《Volcanic Age》
Prologue & Chapter 1: Regression (1)
Prologue.
Struck by the desire to sleep, he could barely crack open his eyes. At best, he could open them halfway. Any more was not possible.
Ah
He moved his lips, dry as dirt, to produce sound. However, what came out was nothing more than a moan.
Elder you cannot go like
HIs vision had turned cloudy, and he could no longer see anything properly. He felt that someone was calling out to him, but his ears had lost their function, and he could not hear what he was being told.
I am
Zhou Xuchuan.
He muttered his own name in his mind and looked back at his own life. The first thing he thought of was that he was an orphan, wandering around aimlessly, until he luckily managed to catch the eyes of his master and entered the sect of Mount Hua.It was a great stroke of luck. Mount Hua was one of the ten prestigious organizations of the orthodox faction, and one that was renowned for swordy. As an orphan, it was harder to find something better than that.
Ever since then, he had lived a life of gratitude as a disciple of Mount Hua, and before he knew it, he had risen to the ranks of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua.
I was truly lucky.
The title of high elder in Mount Hua was absolutely not light. They were second only to the sect master in a huge organization like Mount Hua. As the title carried significant weight, it was not a position that was easily attainable, and as such, they received the respect of other disciples. Cultivation aside, those upying the position had to be intelligent, and great importance was ced on their reputation in the world as well.
In other words, they needed fame as well as all sorts of achievements. It was not a position that could be attained by seniority and experience alone but there were always exceptions.
One such exception was him.
I didnt know someone like me could be a high elder.
He entered Mount Hua out of a stroke of fortune, but that didnt mean he disyed brilliant talent and achieved many things. He did not have a lot of talent in martial arts, nor was he particrly smart. He never stood out and had lived his life like many others.
Of course, he never put in extreme amounts of effort in the first ce, so he knew that it would be greedy of him to want more. Not that he had any of that greed in the first ce.
Despite that, he did not ck off. He wanted to repay his gratitude towards his master, who had taken in an orphan like him.
It was truly a mediocre, ordinary way of living.
So then, how did he be one of the five high elders?
The answery in a life that wasnt exactly peaceful.
In the decades that he lived, there were many wars. From what was told down to theter generations, there were enough wars for it to be called the era of war and chaos. It was hard to count just how many wars had started, truced, and ended in those decades.
Mount Hua was naturally in the middle of that storm, and numerous sect members had lost their lives. Not to mention the third generation members, who were the pirs of the sect; even the second generationwhich consisted of sect elders, and the first generationwhich consisted of retired elders, had taken damage.
The Five High Elders of Mount Hua had also gotten caught up in various conflicts, consequently leading to constant changes in membership. Eventually, when all that conflict ended, there were no longer enough talents to be high elders.
Herey the reason why Zhou Xuchuan could rise to the position of a high elder despite having ordinary talent.
A position among the Five High Elders of Mount Hua was not something that one could obtain through seniority alone, but that didnt mean that seniority was unnecessary. If someone had great cultivation, but had little experience and was low on the senioritydder, the sect members would naturally reject them.
That was why, despite being inadequate, the seniors became high elders first, and he became one such lucky man.
However, nothing changed despite bing a high elder. As the era of war and chaos had juste to an end, there was nothing that could threaten his life. He would only help out the sect master and the other high elders from time to time, and lived his life within Mount Hua.
The other second-generation sect members put in effort into raising theter generation, but he didnt participate in that. He did not even ept any disciples. That was because he thought that he wasnt good enough to teach anyone.
I just rose to the Harmony Realm a few days ago
He found renewed interest in cultivation in hister years. That was thanks to the fact that he could browse through numerous cultivation manuals after having risen to the rank of high elder.
Thanks to that, he managed to enter the Harmony Realm, but it was already toote. It seemed that he only managed to achieve enlightenment because he had instinctively sensed theing of his death and had entered a state of terminal lucidity.
It wasnt exactly a meaningful life
When he looked back, his life was riddled with regrets. He had not made lovesomething that many others did. He had his hands full cultivating, and had never even held the hand of a woman.
He wanted to gain fame in the secr world, but he wasnt nearly powerful enough. He lived in the era of war and chaos, one of the most chaotic periods in the history of the martial world. There were numerous chronicles being written, with countless stories of heroes and viins rising.
His name, unfortunately, was not among them.
Aah
He started losing energy. Maybe this was how he was going to die.
The ones watching hisst moments were those who had no rtionship with him, people whose names he could not even remember. They were only here out of respect for the high elder of a grand sect; nothing more, nothing less.
He wanted a family. He had lived a lonely life for a long time.
He recalled his master, who was kind, but left this world early.
He envisioned the backs of numerous reliable heroes in the era of war and chaos.
He saw beauties that he could never reach.
Yes, perhaps, I
His consciousness fell into the depths of the abyss.
...may have yearned for such a life
Shake.
Xuchuan Xuchuan wake
He felt everything shaking, as if he were lying on a boat. The movement even jolted his brain, forcing him to open his eyes.
The first thing he saw through his cracked eyelids was a rather handsome man who looked to be in histe thirties.
...?
The boy, who looked to be six or seven years old, muttered in disbelief as he looked at the handsome man who had woken him up.
Master how could?
A few days ago, you treated your master like a dead man and cried relentlessly, and now I see youre talking in your sleep.
He was a fine example of someone aging handsomely. His hair draped down like silk, his eyes looked noble and kind, and although his face was marked by wrinkles, they did not look ugly; instead, they imparted a certain kind of beauty to him.
The boy, Zhou Xuchuan, rolled his eyes at the words of his master, Liu Zhengmu, and fell into thought.
Oh!
His thoughts didntst long. The events that had urred during the past week shed through his mind, and in a brief moment, he recalled the situation he was in.
Zhou Xuchuan, eight years old. Fourth generation disciple of Mount Hua.
The first thing that came to his mind was information about himself.
Liu Zhengmu, forty years old. Third generation member of Mount Hua.
The members of Mount Hua were divided into four generations.
The first generation consisted of elderly members of the sect who no longer involved themselves with the matters of the world.
The second generation were the sect master and the sect elders. Other than the elders, those higher up in seniority were also part of this generation.
The third generation were the mainstay of the sect. They were mostly young adults to middle-aged, and they had the greatest numbers. The third generation could also ept disciples.
Thest, the fourth generation, were children and novices who couldnt even be called martial artistsin other words, the future generation. Even the oldest members of the fourth generation were twenty, just barely enough to leave the sect and roam the world.
Zhou Xuchuan was one of thete entrants even among the fourth-generation disciples.
The most important fact, however, was that
I havee back to the past.
He subconsciously groaned. Honestly, he still couldnt believe what had happened. He had suspected his own brain of ying tricks on him dozens of times during the past few days.
The Zhou Xuchuan who had experienced the era of war and chaos and managed to rise to the rank of high elder was dead. That life was absolutely not an illusion. He had managed to climb to the Harmony Realm in hister years, but he had died not long after, unable to ovee his own lifespan.
So then, what was this? He had closed his eyes in death, yet he had opened them once more to witness an unbelievable sight. He had regressed back to his childhood, an age he could hardly even remember properly.
At first, he wondered if it was a dream. After that, he wondered if this was some kind of punishment in the afterlife. Next, he even wondered if he had ascended into immortality and entered the world of immortals.
However, all of his hypotheses were wrong. It was not a dream, nor a punishment in hell, nor even a reward given to him by the immortal realm.
He could hardly believe it, but he eventually epted the reality in front of him after experiencing it firsthand for the past week.
This is before even flowers stained in blood started blooming, before the storms of conflict had brewed. I have returned to that time.
To a time still peaceful, where his master, the only person that cherished him like family, still existed.
I can do it.
Unnecessary emotions and trivial thoughts in his mind dissipated. Recing them was a certain burning emotion that welled up from the bottom of his heart.
Once again.
He did not know why he had returned to the past.
He did not know who had sent him here.
Nay, honestly, he didnt care either waythat was the conclusion he came to in the past week.
He had lived an ordinary life, and he had met his demise without anyone who cherished him.
And somehow, he was now back in the past, possessing the memories of his previous life.
I can live the life I want!
Although it wasnt perfect, he would be able to live apletely different life now that he had these memories. That made him excited, and something that had turned cold within his heart started burning up again.
He knew about the various big events that were going to happen in the future, including the War of Factions, as well as the numerous conflicts that made up the war and the true viins in the dark.
Even aside from that, he had been able to browse through the various secrets of the sect and of the martial alliance thanks to his position as the high elder in hister years, so he knew some details of other major events that he hadnt experienced himself.
Above all, I will do this and that with women too!
It was so frustrating to die a virgin. In hister years, his sexual drive had somewhat lessened, but before then, it had been quite painful.
The Mount Hua Sect was one of the secr sects among the Daoist ones, so their view on marriage was on the liberal side. Of course, the sect master was asked to refrain from having children even if they were to get married, as they had to take responsibility for the sect. In any case, for a sect of the orthodox faction, it was taboo to tantly indulge in matters of the flesh, but people turned a blind eye to a moderate amount.
Despite that, he had never even held the hand of a woman, and he had lived surrounded by men.
That frustration and regret had managed to stand through the reversal of time, and they now gleamed silently through the eyes of the eight-year-old Zhou Xuchuan.
Chapter 2: Regression (2)
Zhou Xuchuans soul was that of an old man, a veteran of many battles, but his body was not. He was but a mere eight-year-old boy, and as with most children at that age, he was not given much freedom.
This was especially true for fourth-generation disciples of a great sect. There were set rules and lifestyles in a sect, and the disciples had to follow them to the letter. Zhou Xuchuan was no exception.
One such rule was to wake up around sunrise, pay their respects to their master, and then head to the training grounds with the other fourth-generation disciples for morning training.
Huff, huff
The training grounds was near the Wild Goose Peak of Mount Hua. It was one of the peaks near the main sect, and it was very hard to climb. In fact, it was hard for ordinary adult men to climb, so it was naturally much more difficult for children.
It was hellish. They were going to the training grounds in order to train, but just getting there was taxing enough.
God dammit He inadvertently swore inwardly.
Sure, it was great to start all over again, but restarting meant that everything he had gained up until then was gone. If it was the previous life, it wouldve been a breeze to climb, but he couldnt do that now. He was running out of breath already, was almost tearing up, and his lungs felt like they were going to rip apart. His feet, as well as his thigh muscles, started feeling sore.
Now that I think about it, the training at Mount Hua was quite notorious!One of his forgotten memories surfaced. Mount Hua was not one of the great sects for no reason. It had exceptionally splendid cultivation arts, yes, but they were extremely good at training their disciples physically as well. However, that training method was challenging. Whether it was children or youths, they had to train right up to their limits, just enough that their bodies werent ruined.
This might sound ordinary, but the instructors at Mount Hua knew those limits extremely well, and they could control the disciples so that they would get enough rest when they were near their limits. They would sometimes imbue their own energy into the disciples for recovery as well.
Thanks to that, whenever the disciples got tired, they were naturally able to recover, and even small children could climb to the summit of Wild Goose Peak. As such, this climbing area was called "Wild Goose Hell" by the disciples.
After getting past the Wild Goose Hell and arriving at the training grounds, the disciples would be split into groups ording to the intensity of the training they had to go through.
In the case of Zhou Xuchuan himself, his training would end just by arriving at Wild Goose Peak. Some of the older fourth-generation disciples would practice their sword arts, and some of the oldest members even sparred against each other.
Well done. You may take the grain pills over there for breakfast and climb down. The instructor pointed at a table with a whole load of grain pills on it.
Zhou Xuchuan bowed to the instructor with whatever remaining strength he had and dumped one whole grain pill in his mouth. Most of the other children frowned as soon as they started chewing because it wasnt tasty.
Grain pills, while being very nutritional, didnt have a very good taste. Naturally, they were not something that children would like. However, that didnt apply to Zhou Xuchuan. He had eaten all too many of them in his previous life, so he swallowed it without any issue.
Around fifteen minutester, he climbed down the peak. As he was going downslope this time, it wasnt that difficult.
***
Master, Im back.
I see you suffered again today. Wasnt it hard? Liu Zhengmu let out a bitterugh.
Every member of Mount Hua knew about the pains and sufferings of Wild Goose Hell, whether they were geniuses or not.
I wish I could let you rest some more, but I cannot do so. Please forgive this master of yours. He put on a genuinely apologetic expression.
Morning training, dubbed "Wild Goose Hell," was nothing but the foundation of muscr strength and stamina. Aftering back from the training district, the fourth-generation disciples would have to go to their respective masters and receive morning guidance.
Its okay, Master!
Zhou Xuchuan was rather touched by his generous and kind master being so considerate of him. His master had been like this in his previous life, and even in this life, he was still too kind. He had been able to get by in the absence of his parents thanks to Liu Zhengmu.
Very well, then let us start circting qi. You arent used to the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, so allow me to help you.
Liu Zhengmu sat down on the spot and tapped on the spot in front of him, gesturing to Zhou Xuchuan to sit. Zhou Xuchuan walked up to him and sat down cross-legged, with his back facing his master.
Well. First, memorize the sutra Im about to say.
Liu Zhengmu recited the sutra of Plum Blossom Cultivation Art and even exined the meaning behind each verse in kind.
The Plum Blossom Cultivation Art consisted of twelve stages, and before the fifth stage, there was a danger of cultivation deviation, so qi cirction was usually done under supervision.
The Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was the most basic cultivation manual that a disciple would learn upon entering Mount Hua. It was one of the orthodox cultivation methods that represented the sect, and it allowed for an easy formation of the dantian and consolidation of the meridians.
However, as with all orthodox cultivation methods, umting qi was a hard and slow process. The method itself wasnt that difficult, so it wasnt hard to reach the final stage, but the qi umted really didnt amount to much.
However, it is a cultivation method that sets up the foundations, and it doesnt mean that you cannot learn anything else just because you practice the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, so there is nothing for you to worry about.
Also, while it was not that great of a cultivation method as far as Mount Hua was concerned, it was considered a first-rate methodpared to what was outside. There was a reason it represented a great sect like Mount Hua.
Yes! Zhou Xuchuan replied energetically.
Ugh, I know all this stuff already.
As sorry as he felt for his master, who was ardently teaching his disciple, Zhou Xuchuan found the whole lecture boring. To him, the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was a foundational cultivation method that he had reached the final stage a long time ago, and even putting that aside, his understanding and enlightenment regarding martial arts was greater than that of his master, thanks to the realm of cultivation he had reached in his previous life.
Besides that, also knew the secret to the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, something that would only be revealed in the future.
However, he couldnt act like he was bored in front of his master and just ignore what he said. It was certainly tiring, but he had no choice but to put on an enthusiastic face and focus on the lecture.
I wish I could reach the final stage already.
Thanks to his experiences and memories of his previous life, it wasnt that difficult to reach the final stage. However, that would naturally make him stand out. He would be called a genius or whatever and be the subject of many rumors in the martial world.
He couldnt do as he wished to because that tugged on his mind right now.
Its still too early.
He yearned for the life of heroes, but he had no ns of receiving attention from a young age. In fact, he would refuse that kind of life. If he received an unnecessary amount of attention, that would restrict his scope of movement; not only that, but he would also be a target of assassination for the viinous faction that would rise in the future.
I must be careful.
In his previous life, the world managed to regain peace somehow, but it definitely wasnt easily earned. The forces that would rise in the uing era of war and chaos were not ordinary. They were all monsters that he alone could not do anything about.
Among them were some forces that had no qualms nipping the flower in its bud, so it would be very problematic if he stood out. That was why he had decided that it was better to lie low before he could amass power. In the end, he had to live an ordinary-looking life without standing out, just like his previous life.
Not that I actually n to stay still.
He possessed the knowledge and enlightenment regarding martial arts, so it would be a waste to let them rot. Also, spending his childhood like he had in his previous life was meaningless in its own way.
Zhou Xuchuan knew his standing quite well. He was quite specialpared to the others, but not in terms of talent. He was only ahead of them in knowledge. To face off against those true monsters, he had to start early. Otherwise, he would not be able to handle themter.
He had taken an entire life to reach the Harmony Realm, and he had only managed to do so thanks to terminal lucidity. If he were to reach the Harmony Realm again this time, he would have no idea what to do. Perhaps he would never see an increase in cultivation ever again.
That was why he had to go ahead of others as quickly as possible and try out many paths. Only then would he be able to fight on equal footing.
So, I must fool the eyes of the world by maintaining the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, but train in a separate cultivation art.
The stability of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was one of the best in the martial world. It could only bepared to the cultivation methods belonging to the likes of the Wudang Sect or the Shaolin Temple.
As to how safe it was it was safe enough that one could learn another cultivation art while practicing it.
Of course, practicing the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art meant that the practitioner was a beginner, so there was no way they could learn other cultivation arts easily. Even if they did, forget being helpful, the other arts would only confuse them and make them waste effort. This kind of practice only made sense for the likes of Zhou Xuchuan, who could reach the final stage in the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art whenever he wanted.
I can learn the Violet Haze Divine Art!
If the Wudang sect, the hegemon of the south, had their three divine arts, Mount Hua had its own Violet Haze Divine Art.
The qi of the Violet Haze Divine Art practitioners took the form of a violet current as they reached a certain level of mastery. It wasnt just a cosmetic effect, and its might was incredible.
The problem with practicing the Violet Haze Divine Art was that it was only passed down to the sessive sect masters of Mount Hua. Even the Five High Elders were not allowed to learn it.
The reason Zhou Xuchuan knew the sutra to that art despite the restrictions was because of the peculiar circumstances of the era. The era of war and chaos truly resulted in many deaths, and that was no exception for experts like the masters of various sects.
I didnt know the sect master would die like that.
In the distant past, the sect master of Mount Hua lost his life. His disciple seeded his position, but the new sect master was worried. Having be the master at a rtively young age, he had yet to find a disciple that would seed him.
That being the case, the sect master of that time taught the sutra of the Violet Haze Divine Art to the high elders in worry that he may die an untimely death like his predecessor. It was just a what-if.
This would have never happened under normal circumstances, but conversely, it couldnt be helped considering the situation they were in.
In any case, Zhou Xuchuan was able to learn the Violet Haze Divine Art despite not being the disciple of the sect master.
Above all, the Violent Haze Divine Art has the characteristic of being very difficult to notice unless the practitioner reaches a certain level.
Even a run-of-the-mill martial artist would instantly recognize a practitioner of the Violet Haze Divine Art if they saw a violet current. It was just that unique of a trait. However, the art itself was not very remarkable unless it reached that stage. Not only was it hard to notice, but it wasnt that powerful either before the violet currents could be disyed.
All of that wasnt a problem for Zhou Xuchuan, because he was only taught its sutra in his previous life and never practiced it. He could take his time slowly making his way there.
At least, he would be able to start aheadpared to his previous life.
By the time anyone notices it and I am pressed for it, the era of war and chaos would be long upon us. At that time, I should have a suitable excuse.
He could not learn it immediately because his senses hadnt been sharpened, and his dantian and meridians were not ready. However, just thinking about how he could learn a divine art that was only allowed to the master of the sect made him excited.
Chapter 3: Plum Blossom Cultivation Art
Before his regression, Zhou Xuchuan had lived past the age of seventy. There was no way he could remember his childhood properly.
However, there were some things that he could remember faintly and one of them was the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art. The Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was the first art he had been taught ever since he entered the sect. It was the art with which he formed his dantian and umted his first strands of qi. He could never forget it.
Back then, I tried my best in order to sense qi somehow.
When he was young, there was something he was worried about while he practiced the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art under his master: wouldnt he get abandoned if he could not learn martial arts properly?
This problem was not unique to Zhou Xuchuan; rather, it wasmon among many of the orphan disciples of Mount Hua. While the training at Mount Hua was harsh and difficult, they werent starving at least. They also did not have to worry about freezing to death every winter. All of the orphan disciples did their utmost best in cultivation in order to not lose that privilege.
However, in spite of his efforts, Zhou Xuchuan didnt have any talent, so he had a lot of difficulties learning.
Haah, but I have to intentionally slow down this time.
His mental enlightenment was on the level of the Harmony Realm, so seeing great achievements in a basic cultivation method like the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was not that difficult.
However, if he did so, the older generation members, starting with his master, would notice it and cause amotion, so he couldnt do that.Of course, the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art wasnt some peerless divine art like the Violet Haze Divine Art, so reaching the final stage in a short period of time didnt mean he would instantly be an expert. Even the most powerful cultivator in the world would find it hard to notice his progress unless they could directly make contact with his body.
However, his master was watching him right now, so he had no choice but to hold back.
***
A year passed by in a blink of an eye and Zhou Xuchuan was now nine years old.
Oh, you have finally reached the fifth stage. Thats great.
Liu Zhengmu smiled gently and patted Zhou Xuchuan on his head. Zhou Xuchuan looked embarrassed, but he smiled in joy as well.
At first, he had felt a little troubled due to being treated as a child. He was an old man past his seventies on the inside, even if his outer appearance was child-like. He wasnt at an age where he should be getting head pats.
However, there was no way for Liu Zhengmu to know that. Whatever Zhou Xuchuan did, Liu Zhengmuplimented him for doing well. Zhou Xuchuan, too, got used to it over time. While it was embarrassing, it wasnt entirely bad. In his previous life, his master, Liu Zhengmu, was the only one who cherished him and looked after him. He would be lying if he said he didnt miss his masters care.
Just for this moment, he decided to forget about his original age and rejoiced like his peers.
Starting today, youll have to proceed by yourself. It will be hard, but I believe youll do well. Liu Zhengmu expressed his pity.
Finally!
Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan was rejoicing inside, even though he didnt express it on the outside as he was in front of Liu Zhengmu. During the past year, Liu Zhengmu had guided him in cultivation without missing a single day, so he couldnt train in anything else.
However, that would end today. He could finally start the things he had been postponing until now.
Fortunately, it wasnt entirely boring.
It was boring to intentionally slow his practice of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, but aside from that, his daily life wasnt that bad.
First of all, there was the dreaded Wild Goose Hell. Despite having experienced the era of war and chaos in his previous life, going through Wild Goose Hell again was still difficult.
His killing intent inadvertently boiled within him whenever he saw the instructors pushing him to his limits without batting an eyelid. Whenever he thought that he could finally take a breather, the instructor would raise the difficulty and push him to his limits once again.
It was like this back in the day, and it was like this now. It was a good thing that he had gotten an opportunity to live his life again, but he really didnt want to experience Wild Goose Hell.
And also
Organizing his memoriesthis was the most important.
He knew the general events that would ur in the martial world in the future. However, his memories werent perfect. He was only human and it was impossible to remember every event he had experienced in his life in detail.
As such, Zhou Xuchuan desperately tried to recall the big events that would happen in the future. He really wished he could write it down, but if anyone happened to see his records, it was unknown what kind of butterfly effect that would cause.
Of course, even if anyone did see it, they would simply choose to ignore it for being ridiculous, but as with everything in the world, there were always the what-ifs. He was very cautious with everything that pertained to his previous life, and even if he did write something down, he would write it on the ground with a twig and erase it immediately afterward.
At the same time he organized his memories, he nned for the future.
They say nothing you study goes to waste, and indeed, my visits to the library in myter years are helping out a lot.
Bing one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua required intellect on top of martial prowess. Intellect was especially important after the era of war and chaos, as they had to talk about the stability and security of the world. Back then, Zhou Xuchuan had racked his brain to the limits to study because he didnt want others to call him a lucky man who had obtained his position through sheer happenstance.
Well then, the wait is now over.
It wasnt that his basic training was over. For a time, he would have to keep going through Wild Goose Hell and train with the others in the training grounds.
However, it wasnt the same for his internal cultivation.
Now, I can finally proceed with the things I have prepared during the past year.
A broad smile appeared on Zhou Xuchuans face.
***
This was an event that was bound to happen sixty-six years in the future. A prodigy would appear among the fourth-generation disciples of Mount Hua, someone who had both great wisdom and talent for martial arts.
Thanks to that genius, a secret to one cultivation method would be revealed. And the method in question was none other than the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art.
No one expected it.
The Plum Blossom Cultivation Art. It was something that every member of Mount Hua knew. It was one of the fundamental cultivation arts everyone had to learn in order to be able to use a higher-level one.
However, that was it and there was no other meaning to the art. And indeed, in the centuries since the founding of the sect, and even after it became a renowned sect in the orthodox faction, no one bothered to think that there would be a huge secret in the most basic cultivation method.
Even Zhou Xuchuan was like the others and thought of it as nothing but the foundation, a step that led elsewhere. He wanted higher-level methods.
That was why he was very shocked when the secret behind the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was revealed, and in fact, he was doubtful at first.
Bias is truly frightening. You cannot escape it easily, and even if you see the truth, you will not realize it and reject it instead.
Everyone in the course of history thought that the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was just one of the footholds to reach a higher stage. They were all too ignorant about that foothold.
The Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was a first-rate method even within the entire martial world, and had been with the sect since its founding. While everyone focused on higher-level cultivation methods and ignored them, one person took an interest in the art and discovered a secret.
Having finished recalling his past, Zhou Xuchuan sat down in front of a nearby plum tree after checking that there was no one nearby.
In front of his eyes was a disy of white petals. It was the white plum blossom.
Its been living with us for its whole life.
The symbols of Mount Hua were the sword and the plum blossom.
The White Plum was also called the Winter Plum, as its flowers blossomed in cold weather, or the Snow Plum, for blossoming within the snow.
Zhou Xuchuan had grown up watching plum blossoms his whole life; when the whole martial world was engulfed in war and chaos and when Mount Hua was in crisis; when he was young and when he had be a high elder; even when he saw his death approaching.
Now, he was going to let this flowerand the secret behind ittruly bloom.
Phew.
He sat cross-legged and straightened his back. He pointed his chin forward and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out again.
Tsssp, haa-
Inhale, exhale.
He established a steady, harmonious breathing cycle, repeating it over and over again.
He wasnt simply breathing air. It was just a minute amount, but he was also moving around the warm energy originating in his lower dantian and circting his qi.
At first, it was the ordinary Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, but things started changing. This was the secret cultivation method that would be discovered far into the future.
The Plum Blossom Life Art!
This secret was transmitted to the members of Mount Hua as soon as it was discovered. Back then, the era of war and chaos had just ended and they had regained peace, but the peace was very unstable.
The martial world had received a lot of damage due to the decades of war and conflict, and was still suffering from its aftermath. The orthodox faction had merely three-tenths of its former prowess, and the same went for Mount Hua.
They found the need to raise the future generation in order to regain stability, and the Plum Blossom Life Art was discovered just in time.
In the case of Zhou Xuchuan, he was in the position of checking the stability of the art and transmitting it to the future generation, so he had to memorize it.
Its faint, but its here.
A wide smile formed on his face against his will.
Its the vitality of the Plum Blossom!
The secret behind the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, and the reason it waster called the Plum Blossom Life Art,y in the vitality contained in the plum trees.
A cultivation art referred to methods of gathering the qi floating around in nature into the dantian through a special way of breathing. That was the most basic method and principle behind cultivation.
However, the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art required additional elements from that basic structure, which was the vitality of plum trees.
It was impossible with other trees, but if they chanted a certain sutra while cultivating near a plum tree, they were able to absorb the vitality of plum blossoms.
It might look like a demonic cultivation art at first, but it definitely wasnt. Such methods relied on simply robbing life energy. If that were the case, the plum tree would soon dry up and never be able to bloom again. Then, the art would no longer be orthodox; instead, it would shift toward a heretic path.
Its not robbing or borrowing vitality. Its me breathing in what the plum blossoms breathe out.
Qi didnt exist just in humans. Not to mention animals, even the tiny bits of grass on the side of the road possessed qi. If they possessed life, they would breathe. The same was true for the plum tree.
The Plum Blossom Life Art allowed the practitioner to absorb the vitality exhaled by the tree alongside the qi of nature and umte it slowly in the lower dantian.
"Union with the Plum Blossom."
He chanted the sutra of the Plum Blossom Life Art that would be discovered far into the future.
"Be one with the plum blossom and breathe."
I feel a little sorry now.
Originally, this glory and fame was destined for one person. Having unearthed a secret that should have been discovered by ater generation not even born yet, Zhou Xuchuan felt a prick on his conscience, as though he had just be a thief.
That being the case, he decided to keep it to himself that he knew the Plum Blossom Life Art, for the sake of that very practitioner of the future.
Good, its working.
The biggest reason the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art continued to be a stage that many people passed was the umtion of qi. It was decent in every other aspect, but its speed of umting internal energy was low enough for it to be called third-rate in the martial world. This was also why many people thought that this was the only disadvantage there was to the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art.
However, that was no longer the case after the secret was discovered. Although it couldnt be put on the same line as peerless cultivation arts, it definitely superseded many first-rate ones.
The reason for the slow umtion of qi was that the secret wasnt discovered. With that solved, everything was perfect.
Its not as good as the Violet Haze Divine Art, but it doesnt lose out to other advanced arts.
Having formed his dantian at eight and umting qi for a whole year, Zhou Xuchuan only possessed a years worth of internal energy. However, with the Plum Blossom Life Art, he would be able to umte a lot in a short period of time.
His master would also not check his cultivation for a while, so he should be able to hide himself. He couldnt help but think that his n was perfect.
The effect of the new discovery was the eleration of qi umtion, and the expansion of the maximum capacity of the dantian.
Above all, what makes me the happiest is that
He couldnt help but let a grin light his face. As though to release all the frustrations he had until now, he focused and pushed the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art forward in one go.
...Theres no need to hold myself back anymore!
His understanding of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art had already reached the maximum stage, but he had to suppress himself as his master had checked his body to verify his progress every single day. Fortunately, that was no longer the case.
Just because he reached the maximum stage in the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art didnt mean that he would advance in his cultivation realm in an instant. That was why instructors and sect members would not be able to notice his progress unless they came into direct contact with him, and checking a young disciples qi through physical contact was only permitted to the disciples direct master.
Even then, aside from special situations, the master would rarely check the disciples meridians. Usually, it would be the disciple asking the master for help.
Thanks to these circumstances, Zhou Xuchuan could feel at ease and quickly made progress with his Plum Blossom Cultivation Art without suppressing it.
The enlightenment and understanding regarding the art that was suppressed flowed out without restraint and merged with his mind and body. His will, riding through his qi passages eventually arrived at the dantian and brought about a change.
His Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, which was at the fifth stage, reached the tenth stage in one go. The final stage was the twelfth stage, but he couldnt reach that far due to theck of internal energy.
However, it was only a matter of time. He could just use the Plum Blossom Life Art to umte qi quickly.
I have finally taken my first step toward the future.
Chapter 4: Flower Boy (1)
At the training grounds.
Zhou Xuchuan!
Yes!
Hearing the call of Tie Xiong, a third-generation member of Mount Hua and an instructor of Wild Goose Hell, Zhou Xuchuan replied with a loud voice and walked up front.
I have been notified that you have reached the fifth stage of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art as of yesterday. Is this true?
Yes, sir.
Then starting today, you participate in fist art training.
Before reaching the fifth stage of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, physical training usually consisted of running up and down Wild Goose Hell and practicing the horse stance.
After around a year, when most disciples reached the fifth stage, they would start their next stage in physical training as well.Ill teach you the Plum Blossom Fist.
Yes, sir.
The pride of Mount Hua was its sword arts, but that didnt mean that itcked martial arts of other areas. They also had other techniques, albeit not as strong as its sword arts.
Most of them were not difficult to learn, and they were intended to be used in cases where the practitioner was without a sword to protect themself. They were quite basic.
In the martial world, there is a phrase that goes: hundred-day spear, thousand-day saber, and ten-thousand-day sword.
It was a metaphor that stated that the sword was the hardest and most time-consuming to learn among weapons.
The fist art also contains the essence of Mount Hua, and it will be a good foundation to learn the sword art. So do notin and study! Tie Xiong spoke in a grave voice.
Zhou Xuchuan didntin and joined the others in training the fist arts.
Oho, most of the time, the disciples are disappointed that they cant use the sword right away thats a good attitude.
Tie Xiong inwardly admired Zhou Xuchuans attitude as he looked at the little boys back.
*
After that, there was a change in Zhou Xuchuans everyday life. He woke up early every morning and cultivated near a plum tree. That attracted the attention of the others.
Most of the fourth-generation members were children who couldnt even be called youths yet, and children were curious creatures.
Naturally, in their little society, cultivating near a plum tree alone was bound to attract attention.
Hey, flower boy.
When he opened his eyes after cultivating, he found that a group of people were in front of him. They were all children around his age.
I heard that the plum tree is your only friend, right?
Giggle-!
A wise man once said that there is no purer evil than children, Zhou Xuchuan muttered, his face colored in sadness.
Whats he saying?
The kid that appeared to be the boss of the group looked puzzled after hearing him speak. Zhou Xuchuan wordlessly stood up and continued speaking with his eyes filled with mncholy.
Normally, I would be saying, this big brother cannot be bothered to fight you so leave while Im still in a good mood.
What?
However, you will continue to pick a fight with me regardless. The world is made of such chains of resentment. That is why I shall sever the chain before it can start.
Zhou Xuchuans words were too hard for the children to understand, and in the little society of children, using difficult words was bound to make one look conceited or cocky.
Originally, they were here to tease Zhou Xuchuan, who was by himself, but they felt pissed now that he kept acting like this.
Come, you viins! I have trained my fists so that I can sever the chain of hatred!
Zhou Xuchuan kicked off the ground. He wasnt that fast, which was natural since he had just started cultivating the Plum Blossom Life Art and the Plum Blossom Fist.
Wh-what the heck? Hes crazy!
The boss kid panicked and threw a punch at Zhou Xuchuan, who wasing at him. He was pretty quick to respond.
Haha.
Zhou Xuchuanughed as though he found it interesting and lightly dodged it. The boss kid was above him in terms of speed and power, but he was still a kid. He was not a match for Zhou Xuchuan, who possessed memories of his previous life. Zhou Xuchuan could easily predict how he was going to move and attack.
Whoa?
The boss freaked out and quickly tried to turn around, but it was already toote. Zhou Xuchuan kicked him in the chest.
Keghk!
The kid shrieked and fell back.
Zhou Xuchuan held his head up high and spoke in a sad voice.
This is the fist of the martial world.
What are you saying? That was a kick just now!
Zhou Xuchuan used to be a quiet kid. That was because he had lived a life under pressure. He had lived a mundane lifestyle filled with training, and when he was in his middle years, he was concerned about other peoples image of him, and he naturally formed a gloomy personality.
That personality had undergone a slight change after his regression. To be precise, he started releasing what was suppressed. He wanted to be more liberal in his new life.
Just that it was expressed in a weird direction.
Cough, cough- Get him! the boss kid shouted while grabbing his stomach. The other children all shouted and jumped at Zhou Xuchuan.
Haha, this is the Plum Blossom Fist! Take my Plum Blossom Fist!
Zhou Xuchuan faced off against the children wholeheartedly.
Obviously, fighting against these children was nothing more than ying around. The children fighting him used all their power in their respective ways, but from his perspective, their movements were so simple and easy to see that he could practically dodge them with his eyes closed.
Zhou Xuchuan slipped past the children that charged toward him and toyed with them.
Aaagh!
Gwergh!
The children shrieked and fell down.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled benevolently as he looked at the children.
Do you want to be secret friends with this uncle?
Hieeek!
A lunatic was here.
***
Losing a fight was an extremely humiliating matter to children, especially boys. Even more so if the opponent they fought was young and had a smaller build than them.
The children who had picked a fight with Zhou Xuchuan found it embarrassing and didnt tell anyone that they had lost against him. They had rushed against him, the youngest member of the fourth generation, a nine-year-old kid, as a group, and got defeated without being able to do anything. They would lose all face if it was revealed.
On the other hand, Zhou Xuchuan watched them in fear that they might tell someone about it.
Ufufu, thats children for you.
Thanks to that, thismotion didnt turn into a big deal, and Zhou Xuchuan was satisfied that he didnt catch the eyes of someone powerful.
But still, I should reflect on this. I couldnt hold myself back and acted impulsively. Maybe its because of my body, but I feel like Im aging in reverse.
Zhou Xuchuan thought about the event that urred not too long ago and couldnt help but smile, even as he reflected on himself. It had been a long time since he had gone wild like this so freely. Even before his regression, he had never been this impulsive.
Now then, there are no more hindrances, so lets go back to cultivation.
The boss kid and his lot that picked a fight with him belonged to the top group among their peers. They were afraid that Zhou Xuchuan would tell the tales of his heroic feats to others and prevented others from approaching him.
Thanks to that, Zhou Xuchuan was able to train near a plum tree by himself without minding the gazes of others.
***
A month passed since he started practicing the Plum Blossom Life Art and learning the Plum Blossom Fist.
Haha!
The achievements he made in that time were tremendous.
I managed to umte half a years worth of internal energy in just one month!
The Plum Blossom Life Arts qi umtion was tremendously fast. Thanks to breathing alongside the plum tree, he only needed one month to umte half a years worth of qi.
He formed his dantian at the age of eight, and he had umted one years worth of qi by cultivating the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art to the fifth stage during the past year.
However, he had done half of that in just a single month. It would have been strange if he wasnt happy about it.
Currently, Zhou Xuchuans internal energy totaled to a year and a halfs worth.
I think this should be okay for the Plum Blossom Fist as well.
Zhou Xuchuan lightly swung his fists.
Swish-!
He had a better understanding of the Plum Blossom Fist than the instructor. He just wasnt used to using it with his current body, but after training intensively a few times, he had learned almost all of it in less than a month.
In his original life, he had taken nearly a year from what he could recall, but now, he had reached that stage in less than a month.
Hm, I guess all thats left is boring repetition.
Even if he had theplete understanding, it was meaningless if his body couldnt handle it. Unless he possessed the legendary Heavenly Martial Physique, his body wouldnt be able to keep up if he pushed himself. He was a nine-year-old child who was still growing. He would ruin his body if he tried to be too greedy.
If his body could keep up, then forget the Plum Blossom Fist, he wouldve snatched a sword from somewhere and started practicing sword arts.
He couldnt do that now, so he had no choice but to take one step at a time, to train his body using the Plum Blossom Fist Art.
Zhou Xuchuan felt that his progress was slow, but in the eyes of others, he was crazy fast. Originally, anyone other than a prodigy would see slow progress at the beginning of cultivation because of theirck of understanding regarding cultivation.
Id better go through my ns for now.
He could execute the Plum Blossom Fist without having to think hard as he could practically perform the techniques subconsciously. There was no need to think about the sutra or the trajectory of his punches.
Instead, Zhou Xuchuan thought about a few of the events that would ur in the future.
I really dont want to remember, but the most memorable events that happened were
Zhou Xuchuans face turned dark. He remembered an event that would ur in five years, when he would turn fourteen. In his mind, it had happened decades ago, but he still couldnt forget that day.
That was because he was no longer able to see his master, Liu Zhengmu, after that.
Liu Zhengmu, the Gentle Smiling Swordsman.
It was a title given to him because he always had a soft and gentle smile on his face.
Zhou Xuchuan knew about Liu Zhengmu more than anyone else, including what would happen to him in the future.
Master
Liu Zhengmu was a great figure and a martial artist worth respecting. This wasnt Zhou Xuchuans subjective opinion. Whether it came to his considerate personality, his kindness, and the gentle smile on his face, Liu Zhengmu was totally wless in terms of character. His martial prowess was exceptional as well.
Mount Hua disciples could attain the title of Plum Blossom Swordsmena title only awarded after a battery of tests that evaluated a persons martial prowess, wisdom, and character. As such, their reputation within Mount Hua was very good, and they were models that all members of the sect yearned to follow.
Liu Zhengmu was exceptional enough to be a candidate for the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. He passed a multitude of tests as well, and he worked hard to obtain the title.
However, he was unable to be a member of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen because of one reason: the chronic illness he had for a long time. Noactually, nobody knew if he actually had a chronic illness or not.
Liu Zhengmu had made great strides in studies of martial arts from a young age, and he was just as good at performing them as well. However, he got tired more easily than others, and his physique was weak. That was his innate constitution. It was bad to the point that when he was just admitted to the sect, he was often bullied by his peers for being weak.
Even so, Liu Zhengmu didnt sumb to their bullying and put in several times the efforts of others to train his body and ovee his weakness. And even though he had an innate disadvantage that gave him a hard time, he had actually seeded.
The problem was that his weak constitution did not improve with age. While he fortunately didnt suffer from any big sicknesses, he often came down with a fever.
The conditions to be a Plum Blossom Swordsman were very strict and meticulous. Because of his tendency to fall sick easily, he ultimately didnt make the assessment.
That was also the reason why Zhou Xuchuan didnt have any apprentice brothers or sisters. Liu Zhengmus condition meant that he didnt have the leisure to ept any other disciples apart from him.
Chapter 5: Flower Boy (2)
Master glossed it over saying that he just had a weak constitution since youth, but now that I think about it, it was quite strange.
In the first ce, it was strange that a martial artist was weak and prone to sickness. Cultivation was the training of the body and the mind. Naturally, cultivators experiencing as many illnesses as an ordinary person meant that something was wrong.
It wasnt that he was starving, nor was he not maintaining his hygiene. He had a regr lifestyle, a bnced diet, and regr sleeping hours while taking in qi from nature, so there was no way he was not healthy. Even someone with an innately weak body would see improvement after a while unless they had lived out the full extent of their lifespan or had suffered from serious internal injuries.
Liu Zhengmu belonged to neither of those categories, so why?
The answer was simple.
It wasnt his constitution; it was an illness.
Zhou Xuchuan had no idea how long the diseasey dormant. He didnt even know what it was, much less whether it was something Liu Zhengmu was born with or had acquired after birth.
However, this disease would gnaw away at his masters life and eventually consume it in five years.
In his previous life, Zhou Xuchuan had only found out that Liu Zhengmu was afflicted with a serious disease after his health had deteriorated a lot.I still cannot forget the powerlessness I felt that day.
One day, his master had a high fever and copsed. He had called for a physician but was only given a hopeless diagnosis.
I cannot know for sure, but it seems that the disease has been dormant for a long time. He never showed any symptoms until that moment
As Liu Zhengmu had been sick quite often since young, the doctor looked after him quite a lot. He had undergone many regr checkups, but until then, the doctor had been unable to find any symptoms that indicated that Liu Zhengmu had any disease in particr.
Ultimately, Liu Zhengmu was unable to leave behind anyst words and left the world without ever regaining consciousness.
I must prevent that at all costs!
Zhou Xuchuan had cried a lot the moment hed seen his master after his regression. Liu Zhengmus existence was just that important and special to him. He had told himself multiple times after regressing that he would not let Liu Zehngmu die.
To help his master survive his disease was the first thing on his list of things to do.
The second thing on the list happens six years from now, when Im fifteen.
A year after Liu Zhengmus passing, there was a huge event that shook the foundations of the central martial world.
The Treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief!
Around three hundred years ago, there was a legendary thief renowned across all of the central ins, and not just in the martial world.
That thief always left a symbol with three eyes whenever he stole something. He waster dubbed the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief was active for around one hundred years, but no one was able to find a trace of him apart from the symbol with three eyes.
Two hundred years after his first appearance, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief no longer showed any activities, and the government dered him captured.
Naturally, no one believed the official deration. Aside from the government, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was chased by multiple factions for nearly three hundred years. However, neither the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction, the Demon Cult, the Blood Cult, nor even the Imperial Pce managed to find the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. People naturally came to believe that the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had died of old age after hiding away his treasures. Although many people had looked for his treasury since then, there were no reports of anyone finding it.
That was until six yearster when the legendary treasury would be discovered and exposed to the outside world.
I have to go and rob that ce clean before that timees!
As soon as the Three-Eyed Godly Thiefs treasury was found, people flocked to that ce like bees to honey in search of treasure.
Although the Era Of War And Chaos had yet to begin at that time, the conflict that urred there was just as bloody and messy.
Ultimately, someone touched the wrong mechanism within the treasury before all the treasures could be taken out, making the whole cave copse and putting an end to the saga.
That was why Zhou Xuchuan thought to go there first and take everything out before that happened.
The problem is that I was never able to leave the sect, even six yearster.
At fifteen, he would be considered of age, but that did not mean freedom within Mount Hua. In the sect, the elders usually gave the younger generation permission to leave the sect and roam around the world when they were around twenty unless a disciple was particrly strong.
This measure was put in ce to prevent disciples from dying in vain while roaming around the world. In other words, the disciples were trained until they were twenty so that they could be more prepared for what was outside the sect.
What do I do?
***
Two months passed.
During that time, Zhou Xuchuan was able to gain one more years worth of internal qi, and now, his internal qi had reached two and a half years worth in total.
I already knew this before I regressed, but it truly is amazing.
He couldnt help but marvel at the rate of qi umtion.
The cultivation arts of the righteous faction were ordinarily called orthodox. Orthodox cultivation methods prioritized stability. As it was a straightforward path, the chances of encountering a cultivation deviation was pretty low as long as they could stick to the right path.
The disadvantage was that the rate at which the cultivators could umte internal qi, as well as their training speed, was rather low.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, cultivation arts that were deemed demonic often allowed for incredibly fast umtion of qi and advancements in cultivation.
However, as with everything, it came with its own set of downsides. Demonic cultivation arts had too many side effects. They werent called demonic for no reason.
For example, the cultivators minds would be tainted by demonic aura, turning them into fiends. They would crave human meat, or have abnormal amounts of lust. There were uncountable types of side effects.
The Plum Blossom Life Art, however, had a qi umtion rate that rivaled demonic cultivation arts despite being an orthodox cultivation technique. To be precise, it wasnt as good as a true demonic cultivation art, but it might as well be a pseudo-demonic cultivation art.
Phew, I had a fulfilling day today too.
At around five in the evening, Zhou Xuchuan headed to his masters abode after his daily routine.
Standing in front of the door, he adjusted his attire and dusted the dirt off his clothes.
Cough, cough!
Zhou Xuchuan flinched. He stopped on the spot and his eyes widened.
What he had just heard from behind the doorwas Liu Zhengmus coughing.
Master!
He could never forget his masters voice even until the moment he died. He was the only man whom Zhou Xuchuan could call family. He was someone that Zhou Xuchuan had relied on even after getting older.
Im only nine this year. Its not that time yet.
Zhou Xuchuan had around five years left of his life, only five years.
As with every illness, the earlier its discovery, the better it would heal. If it were to be discovered toote, it could be beyond healing. Zhou Xuchuan had no idea what the disease was exactly, so in the worst-case scenario, he might have to do something now.
Zhou Xuchuan had endlessly worried about this during the past two months of training and cultivation.
I have no choice but to ask the Divine Physician to diagnose him after all.
The Divine Physician.
He was called that because he had surpassed all the famed physicians of this era. He was truly a living legend.
The Era Of War And Chaos was truly full of experts and entric masters that couldnt be found in any other era. The Divine Physician was one such person, and he would die and disappear into the annals of history during the Era Of War And Chaos.
But how do I call him over?
The Divine Physician wasnt someone Zhou Xuchuan could order around toe as he wished to. Above all, while he may be called the Divine Physician right now, he was once called the Freak Physician and had a very weird temper. It was very difficult to earn his favor, and threatening him did not work either.
There were even popr stories of him ignoring the requests of the Head of the Martial Alliance, as well as important elders of the alliance.
I remember the Divine Physician being obsessed over rare medical books
As someone at the peak of medical knowledge, the Divine Physician collected and studied many different types of medical books. Many believed that he had every medical book in the Central ins.
It was fortunate that they were medical books and not martial arts manuals, as that might have caused a bloodstorm around him.
In any case, it was rumored that the Divine Physician went crazy over medical books that he had nevere across before.
There were many precedents where people looked for medical books in order to get diagnosed by him, and thanks to that, the price of already expensive medical books escted rapidly.
Should I spread rumors that Mount Hua has some medical books?
It wasnt a bad method, but Zhou Xuchuan believed it wasnt enough. There was no way the Divine Physician would move based on rumors alone.
He tried to think of other methods aside from that, but he couldnt find anything better than what he had already considered.
The most sure-fire method was the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
The appearance of the treasury in six years would move even the Divine Physician, who had very little interest in the matters of the martial world.
A medical book hidden in the treasury was probably enough to ask him for a diagnosis and even treatment.
However, Zhou Xuchuan was too young and was restricted in his movements. He couldnt even leave the sect as he wished to. On top of that, there was a considerable distance between Mount Hua and the treasury, and above all, his cultivation was too weak, which would bring a myriad of problems.
The way he was now, he would lose his life in vain at the hands of bandits or wanderers while roaming around the world.
No, in the first ce, it was impossible for him to leave the sect under the surveince of the older generation.
Ive already thought multiple times about how to bring the Divine Physician here isnt there another way?
Due to the circumstances he was in, he couldnt put any of his ns into practice despite knowing what was happening in the future. That sense of powerlessness made him infuriated.
Zhou Xuchuan calmed down his anger and started to think about other methods to save his master.
Arent there any pills that the Divine Physician concocted?
The Divine Physician was at the peak of all medical fields, with concoction of medicine being one of them. Naturally, those medicines were traded for insanely high prices, befitting of his title.
They were one of the few priceless items in the world.
Zhou Xuchuan ruled that option out since it wasnt like he had a lot of money in hand.
No, wait, it doesnt have to be the Divine Physician''s pill!
Zhou Xuchuan tapped on his knees and stood up.
There are spiritual medicines!
Spiritual medicines were naturally-urring medicines that contained the qi or essence of nature, and brought an increase in internal qi for normal cultivators.
However, being medicines, they were also used for treatment aside from increasing cultivation.
Why didnt I think of this?
Zhou Xuchan smacked his head, ming his own stupidity. He was trying to walk a roundabout path when he had the shortcut right in front of him.
Lets see, I believe a few spiritual medicines were found.
He could think of three or four off the top of his head. One of them happened to be near Mount Hua.
The Water Spiritual Fruit!
This was discovered around twenty yearster, during the Era Of War And Chaos.
One wanderer was fleeing after getting injured during a war when he fell into a river and got caught up in a current.
Luckily, that wanderer managed to survive and arrive at an underwater cave that no one knew of, where he had a fortunate encounter.
For some curious reason, there was a tree growing in the underwater cave, and the fruit of that tree was the Water Spiritual Fruit.
That wanderer managed to see considerable advances in cultivation after consuming the fruit, and wouldter join the ranks of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
Truly, it was a fortunate encounter.
Thats good, that ce is not far from here!
The underwater cave was in a ce called Huayin City, which was located north of Mount Hua. Around that area was a river that flowed along the borders between the Shanxi Province, the Henan Province, and the Shaanxi Province, where Mount Hua was located.
This wanderer was quite talkative, and the ce became quite famous in the future to the point that it became a tourist attraction.
Of course, Mount Hua also searched every cave near this ce in search of another Water Spiritual Fruit. Thanks to that, even Zhou Xuchuan had a rather detailed knowledge of this ce.
Naturally, a few caves were discovered during the investigation, but not to mention the Water Spiritual Fruit, even the tree couldnt be found.
Its a fruit that propelled a third-rate wanderer to the realm of the hundred experts. The potential is there.
That wanderer was said to have obtained an immense quantity of internal qi after consuming the fruit.
Zhou Xuchuan hadplete faith that an energy of that scale couldpletely crush Liu Zhengmus disease by brute force.
Haha, it seems I was blinded by the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. I should learn to look a little farther.
Zhou Xuchuan repented his past actions.
Master said he will participate in the regr gathering thats happening in one week, so that will be my opportunity.
The regr gathering usuallysted about three to five days. That was enough time. This was his opportunity.
Chapter 6: Underwater Cave (1)
Liu Zhengmu set off for the regr gathering.
Ill be back in about four days, he said to Zhou Xuchan.
Have a good gathering, Master. Zhou Xuchuan saw him out and bowed politely.
Good, todays the day, Zhou Xuchan thought. Four days was enough. Not to mention the location of the underwater cave, he also knew where the water spiritual tree was.
Although it would be a little tiring, he could make it back to the sect in just three days instead of four if he pushed himself.
Exactly four hours after Liu Zhengmu descended the mountain, Zhou Xuchuan left Mount Hua.
Its not that difficult to leave the sect thanks to the disciples from the mundane world, especially those brats.
The disciples from the mundane world were normally the children of wealthy merchants or of noble families.
Among them, some of the less patient ones often felt stifled by themunity lifestyle in the sect, and often thought about leaving the sect in secret.The mostmon way to do that was a hole under an old wall in a rather barren ce on the outer perimeter of the sect. They would use that hole to leave the sect and drink wine, y with women, and do other deviant things before returning to the sect.
Although this secret passage was known to the core members of the sect, they just turned a blind eye to it.
The disciples from the mundane world would leave the sect after a year, or at most three years of training. Since they were going to leave anyway, it was better to let them be because it would be more problematicter if they were to resent the sect after they left.
This was especially true for those who were children of high-ranking officials or paid arge amount of money. The sect couldnt treat them badly.
That was why they decided to let the passage be and had an expert watch over it in secret in case someone decided to infiltrate from the outside.
In other words, it was pretty much a public secret that only those who used it thought that no one knew.
The core disciples of the sect also used this passage from time to time, but not many of them did. This was because, unlike the disciples from the mundane world, the core disciples had their masters to look out for.
Because of that, Zhou Xuchuan didnt have many opportunities to use this ce until today. An event like this usually only happened once a year.
Although there were five years left, he didnt have much free time.
He had to go while he still had the chance.
As for missing the morning routinetraining in Wild Goose Hellhe didnt need to worry about it.
Although the instructors were vignt over the disciples in the early stages where training was crucial, they didnt care as much once the children got used to going up and down the mountain. There was also arge number of disciples going up and down Wild Goose Hell every day, which made it impossible to take note of every single one of them. They could only look out for the disciples in the very early stages of training, when said disciples could hardly make it up the mountain.
***
Zhou Xuchuan descended the mountain alongside some other disciples who were from the mundane world, so that he didnt stand out.
Not to mention Liu Zhengmu, many of the core members of the sect were participating in the gathering, so a number of the disciples seized the chance to leave in secret.
Thanks to that, he wasnt blocked by any of the experts he presumed were hiding nearby.
His luggage included a few grain pills, some living necessities, as well as some pocket money he had saved up since he was young.
Phew! How many years has it been! Zhou Xuchuan eximed,ughing and taking a deep breath as soon as he descended the mountain. It had truly been a long time since he had a taste of the air outside Mount Hua.
Before his regression, he could hardly leave his post as a high elder because of work.
After his regression, he was pretty much forced to be within the sect walls, so he had never been anywhere close to the front gates.
Its cold. He observed, exhaling visibly in the chilly air. When he looked behind him, he saw the winter plum flowers.
Ugh, I cant believe I have to swim in this weather. Zhou Xuchuan shuddered, dreading the thought.
It just had to be winter when he could leave. The timing was terrible.
Zhou Xuchuan adjusted the sleeves of his cold-resistant clothing and double-checked his items and money.
Then, he proceeded toward Huayin using his lightness art.
Scattering Plum Steps!
Zhou Xuchuan trained in other martial techniques aside from the Plum Blossom Fist and the Plum Blossom Cultivation art.
One of them was the Scattering Plum Steps, a signature lightness art of Mount Hua.
Normally, only disciples around thirteen or fourteen would be able to start learning it, but that kind of age restriction was currently meaningless for Zhou Xuchuan. He even knew the Violet Haze Divine Art, which was only passed down to the sessive masters of the sect.
***
It took a whole day to reach Huayin.
Huff, huff, crap. He panted.
It was good that he had trained in lightness art, but unfortunately, the internal qi consumption of lightness arts was higher than that of sword techniques or footwork arts.
Zhou Xuchuan had thergest amount of internal qi among his peers, but that didnt mean that he could use a lightness art throughout the day.
It was exhausting, but as he had a limited amount of time, he did not stop walking. Thanks to that, he managed to arrive at his destination not too long after he expected he would arrive.
At least I didnt run into any bandits, which is fortunate.
As the Shaanxi Province was where Mount Hua and the Zhongnan Sect were located, security was on the better side.
Of course, it was only rtively betterpared to other ces, and it was not perfectly safe. Bandits and thieves did exist in this area.
That was why Zhou Xuchuan had disguised himself to look like he had nothing valuable on him.
He might be able to take on five bandits at once, but any more than that would be taxing on his stamina or qi, so he had to be careful.
That was why this matter was a slight gamble on Zhou Xuchuans part.
In any case, as soon as he arrived in Huayin, he rested briefly before buying some food from the local market and leaving the town immediately.
If someone picked a fight with him, then he would exhaust unnecessary stamina.
Children going around by themselves were easy targets for robbers, so he didnt spend any money eating at an inn.
There were many things that dragged him back because he was young, and he wished that he could grow up quickly.
For now, Ill warm up a bit.
He reached his destination without much difficulty. The path leading to the underwater cave was in a pretty memorable ce despite being deserted and the roads around here werentplicated, so he didnt get lost.
Haa, I really dont want to go inside
No water-based techniques were required to get to the underwater cave, and he could just dive into the water and swim there.
An ordinary person might risk running out of breath halfway through, but that didnt apply to martial artists who had lung capacities muchrger than normal people. Even someone as young as Zhou Xuchuan could get there.
The reason this ce wasnt discovered until now was that this ce was pretty remote and there was nothing around here.
In the first ce, a cultivator would rarelye to a remote ce like this on purpose and take a dive.
The wanderer that would discover this ce twenty yearster only did so because he fell into a river and woke up inside the cave due to sheer luck.
One, two, one, two.
Zhou Xuchuan warmed up his muscles through some exercise and took out his belongings before hiding them nearby.
Although this ce was remote and hardly anyone woulde here, there was the risk of wild animals taking his belongings, so he dug a hole in the ground and covered them with some dirt.
I hope I dont freeze to death!
Ssh-!
Zhou Xuchuan jumped into the river, causing water to ripple around him.
Dammit!
He couldnt help but swear inwardly as soon as he dove in. A cold sensation seeped through to his bones from his toes to his head. The water wasnt just cold but downright frosty.
It was like taking an ice-cold bath in the winter and then sticking ice against the skin.
Zhou Xuchuan regretted deeply not long after he dove into the water.
I shouldve mentally prepared myself more before jumping in!
He wanted to go back immediately but held that urge in. If he returned now, he would only suffer the same pain twice, and nothing else would change.
Above all, he couldnt dive in again and again. There was a limit to his stamina, and he had consumed a considerable amount in that jump just now due to the cold. If he were to try again, he could very well have an even harder time.
Get a hold of yourself, you fool!
He had obtained another opportunity at life, but maybe his nature had hardly changed.
Even before his regression, he had been no one great. He wasnt good at everything that he tried, and he was quick to give up and make excuses if things didnt go well.
If I can save my master by enduring this pain, Ill do it as many times as I like! Ill save him even if it means falling into the depths of hell!
He opened his eyes wide and clenched his teeth.
This matter concerned the only person whom he had considered family throughout his whole lifehis master, who had saved him, an orphan, and taught him cultivation.
He was a precious person who loved his foolish disciple from beginning to end and smiled until his veryst moment.
Zhou Xuchuan thought about Liu Zhengmus smile and kicked off in the water with great force.
***
Drip, drip-
Water droplets fell on the water.
Bubble, bubble-
The calm surface of the water suddenly started bubbling up, and a dark figure rapidly rose up to the surface.
Puha!
Zhou Xuchuan let out a deep breath as soon as he poked his head out of the water. Then he breathed deeply.
ck, ck, ck-!
Zhou Xuchuans teeth were chattering, and he was shuddering due to the cold. Hisplexion was as pale as a corpses.
Th-th-that almost k-killed me
Zhou Xuchuan was stuttering, unable to speak properly.
He had already left the water and was lying by the waterside, gasping for breath.
Thankfully, he had managed to get to the underwater cave in one attempt. He hadnt run out of breath either. It was actually rather doable.
Thanks to his qi, his breathing ability was higher than that of an average adult.
The problem was the water, which was colder than he had expected. It was cold beyond his imagination, and he had suffered quite a lot.
Zhou Xuchuan pinched his cheek to stay awake and massaged his numb limbs.
Then he sat up and circted his qi to drive out the cold and heat his body up.
His efforts seemed to be effective as hisplexion slowly returned to normal.
Haa
Zhou Xuchuan rxed and opened his eyes.
I cant believe Im so weak!
He had overestimated his young body andcking cultivation. It was much harder to endure than he had originally anticipated. He thought he took it too lightly because he didnt have as hard of a time when he came here in his previous life.
I dont have much time. I need to grab the Water Spiritual Fruit as soon as possible and return.
He still felt extremely cold, but it was not as bad as before.
Zhou Xuchuan stood up and walked along the cave.
Tap, tap-
His footsteps echoed in the silent cave.
Hm, I was worried that the darkness would be a hindrance, but its fortunate that theres moss here.
Although it wasnt that bright, there was luminescent moss growing on the rocks, lighting up the path.
Without that moss, Zhou Xuchuan would have had to walk against the wall with caution.
He would be able to see in front of him if he improved his eyesight with internal qi, but he had to leave some qi to return tond.
Around fifteen minutester, the cave, which was wide enough for two people to walk side by side, started bing wider. Eventually, it opened up into a clearing that wasrge enough to hold a hundred people.
I foundhup! Zhou Xuchuan gasped in shock.
Then he immediately got on the ground and covered his mouth.
What is that!
Chapter 7: Underwater Cave (2)
The ce he arrived at was indeed the underwater cave in his memories. The moss, which was the first thing he saw, covered the entire clearing while faintly glowing with a green hue.
What caught his eyes next was naturally the humongous tree, which made his jaw drop. The branches intertwined like aplex maze, and filled the whole ceiling alongside the moss.
The distinctive feature of the tree was that, unlike the trees outside, the leaves were aqua, not green.
Its trunk was so thick; Zhou Xuchuan believed it to be at least a thousand years old. The roots that held up the whole tree also branched out all across the floor.
The Underwater Spiritual Tree.
As its name suggested, it was a tree that could grow underwater. What was even more surprising was that it could grow without the presence of sunlight.
The Underwater Spiritual Tree was one of the rarest nts in existence, and not many of them existed all across the central ins.
However, the Underwater Spiritual Tree wasnt the cause of Zhou Xuchuans surprise. It wasnt that he had failed to discover the Water Spiritual Fruit either. Just as that wanderer had mentioned, he could see a blue fruit rolling on the ground.
However, there was one difference. Something that didnt exist even during his visit in his previous life was there.What the heck is that!
It was a snake.
Although it wasnt asrge as the Underwater Spiritual Tree that filled the whole clearing, it was definitely farrger than an average snake.
Zhou Xuchuan could tell from its length that the snake wasnt ordinary. It was at least five zhang in length and three chi in diameter from what he could tell.[1]
A spiritual being!
Animals and nts that possessed spiritual energy or special capabilities were called spiritual beings. The Underwater Spiritual Tree was one as well.
In the case of nts, having spiritual awareness did not mean they were dangerous. Normally, when a nt was considered dangerous, it was ssified separately as a poisonous nt.
However, spiritual animals were a different story, and most of them were dangerous. Despite being animals, they were just as intelligent as people, and they were powerful enough to threaten some experts.
Something as big as that is certainly
As Zhou Xuchuan had been alone most of the time in his previous life, he had read quite a lot of books. Some of them were about spiritual beings, and thanks to his endeavors, he knew more than most people.
Dammit, that thing must be hundreds of years old.
Spiritual snakes were ssified on the same level as dangerous beasts, as they had an immense boost in speed, strength, and above all, the imprability of their scales, which in some cases, were strong enough to deflect sword qi. The most fearsome of all was the poison in their fangs.
It seems to be asleep for now
Zhou Xuchuan had been regretting choosing toe to this ce in winter. However, it was the opposite right now. He was grateful that it was winter.
Snakes, be they spiritual or not, went into hibernation during winter. It was thanks to this that Zhou Xuchuan hadnt been discovered yet.
If I fight it, no, if I wake it up, Ill die.
A spiritual animal of that caliber could only be confronted by several Peak and Absolute Realm experts. It would be hard to deal with it without vajra qi, a symbol of a Harmony realm expert and a weapon that could cut better than any famed sword in existence.
In other words, it would be suicide for Zhou Xuchuan to go against that snake without the power he had attained in his previous life.
I didnt hear about such a thing existing in twenty years It probably didnt exist by then.
Considering the personality of that light-mouthed wanderer, he wouldve boasted of his survival against such a powerful snake. The fact that he hadnt heard about it meant that the snake wouldnt be there in twenty years.
As for why, Zhou Xuchuan couldnt tell. It might have been hunted down by another spiritual animal or reclusive expert, or it might have transformed into a demi-dragon.
However, that wasnt the case now. Now, twenty years prior to the original event, the snake was hibernating in this underwater cave.
He was extremely unlucky.
Do I have to escape?
Spiritual animals werent called spiritual for nothing. He could risk waking it up if he approached it, which would lead to his certain death.
But I dont want to go back at this point.
He raised his head to look at the Underwater Spiritual Tree. He could see a fruit under the humongous tree that overwhelmed himan aqua-colored fruit. It had to be the Water Spiritual Fruit.
He looked at other branches or roots, but the only sign of Water Spiritual Fruits he saw was the one on the ground.
That must be it.
He knew what the Water Spiritual Fruit looked like because that wanderer talked about it.
However
Right next to it was the gigantic head of the snake in deep hibernation. He couldnt summon the courage to approach it.
Zhou Xuchuan closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
Proceed? Or go back?
He didnt hesitate for long. He lowered his stance and masked his presence as much as possible. Then, he slowly moved forward like a turtle.
Master!
He would have the same opportunity next year, but he couldnt guarantee that the snake would no longer be here by then. If that thing nested itself here until he turned fourteen, it would be game over. Liu Zhengmu would die just like he did in his previous life. The sense of unease and fear instilled courage in Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan held his breath as he carefully approached the Water Spiritual Fruit.
His heart thumped in his chest.
He usually didnt care about what kind of sound his heart made, yet right now, it thundered in his ears.
Zhou Xuchuan nced at the snake as he moved silently.
I dont want to regret thister.
He had experienced plenty of regrets in his previous life. He still couldnt forget the frustration and resentment he had back then.
Huh?
When he approached, he could get a better look at the Water Spiritual Fruit. It was just big enough to fit in his palm. However, there was something differentpared to when he was observing from a distance.
Theres not one, but two?
He hadnt noticed because of the slope right behind it, but there turned out to be two Water Spiritual Fruits.
What luck!
He almostughed with joy. From the ounts of the wanderer twenty yearster, that man only consumed one. From what he could infer, this fruit would probably be damaged when the snake left this ce in the future.
Good, calm down. Calm down.
He bent down and reached his hand out, grabbing it to prevent any rolling or sound and put it in his bosom.
He sessfully obtained one fruit. Then, he picked up the other one quietly and put it in his bosom as well.
Yes!
He suppressed the urge tough and stood up. The snake hibernating next to him had yet to move. Zhou Xuchuan inwardly cheered and turned around.
Then, he froze on the spot.
Hisss-!
He could see golden eyes between the half-open eyelids. His own dumbfounded figure was reflected in its vertically slit irises.
He forgot how to breathe. No, his thought process stopped altogether.
The snake looked at Zhou Xuchuan with its half-open eyes. There was no murderous intent, nor were those the eyes of something looking for food.
It was entirely emotionless and as cold as the water of the river.
Drip-
A droplet fell on his head. It was water, not from the snake but from the ceiling.
He looked into the snakes eyes. In its eyes, he saw a nine-year-old boy, as well as satiety andziness.
The snake blinked its half-open eyes a few times before turning its head to the side as though it had lost interest.
THUD-!
Its head seemed to be considerably heavy as the entire cave shook when it settled down. And that was the end of it.
Zhou Xuchuan was unaware of whether the snake had fallen asleep again, or was in the process of doing so. He couldnt see its face after all.
He had been frozen on the spot, and he stood still for a while before walking again. He didnt know how much time had passed.
His mind had nked out and wasnt capable of continuing a thought process.
His hands were holding the Water Spiritual Fruit without letting them go.
Zhou Xuchuan went back the way he came, neither running nor even walking quickly.
He simply walked at a casual pace and submerged himself under the water again.
Ssh-
A head emerged from the water.
It was a child.
The child, Zhou Xuchuan, left the river.
When he had dived earlier, he could remember the sun being in the middle of the sky. However, as he surfaced, the sun was setting over the horizon, painting the sky red, and he thought that the color was beautiful.
Zhou Xuchuan climbed ontond extremely quietly, unlikest time and muttered with his expression still dazed, Holy shit
***
After safely obtaining the Water Spiritual Fruit, he returned to Mount Hua. It was on the third day after he left, right before lunch.
Liu Zhengmu returned from his gathering around dinner.
A few dayster, Zhou Xuchuan found himself in a dilemma.
How do I give this to Master?
Mount Hua didnt possess anything like the Water Spiritual Tree, and the appearance of these fruits was anything but ordinary.
Although they were the size of ordinary fruits, they were aqua in color. Anyone would be able to tell that they werent ordinary.
In the first ce, its too dangerous to not tell him that this is spiritual medicine.
Chewing and swallowing spiritual medicine wasnt the only thing there was to consume them. Spiritual medicine that possessed enormous energy like the Water Spiritual Fruit needed special caution when consuming it.
Anyone who ate it without proper preparations would be shocked by the sudden influx of energy. That panic would lead to loss of control and potentially lead to cultivation deviation.
Urgh.
He wouldnt be able to avoid suspicion no matter what he did. Buying spiritual medicine of this quality would cost a fortune, and iming that he picked it from the side of the road was simply ridiculous.
As a disciple of an orthodox sect, saying that he stole it from someone was out of the question, not to mention beyond his capability.
Zhou Xuchuan sighed repeatedly, feeling helpless.
Is something troubling you?
It didnt take long for Liu Zhengmu to figure out that his disciple was worried about something.
M-Master!
I could see that you were filled with worry during the past few days. If you cannot resolve it yourself, its not a bad idea to seek help from those around you.
Liu Zhengmu patted Zhou Xuchuan on the head as he always did.
Urgh.
Despite Zhou Xuchuans youthful appearance, he was an old man on the inside. Whether in age, experience, or even the understanding of martial arts, he was several levels above Liu Zhengmu.
However, the fact that he had regressed didnt seem to matter in front of Liu Zhengmu; in front of him, Zhou Xuchan always felt like a child.
Even aside from that, it was very difficult to hide something from his master. He could easily lie to others so that he didnt catch their attention. His acting skills were pretty decent and everyone was fooled by him.
That is, with the exception of Liu Zhengmu.
Right. Even if he suspects me and presses me for answers, I dont have a choice.
Zhou Xuchuan gulped. He had made a decision.
To save Master
What if the spiritual medicine expired today?
When he thought about that, he felt a chill run down his spine. Sure, he might be overthinking it. Even he believed that he was worrying excessively for no reason.
However, that "what if" tugged at his heart.
Zhou Xuchuan summoned the courage to bring out the Water Spiritual Fruit from his bosom.
Master, would you please eat this?
What is that?
A spiritual medicine.
Zhou Xuchuans responsecked any hint of hesitation.
Whoa
Liu Zhengmu was suddenly taken aback and couldnt help butugh. A boy who was only nine seemed to be troubled by something for days, suddenly took out what was allegedly a spiritual medicine, and told him to eat it.
Anyone would be taken aback in this situation.
...Mmm.
Liu Zhengmu groaned. His eyes were fixed on the aquatic fruit in Zhou Xuchuans hand.
Then, there was a moment of silence.
Liu Zhengmu was the one to break the silence.
1. Li (~500m), zhang (~3m), chi (~30cm), and cun (~3cm) are traditional Chinese measurement units. Their exact metric equivalents vary by time period, but this is a good rule of thumb. Also, this snake is about 5m longer than any snake in recorded history and three times as thick. ?
Chapter 8: Improvement Exercise (1)
Did you steal it?
Liu Zhengmu raised his head to look at Zhou Xuchuan.
No, I did not. Zhou Xuchuan shook his head in denial.
Did you steal it from someone else?
No, I did not.
Then did you deceive someone to take it?
Absolutely not.
Zhou Xuchuan kept denying the series of questions, his eyes filled with rity just like Liu Zhengmus. His eyes were also filled with determination as though he had resolved on something.
Then where did you get something like this?Its
Zhou Xuchuan told Liu Zhengmu the truth, but not the entire truth. He told Liu Zhengmu about leaving the sect in secret while thetter was away and visiting the underwater cave.
He didnt say something crazy like how he knew the future because he had turned back time.
However, he didnt make up any stories to rece it. No, to be precise, he couldnt bring himself to do so.
Hm. Liu Zhengmu knelt down thoughtfully. It seems youre hiding something from me.
Zhou Xuchuan was startled.
Although he didnt say anything, his expression betrayed his thoughts. How did he know?
Liu Zhengmu softly wrapped his hand around the Water Spiritual Fruit in Zhou Xuchuans hand.
I can tell from your eyes.
Master I
Its fine. Liu Zhengmu interrupted, taking the Water Spiritual Fruit. I believe you.
There was nothing after that.
That was it. There was no interrogation nor any questions asked. Liu Zhengmu simply decided to believe the words of the nine-year-old boy. While he had questions, he didnt ask them. He simply took the spiritual medicine that the boy brought.
Thats it?
It was instead Zhou Xuchuan who became confused.
How can you believe me without any suspicion?
It was him who wanted his master to not ask any questions about it, so this situation was strange even as he thought about it.
Hearing that question, Liu Zhengmu smiled gently, as he always did.
If a master does not believe in his disciple, who will? If I truly suspected you, I would have confronted you a year ago.
Zhou Xuchuans jaw dropped, and he was unable to hide his shock.
So he knew
Upon his return from the future a year ago, he acted like a child to avoid suspicion. He thought his act was perfect, but it turned out to be in vain. Liu Zhengmu truly knew everything.
Seeing Zhou Xuchuans shock, Liu Zhengmu smiled bitterly and added, I do not know what it is exactly. However, some time back, I could tell that you had matured, but you were trying to hide it.
There was a limit to how fast a child could grow. From what Liu Zhengmu had seen, his disciple was strange.
At first, he thought that the little boy under him was suffering from cultivation deviation. After all, it wasnt umon to train in a martial art the wrong way and go crazy.
Young children were supervised by their masters for a reason; they were immature and prone to making mistakes. However, no matter how many times he looked at Zhou Xuchuan, that didnt seem to be the case. He contemted the topic multiple times and made some deductions as well. However, nothing could exin why Zhou Xuchuan was acting as such.
In the end, he came to the conclusion that Zhou Xuchuan was indeed okay.
Youre hiding it because of some personal circumstances, I assume?
Zhou Xuchuans head bobbed up and down.
If thats the case, there must be a reason behind you bringing this spiritual medicine to me. Then I guess theres no helping it.
Liu Zhengmu enveloped Zhou Xuchuan in a reassuring hug.
Master thank you.
Zhou Xuchuan hugged his master tightly, tears streaming down his face as he buried it in Liu Zhengmus chest.
Liu Zhengmu patted Zhou Xuchuan on the back and cracked a joke.
You wet your clothes at night, but now youre wetting my clothes during the day.
Master thats a bit sob!
Zhou Xuchuan suddenly freaked out, still crying.
Liu Zhengmu, who had thought hard toe up with the joke, felt awkward. I tried to be funny did it not work?
***
Reaffirming the affection between master and disciple was good and all, but what was more important was the consumption of the spiritual medicine. Zhou Xuchuan exined the Water Spiritual Fruit to Liu Zhengmu so as to help him absorb the spiritual medicine more effectively.
Well, he didnt have to exin much. All he knew was that the spiritual medicine mainly contained water qi and wood qi.
Then Ill have to ask you to stand guard.
Liu Zhengmu consumed the Water Spiritual Fruit and started circting his qi.
Incredible.
The moment he closed his eyes and began to concentrate, he started feeling the energy from the medicine.
This was his first time eating a spiritual medicine. While Mount Hua, being arge sect, possessed its own stock of spiritual medicines, it didnt have an abundance of them to the point where it could hand them out to anyone.
Only a select few of the younger generation were given spiritual medicines, and even then, they would only receive one in their lifetime.
Yes, just like that whoa?
Liu Zhengmu was taken aback while circting his qi. Thankfully, he was able to maintain hisposure thanks to the Daoist cultivation technique allowing him to calm his emotions down.
Whats happening?
Although he had never consumed a spiritual medicine before, he knew about the general method of absorbing one through his extensive reading. When consuming spiritual medicine, a cultivator had to channel the energy from the spiritual medicine to their dantian by circting their qi and umting it just as they normally would.
In the case that the energy from the spiritual medicine was considerablyrge, the dantian and the meridians would not be able to endure and would break down if all the energy were to be transformed into internal qi at once. To prevent that, a cultivator would slowly shave away at the spiritual medicine to change its energy little by little into their own.
However, what happened in Liu Zhengmus body was totally different. In an instant, his qi started moving all by itself without him doing anything. It wasnt that his qi was going berserk either. If that happened, his meridians and organs would have been torn apart by the torrent.
The qi from the Water Spiritual Fruitin other words, the qi of water and wood attributesdisappeared deep into his body before he could do anything to it.
Cultivation deviation?
His heart and mind started shaking.
The first thing that came to his mind after that was
Hes only nine
the face of his disciple.
He did not suspect that there was something wrong with the spiritual medicine, nor did he worry about his own life or cultivation. He was only worried about his disciple.
And at that moment.
Whoa!
The water and wood qi that he thought had disappeared seeped into the depths of his body.
Thats how it is!
His worries and questions disappeared. The fog that clouded his vision disappeared at once.
At the same time, he came to a realization. Not enlightenment in the Dao or martial arts, but about the weak constitution he had from a young age.
There was something wrong with my innate true qi!
Qi that one was born with. The source of life, and the great mother nature. This was called the innate true qi.
Innate true qi was different from ordinary internal qi in that it was the source of life. Consuming it was akin to consuming ones life force. The power of the innate true qi was truly incredible, and using it allowed a cultivator to obtain great strength, but it would also kill them in a very short time.
Even if they did not use all of it, or were lucky enough to survive, the only fate that awaited them was bing a cripple or experiencing rapid aging. Also, what was consumed would never be restored. Use once, and that was it. This would be true even if one consumed spiritual medicine.
For Liu Zhengmu, something was wrong with his innate true qi.
Xuchuan has saved my life!
Liu Zhengmu stood up.
He wanted to rush to his disciple and give him a big hug.
***
Zhou Xuchuan was standing guard when he was startled by Liu Zhengmus appearance; it hadnt even been two hours since Liu Zhengmu had entered cultivation to consume the Water Spiritual Fruit.
At first, he was worried that something may have gone wrong, but he was relieved to hear his mastersughter.
Liu Zhengmu hugged Zhou Xuchuan and rejoiced for a long time before managing to tell him about what had urred within his body.
To be precise, the problem didnt seem to be with the innate true qi itself, but the vessel that contained it.
The vessel, Master?
Liu Zhengmu nodded at Zhou Xuchuans question.
Yes. Although it was minute, it seems my innate true qi had been leaking from somewhere.
Zhou Xuchuan didnt know much about the innate true qi. In fact, no one knew the details about it, whether in the past, present, or even in the future. Nothing was rified about it.
It was simply a concept that had been passed down since time immemorial. No one even knew where the innate true qi was located. It simply seeped out of somewhere when a cultivator focused their mind with the intent of using it.
The problem was that even those who used the innate true qi only had a vague sense and understanding of its usage, and did notprehend the principles behind it, whether they were some backstreet thugs or experts.
It turned out that, in the case of Liu Zhengmu, his innate true qi was slowly dissipating because the vessel that contained it was leaking.
That amount was a tiny speck, or maybe even less than that. However, it still had drastic effects on his body. The source of life was being consumed, so it was natural that it had bad effects on the body. It would instead be strange if nothing was wrong.
Even after cultivating and attaining higher realms, that had nothing to do with the innate true qi.
I see, now I get what mustve happened. The vitality of the wood qi must have healed the vessel of the innate true qi.
Zhou Xuchuan understood what happened through what little exnation Liu Zhengmu gave him. Although Liu Zhengmu was trying unsessfully to exin what happened, Zhou Xuchuan already knew more than enough to supplement his exnations.
In the first ce, if Liu Zhengmu knew about it, there was no way Zhou Xuchuan wouldnt, when he had reached the Harmony Realm before.
Wood is life. Although its not the genuine innate true qi, the vitality of the Water Spiritual Fruit can be a substitute. Thats how he supplemented his body.
Now, with the leak sealed, there was nothing else to worry about. The Water Spiritual Fruit seemed to have not only stopped the leakage but also replenished the lost innate true qi.
Wood qi, in other words, vitality, could recover innate true qi!
This discovery shattered the long-held belief that it could never be recovered.
But that was only possible because it was Master.
Liu Zhengmu had never used his innate true qi before. If he had, he wouldve died regardless of consuming the Water Spiritual Fruit. There was a problem with the vessel that contained it, which led to a minute amount that he couldnt even feel leaking out.
However, even that little amount required a very precious spiritual medicine like the Water Spiritual Fruit to recover.
The energy from the Water Spiritual Fruit was only used to fix the ws in his innate true qi, and he was unable to transform any of it into his internal qi. Liu Zhengmu had only be healthy, and had not managed to turn any of the energy contained in the spiritual medicine into his own power.
In the end, a cultivators innate true qi would not be consumed unless in dire situations. Liu Zhengmu warned Zhou Xuchuan about this.
It was just that Liu Zhengmu was just a very special case.
Forget it. Thats not whats important here, is it?
The important thing here was that the future had changed. Now, Zhou Xuchuan wouldnt need to worry about his master when he turned fourteen.
Liu Zhengmu would not die.
Decades ago, he had to part with his master for a reason he couldnt understand. He lost his only loved one, his only family. There were still many things that he had yet to learn.
And you can take this.
A Water Spiritual Fruit was ced into Zhou Xuchuans hand.
Master!
Zhou Xuchuan had obtained two Water Spiritual Fruits in the underwater cave. One of them was consumed, and now the remaining one was being offered to him.
Do not tell me to keep it just in case. I know my body better than you do. Your master is okay.
Then you can use it to increase your cultiv
Thats even more of a reason for you to use it.
Liu Zhengmu seemed to have no intentions to yield on this matter.
Zhou Xuchuan tried to persuade him, but he gave up after seeing Liu Zhengmus stern expression. Liu Zhengmu was very gentle and kind, but he was very firm when he had made a decision. Zhou Xuchuan knew this very well.
Yes, its okay now. Lets not push it any further.
The master epted his disciples nonsensical words without asking further questions, instead saying that he believed in him.
Zhou Xuchuan''s prior actions were disrespectful enough to his master. Only someone like Liu Zhengmu would not get back at him for such matters.
Yes, Master.
Good.
Only then did a smile return to Liu Zhengmus lips.
Chapter 9: Improvement Exercise (2)
Around a month passed.
The winter plum flowers had yet to fall.
The outside world was still covered with snow, ice-cold winds whistling through the trees. The fourth-generation members of the sect were busy sweeping the sect.
Phew
Zhou Xuchuan opened his eyes.
I finally made it all mine.
One month ago, Zhou Xuchuan consumed the Water Spiritual Fruit. However, the energy contained within was muchrger than he had expected. With his current body of a child and his level of cultivation, he could not absorb all of it in one go. As such, he had spent a month slowly digesting all of the energy so that it didn''t leave any side effects on his body. The total amount he had managed to absorb was equal to what he would have gotten in thirty years of cultivation.
Thirty whole years! He had umted so much qi in just one month!
He originally had two and a half years worth of internal qi, andbined with half a years worth of energy he had umted through Plum Blossom Life Art during the past month, his internal qi amounted to thirty-three years worth.What a pity. Zhou Xuchuan licked his lips regretfully.
The qi contained by the Water Spiritual Tree was considerable. He couldve umted double the amount he had gained if he was lucky. Unfortunately, his body was unable to contain all of it.
Keep pouring water into a cup, and the cup would eventually overflow.
The same principle applied to the dantian. Zhou Xuchuans dantian was too small to absorb all of the energy from the Water Spiritual Fruit, and consequently unable to make all of the sixty years worth of energy his.
But its not that I wasted it, so lets leave it at that.
The remaining half was invested into his blood vessels and qi meridians. He widened the passages and strengthened them so that they could withstand the increased flow of energy. Forcefully widening those vessels when they were supposed to grow naturally brought about extreme pain.
Thankfully, he didnt suffer from any internal injuries thanks to his internal qi, as well as the healing properties of the water and wood qi. The experience was painful but not damaging.
Phew, I finally reached the final stage of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art.
The reason he had been forced to stop at the tenth stage before was hisck of internal energy. With that insufficiency nowpensated for, his cultivation realm naturally advanced.
You have finally made all the energy within the spiritual medicine yours. Every day must have been painful. Well done,plimented Liu Zhengmu, who was standing guard for him.
During the past month, Zhou Xuchuan had observed his masters health carefully. Fortunately, he hadnt spotted any signs of illness, such as coughing, ever since Liu Zhengmu had consumed the spiritual medicine. However, as it had only been a month, Zhou Xuchan couldn''tpletely dismiss his concerns and continued to observe carefully.
Hm, thirty-three years Liu Zhengmu eximed after examining his disciple. Spiritual medicines sure are amazing.
It was definitely not normal to possess so much internal qi at the age of nine, even for arge sect like Mount Hua. In the case ofrge families, they could splurge on spiritual medicines for one person if there was only a single heir. However, aside from such rare circumstances, spiritual medicines werent handed out readily.
Therefore, even if someone was given spiritual medicines, that would only happen once they were evaluated based on their talent, as well as their character, after they had be adults.
Good. I think its time for you to begin the improvement exercises. From today, youll start training with your master.
Improvement exercises? Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head when he heard the unfamiliar term.
He wasnt sure if he couldnt remember it, or if this was the first time he was hearing it, but he had no recollection of it from his past life.
Seeing his confusion, Liu Zhengmu smiled softly and exined, Its an exercise method I came up with in order to do something about my weak constitution. The name is something I came up with at random, and you may think of it as a training method for the body.
In the past, Liu Zhengmu had tried very hard in order to improve his physique that was weaker than those of his peers. His efforts continued well after he failed to make it into the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
As such, he delved into a variety of methods and one of them was his improvement exercise, which he developed by himself.
But in my previous life, he didnt teach me anything like that
Zhou Xuchuans question was resolved by Liu Zhengmu.
Currently, thirty-three years'' worth of cultivation lies dormant within you. Its truly an incredible amount.
Liu Zhengmu was unaware of the Plum Blossom Life Art. He thought that thirty-two years worth of internal qi out of the thirty-three was gained from consuming the spiritual medicine.
However, that cannot purely be considered a good thing.
Huh, what does that mean?
Zhou Xuchuan was confused by Liu Zhengmus words. He may have obtained a lot of additional internal qi, but he put in a lot of effort in order to absorb the energy properly and use it efficiently throughout his body. He naturally used all the knowledge he had gained in his previous life, so now that he was told that it wasnt necessarily good, he couldnt help but tilt his head.
While he felt extremely apologetic for thinking this, he knew way more than his master if they were topare their knowledge regarding martial arts.
In the martial world, theres a saying that goes, Healthy qi resides in a healthy body.
This was referring to the harmony between the body and the internal qi.
Bnce is very important. The human body is much more delicate than people make it out to be, and its prone to breaking down if the bnce isnt maintained. This is the current state of your body.
I get it now!
Zhou Xuchuan nodded in understanding. It wasnt like he had just realized something new; he had a very good idea about how things worked. It was just that he now understood what his master was getting at.
Geez, I cant exactly tell him that I know all this.
There was no way he was unaware of something so important. Rather, he was nning to slowly take his time training his body.
Hm, I see now. Its not that I dont remember. It just never happened.
In his previous life, forget bnce, he was barely keeping up with his masters teachings. There was no way Liu Zhengmu would teach his pupil this independently developed physical training method when thetter was in such a state.
Im looking forward to that.
Zhou Xuchuan pretended to be excited about learning something new, but there was another reason for his joy. This would be a memory he hadnt gotten to make with his master in his previous life.
Tsk, but is exercise going to be enough? I might have to train on my own in secretter
The exercise method was devised for someone with a weak constitution. He had doubts about how helpful it would be to him.
It wont be anything much, will it?
Zhou Xuchuan smiled foolishly as he looked at Liu Zhengmu.
***
Three days had passed since Zhou Xuchuan began the improvement exercise.
Humans always have regrets, regardless of age or gender.
The same was true for Zhou Xuchuan.
He cursed at his own self for rejoicing like a fool three days ago. He inwardly howled, chastising himself for underestimating the exercise.
Gaaaaaaaaaagh!
He felt terrible pain all over his body. This kind of pain was something he had rarely experienced even in his previous life. No, this was certainly the most excruciating pain he had felt across both lives.
Somethings wrong here, he thought as he felt pain from his armand every other part of his body.
His bones creaked, as if they were about to snap, and his muscles felt like they would tear at any moment.
He had lost a few fingernails, and his hands were filled with blisters. The pain that stemmed from them was intolerable.
Three days ago, he started the improvement exercise.
At first, they started with regr workouts. He stretched and exercised just as Liu Zhengmu instructed him. At this point, it was nothing more than normal exercise.
After that, he was told to repeatedly run one zhang back and forth using a lightness art.
When he did as he was told, he used up his internal energy in no time.
Liu Zhengmu praised him, then led him by the hand to a new location. It was the bottom of a cliff.
Now, you just have to climb this.
...What? Zhou Xuchuan momentarily doubted what he had heard.
Mount Hua was the Western Mountain of the Five Famed Mountains of the Central ins, and was widely praised for being a spiritual mountain. Its appearance was also rather incredible, making the onlookers dazed with its beauty.
However, a beautiful rose has its thorns.
This famous spiritual mountain was also notorious for being hard to climb, and not many people aside from cultivators tried to climb it.
The Lotus Peak, where the sect was located, had paved paths leading to it, so it was easier to climb. However, the same wasnt true for the other regions. Any cultivator below Second ss would find it challenging.
Now, Zhou Xuchuan found himself climbing a cliff so tall that he couldnt see the top of it, and so wide that he couldnt see any of the terrain around it.
Put a little more effort in. Youre like this because this is your first time. Its not that hard!
He could hear his masters voice above him.
This is not that hard?
Zhou Xuchuan gulped and shivered as he stayed glued to the wall.
All ten of his fingers had cuts from the rocks of the cliff. Some of the wounds had traces of solidified blood, and the number of cuts increased whenever he moved his hands.
These wounds werent the problem, however; it was the pain from all the muscles in his body that was tormenting him to no end. His whole body was tense.
He couldnt rx either as he might fall off the cliff if he were to do so, and he would not get off intact if that were to happen.
He was exhausted, aching, and had injuries all over his hands. The training was just that tough. No, in the first ce, pushing a nine-year-old boy like this was strange. Sure, he might have more internal energy than others, but climbing up a cliff? Something was definitely wrong here.
I was totally off the mark!
Zhou Xuchuan deeply regretted underestimating this so-called "improvement exercise."
As it was an exercise for someone with a weak constitution to improve their health, he thought that it would be akin to stretching.
However, his thought process was wrong.
The Gentle Smiling Swordsman, Liu Zhengmuhe had underestimated what kind of man his master was.
Liu Zhengmu was someone who became a candidate for the ranks of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen despite his weak constitution, which put him at a severe advantage. It wasnt something that mere talent could fill up.
He had definitely put in several times more effort than others. It had been impossible for him to fix his condition, after all, which meant he had to put in extra effort in order to bridge that gap.
Although he eventually had to give up joining the Plum Blossom Swordsmen due to his constitution, his efforts and skill werent lost.
In truth, the assessment of Liu Zhengmu within Mount Hua was considerably good, and many people felt regretful because of it.
In any case, would such a person have used lenient methods to make up for the deficiencies of his constitution? Naturally, no.
Urrrrgh!
He started climbing with all his might again. His whole body was screaming at him to stop, but he persisted.
This is ridiculously difficult!
He gained newfound respect toward his master.
Climbing up the cliff without the use of internal qi. This was definitely effective.
Cultivators often subconsciously used their internal qi to lessen the burden and pain on their body. This was because internal qi protected the functions of the body. However, this led to the training being less effective.
The human body became stronger after being broken, torn, and injured. It was just like iron. The more it was struck, the farther the endurance would evolve. ording to this theory, climbing up the cliff like this was the most optimal way to train.
Zhou Xuchuan had consumed all of his internal qi, and he could risk dying if he rxed just a little, so he had to be tense constantly. Naturally, this taxed the muscles, and consequently trained them. Having to use his strength continuously also aided in the training. In a way, this kind of training was perfect.
However, there were three downsides.
Master, Im really going to die at this rate.
First, he only had one life.
Im only nine years old this year. My body needs to grow, and honestly, I think this is too much.
Second, his body was still that of a child. If he overexerted it, there might be problems with his growth in the future.
Ooh! Thats a great point youre bringing up. Its okay. Your body contains more internal qi than you realize, so that problem will be resolved when you circte your qiter. Internal qi is also life itself after all.
Did he find out?
Zhou Xuchuan knew that much. Of course he did. In fact, in this regard, he was much better off than Liu Zhengmu thought he was.
The recovery rate and growth stimtion that came from the vitality of the Plum Blossom Life Art were near the level of perfection.
As for the third andst point
Master, please help me out just this once. I really cant hold on anymore. Im going to cry.
The exercise was terribly difficult. The pain made even someone like Zhou Xuchuan, who had experienced a whole life, want to give up. Leaving aside the second point, this point was just as important as the first one.
If he rxed and gave up, he would die. The mental pressure from that pointbined with the physical pain was exhausting both mentally and physically.
Undergoing this exercise quietly was far from normal.
Goddammit.
He felt like he was going to cry.
Zhou Xuchuan had never been the kind of person to be associated with ideas like effort and desperation in the first ce. He had just been lucky enough to survive, and fortunate enough to enter the ranks of high elders.
That personality had not changed since he regressed. In the first ce, the ns he made after his regression were the crystallization of not wanting to put in the effort, and so was the case for cultivating the Plum Blossom Life Art.
It was all because it would allow him to achieve more results for less effort than what other people put in.
In the case of the Water Spiritual Fruit, he was only desperate to get it because it was the only method to save his masters life.
Though he admired heroes, he was far from being one.
Yes, I imagine it is very hard Liu Zhengmu wore a sad look as he looked down at his disciple. His eyes teared up and his gaze wavered.
Master! Zhou Xuchuan smiled brightly after seeing Liu Zhengmus face.
But the pain is momentary. It will soon pass.
What?
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t believe what he was hearing.
I too asked myself the same question several times while climbing the same cliff you are on right now. And I managed to do it by clenching my teeth and climbing. Im sure youll be able to seed as well.
Liu Zhengmu smiled as he always did, clenching his hand as though to encourage Zhou Xuchuan to do his best.
Ah
Zhou Xuchuan felt a wave of despair wash over him upon seeing that smile.
Master, you were that kind of person?
In the world of cultivators, there was a phrase that went like this: Even if you can do it yourself, do not tell others that they can do the same thing. Cultivators or not, people have their own different limits.
I did it, so you can do it tooit was one of the misguided teachings in the world.
Of course, considering the environment alone, Zhou Xuchuan was much better off than Liu Zhengmu. Back then, Liu Zhengmu didnt possess cultivation that superseded his peers, nor were his body and mind far more developed than his peers like Zhou Xuchuans were.
His willpower was the only thing he had. At that time, he started climbing the cliff by himself without anyones help, even though his master did not tell him to do so.
Thinking of such an idea and putting it into practice wasnt something that anyone could do. Even now, Zhou Xuchuan couldnt help but find it amazing. Even Zhou Xuchuan of the previous life would not be able to go so far, much less the one in this life.
When it came to effort, Liu Zhengmu was second to none in the entire sect, a stark contrast to Zhou Xuchuan.
I cant do this.
Thats okay! I will be here with you throughout the night, and even until dawn! If youre hungry, well just eat grain pills together! Liu Zhengmu shouted in an attempt to cheer Zhou Xuchuan up.
Boom-
The word together echoed like thunder in Zhou Xuchuans ears, making him panic.
His masters words of encouragement echoed, causing gravel to fall from above him.
I really dont want to think like this, but
Zhou Xuchuan wore a tearful expression.
My master is terrible at teaching!
Liu Zhengmu was an upright person. He was truly a straightforward person. Put it in another way, he didnt know how to take shortcuts, and was very stubborn. In other words, he was the type of person filled with the mindset of effort and willpower will eventually lead you to sess!
Ah, Master is such a humane person!
He was bestowed with the talent and willpower, but at the same time, a weak constitution.
He was bestowed with a splendid personality and nature, as well as stubbornness.
I am truly sorry. I also do not wish to cause you such pain. However, if I let you be, youll bezy relying on that massive internal qi of yours
Liu Zhengmu truly suffered along with his only disciple as he watched the boy climb up the cliff. He was usually an affectionate man and couldnt be harsh on others, so he wanted to go help his disciple immediately.
Thats totally fine with me, Master. If I think about it, its okay even if I be a littlezy. Im already ahead, arent I? Zhou Xuchuan said nervously.
No, I cannot let such a thing happen for the sake of your future. Please forgive your master. No, resent me all you want.
No, Master. Im truly okay. I was wrong. I wont bezy, so I hope you can look for another way with me. Master, help me out just this once.
Zhou Xuchuan was slowly losing grip in his hands. He had rested for too long. He had to start climbing again, but he really didnt want to do so.
This is a w I didnt know my master had before I regressed. Its a punishment for my rudeness!
He truly hadnt thought that Liu Zhengmu had such a side to him.
Well, it wasnt surprising. In his previous life, Zhou Xuchuan had his hands full just following the normal training schedule given to him by his master, while Liu Zhengmu was suffering from his condition.
Thanks to that, there hadnt been an opportunity for Liu Zhengmu to teach Zhou Xuchuan properly like this.
Im really, really tired. Ill die at this rate.
Zhou Xuchuans voice became desperate.
Its fine if you hate me for not being able to help you. So let us do our best together. I believe in you.
Liu Zhengmu smiled with a teary face. His smile was like that of the Heavenly Lord Tianzun. The fog around them disappeared, the clouds receded, and the smile shone down like a ray of bright light within the darkness.
Seeing that smile, Zhou Xuchuan also smiled and thought to himself, Goddammit Im screwed
Chapter 10: The Sword Technique of Mount Hua (1)
The bone-chilling winds stopped, and animals in hibernation started waking up one by one. The snow dyeing the world white melted away, and the warm rays of the sun brought beautiful flowers to life.
The plum flowers blooming right now were called the early plum, named for being the first plum to blossom in the year.
Along with the winter, one year went by, and Zhou Xuchuan was now ten.
It had been a few months since he started climbing the cliff under the name of "improvement exercise."
Well done. Liu Zhengmu smiled, tearing up. The past few months must have been challenging, but you persevered. Now, you no longer need to climb the cliff.
Then he proceeded to wipe his eyes with his sleeves, proud of his disciple who had carried out his teachings to the end.
No more cliffs no more cliffs no more cliffs please, no more cliffs, please no more encouragement. Rocks are falling from the sky Zhou Xuchuan muttered in a daze.
His eyes looked like that of a dead fish. The so-called improvement exercise happened for months. Well, it was more akin to hellish training than a mere improvement exercise.
Inparison, the Wild Goose Hell was nothing. Despite pushing them to their limits, there wasnt any threat to their lives. It just ended with pain.The cliff climbing, however, was a different story. Even the slightest moment of rxation was dangerous. Zhou Xuchuan had slipped off the cliff on numerous asions because he misstepped or dozed off.
Above all, what he hated the most was that he couldnt cry at his master and tell him to stop.
If he were to, for example, say that he couldnt continue, Liu Zhengmu''s thunderous voice echoed, Its okay, you can do it!
The problem was that his voice was filled with passion and encouragement that gravel and rocks were shaken off the surface of the cliff.
Zhou Xuchuan didnt even want to think about what happened during those times. The well-intended encouragement had nearly cost him his life on more than one asion, so he ultimately decided to stopining.
Stop?
He wanted to hundreds if not thousands of times. However, when he barely managed to reach the top of the cliff, Liu Zhengmu rushed over in a sh and embraced him before speaking apologetically.
Im very sorry that I had to put you through this. But I cannot help it because this is for your sake. Resent me instead.
He was the only person whom he could call family in both his previous life and current life. When such a person apologized several times with his face filled with guilt, he couldnt bring himself to say that he wanted to quit.
Id rather he beat me up with a club instead
If that happened, he wouldve really snapped and rebelled or something. In this case he couldnt do anything.
Ultimately, he couldnt bring himself to stop the improvement exercise, including the dreaded rock climbing, and ended uppleting it.
Although he had an easier time the more he repeated it, it just meant that he had be more proficient, and the danger still remained the same.
Whenever he slipped or rocks tumbled down, his life shed before his eyes multiple times.
Fortunately, the effect of the training was just as good as it was dangerous. During the past few months, Zhou Xuchuan had grown a lot. He would be dragged by his master to climb up the cliff as soon as he started resting after morning training at the training district.
At first, it took the whole day to climb to the top, with numerous breaks in between due to how difficult it was. However, Zhou Xuchan soon came to regret taking those breaks.
He realized that the danger grew as night fell, and after that realization, he rarely took a break, no matter how difficult it was.
He only took minimal rest and focused on climbing up the cliff before evening.
After he finished climbing, he would return to his residence and massage his muscles. He would then replenish his empty dantian through qi cirction before falling asleep.
This kind of training method had significant benefits. The constant rock climbing increased his stamina and muscr strength. The climb taxed his body, especially his muscles, which were then healed by the internal energy he recovered through qi cirction he did before sleeping.
As a result of the repeated training every day, he grew rapidly. Zhou Xuchuan was only ten years old, but looked to be fourteen on the outside. Zhou Xuchuan was worried that he might not grow in height thanks to the excessive growth, but thankfully, he grew taller as well.
This was thanks to the internal energy from the Water Spiritual Fruit, as well as the vitality and recovery he had gained through the Plum Blossom Life Art.
***
The next day, the first thing he felt when he opened his eyes was relief. He couldnt help but smile when he thought about how he didnt have to deal with the dangerous rock climbing anymore.
If someone questioned him about breaking his routine from the past few months, he might be tempted to p them in the face.
Zhou Xuchuan trained the Plum Blossom Fist in the training district just as usual.
Hm?
The instructor, Tie Xiong, looked at Zhou Xuchuan.
Hes hitting a growth spurt, huh? Hes grown again.
The fact that a ten-year-old looked like a fourteen-year-old was unusual, but it wasnt like it was unprecedented.
Unlike the outside world, meals were bnced and were eaten regrly, and most of their time was spent moving or training their bodies, so it would be more surprising if they didnt experience such growth.
Zhou Xuchuan, huh. He is learning the Plum Blossom Fist pretty quickly. Hell grow up pretty decent.
Tie Xiong smiled in satisfaction at the thought.
Huu, I wonder what Im going to be doing today.
Zhou Xuchuan returned to his residence. He had already reached the final stage in the Plum Blossom Fist. It wasnt that difficult in the first ce, and he had mastered it in his previous life.
Originally, he would be going to the cliff at this hour, so it felt very awkward to stay in his residence like this. However, that awkwardness was pleasant.
About fifteen minutester, the door opened, and Liu Zhengmu came in.
Master.
You seem pleased. Liu Zhengmu smiled softly.
Yes, Im so happy that Im not going to the cliff.
He almost blurted his thoughts out loud. He felt like Liu Zhengmu would say, "Do you hate being with your master that much?" and sulk.
You feel the urge to move, dont you?
No I mean, yes. A little.
He just wanted to lie down and not move a muscle, seriously.
Haha, I knew youd say that. Well,e outside for now.
He followed Liu Zhengmu outside. The two of them went to a personal training ground nearby. Although it wasnt thatrge, they were alone here.
Liu Zhengmu pointed at the wooden sword he had prepared beforehand.
There, use that one for today. Starting today, Ill teach you how to use the sword.
Aah, its that time already.
Mount Hua was known for its swordy. The martial arts of the sect only truly began once one held a sword. That was how important the sword was. It was a sentiment shared by the disciples, as well as the masters and instructors of the sect.
Before holding the sword, they focused on training the body and its resilience. In his previous life, Zhou Xuchuan was overjoyed when his master promised to teach him swordsmanship.
Well then. Ill now demonstrate the sword technique that you will be learning. This is the Plum Blossom Sword.
Liu Zhengmu executed the basic sword art of Mount Hua, the Plum Blossom Sword Art. He purposely slowed down his movements so that the disciple could clearly engrave it into his eyes.
Hm.
Zhou Xuchuan sat down on the floor in a corner of the training ground and watched as his master disyed the art.
I know all of it already.
He was one of the Five High Elders before he hade back in time, and he had reached the Harmony Realm just before he died. In regards to sword arts, he had surpassed Liu Zhengmu in terms of skill.
The Plum Blossom Sword Art was so easy that there was no need to practice. He just needed to get used to executing them just like he did with the Plum Blossom Fists.
No, he didnt even need that much time. The Plum Blossom Fist and the Plum Blossom Sword Art shared nearly identical foundations, and as long as one knew the foundations, they could easily perform the other. There was a reason why the Plum Blossom Fist was taught first.
However, this didnt mean that he could simply tell his master that he knew the Plum Blossom Sword Art better than he did. In the end, he had no choice but to act like he was really interested.
Hm, he is a Peak Realm expert, huh
After Third ss, Second ss, and First ss, a cultivator would reach the Peak Realm. Only then would a martial artist be considered an expert.
From what I remember, Master passed away just before reaching the Absolute Realm.
Recalling his previous life brought mixed emotions, especially when it involved his master, who had been a father figure to him.
Liu Zhengmuy in bed, his eyes closed in difort. He didnt want to picture hisst moments even now.
In any case, Liu Zhengmu was at the top, even in the Peak Realm. He was one step away from the Absolute Realm, but he was ultimately unable to ovee that boundary.
...Huh?
As he followed the Plum Blossom Sword Art with his eyes, a thought suddenly dawned on him.
What mastercks is not internal qi, but enlightenment. If I can teach him that
Martial artists, especially those who were unable to break through to the next realm, often sought advice from other cultivators. This was true for both novices and experts. Both of them listened to the words of experts more powerful than them. Most times, insights from those that had already broken through to the next realm would provide clues for those looking to advance.
Although it wasn''tmon in the real world, there were many people in seeking out experts for that very enlightenment.
Yes, thats it!
He snapped back to reality.
If he is unable to break through to the next realm because of hisck of enlightenment, I can just help him.
It was fortunate that Liu Zhengmu was in the Peak Realm. If he happened to be in the Absolute Realm, struggling to reach the Harmony Realm, even Zhou Xuchuan wouldnt be able to help him then.
The sturdiness of that barrier was one thing, but experts of the Harmony Realm each had their own unique ways and enlightenments that allowed them to reach that state.
I dont need to teach him either. If I just check what he wants to know and give him a clue
Martial arts was just like studying, and telling someone the answer was meaningless. Knowing the answer didnt meanprehension. Not only would it not resolve the problem, it might instead make the barrier sturdier.
Good, lets try.
For some reason, it seemed like the role between master and disciple had been reversed, but he couldnt care about something so trivial. His master was the one who saved him when he was a helpless orphan thrust into this world with no knowledge.
To Zhou Xuchuan, his master was the sky and the whole world. Even the Head of the Martial Alliance or the emperor wouldnt begin topare to him.
Even after he hade back in time, his respect and gratitude toward his master had remained unchanged, and he was willing to be a bloodthirsty devil if it was for his sake.
Master is definitely not someone who will stay in the Peak Realm.
Chapter 11: The Sword Technique of Mount Hua (2)
A week flew by as Zhou Xuchuan practiced the Plum Blossom Sword Art under Liu Zhengmus guidance. At the same time, he wondered how he would give his master enlightenment.
He had free time to think about other things because he already had a perfect understanding of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
However, because he was immersed in his thoughts, Zhou Xuchuan failed to notice one thing: his master was watching him.
Unbelievable!
Liu Zhengmu couldnt hide his shock after seeing Zhou Xuchuan swing the sword.
I knew something was extraordinary about him since one year ago, but I didnt know it was to this extent!
As one of the foundational skills, the Plum Blossom Sword Art was easy. It was even easier for those who hadpletely mastered the Plum Blossom Fist.
Despite that, it was impossible to effortlessly execute the Plum Blossom Sword Art with such perfection in just a week, even with prior theoretical knowledge.
Which left only one exnation.My disciple is a prodigy!
Zhou Xuchuan was nothing like a prodigy. His physical capabilities including his muscr and skeletal physique and reflexes weren''t exceptional, he wasnt born with good qi or blood vessels either. As his master, Liu Zhengmu was well aware of this.
However, talent isnt just limited to physical and learning capabilities. It could be a talent rted to using the sword. Liu Zhengmu thought that this must be the case with Zhou Xuchuan. No, to be precise, he misunderstood.
Strictly speaking, Zhou Xuchuan was just rewalking the path he had walked on before. There was also the fact that the Plum Blossom Sword Art was one of the basic techniques. However, as he would never have imagined such a thing happening, it wasnt surprising that Liu Zhengmu believed that Zhou Xuchuan possessed heaven-sent talent with the sword.
If Zhou Xuchuan had not experienced Liu Zhengmus hellish training under the guise of improvement training, he wouldnt be performing as well as he was doing right now. After all, he was hiding his true skills in order to avoid arousing his masters suspicion, even as he thought about what kind of advice he could give him.
However, thanks to the huge improvement in physical capabilities due to the hellish training, he ended up subconsciously disying everything he knew about the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
If hes this good, he might be able to join the Lotus Pavilion.
The Lotus Pavilion was one of the buildings within Mount Hua, as well as an organization that only a select few among the fourth-generation disciples could be affiliated with.
It was basically a smaller, younger version of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, and a ce where promising talents of the fourth generation were trained separately before they reached adulthood. The disciples of the sect master and the Five High Elders also joined the Lotus Pavilion and trained there.
Aside from that, almost nine out of ten members of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were from the Lotus Pavilion.
Liu Zhengmu had never managed to join the Lotus Pavilion due to his feeble constitution.
However, someone with exceptional skills like Zhou Xuchuan could join the Lotus Pavilion and receive a higher level of training. If he was lucky, he might get bestowed with good spiritual medicine, and even get a specialized instructor as well.
As long as he could prove his power and talent, he would be able to receive the best treatment. At first nce, it may seem unfair, but this was rathermon inrge sects of the martial world like Mount Hua.
***
A few dayster, Zhou Xuchuan eventually just asked Liu Zhengmu directly, Master, I apologize for asking, but can you show me sword techniques other than the Plum Blossom Sword Art?
Other sword techniques?
Yes. Zhou Xuchuan nodded.
Liu Zhengmu fell into deep thought after hearing his disciples request. It hadnt even been two weeks since this disciple started holding the sword, not to mention practicing the Plum Blossom Sword Art. No matter how talented he was, he had not reached the final stage of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, which meant that learning advanced sword arts would just be a hindrance to him. This was what he was worried about.
Sensing his masters hesitation, Zhou Xuchuan noticed this and quickly added, I am not asking for your teaching. I just have not seen any other sword techniques of our sect. As a disciple of Mount Hua, I wish to see our sects proper sword techniques at least once.
Hm, I see. Okay, then.
If it was merely a demonstration and not teaching, there shouldn''t be an issue. After all, some of the older members of the fourth generation already practiced sword arts other than the Plum Blossom Sword Art during joint training in the training district every morning. If observing different techniques was problematic, the training districts would have stopped them already.
Before Liu Zhengmu got into position, he sensed the eager anticipation in his disciples gaze. He pondered over which techniques to demonstrate.
Lets see
Five sword techniques came to his mind.
Six Cardinal Sword, Falling Petal Sword Art, Plum Brilliance Sword Art, Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art, andstly, the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword.
The Six Cardinal Sword and the Falling Petal Sword Art were intermediate arts, just a step above the basics. Most of the outer sect disciples would return to their homes after learning these two.
The Plum Blossom Brilliance Sword Art was one of the rare sword techniques in Mount Hua that focused on speed, and the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art used the five elements, just like its name implied.
Both of them were rtively advanced, and among the outer sect disciples, only those who had received acknowledgement could learn them. At the same time, it was the limit for them as well. Any other advanced martial arts aside from these two werent taught to the outer sect disciples, and only the main sect disciples could learn them.
The Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, an abridged version of the Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, was the final technique he considered demonstrating.
It was one of the most advanced martial arts in Mount Hua, and it was challenging to learn.
I will show you the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. Liu Zhengmu decided after much thought. Although he had not reached the final stage, he wanted to present the best of his abilities at this opportunity.
Before I show it to you, let me ask. Do you know about the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword?
Yes, Master. The Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword is a sword technique of Mount Huaposed of the first move, the Roadside Plum Blossom, to the fourteenth move, the Resplendent Plum Blossom.
The Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, was made up of twenty-four moves. If one could execute the final move, the Plum Blossom World, the sword would have the scent of a plum blossom.
In the past, some had mockingly questioned the significance of a sword technique carrying the scent of the plum blossom, but that was truly a foolish question.
A sword technique having the scent of something indicated that it could influence the veryws of nature itself. It was a realm that all cultivators wished to reach. There was a reason why the disciples of Mount Hua idolized the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
Yes, that is right, Liu Zhengmu affirmed Zhou Xuchuan''s words. However, you may be mistaken, so let me rify. The moves of the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword may look the same as the moves from the Twenty-four Forms, but it is actually slightly different. If it was the same, there would be no point in separating the two, dont you think so?
So its an abridged, inferior version, Zhou Xuchuan interjected, already familiar with the concept.
The Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword was an abridged version of the Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. Fourteen moves werebined into one sword technique, reducing not just the difficulty of learning but also the power.
So you know. Good, that is enough.
Liu Zhengmu smiled in satisfaction at his disciples reply. Then, he got into position and started executing the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword.
Zhou Xuchuan felt emotional seeing his master execute the very first move, the Roadside Plum Blossom.
This is the first time Im seeing it from Master.
Before he had regressed, he had just learned the Plum Blossom Sword, which was why Liu Zhengmu did not show Zhou Xuchuan any other sword techniques. As he said before, he was worried that it may hinder his training.
Originally, he was going to teach Zhou Xuchuan once he became powerful enough, but he unfortunately passed away before he had a chance to. Despite being master and disciple, one of the closest bonds there was, Zhou Xuchuan could count on one hand the number of times he watched his master disy his sword techniques in full.
Ah, this isnt the time to be emotional.
Zhou Xuchuan inwardly scolded himself and focused on Liu Zhengmu. Although Liu Zhengmu was currently above him in cultivation level, as a former expert of the Harmony Realm, Zhou Xuchuan had a better understanding of martial arts. It didnt take that long for him to fully grasp Liu Zhengmus sword technique and martial arts.
He seems to be perfect until the ninth move, and he gets stuck starting with the tenth move, the Plum Full Blossom. Thankfully, it doesnt look like its because of insufficient understanding but ack of proficiency
Zhou Xuchuan, having reached the final stage of the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, felt confident he could perform it with even greater precision than Liu Zhengmu, given sufficient internal qi and some time.
Huh? Zhou Xuchuans eyes glinted.
...Haa!
Liu Zhengmu disyed the fourteenth move, the Resplendent Plum Blossom. He was sweating because of the significant consumption of internal qi and stamina.
Here. That was the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. This master of yours wascking in skill and was unable to disy it perfectly. Im sorry.
He really was like the usual Liu Zhengmu. Anyone else wouldve tried to look cool in front of their disciple. No, it wouldnt just be their disciples either. Martial artists, especially those of the Orthodox Faction, were very proud. They would usually try to hide their deficiencies in shame, but Liu Zhengmu openly revealed it and apologized for not being able to disy the martial art in its entirety.
Not at all, Master! Zhou Xuchuan started apuding with eyes filled with infinite trust. That was splendid. Not to mention the sect master, even the Head of the Martial Alliance would have gasped in shock at your prowess!
Boy, did you not ever hear that too much is worse than too little? ttering too much may seem like fawning. Liu Zhengmuughed. Still, he didnt look displeased.
I will bear that in mind, Master.
It was definitely not fawning. Liu Zhengmu was akin to God in Zhou Xuchuans mind.
Well, then. Is there any other sword technique that youd like to watch? Since Im at it, Ill show you other things as well.
Hearing that, Zhou Xuchuan inwardly cheered. He didnt show it on the outside and acted like an innocent and curious ten-year-old boy.
I wish to see the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art too, Master.
You give me an opportunity to make up for thatcking performance. I reached the final stage in the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art a long time ago, so I shall show you the entire sword art.
Once reaching full mastery in the Plum Blossom Sword Art, a disciple of the main sect would get to learn a few advanced sword techniques, and one of them was the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Liu Zhengmu didnt find it strange that Zhou Xuchuan had requested that he disy the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Master, this ipetent disciple is toocking in experience and wasn''t able to fully grasp your execution of the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. Could you please execute the technique slowly this time?
Of course.
Liu Zhengmu was very satisfied to see his disciple showing so much eagerness in learning martial arts despite being only ten. Not only did he have the talent, but he also had such a good attitude. He was proud to be the master of such a disciple.
Liu Zhengmu started executing the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art from the first form just as Zhou Xuchuan had requested.
A martial art, whether it be a sword technique or a saber technique, was more difficult to perform slowly. Even swinging a sword once would require a considerable amount of muscr strength, stamina and endurance if it was to be performed slowly. The same applied to focus. The slower it was, the more conscious they would be of what they were doing.
Even if it was a martial art that Liu Zhengmu had mastered a long time ago, he would still need a considerable amount of focus unless he was performing a sword technique on the level of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Hehe.
And that was what Zhou Xuchuan was aiming for.
Chapter 12: Master Sets Off Into the World (1)
It''s just as I thought. Zhou Xuchuan thought as he observed Liu Zhengmu''s movements.
His master was still executing the Five Ways Plum Blossom Art slowly. However, it was different from when he was executing the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword.
While disying the sword art, he was considerate towards his disciple, allowing him to observe closely. That was why he exaggerated some movements and angled himself so that he could be seen more clearly.
Just executing it slowly was challenging enough yet, he was being considerate so that his disciple could see it properly.
However, such considerate movements stopped when he started executing the third form of the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art. Now, Zhou Xuchuan often struggled to see some of the postures unless he shifted to another position.
It wasn''t that Liu Zhengmu was exhausted or couldn''t be bothered to. On the contrary, he became so immersed in executing the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art, that he momentarily forgot about the presence of his disciple.
My actions change the future. I never imagined that both the first and second matters would be rted to my master.
Just now, Zhou Xuchuan had discovered something strange when Liu Zhengmu disyed the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, in other words, his full strength.
There''s an imbnce between the five elements. There''s a heavy bias towards water qi because of his consumption of the Water Spiritual Fruit.Initially, it appeared that the energy from the Water Spiritual Fruit only stopped the leak of his innate true qi. However, upon closer inspection just now, Zhou Xuchuan realized that wasn''t the sole effect. There were still some minute remnants left.
He didn''t realize until Liu Zhengmu disyed the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword Art. Liu Zhengmu used all of his power to disy even sword qi, and in it, he felt yin qi that stemmed from water qi.
That was why he specifically asked his master to perform the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art slowly.
The Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art, as its name implied, was a martial art that contained the mysteries of the cycle of the five elements. It was the best in fixing the imbnce of the five elements.
The reason he asked his master to perform it slowly was to let him focus. There was a chance he might miss it because of the subtle difference.
I didn''t know a single spiritual medicine could have such dramatic effects
Not only did it fix his weak constitution, which he thought was a disease, but it also became a clue to advancing to a higher realm of cultivation.
While he was thinking, Liu Zhengmupletely executed the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art. Immediately after, he began circting his qi.
It was to absorb the epiphany he had just gained and advance in cultivation.
Zhou Xuchuan stood guard and held his breath so that he did not disturb Liu Zhengmu.
The imbnce between the five elements is nothing more than a trigger.
The residual water qi from the Water Spiritual Fruit didn''t even amount to much. He might have called it an "imbnce," but it wasn''t serious. It was only a minor adjustment, and it resulted in more stability and a tiny increase in internal qi.
Then, what was Liu Zhengmu''s true epiphany?
''It''s rest.''
Despite his earnest and hardworking nature, Liu Zhengmu had a tendency to be excessive. Because of his upright nature, he was sometimes called stubborn. This hadn''t changed even after he failed to join the ranks of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. He lived his life without rest, continually pushing himself.
Even some of his apprentice-brothers were astonished by his relentless efforts; some even viewed it as an obsession. And it didn''t work even if someone told him about it.
His only goal was to do his best, and he was always tense ever since he joined Mount Hua.
A clear example of this was the improvement exercise. Liu Zhengmu pushed himself way too hard.
Aah. Sometimes, I need to let things go.
The Five Ways was cirction, in other words, the flow of nature. Liu Zhengmu thought about the Five Ways once again as he readjusted the imbnce between the five elements. Reflecting on his actions, he finally understood.
As he grasped the essence of cirction, he realized that sometimes, he just needed to let things flow on their own ord.
Water qi, Five Ways, cirction. He understood and realized thews behind these three things.
Then, he seeded in surpassing the barrier of the Peak Realm.
A long time passed before he opened his eyes again.
Both the aura emitted by him and the look in his eyes had changed. There was a sense of ease about him that wasn''t there before. The soft and rxing smile of before had not changed, yet now, coupled with his rxed demeanor, he somewhat looked like a wise sage.
"It is not me who teaches you, but the other way round. This is all thanks to you."
The first words he said were filled with affection.
Hearing that, Zhou Xuchuan shouted emotionally.
"Congrattions, Master!"
He rejoiced as though this matter concerned himself. He had always been a burden to his master before his regression. He was also deeply regretful that he wasn''t able to be with his master during hisst moments.
He was always uneasy because he felt like he was indebted to his master but he could pay a little bit of it back like this. He was happy about it.
Zhou Xuchuan felt grateful for his new life once again.
***
"Oho, The Gentle Smiling Swordsman has reached the Absolute Realm?"
The news that Liu Zhengmu had advanced to the Absolute Realm spread throughout the whole sect in less than a day.
"That is very good news!"
Mount Hua, being one of the ten major organizations, had a lot of experts; it was a major sect after all. However, experts of that level were umon. An expert of the Absolute Realm received significant recognition as a major power even in a major sect.
Now Liu Zhengmu had reached that level, so it was not surprising that he received attention. The apprentice-brothers that had been on close terms with Liu Zhengmu visited him and congratted him.
That was the first time Zhou Xuchuan had seen so many visitors at his residence in both lives.
"Congrattions."
"I always believed that a Great Hero like the Gentle Smiling Swordsman would be able to do it."
"This is not much, but I hope you can ept it."
Liu Zhengmu didn''t have many acquaintances. The ones he considered close at most amounted to five people. However, the recent visitors easily surpassed a hundred, with most seeking connections.
Although this was obvious, sect members weren''t the only people living in Mount Hua. Some of the children of well-off houses who stayed in the sect as outer sect disciples brought some servants and escorts with them.
Apart from that, there were people who came to make requests, merchants, and even cultivators seeking guidance.
Among those people, quite a number of them, no, almost all of them wanted to create connections with the main disciples of Mount Hua.
This wasn''t an ordinary sect, but the Mount Hua of the ten major organizations. If they could build a rtionship with a sect member, it would be more reassuring than any number of swords.
As a cultivator of a powerless small sect, they would often get bullied by some organizations of the evil faction, which could easily be prevented if they had connections with a main sect disciple of Mount Hua.
However, some used Mount Hua''s influence to do bad things.
Sheesh, Master is so
Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed. He was looking at his master''s back as he weed each person one by one. He had learned how to rest, but his upright nature had not changed.
''No one would''ve visited if he said he was tired, especially since he''s just advanced to a new realm''
Zhou Xuchuan was worried, yet Liu Zhengmu greeted each visitor with his usual warm smile, assuring everyone that he was fine.
Thankfully, his master wasn''t a gullible man and didn''t receive any favors or get taken advantage of. He also epted the barrage of gifts with moderation.
*
At the summit of Lotus Peak, the Upper Pce.
This was one of the few buildings that was built during the founding of the sect and still remained to this day. Throughout its long history, its appearance had not changed.
Not only was it designed by some of the greatest architects at the time, a lot of money, effort and time was invested into maintaining its structure over the course of time. This ce was just that important.
The scenery of Mount Hua when viewed from the Upper Pce, was renowned for being beautiful and magnificent enough to charm anyone. Its reputation was so great that many aficionados dreamed of visiting this ce at least once in their lifetime.
Not only was the scenery beautiful, but the Upper Pce itself was also a marvel, which was somewhat natural considering the astronomical sum of money involved during the building process.
Not to mention the perfectly designed structure, its aesthetic beauty couldn''t be described in words.
Although it was purposely built to be inferior to the imperial pce because the authority of the sect didn''t match up at the time, it was still one of the most beautiful buildings in all of the Central ins.
"I knew that boy Liu Zhengmu would be able to do it."
Inside the Upper Pce, an elderly man with a strikingly white beard let out a pleasant chuckle from his position at the head seat.
Under the heavens, there exist one hundred experts. They were called the "Hundred Experts Under Heaven" and were mostly made up of Absolute Realm experts, and some who had reached the Harmony Realm.
Did that mean these hundred experts were at the peak of the martial world?
Nay.
Beyond the Harmony Realm, there were those that surpassed the limits of humanity and garnered both admiration and fear.
The Ten Empyrean Overlords.
The Hundred Experts Under Heaven were as their name implied, "under heaven." There was always a sky above. Above the sky were the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
The elderly man in the head seat was none other than one of these overlordsExalted Sword Immortal You Riwen, the sect master of Mount Hua.
"If not for his weak constitution, he would have joined the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. It''s truly a pity."
Surrounding You Riwen in the head seat were middle-aged men approaching theirter years. They were the ones supporting the sect masters, and had authority second only to the sect master, the Five High Elders.
"Hm, from what I hear, his weak constitution was resolved when he reached the Absolute Realm" one of the eldersmented.
"Oho."
You Riwen showed interest. Liu Zhengmu was a Peak Realm expert before, but wasn''t considered as a proper fighting power of the sect because of his weak constitution.
It wasn''t bad. He had a decent personality, was a very earnest hard worker, and had somewhat of a decent talent.
However, because of that weak constitution, hecked endurance and couldn''t take on any sect missions.
"Hm, then why don''t we evaluate him properly once?"
From the perspective of the sect, letting a talented man like Liu Zhengmu stay in the sect was a waste.
"That''s a good idea."
The future had changed once again.
After that, Liu Zhengmu was often brought up as a topic during the meetings in the Upper Pce. These meetings, held by the sect master and the Five High Elders, were the most prestigious meeting within Mount Hua. The topic of what to do with an Absolute Realm expert like Liu Zhengmu was definitely worthy to be talked about in the meeting.
Half a month passed and remarkably, Liu Zhengmu had not coughed once during this period. Seeing this, the upper management of Mount Hua concluded that Liu Zhengmu''s weak constitution was resolved and assigned him a mission.
In other words, he was setting out into the world.
*
"Whoa."
Something that truly didn''t happen had happened.
In his previous life, Zhou Xuchuan had never seen his master set out for the world aside from friendly gatherings. Naturally, this news surprised him.
"Ugh."
And, honestly speaking, he was uneasy.
If Liu Zhengmu were to set out into the world, what happened afterward would be uncertain. Even Zhou Xuchuan, who knew events that happened decades in the future, didn''t know everything.
It was especially true for a case like this. This future was not something he had experienced before.
Chapter 13: Master Sets Off Into the World (2)
"Ugh, what happened around this time again?"
When he was ten in his previous life, Zhou Xuchuan was busy with martial arts training while going to Wild Goose Hell every day. He didn''t have any time to think about other matters. Above all, this was before the Era of War and Chaos had begun. He had barely any knowledge about this.
Most of his knowledge was about the Era of War and Chaos, starting with the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief that basically triggered the whole thing.
He only knew trivial information about what happened before it, and even then, it didn''t amount to much.
"Hahaha, I don''t know how long it''s been since Ist went on a mission." Liu Zhengmuughed pleasantly, unaware of his disciple''s worries.
Zhou Xuchuan wished he could share his concerns with him, but he couldn''t bring himself to do so. He knew better than anyone how Liu Zhengmu had felt until now.
Despite his skill, he was often excluded from most missions. Even when dispatched, it was usually for short-term or rtively easy missions.
Long-term missions required a considerable amount of stamina, especially if the matter was urgent. If he happened to fall sick mid-way or something, it would jeopardize the whole mission.
Due to these reasons, Liu Zhengmu was excluded from many important missions, and he often felt bad about the situation. Sometimes, he even became depressed, feeling like he couldn''t repay his debts of gratitude to the sect.So, how could Zhou Xuchuan possibly bring himself to stop his master? He was worried, but he couldn''t stop him.
"What''s the mission about?" Zhou Xuchuan asked as he looked at Liu Zhengmu worriedly.
Liu Zhengmu, with his characteristic gentle smile bent down to meet his disciple at eye level.
"Don''t worry too much. I''m not going off to die. Although I have fixed my weak constitution, the sect is still uncertain and they didn''t assign me a major mission."
Although his body was healed as he advanced to the Absolute Realm, the sect couldn''t just give him an important mission all of a sudden. Liu Zhengmu didn''t have any achievements to back his skill up, and his previous sick body was still a risk, so they couldn''t rely on himpletely.
Liu Zhengmu knew that as well, so he epted the mission given to him without feeling bad.
The core members of Mount Hua ultimately decided to dispatch Liu Zhengmu on a middle-rank mission as a test.
"Okay then. I will be wishing for your safe return."
Zhou Xuchuan saw Liu Zhengmu out, half filled with worry, and half congratting him.
A significant change awaited Zhou Xuchuan in the year he turned ten.
"Oh, and I have submitted your name for the Lotus Pavilion''s examination, so you should prepare. You should be able to get in without a problem."
"Cough, cough!"
The moment the Lotus Pavilion was mentioned, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but cough, caught off guard.
But why?
It was better to keep a low profile when he was still young. It would be better for the sake of his future as well.
So what is this talk about the Lotus Pavilion?!
The Lotus Pavilion was a gathering of promising talents in Mount Hua. Not to mention the people within the sect, many martial arts organizations of the world had a close eye on it.
It produced most of the next-generation Plum Blossom Swordsmen, so it was not surprising that it attracted attention.
"I don''t know how long the mission will take, but once I set foot into the world of cultivators, there won''t be anyone to look after you. If you join the Lotus Pavilion, you shouldn''t have to worry about that. In fact, I''m sure they''ll be better at teaching you than this lowly master of yours."
"That''s not true at all!"
"Hahaha, I tell you this all the time, but you tend to think too highly of me. Whatever the case may be, I believe you''ll be able to join the Lotus Pavilion. Oh, but don''t feel too much pressure; it''s okay even if you fail."
Zhou Xuchuan felt an immense amount of pressure. After all, the emotions conveyed in the gentle eyes of his master were faith and conviction; faith that his disciple would definitely enter the Lotus Pavilion, conviction that there was no reason for his disciple not to make it.
It wasn''t surprising that Liu Zhengmu thought that way. Zhou Xuchuan indeed had the skills to pass, after all.
"Well then. I''ll be off."
Zhou Xuchuan was on the verge of tears but forced himself to smile because he didn''t want to worry his master, who was too soft-hearted towards his disciple.
*
Four dayster.
"God dammit." Zhou Xuchuan groaned as he pulled at his hair. "What do I do?"
He had been agonizing over the matter that his master had left behind. He couldn''t even sleep properly during the past four days because of the Lotus Pavilion examination.
Rationally speaking, he had to fail the exam. If he passed, he would receive all sorts of unwanted attention.
He didn''t have to worry about the Violet Haze Divine Art getting exposed, but other problems would surely arise. Yet, his emotions were telling him to do the opposite of what his rationale was telling him.
Are you thinking of letting your master down?
His master, Liu Zhengmu, was akin to god to him. God believed, so it was hard to do otherwise. His emotions pushed him to join the Lotus Pavilion, thereby satisfying his master''s expectations.
Haa, in my previous life, I wanted to join that ce so much, but now I''m debating whether I should join or not!
The Lotus Pavilion. Just hearing that name made his heart flutter. It was like the holynd for the fourth-generation members. Just joining meant that they were being evaluated as promising talents.
It also meant taking a step closer to being one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, the idols of the sect, so it was not strange that it was considered a holynd.
Zhou Xuchuan also admired the Lotus Pavilion in his previous life. It was a group that any young disciple of Mount Hua would yearn to join.
Since his regression, he had dreamt of a better and cooler life than his previous one. It would be a lie if he were to say that he wasn''t moved by it.
Zhou Xuchuan looked for a secluded ce to practice the sword as a way to organize his thoughts. He was practicing the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
Apart from that, he executed the Six Cardinal Sword Technique, Falling Petal Sword Art, and many others, including the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom that even Liu Zhengmu had yet to master.
He wished to train in the Violet Haze Sword Sutra as well, but he could only start on that once he reached the fourth stage in the Violet Haze Divine Art.
Actually, I''m receiving plenty of attention already
Not anyone could be an Absolute Realm expert. Above all, Liu Zhengmu had once been a candidate to be one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. That alone meant that he had received plenty of acknowledgement. As such, Liu Zhengmu was rtively well-known within the sect, even if he wasn''t as famous outside.
Although the little reputation he had disappeared when he took in Zhou Xuchuan as a disciple, it had returned with his advancement to the Absolute ss.
With him bing somewhat famous, tales about his disciple naturally spread, especially to the secr disciples and visitors seeking a connection with him.
Reason versus emotion.
He couldn''t decide which one to follow.
"I''m already busy thinking about the Three-Eyed Godly Thief huh?"
Lotus Pavilion, attention, and the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. These three issues gathered and circled each other, forming new branches and enumerating new information.
Having sweated a little with sword art practice, Zhou Xuchuan dipped his feet into a nearby stream and organized the flood of thoughts in his head.
He knew that the discovery of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasure was five years away. This meant that he had to set foot into the world of cultivators at least a year or two earlier than normal, no matter what happened.
He didn''t know how much treasure there was in the treasury, but he knew that there was a lot.
If he were to move all of it, he would need at least a year. He might need help from another person, and if he wanted to find someone he could trust, that would take more time. He calcted that he would need at least two years in total.
This meant he needed to leave the sect by the age of thirteen. Until now, he had been frustrated, unable to figure out a way to make it happen. But then, a solution suddenly dawned on him.
"You fool!" Zhou Xuchuan chastised himself for not seeing the answer sooner. "If I want to set foot into the world of cultivators at the age of thirteen, ordinary methods won''t cut it."
Even if he were to ask his master for help, Liu Zhengmu wouldn''t be able to get permission from the higher-ups without a valid reason. Besides, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know what kind of excuses he would have to make to his master to ask for help.
However, the method that had just struck him was surprisingly straightforward.
The reason Mount Hua typically sent out their fourth-generation members into the world only after reaching adulthood around the age of twenty was simple. It was because they were worried that the disciples they had painstakingly raised might die an untimely death out in the outside world.
Of course, they never sent a fourth-generation member out on their own on their first mission. A skilled member of the third generation would tag along as a guardian.
However, matters of men, nay, cultivators, were unpredictable. No one knew what kind of dangers lurked at every turn. That was why they evaluated the disciples on their martial prowess so that they would be able to survive.
The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief versus not getting attention. If I have to decide on one of them, the Three-Eyed Godly Thiefes first.
The worth of the treasury was astronomical, and the treasures inside could be used for an infinite number of purposes.
First of all, there were spiritual medicines. What Zhou Xuchuancked right now was internal qi, so if he could solve that, it would only be a matter of time before he reached the cultivation realm he had in his previous life.
Secondly, it had all sorts of secret arts and weapons. These two would be used to recruit talents to fight with him in the Era of War and Chaoster. Some of those treasures could serve as bait, making them valuable even if he didn''t need them.
''Let''s keep it under a certain level. I''m still young, so they shouldn''t pay attention to me that much. I have to show just enough skill to barely get into the Lotus Pavilion.''
His head started working fast.
First, he painted a general picture. Although he was unsure of the details, he drew a general outline.
"Phew, I gained a whole new life, yet I''m still so ipetent," Zhou Xuchuanmented. "I''m so dumb. I just know a lot and don''t know how to use any of it. Get yourself together, Zhou Xuchuan."
He tapped his head, pulling himself together.
Yes, he had advanced knowledge from his previous life, but that was the extent of his advantage. Dealing with unforeseen challenges was a different matter altogether.
After all, the man known as Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t that capable. He just followed Mount Hua''s teachings.
He was used to receiving and carrying out orders. If anyone asked him if he was wise, he would be hard-pressed to answer.
He somehow managed to reach the Absolute ss in his life, and he was fortunate enough to reach the Harmony Realm right before his death.
That was it. He was nothing.
He was just someone with an ordinary talent. He was neither exceptional, norgging behind, but that was about it. This was something Zhou Xuchuan firmly acknowledged.
In the first ce, if he was wise enough to produce good results with just a little bit of thinking, he would have boldly taken the position of a high elder properly under the acknowledgement of everyone around him.
However, if there was one thing he did well, it was recognizing his limitations. That was how he survived in the Era of War and Chaos.
"There are three years left. I will join the Lotus Pavilion this year and produce good results. Then, if I ask Master for help, I might be able to go out into the world. Putting in effort isn''t like me, but I guess I have no choice."
With three years left until he turned thirteen, Zhou Xuchuan resolved tomit fully to his n.
Entering the Lotus Pavilion! Setting out into the world! The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief!
He kept thinking about these three things.
Chapter 14: Entering the Lotus Pavilion (1)
The examinations for the Lotus Pavilion began.
The test was split into two sections: one testing intelligence and one testing martial prowess.
In the case of intelligence, it wasn''t that difficult, which wasn''t surprising given that it was a test aimed at young children below fifteen. No one expected some sort of great intelligence from them. The important factor in the test was the martial prowess section.
Murmurs and whispers filled the training ground.
"Ugh, my stomach hurts."
"Hmph, they''re all not worth that much."
The top of the training ground of the Lotus Pavilion was filled with fourth-generation members ranging from as young as six to seven to as old as twelve. There were around a hundred of them in total, all of them young martial artists ready to take the test.
As they were on the younger side, they were noisy and their responses varied. Some looked on the verge of tears, overwhelmed by nerves. Others stood motionless, while a few surveyed their surroundings warily.
Zhou Xuchuan positioned himself in a corner, hoping to avoid drawing attention as he waited for his turn. However, his presence didn''t go unnoticed, and he ended up getting unwanted attention."Who''s that?"
"I don''t remember seeing him before."
"Isn''t he a little too old to take the test?"
As a result of the rock climbing training sessions and his abundant internal qi, he had grown up quite a lot. Despite being ten, he looked to be around fourteen. Due to this, people around him whispered about whether he was really eligible to take the Lotus Pavilion''s examination.
"Why do you care? He won''t make it anyway." Someone snorted with clear intentions of mockery. "I already investigated those who might be mypetitors. Considering how I don''t know him, I''m sure he''s nothing special."
The Lotus Pavilion allowed for reapplications as long as a person was in the right age group.
Since fifteen was considered the age of adulthood in the Central ins, joining the Lotus Pavilion at the age of fourteen also came with its own set of benefits.
Not to mention the reputation that came along with it, they would also be able to receive more advanced training. It didn''t matter if that period was only a year; the benefits were substantial.
As such, there were many who prepared for the tests to join the Lotus Pavilion every year, devoting significant effort.
Although the tests were different every year, they involved sparring with others a lot of the time, so the disciples went to great lengths to research their peers to improve their chances of sess.
In any case, their scope of investigation barely contained anything about an individual named Zhou Xuchuan. One reason behind that was that Zhou Xuchuan didn''t interact with others much, but the main reason was that he only started receiving attention a little while ago.
"Wait," someone said, recognizing his face. "That face, I''ve seen it before Ah, that''s right. He''s the disciple of the Gentle Smiling Swordsman."
Not long ago, many people, including members of the sect, had visited Liu Zhengmu to congratte him on his breakthrough. It seemed that this specific disciple had a rtionship with one of the visitors.
Murmurs ensued among the children when they heard the title "Gentle Smiling Swordsman."
"Hmph!" A haughty-looking child scoffed loudly. "His master''s reputation is great, but I''ve never heard anything remarkable about his disciple!"
''Hm, okay. I''ll let that slide.''
Zhou Xuchuan had initially considered confronting him if he badmouthed his master, but as thement turned out more like apliment, he chose to let it pass without much concern.
"It''s better to warm up than waste time worrying about someone like him."
"You''re right. Let''s go."
The chatty duo left.
"Hm, they obviously won''t make it. Looks like I''ll be able to enter easily without using all my strength."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled in relief.
*
Exactly one hourter, the fourth-generation members of the sect found themselves in despair during the exam.
"No, I''m done for!"
Screams could be heard everywhere. Even those who mocked Zhou Xuchuan before the start of the exam looked distressed.
"How are we supposed to win against that?"
Some of the childrenmented, losing their will to fight before the battle even began.
"I knew that genius woulde out one day"
"But who would''ve known that it was today of all days!"
A child next to him cried out in resentment before walking away with drooping shoulders.
"Next!"
The juror called out to the next person waiting for the exam. However, most of them turned around powerlessly.
"Huh."
Zhou Xuchuan looked toward the testing ground, his eyes widening in surprise. Standing confidently in front of the jury stood a beautiful young girl.
Luo Xiaoyue!
He recognized her instantly. She was one of the fourth-generation members of the sect, and was nine years old, making her one year younger than him. She was also rather famous within the sect.
Zhou Xuchuan started recalling information about her. This was because she left a deep impression on him in his previous life.
It''s the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix of all people!
Luo Xiaoyue, the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix.
She was the grand disciple of the Iron Blood Plum Sword, an expert of the Absolute Realm, and the only woman among the current five high elders.
She had extraordinary connections, yet she herself couldn''t be underestimated.
Although her talent wasn''t great enough to cause an uproar in a whole era, she still disyed extraordinary talent from a young age.
Her talent, efforts, and the backing of her grand master who was one of the Five High Elders basically guaranteed her sess in the future.
That was what happened in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life. She grew powerful at a frightening rate and joined the ranks of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, andter, had earned enough acknowledgement to have the word "Phoenix" in her title, which was reserved for the most powerful younger cultivators of the Orthodox Faction.
However, as the saying went, "A beauty dies young."
At the beginning of the Era of War and Chaos, Luo Xiaoyue had managed to be a heroine due to her great achievements, but ended up dying before she turned thirty.
Setting aside her martial arts skills, by the time she reached a marriageable age, she was considered the most beautiful person in the world.
She was one of the heroes that Zhou Xuchuan admired and wished to follow.
Haa, what bad luck. He sighed to himself.
His original n was to breeze through the exam, confident that none of the other applicants posed a threat to him.
That was, aside from Luo Xiaoyue.
"Next!" The juror called.
"Urgh!"
While there were challengers, today was thest opportunity for some participants. They climbed up to the testing grounds and challenged Luo Xiaoyue so that their efforts until now weren''t in vain.
ng!
"Aagh!"
With each swing of her sword, Luo Xiaoyue effortlessly swept away challengers like leaves before a broom.
Some of the juries clicked their tongues in disappointment, shaking their heads. It seemed they had already decided that they didn''t need to continue watching.
Luo Xiaoyue was the grand disciple of one of the Five High Elders, and naturally, received high-quality training and advanced martial arts training from a young age. Combined with her own talents, the oue of the match was ringly obvious.
The nervousness, hope and passion that the challengers showed before was all but gone, reced with despair.
It wasn''t that the challengers were weak. In fact, they were some of the strongest members of the fourth generation.
The Lotus Pavilion was the group of elites under the age of adulthood, in other words, a gathering of geniuses, so the level of the applicants was naturally high.
Facing such a formidable opponent, the other applicants realized that they were at a disadvantage.
They say a hero is born different. Zhou Xuchuan let out a hollowugh, rising to his feet.
"Next!"
The jury looked around and raised his voice. However, no one stepped in readily.
"This year is done for I still have next year, so"
"She''s still young. Why did it have to be this year?!"
Sighs ofment and despair echoed throughout. People believed that the exam for the Lotus Pavilion was going to end like this.
"There''s still me."
However, someone totally unexpected appeared.
He''s the Gentle Smiling Swordsman''s disciple?
The juror recognized Zhou Xuchuan.
"That idiot!"
The boy who had dismissed Zhou Xuchuan earlier sneered, clearly mocking him. The oue of the battle was obvious. There was no one here who could win against Luo Xiaoyue.
In reality, the important factor here was how long one couldst, not if one could win.
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t even on the list of notablepetitors for most people. This left many applicants baffled by his decision to step up.
"Does he want to be humiliated?"
"No, he''s probably just naive. He wouldn''t be so bold if he knew more about Luo Xiaoyue."
The crowd''s whispers reached Zhou Xuchuan''s ears.
"May we begin?" Zhou Xuchuan asked as he looked at one of the juries.
The juror nodded instead of responding.
"Please enlighten me," Luo Xiaoyue greeted politely. Despite being only nine years old, she had impable etiquette.
Zhou Xuchan responded with a nod. Bending his knees slightly, he got ready to spring into action at any moment.
He tightened his grip on his sword and looked straight ahead. There was no change in his expression.
Seeing that, Luo Xiaoyue looked at him curiously. "This is the first time someone looked at me so calmly."
"And what about you? Why are you so mature when you''re only nine?" Zhou Xuchuan countered, finding her attitude amusing. Her etiquette was one thing, but seeing her talk to him so calmly like that was quite surprising.
Children, regardless of their gender, were usually simple and cheerful, but Luo Xiaoyue seemed to be an exception.
"The more I look at you, the more curious I be. You talk like a middle-aged man."
"Really?"
Hm, she thinks I''m younger than I actually am. How nice.
He didn''t show it on the outside, but he was inwardly quite happy. After all, he was far from being middle-aged and considered himself a grandpa.
"I''ll let you have the first move," Luo Xiaoyue boldly dered.
"Thanks," Zhou Xuchuan replied with a grin.
If possible, I need to pass the exam and enter the Lotus Pavilion without drawing too much attention.
Winning against Luo Xiaoyue would definitely cause a stir; he might even be famous outside the sect.
However, losing wasn''t an option either, as it could jeopardize his chances of entering the pavilion.
That being the case, he had to win but also make them think that it wasn''t because of an overwhelming difference in skill, but rather he had to squeeze out everyst bit of his abilities to do so.
How can it go so wrong right from the beginning?
If it weren''t for Luo Xiaoyue, he could have controlled his skill moderately among the other rtively ordinary-talented people and passed the exam without garnering much suspicion.
However, he just had to run into Luo Xiaoyue, the genius, giving him endless headaches.
He could wait a year and try again, but he didn''t have the time for that.
"Then, here I go."
Zhou Xuchuan redirected the flow of internal qi into the Surging Spring Acupoint.
"I think it''ll end in less than three moves," one of the jurors muttered.
The response from the other spectators wasn''t all that different. Everyone thought that way.
However
"Huup!"
Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath. His body tensed up. His tender thigh muscles constricted and expanded in an instant.
He pushed off against the ground with his feet, propelling himself forward.
Pah!
Zhou Xuchan was right in front of Luo Xiaoyue in the blink of an eye.
Luo Xiaoyue''s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected speed of her opponent.
"Whoa!"
The spectators were shocked as well. The jury, who had looked disinterested until that moment, perked up.
Chapter 15: Entering the Lotus Pavilion (2)
As Zhou Xuchuan disyed the first form of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, Luo Xiaoyue quickly raised her sword to defend.
ng!
What an incredible amount of internal qi! Luo Xiaoyue inwardly eximed, her thin wrists shaking slightly.
Zhou Xuchuan looked old, but he still had the traits of a young boy. Unless he was old enough to be called a youth, there was no way his pure physical strength was this strong, which meant that this was a result of internal qi.
Luo Xiaoyue regretted yielding the first move and acted. She quickly retreated using a footwork art.
Calm down.
As soon as she took a few steps backward, Luo Xiaoyue quickly analyzed her next moves, aiming to gain an advantage.
It''s astonishing how he possesses so much internal qi, but that''s not what''s important here.
Luo Xiaoyue was young, but her thought process was closer to that of an adult. She was a true prodigy. Her understanding of martial arts, discernment of the situation, and intelligence could hardly be called that of a nine-year-old.Above all, her greatest advantage was that she could think of numerous counter strategies even in the short moment she shed swords with her opponent.
''I must think about how he would attack next''
The Plum Blossom Sword Technique, the Six Cardinal Sword, the Falling Petal Sword Art, the Plum Brilliance Sword Art, the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art. These were the martial arts that her opponent could currently learn.
She didn''t know which one he trained in, but she was sure that he would attack her with one of them.
Luo Xiaoyue knew about these five sword arts, and visualized how to counter each technique.
However
"...What?"
The ns she hade up with in that short moment all crumbled; none of them were right.
It wasn''t that Zhou Xuchuan used an advanced martial art. It was nothing like martial arts at all.
"Take my attack!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted with confidence and swung his sword.
He literally just swung his sword. He didn''t use the Plum Blossom Sword Art. He just swung it around recklessly. There was no form, and it didn''t even look like a sword attack. He simply shed diagonally from the upper left to the lower right.
It was not a form of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
"What the!"
She was caught off guard. Luo Xiaoyue coulde up with numerous strategies in an instant, but that also sometimes backfired. In in terms, she tended to overthink, and would panic if what happened was something outside of her expectations.
When Zhou Xuchuan attacked with something that couldn''t even be called a sword art, Luo Xiaoyue awkwardly defended, wearing a dazed look.
"Here I go again!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted loudly once more.
He drew out internal qi from his dantian like a madman and used it. His body, fueled by the surge of internal qi, moved quickly. His muscles, well-trained as a result of the rock climbing sessions, brought out great power.
Each sh of his sword tore through the air with a loud whoosh, splitting the air as it aimed for Luo Xiaoyue.
However, that was no sword art. It felt more like intense continuous swinging.
ng!
The swords shed, sending sparks flying.
"Kyaa!" Luo Xiaoyue screamed.
The shock that spread from her sword into her hand and her entire body was definitely not small.
"Haap!"
Whoosh!
The sword cut through the air again, followed by a short shout.
Luo Xiaoyue raised her sword and blocked Zhou Xuchuan''s attack.
ng, ng, ng!
The sounds of metal on metal rang out repeatedly as Zhou Xuchuan madly pressured her with the power of his internal qi, and swung around without form while Luo Xiaoyue defended against his attacks.
At first, she was caught off guard, but she managed to defend with her innate talent and reflexes.
Although the random attacks from the sword were irregr and unpredictable, she could block them regardless. She actually found it easier to block because his movements were so simple, and there was no highly advanced sword trajectory.
Zhou Xuchuan was basically warning her about all his attacks in advance, and she felt like he was a toddler swinging around a wooden sword without knowing anything.
"Kyaa!"
And eventually, the final scream burst out.
Sure, she could see the trajectory of his sword clearly. It was dead obvious. She could avoid it even with one eye closed.
However, that was only for attacks that she could predict. The power and speed behind each sword attack were not normal. Even if she could predict its trajectory, it would be meaningless if her body couldn''t keep up.
It was an overwhelming, stupid assault of internal qi!
Ultimately, she raised the white g in the face of such power.
"I lost"
Luo Xiaoyue dropped her sword. She looked uneasy. The rxed attitude she had a while ago was gone.
"Victor, Zhou Xuchuan!"
The juror raised his hand to signal the end of the match. However, he didn''t look pleased.
"What the hell was that?!"
"How could he do something like that?!"
Boos could be heard everywhere, not directed at her, the loser, but at the victor, Zhou Xuchuan.
"You want me to acknowledge something like that?"
"He''s worse than Third-ss cultivators!"
"How can you call yourself a disciple of Mount Hua?!"
Mount Hua, no, the Orthodox Faction in general, ced more importance on honor than life. Mount Hua, in particr, was stricter, especially when it came to using a sword.
By their standards, it was natural for Zhou Xuchuan to be booed and insulted after what he did, even if it resulted in his victory.
This was the examination for the Lotus Pavilion, which boasted a long, reputable history. In such a ce, he managed to win in a shameless manner with something that could hardly be called a martial art, much less a sword art.
Although he didn''t use underhanded tactics like rolling on the ground, scattering dirt at the opponent, and using hidden weapons, his actions were enough of an insult to them.
''Well, I knew this would happen.''
Zhou Xuchuan was unfazed by the boos and insults.
''Being too strong is a problem too.''
That didn''t just apply to Luo Xiaoyue, but himself as well. Winning against a cultivator of Luo Xiaoyue''s level would be difficult if he were to use ordinary methods. He would have to disy the Plum Blossom Sword Technique and reveal that he was superior to her.
However, that would mean revealing his true strength. No matter how weak he wanted to look, his body, which had been strengthened through the improvement exercise, would have been problematic.
There was also his abundance of internal qi, which would mean that he would disy skills that surpassed a Third-ss cultivator even if he used the basic Plum Blossom Sword Art. He could easily picture the jury reporting him to the sect master and the five high elders if he were to disy any of that.
However, if he lowered his skills too much, he wouldn''t be able to win against Luo Xiaoyue. That brutish method of winning was the method he came up with in the end.
By defeating Luo Xiaoyue, he was preventing others from calling him a genius or spreading unnecessary rumors. He used just his internal qi and superior bodily physique.
This way, he could hide his skills and also win.
"You should be ashamed of yourself!"
However, the consequences of that felt a little too bitter.
I also wouldn''t have been able to raise my head up boldly if I didn''t experience the Era of War and Chaos.
He was also a cultivator of the Orthodox Faction. Initially, he wouldn''t forgive such an act, let alone consider doing it himself.
However, after experiencing the Era of War and Chaos, the Orthodox Faction underwent a significant change in their stuck-up mindset.
The state of the martial world had be too dire for them to cling to their traditions and old ways.
This was also in line with how the five high elders of Mount Hua managed to learn the Violet Haze Divine Art and the Violet Haze Sword Sutra, techniques reserved for the sessive masters of the sect.
The Orthodox Faction evolved, adopting a more progressive stance out of necessity for the continuity of the sect.
The Era of War and Chaos changed numerous things in the martial world, and Zhou Xuchuan was also one of those who had experienced those changes.
Even though I had no other choice, I feel bad thinking about how this might harm Master''s reputation.
Zhou Xuchuan let out a soft sigh.
*
The Lotus Pavilion Examination was over, but it wasn''t totally finished. There weren''t any injuries or deaths, but there was a controversial matchthe match between Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue.
"I disapprove," said a woman who looked around fifty years old. She exuded an ice-cold aura.
She was Shen Yulian, one of the five high elders of Mount Hua, known as Iron Blood Plum Sword.
"Elder Shen. It''s not that I don''t understand you, but shouldn''t you hear the story at least?" said an elderly man with a small build and a graceful smile.
Xue Song, also one of the five high elders and known as the Sage Sword, ranked second in seniority after the sect master among the second-generation members.
"There''s no need for discussion, Elder Xue. How could we possibly admit someone who insulted the sword of Mount Hua into the Lotus Pavilion?" Shen Yulian calmly exined her rationale.
Most of her remarks were about what Zhou Xuchuan did wrong and hisck of etiquette.
Zhou Xuchuan''s actions couldn''t be seen in good light from the perspective of the sect, no, the Orthodox Faction in general.
"It''s just as she says."
A middle-aged man, who was the tallest among the people gathered in the Upper Pce, nodded in agreement to Shen Yulian''s ims. He was also one of the five high elders, Zhao Wuyang, known as the Destiny Hand.
The five high elders did not call each other by their apprenticeship titles unless they studied under the same master. Instead, they respectfully addressed each other by their positions regardless of seniority.
An exception was made for Xue Song, given his age among the second-generation members.
"Hur hur. Both of you, don''t put Elder Xue in a tough position. I''d like to hear what happened as well."
You Riwen redirected attention while stroking his white beard.
"Also, shouldn''t we hear from the other two as well?"
Xue Song gave the sect master a grateful look for siding with him.
"From what I hear, the disciple of the Gentle Smiling Swordsman has apparently consumed a spiritual medicine. Is this true?"
The Pill Apothecary Ling Zhen''s eyes gleamed.
The movements Zhou Xuchuan showed during the test were not achievable by someone who was only ten years old. Strength and speed stemmed from one''s internal qi, and to do what Zhou Xuchuan did, he would need to have at least twenty years'' worth of internal qi at least.
Cultivators who were good enough to have be jurors in a sect like Mount Hua would naturally know this, and they reported what they saw.
Naturally, Zhou Xuchuan was consequently interrogated about this, to which he told them what happened, albeit with some lies. He told them that he had left the sect secretly in the past to enjoy some pleasures and coincidentally discovered spiritual medicine back when Liu Zhengmu was out for a regr gathering.
Even if he wanted to keep it a secret, an instructor would specifically oversee him once he entered the Lotus Pavilion. The instructor would then give him a physical diagnosis, which would mean that his thirty-plus years'' worth of internal qi would be exposed.
Fortunately, it wasn''t a big problem. Since Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t consumed a spiritual medicine under Mount Hua''s possession, and it had no owner, the sect authorities had limited grounds to use him of wrongdoing.
It might have been a different story if they had heard rumors about the Water Spiritual Fruit beforehand and ordered everyone in the sect not to consume it upon discovery and instead report to the sect.
However, since that wasn''t the case, they just glossed over the fact that Zhou Xuchuan had consumed spiritual medicine as something beyond their control.
Instead, he was punished for secretly leaving the sect and indulging in pleasures during Liu Zhengmu''s absence. Well, while it was a "punishment," it wasn''t anything severe, and he was just tasked with trivial chores like cleaning the toilets for about a month.
"We can''t take out the spiritual medicine that entered his stomach, but I''m curious about its effects," said Ling Zhen.
He implied that he wanted to put Zhou Xuchuan in the Lotus Pavilion for observation. Like his title indicated, Ling Zhen was an apothecary who refined pills, on top of being a cultivator.
With that, it was two in favor and two against. Everyone''s gaze naturallynded on thest person.
Wei Zhijie, the Plum Blossom Sword Captain.
Among the five high elders of Mount Hua, no, the Mount Hua sect in general, there was a hereditary title that was passed on to the next generation, just like the Pce Lord of the Northern Sea.
He was the only one with the authority to mobilize the Plum Blossom Swordsmen alongside the sect master. His position was equivalent to his title, the Plum Blossom Sword Captain.
That title was special among the five high elders, and his public authority was strong as well.
"Admit him."
"Sword Captain." Shen Yulian expressed her disapproval.
Wei Zhijie continued speaking without batting an eyelid. "A boy, who is merely ten years old, possesses around thirty years'' worth of internal qi. Regardless of his qualities, if we beat some teachings into him, he should be a valuable battle asset. There might be some controversy, but it''s nothing we can''t handle."
The five high elders of Mount Hua were in charge of different areas of management and were given their respective authority.
The Plum Blossom Sword Captain''s say carried significant weight in admitting individuals to elite groups like the Lotus Pavilion or the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
Even if the result of the vote was two in favor of and three against his admission, there would be more weight in his words as long as he sided with the one in favor.
p!
You Riwen pped to gather everyone''s attention.
"Then let us conclude the meeting with this. The members to be admitted to the Lotus Pavilion will be Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue."
Chapter 16: All Bite, No Bark (1)
The early plums receded, and the snow plums blossomed. The snow plums receded, and the winter plums blossomed as well.
A year had passed since Zhou Xuchuan joined the Lotus Pavilion.
Time went by in a sh.
He had diligently been cultivating the Plum Blossom Life Art. As a result, at eleven, he possessed forty-five year''s worth of internal qi.
As for the Violet Haze Divine Art, he had reached the third stage. Progress was still excruciatingly slow.
This wasn''t because Zhou Xuchuan had intentionally held himself back. On the contrary, he consumed a lot of mental energy in training.
Other martial arts didn''t take that long to train if he focused his mind. This past year was enough to master most of them, including the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique. For basic sword arts like the Six Cardinal Sword Technique and the Falling Petal Sword Art, he only needed a few months.
Of course, he had kept these aplishments secret from those around him.
"Phew."Despite his prior experience in the Harmony Realm resolving most of the obstacles in his path, the Violet Haze Divine Art still proved to be challenging. It truly lived up to its name as a divine cultivation art.
It would be much easier if someone taught him, but the only person who could advise him on the Violet Haze Divine Art was the sect master, whom he couldn''t approach for help. He had to resolve this by himself.
*
There was a reason why the fourth-generation members of Mount Hua wanted to spend their childhood in the Lotus Pavilion. The treatment at the Lotus Pavilion was exceptional. What Zhou Xuchuan liked, in particr, were the personal training sessions where he was given almost infinite freedom with practically no restrictions.
Since joining the Lotus Pavilion, he had learned a few advanced martial arts. One of them was his cultivation art, which was now the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art.
There were four cultivation arts that represented Mount Hua.
First was the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, which was the foundation for everything. The second was the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art, and the third was the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.
The Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art and the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra were reserved for the legitimate sessors of the sect. That was because they formed the core base of the sect.
The Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was a cultivation art created exclusively for women; men couldn''t learn it.
The fourth and final was the Violet Haze Divine Art the only divine art that Mount Hua had.
Zhou Xuchuan trained in both the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art and the Plum Blossom Life Art simultaneously.
Both of them were cultivation arts he had mastered in his previous life, so he could practice them at the same time and at an incredible pace.
Aside from that, he was taught the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, tracking techniques, detoxification routines, and other techniques aside from martial arts that were necessary for survival in the world of cultivators.
Those admitted to the Lotus Pavilion received unique education, setting them apart from other fourth-generation members.
Today, Zhou Xuchuan disyed the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword Art in moderation in front of an instructor before having some personal training time.
Most of the time, he circted his qi ording to the Plum Blossom Life Art near a plum tree. Training consistently like this helped him acquire a lot of internal qi.
"Apprentice brother."
He saw a familiar face when he opened his eyes after cultivating.
"I might really suffer a cultivation deviation one day like this," Zhou Xuchuan remarked, calming his surprised heart.
One year ago, the two of them had joined the Lotus Pavilion. It had caused quite a stir, it was still brought up from time to time.
"I''m sorry if I surprised you," Luo Xiaoyue apologized. She sounded sincere.
"You don''t have to apologize like that. That aside, you''re still acting so mature wait, I guess it''s natural since you''re that grandma''s grand disciple."
Despite being only ten years old, the maturity in her actions and thoughts had not changed during the past year. She always tried to be thoughtful and considerate of others. Sometimes, disciples several years older than her came to her for advice.
Her demeanor was quite different from that of a typical ten-year-old.
This was partly due to the extraordinary talent she showed from a young age, but it was also heavily influenced by the strict education from her grand master, the Iron Blood Plum Sword.
"Apprentice-brother." Luo Xiaoyue puffed her cheeks.
"Okay, okay. I''m sorry. I apologize." Zhou Xuchuan shrugged and admitted his mistake.
The Iron Blood Plum Sword might appear emotionless to others, but maybe that wasn''t the case for the disciples of her direct descent.
When Zhou Xuchuan apologized obediently, Luo Xiaoyue looked satisfied.
"I think it''s good to admit your mistakes readily."
"Yeah, yeah. That aside, you''re quite peculiar, hanging out with someone like me."
Zhou Xuchuan had managed to get himself a title before he entered the world of cultivators.
All Bite, No Bark.
It was the opposite of All Bark and No Bite, which was used to refer to people who looked all impressive on the outside, but actually weren''t that powerful.
One year ago, during the examination, Zhou Xuchuan achieved victory against Luo Xiaoyue using reckless sword-waving that could hardly be considered a sword art.
At first, people thought it was some kind of evil art, but that suspicion was dissolved when it was announced that Zhou Xuchuan had a lucky encounter and managed to eat a spiritual medicine.
"It''s really pearls before a swine."
"Urgh, I can''t believe someone like him managed to get a lucky encounter."
"So that means he''s just a lucky guy?"
That consequently resulted in an even lower evaluation of Zhou Xuchuan.
The fact that he won with the help of spiritual medicine, in other words, brute internal qi, meant that his martial prowess was actually insignificant.
From the perspective of the disciples who had prepared for years for that moment, Zhou Xuchuan was even more resentful than their worst enemy.
The title "All Bite, No Bark" was given to him because, despite possessing a lot of internal qi, his martial arts skills werecking.
Obviously, Zhou Xuchuan was unconcerned. On the contrary, he was satisfied with that evaluation.
The insults are a little annoying, but this is ideal.
He joined the Lotus Pavilion, but his talent wasn''t scrutinized. This way, he could avoid the eyes of the enemies that would appear in the future.
Although he regretted how he lived in his previous life, and vowed to live this one on his own terms, he had to stick to that rule.
"You know, apprentice-brother." Luo Xiaoyue stared at Zhou Xuchuan.
"What is it?"
"Is what you usually disy really your true skill?"
"That''s right."
Zhou Xuchuan lied with a straight face.
His actions after joining the Lotus Pavilion were rather unconventional, drawing the attention and curiosity of many people.
Back when he just joined, most people didn''t view him favorably. However, some believed that even if luck got him into the pavilion, with proper guidance, he might change for the better.
This was the majority opinion of the instructors of the Lotus Pavilion.
In ce of Liu Zhengmu, who was absent because of a mission, they tried to teach Zhou Xuchuan seriously even if he wasn''t their disciple.
However, there was no way Zhou Xuchuan wouldply with their wishes when he had to hide his true skills. He downyed his abilities and disyed a moderately less-than-average performance.
"You''re aware High Elder Shen Yulian hates me. So it''s better if you keep your distance."
Zhou Xuchuan stood up from his seat. Luo Xiaoyue tried to follow him, but he raised his hand to stop her.
Ugh, what a pity.
Although he acted all disinterested on the outside, he really wanted to go back immediately and continue talking with Luo Xiaoyue. His memories of Luo Xiaoyue, the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix, had left a deep impression on him even to this day.
She was at the forefront of the younger generation of the Orthodox Faction, and she was praised as the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix. There were many men who tried to win her heart.
Due to the difference in their reputation and skill, Zhou Xuchuan had only watched her from a distance and never had the courage to approach her.
Such a person was willing to be with him, call his name, smile, and talk to him. That was a joyful matter.
In a few years, Luo Xiaoyue would be a world-ss beauty, and a heroine at the same time.
She was someone Zhou Xuchuan, a nobody, had once admired.
She was among the many people he had chased yearsmaybe even decadesago.
"Hold yourself back a little more, Zhou Xuchuan."
Luo Xiaoyue was a little troublesome, but there was the issue with Shen Yulian as well.
Shortly after he joined the pavilion, Shen Yulian tantly expressed her disdain for Zhou Xuchuan and watched him closely.
Not long after that, when she found out that Zhou Xuchuan had pathetic talent and kept a low profile without causing problems, she lost interest.
Now is the time to endure and stay low.
Zhou Xuchuan kept reciting that in his mind.
*
The Lotus Pavilion was the gathering of geniuses, prodigies and talented disciples of Mount Hua. In total, there were nine people aside from Zhou Xuchuan.
When Zhou Xuchuan saw the other members for the first time, he couldn''t hide his amazement, even though it wasn''t unexpected given most of the members were heroes who had fought alongside Luo Xiaoyue on the battlefield.
When he thought about it, it was quite natural. The Lotus Pavilion was a gathering of the most talented people in Mount Hua, and the sect naturally looked out for them in many ways to raise them into young heroes and heroines.
Those who truly stood out were sometimes offered advanced martial arts and even spiritual medicines early on. After all, their future was almost guaranteed and their contribution to the sect would be immeasurable.
Nine out of ten important members of the sect, such as the sect master, the five high elders, and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were from the Lotus Pavilion.
How should I put this?
Including Luo Xiaoyue, he had never been involved with any of these people in his previous life. They all lived in a different world from him.
These people didn''t know Zhou Xuchuan''s name, much less his face, even in his previous life when he had managed to be one of the five high elders.
All of the people present will fall in the Era of War and Chaos.
The Era of War and Chaos continued for decades. The main forces of Mount Hua had undergone several changes during that time, including the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, the Five High Elders of Mount Hua, and even the sect master.
The ones who were called heroes and heroines early on had lost their lives to pay for peace, including these sect brothers and sect sisters in front of him. Zhou Xuchuan was the only one who managed to survive.
''No, I guess I won''t know what will happen to me anymore either.''
The reason Zhou Xuchuan was able to survive until the end of his life was his ordinary skills and a little bit of luck. The ones who were called elites were sent on important missions and had be targets of assassinations.
On the opposite end, cultivators on the level of Third ss and Second ss were treated likemon soldiers and disappeared by the day.
It was the people in the middle, who had a moderate amount of strength, that managed to protect themselves and survive.
However, now that Zhou Xuchuan had crossed the barrier from the middle group to the genius ss that was the Lotus Pavilion, it was unknown what would happen to him in the future.
Would someonee after my life too?
Such a thought crossed his mind.
"Hey, All Bite No Bark!"
He turned around when someone called out his title. There, he saw a boy who had a very angry expression. Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know what he was so dissatisfied with, but he had a very vicious expression on his face, and was breathing heavily in agitation.
His stature wasrger than most other children, and his spiky hairdo made him stand out.
"Yes, apprentice-brother Li Jian."
Li Jian was a member of the Lotus Pavilion who was three years older than Zhou Xuchuan, which would make him fourteen.
"You!"
Li Jian red at Zhou Xuchuan with bloodshot eyes. His eyes contained a clear hint of jealousy.
Zhou Xuchuan scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to do. Meanwhile, Li Jian red straight at him and walked towards him. Then he grabbed Zhou Xuchuan by the cor with hisrge hands.
"You dare ignore what your senior brother tells you? I should have told you to stay away from Sister Luo. And yet you still have the galls to talk to her!"
Chapter 17: All Bite, No Bark (2)
"You''re mistaken, apprentice-brother."
Zhou Xuchuan momentarily made an annoyed look before quickly smiling bitterly while waving his hand in denial.
Luo Xiaoyue was one mature kid, but Zhou Xuchuan was just as entric as her, considering that he was supposed to be a child.
"How dare I ignore your words? Apprentice-sister Luo was just passing along a message from the instructor," Zhou Xuchuan tried to appeal that he had done nothing wrong.
"Is that true?" Li Jian asked back in suspicion, not forgetting to shake Zhou Xuchuan.
"Yes, really."
"...Hmph!"
Only then did Li Jian loosen his grip.
"You cocky bastard!"Li Jian red at him once before turning around. His steps still had traces of his anger.
"His voice is as loud as always."
Li Jian has disliked Zhou Xuchuan ever since he was admitted because of Luo Xiaoyue''s interest in Zhou Xuchuan.
Luo Xiaoyue had gained fame for both her qualities and her striking beauty.
She set fire to the hearts of numerous boys upon joining the sect, and because of this, she received special training in restraint and endurance.
Li Jian was one of those boys. He didn''t like Zhou Xuchuan for getting her attention. That was why he was quick to notice whenever Zhou Xuchuan talked to her and came to pick a fight with him.
Sometimes, those confrontations frustrated Zhou Xuchuan, but he was able to hold back since Li Jian never crossed the line.
Li Jian was also aspired to be one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen like many other fourth-generation members of the sect. If he were to cause an ident in the Lotus Pavilion, it might be detrimental to him when he wanted to join the groupter on.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t be entirely sure, but perhaps this was the reason Li Jian had never directly caused him significant harm. He nned to give thetter a lesson if he crossed the line, but that never happened.
Aside from Li Jian, his rtionship with the other members of the pavilion was neither good nor bad. He barely interacted with them.
At first, he had received gazes of contempt due to his actions during the examination. However, the contempt had gradually turned into indifference over the past year..
They might have raised concerns if he couldn''t keep up when they trained in attack formations, but they didn''t say anything because Zhou Xuchuan kept up decently.
The only one who tantly expressed their hatred of him was Li Jian.
Aside from that, life in the Lotus Pavilion was smooth sailing. He spent his daily life without any idents.
Most of his time was spent training martial arts, and after his daily training session, he made his ns regarding the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury through meditation.
There''s not much time left.
There were two years left now. He had devised ns, and he just had to put them into practice.
When will it be?
The members of the Lotus Pavilion progressed faster than normal disciples, often being dispatched into the world before the normal age of fifteen.
Even if theycked a bit of skill, they would be sent out with a guardian to gain experience.
This was the traditional education policy of the Lotus Pavilion, meaning it would certainly happen.
Zhou Xuchuan waited for that day patiently.
*
There''s a saying that goes, "Look forward and it will feel slow, look back and it will feel fast."
Before he knew it, another year had passed.
"Huh, your internal qi is truly freakish as always," Ling Zhen, one of the five high elders, said in astonishment after diagnosing Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan had turned twelve. The Plum Blossom Life Art allowed him to umte six years'' worth of qi every year, and thanks to that, he had a total of fifty-one years'' worth of internal qi.
There was not long left until he reached sixty, the first sexagenary magnitude. Even other disciples of the ten major organizations of the Orthodox Faction wouldn''t be able to achieve such a feat.
"You have almost reached a full sexagenary magnitude of qi at only twelve. It''s truly called a lucky encounter."
Hardly anyone took interest in Zhou Xuchuan within Mount Hua. Ling Zhen, the Pill Apothecary, was one of the few.
Two years ago, Ling Zhen supported Zhou Xuchuan''s admission into the Lotus Pavilion, expressing a desire to observe him closely.
Observing didn''t involve anything amazing. It was just regr checkups of Zhou Xuchuan''s body.
Though, it''s not the effect of the Water Spiritual Fruit, but the Plum Blossom Life Art.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled bitterly inwardly. Ling Zhen mistakenly thought the rapid increase in Zhou Xuchuan''s internal qi was a result of the Water Spiritual Fruit.
That wasn''t surprising since he didn''t know the secret of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art.
"I can''t believe you and that weak boy shared such a good thing. You little punks. Shouldn''t you put some aside for the elders of the sect first?" Lingzhen licked his lips in dissatisfaction.
"He''s not a weak boy."
"Look at you, ring now that I brought up your master!"
Ling Zhen raised his voice, clearly fed up with this little boy.
"You should stop teasing me. Is it that fun to tease a twelve-year-old kid?"
Zhou Xuchuan let out a frustrated sigh.
"Of course, it''s fun. Hur hur hur!"
Ling Zhen visited regrly to diagnose him, which meant that Zhou Xuchuan interacted with him more often than anyone else. They had be quite close over the past two years, which was why they could exchange jokes like this.
"If you''re done with the diagnosis, I''ll get going."
"But I have news about your master."
"Elder Ling is the best elder in Mount Hua."
Zhou Xuchuan sat back down just as he was about to stand up. He obediently assumed a kneeling position and neatly ced his hands above his knees.
Ever since Liu Zhengmu was dispatched on a mission two years ago, he spent most of his time outside Mount Hua. He sometimes returned to Mount Hua but left again in less than a month on another mission.
Zhou Xuchuan was dissatisfied with this, but he couldn''t say anything. That was because Liu Zhengmu had been exempt from many duties because of his weak health. It was about time he repaid everything he owed.
"It''s nothing significant, so you can stop staring holes into me."
Ling Zhen shared news about Liu Zhengmu with Zhou Xuchuan.
As he said, it wasn''t anything significant. It was just about how hepleted a mission somewhere.
Having somewhat befriended one of the five high elders, Zhou Xuchuan received news about Liu Zhengmu before he received any letter from him.
"That is enough. Thank you as always."
Zhou Xuchuan bowed deeply. His actions showed his great care toward his master.
Ling Zhen couldn''t help but smile. The rtionship between the master and the disciple was truly a great one.
"Oh, it''s about time you start getting ready to leave as well," said Ling Zhen wrote something down on a piece of paper.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened.
Finally!
Thump, thump, thump!
His heart raced violently. His breathing sped up a little, and he felt a rush of emotions.
Unaware of Zhou Xuchuan''s reaction, Ling Zhen continued speaking, eyes fixed on the paper.
"You should have heard that the members of the Lotus Pavilion are sent out to the world earlier than other disciples, so"
Ling Zhen kept on talking, but none of it entered Zhou Xuchuan''s ears. Zhou Xuchuan calmed his agitated feelings as much as possible.
Finally, it''s time.
With only a year left, he felt a mix of nervousness and unease, but those feelings would stop after today.
Setting out into the world. That was all he could think about instead.
*
The Lotus Pavilion didn''t dispatch every member; only a select few were chosen. Selection was based primarily on age, with priority given to those who hadn''t ventured out into the world before the age of fifteen.
After that, rmendations and martial prowess were considered. Rmendations were done by instructors or masters if they deemed that a disciple needed experience of the outside world. This was the second criterion after age.
Zhou Xuchuan had sent a letter to Liu Zhengmu beforehand, asking him for the rmendation. Liu Zhengmu seemed to be worried, but he ultimately epted the request when his obedient disciple pleaded with him for the first time.
Thepetition to be selected for the dispatch wasn''t that fierce. In the first ce, Lotus Pavilion members typically left the sect at least once before the age of fifteen. There was no need to rush.
Also, those with prior experience were naturally ced at the back of the queue. There was no need to worry aboutpeting with them.
With that, the members for the dispatch were decided.
"Nice to meet you. I''m Qiu Feng, who will be in charge of you starting today."
Sword Hero Fourteen, Qiu Feng. He was the leader and guardian of the Lotus Pavilion dispatch this time.
He was one of the most powerful cultivators among the third generation, and was a renowned Absolute Realm expert.
Not just prowess, his seniority was quite high as well. No one could call him a junior among the third generation.
He also happened to be Zhou Xuchuan''s senior uncle.
"I''ll check the members before we descend the mountain."
Qiu Feng called out to the little ducklings in front of him.
"Zhang Hong, Zhang Xuen, Zhou Xuchuan."
"Yes!" the three of them replied at once, their voices tense.
Qiu Feng smiled bitterly at their reactions, tapping their shoulders gently as he spoke in a soft tone.
"We''re not going out to die or something. No need to be so tense. We''re just descending the mountain."
The tense atmosphere eased a bit.
"Well, then. Let''s go."
Qiu Feng led the way, with the three of them following him.
''Apprentice-brother Zhang Hong, Apprentice-sister Zhang Xuen.''
Zhou Xuchuan was at the very back, looking at the boy and girl in front of him. Both of them showed a mix of anticipation and nervousness.
Zhang Hong was fourteen, and was the oldest in the Lotus Pavilion both in age and seniority. Zhang Xuen was thirteen and studied under the same master as Zhang Hong.
Zhou Xuchuan was relieved to hear that he would be going with these two. He didn''t have a bad rtionship with them. It wasn''t that they had a favorable opinion of him, but they didn''t hate him either. Bluntly speaking, they were disinterested.
It was much better than annoying him with skirmishes.
As soon as it was decided that he would be going out this time, Luo Xiaoyue made a visit and bid him farewell sadly. She told him she wanted to join the mission this time but gave up on the notion because of Shen Yulian, who disliked Zhou Xuchuan.
"Senior Uncle. May I ask you something?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Qiu Feng.
"Ask away."
"Where are we headed?"
"We''ll keep heading South, past Chongqing City until we reach Guizhou Province."
"Guizhou, you say?" Zhang Xuen asked, looking slightly nervous.
"Yes. It''s the border area between the Orthodox Faction and the Evil Faction."
Guizhou had been a ce of endless battles since the old times. This province was split into two halves, one half under the influence of the Orthodox Faction, and the other half under the Evil Faction.
Both sides fought each other endlessly in order to expand their influence. Even during a truce, there would be dozens of skirmishes.
It was an area of conflict. Also, in Guizhou, there were other battles aside from war, sorge organizations like the major sects sent their disciples to gain experience.
"As I mentioned earlier, we''re not going there to die, so don''t worry. There''s me, and Guizhou also houses many experts of the Orthodox Faction since it''s a dangerous ce. You don''t have to worry about being injured or dying."
For a cultivator to enter the world, it meant gaining experience using the martial arts they had trained in against other people. While it may look like they were on an excursion, that definitely wasn''t the case.
Chongqing!
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen seemed uneasy about going to Guizhou, but Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t.
Chongqing was more important to him than Guizhou.
That was the ce where the objective he had been thinking about for the past few yearsy.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury!
Chapter 18: Nine Water Gangs (1)
The city, Chongqing, was surrounded by the Hubei Province to the East, the Sichuan Province to the west, the Guizhou Province to the South, and the Shaanxi Province to the North; all four provinces ruled by people of the Orthodox faction.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury was located here.
Qiu Feng andpany journeyed from the Shaanxi province to Chongqing, and kept heading south toward the Guizhou province.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t go anywhere near the location of the treasury. Not only did he havepany, but getting in would be a challenge as well.
The Godly Thief''s treasury was known to have all sorts of mechanisms and traps, Zhou Xuchuan was unable to get through them as he was now. Even if he could, carrying all the treasures out would be problematic.
Yangtze River, Chongqing.
The Yangtze River, originating from the Hubei province, flowed across Chongqing and ended in Sichuan. The Chongqing area was also separated by the Yangtze River.
Although there was a way around it, that route would take weeks. Although there was no set period of time for their journey, there was no need to go that far.
They headed to the boatyard to board a boat, using lightness arts and footwork arts alternately until they reached the ce. Traveling long distances over an extended period of time was a very efficient way of training lightness arts. This was especially true since there was no ce within Mount Hua where they could train to their hearts'' content, requiring them to run in circles. Compared to that, running in the Central ins was good since they could run in any visible direction.
As such, they traveled using lightness arts without riding horses.
"Huh, you have a tremendous amount of internal qi, just as I heard."
Qiu Feng was surprised to see Zhou Xuchuan looking unfazed while they were moving. Even when Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen copsed from exhaustion, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t break a sweat.
Although the matter regarding spiritual medicine was so well-known that even he knew about it, seeing it in person was still intriguing.
The amount of internal qi he had was unthinkable for a twelve-year-old. What was even more frightening was that he was still in his growing phase.
"It''s nothing much. I was just lucky. Apprentice-brother and apprentice-sister are more amazing than someone like me."
Zhou Xuchuan handed water pouches to the exhausted Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen. He humbled himself and raised the two of them. He was avoiding unnecessary conflicts with the members of the Lotus Pavilion.
His skills were already devalued as is. He couldn''t go any lower, so it didn''t hurt his pride much to act more humble.
His actions were wise. The pride of the other two would take a hit if they saw him, who was called ipetent, faring better than them, who were exhausted.
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen weren''t ill-natured, but they were still children. Even if they were more tolerant than other disciples, they weren''t good enough to understand everything and ept it.
Zhou Xuchuan''s seventy years of life experience didn''t just disappear. He might not have been qualified, but he had experience standing above others.
*
Arriving at the boatyard, they saw rows of boats lining the entire area. The ce was crowded with peopleing out to tour the Yangtze River under the midday sun.
As the group walked around the boatyard, boatmen of various boats took off their bamboo hats to tout their businesses.
"Great heroes. I''ll give you afortable trip."
"What good isfort? They''ll be bored. I was known in my prime as a great storyteller."
"How rude of you to try to talk to them. They''ll pass by this ce anyway; just give them afortable ride!"
''I can''t believe I get to see the Yangtze River like this''
Zhou Xuchuan kept looking around, finding the ce novel. His eyes were filled with yearning.
In two years, after the discovery of the treasury, the Yangtze River would never be as bustling as it was now.
That was because the Era of War and Chaos would begin soon after that.
Forget admiring the scenery, they would have to be cautious of enemies from the other side of the river whenever they passed through this ce.
After the wars ended, he became one of the five high elders in the sect, so he had never gone anywhere close to the Shaanxi province.
The only time he got to appreciate a peaceful Yangtze River was during a truce. Even then, that period was so brief that he could hardly remember.
"Do you have some seats?"
Qiu Feng''s voice put an end to his recollections.
"Of course." The boatman nodded with a cigar in his mouth.
Although he was an elderly man whose hair was turning white, the muscles in his arms were well-trained, indicating his long experience in rowing boats.
Qiu Feng handed a handful of coins to the boatman.
"I believe that should be enough to satisfy you. What do you think?"
"I have heard that martial artists have a heart as wide as the Yangtze River, and I see it''s true. I''m satisfied, so take a seat," the boatman responded, gesturing toward the boat with his chin. Qiu Feng smiled in satisfaction and got on the boat.
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen quickly followed him. This was their first time getting on boats, so they looked awkward and curious.
Zhou Xuchuan got on the boat, acting curious, just like other kids of his age.
The boatman rowed, and the boat departed from the boatyard, heading towards the other side of the Yangtze River.
"When you''re unsure about which boat to ride, you should check the arm muscles of the boatmen like this elderly man here. You''ll be able to tell how much they have rowed."
The Yangtze River was very wide, so it would take a considerable amount of time to cross it. As such, they had a long time to talk.
Most of the time, it was Qiu Feng giving the children some information that woulde handy when surviving in the world of cultivators. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen listened attentively.
Zhou Xuchuan also listened carefully as he didn''t have any experience with ships or boatmen.
About an hourter, they came across other ships crossing the river. However, they weren''t ordinary ships.
"Senior Uncle Qiu, what is that ship? Zhang Hong asked curiously.
It wasn''t a small boat like the one they were riding, but a properly built ship. It looked like a warship that would usually be seen at sea.
Although he couldn''t tell, Zhou Xuchuan estimated its size to be at least 13 meters long and 3.5 meters wide.
"Apprentice-brother, look at the sails."
Zhang Xuen put her hand on her sword, and examined the words on the sails.
"They are named ships, and a type of fighter ship. Retract your killing intent and calm down," Qiu Feng replied, tapping on Zhang Xuen''s wrist.
"But" Zhang Hong trailed off with a stiff expression on her face, clearly struggling to ept the situation.
"For now, listen to my words obediently. This is an order," Qiu Fengmanded, prompting Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen to retract their fighting spirits reluctantly.
The boatman, who had been rowing, sighed in relief and steered the boat to the other side, bringing it to a halt.
When he did, the named ship in the distance headed toward them. On top of the ship were many men with fierce-looking faces. They had messy beards, most of them were burly, and their faces were filled with scars. They were all holding weapons as well.
Anothermon thing between them was that they were all dressed in blue.
"We apologize for stopping you from enjoying your trip in this fine weather."
The man with the messiest beard came forward and greeted them with cupped fists. His vicious-looking eyes were looking at the group''s sleeves.
The man examined the plum flower engraved on their sleeves and continued speaking with a calm tone.
"We are cultivators of the Nine Water Gangs, who protect the Yangtze River. Although we were originally protecting this river for a small feeI mean, free of charge, our budget has been tighttely. If it is okay, could you give us some money in return for protection?"
His words sounded somewhat awkward like he was wearing ill-fitting clothes.
"You are protecting the peace of the Yangtze River, so naturally, we''re willing to pay. However, we don''t have a lot of money on us, so please let us go with just this."
Qiu Feng ced a silver coin on his thumb, flicking it into the air.
The man who spoke first skillfully snatched the silver coin and fist-cupped them in farewell.
"It was an honor to meet cultivators of the great Mount Hua. Be on your way."
"Thank you."
Qiu Feng nced at the boatman. The boatman bowed to the men in blue and started rowing the boat again.
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen struggled to ept the situation, their faces flushed with fury.
The two of them seemed ready to speak out, but Qiu Feng held them back.
The boatman noticed and rowed harder, making the small boat speed away from the fighter ship.
"Senior Uncle!"
When the fighter ship could no longer be seen, Zhang Hong couldn''t hold back and raised his voice.
"How could you ept the piging of the water bandits?! Aren''t they one of the Eighteen Bandit Gangs?"
"He''s right. They called themselves the Nine Water Gangs. As martial artists of the Orthodox Faction, we cannot ignore them."
Zhang Xuen chimed in in agreement. Both of them looked visibly agitated.
This ce, Chongqing, was a ce outside of the Orthodox Faction''s influence despite being surrounded by four provinces that were under the Orthodox Faction''s rule.
The nine major sects, the one major gang, and five great ancient families were nearby, but there were organizations that could keep them in check.
That was the Eighteen Bandit Gangs, a union of the Nine Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs of bandits.
The Nine Forest Gangs was the alliance of mountain bandits, and the Nine Water Gangs was the alliance of water bandits. It was an organization formed by bandits to resist the tracking and subjugation attempts of the Orthodox Faction and the government.
Their strength and scale were considerable, to the extent that no single faction within the Orthodox Faction or the government could think about attacking them easily.
The sails that Zhang Xuen saw a while ago had the words Water Gangs on them.
"How can we be afraid of mere water bandits as people of the Orthodox Faction?!"
"Even if we did not learn any water arts, bandits are nothing in front of Mount Hua''s sword"
"Quiet!"
Qiu Feng raised his voice for the first time. His voice and facial expression were tense.
Hearing his voice, the boatman trembled and stopped rowing.
"I''m sorry about this, elder. They''re both young and rash. Please do not mind us and keep rowing," Qiu Feng said to the boatman.
"Do you truly think that I am afraid of water bandits?"
Qiu Feng was an expert of the Absolute Realm. Even if it was on water, bandits who were below First ss were no match for him. He had the confidence to kill all of them in a few moves if he were to get on the fighter ship.
"The reason we gave them money instead of fighting back is because something very troublesome will happen if we don''t do so."
"Something troublesome?"
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen tilted their heads.
"First of all, even I cannot guarantee that we can subjugate all of them without any of them running away. Do you know why?" Qiu Feng directed his question to Zhou Xuchuan, who had been listening.
Momentarily taken aback, Zhou Xuchuan replied calmly, "Because water bandits are skilled swimmers and have ess to water arts, giving them an advantage in water."
"Yes," Qiu Feng affirmed.
Water arts not only allowed the user to move freely in water, it gave them all sorts of other advantages as well. It allowed them to hold their breath for a long time underwater, and their speed underwater was unrivaled.
Other than cultivators whose lightness arts have reached the level of treading on water as if onnd, facing these bandits would be challenging.
Even then, that was when the bandits chose not to go underwater. If they chose to escape underwater, it was almost impossible to catch them.
Although Qiu Feng had a good mastery of lightness arts and could track them down, if someone asked him if he could chase down every single one of them, the answer would be, "I don''t know."
Chapter 19: Nine Water Gangs (2)
"If we miss any one of them, the Eighteen Bandit Gangs will catch wind of this. Then here''s a question. If that happens, who receives damage?"
"Us no, the sect?" Zhang Xuen asked carefully, uncertain.
Qiu Feng dismissed her answer with a shake of his head, then turned to the boatman.
"It''s this elder."
"Huh?"
Zhang Hong looked bbergasted, unable to understand.
"Unless we reach a point of no return, the Eighteen Bandit Gangs will not attack us either. Even if we kill a couple bandits, they will not try to take revenge. However, their anger would be directed at the boatman who ferried us across the Yangtze River.
"But the boatman hasn''t done anything wrong, has he?" Zhang Xuen asked in disbelief.
"It''s not about who has done something wrong. It''s simply taking out their anger. The Nine Water Gangs, no, even the Eighteen Bandit Gangs as a whole, aren''t considered a criminal group for no reason. That''s their nature."The Eighteen Bandit Gangs were not guardians, nor were they honorable martial artists. Even the Evil Faction didn''t ept them.
They were simply a gang of bandits.
"Unless you are going to take responsibility for the boatman''s life, it is better to let them do what they want. Also, if rumors spread of such actions, our faces will be known among the boatmen, and they will not ferry us. After all, they would have to risk being attacked by the Eighteen Bandit Gangs."
"Whoa"
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen were speechless, their shoulders slumping in shock.
"I, no, everyone knows that this is unjust. However, sometimes, you''re powerless. In the future, you will be experiencing all sorts of injustice in the world. Whenever that happens, remember what happened today and think about the consequences of your actions."
Huh, that''s a lot of people to save.
Zhou Xuchuan was impressed after listening to Qiu Feng''s teachings.
Experts were proud. Someone of the Absolute Realm would naturally be the same. Speaking such thought processes out loud without any hint of frustration wasn''t thatmon.
Fourteenth Sword Hero, Qiu Feng, would also die in a few years, sacrificed by the world in the Era of War and Chaos. It was such a pitiful fate.
If the future were to change in this life, Zhou Xuchuan wished that Qiu Feng would be alive at the end as well.
"For something like this to stop happening, the Eighteen Bandit Gangs will have to disappear. However, their scale and size are in no way small, as you know already. Mount Hua won''t be enough, and the martial alliance will have to move as well. However, that too isn''t a feasible option. Do you know why that is the case?"
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen did not reply. Both of them looked like they knew the answer but did not want to say it.
Qiu Feng quietly waited for an answer.
Unable to hold back any longer, Zhou Xuchuan stepped in.
"It''s because it will break the bnce."
"Go on, borate."
The Era of War and Chaos had yet toe, and the world of cultivators was still at peace. This was due to the perfect bnce between factions.
The Martial Alliance of the Orthodox Faction. The Evil Valley of the Evil Faction.
The Demon Cult and the Blood Cult of the Two Demonic Factions.
The Four Factions held nearly equal power, preventing any faction from easily overpowering another.
Because of the simrity in power, even if one side did win a war, it woulde at a huge cost. If the remaining two factions were to join forces at that time, they would be able to defeat the winning faction easily.
The same would happen if the Martial Alliance were to choose to fight against the Eighteen Bandit Gangs and lose their forces. The other three factions could join hands and swiftly annihte the weakened Martial Alliance.
There was truly no helping it.
"So you know. I believe that you two know it as well. You just do not want to say it."
Qiu Feng observed, looking at Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen. Both remained silent, seemingly in agreement.
Even if it couldn''t be helped, they couldn''t help but feel frustrated that they couldn''t take any action despite encountering bandits.
They were at an age where they would be drunk on justice. Qiu Feng could understand them.
"It''s not that I do not understand your ideals, but the reality of the world is cruel. Think carefully when you act."
Qiu Feng smiled. His smile looked somewhat bitter. It was the smile of an adult who had learned topromise with reality.
*
The boat arrived at the boatyard. The group managed to cross the Yangtze River safely without encountering any bandits again.
Even afterward, Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen appeared deep in thought. Seeing this, Zhou Xuchuan inwardly smiled.
''It reminds me of the old days. I was once like that too.''
There was a time when he thought that enacting justice was something he had to do. However, he received a huge shock after finding out that his act of justice caused even more harm.
The two of them were like that right now. They looked like they hadplicated feelings despite having set off cheerfully from the sect cheerfully.
"Hm, you seem unaffected." Qiu Feng looked at Zhou Xuchuan in surprise.
Zhou Xuchuan felt that he had made a mistake. He had fallen into reminiscence after seeing Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen that he forgot to put up his pretenses.
He put up an act on the boat by thinking about other things, but stopped doing so after leaving the boat.
Zhou Xuchuan pondered momentarily before responding to Qiu Feng.
"You know that I left Mount Hua once when I was young, don''t you?"
"Ah, I see. Something must''ve happened back then."
"Yes, I already experienced shock at that time, so it''s not as bad right now."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
*
The group went past Chongqing, entering the Guizhou province.
Finally, Guizhou.
Although they had just arrived in Guizhou, this wasn''t their destination. Their destination was Kaiyang Town.
"From today onwards, we''ll no longer use lightness arts."
In Guizhou, the domains of the Orthodox Faction and the Evil Faction constantly changed. It was that chaotic.
Although the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley weren''t at war, it was a different story here in the Guizhou where there were big and small battles all the time.
Using lightness arts had high internal qi consumption, which would put them in danger if they were to encounter any enemies.
That was why they stopped training lightness arts and footwork techniques and decided to go to Kaiyang Town by foot.
Guizhou!
If it weren''t for hispanions, Zhou Xuchuan would have shouted out loud.
He had some business, or rather, a person to find, here in the Guizhou.
He had been thinking about the Thee-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury and about how to get the treasures inside. For nearly three years, he went through his memories as much as possible to n things out.
His n needed the assistance of some important individuals. He was assuming that one of them was here in Guizhou right now.
''Merchant King, Li Yicai!''
Although his name wasn''t known yet, Li Yicai would rise to be the greatest merchant in the central ins. Although he was a minor grains merchant, his life would undergo a drastic change at the start of the Era of War and Chaos.
Li Yicai was a very greedy man. He happened to make some connections with a cultivator in the Era of War and Chaos. From that cultivator, he acquired some trivial information and went to an isted ce to sell military provisions.
His fellow merchants criticized him for not treasuring his life, but that life-risking sale was definitely valuable.
Li Yicai managed to earn a substantial amount of money through that and started expanding his assets and his merchant group.
Li Yicai''s money-making talents were on the level of being godly even before that. It was just that hecked assets before, and had bad luck. When he grabbed onto an opportunity, he started growing rapidly.
''The Merchant King is the one person I must not make my enemy. I need that money grubber on my side.''
Li Yicai was neither affiliated with the Orthodox Faction nor the Evil Faction. He was a merchant from beginning to end, and his ideals were truly frightening in some ways.
Not to mention the Orthodox Faction and the Evil Faction, he treated everyone as a means to earn money, including the Two Demonic Factions, and even the mysterious forces that had yet to show up. He wasn''t on anyone''s side.
His audacity was astonishing. Who would have the guts to do business with the entirety of the world of cultivators? There was a reason he was called the Merchant King.
There''s a saying that the biggest winner of the War and Chaos is the Merchant King.
Li Yicai''s insignificant "Gold Will Merchants" managed to make tremendous profits in the Era of War and Chaos, and when all wars ended, people jokingly said that he must have enough money to buy the world.
His talent doesn''t need to be mentioned. If I let the Merchant King handle the treasures, he''ll use it to make even more money. Above all, the most important point is that I can be rxed when I give him the money.
When giving someone else treasures for safekeeping, there was a risk of that person running away with the treasures. However, this didn''t apply to Li Yicai.
Among merchants, there was a saying that "Trust is Life."
Conversely speaking, no trust would mean death.
That was how crucial trust was to merchants. If that trust were to be broken, no one would be willing to work with them.
The reason Li Yicai was able to rise to the position of the Merchant King was not just because of his talents but also because he maintained his trust.
As long as he was given money, he was the most reliable man in this world when it came to money.
However, conversely, he couldn''t be trusted without money. In other words, no one was more reliable than him when it came to making profits.
In the opposite case, it was questionable whether someone without money could even talk to him.
In reality, Zhou Xuchuan had only seen Li Yicai a few times when he visited Mount Hua, but had never spoken to him. That was because Zhou Xuchuan was a cultivator that wasn''t much to him.
By the time Zhou Xuchuan had be a high elder, Li Yicai had be such a bigshot that he sent his underlings to represent him, not showing up himself.
Zhou Xuchuan looked forward to meeting Li Yicai and energetically stepped forward toward Kaiyang Town.
Chapter 20: Zhuge Clan (1)
A few dayster, the group arrived at Kaiyang.
Kaiyang was a decently-sized town.
The Guizhou province was split into north and south, with Guiyang City, the provincial capital, at the center. The north belonged to the Orthodox Faction while the south was the domain of the Evil Faction.
Kaiyang was a town near Guiyang City, so it was in the front lines. As such, there were a lot of cultivators from the Orthodox Faction.
"Oh my lord. Looking at your esteemed visages, you must be the great heroes of the Orthodox Faction. This small merchant is not able to hide my agitation after seeing you walk so boldly from far away."
There were solicitors when they entered Kaiyang Town. Someone who called himself a small merchant came over and fawned over them.
"What is this?" Zhang Hong found the small merchant''s behavior absurd.
Too much ttery would have adverse effects. This small merchant''s solicitations went way beyond eptable levels.
"Haha."Qiu Fengughed out loud, flicking a coin towards the merchant.
"We will not be unpacking in an inn, so don''t bother guiding us around, but guide us to the Kaiyang branch of the Martial Alliance. If you try to pull off anything funny, I will not stand still, so bear that in mind."
"My, but of course! Great hero!"
The merchant snatched the coin with both hands and bowed. He was overly humble to the point his head looked like it was about to touch the ground.
When that happened, nearby solicitors backed off, disappointed at missing a customer.
Only then did Zhang Hong seem to realize what had happened and nodded with an aha.
"Whenever you arrive in another ce, many people will solicit you like this. When that happens, you just need to give them some money and ask them to guide you to the ce you want."
Although it was trivial, his tips were definitely helpful in roaming around the world. Zhou Xuchuan would havemitted them to memory if he didn''t already know.
"Whoa, I can''t believe this branch of the Martial Alliance provides lodging and food!" The merchant acted surprised.
The various branches of the Martial Alliance weren''t small, even in remote ces. Any one of them could easily handle housing and food for a hundred people.
However, not just anyone could stay. Visitors had to have business and permission if they wanted to stay. Third and Second-ss martial artists without any affiliations were usually chased out. However, receiving amodation and food from a branch of the Martial Alliance meant that they weren''t ordinary cultivators.
However, the merchant''s exaggerated reaction was unnecessary, clearly aimed at fawning over them.
"If it''s not too rude of me, may I ask for your names?"
The merchant was tantly and shamelessly fawning.
"I''m Qiu Feng from Mount Hua. You really are quite passionate."
"Whoa! The Fourteenth Sword Hero! No wonder I found you extraordinary from afar. You were members of the great Mount Hua sect!"
The merchant''s eyes widened and he raised his voice.
Bigshots!
Qiu Feng, the Fourteenth Sword Hero, was a renowned expert in the martial world. The merchant knew that this man was an expert since he was acting as the guardian of some little brats who seemed like they were experiencing the world for the first time, but he didn''t know that he was such a big shot.
To merchants, connections were very important, especially if that connection was to a bigshot.
The merchant wagged his invisible tail and fawned over Qiu Feng excessively.
"Quiet already," Zhang Hong said, unable to hold back. His eyes contained contempt. "Do you not have any pride?"
Zhang Hong looked at the merchant like he was pathetic.
When he did, the merchant lightly smiled in apology, wisely refraining from furtherments.
"Zhang Hong, mind your words? As a man of the Orthodox Faction, watch your tongue. It''s not that I don''t understand where you''reing from, but you need to be soft with your words," Qiu Feng reprimanded him.
"I''m sorry, Senior Uncle."
Qiu Feng no longer reprimanded Zhang Hong when he lowered his head. He was just about getting fed up with the merchant''s ttery as well.
"It seems I have ruined the mood somewhat. Aspensation, allow me to treat you at ater time. Pleasee this way. We''ll reach the branch in a moment."
Zhang Xuen was about to say something but refrained from doing so. Their rtionship would end once they were to get to the Martial Alliance branch after all.
"It''s this ce. If you need guidance to any other ce, please visit"
"That''s enough. Thank you," Qiu Feng interrupted with a bitter smile. He was indirectly telling the merchant to stop bothering them.
"My word, you must be the first people to be so kind to a mere guide. I will definitely pay you back for this, so call me anytime! Hehehe!"
The merchant smiled slyly before leaving.
*
They arrived at the Martial Alliance branch and registered their names in the guestbook. When the person responsible for guests saw their names, he received them warmly and guided them.
"Tch, he told us to wait too," muttered one of the visitors waiting for guidance nearby.
"Shush. Watch your words. I glimpsed at them just now, and they seem to be from the Mount Hua sect."
"Whoa, the Mount Hua sect? I almost got into trouble. Thank you."
The visitors quickly hid, worried their conversation was overheard.
"They aren''t cultivators, so they wouldn''t know that we heard them, right?" Zhang Xuen muttered with a strange expression on her face. "What do you think, apprentice-brother?"
"What do you mean?" Zhou Xuchuan replied when she called out to him.
"How we''re being treated by the branch."
Hearing those words, Zhou Xuchuan kept quiet for a while before replying honestly.
"Life was and is never fair. People will treat you differently depending on where you''re from. No, even aside from your origins, your own capabilities will change that as well. Isn''t that just how reality works?"
Zhou Xuchuan had faced discrimination in both his previous life and the life he lived after regression.
In his previous life, he had been treated decently because of his affiliations, but as an ordinary cultivator, he was often the target of discrimination regardless.
Now, within Mount Hua, he faced mockery and discrimination with the title All Bite, No Bark.
"Discrimination can be seen wherever you go. Even within the sect, the Lotus Pavilion is"
Zhou Xuchuan paused, realizing the gazes around him. He almost revealed too much of his thoughts.
What he said didn''t suit a twelve-year-old. Zhou Xuchuan looked around and sweated profusely.
"Haha. They say you''re All Bite, No Bark, and you definitely have a lot inside you. You sure picked up a lot of things here and there!"
Zhang Hong didn''t think much of what Zhou Xuchuan said. To him, Zhou Xuchuan was All Bite, No Bark, an ipetent apprentice brother who barely managed to join the Lotus Pavilion through luck and weird actions.
Zhang Xuen also looked at him curiously, but it didn''t look like she was thinking much of what he said.
"Hm."
But Qiu Feng was different. He looked at Zhou Xuchuan with interest and fell into thought.
''There''s the incident in the Yangtze River too. It seems that Zhou Xuchuan is much more mature than those his age. If his qualities were okay, he could''ve aimed for the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. What a pity.''
However, his assessment of Zhou Xuchuan had only slightly improved. He didn''t consider Zhou Xuchuan amazing or anything.
Phew, gotta be careful. Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed in relief.
Due to his frustrations of not being able to speak what he wanted to in his previous life, he had the habit of blurting out whatever was on his mind.
Of course, he intended to live the way he wanted in his new life, but there were times he had to hold back.
"I''m Shen Tujun, and I''m the leader of the Kaiyang branch. It''s my honor to meet the Fourteenth Sword Hero," Shen Tujun greeted, showing his white teeth.
"Likewise, it''s my honor to meet the leader of the Kaiyang branchmanding the front lines in Guizhou," Qiu Feng replied to Shen Tujun''s greeting with a smile.
Shen Tujun seemed pleased when someone of Fourteenth Sword Hero''s caliber put him on a pedestal, and smiled.
"I have already arranged for your lodging and meals, so you''ll be guided once you leave this room."
"For the leader of the branch to look out for us like this, I am deeply grateful."
"It''s only natural. But pray tell, are these young ones behind you members of the Lotus Pavilion?"
The three of them nodded.
The Lotus Pavilion was just as famous as the Martial Dragon Hall of the Wudang Sect, boasting an illustrious history.
As such, they drew quite an attention whenever they were to leave for the world before the age of adulthood under the protection of an expert. They were children from Mount Hua who couldn''t even be considered adults. They had an Absolute Realm expert protecting them, so they were quite eye-catching.
"I am d to see the future experts who will be pirs of the sect one day. Maybe being the branch leader of the Kaiyang branch was worth it."
This wasn''t the first time members of the Lotus Pavilion were visiting Kaiyang Town. Many members of the Lotus Pavilion had visited this ce for generations.
The fact that Guizhou province was the front lines meant that there were a lot of enemies, but it also meant that there was an abundance of experts from the Martial Alliance.
That meant that these children could gain experience under the protection of the experts as long as they were cautious.
Aside from organizations meant for young prodigies like the Lotus Pavilion, many of the younger generations of the Orthodox Faction visited this ce frequently to gain experience and try to make a name for themselves.
The guardian from Mount Hua changed every year, so this was the first time Qiu Feng and the branch leader had met each other.
From Shen Tujun''s perspective, the visit from the Lotus Pavilion was an annual event.
"Whatever mission you give us, we promise we''ll fulfill it under the name of Mount Hua."
Missions for gaining experience fell under the jurisdiction of the Kaiyang branch leader, the most well-versed in the situation of the battle in Guizhou.
"Hahaha, you''re very heroic, as expected of the Fourteenth Sword Hero. I shall send the mission your way soon."
Shen Tujun smiled softly.
"Ah, currently, the Zhuge Family is residing in the Kaiyang branch. You will probably be carrying out the mission with them, so it wouldn''t be a bad idea to interact with them beforehand."
Qiu Feng nodded, seemingly expecting this.
As mentioned earlier, Guizhou province was a ce where people came to gain experience or try to make a name for themselves. Aside from Mount Hua, there were many other organizations visiting.
Most of the time, those organizations visited once a year, but there were some exceptions.
One such exception was the Zhuge Family.
The Zhuge Family was located in the Hubei province, but they frequently sent n members to battle toe up with strategies and to scout out the situation.
It didn''t really matter to them that much since they rarely fought in the front lines.
The Zhuge Family!
Zhou Xuchuan became agitated when he heard the mention of the Zhuge Family.
I''m not sure if this is the right time, but maybe
Chapter 21: Zhuge Clan (2)
Qiu Feng made his way to where the Zhuge Family was staying. It wasn''t that difficult to find them. The Kaiyang branch of the Martial Alliance wasn''t that big, and it was hard for other organizations to approach the Zhuge Family if they weren''t on the same level.
Other visitors in the branch, especially cultivators, were unable to approach them due to the wall they put up and could only watch from a distance.
"Fourteenth Sword Hero!"
A middle-aged man with a goat beard, d in a schr outfit, greeted Qiu Feng with a wave of his hand.
"Oh. If it isn''t Lord Zhuge Xiao, the Goatbeard Schr? It has truly been a long time."
Qiu Feng was acquainted with Zhuge Xiao.
"It should''ve been around three years."
Zhuge Xiao looked behind Qiu Feng.
"That aside, the young heroes behind you seem to be the members of the Lotus Pavilion. Do you happen to be their guardian?""That''s correct."
"Haha, what a coincidence. I''m in a simr position."
Zhuge Xiao eyed the group waiting behind him with a delightful expression. The group, despite varying in age and gender,monly had thin builds.
"The Zhuge family has brought some of the promising young talents of the Orthodox Faction. It must be fate that brought us here, so if it is okay with you, I wish to hold an event where we can interact. They are my niece and nephews."
"Greetings, great hero. It is an honor to meet Fourteenth Sword Hero whom weve only heard rumors about."
Zhuge Xiao had brought forward three people. The youth in front was the most eye-catching, with pale skin, slender jawline, and an overall beautiful face.
If not for his voice, which had undergone puberty, or his attire, he looked pretty enough to be mistaken for a girl.
Behind him stood a boy and a girl who had yet to reach adulthood just like Zhou Xuchuan.
The boy was droopy and had a gloomy aura because he didn''t show his face. In the case of the girl, she seemed to be bold and elegant. She was also quite pretty, albeit not as much as Luo Xiaoyue.
"Oh, do you happen to be..."
Qiu Fengs eyes widened and stared at the youth. He seemed to have recognized him.
"My name is Zhuge Xiang. I have the rather embarrassing title of Jade Master in the world of cultivators."
The pretty young man blushed and smiled bitterly.
"I was wondering where I had seen you before, turns out youre the young lord of the Zhuge family!"
Qiu Feng tapped his palm with a fist and muttered, "I knew it."
Jade Master, Zhuge Xiang. Despite being a man, his beautiful appearance was well-known in the world ever since he was young.
Aside from that, he was also famous as the future head of the Zhuge Family.
"I''m Zhuge Xiuluan."
"Ah, Zhuge Xiuluan!" Zhang Hong eximed, making everyone focus on him.
"Oh, I''m sorry." Zhang Hong apologized while scratching the back of his head, realizing that he had interrupted the introduction.
"You don''t need to be so sorry. In fact, I''m delighted that a member of the Lotus Pavilion knows Xiuluan."
Zhuge Xiao smiled in satisfaction.
"How could I not know her?"
Zhang Hong stole nces at Zhuge Xiuluan and blushed. To him, who had been training his whole life, the presence of Zhuge Xiuluan was enough to set fire to his heart.
Men, regardless of age, were always interested in the appearance of the opposite sex. To top it off, Zhuge Xiuluan was quite popr thanks to the lofty and elegant air around her, as well as her intellect as someone from the Zhuge Family.
You tter me, young hero. Still, Im grateful that you said those words.
Zhuge Xiuluan didnt smile, but she responded with much softer eyes.
Zhang Hongs face turned even redder.
And
I-Im Zhuge Shengji.
A boy introduced himself with a tiny voice. His powerless voice, droopy shoulders, and eyes thatcked confidence were in stark contrast to Zhuge Xiuluan.
Hm, I do not know about this young master because of myck of knowledge. I apologize. Qiu Feng lowered his head slightly.
Its natural that you dont know him, since Shengji rarely shows himself even in the family. Hes a little introverted, so I ask for your understanding. Hes a good child.
Zhuge Xiang stood beside Zhuge Shengji, patting him on the shoulders with a genuinely amicable smile.l
Haha, for some reason, I have a feeling hell get along with you, apprentice-brother. Zhang Hong muttered, tapping Zhou Xuchuans shoulders. He was tantly undermining Zhuge Shengji.
If its okay, could you introduce me to the young heroes who will one day take care of the future of Mount Hua? Zhuge Xiao asked, looking at the three members of the Lotus Pavilion with keen interest.
Qiu Feng naturally epted and began the introductions, starting with Zhang Hong. Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan, whose introduction was dyed to the very end, had his eyes fixed on one ce.
He really wanted tough out loud; his agitation didnt calm down easily. He had been like this ever since a certain name was mentioned among the Zhuge Family members. A sense of thrill ran down his spine as his eyes were glued to one person.
Honestly, I didnt expect that you would be in a ce like this. I was only a little hopeful.
He didnt know what was so special about this era, but there were truly many heroes remembered for generations toe.
Zhuge Xiang, who wouldter be called the Heavenly Strategist, was one of those heroes. During the Era of War and Chaos, Zhuge Xiang managed to distinguish himself with his extraordinary abilities before he turned thirty.
Before bing the n head, he gained recognition for his abilities and nature and managed to rise to the position of strategist for the Martial Alliance.
Unfortunately, his extraordinary skills led to his assassination five yearster.
I was nning on finding you if I were toe across the Merchant King.
Following his demise, Zhuge Xiuluan, titled the Phoenix Advisor, seeded the position. During Zhuge Xiangs tenure, Zhuge Xiuluan was his aide, and her skills were extraordinary as well.
Zhuge Xiang was adept in military and war strategies, while Zhuge Xiuluan was skilled in schemes that happened behind the scenes.
Most of the battle strategies and schemes used by the Martial Alliance during the Era of War and Chaos came from these two.
It was even rumored that Zhuge Liang had split in two and had reincarnated into a man and a woman.
Thankfully, because of her caution, the Phoenix Advisor managed to survive after the death of the Heavenly Strategist, but she died by the time all wars were over. The cause of her death, ironically, was assassination, just like the Heavenly Strategist. Despite her caution, she was unable to escape that fate in the end.
And one more
Zhuge Shengji, the Posthumous Genius!
Zhuge Shengji was a genius, but that fact was only known after his death. He was at the top of Zhou Xuchuans priority list, alongside the Merchant King.
He was a little surprised when he heard the names of the Heavenly Strategist and the Phoenix Advisor, but he didnt find it all that strange.
It was widely known that the rtionship between the two was quite good. Zhou Xuchuan even knew that they had been close from a young age.
Also, those of direct descent of the Zhuge Family often visited ces like Kaiyang to visit and assess the battle situation, so he found it usible that they were here.
However, Zhuge Shengji was a different story. He couldnt hide his shock after seeing him.
Zhuge Shengji, the Posthumous Genius, wasnt someone who woulde to ces like this. Initially, the n was to have the Merchant King approach him, or use some other method.
Although he had some hope when he heard that the Zhuge Family was in Kaiyang, he didnt expect much, because he thought that Zhuge Shengji would nevere to a ce like this.
That was because well, he was so ipetent that he wondered if Zhuge Shengji was allowed to leave the Hubei province.
Tsk, tsk. I know youre ipetent, but youre making other people annoyed as well. Fix your attitude.
When the members of the Lotus Pavilion were introduced, Zhuge Xiao clicked his tongue and looked at Zhuge Shengji with disdain.
Look at the young heroes from the Lotus Pavilion. Arent they all exceptional despite being around the same age as you? I wouldnt be nagging if you were half as good as they were.
Zhuge Shengji remained silent, bowing his head so low that Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t see the expression on his face.
The n isnt requiring you to do something special. We just want you to cultivate basic cultivation arts like the others, and study the art of arrays instead of something useless like the art of trap mechanisms!
Qiu Feng looked troubled, unsure about how to handle the situation.
Zhuge Xiao didnt mind the gazes around him and scolded Zhuge Shengji right to his face.
Zhuge Shengji stayed still without saying anything, his head still lowered. He didnt even flinch.
Ehem
After venting his frustration for a while, Zhuge Xiao scratched his head and apologized.
Im sorry to show such a shameful scene in front of the young heroes of Mount Hua and the Fourteenth Sword Hero. However, I truly wished that he would reflect on himself while looking at the members of the Lotus Pavilion and learn something.
Its okay. Qiu Feng said, smiling bitterly.
It may be for a short while, but do not mind me and scold him as much as you can during our mission. Hes a serious case and still hasnte to himself. Im sure hell be totally useless, but Im hoping that this mission will change him.
Zhuge Xiao was openly malicious toward Zhuge Shengji. Even onlookers were taken aback at how cruel he was.
Your actions caused this. No wonder youre called the Unimportant Freak!
A freak who involves himself in unimportant matters. That was the alias given to him before he could set foot into the world.
Although it wasnt a title that was known throughout the martial world. It was quite well-known within the Hubei province, where the Zhuge Family was located.
As the name suggested, "Unimportant Freak" was far from a ttering title. It was the primary reason Zhou Xuchuan had almost no expectation that Zhuge Shengji would be present. Currently, Zhuge Shengji faced harsh treatment, both from the martial world and his own family.
Its not strange that hes treated this way.
The art of traps and mechanisms was a dead field. Even the Zhuge Family, who once prided in their prowess in both the art of arrays and the art of trap mechanisms, now turned their backs on the art.
This was because the art of mechanisms was neglected by both the Orthodox Faction and the Evil Faction, and even the two Demonic Factions. If their enemies used it, they would have taken interest even if it was to break through their enemies'' strategy, but that wasnt it either.
Ultimately, all sides neglected the art after leaving behind some records that had been all but forgotten around this time.
The fact that he was studying the art of trap mechanisms was enough of a reason to be scolded within the sect. However, Zhuge Shengji took it a step further and didnt study the cultivation art of his n properly.
No, to be precise, he tried to, but his talent in martial arts was almost nil.
The Zhuge n lineage, as a whole,cked talent in martial artspared to other well-known ns of the martial world. Their physiques were all ordinary. Those with good physiques could be counted on one hand throughout the Zhuge n''s history.
In the first ce, the Zhuge Family was a family known for producing individuals with great intellect. It didnt really matter that they were bad in cultivation, their pridey in their heads and their study of arrays.
However, Zhuge Shengjicked even that ordinary talent. He wasnt even on the level of an ordinary cultivator.
Thanks to his terrible talent in martial arts, and his refusal to learn arrays, it would be strange if he didnt receive any insults within his family.
Chapter 22: Posthumous Genius (1)
Qiu Feng told the three Lotus Pavilion disciples that they were free to walk around as long as they stayed within Kaiyang. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen were really excited about this. This was their first time leaving Mount Hua, so they went around like excited children. They were given four days because the mission happened in four days.
These two often hung out with Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xiuluan. Zhuge Xiang was the future head of the n, and was very enthusiastic in interacting with Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen.
As for Zhang Hong, he kept showing interest in Zhuge Xiuluan and hung around her.
"Now that I think about it, little brother Zhang. Is your apprentice-brother a bit unique even in the sect?" asked Zhuge Xiang.
He was older than the others, but he was also very smart and had a good nature. It took no time for Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen to befriend him, and they got close in less than a day.
Zhang Hong nodded, affirming Zhuge Xiang''s question.
"Yes, big brother Xiang. He''s called All Bite No Bark, which"
He went on to exin Zhou Xuchuan''s past in detail. Zhang Xuen couldn''t help but giggle, her shoulders jerking.
Zhuge Xiang had grown close to Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, but he didn''t even get to have a proper conversation with Zhou Xuchuan."I never expected someone around Shengji''s age to show interest in him, let alone a martial artist from the Lotus Pavilion." Zhuge Xiang couldn''t hide his surprise.
*
Zhou Xuchuan approached Zhuge Shengji and tried talking to him.
"Hello, Shengji. Do you wanna be secret friends with this old man?"
"What? Aren''t you only two years older than me? How are you, an old man? Please stop talking nonsense and go away," Zhuge Shengji said, finding Zhou Xuchuan''s words ridiculous.
"Wow, your second uncle would be really surprised if he saw you now. Shengji can be so bold and act like a general. Can''t you?"
As soon as he was given freedom to act, Zhou Xuchuan went to find Zhuge Shengji, who was holed up in his room, and kept nagging him. Eventually, Zhuge Shengji treated him like he was some entric man.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
Zhuge Shengji was well aware of his own strangeness. With all the gazes that he received, he would be a fool if he didn''t know.
"This old man just wants to y with you, Shengji." Zhou Xuchuan smiled softly.
Right, I should start byplimenting him. He''s a dangerous guy and I don''t want things to go wrong.
If he could act as he wished, he wanted to grab Zhuge Shengji by the cors and threaten him, saying, "Hey, let''s go raid a tomb."
"I know it might be awkwarding from me, but it''ll be better for you not to associate with me. I''ve only reached the second stage of the Lesser Heaven Star Art, and I''m obsessed with the art of trap mechanisms that has lost all meaning in this era!" Zhuge Shengji shouted, on the verge of tears. His frustration could be felt in his voice.
Hearing that, Zhou Xuchuan put on a look of understanding. "Yes. I know that your nature isn''t all that great, and you''re a pathetic loser who sobs whenever you do something."
"...I didn''t say"
"But being obsessed with the art of trap mechanisms isn''t a bad thing. In fact, I believe that you''re an amazing guy for faithfully studying an area that no one is interested in."
Zhou Xuchuan tapped Zhuge Shengji on the shoulders and smiled softly, his eyes filled with desperation.
"So don''t stop and walk your own path no matter what anyone tells you."
Posthumous Genius.
The martial world''s assessment of him was only done properly after his death, as his title implied.
During the raid of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, Zhuge Shengji gained attention for the first time. This was because of the various mechanisms installed inside the treasury.
The Orthodox Faction, and the Zhuge Family in particr, managed to obtain a considerable amount of treasure from the treasury due to Zhuge Shengji''s knowledge of trap mechanisms.
It seemed Zhuge Shengji would be re-evaluated after being disdained all his life, but that was a mistake. Sure, people did see him in a new light, but most of their gazes remained indifferent, with most people thinking that he was a bit useful but not exceptional.
The world of martial arts was a world of power. Most people received acknowledgement based on their martial prowess.
Although the Zhuge Family was somewhat of an exception, martial arts cultivation was still taken into ount. It couldn''t be helped that Zhuge Shengji was looked down on since he was even behind some of the young children of the Zhuge Family.
It might have been a different story if he studied fields that required intellect, like strategy and scheming, or the study of arrays. However, he couldn''t even do that, so he had received a lot of disdain both within and outside the family.
The existence of Zhuge Tian and Zhuge Xiuluan, the two geniuses of his generation, made the problem worse.
Ultimately, Zhuge Shengji was unable to endure the abuse from Zhuge Xiao and the other elders of the n and died.
The cause of his death? Suicide.
"Listen to me, young brother. Everyone under heaven may look down on you, but I will not. Remember that I am here."
With all the disdain and abuse he received from a young age, Zhuge Shengji naturallycked self-confidence, which influenced his personality.
"I may have met you only recently, but I have sensed fate. If there was wine, I would have drank with you and formed a pact of brotherhood. What a pity."
"I have no ns of bing your younger br"
"Just call me big brother, Shengji."
His introverted personality without any self-confidence was detrimental to him. Thebination of the two ended up making Zhuge Shengji to be exploited by others.
"Don''t yield like you have done until now. You do not need to deny all the things you have studied andpiled. Even if the rest of the world refuses to acknowledge you, I will. I will tell anyone who ignores my genius brother to not speak nonsense."
By the time Zhuge Shengji was almostpletely forgotten, his existence was brought up again. It was thanks to trap mechanisms. The art of trap mechanisms, which was thought to bepletely lost, ended up gettingpletely recovered by a different faction during the Era of War and Chaos.
As it was a skill not used by many, Zhuge Shengji was the only one who could use it properly.
After that, the influence of the Zhuge Family soared. This was natural as Zhuge Shengji was the only expert in the art of trap mechanisms.
However, in Zhuge Shengji''s perspective, not everything was positive. Sure, people''s assessment of him had improved after that event, and he was happy that the things he had studied until then weren''t meaningless. The problem was that having to deal with all things rted to trap mechanisms was overwhelming. The fact that there was only one person versed in trap mechanisms meant that he had to deal with everything alone.
Ultimately, he ended up having to work without anyone''s help under the watch of "guards." It was extremely difficult to keep his sanity in such an environment.
He really wished to refuse everything, but due to his introverted personality that resulted from all the abuse he received when he was young, he was unable to do so.
Whenever he tried to voice his opinion, those calling themselves elders of the Zhuge Family insisted he work for the n''s sake, leaving him with no choice.
After the treasury event, he was confined in the bird''s cage that was his family and never saw the outside world ever again. He was taken advantage of until his veryst moment, and the mental pressure directly caused his death.
After forty-something years, Zhuge Shengji, in his mid-fifties, ended upmitting suicide after being taken advantage of all his life.
It was truly a tragic life.
What''s worse is that he never managed to receive the treatment he deserved.
The assessment of Zhuge Shengji was rather vague during that period. It was hard to obtain approval from the public without strength or martial arts. This was easily seen in how the Tang n and the Zhuge Family still received some disdain from cultivators.
It was even worse for Zhuge Shengji, who studied the lost art of trap mechanisms. Despite his incredible abilities, he still received disdain from everyone, which also contributed to his death.
Having no genuine friends or family, his death was extremely lonely, and he had a small funeral.
It was only sometimeter that the Orthodox Faction regretted this loss. Right after Zhuge Shengji passed away, some people were concerned about who would handle trap mechanisms.
When opinions surfaced, the Zhug n guaranteed that there would be no problems. Although Zhuge Shengji never had any direct disciples, they said they would refer to the books he left behind and resolve everything.
It didn''t take long for them to realize how foolish their n was. Zhuge Shengji was a genius. His knowledge and understanding were far beyond what the people in the Zhuge Family couldprehend.
He wrote down his thoughts in a book in his own way. However, what he wrote down was the thought process of a genius. It was too obscure for anyone to interpret or understand.
In the first ce, Zhuge Shengji had never interacted with anyone around him properly, not to mention teaching someone. There was no way such a man would leave behind books intended for other people''s consumption.
Ultimately, no one was able to seed Zhuge Shengji''s knowledge, and after that, the Orthodox Faction, including the Martial Alliance, was unable to counter any trap mechanism set up by the enemy, resulting in huge damages.
Only then did the Zhuge Family regret it immensely. This matter was widespread after the Era of War and Chaos, and they were severely criticized.
That was how the Posthumous Genius title came to be.
"Hey, tell me properly. Uncle asked you nicely to do something about me, didn''t he?"
"..."
"I knew it. Get lost!"
The road ahead seemed long.
*
The wait was over. The mission was delivered.
"If you head east for about two days from Kaiyang Town, you''ll reach Weng''An Town. It''s an area that the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley upy alternately about every two months. From what I gathered yesterday, our side is being pushed back, so I hope you can support them with the warriors from the Kaiyang branch of the Martial Alliance."
Shen Tujun looked at Qiu Feng and Zhuge Xiao after finishing his words.
"Hmm." Qiu Feng groaned, appearing deep in thought.
"It might be slightly dangerous, but it should be a good experience for Xiang and Xiuluan. We ept."
Zhuge Xiao was delighted by the mission. Weng''An Town was one of the regions with the fiercest conflicts in the Guizhou province. Naturally, many people were injured or died there. It was a ce where many disciples of major sects had died due to their overconfidence.
Since it was the front lines, experts from the Evil Faction appeared from time to time. Although the appearance of experts on the level of Hundred Experts Under Heaven were rare, there were definitely experts that required them to be cautious.
How rude.
Shen Tujun frowned slightly when he heard Zhuge Xiao''s words, his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.
The members of the Zhuge Family would not fight against the warriors of the Evil Valley. They would only strategize behind the lines and give our orders.
He didn''t think badly about that since that was what the Zhuge Family excelled at, but speaking as though the dangers had nothing to do with them was rude of him. They were going somewhere where they could lose their lives, and he was speaking in such a manner. What would Qiu Feng, who was next to him, think?
"...Understood. Mount Hua will ept this mission as well." Qiu Feng also epted the mission after much thought.
"That is great news!" Shen Tujun rejoiced.
The Fourteenth Sword Hero was an Absolute Realm expert that almost everyone knew. This would definitely boost the morale of the warriors on their side.
Even if an expert from the Evil Faction appeared in Weng''An, they would feel rtively at ease with Qiu Feng present.
I need to make sure that the Fourteenth Sword Hero can fight without being too concerned about the members of the Lotus Pavilion as much as possible.
Shen Tujun was worried that he might refuse. He had originally prepared a safe mission. However, the news from Weng''An Town was so urgent that he had no choice.
Thankfully, Qiu Feng epted the mission, which put his mind at ease about the matters in Weng''An town.
Later, around 1 pm, the group departed from Kaiyang after being briefed on the mission.
Weng''An. Weng''An, huh? What was there to watch out for in Weng''An around this time?
Zhou Xuchuan closed his eyes and attempted to recall. However, it had been too long, and Weng''An was a ce where the upying faction could change a dozen times in a year. There were so many events that happened that he couldn''t think of anything.
"Old man, why are you still following me? You''re scaring me."
Zhou Xuchuan followed Zhuge Shengji everywhere. The warriors from the Martial Alliance that came with them whispered among themselves.
"The two of them are still so young, so it shouldn''t be that kind of rtionship, right?"
"Shush. He might be one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen in the future. Do you not fear that he wille to settle scores with youter? Don''t you know that the brats in the ten major organizations have the worst personalities? Rumors say they''re all terrible people."
"Honestly, I think you should worry about yourself more than me."
"Ehem!"
"And that kid named Zhou Xuchuan isn''t someone you should be concerned about. I overheard young hero Zhang say that his title is All Bite No Bark. He only managed to join the Lotus Pavilion through luck, and it seems he isn''t all that special."
"Whoa, just joining the Mount Hua sect is a stroke of fortune, and he was even luckier than that? Life is so miserable."
Chapter 23: Posthumous Genius (2)
Weng''An Town, Guizhou Province.
There were around a thousand martial artists residing in Weng''An Town at all times. Four hundred belonged to the Martial Alliance and six hundred belonged to the Evil Valley.
"This is not the War of Factions, so why is Guizhou the only one still in conflict?" Zhuge Shengji mumbled in wonder.
The conflict was not a one-off thing either, and it had been going on for decades. It was sometimes intense, and other times not as much.
The power bnce between the factions was keeping the whole martial world at peace, so Zhuge Shengji wondered why Guizhou was an exception to this.
"Guizhou is the line that separates Orthodox from Evil. Even if there''s a truce between the two factions, it''s obvious what will happen if there are martial artists eager to kill those of the other faction at the front lines."
Zhou Xuchuan answered Zhuge Shengji''s question.
I''ve heard he''s only interested in the art of trap mechanisms, and I see it''s true. He knows nothing about the state of the martial world. Looks like I should teach him even if it means having him memorize everything. It''ll be quite troublesome if hecksmon knowledge.
"Even if you try to hold everyone back, martial artists haveplex rtionships, filled with both grace and resentment. Powerful emotions paralyze reason and change them. This is the result of that."Zhou Xuchuan wore a bitter expression uncharacteristic of his peers.
"That trait is most evident in Guizhou. The chain of resentment is so deeply interconnected that no one can do anything about it. There''s no one in this world who can resolve this, Mr. Genius."
"Ahem, a genius, you say. Your intentions are obvious, but it doesn''t feel bad." Zhuge Shengji was grinning broadly.
Fufu, what a simpleton. Zhou Xuchuan inwardly smiled. A child was truly easy to handle.
"...Wait." Zhuge Shengji''s smiling face turned gloomy. "I see how it is. You meant genius in the entric and weird sense. I guess that makes more sense if uncle sent you. He told you to tell me to give up on petty tricks like this, didn''t he?"
Haa, there he goes again.
Zhuge Shengji had shown keen interest in the art of mechanisms since he learned how to read, and delved into the study despite the people around him telling him not to. The nagging from his family never ceased, leading to his loss of self-confidence.
His pessimistic thinking was problematic; because of all the insults he had heard, he never eptedpliments.
At first nce, he seemed simple and easy to console, but it was clear that no amount ofpliment could ovee his pessimism.
"Little brother, just ept me already. You should know since you have ears, but I''m a pretty entric guy in Mount Hua myself. That chatterbox sect brother of mine should have told you already. Didn''t you hear it?"
"No you and uncle are the only ones who talk to me" Zhuge Shengji replied powerlessly with apparent dejection in his eyes.
Normally, Zhuge Xiang would talk to him asionally out of pity, but he went off with the members of Mount Hua. He was very eager to interact with the members of the Lotus Pavilion for the sake of the future rtionship between the n and the sect.
Zhuge Xiuluan originally didn''t really dislike Zhuge Shengji either; she just didn''t talk much.
As such, the only ones who talked to him were Zhuge Xiao and Zhou Xuchuan, and even then, Zhuge Xiao would often nag him.
"That''s so low of you to dump a load of information on me! Let''s fight fair and square with lies and schemes!" Zhuge Shengji started talking nonsense.
From what I heard, he should have a frail heart, but I didn''t know it would be this bad Is he really the Posthumous Genius?
At this point, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but worry. He had never seen what Zhuge Shengji could do with mechanisms either, so he was slightly concerned about that as well.
No, forget it. Let''s just believe in him. If I don''t trust him, who else will this weirdo rely on? Zhou Xuchuan shook his head to get rid of his unease.
"What''s wrong you? Are you out of your mind?" Zhuge Shengji distanced himself from him after seeing him act like that.
Zhou Xuchuan suddenly had the urge to hit him.
*
The martial artists in Weng''An Town were mostly from middle to small-sized sects. The one inmand was a First-ss warrior from the Martial Alliance.
"Wee!"
Wang Qi, the First-ss warrior, enthusiastically greeted the reinforcements when they arrived. He was that happy about their presence. He was so moved, almost to tears, when he heard that the Fourteenth Sword Hero would be arriving.
"We have heard the general situation, so exin," said Zhuge Xiao.
"Yes!"
Six hundred from the Evil Valley, four hundred from the Martial Alliance.
Those unaware might assume the Evil Valley had the upper hand after seeing those numbers. However, those who had some knowledge about the martial world would argue that it was the Martial Alliance who had the advantage.
The Evil Valley, rather, the Evil Faction as a whole, had an overwhelming numerical advantage over the Martial Alliance. However, that was it. Numbers were the only advantage they had.
One of the characteristics of evil cultivation arts was that the cultivation speed was really high, but it was really hard to break through each stage after reaching a certain level.
As such, the Evil Faction had many lower-ranked cultivators, but the number of mid and upper ranked cultivators they had were less than the Orthodox Faction. Despite their superiority in quantity, theirck of quality made it challenging to determine who had the upper hand.
"Are there any experts from the Evil Valley in Weng''An right now?" Qiu Feng asked directly.
A two-hundred-person disadvantage wasn''t so significant that they would be pushed back. Forget losing, they might be able to win if they fought well. If there was a request for reinforcements despite that, it meant that they were at a disadvantage not solely of the numbers.
"Yes, there are three."
Hearing Wang Qi''s response, the faces of both Qiu Feng and Zhuge Xiao stiffened.
"Oh, but there is no one at the level of an Absolute Realm expert. Please rest assured."
Martial artists had to be in the realm of Peak Realm to be called experts. Those at the Absolute Realm level were also called experts.
Those above them, as well as the top hundred most powerful Absolute Realm experts, usually had their own unique titles.
Hearing Wang Qi''s words, Zhuge Xiao let out a breath of relief before snapping.
"You should start with that!"
It would be problematic if any of those three experts happened to be an Absolute Realm expert. Even Qiu Feng wouldn''t be able to assure a victory.
However, if they were all Peak Realm experts, they could be dealt with, even if it was troublesome. Qiu Feng could handle all three of them by himself as long as there wasn''t any interference.
"Good, then let''s have a look at the situation first and decide our course of" Zhuge Xiao tried to devise a n as the strategist but was interrupted by a shout from a messenger.
"Urgent news!"
"What is it?"
"A battle has broken out with the Evil Valley nearby, and the Three-Headed Mad Dog are running amok at the front!"
"Three-Headed" didn''t refer to someone with three literal heads. It referred to three men who had formed a pact of brotherhood and weremitting all sorts of atrocious deeds. All three were Peak Realm experts.
"Looks like we won''t have any time to rest." Qiu Feng sighed and stood up.
"Ah." Zhang Hong gulped, his face stiff with tension. Zhang Xuen was no different.
They might be members of the Mount Hua Sect, but anyone would be nervous during their first real battle.
"Please take care of these two." Qiu Feng asked the First-ss warriors of the Martial Alliance who came with them from Kaiyang town.
"Yes, great hero."
"Leave them to us."
Before leaving Kaiyang, they received orders from Shen Tujun to guard the members of the Lotus Pavilion in Qiu Feng''s stead. Thanks to this, Qiu Feng felt rtively at ease.
"Two?" Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head.
"Hm, I''m sorry for not being able to tell you in advance." Before Qiu Feng left the barracks, he apologized to Zhou Xuchuan. "I really wish to take you there as well, but the current situation isn''t good. The warriors that came with us from Kaiyang said they will be able to protect two, but not three. That''s why I have no choice but to leave you behind, since you''re the youngest."
There was no reason for him to make things dangerous by bringing Zhou Xuchuan along, so he had no choice even if Zhou Xuchuan was disappointed.
''Hmm, I was sort of looking forward to this. What a pity.''
He wanted to test out the martial arts that he had diligently trained. Back at the Lotus Pavilion, he asionally sparred with Luo Xiayue in secret, but he never disyed his true skills.
As he had gotten an opportunity to participate in a battle, which would inevitably lead to confusion and chaos, he was nning to sneak out and fight alone.
Naturally, he had none of the fear and nervousness that Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen were experiencing; Zhou Xuchuan had his fair share of battles in the Era of War and Chaos, though not as many as the heroes back then. In terms of real battle experience, not many could match up to him in the sect, including Qiu Feng.
The Era of War and Chaos wasn''t called that for nothing. There were countless conflicts and battles.
"I made this decision in consideration for your safety, so don''t resent me too much. I''m absolutely not looking down on you."
"I know, Senior Uncle. Thank you for looking out for me. It just can''t be helped this time." Zhou Xuchuan nodded in understanding.
"I see you''re all grown up despite being only twelve years old. Your master has really found a good disciple. Oh, the young boy from the Zhuge Family is also staying behind, so please look after him as the elder while we''re away. I''ll leave him to you."
"Yes, Senior Uncle. Please be careful out there. I''ll pray for your victory."
*
About half a day''s walk from Weng''An town was a ce called Kai''An. It was an area with small viges. Kai''An was the border between the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley, and numerous fights broke out there every single day.
The reinforcements that departed from Weng''An town arrived at Kai''An as fast as they could.
"Wow!"
"It''s the Fourteenth Sword Hero!"
Cheers erupted among the cultivators of Martial Alliance at the sight of Qiu Feng. His presence here was just that influential. The cultivators from the Evil Valley even flinched back as a result.
Qiu Feng stepped forward and executed the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. Befitting his cultivation of the Absolute Realm, his attacks were powerful. Wherever he passed, the cultivators of the Evil Valley screamed, blood spraying.
"Haha, they aren''t anything much!" Zhuge Xiaoughed heartily as he watched him from the middle of the battlefield.
There was no need to devise a n. The Fourteenth Sword Hero, as well as the reinforcements from Kaiyang disyed superior martial prowesspared to those from the Evil Valley.
"...Big brother," Zhuge Xiuluan called out to Zhuge Xiang, her eyes glued to the battlefield.
"Yes, I see it." Zhuge Xiang narrowed his eyes. He spoke before Zhuge Xiuluan said what was on her mind. "There''s too little here."
Sweat formed on Zhuge Xiang''s forehead.
"I can''t tell exactly because of the chaotic battle but the Evil Valley iscking about a hundred to a hundred and fifty fighters."
Zhuge Xiang slowly turned to look behind him. He was looking in the direction of Weng''An Town.
"Uncle, it seems we have fallen into a trap. About a hundred to a hundred fifty are missing from our enemies."
"Hahaha, what are you saying? It seems you''re mistaken because of yourck of experience. Just look at them. The Evil Valley can''t even put up a proper fight and are dying left and right!"
Zhuge Xiang''s expression turned gloomy, realizing that the situation wasn''t as straightforward as it seemed.
Zhuge Xiao, as well as the army from Weng''An Town, couldn''t see things properly because they were drunk on victory. They let their high morale ovee them and shouted at the cultivators of the Evil Valley.
Chapter 24: A Hero Speaks with His Back (1)
The predictions of the brother and sister, who wouldter be called geniuses in their own right, were spot on, and their unease soon turned to reality.
The martial artists residing in Weng''An Town were absent because of the appearance of the Three-Headed Mad Dog. Those remaining were the injured, the women and the children, as well as some lower-rank cultivators who protected them, despite not being so skilled or numerous.
"Wh-what''s that?!" a martial artist standing on the watchtower shouted in shock. Hearing that, the martial artist standing on the other side turned around to see what themotion was about.
"Ack! It''s the Evil Valley!"
They could see arge group of people from the Evil Valley heading their way, the distance making it difficult to make out the details even if they circted qi into their eyes. There seemed to be roughly a hundred at least and a hundred and fifty at most.
The martial artists realized that the appearance of the Three-Headed Mad Dog was a diversion. However, it was toote.
"Wh-what do we do?"
Those inmand had all left for Kai''An. The strongest person here was, at best, a Second-ss expert, and even that was at the beginning stage. Although there were some powerful cultivators among the injured, they were barely conscious.
"W-we need to run."Including those with light injuries, there were only around thirty cultivators who could move. Among them, the strongest was a Second-ss cultivator. With a force like this, they stood no chance against a hundred enemies.
"What do we do about the injured, the women and children?" someone asked, making the atmosphere gloomy.
"Th-that''s"
No one could suggest leaving such people behind. They all knew that their hearts would shatter if they did. The problem was that it was the only realistic option.
Just as they were wondering what to do, a boy who appeared to have just reached adulthood stepped forward.
"Gee, I didn''t know it was a diversion tactic."
The boy, Zhou Xuchuan, leaped onto the watchtower. The cultivators were startled and stepped aside.
"Hm, there''s about a hundred at a nce. There might be some experts, but Senior Uncle is on the battlefield, so I doubt there are any here." Zhou Xuchuan crossed his arms, contemting the situation.
Seeing him, the cultivators below the watchtower had different reactions.
"That''s right! There''s a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect here! He''s a member of the Lotus Pavilion as well! We can make it out alive!"
"You fool, that brat looks big, but he''s only twelve years old!"
"Huh?"
The cultivator''s joy turned to confusion after hearing that Zhou Xuchuan was only twelve. Zhou Xuchuan was bigger than his peers, but the air around him was also mature.
"Sob, sob. How slow are you in catching the news? That kid is All Bite and No Bark. He only has a ton of qi, and absolutely nothing else! He''s totally ipetent!" Another Third-ss cultivatormented, tearing at his hair in despair.
"We''re done for!"
"Do you think they''ll spare our lives if we surrender?"
"Weren''t there supposed to be geniuses from the Zhuge Family? How did they miss this diversion attack?"
The cultivators gathered around and despaired together. Due to the extreme situation, some of them even uttered shameful and insulting words.
Observing the chaotic scene from the top of the watchtower, Zhou Xuchuan let out a chuckle. During the Era of War and Chaos, he had to abandon bases on numerous asions due to diversion tactics like this. They would even leave behind the injured, the women, and the children to avoid being dragged back.
Inparison, the cultivators here were cursing their fates but weren''t running away.
"It''s really biased that a Third-ss cultivator will have a third-rate mindset. They''re all so remarkable. But aside from that what a stroke of bad luck."
Zhou Xuchuan''s smile vanished, reced by a vicious frown. He was rather satisfied by the actions that the cultivators took, but the situation at hand was grim.
Excluding the injured, we have one Second-ss cultivator, and twenty Third-ss cultivators on our side. That''s too little.
He couldn''t tell how powerful the enemies were, but with so little forces on their side, and theck of morale to boot, it was very hard to fight back.
Those geniuses might notice the diversion tactic and send reinforcements. That means we just have to hold out until then.
Zhou Xuchuan came down from the watchtower and looked around. There was despair in the air, with many resigned to their impending fate.
ording to the original history, this ce should either have been wiped out due to the diversion tactic, or held hostage.
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t here originally. He was not a member of the Lotus Pavilion, so he couldn''t even leave the sect.
The same was true for Zhuge Shengji. He wasn''t supposed to be here either. Back when the reinforcements departed, Zhuge Xiao intended to show Zhuge Shengji what the battlefield was like. However, Zhuge Xiang intervened and prevented that from happening, urging Zhuge Xiao to leave him behind due to unfavorable circumstances and Zhou Xuchuan''s presence.
Although Zhou Xuchuan possessed nothing but a ton of internal qi, Zhuge Xiang judged Zhou Xuchuan to be much more capablepared to Zhuge Shengji. Zhou Xuchuan also seemed to be rather mature for his age, so he felt at ease leaving Zhuge Shengji in Zhou Xuchuan''s care.
Looks like he hid after hearing themotion earlier, which is for the best. I won''t have him fight anyway.
Zhuge Shengji didn''t have good cultivation. Although he had learned a cultivation art, he was only at the second stage. How could Zhou Xuchuan let him fight like that? He would struggle to win against an ordinary civilian, let alone a cultivator. He would only be a nuisance, so it was better that he hid without causing a ruckus.
"Well, then. Let''s begin, shall we?" Zhou Xuchuan pulled out his sword.
*
The front door of the Martial Alliance Weng''An branch was smashed with a loud noise. The cultivators of the Evil Valley were trying to squeeze themselves inside through the small doorway.
"Kyaaah!" the nurses treating the injured screamed, their faces turning pale despite their usual resilience to bloodshed.
"Hahaha! Come over here!" shouted a cultivator from Evil Valley at the very front. He had an unkempt beard that made him look like a bandit.
"I''m Mo Yuanjia, who can silence a crying kid huh? What the heck is this kid?" Mo Yuanjia looked in front of him in confusion.
Inside the manor stood Zhou Xuchuan, who appeared to have just reached adulthood, staring at the intruders while holding his swordfortably.
"I have no name to give to a dead man." Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword and got into a stance.
"What was that? Hahahaha!" Mo Yuanjia burst intoughter at Zhou Xuchuan''s words. Hisughter had a mix of ridicule and disbelief.
"Kid, are you nning to face us all by yourself?"
"No, I''m not by myself."
Zhou Xuchuan raised his left hand. When he did, twenty Third-ss cultivators surrounded the front door.
Oh, no.
Mo Yuanjia was taken aback. There were many cultivators following him who had yet to cross the doorway. Their party was too rxed because they knew that there was no one left in the Weng''An branch who could fight.
Fifteen men had passed through the doorway, theirrge builds leaving little space.
"Defensive form."
Tap.
At Zhou Xuchuan''s order, the Third-ss cultivators shifted their stances. Everyone looked nervous and uneasy.
"Imend you for thinking of using the front doorway, but do not think that you can stop us with that alone."
Mo Yuanjia briefly looked uneasy before smiling confidently. With no experts in the Weng''An branch, there was nothing to fear.
"Brat, I was a little taken aback by your boldness. I will take your life as a price for looking down on us with my sword!"
Mo Yuanjia pointed at Zhou Xuchuan with the tip of his sword.
"Attack!"
"Aaah!"
The cultivators from Evil Valley shouted. The cultivators at the door started swinging their swords threateningly.
The cultivators inside the Weng''An branch were taken aback at first, but they started striking back in desperation after realizing that there was nowhere to retreat.
"Brat, I want to know what gives you so much confidence!"
Thergest man among the cultivators from the Evil Valley broke through the formation and charged like a boar. He didn''t have the ferocious fangs of a boar, but a sword in his hand.
"Die!"
The sword approached him from top to bottom. It was a clean strike that drew a single straight line. However, it wasn''t anything amazing; it was just the level of a Third-ss cultivator.
As his eyes closed, time seemed to slow down. Sounds of battle echoed around him, triggering memories of the Era of War and Chaosa time of endless conflict, where there were mountains of corpses and rivers of blood flowed.
When he came to, he was standing there, his Daoist robes dyed red with the blood of people unknown to him. He was holding a sword as his legs trembled. In front of him was someone''s back, a hero''s back.
I''ve always watched other people''s backs.
He saw someone else''s reliable back. He couldn''t tell if it was a man or woman. He didn''t know if they were elderly, a child, or maybe a youth.
The only thing he could tell was the back felt bigger than Mount Tai to him.
"From now on" Zhou Xuchuan gripped his sword tightly.
"Haha, you must be wetting your pants in fear!"
The burly cultivator in front of himughed as he looked at Zhou Xuchuan standing still.
"I"
Zhou Xuchuan stirred the qi from his lower dantian. The qi he had gained from Plum Blossoms surged with explosive power. The internal qi from his lower dantian coursed through the firm foundations of his meridians and headed to the sword in his hand. He could sense the faint smell of Plum Blossoms spreading around him.
"...am that back."
sh-!
"Huh?"
The sword sliced through the air and drew a line. It was a wless vertical straight line. The line gleamed in bright white before turning into a fiery red line of blood.
The burly cultivator''s eyes widened in confusion and shock as his body split in two.
Drip
Blood also seeped out of his ugly-looking chest and stained the ground red.
"No w"
He couldn''t finish speaking.
Crack!
Hisrge body was unable to keep standing any longer. His body split in two like chopped firewood.
A moment of silence engulfed the battlefield. Whether it was the cultivators of the Weng''An branch desperately surrounding the cultivators from the Evil Valley or their enemies, no one understood what had just happened.
"There exists a plum tree on the roadsideRoadside Plum Blossom." Zhou Xuchuan chanted, still in apletely defensive stance.
"The plum blossom dances like the butterflyPlum Blossom Butterfly."
Tack-!
Zhou Xuchuan''s body disappeared; he didn''t actually disappear. He just moved at a speed that the Third-ss cultivators couldn''t catch. He jumped into the midst of cultivators from the Evil Valley and spun around elegantly.
"The plum blossom emits its seductive fragrancePlum Blossom''s Seduction."
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword. Invisible waves were emitted from his sword, dispersing into the surroundings.
There were three cultivators from the Evil Valley around him.
"The sharp petals of the plum blossom lead the wayPlum Blossom''s Lead."
And those waves blossomed within him, releasing frightening energy. Something stabbed those three men.
"Kaahk!"
The three cultivators from the Evil Valley screamed and fell down. Looking closely, there was a hole in the Death Acupoint on their chests.
"Wh-what was that?" Mo Yuanjia''s voice quivered.
No one present realized what kind of higher-level sword art he was executing.
"What the hell are you!" Mo Yuanjia eximed, wide-eyed with disbelief.
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword to clean it of blood.
The cultivators of the Weng''An branch looked at Zhou Xuchuan in a daze.
It was a small, yetrge back.
"A passing" Zhou Xuchuan smirked. "Swordsman from Mount Hua!"
Chapter 25: A Hero Speaks with His Back (2)
Zhou Xuchuan shouted confidently and lunged again. His target this time was Mo Yuanjia.
"Wh-what are you all doing?!" Mo Yuanjia stepped backward in fear. The tyranny from when he burst the door open was no longer there.
"Take care of that guy first!"
He no longer called Zhou Xuchuan a kid or a brat.
"B-big brother. He''s apparently a swordsman from the Mount Hua Sect," a cultivator spoke in fear as he now stood at the forefront because of the demise of therger man. His body trembled slightly.
Mount Hua Sect. That name struck fear into the hearts of lower-ranked Evil Valley cultivators.
"A-and seeing as how he doesn''t look even twenty"
"He must be from the Lotus Pavilion!"
Everyone present knew what it meant when a disciple of Mount Hua was out in the world training when they hadn''t reached the age of twenty."If we touch the Lotus Pavilion" someone cautiously interjected.
The Lotus Pavilion was a group of talents that Mount Hua protected. They couldn''t touch a member of that group so easily in fear of retaliation.
"You idiots!" Mo Yuanjia shouted. His face flushed red with anger, veins bulging in his neck. "So you''re nning to just retreat here? Everyone knows there are only injured people here. If we run away, forget mockery, our lives will be over!"
They had split off a hundred cultivators as a diversion, which meant that the damage to their main forces would increase. They had to conquer Weng''An town and take every inhabitant hostage.
"And even if he''s a disciple of Mount Hua, or even the Lotus Pavilion, he''s just a kid who''s fifteen at most!"
Mo Yuanjia kicked the backs of the retreating cultivators.
"In the first ce, the fact that he was left behind while the Fourteenth Sword Hero is in battle means that hecks skill! Don''t be scared, subdue him, you ipetent lot!"
Whether they were persuaded or stricken with fear after what Mo Yuanjia said, the cultivators from Evil Valley gripped their swords, most focusing on Zhou Xuchuan.
"You guys are more talkative than the orthodox cultivators."
Zhou Xuchuan wiped the smile from his face and tightened his grip on his sword.
"Enough chatter, let our swords do the talking!"
At Zhou Xuchuan''s words, the cultivators of Evil Valley and the Weng''An branch shed again.
"Remember what Young Hero Zhou told us!" shouted the Second-ss cultivator, who went around supporting areas the Third-ss cultivators had a hard time defending.
Around thirty minutes prior, Zhou Xuchuan devised a makeshift n with the cultivators present. At first, they didn''t even listen to him; they all thought that he was ipetent.
When that happened, Zhou Xuchuan had told them, "I''ll spread rumors that you all ran away to survive and died while trying to steal wealth. If you''re cultivators with a family at home, you know what will happen to them, right?"
"A demon! There''s a demon here!"
They had no choice but toply.
They had practically resigned themselves to their fate, so they didn''t cause a fuss and listened to Zhou Xuchuan''s instructions obediently.
The n wasn''t anything special, in fact, it was very simple. All they had to do was to stand guard in front of the doorway so that their enemies couldn''t barge in all at once.
Another part of the n was that the Second-ss cultivator would support areas that looked like they would be broken through. Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan would stand in the center and defeat the cultivators of the Evil Valley one by one to secure victory.
When they first heard of the n, the cultivators thought that Zhou Xuchuan was crazy, or had too much confidence in his martial prowess. It couldn''t really be helped, however, as he was only a twelve-year-old kid, even if he was from the Lotus Pavilion. Not only that, this was also his first time out in the world.
They didn''t even know how he would react to his first kill, and yet he told them to leave everything to him? Of course they would find it ridiculous.
The problem was that the cultivators from Evil Valley closed in before they could object to the n, and they all started the mission in despair.
Yet, to their amazement, the n was sessful.
At this point, it wasn''t the n itself. It was Zhou Xuchuan''s astounding martial prowess that left them dumbfounded.
However, after he defeated one person, followed by another three in an instant, they started believing in him.
They didn''t understand how Zhou Xuchuan''s martial prowess defiedmon sense. However, as hope of survival overshadowed their confusion, they couldn''t contain their joy.
"Left wing, watch out! You''re going too far. I get that you''re enthusiastic, but we''re outnumbered, so calm down!"
Zhou Xuchuan instructed, swinging his sword as he assessed the battle. Though inexperienced, Zhou Xuchuan had some experiencemanding others before he regressed.
"Yes!" replied a Third-ss cultivator earnestly, the despair of moments ago reced by determination.
They were outnumbered, and their morale was low. There seemed to be no hope, and everything felt gloomy.
Behind themy the injured, and those unable to fight, hiding and trembling. They were ashamed of themselves for thinking of abandoning those people, even if it was just for a brief moment. They repented and took action.
There is hope.
The Third-ss cultivators saw hope.
There is the sturdy back of Mount Hua.
They saw the back of someone more reliable than anyone else, the back of a boy who couldn''t even be called a youth. It might be embarrassing, but they relied on the back of such a boy and fought vigorously.
"Die!" shouted a cultivator from the Evil Valley.
Zhou Xuchuan pulled out his sword embedded in the chest of the cultivator in front of him and spun around on the spot while swinging his sword.
Swoosh-!
The sword sliced through the air, drawing a horizontal line.
"Hup!" The cultivator from the Evil Valley jerked his head backward as if anticipating the strike. The tip of the sword barely scratched his chin.
"Hahaha! It''s over now!" shouted the Evil Valley cultivator triumphantly.
No matter how powerful Zhou Xuchuan was, he would need time to retract his sword. The cultivator tried to swing his sword before he could regain his footing.
"Oho, you''re quite skilled," Zhou Xuchuan praised. At the same time, he put strength in his legs. His well-trained leg muscles tensed. Then, he circted qi into his toes and kicked the cultivator in the shin.
"Argh!"
The sound of bones snapping filled the air as the cultivator copsed, his leg giving way before he could swing his sword.
"H-he''s supposed to be a swordsman from Mount Hua, so why the hell"
Orthodox cultivators, especially those who prided in their sword techniques like those from Mount Hua, usually avoided using techniques that weren''t sword arts. They might have trained in the Plum Blossom Fist Technique, but some members even took their own lives if they lost their swords during battle.
Considering that, the Evil Valley cultivator couldn''t understand why this young boy in front of him, who belonged to the esteemed Lotus Pavilion of Mount Hua, would use his feet.
"I rarely resort to it either unless I''m in real danger. Also, when you''ve been through enough wars, orthodox cultivators are bound to loosen their pride a bit."
Zhou Xuchuan also used to be a stereotypical orthodox cultivator in that sense. However, desperation and a few life-and-death battles changed his mindset.
This didn''t only apply to Zhou Xuchuan. The orthodox cultivators with stiff mindsets encountered all sorts of changes during the Era of War and Chaos.
"Spare me"
"What was that? Couldn''t hear ya."
sh-!
The head of an Evil Valley cultivator rolled off.
"Hieek!"
The cultivators from Evil Valley, who were nning to force their way in, all fell back in fear. The cultivators waiting behind them also paled.
As Third-ss cultivators, they were powerless against such overwhelming might.
Evil cultivators didn''t really value pride or reputation either, so fear quickly spread among them.
"H-he''s taken down thirty people already!" someone eximed in fright.
The hundred cultivators at the beginning were now down to seventy.
"Think about it differently! He fought thirty people, so he must be exhausted!" Mo Yuanjia shouted desperately.
We can''t fall back here. The others may have it easier off, but as the person inmand, they''ll track me down even if I run away.
Mo Yuanjia gulped. As someone inmand, he had an easier time umting achievements, but the punishments were just as harsh. This was particrly the case for Evil Valley, where the rules were merciless.
"Push forward! Push! Push them back!" Mo Yuanjia kicked the back of the subordinate cultivators. He raised his sword and shouted. "Anyone who brings me the head of that kid, I will report you to the superiors and have them bestow you a gold coin!"
Mo Yuanjia had no such authority. He just said anything out of fear.
"Raaaaah!"
The cultivators reacted to the word gold coin. Evil cultivators, especially those at the bottom of the rung, coveted material wealth instead of pride and reputation.
"Th-this is bad!"
The Second-ss cultivator from the Weng''An branch became pale. They had been holding off well, but they had a harder time holding the line steady when the cultivators from Evil Valley all charged at once in agitation.
Although they had been passive thanks to Zhou Xuchuan''s absolute disy of skills, now it was the opposite.
"Y-young Hero Zhou!" cried the Second-ss cultivator.
The Third-ss cultivators also flinched and started being pushed back.
Oh, no!
Zhou Xuchuan attempted to go back quickly.
"Die!"
However, the cultivators from the Evil Valley blocked his path. Although they weren''t much of a threat to him, they prevented him from helping his allies.
Just as he thought that they might break through, he heard someone''s voice on the battlefield.
"Hey you punks!"
Kaboom!
He didn''t know what it was, but there was an explosive sound.
Whizz!
Before he could even discern what the noise was, something fell on the heads of the Evil Valley cultivators.
"Arrgh!"
"Ack, where are theseing from?!"
Screams erupted everywhere. The cultivators from Evil Valley, who were charging like boars, all stood back in fright.
What fell on their heads were at least twenty arrows.
"...Hahaha!"
Zhou Xuchuan was also in the range of the arrows because he was in the middle of the Evil Valley cultivators. However, he didn''t take any damage because he deflected them with his sword.
Amidst the chaos stood Zhuge Shengji, holding a section of bamboo with a rope attached, his expression furious.
"The Zhuge Family is truly a hot mess alright."
Bamboo crossbow.
It was a type of hidden weapon where dozens of arrows were put inside a bamboo, which were fired by pulling on a rope attached to it.
Originally, it started being used decades from now, during the Era of War and Chaos, as a new weapon invented by the Tang n in Sichuan.
But somehow, a member of the Zhuge Family was using the bamboo crossbow, not the Tang n, decades earlier.
In other words
"Shengji developed a hidden weapon, so they couldn''t use it because of their pride as orthodox cultivators, so they sold it to the Tang n?"
He felt displeased, but at the same time, it gave him conviction.
"Haha, sess!"
Zhuge Shengji raised the bamboo crossbow in the air and rejoiced. It was pure joy stemming from the sess of a trial.
He''s the Posthumous Genius without a doubt!
Chapter 26: Spiritual Medicine Oath (1)
Zhuge Shengji hid as soon as he heard that Evil Valley was attacking. Zhou Xuchuan thought that he hid out of fear but he was wrong. It was the opposite, and he hadpletely misunderstood.
Forget hiding, Zhuge Shengji had gathered arrows and bamboo in the Weng''An branch and created a hidden weapon.
"A-a hidden weapon?" Mo Yuanjia panicked.
The Tang n?
This hidden weapon was something they had never seen or heard of before. Only the Tang n would use something like this among the Orthodox Faction.
"Haha, sess! I did it!" Zhuge Shengji rejoiced, jumping around.
"Well done, Zhuge Shengji!" Zhou Xuchuan intentionally called out Zhuge Shengji''s name loudly so that everyone could hear.
"The Zhuge Family?" Mo Yuanjia questioned, puzzled. "Wait, why the heck would the Zhuge Family use hidden weapons?"
Apart from the Tang n, the cultivators of the Orthodox Faction usually considered using hidden weapons to be dishonorable. They rarely used them, and even if they did train in the art, their affiliated organizations forbid their use."Whoa! Th-they saw me!" Zhuge Shengji stopped jumping around and suddenly panicked.
This was the first time he had attracted so much attention. With so much attention on him, he suddenly felt afraid. He broke into a sweat, his mind going nk.
"Wh-what are you looking at?! I know! I know I''m useless!" His self-doubt resurfaced.
Zhuge Shengji hugged the bamboo crossbow and started sobbing. This was too much for a ten-year-old. Having not properly cultivated, he couldn''t bear the fierce res from the Evil Valley cultivators.
"The Zhuge Family using hidden weapons? That''s so underhanded! Have you no shame?!" Mo Yuanjia eximed, his eyes red with anger.
"Huh, geez."
The Second-ss cultivator from the Weng''An branch looked at Mo Yuanjia incredulously. The Third-ss cultivators had simr reactions.
Who was calling who underhanded? The Evil Valley were those who didn''t care about reputation for the sake of victory, weren''t they?
However, Mo Yuanjia did not care about the stares and pointed fingers at Zhuge Shengji, "Don''t fight like that over there! Come down and fight fair and square!"
That thing is dangerous.
Mo Yuanjia was wary of the bamboo crossbow. While the arrows weren''t life-threatening, they were definitely bothersome. He couldn''t afford to mind those arrows. If he did, he might be killed by the strangely strong kid, Zhou Xuchuan.
Those of the Orthodox Faction take their own lives if others point out that they''re underhanded. There''s no way he won''t fall for this. Mo Yuanjia was reassured.
"You''re talking about fairness when you''re using yourrge numbers to attack the weak? Where''s your conscience?" Zhou Xuchuan stepped forward, chuckling, implying that his n wouldn''t work.
"Shengji, now I''m certain. You''re no doubt a genius. So treat me as your big brother. Let''s work together."
"You''re spouting nonsense again!" Zhuge Shengji freaked out.
"Attack!" Mo Yuanjia''s loud voice rang out.
A Third-ss cultivator lunged at Zhou Xuchuan. Although he looked confident, his movements were sluggish in Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes.
"Die!" shouted the Third-ss cultivator before shing diagonally. Zhou Xuchuan sidestepped to dodge it.
Plum Brilliance Sword Technique!
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword became blurry. It didn''t disappear entirely, but it was too fast for a person to see.
"Whoa!" The Third-ss cultivator tried following it with his eyes, but it was toote. Along with a searing pain, blood spurted from his chest.
"Y-you brat!"
This time, two people came at him, one from each side. Zhou Xuchuan adjusted his grip on his sword and smiled in satisfaction.
I did train in it regrly, but I was worried that I might not be able to use it in practice. I''m d that''s not the case.
He seeded in executing both the Fourteen Forms and the Brilliance Sword Technique without much problems. Zhou Xuchuan held the sword diagonally in defense and executed the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
The Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique as its name implied, contained the mysteries of the Five Ways. It was a cyclic martial art that smoothly interchanged between offense and defense, a sword art that allowed for a smooth transition to attack after blocking.
With a sharp rush of wind, a sword approached him from the left. Zhou Xuchuan lightly deflected that attack.
"Uck!" The Third-ss cultivator fell to the right, unable to stop his momentum. This made the Third-ss cultivator attacking from the right panic.
"One."
He swung his sword horizontally. The de cleanly sliced the head off the Third-ss cultivator on the right.
"Two."
He spun his wrist to grip the sword in a reverse grip. Then, he stabbed the falling Third-ss cultivator in the back.
Along with a short groan from the man''s mouth, he could feel the life of the cultivator slip away in his hands.
"H-hieek!" The cultivators from the Evil Valley flinched backward. Their once excited expressions were now reced with fear.
Zhou Xuchuan seized the opportunity, he rushed forward and ran amok.
"Argh!"
"Ugh!"
A sword containing a hint of the Plum Blossom danced in the air. It was not a soft and elegant dance, but an angry and ferocious one. Sometimes, it looked like the p of a butterfly, but it soon turned into a fierce storm that threatened the lives of the Evil Valley cultivators.
Heads were severed from bodies, and holes were poked in chests, spurting blood everywhere.
Is this really his first time out in the world?
The Second-ss cultivator from the Weng''An branch was amazed by Zhou Xuchuan''s might. He was in total disbelief.
The cultivation arts of the Orthodox Sect refined and reforged the mind and the body. This lessened the shock of one''s first kill.
However, even if that were the case, the shock was still there. Usually, a cultivator killing someone else for the first time would hesitate for a brief moment, even if they didn''t fall into a cultivation deviation due to a Heart Demon.
Even then, this was about cultivators who were past the age of twenty. From what he knew, Zhou Xuchuan was only twelve. Seeing a twelve-year-old boy not hesitate at all in battle gave him a sense of disparity.
"Come!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted while scattering the blood from his sword. "I am Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua sect!"
Goosebumps prickled his skin; he was exhrated. He had never said something like this so boldly in his previous life. He was always within a group of people and followed whenever someone else shouted such words.
However, now, it was the opposite. Behind his back were cultivators following him. It didn''t matter that they were only Third-ss cultivators. They believed in him and were looking at his back. He would never be able to forget this moment for the rest of his life.
"Gooooooo!"
"Follow young hero Zhou!"
The cultivators from the Martial Alliance erupted in cheers. It waspletely different from how they were acting a while ago. Although they were less than half the number of their enemies, they had a young expert with them. They believed in that.
Even if a sword were to strike the chest of arade cultivator, they stood firm, striking back without fear.
"You don''t need to push yourselves. Just do what I told you before!" Zhou Xucuan directed the cultivators of the Martial Alliance.
Before the Evil Valley cultivators smashed down the door, Zhou Xuchuan told them to parry most of the attacks and induce them toe to Zhou Xuchuan''s position. At first, they were skeptical, but now they were listening to his words.
The Martial Alliance cultivators focused on defense, and pushed the enemies to Zhou Xuchuan''s side. Zhou Xuchuan quickly attacked any enemy when they were within his attack range.
"Aaargh!"
The nearly thirty men that came in at the beginning were considerably reduced. The Evil Valley cultivators waiting outside came in as well, and another thirty people died. The hundred cultivators from the Evil Valley were reduced by half.
The doorway was cluttered with corpses, leaving no room to set foot. The cultivators from the Evil Valley had a hard time fighting because they were only Third-ss cultivators and were hindered by the corpses. Zhou Xuchuan moved freely, attacking wherever he went.
"Take this!"
Adding to their frustrations was Zhuge Shengji, who was attacking from behind. Although there weren''t that many bamboo crossbows because he had made them hastily, he attacked whenever the Evil Valley cultivators were about to break through the formation of the Martial Alliance, hindering their advance. Whenever that happened, Zhou Xuchuan noticed it immediately and swiftly took the lives of the attackers.
Although the intensity of the battle was considerably lowerpared to what was happening in Kai''An, this was okay in its own right.
The number of people that could enter through the door was limited, allowing them to effectively take the lives of their enemies thanks to their sturdy defense formation.
"D-dammit!"
As the situation deteriorated, Mo Yuanjia''s eyes darted, looking for an opportunity to escape. If he were to flee, he would have to suffer the consequences, but it didn''t look like there was a hope of a breakthrough here either.
The other people from the Evil Valley were thinking the same thing. Even they, who were blinded by the seduction of the gold coin at first, eventually sumbed to fear and tried to step back helplessly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Mo Yuanjia''s confused voice echoed on the battlefield.
"And what the heck are you doing?!" Zhou Xuchuan walked straight toward Mo Yuanjia. Despite not looking like he was going to attack, everyone flinched back.
"He''s bluffing! It must be a bluff! He must be exhausted from fighting for so long," Mo Yuanjia muttered, trying to convince himself. There was desperation in his voice.
"Yes, that would be the case normally." Zhou Xuchuan nodded in agreement. "But not me. Sorry to disappoint you, but my alias is All Bite No Bark."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled brightly, his face devoid of even a drop of sweat. That smile looked like that of the devil to Mo Yuanjia.
"S-stop! Don''te any closer!" he shouted in fear. His voice affected the other cultivators from the Evil Valley.
Nearly fifty cultivators had died in Zhou Xuchuan''s hands in a short span of time, which struck them with fear. When Mo Yuanjia, their strongest man and theirmander, looked afraid, everyone lost the will to fight.
"R-run!"
"Aaagh!"
When one person fled, it spread like an infection to those around him. Everyone ran away in fear.
"Dammit!" Mo Yuanjia eventually gave up as well. He had no way of handling a group of panicked subordinates. He, too, pushed aside the Evil Valley cultivators and tried to flee.
"Everyone get out! I''m going back first!" Mo Yuanjia''s voice rang out.
"No, you''re not going back."
Zhou Xuchuan whisked through space with astonishing speed, seemingly unaffected by the corpses littering the ground. Closing the distance between himself and Mo Yuanjia, he intercepted him before he could take more than a few steps.
"My lord, great hero! I''m truly sorry! I have failed to recognize you!"
Mo Yuanjia let out a voice of defeat as soon as Zhou Xuchuan caught up. Forget resisting, he threw his sword on the ground.
I''m not sure what happened, but this kid is a freak that I can''t defeat. I must survive even if it means begging him.
He hadpletely lost his will to fight after seeing Zhou Xuchuan fight. Victory was out of reach. When he came to that conclusion, he immediately took action. Mo Yuanjia put away his pride and groveled in order to survive.
"We''ll only know about the circumstances in detail with you around, so I''ll have you stay behind."
"I don''t know much, great hero. It''ll be much better if you just let me go. Someone like me isn''t"
"Really? Then I guess I''ll have you dead."
"I''ll tell you everything! I''m your follower from now on!"
Chapter 27: Spiritual Medicine Oath (2)
The Martial Alliance almost lost the battle in Kai''An, but they achieved victory thanks to reinforcements. The help from Qiu Feng, the Fourteenth Sword Hero, was really significant. Qiu Feng''s reputation soon spread throughout the martial world.
The reinforcements returned to Weng''An after their victory and were unable to hide their shock when they arrived.
"Wh-what is going on"
They thought that the news of their victory would have arrived and that people would havee out to wee them. But forget any wee; the front door was smashed and there was blood everywhere.
"No!"
Qiu Feng looked for Zhou Xuchuan as soon as he arrived. Hisplexion turned pale for the first time since he descended from the mountains. However, that onlysted a while. He sighed in relief when he saw Zhou Xuchuan walk out and greet him.
"Just what in the world happened here?" Qiu Feng asked Zhou Xuchuan.
"Allow me to exin." The sole Second-ss cultivator remaining in the Weng''An branch stepped forward. Qiu Feng, Zhuge Xiao and the rest listened intently to the words of the Second-ss cultivator.
When they heard what happened, the people were in disbelief rather than surprised. This was especially the case for Zhuge Xiao."Even if the enemies were Third-ss cultivators from the Evil Valley, you managed to defeat a hundred cultivators by yourselves?"
It wasn''t surprising that he didn''t believe them. With the exception of one, every remaining cultivator at the Weng''An branch was Third-ss. Even with the advantage of using the front door, they stood little chance against enemies numbering more than twice their own.
"It was thanks to the young hero, no, the great hero Zhou," the Second-ss cultivator added.
Hearing that, Zhuge Xiao nced at Qiu Feng before snapping out in anger.
"You imbecile, tell me the truth! Everyone here knows that he''s only twelve years old. Who are you trying to fool here?"
The Second-ss cultivator flinched at Zhuge Xiao''s outburst.
"T-twelve years old?" Mo Yuanjia, still bound in rope, abruptly raised his head, unaware of this fact until now.
"I-it''s true!"
"That''s right, Great Hero Zhuge. I saw it with my own eyes as well."
The other cultivators summoned the courage to speak as well.
We must repay the grace we received from Great Hero Zhou.
His title had changed to "great hero" among these people.
None of them expected to leave alive. They all resolved to sacrifice their lives. The situation seemed hopeless, but that was reversed thanks to Zhou Xuchuan''s appearance.
There were no deaths or heavy injuries. They managed to finish the fight with just shallow injuries.
The cultivators who received help from Zhou Xuchuan all spoke up for him with deep gratitude.
When all the cultivators in Weng''An stepped forward to testify, Zhuge Xiao lowered his voice and mumbled, "Hm, that''s not too much of a surprise. The men from the Evil Valley were all Third-ss, and half of them ran away in fear. That''s not too unbelievable. It''s nothing extraordinary either."
Soon, Zhuge Xiao grew indifferent.
"Yes. And unlike my peers, I have a lot of qi, don''t I? That helped out a lot," Zhou Xuchuan added in order to avoid unnecessary suspicion.
"Great Hero Zhou"
When their savior was underestimated, the cultivators of Weng''An looked dissatisfied.
It''s not yet time to reveal myself.
Although he shouted out his name in that battle, he did so because he had confidence that he could handle the aftermath. It was a battle between Third-ss cultivators anyway.
Due to the low level of fighting, he knew that he wouldn''t receive a good assessment even if he achieved a wless victory. That was why Zhou Xuchuan was able to run amok to his heart''s content.
"Still, that was incredible of you. Well done," Qiu Feng praised proudly.
I''ve known this for a while, but leaving aside his cultivation, his insight and rationale are not ordinary. Usually, those experiencing battle for the first time at his age are bound to hesitate. Not only did he not panic, but he also calmlymanded other cultivators, Qiu Feng thought.
Due to Zhou Xuchuan''s meticulous hiding of his abilities, and the specialty of the situation at hand, nothing about his prowess was revealed. Qiu Feng ced Zhou Xuchuan''smanding abilities and reasoning above his martial arts as well.
He''ll be a great man in the future.
A smile spread across his lips.
*
Four days after the battles in Weng''An town and Kai''An vige, thepany returned to Kaiyang Town. News of the battles spread quickly. However, only the battle that took ce in Kai''An garnered more attention, since the scale of the battle in Weng''An was small. Although there were some mentions, it was soon overshadowed by bigger news.
In Kaiyang town, Shen Tujun''sughter echoed as a grand feast celebrated their total victory.
They were at the risk of receiving huge damages in the ranks of men assigned in Kaiyang, and almost lost somend.
However, thanks to the reinforcement of the Fourteenth Sword Hero, they won the battle without much difficulty, and the Three-Headed Mad Dog died as well. Naturally, Shen Tujun was grinning from ear to ear.
"Once again, Imend you for your efforts. You can''t imagine the happiness I felt a few days ago when I received the news. I couldn''t even keep my face in check and came out to the streets to dance. Well then, there is plenty of wine and food, so enjoy yourselves!"
Due to the presence of Zhang Xuen and Zhuge Xiuluan, prostitutes weren''t called. Instead, maids attended to the guests, pouring wine and serving food.
"Wow, apprentice-brother. I see you in a new light!" Zhang Hong patted Zhou Xuchuan on the back with a heartyughter.
"It was nothingpared to what you all went through," Zhou Xuchuan replied modestly, praising Zhang Hong.
Both Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen had disyed decent abilities considering that it was their first battle. Thanks to the protection of the cultivators from Kaiyang, they were able to gain experience without major injuries.
"No, no. I really see you in a new light. It looks like we underestimated you," Zhang Xuen alsoplimented Zhou Xuchuan.
Things might have been different if Zhou Xuchuan''s achievements were more pronounced and their achievements were downyed.
"Thank you," Zhou Xuchuan replied repeatedly with the right words.
Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xiuluan also came over to congratte him.
"You were incredible, Young Hero Zhou."
"Congrattions."
Zhuge Xiang''s eyes were filled with curiosity, while Zhuge Xiuluan remained indifferent.
"Brother, you don''t need to be so ufortable around him. Isn''t that right, apprentice-brother?" Zhang Hong asked Zhou Xuchuan.
"Yes, of course. Please, feel free to treat mefortably," Zhou Xuchuan brightened with joy.
It won''t hurt to establish ties with the genius siblings. They will be very helpful in the future.
Zhang Hong was annoying because he was so talkative, but right now, Zhou Xuchuan was grateful for his sociability. His primary focus remained on getting closer to Zhuge Shengji. However, that didn''t mean that he would stay away from these two. He only gave up because of priorities.
"I''d be d to do that. Please take care of me." Zhuge Xiang smiled.
Zhou Xuchuan spent some time with the apprentice-siblings of the Lotus Pavilion and the Zhuge siblings. As the evening progressed and he grew intoxicated, he snuck out and approached Zhuge Shengji, who was sitting by himself in the corner.
"What is it?" Zhuge Shengji asked, his expression gruff
Zhuge Shengji''s feats during the battle were not known at all. This was by request because he knew that using hidden weapons was shameful and nothing to boast about.
Using this opportunity, Zhou Xuchuan attempted to boost Zhuge Shengji''s confidence, but he knew that things would beplicated if it was exposed that Zhuge Shengji crafted hidden weapons to fight in battle, so he had no choice but to remain silent.
"Honestly speaking, don''t you think it was all thanks to you, my genius younger brother, that we won the battle? Without you, I might not have survived."
Zhou Xuchuan sat next to Zhuge Shengji.
"It''s truly a pity that I must keep it a secret. But don''t be too disappointed. While the world might not recognize your achievements, I will," Zhou Xuchuan ttered him. The way he spoke waspletely different from his previous interaction with the members of the Lotus Pavilion.
"Ehem, ehem."
Zhuge Shengji blushed, seemingly not minding thepliment. Sure, he was a genius, but he was also a ten-year-old boy. He was quite simple.
"I appreciate your ttery, but from my point of view, it''s you who''s more amazing."
Until recently, Zhuge Shengji thought that Zhou Xuchuan was an entric guy who had some skills. He knew that the members of the Lotus Pavilion were skilled, but it was in human nature that people didn''t believe until they saw. It didn''t really feel real to him.
However, thanks to the event that happened in Weng''An, his perception had changed. Zhuge Shengji realized just how incredible Zhou Xuchuan was.
''He''s so amazing, but he''s being underestimated as All Bite No Bark. Just how amazing are the cultivators in the Mount Hua sect?''
Zhuge Shengji had a misunderstanding. Even the eldest member of the Lotus Pavilion wouldn''t be able to pull off what Zhou Xuchuan did. It was just that Zhuge Shengji had no baseline ofparison, so he just misunderstood.
"Haha. You finally understand the greatness of this big brother. But you don''t need to be so embarrassed. I was just fortunate enough to consume spiritual medicine. You''ll be like me if you take some spiritual medicines too, you know?"
Zhou Xuchuan grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Spiritual medicine?"
"Yes. All cultivators wish to have fortunate encounters, and even among them, spiritual medicines are at the top of the wishlist. A number of difficult martial arts can be resolved as long as you have spiritual medicine. You can be an expert in an instant too as long as you have spiritual medicine!" Zhou Xuchuan lied without batting an eyelid.
"I don''t think that''s true" Zhuge Shengji muttered skeptically.
"Shengji. Are you more powerful than me?"
"N-no"
"Have you taken spiritual medicine?"
"N-no"
"Then don''t say anything if you don''t know!"
Zhuge Shengji felt like he was being fooled.
"Do you think having such a fortunate encounter is easy? If that were the case, the martial world would be full of experts!" Zhuge Shengji shouted, finding Zhou Xuchuan''s words ridiculous.
Due to the noise from the banquet, the only one who heard him was Zhou Xuchuan.
"Really? Then how about I get some spiritual medicine for you? I have some reliable information in my hands." Zhou Xuchuan proposed, a sly grin spreading across his face.
Psh-
Zhuge Shengji chuckled, unconvinced.
"If that''s true, don''t mention brother, I''ll be your underling. Not that it will ever happen."
"You''d better remember what you just said."
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes curved into a smile.
Chapter 28: Its Dark Under the Lamp (1)
The banquet continued for two days. The first day was solely held for the cultivators. Visitors weren''t allowed, and they celebrated throughout the night.
On the second day, it was bustling with activity as merchants and wanderers flocked in.
"State your purpose of visit."
"To congratte the warriors on their victory. I''d like to send a gift to the Fourteenth Sword Hero."
An Absolute Realm expert wasn''t someonemon, especially if it was someone affiliated with arge sect like the Mount Hua sect. Being able to make such people remember their names would be a huge benefit to the visitors.
Not just Qiu Feng, they would also be able to establish connections with individuals from the Zhuge Family or the Lotus Pavilion if they were lucky. It would definitely be beneficial in the future. Visitors came with all sorts of riches, so they would make asting impression.
Some even brought pretty daughters from their hometowns. If they could secure a marriage with the Zhuge Family, they would rise the socialdder.
Mount Hua was a little more obscure in that sense, but not entirely out of the question. The members of the sect had children if they didn''t take a major position in the sect. However, they were forbidden from teaching their own kin martial arts as rigorously as the official disciples, regardless of talent. The children of the members of the sect were only taught what the secr disciples could learn.
Although the Mount Hua Sect had rtively secr traitspared to the likes of the Wudang Sect, it wasn''t loose. They had their own restrictions.Regardless, despite those restrictions, marriages weren''t entirely unheard of and happened asionally. The visitors tried their best to unt their wealth so that they wouldn''t miss an opportunity like that.
"Today, I''ll teach you how to handle people," Qiu Feng said, having gathered the members of the Lotus Pavilion.
It would be very problematic if a disciple of the sect they had painstakingly raised was seduced or blinded by wealth. Sure, each person was free to fall in love with others, but what would these children know? It would be problematic if they fell victim to schemes when they hadn''t matured yet.
For this, Qiu Feng faced dozens of people on the same day despite the trouble. The disciples of the Lotus Pavilion did not say much behind Qiu Feng and just introduced their names and ages.
"You''re free to ept gifts, but it''s better to refuse if they ask you for a favor. Also, material desires are taboo for a cultivator. Just receive what is eptable as a token of gratitude. People will look at it differently if it''s too excessive."
"Understood."
"Also, avoid anything with a promise. Promises carry as much weight and importance as paying back graces and resentment for us cultivators of the Orthodox Faction."
"We''ll bear that in mind."
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen concentrated andmitted everything to memory. Zhou Xuchuan, on one hand, only pretended to listen.
He was originally one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua. He had his fair share of interacting with other people. In fact, he was more experienced with conversing than fighting.
''Hm, Senior Uncle is truly quite something.''
His martial prowess aside, his sociability was also on the level of an Absolute Realm expert. He was so wless that Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but be surprised.
"I am from Sichuan and"
"The Lotus Pavilion of Mount Hua! I have heard of your feats in Kai''An."
"People praise Martial Dragon Hall of the Wudang Sect as being the best, but the Lotus Pavilion is the best after all."
"I was once again deeply impressed by the sword of"
They listened to dozens, if not hundreds, ofpliments daily. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen seemed proud at first, but they were exhausted after a while.
Among the visitors were those from smaller sects of the Orthodox Faction residing in Guizhou, not just wanderers and merchants. Sometimes, even sect masters brought their sons and daughters to introduce them.
Where is he
Zhou Xuchuan was eagerly looking for one person while Zhang Hong, Zhang Xuen, and even Qiu Feng were exhausted to death. He pretty much ignored the wanderers and local sect masters. He just listened to their names, rxed his mind and rested.
However, he concentrated whenever merchants arrived and paid attention to what they said.
He must be here somewhere.
Li Yicai, the Merchant King!he tried shouting the name and title in his heart.
From what he knew, the Merchant King was definitely in the Guizhou province around this time. He was a merchant without funds, so he was looking for a sponsor. That was the reason he was in a dangerous ce like the Guizhou province without any proper guards. Because of how dangerous it was, many martial artists came to visit. If he managed to catch just one of them, he would have the opportunity to disy his skills in full.
Dammit, I''ve made preparations to help you. Now appear in front of me.
The sun had started setting as well. Time was running out and it wouldn''t take long for them to stop receiving visitors. Although there were many people waiting, there was a limit to the number of people they could meet.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t exactly sneak out at night to find visitors either. Qiu Feng had a firm eye on him because he thought that he had almost lost Zhou Xuchuan due to what happened in Weng''An.
He couldn''t have gone to the Zhuge Family, could he?
The Zhuge Family had also aplished great feats in Kai''An, but it was insignificantpared to what Qiu Feng did. Zhou Xuchuan was sure that the Merchant King would visit the Mount Hua Sect first since he cared much about profits.
So he was very surprised. Not to mention Li Yicai, he hadn''t seen anyone with a simr name. As time passed, Zhou Xuchuan began to feel anxious.
"Hehehe, greetings everyone. Nice to meet you all again."
By the time the sun had almost set, a familiar-looking man made a visit. He was overly subservient, both in looks and attitude. He made them ufortable.
The little merchant, he called himself, huh? It''s definitely not him.
It was the excessively humble solicitor they had met when they just arrived in Kaiyang Town.
Zhou Xuchuan predicted that the Merchant King might have changed his name. Because of this, he mentally listed some well-known traits of the Merchant King andpared them to the people he met.
The Merchant King was supposedly as fat as his obsession with wealth. His spirit was one that reached the skies and never yielded even in front of the Head of the Martial Alliance.
As a result of his arrogant attitude, despite being a merchant, both cultivators both Orthodox and Evil criticized him. At least, he wasn''t like the little merchant, who was excessively subservient and had an ordinary stature.
Zhou Xuchuan immediately lost interest and started thinking about other things.
Since it''s like this, I should check the guest book after this.
If the Merchant King didn''te to them, he must have gone to the Zhuge Family. Otherwise, things would be very problematic.
With no sign of the Merchant King, Zhou Xuchuan prayed for this visitor event to finish quickly.
"As expected of the members of Mount Hua. This little merchant was deeply impressed after hearing the news a while ago. The Mount Hua sect is truly renowned for its prowess in the sword, it must be the first and most powerful sect in the ten major"
The little merchant kept ttering without getting to the point. They were all words of praise towards Qiu Feng or Mount Hua. The problem was that his intentions were so obvious it made them tired instead.
"Excuse me, Mr. Little Merchant. Could you wrap it up and leave? I have spoken to too many people today and I am quite fatigued. I hope you can understand."
Ultimately, even Qiu Feng interrupted his words.
"P-please don''t say that. Can you spare me just a moment?"
The little merchant was visibly flustered. He seemed to be saying, "I have prepared a lot of things and cannot leave empty-handed." His eyes looked desperate.
"I''m sorry. You should return." Qiu Feng''s intent was clear, prompting the cultivators at the entrance to step in.
"Please wait a moment! I have a lucrative business proposal. Just spare me fifteen minutes, no, just half that! You won''t regret it!"
"Can''t you just scold someone like that?" Zhang Hong interjected.
Qiu Feng was feeling exhausted so there was no way Zhang Hong wasn''t. He had an annoyed expression on his face.
"Come over here!"
"You lunatic! You should consider your identity before behaving recklessly!"
There were levels to the visitors as well. The order of their visits depended on their reputation. The fact that he waste in that order meant that he was insignificant. That was why the cultivators dragged him out without hesitation.
"Let me go! Do you know who I am?"
"And do you know who I am? I''m a cultivator of the Martial Alliance, Kaiyang branch!"
"Tsk, tsk."
The cultivators clicked their tongues and dragged the merchant away.
"Gold Will Merchants!"
Zhou Xuchuan halted abruptly just as he was following Qiu Feng. He saw Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen following Qiu Feng to leave.
No way.
Time seemed to slow down all of a sudden. All of his cultivation was focused on his hearing. Thest word echoed in his mind.
Zhou Xuchuan abandoned thoughts of the guest book and turned around slowly.
His eyes were filled with greed and desperation. The greed was so overflowing that any cultivator would click their tongue. For some reason, Zhou Xuchuan felt that his eyes saw gold.
"This little merchant runs a small merchantpany named the Gold Will Merchants. My name is Li Yicai"
His voice became more indistinguishable the further away he went. Zhou Xuchuan watched as the man was dragged away and let out a chuckle, feeling absurd.
"It sure is dark under themp. Who would''ve known that I have met him already?"
*
Being fat meant being prosperous. Those who possessed more were fatter. This trait was more pronounced in merchants.
However, Li Yicai wascking. He was looking for sponsors so there was no way he would spend much money on food. Although he wasn''t starving, he didn''t eat excessively either. He wasn''t too fat, nor was he too skinny.
There were circumstances behind his personality as well. By the time Zhou Xuchuan got wind of the man known as the Merchant King, Li Yicai was already out of reach. Even if he used to be overly submissive, no one would be able to handle the consequences should they spread such a rumor. It wasn''t strange that such a thing was kept secret.
Moreover, there was about a sixty-year gap between the Li Yicai he knew and the present one. It would be strange if his past was well-known without any distortions.
That was my mistake.
It was likely that the histories of the survivors of the Era of War and Chaos were fabricated, but he failed to take that into ount. There was information he didn''t have ess to even as one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua.
Zhou Xuchuan reflected on himself for having blind faith in his knowledge of the future.
*
The banquet concluded the next day. Li Yicai made another visit, but naturally, Qiu Feng refused to meet him. The visitation hours were over.
Although Li Yicai pleaded desperately, he had no choice but to return because the cultivators from the Martial Alliance didn''t let him in.
However
"Hello there, merchant."
Li Yicai encountered someone totally unexpected.
Chapter 29: Its Dark Under the Lamp (2)
"Z-Zhou Xuchuan?" Li Yicai mumbled his name in surprise. He soon realized his mistake and apologized. "I''m sorry, Great Hero Zhou. I made a grave mistake because of my surprise."
He naturally addressed Zhou Xuchuan with the title "great hero". There was not a hint of awkwardness at all.
"But what brings you here? Did the Fourteenth Sword Hero perhaps" A glimmer of hope sparked in Li Yicai''s eyes.
"No."
Zhou Xuchuan shook his head without hesitation.
"I see"
Li Yican''s disappointment was evident. The hope in his eyes had turned into despair.
"But I have some business with you." Zhou Xuchuan grinned, rubbing his thumb, index and middle fingers together.
"What do you mean?" Li Yicai asked, tilting his head in confusion."Let us change locations for now. This isn''t the right ce for our discussion."
"Y-yes, okay."
He has something!
Li Yican instinctively realized that Zhou Xuchuan''s "business" was not a simple matter. He could smell something.
It''s the smell of money!
Starting from his sense of smell, all his senses were telling him that the long-awaited opportunity had finally arrived. From what he could see, no, even objectively, Zhou Xuchuan was no ordinary boy. The fact that he was a member of the Lotus Pavilion elevated him above most people. However, he had a feeling that Zhou Xuchuan was even more special than that.
From what he knew, Zhou Xuchuan was only twelve years old. He may look fifteen, but the mature air around him, as well as his aura was extraordinary. He simply didn''t look like a twelve-year-old, but like a middle-aged man, or even an elderly man who knew everything about the world.
Even the way he walked showed off his ss, and his confident demeanor and bodynguage were anything but ordinary.
He wasn''t like this thest time I met him. I didn''t miss it. He was hiding it.
Truly, he was the future Merchant King; he caught on quickly. Li Yicai realized that Zhou Xucuan was not ordinary and immediately prepared a separate ce.
"I''ll put aside the formalities and get straight to the point. You don''t have to tter me so tantly either, sir merchant," Zhou Xuchuan said as soon as he sat down.
"E-ehem. Please speak at ease."
Li Yicai seemed to like Zhou Xuchuan''s polite attitude and looked at him in a good light. Most martial artists tended to be arrogant, even if they were young. Driven by their pride, this trait was even more pronounced in members ofrge sects.
Li Yicai had received disdain from many martial artists, as such, Zhou Xuchuan''s attitude left a deep impression on him.
"It''s okay. Isn''t trading all about trust and etiquette? What I''m doing is natural."
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but smile inwardly as the situation unfolded ording to his n. Li Yicai, who wouldter be called the Merchant King, was definitely not someone of a lower status than him. This remained true even in this second life.
The Merchant King was someone who had survived earning money between the Orthodox Faction, the Evil Faction, and even the two Demonic Factions and the hidden faction.
His talent was indisputable. To receive help from him in the future, it was better to start off with an equal status than an unequal one. After all, an unequal rtionship might easily offend the other party. That was too risky.
"When you say the point?"
"I''m interested in the business proposal you had for my Senior Uncle," he stated, revealing his curiosity."
Li Yicai''s eyes widened at Zhou Xuchuan''s words. He appeared utterly surprised.
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Hmm"
Li Yicai stroked his beard. He seemed to be deep in thought. No, he appeared to be inplete disbelief. Zhou Xuchuan was satisfied by Li Yicai''s response.
Good, now I know that he''s not a simpleton. I was a little worried
It would be strange if Li Yicai wasn''t suspicious of Zhou Xuchuan.
"To be honest with you, this little merchant is no one significant. I do not understand what you saw in me to listen to my proposal. Also, it seems you are meeting me in secret, avoiding the Fourteenth Sword Hero or the other members of the Lotus Pavilion."
Li Yicai thought about whether Zhou Xuchuan was here just to humiliate him, or scheme against him. Of course, he was doubtful since Zhou Xuchuan was only twelve years old, but there was the possibility that the Zhuge Family was behind this, since they liked orchestrating events from behind the scenes.
Then again, he couldn''t help but think that those people wouldn''t put in so much effort to scheme against a minor merchant like him.
"It''s because I also have a proposal for you."
"A proposal?"
"Yes. However, before we talk about that, I wish to hear about your ns first. Will that be okay with you?"
"Of course."
He was puzzled but not suspicious.
"In truth, I call it a business n, but it''s nothing major."
Zhou Xuchuan calmly waited for Li Yicai to continue. Li Yicai looked at Zhou Xuchuan''s response, and sighed in relief when he saw that Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t stiffening up and continued speaking.
"The primary item of trade for us Gold Will Merchants is grains. It''s a product you can see anywhere. However, I n to sell these grains as provisions."
I knew it.
It was just as Zhou Xuchuan expected. It appeared the event that made Li Yicai famous was not falsely reported to him.
"I see. So you need an opportunity to be a war merchant."
"...Yes, that''s the case." Li Yicai nodded in surprise.
I didn''t know he could think so fast.
Martial artists seldom ventured into trade. It would be a slightly different story for those in important positions of an organization, but this young boy was only twelve. Despite that, he figured out what Li Yicai was thinking, much to his surprise.
Of course, from Zhou Xuchuan''s perspective, he knew about it from the beginning, but there was no way for Li Yicai to know that.
"Do you need financial backing?"
"I would be grateful if I could get some, but if it''s not too rude of me" Li Yicai cautiously probed.
"Yes, unfortunately, I cannot help you financially. How much money can a child possibly have?" Zhou Xuchuan smiled bitterly.
"Not at all, that''s okay."
Li Yicai gulped. Although there was a hint of disappointment on his face, his reply seemed sincere.
"Beyond finances, there are many things you can sponsor me with."
"Please go on."
"...This might be a slightly sensitive matter. So great hero, please hear me out to the end," Li Yicai said nervously, sipping water before exining. "To get straight to the point, I need connections. It doesn''t matter where it is, so I hope you can give me the rights to trade provisions. The quantity in my possession isn''trge, but I can prepare enough for a mid-sized sect."
Although this may seem obvious, there was no way the Orthodox Faction, including the Martial Alliance, would get involved with farming. Even if they did, they only farmed enough to feed themselves.
Consequently, they relied on merchants to procure provisions. Most of the time, these items were traded through family members of sect members, whether they were secr sect disciples or core disciples.
Due to the substantial amount of money involved in trading, it couldn''t be left to just anyone to handle. It usually required an introduction.
"Also"
Li Yicai looked extremely cautious, stealing nces at Zhou Xuchuan''s face multiple times. He wanted to say something, but kept opening and closing his mouth without being able to voice what was on his mind.
Zhou Xuchuan knew what was making Li Yicai hesitate, but he pretended to be oblivious.
"I will not get angry, so please just tell me. I''ll decide after hearing everything."
Hearing that, Li Yicai summoned courage.
"...You must have attended the major meeting hosted by the Kaiyang Branch Head alongside the Fourteenth Sword Hero as a member of the Lotus Pavilion. Am I correct?"
"Yes."
"In that case, you''re likely aware of the ongoing conflicts in the Guizhou province. With that being the case Could you provide me with information about ces or individuals who are isted or have difficulty finding supplies?"
Li Yicai''s eyes clenched shut after uttering these words. He feared Zhou Xuchuan''s reaction. Even a ten-year-old would understand the issue with his request. Li Yicai was tantly asking for what could potentially be ssified information.
His intentions were obvious. Selling his grains to areas facing supply shortages or urgent needs would yield greater profits.
Ha, it''s just as I heard. His greed knows no bounds. But if I think about it, the person who originally helped the Merchant King wasn''t someone ordinary either.
ording to what was known to him, Li Yicai discovered ces that required his provisions with frightening uracy and earned a lot of money by selling them at a high price.
He might have been lucky once or twice, but it was impossible that he was always so lucky, which meant that he had his source of information. Sharing such information with him was definitely not the right thing to do.
To begin with, the Merchant King isn''t someone who can differentiate good from evil. His merchantpany isn''t named "Gold Will" without reason. His sole allegiance lies with wealth. I expected this much.
Li Yicai''s only motivation was money and greed. The ideologies of the Orthodox and Evil Factions, or the lunacy and cruelty of the two Demonic Factions, meant nothing to him.
Whether a venture earned him money or not was all that mattered to him. Zhou Xuchuan became convinced about this after this conversation.
"In the case of the former, I can help you. However, at best, I can introduce you to Weng''An."
The Weng''An branch was indebted to Zhou Xuchuan. Coupled with his status as a member of the Lotus Pavilion, they could do that much for him.
"That''s okay!" Li Yicai''s face lit up with excitement.
Weng''An was one of the front lines even in the Guizhou province. Which meant that supplies happened frequently. He could maximize his profits there.
"However, in the case of thetter, I refuse. I believe you understand why."
Even if he needed the Merchant King on his side, there was a line he couldn''t cross. If it was revealed that he leaked information to him, even he, a member of the Lotus Pavilion, wouldn''t be able to get off scot-free. The risk was too high. So, he refused without hesitation.
"Thank you for hearing me out. Honestly speaking, I am surprised that I still have my head on my neck." Li Yicai confessed, his face glistening with sweat.
"If you know, then you should weigh your actions carefully, regardless of urgency. Honestly speaking, you''re still alive because you faced me. Had it been anyone else, they might be pointing their swords at you right now," Zhou Xuchuan warned. Li Yicai could get himself killed the instant he said something like that to someone else.
"I only had the courage to say it because it was you, great hero. I trust my judgment of people. It is because your generosity is as wide as the Yangtze River, so I believed that you wouldn''t kill me at least. You''re indeed a great hero."
Li Yicai smiled awkwardly and fawned over Zhou Xuchuan. He looked even more servile now that he might have lost his life.
"Well then, let me say my piece."
"Yes, please go on."
"Do you perhaps know about the Three-Eyed Godly Thief?"
Chapter 30: Watertop Spearmen (1)
Li Yicai couldn''t hide his surprise after listening to what Zhou Xuchuan had to say. It was the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury of all things!
It wasn''t strange that he found it hard to believe his own ears.
"The Water Spiritual Fruit I consumed a few years ago wasn''t actually found in an underwater cave, but from the treasury as well."
Zhou Xuchuan intentionally lied so that it sounded more believable to Li Yicai. The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was so ridiculous that he had no choice but to fabricate things like this to make it more believable.
"What will you do?"
"Mm." Li Yicai groaned, visibly at a loss on how to take this in.
From the look in his eyes, he doesn''t seem to be lying
Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze was unwavering. In fact, it was filled with conviction. His eyes were crystal clear.
His hesitation didn''tst that long. Li Yicai set his trust aside briefly and voiced the question that came to mind."Putting aside the existence of the treasury itself, how do you n to move all those treasures in secret? That''s realistically impossible."
There was arge amount of treasure lying dormant in the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. It would require many people to move all those treasures. That would inevitably expose the existence of the treasury.
What worried him the most was the people that would be involved in the transportation. Humans were weak in the face of wealth and might end up betraying them.
This meant that they would have to find people who were trustworthy, but that was easier said than done. The most surefire method was to mobilize members of the Mount Hua Sect, but that would in turn give little profits to Li Yicai.
No, he doubted he would partake in it at all.
"It''s realistically impossible for us to possess all the treasures with our own power. I''m not so sure about you, a member of the Lotus Pavilion of Mount Hua, but for a small merchant like me, bandits will aim for my head in no time."
"There''s no need to acquire everything."
"What do you mean?"
"It can be a small amount, so find people you can trust. Then, I''ll go inside the treasury with them and take out the most valuable items. Splitting that among ourselves should be enough."
"I see."
Originally, Zhou Xuchuan devised a n to transport as much as he could. That was the reason why he was looking for the Merchant King. He thought that Li Yicai would be a lesser-known merchant at the moment, no matter howrge his aplishments were in the Era of War and Chaos.
The problem was that Li Yicai''s circumstances were worse than he thought. He didn''t realize that Li Yicai''spany was so small. He devised a n that required around a hundred to two hundred people, but he couldn''t use it. He changed his n to prioritize quality over quantity.
The little merchant, rather, the Merchant King in front of him, was just as valuable as the treasury, and what the Merchant Kingcked right now was funding. As long as he received enough funding, he would grow big in no time. It would be incredibly beneficial to Zhou Xuchuan if he could make the Merchant King owe him a debt of gratitude.
While the Merchant King was obsessed with money, he was also the most reliable person when it came to trade.
"If you can keep this a secret and ept my proposal, I''ll try my best to have the Gold Will Merchants take care of the provisions for Weng''An."
"I understand. However, Great Hero. I can''t help but ask. If the treasury really exists, what did you see in me to let me handle it?"
A mixture of puzzlement and confusion could be seen in Li Yicai''s eyes.
"You see." Zhou Xuchuanughed. "Even someone as desperate as you for sponsorship is half-doubtful about my story despite epting my proposal. Who else would believe me? That''s just how it is."
No, it was because he knew the future.
"We don''t have a lot of time. I will probably depart from here tomorrow or the day after."
The Lotus Pavilion''s trip wasn''t that long to begin with. They had also gained plenty of real battle experience, so there was no reason for them to stay any longer.
"I ept."
Li Yicai didn''t hesitate for long. If what Zhou Xuchuan was saying was true, this was a huge opportunity. Besides, even without the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief, the rights to sell provisions in Weng''An held significant value. That was enough for him.
Above all else, his instincts were urging him not to miss this opportunity. His nose had already be numb for a while because of the smell of money. His body was heated up as though he had drank wine.
"Then let us talk about the details."
Zhou Xuchuan''s smile widened.
*
Zhou Xuchuan shared a part of his n with Li Yicai. It was about the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. It didn''t matter if Li Yicai believed it or not. As long as Li Yicai was given profit, the man would listen to his request.
After parting ways with Li Yicai, Zhou Xuchuan immediately returned to the Kaiyang branch and dispatched the homing pigeon that he had prepared in advance.
The receiver was Zhuang Tuo, the Second-ss cultivator who fought alongside him in Weng''An.
Zhuang Tuo had a higher position in the Weng''An branch than he originally thought. He was the right-hand man of the branch head who had participated in the battle in Kai''An. Not only that, he had heard that he was going to get promoted to vice-head of the branch as a result of his recent aplishments in Weng''An.
Since he had received grace from Zhou Xuchuan, Zhuang Tuo would not just try to listen to his request but also try his best to make it happen. There were others in Weng''An who owed him debts of gratitude, so he didn''t worry about this.
In fact, he was worried about something else.
"We''re going to return to the sect tomorrow, so make preparations."
The banquet was over, and the sect had ordered them to return. It was time to go back to the sect; they couldn''t stay here any longer.
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen were disappointed. The hint of freedom they tasted out in the world was really sweet after living under strict rules as fourth-generation members. Despite the dangers, the freedom was really tempting.
"Aren''t we going to visit the Shaolin Temple, the Wudang Sect, or the Martial Alliance Headquarters in Anhui?" Zhang Xuen tugged on Qiu Feng''s sleeves and looked up at him. Her cuteness was enough to topple any man.
That''s it! Keep it up! Zhou Xuchuan inwardly cheered for Zhang Xuen.
However, his cheers were ineffective as Qiu Feng gave a strained smile and shook his head.
"I wish I could show you more, but that will be difficult. I don''t think my heart can bear it."
"Don''t say that, Senior Uncle~" Zhang Hong also whined.
However, it was useless.
"The Lotus Pavilion''s trip into the world is to gain experience, and it is usually not this dangerous. This time was an exception. Fortunately, none of you got hurt, but due to concerns, the sect has ordered our return, so there is no helping it."
The trip into the real world reached a sudden end. They had no choice but to return to the sect.
They say matters of the world don''t go as you expect, but this
Originally, Zhou Xuchuan nned to look for an opportunity while traveling around the world, receive help from Li Yicai and rob the treasury by the time they were returning to the sect. He needed some time, but that time was shortened significantly.
The silver lining was that the Zhuge Family also received orders to return, so they could apany each other to the Chongqing province, where the treasury was located.
He needed Zhuge Shengji''s help in dismantling the treasury''s mechanisms.
The problem came after that.
Given our agreement, I can''t have the Merchant King follow us. Even if we manage to rob the treasury in Chongqing, I would have to return to Guizhou to handle the rest. But how do I do that?
If he told Qiu Feng about the treasury, the sect would definitely intervene. Things would be worse if Zhuge Xiang heard about it.
No, they would never believe the treasury was real in the first ce. Even if he sneaked out with Zhuge Shengji, it would be difficult to escape the senses of Qiu Feng, an Absolute Realm expert.
In the end, Zhou Xuchuan was seen off by many people as he left Guizhou, his worries unresolved.
The journey back didn''t take that long. They had received high-quality horses, albeit not of the highest quality.
The Lotus Pavilion included horse riding in its curriculum. It wasn''t an institute for geniuses without reason.
The reason they didn''t ride horses from Mount Hua to Guizhou province was to train in their footwork and lightness arts, not because they couldn''t ride.
The Zhuge Family members also showed considerable proficiency in horse riding. Even Zhuge Shengji, who looked like he had zero motor skills, was somewhat decent. This was because their n didn''t have good cultivation or martial prowess in general. Their skills weren''t fit for lightness arts which consumed a lot of qi.
The horses kicked up clouds of dust as they galloped. There were eighteen horses in total. Four were ridden by the Mount Hua Sect, four were ridden by the Zhuge Family, and the remaining ten were ridden by cultivators of the Kaiyang branch of the Martial Alliance, who were ordered by Shen Tujun to escort them.
The group kept riding without rest, stopping only to eat and sleep. Thanks to that, they left the Guizhou province quite quickly. They asionally encountered bandits, but the bandits ran away as soon as they spotted the group, realizing that the group was stronger than they were.
This was bad news for Zhou Xuchuan. Qiu Feng''s gaze was annoying enough as is, but he was also under the vignt watch of the escorts. He couldn''t help but feel frustrated.
*
In the Evil Valley...
"Valley Lord, we have received word that the Fourteenth Sword Hero will soon arrive at the Yangtze River," reported Yue Guantai, the head supervisor of the Evil Valley.
"So he''s on his way."
The Lord of the Evil Valley opened his eyes which looked like those of a viper, emitting killing intent mixed with displeasure and fury.
"My anger isn''t soothed even after I beheaded the runaway idiots that attacked Weng''An, so where does he think he''s going?"
The incident in Kai''An wasn''t that important. Big and small skirmishes happened there very frequently. On worse days, the owner of that area would change a dozen times a day. The fact that the Evil Valley lost the battle there wasn''t something he was angry about.
It was just everyday life, after all.
"If we lost like we normally did, I wouldn''t be so furious right now."
Victory or loss didn''t matter much. They happened so frequently that a loss just made him prepare for the next battle.
However, total loss was a different story altogether. Although it wasn''t the Valley Lord himself who had devised the strategy, the Evil Valley put a considerable amount of effort into the conflict in Kai''An. Yue Guantai, the head supervisor, was also involved to an extent as he reviewed the diversion n and approved it.
The fact that the Fourteenth Sword Hero would lead troops to Kai''An to partake in battle was within their expectations. However, not being able to conquer Weng''An, the empty house, was problematic. If they had seeded, they would have inflicted considerable damage to the Martial Alliance by taking hostages. However, they weren''t able to do so and lostpletely. That was what caused his embarrassment and anger.
Zhou Xuchuan''s actions altered the course of the future. This wouldn''t have happened originally. Weng''An should have been conquered, and the Martial Alliance would have had no choice but to retreat from Kai''An due to the hostages. However, the changed future brought about another change.
"Teach the brats of Mount Hua how harsh life can be."
The Lord of the Evil Valley''s eyes gleamed with sinister intent.
*
At Yangtze River, near the boatyard, Qui Feng noticed something amiss.
"Hm?" Qiu Feng tilted his head.
"Fourteenth Sword Hero, what is it?"
Zhuge Xiao looked at him in puzzlement.
"Oh, I was just thinking that the boats were too few."
Hearing that, Zhuge Xiao looked around the boatyard.
Indeed, the number of boats were few. There were hardly any small boats either.
"It''s a little puzzling, but nothing strange. People flock to the Yangtze River to enjoy the scenery around this season. Also, with our numbers, it doesn''t really matter, does it? Haha." Zhuge Xiaoughed while stroking his beard.
The group boarded a middle-sized ship that could hold about fifty people instead of the small boat they used toe. They could split up and get smaller boats that way, but then there would be no point for the escorts.
They weren''t short on money either, so there was no reason to inconvenience themselves.
Chapter 31: Watertop Spearman (2)
"I think you''re being overly sensitive because of what happened in Weng''An. Why don''t you go inside and rest?"
"It''s not that bad. Thank you for looking out for me." Qiu Feng brushed it off, agreeing he was being too sensitive.
He calmed down and began enjoying the scenery. Although there was no wine in his hand, the magnificent scenery of the Yangtze River was still enough for him to enjoy himself. The rows of cliffs could only be seen properly if he looked up, and the thick forest located above made it feel like he was in another world.
When he first came into the world and saw the Yangtze River for the first time, he was awestruck, and overwhelmed by mother nature.
Now, he had gotten used to it to some extent, but the scenery of the Yangtze River was truly a sight to behold.
As he gazed down at the river, captivated by the fish swimming below, Qiu Feng suddenly snapped to attention.
"Men of the Martial Alliance! Listen up!"
The sword on Qiu Feng''s waist was drawn smoothly. A rough and sharp aura emanated from the sword.
"Immediately guard the Lotus Pavilion members and the Zhuge Family!""Fourteenth Sword Hero?" Zhuge Xiao asked in surprise.
Before he could ask any more questions, the cultivators of the Martial Alliance stood around them in a protective formation.
"Hmph! As expected of the Fourteenth Sword Hero! You catch on quick!"
Zhuge Xiao''s face stiffened instantly. He quickly looked around to locate where the voice wasing from. On top of the cliff, the thick forest that he couldn''t see through seemed to move before men d in blue appeared one after the other.
"Jump on!" someone''s voice echoed through the air.
Ssh, ssh-!
"Whoa!"
The tranquil river suddenly shot upwards as fierce-looking men holding weapons got on board the ship. There were about thirty or forty of them at first nce.
"Oh no!"
"The ship''s shaking!"
With a maximum capacity of about sixty people, the ship began to lose its bnce with too many people on board.
"The Nine Water Gangs!" shouted Zhuge Xiao, his face pale.
