Chapter 1000: Hurry, I’m Surrounded

A month had passed, and Han Yu had been traversing the Central Continent.

Either robbing on his own or going to assist the cultivators of the Central Continent.

Truly a busy life.

During this time, the Artifact Spirit was equally busy, as there were the pills to deliver every three days, and even if it slacked off, it had to make a round trip to the Endless Sea Domain every six days.

This was, of course, not something Han Yu could do by himself. The Artifact Spirit was quite self-aware, and the tacit understanding between the human and spirit was already perfect.

In fact, these tasks didn’t even require Han Yu to speak; the Artifact Spirit would take care of them on its own.

The Artifact Spirit always said Han Yu had changed, but hadn’t it changed as well?

At first, the Artifact Spirit was quite wicked, wholly focused on plundering, not caring much for human kindness.

But as they walked this journey, its transformation was the greatest.

When it came to interacting with cultivators, Han Yu didn’t have the time to mingle with them, while it ran around boasting and telling stories.

Last time, when they went out with Xia Wuyou and the others, it protected them.

Though it spoke of overturning the Heavenly Dao, it still helped wipe up the mess of that wastrel.

Such a change was indeed significant.

“Wise Old Man, what exactly is going on with it? It shouldn’t be an Artifact Spirit, right?”

Han Yu took advantage of the Artifact Spirit’s absence to speak into the void.

That old guy, a peeping tom!

Finding him was never hard.

But after waiting a moment, still no response came.

Han Yu, irritated, continued speaking, “I know you’re spying, don’t pull this trick on me.”

Only then did a few dry coughs echo.

Yet, the Wiseman’s answer was unexpected, “It indeed was born from the Heavenly Dao’s artifact. Calling it an Artifact Spirit isn’t wrong, but it’s not exactly one. As for other things, you should ask the Heavenly Dao yourself when the time comes.”

“You don’t know?”

How could Han Yu believe that?

He spoke with a face full of suspicion and distrust.

The Wiseman replied helplessly, “I’ve always stayed in the Soul Realm. Do you think I can spy when the Heavenly Dao is setting things up?”

Han Yu frowned and felt it was somewhat reasonable, but if the Wiseman hadn’t done something to him before, he indeed wouldn’t have been able to spy on him.

After a moment of silence, the Wiseman spoke first, mimicking Han Yu’s tone, “You couldn’t have sought me just for this matter, could you?”

Uh…

Han Yu felt offended; this old ghost was quite sarcastic.

But he did have something on his mind.

“Recently…”

Lately, Han Yu had noticed the pace of collecting rules had slowed down, whether on their side or the opposite side, there hadn’t been much progress.

In this month, he hadn’t even gathered a hundred rules.

The other side was probably the same.

“Is there a way to make it easier for me to find them, preferably a way to sweep through all the rules?”

To gain a greater advantage, some unorthodox methods were needed.

Han Yu turned his thoughts to the Wiseman.

After a moment of silence, the Wiseman’s tone turned strange, “How about I casually kill a couple of Celestial Beings?”

“Can you do that?”

Han Yu was skeptical; if the Wiseman had such ability, he would’ve done it long ago.

“So why do you think I have a way? If I had a way, then the other side would have a corresponding way too, so you should be glad there is no crooked path for you to take.”

The Wiseman spoke rapidly, mixed with discontent.

“Then you can leave now, seeing you off.”

Han Yu grumbled, unable to fulfill even such a small request.

The Wiseman seemed stifled and silently stopped speaking.

Han Yu was crestfallen. At this speed, who knows when they would finish collecting.

He was still waiting to make another reckless move, pulling down the Celestial Beings to fight the Heavenly Dao.

Half a day had passed, yet unexpectedly, the Artifact Spirit hadn’t returned.

When Han Yu was about to contact it, the Artifact Spirit reached out to him first.

As soon as he pulled out the vibrating token, the Artifact Spirit’s urgent voice came through rapidly.

“I’m blocked by Yama Hall and Celestial Dao Sect’s cultivators. Come rescue me, hurry! Quick…”

Among this, Wujou’s voice could be heard cursing loudly.

