Chapter 112: Chapter 21: Demon General Red Land
At the peak of the snowy mountain, the extreme cold of the high altitude and the intense heat of the Volcano mingled to form clouds. Amid the dim light, obscured by pale gray overcast skies, two points of violet-blue Spiritual Light flickered atop the Fortress wall.
Su Zhou gazed into the distance, calmly drawing his greatbow. Even a Half-Spirit Bow with a draw weight of over ten *dan* was nothing more than a rubber band to him. His feet were like steel bars, sunk a full inch deep into the hard rock atop the fortress wall. His arms and body were as steady as a marble statue.
More important than this was the power that the Rigid Shot technique imbued into the arrow. A flame-like Spiritual Light gathered, finally coalescing on the heavily reinforced arrowhead into a burning, triangular solid.
And then there was the data, flashing madly through his mind like lightning.
--Strong Wind speed: 24.37 meters per second.
--Target distance: 472.62 meters.
--Calculating target velocity, adding to predictive data. Arrow trajectory prediction, gravity, Spiritual Power stabilization...
Calculation complete.
Everything was clear in his mind.
Then, before the crimson Demon General could take another step, Su Zhou let go, releasing the arrow with crisp finality!
BOOM!
Like a volcanic eruption, everyone standing near Su Zhou felt a violent blast wave. Sparks of Spiritual Power Fragments scattered, instantly transforming into a concussive shockwave.
The air tore with a thunderous clap. The bright, violet-blue arrowhead became a streak of light, shrieking as it flashed past. The Enhancement System Spiritual Power enveloping the arrow pierced through the strong wind, blasting straight for the crimson giant’s head!
And at that moment, the Red Land Demon General raised his saber again—this time with both hands.
Heart-Eye Clarity was a special ability obtained by Tier Two Postnatal Martial Artists. It allowed them to see through Ghosts and perceive the form of Inner Strength with the naked eye. After advancing to the Grandmaster realm, the resulting soul empowerment would enhance their reaction speed, enabling them to perceive all manner of high-speed attacks and even see flying arrows!
But being able to see and perceive it did not mean he could dodge it.
Faced with the lightning-fast arrow, there was only one thing he could do.
And that was: block it!
"HRAAGH!"
Raising his violet-gold, thick-backed great saber, the charging Red Land Demon General roared. Scarlet Blood Qi erupted from his body, and for an instant, it was as if the surrounding air and earth were dyed red, drying and cracking from the intense heat. He gathered all his Yang Flame Internal Power and swung with all his might at the brightest point he could see with his Heart-Eye!
Then, the saber shattered.
If one had the dynamic vision of the Extraordinary Level, they would have seen it clearly: as the speeding arrow struck, the violet-blue Spiritual Power coating it clashed with the crimson Spiritual Power and proved superior in the first instant of contact. The layered, triangular, and nigh-unbreakable structure of the Spiritual Power spun and sliced, effortlessly breaking through the defense of the blood-red Spiritual Power.
It reinforced the metal arrowhead, causing it to detonate the instant it shattered the saber’s edge and lodged in the blade.
And so, with a clear, metallic ringing, the saber’s body split in two. The massive impact blasted the towering Red Land Demon General into the air. Most of the shattered metal fragments shot like shrapnel into his armor, sending sprays of cyan blood flying.
THUD. The Red Land Demon General flew up and then crashed back down. Although he immediately got to his feet, the charging Demon Army had already hesitated and stopped, their gazes fixed on their General’s wretched figure, his shattered armor, and his broken saber.
"Listen... Listen to my command!!"
He stood tall as his Divine Wood Bloodline rapidly repaired the skin wounded by the exploding metal shards and the torn roots in his wrists and arms. The Red Land Demon General might have had many bad habits, but he was decisive in his tactical decisions. He spun around and sprinted toward the small forest on the snowy mountain. "Full retreat! They have a Fourth Grandmaster—or even a Great Grandmaster who has undergone Rejuvenation!"
"What are you waiting for? To become target practice?!"
