It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Reed looked at these organs transformed from evil spirits, and they all moved closer to Reed.

Lid did not feel a clear "hostility" from them, but instead felt like he was being hunted. Hunters do not regard prey as opponents, and rarely specifically target a particular animal. Hunting is just a means of survival for them, just like the hunting relationship among wild animals. Killing the opponent and treating the opponent as food is probably what it feels like.

From this point, Lid judged that these evil spirits were not meant to ambush him. Even the people who attracted these evil spirits might not be able to completely control them. They were like wandering lonely hungry ghosts, and they would pounce on living people and eat them, dragging down all living things within their sight.

Seeing that the evil spirit had surrounded the place, the little ghost came out of Lid's head and said loudly:

"Let me make it clear in advance. My abilities have no effect on them. They are not living creatures and have no vitality at all. If you can't come up with a solution, I will, I will--"

The little ghost held up the sign, but couldn't figure out what to do for a long time, so he shouted:

"Even if I become a ghost, I will not let you go! [(八`)]"

"You are already a ghost. And stop crying, open your eyes and look carefully—"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soul power in Lid's body kept surging, and semi-solid tentacles appeared behind him. The organ transformed from evil spirit seemed to have seen something extremely delicious, and rushed up like crazy. But in the next moment, Lid stretched out his hand, grabbed a tentacle transformed from soul power, and tore it off cleanly.

The soul power in his body suddenly withdrew, leaving only the half of the tentacle in his hand that was emitting white smoke. In the eyes of the evil spirit monster, it was as delicious as a roasted sweet potato in winter. Lid shook his arm vigorously, and then threw the half of the tentacle out violently. In an instant, all the evil spirits rushed over there, and a new round of snatching began at the end.

"My...prey..."

“Get out of the way…”

"be mine...…"

Lid lowered his hands and said to the stunned little ghost: "Now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lid turned and ran.

The little ghost hurriedly followed, and said to Lid in a low voice:

"Do you know what you are doing? The method that Clenus taught you is to drive your soul. What you are doing is equivalent to tearing off a part of your soul with your own hands... (;)?]"

Lidd replied:

"At this point, there is no better way. One less piece means one less piece. Fighting with this kind of power will only speed up the wear and tear of the soul."

The little ghost remained silent, but she knew that this method would be very painful. But Lid didn't seem to care.

He even plucked a few more and threw them in various places to confuse the evil spirits.

After making sure that the evil spirits were gone, Lid found a flat place and rested while rubbing his temples. His head was aching like needles.

At this moment, the voice of the little ghost suddenly appeared in his mind:

"Speaking of which! I remember when I was traveling around the world, I once heard a legend about evil spirits. Lid opened his eyes, looked at the tree above his head that blocked the sunlight, and asked:

"What?"

The little ghost said:

"Evil spirits are formed by the dissatisfaction and resentment left after the death of human beings. Among the many resentments, the one that resonates most is not personal resentment, but hatred of gods. But those are gods in the sky. At the beginning, no one dared to show the slightest dissatisfaction with them. Even if there was such a thought in their hearts, they would subconsciously eliminate it. It was not until someone raised the banner of rebellion against gods and humans broke with the old gods that this anger and dissatisfaction gradually survived and turned into evil spirits."

Reed narrowed his eyes and thought of the same thing as the little ghost.

The evil spirits he had seen had eyes, noses, mouths, and ears, and the evil spirits he hadn't seen probably had even more parts. This was a very abnormal thing, and Lide had never seen an evil spirit that looked like this at Huang Yan's place. But Lide knew very well that these things couldn't just grow like this, and there was a great possibility that they would "piece together" a complete person in the future.

Someone raised the flag of rebellion against God, but Reed didn't know who that person was because this part of history had been completely erased.

But for some reason, when he heard this, the first person he thought of was the person he saw at the center of the National Defense Formation. The person Qianji called "the sage" who had maintained the National Defense Formation for thousands of years with his own strength.

Reed didn't know what the connection was between this sage and the person the little ghost mentioned, but judging from the time, the two events of "humankind's breakup with the old gods" and "the birth of the national defense formation" would not be too far apart.

