Archean Eon Art c1-766
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“Tell Yan Jin that we are visiting,” said Meng Chuan.
“My lords, please wait a moment.” The servant smiled and nodded, then walked into the cave abode.
…
In an ice chamber in the cave abode.
The chamber was carved out of a huge block of ice. This was a massive chamber Yan Jin had excavated himself.
He sat in the lotus position, emitting an infinite chill. Despite the terrifying chill, a flame burned brightly in his body.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Yan Jin opened his eyes, his gaze—cold and emotionless. Having cultivated alone for a long time, he had completely forgotten about his emotions. All he knew was cultivation. His temperament gradually resembled the creator of the Icefire Seven Absolutes Black Metal Sutra. Only then did he truly achieve Lesser Mastery. He had already reached the Fire Soul realm and Ice Soul realm. He was now trying to fuse them into the Icefire Soul. Once he succeeded in fusing them, he would reach the Great Solar realm. He would then be able to leave the mountain.
It was astonishing that he had achieved such accomplishments in the past 14 years on the mountain. After all, not everyone was Xue Feng, Meng Chuan, and Liu Qiyue.
“What is it?” asked Yan Jin. The coldness in his voice caused the servant’s heart to tighten.
“My lord, Lord Meng Chuan and Lady Liu Qiyue are here,” said the servant respectfully.
Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue are back? Yan Jin was stunned, the coldness in his eyes melting a little. He immediately stood up and walked out.
Chapter 189 - Blood Red Cliff Convocation
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
When Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue saw Yan Jin, they were both shocked.
Yan Jin’s aura was cold, one that kept others from approaching him. Compared to when Meng Chuan left the mountain three years ago, Yan Jin’s aura was much colder. Even Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue found it somewhat uncomfortable.
“You came. Come on in,” said Yan Jin.
The two entered and entered a hall. The three of them sat down.
“Yan Jin, look at you. You look like an ice block,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. “Don’t go astray with your cultivation.”
Yan Jin looked at Meng Chuan without saying a word.
“Hahaha.” Meng Chuan immediately changed the topic after being stared at. “Right, Qiyue and I are already married. It happened about a year ago.”
“Congratulations.” Yan Jin looked at the two of them.
“It’s a pity you haven’t left the mountain.” Meng Chuan sighed.
“Quickly, have a child,” Yan Jin said.
Meng Chuan was taken aback, but Liu Qiyue smiled brightly and said, “I’ve discussed it with Ah Chuan. When we settle down in a safer environment, the two of us will have a child.”
“Teach your children well after you give birth,” said Yan Jin.
“Don’t worry. I’ll teach him well.” Meng Chuan reassured Yan Jin. I’ll teach him saber arts personally.” He then asked, “Yan Jin, why are you so terse now?”
Yan Jin ignored his question. He had already tried his best to say as much as he could.
“Yan Jin, after we have a child, why don’t you be our child’s godfather,” Liu Qiyue said with a smile.
“Alright.” Yan Jin nodded, his eyes turning gentler. He had recalled the past.
“How’s your cultivation?” asked Meng Chuan. Yan Jin was too obstinate in his cultivation. In reality, Yan Jin was very talented. Despite having an Essence Soul and high cultivation efficiency, Yan Jin was not slower than him before they came to Archean Mountain. In fact, Yan Jin was a few months younger than him.
“It will take months to a few years before I can leave the mountain,” said Yan Jin.
“Are you aware of what happened off the mountain in the past year?” asked Meng Chuan.
“I know.” Yan Jin nodded. “It’s a pity that I can’t go down the mountain to kill demons.” Since he had mastered a transcendent-grade Godfiend Body and a Black Metal Sutra, his Nine Mystical Caves test was naturally much harder.
…
Meng Chuan and Yan Jin chatted with each other. Although Yan Jin had become a man of few words, he tried his best to speak more. He hadn’t said as much in the past three years than what he said to the couple today.
After chatting for about two hours, Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue left.
Yan Jin sent them out the door.
