Chapter 170 – The World Waits Upon This Battle (1/2)

Arriving before the mist, Taoist Ji stilled his steps. Yu Ren had one leg that was slightly lame but if it weren’t for climbing up a steep mountain path, he would rarely have to use a crutch.

He uncomfortably used his left underarm to clutch onto the walking stick, then used both hands to gesture a question: “The Grand Examination should have its result by now? I wonder how junior brother is currently.”

Taoist Ji’s countenance was elegant and untainted by the world, his eyes were the same as it had been in the past, showing no signs of ageing. Seeing the faint hints of worry showing upon Yu Ren’s eyes, he didn’t say anything, but laughed and rubbed Yu Ren’s head.

Yu Ren once again gestured a question: “Master, when do we go to the Capital?”

Taoist Ji answered: “When you need to return to the Capital, we will go.”

Yu Ren didn’t notice the use of the word “return” when his Master spoke of going to the Capital.

This was the Eastern Continent’s most remote and wild mountain range, monstrous beasts roamed freely and the signs of humanity were rare, being much more desolate than the mountain behind Xi Ning Village. The mists were heavily damp and when walking amidst the mists, it would almost seem as if one had left the human realm; how could the people sent by Mo Yu possibly be able to find this master and disciple pair?

The fragmentary sounds from within the mist became increasingly frequent, there were also faint sights of movement, following this, over a dozen overpowering presences appeared; these were likely some extremely powerful monstrous beasts.

Taoist Ji didn’t want to bother facing these grotesque beings that were hidden. He lightly frowned and said: “Open the path.”

Yu Ren followed the instruction and went forwards, facing the thick mist at the end of the mountain path and shouted out.

He was missing the end half of his tongue, therefore he couldn’t talk the way a normal person would, but this didn’t mean he couldn’t produce any sounds; all that could be heard was a sharp and forlorn hiss bursting out from between his lips.

It resembled a hiss, but in actuality it was a word, a single syllable word that contained limitless amounts of information; this was precisely the same type of word used by Chen Chang Sheng in the underground space for communicating with the Black Dragon: Dragon Speech.

Yu Ren let out a solitary, clear hiss, the hiss broke through the air and entered the cloudy mist without a trace, not stirring even a single ripple; yet, at the next moment, the crushing intimidation contained within the hiss, spread out in all directions, from the mist to the entire mountain range.

Those monstrous beasts that were concealed deep within the mist gave out horrified drones of unease in a show of deference and apology; accompanying the sounds of scraping, they disappeared at the fastest speed possible, returning the clouds to serenity.

…..

At a place even farther away from the Capital, there was a white coloured barren plain. Within the centre of this barren plain, there is a city built from stone, its walls encircled tens of kilometres, looking extremely grand.

Several million people knelt upon the barren plains that were outside of the stone city.

Their knees and foreheads, having been in contact for a long time with the scalding hot sand that had been heated by the nine suns, gave off the faint smell of burning, but no signs of pain could be seen upon their faces, only an absolute tranquillity. Neither did they let out any sounds, there was only an absolute silence, akin to a peaceful yet terrifying sea; a sea of people.

At the fore of this congregation was a platform constructed from wood, the wooden platform still had countless green leaves around its edges, making a clear contrast from the barren, simple and blistering surroundings.

Within the centre of the platform there was a symbol shaped like the character “zheng” erected, conveying a strongly religious feeling.

Following the prayers of several million believers, the symbol was currently emanating a faint Holy Radiance.

A middle-aged man stood in front of the religious symbol, quietly watching the millions of people that were knelt before him.

From the look of this man’s clothing, he should be a religious monk.

With his age, faint wrinkles could be seen on the edge of his eyes, but this did nothing to detract from his perfect features. The most captivating feature was his eyes, those calm and peaceful eyes contained boundless compassion and love, as if they could gaze upon places infinitely distant; gaze upon everything.

He raised the Blessed Rod within his hand, using a faintly smiling visage to face this wicked world.

The millions of people upon the white, barren plains stood up, annunciating to the hills and valleys:

“None care not for their homeland.”

…..

It was early Spring in the Capital, yet it still remained bitingly cold. Old Snow City’s early Spring was unrelentingly cold and harsh; blizzards fell like a sobbing grievance upon the city’s streets and alleys, chafing across as if it were a sandstorm, making it hard to open one’s eyes.

The demon race enjoyed the night and tranquillity, enjoyed blood and slaughter, with the latter being to their core; therefore, within the secretive dwellings of the demon race’s royalty or artists, there would inexorably be paintings that had vivid colours or strange outlines.

Yet, the colour hue for Old Snow City was a drab grey, causing people to feel tranquil, or perhaps even a little numb. The city’s populace enjoyed wearing black robes and from afar, it was difficult to make out as to who was who.

A demon dressed in a black robe walked within the blizzard; the black robe he wore was rather plain and a little old, with its hem showing some tears, but at the very least, this black robe was slightly different from others.

The black robe flitted in and out of view within the furious blizzard, even if one was to stare intently, it would be hard to confirm its position, this lasted until he exited Old Snow City, standing at the glacier on the Southern side.

A chill wind blasted through, lifting the brim of his hat and revealing the side of his face. That face was abnormally pale; as if it hadn’t come into contact with the sun for many years; as if he had just recently suffered a serious illness; as if it lacked any warmth at all; even more so, as if it was completely devoid of life, carrying with it a sense of death that could cause palpitations.

That demon gazed towards the South, the direction of the Capital, and remained silent for a long while. His lips then curled and his detached voice bore an uncontrollable sense of elation: “You finally cannot continue to ignore his existence.”

…..

After Luo Luo moved to Li Palace, the Hundred Herb Garden remained vacant. With all the youths from Orthodox Academy having gone to participate in the Grand Examination, the academy was also devoid of people, this naturally meant no one knew of the new door upon the wall being opened.