A bullet sliced through the air, trailing sparks as it shot forward. The Golden Blade King could chop a bullet in half with a single swing, but the Golden Fan Young Master wasn’t that skilled. As The Fool pulled the trigger, Golden Fan Young Master twisted desperately to dodge, but the scorching bullet still tore through his right arm, bursting out the other side in a spray of blood—he was lucky it didn’t sever his limb completely.
“Aaargh!” A blood-curdling scream rang out as Golden Fan Young Master spun and bolted, fleeing for his life. That shot also triggered the berserk blood energy he’d barely suppressed; his right arm kept bursting open, blood splattering everywhere. Bits of shattered bone shot out from the wound, and his arm crackled and popped like a string of firecrackers.
Golden Fan Young Master scrambled away into the mist. The Fool was about to fire again, but paused, frowning. The internal energy in his meridians was crashing around violently—there was so much of it now, it could actually hurt him. He focused on circulating his blood energy to calm the chaos. Not exactly his specialty, but it worked well enough.
When the gunshot rang out, the seductive music in the mist paused for a moment, but now it started up again. The Sound Skill from the Three Wonders Sect was seriously a crowd-control cheat code. If The Fool hadn’t mastered his No-Dust Mind State and kept his blood energy running smooth, anyone else with his body would’ve been coughing up blood by now.
After that brief delay, Golden Fan Young Master had already dashed deep into the mist. The Fool didn’t chase him down—instead, he picked up the dropped golden fan, the golden dragon whip, and a little silver bucket. He grabbed the long whip, the infamous Ninefold Dragon Fang Whip, which was over five meters long and built weirdly—way too tricky for a beginner. The Fool had never learned whip techniques, so he just stashed it for later.
The palace maids were still tangled up with the Underwear Men. At this point, it was obvious the Underwear Men were drugged—there’s no way they’d have this fight-to-the-last-man spirit otherwise. The Fool spotted the Midnight Heart Poisoned Nails on the ground, stomped the stone slab, and sent a dozen nails flying up in front of him. With a slap, they shot straight into the Underwear Men’s bodies.
Compared to Golden Fan Young Master, the Underwear Men’s dodging skills were laughable. Twenty years of martial arts makes a world of difference.
A dozen Underwear Men collapsed, screaming. The rest weren’t much of a threat, and The Fool quickly broke a few arms and legs and tossed them aside. Some palace maids, dazed from the Sound Skill, reached out to grope the Underwear Men, only to get slapped awake by Night Lily. After some quick first aid and regrouping, Night Lily managed to stabilize the situation.
“Sir Fool—uh, Young Master!” Night Lily switched to formal address. “This purple mist is seriously creepy—it boosts the Three Wonders Sect’s Sound Skill, blocks normal sounds, and acts as a poison carrier. If you breathe it too long, you start hallucinating. My vision’s already blurry.” She took a couple breaths and said, “Young Master, please help the princess. We’ll try to clear the mist, but only you can break into that battle. Can you do it?”
The Fool didn’t say a word—he just turned and walked straight into the depths of the mist.
"Young Master, there are still enemies in the mist—and whatever you do, watch out for Lady Simone’s Sound Skill!" Night Lily shouted, "Her Sound Skill is top-tier, absolutely deadly—be careful!" With that, Night Lily collapsed to the ground. The Ten Evils Soul-Scattering Powder was notorious for draining energy; after martial artists disperse their energy, they’re even weaker than regular folks.
So it was actually Fiona Fang, who’d never had much internal energy to begin with, who was still feeling alert. She asked, "Auntie, can The Fool really pull this off? Isn’t it too dangerous?" She was genuinely worried—someone with no internal power jumping into a battle between top-tier fighters made her heart clench with anxiety, her brows furrowing in distress.
