Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Zhong Yue bowed and paid his respects to the corpse before he reached his hands towards the sword hilt. Out of his expectations, just as he touched the sword hilt, the broken sword immediately shattered into pieces.

  “The sword lives as the man lives, the sword dies as the man dies. The sword must have already shattered into dust as Yu Tianya from the Yu Clan died after the battle.”

  Xin Huo shook his head and said, “A respectable man. Let’s go.”

  Zhong Yue looked at the corpse again with respect and continued walking.

  Not long later, he encountered with another corpse on his path again, also a corpse of a human.

  “Eighth headmaster of the Swords Gate, Lei Xu Clan’s Lei Qianqiu, knowing that I am dying soon, I entered this place to kill these demons and use my remaining time left in exchange for another peaceful five hundred years for my people. I felt only peace and serenity before I died.”

  Zhong Yue was stunned again as this was another headmaster of the Swords Gate that died fighting in this abyss.

  He continued walking and he came across the third corpse.

  “I am the nineteenth headmaster of Swords Gate, Tao Qingxuan from the Tao Lin Clan. I followed my ancestors' path by entering this abyss after knowing my life was ending soon. I am honored to see my ancestors’ corpse and die fighting with them here….”

  “Fifth headmaster of Swords Gate, Feng Xingtian from Da Feng Clan, knowing I have little time left, I entered this abyss and used my remaining life to secure five hundred peaceful years for my people in the Great Wilderness. I hope that the new headmasters will follow my footsteps and become the guardians of everyone in the wilderness.”

  Zhong Yue then continued his journey and saw the corpses of one headmaster of Swords Gate after another. These decrepit headmasters walked into the demonic forbidden place and fought to their deaths in their withered bodies in order to secure an ephemeral period of peace for their people.

  These corpses and the departing words left behind by them affected Zhong Yue greatly, making him feel a whirlwind of emotions ranging from sadness, amazement, and pride.

  These were the headmasters of the Swords Gates, the glorious unsung figures of the Great Wilderness, the people who sacrificed their lives for the future of humanity!

  “Brat Yue, be careful, there’s something ahead!”

  Xin Huo suddenly said, “Focus, something big is coming!”

  Zhong Yue quickly recovered and he flicked his finger. As he flicked his finger, the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi flew out and at the same time, the ground shook vigorously as if portending to the awakening of something incredible!

  Chapter 62: Peculiar Creatures |

  The flesh wall kept on palpitating as if something huge were moving in the dark, but what made Zhong Yue truly curious was the fact that the vibrations felt as if something big was rolling on the ground instead of walking.

  “What is that?” asked Xin Huo curiously.

  Soon, they saw a war chariot approaching them after it turned out from a corner in the flesh tunnel – it was a war chariot made with flesh!

  Zhong Yue had no idea how to describe what he saw as this war chariot that was charging right at him was about thirty feet long and made of flesh! Its chassis, windows and axles were made of bones while its wheels were legs, spreading wide apart in all directions.

  The wheels rotated as the legs moved forward!

  On the war chariot windshield was a thick beast hide that looked like it was peeled off from a beast while on the war chariot frame was a girder with meatballs hung all over it.

  It was the first time Zhong Yue ever saw a strange living being like this and his skin crawled at the bizarre grotesqueness.

  Could there be anything weirder than a living war chariot completely made with flesh and bone?

  “Xin Huo, is this really a corpse demon spawned from the demonic Qi in this abyss?” whispered Zhong Yue while handing over the lamp to the Sui Sovereign behind him.

  Xin Huo too felt confused as hadn’t encountered such weird living things in his life as well,“It looks so weird … Be careful!”

  The meatballs on the flesh war chariot suddenly expanded and a head dangled down. Its limbs reached out to the sides and it was its tail that was hung on the war chariot’s frame.

  The meatball entirely stretched out and transformed into a weird looking creature. It landed on the ground and sharp blades protruded out from its tail behind its back. The blades looked like the Blood Batoidea Sword, one of the Ten Malefic Weapons that Zhong Yue once saw residing in the Hearts of Swords Palace!