As the couple departed amidst the snow, Yan Jin watched silently for a long time before returning to his cave abode.
That night, another person came to visit Yan Jin.
“Seventh Brother, Seventh Brother.” Xue Feng wanted to hug Yan Jin excitedly, but Yan Jin took a step back.
“What is it?”
“I kept having missions and was unable to return.” Xue Feng smiled as he looked at Yan Jin. “Only after so many Godfiends were sent back could I finally come back to visit you. Why have you become so silent? Your cultivation has made you turn cold. Back then, I told you not to cultivate the Icefire Seven Absolutes. The creator of this Black Metal Sutra was emotionless.”
“I’m doing good,” Yan Jin said.
“Alright then, there is quite a number in history that managed to cultivate the Icefire Seven Absolutes to a certain level of profundity. Furthermore, this Black Metal Sutra mentions that although one is to be emotionless, one needs to have extreme emotion…” Xue Feng said.
Yan Jin listened to his fifth brother’s chatter silently. Only his fifth brother treated him well when he was young.
“Fifth Brother, how have you been all these years?” Yan Jin finally asked.
“Same old? Killing demons and cultivating,” said Xue Feng with a smile. “What I’m most vexed about is the Essence Soul. I haven’t been able to condense an Essence Soul. If I can condense an Essence Soul, I will be conferred the title of marquis! Many powerful Regis Godfiends in history were conferred the title of marquis in their thirties. I’m already 37.”
Yan Jin stared at him. In terms of cultivation progress, Yan Jin was much slower than him.
Xue Feng smiled awkwardly and immediately said, “Right, I brought you some gifts.” With that said, he took out a gift from his bag.
Yan Jin watched silently from the side. He could sense Xue Feng’s care and concern for him. If Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue were friends that had fought in life-and-death battles together, then Xue Feng was the elder brother who cared and was concerned about him.
Yan Jin silently enjoyed this feeling. After mastering Icefire Seven Absolutes’ basic Iceheart, he nearly became emotionless. This made his yearning for emotion grow stronger.
…
The next day, Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue headed to Blood Red Cliff.
Over 10,000 Godfiend projections appeared beside Blood Red Cliff. Many Godfiends came, and everyone watched quietly.
“What?” Meng Chuan suddenly saw a certain projection and couldn’t help but be shocked. “Junior Brother Ning?”
“Junior Brother Ning Yibo died in battle?” Liu Qiyue was also shocked. The two of them had chatted with a lot of people yesterday at Dao Exchange Peak, but they didn’t hear news of him dying in battle.
They scanned the many projections carefully. Most disciples knew each other. Out of their batch of disciples, only Ning Yibo had died in battle.
Ning Yibo—the chivalrous young man—was amiable and well-liked among his cohort. To see his projection suddenly appear, Meng Chuan couldn’t believe it.
In the projection, Ning Yibo was dressed in a silver robe and carried a sword on his back. His smile was radiant, filled with confidence for the future.
“Junior Brother Ning.” Meng Chuan’s heart ached. He looked at the projections of his fellow disciples who had died in battle and felt even more grief. The number of Godfiends who died in battle seemed like a statistic, but when it happened to a fellow disciple who shared alcohol and music with him, the grief they felt was much stronger.
“Let�
��s go in and take a look,” Liu Qiyue said softly.
Meng Chuan nodded.
The couple entered Blood Red Cliff’s cave. Gems were embedded into the cave walls, and the gems’ faint glow illuminated the stone walls that were carved with names.
The two walked all the way to the end. They saw the latest names and the words “Ning Yibo.”
“Our Great Zhou Dynasty lost a total of 325 Godfiends during the Great Relocation. Among them, 51 were Archean Mountain inner sect disciples.” A Godfiend spoke in a low voice. “This is equivalent to the combined losses of the past two to three years.”
Meng Chuan sighed inwardly.
It was for the sake of the people that had lived in the small and medium-sized city passes. Across the world, the total casualties numbered nearly ten million. Over 800 Godfiends had died in battle. Over a hundred inner sect disciples from the three major sects had died in battle! How many disciples were recruited every year? The losses were indeed painful.
