CH 145

Chapter 145 – Zhaojiang Tributary

“Senior Martial Brother Jian just left to go find Martial Uncle Jing. You said you already went to see Martial Uncle Jing, right? Did you not see Senior Martial Uncle Jian there?” He Junyu asked, his expression dubious, looking like he was picking up on the fact that he might be getting toyed with.

The white-clothed youth’s face turned stiff as he gave a nervous chuckle. “No worries, no worries. I’ll just tell him when I see him. It’s all the same anyway.”

A multi-colored light streaked over from the horizon, and Jian Liangbi’s figure appeared when the radiance faded. As soon as he landed in front of the hall, he saw the white-clothed youth. “Ruan Xun, what are you here for?” he asked.

“Obviously, to go with you guys to the He Yin Territory!” Ruan Xun said with a chuckle, reaching his hand out to pat Jian Liangbi on the shoulder.

Jian Liangbi sidestepped it, his brows furrowing. “Who let you come with us?” he asked, turning to He Junyu.

He Junyu shrugged his shoulders, a look of guilelessness on his face.

“What, I can’t come? Also, what is this tone you’re taking with your Martial Uncle?” Ruan Xun said in a reprimanding tone, playing the card of seniority over Jian Liangbi.

Jian Liangbi’s expression gradually darkened. In the end, he just snorted coldly and ignored him. Then, he turned to Xu Disheng and the others and said, “Is there anything you still need to prepare? If not, we’ll go to where Martial Uncle Jing is and immediately depart to the border area between the Shan Mountain Territory and He Yin Territory.”

Li Cangyun, Xu Disheng, and Luo Hongying hadn’t even said anything yet, but it was Ruan Xun who spoke next. “Ah, crap! I forgot several Psychic Magic Treasures back at the Mingyang Domain! Whatever shall I do?!” he exclaimed.

“You can go back to Mingyang Domain and get them then,” Jian Liangbi said coldly, ascending into the sky with a flash of multicolored light. “You three come with me to where Martial Uncle Jing is.”

Xu Disheng, Li Cangyun, and Luo Hongying followed after him on their own streaks of light. No one paid Ruan Xun any mind. A watery blue radiance glowed around Ruan Xun and he caught up with Jian Liangbi in an instant. He smiled and said, “Jian Liangbi, do you remember that you still owe me 20,000 spirit stones?”

Jian Liangbi’s face became even more stern, but he didn’t respond to him. He just kept flying forward on his multi-colored light with a sullen expression.

“Senior Martial Brother Li, is this person not from our Mingxin Mountain Range?” Xu Disheng asked Li Cangyun. The two of them were near the back of the procession following Jian Liangbi.

“This… Young Martial Uncle is a direct descendant of Primordial Lord Yangze, one of the two Mountain Masters of our Mingxin Mountain Peak. He also managed to awaken his primordial lord bloodline. His name actually isn’t in the directory of disciples, but in terms of hierarchy, he’s technically our martial uncle,” Li Cangyun said.

Every Primordial Lord had a very long lifespan. As time passed, there would normally be many descendents born, and there was a possibility for them to awaken the Primordial Lord’s bloodline.

As soon as someone awakened the Primordial Lord’s bloodline latent in them, their talent would soar and their powers of comprehension would reach an astonishing level. Before reaching the Primordial Spirit stage, they would experience no bottlenecks in their cultivation whatsoever.

In other words, anyone who awakened their Primordial Lord bloodline would eventually become a Divine Core stage Spirit Master simply given enough time!

While Ruan Xun was a descendent of Primordial Lord Yangze, there were an untold number of generations between them. But through Ruan Xun’s own fortune, he managed to awaken his bloodline and become someone who was now being personally taught by Primordial Lord Yangze.

Although he was only at the Sea of Qi stage, there was no one among the disciples of the Mingxin Mountain Range who didn’t know him.

Jing Xingchen was standing at the summit of a Peak, dressed in purple robes. Brilliant, deep purple motes of starlight twinkled around his robes, winking in and out of existence.

“Junior Martial Sister Bian, have you already made up your mind to come with us to Zhaojiang?”

Next to him, a beautiful and elegant woman gently smiled and replied, “The one who started this trouble should be the one to resolve it, Senior Martial Brother Jing. Regardless of whether I go now or later, this is something that can’t be avoided.”

Jing Xingchen nodded his head. He no longer looked at her, instead turning to gaze off at the mist and clouds on the horizon, where there were several people rapidly approaching.

