Chapter 124: Chapter 31: Taste This
Snow blanketed the mountain’s base, and the air was filled with the howls of wolves.
In Su Zhou’s Spiritual Vision, he could see troops of Demon Soldiers, their ranks interspersed with strange life auras, cautiously closing in on his group from all directions.
"Beasts reeking of Wood Qi, and auras similar to the Wood Centipede—a type of animated Spirit Plant. This must be the Demon General, Beast Taming, leading the charge. Its Wolf Beasts caught the scent that Grandmaster Han planted on you."
Realizing they were surrounded, Su Zhou’s expression remained unchanged. He grabbed his Spirit Iron Cross Spear and leapt into a tree to survey his surroundings, where he could faintly make out dark shadows flashing through the distant jungle. "The Demon Army is smart... If we don’t show up, they hunt the migrating civilians. When we do show up, they start to surround us—it’s a no-lose situation for them."
"The mole even told them I have strong Spiritual Vision. That’s why their forces must have been spread so far apart. I was only able to detect four scouts. They only started to close the encirclement after confirming contact with us."
He then came down from the tree and placated Zhou Buyi and the others, whose expressions were grim as they prepared to break out. "Don’t worry too much," he said. "The Demon Soldiers have underestimated my strength. Their numbers are too low, and their forces are spread too thin in every direction. We can fight our way out easily."
"Unless our luck is terrible and we run into one Demon General who pins me down, and then a second one arrives to finish the job. But..."
"BOOM!"
Su Zhou was in mid-sentence when the fierce roar of cannon fire erupted.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
An unending barrage of cannon fire resounded, accompanied by piercing whistles, as shells began to rain down haphazardly over a wide area. The gunners clearly didn’t know their target’s location, so there was no rhyme or reason to the attack. Solid cannonballs, each the size of two fists, fell at random, cutting Su Zhou off mid-sentence as he was about to lay out his plan.
’What the hell? How did cannons suddenly pop up in a Martial World?!’
For a moment, even Su Zhou forgot what he was going to say. And they couldn’t just stand around in the middle of an enemy bombardment. The four of them instantly chose a direction that didn’t lead straight back up the mountain—one where they might be intercepted by a Demon General—and began to break out with all their strength.
"It’s the Demon Army’s True Qi Cannon!"
As they sped through the forest, Liuu Xizhao, who seemed quite knowledgeable on the subject, began to explain in a low voice. Perhaps to atone for the guilt she felt over being used and leading her teammates into peril, she prepared to give a detailed explanation to Su Zhou, who had supposedly emerged from deep within the mountains. "Grandmaster Su, you may not know this, but the True Qi Cannon is a recent development from the last few years..."
"Thank you, but I think I have a general idea. No need to explain." Su Zhou politely cut the woman’s explanation short. ’How could a modern person not know what a cannon is?’ He was more surprised than panicked. "It makes sense, I suppose. The technology here isn’t as primitive as I imagined. They already have True Qi Mechanical Devices, so it’s not that strange for them to have a True Qi Cannon."
’Besides, the shells that landed earlier didn’t seem that powerful, and their velocity was only about one or two hundred meters per second. It must be something like a True Qi Furnace—a bizarre mechanism driven by Inner Power Martial Artists, not the gunpowder shells I was imagining.’
As Su Zhou was lost in thought, Zhou Buyi, who also remained unflustered, picked up where Liuu Xizhao had left off. "Grandmaster Su, the True Qi Cannon isn’t a major threat. A Martial Artist or Grandmaster who has reached the state of Heart-Eye Clarity can easily dodge it in advance or even block it head-on. Besides, the firing process is cumbersome and requires a long time to be filled with Inner Qi. That last barrage was likely just an opening act, meant to force us into moving without giving us time to think."
Upon hearing this, Su Zhou stopped dead in his tracks—forcing the other three to halt as well, their gazes full of confusion.
"I Buddha, Master Su..." Monk Fang Hui was the first to speak, about to ask why he had suddenly stopped.