Someone even wondered—was it worth it?
However, the human race’s upper echelons were determined to carry out this plan.
“Too many Godfiends have been lost this year. If this continues for years, Archean Mountain won’t be able to take the loss.”
“It’s only this year. In the future, it will be much better. At the very least, the number of new Godfiends needs to be more than the Godfiends that die in battle. This will allow us to continue fighting the demons for a long time.” Disciples whispered to each other.
After mourning for a long period of time, Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue quietly left.
…
It was rare for a large number of Godfiends to return to Archean Mountain. They would immediately leave the mountain once they received their deployment orders. Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue came back rather late, so they had yet to receive their orders.
Meng Chuan had plenty of credit. He first went to exchange for the treasures he needed and accepted the intent legacy of the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body’s second volume.
To accept an intent legacy, one had to condense an Essence Soul. Condensing an Essence Soul at the age of 32? Although it would be considered outstanding, it was no longer eye-catching. After all, many Godfiends had become Marquis Godfiends in their thirties.
Now, I’m at the peak of the Saber Soul realm. If I improve further, I’ll achieve Saber Dao. Receiving a complete legacy will give me a greater chance of breaking through to the Darkstar realm. Meng Chuan handed the Lightning Devastator Fiend Body book to Elder Yi.
“Meng Chuan, you’ve received more than five million credits now. What title do you want the Imperial Court to give you?” asked Elder Yi with a smile. When Meng Chuan took the initiative to show his Essence Soul, his attitude became even better. It meant that Meng Chuan had already met one of the major requirements for becoming a Marquis Godfiend. After all, the sword genius, Xue Feng, was only an Essence Soul short of becoming a Marquis Godfiend.
“Title?” Meng Chuan hesitated.
“Usually, unless you have a special request, most marquis and king conferments will be the same as your earl title,” said Elder Yi. “Of course, if you can become a Creation Supremacy, the Imperial Court won’t have the right to confer you a title.”
Meng Chuan nodded slightly. “I’ll use my hometown’s name—Eastcalm.”
His father had always wanted him to be the pride of his family and the pride of his hometown!
Eastcalm Prefecture was considered an ordinary prefecture in Wu State. In this generation, he was considered the strongest in Eastcalm Prefecture.
“Earl Eastcalm? Marquis Eastcalm?” Elder Yi nodded slightly. “That sounds good.”
Chapter 190 - Settling in Gu Mountain Prefecture (Final Chapter of Volume)
“The Imperial Court will send messengers to your hometown and the Meng family’s residence to announce the conferment of the noble title and bestow a seal,” said Elder Yi with a smile. “You can return to your hometown and personally receive the conferment. You can also choose to skip it. Just let the clan leader receive it on your behalf. Many Godfiends leave it to their clan leaders.”
“I’ll have it received on my behalf.” Meng Chuan nodded.
He would return to his hometown to take a look, but he wasn’t stupid enough to wait there. Who knew when the Imperial Court’s messenger team would arrive? Furthermore, the so-called conferment of earlship, marquisate, or kingship was not taken seriously by Godfiends. This was because Godfiends were powerful because of their individual strength!
Once one became a Darkstar Godfiend, the Imperial Court would take the initiative to confer the title of marquis to them. Once one became an Incessant Godfiend, the Imperial Court would take the initiative to confer kingship. A noble title was ultimately a byproduct of strength. Everyone respected Marquis Godfiends and Regis Godfiends because of their strength!
…
On the fifth day after returning to Archean Mountain, Meng Chuan went to a banquet with his wife.
Zhang Yunfeng stood inside a hall, raised his cup, and looked at the other guests with a smile. “I’ve been fighting demons all my life. I’ve also used forbidden Godfiend spells countless times. I’ve even managed to live to a ripe old age of 189. It’s all thanks to this Indestructible Divine Body. Haha, it’s the best for treating injuries on one’s own body.”
