Chapter 100: Land of War
“Where did you get the cultivation technique to devour the flesh and blood of living people? I’ve checked the cultivation technique of the Yufu Mountain. There’s no such evil cultivation technique at all. I want to hear your explanation.”
Li Yuanqing’s tone was cold as he looked at Yu Fu. There was no pity in his eyes.
This gaze frightened Yu Fu so much that he trembled. He felt a chill run down his spine and knelt on the ground with a plop. He had thought that his master would not pursue this matter.
Who knew that some things were destined to happen.
“In order to step into the Spirit Transformation realm, I searched everywhere for mystic realms all these years. I once obtained an evil cultivation technique that could devour human blood in a mystic realm. At first, I didn’t want to practice it, but I was severely injured later on. My realm fell to the first-stage Grotto-Heaven realm. I was afraid, so I cultivated that cultivation technique…
“That mystic realm is very terrifying. The day there is very short, but the night is very long. There are countless things called demons, but there are not only demons there…”
As Yu Fu spoke, he looked at Li Yuanqing carefully, but he felt extremely aggrieved. If not for the fact that he was injured and his realm had fallen, how could he be controlled by Li Yuanqing?
“Where is the mystic realm you mentioned?”
“In a huge canyon in the Wilderness, there’s a wide river there. It’s very big and the spiritual energy there is very rich. At the top of the river is a waterfall…”
Li Yuanqing suddenly recalled the valley where he had discovered the little Ba Serpent in the Wilderness after he heard Yu Fu’s words. The terrain was almost the same as what Yu Fu had said. He asked again in detail and was almost certain that the location of the Little Ba Serpent was where Yu Fu had discovered the mystic realm.
After hearing Yu Fu’s words, Li Yuanqing already had some understanding of the mystic realm.
The mystic realm that Yu Fu mentioned was actually the edge of the catacomb. There were also villages there, and countless demons were wandering in the villages, searching for exits to come to the human world.
The human world was like heaven to those demons. There were more fortuitous encounters and more opportunities when they took turns day and night here. They could choose to possess a body at will.
“Since you’ve become my puppet, you can’t cultivate that evil technique anymore. Since your realm has fallen greatly, you should slowly cultivate it back…”
Cultivate slowly?
When Yu Fu heard this, his expression was bitter. He had fallen from the ninth-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm to the first-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm. Then, he relied on his evil technique to devour the flesh and blood of others. His realm recovered especially quickly and was about to reach the sixth-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm, but he was controlled by Li Yuanqing.
If he cultivated slowly, he would probably not be able to reach the seventh-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm even if he died, let alone the Spirit Transformation Realm.
Despair almost made Yu Fu fall to the ground. His body was unstable, and his face was pale, but he did not dare to say no. His life was still in Li Yuanqing’s hands. No matter how unwilling he was, he could only obey.
“Your foundation is too weak, and you’re old. Use the Vitality Reinforcement Pill to cultivate…”
The number of pills Li Yuanqing received from signing in was endless. It was fine to throw a hundred pills to Yu Fu because his life was in his hands. He would not be able to escape from him anyway.
Vitality Reinforcement Pill? Yu Fu’s eyes widened, and his breathing quickened. His pale face turned red, and his breathing became heavier.
“Master, is this for me?” Yu Fu’s voice carried a strange sobbing tone. His original despair had completely turned into hope with the hundred Vitality Reinforcement Pills.
Heaven and h.e.l.l were between a single thought.
Even as the Old Ancestor of the Yufu Mountain, it was not easy for him to obtain a Vitality Reinforcement Pill. However, his master had given him hundreds of pills. Why was the difference between people so big?
Yu Fu was so excited that he almost cried.
One moment, he felt that he would stop at the seventh-grade Grotto-Heaven Realm in this life and would never have the chance to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm again. The next moment, he felt that he had come back from the dead and encountered a huge opportunity. He still had hope of reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm in this life, and this opportunity was Li Yuanqing.
“Thank you, Master. I will definitely cultivate slowly…” Yu Fu repeated the word “slowly” in excitement. Only then did he leave respectfully after bowing three times.
When there was no one else around, Yu Fu held the hundreds of Vitality Reinforcement Pills in his palm, crying and laughing. In the past thousand years, he had spent a lot of effort to obtain less than three Vitality Reinforcement Pills, but the new master had casually given him more than a hundred.
It turned out that being the Old Ancestor of the Yufu Mountain was worse than being a puppet slave.
