Chapter Seventy-Four: Domain

"The boy from Lin Grape’s family in Peach Blossom Dock seems rather odd too," someone remarked, shifting the conversation after a while from the topic of Battlefish.

"The Blood Hunter Goblin and the Assassin Wu Qi came as a pair. I sensed Wu Qi’s presence at the scene yesterday, but he must have gone to Yi Shen afterwards," she continued. "I originally thought that little guy was doomed, but in the end, Wu Qi disappeared inexplicably—even Battlefish couldn’t track him down. I suspect Yi Qinfei must have left something extraordinary for Yi Shen," Jiang Jingying mentioned Yi Shen almost offhandedly.

She had been very perplexed last night, and after today’s reveal of the Blood Hunter’s identity, her confusion only deepened. This Goblin and Blood Hunter was quite famous in Hanzhong, often partnering with a stealth specialist named Wu Qi. No matter how she considered it, she simply couldn’t fathom how Yi Shen could have survived Wu Qi’s attack, let alone the fact that Wu Qi had now vanished without a trace.

"Maybe he has some life-saving skill—after all, they only showed up for a few minutes before retreating," a plump man named Qian Ye commented, thinking Jiang Jingying was being overly suspicious. He had also sent people to Anqing to cause some trouble, but now there was no news at all. He was even more worried that Battlefish would eventually trace it back to him.

Battlefish’s fierce intervention finally managed to quell the restlessness among the various guilds, big and small. After all, they had killed the hall master of the River Guild as easily as saying the word, and those bounty hunters—each as cunning as a monkey—had all been ferreted out. Last night, there were still people doubting Battlefish’s strength, but today, those posts were quietly deleted, and even then, the supporters of Battlefish hounded the doubters for quite some time.

Yi Shen also saw the posts about Battlefish’s strength. More than that, he watched a video of Battlefish in action. The footage was clearly shot on the fly by someone present. The lighting was dim, but in the distance, Battlefish could be seen in a long black robe, a sword hanging at his waist. His expression was cold, as though indifferent to all things in the world.

Without relying on any external support, Battlefish floated effortlessly in the sky. In the video, he arrived near an abandoned industrial area and, with a single stroke of his sword, severed the flesh beast that had attacked Yi Shen’s home the previous night. The following strike wasn’t caught on camera, but it was clear he had dispatched his target just as swiftly.

Just this aura alone sent a chill down Yi Shen’s spine.

Online, Battlefish was listed as a "Swordsman." While not a common class, it wasn’t particularly rare either. Yet Yi Shen had never heard of any skill that could accomplish such feats! His mastery over his body far surpassed even Jiang Jingying and her peers. Faced with such a formidable opponent, even an endless barrage of ice barriers and blinks likely wouldn’t be enough to evade him.

Watching that video only fueled Yi Shen’s desire to grow stronger. In less than a month, he had already raised his abilities to the point where he could contend with a level sixty stealth specialist. Yi Shen believed that with more time and improved mastery over his own body, plus the heart of the mage that allowed for unlimited spellcasting, he could reach—or even surpass—Battlefish’s level!

With Battlefish’s intervention, the Jingmen Safe Zone finally settled down completely. In this atmosphere, the previously scheduled voting conference for Peach Blossom Dock was able to proceed smoothly.

The meeting itself was rather complicated, and the results were far from satisfactory. Anqing’s camp seemed to propose dividing the guild into several autonomous branches—three or four, similar to Blood Slaughter. However, Zhao Nanxing and Lin Grape both wanted Peach Blossom Dock to remain unified, unwilling to see it splinter. Too many people and interests were involved, not to mention the entanglement between the Peach Blossom Dock Guild and the Peach Blossom Dock Trading Company. Anqing wanted to sell off half of Peach Blossom Dock and run away, but Zhao Nanxing and Lin Grape were determined to thwart him, initiating a motion to re-elect the guild leader in hopes of unseating Anqing.

Lin Grape reached out to Yi Qinfei’s old subordinates, while Zhao Nanxing, leveraging her identity as Zhao Weimin’s niece, managed to connect with the elder members of the Jingmen Safe Zone and even attempted to contact Chief Commander Qi Lei. Qi Lei hadn’t made a public appearance in ages—keeping a lower profile than even Battlefish—but perhaps because the Peach Blossom Dock affair had become such a major issue, some of the old hands in the affairs bureau started to respond.

In truth, Zhao Nanxing hadn’t wanted to cooperate with Lin Grape, but these past two days, in order to counter Anqing, her attitude had changed, and she’d grown much closer to Lin Grape. Peach Blossom Dock was, after all, a guild born of romantic ideals. Anqing had quite a few black marks in his past; as Zhao Weimin and Yi Qinfei’s followers began to gather, Zhao Nanxing’s share of influence soon surpassed Anqing’s.

There were too many complications within Peach Blossom Dock. Just observing was enough to give Yi Shen a headache. He used to have ambitions of becoming the guild leader himself, but now he felt that focusing on solo monster hunting and leveling up was more than enough.

Ever since watching the video of Battlefish in action, Yi Shen had become obsessed with improving his bodily control and learning more combat techniques. Previously, he hadn’t paid much attention to articles on body control, thinking that high-level explorers mainly relied on better skills and equipment. Now, after observing several battles, Yi Shen gradually realized there was much he still needed to learn.

For instance, among high-level explorers, the concept of "Domain" was quite prevalent. The term didn’t appear often on the forums, and Yi Shen only found it after using his mother’s account to search the Peach Blossom Dock information database. It didn’t refer to a particular skill, but to developing bodily abilities outside of the data panel—the full name was "Domain Beyond Data."

Explorers could begin to touch upon this once they reached their fifties and certain attribute thresholds. The development differed for everyone: some might reach the threshold at level fifty-six or fifty-seven and begin to develop their own unique combat styles. Battlefish, for example, had been an apprentice at a sword school before the world changed, so even with the same stats, he was superior to others in his class. Others might reach sixty or seventy but still rely mainly on their stats and gear—a strength built on resources alone.

Of course, most people fell somewhere in between, blending their combat style and skills and gradually feeling their way along the path of Domain—much like Jiang Jingying, who could stand toe-to-toe with level sixties while still in the mid-fifties.

One piece of information about the mage’s Domain especially caught Yi Shen’s attention. According to what he’d learned, the mark was when a mage could cast Fireball without using the skill bar—relying purely on one’s own power. That would mean surpassing the system and entering the mage’s Domain. The idea of literally forming a Fireball out of thin air seemed to defy his materialistic worldview, and at first, he didn’t believe it.

But when Yi Shen tried it, quieting his mind and focusing his senses inward, he truly did feel something—a presence pulsing deep within his soul.