“Ruan Xun? What, did Primordial Lord Yangze let you come?” Jing Xingchen asked, somewhat surprised when he saw a watery blue radiance land in front of him first.

“Yes, Senior Martial Brother Jing,” Ruan Xun said sincerely, coming forward and obediently cupping his hands in greeting. He no longer put on the mischievous, ingratiating demeanor he used with Jian Liangbi and the others.

“Okay. Once we reach Zhaojiang, Junior Martial Sister Bian and I might not be able to fully take care of you, so make sure you act with even greater caution,” Jing Xingchen said, letting him off rather leniently.

Ruan Xun bowed his head slightly and said, “I understand.”

The beams of light belonging to Jian Liangbi and the others were a bit slower. They began to land in rapid succession moments later, cupping their hands respectfully to Jing Xingchen and Bian Hongyu.

Seeing Jian Liangbi and the other five arrive, Jing Xingchen said, “The place we’re going to at the border between the Shan Mountain Territory and the He Yin Territory is actually a tributary river of the Zhaojiang River System. There are many monsters roaming about, so it’s very dangerous. You had all best be mentally prepared.”

Jing Xingchen saw that none of their expressions changed, so he nodded and waved his hand, causing a deep purple constellation map to appear upon the surface of the ground.

The lines and decorative designs on it were extremely intricate. After it materialized from illusory into reality, it rose up into the air, carrying the people on it. In the blink of an eye, they shot off and disappeared into the mist and clouds.

… …

The flying speed of Jing Xingchen’s deep purple celestial map Magic Treasure wasn’t that fast. The moment they left the territory of the Shangqing Eight Mountains, several resplendent beams of light flitted past them, leaving deafening sonic booms in their wake.

“Those are…?” Li Cangyun muttered, lifting his head to look at the several brilliant beams of light whizzing off into the distance.

“Several other Mountains must have also dispatched disciples,” He Junyu said, recognizing the identity of one of the blazing beams of light. “That bright beam of light belongs to the Green Thunderspark of Martial Uncle Xu Lingyun from Wenyuan Mountain.”

“I wonder if the Ancient Nuwa Sect will also send disciples…? But the inheritance that appeared belongs to a human Primordial Lord, so even if they went, it would be useless for a sect of monsters like them,” Li Cangyun said, suddenly remembering.

The several people nearby turned to look at him. Ruan Xun sneered and said, “The Ancient Nuwa Sect is a demon sect, not a monster sect. Demons and monsters aren’t the same thing. If you say that out here, you better not tell them that you’re a disciple of the Shangqing Sacred Sect or you’ll turn us into a laughingstock!”

Jing Xingchen was standing at the frontmost part of the purple celestial map. He said without even turning around, “The Ancient Nuwa Sect and our Shangqing Sacred Sect are quite similar. Both are the overlord sects of the Shan Mountain Territory, so you had better not talk nonsense about them.”

Receiving two harsh reprimandings back to back, Li Cangyun’s expression turned ugly. He walked away over to the edge of the celestial map, where he saw Xu Disheng, who had been sitting there all this time with his eyes closed, cultivating. He couldn’t help asking, “Junior Martial Brother Xu, you’re cultivating even while we’re on the road?”

Xu Disheng opened his eyes and nodded. “It’s just what I’m used to. Senior Martial Brother Li, the Ancient Nuwa Sect is actually a demon sect? Why have I never heard of this before?”

“I know you came from one of the Mortal Secret Realms, so it’s normal to be lacking in what would normally be considered general knowledge,” Li Cangyun said, his expression gradually improving as he finally caught hold of an aspect where he was superior. “The Ancient Nuwa Sect and the Shangqing Sacred Sect jointly rule over the several millions of li of territory comprising the Shan Mountain Territory. There are several hundred smaller sects within the territory of the Shan Mountains, but they are all subordinate sects.”

“However, the Ancient Nuwa Sect is a demon sect made up of beings with human bodies and serpent tails. They also have ancient inheritances, and have produced over a dozen Divine Sea stage beings.”

“What is the difference between monsters and demons…?” Xu Disheng asked.

“This…” Li Cangyun hesitated, unable to answer due to his lacking knowledge in this subject. What he had said so far was the extent of what he knew.

“The demon race has a noble bloodline and are very similar to humans,” Ruan Xun said, walking over. He pointed up at the sky above their heads and continued, “Even in the esteemed Heavenly Court, it’s rumored that a majority of the divine posts are divided up between beings of the human race and the demon race.”

