Legend Management Bureau Chapter 248

[ … words ]

Soon, Xie Yujiao finished carving the Array Formation onto the earring.

Contrary to Du Yu’s expectations, Xie Yujiao did not stick the Array Flags directly onto the earring. Instead, she planted the Array Flags around the area, condensed the power of the Array Formation into a small bead, and then sealed that bead inside the earring.

Now, the matte-textured earring was inlaid with a dull green bead. It did not look particularly valuable, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the spiritual energy contained within it was astonishing.

“I could not tell that smelly artifact refiner had such good craftsmanship,” Xie Yujiao muttered to herself. “It is as if he knew what I was going to do in advance and deliberately expanded the spiritual capacity of this earring. If he had not prepared this beforehand, there is no way this earring could hold my Array Formation.”

“Right? I told you Shen Shi is amazing,” Du Yu said with a smile.

Unable to refute his point, Xie Yujiao carefully picked up the earring and handed it to Du Yu.

“But how do we use this thing?” Du Yu asked. “How does it change voices at will?”

“You might have to ask that smelly… that artifact refiner,” Xie Yujiao replied with some hesitation. “Magical Power has already been bestowed upon it. How to activate it will depend on the user’s Object Control Technique.”

“Object Control Technique?!” Du Yu was stunned. “Oh no, I forgot to tell Shen Shi that Xiao Nian is a Mortal.”

“Brother Du! Is it done?”

“It is done, but there is something I forgot to mention…” Du Yu held the earring with an awkward expression. “This is my fault. It might make all your and Xie Yujiao’s hard work for nothing…”

“For nothing? What do you mean?”

Du Yu offered an embarrassed smile. “Xiao Nian is a Mortal. She does not know any object control spells. Can she even use this earring of yours?”

“Of course!” Shen Shi declared. “I could tell long ago that the girl is a Mortal. This magical artifact does not require the Object Control Technique to operate.”

“Eh?!” Du Yu blanked for a moment. He had not expected Shen Shi to be not only highly skilled but also remarkably observant.

“Just have the girl extract a drop of Fingertip Blood and drip it onto the earring. Once the artifact recognizes her as its master, she will be mentally linked with it and can control it at will.”

“My god!” Du Yu slapped Shen Shi heavily on the shoulder. “You really did it, Young Kid! You are an absolute genius!”

“Hehehe!” Shen Shi flashed a wicked grin and said, “You flatter me…”

Du Yu thanked Shen Shi, went to Xiao Nian’s room, and told her about the earring.

Xiao Nian looked completely lost. This kind of thing sounded far too absurd and completely lacked any scientific logic.

Under Du Yu’s patient explanation, Xiao Nian barely managed to accept the concepts of “magical artifacts,” “recognizing a master,” “Array Formations,” “Immortal Beings,” and the like. Half-doubting, she pricked her finger and let a drop of Fingertip Blood fall onto the earring.

The earring seemed to receive a signal. It instantly flared with a burst of red light, then immediately dimmed again, as if nothing had happened at all.

“Producer Teacher, is it ready?” Xiao Nian asked.

“It… it should be…” Du Yu replied, though in truth, he had never made a magical artifact recognize a master before either. “Why don’t you put it on and try it out?”

Hearing this, Xiao Nian nodded. She fastened the earring onto her earlobe and then used her long hair to cover her ear.

“And then?” Xiao Nian asked blankly, realizing her voice had not changed at all.

“Uh… Shen Shi said that once this thing recognizes its master, it will ‘move according to your will.’ Do you want to try thinking about the voice you want to change into?”

‘Just think about it in my head?’ Xiao Nian still found it highly suspicious, but since Du Yu suggested it, she decided to give it a try.

Xiao Nian fell silent for a moment. Then, suddenly speaking with Du Yu’s exact voice, she asked, “Are you Teacher Xu Liunian?”

“Holy crap!” Du Yu jumped in fright. “It actually worked?!”

“It actually worked…?” Xiao Nian looked at Du Yu as if he were an idiot, continuing to speak with Du Yu’s voice. “Are you messing with me? My voice hasn’t changed at all. How did it work?”

“It hasn’t changed?! How else do you want it to change? Isn’t that my voice right now?” Du Yu was a bit confused by Xiao Nian’s words.

“Huh?” Xiao Nian was equally baffled, her voice still sounding identical to Du Yu’s. “Are you saying I am speaking with your voice right now?”

Du Yu was stunned. ‘Could it be that Xiao Nian cannot hear the changed voice herself?’

“Ah! I get it!” Du Yu realized in a flash. “Shen Shi mentioned that this earring works by generating a miniature Array Formation that envelops you. Your voice changes as it passes through the Array Formation, so it sounds exactly the same to you, but completely different to outsiders.”

Fearing Xiao Nian wouldn’t believe him, Du Yu pulled out his Mobile Phone and recorded a clip of her speaking. When Xiao Nian listened to the playback, she realized he was telling the truth.

Only now was all the preparation for entering the legends finally complete, and Du Yu began arranging the descent.

There were two main objectives for this descent. The first was training. Since Xiao Nian and Ah Jiao were both rookies, they desperately needed to experience the daily routine of an Operator within the legends. The second objective was exploration. They needed to find a method to slightly alter the storyline without affecting the ultimate outcome.

