Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  The voice of Saint City Lord then could be heard saying calmly, “Long Yue, go and treat your wounds and you will stay in the Storm Courtyard and it will become your personal estate. Five days later, I will hold a ceremony to announce this matter to the world!”

  Zhong Yue bowed and the Saint City Lord dispersed his aura. With that, his aura that shrouded the entire Saint City finally dispersed, relieving all the monsters in the city, including Zhong Yue. As Zhong Yue relaxed, he could feel sweat pouring out from his pores like bullets!

  Yu Xuanji, Hu Qimei and the others immediately walked towards him and smiled, “Congratulations, Brother Long Yue! Your identity and status are no longer the same as before now that you’ve become the final disciple of the Saint City Lord. Now, only a bright future awaits you!”

  Zhong Yue laughed and replied, “It has not been decided yet and this bright future you speak of ultimately depends purely on my strength. Without strength and power, even becoming the final disciple of a god would be useless!”

  “With that said, your future will still be much better under the guidance and resources of the Saint City Lord!”

  “Let’s go! Back to your Storm Courtyard so we can celebrate!”

  Zhong Yue also felt happy and they started walking towards the Storm Courtyard. His eyes then met with Ao Fenglou again and all Ao Fenglou did was to nod at him.

  Zhong Yue was confused but he still greeted back with a bow as he thought, Strange, why did he help me? He even said that I am a mixed monster of the dragon and the monster in front of everyone which prevented anyone from questioning me again. Something is off … he must have some other motives. Seems like I would have to pay him a visit sometime! Hmm… I better ask Yu Xuanji to gather some information first, like where this Ao Fenglou is staying….

  The Storm Courtyard is one of the little cave dwellings in the Xian Kong Saint City and it was extremely luxurious. All the paths in the courtyard were made with jades and there were also a few tens of maidservants, each and every one of them were very pretty. They were mostly cat girls, fox girls and other charming monster girls.

  From the point of view of Zhong Yue’s point of view, these female monsters were all still animal-like; some had furry tails, long fox ears and cat ears and some of them even walked on four limbs while swinging their tails, which was completely different from the human girls.

  Zhong Yue ordered the fox girls and cat girls to harvest some of the spirit herbs and fruits from the garden and organized a banquet which he invited Yu Xuanji and the others. They all imbibed in drinks and cordially parted ways after the celebration.

  He then returned to his room and he treated his wounds quietly. Not long later, Yu Xuanji came looking for him as he had found out the place where Ao Fenglou is currently staying. Apparently, this competent dragon had yet to leave the city and he was having fun staying in the Myriad Flower Garden.

  Zhong Yue then took a bath with the service of the maidservants. As he bathed, the scars on his body disappeared without a trace. One would be extremely hard-pressed to guess that he his body was previously littered with hundreds of injuries just by looking at it now.

  A cat girl and a fox girl served him and helped him to dry his body and put on his clothes. Although Zhong Yue was not used to the girls helping him with such things, he eventually managed to get use to it now and he could even stand there naked and let the girls to wipe his body.

  As for whatever Xin Huo said about having sex with them, Zhong Yue rejected Xin Huo without hesitation as he could not bring himself to do such a thing with a monster.

  When the girls put on a luxurious cloth on him, his bearing immediately changed to that of an exceptional young man. He exuded a glamorous aura that evoked a sense of strength and maturity.

  Not long later, Zhong Yue arrived at the Myriad Flower Garden, a high-class brothel run by the monsters. Although it was a high-class brothel, the female monsters that sold their bodies here for prostitution mostly came from poverty and the lower echelons of the monster society.

  Zhong Yue entered the Myriad Flower Garden and under the usher’s lead, he eventually found Ao Fenglou.

  “So, you have finally come.”

  Ao Fenglou clapped and signaled the female monsters and usher to withdraw. Then, he flicked his finger and the doors and windows immediately closed shut before he took out a white gauze. He then threw it into the air and the gauze became bigger and bigger, covering the entire room, including the ground.

  The gauze, however, passed through Zhong Yue as if he was not even there, causing it to look seemingly strange yet wonderful, like a precious item made of clouds.

