Chapter 242: Chapter 241: Tewa Kan City, The Claim of Divine Descent
"The King of the Blackmarsh is dead?!"
A flash of surprise crossed Marina’s face.
This giant crocodile’s combat power was comparable to a quasi-Tier Three, and it was even stronger here in the festering marsh.
Even a ’Third Echelon’ bloodline practitioner would have found it difficult to kill the King of the Blackmarsh within the swamp; at most, they could only defeat it with relative ease...
After all, Cultivators on the Path of Bloodline were similar to the ’Body Cultivators’ of the immortal cultivation system.
They excelled at close-quarters physical combat, boasting high defense and health, but their fighting style was rather one-dimensional. In complex environments, they were far less flexible and versatile than temple Priests.
"Tsk..." Su Ye approached the King of the Blackmarsh’s corpse.
An azure spiritual light flowed from him, transforming into a chilling current.
HUM.
The flies and mosquitoes swarming the giant crocodile’s body were frozen and annihilated before they even had a chance to fly away.
Amidst the ice fragments scattered on the ground, Su Ye grew thoughtful, his gaze fixed on the blood-red wooden spear piercing through the giant crocodile’s head and brain!
It was obvious.
The owner of this blood-red wooden spear was the one who had killed the King of the Blackmarsh!
And they had done it with a single, fatal blow, leaving the beast utterly powerless to resist!
"Tsk..."
’Interesting...’
A glint appeared in Su Ye’s eyes, a look of a hunter finding worthy prey.
After all, he was also a master of polearms, deeply versed in the art of the spear—one could even call him a Grandmaster of his generation...
’Ugh, a Grandmaster who only throws spears?’
’Couldn’t be helped, I suppose.’
—Most targets were instantly killed by a thrown spear, simply not worth Su Ye’s time to engage in a prolonged fight.
’Besides, isn’t the ultimate goal of any ’fighting style’ to kill the opponent in the quickest, most efficient way possible?’
’Throwing a spear still makes me a Grandmaster!’
"This person’s skill with the spear is profound, no less than my own."
"Their Physical Realm is at least Tier Three Early Stage... but I’m almost certain it’s higher than that."
"After all, the power used for this throw was exquisitely focused, with absolutely no waste, yet it was maintained precisely at a Tier Three Early Stage level."
"That level of control doesn’t seem like something a Tier Three Early Stage practitioner could manage!"
Su Ye made his assessment as he observed the battlefield and examined the King of the Blackmarsh’s corpse.
Then, he reached for the blood-red wooden spear.
The azure spiritual light flickered, forming a shield like a crystal glove over his palm.
SHICK.
As the blood-red wooden spear was pulled from the body, it brought with it a few drops of foul-smelling, dark-red fluid.
Su Ye studied the spear. It seemed to be made of some kind of fernwood, tough and heavy. The tip was an uncanny blackish-red, coated in poison.
Moreover...
’This mark?’
Su Ye’s Divine Sense swept out, discovering a tiny mark on the spear’s shaft.
"This is... the mark of [Tewa Kan City]!"
From Marina’s memories, Su Ye had obtained a great deal of information about the Far South Continent, giving him a rough outline of this world.
The Far South Continent, also known as the Divine Land World.
Its geography was divided into the ’Northern Territory’ and the ’Southern Territory’.
The region they were currently in was part of the ’Northern Territory’!
In Su Ye’s opinion, the Northern Territory was relatively backward, its civilization based on city-states.
—A core of commercial city-states with numerous agricultural tribes as vassals. The model was quite similar to the indigenous civilizations of America from Su Ye’s previous life.
Thus, the Northern Territory was dotted with over a hundred city-states of various sizes. The strength of their monarchs averaged around quasi-Tier Three, though some weaker ones could only barely maintain Tier Two.
Among them, over a dozen major city-states, whose successive monarchs had consistently maintained Tier Three combat power... included [Aino City], where Marina was from.
And the three most powerful city-states in this land, each possessing Tier Four combat power, were revered as the—Three Great Main Cities!
[Tewa Kan City] was one of these three great main cities.
Within its city built of gold and marble, there were intricate Aerial Gardens and a majestic, grand pyramid for the worship of the [Eternal Hunting God]!
It was said that this was a powerful deity who presided over the domains of ’hunting’ and ’death’.
The rulers of [Tewa Kan City] called themselves the descendants of the Eternal Hunting God.
It was the same for [Aino City], where Marina came from; its rulers called themselves descendants of the [Goddess of Fertility].
’This seems to be a tradition in the Far South Continent?’
The rulers of all the city-states worshiped deities and claimed to be their descendants, ruling the city-states with their noble bloodline status!
’A theocracy?’
Su Ye’s thoughts drifted, his gaze shifting as he fell into contemplation.
Just then, Marina walked over.
She looked at the mark of [Tewa Kan City] on the blood-red spear, her expression freezing.
"Tewa Kan City killed the King of the Blackmarsh?"
"This is a provocation against Aino City. Do they want to start a war?"
"Wait, or does this mean... the war has already begun?!"
She froze, a look of horror appearing on her face.
In her memory, wars between city-states on the Divine Land were common, but those conflicts mostly involved the smaller states!
For major city-states in the Northern Territory like Tewa Kan and Aino to go to war with each other was something she found truly unimaginable!
"What happened... Why?"
Marina was bewildered and at a loss.
’War, huh?’
Su Ye wore a faint smile.
Marina had been away from the Far South Continent for twenty years.
’It seems some interesting changes have occurred in the Far South Continent during that time?’
Then, he led the group onward, heading toward the edge of the festering marsh.
As for the King of the Blackmarsh?
The demonic beast’s flesh and blood had been tainted by poison, rendering it useless and devoid of value.
Although he could probably find some parts with a little value if he searched carefully, the cost-benefit ratio was too low... It wasn’t worth Su Ye’s time.
As he proceeded toward the edge of the swamp, more and more evidence supporting the ’war’ hypothesis emerged from the marsh!
SPLASH.
A cursed crewman, his face expressionless, hauled a highly decomposed corpse in a Priest’s robe out of the muddy water.
"I don’t know him, but he’s wearing the robes of a Priest of the Goddess of Fertility," Marina identified, frowning slightly and enduring the stench.
Then.
They followed the trail back from where the Priest’s body had come, continuing toward the swamp’s edge. The signs of war grew more and more frequent!
Arrows, swords, and spears lay scattered everywhere in disarray.
Hundreds of corpses belonging to Warriors of the Goddess of Fertility were piled up in the wetland, being devoured by wild beasts.
Banners were submerged in the muddy water, stained dark black, their luster dimmed.
"This..." Marina was horrified.
These Warriors were all equivalent to Early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, not ordinary mortals!
「Half an hour later.」
They left the festering marsh. It was now noon, and the sun was scorching.
A cool breeze brushed against their faces, bringing a bit of refreshing relief.
But the reek of blood on the wind was nauseating!
"Ah!"
Marina’s eyes flew wide. She let out an involuntary scream, then quickly covered her mouth.
Beyond the swamp was a wide, open clearing.
Thousands of soldiers’ corpses, along with a similar number of civilians—nearly ten thousand bodies in total—were impaled on sharpened wooden stakes like scarecrows.
The ghastly scene resembled a grand, ritual sacrifice!
A blood sacrifice!
