Chapter 598: Heavenly Severer's Sword Is Here

Han Yi and the fisherman were several li from the small town, alone in a stretch of desolate wilderness.

The fisherman's question was naturally directed at him.

When a being of immeasurable power asks a question, who dares refuse to answer?

Han Yi's scalp prickled. His life was at stake; he could not defy the old man. With no other option, he flew closer, landed, bowed his head, and greeted him a respectfully. "Greetings, Senior."

The fisherman was not satisfied. Frowning, he asked again, "You. What brings you here?"

Han Yi's heart hammered against his ribs. He had already provoked the old man's displeasure by evading the question. The saying goes: three strikes and you're out. If his next answer still failed to satisfy, his head would likely be separated from his shoulders on the spot.

But he had come here following the pull of providence in his heart, chasing an opportunity. How could he say that to a stranger?

Although this senior before him possessed unfathomable cultivation, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t covet Han Yi’s Heavenly Providence Scripture. If Han Yi told the truth, he would likely have his soul searched and seized. No matter what he did, it seemed to be a dead end.

His mind raced. Moments later, he arrived at an ambiguous answer. The old man's expression was already edging toward impatience. Han Yi braced himself and said, "Senior, I came in pursuit of an object. I followed its traces for ten thousand li and arrived here, only for it to vanish without a trace. I can no longer find it." He lowered his head and waited.

The fisherman did not punish him. After a long silence, his tone grew distant. "So you've lost something too?"

Too?

Sensing a sliver of hope, Han Yi seized on it at once. He nodded hurriedly. "Exactly so. This object is of utmost importance to me, which is why I've traversed countless mountains and rivers to recover it. Yet heaven does not comply with human wishes..."

The chill left the fisherman's voice. He looked at Han Yi and nodded slowly. "Precious things should be kept well. Once lost, finding them again becomes troublesome indeed. I myself have searched for so long, and still have not found it."

Han Yi did not dare ask what the old man had lost. Seeing that he had temporarily kept his life, he breathed an internal sigh of relief. Careful not to say anything reckless, he simply said, "You are right, Senior," lowered his head, and said nothing more. He had stopped thinking about the opportunity or anything else. He only prayed the fisherman would leave.

Then the old man said, "You. Do not move."

Han Yi’s heart and lungs seized up once more, and his body froze rigid. Thinking he wouldn’t be able to escape from the man after all, scenes flashed through his mind in that instant:

The wild, delirious joy of discovering the Heavenly Providence Scripture in an ancient ruin, barely a step into the Qi Refinement realm.

The agony of failing Foundation Establishment again and again under the providence backlash of cultivating that scripture.

The soaring ambition after narrowly surviving a minor world of exotic beasts, returning, achieving Foundation Establishment in a single attempt, and feeling the whole world open before him.

Is this the end?

Just as all hope left him, the fisherman frowned and said, "No wonder you couldn't find the thing. Someone's been watching you, haven't they?"

He raised one hand and gave a casual, gentle wave, as though severing something in the air.

Han Yi did not die. Instead, a sudden lightness flooded through him, as if a shackle he had long ceased to notice had snapped loose.

Watched? What does that mean?

Confusion gave way to a chill of horror.

Have I been monitored too?

All this time—no wonder nothing ever went smoothly. Every move I made was under someone else's control?

The memory of his days in the town, constantly monitoring mortals, flashed through his mind.

Cold sweat broke across Han Yi's forehead.

Who?

Since when?

Faces flashed through his mind, one after another. Each one seemed highly suspicious, yet none seemed quite right.

"You youngsters..." The fisherman shook his head when he saw Han Yi's face go pale. "You must be cautious when traveling alone in the wider world. Being watched for so long, your secrets have likely been laid bare. The thing you're looking for might have been stolen long ago."

His tone carried the disappointment of someone who had expected better.

"Though I can't blame you entirely..." His voice shifted. He frowned slightly and looked up at the sky. "The people in this place have some very bad habits." He squinted, as if pulling at an old memory, and his expression grew grave.

"Senior, save me!"

Perhaps it was the fisherman's manner, warm and familiar as an elderly neighbor's, that made Han Yi drop his guard. Or perhaps the revelation that he had been under surveillance all this time, completely unaware, had simply broken something in him. His mind in turmoil, Han Yi sank to his knees before the old man and pressed his forehead to the ground, begging for salvation.

"Save you?"

The fisherman looked momentarily uncertain of his meaning.

"Don't worry. I gave that fellow a proper thrashing. He won't be able to watch you anymore."

Han Yi's relief was instant and overwhelming. "Dare I ask, Senior, who was the person watching me? What did they look like?"

The fisherman looked troubled. "They were too far away. My eyes aren't what they used to be. I couldn't see clearly."

"Please, Senior, help me identify them." Now that he had a lifeline, Han Yi felt that if he didn't figure out who had been spying on him, he would never sleep or eat peacefully again, and his cultivation would surely suffer. He activated the Water Mirror Art and conjured images of every key suspect he had encountered over the years, face by face.

"Senior, these are..."

He began to speak, then felt the air go strange.

He turned, and saw the problem immediately.

In his panic, he had foolishly included the scene of Azure Wind trapping the sword fragment above the Congyun Sea.

The fisherman was staring fixedly at that image.

Damn it. The Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth has such obvious external characteristics. Did he recognize it?

Han Yi was filled with instant regret.

"That sword..."

But it was not the Soul Arbiter that had caught the fisherman's eye.

"The sword?"

Han Yi's gaze followed, landing on the blade fragment trapped by Azure Wind.

.....

"I myself have searched for so long, and still have not found it..."

.....

The fisherman's words from moments ago replayed in his mind, sharp and clear.

Could it be...

A terrible suspicion rose in Han Yi's chest before he could stop it.

Before he could react, the fisherman's murky gaze turned toward him.

In the next instant, Han Yi was swallowed by absolute darkness.

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