “Cloud Shadow”!

The saber and the man became one, then separated again, Shen Ye’s gaze fell upon the saber, and he couldn’t bear to put it down.

“Have you chosen?”

The professional accompanying him asked.

“I have chosen.”

Shen Ye put away the long saber and said with a smile.

“Please come with us, we’re going to the arena now,” the professional said.

Shen Ye followed the two, while his attention was drawn to the long saber.

His heart stirred, and lines of shimmering small characters immediately appeared:

“You have activated the Primordial Era term ‘Man Behind the Scenes’.”

“Randomly matching prefixes for the long saber. Please note, prefixes are constantly being replaced. Please choose!”

One by one, prefixes appeared on the long saber:

“Shiny, dull, storied, ancient, broken, evil…”

The prefixes flashed continuously.

Shen Ye, however, watched silently.

As described by the “Man Behind the Scenes” term, it would continuously generate prefixes for all things until it matched their characteristics.

So.

The process of these prefixes constantly appearing was actually a continuous exploration of the Cloud Shadow Saber’s characteristics.

He just needed to wait quietly.

The front door opened.

“You can go straight in. The combatant from the wild monster side is already waiting in the arena.”

“Alright.”

Shen Ye looked at the wide arena platform.

—The bloodstains on the platform hadn’t been cleaned yet; only the corpses of human professionals were being carried away on stretchers.

The surrounding stands were packed.

The entire venue was eerily silent.

Only the serpent demon raised its head high, staring intently at Shen Ye.

Something was still clenched in its mouth.

—It must have been the remains of the previous professional.

So the human spectators were all scared silent, not daring to make any more noise?

Shen Ye was about to leap onto the arena platform when he noticed several lines of shimmering text appear:

“There are two prefixes currently available for matching:”

“1. Sea Breaker.”

“Description: Increases the long saber’s attack power, its value increasing with the number of attacks.”

“2. Heavenly Light.”

“Description: Unleashes the flames attached to the long saber, burning enemies. Its elemental power increases with the number of attacks until infinity.”

Shen Ye chose “Heavenly Light” without hesitation.

Thus, the attributes of the long saber were updated to:

“Description: Targets a single enemy, continuously increasing in power with each attack; and the flames attached to the long saber can be unleashed to burn enemies, with elemental power increasing proportionally until infinity.”

“—Heavenly Light and Cloud Shadow wander together.”

It was done.

Shen Ye swept onto the arena platform, looking at the serpent demon opposite him.

“Such tender young shoots. Does the human race have no experts left, so you offer me your flesh and blood in exchange for my benevolence?”

The serpent demon said lazily.

The human arm dropped from its mouth to the ground, splashing black blood.

Shen Ye glanced at it, grasped the long saber in his hand, and held it steady.

“Fight!”

An electronic voice announced the start of the battle.

“Probably scared silly, huh? Fine, I’ll just swallow it whole this time!”

The serpent demon snorted, its body shooting like a spring towards Shen Ye.

Shen Ye swung his saber to block.

The saber was incredibly long and wide; when he swung it, it was like performing an incredibly difficult spinning dance.

One strike, and then another.

The serpent demon’s blows crashed against the blade, each time sending sparks of intense fire flying.

In an instant, the serpent demon attacked eighteen times, and Shen Ye blocked eighteen times.

The serpent demon leaped back, landing several meters away, and looked at its tail.

“Flames? But no power.”

It said disdainfully.

Shen Ye grinned, not answering, but merely raised his long saber again.

An unexpected change occurred!

In an instant, boundless flames erupted from the blade, utterly engulfing the entire arena.

Saber Art: Lamenting Blade!

With one strike of the saber, thousands of saber glows followed.

Thus, boundless flames splattered forth, filling the entire arena!

The serpent demon had no chance to block.

Its voice, filled with alarm and anger, had just begun to sound when it abruptly cut off.

When the flames rose and completely vanished from the arena, only Shen Ye remained standing, carrying his great saber.

The serpent demon had been instantly killed with one strike!