The difference was unimaginable.
It felt so good to be a puppet slave.
After the original Yufu Kingdom surrendered to the Northern Kingdom, the territory of the Northern Kingdom had more than doubled. While its strength had increased greatly, a new crisis had also appeared.
The defense of the catacomb in the Yufu Kingdom had fallen. Almost all the demons had squeezed to the exit of Catacomb No. 2 and were fleeing for their lives. As a result, the number of demons within a thousand miles of the catacomb increased exponentially, becoming the region where humans and demons fought the most.
This place was called the edge of the catacombs, also known as the Land of War.
Zhaoyang asked all the high-level martial artists of the Northern Kingdom’s Martial Arts Academy to come to the vicinity of the catacombs for trials.
There were also some high-level martial artists from the Northern Kingdom who partic.i.p.ated in the hunt for the demons. This was because as long as they killed the lowest-level demon, they would be able to obtain merit points from the Northern Kingdom.
These merit points could be exchanged for coins, cultivation techniques, medicinal pills, and even some special privileges in the Northern Kingdom. They were quite useful. For a time, countless martial artists fought to come to the Land of War.
This place had become a gold mine for countless martial artists.
Li Yuanqing was still signing in silently in the Wilderness Valley. However, there were fewer and fewer opportunities to sign in the Wilderness Valley at this time. Li Yuanqing was already considering his next step.
However, he was cautious by nature and was still waiting for an opportunity because he had the impression that the third rain of blood had yet to arrive. The spiritual energy in this world had already recovered. He could see this from the changes in the trees and vicious beasts, as well as the accelerated cultivation speed of martial artists. It could also be seen that the recovery of spiritual energy was getting faster and faster.
However, this was not enough. One day, there would be high-level martial artists everywhere in this world. Martial Saints would be as common as dogs, so Li Yuanqing was waiting for an opportunity.
Before this opportunity came, Li Yuanqing would at most sign in in the Wilderness Valley or the Wilderness hinterlands and would not leave the Northern Kingdom for the time being. However, he would occasionally go to the vicinity of Catacomb No. 2.
On this day, he saw two familiar people. One was the dark and thin youth he had met at the entrance of the Martial Arts Academy in the Wilderness Valley, and the other was actually the little beggar from back then.
Li Yuanqing had encountered them two or three times in the Wilderness over the years, so he had some impression of them.
This time, they were surrounded by countless envious gazes when Li Yuanqing saw them. This was because they were the most famous Demon Slayer youths in the current Land of War. Their best records are achieved from them killing daily demons by themselves.
To all martial artists, this was an honor that made them extremely envious. Therefore, the two of them were quite proud. When they were together, they vaguely became the backbone of all martial artists in the dangerous areas of the catacomb.
This also made the two of them, who were once humble, become exceptionally proud and confident when they walked in front of others. Therefore, when the two of them led the patrol team and saw that Li Yuanqing was alone, they kindly stopped.
“Brother, we received a message that an ordinary-level demon escaped from the catacomb. It’s not recommended for martial artists to travel alone because it’s too dangerous. You can team up with us. With Black Iron and me around, we can protect you at critical moments…”
The person who spoke was the little beggar from back then. He didn’t even have a name at first. After entering the Martial Arts Academy, he took the surname North and was named North Star.
He and Black Iron were known as the Northern Black Star and could be considered the rising stars of the Northern Kingdom. The two of them had the strength of eighth-grade martial artists. Their actual combat ability was very good because they often went to the Wilderness to train.
When North Star saw Li Changqing, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had seen this elegant young man somewhere before. After all, Li Yuanqing looked like he was only in his twenties. He looked to be two or three years older than North Star and Black Iron.
North Star thought that Li Yuanqing was a cla.s.smate of the Northern Kingdom’s Martial Arts Academy.
Li Yuanqing had a super memory. He recognized North Star and Black Iron. He heard them say that there were ordinary-level demons when he heard them say that they wanted to protect him.
He smiled.
“There are actually ordinary-level demons? So many of those demons have escaped?”
Demons were divided into daily-level demons, ordinary-level demons, nightmare-level demons, terrifying-level demons, and extinction-level demons.
Most of them were daily-level demons back when Li Yuanqing sealed the Catacomb No. 1. Although there were also ordinary-level and nightmare-level demons, there were very few of them. He did not expect that the level of demons in the Catacomb No. 2 had increased.
