Chapter 21 Chapter 21 - City of Mercenaries (2/2)
For every other cultivator – regardless of which cultivation method they were practicing – Qi during the Mortal Realm remained hidden inside their body and they were unable to use it. This applied even to those god-level geniuses, and no cultivation method could change this truth. However, to break from Mortal Realm into Core Realm, one was forced to sense the Qi hidden inside their bodies, and even guide it through their meridians into their 'Soul Palace', where they'd culminate it until they would form an entire, spinning core – hence breaking into the Core Realm. All of this was completely new to Lino; although he was unable to sense Qi before reaching Core Realm, he didn't have to guide his Qi through anything to form anything when he was breaking through. Unlike others, his Qi was stored throughout his entire body – his muscles, nerves, veins, blood vessels, bones, organs… while Qi of others was always stored inside the 'Soul Palace' – it was only the matter of which shape it had. Core Realm cultivators had a spherical mass of Qi. Soul Realm cultivators would shatter that core and form a small replica of themselves in a soul form. Mystic Realm cultivators would spill the soul-mimic into an ocean. Purity Realm cultivators would completely purify their Qi until only a singular drop remained. However, that singular drop contained hundreds times more Qi than the entire ocean of Mystic Realm cultivators, and so on.
As he read through the book, Lino realized that cultivating is complicated – much, much, much more complicated than he was led to believe. Not only did every stage have different ways of breaking through, he needn't look further than cultivation methods and martial arts; others, even if they get powerful Martial Art, would have to spend years to understand it until they were able to use it perfectly. As for Lino himself, he didn't have to do anything but complete the test set by the mpyrean Writ>. Just like the mpyrean Will> initially,
was simply stuffed inside his head, and he understood it to the absolute perfection all the way until the second layer, which required him to reach the Mystic Realm to unlock. Even though Lino never held a spear in his life, he was confident that there was no one within the entire Umbra Kingdom more knowledgeable than him. Of course, even though his knowledge and understanding was perfected, he'd still have to attain practical experience to really push it to the peak. He slowly submerged himself in the read, expanding his knowledge of the world bit by bit as the dark thoughts slowly began being weeded out.
***
Roughly sixty miles away from the Mercenary City, near a natural-spanning, stone bridge which hung over a wide, waterless chasm, two figures stood while looking at four corpses at their feet. The skin of corpses appeared unnatural dark, as though charred inside out, while black veins protruded out, still and motionless like dead serpents. Each of the four corpses had a massive, fist-sized hole at the left side of their chests, with their hearts having been directly shattered. The two figures standing above the corpses were the Patriarch of the Dying Roses Sect, Shi Hao, and the First Elder Lu Hao. Both had deep frowns compressing her brows as heavy silence hung between them. This was the third Demonic group they had come across in the past ten days, and it was getting harder and harder to locate them, as they tended to pop out at one place for only a few hours before disappearing completely.
”This… is not good.” Lu Hao said, sighing softly. Had the two known this would have transpired, they would have spared nothing to not only kill Vyeala, but ensure that Demonic Qi wouldn't have spread to the rest of the clansmen. The two had concluded that the Vyeala was indeed High-tier Demon.
Although Demons were ranked as the lowest creatures in the Devil World, that was only by comparison. After all, even the lowest-ranked Devils – Crucible Devils – were at minimum equivalent to Mid Mystic Realm cultivators. Outside the Devil World, Demons – even low-tiered ones – were extreme pests, and if they weren't contained at the first sight of the outbreak, they could easily topple over an entire Kingdom within a month.
As for the High-tiered Demons, not only would the spread be faster, but even the quantity of Demonically-possessed people would grow exponentially. Lu Hao already theorized that the number of the Demonic Beings – which were ordinary humans or cultivators who have been consumed by Devil Qi or were controlled by Demonic Seed – had grown into thousands. However, that was not what worried the two. In the end, even if there were thousands of Demonic Beings, most of them were around Level 20. Lu Hao alone could eliminate all of them with a bit of effort. No, what truly worried them was the fact that they couldn't locate Demonic Beings. The largest group they encountered was merely ten people strong. Demonic Beings usually lost three quarters of the intelligence they possessed before the conversion, and it would be a miracle if they were even capable of setting up an ambush. They mostly relied on their instincts to function, and their basic instinct was to go out and try to corrupt others. Yet, they were nowhere to be found.
”… indeed,” Shi Hao nodded faintly, sighing as well. ”I'm afraid… I may have done something terrible to that boy.”
”… you think he broke down?” Lu Hao asked.
