Legend Management Bureau Chapter 255

[ … words ]

“So that is how it is…” Du Yu finally understood. “That means your skill has quite a significant drawback…”

“Of course,” Jin Jianglang nodded. “When Liu Ling’s Legend had a problem earlier, I had to apply a full twelve Cut Lovesickness talismans just to sever his Lovesickness.”

Liu Ling froze upon hearing this, turning his head to Du Yu. “Brother Yu, you guys actually went back to my past?”

“Uh…” Du Yu just remembered that no one had ever mentioned this to Liu Ling, and he felt quite guilty about it. “Liu Ling… this is my fault. I will explain everything to you properly later.”

Hearing this, Liu Ling silently nodded.

Jin Jianglang continued, “At the time, I thought Liu Ling was a person of vital importance in the Immortal Realm, because I had never encountered such a powerful Lovesickness before. What surprised me even more was that his Suffering seemed to have developed sapience, actually slipping away while I was entangled with the Lovesickness. Thinking about it now, it might be because Chinese history is far too ancient, and Liu Ling has survived until the present day without dissipating, so the resulting influence exceeded my imagination…”

Du Yu blinked after hearing this, turning to ask Zhi Nv, “Zhi Nv, what dynasty is Liu Ling from again?”

“He is from the Wei and Jin dynasties,” Zhi Nv replied. “Around the year 220 AD.”

Du Yu felt disheartened upon hearing this.

“What do you mean ‘only’ one thousand eight hundred years?” Jin Jianglang grew slightly annoyed. “The oldest Thread I ever cut in Fusang was no more than seven hundred years old. You guys casually caused a historical alteration from one thousand eight hundred years ago, and you actually have the nerve to complain that my cutting is not good enough?”

Du Yu sighed softly and said, “That is not it, Brother Jin Jianglang. I am not complaining about your skills, it is just that we currently have an even more formidable figure to deal with…”

Jin Jianglang sneered coldly and declared, “Please do not misunderstand. If it were not for Little Xiang’s sake, I would not have even bothered to cut Liu Ling’s Thread, let alone deal with some ‘important figure’.”

Hearing Jin Jianglang’s words, Shiranui Asuka silently held up two fingers and said, “Senior Du Yu, light it up. Light it up for me immediately.”

The moment A’xiang said this, Jin Jianglang’s overbearing attitude instantly softened.

“Little Xiang!” Jin Jianglang looked as if he was about to burst into tears. “I am your blood brother, why are you always threatening me?”

“It is your fault, brother!” Shiranui Asuka pouted. “You already promised me that you would help Senior Du Yu. If you back out now, I will lose face.”

“I…” Jin Jianglang shook his head helplessly. “Fine, fine. Even though I can agree to Little Xiang’s request, I really am not sure just how powerful of a figure you want me to deal with. Even if I promise to help you, I cannot guarantee a hundred percent chance of success.”

Du Yu pondered for a moment and said, “Brother Jin Jianglang, you mentioned just now that to sever Liu Ling’s Lovesickness, you had to apply twelve talismans?”

“That is correct,” Jin Jianglang nodded in confirmation.

“Then if we run into a Thread that is ten times stronger, wouldn’t directly applying one hundred and twenty talismans do the trick?”

Jin Jianglang shot Du Yu a look of utter disdain. “In theory, yes. But leaving aside whether I even have that many talismans on me, even if I did, my Infernal Slash simply cannot contain that much spiritual energy.”

“Infernal Slash?”

“It is my Magical Treasure.”

After speaking, Jin Jianglang unslung the massive scissors from his back and placed them on the table. The scissors were entirely silver-white, with numerous talismans still clinging to the surface. Although the blades did not appear sharp, they emanated an overwhelming spiritual energy.

“So you are saying the issue lies with the Magical Treasure?” Du Yu asked doubtfully, staring at the scissors on the table. “As long as your Magical Treasure is powerful enough, you can cut a Thread of any strength, right?”

Everyone present immediately understood Du Yu’s underlying meaning.

They could not be certain about other matters, but if the issue was related to a Magical Treasure, there was a very high probability that the Legend Management Bureau could resolve it for him.

Du Yu shot a meaningful glance at Qu Xi. Catching on, Qu Xi immediately stood up and headed out the door to find Shen Shi.

“What do you mean?” Jin Jianglang asked, completely bewildered. “How could this be a problem with the Magical Treasure? This is clearly a problem with you guys! No normal person would be stupid enough to actually try and alter an unshakable historical influence!”

“No…” Du Yu shook his head. “If we were ‘normal people’, we would not be sitting here discussing this right now. There is someone whose history we absolutely must change. This person is the founder of the entire Chinese Underworld, possessing boundless Magical Power. Now, we need to travel back to her past and sever her romantic destiny.”

Jin Jianglang was so startled he nearly tumbled out of his chair.

“What did you just say?! The founder of the entire Chinese Underworld?! Isn’t she on the same level as Fusang’s Izanami?”

“Pretty much,” Du Yu nodded. “We cannot guarantee that we will be able to accurately sever her romantic connections, so we need you standing by to safeguard us. If we fail, you will have to find a way to cut through the Vicissitude you mentioned.”

