Chapter 108: Chapter 17: Successful Delivery and Innate
The three of them had now reached the summit of the Taibai Volcano Group, a precipitous peak impossible for anyone but a Martial Artist to climb.
From here, Su Zhou discovered he could look down upon most of the Taibai Snow Mountain Range and the snowy plains below. He could even see a surging river in the distance, flowing toward the far horizon as if to meet the sea.
"Demon Soldiers are coming, right?" Su Zhou knew exactly why Li Daoran had sought him out. He turned his head and smiled. "You’re worried because this is my first time down from the mountain, I’m young, and I have no life-or-death grudge against the Anx Dynasty Demons. You think I might get anxious before a real fight to the death, so you plan to give me a little pep talk, correct?"
"Ahem... I have no idea what a ’pep talk’ is, but I’m glad you understand. After all, Younger Brother Su, you are still young..."
It wasn’t exactly an argument, but seeing Li Daoran cough, his thoughts laid bare, it was clear he was momentarily at a loss for words. At that moment, Zhou Buyi stepped in to relieve his master’s awkwardness.
"Brother Su, look at the Tumen River, and the Jade Green River in the distance—"
He pointed to the great river, faintly visible on the horizon, and said calmly, "The Demon Army has always used the waterways to its advantage, coming and going as it pleases. According to a traitor, the Demon Dynasty already has several large ships with nearly four or five hundred Demon Soldiers. They’ve bypassed the defensive lines of our Hundred Schools and reached the vicinity of Taibai Mountain. Right now, they’re preparing to mass their forces for a direct assault."
"As is tradition, the main Demon Army has not been deployed. This is the largest force they can commit. Of course, with four Grandmasters, including you, stationed at the fortress, it’s impossible for them to break through. The crucial point, however, is that we Castle Guardian Martial Artists must have unshakeable Belief and cannot retreat. Otherwise, if the enemy besieges us with superior numbers, a single person falling back will cause a chain reaction."
’So they’re my pre-battle counselors... A Grandmaster and a Tier Two Expert giving me a pep talk. I’m getting some special treatment!’
"I don’t see any problem. I’ll have no psychological burden killing those Evil People." A pleasant feeling of being valued washed over him, and Su Zhou’s mindset was completely at ease. He had come here to hone his combat skills anyway, so who he fought didn’t matter. Killing those flesh-and-blood-eating Demons would only bring him satisfaction.
Still, he asked, "But I do have one question: if I said I *did* have a problem with it, how would you have tried to persuade me, or strengthen my resolve?"
At this question, the faces of the master and disciple darkened in unison, their expressions turning grim.
"Brother Su... sigh. We know you’ve never set foot in the Divine Land before and don’t know the suffering of the people. You might not even... be one of us. You might just be helping out of a fleeting sense of righteousness, or on a whim. So we don’t really know how to explain it to you."
After a moment, Zhou Buyi forced a smile, but his expression was desolate. He simply raised his head, gazed at the thousand miles of mountains and rivers in the distance, and said slowly, "We were just worried that you still see the Demon Dynasty as ’people,’ or perhaps just as ’cruel and inhumane’ rulers... In truth, ever since the Demon Emperor’s father obtained the secret of the Undying Root from the Immortal Banyan Tree, only to be killed by his own son with the prototype of the Blade of Annihilation—that Nameless Ritual Blade—the entire upper echelon of the Anx Dynasty has ceased to be ’human’."
As he spoke, Zhou Buyi drew his sword. A bolt of pure white Daoist Sword Qi, like a long rainbow, shot out toward the south over the pale landscape, as if venting his fury, or perhaps pointing to several distant spots. "The Demon Emperor uses immortality to win over his army and ministers. He plans to perform living sacrifices on countless people to transform himself into an eternal, undying Coiling Dragon. His grand admirals and officials are also nearly immortal. Furthermore, the Demon Emperor’s Divine Wood Blood is the most potent, allowing him to command them, so naturally they support him. Most of the Demon Soldiers also have long lifespans and are hard to kill in battle, making them fiercely loyal."
"After all, their own families and friends won’t be used as living sacrifices. The pigs, sheep, and cattle they raise are enough to sustain the existing Undying Roots. But what about everyone else? What about those who don’t belong to the Anx Dynasty’s core ruling circle? What about the millions of people who once lived peaceful and prosperous lives in the Fourteen Commanderies of Liaozhou, surrounding this very Taibai Mountain Area?"
