Can a Scholar Be Called a Villain

Book 2: Chapter 30: Five Blade Intents

Murong Lin found himself instantly uncomfortable the moment he entered the underground chamber beneath the swamp. The surrounding mud pressed onto his body with formidable pressure, creating both a suffocating and extremely uncomfortable sensation.

Despite the discomfort, Murong Lin persevered, manipulating the ‘Array Disruptor’ in his hands to sense the location of the array.

After a persistent effort, his divine sense finally pinpointed the location of a higher Barren grade spiritual array. Situated deep within the mud, the array was challenging to destroy, and even Murong Lin would require at least five days—a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Following the method from Sheng Yi’s memories, Murong Lin advanced slowly through the mud. It took considerable time, but he eventually discovered the array’s weak point, its node.

With a probe from the ‘Array Disruptor’, a hole appeared, and Murong Lin wasted no time jumping into it.

In mere seconds, the hole vanished, leaving behind no traces. Murong Lin had successfully entered the secret room without much difficulty, a place that was supposed to be discovered a decade later in the ‘Great Nanyue Wan Guo Tournament’.

The vast room led to a tunnel entrance devoid of any mechanisms. In an instant, Murong Lin appeared at the other end of the tunnel, greeted by a large palace housing a single humanoid sculpture. Unperturbed by the identity of the sculpture, he walked forward and shattered it with a punch, revealing a jade slip within.

The silvery-white jade slip emitted a faint moon-like glow. With a faint smile, Murong Lin retrieved the item.

This was one of the best treasures in the hidden realm.

This was a higher Barren grade foot technique.

While Murong Lin rarely found the need to flee, the newfound foot technique was valuable for his journeys.

With the jade slip in hand, he sprinted into the depths of the great palace.

At the back of the palace, seven tunnels awaited, each leading to rooms containing dozens of secret passages. Murong Lin rushed through, directing some Blood Bat Locusts to scour the area and retrieve valuable items, storing them in his ring of holding.

The spiritual equipment room yielded a piece of higher Barren grade spiritual equipment and several at the lower Barren grade, all swiftly pocketed by Murong Lin.

In the spiritual medicines room, despite the large number of shattered bottles, higher grade spiritual medicines at the lower Barren grades were preserved perfectly.

The spiritual talisman room held numerous spiritual talismans, though most had lost their efficacy. Only two higher Barren grade and a few lower Barren grade spiritual talismans were still viable.

In addition, there were various other rooms, including the spiritual ingredient room, the spiritual array room, and the spiritual technique room. Murong Lin thoroughly plundered the items in these rooms and secret passages.

In the blink of an eye, his wealth surpassed even that of Virtuality realm cultivators. His ring of holding brimmed with items, prompting him to wear seven rings on both hands, presenting a somewhat gaudy appearance.

After clearing the last secret passage, Murong Lin recalled his Blood Bat Locusts and turned his attention to the wall. Upon it were inscribed the deeds of the secret room’s owner.

A powerful punch shattered the wall, revealing a small secret room with an array inscribed on the ground—a teleportation array.

With a faint smile, Murong Lin entered and sat in the center. Placing spiritual crystals on top, the array glowed before he vanished once more.

Outside, in the swamp, a group of people were searching for Murong Lin and the hidden fortuitous encounter. Having heard the roars of the ‘Tiger-faced Green Stone Dweller’ and witnessed Murong Lin’s battle, they saw Murong Lin figure disappearing downwards and were convinced of a valuable discovery beneath the swamp.

They were certain that there was a fortuitous encounter that lay beneath the swamp, otherwise, Murong Lin wouldn’t have plunged downwards.

After eliminating nearby poisonous creatures, they plunged into the swamp to find it.

“How strange, didn’t that guy enter from this place? Why can’t we find him now?”

“That’s right! Ah! I found an array!”

A shout echoed through the swamp.

“What? Where is it? I’m coming!”

Hundreds of nearby cultivators immediately rushed over, their expressions shifting between powerlessness and surprise as they observed the powerful array hidden in the swamp. The discovery of a higher Barren grade array hinted at a particularly valuable treasure beneath.

A pleasant surprise washed over them as they realized the array was of a higher Barren grade, hinting at the presence of a particularly valuable treasure beneath. However, the realization of their powerlessness settled in, knowing that breaking the array would take at least three days with their current strength. By then, a horde of competitors would likely join the fray.

Some cultivators began attacking the array, while those knowledgeable about spiritual arrays searched for weak points to dismantle it. Simultaneously, others spread the news, hoping to attract more participants to the location.

Little did they know that their efforts were in vain, as Murong Lin had already meticulously cleaned out the area.

A forest surrounded them, and opposite them lay a lake. Everyone was searching for fortuitous encounters in the hidden realm, with none of them headed towards the central areas.

Murong Lin, now in a medicinal herb field, found the area already plundered clean. This place clearly belonged to the owner of the secret room he had just left, and considering its location, it had already been completely uprooted by previous participants of the tournament long ago.

Despite a pang of disappointment, Murong Lin remained content with his gains. Knowing that few would head to the central location at this time, he sought a cave without much worry. His plan was to organize his treasures and prepare for the cultivation advancement that lay ahead.

The first item Murong Lin focused on was the ‘Divine Whet Mirror’, one of the three treasures he obtained in the ‘Sealed Wintry Gate’.

Injecting his spiritual power into the mirror, Murong Lin sensed a peculiar energy within. In an instant, it felt as though he had entered a surreal world, filled with countless blade lights, shadows, and intents. Murong Lin transformed into a blade himself, existing in this world as a thin paring knife, seeking to understand the profound meaning of the blade.

In the outside world, Murong Lin’s appearance showed no apparent change, except for the ‘Emotionless’ Blade Intent that was slowly splitting to form another energy—a new Blade Intent, filled with the seven emotions and six desires¹. Its unconcealable desire and greed made it resemble a world-annihilating demon king.

Suddenly, a third Blade Intent revealed itself, filled with the corrosive thoughts of destructive greed, mutations, deformities, and an aura of destruction.

The fourth Blade Intent emerged, a prideful and indomitable blade, brimming with immense self-confidence and arrogance.

At the very end, two more Blade Intents shot forth, one filled with sorrow, fused with the energy of his spiritual technique, the 《Heart-Hurting Arrow》, conveying a sense of languishness. The other carried murderous intent originating from the Bloody Sea Pagoda², fused with the 《Bloody River Divine Finger》³ and the killing intent that obliterated the ‘Comet Butterfly Sword’ hidden realm.

With this, the Divine Whet Mirror shattered, its purpose fulfilled.

1. The term “seven emotions” comes from The Book of Rites, referring to happiness, anger, sadness, fear, love, hatred, and desire. The term “six desires” first appeared in Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals, referring to human desire for life, desire against death, and the desires of human organs such as ears, eyes, mouth and nose for sound, color, taste and aroma.

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2. Honestly, I have no idea what this is right now, so I’m just going to leave it like this. If I get some more context in the later chapters, I’ll update this again. ↩︎
3. 《Bloody River God Finger》> 《Bloody River Divine Finger》

   Just sounds better, in my humble opinion. ↩︎

Translator’s note

Probably no chapter next week, I’m going on a week-long business trip. rip.

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