Lid had a vague feeling that he seemed to be involved in a very big plan. The participants in this plan might have a bigger goal than "resurrecting Clenus". However, Lid couldn't figure out the whole story yet. He didn't have enough information, so he could only carefully record what he saw and heard this time, and then continue to move towards the Immaculate Tree.

……

At the same time, Alayya, who stayed outside the territory of Xi Qin, finally met the first person who came to find her.

She lived in an empty hotel outside Xiqin. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Alayya went to open the door. Standing outside was an old lady she didn't know. When the "old lady" saw Alayya, she immediately said anxiously:

"Why are you here? Did Lid really go to Xiqin Territory?"

Alayya nodded. The old lady stamped her feet, grabbed Alayya's wrist, and said:

"He has no idea how dangerous it is there... Let's go too, hurry up, maybe we can still catch up now."

Alaiya did not move, but asked: "Who are you?"

The old lady tore off the disguise on her head, revealing a head of pink hair. It was Shi Yuan that Alaiya and Lid had seen in the Dragon Tribe. Shi Yuan looked anxious, but Alaiya just struggled and shook off Shi Yuan's hand:

"I won't go. The young master said that I will stay here and I must not go to see her before I reach the tenth level." Shi Yuan took a deep breath and asked:

"That's what he said?"

Alayya nodded.

Shi Yuan thought for a moment and said to Alayya:

"Well, since he asked you to stay here, he must have his reasons. I'll go find him, but you'd better hurry up. I feel that the situation inside Xi Qin is very bad... I had a dream. If we don't hurry up, Lid might die. You and I can't escape either."

Shi Yuan strode out of the room. When she reached the door, she suddenly stopped, hesitated for a moment, and said to Alayya: "By the way, if you see Merlin and Xiang Hei coming over, be careful."

22. Girl's Thoughts

Alayya watched Shiyuan leave and returned to the hotel.

She could vaguely feel that she had already touched the threshold of the tenth level. The sword will in her body was throbbing, urging her to pick up the sword and go outside to vent her impetuous emotions. But the more the sword will in her body trembled, the more Alayya stayed still. She just sat in the room, meditating on every sword move she had seen day and night.

Li De said to her: At the tenth level of realm, you can go anywhere in the world.

But Alaiya knew very well that Lide had already reached the tenth level, and he was still taking a great risk by going to Xiqin. The times were different, and the pressures people in each era had to bear were also different. Alaiya told herself that only by becoming stronger could she protect her young master.

She not only wants to become the youngest female swordsman in Yongtian Kingdom, but also the strongest swordsman in history.

She already had the sword energy of Lid and Qingyun on her body, and she also received the sword heart of Garberd. Not to mention that with great power comes great responsibility, the heavy weight alone made her unable to straighten her back. Throughout history, there are countless geniuses who have been accelerated by panaceas, but most of them are castles in the air, and if they step into the air, they will be doomed.

The same is true for Alaya's swordsmanship. With Lid's meridians warmed up and two contemporary sword masters' gifts, Alaya must make thousands of times more efforts to truly subdue these powers, use them for her own benefit, and become a true swordsman. Otherwise, she is nothing more than the next Jinyiwei commander Xige, who reached the tenth level with the help of Qingyun's sword energy, but could not survive more than a few moves under the hands of the Lingwu Lord.

"The young master always said that good people are hard to find in the world, so good people should not be pointed at with swords." Alaiya thought silently:

"But the young master is the best man. He said he would protect the people around him, but he often ignored himself and went on adventures alone." Alaiya looked at the sword in the corner, resisted the urge to draw the sword, and said to herself:

"I am the young master's bodyguard. I am ready to die for him at any time. But..."

Alayya recalled a night when Lid put his hand on her head and said with a smile:

--"It's easy to die, but it's hard to live. You are my bodyguard, so you should help me solve my problems. So when I choose the easy way, you have to take the difficult way. Only by living can you have output, and you have to live to help me."

