Scourge Messenger

Chapter 74 Overturning Heaven (Sixth Update)

It is known that game characters can store items in a shared warehouse.

It is known that Yan Qing is identified as one of the game characters in "The Messenger".

So, can Yan Qing store items in the public warehouse and exchange them with other game characters?
The conclusion is yes.

Yan Qing didn't spend much time testing out the specific method. First, he had to know all the information about the item. For example, for a roasted lamb leg, he needed to know the producer, production time, freshness, increase in satiety, and most importantly—the system notes for this roasted lamb leg.

In short, this is the item description for this roasted lamb leg shown in "The Messenger".

Then, while recalling the information about the roasted lamb leg, he touched the roasted lamb leg and said, "Store the roasted lamb leg in the public warehouse."

Once the above steps are completed, the roasted lamb leg will be transferred to the public warehouse.

While discovering this feature was a huge step forward for Yan Qing, to put it in a way, it was comparable to primitive humans millions of years ago discovering gravity after being hit on the head by an apple—its practical significance was about the same—meaningless. He had originally hoped to be able to freely retrieve items from the warehouse like other game characters. If that wasn't possible, at least he could transfer any item to the warehouse, so he wouldn't need sacks when he robbed the rich to help the poor; his little hands could clean everything up with a touch.

However, transferring items requires knowing the item information. Other things are fine, and you might be able to guess some of them, but Yan Qing suspects that the "system notes" were randomly written by the development team using AI. Some are domineering, some are evil, some are silly, and some are sarcastic. Who would have thought that the system note for roasted lamb leg would be "the delicacy that Grey Wolf has been dreaming of"?
This means that anything Yan Qing can put into the public warehouse must be an item that other game characters have already come into contact with; otherwise, Yan Qing would have no idea about the item's details.

But since other game characters have already handled the items, why don't they just put them in the warehouse?
Yan Qing felt like he was squatting in a public toilet and found there was no toilet paper. He wanted to buy some, so he had to pull up his pants and go out. But since he had already pulled up his pants, he didn't need to buy any more toilet paper.

This seemingly useless feature only gained value after Yan Qing obtained the Bingzi Jiaolin. After using the Bingzi Jiaolin to distribute the White Iron Straight Blade, Yan Qing could directly store it in the public warehouse and hand it over to 'Ye Si' and 'Jiang Shi'. When necessary, Yan Qing could also use the public warehouse to give the Bingzi Jiaolin to his alts, since the Thieves' House had already shown Yan Qing the item information of the Bingzi Jiaolin.

When is it necessary?
It's now.

Just now.

I know that Shang Yue and the others probably think I'm a fool, a mad dog, a reckless brute who acts with impunity. I also know that even if Shang Yue and Jie Zilong are just taking advantage of my situation, they genuinely want to help me and invest in my future. I know even more that compromise will only benefit me, not harm me; I'll only gain more, and it will be more suitable for me.

But I'm still very angry.

They might think I'm just angry because I was framed, but my anger goes far beyond that. My anger stems from that mangled corpse, and from Uncle Lin, the servant of Qian Gongyu who participated in framing me—these are the true sources of my rage.

I caused the murder of a stranger simply because I had a motive to do so.

I actually caused Sengumi Ame's servant to defect, just because he had the ability to frame me.

Of course I know that someone else is behind this, and I'm just a victim; there's no need for me to feel guilty. But I can't stop my conscience from aching, like when I made the whole class stand at attention during military training.

I don't think I did anything wrong, but two strangers' lives were turned upside down because of me.

I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me.

It's truly embarrassing. Even hiding behind the 'Jiang Shi' mask, I feel my face burning with shame. But it's also because I wear the 'Jiang Shi' mask that I can express my true thoughts, no longer bound by education, society, or even reason.

My idea is my consistent rule of the game—

Shame can only be washed away with blood, and conscience can only be reforged with a sword.

Please keep quiet while I'm playing the game.

Overturn the heavens, activate.

"Effect: Earth-shaking: Even if you're alone, you can still make a big difference!
You need to consume all your current spiritual power to activate Overturning Heaven. Once activated, all the sealed weapons within a 50-meter radius will be destroyed. Your injuries will heal instantly, and you will unleash a shockwave to repel surrounding enemies and projectiles.

