Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  The Wei water river was getting thinner and thinner and eventually, it formed a whip akin to a giant water python capable of flight; it lashed out from behind Zhong Yue and caught up to him rapidly!

  Zhong Yue clenched his teeth as he mustered all his strength in his legs and broke into a full sprint, the trees that lined up on the two sides flashed past his vision as if they were broad brush strokes on a canvas!

  The four Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners were dumbstruck, their mind went blank and they were stunned in mid-air, they had just witnessed the Xiang Dragon stand upright and run away like a human on its rear legs at an inconceivable speed!

  A mythical beast that was the amalgamation of the dragon, horse and tiger bloodlines with a long tail stood upright and ran away like a human, this was no doubt the weirdest scene they had ever met with in their whole lives!

  “Is this really happening? Do Xiang Dragons stand and run with their rear legs?”

  One of the Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners was perplexed, he asked, “Shouldn’t it gallop like a horse?”

  The other Qi Practitioners were as clueless as he was, no one was able to answer his question.

  “It stood up … En, stood up and ran, it can’t compete with us if we fly, we will chase up to it and capture the Xiang Dragon, we must not let it escape!”

  Zhong Yue dashed like a bolt of lightning over the blur of mountains and rivers. Even with the four Qi Practitioners that were flying in the air, they were still unable to catch up to him, the four Qi Practitioners gazed at one another in shock.

  “The dragon whistles, the clouds form; the tiger roars, the winds blow; heavenly horse birthed with two wings; Xiang Dragon is a mythical beast that possesses godly speed, who would knew that with only two legs, it can still travel at such a great speed!”

  The four of them were shocked and were more convinced that the Xiang Dragon was one of the rarest living creatures to ever have existed in the world; even the Four Ken Beast in Swords Gate could not compare to it. Hence, their determination grew stronger as they resolved to capture it regardless of the cost.

  “Gather our strength and power the Water Treader Skiff, actualize the Wei River with our psyches and push the Water Treader Skiff’s speed to the greatest extent!”

  Shui Anshai hollered, “I don’t believe that we can’t chase up to a baby Xiang Dragon!”

  Another Qi Practitioner quickly said, “Senior martial brother, if we turn all our psyches into the Wei Water, it is true the Water Treader Skiff will tread faster but the consumption on our psyches will also be greater.”

  “As long as we chase up to the Xiang Dragon, it will never be able to escape away anymore, even with our prowess impaired, it is impossible for it to slip away from our hands!”

  The four Qi Practitioners then visualized all their psyches into a body of a streaming river, with the Water Treader Skiff, they chased after Zhong Yue.

  The Shui Tu Clan is chasing up! They are closing in fast!

  Zhong Yue turned his head and took a glance, he could see a turbulent wave of water gushing in the air and the four Qi Practitioners standing on the Water Treader Skiff coming towards him in great speed faster than he could sprint away!

  Suddenly, one of the Qi Practitioners leaped down from the ship, in mid-air, there was water gushing out of nowhere beneath his feet lifting him up, the Qi Practitioner opened his palm and pressed down heavily, “ Ice Crystal Sword Qi – 【Twenty-third Sword Style】!”

  Zheng-zheng-zheng! In mid-air, the water vapors in the air condensed and formed into Ice Crystal Sword Qi whirling in the air, all of a sudden the swords all pointed and thrust towards Zhong Yue!

  Zhong Yue was covered by the Ice Crystal Sword Qi, the swords encircled him and kept lunging right at his body, Zhong Yue lifted his dragon claws and dragon tail to defend and crushed the swords into ice flakes.

  This is so painful….

  However, there was still some Sword Qi that managed to penetrate his defense and leave a few bloody perforations on his body. The extremely cold and frigid air permeated into his body through the wound openings as if it would freeze him from inside out.

  In his psyche ocean, the beast god inner core suddenly quivered a little, it emanated a surge of a burning hot sensation out from it and cast off the cold like a blazing fire melting snows, rendering the frozen effect useless on him.

