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#308 - Chapter 42: The Past of Valyria (I)

With his keen insight, Liu Yuan was well aware that there were more people in the hall than just those before him. However, the situation was quite interesting. The Faceless Men didn't seem intent on killing Arya; it felt more like an incredibly harsh test. Especially the two pursuers—one had a deep connection with Arya, while the other was no match for her at all. Therefore, Liu Yuan decided to wait and see what happened before making any moves. He quietly hid in the darkness, closely watching every development.

The once composed and amiable figure suddenly changed his expression, his face contorted with anger as he demanded, "Who exactly are you? How did you find out about the vault? Confess the truth at once if you know what's good for you!" As soon as he spoke, a group of figures emerged from every corner, a dense and numerous crowd of over fifty people.

These individuals were dressed similarly, all in tight-fitting gray leather outfits with black and white half-masks. They held short swords, daggers, and other short weapons, surrounding Liu Yuan tightly.

"Who I am is not important, but the world doesn't know that the Faceless Men and the Iron Bank are one and the same," Liu Yuan said, his eyes narrowing. The energy within his body surged like a tide, instantly flowing through his meridians. He clenched his fists slightly, his body tense, like a cheetah ready to pounce, prepared to engage in battle at any moment.

His expression was cold and resolute, his voice calm but with an undeniable authority: "I was merely passing by and have no connection with you."

However, the amiable figure simply sneered at Liu Yuan's explanation, a glint of cunning and ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

"No connection?" the amiable figure questioned in a chilling tone. "Breaking into the House of Black and White's forbidden area in the dead of night, and you dare to claim you have no connection with us? Hmph! In my opinion, you are clearly harboring malicious intentions, attempting to harm the temple! Seize him! Dead or alive!"

With that command, the Faceless Men around him surged towards Liu Yuan like hungry tigers. They wielded various weapons, their aura fierce, every movement filled with murderous intent. In an instant, the glint of blades and swords intertwined, and a thrilling battle commenced!

Liu Yuan's figure swayed, like a ghost, easily dodging a Faceless Man's fierce attack. Then, with lightning speed, he snatched the dagger from the opponent's hand and, without hesitation, thrust it backhand straight into the Faceless Man's chest. The dagger flashed like lightning splitting the night sky, emitting a piercing sound, and the Faceless Man immediately cried out, his body involuntarily flying backward.

Seeing their companion injured and falling to the ground, the other Faceless Men not only did not fear and retreat but instead pounced on Liu Yuan even more fiercely. But Liu Yuan remained calm and composed, unafraid. Relying on his agility, he moved freely among the crowd, the short sword in his hand waving up and down, turning into deadly rays of cold light, each strike accurately hitting the enemy's vital points, constantly reaping their lives.

Liu Yuan was trapped in a heavy encirclement, but his expression remained unchanged, as if the surrounding danger was nothing to him. As the battle continued, the sword in his hand became more and more fierce and sharp, rapidly moving through the Faceless Men like a ghost. Each swing of the sword brought a series of bright blood flowers, splattering on the ground to form pools of shocking bloodstains.

The Faceless Men watched in surprise as their companions fell one after another, a trace of fear rising in their hearts. However, as cold-blooded and well-trained professional assassins, they quickly recovered from their shock and intensified their attacks, their offensive becoming even more violent and brutal.

Although Liu Yuan's body inevitably suffered a few cuts from swords and blades, surprisingly, under his torn clothes, his skin was unscathed! This was the advantage brought by his powerful physical strength; attacks from enemies of this level could no longer cause any damage. In fact, it wasn't that these Faceless Men assassins were weak; on the contrary, many of them already possessed the combat power of high-level knights. Unfortunately, in front of Liu Yuan, this strength was clearly still slightly inferior.

Finally, after Liu Yuan cruelly crushed the throats of the last two Faceless Men, the entire House of Black and White was littered with corpses, only he and the amiable figure still standing.

Liu Yuan vigorously shook his hand, shaking off the blood stains. He walked step by step to the amiable figure and stopped, staring at him with cold and firm eyes, asking, "Now can we talk properly! Can you tell me who you really are?"

Faced with Liu Yuan's question, the amiable figure seemed hesitant. He frowned slightly as if thinking about something, and after a while, he slowly opened his mouth and replied, "I... I'm just an insignificant nobody..." However, before he could finish speaking, Liu Yuan interrupted him.

Liu Yuan's figure flashed, instantly appearing in front of the amiable figure, and with lightning speed, he reached out his right hand and tightly grasped his throat, lifting him into the air. At this moment, Liu Yuan no longer had much patience to continue to entangle with the person in front of him. His originally calm eyes suddenly burst out with a palpitating and chilling light, which was the fifth level of the Soul-Seizing Technique in the Nine Yin Manual's Spirit Refinement chapter!

As Liu Yuan activated the technique, an invisible and colorless but extremely powerful mental force directly penetrated into the depths of the amiable figure's mind. Affected by this, the latter's eyes gradually became blurred and dazed. And he began to mutter involuntarily, "My real name is Praysidi Casinaci, the current Archpriest of the House of Black and White, and also the twenty-third Keyholder of the Iron Bank, as well as an executive of the highest Triumvirate..."

Under Praysidi Casinaci's narration, Liu Yuan was shown a completely different history of Braavos.

The Valyrians became the absolute overlords of western Essos, and what truly made them so were the Fourteen Flames. The Valyrians not only discovered dragon nests in the fire peaks, but also mined ore from them to forge Valyrian steel, and even mined red gold, gold, silver, and other rare and precious mineral materials! Faced with such tempting wealth, the Valyrians unhesitatingly sent slaves they had plundered from various countries to the mysterious and dangerous Fourteen Flame Mountains to mine ore.

The ancient Valyrian mines were extremely hot, especially as the tunnels went deeper underground, the temperature rose steadily. These poor slaves toiled as if they were in a huge oven, the surrounding rock walls so hot that they could not be touched. Sometimes, in order to find precious mineral resources, they had to break through the hard cave walls, but what awaited them was often not the treasure they dreamed of, but billowing steam, boiling water, and deadly lava flows.

In the narrow and cramped tunnels, the slaves could not stand up straight at all, and could only crawl or stoop forward with difficulty.