  Zhe zhe——

  Not only that, blades flicked out from the claws of this corpse demon as well. In an instant, this corpse demon had transformed into a huge war machine!

  So this is the real corpse demon, that war chariot was just a carrier to maneuver the corpse demons around.

  Zhong Yue was relieved as a living flesh war chariot was already weird enough, not to mention fighting against one.

  Phew——

  This corpse demon leaped and plunged towards Zhong Yue, creating a huge gust of strong wind!

  So fast!

  Zhong Yue countenance turned stern as the speed of this corpse demon was incredibly fast, it actually got close to him in just a blink of an eye!

  Whereas whenever it swung its claws, it incited an audible explosion in the air as its speed broke through the sound barrier!

  This meant that the attack speed of this corpse demon was far beyond the speed of sound!

  “This corpse demon’s speed makes its attacks as equally strong as those Qi Practitioners that focus on physique-refining, be careful!” shouted Xin Huo.

  At the same time as Xin Huo shouted, this corpse demon was already only a few inches away from Zhong Yue!

  Suddenly, dragon scales and Xiang Dragon totem carvings emerged on Zhong Yue’s body, and along with thunderous boom, the entire tunnel was filled with the radiance of the bright sword rays!

  With his strength and speed enhanced by the totem carvings, he moved and attacked with the speed of a Xiang Dragon! As he moved, his visualization continued and he launched a volley of thunderous sword energy that was filled with the charm of the Boundless Great Sword Qi.

  Qi Practitioners that focus only on body refinement?

  As they clashed together, Zhong Yue could feel the immense power emanating from his foe’s claws. This demon was not only fast, it also had supreme strength. Every collision gave Zhong Yue tremors that made his muscles numb until he collapsed onto the ground!

  However, the corpse demon was flung backward because of the reaction force as well. As it landed on the ground, it quickly recovered from the reaction force and lunged straight towards Zhong Yue with unstoppable force!

  In a split second, it caught up with Zhong Yue and it swung its bladed tails with lighting speed towards Zhong Yue!

  “I may not be a Qi Practitioner, but I’m a cultivator that practices both physique refinings and Qi cultivations! Now die!”

  Zhong Yue shouted and a sapling broke through the ground below him. The sapling’s size then instantly catapulted to colossal and pierced that corpse demon with numerous tree branches!

  Whereas for the tail attack, Zhong Yue visualized the Sui Sovereign and punched at the tail squarely with his fists. The serrated tail of that corpse demon created raucous sounds when it cut through the fist of the Sui Sovereign as the momentum of its attack grew lesser.

  Finally, the bladed tail came to a halt right in front of Zhong Yue’s neck and he managed to pull off and land safely.

  At the same time as he landed on the ground, the corpse demon shattered into dust and fell to the ground. It was the wood elemental sword energy launched by Zhong Yue that shattered the body of this corpse demon!

  So this is the power of a Qi Practitioner. It is indeed powerful!

  Zhong Yue was amazed and he was a little bit startled by the power of the Wood Sword Qi. Due to the fact of he was still not a Qi Pra
ctitioner, he could not manifest the energy from the environment and convert them into Sword Qi unlike Qiu Jin'er who was an innate spirit body with boundless Wood Qi in her body.

  Up until now, he merely cultivated the excess Wood Qi from Qiu Jin'er’s body into the little tree-form Wood Sword Qi.. It was only today that he finally managed to witness the horrific power of this Wood Sword Qi!

  This corpse demon was as equally strong as a Qi Practitioner that only focused on body-refining. However, it still died easily when the Wood Sword Qi cut through its body like tofu!

  ‘The Wood Sword Qi I absorbed from Junior Martial Sister Jin'er is just a tiny portion in her body. How strong would it be if she managed to convert the entire excess Wood Qi in her body?’

  Zhong Yue dozed off uncontrollably. Although the Wood Sword Qi had easily cut through the body of this corpse demon that matched the strength of an exclusive physique-refining Qi Practitioner, it did not mean that a physique refiner was inferior to a traditional Qi cultivator. For example, if these two types of Qi Practitioners fought together, it would be hard to determine who would win. Due to the incredible speed of physique-refining Qi Practitioners, they could actually kill the Qi cultivating Qi Practitioners before they could react. However, the same situation could be applied to the physique-refining Qi Practitioners where they could be killed by the Qi cultivating Qi Practitioners who prepared their moves faster.