Su Zhou could see that the points indicated by Zhou Buyi’s Sword Qi corresponded to a dozen locations on the snowy land in the distance. Squinting, he could faintly make out the ruins of small towns and villages nestled in the mountains. The closest one was right at the foot of this very mountain range, next to a steaming hot spring in the snow.
Perhaps people once lived there in peace and prosperity, with ginseng collectors and hunters resting there, but now it was completely deserted.
"The entire Demon Dynasty, and that Power of Undying, are nothing more than a horde of zombies driven by the ’lust for eternal life,’ a plague poisoning all the people of this world."
Zhou Buyi’s face was utterly calm as he gazed into the distance and said faintly, "My master and I aren’t very talkative, but Brother Su."
"I once saw hundreds of refugee families being treated as prey by the Demon Army, driven into exile in the ice and snow, hunted with arrows and spears. Only a single person escaped to the defensive zone of our Hundred Schools’ Righteous Soldiers."
"I saw a mother, while fleeing a disaster, willingly sacrifice herself, chopping off her own arm for her children to eat. Their father had already died holding the rearguard; it was a blessing he didn’t have to witness that tragic scene."
"The Fourteen Commanderies of Liaozhou. One million, seven hundred and twenty thousand people, in hundreds of villages and towns. Because of the invasion of a single Demon Army, only thirteen thousand survived, most of them hunters from the mountains. And that was only because heavy snows sealed the mountains and the Demon Soldiers grew tired of searching in the ice and snow, returning to their court early... We were powerless to help. A remote, coastal province like that is impossible to defend. The forces of the Hundred Schools can only hold the inland areas north of the Nanjiang River."
Zhou Buyi was truly a poor speaker. He was no member of the School of Diplomacy. If he were, the countless tragic stories from the decades of the Demon Army’s rampage would have long since sent Su Zhou into a towering rage, making him want to eat their flesh raw and sleep on their skin. He certainly wouldn’t have worked himself up until his hands trembled on his long sword, his eyes reddening, to the point he didn’t even dare face Su Zhou for fear of the embarrassment of shedding tears.
"Back when Emperor Xiao was on the throne, it was truly a time of peace and honesty, when you could leave your door unlocked at night and the granaries were full. But now, the thirty-four realms of our Divine Land are overrun with thorns, and there’s even an entire province that has been completely slaughtered, its land covered in skeletons that no one collects."
Although Li Daoran had the face of a middle-aged man, he, like Mo Ganxiu, was clearly an Elder Grandmaster who had personally lived through the golden age of the previous dynasty and the era of the Undying Demon Emperor. The master and disciple duo—one from the Daoist School, one from the Hundred Schools—had the same temperament. They had come to give Su Zhou a pep talk, but ended up sighing and lamenting until they couldn’t speak anymore.
In the end, seeing that Su Zhou truly had no psychological issues and that his will to fight was firm, the two handed him a pair of booklets and departed in a hurry, leaving him alone atop the snowy peak to survey the lesser mountains below.
Before leaving, Li Daoran offered some parting words.
"Grandmaster Weilie and I both noticed that you don’t know Qinggong, Younger Brother Su. And while your Close Combat Martial Arts are formidable, you lack a method for long-range attacks. So, we discussed it and each chose a unique skill to gift you."
"Thousand-Mile Walk is the exclusive Qinggong of my lineage. It might not be the most agile in a small area, but it allows one to run like a swift horse and travel a thousand miles in a day. It should be quite suitable for your innate gift of leaping hundreds of feet at a time, Younger Brother Su."
"And this Rigid Shot technique is an Archery art from Grandmaster Wei’s Military School. It uses Inner Strength combined with physical power to build up force—the greater the strength, the more powerful the shot. It requires an Innate Divine Power User to master. Even Weilie himself has only barely managed it, so he decided to gift it to you, hoping you can carry it to greater heights."
The cold wind howled. The gray clouds seemed to be right before his eyes, churning and shifting, as if close enough to touch.
Su Zhou stood there, holding the two booklets, gazing down at the vast, white snow-capped mountains, silent for a long time.
Seeing that no one was around, the small red snake slithered out from his hair and chuckled. "Su Zhou, this blank expression isn’t like you. I thought after hearing their heartfelt, passionate story, you’d immediately swear an oath to flay the entire Demon Dynasty, pull out their tendons, and grind their bones to dust."