But Su Zhou clicked his tongue. "Too late. There are only four directions. The Demon Army has two Demon Generals, whose mobility is enough to block two routes. Spurred on by the cannon fire, our instincts tell us not to run back toward the civilians. It’s also impossible for us to run in the direction leading away from Taibai Volcano. And we certainly won’t head straight back up the mountain, which is most likely where a Demon General is waiting to intercept us, or where the main body of the Demon Army is firing from."
"Brother Buyi was right. The cannons weren’t meant to attack, just to get us moving without giving us time to think."
As he spoke, Su Zhou tightened his grip on the spear in his right hand, while his left hand reached out before him, seemingly clenching something invisible. A moment later, the Gale Armor on his head activated. The young Grandmaster’s voice was grim. "I can see the Spiritual Qi."
"The Demon General is just ahead."
"If that’s the case, then we have no choice." At his words, Zhou Buyi and the others grew grim. Liuu Xizhao drew her long saber and swiftly downed a red pill. Meanwhile, Martial Monk Fang Hui and Zhou Buyi both took out two Spirit Medicines resembling hard candy and pressed them under their tongues. As they dissolved, the medicine’s potency began to spread. A ruthless glint entered the eyes of all three. "We’ll have to fight for our lives!"
By now, all four of them could see a churning wave of snow and dust rapidly approaching in the distance. With it came the howls of wolves—growing ever closer, clearer, and more piercing!
"It hasn’t come to that... Listen up. You three deal with the grunts. I’ll handle the Demon General."
With no intention of playing a game of cat and mouse, Su Zhou fixed his gaze on the image in his Spiritual Vision: a blackish-green Spiritual Qi Group, far larger but more diffuse than Demon General Red Land’s. He held the Red Land’s Evil Soul in one hand and gripped his spear in the other. Far from nervous, he waited with an air of composure and even cracked a dry joke. "Besides, I was interrupted by the cannons earlier. I hadn’t finished speaking."
"If we run into one Demon General, there’s nothing to fear. Just kill it before the second one shows up, and the problem is solved."
The four of them had stopped in a relatively open clearing. Beneath a gray, hazy sky and within the shadows of the snow-laden forest, pair after pair of teal-green eyes lit up. From the darkness emerged gray wolves, their backs covered in gnarled roots that looked like a layer of Wood Armor. They fanned out, surrounding Su Zhou and his companions, who had formed a defensive square.
"AWOOOO—"
They howled, baring their fangs as hot breath plumed in the cold air. Their sharp claws tore at the ground, easily carving deep gashes into the ice and frozen earth, a truly ferocious sight.
Then, a vicious gust of wind hit them. Amidst a continuous series of CRACKS, pine trees along its path were brutally snapped and toppled. Snow dust and a faint brown pollen filled the air as a massive, green centipede, as thick as two men put together, charged forth like a high-speed train before screeching to a halt right in front of the tense group!
One could now see a semi-humanoid figure on the back of this green Wood Centipede, which was a full size larger than the one Su Zhou had first encountered. The vicious-looking figure was made of petrified wood, featureless save for six crimson eyeballs embedded where its head should be. Its dark green hair hung loose, its arms gripped two Riding Blades, and seven long leaves sprouted from its back.
"BEE—DZEE—DEE!"
"AWOOOO!!"
Vents on the humanoid’s back exhaled rhythmically, causing the leaves to vibrate and emit a series of sharp, high-frequency whistles, unbearable to the human ear. At this signal, all the stationary Wood Armor Gray Wolves erupted in excited, bloodthirsty howls. The giant Wood Centipede beneath the figure snapped its massive mandibles with a series of KLAKs and rattled its carapace, its presence growing even more menacing!
’Demon General, Beast Taming!’
The next instant, having apparently issued its commands along with a few taunts, the Demon General, Beast Taming, brandished its Riding Blades. The entire wolf pack, along with the green Wood Centipede, surged forward like a tidal wave, pouncing on the group!
But before they could land their attack, Su Zhou, who had been lying in wait, had already completed his own battle preparations.