Alayya could feel that the restless sword will in her body had calmed down a little. Just now when Shi Yuan pulled her to Xi Qin, Alayya had an impulse to rush to the young master. But now her heart suddenly calmed down a lot. No matter how much she worried, it was not as important as the matter at hand. Only by eliminating useless distractions could the sword become pure.

She continued to meditate, recalling the sword skills that Reed had taught her, as well as the many times they had been alone together.

Reed's smile always appears inadvertently in Alayya's mind. In Alayya's memory, Reed is smiling most of the time, no matter it is windy or rainy, no matter he is poor or rich, no matter he is killing or saving people, Reed always has a calm demeanor.

At the beginning, it was because of Lid's smile that Alaya gradually walked out of the haze of the past. Suddenly, an idea involuntarily emerged in Alaya's mind:

"It would be great if I could go back to that time with the young master."

This was not the first time that Alaya had such an idea. In the past, Lid and her master and servant had to face all kinds of storms, but the storms were not big at that time. Alaya always felt that if she grew up a little more, she could beat all the bad guys. But now the dangers that Lid faced had increased exponentially.

-There are many more people facing danger together,

Leia seemed to have become an inconspicuous one among them.

It's not that Alaiya didn't train hard, but since when, Lid no longer needed her protection. He either went in and out of danger alone where no one could save him, or he was well protected by those around him.

Even now, Shuang has helped him recruit several guards who have reached the ninth level of perfection; for those who have reached the tenth level, Lid also has Bai Ye and Skadi as the front. Lid is now in a high position and is no longer the bullied Fourth Young Master of Yunyang. I don't know how many people have learned literary and martial arts and want to sell their talents to him.

"Just staying with the young master makes me very happy."

Alayya can say this to many people, but she can't say it to herself now. She knows that many thoughts are like poison, but she can't help it.

Liking someone is the most powerful poison in the world.

In Alaya's mind, she kept replaying the moves that Lid taught her, and the memories of the past came to her mind vividly. The sword energy swirled around her, and even inadvertently left a knife-like mark on the wall of the hotel. Alaya exhaled, feeling that many emotions in her heart were mixed together, difficult to sort out and difficult to let go, which was also the reason why she did not reach the tenth level.

Whether it is Qingyun or Garberd, although they are still troubled by many things, Alaya can see the "Tao" of persistence in them. But Alaya herself does not have it. The sword that Reed taught her to kill is the way to kill all the injustices in the world; Qingyun taught her Zen sword, which is the way to do what you should do and what you should not do, and save the world alone. Garberd gave her the sword heart of "seeking". Relying on such a state of mind, two completely different sword ways can coexist in her body, but this is a borrowed state of mind after all, and it is also not her own.

Alayya was very worried. If she reached the tenth level without making any changes, there would be only two possible outcomes.

Either her sword energy was out of control, her sword heart was disordered, and her strength dropped drastically, or the sword heart given to her by Garberd suppressed the two sword energies, but she would never be able to make any progress in her life. This was a very realistic problem. A container named Alayya could not store so many complex powers.

—―"If anyone can save me, it will be you."

Lid's voice sounded again, and Alaya felt her heart tighten suddenly. This feeling was similar to when she was a child holding a sword and letting people pick her in the lord's mansion, a feeling of powerlessness and panic. The difference was that at that time she was worried about her own life, but now the object of her worry was her own young master.

Alaya lowered her head, beads of sweat rolling down her face, and then she realized that she had been meditating for too long and sweating too much. She went out to get some water to wash her cheeks, and patted her face hard with her hands, telling herself that it was useless to think so much, and just let it go.

That night, Alayya was sleepless again. In the morning, she felt pain in her forehead and planned to rest against the wall. Before she fell asleep, she was awakened by a knock on the door. Alayya jumped out of bed and opened the door. It was Xiao Hei and Merlin standing outside.

When Xiao Hei saw Alaiya, he was stunned for a moment, subconsciously glanced into the room, and asked: "Where is Lid?"

23. You answered very well

Merlin and Xiao Hei stood outside the door, but this time Merlin did not stand side by side with Xiao Hei, but stood behind his young lady Anna. When Yuxi City was attacked by the demons, Anna and Merlin were among the adventurers who led the rescue team. That was also their first encounter with Yuxi City.

