Bamboo Crate Chapter 45: Under the Moon, Arrows

Under the brilliant moonlight, amidst a wondrous lunar phenomenon, Lu Yun walked upon the surface of the water.

With every step he took, ripples spread across the water's surface.

Suspended high in the sky directly before Lu Yun was a bright moon.

Lu Yun raised his head, gazing up as he murmured, "Shengge..."

No one answered. A wave of intense unwillingness surged into his heart.

Clearly, this was only an illusion, yet it denied him even the sight of Shengge's face.

Suddenly, a flood-dragon jade pendant appeared in his palm. Lu Yun sensed the trace of his elder sister's divine sense contained within it.

"My sister's divine sense is about as stable as it was in my memories—no, there are signs of improvement. But this is far too slow; I cannot simply rely on the jade pendant to resurrect my sister. And then there is Shengge..."

The journey was long and the burden heavy.

Lu Yun took a deep breath, and a sword suddenly materialized in his right hand.

"It can be used within the phenomenon, but why can't it be used in the illusion? Is the Scribe Wuming restricting me?"

Lu Yun raised his hands, holding the jade pendant in one and gripping the long sword tightly in the other.

For a long time, neither the jade pendant nor the long sword reacted in the slightest.

"Does it not work? As expected, it is a false realm..."

After a moment of deep thought, Lu Yun said, "This false Ascension Realm can be used within the illusion, but it seems there is a prerequisite: both the opponent and I must truly believe that I am in the Ascension Realm."

As long as others and he himself believed it, then Lu Yun, within this heaven and earth, was truly in the Ascension Realm.

Lu Yun took a single step forward, breaking free from the lunar phenomenon.

He awoke inside a cave and slowly walked out.

As the moonlight poured down, the youth slowly raised his hand and brought it down in a chopping motion.

The entire forest began to tremble. Lu Yun muttered to himself, "The Scribe Wuming has already grown suspicious, which is why he left at that moment. He is afraid. Therefore, I only need a single condition..."

Lu Yun's gaze instantly sharpened. The next moment, starting from beneath his palm, a fissure rapidly tore forward, savagely splitting the entire forest in two.

A fierce wave of momentum transformed into a gale-force wind, instantly causing the towering trees—normally capable of blocking fierce tempests—to sway violently as if about to uproot.

"Ah, ah, ah! Xiaobai, there's an earthquake! Wake up quickly, let's run!"

Inside the cave, Xiling, startled awake, shook Xiaobai's head and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Song Lian walked out of the cave entrance. Looking at the figure clad in black, he murmured, "Goodness gracious, so this is the Ascension Realm..."

That terrifying fissure and the violent gale fierce enough to destroy everything were not the main points.

Any cultivator of the Upper Five Realms could easily accomplish such feats.

The true focal point was the 'momentum' radiating from Lu Yun, an aura that seemed capable of severing all things in existence.

Song Lian had never witnessed it before, but he firmly believed that an Ascension Realm swordsman must possess such a peculiar and awe-inspiring aura.

Even without a sword in hand, simply by standing there, the unshakeable confidence that nothing in the world could not be severed with a single strike was something exclusive to an Ascension Realm swordsman.

Lu Yun slowly lowered his hand, his emotions gradually calming.

As it turned out, failing to recover his memories was not entirely a bad thing; at the very least, he could still barely deceive himself for now.

This unexpected Ascension Realm was something he needed to make good use of.

Song Lian looked at Lu Yun and said, "Come with me on a trip."

"Huh?"

Song Lian looked puzzled.

Since they couldn't find that Scribe right now anyway, what else was there to do?

...

Stone City was one of the seven most important cities in the White Plains Kingdom, primarily responsible for forging immortal weapons.

Yes, immortal weapons.

Now, after spending more than ten years of grueling effort, Stone City was finally on the verge of successfully forging its very first immortal weapon.