“I refuse!” Jin Jianglang made a prompt decision, rejecting the idea outright. “This sounds way too risky. Besides, I already told you that stopping a Vicissitude goes against the Heavenly Dao. It will cost us our accumulated karma. I will help you within the scope of my abilities, but you cannot force me to do the impossible, otherwise the entire Shiranui Family will be implicated.”

Seeing how decisively Jin Jianglang refused, Du Yu turned to look at Shiranui Asuka once more.

However, this time A’xiang did not take Du Yu’s side as she had before. Instead, she spoke up, “Senior Du Yu, Brother Jinjianglang is right about this. A long time ago, because the Shiranui Family excelled at the Scissor Slash technique, they stopped many a Vicissitude. As a result, they suffered heavenly retribution, causing the lifespan of everyone in the entire clan to never exceed thirty years. It was not until the third-generation Patriarch established new family rules—ordering the clan members to seal the Legends that could be sealed, and only using the Scissor Slash on those that absolutely could not be sealed—that this situation vastly improved. Nowadays, many elders in the clan have lived well into their eighties.”

“This…” Du Yu had not expected the Shiranui Family’s signature skill to have nearly driven their entire clan to extinction. He instantly felt conflicted. After pondering for a moment, he asked, “But… right now you are following the orders of a Chinese Operator to stop a Vicissitude within a Chinese Legend. No matter how you look at it, I should be the one to suffer the heavenly retribution, right?”

“Even if you are the one to face heavenly retribution, can you withstand it?” Jin Jianglang turned his head to question Du Yu. “You are altering the past of someone on the level of Izanami and stopping her Vicissitude. Time will not let you off the hook.”

“Time never planned to let me off the hook anyway,” Du Yu remarked with a bitter smile. “Whether I do certain things or not, it seems as though they are already destined to happen.”

His words carried a profound, hidden meaning, and only a select few present fully understood them.

Right at that moment, Qu Xi walked back through the door, bringing Shen Shi with her.

“Brother Du, you were looking for me?” Shen Shi asked with a smile.

“Ah, Shen Shi, you are just in time.” Du Yu pointed at the massive silver-white scissors resting on the table. “Take a look at this Magical Treasure. Can you recreate it?”

Shen Shi raised an eyebrow, his gaze immediately drawn to the scissors.

The Magical Treasures of this world were boundlessly bizarre and varied, but those modeled after a pair of scissors were incredibly rare. Throughout the entirety of the Chinese Immortal Realm, there were only a meager four or so of them in existence.

“What are these scissors used for?” Shen Shi inquired.

“What are they used for… that is a long story,” Du Yu paused to think before explaining. “They are used to sever the Threads generated by alterations in history…”

Shen Shi clearly did not understand the intricate details, but he grasped the general concept. “So you mean this Magical Treasure is not meant for combat or protection, but serves a highly specialized function?”

“Yes,” Du Yu nodded.

Shen Shi closely examined the scissors once more, his brow furrowing as a troubled expression crossed his face. “May I ask whose scissors these are?”

“They are mine,” Jin Jianglang answered.

“I thought as much.” Shen Shi gave Jin Jianglang a look and nodded. “I assumed this was not an artifact of China. It must have been forged from exceptionally unique materials, right?”

“Correct,” Jin Jianglang nodded. “It was crafted from a segment of the tailbone of the Yamata no Orochi. You will not find a second pair in the entire world.”

Du Yu found this somewhat unbelievable. “You will not find a second pair in the world? Then what Magical Treasures do the other Time Masters use?”

“The Scissor Slash weapons used by the Time Masters are all made from the bones of giant serpents, but only mine is made from the tailbone of the Yamata no Orochi. Even if there are countless Scissor Slash weapons, there is only one Yamata no Orochi. Through countless Experiments conducted by our predecessors, we learned that serpent bone is the finest material for suppressing a Vicissitude.”

For the first time, Shen Shi looked truly troubled. Regardless of how exquisite the forging techniques of the Magical Treasure were or how pure its spiritual energy was, he could always replicate it. But as the saying goes, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice. If the proper materials could not be found, all efforts would be in vain.

“What level of serpent demon is this Yamata no Orochi?” Du Yu turned and asked Zhi Nv.

“I do not remember entirely either. I vaguely recall that it was an incredibly powerful Fusang Demonic Beast capable of plunging the mortal world into chaos,” Zhi Nv replied.

Shiranui Asuka nodded in agreement. “The Yamata no Orochi is our most famous Demonic Beast in Fusang. When it manifested in the world, it could cause rivers to overflow, devouring human flesh and licking their bones. In the end, it was slain by Izanagi’s son, Susanoo.”

Hearing this, things indeed sounded quite troublesome.

There were quite a few serpent demons in Chinese history, but almost none reached such a terrifying level. Since that was the case, how could they possibly find a material superior to the tailbone of the Yamata no Orochi to forge an even higher-grade Scissor Slash?

The Western Queen Mother glanced at the large scissors on the table and finally could hold back no longer:

“There is something I do not quite understand…”