by <unknown>
He then took out a sword token and hurled it towards Zhong Yue as he said, “This is the sword token that was returned to the old man by the girl that goes by the surname of Qiu. Old man then asked me to hand it over to you and he said that you would understand everything upon seeing this token.”
Zhong Yue took over the sword token and he confirmed that this was indeed Qiu Jiner’s sword token after measuring it carefully. As such, he slowly began to believe Gu Hongzi’s words.
“Then why did you not do something for the humans that are struggling in your territory?” Zhong Yue asked.
“I could not do anything for them as that would attract the suspicion of others. Sometimes, something will have to be sacrificed for a greater good.”
After a moment of silence, Gu Hongzi stood up and said, “If I want to stand my ground among the monsters, then I will have to act like one. I would only draw unnecessary attention if I were to show any modicum of pity towards the humans. In our quest for humanity’s future, there will always be sacrifices. Whether it be me, you, the old man or those humans. All of us must be prepared to die at any time for this goal….”
“Old man is dying soon and the chaos will spread all over the Great Wilderness. Now, the crucible for the fate of humanity has come. With the imminent chaos, I would not be able to sit here to do nothing. I will definitely participate in the battle. I’ve never had a father until this foolish old man took me in and treated me like a son. So I, too, view him as my father. He wanted me to stay here to guard the door to the Great Wilderness for the new headmaster of Swords Gate, but how could a son just let his father die in the battlefield alone?”
Gu Hongzi tapped Zhong Yue’s shoulder and he said with a smile, “Thank god there’s you now. You will replace me and become the next lord of the Gu Xia City. You will provide the haven for the humans here and be the vanguard that leads them out of this devastating land of monsters!”
Then, Gu Hongzi continued saying, “The old man is preparing for an inevitable battle that he cannot afford to lose. If he wins, peace will blossom all over the Great Wilderness and if the Swords Gate loses, the Great Wilderness will be destroyed and the only place for the humans left will be Gu Xia City.”
Chapter 156: A New Problem Arises |
“What is the old man thinking?” asked Zhong Yue after he recollected his thoughts.
Right now, the humans were stuck in a really terrible situation. The Great Wilderness was the last haven of survival for the humans and the Swords Gate that protected the Great Wilderness faced imminent destruction. They were akin to a candle fire weathering the storm that threatened to extinguish it at any time.
The humans were now faced with a situation where there was no one to bridge the gap between the stronger Qi Practitioners and the weaker Qi Practitioners. The five elemental innate spirit bodies: Feng, Fang, Lei, Jun, and Qiu all had yet to reach a level where they hold the bastion of humanity up, and coupled with the fact that and the headmaster was getting older each day, the situation that humanity found itself in was bleak. On top of that, there were also spies from the celestial race, human traitors and Tian Myriad Mother in the Swords Gate. With the currently unstable Devil Soul Forbidden Land, the Swords Gate was in deep water now!
And as the headmaster of the Swords Gate, how would the old man manage to pull fend off all these overt and hidden threats?
“You will know it by then. You are too weak now and knowing too much is not good for you.”
Gu Hongzi laughed and said, “I met up with you just to tell you that if the worst case scenario were to happen in the future, you would have some time left to get ready. Right now, you have to give in all you got for the worst scenario. It would be good if this does not happen, but if it did, then Gu Xia City will be the last foothold for all humanity!”
Zhong Yue remained silent and he nodded his head firmly.
The five elemental innate spirit bodies of the Swords Gate appeared too late and the other Qi Practitioners would not be of much use if they could not reach a stronger level; they would be elder level figures at most.
This was the other tragedy of Swords Gate. There were no geniuses that were born into the world during the old man’s prime, thus, he was not able to cultivate the new generation. It was only when he had entered the twilight of his life that the five elemental innate spirit bodies made their appearance. Unfortunately, it was already too late by then and the old man was bereft of the opportunity to see them grow into their potential.
