Chapter 3097 Gant's Cousin

The people on the city wall withered under the cool dark stares of the black Sun Crows.

One of the warriors grew furious. He drew his blade and a beam of sword radiance shot out towards the Sun Crows.

The ray shot through the air, hitting one of the crows.

A black Sun Crow was cut in half, drenched in blood. The other crows squawked and flew into the air. After circling for a while, they landed on the ground and began to eat the corpses again.

The man who had just killed the Sun Crow glared at the other crows with hateful eyes. "These birds make me feel uncomfortable," he said coldly.

"They are just intelligent enough to be formidable opponents, but not intelligent enough to communicate or negotiate with," said someone else. "That's why it's so uncomfortable to watch them watching us back."

"How strange! Why would the Sun Crow race be able to fight well against humans, if they are not very intelligent?" Zen asked.

Many of the people with Zen had cultivation levels higher than his. However, they were friendlier towards him than Maxim had been. The warrior who killed the Sun Crow laughed and said to Zen, "If they were as intelligent as us, we would have been utterly destroyed a long time ago."

After all, the crows far outnumbered them, and they had more natural abilities too—like the ability to fly and attack with their beaks and claws—even without special training. The chief advantage of the human race in this war was their wisdom and the intelligence which they used to produce powerful weapons and learn fighting abilities.

Even the weakest of mortal humans were often far more intelligent than the members of other powerful races.

Most of the races that had some semblance of a civilization—such as the Sun Crows, the Ear Mice, or any of the other strange races living in the Source World—had only a few select individuals that possessed real wisdom. The vast majority of their races relied on instinct to survive.

"That makes sense, I suppose," Zen agreed.

There were ten of them on the city wall, including Zen and Gant.

The atmosphere had relaxed as soon as Maxim left, and the warriors took the opportunity to converse with each other, becoming more familiar with the lives and interests of their comrades.

The man who had just killed a Sun Crow was named Rupert Lu. He came from a famous clan, and had already signed for the qualifying test of the Oneness Guards. He came to Mountain Viewing Province for training.

Most of the Other Shore Realm warriors had their own personal reasons for choosing to come to Mountain Viewing Province despite the ongoing danger.

"By the way, Zen, what's your story? Since you've just entered the Other Shore Realm, you could have chosen to stabilize your cultivation in the Dragon City. Why come here at all, especially during these tumultuous times?" Rupert Lu asked.

Everyone turned to look at Zen, for they shared Rupert Lu's curiosity. Some had concluded that Zen was simply a daredevil courting death.

"My goals are the same as yours, Rupert. I'm also here to gain training experience," said Zen with a smile.

A midd

d his head. "That's quite interesting. I've never heard of that particular kind of magic item before."

"It's true. Consider this: A premium Other Shore Treasure, if refined by the Shade Stone, would be comparable to a primary Grand Nature Treasure. That's why the Su Clan and even the Oneness Sky Palace attach such great value to the Shade Stone."

Gant had learned most of this lore from his uncles.

He had been close to his cousin Eira since they were both children. She was of the bloodline of the Ore Shadow race, and a person such as herself was only born once in a thousand years. She was not suited for cultivation, but she was uniquely suited to the refinement of weapons. Since her birth, the Su Clan had forced her to refine weapons for the clan continuously. They had supplied dozens of Other Shore Treasures forged by Eira to the Oneness Sky Palace. This state of affairs had led to a rapid improvement in the status of the Su Clan in the palace.

Gant had heard that the Su Clan was here to use Eira to refine a premium Other Shore Treasure, which was second only to the Grand Nature Treasures. This had caused Gant great anxiety. He couldn't help but think that the refinement of that kind of treasure would require the sacrifice of Eira's life.

To be fair, it was not unheard of for members of the Su Clan to sacrifice their lives in order to forge weapons of incredible power and quality. Those who willingly sacrificed themselves thought their lives would be a worthy exchange for a peerless weapon that would be the culmination of all their life's work.

But Eira was not among the willing ones. She was being forced to give her life for the clan's ambitions.

"It's difficult for me to believe that a clan would sacrifice the life of one of its own members—a young girl, at that—just to refine a weapon," Zen admitted.

Gant drew his brows together, caught between a frown and a wry smile. Of course Zen was disbelieving. He himself still couldn't believe that his clan would actually choose to kill their precious Eira. What a cruel world they lived in!