Your attack can create a three to thirty meter long sword beam, with damage ranging from 10% to 70% of the base damage. The longer the distance, the lower the damage. You can adjust the length of the sword beam.

The sky-covering effect lasts for ten seconds.

For every weapon within a 50-meter radius that is part of your enfeoffment, your base attack power will increase by an additional 50 points, and the duration of Overturning Heaven will be extended by three seconds.

Before the Overturning Sky effect ends, you will be in an 'unshakable' state, and any displacement, stun, or interruption effects will be ineffective against you."

……

...

Jiang Shi raised the Bingzi Pepper Forest high, exhaling a long, white breath as if a deity were spitting out a sword-shaped pill. This was because the temperature dropped at night in the Mansu Forest, and her blood and qi were abundant, so much so that her breathing was like that of a celestial being, with misty vapor rising from her body.

"A legendary artifact...?"

Zhou Ye, Chen Linchuan, Jie Zilong, and Shang Yue stared at Jiang Shi with expressions of surprise and uncertainty. They were the ones besieging Jiang Shi, yet they hesitated, afraid to approach, as if the roles of enemy and ally had been reversed.

With a loud bang, Jiang Shi stomped a deep pit in the grass, charging like a chariot or an iron cavalry. The Bingzi Pepper Forest extended a three-meter-long, sky-covering blade of light, illuminating the forest!

"Stop her!" Zhou Ye roared, unleashing a burst of fiery sword mist.

Can't stop!
Jiang Shi brandished the Bingzi Pepper Forest sword, its blade light slicing through everyone like ribbons. Even though their protective shields could block the blade light's damage, it would instantly reform the moment it shattered, even negating their attacks. The so-called sheer numbers were utterly insignificant before this legendary artifact.

However, everyone's faces lit up with joy.

"Although her item level is high, its strength is very low!" Chen Linchuan said quickly. "Its destructive power is at most at the second-tier level—it's impossible for it to break through the Heart-Protecting Mirror's defense!"

"Moreover, her state cannot be sustained," Jie Zilong also noticed an important detail: "The orange-red glow on her body has been weakening, such a powerful state must have a time limit!"

"Let's drag this out until her legendary token expires, then we'll have another legendary token loot!"

Everyone cheered. In their eyes, Jiang Shi was at her last gasp, fighting like a cornered beast. The legendary token was Jiang Shi's last trump card, but it was not enough to help her break through the current predicament!

However, this naive idea was quickly shattered. Zhou Ye fled from the battle, dodging and weaving, his expression a mixture of anger and fear. He shouted, "Help me hold her off! I need to replenish my spiritual energy!"

Zhou Ye, who was barely holding on just now, is now completely unable to hold on.

Their judgment was correct; Jiang Shi's attack was at most at the second-tier level, and it would take at least six strikes to break through the Heart-Protecting Mirror's defense. But the problem was—Jiang Shi could unleash six strikes in just two seconds.

Unlike before, Jiang Shi used to rely on Moon Ring Slash for damage output, but Moon Ring Slash has a pre-attack animation. In addition, Jiang Shi needs to dodge constantly. Even though she is wielding two white iron straight swords, she can only slash twice per second, and she has to wait one or two seconds before she has another chance to attack.

But now, wielding the Bingzi Pepper Forest, Jiang Shi can unleash devastating attacks with her normal strikes. Moreover, wielding the blade with both hands, she fully utilizes her high health and agility, effortlessly executing three strikes per second. Furthermore, with the 'Unshakeable' status granted by the Heavenly Blade, Jiang Shi can choose not to dodge to gain more time to deal damage, relying on her high health and potions to absorb damage. In any case, their attacks simply cannot interrupt Jiang Shi's offensive!
In fact, Jiang Shi didn't suffer much damage, because the blade's energy could negate most of it. On the contrary, under Jiang Shi's attack of six strikes in two seconds, Zhou Ye and the others' protective shields dropped rapidly, forcing them to replenish their spiritual energy. With this advance and retreat, the balance of the battlefield tilted in Jiang Shi's favor.

The people around were stunned. Many of them were scared and wanted to run away because the Shenji Battalion soldiers were seriously injured, but the scene in front of them was so captivating that they couldn't take their eyes off it—four third-level messengers were being chased and hacked at by a second-level messenger, and they didn't even dare to turn around and fight back.