Gu Hongzi then murmured, “The old man has already given his best, trying all he could to live another day just so he could see the five elemental innate spirit bodies grow into the pillars for humanity. But he cannot hold on any longer….”
Zhong Yue remained silent as he did not know what to say.
“You are now the disciple of Shi Buyi and you have quite some among the monsters. I will assign more territory to you and if I do not die in the future, I will compete for the position of the Saint City Lord. Then, you and I will control the power of the monsters and the door to the monsters!”
After that, Zhong Yue returned to the Falcon Ridge and not long later, the area within three miles radius of the Falcon Ridge was conferred over to Zhong Yue by Gu Hongzi. Zhong Yue then immediately proceeded to summon all the Qi Practitioners around his territory to build altars and various building structures. He then ordered them to erect totem pillars everywhere and he carved the Xiang dragon’s totem carvings onto the pillars, allowing the humans in his territory to worship.
I’ve promised Ao Fenglou that forty percent of my territory will be given to the dragons. Since I made a promise, I will honor it.
Zhong Yue thought, Gu Xia City is the only city that stands between the Swords Gate and the monsters. If the old man really died, chaos will engulf the entire Swords Gate and the monsters would need to pass in order to enter the Great Wilderness. By letting the dragons into my territory, they can become another tool to fend off the monsters!
Without hesitation, he quickly separated his territory into many parts and he had the four girls, Chun’er, Xia’er, Qiu’er and Dong’er each take over a part of the territory, handing over the remaining forty percent to the dragon race.
The four girls had improved rapidly in this period of time. After all, they were quite talented themselves and their starting point was also higher than the others. After a period of cultivation, they managed to absorb all the power of the spirit herbs and because of the visualization art of the moon spirit given to them by Zhong Yue, their souls became very strong. In no time, they were able to sense the spirit and ascend to Qi Practitioners.
Zhong Yue became a Qi Practitioner in half a year time after he encountered Xin Huo but these four girls were not any slower than him.
He then thought, I wonder if their spirits will be the spirit of a monster or human.
In truth, be it human or monster, their spirit would take the form of Gods like the God of Nature and the other type of Gods. There was countless totem carvings spirit among the humans and monsters that were provided to their people to cultivate.
But it would be impossible for the four girls to enter the sun or moon to sense the spirit as the paths were destroyed.
En, after I initiated the totem pillar given by Ao Fenglou, and after he arrives here with his kin, I will ask him to do me a favor by taking the girls to the dragons to sense the spirits!
He then triggered the totem pillar of the dragons and he handed it over to the girls. Zhong Yue also told them to hand over the remaining territory to the dragons if any guests from the dragon race were to arrive.
It would take them a couple of months for the dragons’ messenger to arrive. I think it’s better for me to return to Swords Gate and get ready to advance into the Awakening level!
After having dealt with the matters on his hands, Zhong Yue immediately triggered the plum tree that had been nourished by his soul for a long time and he activated the 【Can Carrier Art】and had himself
replaced by the plum tree. With that, even after someone used the soul lantern to locate Zhong Yue, the person would only be able to locate the location of the plum tree instead of Zhong Yue.
I wonder what is happening in Swords Gate after having left the place for such a long time. I’m sure there would’ve been a ruckus in the Swords Gate after I killed Xiao Chuqing.
A few moments after Zhong Yue left, Gu Hongzi received news that Zhong Yue had already left after Gu Hongzi asked someone to fetch him to the city hall. He frowned and thought, This brat is just one who couldn't sit still. He left again after returning for a few days. Could it be that he returned to the Swords Gate? I forgot to tell him that there has been a long argument between the Swords Gate and the Xiao Mang Celestial Race because of the death of Xiao Chuqing. But there shouldn’t be a problem since he is not related to the case….
