Chapter 148: Chapter 44: Sweeping Heaven and Earth with Thunder
In the end, Su Zhou dragged his battered body to lead one last charge. Fortunately, the Demon Army was also nearly crippled. Without enough Inner Strength to use their Qinggong, their heavy bodies struggled to move through the deep snow, leaving them exposed. Su Zhou hunted most of them down and killed them one by one.
However, taking care of his own people was more important than pursuing the enemy. So, after a final sweep, he led the men back to their fortifications. They dragged back the half-dead Divine Wood Guards frozen in the snow, preparing to destroy them in the lava.
Despite the devastating casualties, Li Daoran and the others were overjoyed. When Su Zhou returned to the walls, the vast majority of the Martial Artists cried out their thanks, many of them choking back sobs. Most had volunteered to guard the Divine Soldiers here, and had long since prepared to die for the cause.
Of course, the Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army had already made provisions for their families... In truth, most who had been willing to come here no longer had any family left, which was precisely why they had been willing to fight the Demon Dynasty to the death. By leading them to successfully defend the Divine Soldiers, Su Zhou had given meaning to all of their sacrifices.
"But this is no time to celebrate victory."
But Su Zhou wasn’t swept up in the euphoria of their costly victory. He immediately instructed several Master Artisans to bring him a large cauldron, which he then had filled with snow and heated over a great fire. No one knew what Su Zhou was planning, but if he wanted it done, they were happy to oblige.
Next, Su Zhou ordered everyone to gather the most severely wounded beside the large cauldron. The majority of them hadn’t actually lost much blood—in this freezing weather, bleeding out was difficult. Instead, most had completely exhausted their Inner Strength and were suffering from severe frostbite, leaving them in a state of shock or unconsciousness.
Without a Grandmaster-level physician like Grandmaster Han, Liuu Xizhao and the other physicians could hardly care for so many wounded on their own. Compounding the problem was the lack of clean water and medicine. Most of the injured likely wouldn’t survive the night.
And this was why Su Zhou was doing all this. After getting the water to boil, he gathered up a collection of spices—most of which were the very same ones he had previously traded away for Spirit Plants. Su Zhou couldn’t help but sigh. ’Thank god I had the foresight to bring so many spices... Man, next time I go to an Otherworld, I’m definitely bringing a full supply!’
As for what Su Zhou was about to do... He was already boiling water and grabbing spices. Was there even any need to ask?
He was brewing Holy Water, of course!
There was nothing to be done for the dead, but he would save every last one of the wounded. Though he didn’t say it aloud, Su Zhou had already made a silent vow. ’As long as I’m here, not a single one of these injured people is going to die!’
Once the cauldron of water was hot, Su Zhou poured in the remaining half-bottle of highly concentrated Holy Water, along with the pouch of Wood Spirit Liquid he had obtained from killing the Beast Taming Demon General. He then sprinkled in the spices and uttered a blessing in Holy Words. The entire spectacle was utterly alien to the local style of medicine. When the whole cauldron began to emanate a pure white radiance, the Martial Artists who hadn’t understood what Su Zhou was doing suddenly cried out. "The Kunlun Secret Technique!" "It’s a Divine Art from Kunlun Divine Mountain!" "They can be saved! Brother Xuu and Second Brother can be saved!"
Even Zhou Buyi’s eyes filled with tears of hope. His friend, the Martial Monk Fang Hui, had fought too ferociously during the battle, and a Divine Wood Guard had ripped a massive gash across his chest and stomach. Although Fang Hui had used his Inner Qi to seal the wound and stanch the bleeding, his organs had been exposed to the freezing blizzard. His injuries were considered too severe for him to be saved.
Just when Zhou Buyi thought he was about to lose another dear friend, he saw Su Zhou’s "Kunlun Secret Technique." He remembered the "potion" that could bring a man back from the brink of death and had allowed the gravely wounded Martial Master Weilie to walk again in just three minutes. Hope flared in his heart once more.
Hearing their ecstatic shouts, Su Zhou was straightforward. "I can’t guarantee they’ll all survive. You saw it yourselves—a whole cauldron of water, with just a bit of Holy Water and one pouch of Wood Spirit Liquid. It’s so diluted, the healing effect will likely be minimal."
He was telling the honest truth, and the men gathered there were no fools; they understood the logic. Seeing that no one was raising a clamor, Su Zhou steeled his resolve.
’Yara, my blood... it counts as ’Holy Blood,’ right? If I use my blood as an offering, how much healing power can I generate?’
The Snake Spirit chuckled. ’That depends on the degree of their faith in you. If they believe, there will be power; if they doubt, there will be none. The strength of belief depends on the wielder.’
’Still, from the way they’re looking at you, so grateful they seem ready to hand over everything they own, I’d wager the effect will be quite potent.’
’Is that so?’ Hearing this, Su Zhou chuckled. ’Sigh... what can I say? I guess I’m just wired wrong. Hearing people thank me so sincerely just gives me an incredible thrill.’
As he bantered with Yara, he bit open a blood vessel in his arm and let some of his Spiritual Blood splash into the great cauldron.
The Spiritual Blood was as heavy as mercury, and it glowed with a bluish-purple light as it sank into the Holy Water, triggering another sacred ripple. For a moment, most of the people present didn’t understand what was happening, and Su Zhou had no intention of explaining. But after a brief stun, Zhou Buyi seemed to remember something. He took a step forward and bellowed for all to hear, "Grandmaster Su is expending his own Dragon Blood to heal our brothers!"
"You bunch of fools!" Zhou Buyi roared. "Grandmaster Su’s righteousness is boundless! Since coming down from Kunlun, he has fought for justice, slain a Demon General, broken the Demon Army, and killed the Demon Dynasty’s National Preceptor right here! He’s done so much that he’s covered in wounds and has even lost an arm—so what are you bastards gawking at?! Have you not a single word of thanks to offer him?!"