[Undying Demon General·Red Land Evil Soul]
[Upon use, can be transformed via Spiritual Refining into a Red Land Demon Poison ’Attaching Spirit,’ which can be applied to any piece of equipment.]
A purplish-blue Demon Fire enveloped the Evil Soul in his left hand. Su Zhou felt his own Evil-Devouring Demon Lord’s temperatureless Divine Magic Fire transform the soul into a violently churning mass of black and crimson Spiritual Energy. Ignoring everyone else, he pressed this refined Spiritual Energy directly onto his spearhead. A malevolent spiritual light flared, and arcane patterns swirled across the surface.
Beside him, Zhou Buyi caught a glimpse of the glow from the corner of his eye. His heart, already pounding from the effects of the Courage Sugar, suddenly seized with terror. His bloodline instincts screamed a frantic warning, telling him to get away from that ’deadly poison’!
At this moment, Su Zhou felt not a shred of nervousness. Instead, he was filled with eager anticipation.
’Surrounded? Intercepted? No, no, no... Sometimes, people just can’t seem to figure out who’s in charge. Since when does scattering your forces and slowly closing in only after you’ve found your target count as ’applying pressure’?’
’If they had massed their forces into a proper battle formation and attacked head-on, that might have been a real headache. But as it is, with the Demon General, Beast Taming, leading a pack of wolf pups and taking the initiative to pounce on me...’
Su Zhou preferred to call this kind of behavior ’a delivery service.’
VMMM! The Evil Soul attachment was a success. A layer of dim, black-and-crimson patterns appeared on the dark green spearhead. Laughing, Su Zhou swung his Long Spear, and without a moment’s hesitation, took a step forward and charged straight at the oncoming Demon General, Beast Taming, and its Wood Centipede mount!
Seemingly inspired by his actions, Zhou Buyi and the others let out a battle cry of their own, swinging their blades and staves at the tide of oncoming Wood Armor Demon Wolves!
Though it was just a single being, the Demon General, Beast Taming, charged with the force of an entire cavalry unit. The massive green Wood Centipede moved with a speed through the snow that far surpassed any warhorse, but Su Zhou was just as fast. The solid permafrost of the mountains cracked beneath his feet. He charged head-on to meet his foe. Just as the Wood Centipede’s mandibles were about to snap him in two at the waist, Su Zhou leapt high into the air, stomped on the creature’s head, and thrust his spear straight for the humanoid figure’s skull!
BAM! Su Zhou’s spear strike broke the sound barrier, but the Demon General, Beast Taming, didn’t dodge or even flinch. Instead, its two heavy Riding Blades swung out simultaneously, one aimed for Su Zhou’s torso and the other for his legs. It was clearly willing to trade injuries!
’Fool. My humanoid form is nothing but a decoy to bait inflexible Martial Artists like you, still fixated on attacking a human shape!’
A mocking thought flashed through the mind of the Demon General, which had long since abandoned the human tool of language. But a moment later, it was stunned to discover that the young Grandmaster, who had seemed to be charging with such ferocity, had actually been holding back. With a surge of Inner Strength, Su Zhou’s entire body lifted several feet into the air, allowing him to float right over the sweep of its Riding Blades in an effortless dodge!
However, because he had used a sudden burst of Inner Qi to change his position, the originally menacing Flying Star Spear thrust, which had looked powerful enough to shatter the enemy’s skull, turned into a light poke. Like a dragonfly skipping across water, the spear merely grazed the Demon General’s left arm.
WHOOSH— The exchange was over in a flash. They had traded a single blow, but neither seemed to have inflicted any real damage. The giant Wood Centipede immediately halted and began to turn, its countless segmented legs digging into the snow and dirt. With a great sweep of its tail that kicked up a blizzard of snow, it completed its turn to once again face the young man, who was now landing gracefully a short distance away.
"What was that? Is he mocking me?"
A confused light flickered in the six crimson eyes of the Demon General, Beast Taming. It saw the smile playing on Su Zhou’s lips and was utterly bewildered.
But just as the Demon General prepared to attack again, it felt a sudden sense of wrongness. Something was not right with its body.
’My arm... it’s numb?!’