After five to six days, Zhong Yue finally returned to the Swords Gate located in the Great Wilderness. For a prolonged period of time, he had been trapped in a chain of adversity and blood, his days were filled with fighting and killing, leaving him little time for rest. As such, his return to the Swords Gate was a very welcome change of pace, allowing him a reprieve from the life he led only a few moments ago. He thought, This is my home after all. Home is where one feels the safest!
He held the Swords Gate dearly and nothing could ever usurp its position in his heart. He may have established his own power in the Gu Xia City and had become the final disciple of Shi Buyi, but ultimately, the Swords Gate was his home.
Huh? Why is the Swords Gate’s atmosphere so tense?
As soon as he arrived at the mountain of the Swords Gate, he looked at the sword-shaped mountain and felt that the atmosphere of the Swords Gate now was different to when he left. Prior to his departure, the atmosphere of Swords Gate was much calmer and harmonious but now, there was a palpable tension and frigidity he could feel hidden in the atmosphere of the Swords Gate.
An average person may not be able to sense the atmosphere, but Qi Practitioners are very sensitive to such things, able to perceive things others may not.
It is not the mountain of Swords Gate that is emitting this dense aura, but the Qi Practitioners in the mountain. What happened after I left?
As Zhong Yue got to the cliff in front of the inner hall, a huge white crane flew close and Zhong Yue mounted it. On top of the back of the crane, Zhong Yue asked curiously, “Tao He’er, what happened recently in the Swords Gate?”
“Young Mr Zhong must have left the Swords Gate for some adventure, right?”
The white crane said, “Something did happen recently. The moon spirit innate body girl, Xiao Chuqing was killed outside of the Wilderness in a few couples of months ago. As news got to the ears of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, they all snapped and rushed here demanding for an explanation. Those weird looking guys forced me to carry them up the mountain and not only that, they were all so dense and their faces were so black….
Zhong Yue coughed and said, “Tao He’er, just telling me the main points will do.”
“The celestial race came and said that Xiao Chuqing died not long after entering the Swords Gate and the Swords Gate must give them a valid explanation or they would have to relinquish part of their land and people over to the celestial race.
The rather loquacious Tao He’er then continued, “But of course, Elder Yu definitely did not agree to their terms and he said that Xiao Chuqing broke the rules, leaving for the Wilderness by herself. With that, she had left the protection of the humans of her own volition, leaving the Swords Gate no longer responsible for her safety. The celestial race then got enraged and they all fought. In the end, the messengers from the celestial race did not manage to win the fight, then the high priest of the celestial race came forward with the other priests. They were so heavy and they had me carrying them up the mountain to fight with Elder Yu and the others….”
Zhong Yue’s heart squeezed as he heard that even the elder high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race had made an appearance as well!
The elder high priest is the leader of the celestial race temples, a figure on the same level as the Swords Gate’s headmaster!
Seems like the death of Xiao Chuqing really did cause a ruckus!
Then, Zhong Yue started to become worried as he was the one who had caused all of this by killing Xiao Chuqing. Now, he feared the repercussions that his rather reckless actions had brought about on the Swords Gate.
“Then?” asked again by Zhong Yue after he recollected his thoughts.
“Then Elder Shui Zian left the Swords Gate and went to the West Barren. He then brought back a few elder high priest from the other celestial races to play the peacemaker. Elder Shui is such a great man! He brought back a few tall, huge and weird looking elder high priest. Some of them had one eye or countless of eyes and the Xiao Mang Celestial Race elder high priest dared not have any other moves. Finally, they decided to fight one by one.”
Zhong Yue was shocked and he shouted, “Qi Practitioners of the level with headmaster actually listened to Elder Yu?”
“Elder Yu said that Elder Shui has lots of contacts and he is on good terms with many people. Seems like he was right that, but the celestial race have such heavy bodies that I was almost unable to even lift off the ground.
Tao He’er then continued saying, “If the Swords Gate lost, then we will have to give part of our land and population to the celestial race.”
“Then?” Zhong Yue asked harriedly.