There weren''t many people who could swim in the Yangtze River due to the chaotic current. Moreover, a cultivator would need training in water arts in order to catch up to a ship while submerged. In the Yangtze River, only the river bandits trained in that.
"If you have targeted the wrong ship, we''ll let you go, so get off immediately," Qiu Feng warned, revealing the Plum Blossom pattern on his sleeves.
"Haha. You and I are old acquaintances, so there was no way I mistook the ship, is there?"
The man with thergest build among the river bandits stepped forward.
"You are"
The man''s face was covered with scars. Not many people had such features in the world.
"You must not recognize me since I didn''t introduce myself then. I am Lu Dng. Thank you for the protection fee you gave usst time. Hehe."
Lu Dng smiled viciously, baring his yellow teeth.
"Ah! The river bandit from before!" Zhang Hong recognized Lu Dng.
Only then did Qiu Feng, Zhang Xuen and Zhou Xuchuan realize who he was. It was the head of the river bandits that they met when they crossed the Yangtze River in the Chongqing province.
"Lu-Lu Dng? That means you are" Zhuge Xiao mumbled in a trembling voice. "One of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the Watertop Spearman!"
"Oho, I am so touched that a proud man of the Five Great Families recognized me that I''m moved to tears," Lu Dng grinned insidiously.
The atmosphere turned grim, especially among the Martial Alliance cultivators, who appeared despondent.
Lu Dng took out the long spear behind his back and spun it around once before stabbing the floor, halting the ship''s violent shaking as if nothing had urred.
''He''s the real deal.'' thought Qiu Feng, swallowing hard.
"What business does the Watertop Spearman have with us on this ship?"
"What business? Hahaha!"
Lu Dng jerked his head backward andughed. It was devoid of any warmth.
"You ask a river bandit what business he has by boarding another''s ship. Is that even a question?" Lu Dng''s tone turned icy, sending shivers down their spines.
"Watertop Spearman, are you crazy?!" Zhuge Xiao shouted amid the escorts, drawing everyone''s attention.
"Crazy, you say?"
"You dare attack future talents from Mount Hua and the Zhuge Family. You won''t get away with this!"
"Huh, you are of the Zhuge Family alright. You are skilled in scheming against someone." Lu Dng grinned unpleasantly. "Listen up. We are the Nine Water Gangs, the protectors of the Yangtze River. From times of old, it has been customary to pay a toll to the protectors of the Yangtze River if you want to cross it. However, you were the one who called us thieves and refused to pay the toll. It was you who picked a fight with us."
"Huh? What kind of nonsense is"
Zhuge Xiao stopped mid-sentence, realizing Lu Dng''s intentions after seeing him grin.
"The first ones to oppose the toll were the impudent kids of the Lotus Pavilion and the Zhuge Family, no? They pointed their swords at us, saying that they refuse topromise with river bandits."
Lu Dng raised his spear, directing it at the center of the guards.
"Uncle, it seems something''s amiss. They do not n to let us go."
Zhuge Xiang cautiously felt the sword at his waist. He didn''t know how useful he would be, but the situation was just that dire.
"The reason there were no boats at the boatyard was because of this?" Qiu Feng gnashed his teeth.
"Isn''t it a mon urrence'' to make mistakes during one''s first trip into the martial world because ofck of knowledge about the situation in the martial world?"
Lu Dng tightened his grip on the spear, and the muscles in his arm and shoulder began to swell.
"I will say this again, but the Yangtze River is the domain of the Nine Water Gangs. You have caused trouble here, so as the protectors of this ce, we will ensurew and order are restored. Hahaha!"
Lu Dng''s voice rang out. "Leave no one alive!"
"Keheheh!"
The river bandits charged.
*
"Eh?" a voice of surprise escaped Zhou Xuchuan''s mouth, his expression reflecting his iprehension about the unfolding events.
"Apprentice-brother, hide behind me!" Zhang Hong stepped forward.
"Xiuluan! Shengji!"
Zhuge Xiang also shielded the younger members of his family behind him.
Zhou Xuchuan, Zhuge Xiuluan and Zhuge Shengji were in the center of the formation, while Zhang Hong, Zhang Xuen and Zhuge Xiang surrounded them. Lastly, the cultivators from the Martial Alliance stood in a protective formation. All of them looked resolute.
What the heck is happening?
He felt that all troubles were over when he boarded the ship. He even wondered if he should throw himself and Zhuge Shengji overboard.
However, something totally unexpected happened.
If they fought the Watertop Spearman here, there''s no way I wouldn''t remember it did something like this happen?
The Hundred Experts Under Heaven changed frequently, especially during the Era of War and Chaos. The constant changes made keeping track nearly impossible.
However, among them, there were a few people whose positions didn''t change. One of them was Lu Dng, the Watertop Spearman.
Lu Dng used to be in the riverine navy. However, one day, in a fit of anger, he shed with his superior and ended up killing him, forcing him to flee and be a water criminal.
One thing led to another and he eventually sought asylum in the Nine Water Gangs. Originally, he nned to stay there temporarily, but after spending some time with them, he found that being a river bandit suited him.
Here, he no longer needed to hold back his trashy personality, and because of his martial prowess, he quickly rose through the ranks, firmly establishing himself as a river bandit.
There were two reasons why Zhou Xuchuan remembered Lu Dng. First was that the Nine Water Gangs didn''t have that many experts, and second was that Lu Dng managed to live a long life.
The Nine Water Gangs was a faction that even the government couldn''t do anything about, despite their nuisance. To eradicate the bandits, power was necessary, but the Ming Dynasty''s government mainly concentrated its forces on the army to confront northern invaders, neglecting its navy. They had no intention of investing anything in the Navy either.
Even if they were to raise a riverine navy, at most they would be stationed in the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River was within the country. It was much better to focus their attention on defending against foreign forces.
Anyway, as a result of these circumstances, the government didn''t have enough forces to hunt down the Nine Water Gangs, and Lu Dng, who never left the Yangtze River, was even harder to catch.
Due to the special traits of water arts, Lu Dng could be considered higher up in the ranks of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven if he were to fight on the Yangtze Gangs. Realistically, it would take a lot of manpower and time to catch him, so the government just decided to give up.
If Qiu Feng happened to fight such a famous man, there was no way rumors about it had not spread. It was strange that Zhou Xuchuan had no recollection of this at all.
It''s a future I had not experienced!
His mind raced with deductions.
"Arrgh!"
Amidst the screams and shing metal, he realized the urgency of the present situation.
This is no time to be thinking!
From the looks of it, the water bandits all appeared weak. At best, they were Second-ss. How strong could thieves be?
They were all stricken with fear at the appearance of the Watertop Spearman, but in truth, they had enough forces to take down the other water bandits.
C-c-ng-!
"Urgh!"
"Hahahaha!"
However, the problem was with Qiu Feng and Lu Dng. It hadn''t even been that long since the fight started, but Zhou Xuchuan could already tell that Qiu Feng was exhausted.
Senior Uncle is at a disadvantage in the fight.
In the first ce, water arts were martial arts designed forbat inside water and on top of a rocking boat. It was obvious that Lu Dng would have the advantage. On top of that, he used to be in the riverine navy and spent nearly half of his life on top of a ship.
On the contrary, Qiu Feng was easily affected by the rocking of the ship, and was unustomed to fighting on deck. He might have been able to win if Lu Dng was weak, but unfortunately, the enemy was one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, just like him!
I must help him.
Zhou Xuchuan gripped his sword. It didn''t matter if his true skills were exposed here. Letting his guard down for a moment might cost him his life after all.
I cannot die here! Zhou Xuchuan''s expression turned vicious.
"Argh!"
Ssh-!
While he was thinking, one of the cultivators from the Martial Alliance was pushed off the ship by the water bandits.
"Don''t kill the women!"
"Hur hur, you look ripe for the picking!"
Sinister gazesnded on Zhuge Xiuluan. Even she, who had been expressionless until now, trembled at the unpleasant gazes and frowned.
"Kehehe!"
A river bandit seized an opportunity to reach for Zhuge Xiuluan.
"No!"
Zhuge Xiang hurriedly changed the course of his attack. However, he was toote. The hand of the river bandit was too fast.
I''ll go down to the water like th huh?
The river bandit''s eyes widened in disbelief. He couldn''t see his hand that was about to grab Zhuge Xiuluan''s thin wrists.
"What is urgh!"
The river bandit clutched his chest and stepped back. A small hole had been poked on his chest.
"Apprentice-brother?"
Zhang Xuen''s shock was evident in her gaze as she looked at Zhou Xuchuan. Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword to shake off the blood.
"I''m going."
Chapter 32: Ship Battle (1)
Seeing Qiu Feng struggling against Lu Dng, it was clear that Qiu Feng wouldn''t hold out for long.
Normally, Qiu Feng would nce at the Lotus Pavilion members while fighting. But since facing Lu Dng, he hadn''t looked over once, which indicated the urgency of the situation.
"I''m going to help Senior Uncle. I know what you''ll say, but it''s unnecessary, so don''t intervene. This is a warning."
"Apprentice-brother. Are you crazy?" Zhang Hong looked at Zhou Xuchuan incredulously.
"I''m going."
Sometimes, taking action spoke more than words ever could.
"Ah!" cried a cultivator from the Martial Alliance.
Zhou Xuchuan darted past them before they could block him and approached the bandits.
"No!" Zhang Hong shouted, attempting to jump out."You can''t!"
However, the Martial Alliance cultivator stopped Zhang Hong from leaving, not making the same mistake again.
"Let me go! My apprentice-brother is" Zhang Hong couldn''t finish his sentence. His face was colored in disbelief and shock.
"What in the world is" Zhuge Xiao also doubted his eyes. It wasn''t just him. Everyone aside from Qiu Feng felt the same.
They saw Zhou Xuchuan elegantly wield his sword among the group of river bandits.
"Wh-what the heck?"
A river bandit with a rtively small build muttered confusedly. Something shed before the head of therade next to him was rolling on the ground. He felt paralyzed.
"I have no time, soe at me all at once." Zhou Xuchuan squinted, his eyes fierce like those of a beast.
What kind of eyes are
The small river bandit started trembling. The moment he saw Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes, his body became unresponsive.
"You fool! Get that kid first!"
Another river bandit on the side lunged forward. It was the river bandit who was always scolded for not reading the mood. This time, however, that personality cost him his life.
Zhou Xuchuan lightly evaded the sword that was aimed at his head by taking half a step to the left, before driving his sword into the man''s nk.
"Kuurgh!"
Apanied by a deep stabbing sound, the sword pierced the lungs through his side. The man''s consciousness faded away as his breathing suddenly stopped.
"I cannot watch your backs anymore, so bear this in mind, sirs. You must focus on defense, not offense."
Zhou Xuchuan pulled his sword out of the river bandit''s chest and kicked him into the river.
Plum Rose Sword Technique!
Zhou Xuchuan began to execute a speed-focused sword art. Having reached full mastery, the attack carried tremendous force.
"Urgh!"
One of the river bandits jerked back, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword barely missing his chin.
"Hm, I think there''s a need to get used to this."
Zhou Xuchuan had rarely fought on a ship either. Normally, a horizontal sh should have taken the bandit''s neck, but he missed. He readjusted his senses and stabbed the bandit in the chest.
"Ugh!"
As the sword precisely struck the Death Acupoint, the flow of internal qi became chaotic. The man''s brain froze, and his muscles rxed, causing him to pass out.
Zhou Xuchuan acted without hesitation,unching relentless attacks. It seemed his aim was to take as many lives as possible.
"You sneaky rat!"
When he tried to locate the source of the voice through the corner of his eyes, he spotted a river bandit with an ax charging at him from the left. Zhou Xuchuan kicked back the bandit he was facing before raising his sword to defend against the ax.
Sparks flew as their weapons shed with a resounding ng.
"Raaah!"
The bandit struggled to push the ax forward, his face turning beet red with effort. However, despite all his efforts, he couldn''t even advance an inch against Zhou Xuchuan''s defense.
"Hah!"
With a shout, Zhou Xuchuan struck upward, embedding the double-ded ax into the bandit''s head.
"Urgh!"
The bandit fell down powerlessly after a curt scream.
"H-hieek!"
Nearly ten bandits had lost their lives in moments, leaving the others shocked and uneasy.
Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
Zhou Xuchuan changed his sword art. Due to the rocking of the ship, a sword art focused on speed wasn''t that effective. The Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique was much better as it focused on stability and bnce.
Although this changed the fierce atmosphere around him, he showed no mercy in his attacks. He disyed stability that could put an observer at ease and yet still severed the lives of one river bandit after another.
Ugh, Originally, I should be able to take them down with just a few moves, but mycking cultivation makes it difficult. If I had known that I would disy my full abilities like this, I would have trained a little more.
Zhou Xuchuan''s current realm of cultivation was rather vague. He had achieved full mastery of the Plum Blossom Life Art a long time ago, and as for the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art, he intentionally stopped on the tenth stage. He sensed a breakthrough if he were to reach full mastery.
If his overall prowess increased, he would undoubtedly draw the attention of the sect. After all, his aura would have undergone a noticeable change.
He didn''t want to attract the attention of important people just yet, so he intentionally refrained from reaching full mastery and stopped cultivating.
For sword arts, it didn''t matter. He could adjust his level at any time, so he had reached full mastery in all of them with his understanding that was on the level of the Harmony Realm.
His mastery of the sword was on the level of the Harmony Realm, while his cultivation itself was around Second-ss or barely First-ss if he stretched it, so it was difficult to define his prowess.
In any case, inadequate bodily cultivation meant that the body would be unable to disy whatever perfect sword arts had been learned and quickly umted fatigue.
That was Zhou Xuchuan''s current predicament. He was executing too many techniques far above what his body could handle, so he was about to be pushed over his limits.
Senior Uncle is one thing, but I can''t dy any longer!
Zhou Xuchuan''s movements quickened and changed once again. He dodged all attacksing at him with minimal movements to conserve strength and immediately countered with fatal strikes.
Unaware of Zhou Xuchuan''s struggle, the river bandits continued to cry out in agony under his relentless assault.
*
Observation soldiers of the Nine Water Gangs stood watch on top of the cliffs overlooking the Yangtze River. They couldn''t hide their shock as they saw what was happening down below.
"What is that?"
At first, they did not understand the purpose of their mission, which was to monitor and report any incidents to the higher-ups.
But who was down there? It was one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, Watertop Spearman Lu Dng, who was nearly the strongest in the Yangtze River.
Even if the other river bandits were mere Third-ss cultivators, they weren''t at a disadvantage since they were fighting on a ship. Everything was in their favor and they did not doubt their victory. They leisurely drank wine and chatted.
However, not long after the battle began, there was an unexpected turn of events.
"Isn''t he supposed to be all bite and no bark?"
They were briefed on their targets before they attacked. The titles only known within the sect were told as well.
Zhou Xuchuan was a brat from the Lotus Pavilion who was nothing aside from his internal qi. Their assessment was that there was no need to attack him directly and that he would be easily defeated with a feint.
"But that''s not true at all!"
Their intel was wrong. They didn''t know whether Zhou Xuchuan had hidden himself until now, or if the info they had was wrong. The boy with the title "All Bite No Bark" was an unbelievably powerful freak.
Despite the disadvantage of having to fight on the ship''s deck, he moved among the river bandits and massacred them. There was no retreat either; he only proceeded forward. And whenever he did, river bandits twice his size bled out and fell into the river one after another.
Looking at a young boy mercilessly swinging his sword on his first trip into the world was frightening.
"Don''t we need to report this to the lord?"
The Nine Water Gangs was an alliance of nine organizations. Naturally, there were nine lords, with Lu Dng being one of them.
"No, we shouldn''t. He''s fighting the Fourteenth Sword Hero right now. Although it looks like the lord has the upper hand, he might be injured if he starts getting concerned with other things. Both you and I know what will happen then, right?"
Lu Dng''s personality was rather cruel. Many river bandits had lost their lives at hismand.
"A-and also, there''s no way the lord will lose, is there?"
"Right. He''s none other than the Watertop Spearman. There''s no way he would lose while fighting on a river. Even if they all fall, the lord will still win in the end."
The observation soldiers gulped and looked down below.
*
C-c-ng-!
Sword and spear shed multiple times in the air, their strikes raging like storms, shattering the very air around them.
What''s happening?
Lu Dng had nced over Qiu Feng''s shoulders. He could see his subordinates screaming and falling off the ship. Sending something was amiss, he realized the source of the disturbance. It was All Bite No Bark, Zhou Xuchuan.
"Haa! Where do you think you''re looking?"
There was no way Qiu Feng, an Absolute Realm expert, would miss that opportunity. He thought that he had found an opening and struck with his sword.
Whizz-!
The tip of his sword gleamed as it charged forward with frightening speed.
"Hmph! That won''t work!"
Lu Dng raised his spear diagonally. The shaft of the spear urately blocked Qiu Feng''s sword.
"It was your mistake to look down on the cultivators of the Martial Alliance!" Qiu Feng shouted confidently.
Unlike Lu Dng, who was a bit rxed, Qiu Feng waspletely focused on the battle. He waspletely unaware of what was happening behind him. He only thought that the cultivators from the Martial Alliance were faring much better than he had thought after seeing that Lu Dng left an opening.
"Tsk!" Lu Dng clicked his tongue.
He might have the advantage in this fight, but he couldn''t let his guard down in front of the Fourteenth Sword Hero. His name wasn''t renowned in the martial world without reason. If he was mediocre, he would have finished this battle a long time ago. The fact that he was still fighting showed how incredible Qiu Feng was.
Oh no.
Qiu Feng frowned. Although Lu Dng was feeling somewhat bothered, for Qiu Feng, the situation waspletely dire.
Being on top of water, a ship would sway. Being influenced by that rocking affected the execution of his sword art.
"I have heard that the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword is incredible, but that only applies when you''re onnd."
"Nonsense!"
"Didn''t your sword shake a little just now?" Lu Dng smiled slyly.
Originally, that should have been a straight piercing attack. However, there was a minute shaking. It wasn''t on purpose; it was because he was on a ship.
"Compared to that, my Stable Water Spear Art is powerful and doesn''t shake. Kehehe."
The Stable Water Spear Art originated from the military. Not only that, it was restricted to ordinary soldiers, and only the skilled were allowed to learn it. This meant that the level of the spear art was quite high as well.
The spear attacks being executed on top of the water were agile, ferocious, urate and wless. The shaking of the ship wasn''t a problem at all. In fact, the spear art allowed the cultivator to move like they were one with the water.
"I have now learned how great the sword of the Mount Hua sect is, so let''s settle this fight. You were good enough to be a great story to be shared in drinking sessions, Fourteenth Sword Hero."
Creak.
Lu Dng''s grip tightened on his spear, veins bulging, muscles tense.
When the air around Lu Dng changed, Qiu Feng became nervous as well. He waited for the next attack with unwavering concentration.
This is bad.
Qiu Feng knew Lu Dng had been probing him. If he attacked at full power, Qiu Feng wouldn''tst long.
Right as they were about to sh again
"Arrgh!"
A river bandit flew above Qiu Feng''s head. That bandit went straight toward Lu Dng.
"Whoa!"
Lu Dng swung his spear vertically in surprise. The bandit''s body was severed in half like firewood being chopped in two.
"What the hell is"
Lu Dng looked behind Qiu Feng''s shoulders again, only to find Zhou Xuchuan standing there.
"Hi, Lu Dng. Nice to meet you. I''m now going to kill you."
Chapter 33: Ship Battle (2)
Zhou Xuchuan steadied his breathing. He used a considerable amount of energy to reach this ce.
"What, Xuchuan, why are you" Qiu Feng looked at Zhou Xuchuan, flustered. His expression was a mix of confusion and puzzlement.
"I understand your concern, but now isn''t the time. We don''t know what those guys up there might do."
Zhou Xuchuan cast a nce at the observation soldiers on top of the cliff.
"Cultivators! Why didn''t you stop Xuchuan?" Qiu Feng''s voice rose. To him, Zhou Xuchuan''s safety was a sensitive matter.
"Th-the thing is"
The cultivators of the Martial Alliance appeared to be at a loss. In fact, they were at a loss, because they didn''t understand either.
When no one spoke, Zhuge Xiuluan spoke up, breaking the silence.
"It might be hard to believe, but Young Hero Zhou over there wiped out most of the river bandits.""Xiuluan, it''s dangerous. You''re too eye-catching."
Zhuge Xiang shielded Zhuge Xiuluan behind him. It was a reasonable decision.
"He did what?" Qiu Feng''s disbelief was evident on his face. However, from the look of things, she didn''t seem to be lying.
"You didn''t know either?" Lu Dng looked at Qiu Feng, equally puzzled by the situation.
"...Is that true?" Qiu Feng turned to Zhou Xuchuan standing beside him.
"Yes, Senior Uncle."
"Just how nevermind."
Qiu Feng had a lot to say, but he decided to save it for the time being. This wasn''t the time to casually ask questions.
"We''ll discuss thister once we''re out of danger."
"I''ll assist you," Zhou Xuchuan offered.
"No, you''d only be a hindrance," Qiu Feng tly refused. "I understand that you have hidden your skills, but the opponent is not someone you can help me with. Honestly, your involvement might obstruct me instead of providing assistance."
Only someone in the Peak Realm would be helpful in this battle. Anyone below that level, not so much. Besides, Zhou Xuchuan was someone Qiu Feng had to protect. He wouldn''t be able to fight properly with that concern weighing on him.
"So leave this ce to me an"
"You''re a talkative bunch!"
Lu Dng interrupted Qiu Feng''s words and charged. As hisrge body moved, the ship shook. Qiu Feng pushed Zhou Xuchuan behind him and charged forward as well.
"Haah!"
Lu Dng''s powerful thrust created a fierce gale as it aimed at Qiu Feng.
Reacting swiftly, Qiu Feng spun on his heel, narrowly avoiding the spear''s tip grazing his waist. Simultaneously, he countered with a swift sword strike.
That worked!
Although the tip of his sword was still shaking, he was assured that he would be able to attack Lu Dng''s neck.
"Not happening!"
Lu Dng channeled his qi into his Dragon Heaven Acupoint and stomped on the ground.
Boom-!
"Uaaack!"
Due to the force applied to the head of the ship, the tail of the ship rose. Water from the river flowed into the ship. The few remaining bandits on the deck, as well as the rest of the people from the Martial Alliance, were thrown into a panic by the sudden shaking of the boat.
The one who panicked the most was Qiu Feng. His already unstable sword trajectory hadpletely lost its drive. He tried to retreat, but it was toote.
While everyone else struggled to regain bnce, Lu Dng remainedposed and thrust his spear once more.
"Die!"
Qiu Feng clenched his eyes shut, feeling his deathing.
"You''re not touching anyone!"
Zhou Xuchuan, who was waiting behind Qiu Feng, stepped forward and executed his sword arts against Lu Dng.
"Plum Blossom Rays?"
Qiu Feng was shocked after seeing Zhou Xuchuan execute the fifth form of the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword.
"You impudent brat!"
Lu Dng felt offended when Zhou Xuchuan blocked one of his trusted moves. Fury contorted his expression.
"You''re ugly enough to make me lose appetite as you are, so don''t make it even uglier!"
Zhou Xuchuan quipped, executing the next art. When he did, the sword in his hand became blurry before striking from above. It was the sixth form, the Plum Blossom Plunge.
"Urgh!"
Lu Dng strained to block with his spear raised above his head. Zhou Xuchuan didn''t stop there and followed up with the next move. This time, a barrage of sword strikes all attacked Lu Dng.
"Even Plum Blossom Flurry!"
Qiu Feng''s shock deepened.
"The Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword?" Lu Dng''s face stiffened.
He also realized that these were the same sword arts that Qiu Feng had been using against him while defending. Well, to be precise, they were the sword arts of Mount Hua.
Now!
Qiu Feng noticed that Lu Dng was distracted. Although the sword art disyed by Zhou Xuchuan was shocking, he was not foolish enough to miss a golden opportunity like this. He immediately aimed for Lu Dng''s nk, striking like a thunderbolt.
"Gosh, fuck!"
Lu Dng activated his qi, swiftly rotating his body. The abrupt change in his qi maniption made his insides feel as though they were being scraped.
Psh-!
Qiu Feng''s sword tore through Lu Dng''s flesh, revealing fat and muscle being pulled out by the de''s tip.
"Urgh!" Lu Dng groaned, feeling the fiery pain sear through his nk. However, he had no time toment.
In a fight among experts, an unexpected change in body movements could be critical. Especially if there were two enemies. Zhou Xuchuan once again executed the Plum Blossom Flurry. It was a chaotic sword attack that disoriented Lu Dng''s.
"Fuck off!" Lu Dng swung his spear widely, infusing the spear de with qi that transformed into wind, effectively blocking the flurry of swords.
"Well done!" Qiu Feng praised Zhou Xuchuan before immediately resuming his attack on Lu Dng. He stirred the qi within his body to create a sword qi on his de.
Lu Dng quickly turned around to deflect Qiu Feng''s sword qi. However, his movements weren''t as agile as before. A substantial chunk of flesh was torn from his nk, intensifying the pain.
"Urrgh!"
Lu Dng couldn''t hide his anger. The fact that he was injured like this hurt his pride and annoyed him. Moreover, he couldn''t stand the fact that his subordinates were watching all this. If rumors about today''s battle spread within the Nine Water Gang, the other gang lords would mock him for being defeated by a mere boy.
"Die!"
Lu Dng swung his spear with a shout. The destructive force, intent on wiping out everything around him, could be felt everywhere around the ship. The energy in the spear exerted some pressure, spreading out with him at the epicenter and causing ripples on the river.
The attack, containing his full power, was directed squarely at Zhou Xuchuan.
No!
Qiu Feng lunged. While impressed by Zhou Xuchuan''s skill, Qiu Feng doubted his ability to withstand such an attack.
"Whoa!"
Zhou Xuchuan, feeling the pressure of the spear across his body, was taken aback by its intensity.
But this is also an opportunity!
A confident smile spread across Zhou Xuchuan''s lips. He raised his sword and turned it slightly. Pressing on the t of the de with his palm, he infused all his nearly sixty years worth of internal qi into the sword.
"You fool!" Lu Dng mocked Zhou Xuchuan, fully convinced that Zhou Xuchuan would not be able to block this attack.
BANG!
The spear and the sword collided.
"Wh-what?!"
However, Lu Dng''s expectations werepletely off the mark as Zhou Xuchuan, a boy several times smaller than him, managed to block the spear with his sword.
Zhou Xuchuan was pushed back by about five steps, leaving behind a trail with his feet.
"Cough!"
However, he couldn''t block itpletely and spurted out blood. Though he wished he could form his own sword qi, he hadn''t reached that level yet.
What he did instead was to block the attack by crazily infusing his sword with qi. The nearly sixty years of internal qi wasn''t just for show.
"Well done, Xuchuan!"
Qiu Feng swiftly moved, using his full strength to stab Lu Dng in the back.
Psh!
The sword''s tip sliced through flesh, entering Lu Dng''s body, before being pushed out the chest on the other side.
"Kergh!" Lu Dng''s eyes widened. "N-no way"
He bent down, trembling.
"You let your guard down, Watertop Spearman."
Qiu Feng pulled out his sword and stepped back.
"L-let my guard down?" Lu Dng had on an expression of disbelief. "Urgh, don''t be fucking kidding me."
Who would''ve expected someone like Zhou Xuchuan? Someone just as proficient in the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword as the Fourteenth Sword Hero, who even managed to block a full-power strike from him.
Even the almighty Zhuge Liang wouldn''t have taken into ount such a possibility.
"The gang lord was defeated!"
"Aack!"
Ssh-!
The few surviving river bandits threw themselves off the ship, hoping to increase their chances of survival.
"Fuck" Lu Dng resentfully mumbled.
"I''m not dying alone!" he shouted, gripping his spear in reverse.
"No!"
Qiu Feng shouted, but it was toote. Lu Dng was already striking downward with his spear.
Boom-!
The head of the ship, which was already battered as a result of Lu Dng''s previous stomp, couldn''t withstand the blow. Cracks spread from the front, eventually shattering the entire ship into pieces.
"Ack!"
"Wah!"
Ssh-
With the ship breaking, both the living and dead on the deck fell into the water. Lu Dng, one of the longest-living experts of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, sank to the bottom of the Yangtze River and disappeared into history.
"Huff-puh, Huff-puh!" Zhuge Xiao struggled in the water.
"Please, grab onto this!"
A nearby cultivator from the Martial Alliance snatched a wooden board and gave it to Zhuge Xiao. It was one of the remnants of the ship.
"Thankfully, the current isn''t that fast!" Zhuge Xiang shouted, also grabbing onto a debris.
"Everyone, head to the rock over there!" Qiu Feng directed, pointing to a spot with house-sized rocks connected to thend, which was fortunate.
At Qiu Feng''smand, everyone helped each other climb onto therge rocks.
"Cough, cough! Are you all okay? Is anyone injured?" Qiu Feng raised his voice while coughing. He immediately started looking for the members of the Lotus Pavilion.
The first person he spotted was Zhang Xuen.
"Senior Uncle!" Zhang Xuen shouted, her face pale, but not from the coldness of the river.
"I-I don''t see junior brother anywhere!''''
"What?"
Qiu Feng looked around, unable to find the youngest member, despite seeing Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen. He searched everywhere on the rocks, but he couldn''t find a sign of him.
"Shengji!"
Another anxious voice echoed nearby. The man''s eyes searched frantically, hisplexion ashen.
"Shengji, if you''re nearby, respond! Shengji!"
Zhuge Xiang''s mournful voice filled the air.
"How could this happen" Qiu Feng eximed.
Two individuals, Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji, were nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 34: Missing (1)
Three weekster, in Weng''An Town, Guizhou Province.
"Hahaha, this is great! Excellent!" Li Yicai danced around andughed with joy, celebrating the weight of the pouch in his chest pocket.
For the past three weeks, the Gold Will Merchants had been handling the provisions in Weng''An. This led to the rapid expansion of hispany.
The Guizhou province was dangerous for merchants. However, at the same time, it was full of opportunities. Due to the constant conflicts, the consumption of provisions was fast.
That meant that supplies were just as frequent, and that in turn, meant that trade would increase, which was a huge boon for him.
Li Yicai''s wealth grew the more he traded.
Over the past two or three weeks, trust in Li Yicai and the Gold Will Merchants under him had increased significantly. They had already be rather famous.
Li Yicai, as expected of someone who wouldter be called the Merchant King, was an incredible merchant. He utilized his talent in trade to the fullest to earn money, consistently supplying the right provisions at the right time. He never disappointed anyone with quality, either.
What Li Yicai did was simple: he bought high-quality items at affordable prices and sold them at suitable prices. His skills were unmatched.Shen Tujun, the branch head of the Martial Alliance Kaiyang branch, had recently shown interest in his skills, and Li Yicai managed to get an order from him.
It had only been three weeks since he started trading in Weng''An, yet, he had already climbed his way up to Kaiyang. It looked like there wasn''t long left until he expanded throughout Guizhou.
He also used other methods to earn money. Over time, the Gold Will Merchants began to trade in weapons. It wasn''t anything special yet; they simply picked up discarded weapons from the battlefield and sold them to the smithies in the provincial capital. Then, they bought low-quality weapons from those smithies at cheap prices and sold them to wanderers and other cultivators on the front lines.
While some wanderers were blinded by wealth, or some thug groups usually targeted merchants, they gave up after hearing that they had ties with the Weng''An branch of the Martial Alliance and Shen Tujun.
In Guizhou, only the Evil Valley, that opposed the Martial Alliance, posed a threat to the Gold Will Merchants.
"Hehehe! It''s money!" Li Yicai giggled strangely, rejoicing.
Money, especially gold, satisfied a certain part of his heart. He preferred counting money to sleeping with women. Honestly speaking, he didn''t know why people liked drinking and sex.
"If you want to smell or toy with something, you should do it with money. Hehe, my lovely little ones. I could just die."
Li Yicai buried his face in the pile of silver coins in front of him, gently rubbing them with his face. His eyes were filled with bliss.
It hurt a bit at first, but it soon turned into pleasure.
"Buhihi! Hehehe."
It was a kind of lunacy that even the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult would find rming.
"Ah, I am truly indebted to Great Hero Zhou. Without him, I would still be sucking on someone else''s ass right now."
Li Yicai pulled his face away from the pile of silver coins.
"I wish I could repay my debt, but he is no longer in this world, great hero, ehem, Young Master Zhou."
His manner of calling Zhou Xuchuan began to deteriorate.
"Young Master Zhou. I hope you reach the heavens. I offer you a silver coin in rememb wait, no, a silver coin is too much. He is no longer of this world anyway, is he? Then three coppers? Two coppers? Actually, even one copper is too much. It''s not like the dead have any need for money. Let''s just send him my condolences."
Li Yicai sped his hands together.
"Zhou what was his name again? I can''t even remember."
Li Yicai forgot about this Zhou-something.
Knock, knock-
"Who''s there?" Li Yicai asked, putting away his silver coins.
"Head merchant, some martial artist wishes to meet you," said the cultivator outside the door.
"Does that person look rich?"
"He looks dirt poor."
"Did he say he''s from the ten major organizations, the five major family ns, or the Martial Alliance?"
"He''s a wanderer."
"Is he famous?"
"He''s nameless."
"Chase him out!"
If it was before, he might have entertained them, but he had no time for such people right now. It was much better to find something else more worthwhile to do.
"Yes." the cultivator curtly replied, concluding the conversation.
This time, Li Yicai took out his gold coins and began counting. The smirk on his lips reached his ears and looked unpleasant.
Knock knock-
"Gosh, what now?!" Li Yicai stood up.
"May Ie in?"
A voice from outside requested, though it belonged to a different individual from before.
"Alright, enter!"
Yet, the voice sounded familiar, leading him to assume it was another escort from thepany.
Creak
The door opened, and a young boy who looked fifteen entered.
"Ack!" Li Yicai screamed and fell on his butt. "Y-y-you are!"
He pointed at the boy with trembling hands.
"It seems you''re doing well, head merchant. Are you ready to rob the treasury?"
"Aaaack! It''s a ghost! You must be a ghost!"
Li Yicai clutched his money bags, shrinking back in fear.
"Let''s not go around assuming other people are dead, shall we?" Zhou Xuchuan grinned and turned around. "Come in."
"What should I do with this fallen cultivator?"
Behind Zhou Xuchuan was a boy who looked to be around nine or ten years old. He also looked more frail than his peers.
"Don''t tell me he''s" Li Yicai''s eyebrows trembled at the sight of the boy.
"He''s Zhuge Shengji. Know him?"
"There are two ghosts here! Begone! I have no money for you!"
Li Yicai panicked and started screaming again.
"Is there no one outside?!"
"You''re noisy, head merchant."
Zhou Xuchuan swung his fist, creating a hole in the wall with a resounding thud.
"I''m alive and well, so please shut up. I have something to discuss."
Li Yicai raised his head, looking at the wall that now had a hole in it. Then, he stood up from his position and kowtowed as though he hadn''t behaved erratically some moments before.
"The world said you were dead, great hero, but I have never doubted your survival!"
Li Yicai was shameless.
*
Three weeks ago, a piece of news shook the entire martial world.
The Watertop Spearman Lu Dng, one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, had died in the hands of Fourteenth Sword Hero Qiu Feng.
News of experts always attracted a lot of attention in the martial world. As a result, the events of that day spread rapidly
"But why did they even fight?"
"Don''t those river bandits ask for a toll when someone crosses the Yangtze River? It seems that the children from the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family couldn''t tolerate the humiliation and struck first."
"Whoa, they''re definitely the future of the ten major organizations and the five great ns. It''s great that they took action. They''re truly cultivators of the Orthodox Faction. They did a good job."
The Nine Water Gangs called themselves protectors and righteous thieves, but it was all just nonsense. They were ultimately just thieves who robbed other people.
Not just martial artists, even normal citizens seemed refreshed after hearing the news.
"But that resulted in the death of two great children, didn''t it?"
"It''s truly unfortunate."
Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji were ssified as missing. This led to an uproar in the Orthodox martial world. One was a member of the distinguished Lotus Pavilion of the Mount Hua Sect, and the other was the son of the n head of the Zhuge Family. The fact that they were both killed by river bandits was huge news.
The Mount Hua Sect, and the Zhuge Family, being the victims, appeared ready to attack the bandits at once.
"Do you know about this?" Li Yicai paused, taking a sip of tea.
"Yes, I''ve heard rumors about it. But I don''t know what happened after that."
"I see." Li Yicai nodded and continued. "Before the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family could take action, the Nine Water Gangs imed it was justified self-defense."
"They''re lying. There was no such thing."
"Most people should know that. Your death caused big waves here in Weng''An too. Because of that, I managed to hear some additional details."
The problem was that the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family were not denying their ims. This was because of the widespread rumors.
Moreover, the cultivators, and even most people living in the Central ins, believed that the group from the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family had attacked the Nine Water Gangs first without being able to ignore the injustice. That was what they were being praised for as well.
However, if they were to refute that, then the two organizations would be put in an awkward position. It might imply that they would usually turn a blind eye to the injustice caused by the Nine Water Gangs. If that were to happen, they would receive more criticism instead. That was why they refrained from refuting the ims of the river bandits.
Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji''s statuses weren''t ordinary, but they weren''t important enough for the two organizations to undertake such controversy.
"In the end, both sides did nothing. As you know, due to the other factions in the martial world, neither the Mount Hua Sect nor the Zhuge Family can act freely, right?"
Confronting the Nine Water Gangs directly would result in tremendous damage. That would break the bnce, and potentially lead to a war that targeted the weakened Orthodox Faction.
"And now, you and Young Master Zhuge have returned. What in the world happened?" Li Yicai stared at them, still in disbelief.
"We were swept away much farther than the rest of our group after falling into the Yangtze River. We nearly reached Hubei."
It was difficult to take care of Zhuge Shengji, who was injured and had lost consciousness, but fortunately, they managed to survive.
"Then, we journeyed south from Hubei to Hunan before returning to Guizhou. That took a while."
"No, but why did youe back? Hubei is the domain of the Orthodox Faction and the Zhuge Family is there, right?"
"Exactly." Zhou Xuchuan replied with a mysterious smile. Before Li Yicai could say anything, he added, "If Shengji or I were discovered, it would cause a stir, and we would be returned to our respective sects and ns and receive protection. That would mean we wouldn''t be able to leave for a long time. If we do that, we''d be leaving the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief for years."
"Oh!" Li Yicai eximed. "But no, nevermind."
The treasury wasn''t going anywhere. However, there was the possibility that someone else would discover it if they were to dy it by a few more years.
If he went this far, then there might really be something to it.
He had heard about three weeks, no, a whole month ago, but he was still half skeptical. To be precise, he hadn''t given it much thought. He just had things prepared so that he could obtain the rights to trade provisions.
Today, however, he had changed his mind after seeing that Zhou Xuchuan had visited him in secret.
"Did you bring Young Master Zhuge here for the sake of confidentiality? You''re meticulous, alright. You saved a person, and even prepared for the n. You truly are a great hero." Li Yicai rubbed his hands together and ttered.
"No, that''s not the case. Shengji is our partner. Without him, it''s impossible to rob the treasury."
Zhou Xuchuan told Li Yicai about the mechanisms installed in the treasury.
"Are you sure there''s a treasury in there?" Zhuge Shengji, who was listening from the side, questioned doubtfully.
"Whether I''m sure or not, you should follow me. Little brother, you wouldn''t ignore the request of someone who saved your life, would you?"
"...Urgh."
Zhuge Shengji looked like he had something to say, but he chose to remain silent. Ever since Zhou Xuchuan saved Zhuge Shengji, he had forced thetter to follow him under the excuse that he had saved his life. Shengji hated it, but he felt indebted, so he followed Zhou Xuchuan regardless.
"Well then, head merchant. Are you ready?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, a faint smile ying on his lips.
"I''ll follow you, great hero!"
Chapter 35: Missing (2)
Mount Hua, Shaanxi Province.
"Please, do not forgive me!" Qiu Feng bowed deeply, his forehead nearly touching the ground.
"Senior brother" Liu Zhengmu''s expression was conflicted.
Even if they were both third-generation members of the sect, Qiu Feng held a higher position in terms of seniority. This apology troubled Liu Zhengmu.
"I was unable to fulfill my duty as a protector of the Lotus Pavilion. Your disciple was sacrificed because of me I''m truly sorry."
Qiu Feng''s voice was filled with guilt. He wasn''t even able to raise his head properly.
About three weeks ago, he miraculously defeated Lu Dng and survived. However, he was unable to save Zhou Xuchuan. He immediately reported the incident to the sect, and they, along with the cultivators from the Martial Alliance, searched for days but were ultimately unable to find him.
He wanted to continue the search, but the sect urgently ordered his return, so he had no choice but to return to the sect with the members of the Lotus Pavilion.
Although the search continued, they were unable to find any clues and had only returned a few days ago. Essentially, Zhou Xuchuan was deemed dead."It is all my fault. If only I had trusted your disciple a little more, things wouldn''t have been this bad."
During this time, the perceptions of Zhou Xuchuan hadpletely changed. No one called him All Bite No Bark anymore.
They were instead all shocked by his remarkable feats. They were surprised that he had hidden his skills and power, and how determined he was to learn despite the ridicule from those around him.
That made it even more unfortunate. They couldn''t hide their disappointment at losing such a talented young man in vain.
"Hm"
After reaching the Absolute Realm, Liu Zhengmu spent a considerable amount of time out in the world. One day, upon hearing the news about Zhou Xuchuan, he hurriedly returned to the sect, and he had only arrived today.
Qiu Feng, who was residing in the sect, visited Liu Zhengmu as soon as he was notified of his arrival and bowed in apology.
"I wish I could go find the Nine Water Gangs and seek revenge, but"
He couldn''t do as he wished because of theplex circumstances.
The Martial Alliance was also investigating this matter. Unless Lu Dng had suddenly gone mad, there was no way he would attack the members of the Lotus Pavilion and the direct lineage of the Zhuge Family.
Furthermore, ording to information they gathered, the ships and boats in the Yangtze River were intentionally removed, seemingly to prevent the group from splitting up and crossing the river. This meant that the ambush was nned, so they suspected someone was behind them.
"I have not taken a disciple myself, but I do know the sorrow, fury, and pain of losing one. I won''t mind at all, so resent me."
A master was oftenpared to a parent to a disciple. Conversely, a disciple is seen as a child to the master. Although there were no blood ties between them, the connection between them ran deep.
"I will not forget this for the rest of my life"
Liu Zhengmu hadn''t been quietly listening for some time. However, Qiu Feng continued apologizing with simr words. It was like he was telling him to kill him.
"Senior brother."
In the end, Liu Zhengmu had no choice but to interrupt him.
"Yes." Qiu Feng replied with a resigned expression.
However, what he heard from Liu Zhengmu was totally different.
"I''m okay, so don''t act like that."
"Junior brother."
"You acting like this only makes things even more difficult for me." Liu Zhengmu let out a bitterugh. His eyes had a mixture of emotions. "It hasn''t been long since I returned to the sect. I''m a little tired and need some time alone. Climbing the mountain has drawn a lot of attention."
"...I''m sorry. I was too short-sighted," Qiu Feng apologized once again with a grim expression. Liu Zhengmu had lost count of the number of apologies he had heard.
"So, can you let me be for a while?"
"Of course. I''m sorry for not being more considerate. Get some rest."
Qiu Feng left, his two shoulders drooping with guilt.
After seeing Qiu Feng leave, Liu Zhengmu let out a deep sigh.
"Xuchuan, it seems you were much more remarkable than this master thought."
He rummaged through his chest pocket with his right hand and took out a letter that he had folded neatly.
When rumors about his disciple began to spread, and he returned to the branch of the Martial Alliance he was staying in, he received a homing pigeon. At first, he assumed it was something rted to his mission, but that was not the case at all. It turned out to be something private.
The sender was his disciple, presumed to be dead.
The letter was quite long. In summary, Zhou Xuchuan assured him he was safe, but requested that the news should be kept secret for a while. He also apologized for making him worry and that he would definitely return safely with Zhuge Shengji.
"I''m worried, so don''t take too long" Liu Zhengmu looked up at the sky. The skies were clear, without a speck of clouds.
*
Weng''An Town, Gold Will Merchants.
Since Li Yicai''s activities were centered around the Weng''An Town, he bought a house. Housing prices in Weng''An were suspiciously cheap. Then again, it wasn''t surprising considering the situation the Weng''An Town was in.
In the front yard were ten cultivators. Zhou Xuchuan had inspected them upon his arrival. Nine of them were around Second ss, and only one was First ss, almost reaching Peak Realm.
"It''s okay if their skills aren''t that good. What matters is their credibility. The information about the treasury will be leaked sooner orter, so it doesn''t matter, but they must be people who will not run away with the treasures."
"If it''s that, you don''t need to worry." Li Yicai reassured Zhou Xuchuan confidently.
"You''re not implying that they can be trusted because they''re your rtives, are you? If that''s the case, I refuse. We live in a world where even blood brothers kill each other for treasures."
"I''m not that naive, great hero." Li Yicai once again reassured him. "These individuals all cherish their families. Also, they all have at least one person they must feed."
"You didn''t happen to take their families hostage, did you?" Zhuge Shengji asked with a frown.
"Oh,e now, Young Master Zhuge. I''m not so viinous." Li Yicai waved his hand in denial. "I made a deal with them. If they swear loyalty to me, I promised them free medical diagnosis and treatment."
People were often willing to do anything for the sake of their loved ones. Li Yicai exploited that love.
"I intentionally looked for those in dire situations, and unable tost a few days without my support. Also, I have investigated their personalities beforehand. I should exclude the possibility that they might run away with the wealth they obtain, shouldn''t I? Hahaha."
How should I put this
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but be taken aback by Li Yicai''s words. It wasn''t exactly ckmail, but it might as well have been. What Li Yicai did to them could be interpreted as "your family might die if you betray me."
However, he couldn''t exactly be considered evil, either. To begin with, they were all strangers. Li Yicai wasn''t obligated to look after their families, even while calling for expensive physicians. He only gave them a proposal, not a threat, and they were the ones who epted it.
Just like the rumors, his methods are ruthless.
The fact that he was good in trade meant that he was good in negotiations. The Merchant King had an extremely good eye for discerning other''s intentions and easily figured out what the other party wanted. Then, he would use that to his advantage and profit off of it.
His targets included those of the Orthodox Faction, the Evil Faction, the Demonic Cult, the Blood Cult, or even the mysterious faction that had yet to reveal themselves. He didn''t survive the Era of War and Chaos by chance.
And that''s also what makes him frightening.
Li Yicai understood human emotions better than anyone, because he could exploit it for money. His kind of "understanding" of emotions ironically didn''t involve any emotions on his part; No mockery, no jest, no fury, no sympathy. He merely used it as a means to earn money.
"I have told the cultivators that they will be raiding a tomb."
"How did you introduce me to them?"
"I told them that you were an expert whose orders must be followed. They are unfamiliar with you and Young Master Zhuge''s faces, so you do not need to worry about your identities being exposed."
"Well done. The treasury is in Chongqing. This is the exact location, so send people to a nearby vige. I need a quick method ofmunication on the way back."
Zhou Xuchuan handed over an encoded map.
"This is the interpretation method of the code. Memorize it and burn it."
"Ooh! As expected of a great hero! Your knowledge surpasses that of Zhuge Liang! You truly are powerful both in mind and body!" Li Yicai exaggerated, tapping his forehead. "This little merchant is moved to tears!"
"Then cry."
"Men do not shed tears easily."
Li Yicai handed over a pouch for travel expenses.
"I will support your journey from every aspect and from ces you can''t see. Rob the Three-Eyed Godly Thief down to his bones. Of course, you know that wealthes before bones, right?"
"Head merchant. wipe off your drool before speaking."
"Huh? Oops, my apologies. Well then, see you next time. I hope you have a safe trip.
*
Zhou Xuchuan left for Chongqing alongside Zhuge Shengji and the ten cultivators recruited by Li Yicai. Until recently, Chongqing had been filled with members of the Orthodox Faction searching for Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji, but that was no longer the case.
There were no signs of river bandits either. The Eighteen Bandit Gangs had also ordered their men to stop piging for a while.
"He''s telling us to trust a kid who''s just grown his hair?"
Before setting off for the treasury, the cultivators found Zhou Xuchuan rather ridiculous. The so-called "expert" introduced by the head merchant appeared to be barely past the age of adulthood. In the Central ins, adulthood was fifteen years old. Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t even be considered a youth yet.
If they discovered that Zhou Xuchuan was only twelve years old, they might froth from their mouths.
"Shh, keep quiet. It seems to be true."
Among the ten cultivators, the only one who had reached First-ss put his index on his mouth, gesturing to them to keep quiet. An expert could recognize a rookie, but a rookie couldn''t recognize an expert.
"Is that true, Brother Wang?"
Wang Yi, the First-ss cultivator, was addressed as Brother Wang. Although his name sounded like he was a country bumpkin, he was a First-ss cultivator near Peak Realm. He was someone who had climbed his way up from the bottom and earned a lot of respect as a result. He also had a lot of followers.
"Are you sure he''s just an ordinary person and not a martial artist?"
Normal civilians did not learn cultivation, so they had no level to speak of. It was obvious that they couldn''t be discerned.
"Didn''t you see Captain Zhou''s wless walking stance?"
"Hmm."
"Don''t let your pride cloud your judgment. And even if he''s not an expert, we have to follow orders. Didn''t you hear that from the head merchant before we left Weng''An?"
"I''m sorry, Brother Wang."
"You don''t need to apologize to me. Go apologize to Captain Zhou when we take a breakter. The head merchant may find fault with thister."
Chapter 36: Entering the Treasury (1)
Most regions in Chongqing consisted of low hills formed from sandstone or limestone, except the northern area, which was a forest, and the middle area, where the Yangtze River was located.
To the east was Yanchang. It was a ce filled with sandstone and limestone.
Zhou Xuchuan and the group arrived in Yanchang.
"What could possibly be in a ce like this?" Wang Yi asked.
Farming or ranching was impossible near Yanchang. There were rocks everywhere, and it wasn''t like there were any mineral deposits like iron. The only thing here were low hills. Since even nts didn''t grow here, it was no different from and of death.
It had been three days since theyst took a rest in a nearby vige, and the group was exhausted.
Zhou Xuchuan led them to a remote area in Yanchang, devoid of human presence.
"Our treasure vault." Zhou Xuchuan put on a thick smile. Zhou Xuchuan announced with a broad smile, his eyes reflecting theyers of rocks.
"Huh?" Zhuge Shengji raised his head to look at the rocks, his eyes filled with confusion."Something here feels"
"Oh, my brother. Did you find something?" Zhou Xuchuan''s face lit up as he asked.
"No, I can''t put it into words, but yeah. Let''s see. I think this part is strange."
Zhuge Shengji uncharacteristically acted enthusiastically and rubbed a spot on the rock. His eyes were filled with curiosity.
"Do whatever you want."
Zhou Xuchuan replied, settlingfortably on a nearby rock, showing no intention of moving anytime soon.
Phew, he''s not the master of mechanisms without reason. If I didn''t bring Shengji here, we might not have even found the entrance.
Although he wandered a bit, he managed to sessfully find his way to the treasury whileparing his surroundings to memories from his previous life. But now that he was actually here, there was something different from his expectations: the existence of the entrance.
When he came here in his previous life, the entrance had already been discovered and was open, but presently, there was nothing to be seen. Honestly, he was taken aback and found himself speechless.
ck.
"Oh, it''s this."
While probing around the rock, there was a sudden noise.
Rumble!
After that, the ground trembled violently, causing Zhou Xuchuan to fear the sky might copse on him.
"Wh-what''s happening?" The cultivators panicked.
Even Wang Yi, who looked like he would be called an elder in a few years, was visibly flustered.
"Oho, I see. That''s how it was set up. This is amazing."
The surrounding area continued to rumble, with vibrations seemingly originating deep underground.
Zhuge Shengji had long lost his bnce and fallen on his butt, but he didn''t look scared. On the contrary, he appeared curious and looked around while mumbling to himself.
He usually got scared easily, but whenever there were mechanisms involved, he disyed this peculiar personality.
Finally!
He had been waiting for this moment for so long!
Ever since Zhou Xuchuan had regressed, he had made several preparations, devised ns, and changed the details ceaselessly. And after going through many hardships and setbacks, he finally found the treasury.
He could finally understand how an adventurer felt when discovering a whole new ce that might go down in history.
"I''m sorry," Zhou Xuchuan whispered an apology. Originally, the honor of this discovery was supposed to belong to someone else.
"Mm." Wang Yi groaned.
Around five minutester, something appeared in front of thema set of stairs leading underground.
"What in the world is" Wang Yi mumbled.
"We''re at our destination," Zhou Xuchuan said, pulling Zhuge Shengji up from the ground.
"A-a tomb where such mechanisms are ced just who lies asleep in this ce?"
"Treasure." Zhou Xuchuan replied, his eyes curving into a smile.
*
Crackle
Torches lit up the darkness. As they descended the stairs, they saw a vast clearing big enough to amodate hundreds of people. Etched onto the ground of the clearing was a symbol consisting of three eyes.
"No way, this is" Wang Yi thought of something after looking at the symbol drawn on the ground. He wasn''t the only one; the other cultivators had simr thoughts.
"It''s the symbol of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief!" Zhuge Shengji shouted, voicing their thoughts.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief was a legendary figure everyone knew, even children as young as five or six.
"No way, that can''t be right."
An assumption crossed their minds, but they all dismissed it as ridiculous.
"Hey, captain." The voice, though deep, belonged to a woman, not a man. She was the only female among the ten cultivators.
Despite being a woman, she wasrger than most men, and her well-trained muscles gave her a good figure. She had a vertical scar on her mouth, and her eyes looked sharp.
Her face couldn''t be called pretty, and she wasn''t someone who could be a romantic interest, given she was middle-aged.
Zhou Xuchuan turned to her, scanning the clearing. "What is it, Chu Lian?"
"Tell us the truth. Whose tomb is this?" Chu Lian''s face was stiff.
"From what I know, this is no tomb, but a treasury."
In his previous life, the remains of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief were never discovered.
"Like I said, who does it belong to?" Chu Lian asked once again in frustration.
"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief," Zhou Xuchuan replied without hesitation.
"Lies!" Zhuge Shengji eximed. "Th-this is the legendary thief''s treasury? That kind of thing is only a rumor!"
Nobody knew what happened to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief after his death. This led to a lot of spection about the treasures he left behind. The treasures stolen by a thief who could be called an icon of an era wouldn''t just disappear. Everyone believed that the treasures were hidden somewhere.
The government had alsounched investigations.
However, there were only rumors and no concrete discoveries. The government, the cultivators, and even professional tomb raiders tried to search for it, but they didn''t find a single clue.
Eventually, it faded into the back of everyone''s minds.
"We''ll know for sure once we go inside," Zhou Xuchuan said, his gaze fixed ahead.
There were eight passages branching out from the center of the clearing, all looking identical. Not just that, they were all engulfed in pitch-ck darkness.
"Anyone want to return?" Zhou Xuchuan asked for their opinion as he turned around.
However, no one responded. They each had their reasons foring here.
"I''m not sure if it''s real or not, but it seems once we proceed, there''s no turning back. What will you do?" Chu Lian asked Wang Yi uneasily.
"What choice do I have? Even if it costs me my life, I must follow the captain."
"I''ll try my best to protect you, but should you die, I guarantee that your families will be taken care of," Zhou Xuchuan immediately followed up at Wang Yi''s resolute words.
"Phew." Someone let out a sigh of relief at his words.
It looked like they had no choice.
"Give us orders, Captain."
"I''ll be at the front, Sheng will be in the middle and the rest of you will protect him from the front, sides and back. However, do not obstruct his vision. He''s the most important person out of all of us."
Sheng was the pseudonym that Zhuge Shengji was going to use temporarily.
"Why?"
"There are so many mechanisms in this treasury that this whole ce could be considered a mechanism all in itself. The only one who can recognize and dismantle them is Sheng over there."
"This kid?" Chu Lian eyed Zhuge Shengji skeptically.
"Ahem!" Zhuge Shengji puffed out his chest proudly.
While he typically approached everything with a pessimistic mindset, he tended to showcase confidence when praised for his mechanism abilities.
"You''re free to doubt him, but you better protect him if you want us all to survive."
"...Tsk." Chu Lian clicked her tongue.
"Also, I''ll be at the front leading the way most of the time, but Sheng''s orders are to be prioritized. If he and I happen to be in conflict, follow hismands. He''s the most knowledgable out of all of us, at least in here."
"It''s disconcerting to think that a ten-year-old child holds our fate in his hands." Wang Yi sighed.
The group double-checked themselves onest time before entering a passage.
"Where should we go?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Zhuge Shengji.
"Hm, there''s no difference." Zhuge Shengji admitted, scratching his head.
"Alright, then let''s try this one."
Zhou Xuchuan walked toward the third passage from the left.
"Oh, wait."
Zhuge Shengji blocked his path. When Zhou Xuchuan questioned him about it, Zhuge Shengji simply picked up a rock from the ground and tossed it toward the entrance.
Cl-cl-cl-ng-!
The moment the rock passed the entrance, spears fell from the ceiling around the entrance and struck the ground.
"...Didn''t you say there was no difference?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, bbergasted.
"Yeah. They''re all like this." Zhuge Shengji responded, blinking innocently.
"This is insane." Wang Yi gulped, his face pale.
"There''s nothing after that, right?"
"Yeah."
"Haa. Looks like we have to deal with those spears first."
The group pushed the spears blocking the entrance to the side and took them out. There were nearly a hundred in total. Only then were they able to enter the passage.
"How did you know about that trap just now, Young Master Sheng? Could you enlighten me?" Wang Yi asked Zhuge Shengji in a polite manner.
"Uh, there''s probably no use asking him." Zhou Xuchuan chuckled.
"Ah, my mistake. Please excuse my rudeness."
Wang Yi thought that Zhuge Shengji''s knowledge about mechanisms was a type of cultivation art. He quickly apologized, thinking that his request was equivalent to asking someone to recite the secret mantra of their cultivation art.
"No, that''s not what I meant." Zhou Xuchuan shook his head lightly.
"Then?"
"Sheng, try exining it to us." Zhou Xuchuan stopped and looked at Zhuge Shengji.
"Why don''t you all get such a simple thing?" Zhuge Shengji tilted his head, seemingly unable to understand. "Hm it''s hard to put into words, but can''t you just see it? There''s obviously a trap installed."
All the cultivators fell silent, including Wang Yi.
"What a cocky brat," Chu Lian muttered.
"I agree," Zhou Xuchuan said.
Zhou Xuchuan had also once asked Zhuge Shengji about the basics of mechanisms, thinking that it mighte in handy even if he couldn''t learn anythingplex. However, Zhuge Shengji always tilted his head and mumbled ridiculous things like this.
In Zhuge Shengji''s words, dismantling traps just required ''touching what looks off.''
He was a genius, and the worst kind at that.
"But he''s just as reassuring."
*
There were dozens of traps installed in the passage. It hadn''t even been an hour, but they had already lost count of the number of traps that had been activated or dismantled. Without Zhuge Shengji, they would have died several times over already.
Even the group, who was half doubtful about Zhou Xuchuan''s words at first, realized Zhuge Shengji''s importance and seriously protected him.
Another hour passed, and the passage widened, revealing human-like figures. There weren''t just one or two, either.
The group, who checked what they were with their torches, expressed their confusion.
"Wooden puppets?"
Chapter 37: Entering the Treasury (2)
Around thirty wooden puppets stood motionless against the walls on either side.
"Why would there be wooden puppets here?" one of the cultivators questioned confusedly.
All cultivators were familiar with wooden puppets; they practiced their martial arts against them when they were young. Normally, they punched and swung their swords at wooden puppets to learn about the positions of the major organs and acupoints in the human body.
asionally, they would take out the dusty wooden puppets from their warehouse if they needed a sparring partner.
"That''s also a mechanism."
Zhuge Shengji surveyed the ceiling, floor, walls, and the wooden puppets.
"What kind of mechanism is it?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"I''ve never seen it, so I don''t know either." Zhuge Shengji shrugged.
"That''s true. Sorry, little brother. I relied on you too much. I''ll reflect on that."Zhou Xuchuan spun his sword before grabbing it tightly.
"For now, it seems there are no mechanisms other than those wooden puppets, but remain cautious," Zhuge Shengji warned as Zhou Xuchuan approached the wooden puppets.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Will you be alright on your own, Captain Zhou?" Wang Yi asked.
"I''ll manage, so protect Sheng in case something unexpected happens."
Zhou Xuchuan had brought Wang Yi and the others not only to transport items but also to protect Zhuge Shengji.
Zhou Xuchuan slowly took a step forward warily. Suddenly, when he reached a certain point, the wooden puppet at the very front swiftly threw a punch at him.
"Hm."
Zhou Xuchuan took a step back and avoided the attack.
"Hm?"
He waited for the next attack, but there wasn''t any. Confused, he proceeded forward again, only to be attacked again.
This time, he raised his sword to block the punch.
sh-
The wooden arm was severed by the sword.
Zhou Xuchuan retreated again. When he did, the wooden puppet''s severed arm returned to its original position.
"I see. That''s how it is."
He understood how this mechanism worked. It seemed that this ce was designed so that the mechanisms would move the puppets in a certain way if someone reached a certain point.
"Do you think you can dismantle it?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, turning around.
"No, I don''t see anything around here." Zhuge Shengji replied, shaking his head.
"Then I''ll break everything!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted andunched himself forward.
"Haah!"
The wooden puppets were powerful, but that was their only advantage. Zhou Xuchuan avoided the attacks of the wooden puppets despite being restricted in movements. He did not allow a single attack tond on him.
He not only evaded but also countered, destroying the wooden puppets. Using both his sword and the Plum Blossom Fist Technique, he smashed the puppets one by one.
Hm. I''m d I broke through before I came here.
His dynamic perception and reflexes had improved significantly. This was as a result of reaching full mastery of the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art and breaking through to the next realm.
During the battle with the river bandits roughly a month before, he had disyed all of his skills. It meant that he was not going to hide anymore.
That was why he continued cultivating the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art that he had intentionally set aside. The moment he reached full mastery, he reached the realm of Peak Realm.
His sword arts were already on the level of a Harmony Realm expert, so there were no changes there. Instead, his physical capabilities and the overall amount of his qi had increased.
Now, his qi amounted to sixty years, a full sexagenary quantity.
Though Zhou Xuchuan didn''t breeze through the puppets, he had no problems attacking them.
"Whoa" the cultivators watching him eximed in surprise.
"It''s just as Brother Wang said."
"He''s truly an expert."
Humans were inherently doubtful beings. They would doubt something until the very end unless they were to see it with their own eyes. Despite Wang Yi''s testimony, everyone was rather skeptical.
"Didn''t I tell you all?"
Despite saying that, Wang Yi was still impressed as he watched Zhou Xuchuan''s every move, eager to learn.
"Geniuses, huh" Chu Lian nced between Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji.
"My life feels miserable."
"Same."
Zhuge Shengji, they could ept, but looking at Zhou Xuchuan didn''t make them feel jealous. It gave them a sense of deprivation instead.
Some people never reached the Peak Realm in their entire lives, but here was someone who had reached that level despite just reaching adulthood.
Although they knew that the world was unfair, witnessing firsthand was painful in its own right.
"Do you think he knows how people like us feel?"
"There''s no way, is there?"
The cultivators conversed gloomily among themselves.
"I do know how you feel," Zhou Xuchuan replied to their murmurs.
He had just dealt with thest wooden puppet. The puppets that were standing firmly, facing each other had all been destroyed.
"Are you done dealing with them?" Zhuge Shengji asked, seemingly withholding something.
"Yes. Why?"
"Then can I examine those things?" Zhuge Shengji''s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Do it moderately." Zhou Xuchuan nodded.
Zhuge Shengji inspected the smashed wooden puppets as soon as he got permission. His demeanor brightened when it came to matters rted to mechanisms.
"They seem to be made of wood, so how did they not rot after all these years? Oho, so they were being moved by this" he mumbled, engrossed in analyzing the wooden puppets.
Zhou Xuchuan waited for around fifteen minutes. Presently, there weren''t that many ces where mechanisms could be seen in the Martial World. This was a rare opportunity for Zhuge Shengji. He knew that, so he let Zhuge Shengji do what he wanted.
Also, it wouldn''t be a bad thing if Zhuge Shengji managed to learn something after having a look at those wooden puppets. That knowledge would be beneficial to him eventually.
"Let''s get going."
"Tsk." Zhuge Shengji clicked his tongue in disappointment.
*
After dealing with the wooden puppets, they pressed onward. Nearly thirty minutester, they reached the end of the passage. They no longer needed torches either, as light streamed from the end of the corridor.
However, they couldn''t rest at all. Along that short distance, they encountered many traps. The number of these mechanisms seemed uncountable. If anything looked even slightly amiss, they couldn''t help but suspect something was there.
"Whoa."
When they left the passage, they saw somethingpletely unexpected.
"Wh-what is"
"Wow!"
Everyone was shocked. Before themy a mountain of silver coins they had never seen before. It was a literal mountain. There was no other way of describing it.
Piles of silver coins formed hills. They couldn''t begin to imagine how much all of that would be.
"Are silver coins the only things here?"
Only Zhou Xuchuan remained unfazed. He indifferently looked around to see if there were any other treasures.
"Over there! Don''t touch it!" Zhuge Shengji suddenly shouted while Zhou Xuchuan was searching.
Turning, Zhou Xuchuan saw Chu Lian reaching for the silver coins. Meeting Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze, she scratched her head awkwardly and apologized.
"Ahem! I''m sorry for touching it without permission. But this will belong to the head merchant anyway. Can''t you turn a blind eye to it?"
"I don''t mind, but you better not touch it. Remember who warned you."
"Ah!" Only then did Chu Lian realize what Zhuge Shengji had been doing until now.
"Don''t tell me" Wang Yi frowned as he looked closely at the silver coins.
"Yes. As you suspect, there are mechanisms installed here. There are some that don''t have any. Do you want me to tell you?"
Zhuge Shengji''sst question made the cultivators greedy. However, they all looked toward Zhou Xuchuan.
"There are items we need to prioritize, and until then, you''ll not be able to take more than a handful of coins. Also, if you happen to drop some while moving, you might end up triggering a trap, so if you truly wish to take some, do so when we return," Zhou Xuchuan said, expecting their reactions.
"You mean items like that, Captain?" Wang Yi pointed at a wooden chest buried underneath the silver coins.
Zhou Xuchuan looked toward Zhuge Shengji. Zhuge Shengji nodded to indicate that it was okay.
He dug through the mountain of silver coins and opened the wooden chest to see what was inside.
"Oho."
As soon as he opened the chest, a minty smell pierced his nose. There was a pill inside. It was clearly spiritual medicine.
"Well done."
Zhou Xuchuanplimented Wang Yi and handed over the chest. Wang Yi looked at the chest with envy, before clenching his eyes shut and putting it in their luggage.
"You better not be greedy. If we return safely, I''ll make sure you''repensated. I''ll say this beforehand, but do not think that you''ll be able to escape my eyes."
Zhou Xuchuan deliberately deepened his voice and warned them. He did so in order to avoid any unforeseen idents.
This is just the beginning.
The silver coins were just an appetizer. They just passed the first stage. He couldn''t help but feel excited at the rewards that he woulde across from now on.
The group headed to the next stage.
*
Mount Hua.
"Haah!" Luo Xiaoyue shouted as she struck out with her sword.
"Child."
Shen Yulian red at her.
"Yes, Grandmaster," Luo Xiaoyue responded, loosening her grip on her sword.
"What do you think I''m about to say?" Shen Yulian scolded, giving her a disapproving nce.
"...I''m sorry," Luo Xiaoyue confessed.
"...Haa." Shen Yulian sighed, clutching her forehead. "Your skills haven''t regressed, but they aren''t improving either. Is it because of that half-assed brat?"
Shen Yulian was referring to Zhou Xuchuan. It was Shen Yulian''s own take on "All Bite No Bark."
"He''s no longer half-assed, you know" Luo Xiaoyue mumbled gloomily.
Her response was something unimaginable, talking back at her grandmaster, the Iron-Blooded Plum Blossom? She had never done such a thing before.
Even she herself seemed startled after speaking and covered her mouth immediately.
"I-I''m sorry"
"No, forget it. You''re right."
Shen Yulian reacted differently from her expectations.
Luo Xiaoyue thought that her grandmaster would be furious at her.
"He was hiding his skills, which means he''s one amazing child."
Shen Yulian didn''t like Zhou Xuchuan because she thought that he was only lucky and had pathetic skills. But that wasn''t the case anymore. Her perception had changed after finding out that he had been hiding his skills and that in fact, his sword arts were excellent.
"But that''s about it. He''s dead now," she said mercilessly. It truly showed why she was dubbed the "Iron-Blooded Plum Blossom."
"Listen, child. In the future, when you go out into the world, you''ll experience the deaths of those around you countless times. You have just experienced it a little earlier than the others. So stop crying and focus on training."
Death.
It was the death of a junior brother she had personal feelings towards. That weighed heavily on Luo Xiaoyue''s heart. Before she realized it, she found herself crying.
"I''m not so cruel that I won''t give you any time to grieve, but I cannot leave you crying forever. You should forget him now. Zhou Xuchuan is dead.
Well, he was totally fine.
Chapter 38: Their Circumstances (1)
"I feel like someone''s talking behind my back." Zhou Xuchuan said, scratching his ears.
"Captain Zhou! Watch out, in front of you!" Wang Yi hurriedly shouted.
"Mm!" Zhou Xuchuan leaned back, narrowly avoiding a strong hook.
"Not happening!"
He immediately got back into position and swung his sword diagonally.
The sword shed through the bronze puppet''s waist to its shoulder, splitting it in two.
"Hieek!" Zhuge Shengji shrieked in terror, crouching down.
"Why''s this kid suddenly freaking out?" Chu Lian asked confusedly. "You were totally fine looking at those wooden puppets earlier."
"B-but that''s not a mechanism!" Zhuge Shengji shouted fearfully. "That''s sorcery!"Seven minutes before, the group left the mountains of silver coins and pressed forward. The level of mechanisms and traps evolved as they went further. Even Zhuge Shengji started needing some time to dismantle them.
When they eventually reached the end of the passage, they encountered puppets made of bronze, which waspletely unexpected.
At first, they thought they were replicas of the wooden puppets, but they were wrong. It wasn''t a mechanism at all.
As soon as the group stepped inside, all the exits were sealed shut, and the bronze puppets sprang to life. They weren''t just repeating the same moves as the wooden puppets. Instead, they moved freely, almost as if they were alive.
The first thing that caught their eyes was the ancient characters engraved on the puppets. The characters glowed faintly.
"I have heard that the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had stolen from ces outside of the Central ins, but I didn''t know he actually stole sorcery from the Nanman" Zhou Xuchuan muttered, sidestepping.
A bronze puppet''s spear struck where he was a moment ago.
In a world where powers that worked wonders besides martial arts existed, one of them was sorcery. Necromancy used by the Two Demonic Factions was also a type of sorcery.
Although sorcery did exist in the Central ins, it was so insignificantpared to martial arts cultivation, which prevailed there. Sorcery as a whole originated from Nanman, not the Central ins, and was predominantly used there.
Nheless, sorcery sometimes caused strange phenomena, like the situation they were currently facing
There were around fifty bronze puppets, all holding metallic weapons as they attacked the group.
"Urgh!"
This time, the other cultivators participated in the fight. They all stood in a protective formation around Zhuge Shengji.
Assessing the bronze puppets, they appeared to be around Second ss. Although they didn''t use any sword arts, their physical capabilities were exceptional, making them innately strong.
"Geez, you don''t mind wooden puppets being moved by mechanisms, but you''re afraid of things moved by sorcery? From our perspective, they''re pretty much the same thing," Chu Lian said, feeling bbergasted. She then yanked out the sword lodged in the bronze puppet''s chest and kicked it away.
The bronze puppet rolled on the ground. Ity still for a moment, before twitching and rising to its feet again.
"Dammit!" Chu Lian swore. "Why do these things keep getting back up?"
"Young Master Sheng!"
At Chu Lian''s question, Wang Yi turned to Zhuge Shengji, seeking an answer. Until now, Zhuge Shengji had answered all their questions, so they naturally turned to him whenever they found something they couldn''t understand.
The responses from the other cultivators were the same.
"I-I don''t know! How would I know? That thing is sorcery!"
However, they didn''t get the response they wanted. Instead, it fueled their unease.
"Ugh."
Whoosh-!
Wang Yi groaned and swung his sword. A bronze puppet holding an ax was pushed back by his attack and staggered backward.
"Severe their limbs!" Zhou Xuchuan responded instead. In front of him were bronze puppets that had all their limbs and their heads cut off, and were no longer moving.
The bronze puppets moved perfectly even with holes in their chests, but they couldn''t move if all of their limbs were cut. It was quite obvious.
"Oh!" Wang Yi eximed, following Zhou Xuchuan''s lead. True enough, the bronze puppets didn''t move after he cut off their limbs.
"It''s not as easy as it sounds!"
"Captain Zhou, I''m sorry, but we can''tst much longer!"
They were outnumbered by the bronze puppets, and each puppet was on the level of Second ss. To make things worse, their actions were restricted because they had to protect Zhuge Shengji.
"Then just focus on protecting Sheng!"
Zhou Xuchuan became a whirlwind. He executed the Plum Rose Sword Technique to quickly deal with the bronze puppets. First, he cut off their two arms so that they couldn''t attack, then their legs andstly, their heads.
The amount of qi in his lower dantian was reassuring. He had meditated whenever he had the chance during breaks because he was uncertain about the challenges ahead. It proved to be a wise decision.
Whenever he cut one down, he didn''t stop to rest and went to the next one. There was no hint of hesitation in his actions. He didn''t even think. He just shed relentlessly, driven by instinct.
He was so fast that the others could only see a blurry image of him.
"I thought we could help"
They scratched the back of their heads awkwardly.
"Just how strong is Captain Zhou?"
All they had for him was admiration.
"From the looks of him, I don''t think he''s exerting full power yet."
"Are Peak Realm experts all this strong?"
It wasn''t surprising that they found it perplexing. Zhou Xuchuan''s capabilities were on the level of Peak Realm, but his sword arts were that of the Harmony Realm. It was natural that they thought he was high level.
"What do you think his identity is?"
"He must be the disciple of a reclusive expert."
"Have you heard of experts around that age among the ten major organizations or the five great ns?"
"They like to boast, so if there was, there''s no way he wouldn''t have made a name for himself."
The number of bronze puppets defeated by Zhou Xuchuan increased. The nearly fifty puppets were now down to twenty.
The cultivators had an easier time protecting Zhuge Shengji as well. Now, they could rx a little.
"Phew, if he''s open to it, I''d like to get a few pointers from him after this."
"I sawst time, but isn''t he quite close to the head merchant?"
"If we can keep working for the head merchant, we might end up getting that chance."
"If you have time to talk, you shouldmit Captain Zhou''s movements to memory. That''s not something you can see every day."
As time passed, their respect and loyalty towards Zhou Xuchuan deepened. Their lives were being saved by him after all. Without him here, someone would have died already.
After around fifteen minutes
"Done."
Zhou Xuchuan sheathed his sword and stretched his arms. Scattered at his feet were the remains of numerous bronze puppets.
Everyone appeared speechless, shocked by Zhou Xuchuan''s disy. He didn''t even break a sweat after such an impressive performance. It meant that his cultivation level was high.
"Captain Zhou. How much qi do you have?" Chu Lian regarded him with a mixture of awe and bewilderment.
"Quite a lot."
A young person with a lot of qi, and a high level of sword arts weren''tmon in the martial world. His name was well-known after the incident with the Watertop Spearman, so he kept his name a secret just in case.
"Well then, let''s keep going, shall we hm?"
Just as he was about to leave, something caught his eye.
Among the remains of the bronze puppets, something sparkled. When he went over and checked it out, it was a bracelet.
"I don''t know what this is but it''s better to take it with me than leave it here."
The bronze bracelet was adorned with dangling chains and an artificially carved mineral embedded in it. He also noticed characters simr to those controlling the bronze puppets.
If he couldn''t find a use for itter, he could always sell it.
"You''re going to be cursed if you take something like that!" Zhuge Shengji eximed in panic.
"Raiding this treasury is cursed in itself, you know?" Zhou Xuchuanughed dismissively, cing the bracelet in his chest pocket for safekeeping.
"Let''s go."
*
The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was designed maliciouslythe more they investigated, the more apparent it became. Without Zhuge Shengji, they wouldn''t have made it through, even if they had sacrificed a life or two. At the very least, they would have to suffer from all sorts of losses.
Sometimes, they encountered a maze without an exit, or a room where they were slowly poisoned to death if they couldn''t find a secret door in time.
Sometimes, they got poisoned, but they were able to survive thanks to the antidotes of the Tang n prepared by Li Yicai in advance.
Zhou Xuchuan had prepared to raid this treasury for a long time. He had prepared a year''s worth of grain pills as well. Although the raid shouldn''t take a whole year, he brought that much just in case.
Not only antidotes and ointments, he had also prepared spare swords and grindstones.
"I know this is nothing new, but I wonder how something like this was made" Zhou Xuchuan pondered aloud as he walked forward.
"Money makes everything possible," Wang Yi replied.
"Creating traps and mechanisms of this level would require a huge sum of money, sure, but it should have been difficult to keep it a secret. How is it that no hint of ce was known to theter generations?" Zhuge Shengji wondered.
"The dead keep their secrets," Zhou Xuchuan replied. "Yanchang is a ce where not even animalse near, not to mention people. Not only that, the treasury was built underground, so whoever made this probably wasn''t worried that it was going to be exposed."
"But there should have been people involved in transporting items and other things."
"There''s an old saying that money can make even ghosts work. With the wealth that the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had, secrecy shouldn''t have been a problem."
And if everyone involved were to die after everything had been built, no one would know a thing.
"Ugh what a vicious person" Zhuge Shengji shivered, hugging himself.
"The wealth is enough to buy the entire Central ins, so that much is natural, kid." Chu Lian chuckled, tousling Zhuge Shengji''s hair vigorously.
Zhuge Shengji swatted her hand away in annoyance while Chu Lianughed mischievously. Of course, it was Chu Lian who teased Zhuge Shengji most of the time. When Zhuge Shengji asked about it, she told him he reminded her of her son.
"What kind of situation were you all in toe to a dangerous ce like this?" Zhuge Shengji asked.
"Mmm" Everyone smiled bitterly at the child''s innocent question.
"Sheng, it''s rude to ask something like that."
Zhuge Shengji was smart, but he was still a child in areas like this and had no clue what was okay and what was not.
"It''s okay, Captain Zhou. He''s just a child," Wang Yi said with a bitter smile.
"When I was still immature, I left my house because I didn''t want to farm like my parents did. After that, I became a wanderer and was lucky enough to reach First-ss. When I returned, my homnd had been ravaged by an infectious disease."
"...I-I''m so sorry."
Zhuge Shengji wasn''t evil by nature. He apologized, regretting his rudeness.
"It''s okay, Young Master Sheng." Wang Yi reassured with a tender smile.
Chapter 39: Their Circumstances (2)
"It''s alright if you don''t call me that," Zhuge Shengji said, his shoulders drooping.
"Hm, then I will. Anyway, by the time I got back home, I had lost all my siblings as well as my father. Luckily, my mother was still alive, and I wasn''t left orphaned. However, my mother was too old and had be sick, so it''s amon story, really."
Despite being a wanderer on the level of First ss, he hadn''t saved much money. He had spent it all on weapons or wine.
Being a wanderer meant never settling down. They lived without knowing when they might die, so unless in special circumstances, they spent all their money without saving any.
Wang Yi needed money for medical diagnosis and medicine, but both were expensive. Just as he was despairing about what to do, Li Yicai approached him with an offer.
"I had a son and a daughter, but both of them were afflicted by a rare disease. My deceased husband was also rather weak, perhaps due to his lineage. They''ve improved a bit now, but earlier, they couldn''t even take a few steps outside the door. That''s why I need quite a lot of money," Chu Lian said, smiling softly as she rubbed the decoration on her sword.
The cultivators thought of their mothers after seeing her.
"Wow, everyone here''s been through something simr. I have a sister like that."
They began sharing their own stories."My sister''s legs are crippled, so I have to look after her my whole life. My luck with women is pretty much doomed at this point, so I''ve decided to care for her my whole life."
"Someone I love was sold off to a guy with a not-so-good fetish. I was worried about her and went to see her, but she was in aa. So I cut off that guy''s crotch and ran away with the woman I love in the night. The head merchant is the one who took us in."
"Good job."
"What you did was a good thing."
"Well done."
Everyone apuded when they heard that he cut off that rapist''s manhood.
"Well, enough of the boring talk. Let''s get up." Wang Yi chuckled, rising to his feet. Contrary to what he said though, he seemed somewhat pleased.
"Haha, you''re gonna make the kid cry." Chu Lianughed, pointing at Zhuge Shengji, who appeared to be on the verge of tears.
He''s a good kid.
Zhuge Shengji was a genius when it came to mechanisms. He may have seemed cocky at first, but he wasn''t a bad person.
Zhou Xuchuan felt it was a shame that such a person waster exploited by his family and died alone.
But it''ll be different in this life, he thought as he looked at Zhuge Shengji.
*
The group continued their investigation. When they walked past the passage where they fought the bronze puppets, they didn''t find any rewards like they did with the wooden puppets.
Instead, there were traps that were left for Zhuge Shengji to handle while everyone moved forward calmly.
"Oh!"
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t remember precisely, but about four hours had passed. They seemed to finally be rewarded for triggering and dismantling numerous traps, as they came across a reward.
This time, they were in a room filled with both silver and gold coins, the light reflecting off them was almost blinding.
Taking their time, the group admired the scene and looked around. They had learned their lesson to wait for Zhuge Shengji to speak before taking any action.
"Hm, don''t touch that one and that one, and this one''s okay, and so is that one and that one."
Zhuge Shengji pointed out, gesturing toward a few hills of coins. When he did, Wang Yi stepped up and marked them with stones.
"Are we not going to take those?"
Lee San, one of the cultivators, pointed to a luminescent light pearl on the ceiling. Luminescent pearls emitted their own light and were quite expensive.
Although they were only as bright as candles, they were in high demand from wealthy families and people in official positions.
They were purely used for luxury to disy how much authority or wealth one had.
"It''s better to take gold bars instead. The pearls are light but take up too much space," Zhou Xuchuan suggested.
"Okay."
Although there weren''t many, gold bars were among the gold coins and silver coins. The group focused on taking gold bars.
"Oh! Captain!" Chu Lian eximed, spotting something.
Zhou Xuchuan approached. "Did you find something?"
Last time, he had found a chest of spiritual medicine among the mountains of silver coins. Thinking about that made him anticipate what they might find this time.
"There seems to be something inside, but I haven''t opened it yet." Chu Lian shrugged and pulled out a chest the size of a human torso from the mountain of gold coins. The chest itself was also made of gold.
"Sheng."
Zhou Xuchuan called Zhuge Shengji to check if it was safe to open. Zhuge Shengji scurried over and had a look at the chest. After a thorough inspection of the chest, Zhuge Shengji confirmed there were no traps.
"How do we open it?"
The chest was locked. They searched for keys, but they didn''t find anything.
Zhou Xuchuan genuinely considered using sword qi to force it open.
"Tsk, tsk. This is the problem with reckless people."
Zhuge Shengji clicked his tongue, rummaging through his bag before taking out a metal wire.
"For something like this"
He inserted the wire inside the keyhole of the chest and probed around. Soon enough, the chest was open.
"What a skilled thief."
"Even the Three-Eyed Godly Thief would be impressed by your skills."
The cultivators were surprised by what Zhuge Shengji did.
"Where did you learn something like that?" Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but ask.
"I didn''t learn it. Locks are a type of mechanism as well. If you put a wire in there and poke around, it''ll open."
"Easy for you to say" Chu Lian muttered, amazed. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Then let''s see what''s inside, shall we?" Zhou Xuchuan said, his voice filled with anticipation as he opened the chest.
"Oho."
Inside were four old-looking books and a chest simr to the wooden one he had seen before, along with an elegant-looking sword.
This is a huge jackpot!
A smile spread across his face, his gaze fixed on the books. The items at the top of the priority list to take from the treasury were martial arts manuals and spiritual medicine.
Let''s see, let''s have a look at the medicine first..
ck-
As soon as he opened the wooden chest, the distinct smell of spiritual medicine wafted in his nose. The smell was considerably thicker than the ones he discovered before.
"Hup!" Zhou Xuchuan momentarily forgot to breathe after seeing the contents of the chest.
There were numerous pills inside, but it wasn''t their quantity that surprised him. It was the characters engraved on the inside of the wooden chest.
Lesser Cirction Pills!
Spiritual medicine was split into naturally urring medicine and manmade medicine. The Lesser Cirction Pills belonged to thetter. Not only that, these pills were concocted by the Shaolin Temple, who was also called the head of the northern region.
Although these couldn''t bepared to the almighty Greater Cirction Pills, the Lesser Cirction Pills were far from mediocre. Consuming it would boost one''s qi by about twenty years, which alone was a huge boon. Moreover, as the Shaolin Temple didn''t concoct many of these pills, their value was exceptionally high.
The Lesser Cirction Pills were only bestowed to monks of the Shaolin Temple who had made significant contributions to the temple or had exceptional cultivation talent.
Additionally, the temple sometimes used them to settle debts or fulfill requests instead of money.
Here, there weren''t just one or two, but ten Lesser Cirction Pills. If news of this got out, there would be a bloodstorm. Unless a huge crisis were to ur in the martial world, the Hundred and Eight Arhats of the temple would make a move themselves.
Just how audacious was he?
He quickly closed the chest before others could see it. Shivers ran down his spine.
Stealing the Lesser Cirction Pills was equivalent to dering war on the Shaolin Temple, and bing enemies with the Shaolin Temple meant bing public enemy number one in the Orthodox Faction.
"Hehehe."
He was taken aback by the discovery of the Lesser Cirction Pills, but he was also very happy. He couldn''t help but grin.
"Thanks, Three-Eyed Godly Thief. I mean it."
He felt like the preparations he made were finally paying off. He was agitated, thinking about returning with ten Lesser Cirction Pills.
"Hahaha!"
In the end, he couldn''t hold back hisughter. Hisughter was heartier than ever.
"Yes, this is it! THIS IS IT!"
In the case of the first chest he obtained, he knew it contained spiritual medicine, but he didn''t know what they were, so he didn''t think much about it. He nned to have them appraisedter by someone who was well-versed in spiritual medicine.
He almost wondered if he had to do the same for these. However, what emerged exceeded his expectations. He couldn''t help but burn with excitement.
"Captain Zhou looks like he has gone crazy," Chu Lian said.
"I don''t know what''s in there, but do you think you''ll be able to stay sane after seeing all of this around us?" another cultivator replied.
"Hm." Chu Lian pondered briefly.
"That''s just it? It looks like our Captain Zhou is really not that greedy. Did he see a lot of those things?" She added.
"Let''s see." Zhou Xuchuan ced the chest in the luggage and examined the books he assumed were martial arts manuals. Despite their yellowed covers, he managed to make out the letters.
Agile Sword Art.
Ten Thousand Divergence Art.
Gale Steps.
Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
"Ehehe." Zhou Xuchuan chuckled unpleasantly, his eyes gleaming with greed.
Finally, I finally got them!
There were a few treasures he had been determined to obtain from the treasury. He got two of them here. They were the Ten Thousand Divergence Art and the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
The martial arts of the Bow God!
Throughout martial world history, few titles contained "Godly/God/Divine". The Bow God was one of them.
Although he was a figure from so long ago that he was nearly forgotten now, his title was a legend passed down to this day.
The martial world had all sorts of different martial arts. However, bow arts were undervalued. They were considered to be even worse than poison arts and hidden weapons.
Bow and arrows weren''t threatening to cultivators at all. As long as they could check the archer''s line of sight, and the moment the arrow leaves the bowstring, they would be able to evade the arrow with their footwork techniques.
Not only that, as long as they could evade the first arrow, anything after that wasn''t a problem. They could approach the archer at full speed before the archer could fire another one.
However, the person who changed that perception was the Bow God.
The Bow God''s archery skills were on another whole new level. Although legends were bound to be exaggerated, a single arrow from his bow was apparently strong enough to split the Yangtze River in two and destroy cliffs.
Also, ording to the legends, evading his arrow once wasn''t enough, the arrow would circle around to hit the target again, which led to one hundred percent uracy.
The Bow God''s martial art was the Eclipse Divine Archery Art, and this martial art would one day be revived by a certain organization, instilling fear into the hearts of numerous cultivators of the world. The power it disyed was not an exaggerated legend.
And the Ten Thousand Divergence Art!
From its name, it might sound like some trivial, third-rate martial art. However, if Zhou Xuchuan was asked to choose between the Eclipse Divine Archery At and the Ten Thousand Divergence Art, he would choose thetter without hesitation.
"Let''s see, the others are"
He ced the books in his luggage and grabbed the sword. The sword smoothly fell out of its sheathe.
"Oho."
When he tried cing his hand near the de, he could feel a chill.
"Frostedge, huh?"
"Frostedge? Did you just say Frostedge?"
Wang Yi asked, surprised.
"If it''s the famed sword Frostedge that you''re thinking of, then yes."
Zhou Xuchuan put his original sword in the chest and put Frostedge on his waist. He felt reassured.
"Did the Three-Eyed Godly Thief steal the world?" Wang Yi eximed in disbelief.
Chapter 40: Three-Eyed Godly Thief (1)
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t think much of it, but Frostedge was among the upper tier of famed swords. As its name suggested, its de was so sharp that a chill could be felt from it.
Zhou Xuchuan and the group took a break in the reward room. They ate and made up for theirck of sleep. They didn''t know if it was day or night. Since they were underground, their only sources of light were torches and luminescent pearls.
Their bodies served as their internal clock. Honed through years of training, they helped them to determine when it was morning, midday or night.
After recuperating, the group resumed their journey.
They still faced a frustrating number of traps and mazes, and getting past all of them took a lot of time. Even with Zhuge Shengji''s help, the sheer number of traps gave them endless trouble.
What they hated the most were mazes. Although they didn''t get lost, some of the mazes intentionally made them take roundabout routes, wasting their time.
One day, two days, three days they started losing track of time. They slept in safe areas where all traps were dismantled and took shifts for night watches.
It''s not strange that it''s taking so long.
Even in his previous life, exploring the treasury took a long time. Not only that, various forces sent different exploration teams.Despite their small group of twelve, Zhou Xuchuan''s team made rapid progress.
"Descending, ascending, then descending again... I''ve lost track of how deep we are."
The group had unexpectedly strong mentalities. Whether that was a result of orthodox cultivation arts, or the desire to protect their loved ones was a mystery. Although they were fatigued, they explored the treasury withoutint.
Among them, the youngest, Zhuge Shengji, was delighted instead of exhausted. His eyes sparkled with increased fascination at the appearance of different types of mechanisms.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t neglect his cultivation even while exploring the treasury. He trained whenever he had time.
Plum Blossom Cultivation Art or the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art, he had achievedplete mastery in both. He simply circted his internal qi to umte it.
However, the quantity of qi he umted was extremely small. Not only were there no plum trees here, the qi of nature was hard to find as well.
Instead, he mostly trained his sword art and footwork art. He had long since attainedplete mastery in the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, and was focusing on the Twenty-four Forms. However, unlike before, his pace was quite slow.
The Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword shared simrities with the Fourteen Forms, but were different. They were more obscure,plex, and taxing. It was also Zhou Xuchuan''s first time executing the Twenty-four Forms, relying solely on his memory. He had never learned it because it was only taught to the Twenty-Four Swordsmen, an elite group of the most powerful swordsmen in Mount Hua.
The silver lining was that due to having reached the Harmony Realm, he was able to train in the forms relying solely on the manual stored in his memory.
"Mm, I''m feeling somewhat itchy."
"It''d be better if we could not hear anything and not feel his movements"
While he was training, the other cultivators refrained from ncing in his direction. In the Martial World, observing other people''s training was taboo. Zhou Xuchuan also cautioned them, worried that he might disy something that would reveal his identity.
From the perspective of the cultivators, who wanted to watch an expert training, they found it agonizing.
*
Presumably two dayster.
While they were searching, they found another hidden room with treasures. However, there was nothing special this time. At most, there was gold, silver jewelry, and some famed weapons like Frostedge. They moderately picked out items of high value.
Since they entered the treasury, about a week had passed. They were all smelly because they couldn''t bathe.
"Captain!" Lee San, a Second-ss cultivator, shone the torchlight against the wall. The three-eye symbol unique to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief could be seen on the wall.
"I''ve never seen a door like this before"
Although they had encountered numerous doors, none had symbols drawn on them.
"It smells like treasure."
"What are you going to do?"
Zhuge Shengji tapped the handle attached to the stone wall. It seemed to be designed to be pulled open.
"Are there any traps?"
"I don''t think there are or to be precise, I''m not sure. The wall is thick, and all I can see is the handle, so I can''t figure anything out." Zhuge Shengji frowned and looked around.
The only thing he saw were luminescent pearls on the ceiling and the walls. They only emitted light, and there didn''t seem to be anything special.
"We can''t go back aftering this far. There are ces we haven''t explored yet, but it''ll be bothersome to explore them all."
Zhou Xuchuan pulled on the handle instead of Zhuge Shengji.
Grrrrind ck-!
The sound of something moving and activating could be heard, apanied by creaking and grinding noises.
At first, the group was startled, but they eventually got used to it.
Rumble-!
"Hm, the ground is shaking again."
"It''s shaking up my innards!"
The tremors felt as if the world was copsing around them, impossible to ignore. Yet, they had grown ustomed to such urrences in the treasury. Although the shaking was pretty big, it wasn''t anything surprising.
Chu Lian held onto Zhuge Shengji''s clothes to prevent him from falling, while the others maintained their bnce.
Psss-
"It sounds like gravel is falling."
"It''s not stctites or des? It''s quite kind this time."
"When I leave this ce, I''m definitely going to tell everyone that the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was a total son of a bitch. If there''s anyone iming to be his descendent, I''ll go punch them in the face."
Although their lives weren''t threatened, thanks to Zhuge Shengji, they weren''t entirely unscathed. Sometimes, dismantling a trap triggered another, which almost put them in danger.
Rumble-!
While they were chatting, the stone wall in front of them started going up. Light seeped out from the opening.
*
When the wall opened, arge clearing appeared before them. The floor was decorated with luxurious-looking carpets while extraordinary-looking swords, axes, spears, and other weapons were pierced on the ground.
The three eyes symbol of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was engraved on the ceiling, the left wall, and the right wall. The symbols were big as well.
Also, they didn''t know what kind of principles were behind it, but there was fresh air, unlike before. They couldn''t help but wonder if they were really underground, seeing as there weren''t any lingering smells either.
At the end of the carpet on the floor was a three-step staircase leading up to what resembled an altar.
Approaching the altar, the wall behind them was sealed shut, while something on top of the altar began to move.
"That doesn''t happen to be a livebody zombie, right?"
Chu Lian looked at the person, no, zombie, on top of the staircase with unease. Its face was incredibly pale and looked blue, and there was no light in its eyes. It was definitely a corpse.
However, for some reason, it was standing up. It didn''t look like it was because the person had died standing up and experienced rigor mortis.
As Zhou Xuchuan''s group approached the altar, the elderly man they believed to be a zombie descended gracefully. The problem was that its actions weren''t stiff but very natural.
Normally, when a dead body was reanimated into moving through some sort of spell, they were called zombies. They were weapons primarily used by the Two Demonic Factions.
"Hieeek!" Zhuge Shengji hid behind the cultivators.
"If that thing happens to be a livebody zombie, we''re all dead," Wang Yi said, gulping.
An encounter with a zombie wasn''t entirely unexpected, given the sorcery stolen by the Three-Eyed Godly Thief to build the treasury.
The problem was how the zombie moved. Usually, a zombie had unnatural, stiff movements because of rigor mortis. They were slow even if they were put in fights, and their movements were simple and weren''t threatening, aside from the fact that they would keep rising unless their heads were severed.
However, zombies had their tiers. Among them was a kind of zombie, known as livebody zombies which retained the agility and martial skills of their former lives. They were very few, even in the Two Demonic Factions.
Also, they were so strong that not many experts could win against them.
"No, we''d be better off if it''s a livebody zombie." Zhou Xuchuan said, warily raising his sword against the zombie.
"If we havee across something like a diamond zombie, we would really have to bury our bones here."
Diamond zombies, as their name suggested, referred to zombies with bodies as hard as diamonds. No attacks would work on them without vajra qi.
Zhou Xuchuan had sufficient enlightenment and internal qi, but hecked other things required to obtain vajra qi. Even if he fulfilled those two criteria, he couldn''t just break through to the next realm just because he wished to. He needed some time.
If that was possible, he would have reached the Harmony Realm already after surviving against Lu Dng.
"Don''t provoke it and step back"
Pah-!
As soon as Zhou Xuchuan finished his words, the mysterious zombie lunged at him. The frightening part about it was that there was no hint of movement at all. Before he could even say watch out, the zombie had already reached him, pulled a sword out of the ground, and swung it.
It''s fast!
ng-!
Two swords shed, the metallic noise resounding. Fortunately, he acted instinctively.
Dammit!
Based on martial prowess alone, the zombie was above Peak Realm. That one single sh was enough to make him figure that out. Fortunately, the fact that he could subconsciously defend meant that the difference wasn''t sorge.
"Captain Zhou!" Wang Yi shouted to warn him.
"Hah!"
Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword to block the attack that came down on his head. Sparks flew, and a loud noise hit his ears.
The zombie''s muscr strength and the qi behind the attacks weren''t all that special. However, its movements were extraordinary.
ng!
Zhou Xuchuan and the zombie shed again. However, the zombie was holding an ax instead of a sword this time.
I can''t follow its movements at all.
Although the qi and strength contained in the attacks weren''t weak, the zombie''s movements were problematic for Zhou Xuchuan to handle. Not only was there no noise, there was no hint of movement either. It was impossible to figure out what kind of footwork art it was using either. Not to mention his eyes, he couldn''t follow it with any other senses.
"A livebody zombie!"
Chapter 41: Three-Eyed Godly Thief (2)
Its movements indicated that it was a livebody zombie. No other type of zombie could move like that.
"But it wasn''t a powerful expert when it was alive!"
It was definitely fast. What made it even more special was how unnoticeable it was when it moved. Yet, that was the extent of it. If Zhou Xuchuan faced an expert with such agility, he would have been killed already.
After all, there was no way a zombie could move ''in moderation'' when the necromancer wasn''t here to control it.
Whisk-!
In the meantime, an ax hurtled toward him. The double-ded ax spun as it flew through the air.
"Not happening!"
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword as hard as he could, not forgetting to imbue his qi into it. The flying ax was deflected with a resounding ng.
"Still, it''s pretty strong!" Zhou Xuchuanined.Despite its speed, the zombiecked qi, but possessed formidable strength. His body trembled from the impact of deflecting the ax. The vibration from the attack spread across his entire body.
Pah-!
The zombie jumped into the air, wielding a pair of daggers.
"Just how many weapons can it use?"
First, it was a sword, then an ax, and now it was dual daggers. It meant that the zombie was well-versed in martial arts.
"Watch out!" warned Zhuge Shengji, who was watching. The zombie crossed its daggers and swung them menacingly.
"Heh, but it looks like we''ve hit the jackpot!"
Zhou Xuchuanughed as he skillfully deflected the daggers, causing the zombie to stagger backward and somersault through the air before hitting the ground.
Its movements remained elusive. He felt like he was fighting against a ghost that didn''t exist in the material world.
Zhou Xuchuan grinned while facing the zombie. He looked like he had found a treasure.
"Is the captain losing it?"
Zhou Xuchuan was grinning while looking at a livebody zombie. He was definitely not normal in the eyes of everyone.
"We met earlier than expected," Zhou Xuchuan suddenly talked to the zombie. "Three-Eyed Godly Thief."
"What!"
When Zhou Xuchuan called the zombie the Three-Eyed Godly Thief, the rest of the group erupted intomotion. Their surprise was understandable.
"Wait, you mean that zombie is the Three-Eyed Godly Thief?" Wang Yi asked in disbelief.
"I''m only at the Peak Realm, but it''s impossible to not detect even a hint of his presence despite focusing all my senses, unless someone is of the Harmony Realm. There is only one person who can do that." Zhou Xuchuan muttered, seemingly speaking to the zombie.
"If the owner of the treasury is protecting something, the treasures inside this room should be extraordinary," Zhou Xuchuan concluded. As long as he could defeat the Three-Eyed Godly Thief, he would be done with this frustrating treasury.
"Captain Zhou, can I take a swing at him?" Chu Lian asked as she clenched her fists. The other cultivators behind her also looked like they couldn''t hold back their anger.
All those mechanisms and traps! All that suffering!
The mere thought of it fueled their anger.
"No." Zhou Xuchuan tly refused them for the first time. "I have a lot against him too."
Like an arrow, Zhou Xuchuan darted forward, his movements as swift as lightning. Simultaneously, the zombie, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief, shot forward.
The two shed once more. Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword, the sword qi surrounding Frostedge growing sharper and gleaming.
sh-!
A sword and a dagger met, but instead of the usual ng of metal, something was sliced through.
It was the dagger in the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s hands.
"It''s over!"
Zhou Xuchuan stepped forward, reversing the path of his sword that had sliced through the dagger.
Whisk-!
"Dammit!"
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief recoiled, contorting its body so much that Zhou Xuchuan wondered if it was broken.
"How''s a thief so strong?!"
Heined again, but nothing changed. On the contrary, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief became even more infuriating, bending backward to touch the ground beforeunching a kick upward.
ng-!
A foot struck the side of the sword, nearly causing Zhou Xuchuan to lose his grip. The zombie used a sword, an ax, and even a pair of daggers, so there was no reason it couldn''t use fist arts or leg arts.
At this point, it might be as strong as one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
Swoosh-!
Suddenly, he felt a strong pressure around his face. Before he knew it, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was punching his side.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly executed the Five Ways Plum Blossom Steps, evading the blow. The zombie remained insanely fast.
Whoosh-!
After a right punch, it followed with a left palm strike. It was a palm art.
Zhou Xuchuan took two steps back to avoid it.
"Aren''t you too goddamn fast!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed, though he knew the zombie wouldn''t respond. He couldn''t distract it, yet his lips moved ceaselessly.
The onught of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s attacks continued, much like the movement of his lips.
Fist punches, elbow punches, knee-kicking, kicking, palming all the attacks seamlessly flowed together as it relentlessly attacked Zhou Xuchuan.
Whenever it was close to a weapon on the ground, it picked up the weapon to attack. This time, it was a spear.
"Was Captain Zhou always this talkative?" Chu Lian wondered as she observed the fight between the man and the zombie.
"Yep." Zhuge Shengji nodded without hesitation.
He was only quiet during the exploration of the treasury because there were many things to watch out for, but normally Zhou Xuchuan would chat endlessly by his side.
"Don''t we need to help him?"
"You wanna jump in there?"
"It''ll be a hindrance instead."
Only someone of Zhou Xuchuan''s caliber could survive that. Had it been anyone else, they would have died a long time ago. Even if they tried to help, Zhou Xuchuan would likely curse at them for being a hindrance.
"Gosh! It''s so damn annoying! Give me time to breathe at least!" Zhou Xuchuanmented, annoyed by the endless barrage of attacks.
The zombie showed no signs of exhaustion. Its attacks seemed fueled by boundless internal qi.
I''ll lose at this rate.
He also had a lot of internal qi, afterall, he wasn''t called All Bite No Bark without reason. However, even then, he had a lot, not an infinite amount. He was only human and had his limits.
The fightsted for about fifteen minutes before something changed. Unfortunately, it was Zhou Xuchuan who changed as he began to sweat.
He found himself on the defensive, gradually being pushed back.
I''ll be the one to fall at a disadvantage if I keep stalling for time. If I want to win, I need to bet everything on one move.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s body looked very feeble at first nce. It had thin limbs and not much muscle. Although it was a small wound, Zhou Xuchuan confirmed that his attacks did inflict injuries on it.
I need to sever its head.
A zombie would move even if its heart was destroyed. It would continue moving as long as the head and the body were connected.
Okay.
He didn''t really have any strategy. However, he thought of a way to win this fight.
"This will be the first time I''m using it, but" Zhou Xuchuan muttered, gathering all his qi. He was about to bet everything in one attack. He would die if he failed.
When he epted the possibility of his death, he started focusing harder. It felt like time was slowing down.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief charged at him again. Even the movements he thought were faster than light had slowed down.
Fortunately, there was no weapon in its hands. Five minutes earlier, Zhou Xuchuan had cut its spear in half.
"Come!"
He stood still; he didn''t do anything else. His stance seemed full of openings.
"Captain Zhou!" Wang Yi was rmed. He almost shouted, fearing Zhou Xuchuan was nning tomit suicide, but the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was in front of Zhou Xuchuan already.
Woosh-!
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief twisted its body and punched. Its fist pierced the air with formidable force, aimed directly at Zhou Xuchuan''s head. At this rate, Zhou Xuchuan''s head would burst open like a smashed watermelon.
"Now!"
Zhou Xuchuan jumped slightly. Thanks to that, the punch that was aimed at his head was now aimed at his chest. Of course, that didn''t mean that he would be safe from the attack. He would be injured regardless if he took the brunt of the attack.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly extended his left hand, which wasn''t holding a sword, to grab the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s right arm and fix it under his armpit.
"Cough!"
Just because he didn''t get hit by the punch didn''t mean that he was unscathed. Unless he struck back with a simr amount of internal qi, the shock of the attack would be transferred to him. Even avoiding a direct hit didn''t spare him from injury, resulting in blood spurting from his mouth.
Sacrifice something minor and take something major!
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s movements weren''t something he could catch, making it difficult for him to inflict proper damage despite attacking for a while.
That was why he came up with this method. If he could grab its arm and immobilize it, he would be able to restrict the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s movements.
His internal qi surged through his meridians and converged at his sword. Though the color of the qi couldn''t be seen properly, it had a faint violet hue.
Ziin-!
The qi in the sword whirled like a tempest. It felt like a mosquito was buzzing right next to his ears.
Violet Haze Sword Art, the First Form!
He had trained earnestly even after he started exploring the treasury. As a result, his cultivation of the Violet Haze Divine Art managed to barely reach the fourth stage.
Reaching the fourth stage in the Violet Haze Divine Art meant that he would be able to start learning the Violet Haze Sword Art.
The Violet Haze Sword Art, which only the sect master was allowed to learn, was executed by Zhou Xuchuan.
''Violet Haze Dawnbreaker!''
Rumble-!
A loud rumble akin to thunder resounded.
"DIE!"
It was the strongest move he could use!
Zhou Xuchuan struck out with a shout. The energy contained in the sword shot toward the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief instinctively tried to evade. However, with an arm stuck, it could not evade.
In the end, the Violet Haze Dawnbreaker consumed the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
"Ah" No one could speak coherently, let alone breathe properly.
Despite witnessing what unfolded in front of their eyes, their minds struggled to process it immediately. In the first ce, they could not follow the fight with their eyes.
What they saw was a blurry image of the fight before Zhou Xuchuan had grabbed the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s arm, then he unleashed a very powerful attack that caused the surrounding air to tremble, erasing the zombie''s head from existence.
"Bleeergh!"
Zhou Xuchuan shattered the silence, his face pale as he continued to spurt blood onto the ground.
"C-captain!"
Only then did the cultivators snap back to reality.
"Take out all the medicine we have!" Wang Yi urgently shouted.
"Hihihi" Zhou Xuchuan was sprawled on the ground,ughing like an idiot. His head was ringing from the noise, but he didn''t mind. He felt like all his frustrations had been relieved in one go.
Pushing himself to the limits and executing a new sword art after concealing everything was exhrating.
"Ugh, it hurts."
He was in a pretty dangerous state, but he didn''t feel bad. For some reason, he couldn''t help but continueughing.
I defeated the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
It was different from the battle with Lu Dng. He fought on his own without anyone''s help and won.
The zombie in front of him was no random cultivator. It was none other than the legendary Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
Although the Three-Eyed Godly Thief wasn''t a peerless expert, he still used to be a legendary figure, so defeating someone like that made him grin.
"You stole the world? Then I stole the treasures of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief that stole the world! HAHAHA Urgh, cough!"
Zhou Xuchuanughed pleasantly before coughing out blood.
Chapter 42: Ripple Effect (1)
Trying to treat Zhou Xuchuan with medicine for internal injuries was not enough due to the power of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s martial arts. There was also the fact that his internal injuries were serious because he had taken a hit head-on.
Zhou Xuchuan ended up consuming both medicine for internal injury and spiritual medicine. He couldn''t use the ones he got at the beginning because he didn''t know what they were, and instead used the Lesser Cirction Pill, which he knew about.
Zhou Xuchuan struggled to recover under the envious eyes of the cultivators, and when he opened his eyes again, he was told that two to three days had passed.
His internal energy didn''t rise by much. As a result of executing the Violet Haze Dawnbreaker while wounded, his blood vessels, meridians and dantian alike had all been damaged. His organs had also sustained injuries, and he ended up using most of the energy in the Lesser Cirction Pill to heal himself.
It was a waste, but it was nothingpared to his life.
Nothing special seems to have happened after that.
When he entered a state cultivation, he was genuinely concerned about the cultivators, fearing that they might betray him out of greed for wealth.
Thankfully, there was no one like that. In fact, he learned that they took turns standing guard for him in shifts.
"Thank you all," Zhou Xuchuan expressed his gratitude."What is there to thank? You would have consumed the pill even without us around. Since there wasn''t anything dangerous nearby, you would have survived even if you were alone," said Chu Lian, chuckling as if it was no big deal.
"I just woke up, so I''m not sure about what''s happening. Can someone exin?"
"After the zombie fell, the altar disappeared, and the tablet behind it rose."
Wang Yi pointed at the tablet on top of the stairs.
"We didn''t know what might happen, so we didn''t approach it," said Zhuge Shengji.
"Good, then let''s go im the reward for our suffering, shall we?"
Zhou Xuchuan stood up and walked over, not forgetting to kick the headless body of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief on his way.
"Hehe." He couldn''t help butugh when he looked at what was engraved on the tablet. "I found it."
There was something he had to prioritize finding, something more important than both the Eclipse Divine Archery Art and the Ten Thousand Divergence Art. It was what was in front of him.
"Divine Phantom Art."
It was the most troublesome thing during his duel with the zombie. Footsteps devoid of sound or presence! The cause of the mysterious movement art was the Divine Phantom Art.
Zhou Xuchuan carefully read the lines engraved on the tablet.
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.
These were the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''sst words. Below that were the records of his life, as well as the mantra for the Divine Phantom Art. Zhou Xuchuan first memorized the mantra of the Divine Phantom Art and opened a ck envelope at the bottom of the tablet.
Inside was a book.
Prajna Divine Art.
After checking the title of the book, he put it in his bosom before anyone else caught a glimpse of it. This tome would cause an immense storm if it was exposed. It was a peerless art of the Shaolin Temple lost for centuries, passed down as legendary tales. It turned out that the legendary Prajna Divine Art had not disappeared but was in the possession of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
Zhou Xuchuan put the ck envelope in their luggage. With this, he had imed all the important items.
"Are we leaving now?" Wang Yi asked, his voice tinged with excitement for some reason.
"Yes."
"Yes!"
"Yay!"
As soon as Zhou Xuchuan gave his answer, the others rejoiced. However, their voices weren''t that loud, given that some of the traps they had encountered were triggered by noise. The group had all be incredibly cautious in their raid this time.
"Wait a little longer."
Zhou Xuchuan smashed the tablet with Violet Haze Dawnbreaker. Then, he collected the debris and smashed it again with Violet Haze Dawnbreaker. He scattered the dust around so that it was unrecognizable before carrying the headless zombie on his shoulder.
"I''m going to toss this out on the way back. Let''s go."
Thus, the arduous trip to the treasury was now over.
*
Making their way out of the treasury wasn''t that difficult. Along the way, Zhou Xuchuan disposed of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s body in a spike trap.
Although there were treasures they had yet to im, they couldn''t carry anymore because they were already fully loaded.
The group came out to Yanchang and walked endlessly. Although they were tired, their steps felt lighter as they anticipated their return.
A few dayster, they reached a nearby vige and found the Gold Will Merchants waiting there.
As they had agreed beforehand, Li Yicai had stationed his men in a nearby vige.
"Tell the head merchant that everything has beenpleted."
"Yes!"
The Gold Will Merchant''s contact immediately dispatched a homing pigeon. Zhou Xuchuan was about to leave when the contact stopped him.
"The head merchant and his escorts are nearby. He asked me to tell you that he would arrive in about a day."
"Why is he nearby? What about Weng''An?"
"Weng''An is now in perfect condition. The head merchant just needs to give orders remotely."
"Oho, he''s certainly talented."
He wasn''t the future Merchant King without reason.
Following the contact''s information, Zhou Xuchuan spent the night in the vige. The next day, during lunch, Li Yicai arrived with his entourage.
"Oh my word, Great Hero!"
"It''s been a while, Head Merchant." Zhou Xuchuan greeted Li Yicai with a wave.
Li Yicai''s eyes lingered on the luggage that Wang Yi and the other cultivators brought, his intentions clear from his tant gaze.
"You must have endured so much until now. When I think of hardships you must have gone through, tears blur my vision. Please get on. I have prepared a four-horse carriage for you, Great Hero, just for you!"
Li Yicai wiped the water droplets around his eyes with his sleeve.
"I just saw you dip your hands in water"
"There there, let''s get going. Your legs are going to break!"
Li Yicai made a fuss and had Zhou Xuchuan get on the carriage. The interior of the carriage was neat andfortable, and the ride was smooth.
Around the carriage were nearly fifty cultivators as escorts, mostly ranging from Second ss to First ss.
Their luggage was stowed inside the carriage, filling the space meant for eight people with bags instead. There was no other option due to the contents.
"Are you hurt anywhere, Young Master ZhugI mean, Sheng?"
Li Yicai almost called Zhuge Shengji by his name but quickly corrected himself.
"Can you at least look me in the eyes when you say that?" Zhuge Shengji gave him a resigned look.
"You can go ahead and check."
Zhou Xuchuan shrugged. As he did, Li Yicai swiftly opened a bag and buried his head inside.
"Tssp~ ha~. Tssp~ ha. Ehehe"
He began to behave erratically, stuffing his head into the bag and taking deep breaths before giggling like a madman.
"It was the right decision to follow the Great Hero! Eheheh!"
His voice sounded far from human. Zhou Xuchuan even briefly wondered if this guy was practicing some demonic art.
"Sniff sniff. I smell something minty. Money is medicine, after all!"
"That is the scent of spiritual medicine." Zhou Xuchuan remarked, tensing. "Well then, collect yourself. We need to discuss our future ns."
Zhou Xuchuan kicked Li Yicai''s shoes. Li Yicai pulled his head out of the bag and smacked his lips in disappointment.
"How long has it been since we departed for the treasury?"
"Just over a month."
That was about what Zhou Xuchuan expected.
"Did anything significant happen?"
"There is news of some experts fighting and dying."
It was amon urrence in the martial world. The same was true for the factional conflict between the Orthodox Faction, the Evil Faction, and the two Demonic Factions. Nothing changed.
Mount Hua Sect, as well as the Zhuge Family, were still unable to do anything against the Nine Water Gangs.
"Oh, I''ve established a residence in Guiyang. I n to work around there for a while."
Guiyang City was the provincial capital of the Guizhou Province. Thanks to the influence of the government, neither the Orthodox Faction nor the Evil Faction could exert their influence.
"That''s impressive," Zhou Xuchuan praised. Neither gathering this many cultivators as escorts nor setting up a residence in the provincial capital was an easy feat to aplish.
"Uhm, Great Hero Zhou this little merchant has a question. May I ask?" Li Yicai rubbed his hands, looking nervous.
"The distribution of the treasure, yes?" Zhou Xuchuan responded as if he had anticipated the question.
"As expected of you, Great Hero! I hadn''t mentioned a word, and you could already"
"Enough."
Zhou Xuchuan raised his hand to silence Li Yicai.
"I''ll give it to you straight."
Gulp-
Li Yicai gulped, sweating profusely. His heart raced like a raging bull.
How much would he give me? Three-tenths? Two-tenths?
Zhou Xuchuan was young, but he was by no means gullible. If Li Yicai was too greedy, he might lose his head. He understood the boundaries he needed to maintain.
"I''ll let you handle all of the money."
"What?"
Li Yicai momentarily questioned his hearing or perhaps his sanity. Had his desires distorted the words of others?
"I cannot do anything about all this anyway. Even if the Mount Hua Sect is rtively secr in nature, it is strict about material wealth. I''m not sure you know this, but I am a Daoist."
"Oh!" Li Yicai and Zhuge Shengji eximed.
"And through this ordeal, I''vee to see you as trustworthy and capable. That''s why I intend to invest in you."
"Invest you say?"
"Yes. Isn''t expanding your wealth your specialty? Use this money to expand. In return, you must prioritize listening to my requests and helping me."
Zhou Xuchuan had already obtained the things he truly wanted. Aside from them, he had no need for anything that might be worth money. If that money could be used to reel the head merchant to his side, he would dly do so.
"And the same goes for my little brother over here. Originally, the distribution ratio of the treasure was nned to be two parts for you, three parts for Sheng, and five parts for me."
Zhuge Shengji''s worth could not be ignored. Without him, they wouldn''t have had ess to the treasury.
"I don''t really mind as long as you can help my studies or assist my n in times of need."
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t tell whether it was because Zhuge Shengji was young or if it was in his nature, but he didn''t have any material desires. He willingly epted the ratio that Zhou Xuchuan offered.
"What will you do?" Zhou Xuchuan extended his hand.
Li Yicai stared at his hand for a while. Then he nced at Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji.
"Sob!"
An overwhelming emotion welled up within him. Li Yicai let that emotion take over and bowed deeply.
"Great Hero, Young Master! Your feet! Please allow me to lick your feet!"
Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji fell silent.
Chapter 43: Ripple Effect (2)
Guiyang.
"This is the location of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury. Spread rumors that there is treasure here," Zhou Xuchuan instructed.
It wasn''t that he didn''t trust Wang Yi and the other cultivators. However, he couldn''t trust what they would say while they were drunk, especially men, who might end up drinking and sleeping with women. When sober, they might show him endless trust, but alcohol could change things.
In the first ce, no secret could stay hidden forever. That was why he decided to reveal the existence of the treasury.
A few dayster, a rumor spread throughout the entire martial world.
"Hey, have you heard?"
"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, right? Who in their right mind would believe that?"
The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly thief! Naturally, no one seemed to believe it at first. Everyone just dismissed the rumor as nonsense. Although the Three-Eyed Godly Thief did exist around three hundred years ago, thanks to the unreliable stories of his feats, he was almost considered a myth. ording to the stories, he supposedly stole not only from the imperial pce but also from the Orthodox Faction, the Evil Faction, and even the two Demonic Factions.
"Yanchang is nearby I don''t have anything to do anyway, so I might as well visit."However, humans were naturally curious beings; no matter how unbelievable it was, someone was bound to be interested enough to investigate.
"Hey, about the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury that you talked about"
"Huh? That false rumor is popr again?"
"It looks like the rumor is not false this time."
Li Yicai spread the rumors, including the precise location of the treasury, just like Zhou Xuchuan had said. Anyone could visit it if they wished to. Naturally, there existed people who visited that ce. Some died in the traps, and some were lucky enough to survive.
Whenters brought out valuable things and became rich, everyone believed the rumor.
*
Kaiyang Town.
"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief?" Shen Tujun frowned. In his hands was an order that came from the Anhui province.
"Tsk, tsk." He clicked his tongue in displeasure. "They know that we''re always short on men here, yet they want us to investigate the treasury? They''re being excessive."
The north of the Guizhou province was the domain of the Orthodox Faction. Just northwest of here was the supposed location of the treasury. The investigation order came because they were graphically close. Shen Tujun wasn''t pleased about it, but he had no choice but to dispatch some men.
Shortly after, he couldn''t help but suspect his ears.
"What? The treasury is really there?"
"Yes. We don''t know if it truly belongs to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief, but apparently, the three-symbol was discovered on the floor of that underground dungeon.
"Whoa!"
Shen Tujun immediately reported to Martial Alliance headquarters.
*
"It''s actually real?" Even the elders of the Martial Alliance were taken aback by the news.
The reason they sent men to investigate was because they were worried that it might be a trap from the Evil Valley or the two Demonic Factions. However, not only was it not a trap, but the rumor also turned out to be true, leaving them puzzled.
"What are you doing! Call in all the absent elders!"
*
Evil Valley.
"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief? That rogue from three centuries ago?" The Valley Lord was bbergasted. "What are the movements of the Martial Alliance and the two Demonic Factions?"
"Even they don''t seem to know. In the case of the Martial Alliance, they officially sent an investigation team some time ago."
"Where did the rumor start?"
The rumor truly came out of nowhere. Out of the blue, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury was apparently discovered. It would be strange if he wasn''t suspicious.
"About that it''s hard to trace now. The rumors spread widely, and too much time has passed."
When the rumors about the treasury first spread, everyone dismissed it. No one thought deeply of it. If they had tried to trace the source back then, they could have discovered where the rumor originated from. However, it was toote.
"The Two Demonic Factions?"
"They seem to be observing for now."
"Sure enough."
Both the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult had their headquarters located outside the Central ins. They would have to invade if they wanted toe all the way to Chongqing City, but doing that would trigger a war.
Apart from that, they had plenty of resources thanks to the money they got from their believers, and their martial arts prowess was formidable and destructive due to their demonic nature. They had no reason to put so much effort into raiding the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury.
"What about the Eighteen Bandit Gangs?"
"They''re staying low because of their conflict with the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family. They also seemed to be concerned that many wandering cultivators and orthodox cultivators were gathering in Chongqing."
Even if Chongqing City was the domain of the Eighteen Bandit Gangs, they would be under too much pressure to confront all the cultivators that came for the treasury.
The Nine Water Gangs never left the Yangtze River, so even if they could mobilize their forces, it would be from the Nine Forest Gangs. They could risk getting wiped out if they spread their forces thin to search the treasury, so they were not stepping in.
"Send our men," the Valley Lord ordered.
"Will that be okay?"
A misstep could easily cause a war between the Orthodox and Evil Factions.
"Prepare a letter for the Head of the Martial Alliance. He should be expecting a treaty proposal from me."
There were only two factions that could search the treasurythe Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley. Bringing both factions together would result in obvious consequences, and neither side could go to war through this matter.
Chongqing City happened to be the domain of the Eighteen Bandit Gangs, which could be considered a neutral region. This meant that the conditions were suitable for an agreement between the two factions.
"It might be troublesome, but if the treasury is real, we cannot let the orthodox sects monopolize it. Proceed."
"Yes, sir!"
*
People gathered in Chongqing City, not just cultivators but also tomb raiders aiming to strike it rich.
The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley signed a treaty to avoid conflict until the exploration of the treasury was over. They decided to punish anyone who didn''tply severely.
With the two major factions making their move, the rumor about the treasury practically became true. People aiming to strike it rich flooded into Chongqing City from all corners, including merchants. Yanchang, which was usually unpopted, suddenly became one of the most popted ces. The viges and towns nearby naturally all thrived in business.
Li Yicai had anticipated this and had set up inns in ces he calcted would be profitable.
Cultivators, whether orthodox or evil, as well as wanderers, merchants, and even simple onlookers flocked from everywhere. There were arge number of them, across all ages and genders.
"Big brother, why can''t I go back to the n?" Zhuge Shengji asked.
"The exploration just began. If you suddenly appear in front of them, the Zhuge Family will probably try to take you away, their eyes red with envy, you know?"
"I''ll stay put then," Zhuge Shengji said, expressing his displeasure.
"It won''t take that long, so you should digest the Lesser Cirction Pill that you ate."
Zhou Xuchuan had given Zhuge Shengji two Lesser Cirction Pills, which were equivalent to forty years of internal qi. Zhuge Shengji had consumed just one and trained earnestly while circting his qi. As promised, he decided to treat Zhou Xuchuan as his big brother.
Thanks to everything that Zhou Xuchuan had done until now, he didn''t feel any sort of rejection. Although he hadn''t lived for a long time, no one had given him so much acknowledgement in his whole life. Even Zhuge Xiang, who treated him rtively well, advised him to abandon everything he had studied and start doing something else.
However, Zhou Xuchuan was different. Zhou Xuchuan told him not to stop or give up and continue his path. That touched him.
"Things areplex because of the maze, and there are a lot of traps left, so they''ll need time to raid the treasury."
Zhou Xuchuan and his group were swift. There was a reason Zhou Xuchuan took Zhuge Shengji with him. Aside from a few traps that couldn''t be avoided, they proceeded while dismantling every single one of them. They escaped the maze as well.
This couldn''t be said for the other groups. Whether it was the Orthodox Faction or the Evil Faction, they would need at least two or three months to explore.
"I''m not nning to send you back after this. Well, then. I''ve said everything I need to tell the head merchant, so let''s leave."
Although Guiyang was the domain of the government, cultivators could freely visit, but they couldn''t cause a fuss unless they wanted to risk getting tossed out.
Among those cultivators might be some people who recognize either one of them, so they had to leave as soon as possible.
"Then I''ll pray for your well-being. If you need help, please reach out to me anytime." Li Yicai saw them out.
"Head Merchant. There''s something I must give you before we leave." Zhou Xuchuan took out two books from his clothes. They were the martial arts manuals he obtained from the treasuryAgility Sword Art and Storm Steps.
"These are?"
"If Wang Yi and the other nine cultivators that came with me are reliable, and you n to have them by your side, give them these techniques. You should not make copies of them. They should both be at the level of First-ss arts."
"I''ll bear that in mind."
"Then, see you next time."
Zhou Xuchuan had Li Yicai handle all the martial arts manuals except for a few.
The two of them left Guizhou Province and arrived at Hunan Province. There, they found a rather secluded mountain and hid themselves for a while.
For about a month, Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji focused on cultivating. Most of the time, Zhou Xuchuan helped Zhuge Shengji.
"I know I shouldn''t say this but" Zhou Xuchuan groaned. "Shengji, you really don''t have a talent for cultivation."
"You said I''ll be an expert if I have a lot of qi! You liar!" Zhuge Shengji snapped back.
During this time, Zhuge Shengji absorbed both of the Lesser Cirction Pills with Zhou Xuchuan''s help. He had obtained forty years'' worth of qi thanks to that.
"That''s partially true. As proof, your physical abilities have improved significantly, and your cultivation realm has increased a little."
Internal qi was the source of power. Having a lot of it improved all physical attributes, including muscr strength, agility, and reflexes. Zhuge Shengji also improved his cultivation from Third-ss to Second-ss. However, this was purely thanks to the help of his internal qi.
Conversely speaking, using up his internal qi meant that he was no different from an ordinary civilian.
The Zhuge Family weren''t known for their talent in cultivation in the first ce. Zhuge Shengji, in particr, had an even tougher time. Not only did he have no interest in cultivation itself, but hecked understanding and did not put in the effort, so naturally, he didn''t improve.
Zhou Xuchuan pointed that out.
"You should''ve originally be an expert after consuming the Lesser Cirction Pill, but you did not put in the effort. It''s all your fault."
"Didn''t you say that just eating one will make me an ex"
"There is no one more petty than someone who mes other people for their own shorings. Surely, you aren''t someone like that, right, Shengji?"
"Of course! I''m not that petty!"
He fell for it.
"Really? Then whose fault is it that you couldn''t be an expert?"
"It''s my fault for beingzy about cultivation!"
"Right!" Zhou Xuchuan pped in ordance. For some reason, he looked like he was mocking him.
"Urgh, I feel like I''m being deceived"
"It''s just you."
The two lived together like that. For nearly a month, they trained hard in martial arts. Zhou Xuchuan also helped Zhuge Shengji with his cultivation from time to time. Aside from that, he also put effort into his own cultivation.
The Violet Haze Divine Art is in the fourth stage, and I''ve just started the Violet Haze Sword Sutra. I''m still too slow. No, am I fast?
The Violet Haze Divine Art was the only divine cultivation art that the Mount Hua Sect had in its possession since its founding. It would be strange if it was easy to train in it.
Even with Zhou Xuchuan''s enlightenment at the Harmony Realm, the cultivation art itself was so profound that it took Zhou Xuchuan a longer time to learn it. However, his progress was remarkable from an ordinary perspective.
There''s no need to hurry.
He wasn''t running out of time like before, nor were there any risks of getting exposed. Unless he had almost reached full mastery, no one would be able to tell if he trained in the art or not.
Chapter 44: Ten Thousand Convergence Art (1)
I''vepletely mastered the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, so let''s see It''s time to train the Twenty-four Sword Forms. Let''s start by supplementing the first form.
Just because he hadpletely mastered the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom didn''t mean that he didn''t need to train the first fourteen forms of the twenty-four forms.
The fourteen forms didn''t even amount to half of the Twenty-four Forms; it was closer to a quarter. Abridging twenty-four forms into fourteen meant that there was a need for the other forms to be simplified as well.
Thanks to this, the time it took to train each form differed as well. A cultivator training the fifth form of the Fourteen Forms would only be training in the second form if they were training in the Twenty-four Forms, due to the difference in training difficulty.
Still, it''s good that I''ve practiced some of them before. I should train just a little before moving on to the next form. I''ve trained the fifteenth form before, so it''s time for the sixteenth form, Plum Blossom Rain.
Simr to the Violet Haze Divine Art, this was his first time learning the Twenty-four forms. This martial art was reserved for the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, so Zhou Xuchuan only knew of its sutra.
"Urgh, it''s terribly difficult." He muttered helplessly whenever he executed the Twenty-four Forms.
Despite his enlightenment being in the Harmony Realm, performing a difficult sword art like the Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom was challenging, particrly because it was his first time.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t have exceptional talent to begin with. It was his first time learning it, so he was bound to make mistakes."Tsk, now that my internal qi has reached a full cycle, the Plum Blossom Life Art is getting less effective, too"
While it might be obvious, the Plum Blossom Life Art didn''t stay effective forever. If it were permanent, Mount Hua Sect would have two divine arts, not two.
"Good work, Plum Blossom Life Art, see you again in the future," He bid farewell to the Plum Blossom Life Art. Training in it any further was a waste of time.
He judged that training something else would be more worthwhile and let go of it without hesitation. He hoped to see it decadester, discovered by a genius cultivator.
"Well, then. Now" He took out a book from his bosom. It was one of the secret manuals he had in his possession.
"I was lucky to obtain this."
Gulp.
At the top of his list of items to obtain from the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury was the Ten Thousand Convergence Art.
He knew that the Ten Thousand Convergence Art was somewhere in the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury but didn''t know exactly where it was. He was originally nning on raiding the treasury until he found it, but he ended up finding it much earlier than he had expected.
"The Ten Thousand Convergence Art"
Two martial arts couldn''t be learned at the same timethis statement wasn''t entirely true. Strictly speaking, cultivators did not learn two martial arts at the same time.
There were three reasons for this.
Firstly, achieving full mastery in just one martial art was difficult enough, regardless of its type. Even being acknowledged as a full-fledged cultivator in the art was difficult.
That was how difficult the study of martial arts was. So, what would happen to someone trying to cultivate several at once? Obviously, they wouldn''t seed in any of them.
Secondly, the dangers of executing the martial arts.
Would it be possible to perform different types of martial arts in quick session or even at the same time? For example, executing a fist art or a palm art while performing a sword art? It wasn''t entirely impossible, but no one would be able to say with confidence that they could do it either.
Performing two different arts at the same time was practically impossible. Executing a sword art with the right hand and a palm art with the left hand would lead to an ovep or a sh in circting internal qi, which would lead to qi deviation.
Thirdly, the required cultivation arts.
To perform a sword art of the Mount Hua Sect, one must have cultivated the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art or a simr cultivation art beforehand. Without such preparation, not only would proper execution be impossible, but it could also lead to qi deviation.
To make matters worse, an orthodox cultivator trying to imitate a martial art of a different nature, such as those from the Evil Faction, could also lead to severe consequences. That was how sensitive martial arts were.
However, there were some exceptions. One was the Duality Divine Art of the Wudang Sect, and the other was the Ten Thousand Convergence Art.
In the case of the former, this art surprisingly allowed a cultivator to execute two different martial arts at once, such as a fist art and a palm art. Training in both at the same time wasn''t a problem either. However, two was the limit. Any more than that was impossible.
Moreover, the Duality Divine Art was limited to the martial arts of the Wudang Sect. Martial Arts outside of the sect couldn''t be used, even if it was one from the Daoist sects. In other words, it could only bypass the first two rules, the third rule still applied.
In the case of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, it was the oppositeit could only bypass the third rule. Even two martial arts of different natures could be executed no matter what cultivation technique one might have learned. Truly, the art lived up to its name.
"Though, it can only bring out half of the original power"
The Ten Thousand Convergence Art wasn''t all-powerful either. If it allowed a cultivator to unleash the full power of both martial arts performed, it would be more than a divine art and would be the number one art under heaven.
The Ten Thousand Convergence Art allowed a cultivator to train in multiple martial arts but at the cost of halving the output.
To be honest, if Zhou Xuchuan were asked if it was extraordinary art, he would struggle to answer. Aside from the martial arts that the cultivator specialized in, they wouldn''t be able to bring out the full power of anything else, and they also needed time to train.
Besides Third-ss or Second-ss cultivators, it was much better to focus on the martial arts of one''s affiliation rather than relying on something so unstable.
"But it isn''t so bad for me."
For Zhou Xuchuan, learning the martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect, except for the Violet Haze Divine Art, the Violet Haze Sword Sutra, and the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, didn''t require much effort.
Even then, his progress in training those three arts was slowerpared to the others he had also trained in his new life. From an ordinary perspective, his progress was incredibly fast.
"I canpensate for the shorings with my internal qi."
At the age of twelve, he possessed sixty years'' worth of qi. He couldn''t imagine how much he would have at the age of twenty. He also had some Lesser Cirction Pills remaining, so he was sure that he would see significant increases in the quantity of internal qi in the future.
Even if he wascking in power, he could make up for it with hisrge amount of internal qi in order to make use of them.
But how to use these thingses second. I didn''t obtain this just for that.
Zhou Xuchuan had memorized every single thing in the Ten Thousand Divine Art on his way here and incinerated the manual today. He set up a campfire near a valley to avoid causing a mountain fire and burned the manual.
"With this, I ripped a wing off of the Dark Heavens Association Leader."
The Era of War and Chaos.
This era saw the rise and fall of numerous heroes, viins, and experts. However, when asked about the most renowned figure, everyone would name just one:
The Number One Under Heaven, Dark Heavens Association Leader.
There was a faction shrouded in mystery that had yet to reveal themselves to the world. That was the Dark Heavens Association.
Even Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know their origins or history. However, he knew that they had ns to take over the martial world.
The Dark Heavens Association involved themselves in various events happening in the martial world in order to control the Central ins behind the curtains, excluding the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury. However, as the factions within the martial world weakened, they emerged from the shadows, igniting a war.
That war was intense andsted for a long time, even in the Era of War and Chaos. It was known as the longest dark period in martial world history.
However, the seemingly endless war came to an end after the death of the Dark Heavens Association Leader, which also brought the Era of War and Chaos to an end.
I''ve only seen that man once, but he couldn''t be called human.
He couldn''t remember when exactly it was. Combing through his memories, it should have been around when he was sixty years old. The mere sight of the Dark Heavens Association Leader left him frozen in fear. He trembled uncontrobly, unable to move a single muscle.
Even now, the fear lingered. He couldn''t see a way to defeat that man, even if he had reached the Harmony Realm at the time. Numerous Harmony Realm experts had perished without inflicting a single injury on him. He was a monster that deserved the title of the Number One Under Heaven more than anyone.
Not only did his martial prowess defymon sense, but his intellect was also exceptional, and he practically had the martial world in the palm of his hand.
If it weren''t for this Ten Thousand Convergence Art!
In the original history, the Ten Thousand Convergence Art fell into the hands of the Dark Heavens Association Leader, consequently leading to a disaster.
The very existence of that man defiedmon sense. Not only was he the genius of the era, he effortlessly mastered any martial art he learned. To that man, the notion that training in multiple martial arts would impede progress was only the whining of a loser.
Whether it was sword arts, saber arts, or spear arts, as long as he could obtain it and start learning it, mastering itpletely didn''t take him much time at all. Acquiring the Ten Thousand Convergence Art was akin to granting a tiger, no, a dragon wings.
"It''s a crazy era in many ways" Zhou Xuchuan let out an emptyugh. His eyes, tinged with a sense of absurdity, reflected the ashes of what used to be the manual for the Ten Thousand Convergence Art.
There was no other era that produced so many talents in history, be it heroes, viins, geniuses, or monsters. Just thinking about the arrival of such an era gave him a headache. There were many reassuring allies, but annoying enemies would match them in number.
"Let''s return." Zhou Xuchuan stood up.
He searched the surroundings just in case a trace of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art was left. Despite witnessing its destruction firsthand, he took extra care to double-check, recognizing how important it was.
Zhou Xuchuan gathered a handful of ashes and threw them into the stream. As for the rest, he scattered them across the surroundingnd or stuffed them into the mouths of small animals he caught nearby.
"You need to be a little weaker, Dark Heavens Association Leader."
*
The next day.
Zhou Xuchuan started training in the Ten Thousand Convergence Art at sunrise. It wasn''t that difficult, so hepletely mastered it before long.
He then immediately started his subsequent training exercise.
"Hmm"
Before climbing the mountain, he had bought a bow and some arrows from a nearby vige. Although he told the shop owner that he was going to use it to hunt, in truth, it was for the training he was about to do.
"Archery itself isn''t that difficult"
A wooden bow rested in his hands; an arrow nocked onto the bowstring.
Pah!
The arrow soared from the bowstring, trailing like aet before striking the exact center of the target he had marked on the tree. His aim was extremely urate, well, from the perspective of an ordinary man.
Martial artists were mostly good at archery because of their basic physical capabilities.
"Utilizing internal qi is much trickier than I expected."
He nocked a new arrow onto the bowstring. Despite chanting the sutra of the Eclipse Divine Archery Art and imbuing qi, it was difficult.
Considering he had never used something like this even in his past life, his struggles were understandable.
"That leaves training and more training."
He shot one arrow after another. It was a boring, repetitive routine. Sometimes, he would practice on live animals, training in the Eclipse Divine Archery Art separately.
"Big brother. You always tell me to focus on cultivation, but why are you doing something unnecessary?"
Archery was looked down upon even by the likes of Zhuge Shengji, who practically had no knowledge about martial arts.
"Shut up." Zhou Xuchuan ignored Zhuge Shengji''s opinion.
And just like that, a month flew by.
Chapter 45: Ten Thousand Convergence Art (2)
Martial Alliance Headquarters, Anhui Province.
"Lord Strategist."
A protector on duty quietly came over and handed over a letter.
The strategist, Zhuge Zhonghao, read the letter.
"Huh?" His expression changed to one of surprise. "Shengji and Zhou Xuchuan from Mount Hua are still alive?"
There was no way he could be unaware of their names. The Zhuge Family still harbored resentment toward the Nine Water Gangs over that incident. Despite Zhuge Shengji receiving poor treatment within the n, he still belonged to the main family lineage.
Attacking and harming a member of the main lineage was seen as a direct challenge to the family, deeply affecting the n''s pride. Resentment had already taken root, and they couldn''t simply stand by idly. They even prepared for the possibility of going to war against the Nine Water Gangs.
However, they ultimately swallowed their pride because they realized they couldn''t do anything to them.
After all that fuss, he had just gotten a report that they were alive, which left him understandably taken aback."Is this report reliable?" Zhuge Zhonghao narrowed his eyes.
"The Wuhan branch leader also had doubts and confirmed it himself."
"Hmm."
While it was certainly good news, the timing couldn''t have been worse.
"Just when things are chaotic"
His words hinted at how bad Zhuge Shengji was usually treated.
"Taking him to the treasury is out of the question."
It had been a month since the exploration of the treasury had begun. Early on, they discovered various mechanisms and traps, but neither Zhuge Zhonghao nor the other cultivators paid much attention to them.
Maybe it was dangerous for ordinary people, but it posed little threat to cultivators. They all believed that they would be able to avoid it or block it as long as they remained focused.
However, that conviction changed when a significant number of people were injured or killed in the following week due to the mechanisms.
As the mechanisms became a pressing issue, everyone turned to the Zhuge Family for a solution. They were the experts when it came to mechanisms or arrays, weren''t they? Naturally, they hoped that the Zhuge Family would do something about it.
However, expertise in mechanisms was a thing of the past. Arrays, they were still well-versed in, but mechanisms? They were utterly clueless.
Just when they were struggling, Zhuge Shengji unexpectedly returned. If all went well, the Zhuge Family could gain considerable merit from this exploration.
However, ording to the report, Zhuge Shengji had experienced all sorts of hardships after the shipwreck, including falling off a waterfall downstream of the Yangtze River. Bringing along a ten-year-old to explore the treasury would undoubtedly invite criticism from other major organizations.
While it might be different if he were given time to rest, that wasn''t the case, so they couldn''t force him.
It was just as Zhou Xuchuan had expected.
Although the Two Demonic Factions or the Evil Faction might not understand, the Orthodox Faction, especially those of the Five Great Ancient Families, ced great importance on their reputation.
"I don''t want to waste my time dealing with this matter, but"
After much deliberation, Zhuge Zhonghao concluded that it wasn''t a decision he could make alone and called for a conference. The issue at hand was just too sensitive.
"I''m busy enough as is"
"I understand where you''reing from, but isn''t there a better time?"
The elders of the Martial Alliance were all preupied with the matter of the treasury, so their reactions were lukewarm.
"Doesn''t this concern shing with the Eighteen Bandit Gangs? I can''t make this decision alone."
"I''m fine with it, so do as you wish, Lord Strategist."
"I concur."
Everyone expressed their unwillingness, saying that they were busy. In fact, some even refused to participate once they heard the subject of the conference.
"Everyone''s so indifferent" someone muttered.
"That fourth-generation kid from Mount Hua is still alive? And even that direct descent of the Zhuge Family?"
"That''s incredible. How did they survive?"
"Apparently, they fell off a waterfall and somehow made it back."
"That''s amazing!"
"Oh, have you also heard about the treasury? Apparently"
The news of their survival was announced through the Martial Alliance. As it only had been a month since there was a bigmotion because of this matter, the news spread out in no time. However, people''s interest in the news faded just as fast.
Normally, this would have remained a hot topic for a while. However, another major issue had captured everyone''s attention: the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. It wasn''t surprising as this news concerned the treasures of a thief only passed down in legends.
While the news of their survival was certainly surprising and worth congratting, as someone pointed out, the timing wasn''t ideal.
*
Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
"Geez, those people are cruel alright." Zhuge Shengji pouted.
They had announced their survival to the Martial Alliance through the Wuhan branch. Fortunately, Zhuge Shengji had visited this branch when he was younger, so the head of the branch leader recognized him and epted him without much suspicion.
Later, the news was reported to the higher-ups in the Martial Alliance, and his return was officially announced to the entire martial world.
"You should just let things be even if you''re disappointed." Zhou Xuchuan said with a bitter smile. "We didn''t save anyone or do anything heroic. People only talk about us because of our affiliations withrge organizations. Otherwise, we wouldn''t be anything special."
In the martial world, hundreds of cultivators died every day, yet only a handful of those deaths were ever reported. The majority would disappear into the annals of history as dust without even being identified.
"And you, make sure you keep a low profile. If word gets out that you know about mechanisms, you''ll be kidnapped even if you stay in the Wuhan branch."
Zhuge Shengji paled. "R-right I''m a genius after all"
His tone was matter-of-fact rather than boastful.
The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had attracted the Orthodox and Evil Factions. Although the two were exploring the treasurypetitively, they were hardly making any progress because they were held back by mechanisms.
If Zhuge Shengji''s expertise were to be known at this time, his fate was pretty obvious.
"What have I always told you?"
"Hide it until you''re absolutely sure of your safety"
"Right."
Zhuge Shengji had shown interest in mechanisms since he was three and had studied them ever since. From the perspective of the Zhuge Family, he was an embarrassment, and they tried to hide him as much as possible so that the outside world wouldn''t find out about him.
Even when the Nine Water Gangs incident first came up, Zhuge Shengji''s name was only briefly mentioned, and most people forgot about him after a while. After all, even Zhou Xuchuan''s name was only known to the upper echelons of the Martial Alliance or the members of the Mount Hua Sect.
Qiu Feng was only able to defeat Lu Dng thanks to help from Zhou Xuchuan, but rumors about that didn''t really spread. After all, it''s hard to believe that a twelve-year-old could defeat a member of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, even with the help of Qiu Feng.
Qiu Feng''s aplishments got all the attention, leaving Zhou Xuchuan''s achievements overlooked by most, known only to members of the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family.
In any case, because of the circumstances, the Nine Water Gangs incident received a lot of attention, but the names of the two children involved weren''t that well-known. At best, people only thought of the two children as what triggered resentment between the two major organizations and the Nine Water Gangs.
The Dark Heavens Association should be paying attention to the treasury too. They should have missed the news about me and Shengji.
The Dark Heavens Association was involved in most incidents that happened during the Era of War and Chaos, but the discovery of the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was an exception. It was simply a coincidence.
Now, I should prepare for the next thing.
Zhou Xuchuan delved into his memories of his past life. In the original history, the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was found when he was fifteen, and the exploration finished when he was sixteen.
It would be another two years before the decisive trigger of the Era of War and Chaos urred.
The Seven Swords War!
That event marked the beginning of the Era of War and Chaos. What triggered it was the discovery of the tomb of the Ominous Demon, a demon cultivator from two hundred years ago who had cultivated in the Six Great Demonic Arts.
Many factions had gathered at the time to raid the tomb where the Ominous Demon was buried. Three from the Ten Major Sects, two of the Five Great Ancient Families, and the Demonic Cult and the Evil Valley.
Contrary to what happened during the exploration of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief, there were various shes during the raiding of the tomb, which escted into a war.
The Seven Swords Warsted only a year, but it served as the catalyst for the Era of War and Chaos. This led to yet another war shortly after it ended, not giving the people any chance to enjoy peace.
Another difference from what happened at the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was that the discovery of the Ominous Demon''s tomb was orchestrated by the Dark Heavens Association.
I want to prevent it somehow but that''s impossible.
To prevent the Seven Swords War, he would have to prevent the Ominous Demon''s tomb from being discovered. However, the Dark Heavens Association had strict surveince on the tomb, so he couldn''t do anything about it.
"Now, even I don''t know what will happen in the future."
Not only was the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief discovered three years in advance, but he had also experienced several unforeseen events that were outside his ns.
For example, his master Liu Zhengmu had taken missions from the sect, while he had led the battle in Kaiyang to victory and gotten into trouble with the Nine Water Gangs.
"Though, I get why the Nine Water Gangs attacked"
Most of the people at the Eighteen Bandit Gangs were fools, but their leaders weren''t. Those people sometimes used tactics in order to survive.
There was no way someone like Lu Dng, who, contrary to his appearance, schemed deeply, would attack the ship without reason. If he thought about it for a moment, he could easily trace it back to the Evil Valley, who must be holding a grudge against him for their loss in Weng''An.
"There are more variables now, but I did expect them. I need to recruit more talents to my side to make up for it."
It would be foolish to assume that the future wouldn''t change. He had chosen a different path from his previous life, after all.
Still, he managed to bring the Merchant King and the Posthumous Genius to his side. These two were special even in his previous life. Just having them by his side felt reassuring.
"I can''t stay still though."
However, that didn''t mean all his worries were resolved. There were still many people he had to bring to his side. It would be hard to leave the sect when he returned, but he couldn''t stay there forever. He had to look for more people.
I''ll definitely stop them and survive.
*
A few dayster.
The fresh breeze blew. The breeze was refreshing enough to make anyone feel pleased, being neither too cold nor too warm.
Thinking about the original history, Zhou Xuchuan strolled through the garden with his hands sped behind his back.
"What''s got you lost in thought?"
Just then, he heard a voice behind him.
"Huh?" Startled, Zhou Xuchuan snapped out of his reverie. He couldn''t help but suspect his ears.
"Am I hearing things?"
"I know it has been a long time, but I can''t believe you''re treating your master''s voice as an illusion."
Zhou Xuchuan quickly turned around.
"M-master!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed in surprise. He could see a familiar figure.
That person had a smile that could put anyone at ease. It was his master, Liu Zhengmu.
"Yes, my boy."
Liu Zhengmu spread his arms and chuckled. Seeing that, Zhou Xuchuan forgot about his original age and jumped into his arms.
"Why are you here?" he asked, unable to hide his joy and surprise.
"Hm, that''s strange. I heard from the sect that they already ryed the news to the Wuhan branch leader that someone from the sect would being to pick you up." Liu Zhengmu tilted his head in confusion.
"Oh. I heard about that, but I didn''t expect it to be you."
"The matter concerns my disciple, not anyone else''s. Who else would be suitable for the job?" Liu Zhengmu patted Zhou Xuchuan on the head with a soft smile.
"Master"
Chapter 46: Disciples Safe Return (1)
Before the rumors of their survival spread, the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family had already been notified in advance by Zhuge Zhonghao. As soon as the news of Zhou Xuchuan''s survival got out, Liu Zhengmu volunteered to pick him up, almost as if he had been waiting for an opportunity the whole time.
The sect could not stop him from going. Concerned about safety, they offered to send other members of the sect with him, but Liu Zhengmu refused, telling them that he appreciated their sentiments. Anyone below the Absolute Realm would slow him down because they wouldn''t be able to keep up with him if he were to use lightness art.
Liu Zhengmu ran tirelessly for days and nights until he arrived at Wuhan. Fortunately, Wuhan was close to Shanxi province, so it didn''t take too long.
"I was truly worried about you." Liu Zhengmu sighed, gently rubbing Zhou Xuchuan''s head. He seemed to be releasing all the worries that had burdened him until now through that sigh.
"I''m sorry"
Before Zhou Xuchuan went missing, he had sent a letter to his master, letting thetter know he was alive. However, that obviously wouldn''tpletely ease the worries.
"It''s good as long as you understand, mischievous brat." Liu Zhengmu said, lightly pressing down on Zhou Xuchuan''s head in a scolding manner.
So he was very worried, Zhou Xuchuan thought.
Liu Zhengmu had never hit his disciple or gotten angry at Zhou Xuchuan in both of his lives, no matter what he did wrong. Whenever he trulymitted a grave mistake or worried Liu Zhengmu to death, he would press on his head like this. Even then, he didn''t use much strength, and Zhou Xuchuan barely felt it.As Zhou Xuchuan thought about how anxiously Liu Zhengmu must have been waiting at the sect, he couldn''t help but feel emotional.
"Sniff."
A sniffle interrupted his thoughts, but it didn''te from either Liu Zhengmu or himself. It was Zhuge Shengji, who had been watching the two from afar.
"Big brother hup!" Zhuge Shengji wiped his eyes with his sleeves.
"Hm?" Liu Zhengmu looked puzzled.
"Wait, why the heck are you crying?" Zhou Xuchuan found Zhuge Shengji''s reaction baffling.
"I''m not sure because I don''t have a master but I think this is what a master-disciple rtionship is like! Sob!"
Zhuge Shengji cried, appearing deeply moved. It seemed that he was still a child in the end, no matter how boastful he was.
A reunion between a disciple who was thought to be dead and a master who hase to meet them!
"Who is" Liu Zhengmu asked, confused.
"Sniff, sniff, I''ve beente to sob introduce myself. I am Zhuge Shengji of the Zhuge family, and has recently be big brother''s sworn younger brother. Sniff." Zhuge Shengji introduced himself, still crying.
"Oh, I see. You''re him." Liu Zhengmu nodded. "Nice to meet you. I''m Liu Zhengmu of the Mount Hua Sect. You''re at an age where you should be ying around, and you must''ve suffered a lot."
Liu Zhengmu knelt down and met Zhuge Shengji at eye level before smiling softly.
"N-not at all. I am also a child of a family of martial artists. I''m okay." Zhuge Shengji stopped crying.
As expected of Master. He''s incredible.
If there was a level to smiling, Liu Zhengmu would be unparalleled. Although he never smiled with the intention of charming anyone, he could make an angry person soften their tone and calm down, regardless of age or gender. This time, his smile managed to soothe Zhuge Shengji and stop him from crying.
"You''re quite something despite being so young. It seems my disciple has created a rtionship worth cherishing during his trip to the world this time." Liu Zhengmu gently patted Zhuge Shengji''s head, his emotions genuine.
"Sniff!" Zhuge Shengji sniffed again, his eyes welling up with tears.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but feel pity as he watched the scene.
The Five Great ns value blood ties so much, and yet he''s never experienced the familial love of his own family what a twisted fate.
During the time he spent with Zhuge Shengji, he had gotten to know more about thetter. The head of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Yun had a concubine, and Zhuge Shengji was her son. Although he was the child of the family head, he was the son of a concubine, so he had been ostracized within the n. This ultimately led to his death in the previous life after being exploited his entire life.
Such was the life of the Posthumous Genius.
You are a much more amazing person than you think you are, Posthumous Genius, Zhuge Shengji.
He was different from the likes of Zhou Xuchuan, who had obtained an opportunity by chance.
You don''t remember your parents, don''t know familial love, and faced criticism within the n. Despite that, you held onto the things you like.
Only in the distant future would the art of mechanisms be acknowledged as a proper field of study. Before then, whether it was cultivators of the Orthodox Faction, the Evil Faction, or even non-cultivators, no one recognized its value and looked down on it.
The world mocked him, and his direct family disdained him for studying it. Despite that, he persisted. He refused to give up.
Zhou Xuchuan had once asked him about it.
"Isn''t it hard?"
"It is hard."
"Then why do you do it?"
"Because it''s fun!"
"That''s it?"
"Yeah!"
To this day, he still couldn''t forget the smile Zhuge Shengji gave him.
*
The long journey finally came to an end. Zhou Xuchuan and Liu Zhengmu had to leave for Mount Hua.
"Until next time."
"See you then, Big Brother."
Zhuge Shengji remained behind in Wuhan, as the n notified him that they would send someone to pick him up. They parted ways with the promise of meeting againter.
"What have you gone through until now?" Liu Zhengmu asked not long after they left Wuhan.
So it''s time. Zhou Xuchuan inwardlyughed bitterly.
He had expected Liu Zhengmu to ask this question, but he had to think for a long time about how to answer it. Should he tell the truth? Or hide it?
"First of all, it''s not entirely different from what you already know."
"Haha, what I already know, you say. So there''s something more to it after all." Liu Zhengmu chuckled, tapping on his knees.
"You knew?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, surprised.
"Anyone would suspect something after reading your letter. That aside, what really happened?"
"That''s"
Before Zhou Xuchuan started speaking, he nced around. Fortunately, he couldn''t feel any presence nearby.
"I asked after checking that there is no one around us, so you can speak freely." Liu Zhengmu reassured him.
"As expected of you, Master."
Zhou Xuchuan nodded before exining what had happened.
Liu Zhengmu couldn''t hide his shock. "Whoa, so the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief was first discovered by you?"
Although he had thought that there must be some extraordinary circumstances, he hadn''t expected it to be this shocking.
"Yes."
Zhou Xuchuan exined the general progression of events while omitting the fact that he knew the future.
"So, after surviving falling into the Yangtze River, you followed the path down and stumbled upon the treasury?"
"Yes, that''s what happened."
"Hm, then you were lying when you reported that you were isted because you fell from a waterfall."
"Yes. I thought our lives would be at risk if it became known that we discovered the treasury. I''m sorry for making you worry, Master."
"No, you did well. You made the right decision," Liu Zhengmuplimented Zhou Xuchuan.
Urgh.
He didn''t tell a lie at least at least. Despite that, he couldn''t help but feel a prick in his conscience.
"Coincidentally, Shengji, whom I''ve be sworn brothers with, was skilled in mechanisms, so we explored the ce. I sent a letter through a homing pigeon from a nearby vige and received help from a merchant I encountered while I was traveling with Senior Uncle Qiu Feng. Thanks to that, I managed to stay hidden until recently."
Technically, that wasn''t entirely a lie. He did meet Li Yicai for the first time while he was with Qiu Feng after all. Thanks to this, he could speak confidently without hesitation.
"Mm," Liu Zhengmu groaned.
"What is it, Master?" Zhou Xuchuan asked worriedly.
"I''m worried you might be blinded by the desire for wealth."
Thankfully, those words relieved him. He was almost worried that Liu Zhengmu would press him further out of suspicion.
"I am aware of the sect''s teachings that excessive desire for wealth brings ruin. You do not need to worry."
"Then what have you done with the things you obtained from the treasury?"
"Other than a few things, I''ve asked the merchant from before to help feed the hungry."
"That''s good. But when you said a few things"
"Since we''re on the topic, let me take it out." Zhou Xuchuan proudly took out a wooden chest. "They''re Lesser Cirction Pills."
"What did you say?"
Liu Zhengmu''s eyes widened in astonishment.
"Please take one before we return to the sect. You should be able to consume two of them at least."
He had obtained ten Lesser Cirction Pills after defeating the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. Among them, he took two for himself and gave two to Zhuge Shengji. He handed Li Yicai four of the remaining six.
Originally, he wanted to hand all of the remaining Lesser Cirction Pills to Liu Zhengmu, but he decided against it. Too much could be worse than too little. Even if Liu Zhengmu was an expert of the Absolute Realm, he would require a considerable amount of time to absorb the energies of three whole Lesser Cirction Pills. On top of that, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know what kind of side effects there may be from consuming too much spiritual medicine in a short span, so he only brought two with him.
"I''ll stand on guard so"
"Xuchuan," Liu Zhengmu interrupted him, his tone determined.
"Yes, Master."
"These are not mine, nor are they yours. They don''t belong to the sect either."
Liu Zhengmu gave Zhou Xuchuan a stern look.
Don''t tell me he Zhou Xuchuan felt a sense of unease.
"If you obtained these from the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, these Lesser Cirction Pills must have originally been stolen from the Shaolin Temple. The gold and other treasures cannot be returned to their owners at this point, but these Lesser Cirction Pills should be returned to their original owners."
"M-Master!" Zhou Xuchuan was flustered.
"No."
Liu Zhengmu looked very serious, unlike usual. He grabbed Zhou Xuchuan''s wrist to check his condition.
"Whoa, over sixty years!" His shock and disbelief were visible on his face.
Sixty years'' worth of qi! At the age of twelve!
"Although I expected this haa." Liu Zhengmu sighed. "How many did you consume?"
"Two pills," Zhou Xuchuan confessed.
"Is that all?"
This time, he seemed to have no intentions of letting it slide.
"I left four pills with the merchant who helped me"
"I''d like to return to Guizhou and retrieve them before heading to the Shaolin Temple, but we do not have the time." Liu Zhengmu palmed his forehead.
Although he set out by himself to pick up his disciple, it did not change the fact that this matter was important. This concerned a precious member of the Lotus Pavilion, and Mount Hua did risk going to war with the Nine Water Gangs over this. It concerned the reputation of Mount Hua, and losing a member of the Lotus Pavilion would damage the pride of the sect''s long history.
The other organizations within the Orthodox Faction were focused on the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, but Mount Hua paid a lot of attention to Zhou Xuchuan.
"My sect brothers are waiting in a vige about two days away, so we must meet up with them as soon as possible."
That meant there was not enough time to consume the pills either.
Urgh, this was a mistake!
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t hide his regret at this painful mistake. He failed to take Liu Zhengmu''s personality into ount. He originally thought that Liu Zhengmu would simply take the pills and consume them, considering Zhou Xuchuan had obtained them from a thief from three hundred years ago. However, his master''s nature was much more upright than he thought.
"I''m grateful that you''re watching out for me, but the martial world has its own unwritten rules of handling items. This is especially true for something as precious as the Lesser Cirction Pill, whose origins are clear. You cannot use them as you wish, do you understand?"
"Yes, Master."
No one would know if he turned a blind eye and consumed ithe almost said this out loud, but he swallowed it down.
"That''s my disciple," Liu Zhengmu said with pride.
The Lesser Cirction Pills
Zhou Xuchuan on the other hand, wasmenting inwardly.
Chapter 47: Disciples Safe Return (2)
Zhou Xuchuan decided to keep the Prajna Divine Art a secret for the time being, and his master didn''t press any further, seemingly stunned by the revtion of the Lesser Cirction PIlls.
I guess it''ll be fine for a few years?
Zhou Xuchuan had buried the Prajna Divine Art manual in the mountain he was staying on back in the Hubei Province. He made sure that nearby animals wouldn''t try to dig it out. He also memorized the sutra just in case, so that he could make the Shaolin Temple owe him a debt and get them to help him in the future.
The master and disciple met with five other members of the Mount Hua Sect, who had departed shortly after Liu Zhengmu. Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know any of them.
"Sorry to make you wait."
"Not at all, senior brother."
Liu Zhengmu held the highest rank among them.
"I have sent a homing pigeon from Wuhan, but reporting is still important. Report to the sect that we''re setting off."
"Yes, senior brother."The group sent out a homing pigeon before leaving the vige. Their destination was naturally Mount Hua.
*
Yunxian, Hubei Province.
Yunxian was a small fishing vige in the northwestern end of the province. Although it wasn''t by the seaside, it had a ratherrge river. Their main produce was fish from the river, and the vige itself was quiterge.
"Good working all the way here. We''ve been running for a while now, so let''s take a break for about three days," said Liu Zhengmu, putting down his luggage.
"Yes, senior brother," the sect members replied, brightening up. Although no one said anything, they were all exhausted and in need of a break.
The group settled down in a suitable inn and unpacked their luggage before having a meal.
"I''ll go up and rest." Liu Zhengmu entered his room after the meal.
As soon as LIu Zhengmu went up, the others gathered around Zhou Xuchuan, seizing the opportunity to ask questions. Zhou Xuchuan was slightly caught off guard by their eagerness.
"Phew, now we can finally ask without holding back."
"Hey, Junior Brother Zhou. If it''s okay, can you tell me about what happened with the Nine Water Gangs?"
The martial world may not have had an interest in Zhou Xuchuan as a whole, but he was pretty famous within Mount Hua and many people were interested in him. This was a result of his feats when fighting the Watertop Spearman.
"Ah, yeah. I was wondering what you were going to ask that''s okay." Zhou Xuchuan nodded with a bitter expression.
"No, you don''t have to say anything if you don''t want to. We don''t want to make you remember any bad memories."
"Right."
They seemed to be considerate of him.
Like hell they are.
But their eyes said otherwise. They were filled with curiosity and were urging him to speak.
So they were keeping quiet because of Master.
Despite thebined efforts of Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family, there had been no trace of them. Although they were reported as missing, everyone was certain they were dead.
Liu Zhengmu had lost his only disciple, who was only twelve years old. Normally, that would be enough to drive him crazy. Although he had returned unharmed, they couldn''t simply ask him what happened out of curiosity. It could have been a traumatic experience for the child, and a master would not want to make him remember it.
It wasn''t that these people didn''t know this, and they were acting rather considerate. However, curiosity got the better of them.
"No, it''s okay."
"Oooh!"
When Zhou Xuchuan looked fine, the others visibly rejoiced. They were quite the simpletons.
"Lady, we don''t care what it is; just bring us some wine and snacks!"
Daoist sects, whether it was the Mount Hua Sect or the Wudang Sect, didn''t forbid drinking. However, they were told to refrain from drinking too much. They usually didn''t drink within the sect because of the atmosphere and because they were afraid they would make a mistake. As such, they usually drank when they were out in the world like this.
"So it goes like this"
Zhou Xuchuanbed through his memories and started telling them about what happened when he boarded the boat.
"Hm, I see. It''s just as we heard."
The disciples were focused on Zhou Xuchuan''s story. They weren''tpletely clueless about what happened. As the matter caused big waves in the sect, it was well known.
"But it sure is different listening to it in person."
"Awesome!"
They continued to drink.
"But, junior brother. From what I''ve heard, you exchanged blows with the Watertop Spearman. Is that true?"
shing with one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven was hard to believe. However, there were many witnesses.
"Back then, the Watertop Spearman had been exhausted from Senior Uncle Qiu Feng''s attacks, and couldn''t fight at full strength. He was busy blocking the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom, so at best, the attacks I got in were random swings. All I did was to evade or deflect them."
Although it seemed toote, Zhou Xuchuan wanted to be undervalued as much as possible. He was wary of the Dark Heavens Association.
"I knew it."
"Right. It just doesn''t make sense if you think about it."
Although the opponent was a bandit, he was still one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven. Someone who could reach such a high position was definitely not an ordinary person. Unless such an expert held back, exchanging a few moves was nearly impossible.
"Senior Uncle Qiu Feng said he won thanks to you. What does that mean?"
"Obviously, that''s because I distracted the enemy from nearby. The oue of a battle between high-level experts can be decided in a split second, right?"
Zhou Xuchuan was glib-tongued. He lied without batting an eyelid.
"But I heard that you dealt with numerous bandits on the deck of the boat in the blink of an eye."
"I know that bandits have terrible cultivation, but that''s still amazing."
The other disciples seemed to ept Zhou Xuchuan''s exnation. In truth, they had already heard the story from Qiu Feng, Zhang Hong, and Zhang Xuen, but it was hard to believe their words. That was why they were doubtful, and now that they heard the story from the person in question, their doubts had been cleared.
"That means you''re stronger than Zhang Hong or Zhang Xuen, doesn''t it?"
"Honestly, I looked down on you for being a lucky guy, but let me apologize for that right now."
"With your master here, I can''t offer much, but I''ll pour you a cup at least, Mr. Future Plum Blossom Swordsman."
Although he hid as much of his feats as possible, he wasn''t seen as the All Bite No Bark anymore.
Considering Zhou Xuchuan''s age, his feats during the battle against the Watertop Spearman were undeniably impressive.
"I''ll gratefully ept your"
Bang!
Before he could receive a full cup, the inn door swung open with a bang. Everyone turned towards the sound.
"S-someone, please help me!" A woman stumbled in, her clothes ragged and dirty.
"What is it?" the inn owner asked.
"I I was doingundry by the river, but some cultivators showed up and started wreaking havoc!"
"Cultivators?" Zhou Xuchuan reacted first.
"Are they crazy?"
Yi Zhihao, a third-generation member of Mount Hua, looked bbergasted. The public security in Hubei was considerably high. This was due to the presence of the Wudang Sect, also known as the Hegemon of the South, as well as the Zhuge Family, the brains of the Orthodox Faction. Even if Yunxian was situated near the border, it was still under their influence.
Most bandits or Evil Faction members steered clear of Hubei or hid if forced toe.
"Did you perhaps spy on them during their training? It is not weird that they got angry if you did."
Yi Zhihao wondered if it was just a misunderstanding.
"No!" The woman pounded her chest in frustration.
"Someone''s causing trouble in Yunxian, no, in Hubei?" The other guests raised their voices. They also seemed confused.
"I don''t know who they are, but aren''t they crazy?"
Yunxian was considerably close to the Wudang Mountains and had good public security. Cultivators causing trouble her was practically unheard of. Even if they did, the problem was the aftermath. Regardless of where they were from, causing trouble in Wudang Sect''s territory would be a serious offense.
Just then, someone came down from the stairs.
"Calm down and tell us what happened." It was Liu Zhengmu. "As a disciple of Mount Hua, I cannot stand by after seeing injustice. Please exin."
Liu Zhengmu nced at the woman.
"Uhm, the thing is"
Apparently, the woman went to doundry by the river with the otherdies of the vige, just like usual. However, shortly after, some strange men showed up and started harassing them. Feeling anxious, the women tried to run away with theirundry, but those cultivators blocked them and wouldn''t leave them alone.
"How many of them are there?"
"I-I''m not sure. I think there are about twenty, but that''s not important. There''s no time!" the woman shouted, stomping on the ground.
"Understood. We''ll check it out. Can you lead the way?"
"Yes, follow me!" The woman hurried out.
"Senior brother." Yi Zhihao''s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Yes, it seems to be a trap." Liu Zhengmu smiled bitterly.
The situation was way too suspicious.
"Her eyes darted around like a scared fish, and she wouldn''t make eye contact. More importantly, if they were truly cultivators, there''s no way they would have missed an ordinary woman, even if they were Third ss."
Yi Zhihao was convinced.
"On top of that, she is willing to lead us straight to them without hesitation. That is suspicious."
"Are you going to follow her?"
"As I said before, I cannot stand by after seeing injustice. It''s possible she''s being threatened."
"Yes, sir." Yi Zhihao stood up, and the others followed suit. They had long since burned away any lingering with their qi.
*
At first, they followed the woman, but she fell down midway, so one of them carried her while she pointed out the directions.
"We seem to have passed the river a while ago."
"U-uhm, the nearby river is dirty today because an animal carcass floated down. So"
Her lie was rather obvious.
"Okay."
But no one pointed it out. Everyone was aware that following her was a trap.
They were led to an empty mountain far from the vige. There wasn''t even a single herb gatherer in sight.
"Hahaha!"
When they reached a t clearing, they heardughter from the bushes. The voice was rather unpleasant.
"Hm, that''s them, huh."
The group drew their swords without hesitation.
"We were getting bored waiting for you."
A group of around twenty vicious-looking men came out of the bushes. Among them was a young boy of around six or seven who was clearly out of ce. He was also tied with a rope.
"My baby!" the woman screamed, on the verge of tears.
"I see, that''s how it is."
The smile vanished from Liu Zhengmu''s face, reced by cold fury.
"I understand the situation now. Please hide behind us."
"Sob I''m so sorry. I had no choice"
The woman couldn''t hold back and started sobbing. They didn''te after me after realizing what I did, right?
Zhou Xuchuan felt anxious.
"Gentle Smiling Swordsman, Liu Zhengmu!"
His unease didn''tst long.
"I have personallye to Hubei to meet you!"
It''s not me, but Master?
Chapter 48: Return to Mount Hua (1)
"You haven''t forgotten about me, have you?" The unpleasant voice belonged to a man with unusually long arms.
"Wu Ye" Liu Zhengmu muttered. "Monkey Arms!"
Yi Zhihao reacted to that name.
"What would a cultivator at Monkey Arms'' level be doing here?"
Yi Zhihao abandoned his rxed posture and changed his stance, anxiety written all over his face.
Monkey Arms Wu Ye!
His title wasn''t anything special. He got that alias because of his long arms, which made him look like a monkey. But the title held weight.
Leaving aside looking like a monkey, having long arms was a huge advantage for a cultivator, since it increased attack range. It was a blessing.
"Why would an Absolute Realm expert of the Evil Valley be" Yi Zhihao pointed his sword at Wu Ye.An Absolute Realm expert?
Zhou Xuchuan frowned.
Who is that?
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t remember every single expert, only those he knew personally and some famous people.
"Hmph, you ask why I''m here?" Wu Ye snorted and lifted his shirt, revealing a long, diagonal gash on his toned abs. "The wound I got from you aches every time it rains, no, when I wake up every morning. How can I forget?"
"This is a heaven-sent opportunity for revenge. I''d be a fool to miss it. Pteu!"
Wu Ye spat on the ground before gripping his sword.
"Master, what is happening?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"It happened when I was out in the world a while ago. I encountered him while carrying out my mission at the Martial Alliance. However, it seems I didn''t finish things properly back then."
Liu Zhengmu looked at Wu Ye with a hint of regret in his eyes.
"Didn''t finish things properly? What a load of crap!" Wu Ye snapped. "I was fooled by that foolish smile and let my guard down!"
Another unexpected event, huh.
Liu Zhengmu''s dispatch into the world, which didn''t happen in Zhou Xuchuan''s past life, created animosity with Wu Ye. The enemy wasn''t an ordinary person either. He was an Absolute Realm expert with a high ranking in the Evil Valley. However, he didn''t seem so significant in the future, considering Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t remember him.
"I''ll smash that smug face of yours today!" Wu Ye charged at Liu Zhengmu.
"Senior brother!" Yi Zhihao tried to rush in and block him.
"I have no interest in anyone other than Liu Zhengmu!"
The cultivators that Wu Ye brought from the Evil Valley all rushed forward at once. Observing their movements, they weren''t Third-ss. There were roughly twenty of them, all Second ss or First ss. Although there didn''t seem to be any Peak Realm experts, they had the numerical advantage.
"Die!"
Members of Mount Hua and cultivators of the Evil Valley shed.
*
Fifteen minutes into the fight, the six people from Mount Hua, including Zhou Xuchuan, were split up. The enemy used a three-on-one tactic, preventing them from regrouping.
"You lowly bastards of the Evil Valley!" Yi Zhihao snapped out in frustration. As the strongest after Liu Zhengmu, he was fighting against five people.
"Where is Xuchuan?!"
The order they received from the sect was Zhou Xuchuan''s safe return. His safety was their priority.
"I am over here, so don''t worry about me!" Zhou Xuchuan''s voice could be heard from behind the bushes.
"Hold on! I''ll be there right away!"
"It''s okay! Take your time! I''m safe!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted. His expression was rxed as though he was out on a stroll.
"What a lunatic," The Evil Valley Cultivators said in disbelief as they chased after him.
"You seem confident because you defeated a few bandits. How ridiculous!" the cultivator in the middle mocked Zhou Xuchuan.
"Even if you''re part of the Lotus Pavilion, you''re nothing but a kid. Hehe, I''ll cut off that cocky nose of yours first." The cultivator on the right twirled the sword in his hand.
"You''re so clueless about the situation. I''m not sure about your martial arts, but you''re definitelycking in the head department!" sneered the cultivator on the left.
"I see. You spread out your forces to disrupt your enemy''s formation and make them split up, huh." Zhou Xuchuan nodded, regripping his sword. "Not a bad strategy, but unfortunately, you are up against the wrong people."
"You''re sounding more and more unpleasant!"
Their sneers vanished, reced by thick killing intent.
"I''m worried about my master, so I can''t afford to y around with you."
Zhou Xuchuan blurred before appearing in front of the cultivator in the middle.
"Whoa!" The cultivator''s eyes widened in shock. One moment Zhou Xuchuan was gone. The next, he was right there. Anyone would be surprised.
That was all. Surprise was thest emotion he felt before he took hisst breath.
"One down!"
He wasn''t good enough for Zhou Xuchuan to perform a sword art. He just imbued as much of his qi as possible into his sword and stabbed.
"Urgh!"
The attack was so fast that the cultivator couldn''t even react. He spurted blood while looking down at the sword embedded deep inside his chest.
"You bastard!"
The cultivators on either side were taken aback, but they didn''t continue watching in a daze. They felt something was off and started attacking.
"Die!"
The cultivator on the left swung his sword fiercely as if he were aiming to smash rather than sh.
"I died once, so I don''t want to die twice!"
Zhou Xuchuan ducked, evading the attack. His reaction speed was incredibly quick.
"No way!" the cultivator shouted in shock.
"Yes way!"
Zhou Xuchuan drew up his internal qi, which was the source of his power. As he did so, his muscles swelled, giving him monstrous strength.
His sword was still stuck in the cultivator''s chest, but he still swung his sword to the left. Although there were muscles, fat and ribs in the way, they were all meaningless as he sliced through them like tofu.
With no obstruction, the cultivator on the left was in the path of his sword.
"That''s" the cultivator swore at the scene in front of him.
"Crazy, I know!" Zhou Xuchuan finished the sentence, exerting more strength into his sword.
"Arrgh!" the cultivator screamed and fell down.
"Wh-what the"
Two people died in an instant.
"How are you so strong? That''s cheating!"
The remaining cultivator gaped in shock.
"People get stronger after they die once!"
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword to get rid of the blood.
"Oh, but if youck talent, you need to eat some spiritual medicine."
Internal qi was the source of power. Here, power wasn''t just physical strength but also explosive bursts of energy.
"Please spare me! I have failed to recognize your greatness." The cultivator pleaded.
While cultivators of the Orthodox Faction valued pride over their lives, the Evil Faction was different. Although they did value pride, they didn''t prioritize it above everything else. They would dly abandon it if necessary.
"Okay then!"
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword, clearly done talking.
"Urgh." The cultivator clutched his chest and fell.
"Master, I''ll be right there!"
While he was worried about his sect brothers from Mount Hua, he was more concerned about Liu Zhengmu. Although he had never heard of Monkey Arms Wu Ye, the opponent was still an Absolute Realm expert. The oue of the battle was uncertain.
It wasn''t that he didn''t believe in his master, but as his disciple, he couldn''t help but worry. He might have had to rethink his priorities if Yi Zhihao and the others were in danger, but that wasn''t the case.
*
Liu Zhengmu and Wu Ye had already exchanged a hundred moves.
"You''re a tough one!" Wu Ye said, not losing his grin. "Then again, you''re the guy who gave me this nasty wound, so I wouldn''t have it any other way!"
He''d spent nights dreaming of this day. He saw Liu Zhengmu''s face whenever he closed his eyes, and the wound would ache every morning when he woke up.
"Monkey Arms, your martial arts skills are impressive. How can you solely use it for your own benefit?" Liu Zhengmumented.
"Gosh, you''re at it again," Wu Ye clicked his tongue. "How many times do you think I''ve heard about your goddamn heroism? I have no interest in such things!"
ng, ng, ng!
The swords of the two cultivators shed in the air, sending sparks flying.
"I just came to pay back what you did to me! I''ll kill you!"
Wu Ye''s voice was boiling with resentment. Although there was some distance between the two, his abnormally long arms meant that Liu Zhengmu was within his attack range.
"The memory of that day still angers me!"
It happened in Zhejiang province. He was showing off his unparalleled power with the Evil Valley''s backing. It was the Evil Valley''s domain, so he had no worries. His tyranny reached Anhui, the province beside. The Martial Alliance Headquarters dispatched some experts after hearing the rumors.
And among them was Liu Zhengmu.
Back then, when he heard the alias "Gentle Smiling Swordsman," he had underestimated the man since he had never heard the name before. It was not a surprise considering Liu Zhengmu had rarelye out to the world.
However, that was a grave mistake. Looking down on a swordsman from Mount Hua had nearly cost him his life. Ultimately, he fled after being critically wounded.
It was unforgettablethe unbearable humiliation!
"Die!"
Wu Ye shed down furiously.
"Hup!"
Liu Zhengmu deflected the sword attacks that flurried toward him. He could feel the resentment, hatred, and killing intent contained in the attacks.
"I''ll stick a sword through your stomach too!"
Wu Ye was blinded by revenge. He kept driving Liu Zhengmu back with his endless attacks.
One might think Liu Zhengmu was being overpowered. However, that wasn''t the case.
He''spletely lost his sense of reason!
His resentment clouded his judgment, leading him to attack relentlessly without considering defense. The attacks were predictable as well, mostly aimed at the chest and stomach.
At first, Liu Zhengmu was cautious, thinking that it might be a trap. So, he let those openings slide. Only after exchanging hundreds of moves did he realize that Wu Ye was being serious.
"You damn slippery eel!"
Wu Ye was pissed when he couldn''tnd a hit.
"Haa, they say the one you should be the most wary of is yourself, and I see they''re not wrong."
When they fought before, Wu Ye wasn''t full of openings like this. In fact, it was hard to find an opening at all. Liu Zhengmu remembered having a hard time fighting him. He even had to let him escape without being able to chase after him.
But what was going on here? Wu Ye''s skills were terrible, making him wonder if this man was the same man as before. He only showed physical strength befitting an Absolute Realm cultivator, but aside from that, he could hardly be called an expert.
"Your resentment, I shall put an end to it here!"
Chapter 49: Return to Mount Hua (2)
After judging that it was no longer a trap, fighting felt useless. Liu Zhengmu channeled more than eighty percent of his internal qi, aiming to finish the fight.
"Haah!" he shouted, darting forward. He needed to close the distance between him and Wu Ye as much as possible. There was a difference in their reach, so it was better to get as close as possible.
"Heh!" Wu Ye sneered. "This is the problem with you orthodox cultivators!"
Surprisingly, Wu Ye seemed happy when Liu Zhengmu closed in on him.
Liu Zhengmu tightened his grip on his sword. Something isn''t right!
He had an ominous feeling. However, he had alreadyunched a deadly attack. He was already attacking faster than he could see, and his overwhelming internal qi was also being released.
However, the ominous smirk on Wu Ye''s face showed no signs of disappearing.
ng!
Sparks flew as their des shed. The sword qi from orthodox and evil cultivators created energy waves, sending them across the surroundings."Pteu!" Wu Ye spat out phlegm mixed with blood.
"Urgh!" Liu Zhengmu groaned, his face darkening.
"You used poison?"
He looked down to see a small needle embedded in his side, piercing through his clothing.
"I dipped the needle in poison extracted from Crane Spirit Grass. It''s one of the most vicious poisons known to man! Hahaha." Wu Ye cackled, licking his lips.
"Urgh"
Liu Zhengmu hurriedly retreated. He tried asking for help, but he couldn''t make a sound. The poison had begun to spread, coursing through his body.
"You wasted too much qi fighting me; there''s no way you can neutralize that." Wu Ye sneered. "I''ll kill you painfully so that you''ll beg me for death!"
Liu Zhengmu''s vision blurred.
"Master!"
"Huh?" Wu Ye turned, spotting someone approaching from behind Liu Zhengmu.
"Xuchuan" Liu Zhengmu rasped, his voice weak.
"Keke, your disciple, huh?"
Wu Ye weed Zhou Xuchuan, thinking his appearance was a good thing. "Getting humiliated in front of your disciple is good, but killing the boy right in front of you will be a hundred times"
"Do you even know who you just messed with?!" Zhou Xuchuan roared, flying up like a hawk.
Then he shot down like a wasp. His power was focused not on his sword but his foot.
"You got quite the temper!" Wu Yeughed, finding the situation funny. He raised his left hand, where he had the hidden weapons, and tried to grab his foot.
Crack!
"Huh?"
Originally, he tried to snatch the boy by the foot and hold him upside down. However, he failed and the situation turned out totally different from what he expected. His fingers bent backward at grotesque angles, the flesh between his index and middle finger ripped out, dangling by a bloody thread. The shock even crushed the bones in his wrist.
The shock was transferred to his wrist as well, crushing the bones in his wrist like candy.
"What in the world"
Wu Ye stared at his hand, momentarily forgetting the pain in his shock. He had used a significant amount of qi. Blocking a kick from a twelve-year-old should have been simple. Yet, here he was, his hand mangled. The situation was so ridiculous that his head couldn''t ept it.
"Haap!"
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword at Wu Ye, who was standing in a daze. He didn''t use any sword art. He simply drew his sword from side to side. However, the qi contained in the attack could be considered special, as even the air reverberated. Wu Ye sensed the danger and attempted to block.
"Toote," Zhou Xuchuan dered coldly.
sh!
Wu Ye''s head flew through the air, his face frozen in a mask of disbelief. For an Absolute Realm expert, his final moments were pathetic.
"Master!" Zhou Xuchuan rushed to Liu Zhengmu''s side, his voiceced with urgency.
"Urgh" Liu Zhengmu groaned in pain.
This is bad. Zhou Xuchuan''s face hardened. But I''m not totally out of options.
He could tell from a nce that the poison wasn''t ordinary. Every moment of hesitation could be critical.
"Please excuse me, Master."
He reached into the pockets of the unconscious Liu Zhengmu. He soon found the wooden chest he had given his master earlier.
It''s here!
It was the box of Lesser Cirction Pills from the Shaolin Temple.
I don''t know what kind of poison the Crane Spirit Poison is, but the Lesser Cirction Pill should be able to neutralize it.
Normally, curing poison required the right antidote, but it could be substituted for spiritual medicine in certain situations.
The energy from the spiritual pill would be consumed a bit, butpared to my master''s life, it''s a small price to pay.
He took out a pill, put it in his master''s mouth, and poured some water from a bamboo bottle to help him swallow it.
"Master, if you can hear me at all, circte your qi. I''ll help you."
He gentlyid Liu Zhengmu down and ced his hands on thetter''s chest. Ideally, he''d perform this in a lotus position, but that wasn''t possible at the moment.
Don''t get distracted!Focus, extreme focus!
This was about his master''s life. He couldn''t risk making a mistake and putting his master in danger.
Zhou Xuchuan blocked out distractions, even the gnawing worry about leaving them unguarded. Right now, this matter required his full attention.
He helped Liu Zhengmu circte his qi.
It''s no good. He totally lost consciousness.
He tried inserting his qi into his master''s body to no avail.
I have to do everything.
Fortunately, Liu Zhengmu was his master. Aside from the Violet Haze Divine Art, they had learned the same cultivation arts. Zhou Xuchuan had achieved full mastery of the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art in both his past and present lives. Minute control of internal qi was as easy as turning his hand.
Let''s hope that he doesn''t regain consciousness.
Zhou Xuchuan almost said his thoughts out loud, but he swallowed it in fear that his master might hear it.
He also had experience consuming the Lesser Cirction Pill before, so activating the energy of the spiritual medicine to neutralize the poison wasn''t a problem either.
However, it would be a big problem if Liu Zhengmu were to regain consciousness while he was treating him, and react to the internal qi moving inside his body against his will. Zhou Xuchuan wished he could wake his master up and help him neutralize the poison safely, but there was no time. He had to take the risk.
Please!
Time and uracy were key. He couldn''t afford to be slow, yet every move had to be precise, as not a single mistake could be allowed.
He shifted his hands from Liu Zhengmu''s chest to his lower abdomen, where the lower dantian was. Qi flowed from his fingertips, branching out like roots throughout his master''s body. There was no reaction since their natures were the same
There are four.
There were four types of energies filling Liu Zhengmu''s body. The first was his own qi, and the second one belonged to Zhou Xuchuan. The third was the poisoned qi, and thest was the qi from the spiritual medicine.
What mattered here were thetter two. Zhou Xuchuan carefully guided his own qi to envelop the pill''s energy, controlling it..
The poison is spreading quickly. Seventy percent has already spread.
Zhou Xuchuan arrived immediately after Liu Zhengmu was poisoned and killed Wu Ye. That didn''t take long at all. Yet, the poison had already spread to this extent. It was truly a vicious poison.
Master!
Twitch!
Liu Zhengmu didn''t move. It was the energy of the spiritual medicine within him. It was Zhou Xuchuan controlling it, guiding it from the dantian throughout his master''s body.
I''ll not miss anything!
A breathtaking chase began. Zhou Xuchuan acted like a predatory beast about to hunt. However, he didn''t stay low and wait tounch an ambush. The poison was moving, so he had to chase with all his might.
The spiritual qi from the Lesser Cirction Pill condensed into a sphere, then branched out into many strands, searching every corner of Liu Zhengmu''s body.
First is the heart!
His priority was the heart, as it was the center of the body. If the heart were to weaken, it would affect the whole body. However, being a vital organ, it had great immunity and defenses. The poison invading the heart was slower than the poison invading other parts of his body.
Zhou Xuchuan seized the opportunity to use the spiritual qi to surround the poison qi and burn it. The amount of spiritual qi decreased as a result.
Done!
His next target was the poison qi targeting the nerves in the spine. Fortunately, the poison hadn''t reached the head. If the poison were to invade the brain, there would be severe consequences even if it was cured, so it had to be protected at all costs.
Slowly
Around the middle of the neck was the Mutism Gate Acupoint, which was one of the acupoints of the Governing Vessel of the Extraordinary Eight Meridians. There were many nerves around the Mutism Gate Acupoint, so one wrong move could lead toplete paralysis. There were also many fatal acupoints around the area.
At this point, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t hurry. He drew out the poison qi from below with caution. He didn''t burn it immediately with the spiritual qi either, because he didn''t know what consequences it could have.
Done.
A hint of color returned to Liu Zhengmu''s face.
I''ve finished the difficult parts.
He could rx a little now. He rxed slightly and resumed driving out the poison.
I can''t remove it all at once.
The amount of poison qi was not small. If he erased such an amount all at once, he would not be able to avoid stimting the body. Liu Zhengmu would definitely regain consciousness.
Then!
There was no time, so he didn''t hesitate. Zhou Xuchuan made a quick decision. He gathered the remaining poison qi into one concentrated area, carefully shielding the surrounding meridians with spiritual qi to prevent damage.
The poison extracted from the Crane Spirit Grass was pushed through the meridians by the pure qi from the Lesser Cirction Pill and flowed toward its new destinationZhou Xuchuan.
It''sing in!
A significant amount of poison qi entered Zhou Xuchuan''s body through his palm. His face darkened slightly.
Done!
The poison whittling away at his master''s life was no more. Other than the bits that he burnt away, he absorbed the rest.
Fearing that he might leak the poison he just took in, he quickly got away from his master.
"Mm!" Liu Zhengmu groaned. Fortunately, hisplexion had returned to normal.
Phew, now I have to deal with this.
Zhou Xuchuan pushed himself and reached the bushes nearby. As soon as he got there, he sat down in a lotus position, ready to deal with the poison within him.
Hm? Just as he was about to move the poison qi, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but question. Was my control over internal qi so powerful?
Now that the immediate crisis was over, he had the chance to think. Before this, the only thing he was thinking about was the possibility of his master being crippled or dying if he made a mistake.
When his extreme focus ended, all sorts of thoughts came to mind.
It''s way too quick.
Controlling the qi was not a problem. Liu Zhengmu''s qi was no different from his own, so that wasn''t surprising. There was also the fact that he had risen to the Harmony Realm in his previous life. It would be strange if he couldn''t do that.
The difference was that the qi moved too fast. This was beyond his expectations. It was too easy. Although he did it effortlessly, it wasn''t supposed to be so simple. In fact, it should have been very difficult.
Despite that, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t make any mistakes and finished it in one go. It even surprised him.
What''s the difference?
He triedparing his current self to himself from his past life.
He had consumed the Water Spiritual Fruit and the Lesser Cirction Pill. However, those two only increased his qi and didn''t have any other effects.
If there was a difference, it was that he had learned the Violet Haze Divine Art, but that didn''t seem to be the cause either. The Violet Haze Divine Art didn''t have an effect of increasing one''s control over qi.
Ah!
Something shed in his mind.
The Ten Thousand Convergence Art!
Chapter 50: Return to Mount Hua (3)
The Ten Thousand Convergence Art allowed a practitioner to learn any type of martial arts. Zhou Xuchuan theorized that this fact was rted to what he had just experienced.
Through the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, he could learn martial arts that weren''t rted to his main cultivation art, albeit at half the power. However, that didn''t mean that the process of practicing the art was different. The process of reciting the mantra and guiding qi to pass through the designated meridians was the same.
Every martial art had a different way of circting qi. There were hundreds of different ways to circte qi.
Normally, a cultivator''s qi cirction technique remained the same throughout their lifetime. Some minor changes might be made once or twice, but they would not deviate too far from their main qi cirction route.
For example, the Violet Haze Divine Art, aplex cultivation art, required the practitioner to circte their qi through many different vessels. However, that didn''t mean that the qi vessels in question would be simr to those used in demonic cultivation arts. It had the same origins as the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art, so while it might be a little moreplex, it didn''t deviatepletely.
However, it would be a different story with the existence of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art. By learning this art, Zhou Xuchuan could now train in martial arts that he never attempted in his previous life, as proven by the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
The martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect had Daoist origins, but the Eclipse Divine Archery Art didn''t. Being from a totally different source, learning both simultaneously was very hard. Not to mention, the Eclipse Divine Archery Art had the word "divine" in it, which indicated how hard it was to learn. Zhou Xuchuan spent a considerable amount of time and effort circting his qi the right way when he first started.
I see, that''s how it is!
Both the Violet Haze Divine Art and the Eclipse Divine Archery Art wereplex and difficult to learn. The methods of circting qi for both of these arts were also totally different. Mastering both had significantly improved his control over qi.It''s more amazing than I originally thought.
The Ten Thousand Convergence Art was a martial art that existed purely for the sake of it.
But if I had not gone back in time, I wouldn''t have been able to make use of such a trait, right?
Taking advantage of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art was only possible due to his experience and enlightenment from having risen to the Harmony Realm. Otherwise, he would be stuck training in the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art, let alone attempting the Eclipse Divine Archery Art, even if he had the Ten Thousand Convergence Art with him. It would probably onlye in handy muchter.
Wait, this isn''t the right time for that.
He''d gotten lost in his thoughts about the martial art, almost forgetting about the poison.
Hm, my stomach is starting to hurt like hell!
This was unsurprising, considering he had no immunity to the poison.
It would be great if I knew a poison cultivation art
If he did, it wouldn''t be poison that he just took, but a spiritual medicine.
For now, I''ll use this to increase my resistance as much as possible.
He divided the poison qi and circted it throughout his body, protecting his meridians with his qi to avoid internal injuries.
For now, Zhou Xuchuan expelled the poison qi through his sweat nds.
Drip, drip.
ck sweat beaded on his skin, apanied by a terrible smell. The expelled poison qi seemed very potent, as nearby vegetation withered instantly. The insects nearby writhed in pain before dying, and the ground around him turned ck and lifeless.
This is enough.
He didn''t expel all the poison qi. He left behind just enough so that it didn''t put a burden on his body before circting it. Since he had not learned a poison art, he couldn''t convert it into his own qi. However, he could increase his resistance to poison with this.
This method was only possible because he had arge amount of internal qi he could use to protect his meridians and blood vessels.
"Phew"
Only now could he sigh in relief. He opened his eyes and slowly stood up.
"What a pity."
Given more time and a better situation, he could''ve increased his resistance a bit more. However, this wasn''t the right time, so he stopped circting the poison qi. Since he had not learned a poison cultivation art, he couldn''t absorb the poison qi either. So, he just burnt it away with his own qi.
"Ah, this isn''t the right time."
His master was still unconscious, and his sect brothers could still be fighting.
*
Contrary to his worries, no one sustained any serious injuries. Basic healing medicine was all they needed. As expected from a renowned sect, Mount Hua had achieved a wless victory in the battle.
To begin with, the fact that they were sent out on a mission to the world meant that their cultivation and skills were acknowledged by the sect. They weren''t low-level cultivators. Although they couldn''t finish the fight as quickly as Zhou Xuchuan did, they were still able to achieve victory without sustaining major injuries.
Yi Zhihao looked for Zhou Xuchuan as soon as he was done dealing with his enemies. Thankfully, the timing aligned with when Zhou Xuchuan returned.
"Senior brother!" Yi Zhihao eximed in concern, spotting a pale-faced Liu Zhengmu leaning against a tree."It''s okay. I''m safe," Liu Zhengmu replied in a hoarse voice, clearly exhausted.
Yi Zhihao sighed in relief after hearing the reply, then scanned the area. The first thing that caught his eye was Wu Ye''s lifeless body.
"Whoa, as expected of you, Senior brother," Yi Zhiaho eximed once he saw the clean cut on the severed head.
"It''s nothing much." Liu Zhengmu smiled bitterly.
"Not at all. Even if he was a lowly evil cultivator, he was still an Absolute Realm expert, wasn''t he?"
Yi Zhihao acted proud almost as if it was his own achievement.
"Thank you. That aside, is everyone okay?"
"Yes, they''re fine."
"Everyone''s safety is more important than Monkey Arms'' death. You seem to have sustained minor injuries. Let''s hurry down the mountain and find a doctor."
Yi Zhihao was touched by Liu Zhengmu''s concern.
"Yes!"
*
The group, including members of Mount Hua, the woman who guided them, and her son, all returned to Yunxian.
"Lord! I-I am truly sorry," thedy apologized once they arrived at Yunxian. Her body was trembling, and her eyes were filled with fear.
Yi Zhihao had the urge to yell at her for lying. Yes, they had realized it was a trap early on, but he still didn''t like that she didn''t tell them the truth.
"It''s alright."
If Liu Zhengmu had not urged him to be understanding, he would''ve long since snapped.
"Thank you, great hero! I''ll be like you one day!" the child thanked him, his eyes sparkling with admiration for a hero.
"Yes, be well." Liu Zhengmu softly smiled at him.
With that, they sent off the mother and son.
"Send a homing pigeon to the sect and the Martial Alliance about what happened here. Also, find the local doctor and get yourselves treated."
"Yes!"
The others left, leaving Liu Zhengmu and Zhou Xuchuan by alone.
"Thank you, Master," Zhou Xuchuan expressed his gratitude, taking a deep bow.
"What''s there to thank? A master who stole his disciple''s achievements?" Liu Zhengmu sighed, seemingly dissatisfied.
"Stealing achievements? Please don''t say that. When I arrived, Wu Ye was already exhausted from fighting you. I just finished what you started."
He wasn''t entirely wrong there.
"I truly can''t win against you."
Liu Zhengmu smiled faintly. At least this was better than seeking fame and being arrogant.
"Thank you," Zhou Xuchuan replied politely.
"That aside" Liu Zhengmu trailed off, his face looking grave. "I have consumed a Lesser Cirction Pill. What should I do now"
He remembered copsing because of a poisoned needle. When he came to, however, there was no trace of poison in his body, and his qi had actually increased. He looked around in confusion, only to find a headless Wu Ye and his disciple sighing in relief.
Zhou Xuchuan exined everything to his master, and asked him to keep what happened a secret. He didn''t want to attract the attention of the Dark Heaven Association yet, which he naturally didn''t exin. He simply exined he didn''t want more attention after the whole Watertop Spearman incident.
Liu Zhengmu wasn''t thrilled with the idea, feeling like he was stealing his disciple''s achievements. However, Zhou Xuchuan''s pleas eventually won him over.
"Urgh"
He couldn''t reallyin about taking the Lesser Cirction Pill either. Zhou Xuchuan was trying to save his life, after all. Liu Zhengmu wasn''t so unreasonable.
"Master, may this disloyal disciple say something?"
"You don''t need to demean yourself so much."
"Thank you. Anyway, I think there is no helping with what you''ve already consumed. Even if you exin the circumstances to the Shaolin Temple, the matter will not be easily resolved."
This was a matter of public reputation. Although the pills were taken a long time ago, they were stolen goods nheless. Even if he were to confess that he had consumed one out of conscience, the Shaolin Temple wouldn''t easily let it slide.
That was just how the martial world worked.
"It''s not like you consumed it intentionally, did you? Don''t worry so much. I believe even the Buddha will tell you not to feel so guilty. I mean, isn''t Buddha a saint? I''m sure he would understand."
Zhou Xuchuan had an incredible tongue. He managed to stave off some of Liu Zhengmu''s guilt.
"There was no other way."
There was no other waythis was like a magical phrase that could be used in any unjust situation.
Zhou Xuchuan seemed to have trained his talking skills instead of his cultivation during the time he was missing.
"If you tell the truth, both Mount Hua and the Shaolin Temple will have a difficult time. You can''t do anything about it, so I believe it''s best if we just let things slide, Master."
"...Alright."
Liu Zhengmu gave up. Although he looked very dissatisfied, he threw away his regret and just epted the truth.
"With this, I''m indebted to the Shaolin Temple. I will take this matter to the grave but will pay them back someday."
He still felt a sense of responsibility.
Yes!
Zhou Xuchuan cheered. He had managed to fully convince his master.
''Now, Master will rise to the ranks of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven.''
The spiritual qi from the Lesser Cirction Pill had not fully disappeared. Although Zhou Xuchuan used some of it to burn the poison qi, he used the rest to push the poison qi out of the body. Because of this, Liu Zhengmu still had about sixty to seventy percent left. If he managed to absorb it, he would be able to gain at least ten years'' worth of qi. With some luck, he could even ascend to the next cultivation realm.
Spiritual medicines weren''t spiritual without reason. Many would kill for one.
I''ll repay my gratitude several times in this life.
This still didn''t feel enough. Zhou Xuchuan wished he could help his master reach the Harmony Realm.
"You''re finally returning to the sect after all the suffering, but you were dragged into this mess because of me. I''m truly sorry."
"There''s no need to apologize, Master. If you think about it, it''s also my fault for going missing."
"You truly are something else."
Liu Zhengmu stroked Zhou Xuchuan''s head.
"Well then. Get ready to depart. There''s not much time left. We should return as soon as possible."
To their home, Mount Hua.
Chapter 51: Safe Return (1)
The trip to the world, which was both short and long, finally came to an end. First, they participated in wars where conflicts urred all the time. Then, they were ambushed but miraculously survived.
Just when things seemed to be over, and they were about to return to Mount Hua, they were attacked by the Nine Water Gangs and one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, and they went missing in the process.
After barelying back alive, another expert from the Evil Valley, albeit not a well-known expert, came looking for trouble as they were heading back.
Although the Lotus Pavilion''s trip to the world was a yearly event, this one was unlike any other since its founding.
Aside from that, there were other events that Zhou Xuchuan could not reveal to others, such as meeting the Posthumous Genius and the Merchant King, who would be key figurester. Thanks to them, he was able to raid the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury.
"Hm, It''s good that I didn''t get much attention. It''s just as I predicted."
Normally, his achievements would have received quite a bit of attention, but right now, the entire martial world was focused on the treasury, including Mount Hua. Even Qiu Feng, whose concern for Zhou Xuchuan rivaled Liu Zhengmu''s, was forced to head to Chongqing.
Bringing back a member of the Lotus Pavilion was important since it concerned Mount Hua Sect''s pride, but it was nothingpared to the treasury. Just the mere existence of the ownerless Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s tomb was enough to make them send all of their main forces to investigate.
This was the perfect opportunity for Zhou Xuchuan to avoid unnecessary attention and bothersome visits from people. He wouldn''t be able to obtain everything in the treasury anyway, so he used its existence to his advantage."Junior brother!" A familiar, joyful voice called out. He turned to see two tearful fellow disciples."Senior brother, senior sister."
It was Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen.
"You brat!"
His eyes teary, Zhang Hong yfull put Zhou Xuchuan in a headlock, ruffling his hair until it resembled a bird''s nest.
Zhang Xuen cried as she looked at both of them. From her expression, Zhou Xuchuan could tell how worried she had been about him until now.
"We should''ve looked out for you until the end" Zhang Hong muttered, his voice shaky. Zhou Xuchuan could tell he was desperately trying to hold back tears.
Although they hadn''t spent a long time together, they had still gotten pretty close to Zhou Xuchuan. Zhang Hong was also feeling a sense of responsibility and guilt as the senior apprentice.
But the junior brother they thought was dead had returned. The joy they felt couldn''t be described in words.
"It''s okay. It''s not your fault."
Zhou Xuchuan hugged them both, patting their backs. The scene almost made it seem like they were the junior apprentices.
"How did you survive?"
"I want to hear the details."
There seemed to be a lot to say.
"So"
Zhou Xuchuan was interrupted just as he began to speak.
"Senior brother!"
Still in Zhang Hong''s arms, Zhou Xuchuan turned his head to see a familiar face.
Her eyes glistened with tears and her beautiful face had be more dazzling during the past year. She was rubbing toward him, gasping for breath.
"Junior sister."
It was Luo Xiaoyue.
Luo Xiaoyue rushed over in an instant. Zhang Hong was caught off guard and let go of Zhou Xuchuan.
"Senior brother!" Luo Xiaoyue jumped into Zhou Xuchuan''s arms.
"Yes." Zhou Xuchuan smiled in resignation.
"I''m d you''re still a-hup-live"
Luo Xiaoyue couldn''t hold back and started sobbing. She might be mature for her age, but she was still a child in the end. The death of someone she cherished was too much to handle for a girl who hadn''t even reached adulthood.
"It''s good to see you again." He patted Luo Xiaoyue, who was crying in his arms.
I didn''t know a day like this woulde
Something like this happened in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life. He had participated in a battle where his allies ended up losing and managed to survive by a stroke of luck. However, not once did someone react like this. Back then, he just stayed in bed for a few days receiving treatment.
Only a few fellow disciples he was familiar with greeted him before returning. Ever since he lost his master, he had been alone.
An emotion welled up inside him, but it wasn''t a bad feeling.
That day, he learned the true meaning of affection between fellow disciples.
*
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, Chongqing.
"Aaack!"
The exploration wasn''t going smoothly. This was to be expected since there was no one skilled in mechanisms. People ran into traps frequently, resulting in arge number of injuries. Both people from the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley were injured.
It had been three months since the treasury became publicly known, but they hadn''t even gone halfway. Every time a treasure was discovered, a fresh wave of challengers came in. People of both factions, as well as wandering cultivators, flocked to the treasury. Sometimes, cultivators acquired the martial arts of a historical expert, which causedmotion every time it happened.
As the exploration dragged on, the nearby Yanchang region bustled, with roads bing wider and more polished and barracks being built.
As more people streamed in, merchants naturally followed suit. They sold various items in the base camps built in areas near the treasury.
With the appearance of hidden experts, curious onlookers gathered. Yanchang, which used to be deserted without the slightest sign of life, was now bustling with people.
However, it didn''t look like a vige would be formed. There was nothing around other than the treasury, so those setting up businesses there would starve once the exploration was over.
"You son of a bitch!"
"I''ll see you inside the treasury!"
With two opposing factions gathering in one ce, conflicts were bound to ur. To prevent this, the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley signed a peace treaty called the Treasury Treaty, forbidding fights during the exploration until the main forces of each side returned to their domains.
Thanks to the Treasury Treaty, fights were suppressed during the exploration of the treasury, as everyone was careful.
However, that only applied outside of the treasury. It was apletely different story inside the treasury, where things were hellish. Getting lost and falling into traps was all toomon, so people took advantage of those mechanisms andmitted murder. Tossing a corpse into a trap would erase any evidence, so there was no need to fear any bacsh.
Above all, there was no way cultivators could stay still in the face of treasure. Killing others to monopolize treasure was amon urrence. Even the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley could not realistically do anything about what happened inside the treasury.
This dyed the exploration even further. There were many dangers inside the treasury, but bringing just one piece of treasure out could change one''s life forever. Naturally, cultivators risked their lives to win against thepetition.
"The Dark Heaven Association is the one profiting off all this," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
The Dark Heaven Association was the organization that reintroduced the art of mechanisms to the world of cultivators. Although it wasn''t as good as Zhuge Shengji, it was more knowledgeable than any other organization.
"Shengji isn''t with them, so the Martial Alliance shouldn''t get much either."
In his previous life, the Orthodox Faction managed to secure a considerable amount of treasure thanks to Zhuge Shengji''s participation in the exploration. Back then, the Evil Faction lost more than they gained because of theirck of knowledge in mechanisms.
That pushed all factions to research mechanismster.
"Still, it''s better than handing over the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, the Divine Phantom Art, and the Lesser Cirction Pills to the Dark Heaven Association."
He wasn''t wrong, especially concerning the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, since it elevated the Dark Heaven Association Leader''s monstrous power to the realm of a martial god.
"How would this affect the future?"
The treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief would have a great influence on the future, although not as much as the Ominous Demon''s tomb. However, due to his interference, it was opened two years earlier than it had been originally, and the Orthodox Faction ended up with fewer treasures than they originally did.
In the original history, the treasures discovered in the treasury weren''t used for luxury by the Orthodox Sect; they were used to prepare military supplies because the discovery of the Ominous Demon''s tomb triggered the Seven Swords War not long after.
The early opening of the treasury would have a ripple effect on countless conflicts, big and small. Now, Zhou Xuchuan truly couldn''t tell what would happen in the future.
You gain some, you lose some. It was just a matter of equal exchange.
*
A year flew by, and Zhou Xuchuan was now thirteen.
The exploration of the treasury was still ongoing. Although he wasn''t given any details, the exploration seemed to be about halfway done.
"I knew the absence of Shengji would dy the exploration, but I didn''t think it would take over a year. This was unexpected."
In his previous life,plete exploration took about a year. However, he was told that they were only halfway done. He couldn''t help but appreciate how amazing Zhuge Shengji was.
"Savior, it''s been a while."
A familiar figure made a visit.
"Ooh, if it isn''t Gale Sword."
"You embarrass me."
Wang Yi, who now had the title "Gale Sword," scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"You''re now among the Peak Realm experts, so you do not need to feel embarrassed. Show off all you want," Zhou Xuchuan chuckled, crossing his arms.
"This is all thanks to you, Savior." Wang Yi expressed his gratitude, eyes brimming with respect. Before leaving Guizhou a year ago, Zhou Xuchuan had handed over some of the martial arts manuals he obtained from the treasury to Li Yicai. They were the Agile Sword Art and Storm Steps. He didn''t leave them in Li Yicai''s care for no reason. He instructed Li Yicai to distribute them to trustworthy cultivators who participated in the exploration with him.
After that, Li Yicai handed the manuals to the cultivators all ten of them. He didn''t do so indiscriminately. He made that decision after observing all of them for a while.
In the first ce, the cultivators that had tagged along with Zhou Xuchuan were those he had hand-picked. They mightck skill, but they were definitely trustworthy. Their personalities weren''t bad, and because of their circumstances, there was no risk of betrayal either.
Li Yicai was not an amateur merchant. His meticulous personality was even stricter when it came to calcting benefits and losses. He was the type to rustle every bush before walking past it and maybe even have everything checked before going into a forest.
In any case, the ten cultivators, including Wang Yi, were given the martial arts manuals. Their reactions were naturally overwhelming. They immediately kowtowed in the direction of Shaanxi. Both Agile Sword Art and Storm Steps were first-ss martial arts manuals. It may not be significant torge sects, but for people like them, it was worth more than their lives.
Even Wang Yi had yet to learn a proper martial art and managed to reach First-ss with talent alone. The other cultivators didn''t even need to be mentioned.
At best, they would reach First-ss in their lifetime, and most of them would stay Second-ss or Third-ss for the rest of their lives. Being taught a first-ss martial art wasn''t just a joyful thing. They treated Zhou Xuchuan like their savior and swore genuine loyalty to him.
The ten cultivators had wholeheartedly focused on training the past year, almost as if they wanted to make up for the frustrations of not receiving proper education. Among them, Wang Yi managed to break through the barrier of the First ss and reach Peak Realm.
"What happened to Sheng I mean, Shengji?"
Naturally, Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji''s identities were revealed. This wasn''t a problem since it would be known sooner orter.
Chapter 52: Safe Return (2)
"You can be at ease, savior. Your behavior is making me more ufortable. Please rest at ease."
Zhou Xuchuan''s age didn''t matter to Wang Yi, nor did anything else. Zhou Xuchuan was someone he had dedicated his life to. He swore loyalty on the day he was given the manual.
"Okay."
Fortunately, Zhou Xuchuan epted it easily. He didn''t feel any qualms about it, thanks to his memories of living past seventy.
Seeing that, Wang Yi rejoiced and reported.
"The young master is still studying in the Zhuge Family."
The Gold Will Merchants regrly visited Mount Hua with a lot of gifts. Most of the time, the Head Merchant himself woulde, or if he couldn''t afford to, he would send close aides who were tight-lipped.
Some might see this as a way to build ties with Mount Hua, but that wasn''t the case.
Their true purpose was to keep Zhou Xuchuan, who couldn''t leave the sect for a while, and therefore had limited ess to information, informed about the outside world. "The exploration was much slower than I expected, so I was worried that they would send Shengji in, but it seems I was worried for nothing."It wasn''t that the Zhuge Family didn''t think about getting Zhuge Shengji''s help. However, he was only eleven years old and had nearly died just a year ago. They couldn''t send someone like that to awless area like the treasury because of the opinions of the other cultivators.
Most importantly, they couldn''t stand the fact that a prestigious family like them had to rely on an eleven-year-old boy for everything.
"It seems the head merchant is busy, considering he didn''test year and even this year. Did something happen?"
"It''s all good news; you don''t have to worry."
The Gold Will Merchants based in Weng''An was no more. Recing it was a middle-scale merchantpany that dominated the entire Guizhou Province.
The Gold Will Merchants were already growing before they got their hands on the treasure from the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. It was all thanks to the head merchant''s skills. He started umting wealth by supplying military rations and even delving in weapons business on the side.
After that, the merchantpany expanded after receiving investment in the form of treasure from the treasury. With that investment, they managed to hire talented people and increase the number of businesses they operated.
Now, they had expanded to the entirety of Guizhou and were steadily expanding to other areas as well.
"Flies are bound to flock to rumors of money were there any problems?"
"They were mostly ignorant street thugs. Other than that"
"Competing merchants," Zhou Xuchuan interrupted.
"How did you know?" Wang Yi asked in surprise.
"It''s pretty obvious."
No one liked the growth of apetitor, especially merchants. Merchants would lose a considerable amount of their ie if they had topete with another.
Fixed stalls had it better off, but in the case of merchantpanies of a decent scale, there would be substantial losses if they were to miss a business opportunity. Because of this, merchantpanies would often sabotage their rivals'' businesses or even send assassins.
"Experts can''t make a move because of the treasury, so there shouldn''t be any danger for a while. So tell the head merchant to focus on expanding thepany, but also to preserve battle strength."
"Understood." Wang Yi nodded. Inwardly, he couldn''t hide his astonishment.
He isn''t old enough to be called an adult. Yet, he''s so insightful and powerful. He''s truly amazing.
*
Zhou Xuchuan spent his days training. He didn''t have any reason to leave the sect, so he focused on cultivating. There were many things he had to train in, so he didn''t feel that bored at all. If anything, cultivating was very difficult.
Most of the difficulties could be attributed to the Violet Haze Divine Art and the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
"Hm."
He''d broken through to the fifth stage of the Violet Haze Divine Art before turning fourteen. As for the Violet Haze Sword Style, he was still stuck on the first form.
The difficulty was one thing, but the cultivation speed itself was mind-numbingly slow.
Although he could only stay in the realm for about half a month, he had once reached the Harmony Realm in his previous life, so he found it unbelievable that his progress was so slow.
Still, the Violet Haze Divine Art was in a better positionpared to the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
The Eclipse Divine Archery Art wasn''t rooted in Mount Hua''s martial arts, nor was it a sword or fist art.
"I don''t think I''ll use it that often, but learning it just in case wouldn''t hurt."
He didn''t take it that seriously though. He just recited the mantra and took it slow. He was only learning the Eclipse Divine Archery Art because he knew it, and the Ten Thousand Convergence Art allowed him to. He allocated a certain amount of time every day to train it.
However, he knew others from Mount Hua would find it strange if they saw him, so he practiced it in secret.
"Junior brother!" a voice called out as he returned to the Lotus Pavilion after training the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
Zhou Xuchuan turned to find Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen.
"Senior brother, Senior sister. What is it?"
He wondered if something was wrong, but it turned out that he was worried for nothing.
"Nothing much. I was hoping to spar if you had some free time."
Zhang Xuen stuck out her tongue andughed.
"Right. We don''t have much time together."
Zhang Hong stroked the scabbard of his sword, looking eager to fight.
"Oh, I see. You''re graduating soon."
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen were fourteen this year. They would be adults next year, which would mean they would no longer stay in the Lotus Pavilion.
"I''m fine with it, but will you be okay? You should really ask other people from the Lotus Pavilion."
Honestly, Zhou Xuchuan found it bothersome.
I hope they just refuse me. Zhou Xuchuan wished silently.
"Being humble is good, but you''re too excessive. It''s not like we don''t know how skilled you are."
Zhang Xuen covered her mouth andughed.
You''re clingy!
His wish went unanswered.
He had hung out with the other apprentices ever since he returned to Mount Hua. Even then, he mostly spent time with Luo Xiaoyue, Zhang Hong, and Zhang Xuen.
They would sometimes spar or practice battle formations. From his perspective, it wasn''t anything interesting.
"Now that I think about it, I believe Master called me."
"I''m justing from where he was. He said it was okay."
"Gahddangit" Zhou Xuchuan''s expression darkened.
"Oh yeah, Junior brother Zhou, what does that ''Gahddangit'' mean?"
"It''s a way of saying you''re happy or feeling good."
He couldn''t bring himself to say that it was a swear word that would be used decades in the future.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know the exact meaning either. It was just something he picked up from other cultivators while fighting in battle.
"Really? It feels strangely good to say it. I also feel gahddangit to be training with you, Junior brother." Zhang Hong grinned.
"Please stop." Zhou Xuchuan stiffened.
"What''s wrong,Junior brother?"
"Don''t you feel gahddangit?"
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen smiled innocently.
"Let''s do it then. Let''s spar."
He unleashed a fraction of his power that day.
*
Entrance to the treasury, Yanchang, Chongqing.
Beneath arge boulder was a staircase that led to arge cave.
This was the entrance to the treasury that was filled with all sorts of traps.
Arrrgh!
Screams could be heard from the passages. However, no one paid any mind. Forget being surprised; they werepletely unfazed.
It was the norm here after all.
"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief must have been a pervert. There''s no other reason why he installed so many mechanisms here."
"He spent his whole life stealing treasure. Don''t you think it would be strange if he just handed it over? I get where he''sing from."
"Shut up. I can''t relieve my stress if I don''t swear at him."
Some of the cultivators grumbled.
"We''re back!"
Murmur.
Joyous shouts drew everyone''s attention.
"Survivors!"
"Look at their hands. Looks like they got rich."
Dozens of people came out of the passage that led to hell. They seemed to have suffered a lot, looking at how their clothes were torn and their bodies bloodied.
People''s eyes gleamed with greed when they saw that.
"Forget it. Look at the people rushing over to them. They''re obviously from the ten major sects or the five ns."
Even after safely returning from the treasury with the treasure, their journey was far from over. They couldn''t rest easy until they were back among their own faction.
There were cultivators who didn''t dare venture into the passages because of the dreadful mechanisms and traps. These people would loiter around the entrance and check any surviving returners before robbing them of their treasure.
"Before it was the Evil Valley, and now it''s the Martial Alliance huh."
"Man, they''re a greedy bunch."
It was extremely rare for a cultivator from smaller sects or unaffiliated cultivators to obtain treasure. Those that managed to only did so during the initial stages of the exploration before the rumors spread. Ever since people flocked andrger organizations started exploring, it barely happened at all.
Most of the treasure got taken by the Martial Alliance or the Evil Valley. This was a given, considering their scale and power.
"How long has it been since someone returned alive with treasure?"
"I think it''s been a little less than two months"
"Maybe that will be thest time."
A year and a half had passed since the exploration began. In the beginning, treasures were discovered rtively easily, but that was no longer the case.
The time between discoveries became a week, then two weeks, and now even longer. This made treasures hard toe by.
"Honestly, I didn''t think the exploration would take this long."
"I don''t think anyone did."
The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley even formed a peace treaty, and cultivators unaffiliated with either faction gathered as well. Despite all these people, it still took over a year to explore the treasury. No one expected such a result.
"I''m so envious. If I had that kind of money"
"Say that after you go to the treasury yourself. How many times are you going to say that?"
"To an amateur like me, telling me to explore is the same as telling me to die. I can''t do anything but suck on my thumb."
The exploration was nearing its end.
"The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley. Which side obtained more treasure?"
Money was power. The ratio of money each side possessed would change the paradigm of the power bnce between the two sides.
Although cultivators hated money because it was not real power, that didn''t really change reality. More military funds meant having more advantages.
"I hope neither side can overpower the other."
"The power bnce must be maintained. Otherwise, there will be war."
Some people wanted peace, but some people wanted war.
"How can a cultivator avoid war? You''re all cowards. The Martial Alliance must prevail."
"Right, we must eradicate those pesky cultivators from the Evil Faction as soon as possible."
Another half a yearter, nearly two years after the exploration began, the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley retreated to their domains after a heated discussion. This was because the treasure discovered six months prior turned out to be thest.
Although some remained and kept exploring after the two factions retreated, they did not discover anything.
Chapter 53: Lotus Sword Gathering (1)
Zhou Xuchuan was now fourteen years old.
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen had graduated from the pavilion when they turned fifteen. The two of them were rather reluctant to part ways with Zhou Xuchuan, but they promised to meet the following year.
I wonder what happened to Senior brother and Senior sister in the original timeline.
As he had gotten closer to them, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but worry. He did not know what happened to the two of them in the original history. Hebed through his memories several times, but he couldn''t remember anything.
This could mean one of two things. One, they were prodigies when they were young, but had difficulty gaining insights and became average cultivators when they were old. The other possibility was that they lost their lives before they could fully span their wings out. Zhou Xuchuan was mainly worried about thetter.
Although he had significantly altered the future with the things he did, he did not know what kind of effect that could have. He wasn''t certain, but there was the possibility that he didn''t manage to influence Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen''s fates.
Because of this, he had secretly helped them with their training by sparring with them over the past year. Even though he found it a little bothersome, at least they would be able to prepare for their own uncertain future.
"I won''t see the two for a while, so I guess I cany low and focus on training for the next year," Zhou Xuchuan muttered as he looked around.
A few years ago, he had treaded on the fine line between life and death several times on the cliff while training with his master. The memory still sent shivers down his spine. He couldn''t bring himself to view it nostalgically. The reason he came here again despite that was because hardly anyone came here.He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. While repeatedly taking deep breaths, he circted his qi ording to his cultivation method. Internal qi flowed from his dantian, which was now about sixty-seven years'' worth of qi.
The increase in his qi had slowed down but he had still umted more than double of what others could in the same period. He had sixty-five years when he was thirteen, so he had umted two years'' worth in the past year.
Violet Haze Divine Art, sixth stage.
He''d broken through to the sixth stage of the Violet Haze Divine Art as well, though he thought that his progress was still way too slow. Although his qi didn''t have the violet hue yet, the qi circted using the method of Mount Hua''s top cultivation manual gave him a significant boost in power.
He assumed a sword stance and swiftly converted his internal qi into offensive energy. The dense qi caused the air to vibrate faintly.
Second form, Arc Flower Rain!
Woosh!
He thrust his sword forward in a lightning-fast motion. However, that wasn''t the end of it. The moment he thrust his sword, dozens of sword silhouettes spanned out in the shape of a fan, leaving a longet-like trail before hitting dozens of trees.
Crrrack!
One tree had a hole punched through its center, while another had arge chunk gouged out from the side. Some trees had their branches snapped, and there was a deep sword mark on the ground.
"Haah, haah!" Zhou Xuchuan gasped for breath, his face contorted in annoyance.
"Urgh!"
It wasn''t the high qi consumption that annoyed him. The second form possessed a destructive power matching its qi input. What annoyed him was the difficulty of executing the form itself. It had been a long time since he started training the second form, yet he was unable to execute it properly.
In theory, Violet Haze True Qi should form petals, and the sword trajectory should be linear. Just now, he had aimed straight ahead, so there shouldn''t be any marks left on the ground, as it indicated that he failed.
"It''s not a martial art reserved for the greatest genius of Mount Hua for nothing, huh. I almost ended up swearing at the founder!"
Bing a leader of one of the pirs of the Martial Alliance required many things, including martial prowess. However, while it was fundamental, being powerful wasn''t the only requirement to lead a sect.
The strongest expert of a sect wasn''t necessarily the sect master. A prime example was the Shaolin Temple, whose master wasn''t their strongest member. In fact, the current Shaolin Temple Master couldn''t even be considered an expert. This was because the Shaolin Temple prioritized the study of Buddhism over martial arts. Buddhist teachings andws were the first, and martial arts was only secondary.
The Wudang Sect was simr in that regard but with their focus on Daoism. They prioritized the Dao, not cultivation. Other sects within the ten major organizations had simr tendencies as well, as most sects were founded on Daoist or Buddhist teachings.
However, there were exceptions to this, which were Mount Hua and the Beggars Gang. Leaving the Beggars Gang aside, Mount Hua Sect was an unexpected exception.
It wasn''t that Mount Hua did not value Daoist ideals like other sects, they just had slightly more secr tendencies. At best, Mount Hua''s secr nature was only slightly above average among the nine major sects. The fact that the elitist organization within Mount Hua, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, couldn''t be joined through strength alone, was proof of this.
Despite that, the title of sect master of Mount Hua was always held by the strongest member of the sect, unless it was a special situation like war.
It''s obviously because the Violet Haze Divine Art and the Violet Haze Sword Art cannot be learned by someone with ordinary talent! Urgh, I''m gonna vomit.
Learning the Violet Haze Divine Art required extraordinary talent. Still, as long as one had the talent, they would receive full support from the sect master himself. With the teachings of the previous generation''s genius and the resources invested, it was almost guaranteed that the sessor would be the strongest expert in the sect.
Just how powerful is the Dark Heavens Association Leader? Zhou Xuchuan wondered.
In Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, even the strongest expert of Mount Hua lost his life at the hands of the leader of the Dark Heavens Association. That instilled a deep sense of fear in him.
He furrowed his brow in contemtion before shaking his head to dispel his fears.
"Geez, I hate geniuses!"
Instead, he decided to curse geniuses in general.
"I''m going through so much suffering, barely reaching the Harmony Realm after seventy-seven years, while those guys enjoy learning martial arts! The world is so unfair!"
Letting out his frustration like that gave him some relief. He even felt a little refreshed.
"Ordinary folk like me should focus on training instead of worrying. There''s no hope for me otherwise."
He sat down cross-legged and started circting his qi to recover as much of what he consumed as possible.
"Hm, next is the Eclipse Divine Archery Art, huh?"
After recovering, he took out the bow and arrows that he had hidden in the same ce and looked up at the sky to check the weather.
The training conditions for the Eclipse Divine Archery Art were rather peculiar. First of all, the time had to be somewhere between night and day, with clear visibility of the sun and the moon. It could be trained even if the sun and the moon were obstructed by clouds, but for some strange reason, performing the art under such conditions wasn''t as powerful.
When he first came to know about the Eclipse Divine Archery Art, he thought it was named that way because the archery was powerful enough to shoot down the sun and the moon. However, that wasn''t the case at all. It was instead a martial art that harnessed the natural qi originating from the sun and the moon.
The first stage of the Eclipse Divine Archery Art was basic archery, and upon reaching the second stage, the cultivator would be able to infuse qi into an arrow to increase its speed and destructive power. The third stage allowed for the infusing of yang qi, and the fourth stage, yin qi. It was because of this ability to infuse the yin and yang into an arrow that it was called "Divine Archery."
"Hmm."
He nocked an arrow and pulled the bowstring. The arrow slowly moved in sync with his breath, rising and falling rhythmically.
Zhou Xuchuan inhaled deeply and held his breath. As he did, the arrow stilled. With his left eye closed, he refocused, simultaneously circting his internal qi to infuse it into the arrow.
It wasn''t that he increased his physical abilities with internal qi, he had infused an arrow with his qi. This was something that was impossible without a proper archery art.
One li.
He let go of the hand holding the bowstring.
Pop!
The arrow exploded from the bow, like aet streaking through the air. It followed a perfectly straight trajectory without the slightest undtions before hitting the target.
The first target was a tree branch as thin as Zhou Xuchuan''s finger, and the secondary target was a leaf. His final target was arge tree behind that.
"Oh! I hit the arrow too!" he eximed.
He found archery to be harder than it looked, especially since it required a precise adjustment in output when he infused the arrow with qi. Too much, and the arrow would shatter; too little, and the arrow would veer off course.
Still, the power was quite considerable if he could pull it off. First, the arrow was unaffected by the wind, which was attributed to the Eclipse Divine Archery Art itself. This alone increased the uracy a lot. Other than that, as mentioned before, the destructive power and speed would increase as well.
"Let''s keep going like this."
His days of training continued.
*
The weather was hot enough to make people sweat even if they stood still. It was a kind of heat that made people look for water.
"Senior brother, senior brother," Luo Xiaoyue called out to Zhou Xuchuan.
"Hm?"
"What are you doing?"
"Breathing."
Luo Xiaoyue became speechless. However, even that expression was undeniably pretty, making Zhou Xuchuan''s heart skip a beat. At thirteen, Luo Xiaoyue had be even more beautiful, and her beauty seemed to grow every day.
Mmm!
He couldn''t help but groan inwardly. Sometimes, he found himself lost in a daze when he looked at Luo Xiaoyue.
"Geez, you''re not trying to be funny, are you?" Luo Xiaoyue frowned, which was also cute.
"Senior brother, is there something on my face?" she tilted her head, feeling Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze.
Zhou Xuchuan snapped back into reality and quickly glossed over it.
It''s nothing.
"I was permanently etching your cuteness into my memory. I''m going to pretend I''m not interested and keep remembering it forever."
He blurted out what was on his mind, getting it the other way around.
Oh no!
He realized his mistake and quickly checked Luo Xiaoyue.
A gasp escaped him. He plopped down onto the ground, clutching his chest. In front of him was a heavenly maiden.
Luo Xiaoyue had lowered her head, and her frail-looking shoulders were trembling. At first, he thought she was angry, but he was wrong. Luo Xiaoyue was blushing in embarrassment. The way she clutched the hem of her clothes was really cute.
"Ehem!" He coughed awkwardly, hoping to ease the awkwardness. "Why did you look for me?"
Luo Xiaoyue also regained herposure at Zhou Xuchuan''s considerate words and replied, "I''m here to tell you the news about the Lotus Sword Gathering."
"The Lotus Sword Gathering?" Zhou Xuchuan frowned in clear displeasure. "That''s happening this year?"
Luo Xiaoyue nodded in response.
"Why? There wasn''t one until now."
The Lotus Sword Gathering was basically a sparring tournament. However, as its name implied, only members of the Lotus Pavilion could participate.
"I believe you know why." Luo Xiaoyue smiled bitterly.
"Urgh."
It wasn''t that the sect hadn''t held it, but they hadn''t been able to. Mount Hua Sect had been preupied with the matters going on in the world, such as the Nine Water Gangs and the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
They finally managed to clean it up, and return to their normal lives, which meant that they could resume their annual events.
"Why do you hate it so much?"
"I''m leaving the pavilion next year, so I wanted to take it easy until then."
He wasn''t entirely lying, but he wasn''t telling the whole truth either. Because of the small number of members in the Lotus Pavilion, he wasn''t given the right to refuse. He had to participate in it unless there was a serious reason.
And naturally, participating would draw unwanted attention. With everyone watching his every move, it would be impossible to sneak away and train in secret. That was something he didn''t want.
I''ll just do it moderately before dropping out.
Chapter 54: Lotus Sword Gathering (2)
The Lotus Sword Gathering happened every year, but it didn''t draw much attention from cultivators outside the sect. Only those involved in the event attended, and it typicallysted from two to four days.
That didn''t mean, however, that the participants took part light-heartedly. It was the opposite.
"It''s a rare opportunity."
The Lotus Sword Gathering was closer to an examination than it was to a sparringpetition. There were rewards for those who disyed exceptional talent at the event, like a small amount of spiritual medicine and fine swords, though it was nothing too extraordinary.
Of course, that was only part of the reward. The real reward that the participants wanted was something else entirely.
"Forget winning. I don''t want to draw any attention. If I get noticed and rmended to join the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, I''ll be in big trouble."
One of the Five High Elders, namely the Plum Blossom Sword Captain, always served as the examiner of the Lotus Sword Gathering, and there was a reason behind thistalents deemed suitable to be the next generation of Plum Blossom Swordsmen were selected through this event.
For Zhou Xuchuan, this made the event more than just a nuisance. It wasn''t just the victor that was marked as a future member of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, but also anyone with exceptional skill.
Though Zhou Xuchuan once dreamed of joining the ranks of Plum Blossom Swordsmen, the most elite group in Mount Hua, he no longer had that dream. This was primarily because he would be haveimited freedom if he were to be one.As the most powerful members of the sect, they were dispatched on various missions that ordinary members of the sect could not handle. Because of this, they had to constantly wait for orders within the sect, or be outside on a mission.
It wasn''t a job that Zhou Xuchuan found fitting since he intended to roam around the entire martial world to prevent and change events in the future.
"Just moderately, yeah? Moderately."
*
The Lotus Sword Gathering officially began.
There was a training field in the middle, which was surrounded by the participants, that is, the members of the Lotus Pavilion.
Elevated seats were situated on one side of the training field. The audience seated there could see the entirety of the training field in one nce; as such, those seats naturally became the seat of honor.
"It''s been three years" You Riwen, the sect master of Mount Hua, muttered. A hint of joy was etched on his wrinkled face.
"Oho, it seems thepetition will be fierce this time," said Xue Song, one of the Five High Elders, his eyes scanning the participants.
"The winner is already set in stone though," dered Shen Yulian, her face looking as frosty as ever. Her gaze was fixed on her grand disciple, Luo Xiaoyue.
"Do you really think so?" Ling Zhen countered with a creepyugh, provoking Shen Yulian.
"Of course," Shen Yulian replied without batting an eyelid.
"Let''s just wait and see." Ling Zhen gave a mysterious smile and turned around, his gaze settling on a familiar boy.
Zhou Xuchuan
Shen Yulian frowned slightly. She was about to say something, but she held it back in.
That boy was once disdained for his unusually high amount of internal qi after he luckily got some spiritual medicine. Shen Yulian did not like the fact that he managed to enter the Lotus Pavilion through sheer luck without any talent or effort.
However, she had to change her opinion after hearing what happened with the Watertop Spearman and the Nine Water Gangs. Even she was surprised by his achievements.
Yet, perhaps due to the strong bad impression she had about him before, she still did not like him that much.
"It''s as Elder Ling says," agreed one of the elders who looked especially well-built. He was Zhao Wuyang.
Zhao Wuyang looked at the training field, his eyes filled with expectation. He was also looking at a certain boy.
"My grand disciple, who doesn''t even want to join the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, might rob her of that chance, so I''ll apologize in advance."
There were two people in the Lotus Pavilion who had no interest in joining the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. One was Zhou Xuchuan, and the other was Zhao Wuyang''s grand disciple.
The reason Fang Zhesan, Zhao Wuyang''s grand disciple, had no interest in bing one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen was simple. He did not use a sword.
While Mount Hua Sect was renowned for its sword arts alongside the Wudang Sect, that didn''t mean all of their members used a sword.
Although it was rare, there were some members that focused on cultivating palm arts, w arts and even empty hand arts. Among them, Zhao Wuyang trained in empty hand arts and managed to be one of the Five High Elders with it. He was one of the strongest experts in the world when it came to battling empty handed.
Fang Zhesan, being his grand disciple, also chose weaponless arts instead of training sword arts. There was no way he had any interest in joining the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
"There''s no need to apologize. The winner is already set in stone," Shen Yulian once again dered with conviction.
"My words exactly," Zhao Wuyang countered casually.
"Haha. I can feel the heat all the way here." You Riwenughed heartily seeing the tense battle between the two high elders. He didn''tment on it since it was about apetition of good faith.
Putting that aside
You Riwen''sughter died down as he focused on Zhou Xuchuan, a look of puzzlement recing the Sword Immortal''s amusement.
What is this sense of familiarity?
Being the sect master of Mount Hua demanded a lot of his time. It had been a while since he''dst seen Zhou Xuchuan.
He only received news of Zhou Xuchuan''s survival when he returned to the sect after the battle with the Nine Water Gangs and went missing. However, he was unable to wee him personally. He was mostly busy with the matters of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury.
Thest time he had seen Zhou Xuchuan was about four years ago, when he discussed Zhou Xuchuan''s entry into the Lotus Pavilion.
Even back then, Zhou Xuchuan''s internal qi was extraordinary, which had piqued his curiosity, but that was about it. Putting aside his talent, his sword arts skills were known to be terrible, so he just considered the boy to be lucky.
However, four years had passed, and he was feeling a sense of familiarity that he could not exin in words.
You Riwen couldn''t help but be curious about what exactly this feeling was.
"I knew this would happen" Zhou Xuchuan muttered, feeling the sect master''s gaze.
When Luo Xiaoyue next to him shot him a questioning look, he waved it off, signaling that everything was fine.
He nced at the seat of honor to check who was looking at him before sighing. Ling Zhen and You Riwen were both looking at him.
Ling Zhen''s attention wasn''t surprising, they''d spent time together before, but he found the reason behind You Riwen''s gaze rather troublesome.
It seems he was instinctively attracted to the Violet Haze Divine Art.
During his two years of cultivating the Violet Haze Divine Art, Zhou Xuchuan discovered its unique ability to conceal his cultivation realm.
The Violet Haze Divine Art had unique properties. Because of the violet-colored qi haze, anyone would be able to notice the cultivation method.
However, that also meant that no one would be able to know if someone cultivated in the art or not without the presence of that qi, even if they were experts. That was why Zhou Xuchuan was able to keep the Violet Haze Divine Art a secret from Liu Zhengmu or Ling Zhen despite the two having examined him several times.
In any case, what Zhou Xuchuan discovered was an extension of that property. He could hide not just the Violet Haze Divine Art, but his cultivation realm in general. Thanks to that, he was able to hide that he was a Peak Realm cultivator.
Still, he pretended to be somewhere between Second ss and First ss based on his performance in the battle with the Nine Water Gangs.
Really, it''s kinda useless if I think about it
This concealment wasn''t permanent. It would vanish once the violet haze started appearing in his qi.
The problem was that he had no opportunity to leave the sect before then, as usually, a disciple would be trained by their master until their master gave them full acknowledgement.
Hiding his strength for a surprise attack wasn''t a bad strategy, but it was unnecessary. He doubted anyone throughout generations of sect masters or Violet Haze Divine Art practitioners had ever taken advantage of concealing their cultivation realm like this.
Still, it was quite impressive that he managed to fool the eyes of one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords. It truly deserved its ce as the divine cultivation art of Mount Hua. Even You Riwen only subconsciously felt familiar with the Violet Haze True Qi within Zhou Xuchuan''s body, and didn''t notice anything special.
It''s like I''m a chameleon or something.
Chameleons were creatures that only lived in tropical regions like the southern Nanman region, which skin color changed depending on the temperature or other factors.
They used this kind of camouging ability against their natural enemies or predators by changing their skin color to be indistinguishable from the tree they were on.
The Violet Haze Divine Art worked simrly. Zhou Xuchuan believed that it was best to keep this fact hidden before he could bring out its true power.
If there was a difference between him and the chameleon, it was that the cultivator of the Violet Haze Divine Art was surrounded by the top of the food chain.
*
The Lotus Pavilion only had ten members, which meant the Lotus Sword Gathering had ten participants.
The first day consisted of five battles, and on the second day, they would draw lots to decide on a person to advance automatically.
Waaah!
The few people that came to observe cheered. They were mostly masters or fellow disciples studying under the same master as the participants.
One of the participants of the first round was the same age as Zhou Xuchuan, but had joined the Lotus Pavilion a year after him. Although the participant''s master was not one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, he was still a renowned third-generation member.
However, the boy''s opponent was no pushover. In fact, she was even more impressive.
"Luo Xiaoyue!"
It was none other than Luo Xiaoyue, the grand disciple of the Iron Blood Plum Sword. Whether it was beauty, cultivation or talent, she did notck anything. Not only that, her grand master was one of the Five High Elders. The boy fighting against her didn''t look as impressive.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue in sympathy.
You just had to run into Junior Sister Luo in the first round.
A loss in the Lotus Sword Gathering wasn''t a big deal, as long as you disyed your skills. But that was difficult against a much stronger opponent.
"Please take care of me," Luo Xiaoyue politely greeted.
"Both participants, get ready!" Wei Zhijie, the judge, stood up from his ce. "Begin!"
There was no warning. This was done on purpose to filter out disciples ovee by greed. Each person was left to their own devices.
"Taah!"
The first one to lunge forward was the boy. He smoothly executed his sword arts.
"Oho."
Though iplete, he was executing the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. That kind of talent was good enough to earn him a round of apuse. His attacks were well-executed, showing he hadn''t attacked hastily out of nervousness.
Unfortunately, he ran into the wrong opponent. Luo Xiaoyue reacted to the oing sword attacks without blinking. Her movements were lightning-fast and powerful, evident by the boy''s surprise when their swords shed.
His full-powered strike was deflected effortlessly. He tried to recover, but it was toote. Luo Xiaoyue''s sword sliced through the air, stopping right at his frail-looking neck.
"Oho!"
"Incredible!"
That decided the match. Naturally, it was Luo Xiaoyue''splete victory.
She managed to end the fight in just one sh. Zhou Xuchuan thought that she was amazing after all. She was up against another member of the Lotus Pavilion, one of the rare talents among the fourth generation, and emerged victorioust.
"Very clean, very urate, and frighteningly sharp. She truly takes after you, Iron Blood Plum Sword," Xue Song remarked, impressed.
"Thank you," Shen Yulian replied matter-of-factly. Although her grand disciple was praised, she didn''t feel that moved.
Next, the second round began.
"Oho, if it isn''t Senior Brother Zhou." Fang Zhesan grinned widely as he climbed onto the stage.
Chapter 55: The Guy With a Bad Personality (1)
"Urgh." Zhou Xuchuan groaned, his expression grim.
What do I do?
He didn''t want to stand out, but losing wasn''t an option either. Originally, he had nned to win his first round. This was because there was a possibility that his next dispatch into the world might be dyed if he gave everyone the impression that he was the weakest person around.
The reason he joined the Lotus Pavilion in the first ce was because he could leave the sect earlier than ordinary disciples. To achieve that, he needed to show an eptable level of skill. He did not want to appear weak.
"Hahaha, he froze after seeing my grand disciple! Well, that''s not surprising!"
He could hear Zhao Wuyang''s voice from above.
"Senior brother. Why don''t I yield you a few moves? If you''re okay with it, that is," Fang Zhesan asked with a sly grin.
What a terrible personality Zhou Xuchuan thought, refraining from voicing his opinion. The experts would be able to hear him, regardless of how softly he spoke.
"That''s okay. But did I say you could talk to me like that?"Fang Zhesan was twelve years old. He was acknowledged for his skills from a young age and entered the Lotus Pavilion early just like Luo Xiaoyue. However, unlike her, his personality wasn''t as good.
Due to his talent, as well as his status as the grand disciple of one of the Five High Elders, many people around him ttered him. Even Zhao Wuyang, who wasn''t exactly well-known for his gentle personality, did not scold him once, almost as if he cherished the boy.
As a result, Fang Zhesan grew up to be a typical haughty cultivator of the Orthodox Faction.
"I''ve heard of your feats two years ago, but honestly, I know they must be exaggerated." Fang Zhesan continued impolitely despite Zhou Xuchuan''s earlier remark. "Even I can deal with a few bandits on my own. A cultivator must know how to bring out their skills any situation, even on a boat! Inability to do so is a weakness, the whining of a loser!" Fang Zhesan sneered.
"Can I ry that to Senior Uncle Qiu Feng?" Zhou Xuchuan countered dryly. Even the mighty Fourteenth Sword Hero couldn''t fight at full strength on a boat.
"That just goes to show yourck of skills, Senior brother. You must be blind. If he could not use his full skills, how could he have defeated one of the hundred strongest experts under heaven?"
"Oooh." Zhou Xuchuan pped his knee in realization. "I missed that. That''s some incredible logic you have there."
Fang Zhesan''s logic sounded somewhat convincing.
"Even your junior brother could think of it!" Fang Zhesanughed arrogantly, puffing out his chest.
"That''s why senior sister Luo Xiaoyue looks after you. She does it out of pity!" Fang Zhesan stoppedughing and snapped out instead.
"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head in confusion.
"You''re such a dimwit, senior brother. You should stop inconveniencing senior sister Luo and leave her alone!"
"Oh."
Zhou Xuchuan had been sensing Fang Zhesan''s hostile gaze for a while now, wondering what had annoyed him so much. But now, it became clear.
"Forget that. I wonder why someone like this is more famous than me." Fang Zhesan frowned in displeasure. Jealousy was clearly written on his face.
"That''s because I''m more amazing than you," Zhou Xuchuan retorted calmly.
"Nonsense!" Fang Zhesan roared, stomping his foot. He seemed furious and tried to refute it.
"I''m the grand disciple of one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua, and I joined the Lotus Pavilion at nine! And yet you''re iming to be more amazing than me?"
What a brat, Zhou Xuchuan thought.
Well, he wasn''t entirely wrong; Fang Zhesan was still young.
"Hm"
Zhou Xuchuan had lived a rtively quiet life since he safely returned to the sect. At most, the interactions he had were with Luo Xiaoyue, or the now-graduated Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, so no one had seen him disy his skills.
Rumors in the martial world tended to be exaggerated, so when he kept a low profile for long enough, his feats during the battle with the Nine Water Gangs faded away, and people started questioning his skills.
The animosity was especially high among the fourth-generation members of Mount Hua, with Fang Zhesan being one of them.
"Still, you''re my senior brother, so I''ll show you mercy," Fang Zhesan said, tantly ignoring Zhou Xuchuan.
"If you can''t evennd a single hit on your junior brother, how will you show your face in public? Hahahah!" he provoked once again.
"Ehhh" Zhou Xuchuan was at a loss for words.
From the seats of honor, Ling Zhen clicked his tongue and shook his head in disapproval. "Tsk, tsk, Elder Zhao. Doesn''t his courtesy need to be worked on?"
"He''s still young so it''s not surprising. Also, he''s being considerate in his own way so that his senior brother saves face, isn''t he?" Zhao Wuyang retorted, shamelessly keeping his head up. "He''s being only slightly discourteous because he''s young, but he''s a good boy at heart. Look at him being so considerate. It''s so touching."
"What logic!"
Ling Zhen couldn''t help but think that the grand disciple took after the grand master.
Meanwhile, Fang Zhesan shifted into an offensive stance.
"I''ve given you so much consideration, but if you''re not going to listen, I guess I have no choice!"
Despite talking about yielding a move or three earlier, he barely waited at all. It seemed he had no intentions of going easy in the first ce.
Fang Zhesan nced toward where Luo Xiaoyue was.
I''ll humiliate you in front of senior sister Luo!
Fang Zhesan didn''t like Zhou Xuchuan, who kept capturing Luo Xiaoyue''s attention. Now that he had a good opportunity, he nned to make her disappointed in Zhou Xuchuan by showing him being hopelessly defeated. In turn, he could show off how cool he was.
He began to fantasize. Luo Xiaoyue would witness Zhou Xuchuan''s humiliating defeat, run into his arms, and tell him that he was cool.
"Heeh."
Fang Zhesan grinned widely, even starting to drool for some unknown reason.
"What a lunatic," Zhou Xuchuan expressed his honest opinion.
"Haha!" Fang Zhesanughed even after hearing Zhou Xuchuan''s insult. "I''ll make you cry!"
After shouting, Fang Zhesan lunged forward.
Huh?
Because of the eagerness in his voice, Zhou Xuchuan thought he''d attack right away, but Fang Zhesan''s movements were different from what he had expected. Although Fang Zhesan initially charged straight at him, the boy changed directions midway.
He wondered if Fang Zhesan was nning to attack from the side or behind, but that wasn''t it either. He didn''t know what the arrogant boy was up to, but he kept circling around without attacking.
Fang Zhesan''s footwork art was the familiar Five Ways Plum Blossom Steps, and Zhou Xuchuan could tell how proficient the boy was. The boy was around the eighth stage.
"Unbelievable, he reached the eighth stage of the Five Ways Plum Blossom at the age of twelve!"
"No wonder Elder Zhao cherishes him. He is a bit cocky, but he does have the skills to back it up!"
"Look at those clean movements."
Surprised shouts erupted from the audience. They all looked astonished. It was expected, considering the Five Ways Plum Blossom Steps was an advanced footwork art. Ordinary disciples would be middle-aged by the time they achieved full mastery. That was just how long and difficult the training period was.
Still, the footwork art proved to be useful and superior to most others of the same category. Everyone did their best to improve on it as much as possible.
Fang Zhesan had reached the eighth stage out of a total of twelve, and that was why people were astonished.
They might pass out if they find out that I''ve already reached full mastery.
Although he had disyed a little bit of it during his battle against the water bandits, no one had paid attention to what kind of footwork art he was using.
Ah
Now he understood why Fang Zhesan was acting like this.
You wanted to show it off that much?
Fang Zhesan looked down on Zhou Xuchuan. He didn''t think for a second that Zhou Xuchuan could be a threat to him. This was obvious from the way he was moving right now. Otherwise, there was no way he would move around so fancily like this. He was merely using his opponent to showcase how much he had progressed to the judges and Luo Xiaoyue.
He''s a kid alright.
Zhou Xuchuan inwardlyughed.
On the contrary
He must be overwhelmed by my footwork art!
Fang Zhesan grinned arrogantly, eyeing the motionless Zhou Xuchuan. He would have sneered already if he weren''t focusing so intently on executing his footwork. It was a pity.
Anyone would be overwhelmed when they see something like that.
Only someone like Luo Xiaoyue would be able to go against that.
Looks like he''ll take the mantle of a high elder in a few decades after Elder Zhao. I should tell my disciples to stay close to him.
The people here all had simr thoughts, thinking that Zhou Xuchuan must be overwhelmed in the face of his opponent. It wasn''t that they looked down on him, but that Fang Zhesan''s disy of skill was just that impressive.
Hm, he put too much effort into that. Zhou Xuchuan started getting worried after seeing Fang Zhesan.
I can''t win easily after he went so far, so I guess I should at least exchange a hundred moves with him before winning?
If anyone knew what he was thinking, they would be bbergasted.
Zhou Xuchuan fell into deep thought as he loosely held his sword.
What kind of move should I use to finish him off so that I would look cool? Fang Zhesan was also in thought. This was the only match he was having today. He could recover any qi he consumed during the night for the battle tomorrow.
Dissipating Petal Hand? Or Plum Blossom Scattering Hand?
In terms of sword arts, Dissipating Petal Hand was the same level as the Plum Blossom Sword, while the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand fell somewhere between the Six Cardinal Sword and the Plum Blossom Brilliance Sword.
Fang Zhesan ruled out using Dissipating Petal Hand immediately since that was a basic martial art. It wouldn''t look cool.
He thought about using the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand, but that didn''t satisfy him either. That was because of the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand.
It hadn''t been long since Fang Zhesan started training the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand. Before that, he hadn''t fully mastered the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand either, so learning the advanced art required a bit of insistence and throwing a tantrum on his part. He begged Zhao Wuyang to teach him the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand so that he could learn it a little earlier.
Zhao Wuyang didn''t teach him the art without any thought either. He only permitted it because Fang Zhesan had almost mastered the Plum Blossom Scattering Hand.
Good, let''s go with Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand!
It was a decision Fang Zhesan feltfortable with, confident that his opponent posed no threat. If he was up against a formidable opponent, he would not think of using a martial art that he wasn''t used to performing since it could backfire.
When he made the decision, he was quick to act. He finally stopped showing off his footwork art and started attacking.
Fang Zhesan closed the distance between himself and Zhou Xuchuan in the blink of an eye. His movements were smooth, like a falling flower petal. The shift in the use of martial arts was natural and also dangerous.
"Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand!"
The audience shouted in surprise. The only art that possessed such an agile yet smooth nature among the hand arts of Mount Hua was the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand. Everyone recognized it immediately.
It''s over!
Fang Zhesan aimed his hand, shaped like a knife, at Zhou Xuchuan''s chest. He cut the air in two as he flew forward, his movements looking natural.
Whether it was Fang Zhesan or the observers, they were certain the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand wouldnd squarely on Zhou Xuchuan''s chest.
However
"Ack! What the hell?"
Zhou Xuchuan was also taken aback at the appearance of the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand. While he was aware of it, this was his first time fighting someone using it. When he sparred with others of the same generation in his previous life, they all used sword arts like normal.
It wasn''t surprising that he was taken aback since he had never experienced this before. Because of that, he used a little bit more strength than he intended to.
Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword to block the Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand, ensuring to use the t of his de to avoid harming Fang Zhesan.
Crack!
"Huh?" Fang Zhesan was bewildered, unable to understand what was happening.
His hand, containing all of his qi, was broken, with four of his fingers twisted in unnatural directions.
Before he could fully process the sight, he also saw the t of a sword falling down on him.
"Guergh!"
With a resounding thud, Fang Zhesan flopped onto the ground like a frog sttering.
The audience fell silent.
Oh my god Zhou Xuchuan inwardly eximed, I''m too strong.
Chapter 56: The Guy With a Bad Personality (2)
The sun could be seen going over the hill.
"ZHESAAAAAAAN!"
Zhao Wuyang''s thunderous cry echoed across Mount Hua.
"Elder Zhao, please quiet down. You might rupture my eardrums," Ling Zhen scowled, annoyed. In front of them was Fang Zhesan, unconscious and foaming at the mouth.
The first day of the Lotus Sword Gathering came to an end. Five lost and five won. Among the losers, Fang Zhesan was the only one who lost consciousness.
"He''s not badly hurt, just unconscious. He''ll wake up soon enough."
As his title, "Pill Apothecary," implied, Ling Zhen could concoct pills. Refining pills was also rted to the art of medicine, so although he wasn''t as good as a proper physician, he could treat people to some extent.
Zhou Xuchuan that boy really brings storms everywhere. Heheh.
Ling Zhen inwardly smiled, finding the situation amusing. He kept his amusement to himself, knowing how Zhao Wuyang would react."That brat must have used some kind of evil techniques! Otherwise, Zhesan wouldn''t have fallen so easily!" Zhao Wuyang snapped.
"Oh geez." Ling Zhen was dumbfounded.
He tried to say something, but Xue Song stepped in first. "Please don''t be ridiculous. Are you suggesting that boy fooled one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords and all five of us high elders?"
"Urgh"
"Elder Zhao, I understand that you dote on your grand disciple. However, bear in mind that your excessive doting can ruin him. You must tell him that his greatest enemy is himself."
From an outsider''s perspective, the oue of the match seemed like a result of Fang Zhesan''s arrogance rather than Zhou Xuchuan''s strength. He uselessly circled around Zhou Xuchuan with the Five Ways Plum Blossom Steps and even used an imperfect Scattering Petal Shadowless Hand.
"No, but still. How can it be over in just one strike" Zhao Wuyang protested, his face filled with regret.
What he didn''t like was that Fang Zhesan lost so easily. Such a humiliating defeat hurt his pride.
"Don''t you know how much internal qi that boy has? And Fang Zhesan''s movements were too big."
"Urgh."
Zhao Wuyang looked like he had more to say, but he chose to remain silent.
"That boy, Fang Zhesan, needs to understand the reason for his defeat is his own arrogance. If you do not teach him well, you''ll ruin that boy''s life, so I implore you to teach him that," Xue Song advised.
*
You Riwen strolled with his hands sped behind his back.
I should keep a closer eye on that child.
Three fourth-generation members caught his eyes during the Lotus Sword Gathering. One was obviously Luo Xiaoyue, and Fang Zhesan was another, despite his immature actions. Thest was Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t stand out for any particr reason. It was the strange sense of familiarity that intrigued You Riwen. It was surprising that he managed to defeat Fang Zhesan in a single attack during the match, but that was mostly due to Fang Zhesan''s shy movements.
That was why he wanted to watch the next match tomorrow. He didn''t have a particr reason; he was just purely curious.
However, the next day, his curiosity was short-lived.
"I surrender."
as the person in question dered his loss.
*
The next day, the pairings for the Lotus Sword Gathering were announced. Zhou Xuchuan, much to his relief, did not advance by default. However, his opponent was exactly who he''d hoped for.
"This brings back memories."
It was none other than Luo Xiaoyue.
They had faced off like this a few years ago during the entrance examination for the Lotus Pavilion.
"I surrender," Zhou Xuchuan surrendered without a shred of hesitation.
"Huh?"
Luo Xiaoyue''s smile faltered, and she looked surprised. It wasn''t just her; everyone else felt the same.
"Exin yourself," the examiner, Wei Zhijie, demanded.
"Yesterday, I used up most of my qi to counter junior brother Fang Zhesan''s attack, and I sustained internal injuries as a result. I haven''t fully recovered from that, so fighting junior sister Luo would only worsen my condition."
"Understood." Wei Zhijie nodded in understanding.
"I see, that''s what happened."
"Blocking Fang Zhesan''s attack like that wouldn''t have been possible with ordinary skill."
"His movements were pretty obvious, but countering it is a different story. No ordinary skill would suffice."
"And facing Luo Xiaoyue in such a state? Impossible."
"Still, I don''t like him. His judgment isn''t that bad, but as a man, you should still fight even if you have to risk losing."
"Yeah, his attitude isn''t befitting of this Lotus Sword Gathering, where future Plum Blossom Swordsmen are chosen."
"I saw him in a new light during the Nine Water Gangs incident, but it looks like hecks courage despite his skill."
Murmurs could be heard from the audience.
With that, the first battle of the second day ended so easily. Luo Xiaoyue looked like she had something to say to Zhou Xuchuan, but she couldn''t do that because of the next match.
Zhou Xuchuan withdrew, and the Lotus Sword Gathering continued.
The victor was Luo Xiaoyue, who won after an arduousst match.
"Gosh, that idiot! He showed off his qi too much. I knew this would happen!" Ling Zhenmented. He inwardly expected Zhou Xuchuan to showcase more of his skills.
"Good work." Liu Zhengmu weed Zhou Xuchuan with a soft smile when Zhou Xuchuan walked toward him.
"I''m sorry, Master," Zhou Xuchuan apologized.
"There''s no need to apologize," Liu Zhengmu assured him. "You haven''t done anything wrong."
"Despite being your disciple, I went to the Lotus Sword Gathering, only to"
"Forget it. I get what you''re thinking." Liu Zhengmu knelt down to meet Zhou Xuchaun at eye level. "That boy yesterday was quite incredible, but I find it hard to believe that you would sustain internal injuries from that. You should bepletely fine."
The master had easily seen through the disciple''s obvious lie. This wasn''t too surprising.
"From what I know about you, you should have been evenly matched with Luo Xiaoyue. However, no matter who wins, both of you would have consumed a lot of qi, affecting the next match."
He got a weird misunderstanding instead.
"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan was puzzled.
However, Liu Zhengmu continued speaking as if he could read Zhou Xuchuan''s thoughts. "I''ve known for a while that you had no interest in joining the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, so there''s no need for you to pretend."
Liu Zhengmu once dreamed of joining the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. He still had regrets about it, so he tried to raise his disciple to be a Plum Blossom Swordsman after seeing his potential.
However, after living together with his disciple, he eventually realized that the boy did not have any desire to join the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. It would be a lie to say that he had no regrets about it.
As a master, he wanted his disciple to surpass him, which would make him more proud. What he wanted even less, however, was to force that on him. He didn''t want to force his own dreams on his disciple. He wanted Zhou Xuchuan to forge his own path and walk on it freely and proudly.
"Why does ite to that?"
"You do not need to act oblivious. You have no interest in the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, so you do not need to try so hard in the Lotus Sword Gathering. Isn''t that why you yielded to Luo Xiaoyue?"
Liu Zhengmu got it entirely wrong.
"Err no," Zhou Xuchuan responded reflexively, clearly taken aback.
Sure, he wasn''t interested in the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. If anything, he did not want to join at all. That was it. He wasn''t being considerate.
In the first ce, he wasn''t equal to Luo Xiaoyue in skill. He was far more powerful. He was afraid that he might make the same mistake as when he fought Fang Zhesan, which was why he surrendered.
"You do not need to be so embarrassed. You''re truly my proud disciple." Liu Zhengmu said, eyes welling with emotion.
Zhou Xuchuan was about to say something, but he eventually decided not to. Despite the misunderstanding, he had managed to avoid suspicion, so he decided to ept it. Though he felt uneasy about lying to his master.
*
"Was it just me?" You Riwen muttered with his hands behind his back. There was a hint of disappointment on his face.
Although he had seen many young people with talent, this was the first time he felt such a sense of familiarity with someone. As such, he had some high expectations, but it turned out to be just him in the end. At best, the boy just had some talent.
With that, Zhou Xuchuan managed to avoid You Riwen''s suspicion, just like he originally nned.
Well, he did manage to make his master have a weird misunderstanding.
"You''re still as humble as ever." Qiu Feng came over and patted Zhou Xuchuan on the head with a faint smile.
"Eh?"
Zhou Xuchuan almost ended up saying, "What the heck is it now?"
"You were like that with Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, weren''t you?"
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t.
"You were more powerful than your seniors, but you humbled yourself instead of showing off."
That wasn''t it.
"Oooh, er, yeah"
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t find the right words to say after seeing those eyes that seemed to say, "I know everything." He decided to give up despite the weird misunderstanding.
"I look forward to the day you set off into the world again."
Qiu Feng left, still caught up in the weird misunderstanding.
"I feel so weird"
He hadn''t done anything wrong, but he had unexpectedly left a weird impression on the people around him, which made him feel strange.
To make matters worse, Qiu Feng wasn''t thest one.
"We greet the elder!"
One of the five high elders came over. It wasn''t Ling Zhen, whom he usually talked to, either. It was Shen Yulian.
Shen Yulian regarded Zhou Xuchuan silently.
What now?
There was no expression on her face. Zhou Xuchuan could not begin to predict what she was thinking, even if he thought back to his previous life. She was such a cold person.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
There was no emotion in her voice.
"I will not forget this debt."
She stared at Zhou Xuchuan for a while before turning around.
"I appreciate it."
She left after saying those words. Zhou Xuchuan looked at her back for a while beforeing to a realization.
"Did she just thank me for being considerate toward her grand disciple? What a weird misunderstanding."
For some reason, he came off as having sacrificed himself for Luo Xiaoyue, even though he didn''t intend to do so.
"Well, it doesn''t feel bad."
He still felt strange, but he just ended up chuckling. He managed to hear thanks from that Iron Blood Plum Sword. That was enough.
"Senior brother!"
He was just about to leave in satisfaction when he saw someone rush over.
"Before, why did you"
It was Luo Xiaoyue.
"Again?"
Zhou Xuchuan sighed.
Chapter 57: Setting Out Into the World (1)
The sun could be seen going over the hill.
The sky, which had been brilliantly bright just an hour earlier, now glowed a captivating shade of red. It wasn''t an ominous blood red, but a beautiful red that could charm anyone who saw it.
Whoosh.
A cool breeze softly caressed his hair. The temperature of the wind was just perfect for the warm weather.
"The time"
On top of a hill sat a young man under a plum blossom tree withrge branches.
"...hase."
His hair, reaching the middle of his back, was tied up into a ponytail. He had well-defined facial features, a sharp jawline, and elegantly arched eyebrows. Although his appearance could be considered handsome, it wasn''t so bad.
Zhou Xuchuan was now eighteen years old.Four years had passed since the Lotus Sword Gathering and three years since he graduated from the Lotus Pavilion at the age of fifteen.
Over the past four years, he had undergone various forms of growth, the most notable one being his physique. He was now close to two meters tall, and his frail-looking muscles had be toned. He was careful not to push his young muscles too far during training so his muscles weren''t too bulky.
He looked a little skinny when he was wearing clothes, but his well-toned muscles were perfectly bnced, making many people envious.
His martial arts progress couldn''t be left out, either. Ever since he left the Lotus Pavilion, he did not interact much with others apart from Zhang Hong, Zhang Xuen and Luo Xiaoyue and continued to focus on training. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen weren''t within the sect at the moment since the former had set off for the world two years ago and thetter a year earlier.
In any case, he was able to focus on cultivation during the past four years, and he had immense progress.
Violet Haze Divine Art, eighth stage.
Reaching the eighth stage from the sixth stage took him four years. Although it might look like it had taken him a long time, that wasn''t the case at all. If anything, it was unprecedented. Not a single person in sect history had ever cultivated the Violet Haze Divine Art to the eighth stage at the age of eighteen.
What made Zhou Xuchuan overjoyed was that there were only two stages left until he reached the tenth stage. That was when the Violet Haze Divine Art could disy its true power.
As for the Violet Haze Sword Art, he was proficient in performing the second form, and he was not far from reaching the same state in the third form. His progress was rtively smooth.
Apart from that, he managed topletely master the Twenty-Four Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword and reached the fourth stage of the Eclipse Divine Archery Art. For thetter, he only needed one more stage toplete it.
He had alsopletely mastered the Shadow Scattering Art, a lightness art. He just had to continuously consume his internal qi to progress, so there was no difficulty in that.
He didn''t forget to prepare for the future despite his training. He resolved that by exchanging information and letters with the people from the Gold Will Merchants visiting the sect.
From his exchanges with them, he found out that Li Yicai was much more capable than he had expected. He managed to do everything Zhou Xuchuan wanted, even with fragmented pieces of information. Above all, he wasn''t suspicious of Zhou Xuchuan. He had simply been following his words ever since Zhou Xuchuan invested the riches of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury. He was a rtively simple man but not an idiot. Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but think that he was an entric man, no matter how long he worked with him.
He had also been exchanging letters with Zhuge Shengji through homing pigeons from time to time. Apparently, Shengji was still being ostracized within his n. This wasn''t surprising since there was no opportunity for him to showcase his knowledge about mechanisms after what happened at the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury.
Keep studying hard. I''ll take you with meter.
He looked forward to seeing how much the genius must have improved.
For the past four years, there have been no significant deviations from the original history.
When he first returned to the sect, he was concerned about the changed future. The earlier discovery of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury and the incident with the Nine Water Gangs could potentially have cause the original course of history to deviate by a lot. Although he had been preparing for the future, he felt uneasy due to the uncertainty of his knowledge.
One of the issues he was concerned about was the Tomb of the Ominous Demon. A war had originally broken out to obtain the secret manuals contained in the Ominous Demon''s tomb. This war had eventually spread out to the entire martial world.
It wouldter be called the Seven Swords War due to the involvement of seven major factions. This war caused the martial world to fall into war and chaos.
The seven factions were the Kunlun Sect, Mount Tai Sect, Mount Song Sect, Mount Heng Sect, Nangong Family, Demon Cult, and the Evil Valley.
In the original history, this happened in the summer of this year, which meant there were six months left.
I won''t let things go your way.
He couldn''t prevent the Seven Swords War from happening. The Dark Heavens Association had invested a considerable amount of effort and time into making it happen, and Zhou Xuchuan''s knowledge of the future had its limits. There were things he could prevent, as well as those he could not. The Seven Swords War belonged to thetter.
However, he could still minimize the damage and thwart some of the Dark Heavens Association''s ns.
"Senior brother!"
"Huh?"
A voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned around to see who it was.
"Mm!"
A heavenly maiden was walking toward him. No words were enough to describe her beauty.
Her hair was silky and resembled the dark of night, while her white skin was like milky jade and clearly outlined her facial features.
She was a young woman, just having gotten rid of the hints of her adolescence. The woman, who had the aura of a bold general, made Zhou Xuchuan remember the past.
"The Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix"
He had only seen the Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix once in his previous life, and even then, he was on the battlefield and could not get a proper look at her.
Despite that, the impression she left on him was so intense that he could remember it to this day. She looked valiant and beautiful, executing various sword arts amongst various other heroes, including the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
It was an image he couldn''t forget even if he wanted to.
"Senior brother, what is it?" Luo Xiaoyue came over, tilting her head in confusion.
Although she matured fasterpared to others, she still had some way to go before matching the figure from his memories. The Luo Xiaoyue in his memories was in her mid-twenties, while she was only seventeen in his current life.
Still, he could see the resemnce.
"Mm, nothing."
While she was still too young to be renowned as a peerless beauty among cultivators, she was certainly the most beautiful on Mount Hua.
"You were just too pretty, so I couldn''t help but be charmed. It''s nothing much, so don''t worry about it."
He blurted his thoughts out without thinking.
"Don''t you feel embarrassed when you say that?" Luo Xiaoyue asked, finding him rather ridiculous. Still, her cheeks were flushed red.
"Urgh, you''re so cute even when you''re trying to act tough while blushing. Are you trying to kill me?"
Zhou Xuchuan clutched his chest in agony. It wasn''t an awkward act on his part. He was truly feeling pained.
"Geez" Luo Xiaoyue grumbled.
"Anyway, what brings you here?"
"Senior uncle is calling for you."
"Master''s calling me?"
*
Zhou Xuchuan headed to his residence alongside Luo Xiaoyue. Walking with the most beautiful girl on Mount Hua naturally garnered a lot of attention, with gazes of envy and jealousy from other male members of the sect. Although their stares pierced him, he was already ustomed to it.
The two parted near the residence.
"Oh, you''re here." Liu Zhengmu greeted him as soon as he opened the door and went inside.
"Yes, Master. You have called for me?" Zhou Xuchuan returned the greeting politely. Despite having be a young man, he still had a great respect for his master and treated him with a very humble attitude.
"You''re eighteen this year" Liu Zhengmu smiled in satisfaction as he looked at his disciple, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
A lot of time had passed, and Liu Zhengmu was now fifty, though he hadn''t aged much. It also meant that this was the tenth year since Zhou Xuchuan had gone back in time.
"There is something I must tell you."
"This disciple awaits your words."
Zhou Xuchuan nced at Liu Zhengmu to gauge his feelings. From his expression, this didn''t seem to be something bad.
"The Upper Pce talked about you yesterday."
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened. He could predict what Liu Zhengmu was going to say next.
"It''s about your cultivation journey."
Finally!
"Cultivation journey" wasn''t anything grand. It was just a term to describe a journey for disciples who had reached the age of twenty to train and enact justice in the world.
The period was about five years. Once they returned to the sect after that, they would be acknowledged as full-fledged members of the sect.
Normally, disciples would only be sent off once they were twenty, but the graduates of the Lotus Pavilion were sent off early because they were more powerful, bringing the age down to eighteen. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen had also been sent off at this age.
This journey to the world could be considered true freedom.
"Honestly, I was worried about whether to send you by yourself or not, but" Liu Zhengmu groaned and stroked his beard.
No! Zhou Xuchuan barely suppressed himself from screaming.
Normally, a guardian apanied disciples on the cultivation journey. This was a natural course of action for ordinary disciples since it would be their first trip into the world.
However, former members of the Lotus Pavilion were different, as they already had experience out in the world during their time in the pavilion.
Because of this, a meeting at the Upper Pce decided whether former members of the Lotus Pavilion were sent out with guardians or not. Normally, they would decide to send guardians with them so as not to risk losing the disciple they raised, but sometimes, they opted not to send them with a guardian, thinking that they might be too overprotective.
Also, even if no guardians were present, the disciple could simply find others from the sect when they were out in the world, which was what most former members of the Lotus Pavilion decided to do when they left the sect.
Their primary reason behind it was safety, but loneliness yed a big part as well. After all, they had lived their entire lives in Mount Hua, and their trip into the world happened when they were so young.
No matter what other connections they were to make while out in the world, the sense of affiliation and closeness would be different from what they felt toward other members of the sect.
Please!
His n would have to change depending on who would apany him. If he got a guardian, it would be very troublesome since running away in secret would be reported to the sect, ultimately making things worse.
"But the elders said it''s a needless worry." Liu Zhengmy softly smiled.
Phew! Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed in relief.
He was a bit worried about the cultivation journey since he had a record of going missing as a result of the attack from the Nine Water Gangs during his first trip to the world. He thought that the sect might be overprotective of him because of that incident, but thanks to his performance at the Lotus Sword Gathering, it seemed he managed to avoid that.
"I was very surprised when Elder Shen Yulian was the first one who said that you didn''t need one."
It appears that the old woman really felt bad for telling her disciple that I died!
He thanked Shen Yulian a little.
"This time, I''ll be able to watch my disciple leave the sect. Do not forgive my foolishness for not being able to see you off a few years ago."
"Not at all, Master. You were on a missionst time. The world needed you, so I believe there was no other choice."
"Hahaha, you''re still such a good talker. Thank you for standing up for this unworthy master."
Liu Zhengmu softly smiled and reached out. Zhou Xuchuan didn''t avoid him and quietly waited for his hand.
Although he had grown up, he still got head pats from his master. He liked that gentle touch.
He felt a pang in his heart. In his previous life, no one saw him off when he left the sect. However, that was no longer true. He still had a master like the others.
"Be off."
"I''ll be off."
He held back his tears because he did not want to worry his master.
Instead, he kowtowed nine times with respect and gratitude.
Chapter 58: Setting Out Into the World (2)
Zhou Xuchuan experienced going on the cultivation journey either. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary disciple and had never managed to join the Lotus Pavilion. He only fulfilled the requirements for the cultivation journey when he turned twenty.
However, by then, the Seven Swords War had already ended, ushering in the Era of War and Chaos. Dispatched to the battlefield, he was greeted with scenes of blood and screams of pain and agony the first time he left the sect.
That was his first time in the outside world, not on a journey of cultivation but off to war.
"It looks like I won''t be able to keep the promise I made to junior sister Luo."
Luo Xiaoyue had seen him off before he descended the mountain.
"Senior brother, see you in a year."
Her voice lingered in his mind. Although she looked slightly sad, she still smiled him off. It was good that they promised to reunite in the future, but the problem was that the Seven Swords War would start in a year.
During the war, some of the fourth-generation members on their cultivation Journeys were recalled to the sect. As for those who were about to set off, they were naturally held back as well. The sect could not afford to send out its members when a war involving the entire Orthodox Faction could break out.
No stipends were provided for the cultivation journey. The disciples had to fend for themselves, whether through heroic deeds or undertaking escort missions. Most of the disciples would look for missions to take or seek their senior brothers or sisters who were already out in the world."Please be on your way!"
"Good work."
Zhou Xuchuan, however, had no need to worry about such things. The first thing he did after descending the mountain was to go to the bank to take out the money under his name. He put pouches full of gold and silver coins in his bosom and left light-heartedly.
He had requested Li Yicai to prepare some money for this day. Thanks to that, he didn''t need to worry about money.
The Gold Will Merchants had grown rapidly during the past four years. Although they weren''t world-famous yet, they were getting there, and many people knew about them.
"There''s half a year left until the Ominous Demon''s tomb is discovered."
He''d already decided years ago where he needed to go.
"The Ten Millennia Fire Carp in Sichuan, The Seven-horned Serpent in Yunnan, and Millennium Snow Ginseng in Tibet."
He needed more power since catching the Dark Heavens Association''s attention meant that it was hard to guarantee his survival without it and because he wanted to thwart their ns.
In order to acquire power as fast as possible, he dug into memories from his previous life and formted a decent n. However, he had a time limit of just half a year, so he couldn''t do everything, so he had to focus on the three mentioned earlier.
His first target was the Ten Millennia Fire Carp in Sichuan. He would consume its inner core in order to attain Hundred Poisons Immunity and Extreme Temperature Immunity. After that, he would go down to Yunnan to hunt the Seven-horned Serpent, which was a spiritual beast and also a poison beast, to improve his immunity to poison, attaining Thousand Poisons Immunity by consuming its inner core.
His final objective was to head to the great snowy mountains of Tibet to consume the Millenium Snow Ginseng and greatly increase his qi and also immunity against temperatures.
This was the most optimal route to gain as much power as possible within the short span of half a year.
"I''ve prepared grain pills as well. That''s reassuring."
After double-checking his attire to ensure none of his belongings would slip out, Zhou Xuchuan performed a lightness art to its limits. Seventy-five years worth of internal qi surged from the acupoints of his feet.
Thanks to his full mastery of the Shadow Scattering Art, he executed it with maximum efficiency, moving like the wind. He did not need to ride a horse either, considering full mastery of the lightness art meant he was faster than one.
The downside was that the qi consumption was high, but he could still cover great distances with it. Once he reached his limit, he would eat and sleep to recover for about four hours. His meals didn''t take long since he only consumed grain pills, and he fully recovered his qi after four hours of light sleep.
The only drawback of this method was that it was boring, but apart from that, it was perfect.
"I might not feel bored if I had someone else with me, but traveling the world is best done alone!"
Even before his regression, he was always by himself. To someone like him, solitude and loneliness were things he was used to. He eased his boredom by thinking about his future ns, as well as Luo Xiaoyue''s pretty smile and voice.
Thanks to his efficient traveling method, he managed to reach Shiquan County in the Shaanxi province in just three days. Considering that reaching Shaanxi by foot or by horse would usually take a week to half a month, he had significantly reduced the travel time.
*
There weren''t many ces in the southern regions of the Shaanxi province that could be consideredrger than a vige. Shiquan, however, was an exception.
Sichuan was about two or three days away by foot to the South-west, while Chongqing was located in the South, and Hubei to the North. The distance to each of them was about the same, which meant that it was a transportation hub.
Due to its location at the crossroads between Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hubei, the floating poption, and consequently, the town itself, was veryrge.
Arriving in Shiquan at 11 at night, Zhou Xuchuan found the streets still bright and bustling, unlike other ces where people would be asleep by then.
Drunk men could be seen everywhere, singing songs or vomiting. Some men could also be seen visiting brothels, and prostitutes could be seen waving their hands by the window.
Zhou Xuchuan walked past the night streets of Shiquan. He could hear prostitutes'' seductive voices from above.
"Lord Daoist~"
Despite being clothed like a Daoist, the people present paid little mind to it. Young Daoists out in the world for the first time were easily seduced, having suppressed their sexual urges throughout their sect training. A simple seductive gesture was often enough to allure them now that they had freedom.
Zhou Xuchuan paid no attention to the prostitutes and headed straight to an inn. A middle-aged man dozing off at the counter stirred as he felt his presence
"I''m sorry, sir. We don''t have any rooms avable at the mo"
"Gold Will Merchants, Zhou Xuchuan."
Zhou Xuchuan showed him the plum blossoms on his sleeve.
"Ah!" The middle-aged man''s eyes snapped open and collected himself. "We''ve been expecting you, great lord. I oversee the Shiquan branch, and I manage this inn."
"Greetings, Shiquan branch leader."
The Gold Will Merchants no longer worked in Guizhou alone. They now had branches in various parts of the Orthodox Faction territory and Evil Faction territory. This inn was one of the businesses that the Gold Will Merchants ran.
The head merchant really knows how to make thingsfortable.
Before embarking on his cultivation journey, he had sent a letter to Li Yicai, telling thetter the route he was going to take during the journey and that he could be found here if anything urgent came up.
After this, Li Yicai gave explicit orders to the branches of the Gold Will Merchants along his route without Zhou Xuchuan having to tell him anything.
"I have ordered all branches to prioritize your convenience, great lord. If you need a false name or an identity, they will have them ready, so please, just give the word."
He was too perfect in preparing to take care of Zhou Xuchuan''s needs or taking care of potential issues. He wasn''t the Merchant King without reason.
Later, Zhou Xuchuan would ask how he had such foresight, to which he would simply reply, "The basics of any trade is finding out what the partner wants."
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t need to hide his identity, so he ryed that he didn''t need false names or identities. However, he asked the branch leader to prepare one just in case.
"I don''t need anyte supper or wine; just prepare some warm water I can use to wash. Breakfast shouldn''t be anything grand either."
He was happy at the thought of sleeping on a bed after a long time.
"Yes, I will prepare."
The owner of the inn stole quick nces at Zhou Xuchuan as if he had something to say.
"It is okay, so speak."
Although he was a little tired, listening wasn''t a problem.
"Yes!" The inn owner started his story.
Shaanxi was rich in natural mineral resources, with iron being the most abundant and traded. Gold Will Merchants'' branches in the Shaanxi province, such as this one in Shiquan, were mostly trading iron from those mines, as well as salt.
Recently, the Shiquan branch had matters to attend to in Sichuan, which was where the problem arosebandits.
"The Nine Forest Gangs from Chongqing have recently expanded their territory to the southern regions of the Shaanxi region. We, the Gold Will Merchants, once suffered losses due to the excessive toll fees."
It seemed that experts from the Forest Bandits had sometimes appeared, dealing massive damages despite the presence of escorts.
"The head merchant told me to ask you for help, on the condition that it doesn''t disrupt your ns, so" The inn owner looked afraid.
Please, just don''t kill me!
Cultivators, regardless of faction, were notorious for their disdainful treatment of ordinary people due to the powers they possessed.
The inn owner was used to that since it was amon urrence. He just didn''t want to provoke Zhou Xuchuan''s ire and risk having him go rampant.
He originally didn''t want to bring this matter up since asking someone who came to Shiquan all the way from Mount Hua without rest for an escort mission was really disrespectful. However, he was ordered to ry the message because Zhou Xuchuan could leave before hearing their plight.
"Where do these forest bandits appear?"
"They usually lurk at the border to Sichuan."
"I can escort you up to that point. Once you''re in Sichuan, you should be safe from the forest bandits."
The Sichuan province was a region that had one of the heaviest influences of the Orthodox Faction. This was thanks to the presence of the Emei sect and the Qingcheng sect, two of the Ten Major Organizations, and even the Tang Family, one of the five major families, taking care of the security.
"Thank you, great lord!"
Matters of the Gold Will Merchant weren''t unrted to him.
Though, the Ten Gale Swordsmen could handle this
The Ten Gale Swordsmen referred to Wang Yi and his group. As they had earnestly trained in the Agile Sword Art and the Gale Steps, their reputation had spread somewhat.
They''re busy taking escort missions in other ces. If theye here, that means those ces will be left vulnerable.
Although it was a bit of an annoyance, it wasn''t a huge issue. The distance wasn''t that far either, so he could resolve this for them.
Moreover, he was the one who told Li Yicai that it was okay to ask him for help.
*
The next day, Zhou Xuchuan finished meditating in his room around six and came downstairs.
"Good morning, great lord!"
When he came down, he was greeted by a group of people, who all stood up abruptly and shouted. Four of them seemed to be merchants, while twenty of them seemed to be escorts. They were all very polite to Zhou Xuchuan as if they had been informed beforehand.
Returning their greetings with a wave of his hand, Zhou Xuchuan found a suitable spot to eat breakfast. Breakfast was pretty good.
When he stood up and left, he saw four carriages, each pulled by two horses. Merchants were sitting around with horse drivers, while cultivators were checking the state of the horses.
"Well then. Let''s depart, shall we?"
Chapter 59: Defeat the Enemy by Capturing Their Chief (1)
The Eighteen Bandit Gangs usually didn''t leave the Chongqing province. However, due to a certain event six years ago, this had to change.
The discovery of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury meant that cultivators came from all over the martial world. The problem was that there were too many. Even if Chongqing was their territory, they were not at a level where they could handle all the cultivators that were gathering.
Ultimately, they had no choice but to stop their banditry and retreat to their abodes. What was fortunate was that they had some loot saved up, so they weren''t particrly worried about running out.
The eighteen bandit lords were dissatisfied that they had to open their warehouses and hand out their own assets, but they had no other choice since they wouldn''t be able to feed their subordinates otherwise. If they didn''t, it could lead to a riot.
"Let''s just wait a year"
While that was their reasoning, it didn''t take long for them to realize howcent they had been. The exploration of the treasurysted for two whole years, which meant that they had consumed a considerable amount of wealth and food.
"Urgh"
They hadn''t be poor enough to be pushed to the brink of starvation; it was just that the depleting wealth irritated them. The Eighteen Bandit Gangs returned to their banditry as soon as the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley retreated, and because they had been inactive for two whole years, their banditry became much more aggressive than before.
"Kahahah!""Boys, sweep them out!"
"Kill the men and take the women!"
They went rampant to relieve their pent-up frustration, violent urges, and sadistic tendencies. Sometimes, they even killed those who paid their tolls.
"Do you even know how much money has been spent on you?"
"You can be a little excessive, so go pige more as soon as possible!"
The eighteen bandit lords whipped their subordinates to refill the wealth in their warehouses, which had decreased considerably.
*
Rattle.
A carriage could be seen going down the road, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
It was none other than the convoy of the Gold Will Merchants.
"Haaah," Zhou Xuchuan yawned on top of the carriage roof.
Despite the rough shaking of the carriage, he looked asfortable as he would have been on a bed. He even slept for a little while.
The other escorts stole nces at him while riding their horses.
"We were told he''s an expert, and indeed he seems to be."
Ordinary people couldn''t stay lying down on top of a carriage without falling, even with good reflexes. However, staying like that for hours on end with such ease was simply impossible.
"Despite his appearance, he''s a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, isn''t he?"
Even disciples of the Mount Hua Sect would be looked down on if they were young. However, people''s opinions changed when those immature children came out to the world as young men and women. It wasmon knowledge that the majority ofrge sects sent their disciples out into the world when they reached a certain level. By this time, they would be experts from the perspective of smaller sects, and also Third and Second-ss cultivators.
"What was the great lord''s name again?"
"You fool. He''s Lord Zhou Xuchuan."
"I think I''ve heard that name before"
He was once the reason for the Mount Hua Sect''s and the Zhuge Family''s wrath, but it had been six years since then. Following the major incident with the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s Treasury that urred right after, hardly anyone remembered Zhou Xuchuan anymore. The only ones that did were the people that were directly involved.
"I know that a disciple of one of the ten major organizations is amazing, but I don''t get why the Head Merchant told us to treat him with extreme courtesy," muttered an escort at the very back, his head tilted in confusion.
"The Head Merchant has interacted with Mount Hua since thepany''s founding, hasn''t he? I''m sure that young man is backed by him, or is the disciple of someone close to him," replied one of the merchants.
"Still, he told us to follow that young man no matter what isn''t that strange?"
"Doesn''t the Head Merchant fawn over ehem, I mean, treat people with extreme courtesy when he has something to gain from of them? I''m sure it''s just that."
The merchant hurriedly changed his words midway, ncing around to ensure no one overheard.
"We''ll reach Sichuan soon anyway, so"
"Halt!"
The merchant''s words were cut off abruptly.
Neigh!
The horses at the front came to a stop, causing the three other carriages behind them to halt as well.
"I''ll go see what is happening," said the escort, trying to go off on his horse.
"Gold Will Combatants, stand your ground and do not take your eyes off the goods!" instructed an unfamiliar voice. However, they all knew that it was the voice they had to follow.
Zhou Xuchuan, who had climbed down from the carriage roof, narrowed his eyes as he scanned the surroundings. There wererge trees all around, and the small animals that constantly bothered them were nowhere to be seen.
Only then did the Gold Will Combatants realize that something was off and adjust their stances.
"HAHAHAHA!" Laughter echoed through the woods.
Theughter itself didn''t sound malicious. Instead, it had a hearty tone.
"We were about to attack. Good job realizing it just in time!"
ck silhouettes emerged from the woods.
"Whoa!" eximed the merchant at the front in surprise.
The other merchants behind also held their breaths in surprise. Vicious-looking men encircled the convoy of carriages that stopped in the middle of the road, all holding weapons like swords and axes.
What caught everyone''s attention was their green attire, or more specifically, the word "Forest" on them.
"Forest bandits!" The Gold Will Combatants all drew their swords.
"I''ll give you a chance to identify yourself!"
"Zhou Xuchuan."
"Such an arrogant attitude for someone so young. You must be from the Ten Major Organizations or the Five Great Families. Which one are you from?!"
"Mount Hua."
Zhou Xuchuan raised his arm to reveal the plum blossom design on his sleeve.
"A swordsman of Mount Hua! Heh, not a bad opponent. Is there anyone else who will identify themselves?"
The bandit looked around, but no one responded.
"You''re the only one willing toe forward?" he asked again, bbergasted.
"I alone am enough to face all of you," Zhou Xuchuan said, acting like an arrogant young master of a prestigious sect.
"Hahahah!"
"Hahaha!"
The bandits surrounding them startedughing, clearly sneering at his attitude.
"You must be First-ss, considering you''re a disciple of Mount Hua, but do you truly believe that you can handle all these men by yourself?" the bandit chuckled, raising his left hand. When he did, more bandits emerged from the woods.
There seemed to be thirty to forty of them at a nce, which was double the number of people in the convoy.
"Wh-why are there so many?" The Gold Will Combatants felt uneasy.
"Do not panic. They''re clearly trying to bluff. Most of them are Third-ss at best," Zhou Xuchuan said, trying to calm the others.
"You lunatic!" the banditughed at the absurdity. "You think you can win against us while protecting those fat pigs behind you?"
He pointed at the merchants sitting in the driver''s seat in the carriage.
"Hieek!" The merchants paled, afraid at the thought that they would die here.
"You talk too much. From my experience, you''re just some random bandit that''s plot device, but not particrly strong."
Zhou Xuchuan rotated his neck once, producing a satisfying crack.
"What kind of nonsense have you been spouting for a wh"
"Here it goes."
Bending his legs slightly to gather strength, Zhou Xuchuan''s qi surged from below his navel, enveloping his entire legs.
"Everyone, stand your ground and"
Crack!
His feet sank into the ground, causing fissures to form around him. An immense amount of qi started spreading out. Thenm he straightened his body and lunged forward.
Gasp!
The bandit, heartily chattering away until a few moments ago, was startled. Zhou Xuchuan had disappeared and reappeared in front of him in an instant.
"What the he"
"Hell am I? An expert, duh!"
Zhou Xuchuan made a terrible joke as he swung his sword. A horizontal sh of light flickered in the air before vanishing.
"Urgh!"
The bandit clutched his neck, his eyes wide in shock. He tried to utter a curse, but he was unable to. The moment he tried to gesture to his subordinates to attack, blood spurted from his neck before he copsed.
They fell into a stunned silence, needing a moment to process the sudden turn of events.
"Stand your ground," Zhou Xuchuan said once again.
"From the looks of it, most are Third-ss with a few Second-sses in between, huh."
He spun his wrist, adjusting his grip on the sword.
"There''s about thirty-five or six in total"
He imbued his internal qi into the sword. Due to the sheer amount of it, a bluish aura could be seen with the naked eye. It was sword qi.
"A-an expert?" One of the bandits panicked at the sight.
Only those of the Peak Realm and above were called experts, and sword qi was something that a cultivator could form upon reaching Peak Realm.
"Fifteen minutes."
Zhou Xuchuan''s body blurred, and when he appeared again, a bandit screamed while clutching at the hole in his chest.
"Argh!"
"D-dammit!"
"He may be an expert, but he''s alone!"
Only then did the bandits collect themselves. They started shoutingalmost screaming as they gripped their weapons with semi-dazed expressions.
"Get him!"
"Kill him!"
"Cut him down!"
There was no one to give orders, which meant that they had no formation as they rushed forward to attack.
Five nearby bandits charged at Zhou Xuchuan. He could tell that they were low level from their footsteps alone.
"Die!"
With a heavy, air-splitting swing, a bandit with a messy beard wielding a ive aimed at Zhou Xuchuan. Although there was considerable power behind his attack, that was all it amounted to.
Zhou Xuchuan went past the bandit with the ive and swung his sword.
"Urgh!"
The sensation of cutting down human flesh and bone could be felt in his hands, making him recall the battlefields that he was on before going back in time.
"You!"
The other four attacked from the front as well,cking any semnce of strategy. Zhou Xuchuan''s movements were smooth as if he was sliding on ice, breezing past the gaps between the banditsing at him from the front.
He didn''t simply just go past them though, and had swung his sword when he did, just that it was too fast for the bandits to follow.
"Urgh."
"Ack!"
Psh!
The sword left wounds, blood mists spraying as the four attackers fell without being able to attack properly.
"Watch out, Lord Zhou!" warned one of the Gold Will Combatants.
"It''s toote!"
Whoosh!
An ax left the hands of a bandit. The double-ded ax spun in the air as it flew toward the back of Zhou Xuchuan''s head.
Chapter 60: Defeat the Enemy by Capturing Their Chief (2)
"Huup!"
Zhou Xuchuan turned swiftly, catching the ax hurled at him by the de with his left hand.
"Petty tricks!"
He swung his left shoulder backward, causing his left arm muscles to bulge.
sh!
With a swift motion, he swung his left arm forward, releasing the ax from his grip. The axe flew back with even greater speed than before.
Whoosh!
The ax spun rapidly through the air, hurtling back toward its original owner, aimed squarely at his head
Smash!The ax, infused with potent qi, struck its target, causing the bandit''s head to explode and sending blood and brain matter everywhere.
Zhou Xuchuan darted forward again, this time into the shocked group of bandits.
"That bastard!''
A burly bandit thrust his spear forward, it was a rather intimidating attack for his level. However, it was painfully slow for someone on Zhou Xuchuan''s level. He couldn''t help but wonder if time had stopped.
He took a step to the left to dodge it, and the spear brushed past his waist.
"God dam"
sh!
He severed the bandit''s head before he could finish talking. The head tumbled to the ground.
"One, two, three, four nine, ten," counted Zhou Xuchuan.
He once again moved with lightning speed and disyed his sword arts.
"H-hieek!"
The morale of the bandits plummeted. They all paled at the sight of overwhelming power.
Zhou Xuchuan was like a storm as he went wild amidst the bandits.
"One."
With a vertical swing, a bandit trying to defend himself was split in half like firewood. His next move came right after. His sword movements were fluid like water.
The second, the third six bandits fell down, spurting blood in an instant. They were like leaves before the wind.
"You''re telling me that is Peak Realm?" someone shouted in disbelief.
"Hm, good catch." Zhou Xuchuan sneered.
The bandit was right. He was not at the Peak Realm, but the Absolute Realm.
"But the reason I seem strong to you all is because you''re weak."
Forest bandits, and even bandits in general, had some influence in Chongqing. However, their influence wasn''t that strong.
They simply hadrge numbers and weren''t subjugated due to concerns about upsetting the bnce of power. It wasn''t that they had no experts, but apart from the fort lords and their closest aides, everyone else was pretty much pathetic. At most, only their numbers were a threat.
"Seven, eight, nine, ten!"
Zhou Xuchuan darted forward, creating a shockwave that rippled out in all directions.
"D-don''te near me!"
The seventh bandit turned around, which was a foolish move. With a swift move, Zhou Xuchuan cut him in half at the waist.
The eighth bandit clenched his eyes shut and tried to block by raising his sword. However, he had his hand cut off along with his sword.
The ninth and tenth bandits resigned themselves to their fate. This was theirst memory. A momentter, they were falling to the ground, blood spurting from their wounds.
"Fifteen minutes I think I took less?" muttered Zhou Xuchuan as he flicked the blood off his sword.
"A-aack!"
"Run!"
The remaining twenty-something bandits all lost their will to fight and scattered, fleeing without looking back.
"Whoa" The Gold Will Combatants were dazed. The merchants, once stricken with fear, had the same reaction.
"Let''s see"
Some of the bandits even discarded their weapons in their haste to flee. Among them was a bow and a quiver full of arrows.
Zhou Xuchuan picked up the bow and quiver.
"You should go ahead to Sichuan. I''ll make sure that the bandits don''t follow us."
"Great lord, what do you mean by"
"It''ll take too long to exin. Just follow my orders for now."
Zhou Xuchuan started running in the direction the bandits had fled.
*
There was a mountain near the road they were on, so Zhou Xuchuan could easily tell where the bandits were located.
Originally, there was no bandit hideouts near this area. It wasn''t that there was none at all, rather, they were always subjugated by the Mount Hua Sect whenever they appeared.
However, it seemed a new one was built during the Nine Forest Gangs'' recent expansion. Given its distance from Chongqing, Zhou Xuchuan suspected that the bandits must have a hidden base somewhere to store the wealth they had plundered.
That''s why he let the bandits flee. His suspicions were confirmed when he reached the fortress after tracking them.
"There are more people here than I expected."
He could count about forty with his eyes, who were all talking in the middle of their base. Half of them were the bandits he had soared earlier. He could already guess what they were talking about.
"Ah."
He thought about the remaining half of the bandits when a thought struck him, promoting him to reabsorb the yang qi he had imbued into the arrow.
He had reached the fourth stage of the Eclipse Divine Archery Art. It became pretty useful after the third stage since he could imbue arrows with yang qi in the third stage and yin qi in the fourth stage. Initially, he nned to use the yang qi of the third stage to start a fire in the fortress and kill them easily, but he couldn''t do that.
"Oh well." He released the bowstring.
Whoosh!
The arrow streaked through the air, leaving aet-like trail as it drew a perfectly straight line.
"Ugh!"
He was one li away from the fortress, but the person standing on the lookout tower clutched the arrow embedded in his neck and fell, lifeless.
Zhou Xuchuan nocked another arrow, the bandits still unaware of his presence.
Whoosh, whoosh!
"Urgh!''
The bandits standing on various lookout towers fell powerlessly with arrows embedded in their necks or hearts. Zhou Xuchuan had a perfect streak so far.
When he reached into the quiver, he could feel six arrows, so he decided to make his move now, abandoning long-range sniping.
Utilizing the Shadow Scattering Steps, he dashed towards the fortress with lightning speed.
First of all is the guy that looks like the leader.
The eighteenth entry of the Offensive Stratagems of the Thirty-Six Stratagems mentioned a tactic titled "Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief." From the perspective of the strategy, soldiers were bound to fall into chaos if they lost their leader.
An hour earlier, Zhou Xuchuan had neutralized the leader of the attackers when he fought to protect the Gold Will Merchant convoy, which proved to be very effective. With now and order, the bandits weren''t able to do anything.
In truth, there was no need for Zhou Xuchuan to go so far, considering the disparity in skill between him and the bandits. He would win even if he were to attack them directly.
But there must be people trapped inside.
It wasmon for bandits to abduct women to vite them, or capture children or elderly with the purpose of human trafficking. This was the reason he refrained from using fire tactics, dealt with the lookouts, and killed their boss first. It was all to prevent them from thinking about taking hostages.
Whoosh!
The first arrow left his bow. It still drew a beautiful straight line as it shot forward.
"Urgh!"
As a bandit listened to the report from a runaway, his eyes snapped open abruptly, an arrow piercing his heart.
"We''re under attack!"
Only then did the bandits react.
"First, look for the guy that''s firing arr urgh!"
The head of the one giving the order suddenly snapped backward with an arrow protruding from his forehead.
"Where are the arrowsing from?"
Another bandit anxiously looked around.
Psh!
"Ack!"
Talking led to death, or to be precise, speaking the right words that came from normal reasoning led to death.
The third arrownded on its target.
"Over there!''
One of the bandits pointed at a lookout tower. Zhou Xuchuan was nocking an arrow on his bow.
"Th-that guy!"
Half of the bandits, in other words, the runaways, paled in fear.
"This will be a good opportunity to practice archery."
Zhou Xuchuan had never hit a moving target besides animals, so this was a good opportunity to practice.
"What are you all doing! Get rid of that archer fiurgh!"
The fourth arrow prated someone''s chest.
Zhou Xuchuan jumped down from the lookout tower while pulling on his bowstring. This time, two arrows were shot at once.
"Urgh!"
"Agh!"
This time, he shot at random and killed two bandits he saw.
"He ran out of arrows. Kill him!"
The bandits, who had been flustered the moment before, smiled slyly.
"S-stop!" warned one of the bandits who knew how powerful Zhou Xuchuan was.
However, his warning came toote as another arrow flew forward, but this time, it wasn''t a real arrowit was Zhou Xuchuan himself.
A bandit holding a single-ded ax attacked him. Zhou Xuchuan cut him in half at the chest along with the ax.
"What?"
That was the beginning. Hell let loose in the eyes of the bandits. Zhou Xuchuan used his footwork arts to freely navigate through the group of bandits and executed the Twenty-Four Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. He didn''t even need to go up to the tenth form, as by the eighth form, twenty people had already died.
Blood sttered everywhere, flesh was torn, and screams could be heard. A life extinguished whenever a sword containing a hint of the Plum Blossom shed.
In one word, it was domineering.
"Please spare us, great hero!"
Ultimately, those who survived surrendered. They dropped the weapons in their hands and smacked their heads on the ground. Theya total of fifteen of themhad lost their will to fight after seeing how powerful Zhou Xuchuan was.
"Spare you?"
"We''ll do anything!"
Zhou Xuchuan thought about it for a split second.
"No can do."
In the world of martial arts, sparing enemies rarely led to positive oues, especially when dealing with bandits.
"We''ll turn over a new leaf!"
He could''ve let them go if these men were ordinary farmers who turned into bandits because of theck of food. They tended to refrain from killing even if they robbed others, and they would return to their original upations if the condition allowed for it.
However, the bandit factions were a different case. Most of them had be bandits by choice, enjoying the act of viting, piging, and killing people without repercussions. Zhou Xuchuan knew what they would do if he were to let them go.
Although stories where bandits truly turned over a new leaf did exist, Zhou Xuchuan found it hard to believe that anyone here was going to do that.
"Are you truly going to turn over a new leaf?"
"Yes! We swear to god!"
"Okay, then I''ll see if that''s true in the next life!"
"Arrgh!"
*
Zhou Xuchuan killed all bandits except five. Four of them, he had broken their arms and tied them up before having them act as guides. He asked if they had locked people up, and indeed, the bandits tearfully led him to the prison.
"H-hieek!"
When he got to the prison, he found about fifty people there, most of them being women, children, and the elderly. They were all shaking in the corner of their cells.
"It''s okay. You cane out now." Zhou Xuchuan tried to reassure them, opening the door. "I''m here to save you. I''m a disciple of Mount Hua."
When he told them that he was a disciple of Mount Hua Sect, people burst into tears, their pent-up fears and sorrow pouring out all at once. He brought them all outside, but when he did, a tragic scene awaited them. The mothers covered the eyes of the children.
However, none of them frowned or looked away from the scene. Their eyes were all filled with gratitude.
"Thank you for saving us, Great Hero."
An elderly, seemingly representing the captives, came forward and thanked him. Tears were streaming down his wrinkled face.
"I didn''t do much. You can deal with those people by yourself. I''ve broken all their limbs so they won''t resist."
Zhou Xuchuan could imagine what kind of suffering and humiliation they must have gone through while they were locked up. That was the reason he prepared a small gift so that they could relieve their hatred and fury.
"H-hieek!"
The surviving bandits turned pale. They struggled to escape, forgetting the pain from their broken limbs.
"I saw a vault near the prison. There should be some money inside, so use it to return to your vige.
"But Great hero, we don''t dare ask for such a shameless request from our savior. We''re already indebted to you."
Normally, martial artists would confiscate all the wealth from subjugating bandits, and no one would say a word about it. Not only was it impossible to return them to their original owners, the captives wouldn''t even be alive if not for the help of those cultivators.
"It''s okay. As a Daoist, I''ll be punished if I''m too greedy."
In truth, he just didn''t need to worry about money because he had a lot of it.
"Sob thank you so much. Would you please tell me your name, at least?"
"Zhou Xuchuan. I''m Zhou Xuchuan from Mount Hua."
Chapter 61: Tang Family (1)
After destroying a bandit fortress, Zhou Xuchuan continued on his journey toward Sichuan. He used the Shadow Scattering Steps to quickly catch up with the rest.
"Great hero!"
When he joined them, he could feel the change in their attitude. Everyone looked at him with admiration.
I am a little great, he thought with pride, though he couldn''t deny feeling some pressure under their admiring gazes.
In the past, he might have worried about the consequences of revealing his abilities, but now he no longer had such concerns. If he had, he would have concealed his identity.
While he wasn''t exactly regarded as a hero, he had once yearned for such gazes of admiration he was receiving, which made him feel good.
Now that I have some freedom, this kind of treatment feels good. I''ll dly leave this frustrating hide-my-identity thing behind once I reach the Harmony Realm.
The reason he had hidden his powers until now was because of the watchful eyes of the Dark Heavens Association, more specifically, the possibility that they would try to assassinate him for being a promising talent of the Orthodox Faction.
The Dark Heavens Association was both annoying and powerful. Being a young expert with moderate fame was okay, but they would target him if he disyed excessive strength.As the wise once put it, "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short." Doing things in moderation was important.
*
Four dayster, the group arrived at Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. There were no more attacks from bandits after that.
"Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan, thanks to you, we arrived safely."
"What do we need to be worried about when someone that might be the greatest expert of Mount Hua is with us?"
"Hahaha!"
As soon as they arrived, the merchants fawned over him.
"Tsk tsk" The Gold Will Combatants clicked their tongues upon seeing the merchants'' attitude. They were really shameless.
Hm, just an average Gold Will Merchant.
The person in question seemed unfazed. Zhou Xuchuan calmly responded to their words as if he was ustomed to such treatment.
Compared to the Head Merchant, this was nothing. Li Yicai wouldn''t have stopped at calling him someone who might be the greatest expert, but will.
"Then, I''ll take my leave as I have matters to attend to."
With a wave of his hand, Zhou Xuchuan bid farewell to the merchants, who bowed in respect.
*
The Tang Family.
They were a famous n in Sichuan, known for their expertise in poison and hidden weapons. Their craft was unparalleled not just within the Orthodox Faction but the entire martial world. Their reputation extended beyond the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley to other external factions.
"Zhou Xuchuan of Mount Hua?" the third daughter of the main lineage, Tang Hui, also known as the Poison Phoenix, questioned sharply.
"Yes, mydy," replied an escort while prostrating.
"Hmm." Tang Hui furrowed her brows in thought. She tapped on the table a few times as she recalled some information.
"The boy who helped the Fourteenth Sword Hero to defeat the Watertop Spearman. He''s the disciple of Liu Zhengmu, the Gentle Smiling Swordsman, huh?"
Hearing her mutters, the escort eximed in surprise, "That is incredible, mydy. He doesn''t seem particrly famous, but you managed to remember that much based on his name alone?"
"A child of Tang is expected to be knowledgeable. I won''t feel happy even if you praise me for something so natural," Tang Hui snapped before rising from her seat.
"Why would a disciple of Mount Huae here?"
"From what I know, there are no ties between the family and the Mount Hua Sect. He probably just paid a visit since he was in the area."
She started walking after replying to her escort.
*
Tang Hui''s prediction wasn''t wrong. When disciples ofrge sects or major families set out into the world, they often visited otherrge organizations or families. This was to strengthen the ties betweenrge organizations through the interaction, even if they didn''t have any personal objectives.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s reason for visiting wasn''t solely because of that. He had three objectives in visiting the Tang Family this time.
The first was to strengthen ties, and the second was to obtain a certain medicine. The third ovepped with the first objective, and it was to meet a certain someone from the Tang Family, who had the medicine.
Poison Phoenix, Tang Hui.
Having "dragon" or "phoenix" in one''s title was special in the martial world. Only eight of them were granted such titles among cultivators in their twenties, they were the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes. Dragons were used to describe men, while phoenixes were attached to women''s titles. These eight were practically the most exceptional among the young cultivators, whether in terms of their backing, appearance or martial arts.
Zhou Xuchuan had never seen Tang Hui in person, but he knew her well. It would be strange for someone not to know her, as the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes always drew attention wherever they went. It was the greatest honor a cultivator could achieve before turning thirty.
"Thedy ising," said a page boy.
Normally, not anyone could meet her.
They were the dragons and phoenixes. Not anyone could meet them just because they wanted to. However, Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t a nobody. For one, he was a member of Mount Hua, and he was also the disciple of the Gentle Smiling Swordsman, an Absolute Realm expert.
She couldn''t refuse this meeting since the Tang Family wasn''t particrly busy. Although his reputation paled inparison to the Poison Phoenix, it was enough for her to show her face.
Squeak.
The door opened and a woman entered. Seeing that face, Zhou Xuchuan zoned out for a moment.
She was definitely beautiful, not losing out whenpared to Luo Xiaoyue. However, she gave off a fierce impression because of her sharp-looking eyes. She was of average height and looked to be in her early twenties.
Her waist-length ck hair cascaded in voluminous curls. While the shape of her eyes was striking, it was the unusual hint of viciousness of her pupils that left an unforgettable impression.
She gave off an aloof and icy aura. No, she looked like a lofty lioness looking down from above.
Most cultivators understood why the word poison was used in her title the first time they saw her, and would sometimes remark that there was no better title suited to her.
Her cultivation of poison arts should be one of the reasons behind it, but the hint of viciousness in her eyes was also impressive.
This must be the first time we''re meeting
Zhou Xuchuan only knew Tang Hui''s name and had never seen her. Although he didn''t know what happened to her in the previous life, he knew that she was entangled in wars.
It would have been impossible to forget such a beauty, so it was puzzling that he had a feeling that he had seen her somewhere before.
"What are you zoning out for, Young Daoist?" Tang Hui''s voice jolted him back to reality.
"From what I hear, the Daoists of Mount Hua are all maniacs who get excited over swords, but looking at you, it doesn''t seem entirely correct," Tang Hui blurted out, clearly being rude.
"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan doubted his ears for a moment, wondering if he had heard wrong.
Tang Hui crossed her legs and regarded Zhou Xuchuan with arrogance.
"Sorry. It was just a slip of the tongue, so I hope you can be generous and forgive me."
Zhou Xuchuan was bbergasted.
"Most men look at me with lust when they see me for the first time, telling me that I live up to my title. Compared to them, you don''t seem to be like that. It''s quite refreshing to say the least. I''m happy."
This woman was far from ordinary.
"Please don''t worry, Hero. As long as you aren''t plotting something unnecessary against me, I might be able to remember your name after you bring it up about three times."
Was the Poison Phoenix such a crazy woman?
The information he had about Tang Hui was that she possessed incredible finesse in poison arts and hidden weapons, and that she was wise and beautiful. There was some information about her personality, but from all he knew, she just hated losing.
Apart from that, he didn''t investigate properly.
"Well, then. You''re wee to stay as long as you want, so please rest. Also, refrain from looking for me as much as possible."
She outright told him not to bother her.
"It seems you''re quick-tempered, Lady Poison Phoenix. The reason I was looking for you is to have a match with you."
Tang Hui halted in her tracks.
"A match?"
"Yes, a match with a bet."
Tang Hui was very proud, even whenpared to others of prestigious ns. She showed interest whenever someone challenged her to a duel and even asked to bet on it. Of course, the opponent must first reach a basic level to be qualified.
Tang Hui sat down, crossed her legs, and fixed Zhou Xuchuan with a re, signaling him to continue.
"As cultivators, the match will naturally be a duel. It is okay if you step up, and it is also okay for you to have someone fight in your stead."
"Quite interesting words you say."
The calm before the storm turned into the storm. Tang Hui looked as if she had no intentions to conceal her aura. The surrounding air became heavier, making it hard to breathe. When Zhou Xuchuan turned his head slightly, he saw a flower turning ck and wilting. It was poisoned.
The lofty lioness looking down from above now looked like she was about to pounce at any moment. Her viciousness was so frightening that ordinary cultivators would probably find it hard to even breathe.
"I''m sorry. If you''re thinking ofparing me to other ordinary women, you''d better stop now." Tang Hui warned, her eyes gleaming fiercely as thick green smoke began to emanate from her fingertips. Soon, the room was filled with a dense poison qi, causing the walls to soften and melt.
Zhou Xuchuan remained unmoved despite his surroundings. He didn''t bat an eyelid, showing no sign of difort.
"My words exactly."
Tang Hui was twenty-three this year. She was his senior in the martial world, but not by a long shot. Since she had shown him respect, he intended to respond in kind.
"Your side of the bet?"
"A fine sword."
Slip.
Zhou Xuchuan took out Frostedge and put it on the table. Tang Hui inspected the sword with a mere nce.
"That''s definitely not a bad item, but you''re asking for too much if your aim is to have my hand in marriage."
"Not all men are interested in you."
Tang Hui frowned after hearing those words. Her face seemed to say, "What the hell do you want then?"
"Icefrost Poison."
It was a very potent poison capable of freezing the whole body, causing a cultivator to freeze to death even in the heat of summer.
The Ten Millennia Red Carp had a potent fire qi. If he were to absorb its internal core as is, not only would he not be able to absorb it properly, he could also risk internal injuries. That being said, he needed something to cancel out the internal core of the Ten Millennia Red Carp, which was the Icefrost Poison.
While he would have preferred a spiritual medicine to poison, none were avable to him at the moment.
The Millenium Snow Ginseng in the Great Snowy Mountains was good, but he would freeze to death in search of one.
There was also the method of using the yin qi from the Eclipse Divine Archery Art, but his proficiency was nowhere near enough to counteract the fire qi of the Ten Millennia Red Carp.
After careful consideration, he settled on using Icefrost Poison.
Just like how spiritual medicine could be poison if not used correctly, poison could also be used as medicine if used right.
Chapter 62: Tang Family (2)
"Poison?" Tang Hui''s brow furrowed in confusion, the perplexed expression lingering on her face.
The Icefrost Poison was not amon poison, it couldn''t be easily bought with money. However, it wasn''t something that she couldn''t give him easily. Being a family of experts in poisons and hidden weapons, the Tang Family had multiple poisons on that level.
Of course, it wasn''t something they could give out wantonly, but as someone of the main family line, she had the rights to do so.
"I never expected to hear a member of Mount Hua ask for poison. If your n was to surprise me, then I must say you were sessful."
The Orthodox Faction tended to look down on poison and hidden weapons for being underhanded. Most of them hated it, and many of them viewed using such things in contempt.
The reason the Tang Family could remain one of the five great ancient families was out of necessity. Unlike the Orthodox Faction, their enemies from the Evil Faction often resorted to poison and hidden weapons, posing a great threat. Tobat this, they also had to possess the knowledge of poison and hidden weapons.
Researching antidotes for poison required knowledge in poison, and the Tang Family was the only expert in them in the Orthodox Faction, which was also the reason why they were one of the great ancient families.
So it wasn''t surprising that Tang Hui was shocked when a disciple of Mount Hua was asking for poison, when they were known to be dedicted in refining their sword arts.
"If you''re curious about my intentions, why not ask after you defeat me?""Nice taunt, but I advise against provoking me further," Tang Hui growled, cing her hand on the table. "I can stuff your head into the river and press it down with my foot until you be a ghost!"
Pssh!
Her hand caused a dent on the table, and when she removed her hand, the wooden table below revealed a rotten dip.
What a frightening woman.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue. This woman''s personality was truly vicious. Maybe she should be called the Poison Wasp instead of Poison Phoenix[1], since she was less of a bird and more like a bee.
"I ept your challenge." Tang Hui stood up and grinned coldly.
Phew!
Thankfully, things went ording to n. Her refusal would have screwed up his future ns. Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed, but he did not reveal any of it on the outside.
He asked, "Then please decide on a date and "
He had lowered his guard a bit. The moment she saw an opening, Tang Hui darted toward him.
Tap, tap tap!
She spun on the spot, her arms bing a blur as hidden weapons shot out from between her fingers, whirling through the air with deadly precision.
"Hup!"
Caught off guard, Zhou Xuchuan momentarily forgot to breathe. Although he was surprised by the sudden attack, he reacted swiftly, instinctively tilting his head to the side to dodge the weapons hurtling toward him.
Whoosh!
As the next set of weapons came hurtling toward him, his heightened focus allowed him to make out the weapons this time.