  Chapter 144: Jiao Dragon Quintessence |

  “Now, we do not have to worry about anyone overhearing our conversation! Forgive me for being so careful, but you must understand that this is the saint city of the monsters with countless strong individuals after all.”

  Ao Fenglou sat down and invited Zhong Yue to do the same. He then measured Zhong Yue as he laughed and said, “Interesting, very interesting! A human actually managed to step foot in the core land of the monsters and even became the final disciple of the Saint City Lord. Such bravery and such luck! You are fortunate that I was the one Lang Qingyun invited or your identity would have been exposed by now!”

  “Thank you for your assistance, Brother Fenglou.”

  Zhong Yue said straight to the point, “You must have something that you want from me for helping me. I’ll do what I can to fulfill your request so long as it is within my capabilities!”

  Ao Fenglou laughed and said, “It’s nice talking to a smart person, is it not? Right, I do have one request.”

  “Speak then.”

  Ao Fenglou paused for a moment before he continued, “Not only just that, I will register you into the genealogy book of the Xiang Dragons so that the monsters wouldn’t be able to find anything if they were to delve deeper into this matter!”

  Zhong Yue then asked, “So Brother Fenglou, your request is?”

  Ao Fenglou laughed and said, “All I want you to do is that your territory in the monsters is also the territory of the dragon race! And you will have to report any big movements of the monsters to me whenever there’s one and that’s all!”

  Zhong Yue’s mind shifted and he shook his head as he said, “I could fulfill your second desire with ease but the first one would be little bit too much. I risked my life to cement my power among the monsters and I have already offended too many factions by killing so many monsters. God knows how many of these factions want me dead by now and the dragons now want to gobble up my territory in the monsters? I could only give you thirty percents at most!”

  Ao Fenglou frowned as what Zhong Yue said was completely right as he had killed too many monsters and their blood could have formed a river. With that, he would draw all sorts of harmful intentions of the other monster factions even if he occupied such an exalted position as the final disciple of the Saint City Lord.

  Besides, the monster’s Saint City Lord would not trust Zhong Yue completely as although not being a pure dragon, Zhong Yue would still be considered a dragon. The city lord would still have to worry about whether or not Zhong Yue was a spy from the dragon race.

  Therefore, becoming the final disciple of the Saint city Lord may not be a good thing for Zhong Yue as the Saint City Lord might even order the monsters to secretly assassinate Zhong Yue to prevent any possible threats in the future!

  “I am aware of the dangers around you but only thirty percent is too little. I want half of your territory.”

  Zhong Yue shook his head and said, “I could give you forty percent at most, Brother Fenglou. Any more than that and all the efforts I poured in and the enmities I’ve formed will go to waste and I will be left with no other option but to return to the Great Wilderness.”

  Ao Fenglou looked at him for a while and said as he laughed, “Fine, forty percent it is!”

  He then took out a long totem pillar with dragon carvings all ove
r it and as he passed the totem pillar to Zhong Yue, he said, “After returning to your territory, trigger this totem pillar and I will know your location so I can send my people to your territory.”

  Zhong Yue took over the draconic totem pillar and said, “Brother Fenglou, I know little about the skills of the dragons, all I know is only the Xiang Dragon Totem Carvings and the Jiao Dragon Totem Carving, both severely incomplete. Now, as a dragon race, how could I not have a complete draconic art? Could you be kind enough to teach me some of it so that I can further alleviate the suspicion towards me?”

  Ao Fenglou nodded and replied, “A reasonable request. Since you already practiced the Jiao Dragon totem carvings and are much more competent in the visualization of Jiao Dragons, I will teach you the complete Jiao Dragon Totem Carving”

  Zhong Yue was a little bit disappointed and he said, “Only the Jiao Dragon Totem Carving?”

