Chapter 128: Chapter 34: The Awe-inspiring Kunlun Secret Technique
[Evil Soul of the Undying Demon General·Beast Taming]
[The fully metamorphosed Soul of a beast from the Coiling Banyan Undying Wood Clan, transformed via a Secret Ceremony.]
[A bestial Evil Soul, entwined with countless Curses and resentments.]
[Use: Increases the body’s strength and stamina, and enhances muscle toughness.]
[Can also be converted through Spiritual Refining into a ’Call of Beasts’ Enchantment, which can be applied to any piece of equipment or item.]
[Many Demon Generals initially hesitated to be reborn into the Divine Wood Race, but the Demon General·Beast Taming never wavered. That was the future it had longed for.]
[A boy, crippled in both legs and abandoned by his parents since childhood, who survived by talking to animals. Did human society abandon him, or did he abandon humanity?]
[The Immortal Emperor gave it the right to choose.]
"Didn’t drop a skill, huh."
As Su Zhou led the dazed, sleepwalking-like group of teammates back to camp, he had already finished reading the information on the Demon General’s Beast Taming Evil Soul. He commented casually, "I thought I’d get an ability to talk to fish and other animals... Guess it’s not that easy to become a superhero."
On the camp walls, Grandmaster Wei, who had stayed behind, had already steeled himself for the possibility that the rescue party might return a dozen or so people short—and that his old friend might even be among them. But he never expected the returning team to be in such a state of happy, blissful confusion.
"...What’s going on here?"
Of the three Grandmasters originally stationed at the fortress, Weilie had the most experience with battle arrays. Seeing the group return completely unscathed, he couldn’t help but call out from afar, "Grandmaster Su, don’t tell me you weren’t surrounded?"
"They were surrounded by me!"
"...?"
Obviously, the locals of this Otherworld, with their quasi-modern, True Qi-punk martial arts culture, couldn’t understand the lame internet jokes Su Zhou was used to. But regardless, the fact that everyone had returned safe and sound was a good thing.
By the time the three Grandmasters met in the central command tent, Su Zhou had already learned the whole story from Li Daoran: that Grandmaster Han was the hidden traitor and had surrendered his life without any resistance.
"He spent his whole life fighting the Demon Army, only to be seduced by immortality and turn traitor in his old age... ’Since ancient times, heroes have feared their twilight years; it’s a tragedy for the world to see them grow old and gray.’"
Inside the central command tent of the Taibai Volcano Fortress, the high command of the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army’s Taibai Fortress was assembled. Even though he’d had a feeling, Su Zhou couldn’t help but sigh upon hearing the news. "As far as I’m concerned, his death was a good thing. It brought me great satisfaction—in fact, his death was too quick. But this incident alone shows that if the Blade of Annihilation isn’t forged soon, the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army, which has stood united for decades, might actually fall apart."
"That’s true," a deep voice replied. Grandmaster Weilie, who was maintaining his longbow, responded in a low tone tinged with bleak resignation. "On the surface, it seems we of the Hundred Schools still have the upper hand, pinning the bulk of the Demon Army to the other side of the Nanjiang River. But in recent years, the Demon Tide has caught up to us again in terms of top-tier martial power... not to mention the increasingly frequent betrayals."
"If we can’t resolve the Demon Tide within ten years, even if those two villains, the Demon Emperor and the National Preceptor, don’t break through to the Innate realm, the Hundred Schools will collapse on its own—destroyed by human desire and the thirst for immortality."
His tone was calm, as if his old friend’s death hadn’t affected his state of mind. But Su Zhou could see that his face had aged considerably since they first met. Even the brief moment of happiness from seeing everyone return unharmed couldn’t change the heavy gloom in his heart now.
"Grandmaster Su... I know it’s shameless to ask, but it seems the main burden of guarding the Divine Soldiers will have to fall on you."
Compared to Weilie, Li Daoran’s expression was a little better; he could still force a smile. "Red Land and Beast Taming have both been slain. Hunting Life alone cannot possibly breach the fortress. Unless the Demon Army sends reinforcements, the successful forging of the Divine Soldiers is a foregone conclusion. But if other Demon Generals arrive, I’m afraid Weilie and I will only be able to support you, defending with you as the core of our strategy."
"No problem," Su Zhou agreed without a moment’s thought. He was already the strongest powerhouse among them; was he supposed to modestly refuse?
Still, he enthusiastically made a small request. "Oh, oh, right! After the Blade of Annihilation is forged, can I touch it? Just to hold it for a sec, to try it out!"
"Of course, that’s no problem at all." Hearing this, Li Daoran couldn’t help but chuckle, clearly not having expected Su Zhou’s request to be so simple. "Honestly, if it becomes necessary, you can even take it into battle."
’At this point, no one would suspect Su Zhou of being a spy from the Demon Dynasty. He had personally slain two Demon Generals and had done nothing to endanger the Divine Soldiers from start to finish. In fact, one could say that without Su Zhou, the fortress might have already fallen.’