Poison butterflies?
The butterfly-shaped hidden weapons the size of a finger were unique to the Tang Family. Zhou Xuchuan recalled the information he had about the poison butterflies of the Tang Family.
"Oh no!" He quickly threw himself to the side.
When he did, poison butterfliesnded on the spot he was just moments earlier. There wasn''t one, but twothe first one was the one he dodged by tilting his head to the side.
ng!
The poison butterflies collided, making a metallic shing sound and sending sparks flying.
"Imend you for dodging the Soulstalker Butterflies."
It was a hidden weapons technique that was known to be one of the Tang Family''s peerless arts. Avoiding the poison butterflies wasn''t enough, as it would return and chase the enemy down relentlessly.
And as the name "poison butterflies" implied, there was a considerable amount of poison smeared on the weapon, which required even more vignce.
"Your ambush failed, so now what?" Zhou Xuchuan chuckled.
The Tang Family specialized in poison and hidden weapons, which was apanied with an element of surprise. It was frowned upon by the Orthodox Faction, and they were receiving a lot of scrutiny as a result of their expertise in poison and hidden weapons. They had no reason to fear any more.
"Really now?" Tang Hui grinned, but it didn''t reach her eyes. "Your arrogance will be the very poison that threatens your life!"
Tang Hui stomped on the ground with her internal qi.
Rumble!
With a thunderous boom, the floor shattered beneath Tang Hui''s foot, sending hundreds of wooden shards flying into the air, creating a spectacr scene.
Zhou Xuchuan responded calmly without panicking. He spun Frostedge around with sword qi.
"It''s over." A grin appeared on Tang Hui''s face. It was clearly a sneer.
Whoosh!
Something fell on top of Zhou Xuchuan''s head. It was the poison butterfly that disappeared after colliding with another.
Tang Hui did not doubt her victory after seeing that.
"What the!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, startled.
It wasn''t that he was surprised by Tang Hui''s methods, it was just that, all of these attacks could be fatal.
Whoom!
As Zhou Xuchuan spun his sword three times, a powerful gust of wind erupted from its de, imbued with an overwhelming amount of qi.
The wooden shards that looked like they could engulf a human were reduced to dust against the sword pressure.
Without bothering to check the result, he effortlessly swung his sword above his head, cleanly cutting the butterfly-shaped hidden weapon in half.
The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy. Instead of a heavy silence, though, it was Zhou Xuchuan''s shocked voice that filled the room.
"You lunatic! Were you trying to kill me?!"
He would''ve died if he had gotten hit by that attack.
"Wh-what''s happening?"
"It''s the guest room!"
Amotion could be heard outside. It wasn''t surprising after all the ruckus they caused here.
"Mdy!"
Bang!
The door was forcefully smashed open, followed by a flood of cultivators from the Tang Family surrounding Tang Hui in a protective formation.
"You! Where do you think you a"
"What was your name again?" Tang Hui asked, interrupting a cultivator.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
"Zhou Xuchuan" Tang Hui mumbled the words in her mouth, her voice tinged with humiliation and fury.
Who was she? She was the Poison Phoenix of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes! Not to mention her martial arts peers, she could be considered one of the most powerful cultivators in their twenties, and yet, she had lost.
Even if her opponent was someone from the ten major organizations, it was shocking that she lost to someone so close to her own age.
"Do not touch him before I return," Tang Hui said to the rest before leaving.
She''s not nning to ambush me again, is she?
The Tang Family fought like assassins. They avoided frontal battles and aimed for times when the enemies were least expecting it. This wasn''t surprising considering their disadvantage in a frontal battle.
If they managed tounch a sneak attack sessfully, they would be very powerful. They could even kill their opponents effortlessly if things went well.
However, the consequences of failure were significant. This was because even amateur cultivators could easily deal with hidden weapons and poison if they knew about it beforehand.
With this in mind, Tang Huiunched a sneak attack at the very beginning while pretending to leave. She even overturned the floor at thest moment to obscure Zhou Xuchuan''s vision andunched an attack using the Soulstalker Butterflies.
The Poison Phoenix was at the Peak Realm, just about to reach the Absolute Realm. Considering her age, her cultivation was incredibly fast. With the sneak attack sheunched, she could have easily defeated a genuine expert of the Absolute Realm.
However, she just ran into a terrible opponent.
"Here''s the promised item."
It hadn''t been that long since Zhou Xuchuan fell into deep thought, but Tang Hui had already returned with a palm-sized metal box.
"Okay."
It was puzzling why the elders of the family weren''t here yet, but Zhou Xuchuan decided not to dwell on it. He was better off leaving this ce as soon as possible.
"It was nasty meeting you and I hope we never meet again."
He liked beauties, but not crazies. He didn''t want to get involved with her any longer. If anything, he wished that their rtionship could end here.
"Do you know the scariest part of the Tang Family?"
"I don''t particrly want to know."
"It''s that we''re the most vicious family in the martial world." Tang Hui wore a chilling smile. "A woman''s resentment doesn''t just cause it to snow in the summer. You see, I always have to pay back what I''ve received. I guarantee that poison will be snowing over you."
"I''ve heard that the Tang Family is the most generous in the world, youngdy. I have finished my business here, so allow me to take my leave. Let us act as if we''re meeting for the first time if we are to meet in the future. Haha."
Zhou Xuchuanughed and walked past Tang Hui. The cultivators of the Tang Family tried to stop him, but Tang Hui raised her hand to stop them before they could.
Then, she red at him until he vanished from sight, as if imprinting his image into her memory.
*
A rumor started circting in Sichuan.
"Hey, have you heard?"
"Heard what? I won''t know if you don''t tell me."
"My man, you''rete to the news."
"What are you so fussy about? Tell me about it."
"Not too long ago, a young man met the Poison Phoenix and challenged her to a duel."
"Isn''t that quitemon?"
A duel with Tang Hui was somewhat a famous event in Sichuan. After all, the Poison Phoenix''s beauty was knowen to be unmatched within the province.
Dozens of men visited the Tang Family every day to get a closer look at her. Among them were some who were brave enough to challenge her to a duel while demanding marriage.
As long as those challengers met certain criteria, it wasn''t that hard to challenge her to a duel, given the fact that Tang Hui hated losing.
The results were obvious. Forget winning, most cultivators couldn''tst a single round before being defeated.
The Poison Phoenix wasn''t a title she obtained through her appearance alone. Only the strongest women in their twenties could obtain a title like that.
Tang Hui would be considered exceptional even if she was put shoulder-to-shoulder with cultivators in their thirties, which meant that those that could defeat her would mostly be in their forties. Someone at that age aiming to marry her? Insults would not be the end of what he would receive. It could even involve the Tang Family''s head rushing over.
"Don''t be surprised."
"Geez, get on with it already!"
"That youth surprisingly won against the Poison Phoenix!"
"He what?"
People could not hide their surprise. Winning against the Poison Phoenix meant that the challenger was on the same level as the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes.
This rumor quickly spread throughout the entire martial world.
"Tell me more!"
ording to the rumors, a young man challenged her to a duel with some stakes. However, the duel couldn''t be considered an all-out one.
"From what I hear, the duel stated that the young challenger would win if he could survive a few moves from the Poison Phoenix."
"What? You mean he could get married to the Poison Phoenix based on that alone?"
"Hm, it seems it''s not about marriage. I''m not entirely sure, but apparently, the young man asked for a spiritual pill or wealth."
"Aha. I see now. There''s no way the Poison Phoenix of all people would get married so easily, is there? So it was just to kill time. Hahaha!"
Men sighed in relief. If the greatest beauty of Sichuan was taken, they would be unable to sleep for weeks because of envy.
"Still, it''s quite impressive someone managed to withstand a few rounds against one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes. I''m curious about who this individual is do you know?"
"I do."
"Who is it?"
"It''s Zhou Xuchuan!"
1. Wasp and Phoenix have the same pronunciation in Korean. ?
Chapter 63: The Ten Millennia Fire Carp (1)
Among the men visiting the Tang Family to meet the Poison Phoenix, about three out of ten dared to challenge her to a duel with marriage on the line. Tang Hui epted every duel and defeated them with a surprise attack right then and there.
To the people working in the main residence, this was amon urrence. Although they were surprised at first, they had grown ustomed to it over time.
This was the answer to Zhou Xuchuan''s confusion. The members of the main residence had gotten used to this scene, so they no longer paid attention even if something significant happened near the guest hall, merely thinking, this again? And going on with their lives.
This time was no different. Everyone thought that someone had fallen for the Poison Phoenix again and was throwing away his pitiful life, and that Tang Hui would emerge victorious just like she always did. This was simplymon sense.
Tang Hui frowned.
"Haa."
She kept sighing in annoyance. When she examined her reflection in a precious stone mirror, she could see fatigue on her face. This was the first time she had tasted defeat since she became the Poison Phoenix. When this news spread, she was scolded by the family. She wasn''t simply a cultivator, she was also a figure that represented the whole Tang Family. If someone of her caliber lost a battle, she would naturally have to take responsibility.
The Tang Family, being an organization of the Orthodox Faction, cared about their reputation a lot. That was why they scolded her when she exined the circumstances leading up to the duel.
As punishment, she was forbidden from epting duels without permission for a while. It wounded her pride to hold back even if someone provoked her.After that, the Tang Family quickly stepped up and dealt with the rumors so that no one would have any weird ideas. They rified that it was not a match that staked marriage, and the Poison Phoenix had not revealed the full extent of her abilities.
"An interaction between the Ten Major Organizations and the Five Great Ancient Families for the sake of friendship between Mount Hua and the Tang Family"
She didn''t like it because it all felt like an excuse.
Had not revealed the full extent of my powers huh.
That wasn''t true. While she had not attacked with killing intent, she had used her full strength in order to subdue him in one go. The family did not seem to have epted that, but the truth was just that: she had indeed used her full strength.
Maybe she could make an excuse if it was an up-front battle, but the truth was that all of her sneak attacks had failed.
Zhou Xuchuan
Handing over an Icefrost Poison wasn''t that important. What got her nerves was herplete and utter defeat. That humiliation deeply rooted itself in her heart.
*
Mount Zhongliang, Sichuan.
"Phew, I came to the right ce."
After searching multiple peaks, Zhou Xuchuan finally arrived at his destination. It took him around three hours.
The heat in this area that made it hard to breathe, the unpleasant moisture, the hot puffs of steam rising from the ground, convinced him. He walked toward therge puff of steam in the distance. Before long, he reached a hot spring over ten zhang wide.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Looking at the surface of the water that bubbled likeva, he dismissed any thoughts of dipping himself in. He felt like he would melt if he went in.
Boom!
Suddenly, a deafening bang rang out. When he lifted his head to check, he saw a geyser erupting at the other end of the hot spring. Although it was quite spectacr, he had no time to spare.
He went down the two hundred-something limestone stairs leading to the hot spring. The intense heat reddened his skin.
He did not climb all the way down and instead stopped at a suitable point and started focusing on his senses.
Found it!
An hourter, he spotted the silhouette of something swimming around in the water. It was muchrger than an ordinary fish.
"The Ten Millennia Fire Carp!"
The Ten Millennia Fire Carp didn''t actually live for ten thousand years, but it had still lived for an incredibly long time and was a spiritual beast. The fact that its habitat was such a high-temperature environment indicated that it wasn''t ordinary.
"Thanks, Dark Heavens Association."
Many spiritual medicines and beasts were discovered during the Era of War and Chaos. This was partly due to cultivators exploring various ces, and also the Dark Heavens Association''s doing.
The Dark Heavens Association operated a department called the "Archive," that collected and recorded spiritual medicines and animals, which indicated how much importance they ced on spiritual medicines and internal cores.
There was a reason they were strong. They collected many precious resources to either boost their own strength or to invite outside experts. The records written by the Archive were essible to the people who were higher in power. The purpose of that was to help various sects recover from the damage they sustained from the wars.
Zhou Xuchuan also had ess to view it as an elder. However, it wasn''t that useful since the Dark Heavens Association had gotten all sorts of spiritual medicines and animals from all over the ce.
"Before, I read them to kill time. Never did I imagine that it woulde in handy!"
There were many other things he read aside from the spiritual records. Knowledge is powerthese words were indeed correct.
Although, the truth was that he wasn''t tasked with much due to hisck of skills. That was why he had a lot of free time but he chose to overlook that fact.
"Carp!"
He shot arrows a few times. About a dozen arrows whisked through the air toward the Ten Millennia Fire Carp.
Bang!
The first arrow pierced the surface of the water and struck the ground. It contained a full one-tenth of his internal qi, so its destructive power was immense.
He believed that yang qi or yin qi didn''t really matter, so he just shot it without care. Still, the destructive power was quite something, causing a pir of water to rise into the sky.
The sudden drop of water level revealed the Ten Millennia Fire Carp. Its body was the size of an average adult''s arm, and it was as white as snow. It truly looked exactly like what he had seen from the spiritual records.
Bang, bang!
The second and third arrows struck the ground, increasing the number of pirs of water. However, the Ten Millennia Fire Carp could no longer be seen, having swam away at a speed his naked eyes could barely follow.
Its title as a spiritual beast was truly befitting, but it was still a monkey on Buddha''s palm. There was nowhere for it to run in this small hot spring.
"You''re NOT going anywhere!"
He redirected the flow of his qi to his feet and rushed into the hot spring. The heat became even more intense.
The moment his left foot touched the water, he immediately lunged forward with his right.
"Haahp!" He shouted, though it didn''t prevent him from sinking.
Instead, he used an advanced technique of the lightness art, Treading Waters, which he naturally became able to use when he fully mastered the Shadow Scattering Art.
As the Ten Millennia Fire Carp swam, Zhou Xuchuan ran in the water, creating sshes with every step.
"Core!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword struck toward the carp''s tail. Although the steam obstructed his vision, he didn''t have any difficulties. The sword pierced into the water. In order to minimize water resistance, he imbued a lot of qi into his attack.
However, things didn''t go as nned.
Ssh!
The Ten Millennia Fire Carp leaped into the air, its white body on full disy.
Oh my lord!
Zhou Xuchuan inwardly eximed, his eyes widening. He did not expect the creature to avoid his attack like this.
However, it was still too early to be surprised, as the Ten Millennia Fire Carp drew a parabolic curve. However, it wasn''t to escape, but the opposite. The snow-white carp seemed to be infuriated at its attacker and swung its tail with all its might.
Smash!
"Ugh!" a grown escaped his lips. He wasn''t this surprised even when Tang Huiunched a sneak attack at him. He almost sank because he lost control of his qi.
His cheek went numb, having been pped by a tail.
"Haha."
A grin spread across his face, yet his eyes weren''t smiling. Why did he train? It was for this very moment.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The water boiled again, creating bubbles of air that rose to the surface. The boiling was too intense to be caused by the hot spring alone.
More than sixty years'' worth of internal qi was released into the surroundings. The pure qi of Daoist martial cultivation quietly spread out before sweeping the area. He converted the qi he wasn''t using into his power.
"You won''t leave this ce alive!"
His original intention was to kill it anyway, but he still had the urge to say such words.
Zhou Xuchuan jumped in from the front.
The Ten Millennia Fire Carp spotted movements behind it. If it was a person, it might have sneered, thinking an inferior animal with feet was trying to catch up to it. It was no use as the whole area was its domain. Even a winged creature and a furry long-armed creature had been toyed by it, unable to catch it.
The carp twisted its body with the water currents to glide forward, thinking about toying with its pursuer and acting casually.
"First Form."
However
"Violet Haze Dawnbreaker!"
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning struck despite theck of clouds. Birds from the mountain flew away, startled.
The qi on the sword rotated rapidly, creating grinding noises. Its speed was so fast that the carp could not follow it with its eyes. However, being a spiritual animal, it could feel an unordinary amount of qi in the sword. It tried to escape with all its might.
"Second Form, Arc Flower Rain!"
The sword that shot forward spread out into an arc. A single streak of sword qi separated into dozens and flew forward all at once.
Boom, boom, boom!
Streaks of sword qi fell into the water, causing a mess and sending gravel flying everywhere. The shock caused waves in the water and swept past the surroundings.
The Ten Millennia Fire Carp panicked and twisted its body frantically. Its struggle looked desperate as its life was on the line. It had never encountered something like this before. Still, it managed to avoid the crisis thanks to its struggle.
Being cornered to the end of its domain, the carp tried to breathe through its gills.
Whoosh!
Zhou Xuchuan''s leg rose into the air.
"Haaaahp!"
With a mighty cry, he delivered a punishing blow with his foot.
BOOM!
The moment his heel hit the water, an explosive sound rang out, causingrge waves. The floor could now be seen after the attack.
The Ten Millennia Fire Carp shook its body frantically, trying to swim away as fast as it could.
However, its body was no longer in water, but on air instead.
"FISH!"
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword at the carp in the air.
Smash!
He struck with the blunt of the de, causing a blunt sound instead of a slicing sound. If the Ten Millennia Fire Carp had vocal chords, it might have screamed. The carp that had lived an unimaginable number of years was smacked to the ground, where it started jumping.
"Haha."
Zhou Xuchuan gently stepped on the carp with a victorious smile.
"See that, Ten Millennia Fire Carp?"
Even though there was no one around, Zhou Xuchuan still muttered triumphantly.
"Even a spiritual beast is nothing but a beast in the face of men!"
He couldn''t help but smack his lips.
What do carps taste like?
He was excited about eating it.
Chapter 64: The Ten Millennia Fire Carp (2)
"No, no. This isn''t the time for that."
Zhou Xuchuan suppressed the urge to release his pent-up sadistic urges on the carp that had pped him. He feared that some change might ur to the internal core if he pulled it out of the water.
Zhou Xuchuan smacked the Ten Millennia Fire Carp with the de of his hand, holding back so as not to damage the internal core. The struggling Ten Millennia Fire Carp passed out without being able to resist.
He opened the carp''s mouth and stuck his index and middle fingers inside, probing the carp''s innards. The squishy sensation was unpleasant, but he couldn''t afford to damage the internal core while cutting it from the outside.
"Ah."
After probing its guts a few times, his fingers brushed against something. He calmed his excitement and took out what brushed against his fingers to check. It was a glossy white ball the size of a fingertip.
"Huh?"
As soon as he removed the internal core, the carp started changing as well. It started shrinking as if all its guts and bones were removed. Even the eyes that had a hint of rity turned that into that of a dead fish.
"Looks terrible, I''m not eating that."He did not say any words of apology for killing it, or gratitude for the internal core, he just chucked it aside like it was trash. Only the fittest survived the world, no? It was definitely not because he was pped, definitely
Zhou Xuchuan put the internal core in his bosom and looked for a suitable spot to consume it. Not longter, he found a vacant cave. He went deep inside to check for any animals like bats that might disturb him, and once he was convinced that it was clear, he sat down in a lotus position.
He ced the Ten Millennia Fire Carp''s internal core in his mouth, while taking out the metal bottle holding the Icefrost Poison he got from Sichuan. He tapped on the bottleneck a few times before opening the lid.
"Mm!"
Frosty energy seeped out the moment he opened the lid. Although he had never been to the Northern Seas or the Great Snowy Mountains in Xizang, he felt this was simr to the cold weather there.
Okay, let''s move on.
He shook his head to dismiss any unnecessary thoughts.
cing the metal bottle on the ground, smoke containing Icefrost qi seeped out from the bottleneck and climbed up his body.
Huuup, huup!
He tried inhaling it, even though it was painful. Potent poison containing Icefrost qi entered his body through his nose and mouth. It only took a moment for it to spread throughout his body.
tter!
His body started trembling uncontrobly, his jaws making ttering sounds.
Gulp!
The internal core in his mouth went down his throat.
Get a hold of yourself!
Any more shivering would hinder his cirction of qi, not to the point that it would be troublesome, but to the point where it might push him to death. He focused on controlling his body to fix it in position.
As frost coated his brows and hisplexion paled, the Icefrost poison began to erode his life from outside and inside of his body.
Internal core!
Crackle!
Fire erupted from his body, it wasn''t just a small spark either. The internal core contained heat and fire enough to make his insides melt despite the Icefrost poison. He didn''t even want to imagine what would''ve happened if he consumed it alone.
Neutralize the fire qi with the Icefrost poison, and detoxify the Icefrost poison with the fire qi.
Fight poison with poison. These words perfectly described the situation.
I did hear that the poisons of the Tang Family are fearsome, but I didn''t know they were this terrifying.
The Ten Millennia Fire Carp wasn''t a spiritual beast that could be found easily, so it was surprising that there was an item that could neutralize the fire qi of its internal core. Of course, it also required his own qi to perform such a feat, but even then, the poison was not ordinary.
Zhou Xuchuan marveled at the potency of the poison as he continued to circte his qi.
Thanks to the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, he was able to control foreign qi like it was his own, so he was able to perfectly circte the fire qi and the Icefrost qi.
As the frost melted from his brow, his shivers subsided. His frozen blood vessels and meridians also thawed, bringing his cirction to normal.
The fire qi that tried to burn everything was no longer there either. Both sidesbined, and the only thing left was some residue. He gathered that residue and mixed it with the water qi left in the internal core before circting it into his dantian.
"Phew!" He breathed a sigh of relief.
He finally opened his eyes again. Hisplexion, which had alternated from paling due to the Icefrost poison and turning red from the fire qi, had finally returned to normal.
"Five years?"
Although his internal qi increased, it wasn''t by much. It wasn''t a lot considering that he had just consumed the internal core of a rare spiritual beast like the Ten Millennia Fire Carp, but he wasn''t disappointed. He never expected an increase in qi at all, since it wasn''t the reason he consumed the internal.
Hundred Poisons Immunity and Extreme Temperature Immunity!
He redirected the energies of the internal core toward gaining resistance. He also intentionally allowed the Icefrost poison to stay in his body for a long time and didn''t detoxify it right away so that he could gain resistance.
Being poisoned was a necessary step to increasing resistance against it, and stronger poisons proved to be more effective.
Generally, people would start with weak poisons, but cultivators withrge amounts of qi could increase their resistance through potent poisons as well, although, they would have to consume a lot of qi to protect their body in the process.
However, there were drawbacks to this approach. Consuming one''s qi would increase the resistance, but it could also hinder the recovery of the body. This was why Zhou Xuchuan had consumed a lot of qi contained in the internal core.
Gaining immunity to extreme temperatures operated on a simr principle, though not entirely the same. By circting fire qi and Icefrost qi, Zhou Xuchuan had increased his body''s resistance.
To confirm this, Zhou Xuchuan entered the hot springs, and through that experience, he was convinced that he had gained immunity to extreme temperatures, though he couldn''t be certain about the hundred poisons immunity.
Despite feeling the heat against his skin, it didn''t prate his body. Normally, he would have had to use his qi to protect himself from the heat. However, that would consume a lot of qi, which he didn''t need to worry about now.
"Immunity to hundred poisons and extreme temperatures at the age of eighteen? Haha!"
He couldn''t believe it. If he hadn''t checked it for himself, he would have called bullshit.
Even whenparing it to his previous life, the difference awas staggering.
"The next is the Seven-horned Serpent, huh? I''m looking forward to it already."
He could bid farewell to Sichuan now.
Zhou Xuchuan headed off to his next destination.
*
A week passed since Zhou Xuchuan hunted the Ten Millennia Fire Carp.
A group of about ten people climbed the Zhongliang mountain. These people didn''t get lost and walked straight. Soon, they came across the hot spring hidden deep within the mountains.
The one in front trembled. He had a look of confusion and disbelief on his face.
"How could this be?!"
He struggled to ept what he saw, searching around the hot spring while ordering his subordinates to search the vicinity.
"Over here!" a subordinate raised his hand, his expression grim.
The man inwardly prayed for a different oue as he hurried over.
"Fuck!" he swore, looking away. He wished that his eyes were deceiving him.
Then, he checked again.
"FUUUCK!" he swore again.
Not far from the hot springy the bones of a fish, each the size of an adult''s forearm, a size all too familiar to him.
"There are traces of sword attacks here!"
Simr marks could be seen in other ces. The numerous traces below the water level confirmed his suspicions, someone had indeed hunted the Ten Millennia Fire Carp.
Despite scouring the area, he couldn''t discern what kind of martial art technique was used, as if the hunter had merely shot out streaks of sword qi.
"WHO IS IT?!"
Who is it
A voice filled with rage echoed across the mountain.
"Which bastard of a thief!"
Dared to steal a spiritual beast of the Dark Heavens Association! He stopped himself from uttering these words aloud, cautious of the implications.
"I''ll KILL YOUUUUUUU!"
*
Zhou Xuchuan kept heading south as he used his lightness art. He didn''t bother stopping at any viges along the way. He could sleep or recover his qi wherever he wanted to.
As a result of moving with minimal rest, he was able to arrive in Yunnan in a rtively short time. When he counted the date, it had only been a month since he left the sect. If he wasn''t obstructed by various matters, he could have arrived even sooner.
Even on horseback, he wouldn''t have been able to arrive this quickly. This was something he could achieve only because he had the qi to back him up.
"Hm, since I''m in Yunnan now, I might as well get some sleep on a proper bed."
Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan.
It was a city surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the scenery wasparable to the five great mountains of the central ins. It was also home to the sixthrgestke in the central ins, and was reputed as a natural reserve tourist area.
It was also known as the "Spring City" or "Flower City," due to its warm climate all year round. Flowers could be seen everywhere around the city, making it look was a peaceful city at first nce.
"I hope I don''t get into unnecessary trouble"
However, Kunming, no, the Yunnan province as a whole, was the region with most conflicts after Guizhou, with its history running just as deep.
To the north-west was Tibet, and to the west and south was Nanman. Yunnan was never quiet when foreign forces invaded, and it was and of constant turmoil, whether it was due to conflict between cultivators or countries.
Guizhou and Guangxi were to the east. Guizhou, as mentioned before, was and of constant conflict, while Guangxi was the domain of the Evil Valley.
Aside from Sichuan to the north, it was surrounded by enemies on all sides.
What was fortunate was that Tibet and Nanman showed no intentions of expanding their territory into the central ins. Otherwise, the Orthodox Faction would have retreated from Yunnan a long time ago.
"I won''t be able to receive support from the Gold Will Merchants in Yunnan, so I should be careful not to lose my money."
The Gold Will Merchants were unable to expand to Yunnan due to the Gxy Manor and Flying Tiger Agency, who held a firm grasp over all the businesses happening in the area. They left no room for other merchants to enter.
In Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, the Gold Will Merchants did enter Yunnan. However, it was after wars had swept everything away. If these two groups weren''t weakened by the war, the Gold Will Merchants would have never had the opportunity to do so.
"Hm, if I have time after consuming the internal core of the Seven-horned Serpent, I might pay a visit to the Diancang Sect"
Mount Diancang was near Yunxian, which was only half a day away from Mount Ao, where he was headed to. Of course, that was after taking into ount that he would use his lightness art.
The next day.
He left Kunming with slight regret. He had thoughts about taking a leisurely stroll around, but he was by himself, which wouldn''t be as fun. He thought that he shoulde againter with someone else.
However, he did hear something good during his overnight stay in Kunming.
"Do you remember the youth that won a duel against the Poison Phoenix?"
"Zhou Xuchuan of Mount Hua! I know him. What about him?"
"I hear he single-handedly wiped out a group of nearly fifty bandits by himself before he went to Sichuan!"
"What? Is that true?"
"Of course. Moreover, he saved the captives in their fortress and handed out the treasures in the warehouse."
"That''s amazing! He''s a righteous hero!"
The bandits in Chongqing didn''t have anyone famous, so Zhou Xuchuan didn''t exactly make a big name for himself, but he was definitely building his reputation, little by little.
Chapter 65: Poisonblood Hell (1)
Mount Ao.
It was a precipitous mountain, with valleys running so deep that its ends could not be seen. It was also covered in clouds and fog all year round regardless of day or night, with towering peaks.
Between the peaks were perilous gorges that seemed to lead down to the depths of hell. The mountain range was shrouded by ancient trees, their ages a mystery, that turned the whole ce dark.
Mount Ao was known as a mountain of death. This was partly because of the precipitous terrain, but also due to the poisonous nts and beasts roaming the mountain.
The most infamous ce in this region was the Poisonblood Valley, which was known to be an entire world on its own. No one knew what was inside and what happened in it. There had been multiple attempts to conquer the Poisonblood Valley since ancient times, but no one had returned alive.
The entrance itself was filled with all sorts of dangerous nts, which drove away most visitors. Although some made it deeper inside, even members of the Tang Family could not return unless they were lucky.
ording to an anonymous survivor, all sorts of unimaginable poisonous creatures lived in the Poisonblood Valley, and because of its dangers, the valley was dered a forbidden zone not just by the official authorities, but also among cultivators.
However, there were men setting foot into that forbidden zone right now.
*The sect master of the Diancang Sect had seven disciples, who were publicly called the "Seven Young Masters of Diancang"..
Thest disciple of the sect master, Seventh Young Master Duan Hecheng, muttered as he stood at the entrance between thend of the living and hell.
"From this point forward is the notorious"
Poisonblood Valley!
Its name alone sent shivers down his spine.
"It''s not toote now."
Duan Hecheng turned around, eyeing the thirty determined cultivators.
"If you choose to leave, I won''t punish you."
"No, sir!" the cultivators replied in unison.
"All of you must have heard of the dangers of the Poisonblood Valley, so you should know what''s toe. We''re setting foot into hell."
"We swore to follow you for life the moment you took us in. If you hadn''t helped us, we wouldn''t be standing here today."
Duan Hecheng closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. His eyes reflected the faces of the cultivators who had resolved for death.
"Let''s head inside."
Duan Hecheng led the thirty cultivators into the valley. The entrance of the Poisonblood valley was, like its name, just an entrance. The distance to the depths was considerable, so they had to walk about thirty minutes at least to get to the main parts.
However, no one present rxed. A single mistake could cost them their lives. Here, overconfidence andcency was fatal.
"It''s so hot"
Despite the short walk, sweat poured down their faces. They looked up only to see precipitous cliffs and tall trees, which blocked the sunlight and dimmed the surroundings.
"Young master, we should be arriving at the poison insect ar"
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
The cultivator leading the way froze mid-sentence when he heard the strange sound from the surroundings.
"Prepare yourselves!" Duan Hecheng warned, his expression hardening as he drew his sword.
"Aack!"
He whirled around. A cultivator in the left wing screamed and started rolling on the ground. A monstrous insect the size of an adult palm clung to his leg.
"Poisonous insects!"
Poisonous insects were weak creatures at the bottom of the food chain in Poisonblood Valley, but they had the most numbers. Cultivators could never let their guard down because these creatures attacked anytime and anywhere, making sleeping and relieving themselves difficult.
"Watch ourgh!"
Duan Hecheng tried to save the bitten cultivator and swung his sword, but his efforts were futile. A swarm of poisonous insects he hadn''t detected came out of the valley. The mix of ck and green in the insect swarm swallowed the cultivator before going on a rampage again.
"Don''t let your guard down just because it doesn''t take long to cure yourself! They exploit any opening and rush toward you!"
"Watch out not to get bitten!"
"Aaargh!"
Hell had just begun.
"Get a hold of yourself!"
*
A poisonous insect fell from a tree branch above,nding on Zhou Xuchuan''s arm. Without warning, it sank its tong-like mouth without hesitation.
"Ah, so annoying."
Crush!
He swatted the insect, crushing it and scattering blood everywhere. The blood was also poisonous, but it was harmless as a result of his Hundred Poisons Immunity. There was no need to cure or detoxify anything, it wasn''t necessary.
"Enough with these bugs!" Zhou Xuchuan decided, drawing his sword. He infused the de with sword qi before swinging. He didn''t put a lot of qi into it, since he had to prepare to fight the Seven-horned Serpent.
"Disappear!"
He spun, releasing the sword qi in the form of wind around him as it swept through his surroundings. The sword pressure within the sword qi wind pulverized the insects. Nearly a hundred insects around him had disappeared in an instant.
The ones that barely managed to survive were also rendered immobile, trembling on the ground.
"Since I''ve dealt with the annoying bugs, let me take my time looking around, shall I?"
Zhou Xuchuan started walking, holding his sword loosely. He wasn''t actively looking for the Seven-horned serpent, since he already knew it lived in the cave at the end of the valley.
He had never been there, but he wasn''t worried because of the uracy of the records kept by the Dark Heavens Association. Those people had been exploring the Poisonblood Valley for a long time now.
He couldn''t help but fear how strong they were again.
"Found it!"
He found some grass with colorful dots scattered across the leaves, a clear sign that they were poisonous. He dug out the soil around it with his hand, being careful not to damage the roots. After digging out the roots, he dusted off the soil before putting it in his mouth.
Anyone who saw that might wonder if it was a medicinal herb instead of poison, but
"Hm, this tongue-numbing taste poison!"
No.
"There''s poison in the leaves and all the way down to the roots. It''s not too potent nor too weak. It should be helpful in increasing my poison resistance."
The Poisonblood Valley was a forbidden zone, but members of the Tang Family ignored the warnings and came here regrly, since this ce was like heaven for those cultivating poison arts, with spiritual medicines littered everywhere. However, even they couldn''t dig deeper and only searched around the entrance before returning.
While Zhou Xuchuan had never trained any poison arts, he consumed poisonous nts specifically to increase his resistance.
Nom, nom
A single leaf peeked out of his mouth, apanied by a stream of dark blue, repulsive nt juice.
"Poisonous nts, poisonous nts"
He put everything he found in his mouth, his jaws worked tirelessly, chewing on the nts firmly so that he could digest it. It was fine even if he couldn''t eat everything. For this specific exploration, he had bought a mesh bag from a nearby herbalist. d in a Daoist outfit, holding a herb and chewing on poisonous nts, he was a sight to behold.
Absorbed in nt gathering, he lost track of time. The sun couldn''t be seen in the Poisonblood Valley, so he had no specific way of telling time either.
About two hours (judging by feeling)ter, he stopped digging abruptly.
"Screams?"
Cries of beasts weremon here, so he wasn''t bothered by them. However, what he heard just now did not belong to a beast.
"Aaaack!"
It belonged to a human.
"There are humans nearby? Why?"
This wasn''t the entrance, but a region filled with poisonous creatures everywhere. Even experts of the Tang Family wouldn''t venture this far.
No, in the first ce, most people would return after encountering a swarm of poisonous insects. It was hardly likely that there were people here.
"Aaack!"
His eyes narrowed, and his hand reached for his sword.
Who is it?
Zhou Xuchuan''s face was tense. Killing intent, which he had never disyed before, started surging up. He circted his qi to expand his senses. Although he couldn''t tell exactly because of the distance, he detected several cultivators.
The Dark Heavens Association?
Few dared to venture this deep, making the Dark Heavens Association the most likely culprit, since they visited this ce frequently. Not just medicinal herbs, they also collected all sorts of poisonous nts from around the world, and this ce, the Poisonblood Valley, was a treasure trove for those in need of poison.
As far as Zhou Xuchuan knew, they collected poisons or hunted poisonous beasts for their internal cores, all while carefully avoiding the Tang Family.
Let''s have a look.
If these men belonged to the Dark Heavens Association, he was nning to stay hidden until they left. Catching their attention at this point in time would bring an endless headache.
He gently walked forward, being careful not to make any sound. He slowed his pace, barely putting any weight on his feet, and focused on erasing his presence. His breathing slowed down to the point that some might mistake him for a corpse.
"Fuck off!"
When he approached the source of the screams, he could hear all sorts of sounds. He climbed onto a high tree branch to get a better view. In the distance were around twenty cultivators. They stood back-to-back, fiercely fighting off a swarm of poisonous creatures.
It didn''t take long for him to see through their identities.
It''s not the Dark Heavens Association.
Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed in relief, his tension easing. As apologetic as he felt, he could only be assured after some members were injured by the poisonous creatures.
The Archive of the Dark Heavens Association was a group full of experts, since they had to collect all sorts of spiritual medicines and hunt various spiritual and poisonous beasts. He could hardly believe that such experts would be injured by low-rank poisonous creatures.
Then who are they?
He was sure that they weren''t from the Tang Family, which puzzled him even more. The Poisonblood Valley wasn''t a ce someone stumbled upon identally. As a forbidden zone, it had clear warnings near the entrance, not to mention signs of sword attacks etched into the rocks.
This meant that these people hade to the Poisonblood Valley on purpose, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn''t arrive at an answer.
''Forget it, let''s help them for now.''
Still, he did manage to figure out that they were from the Orthodox Faction.
*
"Huff, huff!"
It was a nightmare. The Poisonblood Valley was hell, and there was a reason it was designated as a forbidden zone. The countless poisonous insects did not give Duan Hecheng and his group a moment''s rest, attacking them constantly.
And the further they ventured, the deeper into hell they descended.
Chapter 66: Poisonblood Hell (2)
Insects that could easily be stomped to death outside grew to extraordinary sizes here. Centipedes, spiders and the like were asrge as small children, which shocked them to their core. Some of theirpanions screamed in fear, but no one could me them for being cowardly. After all, everyone was barely holding back their own screams.
The nearly thirty people they started with had reduced significantly, but the bigger problem was that not all survivors were in good shape. There were several of them who were exhausted from the consumption of qi, or had been poisoned.
Their initial resolve to follow Duan Hecheng to the ends of the world had disappeared. Some of them were trembling, their eyes darting about frantically.
Their morale had plummeted, while fatigue and poison worsened. Theck of rest meant that their umted fatigue was not something they had experienced before.
"Aaack!"
Until now, they had faced only poisonous insects, spiders and centipedes. They hoped that there were no more, but their hopes were dashed when a poisonous creature appeared, splitting apart a bush at waist-level.
It resembled a mantis, but as expected of a creature in the Poisonblood Valley, it looked extraordinary. It was at least two meters long, while the forelegs looked sharper than most swords, scaring them at the mere sight of them. Only its chest, which could be seen between the forelegs, was yellow, while the rest of its body was dark brown.
"Shit!"
They couldn''t believe that a mantis about two meters in length could exist, even though there was one right before their very eyes. They had heard that surviving in the extreme conditions of the Poisonblood Valley eventually led to a mutation in the species itself, but the mantis before them defiedmon sense. It couldn''t be ssified as an insect anymore."Young master, watch out!"
The giant mantis swung its foreleg. Despite its size, its speed was like the wind.
Instead of dodging, however, Duan Hecheng chose to deflect the attack with his sword.
"What in the world?!" he shouted in disbelief and shock.
Despite shing with sword qi, the mantis'' foreleg was perfectly intact. Although he had heard that some spiritual animals could go toe-to-toe against experts who could utilize sword qi, it was still shocking to meet one in real life.
Hiss!
The giant mantis rubbed its mandibles and let out a strange shriek, trying to strike Duan Hecheng''s shoulder.
"Not happening!"
Duan Hecheng quickly dodged to the side. He was using the Shooting Arrow Steps, an advanced footwork art of the Diancang Sect which was known to be the fastest when it came to instantaneous eleration.
"A mere poisonous creature!"
He aimed for the opening created when the mantis had yet to retract its foreleg after attacking. He momentarily stepped back before digging in to the left. The hand gripping his sword tensed in fury as if he was trying to relieve the resentment of the people that died here.
Sunshooting Sword!
His sword sliced through the air faster than the naked eye could follow.
Psh!
The tip of the sword urately pierced the giant mantis'' mouth, sending unpleasant ck blood flying everywhere.
I did it!
Duan Hecheng rejoiced. Attacking the inside of the mouth directly damaged this monster much more effectively. He even checked that he poked a hole in its brain. He drew his sword sideways to make sure it was dead, splitting the head in half. The top of its head dangled before tumbling to the ground.
"Young Master!" A cultivator watching the scene screamed instead of cheering.
"What?!" Duan Hecheng panicked and stepped back. One of the mantis''s forelegsshed out, narrowly missing where Duan Hecheng had stood moments before.
The mantis followed up with several swings of its forelegs, its head still missing. For some reason, it was much fiercer than before.
"What is this, a zombie?"
No, a zombie wouldn''t move with its head gone. This wasn''t a mantis, but a freakish creature.
ng, ng, ng!
A foreleg lunged from the upper right. Duan Hecheng deflected it upward, but he was thrown off-bnce. The force behind each swing was staggering, having be stronger than before. The frequency of its attacks also increased.
There was a rain of scythe-like silhouettes, but Duan Hecheng managed to counter with the Sunshooter Sword Art. Fortunately, the Sunshooter Sword Art of the Diancang Sect focused on extreme speed, allowing him to deflect the attacks.
"Arrgh!" someone else screamed in pain.
Duan Hecheng nced over, his heart sinking. A cultivator he had seen in terrible condition had been sliced right in half from head to crotch. The cut was clean like the work of a fine swordsman, but the problem was that what had disyed such talent was a poisonous creature.
"No" he cried out in despair. What emerged from the bushes was another giant mantis. This time, it seemed to be a mutant with four forelegs.
He didn''t want to die here. He wanted to survive and return. However, there was no hope in sight with despair all around. He was unable to recover his spent qi either, so he was getting tired.
No matter how skilled an expert was, they would be doomed if their qi did notst long enough, except for external cultivators.
Someone please help
Duan Hecheng knew how ridiculous his wish was. No one other than lunatics would venture this far into the Poisonblood Valley, filled with poison and unsuitable for humans.
Despair enveloped him, weakening his resolve, his grip on his sword slipping in defeat.
The headless giant mantis did not miss that opportunity.
"Oh no!"
But instead of the expected attack, the mantis thrashed around wildly as if it was having intercourse with a female, desperately struggling not to get eaten by it. The moment he let his guard down meant that his life was as good as gone.
"Leave me here everyone and run?"
He opened his eyes that he had subconsciously clenched shut, his expression filled with confusion. He had heard that when facing death, people''s lives sh before their eyes, and that time slows down, but even then, too much time had passed. Theck of pain made him check his body.
And then, he saw a man''s back.
"The giant mantis I''ve only seen in the records, huh?" the man said curiously before tapping on the ground with his sword. The action caused the frenzied mantis to explode into five pieces.
"What in the"
Duan Hecheng was unable to understand the current situation. He couldn''t help but suspect if he was dreaming right now. This was a stranger, his voice and his silhouette were unfamiliar to him. He caught a glimpse of the stranger''s face, but even then, he could tell that he had never met this man before.
"When mantises have intercourse, the female eats the male," said the man, casually stomping on the foreleg of the giant mantis that had cornered him just moments before. Blood sttered from the crushed scythe-like foreleg.
"And it is said that the female starts eating from the head, which is easy to grab, but apparently, the intercourse bes more intense, not less."
The man lunged toward the other mantis. The giant mantis shed at the man with all four of its forelegs, each aimed at his head, shoulder, thigh and chest, all parts that could lead to fatal injuries.
However, with a few deft steps, he effortlessly dodged each strike.
"That footwork art!"
Duan Hecheng was the direct disciple of the sect master, which meant that he had interacted with the ten major organizations and the five great ancient families. He was familiar with the man''s movements, as he had seen the footwork somewhere before.
"A mantis'' head supposedly contains nerves that restrains the body from overexerting itself, simr to humans."
Flutter
Duan Hecheng heard the illusion of plum blossoms fluttering down along with the wind. Those movements even contained a hint of leisure.
"If you blow its head off, those restraining nerves disappear along with it, increasing the mantis'' power and speed by multiple times!"
Duan Hecheng could never be soposed facing such a giant mantis, yet, this man listed a bunch of useless trivia while toying with it.
Screeech!
The mantis, with no legs left for bnce, propped itself up with two forelegs, the remaining two swinging menacingly to prevent the man from approaching.
"So, if you see a mantis in the future, you must turn its whole body into a pulp or kick it away!"
The man''s sword shed the forelegs. The outer shell of the foreleg, which could even hold against sword qi, was sliced open like tofu.
"Haahp!"
The giant mantis cried out miserably, as if it was asking to be spared. However, the man ignored its plea with a shout and kicked it away. The qi contained at the tip of his foot smashed the chest between its forelegs, obliterating it.
Screee!
The mantis powerlessly fell, and the eyes on its unsevered head dimmed lifelessly.
"To be honest, I did expect a heroic story-like situation where a fairdy shouts for help, and I arrive in the nick of time to save her."
The man uttered some iprehensible words, channeling qi into his sword.
Duan Hecheng caught a glimpse of bluish qi flowing like water. Its color indicated that the man was from the Orthodox Faction. It seemed he had managed to avoid getting indebted to those from the Evil Faction, the Demon Cult or the Blood Cult.
"But still, there are way too many poisonous insects here, aren''t there?" The man''s voice contained irritation and pent-up frustration toward the insects.
Duan Hecheng almost voiced his agreement. The man, still looking irritated, swung his sword a few times in front of him, causing sword winds.
Pop, pop, pop
In the blink of an eye, nearly hundred poisonous insects burst into pieces.
Duan Hecheng could do that too, but he wasn''t doing it because the qi consumption was too high. He almost told the other party to conserve their qi, but he ended up staying silent.
The man unleashed a barrage of sword winds without breaking a sweat, massacring the poisonous insects around them.
The other cultivators, who had be sitting ducks, watched this overwhelming disy of power in stunned silence.
"A-am I dreaming right now?"
"Is this a hallucination from the poison?"
In their most desperate hour, an expert appeared out of nowhere and practically wiped out the deadly poisonous creatures. The scene was too unbelievable, so it wasn''t surprising that they were doubting what they were seeing.
Khiaaaa!
"Shut up!"
A weird poisonous creature rushed toward the man. However, the man just sliced it apart in annoyance. Corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowed like rivers, thankfully none of it human.
Some timeter, long enough for hot tea to go cold, Duan Hecheng and his subordinates still watched with mouths agape. In front of them, the deadly poisonous creatures were running away from a man in fear.
"Phew!" The man seemed to finally take a breather, cing a hand on his waist. He didn''t look that tired though, as not even a drop of sweat could be seen on him.
"Mount Hua" Duan Hecheng muttered when he spotted the plum blossom patterns on the man''s sleeve. His confusion deepened.
"Just who in the world are you?"
The man sheathed his sword instead of answering. Despite theck of sunlight, his ck eyes looked radiant.
"Zhou Xuchuan." The man grinned.
Chapter 67: My Hobby is Divine Archery (1)
Zhou Xuchuan retrieved the bag he had left nearby and walked over to Duan Hecheng''s group, who were still stunned.
"Zhou Xuchuan of Mount Hua," he introduced himself curtly.
"I-I''m Duan Hecheng of the Diancang Sect"
"Ah! The Seventh Young Master of the Diancang Sect!" Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened in surprise.
Why would someone of his statuse to a ce like this..?
Even though the Diancang Sect''s martial arts were highly practical, they still did not use poisons. They had no reason toe to the Poisonblood Valley.
"Excuse my earlier impoliteness. I was unaware of your status."
"You''re our savior, Great Hero Zhou, please don''t worry about such things."
Duan Hecheng might be the youngest of the Diancang Sect''s young masters, but he was still above Zhou Xuchuan in age and was in his early thirties. Not only was he a senior in this world, he was also above Zhou Xuchuan in status considering that he was the disciple of the sect master, even though they didn''t belong to the same sects."And if I may be so bold enough to ask, could I ask you to escort us to a safer ce?"
Everyone was frozen in shock, but they weren''t exactly in good condition right now. The nearly thirty people they had started off with had now been halved, with half of them being injured. Not only that, they had barely slept, not to mention eaten, so they were all in terrible condition.
"Understood. I discovered a cave that could be used as refuge. Follow me."
*
The cave was not that deep, at least not deep enough for them to worry about any creatures showing up suddenly from inside. Duan Hecheng and his group were finally able to rx.
"We owe you our lives, Great Hero Zhou," Duan Hecheng expressed his gratitude.
"Not at all. I have only done what I had to." Zhou Xuchuan waved his hand dismissively.
"Helping someone may be natural as a person of the Orthodox Faction, but it is not easy to put it into practice. Above all, aren''t we in the notorious Poisonblood Valley where one cannot guarantee their own lives? Please, allow me to express my gratitude."
Duan Hecheng respectfully cupped his fists.
He is like a character from heroic tales!
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but inwardly exim. From what he could tell, Duan Hecheng''s actions were all genuine. He wasn''t saying things out of formality. Putting everything else aside, it wasn''t easy for someone to bow toward juniors much younger than them.
"Thank you, Great Hero!"
The cultivators resting behind him also stood up and expressed their gratitude.
Hm, this feels strange.
For some reason, Zhou Xuchuan felt an odd sensation prickling at him. This was the first time other cultivatorsover a dozen of them to boothad shown gratitude toward him.
Usually, it''s the other way round
When his life hung by a thread on the battlefield, some people appeared like the wind to save him. He could remember bowing toward them in gratitude as they left.
"That aside, are you alone here, Great Hero Zhou?" Duan Hecheng asked, his eyes filled with hope.
"Oh, yes. I''m by myself."
"Whoa you''re here by yourself in the Poisonblood Valley?" Duan Hecheng''s disbelief was evident, he seemed to be wondering why Zhou Xuchuan would do something so outrageous.
"Wh-what''s so wrong with being by myself?"
For a moment, Zhou Xuchuan felt a surge of frustration that he even stuttered. His previous life, when he woke up by himself, ate by himself, trained by himself, studied by himself, and fought by himself shed before his eyes.
"I see. Consider me overly worried after the remarkable skill you just disyed, but aren''t you aware that the Poisonblood Valley is one of the most dangerous ces in the martial world, and is even designated to be a forbidden zone? You''ll risk your life the moment you are overconfident in yourself, so you should abandon that train of thought immediately," Duan Hecheng said, expressing his genuine concern.
Zhou Xuchuan felt embarrassed that the bitter memories of his previous life got the better of him and stayed quiet. He felt like he would only embarrass himself further if he talked about it.
"Ahem! Thank you."
"You seem to be on your cultivation journey, but what brings you to the Poisonblood Valley?" Duan Hecheng asked.
"I wanted to prove my strength by surviving against the poisonous creatures here."
Some of the visitors of the Poisonblood Valley were like this. Among them, half of them died, while the other half returned after loitering near the entrance.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t exactly say that he was after the internal core of the Seven-horned Serpent. He feared mentioning it would spark greed. Thankfully, Duan Hecheng didn''t seem suspicious.
"Great Hero Zhou, if you do not n to leave the Poisonblood Valley I know it is shameful of me to ask this after you saved our lives, but could I ask you for a favor?"
"A favor? What do you mean by"
"If you could, we''d like you to hunt down a spiritual beast known as the Seven-horned Serpent with us."
Zhou Xuchuan almost gasped out loud.
The Seven-horned Serpent?
From what he knew, the Dark Heavens Association was the only organization that knew about the Seven-horned Serpent. Hearing Duan Hecheng, a cultivator from the Diancang Sect, mention it, naturally shocked him. He briefly wondered if the Diancang Sect was the Dark Heavens Association in disguise.
He quickly dismissed that idea. They were all too weak, and this ploy seemed too clumsy for them to be considered the Dark Heavens Association in disguise. Moreover, if the disciple of the sect master belonged to the Dark Heavens Association, Zhou Xuchuan would have known about it in his previous life.
"I''m sure you have a lot of suspicions. Allow me to exin the details," Duan Hecheng anticipated Zhou Xuchuan''s reaction. "First of all, how much do you know about me, Great Hero Zhou?"
"Hm"
Zhou Xuchuan hesitated, prompting Duan Hecheng to smile wryly.
"It''s okay. You probably only know that I''m the youngest of the seven young masters of the Diancang Sect. That''s normal."
This was true for both of Zhou Xuchuan''s lives, since he didn''t know much about Duan Hecheng. He had heard that this man had died somewhere, but he couldn''t remember exactly when.
"I, Duan Hecheng, am a disciple of Diancang Sect''s master, but I am also the son of the Gxy Manor''s lord," said Duan Hecheng, revealing shocking facts with a calm expression.
"Whoa" Zhou Xuchuan eximed. He hadn''t expected this at all.
"This will take a while," Duan Hecheng continued. "Are you okay with that?"
"I am okay, but would it be okay for you to tell me all these things?"
"You saved my life. Besides, considering the favor I''m asking, it feels natural to provide this information."
If the Tang Family could be considered out-of-ce among the Five Great Ancient Families, the Diancang Sect was also out-of-ce among the Ten Major Organizations.
The Diancang Sect, was a Daoist Sect alongside the Zhongnan Sect, but it also had visibly secr tendencies. This was as a result of their geographical location in Yunnan, where they were surrounded by Tibet, Nanman, Guizhou and Guangxi, which made them develop their martial arts in a more practical manner.
The Diancang Sect''s entire history was riddled with conflicts with surrounding regions, that was the problem. Conflict, or in other words, war, needed money, and not a small amount. Ending a conflict came with its own set of problems as well, such as reparation of damages. These problems strained the finances of the Diancang Sect.
"When the Diancang Sect was having a headache over their finances, the Gxy Manor approached them with a proposition."
Zhou Xuchuan had a good guess about what it was.
"Take the child of the manor lord as the sect master''s disciple. In other words, the manor wanted the Diancang Sect''s martial arts and protection."
Even if the Gxy Manor ran the Flying Tiger Agency, and nearly had a monopoly of all business in Yunnan, they were in the end, just merchants. They needed power to protect the manor and their assets, and their own escort agency did not suffice.
Not to mention theck of experts among the escorts, even those escorts were hired wanderers. They needed the power and reliability of experts. Naturally, the Diancang Sect of the Ten Major Organizations was a powerful guarantee for them.
"The Diancang Sect agreed, but with three conditions. First, only one person can be the sect master''s disciple. Second, that disciple will be restricted from telling anyone else about the martial arts. And third, there would beplete silence about the arrangement. I believe you can see why."
The first and second were all self-exnatory, and the third was because they feared criticism from other organizations in the martial world, since this deal between the Diancang Sect and the Gxy Manor amounted to trading martial arts for money. No matter how flexible the Diancang Sect became, they would receive disdain from other sects in the martial world if they were tomit such acts.
Buying martial arts manuals for money was frowned upon by the Orthodox Faction. Although the Diancang Sect had done so with severe restrictions, they wouldn''t be able to avoid disdainful gazes if they were to be discovered.
Even the Evil Faction would ridicule the Diancang Sect for losing their dignity if they knew about it. This led to the sect enforcing a silence order on the matter to prevent rumors from spreading.
"Is it okay for you to tell me something important?"
"And my senior brothers, the other Seven Young Masters, know about this." Duan Hecheng avoided Zhou Xuchuan''s question.
"Would you like guess what my senior brothers think of me?"
"Mm." Zhou Xuchuan groaned instead of replying. He could guess from Duan Hecheng''s grim expression.
"A rich young master who became the sect master''s disciple through luck, as well as the shame of the Diancang Sect. That''s how they see me." Duan Hechengughed bitterly. "It would been easier if I had family to encourage me, but I had none of that, so it was hard to endure."
Zhou Xuchuan thought that there was more to the story than this.
"Anyway, I wanted to be acknowledged as a cultivator of the Diancang Sect by my senior brothers. That is why I came to the Poisonblood Valley to hunt the Seven-horned Serpent."
"When you mention the Seven-horned Serpent"
"Oh, my, I totally forgot I asked you for help in hunting the Seven-horned Serpent and didn''t even exin what it is." Duan Hecheng scratched the back of his head apologetically.
"This happened before the Poisonblood Valley was designated as a forbidden area, but there was a time when cultivators of our sect went on an expedition. Back then, they came across a snake with seven horns, and from the records, even augmented qi couldn''t harm it."
I see, the Diancang Sect knew about it too, huh.
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t surprised, since Mount Diancang and Mount Ao were close. If local herbalists kept running into idents around the area, the Diancang Sect naturally had to respond, since helping others resolve problems through their martial prowess could increase their reputation.
Above all, if they could process some of the poisons they obtained and traded it with the Tang Family, it could help out with their finances as well.
"I heard that crafting a weapon from its horn could probably create one of the greatest swords in the world. If I can verify its legend and hunt it down, my senior brothers will definitely acknowledge me as a true member of the Seven Young Masters of the sect."
He isn''t wrong, but
Zhou Xuchuan was originally nning to take the horn as well, given its value as an ingredient for a weapon.
Duan Hecheng. His personality isn''t bad, and his martial prowess is also quite decent. His background is intriguing too. The fact that he isn''t well-known despite that is because his sect considered him a disgrace and hid him, huh?
Zhou Xuchuan could picture the circumstances in his head.
And the fact that he had not made himself known in the future means that
He was probably destined to die here.
"I know I am practically taking a mile when you already gave me an inch, but I must ask you regardless. I swear I will never forget this grace!" Duan Hecheng pleaded desperately.
Chapter 68: My Hobby is Divine Archery (2)
"Understood, I''ll help," Zhou Xuchuan replied without hesitation.
"R-really, you will?"
Duan Hecheng seemed taken aback by the immediate response, as did the others around him.
"I say this again this ce will be more dangerous the deeper we go in. There will be poisonous creatures far more dangerous than the bugs we just faced, and the Seven-horned Serpent itself is also a very powerful spiritual beast."
"Didn''t you say augmented qi alone doesn''t work against its horn? Then it''ll be okay. With this many members, we''ll definitely be able to do something."
Ugh.
Duan Hecheng felt a pang of guilt. He knew deep down that the cultivators apanying him wouldn''t be much help. However, if he admitted this, this young expert from Mount Hua could leave them here. Right now, he needed all the help he could get.
Eventually, his desire for acknowledgement outweighed his conscience.
I''m sorry.Duan Hecheng wanted to take responsibility for the remaining fifteen cultivators and get them home safe. However, he needed the help of the young man in front of him to do that. He set his conscience aside in the face of reality. He also suppressed the guilt of pushing his savior to and of death.
"Then please, take care of us."
*
Everyone was exhausted and sleepy, so they decided to take turns sleeping. Those awake conversed with Zhou Xuchuan, introducing themselves. Through their discussions, Zhou Xuchuan learned that Duan Hecheng was thirty-one this year, and a Peak Realm expert.
"That aside, you seem to have expended so much qi, yet you don''t look tired at all."
"I may look like this, but I was once known as Zhou Xuchuan, the internal qi master."
Nope, not once had he ever been called that.
"I apologize. I''ve been engrossed in cultivation and am not well-versed in worldly matters."
Duan Hecheng had faced heavy persecution from his senior brothers as soon as he entered the sect, and it had been a long time since he first wanted to receive acknowledgement from them and started putting in the effort. It wasn''t surprising that he wasn''t familiar with Zhou Xuchuan''s name.
Moreover, Zhou Xuchuan''s name had briefly surfaced during the discovery of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury but was soon forgotten. As for the recent match with Tang Hui, Duan Hecheng likely hadn''t been paying attention due to preparations for entering the Poisonblood Valley.
"It''s fine. That aside, how much of the Seven-horned Serpent''s horn do you need?"
"It''d be a relief if we can take just one. Honestly, while I said we''ll be hunting it down, killing it won''t be easy."
"Then"
"The horn cannot be cut even with augmented qi, but the scales and flesh are vulnerable. Therefore, we must rip the horn and the flesh underneath it all at once and run away at full speed.
"Does that mean I can take the rest of the horns?"
Originally, he nned to obtain the Seven-horned Serpent''s horns since he wanted the internal core anyway.
"Try it if you can. If it''s possible, you can take everything except my portion." Duan Hechengughed emptily.
That''s a lot of things to do.
Whether it was the Seven-horned Serpent''s horn, or the Seven Swords War from the Ominous Demon''s tomb, there were a lot of things he had to take care of.
Zhou Xuchuan pushed his ns to the back of his mind and began walking.
*
"Poisonous insects."
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword horizontally.
Pooow!
The sword sliced through the air, a gust of sword wind sweeping the surroundings, and reducing the nearby poisonous insects to puddles of blood.
Grrrr!
An animal, clearly a mutant of some kind, emerged from the bushes. It was apanied by centipedes, moths, spiders and many other creatures.
"Seventh Young Master, please focus on defending."
"Call me Young Master Duan. Are you okay with that?" Duan Hecheng asked as he severed a poisonous centipede in two.
"Yes, conserve your qi. Same for the rest of you, cultivators of the Gxy Manor. Stay back as much as possible."
The Second-ss and First-ss cultivators here weren''t disciples of the Diancang Sect. They were from the Gxy Manor.
"Guard that bag instead."
Zhou Xuchuan darted forward, munching on some poisonous nts. His breathing wasn''t ragged, nor was he shouting to exert strength. He just silently swung his sword around. However, the poisonous creatures that haunted Duan Hecheng''s group fell in the face of his sword.
The growing pile of corpses, easily exceeding three hundred, left the Gxy Manor cultivators speechless.
Such power from someone so young!
When they introduced themselves before, they had heard about Zhou Xuchuan as well. They couldn''t help but doubt their ears when they heard his age. An expert who was at least on the same level as Duan Hecheng wasn''t even twenty!
Not to mention the ten major organizations, the entire martial world didn''t have anyone who was that powerful at the age of eighteen.
"Please excuse me, Great Hero Zhou, but may I know your master''s name?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s strength indicated that he wasn''t just an ordinary disciple. Duan Hecheng considered the names of the five high elders, the plum blossom swordsmen, as well as Sword Immortal You Riwen.
"Sure, my master''s name is Liu Zhengmu."
"Oh, the Gentle Smiling Swordsman"
Duan Hecheng knew this person, but his expression was odd.
It''s not that I don''t know him, but
Although he was nearly nameless, he rose to the ranks of experts a few years ago. Even Duan Hecheng, who was rtively in the dark when it came to the news of the martial world, had heard of him, but this wasn''t the man he was expecting to hear.
Bluntly put, he didn''t think Liu Zhengmu was capable of producing an amazing person like Zhou Xuchuan.
"He''ll be the most powerful figure one day. I rmend you remember his name and pay him a visitter," Zhou Xuchuan said, his head held high with confidence.
Ah! What was I thinking? I can''t believe I looked down on the master that my savior respects so much!
Duan Hecheng was a rtively virtuous man, even among the cultivators of the Orthodox Faction. Normally, those raised in sheltered houses orrge sects were bound to grow arrogant, but he had none of such traits.
He endured the disdain from his sect and his senior brothers, but still managed to be a decent man. There was a reason the cultivators that followed him were willing to risk their lives.
"I apologize, Great Hero Zhou. For a moment, I was thinking that your master was not such a great man. There is no way the master of someone as powerful as you, who saved us, isn''t great. Please forgive my rudeness of looking down on your master."
Duan Hecheng suddenly bowed while fighting.
"Y-Young Master!"
A cultivator nearby panicked and stepped in to fend off the poisonous creatures approaching him.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue when he saw it. What the hell is he doing? No wonder he died so early.
He had an inkling when he heard that Duan Hecheng hade to the Poisonblood Valley merely to be acknowledged.
"It''s okay. If you truly feel sorry, you should help me out in the future. Just don''t forget today, like those of the Demon Cult or the Evil Valley. Haha."
Zhou Xuchuan brought up the pride of the Orthodox Faction. It was a political technique he learned when he became one of the five high elders.
"Then refocus."
Chatting was good and all, but this wasn''t the right ce for it. Zhou Xuchuan might be an exception, but the rest of them weren''t.
Fighting while protecting someone is harder than it looks.
In his previous life, he had always been the one protected by some hero or expert. While he had fought against enemies alongside fellow sect members, he had never been the one protecting others.
However, through this experience, he realized that it required much more power and concentration to protect someone from harm.
"Phew, their numbers have reduced a bit"
As time passed, the number of poisonous creatures dwindled. Many of them died in Zhou Xuchuan''s flurry of sword attacks, but some had fled after seeing how powerful he was.
Creaturesanimals in particrrelied heavily on instinct. They instinctively realized that Zhou Xuchuan was powerful and did not approach him.
After getting some leeway, Zhou Xuchuan was able to switch to his bow and arrow. He took out the bow and arrows he put inside his bag and got ready to use them.
"Wait, Great Hero Zhou. Are you nning to use that?"
"Yes, it''s a hobby of mine," Zhou Xuchuan replied as he nocked an arrow on the bowstring.
"No matter how many creatures you have killed, there''s no way you can be so leisurely and"
Whoosh!
Before Duan Hecheng could finish, an arrow left the bow. It was not an ordinary arrow, but one imbued with qi. The sharp arrow darted toward a poisonous spider about the size of a child.
Crunch! Squeak!
The poisonous spider shrieked as a hole appeared on its body
Leisurely?
Duan Hecheng shut his mouth. The others also became speechless.
D-did Mount Hua have a bow art?
Sweat formed on their foreheads. Any cultivator could imbue qi into arrows. However, at most, that would increase the destructive power and speed a little. Showing that kind of explosive power was impossible.
"It''s just a hobby of mine, okay?"
He emphasized it out of importance.
He used a sword and bow and arrow interchangeably, but yet still managed to navigate the Poisonblood Valley effortlessly. He even asked those from the Gxy Manor to collect some poisonous nts.
"Daoists from Mount Hua Sect can eat poisonous nts?"
"From what I know, the nts in the Poisonblood Valley are highly toxic are they perhaps not poisonous?"
"Look at that fancy pattern on the leaves. I bet my pinky that it''s poisonous."
"If you don''t want to die, you better not even touch it. I followed my grandfather to look for herbs and poisonous nts when I was young because he was a herbalist, but there''s not a single herb or nt that can be eaten, much less used for medicine."
The men of the Gxy Manor murmured among themselves after seeing the weird things that Zhou Xuchuan did. Duan Hecheng eventually couldn''t contain his curiosity and asked.
"Excuse me, Great Hero Zhou. Why are you eating poisonous herbs?"
"Don''t poison cultivators increase their resistance to poison by being poisoned? I''m doing the same thing."
"What the heck are you even is that even possible?"
Duan Hecheng was speechless. Indeed, he had heard that poison cultivators used such training methods, but that was limited to those who trained in poison arts. It shouldn''t be in the list of cultivation manuals possessed by Mount Hua.
Yet, judging by Zhou Xuchuan''splexion, he didn''t seem to be lying. He truly seemed to have some resistance to poison. The more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became. His head couldn''t keep up with what was happening before him.
"Young Master Duan. Have you cultivated a poison art before?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"No I have not."
"Then don''t bring it up."
Duan Hecheng was at a loss for words.
"Forget that, we shouldn''t linger here any longer. The atmosphere feels ominous," Zhou Xuchuan continued.
It was just as he said. The endless swarm of poisonous insects had disappeared.
"Normally, that means there''s a"
Rumble!
Before Zhou Xuchuan could finish, the ground suddenly shook violently.
Chapter 69: Poison Demons Last Traces (1)
The Seven-horned Serpent was sleeping, its belly full from a recent meal. However, it woke up when it detected an intruder in its territory. Something dared to not just invade its territory, but also interrupt its sleep! Enraged, it rose up.
Rocks crumbled like mud when it moved, and stctites were reduced to dust. Each stctite,rge or small, left a mark on the Seven-horned Serpent''s body before being crushed to pieces.
As the glossy dark green scales scraped against the ground, the poisonous creatures nearby all stiffened, shivering in fear at the sight of the predator in the Poisonblood Valley.
"It''s huge!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed, standing close to the entrance of a cave near a rocky area.
This area looked significantly different from the Poisonblood Valley he was familiar with. Although he could see some dead tree roots, they had all crumbled apart, as if the Seven-horned Serpent had slid past them. In ce of thick tall trees blocking out the sun were steep, rocky cliffs.
"But he''s gonna be lunch[1]." Zhou Xuchuan said, his voice devoid of madness or fear as he unsheathed his sword, Frostedge.
"H-hieek!"
The cultivators of the Gxy Manor freaked out at the sight of the Seven-horned Serpent.
"Whoa So this is the Seven-horned Serpent"Duan Hecheng couldn''t hide his surprise either. His eyes widened, his words trailing off.
Although he had heard about it before, seeing it in the flesh and feeling its pressure was no joke.
Hiss~
The Seven-horned Serpent''s forked tongue flicked as it red at the humans in front of it. Its yellow eyes, visible through diamond-shaped scales, were enough to send shivers down anyone''s spine.
"Collect yourselves!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, imbuing qi into his voice.
The gentle natured-qi hit the eardrums and consequently the brains of the cultivators of the Gxy Manor.
"Ehem!"
He didn''t imbue qi into his voice to attack. It was to prevent everyone from being paralyzed by the hiss of the Seven-horned Serpent. Although the Shaolin Temple''s Lion Roar was more effective in situations like this, what he did was enough.
"Stick to the n!" Zhou Xuchuan darted forward first.
When they entered the territory of the Seven-horned Serpent, they had briefly exchanged strategies on how to fight.
"Is he truly nning to act as the bait by himself? I''m not sure if he''s being bold or reckless"
Despite his surprise, Duan Hecheng still made his move. He directed the cultivators of the Gxy Manor to kill the Seven-horned Serpent.
"Haaah!"
Before the Seven-horned Serpentpletely left the cave, Zhou Xuchuan charged in andtched onto its tail before swinging his sword. Thanks to Frostedge, his sword qi had be more ferocious, and the qi drew a vertical line from the bottom to the top.
Pshhh!
A trail of blood followed the path of the sword. At first, there was just a trickle of blood, but immediately, fountains of blood started gushing out from the wound.
"He did it!" The cultivators of the Gxy Manor cheered, their faces filled with hope.
That was too shallow.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s face looked grim. His aim was to cut the snake in two, and he had used a considerable amount of qi. Yet, the wound barely reached halfway.
His initial assumption that only the snake''s horn was tough was proven wrong; its scales were also much harder than anticipated.
Hiss!
The Seven-horned Serpent twisted its body, using its massive tail to strike Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan threw himself forward and rolled on the groundhe executed Donkey''s Roll, a dodging move hated by all cultivators of the Orthodox Faction.
Still, it was better to suffer in life than to die in pride. Feeling the Seven-horned Serpent''s tail brush past his back was frightening.
"Stop running!"
Ignoring the dirt staining his Daoist robes, he charged forward again, his target, the Seven-horned Serpent.
Forget fleeing, Zhou Xuchuan leaped onto the serpent''s body, immediately propelling toward its head. Qi released from the soles of his feet thrust him forward.
By the time the Seven-horned Serpent realized what was happening and attempted to dislodge him, Zhou Xuchuan had already reached its head, which was shaped like a volcanic crater.
"Huup!"
He inhaled deeply before striking down with his sword through the gap between the scales.
Khyaaaaahk!
The serpent let out a scream, not of anger, but of pain. Unable to endure the pain, the Seven-horned Serpent writhed in agony.
Bam! Bam!
As it thrashed against the walls, the cave trembled, and soon it came crumbling down. Stctites crashed down, followed by the entire ceiling.
Hiss!
Feeling its life threatened, the serpent attempted to escape.
"Stop it!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted. His wordscked any politeness due to the urgency of the situation.
"Got it!"
Duan Hecheng and the cultivators surrounded the entrance of the cave to prevent the Seven-horned Serpent from escaping.
"Stop!"
"You''re not going anywhere!"
While the cave itself was big enough to contain the Seven-horned Serpent''srge body, it wasn''t that spacious. There was also the fact that the Seven-horned Serpent had just eaten, and it was bloated. It could barely escape the cave as is, but with the cave copsing, even fitting its head through the entrance became a challenge.
Normally, it would have ignored the humans in front of it and left either way, but the debris copsing from above prevented its escape.
"That''s one!"
Zhou Xuchuan seized the opportunity to maneuver around on its head with the sword still lodged in it. He drew a circle around one of its horns, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
When hepleted the circle, he pushed the sword deeper, using it as a lever.
Psh!
A horn the size of an average adult was pulled out with bits of flesh and scales attached to it.
Khieeeeehk!
The Seven-horned serpent let out a cry unlike anything they had heard before, causing the ears of everyone present to ring. Some of the cultivators even lost their bnce.
"Hehe, got your horn!" Zhou Xuchuan smirked and tossed the severed horn aside.
The Seven-horned Serpent''s yellow eyes saw its horn rolling on the ground. This was the first time it had seen its own horn.
Hiss!
Having lost a part of its body, the Seven-horned Serpent''s fury reached new heights. It snarled as if it had lost its most prized possession, emitting killing intent that could make other ferocious creatures in the Poisonblood Valley tremble in fear.
Gasp!
Some of the cultivators from the Gxy Manor were overwhelmed and paralyzed. Sensing the opportunity, the serpent widened its jaws.
"Foul creature! Who do you think you''re targeting?!"
Duan Hecheng remained unfazed by the surging killing intent and executed his sword art, the Sunshooting Sword Art. His attack was lightning fast, living up to its reputation as a sword art known for its speed.
Psh!
Duan Hecheng''s sword pierced the underside of the Seven-horned Serpent''s tongue.
Khyeeeeeeek!
The serpent let out another howl of pain and lifted its head. With a swift motion, Duan Hecheng withdrew his sword, preventing himself from being dragged upward, and gracefullynded on the ground with a flip.
The Seven-horned Serpent thrashed its head violently, but Zhou Xuchuan managed to stay atop without falling off. He even pulled out his sword and inched closer to the serpent''s eye.
"Well then, here goes the eye!" he eximed, driving his sword into the serpent''s eye.
Pshh!
Khyaaaaaaaaahk!
"Shut up, I''ve had enough of your screams!"
He frowned and pierced the eye again.
"How long are you going to stay holed up in that cave? Get some sunlight and touch some grass!" he said, depriving one of its eyes of its ability to see light.
"What are you all doing? Don''t keep watching!" he shouted, dangling on his sword.
"Ah!"
Duan Hecheng regained hisposure and gathered his qi.
Huh?
As he checked on the others, Zhou Xuchuan noticed something inside the cave while dangling on the Seven-horned Serpent.
I want to check what that is but unfortunately, now''s not the right time.
He smacked his lips, but had to put it aside for now.
"Let''s go!"
Duan Hecheng rushed to the serpent first, followed by the cultivators of the Gxy Manor. Due to the copsed cave, the serpent''s movement was limited, making it rtively easy to attack, as long as they avoided its thrashing head.
Psh, psh!
Sixteen swords were driven into the Seven-horned Serpent''s body. Everyone had attacked through the gaps of the scales with their sword qi. Even if the serpent had a horn that couldn''t be cut without the help of augmented qi, there was no point if it allowed attacks tond on its body.
It may have been difficult if the serpent left the cave and could move around freely, but with more than half of its body being trapped under debris, they could face it without much difficulty.
"Now give me your core and horns!"
Stab, sh, dodge, stab, sh, dodge it was monotonous, but each movement was crucial. If he didn''t dodge properly, he would die. If his sword got stuck in its body, he would be crushed to death. If his sword broke while shing, he would have no other choice but to suck on his thumb from a distance.
With Zhou Xuchuan and Duan Hecheng as their main attackers, the seventeen of them kept attacking the Seven-horned Serpent. After a while, the serpent rampaging like a raging bull seemed to be exhausted, and they could visibly tell that it had be slower.
"Watch out! It''s poison!"
Khieeeehk!
It was natural for a poisonous creature to produce poison, but it had been a few decades since the Seven-horned Serpent spat out poison. It was partly because it had formed an internal core with the poison it absorbed, but it was mostly because it didn''t need to.
However, that pride meant nothing in the face of death, and it opened its mouth wide to spit out poison. ckish blue liquid coated the rocky areas.
Tsss!
The ground bubbled likeva, emitting white smoke.
"Oh no!"
A cultivator of the Gxy Manor dropped his sword in surprise. The sword disappeared after falling into the swamp of poison.
"Fall back!" Duan Hecheng ordered.
He had lost one man''s worth of fighting power. The man who just lost his sword was sent to the back to monitor the surroundings.
"How tenacious!" Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue, driving his sword downward, this time targeting the serpent''s head rather than its eye.
Hiss
The Seven-horned Serpent showed signs of exhaustion. It had lost too much blood, and the spark of life in its eye was dimming.
It had lost an eye, a horn, and was half-buried under rocks. It was also bleeding from its head. It was a miracle that it was still alive, much less moving. It was not a spiritual beast without reason.
"Checkmate!"
Zhou Xuchuan charged forward, sword in hand. He ran to the tip of its nose and fell onto its tongue.
"Wh-what in the"
"Has he finally gone crazy?"
Everyone else freaked out at his actions. He entered the creature''s mouth!
"I''m not crazy, so keep on attacking!" Zhou Xuchuan yelled, swinging his sword.
sh!
The forked tongue was cut in half. The severed part blocked the Seven-horned Serpent''s throat.
Zhou Xuchuan was sttered with bits of poison, causing his clothes to dissolve, but his body remained unaffected, thanks to his poison resistance and the qi shielding him..
Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom!
Then, he swung his sword imbued with qi, causing a storm inside the serpent''s mouth. The coiled tongue was torn to pieces in the storm, but the attack didn''t stop there. It went beyond the throat and dug deep into the body.
Khyaaaaaahk
The Seven-horned Serpent''s head sagged, its scream filled with fear in the face of death.
1. A Bear Grylls reference. He says this just before smashing a puff adder and eating it. ?
Chapter 70: Poison Demons Traces (2)
Riip!
Thest horn was ripped off alongside bits of flesh.
"Phew!"
Seven horns wereid out on the ground. Duan Hecheng wiped his sweat, still in disbelief. Though he knew they had received assistance, the fact that they managed to y the Seven-horned Serpent still felt unreal to him.
"Hmhm."
Zhou Xuchuan bundled six of the horns behind his back. He had already imed the internal core of the serpent secretly after it fell, pretending to check if it was really dead.
"Oh Great Young Lord Duan of the Almighty Diancang Sect, I''ll take six of the horns as we previously agreed. You won''t stab me in the back like those evil cultivators would, right? I hope not. Haha."
He used all sorts of ttering words on purpose, as he had seen multiple people betray their saviors. Life was unpredictable.
"We won''t dare do such a thing to our savior!" Duan Hecheng looked disappointed that Zhou Xuchuan thought so at all."Well, that''s true." Zhou Xuchuan exhaled, visibly relieved.
"Thank you, truly, for saving us and for helping me out. Thank you so much." Duan Hecheng bowed in gratitude.
"Thank you, Great Hero!" The other cultivators also bowed.
"Ahem! That was nothing yeah it wasn''t much." Zhou Xuchuan waved off their thanks with a modest smile
"I won''t forget your kindness, and will definitely pay back."
"Then, may I ask for a favor?"
"A favor? If it''s something I can help with, I''ll dly listen. Please speak."
"I hope you can keep things about me, or the sessful killing of the Seven-horned Serpent a secret."
"Mmm"
Duan Hecheng was a conscientious and upright man. He could keep thetter a secret, but he didn''t feel right concealing Zhou Xuchuan''s contributions. After all the help Zhou Xuchuan gave them, he didn''t want to keep that a secret and take credit for all the achievements.
"I''m fine with it, so don''t worry. Also, if you say that you were helped by a cultivator from Mount Hua, you may not be acknowledged even if you take back the horn. This is for your sake as well, Young Master Duan."
"Urgh, alright. It''s the words of my savior, so I can''t ignore it. As for the reason is it because of those?" Duan Hecheng pointed at the horns behind Zhou Xuchuan''s back.
Zhou Xuchuan nodded in response. Although the horn was defenseless against augmented qi, it still meant that it was imprable to anything below that. The martial world didn''t have many Harmony Realm experts, so this material was highly sought after by most cultivators.
If the Diancang Sect were to find out about it, they would naturally want the rest, and perhaps evene up with various excuses to take it from him. Worst of all, if the Dark Heavens Association found out through some rumor, things would be bothersome.
"Understood. I promise with the life you have saved, as well as with my reputation on the line. Unless you permit it, what you did for us today will be taken to my grave."
"We swear, Great Hero!" chorused the men of the Gxy Manor.
"Well, then. Let''s head back."
After taking plenty of rest in a cave, they turned to leave the Poisonblood Valley.
*
Duan Hecheng returned to the Diancang Sect, with a horn of the Seven-horned Serpent and various poisonous nts that only grew in the Poisonblood Valley as proof.
"Whoa the seventh young master visited the Poisonblood Valley?"
"He did something reckless because his senior brothers didn''t acknowledge him. Is he alright? Isn''t he poisoned or something?"
"Forget being poisoned. He apparently survived a battle against the Seven-horned Serpent!"
"What? Is that true?"
"Yes. Although they didn''t manage to kill it, they barely escaped alive. Not only that, they even got one of its horns!"
"That''s hard to believe. Are you sure it''s not fake?"
"His senior brothers thought the same and tried to cut it with sword qi, but they all failed. It must be real."
The Seven Young Masters of Diancang were experts even within the sect. The fact that they failed to cut it was proof that the horn was real.
"That''s incredible!"
Even the members of the Tang Family could not head deep inside the Poisonblood Valley because of the numerous animals, predatory beasts, harsh terrain,ck of sunlight, and even the maze-likeplicated paths.
Despite these conditions, not only did Duan Hecheng ovee them all to confront the Seven-horned Serpent, he even survived and returned with a horn. It was a great achievement.
"But he didn''t do it all by himself, did he? I heard he had help from his family''s warriors."
"No, no. Don''t you already know the levels of the cultivators around him?"
"True. It''s about time we put aside our biases against Junior Brother Duan. Let''s not judge him too harshly."
"Let''s at least abandon the notion that he''s living azy life with martial arts he bought with money, or about how he''s trying to show off."
Duan Hecheng''s senior brothers'' opinions of him had changed from suspicion or dislike. Although some of them still didn''t like him, there were now people who viewed him in a more positive light.
"The seventh young master''s martial arts is something else, isn''t it?"
"That''s right."
"If I were him, I would be showing off my skills left and right, but apparently, he hasn''t said anything after he reported his return."
"That''s quite humble of him."
The Diancang Sect only had endless praises for him. His humble attitude, serious personality, as well as his now-revealed martial prowess made people reevaluate their opinion of him.
However, there was another reason Duan Hecheng was not boasting about his achievements. He didn''t want to reveal that arge part of their sess was thanks to Zhou Xuchuan''s help, and he especially didn''t want to take credit for Zhou Xuchuan''s achievement.
I am truly indebted to Great Hero Zhou. I must definitely repay his kindnesster.
*
Poisonblood Valley.
One of the lords of this hell, a snake with seven horns, had died. When the Seven-horned Serpent died, the poisonous insects and beasts outside its domain started encroaching. When they came across one another, they tried to fight, but they had no choice but to flee at the sight of a human that appeared not longter. That was because this human was the one that yed the Seven-horned Serpent.
"Phew!" Zhou Xuchuan sighed, surveying the debris in the copsed cave. Underneath all the debris was the body of the Seven-horned Serpent, covered in poisonous fluids and dried blood.
He put down the horns on his back and approached the pile of debris to clear a path.
"I wanted to investigate on the day itself, but I had to go all the way back to the entrance with them to avoid suspicion"
He couldn''t help butin.
"At that time, I definitely saw something."
It was when he had stabbed the Seven-horned Serpent and was dangling from his sword. He saw something strange near the entrance of the cave.
However, due to the battle with the snake after that, as well as the eyes of Duan Hecheng and his group, it was hard to investigate it properly.
Because of that, he went to the entrance of the Poisonblood Valley and returned after seeing Duan Hecheng leave, even if that meant taking a roundabout route.
One hour, two hours six hours went by. He spent nearly half the day rummaging through the debris. Finally, he was able to find what he was looking for before the sunpletely set.
"I thought it would have been crushed to pieces under that debris, but thankfully, it''s still intact."
It was a green, iron chest without any patterns or adornments. Other than a few dents, it looked rtively okay.
Zhou Xuchuan brushed off the dirt and gravel on top of the chest and left the cave.
"Considering how it survived those falling rocks, it must not be an ordinary material. If someone used this as a container, whatever''s inside must be extraordinary as well."
He put down the chest and rubbed his hands in anticipation.
"It''s fortunate that I saw it near the cave''s entrance. If it was deeper inside, I might have had to keep digging for around half a year."
The chest had been partially buried when he first found it, likely the reason why it remained on the same spot.
"Well then, open up!"
He forcefully tried to open the iron chest.
Squeeeak.
Perhaps because it hadn''t been opened for a long time, the squeaking sound made him frown when he opened it.
"A martial arts manual?"
It was a rather tattered, yellowed book.
Chen Dynasty, General Chen Xingdao!
I have dedicated my life and my reputation to his name, and I shall continue to do so. There is no regret in my resolve.
I have dreamed of the day Annan returns to the Great Yue, and have engraved "Kill the Mongols" on my arm, cultivating my hatred against those bastards of Yuan.
In the third year of the Chen Dynasty, when Yuan led thirty thousand men and conquered our capital, killing my blood rtives and my close friends.
I managed to console their resentful souls by killing those bastards using my specialties, poison and infectious diseases.
When the armies of the Yuan Dynasty that conquered our capital fled in the face of poison and infectious diseases, we struck them and achieved a grand victory.
On that day, General Chen Xingdaomended this lowly one''s feats and even allowed me to form an army specialized in poisons and infectious diseases.
He ordered us to professionally research poisons and infectious diseases, deeming that it will be very crucial in the uing wars.
I have joyously received that order and dedicated my whole life researching poison and diseases.
As a result, I stood unparalleled in this country when it came to poisons and diseases, and in search of more knowledge, I have sought another world in the central ins, the martial world, to study poisons and diseases.
I had sessfully obtained the knowledge of the Orthodox Faction, the Evil Faction, and even the Demon Cult and the Blood Cult, I had be a public enemy of the martial world.
The whole world sought my life, and due to an internal injury during my fleeing, I could no longer return to my homnd and had to hide here in the Poisonblood Valley, which is a forbidden area.
I have barely retained my life, but I cannot keep moving for long as my internal injuries have worsened.
If I have a regret, it is that I cannot ry my knowledge and cannot be of help to the general. I have created a poison art based on the knowledge obtained in the martial world, and I cannot allow it to be forgotten like this.
You who read this message!
I do not care who you are. It is okay even if you are from the Yuan Dynasty. Please give my works to the general!
The message was a dying will. After that, there was a record of a martial art manual of the man who didn''t name himself.
However, because of this martial art manual, Zhou Xuchuan was able to identify the writer.
"Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art!" he eximed in surprise. "The Poison Demon!"
Bing a public enemy in the martial world was notmon, especially if that person was pursued not only by the Orthodox and Evil Factions, but also the two demonic cults. There weren''t that many in history, and the Poison Demon''s martial art was well-known to this dayit was the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art.
"The Poison Demon was from Nanman?"
The Poison Demon''s wishes did eventuallye true. Around one hundred and thirty years ago, Kui Khan, the Shizu[1]of the Yuan Dynasty once again invaded their capital, bringing it to the brink of ruin.
However, once again, Chen Xingdao miraculously defended the capital and fended off the foreign army.
After that, they managed to reim their lost title, the Great Yue, but their future was bleak. They, despite not losing several wars against the Yuan Dynasty, met their downfall due to internal strife.
That happened less than one hundred years after General Chen Xingdao''s death.
1. One of the titles given to ruling monarchs in Asian History ?
Chapter 71: Chomolungma (1)
(The chapter title is another name for Mount Everest)
The Yuan Dynasty became the Ming Dynasty, while the Great Yue became Nanman after its downfall. They were all currently divided into manynds and constantly fighting each other.
Due to the absence of a clear monarch, the derogatory term Nanman, which meant southern barbarians, kept being used to refer to them.
"Not much was known about the Poison Demon, but I didn''t know there was such a secret behind him"
The Poison Demon was a demon cultivator from around 150 years ago. Soon after his appearance, he attacked factions that handled poison to steal their arts.
Although his activities onlysted around a decade, it took only half that time for him to be the public enemy of the martial world due to his overwhelming mastery of poison arts. Five years after that, he was pursued by the experts of the martial world and went missing after sustaining severe internal injuries. Although rumors suggested that he must have died from his wounds somewhere, Zhou Xuchuan never imagined that he had died here in the Poisonblood Valley.
"Why hasn''t the Dark Heavens Association discovered this?"
ording to what he knew of the future, The Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poison Art would not exist, even in the hands of the almighty Dark Heavens Association, who were known to possess most arts under heaven.
"Oh, did the Seven-horned Serpent stumble upon it and eat it? That might be a possibility."The Dark Heavens Association should have discovered the iron chest when they collected the Seven-horned Serpent''s body, but they wouldn''t be able to discover something that didn''t exist. They must have also just checked if the serpent survived or its position before hunting for other rare materials, so they would have missed it during their search. After all, the iron chest was only visible from inside the cave.
"Poison Demon. Your general is dead, and the Yuan Dynasty is no more, so I cannot grant your wish. But don''t be disheartened, I''ll learn your art so it doesn''t get lost."
Zhou Xuchuan put his hands together in prayer.
"Oh, but I''m an orthodox cultivator, so I cannot boast about how amazing your art is. Please forgive me."
A member of Mount Hua being the sessor of the Poison Demon? That was a terrible joke.
"When I first saw the name, I didn''t even consider practicing it, but after reading through the manual, I changed my mind."
The Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poison Art was nearlyplete around the time this man was named the Poison Demon, and was supplemented during his escape. As a result, green eyes became symbolic of the Poison Demon. No matter how powerful the art was, that was not a risk Zhou Xuchuan was willing to take.
However, his decision changed after seeing a part of the text.
"If the green eyes only appear after full mastery, it shouldn''t be a problem. I can only learn half of it even if I obtain insights into the art."
The downside of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art became an advantage in this case. Had the Poison Demon heard what he said, he would have risen from his sleep even in the depths of hell.
"I''ve gathered plenty of poisonous nts and even the Seven-horned Serpent''s core. This must be a heaven-sent opportunity. Keke." Zhou Xuchuanughed insidiously. "Let''s leave the valley for now, huh?"
By now, there should bemotion in the Diancang Sect after Duan Hecheng''s report. That report would eventually reach the Dark Heavens Association. The Seven-horned Serpent was a spiritual beast that their Archive had a close eye on, so they woulde to investigate sooner orter.
*
The intelligence power of the Dark Heavens Association was nearly unparalleled, rivaled only by the Beggars Gang, and the Xia Wu Sect of the Evil Faction.
In terms of quality, they wereckingpared to the two organizations from the orthodox and evil factions, but in terms of quantity, they were superior, if not equal. News of themotion in the Diancang Sect reached the Dark Heavens Association, and the Archive was immediately sent to investigate, just as Zhou Xuchuan had predicted.
Poisonblood Valley.
The Archive of the Dark Heavens Association entered the valley. They seemed at ease as if they were moving around in their own home, and there was no hesitation in their steps. They also subjugated poisonous creatures without difficulty.
However, as they walked through the maze-like jungle, there was a hint of unease and hastiness in their steps.
After approximately two hours, the Archive managed to reach the cave of the Seven-horned Serpent deep within the valley.
"No!"
They couldn''t help but shout after seeing the copsed cave.
"Shit!" the Archive Leader swore, turning away. "I must have seen it wrong. I must be tired and hallucinating."
He shook his head from side to side, as if attempting to rid himself of his nightmares. Then he lifted his head to check again.
"Argh, shit!" he screamed before swearing again.
The Seven-horned Serpent could be seen. However, the mighty horns and shiny scales were nowhere to be found. Half of its body was buried beneath the rubble of the cave, while the other half was only flesh and bones.
"What am I supposed to report to the lord?!" The Archive Leader''s face distorted in fury.
"It seems that the poisonous creatures in the valley challenged the serpent while it was injured and won against it. Everything was eaten."
Poisonous creatures grew stronger by consuming poison. This applied to all creatures in the Poisonblood Valley. Because of this, the ecosystem of the Poisonblood Valley was centered around predation. The victor would eat the loser, absorbing their poisons.
Other than bones, everything else was eaten, whether it was scales or whatnot.
The problem was that nobody could be held responsible for this.
"Duan Hecheng, seventh young master of Diancang!"
It hadn''t been that long since the Ten Millennia Fire Carp was stolen!
The Archive Leader started emanating ferocious killing intent, causing not only his subordinates around him, but even the beasts in the Poisonblood Valley to tremble in fear.
"How long has it been since the serpent died?"
"F-from the traces, it has been less than a week."
"In that case, we must search the valley and recover the remaining horns. They can''t be damaged without augmented qi, so the poisonous creatures couldn''t have consumed them. Duan Hecheng only has a single horn, so reim the rest at all costs!"
With that, the Archive searched every nook and cranny of the Poisonblood Valley, but naturally, found no horns.
*
With the ying of the Seven-horned Serpent behind him, Zhou Xuchuan left Mount Ao and headed to his next destination, the Great Snowy Mountains of Tibet. He used lesser-traveled roads as much as possible because of the six eye-catching horns he was carrying. He did not want to be seen by anyone.
Fortunately, he managed to avoid drawing attention by using his lightness art and avoiding human settlements.
He headed northwest without rest. Not longter, he managed to reach his first intermediary destination.
Dehong, Yunnan.
Dehong was a vige located at the northwestern end of the province. A little to the east was Sichuan, and Tibet was located to the north. Before he arrived, however, he first hid five of the horns in a nearby mountain. He wrapped the remaining one in cloth and carried it behind his back.
"Hm, was it around here?"
Dehong could barely be considered part of the central ins, which meant that it was very underdeveloped. Still, it wasn''t so small that it didn''t show up on maps. Although not many, there were still people and even merchants visiting. It was on therger side among the settlements in Northern Yunnan.
"Hey, there, brother! Why don''t you look at some clothes?"
"If you''re going to Tibet, you''re not gonna make it with those clothes!"
"Although it isn''t as cold as the Northern Seas, Tibet is rather chilly and has strong winds. I''ll make it cheap for you."
He walked down the market streets. He wasn''t wandering around aimlessly and had a destination.
"Come on in."
He visited a clothing shop among the many vendors on the street. It was neither too big nor too small.
After seeing that there was no one around other than the store clerk, he whispered, "Gold Will Merchants. Zhou Xuchuan."
The clerk''s eyes widened. He immediately scanned Zhou Xuchuan''s face and sleevesthetter to check for the plum blossom patterns.
"I have been expecting you, young master." The clerk closed the door and windows.
"How is life here?"
Although Zhou Xuchuan''s priority was the Seven-horned Serpent''s internal core, he did have ns for the horns before he left Mount Hua. The biggest problem was how to handle the horns. He couldn''t exactly take something so big to the great snowy mountains, and he didn''t trust others to keep the horns safe. He needed the help of the Gold Will Merchants.
However, the Gold Will Merchants were unable to do business in Yunnan due to the dominance of the Gxy Manor, which included remote ces like Dehong. Because of this, they decided to buy one of the storefronts in this vige to operate in secret.
"Being so remote, there are hardly any cultivators here. Still, the Gxy Manor has a presence." The clerk smiled bitterly.
"Good work. Take this for now." Zhou Xuchuan said, handing over the horn wrapped in cloth.
"I have hidden five simr horns nearby. Collect them tomorrow and send them to the head merchant along with this letter. Oh, and this is the map that marks the hidden location."
"Understood. I''ll have it dealt with. Do I have to check the contents?"
"I heard that a few of the Ten Gale Swordsmen are waiting in Sichuan. Show it only to them and have them transport it. It''s an important item, so please ensure it''s handled with care."
"Yes. I''ll have it done."
Cultivators on the level of the Ten Gale Swordsmen would raise suspicions if they were to gather in a remote ce like Dehong, so they were waiting in Sichuan. There was a risk that the Gxy Manor would view them as rivals if their affiliation were exposed, leading to numerousplications.
"It''s gettingte, so I n to stay here for the night. Is that okay?"
"Of course."
*
There was a prepared ce to sleep on the second floor. Unlike the rather shabby-looking exterior, the room was very clean andfortable.
Zhou Xuchuan instructed the store clerk not to enter his room until he came out again. His purpose was to absorb the internal core, so he had the store clerk keep watch over the surroundings without intruding, even if he didn''t leave the room for a whole day.
"First, I''ll check the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art"
Though he had burned the Poison Demon''s martial arts manual, he had memorized its contents.
After sitting in a lotus position, he took out the internal core from the iron chest that originally had the martial arts manual in it.
With a gulp,he swallowed the internal core.
It was a great stroke of luck that I obtained both the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art and the Seven-horned Serpent''s core.
If the Seven-horned Serpent reached the level of a lesser dragon, trying to be a true dragon, its internal core might have been much purer.
However, as it was still a serpent, the core''s nature was closer to that of poison. It would be suicidal for him to consume the core if he didn''t have the Hundred Poisons Immunity, and without the poison art, he wouldn''t be able to absorb itpletely.
Originally, Zhou Xuchuan''s n was to upgrade his Hundred Poisons Immunity to the Thousand Poisons Immunity and obtain a small amount of qi. However, obtaining a poison art made him change his mind. The core dissolved as soon as it reached his stomach, and Zhou Xuchuan tried to circte the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art while feeling its energy.
I''m reaching the second stage.
The first stage of the Green Eyes Poison Art was simple. Anyone could reach it as long as they could circte poison in their body, though, normally, many people would not be able to survive the stage before that, which was to be poisoned.
When Zhou Xuchuan reached the second stage in one go, the poison art started showing its effectiveness. The poisonous qi of the Seven-horned Serpent flooded through his blood and qi vessels, without the repulsive stickiness unique to poison qi.
The poison qi knocked on his acupoints as they smoothly went through the passage of qi and blood. There was no viciousness unique to poison that tried to corrode the body. The Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art had them under control, softly guiding its way.
With the Seven-horned Serpent''s qi, Zhou Xuchuan''s Hundred Poisons Immunity reached the next level, bing the Thousand Poisons Immunity.
Chapter 72: Chomolungma (2)
"Whoo!"
His breathing patterns started changing.
Due to altering my body''s constitution, I''ve consumed most of the core''s qi. The consumption is quiterge.
A physique immune to over a thousand types of poisonsthis kind of constitution hardly appeared innately and was mostly human-made. Even most poison cultivators struggled to attain such a state after years of research. A body impervious to poisons without needing to neutralize or block them out with qi? There was no way such a constitution was easily created.
Hm, the core still has some qi left. Well then, what do I do with this?
Zhou Xuchuan pondered, maintaining his breathing.
I can reach the Harmony Realm just by increasing the quantity of my qi, or I can try to aim for Bodily Reformation.
However, hecked the qi to do both, requiring the energy from the Seven-horned Serpent''s core.
Harmony Realm or Bodily Reformation. Which one do I do first?There was a Millennium Snow Ginseng in the Great Snowy Mountains anyway. Absorbing that would allow him to resolve one of them, but the issue was that the order he did them mattered.
Bodily Reformation came with numerous changes, with the best of them being a healthy body and an excellent physique. The body would be stronger, aging would be reversed, illnesses would disappear, and there was also increased muscle density.
On top of that, a reformed body had the perfect bnce and talent to train martial arts. Putting everything aside, a higherpatibility with martial arts was the most important as it increased the rate of cultivation.
It won''t take too long to deal with the matters in the Great Snowy Mountains, at least two or three months.
Even if he failed to discover a Millennium Snow Ginseng, he would have to return to the central ins because of the Fiend Demon''s Tomb. It wouldn''t matter even if his cultivation didn''t increase during this period, it wasn''t like his speed would slow down.
He didn''t hesitate for longor more precisely, he didn''t have much time to hesitate. He could risk the core''s energy dissipating if he dyed things any further.
Setting aside thoughts of Bodily Reformation, Zhou Xuchuan started to focus on reaching the Harmony Realm.
Hm, should I bring up the sensation from back then?
It was a nostalgic sensation, and it wasn''t that hard to bring it up again. In the face of death, he had put everything down, thinking that he didn''t have long left to live and epted his fate.
Although it was brief, the moment he put everything down, he obtained the one thing he dearly wished for. He could never forget the sensation he had back then.
As Zhou Xuchuan already had the insights, he didn''t have any difficulties. All he needed was the necessary level of cultivation and internal qi, and now he fulfilled all the criteria.
It felt something like this, right?
The bottleneck to reach the Harmony Realm was high, and the path was undeniablyplex. There was a reason many cultivators failed to reach that realm. Reaching the Harmony Realm required a deep understanding, luck, and a spark of enlightenment. Teaching it was difficult, and exining it in words was even harder.
Zhou Xuchuan just let his body take over, allowing his memories and sensations from thest time to guide him.
Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep. When he woke up, his eyes gleamed in tranquility.
"Hmm."
He checked his body. The qi he got from the Seven-horned Serpent''s core was gone, but his qi didn''t increase by much. However, something had changed, and he could feel it.
Zhou Xuchuan got out of bed and picked up the sword he had ced on the ground. He looked at his reflection on the de of his sword.
"Phew."
He took a deep breath and tried imbuing his qi. A thinyer of qi waved around his sword; this was his sword qi. As he waved his sword, the qi trailed along, still formless.
After staring at Frostedge covered in sword qi for a while, he narrowed his eyes and imbued his qi into the sword again before manipting it.
The internal qi he had umted in his dantian surged. The true qi that stemmed from below his navel flowed through the meridians in his shoulder, arm, and hand before ultimately reaching the sword.
The imbuing of true qi continued, and as the density of qi increased, the qi''s form became more distinct.
Pzzzt!
"Done." Zhou Xuchuan smiled in satisfaction.
Proof of the Harmony Realm was right before him, in the form of a sword surrounded by augmented qi. Based on how it was still blue and not purple, it seemed that he had managed to avoid identally advancing the stages of the arts he had learned by reaching the new realm. Although he had a slow progression with the Violet Haze Divine Art, he didn''t want to reach full mastery too quickly because of the traits it had.
He had now reached the Harmony Realm, a dream for most cultivators. Any other cultivator would be dazed due to the shock of the enlightenment, but he was an exception. He had already experienced it once, so it happened very quietly.
"How long has it been?"
He could tell that he had slept, but he couldn''t tell for how long. He opened the door to go downstairs and check.
"Young Master!"
When he went down, he found the uneasy clerk who smiled when he saw him. Zhou Xuchuan could tell from the changes in his expression that reaching the Harmony Realm had taken longer than expected.
"How long has it been since I went into the room?"
"Three days. I was worried sick and thought something had happened to you. I was going to contact the head merchant if you still hadn''te out by tomorrow."
It was a relief that Zhou Xuchuan had told him not toe inside even after a full day. Otherwise, he might have been interrupted midway and faced trouble.
"Sorry to make you worry. What about the horns?"
"I retrieved them the day after you arrived. I just heard the news that the Ten Gale Swordsmen will arrive the day after tomorrow, but"
"Good work. I''ll tell the head merchant about your feats."
Three days was just the right amount of time. If it had taken a week or more, he might have had to change his ns.
"I''m heading to Tibet. I n to visit this ce when I return, so please wait until then."
Zhou Xuchuan picked up a candied fruit from the counter and took a bite. On his back was a backpack with daily necessities and some rations.
The clerk asked curiously after looking at his bag, "Do you n to leave straight away? It won''t take long for the Ten Gale Swordsmen to arrive"
"It''s okay. I can''t postpone things anymore, and I don''t have business with them either. Thank you for thefortable stay."
He had practically been sleeping for three days straight, so he wasn''t tired. His body felt as light as a feather. It seemed that the mental pressure of carrying the horns without anyone''s notice was quiterge. Finally reaching the Harmony Realm and unburdening himself felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders.
*
The "Great Snowy Mountains" as it is called in the Central ins referred to the Chomolungma or Mount Everest in the southern regions of Tibet. This mountain, located west from Dehong, which was in the northernmost regions of Yunnan, was so high that it was sometimes called the roof of the world.
Tibet was mostly made up of hignds, which were connected to the treacherous mountain ranges, with many peaks with cial snow reaching over seven thousand meters, and towering into the skies. The biting cold and the frosty winds seemed to bar any humans from entry.
In the said mountains came a man from the Central ins.
"What the heck? It''s not even that cold. I put this on for nothing." remarked Zhou Xuchuan, exhaling visible puffs of breath. He was wearing cold-resistant clothing made of bearskin over his usual Daoist robes. It was given to him by the clerk of the clothing store before he came to Tibet.
He epted it because he couldn''t refuse his kind gesture and put it on. However, just as he had expected, he didn''t feel cold at all.
"The wind is pretty chilly, but I think it''s just the perfect weather for a walk."
What he said was a ludicrous notion for anyone else. Sure, the weather was rtively calm, considering that he was in the Great Snowy Mountains, but the biting chill in the wind was undeniable.
Although it wasn''t winter all year round like the northern seas, the average temperature was still on the lower side, especially because of the high altitude in the Great Snowy Mountains. The higher he climbed, the closer it would be to the Northern Seas.
He was just at the foot of the Great Snowy Mountains, so it was definitely less cold here. It also wasn''t winter, so the cold wasn''t as harsh. Yet, he was still grateful for the frost-resistant clothing.
It wasn''t that it was warm or that his senses had be numb. Rather, it was all thanks to his resistance to extreme weather.
"This is Mother Nature, huh. It just makes me realize how small I am."
Zhou Xuchuan''s hands were sped behind his back as he observed the mountains. What he saw was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Okay then. Let''s climb."
Strong winds tousled his hair.
"The Millennium Snow Ginseng supposedly lies near the corpses frequently found at the peak of the mountain. I still have a long way to go."
The climb began. He trekked, each step crunching on the snow. He walked toward the tallest peak he could see. Despite the wind, it wasn''t that strong.
"Huh?"
About two hourster, he discovered corpses buried under the snow, ranging from skeletons to those partially dposed orpletely frozen. The only thingmon about them was that they had lost their lives in this vast snow.
I wonder why those people came here.
There weren''t many living creatures in the Great Snowy Mountains since the environment was inhabitable. There were animals and nts at the entrance of the mountains and in the hignds, so there should be no reason for people toe up here in search of food.
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a groan.
"Ugggh!"
"Is someone trying to poop?"
He went off on a tangent again.
"Let''s not deny reality. It seems I''m not the only one climbing the mountain, but that isn''t really good news."
Zhou Xuchuan lightened his weight and moved quietly. He hid his presence as much as possible and even slowed down his breathing.
The fact that he could hear a groan meant that whoever it was wasn''t far away from him. He moved cautiously so that he wasn''t exposed.
Soon enough, he spotted a figure on all fours. When he concentrated on his hearing, he could even hear the beating of the heart. Although it was faint, it seemed that the person was alive.
"I feel like I got caught up in something I shouldn''t have."
He discovered a dying man in the Great Snowy Mountains, and not at the entrance either. The fact that this man made it all the way here meant that he wasn''t an ordinary person.
If he were to save that man, he would get caught up in something he didn''t want to be a part of. That was just how the martial world worked.
"I wouldn''t have had this worry if I didn''t see him."
Even as he grumbled, he approached the unconscious man and poked him with his foot. There was no response. There was no sign of the man hiding a weapon and trying to attack him either
Zhou Xuchuan put the man on his back.
"Dammit."
He cursed at the thought of climbing down again.
Chapter 73: Potala Palace (1)
A glossy head that reflected the sunlight, the wrinkles on his face, and the crescent-shaped eyebrows all looked very clean.
At first, Zhou Xuchuan just carried the man on his back without taking a closer look at his face in fear that he could die anytime soon, and descended the mountain as quickly as possible.
However, when he ced the man down at the foot of the mountain, he began to feel uneasy after looking at the man''s appearance. When he took off the man''s thick cold-resistant clothing, his suspicions were confirmed as the man was wearing red Buddhist robes.
"Allow me to thank you again for saving this lowly monk''s life, Benefactor."
It just had to be a Lama Monk from the Pot Pce!
The martial world didn''t just exist in the central ins, naturally, there were forces outside, which were collectively called the "Foreign Martial World". Among them, the Pot Pce represented Tibet, and it was a temple that followed Buddhist martial practices, just like the Shaolin Temple.
However, their practices were different, since they were a different denomination from the Buddhist temples of the Central ins, and were moremonly called the Lama. The problem was that the Lama''s deeds were questionable, and the Lama monks of the Pot Pce were very violent.
They had even schemed to invade the Central ins several times, proving how aggressive they were. Even the Shaolin Temple and their nigh-infinite benevolence frowned at the mention of a Lama monk.
"Then let''s go our separate ways. It was short, but it was nice to meet you."Zhou Xuchuan didn''t want to get involved with a Lama monk, much less one from the Pot Pce.
"Oh, no, benefactor. Why are you in such a hurry?" The Lama monkughed and reached out quickly to grab Zhou Xuchuan''s pants.
"You see, I''m in a bit of a hurry, so let me go my way. Please let go, Sir Monk," Zhou Xuchuan replied, his face stern.
"You saved my life, Benefactor. I have yet to repay your kindness, how could you leave? Please be considerate of this lowly one''s goodwill."
"You don''t need to repay me. I n to leave without revealing myself so please just let me be, Sir Monk."
"They say crossing paths is an act of fate. Could you please hear this lowly one''s story?"
"Then let''s end our fate at just crossing paths." Zhou Xuchuan replied, his dislike evident.
"From the way you look, it seems you n to scale the Great Snowy Mountains. Am I right?"
"I was just passing through."
"Splendid. This must be fate. If it''s okay with you, will you join me in reaching the summit?"
"Excuse me, dear monk. Are you even listening to what I''m saying?"
He looked ordinary on the surface, but Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t shake the feeling that he was still a Lama monk. The shape of his head was weird.
"Isn''t this your first time in the Great Snowy Mountains, Benefactor? If it''s okay with you, why don''t you take this pitiful and lowly monk as your guide."
Zhou Xuchuan hesitated, suspiciously wondering how the monk knew this.
The Lama monkughed gently. "Time is equivalent to experience. This isn''t my first time seeing someone from the Central ins, benefactor."
Zhou Xuchuan mulled over the monk''s words in silence, contemting his next move.
What now?
Sure, having a local around might be helpful. The Lama monk''s offer seemed genuine, and having a guide should save a considerable amount of time. Shortening his stay here wasn''t a bad idea.
What bothered him was naturally whether this monk was trustworthy or not.
I can tell he''s less powerful than me
From what he could tell, the monk was a Peak Realm expert just about to reach the Absolute Realm. He had no risk of losing even if he was caught off-guard.
"My destination is near the peak. You can''t guide me all the way there, can you?"
"I''ll guide you as far as I can point you in the right direction if you tell me where you''re going."
"Have you been to the summit, Sir Monk?"
The Lama monk shook his head. "No. However, the Pot Pce was once called the Chomolungma, and their records and maps still exist. I have that memorized. Please trust me."
"If I apany you, where do I need to take you?"
"I do not know where you n to go exactly, but you said you were going near the summit. My destination is a bit lower than that."
Zhou Xuchuan took his time, weighing the possibilities.
After a long time, he made his decision.
"Very well."
*
During the Yuan Dynasty, Lama Buddhism was the national religion. Naturally, they had significant influence and power. However, this led the religion tomit all sorts of atrocities and walk down the path of ruin.
The Pot Pce, in particr, was notorious for their wrongdoing, and ultimately, they became infamous for corruption. People''s opinions of them had, no, could never change.
"Both the Lama Buddhists and the Pot Pce remain stuck to in the past, clinging to their former glory," said the Lama monk, fiddling with prayer beads in his hand.
"I felt this when I first met you, but you''re quite entric, Sir Monk," Zhou Xuchuan said, implying that he was a lunatic.
The two of them were climbing the Great Snowy Mountains again. It seemed the monk wasn''t lying when he said he knew the way around, allowing Zhou Xuchuan to reach somewhere he had visited earlier in significantly less time than before.
"If there is something wrong, one must face it directly and admit its existence. Otherwise, one will sink into a path of foolishness, unable to differentiate or understand phenomena and objects."
The way he spoke wasn''t simple.
It seems this old man has beef with the Pot Pce. He must have been ostracized because of his entric personality.
It was quite obvious to him..
Considering how he came here by himself without anypany, he must not have a high position in the Pot Pce either.
It was a good thing from Zhou Xuchuan''s perspective since he wanted to minimize his involvement with the Pot Pce.
"Oh, what is your name, Benefactor?"
"Sir Monk, I don''t think we''re close enough to share names. Let''s just leave our rtionship at being passersby."
"You''re as cold as the northern snow, Benefactor."
"It has always been my dream to be a cold man."
Though, he would show warmth to those within his own sect.
"We must have been brought together by the Lama. Could you please have mercy and teach me warmth?"
"Don''t Lama monks have something like the Practice of Noble Silence? I suggest you start one right now."
*
As the sun set, darkness fell, and the brilliant full moon was hidden behind a sea of clouds.
Zhou Xuchuan also had no choice but to stop at night because of the Lama monk.
"Huff, huff. There is a cave about seventy meters from here. It''d be best that we spend the night there."
"Just stay here with this on, Sir Monk."
Zhou Xuchuan took off his cold-resistant clothing and handed it to the monk.
"Have you gone crazy because of the cold, Benefactor?" the Lama monk eximed in disbelief. Taking off padded clothing in this cold was akin to suicide.
"I''m okay, so just focus on pulling yourself together so that you don''t freeze to death."
Zhou Xuchuan retorted, leaving the cave without further exnation, despite the blizzard raging outside.
He gathered the snow nearby and used his sword to cut them into bricks before piling them in a crisscross pattern. He filled the gaps with snow.
A wall made of snow blocked the entrance. Any remaining gaps he discovered were filled with snow from inside the cave.
"Whoa. I have lived a long life, but this is the first time I''ve seen something like this." The Lama monk blinked repeatedly in curiosity.
A makeshift wall made of snow blocked out the de-like winds and the chilly air. The Lama monk felt like this was some kind of sorcery cast by those in Nanman.
"I hear it''s an architecture in the Northern Seas. Originally, the blocks are piled in a circr fashion to build a house."
This was one of the things he had learned while fighting during the Era of War and Chaos.
"You seem pretty young, Benefactor, but not only do you have extraordinary martial prowess, your knowledge is vast as well."
The Lama monk''s eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Anyone in the Central ins can do this much."
Zhou Xuchuan hid the plum blossom patterns on his sleeves.
"Well, then. Let''s get some sleep."
Hey down, using his bag as a pillow. He didn''t need a nket.
"That aside, why are you climbing the Great Snowy Mountains, Sir Monk?" Zhou Xuchuan asked. Although he tried not to pay any attention to it, his curiosity got the better of him.
"It is to see someone suffering in pain."
"Huh?"
"I may be a lowly monk, but don''t you think that it''s a little unfair that I''m the only one answering questions?"
"Let''s just sleep."
""
*
The Lord of the Dark Heavens Association quietly looked down, his chin resting on his hand.
"Archive."
"Y-yes!" the head of the Archive and his subordinates replied in unison, their voices trembling slightly.
"Why is it not there?" the Lord asked, his voice devoid of emotion, making him sound even more frightening. "Why is the Ten Millennia Fire Carp not there?"
The head of the Archive gulped, his eyes shaking violently. He had just reported on the Ten Millennia Fire Carp, no, someone on the Lord''s level should have realized before that.
"The Seven-horned Serpent is not there either."
The seven horns, and even its internal core had disappeared. The head of the Archive immediately searched every nook and cranny of the Poisonblood Valley after hearing that the Seven-horned Serpent had be a Six-horned Serpent. However, his search was fruitless and he attributed it to the poisonous creatures of the valley.
"Its horns should have been enough to craft seven fine swords, and its internal core would have been enough to entice an elder of the Ten Major Organisations," the Lord muttered, his words making the head of the Archive tremble even more violently. "This Lord is a generous ruler, so you need not tremble in fear like that."
The Lord crossed his legs. Indeed, there was no hint of fury or murderous intent from him.
"You have served me for a long time, haven''t you? I''m not foolish enough to excise you after all the achievements you have made."
The head of the Archive banged his head on the ground, unable to speak. With a loud bang, the ground cracked, and his forehead began to bleed.
"I''m sorry!"
"Yes. That''s enough."
The Lord flicked a finger.
"Urgh!"
Dozens of members of the Archive behind died with a short scream. Their bodies were severed without any warning.
"Head of the Archive. You have made many achievements and are useful to me with your abilities, but the ones behind you are not. They are mere worthless, ipetent maggots, are they not?"
"Yes, my lord."
"I hope you do not disappoint me."
Chapter 74: Potala Palace (2)
Dawn broke the next day. There was no wind, and hardly any clouds. The weather was surprisingly good considering that they were on the Great Snowy Mountains.
As they approached the Chomolungma, the monk stopped suddenly.
"Benefactor, I thank you for bringing me this far."
The usually chatty Lama Monk fell silent. They stood near a diagonally protruding rock. There were a few corpses around them.
"This is"
Perhaps because they were near the summit, the corpses werepletely frozen, without the slightest signs of decay.
Zhou Xuchuan could tell even through the snow, all the bodies had bald heads and wore familiar attire. Although the robes were white instead of red, they were unmistakably Buddhist robes.
"The Lama Buddhists have a Mercy Meditation Method called the Tonglen. To trante, it is the exchange of words."
The Lama monk sat down on the rock''s edge. Although it looked precarious, he did not fall."It is the opposite of breathing methods of the Central ins, where you take in the good energy by inhaling and let out the bad energy by exhaling."
The Lama monk widened his eyes a bit.
"Tonglen absorbs others'' pains, in other words, the bad energy, and sends out one''s good energy, or in other words, happiness."
The Lama monk breathed in slowly before breathing out
"Healing others is the same as healing myself."
I am you, and you are I. Remove the distinction between self and others and show mercy. That is the Bodhicitta.
Healing others. That is the Bodhicitta of Lama, or in other words, the Buddha.
"No way, you"
Zhou Xuchuan nced at the corpses around them. They were all in meditative poses or something simr.
"The Great Snowy Mountains is also called the mountain of death. It is filled with pains, resentments and regrets." The Lama monk slowly turned. "I climbed the mountain to feel those emotions. I hope this answers your previous question."
The old monk''s mouth curved into a smile.
"I will be waiting here, so you should handle your affairs, Benefactor. You''ll reach the summit if you continue in that direction." He pointed in a direction.
Zhou Xuchuan wordlessly stared at the monk for a while before giving a short nod and heading upwards.
*
Halfway up the mountain, a group of men trudged through the snow. These men all had prayer beads on their wrists, fingering the beads and chanting prayers as they climbed upwards.
Although they all wore Buddhist robes, there were two different colors, red and white.
Still, their attire indicated that they were Lama monks.
"Among the bright clouds, in the east of the crimson gorge, a towering statue stands tall. It leaps up from among the luscious mountains to reach the side of a little peak."
The figures of nearly a dozen Lama monks chanting Buddhist prayers looked almost sacred as they climbed up the snow.
"The liones running, and its appearance is bright."
Near the top of the Great Snowy Mountains, on a diagonally protruding rock diagonally, an old monk recited Buddhist texts with his eyes barely open. His eyes, once buried beneath his wrinkles, gleamed intensely.
"Hur hur hur. You have arrived already." The old monkughed calmly, seated like the Lama monks that had frozen to death around him.
Despite the frost in his eyebrows and the howling wind, he remained unmoved. He observed the world below from the top of the rock as if he had be a statue of the Buddha.
The Lama monks that arrived frowned disapprovingly at the old monk, hastening their pace to meet him.
"Tsongkhapa!" A man wearing snow-white Buddhist robes called out the old monk''s name.
"I apud your efforts toe find this old one in this freezing, precipitous mountain. I would love to offer you some tea, but I request your understanding in not being able to do so."
The old monk, Tsongkhapa, weed the monks with a respectful smile.
"That glib tongue of yours is as sharp as ever, I see!" the Lama monk snapped, his face reddening like a ripe persimmon.
However, Tsongkhapa remained unmoved and continued the conversation with a benevolent smile.
"From your appearance, you seem to be from the Kagyu school or the Sakya school. What brings you to this old monk?"
"What brings us here? Hah!" The monkughed, bbergasted.
"Tsongkhapa. Have you gone mad from cold? Or have you not understood Buddha''s teachings properly and gone crazy from the fear of having to attain ascension?"
"Oh, please don''t make someone ascend just yet. This monk may be old, but I am still alive and kicking."
Tsongkhapa stood up, his back cracking loudly as he straightened.
"No, this ce will be your grave." The Lama monk''s eyes turned cold, filling with murderous intent.
A monk harboring murderous intent for another monk!
"So why have you rejected the will of the temple? Had you understood and epted the criticism you received and repented, things would not havee to this."
Despite the stillness of the air, the Lama monk''s sleeves began to p. Internal qi, invisible to the eye, started flowing out.
Tsongkhapa sighed,menting the moment he was told to reflect on his wrongdoings.
"Something is deeply wrong with the Pot Pce, and indeed, with Lama Buddhism as a whole. You are all struggling with the Three Poisons, and have sumbed to the unseen darkness. How am I supposed to follow the will of the temple?"
In Buddhism, there were three primary obstacles in reaching enlightenment, namely greed, hatred, and delusion, and these were called the three poisons.
"The Sakya School has been in decline since Phagspa, the fifth leader, became the Great Precious Dharma King of the Yuan Dynasty. How do you not realize this?"
Monks of the Sakya school could get married and even have children out of curiosity. However, they could not stay close to women after having children. Essentially, they could embrace as many women as they wanted, as long as they did not get married or have children.
This reached its peak when Phagspa formed a regime centered around the unification of politics and religious teachings and took power. This became the source of Lama Buddhists'' violence and debauchery.
"Don''t the teachings of the Sakya school state that one can only attain Nirvana by renouncing earthly passions and striving to obtain all-epassing wisdom? Its purpose is to do away with the extravagant life of the world. How could you walk the opposite path?"
"Shut your mouth," said the Lama Buddhist, his voice gurgling likeva.
"What of the Great Palm Seal Method?"
Great Palm Seal Method referred to a training method used by Buddhist practitioners that shifted the heart to focus on oneself so that it does not stray. It was based on Tianzhu''s Madhyamaka, and became a martial art with influence from Indian martial studies.
This was the Pot Pce''s top-tier martial art, the Mahamudra.
"That line of teaching reached its peak when Yuan fell, and it barely managed to stop the Sakya School''s debauched tyranny. Why do you not let that path go to extinction and is trying to seed it instead? That is absolutely wrong."
The problem was that the teachings had be corrupted and misinterpreted over time, leading the temple down the wrong path. Their "new" interpretation stated that they must shift their heart''s focus to cultivation. It also stated that they would naturally reach Nirvana as long as they focused on it, and that nothing else mattered.
The strongest force in Tibet, as well as a powerful Lama Buddhist temple, the Pot Pce, became drunk on its power to rake in money from all over the country, and evenbined forces with the former administration, the Sakya School, to worsen its debauchery.
"I have already asked you to be quiet, Tsongkhapa!"
The Lama Buddhist imbued his maximum qi into his palm, his sleeves pping like he was in the middle of a storm. The snow beneath his feet melted instantly, revealing how much heat he was putting out.
"Like the monks of the Central ins, we monks in Tibet must strictly abide by the rules and study the Buddhist scripts!"
With red eyes, the Lama Buddhist lunged forward, clearly intending to attack Tsongkhapa.
The hand, filled with pure power unique to Buddhismno, of an unknown attribute, becamerger. This was the Great Palm Seal Method of the Pot Pce.
"At times, forceful measures are required. Otherwise, future generations may view Lama Buddhists unfavorably!"
Tsongkhapa continued speaking, his voice loud and clear, causing even the tranquil peak of the Great Snowy Mountains to tremble slightly.
"Die!" The Lama Buddhist''s palm struck toward Tsongkhapa.
Suddenly, an outsider''s voice filled with annoyance interfered, followed by a sword.
"For god''s sake. You''re not the only ones here, keep it down, will you?"
The Lama Monk''s eyes widened in surprise. He halted his palm, which was inches away from Tsongkhapa, abruptly.
"Who is it?!" he shouted, hurriedly falling back.
Tsongkhapa, who looked resolute just moments ago, was now smiling again.
"A passing Daoist, fucking monk!"
Zhou Xuchuan charged at the Lama Buddhist who fell back, swiftly closing in and thrusting his sword into the center of the Lama Buddhist''s chest before he could react.
"Urgh!"
The angry Lama Buddhist''s eyes widened, full of disbelief.
"Wait, Benefactor. Didn''t you say you have business above? Did you lose something?" Tsongkhapa asked exaggeratedly. "More importantly, you are a Daoist? No wonder you were so particr about everything I said. But don''t me me too much. Although Daoist and Buddhist teachings are different, we can understand each other, can''t we?"
"I think I get how the Lama Buddhist I just killed felt. This is the first time I''ve wanted to p a monk so badly," Zhou Xuchuan said honestly.
"A man from the Central ins?" The other Lama Buddhists noticed something after hearing Zhou Xuchuan. "A cultivator from the Central ins!"
Their faces changed in an instant. They were up against a man from the Central ins, and from what they just saw, this man was a cultivator.
"Tsongkhapa! You rejected the teachings of the Lama Buddhists, and now you''ve brought in a man from the Central ins?"
"You traitor!"
The Lama Buddhists shouted furiously.
Zhou Xuchuan picked his ears with his pinky finger. "You''re noisy. Keep your voice down. Are you trying to get us all killed by causing an avnche?"
"Ugh!"
The Lama Buddhists tried to speak but remained silent.
Zhou Xuchuan sighed before turning to Tsongkhapa behind him, "I did expect it to an extent after seeing your weird personality, but I never knew you''d be targeted by your own fellow monks."
"Hurhurhur!" Tsongkhapaughed pleasantly.
"Do you need help?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, his back facing Tsongkhapa again.
"Weren''t we just passing each other by?" Tsongkhapa asked slyly.
"Monk," Zhou Xuchuan asked again, still looking forward. "Do you need help?"
Tsongkhapa looked dazed for a moment before nodding, his smile gone.
"I need help."
"Okay."
Chapter 75: Potala Palace (3)
He lunged forward as soon as he answered.
The snow beneath his feet was deep, but he knew just how much strength to exert to avoid shifting it too much.
In front of him were nine Lama monks, five dressed in red, and four in white.
"You dare!"
A Lama monk in red sent out a palm strike, his palm expanding in size. Soon, the palm hurtled toward him.
Zhou Xuchuan, who had lunged forward, spun in mid-air, changing directions and swinging his sword.
sh!
The Lama monk''s head was severed, spiraling through the air before falling down the mountain.
"You!""How dare you kill a monk!"
Four Lama monks became furious and circled him.
"Some monks you are."
Just moments ago, they had tried to kill Tsongkhapa, and now they were genuinely furious that a monk had been killed. Zhou Xuchuan found it ridiculous.
The killing intent that tickled his entire body was definitely not weak. This was a sensation he had felt a few times during the Era of War and Chaos.
There was also the fact that they were using killing moves without a shred of hesitation. Clearly, this wasn''t their first time doing something like this.
He finally understood why the Lama Buddhists were considered apostate monks by Buddhists in the Central ins.
"Die!"
The Lama monks attacked from all sides, their palms flying toward Zhou Xuchuan with deadly precision.
Zhou Xuchuan sidestepped to dodge a strikeing from the front. Then he charged toward the Lama monk at the front from the side. The monk flinched in surprise and tried to retreat, but Zhou Xuchuan was already close enough to grab him by the cors.
"Urgh!" The Lama monk cried out in surprise.
What brutish power
Against his will, the Lama monk''s body leaned to the right. He surged all his qi to resist, but he was powerless. Eventually, he was dragged by Zhou Xuchuan''s grip and struck by the Great Palm Seal flying in from the right in ce of Zhou Xuchuan.
"Ergh!" The Lama monk vomited blood.
"Oh no!" The Lama monk on the right panicked. The ones on the left and back also hesitated for a moment.
Zhou Xuchuan seized the opportunity, leaping above their heads andnding behind the Lama monk who had attacked him from behind.
They''re skilled, but not undefeatable.
Zhou Xuchuan was surprised that they were all Peak Realm experts, but that was it. They were powerless in front of a Harmony Realm expert.
Before the Lama monks could recover, he swiftly swung his sword. All they could see was the trailing afterimage of his sword.
"Aaargh!"
The sword shed through the Buddhist robes, flesh, and blood vessels with deadly uracy.
The vast pure-white snow was stained with the blood of the Lama monks.
Four Lama monks had died in an instant.
"An expert!"
With only four of them left, the Lama monks grew visibly more nervous. They did not approach Zhou Xuchuan, instead keeping their distance. Despite their nervousness, their sweat froze before hitting the ground.
"Whoa!" Tsongkhapa couldn''t hide his surprise either. I assumed his cultivation would be above average, but I did not know he would be this strong.
Zhou Xuchuan shrugged off the frosty chill of the Great Snowy Mountains, remaining unfazed after he handed over frost-resistant clothing.
Tsongkhapa was rather surprised after he realized that despite his young age, hispanion was at least a Pealm Realm expert. It seemed that his assumptions were wrong.
The Lama monks had the numerical advantage, and had underestimated Zhou Xuchuan because of his age, but that wasn''t enough to exin such an overwhelming oue. After all, the ones Zhou Xuchuan killed were all Pealm Realm experts. It didn''t make sense that they were killed without being able to fight back.
Zhou Xuchuan had to be an Absolute Realm expert at the very least!
"Who are you?" One of the Lama monks stared at Zhou Xuchuan warily. "I''ve heard that martial studies of the Central ins are on a different level, but there can''t be this much of a difference. How could you be so strong despite being only twenty?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s movements weren''t some sort of evil tricks, which made them even more wary.
"Who am I, you ask?" Zhou Xuchuan flicked off the blood on his sword.
He stood tall, raising his chin to look a little arrogant and squaring his shoulders to appear bold.
"I am Zhou Xuchuan of Mount Hua."
He felt satisfied after saying those words.
"Whoa, shit."
He immediately realized his mistake.
"Mount Hua? You mean the Mount Hua Sect of the Ten Major Organizations?"
"Why is the Mount Hua sect meddling with matters in Tibet?"
Their tone and attitude changed after they heard the mention of Mount Hua.
"You evil apostate monks!" Zhou Xuchuan used, trembling in anger. "How dare you use your evil tongues to make me expose the things I have hidden until now! You must be demons!"
He imbued a lot of qi into his sword. The Lama monks were startled after seeing the sheer quantity.
"W-wait a moment, Great Hero. Please calm down. We can talk this out first."
"You''re being deceived by the evil schemes of the apostate monk behind you."
"There seems to be a misunderstanding between us. If you could lower your sword and"
The Lama monks desperately tried to talk to him, but they inched toward Zhou Xuchuan as they talked, revealing their true intentions.
"You have uncovered what you shouldn''t have! I will have you all killed even if it''s to protect the secret!"
Zhou Xuchuan uttered rather cliche lines as he rushed toward the Lama monks.
"Kill him at all costs!"
After one of the monks shouted, the remaining Lama monks all charged at him with killing intent.
Zhou Xuchuan had anticipated this, and indeed, they had no intentions on talking. They were only talking about calming down to distract him.
He and the Lama monks shed. A middle-aged monk sent a palm toward him. The size of the palm was several timesrger than what the Lama monks that had been killed used. Naturally, the qi behind the attack was much more than before.
Zhou Xuchuan countered with his sword, aiming for the center of the Lama monk''s gigantic palm.
What a fool! The Lama monk sneered inwardly at Zhou Xuchuan.
This kid in front of him from Mount Hua seemed to be an expert, but he was just twenty in the end. There was a difference in the qi they had umted. The shing of the sword and the palm would mean a sh of qi, which meant the palm strike would disintegrate this young man''s guts.
"A battle of qi?"
Zhou Xuchuan sneered at the Lama monk.
"What?" Suddenly, the Lama monk felt a searing heating from his palm. Before he could react, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword pierced through his palm and aimed toward his eyes.
Psh!
Zhou Xuchuan pierced a hole in the palm, then drove the sword through the middle of the monk''s forehead, exiting from the back of his head.
"Nooo!" A wail broke out, filled with sadness, rage, killing intent, and finally, hatred.
From the look of things, the Lama monk who just died wasn''t simply a fellow monk of the same school. Zhou Xuchuan felt a rage-filled palm aimed at his face.
Whoosh!
Although it was a desperate attack, he didn''t get hit. Zhou Xuchuan swiftly withdrew, pulling his sword out just before the attack couldnd. He then, without hesitation, shed his sword in a vertical arc.
sh!
The enraged Lama monk had his arm chopped off. The cut was so clean that not a single drop of blood flowed out from the cross-section.
As the Lama monk screamed at the sight of his falling arm, Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword again to chop his head off.
"You will absolutely fall in hell!"
He heard a furious voice behind him. When he hurriedly turned around, he saw thest Lama monk in red.
The monk was attacking with both hands, sending two palm attacks toward him. The monk was quite close.
Hmm.
It was a bit surprising, but he didn''t panic. There wasn''t enough time to swing his sword, so he held it horizontally instead.
It''s over!
The Lama monk sneered. He had put all of his qi into his attack, even at the risk of sustaining internal injuries. Moreover, he was even attacking with both palms.
Zhou Xuchuan held his sword horizontally without being able to defend properly. The oue seemed obvious to him.
sh!
The Lama monk couldn''t believe his eyes.
Martial arts training at the Pot Pce began with hardening the hand. Whenbined with qi, most of the monks would be able to deflect swords with their bare hands. Otherwise, they would not be able to fight properly against swordsmen.
Therefore, shing with a swordsman head-on usually became a battle of attrition between qi. If the swordsman''s qi ran out first, the monk would strike both the swordsman and the sword.
However, that knowledge shattered before his very eyes. There was no battle of qi. The moment his hands touched the sword, they were sliced in half without the slightest resistance. Half of his hands, with his fingers attached, flew into the air.
No way, he''s actually
There was only one exnationsomething would have to be able to cut through something embedded with qi, a method only attainable in a realm that every cultivator dreamed of reaching.
Augmented sword qi at such an age? That''s impos
sh!
The Lama monk''s thoughts ended abruptly as his body fell forward, his head severed.
Neither thest Lama monk, nor Tsongkhapa could find words. They couldn''t see what had happened because it was so fast. Zhou Xuchuan also retracted his augmented qi as soon as he was done using it.
The reason they were surprised was because nine experts of the Pot Pce had died in moments.
ck, ck, ck!
Thest Lama monk was shuddering, his teeth ttering.
"H-hieek!" His face paled, matching the pale white snow around him.
Zhou Xuchuan slowly approached the Lama monk. The sound of soft footsteps treading on snow echoed gently.
"May Buddha"
"Oh, Primeval Lord of Heaven!"
sh!
Zhou Xuchuan interrupted the monk''s words by chopping off his head.
"Ugh."
It turned out that Tsongkhapa wasn''t such an entric monk after all. He seemed displeased by the sight of the killed monks and looked away with his eyes closed in agony.
"Don''t you tell me stuff about mercy and whatnot." Zhou Xuchuan sheathed his sword. "Earlier, these guys tried to kill me while pretending to strike up a conversation. Killing them was inevitable."
It was one of the lessons he had learned on the battlefield. If he wanted to show mercy, he had to assess who he was showing it to.
"Benefactor, you are truly" Tsongkhapa opened his eyes again, looking into the young Daoist''s eyes. "...quite strange."
He only looked to be around twenty on the outside, but the glint in his eyes did not belong to a boy or a young man. Instead, it belonged to an old veteran of many wars.
"It is as though I am looking at Buddha''s incarnate" the old monk muttered.
Chapter 76: Bodily Reformation (1)
Nyingma, Kagyu, SakyaThese were the three major schools of Lama Buddhism, and Tsongkhapa was a monk of the Nyingma school. Those of the Nyingma school wore red Buddhist robes and hats, and were often called the Red Hat Sect. It was also the oldest school of Lama Buddhism.
Although it was the most popr school in Tibet, they unfortunately didn''t have as much power as the other schools.
"Our school is only passed down to a single person, whether it''s a disciple or a son. Because of this, our Buddhist teachings change over time, and because of our solitary nature, we have not formed a strong, stable power."
In other words, even if someone misinterpreted or forgot a Buddhist script, there was no one to correct them. Without the presence of a father or a master, their interpretations became twisted into Buddhistws.
"We have not expanded our teachings and influence into other fields like politics, like the Kagyu and Sakya schools, so our strength is limited."
"I have little interest in Buddhist teachings of the Central ins, so it is touching to hear stories about Buddhism in Tibet. Haha."
"Hur hur. This little monk is overjoyed that you take such an interest, Benefactor."
"No, I said I have no interest." Zhou Xuchuan turned serious.
"I am not sure whether they looked down on me or not, but the other schools persecuted this old and weak monk. Don''t you think it''s cruel?""Excuse me, Monk. Are you listening to me?"
"Hur hur hur!" Tsongkhapaughed like an old man with dementia. "This little monk will stop with the jokes and be serious. Benefactor, just what is your identity?"
His gentle grandfather-like eyes became fierce.
"The Lama monks you faced four hours ago are martial monks who are considered to be experts, even though they may not be top-tier in the Pot Pce. Not only did you face several of them, you even managed to defeat them"
Despite seeing it with his own eyes, Tsongkhapa found it unbelievable.
"I''ve never heard of a martial artist at the age of twenty being so powerful. Even the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes of the Central ins would find it impossible to achieve such a feat," Tsongkhapa continued. "Even if you had be crazy in your thirst for power and chosen a demonic path, such strength should be impossible. If I may dare assume, Benefactor, you must be"
Zhou Xuchuan gulped, waiting for the monk''s next words.
"An expert who has achieved Youth Restoration?"
This referred to a phenomenon where an old expert reached a level beyond the Harmony Realm. The wrinkles on the skin would disappear and the skin would be fairer. But that was just on the surface. All parts of the body would be rejuvenated, with the bones, teeth, and muscles returning to their prime state. It was literally a realm of legends.
"Hahaha!" Zhou Xuchuan leaned back andughed. "Monk, if you go around saying that, you''ll be treated like you''re crazy even more than you already are."
Undergoing Bodily Reformation after the Harmony Realm would definitely involve some form of rejuvenation. However, it would be by fifteen years at most. Even the Ten Empyrean Overlords hadn''t reached such a level, which indicated just how difficult it was to reach such a realm.
It wasn''t that there were none in history, but only exceptionally powerful cultivators who had reached the realm of divinity had achieved such a thing.
"Monk, we''ll really part ways here."
They both climbed down the mountain after Zhou Xuchuan had defeated the Lama monks. Zhou Xuchuan had retrieved his original objective, the Millennium Snow Ginseng, as well.
"Then let us not meet again."
Tsongkhapa I''vebed through my memories, but he''s not a well-known figure. I didn''t change the future much by saving this crazy old monk, right?
While Zhou Xuchuan was knowledgeable about the factions in the Central ins, he did not know a lot about the factions outside, which caused his hesitation before saving the monk in the snowy mountain.
Let''s hope so.
Though he still had questions, he decided not to dwell on them. The water was already spilled.
"Oh, and Monk." Zhou Xuchuan stopped as he was about to leave. "Whether in the Central ins or in Tibet, cultivators ce a lot of importance in repaying graces and resentments, do we not? You owe me your life, so aspensation, I want you to keep me a secret."
Zhou Xuchuan had made the mistake of revealing his affiliation and name. It was still too early to stand out, especially in a ce like Tibet.
"That''s not too hard. However, it pains me to send you away without giving much back in return, even though you have saved my life twice in a row, Benefactor."
"For the first time, you can repay me by keeping my identity a secret. As for the second, I''ll hold on to it for now. If I, or the martial world in the Central ins ever fall into danger, please help us out then."
Zhou Xuchuan sensed that this shameless monk might try to make another shameless request if he hesitated. After all, Tsongkhapa had been hinting at needing help by exining the situation of Lama Buddhism on their way down. Naturally, Zhou Xuchuan had tly refused everything.
"Hur hur. You''re an exemry man, Benefactor," Tsongkhapa eximed. "A man is bound to have his own desires, but you wished for the peace of the martial world of the Central ins without hesitation. This old monk is impressed."
Asking him to teach me the Great Palm Seal Method is obviously going to be impossible, and he doesn''t seem to have any spiritual medicines on him. The peace of the Central ins? Bah, I don''t even wish for something like that.
Tsongkhapa had introduced himself as a monk of the Nyingma school, the weakest faction in the Pot Pce. Forget asking for help, it looked like Zhou Xuchuan needed to help instead. This was why he gave the answer he did.
"Understood. I swear in the name of Lama that I will rush to your aid if the Central ins fall into danger, even if it means causing a disruption in the Pot Pce."
"Then we''re parting ways, okay? Don''t get attacked by someone else and be careful. Also, I need to go to the toilet because my guts aren''t feeling good, so please let me go now. Otherwise, I might just do it in front of you."
Tsongkhapa stepped back at Zhou Xuchuan''s threat.
"Well, then. Be careful on your way." Tsongkhapa put his palms together in prayer.
*
Before Zhou Xuchuan returned to the Central ins, he found a secluded spot and settled into a lotus position to consume the Millennium Snow Ginseng. He dealt with any nearby animals and blocked the entrance of the cave with a boulder. Although the cave was pitch dark, it posed no problem for him.
He carefully removed his clothes, folding them neatly to the side, and sat naked.
"At this rate, I might be called the spiritual medicine king." He picked up the Millennium Snow Ginseng and dusted off the dirt on it.
He couldn''t help but feel that he was eating all sorts of spiritual medicines. It started with the Water Spiritual Fruit, then the Lesser Cirction Pill, then the Ten Millennia Fire Carp, the Seven-horned Serpent, and now the Millennium Snow Ginseng.
Each of these treasures would make cultivators rush over in a frenzy, yet he had consumed all of them. The advantage of knowing the future was truly amazing.
After scrutinizing the Millennium Snow Ginseng for a moment, Zhou Xuchuan ced it in his mouth, chewed it thoroughly, and swallowed.
Gulp!
Okay then, here it goes.
For Bodily Reformation, he knew only the theoretical aspects and did not have any first-hand experience. This process required an overwhelming amount of internal qi, and was typically achieved during the breakthrough from the Harmony Realm to the next realm.
Badump, badump.
Two energies twisted like a helix as they reached his dantian. The two energies were spiritual qi and yin qi.
Huup!
The Millennium Snow Ginseng lived up to its name; as soon as he consumed it, waves of qi started flooding in. Still, Zhou Xuchuan remained calm. He had previously handled even more qi with the Ten Millennia Fire Carp.
The difference was that the attributes were theplete opposite this time.
I must do it quickly, but I must not rush. One misstep could lead to qi deviation.
He moved the spiritual qi with extreme caution.
Bodily Reformation, the first step.
As soon as the spiritual qi entered the dantian, he redirected it outward. The spiritual qi residing in his dantian was split into hundreds of different streams.
Break.
Whether human or animal, bones regenerate and be sturdier after being broken and properly healed. The first step of Bodily Reformation focused on this process.
Crunch!
The spiritual qi moved violently like an enraged boar. It seemed as if it would mercilessly destroy anything in its path. Anything that became an obstacle was smashed to pieces, with the bones of the body bearing the brunt of its destructive force.
"Fuck!"
Undergoing Bodily Reformation with an overwhelming amount of qi instead of during breakthrough came with severe pain.
During a breakthrough from the Harmony Realm, a cultivator would enter a state of selflessness and not feel the pain of Bodily Reformation. However, what Zhou Xuchuan was doing right now required moving the spiritual qi with his own will to achieve Bodily Reformation, so he had to remain conscious. This also meant that he had to experience all the pain.
Twenty-three bones from the frontal bone to the hyoid, twenty-six bones from the as to the caudal vertebra, twenty-five bones from the sternum to the ribs, sixty-four bones from the corbone to the finger bones, sixty bones from the femur to the toe bones, two bones in the waist, and six minor bonesA total of two hundred and six bones were all broken.
Aaargh!
The pain was unimaginable, nearly causing him to pass out. But he knew losing consciousness meant death. He would copse like a boneless animal and die in this solitary cave.
The destruction urred simultaneously in multiple areas, amplifying the pain. It was worse than anything he had ever endured in both his lives.
Urgh!
Beyond his bones, many other parts of his body were also broken. His hair fell out, leaving him bald. His skin peeled away inyers, like a shedding snake. His fingernails and toenails fell off.
I didn''t know a forceful change of physique would be so painful
The Ten Empyrean Overlords achieved Immunity to Extreme Temperatures or Bodily Reformation through breakthroughs. What Zhou Xuchuan was doing right now was a forceful, shortcut method that bypassed all their efforts, so he couldn''t help it even if it came with side effects.
Second step!
The spiritual qi that branched out from the dantian to break two hundred and six bones returned. However, it didn''t just return. It still had its fierce vigor as it changed his body.
The meridians!
Not just cultivators, people in general were born with wide and clean meridians, but the passages would narrow with growth. Even the purest cultivation methods would umte residue as long as this world wasn''t the realm of sages.
That residue would umte in the passages, narrowing them. Especially in the case of the Governing Vessel and the Conception Vessel, where they would be blockedpletely.
Zhou Xuchuan intended to use the spiritual qi in the Millennium Snow Ginseng to remove all the residue in his meridians.
Remove everything!
The spiritual qi surged like a waterfall, pushing out the residue. Despite the residue''s attempt to settle back, the overwhelming force of the spiritual qi pushed it outpletely.
Chapter 77: Bodily Reformation (2)
Since the residue couldn''t return to the meridians, it was forced to leave Zhou Xuchuan''s body.
Soon, ck, ominous beads of sweat began to flow from the countless pores on his skin.
The ck sweat, filled with impurities, emitted a stench worse than that of a corpse. The smell was so horrid it seemedpletely otherworldly.
What the hell?!
Zhou Xuchuan cursed as the nauseating smell hit him. He had to force himself to endure the stench and stay still.
Despairing over not even having the option of falling into a state of selflessness, no matter how badly he wanted to, the Bodily Reformation continued as he cursed the entire way.
All the residue umted within his meridians was being expelled. As the residue that had built up as he aged disappeared, his meridians began to expand.
Half of the Millennium Snow Ginseng''s spiritual qi is already gone.
He had used half of the Millennium Snow Ginseng just to destroy his bones and remove the umted residue.It was clear that Bodily Reformation couldn''t be achieved with just the Seven Horned Serpent''s neidan alone. This proved how much qi Bodily Reformation really needed.
Now, the third step, the final step!
It was the final step of Bodily Reformation, the step where any disease or wound waspletely healed.
Crack!!!
AGHHHHH!
A scream echoed under his breath, the pain almost audibly melding into his cries.
His bones, which had been pulverized and moved out of position, were quickly reformed and shifted back into ce. At the same time, his body regenerated and restored any ws.
Moreover, it didn''t just restore his body to its original state.
No, his body became even stronger.
As the loud sound of bones reconnecting echoed from within his flesh, his skeleton became more perfect. This wasmonly known as the Heavenly Physique.
His skin peeled off in a thinyer, like a snake shedding its skin. Underneath, white, soft skin appeared.
Even his hair, which had fallen out moments ago, grew back. Dark as night and fair as silk, his hair swayed with the wind.
Next, his fingernails and toenails grew back, recing those that had fallen out.
Vitality surged through his body. His blood quickly rushed through his veins, moving as quickly as he could circte his qi. It felt like everything was circting at an unprecedented speed.
His brain was pounding, his pulse beating so fast that it felt like his heart was going to explode. His entire body burned before growing cold.
These abnormal phenomena repeated continuously. He couldn''t tell how long it took. Since there was no light, it was impossible for him to know whether it was day or night.
Then, time continued to pass.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar erupted. The pile of stones at the entrance of the cave was sent flying.
The small animals nearby were startled and ran away.
After some time, the cloud of dust cleared from the entrance of the cave as a person slowly walked out.
The person''s sharp jawline had no baby fat. His angr facial features, pure white skin, and perfectly bnced muscles and bone structure made him look like a sculpture rather than a person.
"Hmm."
Zhou Xuchuan curiously inspected his body after finishing his Bodily Reformation, rotating his shoulders.
There was no stiffness, and his body felt as light as a feather, making him doubt whether it was really his body.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to feel the flow of his qi. Not only was his cirction smoother than before, he could also drive his qi faster and with more force.
"Let''s see"
He drew a mirror from his pack and looked at his reflection in the sunlight.
The Bodily Reformation had brought changes to his appearance.
All impurities and residue, including dirt or excess oil, were removed from his body as his skin regenerated and excess fat was removed. His skeleton and muscles were perfectly aligned, giving him an incredibly beautiful appearance.
Even the scars he had gotten from training since youth had all disappeared.
Although it didn''t really bother him, he was a bit disappointed, as each scar had its own memories.
Unfortunately, Bodily Reformation itself wasn''t enough to make him a man of peerless beauty.
"So, am I supposed to just ept this is the most attractive I can be how hurtful reality is. Still, at least I''ve gotten this attractive"
At the very least, Zhou Xuchuan was slightly above average in looks now. Moreover, he wasn''t that greedy about appearances anyway.
"I expected it already, but to think my internal qi really didn''t increase, even by a little."
He thought that he would have at least a bit of medicinal qi left in his system. But instead, all of it had disappeared, devoured to the point that he was lucky the Bodily Reformation hadn''t devoured his innate qi too.
"Now, let''s go back to the Central ins."
***
Throughout ancient times up until now, there were six martial arts said to be impossible to learn, known as the Six Great Demonic Arts or the Six Great Prohibited Arts. It was difficult to say which of the six arts was the strongest due to how brutal the cultivation for each of them was. However, the Great Demonic Art that had recently made a name for itself was the Sunken Spiral Castle Art of the Ominous Demon.
The Murim Tome of Banned Arts
Qinghai, Kunlun Mountain
Traveling northwest across the Central ins, one would eventually reach the Holy Mountain. Facing the North Star, its peak was high enough to pierce the sky. It was a famed mountain with beauty and spirituality rivaling that of the five peaks of the Central ins.
The mountain peak, often shrouded in thick clouds, was usually only visible if one craned their neck hard enough. The slopes were so rugged that climbing was impossible without martial skills. Below it, the Yellow River, the lifeblood of the people of the Central ins, began its journey from a valley deeper than a bottomless pit and continued toward Shandong in the Central ins.
In a pavilion perched on a strange peak that was narrow and pointed at the bottom and wide and t at the top.
"Did they say it was the tomb of the Ominous Demon?" an old man with a beard as white as snow and long, flowing eyebrows asked, his expression stiffening.
A middle-aged elder of the Kunlun Sect nodded as he turned to the old man, the sect master of the Kunlun Sect, Immortal Shang Ming.
"Ha why did that ominous name resurface"
Two hundred years ago, the Ominous Demon invaded the Central ins, plotting to destroy the murim.
His power and martial force were strong enough to surpass that of the Central ins, and he overwhelmed the entire murim to the point where the Righteous and Evil Factions formed a temporary alliance.
After several years of war, they seeded in inflicting a fatal wound on the Ominous Demon, who then went missing, his fate unknown.
The only good news after that final battle was that he had never appeared again.
After the Ominous Demon disappeared, rumors spread throughout the gangho that he had gone into hiding or was gathering his strength for revenge. However, in the end, none of them came true.
In the end, decades after hisst appearance, it was assumed that the Ominous Demon had hidden himself from the outside world to avoid pursuit. He tried to recover but had eventually died from his wounds.
"Even imagining that cursed and vicious monster reappearing within the gangho is terrifying. We have to stop him, no matter what."
The Kunlun Sect had stepped forward to confirm the rumor, causing the rumors to spread even further. Now that one of the representative sects of the Nine Sects and One Gang had stepped forward, the people''s interest also increased.
Even without the Kunlun Sect''s involvement, the rumors would have attracted attention.
The Ominous Demon had been a legendary figure within the murim and had not only fought and won against the best warriors of his time but had even survived and escaped.
Some were curious about his power, while others wanted to obtain it for themselves.
Gaining that power meant that one could dominate an era, even if it meant bing someone wanted by the entire murim.
"So, the grave of the Ominous Demon?"
From the Demonic Path, the Demonic Cult showed particr interest in the rumor.
Not even the Demonic Cult, infamous for doing whatever it took to obtain power, dared to touch the Six Great Prohibited Acts.
As soon as anyone cultivated any of the Six Great Prohibited Arts, the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and all unaffiliated Martial Forces would join forces to attack, using the prohibition as an excuse.
Still, what the Demonic Cult was interested in wasn''t the Sunken Spiral Castle Art that the Ominous Demon had learned, but the several demonic arts he had collected in addition to the Sunken Spiral Castle Art throughout his lifetime.
Of course, because it was such a heretical and fanatical organization, many within the cult wanted the Sunken Spiral Castle Art for themselves. However, they kept their intentions hidden to avoid unnecessary trouble.
"While it may not actually be the tomb of the Ominous Demon, it''s definitely worth investigating."
The Demonic Cult assembled an elite unit and sent them to the Central ins, where the tomb of the Ominous Demon was rumored to be.
The Kunlun Sect of the Righteous Faction and the Demonic Cult of the Demonic Path had set out to investigate, and from the Evil Faction, the Evil Valley got involved.
"It hasn''t been that long since the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s tomb has been discovered, and now, it''s the Ominous Demon? Really?"
The Evil Valley Master was skeptical. It wasn''t just the Evil Valley, all the forces in the murim shared these doubts.
In less than ten years, the remains and tombs of people who had dominated an era were being discovered one after another. Something was strange, and they couldn''t help but be suspicious.
"Still, we have no choice but to investigate."
The bait set by the Dark Heaven Association was no ordinary one. Even knowing it could be a trap, they had no choice but to investigate.
If they ignored it and it turned out to be real, they would regret it.
Investigating the Ominous Demon''s tomb and sealing the Sunken Spiral Castle Art was merely a pretext. Their true aim was the items, divine materials, and other treasures that the Ominous Demon had collected during his lifetime.
"We can''t just let the Kunlun Sect im all of the rewards."
Not only was the Evil Valley moving, but the Demonic Cult was getting involved as well. Smaller and medium-sized forces, as well as unaffiliated cultivators, were also joining in.
In fact, there were rumors that hidden forces, powerful cultivators who didn''t involve themselves with the struggles of the ordinary world, were even getting involved. This was a much bigger event than the discovery of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s tomb.
It wasn''t something the Kunlun Sect could handle alone.
The Righteous Faction had to strengthen their forces going in to control the narrative and protect them from danger.
However, that didn''t mean they could just dispatch their forces hastily.
If this truly was a trap, they risked significant losses. Moreover, if something happened elsewhere while their forces were concentrated in one ce, the consequences would be severe.
They had to consider many variables as they decided who would stay and defend their forces and who would be sent to the tomb of the Ominous Demon. Another important factor was that, if it truly was the tomb of the Ominous Demon, those who went would gain significant achievements.
"We will go."
"Didn''t the Nine Sects and One Gang gain considerable wealth and reputation during the battle for the tomb of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief?"
"For you toe forward again would be a selfish monopoly and tyranny against us other forces. Do you n to let only your great sects remain?"
"Our Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance will take charge of this matter."[1]
Thus, among the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance, the Mount Tai Sect, the Mount Song Sect, and the Mount Heng Sect decided to set out for the tomb of the Ominous Demon.
"So, the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance all get a chance. Shouldn''t we, the Five Great Ancient Families, also get a chance?"
Once the meeting ended, the Nangong Family of the Five Great Ancient Families also set out for the tomb of the Ominous Demon.
The Kunlun Sect of the Nine Sects and One Gang!
Mount Tai, Mount Song, and Mount Heng of the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance!
The Nangong Family of the Five Great Ancient Families!
The Demon Cult of the Demonic Path!
Even the Evil Valley of the Evil Faction!
The protagonists of the Seven Swords War had all gathered together.
What had happened once in the future was about to happen again at the hands of the Dark Heaven Alliance.
***
"No future is exactly the same."
Standing on the branch of a plum tree at the foot of a mountain, Zhou Xuchuan looked down at a valley.
At the end of his gaze was the tomb of the Ominous Demon, which no one except the Dark Heaven Alliance had been able to visit.
Ominous Demon.
Two hundred years ago, the Ominous Demon had disappeared near the Yellow River, and because of the Dark Heaven Alliance, his final resting ce had been revealed.
Ever since he became a martial artist two hundred years ago, the Ominous Demon had wandered around the Central ins, hiding everywhere.
As a result, he had needed to find an inconspicuous hiding ce, somewhere he could use as a final escape.
That was the tomb that everyone had heard about now.
Here, he had been unable to heal his final fatal wound and had eventually died in a tomb of his own making, a tomb that had been discovered by the Dark Heaven Alliance several decades ago.
In other words, the main treasure in the tomb already belonged to the Dark Heaven Alliance.
What remained now was a treasure left behind on purpose, used as bait.
"Now, it''s only the beginning from here."
1. Peak as in both the highest sword sects and mountain peak. The Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance represents the sects of the Five Sacred MountainsMount Hua, Mount Tai, Mount Song, and the Northern and Southern Mount Hengs. Traditionally, the Northern Mount Heng Sect is titled Mount Heng Sect, while the Southern Mount Heng Sect is titled Hengshan Sect. This is a reference to the Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jin Yong, one of the original wuxia novels. ?
Chapter 78: Seven Stars Division (1)
Zhou Xuchuan had considered preventing the Seven Swords War, the original trigger for the Era of War and Chaos. However, there was a reason he had no choice but to abandon that idea.
The Dark Heaven Association had nned from the very beginning to incite a bloody struggle between the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and Demonic Cult by revealing the tomb of the Ominous Demon.
Moreover, they hadnt simply revealed the tomb but had also nted moles within the factions and used bribes to create traitors to bolster their ns.
While it wasnt entirely impossible to find the moles and traitors and stop the Dark Heaven Associations ns, Zhou Xuchuan had no idea who they were or even where to start.
The Dark Heaven Association had put a lot of effort into this; it was only natural that the moles and traitors would be nearly impossible to find. Furthermore, Zhou Xuchuan had only been a child when it had happened in his previous life, meaning that he had no insider information either.
Even in the records he had read after bing an elder of Mount Hua, the only information regarding what had happened was that there had been moles and traitors hidden within each sect, with no clues to their actual identities.
"So, for now, Ill just destroy the tomb as much as I can and minimize the damage. Any Dark Heaven Association henchmen I find along the way will be a bonus."
***
Near the Yellow River basin.A group of people dressed from head to toe in ck, with their entire bodies covered except for their eyes and noses, were gathered. Their auras were harsh and biting.
"How long do we have to stay like this?" arge man in ck muttered, sounding bored.
"Until a major force from the Righteous or Evil Factions, or even the Demonic Path, arrives. Focus on our mission."
"Im fully aware of how important this mission is. I would appreciate it if you could overlook my carelessment. After all, it''s our first conversation in four days."
"Have you forgotten what the atmosphere around the Archive is like due to their continued failures?"
"Ahem."
"Beyond that, the Seven Stars Division..."
Squelch!
The man paused, his eyes widening right as he was about to say something. He tried to make a sound, but only a gurgling noise could be heard as an arrow appeared and lodged itself in his throat.
Although he had just seen hispanion killed by an arrow seemingly out of nowhere, the other man in ck responded instantly, drawing his sword without blinking an eye.
"Enemy attack!"
At his shout, the others in the area immediately responded.
Four of the roughly twenty men in ck stood in a corner and drew bamboo canisters from their arms, as if they had been waiting for this moment.
They quickly reached for the threads dangling from the canisters toward the ground.
Twang!
However, they were only able to move momentarily as another arrow flew in a long arc, like a shooting star, piercing through the canisters before they could pull on the threads.
"Find the archer first!"
"Just where the hell did the assantse from?!"
Despite quickly looking around, they couldn''t find anything. Considering none of them could find a trace of their attackers, it could only mean one thingthe archer was shooting at them from beyond their detection range. However, their detection range wasn''t short in any way. It was unbelievable that an archer could shoot so urately and hit the bamboo canister from so far away.
Still, they couldnt just stand around questioning the feat. They didn''t have the luxury.
They assumed there were at least four highly skilled archers around them and dashed out toward the surrounding area.
Judging by their quick response, none of the gathered men in ck were average. They had all reached the First-ss at the least.
"I''vee from the future," Zhou Xuchuan, hiding in a rocky crevice behind a steep valley 350 meters away, muttered as he shot another arrow.
Twang!
The arrow sted forward from the bowstring with incredible force, apanied by a fierce soundwave. It shot straight toward a man in ck.
ng!
"Over there!"
The man in ck turned his head toward the iing arrow and struck it.
"The Dark Heaven Association doesn''t have its reputation for nothing, as expected. It seems I wont be able to take them down easily unless I ambush them. Hmm, there''s nothing I can do."
Zhou Xuchuan jumped into the Yellow River below and hid himself in the rapids. Riding the current, he moved toward the north of the tomb.
Each of the four standing at the cardinal points had two firecrackers formunication purposes. Since I destroyed all four of their primary canisters, the remaining ones would have to be kept for emergencies. They won''t dare take them out carelessly, either, as once they''re gone, their means of emergencymunication disappear with them. I''ll have to take advantage of that and deal with them one by one.
Zhou Xuchuanunched himself forward as soon as he emerged from the muddy water.
He instantly appeared behind one of the men in ck, a Seven Star soldier, and plunged his sword into his back.
"Ugh!"
The Seven Star soldier''s eyes bulged as he coughed up blood.
I couldn''t even sense a presence!
It wasn''t that the soldier had been careless orcent. On the contrary, his focus had been heightened, and he was alert to his surroundings. It was just that his opponent''s stealth was too strong.
"Tsk."
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue and furrowed his brow.
"I can''t tell if it''s that their ears are super sensitive or that they just have incredible senses. Most people wouldn''t have noticed, but I guess they aren''t part of the Dark Heaven Association for no reason."
The soldier had only let out a faint cough. However, upon hearing it, the other dispersed soldiers immediately changed directions.
It was an impossibly fast response. Even though they were mere division soldiers, they were incredibly strong. Zhou Xuchuan thought it wasn''t without reason that they, and the Dark Heaven Association, were the most formidable enemies during the era of war and chaos.
Zhou Xuchuan gathered his power before they arrived. Imbuing his legs with great strength, he circted his qi, raising his internal force to the point where it felt like it was going to explode.
BOOM!
Kicking off the ground, Zhou Xuchuan left a crater where he had just stood, sending dust flying everywhere.
Zhou Xuchuan shot out like an arrow toward the east.
"Heup!"
The Seven Stars soldier to the east sensed something and turned around.
Squelch!
His vision suddenly spun, turning until his wide-open eyes reflected a headless body.
Zhou Xuchuan caught the falling body and searched through it, finding a bamboo canister used for signaling and breaking it.
Next, he moved to the soldiers with canisters to the south and west, respectively, handling both without much difficulty.
"Were they just a diversion?"
The moment he killed the soldier to the west, the rest of the Seven Stars Division, previously dispersed, gathered around him.
"Who are you?" the Seven Stars soldiers at the front asked, his voice full of doubt and murderous intent.
"Although it''s a coincidence, it''s still funny to see that there are exactly seven of you left, living up to your name, Seven Star soldiers," Zhou Xuchuan said, raising his sword and smiling slightly.
"...!"
The Seven Stars soldier at the front was visibly agitated, as were the others.
Not only did his tone rise, but Zhou Xuchuan could see a glimpse of astonishment in his eyes.
"Capture him alive."
Even the Beggar Sect or the Xia Wu Sect, the representative organizations of the intelligencemunity, knew what the Dark Heaven Association was, let alone their subordinate force, the Seven Stars Division. Moreover, the Dark Heaven Association was such a secretive organization that many of their own lower-tiered warriors didn''t even know what the name of their organization was.
To think someone who knew who they were hade along was shocking.
"His limbs aren''t necessary. All he needs is his ears and mouth, but keep him alive."
"Understood!"
Bloodlust poured down like rain, quickly bing a storm. Most warriors wouldn''t be able to move under the pressure of such incredible bloodlust.
However, Zhou Xuchuan seemed unaffected, shaking off the bloodlust pressuring his body and imbuing qi into his sword.
"If you surrender calmly now and tell us everything you know, I''ll kill you painlessly."
"And who are you to make such decisions? There are seven heads above you, like Avaricious Wolf and Vast Gate.[1] Don''t you think you''ll get scolded by them if you make such a decision on your own?"
"How do you know those names?!"
The soldier who had called out to him finally showed an emotion other than surprise for the first time.
"Just who the hell are you?"
"Just a passing warrior."
Bang!
Zhou Xuchuan''s bodyunched forward. He thrust his sword with all his might, the frosty chill of Frostedge glowing fiercely as the sword qi bloomed..
"You dare!"
The soldier cleaved his sword upward as if Zhou Xuchuan''s attack was inconsequential. Sparks flew as their des collided.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword held firm. Instead of being flung aside, it pressed down on the soldier''s de, deflecting it.
While their physical strength yed a role in the standoff, the difference came down to the disparity between their cultivations. Although the soldier tried his best, Zhou Xuchuans strength overpowered him. Despite his efforts, the soldier only seeded in dulling his own de.
Creeaaaaak!!
The grating sound of metal echoed as sparks flew. Ignoring the soldier''s defense, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword drove forward, piercing the soldier''s chest.
"Agh!!" the soldier screamed, staring in disbelief at the de in his chest. He dropped his sword and gripped Zhou Xuchuan''s de so tightly that Frostedge bit deep into his palm, blood streaming down his wrist.
"No matter which life I''m in, your tenacity never changes."
Zhou Xuchuan stuck out his tongue. He released his sword and swiftly dodged another strike from above.
Shing!
A sword from another Seven Stars soldier narrowly missed him. Zhou Xuchuan could feel more attacksing from all directions.
Zhou Xuchuan spun in ce, using his right foot as a pivot, while drawing a straight line with his left hand, targeting the enemy behind him.
His palm cut through the air, rising like a dragon ascending to the heavens, and striking the enemy''s chin with a powerful thwack.
The soldier was a little surprised by the force of the attack, but ended upughing inwardly at Zhou Xuchuan.
He himself was a Peak Realm expert. Considering Zhou Xuchuan''s attack wasn''t a palm art but just a simple attack made with the palm of his hand, there was no way it could inflict fatal injuries.
The soldier swung his sword from left to right, trying to strike down the overconfident bastard in front of him.
If the soldier hadn''t been wearing a mask, his face would have been distorted with shock. Not only was his body not responding, but his insides felt like they were on fire.
He immediately realized what had happened.
"It''s a Poison Palm, be care cough, cough!"
The soldier tried to warn hisrades but found himself unable to speak, vomiting ck blood.
Two of their units was killed in an instant.
Zhou Xuchuan struck the wrist of the poisoned soldier, seized his sword, and threw him aside.
The approaching soldiers cut down their poisonedrade as he flew toward them without hesitation. They had instantly discerned that the poisoned soldier couldn''t be saved and that if they were to even attempt to try to catch him, they, too, might get poisoned.
"To think a swordsman would actually let go of his sword. At the very least, you''re not from the Righteous Faction."[2]
"Seeing as he''s even using poison, he must be from the Evil Faction."
The Seven Star soldiers tried to guess who Zhou Xuchuan was as they got more exposed to his fighting methods.
"I am Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua Sect!" Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword and shouted proudly.
"Hmph. Do you seriously think we''d believe that?"
"What a brainless idiot. It seems like you''re trying to frame the Mount Hua Sect, but you''ll have to find a different way to do that."
The remaining five soldiers scoffed at him, refusing to believe him. Yet, they remained cautious.
"I didn''t expect you to believe me, so don''t worry."
Zhou Xuchuan stretched out his empty hand.
So is this the strength of the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art at the third step? It''s pretty useful.
Despite rushing to the Central ins, he hadnt neglected his martial training.
He had still made time to practice all of his skills every day, including the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art. Through rigorous effort, he was able to upgrade it from the Second Step to the Third Step.
The third step''s effectiveness was straightforward. At this step, it was possible to attack by injecting poison into a part of one''s body or weapon.
"Seeing you bastards really brings back memories," Zhou Xuchuan said, his expressionplicated. Slowly, he closed his eyes.
Agh!!!!
Save me! Someone save me!!!
AAGHHHHH!
We are the Dark Heaven Association''s Seven Star Division soldiers!
The Dark Heaven Association had several subordinate organizations in addition to the Archive, thergest among them the Seven Stars Division.
While the Archive focused on exploration, gathering materials and herbs, and hunting spiritual beasts, the Seven Stars Division focused solely on matters rted to martial force.
There were seven executives at the top with countless soldiers below them, the Seven Stars soldiers.
Although they may only be ssified as foot soldiers or grunts, they couldn''t be underestimated. Each of the soldiers belonging to the Seven Stars Division was, at the very least, a First-ss expert.
They were in charge of guarding special ces such as the tomb of the Ominous Demon and carried out various other missions for the Dark Heaven Association.
In terms of the Imperial Government, they could be seen as the equivalent of the Ministry of War among the Six Ministries.
In fact, Zhou Xuchuan himself had fought against these Seven Stars soldiers of the Dark Heaven Association to the point of bitter exhaustion in his previous life, barely surviving out of sheer luck.
1. Two of the Seven Pces of the Big Dipper. Each of the Seven Pces has its theme and deity and was worshiped in East Asia. See TL note for more info. ?
2. You may have seen this in other books, but for swordsmen of the upright Righteous Faction, a sword is one''s honor, and thus, letting go of a sword is to abandon one''s faith. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Hello, it is I, Cyncoco, with my first random TL/N essay for Volcanic Age! The Regressor of Mount Hua!
This is a pretty important topic in the novel, so I thought I''d take a moment to exin the Seven Stars and its cultural importance.
The Seven Stars refer to the seven stars of the Big Dipper, also known as Ursa Major, in the Western sphere. In East Asian mythos, and specifically Korean mythos, each of the Seven Stars is a god holding its domains.
These seven stars, along with two hidden stars, are considered the sons of the Queen of Heaven and are considered one of the many manifestations of the Supreme God of Heaven (Known as the Ninefold God-Kings of the Great Chariot).
In Korean mythos, they''re also considered local gods, bringers of storms, and considered as part of the founding myth of Jeju Ind.
In the trantions of Volcanic Age, the seven stars are known by their Western counterparts.
Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid.
However, we''ve decided to go with the more urate Eastern trantion, both because the reference with these names is to Eastern Godlore and also because they sound cooler.
In this case, Avaricious Wolf and Vast Gate refer to Dubhe and Merak, respectively.
The Stars are as follows.
The Pce Celestial Pivot, the God Avaricious Wolf (Dubhe). The Pce Celestial Rotating Jade, the God Vast Gate (Merak). The Pce Celestial Shining Pearl, the God Blessed Existence (Phecda). The Pce Celestial Bnce, the God Twisted Melody (Megrez). The Pce Jade Sighting Tube, the God Pure Faith (Alioth). The Pce Opener of Heat, the God Warped Valor (Mizar). The Pce Twinkling Brilliance, the God Destructive Soldier (Alkaid).
Chapter 79: Seven Stars Division (2)
"To think, back then this would have been something I couldn''t even dream of"
The Seven Star Division only recruited soldiers who had reached First-ss or higher. Even if one had surpassed the First-ss and reached the Peak Realm, countless soldiers had cultivations higher than that.
In his previous lifetime, Zhou Xuchuan could barely manage a win in one-on-one battles against a single Seven Star Soldier. After just a few of those one-on-one battles, he would be exhausted and forced to retreat.
But now, he had just killed six of these formidable soldiers without having to use any strength.
Indeed, when he thought of the past, it really was unimaginable.
"So, you all are my past."
He opened his eyes and looked around.
"My present."
He began to imbue his sword with qi."And my future."
The seemingly translucent qi gradually became visible as the qi that was as formless as water solidified like ice.
All of a sudden, the faces of the soldiers hidden behind masks stiffened.
"Just who the hell are you?"
They couldn''t understand what was going on. Even though it was happening right before their eyes, they found it hard to believe.
"You''re in the Harmony Realm?"
The soldiers sighed, the aura zing on Zhou Xuchuan''s sword reflected in their eyes. No matter how they tried to rationalize it, the person in front of them was undoubtedly in the Harmony realm.
"I thought you were a Poison Master when I saw you use the Poison Palm just now, but to think you were a swordsman No, first things first, I''ve never even heard of a Harmony Realm master who can manipte poison to such an extent"
"Hey."
Zhou Xuchuan interrupted the soldier''s muttering.
"Seeing how you guys are now, I really can''t let my guard down, can I?"
His slightly youthful tone changed, and so did the aura around him.
It was as if the soldiers were looking at apletely different person. The cold, sunken eyes of the young man before them shined as he calmly spoke in a dignified voice.
"I guess that''s why you were able to take down all of the murim."
Bang!
A figure jumped behind Zhou Xuchuan, a soldier who had silently moved around to his back using a unique movement technique.[1]
The soldiers had taken advantage of the distraction created while the lead soldier and Zhou Xuchuan conversed, inching closer. It was truly a masterful disy of their calm and collected mindset.
"There''s something different from back then."
The soldier cleaved downward, intending to split Zhou Xuchuan''s head in two.
Swish!
A chilling wind sliced through the air.
The moment the sword was about to touch Zhou Xuchuan''s hair, his figure suddenly blurred before disappearing.
The soldier''s eyes widened in shock, but he quickly fixed his stance and turned around, trying to track Zhou Xuchuan''s movement as fast as he could.
You guys werent this slow.
Along with Zhou Xuchuan''s voice, a sword drew a horizontal line from behind the soldier, slicing through his stomach.
As the soldier''s ck garb tore, blood spurted out like a fountain through the seams, creating a bloody mist.
Even his spine had been severed.
His torso, now separated from his legs, couldn''t stay upright and slid to the ground.
"Or did I just get faster?"
A gust of wind blew away the bloody mist, revealing an old man in its ce.
Meanwhile, three soldiers had cornered Zhou Xuchuan from three sides.
The soldier furthest away blinked in surprise at the sight of the old man.
A geezer?
The unknown assant that had been attacking them before seemed barely in his twenties, which was why the soldiers had been so shocked by his advanced cultivation.
Strangely enough, despite his youthful appearance, the soldiers couldn''t see him as anything but an old man.
Swish, swish, swish!
In the blink of an eye, the old man had already drawn his sword. The movement was so fast it left an afterimage.
"UGH!"
Blinking again, the soldier saw the three who had cornered Zhou Xuchuan falling to the ground, screaming.
But that sightsted only an instant as he blinked once more.
Suddenly, the scent of plum blossoms filled the air.
"This is getting even more confusing," he muttered.
The mask of thest remaining soldier crinkled deeply near where his eyebrows should have been, indicating a furrowed brow.
He, or even, she, muttered to themselves in confusion.[2]
"Considering it smells like plum blossoms when you use your sword technique, you must be using the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. In that case, you should be an expert from Mount Hua. But that''s impossible considering everything you''ve shown so far. You even use poison arts on top of that I''ve never even heard of a Righteous Faction member doing something like that."
"You bastards don''t know anything other than what those above teach you or what you''re informed of during an order. No matter how hard you think, you won''t be able to recognize me. Because none of you are truly interested in me."
"Just how much about us do you really know?"
"I know that all Seven Star Division soldiers on missions have a poison pill hidden under their mrs to avoid revealing information under torture."
"So, you know more than just surface-level basics, then. I never imagined there would be someone hidden so deep within our organization. How frustrating, knowing that I can''t report it."
Crack!
Thest remaining soldier bit down hard, breaking open the poison pill. He copsed, his face hitting the ground as he spoke hisst regrets.
After watching him fall, Zhou Xuchuan approached each of the Seven Star Division Soldiers, stabbing them in the back of the head with the tip of his sword to ensure they were dead.
"In the past, I would have considered something like this punishable for a Daoist like me, likening it to defiling a corpse"
During the Era of War and Chaos, the Seven Star Soldiers had seemingly risen from the dead and attacked Zhou Xuchuan and the others more than once, causing many warriors to lose their lives.
After wiping the blood off his sword, Zhou Xuchuan sheathed it and picked up the corpses, carrying them on each shoulder.
Now, lets go in.
***
The Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom was a famous technique.
Considering it had been used for countless years, many people had studied the sword scars it left behind and could recognize the aftereffects. To prevent anyone from identifying his technique, Zhou Xuchuan moved all the corpses into the tomb and disposed of them.
As he walked into the entrance, he, fortunately, found a trap that created a pit near the entrance and threw all of the corpses into its gaping maw.
There were about a hundred spikes installed at the bottom of the pit, enough to damage the corpses to the point where the sword scars were unrecognizable. As if that weren''t enough, Zhou Xuchuan grabbed a torch near the entrance and set the corpses aze.
"Hmm. Maybe I should have brought Shengji.
The goal of his journey this time was to destroy any traps or mechanisms the Dark Heaven Association may have set up in the tomb. There was no need for Zhuge Shengji to apany him, so Zhou Xuchuan hade alone.
However,ing alone made him feel a little lonely.
I guess Ill have to check everything I can first.
Zhou Xuchuan leaped andnded on the other side of the pit.
After securing his sword at his waist, he bent his knees and strengthened the muscles in his legs.
"Let''s go."
As if his words were a trigger, he rushed forward like a wild boar.
BOOM! BOOM!
Each step he took made a crashing sound. He deliberately put extra weight on his feet, trying to activate any traps or mechanisms along the way.
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
Countless holes opened in the walls on either side of him, arrows pouring out. These weren''t ordinary arrows; they were coated with extremely deadly poisons. However, Zhou Xuchuan moved so quickly that none of the arrows hit him, crashing into the wall opposite him and falling to the ground.
The arrows weren''t the only trap either, as various other mechanisms activated in response to his movement.
A poisonous fog suddenly filled the passage, but Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath and swallowed with pleasure.
Near the middle of the passage, the ground began to slope upward, and a massive boulder came rolling down. Zhou Xuchuan immediately cut it into pieces with his sword aura.
BOOM, CRACK!!!
SHING!
CRUNCH!!
The traps and mechanisms that the Ominous Demon, or the Dark Heaven Association, had painstakingly set up all activated at once, attacking Zhou Xuchuan.
However, he was unscathed.
Once one reached the Harmony Realm, it was nearly impossible for physical mechanisms to harm them, with poison mechanisms being one of the few mechanisms that Harmony realm masters had to be cautious about. However, since Zhou Xuchuan currently had the Thousand Poisons Immunity, that, too, wasn''t a concern.
Of course, it was possible for a trap to use a poison that exceeded the limits of the Thousand Poisons Immunity, but such poisons were rare and generally not used in mechanisms.
Zhou Xuchuan continued to move forward, triggering every mechanism around him.
***
In an endless darkness, one of the seven heads of the Seven Stars Division, Blessed Existence, uncrossed their arms and stood up.
Though their face was shrouded in darkness, the change in their aura made it clear something had upset them.
"The tomb."
The voice was as jarring as grating metal, making it impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman.
"Is there a problem?" another voice asked Blessed Existence. This time, it was easy to tell that the speaker was male.
"I''m not receiving the regr reports. Even taking any unexpected events into ount, it''s been too long since thest report. Either all the signaling tubes have been destroyed for some strange reason, or they are all dead."
Blessed Existence''s eyes shone brightly.
"Is that so? Then, I''ll go see what''s going on," Destructive Soldier said, standing up.
***
The tomb of the Ominous Demon had several underground levels, like the treasury of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. The further Zhou Xuchuan progressed, the deeper he went.
"Hmm?"
As he descended the tomb, something strange caught his eye.
"The Yellow River flows somewhere near here"
He could feel dampness on his palms as he rubbed the wall. There was noticeably more moisture in the airpared to earlier.
"I might be able to use this" Zhou Xuchuan muttered, squinting his eyes.
Lets go down to the lowest level first.
Just as he had been doing, he continued to descend the tomb, poking around and causing a cacophony of noise.
Sometimes, the ceiling copsed above him, sometimes the ground fell apartpletely, or the passages filled with fire or poison.
However, unlike the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, there weren''t any wooden puppets or zombies.
Hours seemed to blend together, and by the time Zhou Xuchuan noticed, he had arrived at the lowest level afterpletely turning the tomb upside down.
"I''m much stronger than I thought."
Zhou Xuchuan was intoxicated by his own strength.
"From the moment I mastered the Violet Haze Divine Art or even the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, this current life ispletely iparable to my previous one."
Reaching the Harmony Realm was one thing. He not only possessed many incredible martial techniques he could use, but also different types as well.
Moreover, his cultivation alone was enough to beat most middle-aged expertspletely. On top of all that, he hadpleted his Bodily Reformation and obtained the Thousand Poisons Immunity.
"I was wondering why the tomb of the Ominous Demon seemed so weak, but it turns out I''m just that strong.
In less than twenty years, he had obtained power that surpassed his entire previous lifetime. Even if scoured the entire murim, it would be impossible to find another youth as strong as he was.
Although the experts of the world weren''t publicly ranked, he was definitely among the top hundred strongest martial artists in the world.
"Well, it''s not like any old dog or cow can use sword aura."
Zhou Xuchuan stopped walking.
"Is this a maze? Hm, I''m lost."
This was already his third time seeing the same ce. While he might have med his second time passing this ce to his strange mood, the third time couldn''t be a coincidence.
He was lost.
"Then, I''ll just create my own path."
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword, the aura on the de cutting through the thick wall like tofu.
"Hoho! The hero of Mount Hua continues forward."
Zhou Xuchuan advanced, smiling like a tyrant.
He started exploring the lowest level. The designer of the maze had carved out a cavern so high thatlooking up at the ceiling would make one fall backward, straining their neck. The cavern wasrge enough to amodate hundreds of people.
A soft carpet with fur that reached one''s ankles wasid straight from the exit of the maze to the end of the cavern. Luminous night pearls carved into the shape of human skulls were ced on spears, creating a gloomy atmosphere.
If one looked up at the ceiling, they would see rows of stctites, reminiscent of the ceiling of hell.
On the left, brilliant gold was piled up like a mountain, and on the right, weapons were arranged neatly.
Zhou Xuchuan headed to the right without hesitation.
1. Technically, tip-toeing, but thatpletely and utterly ruins the vibes in English. ?
2. Uses male pronouns all the way up till now, where it says she to denote that the soldier''s identity is still unknown. ?
Chapter 80: The Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals (1)
"Let''s see, it''s definitely supposed to be over here"
The Ominous Demon''s greed wasparable to that of the Three-Eyed Godly Thief. While hecked interest in elixirs or techniques, his lust for money and treasure was insatiable. Many of these treasures included various divine-grade weapons.
Of course, most of the valuable treasures within the tomb had already been taken by the Dark Heaven Association. After all, the Tomb of the Ominous Demon had already been conquered once before. What remained were items of moderate value, enough to trick anyone into believing the tomb was untouched.
The true treasures that had been left by the Ominous Demon had already gone to the experts of the Dark Heaven Association and would be infamous during the impending era of war and chaos.
All except for one.
"Here it is."
Before Zhou Xuchuan stood a sword plunged into the ground with no scabbard in sight.
One of the Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals![1]
The Dark Heaven Association wanted the forces of the murim to fight over the treasures in the Tomb of the Ominous Demon, including the Sunken Spiral Castle Art.To incite this conflict, they had nted spies within each force and left behind treasures in the tomb to stimte their greed.
Taie!
The Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals were said to have been made by the legendary Master Swordsmith Ou Yezi, who was active during the Yue Dynasty from the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period, and the famed Swordsmith Gan Jiang of the Wu Dynasty, who had also been active at that time, at the order of King of Chu.[2]
All three were kings among treasure-grade swords.
While Frostedge was an incredible weapon,pared to Tai''e, which on par with divine-grade swords, it seemed no better than a twig.
It was hard to believe that a sword that had been forged in the early Warring States period was still pristine and without rust. However, Tai''e''s power was undeniable, as its prowess had been revealed through the hands of various warriors in Zhou Xuchuan''s past, causing countless bloodshed and being known as an incredible weapon.
"So, is the manual all that''s left?"
Zhou Xuchuan put Tai''e away and continued down the carpet. As he walked forward, he came across an altar at the end of the path, atop a set of stairs.
After climbing all ny-nine steps, he stood before the altar, where a marble tform held an old tome.
At first nce, it seemed like an ominous bookno, an ominous manual.
The cover of the thick book was crafted from human skin, and the impression on the front resembled a screaming face, causing anyone who saw it to shiver.
Although Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t read the content inside, he could tell that it was an ancient text from the Xia Dynasty.
He was able to recognize it, not because he had any special knowledge or skill in linguistics, but because he already knew it was the Sunken Spiral Castle Art.
The history of the Sunken Spiral Castle Art of the Six Great Prohibited Arts, sometimes known as the Grimoire of the Sunken Spiral Castle[3], was so long that it could be said to be ridiculous.
The Forbidden Book, created during the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty of the Central ins, was originally a collection of magic rituals rather than techniques.
While no one knew who wrote it or for what purpose, it was said that the Grimoire of the Sunken Spiral Castle described a spell that borrowed or summoned the powers of a being from an immortal dimensionno, a demonic dimension, one that seemed like an entirely different world.
The Grimoire had originally disappeared alongside the fall of the Xia Dynasty but was rediscovered centuriester.
Because the person who had discovered it just happened to be a schr interested in ritualistic texts, he avidly studied the Grimoire.
Although he hadn''t been able to read the text in its entirety due to an iplete trantion, he was able to unlock some of the power hidden within the tome.
This was the method and technique for borrowing powers from the inhabitants of the Demon World.
In other words, he had discovered the Sunken Spiral Castle Art.
"Hmm, should I try learning it?" Zhou Xuchuan mused as he considered the time.
"Considering I have the Ten Thousand Convergence Art No, let''s not."
His musing didn''tst long. After all, the Sunken Spiral Castle Art immediately transformed any martial artist who acquired it into a form that all of the murim could recognize.
The power of Sunken Spiral Castle Art was simple.
If one practiced the techniques within the tome, one''s physical capabilities would increase by several folds, allowing one to lift massive boulders with ease.
One would also gain the ability to regenerate, healing wounds as severe as swordcerations and punctures in less than a day.
If the practitioner were elderly, they would be young again and stop aging.
It truly was the ability of a monster from a demonic world.
However, those changes were only temporary. In less than a month, the practitioner''s body wouldpletely change.
No, it couldn''t just be called a change.
It would be as if one''s species changed at a fundamental level.
Not only would one gain immense strength, but one''s appearance would also change, resembling that of a monster from head to toe. Ultimately, the practitioner would be a monster.[4]
As time went by, one''s sentience and personality would gradually disappear. It was essentially a demonic art, given the practitioner would eventually cease to be human.
There were no exceptions.
Not even Eminent Monks with incredible Buddhist Devotion or Demonic Masters who controlled Demonic Qi could ovee its transformation.
While there were some cases where a practitioner could extend how long they kept their sanity, it was only for about five years at most. Any more than that was almost impossible.
As for the bodily transformations, all practitioners would be fully transformed into their hideous forms within a month.
While the Ten Thousand Convergence Art was a technique that allowed for one to acquire and learn various techniques without having to worry about their different qis conflicting, it didn''t have the omnipotent ability to modify any art to suit the user.
The proof was that even the Master of the Dark Heaven Association had not practiced the Sunken Spiral Castle Art in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous lifetime, using it as bait instead.
"Let''s just put it aside altogether."
Zhou Xuchuan considered burning and destroying the grimoire but eventually decided to keep it, thinking it might still have some useter on. He walked down the stairs, packed the gold, silver, and any treasures that seemed valuable, and headed outside.
There was nothing left for him to destroy. He had already triggered all mechanisms and they were no longer functioning, so leaving the tomb was simple.
The only difference from before was that as he advanced, he destroyed sections of the walls at certain intervals.
After advancing a little further, he suddenly stopped and faced a wall.
"Is this where the nearest water veins intersect?"
The best way to prevent the Seven Swords War was to destroy its trigger, the Tomb of the Ominous Demon.
However, no matter how much Zhou Xuchuan destroyed, he couldn''t seed in demolishing the entire tomb.
Even if he blocked the entrance, if the seven forces that stood at the top of the murim arrived, they would easily be able to tear down whatever blockade he put up and investigate.
Although he considered using a thunderbolt bomb, it was still a prohibited item, making it too difficult to obtain. Not only was it incredibly difficult to make, but it was also nearly impossible to find a craftsman willing to make it.
That was why he had given up on obtaining one and had juste with the intention of causing trouble for the Dark Heaven Association. However, now, he didn''t think he needed to do that.
"Heup!"
With a short shout, he shed a bout of sword aura.
His sword seemed to cut into the wall gently.
However, the wall he aimed for wasn''t just the thin one in the artificially created maze. The wall in front of him was the naturallypacted dirt on the side of the passage.
He quickly pulled the sword out of the wall and put it to the side before poking at the long sword mark on the wall with his finger. He could feel the wall growing damp.
Realizing this, Zhou Xuchuan took a few steps back, raised his sword, and delivered a thundering blow.
Violet Haze Sword Sutra First Technique!
Violet Haze Dawnbreaker!
BOOOM!
A sh of lightning struck, the sound echoing through the passage and throughout the tomb.
Shing!!!
The sword aura roared at the edge of Zhou Xuchuan''s de, spinning at high speed before shooting forward.
Condensed into a piercing force, the sword aura advanced like a lightning bolt, leaving a trail of light as it pierced the wall and disappeared.
Zhou Xuchuan held his breath for a moment. As he exhaled, the entire tomb seemed to tremble.
Crack, crack, crack!!!
Rocks fell from the ceiling above him as the entire ground, no, the entire underground chamber, shook violently.
BOOM!
The wall suddenly exploded.
Anticipating this, Zhou Xuchuan quickly moved to the side to avoid getting hit.
As the wall copsed, arge stream of water spewed out, eventually pouring down like a waterfall and hitting the opposite wall.
The pressure was too much, causing the opposite wall to copse as well.
Crack!! Bang! BOOM!
As the center of the converging water veins broke open, it triggered a chain reaction. The entire chamber copsed, causing the water veins within each wall to burst open and flood the area.
The walls, the ground, the ceilingeverything cracked like a spider web as water seeped through the seams.
As one part of the chamber gave way, it set off a cascade of copses, with water pouring out from every wall. The water,ing from the Yellow River, was ocher-colored and filled with mud and debris.
"Ahem, good."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled with satisfaction as he watched the Tomb of the Ominous Demon submerge, little by little.
***
Near the middle of the Yellow River, Shanxi.
The Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and the Demonic Cult had gathered from all over the continent, aiming to confirm the tomb''s existence.
The first to reach the rumored tomb was the Mount Hua Sect of Shanxi. Being within the same region, it was almost guaranteed that they would arrive first.
After wandering along the Yellow River and wading through the seemingly bottomless silt and muddy water, members of Mount Hua finally saw the rumored tomb.
Just what the hell
The strongest of the group from Mount Hua, Lu Huaxiu, stood in front of the tomb, looking devastated and unable to hide her shock.
Although she hadn''t expected the tomb to be out in the open, standing proudly in the shadows of a cliff that blocked out the sunlight, she had expected its entrance to, at the very least, be intact. Not not like this.
The stone walls of the entrance hadpletely copsed, making it impossible to enter, and mud was gurgling out from the ruins. Moreover, ocher-colored water was slowly rising from deep within the tomb.
She had a rough idea of ??what this meant.
Is this really the right ce? Lu Huaxiu frowned and asked her guide.
Yes, this is definitely the ce. How could I deceive you, oh Great Ones?
The guide couldn''t hide his confusion.
He valued his life too much to lie to the martial artists of Mount Hua in exchange for money.
Lu Huaxiu was even more confused when she saw the guide''s honestly expression, realizing that he wasn''t lying.
A few dayster, investigation teams from various forces arrived one after another, showing simr reactions to those from Mount Hua.
The Kunlun Sect, Mount Tai Sect, Mount Song Sect, Nangong Family, and the other Righteous Faction forces could only sigh helplessly, dumbfounded by the sight.
However, with the arrival of the Evil Valley, the atmosphere took an unusual turn.
"The tomb is caved in and the first to arrive was Mount Hua. Don''t you think even a child could tell what happened?"
"Spit out what you''re trying to insinuate, or we won''t let this go easily, Evil Valley!" Lu Huaxiu shouted angrily.
"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" The Evil Valley expert scoffed, provoking her.
"Let it go. It''s not worth fighting them," Sun Xichong, the strongest of the group from Mount Tai, said, stopping Lu Huaxiu. Other Righteous Faction members also stepped forward to calm Lu Huaxiu down.
Dont you think so, too, Demonic Cult? The Evil Valley expert asked the Demonic Cult members, who were watching quietly.
Dont talk to my subordinates. If you have anything to say, address me, or I''ll cut out your tongue," the leader of the Demonic Cult''s investigation team answered sternly.
The Martial Alliance, Evil Valley, Demonic Cult.
There was no way that things would end easily now that all three major factions of the murim had gathered in one ce.
The entire area was filled with bloodlust.
The Seven Swords War hadn''t broken out in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous lifetime for no reason.
Moreover, on top of the tension that was already present between the factions, the Dark Heaven Association''s moles further incited anger from all sides. It would have been even stranger if the factions weren''t snapping at each other''s throats.
The only reason they weren''t fighting was because before this gathering, the Head of the Martial Alliance and the Head of the Evil Valleyeven the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, the Heavenly Demon, had gotten involved and warned their subordinates to avoid conflict.
The Tomb of the Ominous Demon was significant enough that all of the murim had agreed to form a collective front and not fight each other as they addressed the tomb and its treasures.
Just what the hell happened here?
In the midst of the seven forces, Destructive Soldier, the leader of the nted moles and one of the Seven Leaders of the Seven Stars Division, questioned everything. He had arrived as quickly as he could to address Blessed Existence''s concerns but was toote.
When he arrived, the Tomb of the Ominous Demon had already been submerged.
1. Literally Yue-Wu Three Swords. ?
2. See TL notes for rification. ?
3. This is a reference to the demonic grimoire Prti''s Spellbook/R''lyeh''s Text from Type-Moon''s Fate/stay night franchise, which itself is a reference to the city of R''lyeh in H.P. Lovecraft''s The Call of Cthulhu. ?
4. Yes, you literally be Cthulhu. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Okay so the first notes seem to have disappeared, but you know how much I like talking.
If you read a lot of Wuxia, you''ll see quite a few references to Ou Yezi.
Ou Yezi (ŷұ) is one of the most famous cksmiths/swordsmiths in history and is one of the few historical figures immortalized in myth.
Active during the Spring and Autumn period, he forged a number of treasured swords. His swords are legendary within history, arguably China''s most legendary swords.
While the "for who" and "when" are sometimes contested, the actual swords themselves are still attributed to him.
Now, the three swords referenced here are some of the most famous EVEN among the most famous legendary swords of Ou Yezi. While it''s not 100% guaranteed that Ganjiang helped Ou Yezi forge them, considering their disciple-master rtionship, the author at least seems to attribute them.
Note, if you see a famous chinese sword/named sword that is a historical reference in wuxia/murim, it''ll almost always be a reference to one of Ou Yezi''s swords.
The three swords are as follows.
Tai''e ̩ (Great Riverbank/Peaceful Rtive) - its pattern is as wild and towering as the rippling waves of a river
Longyuan Ԩ (Dragon Abyss/Profound Dragon) - its shape seems as if it reaches for a lofty mountain before arriving in an abyss
Gongbu (Artisinal Disy/To Work) - the distinct coarse pattern that ripples along its de seems like endless flowing water
Chapter 81: The Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals (2)
The murim of the Central ins was in an uproar.
The rumor about the existence of a tomb was true and could be seen deep along the Yellow River basin.
However, the identity of the tombs owner remained uncertain.
"Everything was already underwater when the investigation team arrived."
"So, what happened then?" some asked.
"It''s not clear. It doesn''t seem like anyone has withdrawn yet. If the tomb does belong to the Ominous Demon, this result isn''t surprising. No matter how uncertain we are, everyone has no choice but to stay and try to confirm if it''s real, just in case."
"Hmm, so you''re saying we have to try to dig out that submerged tomb again?"
"While it seems pointless, the gathered factions will still give it a try. ording to the rumors, the forces are currently searching for experts in architecture."
"Then, does that mean the investigation teams of the seven major forces are still in the area?""Yes."
Just thinking about it gives me indigestion.
The thought of the Three Major Factions, who weren''t just enemies but bitter foes, all gathered in one ce made all the martial artists wary.
"Once again, the Ominous Demon''s reputation is incredible."
The Ominous Demon, or, to be exact, the Practitioner of the Sunken Spiral Castle Art of the Six Great Prohibited Arts.
Regardless of the era, when a practitioner of the Sunken Spiral Castle Art appeared, bloodshed spread across the murim, and countless sacrifices followed in its wake.[1]
The world, being familiar with its power and the fear it brought, worked even harder to stop it from reappearing.
Meanwhile, the mood within the Dark Heaven Association, the masterminds behind this uproar, including everything rted to the tomb of the Ominous Demon, was dreadful.
The Tomb of the Ominous Demon, in particr, wasn''t something that had just been thrown together in one or two days. The amount of money and time they had put into it was unfathomable.
"My deepest apologies!"
Thud!
Blessed Existence mmed his head on the ground several times, the marble sttered with blood each time he struck it.
Blood pooled on the ground as he prostrated himself.
Watching Blessed Existence prostrate himself, the Dark Heaven Association Leader looked down before speaking.
"Enough," the Dark Heaven Association Leadermanded, his voice deep and powerful.
Blessed Existence immediately froze at the order.
"Report."
"A regiment of the Seven Stars Division was deployed to the tomb. However, we lost contact two days before the investigation teams arrived. After realizing this, Destructive Soldier was urgently sent to the site. However, when he arrived, the tomb was alreadypletely flooded, and the deployed regiment was nowhere to be seen" Blessed Existence reported.
Shortly after Destructive Soldier confirmed the situation, Mount Hua arrived.[2]
"So, to sum it up, the n we put so much effort into has failed, and we don''t even know why. Is that correct, Blessed Existence?"
Drip, drip.
A mix of blood and cold sweat dripped from Blessed Existences forehead as his pupils trembled.
"Haha," the Dark Heavens Association Leaderughed.
"AHAHAHAHA!"
Heughed as if the report was extremely amusing.
Puzzled by theughter, Blessed Existence stayed silent, keeping his head lowered and waiting for the Leader''s next words.
"It''s said that nothing in this world goes as nned. I guess the proverb does ring true. After all, I certainly didn''t expect things to turn out this way. More importantly, this is the first time I''ve ever been so thoroughly manipted."
The Dark Heaven Association Leader stoppedughing, a smile still on his lips. However, the smile was as cold as ice.
"It''s unlikely that any of my soldiers would sell us out or betray us, so someone must have harmed them. That person must be the one who caused the tomb to copse."
The Dark Heaven Association Leaders eyes glowed brightly.
Blessed Existence.
"Yes!"
"Find that person by any means possible. Alive. Present him before me. That''s the only way you can keep your own life."
"Understood!"
***
Hubei.
A room so filled with books that it could be mistaken for a library. The table was stacked with books like a tower, and each corner had stacks of books meticulously organized to the brim. Blueprints were scattered across the floor.
In the room that smelled of nothing but paper and ink, a young man with messy hair rose, looking as though he had just woken up.
Haaaa.
As the young man put his brush down, stood up, and stretched, his spine let out a loud crackle.
The moment a maid, who had been waiting outside quietly, heard the crackle, she threw open the door and called out to the young man.
"Young master!"
"What the f!" the young man shouted, startled and almost falling.
"Ahem. What''s the matter? Is something wrong?" the young man asked, his mouth widening as he yawned.
The maid nced at him, blushing slightly before sighing at his messy hair.
You have a guest waiting for you. And please, please get your hair in order. Just what''s with that bird''s nest?"
"A guest?"
The man tilted his head, confused.
"It''s strange, right? You''re a loner with no friends, young master. Moreover, you''re not very capable, either; I can''t think of anyone who woulde to you for help"
"W-who are you saying doesn''t have friends? I do have friends!" the young man huffed, bing indignant.
"You have friends? Name five friendsno, just three. Please note that your three family members, including me, are excluded."
"..."
The young man faltered, unable to respond.
"Please don''t underestimate how much I know about you, considering I''ve been aiding you since you were young, young master. Anyway, you should see the guest soon. While I''m not sure, it seems like something is important."
"Who is it?"
He said he was a Daoist ascetic from Mount Hua.
!
The young man''s eyes widened at the mention of Mount Hua.
Mount Hua? Did you just say from the Mount Hua Sect?
"Yes."
"There''s no way!" the young man eximed, running out excitedly.
"Kya!!!"
Startled, the maid stepped aside.
Watching him run hurriedly to the reception room, she wondered out loud, "I''ve never seen the young master look so surprised just who in the world is this guest?
BOOM!
The living room door opened roughly.
"Oh dear."
Zhou Xuchuan almost spilled his tea.
"Hyungnim!" the young man said, smiling brightly at Zhou Xuchuan.
Its been a long time, Shengji Huh?"
Zhou Xuchuan was slightly confused. Instead of a boy with a hint of arrogance, he saw a handsome young man.
Although the young man''s hair was messy, as if he had just woken up from a nap, it didn''t affect his appearance.
His head was small, and his jawline graceful, almost like a woman''s. His prominent facial features and clear, unblemished skin,bined with thin eyebrows and incredibly long eyshes, made him look almost like a woman if appropriately dressed.
Judging from how old he looked, it seemed his facial hair had only just begun to grow. He was too young to be called a young man but too old to be called a boy.
W-who are you?
"Haha, Hyungnim. Stop joking around. It''s me, Zhuge Shengji. The genius Zhuge Shengji, your one and only younger brother.
Zhuge Shengji sat facing Zhou Xuchuan, smiling as if everything was amusing.
"Oh, considering your older brother and sister, I guess it''s not that strange. You''ve also grown into a handsome young man."
Zhou Xuchuan lowered his gaze, feeling a pang of jealousy.
The little boy he had taken as his sworn brother was so handsome just thinking about such an attractive man apanying him made him angry, thinking about what was toe.[3]
"Considering how you haven''t gotten married or even made any new friends with that face of yours, I''m guessing your entric personality hasn''t changed, right? You have so much talent and are so attractive. If you also excelled in socializing, I''d be so angry that I''d get constipated.
Zhou Xuchuan, feeling hurt by the difference in their appearances, almost shed a tear.
"I-I''ve made a lot of friends!"
Zhuge Shengji stuttered.
Whew!
Zhou Xuchuan breathed a sigh of relief.
Judging by your reaction, you''re still a loner."
"Nuh-uh! I have friends!"
"Really? Then, name five friends. Please note that your family members and staff, like your maids and servants, are excluded."
"..."
Zhuge Shengji fell silent.
Its been five years.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled softly.
"It''s good to see you, Hyungnim."
To Zhuge Shengji, anyone who acknowledged him was special. Even more so, considering Zhou Xuchuan was the only one who did so.
Not even his siblings, maids, or servants who had been with him since childhood appreciated his love of mechanisms.
So, it always felt good to be considered a genius by someone newor rather, by his sword brother.
"But, why are you suddenly using honorifics? It doesn''t suit you," Zhou Xuchuan asked.
Before, Zhuge Shengji had always beenfortable speaking to him.
"Hyungnim, I''m an adult now, not the same child I was then. I''m just finally showing basic manners."
Zhuge Shengji chuckled bitterly as Zhou Xuchuan smiled happily, seeing that Shengji had matured a little, too.
How have you been?
"Everything has been the same. I just studied in my room."
Mechanisms?
Zhuge Shengji just shook his head instead of answering.
"How have you been, Hyungnim? While I heard a few things here and there, I still want to hear from you directly."
"Things you''ve heard here and there, well, I have a rough guess oh, the Tang Family?"
"Yes."
Thinking back to what Shengji may have heard, the only thing of note was the wager with the Tang Family. Other than that, he had only cleared bandits.
The information Zhuge Shengji told Zhou Xuchuan was just as he expected. There wasn''t much to the rumor within the gangho.
"Yes, that''s right. After that, I just wandered around. I''ll tell you the detailster."
The Zhuge Family valued information almost as much as the Beggar Gang did. As a result, they often focused their efforts on spying. Several people were secretly watching or listening to what was happening in the reception room. Zhou Xuchuan could sense them, too.
So, Shengji, you''re sixteen this year, right?
"Yes. I''ll be seventeen in six months, too."
"Are you having a good time with the family?"
"While I was supposed to be sent into the Tomb of the Ominous Demon, somehow, things didn''t pan out. What a shame."
Zhuge Shengji really regretted not being able to go. After all, his eyes still shone like stars whenever he talked about mechanisms.
"While, as you know, I''m a genius, I haven''t had many opportunities to show my talent. So, I have no choice but to stay at the family estate and study. It''s only because I''m ate bloomer, if if I"
Zhuge Shengji started to trail off, mumbling to himself.
His personality is still the same.
Zhou Xuchuanughed bitterly in his heart.
While Zhuge Shengji was full of pride and interest when dealing with mechanisms, his personality shiftedpletely when dealing with nearly anything else.
"What use am I in any other sense, considering I don''t know how to fight or erect formations I know how useless I am, too"
His self-deprecating personality remained the same, even as he grew up.
Zhuge Shengji continued to grumble andin about his treatment. All he could do wasin about being ignored by the Family or the harshments he got from the elders.
Still, thanks to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury, he wasn''t prevented from studying or researching mechanisms, and the family understood that his skills might be useful someday.
So, he spent most of his time alternating between studying, researching and writing books about mechanisms.
"Shengji," Zhou Xuchuan said, patting Zhuge Shengji on the shoulder and grinning.
"While studying is good, you''ll get sick if you only sit around in your room. Moreover, now that you''ve be an adult, isn''t it time for you to travel the gangho?"
Zhuge Shengji''s eyes widened at the word gangho.
"Hyungnim. If if you''vee to visit me now"
"Yes. I need your strength."
The strength of not just anyone but Zhuge Shengji!
1. Remember, you be a cthulhu, not a person. ?
2. Says Mount Heng Sect in the raws, but Mount Hua was the one toe first. ?
3. Boohoo, the girls don''t like you as much. You''re an MC. You get all the wives. ?
Chapter 82: Blood is Thicker Than Water (1)
"Wait, someone really came looking for Shengji?"
Zhuge Yun, the current patriarch of the Zhuge Family, was doubtful once he heard that a guest was visiting his son.
"Could this guest be a scammer targeting the Family?"
While he felt sorry for his son, he couldn''t help but be a little suspicious.
Whether as his father or even as just someone from the murim, no matter how he looked at his son, Zhuge Yun felt Zhuge Shengji wasn''t spectacr or trustworthy.
Still, as a member of the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Shengji was a genius. But that wasn''t the main concern.
It was an open secret within the Family that Zhuge Shengji wasn''t interested in anything other than trap mechanisms, refusing to learn anything else.
He showed no interest in the basics like tactics, let alone formations. The same was true for techniques and cultivation. Even after going missing six years ago after the Nine Water Gangs'' attack and returning a yearter, he showed no signs of change.
Zhuge Yun had given up on Zhuge Shengji early on.He had tried various methods, from scolding him to saying things he could never take back, but nothing changed.
Unlike his older brother or sister, he seemed to have no notable points, leaving Zhuge Yun to wonder what he could gain from a child who excelled at nothing useful and only focused on strange things.
At best, all Zhuge Shengji had to his name was the Zhuge reputation, a member of one of the Five Great Ancient Families.
The silver lining was that since Zhuge Shengji was always confined to his room and rarely met people, there were barely any opportunities for him to be taken advantage of.
"His name is Zhou Xuchuan from the Mount Hua Sect.
Zhou Xuchuan?
Zhuge Yun mused for a moment.
Hmm.
It wasn''t long before he was able to recall why the name sounded familiar.
"Is that the young man who won the bet against the Poison Phoenix?"
He was reminded of a rumor he had heard recently.
"Oh, and he''s also that young fellow who went missing alongside Shengji six years ago and brought him back alive. Could he havee by to check on his friend while on his way to Hubei?"
Zhuge Yun''s worry quickly faded.
"Did hee alone?"
"Yes."
"From the looks of things, he''s most likely on his cultivation journey. But, most disciples will travel around with their disciple brothers and sisters it seems this young man is quite entric as well."
Zhuge Yun swallowed what he really wanted to say.
Birds of a feather flock together.
But, Patriarch. It seems that Zhou Xuchuan didn''te just to visit the Young Master."
"What do you mean?" Zhuge Yun asked, his head tilted to the side.
***
While Zhou Xuchuan was walking around the scenic path within the Zhuge Family Estate with Zhuge Shengji, he suddenly heard someone call out to him.
"It''s been six years, Young Master."
This isn''t good for my heart.
As soon as he turned around, he almost gasped.
A beauty with impressively clear and calm eyes reminiscent of a tranquilke stood before him with an expressionless visage.
Zhou Xuchuan instinctively recognized her as Zhuge Shengji''s older sister, Zhuge Xiuluan, who wouldter be called the Phoenix Advisor.
While he might have been entranced by her beauty at any other time, he held himself together, not wanting to be teased for drooling over his sworn younger brother''s sister.
While the Phoenix Advisor was also an incredible talent that anyone would want on their side, Zhou Xuchuan knew he didn''t have to coax her onto his side as she would eventually work for the Righteous murim in the future anyway.
She may not end up right by his side, but at the very least, she would strive diligently for the Righteous Faction.
"O-oh, Young Lady Zhuge. It''s good to see you after all this time," Zhou Xuchuan greeted happily.
She''s probably sick of hearing people praise her for her beauty, so let''s refrain frommenting on her face.
He chose his words cautiously, knowing that a wrong turn could leave a bad impression. It would be better not to be remembered at all than to leave a negative impression.
Moreover, if he needed her strengthter, Zhou Xuchuan realized he could obtain it somehow through Zhuge Shengji.
His consideration caught Zhuge Xiuluan''s interest.
Regardless of age, most men showed simr reactions, irrespective of whether they were from arge sect, a small or medium-sized force, or a simrly ranked noble family.
Those younger or simr in age would be mesmerized or blush before slowlying to their senses and praising her beauty until they ran out of saliva. Even middle-aged bachelors reacted the same, although they could hide their feelings slightly better, still revealing their secret greed with disgusting gazes.
However, Zhou Xuchuan reacted differently.
He wasn''t overly animated and lustful, nor was he timid and bashful. Instead, he looked her straight in the eye and answered respectfully.
It was a refreshing reaction to her presence.
Yes, I can''t believe it''s been six years.
She remembered that even when she met him six years ago, he hadn''t been ordinary.
"Is the Young Patriarch also here? If he is, I''d like to greet him."
Its been a while since my brother went to the Martial Alliance in Anhui. He onlyes back to the Family about once a year.
"I see. Now that I think of it, I hear that the Young Patriarch has already been rmended as an advisor for the Martial Alliance. He really is impressive."
The Young Patriarch, Zhuge Xiang, had spent some time under the Familys protection after the Nine Water Gangs incident but had quickly returned to the gangho.
He contributed to several missions alongside other members of the Righteous Faction and was soon recognized for his contributions and promoted to the Martial Alliance headquarters.
"He''s not called the Knowledge Dragon among the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes for no reason.
The Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes were established roughly around the time Zhuge Xiang had begun his journey around the gangho, where he achieved the feat of bing the First Dragon upon being recognized as a dragon.
Zhuge Xiuluan nodded carelessly instead of answering. She was ustomed to hearing praise for her brother wherever she went.
Zhou Xuchuan also knew that, so he only made a fewments out of courtesy and didn''t continue once he had fulfilled his duty.
Zhuge Xiuluan turned her head slowly and spoke to her younger brother, who shrugged his shoulders and looked unconfident.
"I heard that you wanted to leave the Family and head out to the gangho."
Zhuge Shengji''s expression changed, as if the scolding he had been expecting was finallying. His older sister continued to question him, her eyes boring directly into him.
"And whose idea was that?"
Zhuge Shengji found it challenging to answer. It had been a while since he had actually spoken to his sister.
He rarely left his room due to his introverted nature, making interactions with his family awkward and difficult.
Beingpared to his genius older brother and sister since birth made the difficulty of this interaction more obvious. Whenever he faced his two siblings, he felt infinitely smaller.
"Or is it Young Master Zhou''s idea?"
Zhuge Xiuluan continued to press her younger brother. Her gaze remained on Zhuge Shengji, unflinching.
Zhuge Shengji repeated his sister''s words in his head before raising his eyes to meet hers. Looking deep into her eyes was like staring at a ten-thousand-year-old boulder resting on a cliff.
Although the boulder seemed impossible to approach, terrifying both in its size and proximity to the cliff, it stood with unwaveringposure, utterly ambivalent to the danger of its location.
Her ambivalence wasn''t forced, nor was it filled with disdain. However, wasn''t an empty gaze, either.
She looked at her younger brother, her gaze reflecting his with tranquility, as unwavering as a calmke.
Zhuge Xiuluan waited for Zhuge Shengji''s answer quietly.
Zhuge Shengji took a deep breath and let it out.
He didn''t stand up straight or puff out his chest.
His shoulders were still slumped, his posture betraying no confidence.
However, his eyes met hers directly, shining brightly like they did when he studied his mechanisms.
It''s what I want," he replied.
Zhuge Xiuluan looked at her younger brother quietly, then slowly nodded and smiled softly.
"Father is reviewing your request. He''ll most likely see this as a good opportunity for you to build rtionships with the major sects, so you don''t have to worry. He''s probably just deciding which bodyguards to assign you, so his decision shoulde soon."
Zhuge Shengji looked baffled. This was the first time he had ever spoken with his sister at such length, even though this exchange was so short it couldn''t even be counted as a conversation.
Well then, please enjoy your stay, Young Master Zhou.
Zhuge Xiuluan turned around, having finished her business.
Zhuge Shengji watched Zhuge Xiuluan''s departing back, then patted his chest and let out a sigh of relief.
"Hehe."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled and patted Zhuge Shengji on the back.
"I never thought it would really turn out as you said. Just how did you know that would happen?"
Zhuge Shengji gave Zhou Xuchuan a puzzled look.
He had epted Zhou Xuchuan''s offer to go out into the gangho yesterday without any hesitation.
After all, Zhou Xuchuan hade all this way to him, the useless outcast, to ask him for help, promising endless support for his study of mechanisms. He had no reason to refuse.
Although the current view of the art of mechanisms had improvedpared to before, the Family still looked down on them.
Studying the art of mechanisms required creating and testing them, which was costly.
It wasn''t just a tael or two, either, as his allowance was a drop in the bucketpared to what he needed. When he had asked the Family for support, he was rejected. He was told that their funds couldn''t be used for such trivial things.
This sort of response hadn''t just happened once or twice, either.
However, Zhou Xuchuan had promised to solve his problem ofck of funds. Rather than rejecting his ideas, he weed them with open arms.
So, Zhuge Shengji readily agreed without hesitation.
Still, he had been worried about whether the Family would allow it.
Zhou Xuchuan had listened to his concerns and advised him not to worry and to simply express his desire to leave. He also warned him about the possibility of Zhuge Xiuluan, or even his father, Zhuge Yun, visiting him after his request.
As expected, Zhou Xuchuan''s prediction soon became a reality. It was only because he had been warned beforehand that Zhuge Shengji was able to make eye contact with his sister and express himself.
Even if your Family neglects you, blood is still thicker than water. They were bound to be concerned, even if it was only a little. I figured someone woulde to find you."[1]
Unless their rtionship really had reached a point of no return, there was no way that the Zhuge Family wouldpletely give up on their bloodline. No matter how important or useless one''s child may be, there was always at least one small part of every family that would be worried.
Moreover, no matter how cruel or uncaring one was, blood always had a chance of swaying one''s decisions, whether good or bad.
That was what it meant to be one''s flesh and blood.
While I don''t know much about the Patriarch, Zhuge Yun, at least for Zhuge Xiang or Zhuge Xiuluan, they definitely cared more than they let on.
Whether in the past or the future of his previous life, Zhuge Shengji had been exploited in many ways and eventually met a miserable end.
The Zhuge Family had received criticism then for neglecting such a genius, but Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xiuluan were the exceptions.
It was said that the two often took care of Zhuge Shengji while they were in the Family before they were eventually called to take on important positions as the murim''s advisors.
Of course, while they also hadn''t recognized his genius and the importance of mechanisms, they still were able to provide some form of protection for him.
In fact, even in this timeline, the adults in the Family often advised them not to indulge their younger brother.
Although Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t been able to verify the rumor, it was said that both Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xiuluan med themselves for not recognizing their younger brother''s genius and helping him grow.
Of the three siblings, not just one, but all three of them were geniuses of the era, to the point where Zhou Xuchuan could remember many anecdotes about them.
"Okay, so now that we''ve even received their blessings, let''s pack our bags so we can leave at any time."
1. While the title and this phrase are both tranted as "blood is thicker than water," they''re slightly different. Please see TL notes. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
The title of the chapter is ????(ѪŨˮ), or the Sino-Korean form of the Chinese proverb (taken from the German saying) "blood is thicker than water."
Now, you may think, wait, that''s the same thing as the ref we just made earlier.
HOWEVER, in Korea, the Sino-Korean version and the Korean version of the saying refer to two different things.
The Korean one is the one everyone is familiar withfamily ties are stronger than any other ties.
However, the Sino-Korean version is a message rooted in patriotism and encapstes what it means to fight for one''s country, people, and future.
The revered Korean independence activist Lyuh Woon-Hyung penned the message in the guestbook of the Koma (Koryo) Shrine in Japan during the upation.
Here, it refers to the blood of all Korean people, the spirit of independence, and love for one''s nation, defying the Japanese upation''s assimtion efforts.
Eventually, the saying has been co-opted into many murim/hero novels, referring to the righteous battle for peace and prosperity.
The usage of the quote as a title is meant to juxtapose the ties and responsibility the Zhuge Siblings have for their younger brother and Zhou Xuchuan''s responsibility for the protection of those he loves and the world as a whole.
Chapter 83: Blood Is Thicker Than Water (2)
Zhuge Yun gathered his vassals and held a meeting to discuss Zhuge Shengji''s desire to enter the gangho.
The vassals didn''t show much interest, unanimously responding with their consent.
It was telling, or rather showing, how important Zhuge Shengji was within the family.
The decision was made; Zhuge Shengji would be allowed to roam the gangho on the condition that he had a retinue of guards.
He was still a member of the main branch and was assigned a Peak Realm expert who was on the verge of breaking through to the Transcendent stage.
Meanwhile, several people approached Zhou Xuchuan, not for any particr reason but to build a connection with the Daoist ascetics of the Mount Hua Sect.
Zhou Xuchuan spent his time chatting with the Zhuge Family''s vassals and guests.
Most of them were interested in his bet with the Poison Phoenix, asking various questions to which he gave vague answers.
"Is he the rumored Zhou Xuchuan, who won the bet against the Poison Phoenix?""By the looks of him, his cultivation doesn''t seem that great."
"Didn''t he even admit to being lucky? Or he might have used some kind of trick, too."
"Still, isn''t he a Daoist from Mount Hua? Do you really think he would do something like that?"
"Then how could someone sosomeone like that defeat the Poison Phoenix Tang Hui of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes? Something must have happened."
"Well, I guess that makes sense."
Although the Zhuge Family was one of the Five Great Ancient Families, in terms of pure martial skill, they were the weakest of the five by far.
While they had high cultivations, their actual martial strength was quiteughable.
After all, their main weapon was the mind. They had few Transcendent or Peak experts, let alone any in the Harmony Realm.
As a result, there were no experts within the Zhuge Estate who noticed Zhou Xuchuan''s efforts to hide his cultivation and avoid being noticed by anyone. This made everyone implicitly look down on him and quickly lose interest.
The fact that he spent his time with Zhuge Shengji, the outcast and outlier to the Family''s intelligence, was a big factor in itself.
"For some reason, it feels like you''re being looked down on because of me. I''m sorry."
Zhuge Shengji had also noticed what was happening and hade over to apologize.
"It''s fine. All you, my cute little brother, have to do is work yourself to the bone just as much as they looked down on me."
"Huh?"
"Moreover, getting their respect after making them p themselves out of regretter on will be more satisfying. Our revenge is already a given, it''s only as fun as it could be if we get it in a ze. Don''t you think so?"
"As always, you seem like a psychopath who only chooses the strangest things to talk about"
"What?"
"I didn''t say anything."
***
The next day.
They didn''t need much time to prepare. They had little luggage to pack, so they decided to leave as soon as the Family gave their permission.
Only a few people came to see them off, most of them disappearing after showing their faces.
In the end, there were only two people left to say their farewells.
"I never thought you''d go out into the gangho, Young Master. To be honest, I thought you might just stay in your room forever I was so surprised when I first heard of your departure. What happened?" asked a maidservant who had served Zhuge Shengji since he was young.
To be honest, I''m worried about you in more ways than one."
She sighed, worry evident in her young eyes.
While Zhuge Shengji may be a weirdo that no one understands, he didn''t have a bad personality.
He treated his subordinates kindly, especially her.
To be frank, she was the only person he could talk to, so he had no choice but to treat her well.
She was more familiar with him than anyone else, which exined why she was so worried.
If youre that worried, then do you want toe along? Zhuge Shengji asked, looking at the maid with a pleading look, as if holding out a hand to the only person other than Zhou Xuchuan who could support him.
"Oh, well, my worry and my need to stay here are twopletely different things. As you know, my family lives in a vige near the Family Estate, and I''m also terrified of things like swords or blood," the maidservant said with a straight face.
"Okay"
Zhuge Shengji''s face became gloomier, but he quickly fixed his expression when he saw the other person waiting.
Noonim, thank you for trusting me and sending me out into the gangho. I''ll see you out there if we run into each other."
Zhuge Xiuluan was someone Zhuge Shengji couldn''t read, never knowing how she felt about him. However, this time around, his view of his sister began to change as he tried to make his own way in the world.
Even if he wasn''t saying anything right now, he was happy knowing that someone cared about him.
For first time, he was could to see his family''s warm concern, and he wanted to return that familiar love straight from his heart.
Zhuge Xiuluan had her own journey throughout the gangho about three years ago, and had returned to the Family only a year ago during a break from her cultivation journey.
As there were no talks of any wedding, and neither the Patriarch nor Zhuge Xiuluan herself had any thoughts of pursuing one, she would soon head out into the gangho again.
"If you have any trouble during your journey, feel free to call us for help. If you send a letter to the Martial Alliance, Brother will also be happy to help you. I''ve written down some things to be careful of and things that might be helpful during your journey, so please read them whenever you have the time." Zhuge Xiuluan said, handing over a journal.
Zhuge Shengji used to think that Zhuge Xiuluan was quiet and emotionless, but along the way, he realized his initial impression was wrong. He had only thought that way because he had never actually had a conversation with her before.
Ah
Zhou Xuchuan smiled as he watched Zhuge Shengji talk to his sister.
You''ve changed.
Zhuge Shengji had met a lonely and miserable end in the previous timeline, exploited without ever experiencing his family''s love.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Zhou Xuchuan was sure of it now.
At the very least, Zhuge Shengji wouldn''t have to face such misfortune anymore.
Zhuge Xiuluan would be by his side.
Little brother.
Although they might not share any blood, Zhuge Shengji was definitely his younger brother.
The moment the two became sworn brothers, he had made a vow to heaven.
A vow to his past, and his future.
I will never let you live the same life again!
"Please take good care of my brother, Young Master Zhou," Zhuge Xiuluan said, bowing politely. Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but admire how elegant and graceful she was.
"Of course. Please leave it to me."
The corners of Zhou Xuchuan''s mouth twitched before rising into a confident smile.
Zhuge Xiuluan nodded once in response, then turned and walked away, looking relieved.
Young Lady Zhuge.
Zhou Xuchuan called out to her before she disappeared from sight.
"Formations require natural or artificial arrays to be set in advance before they can be used, right?"
"Yes?"
"In the case of the battlefield, because of many variables and how chaotic it is, formations can be damaged before they can be activated, right? Moreover, there are many cases where they''re useless until the enemy is led to them."
"Just what are you getting at?"
"Well, I was just thinking, if we could create a formation that we could throw wherever we needed, we would be able to quickly deploy any formation we wanted, regardless of variables."
Zhuge Xiuluan opened her mouth before closing it again, lost in thought.
Zhou Xuchuan waved his hand, leaving Zhuge Xiuluan behind as he disappeared over the horizon.
***
"Hyungnim, where are we going now?"
Shandong.
If its Shandong Do we have any business with the Huangfu Family or the Mount Tai Sect?
Zhuge Shengji looked at him questioningly.
"No, we''re going to see a familiar face. Someone you know."
Who?
Li Yicai.
"Ah! The Head Merchant of the Gold Will Merchants! Zhuge Shengji said, pping his knee as he remembered who Zhou Xuchuan was referring to.
"I''ve heard a lot about the Gold Will Merchants during my stay with the Family. It''s good to know that some of that money is mine. Although the Head Merchant''s character is questionable, that''s a minor issue."
Li Yicai held an omnipotent power within his grasp that would allow Zhuge Shengji to create any number of mechanisms.
Gold!
His mouth seemed to rise all the way up to his ears at that name.
"From now on, Shandong will be your second hometown." Zhou Xuchuan grinned.
There were three people in their party, not just two, including the Peak Realm guard assigned to Zhuge Shengji by the Zhuge Family.
Liang Men looked over at the two and sighed.
Damn it![1]
Liang Men had originally been the head of a medium sized Righteous Sect within Hubei. However, due to the sect''s weak power andck of funds, he led the sect into a conflict zone within Guizhou about twenty years ago.
During his time on the battlefield, the sect was decimated, and he only barely survived. The loss had been so great that he had lost all desire to rebuild his sect.
Coincidentally, he was noticed by Zhuge Yun, who had been looking for talented people to recruit. Eventually, he was offered a position as a vassal, and joined the family.
No matter how much I''ve been messing around these days, how could they make me Zhuge Shengji''s guard? Patriarch! How could you? This is too harsh of a punishment!
While Liang Men was a talented martial artist, he had extremely bad habits.
He had given up on cultivating after being unable to ovee the wall to the Transcendent Realm for almost twenty years, eventually just settling for his current level.
After the end of the Guizhou conflict, he was left tired and jaded, feeling bothered whenever he was assigned missions. He even spent his time going to and fro different taverns, drinking, albeit in moderation.
While the Zhuge Family was a bit irritated by his actions, they were unable to say anything due to how well Liang Men performed and his impressive skills whenever he was sent on a mission.
Finally, a suitable opportunity hade.
To think I was forced to do such a troublesome task!
While the Family neglected Zhuge Shengji, that didn''t mean that Liang Men, as a vassal, could treat him the same way.
"Young Hero Liang, your expression doesn''t seem too great," Zhou Xuchuan said, looking at Liang Men''s expression.
"Thank you for your concern, but theres no need to worry," Liang Men responded, openly expressing that Zhou Xuchuan shouldn''t care.
Zhou Xuchuan looked at Liang Men andughed.
"While you may regret it now, don''t worry, because you''re on the right side. You''ll thank uster."
Liang Men was dumbfounded by his words.
What a crazy bastard!
All he could do was curse to himself. It was best not to associate with crazy people.
After all, do people avoid shit because they''re afraid of it? No, they avoid it because it''s disgusting!
While the saying, birds of a feather flock together, was cliche, that didn''t mean it was wrong. Considering Zhou Xuchuan was close to the entric outcast of the Family, wouldn''t he be of a simr type?
If I had known this would happen, I would have stopped messing around!
Still, the water had already been spilled, and regret always came toote.
It was clear.
His future would be difficult.
Liang Men just sighed, as if he wanted to be swallowed up by the ground.
Zhou Xuchuan chuckled as he saw Liang Men sigh.
Now, things really start.
He had been busy by himself all this time. However, once he arrived in Shandong, he wouldn''t be alone for much longer.
Jinan, the capital of Shandong, would be his new homeground. He nned to focus his attention there, and gather his own forces to battle against the Dark Heaven Association.
While things would be easier if he borrowed the power of Mount Hua, his freedom would then be limited, and things could be annoying.
Above all, war wasn''t something one could conduct by oneself.
Although it was important to help his fellow disciples and strengthen his sect, that could always be handledter.
The most important thing for him to do now was to n out what would happen in the future and hit the Dark Heaven Association preemptively, like he had with the Ten Millennia Fire Carp or the Millennium Snow Ginseng.
Geographically, it wasn''t a bad location, either.
There were many underground resources, such as iron mines that hadn''t yet been discovered, as well as many agricultural products like wheat and tobo. The sea was close by, so there was plenty of seafood, and there was a port, making it advantageous for trade.
It was even connected to the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
Hebei and the Capitaly to the north, while Henan was to the west and Anhui and Jiangsu were to the south.
In addition to being the center of the Righteous Faction, it was close to the Capital, and most importantly, it was safe due to the security covering the city and the roads in all directions.
Although thend prices and rted taxes were a bit expensive, it wasn''t that big of a burden considering the Gold Will Merchants.
"Ah, I can see Jinan in the distance. We''ll be arriving soon."
1. It''s a joke because "Damn it" (Jaegil) is one letter off from Zhuge (Jaegal). ?
Chapter 84: Knowledge is Power (1)
The Gold Will Merchants had grown at an impressive speed and scale.
In just a few years, it bespletely unrecognizable.
Normally, having so much money would attract all sorts of vermin, including thieves and robbers.
However, the Head Merchant had blocked all of those pesky interruptions with money, recruiting those in power through bribes and kickbacks.
With such strong backing, there were few who could afford to mess with him and his merchants.
Of course, some were still blinded by greed and forgot the value of their lives, but they were all easily handled by the guards.
While the Head Merchant had be outstanding in terms of power, wealth, and military might, he didn''t stop there.
His greed was like the ocean.
Thankfully, he was never blinded by his greed to the point where he couldn''t judge right or wrong. He didn''t go too far in order to obtain more wealth.He didn''t revel in pleasure or indulge in extravagance, mostly using his increasing wealth as a means to make more money.
While ordinary people who obtained great wealth often spent their money recklessly and ended up in ruins, the Gold Will Merchants philosophy made them an exception.
"Money is something that always makes its way around. It''s so much better to spend money on making more money than on getting drunk or quenching lust. Tsk, tsk, but people just don''t understand that."
"Ha, ha, ha!" Li Yicaiughed, his bulging belly showing. It was the stereotypicalugh of a greedy merchant.
Looking at the money lying in front of him made him hungrier instead of full. He just wanted to do what was necessary to satisfy this ravenous hunger quickly.
Hunger and greed were Li Yicais driving forces.
"Seems like yourugh is still the same, Head Merchant!"
Right then, he heard someone''s voice from outside the door.
"What?! This voice!"
Li Yicai jumped up from his seat, the taels stuck between the folds of his clothes, falling to the ground and making a loud noise.
To think that someone who was so obsessed with money that he was called a plutophile by those around him had just dropped all of the money he was holding in his hand.
That was how shocking and important what just happened to him was.
Great, Great Hero?!
Boom!
The door flung open as Li Yicai scrambled out. He had even forgotten to put on his shoes and ran out in his socks.
"To think that''s the Merchant King ha"
Zhou Xuchuan smiled bitterly at the sight.
***
The table was covered in all kinds of delicacies.
Wild vegetables harvested from nearby were at one end, while entire silver pomfrets freshly caught from the Bohai sea lined the table, served raw or grilled whole.[1] That wasn''t all, with entire roasted porks and other meats that one would only see at major banquets filling in any gaps.
"Oh dear, it''s been such a long time since I wasst graced with your presence.
Li Yicai continued to bow andugh.
Even though five years have passed, he had remained the same.
"Please raise your head before you speak. Don''t you think we should at least make eye contact while we converse?"
Zhou Xuchuan shook his head helplessly as if there was no helping Li Yicai. It was only when the Head Merchant heard the exasperation in Zhou Xuchuans voice that he lifted his head.
"I was just trying to show that my respect for the Great Hero hasn''t changed even with the passing of the seasons, so please, I beg for your understanding."
Li Yicai rubbed his palms together.
"Anyway, both you, Great Hero, and you, Young Hero, have grown into really handsome men during the time we''ve been apart. As soon as I saw you, I waspletely entranced."
"It''s amazing to see how little someone can actually change," Zhuge Shengji said, unable to contain his admiration.
Li Yicai treated Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji with great hospitality. He also made sure not to have any servants or maids around so they could talkfortably about the secret only three of them knew.
What had happened at the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury was still confidential.
Although they talked about what had happened so far while they ate, the actual important information had already beenmunicated through letters beforehand.
During their meal, they mostly spoke about the situation within the murim and the affairs of the Gold Will Merchants.
It was only after finishing the meal and clearing the table that they got to the point.
Head Merchant. Well need some weapons in the future. Zhou Xuchuan began.
Li Yicais demeanor instantly changed. His sly smile vanished, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"By weapons, you mean?"
The Gold Will Merchants had been dealing in weapons for quite some time. Zhou Xuchuan was well aware of this, leading to his direct questioning.
"While I don''t know the exact time, war will definitely break out in the not-too-distant future."
Li Yicai''s eyes widened, stunned by Zhou Xuchuan''s words. Zhuge Shengji, on the other hand, wasn''t surprised.
Zhou Xuchuan had already exined everything to him on the way there.
The tomb of the Ominous Demon is underwater, submerged to the point where it can''t be restored. But that doesn''t mean that''ll be the end of things.
Regardless of what they had gathered for, the members of the seven major forces that would ignite the Seven Swords War still hadn''t left. The Dark Heaven Association was still in control.
They had hidden moles and traitors within the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and even the Demon Cult, all ready for theing sh.
All their preparations ensured that the Seven Swords War would happen, and Zhou Xuchuan was convinced that they would find another opportunity to incite the forces and start a war.
ns wrapped in ns, with alternatives ready at every stage to rece any failed ns. That was one of the most terrifying things about the Dark Heaven Association.
"So, a war. I can smell money. You''ll need not only weapons but also medicine," Li Yicai said, grinning as his eyes narrowed.
He was by no means a good person. His moral sense barely existed, and he was fine with just about anything as long as it made him money.
Of course, that said, he didn''tmit any evil deeds that vited thews of heaven.
He had to maintain the bare minimum of decency. Otherwise, he''d lose trust.
For merchants, trust was both their lifeline and god.
As much as he wanted money, he desired efficiency.
That was what it meant to be the Head Merchant, the Merchant King Li Yicai.
Is there anything else you need? It''ll be easier to prepare with more details."
"Are you really taking Hyungnim''s words at face value?" Zhuge Shengji asked curiously when he saw Li Yicai not questioning Zhou Xuchuan''s prediction in the slightest.
Even he, the sworn brother, had required a detailed exnation after Zhou Xuchuan''s confession when he first had the situation exined to him.
But Li Yicai didn''t have any of those same questions. While there had been the slightest hint of doubt in his eyes, it soon disappeared.
Sniff, sniff. It smells like money. My sense of smell has never been wrong. More than anything else nothing the Great Hero has said to me has turned out to be wrong so far. I''ve been able to make a lot of money doing as the Great Heromands."
At its root, their rtionship was only worth its weight in taels.
However, for Li Yicai, that gold was everything. It was more important than any words or evidence. Nothing mattered more to him than the taels he could make.
Money was more important to him than life or family. It was the center of everything in the world and held everything in its arms.
Others couldn''t understand where Li Yicai wasing from, but that didn''t matter.
The only thing that mattered was that it was important to Li Yicai.
While the Merchant King pursued profit, he also valued the basics of trade above all else.
Equivalent Exchange.
Trust.
That was how Li Yicai had built his reputation in the future. History had proven his methods effective, which is why Zhou Xuchuan trusted the Merchant King and left the preparations in his capable hands.
Knowledge Is Power.
"It won''t be that difficult for us to get our hands on gold, tools, or medicine. So, I think we should focus primarily on manpower," Li Yicai said, precisely addressing what Zhou Xuchuan wanted.
"Above all, we need to focus on recruiting martial artists. It doesn''t matter if they''re wanderers, it doesn''t matter if their cultivation or techniques are poor; just focus on people you can trust and control."
Managing people is this small merchants specialty. Don''t they say that with enough money, you can control demons? Please leave it to me." Li Yicai reassured him.
***
There was a significant change in the Dark Heaven Association''s master n.
They had originally nned to use the tomb of the Ominous Demon as an opportunity to start a war, but somehow, things went wrong, and their mission failed.
Still, things were far from over.
Even though the tomb of the Ominous Demon was no longer useful, there were other ways to get around the issue.
War could still be incited through the moles and troublemakers they had nted, provided the right opportunity presented itself.
"We''ll be making an emergency substitution."
So, they prepared for that opportunity once again. While they could have used this emergency substitution in other schemes, this current war was more important.
With whose technique?
The Blood Monk!
Unbelievable!
Oho!
Admiration could be felt all around.
Isnt this a significant deviation from the original n?
"Well, the Shaolin Temple will most likely take action."
The Blood Monk was someone from four hundred years ago. Originally a promising genius at the Shaolin Temple, he had been expelled for breaking the Temple''smandments.
He would have tenprehensions with every single concept he heard and gain enlightenment regarding any technique on his own.
The murim across the Central ins praised him as an unrivaled genius, and he lived up to everyone''s expectations.
It didn''t take long for the Blood Monk to learn everything the temple had to offer, and he quickly became a leading figure.
As time passed, there was no one in the Temple who had anything left to teach him. Eventually, he was allowed to enter the Sutra Depository.
The Sutra Depository was not only the Shaolin Temple''s library of Buddhist scriptures but also a ce where all its techniques were stored.
Allowed to read them all, the Blood Monk absorbed the techniques like a tree blossom in bloom. Some of the methods in the Sutra Depository were iplete, but thanks to hisprehension and efforts, he finallypleted some of the more abstruse techniques the Shaolin Temple had given up on.
Because of this, the Shaolin Temple entrusted the Blood Monk with the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon ssic, the greatest of all the Buddhist techniques in the temple''s depository, and their unsurpassed divine art, expecting its most abstract and abstruse portions to be interpreted andpleted.
However, in the end, the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon ssic couldn''t bepleted. To be precise, it could have been, but the Blood Monk chose not to.
The Blood Monk was so avaricious when it came to martial arts that he even ended up dabbling in taboo arts. In the end, he descended into the demonic art sealed within the depository.
This unrivaledprehension genius not only mastered the demonic art but also created a new technique bybining the demonic art with the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon ssic.
Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic!
As if mastering the demonic art wasn''t been enough, he went insane andbined the divine art, the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon ssic with the depravity of the demonic art!
Despite his contributions to the Shaolin Temple, this was indefensible.
He was apostatized and sentenced to life imprisonment to prevent his technique from being leaked.
When a monk of the Shaolin Temple was cast out and became an apostate, the muscles of each limb would be severed, and their dantian shattered.
Knowing this, the Blood Monk escaped from the Shaolin Temple without hesitation and was pursued by the Hundred and Eight Arhats.
The following battle became the greatest shame in the history of the Shaolin Temple.
Most of the Hundred and Eight Arhats were defeated by the Blood Monk.
In terms of technique, The Blood Monk was said to be an unrivaled genius. Moreover, he had absorbed all of the secret techniques and arts of the Sutra Depository. Not only at the time but even throughout Shaolin history, there were few as strong as Blood Monk.
The Shaolin Temple had even requested for help from the Martial Alliance and the Righteous Faction but still failed to kill him in the end.
"If the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic is verified, then the Hundred and Eight Arhats will surelye forward. Although they may be a bit of a nuisance for us, since they''re the exact opposite of the Demon Cult, they would surely create tension. Then, war would break out without any more effort on our part."
"I see. It''s an excellent choice."
"However, the variables are still quite extensive, so be careful. Unlike the Grimoire of the Sunken Spiral Castle, the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic is not a prohibited art.
From the Shaolin Temple''s point of view, demonic arts were considered the same as prohibited arts. However, the Demonic Path didn''t consider the ssic to be a prohibited art in the slightest.
While one would be the public enemy of Shaolin if they cultivated the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, things would be much easier since one could rely on the Demonic Path.
In any case, anyone who practiced a demonic art wouldn''t be wee in the Righteous or Evil Factions.
"Crack!! While I may not know who he is, I''m not going to let that bastard have an easy death after ruining everything!"
1. Wild silver pomfrets from the Bohai Sea are very prized and very expensive. Real wild silver pomfrets are actually one of the most expensive fishes to purchase in the US by weight, sometimes more expensive than steaks. Also, it''s almost impossible to find (you''ll normally only find lesser pomfrets mibeled or farmed). ?
Chapter 85: Knowledge is Power (2)
The Gold Will Merchants had roughly three hundred warriors under itsmand. The group of warriorsprised of both wanderers and various martial artists of the Righteous Faction, ranging from those of small and medium-sized sects to even those recognized as a part of the Martial Alliance.
Li Yicai had divided those warriors into three sections when establishing the Gold Will Merchants'' forcesthe First Corps, Second Corps, and Third Corps.
The Third Corps was essentiallyposed of wanderers who had been hired using money without any special conditions or loyalties. They had been brought in a short while ago at Zhou Xuchuan''s request.
The Second Corps consisted of warriors trustworthy enough to be assigned to the various branches of the Gold Will Merchants. They were provided with better positions and techniques than the Third Corps, and their sries were quite good as well.
As for the First Corps, they were the elite. Led by the Ten Gale Swordsmen, they were divided into ten divisions that served as Li Yicai''s direct subordinates. Even if some of the members of the First Corps had weaker cultivations than the Second Corps, they, like the Ten Gale Swordsmen, were highly trustworthy. These individuals desperately needed money, not for selfish or evil desires, but for the sake of someone precious to them, for their families.
"They all have their own unavoidable circumstances, and he''s using that to keep them loyal. Moreover, it''s not by coercion. Even if he were threatening them, the end would justify the means. But seeing as he''s not, it''s really incredible how he''s handling this."
Zhou Xuchuan was once again impressed by Li Yicais ability.
Head Merchant. Ill takemand of the Second Corps for the time being.
The Third Corps hadn''t built enough trust yet. They were liable to run away or betray the Gold Will Merchants if offered more money from other forces.There was the possibility that some of them might be spies sent by other merchant organizations hostile to the Gold Will Merchants.
So, Zhou Xuchuan decided to consolidate and strengthen the Second Corps, whose members were rtively trustworthy and had decent cultivations.
The Second Corps was initially bewildered when they heard the Head Merchants order.
Even if the brat before them was from the Nine Sects and One Gang, they just couldn''t believe that a kid not even in his thirties would be the one to train them.
It was hard for them to ept, even though it was the Head Merchant''s orders. Many of them objected to it.
"Head Merchant, isn''t this a little too much?"
"We''ve all heard of Mount Hua''s reputation, but isn''t this youngling a little too young?"
"He''s only a disciple from the Nine Sects and One Gang. Just because he''s practiced incredible techniques doesn''t make him a master. No matter how you look at him, he''s obviously some inexperienced novice. Just what could he know about teaching us?"
The warriors of the Second Corps seemed slightly insulted.
Maybe things would be different if the boy in front of them was one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, but none of them had ever even heard of the name Zhou Xuchuan. His age alone was an issue, but to think he didn''t even have a reputation!
"All of you shut the fuck up. The Martial God is standing before you."
Even among ttery this was enough to make people dumbfounded. Zhou Xuchuan himself even clicked his tongue in frustration.
Head Merchant, you should take care of other things. I''ll handle this."
I apologize, Great Hero. Because of this lowly person, you...
I get it!" Zhou Xuchuan interrupted.
Immediately, the man who seemed to be making things worse stepped back as Zhou Xuchuan addressed the one hundred men in front of him.
"It''s always better to demonstrate once than to exin a hundred times."
"Huh?"
"So, all of you,e at me."
What shit is he spouting
Ill go first! Zhou Xuchuan shouted.
The Jinan branch of Gold Will Merchants was incrediblyrge. It wasn''t an ordinary merchant house; it wasrge enough to have the word in front of it.[1]
Seeing that there was even a training groundrge enough for a hundred people to freely move around, one could tell just how wealthy the Gold Will Merchants actually was.
Zhou Xuchuan suddenly rushed at the hundred warriors of the Second Corps standing in front of him. He was careful not to inflict fatal injuries.
"Agk!!"
Although he used his sword, Zhou Xuchuan made sure not to attack with his de. He mainly struck them with the t of the de, just hard enough to make them pass out. At first, the warriors were disconcerted by the chaos but quickly counterattacked after realizing that Zhou Xuchuan had initiated the fight himself.
Then, what followed was one-sided violence.
"AGH!!!"
"UGH!!!!"
The warriors of the Second Corps were stronger than the wanderers scattered throughout the gangho. However, they were only slightly better.
The strongest among them were, at best, First ss, while most of them were barely Second, or even Third ss warriors. Even though there were a hundred of them, fighting them was nothing more than an after-meal exercise for a Harmony Realm master who possessed an almost infinite amount of qi.
At first, the warriors thought that Zhou Xuchuan was crazy and had wanted to beat him up.
However, their thoughts quickly changed.
They went all out to subdue him, desperate to avoid being hit and stay conscious. In the end, they all ended up on the ground, unable to put up a fight.
"Ugh"
"My back, my back!"
"My arm is broken"
In less than half an hour, all of the warriors were lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
Even the physician who had been waiting to the side in advance was utterly bbergasted. He froze until he suddenly remembered his job and hurriedly moved to help.
Zhou Xuchuan looked at the warriors receiving treatment.
"From now on, we''re going to be sparring like we''re in a real battle like this every day. Don''t worry; the organization will handle everything if your sword gets chipped or broken. The same goes for medicine as well. So, you can fight as hard as you can without holding back, okay?"
"You damnable brat!"
A rtively unscathed First ss warrior rushed at him, furious.
"Yes, yes, exactly. With this much energy."
Zhou Xuchuan took a step to the left and dodged lightly, kicking the warriors back as he passed by.
"Agk!!"
The warrior fell forward and crashed into the ground.
The warriors receiving treatment were terrified when they saw this. Their faces finally showed fear.
From this point on, Zhou Xuchuan became the instructor for the Second Corps.
Some of the warriors had the idea that he might teach them some techniques that Mount Hua gave to theiry disciples.
However, those wishes were in vain. There was no way he had that kind of authority.
"Even though you call me instructor, I''m not going to teach you any techniques. Your foundations arecking. I''ll be fixing that for you."
The infamously harsh training methods of the Mount Hua Sect were priceless in times like these. Zhou Xuchuan proceeded to train the Second Corps, while reminiscing about the past.
He made the warriors wake up at dawn, cultivate their respective qi cultivation methods through mediation before making them run without using their cultivation bases.
Around lunchtime, he made them all assume a stance and swing their swords as a group. As they did so, he''d find any with improper stances orcking energy and forcibly correct them.
He was quite oppressive, and he even used violence, which made many warriors dissatisfied.
"You damn punk!"
"Put that energy into your training."
Of course, every time someoneined, he would force them to submit with violence. While there were probably better ways to handle it, he didn''t care enough to consider them. They were all his employees, and he didn''t have time to pay attention to each and every one. So, he just focused on training them through a reasonable amount of torture.
There was no need for him to think about any other methods, and it was good because he didn''t have to worry about anything, either.
Youre amazing, Great Hero!
Li Yicai was happy to see the Second Corps growing strength. In the murim, strength was like money.
There would be many benefits as his forces grew stronger. Thinking about those benefits, he couldn''t help butugh.
Zhou Xuchuan just let Li Yicai''s ttery go in one ear and out the other as he continued the conversation.
In the meantime, please filter out the talents from the Third Corps who you rmend should enter the Second or the First Corps.
"Understood. What should I do with the ones who aren''t suitable?"
"Just give them a reasonable severance. I''ll leave the amount to you, considering you''re better at dealing with people."
Do you need anything else?
"I''m nning on adding another two hundred people to the forces here. Please find children who fit the criteria I had mentioned earlier."
First, they must be children who are nine to ten years old and have no particr physical issues. It doesn''t matter if they''re malnourished or hungry. As long as all of their limbs are intact and they have both eyes, that''s fine. They shouldn''t have any incurable diseases, either.
Look for those with extremely poor families as well. It''s best if they''re orphans."
"Understood. Are you thinking of training a separate guard squad?"
Children from poor families or abandoned orphans had nowhere to go and spent each day worrying about the next.
That despair and hunger were more painful than one could imagine.
If one were to help them escape that pain, most of them would swear lifelong loyalty to whoever saved them.
Moreover, if one were to not only take care of their food, clothing, and shelter but also give them a way to make a living or even teach them martial arts, it would be like they were gilding the flowers given to them.[2]
"With this many people, I think it might be better to open a sect and manage them separately. It would be more efficient to build a new estate with training grounds and other sections what do you think?"
"I think that makes the most sense, too. Please feel free to do whatever you like."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled as if he was already expecting Li Yicai''s answer.
If so, then would sir Great Hero consider? Li Yicai asked, looking around furtively.
"It''s no use trying to tie me up with the Gold Will Merchants sneakily."
Even though the new organization would be a sect, it would strictly manage the warriors belonging to the merchant organization. If one really looked closely, one would find that the newly established sect would just be a subordinate sect of the Gold Will Merchant.
Bing the sect leader would mean that Zhou Xuchuan would end up forming an inseparable rtionship with the Gold Will Merchants.
It wouldn''t be a problem if he were ay disciple of Mount Hua, but it was impossible considering his status as a direct disciple of the sect.
"Oh dear, sir, Great Hero! I''m truly sorry! This foolish merchant is an idiot and thus made such a lowly mistake! I''ve long wished for a sect leader like the Great Hero for such a long time that I!"
How thick-skinned are you? It''s to the point that I might not even doubt it if someone told me you were wearing a mask."
Li Yicai wasn''t the type of person to get confused by such things or make such mistakes. Even though he might act like an idiot on the outside, it was difficult to find someone more intelligent than him in the entire Central ins.
His apology was just an excuse for his greedy remarks.
Please leave the position of the sect leader vacant. Ill bring someone suitable to take the positionter."
Zhou Xuchuan got up from his seat.
"What would you like to name it?"
"If it''s a sect under yourmand, don''t you think you''d be the owner, Head Merchant? Name it whatever you want."
Hmm, lets think about it.
Li Yicai stroked his plump chin.
Hehe, I know exactly what name you''re going to name it.
Zhou Xuchuan had to stifle augh.
This wasn''t the first time that a sect had appeared under the Gold Will Merchants.
Or, to be precise, it was something that was supposed to happen in the future.
In Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, Li Yicai had formed his own force to protect his property. It wasn''t just a guard or a hired group, he had brought in children and trained them as personal guards.
Zhou Xuchuan was only instructing him this early so they could proceed more quickly.
With the mind set on gold, take up the sword.
The Golden Will Sword Sect!
As the Merchant King said, money was power.
Following his own creed, he had used money to establish his own force.
Initially, the Merchant King had just hired warriors. Then, he gathered trustworthy people and ced them in key positions within his established sect.
Finally, he established the foundational techniques and qi cultivation methods of his sectalthough "bought" would be a more urate term.
It truly was a sect made of money.
However, he received contempt from both the Righteous and Evil Factions for using money to bind the souls of warriors and even buying techniques to increase his power.
Although the sect''s reputation wasn''t good, thanks to his methods, the Golden Will Sword Sect eventually grew to a levelparable to the Nine Sects and One Gang, or, at the very least, the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance.
"...Hmm, oh! Sword Sect! Let''s go with the Golden Will Sword Sect!"
1. means big in Korean/Chinese/Japanese. ?
2. Basically, "icing on a cake." ?
Chapter 86: Drink Death, Drink Life (1)
There was an old saying.
"Pull out the enemy''s fangs before you fight."
Those who were skilled in the art of war first made it impossible for the enemy to win before waiting for the enemy to give you an opportunity to win yourself.
In other words.
The enemy''s failure to win depended on one''s own actions, while one''s victory depended on the enemy.
"Let''s cut off their fangs first, or rather, their right arm."
Zhou Xuchuan left Shandong, heading for Sichuan.
As Sun Tzu advised, he nned to reduce or eliminate the Dark Heavens Association''s forces to prevent them from winning.
This strategy extended to his future ns as well.Warped Valor, the Sword Demon!
There were eight organizations under the Dark Heavens Association LordThe Archive and the seven arms of the Seven Stars Division. All eight had simr standings within the Association, with each leader holding equal rank.
However, among those eight, one was particrly famous within the murim of the gangho.
The Sword Demon.
In terms of cultivation, the Sword Demon was the top-ranked member of the Seven Stars Division and the strongest in the Dark Heavens Association after the Leader.
After the Dark Heavens Association revealed itself to the world, the Sword Demon defeated the First Overlord of the Ten Empyrean Overlords in a head-on battle and imed his position.
Zhou Xuchuan swore to himself.
Yes, the Sword Demon had to be taken away from the Dark Heavens Association Lord.
***
Sichuan, Tang Family Estate.
The sun zed down as it rose to its peak in the center of the sky. Even the breezes brought only warm air, spreading the heat to everyone they touched.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
In front of Zhou Xuchuan sat a woman holding a thorn, or rather, poison.
"Its been a long time, Young Lady Tang."
Zhou Xuchuan opened his eyes slightly and looked down at the tea in his hand. The color seemed a little too dark for tea.
"This is"
Zhou Xuchuan sniffed the tea.
"Poison Tea," Tang Hui answered nonchntly.
"I put Heartbreak Poison in it. If you drink it, you''ll feel the agony of your intestines splitting. Go ahead, try it."[1]
Her faint smile was terrifying. Her personality wasn''t called twisted for no reason.
"Thank you for such a grand wee. Is this your revenge for what happened before?"
"Of course not. This is just my greeting for you."
"This is the first time I''ve heard of the Sichuan Tang Family serving poisoned tea as a greeting, no?"
"It''s called arrogance when one thinks that what they know is all that happens. Remember, there are many things in the world that you''re unaware of."
"Mmm. You''re right."
There was no one, no faction in the entire world, that would serve poisoned tea in a reception room and even exin what sort of poison was in it.
"By the way, what brought you to Sichuan all the way from Shandong?"
Zhou Xuchuan sighed softly, his eyes questioning how she knew that he hade from Shandong. Seeing this, Tang Hui covered her mouth with her long sleeves, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she smiled mysteriously.
"While I haven''t tracked your movements for the past half year, I still know the gist of it. You took that lunatic from the Zhuge Family all the way to Shandong and stayed with the Gold Will Merchants, right?"
Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t really hidden his moves so far.
Still, judging by Tang Hui''s expression, she didn''t seem to know anything about what had happened in the Western Regions. After all, no matter how powerful the Sichuan Tang Family''s intelligence system was, it would be difficult for them to investigate things outside of the Central ins. That would be doubly so, considering he had gone as far as the Great Snowy Mountains, which lined the far border of the Western Regions.
"Then, have you been looking out for"
"Zhou Xuchuan, you aren''t, are you? You''re not so deluded to think I was investigating you because I''m interested in you, are you? If that''s the case, go throw yourself into the Yangtze River and kill yourself right now. That''s an incredibly unpleasant delusion."
"I really can''t say anything, can I? What a bad personality."
Zhou Xuchuan was astonished by Tang Huis personality. Her temper was just simply impossible to see as normal.
Tang Huis eyes narrowed as murderous intent boiled inside them likeva.
She seemed ready to get up and sh at Zhou Xuchuan at any moment.
"Don''t re at me. I''vee here to give you a chance to get revenge."
"Although I don''t know who is giving whom a chance a revenge match?"
"Yes. A bet."
Tang Huis eyebrows flinched and trembled.
Zhou Xuchuan!
Tang Hui was burning with anger. The humiliation engraved deep in her heart red up, bringing about a desire for revenge.
How could she forget about that time?!
She couldn''t forget about it during the past six months. Whenever she thought about it, she couldn''t sleep at night.
In a single morning, the name The Poison Phoenix fell. A single defeat had brought about countless bugs. Because of that defeat, many weaklings hade to bother her.
"The honorable-grade sword from before."
Zhou Xuchuan ced Frostedge on the table.
"And"
A gold certificate quickly appeared as well.
"A thousand taels of gold"
Tang Hui couldnt help but be shaken. Even for the Tang Family, a thousand taels of gold wasn''t a small amount. Moreover, Zhou Xuchuan had even put up an honorable-grade sword that was clearly extraordinary at a nce.
"... and what do you want?"
"The Poison Phoenix"
Thwip!
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Huis sleeves fluttered as a dagger popped out, its de pitch ck.
Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head to the side, expecting the attack. The dagger passed by precariously and stuck into the wall behind him.
"''s Poison Arts."
"My knowledge?"
"Yes. More specifically, concerning detoxification."
"You came to the right ce."
Tang Hui stood up, covering her mouth with her sleeve. Zhou Xuchuan could see the corners of her mouth slightly raised.
"You can decide what we''re betting over," he said.
"If you thought you''d get a rise out of me, you''repletely mistaken. There''s no way you''re the kind of idiot who thinks offering the decision to the opponent, would provoke their pride and actually get the chance to decide first, right?"
"Again, you say such rude things with absolutely no reaction!"
***
"Theres amotion in broad daylight."
The head of the Tang Family, Tang Youqi, straightened his bent back slightly. Still, as he was on the small side, he didnt look that big.
His face appeared haggard as if he hadnt slept for days, with dark circles under his eyes and wrinkles covering his entire face.
His overall build was on the smaller side.
Although he looked old, he was actually middle-aged.
In fact, this was a rare phenomenon within the murim. Usually, martial artists aged slowly due to their increased qi, a fact more apparent for masters.
"Zhou Xuchuan is here, Patriarch."
"Yes, I heard."
Tang Youqi nodded as if he knew already.
"If that isn''t to your liking, we can kick him out."
"No, that''s fine. He won''t be able to enjoy himself for long. Give him whatever he wants."
"Understood. Master, there''s something else"
"What is it?"
"Young Lady Hui has requested to Open the Tavern."
The attendant nced at Tang Youqi, trying to gauge his response.
"Is she trying to put him in a coffin"
Tang Youqi frowned.
"Did Zhou Xuchuan say he would ept any bet?"
"Yes."
"Then, lets get his consent in ordance with the procedure and secure witnesses before proceeding."
"Understood."
Zhou Xuchuan was quite well-known in the Tang Family.
It wasn''t surprising, considering he was the one who had defeated the Poison Phoenix, who had been known as the undefeated legend. What was even more surprising was that he hadn''t even asked for Tang Hui''s hand in marriage even after winning.
"It''s nice to meet you, Young Hero. My name is Qingqing, and I''ll be serving you today."
As the door opened, a sixteen-year-old maid greeted him.
"I''ll be in your care."
"Firstly, I''ve prepared your tea for you."
Qingqing served the tea skillfully.
Zhou Xuchuan looked down at the tea.
"So. What kind of poison did you put in the tea?"
"P-poison?! How, how could I dare!"
Qingqings face turned as pale as her name.[2]
If a maid was caught serving poisoned tea to a guest of the Sichuan Tang Family, especially one from the venerable Mount Hua, things wouldn''t end with just a simple reprimand.
"Oh, right?"
That''s right, who on earth would serve poisoned tea to a guest?
"By the way, it''s already been four days"
"Oh, that''s right. I was actually sent today to show you around, even without your insistence. We apologize for the dy. As it has been a long time since the Tang Family Tavern has opened, it took some time to prepare."
"The Tang Familys Tavern?"
"Things will make sense when you get there, so just follow me," the Tang Family warrior standing behind Qingqing answered instead. However, the way he looked at Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t pleasant at all.
I don''t know how a bastard like you defeated the youngdy, but you won''t be able to beat her as easily as you did back then!
Sometimes, beauty could make one overlook everything else regardless of the beautys personality.
This was evident with Tang Hui. Even though she was a bit foul-mouthed, many admired and praised her.
Countless people, not just within the Family but across Sichuan and the Central ins, had fallen for her beauty.
This made Zhou Xuchuan the target of countless jealous men, as he had monopolized Tang Huis attention.
"The look you''re giving me is quite sharp. Is this the gaze of someone admiring a hero"
No.
No, it isn''t."
"Ahem. Good. Then let''s go, Qingqing. Lead me there. I''m notfortable being guided by that warrior. It feels like I''m going to get poisoned."
"You brat! How dare you treat a warrior of the Tang Family this way!"
The warrior turned red and blue, his fierce aura surging like a storm.
Zhou Xuchuan lightly patted the trembling Qingqing on the shoulder. Her trembling stopped instantly, as if it had all been one''s imagination.
"Huh?"
"Okay, guide me quickly. If Imte, your ill-tempered master might poison me while I''m eating."
"You bastard! Just how much do you n to insult the youngdy?!"
Bang!
The warrior couldn''t hold back his anger and lunged forward.
"Stop."
A creepy voice pierced the warrior''s eardrums, paralyzing his entire body.
Gasp!
The boiling anger vanished, reced by a bleak, dry air. Fear that numbed his flesh swept over him.
"I understand your loyalty, but the Patriarch is also waiting."
"E-elder! I I apologize!"
The warrior of the Tang Family bowed down and apologized.
The old man the guard called Elder looked Zhou Xuchuan up and down.
Not only had he epted the fighting spirit that the warrior had just released without even the slightest flinching, but he also shielded the maid from it.
The Elder''s wrinkled eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Zhou Xuchuan.
Such careful control is not easy. Is his victory over the youngdy really not rted to his skill?
Seeing Zhou Xuchuan in front of him, the elder realized that the world might have underestimated the young man.
The elder turned his gaze to Qingqing.
"I''m going first, so guide him there."
"Yes, yes. I understand!"
Qingqing hurriedly lowered her head.
The elder turned his back as if his task wasplete and walked forward with his pack on his back.
"Young Hero, please follow me. I''ll be leading you there."
"Okay."
Zhou Xuchuan noticed the warrior of the Tang Family ring at him again, but he ignored him and continued forward with Qingqing.
He had sensed it earlier when she hade to his door, but, possibly because she was the maid of a murim family, the sound of her footsteps was unusual for a young girl.
While they weren''t the steps of a martial artist, they were still timed and precise.
"So, the Tang Family Tavern what was that again"
He couldn''t remember, and not knowing bothered him for some reason. The tingling sensation in his brain was jarring.
"Oh. If you''d like, Young Hero, I can exin it to you" Qingqing, who was walking with him, heard his muttering and responded.
"I''ll find out anyway, but it wouldn''t hurt to hear about it in advance. Please continue."
"There is a tavern within the estate. However, it''s usually closed. There are only two asions when this tavern is opened. One is when we wee extremely important guests and the other"
"And the other?"
"When it''s time for revenge."
"What''s that supposed to"
Zhou Xuchuans next words were drowned out as shouts came from far away.
"Drink Death!"
Drink and die!
"Drink Life!"
Or drink and live!
1. Heartbreak in Korean is literally ''Intestines Breaking.'' ?
2. Her name means Clear Clear or Pale Pale. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
1. Tsun
2. Dere
3. does not support Tang Hui''s messages, please don''t throw yourselves into the Yellow River for a pretty girl who may or may not want to kill you.
Chapter 87: Drink Death, Drink Life (2)
It was too strange a location to be called the Tavern. Instead, it would be more urate to call it a sparring ground.
When the heavy door with the four characters of the Sichuan Tang Family engraved on it opened, it revealed a marble floor resembling a stage inside.
On all sides, what looked like warriors of the Tang Family stood watching, and behind them, there was a table with bottles of liquor on disy.
Even stranger were the chairs ced three zhang outside the stage, as if they were seats for an audience.
What the hell is this
Even the experienced Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t hide his bewilderment. Then, as if struck by lightning, his expression changed.
The Tang Family''s Tavern! Now I remember what it is!
Among the sayings passed down through the generations of the Sichuan Tang Family, there was one that was known even to the gangho.
Yuan Chou Bu Mo Zhui.If the Family''s enemy flees from you, chase them to the ends of the earth.
Huo Shi Qi Qiu Er.
If they get away, use their family as bait.
Qiu Wu Sheng Ji You.
If you can''t find a suitable hostage to lure them in, give them a path to survival.
Tang Jia Zhi Chou Bu Ju Dai Tian.
The Tang Family cannot share the same sky as their enemies.
"The rules are simple," Tang Hui said from the center of the Tavern.
Drink and die.
Her long, slender fingers held the neck of a bottle of wine.
"Or live."
Her frosty voice, colder than the harshest blizzards of the north, filled the Tavern.
"ROAR!!!!"
Poison Phoenix! Poison Phoenix! Poison Phoenix!
Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!
"It''s time for the alcohol!"
The Tavern of the Tang Family had been created ording to the t, Qiu Wu Sheng Ji You.
If one drank the liquor and survived, the grudge would be settled.
If one didn''t, they would die.
It was a simple yet excellent way for the Tang Family to get revenge.
If one weren''t an enemy but a guest, they would still be guided toward the Tavern, but to the reception rooms a bit further inside. There would be none of the pomp and formalities happening now.
If you agree, sign there.
Tang Hui pointed at a table right in front of the door. A sheet of paper and a brush wereid out, ready for signing. Upon closer inspection, it stated that the Sichuan Tang Family would not be held responsible for any internal injuries or even death if one chose to drink the alcohol."
Huh.
As Zhou Xuchuan read through the contract, one particr point stood out. It was the most crucial detail.
"So it''s poison liquor?"
Martial Artists could dispel drunkenness with their qi even while drinking alcohol. Zhou Xuchuan knew that the Tang Family wouldn''t forgive their enemies so easily. He had initially thought that the condition would be to drink without using his qi to detoxify the alcohol. However, it turned out to be entirely different from his guess.[1]
"So, you live or die by the drink"
"That''s right," Tang Hui immediately responded, hearing Zhou Xuchuans muttering.
"Still, you won''t actually die, considering you''re not an enemy of the Family."
Tang Huis face grew regretful as she continued.
"The bet will be stopped immediately if you show any signs of trouble, and one of the Poison Masters, either the Patriarch or the Elder, will step in to help you detoxify it. That use is also written in the contract, so please verify it."
"I see it."
"Still, you better not let your guard down. If you don''t at least try to detoxify it yourself, you''ll die before anyone cane help you."
"Understood. I ept."
Zhou Xuchuan signed without hesitation.
You idiot!
"How dare you look down on the wine the Miss brewed?!"
Tsk, tsk, tsk! It seems you dont value your own life!
The audience clicked their tongues, pitied him, orughed at him as they watched him sign so readily.
The title, the Poison Phoenix, wasn''t given to just anyone in the Tang Family for beauty or status. It was reserved for the strongest of the Tang Family''s younger generation.
"Hm, does his confidencee from his guts or from stupidity hehe."
The elder, Tang Lian, let out an iprehensibleugh.
"Anyone can see that he''ll fall after the first drink. Is there really a reason for me to be here?" Tang Youqi, sitting next to him, asked with a discontented look.
Tang Youqi, the Patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Family and the greatest Poison Master in the world.
As the greatest, he was able to detoxify any poison faster and more effectively than anyone else in the world. He was required to attend just in case.
However, he would only need to step in if Zhou Xuchuan managed to get through three drinks. The other elders could handle things if Zhou Xuchuan stopped at one or two drinks.
"Don''t they say that one can never know in matters of people? It won''t take long anyway, so please just wait and see. You never know what might happen."
"Well, if you say so, Elder"
Tang Youqi swallowed his words, knowing he had no choice but to stay, and got up from his seat. Despite his words, he was still full ofints.
The noisy audience fell silent as soon as the Patriarch stood, as if they had nned it in advance.
"From this point on, everyone except the people involved and a few permitted people is prohibited from doing anything. Tang Youqi announced.
"The rules are as follows. Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua Sect must drink three cups of the Poison Phoenix, Tang Hui''s wine, and speak a coherent phrase after each cup. If he is unable to speak or if his face changes color and doesn''t return to normal within a certain period of time, he will be considered incapable of detoxifying the wine and will be defeated."
Is that old man the Poison King, Tang Youqi?
One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the Poison King Tang Youqi!
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know much about him except that he was in the upper-middle ranks of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. At the very least, the Poison King hadn''t been that noteworthy in his previous life.
He remembered that the Poison King hadn''te to the forefront of the battlefield even during the Era of War and Chaos, spending his timemanding the Family from within the estate until he died of natural causes..
But had he always been that old?
The only curious thing about him was his age.
From what I heard, his eldest son hasn''t even reached thirty yet
Zhou Xuchuan clearly remembered the Poison King being in his mid-fifties to his early sixties at this time.
Moreover, things became even stranger considering that martial artists age slowly. Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head, wondering if the information he knew was wrong.
"If he seeds in drinking all three cups of wine, the two must cooperate with each other''s request. Everyone here will serve as the witness, and the contract will remain as evidence. Moreover, a copy of the contract will be sent wherever Zhou Xuchuan desires to prevent any trickery in the future."
The Tavern of the Sichuan Tang Family was well organized. It had to be, to make enemies feel at ease and invite them in.
Zhou Xuchuan''s copy of the contract was sent to the Gold Will Merchants in Shandong through a homing pigeon, while Tang Hui''s copy was to remain with the Family.
Then, Poison Phoenix Tang Hui, give him the prepared wine."
"Understood."
Tang Hui stood up as if she had been waiting for this moment her whole life. It seemed like she had been preparing for this revenge for the past thirty years.
She turned her back to Zhou Xuchuan and picked up a wine bottle from the table.
Having prepared in advance for this very day, she didn''t hesitate. She had already decided what she wanted to use for the bet, from the first cup to thest. The other wine bottles and barrels were just there in case she wanted to change things at thest moment.
Tang Hui picked up the bottle of wine she had prepared a few days ago and returned to her original seat.
"Do you like alcohol, Zhou Xuchuan?"
Tang Hui smiled, wetting her lips with saliva. The sight of her licking her lips was so captivating that the audience unconsciously swallowed.
It was a beauty that one couldn''t help but desire, even with its apanying thorns, or rather, poison.
There was a saying that flowers growing on a cliff were even more enticing. Here, the flower that no one had ever dared to look down on or even approach for fear of being poisoned, was shining more beautifully than anything else.
Looking into those narrowed eyes felt like falling for their owner without even realizing it.
"Are you really asking a Daoist ascetic if he likes alcohol?"
Zhou Xuchuanughed in awe.
While there was no prohibition on liquor on Mount Hua, drinking excessively was prohibited. In other words, one could drink as long as they avoided any idents.
"Well, that''s the only way you''d be able to endure even a little."
The smile on Tang Huis lips seemed dangerous.
''I''ve prepared some famous and delicious wines and liquors so that you''d be able to endure as long as possible. At the very least, if you like liquor, you won''t be spitting it out or vomiting out of regret. It would be good if you could hold it down."
She wasn''t wrong. If Zhou Xuchuan really was a drinker, he might actually drink it all, even if it was mixed with poison. She was right to assume such a thing.
"Ha oh dear."
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue.
The first time he had killed someone, he found himselfpletely unable to forget it. Eventually, he endured his days by drinking alcohol.
After that came the Era of War and Chaos, a time when he often drank. However, everything he had drunk back then had been either cheap or slightly rancid.
He had never had a drink that could be called a famous liquor.
"Well, regardless"
Tang Hui trailed off as she opened the bottle.
"Oh ho!"
Several audience members gasped as soon as it was opened. They could all recognize the alcohol from its smell alone.
Glug, glug, glug.
As the Poison Phoenix tilted the bottle, clear alcohol dripped down and filled the empty ss perfectly.
Even though everyone was sitting a little far away, they could all smell its strong scent. Without any wind, the aroma permeated the Tavern and spread to the audience.
"It''s rare to have an opportunity to taste a bottle of Wuliang liquor that''s been aged for about fifteen years, so be grateful for this taste," Tang Hui said.
Wuliang liquor was a form of Baiju and was known as the Sichuan Province''s most famous spirit. Zhou Xuchuan had heard about it before.[2]
Moreover, considering it had been aged for fifteen years, it wasn''t something that was easy to obtain. When converted to gold, it would be worth quite a bit.
"However, this Wuliang liquor is mixed with the venom of the Golden Reed Snake, so it might taste a little spicy."[3]
The Golden Reed Snake!
The audience members who had been concentrating on the wine were shocked.
Indeed, she really is the Poison Phoenix!
"To think she treats the poison of the Golden Reed Snake so casually"
Shes not a part of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes for nothing.
They said that Miss Huis poison is no less potent than that of the little Patriarch. Now, I can see that they weren''t lying."
If the Miss had been born a man instead of a woman
The Golden Reed Snake was a venomous snake with golden lines crossing its entire body, just like its name suggested.[4] They lived in the Southern Jungles, not the Central ins.
Its venom was so strong that it couldn''t bepared to the venomous snakes of the Central ins, and not even the Poison Users of the Sichuan Tang Family could easily handle it.
It seems like the youngdy doesnt want to lose.
Three sses? Itll be over in one.
"It''s been such a long time since the Tang Family''s Tavern was opened. Who would have thought it would end so simply?" The audience murmured, a mix of disappointment and regret in their voices.
As the crowd focused on him, Zhou Xuchuan epted the cup from Tang Hui. He nced down at the Baiju, noticing its faint golden hue.
Even without inhaling deeply, the strong scent tickled his nose. Even ayman who didnt know anything about alcohol could tell that it was an expensive drink.
"While there''s no time limit, the poison won''t get weaker even if you wait"
"Still, you must not be too twisted, considering you''re giving me such good alcohol. That''s a relief. Zhou Xuchuan interrupted. He drank the alcohol in one gulp, the liquid sliding smoothly down his throat.
Gulp!
Its a bit spicy! Zhou Xuchuan eximed, turning the empty ss upside down to show he had finished it. Not a single drop remained.
The bustling crowd fell silent, each person doubting their own eyes.
Tang Youqis eyes widened in surprise, just as he was about to order Elder Tang Yan to intervene.
Did he really speak right after drinking it?
Mixing the venom with alcohol didn''t dilute it at all. Instead, it was concentrated, as if one was drinking the venom of the Golden Reed Snake directly.
To detoxify it, most Poison Users would need to remain silent and focus for at least the time it took for an incense stick to burn to detoxify it. That was how potent the venom was.
But
Zhou Xuchuan spoke immediately after drinking it.
That wasn''t as easy as it sounded.
Detoxifying such a potent venom required immense concentration and control over one''s qi. If one made a mistake, not only would they get drunk, but they would also fail to detoxify the poison and end up suffering a horrid fate.
"Is it time for the second ss?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, breaking the shocked silence of the audience.
Zhouuuuuuu Xuuuuu CHUANNNNNN!!!
Crack!
Tang Huis grip tightened around the wine bottle until it shattered into pieces.
1. The effects of alcohol on one''s mind is one wordliterally, Alcohol Poison. Read backward; it''s poison liquor, and so he was just confused at the literal interpretation of detox in this case. ?
2. This is a real thing called Wuliangye. It''s one of China''s most famous brands of Baiju and thepany that makes it the world''s second most valuable spirit brand (after Moutai). ?
3. Wuliang liquor is about 53% alcohol, so it already burns like fire going down before the venom. Ooof. ?
4. Reed Snakes are literally called line snakes in Chinese. ?
Chapter 88: Mount Huas Phoenix Slayer (1)
Again.
It happened again.
Although Tang Hui had hoped that Zhou Xuchuan would be able to hold on as long as possible, she hadn''t expected this.
She had wanted to see the urgency in his eyes as he held the liquor in his mouth, the desperation as he swallowed, and the immediate struggle to detoxify.
That was the only way to repay her humiliation!
Jian Nan Chun![1]
Tang Hui''s voice, filled with anger, resonated sharply. The warrior standing by was startled and rushed toward her with the arranged liquor bottles.
"To think I''d be treated to the Two Great Baijus that the Sichuan Province is proud of! How incredible!"
Zhou Xuchuanughed to himself, pleased.When he said the Two Great Baijus, he was referring to the Wuliang Liquor and Jian Nan Chun.
Lets see how long you can keep that smug smile on your face!
Tang Hui''s eyes widened. There was even murderous intent in her voice. When an expert, especially one of the Righteous Path, got that angry, they would usually be able to find stability quickly through meditation.
For someone of Tang Hui''s caliber, that wasn''t too difficult.
However, the fact that she was still mad and not calming down meant that she was so angry that she couldn''t hold it in.
She opened the liquor bottle and filled the empty cup. Despite her anger, her hand movements were careful and precise.
No matter how angry she was, she couldn''t afford to make any mistakes with the second cup.
After all, even she was in danger while handling this liquor.
Hmm.
Zhou Xuchuan epted the cup that Tang Hui handed him.
What should I do
He was suddenly hit with a concern once it got to the second cup.
None of them have any effect. What should I do
With the Thousand Poisons Immunity, he was trading candy for treasures!
He hadn''t spent the elixir''s energy for nothing back then.
His choice had been worth it.
Thanks to the Thousand Poisons Immunity, what silver reef serpent or whatever it was, none of it had any effect on him.
There was no need for him to detoxify. The venom that entered his body was converted into poison and stored in his dantian. To a poison user, poison was medicine. However, because he practiced the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art, poison was akin to qi for him.
Youll regret tasting the me Poison Lotus!
The me Poison Lotus!
Tang Lians eyes widened. He had been in awe of Zhou Xuchuan''s ability.
Isnt that excessive?
Tang Youqi narrowed his eyebrows.
The me Poison Lotus was an artificial poison created by raising fire qi to extreme levels. It was rare and difficult to find, even within the Sichuan Tang Family.
It was also expensive and only used when absolutely necessary. Unless one was a direct descendant, it was impossible to take out at will.
One needed to be on the level of the Poison Phoenix to be able to use it. Even so, it was still too excessive to use for this bet when it wasn''t even a matter of life or death. While he didn''t know how Zhou Xuchuan had managed to handle the Golden Reed Snake venom without a hitch, the me Poison Lotus would definitely be a problem.
It could be lethal to most Peak Realm experts or even Transcendent experts. Moreover, it was extremely hard to detoxify without much knowledge of poisons.
"Oh, the me Poison Lotus. It looks like I''ll have to use some strength. Please be prepared to intervene in case of an emergency, Patriarch. Hehehe."
Tang Lian got up from his seat and patted his waist.
It''s already amazing that he was able to handle the Golden Reed Snake venom without any issues. Most likely, he consumed an elixir by chance when he was young, and his qi must have been able to support him through it. However, the me Poison Lotus isn''t something that can be handled with qi alone.
It had been surprising that Zhou Xuchuan had staved off the Golden Reed Snake venom from the first cup, especially since he wasn''t even a Poison User. But now, everyone expected him to copse.
"Now, lets have a taste.
Gulp!
Without a second''s hesitation, he downed the cup in one gulp.
The audience was terrified, yet impressed by his courage.
"What?!"
Still, they all thought that he was being reckless.
From their perspective, Zhou Xuchuan should have prepared himself a little before drinking it. They clicked their tongues, saying that the detoxification would be more difficult than he thought.
"You must have gone insane and want to die!"
You crazy bastard!
This time, it would be over.
Everyone had the same thought, and none of them doubted what would happen next.
Even Tang Youqi, the greatest Poison Master in the world, saw it that way.
One
"Kya!!!!"
Everyone froze at the sound of Zhou Xuchuan''s burp.
Tang Hui, who was sitting proudly before him.
Tang Lian, who was rushing over.
Even the people of the Sichuan Tang Family who had filled the Tavern.
All of them were frozen.
It wasn''t just the people. The very air, wind, and time itself seemed to freeze.
Perplexity, suspicion, shock, disbelief, shock, confusion
All kinds of emotions swirled and gathered in one ce.
What, what, what!
Tang Hui stuttered for the first time.
"Ahem!"
Zhou Xuchuan blurted out his thoughts with a strange expression.
"This one''s quite tingly on the tongue!"
To think he''d react in the same way?!
H-how is this possible?!
Tang Lian stopped, unable to close his mouth. Even though he witnessed it with his own eyes, his mind couldnt keep up.
Zhou Xuchuan had consumed one of the highest-level poisons, and his response was just a stupidment.
Of course, the me Poison Lotus wasn''t a Harmony-realm poison. If one was in the Transcendent realm, it was possible to survive it as long as no one interfered during the detoxification.
However, wasn''t the disciple before him just a child? Even if he had a strong background, he was still an ordinary disciple with no reputation.
Even if he had a lot of qi, if his ability to utilize it was poor, it was impossible for him to detoxify the poison so quickly!
No, did he even detoxify them in the first ce?
"Even if he was detoxifying them, this is too fast"
Tang Hui had the same thoughts as Tang Lian.
As Zhou Xuchuan seemed to defymon sense, she became suspicious and quickly turned to the warrior behind her.
"Did you give me the correct one?!"
O-of course! How could I be mistaken? the warrior answered, prostrating himself. Making a mistake in this situation wouldn''t end with just a sry cut.
Tang Lian also jumped up and stood in front of Tang Hui, perhaps thinking of possible answers.
Young Lady Hui, if it is alright with you, could I check the wine bottle?
"... please do."
Tang Lian took the wine bottle and smelled it.
Sniff, sniff.
It''s a refreshing scent unique to the Jian Nan Chun mixed in with the scent of the me Poison Lotus.
After the scent came the taste. He titled the wine bottle slightly, letting a few drops fall onto his finger, and licked it.
Elder Lian, what do you think? Tang Youqi asked first, also curious.
"I''m sure of it; it''s liquor mixed with the me Poison Lotus.
Rumble.
Tang Lian was the second-best Poison Master in the Family. There was no way his judgment would be wrong, which only made everyone more confused.
This young man no, Zhou Xuchuan there''s no way he could possibly be a master that has reached the Harmony Realm or beyond then!!!
A guess came to mind, a guess that he was almostpletely sure of.
Tang Lian raised his head and stared at Zhou Xuchuan.
Hisplexion remains unchanged, and his breathing is still steady. Moreover, his pupils don''t tremble, and there are absolutely no signs of him being poisoned. If he''s not detoxifying the poison in the first ce, then!
A scream suddenly left his mouth.
"Thousand Poisons Immunity, Thousand Poisons Immunity!"
"What?!"
Tang Youqi also jumped up from his seat.
"The third cup is left, right?"
Zhou Xuchuanughed heartily.
***
While the Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity was something of legend, the Thousand Poisons Immunity was something that could be asionally seen in the gangho. However, even the Thousand Poisons Immunity was rare, found once in a hundred, if not a few hundred years.
In truth, more people with this constitution could be found if one really went searching. However, unless someone was a martial artist or a physician, they would never realize the constitution they had.
Moreover, this Thousand Poisons Immunity was considered a constitution given by the heavens to martial artists, especially those who practiced the art of poisons, as it provided more advantages to those with Poison Arts than to anyone else.
Regardless of whether one was from the Righteous or Evil Sects, using poisons required building up a tolerance from the start and a significant amount of time to be useful.
However, with the Thousand Poisons Immunity, one could skip this process entirely and freely handle poison, greatly enhancing one''s ability to use and transform qi.
Although Zhou Xuchuan actually lost this advantage of the Thousand Poisons Immunity due to the many limitations brought on by the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, from the perspective of the Sichuan Tang Family, his constitution was so important that they would be willing to take him in as a son-inw regardless of his family background.
He was still served a cup of the Seven Soul Destroying Steps Poison after the me Poison Lotus, a poison at the extreme end of peak-ranked poisons. However, in the end, it was useless against him.
Instead of feeling any pain, he actually absorbed the precious poison and was able to use it to raise the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art from the third stage to the fourth.
If it werent for his age, I would have brought him into the family as a live-in son-inw!
Tang Youqi was truly regretful.
Zhou Xuchuan was eighteen years old. It was toote to take him into the family, especially considering he had already trained in the martial arts of Mount Hua.
Although his constitution was a heavenly gift to those who practiced Poison Arts, his body would soon be rigid and unable to change cultivation paths. There were also matters of sect politics and loyalty to consider.
Its not toote, Patriarch.
"If it''s really the Thousand Poisons Immunity, he can freely travel around Mount Ao or Poisonblood Valley and would be of great help in collecting poisonous herbs. As Young Hero Zhou hasn''t yet taken up a high position in the Mount Hua Sect, let''s quickly take him in as a live-in son-inw."
It wasn''t that the Daoists of the murim couldn''t get married. Even the Wudang Sect, known for its strict Daoist practices, allowed their disciples to marry.
The only conditions were that married disciples couldn''t teach their bloodline the sect''s martial arts and weren''t allowed to hold high positions.
If Zhou Xuchuan were to be Tang Xuchuan, he could secure many poisonous nts and be of great help to the Family.
"Hey, Young Master Zhou. If it''s okay with you, why don''t you stay a little longer?"
Immediately after the bet, Tang Youqi went to see Zhou Xuchuan.
"While I would like to, unfortunately, I''m a little busy. I hope you will be generous and understand, Master Poison King."
"...hmph."
Tang Youqi was quite disappointed.
Incidentally, the Tang Familys Tavern incident spread throughout Sichuan and soon became known to the whole world.
"The Poison Phoenix has lost again! And at the Sichuan Tang Family''s Tavern?!"
"Wow, it''s hard to say he won by chance at this point."
I have a rtive who''s a warrior from the Tang Family, and I heard that Zhou Xuchuan is immune to poison.
"What? Could he really have the rumored Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity?"
"What? You idiot! What do you mean by Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity? He most likely has the Hundred Poisons Immunity."
The Sichuan Tang Family kept the fact that Zhou Xuchuan had the Thousand Poison Immunity a secret.
They were worried that those from the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult might kidnap him and use him as a human subject to experiment on and whet their appetite.
While no secretsts forever, and the information would most likely be revealedter, it was best to keep it hidden for now.
After the Poison Phoenix lost to the same person twice, Zhou Xuchuan was finally given a title.
Phoenix yer!!
"Phoenix yer? It sounds like Phoenix Shitter!"[2]
The person in question also hated it. Meanwhile, Tang Hui, the actual Phoenix that had been in, was also quite depressed after failing the revenge battle and experiencing another bitter defeat.
"Of course"
She had originally wanted to seed in getting revenge in front of many people and recover her fallen pride.
However, that desire had be the cause of her trouble, and instead of recovering, her pride had fallen even further.
This time, she had experienced a spectacr defeat, even in front of all of the Family members.
"I heard that he asked for you to apany him to detoxify someone as a condition of the bet. Is that true?" Tang Youqi asked when he went to see Tang Hui, who was wallowing in despair.
"... yes, Father."
I see. It''s a good coincidence, as it''s time for you to go back into the gangho, anyway."
Most people with a daughter as incredible as Tang Hui would treasure her like a precious jewel, but Tang Youqi wasn''t a daughter-con.
His eyes, a little tired as always but unreadable, looked at his daughter.
"I''ll send a few of the Family warriors as your escorts, so follow him. Moreover, if you like him, it wouldnt be a bad thing for you to bring him back as a son-inw. Stop by your brother''s side on your way back afterpleting your business and help him with his work."
Could there really be such a heartless father? There was absolutely no concern for his child in his eyes or voice.
And thus, that was how Tang Huis trip to the gangho was decided.
1. Also a very famous liquor from one of the oldest distilleries in China. ?
2. Technically, it''s Fall of Phoenix? It sorta sounds like Balls of Phoenix?!'' Lmao. ?
Chapter 89: Mount Huas Phoenix Slayer (2)
In the past and in the era toe, Sword Demon was a prominent figure in the world of the murim.
Zhou Xuchuan would have heard of him and his tales even if he hadn''t been one of the five high elders of Mount Hua.
The Sword Demon had a daughter whom he treasured more than his own life. Unfortunately, she was riddled with an incurable disease.
Because of it, the Sword Demon traveled far and wide across the Central ins looking for physicians. However, he couldn''t even find out what disease his daughter had, let alone a cure.
In the end, he had gone to the Benevolence Clinic, where a Divine Physician was said to reside, and asked for an audience. However, the Divine Physician refused to see him, iming to be in the midst of developing a new medicine.
But the Sword Demon couldn''t afford to give up.
He waited for several days, pleading to meet the physician by any means possible. However, the Benevolence Clinic, which originally resided in seclusion and far away from the world, treated him as if he was nothing and kicked him out.
Would a Divine Physician really be someone anyone could just meet?
There were dozens, if not hundreds, of people a day who woulde to see the Divine Physician. Sometimes, there were even more, reaching nearly thousands.People like the Sword Demon were everywhere, while the Divine Physician refused all visitors so that he could focus on developing new medicine.
That said, the Divine Physician would see and treat a visitor if they were from arge sect, had a high status, or had brought arge amount of money. Granted, it was the Benevolence Clinic, not the Divine Physician, acting selfishly out of greed.
Still, this incident had left the Sword Demon feeling resentful.
For the Sword Demon, the Dark Heavens Association''s intervention had been like a gift from the heavens as his daughter was on her deathbed. From the murim''s perspective, that incident was considered the worst disaster in history.
Because of how he had been treated, the Sword Demon hadpletely destroyed the Benevolence Clinic before the Dark Heavens Association''s invasion of the murim had even begun.
Moreover, the Divine Physician had also lost his life at the Sword Demon''s hands.
The Dark Heavens Association Lord gained the Sword Demon''s loyalty by curing his daughter in the Divine Physician''s stead. I''ll be doing that instead.
That was why he had provoked Tang Hui and made the bet. Moreover, it wasn''t because Tang Hui possessed god-like medical skills.
The Sword Demon''s daughter wasn''t suffering from an incurable disease of some unknown cause. She had actually been poisoned by a rare poison.
He was sure of it because the Sword Demon was rumored to have said so when he had destroyed the Benevolence Clinic.
There''s nothing I can do with the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art.
All the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art could do was handle and use poison. It didn''t provide Zhou Xuchuan with any knowledge of poisons.
If he had trained it using the normal path of the Poison Dao, things might have been different. However, since he had developed his mastery of the art using the Thousand Poisons Immunity as the foundation, hisck of knowledge of the poison arts continued to be a drawback.
That was the reason he needed the help of a Poison Master who had innate knowledge of poison techniques. The only person with those qualifications that he could ask for help was the Poison Phoenix.
Wait for me, Sword Demon.
Thump, thump.
A carriage being pulled by four horses bumped up and down the road loudly. The incessant bumps transmitted shock directly to his buttocks, causing pain.
Even for an expert martial artist, carriage rides were still quite ufortable. Unless a martial artist was able to use Void Step, they, like all others, would suffer from the shock.
Everyone would just get used to the pain and endure it.
"Thousand Poisons Immunity Thousand Poisons Immunity"
Zhou Xuchuan gave Tang Hui a rough exnation of where they were going. He told her the daughter of someone he knew had been poisoned by an unknown poison and needed help.
"How could a Daoist use such a cowardly tactic?" Tang Hui sharply said, sitting across from him.
"What?"
"To use the Thousand Poisons Immunity so shamelessly" Tang Hui gnashed her teeth, her gaze venomous.
"How small-minded you are!"
Zhou Xuchuan retorted, refusing to back down.
"What? Did you forget that you''re the one who needs help?"
"Wow. Surely, the Poison Phoenix from the renowned Sichuan Tang Family wouldn''t go back on her word, right? No, that definitely wouldn''t be the case. There''s no way she would be that kind of liar, liar, pants on fire piece of trash with no honor."
CRACK!!
Zhou Xuchuan could say whatever he wanted casually, knowing that Tang Hui would rather die than go back on her word. While he never had the intention to cater to her in the first ce, he felt even morefortable because he didn''t have to.
"I''m definitely not going to let this go. Just wait till after I detoxify this person."
"Whatever you''d like. Hehe."
Zhou Xuchuanughed while digging his ear with a finger.
***
Mount Hua, Shaanxi.
"Phoenix yer?"
Luo Xiaoyue was dumbfounded when she heard Zhou Xuchuan''s new title.
"Just what in the world is Senior Brother doing out in the gangho?"
It had been half a year since Zhou Xuchuan had left the mountain.
Luo Xiaoyue had no doubts about Zhou Xuchuan''s skills.
Before, when he had returned to Mount Hua, she had asked to spar with him whenever she had the chance. Even after giving it her all, she could never win.
Although she wasn''t one to brag, she was confident in her skillspared to her peers. She only had a few losses on her record, all of them at the hands of Zhou Xuchuan.
While she had been secretly cheering him on, hoping that her Senior Brother would make a ssh in the gangho and surprise the murim, she wondered what was with the title.
A ssh was a ssh, but she suddenly found herself unable tough the way she had anticipated she would when hearing about Zhou Xuchuan''s deeds.
All she had heard was that he had won the wager against the Poison Phoenix, while some were going around calling it a trick.
"Hmph."
Luo Xiaoyue pouted.
"Little one, why are you pouting so?" her master, Shen Yulian, came over and asked.
"Senior Brother."
"Zhou Xuchuan, that child again"
Shen Yulian didn''t frown like before.
While she hade to respect Zhou Xuchuan because of the previous Lotus Sword Gathering incident, that didn''t mean she liked him all of a sudden. She just didn''t hate him anymore.
"Yes. Some of us are practicing hard to be a Plum Blossom Swordsman, while he''s going out into the world and flirting with women!" Luo Xiaoyue muttered, annoyed.
She had been selected as one of the prospective Plum Blossom Swordsmen after the Lotus Sword Gathering and was training intensely. Bing a prospective Plum Blossom Swordsman wasn''t just a title. Once selected, they were asionally taught the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. Once they learned it to the fullest, their promotion to a Plum Blossom Swordsman was almost certain.
Moreover, Luo Xiaoyue had already passed the martial arts, self-discipline, character, and etiquette portions of the selection. Now, all she had to do was go on a mission to gain experience and establish her reputation.
"Because Senior Brother is seriouslycking in interpersonal skills, if I''m not around, he''ll definitely be eating alone. Considering he''s still my Senior Brother from the same sect, don''t you think that''s a little too pitiful? I have to train myself as soon as possible and go on my mission to take care of him."
Luo Xiaoyue snorted before swinging her sword once again.
***
Nanchang, Jiangxi.
The Sword Demon needed money more than anything else. He spent every cent that he had to call over prominent physicians to treat his daughter.
Even one physician cost a lot of money, so bringing several of them had cost him an astronomical amount.
Because of that, he did anything that could make money, often resorting to dirty tasks rather than clean ones
That was why he intentionally worked in the southern part of the Evil Valley''s sphere of influence.
"Hey, you punk. What are you thinking, bringing the youngdy to Jiangxi?" Tang Hui''s guard, the Peak Realm expert Yuan Dashi, growled.
Jiangxi was to the north of Hubei and Anhui, to the east of Zhejiang and Fujian, to the west of Hunan, and to the south of Guangdong.
Unlike Guizhou, Jiangxi waspletely under the sphere of influence of the Evil Valley.
"Dashi, just because it''s the sphere of influence of the Evil Valley doesn''t mean that mountains of corpses rise all of sudden and that the sea is made of blood."
Jiangxi was still a ce where people lived and had the rule ofw.
If it were Xinjiang, the home of the Demonic Path, things would be different. However, Jiangxi wasn''t some hell on earth.
Just as those of the Evil Faction were active in ces dominated by the Righteous Faction, there were definitely areas in which the Righteous Faction moved within the Evil Faction''s domain.
The only concerns were that it was difficult to guarantee that the party would bepletely safe and it was difficult to receive support herepared to being in the Righteous Faction''s sphere of influence.
"Who do you think you''re talking to? You arrogant bastard!" Yuan Dashi raised his voice in anger, looking ready to swing his poisoned sword at any moment.
"I''m Zhou Xuchuan, you arrogant bastard!" Zhou Xuchuan responded without hesitation.
"You dog ba"
"Stop."
Tang Hui raised her hand to stop Yuan Dashi.
"This conversation is so childish I can''t follow along. I''m so embarrassed that your behavior might actually push me over the edge and make me drown myself in a bowl of water, so would you mind being a little more reserved?"
Tang Hui spat more venom at Zhou Xuchuan.
"Then tell your servant in advance not to pick a fight with me."
"Oh dear, he''s just being loyal as my vassal. If he were to ignore something like this, his qualifications as a guard would be questioned."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Your mouth smells like a Ravenous Ghost that wanders the underworld, so I''ll have to ask you to shut your mouth."
Tang Hui had a sharp personality that even those of the Demon Cult and the Evil Faction would give in to!
The party arrived at Nanchangte at night, found lodging at an inn, and unpacked. As they arrived, Tang Hui covered her face with a cotton veil.
Bees swarmed flowers.
Considering how extraordinary her beauty was, she was careful not to cause a scene for no reason.
The next day.
"If you bring twenty guards with us, it''ll be like inviting unwanted attention. Just have three of them tag along and let the others go out into the markets and get information."
"Understood, Miss."
As Tang Hui had experience in the world of the murim, she had a good sense of how to move in public. Even though her personality wasn''t great, she wasn''t the type to be emotionally swayed and lose the ability to distinguish between public and private matters.
For Zhou Xuchuan, it was better than taking a brat who was unnecessarily proud, ignorant of the ways of the world and telling everyone around them about their every move.
The party made their way to a tile-roofed house on the outskirts of Nanchang. It seemed like a house of someone wealthy and was quiterge.
"How small."
Tang Hui muttered while standing in front of the door.
Even though the house seemedrge, it was a pebblepared to the giant structures of the Five Great Families.
"While what you think about it doesn''t matter, it would be best if you keep your pride in check in front of the person we''re about to meet." Zhou Xuchuan advised.
Tang Hui was about to retort with her usual sharp tongue but stopped herself when she noticed Zhou Xuchuan''s unusually heavy mood.
Just who are we meeting?
Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t been nervous and had even been confident in front of the Poison King, the Patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Family.
Considering how he was acting at the thought of meeting this new person, her curiosity was piqued.
Creak.
"What brings you here?"
As soon as the gate opened, fierce-looking warriors appeared before them.
"I came to meet the Money Crazed Sword Ghost."
Shing.
Swords were drawn smoothly from the warriors'' waists.
"You should know that you won''t be able to leave here if you have a grudge against him."
"Not many people should know who he is"
"Who are you? Identify yourself."
The atmosphere changed in an instant. The warriors of the Tang Family on Zhou Xuchuan''s side were also ready to throw their hidden weapons at any moment.
Just as the tension reached its peak, a voicemanded, "Get out of the way."
Someone walked out of the courtyard.
"Ah" Zhou Xuchuan muttered softly.
He had found him.
It wasn''t that he had never seen the Sword Demon before. It was just that the other times he had seen him, it had been from such a distance that he couldn''t even recognize his face properly.
Even so, Zhou Xuchuan was able to recognize him at a nce.
His eyes were narrow, with pupils filled with venom. He looked like a demon that had returned from hell.
His jawline was as fierce as his eyes, and his untied hair reached his waist.
In his mid-forties, he was handsome, except for a scar that ran straight down from his right eyebrow, making him appear slightly scary.
What stood out the most was his height, nearly seven feet tall.
The Star of Warped Valor, the Sword Demon, Wu Qu!
One of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
A Star of the Seven Stars.
The right hand of the Dark Heavens Association Leader.
As his name said, the Demon of the Sword.
Another monster of the Dark Heavens Association!
"Ha."
An involuntary hollowugh escaped Zhou Xuchuan''s lips.
I can''t tell what realm he''s in
Someone of weaker cultivation couldn''t discern the cultivation of someone stronger than them.
Moreover
"Plum blossoms on your sleeves seems Mount Hua has raised a monster."
The Master had recognized the expert.
Chapter 90: Mind Qi Separator (1)
The Sword Demon, Wu Qu''s whereabouts had been left to Li Yicai to investigate.
It hadn''t taken long to find him.
The Sword Demon''s previous nickname, the Money-Crazed Sword Ghost, was rtively well-known, making it easy to find him.
After all, there was nothing more reliable than money when it came to obtaining information.
Wu Qu had bought a mansion in a safe area for his daughter, and hired skilled warriors he had met on the battlefield for protection. He had also tried to conceal as much information about the mansion as possible to avoid being a target.
Because of this, it was only natural for the warriors to be wary when Zhou Xuchuan suddenly arrived, knowing the hidden identity of the mansion''s owner.
The Harmony Realm.
Although Wu Qu didn''t show it outwardly, he was incredibly nervous.
Moreover, there are a few Transcendent and Peak Realm experts mixed in, tooHe nced at the girl and the warriors behind the young monster in front of him.
If they''re here to take my daughter hostage, I''m finished. It''ll be hard to fight them all while protecting her.
Although Zhou Xuchuan''s party wasn''trge, it was still enough to cause him worry.
I haven''t heard anything about such a beast within Mount Hua
To think, such a young man was a master at the Harmony Realm. It was impossible for someone of this caliber not to attract any attention. Wu Qu found it strange that he had never heard of him.
"I''m not here to fight you, Money Crazed Sword Ghost. You don''t have to be so wary of me," Zhou Xuchuan said, raising both hands to show he had no will to fight.
Wu Qu continued to re down at him silently.
Zhou Xuchuan looked straight up at him in return.
"I''ll get straight to the point. Your sick daughter should be inside."
Tang Hui''s sleeves puffed out instantly before floating down. She had almost unconsciously reacted to the bloodlust flowing out of Wu Qu.
"I''ll help you treat your daughter."
"You brat dare?!"
Wu Qu''s voice echoed ominously. The warriors standing at the entrance flinched and stepped aside. As the seven-foot-tall warrior approached Zhou Xuchuan, the intimidating aura was no joke. Zhou Xuchuan''s skin felt like it was being pricked by tiny needles, and his stomach churned as if someone was squeezing it tightly in their fist.
The Sword Demon''s face was hidden in ck shadows, making it difficult to see clearly. However, his fiercely piercing gaze was clearly visible.
It might have been a hallucination, but it seemed like the Sword Demon''s eyes were glowing an eerie red.
"I don''t know what you''re thinking right now, but if you do something stupid, you won''t be able to leave here alive."
"Tang Hui. Could you take off your veil?"
Tang Hui took off her veil without saying a word.
Gasp!
Gasps could be heard all around them.
Other than Wu Qu, the warriors guarding the entrance were all entranced by her beauty despite the tense atmosphere.
She wasn''t called the most beautiful in Sichuan for nothing.
"Tang Hui..." Wu Qu muttered. At the same time, his bloodlust disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"The Tang Family''s Poison Phoenix."
"It''s nice to meet you. As you can see, we''re not just random troublemakers," Tang Hui replied nonchntly. However, her eyebrows trembled slightly.
He was called the Money Crazed Sword Ghost, right? Why haven''t I heard of someone like him?
Coming from a prestigious family, Tang Hui had many opportunities to meet with masters. She had even met the Ten Empyrean Overlords briefly.
Moreover, she had encountered the masters of the Evil Faction and Demonic Path while on missions with the Elders of the Family.
Some of these masters had made her tremble in fear, and Wu Qu didn''t seem inferior to them in any way.
"I''ll even hand over my weapon if you want. So, why don''t we talk?"
Zhou Xuchuan unsheathed his sword and ced it on the ground. Wu Qu looked at each member of the group one by one. His eyes were still like those of a ferocious beast.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Zhou Xuchuan, a fourth-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. In the gangho, they call me the Phoenix yer."
Wu Qu remained silent, lost in thought.
Although it was a tense and quiet, no one moved orined. Everyone waited for Wu Qu to speak, unaware of the passing time.
"...There were more than one or two physicians who had stopped by. Even the famous ones shook their heads, saying it was too difficult. So, how could a non-physician have the confidence to treat my daughter?"
"It''s not me who''s treating her, it''s her."
Wu Qu turned and nced at Tang Hui.
"I''ve never heard of a Poison Master treating illnesses."
"You''ve heard of the saying, medicine could be poison when used wrongly, and poison could be medicine when used correctly, right?"
Zhou Xuchuan spoke smoothly, as if his tongue was coated in oil.
"Indeed, it makes sense."
Wu Qu''s stiff expression rxed a little.
"Follow me."
A girly in a room, clearly not in good health. She didn''t even notice when someone entered, her chest barely rising and falling as she breathed.
"If you show even the slightest sign of doing something foolish, I''ll cut off your wrist."
"If you truly want to know how your daughter was doing, I''d advise you to put away your bloodlust-filled gaze. Or I won''t even be able to read her pulse properly," Tang Hui said, ignoring Wu Qu''s threats.
Wu Qu crossed his arms and sat still.
On the other side, Zhou Xuchuan sat next to him, waiting for Tang Hui to examine the girl.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Tang Hui let go of Wu Qu''s daughter, Wu Zhenhua''s wrist, and asked Wu Qu a question.
"When your daughter was still in the womb, did something happen to the mother?"
"She was stung by a scorpion. However, I brought a doctor over right away, and she recovered safely"
Wu Qu''s expression distorted in confusion.
"She was quitete in her term back then, right?"
"Yes."
"It''s more dangerous for a pregnant woman to be exposed to poison than you might imagine. Most likely, the physician at the time only checked the mother''s health and assumed everything was okay because she didn''t have a miscarriage that''s most likely the reason this problem urred."
Tang Hui exined confidently.
Wu Qu''s face was a mix of anxiety and hope.
Although he had met many physicians over the years, none of them had diagnosed his daughter so urately.
"Do you know what''s wrong with her?"
His voice softened, even trembling with anxiety, possibly because it was a matter of life or death for his daughter.
"Do you know what Fetal Poison is?"
"Fetal Poison?"
It was such an ominous name.
"As the name suggests, it refers to a vicious method of making a fetus resistant to poison or even obtaining innate poison within their dantian. ording to the theory, the newborn baby would be immune to poison and have a constitution suitable for Poison Arts the moment it left its mother''s womb."
Wu Qu frowned.
That was an act that defied humanity!
"It was asionally used in the Demon Cult. Even there, I heard that they eventually gave up on it and discarded the practice as the chances of survival for both the mother and the fetus were extremely low. But the method isn''t difficult. The mother would either be bitten by a venomous animal or inhale some poison, get properly treated, and then be exposed again. That process would then be repeated."
"Wait, you''re not saying"
"Yes. It seems that when her mother was stung by the scorpion, the poison was transmitted to the fetus. It''s a miracle she even survived."
"Ha"
Wu Qu''s expression was one of disbelief. He had never imagined that could have been a problem.
He had focused on his daughter being born weak and assumed she had an incurable disease. Unfortunately, he had not known that the poison had been transmitted to the fetus, since she had been born safely.
The only silver lining was that Wu Qu''s wife, the mother, had fortunately not been affected by the poison at all. This was partly because the physician had focused on her health. Sadly, the other reason was that the remaining poison had been passed on to her child.
Still, because she hadn''t been in good health to begin with, she had be weak after giving birth and eventually passed away from illness.
Wu Qu had mistakenly thought his daughter, Wu Zhenhua, had simply taken after her mother and was naturally weak.
"How old is her daughter?"
"Fourteen."
"Considering how weak the poison was and the fact that it had been attached to her body since she was a fetus, only a Poison Master or the Divine Physician of the Benevolence Clinic would notice it while reading her pulse. It''s only natural that ordinary physicians couldn''t detect it."
Although the poison might have even been beneficial to her if she had practiced Poison Arts, it was already toote. The poison had been left alone in her meridians for fourteen years.
This had caused impurities to umte within her meridians, gradually filling up with poison and eventually weakening her body.
Just like Zhou Xuchuan remembered, Wu Zhenhua wasn''t sick because of an illness; she had been poisoned.
"I''ll do anything!"
Boom!
Wu Qu banged his head on the floor.
"I''ll do anything, just please, save my daughter!"
His voice was filled with earnestness and desperation.
"What do you think?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Tang Hui, wondering if she could manage it.
"The title Poison Phoenix isn''t just for show. It''s just"
"Just?"
"I need the help of an artifact."
"An artifact?"
Zhou Xuchuan groaned, looking troubled.
Artifacts weren''tmon, and most of them had owners, making them hard to obtain.
"Which one?"
"The Mind Qi Separator."
The Mind Qi Separator was a ring that, as its name suggested, could separate one''s qi and mind. While its effects may not have made sense just by its name, with careful consideration, it could be used quite effectively.
Let''s take martial arts as an example.
Imagine a practitioner using a sword technique and a fist technique at the same time.
Not only was there a difference between holding a weapon and not, but their initial stances and even their qi management were different.
Even if the techniques were from the same sects and, thus, the origin of their qi was the same, the methods of using the qi itself were different. Thus, if one tried to use them simultaneously, eventually, one''s qi flow would get distorted and possibly even reverse.
However, if one was wearing the Mind Qi Separator, they would be able to use the two techniques simultaneously whilepletely defyingmon sense.
Since one would be able topletely separate one''s qi flow and thoughts, it would be as if there were two people using one body to perform martial arts.
It was truly a mysterious weapon that transcendedmon sense and power!
There was a martial art that actually had the same power as the Mind Qi Separator. Of the Three Great Divine Arts of the Wudang Sect, the Duality Divine Art.
So that''s what happened to it, then. While the Mind Qi Separator was supposedly lost during the Era of War and Chaos at the War of Righteousness and Evil, the Dark Heavens Association must have had it then. Hmm. He must have gotten to it first in order to cure Wu Zhenhua.
Zhou Xuchuan felt a sense of satisfaction at finally uncovering the truth behind history.
"Ha why did it have to be in the hands of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao"
The Evil Valley was actually a union of the Evil Faction''s forces, simr to the Righteous Faction''s Martial Alliance.
Of course, there were sects and families within it, just like the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families, called the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
The famed Mind Qi Separator was in the possession of one of those forces.
"The Mind Qi Separator is with the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao?" Tang Hui asked in surprise.
Zhou Xuchuan answered with silence instead of affirmation.
"Ugh"
Wu Qu, who seemed willing to do anything for his daughter, groaned in frustration.
"I can''t make a move."
"Didn''t you say earlier that you would do anything for your daughter?"
"That''s exactly why he can''t," Zhou Xuchuan said, answering Tang Hui''s question in Wu Qu''s stead.
"I heard that you''ve been going around a lottely to make money, especially focusing on the battlefields, right?"
"...Yes. And I''ve made quite a few enemies, too."
"Did they find out about this house?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
Wu Qu shook his head.
"They don''t know the exact location. However, the problem is that they know it''s in Jiangxi. Since you''ve been able to find me, it''s only a matter of time before they do, too."
"Indeed."
Tang Hui realized the situation.
Because of his sick daughter, Wu Qu couldn''t move rashly or leave the vicinity of his mansion in order to protect her.
If it weren''t for these circumstances, he might have continued going into the battlefield and wielding his sword to make more money.
"Well, I spent quite a bit of money to find you, so it won''t be easy for the others to do the same right away. Don''t worry about that part. I''ll take care of getting the Mind Qi Separator, as well."
"I don''t know why the Mind Qi Separator is in the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao, but you can''t think of it as just some neighborhood martial force," Tang Hui warned.
"I know."
Chapter 91: Resonating Death Bow (1)
Sects of the Righteous Faction needed a valid reason to fight among themselves. Because they valued their reputation and were cautious about public perception, they generally didn''t fight much.
However, the Evil Faction was different. While they didn''t fight every day like those of the Demonic Path,pared to the Righteous Faction, they fought frequently.
Even if the Night Sects and one Gang, or the Five Great Ancient Families had conflicts, they would settle them throughpetitions to preserve their reputation and pride or handle their grievances with individual sparring. On the other hand, the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao would have such great battles that sometimes escted into wars.
Because of their chaotic nature, the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao were nearly impossible to control. Even the Evil Valley Master had a hard time handling their problems. As the saying goes, the free-naturedwlessness of the Evil Faction wasn''t necessarily a good thing.
Moreover, there was even an ongoing conflict between the Miao Family Sword Gate and the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, with neither side showing any interest in the tomb of the Ominous Demon.
Long ago, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate made some bold derations.
"In martial arts, the saber is King!"
"Swords are only used by those hypocrites of the Righteous Faction!"
"If you''re a member of the Evil Faction, you should be using the saber! Those who use swords are all invalids or cowards!"The Evil Faction''s techniques were generally aggressive, which was why most of them used the saber. However, that didn''t mean that none of them used swords.
In fact, there were numerous formidable techniques associated with the sword.
"What?"
The Miao Family Sword Gate had been the first to react to these ims.
"Haven''t you heard of the phrase, a hundred days to master the saber, a thousand days to master the spear, and ten thousand days to master the sword?"[1]
"Even toddlers know that the sword is the King of All Weapons!"
Surprisingly, the trigger for the war was just that simple.
These adults, not children, but fully grown adults, had started a fight over a childish reason, a fight that quickly escted into an all-out war between two sects.
Both the Miao Family Sword Gate and the shing Waterfall Saber Gate had their positions on the matter and were forces that couldn''t move recklessly. Thus, they tried to keep the fight contained to their people.
Still, in the end, the battle erupted, and there was no turning back once someone died.
Fujian, the Miao Family Sword Gate.
"Name," a butler for the Miao Family Sword Gate asked.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
"Affiliation."
"Mount Hua."
The butler raised his head.
Zhou Xuchuan was wearing a ck robe instead of his usual uniform.
"To think ay disciple of the famed Mount Hua Sect is struggling to make a living to such a degree that he would get involved in an Evil Faction conflict. It''s almostughable."
Lay disciples were usually not bound by the rules of the sect, nor were their actions controlled.
As long as they didn''t teach Mount Hua''s techniques to others without permission, the sect generally didn''t care whether or not they got involved in the Evil Faction''s conflict. Usually, they were hired by the small and medium-sized sects of the Righteous Faction as guards or became mercenaries and guards for Security Agencies rather than getting involved in the Evil Faction''s conflicts.
"If you can survive until the day''s truce, you''ll receive two taels of silver. If you die, your death gratuity will be paid to your family. Finally, if you can bring us the head of someone of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate''s upper ranks, you''ll get additional rewards, so keep that in mind. Well, from the looks of it, it doesn''t seem like you''ll be able to do much and you might even end up as a corpse soon."
The Mind Qi Separator was in the shing Waterfall Saber Gate. Fortunately, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate was at war with the Miao Family Sword Gate right as Zhou Xuchuan needed a reason to infiltrate them, leading to his quick enlistment in the Miao Family Sword Gate''s mercenary corps.
It really was fortunate, considering no matter how strong he was as a master at the Harmony Realm, he couldn''t just storm into one of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao and steal a Dharma Treasure.
"You want me to risk my life for only two taels of silver? Youplete thieves!" Zhou Xuchuan swore, dumbfounded.
