Volcanic Age

Heaven is Knowledge.

Earth is Power.

And Man is the People.

Obtain Heaven and Earth and You Have Two Eyes.

Find the Third Eye that is Man, and Steal Everything Under Heaven.

… written on the will engraved on the Three-Eyed Godly Thief's Tablet.

The Three-Eyed Godly Thief was the greatest thief in the world.

It was only natural for the greatest thief to be hunted by the entire world.

Government officials, martial artists… even ordinary people coveted the Three-Eyed Godly Thief's treasure.

As long as the Three-Eyed Godly Thief heard of their movements in advance and escaped in time, the world's greatest thief could never be caught.

It was for this purpose that the Valley of Phantoms had been created.

As long as he had illusive Phantoms who had reached the Transcendent realm, he could obtain any information. The Three-Eyed Godly Thief had this idea before he even started stealing, creating hideouts all around to raise these elusive Phantoms.

That was the origin of the Valley of Phantoms.

"So, is this what the inscription on the stone tablet meant by the Third Eye?"

Knowledge was information, and Power was martial strength.

People meant the Phantoms.

"Ha…"

Luo Xiaoyue sighed so deeply it was as if she had melted.

When asked why, Luo Xiaoyue just raised one eyebrow and retorted.

"Are you seriously asking me that right now? What else do you expect me to do, considering a disciple of Mount Hua has become the Phantom Sovereign?"

"I mean, I didn't expect it either."

Zhou Xuchuan could never have imagined that the Valley of Phantoms' unique divine art had the power to issue absolute orders to the Phantoms. If this information was ever released into the murim… he didn't even want to imagine what sort of waves this would cause.

A disciple of Mount Hua, one of the Pillars of the Righteous Faction, one of the Nine Sects and One Gang, was the Phantom Sovereign. Worst case scenario, he could be excommunicated.

Luo Xiaoyue massaged her temples, muttering to herself as if her head was aching.

"I know we can never talk about this, but just the thought of hiding such a massive secret forever is already weighing on my heart."

“Don’t worry. I’m only borrowing the power of the Phantoms until we save the world.”

“Please understand that I don’t believe all of that story yet, senior brother.”

“Believing some of it is enough.”

Zhou Xuchuan smiled contentedly and turned his head.

“What’s your name?”

He asked the Phantom, who looked like a girl between twelve and fifteen years old.

“We’re just Phantoms. We don’t have names.”

Her voice was even drier than Shen Yulian’s.

"Well, I can't go around calling you 'Hey,' so I'll call you Little Ghost."[1]

Zhou Xuchuan's words quickly grew short when he realized that they weren't allies but mere subordinates.

However, none of the Phantoms objected.

To be more precise, they didn't seem interested in how he spoke to them. They were like soulless dolls.

"Too many of you have been talking. It's confusing, so only Little Ghost will be answering my questions from now on."

Rather than responding out loud, Little Ghost nodded.

"Now, where are we exactly?"

“Hebei Valley.”

“Hebei Valley?”

"It can be considered as the Valley of Phantoms' Hebei Branch.”

"Does that mean that the Valley of Phantoms isn't just limited to this one place?" Zhou Xuchuan gestured around them.

“Yes. There are twenty-two in total.”

Gasp!

Although he had suspected there would be more than one branch when he discovered that the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had used the Valley of Phantoms as a hideout, he hadn't anticipated there would be this many.

They seemed to be located almost across the entire nation.

"How many people are here?"

"Ten, including me."

“Only ten?”

He was curious, as the number of Phantoms hadn't been this low in his previous lifetime.

"There were originally thirty-two of us. However, the rest were defeated by the madmen who couldn't overcome their training."

"Madmen? Oh, those brats from before? What's with them?"

While they didn't seem to be Phantoms, they had used the Phantom Steps.

“We regularly bring in orphans and train them to be Phantoms. During the process, there is something called the Mind-Killing, a process of making the Phantoms mindless. If a Phantom fails to overcome it, they turn into madmen."

There were several important conditions for an assassin. One of them was to embody the concept No-Mind.

Even if a peerless beauty tried to seduce one with her fully naked body, one must not waver.

Even if one's family was slaughtered, one must not care.

For one decisive moment, one had to constantly endure, all to take the target’s life to complete the mission.