  Ao Fenglou laughed coldly and he said, “Only the Jiao Dragons totem carvings you say? A complete Jiao dragon totem carving contains the complete form of the Jiao Dragon; its blood, flesh, veins, bones, soul … every conceivable nuance of the Jiao Dragon is encapsulated in the complete carving. Your Jiao Dragon Totem Carving is only capable of visualizing the skin of a Jiao Dragon and lacks everything that I mentioned above! Your Xiang Dragon Totem Carving could only visualize blood, meat, veins, bones, and skin. It is unable to even unleash a fraction of its full power! The Jiao Dragon Totem Carvin I am going to teach you is guaranteed to be a powerful skill as strong as the【Monster God Ming King’s Art】 !”

  “A complete Jiao Dragon Totem Carving is actually that complicated?”

  This caused Zhong Yue to double back in simultaneous surprise and happiness as his respect for the dragon race grew, The dragons are indeed the dragon race, such a rich heritage that is beyond imagination! But what he is going to teach me is just a skill, not the techniques behind the skill. Seems like Ao Fenglou is still holding back, without the technique behind the skill, what I receive will be inferior to the【 Monster God Ming King’s Art 】. But my main skill is the 【Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art】, not the【 Monster God Ming King’s Art】. All I need from the【 Monster God Ming King’s Art】is just its skill, not the techniques behind it.

  Ao Fenglou’s psyche moved and presented the treasured the Jiao Dragon Totem Carving in front of Zhong Yue. A carousel of images flashed in front of Zhong Yue. Those pictures were the totem carvings of the Jiao Dragons, which seemed much more complicated and amazing than Zhong Yue’s own totem carvings of the Jiao Dragons!

  The Jiao Dragon Totem Carving visualized by Ao Fenglou had countless totem carvings that depicted every subtlety a Jiao Dragon. As compared to Ao Fenglou’s, what Zhong Yue had learned previously only extended to the skin, which was encapsulated in the only twelve Jiao Dragon totem carvings he possessed. It did not include the other aspects of the dragon, thus, he couldn’t have been considered as having elucidated its quintessence.

  But what Ao Fenglou taught him was the quintessence of the dragon race and it was almost impossible to receive a heritage stronger than the quintessence of the dragon race!

  There were already 236 totem carvings in total that only depicted just the blood, flesh, veins, bones, membranes, skin, appearance, and soul of the Jiao Dragon Totem Carving. It took Zhong Yue a few days to fully understand it.

  Ao Fenglou then said, “Obtaining the complete totem carvings of the Jiao Dragon does not mean that you have elucidated its quintessence. The quintessence of this skill is on the aspect of movements and controls! These three aspects are the most important part of the skill. There are a total of 108 types of visualization pictures in the Jiao Dragon’s movements and a total of 36 visualization pictures in the Jiao Dragon’s idling. Together, there are 144 quintessences. Whereas for control, it literally means control, how you control your skill, and how to unleash the full power of this skill. I now pass these 144 visualization pictures to you but you have to learn how to control your skills by yourself.”

  Zhong Yue nodded and said, “I might not be able to learn the heritage of the dragon race and I have my own skill, which might not be any weaker than the dragon race’s skills.”

  Ao Fenglou moved his mind and 144 Jiao Dragons appeared in the air, each with different forms. some were frolicking in the water, some were idling in the air, some showing ferocious expressions. Each of these Jiao Dragon manifestations depicted the emotions and movements of a real Jiao dragon!

  Zhong Yue quickly memorized them in his mind he started observing them. After a long time, he finally managed to learn the complete set of 144 visualization pictures.

  “I have passed this art to you. Among the dragons, the Jiao Dragons represent ferocity, carnage, and wrath. They belong to the small population of combat affinity dragons and although their position may be low among the dragons, their combat prowess ranks among the highest of the entire dragon race!”

  Ao Fenglou then got up and looked at Zhong Yue and he said, “Now, do you mind telling me your real name?”

  Zhong Yue got up and removed his disguise to return to his original appearance. He greeted and said, “Great Wilderness’ Swords Gate. Zhong Shan Clan’s Zhong Yue. Greetings, Brother Fenglou!”

  Ao Fenglou saluted back and he said with a smile, “I never thought Junior Martial Brother Zhong is so young! I’ve met with your Swords Gate’s Fang Jiange once and had a competition with him in the air on top of the Eastern Sea. I can tell that you are far more accomplished than he was your age and one day, you will surpass him for sure. Today, I will leave this place and return to the Eastern Sea. I hope you will not forget our promise!”

