Chapter 98: Chapter 10: Undead Demon Soldiers
An Inheritor of the Divine Wood from the Western Holy Mountain?
This explanation, while fantastical and strange, wasn’t hard for the escort team to grasp, even if they didn’t fully understand it.
"The Western Divine Wood... you don’t mean the Bronze Divine Wood on the Divine Mountain of the former West Kunlun, where Esoteric Buddhism is based?!"
"I recall reading about that in the classics. A thousand years ago, the Divine Mountain was ravaged by Demons and Evils. Several Innate Martial Saints and one Celestial Spirit Martial God cut a path through them, and in the end, they sacrificed themselves to seal the fiends beneath the Nine-Layer Divine Tower, a Divine Wood Incarnation... But, while I’ve heard of this, if that truly is his inheritance, how did Master Su manage to travel thousands of miles to get here?"
"A powerful physique like that, those strange weapons and martial arts, and that ridiculously strong Inner Strength—they couldn’t have just appeared out of thin air. It’s not like the Demon Emperor could suddenly produce a Grandmaster we’ve never even heard of..."
"I was originally wondering how someone could use the Large Mandible Tail Stinger of a Water Purifying Centipede as a weapon without the Divine Wood Bloodline. But if he’s from that western inheritance..."
Aside from this line of self-speculation, which had been led completely astray, there were also some other wild guesses. "Those cyan and violet Dragon Pupils, and that Wood Qi... Is he a Cyan Dragon Bloodline?!"
"The Divine Wood Inheritance and a Cyan Dragon Bloodline... If that’s the case, it would explain how he’s so strong at such a young age!"
’So the events from the game’s DLC actually happened in this world? But they’re from a thousand years ago... still, it serves as powerful evidence for my story.’
As for lying—Heaven knows, Su Zhou hadn’t told a single lie. The Garden of Peace and Joy in the Supreme Heaven, where the Wisdom Tree resided, was technically to the west of Zhengguo, wasn’t it? And according to Yara, the Tree of the Great Dao and the World Tree were indeed in opposition to each other. That part was also true.
Of course, if these people filled in the blanks and imagined he was an inheritor from Kunlun Jianmu, that wasn’t his problem. It’s not like they could tell the difference between the essential auras of the two great Divine Woods anyway. There was indeed a theory that Spiritual Hill was another name for Kunlun, and the Coiling Banyan was likely related to the Peach Ruomu. Both also happened to be located in the south. The tangled, divergent mythologies actually lent his claims considerable credibility.
’Sigh, it’s all Yara’s fault. If it weren’t for it, how would I ever have learned these kinds of verbal tricks!’
Hearing their increasingly convinced discussion, Su Zhou, who rarely misled others, actually felt a little ashamed. ’As expected of a demon’s technique. It’s so damn useful!’
"Cut the crap. He was kind enough to give an explanation, are you really going to refuse him now?" As the elder of the group, Mo Ganxiu’s response was blunt. "Let’s move! If we don’t get going, the real Demon Soldiers will catch up to us!"
Although they still had their doubts and didn’t fully believe his story, the facts were undeniable. Su Zhou hadn’t dealt a killing blow and had shown goodwill. They couldn’t defeat him. Their mission was on a tight schedule, they needed to transport a Spiritual Object, and they had pursuers on their tail.
"Let’s go."
With that thought, the pointless chatter ceased. Since their opponent was both powerful and had offered an explanation, no one had any more objections to Su Zhou accompanying them to their base.
In silence, the group set off once more, following the trail of black wood stumps and racing toward the summit of Taibai Volcano.
As he ran, Su Zhou began to organize his thoughts on the insights and takeaways from the recent battle.
’At my core, I’m just a superpowered high school student from a modern society who has practiced some hand-to-hand combat. Though I’m used to brawls and have grasped the fundamental combat elements of observation, reaction, and neutralization, my understanding of armed combat comes mostly from action movies and the past two months of practice. The Wisdom Fruit made my techniques refined, but in truth, that skill is only skin-deep.’
’My powerful, perfect body is my greatest advantage, but it’s always best to avoid injury. Zhou Buyi’s Punishment Sword actually managed to pierce my skin; it only broke because it wasn’t harder than my bones. If it had been just a little heavier, it might have truly wounded me. Then, I might not have been able to handle the combined attack from the Martial Monk and the Swordsman, and I would’ve been surrounded.’
’Even when just testing my own strength, I have to give it my all. I underestimated their coordinated attack at the start. If I had swung my spear with full force from the beginning, Liuu Xizhao and Zhou Buyi would have been blown away just by getting within a few meters of me, unless they used Spiritual Power to enhance themselves. Their joint attack would have been broken before it even began!’
Su Zhou’s greatest strength was how quickly he admitted his mistakes. Although he was the type to throw haymakers and argue with the entire world online, in real life, he was humble, broke, and eager to learn. After replaying the battle in his mind, Su Zhou quickly identified his many shortcomings. From improper force application to his unrefined use of Spiritual Power, he committed them all to memory, vowing to strengthen his training in the future.
Beyond that, he had also realized just how useful the Universal Three Techniques were!
He had been skeptical of them at first, but in a real battle, Su Zhou discovered that these seemingly simple skills were the most intuitive to use. They required no thought or circulation of Spiritual Qi in combat, moving as naturally as his own limbs. It was a true return to simplicity, and it was incredibly effective!
Just think about it: the ability to form a Qi Blade over half a foot long on your weapons or limbs at will. Didn’t that instantly extend his attack range and create visual distortions, making his attacks impossible to guard against? And as for defense, there was no need to even mention it—the tip of Zhou Buyi’s broken sword was still dangling from his own waist.
