Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Zhong Yue crossed his arms and sneered.

  The Qi Practitioner’s heart suddenly thumped in fear, he cursed in his heart as he saw Zhong Yue dive into the water. Not long after, the water surface was agitated with ripples as a Xiang Dragon slowly walked out with a Qi Practitioner in its claws, the Qi Practitioner was heavily wounded and the beast planted him on the riverbank.

  Thankfully one managed to escape….

  Just when the third Qi Practitioner was feeling thankful in his heart, the Xiang Dragon once again trod on the water like a flash of lightning. Moments later, it returned with the second Qi Practitioner in tow.

  The second Qi Practitioner was bashed heavily and had lost the strength to even put up a symbolic struggle.

  It’s fine, it’s fine, I will seize this chance and get away from here to get more help!

  The third Qi Practitioner quickly sneaked away, but he could only travel ten miles away before he heard sounds of thunder rumbling from behind him, he turned around and saw the Xiang Dragon holding a gigantic blade ramming right at him!

  Moments after, Zhong Yue bashed and bullied the Qi Practitioner, grabbed him and walked over to the riverside. He was then planted into the ground just like his other clan members.

  The water stockade was in an uproar, countless fishing boats sailed out in all directions, they were the Shui Tu Clan disciples seizing the opportunity scurry over to the Lei Hu Clan to plead for help.

  The Lei Hu Clan is ranked the sixth in the top ten clan, above the Shui Tu Clan, there will be more strong cultivators in the Lightning Lake….

  Zhong Yue thought in his heart, he then controlled a wave of water and splashed in on the Shui Tu Clan members, followed by a few strikes of lightning, the Shui Tu Clan members were charred while blurting out black fumes from their mouths, they could only breathe heavily with no extra energy to even move at all.

  “Ho-ho!”

  The Xiang Dragon chortled merrily and trotted away with its rear legs, the Shitu Clan disciples and Qi Practitioners were all shocked and furious, they tried to free themselves but were too powerless, they were moaning in their hearts, Damn, damn, if the brats of Lei Hu Clan saw us in this state, Shui Tu Clan will then surely be a joke in the Great Wilderness….

  Lei Hu Clan members are all big mouths, the news that Shui Tu Clan was humiliated by a Xiang Dragon will soon spread across the Great Wilderness, everyone will know about it, they will never stop laughing at us for tens of years….

  It was not too long before the Lei Hu Clan ship sailed down from the river upstream, on it stood six or seven Lei Hu Clan Qi Practitioners, above the ship were flashes of lightning accompanied by the rumbling sound of thunder. Vaguely, one could see the shadowy figure of a Leigong standing in the gloomy clouds with a hammer and chisel in his hands, his aura was thunderous and marvelous. From afar, they could hear a Qi Practitioner shouting at them, “Where is the Xiang Dragon … Aiya, senior martial brothers, what happened to all of you? Is this a human-planting game?”

  On the Lei Hu Clan’s ship, loud guffaws and laughter burst out instantly while the Shui Tu Clan members were mortified, at this moment, they even wanted to have their heads buried deeper into the ground.

  A few moments later, the Lei Hu Clan Qi practitioners dug the Shui Tu Clan members out from the ground, the Lei Hu Clan Qi Practitioners were all brawny men, with thick hair like bear furs and barrel chests, just like human towers.

  One of them smirked and said, “Senior martial brothers were terribly defeated by a Xiang Dragon, what an interesting story this is, how can I not share it with the brothers of Youyu, Tianfeng and the other clans?”

  The Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners’ face darkened, one of them rebuked, “If it weren’t for the fact that the Hebo had to stay within the bounds of the stockade and guard it, without express permission from the elder, he will never leave from the water stockade. How could it even block us down right in front of our stockade?”

  “The Xiang Dragon even had you all cornered in your own base?”

  The Lei Hu Clan Qi Practitioners were happier, they gazed at each other and said, “Now this is more interesting, this alone is enough for us to gossip about for years to come!”