’Four Rigid Shots at full power! Not even Weilie could do that. I originally thought we could wait for that young Grandmaster to exhaust himself and then take the city, but now it seems he still has strength to spare... What is he, if not a Great Grandmaster? Even if he isn’t, he can’t be far off!’
BOOM! The Demon Soldiers were ferocious and terrifying, but they were just as decisive when it came to retreating. In an instant, all seventy-nine of the Demon Soldiers and Generals who had just been pressing forward with overwhelming momentum simply turned and fled. Their retreat was so practiced it was utterly absurd.
"Fuck!"
As he led the retreat, the Red Land Demon General was still thinking— ’When the hell did this new Great Grandmaster show up?! The inside man didn’t send any word at all. I thought with his help, I’d be able to score a major victory before those two, Hunting Life and Beast Taming... Now that’s up in the air!’
But then he heard a great wind! The sound of it howling!
He couldn’t help but turn his head, and the ’eyes’ behind the Red Land Demon General’s helmet shot wide open!
Because that monster who had been shooting arrows earlier was now gliding rapidly through the air like an Eagle Owl, spear in hand, practically flying as he dove toward the demons!
And even more terrifyingly, behind him, the other three Grandmasters, a dozen or so experts, and dozens of Postnatal Martial Artists were all using Qinggong, charging forward with the ferocity of tigers and wolves!
Four arrows, two hits. The tables had turned!
"Demon Army, don’t you run!"
Su Zhou’s mind was as calm as a machine, but a furious inferno of rage also burned in his chest. ’It might sound weird, it might sound strange, but the way I was raised was to protect other ordinary people, to look after innocent civilians... not just as a member of a Patrol Noble Family, but as a Transcendent!’
’Ever since I realized I could casually crush a soda can into a thin sheet of foil and rip it in half, I also realized that human flesh—especially the flesh of my parents, my friends, my sickly childhood playmate—wasn’t half as tough as that can. It was even more fragile. Since then, I’ve always been careful to hold back my strength, to do my best not to use the power that could crush bones on my own kind.’
"I can’t spout any grand principles... All I know is that it pisses me off when I see you brutalizing ordinary people! I don’t give a damn what other Transcendents think! You monsters... I’ll tear every single one of you apart!"
’I’ll do to you a hundred times over what you do to others! After all, it’s just that whole "survival of the fittest" theory, right? The strong can do whatever they want to the weak. In that case, I’ll be the "stronger" one who gets to "devour" you!’
’My whole purpose is to fuck with you self-righteous pricks!’
Fueled by these simple, unadorned, one might even say crude thoughts and his burning rage, Su Zhou took five consecutive steps. Each step crossed a hundred meters, and each took less than three seconds.
Empowered by the Qinggong technique Thousand-Mile Walk, his powerful physical body, and Wind Aid, Su Zhou’s speed was comparable to a car on a highway. He instantly caught up to the last Demon Soldier in the Demon Army’s formation and stomped down heavily from above!
SQUELCH! CRACK! With two quick, explosive sounds, the Demon Soldier’s entire head was stomped into its chest cavity. Then, as Su Zhou leaped up again, the force of his jump crushed the body further. Its ribs shattered instantly, even sending fragments of its spine bursting from its back. Its whole body was bent into a concave shape. It died on the spot, its corpse rolling to the side to await regeneration.
Su Zhou didn’t bother with the ordinary Demon Soldiers. His target was the Red Land Demon General. At most, he would swing the iron-shafted Long Spear in his hand to send any foolish brutes blocking his path flying, leaving them for the charging Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army behind him to kill. With three Grandmasters leading the charge, the Demon Army, lacking its Demon General, couldn’t possibly resist.
’These guys may have the Power of Undying, but so what? As long as they’re humanoid, won’t beating them until they’re no longer in a human shape mean they’ve lost their ability to fight? It’s just as Yara said: Regeneration Power might be useful in an evenly matched fight, but against a force that can easily kill you once, regeneration is nothing but prolonged suffering.’
It wasn’t that none of them turned back to fight. Two towering Demon Soldiers seemed to have a premonition that something was wrong. They spun around in unison, raising a hammer and a spike against their pursuer, ready to fight Su Zhou to the death.