"If you don''t like it, then leave," the secretary snorted.
"Next!"
The butler marked Zhou Xuchuan''s name before calling on the next person. Then, after confirming that Zhou Xuchuan was walking away, he quickly changed what he had just written.
"How are we supposed to find and send the death gratuity to the families of all of these warriors when they die? The treasury head told me to keep an eye on bastards that are likely to die and remove their names, and I have to make sure I do that properly."
***
Zhou Xuchuan was the only one who came to Fujian.
Tang Hui had stayed in Nanchang to prepare to treat the Sword Demon''s daughter, and naturally, her guards had stayed with her.
"Right. It''s actually better they didn''te. Those bastards might even go around muttering to themselves, ''How dare you order the Miss around?!'' and aim a hidden weapon at the back of my head while I''m fighting."
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t trust the Sichuan Tang family one bit.
Regardless, he ran all the way to Fujian and stopped at the Miao Family Sword Gate to express his intention to participate in the conflict.
Afterward, he went through the proper procedures and registered before arriving in Zhouning.
Zhouning was a county between Fu''an and Pingnan and was the halfway point between the Miao Family Sword Gate and the shing Waterfall Saber Gate.
"There are a lot of tea leaves."
That was Zhou Xuchuan''s first impression after arriving.
The surrounding area was steep and hilly, with tea fields simr to the ones he had seen before. However, instead of the faint scent of tea that should have filled the air, there was only the scent of blood and decay.
He could see scattered, half-broken weapons coated in blood wherever traces of people spanned the ground.
Rotting arms and legs, giving off a foul stench, were lying among the tea leaves.
"If you advance for about five li (: 1 li = 400 meters), you wille across the second position of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate built on the hill. It will be our victory if you''re able to capture this position and reach the next one. Group up in groups of ten and fight."
As soon as he arrived, an expert of the Miao Family Sword Gate gave him an order.
Listening, Zhou Xuchuan paired up with the nine people nearby.
"Ahem. The name''s Tie San."
A middle-aged man with countless scars on his face stepped forward. His face seemed to represent a veteran who had been through countless battles.
"It seems I''m the strongest among us. So, I''ll be taking the position of Ten Man Commander. Listen to my orders if you want to live. Trust me."
Everyone nodded, standing in the unfamiliar environment.
All except for one person.
"Ahem, The name''s Zhou Xuchuan."
Tie San tilted his head, then frowned. His already fierce face seemed to turn into that of a monster.
"You brat. How rude. Speak politely."
Zhou Xuchuan seemed to only partly pay attention as he stood in front of Tie San.
Then, he raised his head and looked directly at him nkly.
"You arrogant brat. I should teach you some manners!"
Picking fights was a daily urrence within the Evil Faction. Hot-blooded brats would often attack without taking the time to assess the situation.
The remaining eight waited for Zhou Xuchuan to cry and apologize for his mistake.
Swish!
Tie San''s sword aimed for Zhou Xuchuan''s neck. However, there wasn''t any bloodlust in his attack. After all, they were about to enter a battle, and he couldn''t afford to lose hisrade foolishly.
No, he was nning to stop just before the brat''s neck.
ng.
Huh?
Tie San couldn''t understand what had happened at that moment.
Although it seemed he had hit something, the sword in his hand bounced out of his grip and rolled to the ground.
"What then"
Smack!
"Ugh!"
Tie San fell to the ground, smacked across the face.
Zhou Xuchuan turned around and said to the eight.
"It seems I''m the strongest among us. So, I''ll be taking the position of Ten Man Commander. Listen to my orders if you want to live. Trust me."
"If we refuse?"
"I''ll p you in the face."
"Please take care of us, Ten Man Commander."
Although the Righteous Faction had fewer people than the Evil Faction, they had many more experts. On the other hand, while the Evil Faction had more people than the Righteous Faction, they had many more lower-level grunts.
Almost all the nine members of Zhou Xuchuan''s Ten Man troop were in the Third ss. Only Tie San had reached the Second ss. Thus, it hadn''t just been an empty boast when he had dered himself the strongest and taken the Ten Man Commander spot.
"Whew."
"Sir Ten Man Commander. You look worried. You said that we would live if we followed you, are you really sure about that?"
"Well, I was wondering that myself after seeing your skills, but don''t worry, I can do it."
"Mmmm!"
Tie San considered running away.
"Although it''s better to be alone than having to fight while worrying about strangers, there''s no way I can go through an Evil Faction battlefield on my own. At the very least, I need people who I can trust to follow me," Zhou Xuchuan said.
One could never fight in a war alone. That was something that he had realized after experiencing the Era of War and Chaos.
Even though he was a master at the Harmony Realm and knew multiple martial arts, what good would that be without anyrades he could trust?
If the fact that he was from the Righteous Faction was found out, even the Miao Family Sword Gate that he was risking his life for could turn against him at thest minute. After all, blinded by the merits he may have earned, the Miao Family Sword Gate might move to take all that he had and make it their own.
Words were power.
When those words were spoken by multiple people, they became a great power.
Even if their martial arts weren''t strong, with the support and trust of the Evil Faction members, he would be able to avoid the worst oues.
Moreover, that trust could be quickly built by risking his life.
Even if I storm through the shing Waterfall Saber Gate in a single move, I''ll still need some time to find the Mind Qi Separator. Moreover, I might get injured and be unable to move after fighting their leader, who''s also a Harmony Realm master. No, I''m sick of being alone.
Zhou Xuchuan drew an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocked it.
"I''ll support you. Don''t worry about anything around or behind you. Just run forward."
"Sir Ten Man Commander. Are you really going to use that bow?"
Unless the bow was wielded by a master archer, most people assumed that bows were useless in battle. In particr, the perception of archery in the murim was rtively low.
"If you don''t want to get hit again, don''t worry about it and just move forward."
Zhou Xuchuan pointed forward with the tip of his chin as the nine nodded while looking at each other.
Let''s run when we have the chance.
No matter how I look at it, we''re gonna die.
He''s just going to use us for a bit before throwing us away.
Loyalty and trust were hard to find even within the Righteous Faction. Finding trust on the battlefield was even harder, and finding trust within the Evil Faction
Well, that went without saying.
The nine mercenaries vowed to at least pretend to fight because of the pressure from behind and then escape during the ensuing confusion.
"AHGHHHH!"
Warriors on the grassy hill.
The Miao Family Sword Gate versus the shing Waterfall Saber Gate.
Moreover, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate seemed to have hired arge number of mercenaries.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Tie San took the lead and swung his sword.
A mercenary from the shing Waterfall Saber Gate dropped to the ground, groaning from the attack.
"You dare!"
Immediately following, mercenaries directly behind the fallen one rushed at Tie San.
There were three of them.
Swish!
"Ugh!"
Suddenly, one of the heads of the mercenaries running toward him snapped backward, an arrow that hade flying out of nowhere stuck in his forehead.
"... huh?"
The mercenary behind Tie San opened his mouth wide in surprise.
"Di-did you see that?"
"No, I couldn''t even see it."
"Are arrows normally that fast?"
Tie San had blinked, and arrows were stuck in his enemies'' foreheads. Although they were fast, not a single one missed.
For most martial artists, arrows were something that could be evaded easily or countered as long as there weren''t too many of them.
After all, there was a reason that the bow was considered inferior within the murim. No matter how chaotic a battlefield was, martial artists could dodge or block sufficiently.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s arrows weren''t like that. Most of their targets fell to the ground without knowing how they died.
Thwip!
"Agh!"
Every time his arrows flew forward, cutting through the wind, screams erupted. His arrows never missed.
"Amazing!"
"If he can keep this up!"
The nine men, including Tie San, changed their minds.
At first, they had just been waiting for an opportunity to run. However, now that they saw Zhou Xuchuan stopping any threat the moment danger reared its head, their hearts were moved.
"AHAHAHA!"
"COME! YOU BASTARDS!"
"THE GOD OF ARROWS IS BEHIND ME!"
The nine men shouted proudly and cornered the enemies around them.
The other mercenaries and warriors of the Evil Faction nearby also noticed what was going on and gathered around Zhou Xuchuan''s men. Bows weren''tmon within the murim, so their Ten Man troop was bound to stand out.
"Just what the hell are these arrowsagh!"
"Where are they flying from?"
"Find the archer first!"
If they blinked, arade standing next to them would fall, hit by an arrow. It was horrifying because none of them could notice the arrow until it had already killed someone.
"He''s over there!"
They were standing on a hill that had only knee-high grass and flowers. What one''s allies could see was what the enemy could see.
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate disciples and hired mercenaries shouted until their blood boiled as they ordered Zhou Xuchuan to be killed, swearing at him.
"Hey, you archer! Don''t walk up to them!"
The expert of the Miao Family Sword Gate, who was leading the mercenaries, also noticed Zhou Xuchuan and decided that he would be helpful, even going as far as to give him a warning.
Oh! This is an excellent opportunity to practice my technique!
For swordsmanship, considering he had the experience of his past life, it didn''t matter if he didn''t have any opponents to fight properly. However, since this was the first time in either life that he was learning archery, he needed actual experience.
Zhou Xuchuan decided to use this opportunity to practice. He ced the quiver he had prepared in advance on the ground and held his position, circting his qi in preparation for the Eclipse Divine Archery Art.
1. While the raws say 100-Spear, 1,000-Saber, and 10,000-Sword, I switched the words saber and spear to match The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The original quote itself is ancient and doesn''t actually have a source because it''s been adapted and warped so many times. Still, if you''re seeing this specific quote from any murim/wuxia, I can 99.9999% guarantee it''s referring to the one from The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which is where it resurfaced in poprity in Wuxia. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Aight, so if you''ve read my novels, you know I love little lessons on weapons.
Now, if you''ve read some of the other stories on this tform, like Martial World, The Second Coming of Gluttony, (Spear), or Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (Saber), you''ll get conflicting references to the "hardest weapon to master."
But, at least traditionally, no matter which version of the phrase,
100 days staff, 1000 days spear, 10,000 days sword
100 days to the fist, 1,000 days to the spear, 10,000 days to the sword
A hundred days to master the saber, a thousand days to master the spear, and ten thousand days to master the sword
In the end, you''ll always see the sword.
For context, in Korean/Chinese, all single-edged ded weapons are considered a form of Dao/Do, or saber while all double-edged ded weapons are considered a form of Jian/Geom, or sword.
Also, Jian/Geom weren''t generally shing weapons, but piercing ones. Unlike sabers, which were pretty self-exnatory (see sharp edge, feel heavy weight. swing), swords required finesse and agility. You needed a lot of wrist strength and mobility, and shoulder stability.
Don''t get me wrong, all weapons at their peak of mastery are extremely difficult to master. Just because I know how to use a geom doesn''t mean I''d like to take the respected master Penguin on in a sword-to-saber fight, for example.
But, the learning curve of how to use each weapon is different.
Generally, the assumed difficulty in starting to be able to use a weapon properly goes:
Fists -> Stick/Staff -> Saber -> Spear -> Sword
Let me know if you have any questions.
Chapter 92: Resonating Death Bow (2)
Just because it was a war didn''t mean that itsted all day. A ceasefire was usually called at sunset, as both sides grew weary and retreated to regroup.
Most of the time, the attacking side was the first to retreat and signal a ceasefire.
"Enough!"
At themand of the Miao Family Sword Gate Master, the mercenary army pulled back. His voice was cheerful and very excited.
The Miao Family Sword Gate had suffered far fewer casualties than usual, while their enemies'' losses had increased.
As soon as the battle ended, Zhou Xuchuan was met with a warm wee.
"Sir Ten Man Commander! No, Hyungnim!"
"Let us follow you! Commander!"
"Please take us under your wing!"The Evil Faction and its mercenaries didn''t value their pride, especially the low-level grunts. They quickly ran to Zhou Xuchuan and bowed their heads to him, begging for protection for the next day''s battle.
"Yeah, yeah. Let''s go get our day''s wages first."
As he received his two silver taels, someone approached him.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Miao Zhenpei."
"The Miao Family''s Left Sword."
"Yes."
Miao Zhenpei smiled, pleased that Zhou Xuchuan had recognized him immediately he introduced himself.
A swordsman who used his left hand to disy the Miao Family Sword Technique, Miao Zhenpei was a Transcendent expert, hard to find within the Evil Faction and a part of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
He was also the younger brother of the Miao Family Sword Gate Master and was responsible for leading the front lines.
"What''s up?"[1]
"I saw you earlier. Your archery andmand skills are extraordinary. If it''s okay with you, I''d like to promote you to a Hundred Man Commander and have you takemand starting tomorrow. Of course, you''d get a corresponding raise."
"Sounds good."
"Looks like your personality is as refreshing as your technique. Then, I''ll be in your care, Resonating Death Bow."
Miao Zhenpei smiled kindly.
"Resonating Death Bow?"
"Haven''t you heard? It''s the nickname everyone''s calling you after today''s battle. The arrow that kills with each twang of the bow."
"I''m a swordsman, you hear?!"
"Ahaha. Looks like you''re good at joking, too. I''m starting to like you even more."
Miao Zhenpei patted Zhou Xuchuan on the shoulder and left.
After a few steps, Miao Zhenpei''s adjutant approached and whispered something in his ear. Miao Zhenpei listened intently, his expression sharpening as he focused on the quiet conversation.
"Excuse me, but who is that fellow?"
"The Resonating Death Bow. Zhou Something or another. He''ll die tomorrow anyway, so don''t worry about it. Put him out front to draw attention, then move the main force away from him. He''s just some bastard who uses a bow."
"Understood."
Miao Zhenpei and his adjutant continued to whisper to each other, most likely assuming that the surroundings were noisy enough that they wouldn''t be overheard.
"Ah, so that''s what''s going on," Zhou Xuchuan muttered.
Even though he had distinguished himself in actualbat with his bow, it wasn''t enough to erase the deeply rooted negative perception of the bow itself.
Although he initially thought that Miao Zhenpei was a good-natured guy who had a good impression of him, it seemed he was just trying to use him.
"Wasn''t that the Miao Family''s Left Sword?"
"That''s so incredible, Hyungnim!"
The nine men he had originallymanded were the first to approach him, quickly followed by dozens more.
From then on, the other ny-one men who had joined Zhou Xuchuan and the others were all under hismand.
"I''ve never had a younger brother like you."
"Agk!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s palm pped Tie San''s head.
How embarrassing!
Tie San''s eyes momentarily widened in anger, enraged at being scolded and embarrassed in front of the other subordinates.
Smack!
When Zhou Xuchuan raised his hand again, Tie San quickly lowered his gaze.
"Tomorrow, no, from today onwards, I will be your Hundred Man Commander. Most likely, those of you here today will be joining me again tomorrow."
Roar!!!!
The men were delighted.
Half of them were wanderers, while the other half were from small sects within the Evil Faction, so weak that they weren''t even considered proper martial disciples.
Among the newly formed Hundred Man Regiment, there were two First ss experts, eight Second ss, and the remaining ny were Third ss.
It was truly a force that could make one exim in admiration.
"Your names are now Tie Yi and Tie Er."[2]
Zhou Xuchuan pointed at the two martial artists First ss martial artists.
"You crazy bastard!"
The newly named Tie Yi, a warrior of the Evil Faction, snickered in disbelief. Murderous intent flickered in his eyes.
"I was nning on staying quiet and taking over the Hundred Man Regiment once you died tomorrow, but I guess that''s not necessary."
"I realized it from the moment I saw your eyes a while ago. That there really was no one in the world, one could really put their faith in"
There was no way that such a hastily assembled group of people would trust Zhou Xuchuan right away. Within the Evil Faction in particr, it was normal for people even on the same side to be blinded by greed and strike when one''s back was turned.
"You expect me to follow the orders of a bastard who only uses a bow?" Tie Yi spat, drawing his sword.
As expected of a First ss martial artist, his fighting spirit was extraordinary.
"I am a swordsman of Mount Hua."
"Hmph! It''s obvious you lied about that because you were worried you wouldn''t get hired if you said that you were an archer. That sword is probably just for show, too!"
"I''m serious. I''m from the Righteous Faction."
"What bullshit! I''ll make an example out of you for the others!"
Tie Yi pounced.
***
Those who wandered around the battlefield selling weapons and supplies were called war merchants.
Among these "so-called" war merchants, there was one group that had recently be famous.
The Gold Will Merchants.
The Gold Will Merchants had been active since the conflict in Guizhou and were well-known in this field. Even after they expanded into a full-fledgedpany, they still went around the battlefields to conduct their business.
However, there was one issue with their reputation.
The fact that they sold to anyone, without distinction between the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction, and even between the enemy and their allies.
Because of that, many didn''t like them. However, the poprity of Gold Will Merchants never waned, and their services were always in demand because they consistently supplied the right goods for the right situation and with the right quality.
Often, unscrupulous war merchants would deliberately bring inferior goods to the battlefield and sell them at outrageous prices.
If you don''t like it, then don''t buy it!
They didn''t raise their prices for no reason, either.
Considering the situation those on the battlefield were in, where supplies were low, but needs were high, they had no choice but to buy from whichever merchants they could find. After all, if they didn''t, they might be wiped out immediately.
Most war merchants didn''t bring inferior goods to the battlefield because they were afraid of retaliation. However, there were always a few who recklessly sold inferior products, believing that those they sold to would be quickly wiped out, or simply trying to make a quick buck and disappear.
To avoid such scams, most tried to trade with the Gold Will Merchants, who, while not very pleasant, were highly trustworthy.
"So, if you need anything, buy it from the Gold Will Merchants, no matter what. Everyone else is a scammer."
"...understood," Tie Yi replied gloomily. His cheeks were swollen and red, and for some reason, the sword he was holding was half-broken.
Behind him stood the rest of the Hundred Man Regiment, their faces not much better. They all looked incredibly gloomy.
"All of you idiots spend your sries on alcohol and prostitutes the moment you receive them. Are you all mayflies? No, invest in your weapons and medicine first," Zhou Xuchuan scolded.
"Don''t they say a master doesn''t care what sort of weapon they use?" someone asked.
"Are you all masters?"
"No."
"Right?"
For some reason, it felt like they were all being deceived.
"Sir Hundred Man Commander. Well, I prepared a sword before I came here," a man in his mid-thirties spoke up.
Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze shifted toward him.
"Where?"
"In Fu''an"
"Who did you buy it from?"
"They said that there was a good cksmith in Fu''an"
"Who introduced you to him?" When Zhou Xuchuan asked persistently, the man shrugged and replied with less confidence.
"A warrior of the Miao Family Sword Gate"
"Hmm."
Zhou Xuchuan nced around, confirming there were no disciples of the Miao Family Sword Gate nearby before muttering under his breath.
"Don''t you think that''s a collusion between them and their local merchants? Your sword''s quality is questionable, so go get a new one."
"Excuse me, Sir Hundred Man Commander. I just stole this during the battle. It''s not broken, and I don''t think it''s been used much, either"
"Did you get it from a corpse?"
"Yes."
"No, that weapon is definitely bad. That must be why that corpse was killed. It''s better to throw it away and get a new one. Yes, the quality is definitely the best at the Gold Will Merchants."
Even with such ridiculous advertising, there had to be a limit
It was so strange that some of the men started to doubt Zhou Xuchuan''s intentions.
"Real ly?"
"Are you stronger than me?"
"Well no, but"
"Then stop asking me questions! Thwack!"
The Hundred Man Regiment quickly spent all of their earnings on weapons.
However, it wasn''t as much of a scam as it seemed.
These men weren''t falling like weeds every day for nothing.
Living a life where they couldn''t guarantee their survival, most of them used their rewards for immediate pleasure. But their survival rates would increase dramatically if they invested in better weapons or medicine.
"Okay, now let''s rest in preparation for tomorrow. Go to bed."
***
The next day dawned.
People flocked over like clouds converging over the hills.
"Hmm."
Miao Zhenpei opened his eyes and fiercely red at the camp built on the hills. Today would be thest day he would have to see that camp.
"Let''s go!"
Roar!!!
The Miao Family forces responded in kind to Miao Zhenpei''s shout. Each of them swung their swords desperately.
A bloody wind swept across the hills, carrying with it the stench of rotting corpses and the sharp tang of fresh blood.
"Take care of the Resonating Death Bow first!"
The enemy shouted for Zhou Xuchuan''s head, likely aware of his actions from the day before.
"Protect the Hundred Man Commander!"
Roar!!
The Hundred Man Regiment rallies around Zhou Xuchuan, raising their swords in defense.
A hundred people shed against a hundred people, yet even amidst the chaos, it was easy to distinguish which side eachbatant was on, thanks to the weapons held in their hands.
"To think you''d be afraid of arrows, you fools!"
"How can you still call yourselves men after doing that?"
"Fuck off, you bloody cowards!"
On the side of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, a group of particrly conspicuous brothers advanced while swinging theirrge sabers.
Every time they swung their sabers, the martial artists belonging to the Miao Family Sword Gate fell like autumn leaves.
"The Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall!"
The warriors on the side of Miao Family Sword Gate trembled and retreated.
In the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, there was a group of disciple brothers who were known not only for their exceptional skill but also for their bad tempers.
They were the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall.
The First and Second Dogs were in the Peak realm, while the Third and Fourth Dogs were among the best in the First ss. Their presence on the battlefield was a clear sign that the damage to their forces the previous day had been significant.
"Kill them all!"
ROAR!!!!
At the shout of the martial artist, most likely the First Dog, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate warriors and their mercenaries advanced, their fighting spirit zing.
The situation, which had been in the Miao Family Sword Gate''s favor just moments before, quickly reversed, and the battlefield was soon filled with screams and blood.
"RAAAH!"
The Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall rushed forward, roaring with all their might. All four wererge, like wild boars.
"Agk!!"
The members of the Hundred Man Regiment guarding Zhou Xuchuan were unable to hold out for long and fell helplessly.
"One!"
Thwip!
As Zhou Xuchuan released the bowstring, the arrow nocked in its center flew forward. It spun through the air, cutting through the wind before drawing a straight line toward its target.
The arrow aimed for the forehead of the youngest-looking Dog standing at the front.
"You dare!"
The Fourth Dog sneered, instinctively raising his saber to shield his face.
ng!
The arrowhead struck the saber with such force that the impact reverberated through the metal, sending a jolt down his arm.
His face twisted in confusion. The sheer force from blocking a single arrow had caught him off guard, the bacsh far stronger than he had anticipated.
Is this supposed to be archery?
No, that archer must have infused his qi into the arrow.
If that was the case, then the Fourth Dog was certain that the archer before him was using a martial art. However, he had never heard of or encountered an archery technique that was this powerful.
Moreover, its maneuverability is no joke!
The Fourth Dog tensed, realizing he couldn''t underestimate their opponent simply because he was an archer.
"You idiot! What are you doing, just standing there nkly?!"
Third Dog brushed past Fourth Dog.
"Be careful, Hyungnim!"
"An archer, whatever. It''s just a matter of closing the distance between us anyway!"
1. He starts talking in ng, most likely to try to disguise himself. ?
2. Tie San means Iron Three, so he''s back-naming these two into Iron One and Iron Two ?
Chapter 93: Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate (1)
Third Dog''s skill with lightness and footwork techniques was profound, even among the four brothers.
When he leaped forward, kicking off the ground, he resembled a hunting dog in pursuit. He quickly closed the gap with Zhou Xuchuan.
Twang!
Zhou Xuchuan pulled his bow back again and shot another arrow.
"Hmph!"
Third Dog swung his saber with all his might, letting out a scoff as if Zhou Xuchuan''s attack was ridiculous. A saber wind with considerable pressure shot out.
The arrow, which had been flying true, suddenly veered off course, deflected by the artificially created wind. Moreover, the feathers of its fletching were neatly sliced off by the saber qi.
"As expected, it''s not really effective against someone who has reached First ss."
Zhou Xuchuan nodded with a satisfied smile. While his arrows might be effective in an ambush, it would be difficult to take down someone of Third Dogs caliber in a direct confrontation using archery alone.Well, maybe things would be different if he had devoted his entire life to archery.
This was the first time he had used the Eclipse Divine Archery Art against a First ss martial artist, and considering the Ten Thousand Divergence Art meant that he couldn''t fully exhibit the full strength of the technique''s original power, he was more than satisfied with what he had just achieved.
Die! Third Dog roared, swinging his saber savagely as if he had already split Zhou Xuchuan''s head in two.
"Agk! Hundred Man Commander! a mercenary nearby screamed.
It wasn''t that the mercenary had any attachment to him. After all, there was no way that the Hundred Man Regiment could have grown attached to him in just a single day.
No, the mercenary knew that if Zhou Xuchuan were cut down, the rest of the battle would be far more difficult.
They had been guarding Zhou Xuchuan for their own safety.
Everyone believed that Zhou Xuchuans death was inevitable.
"Go die yourself!"
A sword shot out like lightning and met the saber.
Whawhat
The force behind the sword strike was extraordinary.
Right as it felt like he had been struck by a tidal wave, Third Dog finally realized something was wrong.
That was thest thought he had before he died. Before he could even bring his saber back into position, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword grazed his neck.
Squelch!
Third Dog''s head, his eyes wide with shock, separated from his neck and spun through the air.
"A sword...?"
Fourth Dog, who was right behind him, couldn''t make sense of the situation.
He felt dazed as the archer, nicknamed the Resonating Death Bow, decapitated his older brother with a sword in a single stroke.
"I told you, I''m a swordsman!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s body blurred and appeared in front of Fourth Dog.
Fourth Dog tried to swing his saber in response, but it was toote.
Zhou Xuchuan stabbed Fourth Dog in the chest before pulling it out quickly.
"Ugh!"
With a single, strangled cry, Fourth Dog fell forward.
Two First ss experts had lost their lives in an instant.
"YOU BASTARD!!!!"
The enraged shout of the eldest brother tore through the battlefield as he witnessed his younger brothers'' deaths. First and Second Dog charged forward, emitting murderous auras.
Second Dog reached Zhou Xuchuan first, unleashing his saber technique. The aura behind his attack was like a storm, impressing Zhou Xuchuan.
As expected of the technique of a sect named the shing Waterfall Saber Gate!
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate''s cultivation technique truly exemplified the Evil Dao (Saber) within the Evil Dao (Dao).[1]
The shing Waterfall Cultivation Art explosively increased the cirction of qi and blood flowing in the body, instantly amplifying one''s physical abilities several times over. However, it was a tremendous burden on one''s body, making it difficult to maintain it for a long time or to activate it quickly in session.
You bastard! You bastard!
Second Dog swung his saber several times in anger. Despite hisrge frame, his movements were graceful.
Zhou Xuchuan first focused on getting used to the rain of saber strikes pouring down on him, matching each strike with his sword.
Though his opponent was using all the power at his disposal, Zhou Xuchuan concentrated on studying Second Dog''s saber technique.
"W-what the hell"
"Just how"
Meanwhile, the crowd paused their fighting, captivated by the confrontation between Second Dog and Zhou Xuchuan, their faces nk with surprise.
Resonating Death Bow is blocking Second Dog with his sword?
It looks like hes being pushed back, but
"You fool. That''s not an attack one can block easily. If he can just hold on, Second Dog will copse from exhaustion, and Resonating Death Bow will win."
Huh?!
"I thought he was an archer?"
After all, didn''t his nickname have the word bow in it?
"You damned bastard!" Second Dog growled as he added more force to his saber. Although it appeared as if was swinging it recklessly, he was actually using a saber technique.
Woosh!
A de suddenly flew up toward Zhou Xuchuan from below, but he swiftly stepped back, his hair whipping in the wind.
Second Dog quickly redirected his upward swing and took two steps forward, bringing his saber down with all his might.
ng!
Sparks flew as Zhou Xuchuans sword met Second Dogs saber.
"Damn it! Don''t let him go!"
First Dog flew in, eyes zing, swinging his saber furiously.
Riiip!
A de swung at Zhou Xuchuan from behind, aiming for his side.
"With just this?"
Deciding he was done probing, Zhou Xuchuan knocked the saber he was blocking upward and, at the same time, spun around on his left foot. His sword traced a semicircle in the air, deflecting the sabering for his waist.
I Am I getting pushed back?
First Dog suddenly snapped out of his rage-induced frenzy, realizing with a jolt that something was wrong.
The shing Waterfall Saber Technique was famous throughout the murim for its brutality and fierce power. Its cleaving ability and force wereparable to that of a demonic art, but rather than pushing Zhou Xuchuan back, both him and the technique were easily pushed back.
"Why is this bastard''s cultivation agk!"
"Why is it so high? I already know it''s high!" Zhou Xuchuan interrupted, unleashing the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
In an instant, the Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom from the second Plum Blossom Butterfly to the sixth Plum Blossom Plunge were disyed in the air. However, instead of a plum blossom, sword qi fell in its ce.
"Ugh!"
First Dog stepped back, pushed back by the techniques. Second Dog, who was on the other side, quickly intervened and tried to block Zhou Xuchuans sword technique.
Crack, sh!
The sword technique continued, Plum Blossoms Scattering!
Countless dizzying sword forms spread out and fell on the two dogs.
"Ugh!!"
ng, ng, ng!
Although they tried to block the sword strikes, they weren''t able to block them all. Since they weren''t able to sap the qi within Zhou Xuchuan''s sword, their wounds gradually increased.
True to its name, the eighth form of the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, Plum Blossom Rain, the more blood painted Zhou Xuchuan''s sword, the redder the sword light became.
The Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom was a sword technique that focused on sword transformations.
Because its transformations were so fluid, it was difficult to counter them with the simple, single-strike-focused shing Waterfall Saber Technique.
It was only because the two dogs were disciple brothers who were in sync after cultivating together for such a long time that they were barely able to block Zhou Xuchuan''s barrage. Otherwise, they would have been defeated a long time ago.
"He''s so fast!" First Dog groaned, struggling to keep up with the onught.
The shing Waterfall Cultivation Art enhanced physical abilities to such an extent that, when used by a Peak expert, one''s strength could rival that of a Transcendent.
While it was true that it was onlyparable to a Transcendent in terms of physical ability alone, the fact that neither Dog could move under the barrage was still absolutely shocking.
Plum Blossoms Nine Transformations!
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword flickered into another transformation.
The heads of the two brothers spun as another nine major transformations of the flying plum blossoms flickered before their eyes just as they were beginning to adapt to the previous eight.
"Are are you"
First Dogs face turned ashen.
Full of transformations but not sloppy.
Precise movements without any unnecessary details.
It was beautiful.
This kind of ascending sword technique wasn''tmon even in the murim.
You have a keen eye.
Zhou Xuchuan praised honestly, pretending to be amazed.
Plum Blossom Blooms!
Finally, after nine different forms, the plum blossom finally bloomed.
The nine afterimages vanished for a moment as Zhou Xuchuan''s sword sliced through the air, only to reappear, blooming like a bud and engulfing the surroundings.
Cough, cough!
Countless sword marks crisscrossed First Dog and Second Dogs bodies.
With Plum Blossoms Nine Transformations, nine transformations of sword aura flickered open at lighting speed, disconnected petals of qi simting flowers in full bloom.
If there were any masters standing among the onlookers,they would have marveled at the wlessly executed technique. Unfortunately, no such masters were present to witness it.
Since it had happened in an instant and the sword technique too high-level for them to grasp, to the onlookers, it would have seemed as though First Dog and Second Dog sttered with blood the moment Zhou Xuchuan lightly swung his sword.
"Wha"
The first to break the silence was the shing Waterfall Saber Gate.
"AGHHH!!!"
"THE THE FOUR DOGS OF THE FLASHING WATERFALL ARE DEAD!"
The enemys morale visibly dropped. It was only natural, given that their four strongest fighters had died in an instant.
ROAR!!!!
Follow the Hundred Man Commander!
We have Resonating Death Bow on our side!
The morale of the Miao Family Sword Gate exploded.
***
Meanwhile, Miao Zhenpei led his warriors to make a detour and climbed the hill.
Ugh!"
Warriors of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate screamed as they fell.
Hahaha! Great! Just as I thought! Miao Zhenpeiughed with satisfaction.
He had strategically ced several skilled mercenaries, including the Resonating Death Bow, at the forefront of the charge, hoping that the shing Waterfall Saber Gate would believe that most of their forces were concentrated there after what had happened the previous day.
Then, as the shing Waterfall Saber Gate moved most of their forces to respond, the Miao Family Sword Gate''s core members would sneak around through a detour, hoping that there would be few warriors guarding the side path to their camp.
"Vice Gate Master. Something is strange," an adjutant standing nearby said.
"Strange?"
"Well how do I say this? Don''t you think this is too easy?"
Hahaha. You worry too much. Thats because my strategy was perfect. Dont worry about it.
Miao Zhenpei patted the vassals shoulder andughed.
However, his smile soon disappeared.
"Colossal Saber!"
A middle-aged giant was waiting for them on top of the hill.
Not only was he easily over seven chi[2] tall, but his muscles were so well-developed that they resembled those of a beast.
He wasn''t wearing a shirt, and on his chest were not only the rippling lines of muscles but also countless scars that told the story of his battles. His shoulders and arms were thicker than a log, and his wrinkled face gave him the look of a wild monster.
His wild, messy hair was slicked back with grease.
Its been a long time since Ive seen you, Miao Familys Left Sword.
"You bastard! What are you doing here alone?!"
The ominous feeling the adjutant had sensed was now justified.
"What, you''re really asking me that right now? What a wretched idiot."
The Colossal Saber, Ju Zhong, sneered.
Thwack!
Rumble!!!
The ground shook as Ju Zhong snapped his fingers.
The face of the adjutant who had warned Miao Zhenpei earlier turned pale.
Its a trap!
As soon as he spoke, warriors with swords appeared from all directions, cutting off any escape. The Miao Family Sword Gates regiment found themselves outnumbered two to one.
Miao Zhenpei tightly shut his eyes.
I fell for their trap!
He should have paid closer attention to his adjutant''s warnings.
His pride had blinded him, leading him straight into the trap.
Hahaha! Did you think I wasn''t aware og your tactics?
Ju Zhongs vileughter rang out loudly.
Hmph! It looks like most of your gates warriors are here. With so much of your strength here, your main forces will be weak, and your frontlines will be breached right away! You''re the fool!"
So you think Im stupid, it seems. I knew you would do this, so I sent those brats who are good at using sabers. You''ve heard of them, right? The Four Bogs of the shing Waterfall?"
Its not Four Bogs of the shing Waterfall; its the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall. Well, I ept it then. If you sent those dogs, your main force should be able to hold out a little longer," Miao Zhenpei said.
Maybe because he was from the Evil Faction, but Ju Zhong was rough around the edges and didn''t hide anything.
"Hmph. That was your mistake! With the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall gone, that means that there aren''t many experts on your side, either!"
Miao Zhenpei snorted and raised his sword.
What? Hahahaha!
Ju Zhong doubled over inughter.
"As long as I take you down now, we''ll win!"
Miao Zhenpei imbued his sword with qi. A murderous aura radiated from him as he headed toward Ju Zhong.
Miao Familys Left Sword, there''s no way, is there? You don''t really think you''re my opponent, do you? Me, one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master Ju Zhong?
Do you think youre the only one here among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven?
"What a crazed fool. You really are so pathetic."
Shing!
Ju Zhong let out a snort, as if Miao Zhenpei''s struggle was ridiculous.
"It seems that you haven''t realized that there are ranks even within the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
With that, Ju Zhong drew his saber, massive enough to fit his title. Upon closer inspection, the de was coated in strands of thin qi, resembling threads.
"You''re still a Transcendent, no matter how much you brag about your strength, you huh?!"
Miao Zhenpei was about tough, but then his eyes widened in shock.
WhaNo way!
The previously intangible saber qi, which was nearly invisible, began to solidify, following the shape of Ju Zhongs saber. The qi, once rippling like water, now hardened like ice.
"Now, go and die!"
1. The word for Saber is a homonym of the word for the Dao. ?
2. Chi is an ancient Chinese measurement like the zhang. It''s roughly 1/10th of a zhang, or around a foot. ?
Chapter 94: Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate (2)
The sects of the Evil Faction, unlike the Righteous Faction, generally chose their leaders through their fists. The Miao Family Sword Gate was no different.[1]
Miao Zhenpei was their Vice Gate Master, while their leader was naturally their strongest, Gate Master Miao Zhenge.
However, even though he was the strongest, that didn''t mean he could just recklessly join the front lines.
His title as the strongest in the Miao Family Sword Gate came second to his role as the foundation of the Sword Gatetheir patriarch.
If he were to go out and get surrounded and killed, the resulting damage and chaos to the Gate would be unimaginable.
While he couldn''t shirk his responsibility and had to participate in the war, a warrge enough to determine the fate of both Gates, it was sufficient for him tomand his forces from a distance.
"Gasp cough, cough! Urgent Urgent news!" a messenger shouted, his face pale.
"What happened?! Tell me!" Miao Zhenge demanded urgently.
"Thethe Vice Gate Master! They say he died!""What?!" Miao Zhenge''s expression was one of utter disbelief.
Miao Zhenpei had taken his elites to raid the camp at the top of the hill through a detour. However, Ju Zhong had anticipated his ns and set a trap for him. While Miao Zhenpei and his elites tried to survive till the bitter end, except for a few who were able to escape, the rest were all ughtered.
In the end, Miao Zhenpei was beheaded.
"It was reported by the few warriors who were able to escape. Unfortunately"
"AGH!!!! JU ZHONG! JU ZHONG, YOU BASTARD!"
Miao Zhenge vehemently cursed.
His eyes turned bloodshot, veins bulging as his face flushed red, then paled with rage.
He screamed iprehensibly, ovee with grief and anger at the ughter of his own blood.
"I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you with my very hands!"
"GateGate Master! Calm down!"
"That''s right! You have to calm down first!"
The elders who were assisting him tried to assuage Miao Zhenge.
After losing their Vice Gate Master, the situation on the battlefield was almost unrecoverable. If Miao Zhenge went insane, too, it would signal their end.
"Calm down? My brother was just murdered, and you want me to calm down?"
"I know how you feel, but if you lose control like this, you won''t be able to avenge him."
The elders tried their best tofort and soothe Miao Zhenge.
Miao Zhenge wasn''t stupid. He knew that allowing himself to be consumed by vengeance and anger in the midst of this battle was exactly what Ju Zhong wanted.
Crack!!
"... is there anything else for you to report?"
The messenger, having been cut off mid-report by Miao Zhenge''s outburst, continued with a face full of despair.
"ImImpossible!"
The despair quickly spread to everyone in the room.
"Aura? You''re saying Ju Zhong used saber aura?"
"Tthat''s right."
Miao Zhenge''s face, which had been flushed with anger, suddenly grew cold at the aura.
This was a serious matter.
The Evil Factions cultivation techniques allow for faster progress within each level of a realm. However, when ites to advancing to a new realm, the barriers are much tougher, making it more difficultpared to the Righteous Faction''s techniques.
This was why there were fewer masters in the Evil Factionpared to the Righteous Faction.
Masters in the Harmony Realm were already rare within the Righteous Faction, and even rarer within the Evil Faction''s ranks.
Unfortunately, there were no masters at the Harmony Realm in the Miao Family Sword Gate.
Even their strongest expert, Miao Zhenge, was only a Transcendent.
Miao Zhenge''s shoulders shook violently. He bit his lip so hard that he drew blood.
"Gate Master," an elder called out in concern.
"I know!"
What would happen at the front lines was obvious.
There were no experts of the main force at the front lines anymore. Most of the elites had been assigned to the special ambush force and had followed Miao Zhenpei.
In contrast, the opposing camp was said to have sent the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall. To make matters worse, the special ambush force, including Miao Zhenpei, had been annihted, leaving no one to support the front lines.
Miao Zhenge knew that the morale of the front lines must have plummeted upon hearing the news. He didn''t even want to imagine what must have happened after the deaths of Miao Zhenpei and the others was announced.
He jumped up from his seat, walked past the table with a map, and headed outside the barracks to issue an order.
"Retreat immediately, and pass on my. order?"
"...?"
The elders were puzzled when his voice trailed off. They quickly followed him outside and were shocked by what they saw.
"Huh?!"
"What on earth is going on over there?"
Not long ago, they had clearly been fighting fiercely to gain ground, barely making it halfway up the hill, let alone its peak.
However what?
The main force, which should have lost its morale and been faltering, had already reached the hill''s summit.
***
The main force of the Miao Family Sword Gate advanced with great momentum.
ROAR!!!
"Strike!"
When attacking the enemy, take out their leader first!
With the Four Dogs dead, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate fell into chaos.
Most of the elite warriors of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate were stationed at the camp on the hill''s peak. As a result, the front line''s defense was severely weakened without the Four Dogs.
With the falling of theirmanders and experts, only Third ss and Second ss soldiers remained.
The main force of the Miao Family Sword Gate, whose morale was soaring, noticed this and charged excitedly.
As a result, they were already face to face with the front lines when Ju Zhong appeared with Miao Zhenpei''s severed head.
"Zhou Xuchuan! Zhou Xuchuan! Zhou Xuchuan!"
Ju Zhong was quite flustered.
His enemy, instead of despairing, was chanting a name he had never heard before.
"Gate Master! The enemy has surrounded us!" a scout shouted urgently from afar.
"What? Surrounded?"
Ju Zhong was dumbfounded by the situation in front of him, which was inplete contrast to what he had just done to Miao Zhenpei.
"Who on earth is Zhou Xuchuan? Where are my children, and what the hell are they doing that they let these bastards get this far?!"
"Oh, your sons? They''re right here!"
BOOM!
The gate was shattered alongside someone''s shout.
The shattered fragments tumbled across the ground with a cloud of dust, obscuring whoever was outside the gate.
"Who the hell is this?" Ju Zhong demanded, frowning as he swung his saber, sending out a saber wind that cleared the dust.
A figure emerged.
"It''s good to meet you! I''m Zhou Xuchuan from Mount Hua!" Zhou Xuchuan replied, corpses draped over his shoulder.
"YouYOU BASTARD!" Ju Zhong roared the moment he saw the bodies.
His voice reverberated through the air, powerful enough that those with weaker cultivation felt their eardrums rupture.
"Don''t be so upset. Your sons tried to kill me first; I was just fighting back in self-defense." Zhou Xuchuan replied calmly, dropping the lifeless bodies of First Dog and Second Dog to the ground.
"AGHH!!"
Ju Zhong looked at the corpses First Dog and Second Dog and was filled with grief.
While it was impossible to measure the grief a parent would endure when they lost their children, it certainly couldn''t be insignificant.
Found it.
Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze shifted to Ju Zhong''s left middle finger.
That''s definitely it!
An artifact of the murim, the Mind Qi Separator!
A treasure with the same ability as the Duality Divine Art of the Wudang Sect''s Three Divine Cultivation Arts was right in front of him.
This has saved me a lot of trouble.
There was no need for him to break all the way into the Gate''spound.
All he had to do now was defeat the shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master.
I''ve met an annoying opponent.
Colossal Saber Ju Zhong.
A name he had heard not only in this life but also in his previous one.
History seems to have been changed again because of my intervention.
He nced at the head lying at Ju Zhong''s feet. It was unmistakably Miao Zhenpei.
If I remember correctly, Miao Zhenpei isn''t supposed to die here.
The conflict between the Miao Family Sword Gate and the shing Waterfall Saber Gate had been infamous in his previous life and was something that he knew well. Both Gates were so involved in their own dispute that neither participated in the Seven Swords War nor showed any interest. Their conflict had dragged on until just before the Great War of Good and Evil.
In the end, they had only fought a boring war of attrition with each other and were eventually ordered to ceasefire by the Evil Valley as the Great War of Good and Evil broke out.
Then, through the Great War of Good and Evil, they finally were able to reconcile.
Back then, it wasn''t the time for the Evil Faction to fight among themselves.
The two sects, impatient to kill each other, eventually fought amon enemy together and reconciled.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s actions had changed history.
Originally, they should have continued their war of attrition while waiting for an opportunity that never came. However, Miao Zhenpei had changed his mind with Zhou Xuchuan''s appearance.
Blinded by greed, he had sent the newly renowned expert, the Resonating Death Bow, as bait while forming a separate attack force.
Although he had tried to attack from behind by taking a detour around the front lines, Ju Zhong had seen through his ns and defeated him effortlessly.
Now that Miao Zhenge had lost not just anyone but his own blood brother, even if the two Gates had to cooperate and fight together in the Great War of Good and Evil, that grudge would never be forgotten and would remain forever.
Moreover, from Ju Zhong''s perspective, although his main enemy was Zhou Xuchuan since he had lost all of his sons in the war with the Miao Family Sword Gate, it was clear that he would also never forget what had happened today.
For the sake of what I have to do in the future, I have to kill Ju Zhong.
Zhou Xuchuan had be the enemy of one of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
The world of the murim was one that revolved around repayment. Having killed the sons of the Gate Master, his future was easy to see.
If he ran, they would chase him.
If he hid, they would find him.
It was obvious that the grudge would inevitably extend to those around him. He couldn''t just leave this unresolved.
"Zhou Xuchuan? Zhou Xuchuan! ZHOU XUCHUAAAAAAAAAN!!"
The father who had lost his children screamed his enemy''s name.
"YOU WON''T DIE EASILY!"
His eyes were fixed solely on Zhou Xuchuan. He didn''t care about anyone else around them.
"AGH!!!!"
The qi cultivation methods of the Righteous Faction were slow but stable.
The qi cultivation methods of the Evil Faction were fast but unstable.
In this moment, the unstable points of the Evil Faction''s qi cultivation methods were fully exposed with the deaths of Ju Zhong''s children.
Not even a master was immune to the possibility of cultivation deviation or internal injuries.
Ju Zhong, overwhelmed by grief, roared with bulging eyes, the capiries bursting and causing tears of blood to stream down his face
The loss of his sons was such a mental shock that he couldn''t avoid cultivation deviation in the end. It was as if his world had ended.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted right where Ju Zhong stood.
As the explosion spread, Ju Zhong''s body tensed before flying into the air, swinging his saber.
"Oh dear!"
Zhou Xuchuan leaped sideways, rolling on the ground just as the saber crashed into the spot where he had been standing.
BOOM!
The saber qi now disyed a power far beyond what had been shown before. Prior to this, the saber qi had been focused on its cutting power, but now it looked as if he was swinging a hammer. The ground was dented in an arc, cracked like a spider web.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue at the power, which seemed beyond the capabilities of a human.
"Is this really a saber technique?"
Who would have thought that a Harmony Realm Master who had mastered the shing Waterfall Saber Technique would be this terrifying?!
"ATTACK!"
"THE GATE MASTER IS NOW THE SABER KING!"
shing Waterfall Saber Gate members quickly grew excited.
"Saber saber aura?"
"He''s reached the Harmony Realm!"
On the other hand, the morale on the Miao Family Sword Gate side was not good. After barely rising, it had quickly hit rock bottom again.
The word Harmony wasn''t something to be thrown around lightly. It was like a saving grace for one''s allies but the epitome of horror for the enemy.
The momentum they had just gained, which seemed unshakeable even against the Ten Empyrean Overlords, vanished as the Hundred Man Regiment faltered.
"Hah!"[2]
Zhou Xuchuan shouted with all his might, imbuing his roar with qi.
The pure qi unique to Daoist Arts prated the minds of the Evil Faction members.
If they were of the Demonic Path, Zhou Xuchuan''s shout would have been like poison to them due to the conflicting natures of the qi. However, the Daoist qi didn''t have such problematic effects on the Evil Faction members.
"I''ll handle the Colossal Saber!"
He pointed his sword at Ju Zhong.
"Who am I?!"
His allies stirred.
"The the Resonating Death Bow?"
"Yes! The Resonating Death Bow!"
Zhou Xuchuan nodded while holding his sword.
"The Colossal Saber has suffered cultivation deviation, so he can''t exert his full strength!"
His shout resonated through all his allies.
"Our victory is in sight! Fight!"
ROAR!!!
The first to react was the Hundred Man Regiment under hismand.
They trusted him, having witnessed his skills firsthand.
While it was uncertain if Zhou Xuchuan''s skills would work on someone of the Harmony Realm, a strange excitement filled their minds, pushing such thoughts aside.
"RAGHHH!"
"Ugh!"
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate members, now in high spirits, screamed.
"Die!"
1. Which is funny, because it''s called family, but I digress. ?
2. Gal, or rebuke, is a shout that martial artists use to dispel mental states. Often attributed to Buddhism and Daoism. ?
Chapter 95: Phantom Bow Swordsman (1)
Swords and sabers shed, sending sparks flying as life and death intertwined in a chaotic dance on the battlefield.
While Zhou Xuchuan had spoken confidently earlier, in reality, he was sweating profusely from nervousness.
"Zhou Xuchuaaaaaaan!"
Ju Zhong swung his saber, shouting his enemy''s name.
It wasn''t just any saberit was an absolute saber coated in aura.
Not even Tai''e, one of the Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals, would be able to hold on for long if he were to block it head-on continuously. After all, it wasn''t called aura for nothing.
"Come, Colossal Saber!"
An eye for an eye!
A tooth for a tooth!An aura for an aura!
Time seemed to slow as qi began to coat Zhou Xuchuan''s sword. Transparent threads swirled around his sword without form, gradually condensing and rippling like waves until they solidified before their eyes.
In an instant, the sword aura formed, and Zhou Xuchuan met Ju Zhong''s saber head-on, as it threatened to cleave him in two.
BANG!
A deafening explosion echoed across the hills.
The very air seemed to bubble likeva as the ground shook, throwing the warriors off bnce. The collision of their auras sent shockwaves through the earth and sky, enveloping everything in its path.
What a brute!
Zhou Xuchuan was amazed.
The force transmitted to his sword was anything but ordinary. His fingers trembled momentarily from the bacsh that surged through the hilt.
"AGHHHH!"
Ju Zhong screamed, swinging his saber.
The power and speed of his strikes were explosive, seemingly calm one moment and erupting violently the next.
A saber toorge to be considered a weapon swung repeatedly. Saber strikes sliced through the air above Zhou Xuchuan''s head in a dizzying flurry.
"Hmph!"
Without panicking, he calmly took on Ju Zhong''s attacks. Every time the sword and the saber collided, the air ruptured.
As expected of someone in the Harmony Realm!
It was clear that Ju Zhong had fallen into cultivation deviation and had gone half insane, however, that didn''t mean that he was swinging his sword recklessly.
Despite his insanity, he moved steadily ording to his saber technique while maintaining his saber aura.
It was muscle memory that he had ingrained into his body over several decades, so it was natural for it toe out unconsciously, even during this manic spree.
How impressive, really!
Zhou Xuchuan kept eximing in admiration while fighting.
While this wasn''t the first time he had fought a Harmony Realm Master, it was the first time he was doing so one-on-one. In his previous life, he had only barely managed to defeat one with an entire team.
So, this is what fighting aura to aura is like!
Thest time he had eked out his way to the Harmony Realm, he had been at the end of his rope. By that point, he hadn''t even been able to properly disy his sword technique, let alone fight.
"Pfft!"
Heughed involuntarily.
It was a joy he had never known before.
A spirit ofpetition, igniting his curiosity for martial arts!
"This is it!" He let out an excited shout without realizing it.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
His heart pounded like an angry bull.
He couldn''t express this feeling in words.
"The One Hundred Experts Under Heaven!"
It seemed like an era ago.
A nobody whose name was unknown to anyone.
A swordsman who admired the famed Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
An elder who had only reached his position by a lucky twist of fate.
"This is it!"
His heart raced. He couldn''t breathe properly.
He could feel his heartbeat echoing in his head.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t see or hear his surroundings.
The only thing reflected in his two eyes were the two masters who had formed the same body.
"The Harmony Realm!"
His lower dantian, dormant below his navel, suddenly erupted. The mass of qi that had been sleeping like a dormant volcano exploded in an instant.
It quickly rushed through the meridians that had be wide and strong due to the Bodily Reformation. With no impurities congesting the meridians, there was no blockage in its cirction, and its speed was iparable to before.
The stream of qi poured down like a waterfall, spreading through Zhou Xuchuan''s body, flowing through his arm, and headed toward the sword in his hand. His muscles contracted and rxed repeatedly, finally swelling slightly.
If this had been his original body, it would have ruptured under the immense pressure of qi surging through his meridians. However, there were no limits to his newly reconstructed body.
ROAR!!!!
AGH!!!!
ng, ng, ng, ng!
Iron shed against iron, aura against aura.
Blue and red rays of light collided repeatedly, exploding and intertwining.
It was like watching a meteor storm, light raining down from the horizon, leaving behind messy, dissipating trails.
"Zhou Xuchuaaaaaaan!"
Ju Zhong stepped back and swung his saber in a wide arc.
Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword to block the attack.
"Ugh!"
The force behind the saber was extraordinary.
Despite his vast reserves of qi, Zhou Xuchuan was still pushed back by Ju Zhong''s enhanced physical strength, boosted several times over by the shing Waterfall Cultivation Art.
In the end, Zhou Xuchuan was unable to block the saberpletely and was thrown back, flying out of the broken gate.
The battle on the battlefield was also nearing its end. The forces of the two sides had gathered at the top of the hill. Miao Zhenge had also moved quickly after assessing the situation from afar.
If he were to lose here, he wouldn''t be able to handle the fallout.
Although it was dangerous, he knew that he had to step forward and takemand. Moreover, he also wanted to know what was going on.
As he approached the foot of the hill, the warriors, who had gathered like a swarm of ants, stepped aside.
No
They had indeed stepped aside, but not for him.
The moment he stepped forward, someone was suddenly thrown out of the camp, drawing a great arc in the air.
"What the hell is going on over there Colossal Colossal Saber?"
He saw Ju Zhong chase after someone.
No one could ever forget the giant. His sheer size made him recognizable from afar.
Despite seeing his enemy, Miao Zhenge wasn''t angry. Instead, he was puzzled.
"ZHOU XUUUUUCHUAAAAAN!!" Ju Zhong shouted, drawing out each syble.
His voice was filled with such intense hatred and rage that it seemed to shake the very earth.
"Zhou Xuchuan?"
The name wasn''t unfamiliar to him; he recognized it almost immediately.
"Resonating Death Bow? Wasn''t he supposed to be dead?"
"No, he isn''t," a warrior in front of him replied, looking back.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"The Resonating Death Bow killed the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall."
"What?"
"And that one over there"
"!"
Ju Zhong''s saber sliced through the air. Zhou Xuchuan tightened his core and raised his sword vertically.
ng!
"AGHHHH!"
Ju Zhong bellowed in frustration, enraged by his inability tond a solid hit on his opponent.
Once, twice, three times. A total of ten shes flew toward Zhou Xuchuan. Zhou Xuchuan also roared and blocked them all.
Even as time passed, Ju Zhong''s attacks didn''t weaken for some reason.
"Ha-eup!"
Zhou Xuchuan held his breath as his eyes lit up. His sword, which had been solely defending until now, found an opening and aimed for Ju Zhong''s shoulder.
Squelch!
The sword, coated in aura, sliced through Ju Zhong''s clothing, grazing his shoulder. Blood spurted out as the wound split open.
Woosh!
Ju Zhong spun around, his saber tracing a semicircle in the air before shing downward at a slight angle.
Analyzing Ju Zhong''s saber technique alone on its technique itself it was quite poor. Although it was considered a saber technique, it was really simplepared to other sword or saber techniques.
However, Ju Zhong had put all his effort into increasing its speed and power, and in the end, Zhou Xuchuan was forced to allow the saber to hit him once.
Squelch!
A sharpceration cut across his chest from his left shoulder to his side, nearly a foot long. Fortunately, Zhou Xuchuan managed to avoid a direct hit to his abdomen.
Blood spurted out, soaking Ju Zhong''s upper body muscles red.
"Ugh!"
Zhou Xuchuan gritted his teeth and endured the pain. It was the first fatal wound he had received since his regression.
His current stance was too awkward for him to counterattack properly. Even if he tried, his sword wouldn''t do much damage in this position.
So, he chose another method.
Instead of using his sword, Zhou Xuchuan struck Ju Zhong with his palm before quickly backing away.
Cough, cough!
Ju Zhong tried to follow, but he suddenly vomited ck blood.
It worked!
Ju Zhong''s body, already in a state of cultivation deviation, was far from normal.
His qi wasn''t just moving too fast, it waspletely out of control, tearing his meridians apart. In some ces, they had even copsed, causing serious damage.
In that sort of situation, it was obvious what would happen if he got poisoned. Rather than being detoxified, the poison qi would just umte and make his injuries worse.
Zhou Xuchuan pressed some of his acupoints and stopped his bleeding.
"Let''s go."
Bang!
He climbed the hill. Or, to be precise, he leaped.
Ju Zhong seemed to sense something and moved. Despite the ck blood still dripping from his mouth, he didn''t care. He had already forgotten about the pain.
Now, the Harmony Realm Master, who had already passed the point of no return from his cultivation deviation, focused solely on killing his enemy.
Zhou Xuchuan faced Ju Zhong, and poured all of his qi into his next move.
Violet Haze Dawnbreaker!
CRACK!!
A roar like thunder erupted. The warriors fighting around the hill were startled and fled.
Zzztt!!
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword shot forward, not in a straight line but like a whirlwind, spinning at a terrifying speed.
Ju Zhong used the t of his de to block theing sword strike.
The moment the tip of Zhou Xuchuan''s sword met the saber, an explosion of aura tore through the surroundings.
"AGH!!!"
A wave of qi swept through the area, tearing up the tea fields by their roots and sending warriors tumbling to the ground.
Arc Flower Rain!
Without pulling his sword back, Zhou Xuchuan immediately used the momentum of his sword to chain his move into the second form.
The aura that had been spinning fiercely around his sword suddenly spread out like the ribs of a fan and shot forward.
SSSS!
Ju Zhong quickly formed a qi barrier around himself.
Though it was difficult to see from afar, it was easy to guess what it was up close.
After all, there was only one barrier that could block aura!
Defensive Qi!
Moreover, it was defensive qi that had been amplified several times over.
Zhou Xuchuan used every ounce of his strength to draw out his qi, pushing himself to the brink. He hadn''t reached the bottom of his qi reserves in a long time, but now, he could finally see it.
If he didn''t give it his all, there was no way he could break through this barrier.
He tightened his grip on his sword. The fan-shaped clusters of aura began to converge.
Crimson Setting Plum Blossoms!
Violet Haze Sword Sutra, Third Form!
Zhou Xuchuan''s bluish aura turned red, like Ju Zhong''s.
The aura that had been stretched out like a bunch of thin lines eventually gathered together and poured down toward the enemy like a waterfall.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The defensive qi that boasted an absolute hardness like that of Ten Thousand Frost Iron now had cracks like that of a turtle shell.
BOOM!
The ground beneath the two masters caved in.
Sand and gravel swirled like a storm, preventing any of the surrounding warriors from getting close.
Men who had been fighting for their lives just moments ago now stood frozen, nkly watching the battle between the superhumans.
"Ha."
Amidst the storm that drowned out even the sound of iron shing, a hollowugh could be heard.
"Just who the hell are you?" Ju Zhong asked.
"A swordsman of Mount Hua," Zhou Xuchuan answered.
"To think I would meet my end by a sword. How unfair."
Ju Zhong closed his eyes and sighed.
"You were also poisoned, so don''t be too sad."
"I was blinded by my enemy and acted foolishly. It''s a shame we couldn''t fight properly."
"I feel the same way."
"My sons and I will curse you from hell."
Squelch!
Ju Zhong felt the tip of Zhou Xuchuan''s sword pierce through his flesh. The aura of his defensive qi vanished and the sword drove through his chest, emerging from his back.
Ju Zhong struggled to open his eyes and squeezed out what little he could.
"To think a mon ster Looks. Like the Evil Valley is ruined!"
With that, the light in Ju Zhong''s eyes faded.
When it was all over, silence fell over the battlefield.
Zhou Xuchuan took the Mind Qi Separator from Ju Zhong''s corpse.
There was no such thing as What If or But.
The Gate Master Ju Zhong of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao had lost his life ten years earlier than in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life.
Zhou Xuchuan looked around and shouted.
"The shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master died at my hands, me, Zhou Xuchuan!"
ROAR!!!!
"Surrender if you value your life!"
Chapter 96: Phantom Bow Swordsman (2)
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate wasn''t small and elite like the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
Take Ju Zhong, for example. He had over ten concubines, and although he particrly favored the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall, it didn''t mean he didn''t have other children.
The problem was that, aside from the Four Dogs, there wasn''t a single person with outstanding or even passable cultivation. Most of them were simply reckless ruffians whomitted all kinds of evil under the name of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
Pingnan, shing Waterfall Saber Gate.
"What? The Gate Master passed away?"
"That''s ridiculous!"
Just yesterday, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate had no doubts about their victory and had even been preparing a feast to celebrate Ju Zhong''s safe return.
However, to think this was the shocking news they would get?!
While the Gate was investigating to confirm if it was just a rumor, there were too many witnesses to the deaths of the Gate Master and his four sons for them to doubt it. The retreating troops pulled back to Pingnan as the camp they had set up in Zhuning fell.
They were desperate.
Soon after, the news spread throughout the murim.
Guangdong, Evil Valley.
"Hmph."
The Evil Valley Master snorted in disbelief, then exploded in rage.
"You idiotic bastards!"
He cursed the Miao Family Sword Gate and the shing Waterfall Saber Gate.
He leaped up from his seat, kicking the table leg with all his might as he continued to shout.
"What the hell are you dumb bastards doing, stabbing each other in the neck while everyone else is worrying about what to do about the tomb of the Ominous Demon?!"
The investigation of the tomb of the Ominous Demon was practically over. The water was so deep that there was no way to salvage it.
However, all the parties involved were still waiting at the tomb of the Ominous Demon just in case, which was why the Evil Valley and the Evil Faction had to be careful.
"AGHHHHHHH!"
Today, everyone except the Evil Valley had benefited.
Even without their senseless war, the Evil Faction didn''t have many experts, which was one of the ws of their path.
But now, masters who could have made a significant impact if a war broke out in the future were dead!
Not only the masters, the damage on both sides was enormous.
The conflict between the two sects had been dragging on for far too long.
"The shing Waterfall Saber Gate is finished."
Most of those in the shing Waterfall Saber Gate''s lineage were losers.
The only decent martial artists were the Gate Master and his four sons.
To make matters worse, even the famous vassals of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate had been captured by the Miao Family Sword Gate. Now, there wasn''t anyone left who could properly lead the shing Waterfall Saber Gate.
Since they had lost their core, it was only natural for them to copse. More importantly, they had spent a fortune hiring arge number of mercenaries.
Initially, they had nned to defeat the Miao Family Sword Gate and use them to make up for theirck of funds. However, since they had been ultimately defeated, that hope turned into nothing more than a lost cause.
"In the Righteous Faction, a weak sect will slowly decline and only eventually be eliminated. However, in the Evil Faction, a weak sect is devoured. The shing Waterfall Saber Gate will bepletely consumed by the surrounding sects."
While that was regretful, that wasn''t the main issue.
The main issue came next.
Who would rece the shing Waterfall Saber Gate?
If they weren''t reced, future power struggle would be brutal.
Even without this loss, the Evil Faction was already losing ground rapidly.
"How ridiculous that such a trivial matter led to such a conflict. Since ancient times, when ites to the Evil Dao, it''s not strength that determines the strong, but the one who survives"
The Evil Valley Master clicked his tongue and cursed the two gates.
"But, if Ju Zhong was a Harmony Realm Master, who killed him? I was so enraged that I didn''t finish listening to the report earlier."
"Someone named Zhou Xuchuan."
"Zhou Xuchuan? That''s a name I''ve never heard before."
"It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the shing Waterfall Saber Gate was defeated solely because of him. He was originally hired as a mercenary by the Miao Family Sword Gate. But, strangely enough, he is said to fight with a bow."
"A bow?"
Evil Valley Master frowned as if he had heard something strange.
Hefei, Anhui. Martial Alliance.
"A bow?" a martial artist with a buildrge for an old man asked.
"Yes, Alliance Leader."
Ten Empyrean Overlords.
The Completion Sword () [1] Nangong Weiwu.
From toddlers to reclusive hermits that had cut ties with the secr world, there was no one in the murim who hadn''t heard of the Completion Sword.
Aside from his personal reputation, his other identities were renowned as well, given he was the previous head of the Nangong Family of the Five Great Ancient Families and the current Martial Alliance Leader.
"Did he really kill Ju Zhong with just archery?"
"No, that''s not it."
The Vice Alliance Leader, the Knowledge Dragon Zhuge Xiang, shook his head.
"When he first appeared on the battlefield, he fought with his phantom-like archery and was given the nickname, the Resonating Death Bow. However, he used a sword when fighting the Four Dogs of the shing Waterfall."
"Oho."
"Ju Zhong was eventually defeated by that sword, and now, he''s not called the Resonating Death Bow, but the Phantom Bow Swordsman."
"Tell me more."
Nangong Weiwu''s eyes lit up with interest.
Zhuge Xiang summarized the information and reports the Beggar Gang had gathered and exined it concisely. He was d that there wasn''t anything he had to correct, as Zhou Xuchuan''s title was changed shortly after the rumors spread.
"They said he''s around twenty, right?"
Nangong Weiwu''s eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes, that''s right."
"What do you think, Vice Strategist?"
"ording to the rumors, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master is a Harmony Realm Master. Since he fought Ju Zhong alone, the Phantom Bow Swordsman should have also reached the Harmony Realm. Most likely, he must have gotten younger after reaching the Harmony Realm."
"Hohoho, you''re indeed worthy of being an advisor. You''re not called the Knowledge Dragon of the Younger Generation for nothing."
"While I''m stillcking, I am grateful for the Alliance Leader''s praise."
Zhuge Shang humbly epted thepliment.
"While one definitely gets younger once they reach the Harmony Realm, even with that considered, it''s incredible how young he is. He''s likely still around thirty or forty. While the Evil Valley Master has lost the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, he''s still gained a talent."[2]
Nangong Weiwu rubbed his chin, regretful.
There were few within the Righteous Faction, or even in the entire murim, who could reach the Harmony Realm in their thirties or forties.
"Is there any more information about him?"
"There isn''t much other than the fact that he uses a splendid and vibrant transforming sword technique. Unfortunately, there are only groundless rumors about what sect he belongs to, making it difficult to verify his affiliation."
"Do we at least know his name?"
"Fortunately, we were able to uncover his name. His name is Zhou Xuchuan."
"Zhou Xuchuan? Where have I heard that name before?"
A deep furrow formed between Nangong Weiwu''s eyebrows.
"There is a Zhou Xuchuan in the Mount Hua Sect," Zhuge Shang added.
He had also been a little surprised when he first heard the name but dismissed it as a coincidence.
After all, "Zhou Xuchuan" wasn''t an umon name, and although the Zhou Xuchuan he knew was talented, he wasn''t a master who could defeat the shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master.
Zhuge Shenge didn''t suspect him at all.
"What a strange coincidence."
Phantom Bow Swordsman Zhou Xuchuan had been hired as a mercenary for the Evil Faction. Moreover, the secretary of the Miao Family Sword Gate had omitted his name from the register, making it impossible to verify his affiliation.
During his battle, there hadn''t been any masters who could recognize the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom of the Mount Hua Sect.
On top of that, no one had ever heard of or seen a disciple of Mount Hua that used a bow.
Thus, this was the secret story of the birth of the Phantom Bow Swordsman, a master of the Evil Faction.[3]
***
After the battle, the Miao Family Sword Gate searched for the Phantom Bow Swordsman, the most significant contributor to their victory.
As soon as they learned that such a master had been hired as a mercenary, they were determined to recruit him by any means necessary.
However, by the time they went to find him, it was already toote.
Zhou Xuchuan had left for Nanchang the moment he obtained the Mind Qi Separator.
Despite questioning the Hundred Man Regiment he had led and sending people to trace his whereabouts, they couldn''t find him.
Meanwhile, on his way to Nanchang, Zhou Xuchuan kept ncing down at the Mind Qi Separator in his hand, feeling dumbfounded.
"shing Waterfall Saber Gate you idiots really don''t know anything, do you? Yeah, believing your martial arts are the best or whatever is fine and all, but to think you used an artifact like this as decoration"
Ju Zhong wasn''t the only one to boast that the saber was the best.
The previous gate masters of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, along with all their disciples, did the same.
So, what use was an artifact that allowed them to use other martial arts? It wasn''t as if they cared about anything other than their own saber anyway.
As their interest in the artifact gradually waned and time passed, even an item as precious as the Mind Qi Separator was gradually forgotten.
"He lost his life because of this artifact in my previous life, too, didn''t he?"
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate had been destroyed at the end of the Great War of Good and Evil because the Dark Heavens Association had targeted the Mind Qi Separator.
The Dark Heavens Association already had an interest in artifacts, and after finding information about the Mind Qi Separator during the Archive''s investigation, they found Ju Zhong and kill him.
Just like in this life, the shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master hadn''t used the Mind Qi Separator even at the very end in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life.
Was his pride in the saber and need for it to be more important than owning a great treasure?
Their pride in the saber extended to the Righteous Faction.
Originally, the Evil Faction wasn''t one to consider the means of battle to be that important.
Whether through sword or saber, their priority was survival.
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate hadn''t shed with the Righteous Faction for nothing. In that sense, they truly were a rare gate within the Evil Faction.[4]
"Their disposition is too excessive to be part of the Evil Faction."
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate had been a problem in his previous life as well. Because they had such intense pride and stubbornness in the saber, irritating the Evil Faction was a given; they even went out of their way to antagonize all of the Righteous Faction sects.
They went as far insulting and looking down on the Righteous Faction''s Daoism, brazenly going to the Hebei Peng Family, masters of Daoism, and cursing them to their faces.
"Oh dear, the Poison Phoenix and Sword Demon must be dying, waiting for me. I have to return as soon as possible."
Nanchang.
As soon as Tang Hui read the girl''s pulse, she felt a strange sensation. It was as if the girl''s mind had been split in two, like there were two souls in one body.
She found herself bing more absorbed in observing this strange sensation before remembering her original purpose and refocusing.
After concentrating and probing deep into the girl''s body, she could barely detect the lingering poison. It was a poison that had embedded itself and remained hidden for fourteen years.
It hadpletely attached to the girl''s meridians without being expelled, so, frankly, it would have been even stranger if her body hadn''t shown any abnormalities.
Tang Hui borrowed the power of the Mind Qi Separator and painstakingly began to remove the poison from the meridians, slicing at ityer byyer.
Even this simple repetitive action took more than half a day. If Tang Hui hadn''t been a Poison Master, she wouldn''t have even attempted it in the first ce.
Finally,te at night, when most would be asleep, Tang Hui let out a sigh of relief and leaned back.
"Hhow is my daughter?" Wu Qu asked immediately, having stood by her side from the moment Tang Hui began the detoxification.
"We''ve seeded."
"Are you are you sure?!"
"Yes, I''ve drawn out all the poison that was hidden in her meridians."
"Are you okay?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"It seems you''ve already forgotten who I am. Maybe you should get that hole in your brain checked out. Poison is strength and cultivation to me."
As the purity of the poison wasn''t that bad, the qi she had gained afterward had exceeded her expectations.
Tang Hui''s gaze turned to the Sword Demon again.
"Although I removed all the poison, her body is still weak. You''ll need to be careful for a while. It might be a good idea for her to take some elixirs, but don''t start with anything too potent without tempering her body. Start with something weak. I don''t know much about medicine, so be sure to call a physician to examine her soon."
The Sword Demon nodded and took Tang Hui''s words to heart. Tears welled up in his eyes.
"Fa ther?"
"Zhenhua!"
Hearing her faint voice, the Sword Demon quickly approached his bedridden daughter.
He hesitated to touch her, afraid he might hurt her, so he just looked down at her, unsure of what to do.
"It''s okay to hug her, just be gentle."
Sob, sob.
In that moment, the Sword Demon, who had terrified the entire murim, was simply a father, holding his daughter in his arms and crying like a child.
Seeing him like this, Wu Zhenhua was startled at first before she smiled gently and patted him on the back.
1. Specifically, the 73rd tetragram of the Taixuanjing, Completion. ?
2. Remember, they don''t know that Zhou Xuchuan is the Phantom Bow Swordsman yet. ?
3. For reference, anyone at or above the Harmony Realm is called a master, anyone of First ss to Transcendent is called an expert, and anyone Third/Second ss is called a martial artist. ?
4. The Evil Faction can be considered evil as in they don''t care what they do to survive and get stronger. They aren''t super stubborn idiots who mor about the strongest. That''s more the Demonic Path. That''s why it''s so strange that the shing Waterfall Saber Gate does this idiotic posturing. ?
Chapter 97: Seven Swords War (1)
"So, where did you get the Mind Qi Separator?"
"I picked it up."
"I''m not in the mood to mess around, so tell me the truth."
Tang Hui''s eyes glowed like that of a venomous snake.
''Am I going to get stabbed if I keep pushing?''
Zhou Xuchuan felt bloodlust that seemed to go beyond venom.
"Do you like it?"
Zhou Xuchuan smirked.
Tang Hui didn''t respond and remained silent."Well, it would be strange if you didn''t get interested after seeing an artifact."
The shing Waterfall Saber Gate was an exception, as most of the murim would be captivated at the sight of the Mind Qi Separator.
The Mind Qi Separator had its disadvantages. Since one would be using two different techniques simultaneously, the qi consumption was doubled.
Additionally, one also needed to actually cultivate the second technique they wanted to use alongside their primary technique, so it did require effort.
However, considering that the Mind Qi Separator was an artifact, it was worth it.
"Hey, Young Lady Tang, if you really like it, you can have it," Zhou Xuchuan said with an exaggeratedugh.
"How disgusting, I hope you neverugh like that again. More importantly, what''s your intention?"
"Regarding?"
"You know."
Tang Hui opened her palm, revealing the Mind Qi Separator on her left middle finger.
"Cultivation Journey."
"...?"
"I still need your help."
Tang Hui just stared at Zhou Xuchuan silently.
"While we were at your Family''s Estate, the Poison King didn''t oppose your trip into the gangho, nor did he seem dissatisfied with it, right?"
"You pretended not to care, but you were staring at me and my father like that. It''spletely revolting. I wish you''d stop looking at me like some sort of fraud.[1]
"I''m not asking you to stand by my side, I''m just asking you to help me out when I need it. What do you think?"
Tang Hui uncharacteristically held her tongue, her usual harsh retorts absent. She closed her eyes for a moment, deep in thought.
This wasn''t a decision she could make on the spot.
"Give me a day."
"Great."
Zhou Xuchuan needed the power of someone he could trust. That was why he had used the Mind Qi Separator as bait to lure Tang Hui to his side.
Setting aside the fact that she was one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, having the power of the Sichuan Tang Family on his side would be enough for what was toe.
While Zhou Xuchuan could have used the Mind Qi Separator himself, he already knew where other artifacts were, so this one didn''t matter much.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
The door opened, and Wu Qu came in.
"How is your daughter?" Zhou Xuchuan, who was drinking tea in the room, asked.
"It''s okay. She''s asleep now."
Wu Qu closed the door and sat down across from him.
"Thank the heavens."
Zhou Xuchuan''s tone was sincere. After all, if it weren''t, his budding rtionship with the Sword Demon would be over before it started.
There was a brief silence before the Sword Demon spoke.
"When you went to retrieve the Mind Qi Separator, I investigated you to find out who you really are."
Zhou Xuchuan''s sudden appearance would have been suspicious to anyone. Even with the Poison Phoenix apanying him, the Sword Demon just couldn''t help but be suspicious of the unremarkable young man.
A martial artist he had never seen or heard of before had suddenly brought the Poison Phoenix to his hideout and said that he would treat his daughter.
"Zhou Xuchuan, a fourth-generation direct disciple of Mount Hua. A disciple of the Gentle Smiling Swordsman Liu Zhengmu. Went missing during an outing with the Lotus Pavilion due to an attack by the Nine Water Gangs during his first appearance in the gangho, butter returned alive. Only recently returned to the gangho again and won two bets against the Poison Phoenix."
Zhou Xuchuan remained silent.
"ording to the Poison Phoenix, she knew nothing about me. Yet, the wager for the bet was treating my daughter."
The Sword Demon had been shocked when Tang Hui had told him that.
Why would someone he didn''t know go to such lengths for him?
All sorts of questions and spections raced through his mind.
"I need people."
"For what?"
"To save the world."
Zhou Xuchuan''s sudden deration would have made most people think he was insane.
However, Wu Qu was different.
"And why me?"
"Because I need you."
Wu Qu got up from his seat. He was so tall that Zhou Xuchuan had to tilt his head back to see his face.
Wu Qu gently drew his sword from its scabbard with a soft swish.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t flinch or move, looking up at Wu Qu without fear.
"I don''t know how you found me," Wu Qu said, slowly kneeling and cing his sword horizontally on the ground. "But that doesn''t matter. What matters is that you need me and that you''re the one who saved my daughter."
If Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t brought the Poison Phoenix, if he hadn''t gone to find the Mind Qi Separator, his daughter might have closed her eyes for thest time.
Wu Qu had found many doctors, but none of them could give him the hope he so desperately needed. They all just shook their heads.
Every time he watched his daughter holding his hand and smiling knowingly, his heart had broken. The pain he had felt when he lost his wife seemed like it would never end.
Long ago, he had promised her that he would take care of Wu Zhenhua''s health.
However, he had failed to keep that promise. All his cultivation had been meaningless.
Wu Qu hated himself for not being able to save his daughter and for not knowing the Dao of medicine.
He had fallen into an endless pit of despair, sinking deeper with each passing day.
"I, Wu Qu, swear on my name."
However, he didn''t give up.
"If you want to rule the world, I will make it happen."
He had firmly believed that there was definitely a way.
"If you want to kill the world, I will kill it."
How could a father give up on his child?
"If you want to save the world, I will save it."
After all this time, hope finally returned to him in the form of a miracle.
"If you tell me to descend into hell, I will do so with a smile on my face. If you ask for my soul, I will dly give it to you. Even if I die, if you call for me, I will put my sword on King Yama''s neck and return to help my liege, Zhou Xuchuan."
Wu Qu kowtowed before his sword and bowed his head.
"I I am truly grateful that you saved my daughter Zhenhua!"
The Sword Demon, Wu Qu.
This was the moment his fate changed.
***
Summer ended.
The heat disappeared, and a chilly breeze swept through the air.
Instead of the clear, blue skies, colorful maple leaves took their ce.
"Did you hear the news?"
"About the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, right? They say it was finally destroyed."
"That was expected. It''s not surprising."
When the shing Waterfall Saber Gate was defeated, all kinds of hyenas rushed in for the kill. It didn''t take long for the gate to bepletely razed to the ground after losing its core.
Some of their vassals were even persuaded by other sects to betray the gate. Others stole the remaining assets and fled or sold intel to the neighboring gates. It was indeed a bitter end.
"The Eight Gates of the Evil Dao should probably be called the Seven Gates of the Evil Dao now."
"I wonder who''ll take their ce?"
"Maybe there won''t be a recement. After all, it''s the Evil Faction."
Unlike the Righteous Faction, the Evil Dao had a short history. While the Martial Alliance and the Nine Sects and One Gang remained strong over the ages, the Alliances of the Evil Dao changed with each era.[2]
The same applied to the alliance members. After all, wasn''t it a rule of the Evil Faction to eliminate the weak, leaving only the strong to survive?
Meanwhile, unsettling movements were detected at the Tomb of the Ominous Demon, where the Seven Great Powers had gathered.
"!"
A warrior clearing away a pile of stones suddenly froze. Reflected in his eyes was a yellowing book.
The warrior looked around briefly, and after confirming that no one was nearby, he tried to hide the book in his arms.
"Stop."
A chilling voice sounded, and the cold edge of a sword pressed against his neck. One wrong move, and his head would roll.
"If you don''t want to die, then hand it over."
The warrior felt a mix of bloodlust and malice radiating from behind him.
"Like you just said, if you don''t want to die, then you should put away your sword," an expert of the Evil Valley, the Flower Scattering Palm (ɢһ), said.
"You bastard, you don''t know who I am, do you?"
"Covered in burn scars and bald as a bowl, you must be the Raging me Blood Demon, no? A paraphiliac who enjoys burning people to death."
"I remember a bastard who said the same thing a while ago and got burned to death. His screams were so girlish, too!" the Raging me Blood Demon spat,ughing sinisterly.
"Hah! Both of you, calm yourselves!"[3] Immortal Shang Ming shouted, hearing themotion and rushing over.
The atmosphere was bing tense.
"Don''t tell me what to do, old man."
"Exactly what the paranoid idiot said. What, you''re not expecting me to treat you like some dying elder or something, are you? Fuck that, and you."
The Flower Scattering Palm snorted, his hostility clear.
"You arrogant bastards!" a Kunlun Sect martial artist shouted, angered by their insults.
"Enough!"
Immortal Shang Ming stopped themotion with a shout.
"Everyone is just tired because the investigation has been going on for a long time. There''s no reason to fight like this. Moreover, aren''t we allies who have gathered temporarily in order to serve the greater murim, a cause greater than any one of us? We shouldn''t fight until it''s over. Didn''t the Heavenly Demon and the Evil Valley Master say the same to you?"
"Tsk."
"Hmph!"
The Flower Scattering Palm clicked his tongue while the Raging me Blood Demon snorted.
"Hey, you," Immortal Shang Ming called out to the warrior holding the old book in his arms.
"Would you show me what you found there? I understand people can be greedy. I''ll vouch for you so a moment''s mistake will be forgiven."
He took the initiative to prevent the warrior from doing something foolish.
Although it was not as effective as Buddhist Arts, Daoist Arts also had a mysterious ability to calm and clear people''s anxiety.
However, the nature of the Demon Cult and Blood Cult''s cultivation methodspletely opposed the Kunlun Sect''s, so the two Demonic Path cultivators frowned, clearly displeased.
"Oof course."
The unidentified warrior slowly took out the old book from his arms. Everyone''s attention was drawn to the hand he was holding the book in.
Squelch!
The moment the cover was revealed, the warrior''s head was severed, flying into the air.
"Block it!"
The palm of the Flower Scattering Palm thrust forward. As befitting his title, a fierce wind scattered in different directions.
"The alliance is over!"
As Raging me Blood Demon swung his blood-covered sword, a gust of zing wind collided with the iing palm wind, resulting in a violent explosion.
"Why, why does!" Immortal Shang Mingmented.
"It''s the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic!" the Flower Scattering Palm shouted loudly, as if he wanted to make sure everyone around him heard clearly.
"It''s the Blood Monk''s secret technique!"
Those were the words that announced the start of the Seven Swords War.
***
In a pond, a carp flopped around energetically.
Standing in front of it, the Poison Phoenix looked like a work of art, and the men around her all stared nkly, entranced.
The Poison Phoenix turned away, raising her left hand toward the sky. The sunlight obscured her hand, making it difficult to see.
"I''m going to tell you in advance," Tang Hui said calmly.
"I have no intention of bing a trophy wife to make you look better. If you''re expecting some sort of sweet romance or anything, then give up now. That''ll never happen."
Zhou Xuchuan said nothing. He just stared at her back.
"Let me ask you one thing."
"Yeah."
"What are you nning to do?"
Tang Hui lowered her hand and turned back to face Zhou Xuchuan.
"Well"
Zhou Xuchuan closed his eyes, appearing deep in thought.
"First, I want to save myself."
Then, he opened his eyes and smiled.
"After that, I''ll try to save the murim as well."
"Hmph."
Tang Hui snorted.
On her hand, hidden behind her back, the Mind Qi Separator shone clearly.
1. Technically, someone who goes and convinces people to betray their group. ?
2. Currently, the Evil Valley is the major alliance for the Evil Faction, like the Martial Alliance, and the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao is one of the various core groups, like the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families. ?
3. Remember, the rebuke shout. ?
Chapter 98: Seven Swords War (2)
An uncontroble storm raged through the gangho and the murim.
"The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic?"
To think a trace of the Blood Monk would be found while investigating the Tomb of the Ominous Demon.
It was apletely unexpected result, and that very result brought incredible chaos.
"The owners of that text will being to take it."
The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic wasn''t one of the Six Great Prohibited Arts. In other words, it wasn''t considered an art despised by the entire murim regardless of who owned it, like the Sunken Spiral Castle Art was.
While anyone who took it would be considered an enemy of the Shaolin Temple and would be hunted to the ends of the earth, it wasn''t a matter of concern for forces outside the temple.
"Nonsense!"
The Evil Faction also coveted the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic. However, unlike the Demon Cult, they didn''t seek it for personal cultivation but rather for profit.The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was a demonic art. If an Evil Faction martial artist were to learn it, they would be considered a demonic cultivator, not a member of the Evil Faction. Not even they wanted to learn demonic skills.
However, if they were to obtain the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, there were many ways to sell or exchange it for something they wanted. For instance, if they were to offer it to the Shaolin Temple, which nned to destroy it the moment they obtained it to erase their shame, they would be able to make a profit.
The Righteous Faction had simr intentions as the Shaolin Temple. They wanted to either seal or destroy the demonic art so that no one could practice it.
This issue only happened because all three major factions were present and had the chance to get their hands on the demonic art. As a result, even the investigation of the Tomb of the Ominous Demon was stopped.
"If this continues, there will be a war."
Nangong Weiwu sent letters to the leaders of each of the forces, emphasizing the need for mediation because none of the forces wanted war to break out.
The Evil Valley Master was the first to agree. It was a wee development for him, who had lost the shing Waterfall Saber Gate and wasn''t yet in a position to sort things out.
"Then, what do you n to do with the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic?" Nangong Weiwu asked Zhuge Xiang before sending the letters.
"It''s definitely something we can''t ignore. What do you think about a faction war to determine the owner?"
"A faction war?"
"Yes. The Martial Alliance, Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult are all gathered in Shanxi because of the Tomb of the Ominous Demon. It''s not like the representatives of these Factions are useless, either. They were all chosen after careful deliberation, so none of the forces shouldin if they were to hold a faction war with the people they currently have."
"So you n on forbidding additional support?"
"Yes. The scale would only grow as the number of troops increases, and eventually, it''ll end up escting into war. If anyone doesin, we can limit the number of people they send. It might be a bit rough, but it''s far better than war."
"How impressive, Knowledge Dragon!"
Through this method, not only could they choose the owner of the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, but they could also prevent all-out war.
Although the Demon Cult wasn''t entirely satisfied with the solution, they went along with it since the Marital Alliance and the Evil Valley were in agreement.
Before the faction war began, the authenticity of the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was confirmed by both the Shaolin Temple and the Demon Cult. Since the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic itself was originally derived from the Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon ssic, the Shaolin Temple''s appraisal was necessary.
"While it''s not difficult to appraise it, the Shaolin Temple also wishes to participate."
The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic contained the very essence of the Shaolin Temple''s cultivation methods. Naturally, they wanted to get their hands on it and seal it away more than anyone else.
"That''s impossible."
This time, even the advisors of the Martial Alliance, who typically focused on training the younger generation, came forward.
The Shaolin Temple wasn''t called the North Star Shaolin for no reason.[1] If the greatest force of the Righteous Faction were toe forward, the scale of the war would inevitably grow.
However, the Righteous Faction couldn''t ignore the Shaolin Temple''s grudge, and in order to appease them, they proposed a condition.
"If the Martial Alliance wins, we will hand over the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic to Shaolin Temple."
The Kunlun Sect, Mount Tai Sect, Mount Song Sect, Mount Heng Sect, and the Nangong Family also epted the condition without anyints.
The Kunlun Sect had only been interested in the Tomb of the Ominous Demon while the rest were pursuing merits and fame. Even if they eventually got their hands on the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, they were going to seal it or destroy it anyway, so handing it over to the Shaolin Temple didn''t matter much.
"Stop all conflicts at the tomb of the Ominous Demon in Shanxi immediately."
This was the shackles of history.
"Until the Shaolin Temple is able to send someone over for appraisal, the Martial Alliance, Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult will openly guard the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic. Exactly fifteen days after the appraisal, the faction war over the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic will begin."
Although the shackles in the future may have been quite different, eventually, the shackles woulde ttering again, all under the same name.
***
Zhou Xuchuan suggested to Wu Qu that he move to Shandong.
"I will do as youmand."
Wu Qu had stayed in Jianxi all this time to earn money, but now that it was no longer necessary, he had no regrets about leaving the province.
Besides, there was no reason for him to refuse because Zhou Xuchuan was taking him to a safer ce. As a father who cherished his daughter more than his own life, this was something he weed with open arms.
They were heading to Shandong, to the Gold Will Merchants.
"The Head Merchant will send someone over in a few days. Since he said he would send a skilled physician, maids, and guards, you should be able to movefortably."
"Thank you for your concern. Once I''m certain my daughter will be safe in Shandong, I will rush to where youmand at any time, my Liege."
"That''s too formal of a title. You can just call me Young Master Zhou."
"Understood."
Zhou Xuchuan packed his bags and prepared to leave.
"Excuse me"
Just as they were leaving, Wu Zhenhua came to see Zhou Xuchuan.
"Oh, what brings you here? You''re still not fully healed, you shouldn''t be walking about outside."
Zhou Xuchuan looked at Wu Zhenhua with concern.
"Please do not worry. The benefactor who saved my life is leaving, how could I just sit still in bed? Even though I''m weak, it''s still my duty to see you off."
Wu Zhenhua was as polite as a noblewoman, and her movements were graceful, which made everyone who saw her admire her.
It seemed impossible for someone who had been ill since childhood and had difficulty moving to have such good manners, almost as if they were innate. Yet, it wasn''t too unbelievable, given that she exined how she had learned everything from books since she hadn''t been able to go outside.
"I''ve always worried about my father."
Her heart ached everytime she heard the name, ''Money Crazed Sword Ghost''.
Her father would always be criticized for going around the battlefield and being crazy about money, but she knew it had all been for her. She could still vividly remember how he would stroke her hand and sob while she slept.
"Thank you for everything. Please let me express my gratitude to you again. Thank you for freeing my father from his suffering."
Wu Zhenhua lifted the end of her skirt and greeted him politely with a curtsey.
Even the usually blunt and fierce Wu Qu smiled gently. His eyes seemed to be tearing up.
"It''s hard to refuse you when you say things like that. Thank you foring out in the cold wind to see me off. I''ll see you again soon," Zhou Xuchuan responded with equal politeness.
The group left Nanchang and headed toward Shanxi.
"You should be more polite when you talk to me."
"Ni Bu Ren, Wo Bu Yi.[2] Haven''t you ever heard of the phrase, you have to speak kindly for people to speak kindly to you?"
"Hey, you bastard! How dare you talk back to the Miss?!" Yuan Dashi snapped as if he had been waiting for Zhou Xuchuan''s response.
"Besides, you brushed it off earlier, but what''s your rtionship with the Money Crazed Sword Ghost, and where did you get an artifact as important as the Mind Qi Separator from?"
Tang Hui pressed on, clearly determined to get answers.
The moment Zhou Xuchuan muttered to himself, ''Everything''s already over. Why are you asking me?'' Tang Hui raised her eyebrows.
"Since ancient times, there has always been cause and effect in things. If one is the cause of something, one should be curious about what they''ve done. I think I have a right to know what happened."
"The situation with Wu Qu is nothing special."
"What is it?"
"I told you I have a connection with the Gold Will Merchants, right?"
"Yes."
"The Head Merchant has a remarkable ability to find and recruit talented people. I was just the one to recruit Wu Qu instead of the Head Merchant by borrowing his insight. Nothing more, nothing less."
It wasmon for a disciple of a major sect to go into the gangho and build connections for the future, so, there was nothing unusual about what he said.
"But an Evil Faction member?"
Usually, they only interacted with other members of the Righteous Faction. Those who were crazy about money, like Wu Qu, were typically looked down upon.
If someone became friends with such a person, they would generally be criticized, so, martial artists were very careful about choosing their friends.
"As long as they aren''t demonic cultivators, there''s always a way tomunicate. Don''t you think it''s wise to have at least one Evil Faction friend in this life?"
Those of the Demonic Path were an exception since they practiced demonic arts.
While demonic arts cultivated faster and were more powerful than the cultivation arts of the Righteous Faction, they also had their own drawbacks.
The demonic nature of their arts grew along with their cultivation. They vited thews of nature without a second thought, and there were many evil cultivation arts within the demonic arts.
"What about the Mind Qi Separator?"
Tang Hui eventually skipped over the part where they found Wu Qu.
The Sichuan Tang Family itself was originally a force that existed between the Righteous and Evil Factions. Although it belonged to the Righteous Faction, its methods were closer to those of the Evil Faction.
"There are many eyes watching. Let''s postpone that conversation untilter."
"Don''t even think about being alone with the miss."
This time, it wasn''t just Yuan Dashi who growled, but the other guards as well.
"Daishi, are you crazy? I only have one life, not two!"[3]
"How dare you insult the miss?! I''LL KILL YOU!!!!"
Zhou Xuchuan was testing his patience!
"Stop."
When Tang Hui raised her hand, the warriors immediately stopped. They withdrew their bloodlust, and their sleeves, which had been fluttering in the wind, stilled.
This wasn''t the first or even the second time that Zhou Xuchuan had witnessed such obedience as they traveled together.
Tang Hui exuded the authority of a general.
None of the guards treated Tang Hui like a nobledy.
This was an attitude born from respect.
"Where are we going?"
"Shanxi. The Tomb of the Ominous Demon."
"The Seven Swords War?"
"Yes."
They had heard the news about the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic some time ago.
''As I expected, it''s the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.''
Zhou Xuchuan had expected that the Seven Swords War would still happen.
However, what triggered it was the key.
Listing off a few things from his memories, even though he couldn''t be sure, the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was one of the possible options.
Then, what''s about the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages?
The Dark Heavens Association is the enemy of all the murim. The Demonic Path''s Two Lineages were no exception.
After the Seven Swords War, the Great War of Good and Evil continued for ten years.
So, what had happened to the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages during those ten years?
The Demonic Path War!
The Demon Cult wasn''t the only force that cultivated demonic arts. The Blood Cult was the same. In the end, both sides grew greedy for more power.
In Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, the Dark Heavens Association had used the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic as bait to start a war between the Demonic Path''s forces.
The Demonic Path War.
If Zhou Xuchuan remembered correctly, the Shaolin Temple had alsoe forward at that time. However, they hadn''t been able to send many of their monks due to the Great War of Good and Evil. From what he could remember, they had only sent a small number of elites.
However, the elites dispatched by the Shaolin Temple had nearly been wiped out without even being able to obtain the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
That was the beginning of hell, wasn''t it?
Not only the murim but the entirety of the Central ins had been in a dark age.
Ten yearster, while all of those tiresome wars ended, because the Central ins murim forces were noticeably weakened, those new foreign forces ended up eyeing us.
That was start of an era of neverending war thatsted for decades.
Since it''s the Dark Heavens Association, they''ll definitely bring something else instead of Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic for them, too. The war won''t stop here.
The Dark Heavens Associatiom casually released cultivation methods that could turn the murim upside down with just an appearance. As long as the Association itself continued to exist, the chain of hatred and greed would never end.
It''s not enough yet.
In the meantime, he had interfered with the Dark Heavens Association by attacking them. He had weakened the power of the Association Leader by taking the Ten Thousand Divergence Art and hadter persuaded the Sword Demon, who was also called the Association Leader''s right-hand man and the Sword of Dark Heaven, to join his side.
Additionally, he had interfered with their ns in various ways, from stealing elixirs to destroying the tomb of the Ominous Demon.
Still, it was too early for him to feel at ease.
After hiding for several decades and preparing meticulously, the Dark Heavens Association had revealed their ambition and had driven the murim to the brink of destruction.
Heroes and geniuses praised as the greatest in history and even hidden masters and mysterious sects had joined the war, and it was only because of their sacrifices and sheer luck that the murim had been able to defeat the Dark Heavens Association in his previous life.
No, I will stop you at all costs!
1. Mount Tai and the North Star (̩ɽ), or the eminent peak of one''s field. Literally the two highest points on Heaven and Earth. ?
2. If you have no manners, I will not have any morals. ?
3. LMAO, he doesn''t want to get killed by the poison seductress. ?
Chapter 99: Seven Swords War (3)
The fame of the Phantom Bow Swordsman had even reached the ears of the Dark Heavens Association.
"Zhou Xuchuan that''s a name I''ve never heard before."
ording to the Martial Alliance''s naming convention, Blessed Existence could be considered the Seven Stars Division Strategist.
Although his cultivation wasn''t particrly high, his strategic skills were unparalleled.
Even the Dark Heavens Association Leader often listened to Blessed Existence''s advice, and the other Heads of the Dark Heavens Association rarely questioned his words.
"Hmm."
Zhou Xuchuan had yed a major role in the destruction of one of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao. They couldn''t help but be concerned about him.
"Vast Gate."
"Yes?""Are you still investigating Zhou Xuchuan?"
"Do you really think that there are just one or two Zhou Xuchuans within the murim? Moreover, he disappeared right after the conflict ended, and idiots pretending to be him showed up to take advantage of his disappearance. It''s all a headache."
"Don''t just focus on the name Zhou Xuchuan. It could be an alias, so conduct your investigation ordingly."
There was a reason Zhou Xuchuan had hidden himself when he was young.
Blessed Existence and the Dark Heavens Association were relentless. As an organization, they didn''t get cocky. They would make sure to nip anyone who would interfere with their grand n in the bud, without hesitation.
"First of all, we can rule out Mount Hua''s Phoenix yer. It can''t be him. He was only able to defeat the Poison Phoenix by relying on the Thousand Poisons Immunity. Besides being good with women and having decent cultivation, he''s not that impressive."
Even the great Blessed Existence couldn''t have imagined that the person who confronted Ju Zhong head-on and won was only eighteen years old. Defeating Ju Zhong was just that out of the ordinary.
"Do you know how long that would take?"
"I understand, but it doesn''t matter. Just find him."
"While it''s true that Harmony Realm Masters are rare, is there really a reason to be so concerned about an unknown master?"
"It''s still just a guess, but he might also be the one who flooded the Tomb of the Ominous Demon."
Vast Gate flinched in surprise.
"Are you sure?"
Blessed Existence was more thorough and wiser than anyone in the murim. That was why the Dark Heavens Association Leader had given him the title Blessed Existence.
"Though it''s uncertain, it''s not out of the question. Based on what we know, he wields a divine-grade sword. It may not be Tai''e, but it''s simr enough to warrant looking into. More importantly, I don''t like that he''s hiding his identity, especially since it''s causing trouble for you."
Vast Gate was in charge of the Dark Heavens Association''s intelligence system and was innately familiar with all reports that reached Blessed Existence. All the information in those reports hade from her, after all.
"A mysterious master whose name is unknown Even if he''s not the same person, he''s still worth looking into. He''s definitely hiding his identity from someone."
Thus, the Dark Heavens Association began chasing after the Phantom Bow Swordsman.
***
Tang Hui''s eyes shot open.
"You''re the Phantom Bow Swordsman, right?!"
"Yes," Zhou Xuchuan answered coolly.
"You''re not hiding it?"
"There are too many points for me to hide."
He had disappeared to get the Mind Qi Separator. However, soon after, a master with the same name suddenly appeared and made a name for himself. After that, he immediately disappeared as if he was running away.
Tang Hui had uncovered all of this, and it was impossible not to connect the dots.
More importantly, Tang Hui had already discovered that Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation was extraordinary from the moment they met.
While the Tang Family guards following them thought that Zhou Xuchuan was just some dumb kid with a good background, Tang Hui was different.
He hadn''t said anything earlier because of all the eyes on them, but when he finally had a chance to be alone with Tang Hui, he just answered her honestly.
"It''s a little disappointing to see you being so honest."
"Since I answered you honestly, can you keep this a secret?"
"Of course, I have that much sense. We wouldn''t have bothered with the guards if you weren''t trying to keep this a secret in the first ce."
"Thank you."
It was convenient to have someone who didn''t need everything exined to them by his side. Wow, it really was a good feeling to finally have someonepetent around.
"Who else knows besides me?"
"Only you so far. But I''ll be telling the Head Merchant of the Gold Will Merchants and Zhuge Shengji soon. Oh, and Wu Qu, whom we just left, probably knows, too."
"I''m bing more and more curious about you."
At first, she had considered him an enemy who had only taught her the sting of defeat and humiliation. It was more of the same afterward, too. She didn''t think much of him otherwise.
However, the recent incidentpletely changed her perception of him.
"Yes, you''re a disciple of a major sect, but it''s still strange that a Daoist like you is close to a Merchant. More importantly, you not only know the location of an artifact like the Mind Qi Separator, which no one in the murim knew. On top of it all, you even fought and won against the shing Waterfall Saber Gate Master. That''s not something just anyone can do."
"Yes, I''ve kept it a secret all this time, but actually, my cultivation"
"I hope you''re not going to start spouting bullshit while we''re talking. You must have won through some underhanded means, like when you defeated me, right? You used the help of people around you or took advantage of a Harmony Realm Master''s pride, right?"
A vicious personality that cuts off words in advance!
Zhou Xuchuan was seriously considering breaking up parting ways with Tang Hui.
***
Shanxi, the Tomb of the Ominous Demon.
The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
The foundation of the current uproar in the murim.
The yellowed, rotten book was currently in the hands of an old monk.
Dharmic Wisdom, a monk of the same generation as the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, stopped reading the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and set it aside.
His face, usually filled withpassion, was now twisted with displeasure.
"What is it?" Immortal Shang Ming asked incredulously.
"I wouldn''t believe you even if you were to tell me it''s fake," the Flower Scattering Palm said, ring suspiciously at Dharmic Wisdom.
"No, it''s the opposite. This is definitely the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic."
Dharmic Wisdom confirmed, turning his prayer beads.
"Then why did you stop reading it halfway?"
"The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic is designed so that a Shaolin monk naturally begins to cultivate it the moment they read its sutra."
Only then did the others nod in understanding.
"Then this must be the original Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic!"
The day the appraisers confirmed the authenticity of the text, at least a dozen or more messenger hawks flew through the air. There were especially many homing pigeons and messenger hawks in the sky that day.
Naturally, when the news spread, reactions were intense. All eyes turned to the tomb of the Ominous Demon.
"Wow, does this mean there''s going to be a war?!"
"Yes, they said there''s going to be war. However, only in Shanxi. Moreover, it seems it will be limited to the southern region, where the Tomb of the Ominous Demon is located."
"Oh my! My rtives live in Shanxi"
Even though it might only be a faction war, a war was still a war. While the elders limited it to small forces, considering those involved, it was anything but small.
The Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and the Demonic Cult''s forces gathered.
No one wanted to even imagine what would happen when these three factions, forces that couldn''t wait to kill each other on a normal day, gathered in one ce.
In any case, the three major factions hurriedly prepared for war over the next fortnight. Several experts from each faction headed to Shanxi.
Moreover, there were several rules for the ensuing Seven Swords War.-
The number of people from each force was limited to one thousand.
-
While those not originally from the Seven Major Forces were permitted to participate, no more than ten people per outside force were allowed.
-
The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic would be moved on the night before the full moon. A representative from each force would gather to transport it to the peak of a teau that was clearly visible from all sides.
-
If any of these rules are vited, the vitor will be punished.
"But, would the Evil Faction or the Demon Cult really follow these rules?"
As soon as the four rules were made public, gossipers gathered and bbed with one another, spewing frustrations and problems left and right.
"Tsk tsk, you don''t know anything."
"What do you mean?"
"Most likely, neither the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, nor even the Demon Cult, intend to follow the rules."
"Then, why did theye up with them?"
"It''s better than not having them at all. You could consider it the bare minimum to keep things under control."
"Could you borate?"
"If we don''t limit the number of participants from each force, they''ll quickly grow to five thousand, or even ten thousand people, making the situation uncontroble. Moreover, if we don''t limit the number of forces themselves, then the same thing will happen, giving the leaders of the factions a major headache."
"And what about the third and forth rules?"
"Think carefully. That''s an easy point."
"Fine, fine! I lost here, I lost! Drinks and dinner are on me, and I''ll even buy you top-shelf, so just exin it, will you?"
"Ahem. The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic needs to be kept under strict surveince for two weeks to prevent it from being stolen. Naturally, the guards would be chosen from among the Three Major Factions."
"And?"
"Everything should be fine before the war starts. The surveince would be tight, and with the constant shift changes, none of the guards would be able to make any ns to steal it. Moreover, the side that does cause any trouble would lose out. The actual problem would be the day before the the war starts."
"Why?"
"The moment before the guard surveince ends, a group could kill the joint Three Faction Guards, steal the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and flee to where their allies are waiting. It''s actually a pretty feasible n. If you pull it off, your elders might even praise you instead of punishing you."
"Oho!"
"To prevent that, the Three Major Factions n to ce the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic where everyone can see it the day before the war and restrict all ess. Then, the winner will be decided in a single day. Finally, the fourth rule allows the other two factions to ally against any side that vites the rules."
The first and second rules were difficult to keep. With the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic in front of them, the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and the Demon Cult didn''t trust each other at all.
In such a state of distrust, there was no way they could rely on some hastily put-together set of rules.
Each faction likely assumed the others would bring stronger experts or prepare more troops than they could handle and nned ordingly.
Of course, none of the three could tantly vite the rules. As long as whatever they nned wasn''t noticeable, it was fine.
"I see! At least with something like this, we can avoid the worst-case scenario. Right?"
"That''s right."
"I don''t know who came up with this, but whoever it was is truly outstanding!"
"It was the Vice Strategist of the Martial Alliance, Zhuge Xiang."
"As expected of the Knowledge Dragon!"
Just like in the future, Zhuge Xiang was already disying his dazzling intelligence, even before the Great War of Good and Evil. Among the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, his fame was the greatest.
After passing through the steep valleys that were blessed by nature, the Yellow River, which was about ten feet deep, came into view. The Yellow River, which had rtively shallow waters, only circled around one cea vast teau rarely seen in southern Shanxi.[1]
The Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult were all preparing for the war, setting up camp in the fields beyond the Yellow River at strategic points around the teau itself.
There was a little over a week left until the Seven Swords War.
As the Martial Alliance was conducting an inspection regarding their troops, they suddenly received an unexpected visitor.
***
"The Poison Phoenix? The daughter of the Poison King?"[2]
Immortal Shang Ming stroked his white eyebrows and looked puzzled.
"Yes, that''s right," the middle-aged man next to him answered.
He was Nangong Caiying, the son of Nangong Weiwu and the younger brother of the current head of the Nangong Family.
"I didn''t hear anything about the Sichuan Tang Family participating"
The Poison Phoenix herself wasn''t a problem. What Immortal Shang Ming cared about was her status.
In the murim, being a legitimate sessor of a famous family meant being the representative of that family.
Normally, even if they had strong cultivations, they didn''t move alone. They also had about a dozen or so experts apanying them.
That was why they couldn''t be considered as mere individuals.
"Well after looking into it, things aren''t quite what we thought."
"What do you mean?"
"ording to the reports, the Poison Phoenix herself said that she hadn''te as a representative of the Sichuan Tang Family. In fact, she only has a few Tang Family guards with her. Moreover"
"And?"
"She''s not only apanied by a direct disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, but she''s also apanied by warriors of the Gold Will Merchant.
"Huh?!"
Things were getting even more confusing.
Immortal Shang Ming had heard about the Gold Will Merchants.
They were a substantial merchant group that had recently be famous not only in the merchant world but also throughout the murim.
However
Why did they show up here at the Seven Swords War, and why were they with the Sichuan Tang Family?
That was the question.
1. This is a real ce. The Loess teau. ?
2. This says granddaughter, but previously says that she''s the Poison King''s daughter in chapter 88. Looking at future chapters, she''s definitely his daughter, so it will be written ordingly if there are any other typos. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Omg we about to hit it. The big double zero.
Fun fact,
Loess is a geological term. It''s a type of sediment.
The Loess teau is SO BIG that it doesn''t actually have like a fancy name; it''s literally just called, [SEDIMENT] teau.
The size means it''s almost synonymous with the sediment itself. Lmao
Also, on a more serious note.
Thank you so much for being here.
I hope to see you at chapter 199, too.
~ Cyncoco
Chapter 100: Seven Swords War (3)
Zhou Xuchuan had to prevent as many casualties as he could during the Seven Swords War. If he failed to do so, the Great War of Good and Evil, the trigger for the Era of War and Chaos, was likely to begin.
The trigger for the Great War of Good and Evil was quite simple.
The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley, who had both participated in the Seven Swords War, ended up forming countless grudges by killing one another.
Although the members haven''t changed much, this is definitely different from the Seven Swords War in my previous life.
The location itself had shifted away from the Tomb of the Ominous Demon. There weren''t any of the mechanisms or traps that had gued the insides of the tomb.
Unlike before, this war wouldn''tst a year.
Due to the terrain of the Tomb of the Ominous Demon, the battlefield of the original Seven Swords War was gued by the mechanisms and mazes of the tomb, naturally leading to extended battles.
Since that wasn''t the case this time, the war wouldn''tst as long as it had in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life. However, there could still be a significant number of casualties.
Zhou Xuchuan also had to be careful about the Dark Heavens Association''s involvement. They would undoubtedly try to cleverly manipte the situation through their spies and troublemakers.With this, his goal was twofoldThe Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and the Dark Heavens Association''s spies.
To obtain the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, Zhou Xuchuan needed to participate in the Seven Swords War. However, that didn''t mean he could just go in as he pleased.
Even if he were to join the war under the name of the Mount Hua Sect and his reputation as the Phoenix yer, he would be kicked out for not being one of the Seven Major Powers.
That was why he had borrowed the reputation of the Poison Phoenix, and, as expected, he was able to receive a reply asking him and the others to wait briefly.
Some time ago
People greeted Zhou Xuchuan as he and his party arrived near the Tomb of the Ominous Demon.
"Ho! Master Zhou!"
There was even a familiar face, someone he knew from before.
"Chu Lian."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled and raised his hand in greeting.
There had been ten escort warriors when he had raided the Three-Eyed Godly Thiefs treasury, one of whom had been Chu Lian, the only woman among them. Now, she was one of the Ten Gale Swordsmen.
No one looked down on Chu Lian just because she was a woman. There were more than a few people who had their throats cut at her hands. Even at a nce, one would immediately be drawn to her perfect muscles that were no less defined than those of most men, and her scars were so intimidating that even he felt a little threatened.
Its been a while.
Before leaving Jiangxi, in addition to the information regarding Wu Qu and Wu Zhenhua, he also added that he needed reinforcements from the Gold Will Sword Sect.
Thus, Chu Lian had brought along nine warriors from the First Corps.
"Master Zhou, you''re speaking too politely. I heard that you''ve dropped the polite speech with Wang Orabeoni. Please do the same with us."
"Yes, please, Master Zhou!"
The gale swordsmen behind Chu Lian shouted in agreement.
"Then why not?"
Zhou Xuchuan readily agreed.
"The Second Gale."
Tang Hui immediately recognized Chu Lian the moment she heard her name.
"And you are"
Instead of answering, Tang Hui just removed her veil.
Gasps filled the air. The warriors from the Gold Will Merchants stared, mouths agape. Even Chu Lian blinked repeatedly in awe of Tang Hui''s beauty.
Wow, this is my first time seeing one of the Phoenixes, she really is so damn pretty.
"You exaggerate. Besides, you''re also beautiful, Second Gale."
Whats so beautiful about a muscrdy?
Chu Lian smiled bitterly.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Muscles that are well trained and solid, befitting of a warrior. Scars that prove your experience. Above all, your confident attitude. If that isn''t beautiful, then what is?"
Tang Hui praised her in an unusually soft tone as Chu Lian coughed in embarrassment.
Zhou Xuchuan exchanged a few more greetings with the others before getting to the point.
"You''ve most likely guessed it, considering we''vee all this way, but I''ve called you here to participate in the Seven Swords War. If you''re not willing and want to go back, you can do so now. I swear that you will not be penalized for doing so."
"He knew that you''de like this, Master Zhou, so the Head Merchant has already asked us multiple times beforehand. You don''t have to worry about us."
"Good. Then, let me introduce everyone. This is the Poison Phoenix, Young Lady Tang from the Sichuan Tang Family."
"Then are those people next to you the guards of the Tang Family?"
"Yes. And over here is Chu Lian of the Ten Gale Swordsmen and warriors of the First Corps of the Gold Will Merchants. Oh, that''s right, now the Gold Will Sword Sect."
"It''s nice to meet you."
The ten members of the Gold Will Sword Sect cupped a fist politely.
While the Tang Family warriors didn''t look too pleased, they didn''t openlyin and offered them a greeting in return.[1]
From their perspective, warriors from a ce like the Gold Will Sword Sect were nothing more than mercenaries who had sold their honor and reputation for money.
They had little respect for such people. It was only because Tang Hui didn''t say anything that they kept their mouths shut.
The members of the Gold Will Sword Sect were used to receiving such looks, so they ignored it. None appeared to be bothered.
"Now, the reason we''ve joined forces is to prevent the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic from falling into the hands of the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult."
"...?"
Chu Lian''s face twisted in confusion, clearly wondering what the hell Zhou Xuchuan was talking about.
"...?"
The Poison Phoenix also frowned, puzzled.
"I wanted to participate in the Seven Swords War to protect the peace of the murim, but I couldn''t do it alone. That''s why I''ve asked for your help"
The two women cut him off sharply.
"Master Zhou, please don''t joke around and be straight with us. Aren''t we joining the war in order to get something?"
Zhou Xuchuan. I dont know what youre up to, but tell me the truth.
?
Zhou Xuchuan closed his mouth and tilted his head, genuinely confused.
"Well, no, there''s nothing like that?"
Hahaha! Master Zhou! That was a funny joke! a Gold Will Sword Sect warriorughed loudly.
"Peace? Hmph. Why are you telling such obvious lies?"
"Oh, is it perhaps to improve your reputation?"
The reactions of those around him dumbfounded Zhou Xuchuan.
No, I''m serious!"
The peace of the murim really was his goal.
Destroying the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and dealing with the spies of the Dark Heavens Association hiding in each forceweren''t both of these actions directly rted to maintaining peace?
Well, in thetter case, that wasn''t something he could exin.
"Then, could the mission be confidential?"
Chu Lian didn''t take Zhou Xuchuan''s words at face value.
To the Ten Gale Swordsmen, Zhou Xuchuan was the mastermind who had first discovered the Three-Eyed Godly Thiefs secrets and tried to keep them for himself.
Didn''t he even go so far as to join hands with money-obsessed Li Yicai without ever informing the Daoists of his sects, who were like family to him?
From their perspective, Zhou Xuchuan was a yangban who had deviated from the Righteous Faction.[2]
"While I''d like to twist your mouth until you spit the truth out, considering you seem to have your reasons, I''ll hold back this time. In return, answer me properly next time."
To Tang Hui, Zhou Xuchuan was exactly as Chu Lian thought, a man who solely acted for his own benefit.
Even helping Wu Zhenhua had ultimately been to borrow Wu Qus strength, not to help the sick.
Given that everything Zhou Xuchuan had shown them so far was worlds apart from this "save the world" hero act, none of them believed him when he talked about world peace. They justughed it off.
"No, it''s real. Peace in the murim. Peace in the murim!!!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, as if hed been wronged.
"Peace in the murim? Is there some sort of cipher I''m missing or something?"
Chu Lian thought hard about what the Head Merchant had told her before she left.
Zhou Xuchuan just kept his mouth shut and pouted.
"Ha. I called people I trust toe help, and here I am, with no one who believes me!"
***
Sichuan was not far from Shanxi, a distance easily covered by a homing pigeon, allowing a full conversation in as little as two days. The Expressing Immortal had sent news of the Poison Phoenix''s desire to participate to the Poison King, asking for an exnation of what was going on.
After all, it would be a disaster if she joined without him fully understanding the situation and then ended up dying a violent death from an arrow or worse.
While the Poison Phoenix was one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes and thus had incredible martial prowess, all the warriors participating in the Seven Swords War were extremely skilled, therefore, the battlefield was not a safe ce.
The Poison King has responded.
What did he say?
"He said it wasn''t the will of the Family, but rather the Poison Phoenix''s personal decision. He won''t be sending any reinforcements and he doesn''t care if she wants to participate in the war, so do as you wish."
"Ha I''ve heard the Poison Phoenix was cruel to his own children"
Immortal Shang Ming and Nangong Caiying exchanged looks of disbelief.
When it came to the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, one''s bloodline were considered to be of the greatest importance.
To think that the Poison King would treat the Poison Phoenix, not some ipetent child that he had given up on but one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, with such indifference.
"Have you heard of the phrase, a lion throws its cubs off a cliff?"[3]
Tang Hui smiled faintly.
The moment she did, as if living proof of her being Sichuan''s number one beauty, all the warriors in the barracks flinched in awe.
Immortal Shang Ming and Nangong Caiying were old and had incredible cultivations, and they were barely able to maintain theirposure by circting their cultivation arts.
Immortal Shang Ming sighed deeply while stroking the white beard that reached down to his navel.
Are you sure its alright? he asked anxiously.
He was still ufortable with sending a youngster with such a bright future out into the war. Although he had tried to persuade Tang Hui several times, her will was firm.
"Yes. Don''t worry, I''m not here alone. I have Young Master Zhou from the Mount Hua Sect and the warriors of the Gold Will Sword Sect with me."
Tang Hui turned to the side.
There, Zhou Xuchuan stood, calm and reserved.
He and the others reported their participation and members as soon as they arrived, and immediately went to greet Immortal Shang Ming the moment he called for them.[4]
The Great Void Swordsman.[5]
Zhou Xuchuan nced at Immortal Shang Ming and recalled his past memories. He knew the man before him well.
Countless demonic cultivators had lost their lives at his hands, and the Demon Cult would grit their teeth at the mere mention of his name. Not only was he skilled in martial arts, but his leadership skills were also extraordinary. He had truly been a thorn in the side of the Dark Heavens Association.
He was an apex master who often stood fast and stopped the Demonic Path''s advance from Xinjiang. Despite being old enough to leave such matters to the next generation, he had stood firm until the end, sacrificing himself in the battle against the Dark Heavens Association.
Hmm?
Immortal Shang Ming tilted his head when he felt Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze on him.
Is there something on my face?
"Oh, I''m so sorry. I was so taken aback by meeting the renowned Sect Master of the Kunlun Sect that I lost myself. Please forgive this junior''s rudeness," Zhou Xuchuan apologized politely. Not only was his attitude restrained, his respect was also genuine.
It wasn''t an act.
Immortal Shang Ming was a hero whom Zhou Xuchuan had once admired.
He was someone who, after much effort, became the Master of the Kunlun Sect and went on to sacrifice everything for his disciples.
"Hmm"
Immortal Shang Ming looked at Zhou Xuchuan curiously.
They say the Poison Phoenix was defeated twice by a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. Could this child be that disciple?
Immortal Shang Ming looked at Zhou Xuchuan, but he found it difficult to gauge his realm fully.
The two actually had simr levels of cultivation. However, while martial artists with simr cultivations could generally tell each other''s realms, Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation was hidden through the Violet Haze Divine Art''s unique ability to stay hidden.
Zhou Xuchuan knew that his cultivation would be suspicious if hepletely hid his strength. Still, he was able to avoid such issues by controlling his aura appropriately and tricking people into believing his cultivation was lower than it really was.
"Good, then I ept. While I''m still not sure if this is a good idea, can I really stop you when you want to fight for the sake of the Martial Alliance? Do as you please."
"Even the Gold Will Sword Sect? Nangong Caiying asked, seemingly dissatisfied.
"The Gold Will Sword Sect doesn''t want anypensation. They were just worried about this bing a bloodbath."
Zhou Xuchuan lied shamelessly.
If the members of the Gold Will Sword Sect participated in the Seven Swords War, they would receive a reward from the Gold Will Merchants.
"I thought that the rtionships within the gangho weren''t what they used to be, but it seems I was mistaken. In that case, I''d dly ept their aid."
***
The Martial Alliance camp grew noisy.
The Poison Phoenix!
"Wow! She''s really beautiful!"
Every time Tang Hui walked by, the men held their breath. Her beauty captivated everyone around her instantly.
Then that guy must be the Phoenix yer!
The Phoenix yer of Mount Hua Sect!
I envy you, Phoenix yer!
Zhou Xuchuan cringed every time he was called the Phoenix yer.
What''s wrong, Young Master Phoenix yer.
Tang Hui smiled, one corner of her mouth slightly raised.
What a strange feeling.
He could feel the envious and jealous stares. He knew better than anyone what the onlookers were thinking.
As if he was looking at himself in a bronze mirror, memories of the past came flooding back.[6]
The Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes.
The title given to the greatest of the younger generation.
How envious he had once been, standing far away, watching their backs.
Yet, being envied for standing beside the Poison Phoenix wasnt entirely a good thing.
Ahem!
As he made his way back to the others, a group stopped him.
Hello, Young Lady Poison Phoenix!
It was a group of about fifteen young men and women. While they all seemed somewhat simr in appearance, their uniforms were clearly different.[7]
It is an honor to meet the Poison Phoenix of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes. My name is Gao Canzheng.
Who is he again?
It wasn''t a familiar name.
"Oh, so it''s Great Hero Little Mount Tai. It''s nice to meet you.
Tang Hui answered his question for him.
Gao Canzheng was the Little Sect Master of the Mount Tai Sect of the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance.
Seeing Tang Hui recognize him, Gao Canzheng looked at Zhou Xuchuan proudly.
And what do you want from me??
Zhou Xuchuan really couldn''t understand what Gao Canzheng wanted.
"What can I do for you?" Tang Hui asked with a smile on her face. Zhou Xuchuan tutted to himself at her smile.
Tsk, tsk. He might be forced to eat poison if this isn''t anything important. Please, I hope you say something relevant.
Zhou Xuchuan was worried about Gao Canzheng.
Ah, before I exin, let me introduce the others.
As Gao Canzheng spoke, the two men and women on either side of him stepped forward.
"This is Great Hero First Bud Sword."[8]
Nice to meet you. My name is Guo Cai. Youre really beautiful. Guo Cai greeted Tang Hui politely, praising her beauty while his eyes were busy studying her figure.
And this is Great Heroine Sword Flower of the Mount Heng Sect.
"My name is An Aiyuan."
An Aiyuan strangely looked at Zhou Xuchuan instead of Tang Hui. No, she wasnt looking at him. She was ring at him.
It wasn''t out of interest. Rather, it was a feeling closer to contempt or disgust.
Is she really a nun of the Mount Heng Sect?
The Mount Heng Sect, one of the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance, was a sectprised entirely of nuns.
They weren''t on good terms with the Mount Hua Sect because the founder of the Mount Heng Sect and the creator of its foundational art, the Blossom Severing Petal Scattering Sword Technique, was a former disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. Since that day, Mount Hua''s unresolved resentment persisted to this day.
While the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance showed an allied front in the gangho, the Mount Hua Sect and the Mount Heng Sect were not on good terms.
No matter how much they hated us, we were still on the same side, even the same lineage. Selling information about us to the Dark Heavens Association was going too far.
Their resentful rtionship didn''t improve just because of the war. Rather, it had worsened. In the end, they allowed the Dark Heavens Association spies to infiltrate them and, after finding out, went as far as to sell information about Mount Hua to them.
"So, what can I do for you?" Tang Hui asked again.
"It''s nothing urgent. Just, isn''t this where the younger generation of the Righteous Faction is gathering? There are still six days until the war begins, so if it''s alright with you, Id like to invite you to our meeting where we can all get to know each other better. After all, how often do you get such an opportunity? Hohoho!"
Gao Canzheng raised his voice andughed proudly.
What an idiot.
Pfft.
Zhou Xuchuan was too stunned to contain his reaction.
Whats so funny?
Gao Canzheng asked, his tone betraying his displeasure.
There are only six days left, and youre saying lets just hang out and socialize without caring about what other people think. Its ridiculous."
"Hohoho, this is why they say trash will always betray itself."
An Aiyuan responded instead of Gao Canzheng.
When people are too stiff or tense, they tend to make mistakes. This is something we should be doing to loosen our nerves. To think a disciple of Mount Hua disciple is this uneducated. Can Mount Hua''s reputation really fall any further?"
An Aiyuan belittled Zhou Xuchuan as if she had been waiting for this moment.
Hahaha!
Well, shes not wrong!"
Gao Canzheng and Guo Caiughed together while the young warriors behind them nodded in agreement.
Ha!
Zhou Xuchuan was impressed.
"To think there are not just one but three arrogant idiots here who know nothing!"
It wasn''t just once or twice during the war that disciples of Major Sects came out without knowing anything like this, so this was a familiar sight to Zhou Xuchuan.
He remembered that at that time, he, without much strength, hadn''t been able to say anything and was forced just to curse quietly and let it go.
"What? What did you say? Arrogant idiots?"
As if it had been nned beforehand, the faces of the three idiots turned bright red at the same time. It wasn''t out of shame but anger.
Guo Cai yelled as he drew his sword from his waist.
Shut up, Phoenix yer! You only defeated the Young Lady Poison Phoenix by using a cowardly method, and you''re only able to unt her around because you exploited her weakness. Where the hell do you think you are, and how dare you speak out of turn like this!"
"Shut the hell up, Twiggy Sword! You''re forgetting that we''re preparing for war just because you want to get a good look at the Poison Phoenix. How dare you try to get close to Tang Hui?! Where the hell do you think you are, and how dare you speak out of turn like this!"
"AGH!!!"
"Seeing as you''re about to swing your sword at me while shouting ''you bastard,'' I''ll give you a taste of my finger!" Zhou Xuchuan mocked.
"YOUUUU BASTAAAARD!"
Guo Cai couldnt hold back his anger and swung his sword.
Zhou Xuchuan took a few steps back and dodged lightly.
Whats going on?
Its a fight!
Should I call the elders?
Because of the attention they gathered, there was an immediatemotion. As themotion grew louder, Gao Canzheng stopped Guo Cai.
"Rx, First Bud Sword. You shouldn''t make such a big deal out of this. Let''s calm down and not fall for that bastards schemes.
Hmph!"
Guo Cai bit his lip and reluctantly sheathed his sword.
Is it fun to tease idiots?
Gao Canzheng doubted his ears for a moment. The others did the same. The voice just now belonged to the Poison Phoenix.
Tang Hui didnt even blink and continued in a voice as cold as ice.
"Let''s not make a fuss and just leave. One of them is bound to try showing off and not be able to disy his skills properly. He''ll most likely use his subordinates as shields on the battlefield and tremble while holding on to his piss-drenched trousers. Can''t you just let this go?"
Zhou Xuchuan shut his mouth.
He had never thought of taking it this far.
Tang Hui smiled faintly, as if she pitied the people around her.
"Pardon us. If you misheard me, I rmend you stab yourself in the ear with a dagger and dig out your brains so you can process what I said again. Moreover, please, I beg of you. Stay as far away from me as possible and go prepare for the war. I would hate for you, who carry the future of the murim, to die like trash."
Zhou Xuchuan, who was behind her, pped his knee and eximed inwardly.
I have to hurry up, finish what I have to do with this woman, and part ways as soon as possible!
1. Note they didn''t cup a fist in return, which is very rude in murim culture. ?
2. Yangban is the name for Korea''s ruling ss, highly educated schr nobles who oversaw the nation and its people. ?
3. An Asian folktale that lions/tigers throw their cubs off cliff sides to weed out the weak and only raise the ones who survive. It''s verymonly referenced, like in Tekken or Naruto. ?
4. While technically, ???? is not a name, but a title, because Immortal Shang Ming now has an actual Daoist title, we''re switching to a pinyin version of his name so it matches the others. ?
5. Technically, Taixu means the Void/Cosmos/Universe (Literally Great Absence). However, because Yuzhou is moremonly used in Korean for the Cosmos/Universe, I didn''t want to name him the Cosmos Swordsman, hence the Great Void. ?
6. Bronze mirrors hold significance in Daoism/Eastern Spiritualism/Shamanism as it''s believed that they hold sunlight and can guide the dead to the afterlife, or in this case, Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life to his new one. ?
7. He''s basically saying that they all look like npcs lmao. ?
8. Technically, One Twig Sword. But who the hell would decide his daoist title is TWIG? TWIG! ?
Chapter 101: An Impossible Identity (1)
Twenty-two.
That was the number of people in Zhou Xuchuan''s party.
The Sichuan Tang Family, including Tang Hui, consisted of eleven people. Of course, she wasn''t just included, but as the Poison Phoenix, Tang Hui was the one who led them.
Tang Hui was not only the most powerful in terms of status but also the most powerful in cultivation among the Sichuan Tang Family members here.
The Gold Will Sword Sect faction consisted of ten people, including Chu Lian. On the surface, Chu Lian was their leader, but in reality, Zhou Xuchuan was the one in charge.
"Captain, there''s something I have to show you.
Chu Lian gestured to one side with her chin. Following her gesture, Zhou Xuchuan saw a box about three feet long.
He walked closer and opened the box, tilting his head at the unexpected object inside.
"This is?""He packed it for us when he heard we were going to participate in the Seven Swords War." Chu Lian said, puffing out her chest with a proud smile.
"You''re whispering so much, I''m starting to wonder what you''re talking about," Tang Hui whispered as she inspected her hidden weapons.
"It''s not something you''ll be using, and you''re going to see what it is in six days anyway. So don''t worry about it."
Zhou Xuchuan closed the box with a meaningful smile.
"Have you been trained?"
"Well, does it really require training? Still, the kid gave me the full rundown, so there''s no need to worry."
"Good. Then prepare to surprise the murim with this. You''re the vanguard, so you''ll make a name for yourself through it."
"Orabeoni and the others will be upset, it seems, hehe."
By "Orabeoni and the others", she was referring to the Ten Gale Swordsmen, since Chu Lian''s blood-rted siblings had died a long time ago.
"By the way, what happened to you, Captain? I heard you had an argument with the Miss over there the moment you arrived."
***
The Murim Alliance was currently in an uproar due to the appearance of the Poison Phoenix and the Phoenix yer. Considering the reputation of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, it was only natural that the two of them would draw attention. However, they also had an argument with the other talents.
Apparently, the Poison Phoenix said something to the Little Mount Tai, First Bud Sword, and the Sword Flower or something."
"Well, it wasn''t just ''something.'' I was nearby, and she basically told them to get their heads on straight if they didn''t want to end up pissing their pants."
"Wow, she really isn''t called the Poison Phoenix for nothing. She not only cultivates poison, but her tongue is just as poisonous."
"Isn''t she famous for her venomous remarks? The fact that she doesn''t discriminate between people is refreshing. I thought she only talked like that to paupers like us."
"Haha! It really is refreshing! I never liked how those brats acted so superior to us!"
"Those bastards from the Evil Faction or the Demonic Path may go around calling us hypocrites, but look at Miss Tang! Didn''t she prove them otherwise?!"
Most of the martial artists felt refreshed by Tang Hui''s bluntness. However, not all responses were positive, and criticisms soon followed.
"Yes, what she says is right, but don''t you think that was too harsh?"
"The Poison Phoenix should have spoken politely. No matter how wrong the other side was, if she speaks without etiquette, how is she any different from those in the Evil Faction?"
"Exactly! As a member of the Righteous Faction, she should always be mindful of her actions and words. How can she show her face without at least that much tact?"
"Tsk tsk. As expected of someone who uses poison!
"Shhh. Be careful. Have you forgotten how the Sichuan Tang Family handles their grudges?"
The Righteous Faction had always ced a strong emphasis on etiquette and morality. From that perspective, the Poison Phoenixs actions were uneptable.
"What''s wrong with trying to get along with the other younger generation talents? Surely she''s not looking down on the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance just because she''s from the Five Great Ancient Families, is she?
The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Ancient Families had been leading the Righteous Faction''s murim since its inception. So, it was only natural that the other sects would be dissatisfied. While most werent as powerful as these great sects, some were strong enough to rival them.
In particr, those of the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance, the Mount Tai Sect, the Mount Song Sect, the Mount Hua Sect, and the Hengshan Sect weren''tcking in any way.
"Well, I wasn''t even mentioned, so it''s fine with me."
Since Tang Hui was so prizing, all the attention was focused on her.
The Phoenix yer only appeared briefly before disappearing again, so everyone''s gaze turned to Tang Hui.
Although the warriors of the Tang Family seemed a bit offended, they didnt make any public fuss about it.
There were six days left until the Seven Swords War began.
As the sun set and everyone was wrapping up for the day, Zhou Xuchuan went to find Tang Hui, concerned.
"What is it?" Tang Hui asked, looking up at the dim moonlight. Her gaze was fixed on the sky, as usual.
Zhou Xuchuan, standing behind her, followed her gaze and looked up at the moon, scratching the back of his head as he spoke.
The rumors.
He didnt have to say anything else.
"If you thought that I would make some sort of foolish mistake on the battlefield because of some meaningless drivel, then your judgment was excessive."
Tang Hui was brilliant. She understood the situation without needing further exnation and knew exactly what Zhou Xuchuan was insinuating.
"Because I''m used to it."
Zhou Xuchuan stood still, quietly staying with her.
It seemed like he was saying, Its okay.
That was all he did.
That was enough.
***
The dark curtain of night began to lift as the sun slowly emerged from beyond the eastern ridge, illuminating the world.
There were five days until the Seven Swords War began. Since warriors typically started their day early, everyone was already busy preparing from the moment dawn broke.
Zhou Xuchuan was also busy, albeit for a slightly different reason than the others.
First, I have to find the moles and kill them.
Each of the Seven Forces gathered had been infiltrated by moles and spies.
In five days, when the war began, they would use all sorts of means and methods to prolong the war as much as possible.
Eliminating them was Zhou Xuchuan''s top priority.
Since it was impossible for him to assassinate them in broad daylight, he had to wait until nightfall.
He passed the time strategizing with Tang Hui and Chu Lian about how to fight when the war began.
asionally, some people would try to catch a glimpse of Tang Hui''s beauty, but remembering what had happened before, they kept their distance.
Time flew by, and soon dusk turned intote night.
However, it wasn''tpletely dark. Since a war was about to start, there was an incredible amount of security and light.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly slipped out of bed. No expert could detect his movements.
I never thought I would be doing something like this in my life.
Covering everything except for his eyes with a mask, Zhou Xuchuan dressed himself in ck clothing that made him blend into the night. Anyone who saw him would have been suspicious.
He proceeded to sneak out, keeping any noise to a minimum. As long as Immortal Shang Ming wasn''t the one standing guard, there was no way he''d get caught.
***
Four li south of the Murim Alliance''s camp.
ck-d men gathered among picturesque trees. They were the Dark Heavens Association spies who had infiltrated the Murim Alliance.
Though they remained silent at first, as soon as their numbers reached exactly twenty, they began to speak.
"What''s going on?"
A ck-d man with arge build spoke first.
"Our meeting day was definitely supposed to be two days from now," another ck-d man muttered incredulously.
Who signaled?
Before night fell, a code that only the Dark Heaven Association could recognize had been engraved throughout the camp.
On the surface, it looked like a meaningless scratch, but to those of the Dark Heavens Association, it was unmistakable.
When no one responded, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.
The ck-d men, who had been indifferent moments ago, began to look at each other, growing increasingly uneasy.
The code that had summoned them had definitely been the Dark Heaven Association''s. Moreover, it was ssified as a top secret within the organization.
Since there was no way an outsider or a turncoat they had bought out would know the code, it was truly a mystery how the code had been ced throughout the camp if none of them had done it.
The moment someone was about to ask again, a voice was heard from behind the bushes.
I signaled you.
Who are you!
Shing!
The ck-d men drew their swords with lightning speed, sweat trickling down their masks.
"And what are you going to do with that information?"
"There can''t be another one of us!"
There were exactly twenty spies that had infiltrated the Murim Alliance.
No more, no less. That number could not have changed.
The brains of the Dark Heavens Association, Blessed Existence, was someone who was more thorough than anyone else. He would never have allowed such an exception.
Even if there had been a change, they would have been informed. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
"Don''t be so hostile. I''m a spy who infiltrated the Evil Valley. I''vee to speak to you for a reason," the twenty-first ck-d man spoke calmly.
You came from the Evil Valley?
Yes.
The ck-d men looked at each other before scanning the area. Only after they sensed that there was no movement around them did they let their guard down slightly.
After exchanging nces for a while, one of them finally asked a question, the group moving as if they had all made up their minds.
How many moles have infiltrated the Evil Valley?
Twenty.
Woosh!
The twenty-first ck-d man was surrounded in an instant.
What are you doing?
"Except for a few people, none of us should know who or how many of us have infiltrated the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult. You should have asked why I was asking that instead of answering."
"I see. In case of any unexpected situations, you made sure that moles from different affiliations don''t know each other so that information wouldn''t leak."
The twenty-first ck-d man, Zhou Xuchuan, shrugged his shoulders as if he had been taken aback.
You. Who on earth are you?
How do you know the code for this meeting?
The Dark Heavens Association had more than one code, and the codes used by each individual group of spies were also different.
It wasn''t by chance that they had managed to hide their identities for decades. Their meticulousness had allowed them to keep their secrets hidden so thoroughly.
"Hey, would you have answered if you were me?"
Zhou Xuchuan sneered as he drew his sword.
No matter what happens, we have to capture him.
"It doesn''t matter if you have to cut off one or two limbs."
The ck-d men talked as they closed in on him.
"As expected, you Dark Heavens Association bastards have no gaps. No gaps. Dont you get tired of living like that? Zhou Xuchuan asked.
As he looked around, he could hear gasps. Everyone looked shocked.
"You even know the name of the Association?"
"Forget about the disruption mission. Capturing him is our new priority!"
Woosh!
Twenty people rushed at Zhou Xuchuan simultaneously.
They went all out from the start. They didnt care that the opponent in front of them was alone. It didn''t matter to them what level of cultivation he had reached.
There was no pride or arrogance.
You damn bastards!
They didnt let their guard down, and they didnt get cocky.
Those two points alone were terrifying enough, and they couldn''t be underestimated. Zhou Xuchuan had been cautious of them for good reason.
Swish!
Swords flew at him from every direction, slicing through the air. Judging by the sword qi that was gathered in each of the des, their power definitely wasn''t anything to scoff at.
However, they werent aiming to kill him; they wanted to capture him alive. They avoided any fatal strikes to his neck, heart, or lungs.
Zhou Xuchuan spun on his left foot, using it as an axis. His sword drew a circle in the air.
ng, ng, ng, ng!
Before their swords could even touch his, they were caught in his sword wind and sent flying upward. The experts holding the swords were pushed back along with their weapons.
So they''ve all reached the Peak Realm?
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue.
His counterattack had been powerful enough that if they hadn''t reached at least the Peak Realm, they would have been knocked out rather than just pushed back.
The moles from the Dark Heavens Association were even more bbergasted than Zhou Xuchuan.
They all couldnt believe what was happening before their eyes.
This is impossible!
Although they had been trained to remain calm in any situation, they were all wide-eyed with shock.
The twelve spies who had reached the Peak Realm had all attacked at the same time. Even if they hadn''t attacked with the intent to kill, they had still gone all out.
Not even a Transcendent should have been able to block it so easily. Yet Zhou Xuchuan had done it effortlessly.
It was a situation where their eyes saw what happened, but their minds refused to believe it.
Chapter 102: An Impossible Identity (2)
Get back! someone shouted, and all twenty of them retreated.
"Where do you think you''re going?"
Zhou Xuchuan turned toward the voice, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief at their audacity.
The man dressed in ck to the southwest hurriedly tried to adjust his stance when he saw Zhou Xuchuan approaching. But before he could react, a sword had already pierced his forehead like the wind, creating arge, gaping hole.
"How"
"!"
Just as they were about to panic, someone shouted loudly as if urging them toe to their senses. It was a sound art unique to Daoist cultivation methods.
The Dark Heavens Associations spies quickly set aside their surprise and focused on the situation at hand. They needed to concentrate fully on capturing Zhou Xuchuan.
Ting, ting, ting, ting!As the ck-d men regained theirposure, their sword techniques rained down like a relentless storm. There wasnt a single opening, as if they were going for the kill.
ng, ng, ng, ng!
Not even a Transcendent would havested more than a few seconds under such a storm of attacks. Unfortunately, their opponent was a Harmony Realm Master. Zhou Xuchuan ignored the storm and countered everything with his sword, almost as if he already knew where each attack wouldnd.
Metal shed with metal, sparks flew, and the grating sound of steel sliding against steel filled the air.
In the darkness, where clouds obscured the moonlight, the faint shes of sword lights illuminated the surroundings.
The Dark Heavens Association spies fought with everything they had, attacking ferociously. They made sure not to deliver any fatal blows since they wanted to capture him alive.
However, it was actually much more challenging to subdue than it was to kill. Not to mention, their opponent was much stronger than them, forcing them to consume considerable strength and stamina.
Before long, several of the attackers'' breathing became irregr, and that irregrity soon became an opening.
Although the openingsted for only a moment, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t miss the timing, seizing it like a demon and digging in.
"Ugh!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword pierced a lung, the body on the other end stiffening with its final breath.
Swish!
As his sword was stuck in the body, a ck-d mole next to him swung his sword straight down with all his might, aiming for Zhou Xuchuan''s shoulder.
Instead of pulling his sword out, Zhou Xuchuan shed diagonally toward the upper right. His de cut through flesh and bone as if it were tofu, knocking away the ck-d mole''s sword.
What!
The ck-d man, who had been moments away from severing Zhou Xuchuan''s arm and shoulder, was shocked.
Cutting through flesh and bone required an incredible amount of force. Moreover, since it also created more friction, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword should have moved more slowly. It shouldn''t have been as fast as a sword swung freely through the air.
However, Zhou Xuchuan ignored all of those factors and effortlessly knocked away a sword that a Peak expert had swung with all his might. It was a jaw-dropping sight.
Zhou Xuchuan stretched out his left hand and grabbed the stunned ck-d moles nape.
Ugh!
Crunch!
The mole''s vertebrae shattered, under Zhou Xuchuan''s grip. The light in his eyes was tainted with fear before it slowly faded into darkness. Almost instantly, the ck-d spy went limp, sagging like a lifeless mollusk in Zhou Xuchuan''s hand.
Swish!
As the ck-d mole died, another attack came barreling toward Zhou Xuchuan. The sword left a long afterimage like a meteor''s trail, aiming straight for Zhou Xuchuan''s back.
Zhou Xuchuan shifted to the side, using the ck-d mole in his grip as a shield.
There were seventeen spies left.
Although there were still quite a few of them, they weren''t that difficult to deal with.
Each of them had attacked with all their power, so they had used up arge amount of qi. While their expressions were hidden by their masks, it was still obvious that they were exhausted.
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword flickered, severing the head of the mole who had tried to attack him as the mole''s sword punctured Zhou Xuchuan''s human shield.
"Now sixteen."
In an instant, he had killed four of them.
The remaining sixteen didn''t dare approach Zhou Xuchuan but instead retreated while maintaining the encirclement.
"You bastard just who the hell are you?" One of the moles asked.
"YoU bAstArDs JusT wHO thE HeLl aRe yOu?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered, mocking them.
Then he raised his sword, pointing it forward.
"You''ve probably heard that dozens, no, hundreds of times."
The Dark Heavens Association had remained hidden in the shadows until it finally revealed itself to the world ten yearster.
Everyone who had encountered them before that point had asked the same questions.
Where did a force with such powere from?
Who were they?
The Dark Heaven''s Association''s answer to the questions was always the same.
You dont need to know.
Zhou Xuchuans body suddenly vanished.
He hadn''t actually disappeared, it only just seemed that way because he was moving so fast.
"AGH!!"
The mole who had asked the question copsed, blood spattering everywhere.
Fifteen people remained.
''As expected.''
With this, Zhou Xuchuan was able to confirm that there was no one among the moles who could be called the leader.
He had been targeting anyone that sounded like they were giving orders or seemed to be leading the group. However, they never wavered even after he killed the suspected leaders.
"We''re changing our methods."
The voice was sharp with alertness.
"From this point on, it doesn''t matter if he dies. Don''t hold back."
"We won''t be able to win if things keep going like this. Let''s kill him first and examine his body."
"I understand."
It seemed they were all equal in hierarchy, and each of them appeared to be acting under separate orders.
As soon as they made their decision, the fifteen of them rushed Zhou Xuchuan at once. Unlike before, their bloodlust was so intense that it made his hair stand on end.
Come!
Zhou Xuchuan responded with the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
From the first form, Roadside Plum Blossom, to the eighth form, Plum Blossom Blood Rain, he showcased his magnificent sword techniques, each flowing together like water.
Three of the moles in front were caught by Zhou Xuchuan''s sword and died without even a scream, their blood spraying into the air.
"What?! That''s Mount Hua''s sword technique! And it''s not just any technique, but the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom!
As soon as the group reduced from fifteen to twelve, a few of the remaining moles recognized Zhou Xuchuan''s sword technique.
They were all members of the Righteous Faction. Moreover, they were all Peak Realm spies. So, it wasn''t strange for them to be able to recognize the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
"A Plum Blossom Swordsman!
As the exposed skin around his eyes had no wrinkles, it was clear that the intruder was young. From that alone, they could tell he wasn''t a second-generation disciple, but at least a third. The moles could also tell that he was an active Plum Blossom Swordsman based on the clues they had gathered.
"That said, you alle from everywhere, don''t you?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s mask was dented in right in front of his mouth. The moles could definitely see that he was smirking under his mask.
Kunluns Thirteen Swords of the Dragon in the Clouds (ʮ).
A few of the ck-d men flinched.
Mount Tais Glowing Sunset Nine-Nine Sword Form (ϼžń), Mount Songs Nine Valleys Sword Technique (ŹȄ), even Mount Hengs One Pine Sword Technique (һɄ)!
Zhou Xuchuan not only knew Mount Hua''s techniques, he could also recognize the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, even the Demonic Path''s techniques.
Even if he had only survived through luck and fortune, he had witnessed a considerable amount of techniques just from the sheer amount of battlefields he had been a part of.
How could a Plum Blossom Swordsmane out alone?
The moles simply couldn''t understand what was going on. They weren''t trying to buy time, it was a genuine question.
The twenty-four Plum Blossom Swordsman never acted alone. At the very least, they always moved in pairs.
No, more importantly, are you really a Plum Blossom Swordsman?
As elites of Mount Hua, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were closely monitored. Things may have been different if it was any other disciple of Mount Hua, but the Dark Heavens Association would have definitely noticed if a Plum Blossom Swordsman had left Mount Hua.
A Plum Blossom Swordsman"
Zhou Xuchuan tightened his grip on his sword.
Is that the conclusion you reached?
Qi flowed through his meridians and toward his sword. His qi wasn''t the usual blue.
Gulp.
Someone swallowed nervously. Their faces all hardened with tension.
Really?
Swish!!
As soon as he finished soeaking, the sword wind from his de turned into waves that covered the area. The ck-d moles were unable to evade the sudden attack and could only swing their swords in a desperate attempt to block it.
"Ha"
The ck-d mole in front sighed. Even though only the area around his eyes was exposed because of his mask, his skin was pale.
Cough, cough!
Four of the ck-d men fell to their knees, vomiting blood.
Their faces darkened, and one of them even began bleeding from his eyes.
The fifteen had be twelve with the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom just moments ago, and now, the sword wind had further reduced that number to eight.
They had lost another four.
"Poison?"
The moles had tried to block the sword wind with their des. However, that wasn''t all there was to Zhou Xuchuan''s attack.
The wind they thought was a sword wind turned out to be a poison wind.
It wasn''t carelessness or arrogance.
Their opponent was a sword master who had just taken down eight of their members in the blink of an eye. They never could have imagined that he would use poison. It was only natural for them to think it had been a pure sword wind.
If they had known Zhou Xuchuan was a Poison Master, they would have prepared in advance. None of them took poison lightly.
Just like the saying, when something seemed too ordinary, it was too good to be true.
"Just who the hell"
Poison arts, like sword arts, had levels.
The basic stage of poison arts was external application, used by secretly feeding it to someone, sprinkling it around in powder form, or applying it to a weapon. If one cultivated their poison arts further, they could use poison as a form of qi, freely handling it and applying it to techniques, such as the Poison Palm.
Once a Poison Master reached a certain level, at least the First ss, they could manifest it externally through their qi, like the poison wind Zhou Xuchuan had just used.
That level of mastery in poison arts was rare. Moreover, it was used by a sword expert who could even use the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
There was no such person in the Mount Hua Sect.
In fact, no such person had ever existed in the history of the Mount Hua Sect.
An impossible identity.
Zhou Xuchuan''s very existence made no sense.
No matter how hard they tried to understand it, they just couldn''t wrap their heads around it.
I understand that feeling better than anyone," Zhou Xuchuan said.
He remembered how the murim had reacted when the Dark Heavens Association Leader showed his divine power with Ten Thousand Convergence Art.
It was etched into his brain, likely no different from the reactions of the ck-d moles before him.
Zhou Xuchuan snickered as he imbued qi into his sword. This time, it had a pure and clear blue glow.
Crackle.
The threadlike qi tangled together and eventually gathered in one ce. What had once been rippling like water gradually solidified and took shape.
"You want to know who I am?"
Chatter, chatter.
Their jaws chattered, and their bodies trembled like aspen trees.
Their fighting spirit fell into the abyss.
"We''re giving up on both capture and killing."
THUD THUD THUD!
Their hearts pounded like raging bulls. No matter what they did, they couldnt get them to slow down.
"It doesn''t matter which one of us it is."
Theposure they had learned was useless. The phenomenon before their very eyes was akin to despair itself, defying allmon sense.
"We have to escape immediately and report this to the Association."
Gulp.
"Report that, even though we don''t know who it is, there''s a monster hunting us."
Boom!
As soon as the mole finished speaking, the eight of them ran in different directions. They were moving as fast as they could.
"You want to know who I am?"
They ran until it felt like their feet were on fire, until their Yongquan point was about to rupture from excessive qi cirction.[1]
I am.
Zhou Xuchuan bent his knees. The qi that surged from his dantian circted through his meridians and strengthened his body.
The Mount Hua Sects"
His thigh muscles contracted once and then rxed. The moment they contracted again, the ground beneath him exploded.
"Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan, a Harmony Realm Master and the owner of a monstrous reserve of qi unleashed his lightness technique at full strength. There was no way the moles could escape.
Squelch!
When one of the moles felt something approaching from behind, his vision suddenly spun, and he saw a decapitated body copse to the ground.
The other seven met the same fate.
By running in different directions, they hoped Zhou Xuchuan would have to chase just one of them, giving the others time to escape.
"Agh!!"
However, they were all caught in the blink of an eye. There was nothing they could do since they died without even being able to counterattack properly.
"Ugh!"
In hindsight, it had actually been a mistake to flee. Things may have been different if they had resisted even a little.
But because they ran without looking back, none of the moles could avoid Zhou Xuchuan''s sword aura, losing their lives in a single blow.
In the end, six of them became cold corpses without even reaching the Martial Alliance camp.
"Ugh"
The death god finally lowered his sword. Thest remaining mole hung from his grasp, looking down at Zhou Xuchuan with pain-filled eyes and a faint smile.
"Even if you torture me there''s nothing I can tell"
Crunch!
I know.
1. The opposing acupoint to the Baihui point at the crown of the head, this is the lowest acupoint in the human body, at the balls of one''s feet. ?
Chapter 103: War Erupts (1)
The Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art had now fully reached the fourth stage.
Although its range may be limited, he could now attack enemies from a distance using poison.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t leave a single mole alive. After all, their mission was to disrupt and coordinate issues within the battlefield. Moreover, they had infiltrated the sects to obtain information in the first ce.
Their mere presence was a threat, and they weren''t the type of people who would crack even under torture.
Besides, he himself knew more information than they did.
"As for his face I don''t know who this is."
Zhou Xuchuan removed their masks, but he couldn''t recognize any of them. He searched their clothes, but found nothing that could reveal their identities.
They were all wearing masks and ck clothes, so it was clear they wouldnt have brought anything that could identify them in the first ce.
He gathered the scattered corpses and loaded them onto his shoulders, two at a time. With all his might, he ran to the nearby Yellow River and tossed the bodies into the water.Unlike the teau where the camp was located, the water was deep, and the current was strong, making it the perfect ce to destroy evidence. Fire would be too risky, as he could be tracked by the smoke. Burying the bodies wasn''t an option either, since digging a graverge enough to bury so many moles would be noticeable.
Unlike burying the bodies, tossing them into the deep river lowered the possibility of them being found. Moreover, the moving water would make it difficult to recognize them if they ever happened to be found.
"Now, it''s time to slowly return."
The next day dawned.
Naturally, there was an uproar because of what happened the previous night.
Twenty Peak experts had disappeared overnight.
"Gasp! What the hell is going on?"
It must be a tactic by the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult!
They must have sent assassins!
Experts disappearing just four days before the war wasnt something that could be ignored.
Everyone unanimously agreed that it was the work of the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult.
But why hasn''t the Nangong Family lost anyone?
However, that didn''t mean there weren''t other suspicions. The Nangong Family was also being watched closely.
Of the five major forces of the Righteous Factions Martial Alliance gathered here, each of the forces had lost experts except the Nangong Family. It would have been odd if they hadnt been suspected.
"Are you suspecting us right now?"
"That''s a bit much."
As expected, the response was far from pleasant.
"Enough! Everybody calm down," Immortal Shang Ming intervened.
"ording to the guards, there was no sign of disturbance. This means all twenty or so people must have left on their own. Isn''t that strange? For now, I ask that you all stop suspecting it was one of us. That might be exactly what the Evil Valley and the Demon Cult want."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Immortal Shang Ming''s intervention barely prevented a fight from breaking out.
"While I want to investigate, we only have four days left until the faction war. Lets postpone this matter for now. We''ll strengthen our guard patrols while preparing for the Seven Swords War.
"Are you suggesting we should bury this matter, Immortal Shang Ming? When some of our juniors and seniors have gone missing?!"
"It''s not that I don''t know how you feel, but don''t you also know that in the gangho, there are times when you have to just throw up your hands and admit there''s nothing more you can do? Disciples of my sect are among those who''ve gone missing. Do you really think I don''t understand how you feel?"
"Hmph."
"It''ll be disadvantageous for us to form an investigative task force from the warriors we have now. I''ll send a letter to headquarters and ask the Beggar Gang to investigate, so let''s leave it to them."
Immortal Shang Ming was capable. He hadn''t risen to the position of Sect Master just because of his cultivation. He hadn''t been a hero in Zhou Xuchuan''s future for nothing.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan, the mastermind(?) of everything, was quietly watching the situation unfold.[1]
Immortal Shang Ming really is impressive in any lifetime. More importantly, it seems that it was too difficult for Martial Heaven to nt a traitor within the Five Great Ancient Families, seeing as none of the spies were from the Nangong Family.
The Five Great Ancient Families prioritized blood rtions and were somewhat closed-off, making it difficult to infiltrate them. Above all, wasn''t the former Patriarch of the Nangong Family the Martial Alliance Leader? It wasn''t easy to avoid his eyes.
Additionally, they leveraged not being able to infiltrate the Nangong Family. If the moles'' identities were exposed, or if something like this were to happen, the Nangong Family would naturally be suspected. That could have even led to discord. What a horrifying n.
Zhou Xuchuan stuck his tongue out and made his next preparations.
Next, I''ll deal with the traitors in the Evil Valley. But, as the patrols will be strengthened, it''ll be hard to go out tonight.
Zhou Xuchuan was able to learn who the traitors were after hearing the names of those missing.
Aside from the Nangong Family, they were all disciples who had made a name for themselves in the four major forces. Moreover, there was a big name within them, too.
A Peak Realm disciple of a Mount Heng Sect elder who was close to a swordmaster.
The sun began to set again.
As expected, it took him a while to sneak out.
Although Zhou Xuchuan had used a lot of his qi yesterday, it wasn''t enough to make him worry. He still had a considerable amount of qi left in his dantian.
He left a little earlier than he had yesterday. He needed time to leave the code after arriving at the Evil Valley''s camp.
Fortunately, things went ording to n.
Who are you?!
As with the moles of the Martial Alliance, he lured the Evil Valley moles some distance away from their camp, and after some back and forth, eliminated them all.
The Evil Valley had more moles than the Martial Alliance, but they were mostly entry-level martial artists, making them easier to handle.
With thirty-two of them, although there were quite a few, it was still much easier for Zhou Xuchuan to deal with them because their cultivations were weaker than those from the Martial Alliance.
"You bastard, just who"
"Yeah, yeah, I''m tired of you all repeating the same thing. Just die."
"Agh!!!"
While he didn''t torture them, he managed to get some information from listening to their conversations.
The moles who had infiltrated the forces were going to gather three days before the emergency battle to hold a meeting rted to the Seven Swords War, checking to see if any of them had any issues and verifying their mission before reporting to their superiors.
The reports from each force were also going to be gathered after this meeting, meaning none of them knew the Martial Alliances spies had been wiped out.
Not only had the Martial Alliance kept their missing Peak experts a secret, but none of the moles in the factions knew the identities of the other moles who had infiltrated with them.
Isnt it just that my luck is really good?
The next day marked three days to the start of the war.
While there were still moles in the Demon Cult, there wasn''t enough time.
It would have been nice if we had at least one more day.
That didn''t mean he could just sit still. Even though he had dealt with the moles from two of the Three Factions, there were still variables with the remaining group.
Even if he had to take risks, he had to deal with them like he had the other two.
It''s about time for Twisted Melody to make a move.''
***
The next day.
The Evil Valleys reaction was simr to that of the Martial Alliance. They were first suspicious of the Martial Alliance and the Demon Cult, and they, too, strengthened their patrols.
Needless to say, they erupted with hostility, hurling all sorts of curses at the Martial Alliance.
"You bastards always call us cowardly, to think you Righteous Faction bastards were no different."
Dirty hypocrites!
The origins of the moles were quite diverse in the Evil Valley. Starting from the Seven Gates of the Evil Dao, there were also moles from the small and medium-sized sects.
On the other hand, there had only been two or three experts that had reached the Peak Realm.
There was another force that reacted as strongly to this incident as the Evil Valley. It was the Dark Heavens Association.
When the sun rose, there should have been reports. However, they never received any, moreover, from two of the Three Factions at that.
What happened?
Finally, another leader of the Seven Stars Division made his move.
Twisted Melody.
As the word Melody suggested, he measured the situation or the powers of the forces involved and equalized them into a splendid harmony, causing all forces his underlings infiltrated to lose out equally.[2]
There were only a few Seven Stars Division soldiers under Twisted Melody.
In return, he had control over all of Martial Heaven''s spies and moles. Twisted Melody used them to take in intelligence and use it to weaken each of the forces simultaneously.
He was also the Executive of the Dark Heavens Association who was in charge of the Seven Swords War and the secret battle for the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
"Just what''s going on?"
Despite waiting, there was still no report. This was something he had anticipated from the Martial Alliance, but to think there was nothing from the Evil Valley.
The moment he started to wonder what was going on, some of his spies reported in.
"... they disappeared?"
The spies he had nted in six of the seven major forces had gone missing. There was definitely something going on. If things had gotten to the point where he was wondering if they were dead or alive, there was a good chance that they had already been silenced.
None of them were foolish enough to just disappear without notice three days before the start of the war.
Blessed Existence.
Blessed Existence was not far away.
While the Dark Heavens Association had devoted itself to the Seven Swords War, Blessed Existence, who oversaw the entire Dark Heavens Association himself, had to pay less attention to each individual operation.
Blessed Existence gritted his teeth as soon as he heard those words.
"It feels like I''m getting haunted by some pesky ghost. This confirms it. Someone knows about the Association."
"How could that be?"
"Twisted Melody. If you don''t adjust your thinking, you''re going to end up eating your words. That''s arrogance talking. Tread carefully."
To be honest, it wasn''t really arrogance. Twisted Melody''s reaction was quite normal.
The Dark Heavens Association had hidden its identity from the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult for a long time.
It was hard to believe that there was an enemy who had discovered secrets of the organization that were even hidden from them!
"I''ll order Vast Gate and Pure Faith () to investigate anyone who may know about our organization and might betray or reveal it. Twisted Melody, you should do the same, too. Find that bastard, capture him, and bring him back alive. Hes more valuable than the entire Seven Swords War."
Their master n would change dramatically depending on how much the enemy knew about the Dark Heavens Association.
Blessed Existence saw this unidentified enemy as a danger to their entire Association.
"To think there was another enemy like the Phantom Bow Swordsman that we can''t identify"
Blessed Existence bit his fingernails in frustration.
Blessed Existence, Vast Gate, Twisted Melody, Pure Faith!
A whopping four Heads of the Seven Stars Division began to chase Zhou Xuchuan.
***
Unfortunately, I''ll have to give up on the Demon Cult.
There was no time left. Considering he had taken down two sets of moles already, Twisted Melody and the Dark Heavens Association should have already been alerted by theck of reports and begun their operations.
Moles nted in six of the seven major forces had already been dealt with. Even if one of them was left, it shouldn''t have a big impact on the war.
The same went for the traitors and spies. Without the moles, there was no reason for any traitors to reveal themselves.
Three dayster.
The Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult finished their preparations for the war amidst the conflicts and gathered on the teau in front of the manual.
There were three thousand warriors gathered, a thousand from each of the Three Factions.
Woosh~
A slightly chilly breeze swept past the iron box containing Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, disyed at the center of the teau.
After being tightly guarded until the night before, everyone retreated without a fuss.
Once everyone retreated to their respective Factions, no one acted suspiciously.
"The day has dawned!" Immortal Shang Ming''s voice rang out.
It was so loud that it echoed all the way to the enemy camp.
"The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic is rightfully ours!" the Raging Fire Blood Demon shouted, leading a thousand Demon Cult members.
"Is that why you secretly assassinated our experts? Because you wanted it so badly?" the Flower Scattering Palm shouted, enraged about what happened three prior.
"As if you should be saying that right now!"
"As expected of the Evil Faction!"
The Martial Alliance reaction was just as intense because they had also been attacked.
While the Demon Cult initially responded with confusion, wondering what sort of nonsense was going on, they quickly calmed down.
They seemed excited by the impending battle, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust from the influence of their demonic qi.
"Might will rule all!" the Raging Fire Blood Demon growled.
"Kill them! Loot them! Take what is ours! Engrave thew of the Demon Cult into their bones! Might is everything!"
ROAR!!!!!!
A roar so powerful, it seemed to shake the heavens, reverberated through the air.
The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley followed suit as the seven great forces all advanced toward one ce.
The destination, of course, was the center of the teau.
The swift special forces of each force separated themselves from the main armies while the rest prepared to sh with the enemy forces in front of them.
1. The (?) is in the raws. ?
2. See TL notes. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Hello hello! It''s me, Cyncoco, again.
Okay, so one of the biggest changes that we had in this book was changing the names of the Seven Star Division heads.
In the fan scations, you may have seen them by their Western dipper names or,
Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, Alkaid.
We, as a team, decided not to use these titles for the following reasons.-
The meaning behind the Western names has no corrtion to the Chinese/Korean names.
-
The seven stars/big dipper was chosen as the names of the Dark Heaven Association''s leadership because of the Chinese/Korean mythos.
Now, even within the Chinese/Korean mythos, there are two separate sets of names.
The pce names (the names for the stars as a pce) and the deity names (the names of the Daoist Gods that embody each star).
The names are as follows. (Pce/Deity
Celestial Pivot/Avaricious Wolf
Celestial Rotating Jade/Vast Gate
Celestial Shining Pearl/Blessed Existence
Celestial Bnce/Twisted Melody
Jade Sighting Tube/Pure Faith
Opener of Heat/Warped Valor
Twinkling Brilliance/Destructive Soldier
While the pce names are the ones used as the names for the Heads, we decided to stick with the deity names for a few reasons.-
The most important one is that the deity names are just cooler. Like Am I really going to call someone Jade Sighting Tube when I can name them PURE FAITH?
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Some of the pce names don''t make sense as a name, like Opener of Heat, which doesn''t trante well and also just reads oddly. "Hey, Opener of Heat, aren''t you hot today?"
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The deities and the pces are innately connected; each one of their names describes what the pce personifies. For example, Celestial Bnce, which is the one described in this chapter, literally means the scales that define the rights of the Heavens. The Deity, Twisted Melody literally means to take what is written to create a harmonious melody/write for civilization. In other words, it means to find bnce in civilization through the text/music given.
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The mythos themselves have be so intertwined that people don''t differentiate between the two in Korean and the Korean deity versions are epted in any context in which the pce names would be used.
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Finally, the deity names allude to each of the Head''s roles within the organization. Once everyone gets introduced, I''ll make another TL/N describing their names and how they connect to their role.
All this to say, we aren''t using the Western names because they don''t make sense in the context and are just inurate trantions.
We are using their deity names because they read better, make more sense with the plot, and just serve as much better titles overall.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Chapter 104: War Erupts (2)
ng!
After the first metallic sh, an endless cacophony of shing iron resonated loudly.
But even that loud mor was soon drowned out by the sound of screams.
"AGHH!!!!"
"UGH!"
"You dirty Evil Faction bastards!"
"You hypocrites of the Righteous Faction!
"Kekeke! Die! Die!!"
The word chaos seemed inadequate to describe what was going on. It was truly inconceivable to see three thousand people fighting in a single location.Dozens lost their lives in an instant.
If hell truly existed, this was it.
Humanity''s hell yed out across the teau. Even the green flowers had turned red.
"Hahaha! Now I will be the Greatest Under the Heavens!
One of the Evil Faction''s special force members reached the iron box first. A First ss warrior of the Evil Faction lifted up the iron box andughed.
"Dumbass!"
Squelch!
"Ugh!"
The First ss warrior spat out blood as he dropped the box. He looked down at the sword embedded in his chest, disbelief written across his face as he raised his head.
"You-you bastard you dare? To your Hyungnim?!"
"We''re not even blood. What do you mean, Hyungnim? Ahahaha! Isn''t this what the gangho murim is all about?"
The First ss warriors sworn brother and fellow special force member smirked, greed gleaming in his eyes.
Picking the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic off the ground, he ran with all his might toward an opening without any people.
"Dumbass, why would you yell like that so foolishly"
Squelch!
He couldn''t even finish his sentence. Before he was able to get a single zhang away from the center of the teau, his head was sent flying, rolling across the ground.
"Hehe! The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic!
"Considering it''s a demonic art, shouldn''t this belong to our cult?"
The Demon Cult cultist who arrivedteughed ominously. The sight of him licking the blood on his face with his snake-like tongue was grotesque.
"Ha"
The Martial Alliance detachment that arrived next sighed, at a loss for words. What had just happened in front of them made them speechless.
This is precisely why they called this an emergency for the entire murim.
Regardless of one''s path, the bonds of the murim seemed to mean nothing in an instant.
"You won''t be able to escape easily."
The Kunlun Sect''s disciples surrounded the cultists who held the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
"Hmph! Kunluns snotty bastards!
"How fucking annoying!"
The Seven Swords War.
It had finally begun.
***
When Zhou Xuchuan closed his eyes, memories of his past life shed through his mind. Someone''s scream triggered another scream from his memories.
He hadn''t participated in the Seven Swords War in his previous life. Back then, he had been quietly training at the Mount Hua Sect.
However, the scene before him was more familiar than ever.
He knew it better than anyone else present.
The thick scent of blood that made his head spin and the screams that were so dissonant they felt like they were tearing his eardrums apartthey were engraved deep within his soul, beyond his mortal body.
"Go! Go toward the summit!"
Nangong Caiyings voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The past disappeared, and he returned to the present. Time, which had frozen, began to flow once again.
The Martial Alliance''s Thousand-Man Corps was divided into five units of two hundred people, ording to the five major forces.
Twenty people were taken from each unit to form a Hundred-Man special force that headed directly for the summit the moment the war began.
One hundred and eighty people remained in each unit. Zhou Xuchuan and his party entered the unitmanded by Nangong Caiying.
It''s the Nangong Family and the Sichuan Tang Family!
The first enemy they encountered was the warriors of the Evil Valley.
Leave the vanguard to us!
Tang Huis sleeves fluttered, and poison needles hidden inside them shot upward and poured down like rain.
"Agh!!!"
Its the Torrential Pear Blossom Needle![1]
A Tang Family secret poison weapon, it could fire dozens of poisoned needles at once, causing a downpour of needles.
It was notorious throughout the murim as it would lead to immediate poisoning at the slightest touch. Since manufacturing it wasn''t easy, it was considered a precious weapon even within the Tang Family. Using it made Tang Hui wince a little.
"Poison Phoenix! You bit ugh!"
The poisoned Evil Valley warriors running toward them at the front all copsed.
"Enough! Now retreat!" Nangong Caiyingmanded, praising Tang Hui.
Even if the Poison King doesn''t care about his daughter, I can still obtain a small favor if I take care of her.
Nangong Caiying was calcting benefits even in the midst of such chaos and acted ordingly.
"Show them the Heavenly Dome of the Nangong Family!
RAAAH!!!
The Nangong Family escorted the Sichuan Tang Family and their party forward.
"Damn it, they are being too much! Those rude bastards!" Chu Lian cursed when she saw them.
Even though they were all in the same unit, the Gold Will Sword Sect was being treated poorly. Not only did the other warriors not think about helping them, they didn''t even acknowledge their presence.
Because of that, the Gold Will Sword Sect disciples quickly became targets. Fierce experts who could have been from either the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult rushed at them.
"Die!"
"You go die!"
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword with unmatched precision. Every strike sent enemies toppling like autumn leaves.
He had seen many battlefields in his previous life, but this time, something was different.
Tranquility.[2]
In the past, he had avoided the gaze of masters and exclusively fought underlings, running off and hiding whenever he got tired. It was through that, and some luck, that he somehow managed to survive until the end of the war. Moreover, he was so lucky that even though he had been seriously injured, he hadn''t been crippled or maimed.
But things were different now.
There was no need for that kind of weakness.
Now, he was one of the masters and experts he once looked up to.
Captain. How long do we have to hold this?
Six of the Gold Will Sword Sect disciples who had followed him into battle were carrying three-foot-long boxes.
Although the boxes didn''t appear too heavy, the disciples, standing in the middle of the battlefield, kept ncing around anxiously, wary of potential attacks from the surrounding area.
"It''s one-use only, right?"
Yes.
Then wait a little longer.
The battlefield was pure chaos. There was no point in further distinction.
Everyone was mixed together and focused on attacking. Among them, one group stood out.
The Incinerating Murder Squadron.
Burn them all to death!
The Raging Fire Blood Demonughed, ying with the leg of his trousers. Thinking about the people in front of him screaming while burning alive, his lower self could be seen standing upright.
As the Flower Scattering Palm had said before, the Raging Fire Blood Demon was a paraphiliac who found sexual pleasure in burning people to death.
Khahahaha!
Die!
While the Incinerating Murder Squadron members weren''t as perverted as the Raging Fire Blood Demon, they were still psychopaths who enjoyed burning people to death.
Wherever they passed, countless martial artists were engulfed in mes, left to suffer.
"Kekeke!!! Look at them, look!"
"They dance quite well, kekeke!"
Some of the ughterers pped their hands, cackling as they watched the burning figures ''dance like butterflies.'' It was clear these men were far from sane.
They were the very definition of a nightmare!
The Raging Fire Blood Demon led the Incinerating Murder Squadron toward the summit, but soon after, a group blocked them.
"You bastard!!!!" Immortal Shang Ming''s shout rang out like thunder. His face twisted with rage.
The smile vanished from the face of the cackling Raging Fire Blood Demon as he red at the group of Daoists who had blocked his path.
"You bastards are always blocking the way of my sect, Kunlun!"
The Raging Fire Blood Demon snarled.
If the Demon Cult wanted to enter the murim, they had to pass through Qinghai, where the Kunlun Sect stood firm, guarding.
Even outside of the Great War of Good and Demonic, the Kunlun Sect and the Demon Cult had been fighting for countless years, fostering an unresolvable grudge.
Do you know how many times you bastards have interfered and ruined things for us? This time, I''ll burn you thorns in my side, and at the same time, I''ll get my hands on the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic!
That will never happen!
Information was crucial in war because a single piece of information could determine victory or defeat. The Flower Scattering Palm was particrly concerned about wartime information.
Since the war began, he had focused on receiving live reports, especially information regarding Immortal Shang Ming and the Raging Fire Blood Demon.
Hahaha!
He couldnt help butugh even while blocking fists.
The Flower Scattering Palms greatest enemies were Immortal Shang Ming and the Raging Fire Blood Demon. But now, those very enemies were about to die at each other''s hands. With them out of the way, nothing could hinder him.
"The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic now belongs to me, the Flower Scattering Palm!
Although he had been watching the teau from the start, not a single person had managed to take the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and escape.
While there were many warriors climbing to the peak, for some reason, no one descended.
He could sense how fierce the battle was up there.
Flower Scattering Palm also flew upward, killing anyone who blocked his way with his brutal Palm Technique.
"Fuck off!"
"Agh!!"
Of course, he wasn''t climbing up the teau alone.
No matter how strong the Flower Scattering Palm was as a member of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, he wouldnt stand a chance if a hundred people targeted him together. So, he had an escorting force by his side.
Finally, after advancing at full speed, Flower Scattering Palm reached the top of the teau.
If you value your life, you''d better give up on the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic!
Despite the situation turning in his favor, he couldnt afford to becent. He wanted to grab the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and flee quickly.
Flower Scattering Palm!
The battle paused as one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven appeared.
The faces of the Righteous Faction martial artists were tense, while the Evil Faction martial artists looked either delighted or regretful.
Flower Scattering Palm clicked his tongue, looking at the regretful Evil Faction martial artists.
Tsk tsk. If lowlifes like you were to cultivate the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, youd go crazy and eventually wont be able to avoid qi deviation. Dont be greedy, and just help me!
Understood!
The Evil Valley faction abandoned their greed without argument.
The moment Flower Scattering Palm appeared, they had already lost the rights to the battle. Even if they fled after obtaining the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, they would be caught in no time.
Flower Scattering Palm! As a martial artist, you aren''t sealing up such a horrendous demonic art and are just using it for personal gain! Arent you ashamed of yourself? a young man from the Martial Alliance stepped forward and shouted.
The Flower Scattering Palm turned his head.
"Little brat, who the fuck are you?"
They call me the Little Mount Tai, Gao Canzheng!
The Little Sect Master of the Mount Tai Sect? I can''t believe you actually made it all the way here."
The Flower Scattering Palm smirked, his expression calm.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that there were other talents of the younger generation besides Gao Canzheng present, along with the disciples of the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance sent to protect them.
"So the First Bud Sword and the Sword Flower. Where''s Nangong Caiying, and why did he leave you brats here in his ce?"
The Flower Scattering Palm looked around, as if he was searching for someone.
While Nangong Caiying may not have been as strong as Immortal Shang Ming or the Raging Fire Blood Demon, he was still a worthy opponent the Flower Scattering Palm had to be wary of.
He couldn''t afford to get distracted by the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and risk getting stabbed in the back.
"Senior is conquering the battlefield! His sword will soon annihte the Demonic Path and the Evil Faction, so you, the Flower Scattering Palm, should surrender obediently!"
Little Sect Master!
Hearing Gao Canzheng''s ridiculous bravado, the disciples of The Mount Tai Sect were terrified.
"What? You''re really answering a question like that in the middle of a war?"
While the Flower Scattering Palm was pleased to get an answer, he was also dumbfounded.
"They say that the younger generation of the Righteous Faction is empty-headed, and it seems that rumor is true. Do you even realize how thoughtless and foolish it was for you to answer?"
"Hmph! Even if Senior doesn''te, the leader of a mere Evil Faction is still no match for us! Offering you the chance to surrender is just us showing you the courtesy of mercy."
Thats right! How many moves can you really withstand against my First Bud Sword? Guo Cai also stepped forward, shouting confidently.
However, the Righteous Faction martial artists around him all had anxious expressions. The Mount Song disciples, in particr, seemed to be saying, ''He''s really messed up this time!'' with their expressions.
The Flower Scattering Palm wasn''t angered by the two talents attitude.
Instead, he was justpletely bbergasted.
"I don''t think I''ve ever met anyone as arrogant and stupid as the two of you in my entire life. However, it''s good to know that this isn''t a trap. I''ll finish you off in a single breath so you won''t be able to move those arrogant tongues any longer."
1. You may have seen this in Doluo Dalu. ?
2. ?? (o), or inaction, is a Daoist philosophy that notes one not doing anything on purpose in order to bring about a result but rather just allow nature to take its course and exist in tranquility with the Dao. If you want to see a more in-depth exnation, see The Undefeatable Swordsman Chapter 64. ?
Chapter 105: The Ximen Family (1)
Nangong Caiying had been taught by the Completion Sword Nangong Weiwu. Although he might not have been one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, his martial skills were powerful enough to beparable to them. Additionally, his cultivation was one of the best within the Nangong Family.
"Show them the power of the Nangong Family!" Nangong Caiying shouted as he shed through the martial artist blocking his path. Blood sprayed into the air as his de sliced deep from chest to pelvis.
RAAAAH!!!
With Nangong Caiying leading the way, the Nangong Familys morale was unwavering. No one showed any fear.
On the contrary, the martial artists facing Nangong Caiying were in bad shape, with most of them dying due to mistakes made out of fear.
The Nangong Family moved as swiftly as the wind andunched a fierce attack akin to a spreading fire.
Originally, they should have taken advantage of this momentum to defeat the enemies and reach the teau. However, they ran into trouble along the way.
Nangong''s Tyrant Sword! Looks like you''re still the same!"
"Who are you?!"Nangong Caiying stopped walking. As he asked the person to identify themselves, he seemed to recognize the voice.
"What, you''ve forgotten my voice just because we haven''t met in a while?"
Ximen Erjin (Tx)!
Nangong Caiying frowned.
The Thunder Inheriting Saber (׳е)!
Chu Lian, who was in the rear, immediately called out Ximen Erjin''s title.
The Thunder Inheriting Saber? From the Ximen Family?
Zhou Xuchuan recognized the name.
The Zhejiang Provinces Ximen Family.
A famous family of the Seven Gates of the Evil Dao, they were renowned for their fast and brutal Saber Technique. Just like Nangong Caiying, Ximen Erjin of the Ximen Family had skillsparable to the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
"Oh!"
Zhou Xuchuan eximed unconsciously as a memory he had just forgotten resurfaced.
Nangong Caiying and Ximen Erjin!
The Nangong Family was in Anhui while the Ximen Family was in Zhejiang.
The two Families were so close that they could almost touch each other if they stepped wrong, which meant that they had often interacted since ancient times.
However, since they were both representative forces of their respective factions, they were enemies, notrades, and their interactions were usually battles, whether with words or weapons.
The history between them both went a long way. Having shed frequently during their youth, that led to their horrid rtionship.
In the end, they fought their final battle during the Great War of Good and Evil and perished together.
Things might have been different if Nangong Caiying and Ximen Erjin had gone down in history, but since they merely fought day and night during the Great War of Good and Evil, only to end up as fertilizer, there was no reason for Zhou Xuchuan to remember them in detail.
It was only because Nangong Caiying was the son of the Completion Sword Nangong Weiwu and the younger brother of the current head of the Nangong Family that he vaguely remembered him.
Why is the Ximen Family here?
I havent heard any news of them participating in the war
The warriors of the Nangong Family whispered.
Since they were enemies, the two Families kept close tabs on each other, and there was no way that either side wouldn''t have found out if the other was going to participate in the war.
The Ximen Family hadn''t been on the list of people on the Evil Valley side of the Seven Great Powers.
"Isn''t it a little strange that the Evil Faction just let this happen? Let''s see Even at a nce, there''s probably a hundred of them.
Zhou Xuchuan shrugged.
It wasn''t as if the Righteous Faction hadpletely followed the rules of the Seven Swords War, and it was futile to expect the Evil Faction to do so.
In fact, the Evil Faction had gone further and secretly added about a hundred more people.
"You cowards!"
And to think you still call yourselves martial artists!
"Oathbreakers!"
The Nangong Family warriors fumed, their voices seething with anger.
Dirty Ximen Family bastards!
usations flew, but the Ximen Family remained unfazed. Instead, they snorted andughed.
"You''re such tightasses, as if you''re afraid someone might forget you''re part of the Righteous Faction."
"Are you seriously going to squabble over every little detail, even in the middle of a war?"
"Well, it''s no surprise, since you value being upright more than your lives."
That part is true.
Zhou Xuchuan found himself agreeing with the Ximen Familys usations.
The current Righteous Faction in the murim, after enduring a long period of peace, valued their pride more than their lives. He himself had once been like that. Only after experiencing numerous wars and facing inevitable situations did he gradually abandon the stubborn pride of the Righteous Faction.
Of course, he still had a line he wouldn''t cross, unlike the reckless members of Evil Valley who acted without any reservations.
"On that note, you''re lucky to have the Poison Phoenix on your side."
Ximen Erjin looked at Tang Hui and smiled unpleasantly. He had noticed her earlier because of her beauty.
Today, I will kill you and take the Poison Phoenix as my reward!
Ximen Erjin flew forward, the warriors of the Ximen Family following closely behind him.
Protect the Miss! Yuan Dasik shouted while leaving Tang Hui behind.
No mercy!
The Nangong Family and the Ximen Family shed.
Ha-eup!"
Ximen Erjin leaped into the air, swinging his saber with all his might. As expected of the Ximen Familys quick saber arts, his speed was extraordinary. His saber cut through the air, aiming straight for Nangong Caiyings head.
Nangong Caiying quickly raised his sword to block the falling saber.
ng!
Neither side was pushed back.
The two weapons shed, their force pressing against each other, causing them to tremble.
Crack! Crack!!!
An invisible current flowed from the saber, trying to seep into the sword. However, Nangong Caiying blocked it with his qi.
This was the representative Saber Technique of the Ximen Family, the Thunder and Lightning Saber Technique.
"In order to kill you, I sharpened and refined my saber, mastered the Thunder and Lightning Saber Technique, and even learned the Eighteen Inheriting Heaven Saber Forms!
"No matter what you''ve learned, your Ximen Familys tricks will not work against the Nangong Familys sword! Nangong Caiying growled softly as he swung his sword.
"We''ll see about that!"
Ximen Erjin quickly swung his saber several times. Not only was it fast, but its destructive power was also strong.
Nangong Caiying blocked all the attacks with his Boundless Heavenly Dome Sword Technique, the Nangong Family''s representative Sword Technique.
Hmph!
Ximen Erjin clicked his tongue andunched his next attack. Every time he swung his saber, the crack of lightning could be heard.
As expected of Transcendents, their exchange of blows was nothing to scoff at. In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged fifty blows.
Its not called the Boundless Heavenly Dome Sword Technique for nothing!
This was the Sword Technique of the Completion Sword Nangong Weiwu, one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords!
There was no way it could be mediocre.
Above all, Nangong''s Tyrant Sword''s cultivation itself was outstanding.
It wasn''t for nothing that Ximen Erjin had cultivated hard to match him. He grimaced to himself before focusing on the current battle.
Meanwhile, Nangong Caiying was also surprised.
This bastard. He really didn''t ck off in his training.
Each of Ximen Erjin''s blows carried a powerful force. Every time he countered, he felt the muscles in his arms tingle.
This is a problem.
Both warriors likely shared the same thought. Neither could predict how this battle would end.
The real issue for Nangong Caiying was that he didnt have the time to be caught in this fight.
If things continue like this, the Flower Scattering Palm will obtain the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
Immortal Shang Ming had gone to take on the Raging Fire Blood Demon. Nangong Caiying knew that he was the only one left in the Righteous Faction who had the strength to deal with the Evil Valley''s representative.
Although he had sent the younger generation talents up first, the chances of them defeating the Flower Scattering Palm were slim.
What should I do?
Nangong Caiying shifted his focus away from Ximen Erjin and looked around. Warriors were fiercely fighting each other all around him.
After looking around, he came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to break through to where the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was located. Everyone was in a simr situation.
Even if he eventually won this battle, it would take too much time. That time would be more than enough for the Flower Scattering Palm to take Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and escape.
"Do you really think its okay to look elsewhere while Im right in front of you?!"
Ximen Erjins saber swung up from below. Nangong Caiying retreated quickly, but it still sliced into his thigh.
Ugh!
Fortunately, the wound was shallow, small enough that he could still fight without any problems. It was just a line of blood drawn across his skin.
Pushing hisplicated concerns aside, Nangong Caiying refocused on Ximen Erjin.
This is the result, regardless of how it happened. I have to handle this quickly, and
Boom!
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
Before he couldplete his thought, he heard a loud crash behind him.
It wasn''t the thunder of the Thunder and Lightning Saber Technique or the screams of people that he had be ustomed to and ignored.
It sounded like the pping of dozens of birds'' wings, followed by a torrent of arrows raining down over Ximen Erjins shoulder.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, squelch!
Ahh!
Ugh!!!
The sky was dyed ck by a rain of more than a hundred arrows!
Nangong Caiying kept a close distance and witnessed the arrows pouring down like a waterfall with his own eyes.
The battlefield was always unpredictable, but this was something he could never have imagined.
"Just what the hell is"
Nangong Caiying and Ximen Erjin simultaneously turned toward the direction the arrows hade from as if they had decided to do so together.
"What do you mean, ''What the hell is this? This is the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher (l)!
When one tied a directed barrel of gunpowder to an arrow and lit it, the ensuing heat could send an arrow flying to a target in the distance. This innovative creation was called a firence.
This Multiple Fire Lance Launcher, as its name suggested, was able to fire multiple firences simultaneously when lit.
After making a hollow hexagonal box, tubes that could hold a conventional firence wereyered. Then, by adding a connected fuse to an opening at the base and lighting it, one could fire all of the firences at once.
Its range was about one to two li, and the arrows were arranged tightly like a, allowing for a wide range of fire.
"This is the special creation of the genius of mechanisms, Zhuge Shengji! Chu Lian shouted excitedly. Behind her, the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors were carrying Multiple Fire Lance Launchers at their side.
What are you shouting? Zhou Xuchuan asked Chu Lian.
That master told me to shout when I use it. Chu Lian replied with a shrug.
Well, it''s not a wrong statement
Zhuge Shengji had a strong desire to be recognized through his skill with mechanisms. Since the statement wasn''t wrong, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t n to intervene.
He really is an incredible genius.
The Multiple Fire Lance Launcher was a weapon that hadnt existed in his previous life.
It was understandable because, in his previous life, the Posthumous Genius Zhuge Shengji had been treated poorly and hadn''t received any support to work on new mechanisms.
While the appearance of the Three-Eyed Godly Thiefs Treasury has btedly highlighted the importance of mechanisms and gotten Zhuge Shengji some support, even that hade with many limitations.
The Zhuge Family had considered hidden weapons to be humiliating and banned Zhouge Shengji from designing weapons, focusing only on disarming mechanisms and traps.
The simple bamboo tube that was synonymous with the Sichuan Tang Family''s poison weapons was proof of this.[1]
"Who knew Shengji would be this scary if he was given money!"
Gunpowder was expensive. It wasnt something that could be bought with any reasonable amount of money.
The firearms of the imperial government had been abandoned for the exact same reason. The manufacturing cost wasn''t low, and its effects weren''t much different from that of a bow, which was why it was ignored, and naturally, the research halted.
However, Zhuge Shengji had not only revived the halted research but also improved it.
After asking Li Yicai to bring him all sorts of books rted to mechanisms and weapons and reading them all, he quickly mastered all the knowledge provided to him.
Then, he applied that knowledge to create something ridiculous.
"This, this"
Ximen Erjins face turned red. He was so shocked that he even stuttered in front of Nangong Caiying.
You cowardly bastards!
I know!
While Zhou Xuchuan hadnt fully grasped the power of the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher when he first heard about it from Chu Lian, he quickly recognized its impressive capabilities when he saw it for himself.
"The Phoenix yer and the Gold Will Sword Sect?
Nangong Caiying frowned.
He hadn''t forgotten the existence of those who had irritated him just days ago.
The surrounding battle paused momentarily before a flood of curses was directed to the Gold Will Sword Sect. Even their own allies despised them.
Now, listen carefully! This is the power of the Gold Will Sword Sect!
Zhou Xuchuan sold out the Gold Will Sword Sect out of fear that his Mount Hua would get cursed.
The owner of the Gold Will Sword Sect is Li Yicai! Chu Lian interjected.
A child would suffer the debts of the parents.
Chu Lian was worried that she and the others of the Gold Will Sword Sect would get targeted because of the attention they were drawing and quickly sold out the Head Merchant.
"They still have two left!"
The Ximen Family warriors grew concerned. They could see four warriors of the Gold Will Sword Sect pairing up and opening boxes to reveal two Multiple Fire Lance Launchers, each with the ability to fire a hundred firences at once.
Lets go! Zhou Xuchuan shouted and ran forward. As he stepped aside, the Multiple Fire Lance Launchers mouth came into view.
BOOM!
With a thunderous roar, a hundred arrows darkened the sky.
FuC"
Thunk, thunk, thunk, squelch!
Ahh!
Ugh!!!
"Agk!!!!!"
1. These bamboo tubes are more like blowguns, using either qi or air to propel needles. ?
Chapter 106: The Ximen Family (2)
Arrows weren''t a significant threat to martial artists. However, they were vulnerable to the of fire they encountered for the first time.
Exhausted from the fierce battle they had just fought, they had greatly depleted their qi and stamina.
Because of this, most couldn''t withstand the rain of firences as they normally would. Although none of them died, many of them ended up seriously injured.
Sichuan Tang Family!
Zhou Xuchuan shouted as he cut down the warriors of the Ximen Family.
Guard!
The short phrase flustered the Sichuan Tang Family. They all looked as if they didn''t understand what Zhou Xuchuan wanted.
"Follow me!"
Tang Hui flew through the surrounding guards.Miss!
Only then did the warriors of the Sichuan Tang Family move. To them, protecting Tang Hui was the priority in any situation.
Unlike the warriors of the Nangong Family, who already lost track of her, a dozen Sichuan Tang Family warriors ran forward as if their feet were on fire, quickly catching up with her. Zhou Xuchuan took the lead, followed closely by the Gold Will Sword Sect.
Then, the Sichuan Tang Family surrounded them, acting as their guard.
"Stop them!" Ximen Erjin shouted urgently.
You dare!"
Nangong Caiying rushed in to prevent him from giving more orders.
"Destroy that thing!"
It wasn''t just the Ximen Family who sensed the danger of the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher; the Evil Faction martial artists of the Evil Valley, who were surrounding them, sensed it too.
Zhou Xuchuan concentrated intensely as the enemy rushed in. He could almost sense the auras of everyone rushing in from all directions.
Woosh!
From the left, an Evil Faction martial artist thrust his spear forward. Zhou Xuchuan leaned forward and twisted his body slightly, his sword following the natural movement of his waist. With a swift, circr motion, his de sliced through the Evil Faction martial artist. The rapidly approaching Evil Faction martial artist suddenly copsed, his intestines spilling out.
"You brat!"
A barrage of attacks came without pause. He could see sabers shing and emitting rays of light from three different directions. Looking at how fast and aggressive the techniques were, the new enemies had to be members of the Ximen Family.
"Is this the Triple Lightning Strike Saber?
Although the technique had only three forms, as long as one imbued enough qi into each form, its strength was as vast as its technique simple.
This was the Ximen Family''s most basic martial art.
Zhou Xuchuan gripped his sword tightly, his upper arm muscles swelling slightly as he held the hilt. He harnessed strength through his physical and internal cultivations, and his speed increased dramatically.
Flicker!
He deliberately simplified his technique and used the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. Through his movements, he unleashed the first through the fourth forms.
Roadside Plum Blossom
Plum Blossom Butterfly
Plum Blossom''s Seduction
Plum Blossom''s Lead!
On the side of a road, a butterfly drifts through the wind. It begins to dance seductively, its beauty blooming like a flower and pulling one in.
Even if the enemy were to use the Triple Lightning Strike Saber, he was no match for a Harmony Realm Master.
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword cut through the air, leaving an afterimage. It was only after the afterimage faded that the Ximen Family martial artists dropped to the ground, their blood staining the dirt.
In an instant, three people had lost their lives.
The Evil Faction martial artists trailing behind or nearby flinched as they tried to attack.
"It''s been a while since I''ve seen that."
While Zhou Xuchuan''s face wasn''t visible, it was easy to imagine that he had a nostalgic expression on his face.
Before he regressed, he had fought against the Ximen Family during the Great War of Good and Evil.
There, he had experienced both the Triple Lightning Strike Saber and the Thunder and Lightning Saber Technique.
"The Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom!
Look at the base of his sleeve!"
"It''s a plum blossom! Is he from Mount Hua?!"
Zhou Xuchuan could hear martial artists talking about his sword technique. That was why he deliberately didn''t use the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
If todays events became known, he wouldn''t be able to avoid getting interrogated by the sect. So, he simplified the technique to avoid the hassle.
"Now,e!"
Except for the two who had the only Multiple Fire Lance Launcher left, the eight warriors of the Gold Will Sword Sect drew their swords and charged into battle.
Gold Will Sword Sect members were elite warriors, skilled enough to protect their own lives.
Chu Lian''s performance was particrly outstanding. She moved like a whirlwind, evading every attack and countered with her quick swordsmanship.
Her title as one of the Ten Gale Swordsmen wasn''t for nothing.
Ahem! How great!
Zhou Xuchuan was satisfied with the power of the Gold Will Sword Sect. It was the first time he had seen them fight like this.
While he had been a little concerned, it seemed his worries were unfounded. They fought so well, he didn''t have to worry at all.
As expected, the Merchant King''s skill in selecting people was truly amazing.
"Ugh!"
The Sichuan Tang Family was no exception when it came tobat prowess.
It wasn''t just because they belonged to one of the Five Great Ancient Families. Tang Hui and her loyal guards actually had particrly high-level skills within the family.
Every time their sleeves billowed and hidden weapons flew out, screams erupted across the battlefield.
"Agk!"
Among them, Tang Hui stood out the most.
"Miss, please leave this to"
"Move."
Tang Hui pushed Yuan Dashi aside and struck out with her palm. A quick, light strike hit the enemy''s chest.
"Ugh!"
Although no one was thrown back or even moved after being hit by her palm, everyone hit by her palm was immediately paralyzed.
Someone eventually mustered up the strength to remove their robe and check where they got hit. Instead of a palm print, a lotus mark was imprinted right in the center of their chest.
Crimson Lotus Poison Palm!
It was a rare and famous technique of the Sichuan Tang Family.
"Cough, cough! I heard that the Poison Phoenix''s techniques weren''t ordinary, but I didn''t expect them to be this"
Tang Huis hand was merciless.
Everyone had rushed in, assuming she was a delicate flower, but she turned out to be a poisonous rose. Moreover, it wasn''t just any ordinary poison; it was a deadly one. Each and every one of them lost their lives to her poison.
Tang Hui asionally nced at the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher as she struck down enemies with the Crimson Lotus Poison Palm.
Zhuge Shengji?
Tang Hui was also well-versed in intelligence. She knew the key figures of the murim, as well as the most talented of the younger generation.
However, she hadn''t heard much about the creator of the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher, Zhuge Shengji.
Just who the hell is he that he could make something like this?
Tang Hui swallowed her doubts and focused on the battlefield.
"The Poison Phoenix is standing next to Mount Hua!
"It''s the Phoenix yer! He must be the Phoenix yer!"
"What? Phoenix Shitter?"
Zhou Xuchuan misheard the shouter and went on a rampage.
With every swing of his sword, two or three people fell, blood sttering the ground.
Swish, swish, squelch!
A light shed and reflected on his sword de. Every time his sword qi flew through the air, screams erupted all around. He fought countless enemies, but instead of growing tired, his momentum continued to grow stronger.
"Ugh agk!"
"Just how much qi do you have?!
"Just go and fucking die! You monster!"
While hispanions were getting tired and their movements gradually slowed down, Zhou Xuchuan, on the contrary, charged forward like a storm and ran at full speed.
If he had just been running, it would have been different. However, he was flitting across the battlefield, trampling his enemies in every direction.
"Shoot it!" Zhou Xuchuanmanded the party behind him.
Chu Lian hesitated.
Captain Zhou! Are you in your right mind?
There were many of the Evil Valley warriors standing before them, but the problem was that Zhou Xuchuan was right in the middle of them.
Hurry up!
"Damn it, don''t me me if you die!"
Chu Lian raised her hand and clenched her fist.
"Quickly!"
One of the warriors braced the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher while another cut the long wick and lit it.
Although the Evil Valley warriors ahead noticed it, it was already toote. The wick had been cut so short that it caught fire in an instant.
Bang, bang, bang!
Around a hundred arrows shot out, raining down from the sky. The warriors on the sides of the group parted like waves, quickly moving to either side.
Those in the center, caught in the storm of firences, tried to dodge, but it was already toote.
The firences rained down, striking them from above.
"AGH!!!"
"Ugh!!!!"
"AHHHHHH!"
The unlucky ones were hit in the chest or head, while the fortunate few only took blows to the arms or legs.
Some of them used their weapons to deflect the arrows, but in doing so, those right next to them were either hit by random arrowsing out of nowhere or, worse, their des.
Zhou Xuchuan half-heartedly swung his sword while covering his body with a thinyer of translucent defensive qi to block the arrows.
While he could also unleash a sword wind to deflect them all, he deliberately held back from doing so as it would also reduce the amount of casualties within the enemies.
Impossible!!"
The group gaped in shock. Even Chu Lian, who had a rough idea about Zhou Xuchuans cultivation, seemed quite surprised this time.
I knew he was strong, but I didn''t think he was this strong
While Tang Hui was the only one who actually knew what realm Zhou Xuchuan had reached, this was the first time she had seen his cultivation in person.
Though she didn''t stand there gaping like the others, she was still quite surprised.
"We''ve broken through!"
Zhou Xuchuan gestured with his chin, signaling the others to follow.
"Forward!"
Tang Hui took the lead, theirpanions following behind her.
Ximen Erjin''s face twisted with frustration.
He hadn''t bought enough time. Even with the Flower Scattering Palm, he couldn''t predict what would happen if those people reached the peak.
More importantly, since he hadn''t been able to see anything, he was concerned about the possibility that Zhou Xuchuan and hispanions had defeated all of his allies in an instant, using sheer overwhelming force in one-on-onebat.
"Where do you think you''re looking?"
Nangong Caiyings voice cut through his thoughts, followed quickly by a sword.
"Damn it!"
Ximen Erjin cursed as he tried to swing his saber.
Ugh!
In battle, even between experts, taking your eyes off your opponent wasn''t eptable.
Ximen Erjin tried to deflect Nangong Caiying''s sword with his saber, but it was already toote.
Although he twisted his body instinctively, Nangong Caiying''s sword moved like lightning, cutting deep into his side. A burning pain surged through him, as if fire had scorched his flesh.
"Nangong Caiying you bastard!!"
Ximen Erjin refocused his attention on Nangong Caiying.
***
Meanwhile, up above, things were taking an unexpected turn.
"Damn it!" the Flower Scattering Palm shouted, his voice filled with frustration.
If things went ording to n, he should have been descending the teau with the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic in his hands.
Those Righteous Faction children weren''t a problem. It was the cultists who appeared all of a sudden that were frustrating him.
"If it''s those brats of the Righteous Faction, we can kill them anytime!"
"Yeah, kill the Flower Scattering Palm first!"
The Demon Cult rushed in aggressively as if they had met their sworn enemies. So, in the end, the Flower Scattering Palm had to deal with them first. He left his subordinates to handle the Martial Alliance instead.
While the Flower Scattering Palm was rxed at first, as time went on, he started to get agitated, as if he had ants inside of him.[1]
Who knew when the winner between Immortal Shang Ming and the Raging Fire Blood Demon would be decided? He also needed to buy time for his escape.
Even though it meant straining himself, he fought the Demon Cult with everything he had.
"Ugh!"
"Damn it, you Demon Cult lunatics who know nothing but pig-headed strength!"
After giving it his all, he was finally able to fend them off.
The more the Demon Cult was pushed back, the more they abandoned reason and relied on instinct. However, in return, their cultivation grew stronger.
The most annoying thing was that as their reserves of demonic qi grew, the less pain they felt, eventually just losing all care for their lives.
In the end, they all rushed in like they were deathsworn, making them difficult to fend off.
"Get out of my way!"
When the Flower Scattering Palm shouted, the Evil Valley warriors retreated.
"Hehe, to think the young generation of the Five Mount Sword Sects Alliance is still alive and well."
The Flower Scattering Palm''s subordinates did a great job of preventing the Martial Alliance members from escaping. Although the damage they took to do so was severe, the Martial Alliance suffered just as much.
There were only about a dozen of the Alliance members left, most of them wounded and exhausted.
I originally nned to kill every single one of you, but Ill show you some special mercy. If you just give me the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, Ill spare your lives.
Nonsense! An Aiyuan answered without hesitation.
"Not only do we not believe you bastards, who lie as easily as eating rice, but do you really think we''d surrender it to you in the first ce?"
Gao Canzheng added to An Aiyuans words.
Hmph! It looks like youre tired from fighting the Demon Cult, anyway. Fine, I''ll give you the same offer!"
Guo Cai didnt even blink an eye.
Hehe.
Augh escaped the Flower Scattering Palm''s lips.
"I showed you mercy since I was tired of fighting, to think you''d beg me to kill you"
A dazzling light radiated from Flower Scattering Palms eyes. It was murderous bloodlust that was iparable to before.
Hmph! Did you think we''d be scared if you said that?
Gao Canzheng snickered, stepping forward. The Mount Tai Sect disciples behind him were startled and tried to stop him, but he ignored them.
"Haven''t you all realized that the Flower Scattering Palm is exhausted from fighting the Demon Cult? He''s definitely bluffing"
Before he could finish, the Flower Scattering Palm lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant.
"Ugh!"
Gao Canzheng was surprised and tried to swing his sword. However, his efforts were futile.
The Flower Scattering Palm had already grabbed him by the neck.
Cough, cough!
Gao Canzheng wed at the Flower Scattering Palms wrist, desperately trying to break free, but it was no use.
"You dare?! Let him go!"
"To think you''d attack while we''re talking! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Guo Cai and An Aiyuan shouted.
"Aw, tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like those idiots still haven''t figured out what''s going on. I''m not even angry anymore; it''s just so pitiful. Just how did they live this long huh?"
Swish!
The Flower Scattering Palm gasped as he jumped back. A long sword scar cleaved through the ground he had just been standing on.
"Who are you?!"
The Flower Scattering Palm turned his head to the side.
Mount Hua Sect.
At the end of his gaze stood a young man holding a sword.
Zhou Xuchuan.
1. Lit. His insides began to dry up like a desert. ?
Chapter 107: The Plum Blossom Order Sword
Cough, cough!
Gao Canzheng coughed, his face pale.
"Zhou Xuchuan?"
An Aiyuan was the first to recognize him.
"The Phoenix yer, right?" Guo Cai said, giving Zhou Xuchuan a puzzled look.
"Little Sect Master!"
The disciples of Mount Tai Sect hurriedly ran over to support Gao Canzheng.
"What''s happening down there?"
"Why has the Phoenix yere here alone?""What about our reinforcements?"
All sorts of questions poured out from the Martial Alliance members. For a second, hope appeared on their faces before quickly turning into despair.
Not only was there no martial artist here who could take on the Flower Scattering Palm, but the trio who were supposed to be their leaders were also bing a problem.
None of them had the slightest grasp of the situation, yet their pride remained unnecessarily high. After Gao Chanzheng was captured, they had begun to contemte throwing everything away and fleeing. However, in that split second of indecisiveness, someone hade to his rescue.
At first, they thought an expert like Nangong Caiying had finally arrived, and for a moment, they could see a glimmer of hope. However, they were all mistaken.
It was the Phoenix yer of Mount Hua. The one who had won a wager against the Poison Phoenix by using cowardly moves, the coward hiding behind her coattails!
"Zhou Xuchuan?"
The Flower Scattering Palm chewed on Zhou Xuchuan''s name.
''Is he really the Phoenix yer? Then where is the Poison Phoenix?''''
The Phoenix yer was rumored to always follow the Poison Phoenix, so if Zhou Xuchuan was here, she should be nearby too. He wondered if Zhou Xuchuan''s appearance was a bait.
While the Righteous Faction boasted that they didn''t set traps, that only applied to fools like the three idiots standing before him.
The Righteous Faction also had its own strategies and tactics, tactics they used to the fullest. That was why they were so often criticized as hypocrites.
"Yes, I am Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua Sect."
Zhou Xuchuan straightened his back and puffed out his chest.
Hmm. I don''t sense any other auras besides that brat. He''s here alone.
The Flower Scattering Palm rxed a little.
Wait, then you''re telling me that the Phoenix yer made that sword strike?
The Flower Scattering Palm frowned, puzzled.
He hadn''t even seen where the sword strike hade from. His body had reacted instinctively to the sound of the sword cutting through the air.
It was only thanks to those reflexes that he had been able to dodge it. What troubled him was that he hadn''t sensed any sign of the attack.
Hmm. I guess I really must be tired.
Even though the brat was a swordsman of Mount Hua, he was still only a child. The Flower Scattering Palm reassured himself. There was no way he wouldn''t be able to sense the sword of a weakling swordsman like the Phoenix yer in his normal state.
"Phoenix yer. Stop making unnecessary poses and leave while I''m being nice. Since you haven''t made me angry yet, I''ll spare your life."
"The Flower Scatter Palm is being merciful today!"
"Know how lucky you are!"
The Evil Valley warriors standing behind him quipped one after the other.
"Hmph! I really should get that title changed quickly!"
Zhou Xuchuan sighed. But instead of running away, he walked forward.
"These brats of the Righteous Faction is it a trend among you to throw your lives away even though I''m being merciful? You''re really turning people into demons here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Flower Scattering Palm thrust out a palm.
His palm aimed straight for Zhou Xuchuan''s chest.
Swish!
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword without blinking, drawing a straight vertical line from bottom to top.
"Hmph!"
The Flower Scattering Palm held his breath, twisting his body instinctively. Moreover, the palm that had been thrust forward suddenly changed direction.
Why am I dodging?
The Flower Scattering Palm was embarrassed by his own actions.
This was a sword swung by a novice, not even an expert! All he had to do was deflect it with a palm wind and strike him with a st of palm force.
One move.
It should only take one move at most, two or three.
"Oho!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed, impressed by the Flower Scattering Palm''s reaction.
"They say that the Flower Scattering Palm has great skills. It seems that those rumors weren''t false."
The sword strike he had just unleashed was at seventy percent strength.
If it had hit the Flower Scattering Palm directly, it would have split his palm in two.
Something''s off.
The Flower Scattering Palm narrowed his eyes. Sweat dripped down his forehead, goosebumps rising on his arms.
I can''t gauge his cultivation.
If Zhou Xuchuan specialized in stealth like an assassin, that would be another story. However, he had never heard of anyone at Mount Hua doing something like that.
What the hell is he?
The two locked eyes.
There was a certain entric fellow in the gangho who once said, "One can see the soul of a person by looking into their eyes."
He''s not a child!
There wasn''t even a hint of tension in Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze. No excitement or hostility from fighting intent.
In fact, it was impossible to tell what emotions were behind that gaze. His pupils were as calm as ake on a windless day.
"Phoenix yer? Ha, you were fooling the entire murim!"
The Flower Scattering Palm had noticed something strange about Zhou Xuchuan.
"You figured that out in one second?"
Zhou Xuchuan was really surprised.
"Good. Then, I''ll let you have a really special second here," Zhou Xuchuan said kindly.
"You crazy bastard!" the Flower Scattering Palm cursed.
"He''s asking to be killed!"
The crowd had simr reactions.
"While your cultivation is impressive, it''s at best at the level of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes. Do you think I''m scared of you?"
Despite his unease, the Flower Scattering Palm med it on his tiredness.
"Phoenix yer! Unless you have a death wish, hurry up and get behind us!" Guo Cai shouted at Zhou Xuchuan''s back.
Unlike the Flower Scattering Palm, the Martial Alliance members still hadn''t noticed Zhou Xuchuan''s extraordinary cultivation. To them, Zhou Xuchuan was still the pitiful coward, the Phoenix yer.
"Phoenix yer, Phoenix yer you''re really making me feel like a Phoenix Shitter, here," Zhou Xuchuan trembled in irritation.
"Flower Scattering Palm. You''ll be the foil to changing my title."
The two warriors faced each other while stirring their qi.
"Here Ie!" Zhou Xuchuan ignored the voices trying to stop him and flew forward.
"Huh?!"
The Flower Scattering Palm, who had been staring straight at Zhou Xuchuan just a moment ago, was surprised when the swordsman suddenly appeared right in front of him.
"Heup!"
Zhou Xuchuan let out a sharp shout and unleashed the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. However, he didn''t give it his all from the start.
He tested the waters first with only about sixty percent of his full strength, nning to carefully study the Flower Scattering Palm''s techniques.
"I thought you were going to let me have a second?!"
The Flower Scattering Palm quickly moved, dodging Zhou Xuchuan''s strikes.
"You ignored my offer earlier and looked down on me like you were so great, and now you''reining?"
Zhou Xuchuan was dumbfounded.
"If you''re going to go around telling people you''re being merciful, handle things without worrying about your pride!"
With a shart retort, Zhou Xuchuan showed off his shy strikes, each one lethal.
How?!
The Flower Scattering Palm narrowly avoided the blows. One grazed his shoulder, causing blood to spill.
There were clear differences between realms of cultivation, especially once one reached the Harmony Realm.
It wasn''t just that one''s physical strength was different from those at the Transcendent Realm.
Not only was one''s physical ability greater, but the very foundation of one''s techniques also changed.
Even if one were the greatest expert among Transcendents, it would be nearly impossible to defeat a Harmony Realm Master alone.
"Mount Hua''s sword is invincible!"
Zhou Xuchuan bragged about his sect as if he wanted all of the others to hear. Yet even while bragging, his technique never stopped.
The Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom continued like flowing water. As expected of a transforming sword technique, its transformations were so fluid and dazzling that it made the Flower Scattering Palm''s head hurt.
"My master is the Gentle Smiling Swordsman Liu Zhengmu!"
Zhou Xuchuan also bragged about his master.
The Flower Scattering Palm is one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. This battle is bound to be a hot topicter. Then, I should make sure I raise my reputation as much as possible here. Let''s start by raising the name of the sect and Master!
While it was important for him to get rid of the Phoenix yer title, his master''s honor was what mattered most.
"How dare you insult me!"
Flower Scattering Palm''s face turned bright red.
While Zhou Xuchuan was serious, to the others, it looked like he was messing around.
The Flower Scattering Palm decided to use whatever qi he had left to escape. After all, the Evil Faction didn''t value pride as much as the Righteous Faction did. However, that didn''t mean their pride was utterly nonexistent.
Especially someone like the Flower Scattering Palm, one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven!
"I''ll show you the terror of the Flower Scattering Palm Technique!"
Finally, it was the counterattack of one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. Zhou Xuchuan switched from the offensive to the defensive.
"Heup!!"
A palm technique involved imbuing one''s palm with qi to strike an opponent. However, the Flower Scattering Palm Technique varied slightly from this existing principle.
While most palm techniques concentrated qi either throughout the entire palm or infused it solely in the center, the Flower Scattering Palm Technique worked by coating one''s palm in qi and allowing it to explode outward.
When hit by the Flower Scattering Palm Technique, the damage wasn''t limited to where the palm connected to one''s body, but also to the surrounding area around the point of impact. It was called "Flower Scattering" because its aftereffect resembled the shape of flowers scattering.
Oho!
The One Hundred Experts Under Heaven truly were different.
The palm approaching him, coated with an incredible amount of qi, felt quite oppressive. If this were Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, before he had reached the Harmony Realm, he would have been defeated without even being able to move.
That would have only been the case if he was middle-aged or even old. If this were his previous life at his current age, he would have died just from the momentum of the Flower Scattering Palm''s blow alone.
"Ha-eup!"
Those thoughts passed in an instant. As the Flower Scattering Palm exerted his full power, Zhou Xuchuan''s body reacted immediately.
The treasure-grade sword[1] Tai''e smoothly slid through the air in a long arc. The following sword wind tore through the air.
As the sword wind poured out in all directions, it collided with the Flower Scattering Palm''s palm.
"Ugh!"
Due to the nature of the Flower Scattering Palm Technique, it was pointless for Zhou Xuchuan to focus only on blocking the palm. The force released around the palm was also dangerous and needed to be handled.
Zhou Xuchuan''s response perfectly handled that characteristic. He released a sword wind that swept out in all directions, blocking the palm wind perfectly.
"What the hell ugh!"
The Flower Scattering Palm coughed up blood and seemed to have suffered an internal injury. His eyes widened in disbelief.
Now that their attacks shed, they pushed against each other without a single gap. The next step was a sh of their qi.
However, even the showdown of qi ended in an incredibly futile manner.
For the Flower Scattering Palm, at least.
He was a Transcendent Realm Expert who was just about to reach his twilight years. However, he, who was still in his prime, had lost the showdown of qi.
No matter how pure the Righteous Faction''s qi was, it didn''t make sense for him to lose.
"As expected, consuming elixirs early is important, after all!" Zhou Xuchuan said,ughing brightly.
"Even, even if even if you consumed an elixir for this to" the Flower Scattering Palm muttered through gritted teeth, his disbelief clear as his pupils trembled violently.
"Well, elixirs are meant to be eaten like rice, you know!"
"You fuc"
"Wait, you''re not dead yet?"
Squelch!
"Agh!!!!"
Zhou Xuchuan stabbed his sword into the Flower Scattering Palm''s chest and twisted. The Evil Faction expert was too injured to dodge properly.
When Zhou Xuchuan pulled out his sword, the Flower Scattering Palm spat out blood again and fell to the side helplessly.
Squelch. Squelch, squelch.
Just in case, Zhou Xuchuan made sure he was really dead.
In the past, he had nearly been killed by an Evil Faction member he had written off as a corpse, passing him by only for the half-dead "corpse" to spring up and attack him.
The Flower Scattering Palm twitched like a frog hit by a stone before finally dying.
""
No one who had witnessed the battle could speak.
It wasn''t the brutality that stunned them. No one cared about that.
"The Flower Scattering Palm"
"... lost."
The first to break the silence was an Evil Valley warrior. His voice was trembling, and his face was pale.
Just a moment ago, the Evil Valley warriors had been rxed, saying that it was a fight they had won. However, the situation had suddenly changed.
1. Previously, Tai''e was introduced as a king among treasure-grade swords that almost reached the divine-grade. However, here, it says honorable-grade. We''ll be keeping treasure-grade for now unless it tells us otherwiseter. ?
Chapter 108: The Plum Blossom Order Sword (2)
"Agk!!!!"
A scream tore from the Raging Fire Blood Demons throat as blood gushed from his neck, pierced by the tip of a sword.
"Grag-heodk!"
He tried to curse Immortal Shang Ming right before he died, but with his throat punctured, no words came out.
The Raging Fire Blood Demon, one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven and the leader of the Incinerating Murder Squadron of the Demon Cult, gasped, his mouth hanging open as he died.
"Whew!"
Immortal Shang Ming wiped the blood from his brow with his sleeve. The fierce battle that hadsted for over half an hour had finally ended.
"Sect Master! Are you hurt?"
Im fine, dont worry. More importantly, Ill leave the rest of the Incinerating Murder Squadron to you.He may have won the match, but the war wasn''t over yet.
What mattered the most was the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, not the Raging Fire Blood Demon. Nangong Caiying might be struggling to deal with the Flower Scattering Palm right at that very moment, so he had to reach the summit as soon as possible.
"Exalted Immortal!"
Just as he was about to leave, a messenger came running down from above.
Whats going on?!
Immortal Shang Ming looked at the messengers face and felt uneasy.
If it was good news, the messenger''s face should have been bright. Though it wasn''t exactly dark, his expression was subtle and ambiguous.
"That''s"
Tell me quickly! Immortal Shang Ming urged anxiously.
Zhou-Zhou Xuchuan killed the Flower Scattering Palm!
What?
Immortal Shang Ming''s eyes widened in shock.
Zhou Xuchuan turned around. While there were still some Evil Valley warriors left, they weren''t much of a concern.
The Flower Scattering Palm dies ording to history, anyway.
Immortal Shang Ming, the Raging Fire Blood Demon, the Flower Scattering Palm.
They were the main characters of the Seven Swords War. How could he not know who they were?
The Flower Scattering Palm had lost his life after being betrayed by his greedy subordinates during the investigation into the Tomb of the Ominous Demon. He also remembered that the Raging Fire Blood Demon had died in a bloody battle with Immortal Shang Ming.
"Oh, dear. Right. This isn''t the time to get lost in reminiscence."
Zhou Xuchuan scolded himself and turned around. As he turned, he saw the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance members staring in disbelief.
Sword Flower. Burn the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
... pardon? An Aiyuan asked after being dazed.
Quickly.
The war had begun because of the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic. If the instigator disappeared, the war would end.
What are you talking about?! Guo Cai barely came to his senses and protested.
"Have you forgotten that the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic is to be retrieved by the Shaolin Temple, Phoenix yer!
"I understand what you''re saying, but we''ll be in great trouble if we do things as nned. It''ll get hijacked during transport to the Shaolin Temple."
There were more than just a few of Twisted Melody''s and the Dark Heavens Association''s coborators and spies. Moreover, those spies had infiltrated deep into the sects, disguised as trustworthy high-ranking individuals.
If he were to entrust the Blood Muscle Tendon ssic to the transport team, it was obvious that there would be a higher likelihood of it being stolen than arriving safely.
Then, another Seven Swords War would break out.
That wasn''t to disrespect the Shaolin Temple''s arhats, but the Dark Heavens Association was stronger than they were.
"You idiot! What, are you desiring this demonic art?"
"Don''t be an idiot. I said burn it, not hand it over to me, didn''t I? We''re getting rid of it for the sake of peace."
Zhou Xuchuan sighed deeply.
Nonsense!
This time, it wasnt Guo Cai, but Gao Canzheng. The handprint on his neck was still red.
Gao Canzheng red.
Phoenix yer! Youre jealous of our achievements!
"What fresh idiocy is this?" Zhou Xuchuan eximed.
"Hmph! I was only attacked because I let my guard down for a moment. If you hadn''t interfered, I would have defeated him a long time ago!"
Gao Canzheng seemed to be even more shameless than Zhou Xuchuan.
Wow"
Zhou Xuchuan was speechless. While there was a difference between human faces and human hearts, he never imagined it would be this bad.
Even in his past life, he had never seen a martial artist with such little shame.
Well, those idiots must have all died in the wars, right?
Gao Canzheng, Guo Cai, An Aiyuan.
He had never heard of their names in his past life.
"I don''t know about the others, but to think you would be like this?!"
It was an exmation of pure surprise.
Didn''t he save his life? Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t expecting any gratitude, but to think Gao Canzheng was turning around and cursing him!
"What, are you referring to how you interfered without me asking for your help? I could''ve handled it myself without your so-called help!"
"Wow"
"You probably think I haven''t realized that you were trying to steal the text!"
"Pfft!"
What a thoughtful remark, so great that it elicited endless exmations!
The reactions around Zhou Xuchuan were simr. Even the disciples of the same Mount Tai Sect blushed in embarrassment at their little sect leader.
"We don''t have time for this, so let''s just end things here."
Zhou Xuchuan was so dumbfounded that he couldn''t even get angry.
He ignored Gao Canzheng, who was yelling and swearing and walked past him.
"Stand right there!"
Shing!
Gao Canzheng drew his sword, but before he could act, the Mount Tai Sect disciples standing behind him threw themselves in front of him, blocking his path.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!"
"Little Sect Master, if you keep acting like this, you''re really going to get hurt!"
"We understand how you feel, but think of the rumors that would spread if you talk about Great Hero Zhou like this after he saved your life!"
Zhou Xuchuan looked at the Mount Tai disciples with pity. Just how much trouble would they have to endure following a Little Sect Master like this
After wishing them good luck in his heart, he was about to take a step forward when Guo Cai suddenly blocked his way.
"Where the hell do you think you''re going, you Mount Hua piece of shit"
Bang!
"Agk!"
Guo Cai''s head snapped to the side. Only now did the simmering anger within Zhou Xuchuan begin to subside.
Now, the only left was An Aiyuan, but he knew there was no need to use the same force on her.
"This humiliation I will never forget it!"
An Aiyuans expression was anything but that of a typical nun.
From the look in her eyes alone, she seemed like a demon with how much bloodlust she was exuding.
Why does it feel like Im the one who did something wrong?
In determining who was in the right and who was in the wrong, the trio was clearly at fault. However, if one listened to their side of the story, for some reason, Zhou Xuchuan came across as the viin.
Zhou Xuchuan picked up the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic from the ground and immediately set it aze.
Captain Zhou!
The rest of his party had finally arrived.
The Gold Will Sword Sect warriors, covered in blood, looked as if they''d just fought a fierce battle.
Tang Hui and her guards were in a simr state, also covered in dirt and blood.
"What the hell happened here?" Chu Lian asked.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled faintly.
***
Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua Sect killed the Flower Scattering Palm!
The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic has been burned!
The first to hear the news were the two closest experts battling.
"What?"
Nangong Caiying and Ximen Erjin froze mid-fight, stunned.
"I-it''s the truth!" the Evil Valley warriors shouted as they fled down the side of the teau.
Now, themand over the Evil Faction forces naturally went to Ximen Erjin.
Ximen Erjin was taken aback by the eyewitness ounts that came from all over the ce. With no other choice, he quickly gave the order to retreat.
"Retreat!"
The warriors of Evil Valley cheered inwardly. Although they couldn''t rejoice openly due to the shame of defeat, they were at least able to save their lives.
Ximen Erjin!
Nangong Caiying. I already know you don''t have the leisure to follow me. It''s a shame, but we''ll have to postpone our battle."
Ximen Erjin also felt regretful that their battle had been cut short and promised Nangong Caiying that they would continue thingster.
"Well, don''t die!"
The Evil Faction members all followed Ximen Erjin.
As the Evil Valley withdrew, the Demon Cult, also hearing the news, reluctantly began their retreat as well.
However, only a few Demon Cult members were able to retreat with a sound mind. Most, having gotten too excited that they had already lost control over their bloodlust, stayed on the battlefield and fought until the end.
"What the hell is going on" Nangong Caiying muttered with a puzzled look on his face.
***
All of the gangho murim had their eyes on the Seven Swords War. However, no one expected it to end in less than a day.
What? The war is over?
What are you talking about? Didn''t the Seven Swords War just begin?
Immortal Shang Ming had faced off against the Raging Fire Blood Demon while Nangong Caiying was interrupted by the Thunder Inheriting Saber Ximen Erjin on the way to stop the Flower Scattering Palm.
When people first heard the news, they had expected the Flower Scattering Palm to have obtained the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
However, contrary to their expectations, someonepletely unexpected came forward and cleared up the situation in an instant.
"So another expert like the Thunder Inheriting Saber from outside the Seven Great Forces participated in the war?"
Yes.
Who?
Zhou Xuchuan!
Most people tilted their heads when they heard the name.
Or, they reacted with utter disbelief.
"Zhou Xuchuan? Wait, are you talking about the Phoenix yer?"
"No, he''s not the Phoenix yer. He''s now the Plum Blossom Order Sword!
Finally, his title of standing under the wing of a phoenix had been transformed.
What the hell happened? Tell me more.
"While the Great Void Swordsman, the Raging Fire Blood Demon, Nangong''s Tyrant Sword, and the Thunder Inheriting Saber were fighting at the bottom of the teau, the Flower Scattering Palm led his men to the summit. It was said that there were disciples from Mount Tai, Mount Song, and Mount Heng waiting for them there."
"Oh no!"
The Flower Scattering Palm was one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. Moreover, he wasn''t alone. Even the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance would have had a hard time stopping them.
People held their breath, eager to hear what happened next.
Just how in the world had those younger generation talents handled the situation?"
"Right at that moment, the rest of the Demon Cult forces reached to the peak, and a fierce battle broke out between the Martial Alliance, Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult."
It must have been a terrible sight!
The Flower Scattering Palm immediately wiped out the Demon Cult forces, and his hand quickly turned to the young talents of the Martial Alliance. And then, at that critical moment!
Gulp.
"Zhou Xuchuan appeared and shouted, ''I came to handle this! I will protect the peace of the murim!"
"Whaaaaat?!"
(He had never said that.)
"Then does that mean that the Phoenix yer, or rather, the Plum Blossom Order Sword, defeated the Flower Scattering Palm?"
"Yes! That''s right! And he did it alone!"
"Gasp!"
When word spread that Zhou Xuchuan had defeated the Flower Scattering Palm in a one-on-one fight, no one believed it, thinking that it was a mere exaggeration.
They all thought, ''Someone must have helped him.''In fact, members of the Five Mount Sword Sects who were there even imed that he had help.
However, there were more than one or two witnesses there, and it was eventually proven to be true.
Then what happened to the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic?
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword said that it was a cursed thing that caused a war of greed and burned it on the spot!"
"Wow! He really is a true Great Hero, a Great Hero!"
As was the case with rumors within the gangho, this one was also fleshed out and distorted. However, that didn''t mean it waspletely false.
Zhou Xuchuan was immediately revered as the Great Swordsman of the Righteous Faction murim, his performance so ster that his fame grew rapidly.
Moreover, the new weapon of the Gold Will Sword Sect, the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher, was also widely praised. Even the Ministry of Defense of the Imperial Government''s Department of Weapons was interested in it.
However, not all the fame was positive.
"I mean, does the Gold Will Sword Sect really deserve the title, ''Sword Sect?''"
"Tsk. They say one sells their soul for money, but it turns out that saying is true! Aren''t they even more cowardly than the Evil Faction?"
"It wasn''t even established by a martial artist. A merchant established it! I knew it would fall prey to the depravity of money someday."
"Hmph!"
The Multiple Fire Lance Launcher was well-received. However, the murim''s sentiment on it wasn''t so weing.
Naturally, attention turned to Zhuge Shengji, who developed and produced it.
"Young Master Shengji, public opinion isn''t very good. Should we back out?" Li Yicai asked.
If Zhuge Shengji wished it, Li Yicai would deny all ties to the weapon and hide the young master.
"It''s fine. I''m used to being cursed at. I hate having to stay hidden more than being cursed."
Zhuge Shengji rejected Li Yicais offer. He was used to not being recognized. Moreover, being cursed was the same wherever he went.
The only thing that had changed was that the curses had moved from inside the Family to outside.
It didn''t feel much different otherwise.
"Considering it''s the Zhuge Family, I wouldn''t put it past them to make something like that."
"Please don''t misunderstand. We''ve never even considered something like that."
The Zhuge Family denied the weapon outright, saying that it had nothing to do with them.
"But, who won the Seven Swords War in the end?"
"It''s hard to say for sure."
"What about the casualties?"
"About four hundred casualties within the thousand participants. Two hundred were also seriously injured. The remaining four hundred or so survived unscathed."
"From which of the factions?"
"Only the Martial Alliance and Evil Valley. In the case of the Demon Cult, they say that there were only a hundred survivors."
When the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was burned, the Evil Valley retreated immediately. However, most of the Demon Cult stayed and fought until the end.
It wasn''t pride that kept them from escaping, but rather their inability to control their demonic nature and regain their reason.
If I had to say, the winner of the war might have been the Plum Blossom Order Sword.
Chapter 110: A Blessing In Disguise (2)
Zhou Xuchuan was assigned a VIP room upon arriving at the Martial Alliance.
The first person to visit his room wasn''t a servant or a maid but someone he hadn''t seen in years.
"Young Hero Zhou. It''s been a long time."
It was none other than the Vice Strategist of the Martial Alliance, the man who wouldter be known as the Heavenly Strategist.[1]
"It''s been a long time, Vice Strategist," Zhou Xuchuan quickly greeted, surprised.
As expected of someone named the Jade Master! How am I supposed to go around with any confidence in the future?! It''s making me begin to doubt my own appearance!
ording to his memories, Zhuge Xiang was seven years older than him, meaning he''d be around twenty-five now.
Of course, it wasn''t as if he was expecting Zhuge Xiang to get wrinkles or anything since theyst met, but to think he had be even more impressive than before!
"There''s no need to be so formal when it''s just the two of us."Zhuge Xiang smiled softly. Zhou Xuchuan wondered how many people had fallen for that smile.
Anyway thankfully, you grew up well on your own.
There were a few things Zhou Xuchuan had to be careful of now that the future had changed. For example, he had to be careful not to let the key figures of history die.
If Zhuge Xiang or Zhuge Xiuluan were to die earlier than expected, there was no future for the Righteous Faction murim.
That was why, in his own way, Zhou Xuchuan was concerned about the two siblings. However, that concern really only covered their life or death.
No matter how much he wanted to help them, there wasn''t much he could do at the moment.
Since the people in question were so outstanding, they solved their problems on their own, and their Family also provided them with considerable support.
Moreover, Zhuge Xiang''s connections were extraordinary. He had already gotten close to the key figures of the Martial Alliance.
Since the only things he could help them with were in the future, during the war, he was worried about what he could do in the present.
Above all, there was another reason why he couldn''t help them easily.
If I say the wrong thing, I might end up being the one suspected.
Zhuge Xiang didn''t have Zhou Xuchuan''s memories of his previous life. He was still able to predict the future based solely on gathered intelligence and spection.
It wasn''t for nothing that the Dark Heavens Association had tried to assassinate him so many so many times.
His brain was that threatening to the enemy.
If he were to say something wrong to someone with as much intelligence as Zhuge Xiang, he might end up as the one under interrogation.
"I still can''t stop thinking about when we lost you and Shengji at the Yangtze River."
"I''m sorry. I should have immediately returned with Shengji the moment I saved him"
"No, on the contrary, I should be the one thanking you Well, I guess we should talk about thister. It seems I''m not in a position where I can talk for too long."
Zhuge Xiang smiled bitterly with a regretful expression.
As the Vice Strategist, he wasn''t very idle. In fact, since he was considered talented enough to be the Strategist, he had absolutely no free time.
They had so many things to talk about and not enough time.
How have you been? Have you seen Zhang Hong or Zhang Xuen? How is Shengji?
Though he wanted to ask a lot of questions, he had to leave Zhou Xuchuan''s room, struggling to swallow his regret.
"Then, get some rest today. I''ll see you tomorrow."
***
"Nangong''s Tyrant Sword and The Plum Blossom Order Sword have arrived at Martial Alliance."
"Hmm."
The Evil Valley Master scratched his chin.
It had been a week since the Seven Swords War ended. When he first heard the results, he was honestly more shocked than angry.
While it was irritating that he had lost the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic that was right before his eyes, more importantly, he just couldn''t believe that the Flower Scattering Palm had been killed by some young brat from Mount Hua.
"Just who the hell is that brat?"
The Flower Scattering Palm was someone the Evil Valley Master had trusted.
In the Evil Faction, trust meant ability.
Not only was the Flower Scattering Palm''s cultivation impressive, but his leadership skills and intelligence weremendable. He was a meticulous expert who never let his guard down.
It would have been different if he had been defeated by the Great Void Swordsman, the Raging Fire Blood Demon, or Nangong''s Tyrant Sword. But the Evil Valley Master was bbergasted to hear that he had been killed by some strange bastard.
"He''s only eighteen? Really? It seems a talent really has emerged from Mount Hua."
The Evil Valley Master couldn''t believe Zhou Xuchuan''s age. After multiple investigations, he confirmed that Zhou Xuchuan was only eighteen.
"His talent is extraordinary."
The Evil Valley Master''s eyes narrowed.
"We should put a bounty on him anyway, just as a precaution."
While Zhou Xuchuan certainly was impressive, the Evil Valley Master didn''t think he was worth worrying about.
"Idiot. If you were exhausted after fighting those dumb cultists, you shouldn''t have let your guard down."
The Evil Valley Master considered the Flower Scattering Palm''s carelessness as the reason for his defeat. He simply couldn''t believe there was any other exnation, especially considering how young and unknown his opponent had been.
"It''s a bit unfortunate that he wasn''t able to get his hands on the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, but that doesn''t matter. All three Factions took damage anyway."
The number of casualties in each force was simr. Although the Martial Alliance hadn''t lost any of their experts, that difference wasn''t enough to get upset over.
"It seems like things will be quiet for a while, so I''ll take advantage of this calm to clean up the aftermath of the Miao Family Sword Gate and the shing Waterfall Saber Gate''s shit."
The Evil Valley Master was still struggling because of the two sects.
***
The Demon Cult.
A religious cult founded to worship strength, it was one of the most powerful forces within the murim.
This "''strength" was present in both their ideology and their origin.
"Weakness is sin."
Strength!
This ideology of strength was taken to such an extreme that it became misguided. After all, they weren''t called "Demon" for nothing.
If one was strong, any sin could be forgiven.
No
Frankly, if one was strong enough, there was no such thing as sin at all.
The Demon Cult didn''t care if onemitted a crime.
They didn''t care if one killed someone.
Or if one stole.
There was never a case where the strong were held ountable.
In the Demon Cult, it was as natural as breathing for the strong to take or destroy what the weak had.
This simple, ignorant, cruel and insane image of power persisted for ages, continuing even to the present day.
Within the Demon Cult, the strongest would immediately be the ruler.
They didn''t care about character or etiquette.
None of those frivolous things mattered.
If one was strong, that was enough.
Their leader, the strongest of them all, was given the title of Heavenly Demon.
Xinjiang, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
Men and women were entangled without a single thread of cloth on their bodies, strewn across ny-nine steps covered with soft carpet that reached up to their ankles while making animalistic sounds.
"So, in the end, the Plum Blossom Order Swordpletely destroyed the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic?"
"Yes, he did!"
The Demon Cult had lost the most in the Seven Swords War. The thousands of Demon Cult warriors who had participated were virtually wiped out.
Still, there were a few survivors who had returned to the Demon Cult to report. They described in detail what they had seen and heard on the teau.
"He must want to die so much he went crazy."
The Demon Cult, unlike the Evil Valley, really desired the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic. They had wanted to use the divine-grade demonic art to increase their power.
While losing cultists or takingrge amounts of damage was irritating, none of that mattered. They would just have sent more forces to get the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
However, that important Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was now gone. Moreover, it hadn''t just disappeared into oblivion.
It had been burned to ashes.
"Kill him."
The Demon Cult began to chase Zhou Xuchuan.
***
In the Righteous Faction, honor, and even dishonor, was very important.
If a sect did something that brought dishonor upon itself, it had to resolve the issue with its own forces, no matter the cost.
If they didn''t, the shame would tarnish their reputation forever, a stain that would be remembered for generations.
The Shaolin Temple now found itself in that very position.
The Shaolin Temple had given birth to the disgraceful Blood Monk, and they were responsible for removing that stain.
However, in the end, they had lost to the Blood Monk and failed to handle their disgrace. As a result, that disgrace was still mentioned to the present day, four hundred yearster.
It was a long-standing grudge that the Shaolin Temple was never able to resolve.
Then, the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic appeared after four hundred years.
Although the Shaolin Temple had lost to the Blood Monk, the appearance of the Blood Monk''s legacy, a legacy that could bring about disciples who would continue the stain of disgrace, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to resolve the Shaolin Temple''s long-standing grudge.
However, due to various circumstances, the Shaolin Temple was unable to participate in the war. Instead, they had received a promise from the Martial Alliance to have the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic handed over to them.
"Whew"
However, Zhou Xuchuan had burned it in the middle of their journey to erase their shame. That wasn''t something that could be easily forgiven or forgotten.
The Shaolin Temple had now lost a once-in-a-lifetime, or perhaps theirst, opportunity to resolve its long-standing grudge. Moreover, the Martial Alliance was now in a difficult position because of this.
"That''s the current situation," the Completion Sword Nangong Weiwu groaned. The other leaders shared the same troubled expressions.
"Oh, I didn''t call you here to me you, so don''t worry. Your actions weren''t all bad."
Nangong Weiwu''s eyes, hidden by his pure white eyebrows, curved like a crescent moon and smiled kindly.
"If only you had considered things a little more before acting" the Hebei Peng Family''s elder, Peng Junping, muttered resentfully.
"Hmph! Asking those idiots to think before they act, hmph! If I were you, I would have killed myself immediately!" the Beggar Gang''s elder, Stick-Holding Beggar Huang Gou, said.
It was hard to tell whether he was joking or being serious.
Peng Junping, sitting next to him, turned to him and shot him a murderous re. However, Huang Gou merely shrugged, pretending not to notice.
"Yes, I understand the situation," Zhou Xuchuan nodded.
Not long after the Martial Alliance''s meeting had begun, he was called in as a witness, where he exined everything that had happened.
Of course, he only focused on the events after the Seven Swords War began. He didn''t mention anything about the moles before that.
His story wasn''t anything special.
It wasn''t like Zhou Xuchuan had been the only one on the teau that day.
This story had already been reported several times by others.
The only real difference was that now, the person who was actually involved was exining it.
While the reason the Martial Alliance leaders had called Zhou Xuchuan was mainly for procedural reasons, they also had to give the Shaolin Temple an exnation.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
By Nangong Weiwu''s side, an old man wearing a schr''s robe, called him.
"Yes, Sir Strategist."
The Strategist, Zhuge Zhonghu.
He was not only the Vice Strategist Zhuge Xiang''s teacher but also his grandfather.
Although he had originally nned to leave the general public after passing on the position of Patriarch to Zhuge Yun, he epted the Strategist position at the request of his close friend.
He was one of the few leading figures who had been active for two generations alongside the Completion Sword Nangong Weiwu.
"If it''s okay, I''d like to strangle you a little. May I?"
Zhuge Zhonghu was the one who had opposed the Shaolin Temple''s participation in the war. So, from his perspective, Zhou Xuchuan was the main culprit that had ruined everything.
He was so angry that he almost lost his temper when he saw Zhou Xuchuan.
"Rx, old friend." Nangong Weiwu said with a bitter smile, holding Zhuge Zhonghu back.
"Ha even in my old age, I''m still suffering because of a horrible close friend, and now even my grandson wants to kill me! Do you know how long it takes for those hermits to open their mouths?!"
Zhuge Zhonghu snapped angrily, massaging the back of his neck.
"Sir Strategist. You mustn''t get so agitated. Please think of your health."
Zhou Xuchuan was genuinely worried about Zhuge Zhonghu.
This elder doesn''t have much time left
Zhuge Xiang hadn''t even turned thirty when he became the Martial Alliance''s Strategist. It wasn''t just because of his ability, Zhuge Zhonghu''s age had also yed a role.
As far as Zhou Xuchuan remembered, Zhuge Zhonghu had died shortly after the Great War of Good and Evil began, two years into it at most.
"Could you leave this matter to me?"
"Child. I think you''re really misunderstanding something here. We didn''t call you here to solve this issue."
Huang Gou snickered in disbelief.
Judging from how the corner of his mouth went up, the elder was clearly mocking him.
"For now, as the culprit who fucked up, there are things we need you to report. Moreover, since it was your fault, you need to exin to Mount Hua exactly where the hell you messed up and figure out a way to appease the Shaolin Temple''s anger."
"Elder Huang, have you forgotten that we''re in a meeting right now? I hope you can be more considerate and careful with your words," the Emei Sect elder, Jingren Shitai, said with a frown.
Huang Gou grumbled and apologized.
"I have a n."
"A n? A brat with a n decided to burn the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic?!" Zhuge Zhonghu red up. He was ready to pounce at any moment.
"Old friend, please, please calm down. You should at least listen to what he has to say. Tsk, tsk."
Nangong Weiwu clicked his tongue, as if he couldn''t help himself.
"Whew whew"
Zhuge Zhonghu took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. When he was finally able to calm down a little, he spoke in a quiet voice.
"Fine. Speak."
"Well, it''s a little awkward to speak about it here."
"I''ll kill you!"
1. We changed his title from Vice Alliance Leader to Vice Strategist. That''s my bad; I misread it earlier. ?
Chapter 111: A Sword to Touch the Heavens (1)
"G-grandfather!"
Zhuge Xiang, who was waiting nearby, leaped forward to stop his grandfather, who was about to jump across the table.
"Let go. It seems I''m going to have to strangle him."
Huang Gou shook his head as he looked at Zhou Xuchuan. The other Martial Alliance elders reacted simrly, all appearing dumbfounded or offended by Zhou Xuchuan''s words.
"Plum Blossom Order Sword. I''ve been understanding because of your merits, but don''t try to humiliate us any longer," Jingren Shitai warned sternly.
Ah! What should I do?
Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan felt troubled.
He had chosen to burn the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic to prevent it from falling back into the hands of the Dark Heavens Association. However, he hadn''t considered the consequences.
He had anticipated the Shaolin Temple''s reaction, knowing they would be losing their chance to resolve their long-standing grudge. He had also nned how to handle it.After all, weren''t they known as the Strongest Shaolin?[1] As the greatest force of the Righteous Faction, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t afford to let their rtionship fall apart, especially with what wasing.
The problem was that he couldn''t carelessly reveal his solution here.
"Quiet."
As he racked his brain for a way to persuade them, Zhou Xuchuan heard a voice clear up the surrounding aura. The voice was truly intimidating.
Zhuge Zhonghu, who had turned crimson with rage and was shouting as if he was going to kill him, and the elders, who were whispering among themselves, froze.
It honestly felt like he had moved to another world when he saw them return to their seats as if nothing had happened.
"Fourth Generation Disciple of Mount Hua Zhou Xuchuan."
"Yes, Martial Alliance Leader."
Zhou Xuchuan answered while prostrating himself.
"Raise your head and look into my eyes."
When he did as the esteemed Martial Alliance Leader said, all he could see were Nangong Weiwu''s eyes.
Completion Sword Nangong Weiwu
That gaze was like a key that could open any lock.
The moment he saw those eyes, he felt naked.
One of the Ten Empyrean Overlords
There were only ten of these absolute overlords, and this was Zhou Xuchuan''s first timeing face to face with one.
A subtle shift urred the moment their eyes met.
The people disappeared.
The table and chairs that had been in front of him disappeared.
The ground beneath him suddenly vanished, as if it had caved in.
The slight breeze that had felt somewhat chilly had stopped, leaving no trace of its presence.
Instead, a cloudless blue sky appeared around him.
The sky.
He was the sky.[2]
"Do you really have a way to handle this?"
A voice echoed from above the sky.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t tell where it wasing from. However, the owner of that voice was definitely the Completion Sword.
The voice resonated widely, gradually closing in and pressing down heavily.
Starting from his shoulder, the tension spread through his entire body. Soon, even his soul, hidden deep within his chest, was dug out and pressed down.
Zhou Xuchuan did not reject the pressure.
He wasn''t afraid.
He wouldn''t avoid it.
He wouldn''t resist.
He didn''t care what was in front of him; he just stared straight ahead and answered the voice from above.
"Yes. I do."
The moment he finished speaking, everything returned to normal.
He didn''t know what he had just experienced or how much time had passed.
However, thest image before he fell into the sky suddenly returned to his sight.
"Then, it''s settled."
Nangong Weiwu''s stiff expression softened, and he smiled kindly.
"Huh?"
"Let''s postpone the rest of today''s meeting until tomorrow. Also, if it''s okay with you all, I''d like to take this child on a walk. Would that be okay?"
The other elders grew silent at Nangong Weiwu''s question.
No one said anything. Or, to be more urate, they were all speechless.
The one to finally break the silence was Zhuge Zhonghu, who couldn''t hold back his anger any longer.
"What shit!"
***
The meeting that the leaders had been racking their brains for ended without any significant results.
Well, it wasn''t over. Technically, it had been paused by the Completion Sword''s absurd interjection.
"That old friend wasn''t like that when he was young, but somehow, he''s grown more impatient with age."
Nangong Weiwu smiled bitterly as he sped his hands behind his back.
"No. To be frank, even I was offended, and I''m the one who said it."
Zhou Xuchuan scratched his head,ughing awkwardly.
By the way, where are we?
Nangong Weiwu had taken him for a walk.
After walking about half an hour north of the Martial Alliance Headquarters, they came across a bamboo forest simr to those found in the jungles of Nanman.
"It really is exhausting being the Martial Alliance Leader. No matter where I go, I can never rest properly with all these eyes on me."
"Is this, by any chance, a forest hidden through a natural formation?"
"Oho. Not only are you excellent at martial arts, but to think your intelligence is this extraordinary. You really are the Righteous Faction murim''s boon," Nangong Weiwu eximed in admiration,ughing pleasantly.
Then, the old man and the young men walked in silence again.
After walking for about another half hour, the seemingly endless bamboo forest briefly broke away, and a quiet clearing appeared.
Although the bamboo still surrounded them, an opening above let sunlight shine down.
"Don''t worry, there''s no one here except this old man. Can you tell me now?" Nangong Weiwu asked kindly, turning to face him.
"Thank you for your concern. I''ll begin right away, so..."
"Oh, rather than you telling me, let''s start with you showing me!"
"Start by showing you?"
The moment he asked, a sword flew at him.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t even know when or how Nangong Weiwu had drawn his sword, but that didn''t matter. He just had to react.
In the time it took for his brain tomand his body and his qi to surge and circte within his dantian, only a split second had passed.
He had never reacted like this before in his life.
When he came to his senses, he realized that he had unconsciously squeezed all of his qi out to form sword aura.
ng!!!
The moment the swords collided, Tai''e, one of the Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals, trembled like never before. It cried out as if it was in pain.
The shock traveled from the sword to Zhou Xuchuan''s fingers, sliding through his flesh and into his brain. It was overwhelming.
"...!"
He couldn''t make a sound, not even a scream.
His first thought was surprise.
His second was curiosity.
His third awe.
"What a good sword."
Nangong Weiwu nced at Tai''e and smiled.
It was the same kind smile that he''d had on his face since they first met. However, Zhou Xuchuan was overwhelmed by that smile right now.
The sword in the old man''s hand had no visible form. Normally, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword aura should have cut through the air above Nangong Weiwu''s hand and ultimately defeated him.
Questions led to spection, and spection became certainty.
"Formless Sword!"
A scream of astonishment burst out as Zhou Xuchuan''s mouth fell open.
Finally, the silence brought on by utter shock faded. Earlier, his thoughts couldn''t keep up with his body, but now, everything had caught up.
"Is this enough to surprise you?"
Nangong Weiwu tilted his head in confusion.
"What were you expecting from this?!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted as he hurriedly retreated. Sweat poured down from his entire body like rain.
"Your hidden cultivation."
"I didn''t intend to hide it from you anyway, Alliance Leader."
Considering even the Sword Demon had realized it with just a nce, there was no way the Completion Sword, who was still ranked higher than he was for now as one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, wouldn''t notice.
Zhou Xuchuan had already epted that he would be discovered when he heard that he was going to face the Martial Alliance Leader.
"Do you know how surprised I was after seeing you? Keke."
Nangong Weiwu let out a yfulugh, walking forward with dazzling steps.
Infinite Steps!
Zhou Xuchuan gave up trying to read Nangong Weiwu''s steps.
Usually, one could guess what kind of movement an enemy was making by watching their feet, but the Infinite Steps technique was an exception.
The Infinite Steps took advantage of this ''usual'' expectation.
It would draw the enemy''s attention and, just when they thought they had read the user''s intention, change directionpletely.
It was called Infinite because it repeated this tactic several times.
"Hmm? So you know how to deal with the Infinite Steps, then."
Nangong Weiwu followed Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze curiously. Even in the midst of this, his movements didn''t stop.
His sleeves fluttered as his hands quickly approached Zhou Xuchuan, slicing through the wind.
The old man''s hands were a danger that couldn''t be ignored.
Even without a sword in his hand, Nangong Weiwu made Zhou Xuchuan''s hair stand on end. Goosebumps prickled across his skin in warning.
Zhou Xuchuan moved quickly, pushing his footwork to its limits, barely dodging the old man''s hand as it reached for his wrist.
"Oho!" Nangong Weiwu eximed.
Flutter!
What?!!
Zhou Xuchuan, intending to stop, moved again in a sh as a hand appeared where he had just been standing.
Nangong Weiwu connected the movement of his hand with the Infinite Steps after missing his target and stretched it out once again like flowing water.
The direction, strength, and even the use of momentum seemed simr to him, yet different.
"You even dodged up to the Eleventh Form of the Neen Forms of Vastness?"
Nangong Weiwu couldn''t hide his surprise either.
"Hoho! It seems I''ve been toozy with practicing it since I considered it a hobby!"
A hobby?!
Zhou Xuchuan bit back a curse.
He was desperately trying to avoid the neverending grabs, using every ounce of his strength. However, to hear that the almost unavoidable attacks were just a hobby
He couldn''t help but curse.
He''s called the Completion Sword, but he''s pushing me, a Harmony Realm Master, back with just a grappling technique?!
Zhou Xuchuan almost got angry at the world''s absurdity.
"Ahem. This grappling technique contains my entire life''s learnings, so don''t feel too aggrieved."
Nangong Weiwu pulled his hand back and began to use a sword technique.
While the framework of the technique was the Boundless Heavenly Dome Sword Technique that he had seen Nangong Caiying use, for some reason, each and every move seemed more exquisite.
When Nangong Weiwu thrust his sword forward, it truly seemed to pierce the sky, and when he shed, it seemed to split the heavens.
Its speed was like a bolt of lightning, and the power contained in the sword was as devastating as a natural disaster.
Zhou Xuchuan had to pour all of his energy into countering that sword.
When he came to his senses, he realized he had unleashed the entirety of the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom in full force and was somehow blocking Nangong Weiwu''s attack.
It wasn''t the time to be holding backto be using the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom for the sake of secrecy.
He could clearly see that if he tried to hide his full strength now, his body would be torn apart by the Completion Sword''s technique.
Up until this moment, he had only ever shown the first fourteen, or at most, sixteen, forms. This was the first time he had ever had to use the technique in its entirety.
The Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom originally focused on its transformations. However, from the Fifteenth Form, the Consecutive Falling Plums, onward, the nature of Zhou Xuchuan''s Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom changed.
"Hmm?"
Nangong Weiwu also noticed it.
At first, the tip of Zhou Xuchuan''s sword shook. However, it quickly gained speed and left behind several afterimages, turning into an illusory sword.
From the Raining Plum Blossoms, it split into dozens of blossoms, increasing until it reached its peak with the Blossom''s Shadow Be Rivers.
Soon, countless techniques followed, and multiple Sword Flowers[3] spread out in a wide arc before rushing at Nangong Weiwu at once, aiming for vital points.
In a way, it had be the pinnacle of change.[/ref]The word change in Korean is made of two characters, ? (to change) + ? (to be). The word for flower is also ?, which is why the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom focuses so much on transformations.[/ref]
"A faint scent of plum blossoms with expressions of the illusory sword and the scattering sword, it must be the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. It seems you have hidden many things."
The Completion Sword, who didn''t even allow a single one of Zhou Xuchuan''s techniques to approach, smiled faintly.
There was no way that the Martial Alliance Leader wouldn''t be able to recognize the Plum Blossom Sword.
"I''ve lost."
Though Zhou Xuchuan had realized that the Completion Sword was merely testing him, he had still unleashed his technique while maintaining his sword aura.
Even though he still had some qi left despite that incredible expenditure, the result was clear. There was no need to continue.
Having judged that he had shown everything he had to show, Zhou Xuchuan copsed onto the ground, exhausted, stretching out as he took a deep breath.
This was the greatest defeat in his lifeaplete defeat at that.
However, there was no shock at all. He had experienced this countless times in his previous life.
"Already?"
Nangong Weiwu looked down at Zhou Xuchuan, half regretful, half dissatisfied.
"Bring any of your grandsons and have them endure for more than three seconds. If they seed, I''ll cut off my hands."
As someone who wielded a sword, he had respected the Completion Sword. But that respect had all but vanished after the fight just now, leaving only the faintest traces.
Looking into Nangong Weiwu''s eyes, who was still trying to tease him with a yful smile, Zhou Xuchuan''s temper red just as badly as Zhuge Zhonghu''s.
"Kekeke. I couldn''t believe it when I first saw you, but even after fighting you with my sword personally, I still can''t believe it. To think you''ve reached the Harmony Realm when you''re not even a fully-fledged adult yet. What a crazy talent."
Not even the Ten Empyrean Overlords had reached the Harmony Realm at the age of eighteen. No martial artist in history had.
"If it''s okay, would you like me to arrange a meeting with my granddaughter?"[4]
"Please don''t make senseless remarks."
"Ahem!"
1. ̩ɽ, or the Highest Peak in the Sky (literally Mount Tai North Star). ?
2. A reference to the Nangong Family''s foundational martial art, the Heavenly Dome Techniques. ?
3. Same as An Aiyuan''s title. ?
4. To see if they arepatible for marriage. ?
Chapter 112: A Sword to Touch the Heavens (2)
Nangong Weiwu and Zhou Xuchuan''s conversation ended uneventfully.
After confronting the young hero with his sword and testing his character, Nangong Weiwu questioned Zhou Xuchuan about his alternative n for the Shaolin Temple.
Once Zhou Xuchuan revealed everything, Nangong Weiwu understood why he couldn''t say anything.
"The Prajna Divine Art?"
Zhuge Zhonghu''s voice rose in surprise before he quickly shut his mouth with a gasp.
He nced around and only rxed when he realized they were in a secret location hidden within a Natural Formation, inessible to all but a select few.
"Now I understand everything."
Zhuge Zhonghu looked at Zhou Xuchuan and sighed deeply. His gaze was much gentler than it had been the day before.
A peerless divine art of the Shaolin Temple that was said to have been lost for hundreds of years!This was on the same level as the currently iplete Transformations of the Muscle and Tendon ssic!
Its ripple effect was iparable to that of Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic. The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic was a demonic art. One could easily fall into cultivation deviation while practicing it or even lose their sanity after being infected by its demonic aura.
However, the Prajna Divine Art was different.
Yes, it was nearly impossible to learn. But, even though it was difficult, one could still maintain their sanity while cultivating it.
Moreover, it didn''t even matter if one wasn''t able to cultivate it. While the Prajna Divine Art couldn''t be converted into money, one would be a lifelong benefactor of the Shaolin Temple if they were to hand it over.
If this news leaked, putting aside the Three Factions, even wanderers, hermits, and random people mighte out of the woodwork to go after him.
A peerless divine art that could instantly destroy society.
That was the Prajna Divine Art of the Shaolin Temple.
"Where the hell did you find it?"
Zhuge Zhonghu focused on where it hade from first.
While his anger had melted away like snow, questions close to suspicion arose.
"I found it in the Poisonblood Valley while I was wandering around the gangho."
"Poisonblood Valley? On Mount Ao?"
"Yes. While I was wandering around there, I"
Zhou Xuchuan shamelessly lied with a resolute expression on his face.
His voice was unwavering, his expression steady, and his eyes bright and honest, just like a skilled conman.
He had visited the Poisonblood Valley before, so it wasn''t like this was aplete lie. After all, the best lies always contain a hint of truth.
Since it was an unexplored area, it was easy to exin why no one had ever discovered it before. Moreover, there were witnesses to his entering the valleyone of the Seven Young Masters of Diancang, Duan Hecheng.
Zhou Xuchuan made a mental note to check how Duan Hecheng was doing when he had the time.
He even had four Lesser Cirction Pills with him as leverage, but he didn''t say anything about it. After all, they might ask him how many he had consumed.
He wanted to consume all four of them, but since his master had told him to return them, he
"You must have leveraged your Thousand Poisons Immunity."
"Oh, you already know about that?"
"Though rumors about you haven''t spread yet, there were more than a few witnesses. Everything came out once we investigated a little," Zhuge Zhonghu replied casually.
"Hm, I thought you were just a brainless fool, but it turns out it was the opposite. Ahem, I''ll take back what I said about wanting to kill you."
"No, Ipletely understand your reaction. However, I implore you not to let your anger rise so much. I''m worried about your health."
"Are you telling me to go get angry and die? Hmph!"
While Zhuge Zhonghu had a date with heaven, Zhou Xuchuan hoped he would live long enough to train Zhuge Xiang and Zhuge Xiuluan.
He would wee any others who could help their preparations against the Dark Heavens Association, too.
"Good, leave the elders to me. I''ll handle them, whatever it takes."
"Understood."
"Oh, and"
"And?"
"Ahem! Ahem, ahem!"
Zhuge Zhonghu deliberately coughed and paused. While he hinted at something, Zhou Xuchuanpletely ignored him.
"What a rude little fellow."
Zhuge Zhonghu stamped his feet and finally got straight to the point.
"Shengji, that stupid grandson of mine, how is he doing?"
"He''s doing well," Zhou Xuchuan answered immediately.
"Please tell him toe to his senses and study the art of formations."
Zhuge Zhonghu was busy raising the Martial Alliance''s Strategist and his sessor. He didn''t have the time to pay attention to Zhuge Shengji even if he wanted to. More importantly, he had given up on trying to convince Zhuge Shengji when faced with the boy''s stubbornness, which was stronger than the tendons of an ox.
"Do you have anything else you''d like me to convey?"
"No!"
Zhuge Zhonghu turned his back as if he had finished what he had set out to do.
"Xuchuanie," Nangong Weiwu called out after their conversation ended.
"May I ask who you''re calling Xuchuanie?"
"Aha. Well, it''s said that you be close friends when you cross swords, ahem."
Nangong Weiwuughed mischievously.
"Oh, and I have something else to ask you."
Is it about the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom?
While there were other things that Nangong Weiwu could ask about, the likelihood of it being anything else was low.
"Do you really have no desire to join our family as a live-in son-inw? You''d have to join at this age so I can still help mold your swordsmanship."
Nangong Weiwu was clearly interested in Zhou Xuchuan.
The title Plum Blossom Order Sword meant nothing. While people throughout the murim said that the rumors were exaggerated, it was quite the opposite.
Not only were his skills impressive, but he was also very clever with an excellent personality.
He was indeed the greatest, first-ss husband material!
The moment they had crossed swords, Nangong Weiwu had even thought about which of his granddaughters he should send to seduce him and bring him back into the family.
Fortunately, I''m the only one who recognizes his true worth. I should hurry up and snatch him before anyone else does.
He had even kept Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation a secret from his old friend, fearing Zhuge Zhonghu might try to steal him with his own granddaughters behind his back or use other tricks.
"Venerable, I''m a Daoist."
"Can''t Daoists be orabeonis and, eventually, Geges, too?"[1]
"No," Zhou Xuchuan said, bing serious.
"It''s really fortunate you haven''t joined the Plum Blossom Swordsmen yet. It''s not toote. Let''s get you married quickly before you get unlucky and forced into a high position. It doesn''t matter if it''s only an engagement."
Unlike monks, Daoists had the freedom to marry. However, that was only for the lower-ranked Daoists. The moment one entered a high position or was chosen as a sessor, it became forbidden.
"You know that the Infinite Steps is an incredible apaniment for Transformation-based sword techniques, right? If you ept my offer now, I''ll even teach you the entire Boundless Heavenly Dome Sword Technique. What do you think? Honestly, aren''t you a little tempted by my offer?"
The Boundless Heavenly Dome Sword Technique, which was only allowed to be taught to the main branch, was about to be sold as leverage.
"Oh, is it that you''re into older women? Well, there are a few olderdies in the family who aren''t too much older than you, so what do"
"Please, enough!"
***
It was decided that Nangong Weiwu and Zhuge Zhonghu would persuade the other elders. Since they couldn''t lie about everything, they mixed in a few truths.
Of course, they were careful not to let even that tiny amount of truth leak out.
While the Alliance Leader and Strategist were persuading the other elders, Zhou Xuchuan waited within the Martial Alliance. There, he received two letters, both from Mount Hua.
"End your cultivation journey and return to"
One of the letters was from the sect, praising him for elevating the name of the Mount Hua Sect while also requesting a report on the current situation.
The other letter was from his master, asking about his well-being and reassuring him that he didn''t need to worry, he wasn''t in trouble, and could return without concern.
Sniff, sniff.
His master''s consideration and concern touched Zhou Xuchuan.
"It''s about time I split up with that crazy woman."
Then, he went to the Tang Family''s rooms to meet with Tang Hui.
"The Miss is not here," Yuan Dashi answered awkwardly.
"Hmph, if this were before, you would have persistently questioned me on my motives. But now that you know about my cultivation, your attitude has changed. Don''t you feel ashamed about your petty little attitude?"
"You-you little brat!"
Mindful that they were in the Martial Alliance, Yuan Dashi lowered his voice when he got angry this time.
"Well, if you make a fuss for no reason, the Miss will probably poison your food or something."
Yuan Dashi immediately went silent.
"Wait, really?"
Although Zhou Xuchuan had said it as a joke, it turned out there might have been some truth to it after all
"N-no! The Miss is not that sort of person!"
"I can hear the tremble in your voice. Besides, ever since you started arguing with me, you''ve been going to the bathroom quite a bit"
Zhou Xuchuan had learned a truth he didn''t want to know.
All of Tang Hui''s guards had an unusually high level of mastery of poison arts. Zhou Xuchuan began to wonder if it was because the Poison Phoenix regrly poisoned them.
"Anyway, where did she go if she''s not here?"
"Ahem."
Yuan Dashi fell silent. The other bodyguards had simr reactions.
''What is it?''
Come to think of it, Tang Hui had been strangely quiet since they arrived at the Martial Alliance. Suddenly, Zhou Xuchuan grew curious.
"I''ll end up finding out if I ask other people anyway."
"... hmph. She went to see the Little Patriarch."
"If you mean the Little Patriarch"
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened at the unexpected reveal.
"The Poison Dragon is in the Martial Alliance?"
The Sichuan Tang Family had produced both a Dragon and a Phoenix in one generation.
While it wasn''tmon, it wasn''tpletely unheard of, either.
The Poison Dragon
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know much about the Little Patriarch of the Tang Family, the Poison Dragon.
ording to his memories of his previous life, he had just been an unremarkable person who seeded as Patriarch after the Poison King died.
The Poison Dragon hadn''t gotten much attention in his previous life because he hadn''t really done much. All Zhou Xuchuan had known about him was that his poison skills was strong.
"It would be better not to go see him now," Yuan Dashi warned, his facepletely serious.
Hmm.
While he didn''t want to approach the Little Patriarch without a good reason and risk putting him in a bad mood, Zhou Xuchuan''s curiosity was still piqued.
Should I just go take a quick peek?
Although there hadn''t been any special anecdotes about the Tang Family siblings in his original timeline, the guards'' reactions alone were enough to make him concerned.
"Thanks for answering me."
The moment he left the Tang Family quarters, he went outside and reached out to the maid assigned to Tang Hui.
"Did you happen to see where Young Lady Tang might have gone?"
"Y-yes!" the maid answered with a slight blush.
The other maids gathered around her after Zhou Xuchuan thanked her and left, chattering about how envious they were.
"Wasn''t that Young Master Zhou, the Great Hero Plum Blossom Order Sword?"
"It was! You''re so lucky!"
The Zhou Xuchuan, who had once been looked down on as the Phoenix yer, was gone.
In his ce, there was the Plum Blossom Order Sword Zhou Xuchuan, who had ended the Seven Swords War and burned the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic for the safety of the murim.
Not only did hee from a prestigious background, but his appearance had also be quite handsome after his Bodily Reformation. So, of course, he was famous.
Regardless, he followed the eyewitness ounts of those around him and headed to where Tang Hui was.
Since she was so famous, there were plenty of eyewitnesses to guide him.
As he went further, the people around him began to disappear, and the presence of humans gradually faded. After walking for a while, all he could see was a gloomy, windowless manor in the distance.
"This must be the Poison Institute."
After reading the sign, he understood why there were no people around.
The Poison Institute researched poisons and made antidotes. They also performed autopsies on corpses who had died from poisons.
Because of this, most people couldn''t approach it without caution, fearing that any poison might leak out.
Zhou Xuchuan stopped right as he was about to continue forward.
What is she doing?
He saw Tang Hui standing in front of a gate, staring at the main entrance.
She could easily go in if she had something to do, but strangely, she was just standing in front of the gate, motionless like a stone statue.
"Hmm."
Zhou Xuchuan considered approaching her to ask what she was doing but hesitated. Even from a distance, her mood looked unpleasant.
What was she thinking? Why was she standing there alone, silently, like that?
Questions kepting to his mind, but he couldn''t think of a clear answer.
No, let''s go back.
He decided to go back and find herter. If he pushed her too far, it might mess up their rtionship.
Thanks to Nangong Weiwu and Zhuge Zhonghu''s efforts, they were able to persuade the elders.
While they weren''t able to fully persuade them of Zhou Xuchuan''s ns, and everyone was left displeased, they still decided to let it go.
It was unclear why Zhuge Zhonghu, who had been the most opposed, suddenly took Zhou Xuchuan''s side, but they decided to ask about itter.
Nangong Weiwu kept trying to convince Zhou Xuchuan to switch sides by tying them together in an engagement. He was sincere in his efforts, doing everything possible to arrange meetings between Zhou Xuchuan and his granddaughters.
That was why he licked his lips and felt regretful when Zhou Xuchuan handed him a letter from Mount Hua Sect and told him that he had to return.
"Then I''ll go back, too."
Tang Hui also decided to return to Sichuan. It seemed that the Tang Family was also curious about the situation of the Seven Swords War.
"Don''t forget about that."
Zhou Xuchuan pointed at Tang Hui''s finger.
The Mind Qi Separator sparkled in the sunlight.
"Yeah."
1. You might have seen this in TUS, but Gege (Chinese for Oppa) is used in historical/murim fiction to denote the difference between blood-rted older brothers (oppa/orabeoni) and husbands/lovers (gege). Now, we just use oppa for all contexts in Korea. ?
Chapter 113: A Rest at Mount Hua (1)
Shaanxi, the Mount Hua Sect.
A sharp wind cut through the air like a de.
The rain that had poured earlier had now transformed into snow, with dazzling white powder piling up on the ground.
When Zhou Xuchuan stepped on thend he had longed to return to, a plum tree greeted him first. Following its branches, he saw snow plums in full bloom.
He had left at the beginning of the season and now returned as it ended.
"Senior Brother!"
He raised his head to a weing face. Even the scenery of Mount Hua in the West Mountains seemed to be diminished in front of the sight that was Mount Hua''s Number One Beauty.
Ugh, she''s so beautiful it hurts my eyes.
Tang Hui was Tang Hui, and Luo Xiaoyue was Luo Xiaoyue.Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know if it was because he hadn''t seen her for a while or if she had gotten prettier since hest saw her, but his heart pounded.
I''m still nothingpared to her.
Zhou Xuchuan was an attractive man, at least to everyone but himself. It was because there were handsome, beautiful men like the Zhuge brothers that he would always end upparing himself to.
It''s okay. My cultivation and connections are better.
For some reason, he found himself boasting about his abilities.
"It''s been a while."
"I couldn''t keep my promise, hehe," Luo Xiaoyueughed, feeling so happy.
"Ah."
Once winter passed and spring arrived, Luo Xiaoyue was supposed to go on her cultivation journey. Before he left, she had promised him that once she set off, she would go straight to find him.
However, Zhou Xuchuan had returned before she had even left.
Well, it really is impossible to predict how humans would move.
ording to the original timeline, Luo Xiaoyue wasn''t supposed to be able to go on her cultivation journey and search for her senior brother, as the Great War of Good and Evil was meant to break out right after the Seven Swords War.
He had expressed his regret to her before leaving, telling her it may not happen. But now, it seemed that had been a hasty conclusion.
"I''m sorry."
"For what?"
"Well, for some reason, it feels like I couldn''t keep my promise to you."
"Hehe, what are you talking about?"
Luo Xiaoyueughed at Zhou Xuchuan''s strange behavior. She was so pretty that Zhou Xuchuan took a second to consider settling down at Mount Hua with her seriously. He wondered how someone could be so cute.
"Do you happen to know where Master is?"
However, her beauty wasn''t as crucial as Master''s health.
"Yes, of course."
Luo Xiaoyue smiled as if she had expected it.
When she opened the door, like always, the same scenery appeared before his eyes.
Memories of his past and present ovepped.
Whether it was spring or summer, the air had always been cold. There hadn''t been a single trace of people, and aside from the bed, dust had piled up everywhere, like snow. Whenever he returned to Mount Hua from the gangho, no one was there to wee him. He had always returned to his bed alone, trying to sleep.
But now, things were different.
Yes, things were definitely different from his past.
Instead of dust that had piled up like snow, neatly organized items were ced around the room, and the floor that had once been like an ice rink was warm.
"Master, I hope you''ve been well."
Zhou Xuchuan paid his respects and gave his nine kowtows with the greatest sincerity he could muster to his master, whom he respected and loved more than anyone else.
"I''ve been doing well. You must be tired from your return journey; there''s no need for you to bow so sincerely."
"How could I be so rude when it''s my first time in front of you after a whole year, master? No matter how unworthy this disciple may be, I haven''t gotten thatzy just yet."
It was a scene that would make people who knew him doubt their eyes.
In fact, Zhou Xuchuan had never shown such a deferential attitude to anyone other than Liu Zhengmu. He hadn''t even treated the Martial Alliance Leader like this.
"You''ll make this worthless master of yours even more ufortable if you keep being so polite. Please, won''t you give me this?"
Liu Zhengmu smiled bitterly as if he couldn''t stop him.
"Understood."
Only then did Zhou Xuchuan''s tense shoulders rx slightly.
"I''ve heard of all of your aplishments. I''m so proud of what you''ve done that I walk around with my chest held high."
Liu Zhengmu looked at his disciple proudly and smiled contentedly. As soon as Zhou Xuchuan saw that smile, his heart swelled.
He thought it was fortunate that he had participated in the Seven Swords War without hiding his appearance.
"I''ve heard about your exploits through the reports from the other disciples, but I''d still like to hear about it a little more in detail. Although I feel bad about asking you this when you''ve just returned, do you think you could share it with me?" Liu Zhengmu asked cautiously, sounding apologetic.
There was no need to treat a disciple like this, but Zhou Xuchuan''s heart warmed at the kindness and consideration his master showed in caring for him in every possible way.
Zhou Xuchuan, who was about to cry for no reason, swallowed his tears, not wanting to worry Liu Zhengmu.
"Yes, Master!"
Zhou Xuchuan exined to Liu Zhengmu what had happened. He excluded the unnecessary parts and only highlighted the main points.
"The Thousand Poisons Immunity?"
"Yes, that''s right."
"I''ve been with you all this time. How did I not know about that until now"
"Well, there hasn''t been much poison for me to interact with here."
Liu Zhengmu had been very worried when Zhou Xuchuan mentioned his visit to the Poisonblood Valley. He was relieved to hear that his disciple hadn''t been poisoned or injured.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t inform him about his journey to Tibet and his interactions with the Lama monk, not wanting to worry him by telling him he had gone all the way to the far west.
Although his conscience pricked a little at hiding things from his master, it wasn''t too bad, considering he hadn''t outright lied.
He also left out everything about the shing Waterfall Saber Gate and the Miao Family Sword Gate. He made sure to hide whatever needed to be hidden and told Liu Zhengmu about everything else.
"You truly amazing," Liu Zhengmu said, gently stroking Zhou Xuchuan''s head. "I''m impressed. You''ve worked hard."
Though Zhou Xuchuan was no longer a child, his master''s touch remained the same.
Zhou Xuchuan epted the show of affection withoutint. After all, he had longed for this warm touch all his life in his previous life.
Even if he reached middle age, he wouldn''t reject this touch.
He would always ept it.
"Now that I think about it, you''ve grown a lot in just one year."
Liu Zhengmu was amazed as he recalled his appearance before his transformation.
"It''s my growing years, Master." Zhou Xuchuan replied, a smile tugging at his lips.
***
Zhou Xuchuan was known as a Transcendent expert throughout the gangho.
However, a few people had noticed his true cultivation.
Wu Qu had been the first, and Nangong Weiwu the second.
The third was Mount Hua''s Sect Master, the Exalted Sword Immortal.
"Ha"
You Riwen couldn''t close his mouth.
"What''s going on, Sect Master?" one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua, Sage Sword Xue Song, asked curiously.
"Was there a discrepancy between what that brat told us and the rumors going around the gangho?" Pill Apothecary Ling Zhen asked, tilting his head.
The other elders, including Iron Blood Plum Sword Shen Yulian, Destiny Hand Zhao Wuyang, and Plum Blossom Sword Captain Wei Zhijie, all had curious looks.
The Seven Swords War had been the most talked-about event until recently.
Naturally, Mount Hua was also paying attention to it. In addition to listening to rumors, they also investigated it separately and got reports about the war situation in real time.
However, since they now had the most reliable source, they no longer needed to search for additional information.
That was why they called Zhou Xuchuan back from his cultivation journeyso they could question him.
Mount Hua Sect had been shocked when they first heard of Zhou Xuchuan''s exploits.
"I mean, is that brat really that strong?"
The title of One Hundred Experts Under Heaven was not to be taken lightly. It wasn''t for nothing that people''s perspectives had changed, and he was given a new title.
The Flower Scattering Palm, trusted by the Evil Valley Master, had also been defeated by Zhou Xuchuan. Of course, it was assumed that the Flower Scattering Palm had been exhausted during the battle, but even so, it was an incredible feat.
"We need to appoint him to the Plum Blossom Swordsmen."
Even Wei Zhijie, who had no interest in anything other than training or missions, showed considerable interest in Zhou Xuchuan.
The reason why he had wanted to call Zhou Xuchuan back was to make him a Plum Blossom Swordsman. After all, Zhou Xuchuan was more than qualified.
Not only had he not caused any trouble during his cultivation journey throughout the gangho, but he had also helped people. His cultivation, personality, and general character were also impressive.
"They say he''s mastered the Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom."
"How can he grow this much in just a single year?"
"This kind of growth is impossible. Maybe he was hiding his abilities or simply hadn''t revealed his full strength before."
The second and third-generation disciples all praised him.
Even with the exaggerated rumors that were characteristic of the gangho, they couldn''t help but acknowledge his talent and skills.
What made it even more remarkable was that Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t yet fully grown. Once he reached his forties, he might even be able to ascend to the ranks of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
"No, it''s nothing. I''m just impressed by his cultivation despite his young age," You Riwen finally answered.
"Ah."
The elders nodded in agreement.
For the time being, the Upper Pce dismissed Zhou Xuchuan after his report, continuing their discussions. Now that they had received the report, it was time for them to n the next steps.
A few dayster, after the meeting ended, Zhou Xuchuan was called back to the Upper Pce.
However, unlike before, the elders were absent. Only the Sect Master sat alone, waiting for him.
"I greet the Sect Master."
"You don''t need to be so stiff. I didn''t call you here to question you."
You Riwen spoke as softly as possible so that Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t be nervous.
"You were exceptional even as a child, but I never imagined it would be to this degree. I''ve seen some of the best talents and geniuses in the murim, but this is the first time I''ve met someone as special as you," the Sect Master said, his voice a mix of surprise and admiration.
"You''re not even twenty yet, but you''ve already reached the Harmony Realm? My jaw dropped in surprise when I saw you a few days ago, and I haven''t been able to close it since."
Whew!
Zhou Xuchuan let out a sigh of relief.
He already knew that the Sect Master would notice his realm. What he had really been worried about was whether or not the Sect Master would sense the Violet Haze Divine Art.
However, the Violet Haze Divine Art''s stealth abilities, or rather, its ability to remain hidden unless it was being circted, was more outstanding than he had thought.
It had managed to evade even the gaze of the Sect Master, who cultivated the same technique!
"When did you reach the Harmony Realm?"
"About half a year ago, while I was on my cultivation journey. I was lucky enough to attain enlightenment and ascend."
"What a rare stroke of luck. I wonder if such luck can be found even once in a lifetime"
In truth, Zhou Xuchuan had ascended after consuming an elixir and preparing himself, but he chose not to share that part.
"What kind of Dao did you attain?"
Zhou Xuchuan flinched and thought hard.
Well, I just ate an elixir and ascended
Since no one would believe the truth, even if it were beaten out of him, he tried to recall his memories of reaching the Harmony Realm in his previous life and answered roughly, but convincingly.
"I felt a longing between life and death, and when I let go of everything, I saw a sword among falling plum blossoms."
"Good. Mount Hua is filled with plum blossoms and swords, after all. No matter what situation you''re in, the swords and the plum blossomsdon''t forget these two things," You Riwen said meaningfully, smiling with contentment.
Zhou Xuchuan kept those words in mind.
The teachings of one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords weren''t something one could buy with a thousand pieces of gold.
"You''ve been to Hefei, so the Martial Alliance Leader must have noticed, too."
"Yes."
"And he didn''t say anything weird about stealing you away?"
"He said all sorts of things, like introducing me to his granddaughter. He even asked me how I felt about changing my name from Zhou Xuchuan to Nangong Xuchuan."
"Hohoho!"
You Riwenughed as if he had expected it.
"What a ridiculous question. How could someone who''s going to be the Mount Hua Sect''s next Sect Master get married?"
"Huh?"
Zhou Xuchuan momentarily doubted his ears.
"I only have one master."
"Being the Sect Master doesn''t necessarily mean that you have to be the previous Sect Master''s disciple."
Zhou Xuchuan also knew this.
It wasn''tmon, but there was a precedent.
"There are many children like you who show their geniuste in life. If they''re worthy of being recognized as a Sect Master candidate, they''re exempted from having to take the Sect Master as their master and are still taught the Violet Haze Divine Art."
If Zhou Xuchuan continued to prove himself and was eptedter on, he would be confirmed as the next Sect Master, regardless of his lineage.
Then, the condition of being the Sect Master or the Sect Master sessor to learn the Violet Haze Divine Art would have also been met, which got rid of that problem for him.
"I appreciate that the Sect Master thinks so highly of me, but I will have to decline."
Still, Zhou Xuchuan declined without a moment''s hesitation.
Chapter 114: A Rest at Mount Hua (2)
"Can''t you think about it a little?"
"Honestly, it''s not that I haven''t desired it before. However, I''m well aware of my own limitations."
Sect Master.
Moreover, the Sect Master of the Mount Hua Sect of the Nine Sects and One Gang.
It would be a lie to say that he had never desired the position. After all, it''s something everyone has dreamed of having at least once.
However, befitting a role of such stature, only a select few had the ability to hold that position, and Zhou Xuchuan knew he wasn''t one of them.
Someone like me isn''t qualified to be the Sect Master.
The only reason he seemed better than others was because he was cheating with a second life. Other than that, he had no merits.
Yes, in his previous life, he had be one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua. However, that wasn''t through talent, as he didn''t have any. He had only reached that position by chance, not because he had any real ability.Zhou Xuchuan had reminded himself of that fact several times after returning so that he wouldn''t forget it.
He had to make sure he remembered that, in the end, he himself was nothing special.
Just lucky.
Even if he started out in a more advantageous position than others, if he becamecent because of his newfound strength, he would fall behind and copse.
He had to be careful about this fact.
Over and over again.
Most importantly, it''s too difficult!
The pressure of responsibility.
Zhou Xuchuan also didn''t like his freedom being limited. He wanted to live freely, as he wanted.
"Besides, I think that there''s someone more suitable than me for the position."
"Hmph! I don''t know if it''s because youck ambition or because you''re not greedy enough, but"
You Riwen sighed regretfully.
While he still had a hint of hope in his eyes, Zhou Xuchuan was so firm with his stance that You Riwen gave up.
"Follow me. Since Mount Hua''s Greatest Fortune hase all this way, I can''t let you leave empty-handed. I''m in a good mood, so let me teach you a sword."
"I was already bullied by the Alliance Leader before I returned. Please show mercy."
"I''m just teaching you the Twenty-Four Sword Forms, don''t worry. To think you reached all the way to the Harmony Realm with just the Fourteen Sword Forms."
Zhou Xuchuan had actually already mastered all of them, but had kept it a secret.
Great!
Now, he could officially(?) use the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.[1]
Zhou Xuchuan decided to pretend to learn them while acting.
***
After that day, You Riwen taught Zhou Xuchuan the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom whenever he had the time.
At first, Zhou Xuchuan was just going to act, but when You Riwen began to teach him seriously, he epted each and every lesson wholeheartedly.
No matter how much of the sword technique he may have mastered, there were differences between the technique he had taught himself and the technique taught by one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
You Riwen didn''t keep the fact that he was teaching Zhou Xuchuan a secret.
While rumors began to spread right away, it was properly exined as a reward for earning merit and raising the reputation of the sect.
It wasmon for a Sect Master to teach techniques to disciples he liked, so there were no strange spections.
Then, about half a monthter
"Did you say that things have only been half solved?"
"Yes," Ling Zhen answered while pressing various parts of Zhou Xuchuan''s body.
Since the moment he had returned to Mount Hua, Ling Zhen had been forcibly dragging him around and kept taking his pulse with the excuse of wanting to inspect the Thousand Poisons Immunity.
"There are more than one or two bastards who have a grudge against you for burning the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic."
There were actually quite a few Demon Heads outside Mount Hua shouting how Zhou Xuchuan had burned their property.
And although the war onlysted a day, hadn''t it already broken the peace? That was the starting point, and now, everything that had been held together by a fragile tension was slowly copsing.
The first time was hard, but the second became easy.
The Righteous Dao, Evil Dao, and Demonic Dao.
The bnce that the three had maintained had copsed for the first time.
It makes sense. The Dark Heavens Association isn''t the type to let this go.
The Dark Heavens Association didn''t copse in despair because of their failure but immediately prepared their next best operation.
They most likely had been constantly moving their informants around, fanning the mes of war.
"Not just you, but all of the disciples who are out in the gangho areing back. It''s absolute chaos outside the sect right now."
"Then what happens next?"
"While the decision hasn''t been finalized, they''ll probably decide that all disciples will train within the sect for the next six months to a year. It''s not like we can keep you all within the sect forever."
"I see."
It was a blessing in disguise. Putting aside the frustration, there was still much to do in order to deal with the Dark Heavens Association.
Zhou Xuchuan could endure things for six months to a year.
While he would find a way to leave if thingssted longer than that, until then, there were things he could still prepare for even if he was stuck within Mount Hua.
There were also the lessons with the Sect Master, the Exalted Sword Immortal. It wasn''t all that bad.
"More than that"
Ling Zhen''s eyes narrowed.
"You. Did you consume another elixir while you were on your cultivation journey?"
"Was I caught?"
"I''ve taken your pulse more times than your own master. Not only has your cultivation increased, but there have also been changes within your meridians. It seems like you didn''t just increase your qi with elixirs."
"How perceptive."
"My title is Pill Apothecary. But are you eating them all by yourself? Leave some for this old man!"
"I just happened to be lucky and found a few. Besides, where can one easily find elixirs?"
"Hmph. I guess you''re right."
"Ha I also want to be able to find elixirs easily!"
Zhou Xuchuan was being absolutely shameless.
***
Zhou Xuchuan stretched out under a plum tree, his eyes closed.
In that moment, he had no thoughts.
No worries about the future, no organizing of memories from the past.
The wind brushing past by his head was chilly, but thanks to the warm winter sun, he didn''t feel any cold.
The sunlight beaming from overhead filled him with a warmth that made him feel drowsy.
All the usual sounds of swords being swung and people''s whispers had vanished.
He rested, embracing the moment of reprieve, where he thought of nothing and simply enjoyed the silence around him.
"Senior brother."
Just as he was about to take a nap, an intruder appeared.
He cracked open one eye and saw a familiar face.
Luo Xiaoyue dropped the letters in her hand onto his head.
Letters dropped down like falling leaves, blocking his vision.
"Do you have any problems with this senior brother of yours?"
"Don''t you think you''ve be a littlezytely?"
"I can proudly say that I have been more diligent and sincere than anyone else. I only take breaks like this every now and then."
Still sprawled out, Zhou Xuchuan raised his upper body slightly and checked the letters that had fallen haphazardly on hisp.
Half of them were from the Gold Will Merchants, and the other half were from the Martial Alliance.
Has the Sword Demon''s daughter settled down safely?
ording to the letter sent by Wu Qu, Li Yicai weed him grandly upon his arrival in Shandong.
Not only had Li Yicai appointed Wu Qu as the Drillmaster, but he had also assigned Wu Zhenhua a famous doctor to take care of her health and a bodyguard.
Wu Qu wrote that Wu Zhenhua was getting the best treatment possible and expressed his gratitude for the care he had received.
He added that Zhou Xuchuan should just let him know if there was anything he could do to help him.
And as expected, the imperial government approached us.
It seemed that the Ministry of War had shown interest in the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher and had even sent someone to take one of the finished products.
Zhou Xuchuan had a rough idea of what it was for.
The imperial government would likely use them in battles against the Mongols, who regrly eyed the Central ins from the north.
There was no reason to reject the offer just because they weren''t on good termsthe government wouldn''t attack the Martial Alliance with the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher.
On the contrary, Zhuge Shengji, the creator of the weapon, weed the fact that others recognized and needed what he had created.
He had given his approval as long as his name was kept on the weapon and handed it over.
Meanwhile, the Gold Will Sword Sect, from the First Corps to the Third, was steadily growing in power.
And now, the Martial Alliance
While Zhou Xuchuan had a rough idea of what the Gold Will Merchants wanted to report, he had no clue what the Martial Alliance had sent.
His curiosity piqued.
It''s not because she''s my granddaughter, but she really is a suitable candidate, and
"This elder is really crazy."
The letter hade from the Martial Alliance Leader, not the Martial Alliance.
"What''s with the tired expression?"
"It''s nothing, just a request for an arranged date. I think he wants to introduce me to all of the women in the Nangong Family."
Zhou Xuchuan shook his head.
""
Luo Xiaoyue flinched at the words, ''arranged date.''
Her face, which had been bright a moment ago, darkened slightly.
Zhou Xuchuan, who had been mumbling without much thought, noticed the change in her expression and grew concerned.
"Gasp, are you, by chance, actually worried that I might be taken away?"
She doesn''t look too good. Is there something wrong?
Zzzt.
''Oh no!''
Luo Xiaoyue said the opposite of what she really felt, btedly reacting after a moment of silence.
"N-no, of course not!" she stuttered as her face, neck, and ears turned red.
She could feel her temperature rising, and it was adorable how she desperately tried to cover her face with her sleeves.
"This is just my advice, but don''t show this side of yourself too often. Not only men, but even women would go crazy seeing you like this."
"Please don''t say such weird things."
Luo Xiaoyue fanned herself, feeling hot. Her face was still flushed, but she turned to the side, as if trying to hide it.
Thump. Thump.
Zhou Xuchuan''s heart, which didn''t move much unless he was fighting an expert, began to race as if he were excited. It wasn''t an unpleasant feeling.
In his whirlwind of emotions, he began to circte his Daoist cultivation method subconsciously to try to maintain hisposure, to no avail.
He knew what this feeling was.
However, he wasn''t used to it, so he couldn''t figure out how to describe it.
Above all, thest time he had felt like this was so long ago. The memory was foggy and hazy.
A memory from decades ago. Zhou Xuchuan wondered how things had ended then.
Although he didn''t remember the details, he could at least remember that he hadn''t gotten what he wanted.
Instead of warmth, only loneliness remained.
If things had ended well, he most likely would have thought of that person''s face before his death in his previous life.
Had it really been love? Or had it been liking mistaken for love?
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know the right answer.
"S-senior brother if you look at me like that, I-I"
"You want to spar, right?"
"Yes. I want to spar huh?"
Both Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue blinked in confusion, then looked around.
"Kyaaaaa!!!"
Shen Yulian was standing in front of them.
"I''m not a ghost, Zhou Xuchuan."
Shen Yulian frowned and red at Zhou Xuchuan.
"Senior brother, calm down. It''s my master."
Luo Xiaoyue patted his back as if to calm him down.
"I-I''m sorry, Elder. I was rude," Zhou Xuchuan quickly apologized, regaining hisposure.
"I was only able to see you briefly at the pce. It''s been a while since I''ve seen you in such a private setting, hasn''t it?"
What, is she saying that she''d kill me now that we''re in private?
Zhou Xuchuan tried to figure out what Shen Yulian meant.
"I won''t eat you, so don''t worry," Shen Yulian said indifferently.
"Then, what could I do"
"As you may know, this child isn''t an ordinary talent," Shen Yulian began to brag, her expression unchanged.
"M-master!"
Luo Xiaoyue was so embarrassed that she didn''t know what to do. Her face, which had only just calmed down, turned bright red again, the blush deepening.
"Even when she spars with the other Plum Blossom Swordsmen candidates, most of them fall before they even exchange a hundred moves."
"Yes, junior sister is quite strong," Zhou Xuchuan agreed.
Luo Xiaoyue was a real genius, not a fake like himself.
She was a monster who not only had talent but also worked hard.
"Among your peers, there is no one who can fight her properly, let alone beat her."
"Then"
"I want you to spar with her while you''re staying in the sect."
"I don''t mind doing so, but would that really be okay?"
"..."
Shen Yulian fell silent.
Luo Xiaoyue, who was beside her, looked bewildered.
"I''m not blind."
Well, considering you haven''t recognized that I''m at the Harmony Realm, are you sure about that?
Zhou Xuchuan stopped himself from refuting her.
"Then I''ll assume you ept."
"Please trust me."
Well, it wasn''t as if he minded spending time with Luo Xiaoyue or anything.
Since things have gotten like this, I guess I should teach her how to use the sword while we spar.
It seemed like he wouldn''t be bored during his time at Mount Hua Sect.
1. Once again, the (?) is in the raws. ?
Chapter 115: Hundred Divine Transformations
"Master, if it''s okay with you, would you please teach me a lesson?"
"You''re making this ipetent master of yours embarrassed, Xuchuan. You''re already a more powerful expert than me; what more could I possibly teach you?"
Liu Zhengmu smiled bitterly.
"Besides, you''re being taught by the Sect Master, the Strongest Expert in Mount Hua"
"If the Sect Master is the number one expert of Mount Hua, then to me, Master is the number one expert of the world. If being taught by the Sect Master means that I cannot be taught by Master, then I will immediately go tell the Sword Immortal that I cannot learn from him anymore."
"You little brat. You seem to have learned ttery on your journey through gangho you''ve be skilled. Really."
Even though Liu Zhengmu grumbled, he smiled at his disciple''s words.
Liu Zhengmu went out first, and Zhou Xuchuan followed him. They arrived at a familiar ce, one filled with memories.
"Now, let''s do it together this time. You remember the conditions, right?""Of course."
They were to climb the cliffside without using their qi. There was no way that Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t remember this. It was the training he had endured for so long when he was young.
The only difference now was that he no longer felt tired, and his climbing speed had be incredibly fast.
Most importantly, he wasn''t climbing alone anymore.
The disciple and the master chatted while climbing the cliffside.
"It feels like just yesterday I was looking down at you from the top, to think you''ve grown so much already you really are amazing."
Liu Zhengmu''s eyes welled up with tears, as if he was ovee with emotion.
Although his vision was blurred by tears, it didn''t matter. He continued climbing the rock face as naturally as if he were walking.
"This is all thanks to you, Master."
Zhou Xuchuan followed closely behind his master, careful to keep some distance to avoid stepping on Liu Zhengmu''s shadow.
Sssss!
Their movements were reminiscent of cockroaches!
While Liu Zhengmu wouldn''t care if Zhou Xuchuan overtook him, from Zhou Xuchuan''s perspective, it was something he couldn''t tolerate.
"This is your first appearance within the gangho, and in less than a year, you''ve defeated one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven and befriended one of the most talented of the younger generation in the murim, the Poison Phoenix. You''ve aplished so much."
"I''m very grateful for your praise."
"When I was young no, I''m certain no one has experienced as much as you at your age. I guarantee it."
"Master!"
His master''s praise touched him more deeply than anyone else''s.
Zhou Xuchuan covered his eyes with his hand, feeling tears threaten to fall. After all, climbing this rock was something he could do with just one hand!
Yes. It''s all for this, for this happiness.
From retrieving the Water Spiritual Fruit when he was younger to when he went to war, he had made every effort to disrupt the Dark Heavens Association.
None of those efforts had been in vain.
He had worked hard for the sake of peace, all for this very moment.
Even though he might feel a little foolish, he was happy to spend time with someone he cherished, respected, and loved.
This was an experience and happiness that he hadn''t been able to obtain before. Back then, he had hated himself for being powerless, shedding tears as he looked down at a cold, lifeless body.
As those memories flickered through his mind, the emotions from that time resurfaced. But here and now, they no longer mattered.
A greater sense of happiness and warmth reced them, soothing his painful memories.
"We''re almost there."
"Ah, already"
"Xuchuan, would you mind going up first and helping me up? This master of yours is getting old. I''m starting to have a hard time."
"Yes!"
As soon as Zhou Xuchuan responded, he shot upward toward the top of the cliff, moving as if he were running across t ground rather than climbing.
Liu Zhengmu''s eyes widened in surprise as his disciple seemed to be a sh of light. He watched in amazement as Zhou Xuchuan climbed with incredible speed before letting out augh.
"Master."
The disciple reached out a hand.
The master grasped it while recalling the past.
That child, who had been so small
That child, who had cowered as if afraid when he tried to pat him.
That child, who had worked hard, always watching the others while fearing being abandoned.
That child, who neverined, even when things got hard or painful.
That child, who smiled and said everything was okay, fearing that others would worry.
The hand that had once been the size of Liu Zhengmu''s palm had now be that of an adult.
"Good."
Liu Zhengmu pulled himself over the edge, gripping that calloused hand.
There stood a young man, smiling brightly, who had grown so much.
"This ce is still the same."
When he turned around, the light of dawn was just peeking over the peak.
Whether at dusk or dawn, the unique light of the changing of the day always blended with Mount Hua''s natural energy, creating an indescribable sight.
"Yes, it is," Liu Zhengmu agreed.
Zhou Xuchuan''s fellow disciples, teachers, and even elders all praised him. They all said the same thingthat he had changed while they weren''t looking.
They weren''t wrong.
Anyone looking at his appearance or cultivation could tell that Zhou Xuchuan had changed significantly.
There were even suspicions that he was apletely different person.
Liu Zhengmu had heard many say that they had never expected someone who never made any noise within the sect to reach this point.
"Really"
However, the disciple in the eyes of the master was still the same.
He may have grown, but he had not changed.
A disciple who was scared and cautious but didn''t ever show it, even when he was having a hard time.
A disciple who was kind.
"You''re still the same."
That was Zhou Xuchuan, Liu Zhengmu''s disciple.
***
Time flowed like a gentle stream.
Eventually, that calm current would grow faster, surging toward the future.
As the snow plum blossoms fell and the early spring plum blossoms bloomed, the plum blossom season had arrived.
Then, spring, too, passed, and early summer arrived.
"Once a monster, always a monster."
You Riwen stuck out his tongue with a jaded expression. Half a year had passed since he started teaching Zhou Xuchuan the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
Although he had only taught him a few times, Zhou Xuchuan quickly became proficient in the technique. It was almost as if he was seeing a natural disaster rather than a genius.
In truth, Zhou Xuchuan had just been pretending not to know the forms, but there was no way that the Sword Immortal could have known that.
So, Zhou Xuchuan had no choice but to mislead You Riwen.
"Whew"
For the past six months, Zhou Xuchuan had focused on training as much as possible. He didn''t want to miss out on the teachings of one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
In addition to ''learning'' the sword technique, he also focused on learning the other arts of the Mount Hua Sect, including the Hundred Divine Transformations, which had now reached the third stage.
Unlike the Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom, Zhou Xuchuan learned the Hundred Divine Transformations under the tutge of the Plum Blossom Sword Captain Wei Zhijie.
This was partly due to the fact that the Sect Master, as the leader of the sect, had little free time. Additionally, taking the time to teach Zhou Xuchuan a sword technique was out of the ordinary, anyway.
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t even You Riwen''s disciple. If he really were to teach him everything from A to Z, people would surely startining. That''s why You Riwen held back from teaching him the Hundred Divine Transformations.
That didn''t mean that Wei Zhijie was a mere chicken in front of a peacock. Even within Mount Hua, the Plum Blossom Sword Captain was one of the top five strongest experts.
In the gangho, he was even ranked among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. He wasn''t the leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen for nothing.
Putting aside the fact that he was so strict and reserved that conversations were impossible, he was an incredible teacher.
Whew. As expected, there really is a big difference between already knowing the art and never having cultivated it.
Zhou Xuchuan had heard about the Hundred Divine Transformations, a martial art that was both a footwork technique and a movement technique. It was considered one of the best techniques within Mount Hua''s repository.[1]
However, he only knew about it and had never practiced it.
In terms of difficulty, it was on par with the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom and wasn''t something that could be learned easily.
While he had tried to learn it on his own, he quickly realized the limits of his own talent after experiencing bitter failure.
Zhou Xuchuan found the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom rtively easy to learn,rgely due to his enlightenment in swordsmanship from a previous lifetime of cultivation, along with the simpler, abridged versionthe Fourteen Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
However, the Hundred Divine Transformations didn''t have an abridged version, and his previous life''s enlightenment only focused on the sword. He had given up on learning the movement technique after trying several times and failed in his previous life.
It really was heaven''s blessing that Wei Zhijie was teaching him the technique this time around.
"While your talent for the sword is incredible, your talent in footwork and movement techniques is pretty average," Wei Zhijie said in the middle of his lesson. It was a reasonablement, considering Zhou Xuchuan''s achievements.
"Still, there''s nothing to worry about. From now on, you just need to focus on improving your movement and footwork techniques."
"How long do you think it''ll take me?"
"It depends on how hard you work. I''ll let the Plum Blossom Swordsmen know. Be sure you get their help so they can help you practice."
It seems he thinks I''m going to be one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
The Plum Blossom Sword Captain, Elder Wei Zhijie, was famous for being indifferent to things other than training or missions.
However, he wasn''t entirely uninterested in others. His indifference didn''t extend to anything involving the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
If there were a disciple who was either one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen or had shown talent since entering the Lotus Pavilion and was designated as a Swordsman Candidate, he would take care to teach them carefully.
He''d probably protest if he found out that I''m not really interested in bing a Plum Blossom Swordsman and that I''d be leaving for the gangho again soon, right?
Usually, Swordsman Candidates only traveled through the gangho for a year, two at most.
That short period of time wasn''t enough for him to do much, so Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t interested in bing one of the swordsmen. Since the Plum Blossom Sword Captain''s influence wasn''t anything to scoff at, Zhou Xuchuan nned to keep a low profile before returning to the gangho.
"Haven''t things been handled outside?"
"Hmm."
Half a year ago, as Ling Zhen had said, the sect had temporarily suspended all cultivation journeys due to the dangerous and chaotic situation.
It was only after some time that the chaos caused by the Seven Swords War was finally resolved.
"Surely you''re not hesitating because my cultivation iscking, are you?"
You Riwen smiled bitterly, wondering how that could be the case.
Half a year ago, when Zhou Xuchuan had returned, You Riwen had already dismissed that concern.
If a Harmony Realm Master who was capable of entering the ranks of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven couldn''t leave for the gangho because things were dangerous, then all the disciples of Mount Hua had to be called back.[2]
"Are you really not interested in bing a Plum Blossom Swordsman?"
"Yes."
While You Riwen had suggested this several times while teaching Zhou Xuchuan the Twenty-four Forms of the Plum Blossom, the answer he received was always the same. He sighed at the expected answer.
"Thinking of Elder Wei ring at me and asking why you refused it''s already giving me a stomachache."
"I''ve been telling him since I was little that I wasn''t interested. It seems like he''spletely forgotten."
"Ahem."
"I''ll be in your care."
Once again, Zhou Xuchuan was leaving for the gangho.
Zhou Xuchuan decided to stay as quiet as possible during his descent from the mountain. Things could get troublesome if Wei Zhijie caught wind of his departure.
It was early in the morning, during the hour of the tiger, before dawn.[3]
Zhou Xuchuan bowed to Liu Zhengmu.
"Please forgive me, your ill-mannered disciple, for saying my farewells at such an ungodly hour."
"It''s fine. While I''m not a grandpa yet, as I get older, I''ve begun to need less sleep."
Liu Zhengmu smiled gently as always.
"Although I''d like to give you some advice, this isn''t your first time, and you''re much better than I am. I don''t really have anything to tell you."
"Please don''t say that. How can a disciple be better than his master? It''s just luck."
"A disciple''s duty is to surpass his master. That''s what my master always used to say."
"Your master are you referring to my grandmaster?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, his curiosity piqued.
It was the first time he''d heard anything about his grandmaster.
Liu Zhengmu smiled, his eyes filled with nostalgia.
"He was caught up in the discord of the murim and left this world before I could take you in."
"I would like to hear more about him."
Zhou Xuchuan said, his eyes sparkling like a child eager for a story from his grandfather.
"If youe back safely, I''ll tell you about him."
A warm hand patted Zhou Xuchuan''s head.
"Moreover, isn''t there a child waiting for you?"
"Pardon?"
Zhou Xuchuan looked puzzled, while Liu Zhengmu just looked over his shoulder. Following his master''s gaze, Zhou Xuchuan saw her.
"Ah"
Luo Xiaoyue, who had silently been watching their conversation, blushed slightly when their eyes met.
"Junior sister?"
"I didn''t mean to interrupt, senior brother."
"So you''vee to see me off. Thank you."
Since she hade to say farewellst time, Zhou Xuchuan guessed that she was doing the same this time.
A corner of his heart felt warm at his junior sister''s consideration.
"You''re wrong. I''vee to fulfill my promise."
Luo Xiaoyue looked straight into his eyes and smiled.
Just as Zhou Xuchuan was about to ask what she meant, Liu Zhengmu patted his back and urged him on.
"Now, I''m going back to bed, so you should head out quickly. I''m d that you''re not going out alone."
"When you say not going out alone, could it be"
"She''s gotten permission, so don''t worry."
As soon as Liu Zhengmu finished speaking, Luo Xiaoyue jumped in, pulling Zhou Xuchuan, who was standing awkwardly. She grabbed onto him and turned to bow to Liu Zhengmu.
"Then, we''ll be off."
"Huh? Is this the Sleeve in Hand Demonic Art that I''ve only ever heard rumors about? The sensation on my arm is so shocking it''s overwhelming me"
"Please, I beg you, can you stop saying such weird things?!"
Their bickering voices gradually faded away.
As Liu Zhengmu watched them disappear into the distance, he muttered as if he was talking to someone.
"Are you really okay with not saying your farewells?"
"... it''s fine," Shen Yulian answered from behind a nearby plum tree.
While her head was still held high, her gaze turned to the side.
"It''s not toote, so if you don''t mind, I can"
"I already said my farewells yesterday. It''s fine."
As she brusquely answered, her presence suddenly vanished.
Liu Zhengmu''s eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled warmly and gently as usual.
1. To be clear, the Hundred Divine Transformations has both a footwork technique portion and a movement technique portion. ?
2. To rify, only those on their cultivation journeys, so those of the Fourth Generation, were called back. There are still fully-fledged disciples of the Third and even Second Generation, who, as part of the teaching generation, are allowed toe and go as they please. So, this is referring to getting those disciples toe back. ?
3. 3 to 5 am. ?
Chapter 116: Hundred Divine Transformations (2)
There were two main things on Zhou Xuchuan''s agenda.
First, he had to deliver the Prajna Divine Art.
He needed to retrieve it from Li Yicai and take it to the Shaolin Temple.
While he could have sent it through someone trusted by the Martial Alliance Leader, the risk of that person being a spy for the Dark Heavens Association couldn''t be ignored.
It was safer for him to handle it personally, or at least, that was what the Martial Alliance Leader had rmended in the letter he had sent to him before.
"Senior brother. Where are we going?"
"The Valley of Phantoms."
There was something he had to handle before delivering the Prajna Divine Art.
"The Valley of Phantoms? The league of assassins, the Valley of Phantoms?" Luo Xiaoyue''s eyes widened in surprise.The Valley of Phantoms, the force that kept even the strongest forces terrified!
It was famous for never failing a request once epted, a force made up entirely of assassins.
There were no witnesses who had ever actually seen them, and anyone who tried to investigate them disappeared without a trace. Despite being an organization whose true identity was unknown, the Valley of Phantoms had been used by those with unscrupulous backgrounds for over two hundred years.
Theirmission fee was unimaginably high, but their sess rate spoke for itself.
Above all, the most reliable part about them was that they never revealed the details of themission.
"Yes."
"Why would you go there? No, actually, do you even know where it is?"
"Yes."
While Zhou Xuchuan answered his junior sister''s questions, his mind wandered to another thought.
The Divine Phantom Art
The Valley of Phantoms'' unique divine art was actually the Divine Phantom Art that he had obtained during the explorations of the Three-Eyed Divine Thief''s Treasury when he had first entered the gangho.
While the Ten Thousand Convergence Art is also important, it''s nothingpared to this.
If he had to choose only one of the divine arts he had obtained from the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s Treasury, it would naturally be the Divine Phantom Art.
"Whoever obtains the Divine Phantom Art will rule the Valley of Phantoms."
That statement wasn''t just a rumor that had floated around the gangho.
These were the words left behind by the Dark Heavens Association Lord in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life.
The Valley of Phantoms was a neutral organization that had never taken a side.
Not aligning with the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction, the Demonic Path, or even the imperial government, the Valley of Phantoms had always acted based on one thingmission.
However, after the Era of War and Chaos had begun, a shocking fact had been revealed. The neutral Valley of Phantoms was the right hand of the Dark Heavens Association Lord.
''If ordinary assassins move like shadows, the assassins of the Valley of Phantoms don''t even have shadows in the first ce. They were everywhere but nowhere. With the greatest assassins in the world serving as the Dark Heavens Association Lord''s subordinates, it was like giving wings to a tiger.''
If the Ten Thousand Convergence Art had turned the Dark Heavens Association Lord, who was already a monster, into a natural disaster, the Valley of Phantoms had yed a part in turning the Dark Heavens Association itself into one as well.
The number of major figures of the murim who had fallen at the hands of the Valley of Phantoms during the Era of War and Chaos easily exceeded three digits, the most prominent of which was the Heavenly Strategist.
Moreover, their intelligence system was on a level iparable to the Beggar Gang or the Xia Wu Sect.
Zhou Xuchuan had to make sure that the Valley of Phantoms never fell under the influence of the Dark Heavens Association this time around.
The location they were heading to had been exposed during the war in his previous life.
"Wait a moment, senior brother. Are you even listening to me?!"
Luo Xiaoyue puffed out her cheeks as if she was slightly offended.
I''ll have to make you pout more often.
Luo Xiaoyue''s pouting was so cute that Zhou Xuchuan almost fainted.
"I get it, I get it. I''ll exin things while we move, so rx a little."
Although he couldn''t bepletely honest with her, Zhou Xuchuan had already prepared a story to convince Luo Xiaoyue and avoid any unnecessary suspicions.
Zhou Xuchuan split the story apart as they camped outdoors or walked through the mountains, to ensure no one could overhear their entire conversation.
"You know I visited the Sichuan Tang Familyst year, right?"
"Yes, that''s where you got the nickname, Phoenix Shitter."
"It''s the Phoenix yer putting that aside, you seem a little angry."
"Whatever. Anyway, what about it?"
"After that, I went to Poisonblood Valley."
"Poisonblood Valley, that''s insane. Oh. The Thousand Poisons Immunity."
Luo Xiaoyue turned pale for a moment before quickly rxing.
"I happened to find the Valley of Phantoms'' foundational art there, and I was thinking of passing it over to them to gain their favor."
"Wait, you''re saying you found the Valley of Phantom''s foundational art?"
"Listen carefully, junior sister. What I''m about to say is a bit serious."
From this point on, Zhou Xuchuan had to tell a lie mixed with the truth.
He had practiced it many times in his mind.
Having told this kind of lie so often, it had almost be a cultivation technique of some sort. Moreover, he must have been in excellent condition as his tongue moved smoothly.
"So, to summarize, you happened to meet a secret and dangerous group that threatens the fate of the murim. Their n is to conquer all of the murim and bring the world under their thumb, and you, after discovering their ns, are trying to stop them?"
"Yes. One of their ns is to use this foundational technique to control the Valley of Phantoms. That''s why I n to strike first."
"... senior brother."
"Yes."
"If I''m honest, this is pretty hard to believe."
Luo Xiaoyue''s face was serious. She didn''tugh at Zhou Xuchuan''s story, nor did she look at him like he was crazy.
He wondered if this was a case of the apple not falling far from the tree. He could see a faint trace of Shen Yulian''s seriousness in Luo Xiaoyue''s expression.
"Even if you suddenly tell me something that, in all honesty, sounds like a conspiracy theory, I won''t just go, ''Oh, I''ll believe him because he''s my senior brother.''"
"I get that."
"Do the elders of the sect know about this?"
"No, you''re the first one I''ve told."
"I''ll set my disbelief aside for now, but if you''re telling the truth, why didn''t you tell them? I don''t think this is something that a mere Fourth Generation Disciple can decide alone."
"Because they''ve infiltrated deep within not only Mount Hua but the Righteous, Evil, even the Demonic Path. Putting aside the fact that everyone in the sect would look at me like I''m an idiot if I told them, if even the tiniest bit of my knowledge of this organization leaked out, my life would be in danger."
Zhou Xuchuan responded just as seriously as Luo Xiaoyue.
There wasn''t a hint of jest in his voice.
He didn''t avoid eye contact either, instead he looked her directly in the eyes.
"..."
After their conversation ended, Luo Xiaoyue didn''t say anything. She simply stared at her senior brother, who had told her such a suspicious story, with a nk expression. Silent, without a trace of emotion.
The awkward silence stretched for a moment before Luo Xiaoyue finally spoke.
"Then, I should keep this a secret, too. Right?"
"Exactly."
"...ha."
Luo Xiaoyue sighed so hard that it seemed as though the ground was sinking.[1]
Then, she immediately looked up at her suspicious senior brother.
"Also, a disciple of Mount Hua obtaining the favor of an Assassin Organization. Don''t you know that''s a serious crime?"
"I know, but in this situation, things can''t be helped. Considering this is for the sake of saving the murim, they''ll understand."
Luo Xiaoyue''s eyebrows furrowed without a word.
"Do you believe me?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"Only partially."
"That''s more than I thought."
"It''s only because you''re my senior brother that I partially believe what you''re saying."
While her head told her it was nonsense, her heart said otherwise. Her feelings wereplicated.
"In the first ce, don''t you think it''s a bit strange that the foundational technique of the Valley of Phantoms was in the Poisonblood Valley?"
"Junior sister."
"Yes?"
"Have you been to Poisonblood Valley?"
"No, I''ve never been there"
"If you haven''t been there before, how would you know?!"
She had no answer to that.
***
The mountains and steep cliffs surrounding the valley created a breathtakingndscape, but also made it dangerous for them and difficult to enter.
Raging water flowed violently and roared, carving out paths between the stones as it flowed through the valley.
Ahead of them, the fog was so thick that it was nearly impossible to see their destination.
A ce where not even animals dared to venture, let alone people.
"The Valley of Phantoms"
While the scenery wasn''t as magnificent as Mount Hua''s, thendscape before them was still beautiful enough to make them pause in awe.
"Senior brother, is this"
Luo Xiaoyue frowned as she admired the sight.
"It''s a formation."
Zhou Xuchuan scratched his head in exasperation.
I didn''t realize something like this would be here
The location of the Valley of Phantoms had been recorded in the books and reports that he had read in his previous life. The only difference between those records and what they were looking at now was the existence of a formation.
At least in the records he had read, there had been no mention of a formation.
Still, Zhou Xuchuan could roughly guess why that was.
''The reports must have been made after the Valley of Phantoms had been attacked and its nature formation destroyed. That would exin why it had been omitted.''
The only people who would be interested in the nature formation were the Zhuge Family. Moreover, the only people who would record and read it were also the Zhuge Family.
For convenience, the records regarding the formation were probably left to the Zhuge Family back then.
Damn it. I should have brought Shengji.
It wasn''t that he had absolutely no understanding of natural formations, but his mastery was only at the basic level. Even with a cursory nce, he could tell that the formation before them was incrediblyplex.
"Senior brother, look over here."
Luo Xiaoyue''s voice shook Zhou Xuchuan from his thoughts. He walked over and saw an inscription engraved where she pointed.
All living souls who cross beyond this point, be warned: No living soul can escape the peril that awaits.
"If you can''t be a living soul to cross is it talking about the Phantoms, then?"
"Yes."
Anyone unfamiliar with this ce might take the sentence as a simple warning.
However, since they already knew this was the Valley of Phantoms, they immediately understood what it meant.
It''s toote to bring Shengji here.
The Gold Will Merchants in Shandong was too far, and they had already gone through countless hardships just to get here.
He didn''t want to turn back now that they had gotten this far.
Maybe
He closed his eyes and fell into thought.
I might be able to enter if I be a Phantom.
Zhou Xuchuan had already memorized the Divine Phantom Art''s sutra. Considering he already mastered the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, learning this shouldn''t be difficult.
However, something still bothered him.
I''ve never seen or heard of the Dark Heaven''s Association Lord using the Divine Phantom Art. This could be a big problem.
It could be disastrous if Zhou Xuchuan secretly learned the techniques of other sects, especially their divine arts, without permission. Although the Valley of Phantoms wasn''t an ordinary sect, thews of the murim would still likely hold sway.
There was a reason why he hadn''t practiced the Divine Phantom Art.
While there was a chance he could use Mount Hua''s movement technique in ce of the Phantom Steps, he was worried about the risk of getting rejected by the formation.
What he really wanted was the Valley of Phantoms, not their divine art, which was why he deliberately hadn''t learned it, just memorized its sutra.
Am I going to have to go back?
Considering how important this matter was, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t make a decision carelessly.
No, that''s not it, either. Considering how close we''ve gotten, the Phantoms might have already noticed us. Even if I bring Shengji back, there''s no guarantee that they''ll still be here when we return.
If that were the case, it would be a serious problem.
He couldn''t guarantee that he''d be able to find another outpost of the Valley of Phantoms, and he could end up being targeted by the Phantoms.
In the worst-case scenario, they would stop at nothing to kill him.