  “I was still worrying that I might run out of stories when meeting with the martial siblings of the other clans, now I have just the right topic to start the conversations!”

  The Qi Practitioners of the Shui Tu Clan snapped and one of them shouted, “Inform the elder, we must capture that Xiang Dragon and dismember it into pieces! Martial brothers of Lei Hu Clan, are you all interested in tagging along? After we capture it, we will serve you guys a meal of Xiang Dragon meat!”

  The Lei Hu Clan Qi Practitioners shook their heads, among them, one stepped forward and said, “The Xiang Dragon is an auspicious beast, it’s presence in the Shui Tu Clan territory is a propitious omen to the clan. This is something that the other clans have can only hope for, it’s fine if the Shui Tu Clan doesn’t worship it but why the need to capture it? Moreover, the Xiang Dragon only lambasted you guys, it could take your lives but it didn’t, it’s generosity and magnanimity is clearly shown. To further continue the pursuit, you are just disgracing yourselves in front of others.”

  “Your words make sense, but how can I just accept all the humiliations it gave us?”

  The Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioners rushed over to Swords Gate, they appealed for Elder Shui Zian’s assistance along with the other strong and formidable Shuitu Qi Practitioners. But it would all be useless as Zhong Yue had already traveled far. One day and one night, he had traveled over three thousands miles, across the mountains, through the forests, he persistently trudged onwards tirelessly.

  His physique was stronger than the ordinary people, and was even stronger after he adopted the form of the Xiang Dragon; after days and nights of incessantly visualizing Sui Sovereign, the beast god essence in his body was decreasing gradually.

  Another six or seven days passed before he was finally at the border of the Great Wilderness. There only remained a modicum of the beast god essence in his body, a few more days and he could then revert back to his human form.

  The beasts in the Great Wilderness were great in number, some were even descendants of the legendary ancient beasts, but the Xiang Dragon was a felicitous beast, a descendant of dragons, there weren’t many beasts that dared take the initiative in inciting trouble with it.

  Another half day and I will be walking out of the Great Wilderness.

  Zhong Yue’s heart thumped in excitement, this would be the first time he ever walks out of the Great Wilderness to explore the outside world!

  Outside of the Great Wilderness, I wonder if there are any humans living out there? How do the other races look like … Outside world, I am coming!’

  Chapter 68: The Blood that Boils Within |

  Three days later, Zhong Yue’s appearance started to change, he reverted back to the body of a human but his head remained as a dragon’s, he looked odd yet fantastical.

  His body was also huge, but with his height of ten feet, he appeared to be slim and slender; the seventeen feet long Fang Blade behind his back was installed with a three feet long wooden hilt. The collocation of the human and blade lent an elegant and graceful feel to the surroundings, at this moment, he did not strike the figure of a human teenager that walked out of Great Wilderness, but more of a teenager from the Dragon race.

  It was winter, snowstorms and blizzards covered over the land outside of the Great Wilderness. Zhong Yue used his psyche and clothed himself in a marten fur muffler and a coat made from animal hides which he had stolen from the Shui Tu Clan. His victim was a rich noble among the Shui Tu Clan, as the marten fur muffler and animal hide coat were well-maintained. Dressing in these clothes made him look like a nobleman himself.

  Especially when he was in the form of a dragon-headed human, with the winter-white muffler on his neck, he had the imposing manner of a nobleman.

  The only reason that he had not
fully reverted himself back to human form was in part due to the excessive beast god essence in his body, while at the same time, the incessant discharge from the beast god essence from the inner core. Since the beast god inner core was in his psyche ocean which happened to be located at his glabella, that region had the greatest concentration of the beast god essence which made it all the more difficult to revert back to human form.

  And now, he had come to the buffer zone between Great Wilderness and Xian Kong City, the Savanna Wasteland

  This was an endless desolate savanna, a barren wasteland that was devoid of any sign of life. A blanket of innocuous white snow paved over the withered grass, beneath which was the frozen earth crust. Whether it was the humans or the monster race, they all lived in the environments they inhabited; they would hunt from the wild if near the mountains and net for the fishes if near the ocean. As for the savanna, it was a place disdained by the humans and the monster race alike, a wasteland that none would care to claim.