  The Qi Practitioner was shocked, he shouted out in disbelief, “How could this be? Is this Xiang Dragon really a cub? How is my Ice Crystal Freezing Qi useless against it?”

  “Come back junior martial brother, I will capture him alive!”

  Another Qi Practitioner leaped down from the ship, he visualized the Hebo body and strode on the water currents towards Zhong Yue.

  The water tides rose higher than the trees and gushed over the mountain summit; however, Zhong Yue was already on his way dashing down from the mountain, the Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioner embedded himself in the Hebo body and threaded on the water waves following behind Zhong Yue. But all he could see, was only the posterior view of the Xiang Dragon striding further and further away from him, suddenly, sparks of lightning appeared beneath the Xiang Dragon and its speed skyrocketed, Peng!

  A loud boom was heard as the Xiang Dragon broke through the sound barrier, a dense white vapor cone surrounded it as it flashed away from him, leaving behind only a cacophonous sonic boom that echoed in the ears of the dazed Qi Practitioners long after it disappeared out of sight.

  Within a breath’s time, the Xiang Dragon sprinted out tens of miles, the Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioner could not even keep up with its unearthly speed, he stood planted right where he was, helpless like an abandoned child lost on what to do.

  “That Xiang Dragon … rode on the lightning and ran away.”

  The other three Qi Practitioners caught up from behind, they were all stupefied and mumbled, “This beast is only at its early infant stage and it could manipulate lightning already?”

  An old and yet bright voice sounded behind them, “The dragon controls the clouds while the tiger moves the winds – from the clouds and the winds, comes the lightning; it is not a surprise that a Xiang Dragon can control lightning.”

  The four Qi Practitioners quickly turned around, bowed and revered, “Elder!”

  “Behind the alabaster mountain cliff is the beast god seal, it is indeed fascinating, but it was not easy to break into it. I’ve scrutinized it closely from the outside, there is nowhere I can start breaking the seal from, nothing I can do. Anshan, head to the Xian Kong City immediately and sell this news to the monster race.”

  Shui Zian placed his hands on his back, he shook his head and said, “That Xiang Dragon is still an infant, the lightning will not last for long, its energy will soon be depleted. You can still catch up to it. Jianping, Jianshu, the two of you will follow its tracks and bring it back, I will return back to the Swords Gate and await the arrival of the monster race!”

  Two of the four Qi Practitioners bowed as they received their instructions, they then turned and followed behind Zhong Yue while Shui Anshan departed towards the Xian Kong City on the outside of the Great Wilderness.

  The Beast God Ridge once again regained its peace, but it only lasted for half a month.

  Half a month later, a magnate of the monster race from the Xian Kong City, one of the three heads, Yan Yunsheng – the Lord of Sulphur Island, led over hundreds over of monster Qi Practitioners over to Swords Gate!

  The whole of Swords Gate was trembling, the aura of the lord of Sulphur Island was immensely wicked and nefarious. The moment Yan Yunsheng arrived at Swords Gate he promptly released his powerful and imposing aura to suppress the human Qi Practitioners, the monstrous clouds overcast the skies of Swords Gate, he was intending to demonstrate his superiority to the Swords Gate Qi Practitioners!

  All of a sudden, from the golden summit of Swords Gate, a vast and mighty Sword Qi pierced through the skies shattering, the monstrous clouds into wisps and casted away the wicked an
d nefarious aura in the air, a disembodied, old and hoarse voice suffused all over the mountain, “Lord of Sulphur Island comes from afar, I hope that the guest will suit himself at to the convenience of the host and follow the rules set down by the Swords Gate.”

  In the eyes of Yan Yunsheng flashed a ray of fear, he then laughed and said, “Old geezer Feng, you are still alive, I thought you were already dead! Now there has emerged a holy land of the monster race in the Great Wilderness, the great beast-god of our monster race had fallen in the Beast God Ridge; Old geezer Feng, from now on, the Beast God Ridge will be transferred to the monster race!”