Later, Merlin and Anna drove out the aliens on the border. Merlin would occasionally send a few clones over, but Anna rarely left the border. So when they met this time, Alaiya was also a little surprised.

"The young master went to Xiqin."

After the words fell, Alayya suddenly realized that something was wrong: when Shi Yuan came before, the first thing she asked was "Did Li De really go to the Xiqin territory?", but Xiao Hei seemed to be unaware of it and asked "Where is Li De?"

Alaiya frowned slightly, but she had hardly slept all night and was dizzy at the moment, unable to continue thinking. She stepped aside and said:

"You are all friends of the young master, please come in." Xiao Hei came in first, followed by Anna and Merlin.

—After entering the room, Anna looked around and sighed:

"What a strong sword energy! When I was your age, I didn't have such a strong sword energy. Incredible, it seems that we humans will soon have another great swordsman. Not just a show-off, but a real swordsman."

Alayya sat on the bed and answered with all her strength:

"Since the young master has taught me swordsmanship, I will practice according to what the young master said. As for where I will end up, I have never thought about it. I practice swordsmanship to protect the young master. The rest has nothing to do with me."

Merlin interjected at the right moment:

"Ms. Alaiya practiced swordplay all night last night?"

Alayya raised her head and replied:

"I have some insights, so I keep practicing, and before I know it, it's dawn." Xiao Hei said with a smile:

"Then we won't bother you any more."

After that, Xiao Hei put on a serious look and said to Alayya:

"According to Lid's idea, the army of Potian is now divided into the front and rear armies. Merlin and I... Miss Anna and I will lead the front army to enter the Western Qin territory first, and Jiang Lianqing will lead the army to support us from behind. But when we formulated this strategy, we didn't know that Lid would arrive in the Western Qin territory first. But after Lid solved the trouble in Yunyang, he didn't send anyone to notify us to cancel the plan, so Miss Anna and I discussed it and planned to continue to execute it according to the plan."

Xiao Hei paused and asked Alayya:

"But I can't figure it out. Why did Reed let you stay here and spread the news? Did he tell you anything?" Alaiya gently held her aching forehead and answered:

"The master said that he would not let me in unless I was on the tenth floor."

Xiao Hei and Merlin looked at each other, and then Xiao Hei asked:

"I understand. One last question, Alayya, has anyone else contacted you besides us?" Alayya opened her eyes and instantly recalled what Shi Yuan had said to her:

- "If you see Merlin and Xiang Hei coming, be careful."

Alaya didn't know what "keep an eye on" meant, and the master hadn't told her what to do in this situation. She wanted to flip a coin to decide whether to tell Xiao Hei about Shi Yuan, but unfortunately she couldn't flip the coin now. Although her head hurt, Alaya still stood up and answered reluctantly:

"Why do you ask?"

Xiao Hei said frankly:

"I escaped from there, and I know that the territory is full of dangers. Returning to that territory means a life-or-death situation. Although I don't care, I have to consider them now that I am with Potian's army. I want to know if Lid has other backup plans. If so, can you tell us?"

Alaya recalled the parting scene with Lid. At that time, Lid told her that if anyone could save him, that person could only be Alaya. Alaya felt that Lid probably had no backup plan, and he also thought that this journey was full of uncertainties. Thinking of this, Alaya said to Xiao Hei:

"The young master... is risking his life."

Xiao Hei obviously misunderstood the meaning of this sentence, thinking that Alaiya was answering his previous question in a tactful way, so he looked at Merlin and Anna and said seriously: "In this case, we have no choice but to fight for our lives. Let's go."

After that, Xiao Hei said to Alayya:

"have a good rest."

Alaya felt her head was dizzy and her eyelids were fighting. There were all kinds of things in her mind, and these things appeared together, making Alaya feel like she was in a noisy downtown. But she was so sleepy now and needed a rest urgently, so she couldn't think too much.

"If only the young master were here, he would be able to figure out the whole story."

Alaia thought so and lay down on the bed holding the sword. After a moment, she heard Merlin's voice ringing in her ears: "You answered very well just now."