  In the eyes of the monster race and humans, the savanna was a wasteland – barren, desolate, and dreary.

  However, Zhong Yue had heard some of the Qi Practitioners saying that the Human Sovereign once urged the humans to plant food crops in a large-scale in the savanna. His majesty desired for the expansion of the human territory out from the deep mountains and into the savanna, planting and growing food crops. However, everyone in the Great Wilderness was ignorant of most matters pertaining to food crops, whether it be its appearance or its exact nature.

  The Great Wilderness was simply far too remote, some even doubted the veracity of the existence of the Human Sovereign, believing him to be nothing but a mere contrived legend – the truth of his existence had yet to be proven.

  For the past three days, Zhong Yue had not met with a single human nor monster race; one could tell how barren and desolate the Savanna Wasteland was.

  “Xin Huo, how far till we reach the teleportation portal?” Zhong Yue asked while he strode forward in a casual manner, a simple step and he would be tens of feet away, he seemed to be leisurely strolling but he was actually traveling at great speed.

  These three days, he had traveled tens of thousands of miles, the link between Xin Huo and the teleportation portal was getting stronger, he could now vaguely tell how far away it was from them.

  “With your current speed, it’d take another four to five days.” Xin Huo answered.

  “Four to five days?”

  Zhong Yue was relieved, “Just another ten thousand miles of distance. Ey ... what is this?”

  The land in front of him was cracked, it was as if a sharp sword had once pierced into the earth from the sky, leaving behind a massive fissure in the earth’s surface. There was snow filling up the fissure but he could still tell that the sides of the fissure were smooth and glossy!

  Zhong Yue stood on the edge of the earth fissure, the massive sword mark was at least three miles long, sharp and incisive. It seemed like a sword mark left behind by a giant slashing its sword into the earth!

  Not far away from him, there were massive footprints sized like water pools, in it there was already some residual water with the water surface all frozen up, they were clearly footprints left behind by a giant beast.

  Moving forward, Zhong Yue could feel his heart palpitating rapidly, the air around was moist with slight surges of electricity lurking in the atmosphere, conducting through the moist air as if thunder totems would form out of thin air at any time. The surroundings were charred black, it looked like a colossal titan that wielded lightning had engaged in combat!

  It was winter, the air was supposed to be dry and arid without any humidity, and even if there was some modicum of moisture, they would be precipitated into ice crystals. But that was not quite the case right here as the air around was moist, saturated with water vapor, this wouldn’t occur unless there were thunder totems that had heated up the surrounding air. As the traces left behind by the thunder totems were still yet to disperse after so long, the one who cast them must be a Qi Practitioner with incredibly potent power!

  “This … techniques of the Lei Hu Clan Qi Practitioners! Yes, that’s right, the giant footprints must be left behind by the giant turtle, Fu Shan, and as for the massive sword mark, it would be the doing of Fang Jiange!”

  Zhong Yue’s heart thumped and he thought to himself, This seems like the place where the four young successors of Swords Gate clashed with the two great island lords of Xian Kong City! Two months have passed, I wonder if they were able to finish off the two monster race magnates?

  Zhong Yue was quite curious, Fang Jiange, Feng Wuji, Lei Hong and Jun Sixie, the four young successors were in pursuit of the Sulphur Island Lord Yan Yunsheng and Jinxiu Island Lord Xiutian Chen, this should be a grand event, so why would there be no news reaching back to Swords Gate?

  If they have succeeded in exterminating the two lords of Sulphur Island and Jinxiu Island, it would definitely spark a round of commotion in Swords Gate, everyone would surely know about it already. But if they have failed, they would also notify and inform the Swords Gate about. Unless….

  Zhong Yue’s eyes brightened, he babbled to himself, The four of them are still in pursuit of the island lords!