…

“Are you splashing dirty water for no reason?”

Wujou was so angry his chest heaved up and down, pointing at that small figure with gritted teeth.

What they were doing wasn’t exactly blocking.

They approached, all smiling, clearly showing a friendly face.

The Artifact Spirit looked highly vigilant. It was on its way back from the Endless Sea Domain base.

But it found itself surrounded midway by both sides, and then it saw First Hall leading Jiu You and Wujou, Wuxian leading Shang Wanfeng and Jiang Xinyuan, all six with smiles “not harboring good intentions” that scared the spirit.

“Don’t come closer, or I’ll make a move.”

The Artifact Spirit, while vigilant, pulled out the West River Slash to intimidate the opponents. It was something Han Yu had nearly turned into a toy through constant use.

Hopefully, it could scare this group who had suffered before.

And it indeed scared them.

A plundering aura spread out, and the six immediately stopped moving forward.

Yin Wang sighed helplessly, “I’m not blocking you; I’m looking for Han Yu.”

What was supposed to be negotiating cooperation turned into a hostile situation.

Fortunately, developments didn’t deviate, and Han Yu was eventually on his way.

The two sides remained in a standoff until Han Yu’s arrival.

At this point, both sides were on guard. Once Han Yu arrived beside the Artifact Spirit with an Aurora, he looked it over and finally relaxed.

“You came specifically to find me?”

It wasn’t hard to tell; the Artifact Spirit remained unharmed without signs of conflict, and the small cultivator teams surrounding hadn’t moved when he arrived.

Clearly, they had been informed beforehand.

Otherwise, he would’ve already made a move.

“Indeed, both our sides came together to find you.”

Wuxian nodded and moved a little closer before speaking.

Yin Wang also stepped forward, forming a triangular formation corresponding to the three sides.

Wujou was about to follow when Jiu You quickly stopped him, and unhappily said, “We’re not here for a fight; what are you doing?”

Han Yu glanced at Wujou with a cold smile, “Let him come up too; it’s fine. I can handle it.”

He indeed had the capital to be arrogant now. Aside from other things, as long as Yin Wang and Wuxian couldn’t suppress him, he could unleash an attack regardless of the cost and take out the ones behind in no time.

Yin Wang frowned, restraining his displeasure as he slowly began, “We’re not here to fight.”

Han Yu knew this; remembering the things First Hall had done, which had cost him quite a bit, he naturally didn’t show a good face.

With a mocking look, “So you’re not fighting anymore but coming together instead. That’s a surprise.”

Wuxian and Yin Wang looked displeased but had to hold back their anger.

Seeing this, Han Yu smiled subtly, sensing they must really need him.

He was waiting for them to speak.

Yin Wang’s expression slowly calmed down, and he spoke to Han Yu.

“Your manpower has been stretched lately, hasn’t it?”

“Or should I say, you no longer have the manpower advantage in the race for rules, correct?”

This one thing, the other party was quite confident in, showing they were not in the Central Continent but continually watching the situation.

“And then?”

Han Yu didn’t deny it; this was visible on the surface and unnecessary to refute.

He wanted to see their intentions.

Wuxian spoke at this time, with a complex expression, “Are you interested in collaboration?”

Han Yu almost refused without thinking, speaking firmly.

“There’s really no need. I genuinely can’t trust people like you.”

It was true; these six were unstable factors, and if they were to cooperate, he’d always have to guard against them.

You could be a thief for a thousand days, but you can’t guard against a thief for a thousand days.

And the other side coming out in this situation definitely had demands in mind.

He didn’t intend to give them any chance to make demands.

If cooperation was what they wanted, he should make the demands; otherwise, any talk of cooperation was off.

Honestly, regarding the issue of insufficient manpower, he glanced around, muttering to himself, “Cutting these down could supplement some.”

The voice wasn’t loud, but the six immediately turned green-faced.

They brought these people as chips, not gifts for the other side.

Yin Wang and Wuxian exchanged signals with their eyes, and Jiu You and Shang Wanfeng promptly led the cultivators away hurriedly, leaving Han Yu without a chance to exploit the situation.