"Okay."
He had made his decision.
"Let''s go back for now. I''ve thought of a n."
The Divine Phantom Art.
Zhou Xuchuan started practicing it at dawn, reciting its sutra in his mind.
As expected, it starts with a cultivation technique that even includes a breathing technique.
An assassin must not stand out.
The Ghost Breathing Technique was the most basic of assassin arts, allowing one to survive for almost a day without breathing. In particr, the Ghost Breathing Technique of the Divine Phantom Art could even slow one''s pulse to the point where it seemed as though it had stopped.
That was one of the secrets of the Phantoms'' warning.
If one didn''t breathe or even have a pulse, then was one really alive?
Considering we don''t have much time, I''ll put aside most of the art. We''re just going in and out, so I''ll only focus on the cultivation technique and the footwork technique.
There were many things that made up the Divine Phantom Art. Starting with the most foundational cultivation method, the art included secret techniques such as movement techniques and hidden weapon arts.
Since he was only going in and out anyway, he only had to focus on the foundation and the movement technique.
The movement technique should be the most important part for now. There must be a path that only the Phantoms can take.
1. A random Korean idiom. She''s just sighing really hard. ?
Chapter 117: Phantom Sovereign (1)
While the Phantom Steps was a footwork technique of the highest level, it was easier to learn than Zhou Xuchuan had thought.
That ease was, of course, thanks to his previous experiences learning the Five Elements Plum Blossom Steps and the Hundred Divine Transformations.
In particr, the Hundred Divine Transformations was also a movement and footwork technique that belonged to the highest level, like the Phantom Steps, making it incredibly helpful for his current training.
Is this the Skin Breathing Method that I''ve only ever heard about?
Most qi cultivation methods consisted of a breathing technique that focused on breathing through one''s nose or mouth. However, the cultivation methods of assassins were different.
Instead of their nose or mouth, they could breathe through their skin.
The assassins had devised this method to minimize noise after realizing that stifling their breathing with the Ghost Breathing Technique wasn''t enough, eventually perfecting it.
To be precise, they didnt actually breathe through their skin but through the countless pores on their bodies.
I''ll practice for three more days and then try it out.Although he had told Luo Xiaoyue he could pass through the Valley of Phantoms'' formation because he had one of their foundational cultivation methods in hand, he still needed time to study it.
Strictly speaking, considering the Divine Phantom Art was the foundational cultivation method of the Valley of Phantoms, he wasn''t necessarily lying.
"Senior brother?"
Three dayster, Luo Xiaoyue walked over with a water bag, only to tilt her head in confusion. She looked around but couldn''t find Zhou Xuchuan anywhere.
She couldn''t even feel his aura.
Impressive.
Zhou Xuchuan, who was circting his qi on a boulder in the forest, couldn''t help but exim inwardly.
Not only have I stopped breathing conventionally, but my pulse has slowed to a near standstill. My heart beats only once an hourno, once every two hours. Since my blood basically isn''t circting, even my body heat has disappeared.
Not only was he still alive even after almost stopping all bodily functions, his body was also perfectly fine.
Despite being no different from a corpse, he waspletely fine.
As the name of the art suggested, he had be a Phantom. Even his aura hadpletely vanished.
Though the Divine Phantom Art was entirely different from the martial arts of the Righteous Faction, he managed to master it through his Harmony Realm enlightenment. He could only master it to about half efficiency, due to the side effects of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, but that alone was more than enough. It wasn''t called a divine art for nothing.
"I''m right here."
He had to raise his voice and wave to her for Luo Xiaoyue to notice him.
It''s said that if one masters the Divine Phantom Art to perfection, no one would be able to notice you even if they were standing right in front of you. I wonder what that would be like.
The more he learned about the Phantoms, the more determined he became to persuade them to his side.
Another three dayster.
"Good. Let''s start moving now."
The fog made it impossible to see even an inch ahead, leaving no way to predict what might be lurking before them.
"Are you going to be okay?" Luo Xiaoyue asked, worried.
"I''ll be fine. Just wait here."
He had spent thest three days focusing entirely on the Divine Phantom Art for three whole days. At the very least, he would be able to use the Phantom Steps like a Phantom without making any mistakes.
"It''s a shame that we can''t go together"
"It''s hard enough just taking care of myself right now. I''ll be back soon, so wait for me."
After saying their farewells, Zhou Xuchuan walked into the fog.
He wasn''t just walking, he was also circting the Divine Phantom Art.
His breathing and pulse gradually slowed and then stopped.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t even hear his own footsteps. Since he couldn''t hear anything, he began to wonder if he was even alive. He continued forward, circting his qi ording to the sutra in his mind, careful in case he made any mistakes.
He had no idea how long he had been walking. He couldnt see ahead, nor could he hear anything.
He was starting to get frustrated.
Still, he endured.
Could I have already arrived?
It felt like half an hour had passed. As his patience began to wear thin, he wondered if there was anything he could do.
Then, should I take a short break
He stopped walking for the first time. But nothing happened.
Am I really going the right way?
He hadn''t entered the fog walking normally. Since the sign had said that one couldn''t enter unless they were a Phantom, he had used the Phantom Steps to get this far.
Hmm, slowly, again
The next step in the Phantom Steps required him to move with his right foot, but this time, he stepped forward with his left instead.
Huh?!
Before his foot fully touched the ground, something strange happened. As the thick fog cleared, a wave of intense heat surged out, making his entire body feel like it was on fire.
He had been wondering all along if he was on the right path.
To think that after he tried to take a single step off the right path, the ground would copse and spewva, turning the sky crimson.
Is it really impossible to get past the formation if one isn''t a Phantom?
Zhou Xuchuan barely managed to calm his racing heart. Breathing slowly, he steadied his pulse until it slowed back to almost nothing.
I don''t know what sort of formation this is, but this should be the result if one doesn''t take the designated steps.
It was just a guess, but he was almost certain that he was right.
In fact, the strange phenomenon disappeared, and the thick fog returned when he stepped back onto the right path.
Zhou Xuchuan had never thought that a thick fog that blocked all vision would be this reassuring.
I don''t know if I''m going the right way, trying to check for no reason might get me lost and lead me to the path to hell. I have to be careful.
Even though he had incredible cultivation and near infinite qi, he couldn''t let his guard down inside the formation.
He didn''t know about anything else, but what scared him most was the thought of getting lost and not being able to turn back.
It might be a little difficult, but I''ll have to keep going without giving up.
The three days of consistent training were paying off.
Zhou Xuchuan kept his eyes fixed ahead and pressed on.
When it felt like half a day had passed, the thick fog finally cleared.
"This is"
The first thing he saw were cliffs towering all around him. They were so high that he could only see their peaks by tilting his head straight up toward the sky. The cliffs seemed to stretch to the heavens, swallowing the sunlight.
Though there was a small gap between the cliffs, it was so narrow that the light barely reached the ground. He couldnt tell if it was day or night.
He wondered if this was his world or the afterlife. As he pondered, he noticed a door without any patterns.
After lingering by the door for some time, Zhou Xuchuan carefully pushed it open, moving cautiously in case there was a trap.
When he confirmed that the door opened without triggering any mechanisms, he carefully closed it again, already forming a n in his mind.
Good. This must be the front door. Now, let''s go get Junior Sister Luo.
***
They were currently in the Valley of Phantoms. He was worried that Luo Xiaoyue might be attacked if she continued waiting outside.
Deciding that it would be safer to go in together, he went back to where he had started from. Taking Luo Xiaoyue into his arms, he headed back toward the door.
That was the only way he would be able to take Luo Xiaoyue, who hadn''t learned the Phantom Steps. Fortunately, the formation didn''t change because of the added weight. As long as he stayed on the set steps, they wouldn''t be pulled into the Death Gate (T).[1]
"Is this the Valley of Phantoms?"
"Arent your cheeks a little red?"
" Its just your imagination."
Luo Xiaoyue coughed awkwardly, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Really? Well, let''s go in then."
He opened the door, and the two entered what might be the Valley of Phantoms.
Zhou Xuchuan had no idea what awaited them on the other side.
I know there was arge-scale assault on the Valley of Phantoms, and that we eventually won, but the details of how it all happened werent that clear.
Things like the martial arts, special features, and locations of the Valley of Phantoms had been noted. However, he didn''t actually know how the fight had progressed or how they had won.
"If it weren''t for the Luminous Night Pearls, we wouldn''t be able to see anything."
They were in a dark passage so obscure that nothing could be seen.
If it weren''t for the Luminous Night Pearls, they wouldn''t have been able to see an inch in front of them.
Zhou Xuchuan looked around and noticed that the passage had definitely been made artificially, not naturally. Considering it had a door, that was obvious.
"Junior sister."
"Yes, senior brother."
"If you encounter the Phantoms, don''t attack them and stay calm. Even if they attack you, just defend yourself and focus on subduing them as much as possible. We aren''t their enemies."
"Understood."
"Moreover, if they do attack, don''t try to find them. You won''t be able to sense their breathing or footsteps, and their auras will be faint."
"It''s really just as they say in the gangho. Instead, do you think it would be better for me to get ready to parry or block whateveres at me?"
She really is Luo Xiaoyue, isn''t she? Zhou Xuchuan thought to himself the moment she asked if she should just focus on heightening her senses to respond.
As soon as she had received her warning, she had chosen an alternative method and the right answer immediately.
The Phantoms could hide their presence, footsteps, and even their breathing.
But no matter what, they couldn''t erase the sound of their weapons swinging or flying through the air.
While I wanted to express my intent to talk before a fight broke out, since assassins generally lose any confrontation if they don''t seed in their initial ambush, that should be impossible. There''s a hundred percent chance that if they find us, they''ll attack first. Let''s be careful.
From this point on, they were entering the Phantoms''ir. There might be some traps lurking around.
Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue continued forward, keeping their guard up. After less than half an hour, the long, tiring passage opened up to reveal a cave.
"This is" Luo Xiaoyue muttered, ncing around.
The cave before them was massive, its ceiling easily more than several dozen zhang high. The area was so vast it left her momentarily speechless.
However, there were a few rock walls around them, boulders and stctite standing straight up like a forest, keeping her from seeing the entire area. Other than that, there was only moss.
The strangest part was that there was a faint light radiating from the moss, illuminating the cave.
While it wasn''t bright, if it weren''t for those moss, she wouldnt have been able to see more than an inch ahead.
"Senior brother."
Luo Xiaoyues eyes narrowed.
"I hear it. About five zhang away."
A scream echoed in the distance. However, that scream sounded more like the scream of an animal than that of a human.
"Don''t make any noise, and try to hide your presence. I don''t know how much you''ll be able to fool the Phantoms, but it''s better than nothing."
Normally, they would rush to investigate the scream to see if someone needed help. However, that wasn''t the case now.
They slowly walked forward, careful of their surroundings and keeping their senses heightened.
Zhou Xuchuan took Luo Xiaoyue with him, trying to suppress their presence as much as possible while moving in a manner simr to the Phantoms.
They must have moved five, no, six zhang.
Hiding behind a rock wall, Zhou Xuchuan cautiously stuck his head out to scan the area.
ng!
Metal shed with metal, sparks flying everywhere. A red light began to glow, gradually illuminating the surroundings.
Zhou Xuchuan could see about twenty people in front of him.
Half of them were screaming as if they had lost their minds, while the other half responded calmly as they swung their weapons. Strangely, they were all wearing the same attire. They werepletely covered in ck from head to toe. But, their attire was quite revealing.
Regardless of gender, they all seemed to be wrapped in cloth rather than wearing clothing. The cloth clung tightly to their bodies.
Another peculiar thing was that every single one of them had their eyes covered with ck cloth.
The Phantoms!
Information on the Phantoms had been released after the all-out war with the Valley of Phantoms during the Era of War and Chaos. Out of all the information made public, the most famous was their appearance. Looking at how they were dressed, it was impossible for them not to be famous.
Why are the Phantoms fighting each other? More importantly, are half of them even Phantoms?
They all looked like Phantoms, but only half seemed like true assassins. The others only looked simr but were fighting fiercely while screaming.
They honestly seemed more like wounded animals than Phantoms.
Should we help them or not?
Zhou Xuchuan hesitated for a moment, but then his expression hardened with determination.
We''re nning on joining forces with the Valley of Phantoms anyway, so we have to help them regardless. No matter how you look at it, those crazy things seem like enemies
The ones screaming seemed more human, if you could call it that.
The real Phantoms didn''t panic even when theirrades were dying next to them, they just retaliated without blinking.
The eeriest part was that both Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue could barely sense them, even as they fought.
However, since they had to wee such people as allies, there was no need for them to worry about who to help.
"We''re helping them!"
1. There are many types of nature formations. Considering the usage of the Death Gate, this formation seems to be set in the eight trigrams formation. The Death Gate is the gate of no return. If you trigger the formation and incite the Death Gate, you will die. ?
Chapter 118: Phantom Sovereign (2)
As Zhou Xuchuan darted forward, Luo Xiaoyue followed closely behind him.
The two uninvited guests suddenly entered the battlefield, where more than twenty people were facing each other, but strangely, they did not panic.
One of the madmen with bloodshot eyes rushed forward with a short sword as if he had been waiting for them.
A sharp whistle sliced through the air, narrowly missing Zhou Xuchuans head. He effortlessly dodged it by tilting his head to the side.
A Phantom?
The footwork technique the madman had just used was the Phantom Steps.
No.
The madman''s breathing was too rough to be a Phantom. It was too roughpared to the type of control an assassin should have.
"Die!!!"Moreover, he was even shouting, his voice full of murderous intent.
This was no longer an assassin. It was an animal, driven wild by the sight of its prey.
Zhou Xuchuan made a quick judgment, tilting his head back to dodge the madman''s short sword and immediately counterattacked. His sword glided across the air and sank deep into the center of the madman''s chest.
"Ugh!"
Even in his final moments, the madman red at him as he fell.
"Senior brother, there aren''t any normal enemies!"
Unlike Zhou Xuchuan, Luo Xiaoyue struggled to detect the Phantoms. Zhou Xuchuan was familiar with the Phantom Steps, while Luo Xiaoyue wasn''t. More importantly, detecting the Pseudo-Phantoms was difficult, even if one had knowledge of the Phantom Steps and could sense their faint presence. Although Zhou Xuchuan thought the Pseudo-Phantoms had terrible breath control for real assassins, they werent as bad as they seemed, which made it harder for her to track them by their breathing.
No matter how much of a martial arts genius Luo Xiaoyue was, she had never fought an assassin before, making it difficult for her to know how to respond.
Still, it was impressive how long she had held out.
"If you''re struggling, just focus on defending yourself," Zhou Xuchuan shouted at Luo Xiaoyue while parrying an attack.
Then, he spoke to the Phantom right next to him.
"We came to help you, so please don''t misunderstand our intentions. If it''s okay with you, I''d like to talk after the battle ends."
The Phantom turned his head to look at him. Although his eyes were covered by cloth, Zhou Xuchuan could tell he was being looked at.
Since Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t see the Phantom''s eyes, he couldn''t tell what he was thinking. He would have liked an answer, anything, but the Phantom just kept his mouth shut.
He couldn''t even see an inch of the Phantom''s skin, making it impossible to read his expression.
The Phantom eventually nodded instead of answering.
What a relief!
The Valley of Phantoms was rumored to turn witnesses into corpses without questioning them in order to protect their secrets. Fortunately, that didn''t seem to be the case here.
Feeling relieved, Zhou Xuchuan moved closer to Luo Xiaoyue to fight the remaining nine madmen.
This was the first time he had seen Luo Xiaoyue fight in this life, and as expected of a genius and future Plum Blossom Swordsman, she was incredible.
Though she couldntnd fatal blows due to the Phantoms unique movements, she blocked every attack with skill and precision.
"Die!"
Assassins specialized in surprise attacks and ambushes, with all of their movements and attacks focused on that goal.
Most of what they knew focused on instant kills. The downside was that if they failed and were forced into a head-on battle, they would lose half of their fighting strength.
A Peak realm assassin could assassinate a Transcendent expert, but in a head-on fight, even a First-ss warrior could defeat them.
While this weakness was less apparent with Phantoms, due to their mysterious techniques, there was still a limit to what they could do.
More importantly, since Zhou Xuchuan was a master who had reached the Harmony Realm, nothing they did worked.
Zhou Xuchuan stabbed a madman in the side and swung his sword diagonally.
His sword cut through the madman''s chest with a wet sound, and blood poured out as cloth and skin split under his bade.
The nine madmen were reduced to eight. However, the fight wasn''t over yet.
One madman charged in from the right.
Zhou Xuchuan turned, ready to counter, but before he could strike, Luo Xiaoyue stepped forward and thrust her sword with all her strength.
The tip of her sword pierced the back of the madman''s head and emerged through his forehead.
Then, another madman appeared behind him.
"Behind you!"
Luo Xiaoyue pulled out her sword and hurriedly turned around.
However, at that moment, something unexpected happened.
Squelch!
Two Phantoms, one male and one female, flew in silently and severed the arms of the madman attacking Luo Xiaoyue from behind.
Then, they swiftly stabbed him with their secondary weaponsshort swords held in their other handsstriking his neck and abdomen, ending his life.
"T-thank you" Luo Xiaoyue said with a dumbfounded expression, stunned that they had protected her.
The Phantoms didn''t respond to her thanks and stepped back, turning back to face the other madmen.
What''s going on?
Zhou Xuchuan was confused. The assassins of the Valley of Phantoms shouldn''t be this kind. They were the type to kill everyone, even those who aided them, under the pretext of leaving no witnesses.
It was strange enough that the Phantoms werent attacking themnow, they were actively helping!
Zhou Xuchuan put his doubts aside and focused on the remaining madmen. With only six left, they were easier to handle.
Zhou Xuchuans sword killed many of them, and within a quarter of an hour, all were defeated.
The ten real Phantoms were still alive, though some were injured. The others treated them with Golden Sore Ointment.
Zhou Xuchuan waited for them to finish their treatment before approaching them.
"It''s nice to meet you. My name is Zhou Xuchuan, a Fourth Generation Disciple of Mount Hua."
As a member of the Righteous Faction, who pursued justice and righteousness, his view of assassins matched that of the others in his faction, which wasn''t very favorable.
Those of the Righteous Faction pointed fingers at them, spewing insults about how cowardly and untrustworthy they were. They were always on edge, wary of the threat of assassination, and naturally stood in opposition to the Phantoms.
Since Zhou Xuchuan was in a position where he had to make the Valley of Phantoms his allies, instead of being hostile, he showed favor instead.
He particrly liked the fact that they had saved Luo Xiaoyue from danger.
"I just wanted to verify, but you are the assassins from the Valley of Phantoms, right?"
A tall man among the Phantoms nodded.
The ten Phantoms were all different.
Their ages ranged from children to the elderly. The genders were also mixed, including both male and female.
Some were tall, some were short. The only thing they all had inmon was that they were all thin.
"You must be confused by the visit of an outsider. First, I would like to speak with whoever can represent you," Zhou Xuchuan said, cupping a fist.
Luo Xiaoyue, standing beside him, looked somewhat displeased. Her expression seemed to question whether Zhou Xuchuan needed to be this polite, but she didnt voice her thoughts.
"We don''t have a representative." a short old man answered. Judging by the wrinkles on his exposed skin, he was well advanced in age.
"No representative?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, confused.
"We are one," a woman whose age couldn''t be determined continued.
"And all," another person finished.
The ten Phantoms kept the conversation going, finishing each other''s sentences as if they were one person with multiple bodies.
Are they saying that they''re all equal?
It was essentially the same as their admitting that they didn''t have a hierarchy. However, something still bothered him.
No, that''s not it. I don''t know about all of the Phantoms, but there''s at least one person who''s different. One person who can represent them.
The Phantom Sovereign!
That name had been passed down for centuries. Even in his past life, the Phantom Sovereign had existed. The one Phantom that led the entire organization.
The Phantom Sovereign was the one who received themissions and chose the ones the organization carried out.
Are they hiding them?
However, he couldn''t guess why they were hiding the Phantom Sovereign. To be frank, the entire situation was confusing, and Zhou Xuchuan could only keep thinking useless thoughts.
He hesitated, and instead of asking outright, he decided to try speaking indirectly.
"I think I may have misspoken. Is there anyone who can represent this organization other than you?"
"Yes, there is," a young girl answered.
Like the other Phantoms, her voice was devoid of any emotion.
"Aren''t they answering you a little too obediently?" Luo Xiaoyue muttered, her tone skeptical. Zhou Xuchuan agreed with her.
They were answering all his questions without hesitation.
While it was convenient, it didn''t make any sense.
Still, no matter how suspicious it seemed, he couldn''t threaten those who might be his allies.
Hiding his true feelings, Zhou Xuchuan continued.
"If so, can I talk to them?"
This time, all the Phantoms nodded in unison. Every single one of them.
It was creepy.
"Then, if you please"
Zhou Xuchuan stopped mid-sentence as the young Phantom raised her hand and pointed at him.
What?
Zhou Xuchuan instinctively turned to check behind him, but there was no one there. He heightened his senses, but aside from the eleven people present, there wasnt even an ant nearby.
He looked at them, puzzled. But none of them responded.
Then, one by one, starting with a young man, all the Phantoms raised their index fingers and pointed at him.
Zhou Xuchuan stepped to the side with a look of doubt. As he did so, their fingers followed him.
"T-they''re just messing around, right?"
Luo Xiaoyue looked at Zhou Xuchuan with astonishment.
"Ha"
Zhou Xuchuan was speechless.
When he realized that all of the Phantoms were pointing at him, all of the questions he had up until now were naturally answered.
From the fact that they hadnt been hostile to him, an outsider, to how they had saved Luo Xiaoyue when he shouted, Behind you!.
The way they obediently answered his questions.
It all shed through his mind.
Suddenly, the possibility that came to mind cleared up all his doubts.
In his previous lifetime, the Valley of Phantoms had followed the Dark Heavens Association.
No, to be exact, they had followed the Dark Heavens Association Leader.
What is the name of the Phantom Sovereign? he asked out of curiosity.
All of the Phantoms responded in unison.
Zhou Xuchuan.
It was as if thunder resounded in his mind. It felt like he had been struck in the back of the head with a hammer.
The fog of confusion that had clouded his thoughts all this time had suddenly lifted. The tangled threads unraveled, leaving his mind clear.
"W-what''s going on?" Luo Xiaoyue asked in confusion, but none of the Phantoms answered her.
Please tell me everything you know about the Divine Phantom Art.
"The number one cultivation method of the Valley of Phantoms."
This time, the Phantoms answered immediately.
"It''s not that different from the Phantom Art," the man answered first.
"Its cultivation method, footwork technique, even its hidden weapon technique are all simr in terms of difficulty and ability to the Phantom Art," a woman continued.
"There''s only one difference."
"The ability to control."
"No Phantom can escape its control."
"No Phantom can have murderous or hostile intentions to the one who cultivates the Divine Phantom Art."
It was eerie to hear all ten of them speak at once, but there wasnt time to dwell on that. The existence of the Divine Phantom Art was crucial.
I now understand why the Valley of Phantoms had disappeared as if they had never existed when the Dark Heavens Association Lord died in my previous life.
The Valley of Phantoms had followed the Dark Heavens Association Lord, not the Association itself.
Then who has been leading the Valley of Phantoms all this time?
The previous Phantom Sovereign left behind a list of instructions. We''ve been following hismands."
Most likely, the list of instructions also included raising more Phantoms.
"How long have you been acting under those instructions?"
"Three hundred years."
It was longer than he had thought. It was surprising that they hadsted this long without a leader.
"So it''s been three hundred years since you lost the Divine Phantom Art?"
"It wasn''t lost."
"It wasn''t lost? What"
"The previous Phantom Sovereign hid it for the future generations."
"Hid it? Does the Phantom Sovereign have a connection to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief?"
The Divine Phantom Art had been discovered in the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s Treasury. It hadnt been in the form of a manual either, so it wasnt something that had just been lying around.
Moreover, the Treasury also hadn''t been found for three hundred years.
However, the answer he received was far beyond anything he could have imagined.
"No."
"Then?"
"The Three-Eyed Godly Thief was the Phantom Sovereign."
Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyues jaws dropped at the Phantoms'' revtion.
"...!"
"T-that''s impossible!"
Both of them froze before Luo Xiaoyue suddenly screamed.
It was the first time he had seen her react like that, but considering what they had just heard, it was no surprise.
However, if one thought about it, it all made sense.
No one knew exactly when the Valley of Phantoms had emerged. The only information the murim had regarding it was the existence of the Phantom Sovereign.
To think, the Valley of Phantoms had been active for over three hundred years without their Divine Art! Moreover, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s active period had actually been over three hundred years ago!
Chapter 119: No-Mind, All-Mind (1)
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.Hence, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief needed a hiding ce and information in order to capture any pursuers'' movements.
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 be 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 Pirs of the Righteous Faction, one of the Nine Sects and One Gang, was the Phantom Sovereign. Worst case scenario, he could be emunicated.
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."
Dont worry. Im only borrowing the power of the Phantoms until we save the world.
Please understand that I dont believe all of that story yet, senior brother.
Believing some of it is enough.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled contentedly and turned his head.
Whats your name?
He asked the Phantom, who looked like a girl between twelve and fifteen years old.
Were just Phantoms. We dont have names.
Her voice was even drier than Shen Yulians.
"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 ce?" 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 ovee 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 regrly 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 ovee 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 ughtered, one must not care.
For one decisive moment, one had to constantly endure, all to take the targets life toplete the mission.
One''s individuality wasn''t necessary. All one needed wasposure 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 preupied 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?
Its impossible to give an exact estimate, but its 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. Lets 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 iing 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 couldnt 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!
Ill 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 ir.
One of the madmen, who had been charging at him like a wild boar, raised his sword and blocked the stab with the t of his de. However, thatsted only a moment.
He vomited blood, most likely from losing the battle of qi.
That, too, onlysted for a moment, as the madman immediately spun around, pivoting on his foot.
In a fluid motion, drew a hidden de 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 nning 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 wouldnt 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 ording 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 toote for Zhou Xuchuan to pull out the sword lodged in the madmans 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 therge 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.
asionally, 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 iing 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 themanding ranks. It was quite a refreshing experience.
Although he was excited about his self-professed talent formanding, 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 viin reacting to the heros sudden appearance.
1. Since ` can be tranted 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 trante, 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 trantes 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.
Chapter 120: No-Mind, All-Mind (2)
About a li to the northwest, over forty shadows appeared on a boulder that was shaped like the waves of the sea.
Luo Xiaoyue gulped nervously at their considerable number.
More madmen?
Adding them to the total madmen Zhou Xuchuan had seen so far, they seemed to be the remaining madmen Little Ghost was referring to.
Yet, something about them felt off.
Just as a stifling sensation began to rise in his chest, one of the shadows standing on the boulder looked down on the battlefield and shouted.
"No one can kill our hearts, Valley of Phantoms!"
!Zhou Xuchuan was startled.
What''s going on?" Luo Xiaoyue muttered in surprise.
The strangeness he felt wasing from their hearts.
The shadows before him were neither heartless like the Phantoms nor insane like the madmen.
With their voices unwavering, the shadows disyed human emotions, anger and resentment.
Little Ghost! Who are they?
Zhou Xuchuan wondered if it was the intervention of a third party. He questioned Little Ghost, flustered by their unexpected arrival.
"They''re madmen."
"What?"
Little Ghosts answer made him even more confused.
What exactly made them madmen?
Zhou Xuchuan looked at them again, just in case he was wrong, but their eyes were too clear to be madmen. Their pupils weren''t out of focus, and it didn''t seem like they had lost their minds.
They just appeared to be burning with a desire for revenge. But that, on the contrary, made them seem even more human.
"They weren''t able to seed in the Mind-Killing and failed to ovee the process. So they''re madmen."
"... I get the gist of it."
Meanwhile, Luo Xiaoyue, who had dealt with two madmen, approached.
"It seems like Phantoms-in-training can be split into three groups during the Mind-Killing phase. Those who sessfully kill their minds and individuality lose their emotions, those who fail and gopletely mad"
"And thest group is"
"Those who ran away before their minds could die or before they went mad. From the Phantoms'' perspective, that is also a form of failing, so they''re considered madmen, too."
Luo Xiaoyue frowned, not a fan of the result.
"So, if that''s the case"
Zhou Xuchuan thought to himself; it seemed like his side were the bad guys.
"Who are you?"
Meanwhile, more than forty people surrounded them.
While the Phantoms tried to rush forward and attack without a word, Zhou Xuchuan stopped them and gathered his forces in the center.
"You have too many emotions to be a Phantom but you''re not one of us either." a man with a sharp, well-honed aura said, looking at the real Phantoms while gritting his teeth.
"Are you supposed to be the elders of the Valley of Phantoms?" one of the failed Phantoms asked.
It seems they don''t know anything about the Valley of Phantoms'' organization.
All Phantoms were equal except for the Phantom Sovereign. There was no such thing as an elder.
If these failed Phantoms actually knew the Valley of Phantoms'' structure, they would have asked if he was the Sovereign, not an elder. In other words, they didn''t even know the basics.
Little Ghost. How much do they know about the Valley of Phantoms?
"The fact that this ce is the Valley of Phantoms, the techniques and the process required to be a Phantom."
"I see."
It was as expected.
What
"Are they having a conversation?"
"And not all of them at once, but"
Meanwhile, those who heard the conversation were shocked.
Seeing their reaction, Zhou Xuchuan asked Little Ghost another question.
"Just what the hell did you do with them?"
"We only taught them the process."
Zhou Xuchuan could roughly guess what it had been like. The Phantoms probably didn''t say anything other than whatever was relevant to teaching the recruits.
They probably didn''t even announce when it was time to eat, merely throwing them grain pills without a word.
"Listen, it''s not like I don''t understand what you''re feeling, so let''s just put down our swords and talk."
"You understand?"
The mans eyes burned with hatred.
Nonsense!
The other failed Phantoms also reacted with deep hatred.
"You kidnapped innocent children, threw them into this hell, made them suffer all kinds of pain, and even went so far as to force them into Mind-Killing, and you still dare say you understand?!"
The hatred the failed Phantoms felt was no ordinary one.
Seeing the depths of bloodlust and resentment that seemed to prate deep into his bones, Zhou Xuchuan was worried.
While I don''t want to make enemies if possible
If these failed Phantoms left this ce, it was obvious that they would spread the word about the Valley of Phantoms in order to exact revenge.
Since he wasn''t even the one who made them like this, he felt aggrieved and wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Let''s take a breath. It seems there''s been a misunderstanding. It wasn''t me nor my junior sister who did this to you. We''re just outsiders."
Zhou Xuchuan disyed the plum blossoms engraved into his sleeve.
Mount Hua?
"Fortunately, it seems you''ve been taught basics about the outside world. We''ll start by introducing ourselves. My name is Zhou Xuchuan of Mount Hua."
"Do you really think I''ll believe that?"
There were only a few who dared to impersonate Mount Hua in the outside world. For those in the Evil Faction or of the Demonic Path, impersonating a member of the Mount Hua Sect would invite more trouble than it was worth.
However, this was the Valley of Phantoms.
Even if they imed to be the Martial Alliance Leader or the Heavenly Demon, it would be impossible for the Phantoms to verify.
Besides, the failed Phantoms had seen how Zhou Xuchuan had fought the madmen. The way he movedit was unlike anything a disciple of Mount Hua would do.
"I don''t know what kind of idiots you think we are. Do you really think we can''t recognize those cursed techniques you forced on us?"
"Right? I guess it makes sense that it''s hard for you to believe." Zhou Xuchuan replied, scratching the back of his head with an awkwardugh.
Senior brother!
Luo Xiaoyue red at him with a confused look, as if she was asking what he was thinking.
"This conversation is over."
The bloodlust that had calmed moments ago surged again like a raging storm.
Wait a minute!
What now?!"
The mans face was filled with annoyance. The bloodlust that had threatened to explode just seconds before subsided once more.
Tell me your name.
Jia Wuliang."
Despite his annoyance, Jia Wuliang answered sincerely.
"...?"
A woman standing beside him tilted her head in confusion. The others also seemed puzzled, their faces asking, ''What are you doing?
"Pfft."
Augh escaped Zhou Xuchuan.
I see.
Senior brother, maybe
"Yes. While it didn''t work on the madmen, it seems to work on these Pseudo-Phantoms."
The absolute authority ability of the Divine Phantom Art was limited to controlling Phantoms.
In other words, it only allowed the user to control those who had mastered the Phantom Art, the basis and foundation for the Phantoms.
ording to this theory, it should have worked on the madmen who failed to withstand the Mind-Killing process. That was why Zhou Xuchuan had given them orders with a hopeful heart. Unfortunately, it failed.
Even if they could hear the orders, they needed the mentalpetence to understand and follow them.
That was why the madmen, who had lost their sanity and fallen into qi deviation, couldn''t understand what he said.
What bullshit are you talking about?
Everyone, gather in front of me.
"Just who the fu w-what the hell?!"
The Pseudo-Phantoms, including Jia Wuliang, couldn''t hide their shock.
Their bodies were moving on their own.
"I''m telling you in advance, but harming me or junior sister is off limits."
Zhou Xuchuan first put up a safeguard in case something unexpected happened.
However, the Pseudo-Phantoms weren''t in a situation where they had the luxury to care about something like that.
Jia Wuliang''s pupils shook violently as if there had been an earthquake in his mind.
Although he tried to understand what had just happened, he couldn''te up with an answer.
"This what just" Jia Wuliang muttered in disbelief. The other Pseudo-Phantoms had simr reactions.
They all stood still, unable to move. However, their expressions had all distorted into vicious grimaces.
"Please understand that I had to do this forcefully because you were all too excited. After all, what I have to tell you is quite lengthy."
What kind of witchcraft did you use on us!
"This isn''t witchcraft, so listen carefully.[/ref]Witchcraft is the heretical arts, anything that doesn''t involve using qi and, thus, goes against heaven.[/ref] I''ll be exining everything in detail from this point on. But, before that, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Zhou Xuchuan, and I am a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect and also the Phantom Sovereign."
There was one more crucial aspect of the absolute control ability.
The Phantoms followed all orders withoutint, as their individuality had already been killed. However, the Pseudo-Phantoms were different. They still had all of their emotions, all of their sentience, which meant that even if they had to follow the orders, they could raiseints against it.
While their minds refused the orders, their bodies followed them instinctively.
As proof, despite Jia Wuliang''s irritation just moments ago, he had still obeyed Zhou Xuchuan''smand.
"It hasn''t even been half a day since I became thetter, though."
Zhou Xuchuan exined to the Pseudo-Phantoms what was going on in the world in rtively more detail. Most of it was simr to what he had told Luo Xiaoyue. The only additional parts were what had happened after they had entered the valley.
"You really know how to embellish things!"
Jia Wuliang''s hostility didn''t disappear but grew instead.
"I could kill you all with a singlemand if I really wanted to, so why would I make up such an incredulous lie? The reason I''m going through all this trouble is precisely because I don''t want to kill you."
All he had to do was give them a direct order tomit suicide. It was an easy way to kill everyone other than the true Phantoms.
While he hadn''t tried such an order yet, considering Little Ghost had said he could do anything, it should be possible.
"Hey, listen here, Jia Wuliang. I feel bad about what happened to you. It''s only natural for you to hate the Valley of Phantoms."
However, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t want to kill them.
If they were evil, then things would have been different, but that wasn''t the case. In fact, if he really had to pick the ''evil'' side, it would actually be the Valley of Phantoms.
ording to what Little Ghost had said, the Valley of Phantoms took in orphans without parents or children who were sold as ves and raised them to be Phantoms.
While the Valley of Phantoms had fed them and sheltered them before their deaths, it wasn''t enough to atone for the sins they had inflicted upon the children.
They had treated people as tools and subjected them to inhumane training.
"The only way to ease your hatred, even a little, would be to let you take your revenge, revenge that would most likely end with the annihtion of the Valley of Phantoms. However, I can''t just leave you to do that. I still need their power to save the world of the murim."
The existence of the Valley of Phantoms alone could minimize the damage that was toe.
Their skills and intelligence were that extraordinary.
Zhou Xuchuan had been convinced when he heard the story of the Valley from Little Ghost.
"If I wanted, I could kill you all or lock you away in a prison and let you rot for the rest of your lives. However, I don''t want to do that. So, I have a proposal for you."
"A proposal?"
"Yes. Be my subordinates."
"So, you''re going to use us like tools anyway!"
When Jia Wuliang immediately objected, Zhou Xuchuan raised his hand to stop him.
Listen carefully. In return, Ill give you your freedom.
Freedom?
The Pseudo-Phantoms flinched at those words.
They had spent their entire lives in the Valley of Phantoms. The only time they had ever been outside was when they were six or seven years old.
"You won''t have to finish the Mind-Killing like a true Phantom, and as long as you keep a few secrets, you can go anywhere, whether it''s the Central ins or the Western Hignds. While I might give you missions when necessary, you can refuse them. Of course, if you ept, I''ll reward you properly. What do you think?"
Thanks to the Merchant King, Zhou Xuchuan would never run out of money. Now that he had be the Phantom Sovereign, even more wealth would naturally follow.
This time, Jia Wuliang couldn''t bring himself to retort. Instead, he looked straight at his new master.
Is he being serious?
It was only natural for Jia Wuliang not to trust Zhou Xuchuan.
He had been raised in the Valley of Phantoms since he was young, and everything had been taken away from him, forcing him to descend into hell and suffer all kinds of hardships.
Even after he barely managed to escape, things didn''t change.
The Phantoms, who actually seemed like ghosts, chased him like the hounds of hell and forced him to fight for his life.
Then, suddenly, a disciple of Mount Hua and the self-proimed Phantom Sovereign appeared and offered him freedom in exchange for a small price.
To think that this man had appeared and changed the entire outlook of their futures in less than half a day.
At the end of the day, the only thing we can be sure about is that he has the ability to control us.
Jia Wuliang wasn''t the only one to falter. All hispanions did the same.
The proposal itself wasn''t bad, but they still found it suspicious.
However, Jia Wuliang had no other choice but to consider it.
His body still couldn''t move, and even though he tried to circte his qi, suspecting that Zhou Xuchuan was using some sort of witchcraft, nothing seemed to work.
"If you need time to think or discuss it among yourselves, don''t worry about us and just consider it. If you want, we''ll even leave and give you space."
"... what happens if we reject the proposal?"
"While I won''t kill you, I''ll have to leave you here under strict orders because things will get difficult for me if you interfere. You can''t harm the Phantoms, either, because I need their power."
Although Zhou Xuchuan called it a proposal, it was essentially a threat. Still, it wasn''t all that bad.
If he really wanted, proposal or no proposal, he could easily turn them into tools that only obeyed orders. After all, he only needed to force them to stay quiet and could easily stop any suspicious activities in advance.
While he had never done it before, he could most likely change their entire way of thinking by brainwashing them or forcing them into Mind-Killing.
However, since he didn''tck helpers and even had the Phantoms by his side, he really didn''t want to go that far.
"Think about it carefully."
Chapter 121: My Second Hometown
Two dayster.
Jia Wuliang stood before them with a serious expression on his face.
"I''ll be in your care from now on. Please make sure to call me Great Hero rather than Sovereign,"[1] Zhou Xuchuan said.
To summarize, all forty-five Pseudo-Phantoms, including Jia Wuliang, had chosen toe under Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan had given them a day, and in the end, they reached one conclusion.
None of them could rebel even if they wanted to, and as long as the Phantom Sovereign had control, if they refused the offer, they would have had to live in the Hebei Branch for the rest of their lives.
Although they all harbored resentment toward the Valley of Phantoms, they had to set that aside for now, given the reality they were facing.
Revenge was important, but it wasnt as important as freedom.
"Don''t delude yourself. We have no other choice but to follow you and your dirty tricks. This isn''t loyalty.""I didn''t expect that in the first ce."
As soon as the Pseudo-Phantoms epted the offer, Zhou Xuchuan gave them orders.
First, they had to protect the people around him. He even nned to give them portraitster so they could recognize who required protection.
Second, they had to keep his secrets. Those secrets mainly concerned the very existence of the Valley of Phantoms.
Third, they couldn''t get interfere with his n. He gave them explicit orders not to do anything that may harm his goals.
This third order mainly specifically applied to the Phantoms, as he needed them for his ns and couldnt risk the Pseudo-Phantoms causing them harm.
While they were extremely dissatisfied with the third order, none of them voiced their objections. After all,ining wouldn''t change anything.
"Also, if you''re going to use us, at the very least, don''t make us work with them. I''d rather kill myself than help my enemy."
"I''m not using you; I''m asking for your help whatever. Since you don''t trust me, it''s just a waste of time. Moreover, I have my own tact, too, so don''t worry about that."
The Pseudo-Phantom''s resentment toward the Phantoms was beyond imagination.
Of course, it was only natural, considering they had been treated like ves all of their lives and were forced to endure all kinds of suffering under the pretext of training.
"No one can kill our hearts, and no one can take away our emotions. Even if you control our bodies and our flesh, our hearts and souls won''t submit to you."
The Pseudo-Phantoms seemed obsessed with their minds, and it seemed that all of them suffered mental trauma during the process of Mind-Killing.[2]
Little Ghost.
Yes, Great Hero."
"Just how the hell does Mind-Killing work?"
Unable to contain his curiosity, he called Little Ghost aside and asked, only to be astonished when he heard her exnation.
The process Little Ghost described was more cruel, inhumane, and demonic than he could ever have imagined.
"In case a Phantom gets captured, Phantoms must learn how to endure torture. So, we torture the recruits first to build their tolerance for it in the future."
From the start, the training wasn''t normal.
"If a recruit survives the torture, we bring a trainee whom they have been with since childhood."
"Wait, you''re not saying"
Assassins usually learn not to form rtionships from a young age. Personal rtionships were just obstacles in the way of assassination.
However, the Valley of Phantoms was a little different. They intentionally left recruits alone, allowing them to develop rtionships. They didn''t get involved, even if some of the recruits became lovers along the way.
"Then we order the recruits who developed feelings for each other to kill each other, and then use drugs to"
Enough."
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t want to hear anymore. He could already guess what would happen next.
Judging from Little Ghosts tone, it seemed there was even more to the process, but Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t particrly curious. It just made him upset.
Even though the Valley of Phantoms would be an indispensable force for peace, they could hardly be considered righteous.
The Three-Eyed Godly Thief. That bastard really was crazy, wasn''t he?
It was understandable that the Phantoms hated him so much. On the contrary, it would be stranger if they didn''t.
The most heartbreaking part was watching Little Ghost, who was still a child, saying such things so casually.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t even begin to imagine what she had gone through.
***
Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue decided to stay in the Valley for a while to get their bearings. Little Ghost took them deep within the valley when Zhou Xuchuan asked if there was anywhere to rest.
The Valley of Phantoms seemed to be untouched by human hands. However, there was a small residence hidden deep inside.
This is really too much.
Even though it was called a residence this wasn''t a ce where people could live.
A wooden building stood in the midst of the valley. While it was spacious, there were no rooms, only bedding organized on the floor.
On the other hand, the facilities, such as the armory, library, and infirmary, were excellent. In fact, it was so clean that it seemed a little unnatural.
"I''ve been looking for shelter for yearsno, decades, to think there was a ce like this" Jia Wuliang muttered dejectedly.
When they had arrived at the valley and started their training, they had slept anywhere they could. Once they had escaped, they had thought that the Phantoms base had to exist somewhere, and they had searched for years intending to destroy it.
However, let alone the base, they couldn''t even find a clue of where the Phantoms had run off to. To think they hade here so easily.
"Don''t be so sad; you were inside of a formation all this time. I''ll call you when we''re leaving, so go rest."
Even after arriving at the Phantoms'' base, the Pseudo-Phantoms couldn''t rx.
Having always lived under the threat of Phantoms or madmen, they found it hard to sleep properly.
Moreover, it was the first time in what seemed like forever that they had a t ce to sleep, and the unfamiliarity made it even harder to rest.
In the end, even though it wasn''t necessary anymore, they decided to take turns sleeping.
Little Ghost.
Yes.
Little Ghost appeared as if she was jumping out of the shadows. Luo Xiaoyue found herself startled each time the Phantoms appeared.
Since she couldn''t sense their presence, it felt like she was seeing a ghost, and her heart nearly burst out of her chest more than once.
"How do I contact the other branches?"
"We can send coded letters through homing pigeons."
"I''ll have to ask you to do it this time."
Instead of responding, Little Ghost just pulled out a brush and some paper.
The first thing that he had to inform the other branches of was the appearance and identity of the new Phantom Sovereign. He had to make sure that Mount Hua or his allies wouldn''t get harmed by the Phantoms, whose des had no eyes.
"Do you think they''ll trust the information about me?"
"Whether they do or not, they won''t act recklessly. There are different codes of conduct for things that they have witnessed themselves versus those they were just informed of. The orders you can give will be limited."
"So the control ability doesn''t extend to letters, then."
Although it was possible for him to protect those around him temporarily, there were still restrictions on viewing intelligence reports or assassination requests.
After sending letters to each branch while absorbing this new information, Zhou Xuchuan stayed in the library for a while and conducted various investigations.
The Phantoms answered any questions he had, but they wouldn''t tell him anything unless he asked. This meant he would never be able to question them for whatever information he didn''t at least know to ask for, he had to scour the library to find useful information.
The library contained basic knowledge of the Valley of Phantoms and information about elixirs or techniques that the Valley possessed, as well as an array of other information.
Considering how much information they had, it was difficult for Zhou Xuchuan to read through everything. So, he only picked out the important ones and memorized them.
Still, that alone was a considerable feat.
Time flowed quickly, and soon half a month had passed.
Zhou Xuchuan had memorized all the important information. He had even learned the basics of cryptography.
"Senior brother. It''s almost time now. Everyone is waiting."
Around the hour of the dragon, Luo Xiaoyue came to call him.[3]
Okay.
Zhou Xuchuan closed the book and put it back on the bookshelf.
He was getting tired of the Valley of Phantoms anyway.
Since the Valley had no concept of taste, there was no other food except for grain pills.
"Let''s go."
Zhou Xuchuan left five of the Phantoms in the Hebei Branch in case of an emergency and to keep in touch with the outside world.
The Pseudo-Phantoms all followed him out. Some of them felt awkward about leaving after they had spent several years, several decades even, trapped.
Still unable to believe it, they whispered among themselves.
The path Little Ghost led them on was different from the one Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue had taken toe into the Valley. When Zhou Xuchuan asked about it, Little Ghost exined that the Valley had multiple entrances and exits. Among them, there was a path that didn''t require traversing countless formations, even though the path itself wasplicated and required extensive wandering around.
When they stepped outside, the sunlight greeted them warmly.
Ha! Who knew sunlight could be this wee!
Zhou Xuchuan eximed, shielding his eyes with his hand and smiling. Luo Xiaoyue, who was behind him, also smiled happily.
Since the Valley of Phantoms had been dark except for the glowing moss, the sunlight was especially wee.
"Ha"
Jia Wuliang opened his mouth in surprise. All the other escapees, including him, had the same reaction.
Sob, sob.
Not long after, someone started crying quietly.
They burst into tears, relieved that they had safely escaped hell. No oneughed at them.
Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue said nothing. They could somewhat understand how the Pseudo-Phantoms felt.
What will happen to us now? Jia Wuliang asked, his eyes red from crying.
Do as you wish.
Do as we wish?
"Yeah. If I need you, I''ll send a Phantom to find you. I''d be happy if you could stay by my side, but considering how long that would take, I can''t ask that of younot when you''ve just gained your freedom."
Jia Wuliang made a slightly surprised expression and closed his eyes. Dozens of thoughts passed through his mind.
The silence didntst long. He was the first to speak.
To be honest, I, no, we dontpletely trust you yet.
Though they had returned to the outside world they had longed for, things still didn''t seem real.
They suspected that there had to be some kind of trap lurking somewhere. That was how exhausting and difficult their lives had been.
"This might even be a dream. So, we want to confirm it ourselves. If what you''re saying really is the truth and you haven''t lied to us, then we will ept your offer and help you."
As expected, this won''t be enough to resolve their grudges with the Phantoms. Still, this much is still a sess.
Since Zhou Xuchuan had already set up restrictions for the Pseudo-Phantoms, it didn''t matter if he let them go.
At the very least, he was promised an alliance.
He was satisfied with that.
"We''ll be going now."
"Okay. If you don''t have anywhere else to go, go to the Gold Will Merchants I told you about yesterday. I''ll leave them a note, and they''ll help you."
Thank you.
With those final words, the presence of the forty-five Pseudo-Phantoms disappeared.
They really left.
"Yeah, seems like it."
"Are you really sure it''s okay to let them go?"
Luo Xiaoyue was worried for Zhou Xuchuan.
If the Pseudo-Phantoms'' grudge against the Phantoms ever turned against the Phantom Sovereign, things could quickly spiral out of control. Human resentment was scarier than one would think, and resentment in the gangho murim was even more so.
After all, this was a world of repayment, for better or worse. That much was clear just by looking at the past.
"I exined the restrictions I ced on them, right?"
"Yes, you did. But"
She was still anxious. There was no such thing as a perfect restriction in this world.
Luo Xiaoyue had always been cautious, even as a child, only growing wiser as she matured.
"If I don''t let them go, then what do you suggest? Should I lock their minds in the mind prison?"
"Well"
Luo Xiaoyue couldn''t respond right away. Her concern for her senior brother shed with her moralpass.
She genuinely didnt know what the right choice was.
"Yes, it''s true; if I make a mistake here, I might end up getting stabbed in the back. Like you said, there''s no such thing as a perfect restriction."
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t a genius. There was a very good chance that he had missed a weakness or loophole in his restrictions on the Pseudo-Phantoms.
The Phantoms had no individuality or emotions, meaning that he didn''t have to worry about being betrayed, the Pseudo-Phantoms, however, were different.
A person''s will wasn''t an ordinary thing.
He knew well how great and scary it could be from the Era of War and Chaos.
"Then why"
"Why did I let them go?"
"Yes."
Zhou Xuchuan turned his back and smiled faintly.
I just wanted to.
Seeing that smile, Luo Xiaoyue''s eyes widened in surprise. However, she soon rxed, returning to her usual cheerful self, a smile on her lips.
1. I know this sounds a little arrogant, but remember, Great Hero is amon way of addressing someone of Zhou Xuchuan''s position. He''s not telling them to stroke his ego or anything with this. ?
2. You don''t say. ?
3. Roughly 7 am to 9 am. ?
Chapter 122: My Second Hometown (2)
Jinan, Shandong Province.
The prestige of the Gold Will Merchants grew day by day. In fact, it had grown so much that it was unrecognizable to Zhou Xuchuan when he arrived in Jinan.
Apparently, in the half-year since he''d been gone, they had umted even more wealth and expanded.
He and his party, which included Luo Xiaoyue and five Phantoms, headed straight for the Gold Will Merchants.
"Hey, look over there."
"Is that"
Visitors who had lined up at the entrance since early morning whispered to each other as they noticed Zhou Xuchuan.
"Hehe. Well, this is the downside of being famous."
Come to think of it, he had returned to Mount Hua before he had the chance to fully enjoy the fame that came with his new title, the Plum Blossom Order Sword.Although people at Mount Hua recognized him, since they were like his family, it didn''t feel real.
It felt strange yet good to haveplete strangers recognize him at a nce and praise(?) him.[1]
This was something he never could have dreamed of in his past life, and he couldn''t help but feel proud of himself.
"But don''t you think it''s a little strange?" Luo Xiaoyue muttered, her voiceced with doubt.
What is?
Their gazes.
"That''s because you''re covering your face. Don''t be so upset just because your usual attention is gone."
"It''s not like that"
Luo Xiaoyue sighed as if there was nothing she could say to Zhou Xuchuan.
"The way that they recognize you seems strange, senior brother. Almost as senior brother?"
Zhou Xuchuan stopped walking the moment he entered the garden.
Only seconds after he had written his name down at the entrance and stepped inside the pavilion, something strange in the center of the well-maintained garden caught his eye.
It was only then that the two of them realized the reason behind the peculiar gazes they had felt at the main gate earlier.
"... senior brother."
"Don''t ask."
They could feel sharp stares from those around them, but they ignored them.
In front of them stood a statue, about eight feet tall. Its face was so detailed, the sculptor''s skills had to be impressive. The most shocking part, however, was that the statue wasnt made of stone or iron, but of pure gold.
Even more important was who the statue was modeled after.
"Oh dear! It''s you, Great Hero!"
THUD, THUD, THUD!
Li Yicai, who seemed to have gained even more weight in the half-year Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t seen him, ran out barefoot into the garden. Sweat poured down his double chin like rain as he rushed over.
He used to look like any old merchant, but now that he had be incredibly wealthy, he had gained a considerable amount of weight.
"I, the Gold Will Merchant Head Merchant Li Yicai, have been waiting for the Great Hero like a woman who sent her husband to war! Hehehe!"
Although his appearance had changed, his personality and attitude remained the same.
He rubbed his hands whileughing sinisterly, looking exactly like one of those treacherous retainers from the theaters. His smile practically dripped with honey.
"I missed you so much, Great Hero, that I made a statue of you in the garden and bowed to it every morning. Isn''t it wonderful? Just look at it!"
Li Yicai smiled brightly and stroked the base of the golden statue. The way he moved his hands made Zhou Xuchuan shiver.
Now he understood why people had recognized him and whispered as he passed by.
Zhou Xuchuan walked slowly toward the golden statue and stopped in front of it. As if he''d been waiting, Li Yicai opened his mouth and began to speak.
"Yes, Great Hero! Now, to exin the origins of this golden statue"
His words quickly turned into screams.
"AGK!! GREAT HERO! HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK THIS COST? GREAT HERO! GREAT HERO!"
"I''m going to destroy this!"
***
Zhou Xuchuan stood in front of familiar faces.
Its been a long time, everyone.
Jinan had be like a second hometown to him.
The days he spent at the Gold Will Merchants had always been extremelyfortable. More than anything, he was happy to see the familiar faces again.
"Sob, sob It''s really been a while. It''s good to see you. Sob. Great Hero! Sob!"
Li Yicai formally greeted him while crying and holding the broken pieces of the golden statue. It was strange to see him like this, gently stroking the statues head.
"Stop your crying and give me a general report of what''s been going on."
"Understood"
Even though Zhou Xuchuan asked for a report, there wasn''t much for Li Yicai to report on. He had already sent Zhou Xuchuan the rough details of the important matters through letters.
The Gold Will Merchants had gradually expanded their territory and where they conducted business.
In addition to their grain deliveries, they had expanded into new ventures, starting with weapons production and eventually establishing inns and outposts. Granted, since these were side ventures, they weren''t on arge scale.
So far, they mainly focused on military supplies and equipment.
The Gold Will Sword Sect was also growing steadily, with each of the three corps doing quite well. After all, wasn''t the Merchant King''s eye for talent unparalleled?
He would immediately expel anyone the moment there were any problems, recing them swiftly to maintain the highest quality.
He was cold but efficient.
"Sir Wu Qu has been participating in the training for about three months now and has frequently been teaching the recruits."
"Oh, really?"
That wasn''t a bad thing. Actually, on the contrary, it was something to be weed with open arms.
After all, weren''t they getting lessons from a man nearly on par with the Ten Empyrean Overlords, the Sword Demon? Zhou Xuchuan was satisfied and expected good results.
"Yes. At first, the recruits were angry about a guesting in to teach them, but after getting badly beaten, they kept their mouths shut and followed orders."
"Are you saying they attacked the elder? He must be taking things seriously, then."
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t joking. He was being serious.
"And what''s Shengji doing now?"
Hes sleeping.
"When the sun is this high in the sky?"
"He mentioned developing something new a while ago and has been up all night for several days. While it''s probably already time for him to get up, I''ll call an attendant to wake him up."
"It''s fine. It''s not like we don''t have the time, so let him sleep. Instead, theres someone Id like to introduce to you."
Li Yicai''s gaze naturally shifted to the side.
"The heroine of the gangho, the disciple of the Iron Blood Plum Sword of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua, the Young Lady Luo Xiaoyue. It''s an honor to meet you. The rumors were true, you really are the Number One Beauty Under Heaven. My eyes were almost blinded by your beauty."
Luo Xiaoyue was surprised not only by the ttery that seemed to flow like water, but also by how Li Yicai recognized her even without her introducing herself.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Of course I do. No one who visits the Mount Hua Sect can remain indifferent to the beauty of the Young Lady. Above all, you''re the Great Hero''s precious person, even if you aren''t always by his side. So, how could I not know who you are? After all, I know everything about the Great Hero."
"To the point where it''s a little annoying."
"Hehe. Great Hero. I don''t know what to do with myself when you praise me like that," Li Yicai shamelessly responded.
"I''ve already told him about you, junior sister. Besides, the Gold Will Merchants are quite capable. Not only are they knowledgeable about the merchant world, but theyre also well informed about the murim. They are most likely more informed than we are."
"As knowledge is money."
Isnt knowledge power?
For a merchant, money is power!
Indeed, it was a reasonable statement.
"Well, while its unfortunate that I didnt get the chance to introduce myself, its convenient that you already know who I am. Ill be in your care." Luo Xiaoyue bowed and greeted politely.
"Oh dear, oh dear. There''s no need for a Young Lady like you to be so polite to a merchant like me. Please, feel free to treat me however you wish."
Li Yicai waved his hand as if embarrassed, but a faint smile spread across his face, betraying his happiness.
As expected of the junior sister of the Great Hero. While I saw many talents of the younger generation as thepany''s reputation rose, there were only a few who treated me like this without looking down on me.
Martial artists generally looked down on merchants, and the Golden Will Merchants were no exception.
They didn''t expect to be treated well in the first ce, and most people they actually met treated them with hostility and contempt, just as expected.
In particr, the talents of the Righteous Faction had many youngsters who were full of arrogance and pride.
Only a few, like Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji, were in that special category that treated everyone with respect. And today, Luo Xiaoyue was also added to that category.
It had been a long time since Li Yicai had thought of the phrase, ''birds of a feather flock together'' in a positive sense.
"Oh, theres someone else Id like to introduce."
"Oh, Do you have anotherpanion? Ive been so focused on your handsome face, Great Hero, I forgot myself. If you just tell me where they are, I''ll send someone to pick them up right away."
"No need. They''re already here.
Zhou Xuchuan tapped the ground with his index and middle fingers. Instantly, as if they had always been there, a man and a woman appeared on either side of him.
"Agh!!"
Li Yicai screamed and fell over. To him, it seemed as if they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"These two will be your hands and feet from now on."
"My hands and feet?" Li Yicai asked, still shaken.
It was a man and a woman. Both were wearing revealing clothes and had emotionless faces. ck cloth covered their eyes.
They were two of the five Phantoms who had followed Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue from the Valley of Phantoms.
"If the two of them join forces, they can kill a Peak expert easily. If they go all out, a Transcendent expert isn''t out of the question, either. These two are mainly skilled in assassination and intelligence gathering, so use them as your servants."
Li Yicai wasn''t a small-time Head Merchant anymore. He was getting considerable attention.
While he had guards around him, they weren''t enough, and it wasn''t as if the Sword Demon could always stay by his side.
"I''ve already given them orders, so they''ll follow any order you give them. However, please treat them as people, not tools. They''ve had pitiful lives."
"U-understood.
Even if they had gone through the Mind-Killing, they were still people, not tools.
In a way, they were also victims.
The sins they hadmitted wouldnt disappear, but it was hard to say that all of it was entirely their fault.
Although being victims of the Valley wasn''t an excuse for their actions, it was still too pitiful for them to live lives where they were only ever used.
Even if they had lost their minds and it was meaningless, Zhou Xuchuan still wanted them to receive some form ofpensation.
"Those two will always be by your side, Head Merchant. As they don''t have names, I would appreciate it if you could name them for me."
The man and woman moved from Zhou Xuchuans side to stand by Li Yicai.
As their faces were emotionless, they didn''t even seem like people.
"Then, let''s end things here for today. I''m a little tired from traveling. I''lle visit you again tomorrow."
"Understood. Please get some rest."
After exchanging their farewells and opening the door, a servant and a maid greeted them and guided them to their respective rooms.
About an hourter, Zhou Xuchuan returned.
What can I help you with? Li Yicai asked, not surprised as if he had been expecting him.
Zhou Xuchuan checked to see if anyone was listening before going straight to the point.
I came to get the secret manuals I left behind.
"Understood. I was wondering why the Shaolin Temple was so quiet."
As expected, his insight and intuition are frightening.
Although Zhou Xuchuan didn''t give him any details, Li Yicai had still noticed everything.
The Blood Monk''s manual, the Martial Alliance and the Shaolin Temple, the Prajna Divine Art.
Li Yicai''s ability to grasp the situation was extraordinary.
It wasnt for nothing that he reigned as the Merchant King during the Era of War and Chaos.
I''m so d that he''s my ally.
To be trusted by him was was like gaining a thousand troops.
"It has been so hard to keep this secret to myself!" Li Yicai sighed, his hands feeling along the floor.
After searching for a while, his fingers found a gap too narrow to be seen. Even with his thick fingers, he managed to grip it firmly.
Next, he took out a wooden skewer from his bosom, inserted it into the narrow gap, and flipped the floor panel open.
"I change its location at least once every two days, and I''m the only one who knows where it''s hidden. I''ve had to renovate my house quite a bit because of this."
The manual, carefully held between his swollen fingers, was handed back to its rightful owner, the grave robber Zhou Xuchuan.
Thank you for your hard work in keeping it safe.
After checking the contents to confirm their authenticity, Zhou Xuchuan put the manual in his bosom. While he wasn''t particrly suspicious, he was just worried that it might have been secretly switched out by a third party.
"Please send the Shaolin Temple a message. Tell them I''m bringing it. Since the Martial Alliance Leader has already made them a promise, they''ll understand the message. Now, I''ll really take my leave this time to go and rest."
1. The ? is part of the raws. ?
Chapter 123: My Second Hometown (3)
The next day.
Thanks to the excessive hospitality of the Gold Will Merchants, Zhou Xuchuan felt all the fatigue that had built up in his body melt away. In particr, the banquets Li Yicai arranged, with tablesden with so much food that they almost broke, were so delicious that the joy on his face nearly stretched the corners of his mouth wide.
No matter how nutritious grain pills were, they tasted absolutely horrible. They werepletely different from the food prepared by a chef.
After filling his stomach with medicinal wine, he introduced Luo Xiaoyue to the people he considered family.
Incidentally, as he met Wu Qu again, he realized once again how great his cultivation was.
"Oho. It''s quite interesting how they''re both here and not at the same time. Are these the Phantoms of the Valley of Phantoms?"
Wu Qu immediately detected the Phantoms the moment he saw Zhou Xuchuan. He had an extraordinary eye for detail.
"I greet the benefactor," Wu Zhenhua greeted politely, her hands sped together like ady.
"To be honest, it''s a little awkward to be called benefactor. After all, your real benefactor isn''t me but Lady Tang.""While the Poison Phoenix is the one who cured me, you are still my benefactor, Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan. ording to what my father told me, you were the one who requested the Poison Phoenix to cure me and even risked your life to get the necessary tools for the treatment."
Since Wu Zhenhua had been so ill, she had spent most of her life sitting or lying down inside a house rather than ying outside. In addition, because Wu Qu was wary of outsiders, she never had the chance to make friends of the same age.
Naturally, she spent her time reading books to relieve her boredom.
She learned etiquette and speech by reading etiquette books.
On days when she felt a little better, Wu Qu invited schrs and tutors with whom she studied diligently. Her etiquette, as a result, was anything but ordinary.
"That''s right. Why would I have made an oath if we weren''t indebted to you?"
Wu Qu smiled proudly at his daughter.
"She''s right, senior brother. It''s good to be polite, but it will be rude if you keep refusing. A great boon is a great boon."
The junior sister smiled as her senior brother wasplimented.
It felt a little strangepared to when she had been the only one who knew his true worth, but it still felt good.
At least her senior brother wouldn''t be undervalued like before, which had often angered her.
"I lost."
Zhou Xuchuan scratched his head andughed awkwardly.
"By the way, I heard that you''ve been giving the Gold Will Sword Sect lessonstely."
"It''s nothing special. I''ve just been pointing out things that caught my eye."
"Isn''t that impressive enough? If its alright with you, have you ever considered taking on the position of Sect Master?
"That would be impossible."
Wu Qu shook his head, an apologetic expression on his face.
"No matter how much you ask me, I won''t be able to do so because of my sect."
"Oh, your sect?"
The sect of the Sword Demon, who wouldter be called the Number One Under Heaven!
As a martial artist, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but be curious.
There was a lot of information about the Sword Demon, but there was nothing about his sect. Although everyone back then knew how great his techniques and cultivation were, they didn''t really know much about the source of his martial arts.
Part of it was because Wu Qu never spoke about it, the other part was because he was so terrifying that no one had ever asked.
"If it''s not too much trouble, may I ask what sect it is?"
"It''s no trouble at all. It''s a single lineage sect that doesn''t show up much within the murim, so you most likely haven''t heard of it. It''s called the Dragon Emperor Gate. Have you heard of it?"[1]
"This is the first time I''ve heard that name."
Originally, Wu Qu should have taken on a disciple, but he hadnt,rgely because he had spent so much time traveling to treat his daughter.
In the future, he had fought as the Dark Heavens Association Leader''s right-hand man before eventually disappearing into the darkness of history.
As the sect itself was known for its seclusion, it wasn''t well-known, and considering the circumstances of itsst Sect Master, it was inevitable that Zhou Xuchuan would never have heard of it.
"Well, it''s unfortunate, but there''s no helping it. Oh, if it''s okay with you, I''d like to assign the Young Lady some bodyguards. What do you think?"
Theres no reason to refuse. Would it be one of them?
Yes. Since they''re the same gender, she shouldnt feel ufortable.
Zhou Xuchuan assigned two female Phantoms, roughly Wu Zhenhua''s age, to serve as her guards.
Wu Qu smiled contentedly, expressing gratitude upon seeing them. He was even more grateful to see that Zhou Xuchuan had considered their gender.
Even without Zhou Xuchuan''s offer, Wu Qu had already been thinking about asking Li Yicai to help him hire new escorts or maids.
Zhou Xuchuan gave Wu Zhenhua some information about the Phantoms before designating her and Wu Qu as their masters.
After that, the party had tea and chatted for a while.
Luo Xiaoyue and Wu Zhenhua were girls of a simr age, and they quickly became close. Moreover, their personalities matched well.
Seeing his daughter smile, Wu Qu excused himself, not wanting to disturb her, and left. Zhou Xuchuan followed shortly after, and the two of them spoke in the courtyard.
***
Little Ghost was thest of the Phantoms brought from the Valley of Phantoms'' Hebei Branch, so Zhou Xuchuans next destination was the Shandong Branch, hoping to fill the ranks.
He needed to go there anyway to expand his territory.
This time, instead of bringing Luo Xiaoyue along, he left alone. Well, considering Little Ghost was his guide, technically speaking, he wasn''t alone.
Either way, the Shandong Branch didn''t have a situation where madmen were attacking Phantoms. The Hebei Branch was special to begin with.
There were forty Phantoms and a hundred Phantom Recruits at the Shandong Branch.
Because of this, Zhou Xuchuan found himself in a dilemma upon arriving at the Shandong Branch.
What should I do about the Phantom Recruits?
The Phantom Training was by no means humane. He couldn''t just let it continue.
In the case of the Hebei Branch, Jia Wuliang had such great willpower that he was sessfully able to rebel and escape, but the Shandong Branch Phantom Recruits didn''t have anyone like that.
They had given up everything, focusing solely on survival and obeying everymand without question.
While Zhou Xuchuan could have turned a blind eye and let things be, he didnt want to.
However, that didn''t mean that he could just let them all go.
After much thought, he decided toe up with another option.
"From this point on, Mind-Killing is forbidden."
There was no one who could match the Phantoms in the art of assassination.
They were considered legends among the assassins for nothing.
While they would gain the best ability if they were able to ovee the Mind-Killing, the risk of failure was far too great.
The fact that it stripped them of their individuality and emotions continued to gue his conscience.
Although he didn''t know what would happen after this new order, he wanted to leave them with something, at the very least, their humanity.
He also sent a letter to the Hebei Branch to inform them of this new order.
He had originally intended to send it to all the other branches, but since the process of Mind-Killing was so integral to the Valley of Phantoms, they required proof before carrying out the order.
"Hmm?"
While looking at the list of requests in the Shandong Branch, he came across a familiar name.
"Why is the Head Merchant listed here? You''re not preparing to assassinate him, are you?"
"This is a request we received before obtaining the off-limits list a short while ago. We will be declining them all and paying the penalty."
Failing an assassination meant that the Valley would have to pay four to six times the request fee as a penalty while refusing the assassination after eptance meant double the request fee as a penalty. Though the request fee for the Head Merchant''s head wasn''t small, the Valley of Phantoms'' coffers weren''t anything to be scoffed at, with more than enough to pay for it.
"So, the client is a Merchant from Jiangsu? It seems he requested this because he was losing his rice bowl after Yicai expanded his territory to Shandong."
As time passed, Li Yicai began to resemble the Merchant King. The only difference was that he shortened the time required by several decades. Zhou Xuchuan realized how scary a heaven-sent talent like Li Yicai could be once he was given funds.
Zhou Xuchuan left thirty Phantoms at the Shandong Branch, taking ten more Phantoms with him.
Upon returning to the Gold Will Merchants, he told Li Yicai the name of the one who had requested the assassination. Li Yicai''s eyes lit up, and he thanked him.
While the merchant was still kissing up to Zhou Xuchuan, the moment he heard the name, his gaze turned as cold as ice.
"I guess more people must be targeting me now that the Gold Will Merchants are getting bigger. Besides, some of these people are empty-headed fools, which makes them really good prey.
Sometimes, Li Yicai would smile eerily, just like he was doing now. When it came to money and profits, his cruelty was almost unnerving.
"It seems like fame is really exhausting. Not too long ago, there was someone who told me all these crazy things, like how they would allow us to take over all themercial districts of the Central ins."
Zhou Xuchuans hands trembled as he drank his tea.
Who was it?
"He didn''t tell me his name but gave me ten taels of gold as a favor. While I quickly epted it, I just listened to his request half-heartedly and forgot about it afterward. He said he woulde back to find meter."
"Head Merchant, for the time being, please make sure that you thoroughly secure yourpany, both inside and out. Moreover, be careful of those you''ve hired recently."
"As expected of the Great Hero. You could tell that man was suspicious just from listening to my story!"
While it seemed as though he was ttering Zhou Xuchuan casually, that couldn''t be further from the case. Li Yicai''s eyes, buried deep within his fleshy face, glinted murderously.
"While you don''t have to get my permission on how to proceed, I''d like to ask you to be careful in the future."
In Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, Li Yicai had dealt with this on his own without much damage during the Era of War and Chaos, and was able to grow the Gold Will Merchants and achieve incredible sess.
There was no need to advise someone who would seed even if left alone.
So, after giving him a vague yet appropriate warning, Zhou Xuchuan decided to move separately.
Has Twisted Melody begun his approach?
Twisted Melody of the Seven Stars Division had received orders from Blessed Existence and the Dark Heavens Association Leader to preemptively nt moles in forces that may stand out in the future.
Before he nted his moles, he would always send someone to try and persuade them to join his forces.
It seemed it was his subordinate who hade this time.
Although Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t be sure yet, it was likely.
The growth of the Gold Will Merchants.
The Gold Will Merchants had grown beyond recognition in the past few years and had begun to exert its influence not just in one region but throughout the Central ins.
He didn''t know how the Merchant King had resisted the Dark Heavens Associations persuasion and protected his assets in his previous life, but he had to stop them in this one.
Otherwise, they would be attacked one day.
You wont be able to do as you wish.
He could still hear the screams whenever he closed his eyes.
The cries and screams of those who had died in a war that painted the whole world red.
Above them was the Dark Heavens Association, and below were countless sacrifices.
The Seven Stars Division, the Archive, and the Dark Heavens Association.
Vast Gate.
The time hade to counterattack, no, to attack. The first target was Vast Gate, the center of intelligence for the Dark Heavens Association.
The information that Twisted Melody was able to obtain by nting spies wasn''t ordinary, butpared to the information that Vast Gate had at their fingertips, the amount was overwhelmingly small.
That was because the true identity of Vast Gate was one of the greatest intelligence forces within the murim.
The Xia Wu Sect (T).
In the murim, there was the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and Demonic Path.
However, there was one other faction called the ck Hand (ڵ).
Despite its name, the Xia Wu Sect wasn''t treated as a proper martial school in the world of the murim.
That was because, although it was called a sect, its members were made up of only those from the underbelly of society.
Starting from pickpockets who roamed the markets to courtesans, attendants, servants, even coachmen, ves, and bottom-level grunts of the imperial army. One could guess what the Xia Wu Sect was like just by looking at its members.
It was a ce where the lowest ss of the murim gathered, and though their numbers were the highest among all sects, their solidarity wasughable.
Because they were the scum of society, things like benevolence and loyalty were just jokes to them.
However, since people of all kinds of professions hade together, their ability to gather intelligence was exceptional.[2]
The Xia Wu Sect Master, one of the Seven Stars!
The Xia Wu Sect''s Sect Master was the true identity of Vast Gate.
Although the leader of the Xia Wu Sect was called a Sect Master, they were absolutely belittled because they were part of the ck Hand.
However, their true identity was one of the leaders of the Dark Heavens Association!
1. A reference to the gate a carp has to leap over to be a dragon. ?
2. This is the same philosophy as to why the Beggar Gang is the intelligence arm of the Nine Sects and One Gang. ?
Chapter 124: Silent Messenger (1)
The Xia Wu Sect was a confederation of lowlifes and peasants. However, it was older than both the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Evil Valley.
Their ability to survive was so great that they seemed almost immortal. Yes, intelligence yed a significant role in their survival, but another important consideration was the fact that they were a point organization.
Even if one tried to pursue them, it was difficult to track them down because each of their branches operated independently. Moreover, no one actually knew who their rumored Sect Master was, making it impossible to continue a pursuit even if one took down a branch and acquired their intelligence.
Most importantly, even if a branch was wiped out, there were too many people who could rece them.
After all, weren''t there lowlives and peasants on every street? Everyone in the Xia Wu Sect was untrustworthy and weak, so it didn''t matter if they were reced by more untrustworthy and weak people.
Even if their members were tortured, it''s not like any of them really knew the big picture. So, there was nothing any outside force could do to them.
That was the secret to their immortality.
However, that didn''t mean there weren''t any leaders. While they were very few in number, there were branches that served as their leaders.
Zhou Xuchuan was preparing to attack one such branch."Since I have the time, I should start learning new martial arts. I''ll begin with the Divine Phantom Art."
Previously, he had only focused on learning its cultivation method and footwork technique since the rest hadn''t been necessary.
"Little Ghost. If it''s okay with you, can you teach me the hidden weapon technique?"
"Understood."
The only difference between the Divine Phantom Art and the Phantom Art was the Absolute Control ability, meaning that he could receive instruction from Little Ghost.
"Let''s focus on the dagger."
His training period would be a week, and there was already a suitable location.
There were several special facilities within the basement of the Jinan branch of the Gold Will Merchants. Among them was a secret training ground.
During that week, Zhou Xuchuan only focused on the basics. From how to hold the dagger properly to how to throw it.
This secret technique, which included throwing and shing techniques, was called the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art ([w).
The first stage focused on basic attack methods, and from the second stage, throwing the daggers became possible. He had struggled his way to learning up to this point.
During Little Ghost''s training, Zhou Xuchuan once again realized how unbelievable the Phantoms were.
"W-what the hell!"
When he made a mistake in the midst of his lesson, Little Ghost suddenly flew in, aiming to kick him in the stomach with full force but stopped just before making contact.
Though it made sense that she stopped, as she wasn''t able to harm the Phantom Sovereign, Zhou Xuchuan still couldn''t understand why she had attacked in the first ce.
"Mistakes must be corrected through violence. However, I had to stop as I cannot attack the Great Hero."
"... ha"
He had easily passed the first level because it was so basic, but it was only considered basic because he was someone who had already reached enlightenment as a sword master.
If he were starting fresh as a Phantom Recruit, he definitely would have made many mistakes, considering he would have been a nk te. To think he would have been subjected to such outrageous violence!
No wonder Jia Wuliang had shuddered as if he had gone through hell. The Phantoms'' training methods were harsh and cruel.
But their methods were undeniably effective. Sometimes, people grew even faster when they were under a sense of crisis.
That was why people gained experience and grew stronger quickly during actualbat aspared to rote cultivation.
Not bad.
As he pondered, to increase the efficiency, he called over two of the ten Phantoms he had brought over from the Shandong Branch.
You three are permitted to harm me from now on. Dont worry about my life, and give it your all.
The moment he gave the order, the three Phantoms, including Little Ghost, rushed at him immediately, giving him a personal lesson on how strong they were.
He had never encountered a Phantom in his previous life, and in this one, as the Phantom Sovereign, he had never been attacked by one, either.
The moment they released their restriction and gave it their all, it was quite eerie.
A dagger sliced through the air without a sound, drawing a horizontal line. There wasnt even the faintest vibration in the air.
Like their name, it really was a phantom.
Zhou Xuchuan sharpened senses and was barely able to sense the dagger.
ng!
No matter how insignificant the attack seemed, it was impossible for metal to sh without making a sound.
I have to be careful.
Zhou Xuchuan also applied a restriction on himself.
He put down the Tai''e he usually wielded and picked up an ordinary dagger instead.
Of course, using the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom was out of the question, so he only used the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art that he had learned from Little Ghost.
Clearly sensing that his life was in danger, his movements became desperate. Every move was filled with caution.
While he could have used sword aura or sword qi, he refrained from doing so, knowing it wouldnt help his training.
"Another one of you."
A Phantom who had been waiting nearby joined the fight.
Although the weakest among them was a Peak realm expert, even the strongest Phantoms were slightly weaker in head-onbat.
Zhou Xuchuan easily handled the attacks of three people, and one more didn''t make much difference.
Soon, it was increased to seven, yet he still held his ground without much struggle.
It wasnt until there were eight Phantoms that even the great Zhou Xuchuan began to feel the strain, forcing him to drop back to seven. Despite this, he was holding up remarkably well, especially considering he was relying on the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art, which he had only recently learned.
He had been fighting against seven Phantoms for more than fifteen minutes, but strangely enough, none of them were sweating. It was thanks to the Phantom Art.
Zhou Xuchuan drew dizzying lines in the air with his dagger, using his Phantom Steps to attack without making a single sound.
The fact that he had to subdue the Phantoms without hurting them made his training even more difficult.
However, after a week, he grew ustomed to it and went up from seven to eleven.
He was nowpletely proficient in throwing, and he could use multiple daggers at the same time instead of just one.
While his hidden weapon art wasn''t as good as that of the Phantoms, it had improved significantly.
Okay. You all worked hard.
When he was satisfied, he stopped and reapplied the restriction.
It wasn''t just Zhou Xuchuan who had grown during this time. The Phantoms, who had spent the entire week fighting, had also improvedbut only in their ability to handle their weapons.
Phantoms didn''t have their individuality or ability to think for themselves. Thus, they could no longer attain enlightenment.
The process of Mind-Killing meant the end of their path.
Since the ability to think to gain enlightenment had disappeared, the Phantoms could no longer cultivate to higher levels.
Still, most of them only started their Mind-Killing process once they reached the Peak or Transcendent realm, so it wasn''t aplete loss.
Besides, reaching the Harmony realm required not only skill but also a bit of luck to achieve within a single lifetime.
"Do you know the Disguise Art (g)?"
"We do not."
Zhou Xuchuan was a little surprised.
He wasn''t making fun of them; he was genuinely confused.
Although most assassins wore masks when they operated, there were times when they had to hide in in sight. In those cases, they would disguise their faces, even going as far as shifting their skeletons to avoid revealing their identities.
"There are experts who can sense when the Disguise Art is used, so we don''t use it. If we need someone with a specific appearance, we can simply send an appropriate Phantom."
I see.
It was hard to sense the Phantoms anyway, so if they really needed to send an old man, they could just send one of their elder assassins.[1]
***
Zhou Xuchuan finished his week-long seclusion and emerged.
Let''s dy the delivery of the Prajna Divine Art a little.
The Shaolin Temple would undoubtedly pressure the Martial Alliance Leader, but he was confident the Martial Alliance Leader would exin that the dy in delivery was unavoidable, given the importance of the manual..
When he imagined Nangong Weiwu sighing in exhaustion, he put his hands together and prayed for the old man to have a headache.
Since his destination and the Shaolin Temple were in the same ce anyway, making a detour wasn''t a big problem.
Henan (), Zhengzhou ().
Known as the cradle of the Yellow River Civilization, Henan still had an incredible reputation.
Since ancient times, major cities have been located in Henan. It was still the same now.
Zhengzhou, the capital, wasnt particrly special, but it was a highly developed metropolis. The city was always busy, full of energy, and the nights seemed to go on forever.
In addition, the Shaolin Temple, the center of Buddhist studies and the greatest of the murim, resided in Henan. People from all over the Central ins visited frequently.
However, despite that, the security was not that good, something that was deemed the fault of Buddhist mercy.
The Shaolin Temple prohibited killing unless absolutely necessaryand even then, they strongly discouraged it. That was why they urged those in their surroundings to resolve disputes through subduing rather than taking lives.
While it was merely a rmendation, few dared to provoke the Temple''s wrath without good reason.
In this sort of situation, there were quite a few criminals and fools who believed that they were invincible.
Zhengzhou, around the time of the pig.[2]
The nights in Zhengzhou were long.
The usually bustling streets were now dark and silent, with all the shops closed except for the inns.
Zhou Xuchuan passed through the main streets, where only the full moon rising between the clouds illuminated his path, slipping into an alley by the side.
As the narrow alley opened up, a busy street appeared, bustling with people, unlike the main road he had just passed.
Rednterns hung on the walls and pirs of the buildings, and in the multi-story buildings, women with their pure white shoulders smiled seductively at the men on the street.
Drunken men, swaying unsteadily, grabbed at their crotches, nced up at the women, and, after making up their minds, stumbled into the brothels.
Zhengzhou''s redlight district was one of the most popr entertainment districts across the Central ins.
Another name for Zhengzhou''s redlight district?
The Xia Wu Sect.
The Xia Wu Sect''s main branch.
The courtesans leaning on the railings were part of the Xia Wu Sect, and the brothel employees who solicited the men on the street were also part of the sect.
In fact, everyone who worked in this district was a part of the Xia Wu Sect.
Now, Zhou Xuchuan had to find the Dark Heavens Association''s spies.
I should gather some information before tearing through things.
Before destroying the branch he already knew about, Zhou Xuchuan decided to infiltrate the district and gather useful information.
The Xia Wu Sect, known for running and hiding at the slightest hint of trouble, wasnt the usual kind of threat to deal with.
Because they were so easily spooked, he had to be careful.
He bought an expensive second-skin mask and covered his face, disguising himself.
Since it was such an unscrupulous neighborhood, it was easy to get something like that as long as you had the money. Of course, he was careful and made sure to have a male Phantom handle it.
Zhou Xuchuan also instructed Little Ghost not toe out for the time being.
A young girl in a ce like this was too conspicuous.
In a neighborhood where kidnapping and rape weremon, having her get targeted would be quite a nuisance.
Of course, Little Ghost would ughter any would-be attacker before they could even make a move, but Zhou Xuchuan wanted to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention.
It was only after wearing the expensive second-skin mask that he could enjoy the streets of Zhengzhou in peace.
To be thorough, he had the Phantoms roam the city to gather information. As a result, no one was by his side anymore.
I want to be a Xia Wu Sect member," Zhou Xuchuan said to the owner after entering a shabby inn.
The owner, who had a fierce expression, nced at Zhou Xuchuan and held out his hand.
One tael. In silver."
Here it is.
Name.
Dagger Phantom (ذ`).
It wasnt that difficult to be a Xia Wu Sect member.
The courtesans handled courtesan membership, while pickpockets, wanderers, and the rest could have their names listed by paying an appropriate amount of silver.
Nearly anyone could be a Xia Wu Sect member. Of course, this was only after some verification or rmendation was received.
"While you don''t seem that normal, judging by your aura, we can''t ept a child who can''t do anything."
The moment the owner finished speaking, a dagger appeared embedded in the decoration behind him like a ghost.
Most importantly, Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t even turned his head around when he threw the dagger.
A whistle of admiration could be heard from the surrounding inn residents.
Wee.
The owner said, waving his hand dismissively.
I need work.
"So you''re impatient as well. Tell me what you''re good at."
"I''m good with daggers and generally good in a fight."
"Then there''s a suitable job for you. But it''s not a job you canplete with just one or two lives. Would you still like to ept?"
Zhou Xuchuan nodded instead of answering.
"A few months ago, the brothels fought among themselves over a promising neer. What started as a small scuffle gradually escted into a life-or-death struggle, and even the big figures behind them got involved."
"Understood. Are you asking me to join that battle?"
Yes. And don''t get hurt by poking around in strange ces looking for it, either. Zhengzhou stinks of rotting corpses because of that battle."
"Then where should I poke around?"
"Anywhere."[3]
As expected of the Xia Wu Sect.
1. In other words, they don''t care if they get recognized because you can''t even see them anyway. ?
2. Roughly 9 pm to 11 pm. ?
3. Yes, the man literally goes, "don''t stick your nose in ces you don''t belong because they''ll kill you, while saying, go find the fight yourself. ?
Chapter 125: Silent Messenger (2)
The war was between the Red House (t) and the Blue House (i).
While the two brothels still did business at night, after the sun came up, the bloody secret struggles continued.
Even within the Xia Wu Sect, the two brothels were branches that focused on attacking each other in a way that kept their battles out of sight. asionally, they even fought in the open.
Things might have been different during the day, but at night, Zhengzhou was dangerous. It was a ce where even the imperial government''s troops wouldn''t patrol.
To be precise, the imperial government''s troops actually did ''patrol'' the streets of Zhengzhou, entering the red light district under the guise of maintaining public order and using their position to obtain free services.
After all, the red light district of Zhengzhou was also under themand of the imperial government.
"Hahaha!"
A martial artist of the Red House, the Head Splitting Ax (^), burst intoughter.
"Hiiing, great sir~.""Please allow me to pour you a drink."
The two courtesans, with their white necks and shoulders exposed,ughed seductively while touching their chests to the Head Splitting Ax on either side, causing the leg of his pants to bulge. With alcohol in one hand and women in the other, the corners of his mouth reached his ears.
The Head Splitting Ax, as his title suggested, was a martial artist who split the heads of his enemies with an ax. Although he may have only been a Second ss martial artist, he was considered quite decent within the Xia Wu Sect.
Running away to the Xia Wu Sect was a good decision.
He had once been a martial artist of the Evil Valley, but his countless evil deeds eventually earned him their hatred.
So, he ran away and slipped into the red light district of Zhengzhou, where he was soon hired by the Red House.
Not long ago, he had split the heads of all the enemies sent by the Blue House to target the Red House. For that feat, he was rewarded with a month''s worth of loot and two courtesans to enjoy himself with.
"Hehe. Now. Let me have a taste of some wine that has settled in the valley."
The Head Splitting Ax sneered, his eyes drifting to the courtesans chest with sinister intent.
"You''ve got quite the ample chest for it, too. Why not try drinking from your own valley?"
"Which bastard said that?!"
The sudden intrusion snapped him out of his drunken daze.
Grabbing the ax he had left on the floor, the Head Splitting Ax leaped to his feet.
"Kya!"
The courtesans who had been attached to his side fell to the ground and fled to the corner of the room.
"The Herald of Death," Zhou Xuchuan, wearing a mask over his face, answered.
"Dressed in ck from head to toe and wearing a mask, you must havee to kill me secretly. Little brat, did youe here knowing who I am?"
"Yeah, you''re the Head Kissing Ax or something like that. The Blue House wants your head, so I''vee to take it in their stead."
"To think you would butcher the title of a soon-to-be Great Hero with your own little mouth. I''ll make you regret it."
The Head Splitting Ax picked up the wine bottle, took another sip, and hurled it at Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan simply raised his hand and cut the wine bottle in half with a dagger.
As the bottle split in half, spilling the wine inside, an ax filled with bloodlust quickly followed.
As expected of someone from the Evil Faction, the Head Splitting Ax was a skilled fighter. Zhou Xuchuan admired his skill inwardly, thrusting forward like a bolt of lightning.
"Huh?"
ng!
The dagger met the axs de with a force so great that the Head Splitting Axs wrists trembled.
When did he?
The Head Splitting Ax hadn''t even seen or sensed the dagger until it collided with his ax.
Hes a master.
More than that, the qi imbued in the dagger was too strong. It was no surprise that it could stop his ax. In fact, his ax had nearly been knocked aside by the sheer force of it.
The Head Splitting Ax was smarter than most people gave him credit for. His intuition, in particr, was extraordinary. That was why he had been able to escape the Evil Faction so easily.
"I don''t know who you are, but just wait a"
Squelch!
That was thest thing the Head Splitting Ax ever said.
Before he could even finish his sentence, his neck snapped back with a sickening crack.
His eyes were wide with fear as a dagger lodged itself in the center of his forehead.
"Mmmmh!"
Instead of screaming, the courtesans muffled themselves, covering their mouths with their hands and sobbing silently. Most courtesans who witnessed fights happen before them ended up dying after screaming in surprise.
After all, if they made a fuss, the enemy would quickly notice them ande running to silence them. So, the two courtesans held back their screams and fear, hoping to survive.
Zhou Xuchuan ignored the courtesans, approached the Head Splitting Ax, pulled out his dagger, and severed the warrior''s hand before putting it into his pocket.
"Who else is here?"
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t standing in the Red House right now.
The Head Splitting Ax was so debaucherous that the brothel had been afraid of him disturbing their other guests, so they had prepared a separate ce for him to enjoy himself and sent the courtesans and the alcohol to him.
That-that"
The courtesan, through her tears, stammered but answered diligently in order to survive.
There were two other martial artists of the Red House that were on the Blue House''s list, both just as ill-tempered as the Head Splitting Ax.
While they weren''t all that impressive, since he hade all this way anyway, Zhou Xuchuan also killed them as well and brought his trophies to the Blue House.
The next day.
The martial artists of the Red House were found dead in an unexpected attack. Meanwhile, the Blue House was happy that it had been able to get revenge for the attack it had suffered not too long ago.
Zhou Xuchuan handed over the three severed hands.
What did you say your name was? the Blue House''s Madam said, looking at the hands and smiling gently.
Dagger Phantom.
What do you want? Money? Alcohol? A courtesan? Just say it.
I want to sleep with the Blue Houses Head Madam.
"Oho, so you want quite a big prize."
The Blue House''s Head Madam was once the best courtesan in Zhengzhou. However, she had now retired to be the Head Madam and was in charge of managing the courtesans.
It wasn''t that she hadpletely stopped doing night apaniments; rather, her fame and wealth had made it no longer worthwhile to entertain just any ordinary client.
Although she was in her thirties, thanks to her mastery of the Beautification Art (vg), she was said to still be just as beautiful as she had been when she was active.
"If that''s the case, thene back after taking care of the Red House''s Singing Hacker (ؘ). I''ll at least set up a meeting then," the Madam said.
"The Singing Hacker?"
The employees behind the Madam were surprised to hear the name.
Understood.
After epting the request, Zhou Xuchuan left the Blue House.
"Is he nning on killing that expert?"
"Even if a night with the Head Madam is the best bed in Zhengzhou, that''s insane."
Those blinded by pleasure will die easily.
The Singing Hacker was different from ordinary warriors or martial artists. He was a famous expert in the Red Houseno, in all of Zhengzhou.
Beforeing to Zhengzhou, he had taken pleasure in cutting down all kinds of people, even singing songs in front of their corpses.
As time passed, he became more infamous, and right before he was designated as a Demon Head, he fled and vanished, only to show up again in Zhengzhou.
Now, he belonged to the Red House andughed like a lunatic whenever he ughtered those of the Blue House or, really, anyone who got in his way.
"I mean, why did she have to make him go for the Singing Hacker?"
"Looking at his skills, we could have used him a little longer"
It wasn''t that they felt bad for Zhou Xuchuan, the Dagger Phantom. They just regretted not using him a little more.
"Well, whatever. There are plenty of bastards like that anyway."
There were many who took refuge in the red light district of Zhengzhou and confidently epted work as if they were the greatest at everything, trying to make a name for themselves.
The Madam had also thought the same and hoped that Zhou Xuchuan could at least take off one of the Singing Hacker''s arms.
Hearing that, the Blue House employees made a small bet.
"I''ll bet that he wouldn''t even be able to approach the Singing Hacker and would die before he got close."
"Pssh, the Head Splitting Ax wasn''t some nobody, right? Shouldn''t he be able to take off a finger at least?"
Most of the Xia Wu Sect members bet that Dagger Phantom would die. However, none of them could have ever expected the result.
The Singing Hacker is dead!
They said he was found in his room with his head cut off!
The Singing Master, once praised as an expert, had been found as a cold corpse. What was even scarier was that he had been in a room within the Red House.
His cultivation was so high and there were so many people who had died after offending him, so none of the employees had dared to kick him out.
"Apparently, the Red House didn''t even know someone had broken in."
"I heard from a friend that there was no sign of struggle in the room."
"Wow, just how great is his cultivation?"
Who is he?
The Silent Messenger (oʹ)!
Although no one knew that he was actually Zhou Xuchuan, that didn''t mean he hadn''t been given a title.
He was referred to as the Silent Messenger because he took lives silently.[1]
The next time he visited Blue House, the treatment he received was noticeably different.
No, it wasnt exactly treatment. Rather, their caution had significantly increased.
The Madam he had seen before was standing there with a frightened look on her face, and behind him stood the martial artists of the Blue House, looking extremely tense.
"P-pleasee in."
"The Blue House''s Head Madam?"
"Ahem. First, how about we start with a drinkeek!"
The Madam began, but her words were cut off as a dagger flew past her head, slicing her earlobe and drawing blood.
The guards immediately responded and drew their swords hesitantly. Their faces had turned pale.
An expert capable of killing the Singing Hacker without making a sound wasnt ordinary, and certainly not someone a force like the Xia Wu Sect could handle.
There were people like this every now and then. They were too strong to generally join the ranks of the Xia Wu Sect, only joining to find women or information.
Enough.
A soft voice was heard from the railing upstairs.
When Zhou Xuchuan raised his head, he saw a woman with a veil covering her face.
Since the curves of her body were clearly visible, even the Xia Wu Sect members of the Blue House were mesmerized.
I apologize, sir. The Madams decision to allow you to have a night with me was made on her own. She says that she never expected you to be such an expert. I apologize on her behalf.
Judging from the atmosphere and her appearance, she was definitely the Blue House''s Head Madam. Zhou Xuchuan looked over at the Madam. From his expression, it seemed that the Blue House''s Head Madam was telling the truth.
"I''ve always heard that the faults of one''s subordinates are the responsibility of the master. Since I killed the required target, the Singing Hacker, please give me mypensation."
Oh my. It''s delightful to hear that you want me so fervently. Please, allow me to serve you."
The Blue House''s Head Madam red at the Madam, then walked over to Zhou Xuchuan and linked arms with him.
How envious.
To think he gets to hold the Blue House''s Head Madam.
Wow. My dream was to spend a night with the Blue House''s Head Madam before I die!
Despite her age, the Blue House''s Head Madam was extremely popr in Zhengzhou.[2] So much so that her skills in bed were rumored to have literally serviced many men to death.
The higher the floor of the Blue House, the more expensive it was to rent.
The highest floor wasn''t something that could be purchased with money alone.
In a room attached to the Madam''s office, the Blue House''s Head Madam called a few courtesans over and prepared a sumptuous feast.
"If it''s okay with you, would you like to taste one of our promising young ones first?"
"I''m not interested, so tell everyone else to leave. I want a private dinner."
"I fully understand that you love me, but before you taste something really delicious, don''t you think an appetizer is"
"If you want me to start with the taste of your blood, then go ahead and continue," Zhou Xuchuan warned, his voice low and grave.
Then, the Blue Houses Head Madam''s expression changed.
Sensing something odd, she made the other courtesans leave. She also sent away the nearby guards.
She could sense it with a single nce. The Silent Messenger wasn''t an ordinary expert.
Even if those idiots were to conceal themselves, they would only end up irritating him.
Looking at him, he doesn''t seem to be the kind of gentleman who would be gentle. He''ll probably try to rape me like a beast in heat. How worrisome.
The Blue House''s Head Madam sighed inwardly.
While she was used to dealing with men, she sometimes had run-ins with tiresome ones like the man in front of her. With a helpless expression, she moved to light some incense that would stimte arousal in order to lessen the pain of what she was about to go through.
"Then let''s start talking seriously now."
Is he saying he wants to swear harshly while doing it? I''m fucked.
The Blue House''s Head Madam shivered.
"Actually, I have no intention of sleeping with the Madam."
No, could it be? Is he one of those perverts who feel pleasure through violence? This is a big problem!
The Blue House''s Head Madam turned a pale blue, matching her title.
She suddenly thought about fleeing and mobilizing the Blue House''s martial artists to try to kill this bastard.
Sometimes, there were some crazy psychopaths who could only feel sexual pleasure from beating courtesans to the brink of death. Those types were the worst.
What I want is information on the Xia Wu Sect.
"Isn''t there anyone out the huh? What did you say?"
1. You don''t say. ?
2. This is the second mention of age, so I just wanted to rify. Please see TL notes. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
1. Just because a woman reaches thirty doesn''t mean she''s undesirable.
2. No, seriously.
Okay, now that''s out of the way, there are a few factors as to why they keep mentioning the Blue House''s Head Madam''s age.-
The average age of people in Ancient China/Korea was roughly the early thirties. So, reaching your thirties meant you were old.
-
While cultivation/murim/etc novels mean that the overall lifespan is a little longer, the thirties are still reaching thetter half of normal people''s lives.
-
This is doubly so considering her profession - courtesan. Most clients of a brothel in any society looked for young, seemingly innocent courtesans, and the younger they were, the better. People paid high prices for virgins. Hence, being an experienced, older courtesan generally should have meant that she was less desirable.
But-
The entire emphasis on her being in her thirties and thus being old and therefore was "supposed to be undesirable," and only through the fact that she was "so beautiful and good at bedtime" that she was still seen as desirable left a bad taste in my mouth, and I wanted to exin that it''s just thematically urate, not the actual beliefs of the author.
Anyways, yeah age doesn''t mean anything.
Thank you for attending my rant.
Also also, that''s title number EIGHT for Zhou Xuchuan lmao.
Chapter 126: The Black Hands Tough Clan (1)
The Blue House''s Head Madam asked in confusion.
"Information about Xia Wu Sect?"
"To put it bluntly, I am looking for someone who can help me. Meeting the Xia Wu Sect Master would be even better."
"Hmm."
A look of concern crossed the Madam''s face. After a brief silence, she spoke again.
"Direct contact with the Sect Master is difficult, but I do know someone who might be able to help."
"Good. Then, please connect me to them."
"However, I can''t just let you meet them. At the very least, they''ll need a verypelling reason"
Zhou Xuchuan nodded once at the Blue House''s Head Madam''s words."Good."
Zhou Xuchuan told the lie he had prepared in advance.
"Actually, I was an assassin from the Valley of Phantoms."
"What?!"
The Madam''s eyes widened in shock, and she drew a sharp breath.
A member of the most secretive organization in the murim!
While it was surprising, what weighed more heavily on her mind were the rumors. Everyone who saw them ended up dead.
The Blue House''s Head Madam''s face turned unusually pale, her eyes filled with fear.
"Don''t be so scared. After all, I was a ''recruit.''"
Zhou Xuchuan''s lies flowed as smoothly as water.
"I was originally a Phantom, but I identally killed my instructor and was forced to flee. The emotions and rage that built up from the harsh training overflowed back then. I need the power of Xia Wu Sect Master to hide from them."
"??!"
The Blue House''s Head Madam''s mind was spinning. She studied Zhou Xuchuan''s face, but while his expression was difficult to read, it didn''t seem like he was lying.
More than anything, his past achievements gave strength to the lie.
The Silent Messenger!
When she thought about the rumored actions of the Phantoms and how the Silent Messenger worked, they were eerily simr.
After all, didn''t the Silent Messenger kill without leaving a sound or trace, just like a Phantom?
The Blue House''s Head Madam looked at the Silent Messenger with a fearful gaze before nodding. She promised to ry his message.
After waiting for half a day, the Blue House''s Head Madam brought a man to see him.
He appeared to be in his early thirties, his fierce eyes and the savage qi flowing within him were very impressive.
"Are you the Silent Messenger I''ve only heard about in rumors? It''s an honor to meet you. I''m Jiang Nengchu."
"The Tough Bastard."
Zhou Xuchuan just stated the man''s title instead of greeting him.
"Do you know me?"
"I work at the Blue House. How could I not?"
Both the Blue House and the Red House had people who supported them, and Jiang Nengchu was one of them. There was no way that Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t recognize him.
While the Tough Bastard''s title might not make waves across the gangho, within Zhengzhou at least, his name was somewhat well-known.
"I heard about your situation from the Blue House''s Head Madam."
Jiang Nengchu''s eyes were cautious, but he showed no sign of fear.
"Let me get straight to the point. The Xia Wu Sect Master is not a very trustworthy person."
Zhou Xuchuan remained silent as Jiang Nengchu continued.
"Instead of protecting you, the Xia Wu Sect Master is someone who would contact the Valley of Phantoms and hand you over for profit."
"..."
"Of course, I know how unreliable the words of aplete stranger, especially someone from the ck Hand, are."
"What''s your reason for telling me that?"
"There are two reasons," Jiang Nengchu replied, holding up two fingers.
"First, I need the power of a Phantom."
Obtaining the power of a Phantom was an extremely attractive offer to anyone, not just Jiang Nengchu.
Even if the Silent Messenger wasn''t a real Phantom, he was still just as desirable. What was important was the power he possessed.
"Two, the Sect Master of the Xia Wu Sect will soon change!"
Jiang Nengchu''s voice and gaze were filled with strength. It wasn''t just confidence, it was more like absolute certainty.
When Zhou Xuchuan looked into those eyes, it felt like staring into an abyss. No, it was too vague to call it an abyss.
His fierce expression revealed a deep desire, firmly rooted in his mind.
It was so obvious.
Dirty, yet also seemingly innocent, like a child.
He''s good enough!
While Zhou Xuchuan didn''t show it, he was cackling inwardly.
He already knew the identity of the Xia Wu Sect Master and had a rough idea of their usual whereabouts. He even knew a little about the Sect Master''s subordinates.
However, most of his intel was limited to the fact that the Xia Wu Sect Master often visited and roamed around Zhengzhouhe couldn''t narrow it down to any specific locations within the city.
However, if he hastily attacked the Zhengzhou branch of the Xia Wu Sect just to weaken the power of the Dark Heavens Association''s Vast Gate Division, there was a high possibility that the Xia Wu Sect Master would flee and hide.
If that happened, it would be nearly impossible to root the Sect Master out.
Zhou Xuchuan had to be careful not to spook the Xia Wu Sect and create a situation where its leader had no choice but toe forward if he wanted to seed.
Internal strife. The Xia Wu Sect Master''s position isn''t absolute, so I have to use those who covet that power.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes shed eerily for a moment.
Since the intelligence of the Vast Gate Division is essentially the Xia Wu Sect''s intelligence, as long as I shake the foundation of the Xia Wu Sect itself and force the Sect into a standstill, Vast Gate won''t be able to hide or run, either. Most importantly, as long as it''s not a stranger and one of their own who causes themotion, they won''t suspect me.
That was why he had changed his appearance and infiltrated the Xia Wu Sect, even calling himself the Silent Messenger while helping the Blue House.
"Are you really nning to use me?"
Zhou Xuchuan deliberately lowered his voice.
He sensed a presence behind Jiang Nengchu but chose to ignore it. Clearly, Jiang Nengchu had prepared a backup n in case of an emergency. As expected of the Xia Wu Sect, though the quality of the backup n left much to be desired.
"Isn''t that what the murim is all about? Developing rtionships where you use and are used for each other''s benefit? Cooperation or loyalty or whatever, all of that shit is nothing more than empty talk!"
Considering his strength and ambition, why did I never hear his name in my previous life?
The Tough Bastard, Jiang Nengchu. This was the first time Zhou Xuchuan had heard that name in this life.
Seeing him in person, Zhou Xuchaun realized he was a bigger person than he had thought. Jiang Nengchu was confident and had high spirits, and he didn''t even bow down to the strong.
Finding someone like him in the ck Hand was rare.
No wonder he wasn''t famous. If he had harbored such hostility toward Vast Gate, the Xia Wu Sect Master, he wouldn''t have survived.
In the original timeline, he most likely challenged for the Sect Master position. The result, of course, was obvious.
Gulp!
The Blue House''s Head Madam, who was waiting far behind, swallowed nervously. Her face was tense and covered in cold sweat.
If Silent Messenger had refused, the Blue House, who shared the fate of Jiang Nengchu, would also be making the greatest enemy. The thought of bing the Silent Messenger''s enemy was terrifying.
Fortunately, the Blue House''s Head Madam''s fears were short-lived.
"I ept."
Whew!
The Blue House''s Head Madam let out a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, Jiang Nengchu narrowed his eyes, his face contorting as if he hadn''t expected Zhou Xuchuan to agree so readily.
"Are you doubting me after you yourself convinced me?"
"Well, things don''te so easily in the murim, no, the world."
Zhou Xuchuan snickered and got up from his seat.
"If I had to give a reason, it''s because you''re at least more trustworthy than someone I''ve never met."
"Are you saying you trust me just because of that? Have you ever considered that I might be lying, trying to make it seem like the Xia Wu Sect Master isn''t trustworthy?"
"Trust you? What a strange thing to say. I haven''t been with the Xia Wu Sect for long, but I know the rules of the nightlife very well. No one is trustworthy."
A child, iming to be an inn''s attendant, would offer to guide someone, but in reality, he was just a beggar who only knew the way.
Most people who screamed in dark alleys were always bait.
Don''t trust anyone!
It was an old saying in the ck Hand.
***
A crescent moon rose in the night sky, though most of it was hidden by clouds, leaving the rest obscured in darkness.
While the night seemed unusually dark, the true terror came from the asional screams that pierced the silence.
Jiang Nengchu led around a hundred Xia Wu Sect members to attack the rear of the Red House.
"Agk!!"
"Aghhh!"
All of Zhengzhou watched the bloody battle unfold while keeping an eye on the situation. Everyone was on high alert and cautious, not wanting to get caught up in it for nothing.
Still, the city wasn''t afraid. While an all-out war of this scale was certainly umon, it still happened asionally enough.
"It''s the Silent Messenger!"
"Jiang Nengchu has recruited the Silent Messenger!"
"Run away! There''s no hope for the Red House!"
Loyalty meant nothing to the Xia Wu Sect.
Even if they had be sword brothers the day before, they would abandon you without hesitation today. It wasn''t called the ck Hand for nothing.
The Red House''s forces, which were already noticeably weakened, were unable to resist the attack and eventually copsed.
Their fate had been sealed the moment they lost their experts, the Head Splitting Ax and the Singing Hacker.
"From now on, the Red House will be under the control of me, Jiang Nengchu."
"P-please, spare our lives!"
Now, the Blue and Red Houses were under Jiang Nengchu''smand.
Since they both had considerable influence in the red light district of Zhongzhou, Jiang Nengchu''s force''s profits and military power doubled.
Thismotion reached the ears of the Xia Wu Sect Master.
"Jiang Nengchu, Jiang Nengchu" the Xia Wu Sect Master muttered in the darkness. There was a hint of annoyance in the Sect Master''s voice.
The Tough Bastard, Jiang Nengchu.
Information about the upstart came to mind and unfolded, extensive in both depth and reach.
Jiang Nengchu had been a pretty average child in Zhengzhou from birth, an orphanmonly seen on the streets of the red light district.
He had been abandoned under a bridge when he was young and grew up not knowing the names of his parents.
Like many others, he had begged to survive as a child, relying on pity. He was fortunate enough to learn martial arts from a martial artist, though he wasn''t taught any impressive techniques.
No, the truly impressive one was Jiang Nengchu himself.
He trained relentlessly for the sake of survival.
While he had some talent, what was even greater was his tenacity.
Sometimes, when he couldn''tprehend something, he would follow the martial artist persistently, learning what he could while loitering around the brothel.
While the martial artist vented his anger and beat him viciously under the pretext of training, Jiang Nengchu never sumbed to it. There had been more than a few times when he was close to death, but it was precisely those hardships that had brought him to this point.
"He''s not important enough for me to worry about yet."
The red light district of Zhengzhou was the most dangerous ce in the world. A force could disappear overnight, only to be reced by another.
This kind of thing happened a lot. Although it wasn''tmon, many invited experts from the outside world to expand their sphere of influence.
While the Silent Messenger had caught the Xia Wu Sect Master''s eye, it wasn''t enough to move Vast Gate, who was busy with the affairs of the Dark Heavens Association.
Within Zhengzhou''s Xia Wu Sect, there were many other famous forces other than the Blue and Red Houses. Among them, there were many who had pledged loyalty to the Xia Wu Sect Master and had be Vast Gate''s servants.
They were the targets to aim for in the future.
"I''ll tell you what''s going to happen from this point on."
In front of Jiang Nengchu were his childhoodrades and Xia Wu Sect members who had recently joined him after receiving a promise of protection. They were a little over a hundred. They waited for his next words with solemn expressions, thinking, "It''s finally here."
"We swallowed up the Red House not too long ago, but I''m not satisfied with just that. Don''t you all know how dangerous and greedy the red light district of Zhengzhou is? There are many who won''t leave us, who''ve grown so quickly, alone. If we don''t want to be defeated by them, we have to strike first.
Gulp!
"Does that mean it''s an all-out war, Hyungnim?"
"Yes. Not only that, but we''ll also bring the entirety of Zhengzhou under our control."
His subordinates murmured, but that was only for a moment.
They all nodded as if they had expected it.
"The Arsenic Pig, the Viper Sword, the Murderous Harlot!"
Jiang Nengchu''s subordinates flinched when they heard the three names. Most of them looked terrified.
It was understandable, given that these three were powerful figures, famous not just in Zhengzhou but throughout the entire Xia Wu Sect.
Each of them had created their own forces, and their size and strength were enormous. They were also extremely vicious, and countless people had either been used or killed by them.
"Don''t be so afraid! We have the Silent Messenger!"
"The Silent Messenger!"
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The faces that had been hidden in shadows brightened.
The name Silent Messenger was the very definition of fear in Zhengzhou, and the rumor that he was an ally boosted their morale.
Chapter 127: The Black Hands Tough Clan (2)
Jiang Nengchu wasn''t an idiot who only knew how to show off his strength. After all, there were all kinds of dark schemes lurking in the red light district of the ck Hand''s Zhengzhou.
If one relied solely on strength and set out recklessly, they would likely die before ever leaving their mark. Of course, this didn''t apply to an expert with overwhelming cultivation, but such an expert wouldn''t find themselves working within the dregs of the murim to begin with.
Jiang Nengchu had actually meticulously prepared for the night''s attack. He dispersed his troops for an ambush, following the strategy of attacking an enemy in various ces with small gathered forces.[1]
Since Zhengzhou was a ce where all kinds of intelligence gathered and rumors spread quickly, he had to be careful of every movement.
Although he may have recently grown stronger after absorbing the Red House''s forces, it would be easy to lose everything if he let his guard down.
"First, we need to deal with the most annoying of them. The Viper Sword."
The Viper Sword was the most difficult to deal with among the three targets. Not only was his cultivation incredible, but he also possessed great wisdom.
He was skilled at perceiving the best time to hide in dangerous moments and always appropriately utilized his support forces around him during any power struggles. Moreover, his skill with setting traps was particrly annoying.
Jiang Nengchu knew that if he wasted energy on the others first, The Viper Sword would exploit any opening. That''s why he made him his primary target."What do you n to do?"
Experts generally didn''t like to be ordered around by the weak, especially within the Xia Wu Sect. Even the Sect Master of the Xia Wu Sect was looked down upon, let alone a small-timemander.
Jiang Nengchu never expected that an expert on the level of the Silent Messenger would listen to him in the first ce.
"The Arsenic Pig," Zhou Xuchuan said, casually twisting his wrists as if he was loosening them up.
"There''s no way?"
The Blue House''s Head Madam''s jaw dropped, while Jiang Nengchu frowned silently.
"I''ll take care of him."
"That''s ridiculous!"
The Blue House''s Head Madam eximed before closing her mouth with a gasp. Her face turned as pale as a corpse.
I must have gone crazy!
Jiang Nengchu wasn''t her concern. He was warm and gentle to his own people. He could forgive this level of disrespect to some extent. Moreover, she was one of his strategists, holding the highest level of authority after the Tough Bastard.
That''s why she consistently attended the meetings before any operation.
The problem was the Silent Messenger.
She was afraid of him, a monster who had shown her an unforgettable intimidation since the first time they had met.
However, contrary to her worries, Zhou Xuchuan just stood up from his seat without even looking at her.
"The Arsenic Pig may not be as intelligent as the other two, but that doesn''t make him aplete fool. Even if you defeat the Viper Sword, your forces will be decimated, and the pig bastard and his forces will definitely attack you. He might even take control of the Blue or Red Houses and hold them hostage."
"We''re fully aware of that. It''s just, even if you are the Silent Messenger, if you enter the Arsenic Pig''s den alone"
Jiang Nengchu raised his hand to stop the Blue House''s Head Madam.
His already fierce eyes narrowed, bing even more terrifying.
I never expected him to go this far. I don''t know if it''s his confidence in his cultivation or skill, but there''s no reason for me to refuse.
He had already been concerned about the exact point that Zhou Xuchuan had brought up, even preparing several strategies to try to handle it. But now, there was no need to do so.
Even if the Silent Messenger failed, his skills would likely cause more damage than whatever Jiang Nengchu could havee up with.
I''d be happy if he manages to trade his neck for that pig''s. That uncontroble power is a double-edged sword. I may be able to cut down the enemy using it, but one day, it might turn against me. For now, I''ll use it to my advantage.
With superhuman self-control, Jiang Nengchu barely managed to stop himself from smiling like an idiot. He didn''t want to ruin this good flow.
"Understood. Then, we''ll gather the remaining troops at the Blue House and focus on defending our territory. It''ll be hard for us to provide you with support. Is that okay?"
"It''s fine."
The outskirts of Zhengzhou were all just dark streets with poor security.
The intricately intertwined alleys were so dark that even Zhengzhou''s residents were likely to get lost.
It went without saying that it was dangerous.
If a healthy man entered these streets, he would be sold into very before anyone noticed, and if a woman entered, she would be raped to death.
There were even ces that members of the Xia Wu Sect, who were ustomed to Zhengzhou''s red light district, wouldn''t dare approach.
The east, west, and southern outskirts.
To the west, there was a night market that mainly sold counterfeit goods, stolen goods, and drugs.
The Snake Den.
When thenterns rose instead of sunlight, a group appeared in the market''s streets near the entrance to the Snake Den.
"Huh?"
A Xia Wu Sect member who was patrolling the streets suddenly felt something strange.
This feeling
Something was bound to happen today.
Several people gathered in the crowd, walking through the market.
One person became two, and two became four.
Soon, the patrolling members realized something was wrong when that number began to increase at an rming rate.
"Ugh!"
The patrolling member''s jaw dropped as he recognized one of the gathered people. rm bells rang loudly in his head.
Hisrade, standing nearby, also noticed something, drawing his sword and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"It''s the Tough Bastard!"
The residents of Zhengzhou were quick to react, scattering like flies at the first sign of trouble.
Jiang Nengchu gave a fierce order.
"Kill them!"
There was no need for him to say anything else. He had already told them not to touch anyone other than the Viper Sword''s subordinates.
ROAR!!!
"Follow the Tough Bastard!" Jiang Nengchu''s experts, including those from the Red and Blue House, shouted.
Although they were only in the Third ss realm, their momentum shook Zhengzhou as if they were true experts.
The Snake Den members, hearing themotion, kicked open a door and rushed out, only to be terrified by the sight before them.
"Get up! It''s an attack!"
"Call Eldest Hyungnim!"
"Agh!!"
Screams echoed through the streets and all over the Snake Den as its members, caughtpletely off guard by the attack, fell one by one.
Jiang Nengchu and his forces ughtered all the nearby Snake Den members and pressed on toward the Viper Sword''sir.
"Beware of traps!"
However, unlike their initial charge, the continued advance wasn''t easy.
Yes, thebyrinth-like alleyways were annoying, but the most frustrating part was the traps set at nearly every turn, which made things difficult.
Word of the attack at the Snake Den''s entrance reached the Viper Sword swiftly, like a gust of wind.
"Tough Bastard, you brat who doesn''t even know your ce!" the Viper Sword hissed with cold anger.
"You dare attack me, the Viper Sword?! You''ve forgotten who to fear!"
The Viper Sword was proud to be the strongest in Zhengzhou after the Xia Wu Sect Master, and to be fair, he wasn''t wrong.
The Arsenic Pig had incredible strength butcked brains, while the Murderous Harlot had both skills and brains butcked strength.
On the other hand, The Viper Sword was a talented martial artist who had both strength and brains, as well as proper technique.
Even if the Tough Bastard was a recently rising little snake, he wasn''t on par with a fully grown Viper.[2]
Rather than being afraid, the Viper Sword justughed.
"Rat!"
At the Viper Sword''s call, a man bearing an uncanny resemnce to a rat appeared. He was small for an adult male.
"Send everyone who has even the slightest experience with a bow up to the roof and tell them to shoot wherever I point out. If anyone flees, don''t hesitate to make them an example and behead them."
"Understood!" Rat responded before disappearing.
"Tsk!"
The Viper Sword clicked his tongue in irritation, his brow furrowing. Something about the situation didn''t sit right with him.
A brat full of energy who recently gained strength isn''t a match for me. No, the real problem is the Silent Messenger.
The Silent Messenger!
Although he had only been in the streets of Zhengzhou for a short time, in less than a month, he had be an expert who dominated the streets through sheer terror.
Even for Zhengzhou''s Strongest[3], the Viper Sword, the idea of a spirit of death that stalked silently and reaped souls was quite nerve-racking.
With everything else that he had to consider, his head began to pound.
***
While amotion erupted in the west as the Snake Den was attacked, the east side of the city was also somewhat noisy.
However, themotion there was a daily urrence, so it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Only those with little patience and ferocious tempers gathered on the east side, making it awlessnd even within Zhengzhou.
Most of their work was in predatory lending, illegal gambling, human trafficking, and intimidation.
Since it was a ce where all kinds of violence ran rampant, even the weaker members of the Xia Wu Sect would avoid it altogether.
However, there was a ce where the indiscriminate violence was kept in check.
The secret underground gambling hall.
Starting with dogfights and cockfights, it was a ce where even people fought for their lives, with an incredibly long history. Considering merchants and officials who enjoyed watching bloody violence would asionally visit, it was the one ce in the east where some concern was ced.
"T-this is it."
Guided by an employee of the Blue House, Zhou Xuchuan passed through a narrow, eerie alley and arrived at a dead end.
In front of him was a wall that was a zhang high (roughly 3ish meters) with a pig''s face painted on it. At the center of the wall was a suspicious-looking iron gate.
The only difference between this ce and the streets he hade from was that here, the surroundings were lit by torches, and arge gatekeeper stood guard.
"W-well, I''ll be leaving now, hehe!"
The employeeughed nervously and tried to run away, but Zhou Xuchuan''s hand shot out, gripping the man by the back of the neck and holding him in ce.
"Ugh!"
"You said you used to work in this arena, right?"
The employee nodded his head in response.
"Do you know the way inside?"
Feeling a growing sense of dread, the employee was about to say that he didn''t know. However, he quickly closed his mouth and just shrank back.
As much as he wanted to avoid entering the arena, he feared upsetting the Silent Messenger even more. After all, his life was in the Phantom''s hands.
"Then guide me."
"Sob sob!"
The employee couldn''t hide his expression. His face crumbled, tears streaming down as snot dripped from his nose
Knowing very well what the Silent Messenger nned to do after invading the underground arena, he couldn''t hold back his intense emotions.
If I had known this would happen, I would have written a will!
He walked forward, muttering under his breath and cursing inwardly.
"That''s enough."
The gatekeeper standing in the center of the alley drew his sword from his waistband.
"Well, that''s a face I''ve never seen before."
A bitter smile spread across the gatekeeper''s lips.
"It''s two taels of silver if you want toe in."
"I don''t have it."
"S-sir!"
The employee who had been searching through his cloak turned pale.
"What?"
The gatekeeper''s face twisted into a grim expression.
"How are you letting yourself get looked down on by these losers?"
"Kekekeke!"
The gatekeepers nearby cackled. Some of them even pped their hands, relieved to have something entertaining since they had been bored.
The gatekeeper, who had been singled out as the target of ridicule by his colleagues, trembled, unable to bear the humiliation.
His face flushed bright red, as if it might burst, and his eyes were filled with a fierce bloodlust.
"Good, it seems you''ve forgotten how to fear!"
No one in the alley, especially not these grunts, could sense Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation level.
The gatekeeper just assumed Zhou Xuchuan was one of those lowlifes who sometimes appeared, people who liked to show off with no real skills.
"Little Ghost."
"Yes."
The gatekeeper who had stepped forward froze, his pupils trembling as if an earthquake had shaken his mind. His face paled, like he had seen a ghost.
He wasn''t the only one, the other gatekeepers looked the same.
"Eek!"
The Blue House''s employee let out a startled squeal and copsed on the floor.
W-when did she?
In the blink of an eye, someone d in ck with their eyes covered by a cloth appeared in front of the Silent Messenger as if they had always been there.
Even though the person was said to be d in ck, the cloth was so thin and their skin so shrouded in shadows that their silhouette was difficult to make out.
"Prepare to counterattack, but prioritize the safety of this employee. Focus on defense, not offense."
Little Ghost stood beside the fallen employee.
"It''s fine to let him go if there aren''t any enemies left. Otherwise, kill them all quickly."
As ten figures seemed to rise from the ground, the gatekeepers realized something was terribly wrong.
"We''ve received your orders."
1. Sun Tzu''s Art of War, chapter IV, Disposition of the Military. ?
2. The word bastard, ??, literally trantes to venomous one. Thus, he''s also a little snake in terms of wordy. ?
3. Yes, I know it says Xia Wu Sect Master is stronger. This is his title, the Heaven''s Number One. It just sounds so ridiculous considering Xia Wu Sect is ALREADY so weak, so we just went for Zhengzhou''s Strongest. ?
Chapter 128: The Assassins Introduction (1)
"Agk!"
The night streets of Zhengzhou instantly became a battlefield.
The powerless residents locked their doors and held their breath while those who could fight even the slightest bit prepared for a battle.
"They''re using arrows!"
Thwip!
An arrow flew from the rooftops. In the darkness, the arrows were nearly invisible, making them almost impossible to block.
Moreover, because the alleys were narrow, the arrows'' uracy was deadly. Even blindly fired arrows almost always hit their target.
"Lift the Feather Shields and block them!"
The Feather Shield was a type of shield made of a light material like feathers and bamboo and was ideal for blocking arrows once or twice.[/ref]Traditionally, it''s a veryrge feather. It has a double meaning. The quote goes, ''In the hands of a warrior, it is a shield; in the hands of a schr, it is an aid for the dance.''[/ref]"Hmph!"
Jiang Nengchu stepped on one of his subordinate''s shoulders and jumped,nding lightly on a rooftop. Several of his subordinates followed behind him.
"The Tough Bastard!" the archer on the rooftop shouted in surprise.
"You idiot!" Jiang Nengchu spat.
The archer should have nocked an arrow on his bow instead of standing in shock. But if he had such judgment, he would''ve been too skilled to remain in the Xia Wu Sect.
Jiang Nengchu stepped on the roof tiles and shed the neck of the archer with his sword.
Blood sttered on his face, but he didn''t care. Instead, he grabbed the archer''s bow and nocked an arrow on its string.
Swish!
The arrow flew straight and hit another archer on the shoulder.
"Agh!"
As the archer screamed and fell, Jiang Nengchu''s expression showed that he wasn''t satisfied.
As expected, it''s hard to shoot when it''s hard to see.
He had aimed for the archer''s chest but missed.
"Deal with the archers first!"
ROAR!!!
The Xia Wu Sect members, aided by Jiang Nengchu''s skills, ran forward. As they climbed up the roof tiles, they stole the archers'' bows like their leader had. As the arrows raining down from above stopped, the Xia Wu Sect members below shouted and advanced again.
"Damn it. Shit!"
Viper Sword, who had been watching from afar, cursed.
He had boasted of being undefeated with this tactic.
In the first ce, there were very few within the Xia Wu Sect who understood tactics. Most were neither clever nor literate.
It was highly unlikely that a lowly person who could only use their fists would have experience participating in battle as a tactician or a soldier. Most of the time, the ck Hand''s fights were resolved by numbers, ambushes, hostages, or poison.
Frankly, it would be amazing if the ck Hand members actually fought without giving up, risking their lives to win. Most of them would run away the moment they thought they were going to lose. The Viper Sword had only been able to control such instinctive reactions with fear, barely managing to use half-baked strategies with his somewhat useful brain to survive.
If there had been a true strategist who could give proper advice to the Xia Wu Sect, it wouldn''t have been ranked at the bottom of the murim to begin with.
Even with that considered, this was the first time the Viper Sword''s tactics had failed.
The Tough Bastard proved himself to be a man who could use his wits just like the Viper Sword.
"Hmph, you dare make me swallow shit?"
The corners of the Viper Sword''s mouth twisted into a grimace-like smile. However, that smile didn''t extend to his eyes, which were burning with rage.
"Prepare the spears! Don''t let those bastards escape the alley! The rest of you, watch out for attacks from above while we prepare for an attack!"
"H-hyungnim! What should we do with the injured?"
"Are you really asking me that right now?"
The Viper Sword''s eyes grew even more fierce.
"Unless you can''t move, you better go out and fight. I''ll cut off the heads of all the bastards who run away with my own hands."
Yes, Jiang Nengchu was no ordinary man, but the Viper Sword was no different.
Even though his tactics that had been undefeated in Zhengzhou copsed, he didn''t panic and just focused onmanding.
In particr, his idea of using long spears to hold the line was brilliant.
Since the alley was so narrow and winding, their attackers had no choice but to line up only one or two at a time and advance.
Using long spears, they blocked off the entrance, giving Jiang Nengchu a hard time.
Noticing this, Jiang Nengchu sent his men up to the roof to try to stop them. However, the Viper Sword responded in kind with men holding swords and sabers.
It was a fierce battle where one couldn''t see even an inch ahead.
***
A pigeon flew into the dark night sky. Even its pure white feathers melted into the night. As if mocking the humans who had hidden themselves, the pigeon passed through the night streets of Zhengzhou and entered a magnificent pavilion.
"Hohoho."
Ady covered in decadent attireughed loudly. In her hand was a piece of paper handed to her by a messenger.
The eyes of the Murderous Harlot, the one who ruled the south of the night streets of Zhengzhou, narrowed into crescent moons.
"The Tough Bastard is attacking the Viper Sword? I didn''t like that rotten bastard anyway, how incredible! Hohoho!"
The Murderous Harlot had mastered the art of seduction, stealing the essence of men to build up her qi and maintain her beauty. In addition, since she had mastered the Disguise Art, she looked like she was in her early thirties, but she was actually a granny in her sixties.
However, teasing her about that aloud would result in suffering far worse than death, so no one dared to mention it.
There were a few exceptions to thatthe other two of Zhengzhou''s ruling three, the Arsenic Pig and the Viper Sword.
The Arsenic Pig avoided herpletely, repulsed by the idea of ever being sexually attracted to such a hag, while the Viper Sword openly mocked her.
"Although I wanted to be the one to tear him to pieces with my own hands, I"
The Xia Wu Sect Master had forbidden the three from fighting, so none of them could act freely. If it hadn''t been for that restriction, she would have taken action sooner.
Fortunately, that didn''t mean they had to help the bastards they didn''t like.
The Xia Wu Sect Master had no interest in fighting outsiders.
If the Viper Sword really was defeated and weakened like this, he would be abandoned without hesitation and reced with another talented person. Unfortunately, that hadn''t happened yet.
The Viper Sword had faced countless challenges so far but had still maintained his current position and had even grown stronger while boasting of his undefeated record.
It was hard to imagine the Viper Sword, who had experienced all sorts of things in his time in the Xia Wu Sect and had great cultivation, losing to the Tough Bastard.
Murderous Harlot sighed regretfully to herself, praying that the Silent Messenger could at least inflict some severe damage on the Viper Sword.
***
The members of the ck Hand were ustomed to the night. They weren''t diligent enough to operate during the day, which was why all their activities took ce after dark.
They usually woke up in the evenings and went to bed in the mornings.
Because of this, their night vision was quite good. Even without light, their eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and when it was too dark to see, they could still sense their surroundings.
However, not even they could sense the Phantoms'' presence, let alone their existence.
"Mmm!"
The most important tenant of an assassin was secrecy, and these Phantoms excelled at it with eerie precision.
All the gatekeepers standing at the entrance to the underground arena copsed to the ground, their breaths caught in their throats. Even the way they fell was silent, as the Phantom caught the bodies that were falling like puppets with their strings cut and gentlyid them down.
The employee was speechless at what had just happened around him.
"Ah, it''s just like taking a walk. How quaint."
Zhou Xuchuan walked forward, his hands sped behind his back. There was no urgency or tension on his face.
While his expression was rxed, his footsteps were unnatural. He walked silently as if he didn''t exist at all.
Beside him, the employee followed him as if possessed by a ghost.
"Who are agk!"
The moment he passed through the iron gate, everyone in Zhou Xuchuan''s path dropped dead without a chance to fight back.
There was no way to describe it other than bizarre.
Anyone who made eye contact with Zhou Xuchuan seemed to die instantly.
The employee, terrified by this strange phenomenon, was stunned into silence as he led them onward.
H-he''s a reaper!
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t even touch any of them, but if they made eye contact with him, they would die.
He didn''t look human at all.
"Ah, it really is incredible."
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but be amazed.
Unlike the employee, he could see the Phantoms'' movements. Still, it was impressive to see them cut down everyone in front of them in an instant.
It made sense, considering their enemies were from the Xia Wu Sect, thus Third ss at best.
As they descended about a zhang, a loud roar echoed from below, growing louder with every step.
The employee, who had been standing in a daze, finally snapped back to reality and gulped.
"I-it''s right ahead."
As they turned down the stairwell, a bright light greeted them, dispelling the darkness.
"AHHH!!!"
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"
"Do you know how much I bet on you?!"
A mix of curses and screams filled the air. The employee was startled by the eardrum-piercing sound.
Zhou Xuchuan, on the other hand, remained unfazed, his expression indifferent as he clenched his fists.
A vast open space came into view, different from the path he had taken to get here. It wasrge enough to amodate a thousand people.
A ramp extended down from where Zhou Xuchuan and the employee stood, leading down into a t area. There, a wall divided the region into sections, drawing an outline like a street market.
Starting from where people were brawling, there were various arenas. From cockfighting and dogfighting all the way to diator matches.
There were spectator seats attached to the walls that divided the areas as people watched and cheered.
"With all this noise, I don''t think anyone would be able to hear me even if I shouted."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled bitterly. He never imagined that there would be this many people. Initially, he wanted to shout and tell everyone unrted to the matter to leave, but considering what was going on, that was no longer an option.
"How do I distinguish the Arsenic Pig and his gang from these people?"
"Y-you''ll know who the Arsenic Pig is when you see him and his subordinates have pig noses as decorations on their weapons."
"You''ve done well."
He dug into his pockets and took out a silver tael, handing it over to the employee. Considering he had risked his life to guide them here, Zhou Xuchuan gave him a generous reward.
"You don''t need to guide us anymore, so go back. I don''t sense any movement from where we just came from, so there shouldn''t be anyone else there."
"T-thank you!"
The employee bowed deeply and ran away without looking back.
Leaving behind the ten Phantoms, including Little Ghost, Zhou Xuchuan gave his next order in a low, sinister tone.
"Kill everyone in the Arcensic Pig''s gang other than that Pig himself. And don''t spare anyone who bares their fangs at you."
"We have received your orders," the emotionless voices harmonized.
Zhou Xuchuan leaped into the air, flying forward.
"Huh?"
A guard standing at the end of the ramp leading down into the arena sensed something and widened his eyes in confusion.
He spotted Zhou Xuchuan approaching and thought, What is this?
But Zhou Xuchuan was already within arm''s length.
Before the guard could register what was happening, a light shot out of Zhou Xuchuan''s sleeve and flew out like an arrow.
To be precise, it really wasn''t a light that had shot out, but a dagger that sliced through the air and struck the guard squarely between the eyebrows.
"What the hell, you dog b"
As another guard waiting behind made his move, an old man with wrinkles passed by him.
Squelch!
"Ugh!"
A thin line of blood was drawn on his dirty neck. Soon, blood spurted out like a fountain, creating a bloody mist.
"...?"
The people wandering around the outskirts began to question what was going on. Their minds struggled to process the situation unfolding before their very eyes. Zhou Xuchuan, who had appeared in front of them without warning, effortlessly sliced through their necks.
It was as easy as taking a walk as he smoothly made his way through the crowd.
Various people followed behind him and dispersed into the crowd, too.
"U ugh"
Just before any screams could escape, the Phantoms'' moved in sync, their gazes sweeping across the crowd to identify their next targets.
"AGH!!!"
The screams that sounded were quickly drowned out by the cheers, as the Xia Wu Sect members with pig noses decorating their scabbards sttered blood everywhere.
"Wash your throat and wait for me, Arsenic Pig."
Chapter 129: The Assassins Introduction (2)
An excessivelyrge body.
His frame, over seven feet tall, was packed with both immense muscles andyers of flesh.
Once a bandit of Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, the Arsenic Pig had been driven out after clearing the entire bandit den of its food.
He wandered the streets at night until he arrived in Zhengzhou, where he quickly dominated the east.
He overthrew the original ruler of the east and quickly absorbed the forces and businesses that he had managed and operated. Afterward, he was recognized as a subordinate by the Xia Wu Sect Master.
Keeping an eye on the experts in Zhengzhou, he eventually built his own little country in the east.
If there were a woman he wanted, he would simply kidnap and rape her, and if he were annoyed, he would beat and kill anyone nearby to his heart''s content.
"Khehehehe!"
Arsenic Pig looked down at the naked women lying before him with his beady little eyes andughed frivolously."I can''t believe I used to be so dumb! To think I stayed in that tiny little stockade when a ce like this existed!"
Few martial artists understood that, with a little power, one could rule like a king in certain ces.
The Arsenic Pig was drunk on pleasure,ughing at those who touted the causes of the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, or whatever, scoffing as they made fun of the Xia Wu Sect.
"B-b-boss!"
Thud, thud, thud!
Someone pounded on his door.
The Arsenic Pig was pissed because he was interrupted by some idiot just as he was about to enjoy himself.
He headed toward the door naked. The ground trembled violently with every step, as if there was an earthquake.
"Which bastard is it?"
With an annoyed flick of his palm, he mmed the door, shattering it with a deafening crash.
"Eek!"
The subordinate, who had been waiting in front of the door, stepped back in surprise. If he had been even a second slower, he would have died.
The Arsenic Pig angrily took a deep breath. However, since his fat blocked his nose, he couldn''t even breathe properly. He sniffed harshly, just like a pig breathing, and every time he opened his mouth, a terrible smell stung the subordinate''s nose and made him nauseous.
"I-it''s an attack!"
Even as the subordinate reported, he was busy looking behind the Arsenic Pig. His eyes were filled with envy as he looked at the beautiful women spread out inside the room.
"Hmph! If it were anything else, I would have killed you. Your report saved you. You''re lucky."
It had been over ten years since the Arsenic Pig had established his domain over the entire eastern territory, but that didn''t mean his power wouldst forever.
Those of the Xia Wu Sect who were looking to use their power to expand their influence or even those who hade from outside the sect would challenge him.
"Everything else is incredible, but this one part is annoying!"
As always, he would go and kill the challenger.
However, the following report made him loseposure, his expression hardening like stone.
"T-the enemy! The enemy is right in front of us!"
Eleven, no, twelve Phantoms walked among the confused people.
Some of them appeared to be innocent maidens, and some of them were old men so frail, it looked as though they couldn''t do anything.
There was even a child and young men who had juste of age.
The Phantoms had no emotions, no aura, no presence.
The mere lower-ranking members of the Xia Wu Sect could not catch them, and they could not resist their overwhelming power.
"Ugh, agh!"
A Xia Wu Sect member who had entered the sect over thirty years ago grabbed his throat and groaned before falling to the ground, dead.
The other members met the same fate. They all died without even knowing where the enemy was, let alone being able to resist.
As time passed, the faces of the Xia Wu Sect members turned pale at the horrifying sight.
"E-eeek!"
"T-they''re ghosts!"
"Run away!"
In the end, they dropped their weapons and tried to run away.
"And what do you n to do about the consequences if you run away from here?"
The Arsenic Pig was infamous for his ferocity, even in Zhengzhou.
He showed no mercy to traitors or cowards who fled. If one were lucky, they would only lose a limb. However, most didn''t survive and were dropped on a path to the underworld.
"Then let''s just die here!"
"You want to fight an expert we can''t even see? If I could do that, would I have spent my time here in the Xia Wu Sect? You idiotic bastard!"
What good would threats do when they were about to die right here, right now?
None of the members had any sense of loyalty or righteousness to begin with.
Zhou Xuchuan nced at the fleeing Xia Wu Sect members and threw his daggers at them, making sure to be reserved and not go all out chasing them.
"You don''t have to go all out chasing them, but if you think you can''t catch them, kill them all. Don''t let them live."
While Zhou Xuchuan was sure that the famous experts like the Arsenic Pig were Vast Gate''s subordinates, he didn''t know much about the underlings.
Still, he was certain that some of them had to be working for Vast Gate, and since he couldn''t be sure who, it gave him peace of mind to simply kill them all.
"G-great one!"
The Xia Wu Sect members, clutching their swords, lost their will to fight at Zhou Xuchuan''smand. They dropped to their knees, their faces pale, pleading for mercy.
"P-please, please have mercy!"
"Please, spare my life at least!"
"My old mother will be left by herself at home"
The wind stirred.
A dagger slipped from the hem of Zhou Xuchuan''s sleeve, cutting swift, precise lines through the air, striking the heads and necks of the groveling Xia Wu Sect members.
With sickening squelches erupting one after another, they all died where they knelt.
While the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art had be useful enough in actualbat, it hadn''t been perfected yet. The Xia Wu Sect members were simply no match for it, which was why they were unable to avoid it.
"Kuaak!"
When begging for their lives didn''t work, they chose to flee.
The thought of fighting back never even crossed their minds.
The only reason vermin like them had survived until now was because they were quicker than others and knew their ce.
A few, realizing that escape was hopeless, attempted to draw their swordsbut they were dead before they could even begin to resist. Meanwhile, some of the Xia Wu Sect members even tried to escape by using others as bait.
"Ugh"
Voices trembled with fear. The Xia Wu Sect members had lost all will to fight and their morale had fallen to the bottom of the abyss.
"G-ghost! They must be ghosts!"
"They''re the ghosts of those who died in the underground arena!"
Given the nature of this ce, the Xia Wu Sect members'' fears were even more pronounced.
It was no surprise that they would lose their minds and be paranoid. It wasn''t strange for people to grow mentally unstable as they watched the people around them die in this underground hell.
The Phantoms moved just as their names suggested and took the lives of the Xia Wu Sect members like ghosts.
Suddenly, a booming voice, as powerful as thunder, sounded.
"You bastardsC!"
The ground shook violently as if it was responding to the thunderous voice.
Some of the Xia Wu Sect members who were running away were startled, falling forward.
However, their yellowed faces flushed with color at the voice and even brightened up.
ROAR!!!!
"The boss is here!"
A powerful man who had ruled the East for about ten years.
Wasn''t he the epitome of fear and violence?
Realizing that the voice belonged to both an ally and a superior, the fighting spirit that had disappeared from the Xia Wu Sect members'' hearts returned.
"You bastards really can''t do anything but get ughtered." the Arsenic Pig said as he looked around with disgust. His eyes were filled with deep contempt.
It was only after seeing those eyes that the deep-rooted fear returned to his subordinates.
"Hehehe! How could that be, boss?!"
"We were just messing around for a moment!"
Those who had been groveling in the dirt and those who had dropped their weapons and fled suddenly turned back, hollowughs spilling from their mouths, their attitudes flipping like a coin.
"Now, why don''t youe out quickly?"
The Arsenic Pig pulled out a massive cleaver that matched his size.
"You can''t fool me! I can already hear you trembling in fear!"
"Really?"
Zhou Xuchuan stepped forward, exhaling as if he had been waiting for a while.
As the Phantom, who they couldn''t tell if he had risen from the ground itself or fallen from the sky, appeared before their eyes, the Xia Wu members began to tremble.
However, the Arsenic Pig wasn''t surprised at all.
On the contrary, he could barely contain hisughter.
"Kuhahaha!"
"Why are youughing?"
"Well, seeing as how you''re even more stupid than I thought, how could I notugh?"
The fat around his nose was pressed in while heughed, making hisugh sound strange.
The Arsenic Pig grinned, revealing his yellow teeth.
"Assassins specialize in killing without being caught. Once they get caught, they''ve already lost half of their strength. While you seem confident in your skills, I am no different."
Finding experts in the Xia Wu Sect, and even within the ck Hand, was harder than plucking stars from the sky. Let alone Transcendents even Peak realm experts were rare.
It was only because of the Xia Wu Sect Master''s backing that Zhengzhou had more experts than the other ck Hand regions, and the Arsenic Pig was one of those experts.
"Silent Messenger. Your defeat is because you looked down on me, or rather, the night streets of Zhengzhou."
After giving a signal, his subordinates surrounded Zhou Xuchuan.
"There are plenty of people like you who fled the outside world to Zhengzhou and ran wild as if they were the strongest in the world, only to end up losing their lives. That arrogance of yours will be your downfall."
The Arsenic Pig was less intelligent than the Viper Sword and the Murderous Harlot.
Still, that didn''t mean his intelligence was below average. It was just that the other two were more outstanding than most.
He hadn''t ruled the east for this long on cultivation alone. If that were the case, someone would have outwitted and ughtered him long ago.
"I''ll show you some mercy." he sneered, narrowing his eyes at Zhou Xuchuan.
"If you give up now and surrender to me, I''ll spare your life. The same goes for the rats you have hidden around here."
The Silent Messenger wasn''t a god. There was no way he could have caused all this chaos alone. He must have a hidden force around him.
As long as you can make them show their faces, you don''t have to fear assassins.
Letting Zhou Xuchuan live was a lie. The Arsenic Pig didn''t want subordinates who could aim at his neck at any time.
He still didn''t know how many people were hiding around him. If he took this lightly, it could turn deadly.
The Arsenic Pig shifted his weight, using his toes to grip the ground as he closed the distance, ready to take Zhou Xuchuan''s head at any moment.
"How much do you know about assassination, Arsenic Pig?"
"...?"
"As the name suggests, assassination is about assassinating someone. To kill them in secret. But all that means is that as long as there are no witnesses, you can assassinate someone anywhere, anytime."
"What are you babbling on about all of a sudden?"
Zhou Xuchuan lowered his mask, looking frustrated.
The Arsenic Pig took this as a sign of surrender and grinned. He was delighted at the thought of his name bing even more renowned in Zhengzhou in the future.
"Kuhaha! Who would have thought you would give up so easily!"
Eleven people appeared one after another. Among them were high-ss women who were too beautiful to be allowed to die easily.
The Arsenic Pig''s eyes gleamed with desire, his smile twisting into something vile.
"I''ll make your death painless!"
Boom!
The mountainous figure moved. It only took one step, but because its stride was so long, it covered a lot of distance.
The Arsenic Pig charged at Zhou Xuchuan like a wild boar and swung the cleaver in his hand sharply.
Boom!
Therge cleaver cut through the air. The strength from his fat and muscles, which were so obscenelyrge, seemed to split everything apart.
His subordinates could already picture Zhou Xuchuan''s body being split apart like firewood.
But their expectations were shattered.
Swish!
One step.
Just a single step.
That was enough to dodge the Arsenic Pig''s full-strength sh.
It was the Phantom''s signature silent footstep.
Bang!
The cleaver smashed into the ground with a deafening thud, caving it in and sending dust billowing into the air.
The Arsenic Pig''s face distorted.
He''s slow.
Zhou Xuchuan had trained with the Phantoms one-on-many whenever he had the time.
Thanks to that, both his Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art and Phantom Steps had reached the third stage.
The Arsenic Pig was rtively fast for hisrge body, butpared to the Phantoms, he was slow enough to make one yawn. Realizing that further testing was pointless, Zhou Xuchuan used the Arsenic Pig''s arm as a springboard and dashed up the pig''s body.
"Agk!"
The Arsenic Pig screamed in surprise and stood up.
Although the arm he was standing on shook violently, Zhou Xuchuan remained unfazed, quickening his pace.
My arm.
Zhou Xuchuan visualized his target clearly in his mind, recalling the advice the Phantoms had given him during their long training sessions.
He flicked his wrist slightly. As his sleeve fluttered, a dagger slipped out andnded perfectly in his hand.
He immediately spun the dagger around once, caught it in a reverse grip, and stabbed the Arsenic Pig''s jianyu acupoint.[1]
Squelch!
"Agh!"
Instantly, the Arsenic Pig felt something go wrong with his neck, spine, and even his shoulder. He lost all his strength for a moment and couldn''t move.
W-what the hell is this?!
The Arsenic Pig couldn''t move. Worse, he couldn''t even think about moving.
He couldn''t keep track of the Silent Messenger''s movements at all. He had never expected him to be this strong.
The Arsenic Pig was confused, wondering why such an expert woulde to this shitty ck Hand street. But now wasn''t the time to think about such things.
Considering he was like a mouse caught by a venomous snake,pletely unable to move, this was the time he needed to start begging for his life while crying.
"I-I deeply apologize, great one!"
Saving face no longer mattered. An expert far beyond the normal standard had entered his street.
A number of questions shed through his mind, but he didn''t have the luxury of asking questions in this situation.
He desperately looked around, trying to find a way to save his life.
"Arsenic Pig."
Zhou Xuchuan looked down at the Arsenic Pig coldly.
"If you have any wishes, just tell me I''ll"
"What did I say about assassination?"
"!"
The Arsenic Pig''s face turned pale.
1. Within the hollow at the peak of your shoulder. Controls shoulder mobility. ?
Chapter 130: A Stormy Night (1)
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t leave any trace of the Arsenic Pig or his forces. Although most of the Arsenic Pig''s forces had lost their will to fight and surrendered when they saw their leader''s head rolling on the floor, the Phantoms'' swords showed no mercy.
There was no need for sympathy in the underground arena.
The regr people had already fled, and the people left were those who had indulged in the actions of scum thanks to the backing of the Arsenic Pig.
Not even a normal person would feel guilt over killing such scum, let alone the Phantoms, who had no emotions at all.
The screamsing from all over the underground arena continued without stopping.
This should be enough to make Vast Gate angry.
The thought of Vast Gate getting angry when he heard the news made Zhou Xuchuan feel better.
"Please save us!"
As he finished up, Zhou Xuchuan went through the entire underground arena,ing across ves who had been chained up in prison.He considered leaving them to rot, as many, like the Arsenic Pig''s men, were evil. But he could tell that there were some among the prisoners who had been kidnapped or brought in unjustly.
"Let them go."
He ordered the Phantoms to release all of the prisoners.
Although they were all skeptical when they heard that they were free, they were happy to see the chaos in the underground arena and bolted out of the prison cell.
"Yes!!!"
"We''re alive!"
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Half of them immediately disappeared, wanting to escape, while the other half didn''t forget the favor and expressed their gratitude.
"Since everything is settling down here, half of you stay here and guard it so that no one can take over. The other half will follow me."
"We have received your order."
While the east was in ruins, the west was still under a fierce battle.
The Tough Bastard and the Viper Sword.
Neither one was giving up any ground.
The Viper Sword used the terrain and clever tactics to defend, while the Tough Bastard also fought with considerable wisdom.
"Ugh!"
"Agk!"
While the screams of pain and people losing their lives rang through Zhengzhou like usual, on this day, the night felt even longer than usual.
"We''ve broken through!"
Cheers erupted from the Tough Bastard''s side, while the faces of those on the Viper Sword''s side turned ashen.
Although the Viper Sword''s forces had deployed spearmen, effectively blocking the advance of the Tough Bastard''s troops by using the narrow alleys, the real problem was the enemy on the roof.
A few of the Xia Wu Sect members, including the Tough Bastard, had taken care of the archers, broken through the blockade to the roof, and eliminated the spearmen.
"You useless bastards!"
The Viper Sword finally stepped forward.
"Agk!!!"
The Viper Sword''s cultivation was impressive for the Xia Wu Sect, roughly in the Peak Realm.
There were few Xia Wu Sect members who could stop him. When he swung his sword, the Xia Wu Sect members fell like autumn leaves.
"Viper Sword. You finally slithered out."
Jiang Nengchu smirked at the Viper Sword.
"How arrogant you are to provoke the heavens just because you''ve grown a little."
Bloodlust seemed to drip out of his snake-like pupils.
"It''s not toote, even now. If you tell your scum to stand down and hand over control of the Red and Blue Houses, I''ll spare your life."
"So you''re not even worth fighting then."
"Do you really have to choose punishment? Fine, let me show you what it means to attack a viper!"
The Viper Sword dropped the sword in his hand and instead grabbed the soft sword wrapped around his waist.
"Ha!"
Shing!!!
The soft sword shot out like a viper. As expected of a soft sword, the sword bent and twisted like a slithering snake.
The fangs of the viper, targeting its prey, instantly aimed for the Tough Bastard''s chest.
"Hmph!"
The Tough Bastard held his breath. Before his brain could even process what was happening, his body reacted instinctively, stepping back just as a soft sword whipped through the space where he had been standing.
"Hehehe!"
A soft sword was a rare weapon even within the murim. It was incredibly difficult to handle as the sword itself was flexible and bent with every move. One of its key characteristics was that it was impossible to read its trajectory, making it incredibly powerful once it was used.
"Jiang Nengchu."
Viper Sword wet his lips with his tongue andughed unpleasantly.
"I know a little about you."
"What, that I''m an orphan abandoned in Zhengzhou who struggled to survive?"
That was a fact that everyone knew. If one was a resident living in the night streets of Zhengzhou, even the children knew that fact.
Since he had only recently gained power and fame within Zhengzhou''s Xia Wu Sect, the basics about him were rtively well-known.
"A servant enved to the Blue House."
Jiang Nengchu''s cold expression flickered. Although it was only for a moment, the Viper Sword didn''t miss the change.
"See, I''ve been looking into you ever since the Red House fell."
The Viper Sword''s viciousness and meticulousness were unparalleled in the Xia Wu Sect. Before resorting to his cultivation, he always first devised a strategy.
One of his favorite things to do was to bite down on his enemy''s weakness and never let go, slowly digesting them. The Arsenic Pig and the Murderous Harlot were reluctant to talk to him precisely because they hated his conniving nature.
"That who used to beg with you under the bridge she got noticed by the Blue House''s pimp, didn''t she? Yeah, she lucked out and went with him, right?"
Jiang Nengchu, who was an orphan, had only been able to beg.
Fortunately, he wasn''t alone back then. There were many orphans in simr situations, begging under the bridge.
While the orphans had banded together and survived by relying on each other, the pimp of the Blue House hade to visit them, just as the Viper Sword said.
After washing the girls, the pimp of the Blue House had taken some of them away. This was something that the pimps would do on asion, raising them as courtesans.
From the perspective of the orphans who were worried about their next meal, it was a great opportunity as they could solve the problem of food and shelter in one fell swoop.
Initially, only the girls should have gone back then. However, one of them had begged the pimp to take Jiang Nengchu in as a servant.
"Shut up," Jiang Nengchu, who had maintained hisposure until that moment, responded.
The smile on Viper Sword''s lips deepened.
"Isn''t it amon story to fall in love with a courtesan who spent her childhood with you and even saved you?"
If one only talked about the ending of the Tough Bastard''s story, that love never came to be.
A courtesan''s life was short.
As a courtesan received a man''s energy several times a day, naturally, she would also get exposed to violence.
Most importantly, it was too difficult to treat them if they got sick.
It was cheaper to just bring in a new courtesan and teach her than to call a doctor.
While Jiang Nengchu had wanted to do something at that time, he wasn''t able to do anything in the face of reality.
As time passed, his sense of helplessness increased, and in the end, as expected, things didn''t end well.
"It really brings a tear to my eye!" Viper Sword sneered, his reaction contrary to his words.
"Viper Sword!"
When his reverse scale was touched, Jiang Nengchu''s iron fortress-like reason could no longer hold out. His eyes flickered with rage.
Bloodlust like never before exploded out of Jiang Nengchu as he charged at the Viper Sword.
He fell for it!
The Viper Sword held back hisughter and stretched out his hand, the soft sword he was holding rippling like a wave.
The soft sword, which traced a winding path like the path of a snake, cut Jiang Nengchu''s shoulder diagonally.
"Ugh!"
The sharp, searing pain jolted Jiang Nengchu back to his senses, as if he''d been stabbed with a de dipped in fire. He realized he''d fully lost the thread of reason he''d been clinging to and quickly twisted out of the way.
However, it was toote.
The Viper Sword persistently swung his soft sword, not wanting to let go of his prey once he had it in his grasp.
If I just take the Tough Bastard down, it''s as good as winning!
He wanted to take care of the Tough Bastard, who had been a thorn in his side from the very beginning, but no matter how many orders he had given his subordinates, nothing had worked.
He had even sent a few people to take Jiang Nengchu out as he ran wild over the rooftops, but not a single one of them seeded. Even though he called the Tough Bastard''s forces his enemies, weren''t they all still from the Xia Wu Sect at the end of the day?
As long as their leader, the Tough Bastard, dies, they would be no better than rabble.
"Hey, aren''t things getting dangerous over there?"
"The Tough Bastard is losing!"
In fact, the Xia Wu Sect members on the Tough Bastard''s side reacted in real-time.
Just a moment ago, their sessful invasion of the Snake Den, which had been considered invincible, had raised their morale.
However, that morale dropped in an instant.
Anxiety was written on their faces, and some even began questioning whether they should flee.
"Quiet!"
"That''s impossible!"
"We have to help Hyungnim!"
Despite the Xia Wu Sect generally fostering little to no loyalty, mostly consisting of weak Third ss weaklings, there were always a few exceptions.
A few of the members were genuinely loyal to the Tough Bastard.
However, they weren''t strong enough to have much influence, making it hard for them to convince the rest of the group.
"Hyungnim! I''ming!"
Even so, someone stepped forward.
However, the Viper Sword wouldn''t let that happen.
When the Viper Sword motioned, several of his subordinates came out and blocked the path leading to the Viper Sword and the Tough Bastard. In order to prevent the Tough Bastard from escaping, the Viper Sword''s forcespletely blocked the escape route.
Was I wrong
Though Jiang Nengchu regained hisposure, the pain in his shoulder made it difficult to continue the battle. He regretted his impulsive actions, however, regret was an emotion that always came toote.
"I just wanted to change this ce, even if it''s only a little"
Was it because his resolve had weakened a little?
Jiang Nengchu absentmindedly muttered to himself about his desires.
Zhengzhou, the hometown where he was born and raised.
He loved Zhengzhou, but he also hated it.
When he was young, he saw countless children die.
Some died because they couldn''t find food, and others were beaten to death by people in bad moods when they begged.
Even after bing a servant, he had often been subjected to violence whenever he delivered foodte.
Although he may have been a human, he wasn''t treated as a person, and even with his position, he would always worry and wonder where his next meal wasing from.
He had always lived with a fire in his heart, holding the name of the person he had loved close to his chest, refusing to yield to reality.
When he came to his senses, he had earned the title the Tough Bastard, and the orphan under the bridge had be a man who looked after the Blue House.
While he had somehow managed to survive alone in this harsh world, that was all there was to it.
Jiang Nengchu hung his head, staring at the dark sky, the moon nowhere in sight, and muttered to himself.
"I''ve lived so diligently on my own without anyints can''t you help me a little?"
The one who answered him was not the Primordial Heavenly Lord or the Buddha, but the Viper Sword who had long ruled the Snake Den.
"Expecting help from someone in the ck Hand? That''s a sign of your own defeat! me yourself for being too weak!"
The sword flicked out, aimed directly at Jiang Nengchu''s throat.
Swish!
The soft sword sliced through the air, flickering in the dim light.
In that split second, when Jiang Nengchu''s eyes locked onto the de and engraved its image in his mind, his body had already reacted. It was thanks to his nerves, which were always on guard, and his muscle memory that he had trained for decades.
His muscles contracted as he put strength into his legs.
The pain in his bleeding shoulder surged with that small movement.
Not even dying is easy
His life shed before his eyes, starting from when he had lived under the bridge. Is this what they called a trotting horsemp?[1]
"This is the end!"
The Viper Sword''s voice, grim like the God of Death, sentenced him to death.
Jiang Nengchu''s emotions, full of regret, surged.
However, it was already toote.
Flicker.
"Hmph!"
ng!
The moment the Viper Sword''s soft sword was about to cut into his neck, a dagger flew from out of nowhere, striking the soft sword.
The sword that was about to pierce Jiang Nengchu''s neck barely grazed his skin before it was knocked aside.
His breath caught in his throat as the Viper Sword''s eyes also widened in disbelief.
"Who the hell are you?!"
The Viper Sword stepped back without continuing his attack.
"Dagger Phantom" Jiang Nengchu muttered, caressing his mmy neck.
"Dagger Phantom? Oh, that''s right, I''ve heard that name."
Suddenly, a figure appeared.
When the Viper Sword blinked, the figure was standing there as if he had always been there.
"There''s no way"
The Viper Sword''s face distorted as if he had chewed shit.
"Nice to meet you, Viper Sword. I was a littlete because I had to deal with the pig first."
Zhou Xuchuan stretched his neck, the sound of his bones cracking loudly.
"And now I''m going to kill you."
1. A form of a zoetrope, it''s antern painted with different scenes that get spun to make an illusion of a moving picture. ?
Chapter 131: A Stormy Night (2)
Zhengzhou was turned upside down.
There had been many battles between factions before, but never on this scale.
Both the East and West, which had once seemed like impregnable fortresses, were attacked, and the underground arena, long considered unassable, copsed.
People fled in the middle of the night, and rumors of the Silent Messenger beheading the Arsenic Pig spread quickly.
Just as Zhou Xuchuan had intended, as soon as he heard the news, the Xia Wu Sect Master Vast Gate was finally forced to make a move.
"What the hell is this?"
Vast Gate''s face twisted in anger.
Conflicts were a regr urrence. While it wasn''tmon for the Arsenic Pig''s throne to be challenged, it did happen asionally.
After all, Arsenic Pig had defeated someone whose name she couldn''t even remember roughly a dozen years ago and taken his ce.However, the news Vast Gate heard was far from what she could have imagined.
"Just how much chaos has he caused?"
She couldn''t hold back the anger welling up in her chest. What really made her angry was the damage inflicted on her faction.
The Silent Messenger was like a murderous demon, not sparing a single Xia Wu Sect member. He mercilessly took their lives.
Strangely, he didn''t touch the residents or customers. The only people who lost their lives were the Arsenic Pig''s subordinates.
While something like this wasmon in war, it wasn''tmon in the Xia Wu Sect.
Xia Wu Sect members usually ran away or bowed their heads in surrender when their leader died.
There was no such thing as loyalty to a Xia Wu Sect member, and it didn''t matter to them who they served. That was why even if the head were to change, the body itself didn''t. After all, that head also required hands and feet.
Normally, a change in leadership wouldn''t disrupt the gathering of intelligence or the flow of underground funds from the underground arena.
Both the challengers and the challenged leader of the underground arena understood this.
After all, they never had faith in their subordinates to begin with. It didn''t matter who they were under in the past.
Except for a few, the winner would absorb the loser''s forces, which was why most never forced themselves to kill them all.
However, the Silent Messenger ignored this fact and took them all down.
This was extremely annoying and irritating for Vast Gate.
Finally, the almost impossible-to-move Vast Gate was forced to intervene.
Jiang Nengchu muttered to himself with a dumbfounded expression.
"Silent Messenger?"
Rather than focusing on his near-death experience, his attention was drawn to the back of the figure at the end of his gaze. His expression betrayed his confusion.
"Why are you here?"
The thought escaped his mouth before he could stop it.
Wasn''t he supposed to be at the underground arena taking care of the Arsenic Pig?
"Silent Messenger?"
The Viper Sword''s expression twisted in surprise.
He, who valued information and strategy, couldn''t forget about the Silent Messenger''s power. He was well aware of the Silent Messenger''s existence.
However, he wasn''t aware that the Silent Messenger had already attacked the east. It had only been an hour since the underground arena was attacked.
I thought he was hiding somewhere or had a problem, since he hadn''t shown up for so long, but I guess that wasn''t the case.
The Viper Sword had heard of Silent Messenger''s reputation. Though rumors from the gangho were often exaggerated, they still warranted caution, even within the Xia Wu Sect.
"Because I handled everything," Zhou Xuchuan answered, turning his head.
"What?"
Jiang Nengchu was stunned by the unbelievable answer.
It had barely been over an hour, yet the Silent Messenger had already subdued the ruler of the East
It wasn''t that he didn''t trust the Silent Messenger. At the very least, Jiang Nengchu was sure that he didn''t lie.
But wasn''t this too absurd? From his perspective, he thought that the Silent Messenger was only capable of assassinating a few of the Arsenic Pig''s subordinates. He never had high expectations for the mission in the first ce, just hoping for the Silent Messenger to block the Arsenic Pig''s movements while he dug out the Snake Den.
Even as he mulled it over in those brief moments, he couldn''t find a satisfying answer.
Still, it wasn''t as if the situation allowed Jiang Nengchu the luxury of contemting his confusion for long.
"So, you''re the Silent Messenger who''s been making a lot of noisetely, then. It''s an honor to meet you," the Viper Sword greeted calmly.
"The Silent Messenger!"
"What''s going on?"
The fierce battle paused as everyone''s attention shifted to one spot.
"How great. I, the Viper Sword, have been looking forward to meeting you." the Viper Sword remarked, momentarily lowering his sword.
"Me?"
Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head.
"That''s right. I don''t understand why an absolute expert like you would help a little kid." the Viper Sword said, the corners of his mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.
I have to make him my ally.
There was no denying that the Silent Messenger was one of the strongest experts in Zhengzhou. The Viper Sword had to avoid making him his enemy at all costs.
In fact, he''d wanted to reach out to the Silent Messenger earlier, to try and win him over. The only reason he hadn''t been able to was because the Silent Messenger was so difficult to find.
"If there''s anything you want, just say it. No matter how I seem, I''m still one of the top five in Zhengzhou, no, the ck Hand."
The Viper Sword smiled confidently and raised his chin.
"Haha."
However, it was Jiang Nengchu, not Zhou Xuchuan, whoughed. It was clearly a mockingugh.
"If you want something, just say it?"
Jiang Nengchu repeated, as if amused. A moment ago, he''d been struck with disbelief and doubt, but now he wasughing.
No matter how powerful the Viper Sword was within the Xia Wu Sect, it was still only the Xia Wu Sect. Unless one became the Sect Master, their power couldn''t bepared to that of the Valley of Phantoms.
"You talk too much for a bastard who just saw a glimpse of King Yama. If you don''t want to get killed, you''d better keep quiet."
"I''m sorry about that fool," the Viper Sword rebutted.
While the situation was incredibly amusing for Jiang Nengchu, answering honestly would only end up revealing the Silent Messenger''s true identity. So, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
"If you work under me, no, if you join me, I promise you wealth and honor. With your abilities, you might even be able to be the eternal second-inmand of the ck Hand."
"Not the first, but the second?"
"Give up on bing the first. The Xia Wu Sect Master isn''t human. Not even you could dare to suppress her."
The Viper Sword had personally experienced the power of the Xia Wu Sect Master, Vast Gate. That was why he understood just how terrifying she truly was.
Everyone in the world is being deceived. The Xia Wu Sect Master, who is looked down on for being a part of the ck Hand, is capable of being one of the ten strongest within the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
He had once foolishly attempted to take the position of Sect Master, but after experiencing Vast Gate''s power, he quickly gave up on that dream.
"You and I can be the Xia Wu Sect Master''s right and left arms, so think about it carefully"
"I have no ns to do that. At the end of the day, it''s impossible for someone of the Righteous Faction to be the right or left arm of the ck Hand, right?"
"...?"
Both the Viper Sword and Jiang Nengchu tilted their heads in confusion at the mention of the Righteous Faction.
Zhou Xuchuan shrugged and, as if he''d finished what he came to do, adjusted his stance and tightened his grip on his dagger.
"It was nice meeting you, Viper Sword."
"N-now, wait a minute." the Viper Sword stammered, his expression flustered.
However, unlike his appearance, he was calm on the inside and busy preparing for his counterattack.
No matter how confident he may be in his cultivation, he, as an assassin, came out into the open. How foolish!
He suppressed a sneer that threatened to break through. This wasn''t the first or second time he had turned the tables in a deadly game of survival.
In fact, when he secretly gave orders with nces and subtle hand gestures that only his subordinates would recognize, they all prepared to attack as if they were used to doing so.
A few of his subordinates, who seemed to have been positioned randomly, began to close in on Zhou Xuchuan and surrounded him.
"Viper Sword," Zhou Xuchuan called out calmly.
The Viper Sword stopped looking around secretly and turned his full attention to Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan flicked his wrist, throwing his dagger, not straight ahead, but at the ground.
Gravel flew into the air as the de struck the dirt, and the Viper Sword''s face twisted in confusion.
"An ambush only works if your opponent doesn''t notice."
The Viper Sword furrowed his eyebrows and then shouted.
"He''s noticed! Attack!"
Woosh!
Exactly ten martial artists flew forward, each confident in their ambush skills.
But even so, it was still the Xia Wu Sect.
Compared to real assassins,pared to the Phantoms, who were considered the best in the world, they were just fireflies in front of the sun.
Although Jiang Nengchu btedly shouted a warning, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t even blink. He didn''t draw a dagger hidden in his sleeve or dodge with any mysterious movements.
He just whispered.
"Like this."
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as if the world had stopped.
Ten people threw themselves at one person, each of them holding a weapon and drawing on their qi with a fierce expression.
But then, something strange happened.
In the blink of an eye, people suddenly appeared behind them.
The neers'' eyes were covered with cloth, and their clothes were tight and form fitting.
"What the"
Swish!
In an instant, thin lines of blood appeared on the necks of the ambushers, as if drawn by an invisible hand. Like reflections in a mirror, the thin lines of blood appeared simultaneously, without a single discrepancy.
Squelch!
Before they could even scream, blood spurted from their throats, forming a mist in the air.
The crowd was silent. No, it wasn''t that they were silentthey couldn''t react.
They hadn''t even sensed the presence of the neers, let alone tracked their movements. It felt as if they had just watched the ambushers get possessed by ghosts as a flicker suddenly appeared behind them before disappearing.
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the ambush on Zhou Xuchuan barely suppressed a scream.
T-the Valley of Phantoms!
He hadn''t noticed them.
No, he couldn''t have noticed them.
The Valley of Phantoms was often called a myth, only existing in fairy tales. There was no reason for such big shots toe to this dirty corner.
There was no way he could have guessed their existence. However, with Zhou Xuchuan''s hint and the events that followed, he was just barely able to notice them.
I have to pretend like I don''t know!
A mysterious assassin n that not even their clients could find.
The Viper Sword could guess how they had kept their secret all this time.
Corpses didn''t speak.
The Viper Sword''s judgment of the situation was quick.
"Great one!"
It was clear that this was no longer the ck Hand''s business. The situation had spiraled beyond the realm of the Xia Wu Sect.
The Viper Sword knelt on the spot and begged, ignoring the gazes of his subordinates.
"I foolishly wasn''t able to recognize your excellence, oh great one! Please spare my life!"
While the Xia Wu Sect Master was scary, so was the Valley of Phantoms. It was obvious what would happen if he continued to fight here.
The Viper Sword lost!
The Xia Wu Sect members in the Snake Den were shaken.
What should we do?
Should we run away? Or should we surrender?
The Silent Messenger said there would be no mercy
Their leader''s humiliating surrender didn''t matter. Since they had no loyalty, to begin with, there was no disappointment.
The real question now was whether to run away or to surrender.
However, this wasn''t just a simple matter of choice. Some victors would kill all of the loser''s subordinates or make them ves, while others only killed a few to serve as an example to the rest.
Thetter would give them new opportunities and benefits, while the former would simply kill them.
However, if they just ran away because they were faced with the two ''choices,'' there was a good chance they would die anyway. Moreover, reality generally proved that final option, too.
The crowd was silent and tense. One could almost hear the gears of their minds turning.
"It''s over."
Zhou Xuchuan nced around the alley once before stepping back behind Jiang Nengchu.
The crowd shifted their gaze from the Silent Messenger to Jiang Nengchu.
"The new leader of the Snake Den!"
"Viper Sword lost to the Tough Bastard!"
The person holding their lives in his hands had changed.
The Xia Wu Sect members, who had been deliberating moments ago, slowly lowered their weapons as realization struck.
A tough bastard was better than a god of death.
"Please spare us, Tough Bastard. Give us a chance to serve by your side. After all, things might be difficult for you because you aren''t used to what happens in the Snake Den."
It wasn''t that the strong were the ones to survive.
It was that the ones who survived were the strong.
Even if his personal cultivation was weaker, the Tough Bastard held the advantage in terms of status. Behind him were the fearsome Phantoms and the God of Death.
While they thought about taking him hostage, the subordinates quickly gave up right away.
What could they do when there were such invisible monsters standing in front of them?
"Please spare us, my lord!"
"I didn''t realize your strength, Tough Bastard!"
"Please spare my life!"
Shing.
ng!
The warriors fell to the ground, making a loud noise.
The Xia Wu Sect members who had been a part of the Snake Den had surrendered.
"Viper Sword."
"Yes, great onugh!"
The Tough Bastard''s toes drove into the Viper Sword''s abdomen.
"If you have any hidden assets, you''d better tell me everything. Otherwise, you won''t be able to die in peace."
Chapter 132: The Xia Wu Sect Master (1)
Chapter 132: The Xia Wu Sect Master (1)
The unusually long night in Zhengzhou had finallye to an end.
By morning, Zhengzhou could only speak of what had happened the night before.
"Did you hear about what happenedst night?"
"How could I not with all the chaos? I heard that the underground arena and the Snake Den fell into the Tough Bastard''s hands."
"I never thought that the Arsenic Pig and the Viper Sword could be defeated in a single night. One of my rtives was in the underground arena yesterday, I heard it wasn''t any ordinary chaos. They said that not only was the Arsenic Pig killed, but none of his subordinates were spared."
"How in the world did he manage to deal with two ces in opposite directions in a single night? Did he join hands with the Murderous Harlot?"
"No. ording to witnesses, the Silent Messenger and the assassins he brought were the ones who made a mess of everything."
"What?!"
Rumors about the events of the previous night spread quickly throughout Zhengzhou. The news had even spread beyond Zhengzhou to Henan, and it didn''t take long for it to spread throughout the Central ins and the murim.However, it wasn''t as big of a topic across the murim as it was in Zhengzhou.
"Even with all this fuss, they''re still just Third ss trash."
"How long does it really take to clean up trash?"
"The Silent Messenger? Haha. What an excessive title."
"All of them are just in the Third ss; it''s only natural that they weren''t able to detect him. Moreover, even the Arsenic Pig or the Viper Sword are only Peak Realm experts at best."
The reactions of the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and Demonic Path were lukewarm. Everyone just dismissed it as nothing out of the ordinary. What mattered more was the intense tension that had followed the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic incident.
The ck Hand was the ck Hand.
It was a world where expecting proper treatment and respect wasughable.
The only people who cared were those of the ck Hand and the people of Zhengzhou, the center of the Xia Wu Sect.
Regardless, as soon as the next day dawned, Jiang Nengchu worked hard to absorb the remaining forces without sleeping a wink.
The underground arena required absolutely no effort and was incredibly easy to absorb as Zhou Xuchuan had already wiped out everyone.
As for the Snake Den, although it took some time, it wasn''t that difficult, either. Those of the Snake Den immediatelyplied and allowed themselves to be absorbed by the change in leadership.
The Viper Sword was locked in an underground prison and tortured for the location of all of his treasures.
Right after all this happened, someone from the Xia Wu Sect made their move.
The Xia Wu Sect Master, Vast Gate of the Dark Heavens Association.
A crimson haze filled the room, so thick that it was impossible to see through.
On the upper floor of the bedroom, men and women could be seen lying around without a single thread adorning their bodies.
Amidst the dizzying fragrance, cold rage flowed out from Vast Gate.
"What the hell is this mess"
From Vast Gate''s perspective, it was like a bolt from the blue.
It had been expected that the Tough Bastard, who had recently emerged as a new powerhouse, would challenge the throne of the trio in the near future, but that was no cause for concern.
Such challenges weremon in Zhengzhou, happening many times in the past.
The Arsenic Pig, the Viper Sword, and even the Murderous Harlot had all done it before.
All three had killed the previous leaders and subordinates.
It didn''t matter, people could always be reced. Moreover, if the neers were strong, Vast Gate didn''t hate it but rather weed it.
Just like before, all she had to do was make an offer, and if they rejected it, she just had to kill them. Then, a new person would emerge and be her next subordinate.
During this entire process, all challengers had one thing inmon. They minimized the damage to their new sources of ie.
The underground arena in the east, the ck market in the west, and the red-light district in the south.
The ie each area made wasn''t small. Since these sources of ie would be theirs anyway once they gained power, they generally didn''t touch them. After all, it would be a shame to fight for a goose thatid golden eggs only to lose it.
The Xia Wu Sect members under their enemies were the same, which was why they worked hard to make them their subordinates, too.
That was why Vast Gate had brushed off the Tough Bastard''s attack as routine and didn''t take it seriously. Gathering information from outside was more important than internal affairs.
"This piece of shit!"
However, a problem had arisen.
While the ck market in the Snake Den was rtively untouched, it wasn''t like the underground arena.
It had beenpletely destroyed.
An official she had connections with had told her that things had gone too far this time, aint that had been echoed by many others.
While it wasn''t a permanent loss of ie, since the security was proven inadequate, many of therger clients would stoping in for a while.
Yes, the loss was painful, but what frustrated her more was losing all of the Arsenic Pig''s manpower, manpower she had been using for her intelligence gathering.
I can''t report this until everything is resolved.
The mood within the Dark Heavens Association was already gloomy due to the continued failures.
It''s not a big deal anyway, so let''s figure this out first.
The problem itself wasn''t that big.
New people could be hired, and the underground arena itself hadn''t been destroyed, meaning everything could be restored over time.
What made her nervous were the Dark Heavens Association Leader and Blessed Existence, who were already uneasy due to the repeated failures.
Not wanting to upset them further, she nned to report after she took action.
For now, since the Tough Bastard''s skills aren''t too bad, I''ll let him recover. If he can handle things quickly, I''ll let him be one of my subordinates.
***
Within a week, Jiang Nengchu had fully absorbed both the East and the West.
Nothing consolidated power better than an overwhelming achievement that made history overnight.
Everyone was terrified of him.
Whispers of the possibility of the Tough Bastard trying to take over the Xia Wu Sect Master''s position slowly began to arise. However, everyone was afraid of the Xia Wu Sect Master, who had reigned for a long time, so they kept these whispers to themselves, and no one spoke about it directly.
Two dayster, a letter addressed to the Tough Bastard was sent by one of the three rulers of Zhengzhou, the Murderous Harlot.
"It says that she wants to congratte me and invite me to a banquet. However, I''m not the only one on the list. Your name is on it, too."
Jiang Nengchu handed the letter over to Zhou Xuchuan as soon as he received it.
The Silent Messenger''s name was there as well.
"Where?"
"The Southern Fire House."[1]
The Murderous Harlot''s domain in the south was the red light district.
If the Blue and Red Houses were the best brothels in Zhengzhou, the other noteworthy brothels were concentrated in the red light district to the south.[2]
Among them, there was one brothel that wasparable to the Blue and Red Houses.
The Southern Fire House.
"They said we could choose the location of the banquet if we were worried about it being a trap. So, what should we do?"
"There''s no need to go that far. We''ll just go to them," Zhou Xuchuan responded.
Jiang Nengchu nodded.
The Southern Fire House.
The gorgeous, zing red pavilion stood out sharply.
It was particrly noteworthy even within the red light district of Zhengzhou.
It was ten stories tall, each story a little over a zhang, making it easy to see from afar.
Zhou Xuchuan and Jiang Nengchu headed to the Southern Fire House as soon as it got dark.
Since the Southern Fire House had received word in advance, no guests were staying at the brothel. When they opened the door and entered, the two were greeted by the courtesans.
"Wee, wee. And where might your escorts be?"
"I only brought one."
The courtesans and employees were surprised by Jiang Nengchu''s answer.
What great confidence!
This goes beyond confidence. He must be insane.
The entertainment district is the Head Madam''s domain. To bring only a single escort to a ce where the Murderous Harlot resides
Could it be that the alliance with the Tough Bastard is almost finalized?
Everyone reacted in different ways, but no one voiced their thoughts or showed any clear signs of emotion. Instead, they all just looked afraid.
If they had known that the escort standing next to Jiang Nengchu was the Silent Messenger, they would have been even more shocked and dumbfounded.
"Come this way."
They were guided by a courtesan to the stairs. The higher they went, the more extravagant the decorations became.
Since there were no guests, they quickly arrived at the top floor, the tenth floor.
"Head Madam, I have brought the guests."
"Oh my. Hohoho. So you''ve arrived?"
A lowugh was heard as a sliding door opened.
When the door opened, a beautiful woman, barely in her early thirties but already exuding a sultry, mature beauty, sat waiting.
"It''s an honor to finally meet the Tough Bastard and the Silent Messenger after hearing so much about you."
The courtesan who guided them flinched at the title, the Silent Messenger, but quickly regained herposure.
Zhou Xuchuan and Jiang Nengchu, having reached the top floor of the Southern Fire House, where no man had evere before, found suitable ces to sit down.
"Of course, we need to prepare the banquet before we can talk. It will only take a moment, don''t worry."
As the Murderous Harlot raised her right hand, the door next to her opened, and courtesans came in one after another.
They ranged from a girl of about ten years old to a beautiful woman, roughly about thirty, all of whom were beautiful.
They brought tables covered in a feast of delicacies and carefully ced them in front of the Tough Bastard and Zhou Xuchuan, smiling with their eyes.
"Great one~"
"You''re so handsome."
They were all courtesans who could make men''s minds spin, their voices as beautiful as their fair skin.
While there were also courtesans with healthy, sun-kissed skin, that wasn''t the only variation of beauty, as the courtesans disyed a wide range of exquisiteness.
"Okay, let''s start with a drink first," the Murderous Harlot said in a friendly voice as she smiled.
"Great one, please, allow me."
"This is the Southern Fire House''s famed wine."
The courtesans sitting close to them tried to hand them sses, but neither Zhou Xuchuan nor Jiang Nengchu moved, seemingly frozen like stone. While the clothes to their sides flowed down as if to show off, tempting them with their treasures, neither of them moved.
"Murderous Harlot."
Zhou Xuchuan red at her.
"I don''t want to waste time, so let''s get to the point."
"You''re the Silent Messenger who recently made a name for yourself, right?"
The Murderous Harlot covered her mouth with her sleeve andughed coldly.
"Waste of time? Do you know why this ce is called the Southern Fire House?"
"I''m not interested."
"Because it burns both body and mind. If you''re a man, you can have an unforgettable night here. Tell me what you like. I''ll amodate it all."
"The Xia Wu Sect Master is my type."
""
The sly smile on the Murderous Harlot''s lips disappeared.
"You''d better not insult her."
"That''s why I said, let''s get to the point. I''m busy."
"It''s the same for me, Murderous Harlot," Jiang Nengchu agreed.
These arrogant bastards
The Murderous Harlot bit her lip.
She couldn''t stand being looked down on by that brat named the Tough Bastard, who had been nothing special until just recently.
''How dare some bastard who would wag his little tail like some horny beast if I show even a little bit of my chest if it weren''t for the order of the Sect Master, I would have had you on the ground under my feet a long time ago and pulled out your arrogant tongue.''
She barely held back her murderous impulses.
"Since you''ve already gone this far, then let''s get to the point."
The courtesans, who had been acting cute just a moment ago, bowed and retreated. Instead of leaving, they sat against the wall.
"To be honest, I called you here not to attend a banquet but because the Xia Wu Sect Master had something to tell you. As you may know, the pig and the viper you killed were, along with me, the Xia Wu Sect Master''s limbs."
"And?"
"I''m letting you know beforehand in case you might misunderstand, but you weren''t called here to be med for killing them. In the Xia Wu Sect, or rather, in the ck Hand, the weak are bound to die. I called you two to offer a chance to take over the positions left behind by the Arsenic Pig and the Viper Sword."
"Hmm."
Jiang Nengchu scratched his chin.
"As your senior, I advise you not to be foolishly conceited and to ept it."
The three of them from the past had all epted the offer after ascending to the throne.
Of course, they hadughed it off in the beginning, all saying, ''What nonsense is this?'' before quickly realizing how presumptuous they had been.
"While the Xia Wu Sect Master won''t be making an appearance today"
"Not interested."
"Are you two dating?"
The two men answered at the same time as if they had nned it beforehand.
The Murderous Harlot''s patience snapped, her expression twisting with rage.
"Moreover, what do you mean, not making an appearance?"
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Zhou Xuchuan''s heart was racing, his body tense with excitement.
A twisted smile spread across his lips.
The Murderous Harlot was about to brush off hisment, asking what he meant, but she stopped herself, her lips closing. Her eyes seemed to ask the question her mouth couldn''t.
How?
Zhou Xuchuan slowly got up from his seat and turned his head to the left. His eyes locked onto a courtesan meekly sitting against the wall.
"pfft."
A beautiful woman, who seemed to be quite young, covered her mouth and let out augh. Her skin was as white as snow, and her sleeves were unusually long.
She appeared to be a young maiden, but strangely enough, she seemed to exude a sexy aura like a mature beauty.[3]
"Huhuhu kekeke!"
Found you.
1. A nod to the Vermillion Bird and the idea that man has a "southern fire," if you know what I mean. ?
2. This is apparently different from the red light district within Zhengzhou proper. ?
3. Women are seen to have different types of beauty as they age. ?
Chapter 133: The Xia Wu Sect Master (2)
The Dark Heavens Association''s Vast Gate Star, the Xia Wu Sect Master.
Not much was known about her. She was as good at hiding things about herself as she was at controlling the flow of information.
All that was known was that she was the Xia Wu Sect Master and a great beautyalong with her impressive cultivation.
"You''ve got such a good eye, Honey~," the Xia Wu Sect Master, Vast Gate, said with a seductive smile. Only the courtesans around them seemed surprised by Zhou Xuchuan''s sudden exmation.
"Even though they call you the Silent Messenger, I didn''t think much of it. I assumed you were just strong for the ck Hand, but you''re actually more impressive than I thought."
As Vast Gate stood up and walked forward, the Murderous Harlot immediately moved from her position at the head of the room and prostrated herself.
The courtesans remained dazed until this moment, only now beginning to realize what was happening and looking surprised.
"Originally, I was going to tear your limbs apart for making a mess of the underground arena" Vast Gate said, pulling out a long bamboo pipe and lighting it.
"Whew"A cloudy smoke slipped from between her thick lips.
"But I''ve changed my mind."
"To what?"
"I had assumed you were, at most, a Transcendent expert. I never expected you to have reached the Harmony Realm. Even if I barely hid myself, to be able to find me is no ordinary feat; I''ll give you that."
"H-harmony" the Murderous Harlot muttered, startled.
From her perspective, as someone who had barely reached the Transcendent Realm after spending nearly her entire adult life stuck in the Peak Realm, the Harmony Realm was far beyond herprehension.
She had assumed that the Silent Messenger was, at best, a Transcendent, to think things had turned out far beyond her imagination.
If the Silent Messenger really was a Harmony Realm Master, it meant that he would easily be able to enter the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, and the only thing keeping him from it was ack of fame.
"I''m a surprisingly generous person. While I''m annoyed that you brats ruined one of my businesses, considering your abilities"
"Pfft."
Augh escaped Zhou Xuchuan''s lips before he could stop himself.
"Why are youughing?" Vast Gate asked with a smile on her lips. However, her eyes were clearly not smiling.
"I''ll let it slide if you have a convincing reason for yourughter, but if there isn''t one, you''ll regret it."
"No, it''s just that this seems more doable than I thought."
"You''re not putting your faith in those things you''ve hidden in the ceiling when you say that, are you?" Vast Gate remarked, her narrowed eyes glowing with an eerie light.
Zhou Xuchuan met Vast Gate''s eyes without answering, and she stared back at him silently.
Time seemed to pass slowly, as it was so silent that one''s pulse could be heard.
Sweat dripped from someone''s forehead and fell slowly.
The moment it hit the ground, Vast Gate''s eyes closed.
Bang!
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t miss the opening. He threw the dagger that had slipped out of his sleeve as if he had been waiting for this moment.
The tip of the dagger sliced through the air, tracing a long arc.
The moment it was about to reach its target''s neck, time, which seemed to have almost stopped earlier, returned to normal as Vast Gate struck the dagger with the long bamboo pipe in her hand, deflecting it to the side.
Woosh!
The deflected dagger spun through the air as Zhou Xuchuan kicked off the ground and flew forward.
"Jiang Nengchu!"
As Zhou Xuchuan called out, Jiang Nengchu had already gotten up and drawn the sword hanging from his waist.
"I''ll leave the Murderous Harlot to you!"
Boom!
The ceiling above the path leading to Vast Gate suddenly broke open.
Little Ghost emerged from the cleanly cut hole that looked like it had been cut with a knife, holding one of the Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals, Tai''e, that Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t used in a while.
Zhou Xuchuan shot forward and circted his qi to the limit as he caught the de that Little Ghost threw over.
BOOM!
A roar like thunder erupted. Then, qi poured out from his dantian and condensed to form sword aura.
This all happened in an instant.
At the same time, the sword aura violently spun around and oscited, making a buzzing sound.
Vast Gate!
The Phantoms had told him that the key to assassination was to make the enemy let down their guard and deceive them. As the moment an assassin''s intentions were discovered, the assassination would have failed; they advised either diverting the enemy''s attention or hidingpletely.
That was why Zhou Xuchuan had deliberately deceived everyone from the moment he had arrived.
Considering it was Vast Gate, the Star who controlled and valued information more than anything, she would definitely investigate everything about the Silent Messenger.
So, all she would find regarding the Silent Messenger was that he was an assassin.
It all started with this one fact.
If Vast Gate had been on the level of the Ten Empyrean Overlords or even the Sword Demon, Zhou Xuchuan would have recognized her unfathomable power and not attempted anything, but it wasn''t like that in reality.
A Transcendent Realm assassin who was nearing the Harmony Realm.
He fed that information into the surrounding gossip and disguised himself to match that level to convince her. Moreover, he had hidden Phantoms in the ceiling, creating the illusion that he had prepared them as ast resort.
More doable than I thought?
It was all a facade!
Zhou Xuchuan knew how terrifying the Dark Heavens Association was. He also knew exactly how thorough and strong the Seven Stars Division leaders were.
The moment he underestimated them, he would lose.
Keeping that in mind, he thought about it several times before making a n.
Violet Haze!
He would deceive everyone before ending it in a single blow.
Dawnbreaker!
A sword enveloped in a rotating sword aura shot forward, tearing through the air with a horrifying sound.
Right in front of the sword, Vast Gate reacted instinctively before she could even register the shock of what had just happened.
What the hell!
Vast Gate''s delicate jade hands shot up. Strangely, her hands, from the tips of her fingers to her wrists, were stark white.
Her body, sensing danger, instinctively reacted and released an incredible power to block the sword aura that raced toward her.
BOOOOM!
The impact was deafening.
Aura collided with aura, generating a shockwave that rippled through the room.
"Ahhh!"
The force sent courtesans near the walls flying, rolling across the floor.
Unfortunately, that wasn''t the end. The faintly purple-tinged sword aura and the blindingly white palm aura continued to sh, tearing the surroundings apart.
Vast Gate''s eyes widened in shock.
She realized that the attack before her was the divine art of the Mount Hua Sect. However, she was more amazed by the sheer powering from the sword than by the sh of recognition regarding the technique itself.
A groan escaped her lips as disbelief and questions flooded her mind.
This is ridiculous!
Although Vast Gate looked young, she was actually quite old.
Not only had her aging slowed down after ascending to the Harmony Realm, but she had also practiced a Disguise Art and a Dual Cultivation Art like the Murderous Harlot.
The number of men whose lives she had stolen by sucking their vital qi easily exceeded four digits.
In reality, she was an old woman who was from the same era as the Ten Empyrean Overlords, and her umted qi wasn''t anything to scoff at.
Above all, after joining the Dark Heavens Association, she constantly received support in the form of elixirs and cultivation resources, far surpassing the average cultivator.
With all that, just what in the world was going on?
No matter how suddenly she had to draw on her qi, she had just used an amount of qi that no one, except the Ten Empyrean Overlords, would be able to endure.
Yet the man before her went beyond just enduring ithe had overpowered it.
Still, despite her shock, she didn''t remain frozen.
"Ha!"
She raised her right hand, forcing the sword aura that pushed against her palm aura to change direction.
The sword aura aimed at her eyebrows failed topletely prate the white wall before it, even though Zhou Xuchuan had put everything he had into it.
A groan escaped Vast Gate as she felt the strain of using her qi so suddenly. Her internal organs were tingling from using too much force.
Fortunately, the violent sh of aura was mitigated as she diverted the sword aura, and the resulting shockwave disappeared.
However, that relief onlysted for a moment. Zhou Xuchuan''s attack wasn''t over.
"Ha-a-eup!"
The moment her body was about to fall backward due to the force of the collision, Zhou Xuchuan''s right arm muscles swelled, veins throbbing painfully.
The sword that had been knocked upward toward the ceiling stopped abruptly before cleaving down like an unstoppable force.
Seeing the swording down as if it was about to split her head open, Vast Gate screamed inwardly as she tried to block the attack with a double-palm strike.
''So this is what he was aiming for!''
There was a limit to how much qi one could hastily gather. Even if she seeded in blocking the first move, she would be forced to show an opening afterward.
In addition, due the blow she had just taken, her body was thrown off bnce, forcing her backward. In a normal situation, one wouldn''t have been able to exert their strength properly.
It was a single sword that seemed as if it would split everything apart.
At that moment, Vast Gateughed in disbelief.
"Haha, huh?"
Where did that momentum from earlier go?
She watched as the sword seemed to float in the air like a cloud.
Instead, what she saw was a fist clenched before her as Zhou Xuchuan pulled back his left arm with all his might.
A feint into a feint into a feint!
The dagger, Violet Haze Dawnbreaker, and the downward cleave were all feints.
Zhou Xuchuan continued to squeeze his overworked lower dantian. He pulled on the poison he had stored from the Poisonblood Valley and the Tang Family.
The poison qi that surged from below his navel passed through the tianchi acupoint[1] near his chest and headed toward the tianquan acupoint.[2]
Soon, it passed through the quze, qiemen, jianshi, neiguan, daling,ogong acupoints, ultimately spanning the pericardium meridian and exiting through the zhongchong at the tip of the finger.[3]
Zhou Xuchuan''s right arm, which he had seemed to use with all of his might, no longer had any strength left.
All of his strength was concentrated on his left hand.
His muscles swelled and then rxed.
As the contractions and rxations of his muscles repeated, his arm began to radiate intense heat.
The first stage of the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art imbued one''s body with poison and created an innate immunity, while the second allowed the user to handle poison freely.
From the third stage onward, it could be used in closebat, which meant that as long as the user could make contact, they would be able to poison the opponent.
Though Zhou Xuchuan didn''t have any specific technique guiding his attack, he had now created a fist capable of taking life.
WOOOSH!
Zhou Xuchuan twisted his waist and shoulders to apply a rotational force, and as he gained speed, his power exploded.
The fist fell with an explosive wave that reminded Vast Gate of a sledgehammer.
She scrambled to find some way to block the iing blow, but it was impossible, no matter how superhuman her reflexes and cultivation were.
Her hand was raised above her head, attempting to block the strike, while her body tilted backward, suspended in midair.
Then, as if she weed it, Zhou Xuchuan''s fist mmed down on her open abdomen.
Boom.
The sledgehammer fell, sending shockwaves coursing through her entire body.
Her skin, which had be smooth through stealing vital qi, rippled as the shock spread through it.
"AGHHHHH!"
Vast Gate''s back arched like a bridge, blood spurting out from her gaping lips and scattering into a mist.
The white palm aura wrapped around her hand shattered into pieces as she was unable to bear the pain, dissipating into the air.
BOOOM!
As her bent back straightened, a loud noise erupted, and the floor of the Southern Fire House exploded beneath her.
A crack raced across the ground like a spider web, quickly spreading throughout the entire floor, causing the ground below Vast Gate to cave in in a circr pattern.
"Kya!!"
The courtesans waiting on the lower floors screamed and retreated when the ceiling suddenly copsed.
Vast Gate, who had fallen to the ninth floor, was in despair as she felt her broken spine and vomited blood.
She hadn''t been injured since she reached the Harmony Realm. As she felt that forgotten pain once again, she was about to scream.
But before that, she cursed.
"This bastard!"
She saw Zhou Xuchuan pulling his right hand back, forming another fist.
"There''s still one more left."
He spared no effort. He didn''t have that sort of leisure.
He swung his fist again, pouring all of his energy into the blow.
His eyes were filled with the determination to kill.
Why?
Vast Gate was puzzled as she met his gaze.
There was something beyond bloodlust in his eyes. For some reason, it seemed as if Zhou Xuchuan was staring at his mortal enemyno, something even worse than that.
He looked at her with a gaze that almost seemed filled with resentment, as if he had survived just for this moment.
Had she unknowingly created this grudge?
However, before that question could be answered, the sledgehammer struck again.
A perfectly clean line, aimed at a face that could no longer block it.
The moment Zhou Xuchuan''s fist pressed lightly against the bridge of Vast Gate''s nose, a thunderous noise erupted, and the floor of the now nine-story building copsed.
1. Roughly one centimeter above your nipple on both sides. ?
2. The intersection of your pectoralis, deltoid, and bicep brachii muscles. ?
3. The pericardium meridian is the meridian that spans your arm that corresponds to your heart. In order, the acupoints are: your elbow, the middle of your forearm, one finger''s breadth below the middle of your forearm, two fingers'' breadth below the middle of your forearm, three fingers'' breadth below the middle of your forearm, your wrist, between the base knuckles of your pointer and middle finger, and the tip of your middle finger. ?
Chapter 134: Fall of the Vast Gate Star (1)
"Kya!!"
While only the center of the tenth floor had copsed, this time, things were different.
The entire ninth floor caved in as the courtesans on the upper floors dropped down to the eighth. The courtesans who had originally been on the eighth floor screamed just as loudly as those from the ninth at the sudden bolt of lightning.
A thick cloud of dust filled the air, making it nearly impossible to see as the courtesans coughed incessantly.
The pirs of the Southern Fire House creaked uneasily, struggling to endure the tremors from the consecutive punches.
"..."
The Murderous Harlot looked down from her perch on the tenth floor. Her face was pale, and her expression grim.
What the hell just
Everything had happened so quickly that her mind couldn''t keep up. She wondered how the Silent Messenger was this strong.The Murderous Harlot, looking down at the rising dust cloud, quickly stepped back when she felt an eerie sensation.
A sword sliced through the air, narrowly missing where she had just been standing.
The Murderous Harlot raised her head and looked at the sword''s owner.
"Tough Bastard!"
"You have good senses."
Unlike the Murderous Harlot with her horrid expression, Jiang Nengchu showed no particr emotion. He was still the same, nk and stony.
If you surrender obediently, Ill spare your life.
"Hmph. Do you think I''m crazy? Like I''d trust you," the Murderous Harlot said, as if she didn''t care about what he had to say, and thrust her palm forward, stirring up a palm wind.
Anticipating her move, Jiang Nengchu swung his sword sharply, creating a sword wind that canceled out the palm wind.
If one only considered their realms, they were quite simr. While Jiang Nengchu had the upper hand in terms of techniques and martial skills, in terms of absolute cultivation, he was still slightly inferior.
"The Xia Wu Sect Master is dead."
Jiang Nengchu nced at the hole in the floor.
I will lead the Xia Wu Sect now.
Hohoho!"
The Murderous Harlot threw her head back andughed unpleasantly.
Do you really think the Xia Wu Sect Master would die from something like this?
Jiang Nengchu blinked in surprise at her confident attitude, which waspletely different from her soured expression.
"None of you know how much of a monster the Xia Wu Sect Master truly is. The entire world has been fooled by the Sect Master. She isn''t human."
Contrary to her confidence, she looked afraid of something.
However, that fear wasn''t directed toward Jiang Nengchu, but the Xia Wu Sect Master herself, Vast Gate.
Not long after, Jiang Nengchu frowned.
Just as the Murderous Harlot had said, the dust cloud that had obscured their vision cleared, revealing the Xia Wu Sect Master.
"Please, please be satisfied with those brats down below"
The Murderous Harlot''s voice trembled unusually.
***
Vast Gate covered her face with her white, dainty, and pristine jade-like hands. The fierce eyes visible between her fingers stood out.
"How dare, how dare, how dare you! Not just anywhere, but my face!"
The raw anger in her voice was so intense, it made anyone pause just from hearing it.
Zhou Xuuchan could see her bloodshot eyes. Around them, skin that had lost its sticity began to grow visible.
Just as he was about to strike her face, a white-tinted defensive qi shot out, blocking his blow.
No matter how powerful his blow had been, he wasn''t able to break the barrier formed by Vast Gate''s innate defensive qi. In fact, Vast Gate had been able to expand her barrier, pushing him back momentarily.
You tenacious bitch! Zhou Xuchuan cursed, sticking out his tongue.
Even though her spine had been broken and she suffered immense internal injuries, she had managed to avoid his finishing blow by reacting instinctively with her defensive qi.
"You!"
Vast Gate didnt take her eyes off Zhou Xuchuan as she stretched out an arm to the side to grab a nearby courtesan.
KyaC"
Something bizarre happened. The scream that was about to erupt stopped, and the courtesan who owned the voice instantly turned into a mummy.
Her once-ck hair turned white like that of an old man, and her flesh was nowhere to be found, as if she had starved for decades.
At the same time, Vast Gates face also changed. Her skin, which had lost sticity and wrinkles, returned to its original state.
Zhou Xuchuan muttered involuntarily upon seeing this.
The Empty Hand Demonic Art (ħ)
A demonic art of extreme yin and extreme demonic qi!
A demonic art that every cultist would want, so viscous that it could bepared to the Six Great Demonic Arts.
The important part wasn''t that her hands turned stark white when she cultivated or that her yin qi wasparable to the Frigid Ice Divine Palm of the North Sea.
No, those were just characteristics. What was truly notorious about this technique was its training method.
If yang meant male, yin meant female.
Since the source of the Empty Hand Demonic Art was yin qi, in order to absorb this needed yin qi, she had to source it from a woman.
Well, saying she had to ''source it'' was putting it nicely. In reality, she stole it from them like she was using the Great Cosmic Absorption Art[1] and caused her targets to die.
This was the secret behind her eternal youth, even at over seventy years of age.
Moreover, the younger the prey, the better, especially if they hadn''t yet lost their virginity.
Dont think that I will die so easily.
Zhou Xuchuan nced at Vast Gate from head to toe before looking up at the ceiling and shouting, "Keep everyone from approaching us, and if any of them look suspicious, deal with them!"
He felt the gathered presences start to move.
"Just who the hell are you?!" Vast Gate asked angrily.
"Who do you think I am?"
Zhou Xuchuan nced at Vast Gate again with a sharp gaze.
wasnt focused on her exposed flesh, revealed by the flowing hem of her clothes, but on her hunched back and hands that emitted yin qi.
"I''ve never heard of the Exalted Sword Immortal having a descendant. Moreover, one that cultivated a poison art to this degree?"
As expected of the Vast Gate Star.
It wasn''t for nothing that she was in charge of the Dark Heavens Associations intelligence.
In terms of raw information, she had ess to more than even Blessed Existence.
While she had only seen his technique once during a split second of desperation as he ambushed her, she had immediately recognized the technique of the Exalted Sword Immortal.
"What do you mean, who the hell am I? I''m the Silent Messenger."
As he spoke, he used the Thousand Catty Bast to drive his body into the ground and stomp his foot.
Tai''e, which had previously plunged into the ground, bounced up into the air from the shockwave of Zhou Xuchuan''s stomp and spun brilliantly beforending in his hand.
Judging from the wrinkles that appeared earlier, it seems that you''ve consumed a lot of yin qi. Are you going to be okay?"
"Hmph, I was only a little wounded because I let my guard down. I''m perfectly fine"
Is that so?
Zhou Xuchuan cut her off and flew forward. Even though he had just consumed a considerable amount of his qi, his movements were still like lightning.
"How reckless!" Vast Gate snorted as she shed the sword that wasing at her neck with her hand, deflecting it.
Ha!
A white mist flowed from her hand and wrapped around the sword. Even one of the Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals wasn''t able to withstand the extreme yin qi of the Empty Hand Demonic Art, quickly getting covered in frost.
Flicker!
Although he slowly began to freeze, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t care and unleashed the first half of the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
Vast Gate skillfully blocked the sword strokes, recalling all the information she had about the previous and current Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
Her flickering hands, gracefully blocking each stroke without dodging a single one, were a sight to behold. Additionally, the extreme yin qi released from her hands gradually grew stronger, trying to freeze Tai''e.
Noticing that his sword was slowly turning into ice, Zhou Xuchuan quickly stepped back to increase the distance between himself and Vast Gate.
Hohoho," Vast Gateughed loudly as if asking how her skills were.
Xia Wu Sect Master.
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword lightly, shaking off the frost that had umted on the de.
"I respect your ability to pretend that nothing happened to you."
At first, he half-believed her nonchnce, but the exchange of blows just now had made it clear.
Vast Gate''s body wasn''t normal.
Even if it had just been a punch, hadn''t it been a full-out attack while she was defenseless?
If that level of internal injury could be healed by merely absorbing yin qi, the Empty Hand Demonic Art would have been the strongest art in the world.
"Did you know that you haven''t moved a single step since a little while ago?"
"..."
Vast Gate was about to say something before she closed her mouth. Instead, her face distorted horribly.
Her spine was broken, and it was difficult for her even to stand up straight.
Without forcefully adjusting her back muscles with her qi, she wouldn''t have been able to stand.
Her internal organs, ruptured from the blow to her abdomen were also aplete mess, and the searing pain across her body was unbearable.
"Incredible. You really are impressive."
It wasnt sarcasm. This was pure admiration.
"That''s exactly why I hate you, Dark Heavens Association."
"What?!"
Squelch!
Vast Gates eyes widened.
That one sentence made her doubt her own ears, and in her confusion, her already clouded judgmentpletely faltered.
Right as her eyes widened, Vast Gate felt a dagger pierce through her chest from behind, apanied by a jolt of excruciating pain.
Ugh!
Vomiting blood, Vast Gate slowly turned her head around. There stood Little Ghost with an indifferent expression.
The one who had been hiding upstairs no, if she''s a bitch, then!
"Not a chance, Vast Gate."
It felt like a bolt of lightning struck her mind. In the midst of her second shock, this time, a hole pierced straight through her heart.
The sword that had been covered in frost pierced through her from the front, splitting the flesh on her back open.
The hand that was trying to grab Little Ghost soon fell limply.
Who who the hell how?"
As the one in charge of all intelligence, Vast Gate''s shock was even greater.
The Dark Heavens Association was thoroughly under control.
The structure of the Seven Stars Division and the names of its leaders were only known by their titles. Few actually knew each leader''s true identity.
Only a few people knew that Vast Gate was actually the Xia Wu Sect Master.
However, to think it wasn''t an insider but an outsider who had revealed that fact.
The Violet Haze Sword Sutra or whatever didn''t matter at all. The statement that Zhou Xuchuan had just made was one of the Dark Heavens Association''s biggest secrets.
"I''ll send the others along to the afterlife soon so you won''t be bored. Moreover, when you see themter, tell the Archive that I enjoyed the elixirs."
Vast Gate''s face, twisted with pain, gradually shifted to one of shock.
"Oh, and you were looking for the one who submerged the Tomb of the Ominous Demon, right? That was me."
She had to let the others know.
The man in front of her wouldter be their greatest threat.
However, she couldn''t bring herself to voice her thoughts.
Flicker.
The Southern Fire House was on fire.
The pavilion, which had been decorated crimson as if it would burst into mes at any moment, was actually now fully consumed by fire, burning fiercely.
"Fire!"
The red mes swept around like the tongue of an evil spirit, engulfing the surroundings. Instead of moonlight, the surroundings were lit by the fiery ze.
Although the onlookers tried to put out the fire, it spread so quickly that it left people speechless and unsure of what to do.
Fortunately, the buildings surrounding the Southern Fire House were far enough away that the mes did not spread to them.
"I heard someone had rented the entire brothel today"
What happened!
"No! It was my dream to spend a night there!"
A few of the men among the onlookers looked extremely sad.
"Hey, don''t you think it''s his handiwork?"
The Tough Bastard?
"Isn''t the fact that the Murderous Harlot resides in the Southern me House known to Everyone? Considering it''s entirely been rented out, that means"
Gulp.
The Arsenic Pig, the Viper Sword, the Murderous Harlot.
The Three Strongest who once ruled Zhengzhou no longer had any power, vanishing into the depths of the night.
There had been many battles over the throne of Zhengzhou in the past, but few had been as tumultuous as this one.
The Tough Bastard, Jiang Nengchu.
People only thought of his name instead of the Three.
There was no Pig, no Viper, no Harlot anymore.
The only one standing in front of them was the Bastard.
In the end, the fire that had illuminated Zhengzhou in ce of moonlight all night long finally died down after the pavilion waspletely burned to the ground. When dawn broke, all that remained were the ashes of the Southern Fire House, and corpses burned beyond recognition.
1. A reference to the Sun Moon Holy Cult from The Smiling Proud Wanderer by Jin Yong. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
The title is a juxtaposition, as Zhou Xuchuan''s earlier title was the Huashan fengchu, or Mount Hua''s Phoenix yer, while this chapter''s title is Vast Gate xingchu, which can be read as either the Fall of the Vast Gate Star, or the Vast Gate Star yer.
Then, do you think there might be a Vast Gate Star Shitter?ehehe.
Chapter 135: Fall of the Vast Gate Star (2)
Zhou Xuchuan and Jiang Nengchu safely returned to the Blue House.
Vast Gate was dead. Not only had Zhou Xuchuan impaled Vast Gate''s heart, but he even beheaded her afterward to make sure she was dead.
He took the corpse away and cremated it separately in preparation for the inevitable investigation by the Dark Heavens Association. In the process, he acquired a few spoils of war.
The Murderous Harlot''s resistance on the top floor ended when she learned of the Xia Wu Sect Master''s death. She surrendered after confirming the truth.
She initially didn''t believe the death of a monster like the Xia Wu Sect Master, but surrendered after inspecting the corpse personally.
Of course, Zhou Xuchuan had no intention of letting her live. As the sole witness, Murderous Harlot had to be disposed of to protect his secret.
Jiang Nengchu threw the Murderous Harlot into the same room where the Viper Sword was imprisoned, promising Zhou Xuchuan that he would kill her after torturing her first.
Sure enough, she died during a torture session two dayster.
Thankfully, there had been no other witnesses. Courtesans present that evening all fled when the chaos started.As for those suspected of being spies, the Phantoms took care of them.
The incineration of the Southern Fire House and the Murderous Harlot''s mysterious disappearance forced several factions eyeing the South to hang back and observe the situation.
However, that was all they did. None dared to make a move. They were too afraid of the culprit behind the Murderous Harlot''s disappearance and the Southern Fire House''s destruction.
The Tough Bastard, Jiang Nengchu!
Now everyone in Zhengzhou, no, the ck Hand, knew that name. Even the children living under bridges knew it now.
A tyrant who had acquired everything through his strength alone!
Everyone shuddered in dread at the new legend that only needed a few days to be created.
Even the factions with some influence in the center of the ck Hand, Zhengzhou, dared not provoke him and behaved themselves.
This was good, since Zhou Xuchuan didn''t want to provoke anyone as the confrontation with the three strongest in Zhengzhou happened not too long ago, and people should still be on edge.
As if he had been waiting for this, Jiang Nengchu acted swiftly and enthusiastically to reorganize his faction.
****
The office was filled with stacks of documents.
Zhou Xuchuan remarked, "You''ve grown haggard since thest time we met."
The dark circles below Jiang Nengchu''s eyes served as proof of his hard work.
"Wee," he said, temporarily setting down his brush.
"You''ve acquired the position you wanted, so you could''ve given yourself a brief vacation. But to think you''d be too busy torturing yourself with paperwork instead of celebrating!"
Zhou Xuchuan was genuinely impressed. Quite literally a tough bastard, indeed! Jiang Nengchu certainly lived up to his title.
"Have you learned anything new on the Xia Wu Sect Master?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
He wasn''t interested in the hidden wealth of the previous Xia Wu Sect Master. He only wanted information about that person.
"Unsurprisingly, the identity of South Red House''s courtesan was fake," said Jiang Nengchu. "There isn''t any useful evidence left behind. So much so that I have to question if that woman even existed."
Jiang Nengchu wondered if they had a hidden office somewhere, but there was none. Apparently, the Murderous Harlot received orders through written correspondence. Or, in case she wanted a face-to-face meeting, Vast Gate came personally to speak to her.
"As expected."
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t have high hopes from the beginning. A woman as secretive as Vast Gate wouldn''t have hidden something in a ce asrge as Zhengzhou.
As for Vast Gate''s spies, they must be performing their missions in other parts of thend.
"Are you nning to leave the red light district as is?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"I am. It''s already difficult to manage the underground arena and the ck market by myself. My n is to focus on this ce."
Managing not just one but two highly profitable sources of ie was no easy feat. With the Head Madam and the pimps around, managing the Blue House and the Red House shouldn''t be that challenging.
But the underground arena to the east faced a chronic shortage of manpower. Reassigning people and managing its operations should consume a lot of time and effort.
"If you want, I''ll give you the red light district," said Jiang Nengchu. "I was nning to suppress whoever takes it over, just like the former Xia Wu Sect Master had done, anyway."
"No, I''m good. You can have it."
It wouldn''t be a bad idea to take over that ce, but the risk was too great. Getting involved would mean Zhou Xuchuan''s real identity would get exposed.
Most of all, the Gold Will Merchants could be put in harm''s way.
Dark Heavens Association!
The one who had died was one of the bosses, Vast Gate, not just any soldier of the Seven Stars Division. Not just any boss, either, but someone who managed the flow of information for the Dark Heavens Association.
With her death, the Dark Heavens Association had lost its eyes and ears. Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t have asked for a better oue than that. This event alone made it so much easier for him to move.
It''s about time Blessed Existence senses something is wrong and makes a move.
Vast Gate hadn''t reported anything in since she wanted to take care of it preemptively. That was because people periodically challenging the authority and causing amotion internally was nothing new. Most of all, though, she didn''t want to get scolded for it.
Zhou Xuchuan used a proxy called the Tough Bastard to make Vast Gate drop her guard. Even when people knew him as the Silent Messenger, he deliberately handed his right to choose over to his proxy as if he wanted someone else to decide for him.
Although it might not happen immediately, someone as quick-witted as Blessed Existence should make a move by the end of the night.
That was why he had been erasing all the loose ends that might lead to him.
The Merchant King will be overjoyed if I deliver the red light district''s control to him, but the risk is not worth what we can get out of it.
The red light district''s revenue was nothing to scoff at. But the problem was that the Dark Heavens Association would target the Gold Will Merchants because of it.
They were already under close scrutiny, after all.
Jiang Nengchu asked, "Are you going to leave this ce?"
"Hoh-oh?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s expression seemed to ask how he knew that.
"You can''t survive in the ck Hand without a sense for such things. Most of all, I couldn''t understand why you''d cause such amotion despite telling me you wanted to hide from the Phantoms. Wait, is that a lie, too?"
Jiang Nengchu hadn''t witnessed the battle on the top floor from the beginning, but he had seen Zhou Xuchuan''s Vajra qi. An assassin who had reached the Harmony realm? Such a thing was unheard of.
"Well, it doesn''t really matter. But I''d like to know how I can help you. However, even if your request is modest, I''m busy this week. Hold it off tillter."
"Hahaha!" Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t hold back andughed.
"What''s so funny?"
"No, it''s nothing."
Jiang Nengchu was a better person than Zhou Xuchuan had thought.
As he prepared to depart, the one thing he pondered most was his rtionship with Jiang Nengchu.
Thanks to Zhou Xuchuan''s meticulousness, his true identity should remain a secret. His Violet Haze Dawnbreaker should have been too quick for Jiang Nengchu to see, as well.
Most cultivators wouldn''t have noticed anything, which made Vast Gate an extraordinary cultivator for noticing the truth when it wasn''t even the vivid purple hue, just some opaque light.
In any case
Zhou Xuchuan originally nned to sever his ties with Jiang Nengchu before leaving. But he changed his mind when the ambitious man he chose as a puppet proved to be far more talented than he had anticipated. He deeply pondered what to do next.
Since things had ended up this way, it might not be such a bad idea to have the current Xia Wu Sect Master indebted to him, which coulde in handyter on.
Vast Gate hadn''t held the position of the Xia Wu Sect Master for so long for no reason. As far as the informationwork was concerned, this sect rivaled that of the Beggar Gang.
Zhou Xuchuan chuckled. "For now, I don''t have any requests. However, when I contact you in the future, lend me your help."
Jiang Nengchu nodded. "Very well. Let''s do that."
"Also"
Snap!
Zhou Xuchuan snapped his fingers, prompting two Phantoms to appear practically out of thin air to stand guard next to Jiang Nengchu.
"They''ll be your guards from now on. Use them as you see fit. They''ll serve you as long as your orders don''t harm me."
Zhou Xuchuan just experienced a decisive event that put an end to his pondering.
During his reorganization efforts, Jiang Nengchu took in several children that were barely surviving on the streets.
These kids didn''t have any parents. Because of constant starvation, they didn''t even have enough strength to do any menial work.
Wondering why Jiang Nengchu would take such children under his wing, Zhou Xuchuan investigated the situation, and his findings made him smile contentedly.
"You now have to take care of quite a few children, so you should be more mindful of your safety, Uncle Godfather," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
"It''s not to the extent of calling me godfather," Jiang Nengchu replied, his brows furrowing. "Besides, it''s not my will, anyway, but hers."
The man sitting in this office''s chair muttered wistfully in a certain direction.
****
The seemingly endless night finally came to an end.
After wrapping up his business, Zhou Xuchuan left Zhengzhou like a man on the run. He remained vignt of his surroundings to ensure he wasn''t being pursued.
Thankfully, he didn''t encounter any problems. After taking off the stuffy skin mask, he headed west.
He initially thought about delivering the Prajna Divine Art first. However, since the Hainan branch of the Valley of Phantoms wasn''t too far away, he decided to deal with the situation there first.
Traveling directly west from Hainan, would lead one to Luoyang city, which was located between the Yellow River and the Luo River.
Not only was it famous for being the capital of nine dynasties, as well as a stage from the Records of the Three Kingdoms, but thanks to various schrs such as Laozi, Li Bai, and Du Fu''s presence, its eyes for culture and literature had developed early.
Luoyang was also the home to the Longmen Grottoes, the greatest artificial caves that took around four centuries toplete. The grottoes here numbered an astonishing 1350!
"It''s over here, sir."
When Little Ghost guided him to the Longmen Grottoes, Zhou Xuchuan was taken aback. Despite minute differences, all the Valleys of the Phantoms he had seen so far were all located within valleys, but not this time.
Its Hainan branch was actually hidden in the Grottoes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Phantoms used not just one but several grottoes.
"We pay respect to the Phantom Sovereign!"
Hainan''s Phantomsprised of thirty men and women. Meanwhile, the number of trainee Phantoms was fewer than other branches.
Excluding the trainees, however, this branch''sbat strength wasparable to the others, with a good mix of First ss assassins and Transcendents.
Zhou Xuchuan addressed the Phantoms. "I''ll be in your care for the next few days."
He decided to stay here for the time being, not because of any pressing matters, but to exchange a few moves with the Phantoms of Hainan.
Neither the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art nor the Phantom Steps Art had reached the fifth stage yet. He wanted to train diligently until they did.
He wondered if different branches trained differently, but there wasn''t much difference.
Makes sense. It would be strange if it was different.
Once a Phantompleted their training, they would abandon their own will, unless they gave up mid-way during the Mind-Killing process and became pseudo-Phantoms.
By sticking close to the Phantom Art and the inherited manuals on a Phantom''s conduct, one couldn''t progress beyond a certain stage.
This blocked the path to the Harmony realm, which required an enlightenment to reach. As proof of this, no Phantom had broken past the Transcendent realm to enter the Harmony realm in the organization''s three-century-long history.
"Besides all that. Regardless of where I go, it''s always been grain pills. To think I''m fated to eat this for the rest of my life. No wonder my heart can''t take it anymore."
Zhou Xuchuan seriously pondered if the Mind-Kill process included consuming grain pills and nothing else as one''s meals.
He nearly shed a tear of pity for Little Ghost and the other Phantoms, who were unaware of the joy of good food.
"This is enough training. Shall I start gathering information now?"
That was one thing Zhou Xuchuan had to do when he visited a new branch. At least in this regard, there had been noticeable differences between different branches.
The information he was looking for were records of clients and all the assassinations that had been carried out, plus other information the individual branch had collected.
Branches exchanged correspondence containing key information with each other. But this method wasn''t effective for sharing sundry information.
As such, information deemed low-tier was only exchanged when necessary or upon request from another branch.
"Hyah, he''s not the Merchant King for nothing."
Li Yicai''s name frequently appeared on the recent list of requests. Considering he had business interests throughout the country and raked in a lot of money, it was unsurprising to learn that he got entangled in many matters as well.
As a result,peting merchants often requested his assassination.
"Deliver this information to the head merchant," Zhou Xuchuan said.
That''s why hepiled a list of people who posed a potential threat and entrusted it to Hainan''s Phantoms. He couldn''t trust the carrier pigeons and wanted the Phantoms to deliver the list personally.
"Also, I want someone from this branch to observe Zhengzhou from afar."
If he had to prioritize what he wanted to learn, Zhou Xuchuan wanted to stay up to date with Jiang Nengchu''s news, particrly individuals who approached him.
Since Blessed Existence is a cautious man, he won''t make any rash moves. There''s no need to worry about him for now.
Blessed Existence, no, the Dark Heavens Association had lost their eyes and ears. In that sense, one could say Zhou Xuchuan held the upper hand in the informationwork.
Things won''t unfold ording to your ns, Dark Heavens Association!
Chapter 136: Visiting the Shaolin Temple (1)
The Dark Heavens Association acted as if it owned everything under the sun. No one knew of their existence, but their influence was greater than any other authoritative figure.
Sometimes, a few people woulde close to learning about their existence. In the end, however, they failed to learn the truth and mysteriously vanished from the world without a trace.
The Dark Heavens Association threatened heaven and earth little by little. Behind the scenes, it threatened the entire Murim.
But now, it was facing an unprecedented crisis.
Something the members of the organization never thought was possible had happened. Vast Gate of the Seven Stars Division could no longer be contacted.
At first, the organization assumed her heavy workload was keeping her busy. But that assumption turned out to be incorrect.
If she hadn''t been in touch for half a day, or maybe even one day, that exnation would''ve made sense. But two days ofplete silence? Something must''ve happened to her.
Most importantly, Vast Gate had not notified them beforehand. The woman Blessed Existence knew was not this irresponsible.
If she had been some fool who only cared about staying youthful and looking good, then this action would''ve made sense, but Vast Gate was an old monster at the Harmony realm. In terms of life experience, she belonged to the upper half of the Seven Stars Division''s leadership.Blessed Existence grew suspicious on the first day. By the second day his suspicion turned to a certainty, and he spoke to the Dark Heavens Association Lord about it.
On the third day, he summoned the division''s leadership and conveyed the news of Vast Gate''s demise.
Blessed Existence addressed his fellow leaders. "Lord could not attend due to scheduling conflict. The head of the archives also couldn''t attend as the management of spiritual beings took priority."
Six of the Seven Stars Division had gathered in one ce.
"Vast Gate is missing. No, in truth, she''s dead," said Blessed Existence.
"Mm!" Twisted Melody, who cooperated with Vast Gate as a spy collecting information, gasped in shock and asked in disbelief, "Do we have the confirmation?"
The world had been underestimating the Xia Wu Sect Master, but that was because she had them fooled.
Excluding Warped Valor or Blessed Existence who acted as the brains of the leadership, everyone else in this meeting had equal martial prowess. They could easily rank within the list of One Hundred Experts Under Heaven if they wished to reveal themselves in Jianghu.
If that were the case, who could have murdered Vast Gate? What troubled these leaders was that the killer had managed to murder her without anyone finding out.
Blessed Existence continued his briefing.
"I''ve been pondering this for the past three days. It''s a certainty. Twisted Melody, you know better than anyone here that Vast Gate was not the type of person to not contact us for over a day."
Twisted Melody was about to say something, only to stop and sigh deeply instead.
Blessed Existence stared at Twisted Melody with a hint of rebuke.
"Don''t allow yourself to bepletely convinced about something. Suspect everything. Nothing in this life is absolute. Remember, conceit wille back to haunt you. Sometimes, you must ept reality as it is."
Blessed Existence should be thanked for how busy the Dark Heavens Association had been until now. Even if something had a 99% chance of sess, he would still focus on that one percent and act under the assumption of ''What if?''
"What about you? Aren''t you also acting conceited under the guise of certainty?" Pure Faith, tasked with monitoring and assassinations of non-believers within the organization, asked testily.
"An excellent question. However, I''ve already taken that possibility into ount. You don''t have to worry about it."
Instead of being displeased, Blessed Existence smiled in satisfaction.
"I''ll exclude what everyone can already guess from my report and tell you the worst possibility in the name of what if."
Blessed Existence narrowed his eyes and addressed everyone.
"It''s possible that someone, or an organization, knows about us and is actively trying to undermine our grand n."
"Nonsense!" Avaricious Wolf immediately interjected. He wasn''t alone; other leaders reacted simrly.
Avaricious Wolfid out his case.
"Pure Faith is already monitoring any non-believers who might leak information about our organization. And anyone foolish enough to do that gets eliminated with absolute certainty. Besides, you also know better than anyone how information about us is strictly controlled."
The leaders nodded in agreement with Avaricious Wolf''s words.
"I''m talking about the worst-case scenario. There''s no need for this reaction. Even so, isn''t it better to keep this possibility in mind rather than not even considering it?" Blessed Existence said.
"Your opinion is indeed logical."
"Then, Blessed Existence. Any other possibilities?"
"The grudge against the Xia Wu Sect No, this grudge seems much more personal than that."
"That sounds most usible."
Favors and grudges were the forces driving gangho. The Dark Heavens Association was no exception. Its members were also bound by those ties.
They mustn''t forget that Vast Gate was an old monster that was over seventy years old. A senior elder of Murim like her would obviously have a lengthy and checkered history.
"If that''s what really happened, things will getplicated."
Although no one knew Vast Gate''s true background, everyone suspected that she was from the ck Hand.
That meant she must''ve endured trials and tribtions from a young age and done many things worthy of others'' resentment. Since that was the case, investigating her past would be very difficult.
Worse still, Vast Gate was the reason the Dark Heavens Association could gather information with ease. Her absence meant the organization''s ability to collect information had been affected greatly.
Blessed Existence spoke up again, "If an individual was responsible, it shouldn''t be too tricky to handle. Humans are bound to make mistakes. The killer must''ve left a trace behind somewhere. We only have to discover it. Also, Vast Gate''s faction has not dissolved yet, so we can divide it among ourselves and use it as we see fit."
"Now that you mention it, I don''t understand why you decided to leave the Tough Bastard alone"
Some random punk showed up as soon as the Xia Wu Sect Master disappeared and took over that position. Considering Vast Gate''s underlings, the Three Strongest in Zhengzhou, had also been murdered, this punk''s presence was certainly suspicious. And the presence of an assassin called Silent Messenger weighed on their minds, too.
"Although I don''t believe Vast Gate would fall at the hands of a random nobody like that, could there be some kind of connection?"
"Indeed. I''m also concerned about the Southern Fire House burning down."
Blessed Existence shook his head. "I''ve investigated thetter incident, but it''s impossible to confirm anything due to ack of witnesses."
"No witnesses? When the Southern Fire House is situated where anyone can see it? How is that possible?"
"That''s because the agents of the Seven Stars Division were carrying out missions elsewhere at the time, leaving only unskilled people behind. We can''t expect much from the ck Hand''s people, anyway."
A Peak realm cultivator, no, maybe even a First ss expert could have infiltrated the Southern Fire House undetected if they wanted to.
"Fuu-woo"
The leaders sighed.
"So? What will you do about the Tough Bastard, then?"
Blessed Existence took his time before replying, "As you all know, Vast Gate was an extraordinary woman. For her to be killed without being seen, the murderer''s martial prowess must be even greater. I don''t believe following an obvious clue will lead us to the culprit. If anything, it could be a trap to lure us in."
When nicely put, Blessed Existence was meticulous. But when not so nicely put, he was a coward. Thanks to his habit of overthinking things, he always considered various possibilities at length to a fault.
This unprecedented event made him consider the possibility of someone knowing about the Dark Heavens Association''s existence and wanting to extract additional information about it. That made him hesitate to take any further actions.
The truth about Vast Gate''s death turning into a mystery was that it only happened because she had underestimated the Zhengzhou incident and tried to deal with it in secret. Of course, neither Blessed Existence nor the Dark Heavens Association would ever learn this truth.
"Hence, I propose we take our time approaching this situation. Let us divide Vast Gate''s duties among us so that our grand n can proceed without any further dy."
****
Mount Song.
Known as the "Central Mountain" among the Five Famed Mountains of the Central ins. Merely looking at the mountain range''s majestic appearance made one realize how sacred this area was.
Despite being the shortest of all Five Famed Mountains, the people of the Central ins still praised it for being the greatest mountain under the heavens. The reason for that was neither with the Taishi Peak to the East nor Junji Peak in the center, but with Shaoshi Peak to the west.
By following its precipitous mountain trails and reaching around the midway point of its northern facade, one could see the origin of the Central ins'' martial arts, the one people sometimes called the most important and respected ce under the heavens.
The Shaolin Temple!
A sect with a long and storied history that deserved to be called evesting, the Shaolin Temple''s splendor left onlookers awestruck. Not only that, but its bell tolls echoing throughout the surroundings were pure and virtuous enough to put a person at ease and cleanse their mind of distracting thoughts.
Even during the Era of War and Chaos, the Shaolin Temple''s steadfastness never wavered, allowing it to stand tall as the pir of strength for the righteous faction cultivators.
After inadvertently reminiscing about the past, Zhou Xuchuan immediately frowned at the sight of a lengthy, snaking queue of visitors hoping to enter the temple.
He hade straight here after finishing business with the Hainan branch of the Phantoms.
Let''s unload this heavy burden as quickly as possible and go home. I''ve promised Junior Sister Luo I''d be back soon, after all.
One month had flown by. Zhou Xuchuan had promised to go on the journey to gangho with her, so he could already picture Luo Xiaoyue pouting in displeasure.
The weight of the Prajna Divine Art currently rotting away under his clothes felt like a block of heavy lead.
Zhou Xuchuan also gained a renewed appreciation for the difficulties Li Yicai must experience.
"What a relief it is that I don''t have to stand in this queue!"
A special entrance was prepared for cultivators and disciples from the Nine Sects and One Gang. When Zhou Xuchuan reached the Mountain Gate, he saw the long queue stretching down to the foot of the mountain, but beside it was a table with no queue at all.
He naturally headed to the queue-less entrance. A monk with a visitor''s log nced at the plum blossom insignia engraved on Zhou Xuchuan''s sleeve, then greeted him while putting his hands together in a Buddhist prayer.
"Wee to the Shaolin Temple. Would you mind registering your name and Daoist title, the name of your sect, as well as the purpose of your visit?"
It was obvious what kind ofmotion Zhou Xuchuan might cause by being truthful with the purpose of his visit. Thankfully, the correspondence from the Martial Alliance Leader contained a password for situations like this.
"Ancient Buddhist scriptures?"
The monk tilted his head in confusion as he read what Zhou Xuchuan had written. Then, he gasped in surprise at the name and title.
Plum Blossom Order Sword!
Every Shaolin disciple, or a cultivator of Murim for that matter, should have heard of that name by now. Wasn''t he the protagonist responsible for burning the cause of war, the Blood Monk''s secret manual?
From the Shaolin Temple''s perspective, they simply had to know about this man even if they didn''t want to. After all, he was the culprit who destroyed the chance to fulfill the Shaolin''s long-cherished wish!
Zhou Xuchuan whispered to the monk. "I''d like to avoid drawing people''s attention. If you don''t mind, can you let me through quietly?"
The monk stared pale-faced at Zhou Xuchuan before hurriedly nodding.
When receiving cultivators as guests at the Mountain Gate, monks on duty would often encounter celebrities like this. Quite a few of these celebrities wished for their visit to be as discreet as possible for personal reasons, such as being on secret missions.
"Please,e this way."
Zhou Xuchuan was immediately guided to the temple''s guest reception hall.
****
As the current Abbot of Shaolin and the First Seat in the Ten Empyrean Overlords, Divine Monk Abbot Hui Mian''s fame rivaled that of the Martial Alliance Leader.
Currently, he was in a room made of stone. A small statue of Buddha was somewhere in the middle of the room, and in front of it was a tower of fading but well-cared-for Buddhist scriptures.
"What should I do?" Hui Mian muttered worriedly.
The Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic! It had almost been half a year already since that demonic art capable of fulfilling Shaolin Temple''s long-cherished wish had surfaced in Jianghu before disappearing forever.
The Shaolin Temple should also have participated in the battle to snatch that secret manual away, but several circumstances forced them to watch from the sidelines instead.
If the Shaolin Temple had joined the fray, it could have turned the rush to acquire that art into an all-out war between the righteous and demonic, or heretical, sects.
As a fellow denizen of Murim, the Abbot knew he shouldn''t have just brushed aside the rtionships of favors and grudges and turned a blind eye. Even though that was true, the Shaolin Temple studied the teachings of Buddha. As such, he couldn''t ept his temple acting as the trigger of a great war.
Even if this long-cherished wish had be a great humiliation for the temple, he couldn''t go against the Buddhist ideals to fulfill it.
Unfortunately, the circumstances didn''t improve afterward. The Martial Alliance had achieved a total victory, but the all-too-important Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic burned down to a pile of ashes along with the opportunity to undo the Shaolin Temple''s humiliation.
It didn''t take a genius to imagine how the Shaolin Temple reacted afterward. And Hui Mian was left embarrassed for choosing not to participate.
At least one good thing hade of this mess, and that was the Martial Alliance Leader promising to hand over an art that could substitute the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic. Unfortunately, that art still hadn''t arrived at the Shaolin Temple.
If it were up to him, Hui Mian would have dispatched the Hundred and Eight Arhats to retrieve the art. However, the Martial Alliance Leader and the Heavenly Strategist convinced him to trust them and wait, saying dispatching the Arhats could attract unwanted attention.
However, as time went on, dissatisfaction among the hot-blooded younger generations of monks was threatening to boil over.
Particrly among the generation whose names began with Hong, which came right after Hui, who were destined to be the future pirs of the temple. Their voices of discontent were considerable, putting the Abbot in a difficult position.
The Abbot recalled the conversation he had with one of the members, which left him with a pounding headache.
To think things would end up like this, not because of the Two Demonic Factions or the Evil Valley, but because of a member from the Nine Sects and One Gang! That''s why I pray the Prajna Divine Art arrives soon.
At this point in time, Abbot Hui Mian had no idea that the courier would be the Plum Blossoms Order Sword, the one who caused so much trouble during the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic incident.
Chapter 137: Visiting the Shaolin Temple (2)
Chapter 137: Visiting the Shaolin Temple (2)
"?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s tea had gone cold quite some time ago. It had been over an hour, far longer than the time it would take to finish a cup of tea. He couldn''t help but tilt his head in confusion.
He might have used a secret code to enter, but wasn''t this taking too long to deliver a simple message? If the Shaolin Temple knew what he had on his person, someone should''ve rushed here in less than fifteen minutes.
However, never mind someone rushing here to speak to Zhou Xuchuan, not a single person had entered the room. Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but feel perplexed by the situation.
If only someone had told him they''d get dyed earlier! Zhou Xuchuan had no choice but to wait, since there had been no word from the Shaolin Temple''s people.
However, just as he was about to get up and leave the room to ask what had happened, the door suddenly opened, and a monk stepped inside.
"Apologies for keeping you waiting," the monk said.
This monk''s appearance was rather unusual.
Despite wearing the Buddhist monk''s robe, his bulging muscles were on full disy. However, Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t surprised to see that since the Shaolin Temple was famous for its physical cultivation arts.It was just that this monk was almost seven chi tall and blessed with a rough, ill-tempered countenance. Rather than a Buddha, he looked more like an Asura, instead![1]
Is he in the Transcendent realm?
Zhou Xuchuan estimated the monk''s martial prowess to be in that realm. Not only that, the monk was in the upper half of the Transcendent realm, as well.
Mm?
The monk''s face seemed familiar to Zhou Xuchuan, but he couldn''t quite ce a name on it. If he thought a little longer, he might remember who the monk was. However, he had to put it aside for the moment when the monk instructed him to follow.
Initially, he wondered if the monk was guiding him to the Abbot''s chamber guarded by Eight Great Protectors, but they walked right past it.
They continued to walk past variousrge and small ptial structures, heading deeper into the temple grounds. The deeper they went in, the fewer the people they encountered.
The two of them received polite greetings from the passersby. Zhou Xuchuan began to suspect that hispanion held a high position within the Shaolin Temple.
Zhou Xuchuan wondered if this monk had been someone famous in his past life, given how familiar his face seemed. He dug deeper into his memories, trying to figure out why.
Just as he reached the edge of something, the two men emerged from the forest dotted with stone pagodas and entered a deserted open area where the monk suddenly stopped.
Never mind all those people they had walked past, not even a single ant could be seen in this ce!
Something''s wrong.
Zhou Xuchuan''s senses, honed through the Era of War and Chaos, warned him of iing danger. The atmosphere felt heavy, prickling his skin.
"Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan!" the monk growled, his fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly. "Why did you burn it?"
"I''m sorry?"
"I''m talking about the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic."
For the first time, the monk turned to face Zhou Xuchuan fully.
The emotion written on his face wasn''t rage, but it still vaguely conveyed his displeasure toward Zhou Xuchuan.
Something''s gone wrong here.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly stepped back.
"That matter should have been handled by the Shaolin Temple, sir! To my knowledge, you already knew that was the case. Since I''m curious about why you did that despite being aware of the situation, I''ve decided that we need to talk to clear the air," said the monk.
Zhou Xuchuan asked, "I don''t know who you are, but I''m not supposed to be here"
"If you are referring to the ancient Buddhist scripture, Prajna Divine Art, then do not worry, I already know about it."
What is going on here?
Only a few people knew about the secret code for the Prajna Divine Art. That was why this situation startled and confused Zhou Xuchuan.
He couldn''t understand why this monk, despite knowing about the Prajna Divine Art, still dragged him to a deserted ce and interrogated him about the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic incident.
"I am grateful that you''re delivering our sect''s divine art back to us. Even so, wouldn''t you say we still need someone to take responsibility for what happened?" The monk asked, his expression growing even more hostile.
Zhou Xuchuan asked quietly, "Who are you, venerable sir?"
"My apologies. Please forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. This monk is called Hong Gao."
"!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened in surprise.
I was wondering why he looked so familiar. But he''s the Divine Fist!
Divine Fist, Hong Gao!
That was the name of the monk who became the Abbot after the passing of the Divine Monk in the future.
After disying a genius-level talent for cultivation at a young age, the Divine Monk took Hong Gao under his wings as his disciple. This meant his status was the highest among the Hong generation.
However, those weren''t the most notable things about this monk.
He''s the expert who led the Arhats to resist the Dark Heavens Association during the war, then worked together with the heroes to inflict the fatal wound on the Association Lord!
Due to his advanced age, the Divine Monk did notst long and entered Nirvana during the Era of War and Chaos. And the monk who was selected to serve as the Shaolin Temple''s Abbot in his ce was none other than Hong Gao standing right before Zhou Xuchuan.
On a side note, Hong Gao earned the title ''Divine Fist'' only after his brows turned white with age. As for the current Hong Gao, he was still a middle-aged monk.
"I greet the Hundred Paces Fist Monk," Zhou Xuchuan said in a rushed greeting.
Although this greeting was him being polite to a senior of gangho, it was also not as simple as that. He wanted to pay his respects to a hero who had saved so many lives during the Era of War and Chaos in the past, which was also his future.
Hong Gao responded with a simple Buddhist greeting. Unfortunately, the tone of his reply still conveyed how displeased he was.
This is bad!
Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed.
Meeting the future hero who would be the Abbot of Shaolin, as well as one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, was a good thing, but this timing wasn''t the most ideal.
Honestly speaking, Hong Gao was the person Zhou Xuchuan wanted to meet the least right now.
To think I''d run into a man who values the Shaolin Temple''s honor more than his own life to the point of unhealthy obsession! I definitely have rotten luck.
The future Abbot and Divine Monk, Hong Gao, was the textbook righteous faction cultivator who valued honor above everything else.
As a fellow member of the Nine Sects and One Gang, Zhou Xuchuan understood where Hong Gao wasing from. Even so, for a monk studying Buddhism, Hong Gao''s pride seemed excessive.
Apparently, that pride of his was even worse when he was younger, and he''d always cause trouble whenever he went to Jianghu. Notably, though, he wasn''t obsessed with his own honor, but the Shaolin Temple''s.
In other words, Hong Gao didn''t mind getting insulted. He''d even consider what he had done and reflect on his actions.
However, if the insults or criticisms were directed at the Shaolin Temple, his temper red uncontrobly.
When in front of Divine Fist, you can insult him but never insult the Shaolin Temple!
That advice would start circting in Jianghu in the future.
Since that obsession has helped the Shaolin Temple reach its prime, you can''t say it''s all bad, but
Hong Gao''s pride in the Shaolin Temple was extraordinary, and to not sully the sect''s honor, he diligently cultivated. Although he was gifted since birth, his obsession also yed a part in him blooming early in the ways of martial arts, which earned him the title of ''Divine Fist'' in hister years.
However, what made Hong Gao even more remarkable wasn''t his individual martial prowess, but his efforts to nurture the future generations even before he became the Abbot.
Not wanting to see Shaolin''s prestige or authority diminish, Hong Gao worked hard to maintain his sect''s honor, and his efforts went on to produce several experts inter generations.
At the time, his peers in the Shaolin Temple criticized him for being too greedy toward martial arts and used him of falling victim to the three poisons of Buddhism.[2]
But then, the Era of War and Chaos broke out shortly after. When he achieved great fame, forget criticisms, everyone praised him for his actions. He even became the Abbot through the unanimous decision of his peers.
In short, he''s someone I don''t want to deal with right now!
At least Hong Gao had mellowed out in hister years. But now, his temper was at its prime, and he even regrly shed with the current Abbot because of his hot-headedness.
"Sir. Would you mind answering this monk''s question?" Hong Gao asked, his eyes ring sharply, exerting subtle pressure on Zhou Xuchuan.
Out of all the monks in the Shaolin Temple, why does it have to be him?
Zhou Xuchuan barely suppressed a groan. His head ached as if to warn him of an impending migraine.
To think that the one person he did not want to meet in this situation showed up first like this! This was the absolute worst.
No, hold on.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes narrowed to slits.
Something doesn''t add up.
Hong Gao''s status was not low. However, it wasn''t high enough for him to recover not just a lost secret manual, but one containing a divine cultivation art by himself.
Even if his position within the Shaolin Temple was high, he still shouldn''t be able to do that unless the Abbot himself was present, or at the very least, the Master Archivist responsible for handling The Shaolin Temple''s scriptures and various secret manuals was apanying him.
"Before I answer, I''d like to know if the Abbot is aware of my attempt to deliver the divine art," Zhou Xuchuan asked.
Hong Gao''s thick brows quivered suspiciously.
I knew it!
Regardless of what anyone said, recovering the Prajna Divine Art should have taken priority for the Shaolin Temple. So, dying that task seemed rather odd to Zhou Xuchuan.
Besides, didn''t they agree to gloss over Zhou Xuchuan ruining the Shaolin Temple''s chance to fulfill its long-cherished wish with the gift of Prajna Divine Art?
Since this hostile-looking monk couldn''t be an imposter, the odds of him acting alone seemed high.
When I heard Divine Fist was hot-blooded during his younger days, I figured that would be around his thirties. However, I had no idea he''d still be this reckless in hister years.
Judging by his appearance, Hong Gao seemed to be around forty years old. He wasn''t exactly middle-aged, but his period of hot-bloodedness should have ended. However, he still couldn''t separate personal feelings from official matters when it came to the Shaolin Temple''s honor.
This obsession was a double-edged sword. It ultimately strengthened the Shaolin Temple in the end, but for now, it made him blind, too.
Zhou Xuchuan began to wonder if this monk truly had what it took to be the hero who would lead the Shaolin Temple to greatness during the Era of War and Chaos.
"I''m honored that you''ve taken an interest in me. However, as you know, I''m currently on a mission. Please forgive me for my eagerness to deliver this item as soon as possible," Zhou Xuchuan said politely, bowing. If he could, he''d like to stay on friendly terms with Hong Gao.
"This monk isn''t trying to interrogate you, sir. It''s merely a simple question, and I''d appreciate an answer."
Unfortunately, it seemed Hong Gao wasn''t interested in letting it go.
Even though Zhou Xuchuan implied that he knew Hong Gao was acting alone, the monk feigned ignorance and remained insistent.
"Why did you burn the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic?"
Argh, give me a break!
Zhou Xuchuan remembered hearing that birds called parrots could be found in Southern Man that repeated what humans said. Hong Gao here seemed to fit that description.[3]
Instead of reciting a Buddhist sutra, the monk red sharply and repeated the same question!
Judging from his attitude, he might threaten to use hisrge hands on his victim if Zhou Xuchuan didn''t answer immediately.
Well, I can use the excuse of my mission and be more overbearing, but
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t want to worsen the situation and potentially damage his future rtionship with Hong Gao.
"I''m not sure if you''re aware of this, but the battle to snatch the secret manual back then had been truly fierce. Is it not utterly foolish to murder another cultivator in good conscience over something left behind by an ancient demonic cultivator, Blood Monk?"
Having learned a few tricks over the years, Zhou Xuchuan could lie his butt off with a dignified voice. Technically speaking, not everything he said was a lie.
"It seems you have rather thick skin, Plum Blossom Order Sword, sir!"
Forget Buddha''s benevolence, all Zhou Xuchuan could see from Hong Gao was Asura''s wrath.
"As I''ve said earlier, that decision did not lie with you, Mount Hua, nor the Martial Alliance, but with us at the Shaolin Temple. Most of all, did everyone not hear that the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic must be delivered to the Shaolin Temple? I''ll say this just in case, sir. Do not say you were not aware. I would not be this puzzled had you done what you did out of genuine ignorance."
To think that would bite me back like this.
It sounded as if Hong Gao was nning to go all the way, regardless of what Zhou Xuchuan said. This situation was hurtling toward the worst possible conclusion.
Just as he began pondering how to resolve this situation, a loud roar resounded in the air.
"That''s enough!"
"!"
Hong Gao flinched, while Zhou Xuchuan quickly turned to see who had spoken.
Could that man be?
The owner of that voice wasn''t a big person. Unlike his appearance, however, the aura radiating from him was overwhelming.
His white eyebrows were especially long, and his well-groomed beard was as white as snow.
Zhou Xuchuan instinctively realized this old monk was none other than the current Abbot of the Shaolin Temple and one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, the Divine Monk!
"M-master"
Sure enough, Zhou Xuchuan''s guess was confirmed by Hong Gao''s muttering.
"Do you understand what you''ve done?!"
The Divine Monk, Hui Mian, asked with a hint of anger in his voice. However, all Hong Gao could do was keep his head down in silence.
"You should''ve informed me regardless of who heard of the divine art''s arrival. Knowing this, why did you choose to hide it from me? If it hadn''t been for the young monk finding your gag order strange and reporting it to me directly, we could have had a serious trouble on our hands!"
The monk manning the gates was the first person to receive the visitor''s log, which had been temporarily morphed into a book of secret codes. However, the report somehow ended up reaching Hong Gao afterward.
The situation wouldn''t have happened if the courier of the divine art had been somebody else. But Hong Gao changed his mind upon discovering that the courier was none other than Zhou Xuchuan.
"Do not think I''ll overlook this matter, Hong Gao." Hui Mian said.
1. Over 2.1 meters tall. ?
2. Three poisons of Buddhism refer to three negative qualities Buddha had identified early in his teachings that cause most of humanity''s problems, namely greed (also tranted as lust), hatred, (or anger) and delusion (or ignorance). ?
3. Southern Man, also referred to as Nanman, were ancient indigenous peoples who lived in ind South and Southwest of China. ?
Chapter 138: Hundred Paces Fist Monk (1)
Zhou Xuchuan returned to the Abbot''s chamber and sat down with Hui Mian for a private meeting.
"Namu Amitabha. We''ve been greatly discourteous to you, Benefactor Zhou. Please forgive us," Hui Mian said.
"Divine Monk, sir. Please speak informally to your junior."
Zhou Xuchuan freaked out when a senior from the same generation as Mount Hua''s Sect Master, who happened to be the Shaolin Temple''s current Abbot and one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, addressed him too politely.
Hui Mian smiled gently as if his earlier disy of anger was a figment of Zhou Xuchuan''s imagination.
"ording to what I''ve been able to confirm recently, Benefactor Zhou has miraculously discovered the divine art and even safely delivered it to us. That makes you the Shaolin Temple''s benefactor. I wouldn''t dare speak so casually under such circumstances."
"But, sir. I merely got lucky in discovering the divine art. And as a fellow denizen of Murim, it was my duty to deliver it to the Shaolin Temple. So, please, I beg you to speak informally with this junior."
Zhou Xuchuan was practically on his knees begging at this point. His stomach was churning, and it was bing harder to maintain a straight face.
"I see. Then, I shall do so," Hui Mian said.After much pleading, the Divine Monk eventually relented, making the conversation so much easier for Zhou Xuchuan to stomach.
"That aside"
Hui Mian narrowed his eyes to scan Zhou Xuchuan, before growing a little stunned by what he saw.
"The rumors in the gangho tend to get exaggerated all the time, but it seems that is not the case with you, Benefactor Zhou. If anything, rumors have greatly underestimated you."
Earlier, when Hui Mian heard the news and rushed to the scene, he was too busy scolding his disciple for his reckless behavior to pay much attention.
But now that they were back in his chamber, enjoying the tea brewed by Hui Mian himself, he couldn''t help but be stunned by this young man''s hidden cultivation realm.
He had to doubt his eyes for a moment when a youth who was around twenty years of age turned out to be not at the Peak or Transcendent realm, but in the Harmony realm instead!
Huh-uh! To think Mount Hua had such a genius among its ranks!
The Shaolin Temple was often called the number one under the heavens, yet even it could count on one hand how many of its geniuses had reached the Harmony realm before the age of thirty in the sect''s lengthy history.
Not even the shame of the Shaolin Temple, who possessed unprecedented talent, Blood Monk, was talented to this extent.
''Namu Amitabha! Now I see why the Head of the Alliance was so confident back then.''
The Alliance Head guaranteed that, even though he couldn''t reveal the identity of the courier, they didn''t need to worry about the divine art''s safety.
Hui Mian heard that and began wondering about all sorts of things. Maybe the Martial Alliance had dispatched a special team consisting of members from One Hundred Experts Under Heaven?
However, the truth turned out to be quite different from his imagination. Forget a special team, just one person had been tasked with delivering the divine art! Thankfully, however, that individual was an expert at the Harmony realm.
Even Hui Mian would''ve had a hard time believing it without the proof sitting right before his eyes.
To think a cultivator who wasn''t even thirty but in his early twenties had already reached the Harmony realm! How did this make any sense?
So young, yet already at the Harmony realm! His talent is truly extraordinary. And he''s even born with a martial physique, too. Undoubtedly a child born for cultivation!
In reality, Zhou Xuchuan''s original physique had been average, but going through the Bodily Reformation gifted him with a skeletal structure and a body ideal for cultivation. Since that was the case, the Divine Monk''s misunderstanding was unsurprising.
A genius of his level would inevitably be arrogant, yet this young man remains humble despite his talent
A man still in the hot-blooded phase of his youth would want to boast about his achievements. And that tendency would be even more pronounced if he was from a famous sect.
However, Plum Blossom Order Sword only achieved fame rtively recently. Of course, he had a prior nickname before his current fame, and that was the Phoenix yer.
And look at how clear and pure his eyes are. I should be ashamed for suspecting Benefactor Zhou of sinister intentions even for a moment.
Hui Mian recited Buddhist sutras in his mind and reflected on himself.
"I''m genuinely sorry for burning the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and destroying the Shaolin Temple''s opportunity to fulfill its long-held wish, sir. Please forgive this foolish junior."
Zhou Xuchuan bowed deeply in a show of extreme sincerity.
"No, no. It''s fine. I''m sure you acted with pure intentions, trying to prevent bloodshed over a demonic cultivation manual. Besides, you''vee all this way to apologize in person. And on top of that, you discovered a divine art long thought to be lost to time."
Whew!
Zhou Xuchuan inwardly sighed in relief as the conversation flowed smoothly in a favorable direction.
''If it weren''t for the divine art, I might have be the Shaolin Temple''s irreconcble enemy.''
A friendly atmosphere like this wouldn''t have been possible without the Prajna Divine Art. Zhou Xuchuan was so thankful for acquiring it ahead of time.
"Sir, since this junior has fulfilled his mission safely, I''d like to set off immediately."
"Wait, are you nning on leaving so soon?" Hui Mian asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "Even though we''re a humble monastery, our circumstances aren''t so challenging that we''d treat our valued guest so poorly. Most of all, I should spread this good news around as quickly as possible so that you can receive an appropriate wee from everyone."
The Shaolin Temple was obviously no ''humble'' monastery. Offerings submitted by secr disciples alone would have ensured that the Shaolin Temple would never face financial troubles.
Zhou Xuchuan could only smile bitterly at Hui Mian''s words.
Safely delivering a cultivation art long thought to be lost would certainly make you a benefactor of a sect. And this wasn''t just some cultivation art, but the Prajna Divine Art, no less.
But the benefactor in this case was also the same person who destroyed the Shaolin Temple''s chance to fulfill its long-held wish.
Some people within the Shaolin Temple, like Hui Mian, wouldn''t mind this turn of events. However, others like Hong Gao wouldn''t be so gracious about it.
Even if they were Buddhist monks, rage and hostility would still remain in their hearts as long as they hadn''t ascended to Nirvana.
What worried Zhou Xuchuan in this case was the possibility of getting tangled up in unnecessary trouble.
"No, sir. I''m fine. If I had some leeway, time-wise, I wouldn''t have minded imposing on your sect for a little longer. Unfortunately, I''m still in the middle of my other mission, sir. I can''t afford to stay for too long."
"Is that so" Hui Mian muttered while smacking his lips ruefully.
Zhou Xuchuan stared at the Divine Monk before asking, "But, sir. If there''s anything this junior can do for you, please don''t hesitate to ask. As long as it''s within my power, I''ll do my best to assist you."
Humoring the Shaolin Temple''s requests would be a good move. Having the sect indebted to him woulde in handy in the future.
"Can I hold you to your word?" Hui Mian asked immediately, his face lighting up.
Zhou Xuchuan nodded, although he was inwardly regretting his decision already.
Thankfully, Hui Man''s request wasn''t anything tricky in principle. Unfortunately, from Zhou Xuchuan''s perspective, it was a bit tricky to take on!
"I''d like you to exchange a few moves with Hong Gao."
As the Shaolin Temple''s Abbot, Hui Mian had many concerns. One that had been weighing on him for a long time involved his only disciple, the Hundred Paces Fist Monk, Hong Gao!
Hong Gao was a naturally gifted cultivator. Although not to the extent of being ranked as one of the best in the Shaolin Temple''s history, he still had what it took to be a peak expert.
From a young age, he had always been a diligent student. He was neverzy and worked earnestly to deepen his cultivation and his understanding of Buddhist teachings.
His sincerity wasn''t his only good point, as he also possessed a benevolent character thatpelled him to help others.
Hong Gao also carried himself humbly and never looked down on younger monks within the Shaolin Temple.
Despite being fawned upon since he was young, Hong Gao never grew up conceited. He was so wless in this regard that even older monks experienced epiphanies from merely observing his conduct.
If one were to pick faults with him in his early days, then Hong Gao''s pride in the Shaolin Temple and its teachings bordered on being excessive. However, no one in the monastery found that strange or questionable.
After all, what was so strange about a disciple being proud of the sect''s, and his master''s, teachings? Especially when the teachings were from the Shaolin Temple, one of the greatest sects under the sun?
Unfortunately, when the time for Hong Gao to journey into gangho came Hui Man ended upmenting how he should''ve noticed his disciple''s strangeness sooner.
"Hong Gao, that child holds a deep disdain toward others who are not from the Shaolin Temple," Hui Mian said.
Hong Gao didn''t care in the slightest if others insulted him. Rather than getting angry, he even smiled faintly at times. So much so that at one point, people called him a living Buddha.
Even when the mortal enemy of the Shaolin Temple, a demonic cultivator, threw insults his way, Hong Gao brushed it aside with little concern. However, when the same demonic cultivator dared to insult the temple, he immediately lost his temper and went from a monk to an Asura.
To a cultivator of Murim, insulting one''s sect was as grave as insulting one''s parents or entire family. So, losing one''s temper was understandable, but Hong Gao took it too far.
How far? Once, he was conversing with a fellow cultivator from the righteous faction. However, when that cultivator dared speak sarcastically of the Shaolin Temple, Hong Gao beat him within an inch of his life.
Hong Gao was no mere Daoist, but a Buddhist monk who was taught not to sumb to anger or take another''s life, which was an act forbidden as one of three poisons. But he behaved this way, and that posed a serious issue.
Hui Mian btedly recognized his disciple''s issues and tried to scold thetter several times, hoping to fix Hong Gao''s ways. Unfortunately, it was toote to do so.
Hui Mian continued to exin.
"Being proud of one''s sect being number one under the heavens isn''t inherently bad. But my disciple''s issue is that his pride is too excessive. I fear he will lose himself to arrogance if he doesn''t learn to understand those around him."
Arrogance like this usually was resolved by tasting harsh defeats while journeying through gangho, but that didn''t apply to Hong Gao.
Hong Gao could not ept the idea of defeat despite mastering the Shaolin Temple''s martial arts, which he considered to be the best under the heavens. That was why he trained harder than anyone despite possessing a genius-level talent, so that he''d not lose to any opponent.
But he considered the results of his efforts as a part of the Shaolin Temple''s teachings, as well as the superiority of its martial arts. In a way, his mindset was quite remarkable.
Urgh!
Zhou Xuchuan barely suppressed a pained groan from escaping his lips.
Sparring with Hong Gao wouldn''t be difficult. He was confident he could subdue an opponent in the Transcendent realm without unleashing his killing intent.
It wasn''t as if his experience wascking in this regard, either. He couldn''t even count how many battles against lower and mid-tier experts he had fought in the previous life.
Is it alright for me to interfere like this?
In Zhuge Shengji''s case, he was destined to live a wretched life before dying ignobly without Zhou Xuchuan''s interference.
However, other heroes would continue on their predestined path even if left alone. Since that was the case, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t see a need to interfere.
Even though Hong Gao caused several incidents before the Era of War and Chaos, he would ultimately be the Shaolin Temple''s hero.
Zhou Xuchuan feared changing the future in some unknown manner. More than that, he didn''t want to get involved with someone who didn''t think well of him. However
"Please lend your help to this old monk who foolishly took in acking disciple."
"D-Divine Monk, sir!" Zhou Xuchuan freaked out again when Divine Monk Hui Mian tried to bow to him while fidgeting with his Buddhist prayer beads. Quickly stopping him, Zhou Xuchuan said, "I''ll do it, sir! So I beg you, please stop!"
"Namu Amitabha. Thank you, Benefactor Zhou. Truly."
****
On one hand, Hong Gao understood where Hui Mian''s anger wasing from. On the other hand, he couldn''t understand why exactly Hui Mian was angry.
His crime of not immediately reporting the news of the divine art''s arrival to his superior was indeed grave.
But he could not understand why he deserved to get scolded for demanding answers from the culprit responsible for burning the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
Yes, Prajna Divine Art was indeed important to the Shaolin Temple. However, wasn''t the opportunity to wash away the Shaolin Temple''s humiliation just as important?
Even if the Shaolin Temple had a pact with the Martial Alliance, gangho operated under the rule of favors and grudges. Hong Gao found it inconceivable that the peerless Shaolin Temple chose to brush this matter aside.
Since he couldn''t ignore this injustice, Hong Gao decided to dy the report so that he could lead the culprit to somewhere ''quiet''.
Hong Gao didn''t resent the monk who defied his gag order. Even if he was doing this for the good of the Shaolin Temple, it was still true that he acted unterally and withheld his report. So, the other monk did the right thing as far as Hong Gao was concerned.
"Namu Amitabha!"
Hong Gao was fully prepared to face the consequences of his actions today. As such, his disappointment at not getting the answer he wanted from the culprit was immeasurable. But now
"Master, did you really arrange this with him?" Hong Gao asked, narrowing his eyes as he nced at Hui Mian.
The Divine Monk theatrically nodded away.
"Yes. If you win in a spar against Benefactor Zhou here, not only will I forgive you for your crimes, I will also give you permission to ask any questions you want. However, if you lose, you must rid yourself of negative feelings toward Benefactor Zhou and seek his forgiveness."
"Namu Amitabha!" Hong Gao recited a Buddhist chant while pping his hands together. "Since that''s the case, I''ll be in your care, Benefactor Zhou!"
"Yes, I''ll also be in your care," said Zhou Xuchuan while awkwardly scratching his head, then politely cupped his fist.
Chapter 139: Hundred Paces Fist Monk (2)
"I will yield three moves to you," Hong Gao said, as if what he was doing was natural.
Before the sparring began, Hui Mian had warned his disciple that this exchange of moves wouldn''t be easy. But Hong Gao paid no attention to the warning.
Even though Plum Blossom Order Sword had been recognized as a rising star in recent times, not all rumors should be trusted at face value.
Rumors in gangho tended to get exaggerated, and from what Hong Gao heard, Flower Scattering Palm was severely exhausted by the time he fought with Plum Blossom Order Sword during the battle for the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
To Hong Gao, losing to someone from a younger generation was simply uneptablesomething he would never allow himself to experience. Perhaps to reinforce this mindset, he had even defeated an official member of the Nine Sects and One Gang, who was from an older generation.
He was a monk who journeyed into gangho to gain valuablebat experience. In his eyes, Zhou Xuchuan was nothing more than a junior with slightly better talent than his peers.
"Then, I won''t stand on ceremony," Zhou Xuchuan said. He decided not to reject this offer.
I better control my strength well.
If he went all out, Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t even need one second to subdue Hong Gao. However, doing so would crush the monk''s pride.For the sake of a more amicable future rtionship, Zhou Xuchuan needed to strive for an oue that would be eptable to both sides.
How good is Hundred Paces Fist Monk''s martial prowess in his younger days?
Regardless of the present, Hong Gao would eventually be a hero and the top expert in fist arts in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life. Though he was younger now, he still didn''t appear to be a pushover.
Zhou Xuchuan almost performed Phantom Steps out of habit before naturally shifting his stance to Hundred Divine Transformations to close the distance.
"Heuph?!"
However, his speed was extraordinary. Thanks to the Divine Phantom Art, an extrayer of stealthiness was added to his steps, making them much harder to notice.
Hong Gao, who had been secretly no, openly holding Zhou Xuchuan in disdain, was taken aback by that stunning movement art.
In an instant, the young Daoist appeared before him and thrust his sword with blinding speed, disregarding Hong Gao''s shock.
It was nothing more than a simple thrust, with no technique behind it. But it still carried the power and speed of a Harmony realm expert.
Although Hong Gao flinched in surprise, he remained calm enough to stand as still as a bronze statue. However, that wasn''t what actually happened, as his movements were so minute that it only looked as if he was standing still.
Pah-aaahng!
The sword''s tip traced a meteor-like path through the air, aimed squarely at Hong Gao''s chest.
Yet, before it could reach its target, Hong Gao''s torso seemed to be pushed back, even though he was within Zhou Xuchuan''s attack range!
No, rather than pushed back, the correct expression would be that he had moved.
If an amateur had witnessed the scene, they would''ve thought that Hong Gao hadn''t moved an inch, while the sword tip simply froze mid-air.
That''s the Vajra Immovable Body Art!
Zhou Xuchuan let out an impressed breath.
The Vajra Immovable Body Art was one of the Shaolin Temple''s signature movement arts. However, the cultivator using this technique would look as if they were standing still, unmoving.
In fact, it''d look like the cultivator stood tall and imposing like an immovable mountain or an ancient unshakable pir that supported the righteous faction on its shoulders.
Had Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation been lower, he might have had such an impression as well. However, that wasn''t the case, and his eyes could clearly see what had happened.
He dodged it?
On the other side, Hong Gao was equally surprised.
When he said he''d yield three moves, his n was to defend, not dodge. Dodging would have been a blow to his pride.
However, for some unfathomable reason, his body instinctively moved on its own.
Was it a coincidence?
While Hong Gao looked down on Zhou Xuchuan, he didn''t think the young Daoist was weak.
A Peak realm swordsman, thrusting with all his strength, could deliver an attack that even Hong Gao would find dangerous.
No, wait. Was that really his full strength?
Hong Gao expected his opponent to shift immediately to the next stance, but that didn''t happen. This surprised him again, and he had to observe Zhou Xuchuan closely.
Even though that was only one attack, Zhou Xuchuan''s skin should have been dotted with sweat if he had performed it at his full power. However, his breathing was clearly unruffled.
Suddenly, Hong Gao began to doubt whether this spar would be as easy as he had anticipated.
I must respond with a counterattack.
Warning bells rang in Hong Gao''s mind. However, his hands were tied, since he had already dered that he would yield three moves.
"Fuu!"
Zhou Xuchuan withdrew his sword, then switched his stance. He lowered himself slightly and stood on tiptoes.
Tah-aht!
Dust clouds kicked up. Footprints deeply embedded themselves on the ground where Zhou Xuchuan had been standing.
Zhou Xuchuan shot forward like an arrow, closing the distance in an instant. He floated in like a butterfly by infusing qi into his entire body to enhance his movement and broke through Hong Gao''s defenses.
Afterpleting the second form, Plum Blossom Butterfly, Zhou Xuchuan immediately linked it to the third form, Plum Blossom''s Seduction. Strands of sword qi erupted from Zhou Xuchuan''s de, filling Hong Gao''s vision and looming like a terrifying entity.
"Huh! Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom!"
Hui Mian eximed in shock, instantly recognizing the forms. He was stunned to see Mount Hua''s special martial art that was only granted to the Plum Blossom Swordsmen being released here.
What shocked him even more was how vibrant and beautiful this plum blossom waspared to what he had witnessed during his journey through gangho.
People said Benefactor Zhou only became an expert through luck by consuming a spiritual medicine, but that assumption waspletely false! He really is exceptional.
Hui Mian had underestimated Zhou Xuchuan. Merely consuming a spiritual medicine wouldn''t be enough to reach such a realm.
Hui Mian''s mind conjured an image of the Sword Immortal, one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords and the current Sect Master of Mount Hua.
Hong Gao also recognized the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. He had experienced it while exchanging moves with geniuses from the younger generation in the past.
However, none of those geniuses were capable of unleashing the Plum Blossom Sword to this degree like Zhou Xuchuan had done!
This is bad!
Hong Gao''s steps grew rushed, urgent. There were far too many sword qi strands for him to dodge using Vajra Immovable Body Art.
Pure qi focused on his lower dantian began to circte.
Righteous sects'' cultivation arts were known for their stability and safety. Thanks to the Shaolin Temple''s qi cultivation method, Hong Gao didn''t run into issues even after urgently rousing up his qi.
Without skipping a beat, heunched a powerful punch. It wasn''t a simple punch, either, as he spread his fist pressure over a wide area to create gusts of wind.
Air rushed out from his fist, shing noisily against the iing sword qi strands.
Pow, pow pow pow pow!
Although the number of sword qi strands was considerable, Hong Gao quickly realized they weren''t too difficult to deal with. Since the attack was divided into many strands, the gusts from his punches scattered them easily.
With that, I''ve yielded all three moves!
Plum Blossom''s Seduction wasn''t enough to defeat Hong Gao. Had Zhou Xuchuan linked it to the fourth form, Plum Blossom''s Lead, he could have followed through with the attack and brought this monk down to his knees.
Now that his self-imposed restrictions were lifted, Hong Gao wasted no time in making his move. Although it hurt his pride, he knew not giving it his all would be too dangerous for him.
I must finish this in one breath!
Hong Gao was ovee with inexplicable anxiety. He had rarely felt this level of threat and anxiety while journeying through gangho in his youth.
That was why he chose to go all out and not hold anything back. As befitting a Buddhist monk, his attack didn''t contain any killing intent, but his fighting spirit still burned fiercely.
His body, tempered to diamond-like toughness, minutely moved. Although his movements were minimal, strength and ferocity could still be sensed from each action he took.
He took a step forward and punched with incredible strength, rippling muscles visible beneath his monk''s robe.
A punch as solid as diamond flew forward, and the air in its wake exploded with so much force that it almost created sonic booms, only to be crushed by the sheer power of the attack.
This was the Vajra Fist!
Vajra Fist itself was not a top-tier martial art. It wasn''t even Hong Gao''s greatest attack either, even though his specialty was fist arts.
However, it was more effective than any other fist art whenbined with the Vajra Immovable Body Art.
The technique was called "vajra" because its ferocity and sturdiness rivaled that of an actual vajra. It mightck swiftness, but its destructive power was immense.
Vajra Fist was most effective in a brawl where both sides were going all out, rather than hanging back and testing each other out in a psychological battle.
Since its range was short, an opponent too far away wouldn''t get affected by the punch. However, itsrge movements made it difficult to use when the enemy was too close.
Even if the opponent was an ideal distance away, they would still easily dodge it because of how slow it was in a psychological battle.
But, right now? Zhou Xuchuan was within range, while they weren''t testing each other out, either. In this situation, no other technique was as suitable as Vajra Fist!
So, this is the Divine Fist?
Zhou Xuchuan could see the iing punch, and the future Divine Fist''s shadow behind it. He studied the punch, and memories from the past flooded his mind. When he understood the punch itself, Zhou Xuchuan reflexively sighed in admiration.
No demonic cultivators or heretical cultists straying from the righteous path managed to withstand this punch in the past. This punch would go on to save the Shaolin Temple in the future.
Even though Zhou Xuchuan had never personally experienced this punch before, he could still understand it in full.
He had only witnessed its effects from afar, and only its vague outlines in the past. That memory, however, no longer applied here.
Even though that history had be nothing more than memories of a time that didn''t exist, unexinable emotions still welled up in Zhou Xuchuan''s chest.
Ah, ah!This is literally the Fist of Shaolin!
Being able to receive this punch head-on made Zhou Xuchuan feel great. The corners of his lips curled up ever so slightly on their own.
Zhou Xuchuan smirked faintly before wiping the smirk away and making his move. Only then did time, which seemed to have slowed, begin moving again.
His steps were nearly undetectable, likely due to Divine Phantom Steps. Even so, every one of his movements still belonged to Mount Hua''s Hundred Divine Transformations.
He didn''t n to dodge it. He simply got into position to respond appropriately.
Zhou Xuchuan adjusted the qi flowing through his sword, matching the wind pressure generated by the iing punch. Then, he sliced through the air around him.
Plum blossoms on his de bloomed radiantly, and a faint fragrance wafted through the air, tickling Hong Gao''s nose.
Just as Hong Gao became aware of the scent, his fist collided with Zhou Xuchuan''s sword.
KA-BOOM!
The impact force was transmitted in full through the de and fist.
Zhou Xuchuan expected this to happen, which allowed him to remain unscathed. However, for Hong Gao, not only did his body feel the brunt of that impact, even his mind was shaken up, too.
Even if Vajra Fist wasn''t the greatest fist art in existence, this punch embodied all of Hong Gao''s lifetime experience.
He must never be shaken up and always stand tall and proud. He must possess the ferociousness and steadfastness to overwhelm everything before him!
This fist had felled quite a few experts until now, and many others stumbled back after receiving this attack, their expressions cramped.
However, that didn''t happen this time.
Forget frowning, Zhou Xuchuan was actually smiling in satisfaction instead for some reason. That smile inexplicably unsettled Hong Gao.
But what stunned Hong Gao more than anything was that a young man more than twenty years his junior had taken the punch head-on and remained unfazed.
Worse still, Hong Gao had gone all out.
No! Not yet!
Hong Gao stepped back while powerfully swinging his arm.
Namu Amitabha!
Hong Gao tried hard to push all distracting thoughts from his mind. Once he recovered from his initial shock, he tensed every muscle in his body.
His muscles and the blue veins bulging on his skin weren''t the only things rippling ominously. Even his internal qi vigorously coursed through his meridians by the principle of Muscle and Tendon ssic his master had taught him to give him strength.
What he unleashed next was something that covered a muchrger area than any sword could. It was the Divine Fist that could strike any target within a hundred paces!
"Hong Gao, no!"
Hui Mian btedly noticed the rapid change in his disciple''s aura and urgently cried out.
Even an expert at the Harmony realm would be in danger by facing the Hundred Paces Divine Fist at full power without making adequate preparations.
It was Hui Mian who requested Zhou Xuchuan to teach his disciple a lesson. So, no one could guess what might happen if said disciple attacked in desperation.
Hui Mian''s expression showed how stunned he was by Hong Gao''s willingness to go this far. What was supposed to be a simple spar had instantly morphed into a fight to the death.
I cannot lose!
To Hong Gao, the mere idea of defeat was uneptable. Because that would go beyond insulting him and directly humiliate the Shaolin Temple''s honor.
The Shaolin Temple''s martial arts must be unparalleled and peerless under the heavens. Especially against someone from one of the Nine Sects and One Gang!
His obsession with never losing. The ''core'' that made him who he was rejected the mere thought of defeat. It even paralyzed his rational mind.
It all happened in an instant, just before everything came crumbling down.
Zhou Xuchuan faced this moment calmly, even as emotions welled up inside him.
Ah!
To him, Hong Gao was like a man from a nation far away and the Hundred Paces Divine Fist was the name of a technique he had only heard about from others.
It felt like he was inside the pages of a history book containing ancient tales. Maybe the truth of this adventure was nothing more than a part of his dream? Maybe that weak High Elder of Mount Hua had dozed off while reading a book instead?
With these thoughts weighing on his mind, Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword.
Plum Blossom World!
What happened next was instantaneous.
The one to respondter was definitely Zhou Xuchuan. Meanwhile, Hong Gao was just about to unleash his Hundred Paces Divine Fist.
Even if Zhou Xuchuan wanted to fling himself out of harm''s way, it''d be toote to dodge. That was the kind of technique Hundred Paces Divine Fist was.
A fist art that could strike from a great distance! One had to be at least at the level of the Ten Empyrean Overlords to interrupt this technique by attacking first.
However, quite mysteriously, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword wavered like dancing plum petals and brushed past Hong Gao''s shoulder before the monk could do anything.
"Keuh-euhk!"
Split!
A long, slender tear appeared on Hong Gao''s robe, revealing his skin beneath. Then his skin split open, and blood sprayed into the air.
Hong Gao flinched and stopped moving just before he could unleash his Hundred Paces Divine Fist.
Pain wasn''t the issue. The real problem was would happen if he extended his fist.
His mind was filled with images of his arm being severed and flying away if he dared to finish the technique.
"How can this be!"
To think he''d lose even before responding to the opponent''s move!
What if the de hadn''t struck his shoulder, but his neck? Or a fatal acupuncture point? A chill ran down Hong Gao''s spine when he imagined what could''ve happened.
Despite shuddering in dread, his jaw remained ck at the unmistakable fact that he couldn''t do anything against Zhou Xuchuan''s attack.
He was finally shaken out of his shock by the voice of his master, Hui Mian.
"Have you finally realized how arrogant and conceited you''ve been?"
Chapter 140: A Frog in a Well
Hong Gao couldn''t bring himself to move.
He straightened his back and bent his slightly spread legs. But before his Hundred Paces Divine Fist could be executed, he was stopped.
The face of the middle-aged monk was distorted in disbelief, his mouth hanging open.
His stance, which seemed ready to strike at any moment, was interrupted only when Hui Mian approached him and spoke in a stern voice.
"Amitabha. There''s nothing else for me to tell you other than the idiom, a frog in a well. As someone who considered the Shaolin Temple to be everything, how does it feel to have your narrow-mindedness exposed and be aware of your ignorance of the vast world?"
"T-this loss isn''t because the Shaolin Temple''s techniques arecking! It''s because of the shorings of this ipetent monk!" Hong Gao btedly came to his senses and protested.
"Ahem, it seems this ipetent disciple of mine hasn''te to his senses yet."
Hui Mian clicked his tongue and scolded Hong Gao sternly.
"When did this old monk say that the techniques of the Shaolin Temple were inferior to those of Mount Hua?""B-but"
"In the first ce, there are only differences in types of learning. There is no such thing as superior or inferior learning. Not only have you treated studies of the path other than Buddhist studies as nothing special, but you''ve even shown a tendency to look down on Temples other than the Shaolin Temple, even though you are a monk just like they are. Is that not the very Moha we warn against?!"
Moha, a foolish delusion.[1]
Hong Gao bit his lips tightly and said nothing.
"To walk the Noble Eightfold Path, you must be careful with adhering to the Right Speech. Moreover, youck the Right View and the Right Samadhi. From now on, you must be mindful of this and diligently study with the Right Effort."[2]
The Noble Eightfold Path referred to the eight paths of practice that liberated oneself from afflictions and sufferings to enter nirvana.
Hong Gao''s actions weren''tcking in any way to his pursuits of the Noble Paths. On the contrary, as a monk, he actually behaved more righteously than anyone else.
He had entered the gangho to relieve the suffering of the poor and to help those in need.
He had learned respect and humility from those above him and, whether those he interacted with were monks or not, he was kind to those below him.
Unfortunately, he tended to look down on any path to the Dao outside the Shaolin Path and always considered the Shaolin Temple to be the greatest.
"You yourself know that you arecking and work hard to correct yourself, but just being humble doesn''t mean that you aren''t arrogant. You think that the Shaolin Temple, your temple, is the only Right Path. That, too, is arrogance. Amitabha."
Hui Mian murmured and stroked his prayer beads.
"You know that the next change of generations isn''t far off, and even the Shaolin Temple would face challenges during that time. How can Ifortably hand this seat over to you if you continue like this?"
The First Generation Disciples of the Shaolin Temple were few, and the Second Generation Disciples, the Hui Lineage, had also reached an age where they would soon have to step down.
The reason why Hong Gao was able to be Hui Mian''s next sessor wasn''t simply because he was the abbot''s disciple.
Hong Gao''s excessive pride and arrogance in the Shaolin Temple weren''t obvious, and thus, he was greatly respected.
Not only was his cultivation impressive, but he also worked hard to help themon people and kept himself busy running around solving issues.
It was only natural.
Hong Gao bit his lip tightly. He recited a mantra as if trying to suppress the ill feelings rising in his heart.
He''ll be okay, right?
Zhou Xuchuan felt a little uneasy when he saw Hong Gao unable to raise his head.
Divine Fist Hong Gao''s excessive pride in his previous life, which no one remembered, had gotten better with time.
However, no one knew why. It may have tempered on its own as he umted virtue and experience, or it may have been triggered by something.
"Thank you, master, for thinking of this worthless disciple and teaching me"
Hong Gao said with a feeble voice, sping his hands together and bowing.
It wasn''t a sarcastic disy but a genuine expression of gratitude.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Xuchuan was amazed.
He wasn''t chosen as the next abbot for nothing.
As someone in his forties, while it should have been humiliating to be scolded in front of a young man who had only just appeared in the gangho, Hong Gao showed no sign of difort.
Even if he was a monk, as a martial artist, especially as an expert, he naturally had a lot of pride. So, this reaction was truly praiseworthy.
If it had been anyone else, even another monk, it was unlikely that they would have been able to hide their difort.
"Benefactor Zhou, I apologize for my rudeness. Please forgive this worthless monk with your boundless generosity."
"It''s nothing. I was actually the one who received incredible teachings today. If I hade a little bitter, I don''t think I would have been able to win, either. As expected of the Shaolin Temple. Thanks to you, I was able to cultivate more insight."
Zhou Xuchuan responded to Hong Gao''s apology with a cupped fist in kind.
What a relief. It looks like he''s not upset.
Zhou Xuchuan sighed in relief.
Well, it makes sense. Since the Divine Monk is here, there isn''t much to worry about.
Things may have been a little different if Abbot Hui Mian had passed away, but since the Divine Monk was still here, there was no need for Zhou Xuchuan to be too concerned.
What''s more, since there wasn''t a war going on, there shouldn''t be any problems.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled faintly in relief.
The sun, once high in the sky, began its slow descent, painting the ground a deep red.
Zhou Xuchuan, who had escaped the Temple gate where the long line was still visible, stood in front of the back door of the inner garden and greeted Hui Mian.
"I''ll be taking my leave now. Though my time here was short, I''ve received many blessings."
"Hoho. What do you mean, blessings? You''re the one who matched this old monk''s stubbornness with grace. Thank you."
"Also, there''s something I forgot to mention."
Zhou Xuchuan carefully drew something from his robes, a wooden box.
Tsk.
He had agonized over whether or not to reveal the box to the monks. Although he had wanted to keep it a secret, he couldn''t hold it in when he saw the face of his master in his mind.
"This is"
Hui Mian''s eyes widened when he opened the box.
"I found it with Prajna Divine Art."
It was a single Lesser Cirction Pill.
Master told me to return at least one pill, didn''t he?
Originally, Zhou Xuchuan had ten pills in his possession. He and Zhuge Shengji had taken two pills each.
Of the six remaining, he had given four to Li Yicai for safekeeping, while the remaining two had originally been intended to be given to his master as gifts.
However, Liu Zhengmu refused, saying that he couldn''t take anything that wasn''t rightfully his. Initially, there had been two pills to return, but Zhou Xuchuan had been forced to feed one to his master due to the critical situation they were in.
Although Zhou Xuchuan suggested that his master take the remaining pill, Liu Zhengmu refused to the very end.
Even if Zhou Xuchuan had wanted to use it elsewhere, Liu Zhengmu insisted it be returned, leaving him no choice but to take it back to the temple.
Since there were still four pills left, it would be fine to give the abbot one.
Liu Zhengmu didn''t know about the other pills, so Zhou Xuchuan felt better as long as he returned the one his master was aware of.
"Though it''s a littlete to ask, where exactly did you find the Prajna Divine Art?" Hui Mian asked, stroking his beard curiously.
"I found it in a deserted mountain valley before the start of the Seven Swords War while roaming the gangho on my cultivation journey. I had been starving and confused at the time, just trying to find my way to a vige. To be honest, I don''t remember it very well."
The Prajna Divine Art had been in the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury. However, that didn''t mean that the Three-Eyed Godly thief had infiltrated the Shaolin Temple to steal it.
While the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had been active around three hundred years ago, the Prajna Divine Art had been lost long before then.
There was no record of how it was lost.
Although countless efforts had been made since the generation that had lost it, the art was never found, and it remained a long-held wish of the Shaolin Temple.
That was why Hui Mian felt so conflicted when he looked at Zhou Xuchuan.
He had missed his opportunity to fulfill a long-cherished wish because of this young man, yet at the same time, Zhou Xuchuan had be the benefactor who fulfilled that wish for him.
It left him with deeply mixed feelings.
"I''m sorry I couldn''t be of any help."
"There''s no need to be sorry. Thank you for finding it and returning it to us."
Although Hui Mian was suspicious, he chose not to press further.
It might have been because Zhou Xuchuan had safely delivered the Divine Art to them or because he had stayed and helped teach Hui Mian''s disciple.
"Also, put that away."
"But"
"I was quite ufortable sending away our benefactor without a proper reward. Please, take it."
To be frank, even though he was their benefactor, Zhou Xuchuan''s position in the Shaolin Temple was extremely ambiguous, making it a bit awkward to reward him.
Hui Mian had felt sorry for Zhou Xuchuan while, at the same time, grateful.
"Then I will ept it gratefully." Zhou Xuchuan replied with a faint smile, bidding his farewell.
"Then, until we meet again."
With that, Zhou Xuchuan left Mount Song.
A short whileter, Hui Mian called the leaders of the temple and held a meeting.
He had gathered not only the monks of the Hui lineage but also the monks of the Hong Lineage, who would lead the next generation of the Shaolin Temple.
When even the monks'' patience was wearing thin, the Prajna Divine Art that they had been waiting for had finally been delivered, causing them all to recite mantras and scripture.
The darkness that had clouded the temple for half a year was lifted, reced with bright light.
However, their expressions grewplex when they heard the name of the person who had delivered the Divine Art.
"What?!"
"If it was Zhou Xuchuan, that must have been the Plum Blossom Order Sword"
The Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan.
There was no way that they wouldn''t know that name.
As expected, most of them looked confused.
He was the one who had burned the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic and prevented the Shaolin Temple from having the chance to erase its shame. However, at the same time, he was the one who had found the Prajna Divine Art.
The value of the missing Prajna Divine Art was immeasurable, making it difficult for them to know how to react.
Aside from that, since Zhou Xuchuan had burned the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic for the peace of the murim, their feelings toward him were ambiguous.
"Senior Brother Abbot, did he foresee this and take advantage of it?" the head monk of the Religious Precepts Office, Hui Zheng, who oversaw thews of the Shaolin Temple, narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked.
As the head monk of the Religious Precepts Office, he was different from other monks. He was merciless, cold-hearted and objective.
Not only the abbot but the other high-ranking monks also had to follow thew, meaning that they couldn''t ignore the opinion of the head monk of the Religious Precepts Office.
"That''s right. Since he possessed the Divine Art, he may have exploited the fact that he could be forgiven for burning the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic."
The monks of the Hong Lineage all mored in response as they agreed with Hui Zheng.
"Wasn''t the Plum Blossom Order Sword virtually unknown before the Seven Swords War? In order to instantly raise his honor, what if he"
"That''s going too far."
Contrary to the stern look he had shown his disciple, Hui Mian smiledpassionately and stopped themotion.
"But isn''t that still a possibility?"
It wasn''t that Hui Zheng harbored ill will toward Zhou Xuchuan.
It was just that, as the head monk of the Religious Precepts Office, he needed to maintain a little distance and judge impartially.
If even the abbot couldn''t tell right from wrong, the Shaolin Temple would go down the wrong path.
The Religious Precepts Office existed to guard against such cases and protect the Shaolin Temple with the precepts of Buddhism.
"I know what you''re trying to say, Junior Brother, but Benefactor Zhou isn''t the kind of person who would have such intentions. Most importantly, he has the cultivation to make a name for himself without resorting to such measures."
"While we know that the Flower Scattering Palm is an expert, I heard that he had been exhausted at the time," the head monk of the Guest Reception Hall, Hong Shou, refuted as if he had been waiting for this moment.
The rest of the Hong Lineage sitting behind him nodded in agreement.
But where''s Hong Gao, and what is he doing?
It was odd that he wasn''t here at such an important time.
Normally, Hong Gao would have been the one taking the lead in criticizing Zhou Xuchuan. However, that question was soon resolved.
"Even if the Flower Scattering Palm was in perfect condition, he wouldn''t have been able to defeat Benefactor Zhou."
"Impossible."
Even if the Flower Scattering Palm was from the Evil Faction, he was still a renowned expert. He was an expert who could make even the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, the best of the younger generation, nervous.
"No, it''s possible. Because I witnessed it with my own eyes."
"What do you?"
"Before he left, he fought Hong Gao and won."
Gasp!!
The monks'' eyes widened in shock.
Even Hui Zheng''s pupils trembled violently.
The Hundred Paces Fist Monk, Hong Gao.
He was the strongest even among the Arhats, and he not only had talent but also worked incredibly hard.
Not only had he be one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes early on in his cultivation journey, but he had also quickly joined the ranks of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven and was renowned as a master of the Shaolin Temple. It was truly shocking that someone like Hong Gao had lost to Zhou Xuchuan, who wasn''t even in the current generation of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes.
"So he''s the great fortune of the murim, then. Amitabha."
Hui Zheng closed his eyes and recited an incantation.
The Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan.
That was the moment when that name was engraved deeply in the Shaolin Temple.
1. One of the three poisons of Buddhism alongside Raga (greed and lust) and Dvesha (hate and aversion). See TL/N, as this is a very Buddhism-heavy chapter. ?
2. Each of these is capitalized and written in this manner as they are each a path of the Noble Eightfold Path. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Moha trantes to delusion/illusion and is the concept of allowing oneself to fall into the illusion brought on by a foolish attachment to something (or at least in Korean Buddhism).
It''s a key point of Shaolin in the RMH universe, as the counter to Moha is Prajna, or True Wisdom, the Divine Art they had lost.
In Buddhism, the three poisons are considered the key factors that keep sentient beings trapped within samsara. These three poisons are what create karma and, thus, force people to enter reincarnation continually.
The opposing three truths are Prajna (Wisdom), Dana (Generosity), and Metta (Benevolence).
Now, for the Noble Eightfold Path, specifically for the portions mentioned in this chapter: Right Speech - To not lie, speak harmfully, or cause discord. To only speak out of kindness and love. Hong Gao''s issue is he doesn''t care about the other party when he speaks, hurting people purposefully.
Right View - The understanding that our actions have consequences and that our view of this world and the next needs to ount for our actions and their consequences (karma). One needs to clear their mind of delusion (Moha)
Right Samadhi - To look into one''s mental defilements and burn them away, reaching a point where the negative karma within one is eradicated.
Right Effort - Prevent unworthy and karma-inducing aspects of oneself from materializing, making the right effort to reach nirvana.
While I have a cursory understanding of Buddhism, I don''t know enough to teach y''all officially, so take everything I say with a grain of salt and look it up yourself.
Chapter 141: A Frog in a Well (2)
Not long after descending Mount Song, someone approached Zhou Xuchuan.
"I am the Gold Phantom from the Hebei Branch."
"Gold Phantom?"
Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head.
The Hebei Branch referred to the first branch of the Valley of Phantoms he had visited, but he didn''t remember anyone with that name there.
"The Head Merchant gave me the name."
"Ah!"
Only then did Zhou Xuchuan realize who the Phantom was.
While the Phantoms were all different in age and build, the problem was that he had met so many of them that it was hard to tell them apart.Their tones and presence were all simr, it wasn''t an easy task.
The only Phantom he could recognize was Little Ghost, who was always by his side.
"What happened?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s expression hardened.
He had only attached two Phantoms to Li Yicai to guard him as his hand and foot. Since the Head Merchant had sent one of the two, something had to be off.
The letter that Gold Phantom handed over started with the word "urgent."
***
Before Zhou Xuchuan arrived at the Shaolin Temple.
"Agh!!" Li Yicai screamed as he saw the letter.
"Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, you stupid bastards!"[1]
Li Yicai''s face turned red and blue, his massively pudgy hand moving to the back of his neck.
"What is it, Head Merchant?!" The guard warrior waiting outside called out, running toward him.
"Aghhhh, you thieving little shits!" Li Yicai gritted his teeth, furious.
Thieves, like beggars, were everywhere throughout the Central ins. The only ces they didn''t exist were ces where people didn''t reside.
Even in ces where no one lived, they were still present, blocking the roads and trying to steal from others.
That was the kind of people thieves were.
Moreover, while there were thieves who targetedmon folk, most targeted merchants.
The amount of merchandise they carried was proportional to the scale they traded, so the things they had in hand usually weren''t small. If they took this, they could make a significant profit. They often referred to merchant caravans as a ''big hit'' as one sessful heist could feed a small to medium-sized bandit group for several years.
Because of therge amount of money at stake, merchantpanies often hired wanderers and guards to protect their goods. The same was true for the Gold Will Merchants, especially since their reputation had grown recently, causing even more people to target it.
Even though it had the Gold Will Sword Sect, since it didn''t have the history of the other merchantpanies, there were many who looked down on it.
As a merchant, no, as someone who was especially obsessed with money among merchants, losses felt even worse than death for Li Yicai.
Even one loss would make it impossible for him to sleep for three days and nights from regret and angst.
That was why he had paid extra attention to his guards.
Fortunately, after the Seven Swords War, thanks to the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors who had fought alongside Zhou Xuchuan on the battlefield, the number of thieves had decreased slightly.
However, that relief had onlysted a short time. Recently, the thieves had begun to swarm in an unusuallyrge number.
At first, he thought that ordinary people had simplye out to steal because it was getting too difficult to make a living, but he was mistaken. It wasn''t that there were more thieves.
It was that there was an unusuallyrge number of thieves targeting the Gold Will Merchants.
Since he had an inkling that something was amiss, he investigated.
The Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, the union of the Nine Water Gangs and the Nine Forest Gangs, stood out.
From the streets to the mountains and river, everything was rted to them.
It wasn''t just once or twice, either. The entirety of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest had joined forces to attack them. Thus, the Gold Will Merchants were having a hard time holding on.
As they were active all throughout the Central ins, their reactions were also slow. Even with the Ten Gale Swordsmen, there was a limit to what they could do.
***
"That''s what happened," Li Yicai, who had grown incredibly pale in only a week, said. His smooth skin had be bby in the short time Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t seen him.
There were dark circles under his eyes, and the sharp eyes that were always determined not to miss any profit had grown weak and dull.
"Hmm."
Zhou Xuchuan sighed.
Rushing all the way to Jinan had been worth it. This was clearly a serious situation.
As soon as he arrived, he had gone straight to Li Yicai without even greeting Luo Xiaoyue.
Why are they targeting us?
The Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest. It''s not like there wasn''t any connection whatsoever.
Still, if there were a bad rtionship, it would be with the Mount Hua Sect or the Zhuge Family, not the Gold Will Merchants.
Most importantly, while it had been Zhou Xuchuan himself who had fought against the enemy back then, wasn''t it Qiu Feng who had taken the public credit?
That wasn''t a reason to persistently target the Gold Will Merchants.
Could it be that they''re underestimating the Gold Will Merchants because it''s a rtively newpany? No, even so, it''s a bit much for them toe all the way to Chongqing.
The Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest primarily operated around Chongqing. While they also operated near wherever the Yangtze River flowed, they didn''t stray too far from its banks.
However, what was happening now was a little different.
For some reason, they had gone far beyond their dens to plunder the Gold Will Merchants.
Wait, there''s no way!
A possibility shed through his mind.
"Head Merchant, do you remember the person who talked crazy before?"
Li Yicai nodded as if he remembered.
"Ah, you mean the sucker?"
"The sucker?"
"He''se by about fifteen times since that first visit. At first, he gave me ten taels, but as he continued to visit, he doubled what he gave me. However, his request never changed. He kept saying he''d give me control of all themercial rights in the Central ins if I agreed to fall under hismand."
As Li Yicai spoke, a strange feeling crept over him. His face twisted with disbelief.
At the time, he had just considered the sucker to be some crazy guy. So, he took the money, let the conversation pass, and kicked him out.
"I-is it possible that he''s really connected to the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest?"
From his perspective, it was natural not to think too deeply about it.
As the Head Merchant of the Gold Will Merchants, all sorts of strange and crazy people came to visit him.
Some of them had even boasted about their incredible businesses, asking forrge investments.
Even though they had given him expensive gifts and waited for some time, those gifts also came with all sorts of strange requests.
As a result, Li Yicai tended to ignore anyone who was not worthy of listening.
A secret envoy sent by Twisted Melody.
Zhou Xuchuan frowned as if he had a headache.
He had been so focused on Vast Gate that he had forgotten that Twisted Melody might have made his move, too.
Considering the Merchant King didn''t even pretend to listen to the proposal, he most likely gave up. So, he decided to take it by force.
He remembered that the Dark Heavens Association hadpletely taken over the Central ins'' merchants and used them as a source of ie in his previous life.
Most of the time, they would take over the merchantpanies through trade as long as they epted the proposal, and if they didn''t, they would force them to submit.
The reason that the Dark Heavens Association hadn''t touched the Gold Will Merchants in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life was that there were plenty of other merchantpanies to rece them and that the Gold Will Merchants had been rtively small then.
The Gold Will Merchants had grown in earnest and became famous when the Dark Heavens Association hadpleted its preparations and began the war. By that point, and during the war, the Dark Heavens Association was so busy that they didn''t have time to worry about the Gold Will Merchants.
Whew, this really is a headache. So, they''ve finallye here. This ispletely unexpected.
As Zhou Xuchuan silently pondered, Li Yicai grew more anxious by the minute.
Even for him, it was the first time he had ever seen Zhou Xuchuan make such an expression.
I don''t know who might be hidden within the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest.
Not even the bandits had been able to escape the clutches of war.
On the contrary, they had used the war as an opportunity to run wild.
Because of the constant fighting, the number of warriors decreased day by day, and the forces of the murim didn''t pay much attention to public security.
The bandits had taken advantage of that gap in security to loot, to the point that they even forced the imperial government to make a move, eventually leading to their destruction.
Everything he knew about them was nothing more than a passing remarkpared to the Dark Heavens Association.
Among his memories from his previous life, he only remembered that they had taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war to loot.
It seems as though they were taking advantage of the fact that the Gold Will Merchants were still building up their strength to try to sway them over
He considered various possibilities, but it was too difficult to be certain of anything.
"Sob, sob, Great Hero. Please talk to me. Is something wrong? Should I make a n to flee in the middle of the night?"
"Of course not," Zhou Xuchuan replied with a bitter smile, trying to calm him down.
"So, how have you been responding to this?"
"We''ve increased our escorts. However, since this is happening all over the country, we''re short on manpower. That was why we hired Security Agencies or mercenaries. However, as time goes on, the losses keep piling up, putting a serious strain on our budget."
"We need arge-scale operation to suppress them."
"Exactly!"
Li Yicai agreed with Zhou Xuchuan''s words with a bright smile.
The most certain solution would be to thoroughly crush the problematic Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest. However, it wasn''t as easy as it sounded.
"However It''ll be a little difficult for me to help you all that much this time. I can send some warriors to apany you, Great Hero, but I still have to protect the cargo on each caravan"
Even the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley were reluctant to step forward because they felt burdened by the task of clearing out the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest.
If it were something that could have been handled easily, Zhou Xuchuan and Li Yicai wouldn''t have been worried in the first ce.
"Don''t worry, you only have to help me a little. Isn''t it because of the difficult circumstances that you asked for my help?"
"Indeed, as expected of the Great Hero! You really can read between the lines! This little merchant is deeply impressed by the Great Hero''s heavenly intelligence!"
The Head Merchant rubbed his hands together and smiled, looking like the most viinous viin who only appeared in fairy tales.
Zhou Xuchuan alsoughed unpleasantly, giving his favorite little Li Yicai a tired look before falling back into thought.
****
The Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, a group of bandits operating from Chongqing, spread across the mountains, fields, and riversanywhere imaginable.
Most of them were ragtag groups of Third or Second ss warriors, but like the ck Hand''s Xia Wu Sect, they made up for their weak strength in numbers.
However, what made them stronger than the Xia Wu Sect was that they had their experts, and some of their Stockade Bosses were experts of the highest level.
To subdue them, Zhou Xuchuan needed more strength.
As he thought about how to assemble a force strong enough to suppress them, the news about what had happened at the Shaolin Temple spread throughout the murim.
"The Prajna Divine Art was returned to the Shaolin Temple?"
"What? Wasn''t the Prajna Divine Art a technique that only appeared in legends? Where in the world did they ever find it?"
"I heard that it had been found by ident deep in a mountain valley. Moreover, where it was found isn''t important right now."
"I wonder who found it. How could someone not feel greedy when faced with the Divine Art of the Shaolin Temple, which is regarded the headquarters of martial arts? What kind of idiot is he?"
"Zhou Xuchuan!"
"Zhou Xuchuan? You mean the Plum Blossom Order Sword?"
The murim was surprised when they heard Zhou Xuchuan''s name again.
Wasn''t he the one who ended the war about half a year ago? While he had been living quietly since then, he quickly became famous once again.
Everyone was surprised that one person had aplished two different feats that were both difficult to achieve in a single lifetime.
"Impressive!"
"He really is a Great Hero, isn''t he?!"
He seemed like a hero straight out of a storybook.[2]
Although he had been tired, he had single-handedly defeated an expert as strong as the Flower Scattering Palm and ended the war by burning the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic.
Not only was he a skilled cultivator, but he also had an impressive background and was known for his handsome appearance.
Now, on top of all that, he had be a benefactor of the Shaolin Temple.
People were both intrigued and excited about him.
That was always the case whenever a new expert, especially a young new expert, emerged in the world, attracting the attention of the murim.
"Even though the Plum Blossom Order Sword is a direct disciple, he doesn''t have a high status yet, right?"
"His Master, the Gentle Smiling Swordsman, is said to only work outside the sect and has no position within it."
"So you''re saying he has nowhere to advance? What are you doing? Hurry up and prepare the marriage proposals!"
Zhou Xuchuan had been in the spotlight from the beginning, and his poprity now soared to even greater heights.
Some small and medium-sized sects and families ced Zhou Xuchuan as the first candidate for a son-inw and prepared women of a marriageable age.
Even if he was a direct disciple of a Daoist Sect, marriage was still possible if he didn''t have a major position and didn''t pass down Mount Hua''s lineage and secrets.
"Tsk!"
"What''s so great about him? He was just lucky!"
"I heard that he had been given chances when he was young."
"Look at him, acting all high and mighty after getting lucky with an elixir!"
However, not everyone liked him.
Humans were a species where one would be jealous if their cousins were able to buynd. That jealousy was even worse when they watched someone they didn''t know doing well for themselves.
"Maybe he took this as an opportunity and purposefully destroyed the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic"
Suspicions also arose within the Shaolin Temple. Some of the monks even openly disparaged Zhou Xuchuan.
In this way, Zhou Xuchuan''s name continued to spread throughout the Shaolin Temple and across the entire murim.
1. There was no hanja for this earlier, so it was tranted as the Eighteen Bandit Gangs. For reference, the Red Forest is a metaphor for the rainy season and thus is formed of the Nine Water Gangs and the Nine Forest Gangs. ?
2. Wow, you don''t say. ?
Chapter 142: See You Later, Ankang
Four dayster, Zhou Xuchuan finished his preparations in Shandong.
"I mean, Hyungnim, why are you dragging away a busy person?"[1] Zhuge Shengji, who lived in his workshop,ined.
"Yi Ri Bu Zhuo, Yi Ri Bu Shi."
A day without work is a day without food.[2]
"The bandits are running rampant. How could we just sit back and do nothing? There''s a big battle ahead, so I need your strength."
Zhuge Shengji''s sill with mechanisms wasn''t just evident in the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s treasury or the Tomb of the Ominous Demon.
One could just tell how useful he was by looking at the weapons that could win wars without much effort, like the bamboo tube or the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher that had been used before.
"If you need weapons, I''ll teach you how to use them, so just take them and go," Zhuge Shengji grumbled in discontent.
"Even though our final destination is a bandit den, isn''t it still the den of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest? Considering how long they''ve been stuck in Chongqing, who knows what kind of traps they may have hidden?""Hmm. That is pretty interesting." Zhuge Shengji said, stroking his chin as his eyes lit up.
He hated leaving his house, no, his room, but when it came to mechanisms or traps, his curiosity always piqued.
"We aren''t the only ones going anyway, and your cultivation itself isn''t ordinary either, so don''t worry."
Zhuge Shengji had taken the Lesser Cirction Pill, which gave him considerable qi, surpassing that of most martial artists.
However, it was only his pure cultivation itself that was at that level. His overall martial skill, techniques included, was still rtively low.
"Now, hurry up and get ready. The Head Merchant''s baby is getting attacked at this very moment, so we''ll be leaving tomorrow at thetest."
"I-I"
"Huh?"
Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji both turned to see Wu Zhenhua, Wu Qu''s daughter.
"Ah, Young Lady."
She had gotten healthier since Zhou Xuchuan hadst seen her. Zhou Xuchuan was relieved to see that herplexion had noticeably improved.
However, he was concerned because her expression seemed troubled.
"What is it?"
"Could you take me with you?"
"?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened in surprise.
What''s going on?
While he didn''t know much about Wu Zhenhua, he knew she wasn''t someone who would take unnecessary risks.
Moreover, Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t heard anything unusual about Wu Zhenhua whenever he received reports regarding her health during his asional visits to the Gold Will Merchants.
As she wasn''t yet fully healed, she spent her time wandering the neighborhood. She was far from being ready to enter a dangerous ce like a bandit den.
"Could I ask why?"
Wu Zhenhua nodded, her expression filled with concern.
"Young Master Zhuge is someone who skips his meals if left alone I''m worried about him."
Her hands, tightly sping the hem of her clothes, as if she were anxious.
"...?"
Zhou Xuchuan blinked, unsure if he had heard her correctly. He reyed her words in his mind, momentarily dazed by the unexpected response.
"I keep telling you, I''m not a child. How could that be true? You worry too much, Young Lady Wu."
"You said thatst time, but then you didn''t eat anything for three whole days and turned into a skeleton."
"I had no other choice at that time because I was designing a new mechanism. Besides, I canpensate for the starvation with my qi, so it''s fine."
"As expected, you can''t be trusted. Benefactor, please take me with you"
"Where to Lady Wu? Please, I don''t want to die at the hands of Elder. Please spare me."
Zhuge Shengji frantically waved his hands with a flustered expression as Wu Zhenhua continued to press her point.
Zhou Xuchuan watched the two of them, his mouth agape, looking utterly bewildered.
Could it be are these two in that sort of rtionship?
The way Wu Xuanhua looked at Zhuge Shengji was unusual. It was like a wife sending her husband off.
"Well, um."
Zhou Xuchuan finally managed to speak with great difficulty.
"Are you and Shengji in that sort of?"
"...?"
Zhuge Shengji and Wu Xuanhua tilted their heads in confusion.
Wu Zhenhua was the first to understand what Zhou Xuchuan was asking.
"Oh, oh dear."
Wu Zhenhua''s cheeks turned red.
"What are you talking about?"
Zhuge Shengji tilted his head, still puzzled.
"N-not yet we aren''t in that kind of rtionship yet."
"Huh."
This time, Zhou Xuchuan was genuinely surprised. His mouth fell wide open at the words, "Not yet."
"Ah!"
Zhuge Shengji finally pped his hands, seemingly realizing what they were talking about.
"You must have mistakenly thought we were in a master-disciple rtionship."
"What?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s face twisted into an absurd expression, as if to ask if Zhuge Shengji was being serious, while Wu Zhenhua''s face darkened.
Leaning back, Zhuge Shengji continued, a slightly arrogant smile on his face. "When I was working on mechanisms, Young Lady Wu would asionallye over to watch. Recently, I''ve been teaching her about the Art of Mechanisms. She''s the second person to recognize the true value of mechanisms after you, Hyungnim."
Zhuge Shengji lifted his chin proudly. Then, he began to brag about mechanisms as if it were something to brag about in this instance.
Zhou Xuchuan stared at Zhuge Shengji nkly for a moment, then turned to Wu Zhenhua, who was smiling bitterly beside him.
"Does your father know?"
"Well, not yet"
Li Yicai had tried to dissuade her, encouraging her to take it easy and focus on her health, but Wu Zhenhua had been determined to contribute.
Since her father was working hard to pay off her debts, Wu Zhenhua may have wanted to rest, but she didn''t. Despite her father''s disapproval, she insisted on helping out, doing small tasks where she could.
Over time, she started interacting more with Zhuge Shengji, and gradually, she developed feelings for him.
Zhou Xuchuan gave Zhuge Shengji, who was still talking, a pitiful look.
Shengji
Wu Qu was someone who had be a demon for his daughter in his previous life. Imagining Zhuge Shengji caught in that terrifying man''s gaze, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but feel sorry for him.
***
The next day, a group of people left the Gold Will Merchants.
Zhou Xuchuan led the group, while Zhuge Shengji joined as an advisor. They also brought twenty disciples from the Gold Will Sword Sect along.
Although they weren''t visible, they were apanied by the Phantoms.
"Looks like we''re traveling together this time, too," Zhou Xuchuan said.
Chu Lian grinned.
"Hehe, Young Master. Don''t you think we have a little fate between us?"
She yfully ruffled Zhuge Shengji''s hair, turning it into a bird''s nest.
"Hmph! This ignorant auntie, agh!!"
Zhuge Shengji''s anger red, as if he was getting fed up with her presence, but Chu Lian justughed heartily and brushed him off.
"Are we really going to invade the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest with just our forces?" one of the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors asked anxiously.
"Of course not."
Zhou Xuchuan shook his head and smiled reassuringly.
"Don''t worry, there will be people joining us when we reach Chongqing."
Gulp.
The added manpower was both reassuring and nerve-wracking, as it meant that the scale of the battle would increase.
Even though they had been trained by the monster named Wu Qu and had be stronger, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest weren''t some neighborhood thugs.
"It''s a shame that guy didn''te with us," Chu Lian said as she nced back at Shandong and licked her lips.
The Ten Gale Swordsmen also received teachings from Wu Qu whenever they stayed at the merchantpany.
At first, none of them thought much of him.
After bing the Ten Gale Swordsman, their confidence grew alongside their cultivation and skills.
However, they experienced hell when they attacked Wu Qu with their unnecessary pride.
That was when they realized that he, too, was another monster.
"Because he has to protect the merchantpany."
The Gold Will Merchants were weaker than before. Although they were still barely holding on, things would grow worse as time went by.
Even without the intervention of others, the lynxes who sensed the Gold Will Merchants'' weakness and overstepped their boundaries were annoying.
One day, something serious would happen, and at that time, Wu Qu''s strength would be necessary. That was why Zhou Xuchuan had deliberately left him behind.
There was no need to talk about Wu Zhenhua.
This journey was too dangerous for her, who hadn''t even cultivated before.
Most importantly, if she came, Wu Qu would follow. No matter how much she begged, she wouldn''t be able to go with them.
"Hyungnim, who are we meeting up with?"
"You''ll see them when we arrive."
After arriving in Shandong and learning of the situation, Zhou Xuchuan had immediately sent several pigeons to ces where he could get help.
"After all, our Senior Brother, who hides a vast array of things, has a talent for surprising people. Don''t you think so?" Luo Xiaoyue joked with augh.
However, the weight of her words was no joke.[3] Not even her eyes were smiling.
"A-ahem."
Zhou Xuchuan coughed dryly and scratched the back of his head.
"Junior Sister, I really am sorry for leaving you behind."
A few days ago, after hearing about what was happening from the Head Merchant, he had immediately gone to see Luo Xiaoyue.
At that time, she had coldlyshed out while trembling with anger.
Are you the Great Hero, Plum Blossom Order Sword, who had promised that he would go on the cultivation journey together with me, but left me behind to enjoy himself alone?
Only after mixing in some half-truths about what had happened in Zhengzhou and at the Shaolin Temple had Zhou Xuchuan managed to earn her forgiveness.
Now, as he stood there awkwardly scratching his head, Luo Xiaoyue chuckled, clearly amused by his difort.
"I''m just teasing you. I''m no longer angry. I thought I''d stay upset a little longer, but I''d feel bad for you if I did."
Luo Xiaoyue smiled yfully. Even that small smile was so cute that it made Zhou Xuchuan''s heart flutter a little.
Meanwhile, there were others watching the group as they left Shandong.
It was Zhou Xuchuan''s greatest enemy, the Dark Heavens Association.
"It''s a report from Twisted Melody''s forces. The Plum Blossom Order Sword has departed from the Gold Will Merchants."
Blessed Existence, who had just picked up his brush, narrowed his eyes.
"While I heard that the Plum Blossom Order Sword and the I''ve heard that the Plum Blossom Order Sword and the Head Merchant of the Gold Will Merchants are close, I didn''t realize it was to this extent. Could it be that they realized the situation toote and are now struggling?"
As Zhou Xuchuan had expected, the Dark Heavens Association had wanted to get a hold of the Gold Will Merchants in order to secure military funds.
However, Blessed Existence was incredibly upset when Li Yicai refused to even pretend to listen to their requests despite several suggestions. That''s why he ultimately decided it was better to seize it by force, ordering the attack.
"I suppose this is a good opportunity to remove all obstacles to the Association once and for all."
The Plum Blossom Order Sword Zhou Xuchuan!
How could he forget that name?
The name of the one who had ruined their ns by burning the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic due to his proud sense of justice. At that moment, Blessed Existence had wanted to capture and crush him, but Zhou Xuchuan had immediately fled to the safety of the Mount Hua Sect, making it impossible for him to strike.
So, Blessed Existence waited for him toe back out into the world of the murim, and finally, the time hade.
"Even though I''ve made my preparations, it seems the sword is a bitcking." Blessed Existence said with a frown.
The Dark Heavens Association had lost Vast Gate recently and was faced with the worst situation: an intelligence vacuum.
Blessed Existence was now forced to handle matters personally, working tirelessly topensate for her absence.
His workload had increased drastically, and he had even been cutting back on sleep to fill the gap.
Most importantly, there were many things that he had to prioritize.
While Zhou Xuchuan''s burning of the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic had ruined everything, that wasn''t enough to drive him to devote his heart and soul to revenge.
Blessed Existence was someone who clearly distinguished between public and private affairs. He knew what to prioritize.
Although his preparations were as thorough as his meticulous personality, he still felt a bit anxious and regretful. However, that was something that had to bepromised on, even though it was a bit bothersome.
"I heard that he even returned the Prajna Divine Art to the Shaolin Temple. He''s been causing all sorts of trouble from start to finish. Considering how many coincidences he''s had since he was young, he must just be naturally lucky."
Blessed Existence clicked his tongue and tightened his grip on the brush.
However, his expression looked strangely ufortable.
Could this really be a coincidence?
Even if he tried to ignore it, he couldn''t shake off the feeling of not having cleaned himself up after visiting the bathroom. His mind kept getting caught up in it.
Suspicion bred doubt, and his thoughts went down a dark path. But reason quickly stepped in, reminding him he didn''t have time for this.
Although he might have been able toe up with something if he thought about it a little longer, he couldn''t waste his time doing so because the Dark Heavens Association''s more important work came to mind.
While he hated the stifling feeling in his chest, Blessed Existence licked his lips and shook his head as if trying to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts.
1. Literally a cruel person, someone fully engrossed in something. ?
2. Reference to Zen Master Baizhang. ?
3. Kekw. ?
Chapter 143: See You Later, Ankang (2)
Zhou Xuchuan passed through Shandong and Henan, arriving in Shaanxi.
Though he passed by Mount Hua, he didn''t stop at the sect and continued south to Ankang, a city directly in front of Chongqing.
After settling in at the guest house and unpacking his luggage, the door to his room opened, and a group of visitors entered.
"Senior Brother Zhang Hong, Senior Sister Zhang Xuen!"
Luo Xiaoyue''s eyes widened in surprise as she saw a group of swordsmen with plum blossoms on their sleeves.
Among them, the man and woman in front looked familiar.
It was Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, two seniors from the Lotus Pavilion, who had entered the gangho on their cultivation journey before Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue had.
Behind them were many other disciples of the Mount Hua Sect.
"Junior Brother!" Zhang Hong called out approaching Zhou Xuchuan with a bright smile."It''s been a while, Senior Brother. It''s good to see that you''ve been well."
"Good to see you too, Junior Brother."
There was no trace of his former youthful appearance. Now, Zhang Hong smiled, his appearance full of manliness.
"Well, as I got involved in various matters, I"
Zhou Xuchuan wasfortable being alone, whether it was in his previous life or this one. So, unlike the others, he never took the time to go visit other members of the Mount Hua Sect.
He also had many other things to do and little opportunity to meet any of his acquaintances.
In fact, this was the first time he had seen them within the gangho. Thest time he had seen them was when he had been ordered to return and stay in the sect due to the Seven Swords War.
"You little brat, this wasn''t a ploy to monopolize Junior Sister Luo, was it?" Zhang Hong teased, poking Zhou Xuchuan''s side. In that moment, a glimpse of the old Zhang Hong resurfaced.
He was still lively and a little mischievous.
"Please don''t say anything that could stir up trouble, Senior Brother. I heard that you were confirmed to join the Plum Blossom Swordsmen with Senior sister this time around.
"Yes, I was lucky."