“This is my full-screen attack—you shouldn’t be so arrogant.”

Shen Ye said in a dreamy voice.

He remembered that only BOSSes used to have full-screen attack methods.

He never expected that he could now achieve BOSS-level attack effects with this “Heavenly Light Cloud Shadow.”

It wasn’t over yet—

An uncontrollable surge of power suddenly erupted from Shen Ye’s body.

Lines of shimmering text appeared accordingly:

“Your doppelganger has practiced the ‘Rapid Cultivation Guide’ day and night, finally making a breakthrough and reaching the eighteenth level of the Dharma Realm.”

An unexpected pleasant surprise!

Shen Ye smiled, stood in the arena, and waited for the referee’s announcement.

The crowd in the stands also “came alive.”

Many people began to applaud, and more let out long-suppressed cheers.

Not long after.

An electronic voice rang out:

“Humanity wins!”

“Please wait a moment, the next monster challenger will be appearing soon.”

Shen Ye waited there.

But after a long while, no monster appeared.

The electronic voice rang again:

“The monster challenge team used a ‘skip’ privilege.”

“All your battles for today have ended.”

“Your next battle will begin tomorrow.”

Shen Ye was stunned.

The entire audience was in an uproar.

“They lose a battle, then avoid our human experts? Isn’t that being a rogue?!”

“Outrageous!”

“What kind of rule is it that you can’t continue fighting just because you meet a strong opponent?”

“Unfair!”

People discussed animatedly.

Shen Ye looked at the few staff members below the stage.

They gestured for him to come down from the arena.

Alright.

He’d get down first then.

…The Parasitic Queen wouldn’t do such a thing.

Why was that?

“Please come with me to the referee’s room.”

A staff member led Shen Ye towards a room behind the arena.

Three human professionals and three荒原怪物 (wild monsters) sat in the room. When they saw him enter, they all stared at the long saber in his hand.

“Our side protests that your weapon is too powerful, making it unfair to fight with such a weapon.”

The monster referee said.

Shen Ye spread his hands and said, “My weapon broke. This was chosen from our city’s armory—is that also unfair?”

“Is that so? Do you humans have such a powerful weapon?” The monster referee asked suspiciously.

“I’ve never seen a blade that can unleash elemental splash across the entire arena; yours is probably the only one—in fact, you humans are cheating, aren’t you?” the second monster referee said.

“Please place the weapon on the table, we need to inspect it,” the third monster referee said.

Shen Ye shrugged and placed the long saber on the table.

Two lines of shimmering characters subtly appeared:

“You have removed the prefix effect of the ‘Man Behind the Scenes’ term.”

“This action is difficult for sentient beings to perceive.”

The long saber—

It was meticulously inspected by the six referees, yet they found no issues whatsoever.

“Its power isn’t that great either. You can’t just blame us for using weapons because you lost a match.”

A human referee spoke up.

The monster referees were speechless.

Shen Ye said, “If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving. If this weapon has a problem, I can switch to another one tomorrow, but that wouldn’t be fair to me.”

“What do you want, then?” the monster referee asked.

Shen Ye gave a cold smile, and just as he was about to say something, he felt a slight unusual sensation in his left hand.

—Heart of the Swarm!

The Emperor Species were contacting him!

Shen Ye suppressed the unusual feeling in his heart and, under the scrutinizing gaze of the referees, uttered three words:

“I need more money!”

The referees were speechless.

“We pay you to change weapons, and then you come back to fight against our people?” one monster referee said.

“Otherwise? I can continue to use this saber, you’re the ones with objections.”

“Either pay up, or I continue to use this weapon.”

After saying that, Shen Ye put away his long saber and walked out of the referee’s room.

—He was eager to check the message from the Heart of the Swarm.

On the other side.

In another room.

The young girl Su Su’s lips curled slightly, and she softly said:

“A term that sentient beings cannot perceive?”

“Why is this boy so favored by the Dharma Realm, even possessing such a hidden term?”

“…Is this also the effect of being a popular idol?”