It was a sword—a sovereign sword dedicated to the ruler of Yunmo.

...

Just as dawn broke, Lao Guo rubbed his lower back as he stepped out of a secret chamber that felt as hot as a magma pit, intending to catch some fresh air.

"Lao Guo."

A calm voice sounded.

Hearing the call, Lao Guo raised his head and discovered that a man in black had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

"Lord Lu?!"

Lu Yun nodded and said, "I have come to borrow something from you."

"Lord Lu! The sovereign sword is on the verge of completion, but we cannot lend it to you. If you truly need it, we must first seek permission from His Majesty..."

With his white hair and stooped figure, Lao Guo sighed, expressing his helplessness.

"It is not that sovereign sword."

Lu Yun looked toward a specific direction within the city.

"I suddenly recalled something. There should be a damaged immortal weapon hidden within this city."

Lao Guo's expression turned one of utter shock.

How could Lord Lu possibly know about that?!

...

Before a dilapidated wooden chest, Lao Guo gently wiped away the dust on its surface with a cloth.

"The people in Stone City who knew of its existence have gradually aged and passed away, leaving only an old man like me. I never expected Lord Lu to still know of it."

Memories of the past flickered in Lao Guo's eyes as he sighed, "Back then, the reason Stone City was able to avoid being bullied by other major cities was entirely thanks to this broken immortal weapon."

Lu Yun narrowed his eyes as a wave of familiarity welled up in his heart.

No, he must not deliberately try to recall.

To ensure he could continue deceiving himself as much as possible, Lu Yun changed the subject and asked, "Do you agree to lend it to me?"

Lao Guo smiled and nodded. "Come to think of it, when you came to borrow it, Lord Lu, I didn't feel any resistance at all. Perhaps I, too, wish to see it bloom with one final ray of light."

With that, Lao Guo slowly opened the massive wooden chest.

...

Outside Stone City, Song Lian looked at the huge box wrapped in black cloth strapped to his back, and asked doubtfully, "Is this what you wanted to borrow?"

Lu Yun nodded.

"Then what do we do next? We can't just sit around and wait like this, can we?"

Song Lian felt rather distressed. He now knew that all of this was fake, yet try as he might, he simply could not recall his true memories.

However, he could be certain that in reality, Lu Yun ought to be his master.

After all, he had been calling Lu Yun that all day long without receiving any denial.

"Waiting is precisely what we are going to do."

Lu Yun said, "I have a bold hypothesis that needs to be verified."

"Huh?" Song Lian grew even more confused.

...

That night, Stone City in the distance was brightly lit. The entire city was pouring its full strength into a frantic race against time to complete the forging of that immortal weapon.

Lu Yun and Song Lian sat atop a small hill, gazing up at the night sky.

Lu Yun was looking at the moon, while Song Lian was looking at the stars.

Suddenly, Lu Yun shifted his gaze toward Stone City.

"It has finally come."

It was the aura of the Scribe!

...

Inside Stone City, the Scribe Wuming presented an imperial decree and received the sovereign sword from Lao Guo's hands.

The corners of Wuming's mouth curled into a smile.

Heh, how did that saying go again?

With the immortal weapon in hand, the entire world is mine!

An immortal weapon he had never been able to use in reality could now be used in a dream—this trip was well worth being tossed into his own illusion by that old blind man.

Just as he stepped out of the city, Wuming hummed an unknown folk tune. Suddenly, that ominous premonition surged into his heart once more.

This time, Wuming didn't hesitate for a second either; he turned on his heel and fled as fast as his legs could carry him, even with the immortal weapon firmly in his grip.

To be honest, for the Scribe to be coward enough to reach this level was quite a rare feat.

Unfortunately...

"Too late."

Atop the hill, Lu Yun lowered the massive wooden bow in his hand and said faintly.

Beneath the moonlight, an arrow flashed with a chilling gleam, shooting straight toward the Scribe.