The mention of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen stunned everyone present, including the warriors of the nearby Gold Will Sword Sect, who gasped in surprise.
Mount Hua''s elite swordsmen!
How could they not know the title?!
If the Shaolin Temple had their Arhats, the Mount Hua Sect had the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
That title, which was only passed down to twenty-four disciples, had a weight that not even experts of the previous generation could ignore.
It was only then that they connected the dots, going over the names Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen again.
The Chivalrous Plum Sword Zhang Hong and the Jade Plum Flower Zhang Xuen!
The Plum Blossom Order Sword wasn''t the Mount Hua Sect''s only noteworthy younger generation talent. His name was just famous because he had be such a hot topic and overshadowed the others, making the other disciples to be temporarily forgotten. However, it was a given that there were other disciples who had been famous before, Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen being among them.
Before the Seven Swords War, they had spent their time interacting with the younger generation talents of the famous sects and gangs. Eventually, they made a name for themselves as Mount Hua''s younger generation leaders.
They had also returned to Guizhou, where they had fought against the heretical forces and made significant contributions when they were younger.[/ref]This term appears in chapter 139 but is basically a mishmash of all the other forcesliterally, Evil Demon Other Path.[/ref] The two of them had been talented from a young age, and they both worked hard on top of their talent, stimted by the growth of their monstrous junior brother.
As a result, by the time they entered the world of the murim, they were among the best of the younger generation.
Although they may not have been strong enough to join the ranks of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, their names were still renowned.
"I never thought that you two would be the ones toe."
Although Zhou Xuchuan had asked Mount Hua for help, he had expected them to send him the youngest Fourth Generation Disciples at best. That was expected and understandable, as this matter was more of a personal matter.
Since Zhou Xuchuan didn''t care about the gazes of people around him and spent time with the Gold Will Merchants openly, anyone could discover their connection with just a little research.
Even without research, there were already rumors that the Eighteen Stockages of the Red Forest were currently targeting the Gold Will Merchants.
Since he had contacted the sect to subdue the Eighteen Stockades in this situation, his intentions were clear.
The Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest didn''t harass powerlessmoners. Therefore, taking them down wasn''t a good excuse for the sect to send support, so he didn''t have high expectations.
"I had thought that, at most, the sect would send ten people, but"
Including Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, there were twenty disciples of the sect.
"Because we owe you a debt."
"Exactly. Have you forgotten what happened while we were at the Lotus Pavilion?"
In the past, when they had first entered the world of the murim, Zhou Xuchuan and the others were attacked by bandits on the Yangtze River while returning to Mount Hua.
That day, Zhou Xuchuan had been swept away by the rapids, leaving the sect to believe they had lost a young disciple.
Fortunately, Zhou Xuchuan hadter returned. However, the Mount Hua Sect was still furious at the Eighteen Stockades.
Not only had the attack itself been infuriating enough, but to think that it had been on a disciple who hadn''t reached adulthood yet. A disciple who was also from the prestigious Lotus Pavilion at that!
"Still, I never expected them to send out the Plum Blossom Swordsmen."
"Haha. Anyway, it seems I''ve gotten too used to hearing Junior Brother Zhou praising us. While we''ve been appointed, we aren''t actually Plum Blossom Swordsmen yet."
"If we were fully appointed, we might not have been able toe."
While the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest were not to be underestimated, they still weren''t at the level where Mount Hua needed to send out the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
"I''m sorry if you''re disappointed that we''re still Swordsmen Initiates."
"How could that be?"
Zhou Xuchuan was grateful that Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen hade.
He wasn''t happy only because they had strong martial skills but also because they were disciple siblings he had be close with in Mount Hua.
Hadn''t he always been alone in his previous life?
It felt good to be with his disciple siblings like this.
While Zhou Xuchuan was enjoying his reunion with his disciple siblings, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest had also heard the news.
"So the Gold Will Sword Sect is sending a punitive force?"
While they were busy raiding the Gold Will Merchants, it was no surprise that the Eighteen Stockades knew them well. After all, they had fought the Gold Will Merchants as they tried to loot them at every turn.
In the meantime, there were names that were even more concerning.
"Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji"
There was no way that they wouldn''t recognize those names.
After all, weren''t they the ones who had caused them to be enemies with the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family?
About seven years ago, the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley had fought a battle for territory in Guizhou, resulting in a decisive victory for the Martial Alliance.
While the damage the Evil Valley had suffered wasn''t fatal, the Evil Valley Master''s pride was deeply wounded by the fact that he had been pletely defeated''.
Not wanting just to let this slide, the Evil Valley Master set a trap for Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family, who were the leading yers at the time.
At that time, Zhou Xuchuan''s party was returning. Since their return trip included crossing the Yangtze River, he had left it to the Nine Water Gangs.
However, the n didn''t go as nned.
Who could have thought that the Fourteenth Sword Hero would defeat the Watertop Spearman on the Yangtze River?"
"I should have killed them then!"
Later, they had heard news of Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengi''s miraculous return, but they hadn''t really cared about the children.
However, when they heard the Plum Blossom Order Sword''s name after all this time, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest became nervous.
It wasn''t some weakling from any other ce but a disciple of one of the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Mount Hua Sect, who had a grudge and had be an expert. They couldn''t just ignore him.
"Hmph. What are you so stressed about?"
"Even if they call him a Hero, he''s still just a kid. I heard that there aren''t many of them, either."
"Things would be different if it were a falling mountain or a torrential river, but what''s there to be scared of when a brat wants toe to stick his head in the tiger''s jaws?"
"Maybe they''re just trying to make us worried and force those of us already outside of the stockade toe back."
The Gold Will Merchants had a lot of money. If they could just take down one of the caravans, they would have enough money to survive for quite a while.
The stockade bosses didn''t want to give up this ie. If they got scared and retreated with their subordinates for no reason, it would be a more significant loss.
"Just respond with who we have remaining!"
"How can you bastards say you have balls if you have to hide, terrified of a single kid?!"
"Yeah! That''s right! Who do they think we are?!"
"Aren''t we the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest that rule the mountains and the rivers?"
"Hahaha! Good! Hey, over here! Bring me wine and women!"
****
The punitive force that had joined the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect in Ankang went straight south and arrived at the northern mountainous region of Chongqing.
Although they encountered a few bandits along the way, dealing with them didn''t require much effort.
"All I see are forests."
Zhuge Shengji had a tired expression on his face.
Thinking about the road ahead, he felt like turning around and going home.
The Nine Forest Gangs hadn''t been established here for no reason. Chongqing was primarilyposed of mountains and forests, especially in the northern regions.
As the sun began to set and the punitive force unpacked their bags, they suddenly sensed a presence.
"Who is it?!"
Chu Lian took the lead, and the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors gathered around Zhuge Shengji, forming a protective circle. The Mount Hua disciples opened their eyes, radiating a fierce fighting spirit and a sword-like aura.
Their quick reaction to the presence they sensed was impressive.
"It''s fine."
As Zhou Xuchuan raised his hand to stop the others, a middle-aged man with an unusual aura walked out of the bushes.
"Oh! Big Shi!"[1]
Zhou Xuchuan greeted him happily after seeing his face.
"You still have no manners, Zhou Xuchuan. Who are you calling Dashi?"
Big Shi, no, Yuan Dashi''s face turned mottled crimson.
"Do you know him, Senior Brother?" Luo Xiaoyue asked, tilting her head to the side.
Yuan Daishi''s expression changed instantly. Since ancient times, people have always been kind to beauties.
"I am Yuan Daishi, a warrior of the Tang Family. Although I amcking, I am tasked with guarding Lady Poison Phoenix."
"Poison Phoenix!"
The punitive force''s eyes widened in surprise.
"The youngdy is waiting, Zhou Xuchuan."
Yuan Daishi made a face and gestured for them to follow him. The expedition force packed their bags again and followed him.
"Senior Brother, did you ask the Tang Family for help?" Luo Xiaoyue asked curiously. The others following behind also perked up their ears and focused.
Wouldn''t it be reassuring if the Tang Family, one of the Five Great Ancient Families, joined them?
"No, that''s not it."
"Then, perhaps"
"Poison Phoenix."
"Phoenix yer!"
When that nickname, the title that filled him with sorrow, resurfaced, Zhou Xuchuan felt like clutching his chest.[2] He would definitely get rid of this nicknameter.
"Junior Brother, I believe you didn''t call them because there''s no way you''d want to risk getting stabbed in the back during the expedition. Are you sure this is okay?" Zhang Xuen asked in a low voice, ncing around to ensure Yuan Dashi couldn''t hear her
The story behind the nickname ''Phoenix yer'' was very famous. Everyone knew about the rtionship between Zhou Xuchuan and Tang Hui.
However, the story they knew was a little wrong.
Most people thought that Tang Hui held a deep grudge against Zhou Xuchuan because she had lost the bet.
Anyone that was a part of the murim knew precisely how terrifying it was for the Tang Family to hold a grudge. It was the same, even if they were members of the same faction.
Zhang Xuen and the others were worried about that.
"It''s fine. I''ve already made up with the Poison Phoenix. I''m actually quite close with her," Zhou Xuchuan thumped his chest and boasted.
"Wee, Zhou Sichuan."
"It''s Zhou Xuchuan."
"Oh dear. I''ve already forgotten your name because I haven''t seen you in a while. Zhou Xuexi. As an apology, would you like to try the poison I prepared for you? I haven''t been able to sleep because of how much I was looking forward to seeing you rolling around the floor, trying to hold your melted stomach together. This time, I''m confident."
"..."
The punitive force was dazzled by the Poison Phoenix''s beauty when they first saw her. Even the fact that she mastered poisons was seductive.
It wasn''t for nothing that men risked their lives to challenge the Poison Phoenix''s wager. The beauty of the Poison Phoenix was just that amazing.
I did well to follow him.
Hmph, how infuriating!
Just being with Luo Xiaoyue made Zhou Xuchuan anxious and caused his heart to pound, but to think Tang Hui would be here, too.
Even if he never said anything to them, if the two beauties traveled with him, many men would surely envy him.
"Let''s stop talking nonsense and get to the point."
Zhou Xuchuan turned his head in the direction of the green forest.
"Your preparations?"
"We arrived four days ago and finished everything, so don''t worry."
"Good."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled contentedly and ryed the n to the punitive force.
"One of the Nine Forest Gangs, the Great Tiger Stockade, is ahead of us. We''ll attack it when the sun rises."
"Captain, you should have at least told us in advance. While we''re ready to fight, we still need to prepare a strategy."
There was a big difference between fighting blindly and fighting with a n.
If one didn''t have a strategy, the forces would be anxious, but if one did, it was better to tell the others in advance. That would be the most beneficial method.
"We''ve been coordinating opinions all the way here, which is why we''re a littlete. It won''t be that difficult, so don''t worry."
After all, someone might sneak into the battle.
The reason he hadn''t mentioned the support forces wasn''t because he wanted to be difficult or try to surprise them.
If it were known that the Tang Family, especially the Poison Phoenix, was going to participate, the Dark Heavens Association or the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest would be on high alert.
Wasn''t it better to strike when they were off guard?
While it wouldn''t matter even if the Eighteen Stockades were to go all out, there was no reason to put them on high alert before everyone had gotten together.
This is just the beginning.
1. A double entendre, as Dashi (Tang Hui''s guard''s name) could also be read as Big Shi ehehe. ?
2. I feel like I didn''t exin this well enough, but to rify, as a man, being called ''Phoenix anything'' is quite insulting unless you have a connection to the divine beast Phoenix. In this case, he''s being called Phoenix yer because he rose to fame on the coattails of a Phoenix, not through his own merits, and that''s why he both hates this title and was also relieved to get his ownter. ?
Chapter 144: The Subjugation of the Forest
Wang Ba was amoner who used to fight in the streets. His main source of ie hade from the pockets of othermoners.
However, that had only been for a short while because he had messed with the family of a government official.
Fearing the consequences, he fled, and after wandering for some time, Wang Ba ended up taking refuge in the Great Tiger Stockade.
Unfortunately, his life there was far from satisfactory.
Though Wang Ba was somewhat skilled with his fists, there were countless people like that in the mountains. It wasn''t called the Nine Forest Gangs for nothing.
Even after two years, Wang Ba had just barely risen out of the lowest ranks, and his treatment was average.
Even if he wanted to rape the women who were kidnapped, his status was so low that it was impossible. Moreover, he didn''t have much money or alcohol at his disposal.
"Fucking shit, how long do I have to live like this?" Wang Bained, muttering vicious curses.
"E-eeeek!"The people crouching inside the iron bars flinched at Wang Ba''s shout. Watching them hugging each other and trembling would make anyone sad.
Growl!
A skin-crawling cry echoed from a corner of the prison.
The people trapped in the prison trembled like aspen trees at that cry, terrified.
"Fuck, how long do I have to attend to this shitty beast?"
The Great Tiger Stockade raised tigers.
They don''t have one or two, but fifteen.
The amount of food that the tigers consumed was extraordinary. The bandit''s backs were bent from the burden of just trying to get all this food.
While it would be impossible for a small or medium-sized mountain den, the Great Tiger Stockade, one of the Nine Forest Gangs, had somehow managed to handle it.
"I shouldin now while no one''s around. After all, if I do it on a regr day, I''ll get thrown into their cages as food, right? Ptoey!"
The Great Tiger Stockade Boss liked to throw people at the tigers, which now had a taste for human flesh, and watch them.
Growl!
It was so loud it sounded like thunder. That was how loud and shocking the tigers'' growls were. The sound alone would make one''s body stiffen.
"Sob, sob"
A terrified cry could be heard from the prison.
"Damn it! You''ve started again because you''re hungry!"
Wang Ba frowned and got irritated. It had almost been a year since he started this job. It annoyed him every time he heard that sound.
While he couldn''t talk to tigers, he could still distinguish some of their cries.
"Let''s see, which one should I choose"
Although he may have been one of the lowest in the Great Tiger Stockade, to the kidnapped people, Wang Ba was the King of Hell who held their lives in his hands.
"Sob, sob!"
"Kya!!!"
The people inside the prison crouched as much as they could, clinging to the walls as if they had seen a ghost.
"Have these things gone insane? Why are they making such a fuss today?"
Normally, when it was time to feed the tigers, the prisoners became quiet, preferring not to draw attention to themselves.
Crunch!
"Huh?"
Wang Ba''s eyes widened as if they were going to pop out.
Suddenly, his vision spun ny degrees. His body went horizontal as if he was lying on the floor. However, his body didn''t drop to the ground but was floating in the air.
Confused, he tried toprehend what was happening, but a groan escaped his lips as excruciating pain shot through his waist.
Crunch!
"A-AGHHH!"
The immense force of a jaw mped down on his waist. The fangs pierced his skin, making way for the tiger''s gullet to swallow his insides.
As he struggled, the tiger''s heavy forelegs crushed his bones and pulverized his body.
Crunch! Crunch!
A creepy and eerie sound filled the inside of the prison. It took only a moment for Wang Ba to turn into a piece of meat.
The prisoners hugged each other, their mouths tightly shut and their bodies trembling.
Huff.
The tiger, whose mouth was covered in blood, raised its head. Its eyes that overwhelmed the surroundings glowed fiercely with hunger. The tiger stared through the iron bars filled with food.
It recognized what that narrow and unpleasant ce was. After all, wasn''t that where it had been imprisoned?
It struggled incessantly to try to open it, but no matter what it did, it couldn''t get the bars to open.
Even if there was food to fill its stomach, the tiger couldn''t get it out.
Unfortunately, it had no choice but to move to another ce. After all, there was food outside.
After stuffing a human whose face it didn''t even know into its jaws, the tiger headed upward.
"Sob, sob!"
"Sob!"
"Wahhhhh!!!"
As the tiger retreated, the prisoners finally felt relieved and btedly burst into tears. However, that was only for a moment. When the ceiling copsed, and a shadow jumped out, they all closed their mouths again.
"Don''t worry. I''m here to save you."
****
Ring! Ring!
rm bells rang throughout the Great Tiger Stockade. One ring meant alert, and two rings meant something serious had happened inside. The forest bandits who had been spending their time leisurely drinking came out in a panic.
"What the fuagk!!"
One of the forest bandits, who had juste out of the door, screamed as a tiger lunged at him from the side, biting into his neck.
"W-what the hell?! It''s the Boss'' pets!"
"Agh!!!"
"Just how many of them escaped?"
Screams echoed everywhere. The center of the mountain den was already strewn with corpses.
A tiger the size of a house red fiercely as it went hunting. The mountain den was filled with a thick scent of blood.
Several forest bandits attempted to subdue the tigers together, but it was futile. Each time the tigers swung their powerful paws, two or three bandits fell.
"Agk! Hurry up and call the keeper!"
"He''s dead!"
Some of the tigers were so hungry that they couldn''t see anything other than blood. However, there were also some who had been sessfully trained but had great difficulty.
However, for some reason, they couldn''t be controlled. They all seemed electrified, as if they were all starving.
The Great Tiger Stockade was instantly thrown into chaos by the tigers that had escaped from their cages.
They were all pets that the Great Tiger Stockade Boss cherished, which meant that they couldn''t just carelessly hurt them.
In the past, one of the forest bandits had identally stabbed a tiger in the eye while trying to tame it and was torn apart as tiger food.
The forest bandit, who was looking down on the hell unfolding in the stockade from the watchtower, rang the rm bell and hoped that their boss would answer.
Fortunately, his wishes were heard by the forest bandits who were guarding the boss'' room.
"Boss!"
"You idiots! Can''t you even manage that properly?"
When he heard the news that a tiger had escaped from the cage, his anger red. He contemted how to kill the person in charge.
However, when he heard that it wasn''t just one but several of his tigers that had escaped, his expression hardened.
"What''s going on?!"
Since ancient times, innocent people had been captured and imprisoned in the bandits'' dens. Most of them were brought there by force.
Considering this was the Great Tiger Stockade of the Nine Forest Gangs, it was a given that they, too, would have done the same.
She assumed that there would be quite a few people who were imprisoned by them.
Thinking of them, she knew that she couldn''t use poison to her heart''s content. If she wasn''t careful, even innocent people would be poisoned.
However, there was an alternative.
After all, who was she?!
She was the direct sessor of the Tang Family, the Poison Phoenix!
Her fame wasn''t bought with money.
She had knowledge of countless poisons, including rare poisons whose names even she didn''t know.
"Ha"
Zhou Xuchuan, who had calmed down the prisoners, stuck out his tongue at the scene that unfolded the moment he stepped outside.
"Since she called it the Hungry Monster Poison, while I don''t know about humans, it seems to be really potent against hungry beasts."
As its name suggested, the Hungry Monster Poison caused insatiable hunger.
However, it wasn''t as useful as most people thought, considering the amount required for it to be useful was too high.
The main problem was that it took three or four jin to poison an adult, and its effects were minimal.
All it did was leave a man starving, driven mad looking for food, and drained of strength. One would have to actually consume at least a few jin for it to actually make them lose their humanity and go insane.
While the ingredients for the poison weren''t that rare, the poison itself wasn''t useful enough to warrant such effort.
It would be faster to use poison that caused mental abnormalities or use the witchcraft of the Southern Jungles or the Blood Sect.
However, this Hungry Monster Poison had one very crucial effect. While it wasn''t effective on people, it had an unusually potent impact on animals.
Even the beasts that had been trained for a long time at the Great Tiger Stockade lost their reason and went wild because of the Hungry Monster Poison.
When the night passed, and dawn broke, Zhou Xuchuan received the Hungry Monster Poison from Tang Hui and snuck into the Great Tiger Stockade.
He was able to enter without being detected, thanks to the Phantom Divine Art, and after sneaking in, he sprayed the Hungry Monster Poison everywhere as he searched for the prison.
Not forgetting to ensure the safety of the people, Zhou Xuchuan opened the cage as soon as he was ready.
"Who are you?!"
Taking advantage of the confusion, he ran into a forest bandit while heading to the main gate.
"Zhou Xuchuan!" he answered honestly and moved forward.
Although the forest bandit quickly drew his sword, it was already toote.
A dagger slid from Zhou Xuchuan''s sleeve and shot forward.
"Ugh!"
The forest bandit''s head snapped back as if it was being bent. The dagger, which had shot out like an arrow, was lodged in his neck, silencing him before he could even scream.
"Intruder!"
Zhou Xuchuan looked up at the voice from above.
He spotted a watchtower and an rm bell installed near the main gate. The forest bandits were making noise in two ces, not just one.
Zhou Xuchuan rolled his eyes and looked around. He could see a forest bandit drawing a bow on the wall connected to the main gate.
"You dare!"
He kicked off the ground and changed direction just as an arrow whizzed past, striking the spot where he had just been standing.
Zhou Xuchuan swung his left arm in the direction the arrow hade from, and a dagger shot out.
"Ugh!"
The forest bandit fell forward, clutching his bow. His fear of falling was greater than the pain of the knife embedded in his chest.
As soon as Zhou Xuchuan saw the bandit fall, his heart raced. He injected qi into his Yongquan Acupoint[1] to increase his speed. Fortunately, he reached the falling bandit just in time.
"Whew!"
He inspected the bow he had barely caught.
Of course, there was no way that he had sped up because he was worried about the forest bandit, who had just died.
Zhou Xuchuan drew an arrow out of the quiver and roughly nocked it onto the bow.
Twang!
The arrow rippled like a wave as it left the bow. Thanks to the qi imbued into it, it experienced less wind resistance than a normal arrow.
Even though Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t concentrated all that much, the path of the arrow was so urate and precise that anyone who watched would let out a gasp.
"Ugh!"
Zhou Xuchuan hit the forest bandit who was standing on the right watchtower.
"Die!"
Zhou Xuchuan could feel bloodlust from the left watchtower. He turned to the side, only to see an arrow flying toward him.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t panic and kept hisposure, firing one arrow and then multiple others in quick session.
Twang!
The arrow nted upward from below before colliding with the arrow shot downward.
"Impossible!" the forest bandit gasped.
Although he had shot his arrow as a surprise attack, his target had blocked it with another arrow. It looked like the Divine Archer from legend.
However, his surprise was short-lived.
The bandit fell from the watchtower with a scream as arrows rained down on him.
After confirming that there were no more guards in the watchtower, Zhou Xuchuan opened the main gate.
"Let''s go!"
As soon as the gate opened, Zhang Hong, who was in the lead, jumped out, and the punitive force followed him into the mountain den.
Behind him were the warriors of the Mount Hua Sect, the Gold Will Sword Sect, and the Tang Family.
"Gold Will Sword Sect, go rescue the hostages!"
Chu Lian led the warriors of the God Will Sword Sect and dispersed.
"The Mount Hua Sect will advance!"
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen skillfully tookmand. As Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue''s seniors in the gangho, they learned many things during the training.
While Luo Xiayue wasn''t bad at takingmand, she didn''t feel the need to lead and instead focused on swinging her sword.
"Agh!!!"
"I-intruders!"
From the Great Tiger Stockade''s perspective, it was already a difficult situation, and now, intruders had appeared.
"The Tang Family will clean up the surroundings."
Tang Hui nced around with cold eyes. What was in her gaze was a hungry tiger.
Strangely, the tiger did not approach the punitive force. Even if it were nearby, it would sneakily avoid them.
From the moment they had used the Hungry Monster Poison, Tang Hui had prepared by applying a foul-smelling powder to protect the punitive force from the beasts.
"Let''s go!"
ROAR!!!
1. The only acupoint on one''s feet, the direct opposite to the Baihui Acupoint, which is on the top of one''s head. ?
Chapter 145: The Subjugation of the Forest (2)
Chapter 145: The Subjugation of the Forest (2)
The situation within the Great Tiger Stockade had reached a tipping point.
While the damage caused by the rampaging tigers was significant, the real issue was the intruder who had opened the main gate and allowed others to enter.
It wasn''t just a handful of intruders, either. Even with a cursory nce, there were more than fifty of them. Moreover, ording to the reportsing in, their skills were far from ordinary.
"Damn it!"
A purple vein bulged on the forehead of the Great Tiger Stockade Boss, the Mountain Blood Tiger Gua Dal''e. His rage boiled likeva.
ROARC!
The roar of tigers filled the stockade, mirroring Gua Dal''e''s anger. However, there was nothing good about it.
"Agk!"
"Boss! Boss! Save us!"Screams echoed throughout the stockade. When he lifted his head, Gua Dal''e saw his subordinates fleeing in the distance.
Gua Dal''e''s face twisted at the sight.
Crack!
"Agh!"
The forest bandit who had been running away was eventually caught and had his head ripped off, blood gushing from his severed neck and sttering the surroundings.
Gua Dal''e walked forward with a distorted expression.
The tiger, about to feast, sensed his approach and pounced.
"How dare you pounce on your master?!"
But who was Gua Dal''e?
He was the Great Tiger Stockade Boss and One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the Mountain Blood Tiger!
Gua Dal''e didn''t bother to draw the sword at his waist and just grabbed the head of the tiger he had lovingly cared for, trapping it under his armpit.
Crack!
"Gasp!"
The bandit who had been running away while pissing his pants stopped in his tracks, gasping at the scene.
''They said the boss was a monster, and it was true!''
The tiger, which was as big as a house, had died instantly in such a brutal fashion. The Mountain Blood Tiger didn''t look human at all.
"What are you bastards doing?!"
Gua Dal''e kicked the tiger as if he was venting his anger. The tiger, with its broken neck, flew through the air and rolled on the ground.
"There''s no reason to spare a beast that bares its fangs to its master! Kill them all!"
"W-what about the intruders? They aren''t ordinary."
"So what if they''re not ordinary? Are you saying you want to run away?"
Gua Dal''e''s eyes shed with rage.
"O-of course not!"
Gulp!
The bandit didn''t want to be the focus of the boss'' anger and end up as the tigers'' next meal.
"Take out some of the food from the prison and use them as hostages. If that doesn''t work, fight them on your own! We have the upper hand in numbers anyway!"
While most of the forest bandits had gone out plundering, there were still about three hundred bandits left on the mountain. However, Gua Dal''e realized toote that nearly a hundred of them had already fallen to the beasts.
There was no such thing as being able to retreat from the hands of the swordsmen of Mount Hua.
Whenever they swung their swords, forest bandits fell like leaves in the autumn wind.
However, it wasn''tpletely advantageous for them. Due to therge difference in numbers, the Mount Hua Sect disciples were consuming qi quickly.
Only Zhou Xuchuan seemed to notice it.
The Fourth Generation Disciples really are inexperienced, they don''t know how to pace themselves.
While the seniors of the Lotus Pavillion managed to pace themselves and were fine, the other disciples didn''t know how to restrain their qi usage.
The noise from the wild beasts only added to the chaos, increasing the stress. Combined with the relentless attacksing from all sides, they were forced to use energy to block.
"Since it looks like they may exhaust all of their qi if we aren''t careful, I hope you''ll pay attention to it from the front, Senior Brothers and Sisters!"
As he shouted a warning toward the center charge, the Mount Hua Sect''s movements changed slightly.
As their pace slowed, the rate at which the forest bandits fell also decreased. However, this allowed the Mount Hua Sect to maintain a stable advance.
"Agk! There are plum blossoms on their sleeves!"
"It''s the Mount Hua Sect!"
After some time, the forest bandits finally noticed everything around them.
"Ugh!"
"The Tang Family is here, too!"
The forest bandits hiding in corners of the stockade or trying to flee with injuries copsed, clutching at their necks and chests.
Judging by their blood-reddeningplexions, they must have been poisoned.
Amidst the battlefield, small groups moved swiftly, either spraying substances into the air or throwing hidden weapons, the forest bandits immediately recognized them.
"If I hear that you fell behind the Mount Hua disciples, don''t expect to sleep tonight."
While Tang Hui spoke softly, every warrior of the Tang Family clearly heard her.
Even though nobody had said anything, Tang Hui, who hated losing and had considerable pride, was already burning with apetitive spirit.
Although she was slightly off-center from the charge, she stepped forward alone and took on the surrounding forest bandits at once.
"Agk!"
"This bitch dares!"
"Ahh!!"
There was no such thing as mercy in Tang Hui''s hands.
She waved her hands like a phoenix pping its wings, and countless poisonous needles shot out from her sleeves and covered the surrounding area. As one of the forest bandits who had barely escaped getting poisoned swung his sword at her in close range, she used the Tang Family''s grappling technique to grab his neck.
"UGH!"
The forest bandit''s eyes bulged, as if they were about to pop out. Wherever Tang Hui''s pure white fingers touched grew hot, as if it was on fire.
This technique didn''t work on women.
However, if used on a man, it sent poison into the target''s acupoints and burned them by overstimting their yang qi.
As the forest bandit''s neck started to burn, his body stopped obeying his mind.
"How could her attacks be so grotesque?!"
"I heard that if you approach the Poison Phoenix, she won''t let you pass. So that really is true"
"You should be thankful she''s not our enemy."
"Hey, Junior Brother. You''d better take back what you said earlier about the Tang Family not being of much help. Otherwise, you might end up like him, too."
The disciples of Mount Hua bit their tongues.
They, like all the other members of the Righteous Faction, tended to look down on the Tang Family and the Poison Arts, thinking that they weren''t of much use. However, witnessing the terrifying power of poison firsthand and realizing how great it was, they were able to change their perception a little.
"It''s both the Mount Hua Sect and the Tang Family?"
"This isn''t a simple attack!"
The morale of the forest bandits plummeted upon realizing their enemies were from the Nine Sects and One Gang, as well as the Five Great Ancient Families.
"Bring the hostages!" a bandit whose beard resembled a bird''s nest shouted.
Judging from his aura, he wasn''t a low-level bandit. Even at a nce, he was at least in the First ss realm.
"Understood, Underboss!"
As expected, he was the Underboss of the Great Tiger Stockade.
The forest bandits, who were rtively close to the prison, moved. However, soon after, they jumped out in a panic.
"U-Underboss! There''s another force in the prison agk!"
The bandits fell as someone struck them from behind.
"Who the hell is it?!"
The underboss'' voice trembled slightly with anxiety.
It''s already enough that the Mount Hua Sect and the Tang Family are here. Just who the hell is it?!
He just prayed that it wasn''t another of the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Ancient Families.
"My name is Chu Lian of the Gold Will Sword Sect''s Ten Gale Swordsmen!"
At first nce, the new opponent''s muscles were so impressive that the underboss thought that it was a man. However, when he heard her voice, he realized that she was a woman.
"Whew!"
The underboss let out a sigh of relief. At the very least, it wasn''t another of the worrying forces. However, he took a double take, the name ''Gold Will Sword Sect'' a cause for concern.
Gold Will Sword Sect?
A while ago, there had been a meeting among the Forest Stockades, or rather, the entire Red Forest Stockades.
There, they had been informed that the Gold Will Merchants had formed a punitive force and sent warriors for revenge.
However, the one who was leading them was the problem.
The underboss'' head snapped up, his gaze scanning the Mount Hua Sect''s disciples as if searching for something.
"Chu Lian! Report!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, ignoring the underboss.
Chu Lian gave Zhou Xuchuan a thumbs up.
"Don''t worry, we''ve secured them, Captain. We''ve also taken care of the guards. You can go wild!"
"Okay!"
He didn''t have to issue orders while worrying about the situation anymore.
Although the Gold Will Sword Sect wouldn''t be able to participate in the battle due to needing to protect the hostages, the situation overwhelmingly favored them so much that it didn''t matter.
Moreover, the damage to the Great Tiger Stockade was greater than expected, which was a bonus.
"Great Tiger Stockade Underboss! I''ll keep it short!" Zhou Xuchuan stepped forward and shouted proudly.
"If you value your life, surrender. Then I will spare your life!"
"Looks like you''re a green little brat who doesn''t even know where he is to be talking such nonsense!"
The underboss didn''t move. Instead, he turned with a cating expression, as if weing someone.
"Mountain Blood Tiger!"
Chu Lian recognized Gua Dal''e.
"The Great Mountain Tiger Gua Dal''e"
Zhang Hong tightened his grip on his sword. Even the slightest hint of rxation disappeared from his body, tension filling his hands.
Gua Dal''e''s bulging muscles made one wonder if any sword could pierce his flesh, and his forearms were as thick as logs.
While Zhang Hong didn''t know who the Great Mountain Tiger had killed on his way here, the Great Mountain Tiger''s skin was covered in blood.
Gua Dal''e, the boss of the Great Tiger Stockade, wasn''t just a simple bandit. He was an incredible martial artist who was one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
"Nice to meet you, mountain bandit. My name is Zhou Xuchuan."
"...!"
The underboss momentarily lost his breath, and the surrounding forest bandits were equally surprised.
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword? Hmph!" Gua Dal''e snorted.
"I heard that some brat named Ju Sangchin or whatever sold his soul to a merchant and became his dog. Was that you?"
"You bastard! Who the hell do you think you''re talking to?!" Zhang Hong exploded in anger as if he had been the target of the insults.
Gua Dal''e turned to Zhang Hong but his gaze quickly shifted to Luo Xiaoyue who was standing beside him.
After scanning her from head to toe, he fixed his gaze on her face. A lustful smile appeared on his lips.
"I never heard that there was a peerless beauty in the Mount Hua Sect. What''s your name? I''ll make you my special concubine."
Luo Xiaoyue frowned as if she felt insulted.
"My name is Zhou Xuchuan," Zhou Xuchuan said.
"Oho, that angry little bitch isn''t any ordinary beauty, either. Have youe to give me something good to look at?"
As if she was in a foul mood, poison qi began to exude from Tang Hui. The mist flowing from her fingertips billowed around her, causing the weeds that had grown stubbornly across the ground to crumble into ck dust.
"My name is Zhou Xuchuan," Zhou Xuchuan said.
"Good, I''ll show you all a special mercy. If you hand over the women, I''ll spare the lives of the men."
"What nonsense! It looks like you''re spewing shit just because you have a slit on your face! Do you even know who this person is? This is Lady Tang Hui, the Poison Phoenix!" Yuan Dashi''s chilling voice echoed through the battlefield.
"If you really want to refuse a toast"
"My name is Zhou Xuchuan."
"Shut up, Plum Blossom Order Sword! I don''t give a shit about your name, so you don''t have to remind me!"
Gua Dal''e finally couldn''t hold back and responded to Zhou Xuchuan.
"Consider this a kindness. You''re going to die soon, so shouldn''t you at least know who killed you?"
"What? Keuhahaha!"
Gua Dal''eughed loudly, bowled over. He was clearly mocking Zhou Xuchuan.
"What a crazy bastard!"
"Look at how arrogant he is, as if we wouldn''t know that he was a Righteous Faction brat!"
"Kekeke! You''re dead now!"
The forest bandits of the Great Tiger Stockade alsoughed, finding it funny. Their morale that had fallen all the way to the ground had long since risen again.
The moment the Mountain Blood Tiger appeared, strength that seemed to have never existed within them surged up, and the eyes that had been eager to escape were once again filled with bloodlust.
Even if the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes were here, they wouldn''t be able topare to the Boss, Gua Dal''e.
"You act as if the world is under you just because you were lucky enough to defeat the Flower Scattering Palm, you arrogant bastard."
Shing!
Gua Dal''e drew a great saber that matched his size.
The de reflected the sunlight, gleaming ominously.
"While you seem to think you can win by attacking with the Poison Phoenix, I''ll show you that you''re severely mistaken."
Bloodlust gushed from his body as Gua Dal''e charged at Zhou Xuchuan.
The number of people that he had killed so far was already over three digits, so his bloodlust was viscous and thick.
As if to prove that even though he was a forest bandit, he was still one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the air pressure from his charge was noticeably different.
The punitive force members also changed their formation without a word.
The Mount Hua Sect prepared a sword formation, while the Tang Family also moved to grab the secret poisons and weapons they had hidden.
Standing in the center of a storm of bloodlust, Gua Dal''e swung hisrge sword.
"You hypocrites of the Righteous Faction, I, the Great Tiger Stockade''s" he shouted.
"Wow, you really talk too much!" Zhou Xuchuan interrupted as he dashed out.
His movement was so instantaneous that it seemed he vanished from sight.
Gua Dal''e never expected Zhou Xuchuan to make a surprise attack, forcing him to raise his de in shock.
ng!
Steel shed and started to grate.
W-what the hell?!
Gua Dal''e''sposure disappeared, leaving only confusion in its ce.
"I''m a little busy, so let''s not waste time and finish this quickly."
The qi that had bloomed like a mist coated Zhou Xuchuan''s sword. The thin film of qi gradually thickened and hardened.
Gua Dal''e''s eyes became as big as a full moon.
S-sword aura?
What he had dreamed of for over ten years but had given up on was now right before his eyes. While he raised his qi to the utmost, he couldn''t stop the aura.
The Cherished Saber that he had brought in a famous craftsman from a vige to make was about to be cleaved through without even being able to hold out for long.
Seeing that, Gua Dal''e couldn''t hide his bewilderment and stuttered urgently.
"Listen. Wait a minute"
Crunch!
Chapter 146: True Goal, Green Dragon
"Ugh!"
Gua Dal''e fell backward violently, his majestic stature nowhere to be found.
The great saber in his hands fell to the ground in pieces.
"..."
The burning tension was doused in cold water.
The battlefield, which had been filled with screams and shouts, became eerily silent.
No one could bring themselves to speak.
Everyone, both the punitive force and the forest bandits, just gaped.
Am I dreaming?The most dumbfounded among them was Gua Dal''e.
After all, who was he?!
Wasn''t he an Expert of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven and the Boss of the Great Tiger Stockade, the Mountain Blood Tiger?!
However, he couldn''t even fight back against some starry-eyed child! The more unbelievable part was the young brat''s de.
Harmony Realm?
Even the Ten Empyrean Overlords had taken over thirty years to reach the Harmony Realm.
This wasn''t something that a child like the one before him should have been able to achieve. No matter how talented he was, it was an impossible feat.
Gua Dal''e still seemedpletely bbergasted, his mouth agape, and he continued to deny the situation before his eyes.
"Yes, this must be witchcraft!"
Gua Dal''e shook his head and red.
"Plum Blossom Order Sword, you cowardly bastardugh!"
Before he could finish speaking, a foot flew in and kicked him in the chest.
"I told you not to waste any time because I''m busy. I have a lot to ask you, so just surrender without resisting."
Gua Dal''e still couldn''te to his senses.
The Great Tiger Stockade Boss fell to the ground pathetically in front of his subordinates. Not even nightmares were this terrifying.
The members of the punitive force and the stockade couldn''t fathom the situation, either.
Zhou Xuchuan had vanished, and when he reappeared, Gua Dal''e was on the ground.
His disciple brothers and sisters just stared at him in disbelief, their eyes widening so much it seemed they might burst. Only those who already knew about Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation weren''t surprised.
"Since ancient times, a stick has been the best medicine for viins who are not in their right minds."
Bam!
"AGK!!!!"
A scream erupted from Gua Dal''e''s mouth.
D-damn it!
It hurt.
It hurt so much that tears filled his eyes.
While it may have seemed like Zhou Xuchuan had swung the stick carelessly, that wasn''t the case. He had swung it using his qi.
Even though Gua Dal''e was trying to circte his qi to lessen the pain, nothing he did worked. Zhou Xuchuan was purposefully only hitting the bandit on his acupoints, disrupting his concentration.
Zhou Xuchuan grabbed Gua Dal''e by the back of the neck and dragged him forward.
"The Great Tiger Stockade Boss was defeated by me, Zhou Xuchuan!"
The forest bandits'' expressions darkened.
Some of them were already looking around, searching for an opportunity to escape.
Meanwhile, the punitive force members deted. Just as they were about tounch a fierce offensive, everything had ended.
No, was Zhou Xuchuan really that strong?
So it wasn''t luck that he won against the Flower Scattering Palm!
They say that the Sect Master taught Senior Brother Zhou. Is that how he gained enlightenment and grew so strong? I envy him.
I can''t believe an expert of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven was defeated so easily!
While the name, the Plum Blossom Order Sword, was famous, not many people had witnessed his strength. That was why there had been so many people who were skeptical about his prowess.
The members of the Mount Hua Sect were especially skeptical. After all, since Zhou Xuchuan had always acted alone, none of them had ever actually been able to spend time with him, let alone see him disy his cultivation.
The Great Tiger Stockade has fallen!
ng!
The forest bandits lost their will to fight. Weapons fell from their hands one by one, making a loud ttering noise.
"Great Hero! Please spare us!" the underboss pleaded, mming his head into the ground and kowtowing.
****
The subjugation of the Great Tiger Stockade ended in a ridiculously simple manner.
After all, didn''t they say that to defeat an enemy, one had to capture their leader first? The result was already decided the moment the Mountain Blood Tiger was defeated.
While things wouldn''t have gone so easily if Zhou Xuchuan had only brought the Gold Will Sword Sect, thanks to the Mount Hua Sect of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Tang Family of the Five Great Ancient Families joining in, the punitive force was easily able to handle the surrender.
They weren''t prestigious sects for nothing.
The prestige of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Ancient Families was enough to make the forest bandits surrender just from the weight of their titles.
After epting the Great Tiger Stockade''s surrender, the forest bandits were tied up and gathered in one ce. Soon after, hordes of wild beasts began to gather.
The punitive force silenced the forest bandits'' cries for help and then dealt with the wild beasts who had been lured by the bait.
While the Mount Hua Sect watched the forest bandits, the warriors of the Gold Will Sword Sect and the Tang Family scoured the stockade for any remaining forest bandits.
Any who resisted were killed, and any who surrendered were tied up and brought to the center of the stockade. In addition, they found and released all of the kidnappedmoners.
"Long live!"
"Thank you, thank you!"
"I''m alive! I''m alive!"
Every day, the prisoners had lived, not knowing when they would die.
Men were turned into the prey of wild beasts as women were raped until they died.
While some were animated and cheered, others were shocked and hollow after experiencing hell.
When the sun was high in the sky, the punitive force members confirmed that there weren''t any hidden forest bandits left and took the remaining bandits that had surrendered to the prison.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan took the boss and the underboss of the Great Tiger Stockade aside for questioning.
"I think you know how vicious the Tang Family''s poisons are supposed to be. So, you''d better speak truthfully."
"Understood!" the underboss stuttered as if he had been waiting for this moment.
He would do anything to save his life.
"That bastard ordered us to do all of it."
He brought up all sorts of evil deeds without prompt, ming it all on the boss. He also told Zhou Xuchuan where the stockade had hidden all of its treasure. Zhou Xuchuan had interrogated him and Gua Dal''e separately because he knew the underboss would be too scared to spill any details if he had interrogated them together. It was a sessful n.
"You really are the worst bastards in the world."
Zhou Xuchuan looked at the pile of gold, silver, and treasures. Rather than admiring their spoils, he thought about how many people they had to have harmed to get this much wealth.
Since the Nine Forest Gangs were a mid-level mountain bandit den, each of the stockades had quite stockpiled a bit.
Even with just the gold, silver, and treasures, the stockade was full of it. Zhou Xuchuan dug through the stockade''s hidden wealth and took out all of the medicine and food.
After filling the stomachs of those who had been enved by the stockade and weren''t able to eat properly, he and the others treated their wounds with the medicine.
"Oh dear, I''m just grateful that you saved me. You didn''t have to go this far!"
"It''s nothing. We''ve just done what we should as martial artists."
That wasn''t all. Zhou Xuchuan opened the Great Tiger Stockade''s warehouse and distributed the wealth so that the people could get back on their feet. The prisoners, who, while now free and saved, had concerns and a bleak outlook on how they were going to survive in the future, shed tears of joy.
He also told those who had lost their homes after being attacked to head for the Gold Will Merchants.
"With that much money, the Gold Will Merchants will be able to find ces for you to live and things for you to do."
"Sob, thank you! Thank you!"
With a newfound hope for survival, the prisoners'' emotions surged as they finally let out their tears.
Good. With this, we can get the support of the people.
The Gold Will Merchants had easily gained money and power thanks to the skills of the Merchant King. However, their reputation among themon people was less than favorable.
That was understandable, as they had started out as war merchants who sold weapons and supplies on the battlefield from the very beginning days of their merchantpany.
Moreover, their reputation within the murim left much to be desired.
While supplying weapons to the Righteous Faction earned them goodwill, that goodwill had immediately fallen when they used the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher during the Seven Swords War.
It wasn''t that Li Yicai wasn''t providing charity, but it had a minimal effect in improving their reputation, and he had been worried about what to do.
Destroying the Great Tiger Stockade, rescuing the people, and leaving the cleanup and rehabilitation to the Gold Will Merchants should do wonders for their reputation.
After finishing the distribution of wealth, Zhou Xuchuan called the warriors of the Gold Will Sword Sect to hand over the surrendered forest bandits to the imperial government.
"Junior Brother. I really am proud of you," Zhang Hong said, lightly patting Zhou Xuchuan''s shoulder with a serious expression.
"While I know the sect taught you not to covet wealth, that''s not as easy as it sounds. I''m ashamed to say that when I first saw this mountain of wealth, I even thought to myself, ''With this much, wouldn''t it be okay to sneak a handful?''"
It was impossible to be a Daoist without desires.
If one were a person, they would have desires.
"However, you said that we should distribute this wealth to the people who were captured without any hesitation. I really am proud of you, Junior Brother."
"It''s just as Senior Brother said. There isn''t much difference in how you were in the Lotus Pavilion when we were children and how you are now. Neither your cultivation nor your temperament can be matched."
Zhang Xuen smiled in agreement.
It''s because this amount is nothing
Zhou Xuchuan felt a slight prick in his conscience.
"Hoho."
Luo Xiaoyue smiled pleasantly, appearing so happy that one might misunderstand and think she had been the one praised.
"While this warm atmosphere is good and all, shouldn''t we discuss what''s going to happen next?" Tang Hui asked, squeezing into the conversation between fellow disciples.
"I would like it if you could finally tell us everything you''ve been keeping secret. It''ll be difficult for us to move forward if you continue to leave us in the dark."
Chu Lian nodded in agreement with Tang Hui''s point.
"Actually, we were thinking the same, too."
After destroying the Great Tiger Stockade and sending the forest bandits to the imperial government, the news would soon spread beyond the Nine Forest Gangs and into the Central ins.
There was no reason to hide it anymore.
"As you all may know, the goal of this punitive force is to destroy the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest or something simr to that effect."
Gulp.
"However, we all know that''s not as easy as it sounds."
It wasn''t for nothing that the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family had grudges from the past.
The amount of manpower they lost dealing with the stockades wasn''t small.
While the members of the punitive force were not weak, they weren''t strong enough to deal with the entirety of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest.
They wouldn''t always be able to take advantage of a gap in the defenses like this or leverage wild beasts to create chaos.
If they attacked a stockade and the enemy''s support forces surrounded them, they were done for.
Even if an expert like Zhou Xuchuan could somehow escape, the chances of the rest of the punitive force surviving were low.
"If we go south for half a day, at most a day, from the Great Tiger Stockade, we''lle across the Green Dragon Stockade."
"Ah!"
The people eximed, catching on.
"The Green Dragon Stockade Boss, or rather, the Stockade Boss of the Red Forest, is our final target."
The structure of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, a confederation of bandits, was simr to that of the Martial Alliance or the Evil Valley. Just as the Righteous Faction forces gathered among themselves and the Evil Faction forces did the same, the bandits had gathered together and elected a representative.
The one who led the coalition of the Nine Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs was the Stockade Boss of the Red Forest.
"It''s realistically impossible for us to deal with the entire Red Forest with just our strength. So, I n on taking the Stockade Boss'' head and retreating."
"I see!"
Luo Xiaoyue pped her hands, realizing Zhou Xuchuan''s intentions.
"Indeed, I understand. You intend to kill their leader and cause a civil war, making it impossible for them to make any moves for a while."
Tang Hui expression seemed to say that she understood everything.
"Junior Sister Luo and Young Lady Poison Phoenix are both really smart. If it''s okay with you, could either of you exin it to me?" Zhang Hong scratched the back of his head, looking confused.
"Are you saying that we should take advantage of the guaranteed struggle for the throne?" Zhuge Shengji asked, seeking rity.
Zhou Xuchuan nodded instead of answering.
"Hmph! Damn it, can someone please just exin it to me inyman''s terms for us idiots?"
Chu Lian thumped her chest in frustration.
"Those bastards have no sense of loyalty. Even if their boss dies, they won''t get filled with desire for revenge. Rather, they would be more concerned about who would be the next boss," Zhuge Shengji stepped forward and exined kindly.
"So?"
"If we kill the Stockade Boss and continue fighting, the Red Forest will continue chasing us, and the war will be filled with bloodlust. However, it would be a different story if the entire punitive force retreats immediately."
As long as one became the Stockade Boss of the Red Forest, they wouldmand all of the bandits in the Nine Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs.
That authority wasn''t ordinary.
"Indeed."
Zhang Hong pped his knee, finally understanding.
If the punitive force retreated after killing the Stockade Boss, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest would begin to assess their losses and reorganize. Discord would surely arise during that time. After all, the gains and losses would depend on whether their new Stockade Boss was a forest bandit or a pirate.
Moreover, a civil war of that scale would not end easily, and in the meantime, the persistent plundering of the Gold Will Merchants would stop.
"I was wondering why you were targeting the Great Tiger Stockade. Was it simply because it was close to the Green Dragon Stockade?" Luo Xiaoyue asked.
"Yes."
The only reason the Great Tiger Stockade had suffered such cmity was simply because it had been the closest to the Green Dragon Stockade.
Chapter 147: True Goal, Green Dragon (2)
The next day.
The gangho, already in an uproar over the recovery of the Prajna Divine Art, was stirred once again.
The fall of the Great Tiger Stockade, one of the Nine Forest Gangs, was the cause of thismotion.
Those who had been trapped in the Great Tiger Stockade were treated the night before, and all of them were taken down the mountain. Moreover, a warrior of the Gold Will Sword Sect had gone to the imperial government''s office and reported to the official about the subjugation of the Great Tiger Stockade.
With a little greasing of the wheels through handing over some valuables, as soon as the sun rose, the imperial government''s troops made their move.
While arge-scale suppression would have limited their movements, taking down a surrendered Forest Stockade was a different story.
On the contrary, they were actually eager for the opportunity to earn merits.
"Great Tiger Stockade, where have I heard that name"
"No, just what sort of mountain shanty have these guys lived in?""Hey, hey, all bandits are just like that. After all, aren''t they just parasites feeding on the blood of the people?"
"That parasite you''re talking about, the Great Tiger Stockade Boss, the Mountain Blood Tiger, is one of the One Hundred Experts under Heaven and the younger brother of the Stockade Boss of the Red Forest. Above all, the Great Tiger Stockade is a group of bastards who kidnap people and use them as food for tigers."
"Gasp!"
"With the Mount Hua Sect, the Tang Family, and the Gold Will Sword Sect alling forward to wipe them out, I can rx and rest easy."
"It''s not for nothing that they''re called the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Ancient Families!"
Not only the martial artists, but even themoners showed interest.
It was only natural for themoners to be happy that the bandits who had been harassing them had disappeared.
Themon people praised the punitive force.
"Have you heard who was in the punitive force?"
"Of course I did. Wasn''t it the Plum Blossom Order Sword Zhou Xuchuan, the Poison Phoenix Tang Hui, the Chivalrous Plum Sword Zhang Hong, the Jade Plum Flower Zhang Xuen, and the Second Gale of the Ten Gale Swordsmen Chu Lian?"
While the overall strength of the punitive force was impressive, the five key members were so famous that the others were overshadowed.
"There really is no ce that Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan doesn''t get involved."
"That must mean he has a great sense of justice. He''s truly a Great Hero, a Great Hero!"
Not even a day had passed, but as soon as morning came, rumors spread like wildfire.
They say that words could travel a thousand miles even without legs. By lunchtime, the rumors had already reached other regions.
While some had wanted to seize the treasures that had been distributed among the kidnapped people after hearing about Zhou Xuchuan''s decision regarding the spoils, that was firmly out of the question due to the intervention of the imperial government.
If things had gone normally, the troops and officials might have confiscated the money, iming it belonged to the nation. However, when they heard that there were still treasures in the Great Tiger Stockade, the troops left themoners alone. Moreover, the rumors had spread so quickly that it became difficult to seize the treasure anyway, meaning there was no reason to go through the trouble.
Meanwhile, as news of the punitive force and the fall of the Great Tiger Stockade stirred a storm across the world, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest were also in an uproar.
The Green Dragon Pce.
It wasrge for a bandit''s den.
Its magnificent gate, reminiscent of a castle''s main gate, was a massive wooden structure. While it may have been made of wood, it was so thick that it seemed impossible to open it forcefully from the outside without a siege weapon.
The outer wall connected to the gate surrounded the stockade, wide enough to prevent intrusion. With a height of at least three zhang, it resembled an imprable fortress.
The watchtower installed in all directions allowed them to monitor enemies approaching from over a li away, with eagle-eyed guards taking turns working twelve shifts.
"The Great Tiger Stockade has fallen? What sort of insanity are you talking about?!"
In the deepest part of the stockade, where not even sunlight could prate, was a room that seemed as bright as day from the sheer amount of expensive Luminous Night Pearls installed on the walls. Soft silks, thick enough to reach one''s ankles, served as rugs, while the head of a stuffed beast was hung on the wall.
Amidst the opulence were luxury goods that only the strong or powerful could even dare to desire, adding to the room''s ambiance.
However, what caught people''s eyes weren''t the expensive items or even the beauty whose clothes somehow made her seem practically naked.
It was a man with a sharp jawline typical of a manly man, with a thick beard like a lion''s mane, and a fierce aura that naturally made one feel intimidated.
His thick, sharply angled eyebrows only heightened his already fearsome demeanor.
"Stockade Boss! It was that bastard, Zhou Xuchuan. The Plum Blossom Order Sword not only mobilized the Gold Will Sword Sect, but also the Mount Hua Sect and the Tang Family!"
The Stockade Boss of the Red Forest, Meng Gang. He was the ruler of the coalition of the Nine Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs.
"What?"
Meng Gang finally came to his senses and listened.
"There''s no way I wouldn''t have heard if those two forces made a move, just what happened? Keep talking."
"Mount Hua Sect and the Tang Family didn''t head the subjugation."
"Then?"
"That bastard Zhou Xuchuan used his personal connections."
The punitive force had less than a hundred members. Due to its small size, its movements were quiet and swift, making it difficult to detect.
Most importantly, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest underestimated the punitive force. They ignored its existence without a second thought.
Moreover, the Stockades were focused on dealing with the Gold Will Merchants, meaning their forces were considerably depleted. Given that they were letting their guard down, it was no surprise they fell when they were at their weakest.
"No, still, even with that considered, this is ridiculous. Most of them were just brats, how could they fall to them in less than a day?" Meng Gangughed in disbelief.
"Gua, what was that bastard doing to get beaten so easily? Was he having sex with a tiger or something?"
His words were extremely eloquent, as if he wanted to remind everyone that he was a bandit.
"He lost to Zhou Xuchuan," The underboss of the Green Dragon Stockade answered.
"Tsk tsk. It''s obvious that he was beaten because he underestimated the brat for being a kid."
"ording to rumors from the vigers, he was killed in a single blow"
"What would those who''ve never even cultivated know? Maybe they exaggerated the rumor to scare you."
Meng Gang didn''t shed a single tear even after his younger brother whom he had shared wine with had died. On the contrary, he cursed him for being foolish.
Even if there might have been some semnce of loyalty among the Forest Stockades, it meant nothing to Meng Gang. Loyalty to other bandits? Laughable and embarrassing to mention.
If it wasn''t for his subordinates sitting in front of him, he would have evenughed heartily.
"What a pity. I really liked his tributes."
Meng Gang licked his lips regretfully.
"Should we send some brats down to the Great Tiger Stockade?" the underboss asked cautiously, gauging the stockade boss'' mood.
Meng Gang looked regretful about the treasures of the Great Tiger Stockade.
"The imperial government''s troops should already be making their move, and even if we were to make a move now, it would already be toote. Just leave it alone for now. More importantly, where is that great punitive force?"
"They say that they left the Great Tiger Stockade this morning. However, they seem to be moving towards us, the Green Dragon Stockade."
"Huh?"
Meng Gang had a bewildered expression on his face. The underboss had a simr reaction.
It would be a grave mistake to consider the Green Dragon Stockade as just another stockade. The amount of money it had spent on its defenses and security was iparable to the other stockades.
In addition, the stockade was located in rugged terrain, making it the perfect ce to fend off a siege.
One of the reasons the imperial government troops and the murim forces had hesitated to attack the Green Dragon Stockade was because of this imprable fortress.
Most importantly, as expected of the stockade of the Stockade Boss of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, the Green Dragon Stockade was full of experts.
The Stockade Boss alone was one of the strongest experts of the murim.
So, it was absurd to think that less than a hundred people wereing to subjugate the Green Dragon Stockade.
"What should we do?"
"Hmph!"
Meng Gang scratched his beard and mused.
Just what the hell could they be nning?
Unless they were crazy, there was no way that they would try to attack the Green Dragon Stockade with so few people.
Yes, the stockade had sent out most of their forces to raid the Gold Will Merchants, but they still had more than enough strength to handle a hundred people.
It hadn''t even been a day since the fall of the Great Tiger Stockade, so it was too early to make a decision on what to do.
Things could get annoying if the brats are just bait and a distraction. We should wait and see before we make any hasty moves.
The punitive force that set off from the Great Tiger Stockade headed south to the Green Dragon Stockade.
While they were able to recover all of their stamina and qi by taking proper rest throughout their journey, their speed was consequently slower.
If they had marched non-stop, they could have reached their destination in just a day or two. However, maintaining that pace was impossible, so it took them four days to arrive.
To be clear, they didn''t actually go all the way to the Green Dragon Stockade. Instead, they stopped about half an hour to an hour away and set up camp.
"I just can''t tell what in the world they''re thinking," Meng Gang muttered as he looked over at their camp from the watchtower.
It had been two days since the punitive force arrived, but they had made no moves, let alone attacked.
Since he didn''t know what they were thinking, Meng Gang couldn''t move rashly.
Although the punitive force itself wasn''t a threat, he suspected that it might be a trap.
"Stockade Boss!"
It had been two days since the punitive force arrived, but they had made no moves, let alone attacked.
"What''s going on?"
Meng Gang leapt off the watchtower as if he had been waiting for this very moment.
While the tower was about four zhang high, he didn''t care whatsoever.
Boom!
It felt like a boulder the size of a house had fallen instead of a personnding.
"We''ve received a report from the scouts. They''ve found a group of over two hundred people half a day''s distance to the south."
"Of course there''s another group!"
Meng Gang''s eyes zed with energy, feeling relieved as his pent-up frustration was released.
"Did you confirm their affiliation?"
"Judging from their auras and their footsteps, they''re definitely martial artists.[1] However, it''s hard to tell where they came from."
"Tsk. There''s nothing we can do about that."
Though he didn''t know who they were, since they were targeting the Green Dragon Stockade, Meng Gang assumed that they were at most First ss martial artists.
No matter how fortified the Green Dragon Stockade was said to be against thieves, it still had its limits. If the Righteous Faction had deliberately only sent its elites, it would have been difficult for the scouts to even approach.
Well, I can guess what they''re up to at least.
Two hundred troops wasn''t arge force. It was simply too few to deal with the entirety of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest.
His mind raced, almost emitting heat from how fast it was working.
They must be trying to kill me and cause internal strife, aiming for the self-destruction of the Red Forest!
Meng Gang''s eyes widened.
"Their camp in front is a decoy!"
Common sense was telling them that less than a hundred people wouldn''t have dared to charge through the main gate.
"They must have nned something, using an elite force to approach from behind while their main forces drew our attention, but it was all in vain. I anticipated this and positioned scouts to ensure we''d be aware of their approach!"
Meng Gang sneered sinisterly, then turned around and lowered his voice so those outside couldn''t hear him as he issued an order.
"Move our forces to the back gate, but keep yourselves lowered so they can''t see you from the outside. Things might be difficult if they notice you and run away. I''ll personally cut off the heads of any of you who mess up."
"What about the main gate?"
"Leave about twenty people behind. Unless they bring cavalry, they won''t be able to break through the main gate."
"Yes, understood!" the underboss replied, his voice filled with respect.
As expected of the Stockade Boss. He''s iparable to the other leaders we''ve had so far. He''s not only impossibly strong, but he''s also wise and skilled in strategy!
Meng Gang himself was a key reason why the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley found it difficult to attack the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest.
The reason that the bandits and thieves, who only knew how to fight and take a beating were able to improve their skills was solely due to the Stockade Boss.
Before Meng Gang, the Red Forest had merely lived day to day. However, after he became their leader, they found the luxury of nning for tomorrow.
However, that luxury was only meant tost for a moment.
When the group Meng Gang assumed to be the elite force arrived at the back gate, he appeared as if he had been waiting for them andughed loudly.
"Ahahaha! You bastards must have thought I didn''t know what you were nning"
BOOM-!
A loud noise shook the heavens and the earth.
When he turned to see what was happening, he was greeted by the sight of ck smoke rising from the front gate.
"Puahaha! I, the genius of mechanisms, Zhuge Shengji, have arrived!"
1. It''s a belief that martial artists walk differently, which is why they can walk on water and even on air. ?
Chapter 148: Fishing In Troubled Waters
There were several methods for a siege.
One of them was called a Xue.
It involved digging a trench directly under a castle wall, installing a bomb, and detonating it to destroy the walls'' foundations and copse them.
After all, if one couldn''t break through the main gates, one could simply break through the wall next to it and enter through the space created.
However, the Xue was a siege method.
In other words, it was a method only used by imperial government troops, who were ustomed to sieges and defensive fortifications. This wasn''t something used by those of the murim.
To begin with, the concept of siege or defensive fortifications itself was unfamiliar to them.
Neither the Nine Sects and One Gang nor the Five Great Ancient Families, or any sect or family for that matter, had anything like a fortress in the first ce. Moreover, if they were to construct something like that, the imperial government would likely suspect them of treason and send troops to investigate.
However, there were some who still had this knowledge that was buried within the murim.Namely Zhou Xuchuan and Zhuge Shengji.
In addition to his knowledge of martial arts, Zhou Xuchuan had a broad knowledge of various topics thanks to his love for reading in hister years.
Zhuge Shengji, on the other hand, had read all the books rted to siege and fortification mechanisms he could find from a young age.
Most importantly, wasn''t he from the Zhuge Family?
As a n that liked to pursue knowledge, there were quite a few in the family who were knowledgeable about such matters.
It was only because there wasn''t enough time to cultivate or study formations that few people studied siege techniques in depth.
"Hmph, wow."
Chu Lian couldn''t help but be amazed as she watched the outer wall copse.
"It really feels like we''re stepping away from what it means to be a martial artist," a Gold Will Sword Sect warrior smiled bitterly as he expressed his appreciation.
As they had all ended up relying on the merchantpany for money due to their own circumstances, all the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors had thought they had given up all sense of pride as martial artists.
However, they were still concerned about fighting for an organization that used explosives instead of martial arts.
"Don''t you think the imperial government would arrest us if we keep using things like this?" someone asked as if they were worried.
While it was customary in the murim for explosives to be prohibited, the warriors were more worried about the intervention of the government.
"It''s okay. I knew this would happen, so I asked the Head Merchant for permission to bribe the government troops ahem, I asked for permission due to circumstances."
"By circumstances, you mean?"
"In addition to military uses, explosives are also used for mining purposes."
Zhuge Shengji smiled, revealing his white teeth. His face was covered in dirt, perhaps because he had just emerged from a tunnel.
However, he was smiling brightly, as if he was happy with his own performance.
While the brat is the brat, Captain Zhou is also impressive.
A few days ago, when Chu Lian heard that they were going to attack the Green Dragon Stockade, she had honestly suspected that there was something wrong with Zhou Xuchuan''s head.
Even though she had been informed of the operation in advance, she still felt anxious when they arrived near the Green Dragon Stockade and set up camp.
Seeing the main gate and outer walls of the stockade, which resembled castle walls, she doubted whether they could really break through.
She even wondered what she was doing with her life when she found herself digging a tunnel with Zhou Xuchuan after setting up camp. However, when she witnessed the outer walls copse spectacrly, her thoughts changed.
Although his cultivation, which seemed to defy thews of nature, was incredible, his wisdom and his ability tomand, including his insight, were also extraordinary.
While I knew he was extraordinary since he was young, I never could have expected it to this degree. Just what does one have to do to be like that?
One just had to die once and return to the past.
****
Meng Gang couldn''t tear his eyes away from the main gate.
"W- what?"
The first reaction was bewilderment.
The second was anger.
"Why is a martial artist using a Xue?!"
Meng Gang saw the copsed outer wall and immediately recognized the method.
"A-a Xue?!" the underboss of the Green Forest Stockade eximed in confusion. However, he was ignored.
The foundation of a martial artist, whether it was a martial artist of the Righteous Path, Evil Path, or the Demonic Path,y in the practice of honing one''s strength.
However, a Xue deviated from that foundational concept.
Even thinking of using such a method would have been surprisingCit was absurd that the punitive force had actually put it into action.
Where am I supposed to go?
Meng Gang''s eyes darted around anxiously.
While the main gate itself was a problem, so were the hundred or so people waiting right in front of him.
Where is the true assault?
There was a high probability that this side was a decoy and the other side was the real thing.
However, that could itself be a diversion. If he were to reposition his forces to the front gate only to find the back breached, it would escte into a true crisis.
While, unlike the main gate, there was a wall built in front of the small back gate, it was impossible to predict how a person would break in.
"Red Forest bandits, listen up!"
At the critical moment, a deep voice sounded from below.
Among the two hundred or so martial artists, a middle-aged man stepped forward and continued speaking.
"The time hase for you to be punished for the crimes you havemitted against the powerless. Just look at the crimes you havemitted"
Meng Gang didn''t bother listening to anything beyond that.
"Ugh!"
Meng Gang red at the underboss.
"Take half and keep the main gate from being invaded."
"Understood!!"
No matter how he was feeling, if he didn''t make a decision now, the situation would only get worse.
Shit!
Since the pressure from the rear was unusual, Meng Gang first divided his forces in half.
"Good."
Zhou Xuchuanughed as he watched the Red Forest bandits split in half. The situation was ying out exactly as he had anticipated.
The punitive force advanced rapidly toward the center of the stockade after crossing over the copsed outer wall. Since most of the stockade''s forces were at the back of thepound, there was nothing to stop them.
The Mount Hua Sect and the Tang Family coordinated their movements with wless precision. Zhang Hong, Zhang Xuen, Luo Xiaoyue, and Tang Hui led the charge.
"Shoot them!" the Red Forest bandits on the watchtower shouted.
"You dare?!"
Zhou Xuchuan sprinted up thedder of the watchtower and leaped high into the air. It didn''t take him long for him to reach the top.
"Argh"
The Red Forest bandits screamed as they were thrown from the tower. Zhou Xuchuan grabbed the bow and arrows that the Red Forest bandits were holding, jumped back down from the watchtower, and climbed up the outer wall.
The second an arrow was nocked, it was shot.
Twang!
"Ugh!"
The arrow that seemed to fly with a hundred percent uracy pierced the temple of the archer who was aiming down directly from below.
Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head as he nocked the next arrow on the bow, wondering what was going on.
Is the Stockade Boss from the imperial government?
Martial artists tended to look down on bows.
However, contrary to the general disdain for archery within the murim, there were a lot of archers within the stockade.
They were ced in many ces, including the watchtowers and the outer walls.
While he had noticed it from the start and was suspicious of the stockadeyout that reminded him of a castle, he could sense the influence of the imperial government troops everywhere.
Moreover, he was confident that the Stockade Boss'' previous position was, at the very least, that of amanding officer.
It wasn''t umon for bandits to be from the imperial government. After all, most deserters either fled to or hid within the mountains.
However, the level at which tactics could be applied in this manner was truly hard to find.
BOO-OOM!
Just as Zhou Xuchuan took down another archer, a thunderous noise echoed, followed by a tremor that felt like an earthquake.
Wondering what was going on, he turned his head and saw a creature as massive as the Arsenic Pig he had fought in Zhengzhou.
"The ck Iron Ball, Zhang Du!"
Being the strongest among the stockades, the majority of its members were just as strong.
Zhang Du, the strongest among the bandits after the underboss, was a monster who could freely manipte an iron ball the size of a human''s body.
"Ugh!"
A disciple of Mount Hua was hit by the iron ball without having the chance to dodge. Though the ball had merely grazed his leg, the impact was enough to shatter the bone.
"Junior Brother!"
"How dare you, you bandit bastards?!"
Shouts of anger erupted from the Mount Hua Sect disciples. However, they all still kept their distance and their guards up, as reason still came first.
"No one can stand up to the ck Iron Ball, not even the Mount Hua Sect!"
Vroom, vroom, vroom!
Zhang Du held the lower end of his chain with his left hand and the middle with his right, spinning it around.
The iron ball, which was as big as a person, spun in a circle, creating an immense sense of pressure.
Every time it rotated, it let out a heavy cracking sound.
The iron wasn''t just any iron.
While it may not have been the legendary Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, it was still a hardened iron that was stronger than regr steel. Its sheer weight was astonishing, and it was equally impressive to see how easily Zhang Du wielded it.
Even if he threw the ball, he retrieved it quickly and smoothly. It was incredibly difficult to approach because of how threatening it was.
"I''ll take him on."
Luo Xiaoyue took a step forward without hesitation.
"Hmph!"
Zhang Du looked at Luo Xiaoyue and smiled unpleasantly, his eyes full of lust.
"Wow! This bitch is really pretty!"
"Zhang Du Hyungnim! Don''t hurt that bitch!"
Red Forest bandits arrived behind Zhang Du one after the other. They ogled at Luo Xiaoyue, mesmerized by her beauty.
"But, I like that one over there, though."
"Hmph. They''re all going to go to the Stockade Boss or the underboss, anyway. When will I ever get to taste such beauties"
Although crude and lewd jokes were thrown her way, Luo Xiaoyue remained unfazed.
Her gaze was fixed solely on Zhang Du, or more precisely, on the ck Iron Ball he was holding in his hand, and she had no intention of losing sight of it.
However, Tang Hui, who had nothing to focus on, was different.
Flutter!
Her sleeves puffed up before swaying as if the wind was blowing, sending poison needles flying everywhere.
The poison needles, which were incredibly difficult to notice unless one was an expert or a veteran, shot into the air before raining down on the bandits below.
"Ugh!"
"It''s the Tang Family''s hidden weapons! Dodge it!"
The expressions on the Red Forest bandits, who had moments ago been making crude jokes, changed instantly.
Everyone was in a panic, trying to leap out of the way and quickly dodge. However, it was toote.
Half, if not three-quarters, of them were hit by the poison needles.
"Tsk, tsk, men!"
Chu Lian clicked her tongue as if she found the bandits pitiful before stepping on a gale. As her realm wasn''t low, her movements were like the wind.
Leaving Zhuge Shengji to the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors, Chu Lian stepped forward, disying her lightning-fast swordsmanship as she cut down the bandits.
"Ugh!"
"Kill them!"
"Are those bastards cursing at the Young Miss?"
The Tang Family''s inability to let a grudge go was well known. The Poison Phoenix''s escorts chased after the remaining bandits, unable to contain their anger.
The Mount Hua Sect disciples split into two groups. One group passed by Zhang Du andunched an offensive against the Red Forest bandits waiting behind him.
The rest, worried about Luo Xiaoyue, surrounded the area and guarded against any unforeseen circumstances.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Zhang Du swung the ck Iron Ball with a roar.
Vroom!
The ball spun through the air in a parabolic arc, its wind pressure alone carrying terrifying force.
What was even more terrifying was its speed. Considering it was made of ck iron, its weight must have been immense, yet it still moved swiftly.
The shadow of the ck Iron Ball loomed over his head.
Boom!
The ck and dark iron ball crashed into the ground.
The ground shook violently as if an earthquake had just urred, and the ce where the iron ball hadnded caved in and formed a pit.
Before the ck Iron Ball fell on her head, Luo Xiaoyue, who had moved her body to the side with the Hundred Divine Shifts, wore a grim expression.
With that kind of force, my body won''t survive, even if it just brushes past me.
Her grip tightened on her sword.
Taking a step forward, she carefully surveyed the surroundings. Although she may have been rtively unknown in the gangho, her skills were undeniable.
Her wless steps were so perfect that anyone who saw them couldn''t help but exim in admiration.
Her beauty was almost otherworldly, like that of a fairy, and she captivated people with her wless movements as a warrior.
Just as she prepared to attack Zhang Du from the side, sword raised for a horizontal sh, Luo Xiaoyue suddenly flinched and hurriedly retreated.
Vroom!
The ck Iron Ball, which she had expected to take some time to be pulled from the copsed ground, came sweeping through the air again, tearing through the atmosphere.
If she had hesitated even a moment longer, she might have been hit by that ck Iron Ball and died screaming.
It''s fast.
Not only was the attack itself formidable, but the speed with which Zhang Du recovered the ball and countered was remarkable. Zhang Du was handling the ck Iron Ball as if it were his own hand.
"My ck Iron Ball is invincible under heaven!" Zhang Du shouted with a loud, confidentugh.
Chapter 149: Fishing In Troubled Waters (2)
""
Distancing herself from Zhang Du, Luo Xiaoyue adjusted her grip on her sword.
I''ll get hit if I try to attack recklessly.
For the most part, the bandits weren''t particrly skilled. However, every so often, there were experts like Zhang Du.
Not only was his natural strength extraordinary, but his qi and martial arts were formidable.
Vroom, vroom, vroom.
Zhang Du''s arm spun in ce. Following his movements, the ck Iron Ball moved fiercely, drawing a circle mid-air.
Because his body was so big, it looked almost like a gori was swinging the iron ball, not a person.
"Ughhh-ah!"Boom!
The iron ball, which had been spinning above Zhang Du''s head, shot forward, aimed directly at Luo Xiaoyue.
Its sheer size and speed would make most freeze in fear, leaving little chance to dodge
However, Luo Xiaoyue didn''t hesitate. She used her footwork technique, swiftly dodging to the left and then dashing forward.
"Where do you think you''re going?!"
The corners of Zhang Du''s mouth rose slightly. Then, the muscles in his forearm holding the chain bulged.
Woosh!
The chain rippled like waves. Force traveled through the chain, changing the direction of the ck Iron Ball.
The ck Iron Ball, which had been traveling in a straight line, suddenly veered sharply to the right.
"Look out!"
"Eeek!"
Her disciple siblings, who were watching, screamed.
Oops!
Although he was the one who had attacked, Zhang Du was also surprised. He had unintentionally used all his strength. The way things were going, that beautiful face would bepletely crushed.
While his personal regret was one thing, his greater concern was how furious the Stockade Boss would be, considering it was a beauty he had just crushed.
Well, it was toote to change direction or pull the ball back now.
"Heup!"
Without even turning to look, Luo Xiaoyue bent backward at the waist, dropping to her knees as if she were lying t on the ground.
Woosh!
A gust of wind brushed past her as the ck Iron Ball flew over her head, ruffling her hair.
"Whew!"
The onlookers let out a collective sigh of relief.
She had narrowly avoided being crushed beyond recognition.
She dodged that?!
Zhang Du blinked in disbelief.
Before he could fully process what had happened, Luo Xiaoyue sprang back to her feet andunched herself forward.
"Huh!"
Zhang Du gasped in surprise. Still, as if proving he wasn''t a novice, he prepared to counterattack.
Luo Xiaoyue''s sword strike shot out with a dazzling lighta straight, pristine attack, unwavering and precise.
It''s dangerous!
Sensing the danger, Zhang Du raised his qi. He realized he may have exerted too much strength, as his dantian was tingling and sore.
ng, ng!
Generating a gravitational force with his qi, he summoned the ck Iron Ball to him. This was his secret to getting the ck Iron Ball return instantly even after throwing it with all his might.
"Ha!"
For the first time, a shout escaped Luo Xiaoyue''s lips, but it wasn''t to add force to her strike. Instead, she cut off the flow of qi toward her sword.
This wasn''t a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was as if she had been waiting for this exact moment, her response precise and calcted, as if every move had been foreseen.
Her transition was seamless, her bnce kept centered rather than leaning forward, allowing her to turn instantly to the right.
Luo Xiaoyue, who had been charging forward like a wild boar, once again made a half-turn, drawing a curve with graceful movements.
"D-damn it!" Zhang Du swore.
He had tried his best to redirect the ck Iron Ball. However, Luo Xiaoyue had changed direction again.
Even Zhang Du, who had the ability to handle the ck Iron Ball as freely as he handled his own hands, wasn''t able to change it again in time.
Theoretically, he could have tried harder, but that risked causing his qi to flow backward, potentially leading to qi deviation.
In the end, Zhang Du had no choice but to let Luo Xiaoyue''s attacknd.
Despite despairing at that reality, Zhang Du tried to minimize the damage from the sword strike that wasing for him, putting all his strength into fortifying his body and focusing on defense.
Squelch!
Luo Xiaoyue''s sword caught the sunlight as it sliced into Zhang Du''s side, blood spraying as the de continued through.
"Ugh!"
Zhang Du''s face twisted in pain.
Despite the intense pain, Zhang Du endured. After all, he had suffered worse to reach this point in life.
However, the issue now was that his ability to move his upper body was temporarily slowed when his side was cut.
In the meantime, Luo Xiaoyue disyed her quick stabs while she spun her body like a top, using her left foot as the axis.
Squelch!
"Ugh!"
Her stabnded near his spine. Though it didn''t reach the bone thanks to his thick muscles.
Still, what was concerning was the nerve. If she severed the wrong nerve, his future would be difficult, let alone the ck Iron Ball Art he was so proud of.
"This damned bitch!"
Zhang Du''s eyes turned bloodshot as rage overtook him, his bloodlust boiling likeva.
"Agh!!" he screamed.
It wasn''t a scream of pain. Anger surged from his chest and burst out of his throat.
Zhang Du swung the ck Iron Ball, using all of his qi, no longer holding anything back.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
It didn''t end with one swing.
He gripped the chain tightly, spinning himself around like a top.
It wasn''t simply spinning like a top. He had actually turned into one.
"What?!"
"H-hyungnim! We''re here too!"
The warriors fighting nearby were also surprised. Both allies and enemies distanced themselves from Zhang Du.
He had be one with the ck Iron Ball, spinning continuously and making it impossible for him to distinguish between friend and foe.
Zhang Du''s determination to destroy the surroundings was evident.
"I can''t get close!"
Luo Xiaoyue stamped her feet helplessly as her eyes filled with despair.
No one would be able to even pick up her bones if she walked up to him. Even if she dug herself in and attacked, she wondered if she would be able to stop him.
"ROAR!"
Zhang Du continued spinning.
While his field of vision was extremely narrow, it didn''t matter. He was so angry that he couldn''t see ahead anyway.
Even though he must have been dizzy, he held on well.
BOOM!
The wind created by the ck Iron Ball blew viciously. The wind pressure itself was so strong that Luo Xiaoyue couldn''t approach rashly.
"Huh?"
One of the nearby Red Forest bandits lost his bnce due to the wind pressure and was sucked in backward.
BANG!
The ck Iron Ball smashed into him, and he died instantly, without even a scream.
WOOSH!
The most terrifying part about it was its power.
The moment one was hit, their upper body would shatter and get torn apart.
As if that wasn''t enough, the bandit was flung across the battlefield, crashing into a distant watchtower.
Crack!!
The impact shattered the watchtower''s supporting pirs, sending up a massive dust cloud that spread out like a nket over the ground.
"E-eek!"
"Gasp!"
Frightened voices rose around him as everyone''s faces paled.
Both members of the punitive force and the Red Forest tried to keep their distance as much as possible.
Even Luo Xiaoyue tried to retreat. However, her proximity to Zhang Du left her with few options.
As if bent on revenge, Zhang Du pursued her, swinging the ck Iron Ball wildly.
As if a whirlwind was passing by, everything Zhang Du''s ck Iron Ball passed turned into scorched earth. The mountain, where weeds grew wildly, became barren, and even ancient trees that were decades old were uprooted.
"Junior Sister!"
Zhang Xuen stamped her feet, unable to even approach.
While her face was full of worry, there was no way for her to save Luo Xiaoyue.
"Above!"
Tang Hui gave an order and threw her hidden weapon.
The Tang Family warriors immediately understood hermand and threw something above Zhang Du''s head.
Thwip!
While it wasn''t the Sichuan Tang Family''s legendary Torrential Flower Rain, the rain of hidden weapons was impressive.
Ting! Ting, ting!
However, the force of the hidden weapons wasn''t that great. If even one properlynded, it would have taken effect and been helpful. However, they all bounced off Zhang Du.
While Zhang Du had no protection on the top of his head, the wind pressure of the gale he artificially created made it impossible for any of the hidden weapons to reach him.
At this rate, Zhang Du would hit her before he copsed from exhaustion.
No!
Luo Xiaoyue closed her eyes tightly, unable to do anything.
Even though she was a genius, Luo Xiaoyue was no different from a rookie in the gangho. Since shecked actualbat experience, she didn''t know how to deal with such unexpected situations.
"Junior Sister Luo!"
"!"
In that critical moment, a voice rang out above her. It was a voice Luo Xiaoyue knew well, needing no second thought to identify it..
When she raised her head, she saw Zhou Xuchuan dashing over the outer gate, swift as the wind..
"Senior Brother!"
Despite the crisis, Luo Xiaoyue''s face brightened.
"Block him!"
"You dare?!"
Two Red Forest bandits blocked Zhou Xuchuan''s path. One had an arrow nocked on his bow, while the other had a sword.
Twang!
The arrow shot out of the bow. It seemed as though the bandit''s archery skills weren''t ordinary, as he calcted the speed and aimed for Zhou Xuchuan''s temple.
But Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes remained fixed on Luo Xiaoyue, and without even ncing ahead, he swung his sword upward.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Without hesitation, the Red Forest Bandit swung his sword diagonally. Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze remained steady, not even his pupils shifting.
As if he had eyes on the side of his head, he dodged the attack and countered, swinging his sword forcefully..
"Ugh!!"
He passed the bandit, blood spurting from his chest, and immediately turned to strike the other Red Forest bandit, who was preparing a second arrow.
"Ugh!"
The Red Forest bandit grabbed his neck and staggered, groaning.
He fell over the outer wall helplessly.
Zhou Xuchuan injected more qi into his Yongquan acupoint to increase his speed.
As his Junior Sister was the one in danger, his qi cirction also elerated.
"Hmph!"
Zhou Xuchuan let out a shout as he kicked off the ground,unching himself from the outer wall.
He heard a faint scream from Luo Xiaoyue below but he paid no attention and just applied strength to the sword in his hand.
The whirlwind surged up from below. While it tried to push Zhou Xuchuan''s body away, his body didn''t move.
The power of qi drawn from the dantian, including the powering down from above,bined to eliminate the wind pressure.
Zhou Xuchuan screamed.
Although he wasn''t using the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, his de glowed with a fierce sword aura.
VROOM!
The spinning ck Iron Ball withstood any attacks from above. It felt as though if anyone tried, it would smash their body.
The iron ball loomed closer. Zhou Xuchuan spun his sword, bracing himself.
The iron ball barreled forward again. Zhou Xuchuan struck, his de cutting through the air.
On impact, the iron ball crashed against his sword, and the aura surrounding the de cleaved through the force pressing against it.
"Huh?"
Zhang Du, who had been spinning for a while, let out a stunned gasp. His spinning finally stopped.
Even the ck Iron, which was several times harder than steel, couldn''t withstand the aura.
The iron ball split cleanly in two.
Thwip!
Yet the momentum within the ball remained. Split in half, each piece shot off in opposite directions.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes darted back and forth.
One half flew harmlessly toward the empty outer wall, but the other careened toward a mixed group of punitive forces and Red Forest bandits.
Moreover, the ck Iron Ball moved faster than one could even notice.
You dare!
His sleeves with plum blossoms drawn on them billowed, and the daggers hidden inside them shot out like lightning.
It wasn''t just one, but four daggers, each infused with qi using the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art.
ng! ng, ng!
The daggers shed with the half of the ck Iron Ball, sparks flying. While the daggers only left shallow marks, Zhou Xuchuan''s intent was sessful. The dagger had forced the boulder to the side, making it change directions.
ng, ng, ng!
Thest three daggers struck in quick session. Instead of focusing on a single spot, he hit the boulder in several ces so he could direct it to one area.
"Agk!"
The martial artists realized it toote and screamed.
Boom!
The remaining half of the ck Iron Ball mmed into an empty outer wall on the other side. Fortunately, members of the punitive force and the Red Forest were able to avoid being crushed to pieces like tteok.[1]
"..."
1. Rice cakes are made by getting pounded into mush. ?
Chapter 150: Fishing In Troubled Waters (3)
The martial artists, who had been terrified by the shadow of the split ck Iron Ball, slowly opened their eyes.
Relief mixed with surprise as they realized they were unharmed.
"We''re alive!"
A Red Forest bandit cheered, momentarily forgetting about the battle.
"Dumb bastard, Zhang Du Hyungnim lost!"
"Gasp!"
It was only then that the Red Forest bandits came to their senses.
"Just what the hell is going on?"
The martial artists of the punitive force looked dumbfounded. There had definitely been a split iron ball barreling directly for their noses.
They had all screamed when they saw it.
However, as if someone had yanked on it, it suddenly changed directions.
"Just when did you"
Most hadn''t noticed, but Tang Hui had. As one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, while she may not have caught all of Zhou Xuchuan''s movements, she was able to see part of it at least.
She already knew about the sword aura and assumed he would just use it to deflect the ck Iron Ball. However, her eyes widened in shock as she watched him use throwing daggers instead.
Seeing an expert of Mount Hua use throwing daggers, and skillfully at that, shocked her and hurt her pride at the same time.
If her father and the head of the Tang Family, Tang Yuqi, were here, he would definitely be telling her to go get him for the family.
After all, he was already eying Zhou Xuchuan, who had the Thousand Poisons Immunity, as a potential son-inw.
"Junior Sister, are you okay?" Zhou Xuchuan approached Luo Xiaoyue.
"I''m fine, thanks to you, Senior Brother. Thank you for helping me."
Luo Xiaoyue smiled cutely, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Looks like my heart still can''t handle it.
Zhou Xuchuan became dizzy for a moment.
It was harder for him to face Luo Xiaoyue''s wide-eyed smile than it was to exchange swords with the bandits.
While it wouldn''t be a bad idea to get Luo Xiaoyue''s unique healing some more, given the circumstances, he calmed his thumping heart.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No."
"Good."
He turned, relieved, and noticed a group of martial artists standing awkwardly nearby.
"Let''s break through!"
Zhang Du, who had been spinning for so long, was still on the ground, disoriented and unable to regain his bnce.
It seemed his inner ear equilibrium had been damaged. When he tried to get up, he just trembled like a frog hit by a stone.
"Roar!"
The shouts of the punitive force echoed so loudly that it was as if the mountains themselves were falling. The voices of the people whose morale was greatly boosted were as loud as thunder.
"A-a-ah"
The Red Forest bandits were overwhelmed by the roars that seemed to shake the heavens and the earth, their morale dropping.
In war, the presence of an expert alone raised and lowered morale.
The effect was immediate when Zhang Du fell.
"Hmph!"
The underboss groaned at the sight of his subordinates losing morale.
His expression was heavy as if he was put in a difficult position.
Zhang Du may be an idiot, but he''s still one of the Stockade''s top five experts Moreover, his strength isn''t that much different from mine.
Looking at Zhang Du lying on the ground, unable to do anything, his mouth went dry.
Just how many experts do they have? I thought that girl would have been nothing special because she isn''t well known, but
He nced at Luo Xiaoyue, whose beauty remained striking even in the heat of battle. But beyond her looks, her martial prowess was undeniable.
When she''d first volunteered to face Zhang Du, he''dughed but the body control, movements, and swordsmanship that he saw next silenced him.
Seeing the Chivalrous Plum Sword, Jade Plum Flower, and the Tang Family''s Poison Phoenix at her side only made the situation more bleak.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The Red Forest bandits hesitated as the underboss shouted.
"Since they fought hard at the Great Tiger Stockade, they must be tired! We have the numbers!!"
None of the punitive force members were tired.
The raid on the Great Tiger Stockade had pretty much been bloodless, and while they may have spent some stamina and qi, they had rested more than enough to recover.
Moreover, while Zhou Xuchuan was digging the tunnel, he had distributed the Gold Sore Ointment that he had taken from the Great Tiger Stockade.
Considering their enemy was the strongest Stockade of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, they hade fully prepared.
"Who are we?! Are we not the Green Dragon Stockade that not even the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families know how to handle?! Just think of the Stockade Boss!"
The Green Dragon Stockade''s underboss tried to raise the morale of the Red Forest bandits.
"That''s right! The Stockade Boss is right behind us!"
"Plum Blossom Order Sword? A brat like that is nothing in front of the Stockade Boss!"
"Kill the men, rape the women!"
"The greatest Stockade under the heavens, the Green Dragon Stockade advances forward!"
The morale that had fallen to the depths of the abyss soared.
For these bandits, their belief in the Stockade Boss was absolute.
Meng Gang was that strong, and his reputation spoke for itself. There were many Righteous Faction experts that had fallen at his hands.
Even the Martial Alliance and Evil Valley grew wary when they heard Meng Gang''s name. His reputation for almost primal violence gave the Red Forest bandits strength.
ROAR!!
The shouts of the punitive force and the bandits rang out in unison.
The difference in volume was clear.
While the Green Dragon Stockade''s strength may have been halved, they still had over a hundred men. On the other hand, the punitive force only numbered sixty.
Originally, they numbered over seventy. However, a few had been left behind to guard the Great Tiger Stockade''s prison, and some of the Gold Will Sword warriors had been sent to the imperial government''s office.
However, the difference in actual strength wasn''t that great. Even though they may have been outnumbered, the punitive force''s cultivations were several levels higher.
Even though it was the Green Dragon Stockade, most of their members were either Second or Third ss. Although they had a few First ss members, they were only a few.
On the other hand, the punitive force was made up of high-level martial artists.
"Unleash the Plum Blossom Sword Formation!"
Zhang Hong''s voice echoed across the battlefield. As soon as his order was given, the Mount Hua Sect swordsmen moved in unison.
The advantage of the Plum Blossom Sword Formation, which was the most basic sword formation of the Mount Hua Sect, was that anyone who had learned the formation could use it in concert.
In addition, it could be used regardless of the number of participants or their Realms, making it the best in terms of stability and ease of use.
The only potential weakness was that if one participant used a higher-ranked sword technique, it could disrupt the formation''s bnce, as those with lower masteries and techniques wouldn''t be able to keep up.
But in this case, the Plum Blossom Sword alone was more than enough to disy the formation''s power, making the issue less important.
Zhang Hong was positioned in the center to manage and control the swordsmanship of the formation, while Luo Xiaoyue and Zhang Xueun were in charge of the vanguard and the rearguard, respectively.
"Ahhh!"
"Ugh!"
It wasn''t called the Mount Hua Sect of the Nine Sects and One Gang for nothing.
The Mount Hua Sect swordsmen were extremely threatening after using their Plum Blossom Sword Formation.
Any opponent who fell into the formation would end up trapped and stabbed before they could even begin to search for the Life Gate[1] Moreover, the formation was extremely difficult to break through.
As people who were already internally selected as the next Plum Blossom Swordsmen, those three really are good at directing the formation.
Zhou Xuchuan fought alone as it was easier for him to move separately.
At least I don''t have to worry about Mount Hua.
Sword Formations were a must for bing Plum Blossom Swordsmen. That was even more apparent with multiple swordsmen working in concert instead of just one.
That was why Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, who were the next Plum Blossom Swordsmen Candidates, and Luo Xiaoyue, who was essentially already in the same position, looked so familiar with the formation.
As if to prove that they had practiced a lot, they showed off their perfect sword formation skills.
"Whoever brings me Zhou Xuchuan''s head will be given gold taels! If you bring him alive, I''ll give you gold and women!" the underboss shouted.
At those words, the eyes of the bandits, sparkling with desire, turned to Zhou Xuchuan.
Pfft.
An old memory made Zhou Xuchuan chuckle.
During the Era of War and Chaos, he would hear such words whenever an outrageously strong expert would appear on the battlefield.
He hadn''t imagined he''d one day be the target of those very words.
"That bastard must have spent all his qi dealing with Zhang Du Hyungnim!"
"That bastard''s head is mine!"
All the bloodlust in the area converged into a single point. Considering it wasn''t the bloodlust of one but dozens, the level of killing intent was unusual.
If it had been a normal person, they would have frozen, paralyzed by fear. But Zhou Xuchuan was far from normal.
"Shengji!"
He called out his younger brother''s name and bent his knees. His thigh muscles bulged as he put all his strength into his legs.
"Eat this!"
The rear guard of the Punitive Force, the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors, pulled the strings attached to their bamboo tubes with uneasy expressions.
There was also a bamboo tube in Zhuge Shengji''s arm.
They were quite familiar tools.
Thwip!
The bamboo tubes sprang open, releasing a spray of arrows in all directions. With several tubes going off at once, the air was soon filled with arrows.
"Agk!"
"UGH!"
The arrows rained down on the center and rear of the enemy. A dozen or so enemy soldiers waiting or running away fell.
Young Master Shengji''s inventions are always amazing.
More importantly, is he really someone from the Zhuge Family.
Could he actually be an illegitimate descendant of the Tang Family??
The Gold Will Sword Sect warriors stuck out their tongues at the sight of the bamboo tubes.
"I want to talk to Young Master Zhuge."
As expected of a member of the Tang Family, Tang Hui also reacted to the new hidden weapon that appeared.
In truth, considering the sheer amount of arrows it had inside, the size of the bamboo tube was too big to use as a secret weapon. Still, the method of production and the principle behind its use were interesting.
"Get that bastard, too!"
The underboss gritted his teeth.
"E-eek!"
Zhuge Shengji quickly hid when he was singled out.
"Tsk, he really is different from when he''s the one using the weapons!"
Zhou Xuchuanughed amusedly as he continued forward.
****
He could hear screamsing from behind him.
He turned his head to take a quick look and saw saw the stockade inplete disarray.
"Hmph!"
It felt like his insides were burning and he couldn''t help but groan.
Meng Gang turned back, getting angry.
"Just what the hell are you nning, you bastards?!"
About a day had passed since the outer walls of the main gate had been breached. Despite this, the battle at the back gate hadn''t even started.
The two hundred or so unidentified people were still sitting in wait.
While the fire at Meng Gang''s feet was still there, it wasn''t that hot. However, the problem was that he couldn''t tell if it was real or not.
If this threat was fake, it would be fine after it passed. However, if it was real, this ze would spread to his body.
"..."
The two hundred or so people below remained silent after their initial exchange, simply watching. While they were each holding weapons, they didn''t move.
Meng Gang thought about ignoring them and turning back. However, if that really was a trap, that would mean exposing himselfpletely.
"Then, let''s see if they stay still after getting hit by this!"
Snatching a hatchet from the hand of a nearby subordinate, Meng Gang hurled it downward with all his strength.
Woosh!
The hatchet spun as it descended. It was so powerful, as if it had been infused with qi.
"Tsk!"
A middle-aged man stepped forward, clicking his tongue as the hatchet shot toward him, aiming straight for his head.
"Ha!"
With a sharp shout, he swung his sword upward.
Swish!
ng!
The middle-aged man''s attack wasn''t anything to scoff at.
However, the power of the hatchet imbued with qi from one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven wasn''t ordinary.
"Ugh!"
Although he managed to block the hatchet, the impact hit him like a sledgehammer, rattling him to his core.
If one looked closely, he ended up getting pushed back slightly from where he stood.
"Y-you dog-like bastard!"
The curse wasn''t from the man. No, it hade from above. When the middle-aged man raised his head, he saw that Meng Gang''s face was twisted in frustration.
"A formation!"
As the middle-aged man stumbled back, the entire scene seemed to shift. It wasn''t just him who was pushed back, but several people were moved at the same time.
It would be more urate to say that it looked like several people. It was an illusion formation that reflected the main body like a mirror.
When one moved, the several connected ''people'' moved in turn. Instead of the hatchet, the other silhouettes cut the person in front of them, a fellow illusion, and dissipated their forms.
"I guess this is all we could do."
A beautiful voice rang out from the mysterious punitive force.
"Zhuge FAMILY!!!"
Only then did Meng Gang realize that he had been fooled.
"Miss Xiuluan, what should we do?"
The middle-aged man who had blocked the hatchet turned around.
At the end of his gaze stood Zhuge Xiuluan, who wouldter be called the Phoenix Advisor.
1. Referenced before, it''s the one position in a formation that allows you to survive and unravel it, hence the word Life. ?
Chapter 151: Tactician Phoenix
"AGHHH!" Meng Gang screamed, unable to contain his anger.
"You damn bastards!"
He had been taken for a fool, a fool!
From beginning to end, he had been dancing on the palm of his opponent''s hand.
He was like Sun Wukong trapped in the grasp of Buddha.[1]
Not only had he never experienced such humiliation in his life, but the fact that most of his enemies were children made it even harder to bear.
"Mount Hua Sect, Zhuge Family! You bastardsD!"
Zhou Xuchuan had sent letters for aid to three forces.
The Mount Hua Sect, the Sichuan Tang Family, and finally, the Zhuge Family.The Zhuge Family had a debt to settle with the Red Forest, just like the Mount Hua Sect. It wasn''t that hard to convince them to make a move.
However, it was unclear how much support they should send. For the same reasons as before, they couldn''t move on arge scale.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t want that either.
He had only wanted a formation that could attract the enemy''s attention and deceive them.
So after much deliberation, the Zhuge Family had sent a select group of elite warriors.
"You bitch! So you''re the one who must have nned this entire thing!"
Meng Gang turned his fiery gaze toward Zhuge Xiuluan.
"Tactician Phoenix!"[2]
The Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes had undergone a generational change.
The eldest of the Phoenixes was removed from the list of younger generation talents when she turned thirty, and Zhuge Xiuluan had taken her ce.
While it was a title that she should have received muchter, history had already changed considerably from Zhou Xuchuan''s past.
"Not the entire n," Zhuge Xiuluan replied, her expression unreadable.
"AGHHH!"
While Meng Gang wanted nothing more than to tear Zhuge Xiuluan to pieces, he chewed his lip and forced himself to hold back.
It wasn''t for nothing that Zhuge Xiuluan''s Daoist title had the word ''Tactician'' in it. The strategies she devised were notoriously difficult to counter.
Although the two hundred or so people he had assumed were hidden elite had been reduced to forty, there was likely another trap lying in wait.
"Damn it!"
He was frustrated and annoyed by the situation, stuck and unable to do anything.
I might end up caught in a formation if I go down, but I can''t just ignore them and leave.
The more problematic part of it all was the urgency of the situation.
There was no time to make a leisurely decision.
He was worried because the punitive force, which he now couldn''t tell if it was the main force or the distraction, was advancing from behind him.
What if their goal is to keep me stuck here, trapped in worry?
Meng Gang''s face was filled with anxiety.
This is why I hate the Zhuge Family!
Could it be that even this feeling of anxiety was part of the enemy''s intentions?
Anxiety and irritation surged within him for some reason.
"Stockade Boss of the Red Forest," Zhuge Xiuluan said.
"Surrender."
There was no emotion on her face.
There was no sense of aplishment from the sess of the operation, nor was there any anxiety about failure.
She didn''t have a look of confidence, expecting an imminent victory, nor did she have a look of contempt for him being a bandit.
It wasn''t a surge of anger or a chilling sense of emptiness.
It was simply calm.
A calm, straightforward suggestion to surrender.
"Damn it!"
Meng Gang snorted.
"I was considering taking you as a concubine considering your face isn''t bad, but since I get more and more annoyed the more I look at you, I''m going to kill you especially cruelly!"
"You dare?!"
Zhuge Xiuluan''s guards immediately reacted at their master getting insulted.
"It''s fine."
However, the one that actually got insulted didn''t care at all, instead raising a hand to stop the guards.
Zhuge Xiuluan opened her mouth to say something, but Meng Gang turned away as if he did not want to hear.
"Block that bitch and her men and keep them froming up. If you allow them to set foot here, I''ll personally behead all of you."
Gulp!
****
A bounty had been ced among the Red Forest bandits for Zhou Xuchuan''s head.
"Kill him!"
The reputation of the Plum Blossom Order Sword definitely wasn''t low.
After all, he had proven his reputation by taking down Zhang Du before their eyes.
However, the thing about wealth was that it had a tendency to dull people''s fear and sway their objective judgment.
"Whew"
Zhou Xuchuan took a breath, his chest rising and falling steadily.
His fingers holding the hilt of his sword clenched, the purple veins near his wrist bulging.
His brachial muscles rippled as if dancing.
The power that started from deep within his core rippled once, circting through every nook and cranny of his body before returning to its origin.
Thud, thud!
He looked straight ahead, where seven Red Forest bandits stood.
Blinded by the promise of wealth, even the bloodshot veins within their eyes were visible.
It seemed as if they moved in slow motion, but they weren''t the ones who were slow.
Zhou Xuchuan was just abnormal.
From his vision to his ability to recognize and react to the situation, even the bundles of nerves that transmitted signals from his brain to his musclesthey were all on a different level.
By the time he had decided to move, he was already within arm''s reach of the seven bandits, who had been one zhang away.
There''s no need for any techniques.
Most of the bandits were poorly skilled.
While they may have been better than the forest bandits of the Great Tiger Stockade, it wasn''t by much.
To use the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom would be like using a cow butchering knife to kill a chicken.
So, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t bother making anyplicated ns and just swung his sword.
"Huh?"
The Red Forest bandit at the front widened his eyes in shock.
How?!
They had definitely been one zhang away. But in the blink of an eye, Zhou Xuchuan had disappeared and reappeared right in front of their noses.
He was so surprised that he didn''t even have time to swing the sword in his hand.
Thest things on his mind were questions.
"One."
As he muttered to himself, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword traced a clean, horizontal line.
"Ugh!"
The bandit''s hand shot to his throat, blood streaming through his fingers as he fell.
"C-crazy bastard!"
The remaining six reacted immediately.
Not only had their target disappeared and then reappeared as if he had risen from the ground, he had even taken a life in an instant.
They each swung the weapons in their hands to deal with the iing threat.
Swish!
A saber came down, aiming for Zhou Xuchuan''s head.
"Two, three."
He stepped forward with his left foot, using it as a pivot point, feinting an advance before twisting to avoid the attack.
He didn''t just dodge, he swung the sword in his right hand, drawing a half circle. His sword moved as gracefully as flowing water.
"Ugh!"
The Red Forest bandit screamed. Thest thing he saw was the severed lower half of his body.
Through the falling torso of the man in front of him, Zhou Xuchuan caught a glimpse of the wide-eyed face of the bandit next to him.
Swish!
A spine-chilling crack echoed as Zhou Xuchuan''s sword swept toward the next bandit.
You dare?!
The Red Forest bandit stepped back as if Zhou Xuchuan''s attack was audacious.
This was the first time he had ever moved this fast in his life.
But, unfortunately for the bandit, he didn''t have the chance to celebrate.
Even though he might have dodged the range of Zhou Xuchuan''s sword, he was unable to avoid the sword qi that gushed out of its de.
"Ugh!"
A hole appeared in the center of his chest, piercing straight through to his back. He copsed, lifeless, before he could even attempt to defend himself.
As three of their seven members fell in an instant, the other four froze, hesitating.
The greed that had clouded their minds faded as they took in the sight of their deadpanions.
"Seven."
Swish!
It wasn''t his usual shy swordsmanship, just a careless swing.
However, it was enough to end the lives of the Red Forest bandits who were frozen in fear.
As Zhou Xuchuan quickly swung his sword toward them, they fell without a word.
"Ahhhh!"
"He expects us to fight a monster like that?"
"You can''t even see him!"
The fear that had disappeared among the Red Forest bandits returned.
Only then did their paralyzed reason return to them. Moreover, their inmed desires froze over entirely.
"Ipletely understand how you feel. There''s nothing you can do, right?"
Zhou Xuchuan paused for a moment and smiled.
Memories of his past life came flooding back.
He had also met an outrageous expert back then and almost died.
Back then, even at a nce, it was unknown if he could even survive, let alone win.
Although he had also thought that the expert would have been exhausted back then, that hadn''t been the case, either.
He knew he would lose even if he struggled, and since they were on different levels in the first ce, he had wanted to leave that battle to someone else.
"Don''t be stubborn and just surrender."
He was being serious.
Under normal circumstances, the Green Dragon Stockade might have had a fighting chance. But in their current state, they were doomed.
"Ridiculous!"
The underboss intervened.
If we surrender, we die.
They would die, not at the hands of Zhou Xuchuan, but to Meng Gang.
The Stockade Boss had entrusted him withmand. If he couldn''t handle this properly, he wouldn''t be dying gracefully.
"Seeing how he''s trying to get us to surrender instead of fighting, his qi must definitely be running low."
"If I''m tired, I''ll call you Hyungnim."
"Younger brother! It''s not toote! Surrender!"[3]
"What bullshit."
Zhou Xuchuan snickered, genuinely baffled by the underboss''s audacity.
"Good, you''vee at a good time."
The underboss was more annoying than he thought. At the very least, he hadn''t gotten his position through mere ttery.
Rustle.
W-was it a mistake to step out?
They were closer than he had thought. Moreover, the punitive force was stronger than he thought.
Could he really be tired?
Although he had been the one to boast, he still felt uneasy after saying it.
The brat before him hadn''t even broken a sweat, and his breathing was stable.
Besides, he wasn''t even injured, he waspletely unscathed.
Damn it. I have to buy time.
He had to hold out somehow until what was happening at the back door was resolved.
To him, the Stockade Boss of the Red Forest was the Number One Expert Under the Heavens. He was like themon man, just waiting for the hero to appear.
But, just how the hell am I supposed to stall?
He was worried that morale would drop, so he pretended not to care, but in fact, he was actually crying inside.
The swordsmanship of Mount Hua and the poison arts of the Tang Family were no joke. Even the new force, the Gold Will Sword Sect, was no ordinary power.
Sob, sob, Stockade Boss!
His legs trembled slightly, tears welling up in his eyes.
His morale was dropping fast.
"ZHOUUUUUU XUUUUUUUCHUAAAAAAAAAAN"
It was then.
The moment the underboss felt like he couldn''t see a path ahead, the long-awaited voice echoed across the mountain.
It was truly the voice of salvation.
The shadow on the underboss'' face vanished, reced by a grin full of confidence.
"Stockade Boss!"
Meng Gang had arrived, having given up on the rear and joined the rest of the Green Dragon Stockade.
"You idiots!"
Meng Gang was furious when he saw the situation on the battlefield.
Although he had sent half of his forces to the front, only half of those he had sent remained.
Inparison, while the punitive force had some light injuries, they were no serious injuries.
Good. Everything is going to n.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes narrowed.
I was worried that they might have been discovered, but it looks like they got through it unscathed.
Meng Gang was one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. Moreover, he had also reached the Harmony Realm.
At that level, even if he couldn''t recognize the formation, he could still get a general idea.
He wouldn''t have been so worried if Meng Gang''s brain had been made of muscle, however, as the Stockade Boss'' mind wasn''t ordinary, Zhou Xuchuan had been worried that Meng Gang would discover his ns. If the Stockade Boss had noticed and not divided his forces, this fight would''ve been far more challenging than he anticipated.
It wouldn''t have mattered to him personally, but it was apletely different story for the punitive force members.
Even if their enemy were mere bandits, if that many people came rushing in, things wouldn''t have ended with just minor injuries.
"It''s the Stockade Boss!"
"Support has arrived!"
The mere presence of an expert empowered and reassured those around them.
The morale that Zhou Xuchuan had worked so hard to ruin rose once again.
The Stockade Boss of the Red Forest, Meng Gang.
He was a man who pricked Zhou Xuchuan''s mind for many reasons.
One day, he had suddenly appeared in the Stockades and disyed his powerful cultivation. It didn''t take long for him to be the Stockade Boss of the Green Dragon Stockade.
His cultivation wasn''t the only thing extraordinary about him. He possessed considerable knowledge for a bandit.
The ideas that had transformed the Green Dragon Stockade, which had just been a fairlyrge stockade into something reminiscent of a castle, hade from Meng Gang.
However, despite being a talented martial artist, Meng Gang was a nobody.
His whereabouts before he appeared in the stockade were unknown.
Realizing something was strange, Zhou Xuchuan had investigated him separately. However, nothing had been uncovered, the Stockade Boss was still a mystery.
Even when he searched through his memories of his previous life, nothing stood out. It wasn''t that he couldn''t remember, but that there was nothing to remember.
As the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest had only ever been used by the other forces, it was never considered important, and there were few mentions of it in the records of the Era of War and Chaos.
Even the problematic Meng Gang had died in the war.
Putting everything else aside, his skills aren''t ordinary.
The fury boiling likeva and bloodlust raging like a tempest were proof.
1. Sun Wukong had a wager with Buddha, with the Buddha promising to make the Jade Emperor abdicate if Wukong could jump out of the palm of his hand. Wukong leaps to the highest mountains in the world in session, only to find out each of those peaks were a finger of Buddha and that he had been dancing in his palm. ?
2. We''ve changed the title to match the naming system for the other phoenixes. ?
3. Refresher, Hyungnim means older brother. ?
Chapter 152: Tactician Phoenix (2)
"Zhou Xuchuan, Zhuge Shengji."
Meng Gang muttered the names he had first heard seven years ago.
"W-what do you want with me?" Zhuge Shengji stammered, trembling as he stood among the Gold Will Sword Sect warriors.
"So, you''vee for revenge after seven years! To think the mess Lu Dng left behind woulde back to haunt us like this. Once this fight is over, I''m going to drag his corpse out of the Yangtze River and kill him again."
Thinking about it still made him grind his teeth.
If things had gone as nned, it should''ve been handled quietly. Instead, the incident from years ago had drawn the attention of the entire murim.
Since then, the reach of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest had been heavily restricted, forcing them into opposition with both the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhuge Family.
It has reached a point where, if a bandit encountered a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect or a rtive of the Zhuge Family in the murim, they had to be prepared to either die or run away.
The Red Forest seemed to have gathered quite a bit of resentment, and even if they ran or hid, their enemies would relentlessly pursue them. While there hadn''t been an all-out war or arge punitive force, the damage they had suffered back then was significant.
"I''ll kill you."
Meng Gang''s eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
The punitive force, whose morale had been high with victory close in sight, hesitated and grew tense at Meng Gang''s chilling expression.
Zhou Xuchuan scanned Meng Gang, who had stepped forward.
His bone structure was no less impressive than that of the Peng Family, and his broad shoulders and arms were as thick as logs.
Without a shirt, his muscles stood out like the steel statue of a master craftsman.
"Senior Brother."
Zhou Xuchuan called out to Zhang Hong, keeping his gaze fixed on Meng Gang.
"I''ll take care of the stockade boss by myself, so I''ll leave the rest to you."
"Junior Brother."
Zhang Xuen answered instead of Zhang Hong. Her face, as hard as stone, seemed quite serious.
"I know your cultivation is impressive. However, our opponent is one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the Stockade Boss of the Red Forest Meng Gang."
Meng Gang wasn''t someone a Fourth Generation Disciple could easily handle. His cultivation, martial arts, and experience, were all exceptionally high.
He wasn''t someone who had only barely made the rankings, either. Meng Gang was an expert who was notorious throughout the Central ins.
Many from both the Righteous and Evil Factions had underestimated him as "just a bandit" only to end up falling at his hands.
Zhang Hong, who was beside her, nodded in agreement. He had heard about the Stockade Boss'' reputation countless times while traveling the gangho.
"It''s okay. Don''t worry."
"But"
"You both know we don''t have the luxury for all of us to fight Meng Gang together, Senior Brother and Senior Sister."
"Hmph."
When Meng Gang hade, he had brought about thirty people with him.
While the punitive force might have looked fine on the outside, they were reaching their limits.
After facing twice their number, they were close to exhaustion.
Losing two or three of their strongest fighters could prove fatal in their current state.
Ugh!
Zhang Hong struggled with the idea of leaving everything on the shoulders of the Junior Brother he''d watched grow up.
"Be careful."
Zhang Xuen also felt guilty, her expression sour.
"I will."
Zhou Xuchuan replied shortly, stepping forward without hesitation, his back seeming broader than ever.
"It''ll be okay."
Luo Xiaoyue smiled faintly as if to reassure them.
"Senior Brother is stronger than we think."
Her eyes were filled with an unshakable trust.
With those words, the punitive force and the Red Forest bandits shed again.
The strategy didn''t change. The Plum Blossom Sword Formation stood in the vanguard, and the Tang Family and the Gold Will Sword Sect moved around them to provide support.
The Plum Blossom Sword Formation of Zhang Hong, Zhang Xuen, and Luo Xiaoyue moved like falling Plum Blossoms, randomly piercing the opponents with sword-like leaves of qi.
"Ahhh!"
"You idiot! Hold your ground! We''ll survive as long as we stick together!"
The underboss was more motivated than expected. He skillfullymanded the bandits and somehow managed to resist the Plum Blossom Sword Formation.
The bandits of the Green Dragon Stockade were stronger than expected. Unlike ordinary bandits, they formed formations ording to orders.
"Young Hero Zhuge!''
Tang Hui turned her head quickly.
"Bamboo Launchers, Second Round!"
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
A wave of arrows were fired at Zhuge Shengji''s shout, aimed at the formation opposing the Plum Blossom Sword Formation.
"Agk!"
"Dodge it!"
The Red Forest bandits, who were only just getting around to setting up their formation, screamed as they dived out of the way. While a few managed to deflect the arrows, it was only a handful.
Thebined force of the Mount Hua Sect, the Tang Family, the Gold Will Sword Sect, and the Zhuge Family was terrifying, especially considering how hastily they had been assembled.
Zhou Xuchuan and Meng Gang faced off, a heavy tension thickening the air between them.
Even with the sounds of shing weapons nearby, neither moved or blinked.
They held each other''s gaze without a flicker, determined not to miss the slightest movement.
''At least just from his face, it looks like even his brain would be made out of muscle. But from the look of things around us, that doesn''t seem to be the case.''
Meng Gang stood motionless, rooted in ce like Mount Tai, exuding a fierce bloodlust.
But this wasn''t just a stancethere wasn''t a single gap in his defense. He was ready to react to any move Zhou Xuchuan might make.
"You''re still a child sucking on the Righteous Faction''s milk. What, are you scared of me or something?"
Meng Gang was the first to break the silence.
"They say that Mount Hua isn''t like how it used to be, looking at you, that really seems to be the case. Keke, that''s probably why you got so scared and ran away seven years ago."
Pfft.
Far from being intimidated, Zhou Xuchuan snickered.
"Meng Gang, where did that ''I''m gonna beat you to death'' aura of yours go?"
Meng Gang''s sneer vanished, his expression hardening.
"Meng Gang. If you really thought I was nothing, you would''ve attacked already. But you''re on guard, and trying to provoke me what, are you scared?"
"It''s exhrating, thinking about how that clever mouth of yours will be begging for mercy soon," Meng Gang retorted.
Contrary to his leisurely tone, his expression was tense. A vein bulged on his forehead.
I thought he was only famous because he got lucky. Could it actually be real?
Experts could recognize experts.
Meng Gang could see that Zhou Xuchuan''s sword aura alone weren''t ordinary just from a cursory nce.
Is he on the verge of reaching the Harmony Realm?
While Meng Gang''s guess was wrong, considering Zhou Xuchuan''s age, it wasn''t a strange conclusion. It was actually quite normal.
"Come, brat."
Shing!
Meng Gang drew his sword, its pure white de catching the sunlight. Judging by its fierce aura, it was no ordinary sword.
This was a rare weapon for a bandit. Most Red Forest bandits used axes, sabers, or spears.
The Mountain Subjugation.
A nameless martial artist who had appeared as if he had risen from the ground.
That martial artist had conquered the Green Forest Stockades with just a single sword.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Thud!
Zhou Xuchuan kicked off from the ground. Though it seemed he was floating for a moment, he left deep footprints where he stood.
He surged forward like a typhoon, pulling on his qi reserves. He intended to finish Meng Gang off in one blow.
This moment, when he still hadn''t fully disyed his martial arts in front of Meng Gang, was his chance.
The more they exchanged attacks and defended each other''s blows, the more he would heighten the enemy''s alertness. It was better to focus all of his energy on a single decisive blow instead of just probing.
The first move!
He ran forward, his sword outstretched.
As he cut through the air, a fierce burst of piercing aura erupted.
Screech!
The sword strike he made with all his strength aimed straight at Meng Gang''s forehead.
"Hmph!"
Meng Gang inhaled deeply, moving to defend. His eyes widened in surprise at Zhou Xuchuan''s speed, which was faster than he''d expected.
The next moment, Zhou Xuchuan twisted his body. The fierce momentum that he had moved with, trying to stab Meng Gang, vanished in an instant.
This would have been impossible under normal circumstances.
It wasn''t a blow made as the first or even the second testing attack. This was a thrust that contained nearly all of his qi.
Normally, such a sudden change in qi flow would have caused it to reverse, flowing backward and eventually exploding.
However, the Mount Hua Sect''sbined movement and footwork technique, the Hundred Divine Transformations, made it possible.
Themandsing down from the brain rapidly changed the flow of qi. While normally, one''s meridians would be damaged if the chosen qi path was suddenly changed, the Hundred Divine Transformations was a martial art specifically studied and modified to withstand such changes.
It left behind no problems within the muscles, the meridians or the veins. They were connected as usual, emitting the normal amount of power.
Whoosh!
Using his left foot, which had stepped diagonally, as a pivot point, Zhou Xuchuan turned halfway.
Not only had he charged at full speed and stopped, but he had also changed directions.
However, his stance was still stable.
Martial arts was the ability to ignore thews of nature to a certain extent with the power of cultivation.
Right now, that true value was being properly demonstrated.
As hepleted the half-turn, he pushed off with his right foot, feeling his waist muscles tighten.
Swish!
Combining pure physical strength and internal qi, one of the Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals, Tai''e, sliced through the air with a sharp, piercing force.
Dear Heavens!
Meng Gang clicked his tongue, his dark eyes focused on Zhou Xuchuan''s sword.
A thin haze of qi shimmered around the de, making it appear longer than it actually was. He had to move faster than his eyes suggested.
It was a good thing he was already in a defensive stance.
Shing!
The single moment that felt like an eternity finally came to an end.
As Zhou Xuchuan''s sword, moving with an afterimage, closed in, Meng Gang quickly lowered his own de to his waist.
ng!!
ChaeaeaaengD!
The sh of swords rang out, the sound of metal on metal reverberating and filling the air. The crashing metal sounds seemed to stretch on forever, filling people''s eardrums.
"Ugh!"
A groan slipped from Meng Gang''s mouth, his face twisting in pain.
Zhou Xuchuan''s expression wasn''t very good either.
He was filled with regret.
Although he had aimed to kill, he wasn''t able to inflict a fatal wound.
Meng Gang''s sword had blocked just enough of the attack to stop it from sinking deep.
However, he had still won the first sh.
As soon as their swords met, Meng Gang''s sword was pushed inward. Because of that, he ended up wounding himself with his own sword.
It wasn''t just a simple scratch, but a wound about two cun (1 cun = 3 cm)[1] deep, slicing through his trained muscles.
"You, damned, brat!"
Meng Gang seethed with anger. The bloodlust that had been present in his voice exploded out all at once.
Damn, what a pity, Zhou Xuchuan thought.
If he had used sword aura instead of sword qi, he might have been able to cut through Meng Gang''s sword altogether.
However, he would have had to dy his first move to do so.
Even though he could control sword aura with precision, it wasn''t as fast as using sword qi alone.
Still, hadn''t he already experienced how incredible Meng Gang''s reaction speed was? If he had used sword aura, he might not have been able tond the blow at all.
If the opponent had been different, Zhou Xuchuan''s attack might have been deadly.
Unfortunately, Meng Gang was also a Master at the Harmony Realm.
"Stop swearing!"
Zhou Xuchuan gripped his sword in one hand while striking out with his left. It wasn''t any ordinary palm either, as he unleashed a Poison Palm.
"Ugh!"
Meng Gang, sensing the threat, quickly stepped back. If he''d moved even a secondter, he would''ve been poisoned.
Taking advantage of the opening, Zhou Xuchuan also took a few steps back to ready his stance.
"..."
Meng Gang looked down, noticing that the grass where he''d just stood had turned ck.
The poison from Zhou Xuchuan''s palm floated in the air after losing its target before settling, absorbed by the nts below.
"Just who the hell are you?"
Zhou Xuchuan had expected the question.
"I''m just an ordinary swordsman of Mount Hua who happened to be passing by."
1. This is written into the raws. ?
Chapter 153: Yang Family Spear Technique
Meng Gang pressed his acupoints to stop his bleeding.
"Ordinary? Nonsense!"
The brat in front of him was a swordsman of the Righteous Faction, of the Mount Hua Sect, one of the Nine Sects and One Gang at that! But he just used the Poison Palm?!
This was something that couldn''t be overlooked.
Moreover, it wasn''t any ordinary poison.
It looked deadly, even at a nce.
Zhou Xuchuan had actually just created a poison by converting a ridiculous amount of qi into the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art. However, there was no way that Meng Gang could have known that.
"Ha, it seems like the hypocrites of the Righteous Faction are finally revealing their true colors!"
The Righteous Faction usually found using poison disgraceful, something they''d avoid even in life-or-death situations."Stop talking nonsense. How can you only drone about stereotypes?" Zhou Xuchuan shouted in annoyance.
Tap!
He charged forward again.
This time, he didn''t try to end things in a single blow. For now, he just lightly used his first technique.
Swish!
Zhou Xuchuan''s movements were swift, slicing through the air and tracing an arc toward Meng Gang''s upper arm.
Meng Gang countered immediately, moving with surprising speed for his size. He swung his sword up, deflecting Zhou Xuchuan''s blow.
ng!
The swords shed, sending sparks flying. Both of their swords were imbued with sword qi, emitting a blue light every time they shed.
Zhou Xuchuan''s attack wasn''t over yet. He quickly regained control over his sword, bringing it down again.
Then, the Mount Hua Sect''s signature technique unfolded in Zhou Xuchuan''s hands.
"Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom!"
Meng Gang recognized it at a nce.
He hadn''t reached his age for nothing. As the head of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, he had fought different opponents.
Roadside Plum Blossom, Plum Blossom Butterfly, Plum Blossom''s Seduction!
Zhou Xuchuan smoothly transitioned through the first three forms.
As if his sword was spewing out qi, waves of sword qi burst upward. It wasn''t just one or two sts of sword qi, but multiple.
It was quite a spectacle from afar. However, from Meng Gang''s perspective, it was hell.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!
As expected, the next technique quickly followed.
It was like a meteor shower. The sword qi that fell down from above onto one point was truly terrifying.
The sword qi poured down like rays of sunlight, plunging deep before erupting on impact.[1]
"Ugh!"
A groan escaped from Meng Gang''s mouth.
Each individual bolt of sword qi may not have been anything special, but when countless bolts fell in one direction, blocking them was no easy task.
ng, ng, ng, ng!
Meng Gang''s sword was also imbued with qi, spreading out wide to block as much as possible.
However, his widened qi had a limit.
Meng Gang, who had been moving busily and repelling as much as he could, was eventually forced to throw his body to the side and evade by rolling across the ground.
It was what wasmonly known as the Donkey Roll.
Pffft!
The burst of sword qi that had lost its mmed into the dirt, leaving a-like pattern on the ground.
Dust billowed up, clouding the air and obstructing his vision.
Zhou Xuchuan closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath. Since the dust was so thick, he decided to rely on his other senses.
It was a wise choice. The cloud of dust to his left parted as Meng Gang jumped out.
Die!
Meng Gang smiled with satisfaction. He had no doubt that he would be able to fatally wound the brat this time around.
How futile!
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes shed.
Since he had focused on his other senses, his reaction was swift. As if he had been waiting, he turned and blocked Meng Gang''s sword.
ng-!!
Their swords shed again, the force creating a gust of wind that swept the dust centered around them away.
As the haze lifted, they could see each other clearly.
"..."
The intense sh paused for a moment as Zhou Xuchuan and Meng Gang stared each other down, neither making a move.
What''s going on?
Zhou Xuchuan wondered inwardly.
I''ve given him plenty of opportunities to use his sword aura, why hasn''t he used it yet?
At first nce, it seemed like Meng Gang was going all out.
But in reality, he wasn''t using the full power expected of someone in the Harmony Realm.
There was also somethingcking in his swordsmanship. While it definitely wasn''t that of a low-level martial artist, it wasn''t at the level of a Harmony Realm expert.
He hasn''t even used any proper sword skills, either.
While he was naturally impressed by Meng Gang''s physical abilities and reflexes, there wasn''t much else to admire. The fact that he hadn''t used any proper sword skills bothered Zhou Xuchuan, keeping him from moving recklessly.
If things had gone as nned, Zhou Xuchuan could have countered and won when Meng Gang blindly put his faith in his sword aura.
However, even at the most critical movement, the Stockade Boss hadn''t shown any intention of using it, leaving Zhou Xuchuan unsure of his next move.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
Meng Gang''s calm voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Unlike before, Zhou Xuchuan could see the cold, burning anger in his eyes. What was visible beneath the overflowing bloodlust was seriousness.
"I never expected you to push me this far."
The rumors of the gangho were always exaggerated, so Meng Gang had thought that the Plum Blossom Order Sword had also found his way to the top by riding on such exaggerated rumors.
However
"I''ll acknowledge you."
"Ha, tsk. You really can''t stop talking nonsense, can you? You were so angry earlier that you were just swearing, are you trying to tter me now?"
"You arrogant brat. This Stockade Boss of the Red Forest, Meng Gang, is saying that he will acknowledge you. But you dare kick that glory away?"
"I don''t need that glory, nor do I really care."
"This brat dares! How dare this bastard keep talking so insolently!" Meng Gang shouted as he thrust his sword forward.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Meng Gang took a deep breath and released it with a roar, swinging his sword wildly.
Zhou Xuchuan dodged with lightning-fast footwork, moving just enough to stay a step ahead.
He anticipated what Meng Gang''s next move might be.
?
Something felt off. Meng Gang looked ready to unleash his full power. Naturally, Zhou Xuchuan thought that the attacks woulde one after another.
However, what happened next was baffling.
I-is he running?
Zhou Xuchuan stared in disbelief as Meng Gang turned and sprinted away at full speed.
Could he be thinking of taking Zhuge Xiuluan as a hostage?
If so, things could escte fast.
The rear gate''s forces were just a decoy. They were only used to stall some of the Red Forest bandits.
No one there could hold Meng Gang back if he charged through like a wild boar, they''d be crushed.
"You dare!"
Despite startingter, Zhou Xuchuan chased after Meng Gang with near-impossible speed. His speed was a result of the countless hours he had invested in perfecting his lightness and footwork techniques.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly closed the distance.
Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art!
He stretched his left arm forward, the hem of his sleeve billowing.
Thwip!
With a flick of his wrist, a dagger shot out, tracing a clean, straight path through the air.
"This punk!"
Meng Gang, almost as if he had eyes in the back of his head, turned and swung his sword, releasing a sword wind.
The haze gathered before spreading widely. An invisible de wind shot out of Zhou Xuchuan''s sleeve and carried his dagger forward.
As for Meng Gang, his sword wind had no eyes. It was simply shot out haphazardly to block behind him.
"Ugh!"
"Agk!!"
Because of that, a few unfortunate Red Forest bandits ended up caught in it.
A mist of blood filled the air.
"Now you''re even using hidden weapons? This is ridiculous."
Meng Gang was dumbfounded.
Zhou Xuchuan''s skill with throwing weapons was extraordinary, evenparable to the Tang Family.
"How ridiculous? Isn''t that something I should be saying?"
Zhou Xuchuan slowly walked toward Meng Gang.
"You said you acknowledged my strength, but you even ran away like a coward? Just who the hell are you?"
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t make sense of it.
From the aura of his body, he was in the Harmony Realm, but his martial skills spoke differently. Although the bandit had said that he would use all of his strength, he just ran away.
"Haven''t you ever heard of a tactical retreat?"
Meng Gang''s lips twisted into a smile. It was an unpleasant smile.
ng!
With a sneer, Meng Gang dropped his sword to the ground. It wasn''t because he lost strength, it was intentional.
"Do you know why your head is still attached to your neck? Because your cultivation was strong? Because you''re lucky? No. It''s just because this body of mine hasn''t used all of its strength just yet."
"What, you failed the exam dozens of times in the past, and now you''re just drinking and grumbling with nothing to do, saying, ''I haven''t given my all yet! I can do whatever it is I put my mind to,'' or something like that, right? I get it."
"No."
"Then what? Did you seal a dragon''s power in your left arm or something?"[2]
"Hehehe, this is thest time you''ll act so high and mighty."
Meng Gangughed sinisterly. There was an indescribable eeriness in hisughter.
He turned around, presenting his back to Zhou Xuchuan as if inviting him to look closely.
Although it looked like a brightly colored door, for some reason, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t approach it.
It felt like there were hundreds of thousands of archers behind the door, waiting for an enemy toe in.
There''s no way
A possibility came to mind. If that were the case, it would exin all of Meng Gang''s strange behavior so far.
Zhou Xuchuan hoped what he was suspecting really wasn''t the case. However, ominous thoughts always ended up hitting the mark.
"Ahaha!"
Meng Gang''s voice was filled with confidence as he turned to face Zhou Xuchuan again.
"Now, little brat. Why don''t we dance properly?"
In front of him was a spear.
Its spearhead shined sharper than any honorable-grade sword. A bundle of red cloth strings, a tassel, dangled from below, catching the eye.
Meng Gang''s left hand gripped the wooden shaft, while his right hand settled below it.
This was a mistake.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue inwardly and regretted it.
He had been distracted by too many thoughts and doubts. His judgment hadn''t been very good.
Meng Gang hadn''t intentionally not been using sword techniques. He simply couldn''t use them.
What he had used to rise to the Harmony Realm hadn''t been his sword, but his spear. Considering he hadn''t been using his spear so far, it was only natural that he wasn''t able to show any spear aura until now.
This also exined why his swordsmanship was morecking than he thought.
Zhou Xuchuan realized he had wasted his opportunities. If he had just used sword aura earlier, it would have been easy to handle.
Crack!
Zhou Xuchuan clenched his teeth. He couldn''t help but feel angry at himself.
"Hahaha. Now, isn''t your face a little more presentable?"
Meng Gangughed with satisfaction.
""
Whew.
Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath, calming his racing heart and clearing his mind.
The mistakes he had just made would disappear with experience. He just had to reflect on his choices and be more careful next time.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes narrowed as Meng Gang''s eyes became fierce.
I have to kill him.
Meng Gang no longer looked down on Zhou Xuchuan as a child. A murderous bloodlust rose up in his heart.
He''s only twentyno, thirty, but he''s still this strong. I don''t know if I''ll be able to fight him in ten years. If I lose here, he''lle back for revenge someday. I have to kill him at all costs, for the sake of the future.
Meng Gang drew on qi from his lower dantian. Unlike before, the cirction was faster. Now, he felt like he could unleash his true strength.
"Most importantly..."
Meng Gang unconsciously put his thoughts into words.
"The moment I show you this, no one will be able to leave here alive."
Drawing a line, Meng Gang positioned himself so that his left and right heels were all on the same line.
It was amon spearmanship stance, with one hand holding the base of the spear.
In the moment it took him to control his breathing, the next attack flowed like water, and Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened in shock as he let out a surprised shout.
"Pear Blossom Spear The Yang Family Spear Technique!"
"Hmph!"
"As expected, you''re from the imperial army and a general at that!"
1. The fourth and fifth techniques are Plum Blossom Rays and Plum Blossom Plunge, respectively. ?
2. CHUNNIBIYOOOOOOOOOU. ?
Chapter 154: Yang Family Spear Technique (2)
Chapter 154: Yang Family Spear Technique (2)
The Yang Family Spear Technique.
It was a spear technique passed down by Yang Miaozhen, a female general of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the techniqueter became famous during the Ming Dynasty.
Although its fundamentals were excellent, over time, it was even further developed in the hands of many warriors, eventually bing the greatest spear technique.
To paraphrase the words of a martial arts master, it was recognized as a peerless technique of the imperial troops and was only taught to generals.
"Hmph, so you''ve figured it out."
Meng Gang frowned as if he was displeased.
"It''s obvious just from how you hold the spear," Zhou Xuchuan replied.
"Well, it''s not like this type of technique doesn''t exist in the murim, though, right?"
"Well, you''re not wrong."There were many martial artists who devoted their entire lives to martial arts. They created various techniques for various weapons, among which, while there may not have been many, were also techniques for spears.
As the fame of the Yang Family Spear Technique spread, some martial artists even created spear techniques based on its strange nature.[1]
"However the walls here remind me of a fortress. Then there are the bows most martial artists wouldn''t use and the way these bandits have been trained," Zhou Xuchuan said.
Everything here reminded him of the imperial government''s troops.
He continued, "With all this, are you still saying you have nothing to do with the imperial troops?"
"Enough," Meng Gang replied. It wasn''t worth answering, and Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t really expected a response.
Meng Gang tightened his grip on the spear, his eyes growing even fiercer.
His aura changedpletely, radiating a newfound confidence. He was a different person altogether from when he wielded a sword.
The very air trembled, and then, as if life had drained from the world itself, only a profound silence remained.
Neither Zhou Xuchuan nor Meng Gang moved.
They stared each other down, paying no mind to their surroundings.
A normal person might be restless and find themselves unable to stand still. Yet the two masters remained unfazed, as motionless as they had been before.
Tap!
The world that had frozen began to move again. The des of grass fluttering in the wind tilted to the side.
Swish!
A pure white beam of light shot out, making a hole in the atmosphere.
The first to break the silence was Meng Gang and his spear.
He took a step forward and thrust his spear with full force. Holding it at the base, he naturally extended his reach, and with each step, his range grew. What was scary was that his thrust was still as sharp as lightning and just as powerful.
It''s dangerous!
Zhou Xuchuan quickly leapt back, as if repelled by an invisible force.
Where do you think you''re going?!
Meng Gang''s eyes glinted coldly as he fiercely pursued Zhou Xuchuan, intent on making his retreat useless.
Boom!
Imbuing the spear in his hand with strength, he lifted his spear, causing the spear''s body to bend like a stick of candy.
Meng Gang used the sticity to spin the spear around in a circle, the tassel swirling with it.
It''s an illusion!
All spears of the Central ins, no matter what kind of spear they were, had a bundle of threads called a tassel. The tassels had three purposes.
The first was to dazzle the eyes by shaking the threads wildly so that the spearhead couldn''t be seen properly.
The second was to prevent blood from running down the handle when stabbing the enemy, keeping it from getting slippery.
The third was just simple decoration.
The Yang Family Spear Technique applied the first use extremely well. It deliberately advanced while drawing circles, deceiving the opponent with shy movements before stabbing at the center of the chest.
"Hmph!"
However, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t fall for the illusion. He twisted his body, dodging the circr jab, and swung his sword forcefully to deflect the decisive blow.
ngC!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out, the impact of the collision reverberating down their weapons.
Just being able to block the Phoenix Point Head this easily was amazing enough, but to think he could still produce this kind of power?
Meng Gang''s face hardened. The more he exchanged attacks and moves with Zhou Xuchuan, the more he was daunted by the monster in front of him.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t particrly get panicked or even surprised. He just casually took on the blow, blocking it just like he had been blocking the others until now.
I have to kill him!
Meng Gang''s killing intent grew even deeper. This wasn''t just about saving face anymorehe had to eliminate Zhou Xuchuan for the future.
Thump!
Meng Gang''s muscles bulged, veins standing out as he used his physical strength to the fullest extent.
Not only was he using his physical strength, he also leveraged his qi.
Using the strength overflowing from his entire body, he shed with his spear in rapid session.
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
He advanced with precision and retreated with speed. His movements were incredibly swift as he delivered dozens of stabs.
Impressive!
Zhou Xuchuan was genuinely amazed.
The longer the spear, the more difficult it was to handle and the lower its maneuverability. Moreover, as it got heavier, it was normal for the speed of its attacks to be slower.
However, Meng Gang''s spear didn''t have any of those shorings.
On the contrary, although his spear was longer than an ordinary spear, it was as fast as lightning. Moreover, its movements were no different from an unshakable mountain.
Ha-a-eup!
Zhou Xuchuan''s qi sensitivity heightened as his senses sharpened.
All of the information regarding the spear entered his brain from his vision and hearing.
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword also followed the movement of the spear. He countered each jab as if he couldn''t afford to let a single blow slip through.
ng, ng, ng, ng, ng!
Two streaks of lights sliced through the air. One line became two, and two split into several, tracing patterns in the air.
However, that line didn''t reach his opponent. Before it could reach him, it was dissipated by another line that that intercepted it mid-air.
ng-!
The sword and spear shed fiercely, sparks flying as they both withdrew.
"You crazy bastard!"
Did you really just block all of this?
Meng Gang swallowed his words as his jaw dropped in shock.
This was different from when he was using his sword.
He was confident in his spear.
He had even given his all without showing any mercy.
Yet, somehow, Zhou Xuchuan had blocked it all.
Zhou Xuchuan had moved so fast that it made his palms sweaty. He still couldn''t believe that little brat had blocked all of his moves.
Just how did he block it?
Meng Gang was puzzled.
If it was just speed, he wouldn''t be this surprised.
The aura contained in the spear wasn''t small, and the movement of the spear was so fluid and varied that its unique nature made it no ordinary technique.
Above all, wasn''t he in the Harmony Realm? From the reaction speed, qi cirction, strength, and agilitythere should have been a difference from the very beginning.
No matter how many elixirs one consumed or how much qi they built up, that alone wasn''t enough to deal with someone in the Harmony Realm.
None of that matters now.
He had to kill him!
He concentrated everything on that one thought.
His killing intent bloomed, and he put pressure on Zhou Xuchuan with his qi. It was a pressure that most experts would have a hard time withstanding.
Zhou Xuchuan paused for a moment.
Meng Gang smiled in satisfaction.
Bang!
Meng Gang shot forward, his movement still lightning-fast. He moved so fast that it made one wonder if he was really holding a spear.
His unkempt beard fluttered in the wind, his eyebrows moving along with it.
He''sing!
Zhou Xuchuan slightly bent his knees. He also imbued strength into the hand holding his sword, the cirction of his qi speeding up.
Boom! Boom!!
Meng Gang''s spear drew another circle. The red tassel flickering, drawing attention.
While the spearhead and the spear tassel tried to dazzle him, Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze didn''t waver.
As if he wouldn''t miss it, he only kept his eyes on the spearhead. Thanks to that, he discovered the spear aura that formed within the afterimage of Meng Gang''s attack.
Here ites!
Finally, the move he had been preparing from the start emerged.
Meng Gang''s eyes were filled with overconfidence. Thinking that this was his moment, he shed down with all he had.
"You idiot! This is the end!"
Meng Gang couldn''t hold back hisughter and shouted excitedly.
ng!
"What?!"
Meng Gang''s face twisted in shock, his mouth falling open in disbelief.
The spear that had been advancing rapidly suddenly stopped.
Normally, it shouldn''t have stopped. It should have kept going, slicing through his opponent''s sword. Not even a sword forged of Thousand Year Cold Iron would have been able to withstand it.
"There''s no way!"
A solid mass of qi shed between them, sending shockwaves through the spear shaft and into his hand, making it tremble.
"H-harmony Realm!"
Meng Gang''s voice was filled with disbelief and shock.
Ha-eup!
Zhou Xuchan didn''t let Meng Gang''s overconfidence go, he counterattacked immediately.
Pulling back his sword, he twisted his wrist,unching a full-powered thrust.
Swish!
The sword strike became like a spear itself, its force rivaling any thrust Meng Gang had disyed before.
It wasn''t the Violet Haze Sword Sutra or the ultimate strike of the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, but a simple strike made with raw physical power and qi.
It tore through the wind, parting the air, leaving an arc that shimmered with a faint purple glow as it advanced.
No!
Meng Gang''s face turned as pale as a sheet.
He wasn''t just sitting back and watching. His hands holding the spear were moving busily.
In order to block Zhou Xuchuan, who had weaseled his way into arms reach, he raised the spear shaft with his left hand then lowered it with his right, channeling his power into a centripetal motion. As the shaft bent, he used its recoil to lift the left end even faster.
"AGH!"
Squelch!
However, he was toote. His right chest was hit.
Although he twisted his body as much as he could, he still wasn''t able to get out of range. Moreover, his defensive qi barrier was erected toote to block it. The spear that responded toote also lost its target and stopped.
While it should have fallen to the ground as long as it wasn''t caught before it fell, Meng Gang''s pride wouldn''t allow that.
Despite being mortally wounded, Meng Gang grabbed the spear, which an ordinary person wouldn''t be able to lift, with one hand and held it up.
"You, you b!"
Bleergh!
Meng Gang vomited blood.
"Did you get help from the Dark Heavens Association?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered.
Meng Gang flinched.
"While things might be okay if you were a bandit in the remote countryside, a former military general wouldn''t be able to hide in a conspicuous ce like the Red Forest."
Meng Gang had hidden his true strength well.
Judging by his uneasy expression while using the Yang Family Spear Technique, he feared his true identity might be exposed.
"While there are many deserters, you being a general is a different story. The imperial government would never leave you alone."
It was obvious that he was a generala military officer of high rank. Someone of his status wouldn''t leave the post easily.
In the first ce, the idea of living quietly wasn''t an option for someone on that level. Those of the opposing faction would be happy to find him, seeing it as an easy way to eliminate someone who opposed them. Meanwhile those from the same faction would wish for his death, fearing he would reveal their dirty secrets.
The emperor, too, wouldn''t be pleased, worried that someone like Meng Gang might be hiding in the provinces, plotting a rebellion.
In fact, there was a precedent for this in history.
"Was it Blessed Existence?"
"Heh, heh"
Meng Gang let out an inmmatoryugh.
"How funny, how funny"
"What is?"
"You were bragging that the world was in the palm of your hand to think that wasn''t the case, so we have nothing else but tough"
As expected, Meng Gang was under the protection of the Dark Heavens Association. Even if the entire Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest may not have been involved, their general was, at the very least, a part of them.
"Since you''ve defeated me, as a reward I''ll tell you something. What I know is well, not much. I just don''t want to see those damned northern barbarians anymore I wanted to get out of this hellish ce, and I just wanted to help the others."
Cough!
His words were slurred as if he wasn''t feeling well. Hisplexion was also pale, but that was because he vomited blood.
"How impressive they were. They even changed my face so that I could be a new person and."
His voice grew fainter with each word.
Zhou Xuchuan wanted to learn more, but it seemed things would end here.
"Kahahaha The world has been fooled. Not only the Dark Heavens Association but even the murim. We''ve been fooled by the monster of Mount Hua"
Meng Gang shouted with every bit of strength he had left, but his voice only reached Zhou Xuchuan.
1. The Miao in Miaozhen means strange. ?
Chapter 155: Subduing the Green Dragon (1)
After winning the fierce battle against Meng Gang, Zhou Xuchuan ced his foot on the bandit''s back. He imbued his voice with qi and roared, "Enough!"
His voice was so loud that it reverberated throughout the Green Dragon Stockade and the mountains nearby, startling the animals leisurely lounging on the branches and forcing them to flee.
"!"
The punitive force and the Red Forest bandits froze. Even the martial artist about to slit someone''s throat gasped in surprise.
The hundreds of martial artists all turned to one ce. Their gaze all fell on Zhou Xuchuan standing over Meng Gang''s body.
"I-Impossible!" one of the Red Forest bandits eximed and trembled in shock upon recognizing the corpse. The ripples of realization swept across the other Red Forest bandits.
Meanwhile, the faces of the punitive force brightened. They were exhausted and were breathing heavily, but their faces were filled with joy at the sight.
"The Stockade Boss is dead! Stop rebelling and surrender!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed once more.
The faces of many people changed drastically at Zhou Xuchuan''s words, but the underboss vehemently retorted, "Nonsense!"The stockade boss had shown them miracle after miracle; he had chosen and applied tactics that none of them had ever seen before, and they easily defeated the imperial government''s punitive force as well as the experts of the Righteous Faction, who fought their way into the stockade.
The underboss would never be the leader as long as Meng Gang was around, but he could still live a life no less than that of a leader.
"T-this is nonsense!"
He couldn''t quite believe that the monstrous stockade boss had fallen, and the thought that he had fallen at the hands of some young brat, who seemed to have yet toe of age, was even more absurd.
"Let''s turn our eyes to reality and stop the pointless arguing," Zhou Xuchuan said. He hopped off Meng Gang, and as if to prove his words, he flipped the corpse over with a kick, revealing its face to everyone.
The punitive force erupted into cheers upon seeing Meng Gang''s face.
"T-this can''t be happening!"
"The stockade boss is dead. R-really?"
The underboss was stupefied; he couldn''t quite ept the oue.
The upper ranks of the Red Forest bandits reacted the same as him.
ng!
"I-I surrender!"
"Please spare my life!"
"My eyes have deceived me!"
"I have my aged mother back at home"
Meng Gang was no more, so the Green Dragon Stockade bandits lost their will to fight. The crisp sound of weapons falling to the ground echoed all over the ce.
And just like that, the Green Dragon Stockade, also known as the Number One Stockade Under the Heavens, was no more
The punitive force had emerged victorious, but it was still too early for them to indulge in their victory. The punitive force had seeded in the subjugation of the Green Dragon Stockade, but the subjugation of the Red Forest was still ongoing.
The Seven Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs were still out there, after all.
The Great Tiger Stockade and the Green Dragon Stockade had fallen one after another, so the other stockades would surely send reinforcements upon hearing of the news.
The exhausted punitive force had no energy left to fight. Even though the reinforcements would also be, at best mere bandits, considering the state of the punitive force, they''d definitely lose in a fight.
Thus, the members of the punitive force immediately used the Golden Sore Ointment and prepared to retreat.
"Regardless of the force, we''ll divide into three groups and move. There should be quite a few hostages tied up in the prisons, so release them all and get ready to leave together.
"Tie up those who surrendered and leave them behind. It''s okay to kill them if they resist."
"What should we do about the treasure?"
"Just take away a few taels of gold. Anything else will hinder our movement, so leave them behind."
"Huh? We''re leaving all that stuff behind?"
Zhuge Shengji licked his lips in regret.
"We''re exhausted, and quite a few of us are injured. Furthermore, we have to prioritize the wounded and those who have difficulty moving among the hostages.
"We also have to move through rugged terrain, so we need to be as light as possible. We should only carry the bare minimum of supplies," Zhou Xuchuan exined.
"I guess there''s nothing we can do about that."
Zhuge Shengji wasn''t the only one filled with regret.
The tired gazes of the punitive force members were filled with regret as well.
Zhou Xuchuan was worried that their greed could end up in them getting in trouble, so he added, "Regardless of the value of gold and silver, it cannot bepared to human life. Remember that even the slightest greed can kill. You''re not just carrying wealth but your own life on your shoulders as well."
"Senior Brother" Luo Xiaoyue muttered and blinked, seemingly moved. The punitive force members seemed to be somewhat moved by his words as well. Although regretful, they still changed their minds.
Things like this need to be handled properly. Otherwise, something big might happen.
This wasn''t Zhou Xuchuan''s first time encountering something as regretful as what was happening at the moment. Something like this had happened in his past life.
They attacked the enemy''s warehouse and won. Then, they discovered a considerable amount of gold and silver in their enemy''s warehouse.
At the time, it was unknown when the enemy''s reinforcements would show up, so they had to retreat as quickly as possible. However, everyone, including themander, was blinded by their greed, and they all looted the warehouse.
They retreated immediately afterward, but they had wasted precious time, so the enemies ended up chasing after them. To make matters worse, the weight of the treasure slowed them down so much that they were almost annihted.
It was only after losing more than a quarter of their troops that they finally came to their senses and abandoned their treasures to barely escape with their lives.
"This isn''t the time to dawdle. The enemy might be approaching us right now, so we must make haste."
"Understood!"
The eyes of the punitive force members changed. Their faces still showed hints of fatigue, but their eyes were now shining with a sense of purpose.
How incredible. Zhuge Xiuluan didn''t show it on the outside, but she was in awe of Zhou Xuchuan. She had joinedte, so she couldn''t see Zhou Xuchuan in action, but his actions and words just now were enough for Zhuge Xiuluan to say that he was impressive.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t hesitate for even a second, and his judgement was both unwavering and wise. He managed to prevent these people from making foolish actions in advance, and he valued the camaraderie of the gangho.
Every word he spoke was like a spell, and above all, hismands seemed toe from a general on the front line.
Whew. Thank goodness I''ve seen and heard many things before.
This was Zhou Xuchuan''s first time giving suchrge-scalemands. He had survived many battlefields during the war, but he had only ever been in the position of receiving orders.
However, he had traveled to many ces, so he had seen and heard from countless heroes and talented monks of Buddhist Temples. During the era of peace that hadeter in his previous lifetime, he had also umted a ton of knowledge through books.
"Underboss."
"Yes."
The underboss'' face was a mess. One of his eyes was swollen, his nose was crushed, and several of his teeth had been knocked out. He had tried to run away as soon as he realized that defeat was certain.
However, Zhou Xuchuan caught up to him and gave him a beating.
"I''m a little impatient right now because we don''t have time. When people get impatient, their tempers get a little worse, right?" Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
"Yes, that''s right."
"I have a few questions to ask, so I''d like you to speak straight away without hesitation. If you lie at all, I''ll break your bones here and there. Oh, since you have to talk, I won''t aim for your mouth."
"How could I ever dare to lie to you? Please ask me anything, Great Hero."
"Do you know any ces that the stockade boss frequents, or are there ces that might be his cache? If there are, tell me. Tell me everything."
"Understood."
They didn''t have much time, so before anything else, Zhou Xuchuan made sure that the underboss wouldn''t dare to entertain the idea of fighting back. Once he was satisfied with his efforts, he then urged the underboss to speak.
If the underboss were to attempt any surreptitious tricks or make a deal, Zhou Xuchuan would use some serious violence on him.
"This way," the underboss said, obediently guiding Zhou Xuchuan somewhere.
Just in case there were any mechanisms, Zhou Xuchuan brought Zhuge Shengji with him.
The underboss led them to the room next to the stockade boss'' office. The stockade boss'' office was where they''d usually bring a woman to vent their carnal desires.
Disgusting traces of their dirty acts were still everywhere.
There weren''t any corpses, but there was blood all over the ce.
"Wait outside," Zhou Xuchuan said, gesturing to the underboss. Then, he added, "You know what''s going to happen if you run away again, right?"
"O-Of course."
The underboss trembled and closed the door behind him.
"Big Brother, this seems to be the right ce," Zhuge Shengji said as soon as the door was closed.
"And how the hell do you know that?" Zhou Xuchuan asked curiously. While he had studied the basics of mechanisms, he didn''t couldn''t sense anything strange.
"...?" Zhuge Shengji tilted his head, looking confused. "Can''t you just tell by looking at it? The structure of the room is strange."
"Whatever. It''s my fault for asking."
While there were many geniuses, Zhuge Shengji was the worst of them all. They all took what they understood for granted, and they couldn''t understand how someone else couldn''t understand something in the same way as them.
Most importantly, they were the worst tutors out there. Zhuge Shengji could exin the basics, but everything else was too vague to understand.
Zhuge Shengji walked to the wall in the center and said, "Look here. If I press this with a needle"
Zhuge Shengji took out a needle from his bosom and pressed the wall with a needle.
Crunch!
Something amazing happened. The wall in the middle caved in and moved to the side, revealing a secret space. He hadn''t tapped the wall with his fingers or anything to examine it. Zhuge Shengji just looked at it once and immediately knew that there was something amiss.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t figure out how Zhuge Shengji knew that there was something strange on such an unassuming wall.
As expected of a genius Zhou Xuchuan sighed and decided not to think too deeply about it. There wasn''t much time, and he didn''t have the luxury to concern himself with it. What could be hidden here?
Most people at the top of an organization had skeletons in their closets, and skeletons in the closets tended to be important things.
This was especially true for the Red Forest bandits. Meng Gang could trust no one, so there was no way he''d entrust his secrets to anyone. Thus, Zhou Xuchuan guessed that Meng Gang had to have stashed something nearby, and he was right.
"And the traps?"
"We''ve already passed it."
"Passed?"
"This wall is both a mechanism and a trap. If the door is opened the wrong way, the trap will get activated. Now, let''s see what type of trap"Zhuge Shengji trailed off and tapped his feet a few times on the ground. Then, he nodded and said, "The ground below us is hollow, but I''m not quite sure what''s underneath. Judging from the echo, it''s about five to six zhang deep"
"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered.
Zhuge Shengji had figured out the type of trap underneath them just by tapping the ground a few times with his feet. The more Zhou Xuchuan thought about it, the more absurd it became.
Zhuge Shengji clearly had superhuman senses, but for some reason, they''d only manifest when he was in the middle of something rted to mechanisms.
"It looks like the stockade boss has been maintaining the mechanisms properly. There''s a chance of triggering the mechanisms by going near it, so people usually won''t approach something like this. When they absolutely have to approach it, they''d take advantage of the designated safe areas.
"In other words, the mechanisms would normally umte dust due to theck of use, but he has actually been cleaning them regrly. I guess it must be to avoid attracting any suspicion."
Meng Gang had been cleaning the floor thoroughly to avoid any suspicion and to ensure that everything would look natural.
"And" Zhuge Shengji trailed off, entering the secret space without any hesitation. "What are these? I thought there''d be something else inside, but that''s it? Hyung-nim, there aren''t any more traps here."
For some reason, Zhou Xuchuan felt a tinge of regret in Zhuge Shengji''s voice. It seemed that Zhuge Shengji had been expecting to see more mechanisms. He truly was of a different breed.
Zhou Xuchuan looked at Zhuge Shengji in disbelief. Then, he entered the door and looked around. The secret space wasn''trge; there was only a table with a box on top.
Let''s see Zhou Xuchuan opened the box, and it opened smoothly, making it clear that it was being maintained regrly. Therge was prettyrge, so he was excited about what was inside.
Huh? There was a small wooden box inside the box, and there were several books with yellowed and discolored covers beneath the small wooden box.
Zhou Xuchuan checked the contents of the wooden box first.
Is it a spiritual medicine? Zhou Xuchuan thought upon seeing a pill that was giving off a pungent scent. There was only one pill inside, but the pill itself looked pretty precious.
Worried that the pill would lose its effectiveness, Zhou Xuchuan closed the wooden box and ced it into his sleeve.
"Just please don''t disappoint me."
The pill wasn''t bad, but it couldn''t meet his expectations.
It wasn''t like he wascking in spiritual medicines. Zhou Xuchuan grew more curious about the books, so he took them out and read their covers.
Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.
Iron Shirt.
The technique manuals were just techniques, so what really caught his interest was a book without anything written on its cover. It seemed to have been opened quite a few times, as its yellowed cover was quite tattered.
Setting aside the other manuals, Zhou Xuchuan flipped open the nameless book.
This is it! Zhou Xuchuan immediately grinned.
Chapter 156: Subduing the Green Dragon (2)
After getting his hands on a spiritual medicine and three manuals, Zhou Xuchuan left the office with Zhuge Shengji in tow. The duo opened the door, only to be greeted immediately by the underboss bowing so deep that he looked like he was going to kiss the floor.
Zhou Xuchuan searched every nook and cranny of the bedroom in case the Stockade Boss had stashed something else, but nothing useful turned up.
He scanned the room one more time before saying, "Looks like the situation outside is more or less wrapped up, too. Let''s get going, then."
"Huh?! So soon?"
Zhuge Shengji reacted in obvious disappointment. He could still see the Green Dragon''s mechanisms he still hadn''t studied yet.
"I''ll show you better thingster, so let''s get going. We really don''t have a lot of time left."
Zhou Xuchuan would also have loved to stay for a few more days and investigate the Green Dragon Stockade more thoroughly. However, with the situation being what it was, they simply had no choice but to swallow their disappointment and walk away.
"Senior Brother, we''re done with our tasks," said Luo Xiaoyue.
The group, led by her and Tang Hui, brought out all the people they rescued from this ce''s prison, and their number reached almost two hundred."We''re also finished with our tasks. They are all imprisoned now," said Chu Lian while wiping away the beaded sweat on his forehead with his sleeve.
"We''ve also destroyed their cultivation, so they won''te after uster," Zhang Xuen added.
Destroyed their cultivation?! The eyes of the underboss nearly popped out of his sockets upon hearing that. The destruction of one''s cultivation meant the destruction of one''s dantian or the severance of one''s tendons. Both were tantamount to a death sentence for these martial artistsno, for these bandits whose livelihood was to rob others of their wealth.
Once one''s dantian was destroyed, circting qi would be impossible. Naturally, umting qi would be impossible as well. Severed tendons meant one wouldn''t be able to use their limbs properly, and the best they could hope for was to walk upright.
Either way, one would live out the rest of their lives as disabled individuals.
Zhou Xuchuan turned to his group and said, "I see. Since the preparations are done, let''s depart right away. Please help me escort these people so that we won''t have to leave anyone behind and no one will get injured along the way."
"E-excuse me, Great Hero?" the underboss asked cautiously. His gaze was glued to the ground, and he was rubbing his hands together with an awkward smile etched on his face. "I''ve shown you around, sir, so may I be excused now?"
Zhou Xuchuan stared at the underboss.
"I''ve turned over a new leaf thanks to you, O Great Hero! From today onward, I''ll devote the rest of my life to helping others."
"Underboss, do you know they of the surroundingnd?" Zhou Xuchuan asked. Of course, the underboss was aware of that. How could he not be aware of it?
It had been over twenty years since he joined the Green Dragon Stockade, and he had been living this lifestyle since then. However, he dearly wanted to avoid spending more time with these people.
Thus, he decided to lie.
"No, sir. I''ve been staying within this mountain stronghold all my life, so I don''t know much about they of thend outside."
"Sounds like we should cut your tendons off, then."
"I-I know the surroundingsno! I know Chongqing like the back of my hand, sir! Just ask me, and I''ll show you the shortest route to your destination!"
"That''s great," said Zhou Xuchuan.
The original group was supposed to number only around eighty, including the Zhuge Family.
However, the addition of the hostages ballooned that number past two hundred and eighty.
Since two hundred of that considerable number were ordinary folks with nobat power, the group had no choice but to seek out safer routes. Zhou Xuchuan picked several scouts from the Green Dragon, plus the underboss, and asked them to show the way.
To ensure that there wouldn''t be any attempts at foul y, Zhou Xuchuan questioned the bandits separately. Thankfully, it seemed that his threats had worked on them. None of them had tried anything unwise.
"A-are we really saved?"
"Thank you, sirs. Thank you so much"
"Sob, sniff!"
The hasty retreat proved as tough as expected. The hostages'' conditions weren''t all that great. Some people remained suspicious of Zhou Xuchuan and his group, while some were in denial of reality.
However, the majority of the hostages celebrated their freedom.
Most had gloomy expressions, which made it clear that their time in the Green Dragon''s prison wasn''t a pleasant time. The hostages were still anxious as well, as they had yet to move out of the bandits'' territory.
The menfolk among the hostages were more or less fine, but the women were in bad condition, and they were indescribably pitiful.
They were fine when it came to interacting with other women, but a man approaching them would set them off into violent outbursts with plenty of screaming and yelling.
Fortunately, there were women among the members of the punitive force, but their numbers were too few, so things remained troublesome throughout their journey.
Whenever the women were too hysterical to calm down, the escorts had no choice but to force them into sleep by tapping on their acupoints. It meant the unconscious women had to be carried on their backs, but that was better than allowing them to lose their minds in the grip of hysteria.
"Will this be alright?" Luo Xiaoyue asked in passing, but her expression conveyed how worried she was. Obviously, she had no thoughts of abandoning all these people, but she was worried about the potential pursuit of the bandits.
"I''m worried about how slow we''re moving."
"It''ll be fine," Zhou Xuchuan replied. He smiled gently, putting Luo Xiaoyue at ease.
"The timing is a bit too tight to rx, but I think we can make it out of here safely."
"How can you be so sure of that?" Zhuge Xiuluan chimed in, sounding curious.
Zhou Xuchuan nced at her and replied, "Because of all the ownerless gold."
"Ah!" Zhuge Xiuluan gasped softly, seemingly figuring out something just then.
***
The sun disappeared slowly behind the mountains. The horizon burning in the amber glow was soon nketed by the veil of the night.
Eventually, dawn broke once more; today became yesterday, while tomorrow became today. Today was the second day of the Green Dragon Stockade''s downfall.
"W-what''s the meaning of this?!" a Green Dragon bandit eximed with his eyes wide in sheer astonishment. He had been away from the stockade to carry out an order. He had spent the past few days outside, and he was finally back from his task.
However, what greeted him was a scene of utter destruction. Corpses of hisrades were rotting away in every corner of the hideout, and pitiful screams filled with despair reverberated from the prisons.
This had to be what pandemonium in reality would look like!
"AAAAAH!" the terrified Green Dragon bandit eximed and fled frantically without even bothering to take a second look at the ruins behind him. His destination was another bandit camp that he had just visited.
"Say what now?! The Green Dragon Stockade has been annihted?!" the Stockade Boss of the Jade Mountain Stockade asked back in rm.
"Y-yes, Boss!"
Could it be The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss recalled the topic of his discussion with the Red Forest''s executives. Their topic was none other than the punitive force.
"No, that makes no sense at all!" the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss eximed unconsciously in shock. As far as he knew, the punitive force didn''t have even a hundred members. A force that small could never destroy the Green Dragon Stockade''s front gate, much less the Green Dragon Stockade itself.
Are you seriously telling me that the impregnable fortress got raided?! The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss tried desperately to deny the reality before him in an effort to get rid of the anxiety gnawing at his heart.
Unfortunately, his efforts were to no avail. In the end, he moved out of his base with his subordinates in tow not even two hours after receiving the ominous report. His destination was, of course, the Green Dragon Stockade.
The Jade Mountain Stockade wasn''t as close as the Great Tiger Stockade was to the Green Dragon Stockade. The Jade Mountain Stockade wasn''t that far from the Green Dragon Stockade.
"Huh?!" The bandit leader''s jaw fell all on its own as soon as he set foot into the Green Dragon Stockade''s stronghold. He couldn''t quite believe the report, but it turned out to be true! His eyes could see it, but he couldn''t quite believe whaty before his eyes.
He could have never imagined that the Green Dragon, once famous for its invincibility, would one day end up in such a pitiful state.
"Uh-huhk?! That''s the stockade boss!"
Someone found Meng Gang''s corpse while they were looking around the Green Dragon''s stronghold.
Wondering whether he was merely someone who looked simr to Meng Gang, the Jade Mountain Boss checked up on the corpse several times, but the corpse truly belonged to Meng Gang, the Red Forest''s undisputed boss.
Since the two factions'' bases were close by, the two leaders often encountered each other. And that happened for over a decade, so Meng Gang''s facial features and physique were rather familiar to the Jade Mountain Boss.
"Boss! We found the Green Dragon boys! They''re locked up in their own cells!"
"Say what now?!"
The Jade Mountain Boss immediately rushed to the prison.
"Huh?"
However, the sight waiting for him at the prison was shocking, to say the least. He saw roughly a hundred or so Green Dragon bandits sagging weakly behind the bars. Some of them had clearly lost their minds; they were shouting and throwing fits like lunatics.
"S-save us!" a Green Dragon bandit begged, clinging to the iron bar of the cell.
"What happened here?" the Jade Mountain Boss asked, "Did someone ambush you? Like the government forces? The Murim Coalition?"
"N-no, Boss! Zhou Xuchuan! It was Zhou Xuchuan!"
"It really was the Plum Blossom Order Sword?!" The Jade Mountain Boss stared at the bandit in dismay. "Was the punitive force''s size different from what we knew?"
"No, Boss. They numbered between seventy and eighty."
"I have no time for such jokes," the Jade Mountain Boss said with a frown. "Speak more nonsense, and you''re dead!"
"N-no, Boss! I''m telling you the truth!"
The story being so unbelievable wasn''t that surprising.
After all, it did sound imusible. It was also logically impossible.
"Wait, did one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords help them out or something?"
Then again, the impossible could be possible if an absolute powerhouse were with the punitive force. If that were the case, the situation would be genuinely concerning.
"N-no, Boss."
"Then, who''s with them?! Exin everything from the start! And don''t you dare leave anything out!"
The bandit proceeded to give a detailed exnation of what had transpired over the past few days. However, his words were so bizarre that the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss had to question the other bandits to confirm the details.
One or two people making a simr statement could be seen as a coincidence, but what if four or five of them were saying the exact same thing? The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss had no choice but to trust their testimonies.
"Okay. So you''re saying that there''s no one in the base right now?"
"S-sorry? Yes, that''s right."
The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss wasn''t stunned nor terrified by Zhou Xuchuan''s strength. However, it wasn''t because he didn''t believe the testimonies of these bandits.
He was unafraid, as he simply couldn''t care less.
At the moment, the only light in his eyes was the light of boundless greed.
One of his subordinates who had searched every corner of the Green Dragon''s stronghold came up to the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss and whispered, "Boss, we''ve confirmed that their treasures are still around. It looks like the punitive force was in so much of a hurry to escape that they left everything behind!"
"Hehehe!" The Jade Mountain Stockade Boss revealed a distorted smile. Humans, especially those affiliated with the Red Forest, boasted worse greed than most people could imagine.
Thus, the ownerless treasures before their eyes blinded thempletely.
The first thing that the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss did wasn''t to make a report about the situation and send it to the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest. Instead, he proceeded to steal the Green Dragon''s treasures before anything else.
The bandits found wagons and loaded them up with the treasures. They only returned to the Jade Mountain Stockade once the wagons teetered on the brink of copse.
Their "rtives" from the Green Dragon begged to be rescued, but the Jade Mountain bandits simply tossed some food in their way and abandoned them in the prison.
After returning to his base, the Jade Mountain Stockade Boss organized his thoughts. Then, he sent carrier pigeons to alert the other stockades.
Unfortunately, I can''t monopolize everything, but it can''t be helped.
The Eighteen Stockade of the Red Forest was a coalition of bandits.
Evenwless men had to adhere to the bare minimum of rules. Monopolizing the treasure of a bandit faction that had just been destroyed wouldn''t just end with getting rebuked by the others.
"What? The Green Dragon has fallen?"
"The big boss, Meng Gang, is dead?"
Just as Zhou Xuchuan had predicted, the news of Meng Gang''s demise sent shockwaves across the Red Forest. It was truly a stunning piece of news.
Meng Gang had been lording over everything and everyone as the undisputed boss since he showed up two decades ago. He had also entered the upper half of the ranks among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
"What are you all doing?! Recall our boys outside!"
The attacks on the Gold Will Merchants ceased at once as if they had never happened to begin with. The bosses of the factions immediately got ready for the oing storm.
The concerted raids on Li Yicai''s businesses had been doing a number on him, but he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The bandits of the Red Bandits causing trouble throughout thend immediately ceased all activities and returned to base.
"Just how did they annihte the Green Dragons with such a small number of people?"
"That''s not what''s important, Boss. The Green Dragon Stockade has be ownerless. We must make haste and empty their vaults."
The bandits temporarily set aside the existence of the punitive force. In fact, they entertained not even a single thought of avenging Meng Gang.The bosses of the factions burned fiercely with their ambitions.
The first thing they had to do was split the ownerless riches among themselves, and then they''d enter a mad scramble to be the next big boss of the Red Forest.
Meanwhile, the punitive force finally reached a ce where they could rest safely after four days of arduous travel.
The so-called safe ce was the base of the Great Tiger Stockade. The local authorities had been alerted, so the base of the Great Tiger bandits was now full of government soldiers.
"Whaaaah!"
"We''re saved!"
The hostages finally rxed upon seeing the government soldiers. They hugged each other and sobbed loudly. It couldn''t be helped; they had survived all sorts of terrible pain and suffering at the hands of the Green Dragon, after all, and they were finally safe.
"Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan! Hooray!"
"Mount Hua, hooray! The Tang Family, hooray! The Zhuge Family, hooray!"
"Gold Will Sword Sect, hooray!"
The joyous roars pervaded not just the Great Tiger''s base but also reverberated across the nearby mountains. They were so raucous in their celebrations that the local predators were startled into fleeing.
Exactly a weekter, the news of the punitive force''s heroic feats arrived at the Central ins. In no time, it spread to all corners of thend.
"Fe, have you heard of the recent news?"
"How would I know what you''re talking about if you just say ''recent news''? There''s plenty of news to be found across the Central ins."
"Uh-huh, fe, there''s only one topic that''s been on everyone''s mind these days, is it not?"
"Oh, you mean Zhou Xuchuan, one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven? Indeed, he''s a heaven-sent chivalrous hero! A genuine Great Hero, I say!"
Chapter 157: Unyielding Faith (1)
Who was the most famous present-day cultivator in Murim?
If a hundred people were asked that question, they''d respond with the same name.
"It''s Zhou Xuchuan!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s fame had spread to all corners of the Central ins, and he was the hottest topic these days.
Everyone held the Red Forest in contempt for being a group of bandits, but everyone agreed that the Red Forest was a powerful faction in Murim. Since that was the case, any issues urring within it would garner a lot of attention from the public.
However, two factions known to be the strongest within the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forestthe Great Tiger and the Green Dragonwere annihted by a group of cultivators numbering fewer than a hundred.
It wasn''t strange for the public''s interest to be quite explosive, to say the least. At first, the public was merely excited by the news of the Great Tiger and the Green Dragon''s destruction.
Had the elite forces of the Murim Alliance finally stepped up? If they weren''t the perpetrators, perhaps an unknown powerful expert was the perpetrator behind their destruction?
Many different wild guesses like these ran amok among the public, but none of them managed to hit the nail on the head.To everyone''s stupefaction, a punitive force of less than a hundred cultivators was the culprit behind the Great Tiger Stockade''s downfall. Even more incredulous was that they had utterly crushed the "impregnable" fortress of the Green Dragon Stockade.
The news led people to wonder whether the punitive force was full of famous experts, as there were just too few of them. However, they were all shocked upon discovering that the members of the punitive force were cultivators below forty years of age!
"How did they pull that off?"
"Maybe the Green Dragon Stockade, or perhaps even the Red Forest, isn''t actually that scary in the first ce?"
"Uh-huh! Fe, would the righteous factions and the imperial government sit still if that were true?"
"That Meng Gang fe was there, too!"
"Right, the Red Forest''s top boss, Meng Gang! I heard he''s dead. Can someone tell me how he died?"
"I hear Zhou Xuchuan faced him by himself and won."
"Huh! Stop the nonsense, will you? Meng Gang isn''t some no-name bandit. Isn''t he a Harmony Realm expert?"
"More than a few righteous faction experts had lost their lives to Meng Gang, and one of them was a former expert of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven!"
"Sure, sure, but I still think you misheard."
They all thought it was another typical embellished gangho rumor.
However, there were far too many eyewitnesses, starting from the surviving Green Dragon bandits to the bandits'' hostages. Of course, the most important of all eyewitnesses were the members of the punitive force that fought alongside Zhou Xuchuan!
On top of that, people from the Tang Family and the Zhuge Family stepped up to provide testimonies, leaving the public with no choice but to believe the story.
"The Red Forest''s Meng Gang lost to Mount Hua''s Zhou Xuchuan!"
"One of my cousins was a warrior affiliated with the Gold Will Sword Sect, and he took part in the subjugation. He told us that Zhou Xuchuan was at the helm of the troops from the beginning till the end, and he fought head-on with Meng Gang!"
"He defeated Flower Scattering Palmst year through his skills alone. It wasn''t some fluke! But how can a young man in his twenties be so strong?"
"No, hold on. Zhou Xuchuan isn''t even twenty yet. Yes, he''s only neen!"
"Neen? Is that true? No way!"
It was unprecedented for a neen-year-old to stand toe-to-toe against a Harmony Realm expert, much less win. Even if there were a prodigy like that out there with incredible martial prowess, they''d usuallyck the requisite battle experience and would inevitably lose.
"Hyah~ doesn''t that mean he''s been hiding his great martial prowess until now? Peopleughed at him for being a moronno, a privileged scion who knows nothing, but he has always brushed those critiques aside with little concern. He sure has extraordinary patience."
"You think it''s only his patience? I heard that he''s always humble no matter where he is. He never looks down on cultivators with lower cultivation realms than him. He remains respectful toward them, too!"
"What happened at the Green Dragon Stockade is more amazing"
"Oh, yeah? What happened?"
"What would you do if you found a mountain of treasures that could set you up for life? No, it''s going to set your descendants for the rest of their lives as well. What will you do?"
"Well, I''ll probably take as much as I can and run."
"That''s right; you''ll definitely do that! But Great Hero Zhou didn''t even bat an eyelid in the face of such a massive treasure hoard and prioritized rescuing the hostages first. I''m telling you, he''s different from those righteous faction hypocrites who can do nothing but talk!"
The people of Murimno, the denizens of the Central ins all sang praises of Zhou Xuchuan. The tales of his feats spread far and wide, reaching remote viges with small poptions.
It wasn''t exactly a shocking oue. After all, Zhou Xuchuan had led a small punitive force to destroy the Green Dragon Stockade, famous for its invincibility, and then he fought the leader of the Red Forest all by himself and won.
In addition, he focused on rescuing the poor captives, seemingly indifferent to the hoard of treasures before him. Zhou Xuchuan''s feats were simr to the feats of heroes in heroic tales, so the people of the Central ins were understandably excited to hear them.
His actionsreminiscent of a heroremained a hot topic for everyone for quite a while.
"Mount Hua has produced a hero!"
"At this rate, Mount Hua''s honor and glory will pierce the heavens."
Mount Hua''s prestige climbed even higher heights, and it was all thanks to Zhou Xuchuan''s rising fame.
"My dear husband, how about we send our children to Mount Hua instead of letting them be Shaolin''s secr disciples?"
"Your suggestion is indeed wise, my dear. I was also thinking the same thing."
"Mom, I want to learn martial arts in Mount Hua!"
"I was convinced we''d have issuester on in our lives by letting our third child grow up that way, but should we send him off to Mount Hua?"
Mount Hua would soon have a generational change. In a little while, the sect would start epting new members. Thus, the public''s interest in Mount Hua''s secr disciple and legitimate sessor positions increased explosively.
Famous families and merchant households began their preparations well ahead of time.
***
The center of Murim''s attentionZhou Xuchuan and the members of his punitive forcekept themselves busy over the past two weeks somewhere in the Fang County of Hubei province.
Time flew by, and it was soon three weeks since the fall of the Green Dragon Stockade.
After handing over the care of the captives to the government forces, who were busy cleaning up the mountain around the Great Tiger Stockade, the punitive force enjoyed their much-needed rest.
Exactly three dayster, they headed to the nearest government office beneath the gazes of the people participating in therge-scale send-off for Zhou Xuchuan and the members of his punitive force.
"A-Aigoo, Great Hero! Please don''t do this! You can''t take me to the government office! Please!" the underboss begged to be spared from the inevitable, but Zhou Xuchuan ignored the man''s plea and handed him over to the government officials.
It turned out that the underboss had a hefty bounty on his head. Zhou Xuchuan equally divided the sizable bounty into four and shared it with the people of Mount Hua, the Tang Family, the Zhuge Family, and the Gold Will Sword Sect.
A week flew by speedily as they took care of a few minor things. Once they were done, they spent another week leisurely traveling across Fang County.
The group rented out a luxurious inn and spent time chatting and unburdening themselves on each other. Time flew by as they did this and that.
"It''s time to say our goodbyes," said Zhang Hong, looking reluctant and poignant. He wasn''t here on a cultivation journey but to partake in the subjugation, so Zhang Hong and other Mount Hua disciples couldn''t stay indefinitely in the gangho.
"Us girls finally got a chance for a get-together, so this is really disappointing," said Zhang Xuen. She smiled bitterly while holding Luo Xiaoyue''s hand.
"I find it disappointing, too, Senior Sister." Luo Xiaoyue couldn''t hide her disappointment as well.
Zhou Xuchuan enjoyed moving alone, so he and Luo Xiaoyue rarely ran into disciples of Mount Hua. Obviously, meeting other female members of the same age group as them was extremely rare.
Even while they were staying with the members of the Gold Will Sword Sect, the only people in her age group whom she befriended were Wu Zhenhua and Chu Lian.
"Oh,e on. You can see Junior Sister Luo either next year or the year after, can''t you?" said Zhang Hong. He even shrugged in dismay.
Luo Xiaoyue''s cultivation journey differed from the disciples of Mount Hua; it was shorter, as she had been doted on since she was young, and she had already be an unofficial Plum Blossom Sword.
At thetest, she''d have to return to Mount Hua next year and receive training as the newest Plum Blossom Sword.
"Sister Hui, Sister Xiuluan, you two must stay healthy, okay?" Zhang Xuen said gently to Tang Hui and Zhuge Xiuluan.
Since when did they grow so close? As expected of Senior Sister Xuen!
Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen were highly sociable; Boasting bright, warm personalities, they easily became friends with other people. Their statuses or strength weren''t high enough, but their wonderful character and even more wonderful morals meant many fellow disciples followed them.
"By the way, Sister Hui. I honestly think you should curb your short temper a little more. Otherwise, people will start hating you," said Zhang Xuen yfully.
"And you should think about curbing that excessive friendliness of yours. You''re so friendly that you give people a stomach ache." Tang Hui shot right back, remaining merciless even to her fellowdies.
"Hohoho~, I''m so happy that you care so much about me, Sister Hui. I''ve always known that you''re a kind person, despite your crude way of speaking," Zhang Xuen remarked.
""Tang Hui''s forehead creased a little just then.
"Uh-whew, besides all that! With a junior brother this excellent, I might be able to talk proudly about you, but when will I get my time to shine, I wonder?"Zhang Hong remarked. He then stared at Zhou Xuchuan and shook his head theatrically.
"Please don''t say that, Senior Brother Zhang," Zhou Xuchuan replied, "The feats that you and Senior Sister have achieved are praiseworthy, as well."
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t lying. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen had excellentmand throughout the battles. The way they executed the Plum Blossom Sword Formation toward the end of the battle was truly incredible as well.
Zhou Xuchuan''s feat had stolen most of the limelight during this subjugation, but it wasn''t like the others had gotten swept away into obscurity. The public praised Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen as geniuses who''d surely be Plum Blossom Swordsmen one day.
"Still! This excellent junior brother has truly put me in a bit of a tight spot," said Zhang Hong.
Despite what he said, he didn''t look displeased at all.Never mind being displeased, he smiled proudly and pounded Zhou Xuchuan''s shoulder enthusiastically.
"If we had a bit more time, I''d love to exchange moves with you and learn a few things. But it looks like I''ll have to take a rain check on that."
"We really have to go now. Take care of yourself, junior brother."
"It was an honor fighting by your side, Senior Brother Zhou!"
"We''ll travel to the gangho next year. Please don''t hesitate to call us if you need our help."
Starting off with Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen, the Mount Hua disciples all bade their goodbyes.Even though Zhou Xuchuan had spent over tenno, decades at this point in Mount Hua, he had never received this much greeting and farewells from his fellow sect members until now.
"Thank you for all your hard work, young heroes!"
"If I have a chance to journey in the gangho again, allow me to treat you to a good alcohol."
Farewells from the Tang Family, the Zhuge Family, and the Gold Will Sword Sect followed next. The subjugation effort had transformed them into war buddies who protected each other''s backs, bringing them all closer with each other.
Mount Hua''s group departed from Fang County, and the others set off in the north-easterly direction. The n was to exit Hubei, cross Henan, and return to Shandong.
"We''ll also depart here," said Zhuge Xiuluan.
When the group reached a vige called Yangyang about midway through their journey, the Zhuge Family revealed their intentions to part ways.Unlike her younger brother, Zhuge Xiuluan was only here to subjugate the bandits, so she had to return to her family.
"Thank you for helping us, Elder Sister," said Zhuge Shengji even before Zhou Xuchuan had a chance to do so.
Afterward, Zhou Xuchuan turned to Zhuge Xiuluan and said, "I didn''t expect the youngdy of the Zhuge Family to assist us personally."
"Well, we do have a duty to perform and a connection to the great hero, Plum Blossom Order Sword, to consider, after all."
"Please, I don''t deserve the title as grandiose as ''great hero,''" Zhou Xuchuan said, smiling wryly. He gesticted yfully as he added,"I''m embarrassed to be called such, so I implore you to call me ''young master'' instead."
"I see. Then, I''ll do that. Oh, and by the way?"
"?"
"The guidance you gave me earlier. It helped me out greatly."
"Oh!"
It was a story from back when Zhou Xuchuan visited the Zhuge Family to bring Zhuge Shengji along on his journey. He had imparted a bit of his "future" knowledge regarding array formations in passing, but it seemed that Zhuge Xiuluan had learned something from it.
"I''m d that I could be of some help," said Zhou Xuchuan.
"I''m genuinely curious where you picked up such knowledge. If we have another chance in the future, I''d love for us to sit down and discuss array formations at length," said Zhuge Xiuluan.
"Aha hahaha"Zhou Xuchuanughed awkwardly. He genuinely didn''t know much about array formations other than the basics.While the two of them conversed, the eavesdropping Zhuge Family''s escort warriors couldn''t close their ck jaws.
T-to think Young Lady Xiuluan has spoken to someone at length like this!
Unless she''s chatting to someone from the family, she rarely speaks more than ten words in a day to outsiders, so this This!
I''m so jealous. Jealous, I say! To think Great Hero Zhou is so close with two of the Three Phoenixes!
It wasn''t as if Zhuge Xiuluan had never spoken to strangers. She was simply the type not to say anything unless it was necessary. In fact, she''d talk more than anyone when it came to matters rted to array formations or battle tactics.
However, she couldn''t be bothered to talk about anything else.
Keuh-huh! I''d have scolded him to death had he been someone with nefarious intentions, but knowing Young Hero Zhou I can''t!
Didn''t Young Hero Zhou Xuchuan be one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven?
Whether it''s cultivation or his character, he''s great! And he''s close to the number one beauty in Hubei, too! I''m so jealous that my stomach actually hurts!
And just like that, they promised to meet again in the future before going their separate ways amidst a warm and friendly atmosphere.
"All right, then! Let''s not dally and return right away! I heard that the head merchant has prepared a banquet for us back in Shandong."
"Woaaah!"
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
The original chapter title is "????(ż~)", a four-character idiom that roughly trantes to ''Not even mindless beasts like pigs and fish will question this belief/faith.''
Chapter 158: Unyielding Faith (2)
Chapter 158: Unyielding Faith (2)
The weather had gotten a little colder. Zhou Xuchuan casually wondered if the snow blossoms would bloom soon.
Their journey from Hubei to the Gold Will Merchants in Shandong Province had been uneventful. After a smooth journey, the group arrived safely in Jinan.
Since they weren''t in a hurry, the group took their time. The Red Forest was too busy reinforcing their forces to make up for the destroyed Stockades, dividing the Green Dragon Stockade''s wealth among themselves, and selecting a new leader to lead them.
If they got hungry, they''d stop briefly to hunt game, and if they felt sleepy, they''d find a ce to rest.
Despite taking their time, it only took them a week to reach Jinan in Shandong province. Ordinary people wouldn''t have been able to cover such a distance within that time frame without riding horses, but the group was made up entirely of cultivators. They could walk swiftly for hours without getting tired.
"The Great Hero has arrived! Make way!"
Li Yicai must have heard they wereing even before they reached Jinan because he had a grand banquet prepared and rushed out to greet them. He was so impatient to meet them that he even forgot to put on his shoes!
"We''re home!"
Zhuge Shengji smiled brightly as if he could finally breathe again. To him, the Gold Will Merchants'' residence felt far morefortable than even his own family''s home where he had grown up."He still likes to make a big fuss, doesn''t he?"
Zhou Xuchuan chuckled. However, it didn''t feel so bad to receive such a grand wee.
"Aigoo~! Thank you for all your hard work! All those sons of Oops, I meant the bandits causing trouble everywhere have stopped their nonsense and disappeared as if fleeing from your heroic feats, Great Hero! Hah~, the losses we''ve suffered in the meantime have been considerable."
Zhou Xuchuan curiously asked, "Are the losses far worse than previously expected?"
He suddenly began regretting not picking a few valuable treasures from the Green Dragon''s vaults to make up for the losses.
"We''ve somehow managed to avoid plunging into the red, all thanks to your bravery, Great Hero. However, that was all we could do. After those bandits started running amok, we were too busy patching up the potential losses that we couldn''t make any profit."
Li Yicai looked depressed at the fact that he couldn''t make any money for a while.
"Several business ventures we had nned in other locations had to be dyed as a result. And in some ces, ourpetitors snatched away our workshops as if they had been waiting for a chance, causing us to go back to the drawing board."
Zhou Xuchuan nodded and replied, "At least it''s a relief to hear that you''ve avoided making major losses."
As expected of the Merchant King. If the same thing had happened to some other merchants, never mind incurring losses, their whole business would''ve gone under.
The Red Forest bandits had been raiding multiple locations, not just one. Li Yicai had to divert funds from other business ventures to cover the damage from those attacks.
"There have been a few close calls, but Elder Wu Qu came to my rescue several times, Great Hero," said Li Yicai. "Oh, and the duo you introduced me to were also quite reliable."
The duo Li Yicai mentioned were likely the Phantoms Zhou Xuchuan left behind as his bodyguards. The Merchant King smoothly beat around the bush since there were other ears here, too.
"If it was up to me, I''d love to drag Meng Gang out of the eternal Hell of pain and suffering, and kill him with my hands again!"
Li Yicai spat out, his voice noticeably colder now. His anger rose every time he thought about the time and money Meng Gang''s men had cost him.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled and offered Li Yicai a cup of liquor. "Things must''ve been difficult for you. Please, have this cup with me and wash away all the suffering you''ve been under."
"Aigoo~! No, Great Hero. Compared to you, my situation hasn''t been difficult at all. Indeed, the one who had to work hard this time was none other than the member of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, Plum Blossom Order Sword! Yes, it''s you, Mount Hua''s young cultivator, the one and only Great Hero, Zhou Xuchuan! Great Hero, huzzah! Zhou Xuchuan the Plum Blossom Order Sword, huzzah! Mount Hua, huzzah!"
Zhou Xuchuan lost count of how many times he got thanked while sharing a cup of alcohol. However, this was Li Yicai being sensible and behaving himself.
The members of the subjugation force enjoyed the banquet where the plentiful food threatened to break the legs of the banquet table.
"Although I never traveled beyond Shandong''s borders, I''ve tried my best to stay up to date with all of you heroes'' heroic feats. From Great Hero Chivalrous Plum Sword Zhang Hong to Great Heroine Jade Plum Flower Zhang Xuen, and of course, Great Heroine Luo Xiaoyue, the Beautiful Sword Blossom, and Mount Hua''s Number One Beauty! To think I''d have the honor of serving you all! It will be this merchant''s No, this family''s evesting glory!"
Li Yicai let out his trademark corrupt politician-likeughter.
"Ah, that''s right. Our junior sister finally earned a new title, so a congrattion is in order, I believe. Don''t you agree, Mount Hua''s Number One Beauty?" Zhou Xuchuan yfully asked, thenughed genially.
"Please, spare me," Luo Xiaoyue sighed deeply, as if she could never get used to it. Yet, her cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment.
"As expected of Mount Hua. Even the one and only Gold Will Merchants can remember Mount Hua and nobody else," Tang Hui said to seemingly no one in particr. Up until then, she had been sitting in her spot, silently downing cups of strong liquor like water.
Euh-huk!
Li Yicai inwardly screamed, feeling his heart jump up into his mouth.
"Ah-hahaha! That is not true at all, Lady Hui! You are all Great Heroes, so there shouldn''t be any pecking order here! Of course, I''ve heard of the heroic feats of Poison Phoenix No, the Tang Family, so much that my ears nearly fell off! Especially when I heard your feats in the Great Tiger Stockade, I couldn''t help but p my knee and go, Kyah, I had no idea that''s possible! It was so amazing, Lady Hui!"
"Head Merchant, it seems you must''ve oiled your tongue with all the fat around your gut and chin, judging from how smooth you are with your words," Tang Hui spoke acerbically.
Yet, as her brows rxed, her mood seemed to have improved.
"This Head Merchant can''t contain his excitement at your wonderful praise, Lady Hui! Thank you so much. Also! Young Master Zhuge, I heard about your immense contribution to the subjugation. ''The Mechanism Freak'', they say! Kuh-huh! Foolish masses might have failed to understand one man''s unbridled genius and call you entric, but to me, that title shows you how much in awe they are of you. The Number One in the knowledge of trap mechanisms, Young Master Zhuge Shengji, the Great Genius! That is you!"
"Indeed, sir! That is me! When you say the Number One Genius in trap mechanisms, there can only be me, Zhuge Shengji. Definitely so! As expected of you, Head Merchant! You have a keen eye for people!"
Zhuge Shengji responded happily, his ears perking up.
Huh? Didn''t hein about how much he didn''t like that nickname not too long ago?
Zhou Xuchuan stared dumbfoundedly at Zhuge Shengji.
"However, we should reserve our most heartfelt congrattions for the Plum Blossom Order Sword, Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan!" Li Yicai continued,ughing heartily. "Congrattions on bing the greatest expert among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, young master!"
"Haha! I knew this day woulde when I first met you, captain!" Chu Lian chimed in, raising her cup high with a proudugh.
"Indeed, indeed!"
Cheers rose from several people, mostly from the Gold Will Merchants, their emotions and excitement filling the room.
"Now, now! Please ept this cup from me!" Li Yicai said with a heartyugh.
As he epted the cup, Zhou Xuchuan fell into thought.
One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, is it
A position only given to one hundred experts out of thousands of cultivators! Anyone who mastered martial arts would''ve dreamed of entering its ranks one day.
Honestly, I keep looking back to the past. And it makes me emotional.
Zhou Xuchuan had dreamed of it once himself, but that was long ago. Decades, even. Indeed, it was now a part of his previous life. His past.
Back then, he never had a chance to earn that honored title. During the Era of War and Chaos, the list of the One Hundred Experts changed daily as there had been plenty of geniuses to rece the fallen.
Compared to other cultivators, Zhou Xuchuan back then wasn''t someone outstanding enough. And when the era of peace followed the end of all the strife, there were no more opportunities left for him to prove himself.
His work as one of the Five Elders of Mount Hua kept him busy. And he spent his free time polishing his martial arts and reading various manuals.
He seeded in reaching the Harmony Realm toward the twilight of his life, passing away shortly after.
In short, Zhou Xuchuan in his previous life was a cultivator forgotten by everyone. A man whose name was never recorded in the history books describing the unprecedented Era of War and Chaos.
No one was next to him when he closed his eyes for thest time. A in, unremarkable cultivator like that But things were different now.
Great Hero, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
He''s the true hero! A great hero!
Thank you for avenging my wife and daughter, young sir!
Your martial arts are extraordinary.
An expert of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, Plum Blossom Order Sword Zhou Xuchuan!
He had saved people, and in return, they called him a hero.
At first, he got goosebumps of embarrassment, but he couldn''t deny that it wasn''t a bad feeling.
Now, the title he had once dreamed of, One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, was finally attached to his name. It felt right, and his heart surged with excitement.
His past self would never have hung out with people like Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix, Posthumous Genius, the Merchant King, and Poison Phoenix. In fact, he would have looked up at them from some dirt floor, filled with awe.
Yet such people now apanied him. They shared alcohol with him. Theyughed and chatted happily with him.
This is
As this scene, like a midsummer night''s dream, continued to unfold, Zhou Xuchuan made up his mind.
"Everyone, if it''s alright with you, I''d like to discuss something important in private."
****
The secret organization plotting to overthrow the murim, the Dark Heavens Organization!
No matter how powerful a cultivator was, stopping the machinations of that organization alone was simply impossible. The scale of the enemy''s operation was simply too vast.
The Six Great Prohibited Arts were merely the tip of an iceberg. Not only did the Dark Heavens Association possess a mountain of secret manuals that could usher in a storm of blood if revealed to the public, it also had its tentacles secretly wrapped around righteous sects and Two Demonic Factions, as well as various merchant associations.
Zhou Xuchuan might have memories of the past, which was information of the future now, but he could only do so much.
To get people to help him, he must not lie and tell them the truth, perhaps more than what was necessary.
It''s time to take a leap of faith.
His preparations weren''t finished yet, but Zhou Xuchuan decided he would no longer keep his head low and conceal himself.
Besides, whether he liked it or not, after taking down the top boss of the Red Forest, he was already in everyone''s sights.
His heroic deeds must''vended him at the top of the Dark Heavens Association''s list of targets to eliminate. That meant the days of him acting alone hade to an end.
He felt the need to seek assistance, and the people around him were the only ones he could trust with this mission.
Once they were away from other people, Zhou Xuchuan revealed the truth to Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix Luo Xiaoyue, Posthumous Genius Zhuge Shengji, Li Yicai the Merchant King, Poison Phoenix Tang Hui, and Sword Demon Wu Qu.
Of course, he didn''t reveal everything. He held back the truth about how this was his second life. But he did reveal the general information about the Dark Heavens Association, such as their schemes and their organizational structure.
He went with the exnation of discovering the truth of the Dark Heavens Association''s existence while traveling alone in Gangho, and by secretly pursuing their shadow, he got to learn various information about them.
Since Luo Xiaoyue had already heard about the organization in the past, she wasn''t as surprised as the others. The other four, however, disyed varied reactions.
"Huh So, the whole incident in the Ominous Demon''s tomb was their doing?" Zhuge Shengji asked incredulously.
"Yes, it was," Zhou Xuchuan replied.
"Hmm"
Li Yicai pondered deeply, rubbing his rounded chin. His usual exaggerated, talkative demeanor was nowhere to be seen. His eyes remained as narrow as slits, but the burning light within them was intense and grave.
Zhou Xuchuan addressed hispanions. "I know how sudden this is. It must be difficult to believe me. However, I still need all your strength and I''ll be grateful if you give what I said some thought, at least once."
He was speaking from his heart. Zhou Xuchuan knew there was a limit to what he could do alone. He had to live and die once to learn this valuable lesson.
It didn''t matter if one had been blessed with incredible talents that could send ripples throughout the era. It also didn''t matter whether one was a veteran of countless battles or one of the absolute beings known as the Ten Empyrean Overlords who seemed to have transcended humanity.
Heroes and powerhouses, or even hidden experts, all fell helplessly before the Dark Heavens Association''s machinations.
It wasn''t for nothing that every murim expert united under one banner to fight the Dark Heavens Association toward the end of the Era of War and Chaos. That was how powerful this evil organization was.
"But aren''t we already helping you, brother?"
Despite his surprise, Zhuge Shengji was still the first person to raise his hand to answer Zhou Xuchuan''s request.
"This Zhuge Shengji still hasn''t forgotten about how you scammed me when we were kids, brother. My soul has already been exchanged for that spiritual medicine."Zhuge Shengji said with a subtle grin.
Since he was a handsome man, a smile genuinely suited him. It didn''t matter what he said, since he''d look cool regardless.
"It was you who saw my worth, brother. Not the murim, not the heavens. You. While othersbeled me useless and an idiot, you called me a genius and taught me the true value of mechanisms. Without that, I would''ve never be the man I am today."
Zhuge Shengji''s family had never supported his dream. Never mind cheering, they actively tried to hamper his studies!
He had felt isted, as if no one was there to help him. Even the servants treated him like an entric madman.
His family, the murim, no, the entire Central ins, looked down on the knowledge of mechanisms. Zhuge Shengji was called an idiot for trying to study it.
But then, someone suddenly appeared before him one day. Not just anyone, but a boy who was called Mount Hua''s rising talent.
They were roughly the same age, yet this boy''s behavior and talent werepletely different from Zhuge Shengji''s.
And yet, this genius looked straight at Zhuge Shengji, calling him amazing and encouraging him to do his best.
This boy told him to keep going. It''d be fine for Zhuge Shengji to not bother with cultivation, array formations, or military strategies, so he should just keep doing what he enjoyed the most.
That was what Zhou Xuchuan told him back then.
"That''s why I believe you. Even if it''s a lie, I''ll follow you, brother. If you tell me to believe you, I will. Even if the murim, the Central ins, and the heavens above don''t believe you, I will! Just like how you epted me seven years ago, I''ll trust you and follow you."
Chapter 159: The Classical Gardens of Suzhou (1)
Zhou Xuchuan''s heart warmed with emotion. He never expected the worst sort of genius who only knew how to shout "Traps! Mechanisms!" all the time would think of him this way.
Remembering Zhuge Shengji''s usual antics made Zhou Xuchuan''s emotions swell even more. A gentle smile formed unconsciously on his lips.
"This insignificant merchant will believe you and follow you, too!"
Li Yicai dered in his usual boisterous tone. However, his voice sounded a little different from usual.
His eyes, often filled with a hint of sycophancy, were now as calm as a stillke, yet as cold as ice.
"Even if it''s all a lie, it doesn''t matter to me. How can I not trust you, knowing who you are? Please let me know whenever you need help. I''ll dly take on any losses for your sake, Great Hero. Although, I hope you''ll keep it modest enough so that I don''t lose everything. Ehehehe."
As expected of the Merchant King! For a moment there, Zhou Xuchuan tensed up. Li Yicai could sometimes be an entirely different person when it came to money.
Money matters; gold spoke volumes, and money was everything. That was the sole principle driving Li Yicai, the future Merchant King, forward.
Li Yicai only nned and acted under the divine concept known as gold, or more correctly, "profit." This point would never change.To him, that was his life. How he''d die. His life philosophy, his entire being!
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t have to worry about getting betrayed by Li Yicai. In fact, the future Merchant King could be trusted more than anyone as long as an appropriatepensation was provided. He''d never break this rtionship of "trust" in that case.
However, this rtionship was also a double-edged sword. It was uncertain what might happen if thepensation wasn''t enough.
As long as the Gold Will Merchants weren''t driven into bankruptcy, Zhou Xuchuan shouldn''t have much to worry about.
Li Yicai built up this business during the Era of War and Chaos with no help from anyone, but in the current timeline, Zhou Xuchuan helped him out in various ways.
Zhou Xuchuan was instrumental in Li Yicai forming connections with the Murim Alliance back in Guizhou. There was also the Three-Eyed Godly Thief''s inheritance. Without those, the ''current'' incarnation of the Gold Will Merchants would''ve nevere to be.
The recent troubles with the Red Forest should also be counted. If one calcted the debt in its entirety, Li Yicai could never repay it all, no matter how hard he tried.
However, from this moment on, our rtionship will change if the Gold Will Merchants are destroyed.
As long as one didn''t bare any fangs toward the emperor or the government officials, the odds of one''s business going under should be minimal. However, that story would change when the opponent was the Dark Heavens Association.
No matter how thorough the preparations were or how many steps ahead Zhou Xuchuan was, any number of things could destroy Li Yicai''s business.
If he lost the Gold Will Merchants because of this fight, Li Yicai could view all the financial and physical help Zhou Xuchuan had provided aspensation and reset their rtionship and trust level to zero.
I must not forget. Loyalty means little to the Merchant King. I must remain cautious of how he always pursues benefits over everything.
Zhou Xuchuan approached Li Yicai despite knowing that. Actually, Li Yicai being this kind of person was what gave him the confidence to entrust with this matter in the first ce.
Li Yicai would never betray Zhou Xuchuan as long as his business remained safe. However, no one knew what would happen if the Gold Will Merchants went bankrupt.
Maybe he''d start doing business with the righteous and evil factions, Two Demonic Factions, or even the Dark Heavens Association. And Zhou Xuchuan would also be one of Li Yicai''s customers.
"I also don''t really care if your story is true or false," said Wu Qu. He kept his arms crossed before his chest, his tone calm. "I''ll simply follow you, my benefactor."
Wu Qu had sworn loyalty after Zhou Xuchuan saved his daughter''s life. Whether it was in the past life or this one, Wu Qu''s motivating force, the one thing that gave meaning to his life, was valuing grudges and favors. This rule was absolute.
"I thought you might be joking, but you were serious."
Tang Hui''s icy words broke Zhou Xuchuan''s train of thought.
Well, I wondered if I should tell this woman or not, but
Zhou Xuchuan had hesitated most about telling Tang Hui the truth. He at least understood what made Luo Xiaoyue, Zhuge Shengji, Li Yicai, and Wu Qu tick. Even if he was wrong about that, he still trusted them deeply.
However, he still knew little about Tang Hui. When they first ran into each other, Zhou Xuchuan had cocked his head in confusion.
Their first encounter hadn''t left a good impression, Tang Hui harbored a grudge, a resentment, and showed up this time for a chance to get even.
Still, their rtionship grew more amiable after spending time in each other''spany. Zhou Xuchuan was convinced that he no longer needed to distrust her.
Tang Hui had assisted him on various asions and even kept the matter of the Phantom Bow Swordsman a secret.
Zhou Xuchuan had dispatched some Phantoms to monitor her, just in case, but Tang Hui didn''t do anything suspicious.
What sealed the deal in Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes was how capable Tang Hui was.
She was already one of the best in poison arts in the Central ins, and her martial prowess was at the top of the younger generation, so it''d be a waste of time to question her in that aspect.
As befitting a daughter of the Tang Family, Tang Hui''s pride was no joke, but it didn''t interfere with her judgment.
Beyond that, she had other advantages, such as her medical knowledge, the ability to acquire information, and even a considerable experience in Gangho.
If she doesn''t say something mean for a day, her tongue will develop sores, sure. Despite that rotten personality, though, her abilities are still top-notch.
Her cultivation, intelligence, and status as a direct descendant of Sichuan''s Tang Family made her a perfect candidate.
It was a mystery to Zhou Xuchuan why someone as capable as her had disappeared without achieving anything significant during the Era of War and Chaos.
"Do you believe me?" he asked.
"Of course not." Tang Hui replied while shaking her head, her eyes closed.
"You''ve been hiding so much all this time. This whole thing could easily be another one your schemes. Besides, other than your words, you don''t have any evidence. Anyone believing you without question needs to get their head examined."
Yup, that''s the normal response.
This was the reaction Zhou Xuchuan had expected from her. In fact, the reactions of the first three were the odd ones.
Everyone had their own reasons for following him, but Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t sure about Luo Xiaoyue and Tang Hui. Luo Xiaoyue still seemed only half convinced. Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t even tell if Tang Hui was half convinced or not from the look on her face.
"Okay, so"
Tang Hui slowly opened her eyes.
"I''ll decide if what you''re saying is true or not. I''m still bound to that wager, after all."
Tang Hui''s frowned, clearly irritated at the memory of that wager.
"I see. That''s all I can ask for," Zhou Xuchuan replied, smiling in satisfaction.
Luo Xiaoyue asked, "Then, when will you start, Senior Brother?"
"Good question," Zhou Xuchuan said, rummaging under his clothes and pulling out a book.
"There''s nothing written on the cover?"
Zhou Xuchuan smiled. "If I''m to exin what this is, it''s something like Meng Gang''s diary."
Meng Gang had sought the Dark Heavens Association''s help to avoid the government''s watchful eyes, but it was nothing more than getting some help. He didn''t trust the secret organization enough to do anything else with them. It''d be safer to say he remained extremely cautious.
He constantly suspected the Dark Heavens Association of having ulterior motives and feared they might sell him out to the government. His paranoia kept their rtionship tenuous most of the time.
To protect himself, Meng Gang made careful preparations, ensuring that he could counterattack at any timeor even flee if necessary.
"Is this that something you speak of, Senior Brother?"
"That''s right. Starting from the names of all the spies that have infiltrated the Red Forest, the list of merchant associations and securitypanies connected to the Dark Heavens Association"
Such a thing might be meaningless to ayman, but to an enemy of the Dark Heavens Association? It was an invaluable treasure, indeed. No spiritual medicine or artifact couldpare to this book. All the information contained within was more precious than pppppppMeng Gang kept strict records and hid it so meticulously.
"I see, I see! Such a list makes sense. The Dark Heavens Association would''ve preferred that certain securitypanies and merchant associations be spared from falling victim to banditry, after all."
Li Yicai muttered while rubbing his rounded chin, the light in his eyes zing even hotter than before.
"I''ll leave the dealing with that side of business to you, Head Merchant. I''ll provide you with all the rted information, so take everything they own."
"Ehehehe, it''ll be my pleasure!"
Li Yicai''s eyes were burning at the prospect of increasing his fortune.
Zhou Xuchuan flipped the page of Meng Gang''s ''diary.''
"Out of all the information here, this is the most important one. The one about the secret branches."
****
The darkness was so deep that nothing could be seen. Like an abyss, it felt bottomless.
"Haha"
Laughter rang out from within this pitch-ck darkness. However, the owner of thisughter didn''t sound pleased at all.
"Hahaha!"
Theughter grew louder and louder.
"Ahahahaha!"
Theughter grew loud enough to shake the surroundings. As a matter of fact, it was louder than a Shaolin''s Lion Roar.
"!"
Blessed Existence struggled to hold back the blood rising in his throat, the power of theughter causing a minor internal injury.
He used his only remaining arm to prop his torso up from the floor so that he wouldn''t copse.
It wasn''t only Blessed Existence, however. Other than the Head of the Archives, who was on his feet until sweat No, blood oozed from his heels, other heads of the Seven Stars divisions remained prostrating while holding their breaths.
Their dantians below their navels stung and buzzed, causing throbbing pain. Indescribable terror washed over them, but they all endured it.
Making any sort of noise, or even trembling a little now, could get on their master''s nerves. No one could predict what might happen afterward!
"Don''t you find this rather amusing?" The Association Lord suddenly stoppedughing and asked. "I am curious as to how that young man keeps foiling our ns."
"Please kill me!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blessed Existence mmed his forehead into the ground several times. Blood began to seep from his brow by the second hit.
"Uh-huh! Stop. Your brain is precious to our organization. It won''t be good for us if your head gets injured."
"I apologize for failing to consider your magnanimity! Please execute this useless one!"
He had failed.
"Useless? I don''t know why you''d say that. It''s not as if our organization has been directly harmed, now is it? Only some pathetic leader of the bandits has died. That is all."
He failed. Failed. Failed!
Although there was no direct harm, Blessed Existence had still failed.
Initially, his n was to crush the Gold Will Merchants that dared to refuse the Dark Heavens Association''s invitation and seize all of their power and benefits before they had a chance to be a dominant force inmerce.
So, he entrusted this task to the Red Forest bandits. At the same time, he also asked the bandits to eliminate Zhou Xuchuan.
But it all ended in failure. Not a single problem got resolved. Even worse, the top boss of the Red Forest, which was one of the Association''s coborators, had died. With his death, the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest began bucking out of control like a wild stallion.
Even if Blessed Existence wanted to build a new bridge, it''d have to wait for a while.
He prepared that pawn to counter any unexpected event in the future. But now it was gone. It''d be a long while before he could use it again.
"Zhou Xuchuan, is it? Zhou Xuchuan, Zhou Xuchuan"
The Association Lord continued to repeat the name of the saboteur, a clear note of displeasure in his voice.
"We thought he was some brat who''d chase after the Tang Family''s wench, but in reality, he was a tiger hiding its sharp fangs? How amusing, indeed."
Zhou Xuchuan was involved in all the recent events taking ce in Gangho. His actions so far had been quite surprising.
Despite being only neen years old, he already achieved three, no, four heroic feats when most people would spend their entire lives achieving just one.
Most notably, he fought alone against Meng Gang, a man who used to serve as a general in the frontlines before changing his identity as a Murim cultivator.
With this, Zhou Xuchuan confirmed that he was no longer a problem the Association could dismiss. That one man caused the Association to lose control over the Red Forest, and all the preparations made for the war went out the window because of him.
"The thief who stole our organization''s spiritual medicines, the graverobber who destroyed Ominous Demon''s tomb, and finally, Mount Hua''s Zhou Xuchuan!"
The Association Lord slowly raised himself from his throne. The sheer pressure from his presence caused the six remaining Seven Stars to shrink back like turtles.
"Capture all three. No matter what, capture them all! If you can''t capture them alive, it''ll be fine to kill them, too. But bring them to us!"
"We obey!"
The six remaining Seven Stars roared out their replies.
I will kill them all!
Blessed Existence gritted his teeth. Nearly uncontroble rage burned fiercely in his eyes.
No, merely killing them isn''t going to be enough for me!''
Nothing could''ve shaken his rational mind, yet it shook for the first time. The tidal waves of emotions proved too strong for him to remain calm.
Whether it''s your family, lover, or friends! I''ll find every single thing rted to those three and and! All of them will be!
All of them!
I''ll hurt you all until you beg me to kill you!
Chapter 160: The Classical Gardens of Suzhou (2)
Time flew by, and it was now the eleventh month of the year. The Autumn leaves dyed in a variety of colors withered and fell, creating small piles of leaves on the ground.
Zhou Xuchuan spent all this time using Meng Gangs records to search for the Dark Heavens Associations secret base. The Valley of the Phantoms and Xia Wu Sect were helping him analyze the information.
Several locations had turned out to be false positives. It couldnt be helped, as these locations were merely Meng Gangs guesses. After a while, Zhou Xuchuan managed to narrow down the likeliest locations. He picked one and began his preparations.
"Why, Hyung-nim? Aren''t we on friendly terms?"
Zhou Xuchuan nodded and replied, "Yes, we are."
"In that case, cant you just let me be? Why do you have to torment me like this?" Zhuge Shengji asked with tears in his eyes and a pitiful face.
The members of the secret base raid had been decidedZhou Xuchuan, Luo Xiaoyue, Little Ghost, and Zhuge Shengji.
"Thats because well definitely stumble upon mechanisms."
The art of mechanisms had already faded away into obscurity in the current-day Murim. However, the Dark Heavens Association often relied on it. The Dark Heavens Association''s secret bases or caches would definitely have quite a few mechanisms."Mechanisms, you say? You should have told me that first!" Zhuge Shengji eximed, his frown instantly morphing into a bright grin. "I guess the Dark Heavens Association does have a discerning eye. Indeed, indeed! You need that level of expertise if you wish to conquer the Central ins!"
His evaluation of the viinous group improved at the news of how it often relied on mechanisms to protect its branches and caches.
"Listen to this guy," Zhou Xuchuan said, "He might probably go with the Association if they promise to give him a tour of all their mechanisms."
"No way, Senior Brother. No way that''s going to happen," Luo Xiaoyue replied with a wry face.
However, Zhuge Shengjis ear perked up instantly upon hearing that.
"Huh?! Theyll give me a tour?"
""
Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue grew silent; they stared at Zhuge Shengji with dead fish eyes.
"Theres no need to worry," said Tang Hui. She smirked derisively and exined, "Even though Young Master Zhuge here is such a moron that it''s questionable whether hes really from the famed Zhuge Family, hes not a little kid wholl blindly follow shady people.
"First of all, he has no friends. Without us, hell have no one to talk to and even y with, so he will never betray us. Oh, dont take what I said as an insult, Young Master Zhuge. Im merely stating facts, you see?"
"!"
Luo Xiaoyue rushed to defend Zhuge Shengji, but
"Lady Tang, please stop hurting Young Master Zhuge with facts like that. Hell get scarred for life, you know?" Luo Xiaoyue said. Unfortunately, her defense wasn''t exactly a defense.
"F-Facts" Zhuge Shengji stammered upon receiving a second wave of emotional damage from Luo Xiaoyue. Howe these two are so merciless?
Zhou Xuchuan stared alternatingly between Luo Xiaoyue and Tang Hui, but he merely sighed in the end.
"Setting that aside, will the four of you suffice?" Tang Hui asked. They were talking about the Dark Heavens Associations secret base here. It had to be a dangerous ce, so four raiders seemed inadequate.
"Yes, we''re enough," said Zhou Xuchuan. A group with many people would be too eye-catching. Speaking of eye-catching, someone''s spying eye had "caught" his attention recently.
Zhou Xuchuan wanted to hide his identity before the raid on the secret base was carried out, so he had to stay incognito until then. In addition, if there were many participants in the raid, there''d be a higher chance of setting off the mechanisms in the secret base, which was surely chock-full of traps.
The odds of unknown variables popping up would increase as well. Since that was the case, itd be better to travel with only a handful of people. That way, Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t be a bit more at ease.
"Take care of things while were not here," said Zhou Xuchuan, turning to Tang Hui.
The four bade their goodbyes and left Jinan to head south. To avoid being recognized, they decided to travel surreptitiously. They tried their best not to stop at viges and stuck mostly to forests, mountains, and rivers to fill their stomachs and get some rest.
They also proceeded to use the lightness art rather than travel on horseback.
Zhuge Shengjis attainment in the lightness art was negligible, but it was still better than simply walking. More importantly, his qi reserve was rather considerable all thanks to ingesting spiritual medicines all those years ago.
Zhuge Shengji whined andined nonstop, but the group cleanly ignored him. The only silver lining for him was that he had been able to train his lightness art thoroughly.
Zhuge Shengji wasn''t good at fighting, but he''d be good at escaping this way. To prepare for any unexpected crises, Zhou Xuchuan made sure to train Zhuge Shengji harshly.
Thanks to their diligent running, the group estimated that they''d only need a few days to reach the Jiangsu Province.
They didn''t run into any bandits or any issues along the way. Perhaps it was because they had been moving surreptitiously, but they felt like Jiangsu boasted better public security than the other provinces in the Central ins.
To the south was the Zhejiang Provincethe Evil Valleys territory. The Anhui Province was to the west, and it was home to the Murim Coalition.
More crucially, Jiangsus Nanjing City used to be the capital city during the Ming dynastys early days. Thus, the imperial government still boasted considerable influence over the region.
In any case, the group traveled nonstop, reaching their destination in less than a week.
Their destination was Suzhou, the canal city located south of the Jiangsu Province.
The Grand Canal was opened during the Tang Dynasty, and it led to Suzhou''s drastic growth. Even now, it was still one of thergest cities in the Central ins.
It was located south of the Yangtze Delta, while the Grand Canal and other smaller canals encircled the city. Since the olden days, the city had always been famous for its beautiful waterways and gardens as well as for its abundance of beautifuldies!
Thanks to its fertile soil, Suzhou''s harvests were always bountiful, and the people eventually called it a blessednd filled with fish and rice.
The group arrived at night and found a suitable ce to sleep. Once the sun rose, they went to a restaurant famous for its local specialties to fill their bellies.
They hadn''t been able to cook and had only been able to satisfy their hunger by hunting game. They had been dying to enjoy some good food for quite a while now.
With plenty of travel money in hand, they spared no expense and ate until three members of the traveling party were satisfied. As for Little Ghost she was dressed like an ordinary teenage girl rather than as a Phantom.
For some reason, she seemed unimpressed by the food.
"What do you think of the food?" Zhou Xuchuan asked. He realized that whenever they ate something, Little Ghost would never say anything. The realization made him feel curious about her impressions of the food here.
"This dish used a freshwater fish, sir. To season it, salt and various other seasonings were used. I detect no poison."
""
It was a good thing they rented out a private room. If the chef or the employees heard Little Ghost, their faces would surely crumple hideously. To think shed bring up poison while they were enjoying the food in their restaurant! The remark couldn''t be any ruder.
Now that I think about it, I don''t think we''ve found any leads yet, even though we''re already in Suzhou.
A secret base of the Dark Heavens Association could be in this city. In other words, they could be inside the backyard of that viinous organization, so Zhou Xuchuan was extremely careful during their journey to this city.
Upon arriving, he spared no expense and booked secure, isted rooms in a highly secured inn for them to spend their days here. He also booked a private dining room for them to eat today.
Zhou Xuchuan ensured that his groups sphere of activity was as small as possible, and he also didnt spend a lot of time in one ce. They arrivedte at night and slept for only a few hours before filling their stomachs as quickly as possible.
Ever since their arrival in Suzhou, Zhou Xuchuan had been pushing his perception to its limits to monitor the surroundings. Thankfully, he hadn''t sensed any suspicious gazes so far.
"Good. Let''s wait until nightfall before paying them a visit," said Zhou Xuchuan to the others. Hed love to explore Suzhous famous tourist attractions and sample local specialties, but they hadnte here to act like tourists.
Besides, they only got to enjoy this small respite solely because the Vast Gate division had failed to perform its duty. In short, they could not underestimate the Dark Heavens Association.
After making all the necessary preparations, Zhou Xuchuans group headed to where the secret base was supposedly locatedone of the renowned gardens of Suzhou, the Lion Grove Garden.
***
"The shadow cast beneath amp" or "hiding in in sight." These words perfectly fit the Dark Heavens Association''s secret base in Suzhou.
Who could have guessed that a branch of a secret organization wasnt hidden in some deserted, unnamed location but smack dab in the middle of a city where government officials were frequently seen?
Therge-scale garden was built toward the tail-end of the Yuan Dynasty in memory of Abbot Zhongfeng, and it was rather famous even in the Central ins.
In other words, infiltrating it was not an easy task at all. The group waited deep into the night. At around one in the morning, the clouds up above concealed the moon, extinguishing its moonlight. At the same time, the group finally slipped into the garden.
Rather than going through the Gardens entry hall, they picked a spot with poorer security and scaled the walls while hiding their presence as much as possible.
The Divine Phantom Art disyed its true strength in this stealth situation.
Zhuge Shengjis footwork art was subpar, so Zhou Xuchuan had to carry him between his armpit. The Phantom Steps effectiveness was reduced drastically, but evading the guards attention was still more than doable for Zhou Xuchuan.
Starting from the Central Gardens Pointing to Cypress Hall, the group crossed therge garden and headed to the Lion Grove. They held their breaths and moved within the shadows for around fifteen minutes before they eventually crossed a bridge that led them into the Lion Grove.
The Taihu stones shaped like lions and hills of stone created a bizarre yet memorable spectacle.
A cavern made out of stones piled up on each other was at the foot of one of the hills. The cavern seemed to be an entrance to a man-made undergroundbyrinth.
It truly is a bizarre ce, Zhou Xuchuan remarked inwardly. The Lion Grove Garden was surrounded by man-made stone hills, and there weren''t just one or two of them but hundreds! It was truly a bizarre ce!
All right, Shengji. Where do we go next?
At this point, they were certain that the secret base was in the Lion Grove, but its exact location was still aplete mystery.
Over here.
However, it was an unnecessary concern. As long as the entrance was hidden by mechanical means, itd never escape Zhuge Shengjis discerning eyes.
After walking for a bit, Zhuge Shengji gestured at a certain part of the cavern using his chin. He briefly locked eyes with the nodding Zhou Xuchuan before pressing the wall and sliding it cautiously to the side.
It was unknown what the Dark Heavens Association had done to the stone wall, but it opened without generating any noises.
"So? How does it look?" Zhou Xuchuan whispered, tapping Zhuge Shengjis shoulder.
"It looks more or less fine, Brother," replied Zhuge Shengji.
Zhou Xuchuan smirked, but he knew that it was still too early to smile.
They had to remain as silent as possible while slipping past the entrance.
The entrance was promptly closed once everyone was inside. They''d be in trouble if others were to find the entrance, after all.
"Haaa Now, we can finally breathe."Zhou Xuchuan groaned in fatigue.
It was pitch-ck inside, making it impossible to see anything. Zhou Xuchuan took out a Luminous Night Pearl to illuminate the surroundings.
"Ah!"Zhuge Shengji gasped.
Wondering what happened, Zhou Xuchuan shone some light on Zhuge Shengji using the Luminous Night Pearl, and he instantly saw thetter''s ugly expression.
"Whats the ma"Zhou Xuchuan''s face stiffened as he stopped mid-sentence.
"Those are!"Luo Xiaoyues eyes widened. There were a myriad of man-made holes on the ceiling, walls, and on the floorthere were holes everywhere.
The light from the Luminous Night Pearl slipped into those holes, illuminating what looked like thin lines inside.
Dammit!
They had made a mistake!
Zhuge Shengji was caught off guard. He didn''t expect that they''d stumble upon traps so early into their journey. He was a mechanism genius, but he''d still find it difficult to decipher mechanisms if he couldn''t see them properly.
If he had allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness, Zhuge Shengji would have seen through these traps. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, which was a big mistake, and now, they were in a quandary.
They also got impatient at the sight of an entrance; they entered it without examining the surroundings first, and it was another big mistake that they had unknowinglymitted.
The worst mistake is using a Luminous Night Pearl without thinking things through. I should have circted qi through my eyes and allowed myself to get used to the darkness! Zhou Xuchuan thought, kicking himself mentally.
Meanwhile, Zhuge Shengji narrowed his eyes, scanning the surroundings.
"But this ce is supposed to be"
"Run!"Zhou Xuchuan eximed, lunging forward. He grabbed Zhuge Shengji, who was standing like a dazed dummy, and held thetter beneath his armpit before unleashing his footwork art to its limit.
Luo Xiaoyue and Little Ghost followed him a breathter.
Shwik!
Something sliced past them, and the noise was urately recognized by their ears. Zhou Xuchuan looked back and saw that a massive de had fallen from the ceiling just in front of the entrance.
To make matters worse, it wasnt an ordinary-looking de; it was curved, like a scythe.
It was also so huge that it was as big as the entire tunnel.
Momentster, another de fell, and then another.
des fell one after another, but the worst had yet toe. The same des burst out of the ceiling and the walls, filling up the tunnel to the brim.
"Look ahead; stare at the ground! Five paces!" Zhuge Shengji shouted as his senses went into overdrive. He circted his qi rapidly, enhancing both his vision and hearing.
"Jump!" Zhuge Shengji eximed.
There wasnt any time to question or ponder over Zhuge Shengji''s words.
Everyone simply believed him and jumped forward.
Afternding over six feet away, they kicked off of the ground and dashed madly away from the des. The tunnel eventually became downhill, boosting their running speed.
"Right! Left! Left! Left! Right!" Zhuge Shengjis eyes tirelessly and urgently scanned their path up ahead.
Click! Rumble!
The group didnt trigger any traps and evaded them all.
However, the mechanism at the entrance remained the biggest issue.
The thrusting, slicing, and swinging des triggered the mechanisms nearby, causing a massive chain reaction.
This is bad! Zhuge Shengji had already analyzed theyout of thebyrinth. He had memorized the mechanisms that they had run past and analyzed them beforeparing them to theyout.
There are far too many of them! Zhuge Shengji wasnt sure about the purpose of so many mechanisms, but one thing was for certainthere simply were too many of them in just one tunnel.
Even worse, Zhuge Shengji''s keen mind could already tell what was about to happen.
This tunnel was going to copse!
The tunnel acting as the central pir of thisbyrinth was going to copse!
Zhuge Shengjis prediction proved true.
A short while after, lumps of dirt fell ominously from the ceiling.
"Everyone, watch out! The ceiling is caving in!"
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 161: Ten Thousand Form Art (1)
Rumble!
A soft tremor led to ayer of dustnding on Zhou Xuchuans head.
However, the falling dust soon morphed into andslide.
The far-too-narrow tunnel was crumbling down. It couldnt endure all the traps and mechanismsing to life at the same time.
At this point, the nature of these mechanisms no longer mattered.
The real problem was the ceiling caving in at a frightening speed!
Zhou Xuchuan ran at full tilt along the lengthy tunnel''s twists and turns.
He moved so fast that Luo Xiaoyue and Little Ghost could barely keep up with him.
Their breathing grew rapid and shallow; they felt like their lungs were on fire, and their hearts pounded away madly against their chest, but they couldn''t care less. Their qi was rapidly being depleted as well, but now wasnt the time to care about that, either.They ran as quickly as possible to escape. They also didnt forget to heed Zhuge Shengjis heads-up. After an unknown amount of time spent on running, the lengthy tunnel of unknown li[1] finally came to an end.
"Aaaah!!" Zhou Xuchuan yelled, kicking off of the ground hard to leap as far as he could beforending safely some distance away. Others would roll ungainly on the ground uponnding, but as a powerful cultivator, hisnding was picture perfect.
"Junior Sister! Little Ghost!" Zhou Xuchuan whipped around to confirm the safety of Luo Xiaoyue and Little Ghost.
"Huff, huff, haaah"
Luo Xiaoyue was on her knees, wheezing and huffing away. She was soaked in her own sweat. However, her mental fatigue was far greater than her physical exhaustion.
Despite relying on her lightness art to its fullest, she still had to work extremely hard to dodge the traps and mechanisms raining down on her.
The crumbling ceiling was also a terrifying sight to behold, but she couldn''t spare even a moment to scream. It was like she was running on instinct for the sake of her own survival.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, genuinely worried about Luo Xiaoyue.
"Yes, I''m fine. But there could have been a big ident just now," Luo Xiaoyue replied in jest with a light grin.
"Wheeew"
Zhou Xuchuan let out a lengthy sigh of relief. After putting Zhuge Shengji down, he checked up on Little Ghost.
"Little Ghost, you''re fine." As expected of the Mind-Killing process! Little Ghosts expression hadnt changed at all despite having just survived a life-or-death ordeal.
Even her breathing was slow enough to make others think that she was dead. Thanks to the Divine Phantom Art, she was in normal condition.
Just in case, Zhou Xuchuan asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, sir. However, Ive exhausted about half of my qi reserves," Little Ghost said ndly. As always, she had a poker face as she reported her physical condition. "
"Aaah?!" Zhuge Shengji screamed just then.
Zhou Xuchuan spun around at that scream and saw Zhuge Shengji, still plopped on his butt, urgently crawling backward while pointing at something up ahead.
"O-Over there!"
Their new location wasnt as brightly lit as, say, the middle of the day, but there were slivers of light in the area. However, the slivers of light piercing the pitch-ck darkness contained people with faces as pale as corpsesno, they merely looked like people!
"Jiangshis[2]!"
These corpses had fulu[3]attached to their foreheads.
All of their exposed skin was as pale as corpses, and there were eighteen, neenno, twenty of them. There were exactly twenty jiangshis up ahead!
"Is this one of the Blood Cults sorceries?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered. Jiangshi sorceries had existed for a while now, but those who relied on them were usually followers of the Demon Cult. More specifically, members of the Blood Cult.
Nanman was renowned for sorcery, but even then, the art of reanimating corpses was taboo. Anyone caught doing so was subjected to harsh punishment. Even in the Demon Cult, jiangshis were niche.
The number of necromancers was negligible, and interest in the art of jiangshis was low.
"What a despicable organization," Luo Xiaoyue remarked. She had regted her breathing back to normal and had already unsheathed her sword. The art of jiangshis was taboo in the Central ins.
There was a reason the demonic path was called "demonic."
Its practitioners often did things a human being ought to avoid doing.
The art of jiangshis was made to bring the corpses of people who perished far away from home back to their hometown for the sake of receiving a proper burial.
At some point, however, the reanimated corpses were suddenly transformed into weapons of ughter. In the end, the practice was banned and was made taboo.
The art itself had be nothing more than an insult to the deceased, as it reanimated those who were supposed to rest in peaceit had be an affront to the heavenlyws!
Zhou Xuchuan calmly ordered, "Little Ghost, stay back and guard Zhuge Shengji. Make sure to protect yourself, too."
The Valley of the Phantoms'' martial arts were terrible against jiangshis. It wouldnt be an exaggeration to say it was the absolute worst match-up.
Techniques for hidden weapons, such as the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art, were made to target the victims fatal pressure points, heart, or throat to inflict fatal injuries, but jiangshis were impervious to such techniques, as they had no beating hearts.
Good. I was wondering when Id get the chance to use my new technique Jiangshis should serve as wonderful opponents to test things out! Zhou Xuchuan changed his grip on the sword and took on a different stance from the Plum Blossom Sword.
Hop!
The jiangshi at the helm of the group hopped forward. It hopped not on just one leg but both legs at the same time!
Hop, hop, hop!
The jiangshis movement was stiff and unnatural; it was like a block of wood moving around. However, its speed was nothing to scoff at. It looked tardy in Zhou Xuchuans eyes, but the undead still was as quick as an ordinary cultivator.
Whoosh!
The jiangshi raised its arm and straightened its fingers. Then, it used the t of its hand like a sword. The next moment, it thrust its hand forward, carving a cold gleam in the air.
Zhou Xuchuan used the minimum necessary movements to evade the jiangshis hand with consummate ease before shing his sword upward.
Swoosh!
His sword wasnt that fast, and it didnt even produce the usual crisp swishing noise. It sounded more like a heavy gust of wind. Even so, it severed the jiangshis right arm.
That was a bit ungainly.
If there were a third party here, they''d think that Zhou Xuchuan had no issues severing the creatures right arm. In reality, though, he did struggle a bit. The feedback didnt feel quite right, and he could have severed the arm a bit faster and more precisely.
Fine! In that case! Reflections and analyses took only a blink of an eye. While gripping the swords hilt tightly with both hands, Zhou Xuchuan chopped down with all his might.
Boom!
The movement generated a noise reminiscent of a blunt weapon rather than a sharp sword. Instead of a scythe slicing through the air, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword crushed and forcibly scattered it.
The noise would make anyone''s mood improve upon hearing it.
The sword pretending to be a blunt weapon made a beeline for the jiangshis head, but
Bang!
"Mmhm."Zhou Xuchuan nodded. He had been expecting this result.His sword struck true, but the jiangshi had raised its remaining arm to defend its head. The arm caved in. No blood poured out, but a pitch-ck smoke carrying a rotting stench seeped out of the wound.
"So its this strong? Ah, Junior Sister Luo, watch out! These things have corpse venom in them!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted. Then, he imbued more qi into his sword to increase its weight. The de lodged in the jiangshis arm grew heavier and heavier until it eventually severed the rotting limb.
Having lost itsst remaining means of protection, the jiangshi could no longer protect its head, and it exploded upon making contact with Zhou Xuchuan''s sword.
Plop!
The headless jiangshi abruptly copsed to the ground as if it were a puppet that had lost its strings.
Good. Its more or less usable. Zhou Xuchuan smiled in satisfaction while shaking off the ck blood on his clothes.Zhou Xuchuan had just executed the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword. Meng Gang sure left behind something nice.
Meng Gangs cache contained two secret manualsthe Ten-Thousand Jin Sword and Iron Shirt.
Zhou Xuchuan liked what he had seen in those manuals, so he proceeded to train in them. Having learned the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, he encountered no mental issues on his way to learning them.
He studied them during his free time, and the result was better than expected.
It quite literally creates a ten-thousand-jin heavy sword.
The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword was based on the Thousand Catty Bast Art.
The wielders sword could be twice as heavy as their weight. However, the weight increase was not fixed. The unique aspect of the technique was that the weight could be adjusted freely depending on the wielder''s mastery over the technique.
Zhou Xuchuan wondered why Meng Gang hadn''t used something so useful, but he quickly discovered the reason.The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword was both a sword art and a physical art.
Sitting down cross-legged to umte qi via cultivation was usually called meditation arts, while umting internal energy through a breathing technique during physical training was called form arts.
Obviously, there was a difference in difficulty between a form art and a meditation art.
However, the difficulty was secondary in this case, as it being a type of meditation art meant that mastering it was impossible without the Ten Thousand Convergence Art.
During the first stage of the technique, the cultivator would learn to infuse weight into their sword. From the second stage onward, theyd learn to do more things with it.
A jiangshi was a perfect opponent to test the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.
Zhou Xuchuan only had to increase the weight of his sword to crush or break apart the undeads skull.
"Thats less like the plum blossom and more like the crimson blossom, isnt it?" Luo Xiaoyue remarked.She looked a bit dismayed, but she kept her eyes glued to a jiangshi approaching her position.
Shuffle!
Luo Xiaoyue gripped her sword in her right hand and gathered a bit of qi between her bent left thumb and middle finger.
Bang!
Luo Xiaoyue flicked her finger ording to the teachings of Plum Blossom Five Graces Finger, which was one of the few finger arts taught in Mount Hua.
The focused lump of qi rolled into a small ball and flew in a straight line toward the jiangshis forehead.However, the force of the attack only made the jiangshi''s head tilt backward slightly. The undead creature was still hopping closer to her as if nothing had happened to it.
A regr corpse would have rotted away long ago, but that logic didnt apply to a jiangshi. Its skin was as tough as steel armor, after all.Even if this jiangshi wasnt of the reinforced variant, it could still withstand most attacks like the average jiangshi.
The oue would be different if Luo Xiaoyue were an expert in finger art.
Unfortunately, she was an expert in the way of the sword.
"Fine! In that case!"Luo Xiaoyue dashed forward using her movement art.
Swiiiiish!
Her sword danced beautifully in the air before piercing her target at breakneck speed. Her sword moved so quickly that it briefly looked like there were multiple swords moving together.
The future Plum Blossom Sword Phoenix unleashed the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. There weren''t any illusory sword images, as she focused her attacks on a single point.
Pah-ba-bat!
It was indeed the Twenty-four Sword Forms, but her interpretation was different from Zhou Xuchuans.
Zhou Xuchuan fired several sword qi in many different directions, leaving the target with nowhere else to run in the face of a meteor shower of sword qi.
However, Luo Xiaoyue''s approach was the opposite of Zhou Xuchuan''s. By focusing on only one target rather than covering a wide area, the destructiveness of her attack would increase drastically. Of course, doing so was easier said than done.
Firing a strand of sword qi was already taxing, but she remained in control of all the strands of sword qi as she carefully manipted them to target one specific point.This feat was as miraculously difficult as firing an arrow to hit the bottom of another arrow sticking out of the bulls eye.
First of all, each sword qi strand differed in size and the amount of qi it carried. These strands would sh with each other and disperse if one were to haphazardly gather them in one ce.
However, Luo Xiaoyue managed to do that. This could only mean one thingher control over all sword qi strands was perfect. Her control was so perfect and beautiful that it was actually absurd and bizarre, even!
"You certainly deserve thebel of genius, Junior Sister," said Zhou Xuchuan. Although he sounded a bit scared at the sight of a headless jiangshi before Luo Xiaoyue''s feet.
Luo Xiaoyues martial artsprehension was sky-high; her movements were exquisite, and her control over her qi was second to none.
"Senior Brother, I dont think youre qualified to say that," Luo Xiaoyue retorted, sounding a little dismayed.In her eyes, Zhou Xuchuan was a monster who had be one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven at the young age of neen!
"Seriously?! I dont mind you two fellow disciplesplementing each other, but how about worrying about someone next to you?!"Zhuge Shengji cried out while shivering pitifully with his bamboo tube in hand.
He had brought it with him, just in case, but it proved ineffective against a jiangshi.
Its bolts simply bounced off the creatures skin, unable to pierce a jiangshi''s tough skin.
It wasnt as if Zhuge Shengji couldnt do any martial arts, but he dared not approach one, as a careless attack against a jiangshi was too risky. He could get poisoned by the corpse venom, and he wasn''t even sure if he could injure one.
Meanwhile, Little Ghost boasted a decent resistance against most toxins, which was to be expected as an assassin. However, fatally wounding a jiangshi was still too much of a task for her.
In other words, Zhou Xuchuan and Luo Xiaoyue had no choice but to take care of everything.
Thankfully, though, they possessed sufficient strength for the job. They actually wanted Zhuge Shengji and Little Ghost to hide somewhere to avoid bing a distraction for them.
Zhou Xuchuan relied on the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword to cleave through a jiangshis torso. Luo Xiaoyue cleanly beheaded the reanimated corpses with her precise sharp strikes.
Luo Xiaoyue didn''t have a seemingly endless supply of qi like Zhou Xuchuan, so she was bing more and more exhausted as the battle went on, but even then, she had no difficulties dealing with the jiangshis.
1. A "li" is equivalent to half a kilometer, i.e. 500 meters. ?
2. A jiangshi, also known as a Chinese hopping vampire, is a type of undead creature/reanimated corpse found in Chinese legends and folklore. ?
3. Fulu are Taoist magic symbols and incantations, written or painted on paper talismans. Its literal meaning is talismanic script. ?
Chapter 162: Ten Thousand Form Art (2)
Zhou Xuchuan thrust his sword into the skull of thest remaining jiangshi, allowing his group to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Finally. Its over."
Luo Xiaoyue chugged a water bottle, quenching her thirst.
Meanwhile, Zhuge Shengji focused on studying theyout of the surroundings.
"Im sorry. I was too rash," Zhou Xuchuan apologized, scratching his head. He was supposed to be careful, so he had made a mistake by pulling out a Luminous Night Pearl as soon as they walked into the entrance.
"No, dont say that. Anyone in your shoes would have done the same," said Luo Xiaoyue while shaking her head. She was obviously trying to console him.
Zhuge Shengji chimed in. "Lady Luo is correct. This whole ce is designed to copse from the get-go, after all."
Zhou Xuchuan looked at him and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Since it all happened quickly, I didnt manage to get a good look, but! This ce was designed to react to light, sounds, weight, or even vibrations from the stone door. Even if you hadnt used that pearl, the traps would still activate, Brother."Zhou Xuchuan furrowed his brow at that exnation. "Hold on, does that mean?"
"Either the entrance by the Lion Grove was a fake, or this entire ce is one big trap, Brother."
"We better pray its not thetter, then."
If it was the former, the fact that this ce was a secret satellite base wouldnt change.
However, things would be tricky if it was thetter.
"But Senior Brother. Considering this level of preparedness, wouldnt a fake entrance be a more usible exnation?" Luo Xiaoyue asked while dusting off the hem of her skirt with her sleeves.
"Lets hope thats the case."
***
The Dark Heavens Association had something called "list of targets to eliminate," and it hadn''t been that long since Zhou Xuchuans name was added to it. He was also near the top of the list.
Vast Gates disappearance and the Associations grand n had been keeping Blessed Existence busy, but he had never stopped thinking about how to deal with Zhou Xuchuanthe young genius from Mount Hua.
It''s still unconfirmed, but Zhou Xuchuan might already be aware of our existence.
The source of his suspicion was Meng Gang. Just like how Meng Gang didnt trust the Dark Heavens Association, the Association didnt trust him, too.
The man looked like his brain was full of muscles, but it was definitely not the case. Not only was he clever enough to put most civil servants to shame, but he was rather meticulous, too. In short, he was a force to be reckoned with.
That was why Blessed Existence had Meng Gangs every move monitored, and it paid off. He discovered Meng Gangs surreptitious attempts at investigating the Association.
At the time, Blessed Existence feigned ignorance. He wasnt turning a blind eye, thoughhe simply didnt mind it, as he had already made preparations to counter whatever Meng Gang could foolishly try in the future.
In fact, it was a great development, as it would allow Blessed Existence to exploit Meng Gangs confidence.
He wouldnt leave records of things about the Association that are easy to recall. However, the odds of him leaving something about our branches or agents behind are ufortably high.
Blessed Existences guesses were eerily urate. There was indeed a good reason as to why he was the brain of the Dark Heavens Association.
If it weren''t for the limited amount of information, Blessed Existence would easily see through everything. However, he needed just a clue, and he''d see through everything in no time.
It doesnt matter how much Zhou Xuchuan knows about the Association; hell definitely seek out the nearest branch upon seeing Meng Gangs records. That will be our opportunity! Blessed Existence wouldnt be this worried if Zhou Xuchuan were a First ss expert or a Peak expert.
Unfortunately, Zhou Xuchuan was stronger than such experts, which was problematic.
In addition, it was still unclear whether he had already stepped into the Harmony Realm. Blessed Existence had to acknowledge that Zhou Xuchuan possessed the martial prowess of one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
I knew something like this could happen, so I had a variety of mechanisms installed. With that there''s no way he''ll get out of there alive.
Blessed Existence wasnt just a genius of military strategies. His knowledge of array formations and mechanisms was pretty high as well. As a matter of fact, he was behind all the mechanisms and traps of the Dark Heavens Association.
The presence of the Mechanism Freak is a bit annoying, though
However, Blessed Existence didnt think that Zhuge Shengjis presence would pose a problem. First of all, the art of mechanism had long faded away into obscurity, forgotten by the people of Murim.
In other words, Zhuge Shengji''s level of knowledge regarding mechanisms couldn''t be that deep.Besides, he was infamous for being not that smart despite inheriting the blood of the Zhuge Family.
Never mind disabling the mechanisms; they probably won''t even notice a thing!
***
The tunnel of solid stone was sparsely lined with lit torches, but it remained rtively dim. Zhou Xuchuan and his group moved forward while relying on the faint light.
"Hehehe! A mechanism over there. A contraption over here! Wherever I look, there are traps! These fes tried their best, but their efforts do not matter before this supreme genius!" Zhuge Shengji cackled haughtily, looking excited.
Even the brain of the Dark Heavens Association, the one and only Blessed Existence, couldnt have predicted the bizarrenay, obsessive focus of Zhuge Shengjis intellect on solving mechanisms and traps.
However, it wasn''t a surprise. A genius-level intellect that only cared about mechanisms? Search the entire world high and low, and one would still not find an entric genius like that.
Before the discerning eyes of the Posthumous Genius Zhuge Shengji, no mechanisms and traps were safe.
The craftsmanship of the mechanism or the materials used to construct it did not matter at all. Even the mechanism''s intended purpose didn''t matter as well, as Zhuge Shengji uncovered and resolved them all.
While humming away yfully, Zhuge Shengji would use a needle or a dagger to prod and tap on certain spots in the tunnel, disabling every mechanism as if he were taking candy from a baby.
Not a single trap had been activated so far since that mishap by the entrance.
"Maybe there arent actually any mechanisms here?" Luo Xiaoyue was a bit confused. Her puzzlement made sense, as the groups progress had been far too smooth sailing.
There''s a reason he earned the title "Posthumous Genius."
Zhuge Shengjis talents had never failed to impress Zhou Xuchuan; thetter would always be impressed by it, no matter how many times he had witnessed it. At this point, no adjectives could adequately describe Zhuge Shengji''s genius!
The mechanisms they had encountered so far were so brutal that even powerful experts would have trouble safely extricating themselves from those traps.
Under Zhuge Shengjis lead, the groups travel time was reduced by several hoursno, perhaps even a day or two!
Several jiangshis had popped up along the way, but they were all si jiangshi[1], just like the ones that the group had encountered near the entrance.
A si jiangshi was a tricky opponent for Third ss and Second ss cultivators, but a First ss cultivator wouldn''t find it too troublesome to handle. A jiangshis movements were stiff and dull, so apetent cultivator shouldnt have anything to worry about.
The only things to worry about were the corpse venom and the fact that a jiangshi couldnt be cut down unless attacked with qi.
Zhou Xuchuan andpany didnt need a long time to deal with the jiangshis.
After finishing the undead, they headed to the next section through the tunnel.
"Mm?" Zhuge Shengji stopped moving like an excited kid. The tunnel had abruptly widened, prompting him to look aroundlike a hawk.
"Did something happen?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, gripping his sword tightly.
"Brother, the space ahead of us is filled with traps. Im not talking about one or two traps. There are so many of them that I cant decipher them all."
"Really? Just how many traps did they install in this ce?"Zhou Xuchuan wondered. He knew that the organization favored the deployment of trap mechanisms. Even then, he still couldn''t believe that they''d deploy so many traps in one ce.
"What should we do?"
Zhuge Shengji replied with little concern, "Its fine, Brother. We can simply go around them."
"Go around?"
"Mmhm, well, lets see Over here, Brother. Can you cut those sections down?"
Zhuge Shengji pointed at several spots on the wall to their right.
Zhou Xuchuan moved quickly, cutting through them.
"Uh?"The feedback that he received from stabbing and slicing through those sections in the wall felt different. It could only mean that the wall was hollow.He cast a questioning gaze at Zhuge Shengji.
Zhuge Shengji nodded and exined, "Installing over ten different trap mechanisms in a cramped area like this will inevitably lead to a problem. So you have no choice but to create an empty space against such a mishap."
Zhuge Shengji shoved the wall with his palm, and therge stone wall fell down with a loud thud. He peeked inside through the opening, and then he pointed into the darkness beyond the wall.
"There should be a few more trap mechanisms inside. I''ll let my eyes get used to the darkness first so we can slip past the traps without triggering them. The triggers are on the outside, but it wouldnt hurt to be cautious, would it?"
"Excuse me, Master Zhuge?" Luo Xiaoyue asked, looking rather impressed. "What were you pointing at just now?"
"Oh, that? I was pointing toward spots that can be touched safely. One wrong touch can trigger a trap, you see."
"That''s amazing how did you know that?" Luo Xiaoyue asked, gasping in surprise and awe. She knew nothing about traps and mechanisms, but even a child could see how impressive Zhuge Shengji was.
"Kuh-hum, kuh-hum!"
Zhuge Shengji stood tall and haughtily. He pushed his chin up to the extent that his nose nearly pierced the ceiling. He spread his chest wide open and dered egotistically,"It''s nothing amazing, Lady Luo. Isn''t it obvious? Anyway, you want to know how I spotted them?
"Well, just look around you. Aren''t they easy to spot? Lady Luo can be so humorous at times. Hahaha!"
"Im sorry?"Luo Xiaoyue asked. At first, she thought that Zhuge Shengji was jesting, but she soon grew flustered upon noticing his serious expression and demeanor.
Just as she was panicking about how to respond, her senior brother came to the rescue and patted her shoulder lightly.
"Junior Sister. That guy has a bad personality, so dont pay any attention to him. If youre interested in learning more about this topic, I suggest you study it by yourself," said Zhou Xuchuan.He was being serious here.
After calming down the mechanism genius from his agitated rant, the group caught their breaths and entered the hidden space behind the walls.
The inside was indeed filled with many different mechanisms.
The sight of theplicated mechanisms alone was enough to make the group dizzy.
From the crescent moon-shaped des that threatened their lives at the entrance to iron maces capable of crushing people to pastes, they could all be seen here.
Afraid that making too much noise could trigger the mechanisms, the group held their breath and carefully navigated their way around the traps.
At first, Zhou Xuchuan was tempted to ask why they hadnt used this secret tunnel from the get-go, but he soon found the answer to his question.
The passageway was extremely tight, and the group couldn''t move freely in fear of triggering the traps. As a result, the journey became rather ufortable and tricky.
Seriously now They really installed a ton of traps
Judging from the number andplexity of the mechanisms here, it seemed that the Association wanted to obliterate any intruder. The number of traps here had to be at least twice as manypared to what the group had encountered so far.
The group walked cautiously for fifteen minutes or so. The number of mechanisms grew fewer and fewer as time ticked by. It also seemed that they were getting close to the exit. Once they were out, their nerve-wracking ordeal against these mechanisms would be over.
Hold on! Zhou Xuchuan thrust his hand out toward Zhuge Shengji at lightning speed, stopping his friend from opening the exit. Someones outside.
Zhou Xuchuan ced his index finger on his lips, and then he gestured at Zhuge Shengji to listen closely.
Sure enough, there were whispers from beyond the wall. The group infused their qi into their ears and focused on listening to the unidentified voices.
"Come on, now. There has been no reaction since the first one. Am I wrong?"
"Maybe they got crushed to death by the traps by the entrance? Itll be difficult to survive all those traps unless youre one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords."
Everyone''s eyes widened at that.
Zhou Xuchuans mind churned rapidly, analyzing the situation.
The first reaction and the traps by the entrance? I see it sounds like they''re aware that we are here. The worst-case scenario was that this whole ce was just one big trap.
Zhou Xuchuan was not afraid of some measly traps; he was worried that his journey would end in vain.
No, hold on. They went to this much trouble to wee us. There must be something worthwhile in this ce, then, Zhou Xuchuan thought. This was the only way he could stop the crushing disappointment from crushing his heart.
He prayed that they''d find at least some information on the Association here.
Besides all that, who are they?
Zhou Xuchuan''s decision would change depending on the identities of the people on the other side of the wall. For now, it was still too early to decide.
Thus, Zhou Xuchuan waited patientlyhe waited until someone on the other side mentioned someone''s name, and he hoped that theyd speak up soon.
Zhou Xuchuan had mastered the Divine Phantom Art, and Little Ghost was an assassin, so waiting patiently for one or two days wouldn''t be a problem for them. However, that wasn''t the case for the two remaining members of their group.
"Shouldnt we do something?"
Thankfully, the conversation on the other side of the wall resumed.
"Keep your mouth shut, Warped Valor Soldier."
A heavy voice echoed, sounding irritated.
A Warped Valor Soldier! Zhou Xuchuans eyes shot open wide.
Among the Seven Stars Division, the Warped Valor Division boasted several powerful experts under its banner. Every one of the Warped Valor Divisionsbatants could be called an elite warrior.
Additionally, the position of Warped Valor could only be upied by an expert second only to the Association Lord in strength, but Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t familiar with the current Warped Valor.
ording to the original timeline, the Dark Heavens Association would have healed Wu Zhenhua to entice Wu Qu into joining them. In other words, Wu Qu would be the incumbent Warped Valor, but history had changed.
From their conversation, it sounds like they''re soldiers from the Seven Stars Division
The head of each Star within the Association wouldn''t have the word "Soldier" appended at the end of their title. In other words, the men on the other side of the wall were simply soldiers under the Warped Valor Division''s banner.
However, it didnt mean that Zhou Xuchuan could afford to rx. He and Luo Xiaoyue were going to be fine, but Little Ghost or Zhuge Shengji could die in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Xuchuan gathered more and more qi, strengthening all of his senses, including his hearing. The thick wall was in the way, but he was still a Harmony Realm expert. He finished a rough count of the enemys numbers in no time.
Between fifteen and twenty!
It seemed that otherbatants besides those from the Warped Valor Division were present. It was highly likely that they hailed from Blessed Existences camp.
The only ones capable of adjusting and operating all these mechanisms in this secret base would be the soldiers from the Blessed Existence Divisiona division that specialized in trap mechanisms.
Good! Well strike them down before they notice us! Zhou Xuchuan knew that they couldnt just bide their time and wait for an opening to strike. Zhuge Shengjis low cultivation realm meant that itd only be a matter of time before they were discovered.
1. A si jiangshi is apparently the lowest ss of jiangshi. ?
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continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 163: Zhuge the Genius (1)
Chapter 163: Zhuge the Genius (1)
KA-BOOM!
Maybe this was what a thunderbolt out of the blue felt like? At least that was what the expressions of the people visible beyond the falling dust and debris seemed to say.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly scanned the area ahead to figure out how many Seven Stars Division warriors they''d be facing. They were exactly eighteen in number.
"Who?!"
One of the Seven Stars Division warriors was about to yell only to fall silent, his eyes widening as he seemed to recognize the intruders.
"Zhou Xuchuan!"
Sure enough, Zhou Xuchuan''s name echoed through the underground space.
"How?!"
Despite the confusion, the warriors responded swiftly. A baldy, his scalp shining as if freshly shaven, urgently brought his podao down in a heavy chop.His momentum was fierce and overbearing, yet not enough to intimidate Zhou Xuchuan, who calmly met the iing strike with his own heavy sword attack.
"Uwhack?!"
This bald warrior''s strike was clean and swift. But itcked the usual sharpness after the sudden intrusion had unsettled him.
Zhou Xuchuan seized the opening. He swung his sword diagonally upward to deflect the baldy''s attack with rtive ease before shing downward immediately.
On the surface, at least, his attacks seemed in. However, the power behind them was nothing to scoff at. With the weapon''s weight doubled, it acted more like a greatsword instead.
The baldy didn''t even have a chance to scream. Zhou Xuchuan''s sword shattered his skull and crushed his brain before cleaving right through to his groin.
This sight was as gruesome as it could get, but no one batted an eyelid.
"Retreat! Regroup!"
Someone urgently cried out. The dust cloud, kicked up by the crumbling stone wall, obstructed their view and made it too difficult to fight the intruders.
When suddenly attacked like this, people would usually try to counterattack right away, but not these warriors. Although they were initially stunned, they quickly regained theirposure and reacted rationally.
"Not so fast!"
Not wanting to let any of them go, Zhou Xuchuan unleashed the Hundred Divine Transformations. He instantly removed the additional weight from his sword and lightened his body. He closed in on the nearest Seven Stars Division warrior and thrust his sword toward thetter''s chest.
"Heuh-hhph!"
The targeted warrior stopped running and counterattacked. He imbued his sword with sword qi and tried to fight back to the best of his abilities.
Shuffle!
The warrior''s tense face twisted with frustration as he swung his sword to deflect the attack, only to slice through empty air.
Zhou Xuchuan moved the tip of his sword around to create several afterimages, and the Seven Stars Division warrior had fallen for it. The optical illusion vanished, and the actual attack punctured a hole through the warrior''s chest.
"Kuhk!"
A brief death throe of a man echoed in the surroundings.
The rest of the warriors quickly retreated and stood in a defensive formation.
"I really don''t like you bastards," said Zhou Xuchuan.
Their reactions were impressively quick. Despite the ambush, they didn''t panic and took the most effective actions for the situation.
They recognized their numerical advantage but didn''t rely on it, choosing instead to retreat and create a more favorable environment for themselves.
"Zhou Xuchuan!"
One of the remaining warriors muttered. A cloth mask obscured his face, but judging from the wrinkles around his eyes, he must be an older man.
His physique was also smaller than those around him. Zhou Xuchuan could see that the old man was slender and not muscr at all. In other words, he didn''t seem to be a martial artist.
Could he be from the Blessed Existence division?
Anyone with exceptional talent could join the Dark Heavens Association even if they were not a cultivator.
Since this old man didn''t seem like a warrior but more of a schr, the odds of him being Blessed Existence were around eighty percent. Or, he could also be Twisted Melody, tasked with dispatching spies for the Association.
"Are you the Jiangsu branch head?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
""
They simply red murderously back at Zhou Xuchuan.
''They were expecting us?''
Their reactions helped Zhou Xuchuan roughly deduce the current situation.
I see. The Dark Heavens also didn''t trust Meng Gang.
This organization didn''t trust its own members and created a division called Pure Faith to monitor them, executing anyone who disyed suspicious behavior. Since that was the case, of course they would never trust someone in a mere cooperative rtionship.
Besides, you installed so many traps and even deployed Seven Stars warriors in the rear, too? How much of a twisted bastard are you, really?
Even a Harmony Realm expert would have found all the traps in the corridor quite tricky to deal with. Unless said expert enjoyed an eternal spring-like supply of qi, they would end up depleting their qi reserve while trying to survive.
With vajra qi, one could cut through everything like tofu, unless the room trapping them was constructed from ten-thousand year-old cold steel Provided they had an infinite source of qi, of course.
Vajra qi took an enormous toll on one''s qi reserve, so not even an aplished cultivator could freely use it whenever they wanted.
"How did you get past everything?" The head of the Jiangsu branch asked Zhou Xuchuan, unable to hide his curiosity.
Getting past the traps should have been impossible. Carelessly touching the walls would have triggered the avnche of traps. In a way, one could say the entire branch was one giant trap mechanism.
Zhou Xuchuan replied tly, "Why don''t you ask the grim reaper? I''m sure he''s friendly enough to let you know."
"You have a glib tongue, Zhou Xuchuan!" the branch head growled, his eyes burning fiercely. "Your sudden attack surprised us, but that''s about it. You think you have the upperhand? Thinking that way is a big mistake!"
The corners of the branch head''s lips twisted upward.
"Whether you walk, run or fly, in the end, you''re Sun Wukong on Buddha''s palm. No, even Buddha is dancing on our palms!"
He sounded insanely arrogant, but his confidence was met with mockingughter instead.
"Are you really Blessed Existence?"
"!"
The smirk on the branch head''s face vanished, his expression stiffening, while the wrinkles around his eyes twitched.
Even the Seven Stars warriors who hadn''t reacted before now showed visible agitation, which spread through their ranks like a tidal wave.
Zhou Xuchuan spoke up again. "It sounds like you''re getting too full of yourself with all these trivial tricks, but that''s going to be your downfall. Then again, knowing Blessed Existence''s personality, he wouldn''t have deployed a stupidly arrogant bastard in an important location."
"What was that?!"
The branch head lookedpletely stunned. The cloth mask hid his jaw, but seeing how the fabric had caved in, his mouth must be open in shock.
"What are you so surprised about, members of the Dark Heavens?" Zhou Xuchuan smirked deeply. "Didn''t you say something about dancing on Buddha''s palm?"
Flick!
A thin line suddenly appeared on the throat of a Seven Stars warrior to the right. It was a line of blood! The lifeless warrior copsed to his side.
Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t made the move, but Little Ghost had.
As the stone wall crumbled, she hid herself within the dust cloud, holding her breath and erasing her presence entirely. While Zhou Xuchuan drew their attention, she stealthily closed the distance and cut through the warrior''s artery.
"Capture Zhou Xuchuan, alive!"
The branch head''s order prompted the remaining fourteen Seven Stars warriors to move. The group split into two, one group with ten warriors and the other, four.
The group of ten rushed toward Zhou Xuchuan. His eyes swiftly tracked the other four.
Those four split into two groups of two to attack Little Ghost and Luo Xiaoyue. They didn''t bother with Zhuge Shengji hiding behind the wall.
That''s a relief.
The Seven Stars warriors hadn''t ignored Zhuge Shengji''s presence, they likely assumed they could deal with him at any time.
This was better for Zhou Xuchuan. The battle would''ve been much trickier if the enemy had divided their forces to target Zhuge Shengji as well.
Just as he allowed himself a moment of inner relief, six swords simultaneously rained down on him from the front.
All six sword strikes seemed extraordinary. Judging from qi radiating from their sword tips, these warriors were, at the very least, Peak realm cultivators.
Heuph!
Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath before increasing the weight of his sword. The qi cirction was slow but stable and firm.
He didn''t bother to create a barrier. Instead, he thickened the sword qi around his sword before concentrating on defense.
ng, ng, ng!
The metallic ngor rang out in the underground space.
Six pairs of eyes staring at Zhou Xuchuan were instantly filled with disbelief.
To think he defended against all six attacks!
They thought Zhou Xuchuan would deflect one or two and evade the rest, but he didn''t do that. Not only did he sessfully defend himself, but he didn''t even move an inch, either!
Wait, that''s not the Plum Blossom Sword?
Since the Dark Heavens Association designated Zhou Xuchuan as a target for elimination, its agents were given information about him, specifically his martial arts.
He was known to favor dodging and relying on illusory swords or ever-shifting sword arts, or even sudden pointed strikes. The Seven Stars warriors were nning to exploit this knowledge, but what was happening here?
All three pieces of information turned out to be wrong. Besides, ''heavy sword'' was not a part of Mount Hua''s sword arts, either!
"Haph!"
Zhou Xuchuan let out a spirited yell and swung his sword powerfully, sending a forceful gust of wind toward the warriors, pushing them back.
The six warriors stumbled back while hurriedly retracting their swords. In the meantime, four warriors emerged from behind them to break through the wind pressure and close in on Zhou Xuchuan.
Not a chance!
Zhou Xuchuan quickly canceled the heavy sword art and shifted his stance before thrusting his sword forward. The sword tip subtly shook to create illusions.
Three of the warriors fell for the illusion, their swords stabbing at empty air. Zhou Xuchuan deflected the only correct strike with ease.
"Cough!"
The difference in cultivation was too much. The warrior couldn''t withstand Zhou Xuchuan''s qi and suffered internal injuries. He even coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Pah-baht!
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword shed coldly. Several strikes rained down on the Seven Stars warrior, but he couldn''t defend himself in the end. The sword pierced his chest near his heart, leaving a gaping wound.
After taking care of one, down, Zhou Xuchuan turned his attention to the three who had just recovered from the illusion, struggling to regain their bnce. He quickly stomped on the ground.
BANG!
He was applying the Thousand Catty Bast art, with the Ten Thousand Jin Sword increasing his weight even further. He didn''t stomp that hard, yet the ground still caved in deeply.
The three warriors tried to regain their bnce with their slipping feet, wasting precious time.
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword swung out like a bolt of lightning.
Whoooooosh!
The de tore through the air with a chilling sound, making the hair on the warriors'' necks stand on end.
The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword vanished, only to be reced by Zhou Xuchuan''s specialty, Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom. The sword qi radiated eye-catching rays of light.
"Ku-aaaaahk!"
"Kuh-hurhk!"
The Seven Stars warriors failed to regain their footing and lost their bnce. Soon, they all copsed to the ground as mists of blood erupted from their bodies.
"What are you all doing?!" the branch head roared in anger.
Warped Valor was supposed to be the strongest division within the Dark Heavens Association. However, its warriors were instantly killed off before they could do anything meaningful.
How can he be so strong?
Even if Zhou Xuchuan was a prodigy with overflowing talent, he was merely neen years old. Hisck of battle experience should have meant his inability to unleash his full power.
Yet the Seven Stars warriors, who had experienced all sorts of battles, were being toyed with by Zhou Xuchuan. Despite witnessing it, the branch head couldn''t believe it.
Pah-ahhng!
The air exploded with force, seeming to split the atmosphere in two. That didn''t just happen in one spot, those noises came from everywhere.
The culprits were the six Seven Stars warriors who got pushed back earlier. They had gotten back up to unleash their full-powered strikes.
Peak-realm experts unleashing their full power in one direction led to the phenomenon of qi dispersed in the air exploding.
"This is the end!" the branch head cried out in excitement.
"Oh, really?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes burned ferociously. He directed his qi from his dantian, through his arm, and into his sword.
The internal energy boiling up from below his navel rapidly circted to every corner of his body, eventually creating a defensiveyer just above his skin.
Someone cried out in shock.
"Defensive qi barrier!"
ng-!
Even thebined, full-powered attacks of the six Peak Realm martial artists were no match for the qi barrier, so pure and solid it was visible to the naked eye.
All the sword qi and saber qi tearing the air apart instantly vanished the moment the defensive qi barrier joined the fray.
Time seemed to slow. The shocked voicesing from behind the cloth masks entered Zhou Xuchuan''s ears.
Swoosh!
Something came flying from the side. Zhou Xuchuan peered at it closely, and the object turned out to be a hidden dagger. But he wasn''t its target.
Stab!
The Seven Stars warrior''s eyes in front of Zhou Xuchuan widened as the thrown dagger embedded itself deeply into his temple.
As time seemed to crawl forward, Zhou Xuchuan nced to his side. He saw Little Ghost straddling a Seven Stars warrior in the distance, her thighs wrapped around the man''s neck.
While her left arm was tightly wrapped around the warrior''s neck, her right hand was extended in Zhou Xuchuan''s direction, her palm wide open.
As expected of her. Did she choose to assist me after determining that there was no danger to Zhuge Shengji?
Zhou Xuchuan gained a new understanding of the Phantoms. If they believed their primary orders could be carried out without a problem, they would assist the Phantom Sovereign on their own volition.
Zhou Xuchuan yanked out the dagger from the dead warrior''s head with his left hand.
Five!
Flick!
He lightly flicked the dagger. The weapon swiftly lodged itself into the throat of another Seven Stars warrior to the left as he tried to make his next move.
Zhou Xuchuan''s attacks weren''t over yet. While turning around, he directly cut down a Seven Stars warrior to his right.
The warrior instinctively recoiled and tried to defend himself with his sword, but it was useless before Zhou Xuchuan''s sword aura.
As if a block of tofu got cut, the warrior''s torso and sword got cleaved in half. He died on the spot.
Six became four. The remaining four warriors watched, wide-eyed in sheer disbelief.
"Senior Brother!"
Zhou Xuchuan urgently bent backward, his torso nearly arching to the breaking point, just as Luo Xiaoyue''s de sliced horizontally through the space above him.
"Kuwaaaahk!"
Unleashing a full-powered strike proved to be a fatal mistake. It allowed an attack they could''ve easily been dodged or defended against to hit them dead-on.
"Huh-urhk!"
"Heuh-huph!"
The two remaining Seven Stars warriors freaked out and hurriedly stumbled back. Terror was clearly visible in their eyes now.
"How How could this be!"
The head of the Jiangsu branch stared in disbelief, his ck jaw refusing to mp shut.
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Chapter 164: Zhuge the Genius (2)
Thirteen warriors died in less than fifteen minutes. In fact, they all fell in the proverbial blink of an eye with blood gushing out of them.
However, just who were they? Were they not the warriors of Warped Valor, known as the strongest division of the Dark Heavens Association? Whether it was their martial prowess or battle experience, they had everything a warrior could ask for.
Yet they still died. In a fashion that could be described as one-sided, no less!
Even if one was a Harmony Realm expert and one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, facing off against ten Peak Realm experts at the same time would still be incredibly difficult.
"Ah" Luo Xiaoyue gasped softly. "I didnt think itd be this bad!"
She had heard many things about the Dark Heavens Association, but she had yet to be convinced until now. Todays experience had changed her mind.
The facilities in this ce could not have been arranged by an individual faction acting on their own. More importantly, these Seven Stars warriors possessed shocking strength. Every single one of them wasn''t a Second ss or a First ss martial artistthey were Peak Realm experts!
She only had to deal with two enemies, but she was already finding it taxing despite her strength. She could have been in trouble had it not been for Little Ghosts timely assistance.
"Branch Head, Iming to get you soon, so dont do anything foolish," said Zhou Xuchuan.The enemy group no longer disyed the previous level of hostility. It seemed that Zhou Xuchuans martial prowess had overwhelmed them. Of course, that did not mean Zhou Xuchuan had let his guard down.
The Jiangsu Branch Head flinched upon seeing Zhou Xuchuan walking toward him.
"S-Stop right there, Zhou Xuchuan!" he cried out urgently, "Parley! Yes, thats right! Lets talk it out first!"
"Talk about what?"
"Our organization is much more powerful than you think. We''re not something that you and your misced sense of justice can handle!"
Zhou Xuchuan stopped in his tracks and casually shrugged.
The branch head seemed to have thought that his persuasion was working, so he yapped away enthusiastically.
"Let me go, and I give you my word that Ill speak favorably to our leaders on your behalf! They''ll certainly be happy to ept an expert like youa Mount Hua disciple at thatto their ranks! Surrender now and join us! We"
"Branch Head," said Zhou Xuchuan, ring at the Jiangsu Branch Head. His eyes were icy cold as he coldly spat, "I can hear you."
The branch heads anxious gaze looked around as he wondered what Zhou Xuchuan was talking about.
"I can hear you racking your brain."
"!" The branch head was visibly agitated and flustered.
"Damn it!" The Jiangsu Branch Head whipped around and ran in the opposite direction at his fastest speed. However, he was not fast at all. In fact, from the perspective of an expert, he was slow enough to be yawn-inducing.
However, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t dillydally; he didnt want to find out what this underling of Blessed Existence had up his sleeve, so he threw himself forward and chased after the fleeing man.
"Oh? You want to stop me?"
The remaining Seven Stars warriors stood in Zhou Xuchuan''s way. They knew the oue of their actions, but they were still determined to throw their lives away to stop Zhou Xuchuan.
"Sorry, but I dont have time to y with you."
Zhou Xuchuan unleashed his footwork art to its limits. He could feel the Seven Stars warriors chasing after him, but Luo Xiaoyue and Little Ghost blocked their path.
"Branch Head!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed. He was chasing after the Jiangsu Branch Head at his fastest speed, so he caught up to thetter in no time.
He closed the distance in an instant as if he had traveled through space. Then, he grabbed the Jiangsu Branch Head by the scruff of his neck.
"Euh-uhk?!"
"First of all, lets all calm down, shall we?"
Folks from the Dark Heavens Associations Blessed Existence division were smart. Since there was a chance that they might try something unnecessary, Zhou Xuchuan grabbed the old mans head and mmed it into the ground.
Bang!
The Jiangsu Branch Head let loose an agonized scream. Momentster, there was another loud bang, and the Jiangsu Branch Head''s blood soaked the ground.
"Im going to ask you a few questions. Lying or doing anything unnecessary will only result in pain," said Zhou Xuchuan.
"Zhou Xuchuan! Its not toote toaaaargh!" The Jiangsu Branch Head''s words were cut off mid-sentence, reced by a blood-curdling scream as Zhou Xuchuan broke his index finger.
Zhou Xuchuan smiled upon seeing the Jiangsu Branch Head''s face contorting from the excruciating pain. He had a hunch that things were going to work out smoother than he had expected.
The Members of the Dark Heavens Association were known to be rather tight-lipped, and it was all because even a tiny mistake could endanger their lives.
The enemy could force them to talk through threats, but their lives would still be forfeit as soon as theirrades discovered that they had opened their mouths. It didn''t matter even if they were coerced, their reasons be damned!
Out of all the Dark Heavens Association members, those from the Twisted Melody Division and the Pure Faith Division were the hardest people to handle. They had received extensive training against torture and would never spill any secrets.
However, those from the Blessed Existence Division were far easier to handle. They rarely traveled outside their headquarters, and they weren''t used to extreme physical pain as well.
The Jiangsu Branch Head was an excellent example of that.
"Once Im done with your fingers, Ill move on to your toes. And when I''m done with your toes, Im going to pull out all your fingernails."
"W-What are you talking about" The Jiangsu Branch Head cried out urgently, but a grotesque cracking noise echoed, interrupting him.
Zhou Xuchuan''s face remained indifferent even after shattering the Jiangsu Branch Head''s thumb. Then, he moved closer to the masked man and whispered into his ear as if he didnt want others to hear what he was about to say.
"Hm, everyone from Blessed Existences camp is supposed to be smart, so what are you trying to do here? Lets save each other the trouble and tell me all I want to know, all right? Ill let you go afterward," Zhou Xuchuan whispered.
He was not acting like a hero beloved by the public at all.
Even those from factions would probably grimace at Zhou Xuchuans cruelty.
However, the Jiangsu Branch Head kept his mouth shut while groaning in pain.
"Lets not waste time," said Zhou Xuchuan before breaking a third finger. This time, he shattered the Jiangsu Branch Head''s middle finger. An agonized, pitiful scream instantly reverberated throughout the underground space.
"Lets cut to the chase, shall we? This branch was it a trap all along?"
""
The branch head didnt reply, but his eyes were clearly wavering. To help him make up his mind, Zhou Xuchuan decided to break his ring finger.
"Aaaaargh! Y-yes! It was a trap!"
It wasnt just this branch. Every location that Zhou Xuchuan was probably aware of had been reinforced with trap mechanisms andbatants. Zhou Xuchuan was disappointed to hear that.
There was probably nothing worthwhile in a ce designed to be a trap.
However, he was still holding on to a sliver of hope, so he asked, "Are you saying that this ce has always been a trap?"
"N-no"
"Is that right?" Zhou Xuchuans face brightened. It seemed that the situation wasnt as bad as he thought. He then urged the branch head to cough up everything he knew about this ce.
The Jiangsu Branch Head hesitated once again, so Zhou Xuchuan broke the fifth finger, opening up the floodgates of information.
The branch used to be just a normal branch. However, the possibility that it had been discovered had led to its downgrading, and it was no longer that important to the Association. It also became heavily monitored.
However, the branch was still useful, and closing it down because of some slight danger seemed like a waste of resources, so the higher-ups decided to keep it operational without any modifications to its operations.
"Good. Then, there should be something useful here," said Zhou Xuchuan. He dragged the Jiangsu Branch Head to where hispanions were waiting. At this point, their fight was more or less finished.
"Wheeew!" Luo Xiaoyue huffed and puffed, looking tired. Her dantian was running low on qi, so she had to exhaust her stamina to fight. Her qi reserve wasn''t infinite like her Senior Brother, after all.
After getting through all those traps by the entrance, Luo Xiaoyue was exhausted, and she had to spend her remaining qi against the Seven Stars warriors. Even Little Ghost''s breathing had be irregr. Of course, she still looked unruffled on the outside.
"Great work, you two. Shengji, were done here! You cane out now," Zhou Xuchuan called out. Zhuge Shengji peeked his head out from behind a crumbled wall, and he immediately scanned his immediate vicinity.
"Whew! Thanks for your hard work, Brother," said Zhuge Shengji before breathing a sigh of relief. He was so relieved that he even rubbed his chest.
Just who are these people, really!? the Jiangsu Branch Headmpooned inwardly. He dared not open his mouth upon seeing the corpses of hisrades.
Zhou Xuchuan was one thing, but even Luo Xiaoyue and Little Ghost had proven to be extraordinary as well.
Beautiful Sword Blossom, Luo Xiaoyue! She was famous for being Mount Huas number one beauty, and there was a high chance that she''d be the next Phoenix.
Of course, the Jiangsu Branch Head was familiar with Luo Xiaoyue. In fact, the Association had known about her before Zhou Xuchuan had earned his fame.
Luo Xiaoyue''s extraordinary talents were obvious from a young age, and it was proven by how she became the disciple of Iron Blood Plum Swordone of Mount Huas Five High Elders.
In other words, the Jiangsu Branch Head expected her to be a formidable opponent, but to think shed be this powerful! At the very least, she had to be a Peak Realm expert. Considering that she was only eighteen, her growth rate was just ludicrous.
And who is that little kid? the Jiangsu Branch Head couldn''t help but ponder. Judging from her appearance alone, she couldnt be older than fifteen. At most, she had to be around thirteen or fourteen years old.
The young girl was of short stature as well. She was so short that her head barely reached an adult''s waist, yet she was exuding an extraordinary air.
The Jiangsu Branch Head was in a despair-inducing predicament, but the cogs in his brain remained relentless, analyzing his enemies.
Zhou Xuchuan tutted. "Lets not beat around the bush. I know this ce has stuff that the public must never see. You get what Im saying, right? Take us to where those things are."
The Jiangsu Branch Head chose wisely this time, nodding animatedly to imply that he did not want to lose the rest of his fingers.
With that, the group allowed the Jiangsu Branch Head to guide them somewhere.
The brief respite allowed Zhou Xuchuan to study the interior in renewed interest. The new passageway differed from the one they used to enter the branch, as it was much wider than that entrance.
The passageway involved multiple twists and turns before the group was eventually led up a spiral staircase.
About fifteen minutester, Zhou Xuchuan felt a faint breeze tickling his skin.
"Are we close to an exit?" asked Zhou Xuchuan.
"Y-yes, we are."
"Did you guys hide the good stuff in a ce where its easy to bring them outside? Let me ask this just in case, but you didnt lead us here to run away, right? I know youre a smart man, so you won''t do something that dumb, right? Branch Head?"
Upon warning the branch head not to do anything stupid, the group continued their journey toward their destination. Fifteen minutes of walkingter, the scenery changed once more.
Just how much farther are we supposed to go?
The long trek to their destination was yet another reminder of the Dark Heavens Associations strength.
"Were here," said the Jiangsu Branch Head. The steel door opened, revealing a library.
The interior was so different from the outside that everyone felt as if they had somehow found themselves in another building. Unlike the corridor outside, the library beyond the steel door didn''t smell stuffy or moldy.
In addition, there was not even a speck of dust, making it clear to everyone that this ce was being maintained regrly.
The floor and the walls were still made of stone, but the signature ruggedness of stone walls was nowhere to be seen, as human intervention had ensured that the walls would resemble mirrors rather than craggy stone.
"Hoh!" Zhou Xuchuan grinned brightly and hummed away. They had caught a big one today. A nce was enough for him to see many things with value far exceeding his initial expectations.
You fools! The Jiangsu Branch Head didnt show it on the surface, but he was busy mocking Zhou Xuchuan inwardly. You made a grave mistake by forcing me to bring you here!
Without a doubt, this was one of the most important rooms in the Jiangsu secret branch of the Dark Heavens Association. Naturally, the room contained many valuable records and ns.
Starting from the many different proprietary means ofmunication with the outside world, secret orders from the higher-ups to items of great mary valuejust about anything could be found in this room.
In other words, it wouldn''t be a surprise if the Dark Heavens Association had installed defensive mechanisms in this room.
If one were to touch something else before essing the entry mechanism, a trap would be triggered, and a mist of powerful poison would be unleashed. The poison was so powerful that even a powerful expert would lose their life instantly after just a whiff.
But Ill be fine since Ive already taken the antidote.
The first thing the Jiangsu Branch Head did after waking up in the morning was take an antidote to prepare for the one-in-a-million chance that he would be forced to bring the intruders here. He had done it, just in case, but it actually happened.
Blessed Existence has installed that trap personally. Forget disabling it; you wouldn''t even realize what killed you! The Jiangsu Branch Head worked hard to suppress hisughter. Pfft! Ahahaha! Its my win this time?
Click!
"Oh? a poison-dispensing mechanism? Pretty good, Id say." Zhuge Shengji disabled the trap mechanism with consummate ease.
"!"
What the hell was that?! The Jiangsu Branch Heads eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight. He was so shocked that he briefly forgot about Zhou Xuchuan keeping a close eye on him.
Only a small portion of Blessed Existences underlings had possessed the blueprint for this library. Even then, they only held iplete fragments of the blueprint. Moreover, the mechanism had a shockingly bizarre special abilityit was capable of changing positions every twenty-four hours.
Despite that, Zhuge Shengji actually managed to disable it? And as if it was like taking candy from a baby at that! It was like he was ying with a toy! He had walked up to the trap like a man on an idyllic stroll and disabled it right away!
C-Could it be! A terrifying thought popped up in the Jiangsu Branch Head''s mind. His disbelieving eyes pped on Zhuge Shengji.
"Yes, I know," said Zhuge Shengji after noticing that gaze. He stood tall and spread his chest wide. "I know that Im a genius!"
No way! The Jiangsu Branch Head tried so hard to deny the reality that he began frothing at the mouth. This made no sense!
The trap was crafted and installed by none other than Blessed Existence. A mechanism cooked up by the smartest man in existence was easily undone by some brat?!
"Hahaha!" Zhou Xuchuan guffawed, but it wasn''t because he saw the Jiangsu Branch Head''s stupefied face. Heughed because of what was written in the document in his hand.
"So it''s the Evil Valley?"
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Chapter 165: Evil Valley Infiltration (1)
"Aaaah!" Blessed Existence screamed and flipped over his desk. Mountains of documents and books resting on the desk immediately went flying, sttering messily in the air.
The people around himresembling schrsretreated immediately upon his outburst.
"Zhou Xuchuan! You son of a dog! Trampling and spitting on your corpse won''t be enough of a punishment for you!" Blessed Existence raged. He was famous for being the epitome ofposure, but he was actually raging like a madman at this moment.
Blessed Existence screamed, pounded the ground, and swore incessantly. Considering his personality, he''d never put on such a disgraceful show for others to see, but today was an exception.
"Just how! How! How.!" The blood rushing to Blessed Existence''s head made it difficult for him to form a proper sentence. He gnashed his teeth so hard that creaking noises echoed from his teeth.
He survived the Jiangsu branch?!
That ce was supposed to be a death trapa guaranteed death for intruders!
The trap mechanisms installed by the entrance were designed to overwhelm any intruders. Even if the intruders somehow managed to break through the traps, they''d have to deal with the jiangshis immediately afterward.
The whole ce was a nightmarish hellscape!Regardless of Zhou Xuchuans cultivation realm and how many heavenly spiritual medicines he had consumed so far, escape from that tunnel was supposed to be possible.
Even if he somehow got lucky and survived both the overwhelming traps and the jiangshis, the experts from the Warped Valor Division were still lying in wait for him.
Blessed Existence reckoned that even a Harmony Realm expert would find it difficult to fight against a highly trained group of enemies in an unfamiliar and constricting environment.
The Jiangsu Branch was bolstered with many different advanced and expensive mechanisms, creations of sorcery from the Blood Cult, and even a living group of experts.
Even if an intruder were a top expert, they''d still fail to survive such a predicamentno, even the grandfather of said top expert would die if he were in thetter''s shoes.
Blessed Existence even received criticism from the other executives; they all said that he was going overboard by dispatching Warped Valors soldiers. Blessed Existence''s preparations were that thorough, and it was the only way for him to feel secure.
The Jiangsu secret branch was surprisingly valuable to the Association, so giving up on it would be too much of a loss. That was why he worked so hard to prepare for a possible infiltration.
Since he had decided to do it, he was going to do it as meticulously as possible. He even deployed a surveince team near the entrance just in case the absolute worst ended up happening.
He was so thorough that the word "meticulous" was no longer apropos to describe him; he had long entered the realm of obsessive madness!
However, despite his preparations
"Howe we still know basically nothing?!"
Several pawns based in Suzhou had reported that something strange had happened below the Lion Grove. Feeling anxious, Blessed Existence dispatched his agents, and they reported that the secret base had somehow caved in.
It was literally destroyed. The entrance was designed to end up that way, so its condition did not really matter. However, the report also stated that the hidden entrance located some distance away had also been blocked off by debris.
With that, it became impossible to investigate what Zhou Xuchuan had uncovered and had taken away with him.
The surveince team near the entrance had gone missing as well.
Of course, "missing" was just the official report. Blessed Existence reckoned that they were all dead by now.
Blessed Existence''s meticulous preparation had all ended in a spectacr failure, but what enraged him even more was the possibility that the Associations grand n had beenpromised.
Having no idea how much information Zhou Xuchuan had unearthed, Blessed Existence had to consider going back to the drawing board for the Association''s grand n.
***
A week ago, Zhou Xuchuans group shoved every log, record, and document in the library into arge sack. Then, they left the branch through the hidden exit. Zhou Xuchuan immediately sensed hidden gazes observing him from afar, and he promptly took care of them.
Once he was done dealing with the gazes, he couldn''t help but feel a bit afraid, realizing that his enemies were awfully prepared.
After dealing with the surveince team, the group returned to the hidden exit to destroy the Dark Heavens Association''s secret underground branch.
Zhuge Shengji pushed and prodded the walls, sending the traps into a frenzy.
Eventually, the ground caved in, and the branch was buried in a ton of dirt. At the horrible sight, the Jiangsu Branch Head bit his tongue, choosing to end his own life.
It was a mistake born from a brief moment of distraction. Since the Jiangsu Branch Head was so obedient, Zhou Xuchuan figured that the old man was a smart man who valued his life, but he was mistaken.
The Jiangsu Branch Head lost all hope when the hidden trump cards he had been counting on ended up getting buried beneath all that dirt.
The original n was to drag the Jiangsu Branch Head back to Jinan and torture him until he spat any useful information. However, the n had to be scrapped with the Jiangsu Branch Head''s death.
The group had no idea of their current location, so they were forced to walk in a random direction. After walking for half a day and arriving at a remote vige, they finally got their bearing. It turned out that the remote vige was neither too far nor too close to Suzhou.
"What are you going to do now, Senior Brother?" Luo Xiaoyue asked.
"It looks like I must infiltrate the Evil Valley after this," said Zhou Xuchuan.
"The Evil Valley?"
"Yes. Here."
The information that they had uncovered in the Jiangsu Branch of the Dark Heavens Association couldnt be called earth-shattering, but it still proved useful. In fact, the information that they had obtained was perfect for Zhou Xuchuan.
After all, he could no longer predict the future.
Zhou Xuchuan pondered over what to do next. Fortunately, the Evil Valleys territory wasnt too far from Jiangsu, so he decided to keep going south and slip into their backyard.
Of course, he didnt forget to discuss his findings with Luo Xiaoyue and Zhuge Shengji.
"You told me that the Dark Heavens Association must have infiltrated the factions in Murim, but to think that itd be to this extent!" Luo Xiaoyue replied, failing to hide her shock.
Zhuge Shengji also nodded in agreement.
"While were on this topic" Zhou Xuchuan muttered. He scratched his head, looking troubled.
"I know, Senior Brother. Ill draw too much attention," said Luo Xiaoyue. Her furrowed brows indicated that she was unhappy, but she seemed to have understood where Zhou Xuchuan wasing from.
Luo Xiaoyue was so beautiful that she''d turn heads wherever she went, and her fame had recently skyrocketed due to the Green Dragon incident, so it was difficult for her to move incognito.
A veil wouldn''t be that helpful as well, so Zhou Xuchuan figured that it''d be better not to bring her along. Fortunately, Luo Xiaoyue did not insist on following Zhou Xuchuan to his next destination.
"It cant be helped," said Luo Xiaoyue, but she looked deeply rueful. She had been looking forward to a cultivation journey with her Senior Brother for quite a while now, but the timing was never quite right until now.
If they were to part ways today, itd be a long, long time before they''d get to see each other again.
The realization made Luo Xiaoyue feel even sadder.
"The weathers gotten cold, Senior Brother. Itll be a year in a little while."
Unlike other Mount Hua disciples, Luo Xiaoyue wasnt allowed to travel in gangho for too long. It was all because she had already been chosen, albeit unofficially, as a Plum Blossom Swordsman.
She had already achieved enough fame, so there was no need for her to go any further.
At this point, all she had to do was return to Mount Hua and receive training as one of Mount Hua''s elite swordsmen.
"Im sorry for breaking our promise, Junior Sister. Please me this idiotic Senior Brother of yours," said Zhou Xuchuan with a bitter smile tugging at his lips. He wasnt joking. He genuinely felt bad for her.
He had been dragging Luo Xiaoyue around, but he had ended up leaving her behind to deal with many things, including the matter with the Xia Wu Sect. They regroupedter on, but the issue with the Dark Heavens Association had kept them too busy to enjoy the scenery and bustle of gangho.
They were so busy that their time together was up before they realized it.
"No, its fine, Senior Brother." Luo Xiaoyue shook her head, and a gentle, natural smile suffused her lips. "Im unhappy, but its not like I dont understand the situation. It cant be helped. More importantly, though, I had a wonderful time experiencing all these events with you, Senior Brother."
What''s this? Is she a fairy?
Luo Xioayues radiant smile was burned deeply into Zhou Xuchuans brain. Luo Xiaoyue was so devastatingly beautiful that he felt like her smile would forever be burned into the retina of his eyes!
If Luo Xiaoyue''s smile were an expert, they would be on the same level as the Ten Empyrean Overlords. Forget grievous internal injuries, her smile was so powerful to trigger a cultivation deviation!
"Although its unfortunate that I wont see you for a while, its not like well never see each other again, isnt it?" Luo Xiaoyue asked, smiling shyly while holding Zhou Xuchuans sleeve. "If you truly wish to be with someone you care about, wouldn''t your heart already be with that individual? Even if a great distance separates you both?"
Someone once said that an individual''s true feelings would shine the brightest just as they were about to greet or part from someone they cared about.
"Ah" Zhou Xuchuan almost teared up just then. No one had ever spoken such words to him until now. There was actually someone who cared about him? His old self was unfamiliar with such a concept. Zhou Xuchuan didn''t even have a close friend back then, much less someone who genuinely cared about him!
Zhou Xuchuans eyes darted around in sheer awkwardness, but he eventually held Luo Xiaoyues hand.
"Got it. We shall meet again."
Luo Xiaoyues eyes opened wide in surprise before curving into a pair of crescent moons as she erupted into a radiant smile.
Erm, is this the right time to ask if I can go home as well? Hm, I guess not? Zhuge Shengji was squatting in a corner, silently watching the two from the sidelines.
Encounters were bound to end with goodbyes. After promising each other to meet again in the future, Zhou Xuchuan and hispanions went their separate ways.
Before they separated, Zhou Xuchuan gave Luo Xiaoyue a Lesser Cirction Pill. It was the one that Shaolins Divine Monk had allowed him to use. During the Jiangsu incident, Zhou Xuchuan learned that Luo Xiaoyues qi reserve was a bitcking, so he hoped that the Lesser Cirction Pill would help her.
If she was lucky, the pill would help her break down the wall between cultivation realms. Even if luck wasn''t on her side, her qi reserve would still increase substantially upon consuming the pill.
"Ill see you again, Brother!" Zhuge Shengji shouted, beaming brightly.
Zhou Xuchuan was somewhat rueful about the fact that he could not take his friend with him. His next destination was within the Evil Valleys sphere of influence. Hed have to move in surreptitiously once he was there, so allowing Zhuge Shengji to return home was a better choice.
Luo Xiaoyue would be Zhuge Shengji''s escort, so there was nothing to worry about. Her cultivation journey would reach its end once Zhuge Shengji was returned to the Gold Will Merchants. She could return to Mount Hua directly afterward.
"Looks like its only you and me, Little Ghost," said Zhou Xuchuan.
"Yes, sir."
"Do you mind chatting with me whenever things get boring?"
"No, sir."
"Yup, Im screwed. Might as well talk to myself instead."
Zhou Xuchuan needed Little Ghost to guide him to a Phantom branch. However, he also required someone capable of acting as his hands and feet. Little Ghost was perfect for the job, as her skills were unquestionable, and they had gotten quite close, too.
"For now, lets head to Zhejiang."
Zhou Xuchuan could already picture Blessed Existence losing his mind over the destruction of a secret base. He reckoned that Blessed Existence had to be in the middle of turning Jiangsu upside down to find the culprit.
Zhou Xuchuan briefly considered working together with Jiangsus Phantoms, but their base was in the opposite direction to Zhejiang, and the distance was quite considerable, too.
Zhou Xuchuan could hide his face and move with extra caution, but he didnt feel like it was worth doing that in exchange for exhausting himself mentally. Besides, he could just stop byter.
Thus, Zhou Xuchuan visited Zhejiang''s Valley of Phantoms instead of their branch in Jiangsu.
The Phantoms weed him politely.
"We wee the Phantom Sovereign."
The branch was smaller than Zhou Xuchuan had expected. Zhejiangs Phantom branch was located on Mount Tianmu, and the number of Phantoms was fewer than expectedthere were only thirteen of them. It was the same story for the number of trainees, too.
It wasn''t supposed toe as a shocker due to the shortage of instructors. Clearly, handling more agents was harder than handling just a handful of them.
Zhou Xuchuan wondered whether the branch had a head Phantom or not, and he decided to ask about it, but he was mistaken. Since the make up of a branchs personnel differed from region to region, the response wasn''t surprising at all, so Zhou Xuchuan brushed it aside.
Fine. Should I stay here for a while? He had a bit of time to kill, but he also had to prepare a few things before infiltrating the Evil Valley. And the first thing on the list is a fake identity.
Blessed Existence had to be moving around like crazy right about now. He was definitely worried about the leaked information from their secret branch in Jiangsu. He had to have returned to the drawing board, revising the Associations ns.
With that in mind, Zhou Xuchuan knew that showing up and loitering around the Evil Valleys territory could make things rather tricky.
That was why he decided to obtain a fake identity for his new adventure.
Thankfully, he had a perfect identity for such an asion.
The Phantom Bow Swordsman, Zhou Xuchuan!
A swordsman with an absurd talent in archeryan expert from an evil faction! A man who had obtained much fame during the war between the Miao Family Sword Gate and shing Waterfall Saber Gate!
He had fought hard to obtain the Mind Qi Separator; he also fought Ju Zhong, the leader of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate, to death, eventually bing a part of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
Like an idiot, he brazenly used the name "Zhou Xuchuan" everywhere back then.
Thankfully, he managed to ovee those events without too many hups.
"Wheeew Alright, should I go with that again, then?"
Zhou Xuchuan reckoned that he would be able to fool most people with a disguise and the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword. With that identity, infiltrating the Evil Valleys territory and taking care of things there was doable.
Even if the truth was uncoveredter on, it wouldn''t matter. The enmity between him and the Dark Heavens Association was already considered irreconcble, so his current predicament couldn''t be considered the same as his predicament back then.
Zhou Xuchuan stayed in Zhejiangs Phantom branch for a while, devoting himself to training. Of course, his focus was on the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.
It was unfortunate, but he couldnt practice Phantom Steps. The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword demanded he be heavier, but Phantom Steps demanded he be lighter.
In other words, the two arts were diametrically opposed.
His Ten Thousand Convergence Art had allowed him to practice both simultaneously, but it came with a hefty penalty in the form of a fifty-percent reduction in the effectiveness of both arts.
Two weekster, Zhou Xuchuan''s Ten-Thousand Jin Sword reached the fourth stage, and it was all thanks to his rigorous training. The speedy rate of improvement was only made possible by his highprehension of the sword. Of course, sparring with all the Zhejiang Phantoms at once had been a big help, too.
It would actually be strange if his rate of improvement were slow.
Chapter 166: Evil Valley Infiltration (2)
The training with the Zhejiang Branch had ended, so Zhou Xuchuan set off on a journey.
While he thought about taking a few phantoms with him, he ended up leaving them behind, as there were so few of them. After steadily moving south for several days, he eventually arrived at Fujian, but the conditions of the road and the overall situation deteriorated dramatically from there on.
Fujian had many mountains, so the terrain was rugged, and thend was barren, making it unsuitable for farming. There were frequent food shortages, which led to frequent migrations. The situation was so dire that it didn''t improve even under frequent migrations, and there were often cases of cannibalism.
All sorts of problems arose, and it eventually became a safe haven for criminals.
The majority of the province''s visitors were vile criminals who decided to flee all the way to Fujian uponmitting abhorrent acts.
"Kekeke. If you don''t want to die, give me everything you have!"
"If you don''t want to die, then turn around. I''ll let this go."
"What the hell are youugh!"
There were many annoying encounters. Thieves and parakhos[1] were swarming around the province like insects.Upon entering Fujian, Zhou Xuchuan donned a mask to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. He also avoided viges and roads, as he didn''t want to run into bandits.
However, he was soon amazed to realize that he still had to fight them anyway.
After a few days of journey, he arrived at the province''s capital, Fuzhou. While there weren''t any tourist attractions, there were many people, as it was still the center of the province.
The port was also nearby, so Zhou Xuchuan could feel the sea breeze.
Good. Then, let''s go look for the Xia Wu Sect. He needed the Xia Wu Sect''s power for the perfect disguise. That was the reason he decided to go to Fuzhouthe Xia Wu Sect had a base here, after all.
While he was training in the Zhejiang Branch a week ago, Zhou Xuchuan had asked the phantoms to gather information for him. Upon hearing that a disguise artist from the Xia Wu Sect was living in Fujian, he decided to reach out to Jiang Ningchu to ask for help.
"Okay. I''ll contact them."
As expected from an organization of undercover intelligence traders, the response was quick.
It''s a shame that the Phantoms aren''t good at disguise arts.
Well, it made sense if one simply thought about it. There was no reason to use disguises when they had the Phantom Art. If they really needed to infiltrate a ce, they just had to lower their presence to the extreme or use a Phantom whose features were suitable for the situation.
Regardless, finding the Fuzhou Branch of the Xia Wu Sect wasn''t difficult. All he had to do was catch a rascal approaching him at night and break his arm; the boy would surely talk to him by then.
However, it still took him quite a while to locate the branch, and it was due to the Xia Wu Sect''s habit of not leaving any traces.
"Are you by any chance from the Zhengzhou Branch?"
While Zhou Xuchuan was busy poking around, those of the Xia Wu Sect had decided to approach him directly.
"Is this ready?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, swiping his palm over his face.
Realizing the meaning of the gesture, the Xia Wu Sect member nodded.
"We''ve been waiting for you. This way."
Zhou Xuchuan was guided to the outskirts of the city. There were very few people, and he could feel gazes from everywhere, but they were all members of the Xia Wu Sect.
Soon, they arrived at a butcher''s shop, and Zhou Xuchuan was then taken to a hidden basement.
It was a basement, but it wasn''t dark at all. Instead of sunlight, there were many sources of light ced closely together, making the area bright like daytime.
Animal skins were hanging from the ceiling, decorating the basement''s interior.
After massing them, Zhou Xuchuan saw traces of people, such as dishes and a desk that seemed to be serving as a workbench.
"I''ll wait for you upstairs," the Xia Wu Sect member said before going up to the main floor and closing the door.
"Pleasee in."
Zhou Xuchuan heard a phlegmy voice. When he turned, he found an old man with a face covered in burns deeper in the room.
"What kind of face are you looking for?"
Disguises weren''t usually made for something clean.
If one were to ask about it, they wouldn''t be told. If they insisted out of curiosity, they''d lose one, or even two, lives. When it came to this kind of work, it was best not to ask anything specific.
"While everything from children to the elderly is possible, your height, physique, and Adam''s apple make you unsuitable for a child''s face.
"If you want the face of an elderly person, it would be good for you to practice walking with your back bent for a while.
"Moreover, you need to bind your muscles down, so you''ll have to wear tight clothes, too," the old man said, sounding calm as if he were enjoying an ordinary day.
Those words made Zhou Xuchuan know one thingthe old man before him was an expert. He hade here for a rough disguise, but they paid more attention to detail than he initially thought.
"Around thirty years old"
"Hmm. Do you mind taking off your mask?"
"Oh, I forgot about that."
Zhou Xuchuan had gotten so used to wearing the mask that he hadpletely forgotten about it.
"You''re young. Do you mind if I touch your skin?"
"Do whatever you''d like."
The old man came over and started poking as well as massaging his cheek.
"What sort of style are you looking for?"
"Not handsome, not ugly. Just enough attractiveness that I won''t stick out."
Two days.
What time?
"The hour of the tiger[2], early."
It was nice that it went by quickly and swimmingly, without unnecessary conversations at that. Upon making an appointment in two days, Zhou Xuchuan went upstairs.
He called out to the Xia Wu Sect member, who was waiting in the butcher''s shop, and asked thetter for any ce to restfortably without attracting any attention.
"There''s a suitable ce, but it costs quite a bit."
"That doesn''t matter."
With that, Zhou Xuchuan was introduced to an inn. It was located in a corner of the city center and could only be reached after passing multiple twists and turns in alleyways that, while not as intricate as Zhengzhou''s streets, were incredibly convoluted.
Zhou Xuchuan walked into his room and immediately sprawled out on the bed.
Just then, the window opened, and Little Ghost came in, sitting down quietly.
The Dark Heavens Association and the Evil Valley
Zhou Xuchuan''s goal naturally came to his mind as he sprawled out on the bed.
He didn''t want to stay still, so he decided to organize his thoughts.
Since their preparations had ended up failing, they must have brought something else. He wasn''tpletely ignorant of the information that he had obtained from Jiangsu. He knew of some of the details from an incident in his previous life.
ording to the original history, the Seven Swords War led to the Great War of Good and Evil, whichsted for over ten years. Once it neared its end, the Dark Heavens Association showed up and dered an all-out war on the murim world.
The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley had felt a sense of crisis and btedly joined hands to fight the Dark Heavens Association, but it had been a difficult fight.
The Dark Heavens Association had nted spies in both organizations, obtaining useful information from the two groups. They then used those spies to stab both organizations in the back.
There were a few major incidents, and one of them was the uing "Unfilial Piety of Dan Libai."
The Unfilial son, Dan Libai. The Evil Valley Master had many children.
The most famous among them was Dan Libai.
Perhaps it was because he had inherited his father''s blood, but he had an extraordinary talent for martial arts since he was young. Those around who saw his talent stuck to him like leeches, watching his every move and ttering him.
Their ttery and the all-out support of those around him were probably the reason he became arrogant. Before he was even an adult, he had alreadymitted a huge variety of evil deeds; some of them were severe, like pping a cultist for no reason.
The Evil Valley Master seemed like he couldn''t care less. It wasn''t like they were of the Righteous Faction; they were proud members of the Evil Faction!
He seemed to have tolerated whatever his son had done as long as Dan Libai was cultivating diligently.
The Evil Valley Master''s indifferencethe indifference of the only person Dan Libai fearedbecame the impetus that led to the steady growth of his wickedness.
Still, Dan Libai realized that he couldn''t do whatever he wanted if he were weak, so he devoted himself to martial arts, spending any other day doing whatever he wanted.
When Dan Libai reached thirty, the Evil Valley Master finallyined.
"Hey, tsk, tsk. You''ve grown this old, and yet you''re still just a child," the Evil Valley Master said, sounding bitter.
Dan Libai had been so selfish and arrogant during his childhood that he grew up thinking that the world belonged to him. The word promise" did not exist in his dictionary, and he was so arrogant that he''d kill anyone who pointed out his ws.
His cultivation was sufficient, but he himself was unfit to be a leader.
The Evil Valley Master pointed that out while clicking his tongue, and he called Dan Libai "stupid" as well. Dan Libai''s father often embarrassed him in front of his subordinates, and his mounting dissatisfaction finally exploded.
Just why do I have to live like this? Dan Libai had been receiving praises since he was young; he had ascended to the Harmony Realm and became one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven before his forties.
Dan Libai''s desires were greater than everyone else, and the dissatisfaction caused by the humiliation amplified those desires exponentially. Just how long does that old man n on living?
The Evil Valley Master seemed like he had no ns of considering himself old anytime soon.
While it wasn''t to the extent of immortality, the Evil Valley Master''s lifespan had increased thanks to the Bodily Reformation and Youth Restoration that he had undergone upon ascending to the ranks of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
He was still healthy, so he''d probably live another twenty or thirty years.
However, that was too long, and the wait would be too boring for Dan Libai.
That seat is mine.
He could never have dared to think of taking it while he was a boy or even a young man, but his thoughts were changing as he grew older.
The fact that dissatisfied him the most was that he''d probably only inherit the throne once he was in his sixties or perhaps even seventies.
To make matters worse, he wouldn''t be able to do as he pleased. Even to him, a genius, the Evil Valley Master was a monster.
He was an absolute monster beyond the Harmony Realm, and he couldn''t be considered human at all. Above all, Dan Libai couldn''t get past the very fact that more than half of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao were following the Evil Valley Master.
Amidst the mounting dissatisfaction, someone approached him at the beginning of the Seven Swords War.
It was none other than the Dark Heavens Association.
"I''ll make you the Evil Valley Master."
At first, Dan Libai had thought that the man was some sort of lunatic.
However, Dan Libai changed his mind and believed the man all thanks to the power that thetter showed to him.
Hehehe. Good. Let''s use them.
Dan Libai had figured out the reason behind their helping hand, but he couldn''t care less. He was nning on using them for now and throwing them awayter.
After all, people like them were a tael a dozen in the murim.
A few yearster, the power structure of the Evil Valley changed, and half of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao were now under Dan Libai. A war of nerves between father and son ensued, and it had a huge impact on the Evil Faction.
They could no longer work together; they split up and engaged in a war of nerves, so there was no way that things would go right. Their battle caused all sorts of problems and gave the Evil Faction a massive headache.
Things became even worse when the Dark Heavens Association bared its fangs, and their internal power struggle made the cooperation with the Martial Alliance shaky.
In the end, Dan Libaimitted the worst unfilial crime by stabbing his own father in the back.
The incident was called the Unfilial Piety of Dan Libai," and it caused widespread chaos.
When I think about all the hardships I had because of that unfilial son Hmph!
One persons betrayal had created a total crisis.
The Eight Gates of the Evil Dao became uncontroble. They distrusted even each other, thinking that spies from the Dark Heavens Association could be hiding within their upper echelons.
Even the joint cooperation between Righteous and Evil ended up in failure, and both sides were almost annihted.
An incredible amount of people died as a result.
I have to stop it at all costs, Zhou Xuchuan thought. History moved faster than one thought. Blessed Existence had to be in the middle ofing up with a n that would make up for the continued failures.
ording to the information that Zhou Xuchuan had uncovered, Blessed Existence had to be in the middle of enticing Dan Libai and recruiting the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao at the same time.
The Xia Wu Sect has a lot of contact with the Evil Valley, so they''d be helpful in my task. This shouldn''t take long. The Righteous Faction had the Beggar Gang, while the Evil Faction had the Xia Wu Sect.
The Xia Wu Sect wasn''t exactly part of the Evil Faction; it was part of the ck Hand, but their interests were somewhat aligned, so they used each other often.
Can I really do this? Zhou Xuchuan thought. He had to enter into the Evil Valley''s den, not the den of a Righteous Faction. He could end up facing the Evil Valley Master as well.
He had to ovee all obstacles and stop Dan Libai no matter what, as Blessed Existence was involved. In the worst-case scenario, he''d have to resort to assassination.
Dan Libai was just starting to entertain rebellious thoughts, so if he were to choose this method, he''d end up getting chased by the Evil Valley Master for the rest of his life.
However, he had to stop that incident from happening, even at the risk of that.
1. Parakho is a Korean word borrowed from Japanese that refers to a thug whoes from a well-off family who goes around bullying people for money using their status or power. ?
2. We''ve referenced this before. It''s 3 to 5 am. ?
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 167: Little Valleys Evil Dao (1)
Chapter 167: Little Valley''s Evil Dao (1)
Two dayster, Zhou Xuchuan returned to the butcher shop''s basement.
"Itsplete. Pleasee closer," said the old man.
He massaged Zhou Xuchuans face for a bit, and then he put something on it.
Zhou Xuchuan checked his own face and noticed that the old man had put on a skin mask over his face.
This was the best tool for the job at hand, except for a disguise art. With a master craftsmans expertise, the skin mask looked indistinguishable from a genuine face.
Zhou Xuchuan took a look at a mirror, and an unfamiliar face stared back at him.
It was a man in his early forties boasting a sharp, scary countenance.
Zhou Xuchuan curiously asked, "But this isnt a man in his thirties?"
The old man replied, "My apologies for changing the age without discussing it with you first. I thought this would be a better appearance to avoid others underestimating you.""Well, if you say so," said Zhou Xuchuan. He had no reason to insist on an around-thirties appearance, anyway.
The old man added, "Avoid getting cut in the face, and no one will suspect anything. If you wish to use this mask for a long time, please return it to us and have it maintained periodically."
"I see. Thanks." Zhou Xuchuan grinned in satisfaction. There was no problem with changing his expressions, such as opening his eyes wider or letting his jaw fall.
After paying the old man a hefty sum of silver for all his hard work, Zhou Xuchuan left the basement. He saw the member of Xia Wu Sect waiting by the exit and nodded once before following him elsewhere.
"Wee, dear honored Elder. A letter from the sect master has arrived, and it''s a letter meant for you."
The Branch Head of the Xia Wu Sect''s Fuzhou Branch greeted Zhou Xuchuan with an obsequious smile.
Im an elder now?
That greeting almost made Zhou Xuchuan tilt his head, but he controlled himself admirably well. He epted the letter from the branch head and confirmed the contents.
Hoh!
While confirming the price for his disguise, Zhou Xuchuan requested Jiang Ningchus help in infiltrating the Evil Valley. He figured the help was in the shape of connecting him to the old man, but as it turned out, that wasnt everything.
So, you want me to visit the Evil Valley as one of Xia Wu Sects elders?
The Xia Wu Sect and the Evil Valley were fairly close. Every now and then, a Xia Wu Sect elder would show up at the Evil Valley to sell valuable information.
Perhaps it was because he didnt want to lose the Xia Wu Sects ability to gather information, but the Evil Valley Master ordered his people to leave the Xia Wu Sects members alone if they could help it. The Evil Valley was basically acting as a guardian to the Xia Wu Sect.
I''m an elder of the Xia Wu SectPhantom Bow Swordsman?
***
The Evil Valleys territory started from Zhejiang and epassed Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi. Out of these provinces, one could say Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi were the central areas, as even the Evil Valleys main base was located there.
The new identity was ready, so it was time to leave.
Zhou Xuchuan was told that the Xia Wu Sects people would help him once he reached the Evil Valleys headquarters.
He departed from Fuzhou on horseback and diligently headed in the southwesterly direction. He stopped at the Zhejiang Branch of the Phantoms and recruited some of them toe with him.
Zhou Xuchuan would sometimes be surprised by his own appearance. Of course, he gradually got used to it. The skin mask was sofortable to wear that he even forgot that there was something attached to his face. As expected of a master of their craft!
"Hey, you f*cker! Did you eyeball me just now?"
"Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Fine! I eyeballed you. So what are you gonna do about it?!"
"Im gonna kill ya!"
After riding on horseback for threeno, four days. Zhou Xuchuan arrived at Guangdongs Phantom branch. However, he did not stay long and simply stopped by to say hello. After another journeysting several days, he eventually reached a vige near the Evil Valleys headquarters.
As expected of an evil factions "capital," the ce was rowdy, to say the least.
Brawls broke out easily in the vige, and no one batted an eyelid at the sight of corpses rotting away on the street.
Compared to the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction boasted a higher number of cultivators, and almost every single one of them had a short temper, leading to violent incidents breaking out more often than not.
Anyone who looked like easy prey would get bullied, but Zhou Xuchuan easily escaped that fate thanks to his new appearance. Of course, it didntpletely stop any troublemakers from blocking his path.
Some idiots did try to pick a fight, but Zhou Xuchuan gave them a taste of his knuckle sandwiches made from his overwhelmingly superior martial arts, ultimately chasing them away.
"Wee, Elder!"
When Zhou Xuchuan arrived at the designated meeting point, several members of the Xia Wu Sect greeted him.
Zhou Xuchuan turned to the leader of the group and asked, "You know who I am?"
"The Sect Master has already informed us, sir!"
"Its our honor to serve you like this, Elder!"
Perhaps it was because these people were from ck Hand, but they were very eager to tter Zhou Xuchuan. For them, it was natural for the weak to grovel and yield before the strong.
Their sycophantic behavior soured Zhou Xuchuans mood, and he unknowingly recalled Li Yicai of the Gold Will Merchants.
"What we wish to deliver cannot be entrusted to ordinary sect members, so I decided toe here personally," said Zhou Xuchuan.
"Ehehehe! I see, I see! Please give us your orders, sir."
They clearly did not want to get on Zhou Xuchuans nerves, and it was evidenced by how they gauged his mood nonstop.
"Then tell me what''s going on with the Evil Valleys halls nowadays. And since Im here, I might as well test your abilities."
Zhou Xuchuan heard the general outline of the situation but not the details. The report from the people on the field could contain slightly different information, so he asked, just in case.
"Of course, please leave it to us!"
As if afraid to miss this opportunity, the Xia Wu Sect members earnestly exined the situation to Zhou Xuchuan, and their eyes were sparkling brightly as they talked.
Most of the information concerned the current state of Hunan and Guangdong. Of course, they also knew information about the Evil Valleys headquarters.
"As you may know, Elder, the Evil Valley has gotten rather heated post-Seven Swords War. Especially the appearance of Plum Blossom Order Sword, the rising hero of the Righteous Faction! His appearance has put the Evil Valley Sect Master on edge."
The only side that profited from the abrupt conclusion to the Seven Stars War was the Righteous Faction. The Evil Faction and the Demon Cult had walked away with nothing.
The Evil Valley Sect Master was obviously angry about it. His side had done everything, but he couldnt acquire even the leftovers on the table.
Things were already chaotic as they were trying to fill in the void that the destruction of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate had left behind. So for the oue of the war that happened soon afterward to be poor as well No wonder the Sect Master was furious.
It made sense that the overall atmosphere wasn''t so great. The Sect Masters sour mood always heralded the arrival of the winds of blood, causing new corpses to pile up.
"That event triggered worsened the air in the Evil Valleys halls, Elder. The mood of the Libertine, Dan Libai, is particrly worse. His behavior has been rather concerningtely."
Zhou Xuchuans eyes changed as soon as Dan Libai was brought up.
"Perhaps it''s because the righteous factions have produced excellent juniors in droves, but Evil Valley Sect Master is unhappy with the Evil Factions younger cultivators, including his own son. As a matter of fact, the Sect Master has recently humiliated Dan Libai in front of his subordinates."
Huh. To think that history would flow like this!
It wasnt as if the future that Zhou Xuchuan knew had changedpletely.
It was still on course, even if the starting points had shifted around somewhat.
Dan Libai''s rebellion began with him getting humiliated by his father before his underlings, after all!
"And then, theres also the destruction of the Green Dragon Stockade. The prestige of the Righteous Faction has gone up thanks to that incident, and it further soured the Sect Masters mood. His ire led to various feuds and disagreements with the people around him, causing much chaos within Evil Valley!"
Nothing is easy, isnt it? Resolving one problem was like a trigger to another. Zhou Xuchuan groaned deeply, feeling like he was walking on a path paved with thorns. More importantly, to think my actions are the reasons behind this situation!
The world didn''t move ording to ones wishes. It was all good and well to save Murim, but Zhou Xuchuans efforts had ended up creating issues elsewhere.
"Elder, this is just a rumor at the moment, but important people with a bone to pick with the Sect Master are gathering around Dan Libai. The Evil Valleys internal situation has be such a mess, so please be careful while visiting the sect, Elder.
"Of course, Im sure you were already well aware of all these beforeing here. Ehehehe. How could lowly underlings like us know more than someone of higher standing, anyway?"
Zhou Xuchuan learned a few more pieces of sundry information.The harvest was more bountiful than expected, so Zhou Xuchuan wanted to praise himself for asking these people from the Xia Wu Sect.
Zhou Xuchuan was sure that these bits of information woulde in handyter on.
"Excellent. Ill put in a good word for you all with our sect master."
"Aigoo! Thank you so much! Elder!"
The time to depart hade. Zhou Xuchuan secured a longbow to his back, and then he inspected each arrow. He left his Taie with Little Ghost, as someone could recognize that sword. He got himself a fairly usable steel sword as a recement, and he tied it to his waist.
"You will be on standby here," said Zhou Xuchuan to the Phantoms.He had brought four of them from the Zhejiang branch, five if Little Ghost was counted. However, he couldnt take them with him into the Evil Valley.
The headquarters would surely be teeming with powerful experts, so it was only a matter of time before any Phantoms were discovered. It didn''t matter, even if they hid their presence.
***
The Evil Valleys headquarters was located on the border splitting Hunans south and Guangdongs north. As befitting the center of the evil faction, the headquarters turned out to be impressively vast.
"Sect Master, an elder from the Xia Wu Sect has entered the sect grounds."
"An elder? How unusual," said the Evil Valley Sect Master.One of the Ten Empyrean Overlords and a leader of the Evil Faction couldnt help but furrow his brow.
The Xia Wu Sects executives were well known for rarely showing themselves in public. Despite the Evil Valley Sect Master conveying his displeasure several times, they still rarely showed themselves.
However, it wasnt something to lose his temper over. The Xia Wu Sect was a ck Hand organization, after all. It wouldnt pose much threat, and besides, the people from that neck of the woods were famous for their cowardice, werent they?
The subordinate said, "Perhaps it''s because of the recent change in the Xia Wu Sect''s leadership?"
"Aha, thats right. What was his name, again? Tough Bastard, was it?"
Jiang Ningchu was famous enough for everyone in ck Hand to recognize him but throughout Murim? That wasnt the case at all. He was seen as nothing more than the boss of some riffraff off the street.
"Yes, Sect Master. We heard that he seized the position from the previous leader. I think the way he does things is a bit different from his predecessor."