The strong and the weak are reversed here.

"The Book of Jade!" Zhou Ye roared in near panic, "Are you going to stand idly by?!"

With a helpless sigh, a blue chain connected the four of them. The damage Jiang Shi inflicted on Zhou Ye would be distributed among the others through the chain, instantly reducing the pressure on Zhou Ye.

However, Qun Yushu coughed up two streams of foul blood from his nose, his face pale as he knelt on the ground, frantically taking out his spirit jade to replenish his spiritual power. Although their Qun family's representative token was the most functional in Liang Kingdom, the price was the simultaneous consumption of spiritual power and life force, and linking four third-tier messengers at the same time. Qun Yushu was practically half dead.

Faced with Jiang Shi, they all pulled out their trump cards, but—it was useless!
The moment Jiang Shi noticed their shared damage, her longsword's blade extended ten meters, ensuring every strike would hit all four of them! This shared damage had become a death sentence. If Jiang Shi could only inflict 200 damage on Zhou Ye before, now her strike would initially deal 200 × 0.3 (the attenuation coefficient of the ten-meter blade's blade) = 60 damage to the four. However, due to the shared damage, everyone would also suffer an additional 60 × 0.25 (shared among four) × 4 (all four hit) = 60 damage, meaning each person would suffer 120 damage, for a total of 480 damage!
This was undoubtedly a case of drinking poison to quench thirst; it meant everyone was using more than twice the amount of spirit jade to save Zhou Ye's life. But everyone was persisting, believing that as long as they held on until Jiang Shi's legendary token became ineffective, the battle would take a turn for the better—

But Zhou Ye could no longer hold on.

To maintain his defensive barrier, his spiritual energy was about to run out. From the start of the battle, Jiang Shi had relentlessly pursued him, even breaking two straight iron swords in the process. Zhou Ye had previously scoffed at this arrogance, but now he was finally going to face the consequences of his contempt.

Once the protective barrier of the Heart-Protecting Mirror is completely shattered, it will enter a cooldown period of at least five seconds, during which it will be ineffective. Even without a cooldown period, he wouldn't have time to absorb the spirit jade to replenish his spiritual power.

The advantages accumulated over the years have finally turned into a winning position at this moment.

"Jiang Shi!" Zhou Ye forcibly suppressed his fear and roared fiercely, "Do you really want to offend us, offend the Seven Great Families, and offend the Liang Dynasty court?!"

"You have already proven your strength. If you stop now, you might still have a chance to be forgiven!"

"Don't think that defeating us will mean anything. The Liang Kingdom has a hundred thousand soldiers and countless messengers, and they are stationed here to defend it. If you oppose the court, you will have nowhere to turn!"

"you--"

Snapped!
Jiang Shi's Bingzi Pepper Forest sword flashed with brilliant light, completely shattering Zhou Ye's protective shield. Seeing this, everyone held their breath, like onlookers at a marketplace, awaiting a bloody scene.

"Jiang Shi!"

"Stop! We can talk this over!"

You can't—

Jie Zilong and the others shouted, but Zhou Ye remained silent. He had originally raised his knife to avenge his friend, and his previous statement was his last instinct for survival. But now he wanted to preserve the last vestiges of dignity for the Zhou family.

He brandished his fire blade, unleashing the final, blazing inferno!

But how can flames withstand the sharpness of a blade?
Jiang Shi brushed past him, and Bingzi Jiaolin slashed down with a sword-like motion, almost cleaving Zhou Ye in two. Countless screams erupted in the camp, and many people looked as if they had lost their parents, their faces filled with terror.

Zhou Ye is dead.

Zhou Ye, the third elder of the Zhou family, the head of external affairs at Baicaoyuan, and a former lecturer at Bailudong Academy, died in Mansu Forest. Although he did not hold a position in the imperial court, Zhou Ye was a kind and amiable man with a wide circle of friends. He was one of the most prominent figures in Jiangnan City and had deep personal relationships with many prominent families, which brought much support to the Zhou family.

In Jiangnan City, his death would have been enough to shake up the aristocratic families, and even the palace would have had to send people to inquire about his whereabouts.

But here, his death wasn't even the end.

Jiang Shi did not hesitate at all. Half of the orange-red light on her body had dissipated, and she still had half the time left, enough for her to kill another person!
(End of this chapter)