“Monsters, on the other hand, are beings indigenous to the Human Realm, without any history to them whatsoever. After they achieve spiritual awareness and become monsters, they can only serve as prey to the human and demon races.”

(TL: There were some places where I had incorrectly translated ‘monster’ as ‘demon’ in the past, but I went back and fixed them. Looks like I’m as ignorant as Li Cangyun on this topic, hahah… Demonic qi/energy → Yao energy. Most of the places where ‘demon’ was used in the past actually refers to monsters (namely Chapter 49-55 – Floating Moon Valley/wolf monster and Chapters 66-74 – Jade Water Lake). Just to clarify in case this wasn’t clear before, yao – or yaoguai in Chinese, is a term that refers to monsters or other supernatural creatures. As for this novel, yao also refers to natural objects (like plants, animals, rocks, etc.) that have gained sentience/spiritual awareness, which allows them to cultivate, gain human-like forms, etc. It’s not exactly correct to purely call them monsters in the sense that the western world thinks of them (i.e., goblins), so I decided to refer to it as ‘yao energy’.)

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“Thank you for your explanation, Martial Uncle Ruan,” Xu Disheng said, cupping his hands.

Ruan Xun seemed to be happy, seeing Xu Disheng’s shrewd and perceptive behavior. He continued to speak, feigning a seemingly deep and profound tone. “But the difference between a human sect like ours and a demon sect like the Ancient Nuwa Sect is the fact that in a demon sect, each individual’s status is decided by the concentration of their bloodline. Those with dense bloodline concentrations will usually have a symbol indicating so.”

“For the half-human half-serpent demon race of the Ancient Nuwa Sect, this symbol is a purple lightning symbol between their eyebrows,” Ruan Xin said. As soon as he finished speaking, he looked over and saw that He Junyu and the others seemed to be listening intently to him, which boosted his mood even further. It looked like he wanted to say more, but Bian Hongyu interrupted him.

“Ruan Xun, come over here. I have some matters I would like to speak to you about.” Her feminine voice floated over, causing Ruan Xun’s excited expression to crumble. He reluctantly dragged his feet over to her.

A flash went off in Xu Disheng’s mind as he recalled the time during the tournament where a disciple bet 50 spirit stones on him. But when he thought back on that disciple now, their face was indistinct and vague in his mind. He couldn’t remember their face no matter how he tried, but a very strong intuition was connecting the clues of that disciple and the purple lightning seal.

A thought occurred to him and a light green jade slip appeared in his hand.

At the time, that disciple asked for his message jade slip, but he didn’t give it to him. However, that disciple stealthily placed his jade slip on the betting table, and when Xu Disheng had gone to pick up the spirit stones and other winnings, he had inadvertently swept this jade slip along with it too.

It was an extremely ordinary-looking message jade slip, but when he felt it in his hands, it felt smooth. There was even… a faint hint of delicate fragrance to it.

When he looked closely at it, the character for ‘spirit’ was engraved on it. Aside from that, there were no other messages.

Xu Disheng didn’t activate the light green jade slip. He simply tossed it back into his interspatial ring. In his cross-legged position at the edge of the celestial map, he submerged himself into cultivation once more.

… …

The Zhaojiang River System was a massive system of rivers that cut across the Shan Mountain Territory. There were many tributary rivers with countless monsters dwelling in the waters.

The tributary river that they were going to just happened to be at the very border between the Shan Mountain Territory and the He Yin Territory.

“Three-Eyed Monster King, if… if things continue on like this, our monster palace may…” a monster with a fish head and human body stuttered as he looked at the Three-Eyed Scorpion Monster seated on the throne with deference in his gaze.

“Ai… In the last three days, there have been so many Dao Foundation stage humans. What can we even do?!” the Three-Eyed Scorpion Monster exclaimed, his voice filled with exasperation and worry.

There were around 100 meters of water above their head until the surface. But right now, if any monsters were to head out carelessly, a complete massacre would result.

Any monsters who dared to leave the monster palace right now would be neatly cut down by streaks of light the moment they set foot out the gate. Their bodies would be torn and their bones would be crushed until hardly anything remained.

The monster palace of the Three-Eyed Scorpion Monster just happened to be located in a remote corner of the Zhaojiang River System. It was originally a solid fortress that was easy to defend, but now it had become their tomb. They couldn’t go out, nor could they escape.

It was still fortunate for them that these humans outside didn’t seem to be specifically targeting them. Otherwise, their forces which consisted of several dozen lesser monsters, and even the Three-Eyed Scorpion Monster who had already transformed into a full monster, would have already been turned to ashes.