"There’s no other way. Right now, everything hinges on the princesses. If they win, we win; if they lose, it’s all over. Lady Simone’s Sound Skill is unmatched—her disciples can’t even compare. She can snatch your soul in an instant and turn you into her puppet. If we join in, we’ll just get in the way. But as for him..." Night Lily glanced at the direction The Fool had gone, muttering, "If he really has the No-Dust Mind State, then he’s Lady Simone’s natural nemesis."
Heaven help us—let’s hope The Fool really is pure-hearted, free of evil, desire, and worldly dust, and truly has the No-Dust Mind State.
The Fool didn’t care what the others thought—he just kept walking into the depths of the mist. His pace was steady, adjusting his breath and blood energy, calming the internal chaos in his meridians. Earlier, there was a woman constantly moaning and showing off her vocal tricks, but after catching a flying knife from The Fool, she’d wised up. With her internal energy boosted, it was impossible to pinpoint her exact location.
The Fool decided to deal with the woman who was messing with his internal energy first, so he headed in her general direction.
He passed through a small valley, headed deeper in, and crossed the wreckage of the princesses’ sleeping quarters, making his way north toward the pond. The woman’s voice drifted around, but The Fool took a sniff and finally caught her scent. No matter how she changed her voice, he just followed his nose straight ahead.
But when he was about sixty meters from the pond, The Fool suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Ahead of him, there seemed to be a dividing line. On this side, the purple mist was quiet, nothing happening. But on the other side, it spun like a typhoon. No sound or breath came out of it—if you didn’t walk up and see for yourself, you’d never guess there was such a wild energy storm hidden in Embroidered Jade Valley.
Princess Embroidered Jade, Silverblade King, and Lady Simone were probably inside. The Fool didn’t hesitate—he stepped right into the swirling energy.
As soon as The Fool stepped into the energy storm, he felt a jolt. There wasn’t much wind inside, but the pressure was totally different. Four streams of energy were clashing violently ahead, with icy sword light and wild bursts of force—even the thick purple mist couldn’t hide their presence. Something in the air was dozens of times stronger than outside, making it hard to stay focused. Another voice kept echoing, like he’d walked through a soundproof wall into a world of noise, drowning in a sea of Sound Skill.
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This was Lady Simone herself unleashing her Sound Skill, completely contained within this circle. The power was on a whole different level from that woman outside just showing off her vocal tricks.
The Fool immediately felt the true energy in his meridians go wild, clashing and rolling around—his face flushing red and white by turns. If he weren’t so sensitive to changes, and if he hadn’t gotten used to ignoring those sketchy sound effects, his meridians would’ve been wrecked by now. That’s how Sound Skill works: it gets in everywhere, impossible to defend against, and blows up every weakness you’ve got. It’s the ultimate crowd-control cheat code.
"Princess Embroidered Jade, Princess Flower Shifter, you’re done for. Just close your eyes, relax, and take a nice nap." Lady Simone’s voice drifted everywhere, sapping everyone’s will. Every bit of air became her throat—one person, but she could generate countless voices and tracks at once. And she never stopped with her seductive sounds, moaning and groaning nonstop.
That voice drilled straight into your brain—no matter how hard you tried to ignore her, you couldn’t hear anything else.
What now? What to do? How do you deal with this?
For something like Sound Skill, which he knew nothing about—something you couldn’t see, couldn’t punch—The Fool frowned, totally at a loss.
Suddenly, a random memory flashed through his mind. It was a female host on a game show, telling another stumped contestant: “You can have the computer eliminate a wrong answer, poll the audience, or phone a friend.”
First two options—skip. Phone a friend, huh... He closed his eyes.
——————————————— Phone a Friend Interlude ———————————————
Tianshan, Mist Peak, Spirit Eagle Palace, secret chamber.
Jill Young, sleeping soundly, suddenly sat up like a zombie, stood shakily, and staggered toward the chamber door. Her eyes never opened, but she moved with surprising strength. She grabbed the stone door and lifted it in one go—the heavy door clattered open. Jill Young braced herself in the doorway and howled, “Wu Jiao-niang! Where are you? How do you break Sound Skill?”