  The old and hoarse voice never uttered a single sound, Elder Shui Zian smirked a smile and stepped forward, “Lord Yan, I am entrusted by Swords Gate to handle the matters regarding the Beast God Ridge, between you and I, we will have some discussions.”

  Not long later, Yan Yunsheng and Shui Zian made an agreement, the monster race can enter the Beast God Ridge and explore the beast god seal but they are forbidden to ever step foot on any other places of the Great Wilderness.

  A few days later, ship after ship flew into the Great Wilderness towards the Beast God Ridge. On the pale-white skeletal ships, were all the Qi Practitioners of the monster race.

  Among the three monster lords of the sacred land of the monster race, Xian Kong City, two had arrived!

  Deep in the woods of the Great Wilderness, a strong Xiang Dragon lifted its head and watched as the massive skeletal ships flew past, it shuddered in thrill and mumbled, “Xin Huo, do you think this is a day that blood would be shed….”

  From a clump of bristle furs of the Xiang Dragon, out came a little flame, his face was filled with a chaotic joy and excitement, “Finally, I can see the power of the three slaughtering arrays!”

  Chapter 42: Escape |

  The two Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners are back on me again!

  Zhong Yue looked towards them and he couldn't help but grind his teeth as he dashed forward even quicker. In these ten over days, he had lived his life embroiled in hardship as he had to tame and absorb the excess beast god essence while shaking off the pursuit of the two Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners.

  Although he became a Xiang Dragon with incredibly fast movement speed and he could even control the element of lightning to enhance his speed, it was impossible to keep on running for a long time. As he stopped to rest, it was clear that it would not take long for the two Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners to catch up with him.

  Moreover, the most threatening part is not the two Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioner but the essence of the Beast God released by the Beast God’s inner core. This forced him to keep on visualizing Sui Sovereign without a break or he would eventually turn into a real Xiang Dragon because of the large accumulated essence of Beast God.

  This is even more insufferable than the time he jumped and climbed up the cliffs. He had to keep on training, avoid the pursuit and even keep on visualizing during his sleep. All of these imposed a significant burden on his body and perseverance!

  He could still persist for the first two days but he was on the verge of breaking down on the third day. As a result, he could not control himself and slept in a cave while disregarding the thoughts of visualizing and his two Shui Tu Clan pursuers.

  Luckily, he had Xin Huo’s guidance. Xin Huo woke him up from his sleep and kept on badgering him to not forget to visualize. With his guidance, Zhong Yue managed to prevent himself from really turning into a Xiang Dragon and also continue to circumvent his pursuers.

  After these ten plus days of suffering, Zhong Yue could basically enter the state of “subconscious visualization”.

  This so-called state of “subconscious visualization” is where one would subconsciously visualize without the intention of doing so, which is also the level achieved by Li Xiuniang.

  However, Li Xiuniang had only achieved this state after years and years of practicing but Zhong Yue had forcefully achieved this level from these over ten days of suffering.

  However, in order to maintain the visualization even during sleep, one would have to have achieved the state of “unconscious visualization”, of which the difficulty cannot be overstated.

  The state of “unconscious visualization” was much more complicated than the state of “subconscious visualization”. Even after constantly being reminded by Xin Huo, Zhong Yue could only intermittently enter the state of “unconscious visualizing” but he could only maintain the state for a fleeting period of time as he would naturally stop visualizing upon entering a deep level of sleep.

  These over ten days were a total nightmare for him but he managed to keep it up with great will. Besides, his psyche prowess had increased rapidly under the pressure and stress!

  Now, his psyche ocean had expanded to almost three thousand mus and he had purified his psyche immeasurably!

  The two Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners are really annoying!

  Zhong Yue clenched his teeth as he thought. Currently, as he improved, the rate at which he absorbed the essence that was leaked from the Beast God’s inner core in his psyche ocean approached the rate of discharge!

  At this rate, after a few days, he would finally be able to absorb the remaining essence and become a human again!

  The two Qi Practitioners split up?

  Zhong Yue sensed that the two Qi Practitioners had split, one continued to pursue him while the other one moved further and further away towards another direction.

  Strange, why did they split?