"So, they finally know their ce. The previous Xia Wu Sect Master was quite arrogant for a coward. But this new one? I like him. Very well! Give this elder a suitable lodging."
The information that the elder had brought along with him wasnt that important. It simply contained detailed information regarding conflict zones with the Righteous Faction that the Evil Valley had requested earlier.
The Evil Valley Sect Master figured that the new Xia Wu Sect Master had sent a high-ranking executive to offer his greetings and to build bridges, so he stopped caring about it.
The news also reached the ears of the son, who had begun opposing his father.
"An elder from the Xia Wu Sect, you say?"Dan Libai grunted while rubbing his chin.
"This is an opportunity," said the masked shadowy figure after appearing silently.
"An opportunity? How so?"
"Your father. Although not all, he gets most of his information through the Xia Wu Sect. If you bring that sect to your side or even threaten him to cooperate with you You cannot blind your father, but perhaps you can deafen him."
"Even if you say that How can a gang of ruffians from the ck Hand y such a role?"Dan Libai sneered, sounding like he could not believe it at all. His reaction demonstrated what he thought of the ck Hand.
In his eyes, it was fine for the Xia Wu Sect to exist, but nothing would change even if the Xia Wu Sect were to disappear.
"You shouldnt underestimate Xia Wu. Yes, individually, those people dont amount to much. However, their ability to gather information is something else. You see, men are generally weak to women and alcohol. Although the sect can''t gather as much information as the beggars, the quality of information they find is pretty high."
"Hmm"Dan Libai didnt seem all that interested, but he still nodded and replied, "Well, Ill use them frequently once I be this sects master. It wont be a bad idea to meet one of its elders now and make them loyal to me."
Dan Libai shrugged casually, then got up from his chair.
Just then, his eyes burned in a crimson hue.
"Besides all that. Its about time, so I should head there. What should I use to cleanse my pte today?"
Dan Libai''s sinister cackle echoed into the darkness.
***
Winds as sharp as des blew in. The weather had gotten cold enough for ones breath to be visible to the naked eye.
Zhou Xuchuan looked up and could see how dark the skies were despite it being the middle of the day. The ash-hued clouds rolled in to seemingly nket the entirety of the Central ins.
Soon afterward, pure-white snowkes descended.
This was the first snowfall of Zhou Xuchuans neenth year in existence.
It had been a few days since his infiltration of the Evil Valleys headquarters.
The treatment he had been receiving so far wasnt bad, but he was still subjected to plenty of mocking gazes. He was an elder of a sect, but the sect happened to be the Xia Wu Sect. Thus, this type of treatment didnt surprise him in the least.
Today, a messenger came up to Zhou Xuchuan and abruptly said, "Our master wants to see you."
"Our master?"
At first, Zhou Xuchuan wondered whether the so-called "master" was the Evil Valleys Sect Master, but it was someone else unexpected.
Its Dan Libai? Zhou Xuchuan had been thinking of meeting the man to confirm his suspicions, but for some reason, the target had requested to meet him first.
After a few moments of contemtion, Zhou Xuchuan found a usible answer. I see. Is he thinking of alienating the Xia Wu Sect from the current Evil Valley Sect Master?
It wasnt a bad n, but how did that insanely arrogant libertine evene up with such a scheme? That man probably isnt even worried about the Xia Wu Sect since its from the ck Hand, but this private meeting this meeting definitely wasnt his idea.
Someone was clearly feeding ideas to Dan Libai.
Very well. I should go and see for myself, then.
It was still unclear whether Zhou Xuchuans opponent was the Dark Heavens Association or the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao. Thus, he decided to hide his identity for a bit longer to speak with the people involved and figure out their intentions.
Having made up his mind, Zhou Xuchuan resolved himself and followed the messenger to speak to one of the major yers in the previous timeline, Dan Libai. On his way, many different thoughts flitted in and out of his mind.
"Youre finally here."
The door opened to reveal Dan Libai sitting on a fancy chair.
As expected, he wasnt alone.
Chapter 168: Little Valleys Evil Dao (2)
A veil covered the mysterious individual''s face, but their attire indicated that they were a man.
And that''s Dan Libai. He looks surprisingly normal.
Dan Libai''s infamy was well deserved in both the current timeline and the previous timeline, so Zhou Xuchuan figured he''d resemble a Hellspawn or something, but that wasn''t the case at all.
His facial features were clear-cut, and his thick, straight brows imparted a strong first impression. He was truly the Little Valley Master Dan Libaione of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven!
"Good to meet you. You''re now in the presence of the distinguished Dan Libai!"
Say what now? Distinguished? F*ck off. Zhou Xuchuan expertly held back his sneer.
Their exchange had just started, but Dan Libai was already acting as if he already owned the entire Murim. Unbridled arrogance dripped from the light in his eyes to his manner of speech.
He pressed his back against the throne''s backrest while his chin was jutted ever so slightly forward so that he could look down on everyone else; even his throne was perched up a step higher than the floor.
From the look of this ce, it had to be Dan Libai''s personal office. Based on how he had decorated his office, one could easily deduce Dan Libai''s mindset.Zhou Xuchuan barely held back a wry chuckle and bowed deeply to offer his greeting.
Although irritated, he knew that now was the time to hold his emotions back.
"This one wouldn''t dare present his name to the Little Valley Master. Please remember me as a mere Elder of Xia Wu Sect, sir."
"The Little Valley Master, is it? Forget it. However, don''t forget to address me as ''elder[1].''"
In the past, he was proud of that title, but not anymore.
It failed to satisfy his ambition.
You sure are full of yourself, aren''t you?
A man barely forty years of age actually wanted to be called "elder"? Zhou Xuchuan thought that a man ought to know how to keep his nonsense to a minimum. However, there wasn''t much he could do in this situation other than be patient.
He had to y along and kiss ass to keep the conversation rolling.
Mm? When Zhou Xuchuan raised his head to fix his way of addressing Dan Libai, he noticed something amiss. His eyes?
The blood vessels in Dan Libai''s eyes were bing more and more noticeable as he blinked, and the whites of his eyes were taking on a faint crimson hue.
"I summoned you here because, well, I figured we should get familiar with each other since you''ll be working for me soon enough. And I have an offer for you. From what I hear, you''re here to make a report to my father?"
"Yes, it is so, Elder."
"Good. From now on, you will report to me first."
"I beg your pardon?" Zhou Xuchuan feigned shock and ignorance. Obviously, he was aware of Dan Libai''s intentions, but this act was necessary.
"You aren''t thinking of rejecting this distinguished one''s offer now, are you?!"
Dan Libai''s voice grew louder in decibels. Actually, it didn''t just get louder, but killing intent was now mixed in, too.
His face took on the hue of both red and blue while veins bulged hideously like worms on the back of his hands. Even the wrinkles below his eyes were distorted, creating a bizarre countenance when paired with the bulging blue veins all over his face.
Ah!
Rumble, bubble!
Zhou Xuchuan''s lower dantian almost reacted just then. There could only be one reason behind such a reaction from a Righteous Faction''s cultivation art. Demonic cultivation!
The righteous, or orthodox, and demonic were two diametrically opposed paths. Since it was a demonic cultivation art, it made sense for Zhou Xuchuan''s Daoist-based cultivation art to respond in such a negative way.
Mount Hua''s cultivation arts were highly regarded among righteous factions'' cultivation arts, but they weren''t as famous as the Shaolin or Wudang''s cultivation arts. Still, it would have been even weirder if Zhou Xuchuan''s cultivation hadn''t reacted just now.
"How dare you hesitate with your answer!"
Dan Libai''s voice, heightened with rage, echoed thunderously throughout his office. The vase on the table couldn''t withstand the killing intent burning like magma in his voice, and it fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.
The abrupt change in his behavior akin to a mental illness, and his crimson eyes all told Zhou Xuchuan the truth. Dan Libai was cultivating in the demonic way.
Zhou Xuchuan''s reaction was almost immediate, so Dan Libai''s demonic cultivation art had to be quite strong.
Even without getting too close, disgust welled up in Zhou Xuchuan''s throat, and he felt like throwing up as if countless bugs were crawling all over his skin.
He''s gonepletely insane!
The Violet Haze Divine Art was Mount Hua''s peerless cultivation art. It wouldn''t react like this toward any ordinary demonic qi unless the demonic qi was on the level of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Despite this realization, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t stay "unaffected." To avoid suspicion, he acted as if he were in great agony.
And that was when the mysterious shadow broke his silence and persuaded Dan Libai, saying, "Elder, please calm down. We won''t get to hear his answer at this rate."
"Hmph!"
Dan Libai withdrew the demonic qi squeezing Zhou Xuchuan from all directions.
The flowers from the shattered vase had already withered by then.
Zhou Xuchuan panted and wheezed heavily as if he could finally breathe. For his acting alone, he deserved a spot among the Ten Empyrean Overlords!
"O-of course, sir! This insignificant one was merely shocked that an elder such as yourself would even consider someone like me.
"To think I''d get to serve the future Master of the Evil Valley As a denizen of the ck Hand, my heart overflowed with emotions, and I forgot to breathe properly, sir. I beg of you to quell your anger."
"Say what now? Ku-hahahaha!" Dan Libai''s expression brightened instantly, and he guffawed madly at Zhou Xuchuan''s ingratiating ttery that rolled off thetter''s tongue like a well-oiled snake.
"Seriously, now, you sure know how to run your mouth, don''t you?! Then again, how will weaklings like the Xia Wu Sect members survive in Gangho without their ability to kiss ass? Ehehehe! Very good. I like you, so I shall graciously forgive you."
Dan Libai, looks like it''s toote to save you.
Clearly, he was beyond the point of fixing the error of his ways or stopping his cultivation. The demonic cultivation art had corrupted him to the point that he had be incapable of logical thinking.
Besides all that. That man in the veil? He''s definitely no ordinary person, either.
Earlier, Dan Libai was on the verge of exploding in anger, and it appeared like he was not going to calm down until he saw blood spilling on the floor. However, the mysterious man had put an end to that with mere words.
"This insignificant one would love nothing more than to swear his loyalty to you right away, sir, but it''s difficult for me to remain standing in your presence due to my poor cultivation. I beg of you to grant me your permission to rest my weak body."
Zhou Xuchuan spoke like a retainer addressing a king, and his decision proved wise.
Dan Libai''s lips spread wide in a huge grin.
"Kekekeke! Very well, this distinguished self will graciously grant it. I don''t get how a bastard like you is an elder of the Xia Wu Sect. Still! Stay loyal to me and do your job well, and I''ll turn you into the Xia Wu Sect''s next boss!"
"Thank you very much, sir!"
"Good. You''re dismissed."
Forget libertine; Dan Libai was a madman!
The interview with Dan Libai didn''t go well at all.
Zhou Xuchuan had no idea until now that the man was already beyond saving.
To make matters worse, the Dark Heavens Association had to be behind this, as the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao was sticking so close to a madman, and they had done it so quickly, too!
Assassinating him No, wait. That won''t be necessary. I have a better idea. Zhou Xuchuan''s narrowed eyes sharply flickered. Those symptoms definitely belong to the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art.
If someone was asked to pick a few demonic cultivation arts that best represented the Blood Cult, the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art would alwayse up. It was one of the highest-ranking demonic cultivation arts out there, after all.
The cultivation method was simple yet cruel. One just had to drink human blood to increase their qi reserve and make breakthroughs in their cultivation realms.
Just like any other demonic cultivation art, the side effects were extreme. The demonic cultivation art would corrupt one''s mind until it hadpletely taken over the cultivator. One''s personality would be cruel and violent, and one would have issues controlling one''s emotions.
Any minor inconvenience could infuriate them, and their mood would not improve until they spilled blood. However, what was more terrifying about that was that a demonic cultivator''s emotions would spiral even more out of control every time they spilled blood, which would slowly worsen their demonic nature.
Eventually, their patience would cease to exist, and they''d need a constant supply of fresh human blood, even if they hadn''t lost their temper yet. In the end, the cultivator''s pupils, corneas, and the whites of their eyes would turnpletely crimson in color.
That was the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art
If it were only the light in Dan Libai''s glowing red, Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t be this confident. However, Dan Libai''s pupils had actually turned crimson. Throughout the Central ins, only the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art could do that.
In the previous timeline, Zhou Xuchuan could vaguely remember hearing about how Dan Libai had received a demonic cultivation art from the Dark Heavens Association. He couldn''t remember which demonic art that was, but he was certain of his conjecture.
Assassinating Dan Libai without any proof will only burn the bridges with the Evil Valley. Even if the Evil Valley Sect Master''s rtionship with his son has soured recently, he was not yet estranged from his son to the point of wanting to kill his own flesh and blood.
No, wait. Even if he hates his son''s guts, he must be worried about saving face. He''d do something about the assassination if it were to happen.
The assassination would be taking ce within the Evil Valley''s headquarters, after all, not in some random ce. If that were to happen, it wouldn''t merely end up as the Evil Valley Sect Master''s personal problem. The fact that it happened in the first ce was the same as trampling on the Evil Valley''s pride.
That was why Zhou Xuchuan chose a different method
And that is to expose Dan Libai for cultivating that demonic cultivation art!
The Evil Valley usually couldn''t care less about the business of its members, but there were some things that they couldn''t ept. One of them was the Demonic Path. The members of the Evil Faction were cowardly and savage, but there was one line they dared not crossthe line between the Heretical Path and the Demonic Path.
Besides, mastering demonic cultivation arts led to the paralysis of one''s rational mind, and their emotions would gopletely out of whack. Thus, as soon as the Evil Valley learned of Dan Libai''s decision to cultivate demonic cultivation art, they wouldn''t leave him alone for fear of what he could do.
Regardless of his progression in the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art, he''ll need a constant supply of fresh human blood. There must be a hidden source of that nearby.
Bringing fresh victims in whenever blood was needed would be too eye-catching, but this didn''t mean that Dan Libai could prey on his allies.
He''d need time to satiate his heightened lust and agitated demonic nature. Since cultivators'' olfactory senses were sharp, he''d also need time to get rid of the scent of blood clinging to him.
In other words, Dan Libai had to have constructed a private space where he could do whatever he wanted. Zhou Xuchuan was nning on using that private space as evidence.
Not just the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art, but this applies to all demonic cultivation arts in general. Unless you''ve reached the peak of any demonic cultivation art, it''ll be impossible to control yourself.
Without a doubt, lust for blood or desire to murder had to be constantly on Dan Libai''s mind. It would alsoe in sudden waves. Since that was the case, the odds of his secret stash being somewhere far away were extremely low.
This was the Evil Valley''s headquarters, so powerful experts were often seen. These factors allowed Zhou Xuchuan to narrow his search area quite considerably.
Somewhere close but inconspicuous Zhou Xuchuan picked a few ces in mind.
The next day, Zhou Xuchuan went around the headquarters under the pretext of sightseeing and selected several suspicious-looking ces. Then, he waited patiently for an opening to present itself.
It was impossible to investigate any of those ces while Dan Libai was still cooped up within the headquarters. He''d obviously catch on to what was going on in no time.
Thus, Zhou Xuchuan hunkered down and acted like a typical ck Hand denizen as he spent his time in the headquarters.
Who knew being Murim''s hero would be this difficult? Despite knowing the history, Zhou Xuchuan still had to go through all sorts of hardships. He couldn''t have imagined that he''d one day do something like this.
In the past, he naively believed that he could stay hidden from everyone''s eyes before appearing on the battlefield to swing his sword around a few times to resolve any issues.
However, it was easier said than done. Of course, one could be a hero through their strength alone, but it wouldn''t be enough to save Murim perfectly.
If history were to remain unchanging, then the Dark Heavens Association would eventually be defeated. However, the losses during that dark period in Murim''s history were too great to be estimated, so Zhou Xuchuan''s goal was to minimize losses.
And just like that, four days passed by
Just as the sun began to rise, Dan Libai finally left the headquarters.
Since it could be a smokescreen, Zhou Xuchuan made sure to confirm that Dan Libai had truly left the headquarters. After finding out Dan Libai''s destination, Zhou Xuchuan finally breathed a lengthy sigh of relief and got to work.
The Eight Gates of the Evil Dao''s Beast Gate? His n is to lure over people who might be his fangs and ws. ording to history, the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao would split into two camps.
However, Zhou Xuchuan was unsure whether that had already happened or not. He dug into his memory banks, recalling that the Beast Gate had taken Dan Libai''s side to attack the Evil Valley Master.
Then, I shall make my move, too.
The day drew to a close. The Lord Moon hid behind the clouds and disappeared from sight. A night with nary a ray of moonlight? The world seemed to have morphed into the heavenly realm of darkness.
However, Zhou Xuchuan liked the darkness. It was perfect for a man who had to do certain things without being seen. The conditions were ideal for a Phantom. Zhou Xuchuan''s Phantom Steps, which had reached the fourth level in the meantime, finally demonstrated its true worth.
Light from torches ormps was useless against him as he melted into the night air and vanished. The noises that he was generating naturally as well as his presence disappearedpletely as if he had ceased to exist.
Zhou Xuchuan proceeded to search the suspicious ces that he had been eyeing over the past few days. The first three spots were duds, but the fourth ce brought him results.
It was atrine used by the servants. No one had been cleaning it, so the stench was overwhelming. Stacks of straw were all over it, but Zhou Xuchuan eventually discovered a stairwell going underground under one of them.
After confirming that no one was around, Zhou Xuchuan carefully climbed down this mysterious stairwell. Of course, he didn''t forget to cover the entrance with the straw before doing so.
The stairwell was short, and Zhou Xuchuan didn''t have to walk for too long to reach his destination.
There wasn''t a single ray of light down here, but by enhancing his vision with qi, he could see everything as if it were the middle of the day.
Zhou Xuchuan''s teeth clenched all by themselves. His blood pressure shot up, and his nape tightened. An expert could control their emotions freely, especially those who had mastered the Righteous Faction''s cultivation arts.
In other words, it was easy for Zhou Xuchuan to control his rage, but his fury was so great that he failed to control his emotions.
Corpses, corpses, corpses!
There were tiny hills of corpses everywhere. There were corpses of little children all the way to the elderly, and every single one of them looked like mummies. Clearly, their blood had been sucked out of them.
How could Zhou Xuchuan remain calm in the face of such a gruesome sight? A casual nce was enough for anyone to know that these victims weren''t cultivators but ordinary people with no strength.
He even saw the corpse of a mother holding a little child in her embrace, and her expression was forever distorted in excruciating pain.
1. Dan Libai here isn''t saying he''s an Elder of his sect, but more like an elder in terms of standing. He''s essentially mocking Zhou Xuchuan and elevating his own standing. ?
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 169: A Sin Against the Heavens (1)
For now, I should check if anyone''s still alive.
Zhou Xuchuan knew he had to prioritize saving lives. Thankfully, he sensed no immediate threats in the area, allowing him to search in rtive peace.
Just as he thought, he discovered several survivors, but none of them were conscious. Even after shaking them lightly, they didn''t respond.
But this was actually for the best. This rescue would have be far trickier had the survivors woken up terrified.
Just before Zhou Xuchuan could take this opportunity and bring the survivors upstairs
"Urgh! I''m dying of starvation here."
"Mm! How about we mess around with the things downstairs for a bit?"
"Forget it, man. You know Dan Libai has gone totally nuts these days. Who knows how he will react once he finds out you did something stupid down here?"
Voices came from the stairwell entrance above. Zhou Xuchuan quickly hid in the shadows and observed the peopleing down.Sure enough. I was wondering why there was no one down here
Even if the human sacrifices were stashed somewhere well hidden, someone still had to manage them.
Zhou Xuchuan had been puzzled by theck of guards. As it turned out, these guards had only temporarily left their posts.
Now then, let''s see Three of them?
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t even need to sense their presence. Their voices alone were enough. As he thought, three figures descended the stairwell.
For mere guards, their cultivation realms were quite high. All of them were First-ss martial artists.
Shuffle
Zhou Xuchuan stealthily moved out of their line of sight and sessfully approached them from behind without making any sound.
Slice!
He couldn''t use Mount Hua''s swordsmanship in fear of revealing his identity. It''d leave too many traces behind. The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword technique was too slow for what Zhou Xuchuan wanted to do, so he chose to go with the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art instead.
Though there was no breeze down here, Zhou Xuchuan''s sleeves billowed slightly before releasing hidden daggers. Two streaks of faint light targeted the throats of two guards.
Zhou Xuchuan closed the distance to the third guard, swiftly slicing his throat with a dagger held in reverse grip.
"Kkuek!"
"Kkeok!"
The guards died instantly, their screams cut short.
Even though Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t fully mastered the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art, its power was still considerable in the hands of an expert at the Harmony realm.
ng!
Huh?
One of the two streaks of light failed to reach the enemy''s throat. Not because Zhou Xuchuan had made a mistake, but because the enemy had somehow deflected the attack in the nick of time.
To think he''d deflect Zhou Xuchuan''s ambush! For a First-ss martial artist, his skills were quite good.
"Who goes!"
Before the guard could cry out, Zhou Xuchuan''s hand shot out like lightning and grabbed his throat.
"Keo-huhk!"
"Very well. Now that things havee to this, I might as well get some info Mm?"
Just as Zhou Xuchuanwas about to threaten the guard, thetter abruptly went limp like a corpse. Even though he hadn''t nned to kill him?
He felt the guard''s pulse just to be sure. But the guard wasn''t faking it.
As he began to wonder what happened, he saw the guard''s skin quickly growing dark and sickly.
"Poison?"
Zhou Xuchuan opened the guard''s jaw and saw a small hole in one of his mrs. That hole was justrge enough to contain a lethal dose of poison to kill oneself.
"Could he be a soldier from the Seven Stars Division?"
This guard didn''t even hesitate and swallowed poison to kill himself!
Not even a highly trained assassin could be this ruthless about offing themselves. And that was especially true for a member of the evil faction.
Damn. Looks like I''ll have to hurry up a bit here.
These people could have a fixedmunication routine. If that got cut off, the allies of these guards might notice something was wrong and rush over here.
Zhou Xuchuan quickened his efforts to rescue the survivors, moving them to a safer location with far more urgency than before.
Thanks to giving it his all, Zhou Xuchuan managed to rescue all fifty-or-so survivors within half an hour. He saved time by taking them somewhere close by, but not directly above the surface.
"May your souls rest in peace."
After evacuating the survivors, Zhou Xuchuan offered a funeral prayer for the piles of corpses.
He searched every nook and cranny of the basement to see if he had missed anything. After confirming that there was nothing of importance down there, Zhou Xuchuan set everything on fire.
He deliberately left the entrance wide open. He remained hidden while watching the thick smoke rising from the stairwell.
He didn''t set the ce aze without a n, of course. He made sure there would be lots of smoke, so the people nearby could easily see that something was wrong.
He even set the nearby bushes on fire, in case the darkness of the night hid the smoke a little too well. He also made sure that the crimson glow of the mes would be noticeable from the distance.
"Fire!"
Thistrine wasn''t located in some random area, but within the evil faction''s hearnd. Obviously, the security around there was quite good, so the fire and smoke were discovered rather quickly.
To confirm if it was an enemy raid,rge groups of warriors, including several powerful experts rushed in from practically every direction. Zhou Xuchuan slipped into this crowd and stayed incognito.
"W-what the?"
He noticed that several warriors in this crowd looked panicked, while some others had visibly pale faces.
"Why was there a fire in a ce like this?"
Location-wise, this spot was nothing special, it was merely atrine used by servants. Since that was the case, a fire wouldn''t naturally break out.
Someone must''ve started the fire deliberately, but these warriors couldn''t sense any strange presence nearby.
"This could be a diversion!"
"We need to return immediately!"
Someone shouted urgently. Zhou Xuchuan looked at who it was, and it was one of the pale-faced warriors.
That man''s expression conveyed how anxious and stressed he was. But his words sounded persuasive enough. Just before the group could urgently return, however
"We must put out the fire now! If we don''t, the mes will spread everywhere!"
Zhou Xuchuan shouted while changing his voice. He even stayed hidden within the crowd so that he couldn''t be singled out.
"We''ll split into two groups!"
An expert, exuding an extraordinary air even at a casual nce, swiftly issued a new order, prompting a handful of warriors to step forward.
"Please leave this ce to us!"
"This might be an enemy raid, so let us put out the fire while you focus on the enemy!"
Their voices sounded tense and their expressions didn''t look so good, either.
Aha. They must be Dan Libai''s underlings.
On the surface, at least, this area wasn''t anything special. So, for them to be so pale-faced? It could only mean they knew what this ce was. Their expressions were a dead giveaway.
"No! The fire is spreading too fast! A handful of you can''t handle this!"
Zhou Xuchuan made sure these underlings wouldn''t be able to do as they pleased. He spoke with enough authority in his voice to get the crowd moving.
Sounding authoritative didn''t require anything too special. The tone and timber of a person''s voice was important, sure, but infusing the voice with qi would do half the work.
"What are you all doing? Hurry up!"
Under normal circumstances, these warriors would''ve tried to figure out who was ordering them around. However, with so many people gathered here, it became impossible to do so.
More importantly, however, they could see the mes spreading to other buildings. Now didn''t seem like the time to stand back and analyze things objectively.
Even before Dan Libai''s underlings could dissuade the others, the warriors split into two groups and got to work.
"Urgh"
"No, this This is bad!"
The underlings had tried and failed to chase all these people away. The scale of the smoke from the fire had drawn far too many people here.
If Dan Libai was here personally, he might have done something, but there wasn''t much these underlings could do as mere First-ss warriors. Left with no choice, they had to watch on helplessly.
ng, ng, ng!
Warning bells rang in the night sky. Warriors jumped out of their beds and rushed outside their rooms with weapons at the news of a fire.
As for the warriors already at the scene, they did as Zhou Xuchuan intended and focused on putting out the troublesome fire.
"Huh?"
"Hey, we found something over here!"
Once the fire was put out and the smoke cleared away, the stairwell to the basement was revealed.
"Huh?!"
"What''s going on here?"
The underground space, hidden from everyone''s view, was finally exposed to the world. Many corpses got burned, but the warriors brought the fire under control quite quickly. That meant many other corpses were left intact.
"These bodies They died recently!"
The Evil Valley''s expert, who had been overseeing the firefighting efforts, hardened his face while studying the bodies.
These corpses were desated like mummies, but suspicious traces on their bodies indicated that the mummification wasn''t natural. Sensing that something ominous was afoot, the expert sent several warriors back to report on the grisly findings.
Well, then. Let''s see how this will y out.
****
The next day.
A chaotic event had broken out during the night. A fire nearly burned down thetrine used by the servants.
However, the location of the fire wasn''t important. Wondering if it was a diversion tactic, the Evil Valley Sect Master strengthened the security of the surrounding areas and carefully monitored the situation.
But the feared assault by an unknown enemy never came. On the other hand, though, the existence of a mysterious basement was brought to the Evil Valley Sect Master''s notice instead.
"We discovered traces of demonic cultivation, sir!"
"!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master clenched his fists so tightly that his palms bled where his nails bit into his skin.
"We also discovered that the basement was connected to the Little Valley Master''s residence, sir."
"That son of a!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master almost blurted out ''son of a b*tch'' just then, only to catch himself at thest second.
Not some random cultivation art, but traces of demonic cultivation?!
Even if the person implicated was his own son, the Evil Valley Sect Master could not forgive him for this indiscretion.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, the stories of Dan Libai''s personality turning for the worse had been circting recently. The Evil Valley Sect Master didn''t pay any heed to that rumor since his son was already infamous for being a libertine.
However, as it turned out, that was actually demonic cultivation''s side effects manifesting itself!
"I''ve tolerated his behavior long enough!"
Even though his son''s uneptable behaviors showed no signs of improving, the Evil Valley Sect Master let it be since his martial prowess had been extraordinary.
He also didn''t think much of his son openly letting his ambition of taking over the sect master position be known recently.
However, this demonic cultivation business had crossed the line. Once the demonic nature corrupted the cultivator''s mind, making them unable to think and choose rationally, that would be the end of the road for them.
Euh!
Not being able to entrust the future of the Evil Valley to his son was one thing, but when the Evil Valley Sect Master thought about how bad this situation would reflect on him, his anger rapidly boiled over.
Thinking about how others would mock him for failing to notice his son''s demonic cultivation despite being one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords made his face flush red with anger and shame.
"Bring that fool to me, right now!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master understood how grave this situation was and ordered Dan Libai to cut his visit to the Beast Gate short and return immediately.
The rumors of this event rapidly spread to all corners of the Evil Valley No, throughout the evil faction. Restricting the flow of information was impossible because of how many witnesses were on the scene.
As such, it reached the Beast Gate faster than the summons from the Evil Valley Sect Master.
"Exin yourself!"
A middle-aged man with an impressive physique, a lengthy mane-like beard, and a sharp, savage re in his eyes angrily raised his voice.
"You mastered demonic cultivation? Are you out of your mind?!"
This middle-aged man, the Beast Gate Sect Master, Ren Chaojian, began grilling Dan Libai for answers.
"This is not what you said, Little Valley Master!"
The current Beast Gate Sect Master didn''t like the Evil Valley Sect Master. Actually, his feelings had already gone past the level of dislike and firmly into the territory of ''grudge'' at this point.
That was because, during the battle against the Murim Alliance, the Evil Valley Sect Master insulted Ren Chaojian in front of important evil faction experts by saying, Not only is your sect called the Beast Gate, even your mind is like that of a beast. How could you be so thoughtless?
The memory of that day''s humiliation still burned vividly in his mind to this day. The memory was so intense that Ren Chaojian sometimes recalled it in his dreams!
From that day forward, his feelings toward the Evil Valley Sect Master had soured. That was why he went along with Dan Libai''s offer of bringing his father down.
However, the news of demonic cultivation changed the situation greatly. Regardless of what he thought, he couldn''t help a demonic cultivator.
"Shut up!"
Dan Libai''s chilling voice mmed into Ren Chaojian''s ears.
"How dare you!"
Ren Chaojian growled back menacingly. As a ranker among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, he had a fiery temper. It was just that he had been overshadowed by a monster called the Evil Valley Sect Master all this time.
If someone was dumb enough to pick a fight or piss him off, Ren Chaojian would thoroughly destroy that bastard before literally feeding them to beasts.
"Hmph! I''m sure you already know who will be put into a tough spot by baring his fangs at me!"
Dan Libai remained unfazed by the Beast Gate Sect Master''s anger. Forget fear, he even openly cackled in mockery as crimson light burned within his eyes.
"The Beast Gate isn''t the only one who has agreed to join me. Three out of the Eight Gates are deeply invested in this venture already! You know as well as I do that my fatherno, the Sect Masteris not the type to let bygones be bygones."
The current Evil Valley Sect Master was far more domineering than his predecessors. That meant quite a few evil faction experts obeyed him without question.
However, half of their loyalty was tinged with fear. The Evil Valley Sect Master was also infamous for being merciless and never forgave mistakes or disloyalty.
There was a precedent, too. In the past, one of the sect masters of the Eight Gates tried to rebel, only for the Evil Valley Sect Master to execute the rebel immediately and install his pawn in the empty Gate Master seat.
If someone like that learned of the Beast Gate''s alliance with Dan Libai? Ren Chaojian was as good as dead.
Dan Libai smirked, his expression twisted with satisfaction, "We''re already preparing for an open war, aren''t we? The time for that war has been brought closer, that is all."
Despite his demonic cultivation being discovered, he didn''t seem bothered at all.
Buzz, hiss!
The crimson light burning in his eyes intensified. Even at a casual nce, Ren Chaojian could tell that Dan Libai''s mastery of the demonic cultivation art was deep.
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
The title is a bit of a confusing one, and also, y''all said you enjoyed little context notes, so here you go. It''s abination of two different words, ?? which, while taken to mean immorality, literally means to revolt/sin against the heavens (Go against + order/standing), and ??, which means to stage a rebellion against.
So, it''s tomit such an immoral act that it''s taken as one''s rebellion against the heavens and the natural order of things.
Which, considering thest chapter, is quite fitting.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 170: A Sin Against the Heavens (2)
"Hah! I always knew that troublemaker would do something like this one day!"
It didn''t matter whether it was a cultivator from the righteous or evil factions, the public learning about them mastering demonic cultivation would cause a huge fuss.
But it was the Evil Valley Sect Master''s son who dared to touch the demonic cultivation art this time. The entire murim was understandably in an uproar.
Not only in evil factions, but also within the halls of righteous factions, the only topic of conversation was the Crimson Eyed Vampiric Art.
Dan Libai''s poor conduct in the past had already sparked a lot of rumors, and this news was like pouring oil into the fire.
"Not only was he a coward, but he was insane too!"
"Even though the Evil Valley has never crossed the line until now"
If the evil faction cultivators were cowardly, the demonic cultivators were all lunatics. At least cowards could be reasoned with. But thetter? The difference between the two camps was significant, to say the least.
"Just what has the Evil Valley Sect Master been doing all this time?!""It''s not some random brat, but his own son dabbling in demonic arts! How could he not notice that? The glorious title of Ten Empyrean Overlords must be shedding tears right about now!"
"Eiiing~! Tsk, tsk! Maybe it''s not the Ten Empyrean Overlords, but more like Nine Empyrean Overlords?"
Even if the evil faction cultivators were less sensitive to demonic qipared to their righteous faction counterparts, someone at the level of the Ten Empyrean Overlords should still have noticed something. But the Evil Valley Sect Master had failed to do that and became a deserving target of ridicule.
The Ten Empyrean Overlords'' individual martial prowess didn''t differ too much, but this event could potentially vacate one of their seats.
While the righteous factions were pouncing on this opportunity to speak ill of the evil factions, the evil factions themselves were busy dealing with internal turmoil.
"I don''t want to admit that the hypocrites are right, but they do have a point."
"Point? As in?"
"Maybe the Evil Valley Sect Master isn''t as powerful as everyone has thought."
The mood within the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao was on knife-edge. As if the previous timeline''s history was repeating itself, the eight factions split into two groups of four, and one of these groups began scheming for a mutiny.
"It''s toote to back out of this, anyway."
"Indeed. Didn''t we resolve ourselves for this eventuality when we decided to throw our lot in with Dan Libai?"
"The Evil Valley Sect Master isn''t merciful enough to turn a blind eye to things like this, after all!"
The leader of the Evil Valley was colder than an ice storm, while his decision making was ruthless like a deadly sword strike.
It didn''t matter how long it took, the Evil Valley Sect Master would eventually eliminate anyone who posed a threat or disyed hints of betrayal.
Just how many people let their guards down after the Sect Master told them to try harder next time only to lose their lives?
That cold-blooded old man treated anyone who was loyal to him and boasted tremendous talent better than his own family.
However, those who didn''t qualify received exactly the opposite treatment.
He was vicious enough to erase anyone who roused even a tiny hint of suspicion just so that he could have some peace of mind.
In the past, several leaders of the Eight Gates didn''t want all the authority concentrating on the Evil Valley Sect Master. So, they either openly defied hismands or resorted to underhanded schemes. ?
Knowing that the Evil Valley Sect Master always repaid his grudges in full, these people couldn''t rest easy as anxiety consumed them.
"Yes, let''s kill him!"
"Letting him live will bite us in the rear sooner orter."
The world might judge them poorly for this, but they hade too far to back down now. And the idea of using a madman like Dan Libai as their figurehead didn''t sit well with them, either. But they needed a figure to rally around, so it couldn''t be helped.
Even though he mastered demonic cultivation, which cost him the trust of other people, his strength and authority had not been damaged yet. If any of those factors were missing
The rebels had no idea how they would face the fearsome monster known as the Evil Valley Sect Master.
"Very well. Let us get prepared, then!"
****
The central figure of this chaos, Dan Libai, returned to the Evil Valley''s headquarters.
It''s Dan Libai!
All eyes were on him as he stepped through the front gate. Unsurprising, given that he was the most talked-about person in the murim.
However, those gazes couldn''t be described as kind. Not at all. Despite having no qualms about resorting to everything and anything to get what they want, the evil faction cultivators still strongly disliked the demonic dao.
So, all the martial prowess he has shown until now is thanks to demonic cultivation?
He''s not even trying to hide his crimson eyes!
How dare he act so brazen like that?
Dan Libai didn''t even bat an eyelid at all the judgmental res. In fact, he held his head high, striding past them confidently.
"Heh! Sounds like some toothless mutts are barking somewhere!"
Dan Libai nced at the others and smirked derisively.
"You dare!"
"Do you think you''re still the Little Valley Master?!"
"A dog of the demonic dao dares to!"
These people got insulted to their faces. In the past, they would have had no choice but to overlook the insult since Dan Libai was the son of the sect master. But not this time.
ording to rumors, the Evil Valley Sect Master was indescribably furious with his son. Which meant Dan Libai basically had no status or power in this ce.
"You are all going to die soon, anyway! I''m gracious enough to let you run your mouths while you''re still alive," Dan Libai shouted as if he wanted everyone to hear him.
"Huh?! Say what?"
"Is he trying to make usugh?!"
The Evil Valley''s cultivators were left bbergasted.
"At least his bluffing has reached the absolute peak realm!"
"The demonic nature must''ve corrupted his mind until he''s gonepletely insane! Doesn''t he understand the trouble he''s in right now?"
Endless grumbling and whispers continued to target him, but Dan Libai didn''t cower. Forget cowering, the crimson hue in his eyes seemed to burn even brighter.
Dan Libai strode past countless res and stepped into the main pce with its crimson roof tiles.
"Dan! Li! Bai!!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master''s thunderous roar echoed through the pce.
Shudder, rumble!
Even the Shaolin''s Lion Roar couldn''t hold a candle to this roar. The pce shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Warriors standing guard by the outer gates frowned and rubbed their lower bellies as if the roar had affected them, too.
The corridors of the pce, usually bustling with warriors and servants, were eerily empty. Not even an ant could be seen!
What an ignorant old fart!
Dan Libai, usually unppable, finally lost hisposure, his expression stiffening.
To think his roar alone would be this powerful!
Dan Libai was a genius, and he worked extra hard to hold on to his authority. He didn''t stop there and even got his hands on a demonic cultivation art.
At this point, he couldn''t even remember how much blood he drank daily or from how many people.
To top it all off, Dan Libai even received support from the Dark Heavens Association in the form of spiritual medicines.
His cultivation also improved by leaps and bounds after gaining enlightenment. Although he still hadn''t broken through the Harmony realm, Dan Libai had a foot in the door.
Most importantly, his demonic cultivation art had the effect of eliminating fear and dulling pain.
Despite this, Dan Libai''s fingers trembled faintly. He had to ept that the realm of ''absolute powerhouse'' should never be underestimated.
No, don''t get scared!
Ba-dump, ba-dump!
Dan Libai''s heart pounded like an enraged bull. Blood energy that stole away the lives of dozens, no, hundreds of people madly coursed through his meridians several times.
A boiling force welled up below his navel. This power rushed past his tailbone, climbed up his spine, and voraciously devoured his emotions. Dan Libai''s fear vanished, reced by confidence.
His gaze, fixed on the floor, shot upward, and the light burning in his crimson eyes sizzled hotter and hotter, like mes from hell.
"Huh! To think your blood qi would be at this level!" The Evil Valley Sect Master sneered as he rose slowly from his throne. "Yes, I''ve been a fool. A fool, indeed!"
He pounded his chest in frustration, his wrinkled face twisting to resemble a man chewing on dog turd.
"Why are you so angry, father? I rushed here as fast as I could, isn''t it filial for a son to answer his father''s summons?"
Dan Libai replied casually, having regained hisposure. The thick smirk etched on his face looked crooked and disgusting.
His old self would''ve never acted this arrogantly before his father.
"I''ll give you an opportunity, son!" The Evil Valley Sect Master warned Dan Libai with a firm, authoritative voice. "Destroy your own dantian, then apologize to the rest of the murim. Then, I will spare your life."
This was thest act of mercy for his own flesh and blood.
"Heh!"
The corners of Dan Libai''s lips twisted upward.
"Uw, ha, ha, hah!"
A mad cackle erupted from him, thick with malice, nketing the hall in dark, negative energy.
"Very well! I shall do so!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master realized that he could no longer read his own son''s intentions.
Dan Libai raised both hands as if to express his willingness to cooperate, then leisurely walked closer to his father.
When he reached him, Dan Libai bowed slightly and asked in a mocking tone, "How''s this, then? Ah, hang on. Should I destroy my dantian here? Or in front of everyone?"
"You just can''t help yourself, can you?!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master growled as his rage boiled over. His aura was like a volcano about to erupt.
"If you think I won''t hurt you because you are my child!"
Pah-haht!
It happened in the blink of an eye. Dan Libai took advantage of the opening created during their conversation and charged forward like a loaded spring to attack his father.
He had been bowing as if storing energy, and now, with an explosive burst of speed, he charged forward. However, the Evil Valley Sect Master wouldn''t get done in by such an attack.
He already knew his son''s condition wasn''t normal. He anticipated that his son might try something insane since the demonic nature must''ve corrupted him by now.
The deciding factor was that, despite the effects of demonic cultivation strengthening him, Dan Libai only had a foot in the Harmony realm.
Beast-like ws formed through half-curled fingers shot out like bolts of lightning toward the Evil Valley Sect Master.
"You foooool!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master erupted in rage at this naked attempt to kill him. The killing intenting from Dan Libai''s attack stance was dense and pure.
He knew his son was insane, but to think he wouldn''t hesitate to kill his own father!
This realization only worsened the Evil Valley Sect Master''s anger.
"It''s about time you die, father!"
Dan Libai struck several times in a row. Each strike caused deadly fist winds to rain down on the Evil Valley Sect master.
However, the leader of the Evil Valley chuckled grimly in dismay before deflecting all the fist windsing his way. Then, he counterattacked.
Pah-ba-baht!
He didn''t even go all out. He simply flicked his middle finger against his thumb, releasing a highly concentrated mass of qi.
Even though this finger strike wasn''t a part of his usual martial arts repertoire, the destructive power it had was still considerable. The mass of qi pierced through the air and mmed into Dan Libai.
BOOM!
"Kuh-huhk?!"
Dan Libai let out a pained gasp. He tried to withstand the blow but failed, and his body was shoved right back.
A chilling, blood-red mist drifted off the Evil Valley Sect Master, as if he had been giving his all to the previous attack.
"Very well! I''ll beat you to the brink of death and interrogate you to uncover the truth behind this mess!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master roared in anger.
"Ptooi!"
Dan Libai spat out some phlegm containing blood before smirking deeply.
"Father, do you think things will go as you wish?"
Whoooooosh!
The air itself seemed to split apart. The Evil Valley Sect Master''s sharp senses detected an object hurtling toward him. He initially thought it could be a hidden weapon, but no. The object charging toward him was a person!
"Evil Valley Sect Master!"
To be more precise, it was a beast-like man!
The Evil Valley Sect Master''s expression twisted hideously. The strengthened w qi trying to dig into his side was familiar to him. Only one person in the evil faction could utilize this type of w art, after all!
"Ren Chaojian! Have you lost your bloody mind?!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master''s anger became speechlessness and disbelief. He roughly knew that the leader of the Beast Gate didn''t like him, but to think that man would openly rebel like this!
What confused him the most, however, was the Beast Gate Master willingly siding with Dan Libai, a manbeled as a demonic cultivator.
"Die!"
Rather than with his words, Ren Chaojian replied with a barrage of attacks.
"Huh-uh!"
As it turned out, it wasn''t only one man who decided to rebel today. The Evil Valley Sect Master could see several other cultivators entering the hall.
****
"Dan Libai, you insane bastard!"
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t control himself and began swearing loudly.
"Just what has he done now?!"
Obviously, he had a hunch that Dan Libai might do something stupid. However, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t expect that something stupid would be an open warfare!
After exposing Dan Libai mastering demonic cultivation, Zhou Xuchuan stuck around the Evil Valley''s headquarters to find out what would happen next. But that decision got him swept up in the ensuing battle.
The civil war of the evil faction, the one he had been hoping to avoid, suddenly broke out. A fierce battle began not too long after Dan Libai returned to the headquarters.
The raid on the Evil Valley was not initiated by outside forces, but done by its own allies. Zhou Xuchuan heard the names being shouted around him and realized that the enemy this time was half of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
No, hold on. No matter how insane that bastard is, he couldn''t have done this by himself.
Dan Libai was nothing more than a puppet dancing on the Dark Heavens Association''s palm. Zhou Xuchuan abruptly remembered the shadowy figure he saw next to Dan Libai not too long ago.
They must be aiming for two things. One is to weaken the Evil Valley''s influence through an internal strife like this one, and
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes narrowed into slits.
The other is obviously to kill the Evil Valley Sect Master, but in a situation like this
The Seven Stars Division!
That name popped up in Zhou Xuchuan''s mind right away.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 171: Hegemon Edict Art (1)
ng, ng, ng!
The sh of weapons filled the air with harsh, grating sounds.
"Agk!"
The sound was soon drowned out by the groans and screams of warriors. Chaos erupted all over the ce.
An immoral child betrayed his father and rose up against him. It might have been simpler if he''d acted alone, but half of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao had joined forces with him.
While pretending to return home, he had informed his allies about his ns to attack and recruited experts.
The number of experts he was able to gather was a whopping five hundred. Half had joined from the outside, while the other half had arrived inside thepound in advance and set up camp.
"Xia Wu Sect!"
The door opened, and a warrior covered in blood came in."Help us!"
"Whose side are you on?"
"Of course, I''m on Dan Libai''sugh!"
An arrow struck the warrior''s forehead.
''Who should I help first? The Evil Valley? The Evil Valley Master?''
Zhou Xuchuan nced around. Even at a nce, he could see that the attacking side had the advantage.
"J-Jin Ke, you dare betray me?"
"Hyungnim! Go with the flow, go with the flow!"
"Ugh!"
"I''m not one of them! I didn''t betray you!"
"How can I believe that?"
"Damn it!"
While all the traitors could recognize each other through amon mark, the Evil Valley Master''s side couldn''t do the same.
Since they couldn''t tell who was an ally and who was an enemy, they couldn''tunch a proper counterattack.
"Ugh! You you tricked me"
"Hmph!"
Moreover, the traitors continued to pretend to be their allies while stabbing them in the back, and there was nothing they could do. The situation quickly spiraled out of control.
Let''s help this side first.
The Evil Valley Master wasn''t one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords for nothing. Even if he were left alone, he wouldn''t be defeated right away.
Instead, Zhou Xuchuan had to do something about how the Evil Valley forces were being pushed back unterally right in front of him.
"The betrayers!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted at the top of his lungs. However, who didn''t know that? Naturally, no one even pretended to hear him.
However, the next thing he said drew all eyes to him.
"The Beast Gate, the Heretical Formation Gate!"
Everyone stopped.
"The Twin Saber Gate, the Neidan Sword Gate!"
They were all sects belonging to the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
"They''re the betrayers!"
In the futureno, they had be traitors in the present. They had joined Dan Libai and had made the Evil Faction a mess.
"Come to think of it"
While his opponents were flustered, barely able to grasp the situation, Zhou Xuchuan noticed that the techniques of those he''d been shing with felt familiar.
Even though they were all Evil Faction martial artists, the traitors'' techniques narrowed down to four types.
w arts that resembled the ws of beasts, techniques that dazzled the eyes, twin des held in both hands and qi that seemed to belie all techniques!
"Nonsense!"
A member of the Heretical Formation Gate''s neck turned red.
"Do you even know who he is to trust him?"
"It''s embarrassing just from the fact that you were shaken up!"
He wasn''t wrong.
If a bastard of an unknown identity were to appear and suddenly start shouting, it would only cause more confusion.
No, beyond confusion. It was closer to suspicion now.
"That bastard must be one of Dan Libai''sckeysugh!"
The Heretical Formation Gate member''s head jerked back, an arrow piercing through his eye and out the back of his head.
"A-archery?"
Everyone was bewildered.
Its speed was impossible to follow with the naked eye.
This wasn''t normal archery. At the very least, the person must have been a trained archer.
Taking advantage of their moment of confusion, Zhou Xuchuan nocked an arrow on the bow and released it. With a swish, it tore through the air, leaving a piercing hole in the sky.
"You dare!"
A Beast Gate member scoffed as if Zhou Xuchuan was being ridiculous and bent his fingers halfway, trying to block with the pride of the Beast Gate, the Beast Gate w.
Usually, it was just a flying arrow. Even if they were imbued with qi, they would just bounce off.
ng!
"Ugh!"
The breath of the Beast Gate member caught in his throat. While he had sessfully blocked the arrow, the qi contained within it dispersed through his ws as the shock rippled through him in full force.
His lower abdomen ached as if it was burning.
Just how did this?!
The amount of qi contained in the arrow wasn''t ordinary. He had never heard of a master archer who could handle this much power.
Squelch!
"Ugh!"
The Beast Gate member''s eyes widened in disbelief. He could clearly see an arrow stuck in his abdomen.
When?
He had only seen and blocked one arrow.
However, when he came to his senses, there was a second arrow stuck in his abdomen.
Yes, the power was incredible, but the speed was unbelievable.
Although he wondered where such a master hade from, he died without being able to finish his thoughts.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what shit."
An Elder of the Twin Saber Gate, Yi Changdao, was annoyed.
"What are you doing there, just standing? Deal with him!"
Seeing Yi Changdao suddenly get angry, the Twin Saber Gate members hurriedly moved. They nned to subdue the archer before Zhou Xuchuan had the chance to nock an arrow.
As befitting people of a force with the word Saber in it, the warriors gripped their sabers tightly with both hands, eyes shing as they swung repeatedly.
There were five of them.
"Look carefully!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted as if he was deliberately trying to stand out.
"Three!"
He hung several arrows and set the bowstring.
Thwip. Thwip, thwip!
While it wasn''t a rain of arrows, still, several arrows, not just one, shot out with a threatening momentum.
One, two, three!
The power contained in each arrow was like a spear thrown with one''s full strength.
When three of the Twin Saber Gate members fell with a scream and rolled across the ground, gasps of shock erupted around them. It was like a divine bow.
But!
A bow took time to reload after firing. An archer wouldn''t be able to aim properly if an enemy gets too close.
The two remaining Twin Saber Gate members aimed for that moment, a satisfied smile spreading across their lips.
It was questionable why a master of archery had suddenly appeared in the first ce. Still, they weren''t a threat. It wasn''t as if archery was everything, anyway.
Everything would be over if they got close. Thinking that way, the two tried to finish the archer off.
But
"Huh?"
Zhou Xuchuan let go of the bow, not even attempting to fire another arrow. He just drew the sword hanging from his waist and gripped it firmly.
At first, they thought that he was just preparing for theingbat by pulling out his sword and trying to struggle. However, their jaws dropped at the sight of his attack.
BooCoom.
It was an incredibly heavy sword strike for what looked like a normal iron sword. The air itself was sted away, crushing the very atmosphere around it.
It almost felt like he was swinging a massive greatsword. While the sword in his hand was an ordinary iron sword, for some reason, it looked like he was using a greatsword.
That''s impossible! I need to change tactics!
No, I''ll deflect it!
The reactions of the Twin Saber Gate members were different.
The desman in the front didn''t dodge or block but instead he added strength into his hands and poured all his qi into the first blow.
The desman at the back prepared himself for the iing internal injuries and forcibly stopped the flow of qi to his first attack before raising his double sabers and taking on a defensive stance.
Time seemed to slow and the sabers creeping from the front collided with Zhou Xuchuan''s Ten Thousand Jin Sword.
Boom!
Zhou Xuchuan''s Thousand Level Ten Thousand Sword unleashed a terrifying destructive power.
The ground where he stood caved in.
"Ugh!"
The moment the swords collided, the explosion was overwhelming. The Heavy Sword cut through the twin sabers with ease.
Just being able to cleave through the sabers was incredible enough, but he also separated the body of the Twin Saber Gate member in mid-air.
His attack was so precise that not even a drop of blood fell.
"I''m-I''m okay"
As the space between the torso and legs of the desman in front widened, the Twin Saber Gates member following behind smiled brightly, thinking he''d survived.
However, the relief was short-lived, and his face twisted in horror.
Despite having just used an ignorantly brutal Heavy Sword, Zhou Xuchuan advanced without any difficulty.
The sword that had swung to the right suddenly stopped, almost as if it had been frozen in ce, before shing to the left without any hesitation.
Squelch!
With a single step, Zhou Xuchuan''s strike gained both power and weight. It was a sword that weighed twice as much as before. The result was obvious.
"What the"
They were warriors of the Twin Saber Gate of the Right Gates of the Evil Dao.
Moreover, they weren''t just any low-level warriors, but at least First ss warriors. However, they were defeated without even being able to put up much resistance.
It happened so quickly that many people didn''t understand what had happened.
Even though it happened right before their eyes, the sight was so overwhelming that their minds couldn''t keep up with the situation.
"A bow and a sword?"
Yi Changdao''s expression stiffened, as if he couldn''t believe what was happening.
"Ah!"
A few of the martial artists gasped, as if they had suddenly remembered something. Those one or two voices gathered together like a falling snowball and spread throughout the surroundings.
"The Phantom Bow Swordsman!"
A master of the Evil Faction who appeared like aet about two years ago!
He was one of the newest One Hundred Experts Under the Heavens who had been hired by the Miao Family Sword Gate and yed a decisive role in the destruction of the Flowing Waterfall Saber Gate before disappearing.
As there had only been rumors about him afterward without any traces, most had assumed he was dead. Who could have thought that he would have shown up here like this?
There was only one swordsman in the Evil Faction, or actually, even throughout the Central ins, who could handle a bow like some sort of ghost.
"Why is the Phantom Bow Swordsman here?"
"Wait, before that, isn''t he an Elder of the Xia Wu Sect?"
More and more people who recognized his fake identity increased.
"Why of all people"
The expression of a middle-aged man with a schr''s robe suddenly distorted.
"What''s the n, Luo Jiao?"
"Luo Jiao? The head of the Heretical Formation Gate?"
The Heretical Formation Gate was a sect with incredible mental prowess, so much so that it was said if the Martial Alliance had the Zhuge Family, the Evil Valley had the Heretical Formation Gate.
However, just as the importance of mental prowess was belittled within the murim''s circles, the Heretical Formation Gate had the lowest authority within the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
In particr, since it was a part of the Evil Faction, where not even a hint of courtesy existed, the contempt and disregard were even worse. Dan Libai had taken advantage of this and approached the dissatisfied Luo Jiao and suggested that they disy their strength through rebellion, a suggestion the Heretical Formation Gate epted.
"Wow, even the Gate Masters are part of it. Then the Evil Valley Master must be fighting to the death right now," Zhou Xuchuan muttered, piecing the situation together.
Even if Dan Libai were insane, he wouldn''t have tried to face one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords on his own. He must have brought experts with him. It was obvious where the other Gate Masters of the Beast Gate, the Twin Saber Gate, and the Neidan Sword Gate would be.
Inparison, our side
What had just happened to the Evil Valley was an ambush in itself. The top experts of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao, who were on good terms with the Evil Valley Master, weren''t present.
Even if they were toe running after hearing the news, they were too far away, and it would be impossible for them to arrive anytime soon. It was highly probable that they would arrive after everything was sorted out, so Zhou Xuchuan knew that it should be assumed that they weren''t getting any support.
"Hmph, what do you mean, what''s the n?"
Luo Jiaoughed, straightening up.
"Yes, the Phantom Bow Swordsman was unexpected, but what can he do alone? We have the advantage in both numbers and cultivation."
"Hmm"
There wasn''t a single w to Luo Jiao''s words, even those on the Evil Valley Master''s side agreed.
"Is this even winnable?"
"We''re all going to die."
"I don''t want to die here!"
The situation was hopeless.
For those of the Evil Faction, one''s life was the most important thing.
As martial artists, they also had pride and valued honor. However, they could never value something like that over their own lives. That was the difference between them and the Evil Faction.
Above all, the probability of victory was too low. It seemed impossible to handle even if they were to give it their all. As a result, their morale plummeted.
If there had been an order from the Evil Valley Master, things would have been different. However, since there was no news, they grew dispirited.
"Enough!"
With a loud stomp and a shout, Zhou Xuchuanmanded everyone''s attention, their gazes drawn to him.
"Look carefully at the situation in front of you! How many of them before you can even be considered a master?!"
At those words, those of the Evil Faction froze.
The Heretical Formation Gate Master Luo Jiao wasn''t a master. While he may have been talented in the art of traps and the art of formations, his actual cultivation was quite weak.
The elder of the Twin Saber Gate, Yi Changdao.
As a Transcendent, he was famed for being one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. However, he was actually quite low on the list.
Beyond those two, there weren''t any other famed Masters.
Though there were many martial artists in the First ss or Peak realm, their numbers weren''t so overwhelming as to be unmanageable.
Things weren''t as hopeless as they had thought.
The morale of the Evil Valley Master''s side began to rise, thinking that maybe it really was worth a try.
Luo Jiao was about to say something in retort, but before he could, Zhou Xuchuan raised his sword high into the sky, releasing a powerful aura.
"Follow the Phantom Bow Swordsman, the Hua-Harmony Realm Master!"
He had almost identified himself as Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua Sect.
Chapter 172: Hegemon Edict Art (2)
Twenty masters surrounded the Evil Valley Masterthe greatest experts of Evil Valley.
"Pfft!"
Augh escaped Evil Valley Master''s mouth. He was clearly kicking them.
"Seeing how you all cower, I can''t help butugh. Good, good, are you all really so scared of me that you have toe out all together?"
Although the Evil Valley Master openly provoked them, none of them fell for it. They were all on guard and didn''t move.
"That''s why you should have held back a little," a middle-aged man whose aura was as sharp as a well-honed de said.
Judging by the lines on his face, he was nearing the end of middle age, almost crossing into old age.
He was Twin Saber Gate Master Ge Hongxi. [1]
"The old generation will disappear, and the Evil Valley will take a new path forward."The Neidan Sword Gate Master, Tiemu Minghuan,ughed eerily.[2] He was one of the younger Gate Masters.
His skin was healthy and tanned, and his hair was short and spiky like grass, making him stand out.
"I elevated you into the Eight Gates because I thought you were strong, but to think you would bare your fangs without knowing your own ce."
The Evil Valley Masterughed as if he didn''t have a care in the world.
After the Flowing Waterfall Saber Gate had been annihted, the final winner of the power vacuum left behind was the Neidan Sword Gate.
"Fine then,e. I''ll make each and every one of you regret this," the Evil Valley Master said with a cold, angryugh. The air around him changed suddenly.
It wasn''t the overwhelming momentum of an absolute master, but an explicit change in the physical sense.
The hair on their bodies stood on end. Their bodies felt heavy as if they were wearing severalyers of armor. Something was pressing down hard on their shoulders.
The strange phenomenon didn''t stop there, as it also affected the meridians that were responsible for the cirction of their qi. The flow of their qi slowed, as if impurities had umted and were blocking it.
"Ugh!"
The masters groaned.
"Hegemon Edict Art!"
While it had a name that sounded like a martial art that could be ridiculed, its power was actually closer to that of divine art.
True to its name, this martial art suppressed and trampled everything in its path. Mastering it meant gaining the ability to dominate anything within a certain radius. ??
Looking at its principle or structure, it was simple.
It released arge amount of qi that was umted inside the body directly outside, controlling the very atmosphere to strengthen one''s own body and weaken opponents.
"Ugh!"
Ren Chaojian struggled as he recalled bad memories from his past. He absolutely hated this feeling of losing control of his body.
"Is this the Hegemon Edict Art I''ve only ever heard of?!"
Ge Hongxi let out a startled exmation. Even in the face of his opponent, he couldn''t hide his surprise as a martial artist.
"Ugh!"
A personno, a monster close to a natural disaster, attacked.
Meanwhile, in the outer chamber, not the inner chamber, hundreds of people were fighting without pause.
At first, the Evil Valley Master''s side was at a clear disadvantage. Despite their ferocious attack, their morale was low. But that quickly changed with the arrival of the Phantom Bow Swordsman.
"A master of the Harmony Realm? Even so, he''s still some brat without a reputation!" Yi Changdao shouted as if he found it ridiculous.
"Twin Wolf Fang Squadron!"
Woosh!
Ten experts lined up behind Yi Changdao. They were the elites of the Twin Saber Gate, consisting of their best experts.
Not only were they skilled in cultivation, but they had also survived countless life-or-death battles.
"Even if some geezer at the Harmony Realm were toe, he wouldn''t be able to defeat the Twin Wolf Fang Squadron. I''ll tear him to pieces with these canines."
The Twin Wolf Fang Squadron
It wasn''t strange that Yi Changdao was so confident. The Twin Wolf Fang Squadron''s reputation had been legendary in both his past and present lifetimes.
I''ll have to put a bit of a show on.
This was already a difficult battle, even if he could have used his original techniques. To make matters worse, he had to pretend to be the Phantom Bow Swordsman.
He was a little nervous since he wasn''t able to use the sword techniques of the Mount Hua Sect but instead, he had to defeat them all with only the Ten Thousand Jin Sword.
However, he still spoke confidently, trying to make the anxious people behind him look unconcerned.
"The Twin Wolf Fang Squadron? They aren''t enough to be my opponents."
"Now that I look at him, he''s just some brat with a big mouth!" Yi Changdao shouted before lunging forward. After that, he was followed by the ten members of the Twin Wolf Fang Squadron.
At first nce, it seemed like they were rushing in randomly, but that wasn''t the case at all. If one looked closely, they had positioned themselves appropriately in a manner that they could link up.
Swish, swish, swish!
Yi Changdao''s twin sabers rained down, leaving afterimages in the air. The sabers were flying in all directions, but
Boom!
With one powerful swing of his iron sword, Zhou Xuchuan carved a semicircle through the battlefield. Half of the Twin Wolf Fang Squadron fell instantly, blood spraying across the ground.
No!
The other half quickly took up a defensive stance. As expected, they weren''t elites for nothing. Their judgment was urate and swift.
"Ugh!"
"Mmph!"
They had narrowly avoided getting fatal wounds, only feeling a slight pain in their dantians after receiving the full impact of the heavy sword.
The Twin Wolf Fang Squadron members who were actually hit by the sword struggled to stop the blood gushing from their necks and chests.
"As expected of the Twin Equivalency Saber!"
Zhou Xuchuan adjusted his grip on the sword he had just swung with both hands.
Most of the martial arts of the Evil Faction were aggressive. However, the Twin Equivalency Saber of the Twin Saber Gate was a bit different.
Regardless of whether one uses their right or left saber, one side would always take the offensive while the other the defensive, alternating between attack and defense. It was an incredibly stable saber technique.
"However!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s heavy sword wasn''t something they could defend against so easily.
The attack was nearly impossible to block, even with both hands on a single saber. Trying to defend with two sabers, spreading their strength thin, was futile.
Zhou Xuchuan stepped forward with his left foot, drawing his shoulders and arms back as he gripped the iron sword tightly.
He didn''t pull his iron sword back all the way, though. He didn''t change his stance, either. After twisting his waist halfway, he swung his iron sword with all his might.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
The air seemed to explode, the atmosphere splitting apart under the weight of his strike. Like a massive ship crashing down, the overwhelming force consumed everything in its path.
"Ugh!"
While one of the squadron members tried to defend with their saber qi, it was useless. Although he seeded in blocking Zhou Xuchuan''s blow, his body was sted away along with his twin sabers.
The Twin Wolf Fang Squadron members next to him and behind him were the same. They were sted away together as if they weren''t just members of the same unit but members of the same fate.
Crack.
The squadron member tried to brace himself and somehow hold on, but he couldn''t do anything. He could even hear the sound of his own spine snapping.
"Agh!"
The remaining squadron members who had survived the first blow also copsed. They rolled miserably across the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
"What kind of savage shit!"
Luo Jiao''s jaw dropped when he saw that. He had never heard of such a martial art before.
In the midst of his surprise, Zhou Xuchuan adjusted his grip on his iron sword, leaped high enough into the air to block out the sun, and swung his sword down.
BOOM!
Using the Ten Thousand Jin Sword, he descended at incredible speed. He didn''t seem like a person anymore but an iron hammer.
The moment the iron sword struck the ground, the ground flipped and the boulders below shattered. A web of cracks formed around the ce where hended.
Before any of them could scream, they were struck by the falling sword and were killed.
"That, that"
Crack, crack, crack!
Yi Changdao''s pupils shook violently as if an earthquake had urred.[3] His jaw dropped wide open without the thought of closing.
The fingers holding his saber loosened and his legs trembled as if they were growing numb.
The Twin Wolf Fang Squadron.
The elites that he had been so proud of had been annihted in the blink of an eye. Worse yet, they were annihted before they could cause any damage.
Yi Changdao knew that the Phantom Bow Swordsman was a master, but he never could have imagined that he would be this strong.
"Huh"
A stunned sound escaped someone''s lips. It grew into a roar that shook the heavens and the earth.
"ROAR!!!!"
"Phantom Bow Swordsman! Phantom Bow Swordsman!"
"Long live the Phantom Bow Swordsman! Long live the Evil Valley Master!"
Zhou Xuchuan''s allies cheered while his enemies sank deeper into despair.
"Let''s go! Let''s use this momentum to drive the enemies away!"
Seizing the moment, Zhou Xuchuan flew forward to surprise Yi Changdao, who was standing in front of him and struck him with a single blow.
"UGH!"
Although Zhou Xuchuan didn''t use all his strength as a Harmony Realm Master, he still put an incredible amount of force into it. There was no way Yi Changdao could properly block the blow while he was terrified.
The enemy troops, seeing the Twin Saber Gate''s elder get defeated so effortlessly, shrank back and retreated while the friendly troops pushed forward.
The battlefield was turned upside down in an instant.
"Follow the hero of the Evil Faction!"
When someone shouted, the word ''Follow!'' echoed across the battlefield.
Zhou Xuchuan put away his sword for a moment as if he wanted to be a symbol, nocking an arrow on his bow and releasing it.
1. The second character of Hongxi''s name, Xi, is actually a native Korean character and had to be reced with a simr Chinese one. His name trantes to "To cleave forcefully in red," or to chop someone in half lmao. ?
2. His name means tomand strength. ?
3. It literally just did. ?
Chapter 173: Neidan Sword Gate (1)
Mo Du was a warrior belonging to the Evil Valley headquarters guards, and he would soon be forty-one. He was born in a rural area so small that it wasn''t even on the map, and he grew up grappling with starvation.
His father had died in an ident during hardbor, so his mother had to raise her children alone. Unfortunately, her sorrow turned into a mdy, and she passed away.
Mo Du was the eldest of five siblingstwo boys and three girls. He had to feed his younger siblings as the eldest. Upon realizing that doing that through farming alone was impossible, he went into the world of gangho.
He roamed around as a wanderer until he was eventually noticed by a warrior from the Evil Valley, and he became the disciple of that warrior.
Mo Du lived a diligent life. He satiated his hunger with only grain pills so that he could feed his younger siblings and ensure that they''d grow strong. He focused on his training as well.
Perhaps it was because of his efforts, but he became a Second ss expert before he turned thirty, and he reached the First ss by the time he turned forty.
He managed to get married, albeitte. People often said that he had a wife like a fox and a child like a rabbit.[1]
However, his wife was not in good health. She had been suffering on and off with illness for several years before falling severely ill.
Mo Du''s child was so young that his face ought to be filled withughter and delight, but the child''s tear-stricken face was full of worry. He hadn''t been able to go outside and y with children of his age.Mo Du was reminded of his mother, who had suffered a lot before passing away, and his father, who ended up dying while toiling away. Mo Du refused to let go of his first andst love so easily. Eventually, he ended up getting hired for a dangerous position but with great benefits.
However, his wife''s medications were expensiveso expensive that the sry of a mere Evil Valley guard couldn''t afford it. Even if he were to pray to a god, it would be useless
"Dear, I''m okay. The medicine must be expensive" His wife muttered, telling him that she''d be okay while holding his hand. She told him that he ought to prioritize their child, who was only two years old.
Mo Du was heartbroken, and he hated his ipetence.
Thus, he worked even harder to earn money. He worked hard, as he did not want to let go of the woman he had chosen to spend his life with.
Perhaps the Heavens were moved by Mo Du''s efforts, but his wife''s condition gradually improved. His child''s worry seemed to have been assuaged, and he seemed to be smiling more often than not these days.
The light was starting to shine on the Mo Family. Their misfortune was over, and it was time for them to be happy; at least, that was what Mo Du genuinely thought.
Until a troublemaker named Dan Libai attacked with the Beast Gate, the Heretical Formation Gate, the Twin Saber Gate, and the Neidan Sword Gate. There was an incredible amount of them that Mo Du was sure that they would lose.
With his wife and children in mind, however, Mo Du couldn''t retreat. Thus, he charged forward to stage a counterattack. It was like squeezing blood from a stone.[2]
His will was indomitable, but there was a limit to what he could do. Just as he was about to give upjust as he thought that he was going to die in vain, an expert abruptly appeared.
"Let''s go! Let''s use this momentum to drive the enemies away!"
No, it was a hero. However, he was not someone that one would find in a hero story, as this wasn''t a noble battle of ideologies. This battle was for the sake of nothing but profit.
The so-called "hero" was just a participant in a civil war born from pure desire, but he was more than enough to be a hero in Mo Du''s eyes.
"Follow the hero of the Evil Faction!"
The Phantom Bow Swordsman was here.
Mo Du picked up his saber; the hero''s title was vivid in his mind. The guard, who thought about giving up and running away just a few moments ago, roared passionately for the first time in a while.
He wiped away the blood flowing from his forehead and stopped the bleeding at his waist by blocking his acupoints. Then, he brandished his sword and roared once more.
Starting with Mo Du, the Evil Valley warriors charged forward in a counterattack.
The enemies were overwhelming in numbers, but they couldn''t care less and rushed forward with the intent to fight.
Dan Libai and his group thought that they had emerged victorious. In fact, they were cheering just a few moments ago, so they were taken aback by the enemies'' momentum and were pushed back.
"You idiots!" Luo Jiao roared, and a red vein popped on his forehead. "We''ve already won this battle. What the hell do you expect me to do if you run away now?!"
"Won? How can you say that after looking at that?!" a First ss martial artist shouted while pointing at the cold corpse of a Twin Wolf Fang Squadron member.
"You idiots! Did you not see the fight just now? Even if the Phantom Bow Swordsman is a Harmony Realm expert, his qi is not infinite. He used such a massive defensive qi barrier earlier, so he has to be exhausted now!"
As expected of the Evil Faction''s brain, hismandeering and oratory skills were pretty high.
Those about to run away came to a screeching halt at Luo Jiao''s words.
"The proof is right there.! He has put down his sword and has resorted to his bow!"
"That''s true"
At Luo Jiao''s encouragement, the dropping morale rose once again.
It''s over if we retreat here. Luo Jiao was left in charge of this ce, so he could not retreat. Even if they ended up winning the war, they wouldn''t gain much by losing here. It was especially true for Luo Jiao, who had been left behind to take charge.
Luo Jiao couldn''t lose this opportunity to turn the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao into the Four Gates of the Evil Dao and be free of the belittlement he had always faced.
More than anything, he wasn''t bluffing as well. He was certain that the Phantom Bow Swordsman was exhausted.
Luo Jiao brought his hands together as if he was about to cup his fist. His robe wasrge, and his sleeves were massive, so his hand signs were impossible to read. It was a simple but effective way to hide his attacks.
The Heretical Formation Gate was skilled in the heretical arts and the art of formations; Luo Jiao was especially skilled in the heretical arts.
"Ghost Assault!" A foul aura rushed out of Luo Jiao. The so-called "evil qi" gushed out and swirled around him.
The evil qi formed a massive tornado that split into several tornadoes before engulfing Zhou Xuchuan.
"Ahahaha! How do you like that?!"
Ghost Assault was a heretical art that would immobilize the target, but it was useless against those with immense qi reserves as well as true experts. Unless the expert in question was really exhausted, Ghost Assault would most likely fail against that expert.
"..." Zhou Xuchuan nocked an arrow on his bow and remained frozen.
Luo Jiaoughed out loud, feeling proud of himself. "Hahaha, stupid bastard! You must be tired, but you should have dodged that. I know you can handle a bow like you''re some kind of a g"
Twang!
An arrow flew from Zhou Xuchuan''s bow and grazed Luo Jiao''s cheek, interrupting thetter''s speech. A thin red line was drawn on Luo Jiao''s face, and blood dripped down the wound,nding on the ground.
"Tsk." Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue and frowned with a dissatisfied look. "The Heretical Formation Gate Master really lives up to his reputation. You are definitely extraordinary."
In terms of uracy, Zhou Xuchuan had long reached the realm of Hundred Arrows Hundred Deaths. In other words, the word "miss" did not exist in Zhou Xuchuan''s dictionary.
His n was to make Luo Jiao drop his guard down to kill thetter with an arrow, but the Ghost Assault had influenced the trajectory of his arrow. In the end, Zhou Xuchuan''s arrow struck true, but it only grazed the target.
"Great! But how about this?!"
Luo Jiao stood frozen, looking dumbfounded.
Zhou Xuchuan drew all the arrows from his quiver, nocked them on his bow, and shot into the sky.
The five arrows rose high as if they were going to pierce the sun. Momentster, they descended at once, making a beeline for the crown of Luo Jiao''s head.
"Watch out!" The guards of the Twin Saber Gate flew forward and sent the arrows flying. However, it took three people to defend Luo Jiao from the arrows instead of just one.
"Are you okay?" asked one of the guards.
The Heretical Formation Gate Master''s face was as white as a sheet of paper. The fact that the Ghost Assault seemed ineffective to Zhou Xuchuan meant that thetter was not tired at all. Luo Jiao could not help but wonder about the depths of the archer''s qi reserves to make all this possible.
In Luo Jiao''s eyes, Zhou Xuchuan looked more like a monster rather than a person.
"Heretical. Formation. Gate. Master!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, enunciating each word in an effort to ensure that everyone would hear him. His deration sounded like the voice of the Herald of Death.
Thud!
Zhou Xuchuan''s thigh muscles bulged, and qi gushed out of his Yongquan acupoint. His figure bent like a slingshot before bounding forward.
"S-stop him!" Luo Jiao shouted urgently. The Beast Gate, the Twin Saber Gate, and even the warriors of the Neidan Sword Gate stepped forward. Overall, they numbered over thirty.
Unfortunately, numbers were meaningless in front of Zhou Xuchuan. He charged like a wild boar and swung his iron sword.
The iron sword carried a shocking force disproportional to its weight and speed.
Everyone screamed in the face of the terrifying destructive power.
"Ahhh!"
"Ugh!"
The gusts of wind generated by Zhou Xuchuan''s sword were enough to sweep some of the guards off their feet. However, those forced to the ground by the fierce winds were fortunatepared to those who managed to remain standing.
Those standing firm, regardless of their level of strength, were torn in half. Luo Jiao was shocked to see a thick fog of blood manifested before his eyes. He was so shocked that he couldn''t evenunch a proper counterattack.
Q-q-q-qi force! That''s right, that has to be qi force! Luo Jiao eximed inwardly amidst his predicament. He pretended to be scared on the outside, but the cogs in his mind were turning furiously toe up with a strategy against Zhou Xuchuan.
The monster flew forward, leaving behind a tempest in his wake.
The surroundings were devastated as if a meteor hadnded.
Explosive Counter!
It was a heretical art that used the opponent''s qi force to deflect an oing attack. However, it had to be executed at the perfect time, and even if one managed to time it perfectly, one would have to suffer from its side effects.
The user''s cultivation had to be higher than the target, and the heretical art also demanded an impressive amount of qi, which was the reason it didn''t be popr despite its effects.
However, this wasn''t the time for Luo Jiao to worry about those side effects. In the face of the Herald of Death, he had to grab onto the final lifeline before him.
Come! Luo Jiao eximed inwardly. People tended to show off their wits in a time of crisis. Luo Jiao used Explosive Counter against Zhou Xuchuan''s attack at the perfect timing.
"Enoughugh!"
How was this possible?!
Luo Jiao could no longer count how many surprises he had received so far, but he had never been as surprised as he was at this moment.
"How did?" Luo Jiao could not believe it. Zhou Xuchuan''s attack wasing at him at full speed, so the Phantom Bow Swordsman couldn''t have noticed his Explosive Counter.
However, Zhou Xuchuan seemed to have somehow known that Luo Jiao would use Explosive Counter, so just a few moments before the moment of contact, Zhou Xuchuan withdrew his qi and refused to make contact with Luo Jiao.
"How did youfrom the very beginning" Luo Jiao could barely squeeze these words out of his throat as he clutched his neck. His voice sounded doubtful and fearful, as if he did not want to hear the answer to his question.
There was no way Zhou Xuchuan could have made that decision by recognizing it and adapting to it in the proverbial blink of an eye. No, it felt like he had always known the existence of the Explosive Counter hidden art.
Explosive Counter was a demanding hidden art, so it wasn''t used often, even among the people of the Heretical Formation Gate. In other words, there wasn''t supposed to be any information about it out there.
"Because I know it exists" Zhou Xuchuan snickered. The sword he was holding with both hands moved to his left hand, and he gripped Luo Jiao''s neck hard with his right hand.
Crunch!
A grotesque noise echoed, and Heretical Formation Gate Master Luo Jiao dropped to the ground with his neck broken and confusion unresolved.
"This can''t be!"
"The Heretical Formation Gate Master is dead?"
"Luo Jiao is dead!"
The external assault was under Luo Jiao''s overallmand. The remaining Gate Masters who could assumemand were sent to the joint assault on the Evil Valley Master.
Regardless, they did not expect that their leader, Luo Jiao, would copse helplessly in the middle of their forces without being able to do anything substantial in the battle.
As expected, he used Explosive Counter. Zhou Xuchuan stabbed Luo Jiao in the chest to confirm the kill. There were heretical arts capable of prolonging one''s life, so he had to be careful and ensure that Luo Jiao was dead.
It was during the Great War of Good and Evil, wasn''t it?
Zhou Xuchuan could no longer remember who it was, but he was reminded of amander of the Righteous Faction who had attacked his enemy with all his might. Unfortunately, his enemy used Explosive Counter on him, and he ended up losing his life, killed by his own power.
At the time, the Righteous Faction was winning against the Evil Faction, but the death of theirmander ended in the defeat of the Righteous Faction.
It lived up to its nameit was truly an Explosive Counter.
The horrors of that time were etched on Zhou Xuchuan''s mind, and he felt fortunate that he had gathered his qi in a way that would allow him to withdraw it just in case.
"I killed Luo Jiao! The Heretical Formation Gate Master has died at the hands of me! The Phantom Bow Swordsman!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, brandishing his bloody sword.
"Woaaaah!" The roars of the Evil Valley warriors grew louder. Their delighted cheers rumbled like thunder amidst a clear sky.
"Argh!"
"W-what do we do now?!"
Their brain and hearts had been pierced. The elders of the Heretical Formation Gate were still alive, but they were so shocked by the death of their leader that they had no idea what to do.
Above all, Zhou Xuchuan''s strength was too overwhelming.
They retreated at once with terrified faces.
To ensure that the remnants of the enemy forces wouldn''t delude themselves into thinking that he was exhausted, Zhou Xuchuan shot out sword winds to cut them down.
"I-It''s impossible!"
"How can we win this?"
They still had the numbers advantage, but Zhou Xuchuan''s side had an overwhelming advantage when it came to morale.
"As long as the Lord and Phantom Bow Swordsman are here, we will never be defeated!" Mo Du grinned brightly and raised his sword. "Let''s go!"
1. A pretty wife and cute child/children. ?
2. Literally, a drop of blood from a bird''s foot. ?
Chapter 174: Neidan Sword Gate (2)
Meanwhile, the battle in the inner chambers of the headquarters was just as fierce.
Twenty.
None of them were low-level warriors. This was a group of elitesposed entirely of experts. They also had experts from Three of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
It was hard to believe, but they had prepared this many people just to kill one person.
They had no doubts about their victory.
However
"U-ugh!"
Thirteen of their experts had already fallen.
They had lost track of how much time had passed. It wasn''t a short time, yet the oue remained undecided."Just how"
Ren Chaojian muttered. His face, which had been confident at first, was gradually bing tinged with anxiety.
Even though the Evil Valley Master was one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, he could never have expected that he would have been able to withstand thebined forces of twenty experts.
But was this really reality?
Far from winning, they had already lost more than half of their members.
"Do you regret the choices you''ve made?" Evil Valley Master asked with a domineering gaze.
Even after being attacked by twenty people, his body remained unscathed, without a single wound.
The title of Ten Empyrean Overlords was only granted to ten people throughout the Central insno, in the gangho murim. As if it wasn''t just an empty title, the Evil Valley Master proved his divine status.
"Regret?"
Tiemu Minghuan snorted as if what the Evil Valley Master said was ridiculous.
He wasn''t intimidated by seeing his enemy remain unharmed even after abined attack.
"Instead of regret, I''m so proud of my past self that I want to shout it from the rooftops, Evil Valley Master."
"You are so energetic because you''re young, you little brat."
Do you really think it''s because I''m young?"
Tiemu Minghuan stomped hard. He imbued qi into his sword and moved vigorously as if boasting about his incredible health.
As expected of the Neidan Sword Gate.
To think that he could move to that degree even under the domain of the Hegemon Edict Art
The Hegemon Edict Art wasn''t invincible or absolute. Since it was a martial art created by humans, it was bound to have weaknesses.
Its first weakness was its range. Even if the Hegemon Edict Art heldplete authority over a certain area, it wouldn''t work on an opponent if they didn''t walk into its range.
The second was one''s qi reserves, which was especially important. Whether it was umted through elixirs or circting one''s qi, if the total amount of qi was toorge or its purity too high, it was difficult for the Hegemon Edict Art to dominate.
The conditions were strict. The qi couldn''t just exceed the opponent''sit had to be overwhelmingly greater.
In particr, wasn''t the Evil Valley Master one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, an absolute master? To overwhelm someone of that caliber with qi quality or quantity alone would require a gap of more than one sub-realm.
As long as one was in the Harmony Realm, it would be near impossible to escape the Evil Valley Master''s oppression, and even if one had reached the next realm, it wasn''t possible topletely shake off its influence. As for those below the Harmony Realm, that went without saying.
However, the Neidan Sword Gate Master Tiemu Minghuan was a bit special.
He was in the Harmony Realm. However, the amount of qi he possessed rivaled that of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
The secrety in the Neidan Sword Gate''s elixirs and qi cultivation method. The level of elixir production wasparable to that of the Shaolin Temple or the Wudang Sect, and their qi cultivation method specialized in qi production.
For example, if a normal martial artist were to consume an elixir, they could only sessfully absorb about seven-tenths of the qi contained within.
However, with the Neidan Sword Gate''s cultivation method, one could absorb nine-tenths or even fully extract the elixir''s qi.
"Seeing you try to make up for yourck of skills with elixirs really isughable, hehe."
"Ahahaha!"
Tiemu Minghuanughed mockingly.
"Valley Master. The speed at which you''re defeating us, those you consider idiots, is slowing."
"...ah!" Ren Chaojian eximed, as if he too had just realized this.
"I see. That''s true."
Ge Hongxi nodded in agreement.
"Even the old man is still human!"
Dan Libai smiled brightly and was convinced. The Evil Valley Master was exhausted.
It was just as Tiemu Minghuan said.
At first, the experts had been defeated in an instant, but now the pace had slowed noticeably.
While it was astounding that they couldn''t defeat the Evil Valley Master despite their meticulous preparations, their efforts weren''t entirely in vain. If the Evil Valley Master were in perfect condition, their heads would have rolled long ago.
Of course, even the Ten Empyrean Overlords had their limits.
Forced to face twenty elites, it was no surprise the Evil Valley Master was exhausted.
Ugh.
The Evil Valley Master neither confirmed nor denied it.
However, he muttered to himself in annoyance.
You annoying bastards.
They weren''t wrong. He was getting tired.
Out of the twenty experts, four of them were Harmony Realm Masters. The Hegemon Edict Art had topensate ordingly.
The Hegemon Edict Art''s domain control required one''s ability to dominate and obtain control, as well as an immense amount of qi. The more powerful people there were in the domain, the higher the requirement of qi.
That was why he wasn''t able to hold out for long. He wouldn''t be able tost for half an hour at this rate. At most, he would only be able tost an hour.
However, the situation wasn''tpletely hopeless. Except for Tiemu Minghuan, everyone else looked exhausted.
I''ll finish it in one go.
He couldn''t afford to be careless. The longer he stalled, the more advantageous it would be for them.
While the difference in skill meant that he wouldn''t lose his life, he might end up having to give up one of his limbs. Moreover, he was also worried about an ambush from an outside force.
There seem to be seven left.
Four Harmony Realm Masters and three Transcendents.
He couldn''t look down on them just because they were Transcendents. Since they were still alive, their skills had to be outstanding. They should be the best among the Transcendents.
I''ll handle those trivial ones whose names I don''t even know first.
There were four Harmony Realm Masters.
While they may not have had as much experience as the Evil Valley Master, they still should have had quite a bit considering their age.
It may not have been concerning if they were young brats who had only just entered the Harmony Realm, considering this was a situation where he had to deal with four experienced masters, the presence of three Transcendents was bound to be concerning.
"All will kneel before me!"
The Evil Valley Master let out a majestic roar, louder than the beastly cries of the Beast Gate. The seven remaining Evil Faction experts flinched and couldn''t move.
This is the moment!
The Evil Valley Master kicked off the ground, his beard swinging as he flew through the air. He moved so fast that only an afterimage was left behind.
He began his attack from the left, next to Ren Chaojian. His target wasn''t the Beast Gate Master, but the Beast Gate''s Transcendent.
"Ha!"
A short shout was followed immediately by a single palm!
Moreover, it wasn''t just any palm. If one looked closely, one would see that the palm was filled with a terrifying aura!
"Agh!!"
The Beast Gate''s Transcendent was hit in the chest by the palm and flew backward, rolling, without even being able to counterattack.
"Ah!"
Ren Chaojian instinctively crossed his arms to block the anticipated blow.
However, the Evil Valley Master''s target wasn''t Ren Chaojian. He passed him and approached the Transcendents of the Twin Saber Gate and the Neidan Sword Gate, sting each with a palm wind before following up with a fist.
Bang!
"Agk!"
While the Hegemon Edict Art was active, it limited their movements within a certain range.
The cirction of their qi slowed down, and their reflexes and senses dulled. There was nothing that they could do.
Although they shouldn''t have been taken down so easily, they still fell like autumn leaves when the Evil Valley Masterunched a storm of attacks.
The Evil Valley Master''s eyes zed with resolve.
Since he had dealt with the three of them, he would move to kill the bastards who started this!
"I''ve been waiting for this moment!"
Dan Libai moved as if he had been waiting for this very opening. Ren Chaojian, Ge Hongxi, and Tiemu Minghuan surrounded the Evil Valley Master from all sides.
They didn''t give the Evil Valley Master a chance to retreat. Approaching him while risking their lives, each showing their fierce devotion.
Ren Chaojian''s Beast w Technique, Tiger King w!
The king of the mountains, the tiger''s ws, pounced on the Evil Valley Master.
Ge Hongxi''s Twin Saber Technique, Explosive Tempest!
The storm created by the twin sabers moved to tear apart the Evil Valley Master.
Tiemu Minghuan''s Neidan Sword Technique, Overflowing Ocean!
A wave of brutal qi poured down.
"ROAR!!"
As if he was ending it all, Dan Libai unleashed his Crimson Eyed Vampiric Art in full force. His eyes zed with bloodthirst, exuding a crimson glow.
The blood he had consumed by draining people all this time had rapidly enhanced his physical abilities.
This was a power greater than the Neidan Sword Gate''s prized internal strength. The power that allowed him to surpass his limits in an instant exploded like a volcano.[1]
"HA!!"
A power closer to that of a scream burst out from the Evil Valley Master''s mouth. This time, he couldn''t help but be nervous.
The powering for him made his hair stand on end. In order to block what wasing, he expanded his Hegemon Edict Art to the limit and moved.
ng, ng, ng, ng!
"Ugh!"
Ren Chaojian and Ge Hongxi, who were already exhausted, fell first. They were vomiting blood profusely, most likely from internal injuries.
However, the other two were different. Rather than being pushed back, they held on and even counterattacked.
"Huh!"
The Evil Valley Master''s eyes widened in surprise..
Putting aside Dan Libai, who had gotten himself involved with demonic arts, the Evil Valley Master was amazed by Tiemu Minghuan''s skills. He had never expected that the Neidan Sword Gate Master would be this powerful.
It hadn''t been long since Tiemu Minghuan and the Neidan Sword Gate had begun to make a name for themselves. It was after the destruction of the Flowing Waterfall Saber Gate.
The Neidan Sword Gate''s martial prowess and scale were originally quite small. It was nothing more than a small sect, let alone one qualified to join the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao.
As expected of a sect of its nature, one that required extensive amounts of cultivation resources and elixirs, it required an incredible amount of money. The amount of money a single disciple needed wasn''t small and if that disciple were to go out into the murim and die suddenly, the loss would be enormous. Because of that, they had no choice but to take on a passive stance regarding battles, meaning that they didn''t get involved often.
At first, the Evil Valley Master didn''t think much of it. He had just assumed that someone like Tiemu Minghuan must have gained enough wealth to be an expert.
Normally, the Evil Valley Master would have questioned things, but with the Seven Swords War and the other big events within the murim, he never had the time to question deeply.
''Just how the hell?''
Tiemu Minghuan''s cultivation was allowing him to counterattack even within the domain of the overwhelming Hegemony Edict Art. That was impossible to achieve with just ordinary elixirs.
Even if the Neidan Sword Gate poured everything they had into a single person, they wouldn''t have been able to obtain an elixir that could provide this level of qi even if they had the money.
If someone had tried to obtain an elixir or cultivation resources on this level, they would have been caught in his intelligencework. No, there were more than one or two suspicious points about it all.
"This is the end!"
Dan Libai''s eyes glowed with desire and bloodlust. The crimson glow flowing from his eyes wrapped around his hand and created a de.
Swish!
A piercing sound of destruction filled the air as the blood-colored de tore through the Hegemon Edict Art''s domain and created a hole.
As if he was helping Dan Libai from the very beginning, he used the Overflowing Ocean form of the Neidan Sword Technique to block Evil Valley Master''s retreat.
Just as the son was about to kill his father!
ng!
An arrow shot through the air, leaving behind a pure white beam of light,nding on the back of Dan Libai''s hand.
"What kind of dog dares?!"
Dan Libai''s face turned red and blue. As he wrapped his hand in qi, the arrow wasn''t able to prate his hand. However, the qi contained within the arrow was so strong that it disrupted his trajectory. The Evil Valley Master took advantage of the opening and attacked with a twin palm.
"Ugh!"
"Agk!"
Dan Libai and Tiemu Minghuan screamed as they were pushed back.
"An arrow?"
Evil Valley Master''s eyes also shed with surprise.
"Which bastard is it?!"
It was a line that would often appear only in heroic tales.
However, the owner of the arrow liked the way it sounded.
"A passing"
Thud, thud.
In front of the broken gate, a man holding a bow walked in.
"You''re the Xia Wu Sect?"
Dan Libai was surprised to see Zhou Xuchuan''s disguised face.
"Swordsman."
Zhou Xuchuan smiled coldly as he nocked an arrow on his bow.
''Swordsman?''
Dan Libai was confused. To think the man in front of him just introduced himself as a swordsman? He was wondering what sort of nonsense the man was talking about when Tiemu Minghuan remembered who he was and called out his name.
"The Phantom Bow Swordsman!"
"W-what?"
Dan Libai, who had been wondering why some worthless coward from the ck Hand had appeared here, was surprised to hear his title.
The Evil Valley Master was no different. He had searched far and wide, hoping to persuade the man now before him. Despite finding no trace for so long, the man had suddenly appeared here.
"You take care of educating your son, Evil Valley Master."
Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze turned to the Evil Valley Master, then to Tiemu Minghuan standing next to him.
"You. You''re that man with a veil from before, right?"
Tiemu Minghuan''s pupils shook.
1. Ehehehe Volcano. ?
Chapter 175: Neidan Sword Gate (3)
"How did you?!"
Dan Libai burst out, unable to contain his shock, while Tiemu Minghuan remained silent.
Man with a veil?
It was only the Evil Valley Master who didn''t understand what was going on and just stood there puzzled.
""
Tiemu Minghuan''s eyes became as sharp as an eagle''s.
"You ridiculous fool."
It was a voice as cold as a northern blizzard.
Just as Dan Libai was about to get angry at the words ''ridiculous fool,'' a sharp burst of air interrupted him.Twang!
An arrow that shot in a long arc like a meteor forced Tiemu Minghuan and Dan Libai apart.
Bang!
This time, it wasn''t an arrow, it was Zhou Xuchuan himself.
As expected!
Zhou Xuchuan was convinced after seeing how Tiemu Minghuan reacted.
The moment he called him the man with a veil, he flinched slightly. Then, when Dan Libai, who was standing next to him, responded, his aura changedpletely.
It was as if he had be apletely different person.
"Heup!"
Zhou Xuchuan tensed, grounding himself as he swung the sword in his hands with all his might, adding speed to his strength.
Boom!
The sword struck the ground with explosive force, shaking the surroundings. Although aimed at Tiemu Minghuan, the swordsman stepped back just before the de reached him. ?
"Gasp!"
Ren Chaojian and Ge Hongxi, momentarily unconscious, snapped awake at the deafening explosion. Their eyes widened as they scrambled to their feet.
As expected of experts, they each grabbed their weapons and crouched in ce to take defensive stances. However, there were no attacks aimed at them.
Instead, a loud boom echoed in their ears.
"Just who the hell are you?"
Zhou Xuchuan could clearly be seen in Tiemu Minghuan''s gloomy eyes.
He was the elder of the Xia Wu Sect, whom he had met just a little while ago. However, this aura hadn''t been there thest time they met.
Tiemu Minghuan had done some research just in case. However, nothing much came out of it.
Of course, since he was from the Xia Wu Sect, there was no way that he believed what he had found at face value. However, he didn''t have enough time to dig any deeper.
He didn''t seem like a particrly notable expert anyway, and he had a lot of things to worry about, so he just dismissed him.
However, that was a mistake.
"Neidan Sword Gate. The Neidan Sword Gate"
Instead of answering, Zhou Xuchuan just muttered to himself.
I don''t remember it.
He had never heard of the Neidan Sword Gate in his previous life, only in this one.
The first time he had heard about it was when it had risen to rece the destroyed Flowing Waterfall Saber Gate. However, he hadn''t really suspected anything back then.
In the original timeline, the destruction of the Flowing Waterfall Saber Gate happened muchter, only after the power structure had changed due to the Seven Swords War.
Because of how things had changed, the future had bepletely unpredictable. So, he hadn''t considered it strange.
However, I can''t just let it go anymore.
Before he hade, he hadn''t thought much about the Neidan Sword Gate. But things were different now.
The Neidan Sword Gate Master Tiemu Minghuan.
As soon as the image of the veil that he had seen a few days ago ovepped with his face, Zhou Xuchuan''s fists tightened.
Thump. Thump.
His pulse quickened.
The feeling of his hair standing on end and the intense emotions welling up inside of him was enough to make him understand that this was no ordinary enemy.
"Who are you?"
Zhou Xuchuan absentmindedly let his thoughts slip out of his mouth.
""
Tiemu Minghuan didn''t answer. He just red at Zhou Xuchuan with a wary look.
Avaricious Wolf?
The center and core of the Seven Stars Division.
However, that couldn''t be Tiemu Minghuan.
Avaricious Wolf was in the Righteous Faction, not the Evil Faction.
If we put aside Blessed Existence, he''s at least on the level of Twisted Melody, Pure Faith, or Warped Valor. Moreover, there''s no reason for Destructive Soldier to be here either
Blessed Existence wasn''t someone who woulde to the forefront, so it was natural to exclude him, and Destructive Soldier couldn''t be here for various reasons.
If so, the person in front of him had to be either Twisted Melody, Pure Faith, or Warped Valor.
There was no reason to consider anyone else. The Director of the Archive was walking around looking for things to add to his collection, and those below him wouldn''t dare to attack one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
In the first ce, neither Blessed Existence nor the Dark Heavens Association Lord would have entrusted such an important matter to anyone other than one of the Seven Executives.
No, this kind of spection is meaningless.
Zhou Xuchuan clenched his fists. Although it may not have been visible, his palms were sweaty and mmy.
"It''ll all be over if I kill you anyway."
Boom!!
The moment he released his bloodlust, the qi in Zhou''s lower dantian surged outward and covered the surroundings.
It was an amount that defiedmon sense.
Everyone in the chamber was astonished at the inconceivable amount of qi. Even the Neidan Sword Gate Master flinched.
''Was the Phantom Bow Swordsman really this strong?''
While the Evil Valley Master was expressionless, he was quite surprised inside.
Just where the hell did a bastard like thate from?
Ren Chaojian and Ge Hongxi groaned.
Possibly because of their internal injuries, they were having a hard time withstanding the aura that Zhou Xuchuan released.
"You audacious bastard! How dare you, do you know who I am?!"
His question had a double meaning.
It was the pride of being not only the Neidan Sword Gate Master but also one of the Seven Star Executives of the Dark Heavens Association on full disy.
"Of course I do."
Boom!
At first, it felt like Zhou Xuchuan had swung a greatsword.
But no, that wasn''t the case.
He had created a sword pressure so powerful it crushed the air itself with nothing more than an ordinary iron sword.
Power.
Primal, pure violence.
His strength forced the air aside as it descended upon Tiemu Minghuan with several times its weight.
BOOOOM!
Although it was clearly a sh of swords, somehow, a massive explosion erupted.
Having blocked the blow, Tiemu Minghuan''s face twisted in pain. The sword in his hand shook, unable to fully absorb the force of the attack.
Crack.
The marble floor beneath him cracked. His muscr legs trembled as he was pushed back slightly.
"What"
He couldn''t finish the sentence, overwhelmed by the sheer strength pressing down on him.
But it didn''t end there. The weight Zhou Xuchuan transmitted through his sword gradually increased, each strike heavier than thest.
The moment Tiemu Minghuan judged it dangerous and was about to step back, Zhou Xuchuan smiled deeply.
Then, for a moment, his eyes glowed green.
Poison?
Tiemu Minghuan''splexion changed. He wanted to have a showdown to see whose qi reserves would win, but he changed his mind and quickly stepped back.
It wasn''t unusual for an Evil Faction member to use poison so that in itself wasn''t strange. However, in this situation, things were a bit different.
Even as he fully disyed such incredible swordsmanship, to think he was also spewing such threatening poison.
Tiemu Minghuan''s doubts were growing deeper and deeper.
"You dare?!"
Boom!
Zhou Xuchuan mmed his heels into the ground, sending shards of marble flying as heunched himself forward.
The one charging forward, creating such a shockwave of power, was like a rhinoceros in human form. His sword was raised as if it was his horn.
Wherever Zhou Xuchuan passed, destruction followed. The refined marble floor cracked and shattered in his wake.
"Hmph!"
Despite the terrifying momentum, Tiemu Minghuan snorted instead of being afraid.
No matter how confident one was regarding their martial arts, charging forward so recklessly was suicidal. The path was just too simple.
"Die!"
There was no need for him to dodge. If Zhou Xuchuan really were to charge forward with all his might, all he had to do was leverage that momentum to thrust forward and stab.
Anyone else may have gotten swept away before the attack evennded, but it was different for an expert like him.
"Foolish brat!"
Ren Chaojian and Ge Hongxi, who had suddenly be bystanders, alsoughed.
What was the point of charging forward while smashing marble? If Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t turned around and kept going, his body would have been split in two by Tiemu Minghuan''s sword aura.
Woosh!
However, what they assumed to be a fact was wrong, and what happened next was unexpected.
"What, what!"
Tiemu Minghuan''s face distorted in shock.
BOOOOOM!
The explosion this time was deafening, far more intense than before, like dozens of lightning bolts striking simultaneously.
The rhinoceros with a single horn, Zhou Xuchuan, mmed into Tiemu Minghuan.
There was no evasion. Zhou Xuchuan flew forward, his body as it was.
Originally, Tiemu Minghuan''s sword aura should have deflected the iron sword and cleaved Zhou Xuchuan''s body in half. However, it didn''t.
"A defensive qi barrier?"
Tiemu Minghuan''s mouth fell open in shock, drool dripping down his lips.
Any of the experts gathered here could coat a weapon in aura. In fact, one wouldn''t be able to stand here if they couldn''t.
However, the defensive qi barrier was a bit different. While each of them could use it, it consumed a ridiculous amount of qi, meaning that it wasn''t something that just anyone could feasibly use.
Moreover, even if one did use it, it was limited to a single burst. Yet Zhou Xuchuan had not only maintained it for a long time but even used it for attacking instead of defensively.
"No, just how"
BOOOOM!
Despite being a Harmony Realm Master with qi reserves surpassing those of the same realm, his sword aura waspletely overwhelmed and destroyed.
Whether it was in density, purity, or quantity, he waspletely overwhelmed. When one side of a sh of power disappeared, the end result was obvious. Tiemu Minghuan was sent flying by the body m empowered by a defensive qi barrier.
He didn''t just fly away, he bounced across the marble floor like a pebble skipping across water.
Ugh!
Tiemu Minghuan couldn''t even let out a groan of pain. He just tried to protect his body as much as possible to minimize the impact.
However, that, too, was for only a moment. Tiemu Minghuan flew forward and sted a hole in the wall, flying all the way outside.
"Not yet."
Others may have thought that the fight was over, assuming Tiemu Minghuan had gotten hurt.
However, Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t like that. Instead of lowering his guard, he prepared to use even more strength. He changed his stance using the Hundred Divine Transformations.
Getting rid of heaviness, he moved with incredible lightness. At the same time, he alsopletely hid his presence.
Bending his knees, his thigh muscles pressed lightly against his femur. Thissted for only a moment.
Boom!
The scenery around him blurred as he moved. Zhou Xuchuan caught glimpses of Dan Libai and the Evil Valley Master but paid them no attention.
Passing the ornately decorated interior, he stepped through the copsed hole. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Evil Faction members fighting fiercely, their weapons shing. The air was thick with dust, making it hard to breathe.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes were only focused on a single ce.
Tiemu Minghuan, flung into the air, now hovered helplessly, suspended like a broken kite.
Zhou Xuchuan, who had be a Phantom, flew like a bird. Regretfully, though, he still hadn''t reached the highest level of lightness technique, the Void Steps or the Void-Conquering Path.
Still, he was able to get close to Tiemu Minghuan, who was about to fall while iling wildly from the force of the earlier collision.
"Roar!"
He took a deep breath and shouted. The shout caused the fight beneath him to stop for a moment.
Seven Stars Division!
Zhou Xuchuan was certain.
He looked at Tiemu Minghuan, who was enduring the pain while floating in the air, not letting go of his sword even until the very end, and thought that he, indeed, was of the Dark Heavens Association.
Not even a Harmony Realm Master would have been able to withstand the blow just now. Normally, his opponent should have panicked.
But Tiemu Minghuan was different. His arrogance made Zhou Xuchuan think of Vast Gate, and his monstrous martial arts confirmed his suspicions.
That was why Zhou Xuchuan didn''t let his guard down.
He didn''t make any hasty judgments.
If Tiemu Minghuan was from the Dark Heavens Association, and if he were one of the Seven Stars, he would definitely survive.
He had no doubt, only confidence.
He pulled his shoulders back, raising both hands above and behind his head. He put all of his strength into the sword he was holding tightly in his hands.
There was noplicated technique or anything special about it.
He put weight into his sword.
The past.
The present.
The future.
His two lives.
He put everything into his sword and converted it into weight.
Shing!!
In his hands was a sword, his life, a blunt weapon.
The sword in his hands, no longer a de, became a blunt hammer.
With all his might, Zhou brought it down.
BOOOOM!
"Ugh!"
The sword slipped from Tiemu Minghuan''s hand.
Crack!
At the same time, Zhou Xuchuan''s sword shattered under the immense force. Tiemu Minghuan''s body bent at an unnatural angle, plummeting toward the earth like a falling star.
"Kya!!!"
"Agk!!"
The impact sent a shockwave rippling outward. Warriors who had been fighting just moments ago cried out and fell.
The ground beneath Tiemu Minghuan gave way, forming a circr pit nearly a foot deep.
A dust cloud rose and covered the surroundings.
"Cough, cough!"
The surroundings were covered in dust. In it, faint groans could be hearding from Tiemu Minghuan.
"..."
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t unscathed either. Thatst blow had taken everything out of him, leaving him unable tond properly.
His arms were in bad shape due to the excessive force he had put into his attack. His left arm had broken.
His torn clothes, blood dripping from his injured forehead, and his dirt-covered head made him look like a beggar.
However, he didn''t groan. His eyes, filled with strong determination, shone as he headed toward the deep pit.
"Gasp, gasp"
He was still alive. He really was a tough bastard. The sounding from the hole couldn''t be called a cry or a groan. Tiemu Minghuan, who had beenpletely battered, could be barely seen.
Zhou Xuchuan nced down at the pit, his expression shifting as if something had just urred to him.
"You''re too weak to be Warped Valor."
"...!"
"Then, are you Twisted Melody?"
Tiemu Minghuan''s eyes widened in disbelief.
"Just who the hell are you?"
The words were squeezed out with difficulty. Zhou Xuchuan looked down at the owner of the voice and muttered quietly.
"Mount Hua Sect."
Tiemu Minghuan''s breathing became shallow.
"Zhou Xuchuan."
As soon as he heard that name, his body trembled, but that was the end of it.
The heart of Tiemu Minghuan, Twisted Melody, had stopped.
Chapter 176: Fivefold Fist (1)
Pure Faith''s job was assassinations and surveince, so he rarely participated in external affairs. In other words, it had to be either Twisted Melody or Warped Valor.
However, this fake was too weak to be Warped Valor, who was famous as the symbol ofbat prowess in the Seven Stars Division, so Zhou Xuchuan''s suspicion naturally gravitated toward Twisted Melody.
The division under Twisted Melody was tasked with maintaining the bnce between the different factions. They were also working together with Vast Gate''s people to acquire information through their agents. In other words, infiltrating the Evil Valley and controlling Dan Libai from the shadows would be the perfect role for him.
"W-what just happened?"
"What was that all about?"
The nearby warriors murmured to each other in confusion.
Zhou Xuchuan ignored their murmurs and questioning gazes. He slung Tiemu Minghuan''s corpse over his shoulder and turned around to leave. He could see the tile-roofed pce in the distance. They hade from there, and it seemed that they had covered quite a bit of distance
How long has it been since I sustained such heavy injuries? Zhou Xuchuan wiped away the blood streaming down his forehead with his sleeve. His left arm was broken, so it was unusable.
He barely had any qi remaining as well, and theck of fatigue made him feel utterly exhausted. His thigh muscles were aching quite badly, too. However, the aching and the waves of exhaustion didn''t feel all that bad. Warning bells were ringing in his head, but he also felt refreshed at the same time.
Zhou Xuchuan chuckled softly before heading toward the pce. No one dared to block his path. The crowd split open naturally.
"Huh-uh! We have an expert like him?"
"Hang on a sec! Isn''t that the Neidan Sword Gate Master?"
"Yeah, it is! It''s Tiemu Minghuan!"
"Oh, no! Sect Master!"
The evil faction cultivators sobered up and cried out in rm. The agitation among the Neidan Sword Gate members was especially pronounced. Their hearts screamed at them to rush out and rescue their leader, but their legs refused to move for some reason.
Everyone could feel an extraordinary aura oozing out of Zhou Xuchuan, and they dared not approach him casually.
Well, then. Let''s go with Phantom Steps.
Despite the barrage of attention, Zhou Xuchuan disappeared from everyone''s sight as if he had melted into the air itself. Zhou Xuchuan had no ns of getting into an unnecessary fight here.
If he were in peak condition, he wouldn''t make this decision. However, he was forced to make this decision, as he knew that he''d be too exhausted to react appropriately to unforeseen events if he were to fight in his exhausted state.
"Huh?! He disappeared!"
"What the hell just happened?"
"Did a ghost pull a wool over our eyes?"
The members of the Evil Faction muttered in stupefaction like victims of a ghostly hypnosis.
*
"Argh!" Dan Libai was sted away, and his figure was in tatters. His bones and joints were aching painfully from rolling on the hard marble floor. He got up and red in anger, but that was all he could do.
He couldn''t hurt the Evil Valley Sect Master at all.
We lost.
How is this even possible?!
Darkness clouded the expressions of Ren Chaojian and Ge Hongxi.
The oue of this battle was decided when the Phantom Bow Swordsman managed to drag Tiemu Minghuan outside. An Empyrean Overlord wasn''t an opponent that Dan Libai could handle alone. It was already a miracle that he was still capable of moving.
"I shall give you an opportunity," said the Evil Valley Sect Master in a grave voice. "Confess everything and then end your life with your own hands. I promise you that you will not suffer if you do that."
"A father ordering his own son to kill himself?! Don''t you think that''s too much?! How immoral of you, Father!" Dan Libai eximed and cackled.
"Huh? Really?" The Evil Valley Sect Master chuckled wryly at that.
Both Ren Chaojian and Ge Hongxi revealed simr expressions.
"Then again, it''s unrealistic to expect a man like you to have paternal love when you''ve been using your own son like a chess piece" Dan Libai muttered. The next moment, a deluge of crimson light gushed out of his eyes, and strands of crimson rose from his feet.
"It''s toote to beg for my sympathy," the Evil Valley Sect Master said, grunting.
"Hah? Hahaha! Sympathy? Don''t make meugh! I finally have a chance to repay this lifelong grudge, so why would I do that?!"
Thest vestiges of courtesy that Dan Libai had for his father disappeared just like that. He red at the Evil Valley Sect Master as if thetter were an irreconcble enemy rather than his father.
"What a fool you are," said the Evil Valley Sect Master; his re contained his upressed fury. His final act of mercy had been rejected, so he no longer had any reason to hold back.
Meanwhile, the crimson glow in Dan Libai''s eyes intensified. Azure veins and tendons bulged all over his skin, and a wave of killing intent flooded out of him.
Dan Libai seemed like he was squeezing every ounce of power within him as terrifying strands of crimson light gushed out of his figure. The stench of blood had gotten so strong that even the Evil Valley Master''s nostrils went numb.
It looked like his son was boasting about how much blood he had consumed until now!
"Die!" Dan Libai cried out and flung himself forward. The whites of his eyes were dyed in a pure crimson hue as if saying that he was pushing the Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art to its absolute limits.
His attack contained a soul-chilling destructive power.
The Crimson-Eyed Vampiric Art was called a demonic art, after all.
Shwik!
"Argh!" Unfortunately for Dan Libai, however, the battle had already been decided.
There was no miraculouseback nor any unexpected intervention.
The Evil Valley Sect Master''s ruthless palm struck Dan Libai''s chest.
Strengthened qi glowing in a crimson hue oozed out of Dan Libai''s hand, which was still in midair, but the crimson light dissipated soon afterward. However, not even its dissipating strands managed to get anywhere close to the Evil Valley Sect Master.
"How unfair" Dan Libai red at his father with eyes full of regret and unwillingness.
The unification of the Evil Faction was within reach, but he had ultimately failed. He thought he''d be the greatest under the heavens after murdering his own father, but his dream would remain that waya pipe dream.
Plop.
"Tsk!" The Evil Valley Sect Master scowled deeply at his son''s copsed figure. He was a cold-hearted man, but he didn''t feel good at the fact that he had to kill his son with his own hands.
He had also failed to extract any information, which was unfortunate. He didn''t want to kill Dan Libai, but the strengthened qi oozing out of his son had spooked him badly enough to convince him not to hold back.
If he had held back, he would have been rewarded with a fatal injury.
"So it''s over" Zhou Xuchuan muttered to no one in particr upon witnessing the conclusion of the deathmatch between a father and his son.
***
The rebellion of a troublemaker
The mutiny of Dan Libai, who was also known as Little Valley Master, was over.
"Logically speaking, the winner was obvious."
"Daring to go against a Ten Empyrean Overlord? He must''ve been insane, alright?"
"He decided to cultivate in the demonic way, so I''m not surprised at all."
The unrest spread to all corners of Murimno, it spread beyond the Central ins and even reached the far-flung outskirts. However, it wasn''t surprising, as the event could have had far-reaching consequences.
The Murim Coalition in Anhui province
The eternal enemy of the Evil Faction, the Righteous Faction, reacted violently to the news. They unleashed the members of the Beggar Gang and ordered them to collect as much information as possible.
"Huh-uh! I heard he had a strained rtionship with his son, but to think it was that bad!" Nangong Weiwu muttered, looking confused.
The starting point of the internal strife was Dan Libai mastering a demonic art. The Righteous Faction was happy to hear that news, as it meant that the public''s opinion of the Evil Faction would soon plummet to a new low.
Stories of themon folk insulting the Evil Faction began to make rounds as if everyone had reached the same conclusion. Nangong Weiwu had been aiming for that, so he fanned the mes of the rumor mill to hurt the Evil Faction''s reputation.
However, he had no idea that the event would blow up like this.
Considering the Evil Valley Sect Master''s personality, he would never spare his son. The most generous decision he could make was to imprison Dan Libai, but he''d most likely execute him to bring an end to this debacle.
Nangong Weiwu believed that his assumption would surely happen.
Thus, the strategists had been pondering about the most effective way to hurt the Evil Faction through this fiasco. However, the oue was beyond his expectations. The Righteous Faction didn''t even have to lift a finger for arge-scale mutiny to unfold within the Evil Valley''s halls!
"So half of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao have decided to take the Little Valley Master''s side?"
Nangong Weiwu was utterly dumbfounded by the news.
The Coalition''s Elders reacted the same.
There was no other word to describe it except for the word "insane."
They truly hadn''t expected that half of the faction would get in bed with a lunatic wielding a demonic art!
"Who were they?"
"They were the Beast Gate, the Twin Saber Gate, the Sorcery Gate, and the Neidan Sword Gate," Vice Strategist Zhuge Xiang replied.
"I see. So the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao will soon be the Four Gates of the Evil Dao"
The concept of forgiveness did not exist in the heart of the Evil Valley Sect Master, and a betrayal was one of the most serious crimes out there, to boot. The Evil Valley Sect Master would surely hunt down even the cousins of the traitors and execute them all.
He would do that to get rid of any sources of anxiety and potential threats.
Sure enough, he apprehended everyone involved as soon as the rebellion was quashed.
Anyone rted to the principal actors of the rebellion, specifically the Four Gates, went into hiding in fear of getting wrongly implicated.
Nangong Weiwu asked, "What happened to the leaders of those Gates?"
"The Beast Gate''s master, Ren Chaojian, and the Twin Saber Gate''s master, Ge Hongxi, had their dantians destroyed and thrown inside a cell, sir.
"As for the Heretical Formation Gate Master Luo Jiao and the Neidan Sword Gate Master Tiemu Minghuan, they were killed during the rebellion. What''s interesting about their deaths, however, is that the Evil Valley Sect Master wasn''t responsible for their deaths."
Zhuge Xiang summarized the information that he had gathered from the Beggar Gang and other sources of information to ensure that the information was easily digestible.
Of course, he still included the details leading up to the rebellion as long as every single noteworthy detail amidst the rebellion.
As expected of the Beggar Gang, they still managed to collect all the necessary information, even though the rebellion had just ended. They gathered even the most insignificant-sounding tidbits.
Clearly, there was a reason they were the eyes and ears of the Righteous Faction.
"Mm? That''s strange. I thought you said that the Evil Valley''s headquarters had no particrly powerful experts during the rebellion? And that was why things got dangerous for them?"
Someone like Luo Jiao was not as troublesome as Tiemu Minghuana Harmony Realm expert who appeared like a falling meteor to be one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heavens.
Thus, it was natural for them to assume that the Evil Valley Sect Master had to have been involved in their demise, but their assumptions were actually wrong.
In that case, who could have done it?
"It was the Phantom Bow Swordsman," said Zhuge Zhonghu as he slipped into the conference room.
Nangong Weiwu frowned slightly. "The Phantom Bow Swordsman? The one we''ve been searching for?"
Nod.
"How unexpected."
Nangong Weiwu''s curiosity was piqued.
The Phantom Bow Swordsman was an Evil Faction expert who had yed a decisive role in the destruction of the shing Waterfall Saber Gate. However, he had disappeared right afterward, and no one had been able to find him so far.
He was obviously not an ordinary cultivator, so the Righteous Faction had ordered the Beggar Gang to find him. However, the mysterious man couldn''t be found within the Murim Coalition.
However, that man had reappeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
"He might be an elder of the Xia Wu Sect," said Zhuge Zhonghu.
"What?" Nangong Weiwu was bbergasted.
The Phantom Bow Swordsman had to be at least a Harmony Realm expert, as he fought and bested the shing Waterfall Saber Gate''s Master Ju Zhong as well as the Neidan Sword Gate''s master, Tiemu Minghuan.
However, an expert as powerful as him was actually an elder of the paltry Xia Wu Sect?
The Xia Wu Sect was the number one organization among the ck Hand gangs of ruffians, but it wasn''trge nor powerful enough to boast an elder like him.
If the Phantom Bow Swordsman were the Sect Master of the Xia Wu Sect, then sure, but he was actually just an elder?
It made no sense at all.
"That''s why the strategists are trying to verify this information."
"I see. We''ll leave it to you, then, Vice Strategist," said Nangong Weiwu.
"Thank you for believing in us."
"Then, where is the Phantom Bow Swordsman?"
"Well" Zhuge Xiang smiled wryly and hesitated.
Zhuge Zhonghu sighed deeply and replied in his stead, "He vanished once more."
***
Storm winds were blowing within the Evil Valley''s halls, and they were terrifying winds of blood! Unsurprisingly, the order to capture everyone involved in the rebellion was issued swiftly. The majority of the rebels had been executed while some were being tortured in the prison.
The Beast Gate, the Twin Saber Gate, the Sorcery Gate, and the Neidan Sword Gate walked down the path of ruination overnight upon losing their sect masters.
"P-please, spare my life!"
"I only followed the Sect Master''s orders!"
"I would have never gone against the Evil Valley Sect Master''s wishes had I known!"
Those who valued their lives surrendered immediately and revealed everything.
They even revealed information about their Gates.
"Argh!"
"Ah!"
"What? Senior Brother has betrayed us? That ungrateful bastard!"
The Evil Valley Sect Master used the information that they had obtained through torture and threats to capture those who had fled. He either made them reveal other bits of information or had them executed outright.
His allies, the four remaining Gates of the Evil Dao, gleefully assisted with the clean-up operation. They had nothing toin about when the power, previously split eight ways, was now split into only four.
Thus, they actively participated in snuffing out the remnants of the rebellion. Some of those activities included the confiscation of the fallen Gates'' assets, but the Evil Valley Sect Master viewed them aspensation for their help and turned a blind eye.
"So it''s the Phantom Bow Swordsman?"
The Evil Valley Sect Master had the Phantom Bow Swordsman investigated as well.
He was grateful for the mysterious expert''s help, but many things about that man did not sit well with him. The Evil Valley Sect Master wasn''t the type to remain still just because someone had proven to be helpful to him.
Thus, he sent a letter demanding answers from the new Sect Master of the Xia Wu Sectthe so-called Tough Bastard Jiang Ningchu.
However, the reply simply stated that the Xia Wu Sect couldn''tply with his request.
"A mere Xia Wu Sect bastard actually dares to be so cheeky?!"
"How dare they not know their ce?!"
"Sect Master! We must ughter them all!"
The short-tempered experts of the Evil Valley were furious.
They argued that Jiang Ningchu had to be captured right away and be taught a lesson.
However, the group of advisers offered a different take.
"Sect Master, sir. We have been greatly weakened by the recent events."
"With the destruction of the Sorcery Gate, our ability to gather information has been greatly curtailed as well. Even if it''s infuriating, you must endure it, sir."
The Evil Valley''s decline in strength was a rather obvious result, as the four Gatesthe core of the organization''sbat forcehad betrayed the others.
The Righteous Faction and the Two Demonic Factions observed the Evil Valley like hawks. In other words, the Evil Valley had to shore up itsbat force and its informationwork to avoid looking like an easy target.
Considering their predicament, burning bridges with the Xia Wu Sect would be unwise, and their predicament was also the reason why the Evil Valley Sect Master had decided to spare the rebels who had surrendered.
Of course, they had to be either just a minor figure in the rebellion or weren''t too suspicious.
That man is quite literally a hero. The Phantom Bow Swordsman had offered help and disappeared without asking for anypensation. The Phantom Bow Swordsman reminded the Evil Valley Sect Master of the tales of legendary heroes he had read when he was still a child. After an unknown amount of time, Evil Valley Sect Master shifted his attention over to the documents resembling tiny mountains on his desk.
Chapter 177: Fivefold Fist (2)
The Evil Valley had weakened drastically, but it wasn''t to the point of raising concerns.
Still, they wouldn''t be able to make any greedy moves.
Zhou Xuchuan decided that it was enough. Getting involved any further could lead to more unexpected variables. That was why he didn''t speak to anyone before slipping out of the Evil Valley''s headquarters to avoid getting dragged in any deeper.
Jiang Ningchu informed Zhou Xuchuan about the letter from the Evil Valley Sect Master, and Zhou Xuchuan was relieved to hear that the Xia Wu Sect Master had decided to keep his identity a secret.
Twisted Melody is dead.
First was Vast Gate, and Twisted Melody had finally joined her in theherworld.
What a rapid development
With that, the Dark Heavens Association would find it difficult to control its spies. Blessed Existence would probably take over Twisted Melody''s role, but their effectiveness would surely fall drastically.
A smirk suffused Zhou Xuchuan''s lips. To think that a nobody like him in the previous timeline managed to achieve such incredible feats in this life!"So I''m the Evil Faction''s hero now?"
The incident had catapulted the Phantom Bow Swordsman''s fame to almost the same level as the Plum Blossom Order Sword''s. Naturally, Zhou Xuchuan felt conflicted about the development.
He was from the Righteous Faction, but he was also a top expert within the Evil Faction.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t even imagine just how shocked the public would be upon learning the truth.
Things won''t go as you nned.
The Seven Stars Division had been reduced to having just five surviving heads. Zhou Xuchuan would deal with them all, and then he''d take the lives of the head of the Archives and the Lord of the Dark Heavens Association.
That was his ultimate goal
"Well, then. Should I head back to Mount Hua?"
ording to the information he had obtained from the Dark Heavens Association''s secret branch, there were no longer any urgent matters requiring his attention.
However, the Evil Valley incident would influence some trivial matters to some degree.
Since that was the case, all Zhou Xuchuan could do was wait and see. He needed to know how Murim would respond, and it would give him some clues about the Dark Heavens Association''s next actions.
He grouped up with Little Ghost, who had been on standby near the Evil Valley''s headquarters and headed north. They remained cautious in case they had inadvertently left traces.
It was only when they arrived at a deserted location did Zhou Xuchuan removed the skin mask over his face. The sharp, short-tempered face of a warrior who had experienced the harshness of Murim was gone, reced by the face of the famed swordsman of Mount Hua.
"Now I can breathe freely."
Truth be told, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t feel stuffy under the mask, as the old man''s craftsmanship was otherworldly. Even so, he couldn''tpletely get over the sense of disharmony while wearing the skin mask.
Regardless of how great of a product it was, there''d always be a difference between wearing it and not wearing it at all.
Junior Sister Luo will surely be surprised to see me.
Zhou Xuchuan chuckled. It hadn''t been that long since they shared a heartfelt farewell that embarrassed even Zhuge Shengji, but it seemed that they were about to be reunited once more.
Of course, Zhou Xuchuan liked the idea. He also wanted to return to Mount Hua as soon as possible and see the people he had been missing a lot these days.
Just like that, the Evil Faction''s hero, the Phantom Bow Swordsman, vanished from existence once more.
***
The Mount Hua Sect located in the Shaanxi province had pure-white snow covering it.
Perhaps it was somewhere higher up on the mountain, but the temperature within it was a bit lower than in other areas.
There were beautiful plum blossoms peeking out from below theyers of snow here and there, seemingly reminding everyone that this was the Mount Hua Sect.
Murmur, whisper
Plum blossoms weren''t the only thing visible in Mount Hua today.
There was also a seemingly endless queue of visitors marring the pure-white snow.
Mount Hua''s fame had soared to the top of the Nine Sects and One Gang upon the destruction of the Green Dragon Stockade. Naturally, it was receiving more visitors than usual.
The visitors weren''t just from other Murim sects and ns; there were also merchants among them who wanted to build bridges with Mount Hua somehow.
"Look at this stupidly long queue," said arge-framed merchant while scowling deeply. It had already been half a day since he arrived at the entrance, but the queue still showed no signs of getting any shorter.
The merchant was obviously running out of patience.
"Seriously, now! Can''t we hurry things along a bit?!"
The merchant''s irritation had reached the breaking point, and the cold weather worsened his desire to get indoors.
"Can''t you see that everyone else is also waiting like you?"
The merchant wasn''t the only person irritated by the lengthy wait.
Someone further up the queue exploded in irritation as well.
"This is why bastards like merchants are sotsk!"
"What was that?!" The merchant yelled back after getting triggered. "What did you say?!"
"Goodness me~! I didn''t know that a merchant who had sold his soul for money would still have some pride!" the cultivator replied snarkily.
"You dare!"
The merchant''s face turned red and blue from anger.
Themotion attracted the attention of everyone nearby, and some of them recognized the merchant and the cultivator.
"Hey, that''s the head of the Taiyuan[1] Merchants!"
The Taiyuan Merchants was an influential mercantile operation based in Shanxi province. They were busy expanding their territory by opening branches in ces as far as the Hebei province and even in the Capital.
"Huh? The head of the Taiyuan Merchants?" the cultivator asked back, seemingly recognizing that title.
"Now you know who you picked a fight with!" the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss eximed.
"Say what? Ahahaha!" The cultivator threw his head back and guffawed. "A mere merchant dares to run his mouth in the presence of I, Teng Guoyou!"
"Teng Guoyou? He''s the Fivefold Fist!"
Gasps of surprise and admiration came from everywhere in the queue.
What? He''s the Fivefold Fist?
The Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss stiffened instantly. The Fivefold Fist was renowned for being a Righteous Faction expert who had never failed to suppress his opponents within five punches, so if he were truly the Fivefold Fist...
The Fivefold Fist had alsopleted several missions as a warrior affiliated with the Murim Coalition. Despite his affiliation, however, his personality was rumored to be rather poor.
Unfortunately for the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss, he was insulted in front of so many people, which meant that he had to do something to save face.
"Even if you''re the Fivefold Fist, you were still out of line, sir!" Of course, the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss decided to be respectful at the very least.
The merchants nearby all nodded in agreement, but they dared not voice their thoughts.
"What line did I cross when I only spoke the truth?"
Unfortunately, Teng Guoyou had no desire to take his words back. He stood still with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and he scoffed derisively at the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss with narrowed eyes.
The nearby warriors chimed in.
"The Fivefold Fist is right!"
"You merchants are a bunch of people who only care about money! You''ve sold your honor away!"
"You should know shame! Tsk, tsk!"
The division between cultivators and merchants ran deeper than most people would find, and as if to prove that fact, both two sides were already ring at each other.
The situation rapidly approached the point of no return. Just before something bad could happen, the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect rushed over.
"What''s going on here?"
"I was minding my own business, but the merchant over there yelled at me to move faster. So I shouted back at him," said Teng Guoyou in a matter-of-factly way.
"Say what?" The Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss became speechless in bbergast.
The Fivefold Fist was technically correct. The merchant boss had triggered the incident but wasn''t it Teng Guoyou who had escted the situation?
The Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss turned to the Mount Hua disciple and said, "Yes, he''s technically right, but he''s exaggerating. I''ll apologize for starting this situation, but don''t you think that using us of selling our soul for money is crossing the line?"
"Huh, really now?" Teng Guoyou sneered right back. "How absurd! You were the one who picked a fight, but you want me to apologize?"
"Be careful with your tone, sir! I''m trying to be as courteous as possible here."
"I don''t get why I should do that."
"Why, you fatherless fool!"
In the end, the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss couldn''t hold it anymore and blew his top.
The Fivefold Fist''s fame wasn''t to be scoffed at, but it also applied to the Taiyuan Merchants. In fact, the Taiyuan Merchants were prestigious enough to handle an expert without a sect''s backing.
The Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss wanted to wrap this situation up without escting it any further, as they were in Mount Hua, but his thoughts changed in the face of Teng Guoyou''s unrelenting attitude.
Oh, no! This is bad! The young Mount Hua warrior''s expression stiffened. At this rate, arge-scale brawl would break out in front of his sect''s entrance. Even if he wanted to physically suppress themotion, the Fivefold Fist was too strong for him to handle.
In other words, there wasn''t much this young cultivator could do here.
He nced at his junior brother behind him and signaled that they needed reinforcements to quell themotion.
"What did you call me?! Did you just call me a fatherless fool?!" Teng Guoyou''s face grew flushed in anger. Steam gushed out from his nostrils as if boiling blood had rushed to his head. He even clenched his fists tightly.
The young Mount Hua cultivator saw those clenched fists and gripped the hilt of his sword. He tensed up, knowing he was dealing with none other than the Fivefold Fist and not some random punk!
"Senior Fivefold Fist! Please calm down. You are in front of Mount Hua."
"Huh? And a young punk is telling me what to do now?! Are you ordering me to let that insult go unanswered?!"
Teng Guoyou''s beard trembled. Killing intent began leaking out of him as if his rage was no longer under his control.
Just as the cultivators in the vicinity reached for their weapons, a man rushed out of Mount Hua''s gate.
"Everyone, please calm down!" It was a middle-aged man with a gentle, handsome countenance. The plum blossom insignia on his sleeves meant that his affiliation need not be exined.
Teng Guoyou sharply asked, "And who are you?"
"It''s my pleasure to make your acquaintance. I''m the Gentle Smiling Swordsman, Liu Zhengmu."
Liu Zhengmu greeted the Fivefold Fist respectfully with a cupped fist.
Whew! We''re saved!
The frantic young Mount Hua cultivator sighed inwardly in relief. Then, he silently raised his thumb to his junior brother, who had followed Liu Zhengmu back to the gate.
Since time immemorial, it had always been difficult to spit on a smiling face.
Thanks to Liu Zhengmu''s good-natured and gentle smiling face, he was internally acknowledged as an expert at defusing vtile situations. Even his title was the Gentle Smiling Sword, wasn''t it? He was the most suitable for this kind of job.
"So what?!"
Unfortunately, the situation was very vtile. The word "fool" seemed to have touched Teng Guoyou''s reverse scale, as he showed no signs of calming down.
He even raised his voice in anger as if the neer had displeased him even more.
"Sure, I''m sorry about causing amotion, but I was insulted! That''s not something I can forgive, so get out of my way if you don''t want to get hurt!"
What?!
The Mount Hua disciples instantly grew displeased.
Teng Guoyou had dared to cause trouble right in front of Mount Hua''s entrance, but he even dared to look down on Liu Zhengmu who was attempting to bring peace!
It was true that Teng Guoyou had lost his cool, allowing his boiling blood to rush to his head, but wasn''t he crossing the line here?
"I understand where you''reing from, but you''ve be too agitated."
Befitting his reputation, Liu Zhengmu remained patient against such belittling remarks. Rather than losing his temper, his eyes arched gently like a pair of crescent moons as he focused his efforts on pacifying the irate cultivator.
Unfortunately, Teng Guoyou didn''t even pretend to listen.
He slowly approached the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss while infusing his qi into his fists.
"Goodness!"
"Fivefold Fist!"
"You dare?!"
The Mount Hua disciples erupted in anger.
Liu Zhengmu was well regarded and respected within Mount Hua. Not only was he a capable teacher who had nurtured a hero, but his gentle and warm personality also had a calming effect on many people.
In fact, the people of Mount Hua often said that anyone in a bad mood would no longer feel unhappy after chatting with the Gentle Smiling Swordsman.
Besides all that, how could these disciples turn a blind eye to some random stranger being so disrespectful right in front of their sect''s entrance?
It can''t be helped, then.
Liu Zhengmu groaned inwardly. If he could help it, he wouldn''t want to do this, but the situation was forcing his hand. He nced at the young Mount Hua disciples.
"All of you, protect the crowd and make sure that they won''t get hurt."
Despite being disrespected, Liu Zhengmu remained calm, caring more about the safety of the visitors. That alone was enough proof of his caring nature.
"Oh, so you''ll stand in my way in the end?!"
Teng Guoyou growled, and the ends of his brows rose up sharply. He wouldn''t act this way if he were his usual self. After all, this was Mount Hua, the home of the Exalted Sword Immortal.
However, standing in an unmoving queue for a long time had soured his mood, and the merchant''s insult had pushed him over the edge. At this point, he couldn''t let the matter go.
Experts like him were proud creatures, and experts from the Righteous Faction were even more prideful. They''d often risk their lives to uphold their honor.
"Fine! It seems that you have no idea who I am, so let me teach you an unforgettable lesson!" Teng Guoyou growled menacingly while circting his qi.
"I am the Fivefold Fist, Teng Guoyou! A man invited by the Murim Coaliti"
SMACK!
Teng Guoyou arrogantly shouted his name while standing tall and proud, but something struck the back of his head, forcing him to look down at the ground.
"!"
A deafening silence descended.
The angry Mount Hua disciples, the Taiyuan Merchants'' Boss celebrating inwardly, and the peanut gallery mped their mouths shut.
"What the?"
Teng Guoyou looked up slowly and nced to his side.
A fairly good-looking young man was standing behind him.
"I''ll keep it brief. Kowtow and apologize to my master," said the young man.
"!"
Liu Zhengmu was stunned upon seeing the young man. The young man who had ruthlessly smacked the back of Teng Guoyou''s head was none other than his disciple!
1. Taiyuan is a city in China''s Shanxi province. Not to be confused with Shaanxi province, which is located right next to it. ?
Chapter 178: The Benevolence Clinic (1)
"You dared to!"
Teng Guoyou quivered in rage. He couldn''t even speak properly after getting a good look at Zhou Xuchuan''s face. A young brat had actually dared to smack him in the back of the head! Teng Guoyou''s anger finally broke free from his control.
"Do you know what you''ve done wrong?" Zhou Xuchuan asked coldly without batting an eyelid.
That young man is insane!
He has a death wish, that''s for sure! He''s so young, so what a pity
That was nice to see, but you''ll get burned by doing crazy things like that, young man.
The members of the peanut gallerympooned inwardly before praying for Zhou Xuchuan''s restful trip to the afterlife.
"You bastaaard!"
Sure enough, Teng Guoyou flew into a rage.He had truly gone beyond the point of no return. No one could talk him down anymore.
And his specialty, a punch, flew toward his target.
Zhou Xuchuan stared straight at the oing punch.
To a casual observer, it looked like he had no intentions of dodging.
Just as several members of the audience gasped out in shock, Zhou Xuchuan used the bare minimum of movement to evade the punch.
Whoosh!
A fierce fist brushed past Zhou Xuchuan''s head, and the gust of wind kicked up by the fist pressure made his hair flutter.
What?! Teng Guoyou''s eyes went wide open like saucers. There was a reason he had the title "Fivefold Fist." His punches contained his full strength, and they could inflict a fatal injury on his opponents.
Not only was his punch as fast as a bolt of lightning, but it was also powerful as a blunt weapon. Teng Guoyou had lost his temper, but there was no way his fury would make him miss his target.
He was confident that his martial arts would remain unaffected by fury, so howe the brat in front of him somehow managed to evade his punch as if he were taking candy from a baby?
"That was your first strike."
p!
Teng Guoyou''s head snapped to the side.
A burning pain radiated from his cheek as it swelled up.
W-what the? Teng Guoyou''s mind nked out, but it was not from the pain. The shock of getting pped so defenselessly was much worse than the pain itself. He felt like a ghost had bewitched him. His head returned slowly to its original position, and he saw the young man staring expressionlessly at him.
"You have four strikes left," said the young man.
"You You dare humiliate me like this?!" Teng Guoyou gritted his teeth, and killing intent flooded out of him like a deluge. His cheek wasn''t the only thing turning redhis face turned red as well.
Veins bulged all over his arms and throat. His fiery rage burned so hot that even the distant crowd could feel it prickling their skin.
The Mount Hua disciple in charge of the gate realized that something grave would most likely happen, so he got ready to intervene, but
SLAP!
A refreshing noise echoed from Teng Guoyou''s face once again.
It was so clear that some would think of it as the purest form of noise.
However, the force behind that p wasn''t something to be admired in leisure.
"Argh!"
Blood spewed out of Teng Guoyou''s mouth. A broken tooth had flown out of his mouth, rolling on the floor. His other cheek had swelled instantly as well.
How?! Teng Guoyou couldn''t understand it.He thought that the brat had simply ambushed him and that he had let his guard down like an idiot. That was why Teng Guoyou had decided to keep his eyes wide open.
Unfortunately, things didn''t go ording to his expectations. When he sobered up again, Teng Guoyou found himself staring sideways at the young man while a worse pain radiated from his cheek.
"Apologize."
aap!
"Kuuh-huuuhk?!"
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t give the rude cultivator a chance to sober up.
Teng Guoyou''s face spun the other way even before he could look at his attacker.
To make matters worse, Teng Guoyou''s nasal bone had shattered, making it hard for him to breathe.
"AAAAH!"Teng Guoyou couldn''t endure it anymore, and he couldn''t let himself receive more attacks. Before his brain could even think of his next move, qi had already flooded his fist.
Swoosh!
Teng Guoyou''s qi converged on his fists, and powerful gusts of wind burst out of him, sweeping past the distant crowd. Clearly, an enormous amount of power was contained within his clenched fists.
"Ah!"
It wasn''t just the merchants; even the cultivators were shocked by the sight. The sheer amount of qi within Teng Guoyou''s fist sent dreadful chills from the top of their skulls right down to their toes.
Teng Guoyou truly deserved to be an expert of the Murim Coalitionthe Fivefold Fist!
"Die!"Teng Guoyou eximed. He genuinely had no thoughts of stopping himself. His demeanor suggested that he no longer cared about teaching a lesson; he simply wanted to kill the brat before him!
It''s over!
Even if he''s the Fivefold Fist, he''s not going to leave here in one piece
The Fivefold Fist was about tomit murder right in front of Mount Hua''s entrance.
His would-be victim was a Mount Hua disciple, so his fate was as good as sealed.
Even if the Fivefold Fist was a respected expert who had carried out missions for the Murim Coalition and had built some reputation for himself, he wouldn''t be able to sweep this event under the carpet.
The peanut gallery thought that the Fivefold Fist had let his guard down the first time he was pped in the face. As for the subsequent ps, they all thought that those psnded only because the Fivefold Fist was too bbergasted to react.
Teng Guoyou swung his fist, and deafening explosions reverberated. A punch containing hair-raising power thrust forward and reached the target standing before his eyes, but
CLANG!
The Fivefold Fist''s powerful punch stopped dead in its tracks as if it had collided with an invisible barrier.
Even worse, the invisible barrier had not subdued the force of the punch, so Teng Guoyou''s wrist twisted at a bizarre angle; the skin on the back of his hand was torn apart as well.
"Aaaaahk?!"
To everyone''s shock, Teng Guoyou ended up getting injured!
"W-what the hell?"
"What did I just see?"
The peanut gallery stared at Teng Guoyou in sheer stupefaction. They saw Teng Guoyou throw that punch; even ordinary people with no cultivation could sense the power contained in that punch.
So howe he ended up getting injured instead of his target?
"Huh-uh?!"
Those with experience and skills were deeply awed by what they had witnessed.
"That was a Defensive Qi Barrier!"
It was like Sword Aura, and it was a qi utilization method essible only to those at the Harmony Realm!
Just who was that young man?
"That was the second strike."
aaaap!
A crisp, deafening noise echoed from Teng Guoyou''s cheek. It was so loud that it stunned everyone in the crowd.
As for Teng Guoyou, he was sted away by the p.
"Kkueh-hheekk"Teng Guoyou''s consciousness faded in and out. An iprehensible agonized groan leaked out from the gap between his teeth.The famed Fivefold Fist was sprawled out on the ground, unmoving.
Zhou Xuchuan coldly said, "Apologize to my master."
"Stop, Xuchuan! I''m okay now," said Liu Zhengmu. He could no longer watch the spectacle and had decided to intervene.
"My apologies if I made you ufortable, Master. This unfilial disciple pays respect to Master."Zhou Xuchuan bowed at a ny-degree angle as soon as his master walked up to him.
Oh, he''s Liu Zhengmu''s disciple? Now I get why he was so angry.
Hang on. That young man is the Gentle Smiling Swordsman''s disciple?
Could he be
Liu Zhengmu was known as the Gentle Smiling Swordsman among his fellow cultivators, but his fame among the denizens of the Central ins came from a different source.
"He must be Zhou Xuchuan!"
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan!"
"One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heavens!"
Heroes would always garner attention.
The Gentle Smiling Swordsman being the Plum Blossom Order Sword''s master was a well-known fact by now.
"Huh?! He''s Zhou Xuchuan?!"
"The Righteous Faction''s hero?"
"He really is a Harmony Realm expert, just like in the rumors!"
The peanut gallery finally understood the sight that had unfolded before him, and their eyes widened as their explosive attention zeroed in on Zhou Xuchuan.
Wasn''t he the man responsible for raising Mount Hua''s prestige through the roof?
Some people in the crowd had actually been preparing to do everything in their power to make their daughters hitch a ride on him.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!"
"Looks like the Fivefold Fist has provoked the wrong person today."
"Maybe he has no idea that the Plum Blossom Order Sword is the Gentle Smiling Swordsman''s one and only disciple"
The atmosphere and the whispers changed drastically in tone. The speed of their change in attitude rivaled the speed of one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heavens.
The crowd was no longer afraid of the Fivefold Fist. Instead, they tutted away, taking pity on the copsed Teng Guoyou.
Urgh, euh! Teng Guoyou shuddered in indignation at the pitying gazes of the crowd. He dearly wanted to yell at these people to shut up, but couldn''t do that. Zhou Xuchuan was standing tall before him, after all.
What kind of humiliation is this?! Teng Guoyou had been wondering why a brat, seemingly not even in his twenties, was so strong. Sure enough, he was none other than Zhou Xuchuan!
His luck was impossibly rotten today, it seemed!
"Let''s save our greetings forter. For now Fivefold Fist, sir. Are you okay? Can you stand?"Liu Zhengmu asked in a worried voice upon approaching Teng Guoyou.
The peanut gallery was deeply moved by his kindness.
As expected of the Gentle Smiling Swordsman!
I heard his heart is gentler than silk on your skin, and it''s actually true!
No wonder he''s the master who has nurtured a hero!
Since I''m here, should I ask the Gentle Smiling Swordsman to take in my son as his disciple?
Zhou Xuchuan was still too young to take in disciples, but it was a different story when it came to Liu Zhengmu. Besides, many of the visitors hade with that exact purpose in mind. Even as secr disciples, having their children under the same master as a hero would mean the world to them.
"G-Great Hero Gentle Smiling Swordsman! I-I sincerely apologize!"
Yes, I must beg for his forgiveness! Teng Guoyou thought. Hisplexion turned pale white, looking like a sheet of nk paper.His anger had cooled down, allowing him to realize that he was in a pickle.
Even the experts affiliated with the Murim Coalition couldn''t cross certain lines.
However, he had crossed one of them upon allowing his blood to rush to his head.
Causing a scene in front of a sect was one thing, but he had ignored all attempts to resolve the conflict. To make matters worse, he had even attempted to murder one of the sect''s disciples.
Teng Guoyou was not scared of Zhou Xuchuan''s punishment, but the right thing to do here was to apologize.
"No, no, it''s fine, sir. People can get hot-headed at times, after all. Actually, I''m more worried about my disciple going a little overboard just now. For that, allow me to apologize," said Liu Zhengmu.
"I apologize for going overboard, Fivefold Fist, sir."
Even Zhou Xuchuan followed his master''s example and apologized to Teng Guoyou.
Hmph. I would have beaten you to near death if you hadn''t apologized. Zhou Xuchuan almost blurted out what was on his mind.
Liu Zhengmu examined Teng Guoyou''s face and said, "Your injuries are more serious than I thought. Can someone take our guest to Elder Ling?"
"Please leave it to us!"
The Mount Hua disciples on standby at the rear stepped forward.
Hah! Just deserts.
None of them had said their thoughts out loud, but their expressions conveyed how refreshed they felt at the moment. They felt like the indigestion that had been guing them over thest decade had finally been washed down!
A random cultivator belittling their sect had provoked their ire, so they were indescribably ted by Zhou Xuchuan''s appearance in the nick of time to repay the insult in kind.
"Well, if you please excuse us, we''d like to be on our way now. If today''smotion has somehow displeased you, please ept my sincere apology. In case you are harmed somehow or are left in a disadvantageous position, please seek us out and let us know."
No one said anything in response to Liu Zhengmu''s announcement.
"Then, we''ll be on our way now. Forgive us, as we need to report the news of thismotion."Liu Zhengmu smiled gently and bowed slightly to the crowd.
As expected of the Gentle Smiling Swordsman! His smile truly had a calming effect on everyone.
***
Before he could celebrate his reunion with his disciple, Liu Zhengmu reported themotion earlier to the higher-ups.At first, the elders were frantic upon hearing that Zhou Xuchuan had mercilessly pped a Murim Coalition expert, but the detailed exnation put them at ease.
Since they had to hear from both parties involved, one of the Five High Elders, Sage Sword Xue Song visited Teng Guoyou in the infirmary.
Teng Guoyou wasn''t pleased about recounting the disgraceful event, so he simply replied that Liu Zhengmu''s report was urate. His pride was hurt, but he knew that he had made a mistake, so he didn''t whine about it.
Damn it, I''ve got to leave Mount Hua as soon as possible once I''m out of here!
Teng Guoyou''s face was swollen like a well-cooked chestnut, so he couldn''t even walk around freely. In addition, he was also humiliated in public.With those in mind, he swore to return to the Murim Coalition as soon as his treatment was finished.
***
Meanwhile,Zhou Xuchuan was enjoying the reunion with his master.
"It feels like we''re seeing each other every year," said Liu Zhengmu, chuckling in delight.
"Things somehow worked out that way, Master."Zhou Xuchuan scratched the back of his head with a sheepish face.
A cultivation journey was supposed tost a few years at least; it was enough time for a cultivator to experience many things in gangho.
However, Zhou Xuchuan had been returning to Mount Hua whenever he felt like it.Of course, no oneined. His achievements and experiences had already surpassed what most people could achieve in ten years, after all.
"Well, it''s not bad to see youe home to get some rest. The Sect Master has already given his permission, so there''s nothing to worry about. Rest to your heart''s content, Xuchuan."
"Thank you for your consideration, Master."
"Besides all that. You''ve grown so much, Xuchuan."
"Really?"
Zhou Xuchuan rubbed the top of his head, wondering if he had gotten taller or something.
His disciple was just too adorable. Liu Zhengmu chuckled at the sight before shaking his head helplessly.
"It hasn''t been all that long since you descended the mountain, yet you''ve already aplished so many wonderful feats. I''ve been getting so many visitorstely that it has be impossible for me to attend the reunions that I used to enjoy attending every now and then. Those visitors won''t stop talking about you, Xuchuan."
Liu Zhengmu was genuinely proud of his disciple''s growth.
"There''s a wise old saying about how a disciple would naturally surpass his master, and it certainly has happened with you, Xuchuan. Then again You''ve always been an excellent disciple, even when you were still a child."
"No, Master. Don''t say that. If it weren''t for your guidance, I wouldn''t be here."
Liu Zhengmu merely smiled and closed his eyes at that.A dirty, wan face and a pair of eyes filled with wariness and fear were looking up at Liu Zhengmuthe eyes belonged to the young Zhou Xuchuan covered in mud.
The little kid had grown up so much that he could no longer bepared to his young self. The kid had grown up to be a boy, and then he became a young man before eventually bing the Righteous Faction''s hero.
Liu Zhengmu would be lying if he were to say that he wasn''t proud of what his disciple had achieved. Upon hearing the news of Zhou Xuchuan''s exploits, Liu Zhengmu''s emotions had overwhelmed him to the point of shedding tears of happiness.
"I''m so proud of you, my disciple."
Chapter 179: The Benevolence Clinic (2)
The twelfth month passed, and the first month of the year arrived.
Zhou Xuchuan was now twenty years old.
He tried to visit Senior Brother Zhang and Luo Xiaoyue, but he couldn''t meet them. He was told that they were in closed-door training and would remain in seclusion for quite some time in preparation to be new members of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
Fivefold Fist Teng Guoyou returned to the Murim Coalition in a hurry once he had recovered somewhat. Of course, he didn''t forget to stop by Liu Zhengmu''s residence to apologize profusely.
As usual, Liu Zhengmu smiled like a saint and bestowed forgiveness upon Teng Guoyou.
The Fivefold Fist was greatly relieved to receive Liu Zhengmu''s forgiveness. Things could have gotten troublesome for him in various ways had Liu Zhengmu refused to forgive him, after all!
"Master, sir! I heard that Zhou Xuchuan has returned to Mount Hua!"
"What? In that case, why aren''t you getting ready to depart?! Hurry up!"
The Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan! Everyone had heard of that name by now. Upon hearing the news of his return, people rushed to Mount Hua in droves.Zhou Xuchuan had been greeting so many people these days, so the new arrivals almost overwhelmed him. He was so busy that it was taking him at least two days before he could attend to any of his personal matters.
Having more visitors meant Zhou Xuchuan needed more workers to help him out, so he put up a notice in the nearby vige, hiring plenty of helpers.
With the arrival of new helpers, the food costs and misceneous expenses went up. Had Mount Hua not been a well-off sect, it would have gone bankrupt. However, it wasn''t a total loss for the sect, as visitors brought tributes with them.
"What should I do if I wish to speak to Great Hero Zhou in private?"
"You see, I have something important to share with the Plum Blossom Order Sword."
"I''m the Boss of the Taiyuan Merchants. The Plum Blossom Order Sword helped me out earlier, so I want to express my gratitude to him."
The name "Zhou Xuchuan" could be heard everywhere, and the majority of the visitors hade to Mount Hua to visit him. The number of people wanting to meet Zhou Xuchuan had to have three digits by now.
If it were only one or two people, Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t find it problematic. However, there were so many of them that He freaked out and rejected all the meetings under the pretext of focusing on his training.
"Is it possible to meet with Great Hero Zhou somehow? Can you please help me?"
"N-no, miss! We can''t assist you!"
The young disciples of Mount Hua had to go through a torrid time, as there were some people resorting to honey traps.
How enviable!
He''s so popr withdies, too!
Huh. They are all so pretty. Are you telling me that all thesedies hade here in hopes of marrying Junior Brother Zhou? That is just astounding.
Whether it was a merchant family or a martial arts n, families with some fame had sent their unmarried daughters to Mount Hua.
Wouldn''t it be wonderful if their daughters were to snag the Great Hero somehow?
Zhou Xuchuan as their son-inw was like acquiring a massive army of soldiers and horses.
"Hey, have you heard? The beauties throughout thend have gathered in Mount Hua!"
"Really? How can I sit still as a man in that case!"
Flowers were bound to attract insects.
The news of beautiful women drew more men to visit Mount Hua.
Mount Hua had somehow be a dating spot and a tourist attraction at the same time, and the unexpected turn of events allowed the nearby vige to profit handsomely. ?
The influx of visitors meant the marketce would grow busier. It also led to more frequent visits from merchants hoping to do business in the vige.
Li Yicai predicted this event, and he opened various businesses, such as inns and shops, to rake in as much money as possible.
Meanwhile, the man in the eye of the storm, Zhou Xuchuan, was training diligently in a private training area.
Mm Being famous is nice and all, but it does have its downsides, too.
The gazes of respect trained on him felt rather great, but having too many eyes on him was also rather inconvenient.
He could no longer train in a public training area, as it would attract a throng of spectators, making it difficult for him to train in peace. In the end, he searched for a ce to train by himself, and he eventually returned to the spot where he had to scale a cliff under his master''s supervision.
Zhou Xuchuan proceeded to organize the techniques in his arsenal, but he excluded the techniques that he had already mastered.
His Violet Haze Divine Art and Violet Haze Sword Sutra hadn''t improved at all. He was still on the eighth stage on the former, while he was on the third stance on thetter.
He was in the fourth stage of the Eclipse Divine Archery Art, while he was stuck on the third stage of the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art.
He was on the fourth stages of both the Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art and the Phantom Steps. The intense life-or-death battle against Twisted Melody had allowed him to reach the seventh stage of the Hundred Divine Transformations.
As for the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword, I''m on the fourth level of it.
The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword had been of massive help to Zhou Xuchuan during his adventure in the Evil Valley. However, he had discovered a w upon unleashing it at full power.
The consumption of qi to allow me to withstand the increased weight on my body is far too much.
The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword had proven to be a double-edged sword. A massive increase in weight meant greater destructive power, but the burden on his body was too much.
Make one mistake, and one''s muscles would get destroyed by the sword art. To ensure that such a mishap wouldn''t happen in the first ce, one had to reinforce one''s fleshly body with qi.
However, unleashing the sword art alone and moving around demanded arge amount of qi, so spending even more qi to withstand the increased weight was both a waste of qi and an incredibly inefficient way of using it as well.
In other words, mastering a different martial art would be a better choice than sticking with the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.
Zhou Xuchuan had been pondering ways to fix this ring w, and that was when he remembered the Iron Shirt technique that he had obtained at the same time as the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.
The Iron Shirt was a type of physical cultivation art that would toughen the cultivator''s figure, transforming it into something that resembled armor. The Iron Shirt could allow one to withstand the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword''s weight without wasting qi, so Zhou Xuchuan decided to focus on mastering the Iron Shirt for the time being.
"Isn''t the training method so brutishly straightforward?"
Befitting a physical cultivation art, the Iron Shirt''s training method was simple. All Zhou Xuchuan had to do was pound on something sturdy without relying on his qi, and that was it.
There were no variations. There were different stages, but the only difference between the stages was the difficulty level. For example, he''d start by hitting trees before moving on to boulders.
It was a training that one would usually see in the back alleys.
"But I should still do as the secret manual says."
To test out his limits, Zhou Xuchuan punched a nearby tree.
BANG!
"Oops."
Just then, Zhou Xuchuan recalled that he had gone through a bodily transformation. It was a process that would transform the cultivator''s muscr system and skeletal structure. It would also improve the toughness of a cultivator''s skin.
It was indeed worthy of being called "bodily transformation." Fortunately, the fact would help Zhou Xuchuan with his training, and that was a silver lining.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even rocks stood no chance, shattering easily beneath Zhou Xuchuan''s fist. Only boulders the size of a house were capable of withstanding his punches, and Zhou Xuchuan trained until his skin was torn open.
Wheew Training this way is all well and good, but it''s so boring!
He''d rather have aplicated training method than this one, as that would at least keep him interested. The Iron Shirt technique was making Zhou Xuchuan yawn in boredom. After all, the training method required him to do nothing aside from hitting one spot repeatedly using the simplest movements out there.
***
Three monthster, everyone''s breathing no longer generated white steam. Theyers of snow nketing everything beneath the heavens had melted away as well.
A pleasant warmth enveloped everyone; there were flowers blooming everywhere, and their array of colors pleased one''s eyes to no end. The passage of the cold winter heralded the oing warm spring.
The Benevolence Clinicthe number one clinic in Murimno, the entire Central ins.
The head of this clinic was the Divine Physician, whose medical skills were reputedly so high that it was touching the heavens.
"What should we do"
However, there was a gloomy mood in the Benevolence Clinic.
The Divine Physician''s disciple and the vice head of the clinic, Li Jian, was figuratively dying of anxiety. It was the same story for his fellow martial brothers.
"Senior Brother! What should we do about this?"
"I knew it! We should have locked him away to ensure that he wouldn''t be able to escape!"
"We''re not even talking about the Central ins, you know! Going missing in the Southern Jungles is just the worst crisis imaginable!"
The Divine Physician had gone missing. Li Jian and others didn''t even want to imagine the catastrophe that this news would bring if the public were to learn of this news.
Going back in time to around half a year ago
"They say that a poison unknown to me was discovered in the Southern Jungles!" the Divine Physician eximed, "And it''s also said that they''ve developed a divine medicine, too! I''m going there to see it for myself!"
"I''m sorry?!"
At first, Li Jian thought that the Divine Physician was joking. Who would take his words seriously when he had said it as if he were a man about to go for a stroll?However, the Divine Physician was dead serious. He finished his preparations in two days and even summoned escort warriors to take him to the Southern Jungles.
"No, you can''t, sir!"
It wasn''t just Li Jian; the other disciples of the clinic jumped up to their feet and stopped the Divine Physician. They couldn''t agree with his idea at all.
"Haaah?!" The Divine Physician roared in dissatisfaction. "Why can''t I go if I want to go?! Get out of my way!"
"Are you seriously asking me that because you really don''t know, sir?!"
They were talking about the Southern Jungles here!
The imperial government''s influence hadn''t been able to reach the region that used to be the kingdom of Dai Viet, and it was all because of how dangerous the region was as well as the fact that it was a barrennd.
To make matters worse, there were many undiscovered ethnic tribes hidden in the region as well as lunatics with customs like offering human sacrifices.
Even worse, the region easily rivaled the Poisonblood Valley for its sheer number of venomous species. There was also a huge variety of inscrutable sorcery to worry about.
To top it all off, the ocean of forest covering the region was so vast andbyrinthine that one could get trapped inside for all eternity. As a clincher, a myriad of ferocious predators called that forest home, too!
Considering all those dangerous factors, it wasn''t a surprise that the Divine Physician''s disciples were vociferously stopping him from going there.
"Fine, fine! I get it, so stop," the Divine Physician grumbled, "Why are you raising all this fuss?"
It seemed that thest few days of diligent monitoring and hard work had paid off.
Despite licking his lips ruefully, the Divine Physician showed signs of finally giving up.
Exactly fifteen dayster, however, the Divine Physician scaled the clinic''s back wall and headed to the Southern Jungles in thepany of a handful of guards.
The Benevolence Clinic was thrown into an uproar, and they hurriedly chased after the Divine Physician, but it was toote by then. He and his entourage had already disappeared into the ocean of forest covering the Southern Jungles.
At the very least, the disciples had received a letter from the Divine Physician, saying that he''d contact the clinic regrly. Sure enough, he remained in touch for a while.
For some reason, however, he hadn''t sent any letters over the past two weeks. The sudden silence worried the disciples greatly, as the Divine Physician had beenmunicating with them until now.
"We need to dispatch an investigation team."
"Who is crazy enough to travel to the Southern Jungles, though? Besides, no random person can survive in a region filled with so many things that can kill people, you know!"
Saying that every the Southern Jungles denizen had built up some level of tolerance to poisons wouldn''t be a silly joke. That region really was overflowing with venomous creatures.
It was also far hotter than the Central ins, and several people had reportedly died after failing to limatize to the environment.
"Besides, we need to keep our master''s disappearance a secret! In that case, who can we even entrust with finding him?"
"That''s right! No one knows that our master has traveled to the Southern Jungles except for us. Imagine what kind of rumors will spread once the public gets wind of our master''s disappearance!"
"Yes! Senior Brother Li Jian will surely be suspected of foul y."
Gulp!
A flood of cold sweat broke out on Li Jian''s back. Murdering one''s own master was amon sightamong the cultivators of the Central ins. Of course, murdering Dao siblings and parents to snatch away positions of power wasmon, too.
For example, hadn''t something like that happened in the Evil Valley not too long ago?
If people were to suspect foul y, the Benevolence Clinic would be finished for good.
The Benevolence Clinic wouldn''t have existed if it hadn''t been for the Divine Physician, after all.
Li Jian cried out, "I would never do something as insane as that!"
"Senior Brother, people won''t care about such details, you know!"
"Do you still remember the other clinics who''ve been viewing us as a thorn in their side? They''ll surely hit us with all sorts of underhanded schemes!"
It would have been fine had the Divine Physician passed on from natural causes.
However, what was going to happen if the public believed that his disciples'' scheme had caused his demise? The whole clinic would surely be plunged into the pits of theherworld.
"Most of all His Majesty won''t sit still, Senior Brother!"
The Divine Physician had disyed talent in medicine since he was young, and his genius even reached the ears of the imperial court, so he was invited to serve as an imperial physician.
When he was still a middle-aged man, the Divine Physician saved the life of a member of an imperial family and secured protection from the imperial court, as well as his unfettered freedom.
The Divine Physician enjoyed connections like that, so it was obvious what would happen if the rumors of him dying through unsavory means were to spread around.
Fear and anxiety filled the faces of everyone attending the emergency meeting.
The emperor had a special connection with the Divine Physician. With that in mind, the disciples couldn''t stop imagining every single person in their immediate families getting executed for treason.
They couldn''t just sit back and do nothingthey had to do something.
"How about the Tang Family? We have a good cooperative rtionship with them, right? Maybe not the Poison Dragon, but the Poison Phoenix mighte to help us!"
"That''s not a bad idea. But they aren''t going to be enough," said Li Jian.
Toxins weren''t the only things to worry about in the Southern Jungles. As stated earlier, that region was teeming with dangerous beasts, sorcerers, and deranged cultivators.
"Then who else would want to go to the Southern Jungles?"
"An expert who doesn''t care about stepping foot into the venomousnd of the Southern Jungles and can ovee most dangerous situations? Where would we even find someone likewait a minute! I know someone who can do that!"
The clinic''s disciples were reminded of a certain expert.
The Benevolence Clinic and the Tang Family had a cooperative rtionship, so the two organizations often exchanged information. In other words, they knew a lot about each other, including even trivial bits of news.
One of those bits of news concerned the situation regarding a Tang Family store that had opened its doors not too long ago.
"Thousand Poison Immunity!"
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword, Zhou Xuchuan!"
Chapter 180: The Forests of the Southern Jungles (1)
"Hup!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed.
Pow!
BOOM!
It was a punch without qi. Staring at the fist-sized hole in the boulder before his eyes, he was convinced that his physical prowess had improved along with his fleshly body.
After focusing on the Iron Shirt technique, he reached the fifth stage of it rtively quickly. Zhou Xuchuan was also grateful for the corrective effect of his Bodily Transformation.
He had also reached the fifth stage of the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword. Due to the unique quirk of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, he couldn''t improve the sword art any further than the fifth stage, but it was still a satisfactory result nheless.
He also reached the eighth stage of the Hundred Divine Transformations.
Zhou Xuchuan ended yet another rewarding day of training and thought about returning to his residence to prepare dinner for his master. Before he could make his way back home, he received a message stating that the Sect Master was looking for him.
Thus, he made a detour and visited the Violet Haze Pavilion first."Did you summon me, Sect Master?"
"Huh-uh! So you''ve improved again, and in such a short period of time at that!" You Riwen eximed while scanning Zhou Xuchuan.
"Are you sure, Sect Master?!" Xue Song gasped out in shock.
It was already unbelievable for a young man barely in his twenties to be a Harmony Realm expert, but for him to improve even further Could Zhou Xuchuan be an actual monster?
Zhou Xuchuan politely replied, "Compared to you, I''m still a long way off, Sect Master. I''m merely a little bit ahead of other Harmony Realm experts."
Of course, you can''tpare to him! Xue Song eximed in disbelief inwardly.
Just who was the Sect Master? Wasn''t he an absolute powerhouse revered as one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords? From the get-go, he wasn''t someone a young brat like Zhou Xuchuan couldpare himself to.
"The divine medicine that this brat had picked up when he was a little kid must''ve been something otherworldly, alright," said Ling Zhen, grimacing and tutting away.
"Elder Ling, please don''t forget that one''s diligent effort ys a major role, too," Shen Yulian chimed in, correcting Ling Zhen''s words.
What''s going on here?
It wasn''t just the Sect Master; the Five High Elders of Mount Hua were present, too.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but grow curious. He then noticed that, including the Swordsmen Initiates, several Plum Blossom Swordsmen were not present. Wei Zhijie was absent as well, as he was currently in closed-door training.
Zhou Xuchuan''s curiosity was resolved by You Riwen.
"It seems you''ll have to return to the gangho soon, Xuchuan."
"To the gangho, sir?"
"The head of the Martial Allianceho, the Benevolence Clinic has requested your help specifically."
The Benevolence Clinic had no direct connection to Mount Hua, so it had to go through the Martial Alliance for this request.
"Sect Master, what do you mean by ''request''?"
"What you''re about to hear is strictly for the ears of the parties involved, and it must not leave this room. Remember that," said You Riwen.
Zhou Xuchuan cautiously asked, "Even from my master, sir?"
"I''m moved by how devoted you are to your master, but no, you can''t discuss it with Liu Zhengmu. He is trustworthy, yes, but the Benevolence Clinic wishes for the utmost secrecy in this matter. I hope you understand, Xuchuan." R?
"Understood, sir."
What could possibly be going on here that required this level of secrecy?
"The Divine Physician has gone missing?" Zhou Xuchuan frowned deeply.
Urgh. As expected, the events are going in a different way from the future I''m familiar with.
During the previous timeline, the Divine Physician had never left the Central ins. Actually, it''d be more urate to say that he couldn''t leave. Conflicts, including the Seven Swords War, had forced him to behave himself and stay put.
Not too long afterward, the Divine Physician and the members of the clinic would meet their end at the hands of the Dark Heavens Association''stest recruit, the Sword Demon Wu Qu.
Things certainly had veered quite off course from the original fate.
"There can''t be that many experts boasting the Thousand Poison Immunity like you, Xuchuan. No, I''m almost sure that you''re the only one," said Ling Zhen, rubbing his beard.
I see now. I''m the perfect person for this job. Is that it?
Zhou Xuchuan finally figured out why he had been specifically requested by the Benevolence Clinic. No one was more suitable for the search mission than him, as the search location was the Southern Jungles.
"Child, I''m not sure what you''ll make of this, but"
Zhou Xuchuan abruptly replied, "I''ll do it, everyone."
"Huh?"
Xue Song was about to unleash his silver tongue to convince Zhou Xuchuan, but he was forced to stare at thetter in bbergast. The others were also surprised by Zhou Xuchuan''s prompt reply.
"This era needs the Divine Physician''s expertise. Since that''s the case, I must go," said Zhou Xuchuan.
That''s right, we need him.
The Divine Physician was an entric individual, but he was no viin. If he had been around during the Era of War and Chaos, many heroes would have been saved from avoidable deaths.
The Benevolence Clinic was like an extension of the Divine Physician, so rescuing him would be the same as having ess to countless medicines and talented physicians.
This mission would definitely not be a loss for him.
"Now I feel like a fool for worrying about how to convince him," said Shen Yulian in a slightly dismayed tone of voice.
From the perspective of Mount Hua, it didn''t seem like a bad deal. The Benevolence Clinic was ranked number one among the Central ins'' clinics, wasn''t it? Making such a ce indebted to Mount Hua wouldn''t hurt the sect at all.
More importantly, they also had to consider what it meant to rescue the Divine Physicianthe head of the Benevolence Clinic. All in all, it sounded like a good deal.
Even if the Divine Physician had already passed on, Mount Hua still stood to gain substantialpensation for bringing his body or his personal articles back home.
Zhou Xuchuan asked, "Will I be going alone, sir?"
"Of course not," said the Destiny Hand, Zhao Wuyang, while making a slightly dismayed face. "Even if it''s you, searching that gigantic ocean of trees by yourself will be impossible. The Tang Family will assist in the search, too."
Ah. Elder Zhao is here, too.
Zhao Wuyang was the only elder of Mount Hua with whom Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t on friendly terms. The bad blood between them ran so deep that Zhou Xuchuan almost identally blurted out, "You were here, Elder?"
"The Diancang Sect will help as well," said You Riwen, looking slightly more at ease.
"I see. A guide, is it"
The Southern Jungles were just a little further south from Yunnan. The Diancang Sect was based in Yunnan and had been interacting with the people of the Southern Jungles for a long time now.
That wasn''t all. In the past, the Diancang Sect fought the hardest when the Southern Jungles invaded the Central in.
Zhou Xuchuan heard that the Diancang Sect had taken on the role of guiding and protecting the Divine Physician. Regretfully, though, their people also went missing at the same time.
I sometimes feel this, but Is he really a young man who just entered his twenties?
Xue Song was about to exin further, only to stop and smack his lips. It felt like Zhou Xuchuan would see through what he and the other elders would say to him.
"Understood. I, Zhou Xuchuan, a proud fourth-generation member of Mount Hua, will head back to the gangho to carry out this mission. Are there any other circumstances I should be wary of?"
"No, none! There is nothing like that!"
Ling Zhen hurriedly waved his hand as if he had had enough of this exchange.
"Then, I''ll return to my quarters now. Please excuse me."
Zhou Xuchuan politely bade goodbye to his elders and left the Violet Haze Pavilion.
"Huh. Well, I''ll be damned."
"Indeed. Now I''m wondering why we were so worried about convincing him earlier."
***
In the middle of the third month of the year, the journey to the Southern Jungles was finally decided.
"Master, your disciple is heading out now."
Zhou Xuchuan managed to barely hold himself back from revealing the truth about his journey to the Southern Jungles to his master, Liu Zhengmu, as he respectfully performed nine kowtows.
Liu Zhengmu felt a bit embarrassed by his disciple''s devotion, but he couldn''t deny that he felt extremely proud as well.
"Very well. Have a safe trip, Xuchuan. I''ll speak to your fellow disciple brothers and sisters in your steadter."
It had already been three months and two weeks since Zhou Xuchuan''s return to Mount Hua, but Luo Xiaoyue and others had yet to emerge from their closed-door training.
Zhou Xuchuan found it regretful, but he still left the sect while promising himself to meet up with themter.
Since he wanted to avoid attracting unwanted attention, he headed stealthily to the nearby vige before sunrise to join up with Little Ghost. It had been a while since hest saw her.
"It''s been a while, but you still haven''t grown up, Little Ghost," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
Children were supposed to grow up fast to the extent that it''d be hard to recognize them in no time. Even more so if the child was a girl. For some unfathomable reason, though, Little Ghost hadn''t gotten taller, piquing Zhou Xuchuan''s curiosity.
Little Ghost emotionlessly replied, "It''s one of the quirks of the Phantom Art, sir."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s brows shot up at the brand-new information.
"The Divine Phantom Art is based on the Great Tortoise Breath Technique, and the biological clock of its cultivators will flow slower than everyone else''s, sir."
In other words, the deeper one''s mastery over the Phantom Art, the further away they''d be from the confines of "humanity."
Just like the assassins'' Great Tortoise Breath Technique, the heartbeat of the cultivator of the Phantom Art would slow down to a crawl as if their heart had stopped beating altogether. It was the same story for their breathing.
Even their blood cirction would resemble a corpse''s. Since that was the case, it wasn''t strange topare the effects of the cultivation art to the biological clock ticking much slower than normal.
If an ordinary person were to cultivate the art, they''d experience various physical problems and suffer a premature death. However, the Phantom Art ensured that cultivators wouldn''t have any issues with their everyday activitiesno, forget issues, it even granted unique powers.
Huh. To think that it has such an effect Slowing down the aging process was a feature all cultivation arts boasted, but it sounded like the Phantom Art was especially excellent at it.
Most people dreamed of achieving immortality, but Phantoms never really cared for nor desired such a thing. I have to admit, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief sure was an incredible individual.
The word "divine" attached to the cultivation art''s name was well deserved, it seemed. That individual was indeed the world''sNo, history''s number one thief and assassin.
Mm? Then, how old is Little Ghost, exactly?
Just then, Zhou Xuchuan recalled that he had never asked Little Ghost about her age.
"Little Ghost, how old are you?"
"I''m seventeen, sir."
"Cough, cough! S-say what?"
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. His jaw fell so much that drool threatened to trickle out of his mouth.
Since her biological clock was ticking slower than most people, he figured Little Ghost could be a little older than she appeared. Even then, she couldn''t be older than fifteen, or so he thought, but she was actually seventeen!
The more I learn about the Phantoms, the more bizarre they be.
In his previous life, Zhou Xuchuan thought of the Phantoms merely as a group of mysterious assassins. Digging deeper, however, he learned that the organization was far more mysterious than he had imagined.
Starting from the inhumane method called "Mind-Kill" to the Three-Eyed Godly Thief being the first Phantom Sovereigneverything Zhou Xuchuan had learned about the organization so far had shaken him to the core.
At this point, he wouldn''t be surprised to learn that the Valley of the Phantoms was the true power behind the Dark Heavens Association.
I''m so d that I didn''t make an enemy out of this organization.
Turning a tough enemy into his ally was probably the best move he had made so far!
***
The air in the southernmost point of Yunnan felt surprisingly hot, even though it was still the third month of the year. Perhaps it was because the Southern Jungles were practically just around the corner.
"To think you''d make a woman wait under the harsh sun! You''re still as ill-mannered as ever!" a woman grumbled. She was wearing a conical bamboo hat meant to block out the sun. The shade from the hat veiled her face, but her gorgeous features still remained radiant.
The Mind-Qi Separator gleamed sharply as it reflected the sunlight.
"I ran here as quickly as I could from Yulin without taking a single break. Shouldn''t you be a bit more weing? Geez, your mouth is still as foul as ever," Zhou Xuchuan retorted right back at Tang Hui instead of backing down.
"You still dare run your rude mouth against our mistress?!" Yuan Dashi growled. He was the personal guard of the Poison Phoenix.
Zhou Xuchuan casually replied, "Dashi, you''re still the same asMm?"
The Tang Family had decided to mobilize thirty people, and there were some familiar faces in the group.
"It''s great to make your acquaintance, Great Hero Zhou," said a middle-aged man facing the twilight of his years.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know the middle-aged man, but his face seemed oddly familiar. In other words, he had to have seen the man somewhere before.
"My name is Tang Lian."
"Ah!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed. He finally remembered the man upon hearing that name. Some time ago, he paid the Tang Family a visit to ask for Tang Hui''s assistance.
It was when the Tang Family had just opened their business. Tang Lian was a Tang Family Elder tasked with managing the business under the family patriarchTang Youqi''s supervision.
"This junior greets the Tang Family Elder. My name is Zhou Xuchuan, a fourth-generation member of the Mount Hua Sect."
Zhou Xuchuan finally remembered Tang Lian, and he greeted the older man politely.
"Everyone in Murim is familiar with you, Great Hero Zhou. There''s no need to introduce yourself so politely. It''s been a while, though." Tang Lian nodded in satisfaction while standing tall with his hands behind his back.
"As you can see, I''ve been given the task to apany Lady Hui and the search party. I''ll be in your care."
"I see. I''ll be in your care as well, Elder."
As expected, the Tang Family had a n. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have dispatched such a small group to the Southern Jungles. In fact, it was surprising to learn that they had agreed to dispatch Tang Hui.
What is the Poison King thinking?
Most of the Five Great Ancient Families cared deeply about their bloodline and offspring. Especially more so if the offspring in question was a direct descendant and a top talent among the younger generation, to boot!
Even if the requester was the Benevolence Clinic, why would the Poison King make his daughter participate in the Southern Jungles-bound search party? Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t quite figure it out.
Since this wasn''t the first time, his puzzlement intensified. However, he dared not pry casually, as it was the private affairs of the Tang family.
"Since our preparations areplete," Tang Lian said, "Shall we depart now?"
"I heard that the Diancang Sect is going to join us. Shouldn''t we wait for them?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"They''re already in the Southern Jungles, Great Hero Zhou. They informed us that they''ll go there first and look for a safe passage for us to take."
"I see. How dependable."
The Southern Jungles were an unknownnd even for Zhou Xuchuan. His knowledge of the Southern Jungles came from books he read as one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua in his previous life.
However, there was a massive difference between visiting the ce and reading about it from books.
Divine Physician, I hope you''re still clinging to your life.
Chapter 181: The Forests of the Southern Jungles (2)
Chapter 181: The Forests of the Southern Jungles (2)
The search party entered the thick forests of the Southern Jungles. Therge trees were densely packed, meaning that barely any light prated the canopy.
Pushing through the thick foliage, the party went deeper into the forest, wary of the cries of wild beastsing from within.
They still couldn''t believe that they were only at the border, just the beginning of what constituted the Southern Jungles. The party couldn''t begin to imagine what could be lurking inside.
"It''s supposed to be around here" Tang Lian muttered, his brows furrowing.
Although the agreed-upon meeting point with the Diancang Sect wasn''t that far away, it was difficult to find.
Ugh, its so hot I feel like I''m dying."
"I know they said that the climate here waspletely different from the Central ins, but"
"I''m either going to lose my mind from the stuffiness or die from the heat."
The Central ins didn''t pay much attention to the Southern Jungles because the environment within the jungles wasn''t very good.The jungles tropical climate meant that the temperature was high by default, and due to the nature of the forests, the wind was blocked by the densely packed trees, preventing venttion.
Therge leaves and unidentified nts absorbed the heat and moisture, trapping it even further and creating an even more severe environment.
Just walking consumed stamina, and none of them even wanted to consider fighting here.
"But there''s some good poisons around, don''t you think?"
"Oho, that''s hard to find."
"I should take some back with me when we return to the Central ins."
As expected, the Southern Jungles was a world of poison. While it was a dangerous ce for ordinary people, it was heaven for the Tang Family.
They walked with shining eyes, looking around. What they saw around them may have beenforting, as the irritation caused by the weather was slightly reduced.
After walking for two hours, Tang Lian smiled brightly as if he had found something.
"There it is!"
There was a fence visible only two, no, three, zhang away. It must have been the work of the Diancang Sect, who should have set up a camp nearby.
"Have we finally arrived?"
"Finally, we can rest."
Members of the search party finally let out deep breaths andughed.
"Wait a second."
Zhou Xuchuan stopped walking and raised a hand, stopping the others.
"What is it?" Tang Lian asked Zhou Xuchuan nervously.
"I smell blood."
"...!"
The faces of the search party members stiffened.
"Really?" Tang Lian asked with a slightly suspicious look.
The more one handled poison, the more sensitive they became to smells. That was why the Tang Family members had a more keen sense of smell than others.
So, when Zhou Xuchuan said that he smelled blood, they couldn''t help but be suspicious.
"I understand that this might hurt your pride, but you should still be on guard," Tang Hui snarked to Tang Lian in an unpleasant tone. It seemed the elder''s pride had been hurt because he hadn''t noticed it first.
The search party slowly approached their destination while keeping a close eye on their surroundings. The closer they got, the more tense they became.
After clearing away the foliage that was blocking their view and emerging from the bushes, they were met with the sight of several stumps that had traces of human hands.
"Heavens!"
A Tang Family warrior unconsciously let out a surprised gasp.
The sight was horrifying. Severed body parts were strewn about, and dried blood stained the tents and wooden tables.
"Gasp!"
Tang Lian let out a gasp that was a mix of surprise and worry.
The surprise was from seeing what had happened, just as Zhou Xuchuan had warned, and the worry was for the safety of the search party.
"Could the Diancang Sect have been attacked?"
He couldnt believe it.
The Diancang Sect had been famous for its practical martial arts since ancient times. It was said that their Dao could be found on the battlefield.
Sometimes, they were so warlike that it seemed like they belonged more to the Evil Faction than the Righteous Faction. It was hard to believe they had been ughtered so quickly, considering they were seen as incredibly strong even among the Nine Sects and One Gang.
"At the very least, it doesn''t seem like they werepletely wiped out here."
Tang Huis eyes narrowed as she scanned the surroundings.
"You''re right. I don''t see a single body."
Upon closer inspection, while they could see a few severed body parts, there weren''t any bodies.
"Search the area in groups of five."
Understood.
Yuan Dashi led the warriors and searched the surrounding area. Not long after they began their search, a report came in.
The blood trail continues this way!
"I have a rough idea of what happened," Zhou Xuchuan said, nodding to himself.
"What do you mean, rough idea?"
"However, I hope my suspicions are wrong."
"Stop trying to make me curious and just exin it already."
"There are two possibilities. The former is that they were attacked on arge scale and were moved to another location"
"And thetter?"
"A cannibalistic tribe captured them."
Tang Lian''s expression hardened.
Thewless Southern Jungles, untouched by the imperial government, had many ethnic minorities and uncivilized barbarians.
Are you saying there are cannibalistic tribes here?
Yes.
In response to Tang Lian''s question, Zhou Xuchuan told the group basic knowledge about the Southern Jungles that he had gotten from the books he had read in his previous life.
"The Southern Jungles don''t have a unified nation. Instead, they have many tribes, one of which is cannibalistic."
"Tsk! What outrageous people!"
Cannibalism.
It went without saying that such customs were considered absolutely outrageous.
It was something that went against humanity and only appeared in the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages and the like.
"And now we won''t be able to move around leisurely."
Tang Hui also frowned, seemingly displeased.
It was obvious what would happen if they were captured by the cannibalistic tribe. They had to rescue them as soon as possible.
"If it was the cannibal tribe, they have a custom of offering sacrifices to their gods before eating their victims, so the Diancang Sect members wouldn''t have been eaten right away."
Then how much time do we have?
Not that much
Zhou Xuchuan suddenly froze, and his eyes narrowed.
"...!"
Tang Lian also felt something strange. Tang Hui nced around and gave orders to the warriors.
The search party began forming groups of three or five, moving cautiously to avoid detection.
How many are there?
Zhou Xuchuan focused on his five senses and even spread his qi sense. His wide-spread qi sense rippled in waves and swept through the forest.
His senses passed a tree sorge that it couldn''t be wrapped around by four or five people, and searched through the thick brushes.
Found them.
His sharp senses detected eight people. All of them were quite powerful as they hid in all directions.
"There are eight of them in each direction! Be on alert!"
As soon as Zhou Xuchuan gave the order, the search party moved in unison.
Initially, Tang Lian was leading the party, but after Zhou Xuchuan joined, themand began to shift. He already knew a little about the Southern Jungles, and since there was no one stronger than him, it was natural.
Tang Lian also recognized that, so he followed along obediently withoutint.
Thwip!
"Ugh!"
One of the warriors grabbed his nape and copsed. Since he was opposite Zhou Xuchuan, he wasn''t able to save him.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened as he examined the warriors nape. Upon closer inspection, he could see a needle.
"They''re using poisoned needles! Be careful!"
The people of the Southern Jungles mainly used poison arts, heretical arts and beast arts. Moreover, the poisons they used were iparable to what was used in the Central ins.
The poisons that appeared on Mount Ao, known as the Poisonblood Valley, were all alsomonly found here in the Southern Jungles.
"Whew!"
Zhou Xuchuan exhaled deeply, his muscles swelling as his blood circted rapidly. His head felt hot, and his dantian boiled with energy.
"You dare!"
Stepping forward with his left foot, he swung his beloved sword, Taie, with all his might. This time, he wielded it with both hands. It was the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword.
Boom!
It was a sword imbued with weight. As he swung his heavy sword, the sword pressure increased ordingly. The pressure gathered and turned into a wind, bing a tempest.
A loud, ripping sound tore through the atmosphere, followed by the eruption of a massive sword wind that swept everything before it.
BOOM!
The sheer force of the sword wind caused an explosion, shaking a massive tree in front of him. The bushes split apart, revealing two hidden cannibal tribesmen, who were thrown to the ground and rolled helplessly across the ground.
As expected, it''s as powerful as I thought. The weight I can handle has increased, and it''s more stable, too. Most importantly, since I''m using Tai''e instead of an iron sword, there''s no need to force myself to keep it stable.
Zhou Xuchuan was both surprised and satisfied.
It was worth the hard work of training the Iron Shirt. In fact, beyond strengthening his body, it had a more meaningful effect on his ability to perform the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword more perfectly.
"You dare!"
As the cannibalistic tribesmen tried to stand again, Zhou Xuchuan kicked off the ground and ran forward.
He tried to close the distance to deal with them quickly, not knowing what they would do next. Suddenly, he detected movement nearby.
Right as two of the tribesmen were attacked, two people came out from the bushes on each side and attacked from the side.
At the same time, the tribesmen that had fallen jumped up.
Oho! Are they fishing?
They would make one run-in before one waspletely prepared and finish them off in an instant. The tactic wasmendable.
However, Zhou Xuchuan was already wary of that. Even if he wasn''t wary in the first ce, it wasn''t dangerous for him at all.
He switched from a two-handed grip to a one-handed grip, and instead of using the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword, he executed the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom for the first time in a long time.
Swish!
Sword threads were emitted brilliantly. The cannibalistic tribesmen let out startled cries, but they were silenced almost immediately.
Although it wasn''t a quick sword technique, as a technique executed by a Harmony Realm Master, its speed was incredible. The area around him was torn apart.
"Agk!"
The four cannibalistic tribesmen who were targeting what seemed to be their prey were killed instantly.
Zhou Xuchuan turned around and shouted as soon as he confirmed that his targets were dead.
"The forest is their territory! Don''t push yourselves too far and let yourself get dragged away. Respond calmly while relying on each other!"
With the situation the way it was, he omitted all honorifics.
"Ugh!"
"Agh!"
However, there were still many casualties.
They hadn''t gotten caught in the fishing trap. They had been killed and by the poison needles flying through the bushes.
"A warrior of the Tang Family is getting affected by poison needles this easily?"
Tang Lian was dumbfounded.
Even if the warriors weren''t of the direct or branch bloodlines, the warrior guards of the Tang Family were close to poison, meaning that their resistance was naturally high.
"How dare you? Who do you think you''re facing"
Not only Tang Lian but Tang Hui''s pride was also hurt. She was absolutely infuriated about the fact that members of the Tang Family were getting yed with by poison needles.
"I''ll show you the poisons of the Central ins!"
Tang Hui extended her right hand, unleashing hidden weapons from her sleeve.
However, the surrounding environment wasn''t suitable for using hidden weapons.
No matter how urately she threw them, there were too many variables, such as the enormous trees, leaves, and vines that were obstructing the attack. Furthermore, the cannibalistic tribesmen moved through the bushes, making her efforts almost meaningless.
So, realizing that his sword might be an obstacle too, Zhou Xuchuan instead started to tear through the bushes in front of him using his sword wind.
The tropical climate, the suffocating heat and humidity, the bugs and poisonous creatures that kepting in, and even the dense terrain!
With the cannibalistic tribesmen being nearly invisible as they attacked, the Southern Jungles were truly like hell.
It wasn''t without reason that the imperial government and the murim of the Central ins hadn''t advanced into the Southern Jungles. The environment itself was so harsh that it was simply too difficult to do so.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t understand the people who lived in such a ce.
"Wait!"
Zhou Xuchuan quickly stepped forward to prevent any idents.
He used his sword wind to the bushes apart, then used the sword techniques of the Mount Hua Sect to deal with three of the tribesmen in an instant.
"Did you leave one on purpose?" Tang Hui asked when she saw one of them running away.
"Yes. We need to know where their den is. Let''s dose the fallen warriors with antidotes and move quickly."
The Benevolence Clinic hadn''t asked Zhou Xuchuan for help without good reason. Knowing the environment and the dangers of the Southern Jungles, they had felt that the Tang Family alone wouldn''t have been enough and had asked for him.
"Will we be okay?" she asked.
"Without the Diancang Sect, the search will be even harder. I just hope that they''re still alive," Zhou Xuchuan responded.
He also hoped that the Divine Physician hadn''t been captured by the cannibalistic tribe.
That would be the worst-case scenario.
Chapter 182: The Cannibalistic Tribe (1)
Chapter 182: The Cannibalistic Tribe (1)
Shrouded by the dense trees of the forest was an ancient temple coveredpletely in moss. It was old, but the passage of time had failed to affect its immense majesty.
"To think the Diancang Sect was defeated so easily"
Two weeks ago, they decided to do some exploration while waiting for the Tang Family and the Plum Blossom Order Sword in the southernmost vige of Yunnan.
At first, there weren''t really any issues. Since time immemorial, people had been paying for guides to lead them between Yunnan and the Southern Jungles. There was no need to worry about getting lost, and they didn''t have to struggle in vain.
They arrived at a suitable ce to set up camp, and once the surroundings were clean, they immediately set up camp.
Everything was good so far, but something eventually went wrongthey were attacked by the cannibalistic tribe.
They were familiar with the major tribes of the Southern Jungles, and they had prepared against them in their own ways, but that was exactly their problemthe Diancang Sect had be too confident.
The cannibalistic tribe was stronger than they thought. The martial arts, poison arts, and heretical arts that couldn''t be found in the Central ins were just too overwhelming for them to handle.
In the end, the Diancang Sect considered to be the greatest in actualbat within the Nine Sects and One Gangno, in the Righteous Faction''s murim, couldn''t handle the attack.Fifty disciples were chosen to search for the Divine Physician, and ten of them died, while the remaining forty were captured alive.
"Let us go! Do you not know who we are?!"
"How dare you cowards use Qi Dispersion Poison!"
Uponing to their senses, they found themselves behind iron bars. They tried to circte their cultivation bases, but they couldn''t gather qi due to the effects of the Qi Dispersion Poison.
Is this the end?
They were aware of the cannibalistic tribe''s habits. As their name suggested, they were cannibals. They''d mutter an incantation in an unknownnguage to perform a ritual before rushing in and tearing through the flesh of their victims.
The disciples of the Diancang Sect turned pale at the thought of that, but they couldn''t do anything but wait for their demise.
***
Zhou Xuchuan was moving around busily for any traces of the cannibalistic tribe, and he was trying his best to hide his presence while moving around.
Meanwhile, the search party was behind him.
Oh, no one noticed Little Ghost.
Zhou Xuchuan had been wondering how he''d exin things if they somehow noticed her, but it turned out that there was no need to do that at all. Even Tang Hui and Tang Liantwo Transcendent Realm expertscouldn''t sense her.
Clearly, there was a reason Little Ghost was considered a Phantom.
Little Ghost was already a perfect assassin of the Valley of Phantoms, but she had grown slightly while following Zhou Xuchuan. Zhou Xuchuan would also spar with her whenever he was bored, so her growth was inevitable.
"Earlier, I noticed that you know an awful lot about the cannibalistic tribe. Why is that?" Tang Hui asked, sounding curious.
"I read them in a book about the Southern Jungles."
"That sounds great."
The search party members'' faces brightened at Zhou Xuchuan''s words.
Humans were always afraid of the unknown, but Zhou Xuchuan''s words meant that they were no longer dealing with the unknown.
"Then, can you tell us what to keep in mind?" Tang Lian asked with a smile.
"As you saw earlier, their poison needles are quite strong. Moreover, they treat the terrain of the Southern Jungles as if it were the backyard of their homes, making things even more difficult for us."
"We noticed that, too. They were really annoying."
The Tang Family''s specialty was hidden weapons, so they were in the worst possible environment. The terrain was blocking their every move, making them essentially useless.
"However, they''re still not that easy to defeat in closebat. The tribesmen are masters ofbat. Look at this," Zhou Xuchuan said. He took out a knife that he had taken from one of the tribesmen and disyed it to everyone.
"A machete?"
It was too short to be called a saber but too long to be called a dagger.
It was medium-length, and its de was slightly curved.
"In the Southern Jungles, this is called a Jungle de."
It was a tool used for cutting down trees and weeds. The de was thick and strong, so it wouldn''t budge even when cutting through the thickest of thickets.
It was made to cleave through trees and vines, so it was highly destructive. Of course, some tribes in the Southern Jungles liked to use it to cleave through people.
Thus, shing moves using the Jungle de wereter studied and were eventually developed into techniques.
"Unless you''re confident in closebat, gather in at least groups of three and gang up on one tribesman."
"Do we really have to use three people to take on one?" Tang Lian asked, frowning. It stung to see that the Heaven''s Greatest Tang Family had to act so cautiously against just one tribesman.
"Don''t forget that we''re in the Southern Jungles rather than in the Central ins. Your men won''t be able to adapt to the climate here soon, so they won''t be able to show their true strength. You should also keep in mind that this is their domain."
In order to not hurt their pride, Zhou Xuchuan made sure to me it on the environment. To be honest, there was a reason he decided to me the environment instead of the Tang Family members.
Ugh, the Tang Family brats are really annoying, Zhou Xuchuan remarked inwardly.
Tang Hui had the worst personality among them, but the members of the branch families generally had the same personality as each other. In other words, they were all incredibly proud.
They were also narrow-mindedso narrow-minded that if they developed a grudge against someone, they''d never let it go. That grudge would even be passed down to their children.
With that in mind, Zhou Xuchuan decided to please them somehow so that no trouble would arise.
Tang Hui alone was exhausting to handle.
"Why do I feel like someone just cursed at me?" Tang Hui asked, ncing at Zhou Xuchuan with a sharp gaze.
"It must be the humidity. It''s so humid here that one''s mood is easily ruined," Zhou Xuchuan replied, lying without batting an eyelid.
Zhou Xuchuan continued on his task. About an hourter, just as Zhou Xuchuan''s breathing became ragged from the exertion, the sound of drums echoed from behind the distant bushes.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sound of drums echoed throughout the entire forest.
They became louder and louder as Zhou Xuchuan approached. Soon, the noises sounded like they were right next to his ears.
From that point on, Zhou Xuchuan slowed down. He stuck as close to the ground as possible and crawled so as not to make a sound. To avoid getting caught, he told the search party to stop behind the bushes.
Zhou Xuchuan then used the Divine Phantom Art and went past the bushes.
Found them! Zhou Xuchuan smiled faintly. A massive temple built in the middle of the forest was right behind the bushes. There are a lot of them.
It seemed that he had somehow stumbled upon their base. The number of tribesmen was roughly two hundredan impressive number. The security was tight, as they were performing some kind of ritual.
The tribesmen covered in patterns were everywhere with Jungle des and spears in hand.
Where are they?
Zhou Xuchuan looked for the Diancang Sect members, but he couldn''t find them anywhere.
Still, he didn''t lose hope. He was at the rear of the temple, after all. He couldn''t see the entrance, so he believed that the hostages were near the main gate, which was on the other side.
Rustle, rustle, rustle
Amotion echoed from beyond the temple while Zhou Xuchuan was busy looking around.
Is that the one who ran away?
It seemed like the bait that had guided him here had decided to inform the tribesmen of what was going on. However, it wasn''t like he nned on wasting time here. Here, even the Tang Family can fight to their heart''s content.
They were in the middle of arge forest, but they were at the base of the cannibalistic tribe, so there were no trees or bushes in the way, making their lives significantly easier.
If he could fight without worrying about the Tang Family, it''d be great.
That was why there was nothing bad about the sight before him.
Good. We''ll move out just like this. Zhou Xuchuan stepped back with Little Ghost by his side. The search party members were about twenty zhang away from him; he moved there quickly and exined the outline of the operation.
Then, they moved out afterward.
Twenty-seven Zhou Xuchuan thought.
The warriors who had fallen after getting hit by the poison needles earlier were hidden under a tree in the nearby bushes. Three were missing, so there were twenty-seven warriors remaining.
If Zhou Xuchuan were included, there would be twenty-eight.
It was annoying to protect them all while fighting against the over two hundred cannibalistic tribesmen, but Zhou Xuchuan had no other choice.
Zhou Xuchuan''s n was to move to the other side of the temple, rescue the Diancang Sect members, and join the others immediately afterward.
Thud.
He lobbed a small stone in front of the bush where they were hiding. Two cannibalistic tribesmen in the middle of their patrol heard the noise and walked toward where it hade from.
Rustle, rustle, rustle
Perhaps because the tribesmen were on patrol, but they were moving cautiously.
One stood at the helm with arge Jungle de in hand to prepare for an ambush, while the other was at the rear with a bamboo tube in his mouth, ready to shoot poison needles.
A tense air hung above the search party. When the tension thickened to the point of bing palpable, the tribesmen finally came right up to their noses.
Just as the tribesman at the helm was about to poke the bushes with the Jungle de
Swish!
The bushes parted, and a dagger popped out.
It moved so fast that it was impossible to react in time.
"Ugh!" the tribesman with a bamboo tube in his mouth groaned. There was a dagger stuck in their neck. Blood was gushing out of the wound, and he copsed to the ground without being able to do anything.
"...!"
The tribesman at the helm was startled. He quickly realized that they were under attack, so he moved to sound the rm, but
Swish!
Zhou Xuchuan jumped out of the bushes. He grabbed the guard''s forehead and chin before twisting them at once.
Crack.
It was an instant kill.
"You move like an assassin, not a Daoist," Tang Hui remarked.
Swoosh!
Tang Hui pulled the thin thread attached to her wrist. The dagger stuck in the tribesman''s neck returned to her sleeve. It was a hidden weapon called the Flying Knife. It had a limited range, but it could be retrieved from afar and was generally a flexible weapon.
"The gangho is a dangerous ce, after all? Shouldn''t we all learn one stealth move or two?" Zhou Xuchuan replied, nonchntly smirking at Tang Hui''s question.
Tang Hui squinted her eyes and looked at him as if he were suspicious.
"Now, let''s go." Zhou Xuchuan grabbed the Jungle de from the tribesman whose neck he had twisted in one swift motion. The weapon felt pleasantly heavy in his palm.
"Enemy! Food! Enemy!"
Unfortunately, there were more than just one or two guards. When the group walked a bit further in, the tribesmen who had been waiting for them came out right away.
They broke in from the northwest of the temple. The guards up ahead and on the side spotted the group as well.
"Looks like even you brutes can talk," Tang Lian muttered in surprise. Their pronunciation made it a bit hard to understand, but they were clearly speaking thenguage of the Central ins.
"We''re not managing it anymore, but we absorbed this territory when they lost to the Central ins, so of course, they do speak ournguage."
If they were in the southern part of the Southern Jungles, things would be different. However, they were in the northern part of the Southern Jungles, which was near the Central ins, so it wasn''t strange for this tribe to speak thenguage of the Central ins.
"Whew!" Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath. Then, he swung his right arm coolly.
Swoosh!
The Jungle de flew out of his hand. It spun beautifully in the air and struck the head of a tribesman in front of him.
"...!" the cannibalistic tribesmen eximed.
Zhou Xuchuan drew his sword hanging at his waist and shouted, "Search party from the Central ins! We''vee to rescue you!"
"AYAAAAAAA!"
However, his voice was drowned out by the roar of the cannibalistic tribesmen.
"AYAAAAAAA!"
At first, only one tribesman was roaring, but another one roared, and then another until roars could be heard in all directions. Enemies appeared one after another amidst the roars; they were alling from all directions, too.
It seemed that Zhou Xuchuan and the others had caused amotion great enough to attract the attention of the tribesmen busy performing a ritual in front of the temple.
"They aren''t going toe with us at full force, are they?" Yuan Dashi broke out into a cold sweat when he saw the sheer number of enemies. He knew that there were many of them, but he was still surprised by their numbers.
"We''re the best in the family, yes, but didn''t Great Hero Zhou tell you not to underestimate the power of the Southern Jungles?"
Tang Lian also swallowed his words, putting aside his high pride.
"If they push through from there"
"Don''t worry," Zhou Xuchuan said, walking forward as if he were taking a leisurely stroll. Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes narrowed, and a murderous light glimmered from his fierce eyes. "I can make a breakthrough over there."
Zhou Xuchuan''s confidence was so absurd that it dumbfounded Tang Hui.
However, no one here could deny his words.
Some of them even nodded, seemingly convinced by his words.
Tang Hui chuckled coldly at their reactions.
"That''s right. One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, the Hero of the Righteous Faction, and the direct disciple of the Mount Hua Sectthe Plum Blossom Order Sword is here, so there''s no need for us to be afraid.
"Oh, oh, dear, isn''t that great? I think the Tang Family''s warriors should just leave everything to Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan. No, why don''t we all just move to the Mount Hua Sect?"
"..."
The faces of the Tang Family warriors darkened. Right now, they had to worry about putting food on their table rather than the cannibalistic tribe before them.
Chapter 183: The Cannibalistic Tribe (2)
The ruler of the cannibalistic tribe, the High Priest, couldn''t contain his anger. It hadn''t been that long since prey had entered their territory. They assumed it was an attack from another tribe, but they were mistaken.
They were martial artists from the Central ins. The meat of martial artists wasn''t very tasty. They had been training their muscles to take on attacks, so their flesh was tough. They also had a strong, gamey smell, making it difficult to eat.
However, their true value was in their hearts, intestines, and brains. Although those organs were not tasty, eating them would bestow strength upon the tribesmen.
Those organs were particrly useful to the High Priest, as they would increase the strength of his sorcery. Thus, he grew hungry upon seeing martial artists from the Central ins.
He had ordered his people to attack and capture them. He was in the middle of the necessary ritual to consume those martial artists, but to think that he''d be interrupted!
"Who dares interfere with the sacred ritual?!"
They were under attack.
"Find out who they are!" shouted the High Priest.
The warriors moved in response to the High Priest''s orders."They''re from the Central ins!"
"Hmm?" The High Priest''s anger subsided, and a cruel smile spread across his lips.
If the attacks were from another tribe, he would punish his people for allowing them to interrupt the ritual. However, he felt better upon hearing that the attacks were from the Central ins.
"What a surprise. The God of the Southern Jungles is looking out for us." At first, he thought that they were attacking with at least two hundred, or even a hundred, people, but he burst outughing upon seeing their numbers.
"There''s not even thirty of them? What crazy bastards. The martial artists of the Central ins truly are arrogant. Hahaha." The High Priestughed boisterously as if he wanted the intruders to hear him.
However, hisughter was actually intended for the people trapped in a cage in the distance.
"Did you hear that? There aren''t even thirty of them! Just wait; I''ll soon have you reunite with your people!"
The thought of having more food made the High Priest whistle with joy.
***
Snap!
Zhou Xuchuan snapped his fingers in front of him.
"Hmph!" Arge-framed tribesman snorted and stepped forward.
It was dark, so Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t been able to see them until now. The members of the cannibalistic tribe had unique features. Their skin looked healthy and tanned; perhaps it was because they were usually exposed to sunlight.
Their bodies were also covered in indecipherable patterns.
The tribesman before him had his upper body exposed to the air, and his muscles looked perfect, as if they were the great work of a sculptor.
Moreover, his most striking feature was his eyes.
Zhou Xuchuan felt like he was staring at a hungry beast waiting for its prey.
"I, the warrior"
"If you''re going to talk about honor or something, then stop. I can''t be bothered to remember the name of a man who eats human flesh or shit like that," Zhou Xuchuan remarked, twirling his sword in his hand.
"Kekeke!"
"Keke!"
The surrounding tribesmen burst out intoughter due to Zhou Xuchuan''s interruption.
It seemed that they weren''t taking the situation seriously at all. It was like they were watching a hunt.
The insulted warrior''s pride was hurt. His face flushed crimson, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
"Ha!" Therge-framed tribesman eximed. He believed that there was no need for further conversation, so he moved quickly. He was surprisingly agile despite his size.
Zhou Xuchuan stared quietly at the oing tribesman.
What is he? A First ss expert? A Peak expert?
Zhou Xuchuan could sense the tribesman''s cultivation realm just by looking at thetter''s aura. It wasn''t just the tribesman, but the nearby tribesmen seemed to be at the same level of strength as therge-framed tribesman.
As expected, thew of the jungle reigns here. The Southern Jungles resembled the Demon Cultan organization that believed in thew of strengththe weak were devoured, and the strong survived by devouring the weak.
The Southern Jungles had fewer people than the Central ins, but due to thew of the jungle, their experts were considerably superiorpared to the experts of the Central ins.
Thump, thump, thump.
Zhou Xuchuan''s pulse quickened, and his blood flowed freely throughout him. His hands seemed to harden, and he was filled with the tion before a great battle.
Thud!
Just as therge-framed tribesman reached Zhou Xuchuan, thetter''s figure shot forward.
"!"
Therge-framed tribesman''s eyes widened. He was agitated and furious, but his instincts allowed him to grasp what was going on.
No!
The figure before him looked like weak prey, but for some reason, the prey disappeared right as he blinked and reappeared right in front of his nose. The prey was so fast that he couldn''t keep up with it.
In fact, only a few people in the tribe could rival the prey''s speed.
rm bells rang in his head, and his instincts told him not to approach recklessly.
However, it was already toote for him.
Before he could stop his legs from going any further, a ray of light manifested in front of him, and it drew a diagonal line across him.
Squelch.
Therge-framed tribesman''s vision was split diagonally before slowly sliding down to the groundno, it wasn''t just his vision. His entire body was split diagonally, and both parts were falling to the ground.
Zhou Xuchuan reached therge-framed tribesman in the blink of an eye and swung his sword diagonally, splitting therge-framed tribesman into two.
"Ha!"
However, Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t done yet.
He sheathed his sword again and shed upward.
Hum!
A resonant sword hum echoed, and faint violet wisps of qi gathered around his de.
Boom!
A thunderous boom echoed as air itself was torn apart not by Zhou Xuchuan''s sword but by his fleshly body. Zhou Xuchuan had kicked off of the ground, lunging forward at astonishing speeds.
Zhou Xuchuan''s legs contained great explosive power, allowing him to move faster than a typhoon. At the same time, his sword moved in a straight line.
"Ah!" The four tribesmen nearest to Zhou Xuchuan inhaled sharply at the sight and stared wide-eyed at thetter. They were surprised by Zhou Xuchuan''s unbelievable movement speed, but that was all they could do.
The price for getting caught off guard was massive, and they had to pay that price.
Squelch!
A refreshing, crisp noise echoed, and the arm of the tribesman closest to Zhou Xuchuan was severed cleanly.
Swish!
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s attack was not over yet. Afterpleting the strike physically, the sword qi followed afterward.
The tribesmen''s habit of moving in groups had be an obstacle. The tribesman standing right behind the first tribesman walked right into the sword qi.
"Ugh!"
A long line of blood was drawn across his chest. His skin wascerated, and the flesh beneath was gouged out. The scattered blood turned into a mist that bloomed eerily in the air.
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword, bowing away the blood that was about to stter onto his face with a sword wind.
"AAAAH!!!" someone screamed in agonizing pain. There was no need for Zhou Xuchuan to turn around to know that the scream hade from the tribesman whose hand had gone flying just now.
Swoosh!
Zhou Xuchuan spun on his right foot, and a Jungle de pierced the ground where he stood not too long ago. A deafening explosion reverberated as soon as the de pierced the ground, and the loud noise battered Zhou Xuchuan''s eardrums.
Boom!
Poison needles from the northwest!
Zhou Xuchuan caught the subtle movements of the tribesmen around him. His pupils moved up, down, left, and right at a frightening speed, and his heightened senses enveloped his surroundings like a.
"Come!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed. Then, he grabbed the tribesman with a severed arm by the throat and used him as a human shield. Several poison needles flew in from the northwest and pierced the human shield.
"Tang Family!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed.
"I know."
Tang Hui took out a ball the size of a child''s head from her arms.
It was an ordinary-looking ck ball.
"I''ll show you the power of the Tang Family."
Ping!
Tang Hui exerted strength and lobbed the ball into the skies.
It seemed that she added a spin to the ball before throwing it, as it was spinning beautifully in midair. Strangely, its movement wasn''t rough at all despite the rapid spin. The ball descended gently and slowly as if it were on a waterfall.
As soon as it descended before her chest, Tang Hui used all of her might to smack the ball with a double palm attack.
Tang!
"Wait a minute, that''s not" Zhou Xuchuan was terrified to see the flying ball. It reminded him of the Tang Family''s secret weapon during that war.
"Heavenly Thunder Sphere ()."
BOOOM!
The ball exploded and erupted into mes in the midst of the cannibalistic tribesmen. The loud explosion shook both the heavens and the earth. To make matters worse, the explosion propelled thousands of needles in all directions.
"Ugh!"
"Argh!"
"Agk!!!"
The desperate screams of the cannibalistic tribesmen echoed here and there.
They were engulfed in mes and impaled with needles.
The needles weren''t regr, ordinary needles, and the powerful explosion had pressurized them into spheres that exploded inside the cannibalistic tribesmen upon impact.
The destructive might of the needles was immense. They even pierced and shattered the bones of those unfortunate to get hit in the bones.
The attack was so powerful that it literally shook the heavens.
If there were other members of the Righteous Faction present, they''d be infuriated and say that this was no longer a martial art.
The Heavenly Thunder Sphere has alreadye out? Why? Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but feel flustered as the heat of the mes licked his skin. His expression betrayed hisplete and utter bewilderment. I thought Heavenly Thunder Spheres were developed during the Era of War and Chaos, which was after the Great War of Good and Evil?
The Tang Family had invented the Heavenly Thunder Sphere, but the Righteous Factionno, the entire murim, would find it difficult to make the decision to use it.
While poison arts and hidden weapon skills could barely be considered on the same level as martial arts, the Heavenly Thunder Sphere was just an explosive. It was a weapon that incited disgust in those who worshiped martial arts.
After experiencing several crises during the Era of War and Chaos, the Tang Family was rmed to the extent that they ended up developing the Heavenly Thunder Spheres and using them on battlefields.
At the time, there were many discussions about it, specifically about whether one ought to use it or not.
"Don''t make that kind of face; I only brought it here for an experiment. And I only used it because they''re ruthless brutes. Using something like that in the Central ins is too far, even for me," Tang Hui exined upon seeing Zhou Xuchuan''s confused face.
She assumed that Zhou Xuchuan was disgusted by the Heavenly Thunder Sphere.
"It''s indeed as powerful as he said. However, it''s not very cost-effective."
"He?"
"Young Master Zhuge. When I was staying with the Gold Will Merchants, I asked your younger brother about this and that, and he kindly told me what I wanted to know"
So it was you!
Now that he thought about it, the Tang Family had indeed shown a lot of interest in Zhuge Shengji back then. After all, weren''t they the buyers of the Multiple Fire Lance Launcher''s blueprints?
It seemed that Tang Hui had gone to Zhuge Shengji to ask about mechanisms without confiding her intentions to the young man.
Zhuge Shengji was a man obsessed with mechanisms, so he had to have been excited upon hearing of Tang Hui''s interest and had ended up telling her many things.
"U-ugh!"
"D-devils!"
"They''re devils! They''re monsters!"
The Heavenly Thunder Sphere struck around forty to fifty people.
More than half of them died, and the other half were left seriously injured.
The cannibalistic tribe was no longer as leisurely as before. They red at the group with eyes full of fear, caution, and rage.
"You man-eaters are really calling us devils?" Zhou Xuchuan shook the dust off of his clothes and cast a dumbfounded gaze at the tribesmen.
"How ridiculous." Tang Hui furrowed her eyebrows.
"This isn''t the time for a conversation!" Yuan Dashi shouted. He could feel the encirclement closing in on them.
"We''ll make a breakthrough here!"
Tang Lian clenched his fist and raised it above his head.
"Aaaah!"
"Follow the miss!"
"Show them the terror of the Tang Family!"
The cannibalistic tribe was overwhelmed by the Heavenly Thunder Sphere, while the morale of the Tang Family skyrocketed. They were trembling in excitement at the might of their Ancient Family.
"Let''s go!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted. He wanted to finish things up, and his shout echoed like the Shaolin Temple''s Lion Roar.
"Roar!"
Zhou Xuchuan had decided to leave the nks and the rear to the Tang Family warriors. His job was to charge up ahead and eliminate the tribesmen on their way.
Swoosh!
"Agk!"
"Ugh!"
The tribesmen were strong, but they were only equivalent to the Peak Realm experts of the Central ins. Moreover, they specialized in fighting in the forest rather than in open areas, so they couldn''t unleash their full strength.
Zhou Xuchuan took advantage of that weakness and dug deeper into their midst.
"We''re over here!"
"Save us!"
Zhou Xuchuan was finally on the other side of the temple, and he saw a cage in the middle of the temple.
There seemed to be people from the Central ins trapped in the cage made out of iron bars, and Zhou Xuchuan assumed that they were members of the Diancang Sect.
"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan said unknowingly. His vision technique allowed him to check the faces inside the cage, and he saw a familiar face among them.
The other party also stared in surprise at Zhou Xuchuan.
"The Seventh Young Master of Diancang?"
"Great Hero Zhou?!"
The other party was the warrior Zhou Xuchuan had met in the Poisonblood Valley, and the two of them had even hunted down the Seven-Horned Serpent.
The familiar face belonged to none other than the Seventh Young Master of the Seven Young Masters of DiancangDuan Hecheng.
Chapter 184: To Meet Again on the Battlefield (1)
Ayaaaaa!
The two had no time to greet each other, as the roars echoing from all over the ce forced them to raise their guards.
Zhou Xuchuan bent his knees and kicked off the ground.
"Stop him!" the High Priest shouted from the top of the temple.
Ten cannibalistic tribesmen responded to the order and rushed to block Zhou Xuchuan''s path.
"Roaaar!" Zhou Xuchuan roared like a beast. It wasn''t just a simple shout; he had imbued his voice with qi.
The ten cannibalistic tribesmen stopped at the same time. Their pupils dted, and their muscles quivered; their bodies refused to listen to their instructions as if they had encountered something utterly terrifying.
"Two!" Zhou Xuchuan passed down a death sentence. He rushed to the tribesmen and swung his sword twice.
Swish!A gust of wind was generated, and the cannibalistic tribesmen managed toe to their senses and raise their Jungle des to block.
ng!
When Zhou Xuchuan''s sword collided with their des, however, they were cut cleanly like water, even though they were the thick and sturdy Jungle des of the Southern Jungles.
The cannibalistic tribesmen stared wide-eyed in shock, and their shrunken pupils reflected Zhou Xuchuan''s sword aura.
"Ah!" a cannibalistic tribesman screamed and died. Immediately afterward, their weapons were cut cleanly into two as their bodies struck the ground.
It wasn''t just a single cannibalistic tribesman; two of them had died at Zhou Xuchuan''s hands. It happened so quickly that the others were too stunned to respond.
"A monster!"
The ten cannibalistic tribesmen had been reduced to eight, and the remaining eight cannibalistic tribesmen were in disbelief.
However, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t care less about their feelings.
He quietly moved forward and continued on his hunt.
"Surround him!" one of the cannibalistic tribesmen eximed. They had been making fun of their enemy just a few moments ago, but now, they were forced to change their tactics.
They were sweating from the palpable tension in the air.
Whoosh!
The eight cannibalistic tribesmen moved quickly. There was no such thing as a one-on-one duel here. They could feel an impending crisis, and it forced them to set out on their hunt.
"Kill him!"
The eight people divided into four groups of two and attacked Zhou Xuchuan.
Poison needles flew in from all directions, and they were followed by the cannibalistic tribesmen holding their own Jungle de with thick bloodlust radiating from their eyes.
"Ha!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted. His voice was so loud that it tore through the air, but Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t changed the flow of the air nor created a gust of wind by shouting, as those were the domain of sonic arts.
Instead, he took to the air, avoiding the poison needles.
The poison needles collided with each other right where he had just been standing.
He fell for it!
Stupid bastard!
The cannibalistic tribesmen smiled in satisfaction.
The poison needles had been a trap; it was a trap to force Zhou Xuchuan into jumping.
Humans were incapable of flight, so their actions were bound to be restricted in midair. The cannibalistic tribesmen waited for the apex of Zhou Xuchuan''s jumpjust as he began fallingbefore swinging their Jungle des at him.
Shing!
The air was torn apart, and a screeching noise echoed as the Jungle des cut through the air itself. Their target was the man stuck in midair, Zhou Xuchuan.
They closed in from all directions, leaving Zhou Xuchuan with no room to escape.
They got as close as possible to ensure that Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t be able to make any maneuvers in midair.
To make matters worse, they filled the air with their saber qi. Even if they were to miss and create an opening, they believed that Zhou Xuchuan would still be cleaved open by the saber qi around their des.
However, their expectations were shattered the next moment.
Sword Drill!
There weren''t many techniques in the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword Art. The Ten-Thousand Jin Sword was a simple sword art that focused only on increasing the weight of one''s sword.
The simpleness of the technique, however, didn''t mean that the sword art had no sword techniques whatsoever. It had a few sword techniques, and one of them could only be used once one reached the fifth stage of the sword art.
Sword Drill.
One had to hold the sword with both hands and then point it at the ground. In addition to leveraging one''s physical prowess to unleash the technique, one also had to imbue one''s sword with qi to increase its weight drastically.
Falling down from up high, the sword would draw a straight line in the air. Its descent speed would increase rapidly as the sword became heavier and heavier in midair.
In the end, it would move so fast that rather than falling; it would seem like it was teleporting toward its destination.
Swish.
"Ah!" the cannibalistic tribesmen gasped in surprise. They received no feedback from the saber in their hands. Their Jungle de had cut nothing but empty space.
How could this be?!
Their attacks struck nothing but thin air; they didn''t even graze Zhou Xuchuan''s cor. Unfortunately, they had used all of their strength, so the consequences of missing their target were massive.
Before they could recover from their missed swing, an explosion urred, leaving them reeling.
BOOOM!
The sword imbued with an incalcble amount of weight pierced the ground, and it embedded in the ground as if it were a drill[1].
Actually, it hadn''t just pierced the ground. It shattered the groundpletely.
Pebbles and rocks were gouged out of the earth as it seemed to have been flipped over by the devastating attack. Among the debris was a sharp rock. It took to the air and pierced the chest of a nearby cannibalistic tribesman.
"Argh!"
Red blood spurted out of his mouth. The cannibalistic tribesmen standing right next to him were at a loss for what to do next, and they panicked. Unable to see the debris flying toward them, the debris easily pierced them.
Shwik, shwik, shwik!
The dense muscles of the cannibalistic tribesmen proved useless against the debris propelled at unbelievable speeds. They dug into the cannibalistic tribesmen''s muscles and punctured the organs underneath.
"Agk!"
"Agh!!"
The cannibalistic tribesmen screamed and dropped to the ground. The four who dared to approach Zhou Xuchuan were all killed by the debris from the shockwave.
"Six!" Zhou Xuchuan counted.[2] It was a call from the herald of death.
Thud!
Zhou Xuchuan''s leg swelled as energy burst out of his Yongquan acupoint. The next moment, he disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a streak of lighting from his eyes.
No!
The cannibalistic tribesmen who were responsible for the poison needles earlier felt a deep sense of foreboding. They hurriedly attempted to grab the Jungle de at their waists, but Zhou Xuchuan had no ns of letting them make a move.
Zhou Xuchuan moving at high speeds drew a splendid sword line in the air.
"Agk!"
"Ugh!"
The cannibalistic tribesmen barely managed to hold onto their lives earlier, and they finally fell without being able to touch their sabers.
Zhou Xuchuan made quick work of eight cannibalistic tribesmen, taking their lives in less than a few moments. The battlefield was clear of any enemies in the proverbial blink of an eye.
"Cough, cough. Everything else is fine, but you''re all too noisy."
Zhou Xuchuan casually emerged from the dust that had billowed out from his movements.
Duan Hecheng had no idea what to say. His jaw dropped wide open, and he let out a dumbfounded noise. "Hweh?"
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword!"
"He truly deserves his title"
The disciples of the Diancang Sect were as shocked as Duan Hecheng. They were rendered speechless and left astonished by Zhou Xuchuan''s god-like power.
The cannibalistic tribesmen who had been harassing them until recently weren''t enemies that could be defeated so easily. As if he were mocking them, however, Zhou Xuchuan made quick work of those cannibalistic tribesmen.
I never thought I''d receive his help again.
Duan Hecheng recalled the time he spent in the Poisonblood Valley.
At the time, he had lost hope and had fallen into despair, but he had appeared like a hero and saved his life. Duan Hecheng would never forget Zhou Xuchuan''s kindness on that fateful day.
"Are you okay?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, walking up to the Diancang Sect disciples. He swung his sword, and the iron bars were cut cleanly, falling to the ground with a loud noise.
Duan Hecheng emerged and greeted him with sincerity. "To think I''d end up owing you my life again. Thank you very much."
"It''s been a while. I''d like to chat with you, but unfortunately, we don''t have the time to do that. Can you help?"
"We''d like to help, but our qi is still being suppressed by the Qi Dispersion Poison. I''m sorry for the trouble."
"It should be fine. I brought poison masters with me," Zhou Xuchuan replied calmly. He then turned around nonchntly to face the Tang Family members in the distance and called out, "Over here! We need detoxification over here!"
"Are you kidding me?" Tang Hui gnashed her teeth. Drenched in blood, she and the others barely managed to shatter the cannibalistic tribesmen''s encirclement.
Zhou Xuchuan had drawn a big chunk of the attention through his rampage, but he hadn''t contained all of the chaos. The Tang Family had to fight their way through the encirclement.
"It''s the Tang Family!"
"Thank the heavens!"
"We''re saved!"
Theplexions of the Diancang Sect disciples brightened upon seeing the members of the Tang Family.
Meanwhile, at the top of the temple.
The High Priest standing in front of the marble altar trembled. He had witnessed Zhou Xuchuan''s carnage from beginning to end.
He was trembling not because of fear but because of fury. He was so furious that his figure quivered at the rage that exceeded his limits. His blood pressure rose, and his eyes widened like saucers.
Crack!
His staff, made of human bones, fractured. His bone ne also trembled along with his figure.
"How dare" The High Priest''s anger boiled likeva. Seemingly responding to his rage, a dark haze rose from beneath him and spread throughout the floor.
This is serious.
The High Priest is enraged.
The High Priest''s guards swallowed mouthfuls of their own saliva as they trembled like frightened children.
"Useless things!" the High Priest shouted, and his majestic voice boomed throughout the vast Southern Jungles. The cannibalistic tribesmen reacted to his anger by flinching and dropping down to one knee with fearful faces.
"Was allowing them to interfere with the sacred ritual not enough? You actually let the prey escape as well? You useless buffoons!" the High Priest roared. The fury that pervaded his head was so intense that he couldn''t calm down at all.
He cursed and pointed out his warriors'' ipetence. However, none of the warriors of the cannibalistic tribe dared to raise their heads. Their pride had no substance here, and they were too terrified to say anything as well.
"Enough! I''ll handle this myself!" A green light flickered in the High Priest''s eyes. "Martial artists of the Central ins! I will show you exactly what it means to set foot in the Southern Jungles!"
The High Priest lifted the bone staff in his right hand. His staff was six feet long and was made entirely out of human bones. The strange part was that it was pitch-ck.
One wouldn''t have to get close to it to find it unsettling; it wasn''t just unsettling, as the sight of it alone was enough to stimte a keen sense of disgust that would make just about anyone out there feel extremely ufortable.
Shing!
An ominous light emanated from the skull at the tip of the staff.
The ominous light spread and engulfed the temple.
"A-a-argh!!!"
"Howl!"
"Ow, ow, howl!"
The warriors of the Southern Jungle''s cannibalistic tribe reacted to the light. To be exact, the patterns on their skin reacted to the ominous light.
As soon as the dark, ominous light touched them, the tattoos, which seemed to depict both letters and figures, squirmed like earthworms.
It was truly a bizarre phenomenon.
"Argh!"
"Urgh!"
They were no longer letting out peculiar roars. Instead, they howled agitatedly as if they had lost their minds.
Rumble!
There wasn''t any earthquake, but both heaven and earth were trembling. To be more specific, the air, which was between heaven and earth, was trembling. Once about a hundred and fifty cannibalistic tribesmen were engulfed, the ominous light that had inundated the temple finally came to a halt.
The martial artists of the Central ins were startled by the bizarre phenomenon.
"Ah! What a bizarre sight that was!"
They all wondered how a mere human managed to do something as bizarre as that sight just now.
Tang Lian couldn''t keep his mouth shut, and he was as shocked as the rest.
As expected of the Southern Jungles'' sorcery.[3]
Zhou Xuchuan was a bit surprised as well, but he had long gotten used to such sights, as the Dark Heavens Association had openly used such sorcery during the war.
Of course, it was his first time witnessing sorcery at such a scale.
It seemed that the High Priest''s sorcery was truly beyond imagination.
"Be careful! They''ve lost all their emotions and are impervious to fear!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed. The books he had read about the Southern Jungles all had detailed exnations about the major tribes, including the cannibalistic tribe.
The effects of their sorcery were also written in the book.
"They most likely won''t feel pain, either, so they''re going to trade blow for blow, so be careful, and don''t let your guard down!" Zhou Xuchuan added.
"Are you perhaps secretly a part of the Southern Jungles?" Tang Hui asked, sounding dumbfounded. She had just detoxified the Qi Dispersion Poison coursing through the veins of the Diancang Sect disciples.
"This is why you should regrly read many different books," Zhou Xuchuan retorted and faced the hundred and fifty cannibalistic tribesmen.
There was a huge difference between their numbers.
"Thank you, Poison Phoenix," Duan Hecheng said, and his eyes sharpened.
The Diancang Sect''s disciples had finally been detoxified of the poison within them, and they showed extraordinary grit at the sight of so many cannibalistic tribesmen.
I heard that the Diancang Sect possesses extraordinary strength, but this is just Tang Lian remarked inwardly as he nced at Duan Hecheng and the Diancang Sect''s disciples in admiration.
The Qi Dispersion Poison had been guing them until now, so their senses ought to have been dull, but the sharp glimmer in their eyes made it seem as if they weren''t affected by the Qi Dispersion Poison at all.
"Enemy. A hundred and fifty."
Duan Hecheng received an iron sword from a Tang Family warrior.
"Friendlies. Sixty."
Zhou Xuchuan adjusted his sword and smiled faintly. "There are a bit too few"
There was a brief silence.
Then, as if they had nned it in advance, Zhou Xuchuan and Duan Hecheng opened their mouths at the same time.
"A bit too few enemies, that is"
1. The other trantion for ? is awl. We used drill here because it''s moremon in daily life and is easier for most English readers to visualize. ?
2. The raws say four, but he''s already killed two in this advance. ?
3. See TL/N. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
I had some free time today so I wanted to exin this a little.
Cultivation systems in the murim.
There are four major cultivation systems.
Daoist Arts (Both Righteous and Evil)
Buddhist Arts
Demonic Arts
Heretical Arts
The first three cultivation systems differ in the sense of belief systems. Daoist Arts pursue the path, Buddhist Arts pursue nirvana, and Demonic Arts pursue extremity (this requires some exnation, but that''s for another day, you can just consider it as pursuing one''s own ideas without allowing for one to be limited.)
Now, the Heretical Arts technically isn''t one big cultivation system like the other three. It''s just any art that isn''t part of the orthodox arts. But also, keep in mind that what defines an art as heretical is the beholder. If the murim orthodoxy doesn''t ept an art/technique as one of the other three, it gets lumped into the heretical arts, regardless of what it does or how it works. This means that there is some ovep between Demonic Arts and Heretical Arts, but that''s for another day.
All that to say, the Southern Jungles tribe''s art is a heretical art, and more specifically, a ??, or literally, an incantation. However, that''s more often tranted as sorcery, witchcraft, or barbarian shaman arts (which is different from shaman arts). So, you''ll see it described as a heretical art in the broader sense AND sorcery in the more minute sense.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Cyncoco
Chapter 185: To Meet Again on the Battlefield (2)
Tang Family.
Twenty-Seven.
Diancang Sect.
Thirty-Two.
Fifty-nine warriors in totalsixty, including Zhou Xuchuan.
The search party was facing one hundred and fifty cannibalistic tribesmen. However, their morale wasn''t low, it was high.
"You barbaric bastards!"
"Although I don''t know what kind of sorcery this is, it''s useless!"
The members of the Diancang Sect, as if releasing their pent-up anger from being imprisoned, brandished the swords provided by the Tang Family, their expressions brimming with hostility.Some were almost frothing at the mouth, wanting revenge for their disciple brothers who were killed during the attack on their camp earlier.
"Split into three groups of twenty!"
Zhou Xuchuan took the lead andmanded. The Tang Family and the Diancang Sect followed his orders without question.
The search party was divided into three groups, each led by Zhou Xuchuan, Tang Hui, and Duan Hecheng.
"Our target, the summit!"
Zhou Xuchuan was fired up as if he was trying to dispel the ominous atmosphere that filled the temple.
"Let''s go!"
Tap, tap, tap!
Sixty warriors simultaneously flew forward. Despite the fact that there were a lot of people moving, their footsteps were nearly silent due to their footwork techniques.
"Grahh!!!"
A guttural roar filled with bloodlust and madness erupted from the cannibalistic tribe. Their reasoning and sanity had disappeared.
It was quite a spectacr sight, seeing one hundred and fifty warriors rushing at them from above and beside the temple while roaring.
"You dare!"
Tang Hui stretched out her left arm and threw a Flying Knife. The thin thread on her wrist drew a straight line and aimed for a tribesman''s neck. The dagger attached on the other end pierced his neck with a squelch,nding exactly where she aimed.
"Ugh!"
However, the tribesman had no intention of stopping.
Although she had severed his carotid, somehow, the tribesman still charged forward like a wild boar.
Tang Hui frowned and twisted her wrist, wrapping the thread around the tribesman''s neck before tightening her grip.
Shing!
If it were normal thread, it would have snapped. However, this thread was made of Heavenly Silk and couldn''t be cut or broken by an average human. It was strong enough to take the tension she imbued into it.
The tribesman''s neck was severed cleanly.
As Tang Hui pulled her Flying Knife back, the other tribesmen rushed in.
"Miss!"
Her guard, Yuan Dashi, tried to approach her quickly. However, Tang Hui motioned for him to stay away, and without even batting an eysh, she easily dodged the Jungle de that was flying toward her with minimal movement.
"Ugh!"
The tribesman before her may not have had any reasoning left, but his instincts in battle remained as a result of his extensive training. Even though he only had instincts, he was able to mindlessly intuit where his enemy would move after dodging his original attack. The warrior turned his body and swung his Jungle de widely.
Thrum.
He was definitely under the influence of sorcery as his strength and speed suddenly increased. However, Tang Hui didn''t panic and just struck back.
Bang!
The tribesman froze after being hit in the abdomen with a palm. Not feeling any pain didn''t mean he was invincible. The Tang Family''s pride, the Crimson Lotus Poison Palm, prated deep into his body and paralyzed his muscles and nerves.
The poison eventually spread through his blood vessels to his brain and heart, ending his life.
"I''m fine." Tang Hui said, gesturing to the front with her chin.
"Understood!"
Still, as her guard, he was concerned and didn''t go too far, making sure to fight the tribesmen while staying near Tang Hui.
"Show them the power of the Diancang Sect!"
Duan Hecheng blurred through the air before reappearing. He was using the Flicking String Step, which was known to be the best movement technique for instantaneous movement.
The cannibalistic tribesman''s Jungle de only cut empty air.
Then, the Seventh Young Master of Diancang unleashed the Sunshooting Sword Art.
Felling the Sun as it Manifests!
The first thing the tribesman saw wasn''t Duan Hecheng, but the de of a sword.
Squelch!
It moved at a speed that couldn''t be seen with the naked eye. As its name suggested, the sword shot out and moved with a terrifying, piercing force.
The eeriest part was how it urately aimed for the target''s acupoints. The tribesman died instantly after being stabbed in an acupoint.
"Roar!!"
"Die!"
Three more cannibalistic tribesmen rushed in.
Duan Hecheng used the Flicking String Steps again, leaving behind an afterimage as he disappeared. Then, he continued using the techniques of the Sunshooting Sword Art, stabbing outward in rapid session.
Swish, swish, swish!
Dazzling beams of light shot out. The warriors who had been charging forward with a mad momentum fell forward after being repeatedly stabbed.
"Die!"
"We''ll show you the power of the Diancang Sect!"
It wasn''t just Duan Hecheng who was active. The other disciples of the Diancang Sect also had excellent martial arts.
While their techniques weren''t as impressive as the Sunshooting Sword Art, which, as the sect''s foundational technique, was only taught to the direct disciples, they were still impressive quick sword techniques.
"Tang Family Guard! Duck!"
"Ugh!"
As the Central ins forces split into three groups, those of the Tang Family and the Diancang Sect mixed together, improvising and helping each other.
The Diancang Sect isn''t famous for its practical techniques for nothing.
To think they''re matching our moves so well even though they''re merely improvising!
How incredible.
The warriors of the Tang Family were simply amazed by the Diancang Sect''s disciples'' movements.
As expected of the Diancang Sect.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but be impressed. Thinking back to the Era of War and Chaos, he thought of the Diancang Sect that roamed the battlefield.
The fame of the Diancang Sect hadn''te from nothing. No, its roots were right on the battlefield itself.
He''s grown stronger since thest time I saw him.
Zhou Xuchuan nced at Duan Hecheng as he easily dealt with four cannibalistic tribesmen.
He should be nearing the Harmony Realm now. It was worth saving him in Poisonblood Valley. Seeing how much help he is right now, it really is fortunate.
For some reason, the Seventh Young Master was always in danger whenever he saw him. However, this wasn''t that bad. In the end, he could still be helpful like this.
Good. If he''s this strong, I''ll be able to leave it to him.
There was no need to worry too much about the other groups. Tang Hui and Duan Hecheng were doing better than he had thought.
"I''ll be speeding things up, so follow me closely!"
Zhou Xuchuan slid across the ground.
Bang!
As if he himself was one of the techniques of the Sunshooting Sword Art, his body seemed to turn into an arrow and shoot out, leaving chaos in his wake.
His Mount Hua''s Sword Technique quickly cut down the cannibalistic tribesmen that had rushed in before they could get close.
Meanwhile, the search party members in Zhou Xuchuan''s group thought that they were dying, too.
Are you saying you want to go even faster right now?
He''s not called the Plum Blossom Order Sword for nothing!
Is he nning on handling everything himself?
The warriors of the Cannibal Tribe were by no means weak. Even by the standards of the Central ins, not a single one of them was a weakling. Most were around the First or Second ss.
Some of their experts had even reached the Completion Stage of the Peak Realm, making them difficult to deal with. Moreover, this was worsened because they had been strengthened by sorcery.
However, the monster standing in front of them, the Hero of the Mount Hua Sect, seemedpletely unfazed as he easily dealt with everything before him.
Not only that, he continued to indiscriminately use sword qi and aura, to the point where it made one wonder just how much qi he actually possessed.
In any case, the search party members of Zhou Xuchuan''s group were barely able to keep up with his terrifying speed, and their mouths were left dry and parched.
He didn''t give them time to rest, even for a moment. If they slowed down even a little, Zhou Xuchuan would end uppletely outpacing them. He moved so quickly that it made them feel as though they would fall behind if they lost focus, making them squeeze out all of their strength.
Because of his actions, a gap was created between the three groups. While Tang Hui and Duan Hecheng''s groups were slowly advancing in front of the stairs leading to the temple, Zhou Xuchuan''s group had already reached the middle of the stairs and was progressing rapidly.
"Stay right there! I''m going to bring these Central ins people right up to you and stter your brains everywhere!"
The temple was steep, but that didn''t bother them. They moved as freely as if they were on level ground.
"ROAR!"
The higher they climbed, the stronger the warriors became.
There weren''t any Second or First ss warriors anymore. Most of them were in the Peak Realm or even the Transcendent Realm. While they may have been few, they were all incredibly strong.
The most impressive of them all was a seven-foot warrior. He had many tattoos on his body, as if to prove his strength.
The pictures and letters drawn all over his body twitched as if reacting to an ominous light, which was a strange sight.
ng!
The seven-foot warrior leaped forward while stomping hard. Seeing how he leaped off of such a steep siding, one might have thought he was trying tomit suicide. However, that wasn''t the case at all.
Bang.
A shadow fell over Zhou Xuchuan''s head. He looked up and saw the warrior falling precisely on top of him.
The warrior, holding a Jungle de that wasrger than anyone else''s in his right hand, mmed it down with all of his might.
Woosh.
BOOOM!
It was a destructive force simr to what would be caused by a hammer rather than a saber. The moment the seven-foot warrior fell, a storm erupted around him.
The magnificent staircase that must have been painstakingly built over dozens of years waspletely destroyed, and the middle of the temple was left in utter disarray.
"Ugh!"
"S-stop him!"
The search party screamed, holding on to the ground to avoid being blown away.
However, the tribesmen that had been charging down at them weren''t safe. Some of them were swept away by the gust of wind that flew out and tumbled down to the base of the temple.
"Hahahaha!"
The priest, who was looking down at them from the top,ughed.
"Even if this bastard''s from the Central ins, he''s nothingpared to the greatest warrior of the tribe!"
The warrior had strength that couldn''t bepared to that of a regr warrior. He could also ept multiple spells, making the amplification effect many times greater.
The priest licked his lips and smiled wickedly. His eyes, shining with an unpleasant light, showed his appetite.
A master of that level must have a lot of vitality that can be extracted from the heart and brain. I''m so excited.
While the masters of the Central ins murim had absolutely horrible-tasting flesh, the strength that it gave him was the best. The priest, who hadn''t been able to advance in his sorcery arts recently without any of this, was ted at the prospect of bing stronger.
"Greatest warrior of the tribe. Bring that bastard over. Surely you didn''t damage his head and heart, right?"
The other parts of the body may not have mattered much, but if the brain and heart were damaged badly, he wouldn''t be able to absorb Zhou Xuchuan''s strength properly. That was why he had ordered him to be careful.
Of course, considering it was an attack of that level, his body would have been damaged. Still, since his opponent was also a skilled expert, the priest assumed that he would have been able to hold out for a while.
"?"
The priest''s smug grin faded as he tilted his head in confusion. For some reason, his warrior wasn''t moving at all.
Even if he wanted to verify what was going on, the warrior was so big that he couldn''t see what was happening in front of him.
"No, you don''t have to worry."
"... Impossible!"
The priest''s face twisted in shock, his expression crumpling like a rag.
"My heart and brain are fine."
Squelch!
A gaping hole appeared in the warrior''s broad back, carved through muscle and flesh. A sword thrust out, a faint purple aura coating its de.
The tattoo that had been wriggling on the warrior''s skin also seemed to lose its strength and stopped moving. Instead of the ominous haze that had been present before, blood seeped out of his skin.
"Mmph."
Zhou Xuchuan pulled out his sword and pushed the seven-foot warrior who was about to fall forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Boom!
The heavy body rolled down the stairs, making a noise every time it hit the ground.
By the time it reached the bottom, it was so battered and bloodied that it was unrecognizable.
"H-how?!"
The priest gaped in disbelief.
"He really was strong enough to be called the best in the tribe."
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t being sarcastic. He said this sincerely.
The moment he was attacked, he had not only increased his weight to secure his lower body firmly but was even forced to create a defensive qi barrier to prepare for the blow.
If he hadn''t done that, even he would have ended up getting thrown back without being able to withstand the impact.
"T-t-this?!"
Zhou Xuchuan looked at the priest, who was shaking like an aspen tree.
Compared to the warriors around him, the priest was not big. He was only about five feet tall. The only thingrge about him was his ridiculouslyrge staff.
His eye sockets were sunken, and he was skinny. His beard was messy and unkept. He was also bald.
However, his eyes were different. They burned like the pits of hell. Strangely enough, his pupils were green.
"You daaaaaaareC?!"
The priest''s anger finally exploded.
ng!
His scream didn''t sound human at all. Then, the priest''s body also changed, bing like a warrior''s.
His delicate muscles swelled and tensed. His tendons and blood vessels even began to bulge.
The muscles in his upper body bulged, and his physique formed an inverted triangle.
His tattoos shone like the light of an eye.
Flicker!
Suddenly, his beard caught fire.
No, his beard turned into mes and began to burn fiercely.
Chapter 186: The Phantoms Joint Attack (1)
A green color, reminiscent of the great forest of the Southern Jungles, flowed out from the High Priest''s eyes. No, it would be more correct to say that it rushed out of his eyes as if it were a zing fire.
This wasn''t a metaphor. The light really gushed out like a zing fire. It was a bizarre sight, as humans were not supposed to spit fire out of their eyes. The High Priest''s beard was the same; the forest green mes swayed like tongues of the devil from his beard, scorching the air itself.
The High Priest''s hunched back straightened. He was just five feet tall, but his muscles swelled and grew bigger.
Is he even human? Even the matchless Zhou Xuchuan was stunned by the sight, and his jaw fell to the ground.
"Haaa" The High Priest took a deep breath, and his swollen chest muscles grew even more as if they were to emerge from his chest.
Zhou Xuchuan flinched. Heat?
He felt a wave of heat hot enough to interrupt his breathing. However, he had the Extreme Temperature Immunity, so how could he feel hot?
"Dodge!" Zhou Xuchuan screamed, warning the others. He felt that something was wrong and instinctively threw himself to the side.
"GRAAAAH!" The High Priest exhaledno, he roared.WHOOSH!
What he had exhaled wasn''t a puff of air but a green ball of me that distorted the air around it. Moreover, it wasn''t some fireball the size of a child''s head. It was massive, and it fanned out as it emerged, engulfing one side of the temple.
"Ugh!"
"Agk!"
The warriors of the cannibalistic tribe were supposed to be unable to feel any pain due to their sorcery, but their tattoos were melted away, dispelling the sorcery cast on them.
In other words, they were no longer impervious to pain.
The screams that came out of their throats were so guttural that the martial artists and warriors fighting fiercely below the temple trembled at the sight of it.
What Zhou Xuchuan was on his belly, face down like a frog. Even I would die upon getting hit by that.
He knew that the High Priest wasn''t just an ordinary individual, as he was the leader of a tribe. However, Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t expected him to be this terrifying.
There was a reason the Extreme Temperature Immunity was called that way. Zhou Xuchuan''s physique had transformed, making him resistant to both cold and heat.
That wasn''t all
He had also undergone Bodily Reformation, meaning that unless he was literally covered in mes, he wouldn''t be afraid of heat.
However, the mes before him were different. The attack missed him, but the heat of the mes alone still made him feel as if he were burning. Goosebumps appeared on his skin as sweat ran down in rivulets on his back.
"Graaah! You rat-like bastard!" The High Priest roared in a bizarre voice capable of making anyone''s hair stand on end. His beard, seemingly made of fire, red up in rage. "Die!"
Boom!
The High Priest swung his grotesque and swollen right arm. It wasn''t covered in mes, but it still contained an extraordinary amount of power. The High Priest had swung only an arm, but a strong gust of wind streaked across the air.
The surviving party members crouched to avoid getting blown away.
"Whatshit!" Zhou Xuchuan swore sincerely for the first time in a long time. He put strength into his legs and kicked off of the ground to avoid the gust of wind.
Swish!
He spun like a top in midair, and the sword in his hand shed the High Priest''s arm.
Shwik!
Lines of blood streaked across the High Priest''s arm; blood spurted out of the wound and sttered into the air.
"Argh! You bastard!" the High Priest screamed in pain and iled wildly. The ground would tremble at every single movement he performed. It was a spectacr sight to behold; the ground beneath him would cave in and explode with each stomp, sending debris flying in all directions.
Landing gracefully, Zhou Xuchuan calmly dodged the High Priest''s reckless attacks.
However, his face was stiff. I couldn''t cut through it even with sword aura.
Just now, he had used sword aura instead of sword qi to sh at the High Priest''s arm. He expected the High Priest''s arm to be severed, but his expectations were betrayed.
However, Zhou Xuchuan knew the reason behind the failure to sever the High Priest''s arm. The High Priest''s unknown sorcery had the same effect as a defensive qi barrier.
"Let''s see if you can avoid this, too," the High Priest remarked, and his beard flickering with mes quivered. Momentster, six balls of green mes manifested behind him.
"Ah" Zhou Xuchuan gasped.
As time ticked by, the High Priest''s sorcery was bing more and more shocking in Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes.
The fireballs weren''t on the same level as the Samadhi True me. Zhou Xuchuan could tell by the way they hovered in midair that they were stronger than the Samadhi True me.
"Die!"
The balls of me moved in response to the High Priest''s voice.
The six fireballs spun rapidly and flew toward Zhou Xuchuan.
Those are bad news! Zhou Xuchuanmpooned inwardly. They weren''t as hot as the forest green mes earlier, but Zhou Xuchuan could still feel their heat. In addition, a nce was enough for him to tell that they were dangerous.
Zhou Xuchuan jumped sideways and rolled down the slope of the temple.
He slid down before stopping himself halfway, feeling relieved.
"Huh?" Zhou Xuchuan was astonished. The fireballs had changed direction and were chasing him down.
"I should have told you that they''re impossible to avoid!" the High Priest eximed, grinning widely at the sight.
The fireballs weren''t just flying mindlessly. They were connected to him through a strand of will that he could control as he wished.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue lightly upon hearing that. He tried to block the fireballs using a defensive qi barrier.
Just then, something caught his senses. He looked up and saw someone flying in from somewhere. It was the corpse of a cannibalistic tribesman, and there was a hole in the corpse''s neck.
Bang!
A fireball collided with the corpse, and a deafening explosion reverberated. The fireball struck the corpse and exploded, scattering a bloody mist into the air.
"And who are you, you bastard?!" the High Priest yelled resentfully, and his smile was no longer visible on his lips.
Meanwhile, another corpse flew over from somewhere and collided with one of the five remaining fireballs.
BOOM!
A thunderous boom echoed as a magnificent explosion urred in the air. The corpse had sessfully taken away one of the remaining fireballs.
"Hmph!" The High Priest tapped the ground with the tip of his staff, and the remaining four fireballs returned, orbiting him. His green, zing eyes turned in the direction where the corpses hade from, but there was nothing there.
No, it only seemed as if there were nothing there.
"You can''t fool me!"
"Little Ghost!" Zhou Xuchuan grinned in delight.
Little Ghost had been hiding amidst the Tang Family and the Diancang Sect. She had been working with them against the cannibalistic tribesmen, but she sensed that the Phantom Sovereign was in danger and promptly ran over to assist him.
"You filthy bastaaards!" the High Priest roared and swung his staff downward with all his might.
BOOM!
The ground sank. Then, it was flipped over and thrown into the sky. The High Priest''s move wasn''t just a physical attack. An ominous aura rose into waves and made a beeline for Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost.
"Hmph!" Zhou Xuchuan raised Tai''e and plunged it into the ground, holding on. Little Ghost was blown away by the shockwave, but she recovered quickly andnded gracefully on the ground after a somersault.
The High Priest thought that it was time for him to attack, so he raised his staff.
A green light shot out from his skull, and a fireball rushed forward.
The fireball left a trail of mes in the air. The four remaining fireballs split into two groups and made a beeline for both Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost.
Thud!
Little Ghost reacted first. She threw herself in front of the Phantom Sovereign to protect him before anything else. She wasn''t worried about getting hurt, as the Phantom Sovereign was more important than her own life.
"Little Ghost!"
Zhou Xuchuan ran toward Little Ghost. He didn''t want her to die an avoidable death.
Just then, the fireballs converged in one ce.
Boom! Boom! BANG!
The fireballs collided with each other and inundated both Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost. The heat of the explosion was so high that it scorched even the air, setting it aze.
The mes seemed to be as hot asva, and they melted everything around them, including the stairs and the slope.
"Great Hero Zhou!" Duan Hecheng screamed at the sight. He had been keeping his eyes on Zhou Xuchuan even in the midst of the fierce battle.
The faces of the search party members weren''t so good either. They had just witnessed the fireball''s power, after all.
"No!"
"What? The Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan was struck?!"
Voices of shock and rm echoed everywhere.
Poison Phoenix Tang Hui looked up and froze. As she took in the burning mes, there weren''t any emotions in her eyes, but they glimmered with coldness andposure, resembling cid waters.
"No." Tang Hui denied it. "He''s not someone who can be defeated so easily."
Tang Hui was not denying reality here. Her words were sincere, as she had seen the truth. She hadn''t lost her mind at the sight, and she wasn''t indifferent, either.
She was simply confident.
Yuan Dashi looked at the mes with an expression of incredulity upon hearing his mistress'' words.
"Hmph!" the High Priest snorted. "Not only his brains and his heart but even his bones are gone. That is the price anyone will have to pay for making me angry"
Swoosh!
The High Priest couldn''t continue his words. The mes before him split into two, and a dagger flew out, grazing his cheek.
"Impossible!"
No, this couldn''t be. There was no way anyone could survive that explosion.
Unfortunately, the High Priest''s belief shattered spectacrly. Even the expectations of everyone who thought that Zhou Xuchuan was dead were betrayed.
Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost emerged from the cloud of mes without even a single burn.
How?! The High Priest was so shocked that he couldn''t even speak.
"I''ming," Zhou Xuchuan whispered.
Just moments before the explosion, Zhou Xuchuan had wrapped his arms around Little Ghost and deployed his most powerful defensive qi barrier. The exertion had depleted a big chunk of his qi reserves.
Swish!
It wasn''t just the mes that split; even the air itself was split as Zhou Xuchuan shot toward the High Priest before. The air seemed to be nonexistent in Zhou Xuchuan''s world as he made a beeline for the High Priest and swung Tai''e, imbued with sword aura, with all his might at the High Priest.
"How audacious!" The High Priest raised his staff horizontally in response. He held it with both hands instead of one to ensure that he''d withstand Zhou Xuchuan''s attack.
ng!
The sword and staff shed, and the sound of metal shing against metal reverberated. Neither side was going to back down. The High Priest exerted strength, and his muscles bulged. His tattoos also seemed to be trying to wriggle out of his skin.
"Did you know?" Zhou Xuchuan smiled. "I have two swords instead of just one."
"What bullshit are you"
"Little Ghost!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed.
Then, the girl who looked to be about nine or ten years old slid across the ground and passed by the High Priest''s legsno, she didn''t just slide past him. The daggers in her hands moved like lightning.
"Argh!"
The High Priest''s legs which had be as thick as logs weakened instantly. The High Priest''s muscles were torn apart, so he lost his strength, and the light on his tattoos dimmed considerably.
Upon losing the support of his legs, he staggered. His staff could no longer block the sword properly, and he was forced to retreat.
Don''t make meugh! The High Priest grumbled inwardly. He couldn''t die here. Who do they think I am?!
He was the High Priest of the Cannibalistic Tribea leader of the Southern Jungles! He had aplished so much that he couldn''t let himself be defeated here.
The High Priest chanted an incantation in an unknownnguage to amplify his sorcery, but he couldn''t continue his incantation. Little Ghost had stepped on his back and climbed up onto his shoulder. Then, she thrust her daggers into his zing green eyes.
"ARGH!" the High Priest screamed. At the same time, the staff that he had barely been holding onto finally fell from his hand.
Little Ghost grabbed the High Priest''s head. Then, she used all her strength to snap his neck.
Crunch!
A grotesque, crisp noise sounded.
The High Priest''s eyes widened.
"D-don''t make meugh" It was unknown whether it was because of his sorcery or because of his willpower right before death, but he was still alive despite his broken neck. "ASHGOWHQEH!"
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t tell whether it was a roar, a scream, or a word. It sounded like an iprehensiblebination of letters.
The High Priest had lost his eyeballs, but his gaze was still transfixed on Zhou Xuchuan. His entire being radiated hatred, including even his blood.
Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost retreated ten steps away and threw their daggers almost at the same time.
The Hidden Nether Flying Dagger Art had just been simultaneously unleashed by the Phantom Sovereign and Little Ghost.
The Phantom Sovereign''s dagger pierced the High Priest on the right side of his neck and continued onward. The dagger from the rear also pierced the left side of the High Priest''s neck.
The daggers flew in opposite directions, and both Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost caught the dagger flying toward them.
The High Priest couldn''t see anything, but he felt a burning pain in his neck and heard someone catching something. A sense of foreboding filled him to the brim.
"No"
Swish, swish, swish!
The dagger in front of him went behind him, while the dagger behind him went in front of him. There were only two daggers, but it felt like there were dozens of daggers piercing him at rapid speeds.
Zhou Xuchuan would catch Little Ghost''s dagger, and thetter would catch the former''s dagger. Just like that, the High Priest''s fleshly body covered in tattoos was transformed into a sieve. Finally, two daggers pierced his heart from both sides.
Thud.
The High Priest, who had been ruling the Cannibalistic Tribe for decades, fell lifelessly on the altar at the summit of the temple. Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost stood before him, looking down from the temple.
Chapter 187: The Phantoms Joint Attack (2)
Chapter 187: The Phantoms'' Joint Attack (2)
"What"
Surprised murmurs reverberated throughout the search party.
Just then, someone shouted, "ROAR!!"
The shouts of sixty warriors echoed throughout the temple. The uproar was so loud that the surroundings trembled.
"Ugh"
"Arghcough!"
When the High Priest died, his sorcery waned. The warriors of the cannibalistic tribe reacted immediately to his death. Streams of ck mist rushed out of their figures and dissipated into the wind, and the tattoos that had been wriggling like earthworms across their bodies stopped moving at the same time.
Their muscles that had swollen to an uncanny degree shrank instantly, and their flesh withered away.
The hostility mixed with madness faded gradually before eventually disappearing.Each of them breathed heavily, looking utterly exhausted.
"Now is the time! Take them all down!" Duan Hecheng roared, bringing those who were still in awe of what Zhou Xuchuan and Little Ghost had done back to reality.
"Ha!"
"Die!"
There would be no mercy for these cannibalists. The tribesmen had been incapacitated, so they had to kill as many of them as possible before they could cause trouble again.
The cannibalistic tribesmen didn''t resist the attacks, so it was more like a one-sided massacre than a battle. However, none of the search party members felt particrly uneasy about it.
"I can finally rest." Zhou Xuchuan exhaled and wiped away the blood on his sword.
The cannibalistic tribe originally had one hundred and fifty members, but they had been reduced to just fifty thanks to the efforts of the search party.
The cannibalistic tribesmen attempted to help the High Priest, but it was already toote. The climb to the temple had left them utterly exhausted, so they became sitting ducks in the eyes of the search party.
To make matters worse, the High Priest''s death meant that the sorcery he had cast on them was dispelled. Thus, they were incapacitated, and they died without even being able to put up a proper fight.
The fifty cannibalistic tribesmen were further culled to twenty or so, and the tribe was effectively no longer a tribe.
"Enough! Take the rest of them as prisoners!"
The search party decided to spare some of them in case they needed information.
They stopped the massacre, sparing about fifteen people.
"Now I can finally rx a bit as well."
Duan Hecheng left the cleanup to the others and walked over to greet Zhou Xuchuan.
"This junior of the gangho is here to greet you, Senior," Zhou Xuchuan said, greeting Duan Hecheng first.
"Please, speakfortably. I owe you my life in the Poisonblood Valley, and I owe you my life again. I don''t think I can repay this favor in this lifetime."
"It''s nothing. If something happens to me next time, you can juste help me then."
"I cannot take on a disciple due to my circumstances, but I swear on the Gxy Manor''s name that I will help you whenever to the best of my abilities."
The Diancang Sect had epted the Gxy Manor Lord''s son as the Sect Master''s legitimate disciple in exchange for the Gxy Manor''s help in resolving the Diancang Sect''s financial difficulties.
However, there had been some conditions for doing so, including a ban on revealing any techniques that he had learned to others. Thus, he could not ept any disciples.
"Are you okay, Seventh Young Master of Diancang?" Tang Lian asked, walking over.
"What are you guys talking about? I''m curious," Tang Hui remarked, walking over to Duan Hecheng with Zhou Xuchuan.
"Oh, hello. Thank you so much for the help. I owe the Tang Family a debt of life."
Duan Hecheng greeted Tang Lian and Tang Hui.
"It''s good to see that you''re okay. Can you tell me more about what happened?"
"Of course, but I think we should talk about that as we go."
"Where are we going?"
"We''re going into the temple."
The temple of the Cannibalistic Tribe wasn''t built just for the sake of the altar at the top. The temple itself was the lifeblood of the tribe. There were sleeping quarters to avoid the rain, warehouses, and armory within the temple.
There was also a prison to contain outsiders.
The Diancang Sect had been spending their time within the Cannibalistic Tribe''s prison until recently. Duan Hecheng told them what he knew, and Zhou Xuchuan was already aware of what Duan Hecheng knew except for some specific details.
"By the way, who''s that girl?"
Tang Lian''s eyes turned to Little Ghost.
The High Priest seemed to be no longer human, and Tang Lian had witnessed Zhou Xuchuan''s fight against that monster.
Little Ghost and Zhou Xuchuan''s god-likebat prowess had bedazzled Tang Lian, especially the scene when the two burst out of the eerie mes unscathedthat scene was particrly memorable.
The martial prowess of the Plum Blossom Order Sword had already spread throughout the Poisonblood Valley and the Central ins, so he was not particrly surprised about it.
However, Tang Lian''s jaw dropped open when a girl who seemed to be around seven or eight years of age, at most ten, showed martial prowess capable of standing toe-to-toe against Zhou Xuchuan''s martial prowess.
"She doesn''t look like she''s from Mount Hua" Duan Hecheng replied, showing curiosity at Tang Lian''s question.
However, Tang Hui had already heard about the Dark Heavens Association and the Valley of Phantoms, so she was aware of Little Ghost''s identity. Of course, she didn''t enlighten the two.
"I have my circumstances, so it''s a bit difficult to answer that question. If it''s okay with you, can you just trust me and move on?" Zhou Xuchuan asked. Due to his status, he couldn''t answer directly.
However, it''d be difficult to beat around the bush, so he simply smiled bitterly and decided to hide the truth right in the face of the two men.
"Understood. Let''s do that, then," Duan Hecheng replied. He didn''t want to embarrass his benefactor, so he easily gave up and forgot that he had even decided to ask that question.
It also was rude to press on one''s circumstances in the gangho murim. Duan Hecheng wasn''t tactless to do something like that.
Tang Lian looked regretful.
When Tang Hui signaled at him, however, he licked his lips and gave up his curiosity.
"I was unlucky enough to get caught here before I could search the Southern Jungles, but we had some results."
"Did you discover the whereabouts of the Divine Physician?"
"No, but we found a clue."
The group''s faces brightened at the unexpected good news.
They had no idea how they were supposed to find the Divine Physician amidst the boundless sea of trees. Fortunately, Lady Luck seemed to be smiling at them, as they ended up obtaining a clue to the Divine Physician''s whereabouts.
Duan Hecheng moved deeper into the temple. He led the group to the dimmer parts of the temple until they arrived at a prison.
It wasn''t just an ordinary prison.
"Tsk!" Tang Lian clicked his tongue and frowned.
Zhou Xuchuan and Tang Hui''s faces distorted at the sight.
Little Ghost remained expressionless.
There was a small kitchen near the prison. There was a huge variety of ingredients in the kitchen, and the party also saw dried meat and leather. However, the meat and leather weren''t from animals but from human beings.
The party was enraged, and they considered killing the remaining cannibalistic tribesmen.
"Huh?"
The party walked past the prison, and the prisoners were taken aback upon realizing that the party wasn''tposed of cannibalistic tribesmen.
"We''vee to free you! I''ll open the doors, so don''t panic or get too excited. Stay calm, maintain order, ande out!" Duan Hecheng eximed, shaking the bundle of keys in his hand to make jingling noises to attract everyone''s attention.
Screech. Clunk.
The prison doors were opened one by one, but the people inside were suspicious of the party, and they dared not move. Some had been so traumatized by the long-term imprisonment that they crouched in the corners of their cage, casting wary gazes at the group.
"A-are you from the Central ins?" someone asked. None of them dared toe out, and only a few heads peeked out of the cages. "How did you get here?"
The filth and grime covering their faces and figures told everyone that it had been a long time since they had taken any baths. Strangely enough, the majority of them seemed to have gained weight despite the imprisonment.
However, the reason behind their weight gain was more sinister than one could imagine. The cannibalistic tribe was deliberately feeding these people more than they could eat to fatten them up for future consumption.
Everyone knew what would happen if they were to gain weight, so some of them refused at first. However, those daring enough to refuse were either killed or tortured, so the prisoners were eventually forced to ept the extra food while trembling in fear.
"Oh, there you are," Duan Hecheng said, smiling upon seeing his target.
"Do you know him, Seventh Master?"
"A Toho from the Qinghua region of the Southern Jungles, Ye Li."
Ye Li? Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head. It was a name he had heard somewhere. It wasn''t that long ago, either. For some reason, he couldn''t remember it, which was quite strange. I think I''ve heard "Qinghua" somewhere, too
The words were too familiar, but his memories rted to them were so foggy that he couldn''t really recall them properly.
He had read books about the Southern Jungles, but these memories had happened somewhere in the Central ins. However, it had been so long ago that the details were blurry.
Zhou Xuchuan had also read some bits and pieces about them in a book, but it had been so long ago that he couldn''t remember those details at all. What a shame.
"A Toho? I thought the Southern Jungles are just filled with tribes?"
Tang Lian was surprised that a Toho existed in a ce like this.[1]
"If it really were a country of just barbarians, we wouldn''t be able tomunicate with each other. Yes, the Southern Jungles are generally under the control of major tribes like the Cannibalistic Tribe, but that isn''t the case for the entire region.
"There are regr people within this region, too."
The Central ins despised the Southern Jungles, thinking that it was a country of barbarians, but it was once a nation opposing the Yuan and Ming dynasties.
Their sorry state was a result of suffering defeats in wars. If one looked closely, one would find that the people here still had remnants of a proper civilization.
"Sir Ye Li, don''t worry. We''ve dealt with the tribe, so there''s no need to be worried at all"
"That''s impossible!" Ye Li eximed, revealing a look of disbelief. The others in the prison nodded and started whispering among each other.
The Cannibalistic Tribe''s strength was no joke. As expected of monsters with a penchant for consuming people, their strength was unparalleled, even within the Southern Jungles. The sorcery of the tribe''s leader, the High Priest, exceeded the level of ordinary heretical arts.
The thought of facing the High Priest alone was enough to send shivers down Ye Li''s spine.
"Why would I lie to you?"
Despite that, Ye Li couldn''t dispel his doubts. However, Duan Hecheng''s words seemed to have some merit, and it was enough for him to consider it.
Is it true? Ye Li thought. There were supposed to be guards here, but they were missing. There was something wrong here. Soon, Ye Li was greeted by unfamiliar faces, and he actually forgot to breathe upon seeing Tang Hui.
"Gasp! A-am I looking at a fairy right now?" Ye Li asked, sounding dumbfounded.
The sight before him was so surreal he suspected that he was already in the stomach of a cannibalistic tribesman.
"I appreciate that you look at me fondly, but I''m starting to feel a little suffocated with your gaze. I hope you''ll hurry up and move that unpleasant lump of flesh of yours outside," Tang Hui said. Her words were venomous despite her polite voice.
"I don''t intend to beat around the bush, and I don''t care enough to be considerate of your weak mind and body. Our situation is urgent, so if possible, I hope you''lle out and tell us more about the Divine Physician of the Benevolence Clinic."
"..."
Ye Li couldn''t say anything as if he were a mute who had eaten honey.[ref[This is a really long idiom to exin. If you want the actual exnatione to the discord and @ me. TLDR, a man eats too much honey and has a stomachache so bad he can''t answer when his wife calls.[/ref]
Even Duan Hecheng stared agape in disbelief.
"I just don''t understand why you''re wasting our time and taking forever while mumbling some nonsense. If you want, I can give you poison that''ll tear your intestines apart so that you can finally start speaking, but do I really have to go that far?"
"D-definitely not! Young Lady!" Ye Li responded immediately, swallowing hard. His trembling eyesnded on the poison in Tang Hui''s palm.
"You must be smart to be able to understand what I''m trying to say. I''m really happy to know that. I''m already exhausted from the fighting, so I appreciate your understanding."
Why do I keep getting involved with this woman? Zhou Xuchuan pondered seriously upon hearing Tang Hui''s harsh words.
"I-I don''t know if he''s that divine physician or not, but before I was captured, I heard a rumor about a famous physician from the Central ins."
It wasn''t just Tang Hui; the entire search party grew interested upon hearing that.
It was umon for people of the Central ins toe to the Southern Jungles, and a physician among those visitors was even rarer.
"The strangest part is that he asks for herbs or poisonous nts instead of gold or silver in return for his treatment."
"That''s definitely the Divine Physician!" Tang Lian shouted confidently.
"Do you know where he went?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, looking a bit excited.
"I don''t know that much" Ye Li trailed off, scratching his head. "But if you take me to Qinghua, I can definitely help you find him."
"Very well. Please guide us there, then."
Just like that, the search party headed to the Qinghua Region of the Southern Jungles.
1. A toho is essentially like someone with enough wealth to start a settlement, but not something defined as a town by a government. ?
Chapter 188: The Major Tribes
In the distant past, the Southern Jungles suffered a defeat at the Central ins'' hands and were forced toe under thetter''s rule. A rebellion sparked yearster, and it resulted in the disappearance of the Central ins'' previous dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty reced the previous dynasty, andws prohibiting the traditions and customs of the Southern Jungles were made. The Southern Jungles'' books, civilization, and history were then eradicated.
The Ming Dynasty then distributed the Four Books and Five ssics to teach Confucianism as well as spread Buddhism and Daoism. However, these were nothing more than superficial orders.
The Southern Jungles were so barren and had nothing of merit except for manpower, meaning that the Ming Dynasty didn''t actually pay much attention to them.
With theck of supervision, the officials they had dispatched became obsessed with satisfying their own selfish desires, so the Southern Jungles eventually became awlessnd.
Thew of the jungle reigned supreme over thewlessnd, and barbarians ran rampant like the Cannibal Tribe[1].
However, there were still a few regions with morality and ethics; one of them was the Qinghua region.
***
Somewhere in the Southern Jungles'' Qinghua Region"The Toho has returned alive!" the guards on the watchtower shouted in surprise upon seeing Ye Li.
Loud murmurs echoed beyond the wall. The wall was constructed with aged trees and boasted the thickness of a stone wall, but the murmurs behind it reverberated loud and clear, a testament to themotion behind the wall.
Thud, thud. Creeeeeak.
The massive gate that stood to stop all invasion was pushed open.
It was sorge, so it moved rather slowly.
"What? Is that really the Lord?"
"More importantly, who are they?"
The return of the missing Toho warranted his ownmotion, but themotion became even more cacophonous when the people behind the wall spotted unfamiliar figures next to the Toho.
"Brother Ye!" someone eximed and ran forward as if his feet were on fire. The figure had abandoned everything and made a mad dash toward the entrance upon hearing of the Toho''s survival.
However, he wasn''t a member of the Toho''s family but an advisor with whom he had formed a blood brotherhood, Yuan Cai.
"Oh, so you''vee back safely, you bastard!" Yuan Cai hugged Ye Li with tears in his eyes.
"Brother Yuan!" Ye Li greeted warmly. Clearly, he was happy as well.
They hugged for a moment, rejoicing at Ye Li''s return. Ye Li then remembered that the search party was staring at them from behind.
"Oh, I need to get it together. I''m so sorry that you had to watch grown men in their thirties embracing each other like this."
"What the hell is going on? Who are they?"
Yuan Cai finally discovered the presence of the strange visitors.
"Let''s go inside first. I''ll exin everything inside."
***
Those who weren''t part of the Southern Jungles'' major tribes were divided into two groupsthose who had been conquered and those resisting against the conquerors.
Qinghua represented thetter, and their Toho, Ye Li, was more famous than the search party had expected.
"Why was someone like you in the middle of the Cannibal Tribe?" Zhou Xuchuan asked, and his expression revealed his confusion.
It was strange that a Toho was imprisoned in an enemy prison. At first, Zhou Xuchuan had assumed that he had been stabbed in the back, but now that they were in Qinghua, it seemed that it couldn''t be further from the truth.
The reaction of the residents at his return was enough for anyone to know that he was extremely popr.
"It''s because we were too weak," Ye Li said,ughing bitterly before exining the situation in a nutshell.
The Qinghua local militia was capable of opposing the major tribes of the Southern Jungles, but their situation wasn''t that great. Never mind obtaining an advantage, they were actually getting pushed back due to theirck of strength.
Thus, the militia decided to find either those who had been exploited by the major tribes and were dissatisfied with them or those willing and capable of opposing them.
"It''s an important task, so I thought it''d be better for me, the Toho, to go in person to move the hearts of those people. My soldiers opposed it, however, asking if I was crazy. And that brings us here..."
Yuan Cai sighed deeply.
"Either way, were they really exterminated?" Yuan Cai asked. He was shocked when he heard that Ye Li, who had been waiting for his death, had received help from the people of the Central ins.
It was understandable, as the Cannibal Tribe was one of the major tribes of the Southern Jungles and had been a problem since ancient times. They were few in number, but each and every member of the tribe was an excellent warrior and hunter.
They roamed the jungle as if it were their home, and their skill with their des and poison needles was just terrifying.
More importantly, they were cannibals. However, not just one or two, but an entire tribe of those demons notorious even within the Great Forest was ughtered.
"Whether you believe it or not isn''t important. We should be rewarded for saving the Toho," Tang Hui said, tapping a finger on the table.
"Oh dear, I''ve been so rude to the benefactors. I''m so sorry. It wasn''t that I was suspicious; I was just genuinely surprised. I apologize if I offended you."
"Our group is a little short on time, so we''re a bit sensitive when ites to time. I''d appreciate it if you''d understand," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
"Of course." Yuan Cai nodded.
"Then, let''s get straight to the point," Zhou Xuchuan said, "Do you know the whereabouts of the famous physician from the Central ins?"
"Yes," Yuan Cai answered without a moment''s hesitation.
"Great!" Duan Hecheng eximed with clenched fists, and he evenughed.
However, it was still too early to be excited. Considering Yuan Cai''s ugly face, there was definitely something amiss.
"Where is he?"
"He''s in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons."
"Tsk." Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue.
Tang Hui and Tang Lian''s faces became ugly as wellno, their faces became more than uglythey looked horribly distorted.
"Huh?" Ye Li was so shocked that he gasped.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Duan Hecheng noticed something amiss and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"It''s the worst-case scenario," Tang Hui replied with a frown and pressed her temples with her fingers. Her jet-ck hair flowed down like silk between her fingers, and the sight showcased her alluring beauty.
"Is it a dangerous ce?"
"It''s a cursed ce," Zhou Xuchuan muttered in a grim voice.
***
The birthce of poison and the cursedndthe Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. It was unknown when it appeared, as it had already existed even in the ancient records.
The only thing known about it was that there were ten thousandif not countless poisons within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Those poisons were so potent that they forbid the entry of just about anyone.
The Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was like a private hell that no one could essa forest within the Great Forest.
Even the Poisonblood Valley, a forbidden region within the Central ins, was nothing but a tiny parkpared to the infamous Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
"As always, it''s still a horrifying ce."
There was hell beyond the fast-moving river.
Therge trees beyond the river were sorge that they defiedmon sense, and they were so densely packed that it was impossible to see or examine what was beyond them.
The sight of them alone would send a shiver down the spines of just about anyone; that was how creepy and ominous they were from across the river.
Rumor had it that the existence of the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was the reason the Southern Jungles became a paradise of poison, and the sight before them seemed to verify the veracity of that rumor.
"What is it?" a man responded to the presence of the people behind him.
"The temple was attacked."
"Was it the Qinghua militia? There must have been quite a few deaths," the man snorted.
"No. The Cannibal Tribe was destroyed."
"What?" The man''s face stiffened. His eyes became as big asnterns, and his breathing came to a halt. His expression was a mixture of disbelief and shock. "What are you talking about?! How could the Cannibal Tribe be destroyed?"
Without a doubt, the Cannibal Tribe was powerful. They were a great force even among the major tribes, and the fact that they were uncontroble cannibalistic lunatics made everyone reluctant to get involved with them.
Still, both sides had been able to work with each other through the High Priest. In other words, if it weren''t for the High Priest, both sides wouldn''t be able to speak to each other at all.
"There were more than one or two witnesses, and the news must have spread throughout the forest by now."
"How is that possiblethe High Priest, what happened to the High Priest?"
The High Priest of the Cannibal Tribe was one of the strongest men in the Southern Jungles.
He wasn''t a martial artist, but he was stronger than a Harmony Realm expert. He was such a monster that even the Great Warriors of the Southern Jungles were afraid of him.
"He was found dead on the altar."
"Who was it?" The man''s eyes widened fiercely.
"Who attacked the temple?"
"That''s there were no survivors of the tribe left inside the temple, soargh!"
The man''s hand disappeared, and it reappeared to grab the informant by the throat.
"Be thankful that you still have some work left to do. Otherwise, you''d be dead by now."
"Argh thankugh!"
The man suppressed his anger and let go of his subordinate''s throat.
"Cough, cough I-It hasn''t been confirmed yet, but there are rumors that the attackers were the martial artists of the Central ins."
"I knew it. One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven must havee down here, then," the man remarked and pondered quietly over it.
The informant took deep breaths and rubbed both sides of his neck, where a handprint burned red.
"I don''t know who that bastard is, but I''m going to kill him," the man said, and his voice dripped with thick, killing intent.
Things have gotten annoying.
The Cannibal Tribe''s influence among the major tribes of the Southern Jungles was greater than anyone would expect. To make matters worse, the entire tribe itself had been annihted rather than just a few deaths.
The loss of the High Priestone of the Great Warriors of the Southern Jungles, was a major loss. Of course, the deaths of the warriors beneath him were considered massive losses as well.
"Convene a meeting between the tribes."
The unknown threat was concerning, but the more important matter at hand was the significant decrease in their power.
The major tribes of the Southern Jungles had used pure strength to rule the Great Forest andmit all kinds of atrocities.
They raped women as they pleased and either ughtered children in front of their parents or murdered the parents in front of their children. In addition, they''d steal food or throw each other''s food to the beasts of the Great Forest.
Their barbaric acts so far had unsurprisingly garnered a ton of dissatisfaction among the masses. Themon people were simply suppressing their dissatisfaction in fury in front of a greater power.
Once the major tribes were weakened, even just a bit
***
"There''s going to be war."
There was an uproar all over the Southern Jungles.
"The Cannibal Tribe was annihted."
One of the main tribes of the Southern Junglesthe Cannibal Tribe had been annihted. In addition, their chief, and a monster of the Southern Jungles, the High Priest of the Cannibal Tribe, was killed as well.
His death sent waves throughout the Southern Jungles.
"That monster is dead? Is that true?"
"Yes. I heard that the major tribes are sending their warriors to raid the Cannibal Tribe''s temple."
"It really isn''t a rumor? Is it the truth?"
"I mean, just who in the world could have killed that monster?"
The Southern Jungles were shaken by the news of the Cannibal Tribe''s destruction. The waves created by the event spread to all parts of the forest, including the Qinghua region, which had been fighting the major tribes for the longest time now.
The harsh environment, the dense vegetation, and the fact that there was poison all over meant that the news spread slower than expected, but it was still fast. It provided the significant influence of the Cannibal Tribe in the Southern Jungles.
"The attackers are apparently from the Central ins."
"Huh? The Central ins?"
"Wait, do you mean to say that the Central ins sent troops here?"
"Of course not. They''re martial artists from the Central ins."
"Ah I just don''t understand this at all."
The Central ins'' waters were as muddy and as deep as the Southern Jungles'' waters. They had to have been busy with their own affairs, so it didn''t make sense for them to interfere with the affairs of the Southern Jungles.
"I heard that they came here to look for someone"
"Who?"
"I don''t know, but I have a rough idea of why they shed with the Cannibal Tribe."
"Doesn''t the territory of those maneaters extend all the way to the Central ins? It''s not strange for them to sh."
The Cannibal Tribe never discriminated against people. They''d eat even the elderly and the weak. Thus, it wasn''t strange for them to attack the people of the Central ins the moment they entered the former''s territory.
While the Southern Jungles were in turmoil, Ye Li took advantage of the void in the major tribes'' power to send a message and an appeal to the forces throughout the Southern Jungles.
"Descendants of the Great Yu and the Great Viet, hear thee. How long do you n on giving everything up to those barbarians?!"
Originally, no one paid attention to his speech, but the situation had changed drastically, so their hearts were moved. More than anything, their eyes lit up the moment they heard that Central ins martial artists were in Qinghua.
1. the cannibalistic tribe is the Cannibal Tribe. Hope this clears things up ?
Chapter 189: The Major Tribes (2)
The search party''s destination was set, and it was the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. They had yet to leave for their destination, but they were already facing difficulties.
The cursednd known as the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was already problematic, but getting there was troublesome as well. After all, it was surrounded by the territories of the major tribes.
Thus, the search party had no choice but to face the major tribes head-on if they wanted to enter the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
"Our destinations are the same, so how about we work together temporarily?" Ye Li asked cautiously, observing the situation.
It was unbing of a leader to be so passive, but Ye Li was only courteous and meek toward his benefactors. However, that fact was unknown to the search party, so they were surprised to see him show his confidence and authority in public.
"I can''t make that decision on my own. I have to discuss it with the others."
"Of course."
Zhou Xuchuan called the others together to talk about it.
What they want is obvious," Tang Lian remarked, revealing his displeasure."He says that he wants to work together with us, but it seems more like he''s trying to use our power for the power struggle in the Southern Jungles," Duan Hecheng said frankly.
The Qinghua local militia profited the most from the cannibalistic tribe incident.
Without them in the future, the forces against the major tribes were finally making a move. The Qinghua local militia wanted to transform the search partythe top contributor to the unrestinto their public ally and promote that fact throughout the forest.
"Yes, but it''s the same for us."
It left a bitter taste in their mouths, but they knew that they needed the power of the Qinghua local militia.
They wanted to resolve things by themselves, but it was simply impossible. They could try to sneak their way in, but the major tribes were too strong that they''d easily be discovered.
In other words, a direct confrontation would be impossible.
Saving the Divine Physician was impossible without external help.
"We''ll ept your offer."
"That''s incredible news."
Ye Li and Yuan Cai''s faces brightened at the news.
The Qinghua local militia could no longer bepared to a local militia. Its power had grown, and it had transformed into an allied force with an incredible three thousand people at its disposal.
A group with three thousand people was a tiny force in the Central ins, especially for a war that was about to change the order of power on a national scale, but it was by no means a small number for the Southern Jungles.
For reference, only two thousand people joined the allied forces upon hearing that the cannibalistic tribe had been annihted and the search party that had destroyed them was joining the allied forces as well.
Despite the modest number, this was the first time they gathered like this since the fall of the previous dynasty and the disappearance of the army, which transformed the Southern Jungles into awless region. ?
"Of course, but please note that we''re only going to keep working until we''ve rescued the Divine Physician."
They had no intention of getting deeply involved in the civil war. This was the Southern Jungles, not the Central ins, after all.
"Of course," Yuan Cai replied, smiling with satisfaction. They were worried that the forces that they barely managed to convince to join their cause would leave immediately if the search party from the Central ins were to leave upon achieving its goals.
Fortunately, these forces wouldn''t dare to withdraw their troops in the middle of the war unless they were thoroughly defeated. In other words, the departure of the search party at the time would not be an issue at all.
"You better not be lying when you said that the Divine Physician was spotted in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Otherwise" Zhou Xuchuan trailed off and red coldly at the people before him.
Gulp.
The leaders of the Qinghua Allied Forces gulped, overwhelmed by the tiny aura that Zhou Xuchuan had released. It wasn''t even his killing intent; it was just his aura, but they were already feeling overwhelmed.
"O-of course. It''s verified intelligence, so don''t worry."
"If that''s the case, then that''s great," Zhou Xuchuan said, smiling slightly. He then recovered the aura that he had just released.
While it was uncouth to intimidate a leader of a force like this in front of their subordinates, they were in the Southern Jungles, not the Central ins. Zhou Xuchuan knew that he had to establish a strong facade.
A little warning was necessary, as it''d be a big deal if the information were wrong or if the Allied Forces were to do something stupid.
"Why don''t we hold a strategy meeting, then?"
p, p, p.
Yuan Cai pped his hands to get everyone''s attention.
"First, I''ll begin with an introduction about the enemy, the major tribes. The martial artists of the Central ins are here with us, so I''ll have to ask you for your understanding, Allied Leaders."
The Southern Jungles originally had four major tribes. The sparsely popted Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was under their influence before they were defeated in the war with the Central ins.
Later on, the Central ins gave up on the region, and it became awless expanse, allowing the major tribes to rule the Southern Jungles through force.
"First of all, the Beast Tribe."
"The Beast Tribe?"
It was a familiar name to the martial artists of the Central ins. They had a simr name to one of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao that had participated in the Evil Valley Rebellion a while ago.
Of course, that Gate had beenpletely silenced by the Evil Valley Master.
"Oh, now that I think about it, I heard that there was an Evil Faction Sect with a simr name in the Central ins'' murim
"I''m not sure about their rtionship, but the major tribes never really interact with the Central ins, much less with sects from the maind, so there probably isn''t any connection between the two."
The only organizations from the Central ins that had any interaction with the Southern Jungles were Yunnan and the imperial government. Beyond that, there was practically no interaction at all.
The imperial government had dispatched officials to take control of the region, but those officials were too busy satisfying their own selfish desires to care about the region.
"The Beast Tribe is capable of taming the ferocious beasts of the Great Forest, and they also have a mysterious power that allows them to use the power of animals.
"For example, they can use the strength of a bear or the agility of a wolf. They are also the most numerous, numbering around a thousand."
"It has always been on my mind, but the Southernahem, the sorcery of the Great Forest is quite mysterious and impressive."
Tang Lian was about to say "the Southern Jungles" with regard to where they were, but he managed to correct himself in time.
The words "Southern Jungles" were used casually in the Central ins, but he''d get mocked if he were to use those words here.
The words "Southern Jungles" were a term that those of the Central ins used to belittle what they deemed the uncivilized barbarians of the South. It wouldn''t matter in front of their enemies, but he still had to keep up pretenses in front of those who were now their allies andrades.[1]
"Next is the Poison Insect Tribe. Among those in the Great Forest, they were the first ones to enter the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons and establish a base."
"A base in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons?" Tang Hui asked, looking surprised.
The Diancang Sect had a rtively close rtionship with the people of the Southern Jungles, but the Tang Family knew more than them. After all, the Tang Family were masters of poison, so they were familiar with the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
In other words, the Tang Family was quite knowledgeable regarding the sacrednd, so they respected the sacrednd''s prowess as warriors trained in poison arts.
"They''re a tribe that is skilled enough to be known as masters of poison even within the Great Forest. Of course, that doesn''t mean they have the ability to roam the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons as if it were their home.
"Their territory is near the entrance."
"That''s still amazing."
Compared to those from the Central ins, the people of the Southern Jungles had a basic resistance to poisons. Even the ordinary people among them had some form of resistance to poisons.
The fact that these people were still reluctant to approach the sacrednd despite their resistance meant that the Poison Insect Tribe''s feat of living within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was pretty significant.
"Based on their name, they are capable of manipting the poisonous insects within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons as if they were their own limbs. Some say that their bodies are actually made of poisonous insects, but I''m not sure about that.
"Anyway, there should be around seven hundred of them."
"Ugh seven hundred"
A groan came out from the search party.
They had never expected that so many people would be living in the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Moreover, they had no idea about the exact strength of the Poison Insect Tribe.
"And then, there''s the Au Co Tribe."
"The Au Co Tribe?"
Unlike the aforementioned two tribes, the origin of this tribe was impossible to guess based on its name alone. However, the atmosphere changed the moment that the words "Au Co Tribe" were uttered.
Judging by the heavy expressions on each and every member of the Qinghua Allied Forces, the Au Co Tribe had to be an extraordinary tribe.
"The Au Co Tribe is the oldest of the major tribes; they are mysterious, fearsome, and strong. While they number only about three hundred, pound for pound, each of them is a hundred times stronger than those of the other tribes."
"What kind of tribe are they? If it''s the Beautiful Mother Tribe are they like those of the North Sea and mainlyposed of women?"[2]
"No, that''s not it. This might take a while to exin. Is that okay?"
"Yes."
"The historical records state that before the Great Yu and the Great Viet came to be, there was the first state called the Kingdom of Van Lang.
"The Founder of that state was Hung Vuong, and ording to their oral tradition, his parents were Lac Long Quan, the fifth-generation descendant of Shennong, and Au Co, the daughter of Emperor Ly."[3]
"Shennong? Are you referring to Emperor Yan?"
Shennong was the ruler of the First Dynasty of the Central ins; it was the name of the legendary monarch of the Three Sovereigns, who existed before the Xia Dynasty.
He was the Monarch of the Central ins; he had achieved godhood and had introduced farming to his people without prejudice. He had be one of the legends in stories.
"Yes."
The third-generation descendant of Shennong, Emperor Ming, had two sons born from different wombsEmperor Lythe King of the North, and Kinh Duong Vuong Loc Tucthe King of the South.
Emperor Ly had a son named Emperor Ai, and he was called the incarnation of fire. He was also the father of the immortal fairy Au Co.
Loc Tuc married the daughter of the Dragon King and had a son, Sung Lam, who wouldter be called the Dragon King of LacLac Long Quan.
"Au Co briefly met Lac Long Quan, who lived in the Dragon Pce. The two fell in love and had a hundred eggs."
A hundred sons were born from the hundred eggs.
However, more than fifty of themter left with Lac Long Quan, who had to return to the Dragon Pce due to some unavoidable circumstances.
The remaining fifty or so followed their mother, Au Co, to the mountains, where they''dter be the first dynasty of the Southern Jungles.
"The kingdom of Van Lang was destroyed long ago, and there haven''t been any traces of it so far"
"Are they iming to be their descendants?"
"Yes, but their power is real. There are only three hundred of them, and their connection to Au Co is questionable, but they have the special ability to control fire.
"Their regenerative ability is also strong enough that they are practically immortal, so we must be careful."
"Hmm. Is that really true?" Tang Lian asked, stroking his beard with an expression of disbelief.
The fact that ancient myths hade up in this meeting was already bizarre, but to think that those supposed descendants were actually capable of manipting fire and with nigh immortal regenerative abilities.
Since ancient times, the sorcery of the Southern Jungles had always been amazing, but Tang Lian still found it absurd that such powers actually existed.
"I heard that the martial artists of the Central ins can break rocks with a single blow and walk on water.
"It is even said that you can disappear, leaving nothing but a shadow in front of one''s eyes. Apparently, you can also hold your breath for half a day. There are even stories about how you can survive with a pulse of only ten beats a day
"We''ve been questioning that as well, just as you''ve been questioning us," Yuan Cai said.
Tang Lian smiled bitterly at that. The abilities that Yuan Cai had mentioned were rare among the martial artists of the Central ins, but they existed.
There were martial artists capable of such feats, but those feats had to sound like a ridiculous fairy tale in the ears of the people from the Southern Jungles, where martial arts were exceedingly rare.
"You said that there are four major tribes. What''s thest one?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Yuan Cai.
"There used to be four, but now there are only three. Thest one is the Cannibal Tribe. They''re skilled at moving through the jungle like ghosts, and they''ve joined hands with the Poison Insect Tribe to craft poison needles that allow them to take away one''s consciousness without a sound.
"The most frightening part of the tribe was their High Priest. It really is a relief that we don''t have to worry about his sorcery anymore."
Yuan Cai, Ye Li, and the Qinghua Allied Forces shook their heads with disgusted faces.
Their reactions told Zhou Xuchuan that the Cannibal Tribe was a bigger deal than he initially thought.
"By the way, that demonic Cannibal Tribe had fewer people than I expected."
"The Cannibal Tribe has arge poption, but it''s variable. Not too long ago, they had around four hundred or five hundred people."
"What do you mean? They only had two hundred people at most, though," Tang Hui asked, tilting her head and looking confused.
"The remaining three hundred or so were either old or had weak constitutions."
"Wait, are you saying that" Tang Hui trailed off.
"They were all eaten," Ye Li answered in Yuan Cai''s stead.
Tang Hui looked a bit shocked by the reply.
1. Just like the previous TL/N: context said, this really is a racially charged term. ?
2. See TL/N, this is a long one. ?
3. Technically, Kinh Duong Vuong, the Third-Generation descendant of Shennong, was the first Hung Vuong and the Founder of Van Lang. To rify, he founded the Hong Bang Dynasty and ruled the Xich Quy Kingdom (which is why he''s sometimes known as the Red Demon King), which was renamed Van Lang in the third generation by his grandson, Hung Quoc Vuong Lan Lang. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
We''re starting to get into the Sino-Vietnamese influence now!
How exciting.
Preface, I am not an expert in Vietnamese mythos, and there is a veryrge chance that what I say is wrong/skewed because I only know of it from the Daoist Sino-Korean context. Take this with a grain of salt!
Okay, in Vietnamese mythology, Au Co is their mother goddess.
Au Co is technically (at least from a Chinese mythological perspective) a Daoist Fairy, a celestial immortal that descended from the mountains. What''s written up above is almost exactly how the mythos of Au Co is taught from the Korean perspective. However, I''ve taken the liberty to make a few changes to be more urate.
Namely, I changed/added the names from their Sino-Korean spellings to their Vietnamese spellings (or at least as close as I could get considering we can''t use ented symbols).
Now, to why this matters to the chapter.
Her name trantes to many things, symbolizing her great identity as the Mother Goddess of Vietnam.
Au (Yu in Chinese and Gu in Korean, ) can mean both Woman/Lady and to incubate an egg/to raise or nurture. This coincides with her identity as both the Mother of the Nation and also the incubator of the Hundred Sons.
Co (Ji in Chinese and Hui in Korean, ) can mean the term of address Lady, the word Beauty, or ''of the river.'' This coincides with her identity as the Queen Goddess/Mother Goddess and also her identity as the Beauty of the River, which is another name for a Daoist Immortal Fairy (She''s technically from the mountains, but the modifier is about being a Tian/Tien.)
That''s why they call her Beautiful Mother. As martial artists of the Central ins, they wouldn''t actually know who Au Co is and would be literally tranting her name.
P.S. - There are a lot of names being thrown around here.
Things to remember, Shennong is one of the Three Sovereigns. Can be argued as one of if not THE most important Chinese Monarchs and is often used as a Daoist figure. He''s very prevalent on the Chinese side. Off the top of my head, he''s a major figure in Deste Era and is sprinkled in a lot of other books on NovelBin.
As for Emperor Yan, there are multiple Emperor Yan, technically everyone from Shennong''s direct lineage is listed as an Emperor Yan, making Emperor Ly one of the Emperor Yans.
Chapter 190: The Qinghua Allied Forces (1)
The Qinghua Allied Forces numbered three thousand.
The Major Tribes two thousand.
In terms of numbers alone, the Qinghua Allied Forces had an overwhelming advantage.
However, that didn''t mean that their actual advantage was that great. Despite their numbers, the Qinghua Allied Forces were still anxious.
It was only natural; their enemies were monsters who had trampled over the Southern Jungles with nothing but their fists after the copse of the imperial colonies.
Fortunately, the Allied Forces had the Central ins martial artists, who had crushed those monsters with just sixty members, by their side.
"First, we should organize the troops."
While the overallmand was to be held by Ye Li and Yuan Cai, the search party was given special recognition and operated independently.
As the strongest unit, they were allowed to make their own decisions, provided they stayed within the bounds of reason.The leaders of the Qinghua Allied Forces didn''t have the power to say anything about this.
"First, let''s check your poison resistance and detoxification ability."
Tang Huiughed eerily, venom dripping from her fingertips. The Qinghua Allied Forces were also from the Southern Jungles, meaning that there was no need to worry about their ability to deal with poison. However, the problem was the people of the Central ins.
As the organization that specialized in poisons within the Central ins, the Tang Family had stronger resistance to poison than those of the Southern Jungles.
The problem was the Diancang Sect. While their martial arts andbat experience were great, how well they could actually deal with poison was uncertain.
Fortunately, most of the Diancang Sect members here had entered and returned from Poisonblood Valley following the Seventh Young Master of Diancang Duan Hecheng.
It seemed they must have suffered considerably back then, as they had a fairly good poison tolerance and their detoxification abilities weren''t bad.
Still, just in case, they were either prescribed an antidote or given preventative medicine.
"Once the fight starts, it''ll be difficult for us to help with detoxification," Tang Hui warned Duan Hecheng.
"So, try not to sh with the Poison Insect Tribe. Instead, I''ll ask you to help manage the Beast Tribe and the Au Co Tribe."
"Understood. Thank you for your concern."
Duan Hecheng couldn''t help but admire Tang Hui''s beauty while receiving the antidote.
Wow, she isn''t called the Poison Phoenix for nothing. If I hadn''t met my wife and was twenty years younger, I may have gone crazy about her.
Duan Hecheng was in his forties. Considering his family status, he had gotten married as soon as he became an adult.
However, as a disciple of the Diancang Sect, he was often called to various battles and martial spars, meaning that he generally didn''t have the time to visit his own home properly.
Even though his marriage was a family-arranged one, he and his wife got along well because they matched well.
In addition, his wife had been famous in Yunnan for her beauty when she was young, and she also had a good heart, meaning that they got along well.
By the way, what''s the rtionship between Great Hero Zhou and the Young Lady Poison Phoenix?
As they continued to move together in the Southern Jungles, he could hear the fierce yet somehow sweet(?) conversation between Zhou Xuchuan and Tang Hui.
Tang Hui would spew out a surprising amount of venom, and Zhou Xuchuan would respond nonchntly, continuing the conversation.
Most men, or even women, would be intimidated by Tang Hui. However, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t seem to care.
Furthermore, since one was the hero of the Righteous Faction and the other the Poison Phoenix, he really couldn''t imagine a better pairing.
So, he asked them out of curiosity.
"I wonder what sort of intentions you have for asking such a question, Seventh Young Master of Diancang. What, did you really expect me to blush all prettily like some girl in love and say, ''O-of course not! There''s nothing going on between us!'' Or is it that you''re trying to introduce me to some Daoists who might just disappear into the dew of the battlefield?"
"No, that''s not"
"It''s okay. I understand. Anyone can be curious. After all, Seventh Young Master of Diancang is at an age where you would soon be able to look at the younger generation of the murim and say, ''Kekeke, I used to be like that too.'' Oh dear, what should we do? If Iugh any harder, my lungs will hurt so much it''ll feel like they''re splitting apart hmm, what sort of poison would be good?"
"I won''t say anything unnecessary, Young Lady."
"Good. This is why I like men who are perceptive before they be snakes. At least they understand what I''m saying."
Tang Hui smiled gently.
****
"Hmm."
Zhou Xuchuan studied the object before him, lost in thought.
"So, sorcery"
In front of him was a six-foot-tall staff and a suspicious book underneath it.
They were the treasures of the Cannibal Tribe.
The staff amplified the power of sorcery arts, and the book was some sort of secret manual containing the High Priest''s sorcery.
Whether it was in the Southern Jungles or the Central ins, the revtion of this secret manual would undoubtedly ignite a bloody storm. That was why, just in case, he had asked Little Ghost to search the High Priest''s body and take whatever was there before he left the temple.
"This I think I might be able to learn it if I try hard enough."
After reading the High Priest''s manual, it wasn''t as difficult as he had thought. While there were a few conditions, it wasn''t too difficult.
The issue was that the sorcery required a person''s vitality or innate qi and consumedrge amounts in an instant. However, that could be mitigated by using qi instead.
After reading the manual, he could understand why they coveted the brains and hearts of martial artists.
Everything else within the book was about the tattoos. All one had to do was draw the pictures or letters listed to activate the spells.
In other words, anyone could be stronger through this sorcery, regardless of whether they were a martial artist or not, as long as they had some amount of qi.
"To have this much power but with these few conditions"
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t help but exim in admiration as he thought of the High Priest.
If this werepared to martial arts, it would be on the same level as a divine art. All one had to do was precisely copy the tattoos and work diligently on gathering qi.[1]
It didn''t require enlightenment or evenprehension. The more he looked into it, the more surprised he became.
"Hmph. It seems like it would be hard to use it directly."
Even though there were many different types of martial artists, and he could theoretically exin them away, he was still of the Righteous Faction, and more importantly, he was still a Daoist of the Nine Sects and One Gang.
There was no way he could draw something that looked so suspicious on his skin.
He thought about it carefully, but no matter how much of a waste it would be, he couldn''t use something that would most likely get himbeled a demonic cultivator.
"Are there any invisible tattoos?"
As long as they weren''t visible, he would be more than willing to use them.
There was no need for him to use anyone''s vitality since he had enough qi. It was basically the perfect addition of power.
Hebed through the spellbook again, just in case. Fortunately, he was able to find the section about the synthesis and manufacturing of tattoo ink.
Unfortunately, there was no such thing as an invisible tattoo. However, there was something simr.
In the Southern Jungles, there was a creature called a biyi.[2] This creature had the ability to change its skin color at will. However, it was so good at it that it couldn''t be detected even if one looked closely, giving it an incredible advantage in front of predators. While it was impossible for it to bepletely invisible, it had the ability to hide itself from one''s gazepletely.
However, that didn''t mean it was perfect. When its emotions were heightened, it couldn''t keep itsplete camouge and would shine faintly instead.
To the Cannibal Tribe, a tattoo was a way to prove and be recognized as a warrior''s strength. There was no concept of hiding it.
"Hmm, when you get emotional"
Zhou Xuchuan''s gaze turned to the side. Little Ghost, standing alone, came into his view.
When one became a Harmony Master, it was easy to control one''s emotions. However, that didn''t mean theycked emotions, they were just controlled.
However, the Phantoms who went through the process of Mind Killing were different.
Since they had no Mind, they had no emotions, no sense of tion.
They were perfect candidates to use both martial arts and sorcery at the same time.
"Good. Then, I''ll give this to you. Is that okay?"
"Yes."
"Whatever. I don''t know why I even asked."
Because of the influence of the Divine Phantom Art, the Phantoms would listen immediately, no matter what he told them to do.
While it wasfortable, it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Although he tried his best to treat her like a person, not a tool, it still made his head hurt because the person in question never understood that.
He hadn''t stopped searching for a way to restore individuality to her and the others. But the effects of the Mind Killing was just too great.
"I guess we''ll have to go back to the temple."
Before leaving the temple, he had looked around to see if there was anything else to take.
Within the temple were some gold and silver treasures, weapons, and a room for constructing poison needles. There had to be some paint materials for tattooing in one of them.
However, the temple was currently under themand of the major tribes.
While it was one of the ces they would have to conquer if war broke out anyway, it was troublesome to have to do the same thing twice.
"Little Ghost, it looks like I still have a lot to give you."
Zhou Xuchuan patted Little Ghost''s head.
Although he needed paint for tattooing, he also needed to increase her qi so that she would be able to use it as a substitute for vitality.
Since he hade all the way to the Southern Jungles, he might as well look for an elixir.
****
The search party, initially formed to look for a single person, stirred up a storm.
The name of this storm was war.
The Southern Jungles had raised an army for the first time since the failed rebellion during the previous dynasty.
However, despite thismotion, the province officials dispatched from the Central ins didn''t budge.
"Hmm. It seems the Toho of Qinghua Province has mobilized his troops."
"Ohoho, there''s only three thousand of them, right? What child''s y."
"To think they put in all that effort just to fight some barbarians tsk tsk."
"It''s just beasts fighting each other. Why should we get involved? Let''s not worry about it."
The officials didn''t even know the names of the Toho, so why would they have any interest in the situation of the Southern Jungles?
They simply dismissed the scale of a battle involving five thousand troops, saying that it was just a power struggle between the barbarians and amon urrence.
The important thing wasn''t that, but rather, which oil to adorn their bodies with and which beauties to embrace.
Meanwhile, Ye Li, with the help of his advisor Yuan Cai, led the troops gathered from all over the province and made his move.
All three thousand troops moved together, as he hadn''t dispersed his troops at all.
Since three thousand people were moving at once, themotion wasn''t anything to scoff at.
Even the beasts that usually didn''t care about people or anything else lowered their heads, on guard in the darkness.
p, p, p!
Hundreds of birds pped their wings and flew over the Great Forest.
The sound of their wings pping all at once was like thunder.
"The enemy numbers two thousand. The Beast Tribe at one thousand, the Poison Insect Tribe at seven hundred, and the Au Co Tribe at three hundred but that''s not all we have to worry about."
"If that''s not all, then?"
"We also need to consider the beasts raised by the Beast Tribe. They mostly keep wolves, and there should be about three hundred of them."
"While they aren''t as troublesome as humans, they still must be quite a headache."
"Exactly."
Two thousand warriors and three hundred beasts. It wasn''t a small number.
"The good news is that there isn''t much cooperation between the Major Tribes."
"Indeed. That''s definitely good news."
A faint smile appeared on Zhou Xuchuan''s lips.
While they may have all belonged to the Major Tribes, they weren''t all from the same tribe.
Beast Tribe, Poison Insect Tribe, Au Co Tribe.
They didn''t even have a unified leader, so it wasn''t easy for these different groups to join hands in the first ce.
It was only because their power was evenly matched that they formed a cooperative rtionship. It seemed like if two of the three were to collide, their strength would weaken and leave an opening for the third force to invade.
Their petty pride, believing that the only thing they could trust was their own strength and that they didn''t need to cooperate with each other, was perfect for the Allied Forces'' victory.
"Normally, when they move independently like this, we would think about distributing our troops appropriately and defeat each of their forces individually."
Zhou Xuchuan nodded.
"However, that''s a trap. The Poison Insect Tribe likes to hide in trees and bushes and use all kinds of poisonous insects to ambush their prey. Never underestimate their power. That''s how the remaining forces of the Great Viet were annihted in the past."
Since the Allied Forces had already lost several wars, they were extremely wary of the enemy. They had also prepared countermeasures.
"So, instead, the Allied Forces shouldn''t disperse our troops but rather face the situation head-on. Our primary target is here."
The gaze of the audience turned to Yuan Cai''s fingertips.
"The temple of the Cannibal Tribe."
1. To rify, you can be a cultivator and not be a martial artist. Case in point, Zhuge Shengji is not a martial artist, even though he has qi. ?
2. Technically a pseudo-mythological creature, but is essentially a chameleon. ?
Chapter 191: The Qinghua Allied Forces (2)
Chapter 191: The Qinghua Allied Forces (2)
Meanwhile, as the Allied Forces held their strategy meeting, the Major Tribes also prepared for the bloodshed that was sure toe.
The forces that had subdued the Southern Jungles through force alone gathered together for the first time in years to hold a long-awaited meeting of the tribes.
At a round marble table sat three people, each with their own unique individuality.
The most striking among them wore a mask made of buffalo bones. His imposing stature was intimidating and he was nearly nine chi tall, making him look inhuman.[1]
He was the leader and Great Warrior of the Beast Tribe, ck Buffalo.
"We''re going to be acting separately anyway, was it really necessary for us to gather like this?" ck Buffalo asked, breaking the silence.
"I agree."
A nod came from the other side. He was the chief of the Poison Insect Tribe.
Unlike the norm in the Southern Jungles, his skin was as pale as a corpse. He also looked quite young for a chief.However, none of that mattered. What really caught one''s eye were the bugs crawling on his skin.
The sight of not just one or two but dozens of bugs was repulsive.
"This woman also agrees."
It was a cold, dignified voice. The owner of the voice was a beautiful woman who could be mistaken for a fairy.
Her hair, which barely reached her corbone, was so red that it seemed as though it would burst into mes, and her skin was healthy and tanned.
Her figure was undeniably striking, her voluptuous body stirring lust within the other two. However, they had to hold themselves back when considering her status.
Because she was the matriarch of the Au Co Tribe.
"Good. Then everyone do what you will."
ck Buffalo let out a satisfiedugh and got up from his seat. The other two chieftains also took their leave.
****
Boom, boom, boom.
A drummer struck his drum, its majestic sound echoing far and wide.
The ground trembled, almost as if an earthquake had struck, as three thousand troops moved in perfect unison. The strange leaves, vines, and jungle detritus were helpless in front of them, easily cut down and discarded.
After marching wildly, the Allied Forces stopped in front of the temple.
"Look!"
Ye Li raised his voice.
"A group of barbarians who call themselves the Major Tribes andmitted all kinds of atrocities havee here in fear!"
The temple, which had been the territory of the Cannibal Tribe until just recently, was now upied by those of the Major Tribes.
"Growl!"
Agile beasts with muscr bodies roared fiercely, their fangs visible in their jaws as they watched their enemy appear.
"Listen, proud soldiers of Qinghua!"
Ye Li pulled out his decorative sword and raised it above his head.
"Do we not already know the heinous actions of the barbarians? Think carefully!"
The eyes of the Allied Forces soldiers turned bloodshot. Some of them couldn''t hold back their anger as they cursed with hatred.
"They brutally raped our wives, the partners we promised our lives to, and brutally murdered our children, the apples of our eyes! Not only that, but our old and sick parents were taken away, never to return. Our wealth was plundered, leaving us to starve!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each of Ye Li''s words, the sound of the drums echoed. The sound ignited the hearts of the Allied Forces.
Hatred and anger spread like wildfire, raising the morale of the three thousand soldiers.
"Don''t hold back any longer, warriors! Let us show those who have abandoned humanity and morality and have be worse than beasts, an example!"
ROAR!
"Let''s go!"
"Let''s gooooo!"
Ye Li was their leader andmander.
The momentum of the Allied Forces, influenced by his shouts, was truly overwhelming. It was almost electrifying.
The three thousand troops stormed the temple.
"It''s the enemy!"
Howl!!!
A wolf the size of a man howled loudly.
The Beast Tribesmen echoed the beastly howl and kicked off the ground. A thousand warriors rushed in.
Usually, in a normal war, it wasmon to begin the battle with bows before engaging in closebat. However, the Southern Jungles were an exception.
Since the leaves, vines, and trees were so densely packed, it was difficult to hit one''s enemies unless one was a skilled archer. Thus, it wasn''t used that often.
That was why wars in the Southern Jungles were specialized in closebat and why the first sh was so fierce.
"Ugh!"
"Agh!"
"My arm!!"
The chaotic battle was fierce, and the sheer number ofbatants was overwhelming. From above, there were so many people fighting that it seemed grotesque.
While the Cannibal Tribe''s temple wasn''t small, it wasn''trge enough to contain three or even four thousand people.
The situation was bound to escte into an all-out melee. Fortunately, there was a temple in the center, allowing for the battle to spill over there. With no room to stand, warriors ended up getting pushed up the stairs of the temple or up the hill.
"Die!"
The Allied Forces soldiers fought systematically. Perhaps due to their military training, they were quite skilled at fighting in a group.
Their main weapons were Jungle des and spears.
A Jungle de was essential for survival in the Southern Jungles. Naturally, their weaponry skills and Jungle de mastery had to be well-developed.
While they weren''t as good with them as the Cannibal Tribe, they were still quite skilled.
The Beast Tribe warriors who rushed at them with their curved sabers or wolves dropped to the ground, blood sttering from their wounds.
As for their spears, the Allied Forces used short spears, not long ones.
Even if they had long spears, it would be too difficult to use them because they would get caught in the thickly growing trees.
In fact, des and knives were better than spears here. These short spears were only developed because they were used to stab enemies hiding in the bushes.
The soldiers fought against the barbarians, recalling their memories of training back to back.
"Howl!!"
Inparison, the Beast Tribe moved haphazardly. They fought more like animals than humans.
However, that didn''t mean that they were easy to deal with.
As if to prove that they weren''t one of the Major Tribes of the Southern Jungles for nothing, their strength was horrifying.
The harmony between humans and beasts was scarier than one might have imagined. The screams of those bitten were brutal.
"Hmph."
The leader of the Beast Tribe, ck Buffalo, snorted.
"Is this all they amount to?"
Numbers were meaningless in front of ck Buffalo.
While the difference in numbers was more than half, that didn''t matter. After all, wasn''t the difference between their individual strengths and his just as wide?
"Still, Imend you for using your wits and leading all of your forces to fight together."
No one could have imagined that the Qinghua Allied Forces wouldn''t split up and would attack directly with the three thousand troops.
It was because of their bold attack that the entire Beast Tribe was fighting like this. However, this was more to ck Buffalo''s style.
After all, the Allied Forces were just a bunch of fools with their superior numbers. Or, at least, that was what he thought.
The battlefield was extremely fierce. A melee where it was impossible to tell who had the upper hand just by looking down at it from above.
However, there were some who stood out even in the midst of the screams. Some unfamiliar-looking martial artists.
"That bitch is mine!"
A Beast Tribe warrior, his body covered in hair, opened his eyes wide as he caught sight of the Poison Phoenix, Tang Hui.
The Beast Tribe were closer to beasts than humans. They often allowed themselves to sumb to their primal desires, like their sexual desires.
Even in the midst of the battle, this warrior was filled with so much lust that he groped at his groin andughed viciously.
"You dare! That''s mine!"
"How ''bout you let me rape you?!"
Theirughter and crudements were incredibly vulgar. No less than six warriors of the Beast Tribe rushed at Tang Hui while riding their wolves.
"Huh?"
The moment the first warrior charged forward while raising a cloud of dust, his wolf, with its mouth wide open, blinked and fell forward. The momentum threw the warrior off the wolf''s back and he tumbled forward, rolling across the ground.
His neck snapped on impact, and he died instantly, his face frozen in confusion.
"Saying such nonsense to the Miss"
Tang Hui''s guard, Yuan Dashi, stepped forward protectively.
"Poison?"
The remaining nine warriors shuddered and stopped abruptly. Their instincts screamed in their heads, warning them.
"Don''t forgive them!"
"We''ve received your order!"
With Yuan Dashi in the lead, the warriors of the Tang Family followed closely behind. Tang Lian threw poison alongside them, his beard swaying with his every movement.
"Ugh!"
"Agh!"
Half of the attackers clutched their stomachs as the poison spread through their bodies, copsing onto the ground. The other half hurriedly took out antidotes from their bags and tried to consume them. However, they never got the chance to do so.
Duan Hecheng''s sword shed through their necks as if condemning them.
"Growl!"
While the warriors of the Beast Tribe had all died, the wolves riding below them remained. They were all still alive.
The massive beasts howled, either in mourning for their masters or in rage, and charged at Duan Hecheng. As they were muchrger than normal, their strength was intimidating.
Moreover, it was thebined force of four of them.
"Move."
However, before they could even attempt to get revenge, they were suddenly thrown through the air by an unseen force. Their bodies mmed to the ground with incredible force, their howls reced by pitiful whimpers.
Zhou Xuchuan stepped past Duan Hecheng, grabbing an Allied Forces soldier by the back of the neck and pulling him away from a wolf''s snapping jaws.
"Agh!"
The soldier gasped as he stumbled backward, the wolf''s teeth snapping shut right where he had just stood.
"You dare?!"
Zhou Xuchuan clenched his right hand into a fist and swung it roughly.
Bang!
The fistnded like a hammer on the wolf''s head. The sound of cracking bone echoed as its skull shatteredpletely.
"Huh?"
His sharp senses detected something unusual, prompting him to pause and shift his gaze to the side.
Swish!
The air seemed to tear as something flew toward him, drawing an arc through the air like a meteor.
"An arrow?"
His surprised words slipped out naturally as his hand moved reflexively, catching the arrow mere inches from his neck.
Archery was a dead art in the Southern Jungles. No one ever used it. However, an arrow hade flying toward him, which was surprising.
He turned toward the direction the arrow hade from, trying to find its source. All he could see was the densely packed forest.
He poured his qi into his eyes, hoping to see something. Once his eyesight temporarily improved, he could finally see beyond the leaves.
An archer?
There was an archer sitting on a thick tree branch, firing arrows with his bow. He had a mask that reminded Zhou Xuchuan of a hawk.
"Does he know how to use the power of a bird or something?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered in mock admiration.
Did he notice me? The man in the hawk mask was also surprised. However, he quickly dismissed the thought.
The distance between them was considerable. Even within his tribe, there was no one capable of seeing this far.
Thinking that his target had only noticed the direction in which the arrow hade from, he moved over to the tree to his side.
Squeak.
He nocked another arrow on his bow and pulled it with all his might.
Thinking that his target had only blocked his attack by coincidence, he squinted his eyes. Suddenly, his breath got caught in his hawk mask.
What filled his vision wasn''t his target, Zhou Xuchuan, it was a dagger, flying in a straight line toward him.
Squelch!
He didn''t even have time to let out a single scream. The man in the hawk mask fell backward from the tree with a dagger stuck in his forehead.
The expression revealed as his mask fell off was one of disbelief and shock at the attack.
1. Mans is ten feet tall. ?
Chapter 192: To Be Handed a Complete Defeat (1)
"Impressive"
Jie Da, the Allied Forces Thousand-Man Commander, was impressed.
What he was looking at were the Central ins martial artists, especially Zhou Xuchuan, who was running wild with overwhelming force.
When he had first heard the news about the Cannibal Tribe, he could hardly believe it.
He had been fighting as the Commander of the Qinghua region for quite some time. This meant that he had experience in waging wars against the Major Tribes.
Jie Da knew exactly how terrifying the Cannibal Tribe was.
The mere mention of their name sent shivers down his spine. He couldn''t bring himself to believe that Zhou Xuchuan and the others hadpletely annihted the fearsome monsters with only sixty people and without a single casualty.
The advisor must have lied to gather strength.
News of one''s victory was usually exaggerated. It was always done in such a way to boost the morale of the Allied Forces and lower the morale of the enemy.It wasn''t strange for the victor to exaggerate their achievements. He thought that this was just a part of that. If they said that they had won an overwhelming victory, the number of forces participating in the war would increase.
That thought didn''t change when he first saw Zhou Xuchuan at the strategy meeting. No, he even doubted it.
Could the Cannibal Tribe really have lost to this child?
He was too young. To be frank, he wouldn''t have believed it even if a thirty-year-old warrior was said to have been the main contributor to the victory.
However, even if they were from the Central ins, it was near impossible to believe that someone who looked so young could have defeated the High Priest of the Southern Jungles.
After sending scouts to confirm, he was sure that the Cannibal Tribe had disappeared from the map. Yet, he still had many questions.
Of course, it wasn''t proper for him to go to the benefactor who had saved the life of his Toho, Lord Ye Li, and ask such rude questions.
He had no choice but toe to the temple, uneasiness weighing heavily on him. However, he was left speechless after witnessing such strength firsthand.
How could he be so strong at such a young age?
A swordsman who ran wild across the battlefield. Nothing could stand in his way or before his sword. Everyone was cut down with a single stroke.
The tanned beast''s leather armor split apart along with the flesh beneath, spraying blood in all directions, while the heads of charging wolves shattered with a single punch or two. It didn''t matter who or how many attacked.
All were helpless in front of him.
The Beast Tribe warriors fell like autumn leaves.
It was shocking to think that just one person was defeating them.