  Only Zhong Yue or the likes who walked both roads simultaneously could easily cut down the corpse demons.

  The corpse demon is indeed very strong, but not to the extent of undefeatable. This corpse demon must be a newborn while the strong ones were probably killed by the headmasters.

  Zhong Yue exhaled a long breath and his eyes twitched when he looked towards the front. What appeared in his vicinity were fifteen corpse demons that were unloaded by the flesh war chariot. They were all unloaded by the flesh war chariot when Zhong Yue killed the corpse demon.

  This is bad….

  Zhong Yue inhaled deeply and suddenly, the corpse demons all moved at once, charging straight towards him. At that moment, the corpse demons could be seen running all over the wide flesh tunnel and afterimages were produced by their miraculous speed!

  “No retreat!”

  Zhong Yue shouted and unleashed all the strength in his body while he dashed forward at a speed no slower than the corpse demons. Although the corpse demons had immense strength, it could not completely suppress him as he was not only possessed strong bodily strength, he also refined his psyche and cultivated Qi.

  He may be bereft of the sharp claws of the corpse demons but his psyche level was as strong as Qi Practitioners!

  “Xiang Dragon Sword Qi, go!”

  In the tunnel, a Sword Qi descended from the flesh walls behind the corpse demons and turned into a three feet long Xiang Dragon. Together with Zhong Yue, they charged at the corpse demons in between them!

  Zhong Yue’s speed accelerated while the Sui Sovereign formed by his psyche followed tightly behind him. The Sui Sovereign picked up the little sapling and the sapling grew rapidly, becoming a tree-sword as the Sui Sovereign wielded it like a solemn emperor!

  As they were about to clash with the charging corpse demons, the young man pushed his hands and as thunder could be heard roaring in the tunnel, countless thunder Sword Qi slashed towards the corpse demons!

  At that instance, the scintillating radiance of the thunder light flooded the tunnel.

  The eventual clash between the human and demons was concomitant with resonant roars.. Blood splattered everywhere in the tunnel and the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi beheaded a demon with every brandish. On the other hand, every swing of the Sui Sovereign’s sword was accompanied by limbs aimlessly flying around as they were detached from their hosts!

  The attacks of the corpse demons continue to grow fiercer; their bladed tails and claws broke through the sound barrier every time they moved and their speed was so fast their movement would seemingly escape the bare eyes!

  As they clashed, Zhong Yue suffered injuries in a very short time. In the nick of time, he evaded the sharp claws of the demons and the bladed tails that attacked with the element of surprise. As he raised his hands, the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi ascended into the air and turned into a flexible Sword Qi that circled around his body. Zhong Yue moved swiftly in the tunnel and he did not stop moving while he clashed with the demons.

  This was all because of the dangerous situation around him. If he stopped and fought with the demons recklessly, the surrounding corpse demons would be able to corner him and kill him mercilessly!

  The Xiang Dragon Sword Qi collided with the sharp claws and bladed tails of the demons coming from all directions. The Sui Sovereign behind Zhong Yue attacked with great power, the tree sword held in his hands suddenly expanded and shrunk as he fought fiercely.

  At that time, Zhong Yue could be seen running; with lightning speed in the tunnel and he even climbed onto the top of the tunnel and fought with the charging demons!

  His speed was so fast that he could even scale along the walls without risk of falling down!

  In fact, if someone could move fast enough, that person would not only be able to run straight up the walls and even move in the air!

  At this moment, Zhong Yue was moving very fast on the ground and on the walls while he gave everything he had to avoid the assaults from the corpse demons as they followed behind him, they were still speedy even when they were crawling on the walls.

  Even so, there were still corpse demons getting slashed incessantly, some sliced into pieces by the Wood Sword Qi while the others would be pierced through their heads and fall down onto the ground.

  Moments later, Zhong Yue staggered to his feet on the ground, he panted heavily gasping for air, wounds crawled over his body and his muscles swelled in soreness. His left leg was enervated and he almost knelt down on the ground.