”Although it isn't his fault,” Shi Hao said, looking up at the sky. ”Nobody will be able to prove that to him… nobody except himself. Although I was surprised he was able to kill Varick, this was a completely different type of a crucible. I'm afraid even if he doesn't go mad, this is where his cultivation will stop.”
”We can't know for certain,” Lu Hao said, smiling faintly. ”He's a Body Refiner. Usually, folk like him don't pay much heed to things like this. They just charge like mad bulls at whatever is thrown at them.”
”… I certainly hope so.” Shi Hao said. ”There isn't much we can do here any longer. The rest of the surface groups can be cleaned up with the Mercenaries and the Knights. That Prince Yox really is a character. Who would have thought that he was a cultivator as well.”
”There's a storm brewing here,” Lu Hao said. ”Should we contact the Headquarters?”
”Hm,” Shi Hao nodded. ”Take Yan Hao and depart in a week's time. I'll move the rest of the Disciples elsewhere. Tell them to send someone at least of Purity Realm.”
”… aren't you being too cautious?” even Lu Hao was slightly shocked. Although their Main Sect wouldn't lack Purity Realm cultivators, and even those of higher cultivation, few were willing to depart to the Kingdom like Umbra, where the density of Qi was beyond depressing to the point that people above Mystic Realm would even feel slightly suffocated being here for too long.
”It's just a hunch,” Shi Hao said, shaking his head. ”Think about it. When did you ever hear that just a single, random High-tiered Demon popped out in a backwater place like this? No, there's certainly something much larger than us going on here. It's just that I'm far too blind to see through it.”
”… very well,” Lu Hao said, his expression turning serious. Although his Master was far from the strongest person he knew, Lu Hao trusted the man more than anyone else. ”I'll try to get my Uncle to pull a few strings. If one isn't enough, even if I have to bleed, I'll get two of them to come.”
”I know you won't fail me. Let's go.”
Shi Hao and Lu Hao turned around as space around them vibrated for a moment before the two disappeared into nothingness, as though they were never there. A mere moment later, the four corpses on the ground burst up in flames, being burnt down to ash which was then scattered into the wind, destined to travel to places far beyond the reaches of the eyes.
Not too far away from where the two were just at, deep below the ground – nearly two miles – a ginormous underground cave system existed, like a massive maze running underneath the entire Umbra Kingdom. At the intersection of all the cave-paths, an enormous Palace rested, made entirely of black, dead-looking stone. Currently, in front of the massive Palace, on an open field stretching for miles on end, over twenty thousand men and women were kneeling with their heads bowed down. One thing all of them had in common were the veins atop the surface of their skin, which pulsated wildly. The atmosphere they exuded was heavy, suffocating and oppressive, and if any ordinary man were to walk in here by accident, he'd immediately drop dead.
The Palace's massive gate was like a maw of an ancient beast while the plateau atop which it was built was filled with sculptures of gargoyles and half-devils, some two-horned, some one-horned. Among them, there was a single one that stood out massively, having reached nearly five meters in height. His body was clad in tight, metallic armor, and eyes were without pupils. Atop his head, two horns grew at the side as they spiraled outwardly, while one stuck out from his forehead straight up like an erect sword. Currently, beneath the statue, a man shrouded entirely in black smoke was kneeling, only his piercing, emerald-green eyes visible within the darkness. After kowtowing three times, the man got up and walked over to the stairs which led from the plateau down to the open field where the twenty-thousand strong army was kneeling. Although invisible to others, the man grinned faintly as his eyes flashed in a cold gleam.
”Soon,” a voice broke out, hoarse and deep, causing the space around the black shadow to vibrate. ”And we won't have to hide in this damned place any longer.”
If Shi Hao or Lu Hao were to see this man, they'd no doubt be left frozen stiff. Although the man possessed a Devil Qi similar to Vyeala, it was much thicker and far more condensed, almost ten times more. The man was a Great Demon – just a single tier below the Devil itself. And, even more, the man was Level 150 Great Demon – equivalent to a Purity Realm Cultivator. Although High-tiered Demons and Great Demons are separated only by a single tier, the level of destruction they could bring cannot even be compared. If a single High-tiered Demon can collapse an entire Kingdom, then a Great Demon can collapse ten Empires and a hundred Dynasties… without ever showing its face in the public. The smoke-shrouded man laughed coarsely for a moment before dispersing into the air, disappearing as though he was never there. Even though he left, none of the twenty thousand people stood up from their kneeling position. It was as though they had completely lost their minds and, without someone's command, they couldn't even fulfill the simplest of motor functions. The world surrounding them submerged in the eerie silence as the Devil Qi began eating up and corrupting the natural Qi surrounding it, expanding bit by bit until it was almost visible to the naked eye.