  Zhong Yue squinted and he felt very curious, These two have been chasing after me for a long time, it would be even harder to catch me with only one person … Not good, there’s water vapor in front … I see!

  As he continued running, a huge river with ravaging currents appeared.

  The river was wide and water was flowing very fast!

  The river flowed from one place and along the hill where Zhong Yue was standing now to the other side. This meant that the other Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioner did not go away but instead, planned to intercept Zhong Yue at the other side of the river!

  Whereas the other one would continue to chase after him from the back in order to corner him at the river!

  Zhong Yue squinted and looked at the downstream of the river and saw tribes after tribes with many boats docked at the side.

  Not good, this is Wei river and the Shui Tu Clan’s tribes! There should be more Qi Practitioners over here and if I am cornered here today, there might be no more chance of escaping anymore!

  Zhong Yue lamented, Downstream is the direction Shui Tu Clan’s tribe whereas upstream and my back has two Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners chasing me. The only way for me to escape is to fight my way through the opposite before the two Qi Practitioner corners me!

  On top of the vigorous waves of the Wei River, a Qi Practitioner dashed towards Zhong Yue while surfing the waves of the Wei River!

  At the same moment, the Qi Practitioner behind Zhong Yue also increased his speed and approached quickly.

  Zhong Yue did not hesitate and he dashed across the river towards the opposite. The Xiang Dragon speed was naturally fast and he threaded on the water while running quickly!

  “Wei River is the main base of us Shui Tu Clan, you are still thinking of escaping after stepping into this place?”

  A laughter could be heard and the Qi Practitioner on the river sped quickly towards Zhong Yue while splitting the strong waves apart! He then said: “We, the Shui Tu Clan are the king of this river!”

  Zhong Yue gritted his teeth and unleashed all his strength to run even faster. At that moment, his speed had once again broken through the sound barrier but the waves grew even more tumultuous. As Zhong Yue reached the center of the river, the Qi Practitioner was already in front of him!

  “【Ice Crystal Mountain Sword】!”

  The Qi Practitioner stood on the waves and stomped, the next moment, innumerable wisps of Ice Crystal Sword Qi shot out from the waves and flew towards Zhong Yue at high spee
d.

  Zhong Yue evaded the attacks with a jump and the Qi Practitioner laughed and said, “Beast! You dare to fight with me on the Wei River?”

  As he spoke, the other Qi Practitioner also landed on the Wei River and he increased his speed while running towards Zhong Yue.

  At the same time, the Qi Practitioners in the Wei River tribes also noticed the situation upstream and they looked towards the direction of the commotion.

  “They’re Brother Jianshu and Brother Jianping!”

  A few Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners said shockingly, “They’re trying to capture a beast, let’s go help them!”

  They then quickly rushed upstream while Zhong Yue who was in mid-air visualized the Jiao Dragon and launched it at Shui Jianping without hesitation. As a result, he was forced to land on the ground again due to the momentum of the Jiao Dragon.

  Xin Huo said listlessly, “Brat Yue, why don’t you visualize yourself instead of the Jiao Dragon?”

  “Visualizing myself?”

  Zhong Yue felt confused by Xin Huo’s words but a water dragon created by Shui Jianping’s technique thrust up into the skies from the river suddenly. The water dragon swung its claws and opened up its jaw, preparing to devour Zhong Yue.

  Zhong Yue was too inexperienced when it came to fighting with a Qi Practitioner. Although Shui Jianping was just an average Qi Practitioner, his strength was on a whole other plane from those upper house disciples.

  With Zhong Yue current strength, he couldn't even resist him in the slightest.

  “Of course. Jiao Dragon is nothing when compared with the Xiang Dragon.”

  Xin Huo said happily, “You are now a Xiang Dragon and you must have become accustomed to the body structure of a Xiang Dragon by now. Visualizing a Xiang Dragon and creating a Xiang Dragon totem carving should not be hard for you now. If you visualized a Xiang Dragon and merged it into you, your strength will increase by almost twofold! With that strength, why should you still be worried about escaping?”