One's individuality wasn't necessary. All one needed was composure and patience.

If an assassin hesitated because their limbs were severed or hurt, they would fail.

If an assassin hesitated because their life was in danger, they would fail.

If an assassin hesitated because their target was their family, they would fail.

The Three-Eyed Godly Thief isn't a normal bastard, either.

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't help but frown.

The one who created this system had to be the Phantom Sovereign, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.

It wasn't that he didn't understand, it was just cruel.

The Three-Eyed Godly Thief had turned the young girl in front of him into a murder weapon.

Well, it's been a while since the Valley of Phantoms has been active… it's not strange for there to only be a few. Most likely, the Dark Heavens Association Lord had raised countless Phantoms after learning the Valley's secrets.

There was a chance that the Hebei Branch had been exposed while the Phantoms were preoccupied with dealing with the madmen. They had been too focused to notice anything else.

“Then we should deal with those madmen first. How many are left?”

“It’s impossible to give an exact estimate, but it’s probably between fifty and seventy.”

“I see. Then we should deal with them first.”

Things would only be fully handled if they dealt with the madmen.

"Okay. Take us there. Let’s sort this out quickly.”

***

Zhou Xuchuan had given names to all the Phantoms, mostly based on their appearance, to make it easier to issue orders.

Now, he walked around the area, searching for the madmen.

“What should I watch out for here?”

“There are traps everywhere, and very dangerous poisons floating around.”

"I see. That's why you had such a hard time dealing with the madmen."

"That's—"

Before Little Ghost could reply, a scream echoed from above.

"Damn it. Let me talk!"

Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword above his head with dazzling speed.

The qi imbued in the sword spread out like a fan, creating a gust of wind. The fierce gust struck the incoming madman head-on.

"Ugh!"

The madman rolled on the ground after being hit by the sword wind.

How nice it would have been if things ended here.

Unfortunately, these madmen had a habit of moving in groups.

Zhou Xuchuan didn't know if they had been waiting for them, but he saw them suddenly leap out from behind the nearby rocks.

There appeared to be roughly twenty-one to twenty-three of them.

"Everyone except Little Ghost, form groups of three."

The Phantoms moved simultaneously as if they were in sync.

When Zhou Xuchuan saw that, he couldn’t help but be amazed.

Their reaction speed was lightning-fast, almost as if they had anticipated his orders.

"Little Ghost, fight alongside Junior Sister and help her if it seems like she's in danger. Otherwise, handle things on your own!"

"Understood."

Woosh!

The Phantoms moved in their groups.

Their movements were silent, appearing only when they struck with their weapons.

“Die!”

“I’ll kill you all!”

“I won't, I won't, I won't!”

“Enough!!"

The madmen flew in, shouting strange things.

“Four.”

Zhou Xuchuan counted the number of enemies and swung his sword. It was a clean stab any unnecessary flair.

One of the madmen, who had been charging at him like a wild boar, raised his sword and blocked the stab with the flat of his blade. However, that lasted only a moment.

He vomited blood, most likely from losing the battle of qi.

That, too, only lasted for a moment, as the madman immediately spun around, pivoting on his foot.

In a fluid motion, drew a hidden blade from his waist, the metal glinting with an eerie light.

"As expected, you bastards really are annoying."

Zhou Xuchuan remembered fighting an assassin in the open in his previous life, although it hadn't been a Phantom. He remembered it being incredibly difficult.

While he had never been a target for assassination because he had been invisible, he had helped when he heard an assassin was attacking someone.

Assassins went all out, risking everything to attack.

If an assassin failed to attack and was exposed, they were already on the brink of death.

In cases where they didn't flee, they were already planning to die, so they fought without any care for their own bodies.

The madmen before him were no different. They refused to back down, even though their internal injuries strained their bodies.

Zhou Xuchuan bent his upper body, easily dodging the sword aimed at his neck, before retaliating with a Plum Blossom Fist to the madman's jaw.

Crunch!

His fist connected with a satisfying crack. The madman's teeth shattered, and his jawbone was pulverized.

Woosh!

In the meantime, the other three advanced, closing in from the left, right, and rear.

If they were really Phantoms, their joint attack may have been horrifying.

Their breathing.