But anyone less than a Grandmaster, any ordinary Awakener, was nothing before Su Zhou. One must understand, even an Awakened Level Exotic Beast like the three-ton Wood Centipede had been slain by Su Zhou before his own Awakening, let alone now that he had Awakened.
With a full-powered sweep of his spear, Su Zhou slammed the hammer-wielding Demon Soldier, bending him into the shape of a ’bow’. Then, he raised his arm, clamped down, and with a flick, caught the other Demon Soldier’s lunging Long Spike under his armpit, pulling the demon in close.
’In this world, because Inner Qi protects the body, ordinary swords, blades, and arrows have a hard time harming a Martial Artist. Is that why thick-backed sabers, blunt weapons, and Armor-Piercing Long Spikes are more common?’
The thought flashed through Su Zhou’s mind as he reached out with five fingers and pressed them against the terrified Demon Soldier’s face.
CRACK-SNAP! That was the sound of a spine snapping. Gripping the demon’s eye sockets, he ripped its head out, Undying Root and all. Then he crushed the skull in his hand. A violet-blue light emanated from Su Zhou’s eyes as he let out a wild laugh. His ferocious aura was so terrifying that even the Demon Soldiers, who had killed countless people, trembled and dared not take advantage of his pause to surround him.
"A fiend! Even in our Celestial Army, there are few fiends like him!"
When the Red Land Demon General turned to check the situation, this was the brutal scene that greeted him. The Demon Army, of course, did not call themselves the Demon Army; they styled themselves as the Immortal Celestial Soldiers of the Yongning Celestial Palace. But no matter how much they boasted, no matter how cruelly they treated the weak on a daily basis, they still felt their hearts pound with fear when faced with a truly terrifying monster.
But the Red Land Demon General also knew that if they didn’t kill this damnable Fourth Grandmaster—this Great Grandmaster—they would surely face a total rout!
Without a shout or any warning, the Red Land Demon General’s Inner Qi exploded. He didn’t just stop; he reversed direction, using his back as a shield, and slammed himself violently toward Su Zhou!
The Demon General’s sudden counterattack was indeed unexpected. Su Zhou had no time to raise his spear to stab and could only thrust his left hand forward. But his strength was immense. With the Spiritual Power of half his body gathered at his fingertips, if the Demon General had no other tricks up his sleeve, Su Zhou’s push would transform into a claw the instant it touched the armor. With a single grab, he could tear through the armor and rip out the general’s entire spine!
That was his thought, and that was his action. But when Su Zhou’s palm truly became a claw, broke through the armor, and grabbed inside the Red Land Demon General’s body, he felt no flesh and blood.
Instead, he grabbed a handful of loose, fibrous wood roots!
’Damn it! Most Demon Soldiers are humanoid, but this Demon General’s hands were revealed to be wood roots from the start. Inside this huge suit of armor, there probably isn’t a human body!’
No human body meant no human vitals. ’Shit,’ Su Zhou cursed inwardly. He felt layers of tree roots wrap tightly around his left hand, pulling him toward the Red Land Demon General’s back. At the end of the day, he only weighed a little over 120 kilograms. While using Qinggong to leap through the air, he wasn’t prepared to stand his ground and resist the force. This momentary miscalculation cost him all his initiative!
But Su Zhou wasn’t flustered. ’His Spiritual Power just flared when he was rapidly retreating, so he’s probably still gathering his Qi now. Without the reinforcement of Spiritual Power, even a monster can’t break through the defense of my perfect body, which is enhanced by Sacred Geometry and Gathering Qi in the Body.’
But the Red Land Demon General’s attack was truly unexpected. The back of the Demon General’s helmet suddenly sprang open. What appeared before Su Zhou wasn’t the back of a head or a bunch of roots, but a bizarrely shaped, blood-red Demon Flower that resembled a human face, encircled by clusters of cyan roots!
PFFT!
The petals pulsed, and with a rapid hissing spray, a cloud of scarlet, poisonous pollen enveloped Su Zhou’s face!