"No, I’m furious."
Contrary to his words, Su Zhou’s voice was calm. He recalled the corpses that had been drained of their flesh and blood, and then thought about how millions, perhaps tens of millions, of such bodies had likely littered the Divine Land over the past decades.
As he calculated, the death toll reached a point where he felt no anger at all. Instead, Su Zhou’s tone carried a hint of puzzlement. "Right now, I’m just troubled by one thing."
He planted his Long Spear in the ground. After a pause, Su Zhou narrowed his eyes, clenched his fists behind his back, and spoke in a low voice as he surveyed the mountains. "And that is, how to kill that Demon Emperor..."
"...in a way that could truly be considered ’miserable’?"
After half an hour on the snowy summit, Su Zhou descended the mountain in silence and began to familiarize himself with his newly forged Fine Iron Spear. His original spear had been too light, feeling almost weightless. But this Spirit Iron Cross Spear, weighing over fifty kilograms, unleashed a piercing shriek with every swing. The force of the wind it generated was so ferocious that the other Martial Artists in the camp who were watching him practice didn’t dare come within thirty meters. They could only marvel that while this man seemed kind and approachable, his Martial Arts were unexpectedly fierce and powerful.
Including the Long Spear and his other clothes and equipment, Su Zhou’s normal weight was now approaching two hundred kilograms. Of course, judging by his appearance alone, he was a dashing and handsome young man—highly deceptive.
Over the past few days, Su Zhou had also traded away the various refined salts, white sugars, and spices he carried, along with pearls, artificial Gemstones, diamonds, and Silver. He exchanged them for a good amount of Treasures of Heaven and Earth like mountain ginseng and earth roots. He kept the remaining two and a half mouthfuls of No. 3 Holy Water, which could save several lives in a critical moment.
The Grand Master and Skilled Craftsman Mo Ganxiu were also quite interested in the modern survival gear Su Zhou had brought, especially the heater, hand-cranked charger, and high-performance flashlight. According to the Grand Master’s own words, it was: "Thunder Power. Accumulates. Can be of use." and "Warm. Gentle. Thunderstruck Wood."
According to Mo Ganxiu’s explanation, the two of them seemed to be planning to modify an unused True Qi Furnace. They wanted to use the power of the volcano to generate Thunder Power, which would be very useful for forging Divine Soldiers. Su Zhou had no idea what these two Master Artisans were thinking. ’Are they really going to build a generator from scratch? No way, right?’
Time passed just like that. Su Zhou spent a few days eating his fill before cultivating, cultivating before practicing his spear, and after practicing his spear, using Qinggong to leap about. In his remaining time, he practiced Archery, at least learning the basics of Drawing the Bow, shooting, Aiming, and Wind Calculation. The calm before the storm finally ended.
Grandmaster Weilie, who had gone to retrieve the "Western Star Gang Sand," appeared at the foot of the mountain covered in blood, accompanied by four other heavily wounded men. After being notified by the observation team, Grandmasters Su Zhou and Li Daoran hurried down the mountain to meet them.
It was then that they received some bad news.
The Demon Army that had been holding back had not been idle; they had been waiting for reinforcements from the rear!
"I have not failed my mission. The Western Star Gang Sand has been delivered safely."
A large hole had been gouged in his left shoulder by an iron awl or a short spear, disabling one of his arms. Although Grandmaster Weilie’s voice was still full of vigor, he couldn’t hide his exhaustion and injuries. He handed a very heavy box to Li Daoran with his one good arm and let out a long sigh. "But a total of four hundred seventy-two Demon Soldiers, along with the two Demon Generals ’Hunting Life’ and ’Beast Taming,’ have already reached the Jade River. Soon, they will lead the Demons to attack the mountain. And right now, right behind us, the Demon General ’Red Land’ is in pursuit with dozens of his fiendish Demon Soldiers."
"Brother Daoran, Grandmaster Su, this time the Demon Army was willing to abandon their frontline forces, give up several fortresses, and retreat hundreds of miles just to pull three Demon Generals from the cracks to forcefully stop us from forging the Divine Soldiers... This can only mean one thing!"
"Either the Demon Emperor or the National Preceptor—one of those two villains will soon succeed in transforming into a Dragon and ascending to the Innate realm!"