The Godfiends all laughed. Indeed, in this era, it was very difficult for a Great Solar Godfiend to live to 189 years of age.
“I still have about a year left to live. I don’t have any missions left,” said Zhang Yunfeng with a smile. “I’ll head down the mountain tomorrow and take a good look at the world. I’ll enjoy whatever food the world has to offer and enjoy its scenery. I’ll kill demons in passing as well. When I’m about to die, I’ll return to my hometown. When that happens, I won’t be troubling all my old friends any further.”
Meng Chuan, Yang Fang, and the other Godfiends had mixed feelings.
Zhang Yunfeng was close to the end of his lifespan, so Archean Mountain didn’t give Zhang Yunfeng any missions during their deployments.
“To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to explore the world properly in my life. I’m really looking forward to it,” Zhang Yunfeng said with a sigh before raising his cup. “Most of those who came today are here because we forged a friendship through experiencing life-and-death battles together. Today’s dinner is a farewell party. After that, we will be scattered across the world. Here, let’s toast.”
All the Godfiends raised their cups and drank.
Meng Chuan and Zhang Yunfeng had worked together for over half a year, and they had become good friends due to protecting each other. As for the Godfiends present, some had a deeper relationship with Zhang Yunfeng.
When the banquet ended, Zhang Yunfeng said loudly, “There’s no banquet that lasts forever. Let’s part ways here. An old man like me can now slack off and eat the delicacies of the world. As for the matter of fighting the demons, I’ll depend on everybody here.”
“Senior Brother Zhang, don’t worry. We will not be soft when killing demons.”
“Senior Brother Zhang, don’t worry. We will definitely win the war with the demons.”
One Godfiend after another made promises.
After everything came to an end, the Godfiends finally dispersed. Before dawn the next day, Zhang Yunfeng went down the mountain alone and began to admire the mountains and rivers. There were many places he had never seen before.
…
The Godfiends on Archean Mountain were sent down the mountain in batches.
In the evening, Meng Chuan was painting in the study while Liu Qiyue practiced her calligraphy.
“My lord, Elder Yi is here.” Steward Liu’s voice came from outside the study.
Elder Yi? Meng Chuan’s heart skipped a beat. He stopped painting and exchanged glances with his wife, Liu Qiyue.
“Our transfer orders should be here,” Liu Qiyue said.
Meng Chuan nodd
ed and immediately went to the cave abode’s entrance with his wife to welcome Elder Yi.
Elder Yi walked over the snow and smiled. “Are you painting and practicing calligraphy? I can smell the fragrance of ink.”
“It’s just a random scrawl. Elder, please.” Meng Chuan and his wife welcomed the Elder and led him into the hall.
Inside the hall, maidservants prepared tea.
The three of them sat down, and the maidservant naturally left. Only the three of them were left in the hall.
“Your transfer orders are here,” said Elder Yi with a smile.
The duo jolted to attention.
Elder Yi took out two squarish white jade tokens. The front of each token had the words “Patrol,” and he handed them to Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue.
“Patrol?” Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue received the token. Looking at it, they saw the same map carved on it. The map was roughly the area around Wu State and Qian State.
“Now that all small and medium-sized city passes have been abandoned, the number of Godfiends needed at the seven major city passes has been greatly reduced,” said Elder Yi. “Most of our Archean Mountain Godfiends have become a part of Earth Net. They will be distributed in a way that they form a huge net that spans the world! We can kill gathered demons at any time.
“Furthermore, military conscription has been modified. Mortals will have to serve in the military for three years when they reach the age of 20. They do not need to fight on the battlefield during those three years. Instead, they will be responsible for patrolling the world,” said Elder Yi. “We shall mobilize countless soldiers across the world, making this net impregnable and inescapable. Every village fort in the world will become an important intelligence node.”
Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue nodded.
This net was indeed very secure. With countless mortal soldiers as the eyes and the forts as intelligence nodes, the cities would become the center. Large groups of Godfiends could be deployed at any time.