“Then they fought of course,” replied Tao He’er.
Zhong Yue blinked his eyes and he urged, “You have yet say the ending of it!”
“If they have yet to finish their battles, how could there be an ending?”
Tao He’er laughed and said, “The helpers brought back by Elder Shui Zian said that the elders should not fight together and they should solve the problem by letting their disciples compete with each other. Each party will send out the strongest Qi Practitioner of every level to compete and if the Swords Gate lost, then we will have to give our land and population to the celestial race and if we won, the Xiao Mang Celestial Race will have to go home. After all, Xiao Chuqing was not a pureblood so there is no need for too much hassle. With that, the inner hall disciples all got ready and challenged each other for the qualification to participate in the battle with the Xiao Mang Celestial Race. If I wasn’t still on duty, I would’ve gone to have a look.”
Zhong Yue then felt relieved and he took out a few spirit herbs which he delivered to the crane. He then said, “He’er, you requested me to help you in raising your level and I had not forgotten it. These are a few spirit herbs that I got from the outside and I am giving them to you now.”
Immense joy and happiness struck Tao He’er as she felt the potent power emanating out from the spirit herbs. She could instantly tell that these would provide a great boost to her cultivation base. Tao He’er then expressed her gratitude to Zhong Yue and picked up the spirit herbs before flying back into the clouds.
How could Tao He’er not be happy? The spirit herbs given to her by Zhong Yue were all precious ones whose rarity simply made them beyond the reach of most. These spirit herbs were all given to Zhong Yue by the various monster factions during the ceremony and Zhong Yue managed to stay alive thanks to these herbs. Those herbs that Zhong Yue gave Tao He’er had a lifespan of a few hundred years and they were rare resources even in the Swords Gate.
She had been stationed here for quite some time and that was the first time an inner hall disciple gifted her spirit herbs, not to mention that they were incredibly rare spirit herbs!
Chapter 157: Immense Killing Intent |
The competitors in the inner hall must be competing for the title of the strongest Spirit Nurturing Qi Practitioner, Rebirth level Qi Practitioner and the Awakening level Qi Practitioner. Whereas among the hall masters, they will be competing for the title of the strongest Atman Body Qi Practitioner and the Inner Core Qi Practitioner. The title of th
e strongest Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioner will be competed for by the four aces of Swords Gate then.
As Zhong Yue returned to the inner hall, he could feel that the atmosphere of the inner hall was even better than before. All the disciples were motivated, they diligently cultivated and challenged those in the Dragon and Tiger Challenger Board almost every day!
In such a short period of time, immense changes could be seen in the inner hall disciples as their cultivation base increased rapidly and it all the difference between themselves now and before was night and day.
The pressure from the Xiao Mang Celestial Race is driving them forward to become stronger.
On the way back to his own cave dwelling, Zhong Yue stopped and observed a few competitions between the disciples and he thought, But this is not enough. They may be more motivated and their strength has increased but they have yet to experience the naked cruelty of the world. Their battle intent is apparent, but their killing intent is severely lacking!
As he now stood on a higher peak as compared to the inner hall disciples, he could able to glean such things as easily as observing his own palms.
This imminent battle with the Xiao Mang Celestial Race would be a rare opportunity for the Qi Practitioners from the Swords Gate to have a taste of outer world.
The inner hall disciples may be too unprepared to fight with the celestial race but they really need an encounter that could change their lives greatly.
Zhong Yue thought this, but without realizing that he was the same age as the inner hall disciples.
Not long later, he arrived at his own cave dwelling. After a long absence, the lack of proper care is evident by how the beautiful flowers were now overshadowed by weeds.
Zhong Yue picked up the hoe and attended the garden. He first removed the wild grass and he fertilized the flowers. Then, he came to the waterfall and cleaned the area. He spent quite some time attending the hygiene of his cave dwelling and before he could finish what he was doing, he heard a few familiar voices calling him from the outside.