“Yes, follow us. It’s too dangerous to be alone. Let’s form a team. It’s safer and we can attack and defend together…”
Black Iron was also calling for Li Yuanqing. They could not see through Li Yuanqing’s realm. They only saw that he was unfamiliar and young, so they instinctively treated him as an ordinary martial artist. They would never have dreamed that Li Yuanqing was the Guardian of the Northern Kingdom, that he was the G.o.d in their hearts.
Li Yuanqing nodded when he saw the two of them trying their best to invite him. So he went together with North Star and Black Iron.
There were about twenty to thirty people in this group. They did not look old and were all rising stars of the Northern Kingdom’s Martial Arts Academy. When Li Yuanqing joined these people, he barely said anything. However, he could hear the whispers of their companions.
“I heard that many martial artists from the Northern Kingdom have come this time. Even Dean w.a.n.g has come. The Catacomb No. 2 is the most dangerous. The original Northern Kingdom is still the best. There’s actually not a single exit to the catacomb…”
“I heard that the ordinary-level demon have already injured more than ten martial artists this time. Dean w.a.n.g came for him. If anyone really encounters him, you must release the signal light first. This kind of ordinary-level demon is very rare.”
“Yes, ordinary-level demons are more ferocious than ten, no, a hundred daily-level demons. I heard that ordinary-level demons can easily kill Martial Saints…”
“A ninth-grade martial artist was killed this morning. Everyone, be careful!”
…
All kinds of discussions were saying that ordinary-level demons were quite difficult to deal with. If a small team of twenty to thirty people like them encountered them, it was best not to fight them head-on. They just had to stall for time.
They could not trap the ordinary-level demons. At most, they could still fight against daily-level demons.
North Star and Li Yuanqing walked at the back of the group. From time to time, North Star’s eyes would land on Li Yuanqing’s face.
“Brother, what’s your name? Are you a local here? Have you been to the Wilderness? Why do I find you familiar? You look like an old friend I met in the Wilderness…”
North Star still had a trace of fantasy in his heart. He felt that as long as Li Yuanqing had been to the Wilderness, he might have a connection with that old friend. There were not many people who looked similar, but it had been too long. He might not even remember Li Yuanqing’s appearance clearly. After all, it had been many years.
“I’ve been to the Wilderness Valley…” Li Yuanqing paused for a moment when he said this because something had approached within ten miles. However, none of them had discovered it. Their strength was still too weak. It was completely insufficient.
“Then have you been to the Wilderness Martial Arts Academy?” North Star was still asking Li Yuanqing anxiously and did not notice anything approaching them.
“Eh, why did you stop?” North Star looked at Li Yuanqing in confusion as he stopped. He still did not notice anyone approaching.
“Hey, newcomer, why are you stopping? You can’t fall behind!” Black Iron was still laughing. Everyone in the team was still rushing forward.
They were all urging Li Yuanqing to walk.
“I’m a little tired. Can I rest?” Li Yuanqing’s serious words attracted the kind advice of many people.
“Young man, you should leave quickly when you return to a safe place. The Land of War is not a place for you to visit your friends. This place is the most dangerous place. How can you stop because of hardship?”
“If we Martial Arts Academy martial artists were all afraid of hardship and fatigue, we wouldn’t have our current reputation. You should leave after you return to the camp…”
“We’re here to suppress the demons, not to enjoy ourselves. The Martial Arts Academy’s trial is countless times harder than this. If you can’t do it, give up early. We can’t burden everyone and tarnish the reputation of all martial artists because of you…”
…
At this moment, almost all the martial artists were disappointed in Li Yuanqing.
Initially, it was easy for people to have a good impression of him just by looking at him. However, they did not expect that he was so good-looking but useless. He was so good-looking yet he was too disappointing.
“Everyone, stop talking. Have you forgotten what’s the most important thing about the Tripart.i.te Formation? Coordination, cooperation, and tolerance. Let’s rest for ten minutes…” North Star suddenly shouted, his voice suppressing the words of many martial artists. However, he looked at Li Yuanqing in disappointment and gestured for everyone to rest.
However, he stayed far away from Li Yuanqing and stopped asking questions. It was obvious that he was extremely disappointed and disdainful of him. Such a person who was afraid of hardship and liked to enjoy life was definitely not the man with the temperament of a legitimate immortal that he had seen back then.
There might be similarities in appearance, but it was impossible for everyone’s thoughts and thoughts to be the same.