  Zhong Yue’s appearance morphed back into Long Yue’s draconic look and he nodded, “Senior martial brother, don’t worry. I may not be as strong as you all but I am also a man of my word.”

  Ao Fenglou nodded and retracted his gaze before walking away.

  Zhong Yue also left the Myriad Flower Garden shortly and returned to the Storm Courtyard. He then thought, The Saint City Lord says that he will take me in as his final disciple after five days and tomorrow is the fifth day. I guess this ceremony would be just for show. After all, I am of the dragon race and he doesn't trust me at all. Besides, I killed Heavenly Monster Li Jun and that guy was his disciple. Although not many may know of that fact, the city lord himself would surely be unhappy. This Saint City Lord will definitely find an excuse to kill me….

  Zhong Yue then calculated carefully as he thought, The Black Mountain and the Xian Kong Saint City are both dangerous places where I can’t stay for long! All I need is just the name of the disciple of this Saint City Lord and I don’t even need any precious items or treasures! After the ceremony tomorrow, I will move at once and rush back to the Gu Xia City so I don’t fall to whatever nefarious schemes he has in store for me!

  As compared to his younger self, Zhong Yue’s experience has now lended him a cautious mind unique among those his age and cultivation level.

  In the Storm Courtyard, Zhong Yue had no other thoughts and all he did was immerse himself into learning the Jiao Dragon Totem Carvings and understand its various complexities. Although Ao Fenglou did not teach him the technique, he could still easily control the Jiao dragons through the powerful【Sui Sovereign Flame Order Palace Visualization Art】.

  The completed Jiao Dragon Totem Carvings was also capable of refining his physique, battle prowess, flight, breathability underwater, and also his control of fire, thunder and even wind!

  All of this just proved that what Ao Fenglou said about the Jiao Dragon quintessence being no weaker than the【Monster God Ming King’s Art】 was no hyperbole at all!

  The Jiao Dragon quintessence is very complicated and to achieve and fully master it, I will need days.

  Zhong Yue kept on training and he first visualized the Jiao Dragons in his psyche ocean, roaming dragons formed one after another; they were all either frolicking in the water or idling. He tried his best to observe and
glean the profundities in their movements, and to understand the nuances of their bodies and corporeal form, such as the bones, flesh and veins. He even went so far as to destroy his previous comprehensions the art to etch them anew on a blank slate, unencumbered by the anchors of his old insights.

  Time passed quickly and soon, the day for the ceremony had arrived. An elderly with white hair arrived at Zhong Yue’s residence and asked him to bath and dress up for the ceremony.

  “In these few days, the lords of the East Barren’s six cities, four keeps and three islands sent messengers to the Saint City to send you their regard and to witness the ceremony, Mr Long.”

  The white-haired elder also said with a laugh, “Today is a big day for you, you must not take it lightly! The other disciples of the Saint City Lord, Qiu Qingshan, Chi Liannu, Lian Xin and Senior Martial Brother Lang Qingyun have also arrived!”

  Chapter 145: Inauguration |

  Zhong Yue prepared himself, he walked into the saint city lord’s manor to see it already brimming with people. Envoys from all the major forces in the East Barren gathered in the hall. The old man first brought him over to meet with the envoys before leading him into the inner hall and asking him to wait.

  The inauguration was grand and majestic, the forces that came in congratulations were also many. The atmosphere was very lively. Zhong Yue’s name had spread widely through the East Barren – all over the mountains, rivers, and every place in between.

  Whether it be his outstanding performance in the Black Mountain secret realm or the battle against Heaven Monster Li Jun in saint city, or the massacre he carried out on the street ... they were all the hottest topics in the monsters’ daily discussions and gossips.

  Of course, Zhong Yue noticed a few of the envoys whose attitudes were subtly less than cordial; their words held many hidden meanings and were effused with hidden killing intents. He knew that it was all because he had killed either their friends, families or disciples in the massacre on the street.