While the other martial artists were also quite strong, Zhou Xuchuan was on a different level. It was like thunder rumbled inside Jie Da''s head.
We can win.
When Jie Da came to his senses, he realized that a smile was spreading across his lips.
The Major Tribes!
He hadn''t been able to shake off his anxiety even as he went into battle. Although their difference in power was overwhelming, his morale had still been low. ?
Anyone from the Great Forest would get frightened when they heard that name.
Even Jie Da, who was a master, was tense.
Anxiety and a lingering sense of defeat resided deep within his heart, etched so deeply that it couldn''t be erased.
But not anymore.
We can win!
Thump! Thump!
His heart raced. His hands, holding the Jungle de, felt strong.
Victory was almost certain. Jie Da''s nostrils red as he, immersed in that feeling, shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Now, advance!"
He swung his Jungle de. The Beast Tribe warrior in front of him, so close that they could touch each other''s noses, was unable to stop him from cleaving his chest open.
Squelch!
Blood gushed out like a fountain from the wound. He pushed past the corpse and gave orders to the soldiers around him.
"This is it! Let''s use this momentum to punish these barbarians!"
Jie Da looked at Zhou Xuchuan''s back and felt hope. Even though the martial artist was far away, strangely, he could see him well.
Like a child who was the winner of the neighborhood brawl, he couldn''t control his excitement.
I can finally get my revenge.
He had fought countless battles against the Major Tribes. Most of them ended in defeat. There were times when he had been forced to flee while being openly mocked and times when his subordinates, who were like his brothers, had been brutally murdered.
Each time he was forced to retreat, shedding tears of blood over his weakness, Jie Da never let go of that grudge.
"So that those who died before us can rest in peace, today is the day where I will fulfill my long-held wish"
Squelch!
"...huh?"
His words were cut short.
It happened so quickly that Jie Da''s mind couldn''t process it.
He blinked, turning to look at his side.
"My arm"
There was nothing there.
There was no de to cut through the enemy''s windpipe. His hand that had been holding his Jungle de, his arm, was gone. It had been cleanly severed all the way to his shoulder.
The cut was so clean that not a single drop of blood flowed from the stump. It was so clean, in fact, that his shoulder was slippery.
BOOM!
Then, a loud explosion followed btedly.
"Ugh!"
"Agh!"
"AGK!"
He heard his subordinates screaming from behind him. That scream jarred Jie Da back to reality and made him realize what had happened.
He could see a double-edged ax flying through the air, spinning so fiercely that it made a whirring sound.
The ax sliced through his arm effortlessly,nding amidst his troops and turning them into a bloody mess.
"ck"
Jie Da''s breath caught. He recognized that weapon instantly.
He had seen it beforeback when he had stared death in the face. His body froze as the memory wed its way back to him, a nightmare he had long buried.
Jie Da remembered something he had forgotten.
Of the chief of the Beast Tribe.
"Buffalo!"
"GUOOOOOO!"
The cry of the ax''s owner, ck Buffalo, echoed through the battlefield. It was enough to stop the fierce fighting taking ce everywhere.
Chatter, chatter!
His jaw chattered uncontrobly and his hair stood on end, his body trembling like an aspen tree.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t stop the trembling. He couldn''t reason properly, and primal fear seized control, his instincts screaming for him to flee.
Before him stood a giant nearly nine chi tall, his form appearing almost inhuman. The force of his presence felt like an unstoppable storm.
One versus a hundred.
No, it was the spirit of one against a thousand. Jie Da was left shivering at that spirit, unable to move a fingertip.
"I let you live, to think you''d crawl back up without knowing your ce. There''s nothing left to see."
Thump, thump.
The ground shook with each step ck Buffalo took. Jie Da couldn''t tell if it was an illusion created by his fear or if it was real.
He could see beast-like pupils zing through ck Buffalo''s bone mask.
Like a mouse in front of a cat, he couldn''t move.
Leaving things as they were would be far too dangerous.
Most of the Beast Tribe didn''t think, leaving everything to their primal instincts. However, ck Buffalo was different.
To be the leader of a tribe, intelligence was required in addition to strength.
If things continue like this, we''ll be left at a disadvantage in the battle against the other tribester.
Even though there were twice as many troops on the other side, he was not afraid at all. Everyone on that side was useless, so there hadn''t been any need to be wary.
However, as time passed, his tribe seemed to suffer more damage than he had expected.
While they wouldn''t be defeated outright, if their numbers continued to dwindle, the Poison Insect Tribe or the Au Co Tribe would probably look down on them.
ck Buffalo decided he''d seen enough. It was time to stop observing and take matters into his own hands.
ytime was over. It was time for him to show them the power of the Beast Tribe.
"It''s the end"
"We''re all dead"
Despair spilled from the mouths of the soldiers while the Thousand-Man Commander, who had lost his arm, also lost hope.
The forgotten fear. The overwhelming power. Even the roar he had just heardJie Da''s head, his heart, his soul wouldn''t listen to him.
He didn''t bother about the Central ins martial artists who were fighting far away. Not only would it take time for them to get through this melee, he doubted whether they would be of any help.
"Now, I''ll sweep you all away."
A ck haze began to emanate from ck Buffalo''s body. The swaying threads became thicker as they condensed into one.
It gradually formed a massive buffalo''s horn. It almost felt like it belonged to a demon or a dokkaebi.[1]
This was the end. The moment that horn fully formed, no one would survive.
It was clear, Jie Da knew he would die at ck Buffalo''s hands.
"GUOOOOO!"
RUMBLE!
With a deafening roar, ck Buffalo kicked off the ground. He was like a wild boar, no, a Water Buffalo.[2] A cloud of dust billowed behind him, turning the ground into a wastnd.
It felt as though a wall of air had been torn apart, unleashing a gust of wind that blew everyone away.[3]
"Ah"
Jie Da closed his eyes, his body frozen in ce.
Around him, his subordinates did the same. While they wanted to avoid it, it was unavoidable. This would be their deaths.
People couldn''t avoid death. He had to ept it. His life shed before his eyes.
BOOM!
The noise was loud enough to rupture his eardrums.
The aftermath of the impact was unusual. The ground shook violently, and the surrounding bushes were ripped from their roots, as though a typhoon had swept through.
"Huh?"
However, strangely, he felt no pain. He wondered if he had died before he could feel pain, but that wasn''t the case, either. His body still felt the same.
The wind that blew through his hair, the goosebumps that dotted his skin, the pungent scent of bloodall of it remained the same.
Jie Da opened his eyes, sensing something was off.
The moment the darkness cleared and light came in, Jie Da was left speechless, his jaw hung open in disbelief.
"This, this is"
There was a person in front of him.
He saw a young man holding onto the buffalo''s horn and keeping him at bay.
The young man''s back wasn''t wide by any means. Compared to ck Buffalo, his back was very narrow. Yet, strangely, his back felt bigger than any of the old trees orrge leaves of the Southern Jungles.
"Why''d youe all this way just to show off your strength?"
The young man, Zhou Xuchuan, said with a wry smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"You punk!"
ck Buffalo''s eyes were filled with anger.
No one had ever blocked his path. Anyone who blocked the ck Buffalo''s path was ttened like rice cakes.
ck Buffalo would never forgive those who blocked his path.
"You braaaaaaaaaaaaat!"
ck Buffalo lost hisposure. His calm demeanor, which was as tranquil as ake, copsed, and his eyes were bloodshot from anger.
His skin turned red as his blood pressure rose. He snorted as he dug his feet into the ground.
Thud, thud, thud!
He stepped forward with his left foot, then his right. Again, his right foot followed his left. He kept running, his steps relentless, pounding the same ground over and over.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath, nting his feet firmly. Then, with an explosive burst of strength, he pulled upward, his muscles bulging.
Thoom.
"Huh?"
A voice of confusion came from the warriors of the Beast Tribe. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped. ck Buffalo, who had always charged forward with unstoppable momentum, was now lifted high into the air, rising above them all.
Zhou Xuchuan had used the Thousand Catty Bast''s ability to increase his weight, using his strong legs as pirs to support himself. Then, he lifted ck Buffalo by holding onto his horns with his explosive strength.
"Wait, there''s no way" someone muttered.
His impossible guess came true.
"HA!"
Zhou Xuchuan let out a shout. The next thing he did was m ck Buffalo into the ground.
BOOOM!
"AGH!"
ck Buffalo, the chief of the Beast Tribe, the strongest man in the Southern Jungles, was unexpectedly mmed into the ground by his horns.
The nearly nine chi tall giant was brought down to the ground with all of Zhou Xuchuan''s strength. With his weight added to it, it was no ordinary force.
The vertical ck Buffalo became horizontal, crashing into the ground stomach first.
His ribs cracked, the shattered bones piercing into his internal organs and causing him to vomit blood.
Even his qi cirction was ruined. The qi contained in his horns dispersed like fog.
T-this son of a bitch!
ck Buffalo cursed in pain. He tried to squirm to get away, but he couldn''t.
"Let''s go againnnn!"
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t let go of ck Buffalo''s horns. Although the ground may have caved in, he didn''t lose his bnce.
He lifted ck Buffalo''s body up and mmed it down with all his strength again.
BOOOM!
"AGH!"
ck Buffalo vomited blood. It seemed like something had broken again. However, that wasn''t the important part.
Even his tough skin and muscles, which normally only left him with a bruise even when struck with a knife, couldn''t withstand the overwhelming force. They ruptured under the impact.
The shock rattled his brain, leaving his senses in shambles.
He couldn''t muster even the slightest bit of strength.
He couldn''t even form a single thought.
Finally, he realized what the problem was. But just as he was about to reach for his bone mask, his heavy body floated upward once again.
And then came the words that filled him with despair.
"Buffalo Sword Technique!"
Zhou Xuchuan grabbed the ck Buffalo and began swinging him around.
1. The Korean Dokkaebi is often tranted to goblin, but is nothing like the green impish monsters you see in western fantasy. They''re more akin to nature deities, visually depicted more akin to the oni of Japanese Folklore, albeit much more yful/mischievous. ?
2. Technically ck Buffalo''s name is ck Water Buffalo, but that seems less cool. ?
3. He broke through air resistance and caused a vacuum that created a storm. ?
Chapter 193: To Be Handed a Complete Defeat (2)
"Ugh, ugh!"
ng!
The screams of humans and beasts merged into a deafening cacophony.
Zhou Xuchuan swung ck Buffalo like a weapon, sweeping away the enemies in front of him.
Because of how massive the tribal chief was, it looked more like he was swinging a pir rather than a person.
While he wasn''t getting cut up or injured because of his extraordinary external cultivation, ck Buffalo ended up getting knocked right back into the air as soon as he hit the ground.
"W-what the hell is that?!"
"Chief?!"
Shocked voices erupted from the Beast Tribe.Watching their tribal leader being swung around like a sword left them utterly disoriented.
"W-what?"
Jie Da, who had lost his arm, was just as shocked as the enemy. He was so appalled by the scene that he didn''t even feel pain and just stood there nkly.
The soldiers around him were frozen in ce. Rather than being afraid, they were simply bewildered.
"Ha-a-eup!"
Whether his allies and enemies were flustered or not, Zhou Xuchuan ignored them, instead taking advantage of the opening tounch an attack.
The Beast Tribe warriors were like a group of gathered dolls, swept away by the first form of Zhou Xuchuan''s Buffalo Sword Technique.
It was truly like the fall of autumn leaves. Six or seven of them copsed, screaming, like dust swept away with a broom.
The speed of his attack was so fast that eighty people were defeated in an instant.
"Get it together!"
Jie Da snapped out of his daze at the sound of Yuan Cai''s voice.
"Huh?!"
He btedly came to his senses.
Now that he thought about it, he was still standing in the middle of the battlefield. This wasn''t the time. He couldn''t miss this opportunity.
He took out a piece of cloth from his bosom, wrapped it around his severed stump to prevent it from bleeding out, and grabbed the Jungle de with his other hand.
Though it wasn''t his dominant hand, he couldn''tin. Being able to hold the Jungle de at all in his condition was a blessing.
"Now is the time!" Jie Da shouted loudly.
"ck Buffalo has been defeated! Take advantage of this moment!"
His shout echoed through the battlefield, awakening the soldiers who had been standing there in a daze.
"Don''t let the evildoers of the Great Forest go! Let''s show them the power of the Allied Forces!"
Ye Li also did not back down and raised his baton to give an order.
Upon hearing the news of ck Buffalo''s defeat, the morale of the Qinghua Allied Forces soared to the skies. A roar that shook the heavens and the earth burst out from their mouths, filling the battlefield.
gs fluttered in the air, and the drummer beat his drums, rekindling the soldiers'' fighting spirit.
ROAR!!!!
Due to the fierce battle, the three thousand troops had been reduced to two thousand five hundred. If the seriously injured were removed, there would only be about two thousand to two thousand one hundred left.
As expected of the Beast Tribe, it was incredible that they had inflicted this much damage despite being outnumbered. However, they still suffered great damage. The three hundred beasts had fallen to less than a hundred, and the number of warriors they had left was, at best, six hundred.
The greatest blow was the loss of their chief. With their strongest warrior defeated, the tribe''s morale plummeted.
In the world of beasts, strength was everything and the loss of their symbol of strength was the greatest blow of all.
"Hahahaha!"
Duan Hechengughed when he saw Zhou Xuchuan running wild.
However, it was because he was Duan Hecheng that he could justugh it off.
If he were any other Righteous Faction member and swordsman, he wouldn''t have been able to hide his distaste for Zhou Xuchuan''s actions.
Swinging a person like a sword? That wasn''t swordsmanship at all. It definitely wasn''t the proper thing to do.
Some people might think that it was because Duan Hecheng was a member of the Diancang Sect. The Diancang Sect, famous for its practical techniques, was, in truth, a mixture of the Righteous Path and the Evil Path. Since they valued actualbat on the battlefield more than Daoist cultivation, they, too, sometimes acted in ways that went against the etiquette of the Righteous Faction.
Of course, it was also bizarre from the Diancang Sect''s perspective. However, since Zhou Xuchuan had saved their lives twice, they let this strangeness go.
"Ugh!"
"Agh!"
The situationpletely changed.
Moments ago, the Allied Forces were hesitant and afraid. Now, the tables had turnedthe Beast Tribe was the one gripped by fear.
From above, the situation of the battle was clearly visible. The Allied Forces had the upper hand.
Since there was no leader left, it was easy to deal with the remnants.
Even the Major Tribes of the Southern Jungles would have a hard time dealing with the ''weak'' forces of the Allied Forces after losing their chief.
The beasts that had been hunting the soldiers with zing eyes lowered their tails and began a slow retreat. This shift marked the turning point of the battle, as the Beast Tribesmen, exhausted, also started to withdraw.
"Where do you think you''re going?"
"The Beast Tribe is running away!"
"Don''t let them escape!"
However, the Allied Forces had no intention of letting them escape. Their deep-seated grudge against the Major Tribes left no room for mercy.
Their bodies ached, their bones creaked, and their lungs felt ready to burst, but they charged forward relentlessly, determined to crush their enemiespletely.
An hourter, the Allied Forces'' g was raised over the temple.
The Beast Tribe had been utterly defeated.
While they weren''tpletely wiped out like the Cannibal Tribe, since they had lost their leader and were scattered, it was essentially aplete loss.
ck Buffalo, one of the greatest warriors of the Southern Jungles, also died.
ording to rumors, ck Buffalo was captured by a Central ins man and swung around like a club until he lost his life.
For a warrior, it was a deeply humiliating end. Perhaps that shame was why the Beast Tribe''s morale plummeted afterward. In the end, they became a chaotic rabble and fled until they were caught by the Allied Forces and were brutally ughtered.
It was only a matter of time before this news spread throughout the Southern Jungles.
"The hell?"
The man''s face twisted in anger.
"Just what the hell are those bastards doing?!"
One thousand three hundred. It was by no means a small number.
Still, it was staggering to realize that their losses were nearly total annihtion, while the Allied Forces had suffered only minimal casualties.
Even if they were to lose, they shouldn''t have suffered such a crushing defeat.
In order to achieve their goal, the Beast Tribe was supposed to have bought them some time. No, even if they couldn''t do that, they were supposed to have inflicted enough damage so that they wouldn''t rush in rashly.
However, somehow, that fierce battle ended in less than a day, and there was no significant change to the number of their enemies.
If the situation remained as it was, they would soon face a force of over two thousand.
No matter how strong the Major Tribes were, the difference in strength was far too great.
"When this is over, I''ll personally tear apart those damned chiefswhether it''s the Poison Insect Chief or the Au Co Chiefwith my own two hands."
When he had heard that they nned to divide their limited forces into three and operate independently, he had doubted his ears.
He wanted to stop them. However, these tribes were known for their pride, and there was nothing he could do.
He understood that the Qinghua Allied Forces didn''t seem like a significant threat. However, this time, there was also the variable of the martial artists of the Central ins.
Most importantly, the sheer size of three thousand troops wasn''t something that could be taken lightly. That was the cause of their defeat.
"Did you look into those of the Central ins?"
"It seems as though the Poison Phoenix is here. Aside from her, the rest of the forces are from the Tang Family and the Diancang Sect."
Had this been the Central ins, his subordinates could have uncovered their identities more quickly and in greater detail.
However, this was the Southern Jungles. Since the people of the Great Forest weren''t that interested in each other, not much was known by the intelligencework.
The only thing that was widely known was that the search party that hade to find someone from the Central ins was incredibly effective.
"That can''t be the end, right?"
"I apologize."
"You pathetic bastard."
At the moment, he was too busy to assess the battlefield. He was so short-handed that every subordinate was indispensable.
"What about the Divine Physician?"
"It''s said that he had obtained some poison from the Land of the Ten Thousand Poisons. However, it''ll most likely take him five days to get back."
The subordinate showed him a bug wriggling on his palm.
It was called a Sound Storing Insect and had a unique characteristic.
When the male insect was in the breeding season, he randomly would store sounds from his surroundings before visiting a female insect, also in the breeding season, and ry them. The Poison Insect Tribe made use of this characteristic as a message ry system, just like the Central ins'' homing pigeons.
"The Au Co Tribe''s Cinnabar Refinement Art, the Poisons of the Poison Insect Tribe."[1]
The man licked his lips andughed unpleasantly.
"There isn''t much left anymore. Once this is done, it''ll be the end of this damned Southern Jungles, too."
The Southern Jungles were a hellish ce. It was hot, humid, and irritating even if one stood still.
Anyone iming it wasn''t unbearable while standing still had to be caught and beaten for their crimes. It was an irritating ce.
The man just wanted to get back as soon as possible.
"What should we do about the Divine Physician?"
"Keep him alive. Moreover, report back as much as possible if the Allied Forces invade. I''ll focus on the Cinnabar Refining Art."
****
Four dayster, near the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
The Allied Forces'' g fluttered in the wind.
Out of the three thousand troops, excluding the dead and seriously wounded, only two thousand remained. Even ounting for the losses, it was still a great victory.
ck Buffalo was dead, and the Beast Tribe had been exterminated.
The Major Tribes received this news and sounded the rm. Even the tribe ruling the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons and the tribe with a life force close to immortality grew tense.
Even if each member of the Major Tribes was strong enough to be considered ''one who can contest a hundred,'' theirbined numbers only amounted to eight hundred.
In contrast, the enemy had two thousand.
Until recently, the Major Tribes had dismissed them as a mere ragtag group. However, that same "ragtag group" had destroyed one of the Major Tribes''rgest forces.
Now, they could no longer afford to ignore them.
Gulp.
Someone swallowed hard, their throat bobbing as tension filled the air.
However, there was no fear on their faces. Instead, their fighting spirit burned fiercely.
"The Poison Insect Tribe and the Au Co Tribe"
Zhou Xuchuan stroked his chin and stared straight ahead.
The Au Co Tribe stood at the forefront. They had fiery red hair as their defining feature and an inexplicable sense of mystery.
As the Au Co Tribe stood silently in front of the bushy terrain with their mouths tightly shut, a group of people with a gloomy atmosphere stood behind them. There were roughly five hundred of them, but judging by their numbers and aura, it was definitely the Poison Insect Tribe.
The Qinghua Allied Forces versus the Major Tribes.
In between them stood a river with powerful currents, the two forces were divided on opposite banks and staring at each other.
There was a flowing, calm silence. The first to break that silence wasn''t the Southern Jungles but the Central ins.
"It''s nice to meet you!"
Zhou Xuchuan, a member of the Central ins, threw something he was holding in his hand.
It drew a long arc in the air, crossing the river and falling before the warriors'' eyes. It rolled to the ground before them.
The moment they saw what it was, they eximed.
"ck Buffalo!"
It was the symbol of ck Buffalo, a buffalo mask made of bones.
It was clear from the horns that were twice as long as those of an ordinary buffalo. This was akin to ck Buffalo''s soul.
"Was it you?"
In the center and the front of the tribes, the Chief of the Au Co Tribe asked with a majestic expression. There was a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
Rumor had it that the boy before her had confronted ck Buffalo head-on, blocked his path, and won. She wondered if that was true.
Moreover, it was said that he also defeated the Head Priest of the Cannibal Tribe. Those were just simply unbelievable facts.
"Yes, it was me!"
Zhou Xuchuan raised his other hand.
"Huh!"
"That''s"
They eximed once again.
A bone staff that gave off an eerie aura. They could tell who its original owner was without asking.
"That young man really defeated the Head Priest and ck Buffalo?" she muttered.
She couldn''t believe it even after seeing it with her own two eyes.
She could vividly picture the towering man who was about nine chi tall with horns on his head and muscles that bulged out excessively.
"That''s ridiculous! I can''t believe it! How about we skip the clichd responses since we don''t have much time?!"
Zhou Xuchuan drew his sword, the de glowing faintly with a fierce aura.
"We didn''te here to fight!"
ROAR!!!
"We came to win!"
1. g, or literally, the art of refining cinnabar, is often called Chinese alchemy. While it has a long storied history, in murim, it''s generally used as a skewed path of pill-forging for the sake of creating jindan, or golden pills, for the sake of immortality. I tranted it literally because, well, for one, "Chinese Alchemy Art" doesn''t sound cool, and because I didn''t want it to be considered in the same vein as western "turn lead into gold" alchemy. ?
Chapter 194: The Au Co Tribes Heavenly Match
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two thousand troops stomped their feet to the sound of the drums. The Allied Forces advanced forward slowly, and their movements shook the ground.
"Halt!" Jie Da raised his left hand to halt the troops. After confirming that the soldiers had stopped, he turned his gaze to Tang Hui. "Young Lady, I''ll leave it to you."
Tang Hui nodded and walked toward the river.
The Tang Family warriors followed quickly behind her.
The current was so strong that it seemed capable of sweeping away just about anyone as soon as they stepped foot into the river.
A gourd the size of a palm was dropped into the waters.
Ssh.After the first guord, the other Tang Family warriors threw their gourds into the waters. Sometimeter, something surfaced from the depths of the river.
It was a mothrva.
They were covered in sharp thorns and were big with sizable bellies. They had a dark hue, and there was more than just one of them. They numbered in the hundredsno, thousands. There were so many of them that the river seemed to have changed colors as soon as they appeared.
Some of them crawled up the river, and Tang Hui promptly stomped on them, bursting them open. Blood gushed out of the crushed grub, but its blood didn''t melt the damp ground or anything.
However, they''d surely wreak havoc in a human body if they somehow made it inside someone.
"It was a good thing I sent scouts." Yuan Cai sighed in relief.
If one were to go to war, it was imperative to conduct a preliminary survey. He decided to send scouts a while ago and discovered that the river was full of poisonous insects.
Thus, he asked the Tang Family to take care of those poisonous insects.
"Charge!" Ye Li pointed his ruler''s baton straight ahead.
The troops started moving once again.
***
"Your famed insects died without being able to put up a fight. Ah, what should we do now? Hahaha!" The Au Co Chiefughed boisterously as if she was trying to ensure that those behind her would hear her.
A young man appeared between the trees behind her. The young man was neither handsome nor ugly, but he exuded a gloomy aura befitting the Chief of the Poison Insect Tribe.
"Hmph." The Insect King chewed his lips in dissatisfaction. "The Sichuan Tang Family?"
There was a saying about how masters would recognize each other at a nce, and it had proven true, as the Insect King immediately recognized the Tang Family.
The Tang Family wasn''t that knowledgeable when it came to the Southern Jungles, but they knew quite a bit about the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
The same held true for the Poison Insect Tribe; they weren''t that knowledgeable when it came to the Central ins, but they knew quite a bit about the Poisonblood Valley and the Tang Family.
The Poison Insect Tribe was a tribe devoted to poisons, so it was not strange for them to learn about poisons endemic in far-off ces.
"That''s just a trick." The Insect King snorted. His pride when it came to his poisons was so high it could pierce the heavens. Even if his foe was famous for poisons in the Central ins, he''d still look down on them and think of them as nothing but an antpared to the Poison Insect Tribe.
"Come. I''ll use you as food for the bugs," the Insect King muttered, and an eerie smile tugged at his lips.
***
The Qinghua Allied Forces finally managed to cross the river. The current was strong, but it wasn''t strong enough to hold them back. These people would never dare to step foot onto the cursednd out of fear, but perhaps due to the fact that they were in the middle of war, they seemed to have forgotten their fear.
They focused solely on the movements of the Au Co Tribe and the Poison Insect Tribe before them.
The major tribes refused to face the Allied Forces even though thetter had already crossed the river. They stood firm, holding their ground. It wasn''t because they were afraid or arrogant.
The Poison Insect Tribe''s power was from the poison within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons. Thus, it was better for them to stay within the forest.
The Au Co Tribe could move freely, but their connection with the Poison Insect Tribe made them decide to remain unmoving like thetter.
ROAR!
The Allied Forces'' roar reverberated throughout the forest. Their roars were so loud that the trees within the forest quaked as soon as the roars swept across them. Upon crossing the river, the Allied Forces moved quickly and jumped into the enemy camp despite being soaked to the bone.
"HA!"
"DIEEEE!"
They screamed with an intense will to fight. A deluge of killing intent swept out of them as a fierce battle between the two sides began.
ng, ng, ng!
The Allied Forces'' Jungle des and the Au Co Tribe''s Jungle des collided, producing sharp metallic noises. What started as one or two screeches of metal soon grew to over a thousand, and the des cried loudly as if in resonance.
"Aaargh!"
"Ugh!"
"My arm!"
The metallic shes were short-lived, as they were quickly drowned out by the screams of the soldiers. This was war, and it had finally begun.
The Qinghua Allied Forces were feeling confident due to their recent great victory, but they were by no meanscent.
The major tribes had been consistently defeating them for a long time, so they dared not underestimate the power of the major tribes. They raised their guards up high, wary about the cards that the major tribes had up their sleeves amidst what could be their greatest crisis.
The Qinghua Allied Forces had double the men, but they put all of their strength into their legs and stretched their nerves taut as they approached the battle with a serious attitude.
Despite that, they couldn''t make quick work of the major tribes.
They were suffocatingly strong.
The Au Co Tribe''s strength was particrly terrifying.
"AAAARRRGH!"
"It burns!"
"My body, my body!"
Their drenched lower body dried much earlier than expected, but it wasn''t because of the fierce battle. It was all due to the Au Co Tribe. The inheritors of Au Co''s blood had a special ability, and their regenerative power was so high that it made them appear immortal.
The Au Co Tribe''s numbers were small, and they had a penchant for avoiding getting involved in external matters, so only a few people had seen the Au Co Tribe''s true abilities.
The rare sighting was the reason people couldn''tpletely believe the rumors about the Au Co Tribe. Today, however, the soldiers could finally see the true nature of the Au Co Tribe''s rumored power.
Heat Qi ()!
The true nature of fire was heat. The members of the Au Co Tribe could control heat itself, burning anyone daring to make contact with them. Upon getting injured by their des, one''s flesh would melt as if one had been cut by a red-hot iron from a smithy, and some even immediately caught fire.
"Hohoho!" The Au Co Chiefughed, raising her chin. "Mere humans dare to challenge the descendants of Au Co! How foolish! Know your ce, humans!"
Woosh!
The fierce heat of the Southern Jungles became a zing hell. There was truly a reason they called themselves descendants of the Incarnation of Fire. The Au Co Tribe had the ability to back up their ims.
"Are they really descendants of a god?"
"Can we even win this?!"
"Aaaargh! Water! Please, water!"
Some soldiers turned around and jumped into the river as if they had lost their minds due to the intense pain. Some of those who had decided to jump into the river were swept away by the current, disappearing into the depths.
Each member of the Au Co Tribe truly lived up to their title "One Who Can Combat A Hundred." Clearly, there was a reason they became one of the major tribes of the Southern Jungles despite their small number of three hundred.
"A-argh" Voices filled with fear flowed out of the Allied Forces, and their morale dropped visibly. Those of the Southern Jungles were easily influenced by superstitions and legends, possibly due to their well-versed sorcery.
Upon recalling that their enemies were descendants of a god, their hostility disappeared, and they began to feel afraid. Their biggest issue was that they couldn''t even attack properly, as they''d be exposed to intense heat just by getting close to their enemies.
They tried their best to attack from a safe distance using their spears, but the Au Co Tribe were so fast that they''d evade all attacks and counter with their heat, leaving the Allied Forces helpless.
The soldiers felt powerless, as they couldn''t do anything at all.
"Ha this shit is just"
The Central ins search party was also bewildered by the strange power.
The Diancang Sect had experienced many battles, but this was their first time encountering something as bizarre as the Au Co Tribe''s power. They had no idea how to deal with the Au Co Tribe''s strange ability.
They weren''t getting destroyed one-sidedly like the soldiers of the Allied Forces, but they were still struggling.
"Hohoho!" The Au Co Tribe''s pride began to grow, but their pride was short-lived.
In the midst of the chaos and fear, one person stood sane.
"What the hell? Aren''t they simr to those brats from the Demon Cult?" Zhou Xuchuan muttered calmly.
"Tang Family! Diancang Sect! Don''t panic!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed. They were in an urgent predicament, so he chose to speak calmly, shouting, "Think about the Raging Fire Blood Demon from the Demon Cult!"
"Ah!"
The people from the Southern Jungles were confused, but those from the Central ins eximed upon recalling something.
There were people in the Central insmore precisely, there were people from the Demon Cult of Xinjiang with simr power to those of the Au Co Tribe.
Two years ago, the Burning Murder Squadron () joined the Seven Swords War as the main force of the Demonic Path.
The Demon Head, also known as the Raging Fire Blood Demon and one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, led the group of cultivators who had attained mastery over a demonic art that allowed them to spit mes.
They were notorious, so the method of dealing with them became widespread.
With that in mind, the next course of action became easy.
"They can only release heat from one direction!!!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted at the top of his lungs to ensure that the Allied Forces would hear him. "Attack in groups of at least three or four!"
He provided no further exnation, but everyone understood him. Their enemy could only release heat in one direction. In other words, any other direction would be an opening.
In short, one just needed to be bait and keep the tribesman busy, while the others would gang up on the tribesman from the remaining directions.
"!" The Au Co Tribe Chief''s face stiffened.
"They''re not that difficult to handle as long you''re not afraid of the heat! The enemy aren''t descendants of a god! They''re just barbarians!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted.
"Shut his mouth!" the Au Co Tribe Chief roared, ring at Zhou Xuchuan as if her eyes could kill.
Swoosh!
Eight tribesmen of the Au Co Tribe promptly charged at Zhou Xuchuan in response to their chief''s orders. The Au Co Tribe''s prowess wasn''t just due to their ability to control heat. Their physical abilities were outstanding as well, and they were just as fast as the Beast Tribe.
The eight tribesmen seemed intent on not letting Zhou Xuchuan escape as they encircled him in an instant.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes narrowed, and he reliedpletely on his senses. He had no eyes behind him, but he could sense the movements of the Au Co Tribe warriors.
He could feel them gradually closing in on him, and he could sense the movement of the Jungle de in their hands.
Swoosh!
The eight Jungle des burned red as if they were on fire. An extreme heat radiated from them. Zhou Xuchuan could feel the air itself heating up. The heat wasn''ting from the sun up above. It wasn''t getting closer to him, and the climate of the jungle remained unchanging as well.
The heat wasing from eight directions. Zhou Xuchuan could feel their determination to ensure that there weren''t going to be any openings that he could exploit. This could also be considered a joint formation.
I knew it
The heat was moving straight ahead; it wasn''t moving to the side but straight ahead. Topensate for this weakness, the tribesmen joined hands and chose to surround him.
To make things even more terrifying, the heat gathered in one ce and covered the skies above Zhou Xuchuan. Now, Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t just jump to avoid the heat.
The extreme heat seemed capable of melting just about anyone would force him back to the ground if he were to take to the skies, but
"Hmm. How warm." Zhou Xuchuan smiled warmly without breaking a sweat. The smile tugging at his lips was the embodiment of the word fortable."
"...?"
The eight, who had been spewing heat forward and creating a tornado of heat, paused, and their faces distorted into expressions of incredulity. Regardless of a warrior''s strength, said warrior would surely be reduced to ashes by this tornado of extreme heat.
That was supposed to happen, but Zhou Xuhcuan wasn''t even breaking out into a sweat. In fact, he was even smiling as if he was feeling great.
"Sorry, but I have Extreme Temperature Immunity," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
Extreme Temperature Immunity meant immunity to both the heat and the cold, so the heat wasn''t really doing much against him. If the Au Co Tribe''s heat were something bizarre like the High Priest''s mes or an extreme heat qi, Zhou Xuchuan would be affected.
However, heat of this level was never going to affect him.
Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword in a circle before the eight warriors could even react.
Swish!
A wisp of qi flowed out from his sword. The sword qi cut through the heat and destroyed it cleanly.
"W-what?"
The warriors famous within the tribe were flustered. The eight tribesmen hurriedly brought up their Jungle des to defend themselves.
Crack, crack, crack!
"Argh!"
Their enemy somehow managed to counter their heat, but it was all because the enemy before them was truly their worst enemy.
The fatal mistake they hadmitted was getting too close to react to Zhou Xuchuan''s movement. To make matters worse, they were so close to each other that they couldn''t see an opening to avoid Zhou Xuchuan''s attack.
Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t miss that opportunity. He struck at the crowd, killing the eight warriors with a single sh.
"Let''s finish this quickly and not waste any time."
Zhou Xuchuan made a beeline for the Au Co Tribe Chief.
It seemed the Au Co Tribe had encountered its Heavenly Match.[1]
1. The title technically reads the Au Co Tribes natural predator, but I wanted it to be a little ambiguous so that you wouldn''t get spoiled by this. The word natural predator literally trantes to Heavenly/Heaven Sent Enemy/Match. ?
Chapter 195: The Au Co Tribes Heavenly Match (2)
"Stop him!"
"Who dares to try to stop us?!"
A dozen or so Au Co Tribe warriors blocked his path.
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes moved left and right.
Twelve.
They were all at least First ss warriors, and most of them were even Peak Realm experts.
Their movements were fast, but they weren''t so fast that he couldn''t keep up with them. Compared to his usual sparring partner, Little Ghost, they were so slow that it made him yawn. Zhou Xuchuan flew right through them.
Swoosh!
The Au Co Tribe''s heat inundated his face. An ordinary person''s skin would flush red before such heat, but Zhou Xuchuan was not ordinary. He flew through the hot air emitted simultaneously by a dozen or so people and struck down the warriors rushing toward him with his sword."AAARGH!"
Screams burst out. Needless to say, they were the screams of the Au Co Tribe members.
What the hell is going on?
Just how the hell is he not being affected by the heat?
Thanks to the blood they had inherited from their ancestors, the Au Co Tribe had obtained the ability to emit heat, and there were no exceptions among them. It was exactly due to this powerful ability that they became one of the major tribes.
To think that their prided ability would one day be useless in a fight
"Heup!" Zhou Xuchuan moved quickly, leaving behind an afterimage. He flicked his hands, and the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom unfolded. Six people fell at once, and blood sttered everywhere.
The rest fell easily as well, unable to withstand the attack.
Just as I expected, their defenses are weak.
The Au Co Tribe''s fighting style was extremely focused on attacking. Since they were capable of releasing heat that prevented anyone from approaching them, they assumed that there was no need for them to worry about defense, so their martial arts eventually became offense-centric.
Unfortunately, their heattheir only defensewasn''t working against Zhou Xuchuan, so they appeared to be epting Zhou Xuchuan''s attacks with arms spread wide open.
The tribesmen couldn''t even properly block attacks from opponents in the same realm as them without their heat, so how were they supposed to block the attacks of a master?
The sword of Mount Hua would sh, and warriors of the Au Co Tribe would scream before falling lifelessly to the ground.
In no time, Zhou Xuchuan dealt with more than twenty of them.
In addition, they were considered the elites of the Au Co Tribe.
"Get out of the way!" the Matriarch of the Au Co Tribe eximed. She was forced off her heavy throne[/ref]Literally, her heavy butt. It''s a euphemism that''s been repeated throughout this novel about how people in power are harder to move.[/ref] to finally make a move.
Despite the fierce battle, her beauty stood out, especially her red hair that was cut short. It was a rare sight even in the Central ins. The Matriarch''s eyes were a reddish brown, and they seemed to be aze as if filled with fire.
Her eyebrows were raised, making her appear fierce and strong. She appeared to be in herte twenties to early thirties, and she had a voluptuous figure that was both sensual and seductive.
Perhaps it was due to the topography, but the twilight in the sky was narrow, casting a dark shadow over the battlefield. Despite that, her tanned skin and chiseled abs remained clearly visible for everyone to see. R
"You useless things!" the Matriarch shouted.
The warriors guarding her lowered their heads and retreated.
"You''re a martial artist from the Central ins? Your sword skills are passable. Good. Tell me your name."
"Zhou Xuchuan," Zhou Xuchuan replied. This was the first time he had ever exchanged names with his opponent since his arrival in the Southern Jungles.
"I will remember this name. Be proud. I''ll show you grace and erect a monument for you. Moreover, I''ll grant you the honor of hearing the name of this queen. My name is Au Yeu[1] ()."
"Sure, sure," Zhou Xuchuan replied casually, and he ran forward as if he couldn''t hear Au Yeu''s words. Of course, he never really had any intentions of chatting leisurely with Au Yeu.
"How insolent!" Au Yeu snarled, and she raised her Jungle de.
Woosh!
Her de shone red, and mes burst out of its edge, enveloping the Jungle de in the blink of an eye. Her heat was extraordinary, and the fact that she could create a me visible to the naked eye was even more impressive.
ng!
Zhou Xuchuan''s sword and Au Yeu''s curved saber collided.
The sound of metal shing against metal reverberated, and the impact transformed into a powerful shockwave that swept across the battlefield.
"Argh!" The warriors nearby grimaced. The shockwave was so strong that it left their dantians throbbing.
Is that supposed to be saber aura?
Zhou Xuchuan wet his lips with his tongue, and there was a slight tension in his eyes. He thought that her de was wrapped in mes, but upon closer inspection, he saw a red qi around the de.
The Chief of a major tribe was the strongest in the tribe, so it wasn''t strange that she could use saber aura.
"Ha!" Au Yeu roared and spat heatno, mes. The "mes" on the de grew bigger.
As expected. She must be a Harmony Realm Master at the very least.
Zhou Xuchuan''s forehead was covered with beads of sweat. The heat was so intense that it surpassed the limit of his Extreme Temperature Immunity. The weeds on the ground beneath him were already burning from the heat.
Swish!
However, he had no time to leisurely look at the weeds.
Au Yeu''s de, wrapped in mes, fell back and drew a vertical line forward.
Unlike the writhing mes, her de drew a straight and steady line. The attack was incredibly powerful and fast, and each movement was relevant; there wasn''t a single wasted movement at all.
ck Buffalo of the Beast Tribe was also a Harmony Realm expert capable of wielding aura, but he was more like a beast, focusing only on strength.
Au Yeu was clearly different from him, as she could use techniques that the beastman couldn''t use.
ng!
The sword of the Central ins and the de of the Southern Jungles shed, spitting out mes. Moreover, it wasn''t any small spark, either. The mes were the mes of the Au Co Tribe.
Au Yeu swung her sword with a fierce momentum that resembled mes. The battle was so intense that Zhou Xuchuan wondered whether Au Yeu even had enough time to breathe or not.
ng! ng! ng!
The sound of metal shing against metal continued, and the metallic noises soon pierced Zhou Xuchuan''s eardrums.
Au Yeu''s de seemed like it was everywhere.
Instead of charging forward, Zhou Xuchuan focused on blocking Au Yeu''s shy and fierce attacks. If this were a spar rather than a fight to the death, one would think that the reason Zhou Xuchuan was blocking was that he had no choice but to defend himself.
However, Au Yeu''s expression wasn''t very great.
Instead of avoiding my attacks, he''s actually taking them all?
It would be a mistake to assume that Au Yeu''s attacks were technique-centric rather than strength-centric because she was a woman. The truth was that her strength was unimaginable.
Even if one were to search the entirety of the Southern Jungles, it would be impossible to find someone capable of withstanding her de except for ck Buffalo. Thus, it wasn''t strange for her to feel surprised.
"Fine, let''s see if you can take this, too!" Au Yeu''s majestic voice burst out like thunder. "Haaaaa!"
A purple vein popped out from the hand gripping the hilt of her de. The mes around it overflowed in an instant and burst out. The "mes" extended, going beyond the des'' reach.
The heat that was gushing out of the de grew iparablyrge and hotter.
"Incredible!" Zhou Xuchuan flew to the side with a look of surprise. Thanks to the Hundred Divine Transformations, changing stances had be as natural as flowing water for him.
His movements were so quick that the fire resembling the tongue of a demon couldn''t reach him.
"Y-you dodged it?!" Au Yeu eximed in bewilderment for the first time since the fight started. Until now, Zhou Xuchuan had never evaded nor had even pretended to evade. Thus, Au Yeu delivered her strongest attack, expecting Zhou Xuchuan to abandon any attempts at evasion.
But what was this?
Where had that stubbornness gone? In an instant, Zhou Xuchuan changed stances and dodged the attack.
"How dare you insult this queen?!" Au Yeu''s face distorted like an evil spirit.
"?" Zhou Xuchuan looked bewildered. He looked like he was asking what the hell Au Yeu was talking about.
"Haven''t you been taking every blow without dodging?!"
"Huh?"
"As an expression of respect for your courage, I went all out with that attack just now, so why did you not block it?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhou Xuchuan snorted and walked closer to Au Yeu as he retorted, "Aren''t you supposed to dodge anything that is dangerous?!"
"I won''t forgive you for disrespecting this queen!"
The best defense was offense.
Moreover, the word "defense" did not exist in Au Yeu''s dictionary. Before Zhou Xuchuan couldunch an attack, Au Yeu made her move; she was one step ahead of Zhou Xuchuan.
A diagonal line split the air from the upper right to the lower left. In addition to splitting the air into two, the attack had set even the air itself aze as well.
"Heup!" Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath and froze. He exerted strength, and his tendons bulged as a result. His pulse quickened as well. One stepno, ten steps forward. In an instant, he became weightless as he dug into Au Yeu''s embrace.
"Ah!" Au Yeu gasped in surprise as her breathing was caught in her chest. Damn it!
The members of the Au Co Tribe were fearless, and their fearless nature was reflected in their fighting style. Their fearlessness was due to their special ability to emit heat.
They''d always face their opponents head-on; they''d dig their heels into the ground and charge at their opponents with their heat up ahead of them. The enemy would realize the danger and retreat, but that was just their first move.
Their first attacks were always preemptive strikesa bait for the second strike.
They knew their opponents would avoid the heat by retreating, so their second strike would calcte said distance ording to how their opponents'' movements, and they''d deliver the killing blow with the second attack.
This attack pattern was usually effective. However, it was useless against Zhou Xuchuan, who was immune to their special ability due to his Extreme Temperature Immunity.
The Au Co Tribe''s second attack was useless, as Zhou Xuchuan would block their attacks rather than dodge them by retreating.
Without any defensive techniques to speak of, the Au Co Tribe members could easily be bested by interrupting their flow of attacks.
As a master, Au Yeu was strong enough to continue her onught despite the interruption, but she wasn''t strong enough to deal damage to Zhou Xuchuan.
Zhou Xuchuan actually noticed that point while they were exchanging blows, so he ignored Au Yeu''s bait.
Normally, one wouldn''t be able to ignore Au Yeu''s heata Harmony Realm master, but Zhou Xuchuan was different. He was Au Yeu''s direct counter; theirpatibility was abhorrent.
Things would be different if the only difference were in realms, but Au Yeu lost when it came topatibility.
The second attack was useful against opponents in the distance, but Zhou Xuchuan decided to dive into her arms and attack. Unfortunately, Au Yeu was already in the middle of her attack pattern, so there was no way she could defend herself in time.
Swish!
A spine-chilling, eerie noise echoed as Zhou Xuchuan''s treasure-grade sword, Tai''e, thrust forward in a manner that even the Diancang Sect would admire.
Squelch!
"Ugh!" Au Yeu groaned. Her hand holding her curved de lost strength, and the mes on its de dimmed considerably. Her reddish brown pupils reflected Zhou Xuchuan''s sword, and it was sticking out of her right chest.
"How dare how dare you?!" Au Yeu squeezed these words out of her throat as her fierce eyes zed in fury. She raised her slender fingers and grabbed Zhou Xuchuan''s sword.
Blood flowed out as the sword dug into her palm, but she could not care less and grabbed it as strongly as she could to ensure that it wouldn''t budge even an inch.
"Insect King!"
"Hahahahahaha!" An unpleasant peal ofughter erupted from the rear. "I never thought I''d hear the Chief of the Au Co Tribe asking for help!"
Crunch, crunch, crunch!
Chewing noises pervaded the air, and the chewing noises wereing from hundredsno, perhaps thousands of insects moving as a group across the skies.
Thepetitive Au Yeu made a deal with the Insect King before the fight. Au Yeu said that she wanted to fight the one who had defeated both the High Priest of the Cannibal Tribe and ck Buffalo of the Beast Tribe.
She asked the Insect King not to interfere in the middle of the fight.
The Insect King had told her to do as she pleased, but he didn''t want to witness the fall of the major tribes, so he''d intervene if things became dangerous.
Au Yeu had boasted that things would never be dangerous, but clearly, her boasting had been upended, as the situation had betrayed her expectations.
"Don''t forget this debt, Chief of the Au Co!"
"Grah!" Au Yeu''s face turned red with humiliation.
Insectsthe limbs of the Insect Kingcrawled out from the bushes. The swarm of ck insects moved quickly, engulfing Zhou Xuchuan from his feet up to his head in the proverbial blink of an eye.
"You two you really don''t match up well with me, do you?" The swarm of insects covering Zhou Xuchuan''s face retreated to the side, revealing one of his eyes. For some reason, the pupil of his eye was pale green.
"Have you ever heard of the Thousand Poisons Immunity?"
1. A strange name. It can mean many things. Seductress, Hag-like Monster, Beautiful Woman. It''s abination of the Au character from Au Co and the Vietnamese word Yeu, or in Chinese/Korean, which can mean abnormal/bizarre, demon, seductress, and bewitchingly beautiful. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Something I forgot to mention is that I''m trying to keep the spellings of names region-consistent. So, as you may have noticed, I''ve kept Vietnamese spellings for most of what''s rted to the Southern Jungles.
It felt weird tranting it into Chinese pinyin when it''s clearly meant to be Viet spellings.
Chapter 196: The Full Tale of the Divine Physician (1)
Insect King doubted his eyes.
"What, what?"
The bugs he had treated like his own hands and feet weren''t just any insects. They contained the deadliest poisons, poisons lethal even within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
The truly terrifying part was that it wasn''t just one or two of them, but thousands.
The Insect King wasn''t called the Insect King for nothing.
He was the king of bugs and the Southern Jungles'' king of poison.
"Ptooey!"
Zhou Xuchuan spat out the bugs that had entered his mouth.
"Ugh, gross."Zhou Xuchuan stamped his feet in irritation. Waves of qi surged out of his Yongquan acupoint and swept away the bugs that clung to his body. The Insect King''s poisonous bugs shook a few times before losing their strength and falling to the ground.
Thousands of bugs fell to the ground, nketing the dirt like a dark cloud. Even those with strong stomachs couldn''t hide their disgust at the sight.
"Insect King! What''s going on?!" Au Yeu shouted in an urgent tone.
"Thousand Poisons Immunity?"
The Insect King momentarily set aside his confusion, thought about Zhou Xuchuan''s question, and frowned.
"Impossible! The Thousand Poisons Immunity isn''t enough to block my insects!"
A constitution that can stop a thousand poisons. While it certainly wasn''tmon, it wasn''t enough to exin what had just urred.
The poisons he used couldn''t be stopped by a mere thousand poisons immunity constitution. The Insect King himself had the Thousand Poisons Immunity, so he was sure of it.
"Have you really trained in poison arts huh?"
The Insect King''s gaze shifted to Zhou Xuchuan''s left eye. It was dim, so he couldn''t see clearly, but he could still make out a faint green light.
"The Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art?"
"Huh?"
A familiar name slipped out from the Insect King''s lips.
The Insect King was also shocked by Zhou Xuchuan''s reaction.
"That''s impossible!"
The Insect King''s voice was filled with disbelief. Although he was surprised, somethingpelled him to continue to deny what he saw.
"To think what that elder aplished throughout his life is being learned by some scum from the Central ins and not a person from Dai Viet. Are you trying to insult me?"
How does he know that?
Zhou Xuchuan''s expression was also filled with surprise.
The creator of the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art, the Poison Demon, wasn''t from the Central ins but from the Southern Jungles. Moreover, he was a soldier and poison master of the Dai Viet Dynasty. ?
Long ago, a renowned general of the Dai Viet Dynasty, Tran Hung Do, who had repelled the Yuan invasion, recognized the value of the Poison Demon.
The Poison Demon pledged his loyalty to Tran Hung Do, who had noticed him when he had been nothing more than a nameless researcher and devoted himself to poisons in the general''s name. His research expanded far beyond the Southern Jungles, reaching the Central ins. He even went to the murim to investigate the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and Demonic Path.
Thanks to his various experiences and research, he was able toplete the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art. However, problems arose during that process, and he eventually became the murim''s public enemy.
Despite his attempts to return to the Southern Jungles, he couldn''t escape the relentless pursuit of the martial arts world and died without fulfilling his long-cherished wish.
However, putting the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art aside, no one actually knew that the Poison Demon had originallye from the Southern Jungles, not the Central ins.
This fact was unknown even decades after his passing, making it natural for the Insect King, as one of the few privy to this information, to be curious.
"What''s your rtionship with the Poison Demon?"
Zhou Xuchuan asked directly.
"...!"
When the Insect King heard the word "Poison Demon"e out of Zhou Xuchuan''s mouth, he fell silent, his mouth closing as though lost in deep thought.
The Insect King seemed trapped in his own thoughts. His face twisted, turning into that of a guai as his gaze shifted to Au Yeu.
"Chief of the Au Co. What''s going on here?"
"Huh?"
"Don''t act like a fool!"
The Insect King gnashed his teeth furiously.
"Isn''t this different from what those guys from the Central ins proposed?!"
Proposed?
Zhou Xuchuan listened intently as the Insect King spoke, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.
"I''m talking about the divine pill of the Au Co!" the Insect King shouted.
A swarm of insects poured from his sleeve, splitting into two streams that rushed toward Zhou Xuchuan and Au Yeu.
"That physician of the Central ins should have made the divine pill by now. You should have had the divine pill by now, and we should have had the Divine Art! So, why? Why does that unknown bastard from the Central ins have the Divine Art?!"
Divine Art? Is he talking about the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art?
Zhou Xuchuan''s mind raced as he pieced together the Insect King''s words.
The Divine Physician of the Central ins.
The Divine Pill.
The Divine Art.
The physician the Insect King was referring to must be the Divine Physician. As for the Divine Pill, Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t entirely sure. However, the Divine Art must be the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art.
if I had to guess, the Au Co Tribe must have forced the Divine Physician to make the Divine Pill. Moreover, it seems as though they needed poison to do so, so they must have used the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art as bait to request cooperation from the Poison Insect Tribe. Wait, did he say that the one who proposed the cooperation was from the Central ins? Was it the Divine Physician?
By this point, even the Divine Physician''s identity was questionable.
It wouldn''t have been surprising if the Divine Physician had mistaken the Divine Pill for some new medicine and agreed to create it out of sheer medical curiosity.
However, it was suspicious that he would have promised the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art in exchange. The manual had been in the Poisonblood Valley until Zhou Xuchuan himself discovered it, memorized it, and then destroyed it. There was no chance anyone else could have found it.
"Insect King. You''re misunderstanding something now."
Au Yeu frowned, sensing something was wrong.
"If you yed me for a fool, I''m not going to let that Central ins person, you, or your tribe go unpunished. I''ll throw half of you to the insects as food, and ughter the other half to extract poison."
The Insect King''s voice was sincere as his venomous eyes continuously radiated bloodlust.
"You fool! Now isn''t the time for this!"
Au Yeu clutched her right chest with her hand and let out a pained groan.
"Look around you! If we leave things like this, we''re going to lose!"
Zhou Xuchuan had taught the others how to deal with the Au Co Tribe''s heat. That was the cause of their trouble. The Central ins'' search party pressed forward, shing with the Au Co warriors.
Seeing this, the Qinghua Allied Forcesunched a counterattack.
Each and every member of the Au Co Tribe was ''One Who Can Combat a Hundred.'' They were strong, even without their heat. However, the difference in numbers was far too great.
Most importantly, since their fighting style was based on the heat, their strength was drastically reduced, leaving them helpless.
The Poison Insect Tribe had joined the battle a littlete, but their poison wasn''t as effective as expected.
"What is this?!"
"Why is our poison only ugh!"
"Agk!"
The Qinghua Allied Forces had the Tang Family by their side.
A few days before, during the strategy meeting, the Tang Family prepared several antidotes and antivenoms to counter the Poison Insect Tribe''s poisons.
Some of what they had was prepared beforehand, anticipating the journey into the Southern Jungles. Additionally, since arriving at the Great Forest, they had steadily looked for antidotes and antivenoms, preparing for any potential threats.
The Southern Jungles was a paradise of poisonous nts and animals. That meant that for those who practiced poison arts, there were treasures everywhere.
Since they hade all this way, they spent their time studying not just the poisons, but also the antidotes rted to them.
Just from this, anyone could see that Tang Hui, the Poison Phoenix of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, was not only a genius, but also a hard worker.
"You better not change the subject, Au Co Chief. You should know what that Divine Art means to us, right?" the Insect King growled, dismissing everything else as nonsense.
"Whether it''s an exnation or whatever, I''m not hiding anything from you. In the first ce, wasn''t it that bastard of the Central ins who offered that Divine Art to you, not me?!"
"And how am I supposed to believe that?!"
The Insect King''s suspicion showed no signs of easing.
"We''re just called the major tribes, wasn''t this alliance supposed to benefit all of us?"
"Don''t push it, you idiot!"
"If you were thinking of conquering the Great Forest after obtaining the Divine Pill and gaining power"
"Aren''t you questioning the wrong person? If you''re really that suspicious of it, then ask that bastard from the Central ins, or that bastard in front of you with the Divine Art, not me! You idiot!" Au Yeu screamed in return. Her blood seemed to boil even as she bled, as though she could no longer contain her anger.
Only then did the Insect King notice how agitated she was. He took a deep breath, his expression shifting slightly, before turning his re toward Zhou Xuchuan.
On the other hand, Zhou Xuchuan licked his lips, feeling slightly regretful that the internal division that had started on its own had stopped even without his intervention.
Seeing the Insect King''s eyes still burning with a mixture of suspicion and bloodlust, Zhou Xuchuan decided to speak.
"As I thought, now I understand. General Tran Hung Do was said to have created a special unit for someone before Was that you?"
"...!"
Tran Hung Do had supported the Poison Demon in using poison and infectious diseases in war. Part of that support was creating a personal unit for the Poison Demon.
Some of them had probably followed the Poison Demon to the Central ins. No matter how capable the Poison Demon was, it was impossible for him to investigate the entirety of the vast Central ins on his own. He needed subordinates.
But, what happened to those who had been left behind?
Naturally, they would have participated in the war under Tran Hung Do using poisons and infectious diseases, following the directive of the unit''s creation.
Fortunately, they seeded in blocking the Yuan invasion with their power, using what the Poison Demon had left behind. But, strangely, the Yuan Dynasty ended up getting destroyed by the Ming, and their Dai Viet Dynasty soon followed.
"I never imagined that a unit that was over a hundred years old would still exist. More precisely, are you its descendants?"
When the Dai Viet and the dynasty fell, the military was also abolished. Zhou Xuchuan had assumed that the unit would have disappeared.
He never could have imagined that they would live on and continue their lineage as tribesmen.
"Very well, Insect King. I have a proposal."
Zhou Xuchuan put away his sword and raised his index finger.
"You''ve lost your sense of fear, to spout such nonsense."
The Insect King didn''t hold back his hostility. Poison seeped from the thousands of bugs crawling on the ground.
"I already feel like I got screwed over by that offer, and now you''re offering me another one?"
"Well, that''s because you were fooled by someone from the Central ins who you don''t even know. I''m the real deal."
"Haven''t you realized that you''re also someone from the Central ins who I don''t even know?"
"No, that''s a bit different. I think you were fooled by the Poison Demon''s relics with the other person, but I''m different."
"..."
The Insect King didn''t know who the man from the Central ins in front of him was. However, he was certain that the man knew about the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art and the Poison Demon.
Other than the descendants themselves, almost no one knew about the Poison Demon or his unit.
Because of the unit''s various confidential clearances, only military officials and leaders at that time had any knowledge of them, and they had all disappeared alongside the Dai Viet.
Thus, the man in front of him had to have a direct or indirect rtionship with the Poison Demon. The Poison Demon had been in operation in the Central ins murim for quite some time, so it wasn''t something unbelievable, either.
"Poison Insect Tribe. Surrender and follow me. In return, I''ll teach you half of the sutras for the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art right here, right now."
"Insect King!"
Au Yeu''s urgent voice rang out.
" and the rest?"
"You wouldn''t ask for that without actually helping in any way, would you? After all, weren''t we just pointing our swords at each other?"
In this situation, getting the Poison Insect Tribe to surrender wouldn''t be bad.
The defeat of the Au Co Tribe, or rather the major tribes, would be certain, and unnecessary sacrifices could be prevented.
Most importantly, it gave him the power to fight them, and at the same time, he could learn the whole story of the incident.
They''re here.
They were always there.
They never revealed themselves in the open, but rather existed behind others.
They looked down arrogantly on the Central ins and the world from above.
The Dark Heavens Association.
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
It''s me, Cyncoco!
This is more of a request rather than a note, but, fam. There are 13 THOUSANDments as of the day I''m tranting this, most of which are NOT mentions of typos.
I saw that new review about not addressing the typos and mistakes ?? I''m sorry, I''m only one smol trantor, and I almost died (again LMAO) a little while ago. I cannot scan through all thements even though I want to (I try to!)
If you see a typo, can you please put it in the discord? There are fewerments there, so that I can scan through it better.
Also, once again, if there are mistakes, it''s me, not the editor. Be d the editor fixes my mistakes bc I am d they fix mine.
If you''re going to say mean things, make sure you''re saying it to the right person.
Thanks!
Love you all.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!
Chapter 197: The Full Tale of the Divine Physician (2)
The renowned healer, the Divine Physician, was often called the reincarnation of Hua Tuo.[1]
Before the events in the Southern Jungles, while still in the Central ins, the Divine Physician received a mysterious proposal.
e night, a figure entered his room through the window.
"Is this where I die?"
The Divine Physician did not panic or show fear. Instead, he calmly opened his eyes and greeted the masked man before him.
"As expected of the Divine Physician. You''re not even a martial artist, but you have extraordinary courage. Since you''re ready to talk, I''ll give you a gift."
"This is"
"Pure Stctite Milk (՜[ʯ). While opening the bottle shouldn''t cause any problems, there''s only one drop, so be prepared to pay a price if you drop it."
The Divine Physician wasn''t a person who could let a precious medicine slip through his fingers. Regardless of the price he would have to pay, he opened the bottle to see what was inside, wanting to satisfy his curiosity.Inside was a milky-white liquid that sparkled faintly.
The Divine Physician had an extraordinary sense of smell, far beyond that of ordinary people. He moved the bottle to the tip of his nose to verify it.
"This really is the Pure Stctite Milk!"
The Pure Stctite Milk was a legendary elixir.
It was a liquid that umted once every hundred years in a cave filled with the harmony between Heaven and Earth. A single drop alone could grant martial artists an incredible amount of cultivation and provide ordinary people with long and healthy lives.
However, records regarding it were so old and hard toe by that it was only passed down as a legend.
The Divine Physician licked his lips and handed the Pure Stctite Milk back to the masked man before asking what he wanted.
"Have you heard of the Divine Pill of the Southern Jungles?"
"Divine Pill?"
"Yes. It''s also called the elixir of immortality that can be refined through the Cinnabar Refinement Art passed down by the Au Co Tribe."
"Au Co are you talking about the immortal fairy, the daughter of Emperor Ai?"
"Oho. So you''ve heard of them."
"Elixirs, especially ones that appear in such nature, have always existed only in legends, tales, and myths."
Most tales ended up getting exaggerated over time and couldn''t be believed as is. However, that didn''t mean that they didn''t have any semnce of truth. On rare asions, researching things rted to said myth helped in discovering other elixirs.
"I wonder if it really is an elixir of immortality. Still, it''s quite interesting."
The desire that every human dreamt of.
To never age.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
To never die.
A dream that even the First Emperor of Qin wasn''t able to achieve, a fictional substance that all Emperors and even the Rulers of neighboring nations desired.[2]
Out of personal curiosity, the Divine Physician had once sought such a thing while serving the Emperor, but his efforts had yielded nothing.
By this point, he no longer believed the stories of immortality. Even so, he reasoned that an elixir so prominent in myth must hold some extraordinary properties, and he was eager to attempt making it.
So, he epted the masked man''s offer and journeyed to the Southern Jungles, ignoring protests from his disciples and bodyguards.
Though he harbored suspicions about the masked man''s identity, he didn''t want to dig too deep into that.
The only thing he was interested in was the Southern Jungles'' Divine Pill, and as long as he could look at it and make it with his own hands, he wouldn''t have any majorints.
The Divine Physician wasn''t called an entric physician for nothing. He was so entric that his way of thinking was different from others.
After passing through Yunnan and arriving at the Southern Jungles, the masked man left behind a few guards and disappeared, instructing the Divine Physician to wait.
Thanks to the medicinal herbs and poisonous nts that could only be found in the Southern Jungles, waiting wasn''t boring. Taking the guards with him, the Divine Physician traveled around Qinghua Province and visited other physicians.
After some time had passed and he had sent his final letter to the Central ins, the masked man returned and told the Divine Physician that he had finished his preparations.
"The major tribes will help us from now on. Try not to provoke them if possible, and for the time being, treat them for free and build goodwill."
"I''ll do just that."
The Divine Physician had tried to find such a thing when he had been with the Emperor in the past out of personal curiosity, but he had seen nothing for his troubles.
He didn''t believe in that talk of immortality by this point. However, as he thought that it still must have been a highly effective elixir to be passed down through myths like this, he really wanted to try to make this elixir.
The Divine Physician treated many tribesmen in order to gain their trust. After a while, the major tribes were amazed by his divine skills, and they gave tribute and offered their gratitude.
It seemed as though the masked man had negotiated with the major tribes beforeing to the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
From what the Divine Physician could discern, the masked man had given each tribe something they had needed, and it was rumoured that he had a close rtionship with the Poison Insect Tribe and the Au Co Tribe in particr.
Regardless, as they grew closer, the Divine Physician received the Cinnabar Refinement Art from the Au Co Tribe and was aided by the Poison Insect Tribe to freely travel around the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons to obtain materials.
After risking his life and suffering, he seeded in obtaining the materials, including the poisons, and began refining the Divine Pill.
He was able to seed easily as the masked man, disguised as one of his guards, helped him with various things.
Despite themotion surrounding him while he was making it, he didn''t care at all. The important thing right now was refining the Divine Pill.
Atst, as the sun set and dusk came, hepleted his work.
"It''s done," The Divine Physician smiled contentedly, wiping away the sweat on his brow. Red light glimmered in the eyes hidden beneath his wrinkled brows.
The pill was about two knuckles in size, with a surface so smooth it seemed ready to slip from one''s fingers. It glowed a fiery red, as if it were on fire.
It radiated heat as though it were filled with fire, raising the temperature around it and making one feel as if they were standing in a smithy.
"Finally finished!"
The masked man, or rather, the man who was now without the mask, smiled brightly. His eyes were filled with joy.
Observing this, the Divine Physician stroked his long, white beard, his expression tinged with curiosity and muttered quietly.
"By the way, every time I see you, you always seem so strange."
"Hehehe. What are you muttering about? I''m in a good mood today, so I''ll let you ramble this one time."
"Well, while I''m sure that you want the Divine Pill, you don''t seem to have any greed for it. It''s a bit strange."
Now that he had satisfied his curiosity regarding refining the Divine Pill, another curiosity that he had put aside for a while arose. At first, he thought that the goal had been to raise his cultivation as a martial artist or maybe even for the sake of immortality. However, the more time he spent with the man, the more he realized that that wasn''t the case. The masked man wanted the Divine Pill, yes, but he had no intention of using the pill himself.
"If you''re going to kill this old man anyway, why not indulge me and answer my questions first?"
"There''s no need for you to worry, Divine Physician. I won''t take your life."
"Oho. And here I thought you were going to find a way to silence me in order to keep the secret was that not the case?"
The Divine Pill of the Southern Jungles.
It was an elixir that was more valuable than the Shaolin Temple''s Greater Cirction Pill. The fewer people knew about it, the better.
Treasures often invited bloodshed. It wouldn''t have been surprising if he had been killed the moment he finished refining the Divine Pill.
"If you were some pest who couldn''t listen to directions, then of course I would have. However, it''s a different story when you don''t put up unnecessary resistance and just listen to me. Divine Physician, follow me. Say goodbye to this damned ce. I''ll show you more precious medicines."
"You''re betraying them, just as I thought you would. How quaint."
The masked man had promised to hand over the Divine Pill to the Chief of the Au Co Tribe once it waspleted. However, he had no intention of keeping that promise.
"They won''t let us go easily. Are you prepared for that?"
"Those barbarians won''t even be a hindrance. Moreover, they''ll be too busy blocking the Allied Forces."
The man smirked and raised his hand.
"Ugh!"
"Aaak!"
Screams of the warriors of the major tribes who had been watching the Divine Physician''s party erupted from the bushes. Masked men dressed in ck from head to toe appeared behind them.
They were the subordinates who had followed them from the Central ins to the Southern Jungles that had disappeared along the way.
"Let''s go."
While there were only thirty of them, each of them was an extraordinary expert. They were all Peak or Transcendent realm experts.
The man leading them possessed remarkable cultivation and formidable strength, even by the Great Forest''s standards.
The Divine Physician followed the man and escaped through a shortcut he had learned in advance.
"Listen carefully, Divine Physician. You must never tell anyone what I''m about to say. If you open your mouth, even the slightest, you know what''ll happen, right?"
"Hehehe. I don''t have much time left anyway, so there''s nothing I regret. Still, I can''t help but worry about the medical manuals and medicines I''ve yet to study. Fine, I understand."
"Good. Remember, the only reason you''re still alive isn''t because of your medical skills but because of your wisdom. Still, there''s nothing for you to regret. Because of that wisdom of yours, you''ll be able to enter the main association that holds the murim, or rather, the entire Central ins, in the palm of its hand."
"The main association?"
The man smiled ominously and shed away therge leaves blocking their path.
The densely growing trees gradually decreased, and they reached the entrance. The irritating poison forest was now over.
"That''s right. Most assume that the murim is divided into three factionsThe Righteous Path, the Evil Path, and the Demonic Path. However, that''s a grave mistake."
The man''s eyes glowed sinisterly.
The vast and treacherous forest disappeared, reced by the distant roar of a powerful river current.
"The name of this ce, where even the Ten Empyrean Overlords dare not approach, is"
The man trailed off, his footstepsing to an abrupt halt.
"You riled me up with anticipation just to stop at the important point. Are you trying to mess with this old man?"
The Divine Physician also stopped and asked a question.
""
But this wasn''t the time for banter.
The man''s eyes narrowed sharply, like an eagle''s. His subordinates, who were keeping watch around him, also froze, sensing that something was off.
"I wonder what that name is. Can''t you tell me?"
It wasn''t the Divine Physician. It was an unfamiliar voice, a third party.
"Who are you?!" the man barked, his tone wary.
Without waiting for an answer, he threw a punch.
BOOM!
This was no ordinary strike. A violent storm erupted from his fist, tearing a massive tree from its roots. The shockwave surged forward, hitting the center of the river ahead.
BANG!
Another explosion followed as water shot into the air, creating a tower of water.
As the droplets fell, they caught the light, forming a seven-colored rainbow.
"Your enemy."
The few remaining trees fell one by one in the vicious wind, widening the man''s field of vision. A group of people appeared in front of the river.
Were they waiting for us?
The man''s expression darkened. He could sense that something was wrong.
"It''s nice to meet you."
Someone from the group stepped forward.
The man frowned as soon as he saw the face.
"You bastard, I think I''ve seen you somewhere"
He struggled to recall where he had seen the man before, but the memory remained just out of reach, leaving him deeply frustrated.
"Looking at you, you must at least be a Unit Leader of the Dark Heavens Association. Do you really not recognize me?"
"W-what? What did you just say?"
The man''s eyes widened, his jaw dropping in shock. The name the stranger had spoken was one he could not ignore.
"Blessed Existence, that bastard, should have distributed my portrait to get me killed and put me on the ughter Register"
"...!"
The man''s jaw fell even further. He was utterly stunned, so overwhelmed that he couldn''t manage a word.
The Dark Heavens Association and Blessed Existence. Two names that should never have been known were just mentioned casually.
Even if the man before him were to have known the name of the Association, how did he know the name of one of the Seven Stars?"
"ughter Register? ughter Register agh! Zhou Xuchuan! You''re Zhou Xuchuan!!"
1. One of the most famous physicians/doctors in history, Hua Tuo, was the first to use anesthesia in China and created the Exercise of the Five Animals. That might seem familiar, as it''s used in nearly every wuxia/xianxia/murim in some way or form, often as a foundational technique. ?
2. See TL/N bc this requires a history lesson for context. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
It''s me, Cyncoco!
Omg, we''re almost at 200. Nice.
Okay, so first thing, do you guys like the long lessons? Please let me know in thements if you''d rather me not do these so you can read in peace.
So, for the short history lesson.
There are a few qualifying titles for ruling figures in East Asia.
Duke
King
Emperor
Now, to rify, these aren''t exact titles/trantions. It''s more like -> approximations based on Western norms and nomenture. The actual context is different.
For example, there is the duke ?? but also the duke ?, which is the same word often read as king (tldr one is a title for the highest among the five given titles of nobility, and the other is the lineage duke title given to princes).
All this to say, the titles don''t necessarily trante perfectly, and thus, the context behind this joke is hard to read. (This is also why so many people are tranted as kings in Eastern novels when, technically, they should be dukes. But then those dukes aren''t the same duke, and then there''s an entire mess, but that''s forter.)
Qin Shi Huang, or the First Emperor of Qin, was the first to use the Huangdi ?? title, which trantes roughly to Sovereign Emperor (or Emperor for short.) It was taken from the term, , or Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, from the titles given to the Mythological Rulers of China. (Like Shennong, for example).
He took on this title after fully reiming thends of the former Zhou Kingdom, assuming an even higher authority of the heavens after thinking that the title ? wasn''t enough to dere his prestige.
Specifically, this title made him higher than the kings before and made all rulers around him one step lower in terms of rank. Thus, when it mentions rulers in neighboring nations, it''s specifying that those nations are kings while he''s an emperor. A random little tidbit, but is key to recognizing how the Central ins views itselfpared to those around them.
Chapter 198: The Full Tale of the Divine Physician (3)
Finally, something surfaced from his hazy memory.
The one who had ruined the Seven Swords War, which had started when the Blood Monk''s secret technique had been found in the Tomb of the Ominous Demon.
The one who had destroyed the Stockade Boss of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest and their subordinate force, the Green Dragon Stockade, catching Blessed Existence by the back of the neck.
And not just that, hadn''t he also interfered in all sorts of ways, such as handing over a Divine Art to the Shaolin Temple and destroying the secretly prepared branch?
"Zhou Xuchuan? You mean that Plum Blossom Order Sword?"
Even the Divine Physician, who had no interest in anything other than medicine, reacted as though he had heard Zhou Xuchuan''s name before.
"Who are you?"
The man couldn''t focus. He didn''t care about the Divine Pill, the Divine Art, or anything else right now. Names that shouldn''t be known, names that should never have been revealed, had just been mentioned twiceno, three times.
The Dark Heavens Association.Blessed Existence.
The ughter Register.[1]
Even if he was a member of the Association, these were things he wouldn''t know if he wasn''t a high-ranking member.
The Divine Pill was important, but the existence of Zhou Xuchuan, who knew about the Association''s secrets, was a problem.
"It''s Zhou Xuchuan of the Mount Hua Sect."
"Don''t kill him. We''re taking him to the Association. Cutting off his limbs is fine. The Divine Physician is here, so he''ll handle things as long as he doesn''t die immediately."
Zhou Xuchuan might have been on the ughter Register, but this was different. They couldn''t kill him here, they had to take him to investigate his source.
Woosh!
About thirty of his subordinates leapt toward Zhou Xuchuan to capture him. However, they weren''t able to get far before they froze.
Squelch, squelch!
There was a chewing sound. It wasn''t just one sound either, but thousands, making goosebumps appear on the onlookers'' skin.
"Wait"
There was only one person in the Southern Jungles and the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons who could make this sort of sound happenthe king of insects.
His strange feeling soon became a reality. The man had something that seemed like a dark cloud creeping up, not from the front but from behind him.
Inside the dark cloud stood a young man with pale skin and bugs pouring steadily from his sleeves.
"What brings you all the way here, Insect King"
The man was surprised. The Insect King should have been fighting fiercely against the Allied Forces right now.
"He hehe"
The young man, the Insect King, let out a sinisterugh.
"I had a suspicion, but to think it was true. You''ve fooled me, no, the entire major tribes. You won''t be able to leave here alive."
While the young man may have been smiling, the smile didn''t reach his eyes. Far from being happy, his eyes were burning with anger and bloodlust.
"Is this what you can call a desperate situation?" the Divine Physician, who didn''t lose hisposure even in the midst of the crisis, muttered while quietly stroking his beard. ?
"Hmph!"
The man, too, didn''t panic in the midst of the crisis but instead snorted and rxed, ncing around.
In addition to Zhou Xuchuan and the Insect King, there were a few others who caught his eye.
"The Seventh Young Master of Diancang and the Poison Phoenix?"
He had heard a few things while investigating the death of the High Priest of the Southern Jungles.
He knew about the Diancang Sect and the Tang Family. However, he hadn''t heard anything about Zhou Xuchuan. Still, while it was a pity, it didn''t matter now.
"We''ll kill them all anyway."
"What great confidence. As expected of someone who ims to hold the Central ins in their palm. Even though you''re running off with your pants wet, terrified that someone would steal the Divine Pill from you after refining it in secret, of course. Still, Imend your courage."
Tang Hui remarked with her usual sarcasm.
"Bitch, if you don''t want to experience that pretty mouth of yours getting torn off, you''d better keep it shut," the nameless man growled.
"How the weak gather together and bare their fangs. Things have already gotten to this point, fine, I''ll kill you all."
Boom!
The birds on the branches flew away. The squirrels eating nuts in the trees fled for their lives. Even the brightly blooming flower buds withered instantly.
A fierce aura that scared away the nts and animals swept in like a storm.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"..."
Tang Hui shut her mouth tightly. This wasn''t the time to spit out her usual harsh retorts.
She could feel the very air trembling just from the enemy before releasing the qi inside her body.
"Ha!"
Duan Hecheng also raised his guard to its limit. He, too, could feel the pressure around them that made it hard to breathe.
The nameless man wasn''t being so rxed in front of so many people for no reason. His stance hadn''t changed at all, even after the Insect King appeared.
There was a reason for his confidence.
The cultivation of the man in front of them, whose name and identity they didn''t know, clearly wasn''t ordinary.
Warped Valor?
A profound aura that was so intense that it was physically visible. If the remnants of his cultivation aura were so strong that they made the very air tremble, there was no way that his realm was low.
Even at a nce, it was easy to tell that he was at the Harmony Realm. Maybe even higher. There were few people in The Seven Stars Division with this level of power.
Zhou Xuchuan thought that the man might be the new Warped Valor, the right-hand man of the Dark Heavens Association Leader and the Association''s symbol of power.
No, wait a moment.
He paused for a moment. Suddenly, something else came to mind.
Manages collection of elixirs, works to refine the Divine Pill.
There was only one organization in the Dark Heavens Association that managed and collected elixirs.
"The Archive?"
"!"
His guess was right.
The eyebrows of the man, or rather, the leader of the Archive, trembled. While it was a fleeting moment, there was no way that Zhou Xuchuan would miss it.
It was a confirmation.
"So, I was right?"
A deep smile spread across Zhou Xuchuan''s lips.
It was an easy conclusion as long as one thought about it for a moment. There was only one person within the upper echelon of the Dark Heavens Association who woulde all the way down to the Southern Jungles for the sake of collecting a supreme elixir.
This person wasn''t one of the Seven Stars, but was still a head that could match them in status.
The head of the research and collection agency focused on elixirs and cultivation resources.
"Head Archivist of the Archive."
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
It happened in an instant, so quickly that most onlookers didn''t even register what was happening.
However, Zhou Xuchuan, who was facing the Head Archivist directly, was different. As soon as he called out the Archivist, he saw the man make his move.
There was a noise loud enough to rupture one''s eardrums. The ground the Head Archivist was standing on caved in, then erupted violently, sending chunks of earth and debris flying into the air.
The boulders and rubble packed tightly in the earth scattered as the Head Archivist dashed forward.
He vanished, only to reappear in an instant, as if folding space around himself. It wasn''t just incredible speed; it was as if time itself slowed.
In that suspended moment, the Head Archivist pulled his arm back and swung a fist at Zhou Xuchuan as he closed the distance.
The moment the fist was about to hit him in the face, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t even flinch before he raised his sword to block.
BOOM!
The sound that followed was impossible for a mere punch.
Thunder ripped through the clear skies of the Southern Jungles. It wasn''t just a sound, it was apanied by a physical explosion.
The moment the sword and fist collided, the shockwaves rippled outward like waves on water, only to explode momentster like a firecracker.
"AGH!"
The first to be hit were the martial artists standing guard near Zhou Xuchuan. They were blown away by the raging storm.
Even the experts among them weren''t spared. While they weren''t violently blown away, they were still pushed back.
They closed their eyes tightly to keep the dust out and braced themselves with their thighs. Deep footprints were left in their wake as they were pushed back.
"I''m changing the orders."
As the thick clouds of dust cleared, the epicenter came into view. There were two monsters shing, sword and fist.
"Kill everyone except for Zhou Xuchuan and the Divine Physician. I won''t tolerate letting any of them go."
The Head Archivist gave the order as the light in his eyes changed.
"We''ve received your order!"
The thirty subordinates, members of The Archive, flew forward.
"Thunder God Fist."
Crackle, crack!
An invisible electricity flowed around his fists. A ray of blue light shed and crackled around Tai''e''s body.
The Thunder God Fist.
When listing the names of legendary masters throughout history, the Thunder Emperor was one that couldn''t be missed. This was his unique technique. However, he had existed so long ago that this technique was thought to have vanished forever. And yet, here it was, disyed before their very eyes.
While it''s incredibly fast, its power is also extraordinary. It''s not called the Thunder Emperor''s representative technique for nothing. My arms are tingling.
It had the properties of both extreme speed and extreme strength. Moreover, the two concepts didn''t sh but blended exceptionally well together to form a true power.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know much about the Head Archivist of the Archive. Because he secretly managed a collection of elixirs, medicinal herbs, poisons, and cultivation resources before the fall of the Dark Heavens Association, he hadn''te to the forefront like Blessed Existence.
He had heard that the Archive had remained until the very end before being destroyed. However, there was almost no information regarding it as the murim had been afraid that if the knowledge it contained had be known, conflict would arise due to excessive greed. Thus, not much about the division had been recorded. No one was privy to the information except those directly involved.
As an elder of the Mount Hua Sect, he had been given a high clearance to the information. However, that didn''t mean he actually knew everything. Unless he had been reading forever, there were parts that he wouldn''t have been able to read even with the ess.
"I''ll praise you for being able to block the sudden attack."
Is that too ridiculous?
A person on the level of the Head Archivist normally would be arrogant and say things like, "Try this on for size," or, "See if you can block this!"However, as if trying to prove that he was from the Dark Heavens Association, the Head Archivist tried to ambush him the second Zhou Xuchuan had said a top secret name.
Zhou Xuchuan had been keeping his eyes focused on the Head Archivist without looking anywhere else, but if he had been looking somewhere else, he knew he would definitely have taken a loss.
"Still, that''s all that is!"
The Head Archivist raised his voice and widened his eyes.
Zhou Xuchuan tightened his grip on his sword and adjusted his stance to guard his torso.
Swish!
A Leg Technique?
However, the attack came from below, not above.
Bang!
The Head Archivist swung his leg like a whip. Just like the Thunder God Fist, a sh of electricity flickered.
Zhou Xuchuan hesitated for a brief moment, considering whether to move the sword guarding his torso to block. But instead of risking a feint, he chose to retreat, betting on the possibility that it was a diversion.
Swish!
"Hmph."
Zhou Xuchuan made a face of disgust. The tips of his hair, blown by the wind, were cut off as if sliced cleanly by a sword.
The Head Archivist''s leg, or rather, the electricity surrounding that leg, became as sharp as a de, and cut with just a slight touch.
So he''s followed the Thunder Emperor''s arts perfectly!
Thunderp Chopping Sever Kick.
Most techniques focused on striking, but the Thunderp Lightning Severing Kick was different. As its name suggested, it chopped and severed.
It was a unique technique that used an edge instead of force.
"You dodged it?"
The Head Archivist was equally surprised. His expression showed that he had never imagined that Zhou Xuchuan would dodge so perfectly.
Still, his surprise onlysted for a moment. As expected of an executive of the Dark Heavens Association, he continued his attacks without any openings and poured out with fists.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Crackle, crack!
Every time he swung his fist, electricity would sh in a dazzling light, making it even more troublesome as it was not only incredibly fast but also obscured his vision.
The most annoying thing was the sheer intensity of the attacks. The qi contained in each punch or kick wasn''t ordinary.
It was overwhelming, even for someone like Zhou Xuchuan.
"I mean, did you bathe in Pure Stctite Milk or something hah, whatever."
Next to the Dark Heavens Association Leader, the Head Archivist had the highest authority in the allotment of elixirs and cultivation resources. It was only natural that he would have such a high qi reserve.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
While the Diancang Sect''s Sunshooting Sword Art was famous for its speed as a quicksword technique, it wasn''t as fast as this. This was impossibly fast, truly like a bolt of lightning.
Zhou Xuchuan disyed the footwork technique he had so diligently practiced and dodged as much as he could. However, he couldn''t dodge them all.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every time the sword and fist collided, there was an explosion. The ground caved in and rocks bounced like beans in a fire.
Zhou Xuchuan and the Head Archivist.
Neither allowed themselves to lose even the slightest ground as they exchanged moves with qi reserves as vast as the ocean.
Something shed through Zhou Xuchuan''s mind. He decided that if things really continued on like this, no one knew when it would end.
"Come to think of it, I ate well before."
A sinister smile spread across Zhou Xuchuan''s lips.
"?"
"The Millennia Fire Carp. It was a bit hard to catch, but it was incredibly rich and vorful because someone raised it really well."
The Head Archivist froze, momentarily dazed.
Zhou Xuchuan kept his sword pressed against the Head Archivist''s fist and whispered shyly into the man''s ear, as if he were a maiden confessing to a knight.
"That. I was the one who ate it."
1. This was tranted as a phrase earlier, not a noun. The 䲾 is more literally tranted as "Register of People Prohibited to be Killed," referencing Shajie, the Buddhist philosophy of being prohibited to kill, but is used as a way of saying "these people need to be taken out." Will fix it in previous chapters (162.) ?
Chapter 199: Snatch Fate From the Heavens (1)
The Archive oversaw the management of spiritual beasts.
As with most elixirs, the amount of qi contained within a neidan increased over time, apanied by a corresponding increase or decrease.
In particr, the neidans of spiritual beasts required special management, as their quality could change depending on the surrounding environment.
The same went for the Millennia Fire Carp. As one of the top spiritual beasts managed by the Dark Heavens Association, it had been given a lot of attention.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Then, one day, the Millennia Fire Carp was stolen.
The Head Archivist had raised it with more care than a parent with a precious child, just waiting for the day he would be able to harvest it.
However, thest time he saw it, it was nothing but bones, without a single piece of flesh.
He still couldnt forget the shock he had felt at that moment. The memory of the Millennia Fire Carp, painstakingly raised with so much effort, being hunted so easily was still vivid.
As soon as he heard Zhou Xuchuan''s whisper, he swore."DAMN IT!"
At that time, he had searched the surroundings like one scoured for lice to find the culprit. He even investigated the murim, looking for an expert who had suddenly improved his cultivation extensively to appear. However, none ever showed up.
Still, he didn''t give up. The Dark Heavens Association Leader seemed to be very displeased with it, so he had ordered him to catch the culprit.
Now, today, he found that culprit.
"DAMN IT!"
BOOM!
The Head Archivists eyes rolled back in fury, and an overwhelming bloodlust erupted, unlike anything he had disyed before. Lightning red around him as if feeding off his rage.
Crackle! Crack, crack!!
Electricity coursed through the air; it was so intense that Zhou Xuchuan''s hair stood on end, goosebumps breaking out across his skin.
As his hair began to rise, crackling with static, bolts of electricity surged so intensely that they seemed to ripple through Taies body
"Zhou Xuchuan!"
It was a roar so loud that it felt like it split one''s eardrums. It was as loud as the Shaolin Temple''s Lion Roar, making one tremble like thunder had descended.
Ugh!
"Agh!"
Those around them groaned, clutching at their ears at the sound of thunder falling from the dry sky.
"You ridiculous little brat, how dare you!"
The Head Archivist''s eyes lit up with a zing blue light. An anger that they had never seen before roared in his pupils.
"I was wondering why you had so much qi for someone of your age!"
Once one''s name was listed on the ughter Register, it was inevitable that some investigation would follow. It was only natural that he had some information about Zhou Xuchuan.
The Righteous Faction''s Younger Generation Talent and Hero, the Plum Blossom Order Sword.
Since childhood, he had been called All Bark and No Bite, and his qi reserves were unusually highpared to that of others.
At the time, most had just assumed it was only a little more than ordinary, but after he became an adult, the scale of his qi reserves waspletely different.
People even wondered if he had somehow gotten lucky and consumed an elixir. To think that really was the case.
"I''ll kill you!"
The Head Archivist red at Zhou Xuchuan as if the swordsman had killed his parents. That was how much resentment he felt over the Millennia Fire Carp.
Putting aside how difficult it had been to raise the spiritual beast, hadn''t he fallen out of the Dark Heavens Association Leader''s graces after losing it?
What made it even more frustrating was that he had been ridiculed even outside of the Archive, by several members of the Association, including the Seven Stars.
Bang!
The Head Archivist disappeared in a sh, his movement leaving behind a streak of light like lightning itself.
Screech!
There was a bloodcurdling sound of nails scraping against metal. While it felt like something sharp was flying at Zhou Xuchuan, what actually came for him was somewhat different.
Like a heavy hammer crashing down, the Archivists fist shot forward, aimed directly at Zhou Xuchuans chest.
BOOM!
The fist collided with a sword held vertically. It wasn''t just that they collided physically. Their auras collided in turn.
The sheer amount of aura itself was on a different level. The resulting shockwave was so powerful that it caused their heads to rattle, sending violent tremors through their bodies.
Their muscles tingled and contracted, their legs trembling slightly. They were forced back, the soles of their feet rubbed hot from friction, only stopping when they got to the very edge of the river.
Huh!
They both gasped in surprise.
As expected of an executive of the Dark Heavens Association!
Zhou Xuchuan had been consuming elixirs without rest since he was young. The Millennia Fire Carp, the Millennium Snow Ginseng, the Lesser Cirction Pills, and countless items of incredible spirituality. He had even reached the limits, consuming so much that it was as if he had reced food with spiritual medicines.
Even if he wanted to consume more, he had to hold back due to his body''s limits and the sheer amount of time it took to absorb, along with various other reasons. So, he was shocked to find himself struggling to withstand the Head Archivist''s Thunder God Fist.
Where the hell did this brate from?!
The Head Archivist was equally as surprised. Even though he may have lost more than half of his rationality due to his rage, he was able to gauge Zhou Xuchuan somewhat calmly.
To think he blocked the Thunder God Fist at full strength!
The Thunder Emperor''s technique, the Thunder God Fist, had a destructive power that wasparable to that of a demonic technique. After all, it wasn''t called a Divine Art for nothing.
That wasn''t all. Its speed was so fast it could only bepared to lightning.
It was like a hammer flying at a speed too quick for the human eye to follow. Yet, Zhou Xuchuan managed to block it wlessly.
He''s dangerous.
His name wasn''t on the ughter Register without reason. The Head Archivist could tell, although his enemy may have been young, if he underestimated him, his life could be in danger.
No, even before that, his mere existence itself was dangerous.
One of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, a direct disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, a Hero of the Righteous Faction. Moreover, he knew the secrets of the Association.
Dealing with him was a top priority.
"HA!"
The Head Archivist took a deep breath. The electricity that had spread around him began to converge, condensing rapidly into a single point.
Moreover, it didnt take long for him to prepare. His preparation speed was almost impossibly fast.
"Heup!"
Zhou Xuchuan also finished his preparations. His well-toned abs were revealed as he tensed his abdomen.
His rxed muscles tensed, contracting again. His tendons bulged, clearly visible under his skin.
With a steady breath, he drew qi from his dantian, right below his navel. He converted not just a small amount but an ocean of qi into raw power.
Swoosh!
There wasn''t any shiness, like the electricity that flowed out of the Thunder God Fist. However, an unusual violet aura flowed around him.
Violet Haze Divine Art.
While everyone was concentrating on their own fights, there were still many eyes watching. Things would be troublesome if he were to show off this art here.
However, he couldn''t help but use his full power.
After all, who was the enemy holding a fist in front of him right now?!
Twisted Melody, the Neidan Sword Gate Master Tiemu Minghuan, had also possessed an extraordinary amount of qi. However,pared to the Head Archivist, it was a drop in the bucket.
As expected of an executive, his power was extraordinary. However, what was truly impressive was his unfathomable qi reserves.
Even Zhou Xuchuan, who prided himself on his nearly infinite qi, found himself in awe.
He wouldn''t be able to handle that sort of master while keeping things hidden.
So he poured everything out.
BOOOM!
Thunder strucknot once, but twice, in perfect harmony.
One truly embodied the power of thunder. The other ended with a roar that was only reminiscent of thunder.
However, that didn''t mean it was a hollow attack. The violet aura surrounding the sword swirled and spun fiercely.
Thrum, thrum, THRUM!
The air trembled as it spun. The aftereffects grew even more severe as the number of rotations increased.
Violet Haze!
A violet aura rotated endlessly without stopping.
Then came a lethal strike that rocketed down with the tip of the sword!
DAWNBREAKER!
A purple line, sharp and straight like a minus sign, sliced through the air. Wherever it passed, the atmosphere ruptured, tearing apart and leaving behind cavitation.
Lightning!
Refusing to back down, the Head Archivist finished his attack, unleashing a techniqueparable to that of Violet Haze Dawnbreaker at the same time.
Exploding Tiger!
Clenching both hands into tight fists, he swung them together in front of his chest before hammering downward with all his might.
The moment he did, a blue light shot out, and a tiger swinging its front legs emerged from his fists.
BOOOM!
Another shockwave ruptured, so strong that it shook the very heavens. It wasn''t just a metaphor, as the ground literally shook as if there had been an earthquake. Yet neither Zhou Xuchuan nor the Head Archivist gave an inch. Both stood firm, their legs like unyielding pirs, continuing to face each other head-on.
Whirl!!!!
The violet haze swirled relentlessly, cutting through the air as though it would destroy everything in its path. It rushed toward the tiger of electricity, prepared to devour it entirely.
However, the tiger didn''t retreat either. Despite being torn to pieces by the rotating violet haze, the tiger crushed everything in front of it.
"Agh!"
"Ugh!"
The screams didn''te from the two masters who were closest to the experts. No, they came from the martial artists that were fighting fiercely nearby.
The search party of the Central ins, as well as the members of the Archive and even the Insect King himself, weren''t able to withstand the shockwave and froze.
For now, they crouched as much as they could to avoid being caught in the aftermath and focused on keeping guard.
"Ugh!"
"Mmph!"
The two powers shed directly, neither giving an inch. Eventually, that energy couldn''t hold out any longer and burst outward, releasing a massive shockwave that sent both Zhou Xuchuan and the Head Archivist flying backward.
"Damn it, you''re so damned strong!"
Zhou Xuchuan muttered in frustration, bouncing across the water like a pebble before flipping through the air andnding on the ground. Using the art of the Ten Thousand Jin Sword, he lightened his weight as much as he could and jumped over the water using Floating Duckweed Crossing Water.
"You dare!"
The Head Archivist jumped into the river as well, leaving a storm of pebbles behind.
He also seemed to have quite a bit of knowledge regarding the concept of lightness and heaviness as he casually jumped over the water and raised his right arm.
His eyes, filled with a piercing blue light, looked straight down, and Zhou Xuchuan shouted urgently when he saw that.
"Everyone, get away from the river!"
As he stopped running, his feet began to sink beneath the waters surface. Before fully submerging, he raised his sword high above his head.
"Die!"
The Head Archivist raised his hand above his head into the water. Like before, his fist was filled with electricity.
The moment his hand touched the water, everyone knew what would happen to the river without even looking.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly changed his stance from the Hundred Divine Transformations to the Ten-Thousand Jin Sword, maximized his weight and mmed his sword down with all his might.
BOOOM!
No one knew how many times there had been an explosion. The deafening booms made it feel as though their eardrums might burst. Worse still, the explosion wasn''t just in one ce but in two.
Crackle!
The river that served as the boundary between the living and the dead, separating the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons from the rest of the world, shone brightly in the broad daylight.
If it was just a shining light, it might have even been considered beautiful. However, as the electricity flowed throughout the river, it transformed into a river of death. A vertical line of energy carved through the water, tearing it apart and leaving disaster in its wake. The creatures living inside couldn''t withstand the sudden shock and died.
"You annoying bastard!"
The Head Archivist''s face distorted horribly.
He had been aiming for a decisive blow, but his attack never reached his target. Zhou Xuchuanpletely overturned the water just before the attack couldnd.
The river churned violently, its flow sucked into a swirling vortex before imploding and erupting upward in a massive explosion.
It didn''t just explode upward, it literally rose up like a massive pir, reaching heights so high that one had to look up at the heavens to see its peak.
Before the electricity from the Thunder God Fist could spread through the area, Zhou Xuchuan had created the greatest shockwave he could with him at the epicenter and mmed down, causing all of the water in a certain area to rise into the air, exposing the riverbed below.
Everyone could see fish that should have been swimming under the water. However, for some reason, they were swimming in the empty air and pping helplessly.
"Damn it!"
The Head Archivist clenched his teeth. Not only had his attack missed, but the pir of water in front of him blocked his vision.
To make matters worse, the pir of water immediately sank again, and waves several zhang high crashed down, engulfing the surroundings.
The Head Archivist, unable to maintain Floating Duckweed Crossing Water due to the swaying waves, was swallowed by the water.
Zhou Xuchuan waited quietly beneath the surface of the water, and when he saw the Head Archivist slipping under the water, he swung his sword once again.
Chapter 200: Snatch Fate From the Heavens (2)
Second Form, Arc Flower Rain!
Thrum!
A sword swung underwater. Although it was slow due to the water resistance, the sword technique was clearly disyed.
The aura enveloping the de unraveled like a tangled thread unspooling before fanning out.
However, the technique wasn''tplete because it had been used underwater. The bundles of sword qi that should have been densely packed were stretched and spread out by the resistance, weakening its power slightly.
Gurgle!
The Head Archivist foamed at the mouth and desperately tried to move. However, his movements were limited because he was underwater.
He tried to dodge, but the Arc Flower Rain still hit him. His skin split open, releasing a mist of blood into the water.
Ugh!The Head Archivist endured the pain and headed toward the surface of the water.
He knew he could retaliate with the Thunder God Fist, but underwater, his ability to channel qi was limited. A single misstep could disrupt his cirction, leaving him severely injured. He had to be cautious.
Zhou Xuchuan also headed to the surface for the same reason.
Although the Divine Phantom Art allowed him to fight without needing to breathe, Zhou Xuchuans ability tounch such powerful attacks underwater was only possible because he had taken proper breaths beforehand.
While he could do something once or twice in a row, the power of his blows would be halved. So, there wouldn''t be any need to push himself too hard.
"Puha!"
Zhou Xuchuan and the Head Archivist broke through the surface of the water almost at the same time, gasping for air.
The current had carried them slightly away from their allies, but not too far.
"I''ll kill you!" the Head Archivist roared, kicking off the waters surface to return tond. Zhou Xuchuan followed him and unleashed a barrage of sword strikes.
Woosh, woosh, woosh!
Dozens of clusters of sword qi, sword flowers, bloomed from the tip of his sword, surging forward like firecrackers.
"The Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom!
As soon as the Head Archivist turned his back, he recognized the technique immediately and crossed his arms.
Since his qi reserves were vast, he effortlessly formed a defensive qi barrier to block the Raining Plum Blossoms.
"Hmph!"
Zhou Xuchuan stuck out his tongue in frustration.
Even with his back turned and his body wounded, the Head Archivist had effortlessly blocked his attack. He truly was an annoying opponent.
As soon as the Sixteenth Form of the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, Raining Plum Blossoms ended, the number of plum blossoms blooming from the tip of his sword didn''t decrease but increased instead.
The shadows of the plum blossoms above his head filled the area around the Head Archivist. It was the Seventeenth Form, Blossom''s Shadow Be Rivers.
"Useless!"
The Head Archivist stamped his foot. Air burst out from under his foot, creating a circr barrier around him with electricity flowing through it.
Blossom''s Shadow Be Rivers rushed toward a single point. However, it dissipated as soon as it hit the aura barrier.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Every time there was an explosion, a dazzling light shed. The violet and blue scenery was incredibly beautiful.
However, before anyone could even enjoy the dazzling disy, a sword and fist collided in mid-air several times, tearing through space.
The Head Archivists expression darkened as the battle dragged on.
After exchanging dozens of blows, the two stepped back to catch their breath.
"This is impossible!" the Head Archivist shouted in disbelief.
"You''re only a mere junior. How is it possible for you to reach this level? This can''t be happening!"
It was already a miracle that someone like the brat in front of him had reached the Harmony Realm at such a young age.
At first, he had assumed that even if the brat were a Harmony Realm Master, he would merely be at the initial stage. However, now that he had actually fought him, the Head Archivist realized that wasn''t the case at all.
Zhou Xuchuan had reached the Completion Stage of the Harmony Realm and was on the verge of reaching the next Realm.
What was even more surprising was that his battle experience didn''t match his age.
The Head Archivist hadn''t underestimated Zhou Xuchuan because he was young. The Head Archivist, blinded by fury after being provoked, had abandoned much of his reason and attacked with the sole intent to kill.
Sometimes, he would attack directly, while other times, he mixed in feints.
However, for some reason, Zhou Xuchuan, a younger generation talent of Mount Hua, was able to respond skillfully without getting surprised.
He almost seemed like a seasoned veteran who had been through trials and tribtions.
How difficult.
Zhou Xuchuan also felt burdened by the Head Archivist.
While he''s not a good match for me, I''m also at a disadvantage here, unlike when I fought against the Stars
The situation had been on his side when he had fought Vast Gate and Twisted Melody.
Vast Gate had been incredibly overconfident and had let her guard down, while Twisted Melody had been focused on the Evil Valley Master and had left an opening for a surprise attack.
In contrast, Zhou Xuchuan had no such advantage against the Head Archivist in this battle.
He had been on guard from the beginning because he had been trying to escape, and most importantly, due to his strong cultivation and his vast qi reserves, he didn''t back down in a battle of qi. It was incredibly difficult, and Zhou Xuchuan hadn''t expected him to be this strong.
No.
Zhou Xuchuan tightened his grip. He felt the familiar weight of the hilt of his sword in his palm. He closed his eyes briefly before slowly opening them.
I''ve just been lucky.
The Dark Heavens Association.
They weren''t to be underestimated. They had once pushed the entire Central ins to the brink of destruction.
On the contrary, it was only that he had a little luck along the way, which led to good results.
It''s impossible for them not to be strong.
His fragmented memories began piecing themselves together to reconstruct the past.
An era of unprecedented warfare.
A person who had been drinking the day before was dead the next day. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Every time he opened his eyes, one of the heroes of the Righteous Faction had met a heroic end, and an expert the world had put their hopes on had died.
Elite units of the Righteous Faction, whose identities were unknown,y cold and lifeless on the ground.
Thebined power of the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and even the Demonic Path had fought back and somehow won. However, it was a victory no different than a stab to one''s chest.
Knowing how great that power was, Zhou Xuchuan was wary, afraid, and prepared. He waited for the fateful day of battle while building up his strength.
It was the same for him now. He was still resisting while learning various things, training, and building up his strength.
"Thank you, Head Archivist."
Sssss!
A faint haze began to rise from under his feet. One strand of qi became two, two became four, and eventually, it multiplied into hundreds of lines that gathered together.
"Thank you for awakening me from mycency once again. I had momentarily forgotten how incredible you all are."
"I wasn''t sure of it at first, but as expected"
Earlier, he had been so out of it, and he hadn''t been able to see it properly because its color was so faint. But it was different now.
That was definitely violet.
Even if one searched all of Mount Hua Sect or the entire murim, there was only one martial art with that violet hue. The great foundational Divine Art, only reserved for the Sect Master of the Mount Hua Sect!"
The Violet Haze Divine Art!
There were many things he wanted to say, but his mind was tangled with conflicting thoughts and emotions.
No matter how legendary a hero of the Righteous Faction he might be, unless he was confirmed to be the next Sect Master, he couldn''t learn the Violet Haze Divine Art.
But what the hell was that?
If he had been designated as the next sessor, there was no way that the Dark Heavens Association wouldn''t have known. It was impossible for something like that to have remained a secret.
What was even more unbelievable was that Zhou Xuchuan was so skilled in disying the Violet Haze Divine Art. A divine art wasn''t easy to learn. One had to be in their thirties at least in order to disy its full power.
Head Archivist.
Zhou Xuchuan bent his knees slightly, lowering his upper body. His eyes were still as fierce as an eagles.
"The Seven Horned Serpent."
A spiritual beast from Poisonblood Valley that was on the verge of bing an imoogi.
"No, no! That can''t be!" the Head Archivist muttered, feeling uneasy.
A memory of the past suddenly came to mind.
The king of Poisonblood Valley and its highest-ranking spiritual beast. The Head Archivist had been managing it, thinking about harvesting it one day for its neidan.
However, its horn had been cut off by Duan Hecheng and his party, who had been trying to gain the approval of his elder disciple brothers.
To make matters worse, the ceiling of its cave had copsed, crushing it to death.
It had been obvious what had happened at that point. He had just assumed that the Seven Horned Serpent would have been eaten by the other spiritual beasts after they realized it was no longer dangerous.
This cant be happening!
His chest tightened as realization dawned. His heart pounded like a drum, and an ominous chill crept down his spine. The Head Archivist had been managing cultivation resources long before the Archive had been established as a department, even after bing a member of the Dark Heavens Association.
He had never settled down in one ce and had spent his time traveling around the Central ins tens, if not hundreds of times, without resting.
The amount of effort that went into cataloging and gathering cultivation resources was nothing to be scoffed at.
Realizing that an unknown entity ruined all of that hard work, he couldnt contain his anger.
Moreover, it wasn''t just once, but twice?!
It was delicious.
Aaaah! You son of a bitch!
He desperately hoped it wasn''t true. No, it couldn''t be.
One person had stolen from him twice. The moment he realized that, his anger surged.
His patience hadpletely vanished.
In its ce, a red me erupted around him. His body temperature rose due to the emotional turmoil, and his blood cirction also increased.
The Thunder God Fist was a Yang Art. As such, it was hard for him to hold back when his emotions were stimted.
Reason warned him to regain hisposure. He couldn''t let his mind wander in front of a master like Zhou Xuchuan.
Logically, he knew he needed to regain control. But his heart wouldnt listen. Consumed by bloodlust, his soul burned with unrelenting rage.
I''ve been waiting for this!
Zhou Xuchuans eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Crack, BOOM!
A thunderbolt struck. It was a thunderbolt filled with rage. His determination to kill was clearly evident.
BANG!
There was a zing blue light.
The figure of the Head Archivist flickered before disappearing.
To be exact, he hadn''t disappeared. It just appeared that way because he was moving at a speed that one''s eyes couldn''t follow.
Violet Haze Sword Sutra!
Before, Zhou Xuchuan was able to see the Head Archivist, albeit barely. But not this time. He was simply too fast for his eyes to catch.
The Head Archivist was moving at a speed beyond human limits. Still, Zhou Xuchuan could tell where the Head Archivist wasing from.
He could track the Head Archivists movements by using other information, such as the aftereffects of the power tearing through the air, the vibrations in the wind, and how the air itself split apart under the force of the attacks.
Violet Haze Dawnbreaker![1]
Thrum!
As Zhou Xuchuan stretched out his sword, a fiercely rotating aura shot out.
Arc Flower Rain!
His sword''s aura spread out like a fan. The straight line of aura split into several lines and shot out all at once.
However, unlike before, it was directed toward the sky. This was the third form.
Third form, Plum Blossoms Hide in a Crimson Haze!
Dozens of swords that had been shooting upward simultaneously turned downward, gathering together and pouring down like a waterfall.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
It had been a critical mistake for the Head Archivist to abandon reason and give in to his instincts.
Even when he was thinking clearly, most of the Thunder God Fist''s forms were simple and easy to read despite being powerful. Now blinded by rage, it was as if he was dering to the world, ''I''m going to attack like this!''
He carefully calcted the path, analyzed the forms of the Violet Haze Sword Sutra, and poured everything into executing his strike at the perfect moment.
"AGH!"
A rain of swords poured down on the Head Archivist''s shoulders. The dazzling violet waterfall was dyed red with blood.
The sight was breathtaking. Even those watching silently couldn''t help but exim in awe.
Although the Head Archivist charged straight ahead, he wasn''t able to escape unscathed. The waterfall of swords pierced through his entire body, leaving holes everywhere.
It was a situation where anyone could tell that he wouldn''t be left unharmed. Although the Head Archivist put up a defensive qi barrier, it couldnt withstand the relentless barrage. Struck directly and repeatedly, the barrier shattered under the pressure.
Everyone assumed that would be the end of it.
However
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t let his guard down.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t feel at ease.
Zhou Xuchuan didn''t let himself becent.
Fourth Form.
The moment the red-tinted waterfall hit the ground, the heavens and earth shook.
The ground beneath them didnt just crackitpletely copsed. The massive shockwave generated by the concentrated aura exploded through the air, shaking everything around them.
Then, the waterfall piercing through the Head Archivist''s body dropped to the ground. However, instead of disappearing, it rose back into the air.
"Snatch Fate From the Heavens."
Even as his consciousness faded, the Head Archivist''s eyes rolled back as he vomited, screaming in resentment and rage.
"You, you brat Zhou Xuchuan"
The name that he could never forget.
"Zhou Xuchuan!!"
WOOSH!
The waterfall shot upward, merged into the clouds, and soon heavy raindrops began to pour down in a steady shower.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
His body was torn apart. One of his arms was severed and shredded into countless pieces, reduced to mangled chunks of flesh.
His entire body, riddled with hundreds of holes, was torn beyond recognition.
1. I am considering changing this trantion. I know it''s reallyte in the book. Please let me know if you prefer this or its more literal trantion, Violet Haze Opens the Dawn. It''s a reference to how the violet haze only appears at the break of dawn. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Actually, I wanted to ask this. Do you all prefer the more wordy, poetic names for techniques or the shorter, more action-focused wording for techniques?
Take the Violet Haze Sword Sutra, for example.
Violet Haze Dawnbreaker, as expressed above, literally trantes to Violet Haze Opens the Dawn.
Arc Flower Rain is more literally A Rain of Blossoms Fans Through an Area.
When we first tranted it, we thought that having something like Dawnbreaker, which is a more active trantion, would be cooler. But I''ve recently been reading older murim for nostalgia and have been really feeling the super poetic 15-word trantions of techniques haha.
Let me know!
P.S. Book 9!!! Love you all
Chapter 201: Piercing Mark Sorcery Art (1)
ROAAAR!!!
The roar of the Qinghua Allied Forces erupted like thunder; the gs of the Allied Forces fluttered in the wind here and there. The civil war of the Great Foreststed about a week, and the Qinghua Allied Forces ultimately won the power struggle.
The Insect King and the Poison Insect Tribe jumping onto the Allied Forces'' side was enough to decide the oue.
Even though the Au Co Tribethe Ones Who Can Combat a Hundredwere known as the strongest tribe in the Southern Jungles, the difference in military power was just too much.
To make matters worse, the Poison Insect Tribe hadn''t just left the battle but had be their enemy as well. At this point, there was nothing the Au Co Tribe could do.
This was the downfall of the barbarians who had ruled the Great Forest solely by force after the fall of the Dai Viet at the hands of the Central ins.
***
Four dayster
"We must keep our promises," Ye Li emphasized several times."Of course." The Insect King nodded. Four days ago, the Insect King had epted Zhou Xuchuan''s proposal.
In exchange for being taught the sutras of their tribe''s divine artthe Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Artthere was a promise not to invade. There was also a promise that they would not trespass on each other''s territory.
The Poison Insect Tribe''s territory was within the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons, so there was no reason for them to go outside. In other words, the promise did not really matter for the Poison Insect Tribe.
The Land of Ten Thousand Poisons was too dangerous, so the Allied Forces weren''t really going to visit it more often than not, so they weed the agreement with open arms.
"Is it really okay to let them go?"
"Aren''t they still one of the troublesome major tribes?"
"Three years ago, my brother was bitten by one of their bugs. He suffered for a week before passing away."
Not everyone weed the agreement. In fact, many were dissatisfied, and there were some who tantly opposed the idea. There was a reason they were called barbarians. During their reign, they had plundered with force rather than diplomacy, and they hadmitted all sorts of atrocities.
They hadmitted fewer atrocities than the now-destroyed Cannibal Tribe or the Beast Tribe, but they were still part of the major tribes at one point. It would be strange for the people not to feel any resentment toward this agreement.
Ye Li frowned and stepped in to mediate. "Even if we were to add them all up, there are only five hundred of them. What''s there to be afraid of?"
"Sure, but don''t you think this is an opportunity for us?"
"He''s right. They''re still barbarians; who knows when they might show their fangs again?"
"Now is the time."
They were right; the Poison Insect Tribe members couldmunicate with them, but barbarians were still barbarians. They hadn''t said anything and had only shown off their strength, so they were worried that the barbarians would change their minds at any moment.
They preferred not to leave even a single one of them alive, not to mention an entire n. However, it wasn''t a possible solution.
"Please, calm yourselves. It''s not visible on the outside, but our army is extremely exhausted," Yuan Cai said, stepping forward to persuade the leaders. "They amount only to five hundred figures, but you all know their strength."
The Poison Insect Tribe had about four hundred people left, while the Au Co had roughly a hundred tribesmen remaining. Those numbers didn''t seem like much, but they were formidable. If those tribesmen were to be desperate, who could say for sure what would happen?
"Most importantly, keep in mind that the Central ins'' search party and Zhou Xuchuan are no longer going to help us."
Even if they managed to win somehow, the Allied Forces would face the risk of destruction by overstretching themselves.
"Hmph."
"If that''s the case, then"
When they heard that Zhou Xuchuan wouldn''t be participating any further, groans came out from within the group. Everyone licked their lips in shame and gave up.
They wanted to take control over the Southern Jungles, so they tried to leverage whatever honeypot they could, but unfortunately, it was unsessful.
Moreover, Zhou Xuchuan and the others had already finished their preparations to return as if they were in a hurry. It was unfortunate, but Qinghua''s higher-ups had no choice but to sign the peace treaty.
"Sessor of the Poison God, thank you for returning the divine art to us. ording to the agreement we''ve written with the Qinghua Toho, we can leave the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons at any time, so if you need our help, please don''t worry and let us know at any time. We are brothers, after all."
The Insect King bore no hostility toward Zhou Xuchuan. Zhou Xuchuan had fulfilled his wish, so he only had nothing but goodwill toward the swordsman.
"I''ve never had a brother like you. Stop making such misunderstandable remarks."
By "Poison God," the Insect King meant the Poison Demon.
If there were even a hint of a rumor that hea disciple of the Mount Hua Sect and a hero of the Righteous Factionwas a descendant of the Poison Demon, his position would surely be awkward.
Given the nature of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art, he could truly deny that he had seeded the Poison Demon, as he would only ever master half of the Poison Art.
"Martial artists of the Central ins, do not forget the agreement with our Au Co Tribe. If you try to do something foolish like the previous bastard, we will never forgive you. He was threatened, but it was still irritating that he had tried to deceive me, so I hope you''ll leave his head behind."
Qinghua had entered negotiations with the Au Co Tribe as well. Of course, the contents of their negotiation were markedly different from that of the Poison Insect Tribe.
"Stop acting like a perverted man who can''t forget and keeps chasing after a girl upon getting dumped by the said girl. Just let it go.
"In return, the Poison Insect Tribe promises to help you refine the Divine Pill again. You don''t have to worry about that anymore. Matriarch of the Au Co. I, the Insect King, always keep my word, so don''t worry; you can trust me."
The Poison Insect Tribe''s long-cherished desire was the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art, while the Au Co Tribe''s long-cherished desire was the refinement of the Divine Pill, which they hadn''t been able to refine for a long time.
There was a reason they were called the "Mysterious Tribe," and there was also a reason behind their long absence. The entire tribe had put its heart and soul into refining the Divine Pill.
"By the way, why didn''t you go easy on me? And why did you make such a fuss in the river? If you hadn''t done that, you wouldn''t have lost the Divine Pill," Au Yeu muttered with a look of reproach.
Zhou Xuchuan wanted to search the surroundings thoroughly, but the current was so strong that it was possible to retrieve it as soon as he lost it. Upon hearing the news, Au Yeu couldn''t hold back her anger and went to find the Head Archivist''s corpse. She trampled it, burned it, and threw it away.
In any case, they still had some form of "feelings" for Zhou Xuchuan and Qinghua, but the Au Co Tribe thought about it logically and ultimately decided to sign the peace treaty.
The Insect King and Au Yeu each led their tribes into the dense forest of the Land of Ten Thousand Poisons.
"I really appreciate it." Ye Li bowed, holding Zhou Xuchuan''s hand. A while ago, he had been half grateful and half afraid, but now it was different. His eyes were filled with gratitude and awe as he stared at Zhou Xuchuan.
"I''ll never forget the grace you''ve shown me. You saved me from the Cannibal Tribe''s prison, where I awaited a horrible fate while trembling from the fear of not knowing when I would enter the stomach of a cannibal.
"You also helped me lead the way in subduing the major tribes, a feat that I thought was impossible. You helped us achieve victory. I, the Qinghua Toho, Ye Li, sincerely thank you, Hero of the Great Forest," said Ye Li with eyes wide and full of emotions.
"Thank you," said Advisor Yuan Cai. He put aside his pretense of refusing to speak with deference and expressed his gratitude toward Zhou Xuchuan with respect. This time, his respect was sincere.
It doesn''t feel bad, but Zhou Xuchuan felt strange andughed awkwardly.
The Hero of the Great Forest. Hadn''t he just be the Hero of the Southern Jungles? Strictly speaking, he was from an enemy state. He found it strange that he was being treated as their hero.
"If you need help, just let us know. If it''s the Great Hero''s request, we''ll run to you in a single stride."
"No, thank you. Please, I''m begging you. Please don''te," Zhou Xuchuan said with a solemn face.
The major tribes were one thing, but if the Qinghua Allied Forcesthe true descendants of the Dai Viet ended up crossing the border to assist him, the situation would escte instead of the opposite.
In the worst-case scenario, Zhou Xuchuan could get used of helping the Southern Jungles raise an army. In other words, he could be used of treason and be executed as a result.
Just in case, Zhou Xuchuan exined the situation to Ye Li and Yuan Cai. He emphasized it several times so that they would keep it in mind.
"Then, I''ll take my leave now."
"Oh, dear. Why don''t you stay for a few more days? We might end up getting criticized for treating you poorly, Great Hero."
"As the Toho, you must be busy with the cleanup. If I were to stay here and intrude any further, wouldn''t things be difficult for you?"
Winning the war wasn''t the end of things. There was the cleanup afterward, and it was always a headache.
It went without saying that the power structure of the country called the Southern Jungles had changed, so there was a mountain of work to do.
Thanks to the major tribes, thend had be a mess, and the Toho would surely soon be busy managing their allied provinces while recovering from the damage at the same time.
If they wanted to allot funds and power to officials, Zhou Xuchuan''s presence would be a problem. Thus, politicians with power never really weed heroes.
"Since you already said so, then there''s nothing we can do about it. At the very least, please ept this as a token of our sincerity."
Ye Li gave Zhou Xuchuan a huge variety of items as a token of his gratitude.
Knowing that Zhou Xuchuan and the others had a long way to go, he chose to give them the most valuable items for their journey.
"Thank you for your consideration."
***
The search party of the Central ins murim set off on their return home. Before leaving, they sent a notice to the Benevolence Clinic. The search party smiled and cheered upon hearing that they were finally leaving the irritating and big forest.
"Finally, we will not be experiencing humid and muggy weather anymore!"
"Ugh, I really feel like going crazy. Instead of the imprints of a woman''s lips, I''ve been covered in bug bites all this time"
"Wheeew. I want to hurry back, go to an inn, fill my stomach with noodles, and get a little tipsy on zhuye qingjiu."
"Ugh"
The search party was also exhausted from the long mission, and every step of this mission had been dissatisfying. The food didn''t suit their taste, there were bugs everywhere, and the climate was annoying.
There was a reason the Central ins had left the Southern Jungles alone. While the precious tropical fruits were delicious, everything else was essentially worthless.
They had been feeling more and more depressed as the days went on, but the idea that they would soon be back home assuaged their homesickness, making their hearts feel a little lighter.
They smiled brightly and chatted at the thought of returning to their home.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"By the way, did you see Great Hero Zhou fight?"
"I broke out into goosebumps at the sight of him. I couldn''t help but wonder whether he was born straight out of a myth or something."
Regardless of their affiliated faction, all the martial artists were talking excitedly about Zhou Xuchuan''s techniques behind thetterbehind the main character''s back.
"While I''ve heard a lot about how great the Plum Blossom Order Sword''s martial arts were, I never could have expected him to be this incredible."
The High Priest of the Cannibal Tribe
ck Buffalo of the Beast Tribe
Au Yeu of the Au Co Tribe
The Insect King of the Poison Insect Tribe
They were all experts capable of bing one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. Among them, the High Priest''s sorcery and abilities were particrly terrifying.
Everyone quivered at the mere thought of his mes capable of melting one''s skin. They were truly in awe when Zhou Xuchuan had faced those terrifying mes head-on and had knocked down the High Priest as if those mes were nonexistent.
"It''s a shame we couldn''t see everything."
The fights were fierce, so they didn''t have the luxury of watching leisurely. They only managed to catch glimpses of Zhou Xuchuan in action.
The only battle they managed to watch closely was the fight against ck Buffalo.
They couldn''t afford to do the same during the other fights, so they only saw the results. Still, even that alone was incredible, and everyone was busy talking about Zhou Xuchuan in low voices.
"Ahem. Ahem." Zhou Xuchuan''s ears perked up, and he smiled slightly, feeling good. As expected of a master, his ears were keen. In his previous lifetime, he had never received so much attention, not to mention anyone remembering his name, so he couldn''t help but feel happy.
"Excuse me, can I ask you something?" the Divine Physician asked, interrupting Zhou Xuchuan''s train of thought.
"Of course. Feel free to ask," replied Zhou Xuchuan.
"That medicine. When do you n on taking it?"
Zhou Xuchuan flinched. "Medicine? What are you talking about?"
"It''s no use pretending in front of this old man." The Divine Physician tapped the tip of his nose with a knowing expression. "Even though you unleashed all of those terrifying attacks, you ensured that a particr ce remained unharmed.
"It really was amazing."
Zhou Xuchuan groaned. It seemed that it was impossible to fool the Divine Physician.
"So there''s a reason they call you the ''Divine Physician.''"
The Divine Physician''s sense of smell was simply extraordinary. Zhou Xuchuan had tried to hide it, but he was caught red-handed. Fortunately, they were quite far away from the others.
It seemed the Divine Physician also had no intentions of letting anyone else know about it, as he lowered his voice, asking, "The Divine Pill of the Au Co, do you have it?"
Chapter 202: Piercing Mark Sorcery Art (2)
Zhou Xuchuan gave up and answered honestly, "Yes."
"Don''t worry, I don''t intend to ask for it back. If you want it, I''ll keep it a secret for you," said the Divine Physician while stroking his white beard with a sinister smile tugging at his lips.
"How much?"
"Hehe, it''s good that you''re quick-witted." The Divine Physician''s eyes sparkled, and he revealed a satisfied smile before saying, "I want to know the effects once you''ve refined it."
"Are you referring to its efficacy?"
Considering the item at hand, Zhou Xuchuan was nervous about what the Divine Physician would ask of him. However, it seemed that the price he had to pay wasn''t as expensive as he had expected.
"That''s right. While this old man made it himself, it is still an elixir from ancient times. It''s something I made for the first time, so I don''t know its effects.
"I want to know whether the rumors passed down through the generations of the Au Co Tribe are true or not." The Divine Physician''s eyes sparkled with curiosity and inquisitiveness. The skin around his eyes was full of wrinkles, but his eyes resembled a child''s.
This old man he''s more dangerous than I thought, Zhou Xuchuan thought. He was relieved to know that the Divine Physician was not going to say anything about the Divine Pill, but it also put him on edge. I heard that he could never help himself when it came to anything valuablelike rare medical texts or new elixirsbut I had no idea that it was this bad.An unknown force had taken advantage of the Divine Physician, but it seemed like he could not care less.
When he said that he wanted to see the efficacy of the new elixir that he had made himself, his eyes seemed like they were sparkling. It wasn''t a normal reaction.
After all, the Divine Physician had yet to ask about who had brought him here or what had transpired.
Of course, the search party had exined everything while they were cleaning up after the war, but even that had seemed to be uninteresting to him.
If the Dark Heavens Association approaches him with bait, he might wee it and join them without suspecting anything.
Thanks to the Sword Demon, the Dark Heavens Association had given up on the Divine Physician during Zhou Xuchuan''s previous lifetime.
However, things were different now. They had never met the Sword Demon, so the Divine Physician remained a desirable talent even among those worthy of being persuaded.
His medical skills, bordering on godhood, were incredible, but the most tempting part was the fact that he could be convinced to join them as long as they put some effort into it.
I have to keep him.
Zhou Xuchuan had already thought about this even before epting the Benevolence Clinic''s request. The Divine Physician would be a great help in the fight against the Dark Heavens Association.
Not only were his medical skills necessary, but if the Benevolence Clinic centered around the Divine Physician were to follow suit, there would be no need for them to worry about injuries.
Most importantly, he was worried that the Divine Physician would get persuaded to join the Dark Heavens Association due to the elixirs and neidans registered within the Archive.
"Understood. I will ept your request, then."
"This is why I like young people," said the Divine Physician, patting Zhou Xuchuan on the shoulder with a satisfied smile." The conversation progresses so smoothly and in such a refreshing way. Hehehe."
"Can I ask you a few things?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.
"Please feel free to ask."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
With that, Zhou Xuchuan asked the Divine Physician about the Head Archivist and the Dark Heavens Association as a whole.
He hadn''t asked until now because they had been so busy preparing to leave, and there was also the possibility of the Divine Physician having a weakened mind and body.
He had been kidnapped, after all.
However, this conversation told Zhou Xuchuan that he no longer had to worry about that. In fact, the Divine Physician''s expression remained indifferent as he exined what had happened to him.
Hmm, as expected. He had expected it to some degree, so it wasn''t that surprising, but he didn''tpletely believe the Divine Physician. He couldn''t ignore the possibility that the Dark Heavens Association had already recruited him.
He''s really exhausting to deal with.
Someone with a personality like the Divine Physician was incredibly hard to handle, as it was difficult to deduce their intentions and thoughts.
While he couldn''t fully believe in the Divine Physician, Zhou Xuchuan had to make an ally out of the former. He just had to be careful, just in case. Zhou Xuchuan nned to attach a Phantom to the Divine Physician upon their return.
Zhou Xuchuan wanted to pick up the pace, but the search party was exhausted.
They wouldn''t be able to keep up if he were to pick up the pace.
They had been marching for quite some time now, as they were worried about the Divine Physician''s life, so it was natural for them to be exhausted.
Since everything was over now, they took their sweet time resting.
Zhou Xuchuan wasn''t as exhausted as the other search party members, so he used their rest time to be even stronger.
"Little Ghost. Come here and show me your back."
"Understood."
Little Ghost appeared and sat down in front of him.
"Don''t move; try to hold your breath for as long as possible."
Stillness and holding one''s breath were an assassin''s specialties. They weren''t particrly difficult to do for a powerful Phantom.
Piercing Mark Sorcery Art.
This was the true nature of the sorcery passed down from generation to generation in the Cannibal Tribe. The chieftain had passed it on to the High Priest, a monster that once terrorized the Southern Jungles.
Piercing Mark was the practice of purposely inflicting wounds using a needle and then pouring ink or other paint into the wound to carve patterns or letters on one''s skin. It was typically used to threaten or mark enemies or disy the rank of a tribesman.
However, the Cannibal Tribe was using it in a different way. Depending on the engraved patterns or letters, the mark could manifest iprehensible powers that were beyondmon sense.
I''ve practiced it enough. It wasn''t that easy to erase a carved pattern or a letter onto one''s flesh. It was painful and time-consuming; thus, Zhou Xuchuan had been practicing it from time to time since he obtained the art.
Fortunately, his swordsmanship had allowed him to learn the art quicker than expected, even though he had never practiced the art until he had obtained the manual.
There''s no one around He had already told the others that he''d be cultivating Mount Hua''s cultivation methods, so there was no need for them to worry abouting over.
Just in case, he had asked Duan Hecheng to act as his Dharma Protector, something that the Seventh Young Master had readily epted, saying that it was safe to leave that much to him.
"Wheeew." Zhou Xuchuan exhaled and inhaled. He took a moment to prepare himself. Then, he dipped the needle into the ink and pierced Little Ghost''s back with it.
He carved the geometric patterns in his mind onto her skin. It was a task that tolerated not even a single mistake, so he focused on carving the patterns without even breathing.
He held his breathing using the breathing method of the Divine Phantom Art, allowing him to cease all movements.
However, the fact that he could not make any mistakes was like a boulder weighing on his shoulder. Fortunately, just as hisposure was about to fall apart from all that weight on his shoulder, his Daoist mental techniques woulde true, allowing him to stabilize himself.
Zhou Xuchuanpleted his meditative arts by harmonizing the mental sutras of the Ten Thousand Convergence Art and the Hundred Divine Transformations, bncing all of the martial arts he had practiced so far.
He had been practicing the process whenever he had free time, but he still found it incredibly difficult. After all, this was a sorcery art that had been passed down for tens or even hundreds of years.
His knowledge and wisdom in various fields, and the fact that this was his second lifetime was helping him immensely, allowing him to achieve an exquisite bnce.
"Ha!" Zhou Xuchuan exhaled. The work he had put his heart and soul into was over. It took about an hour and a half, but he could finally let out the breath that he had been holding thus far. His forehead was covered with beaded sweat.
Little Ghost''s back and skin were densely covered with light green patterns and letters from a forgottennguage.
The sight could easily instill fear in someone, but it was an eerily beautiful image.
"Now, time for the next one."
This wasn''t the end. He had merely carved the outline.
Zhou Xuchuan took out the skull he had prepared beforehand.
"Little Ghost, just endure it for a little longer. You''re doing great."
Zhou Xuchuan wascerating Little Ghost''s skin, so it was bound to be painful.
However, Little Ghost endured it without a single groan.
Little Ghost was "mindless," but Zhou Xuchuan still apologized out of regret as he proceeded with the next step. Soon, ancient runes flowed out of his mouth. Following his incantation, a dark light flowed out of the skull''s eye sockets.
Zhou Xuchuan was not exactly familiar with the runes. Although he had read many books regarding it when he was still an elder of Mount Hua, he ultimately gave up on them, as they weren''t rted to martial arts and were difficult to understand.
The High Priest''s sorcery manual was based on those runes. Fortunately, each sessive priest had tranted the manual to fit their era, adding even annotations for their sessors.
There were three prerequisites for the Piercing Mark Sorcery Arturate pronunciation, the perfected spell that had been passed down through generations, and vitality.
The wrong pronunciation meant that it wouldn''t activate, so the sessive High Priests had kindly written down the proper pronunciation for Zhou Xuchuan''s sake.
Shing!
The light flowing out of the skull grew stronger as Zhou Xuchuan chanted the spell. It was the same ominous, dark green light from back then.
How cruel is it to use the heads of your deceased ancestors as a tool for sorcery? How vicious. The High Priests had mystical powers, but they weren''t immortal. Not even they could escape the passage of time and death.
Despite dying, they still couldn''t rest in peace, as their end was not going to be ordinary.
The sessor would eat the heart of the predecessor and sever the head, including the brain. Then, they would use it as the crown of their staff, transforming it into a tool for their sorcery.
It was so cruel that perhaps even the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages would be taken aback by it. They were essentially cutting off the head of their father and master to use it as a tool, after all.
This may be punishment from the heavens, but people like you don''t even deserve to rest soundly. Swallowing his disgust for the High Priest, Zhou Xuchuan chanted the final part of the spell.
Crack!
Cracks formed in the final outline; the High Priest''s skull could not hold on and shattered into pieces. The fragments were carried away by the warm breeze, disappearing into the forest.
"Whew! It''s finally over W-what?!" Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened. S-She''s gotten bigger!
Little Ghost got bigger. No, she grew bigger.
When he looked up to check on her after finishing it safely, he found a mysterious woman with patterns all over her sitting in front of him. Her skin was still reminiscent of pure white snow, but her short ck hair had grown to her waist.
The baby fat that was supposed to be on her face was nowhere to be found, and her smooth jawline was finally visible. A cloth still covered her eyes, but Zhou Xuchuan''s attention was not on that.
What really stood out wasn''t her face but her lean body that was almost visible through the thin clothing. Her chest hadn''t grown much, but her smooth, straight abs and her frame without an ounce of fat resembled a sculpture.
Before Zhou Xuchuan could recover from his astonishment, the ominous ck light flowing from the patterns dimmed before disappearing in an instant. He had used an invisible ink to hide the patterns, and fortunately, it was working.
However, the situation that had unfolded before his eyes was so shocking that he couldn''t pay any attention to the tattoo.
How did this happen? Why had her appearance changed like this? It was like she had grown to her original age.
Ah! Zhou Xuchuan was reminded of something just then.
"Little Ghost. Can you control that power?" he asked.
Little Ghost nodded in response.
Upon activation, the Piercing Mark Sorcery Art would continuously consume qi or vitality to amplify one''s physical abilities. To prevent unnecessary consumption, he modified it so that users could deactivate it themselves.
"Deactivate it."
Ssseuuu
The ominous aura invisible to the naked eye vanished into thin air, and Little Ghost shrank as soon as it disappeared.
"I knew it!" Zhou Xuchuan eximed, pping his knee.
The Piercing Mark Sorcery Art would amplify one''s physical abilities. In other words, it would temporarily transform one''s muscles and bones as needed, depending on the required level of amplification.
Little Ghost had yet to mature physically, so people like her would experience an abrupt growth spurt upon activation of the spell.
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
It''s me, Cyncoco!
Now, I could have tranted the title and the technique as Tattoo Sorcery Art (actually, I did before I went back and changed it) But.
The reason I didn''t is that, technically, the word here () is not only a subset of tattoo but specifically the more ritualistic scarification tattoo technique used in shamanism and ritual muism.
So, you''ll see it referred to as a tattoo in some parts when it''s written as tattoo and piercing mark in other ces when it''s specified.
Chapter 203: The Central Plains Murim (1)
Chapter 203: The Central ins Murim (1)
The Piercing Mark was drawn sessfully. Little Ghost would still have to fight to determine whether it was effective or not, but it appeared that the sorcery was sessfully drawn.
Most experts can''t really deal with Little Ghost.
Little Ghost''s childlike appearance was a massive advantage, as it made her enemies let down their guard, allowing her to dispatch them by surprise.
Even among the Phantoms, Little Ghost''s strength was incredible. No, she could actually be the strongest of them all. Although she was still young, she had already achieved many things.
It was all thanks to the training that she had done with Zhou Xuchuan during their time together. The most noticeable change was the increase in her qi absorption rate and cultivation.
Reading her pulse, Zhou Xuchuan could tell that her qi reserves had reached an incredible level.
I was thinking of finding a new elixir for her, but I guess that''s no longer necessary.
The vitality and sorcery energy that was converted to qi was more than he had expected. At this rate, she could rise up a tier.
Her qi reserves hadn''t increased to an absurd point that it could be considered practically infinite, but it could bepared to the younger generation talents of the major sects, specifically those who had consumed an elixir."If you feel anything unusual, tell me right away."
"Understood."
Zhou Xuchuan ordered Little Ghost to hide nearby. After a rough cleaning of the scattered ink, he returned to the group.
Not long after he started walking away, he ran into Duan Hecheng, who was standing nearby as his Dharma Protector.
"Great Hero Zhou!"
"Is something wrong?"
Duan Hecheng''s expression wasn''t great. He seemed anxious for some reason, making Zhou Xuchuan wonder whether there had been an enemy attack.
"I should be asking that question. I was so surprised when I sensed something ominous from where you were, Great Hero Zhou," Duan Hecheng remarked.
He was worried, and he wanted to check up on Zhou Xuchuan, but he couldn''t do it, as he had been asked to stop anyone from approaching. Thus, he had no choice but to wait, stomping in anxiety.
"Ah" Zhou Xuchuan scratched the back of his head andughed awkwardly.
Duan Hecheng was talking about the evil qi within the skull. It had to have leaked out. Well, it would have been stranger if Duan Hecheng hadn''t noticed it, as a decent amount had leaked.
"Did those sorcerers show up again?" Duan Hecheng asked, looking around with wary eyes.
"That''s not the case, so don''t worry," Zhou Xuchuan replied. Then, he racked his brain in an effort to solve the misunderstanding. "I''m still suffering from the aftereffects of that battle, so I was treating myself. The evil qi within me must have leaked out in the middle of treatment."
It was a usible lie, even though he hade up with it on the fly.
Duan Hecheng nodded in agreement. "Well, it''s not strange to be injured after shing head-on with that monster. Are you okay now?"
"I''m done treating myself."
"What a relief. Everyone must be worried, so we should go down now."
It seemed that everyone else had noticed the evil qi as well. When they went down to where the others were located, Zhou Xuchuan found that they all looked rmed.
"My apologies for making everyone worried. I had to take some time to treat the aftereffects of that sorcery."
"Aftereffects?" Tang Hui asked, her beautiful forehead knitted in a frown. She looked a bit displeased. "How long has it been since that battle? What do you mean by ''aftereffects''?
"You''re not stupid enough to think that dealing with something like that hasn''t been worth it until now, are you? I know your fleshly body is strong, but if you really thought that way, then you must be dumbtoo dumb to describe."
Tang Hui then walked over and held out her hand.
"...?" Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head.
"You know the saying that there should be a limit to one''s stupidity, right?"
Tang Hui let out a deep sigh and grabbed Zhou Xuchuan''s wrist. He then read his pulse with her index and middle fingers.
I''ve noticed it long ago, but even though you have an absolutely shit personality, you''re still incredibly beautiful. You really are incredibly beautiful now that I''m looking at you up close.
Thump, thump, thump.
Since she was reading Zhou Xuchuan''s pulse, thetter managed to get a closer look at the beauty of the Poison Phoenix for the first time ever.
It was fortunate that he had developed an immunity to beauties, as he had grown up with the most beautiful woman in Mount Hua, Luo Xiaoyue. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to calm his heart down.
"Thank you for worrying about me, but I''m done treating myself," Zhou Xuchuan remarked. He could not help but feel guilty, as the so-called "aftereffects" were a lie.
"Great Hero Zhou is right," Duan Hecheng exined on Zhou Xuchuan''s behalf. "It is not umon for one to think that one haspletely rid oneself of poison only for the remnants of the same poison to re up and cause problemster."
"Hmm. I guess that makes sense."
They were worried that there were issues with their benefactor.
"Oh, if it''s okay with you, can you read his pulse and check up on him, Elder?"
"Fine with me," the Divine Physician responded, nodding.
"Everyone, it''s really not a big deal. Please do what you have to do," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.
The search party finally let down their guard and backed down.
"It''s not that big of a deal for this much fuss" Zhou Xuchuan muttered.
A small lie had unexpectedly grown like a snowball.
"It''s not a bad thing to be cautious of unexpected situations. Moreover, I have a few questions I want to ask as well," Tang Hui remarked.
"Oh, as expected. You must be worried that misunderstandings might pop up if we talk privately. You''ve done well, thinking it through."
"Shut up. I feel dumber hearing that from someone like you," Tang Hui retorted, gripping Zhou Xuchuan''s wrist tighter.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" asked Zhou Xuchuan.
"The secret force backing the major tribes; the first great divine art of the Mount Hua Sect" Tang Hui muttered.
"You got me there..." Zhou Xuchuan grimaced, and his expression betrayed hisposure.
"Of course, I got you. It was faint, but you''ve been spewing out a violet-colored aura," Tang Hui said. Then, she stared at Zhou Xuchuan with a bewildered gaze. The life-or-death battle between Zhou Xuchuan and the Head Archivist had been so terrifying that it made the onlookers shiver in fear.
Their battlea shparable to a fight between the strongest experts of the One Hundred Experts Under Heavenwas astonishing, but there was something more astonishing than itthe Violet Haze Divine Art.
Of course, only the strongest experts in the search party had noticed it, and they had all decided to stay quiet.
Duan Hecheng stayed silent, as he had no intentions of embarrassing his benefactor. However, he cast a curious gaze at Zhou Xuchuan as well.
"Good."
Zhou Xuchuan then told Tang Hui about how the Divine Physician had gone to the Southern Jungles upon hearing of the Head Archivist''s offer and how they ended up working together.
"Please be lenient on me regarding the divine art," Zhou Xuchuan said, smiling bitterly.
He couldn''t talk about the Violet Haze Divine Art even if he wanted to do so. He knew it would eventually be revealed, so he had prepared an excuse. Still, this wasn''t the time to reveal it. Moreover, his excuse could change depending on the situation, so he couldn''t say anything rashly.
He''s truly an unpredictable man.
Tang Hui rxed her grip on Zhou Xuchuan''s wrist and fell into deep contemtion upon hearing the whole story.
She thought of this from the moment they met, but Zhou Xuchuan was utterly different from any manno, from any person she had ever seen until now. More than anything, she had assumed that he was joking when he told her about the Dark Heavens Association.
As time passed, however, it turned out that he was telling the truth.
From then on, his actions became questionable.
The hero of the Righteous Faction, Plum Blossom Order Sword
The hero of the Evil Faction, Phantom Bow Swordsman
Wouldn''t the Central ins be turned upside down if the truth behind their identities was discovered? No, no one would actually believe it.
If she hadn''t known the truth before the Phantom Bow Swordsman''s rise in fame, Tang Hui wouldn''t have believed the truth herself.
The fact that the hero of the Righteous Faction and the Phantom Bow Swordsman were the same person was shocking enough, but the fact that he could use martial arts of different natures was just groundbreaking.
Tang Hui wasn''t exactly sure about what techniques he had in his arsenal. She knew that he was skilled in the swordsmanship of Mount Hua, but to think that he was skilled in archery and hidden weapons as well.
It was already hard to believe that one person could do all of that, but what if the said person was a young man? It was simply beyondmon sense.
With that in mind, Tang Hui became even warier of the Dark Heavens Association. After all, the strange man before him was wary of them.
The Tomb of the Ominous Demon incident alone was serious enough, but she could never have imagined that their influence had already reached all the way to the Southern Jungles.
The events in the Southern Jungles had urred in a neighboring country, so she didn''t really care about them. However, the Head Archivist''s strength and cultivation had put her on edge.
"Fine. You must have your reasons for saying something like that. Just don''t overdo it to the point where you''re left grappling with the aftereffects," Tang Hui said.
"Fine. You must have your reasons for saying something like that. Just don''t overdo it to the point where you''re left grappling with the aftereffects," Tang Hui said, raising her long and slender index finger and cing it on his forehead.
"Don''t misunderstand me. I''m not worried about you. I just think it''ll be embarrassing on your end if you use that as an excuse when you lose to me in our rematchter," Tang Hui added, frowning as if Zhou Xuchuan were annoying.
***
Hefei, the Murim Alliance.
"We''re finally back!"
The search party cheered upon arriving at the Murim Alliance.
It was spring when they had left the Central ins back in March. Time had flown by, and it was already early summer.
It was quite hot in Hefei, but the search party had experienced the murderous heat of the Southern Jungles, so they found the weather to be pretty cool rather than hot.
It was like a paradisepared to the Great Forest of the Southern Jungles; the Southern Jungles'' heat and humidity seemed omnipresent, and to make matters worse, there weren''t any winds to blow away the mustiness.
Had it really taken three months?
They had arrived in the Southern Jungles around mid-March; it had been two and a half months since their battle against the major tribes. They had also spent quite some time finishing their part in the Southern Jungles'' power struggle and the clean-up.
In addition, they had taken breaks here and there during their return journey. The search party had worked diligently, meaning that Zhou Xuchuan couldn''tin about their rxed attitude on their return journey.
There was nothing urgent waiting for them, so everyone assumed a leisurely attitude on their way back home.
"Wee. Thank you for your hard work." Strategist Zhuge Xiang was the first one to greet them as soon as the main gates were opened.
"Master!" an anxious-looking middle-aged man standing behind Zhuge Xiang shouted upon spotting the Divine Physician. His shout ended up interrupting Zhuge Xiang''s words.
"Huh? What brings you here?" The Divine Physician''s eyes widened upon seeing the middle-aged man. Then, he eximed, "What about the clinic?!"
"You went missing, Master. How is the clinic the problem here?!" Li Gen eximed, pounding his chest in frustration. He was the Head of the Benevolence Clinic and a famous doctor as well. He seemed to have suffered incredibly, as half of his hair had turned gray, making him look ten years older than his age.
"Please, please, think about us! Do you know how I felt upon losing contact with you?!" Li Gen roared.
After being entrusted with the clinic, even though the Alliance Leader had told him not to worry and leave it to the Divine Physician, he still couldn''t help but worry.
He was worried about the Divine Physician''s life, but what really made him feel like he was going crazy were the gazes of those around him.
He really felt like going crazy when the Divine Physician''s creditors visited and stared at him with narrowed eyes. Some of them even openly said, "I''m not going to let you slide if you decide to pull some nonsense."
Their statements made him feel like crying.
As the Divine Physician''s absence got longer and longer, the more suspicious the people became of him. Li Gen''s worries intensified as time went on as well. In fact, when he heard that the search party couldn''t make contact with the Divine Physician, he truly wanted to die.
Sleeping soundly had be a thing of the past since the disappearance of the Divine Physician. Whenever he closed his eyes, he''d see the suspicious gazes of the gossipers around him.
He was so nervous that he could not conduct his duties as a physician; in fact, he hadn''t been able to sleep and eat properly. He lived each day like an ox waiting to be dragged to the ughterhouse.
A few weeks ago, the news he had been waiting for had finally arrived.N?v(el)B\\jnn
Li Gen looked at the Divine Physician with a resentful gaze, and then he smiled brightly at Zhou Xuchuan, who was standing next to the Divine Physician.
"Oh my, Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan!" Li Gen eximed, walking over to Zhou Xuchuan, who now looked like a sonno, a grandson in his eyes. He almost knelt down as he grabbed thetter''s hand.
"As expected, you are indeed the Hero of the Righteous Faction! You saved someoneno, you saved the entire Benevolence Clinic! Thank you so much! Ofufu!"
Is he suffering because he picked the wrong teacher? Zhou Xuchuan thought. He truly found Li Gen to be quite pitiful.
Chapter 204: The Central Plains Murim (2)
As Li Gen looked as though he would continue expressing his gratitude endlessly if left unchecked, Zhou Xuchuan stopped him preemptively. Zhuge Xiang then guided Zhou forward.
"You''ve worked so hard to carry out your mission. However, since the Alliance Leader is waiting, I''m sorry to trouble you, but I''ll have to ask the representatives to make the report before you rest."
"It''s fine. It''s something I should do anyway."
They hadn''t hurried back in the first ce, taking appropriate breaks whenever they stopped by a vige along the way.
While they were somewhat tired from their long journey, traveling at a rxed pace meant they weren''t so exhausted that they couldn''t give their report.
The search party arrived as the sun began to set, marking the end of the day, ready to deliver their report.
Zhou Xuchuan, Tang Hui, Tang Lian, and Duan Hecheng went to the Alliance Leader''s office alone.
"Wee."
As they opened the door and entered, the Alliance Leader, Nangong Weiwu, sat at the desk and greeted them as if he had been waiting for them."We greet the Alliance Leader."
"You must be tired aftering all the way from the Southern Jungles. You didn''t need to see me right away. It''s fine for you to rest first."
Nangong Weiwu smiled kindly.
Then, the Empyrean Overlord''s gaze turned to Zhou Xuchuan.
"We should be holding a grand banquet to thank you for your hard work. Please forgive us for not being able to do so."
"It''s okay. After all, wasn''t it a confidential mission?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
The Benevolence Clinic had been afraid of the Divine Physician''s disappearance bing known. That was why they had deliberately marked the request as top secret.
The only people aware of the mission were those directly involved, along with the leaders of the Mount Hua Sect, Diancang Sect, and Tang Family, as well as the Alliance Leader and the Strategists.
Even the elders of the Martial Alliance were mostly unaware of the mission.
Now that the Divine Physician had returned safely, the others would be informed in due time. However, for now, they couldn''t hold a public banquet to celebrate.
"Thank you for your understanding. Then, could I ask you to begin your report?"
"Of course."
Zhou Xuchuan reported what happened in the Southern Jungles.
To avoid boring them, he omitted the unnecessary details and kept his report brief.
"Oh ho, to think something like that could happen."
When Zhou Xuchuan finished recounting the events, Nangong Weiwu let out an exmation of disbelief.
"The power behind the major tribes you''re saying it''s the Dark Heavens Association?"
The most important part was the Dark Heavens Association.
It''s about time they were revealed.
The dark force that was trying to control the murim in secret.
The name of that force had finallye out of the Alliance Leader''s mouth.
With the Dark Heavens Association''s intelligencework, they''re definitely going to discover how the Head Archivist lost his life in the Southern Jungles. Then, it''s only a matter of time before my involvement is revealed.
While the Divine Physician was missing, everything about the mission had been kept confidential. However, now that everything was resolved, things were different. The leaders of the Benevolence Clinic had kept the matter a secret because they had been worried about their own lives, but now, they would be able to talk about it without any worries.
Now, in order to clear up the misunderstandings of those who had been worried about the Divine Physician''s actions and had suspected his disciples, the Benevolence Clinic would have to reveal the details. There was no way around it.
Since he was going to be targeted by the Dark Heavens Association sooner orter, he decided to force them into the open gradually and raise the rm within each faction.
It would be essential to borrow the power of the Martial Alliance in the future war, so there would be no harm in telling them now.
However, he didn''t tell them everything he knew.
No matter his status as the hero of the Righteous Faction, even a hero would be suspected if they knew too much. He had to keep enough hidden so as not to be suspicious.
As if he had mastered the Dao of Mixing Lies and Truth, the story that he had made up in advance came out as smoothly as butter.
He had identally discovered the Dark Heavens Association in the past during his cultivation journey. At first, he hadn''t thought much of them and just forgot about it. However, he soon realized that they had been involved in many incidents across the murim and that their scale and power weren''t ordinary. Zhou Xuchuan emphasized that the Stockade Boss of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest had also been a member.
Even without Zhou Xuchuan''s testimony, the strange actions of the former Stockade Boss, Meng Gang, had already raised suspicions.
The story of a master of that level suddenly appearing out of nowhere and taking over the entire Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest had always seemed odd to the leaders. This detail lent further credibility to Zhou Xuchuan''s ims about the Dark Heavens Association''s existence.
"To be honest, it''s difficult to take what you''re saying at face value."
"That''s understandable."
It was natural that anyone would be shocked to hear that a dark force controlled the murim from the shadows.
In truth, it was surprising that they hadn''tughed him off but instead listened seriously.
This is why having a reputation is important.
The reason he hadn''t talked about the Dark Heavens Association when he was younger wasn''t only because hecked power but also because he had assumed that no one would believe him. To tell someone this story and convince them, one needed the power and prestige to back it up.
Fortunately, the fame of being the Plum Blossom Order Sword and the Hero of the Righteous Faction was enough to convince the Alliance Leader to listen.
"You should be able to hear the detailed story regarding that man if you ask the Divine Physician."
"Understood."
Nangong Weiwu''s face hardened.
If the story regarding the Dark Heavens Association was true, this wasn''t an issue that could be easily overlooked. It was a matter of great importance that affected the safety of the entire murim.
Once the Divine Physician gave his testimony, things would be far moreplicated.
Now, this is just the beginning, Dark Heavens Association.
Zhou Xuchuan licked his lips.
Two of the Seven Stars of the Dark Heavens Association were dead, and the Head Archivist of the Archive had also lost his life.
Their existence has also been exposed.
The Dark Heavens Association would undoubtedly target him in the future, but Zhou Xuchuan was confident in his ability to face them. He found it fun to imagine what kind of expression Blessed Existence would make.
****
The Alliance Meeting began.
There were two items on the agenda. As expected, the first concerned the Benevolence Clinic''s request.
While the elders were somewhat dissatisfied about being kept in the dark, they ultimately understood why it had been necessary and chose not to press the issue.
However, the next item on the agenda was the real problem.
"I just can''t believe it," Stick-Holding Beggar Huang Gou said with a frown.
It was hard to believe that there was a secret force that even the Beggar Gang, one of the two major intelligence forces in the murim, didn''t know about.
"Are you suspicious of the intelligence?"
"Namu Amitabha. Isn''t the source the Plum Blossom Order Sword?" Hui Lu, an elder dispatched from the Shaolin Temple and someone of the Hui Generation, the same generation as the Abbot, said as he rolled the prayer beads around his wrist.
Zhou Xuchuan may have been the one who had destroyed theirst chance to resolve their grudge, but at the same time, he was also the benefactor who had brought the Prajna Divine Art back to them.
Even within the temple, there were various opinions about him. However, in Hui Lu''s case, he considered Zhou Xuchuan to be the temple''s benefactor.
"Hmph. I also understand that he''s a trustworthy person. However, if the information is even slightly inurate, or if he misunderstood something, investigating it will waste manpower and time."
After all, as someone responsible for handling intelligence, suspicion came naturally to him.
"You''re not wrong."
Their Strategist, Zhuge Zhonghao, nodded.
The matter was far too serious to act on based on a single person''s words.
The story itself sounded like something out of a children''s tale or the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, so there was naturally a lot of debate.
"Isn''t he just a child whose achievements have been exaggerated because he was lucky? It''s just like Elder Huang says."
The elder of the Hebei Peng Family, Peng Junping, agreed with Huang Jian''s words.
"Huh? What''s with you all of a sudden?"
Huang Jian looked at Peng Junping curiously. Since they usually bickered, they generally always expressed opposing opinions.
"No, is it that you''re finally using your brain? Kekeke."
"Shut it, beggar. If you keep insulting me, I''ll cut your head off with my sword and throw it away," Peng Junping growled softly at Huang Jian''sughter.
"Now, now, elders, please calm down."
Zhuge Xiang tried to stop him with a bitter smile.
"What Elder Huang said makes sense. However, the information regarding the Dark Heavens Association didn''te just from the Plum Blossom Order Sword."
"Who else testified regarding them?"
"The Poison Phoenix and Elder Tang Lian of the Tang family. Moreover, the Seventh Young Masters of Diancang, Duan Hecheng, and the Divine Physician."
"Hmm"
The names of those who also testified were more powerful than expected. The Poison Phoenix, the daughter of the Tang Family Head and a younger generation talent herself, not to mention an elder of the Tang Family, the Seventh Young Master of Diancang, and the Divine Physician, too.
The most concerning one was the Divine Physician. The Benevolence Clinic was a force that could rival the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families.
While his medical arts were one thing, what they couldn''t ignore was the debt they owed to the Divine Physician. Since they were all martial artists, it was impossible for them to cut ties with the Benevolence Clinic. There had been several instances where they had received help with neidans and elixirs.
The world of the murim was a ce where every rtionship involved some form of connection, whether it was gratitude or resentment. Since these connections were so important, they couldn''t ignore something like this.
"I think we need to discuss this matter a little more."
"I agree."
As a result, the meeting dragged on even longer.
Meanwhile, while the Martial Alliance was busy for several days, the search party took the opportunity to rest and recover from their ordeal.
Thanks to the many conveniences provided by the Alliance Leader and the Deputy Strategist, they were treated to a life of luxury, one befitting royalty.
They were served all kinds of rare delicacies and had maids to take care of their every need. That was how important the Divine Physician''s rescue mission had been.
"Hello. We''re from the Anhui Merchants"
"You can refer to us as a fellow Righteous Faction Sect active near Hefei, the"
Although information regarding them were masked for the sake of their peace and quiet, eyes were still immediately drawn to the search party the moment they stepped beyond the Alliance Headquarters'' gates.
It was understandable since they were elites who had personallypleted a confidential mission assigned to them by the Benevolence Clinic and the Alliance Leader. It was no wonder that they attracted people''s attention.
Most of the people who approached them not only brought gifts to build connections but also desperately tried to show their faces, even if it was just once.
Now that I see them, they''re from the Diancang Sect and the Sichuan Tang Family, right?
The Nine Sects and One Gang, and the Five Great Ancient Families their backgrounds are already obviously incredible,bined with their outstanding abilities
Even if I can only get the slightest bit of their attention, it''s worth it.
Wasn''t this why the Martial Alliance was founded?
The center of the Righteous Faction, the Martial Alliance.
Since it was where all of the famous Righteous Faction Members were gathered, it was also referred to as the Market of the Brilliant.
People gathered, looking for opportunities to meet each other while trying to pursue their own interests.
Among all the warriors present, the one everyone most wanted to meet was, of course, the Hero of the Righteous Faction, the Plum Blossom Order Sword.
"It doesn''t matter if I can''t see him. Please, at least give him this gift."
"Are you saying the Plum Blossom Order Sword is at the Martial Alliance?"
"What are you doing?! Let''s go quickly!"
He was the Great Hero, the Hero of the Righteous Faction. People did everything they could to catch a glimpse of him.
"Kya!!! The Great Hero!"
"I heard that Great Hero Zhou is incredibly handsome!"
"I want to try hugging his broad chest. Just look at those well-trained muscles. They must be strong, right?"[1]
"Father told me not to think abouting home until I meet the Great Hero. What should I do?"
Zhou Xuchuan was the most eligible bachelor in the Central ins.
Whether it was his cultivation or his background, no one could rival him. He may not have been the World''s Most Beautiful Man, but he was by no means unattractive.
His personality also went without saying. He was known as the Hero of the Righteous Faction and a Great Hero, after all. Most importantly, although he was a Daoist, since he didn''t hold a leadership position in the Mount Hua Sect, he could still get married.
No matter how small the force, as long as they could catch Zhou Xuchuan, their sect''s glory would be guaranteed.
However, no one was able to see the man of the hour.
"The Great Hero has entered secluded cultivation and cannot see anyone."
"As he''s a busy man, we haven''t even been able to see him for the past few days.
No one, regardless of their status, was able to meet with him.
While some of the higher-ranking people ranted, calling him arrogant, when they heard that the famed hero had said, ''I think I''m about to achieve enlightenment,'' and locked himself in an underground cultivation hall set up by the Martial Alliance, they had no choice but to turn back.
"..."
In a cultivation hall where not even a single ray of light could intrude, there was only a single door connected to the stairs, and not even the faintest sound of the wind could be heard.
On the rectangr marble floor, in the exact center of the hall, Zhou Xuchuan sat cross-legged.
In front of him was a burning red elixir, The Divine Pill of the Au Co.
1. Bruh. ?
Chapter 205: The Divine Pill of the Au Co Tribe (1)
From this point on, this is unknown territory.
The highest realm he had reached in both his current and past life was the Harmony Realm.
In his previous life, he had barely reached the Harmony Realm before his life was cut short, and in this one, he had used the guaranteed history to reach the Completion Stage.
Not even he knew what awaited him if he took the Divine Pill of the Au Co, which was said to grant immortality.
What lies beyond this point for me?
Thump, thump.
The thought of venturing into the unknown was exhrating.
Since ancient times, the goal of a cultivator was to ovee the wall before them and reach the next realm. His heart was already trembling.
Let''s calm down. I''ll get myself riled up for no reason.Yet, he understood that with his current mindset, achieving enlightenment would be impossible. At worst, he might fail to break through entirely.
The tribtion to break through the next realm was dangerous. If one wasn''t careful, one could easily fall into cultivation deviation. In particr, if one absorbed something that contained an incredible amount of qi, like the Divine Pill of the Au Co, there was a high risk of one''s qi reversing.
Zhou Xuchuan used the Violet Haze Divine Art to calm his excited mind, then grabbed the Divine Pill of the Au Co.
Known as the source of life, a Divine Pill of Extreme Yang.
From the start, it was crucial to have at least some understanding of an elixir''s nature before consuming it. This was especially true when consuming an elixir regarding an Extreme.
If he took the Divine Pill of Extreme Yang without any knowledge or preparation, the delicate bnce of yin and yang within his body would copse, leading to cultivation deviation.
The conversation he had with the Divine Physician before entering secluded cultivation came to mind.
"Based on the Divine Pill''sposition, it''s clear that it has an extreme yang nature. So, you should either use a qi cultivation method that specializes in handling yang qi to circte it through your meridians or take an opposing elixir of Extreme Yin together with it actually, this should be good enough, too."
The Divine Physician handed him a bottle the size of two fingers.
Pure Stctite Milk!
It was an elixir that could extend an ordinary person''s life and health with just a single drop. For martial artists, it provided the equivalent of a sexagenary cycle''s worth of cultivation.[1]
Records regarding such a precious elixir were so old and impossible to find that it was considered a legend. However, such a legendary elixir had been passed on to the Divine Physician by the Head Archivist.
"Is the Pure Stctite Milk an elixir of Extreme Yin?"
"No, it''s not. The Pure Stctite Milk holds the power of harmony, as it''s collected in a cave where the harmony of heaven and earth is preserved."
"That means"
"Even if you consume the Divine Pill of the Au Co, an elixir of Extreme Yang, the Pure Stctite Milk will help you absorb its power harmoniously without any problems."
It wasn''t called a legendary elixir for nothing.
"Oh, just in case you didn''t know, if you use the Pure Stctite Milk for its harmonizing properties, you won''t be able to gain its qi."
"That''s too bad."
Human greed knew no bounds. Despite his vast qi reserves, which defied logic, and even though he was nning on consuming the Divine Pill of the Au Co, Zhou Xuchuan still wanted more.
"Fifty taels of gold."
"Huh?"
A thousand coins equaled a single guan.[2] A single guan was equivalent to a tael of silver, which was equivalent to two shi of rice.[3]
It took ten taels of silver to make a single tael of gold.[4]
Considering the Divine Physician was asking for fifty taels, the value of money he was asking for was enormous.[/ref]Fifty taels of gold are worth roughly 1,000 shi of rice, or 60,000 KILOS. The average person in Korea eats roughly 60 kg of rice a year, or a single shi. In other words, fifty taels of gold is enough rice for 1,000 people in one year, or 1,000 years of rice for one person. In today''s currency, fifty taels of gold are worth roughly $170,000. That''s roughly 85,000 kilos of rice purchasing power in NYC.[/ref]
"Don''t look at me like that. Do you think this old man is running a charity? While the Divine Pill of the Au Co was originally supposed to go to that Dark Heavens Association or something, this Pure Stctite Milk was something I rightfully received from that man."
The Divine Physician held out his palm and smiled sinisterly.
"I heard that the Divine Physician isn''t someone who can be moved by money."
"Well, if I don''t say that, I''ll end up getting involved in all sorts of troublesome things; what else could I say? Moreover, medicine costs a lot more than you think. Please understand."
He wasn''t exaggerating. Medicine was already expensive, research and development of new medicines cost a lot of money.
In particr, an immense amount of money was constantly poured into manufacturing new medicines and finding treatments for incurable diseases.
There was a reason why the medical fees of the Benevolence Clinic were so expensive that ordinary people couldn''t even dream of going there.
"...here is a voucher from Gold Bank."
"Gold Bank is a trustworthy ce. Thank you."
Zhou Xuchuan had a way to find an elixir of Extreme Yin. However, since the process wouldn''t be easy, he had chosen the easy way.
It was uncertain whether he could properly bnce the two extremes in the first ce, so it was better for him to choose the Divine Physician''s guaranteed method, even if it cost him a little money.
Normally, he never had to use his own assets, let alone gold, since everything was usually paid for by the Martial Alliance. Still, to think everything he had could vanish in an instant.
With the offered product being Pure Stctite Milk, Zhou Xuchuan had no room to negotiate.
Especially if one drop offered close to a sexagenary cycle''s worth of cultivation, its value went without saying. At fifty taels, it was almost cheap.
You entric old man. Just wait if this turns out to be a mistake.
After pushing aside his ill feelings toward the Divine Physician, Zhou Xuchuan took the Divine Pill of the Au Co and ced it into his mouth.
Gulp.
He swallowed the pill before he could even taste it, immediately following it with a drop of the milky liquid. The bottle slipped from his hands as he began circting his qi.
Here ites!
As soon as the pill entered his stomach, his body reacted immediately.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Ugh!
His esophagus felt hot, as if something had burned it. The heat spread through his body in an instant, tearing through him like wildfire.
His stomach churned like moltenva, his heart pounded furiously, and cold sweat poured down his back like a waterfall.
The extreme yang qi (Oꖚ) started in his heart, prated his diaphragm, and went down to his small intestine, traveling down the primary channel of the Hand Shao Yin Heart Meridian (Ľ).
The Hand Shao Yin Heart Meridian originates in the heart and has two secondary branches. One runs from the heart, moving up past the neck to the eyes, while the other branches from the heart to the lungs through the Jiquan Acupoint (OȪѨ) under the armpit, along the underside of the arm, the wrist joint, the inside of the little finger, and ending under the fingernails.
From there, another meridian starts from the other side of the little finger, passing through the lower back of the hand, the ulna (߹) of the wrist, and through the radial groove and the lower back of the outer upper arm.
It then goes around the scap (ι), crosses over to the Dazhui Acupoint (Ѩ), and heads to the supravicr cavity (iϸC).
Here, it divides into two. One branch connects to the heart within the chest, passing through the diaphragm and returning to its origin, the small intestine. The other branch passes through the neck and cheeks, moving up to the corner of the eye before branching out.
The secondary branch continues forward without changing direction, traveling past the corner of the eye toward the ear, descending to the zygomatic arch, and ending at the corner of the eye again, connecting to the dder meridian.
This meridian is called the Hand Taeyang Small Intestine Meridian.
The Hand Shao Yin Heart Meridian and the Hand Taeyang Small Intestine Meridian belong to the Twelve Regr Meridians (ʮ) and correspond to Fire of the five elements of the body.
The extreme yang qi, searching for pathways, surged into the parts of his body most connected to yang qi, flowing vigorously through the two meridians.. In addition to the Twelve Regr Meridians, it passed over the galldder, small intestine, stomach,rge intestine, dder, and the san jiao[5].
In other words, the six bowels.
It burns!
As the extreme yang qi exceeded the limits of his body, it overwhelmed his meridians. His organs began to fail, screaming under the pressure. For the first time since he obtained the Extreme Temperature Immunity, Zhou Xuchuan felt a scorching heat rise from within, sending his body into unbearable agony.
His face turned red, and his eyes became bloodshot, then yellow. His esophagus felt like it was on fire, and the burning sensation below his navel was excruciating. His tongue cracked as if he was in a desert, and his lower jaw swelled horribly.
AGHHHHHH!
Medicine could be poison if taken incorrectly, and that was precisely what was happening now.
Zhou Xuchuan had taken the legendary elixir called the Divine Pill of the Au Co. But, the sheer amount of extreme yang qi led to strange, uncontroble phenomena throughout his body.
Since everything was happening so quickly, he had no time to address any of it, meaning that the fire ran wild and unchecked.
Get it together!
If he opened his mouth, even slightly, it would be the end. If he breathed incorrectly, his six organs would rupture, and his dantian would also be damaged.
Even though he had reached the Harmony Realm, he wasn''t free from the possibility of falling into cultivation deviation. On the contrary, the possible bacsh was even greater.
Come! Pure Stctite Milk!
If the human body could disy a color, Zhou Xuchuan''s body would definitely be dyed red.
Then, what pierced through the red mes and descended was a silvery line that seemed to form a harmony with yin and yang.
AGHHHHH!!!!!
The Divine Pill of the Au Co and Pure Stctite Milk.
He had swallowed not one but two elixirs that could cause bloodshed if they were revealed to the murim. So, the qi contained within the Divine Pill was truly immense.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
The Violet Haze Divine Art, Ten Thousand Convergence Art, Ten-Thousand Jin Sword, Eclipse Divine Archery Artthe cultivation methods that he used so freely until now were rendered useless.
Even when he attempted to temper the extreme yang qi with harmony qi, the force of the wave of qi was like a typhoon, leaving him powerless to withstand it.
Divine Physician! Just what the hell have you refined?!
Even the Pure Stctite Milk, which offered close to a sexagenary cycle''s worth of cultivation with a single drop, wasn''t an ordinary elixir. The effects it had whenbined with the Divine Pill of the Au Co were enormous.
Could they really be the descendants of the Au Co?
The Divine Pill carried such an immense amount of qi that even Harmony Realm Masters would never dare attempt to contain it. This wasn''t something just on the level of an elixir that offered sixty years of cultivation.
This was an elixir that had truly reached the realm of the divine through the Cinnabar Refinement Art.
It wasn''t for nothing that the Head Archivist of the Dark Heavens Association, who had categorized all the elixirs and resources of the murim, hade all the way to the Southern Jungles.
The Cinnabar Refinement Art of the Au Co tribe was beyond imagination, and itbined all kinds of rare materials and the techniques of the Divine Physician to achieve the Dao of Extremity.
It''s too much.
Zhou Xuchuan''s consciousness was fading away. He tried his best not to let go, but he was quickly losing the battle.
Is it even possible to endure this?
Ugh!
This wasn''t something a human could endure. The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced. It was even worse than Bodily Reformation.
The veins on his face bulged, and his face turned crimson as if it would explode at any moment.
But thanks to the harmonizing effects of the Pure Stctite Milk, his body barely managed not to explode. Little by little, he began to absorb the Divine Pill''s overwhelming energy.
Don''t make meugh!
Still, even though it worked slowly, this was way too slow. It was impossible for him to endure this sort of excruciating pain any longer.
Let alone an hour, a minuteno, even a second was too much.
A!
R!
G!
H!
Eventually, when his consciousness had faded to the point where he couldn''t tell if it was a dream or reality, a scream escaped his lips.
He couldn''t tell if the scream was trulying from his mouth or if it was all in his head. However, he let it all out.
Squelch!
As soon as he screamed, something exploded.
Huh?
His eyes opened. The darkness cleared, and light rushed in.
Before him were pieces of bone visible between stumps of torn flesh where his arms should have been.
A Qi of Extremity that a human body couldn''t contain.
In the end, his body was unable to endure it, and his arms exploded.
Is this the end?
Strangely, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t scream anymore. Nor did he feel shock at losing his arms, a death sentence for a swordsman.
He just thought, ''It''s all over,'' and gave up.
Is this really something a human can''t control?
It contained the essence of Au Co, the Incarnation of Fire and the Immortal Fairy.
This is a Divine Grade Elixir.
This isn''t something a human can possibly ovee.
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t even process his thoughts fully. The qi cultivation methods he tried to use somehow didn''t work either.
With his arms gone, he began to ept death.
Then, at that moment
"Don''t fucking mess with me! Ugh!"
Zhou Xuchuan screamed, letting out his frustration. It hurt. It hurt so much he had to scream.
Every time he spoke, he vomited blood.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"It hurts! It hurts!"
The fragments of shattered bones rose up from the ground. Starting from his shoulder des, the bones connected and found their ce once again.
Then, one by one, the flesh that had scattered like flower petals began regrowing over his reformed skeleton, slowly reconstructing his arms.
He couldn''t tell if this was reality or a dream.
His head spun so wildly that he couldn''t determine whether his arms had truly exploded and healed themselves or if none of it had happened at all.
Even though talking while absorbing an elixir and circting qi was dangerous, Zhou Xuchuan shouted in irritation.
Things have already gone this far, fine, I''ll go as far as you want!
1. Sixty years worth of qi. ?
2. Literally a string of a thousand coins. ?
3. Roughly 120 Kilos of rice (one shi is roughly 60 kg of rice). A tael of pure silver is worth roughly $40 in today''s currency, which gets you nowhere near that amount of rice. In NYC, that''s barely 20kg worth of rice. ?
4. Ten taels of silver are worth roughly $400, while a tael of gold is worth roughly $3,400 right now. ?
5. This is not an actual organ but more of a concept. Called the Triple Burner, it''s the hollow space within one''s torso that holds the other organs and is split into three sections that do different things. Think along the lines of the three dantians, upper-middle-lower. ?
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
Hey, it''s Cyncoco!
I hope you liked my quick (please don''t verify my uracy bc 1 metal prices change every day and 2 I did the math while sleep deprived) math.
Don''t you think it''s quite interesting how much more silver was valued and how much less gold was valued in ancient times?
For frames of reference.
A shi of rice is roughly 100 liters of volume of dry grain, or roughly sixty kg of rice. OR, roughly the weight of the average adult in Asia.
Now, fifty taels of gold is worth 1,000 shi of rice, or roughly 60,000 kg of rice. Or TEN ELEPHANTS OF RICE.
TEN ELEPHANTS
Ten
ELEPHANTS
How insane is that? That''s a hundred cubic meters of rice.
Insane.
But what''s even more insane is that Fifty taels of gold is worth more rice now than it did back then.
Ooof.
Also, there is a lot, a LOT of acupuncture knowledge here. I can''t verify its uracy, but I can say that I was faithful to what was written here, so if it''s wrong, no one me me ahaha.
Chapter 206: The Divine Pill of the Au Co Tribe (2)
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword, the Phantom Bow Swordsman" a voice called out.
It wasn''t a low voice, but it was unmistakably that of a man.
"How entertaining."
A chuckle filled the air. However, the man''s voice was as cold as ice.
He sat on a magnificent throne perched at the top of a hundred-step staircase. Only the tips of his feet were visible.
"..."
Beneath the Dark Heavens Association Leader, the four remaining leaders of the Seven Stars Divisiony still, not even breathing. In particr, the expression of the one-armed Blessed Existence was grim.
This can''t be happening.
Everything that had happened so far was like a nightmare itself.In just half a year.
In less than a year, two of their long-prepared master ns had been ruined.
The shock he was feeling right now had begun around this time a year ago. After the death of Vast Gate, there was the delivery of the Prajna Divine Art to the Shaolin Temple and Meng Gang''s death, which led to the copse of the Green Dragon Stockade, one after another.
Although he had definitely been angry at the time, Blessed Existence thought that he could make up for it if he handled the next master n properly.
The n needed not only an incredible amount of time but also immense effort and money. It was far too important to abandon.
As expected of someone with a meticulous personality, Blessed Existence managed the n without being arrogant, putting all his heart and soul into it while paying close attention to any and all possibilities.
Then came the day when the wind blew so fiercely it chilled to the bonethe day the Sin Against the Heavens n began.
That n had taken a lot of effort in many different ways. After all, he had to move half of the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao, the backbone of the Evil Dao, to aplish it.
It was a grand n for the future of the Dark Heavens Association, so significant that the Association Leader had gotten directly involved. Failure was not an option.
However, the n had been ruined by the appearance of an elder of the Xia Wu Sect, or rather, the variable called the Phantom Bow Swordsman, who ended up killing Twisted Melody.
Blessed Existence hadn''t expected Dan Libai''s rebellion to seed. He had simply wanted to weaken the Evil Valley''s power through a prolonged civil war.
In fact, he had used many hands to make this happen. He had manipted countless variables to the point that his hair was falling out.
And yet, after all that, something like this happened.
While he had expected the rebellion to fail, the result was so different from what he had wanted.
Instead of weakening the Evil Valley, the puppets of the Dark Heaven Association were suppressed without being able to exert much force.
In other words, the spies and moles that he had invested in for years disappeared overnight without being of any use.
Worst of all, he had lost Twisted Melody, one of the leaders of the Seven Stars Division.
When he had first heard this news, it had been so shocking that he had doubted his ears.
The great failure of the rebellion, the death of Twisted Melodyeverything that had happened made his blood pressure rise. It felt like a dream, to the point where he couldn''t tell what was real and what wasn''t. ??
However, it was real. None of it had been a dream. He wished it weren''t true, but in the end, his prayers were meaningless.
To make matters worse, the Evil Valley Master had only ended up slightly tired, not fatally wounded as nned. As expected from his meticulous nature, he persistently searched for the remaining spies in the Evil Valley and dealt with them.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
Blessed Existence had wanted to track down that bastard called the Phantom Bow Swordsman and tear him to pieces, but he had vanished without a trace after the rebellion ended.
The consequences of this failure to the Association didn''t need to be mentioned. He didn''t even want to see or hear it.
His attempts to recover were in vain. The Evil Valley Master wasn''t an easy opponent, and in the end, he lost more than half of his team.
His target for revenge had disappeared, and he wasn''t able to obtain anything he wanted.
Then, just days ago, the worst possible news arrived, and all of the leaders of the Dark Heavens Association had gathered in one ce.
The Head Archivist was killed?
If Blessed Existence was the brain of the Association and Warped Valor was the right arm, then the Head Archivist was the left arm.
He wasn''t just a left arm either. He was the head of the Archive, which wasparable to the seven organizations under the domain of the Seven Stars Division.
Since the establishment of the Association, the Archive''s role in collecting and managing elixirs and cultivation resources used to make money, persuade new allies, and consolidate power, had been extremely important.
That was the reason why it had been excluded from any of the major ns and was allowed to act independently.
As such, it had naturally had a strong leader, who was second only to Warped Valor in strength, the strongest after the Association Leader.
It was rumored that the Head Archivist''s qi reserves had surpassed Warped Valor''s. It was hard to believe that he was dead.
Zhou Xuchuan!
Blessed Existence gritted his teeth.
The Plum Blossom Order Sword.
That name appeared again.
Starting with the mess made of the Seven Swords War, which Blessed Existence had carefully nned, that brat had been interfering with everything. Just hearing his name again made his blood pressure rise.
These so-called heroes of the realm were taking turns stirring up the Dark Heavens Association. To make matters worse, the existence of the Association had been exposed.
"Please kill me!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Blessed Existence mmed his forehead against the floor with such force that blood sttered from his torn skin with every hit.
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword and Phantom Bow Swordsman. Those two can no longer be considered just thorns in our eye."
The Dark Heavens Association Leader was an arrogant person who thought that the murim yed in the palm of his hand. Not only was it incredible that those two figures had caught his eye, but to believe that he even recognized them as the Association''s enemies.
"Put their names on the same tier as the Ten Empyrean Overlords in the ughter Register, and kill them even if it means we have to make some sacrifices."
"We have received your order!"
The remaining four members of the Seven Stars Division disappeared.
"Hmph what a terrible mood," the Dark Heavens Association Leader muttered in displeasure.
The time and effort he had put in had been wasted. It would have been even stranger if he wasn''t feeling irritated.
More than anything, he was most displeased that the Association''s existence had been exposed ahead of schedule.
He had been looking forward to seeing how the Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and Demonic Path would react once he appeared tough at them after they exhausted each other in battle.
Zhou Xuchuan.
Tracking down the Phantom Bow Swordsman would take time.
So he decided to draw out the Righteous Faction hero first.
****
It wasmon for a master to enter secluded cultivation to absorb enlightenment on his own.
It wasn''t strange at all for a master to enter seclusion for a week, or even two, without emerging.
However, the Divine Physician, who wasn''t a martial artist, was dissatisfied.
"Could he have fallen into cultivation deviation and be left in critical condition?"
He was curious about his reaction after taking the Divine Pill of the Au Co.
He was so impatient that he moved to kick down the door and enter. However, Duan Hecheng and the others, who were acting as Zhou Xuchuan''s dharma protectors, stopped him.
"Don''t you realize you could cause a huge problem if you''re not careful, Divine Physician?"
In the case of normal qi cirction, any distractions were fine as long as one wasn''t physically bothered. However, it was different in the case of absorbing enlightenment.
If the environment in which one obtained enlightenment changed even the slightest, there was a chance that one could lose focus, even with the most gentle of noises.
While something like that wasn''t always bound to happen, even if it happened by chance, no one wouldin if the person who caused the loss of enlightenment was taken as one''s enemy from that point on.
Moreover, it wasn''t some Second ss or First ss martial artist, but a Harmony Realm Master who had entered secluded cultivation because he felt the beginnings of enlightenment fall upon him.
While the Divine Physician wasn''t a martial artist, he still worked around many of them. Hence, it wasn''t as if he was unaware of suchmon knowledge.
It was just that his curious and questioning nature as a doctor made him feel needlessly impatient.
"Tsk."
With a click of his tongue, he reluctantly stepped back. But his irritation was short-lived. That evening, as though the heavens answered his restlessness, the tightly shut door opened.
"Oh! Are you finally done?"
The Divine Physician greeted Zhou Xuchuan as if he had been waiting for a hundred years.
"It''s been a while." Zhou Xuchuan replied, his hair disheveled.
His clothes were tattered and worn, but despite his ragged appearance, his eyes were calm and clear, just like a tranquilke.
"You''ve done well, Great Hero Zhou."
Duan Hecheng also greeted Zhou Xuchuan, his face bright with relief.
"By any chance, have you been standing as my dharma protector all this time?" Zhou Xuchuan asked in surprise.
He remembered Duan Hecheng standing in front of the door when he locked himself in the cultivation hall to take the Divine Pill of the Au Co.
While he wasn''t sure how much time had passed, it seemed as though it had been quite a while. So, he couldn''t help but be surprised to see Duan Hechang standing in the same spot.
"We took turns standing as Dharma Protectors with the Tang Family, so don''t worry. Rather, looking at your eyes, it seems as though you really have achieved something"
"It''s not anything impressive" Zhou Xuchuan said, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"So you really did achieve something! Truly, congrattions!"
Duan Hecheng smiled happily as if he had been the one to reach enlightenment. It wasn''t just empty words but true sincerity.
He''s a good person.
A martial artist who was young enough to be his son had grown stronger once again.
An ordinary person would feel jealous of that, but Duan Hecheng congratted him sincerely without any falsehood.
"A happy event indeed, truly happy. But more importantly, you look terrible."
On the other hand, the Divine Physician congratted him politely, then grabbed his wrist and read his pulse with sparkling eyes.
"It could be a big deal if there''s something wrong with your body, so you should be looked at by a physician immediately. Wouldn''t you agree?"
This medicine-crazy old man.
Zhou Xuchuan stuck out his tongue as if he was fed up with the old man. Well, one would have to be this crazy to be a Divine Physician.
"How long has it been since I entered seclusion?"
"It''s been half a month. You''re interrupting me, so keep your mouth shut."
Zhou Xuchuan felt likeining but he held himself back.
Half a month?
Since it had been a closed-off space, he hadn''t been able to tell how much time had passed. While he had vaguely thought that a week had passed, it seemed as though more time had passed than he had thought.
The Divine Physician read his pulse with a serious expression, one that he had never made before, and finally opened his mouth to speak.
"While your qi reserves still don''t match your age, strangely, it hasn''t increased muchpared to before."
The Divine Physician tilted his head as if he found it strange.
The Pure Stctite Milk had been used for harmonization, so it wasn''t strange that he hadn''t obtained any cultivation from it. However, the Divine Pill of the Au Co was different. As the person who had refined it, the Divine Physician knew best how vast the yang qi contained within it truly was.
However, Zhou Xuchuan''s increase in cultivation after absorbing it was less than he had expected.
As the Divine Physician looked at him in confusion, Zhou Xuchuan nodded as though he had expected this oue. Then he turned to Duan Hecheng who was standing behind him.
"Great Hero Duan, I''m sorry, but could you step aside for a moment?"
"Understood. I''ll wait upstairs."
Duan Hecheng didn''t take offense at being asked to leave and went up the stairs to the ground floor.
When only the two of them remained in front of the underground cultivation hall''s entrance, Zhou Xuchuan drew the sword from his waist and shed his own arm.
Blood welled up from the wound, forming a crimson line as the Divine Physician silently observed.
Before even a second passed, the Divine Physician let out a cry.
"I see! So this is the true identity of immortality by fire!"
After wiping the blood away with a rag, the skin that the sword had torn returned to its original state.
"The singrity of the Extreme Yang. To think taking it to the extreme leveraged the source of one''s vitality to maximize one''s ability to recover!"
Au Co was an immortal fairy. However, the principle of her power was in the realm of the divine. It wasn''t a realm humans could ascend to.
Even so, her descendants had inherited her blood, and while they may not have been immortal, they recovered faster and aged slower than ordinary people. However, they weren''t satisfied with this.
In order to somehow be closer to their ancestor, the Immortal Au Co, they conducted various experiments and studied formting elixirs using her blood.
The result was the Divine Pill of the Au Co. By maximizing one''s vitality with the fire of the Incarnation of Fire, the extreme yang qi, one would gain regenerative powers close to immortality. In short, it was an eleration of one''s recovery ability.
Chapter 207: An Unknown Meaning (1)
Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to ovee that wall.
Zhou Xuchuan had wanted to reach the next level by harnessing the power of the Divine Pill of the Au Co. However, it wasnt as easy as he had thought.
Its not that his cultivation didnt show any progress. His Violet Haze Divine Art, which had remained at the same stage since he turned eighteen, finally advanced.
He went from the Eighth Stage to the Tenth in a single stride, which was great news.
The Violet Haze Divine Art only revealed its full potential at the Tenth Stage. Anything below that point was barely half as effective.
Up until he reached this stage, Zhou Xuchuan had just forcefully pushed the techniques by using his qi reserves. Now, he no longer needed to waste qi unnecessarily to achieve the same results. On top of that, the Violet Haze Sword Sutra would grow stronger as well.
But now, I can no longer hide it.
Just in case, he tried to form aura at the tip of his sword. Instead of the faint haze from before, this time it was a clear violet.
The characteristics of the Violet Haze Divine Art were unmistakable whenever he tried to condense his qi into aura. He had lost his ability to conceal it.Well, considering the Violet Haze Divine Art''s characteristics, I knew this day woulde eventually. Still, it''s a shame that I couldn''t surpass the Harmony Realm.
After all, wasn''t the next realm something that every martial artist dreamed of? He had wanted to reach the realm that he hadn''t been able to achieve in his previous life.
However, reaching that realm wasn''t as easy as he thought. No matter how he leveraged the power of the Divine Pill, he couldn''t break through the wall.
To truly reach the next realm, he had to climb the stairs of enlightenment and follow the proper steps.
It wasn''t called the Righteous Dao for no reason.[1]
Shortcuts werent tolerated.
It was possible for him to modify his body through things like Bodily Transformation or Extreme Temperature Immunity, but it was impossible for him to raise his realm through such shortcuts.
"It wasn''t passed down as the elixir of the Fire Immortal for nothing."
The Divine Physician examined Zhou Xuchuans body for a moment, smiled in satisfaction, and withdrew his hand from Zhous wrist.
Thank you for your cooperation, The Divine Physician said, turning away as he muttered medical terms, seemingly organizing his thoughts.
Until recently, he had been waiting eagerly for Zhou Xuchuan toe out, but now, he seemed to have lost all interest.
Divine Physician, I have a proposal.
Zhou Xuchuan quickly called the Divine Physician over before he could get lost in his thoughts.
Proposal?
The Divine Physician stopped muttering, turned around again, and stroked his beard, his eyes shining with curiosity.
"Yes. To be exact, it''s more of a request than a proposal. I have some elixirs that I haven''t been able to identify yet."
These elixirs were obtained from the Tomb of the Ominous Demon and from defeating the Dark Heavens Association. He had sent them all to the Gold Will Merchants for identification. However, some of them hadn''t been identified yet.
Sorry, but I dont have time for that.
I obtained some of them from the Dark Heavens Association.
Hmm, then, maybe I should take a look?
The Divine Physician immediately changed his stance.
They not only had ess to elixirs as powerful as Pure Stctite Milk but also knowledge of resources like the Divine Pill of the Au Co.
Since what Zhou Xuchuan was speaking of also came from that organization, the Divine Physician showed interest.
"That''s not all I have to offer. If you continue to help me, I''ll show you some precious elixirs and cultivation resources. Of course, you''ll be allowed to freely record the effects after I take them to help with your research."
"Hehehe. Not giving them to me but letting me look at them. Thank goodness my disciples aren''t around. If they had heard that, they probably would have gone crazy and said something along the lines of, You arrogant bastard! Who the hell do you think you''re talking to?!"
Who was the Divine Physician?
He was someone that not even the Martial Alliance Leader, the Greatest Under the Heavens, couldn''t treat lightly.
It was bold for Zhou Xuchuan to make an offer to someone who hadnt even bothered to thank him after being handed moneyespecially when the offer was simply to let him ''see it.''
If there was someone present who owed a debt to the Benevolence Clinic or the Divine Physician, they might have been angry and cursed him.
"I''ll ept your offer."
However, to the Divine Physician, such things were trivial matters.
The precious elixirs and neidans that he hadn''t yet seen were more important.
I hope they can catch the Divine Physician''s attention.
It was good that the Divine Physician readily epted. On the other hand, the fact that it was so easy to grab his attention if presented with something interesting made him uneasy, as it meant that the Dark Heavens Association would be able to do the same thing.
By taking advantage of his curiosity, he temporarily secured the cooperation of the Divine Physician and Benevolence Clinic behind him.
After receiving the Divine Physician''s promise, Zhou Xuchuan decided to change out of his ruined clothes and move toward his assigned quarters.
However, after stepping out of the cultivation hall, he had no choice but to stop.
"I greet the Alliance Leader."
The Martial Alliance Leader, Nangong Weiwu, stood waiting for him, his hands behind his back.
Zhou Xuchuan greeted him with a puzzled expression. He hadnt expected the Alliance Leader to be waiting for him.
What''s this sly old man nning?
The Martial Alliance Leader hade to see him in person, meaning that it must not be an ordinary matter. His fatigue disappeared, reced by tension.
"I haven''te to eat you or me you, so don''t be nervous. You can rx."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Nangong Weiwu smiled softly as if he were the grandfather from next door.
However, he wasn''t the grandfather next door. He was the Martial Alliance Leader and the Completion Sword of the Ten Empyrean Overlords. It was impossible for Zhou Xuchuan to rx.
"Would you like to take a walk?"
It was clear the Alliance Leader hade for a reason. Zhou nced around, curious if others were nearby, but saw no one.
"I''m sorry, but I just came out of a cultivation hall, so my attire isn''t very presentable"
"Don''t worry."
Snap.
When Nangong Weiwu snapped his fingers, a masked, ck-d man appeared out of nowhere.
The ck-d man handed Zhou Xuchuan a neatly folded uniform and vanished as if he had never been there.
The Iron Sword Shadow Corps!
There were many units within the Righteous Faction''s Martial Alliance. Among them, the strongest was the Iron Sword Shadow Corps.
However, information about its size and members was kept secret, and only the Martial Alliance Leader could give them orders.
The only known facts about them were that they could solve any impossible mission and that they were all, at the very least, Peak Realm experts.
Even after the end of the Era of War and Chaos, there wasn''t much information about them, meaning that Zhou Xuchuan didn''t know much about them, either.
I will gratefully ept this.
Recalling what he could about the Iron Sword Shadow Corps, he took the uniform and immediately changed.
He nced at the inner sleeve and saw a plum blossom embroidered on it.
It seemed as though the Alliance Leader had nned and prepared to meet him in advance. He wondered what he wanted to discuss.
"Let''s move somewhere else first. While I''ve gotten rid of the people around here, Im sure there are still plenty of eyes watching."
Zhou Xuchuan followed Nangong Weiwu to the bamboo forest, which was about half a mile away from the main headquarters of the Martial Alliance.
It was a hidden formation that he had been to before.
"Ha!"
The moment he stepped forward, an enemy attacked.
An image of Nangong Weiwu turning around and stabbing his neck with the tip of the sword appeared before Zhou Xuchuan. However, that was just an image, not reality.
Previously, the moment he had arrived at the hideout, Nangong Weiwu had attacked him to see how well he could react. Fortunately, that didn''t happen this time around.
"Oh ho," Nangong Weiwu eximed with excitement.
"Youve improved quite a bit since west met. I was nowhere near your level at your age"
Nangong Weiwu had tried to mix true hostility and bloodlust into his aura, but instead of retreating, Zhou Xuchuan had only ended up shrinking back slightly.
Its because I prepared myself mentally.
Zhou Xuchuan cursed inwardly as he recalled the previous incident.
The Dark Heavens Association.
The smile disappeared from Nangong Weiwus lips.
Zhou Xuchuans face also hardened.
Isnt there something you deliberately left out?
As expected of the Martial Alliance Leader.
Zhou Xuchuan pretended to be impressed.
He hadn''t reported everything about the Dark Heavens Association to the Martial Alliance.
There had been many circumstances that had made him hide certain things.
Some of them were things that he wouldn''t be able to exin without revealing his previous life, but others were due to other circumstances.
"Do you believe what I said about them?"
"Hmph. If we didnt, we wouldnt have called you here."
A hunched old man walked out from the bamboo forestthe Strategist of the Martial Alliance, Zhuge Zhonghao.
"If what you said is true, then that Dark Heavens Association must have nted a spy within the Alliance"
Zhuge Zhonghao frowned, the wrinkles on his face deepening.
"It looks like you know how to use your brain, considering you didn''t say everything in front of the others."
Zhou Xuchuan nodded with a smile of agreement.
"As expected of the Strategist. I knew you would notice."
He had originally nned to tell them everything as soon as he arrived at the Martial Alliance. However, he found it difficult because the Divine Physician was always by his side, asking him when he would take the Divine Pill.
At that time, several visitors also kept bothering him, and the Martial Alliance Leader and the Strategist seemed busy, making him decide to wait untilter.
Fortunately, Nangong Weiwu and Zhuge Zhonghao noticed as soon as he came out from the underground cultivation hall and made time for him.
Ill get straight to the point, Zhou said, his expression turning serious.
"One of the leaders of the Martial Alliance or the leaders of the Righteous Faction is secretly one of the heads of the Dark Heavens Association."
"Ha!
A groan left Nangong Weiwus mouth.
Avaricious Wolf.
The seven organizations of the Seven Stars Division each held a different responsibility.
The Blessed Existence Division was the brains, and the Vast Gate Division was the intelligence.
The Twisted Melody Division was bnce and treachery, while the Pure Faith Division was assassinations and surveince of traitors.
The Warped Valor Division was ''strength,'' consisting of only a small number of elites, and the Destructive Soldier Division was ''military.''
Most of the soldiers of the Seven Stars Division belonged to the Destructive Soldier Division.
Finally, the role of the Avaricious Wolf Division was the ''center.''
In short, his division was where the middle management and traitors were stationed.
Although the Avaricious Wolf Division hadn''t been revealed yet, it was home to people of high social status or those who could provide funds or connections.
"Are you saying that the leader you''re talking about might be within the Alliance?"
Not exactly. But there is a high chance that the leader is within our leadership."
After the Era of War and Chaos, while information about the Dark Heavens Association was made public, many things remained secret.
One of them was information about Avaricious Wolf himself.
Nothing had been revealed about Avaricious Wolf other than the fact that he was a member of the Righteous Faction. To be more precise, all other information about him had been deliberately covered up.
Due to the Era of War and Chaos, the murim was on the verge of destruction. In a situation like that, if it were revealed that one of the leaders of the Dark Heavens Association, the direct cause of the chaos, was one of the leaders of the Murim Alliance or the main Righteous Faction, the consequences would have been catastrophic.
At that time, the Righteous Faction had barely managed to secure peace. However, it had been struggling to recover after their power had been torn apart.
The situation had been so bad, and they had beencking in talent to such a degree that they had to appoint someone like me as an elder. In the midst of all this, the Righteous Faction couldn''t just sit by and watch one of their remaining forces get destroyed.
The Era of War and Chaos left deep andsting scars.
Their power was less than half of what it had been in their prime. Due to ack of funds, they had no choice but to leave their destroyed buildings and bases as they were.
In that state, if they were to allow their power to weaken further or lose another faction to retaliation over the traitor, the oue was obvious.
So, the Righteous Faction had only one choice. Only an extremely small number of people could know the information that could cause trouble in the future, hiding it from the rest.
The authority of an Elder of Mount Hua wasn''t enough to know the identity of Avaricious Wolf.
That was why there had been nearly no information avable about Avaricious Wolf, the center of the Dark Heavens Association.
Because of the secrecy, investigating him and his division required clearance and the help of high-ranking figures within the Murim Alliance.
Blessed Existence, Destructive Soldier, Warped Valor, Avaricious Wolf and the Dark Heavens Association Leader. There are five of you left. I''ll definitely find you.
1. Remember, the words for Dao and the word for Path are the same, just used differently based on context. So, here, it''s wordy to denote the Righteous Dao of the Righteous Path. ?
Chapter 208: An Unknown Meaning (2)
Zhou Xuchuan mulled over the names of the Dark Heavens Association leaders, solidifying his resolve.
"Whew"
Nangong Weiwu let out a heavy sigh. Zhuge Zhonghaos reaction was no different.
I''m really at a loss."
They wanted to catch the spy. However, if that spy was a high-ranking figure, it wouldn''t be as easy as it sounded.
If they attracted attention by being too forthright about their suspicions, the forces behind the suspect might be wary and start asking questions.
Most importantly, they had to be careful. If their movements were discovered, the spy would be on high alert and go into hiding.
It was quite a headache.
Is there anything else you want to say?"No well, I''m curious about how the meeting ended," Zhou Xuchuan replied.
Since the Martial Alliance meeting began, he had locked himself in the underground cultivation hall almost immediately. As a result, he hadnt heard what had been discussed and wanted to know the oue.
"It wasn''t something that could be concluded so easily."
Nangong Weiwu smiled bitterly.
Even though the testimonies of the Divine Physician, the Seventh Young Master of Diancang, the Poison Phoenix, and other experts had been gathered, the other elders were unlikely to ept them immediately.
The existence of a power that sat behind the scenes controlling the Central ins murim was hard to believe.
Moreover, the people they had to convince were those of the Righteous Faction, known for their overwhelming pride and fragile honor. Even when they were told the truth, they didnt want to believe it. epting something like this would take time.
Some of them scoffed outright, unwilling to listen. Others, however, secretly believed what the search party had to say and went on to conduct separate investigations out of fear that there might be spies within their ranks.
"I see." Zhou Xuchuan said, nodding with an indifferent expression.
It was something he had expected.
In his previous life, no one actually knew about the existence of the Dark Heavens Association until they fully emerged on arge scale. Even when some information leaked, most people dismissed them as wild rumors. Even during the war, there were still plenty of people who refused to believe the Dark Heavens Association existed until it was toote.
In the end, it was that arrogance and denial that led to their downfall. Only when they were on the brink of destruction did everyone finally ept the truth.
This was something that required time or a catalyst to change people''s minds, so there was no need to try to persuade them hastily. Since the highest authority within the Martial Alliance was already on his side, there was no need to worry.
"While I''d like to discuss future ns, seeing as we''re all on the same page, circumstances seem to make that difficult for us."
"What? Where are you going at such a critical time?" Zhuge Zhonghao asked, clearly dissatisfied.
"Don''t I have to report to the sect, too?" Zhou Xuchuan replied with a bitter smile.
"Hmph."
While Zhuge Zhonghao was still disappointed, he couldn''te up with a retort.
Although he had received the request through the Martial Alliance, the Benevolence Clinic had entrusted the task to the Mount Hua Sect. So, Zhou Xuchuan had to make a report in person.
If there were unavoidable circumstances, he might have been able to send a letter, but since that wasn''t the case, he had to go in person.
By the way, can I ask you one thing? Nangong Weiwu asked, his expression serious.
Of course.
"Before you go back to Mount Hua, I have a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
Would you like to meet my granddaughter?
Zhou Xuchuan was speechless.
He had been curious about what the old man, the Leader of the Martial Alliance, would ask, given his serious tone. But he hadnt expected something like this.
Zhuge Zhonghao, who was standing next to Nangong Weiwu, clicked his tongue in disbelief and cursed at his old friend.
"Pssh, tsk. Just look at how you act so shamelessly without any tact. Get it together, just get it together, you old man!"
Tsk.
Nangong Weiwu licked his lips sheepishly at Zhuge Zhonghaos ridicule.
"This little brat is having a good time with my granddaughter anyway, so don''t bother him unnecessarily."
Cough, cough!
Zhou Xuchuans eyes widened, and he started to cough.
Zhuge Zhonghao didnt seem to care about Zhou Xuchuans flustered reaction and continued speaking as he pleased.
"Your granddaughter has no room to interfere, no room at all. I heard that this brat helped Xiuluan study formations a while ago. Since they''re going to be married in the future, they''re already starting to get along well!"
Zhuge Zhonghaoughed heartily.
What? Is that true? Nangong Weiwu asked with wide eyes. His expression was like, How could you do this to me?
If theres nothing else, Ill take my leave now.
Zhou Xuchuan said, shaking his head as though at a loss.
"Ahem. It looks like us old folk made a fool of ourselves for a moment. I''m sorry."
Nangong Weiwu also changed the mood with a dry cough, as if he was embarrassed.
What did you see? he asked, his eyes now deeply sunken in and his voice grave.
When Zhou Xuchuan met those eyes, it felt like the elder could see deep into his heart.
Zhou Xuchuan was caught off guard by Nangong Weiwus question. But after a moment, he calmed down, understanding the intent behind it, and responded.
I saw a wall, no, something more than that.
It was on a different level from the wall that had stood in front of the Harmony Realm.
It almost felt like the boundary between the living and dead, something that he could neither jump nor fly over.
"Ha, at your age, reaching the Harmony Realm is already absurd, but to think you''ve already reached that"
Nangong Weiwu wasn''t being sarcastic; he was sincerely admiring him. On the other hand, Zhuge Zhonghao didn''t understand their conversation and could only guess that it was a discussion about some realm of cultivation.
Theres no need to be hasty. On the contrary, if you be obsessed, youll never get there.
Zhou Xuchuan listened intently to Nangong Weiwus words,mitting them to memory and repeating them to himself so he wouldnt forget.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
This was the teaching of not just anyone but an Absolute Master of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
It was priceless.
"Then, what should I do?"
Nangong Weiwu smiled gently.
Do what you want.
"Pardon?"
"I don''t know what you saw then. Even if you ask any of the other Ten Empyrean Overlords, their answer would be the same."
Zhou Xuchuan couldn''t understand what Nangong Weiwu was saying.
"People are all different, so how could our enlightenments be the same?"
Nangong Weiwu looked at his junior with a gentle gaze.
"But, if we had to say something, it would be to be oneself. You should also let go of excessive greed and obsession. Remember not to let go of all of it, otherwise, you''ll lose yourself. After all, you and I aren''t monks."
?
It was an ambiguous statement.
Let go of greed and obsession, but don''t let go of all of it.
Moreover, what does it mean to be oneself?
It sounded like a riddle, a vague statement. No matter how much he racked his brain, he just couldn''t understand it.
Zhou Xuchuan tried tomit the Empyrean Overlords teaching to memory, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldnt make sense of it. All it did was leave him scratching his head in confusion.
"What sort of shit is that?" Zhuge Zhonghao muttered, voicing Zhou Xuchuans unspoken thoughts.
****
A homing pigeon left Hefei, carrying a simple letter. The message wasnt noteworthyit simply stated that the Divine Physician had been rescued and the missionpleted, and Zhou Xuchuan would soon return to Mount Hua.
This wasnt surprising, as news of the Divine Physicians sessful rescue had already spread. Now, they were simply waiting for Zhou Xuchuan to return.
"Then, I''ll be taking my leave now. It was a pleasure to travel alongside you."
"It doesn''t feel good sending off my benefactor without being able to offer any hospitality."
Although Duan Hecheng had asked to treat him to a meal several times, Zhou Xuchuan declined every time.
Since he couldn''t persuade Zhou Xuchuan otherwise after being told that he had to return to the sect, they settled for a light drink the night before his departure.
Although the Diancang Sect may have been different, the Mount Hua Sect didn''t tolerate excessive drinking. So, they ended it before it went too far.
Still, they were able to foster a good rtionship by talking about things that they hadn''t yet been able to address.
"What do you n to do, Young Lady Tang?" Zhou Xuchuan asked Tang Hui.
Swish!
Instead of answering, a poisoned knife flew at him.
"Y-you crazy woman!" Zhou Xuchuan screamed in horror.
Tang Hui put her hand on her chest in relief, let out a sigh, and smiled gently.
"I thought it was someone disguised as you that approached me. Don''t randomly start doing things that you haven''t done before. You even tried talking to me in such a greasy tonecan''t you see that my cheeks are flushed red with anger? Look! I have goosebumps."
Tang Hui slightly rolled up her sleeves to show her pure white arms.
"There''s nothing there, though?"
"So your eyes are still trash, then. Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I''m nning on returning to Mount Hua tomorrow. What about you?"
Sichuan was right next to Shaanxi.
Since they were going back the same way, he hade to ask if she would like to go back with him. However, he now regretted it.
The woman was dangerous, and part of him thought it would be wiser to leave her behind and return to Mount Hua alone.
"Since the road back won''t be boring, I''m tempted by your offer. But I''ll have to decline. I don''t have any need to go back for the time being."
For some reason, the Tang Family Head had left Tang Hui on her own.
As she was a younger generation talent of the Righteous Faction and wasn''t a child anymore, it wasn''t unreasonable for the Head to leave her alone. But this Zhou Xuchuan felt that he was just too uninterested.
While he wanted to ask her a few things and have a conversation, he swallowed it down because he thought it would be too much of a bother.
Moreover, it wouldn''t be so bad if she didn''t return to the Tang Family. She would be able to help the Gold Will Merchants when they were in trouble.
Even so, he exined the deal hed made with the Divine Physician in exchange for his cooperation and asked if she could escort him to the Gold Will Merchants as part of their agreement.
"I have some work to do at the Martial Alliance, so is it okay to handle that first and then go?"
"The Divine Physician, I''m not sure how much that entric old man will tolerate. So, I want to finish it as quickly as possible"
It wont take that long, so dont worry, Tang Hui responded, taking out a ss and a bottle of wine from the cupboard. When Zhou Xuchuan gave her a questioning look, Tang Hui responded with a yful, seductive smile.
She poured him a ss of wine and invited him to drink with her since he was already there.
Of course, he almost flipped the table when he heard that the wine had been poisoned.
The next day.
Zhou Xuchuan left the Martial Alliance feeling surprisingly refreshed and without a hangover, thanks to the Thousand Poisons Immunity.
He was traveling alone for the first time in a while.
Riding a horse provided by the Martial Alliance, he galloped at full speed. It seemed they had prepared a thoroughbred as it was quite fast.
So, he held the reins and galloped excitedly. However, even the best horses had their limits.
By the end of the day, the horse was almost foaming at the mouth from exhaustion. So, Zhou Xuchuan sold it in a nearby vige and continued on foot, using his lightness technique to travel toward Shaanxi.
Even if I think about it myself, my cultivation is truly monstrous.
As most already knew, lightness techniques consumed a lot of qi.
However, even after running for hours, he wasn''t exhausted at all. Still, his ocean-like qi reserves did decrease slightly.
On the other hand, his stamina remained unaffected.
Although he had partlypensated for his stamina with his qi, thanks to the Divine Pill of the Au Co, his stamina quickly recovered even after a little rest, which was nice.
It was amazing because he truly felt like he was immortal.
Thanks to his enormous qi reserves, his stamina that never seemed to run out, and the fun that he had racing around with his lightness technique, he arrived at the Mount Hua Sect in less than a week.
Chapter 209: Constant Worries (1)
After returning to the Mount Hua Sect, there were a few things Zhou Xuchuan needed to handle.
"I havepleted my mission."
"Little brat."
Liu Zhengmu gave a wistful smile, as if there was nothing he could do to stop him.
While he was pleased that his disciple hade to greet him first before reporting on his mission, he was also troubled.
Thinking of how the Sect Master and the Five High Elders were waiting for Zhou Xuchuan, his stomach started to hurt a little.
So, the two just had a cup of tea before he sent his disciple up to the pce, pushing him to move quickly.
"Fourth Generation Disciple Zhou Xuchuan haspleted his mission and returned."
"You really did well."One of the Five High Elders, the Sage Sword Xue Song, greeted Zhou Xuchuan warmly.
Hmm. Elder Wei Zhijie is nowhere to be seen.
The fact that the Plum Blossom Sword Captain was absent meant that the training of the Swordsmen Initiates wasn''t yetplete. Since returning to the Mount Hua Sect, Zhou Xuchuan had hoped to reunite with those he cared about, but he felt a bit disappointed that he hadnt been able to.
Except for Wei Zhijie, all the High Elders of Mount Hua were in the Upper Pce.
Hurry up and make your report," Destiny Hand Zhao Wuyang nagged, curious.
Since he had already reported what had happened in the Southern Jungles in a detailed letter before, he only reported the important facts this time.
Although it had already been reported before, there was a difference between a letter and getting a report in person. Thus, everyone listened attentively to the report.
Zhou Xuchuan omitted the part about the Dark Heavens Association.
Zhuge Zhonghao had asked him to keep it a secret until the Martial Alliance reached a conclusion.
He reasoned that if there were inquiries toe from all over the Central ins, it would only end up causing confusion and prolonging the meeting.
"Making the Benevolence Clinic owe us a debtyou really are making me proud."
Pill Apothecary Ling Zhenughed heartily and was pleased. Even precious medicines that were hard to obtain could be obtained through the Benevolence Clinic.
Most importantly, the fact that the Benevolence Clinic could help them with anything that he couldn''t handle was good.
"You must be tired. Please rest. You''ve really done a great job. You''re the pride of Mount Hua."
Xue Song smiled gently.
I never expected this kid to be this impressive
The Iron Blood Plum Sword, Shen Yulian looked at Zhou Xuchuan silently.
In the past, she had thought of him as a child who was nothing but a nuisance to her disciple.
But not anymore.
He was renowned as the younger generation talent of the Mount Hua Sect, and at a young age, he had ascended to the Harmony Realm and became one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. ?
That wasn''t all. He hadpleted numerous missions, umted many achievements, and yed an active role in helping the Mount Hua Sect reach its current prestige.
Recently, he had gone all the way to the Southern Jungles, outside of the Central ins, to fight barbarians and even brought back the kidnapped(?) Divine Physician.
As martial artists everywhere were all praising the Plum Blossom Order Sword, the shoulders of the Mount Hua elders naturally stood tall.
Visitors soon flooded the sect after hearing the news of the return of the Plum Blossom Order Sword.
When can we see Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan?
The scene was no different from the Martial Alliance.
Wherever Zhou Xuchuan went, there were always people.
Before returning to Mount Hua, he had purposefully chosen ces with few people and hidden himself from the public using Phantom Steps.
Zhou Xuchuan, who was at the center of themotion, declined all visitors, exining that he was too exhausted from his mission.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
He also firmly warned everyone not to bother his master, Liu Zhengmu. Since his master was so good-natured, if he didn''t do this, he was sure that he would meet with everyone one by one.
After the report and remaining tasks were roughly finished, he was given a summons.
A call from the office and residence of the Sect Master, the Violet Haze Pavilion.
Zhou Xuchuan walked up the stairs toward the Violet Haze Pavilion as if he had been waiting for the call. His expression betrayed no surprise.
The Violet Haze Pavilion.
Wee, wee.
An old man with an immortal-like air slowly opened his eyes and greeted him.
"I greet the Sect Master."
Zhou Xuchuan bowed politely.
Would you like a cup of tea?
"I gratefully ept."
Mmm.
Zhou Xuchuan epted the tea that his Sect Master had personally prepared for him and drank it. With each sip, he felt a wave of warmth spread through him, as if the tea was restoring his strength.
"I called you so suddenly, yet you don''t seem surprised."
"I somewhat expected it. You could have called me immediately after I arrived, so I appreciate your consideration."
"You''re a disciple of ours who has suffered all this way. Why would I summon you without letting you rest first? This Sect Master of yours isn''t a monster."
You Riwenughed heartily.
Zhou Xuchuan also smiled bitterly and apologized profusely.
Then, after a moment of silence, the Sect Masters expression grew serious, his gaze sharp.
"Fourth Generation Disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, Zhou Xuchuan. Heed my order."
"I await yourmand."
"From this point on, you must answer all questions I ask you truthfully without any falsehood. If you disobey thismand"
Woosh!
The bookshelf in the corner of the room began to shake. The books inside it also moved as if they were about to fall out.
So this is the power of one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords!
Zhou Xuchuan''s throat tightened, and he couldn''t breathe. It felt as if he had lost control of his body, and for a moment, he couldn''t move.
It was as if he was standing in the middle of a sword forest, where he would get stabbed or cut by a de if he moved even slightly.
"I won''t sever your meridians or cripple your dantian, especially considering all the efforts you have made so far. However, you won''t be able to step outside the bounds of Mount Hua, so keep that in mind."
"Understood."
"I''ll ask you directly. Tell me the source of your Violet Haze Divine Art."
As expected.
Zhou Xuchuans expression made it clear that he knew this moment was inevitable.
When the Violet Haze Divine Art reached the Tenth Stage, the ability to conceal its signature purple hue disappeared. Instead, it fully disyed characteristics that anyone could recognize.
Of course, he hadn''t disyed it after returning to Mount Hua as he thought that it would cause trouble. However, that meant nothing to the Exalted Sword Immortal.
Since he practiced the same technique, he was able to recognize the Violet Haze Divine Art that had reached the Tenth Stage as soon as he saw Zhou Xuchuan with his own eyes.
It might have been easy for him to fool an expert or a lower-level warrior, but it was impossible for him to fool a master, especially one on the level of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
"I didnt inform the other elders because I was worried theyd pressure you and prevent you from exining yourself properly, the Sect Master continued. Take your time and tell me everything.
The Violet Haze Divine Art was a qi cultivation method reserved solely for the Sect Master and their sessor. There were no exceptions. Even a Hero of the Righteous Faction would struggle in such a situation.
Forget outsiders, not even members of the same Mount Hua Sect were allowed to learn it without permission.
The most concerning part was the source of Zhou Xuchuan''s Violet Haze Divine Art.
How did this kid get the Violet Haze Divine Art?
The Violet Haze Divine Art was passed down through an inheritance system.
It wasn''t that there weren''t any copies of the manual in case of an emergency.
However, one or two lines of the sutra were missing, and the difficulty of being able to deduce them on one''s own was so high that it was near impossible to learn them on one''s own.
The teachings of the previous generations were essential. However, not only did Zhou Xuchuan learn them without falling into cultivation deviation, but he had also reached the tenth stage.
It was a situation that was hard for You Riwen to believe, even after seeing it with his own eyes.
I have to speak carefully from this point on.
Zhou Xuchuan repeated the words he had prepared in his head several times.
The Violet Haze Divine Art and the Violet Haze Sword Sutra would definitely be revealed over time. This situation was something he had expected since he was young. That was why he had racked his brain so much and came up with all sorts of excuses to prepare an answer that wouldn''t raise suspicion.
Still, that didn''t mean he could rest easy. The moment he gave an answer with even the slightest w, he would be unable to leave Mount Hua.
"I saw it in the Plum Blossoms."
It was an unexpected answer. However, You Riwen didnt say anything and just sat quietly, waiting for his next words.
"It was at the crossroads of life and death that allowed me to break down the walls of the Transcendent Realm and leap into the next realm."
It wasnt a lie.
While it may have been an experience from his past life, not this one, he wasn''t lying.
After living for over seventy years as a Transcendent, he felt that his life was over. That crossroad was what helped him ascend to the Harmony Realm.
"Are you aware that there is a secret hidden within the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art that isn''t known to the sect, Sect Master?"
"A secret that the sect doesn''t know?"
You Riwens eyes lit up.
This, too, wasnt a lie.
A few decadester, at a time when the war had passed and peace had finally arrived, the secret of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art was revealed by a genius.
The Plum Blossom Cultivation Art.
Living and breathing alongside the plum tree, absorbing its life force little by little. Doing sopensated for the art''s sole weakness, its slow progression.
"I''m not too sure about it either, to be honest."
In truth, he knew it extremely well. However, he deliberately didn''t say it.
Partly for the sake of his future generation, but also to make his story sound more convincing.
"While I wasn''t able to see all of it yet, I saw something above the Harmony Realm. It was almost as if it was the boundary between this world and the next. It was something that couldn''t be described in words."
"Oh, ho. So you''ve already seen it?"
You Riwen eximed in genuine surprise while questioning the truth of his statement.
While he may have glossed over it if Zhou Xuchuan had said that he had seen a wall, when the disciple said that he had seen more beyond it, he couldn''t help but be as shocked as Nangong Weiwu had been.
This wasn''t a lie, either.
He had tried to ovee the wall with the power of the Divine Pill of the Au Co but had failed and was forced to turn back.
While he was barely able to pass the edge of the Harmony Realm, that was all there was to it. Because hecked the proper enlightenment, he wasn''t able to visualize the world beyond. Thinking back to that time, a hint of regret flickered across his face.
"Hmm"
You Riwen stroked his dazzling white beard.
Did he fall for it?
Inside, Zhou was nervous, though he hid it well. He desperately tried to steady his racing heart.
If he was caught lying here, everything would be over.
Worst case scenario, he might have to ept being emunicated, flee the sect, and end up fighting the Dark Heavens Association alone.
Still, this was a lie that he hade up with after much thought.
It was said that the perfect lie was mixed with truth. So, he tried to make it sound as natural as possible.
"So, to summarize what you''ve said, you said that you were learning the secrets of the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art and came across the Violet Haze Divine Art?
Yes, thats right.
If anyone else had heard it, they would get angry and say that it was a ridiculous lie.
The secret of the Violet Haze Divine Art was hidden in the basic qi cultivation method that all disciples of the Mount Hua Sect have cultivated?
What nonsense.
However, the actions and reputation of Zhou Xuchuan, known as an unprecedented genius, made his lie more believable.
You Riwen thought for a long moment before speaking.
"Could this really be Ten Thousand Streams Converge..."[1]
The Violet Haze Divine Art was the Greatest Divine Art of the Mount Hua Sect.
However, this greatest divine art wasn''t the sect''s original founding cultivation method. If measured on history alone, the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art had a much longer history.
The foundation of Mount Hua''s cultivation methods was the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art. Without it, there would be no Violet Haze Divine Art.
The Violet Haze Divine Art was actuallypleted based on the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art after many years of research and experience.
It may be absurd, but it''s not groundless.
If one considered it in theory, it was quite possible.
However, even if it was possible in theory, it wasn''t easy to put into practice. In fact, it was essentially impossible unless the founding Sect Master came back to life.
So, it was difficult to believe that it wasn''t even the Sect Master but a mere fourth-generation disciple who had done something like this.
Still, was this fourth-generation disciple just an ordinary disciple? No, he was a genius who had reached the Harmony Realm at an extremely young age and had even had a glimpse of the beyond.
That sort of foundation gave credibility to his theory, and if it weren''t for this exnation, there would be no way to exin the current situation.
Even if he had somehow stolen a copy of the Divine Art and was barely able to understand it, without the teaching of the Sect Master, actually cultivating it would be next to impossible.
Moreover, if one had to ask what the most reliable evidence was?
The realm ''beyond.''
Hmm, indeed. If this is the process then certainly You Riwen muttered to himself thoughtfully.
After a long pause, about as much time as it takes to drink a cup of tea, You Riwen finally let out a sigh and eased the pressure he had been emitting.
Thisplicates things.
1. Amon wuxia trope. Refers to how all branches eventually return to their origin. ?
Chapter 210: Constant Worries (2)
Whew!
It seemed like the danger had passed, but Zhou Xuchuan remained on edge. Although he was the one who said it, he understood just how absurd and unreasonable it was.
The principles andposition of the Violet Haze Divine Art were far moreplicated than the Plum Blossom Cultivation Art.
It was an art so intricate that most people couldnt evenplete the missing sutras. How could he figure it out on his own?
So, what could have made You Riwen ept such a wild idea?
That question didnt remain unanswered for long.
"If you really saw something beyond the wall, I don''t know if this will help you or not, but I will give you some advice."
"I will listen carefully to your advice, Sect Master."
Zhou Xuchuans eyes sparkled with anticipation, even though he was nervous.These were the teachings of the Exalted Sword Immortal of the Ten Empyrean Overlords. Just like when he had been with Nangong Weiwu, he couldn''t allow himself to miss a single thing.
"I''m saying this just in case, but you should only ever listen and consider the advice, not ept it as fact. While it could also be your answer, it could also bepletely different from your answer. So, keep that in mind."
"I will do so."
Do you know what the level above the Harmony Realm is?
No.
"It''s not something that was explicitly decided, but it''s generally referred to as the Coruscant Realm."
"The Coruscant Realm"
The name was unfamiliar to him.
There was no specific term for the realm above Harmony.
Instead, there were names for absolute beings depending on the era, like the title of Empyrean Overlord. If one really had to define it, those who had reached this realm were called Absolute Masters.
"It uses a character that can mean to shine, to dazzle, to boast. So, which do you think it means?"
"To shine?"
Its to boast.
Zhou Xuchuan was a little surprised by the unexpected answer. He had assumed that boasting would be the least likely answer since it could easily be seen as arrogant. More than that, he was sure that someone like You Riwen, honored with the title the Exalted Sword Immortal, wouldnt care about showing off. ??
However, things werepletely different from what he had expected.
When Zhou Xuchuan gave You Riwen a puzzled look, the Sect Master of Mount Hua stroked his beard and smiled faintly.
"It could be self-esteem or self-sufficiency. But what matters most is self-confidence."
It waspletely different from Nangong Weiwus advice!
But the fundamental self was the same.
"If the Harmony Realm is the pinnacle of one''sprehension of the Martial Path, then the Coruscant Realm is a leap toward the unknown. An adventure, and, at the same time, creation."
The confusing words that followed were no differenting from the Exalted Sword Immortal than they had been from the Completion Sword.
Zhou Xuchuan tried to make sense of them but ultimately couldnt.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Show off to the world, let them know who you are, and let them see your brilliance. However, if you insist on doing so, you may never reach that point, and if you be obsessed with it, you will never find the answer."
Just what bullshit is that?
Zhou Xuchuan almost cursed in front of the Sect Master.
"I may be an obstacle for you if I say too much, so let''s stop here."
"As I''m too stupid andcking in many ways, I wasn''t able to understand everything you graciously taught me."
"You''ll understand it on your own when the timees, so there''s no need to rush. Perhaps, if you really have your heart set on the Violet Haze, the Divine Art itself could have been your process."
Are you fucking kidding me?!
Zhou Xuchuan had not achieved the Violet Haze through enlightenment.
He had only lied about it because he couldnt reveal he had obtained the Violet Haze Divine Art in his previous life.
Still, it wasn''t like he could just say, ''It was all a lie, so please just teach it to me properly.''
I guess there''s nothing I can do.
Looking at the situation, even if he had told him the truth, it didn''t seem like he would be able to reach the Coruscant Realm. He kept asking, but he only got answers that he didn''t understand. Since You Riwen told him not to take it to heart, he decided to give up.
"Anyway, the real issue is whats happening right now, You Riwen sighed. "The Violet Haze Divine Art has such strong identifiable characteristics that it can''t be hidden. While it''s okay to let out a little qi, if you ever form aura, anyone who isn''t blind would be able to recognize it."
There was only one cultivation method that had purple qithe Violet Haze Divine Art. That characteristic was so well known that not only martial artists but even ordinary people knew about it.
"It''s good that a disciple of our sect has achieved such great things, but it''s a shame that I can''t just be happy about it."
You Riwen rubbed his temples as if he had a headache.
***
A few dayster, the elders of the Mount Hua Sect were in an uproar.
"I mean, just what the hell are you talking about?" Zhao Wuyang shouted.
"Ugh." Xue Song groaned with a troubled look
The reactions of Ling Zhen and Shen Yulian weren''t much different.
A practitioner of the Violet Haze Divine Art had appeared.
The news itself was not bad. On the contrary, it was actually wee.
However, that was only true if the sessor was the disciple of the Sect Master, Exalted Sword Immortal You Riwen.
If not, the situation would inevitably be far moreplicated. And that was exactly the case now.
"When did you take that child in as your disciple, Sect Master?" Shen Yulian, who was more careful about the distinction between master and disciple than anyone else, asked in a questioning tone.
"I didn''t."
"I''m sorry, Sect Master. I don''t understand what you''re saying."
The rest of the elders nodded in agreement.
You Riwen then exined it to the elders as simply as he could.
However, unlike You Riwen, who already knew about the Coruscant Realm, the Five High Elders of Mount Hua weren''t so easily convinced.
"Even if that were true, the problem is what follows. Then, are we considering Zhou Xuchuan as the next Sessor?"
Shen Yulian pointed out the biggest problem at the moment.
Among the qualifications for the Sect Master, the first requirement was the Violet Haze Divine Art. In other words, a practitioner of the Violet Haze Divine Art would soon be selected to be the next Sect Master.
So, would Zhou Xuchuan be the next Sect Master of the Mount Hua Sect?
There were no issues with Zhou Xuchuans character. Martial skills aside, Zhou Xuchuans personality and reputation were highly regarded throughout the murim.
On top of that, wasnt he the one who had led the Mount Hua Sect into its golden age? There was absolutely no problem with him being selected.
No, the problem was something else.
"Don''t you have your own disciples, Sect Master?"
Yes. That was the problem.
The Violet Haze Divine Art was difficult to cultivate. It wasn''t something that one could finish in a decade. That was why the Sect Master had taken in disciples long ago and taught them diligently. A disciple had already been chosen as the next sessor, and it was impossible for them to go back on that promise.
In the Righteous Faction, tradition and convention mattered more than most people realized.
If they broke this promise, it could create a mess down the road. Word would spread, and it could escte into something much biggerter on.
"Firstly, you don''t have to worry about the session issue. I assure you that Zhou Xuchuan has no desire for the Sect Master position."
Can''t you tell that thats not the problem? Even if that child doesnt have any desire for the Sect Master position, what should we do with your disciple, Zheng Huilian? Shen Yulian pointed out sharply.
Zheng Huilian was You Riwen''s disciple whom he had eptedter in life.
In terms of age, he would be one of the fourth-generation disciples. He was actually the youngest among them. However, as the disciple of the Sect Master, he was considered a third-generation disciple in terms of rank.
"Zhou Xuchuan is so outstanding. He''s one of the ten strongest in the sect in terms of cultivation alone and is respected by many people. What happens if it bes known that he has also inherited the Violet Haze Divine Art?"
As Elder Shen said, there is a high chance that the child will not be able to withstand the pressure.
Xue Song added to Shen Yulians words.
Even if Zhou Xuchuan had truly awakened the Violet Haze Divine Art on his own without any guidance, the idea was so absurd that no one would believe him.
People would definitely think, Oh, Zhou Xuchuan is so outstanding that the Exalted Sword Immortal must be trying to pass his martial arts to him and make him the next Sect Master.''
You Riwen was also aware of this. That was why he couldn''t say anything and just sighed deeply.
His expression was extremely grim.
"Zheng Huilian is young. It''s impossible for someone of his age to control his feelings of jealousy.
"Not even I, an old man, can control such feelings, so how could I expect a child like that to be able to do it?" Ying Jin muttered, sighing deeply.
"It''s too dangerous," the Destiny Hand warned sharply.
You''re all right," You Riwen admitted wearily.
It is dangerous," Shen Yulian agreed. "While Zhou Xuchuan may have a narrow circle of friends, the fourth-generation disciples all unknowingly admire him and follow his lead."
He was the hero of the Righteous Faction.
At first, many people were jealous. However, because of his great achievements, he had be well respected.
"If the younger generation who will lead Mount Hua in the future follow Zhou Xuchuan instead of the next Sect Master, that will lead to an unsolvable problem. At worst, Mount Hua could split into two factions after our deaths."
"Since Xuchuan has no intention of bing the Sect Master"
"It doesn''t matter whether he has the intention or not. The issue will be those around him who support him. What do you think would happen to Zheng Huilian in this situation?
For Zheng Huilian, who had been officially recognized as the legitimate sessor, Zhou Xuchuan would be worse than a thorn in his side.
Sect Master. Have you ever talked about Zhou Xuchuan in front of your disciple?
I have
You Riwen trailed off and closed his eyes.
"I could see him tremble as soon as he heard Zhou Xuchuans name."
Gasp!
The Five High Elders of Mount Hua gasped and bowed their heads.
Could he have been so angry that his teeth chattered just by hearing his name?
What if Zheng Huilian ends up wanting to kill Zhou Xuchuan when he finds out?
This is a big deal. Im worried about the future of Mount Hua!
We must prevent Zheng Huilian from meeting Zhou Xuchuan.
***
Zhou Xuchuan froze in ce.
The person he least wanted to meet was standing in front of him.
Zheng Huilian!
Zheng Huilian was going to be the next sect master. However, he would unfortunately lose his life in the wars before he ever reached middle age.
All Zhou Xuchuan really knew about him was that they were around the same age.
Zhou Xuchuan
Zheng Huilian began to tremble.
They had just met by coincidence. While waiting for the results of the elders meeting, Zhou Xuchuan had gone to the training hall to warm up.
However, there was an unexpected guest.
After a moment, he recognized the face in front of him. It was Zheng Huilian. He had seen the sessor a few times in his previous life, so it didnt take long for him to recall his face.
I''m screwed. He''s definitely going to hate me.
Zhou Xuchuan was also aware of theplicated issues surrounding Zheng Huilian. Hed been too preupied with other matters, like the Dark Heavens Association, to deal with it.
But now, thanks to the Violet Haze Divine Art, the issue was unavoidable.
Zhoooooou Xuuuuuuchuaaaaaaaaan!
Zhou Xuchuan stiffened. He tried to turn around, thinking he could escape. But before he could move, Zheng Huilian bowed deeply, bending at a full ny degrees.
Elder Brother! Its an honor to meet you!
Zhou Xuchuan blinked, utterly baffled.
Zheng Huilian straightened up, his eyes sparkling with admiration.
Wow! You''re really here!!
He was quivering, apparently in excitement. Then, he suddenly took off the top of his uniform.
"Please sign your name here with your sword!"
Cyncoco''s Thoughts
It''s me, Cyncoco!
Now, the three "self" terms the sect master refers to are an absolute PAIN to trante. Not because they don''t have epted English terminology, but because when you get philosophical like this, word choice and even rhyming scheme be incredibly important.
The key thing about Chinese and Sino-Korean is that, fundamentally, thenguage is a puzzle. You take what amounts to pictographs, meaning specific things, and smush them together to create new words based on said pictographs.
In this case, the important word is (ja), which means self.
There are three words used in this chapter that we tranted as self-esteem, self-sufficiency, and self-confidence. They are allbinations of with another character: ??(jajon), ??(jajon), ??(jasin).
As you can see, two of the words are identical (no, thats not a typo) but thats just the Korean reading. The original Sino-Korean characters are different: and , which mean to respect/honor/revere and to exist, respectively. Thus, one word means respecting/revering oneself, while the other means being independent, self-sufficient. Its a basic contrast between epting yourself and being overwhelmingly proud of who you are.
Sadly, expressing things this way deprives you of the mystical aha! moment thates with philosophical rhyming schemes, so we have to be a little obscure instead.
As for the final ?, , it means to believe, Thus, the meaning of the word is to believe in oneself, i.e. self-confidence. So the full and literal trantion of that sentence should be:
The meaning of coruscant is to show your brilliance. It could mean revering yourself and having overwhelming pride, or it could just mean being good enough for yourself. But either way, the most important part is to believe in yourself.
Theres a simr issue between the ?? of You Riwen and the ?? of Nangong Weiwu. They are both read the same, but while the first character is the same self, the second is different. The first ? is, like I said, to believe. The second, ? , is body, and the meaning of the word is simply oneself.
Thus, while the core concept of the Coruscant Realm is the self, people seem to have very different understandings of what that self is and how to rte to itwhether it means being proud of yourself to the extent of feeling on top of the world, or to feel satisfied with yourself, or to be confident in yourself and your identity.
In any case, the point of the Corruscant (i.e. brilliant) Realm is to show off your inner brilliance, i.e. the brilliance of yourself.
This philosophical understanding cant be rendered all that well in English because its actually a form of poetry and memorization that a student would technically learn in higher-level hanmun. Because it''s not written into the text, I didn''t want to just add my own development. Still, I wanted to make sure those of you who don''t know Chinese would at least understand the basics of what the author is trying to convey.
Chapter 211: Opening the Yumen Pass (1)
The Plum Blossom Order SwordZhou Xuchuan.
It was a name that every disciple of the Mount Hua Sect knew. Even if they were six or seven years old and didnt even know the basics of martial arts, they knew Zhou Xuchuan.
Zheng Huilian, the Sect Master''s disciple, was the same. He had grown up hearing Zhou Xuchuan''s name so much that he was sick of it.
The Hero of the Righteous Faction!
There was no one in the murim who didn''t know his achievements. Whenever he heard the news, he would rejoice as if it were his own.
Like any other boy or girl, Zheng Huilian admired and looked up to heroes.
The person he respected was his great master, You Riwen.
The person he admired was the hero, Zhou Xuchuan.
When he heard that name, his heart would tremble with excitement, and his pride would swell. If someone insulted that name, he would feel a wave of needless irritation and anger.Today, after finally meeting the man he had admired for so long, Zheng Huilian was far more moved than he could have imagined.
"Sob, sob, thank you. I will treasure this as a family heirloom, Senior Brother."[1]
Zheng Huilian carefully held the jacket with the words ''Zhou Xuchuan'' on it and shed tears as if he was touched.
"N-no that''s not necessary. Also, I''m not your senior brother, but your senior brother''s disciple."
Zhou Xuchuan was visibly flustered. Although Zheng Huilian had joined the sectter than he had, he was a disciple of the Sect Master and therefore part of the third generationa step above Zhou Xuchuan.
"Because of the rules, to think that I can''t call a senior brother what he truly is!" Zheng Huilian looked genuinely upset.
Was Sect Master Zheng Huilian truly like this?
Something in the back of Zhou Xuchuans mind told him this was strange.
"If the future Sect Master doesnt set an example, thats a problem. I understand. It''s painful, but I''ll call you Disciple-Nephew."
Zheng Huilian clenched his fists, as if making a difficult decision.
"However, you will always be a Senior Brother in my heart, so don''t forget that."
Is he being serious?
Zheng Huilians behavior was so unusual that he suspected that there might be some kind of conspiracy.
Zhou Xuchuan, its such an honor to meet you. Could you shake my hand?
Junior Master-Uncle, please dont be so formal. Zhou Xuchuan extended his hand, feeling a little embarrassed.
Zheng Huilian grabbed Zhou Xuchuans hand tightly and shook it violently in refusal.
"Please let me at least do this much. You deserve that level of respect. And thank you for shaking my hand, Ill never wash it again in my life."
This is getting ridiculous.
The situation felt surreal. He began to suspect that maybe Zheng Huilian was trying to make him lower his guard to ughter himter.[2]
"I-I-I-I! B-by chanceAhem, if it''s okay, could you instruct me? I know you must be busy as the Great Hero, but its one of my greatest wishes!"
I suppose
Yahoo!
Zheng Huilian threw his arms into the air, cheering loudly three times.
Then, Ill be in your care!
What?
The elders heard that the two people in question were sparring in the training field near the Upper Pce.
Afraid that something bad might happen, the Five High Elders of Mount Hua hurried over, their expressions full of concern.
They never imagined that the two people who should never have met would end up fighting.
Regretting theirck of foresight, they quickened their pace to stop the situation from escting.
However, what the leaders of the Mount Hua Sect saw when they arrived at the training field wasnt the fierce battle theyd feared. Instead, Zheng Huilian stood there, smiling brightly.
"Wow, I''vepletely lost! As expected, you''re incredible. I really learned a lot, thank you! It was an honor!"
Zheng Huilian cupped a fist as he expressed his gratitude.
"T-there''s no need to be so grateful." Zhou Xuchuan stammered, utterly bewildered.
As expected of the next generation''s Sect Master, Zheng Huilians swordsmanship was exceptional.
To be taught the Violet Haze Divine Art, one needed to have some talent. In fact, ording to both internal and external evaluations, excluding Zhou Xuchuan, Zheng Huilian was actually the most talented of the top geniuses.
At just fifteen, he had already mastered half of the Twenty-Four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.
Zhou Xuchuan had been able to reach his current level thanks to his memories and enlightenment from his past life, but Zheng Huilian was pure talent. From what Zhou Xuchuan had heard, the boy wasnt just talented, he also worked incredibly hard.
Now, after crossing swords with him personally, Zhou Xuchuan could tell how talented the boy was.
If he kept growing like this, Zheng Huilian might reach the Harmony Realm by the age of thirty. With the sects resources backing him, there was no need to worry about his qi reserves.
Ugh. I appreciate that someone of this caliber is showing favor instead of hostility but I feel uneasy.
It was definitely a good thing. It was far better than being on edge within the Mount Hua Sect, especially since this involved the next sessor.
Still, everything was going so smoothly that Zhou Xuchuan couldnt shake off the uneasy feeling in his heart.
Just as Zhou Xuchuan began to wonder whether Zheng Huilian truly had no ulterior motives, the boy noticed they had an audience. Immediately, he cupped his fists and greeted them respectfully.
"The Sect Master''s disciple, Zheng Huilian, greets the Master and the Elders of Mount Hua."
"Fourth-generation disciple Zhou Xuchuan greets the elders of Mount Hua."[3]
Zhou Xuchuan put his thoughts aside for a moment and greeted them.
Ahem, I hope we didnt interrupt anything. You Riwen said, stroking his long beard awkwardly.
"It''s nothing. We just finished, Zheng Huilian replied proudly, puffing out his chest. I actually learned a lot from Disciple-Nephew Zhou Xuchuan. I will use this as a reference and work harder.
Huh?
Xue Songs eyes widened in confusion. The other elders looked equally baffled.
But You Riwen was different.
Hehehe!
The Sect Masterughed heartily, his voice full of delight.
?
Zheng Huilian tilted his head, confused by You Riwens reaction.
The elders were equally puzzled as You Riwen continuedughing without a care in the world. Then, suddenly, he stopped and turned to Zheng Huilian.
Huilian.
Yes, Master.
What do you think about Zhou Xuchuan?
"S-Sect Master."
Xue Song was visibly flustered, and even Zhou Xuchuan looked taken aback.
He is a hero and someone I greatly admire. I also think hes a man worthy of respect.
Zheng Huilian didnt seem to care about the reactions of those around him as he answered with sparkling eyes.
"When he was young, he stumbled upon an opportunity to gain qi reserves far beyond his years. But back then, he wasnt skilled at controlling his techniques, so people mocked him, calling him All Bite and No Bark."
It was a nickname Zhou Xuchuan hadnt heard in a long time.
"But he didnt let the insults bother him. Instead, he worked tirelessly to improve. Over time, he developed his talents and became a genius. Despite his aplishments, he stayed humble, never boasting, and remained focused on martial arts. When he stepped into the world of the murim, he"
As if hed been waiting for this moment, Zheng Huilian recited Zhou Xuchuans history in such vivid detail that it was a little terrifying.
"...Even with all the rumors, Zhou Xuchuans story remains the pride of Mount Hua. Its truly an honor to live in the same era as him."
Zheng Huilian''s smile was as bright and pure as that of a child.
I didnt expect the Sect Masters disciple to think of Zhou Xuchuan like this.
While it''s not a bad thing
It could just be a fleeting admiration of childhood.
The Five High Elders of Mount Hua woreplicated expressions.
"You''re right, he truly is amazing."
"That''s right! But, of course, the person I respect most is you, Master! Zheng Huilian quickly added, ncing at his master to make sure he hadnt hurt his feelings.
"Thank you for saying so." You Riwen replied, his gaze softening as he looked at his disciple.
Huilian, answer Masters question honestly.
Of course.
"The person you admire is only a few years older than you, yet hes achieved so much. His martial achievements are also extraordinary. Don''t you envy Xuchuan?"
"Sect Master!"
When You Riwen asked his question directly, the Five High Elders of Mount Hua were taken aback.
Envious? Not at all! Zheng Huilian waved his hand in embarrassment and denied it fiercely. "Ill admit, when I was younger, I felt that way for a moment. But now, I see things differently. Incredible people are incredible, and we should learn from them. What good does jealousy do?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Ha!
Zhou Xuchuan couldnt help but feel a bit impressed.
Be honest, are you the one who organized this?
"Hmm."
You Riwen narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard thoughtfully before speaking again.
"What if the next Sect Master is not you but Xuchuan instead? Some would say hes more suitable."
"Sect Master!" Shen Yulian eximed, unable to stay silent.
Given the circumstances, with so much concern about the future of the Mount Hua Sect, they needed to tread carefully. And yet, the Sect Master seemed to have thrown fuel onto the fire instead!
"That''s a great idea!"
Zheng Huilians enthusiastic response left everyone stunned.
"What if we just gave the sessor position to Disciple-Nephew Zhou Xuchuan? Wasn''t he the one who brought Mount Hua to its current glory anyway? Its unconventional, but with his reputation, it wouldnt be difficult to make it happen. The only problem would be me, the Sect Master''s Disciple, but you don''t have to worry about that!"
Zheng Huilian grinned, giving a thumbs-up. His eyes sparkled as if he was even willing to give up his liver and galldder if they asked him to.
"Oh dear."
"Wow."
Zhou Xuchuan and You Riwen were the only ones whoughed awkwardly. They hadnt expected this kind of reaction.
It was also surprising that Zheng Huilian had answered without hesitation.
Hahahaha! You Riwen burst intoughter, clearly amused.
"He already assured me that he has no intention of bing the next Sect Master, so there''s no need for us to do that. The next Sect Master will be you, so there''s nothing to worry about."
Is that so? Thats too bad. Zheng Huilian licked his lips in disappointment.
"However, if you truly dont intend to be the sessor, the situation will only be moreplicated. Keep that in mind and take your role seriously, You Riwen warned, his tone stern.
He pointed out that Zheng Huilian was taking the position of the sessor too lightly.
"Of course I know that. The next Sect Master will be me, so you don''t have to worry about that."
"Didn''t you just say that you would hand over the position of Sect Master to Xuchuan?"
"That would only be for him. Others can piss off. I intend to take your position, so don''t worry about it. Leave it to me," Zheng Huilian dered confidently.
Haha, youre really quite bold.
It wasnt as though he didnt care about the Sect Master position. The boys talent and intelligence far exceeded his age, but even so, Zhou Xuchuan had never met anyone so strange.
"I-it''s a disaster!"
Just as everyone was focused on Zheng Huilian, an urgent shout was heard from afar, and a disciple quickly approached.
Whats going on? Shen Yulian asked, her eyes narrowing. The Upper Pce wasnt a ce where just anyone could enter without permission, especially if they were having a meeting. If someone hade rushing in unannounced, it could only mean the matter was dire.
"I-it''s the Blood Cult! The Blood Cult!"
1. Remember, as the sessor to the Sect Master, he isn''t allowed to get married or have kids. So, he technically has no family to pass an heirloom down to ?
2. This is an idiom. Granted, it''s pretty direct, but it''s still an idiom. ?
3. "Elders" is a title, while "elders" is a term of respect in Korean. Sorry for the minute difference. There is literally no other word I can use. Note that I will never start a sentence with the lowercase elder word in order to avoid confusion. ?
Chapter 212: Opening the Yumen Pass (2)
Previously, near the Yumen Pass in Gansu.
The Yumen Pass was a border gate and a passage that connected the Western Regions of the Central ins. There were no roads in this area, not to mention flowers, as the Gobi Desert stretched out widely with its rugged, rocky terrain.
Moving through the Yumen Pass was called the Crossing, as the Pass was the border between the Central ins and the Frontier[1].
"What?!" shouted the Crescent Lake Gate Master, You Xiaofeng.
Mount Mingsha[2], located about 250 li northwest of Yumen Pass, was a narrow sand mountain.
The Crescent Lake Gate was one of the more famous forces around; it was located in a green valley called the Crescent Lake, between the sand dunes.
While it wasn''t as renowned as the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families, it was still highly respected in its own right. Its gate master, You Xiaofeng, was even ranked among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.
"To think that the Blood Cult''s forces havee all the way to Yumen Pass"
You Xiaofeng''s face turned pale as he received intelligence confirming the arrival of the Blood Cult''s forces. Even worse, their numbers were far from ordinary.By rough estimates, they had over five thousand troopsand their forces were still growing.
"Hmph. Is it because Dan Libai''s rebellion weakened the Evil Valley? The bnce of the Three Major Factions must have shifted, which is why this problem has arisen."
Righteous Faction, Evil Faction, and Demonic Path''s Two Lineages.
Up until now, the peace of the murim had been maintained because the Three Major Factions had rtively simr strengths.
For example, if the Righteous Faction waged war against the Evil Faction, both sides would get weakened, regardless of who won or lost.
In that case, the remaining force, the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages, would automatically gain the upper hand and devour the winner of the Great War of Good and Evil.
The same was true vice versa, meaning that none of the three factions could move recklessly. However, Dan Libai''s rebellion had ruined everything.
The Eight Gates of the Evil Dao ended up half destroyed by the civil war, significantly reducing their military power.
It was not surprising that the Blood Cult wanted to invade the Central ins.
"Send a letter to the Martial Alliance and the Kongtong Sect immediately."
Homing pigeons arrived at the Martial Alliance''s Lanzhou Branch in Gansu and the Kongtong Sect. Through them, it spread to the entire Martial Alliance.
The Blood Cult''s uprising!
The peace that hadsted for a long time was broken. Compared to this incident, the Seven Swords War was child''s y.
In the face of the possibility of a massacre, the murim held its breath and focused on the Blood Cult''s movements.
***
Hefei, the Martial Alliance.
"Ugh, so it''s finally happening." Nangong Weiwu muttered, frowning deeply.
This wasn''tpletely unexpected. He had assumed that something like this would happen as the Evil Valley''s power weakened.
"We can finally teach those annoying Blood Cult bastards a lesson!" Peng Junping said, grinning with excitement.
"Are you that eager for war?" Huang Jian asked, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
"Hmph. The Peng Family doesn''t fear Blood Cult bastards," Peng Junping snorted.
"Are there any movements from the Demon Cult?" Nangong Weiwu asked Zhuge Zhonghao.
"Not yet."
"Hmm, I''m worried."
Although the Demon Cult and the Blood Cult were collectively called the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages, they weren''t actually that close.
While the Demon Cult and the Blood Cult sometimes worked together out of necessity, they generally had little to do with each other. Their differences in beliefs and what they worshipped often led to conflict. However, their simr dispositions meant they were still on better terms with each other than with the rest of the Central ins.
Though there was no specific reason for the Demon Cult to join the Blood Cult in battle, an invasion of the Central ins could be reason enough for them to cooperate, at least temporarily.
However, since there was no news, the Martial Alliance began to worry that there may be something going on behind the scenes.
"Elder Huang, investigate the Demon Cult''s movements."
"I will do so."
"First, we will begin preparing for the Great War of Good and Blood."
The Great War of Good and Blood!
Over five thousand troops were gathering at Yumen Passthat much was certain.
As soon as the Martial Alliance heard the news, they sent letters to key figures dering a mobilization order to dispatch troops.
The Nine Sects and One Gang, as well as the Five Great Ancient Families, had already been informed and quietly began preparations for war.
Smaller and medium-sized sects of the Righteous Faction also scrambled to muster what forces they could, gritting their teeth as they said, "It''s finally happening."
Meanwhile, others were a bit more enthusiastic.
"Smells like money!"
War was money. Merchants quickly sprang into action, sensing the opportunity for profit. Among them were the Gold Will Merchants.
Li Yicai, who had recently joined the ranks of the Great Merchants, moved briskly, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He could sniff out profit like a hound tracking prey.
Warriors, merchants, ordinary people, even the imperial government offices were on high alert.
"We won''t move."
Evil Valley decided to wait with minimal preparation. The Blood Cult''s target was obvious anyway.
The weakened Evil Valley seemed to have been put on the back burner because the cult thought they could deal with it at any time.
As the Righteous Faction was close by, there was nothing to worry about. It was more important for them to recover from the rebellion than to concern themselves with the Blood Cult.
***
The Dark Heavens Association.
"Finally"
A sharp light shone in Blessed Existence''s eyes.
"I''ve been waiting for this day."
The days had been so hectic that it was hard to breathe.
Recent failures had left him seething with frustration, grinding his teeth and trembling with rage. Just hearing the words ''Plum Blossom Order Sword'' or ''Phantom Bow Swordsman'' was enough to make his blood boil.
After enduring days of waiting and carefully building his ns, he was ready. This time, his grand n would not fail.
And today, without anyone''s interference, he finished what he had prepared.
An astronomical amount of money and manpower had been spent, but the results made it worthwhile.
"Before the advent of the Dark Heavens, the Central ins will be stained with blood."
***
A horse skidded to a halt, kicking up a cloud of sand.
"Urgent, urgent! Urgent they''re all ugh!"
The messenger was covered in sword wounds, his entire figure drenched in blood as though he had bathed in it.
"What''s going on?"
The Crescent Lake Gate Master, You Xiaofeng, rushed in with a physician.
When the physician examined the messenger, he shook his head grimly, signaling there was no hope. Seeing this, You Xiaofeng grabbed the messenger and imbued him with qi. He took out a water bottle and helped the man drink.
"Wake up! Remember what your mission is! What''s going on?!"
"T-the Blood Cult ugh!"
The messenger spat blood, his pupils shaking.
"Two thousand crossed the Yumen Pass"
He copsed, unable to say more, but his message was clear.
"Thank you for your sacrifice."
You Xiaofeng closed the messenger''s eyes and let out a sigh.
"It''s only been a week, and half of them have already passed the Yumen Pass just what the hell is going on?"
The Yumen Pass was the border between the Central ins and the Frontier. Naturally, it wasn''t managed by the murim but the imperial government. That was why the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages, who were a group of lunatics and not even normal martial artists, couldn''t just cross over whenever they wanted.
So, in order to invade, they were forced to sneak in through hidden crossings or split their forces into small groups and cross over little by little, which took a long time.
Even with a force of two thousand, it would take more than a week, and that didn''t even involve the required meetings of the imperial government and official approval.
As martial artists, they possessed the power to invade and even overthrow the country. Because of this, even though the imperial government generally stayed out of murim affairs, they still had to carefully review any reports of Blood Cult movementsespecially when the suspected number exceeded five thousand troops.
It was naturally suspicious that something which should have taken at least half a month had been aplished in just a week.
This is a problem.
You Xiaofeng''s face turned pale.
The Righteous Faction murim had just started gathering and dispatching their forces. No matter how fast they moved it would still take them time to get to Mount Mingsha.
If the Blood Cult''s forces had truly invaded earlier than expected, it would be nearly impossible to stop them.
"Send an emergency message to the Kongtong Sect and request troops! Quickly!"
As a border region, Gansu didn''t have many sects. Fortunately, the Kongtong Sectone of the Nine Sects and One Gangwas close enough to respond.
"What response did we get from the Kunlun Sect?"
Qinghai was right below Mount Mingsha, and the Kunlun Sect was in Qinghai. However, they, too, needed help.
"The Kunlun Sect can''t help because they''re monitoring Demon Cult in case of an emergency!"
"Damn it! Contact the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect in Shaanxi!"
You Xiaofeng''s expression darkened.
***
Shaanxi, Mount Hua Sect.
As the sect worried about how to deal with Zhou Xuchuan, news of the Blood Cult''s activities suddenly arrived.
As expected, discussions about the Violet Haze Divine Art were suspended.
While the Violet Haze Divine Art was important, it couldn''t take priority over the Martial Alliance''s mobilization order.
Being closer to Gansu, Mount Hua treated the situation with more urgency than other Righteous Faction sects. Preparations for war began swiftly, and disciples outside the sect were called back.
As they prepared, the Lanzhou Branch of the Martial Alliance in Gansu urgently requested support.
"Half of the Blood Cult''s troops have already arrived?"
"What kind of sorcery did they use to aplish that?!"
The Mount Hua Sect was also flustered after hearing the news.
The Blood Cult''s invasion wasn''t entirely unexpected. What caught everyone off guard was the speed of their troop movements.
"It seems like they bribed the officials."
"Even so, it''s not like it''s just one or two of them, but thousands of troops. Is that really possible?"
Ling Zhen tilted his head with a puzzled expression.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Hmph! They must have used some sort of sorcery, then!"
Whatever the reason for the Blood Cult''s rapid advance, it became clear that they had to act fast.
"No matter how I look at it, I think we need to mobilize the Plum Blossom Swordsmen." Shen Yulian said after much thought.
The other Five High Elders of Mount Hua agreed.
To mobilize the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, the elite and highest-ranking unit of Mount Hua, they needed the approval of its leader, Wei Zhijie.
Wei Zhijie was currently in a closed-off training with the Swordsmen Initiates. While his training was important and ideally shouldn''t be interrupted, the urgency of the situation left them no choice.
Dark Heavens Association!
Zhou Xuchuan clenched his fists, memories of his previous lifeing to mind.
In his previous life, even in the midst of the Great Era of War and Chaos, the Blood Cult had been moved by the Dark Heavens Association.
They infiltrated the Blood Cult, supplying them with artifacts and demonic techniques that enhanced their sorcery while whispering in their ears, "With this power, you can get whatever you want. Use them as sacrifices to open the Blood Cult Heavens."
Whether it was for their demonic arts or their sorcery arts, the Blood God Cult required human blood and flesh as sacrifices.
The amount of these sacrifices that were required was sorge that they brazenly ignored the naturalws of humanity, going so far as to sacrifice their own children.
As a result, they targeted the Central ins whenever they had a chance, and thanks to the Dark Heavens Association''s help and support, they were able to invade again.
This was something that should have urred muchter, but it seemed the timing had been pushed forward due to changes in the timeline.
It hasn''t been that long since you caused chaos in the Southern Jungles, and you''re already mobilizing the Blood Cult? You damned bastards!
Zhou Xuchuan cursed inwardly, gritting his teeth.
Can''t you take a break? How are you managing to n and execute so much in less than a year?
Strictly speaking, this wasn''t something that had been prepared in a short period of time. In truth, these ns had likely begun long before Zhou Xuchuan was even born.
However, unlike in his previous life, all of these things were happening in rapid session.
"Ha what kind of fate is this?!" Zhou Xuchuan sighed. He hadn''t had a moment to rest, constantly moving to prevent what would happen in the future.
He never got cocky. He always stayed alert and moved as though his feet were on fire.
If it were the Evil Valley or the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages that were the enemy, things would have ended long ago. That is, if there was no Dark Heavens Association.
"Blessed Existence, if you ever show your face in front of me" Zhou Xuchuan growled, clenching his fists tight. "I''ll beat you so hard your cheeks will peel off!"
1. These are real historical terms. The Crossing, or literally, ''To go out beyond the frontier,'' was the term used when people left the confines of the dynasty and went beyond the Great Wall through the Yumen Pass. The term Frontier, or literally ''beyond the confines of the Wall,'' is the term most often used to describe the Western Hignds and the apanying barbariannds. ?
2. One of the Singing Sand Dunes of the world, the name literally trantes to ''singing/crying sand mountain.'' ?
Chapter 213: A Mountain Of Corpses and a Sea Of Blood (1)
The Kongtong Sect of Gansu, the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect of Shaanxi. These three forces of the Nine Sects and One Gang sent a small number of elites to Mount Mingsha at the Crescent Lake Gate''s urgent request.
Everyone had moved as quickly as possible, but Mount Mingsha was so remote that it took them more than a few days to get there. That was enough time for the Blood Cult to run wild.
Near Mount Mingsha.
"Ahhh!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Crescent Lake, the mysterious crescent-shaped natural spring.
The sparsendscape of nts and trees, rarely seen in the desert, was now soaked in blood and filled with human screams.
Despite being a medium-sized sect, the Crescent Lake Gate was powerless against the Blood Cult''s attack.
Small and medium-sized sects from the surrounding areas, along with warriors dispatched from the Lanzhou Branch of the Martial Alliance, rushed to their aid. But the Blood Cult''s numbers were overwhelming.
"Kuhahaha!""Die!"
"Be sacrifices to our sect!"
Their blood-red eyes zed, and the maddening grins on their faces sent shivers down the spines of the onlookers.
The two thousand Blood Cultists that crossed the Yumen Pass first rushed at the Righteous Faction members who were waiting.
The Righteous Faction members who were not yet fully prepared for battle retreated in a panic, moving all the way back to Mount Mingsha.
"Get out of the way, you crazy bastards!"
At the frontlines, You Xiaofeng let out a deafening Lion Roar as he fought fiercely. He swung his yanyuedaoa massive 35-pound weaponwith such ease it felt like an extension of his body. Each swing was devastating.
Crunch.
"Ugh!"
With a sweeping motion, his de carved a crescent through the air, cutting a Blood Cultist cleanly in two and sending blood spraying everywhere.
"Ahahaha!"
"Die!"
Most people would have been terrified, but the Blood Cultists were different. They let out excited screams when they saw blood.
"You crazy bastards!" You Xiaofeng shouted, disgusted by their madness as he held his ground. "Not only are you not scared, but you''re getting even more fired up?!"
He could hear the frightened voices of the Righteous Faction members behind him.
Seeing the Blood Cult members charging forward without any fear of death was more terrifying than anyone could have imagined, forcing them to take hesitant steps back.
"Don''t back down! Get it together!" You Xiaofeng shouted back as he continued to fight.
"Reinforcements areing soon, just hold on a little longer!"
It was a lie, but one he told to boost morale.
However, his lies were meaningless as a horrifying scene unfolded before his eyes.
"Just what the hell is!"
Graaaaaah.
The voices of the dead flowed out of the Sanzu River, their cries bursting out into the world of the living.[1]
It started with the Blood Cultist You Xiaofeng had just killed. His upper torso dragged itself forward andtched onto a nearby martial artist''s leg, pulling him down.
"Agh!"
"W-what the hell is that?!"
Crunch.
His ash-colored pupils were lifeless and melted into the whites of his eyes.
For some reason, a dead man, who shouldn''t have been moving, had started to move and bit the body of a living man.
"Namu Amitabha, Avalokitesvara!"
Someone nearby began muttering a chant in fear. It wasn''t reinforcements from the Shaolin Templejust a frightened warrior reciting a prayer out of desperation. Unfortunately, the chant was useless.
"A jiangshi?" You Xiaofeng muttered.
No, could that really be called a jiangshi?
Somehow, it seemed slow.
They seemed to be moving sluggishly. For a walking corpse, it did resemble a jiangshi, but something about it felt offdifferent from what he knew.
Is it possible for it to just wake up immediately like this without any prior preparation?
Creating a jiangshi was a sorcery art that required a considerable amount of time and effort, even for the weakest kind.
You Xiaofeng didn''t know much about jiangshi, but he knew that it was impossible to wake one up immediately after death.
"Hmm, so that''s why things were moving so slowly. A member of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven is standing in the way."
"...!"
You Xiaofeng raised his head in surprise.
W-what''s with this death qi?!
Even the presumed jiangshi had felt strange, but the aura he sensed now was on an entirely different level. A chill ran down his spine. His bones quaked, cold sweat poured down his back, and his lips dried out as his heart raced wildly. His trembling eyes were fixated on a monstrous figure holding a six-foot stone staff.
"As expected of the Central ins murim. It was hard to find usable corpses in the Frontier, but here, there are so many."
"Y-you, you aren''t"
You Xiaofeng almost dropped his sword.
The creature standing before him was like nothing he''d ever seen. Its face was unnervingly pale, nearly white, with patches of torn flesh exposing muscle and even bone. A jagged tear ran from the corner of its right lip down to its left cheek, leaving the insides exposed. Sunken eye sockets held tiny bloodshot pupils that red like burning coals. On its back was a blood-red casket which wasrge enough to fit a person.
There was only one person in the murim, no, in the entire world, who looked like this.
"Blood Demon!"
The Blood Cult Leader (Ѫ) of the Ten Empyrean Overlords (ʮ).
Blood Demon (Ѫħ).
I-impossible!
tter, tter!
Someone nearby trembled as their teeth chattered.
"T-the Blood Demon?!"
The title of Ten Empyrean Overlords was a heavy one.
The pinnacle of martial arts, warriors who had transcended human limits. Their strength was absolute.
They had the strength of a hundred, no, a thousand. Their power was immeasurable.
"R-run away!"
"How are we expected to beat something like that?!"
In the end, the morale of the Righteous Faction reached rock bottom, and one by one, warriors began to flee. The horrifying scenes they had witnessed were enough to break anyone''s spirit, and now, the Absolute Master Blood Demon had appeared before them.
Even with You Xiaofeng, one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven, leading them, there was no way they could hold out. The difference in power was simply too overwhelming.
"I''ll hold them off! Everyone else, retreat!"
You Xiaofeng made the only choice he could as amander. They couldn''t win against the Blood Demon, and their allies were already overwhelmed by the enemies'' numbers. The original n to hold out for reinforcements was now impossible.
"Retreat!"
The Righteous Faction members, who had been hesitating, not knowing what to do, turned and ran the moment they heard themand.
"Gate Master!"
"We''ll stand with you!"
Most of the warriors belonging to the small and medium-sized sects and the Martial Alliance fled. However, the disciples of the Crescent Lake Gate stood firm.
"W-what are you doing!" You Xiaofeng shouted in anger, but the disciples pretended not to hear him.
"This is our home, Crescent Lake."
"We can''t just abandon it."
"I don''t want to be a coward."
"If we can buy even a little more time, it''ll be worth it."
Although they may not be rted by blood, they were still disciples who were connected by something much deeper than just chance.
They smiled at one another, though it was likely bravado masking their fear. Still, those smiles stirred something deep in You Xiaofeng''s heart, filling him with a bittersweet pride.
I can''t let myself get pushed back here!
He bit his lip, forcing his trembling legs to steady and calming his racing heart. Slowly, a burning resolve surged within him, recing his fear with determination.
"Proud heroes of the Crescent Lake Gate! Listen up!"
Raising his yanyuedao high, its crescent de gleamed with a bluish aura, lighting the area around them.
"Even if we die here, our names will be remembered with honor! Our sacrifice will not be meaningless!"
"ROAR!!!!"
"Let''s go!"
You Xiaofeng smiled brightly.
***
The Crescent Lake Gate Master cut down anyone in his path. If an enemy turned to flee, he would cleave their backs in two with his yanyuedao. If they pressed forward, he would relentlessly pursue and strike them down to ensure they couldn''t chase the retreating Righteous Faction members.
At times, he fought back-to-back with his disciples to fight their enemies. The Crescent Lake Gate disciples didn''t fear death and bravely swung their yanyuedaos.
"Ugh!"
"The Crescent Lake Gate betrayed the Righteous Faction!"
"They''ve all gone crazy! N-no!! Save me ugh!"
A Mountain Of Corpses And a Sea Of Blood (ʬɽѪ).
The corpses piled up like mountains, and blood flowed like the sea.
You Xiaofeng felt some relief at the scene before him. At least, the sacrifice of the Crescent Lake Gate wouldn''t be in vain. He believed that with all his heart.
***
As summer ended and fall began, the Blood Sect attacked the Central ins murim.
The five thousand troops, using some kind of sorcery, crossed the Yumen Pass earlier than expected and entered the Central ins.
Although the Righteous Faction forces of Gansu, including the Crescent Lake Gate of Mount Mingsha, tried to stop them, they failed miserably. Shockingly, the Blood Cult Leader, who would typically remain in the rear or center of the formation, led the charge, ughtering the Righteous Faction members himself.
To make matters worse, the murim heard some unbelievable news from the survivors.
"They say that the Blood Cultists don''t die even when they''re killed."
"I knew their sorcery was strange, but I never imagined it would be this horrifying."
"I don''t know how it''s happening, but they''re turning into jiangshi immediately"
Sorcery arts originally came from the Southern Jungles.
The Central ins had their own unique form of sorcery, one that refined and elevated the Southern Jungles sorcery arts.
The Jiangshi Art.
While the Demon Cult was also skilled in it, the Blood Cult was particrly good at manipting the Jiangshi Art, and among them, the Blood Demon''s mastery of the Jiangshi Art was unparalleled.
However, even with that, the current phenomenon of corpses bing jiangshi immediately after their death defied all logic.
People were terrified of the unknown, especially something that transcended life and death.
"They say that if you lose to the Blood Cult, you''ll end up wandering the underworld."
"I heard that the Martial Alliance abandoned Mount Mingsha without much resistance. Just what the hell are they doing?!"
"They''re just mouthy bastards!"
The people''s anxiety became delusions, and all sorts of strange rumors circted.
The Righteous Faction''s retreat from Mount Mingsha was a devastating blow to their honor, especially for the Martial Alliance.
Putting aside holding out for a little longer, how could they have retreated without even properly resisting?
In fact, there were even rumors that the Crescent Lake Gate members had all gone mad and were running wild, unable to distinguish between enemies and allies.
A few dayster, the Blood Cult, that had nothing to fear, advanced from Dunhuang (ػ) without meeting significant resistance.
Since the Hexi Corridor () leading to Lanzhou was in front of them, their forces advanced rapidly.
Crossing the desert should have been difficult, but strangely, the Blood Cult advanced without showing any signs of fatigue. In no time, they reached the outskirts of Lanzhou.
Around this time, reinforcements from the Mount Hua Sect, Zhongnan Sect, and Kongtong Sect, which You Xiaofeng had desperately requested, finally arrived.
But it was toote.
Most of the warriors of the Lanzhou branch of the Martial Alliance who had been dispatched to the frontlines, Mount Mingsha, and the small and medium-sized sects in Gansu that had quickly followed were annihted.
In the end, the two sects who arrivedte and the Kongtong Sect in Gansu had to cooperate to block the advance of the Blood Cult.
"The other troops, including the Exalted Sword Immortal, will arriveter, so we just have to hold out until then."
No matter how many elite experts there were among the Nine Sects and One Gang''s gathered forces, none of them would be able to defeat the Blood Demon.
After much thought, the Martial Alliance asked for help from the Exalted Sword Immortal, who was the closest of the Ten Empyrean Overlords.
However, sending a sect leader to the frontlines wasn''t a decision made lightly. After a lengthy meeting, it was decided that he would join the rearguard.
The problem was that it would take at least three days for him to arrive. Could they hold the Blood Cult''s forces back without an Empyrean Overlord during that time?
"Whew"
Lanzhou, Gansu Province.
Zhou Xuchuan opened his half-lidded eyes, staring coldly at the deste horizon and the sandstorm-filled desert.
1. A Japanese Buddhist concept, the Sanzu River, or the Three Worlds River, is the boundary to the afterlife one must cross after death. Simr to the Yellow Springs or the River Styx. ?
Chapter 214: A Mountain Of Corpses And a Sea Of Blood (2)
Chapter 214: A Mountain Of Corpses And a Sea Of Blood (2)
Can we really endure it?
Zhou Xuchuan knew the horrors of the Blood Demon well.
In his previous life, during the Era of War and Chaos, he had fought in the Invasion of the Blood Cult. Even now, the memory of that living nightmare sent shivers down his spine.
The more you fought, the more the monsters grew!
The true horror of the Blood Cult was their fearless madness and their limitless numbers.
No matter how many they killed, their numbers never seemed to dwindle. In fact, they only increased. What was even more shocking was that among their reanimated enemies were their own alliesthose they had once fought beside in life.
The Blood Demon, a one-man army!
The Blood Demon wasnt on the frontlines without reason. He was there to obtain the freshest corpses, which he would turn into jiangshi.
Though he was one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords, the Blood Demon was more of a sorcerer than a warrior. That was why he had often been underestimated before he appeared on the frontlines.As a sorcerer, not a martial artist, most believed he wouldnt be much of a threat.
But this carelessness turned into bitter regret. The number of people who lost their lives to his blood-stained hands had reached the thousands, and each one swore loyalty to him after death.
What the martial artists truly feared was that they would end up on the Blood Cult''s side after death and take the lives of their family and friends.
We can''t do this alone.
They could no longer rely on the same strategies.
Zhou Xuchuan also sent letters to ces that could help, such as the Gold Will Sword Sect, before leaving Mount Hua Sect, asking for reinforcements.
A war could not be fought alone. They had to join forces and try to hold the line before the rearguard arrived.
Lanzhou Martial Alliance barracks.
Since this was a war among martial artists, fighting in the middle of Lanzhou wasnt an option. Instead, they set up barracks a little further away and made it their base.
The Martial Alliance g fluttered in the middle of the desert.
In themand barracks, key figures from the Righteous Faction''s Martial Alliance took their seats and continued their conversation.
The Blood Cults forces havent decreased, but at least they havent grown either. Theyre still at five thousand," the Lanzhou Branch Manager, Tou Zhong, said.[1]
"The Blood Cult shouldn''t have so few members, though" said the First Demon Subduing Sword Zhi Yunbo, a renowned expert of the Kongtong Sect.
The expert of the Mount Hua Sect, the Fourteenth Sword Hero Qiu Feng, frowned.
The Blood Cult rarely revealed themselves publicly, but their numbers had always beenrge and consistenttypically eight to ten thousand members. Yet, for the Central ins invasion, only half their forces had shown up, which should have required their full strength. It didnt add up.
Qiu Feng suspected there might be a trap waiting in the shadows.
"No matter their numbers, it doesnt change anything. We just need to kill them all."
The expert of the Kongtong Sect, the First Demon Subduing Sword Zhi Yunbo (ħһ), had a cold glint in his eyes.
Thats right.
The old nun of the Mount Heng Sect agreed with Zhi Yunbos words. She was the Absolute Transformations Plum Sword (~÷׃), Shui Jing.
Hmm
Finally, the junior brother of the Sect Master and greatest expert of the Zhongnan Sect, the Milky Way Sage (yώ), let out a heavy sigh.
Lanzhou was now filled with famed experts. It was only natural, as the forces had sent their elites first to provide urgent support.
Most were renowned masters of their sects and well-known within the murim.
"ording to the intelligence that just came in, they''re about a day''s journey away."
Tou Zhong, a middle-aged man with a face tanned from living in a desert like Lanzhou, exined the current situation.
"Even better! No need to wait another four days, Ill teach the Blood Cult a lesson myself!"
Zhi Yunbos eyes gleamed with murderous intent. As the First Demon ying Sword, it was no surpriseany mention of the Demonic Paths Two Lineages was enough to make him tremble with rage and grit his teeth.
While most of the Righteous Faction disliked cultists, the Kongtong Sect was a sect that had many shes with the Demonic Path. Their hatred ran deep.
"We''ll get in big trouble if we act rashly."
All eyes turned toward the speaker.
"Hmph! They called you a hero, but that seems to be aplete lie. Are you afraid of the Blood Cult, Plum Blossom Order Sword? Shui Jing muttered with a disdainful snort.
Most of those present were in their thirties or forties, with the rest being older.
With age came more time to refine qi and gain experience, so it was no surprise that most of the elite forces were older members. However, there was one exception: Zhou Xuchuan.
Despite his age, no one questioned his presence. He was still one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven recognized by the murim, and the hero of the Righteous Faction who had a significant influence on their morale.
"Please refrain from speaking rudely, Absolute Transformations Plum Sword." Qiu Feng said with a frown, clearly disapproving of Shui Jings words.
"I was just telling the truth, Fourteenth Sword Hero."
The Mount Hua Sect and the Mount Heng Sect hadn''t been on good terms since ancient times. So whenever they met like this, they would argue.
Ha, what a headache.
Tou Zhong, trying to mediate, found himself in a difficult position.
The rift between the two sects was deeper than hed realized, far beyond anything his intervention could solve.
When he heard the Five Mountain Sword Sects Alliance would send reinforcements, he had prayed it wouldnt be Mount Hua and Mount Heng. Unfortunately, his prayers had gone unanswered.
"The Plum Blossom Order Sword is right. The purpose of the forward guard is to defend, not to attack. Moreover, it''s like we''re going to be retreating, isn''t it?"
Tou Zhong was secretly delighted to hear the Milky Way Sage supporting them.
"The Blood Cult''s army still only numbers five thousand. What are you going to do if they''re nning on waiting for the other five thousand to show up?" Zhi Yunbo objected.
"Maybe the army in front of us is nothing but their rabble. If thats the case, wouldnt this be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to defeat them all?
I agree with the First Demon ying Sword, Shui Jing added. Even if their numbers in Lanzhou are small, arent they all elites?
No. That is exactly what the Blood Demon wants. Zhou Xuchuan said, tly rejecting their n.
Even if its a trap, it doesnt matter. Theres nothing to fear from the Blood Cult anyway. We''ll just destroy them all.
There''s no reasoning with them.
He almost shouted, Shut up, you reckless fool! He couldn''t believe that there could be someone this reckless.
He knew that the Kongtong Sect was hostile to the Demonic Path, but he didn''t know that they hated them to this degree.
"Please calm down. The Plum Blossom Order Sword seems to have something in mind. Lets hear him out first. The Milky Way Sage said, trying to calm Zhi Yunbo down.
Zhou Xuchuan gave a brief nod of thanks before addressing the room. As all eyes turned to him, he began, Have you heard the recent rumors about the Blood Cults forces?
"That youll be resurrected as a jiangshi if you die on the battlefield against the Blood Cult?"
Zhou Xuchuan nodded at Qiu Fengs answer.
"That must be the delusions of people that are scared."
"Exactly. Jiangshi arent that easy to create, Qiu Feng reluctantly agreed with Shui Jings point.
"That''s right. As you all know, a jiangshi utilizes an essence that has lost its spirit and moves through the remaining qi within one''s meridians."
The essence was the body.
The spirit was the mind, heart, and consciousness.
Death was the loss of one''s spirit. However, the qi within the meridians lingered for a while after death.
It was only that since one''s life force disappears from the body, leaving behind only death, the nature of the qi converts to death qi ().
Over time the death qi escapes as the body decays before eventually disappearingpletely.
However, with the Jiangshi Art, a corpses remaining qi could be fixed in ce and controlled to reanimate the body.
If the process was performed quickly enough, fragments of the deceaseds consciousness and thoughts could remain, creating a living jiangshi capable of using the martial arts it had practiced in life.
However, this process isn''t, Zhou Xuchuan continued. The corpsemaster has to not only obtain the body, but also perform all sorts of procedures before creating the jiangshi. Only then would the jiangshi be able to move."
When did Xuchuan learn so much about sorcery arts?
Qiu Feng was impressed by the extent of Zhou Xuchuans knowledge.
While Mount Hua was also a Daoist Sect, most of their studies were focused on the sword.
Throughout the gangho, people often called the Mount Hua Sect ''perverts who only feel sexual desire for swords.
Despite being Daoists, they were almostpletely ignorant about Daoist Spells.
"Even for skilled corpsemasters, it would take a week or two at least. However, there''s something that can instantly shorten this process."
"And what''s that?"
The artifact, the Death Yin Staff ().
Artifact!
The mention of an unexpected artifact drew groans from the group.
"Hmm, an artifact"
Artifacts were tools imbued with mysterious powers. However, to martial artists, or more precisely, martial artists who valued martial arts that focused on the ultimate form of self-discipline, training oneself to reach the pinnacle, artifacts weren''t particrly important.
Artifacts were rare and difficult to find. Even if one was usable, only a handful of people possessed them. Moreover, most martial artists believed it was better to dedicate themselves to refining their martial arts instead of relying on artifacts.
Artifacts were seen as objects that were ''good to have if you''ve got one, but not something worth seeking out if you dont.''
"Wait! By the Death Yin Staff, do you mean?!" The Milky Way Sage eximed as realization struck.
"You''ve heard of it?" Tou Zhong asked.
"ording to legend, its a stone staff capable of freely manipting surrounding death qi and yin qi, the Milky Way Sage exined.
As expected, you''ve heard of it.
Zhou Xuchuan apuded the Milky Way Sages answer.
The Death Yin Staff was an artifact passed down to the Blood Demon by the Dark Heavens Association.
"I never could have considered it. If that''s the case, it''s definitely possible for them to turn into jiangshi on the spot."
The Death Yin Staff worked by preventing death qi from escaping a corpse, bypassing the usual process of binding the spirit to the body and having to adjust it so that the jiangshi could move. That meant that it was possible to instantly turn corpses into jiangshi.
Of course, the artifact wasnt something just anyone could use.
The Death Yin Staff wasn''t something that could be used without the proper strength. It required a high level of stamina and qi maniption ability, while also consuming immense amounts of qi. One also needed to have a high cultivation or sorcery mastery.
But for the Blood Demon, none of those conditions really mattered.
Then, if what youre saying is true, were just food for the jiangshi. Should we not fight at all, then? Zhi Yunbo asked in an unpleasant tone.
"Its not that extreme, Zhou Xuchuan replied evenly. But the idea still stands, its wiser to avoid fighting as much as possible.
"If our army fights, we''ll suffer losses. However, the Blood Cult is different. Even if they lose a lot, they can make up for their losses through our corpses. So its barely a loss to them, give or take. However, since we''re already small in number, every loss is critical."
Zhou Xuchuan exined the current situation in an easy-to-understand manner.
The good news is that the Jiangshi revived through the Death Yin Staff aren''t as strong as regr Jiangshi. Thankfully, they''re a bit less durable in return for being made hastily. If we hold them here without pushing too far, we shouldn''t have any need to worry."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I refuse to listen to this any longer!"
Bam!
Zhi Yunbo mmed his fist into the table, shattering it.
"The Blood Cult is right in front of us. It''s already frustrating to be told to defend without advancing forward, and now you''re seriously standing here telling me not to fight at all?!"
His face turned bright red with anger.
"As someone who bears the title of the Demon yer, do you really think I''d tolerate that, you coward?! Learn what shame is!"
Listen, calm down.
The Milky Way Sage tried to stop Zhi Yunbo, but it was no use.
Youre not a hero of the Righteous Faction, youre a coward of the Righteous Faction! Besides, if these Jiangshi are weaker than your average ones, they''re just mere rabble, so why aren''t we just destroying them? After we kill the Blood Demon, their corpsemaster, we can take that Death Yin Sword or whatever away from them!"
"If that were possible, I wouldn''t even be having this conversation. It''s impossible for us to break through that army and kill the Blood Demon."
"Toddler of the Mount Hua sect, you really are scared then! Know that you bring shame to your sect! Enough, talking is over!"
Zhi Yunbo red at Zhou Xuchuan with disgust, then stepped outside themand barracks.
If youre so scared, hide or run awaydo whatever you want! I, the First Demon ying Sword, and the Kongtong Sect will personally kill the Blood Demon!
1. His name means Head Bell, lmao. ?
Chapter 215: Kongtongs Demon Slayer (1)
They failed.
While history wasnt unfolding exactly as it had in Zhou Xuchuan''s previous life, it was still simr.
Despite his attempts to calm and persuade them by exining the dangers of the Blood Demon, his words fell on deaf ears.
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue and began sorting through the situation mentally.
The good news is that the Righteous Faction isn''t as weakened as it used to be.
The Great War of Good and Blood was supposed to happen muchter.
The Great War of Good and Evil originally broke out immediately after the year-long Seven Swords War. The two factions fought endlessly for ten years.
In the midst of the war, the Demonic Path''s Two Lineages, the Demon Cult and the Blood Cult, had a civil war over the Secret Technique of a Great Demon Head, the Blood Muscle and Tendon ssic, which became the Demonic Path War.
By the end of the ten-year war, the power of the murim was severely weakened. That was when the Dark Heavens Association revealed themselves.By this point, the forces of the murim should havee to their senses and joined forces to resist the Dark Heavens Association. However, the reality was far bleaker than expected.
The Dark Heavens Association sabotaged their ns, using spies and traitors that they had nted within each faction for decades to prevent them from joining forces.
Some of these spies even secretly supported the Blood Cult, providing artifacts and resources to fuel their ambitionswhether the Blood Cult realized it or not.
As soon as the Blood Cult gained power, they were pushed by the Dark Heavens Association to invade the murim. The power they gained was extraordinary.
At that time, the Righteous Faction wascking in manpower due to the Great War of Good and Evil, making it difficult for them to stop the Blood Cult''s invasion.
The Kongtong Sect, blinded by its deep grudge against the Demon Cult and Blood Cult, suffered massive losses due to its reckless anger.
That loss of power led to their defeat. The Blood Cult''s forces, now stronger than ever, became a living nightmare.
I can''t bear to see that horrible sight again.
Zhou Xuchuan trembled so violently that his teeth ttered.
He thought back to when he saw his fellow disciples resurrected as jiangshi or used in strange sorcery or heretical arts in order to torment their allies.
He could count on one hand the nights he had been able to sleep with his legs stretched out. When the situation became dire, he even had to eat and sleep among the corpses.
While the Kongtong Sect is one thing, the Mount Heng Sect, whose members keep ring at me and opposing me at every turn, is also bing a problem.
The Mount Hua Sect, Zhongnan Sect, Kongtong Sect, and the Mount Heng Sect.
Fortunately, the Zhongnan Sect was friendly. However, the Kongtong Sect and the Mount Heng Sect couldnt have been more hostile. Far from allies, they were more like enemies in disguise. ???????
They kept insisting that they would finish all preparations that day and fight the Blood Cult forces the next day, so he couldn''t just let things go. Even if he didn''t care what happened to the Mount Heng Sect, if the elites of the Kongtong Sect werepletely wiped out here, it was obvious how the sect would act in future.[1]
It was clear what would happen if those impatient madmen, who could barely restrain their hatred for cultists, discovered that their disciples had been ughtered.
If that happened, it would create even more problems in the future battle against the Dark Heavens Association. Worse, it would also strengthen the Blood Cults forces.
Ha this fate of mine
The next day.
The Righteous Faction members of Gansu gathered in one ce.
They stood in the Gobi Desert, slightly distanced from the city itself. The desert was littered with towering rock structures, providing shade from the zing sun. Without those rocks, the warriors might have been exhausted by the heat before the battle even began.
Hundreds of people were waiting under the wide shade. Perched on top of the structures, scouts looked around.
There were a thousand members of the Martial Alliance, a thousand members gathered from the small and medium-sized sects of Gansu, and a thousand and three hundred members of the major sects.
Mount Hua, Zhongnan, and Mount Heng each brought a hundred men, while the Kongtong Sect alone brought a thousand.
Considering that they were based in Gansu, that wasn''t all that surprising. In addition to their elites, they had also mobilized their ordinary disciples.
With a total of about three thousand three hundred men, their numbers were fewer than the Blood Cult''s forces, but none of the warriors felt their strength wascking.
The Righteous Faction had the smallest numbers among the Three Major Factions, but their smaller size was offset by the higher average cultivation and skill of their memberspared to the other two factions.
Ah!
A startled cry came from a scout stationed atop a rock five zhang high.
I can see the Blood Cult''s forces!
At his shout, the resting warriors sprang to their feet, eyes narrowing.
Woosh!
Far off in the distance, a dust storm rose, kicked up by the marching Blood Cult army. The sight of five thousand troops moving in unison was overwhelming.
As they crossed the desert, the noise of their approach was drowned out by the thunder of their footsteps, sending waves of dust into the air.
"I see new sacrifices!"
Dye the world with blood!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Lets fill the Yellow River with the blood of these martial artists!
Far from being afraid, the Blood Cult approached quickly, their eyes zing, as if they were deliberately seeking out the battlefield.
The Blood Cult''s momentum was so overwhelming that the members of the small and medium sects hesitated, unwilling to engage.
"Hmph! All of you are nothing but cowards!" Zhi Yunbo snorted.
Lets make the Demon yer name known to the world!
RAH!
The disciples of the Kongtong Sect stood at the forefront bravely, showing no signs of fear.
Rumble!!
Five thousand against three thousand and three hundred.
The first sh of the Great War of Blood and Demon took ce.
Having pushed through the sandstorm, the Blood Cult forces entered the rocky terrain and shed with the Righteous Faction, scattering stones with the force of their attacks.
"Agh!"
"Ugh!"
"Die!"
ng, ng, ng, ng, ng!
Swords cut through flesh, spraying blood. Sparks flew as metal shed, filling the air with the sound of steel gnashing against steel.
The martial artists of the Righteous Faction shed with the Demonic Path cultists, their shouts echoing across the battlefield, filled with bloodlust and hatred.
Unleash the Wandering Demon Sword Formation!
To most, Zhi Yunbo''s personality was extremely tiring.
He hurled insults at cultists and often abused his authority as a member of the Nine Sects and One Gang and looked down on those with less power.
But no one could deny his skill.
He was one of the most powerful members of the Kongtong Sect and a member of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven. His skills werent limited to individual martial prowess; he was also an excellentmander, and many within his sect followed his lead without hesitation.
The disciples of the Kongtong Sect fought against the Blood Cult as if they were of one mind.
Ha!
To an outsider, it looked like the Kongtong Sect was fiercely pushing forward without pause, ready to tear through the Blood Cult at any moment. But the reality was more strategic.
The more one practiced demonic arts, the more one lost reason and gave in to primal instincts. As a result, most cultists became crazed, focusing solely on attacking with little regard for their lives. Many would recklessly trade their lives just to kill an opponent.
The Kongtong Sect, however, had a different approach. Its members were sane enough to value their own lives, so they had developed a defensive strategy to minimize risk.
They fought carefully, conserving their physical strength and stamina by focusing on blocking or avoiding attacks and striking only when there were clear openings.
"Demon ying Sword Squadron!"
The Kongtong Sects elite.
This was the Kongtong Sects elite unit, specialized inbating cultists. The squadron consisted of exactly one hundred members.
"Show them the power of the Thirty-Six Swords to y a Demon!"
Thirty-six sword forms were performed in session to y the demons.
The Blood Cult couldnt withstand the Kongtong Sects assault and fell helplessly.
Aah!
Agk!
Ugh!
The beginning of this feud between the Kongtong Sect and the Demonic Path was nothing special.
The name ying Demon wasn''t originally intended to subdue demons, it was just a title attached to them.
However, as time passed,ter generations came up with the strange interpretation that ''Demons must be in.''[2]
After that, whenever they went out into the world of the murim, they took the lead in ying demons in order to live up to the name Demon yer.
The Righteous Faction and the general public praised the activities of the Kongtong Sect, and eventually, Demon yer became the title that represented the Kongtong Sect.
The problem arose when members of the Demonic Path, eager to prove their strength, began targeting the Kongtong Sect to build their reputations.
What started as minor skirmishes eventually escted into a deep-seated grudge. Over time, these battles for reputation turned into an ongoing cycle of revenge, growing more severe with each encounter.
"It''s a living jiangshi!"
A scream broke out in the middle of the battle and a jiangshi appeared among the Blood Cult.
Like the regr jiangshi, their skin was pale, but their movements were a little different. They weren''t as stiff, and moved very fluidly.
In addition, they were able to use qi aura and their martial techniques. It was clear that they were living jiangshi.
Get out of the way!
Zhi Yunbo charged forward, his sword raised high.
Living jiangshi? These pathetic things are no match for me! he shouted, his de glowing with a bluish haze as he activated his sword aura.
Squelch!
While sword qi was ineffective against the hard bodies of jiangshi, sword aura was a different matter entirely, it could cut through anything.
Die! Zhi Yunbo roared as his Demon ying Sword tore through the jiangshi.
Meanwhile, it wasn''t just the Kongtong Sect that moved actively. The other two thousand three hundred warriors also fought, putting their lives on the line against the Blood Cult.
The forces split into two groups.
The Mount Heng Sect supported the Kongtong Sect, whileThe Mount Hua Sect and Zhongnan Sect fought alongside the Martial Alliance and other Righteous Faction sects in Gansu.
"Ha!" Zhou Xuchuan took a deep breath before swinging his sword.
As Zhou Xuchuan performed his twenty-four sword forms, Blood Cult members and jiangshi fell before him, their blood sttering across the battlefield.
Something is strange.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning the battlefield.
When someone died, they would resurrect as jiangshi on the spot. However, they weren''t that strong, so it wasn''t threatening yet.
Why is it so easy?
Even though things were going easily, it was too easy.
Not having trouble wasn''t strange, considering that the elites of the Righteous Faction were gathered here. However, the sinking feeling of anxiety wouldn''t go away.
"Ha!"
A gust of wind roared from the side as the swordsmen of the Mount Hua Sect killed the Blood Cult members with dazzling swordy.
Meanwhile, the warriors of the Zhongnan Sect, led by the Milky Way Sage, demonstrated extraordinary strength, while Lanzhou Branch Manager Tou Zhong valiantlymanded the rest of the troops.
Where''s the Blood Demon?
They had been told the Blood Demon was leading the vanguard. At first, Zhou Xuchuan assumed the chaos of battle had obscured his view. But as time passed, there was still no sign of him.
Could this be a diversion?
He checked the rearguard, grasping at straws, but he couldn''t see anyone. He focused his qi on the meridians around his eyes to temporarily increase his vision and looked around again, but the result was the same.
"RAH!!"
Push forward!
Lets follow the Kongtong Sect!
The morale, which had been low before the battle, was now soaring. The fear that once gripped the warriors at the mention of the Blood Demon had vanished. Excitement filled the air as they swung their weapons, cutting down jiangshi and Blood Cult members alike.
After about two hours, a noticeable change urred. The Blood Cult forces began to retreat.
"The Blood Cult is fleeing!"
"As expected, they''re only rabble!"
"Hmph, the Hero of the Righteous Faction?! As expected, he''s just a coward!"
The Kongtong Sect cheered.
Though around three hundred warriors had lost their lives and had be jiangshi in the sh, they were swiftly dealt with.
"The First Demon ying Sword killed the living jiangshi!"
"As expected, hes worthy of the Demon yer title!"
"Follow the First Demon ying Sword!
The warriors of the Martial Alliance cheered.
The living jiangshi were difficult to deal with due to how hard it was to inflict injuries on them, even when using aura.
However, Zhi Yunbo not only stood at the forefront but also dealt with the living jiangshi with ease before rampaging through the Blood Cult. Naturally, this boosted their morale.
The air was burning with excitement.
Now is the time! All advance!
Tou Zhong smiled brightly as he led the charge. Following his sword, which was serving as his army-leading baton, the Righteous Factions troops advanced forward.
At the front, the Kongtong Sect formed a wedge, driving straight toward the center of the Blood Cults troops.
Where is the Blood Demon?! Stop being a coward ande out!" Zhi Yunbo shouted excitedly.
Wait!
Zhou Xuchuans heart sank as realization struck.
No! Its a trap! Theyre nning to surround you!
Zhou Xuchuan even omitted his honorifics in his haste. Still, he poured all his qi into his voice to make it resonate across the battlefield.
"Even if were surrounded, theyll fall like autumn leaves before us! Whats there to worry about? Hahaha! Zhi Yunboughed, his confidence unshaken.
"If you have a brain, try using it to think for once!" Zhou Xuchuan shouted, unable to hold back his anger.
1. His view of the Mount Heng Sect may seem harsh, but remember, in his previous life, the Mount Heng Sect literally sold out the Mount Hua Sect to the Dark Heavens Association. They suck. ?
2. In Korean, the Kongtong Sect''s ?? literally reads ying Demon. To be Demon yer, it ''should'' have read ??. However, it eventually became ying Demons -> Demon yer. ?
Chapter 216: Kongtongs Demon Slayer (2)
Screech!
Dark brown wings cut through the sky in a horizontal streak. The sight of the powerful wings asionally pping was beautiful.
The battlefield reflected in the eagle''s sharp eyes, searching for prey.
The Kongtong Sect advanced in a wedge formation, cutting down anyone in their path. The Blood Cultists fell like autumn leaves to their swords.
Thanks to their strength, the Kongtong Sect reached the center of the battlefield without facing any obstacles.
Although the Martial Alliance had momentarily split into two groups, Tou Zhong quickly rallied his troops and hurried to follow the Kongtong Sect.
Stop! Its a trap! Its a trap!
It was a trap!
Zhou Xuchuan''s voice rang out desperately, his shout strong enough to rival the Shaolin Temple''s Lion Roar.Despite the chaos of the battlefield, his voice echoed through the mountains and pierced the ears of the Righteous Faction warriors.
Halt! Halt!
Tou Zhong, who had been calling for an advance just moments before, instinctively shouted for a stop. Startled by the power in Zhou Xuchuan''s voice, the word stop escaped his mouth before he realized it.
Why is he stopping us all of a sudden?!
Tou Zhong frowned in displeasure, turning to demand an exnation. But the moment he looked back, his irritation quickly turned into relief.
Agh!!
"Below us! There''s something underground!"
Rumble!
The ground shook as pebbles and rocks flew into the air. Cracks split open, and hands covered in sand emerged from below.
Human and skeletal hands grabbed the ankles of the Kongtong Sect martial artists who were charging forward.
Ugh!
Agk!
They fell, some breaking noses, others vomiting blood as their disrupted qi flows caused internal injuries.
"Jiangshi! So you''ve hidden them under the ground, too!"
Zhi Yunbo rolled away, breaking free from the hand gripping his ankle. He drove his sword into the ground.
Squelch!
What appeared to be solid rock split apart, oozing ckened blood that seeped into the sand.
Thud, thud, thud!
The jiangshi hiding in the ground jumped out, hundreds of them forming a secondary battle line.
To make matters worse, the blood cultists who had lost their lives at the hands of the Kongtong Sect were resurrected as jiangshi and joined them.
Just as Zhou Xuchuan had warned, the Kongtong Sect had walked into a trap.
The Mount Heng Sect, supporting them from behind, was also caught in the ambush.
Change formation!
Zhi Yunbo calmly gave the order without panicking.
Those still able to move formed a defensive circle around their forces, but it was clearthey were surrounded.
The only entrance, the path that they had made, was blocked by the jiangshi that had emerged from the ground.
"You think these tricks will scare me? This is nothing but wasted effort!" Zhi Yunbo snorted, slicing through the neck of a jiangshi in front of him.
Even if his personality or character were questionable, his status as one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven would never be questioned. His cultivation andmanding skills were excellent.
"As the First Demon ying Sword said! Disciples of Mount Heng, don''t panic and respond calmly!"
Shui Jing responded simrly. Her voice had the power to reassure the disciples of the Kongtong Sect and Mount Heng Sect.
It wasn''t for nothing that both of their sects had sent them as elites. While people could have doubted everything else, their skills were unquestionable.
However, their mistake was their arrogance. They underestimated their enemies, which was a fatal w.
"Huh?"
A Kongtong Sect disciple suddenly looked up.
Woosh!
The sandy ground copsed beneath him, and a geyser of sand shot upward as another hand emerged.
He expected it to grab his ankle like before, but this time was different.
The hand grabbed his leg and pulled him straight into the ground like a water ghost.[/ref]Ghosts of people who drowned that haunt bodies of water and drag victims under the water and drown them. The most simr monster in western fantasy is a grindylow.[/ref]
Ahh!
The disciple was swallowed by the sand as if sinking into quicksand. Terror gripped him.
Bang!
However, the hole he was sucked into was extremely narrow. It was too small for a human body to fit through.
The disciple caught by the unidentified hand let out a sigh of relief. However, that onlysted for a moment, as his face quickly distorted in pain, and a terrible scream burst out of his mouth.
"AGH! S-SAVE ME!"
Crunch!
His bones shattered, and his flesh waspressed as his body was crushed against the rocks at the holes entrance. Blood and fragments of bone stuck to the sides.
Normally, it should have stopped here as he blocked the entrance. However, an unidentified force still pulled his body from below.
In the end, his body copsed like deting dough and disappeared into the hole.
"W-what the hell?!" Shui Jing gasped, unable to look away from the horrific sight.
"AGH!"
"Ugh!"
S-save us!
"IT HURTS!"
The disciple of the Kongtong Sect was only the beginning. Screams erupted across the battlefield as martial artists were dragged underground.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
A hand that seemed to rise up out of nowhere shot out and grabbed bodies, dragged them into the ground and sucked each martial artist into the depths of the earth as if taking them to hell.
Soon after, dark crimson blood poured from the holes, and the faces of the nearby warriors turned pale.
"Ha?! What is this?!"
The Milky Way Sage couldn''t help but gape at the horrific sight.
"W-what the hell is going on here?!"
The Lanzhou Branch Manager, Tou Zhong, stopped walking. His mouth froze as his body trembled with a face full of shock.
Sweat formed on his forehead, and goosebumps appeared on his skin.
What would have happened if I had ignored the warning of Plum Blossom Order Sword?
Tou Zhong shuddered at the thought of being dragged underground by an unseen force.
It was enough to make even him, who, while he wasn''t one of the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven yet, was still a martial artist nearing the Transcendent Realm, freeze on the spot.
Just what kind of sorcery is that?!" someone shouted.
The troops divided in half didn''t dare to advance. They only dealt with the Blood Cultists, who asionally charged at them.
"Is there a type of jiangshi that lives underground?" Qiu Feng muttered incredulously.
The ones grabbing ankles are jiangshi, but those dragging people underground are cultists.
Everyone turned to Zhou Xuchuan.
Hey, Plum Blossom Order Sword. Do you know what''s going on over there?"
"Yes. It must be Mole Demonic Art (Bħ).
Zhou Xuchuan answered the Milky Way Sage''s questions.
"The Mole Divine Art?"
"It allows one to move freely underground like a mole and also morphs their hands into w-like animal limbs. Their strength is extraordinary, and in a surprise attack, they can easily defeat anyone."
Even as Zhou Xuchuan calmly exined, the Blood Cultists continued to charge forward. He cut them down, advancing steadily.
"Theyre surrounded from the front and the back, and now the Mole Cultists are attacking from below. If this continues, we wont be able to recover. We need to help them and create a new route for retreat!"
While many members of the Righteous Faction froze at the horrific sight, Zhou Xuchuan didn''t give in to his fear and stepped forward to rescue the others.
The Milky Way Sage was amazed at the sight of Zhou Xuchuan''s back.
It''s already surprising that the Blood Cultists, who seem to have lost their senses and have no thoughts, are using such tactics, but this boy is also amazing for seeing through them and warning us. What a strange demonic art this is.
Even the Milky Way Sage, who was considered a senior among the martial artists present, had no idea what the demonic art the cultists were using.
However, it wasnt strange that he didnt know because it hadnt been that long since the Mole Demonic Art had been invented.
There were many ways to make a jiangshi, one of which involved burying a living person underground and having them slowly age into a jiangshi. It was only after watching this process that one of the cultists of the Blood Cult identally gained enlightenment and invented the Mole Demonic Art.
After that, the Blood Cult even created a special unit focusing on the Mole Demonic Art, and its power became notorious even in his previous life.
You annoying little mole shits!
Zhou Xuchuans expression tightened as old memories surfaced.
The Blood Cults Demonic Mole Squadron!
They were the ones who had made him realize just how precious it was to be able to walk on the ground with peace of mind. While the swarming up from underground had stopped after the end of the Era of War and Chaos and the destruction of the Demonic Mole Squadron, it had taken him a long time to feel at ease again.
Do you even know how to deal with them?
The Milky Way Sage asked while fending off Blood Cultists. With each flick of his thumb and middle finger, the qi on his fingers left a trail of light like a shooting star.
Bang!
It was the Zhongnan Sect''s Milky Way Star Plucking Finger (yժָ). Every time he flicked his fingers, a hole appeared on the heads of the Blood Cultists and the jiangshi.
"For starters, everyone should use their qi sense to scan the ground."
Zhou Xuchuan changed the way he circted his qi. He activated his sixth sense and peered into the ground within a three-zhang radius.
While he didn''t know everything about the Mole Demonic Art, he knew that the practitioners moved through earth veins and the best method would be to check the flow of qi flowing underground.
As they moved closer to help the isted Kongtong and Mount Heng Sect disciples, another one or two of them were dragged underground as the Blood Cult blocked their way.
"You''re in the way!"
Zhou Xuchuan slid forward, the sword in his hand swinging brilliantly as it released sword qi.
The bundle of sword qi scattered into the air, leaving sword marks on the surrounding cultists and spraying blood everywhere.
"If you have the qi to spare, direct it toward your Yongquan acupoint and release it gradually! That alone can affect the earth veins and hinder the movements of the Demonic Mole Squadron!"
Zhou Xuchuan raised his voice, trying to get the others to hear him. While it wasn''t as loud as his shouting, it was loud enough because his voice had been imbued with qi.
"Then, theyll react in one of two ways! Either they''ll stop!"
Swish!
While he was shouting, he felt movement underground.
Sending qi through the Yongquan acupoint on the soles of one''s feet to the earth veins might hinder the movements of the mole cultists, but it wouldn''t make them immobile. Unless they were directly under one''s soles, they would just turn around.
Even if they were frozen under one''s soles, the nearby mole cultists would go to the frozen point through another vein to remove the cause of the veins obstruction.
"Or they''ll try to fight you!"
Zhou Xuchuan stamped his foot as he spoke.
He didnt simply tap the ground, he used the Thousand Catty Bast technique to increase his weight.
BOOM!
An explosion of qi erupted from his Yongquan acupoint. The Qi erupted from his Yongquan acupoint, sending shockwaves through the earth. The rocks beneath shattered.
As the ground exploded, the hand of the mole cultist, which was about to rise out from the depths, was crushed.
Seize the moment well, and dont miss the finishing blow!
Zhou Xuchuan flicked his wrist, reversing reversing his grip on his sword and stabbing downward with all his strength. The sword pierced the ground and stabbed the mole cultist.
Its easy, right? Lets save our allies this way!
While enemies attacked him from the front, he avoided them with minimal movement without even looking at them.
He pulled his sword free and swung it in a wide arc, creating a crimson fog of blood.
"..."
The people watching from behind were speechless.
How the hell do you expect me to do that?!
While activating qi sense wasnt difficult, detecting underground enemies while fending off attacks was nearly impossible for anyone below the Transcendent Realm.
The Milky Way Sage, Qiu Feng, Tou Zhong, and the others at the Transcendent Realm or higher were somehow able to follow along, but the other warriors were barely even able to attempt it.
Fortunately, most of the mole cultists were gathered in the middle of the Kongtong Sect and Mount Heng Sect disciples, meaning that the experts could take charge.
Good! They''re weaker than I thought!
In his previous life, he had struggled desperatelyto block them, but it was different in this life. There was no difficulty.
At this rate, Zhou Xuchuan thought he could easily break through and rescue his allies in danger.
However
Swoosh!
A sharp sound cut through the air, carrying a chill that sent shivers down Zhou Xuchuans spine.
Zhou Xuchuan bent his waist as if he were lying down, only moving his eyes to check.
A yanyuedao?
It was a single yanyuedao aimed at his upper body. He looked over to who its owner was, but it was an unfamiliar face.
The man''s face had a slight bluish tint, but his eyes looked dead, making it hard to tell if he was a human or a jiangshi.
"Crescent Lake Gate Master!" someone recognized him and shouted.
You Xiaofeng!
Zhou Xuchuan twisted his waist, his flesh and muscles folding in. The sword he was holding also drew a semicircle along with his waist. Because of the length of the yanyuedao, he couldn''t attack the Crescent Lake Gate Master''s body, so instead, he aimed for the wrist holding the weapon.
ng!
My sword bounced off?
Zhou Xuchuans eyes widened.
You Xiaofeng wasn''t a physical cultivation expert, so there was only one exnation.
Damn it! He turned a Harmony Realm Master into a jiangshi!
Chapter 217: Living Up to Ones Reputation (1)
It wasnt easy to turn a martial artistone who had been a master in lifeinto a jiangshi. This was especially true when the master in question had reached the Harmony Realm.
There was no way that a corpsemaster as strong as the Blood Demon would have turned a Harmony Realm Master into amon jiangshi, either.
As proof, You Xiaofeng showed an ability to move that amon jiangshi could never aplish.
Woosh!
With a twist of his wrist, he flipped the handle of his weapon. The de, which had been pointed at empty air, suddenly redirected toward Zhou Xuchuan on the opposite side.
Shing!
The yanyuedao left a streak of light as it sliced horizontally.
However, instead of a straight trajectory, the de changed course mid-swing, slicing downward to cleave Zhou Xuchuan, who had bent low to the ground as if lying down.
Heup!Zhou Xuchuan abruptly pulled his sword back and swung it upward to intercept the yanyuedaoing down from above.
ng!
The longsword and yanyuedao collided, sending sparks flying.
!
Startled, Zhou Xuchuan straightened his posture and stepped back.
He''s strong.
His wrist tingled from the sheer force of the blow.
You Xiaofeng had been a formidable Harmony Realm Master in life, but now, resurrected as a living jiangshi, he was an entirely different kind of opponent. The process that turned him into a jiangshi had made him even stronger.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I heard that the Celestial Gate Master had either gone mad or turned into a jiangshi, but I never thought it could be true"
Beside him, Qiu Feng gasped for breath, visibly exhausted.
By the way, isnt that a bit different from what you said before? Milky Way Sage asked as he also fixed his gaze on You Xiaofeng.
Didnt you mention that jiangshi created with the Death Yin Staff arent as strong because theyre hastily made?"
Zhou Xuchuan had seen him casually deflect a masters sword strike with nothing but his skin. That kind of toughness was far beyond anything normal.
"That that''s beyond my knowledge as well," Zhou Xuchuan admitted.
He had a general idea of what the Death Yin Staff did, but he didn''t know much about it in detail.
Considering it was an artifact that had gotten its fame from the Great War of Good and Blood, Zhou Xuchuan only knew its general abilities.
"Regardless, we don''t have much time. I''ll handle the Celestial Lake Gate Master, so could you quickly go rescue them?"
"Understood."
Meanwhile, the Kongtong Sect and the Mount Heng Sect were falling into more danger with every passing moment. They couldnt afford to lose any more forces, so Zhou Xuchuan and his allies stopped talking and focused on the battle.
"Please create a path through their forces, Milky Way Sage and Fourteenth Sword Hero! I''ll take care of the rest of the cultists and hold the line!"
Tou Zhong shouted as he took care of the jiangshi-turned Celestial Lake Gate disciples.
Woosh!
"It''s the mole cultists!"
Ugh!
From underground, mole cultists emerged, while blood cultists and jiangshi continued their relentless attack on the Martial Alliance.
Even though Zhou Xuchuan and his group werent deep in enemy lines, the assaults were unending.
Zhou Xuchuan issuedmands, and Tou Zhong followed without hesitation. At the least, he wasnt a fool who couldnt understand the situation.
Zhou Xuchuans reputation as a disciple of a major sect and a hero of the Righteous Faction gave him credibility with the battlefieldmander, but the situation in the enemys center was bing dire.
Ugh!
Agh!
With the sudden appearance of mole cultists, the Kongtong Sect and the Mount Heng Sect fell into chaos, their screams echoing across the battlefield. The blood cultists and jiangshi in front of them were already overwhelming, but the mole cultists'' hands rising from the ground was truly terrifying.
"No! Senior Brother! Come to your senses!"
"Agk!"
"Ugh! It''s me! I''m your Junior Brother!!"
But the most horrifying sight was their junior and senior brothers and sisters turning into jiangshi as they died. It was a nightmare no one ever wanted to faceseeing those they had lived and trained with be their enemies.
Even if they were jiangshi, and even if they weren''t very strong, how could anyone bring themselves to cut down a fellow disciple who had been breathing moments ago? This just wasn''t right.
Come to your senses!
Zhi Yunbo cleaved through the neck of a disciple who had turned into a jiangshi.
"Theyre not your fellow disciples anymore; theyre just jiangshi now!"
"But, Eldest Brother!"
"Don''t forget our Demon yer creed! If you don''te to your senses, you''re going to die!"
Zhi Yunbo fought ferociously, tearing through the demons before him.
What is this!
Shui Jing rolled her prayer beads with trembling fingers, anger rising within her as she took in the scene around her. Her body shook with rage.
No matter how much Buddhism valued ??the soul and spirit over the flesh, wasnt this wrong?
"How dare you insult the dead like this, Blood Demon! You will face heaven''s wrath!"
Shui Jings anger surged as she unleashed the Blossom Severing Petal Scattering Sword Technique, cutting down a group of blood cultists.
But unlike Zhi Yunbo, she couldnt bring herself to strike her fallen brothers and sisters who had be jiangshi. Instead, she either pushed them back with palm wind or shoved them away with palm force.
Looking toward their retreat path, she was dismayed to see it filled with not those of the Martial Alliance but with blood cultists.
"Weve fallen into a trap!"
Shui Jing only realized that they had made a mistake after falling into danger.
Zhou Xuchuan had seen a master be a living jiangshi in the past.
The first Phantom Sovereign of the Valley of Phantoms, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief.
At that time, the Three-Eyed Godly Thief had demonstrated incredible martial arts, but he hadnt been this strong. Perhaps it was because his training had focused solely on thief-like footwork and movement techniques, leaving his overall cultivation at the Transcendent Realm.
Inparison, the Celestial Lake Gate Master You Xiaofeng was different.
In contrast, the Celestial Lake Gate Master, You Xiaofeng, was different. He had been a Harmony Realm Master in life and didnt rely solely on movement techniques. His cultivation was well-rounded and formidable.
Above all, with his new jiangshi body, his already extraordinary physical strength had been amplified several times over.
ng!
Zhou Xuchuans sword shed with You Xiaofengs yanyuedao. The sharp metallic sound rang out repeatedly, each strike screeching through the air. The man and the jiangshi locked eyes, measuring each other.
There''s no testing with him.
Jiangshi werent like humans. They came at you with everything they had right from the start. Trying to test their skills now would only invite disaster.
Even when alive, the Celestial Lake Gate Master would have been a challenging enemy to face, but now, in death, he had leaped a few steps higher. He was clearly at the peak of the Harmony Realm.
"Fine. Ill give it my all, too.
Woosh!
A purple haze began rising from Zhou Xuchuans feet, swirling up his body. His sleeves billowed and fluttered as the Violet Haze Divine Art exploded with power. His tendons bulged, and even his blood vessels were visible.
Thump!
His heartbeat quickened. His breathing slowed. He could feel his pulse racing as raw power coursed through his veins.
"Heup!"
Thud!
Zhou Xuchuan kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
Time seemed to slow as his senses sharpened. The metallic sounds in the battlefield seemed to fade, and it felt as though he were alone in the world.
However, he wasn''t alone. His activated qi sense rippled outward. The moment his soles touched the ground, he detected the movements within the earth veins beneath him.
Crunch!
The hands of mole cultists burst from the ground, wing at his ankles. But Zhou Xuchuan had already leaped into the air.
He twisted mid-air, swung his sword, and severed a hand reaching for him. As hended, he rolled smoothly and closed the distance to You Xiaofeng.
Boom!
You Xiaofeng swung his yanyuedao with terrifying force, the heavy de cutting through the air with a deafening crack.
Zhou Xuchuan didnt flinch. He stepped forward and countered with his sword.
BOOM!
When their weapons collided, the sheer power of the sh exploded outward, creating a shockwave that echoed like cannon fire.
Tsk!
Zhou Xuchuan clicked his tongue in frustration as his sword aura was blocked.
Even though You Xiaofengs body retained the power of a Harmony Realm Master, as a jiangshi, he couldnt use aura arts. While he could still perform the techniques he had mastered in life, aura wasn''t something that could simply be created by using a lot of qi, but rather required a concentration born of enlightenment a jiangshi no longer possessed.
Instead, a living jiangshi formed using the body of a Harmony Realm Master would convert pure qi appropriate to its realm to strengthen its body.
That was why, even without countering an aura art with one of its own, a jiangshi could still block the full impact of an attack as long as it had enough qi.
The downside was that this qi couldnt be used for offensive techniques. But for a jiangshi, that hardly mattered. Their tireless bodies and unique abilities more than made up for it.
So the ability to absorb death qi to recover if there are corpses or other jiangshi nearby is still the same! How annoying!
You Xiaofeng''s qi became a wellspring that never dried up.
Woosh!
You Xiaofeng straightened his yanyuedao and lunged forward, delivering a powerful threefold strike.
ng!
Sparks flew.
ng! ng, ng!
The sound of metal rang out in rapid session as You Xiaofengs relentless thrusts pushed Zhou Xuchuan back. Zhou Xuchuan struck back just as fiercely, their des meeting again and again.
In mere moments, dozens of blows had been exchanged. Both moved at speeds that left afterimages behindmovements so fast that an average martial artist wouldnt even be able to see them!
Ha! Taking down a jiangshi really is no easy task!
The special nature of the Celestial Lake Gate''s foundational technique was originally in its weight, not its speed. Such rapid strikes should have been impossible.
The yanyuedao was heavy, and if one overdid it while using a lot of strength, their meridians would tear. However, a jiangshis body didn''t have such restrictions.
After being reborn as a jiangshi, You Xiaofengs strength increased significantly, and since he now moved by leveraging qi, such tears didnt matter.
However!
Zhou Xuchuan''s eyes widened as his grip on his sword tightened.
Strength surged from Zhou Xuchuans dantian, just below his navel. The energy flowed through his meridians, reaching his hand and making it tremble as he channeled power into his sword.
Your body may be strong!
ng! ng, ng!
ng!
The sword and the yanyuedao shed countless times. They shed vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, their strikes creating beams of light that shot out in every direction.
The swords shed in midair at speeds too fast for the naked eye to follow.
In that brief exchange, they collided hundreds of times, when suddenly, cracks spread across the yanyuedao like spider webs.
"But your weapon isn''t!"
Even though the yanyuedao was a weapon worthy of a gate master, it couldntpare to Taie, one of the legendary Three Swords of the Spring and Autumn Annals.
It was only a matter of time before the relentless impacts became too much for it to endure.
Crack!
Finally, the yanyuedao gave out. It shattered into countless pieces, the fragments scattering and spinning through the air. Each shard caught the sunlight, reflecting the faces of its master and his opponent.
You Xiaofengs expression, for the first time, seemed strangely calmalmost peaceful.
"Goodbye, Celestial Lake Gate Master!"
Zhou Xuchuan looked at You Xiaofeng with a deep sense of respect as he swung his sword in a single, clean motion.
Squelch!
The de cut through You Xiaofengs head, slicing through his skin, skull, and brain.
Ha!
Zhou Xuchuan exhaled heavily as his breathing returned to normal. His body wasnt physically exhausted, but his mind felt drained.
The Harmony Realm Master, who had fought so fiercely, slowly closed his eyes.
When Zhou Xuchuan withdrew his sword, You Xiaofengs body copsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Whats happening at the front?
If the situation hadn''t been so urgent, he would have been more tactful. However, as soon as he confirmed that You Xiaofeng was dead, he turned his head sharply.
"Were starting to break through! Qiu Feng called back.
Ahead, the Milky Way Sage, Tou Zhong, and the other Martial Alliance forces were pressing forward. Though not all of the trapped sect members could be seen, Zhi Yunbo stood out among the crowd.
Hmm, Kongtongs Demon yer. That''ll be a pretty good sacrifice.
At that moment, a Great Demon Head emerged, his presence instantly drawing everyones attention.
Blood Demon!
Zhi Yunbo gritted his teeth.
"Where were you hiding all this time? Still, its impressive that you finally found the courage to show yourself! Hahaha!"
The aura on Zhi Yunbos sword red. His eyes, filled with bloodlust, were as sharp as a predators.
No! Run away! Zhou Xuchuan shouted, his expression darkening as he saw the Blood Demon.
Hmph! What good could a mere cult leader, a sorcerer, do if he gets close instead of staying far away? Zhi Yunbo snorted.
Then, worried about what kind of sorcery the Blood Demon might use, he flew forward quickly.
Die!
The bluish aura of the Demon ying Sword shone even brighter in the sunlight as he swung it down.
Tap.
Zhi Yunbo''s eyes widened in disbelief. What he saw was the Blood Demon holding a sword with a fern-like hand.
"The Blood Demon didn''t be one of the Ten Empyrean Overlords through sorcery!"
Zhou Xuchuan shouted, recalling the nightmare of his previous life.
"He became one through his martial arts!"
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