Du Yu finalized the roster for entering the legend this time: only him, Xiao Nian, and Ah Jiao. All other Operators would remain on standby outside.

Xiao Nian applied makeup to herself and Ah Jiao. In just over ten minutes, the two graceful young women were instantly transformed into crude, burly men, leaving everyone absolutely astonished.

Such a high-end technique would be difficult to achieve even with magic. In terms of disguises alone, Xiao Nian’s skills were on par with any Immortal Being.

However, there was only one “voice changer” after all. Therefore, once they were inside the legend, Xiao Nian would mainly be responsible for talking, while Ah Jiao would handle the fighting.

Everything was ready. Just as they were about to lie down on the Descent Equipment, Xie Yujiao suddenly threw out a question:

“Du Yu, the Legend Management Bureau has so many people. Can all of them enter the legends at will?”

Du Yu chuckled at her words. “Of course not. Anyone who can enter a legend requires a special constitution. Generally speaking, only Great…”

Before he could finish, he froze. A question involuntarily surfaced in his mind—

‘Is Xie Yujiao a Great Pivot?’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever considered this question before.’

“Ah Jiao… are… are you a victim of Wrongful Death?” Du Yu asked tentatively.

“Wrongful Death…?” Xie Yujiao pondered for a moment before answering, “No, I am not.”

Standing off to the side, Zhi Nv instantly understood what Du Yu was getting at. “Miss Xie Yujiao, you did not die a Wrongful Death?!” she asked in astonishment.

“I am a member of the Xie family. How could I have suffered a Wrongful Death?” Xie Yujiao looked at everyone in confusion. “Can only victims of Wrongful Death enter the legends?”

“Of course not…” Du Yu shook his head. “The conditions for entering the legends are even stricter than just a Wrongful Death. But if you aren’t even a victim of Wrongful Death…”

At that moment, Du Yu realized an even more critical issue.

‘A member of the Xie family…?’

‘If I am understanding this correctly, the “Xie family” refers to Xie Bi’an and his descendants, right?’

‘Whether these people were Xie Bi’an’s biological children or adopted by him, they should all be his juniors, right?’

‘But when was the first time I met Xie Yujiao?’

‘It was after the “Investiture of the Gods,” right when the Zhou Dynasty was just established!’

‘And when was the first time I met Xie Bi’an?’

‘It was during the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties!’

‘Following this timeline, Xie Yujiao came from 1000 BCE, while Xie Bi’an came from 1300 CE. The Xie Yujiao standing in front of me is over two thousand years older than Xie Bi’an!’

‘If that is the case, how could she possibly call Xie Bi’an her “Old Ancestor”?!’

‘When Fan Wujiu disappeared, the Xie Yujiao in front of me disappeared right along with him. And the first time I went to the Impermanence Hall to “borrow” personnel, even Xie Bi’an couldn’t remember who Xie Yujiao was.’

‘Does all of this not seem incredibly suspicious?’

‘She is clearly a member of the Xie family, yet she vanished alongside Fan Wujiu?’

‘She is clearly someone from ancient times, yet she calls Xie Bi’an her Old Ancestor?’

Du Yu initially wanted to voice these questions right then and there, but his intuition told him that this matter was of immense importance and needed to be handled carefully.

If Du Yu’s theory about the situation was correct, it meant that the Xie Yujiao of the past never should have been there in the first place. And if she truly was a Great Pivot, she was undoubtedly inextricably linked to Fan Wujiu…

Dong Qianqiu pondered for a moment before walking over. He handed the helmet of the Descent Equipment to Xie Yujiao and said, “Miss Xie, regardless of everything else, why don’t you put on this equipment and give it a try first.”

Xie Yujiao silently took the equipment and placed it on her head.

Dong Qianqiu stared intently at the Display Screens. If she really was a Great Pivot, the screen would display the words “Operator in position.”

However, to everyone’s utter shock, the moment Xie Yujiao put on the device, her eyes burst with a brilliant light, and her entire body began to convulse violently as if she were being electrocuted.

Du Yu quickly rushed forward to hold her down, shouting, “Hurry, take the device off!”

Zhan Qisheng and the others nearby sprang into action upon seeing this, reaching out to pull the helmet off Xie Yujiao’s head. However, the helmet seemed firmly glued to her skull; no matter how hard they tried, it would not budge.

Zhan Qisheng frowned in hesitation. If he used his full strength right now, he might be able to forcefully detach the equipment, but doing so would likely inflict serious injury on the girl.

Everything happened in a flash. Before they could come up with a countermeasure, Xie Yujiao suddenly calmed down, and the brilliant light in her eyes faded away.

The Display Screens faintly lit up with a familiar line of text: “Operator in position.”

Everyone stared at the screen in complete bewilderment. The Legend Management Bureau had its fair share of Operators, but this was the very first time such a situation had occurred.

Du Yu was just about to speak when he saw the text on the screen begin to violently flicker like scrambled code.

The word “Operator” continuously twisted, distorted, and then recombined. Before long, the flashing screen formed a brand new term.

Seeing this, Dong Qianqiu was deeply shocked and slowly backed away. Because as they looked at the screen again, it displayed a line of text that no one had ever seen before:

“Reincarnator in position.”