Chapter 103: Chapter 13: So You’re the Protagonist After All
"Younger Brother Su, please, come in!"
Li Daoran wasn’t the only one; all three Grandmasters had tested Su Zhou in various ways. But the more they probed, the more alarmed they became.
Li Daoran had the strongest Inner Qi Cultivation of the three Grandmasters, and he also appeared the youngest. His pure Inner Strength was more profound than Su Zhou’s, and his Daoist Skill could even conjure a gale out of thin air, forming Qi Blades like Flying Swords that could slice through rock, let alone a human body.
But the Spiritual Power of Sacred Geometry was simply too pure, no less than—and perhaps even faintly superior to—the Inner Strength he had spent decades honing. More importantly, Su Zhou’s Spiritual Power coalesced around him in the shape of a regular tetrahedron, making it incredibly solid and difficult to shake.
What’s more, Su Zhou’s Spiritual Power was endless, seemingly without limit. His own profound Inner Strength would be useless against it. If they were to enter a stalemate, he would surely lose.
As for pure physical strength, that was the specialty of the bald Grandmaster from the Military School, Weilie. Yet even he, upon meeting a Su Zhou who could unleash thousands of pounds of force with a single flick of his arm, was nearly thrown into the sky by a simple handshake. "The younger generation is truly formidable," and "My old bones nearly got shaken apart," were his comments.
As for Grandmaster Han, the Medical Martial Artist, after just one ordinary handshake, he simply shook his head and admitted his inferiority. "I’m old and frail, no match for the young."
The Spiritual Power Recovery Speed of the Celestial Human Cycle was simply too fast, and the physical strength from Dragon and Snake Power was inhumanly strong. With these two supporting him, unless they ganged up on him or fought a battle to the death, the Grandmasters truly couldn’t fathom the depths of Su Zhou’s power. They could only express their profound admiration.
—This was the difference between an ordinary Transcendent and someone with several Innate Divine Techniques. Even if their Spiritual Power Cultivation was the same, their combat prowess was extremely difficult to calculate.
And no one was foolish enough to raise a silly question like, ’Maybe he’s a spy for the Demon Dynasty.’
When they thought about it, if Su Zhou really were an enemy, even if the three of them joined forces, a chance encounter would likely end with one of them severely injured, and he could still easily escape... And that was just considering his raw power, not accounting for his rapid Regeneration Power and other abilities he hadn’t yet revealed.
If the Anx Dynasty had a Grand Admiral of this caliber, they would have deployed him on the main battlefield long ago. Or he could start raiding their fortress right now, and they would be unable to continue forging the Divine Soldiers.
Or, if they waited a few years for a genius like Su Zhou to reach the Innate realm, he could become ’invincible across the land, a modern Martial Saint like Xuanyuan reborn.’ With a single spear, drawing power from the heavens, he could wipe out their entire Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army. Would the Demon Dynasty still be locked in a war of attrition with the Rebel Army along the Nanjiang River then?
They weren’t idiots.
Since there were truly no signs of the Undying Root’s corruption on Su Zhou, and his desire to help them fight the unrighteous and destroy the Anx Dynasty Demon Emperor was clearly sincere, then he was undoubtedly an ally. The name "Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army" itself showed just how many motley factions and local powers made up their ranks; adding one more ’Divine Wood Inheritor from the West’ was no big deal.
"The vibrant life force in his body comes from his flesh and blood, not the Undying Root."
Even the elderly Grandmaster with long hair and perceptive eyes, who called himself Han Xiaoqian, explained it this way. He was an elder of the Medical School, so his words carried weight.
Once this was confirmed, the result was that Su Zhou was very politely invited into the fortress by the group and treated with the utmost courtesy.
Although it was impossible to let Su Zhou participate in confidential matters right away, he was quickly accepted, and a contract was signed in the presence of the three Grandmasters.
[—The Hundred Schools’ side will provide Spiritual Objects as payment to hire Su Zhou to help them fend off any potential surprise attacks from the Anx Dynasty Demons during the time they are forging the ’Blade of Annihilation’.]
This was not Su Zhou’s request, but rather an offer proactively made by the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Soldiers. After all, while a righteous act might be viable for a short time, only a stable reward could make a partnership long-lasting.
Besides, with barely fifty Grandmasters in the world, they were in desperate need of talent. Here was a chance to win over a young Grandmaster, and not with their own money, but with public funds. Naturally, they were going to be as generous as they possibly could be.
"That’s great!"
Su Zhou, of course, had no objections. Someone was offering him payment to aid his cultivation, and he could kill a few Anx Dynasty Demons in the process... Where else could he find such a good deal? Aside from the slightly unsettling fact that his new residence was right next to a volcano’s crater, everything else was fine.
’A pity. The life essence of those three Demon Soldiers was too weak to gather any Evil Souls... I’m afraid I’ll need a Postnatal Tier, an Awakened Level Demon General, to be able to gather an Evil Soul!’
With this thought, Su Zhou stood on the fortress wall, gazing at the snow-capped mountains thousands of miles away. He was truly in high spirits, brimming with fighting resolve. He had been worried about not finding Spiritual Objects, and now the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army was offering him payment. He had been fretting about not finding Evil People to kill, and now the Demon Army was delivering them to his doorstep. ’Am I actually getting to experience the feeling of being serviced by a delivery squad?’
Taibai Fortress, or rather, the bastion, wasn’t large. It primarily used the natural defenses of two mountains to block a pass on the only path leading to the Volcanic Celestial Pool, establishing a checkpoint on the mountain saddle.
The number of people garrisoned at the checkpoint was small, only fifty-seven in total. Including the newly arrived escort team and Su Zhou, it was a mere seventy-two people. But all seventy-two of them were Inner Power Martial Artists. Aside from the three Tier Three Grandmasters, there were also fifteen Tier One and Tier Two experts. If this force were thrown onto a battlefield, it would be enough to shatter a military formation of several thousand men.
If nothing else, they were more than capable of defending the pass by holding its strategic high ground.
"The main force of our Rebel Army is currently tied up near the Southern River Celestial Gate, confronting the Demon Dynasty’s main army."
