Chapter 68 - The Blood that Boils Within (1/2)
Three days later, Zhong Yue's appearance started to change, he reverted to the body of a human, but his head remained as a dragon's, he looked odd yet fantastical.
His body was also massive, but with his height of ten feet, he appeared to be slim and slender. The 17 feet long Fang Blade behind his back was installed with a three feet long wooden hilt. The image of the human and blade lent an elegant and graceful feel to the surroundings. At this moment, he did not strike the figure of a human teenager that walked out of Great Wilderness, but more of a teenager from the Dragon race.
It was winter, snowstorms, and blizzards covered the land outside of the Great Wilderness. Zhong Yue used his psyche and clothed himself in a marten fur muffler and a coat made from animal hides which he had stolen from the Shui Tu Clan. His victim was one of the wealthy nobles among the Shui Tu Clan, as the marten fur muffler and animal hide coat were well-maintained. Dressing in these clothes made him look like a nobleman himself.
Especially when he was in the form of a dragon-headed human, with the winter-white muffler on his neck, he had the dignified manner of a nobleman.
The only reason that he had not entirely reverted himself to human form was in part due to the excessive beast god essence in his body as well as the continuous discharge of beast god essence from the inner core. Since the Beast God Inner Core was in his inner mind which happened to be located at his glabella, that region had the highest concentration of the beast god essence. Thus, his head was the most difficult to return to human form.
And now, he had come to the buffer zone between Great Wilderness and Xian Kong City, the Savanna Wasteland
This was an endless desolate savanna, a barren wasteland that was devoid of any sign of life. A blanket of white snow lay over the withered grass, and beneath it was the frozen crust of the earth. Whether it was the humans or the monster race, they all lived in the environments they inhabited. They would hunt near the mountains and fish near the ocean. As for the savanna, it was a place disdained by the humans and the monster race alike, a wasteland that none would care to claim.
In the eyes of the monster race and humans, the savanna was a barren and desolate wasteland.
However, Zhong Yue had heard some of the Qi Practitioners saying that the Human Sovereign once urged the humans to plant food crops in large-scale in the savanna. His majesty desired for the expansion of the human territory out from the deep mountains and into the savanna, planting and growing food crops. However, the humanity's agriculture in the Great Wilderness was primitive and basic; no one was able to undertake the challenge of carrying out his majesty's vision.
The Great Wilderness was simply far too remote, some even doubted the veracity of the existence of the Human Sovereign, believing him to be nothing but a contrived legend. The truth of his existence had yet to proven.
For the past three days, he had not met with a single human nor monster race; one could tell how barren and desolate the Savanna Wasteland was.
"Xin Huo, how far till we reach the teleportation portal?" Zhong Yue asked while he strode forward casually. A simple step would bring him tens of feet forward. He seemed to be leisurely strolling, but he was moving at a breakneck speed.
These three days, he had traveled over 3 thousand miles, the link between Xin Huo and the teleportation portal was getting stronger, as he could now vaguely tell how far away it was from them.
"With your current speed, it'd take another four to five days." Xin Huo answered.
"Four to five days?"
Zhong Yue was relieved, "Just another 3 thousand miles of distance. Ey… what is this?"
The land in front of him was cracked, it was as if a sharp sword had once pierced into the earth from the sky, leaving behind a massive fissure in the earth's surface. There was snow filling up the crevice, but he could still tell that the sides of the fissure were smooth and glossy!
Zhong Yue stood on the edge of the earth fissure. The massive sword mark was at least three miles long, sharp and incisive. It seemed like a sword mark left behind by a giant slashing its sword into the earth!
Not far away from him, there were massive footprints sized like water pools, in it there was already some residual water with the water surface all frozen up, they were clearly footprints left behind by a giant beast.
Moving forward, Zhong Yue could feel his heart palpitating rapidly. The air around was moist with slight surges of electricity lurking in the atmosphere. The surroundings were charred black, and it looked like a colossal titan that wielded lightning had an intense battle here!
It was winter, the air was supposed to be dry and arid without any humidity, and even if there some modicum of moisture, it would all be precipitated into ice crystals. But that was not quite the case right here as the air around was moist and was saturated with water vapor. This wouldn't occur unless there were thunder totems that had heated up the surrounding air. As the traces left behind by the thunder totems were still yet to disperse after so long, the one who cast them must be a Qi Practitioner with incredibly potent power!
"This… techniques of the Lei Hu Clan Qi Practitioners! Yes, that's right, the giant footprints must be left behind by the giant turtle, Fu Shan, and as for the massive sword mark, it would be the doing of Fang Jiange!"
Zhong Yue's heart thumped and he thought to himself, This seems like the place where the four young successors of Swords Gate clashed with the two great island lords of Xian Kong City! Two months have passed, I wonder if they were able to finish off the two monster race magnates?
Zhong Yue was quite curious, Fang Jiange, Feng Wuji, Lei Hong and Jun Sixie, the four young successors were in pursuit of the Sulphur Island Lord Yan Yunsheng and Jinxiu Island Lord Xiutian Chen, this should be a grand event, so why would there be no news reaching back to Swords Gate?
If they have succeeded in exterminating the two lords of Sulphur Island and Jinxiu Island, it would undoubtedly spark a round of commotion in Swords Gate. Everyone would surely know about it already. But if they have failed, they would also notify and inform the Swords Gate about. Unless….
Zhong Yue's eyes brightened, he babbled to himself, The four of them are still in pursuit of the island lords!
Zhong Yue gazed around; the land extended all the way to the horizon endlessly. As far as the eye can see it was still the barren and desolate wasteland, he thought to himself, Xian Kong City is only some 3 thousand miles away from here, with my speed I can reach it within a dozen days. The two island lords were peak figures of their factions, with one of them even standing at the same level as Swords Gate's headmaster. If they could not exit the Savanna Wasteland into the Barren Wild, it would only mean that they are more heavily wounded than expected!
The injuries of the two island lords were closely related to Zhong Yue, if he did not restore the beast god seal back to its perfect state under Xin Huo's guidance, how could they have been injured to such an extent?
For the next few days, he could see more signs and marks left behind by their battles. Zhong Yue was even able to distinguish who left which marks just by looking at them and comparing them to the unique arts that the four young successors each possessed.
Zhong Yue even saw thousands of stone pillars planted in the middle of nowhere, each pillar was over sixty feet tall, and the array covered over 30 miles of land. On the surface of the stone pillars were engraved complex totem carvings of a dragon and phoenix!
These stone pillars that numbered upward of a thousand towered incongruously in the middle of the savanna, forming into a slaughtering array with an unearthly prowess. He wondered which of the four young Qi Practitioners cast these stone pillars.
Whoever cast them, the stone pillars array must have trapped and held the island lords for quite some time. The island lords had gone through a bloodbath in order to escape from the stone pillars array. The stone pillars had all broken into halves. Some even had the totem carvings wiped off. The stone pillar array was crushed away with no residual power left in it—the surrounding hundred miles of land was turned into a painting of chaos adorned with traces of combat across its landscape.
The four young successors of Swords Gate, they are indeed strong! Zhong Yue praised in his heart.