’For a friend from Kunlun Mountain who came to lend a hand just because he felt like it, what’s wrong with him wanting to play with the Divine Soldiers, so long as he’s willing to fight the Demon Emperor alongside the Hundred Schools? Is that too much to ask? Not at all!’
"The Demon Soldiers will definitely send reinforcements—but our own reinforcements are arriving soon, too. The demons won’t dare to launch an attack before their support arrives."
At that moment, Liuu Xizhao, being Grandmaster Han’s grand-niece, had been taken away for questioning... a gentle interrogation, of course. Zhou Buyi was clearly dejected by this. "Master Han, why did it have to come to this... Sigh. As a young man with a long life ahead of me, perhaps I truly can’t understand his thinking..."
Han Xiaoqian had been one of Zhou Buyi’s teachers, having taught him how to regulate his qi, brew herbal remedies, and treat various wounds. Their relationship had been quite good.
After discussing these miscellaneous matters, it was time to discuss official business: the plan for arranging the defenses.
Su Zhou had no interest in joining such a discussion, so he used the flimsy excuse that ’since I’m not a member of the Hundred Schools, I should step away to avoid suspicion’ and temporarily excused himself. Before he left, Zhou Buyi stuffed a small box into his hands.
"Inside is a spirit ginseng. I know you’ve been looking for wild ginseng to consume, but for the best effect, a spirit ginseng that has become a Spirit Plant is most beneficial for cultivating Inner Qi. You absolutely must not refuse it."
Although Su Zhou had no intention of declining, Zhou Buyi, being the well-mannered gentleman he was, continued in accordance with Zhengguo tradition, "Ordinary people like us are afraid of being corrupted by Wood Qi, so we don’t dare consume a Spirit Plant unless it’s refined into a pill. And the only one in the camp who could refine pills... was Master Han. After thinking it over, it’s most appropriate to give this Spirit Plant to you, Brother Su."
"Then I won’t be polite," Su Zhou said, naturally taking the box from Zhou Buyi’s hands. He grinned broadly. "Just you wait, Brother Buyi. I’ll give you all a surprise in a little bit!"
"Then I’ll be waiting for your good news." Zhou Buyi smiled and nodded. Clearly, he hadn’t guessed what kind of surprise Su Zhou was planning.
Then, twenty minutes after Su Zhou returned to his tent, a shocked Zhou Buyi understood exactly what that so-called ’surprise’ was.
"This is... quite the surprise..." Standing at the entrance of the main tent, he couldn’t help but raise a hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the Spiritual Light radiating from afar, as if only this could calm him down. Zhou Buyi muttered, "This is... this is..."
A great, violet-green wind could be seen sweeping across the edge of the camp.
Rampant Spiritual Qi formed a tornado hundreds of meters high, howling as it pulled in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. Within the entire Taibai Volcano Fortress, every Martial Artist, and even the Grandmasters maintaining the Qi Forging Technique inside the volcano, couldn’t help but turn their gaze toward the world of Spiritual Qi, at the tempestuous storm that had suddenly erupted!
The Anomaly lasted only a few seconds before the massive Spiritual Energy Vortex dissipated completely. But everyone in the camp, even those with the weakest Martial Arts, understood exactly what it represented.
"This is... Postnatal Perfection, the Realm of Grandmaster... He’s only one step away from the Innate realm!"
Gazing out of the tent, Li Daoran felt as if he had experienced ten years’ worth of shock in a single day.
He stared in that direction, his hand subconsciously clenching and then relaxing. He shook his head with a bitter smile. "Sigh... ’Learning is easy for the young but hard for the old; not an inch of time should be taken lightly.’ I thought I had never wasted even a single moment, but now... I feel as if I’ve wasted my entire life."
"Isn’t that the truth." Even the usually taciturn Weilie lightly plucked his newly strung bowstring. The bald Grandmaster rubbed his head, half-sighing, half-laughing, his tone a mixture of admiration and self-mockery. "’In the deep of night, one dreams of youthful deeds, only to lament the white hairs of age’... Sigh. I don’t even have white hair, so I might as well not reminisce about my youth at all!"
As the two Grandmasters were sighing with emotion, a guess suddenly surfaced in their minds. Li Daoran frowned. "Speaking of which, doesn’t it seem like Younger Brother Su’s strength improves every time he kills a Demon General? Could it be that he can gain some kind of power from killing the Immortal Tree’s subordinates?"
"It’s very likely. He himself has stated that the Divine Woods are in a ’competitive relationship’."
After a moment of contemplation, Weilie said with a solemn expression, "Perhaps this is a Secret Technique from the Kunlun Jianmu’s side, one that can seize the power of another Divine Wood’s Beloved... That would also explain why Younger Brother Su came to help us of his own accord, and why he seems too lazy to even ask for a reward if we don’t offer one."
"The heritage of Kunlun... is truly incredible!"
"The Kunlun Secret Technique... is truly absurd!"
"The Kunlun Divine Tree... is awe-inspiring!"