  Zhong Yue gazed around, the land extended endlessly all the way to the horizon, as far as the eye can see it was still the barren and desolate wasteland, he thought to himself, Xian Kong City is only tens of thousands miles away from here, with my speed I can reach it within a dozen days. The two island lords were peak figures of their factions, with one of them even standing at the same level as Swords Gate’s headmaster. If they could not exit the Savanna Wasteland into the Barren Wild, it would only mean that they are more heavily wounded than expected, leaving them unable to shake off the pursuit of the four young successors of Swords Gate!’

  The injuries of the two island lords were closely related to Zhong Yue, if he did not restore the beast god seal back to its flawless state under Xin Huo’s guidance, how would the two island lords be wounded so heavily?

  For the next few days, he could see more signs and marks left behind by their engagements, not only from Fang Jiange and Lei Hong, there were also some marks left behind by Jin Sixie and Feng Wuji, the other two young successors.

  Zhong Yue even saw thousands of stone pillars planted in the middle of nowhere, each pillar was over sixty feet tall and the array covered a hundred miles of land, on the surface of the stone pillars were engraved complex totem carvings of a dragon and phoenix!

  These stone pillars that numbered upwards of a thousand towered incongruously in the middle of the savanna, forming into a slaughtering array with an unearthly prowess. He wondered which of the four young Qi Practitioners cast these stone pillars.

  Whoever cast them, the stone pillars array must have trapped and held the island lords for quite some time, the island lords had gone through a bloodbath in order to escape from the stone pillars array. The stone pillars had all broken into halves, some even had the totem carvings wiped off. The stone pillar array was crushed away with no residual power left in it – the surrounding hundred miles of land was turned into a painting of chaos adorned with traces of combat across its landscape.

  ‘The four young successors of Swords Gate, they are indeed strong!’ Zhong Yue praised in his heart.

  Four days later, Zhong Yue had finally met with a tribe of humans, smoke could be seen billowing up into the winds as the tribesmen were preparing their meals. Zhong Yue was very curious, this place was only a distance away from the territory of monster race and yet, there were human tribes living around here.

  As the number of human tribes increases, he could see more monsters along the way, there were even a few Qi Practitioners riding the clouds and walking on the winds across the skies;he would often sense a sudden surge of monstrous aura bursts out of some mountains from afar, those would be the abodes of the monster Qi Practitioners. In contrast to the savanna, this place was very much more lively.

&nb
sp; I thought they said that humans can’t live out outside of Great Wilderness? Why are there so many human tribes right here?

  Zhong Yue walked past one of the human tribes, it was only a small tribe with over two thousand tribesmen. They dressed in ragged clothes and their emaciated bodies strongly were suggestive of malnourishment; they had also raised and kept some livestock in the tribe.

  The human tribesmen saw him walking past, their pace suddenly turned meticulous and fear was written crossed their faces in an instant, some of them even hid inside of their tattered and squalid hovels with their eyes gazing at him in terror.

  Zhong Yue was baffled by their reactions, seconds later he realized that with his current form of a dragon-headed human, he looked very much akin to one of the dragon race. It was not surprising that they had mistaken him as a monster.

  It seemed like the humans here were bullied by the monsters for too long, so long that even his appearance alone petrified them to death.

  “Is the master passing by?”

  An old man that seemed to be like the chief plodded over in a panic, he stepped forward and asked while forcing a smile on his face, “What kind of food would the master like? Raw or cooked?”

  Zhong Yue smiled and answered, “Elder….”

  Upon hearing the word, the old man instantly stomped his knees on the ground and said while he stuttered in fear, “I dare not deserve to be called by master in this way!”

  Zhong Yue was even more perplexed, and he said, “I’ve traveled far these few days, sleeping in the wild and having meals without a roof, if you could give me some cooked food….”

  The old man quickly stood up and faked a smile, “Please wait for a moment, the food will be served just in a bit … men, come over, get the third brother’s daughter from his house over here! Please wait master, please wait … Quick, bring her over and let the master have a look! If the master is happy with her, then we will cook and serve her to the master!”