Though Zhou Xuchuan's eyes were open, he focused on his hearing.

He couldn't hear their footsteps, but their loud breathing sounded thunderous.

In normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have seemed so loud, but with his focus entirely on his hearing, it reverberated like thunder in an empty room.

In an instant, Zhou Xuchuan's world changed. It was as if he could 'see' everything around him as if he had eyes on all sides.

Well, it was a bit ambiguous to say that he could 'see'it.

The sound of their breathing or the sound of their weapons moving.

It was more like he was feeling the slight vibrations of the air according to their movements and estimating their locations.

Woosh!

A madman's sword stabbed at him from behind, aiming for his side. Zhou Xuchuan took two quick steps to the side, dodging with ease.

Then, almost simultaneously, he flipped his sword in reverse and stabbed the madman in the heart without turning around.

The next attack followed.

While he dealt with the madman behind him, the madmen on either side struck.

It was too late for Zhou Xuchuan to pull out the sword lodged in the madman’s chest, so he let it go without hesitation and used Phantom Steps to dodge.

Not only did he dodge, but he also moved behind the madman on the right, snatching the short sword from the man's waist.

While it was a different length from the sword he normally used, it was more than enough to take down the large madman.

He quickly dealt with the madman by stabbing him in the back of the neck like an assassin before flying straight to the madman on the other side.

The third madman quickly turned around, but before he could react, the short sword was already embedded in his chest, ending his life.

While Zhou Xuchuan's fluid movements were impressive, it was his overall abilities that left Luo Xiaoyue in awe.

"Who would consider him a disciple of Mount Hua?"

Luo Xiaoyue sighed in amazement while genuinely admiring Zhou Xuchuan's skills.

Occasionally, he used the Hundred Divine Transformations, but because he was so elusive due to the influence of the Phantom Steps, his movements were far from those of a member of Mount Hua.

Moreover, he had even abandoned his own sword and used the enemy's sword to kill just a moment ago. It was difficult to call him a swordsman.

As a Righteous Faction member and a swordsman, he had done something that could never have been done.

It was absolutely ridiculous.

If any of the Third Generation or Second Generation disciples of Mount Hua saw him, they might have grabbed him by the neck and shaken him.

"You fight well."

Unlike Zhou Xuchuan, Luo Xiaoyue was a role model for Mount Hua.

As befitting of an incoming Plum Blossom Swordsman, she executed the Hundred Divine Transformations and the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom while trampling on the madmen.

She made perfect use of the principles of what it meant to be a swordsman, freely switching between offense and defense. She also cooperated effectively with the Little Ghost at her side.

On the other hand, Zhou Xuchuan was actually worried about the Phantoms.

"Don't overdo it! There's no need to die for this! Focus on protecting yourselves rather than trying to kill the enemy!"

While the Phantoms weren't as crazy as the madmen, they still fought recklessly, not caring about their own bodies. They were fine for now due to their skills, but without them, they would have lost their limbs long ago.

Zhou Xuchuan fought alone while being cautious of his surroundings and giving appropriate orders.

In the war before his regression, he had spent most of his life as a grunt, never reaching the commanding ranks. It was quite a refreshing experience.

Although he was excited about his self-professed talent for commanding, his spine tingled, and his body reacted first.

As his sword drew a parabolic curve to the left with great rotational force, daggers that flew in from nowhere were struck down.

"Who the hell are they?"

The interruption seemed like a villain reacting to the hero’s sudden appearance.

1. Since 靈 can be translated as Soul/Spirit/Ghost/Phantom, I decided to stick with the fantl of Ghost because it's cute (and Little Phantom seems like a cop-out). ☜

Cyncoco's Thoughts

Yoyo, it's Cyncoco.

God, I love Murim titles.

So hard to translate, so hard to make pretty.

Yet so profound.

Okay, so the first half of the title refers to the Daoist/Buddhist mental state wuxin, which directly translates to No-Mind.

No-Mind doesn't mean actually having no thoughts but acting without restraint. To not linger in thought but to end every thought as it happens and allow the next to envelop you fully. Or to not have intent because intent means that you're moving with the previous thought driving you.

The second half refers to the opposite.

To move with intent. Intent driving all purpose, and being fully in tune with one's motives.