  Dong!

  A corpse demon leaped down from the wall causing the surrounding fleshy ground to tremble, it released a furious roar and lunged at Zhong Yue. Just right when it thrust forward, it suddenly fell onto the ground and a Sword Qi flitted out from its forehead, the Sword Qi alighted and turned into an exquisite looking Xiang Dragon, trotting to the side of Zhong Yue.

  Not far away from him, a pair of eyes unveiled behind the thick beast hide in the windows, the flesh war chariot extended its legs and strode away, the car wheels rolled rapidly as it made its escape deeper into the forbidden land.

  “Kill it!” In the weathered lamp, Xin Huo shouted excitedly.

  Chapter 63: The God‘s Heart and the Godly Sword |

  Just right after Xin Huo finished his sentence, the little Xiang Dragon beside Zhong Yue dashed out rapidly in pursuit of the flesh war chariot; in a trice, it transformed to the Sword Qi and slashed right at its target.

  Within a breath‘s time, the Sword Qi slashed the flesh war chariot that was over thirty feet long into parts; slicing the axle into half; breaking the girder into pieces; and its wheels continued rolling down the path until they rammed heavily into the flesh walls, crashing themselves into bits with the legs scattering everywhere.

  Blood gushed out from the war chariot door, as if the flesh war chariot was spurting out blood from a grievous wound. In its final moments, its huge pair of eyes behind the window stared menacingly at Zhong Yue before they rolled back, revealing the blank sclera. It had died.

  Zhong Yue gasped for breath, he was speechless watching the flesh war chariot as if it was a real thing with life.

  Thankfully I‘ve destroyed it, or otherwise, if it had transported another car of corpse demons, then I would be the one getting destroyed.

  Zhong Yue swayed on his feet and stood up; wounds littered his body, remnants of the battle where he had engaged with the fifteen corpse demons. If it were ordinary humans, the blood loss from the wounds would be unequivocally fatal but it was Zhong Yue. His physique was way beyond the level of the normal not only in terms of resilience but also in
his regulation of its processes – he could control his autonomic muscles to stem the bleeding, reconnect the dismembered flesh and veins to keep the blood flowing.

  His psyche even rejoined the torn skin!

  Hence, although his wounds may look very severe, his life was not at stake.

  It‘ll be nice if I have the Lingyu Paste with me right now, it is such a good remedy for the wounds, in addition to my strong physique and psyche, I‘ll be able to recover in a day or two. Without it, I surmise I‘ll need at least seven or eight days, that is under the assumption that I don’t undertake excessive movements so as to prevent the wounds from reopening.

  Zhong Yue exhaled a deep breath of air, the corpse demons and flesh war chariot he had just encountered would most probably be the weakest in the whole forbidden land; that said, he wouldn’t be as powerless as a rabbit when he would eventually face with the stronger ones.

  The flesh wall around writhed and dragged the dead corpse demons within itself, even the blood on the ground was absorbed away, the flesh war chariot was also eaten by the peculiar walls.

  It only took a few seconds for all the marks and traces of the battle to disappear, the only thing that remained was Zhong Yue’s memory of the bone-rattling battle that almost cost his life right here.

  If I die here, I suppose my blood and flesh would also be eaten away by the peculiar flesh walls? Even with the impressively strong auras of our previous headmasters of Swords Gate, their flesh was still devoured, how can I possibly not end up worse if I die right here?

  Zhong Yue recollected his thoughts, he forcefully suppressed his wounds and strode forward. Not long later, he was dumbfounded as a junction with five different paths appeared in front of him!

  “Xin Huo, which way?”

  Behind Zhong Yue stood the Sui Sovereign with the weathered lamp; he was massive, measuring over hundreds of feet tall, holding the lamp out twenty feets in front of Zhong Yue. Xin Huo‘s voice came out of the lamp, “The tunnels on the four sides must be the bypaths; but this tunnel … it is wider than the others, it must be the central pathway; just like the blood veins, the central vessels are bifurcated into the smaller vessels; so in order to enter the heart ventricle, we would have to follow the path of the central blood vessel ... this tunnel is where we will go!”