Chapter 429 - The Great Zhou Empire
Gu Qi smiled and said: “A little bit, but we’re not too hungry.”
Gu Zuo was somewhat puzzled.
Although they had eaten before boarding the Void-Breaking Shuttle, it had been a long time since their departure… With the bodies of ordinary people, they were only a little hungry?
Gongyi Tianheng ruffled Gu Zuo’s hair: “There are so many mysteries within s.p.a.cetime. Ah Zuo, don’t overthink it.”
Gu Zuo suddenly understood.
Right. The reason was probably due to traveling through s.p.a.cetime.
Following this, everyone prepared to look for something to eat.
Tianheng had just underwent a period of intense tempering. At the present time, his stomach was also somewhat starved. After hearing what was said, he replied: “I’ll go hunt a wild beast. Ah Zuo, you stay here and protect the two uncles.”
Gu Zuo waved his hand: “I know, big brother. You have a safe trip.”
Tianheng smiled. His figure flashed away, and he disappeared from sight.
Gu Qi watched his departing back, and couldn’t help saying: “Son, the capabilities of this adoptive brother of yours are truly stranger than magic.”
Gu Zuo broke into laughter: “Once dad starts cultivating, you’ll be able to perform ‘magic tricks’, too.”
Subsequently, the few of them found a large tree, and relied on its expansive shade to cover their heads from the scorching sun.
Gu Zuo’s thoughts moved, and a medicinal cauldron appeared in front of him. When he flicked his finger, a flame shot out, and was already beginning to heat up the cauldron.
Gu Qi sat on the side, and leaned against Zhao Ji: “Is this another type of wondrous flame that you mentioned before?”
Previously, in the modern world, the only thing he used for refining was the Earthen Core Flame. This time around, the fire was a dark-purple color. It clearly wasn’t the same type.
Gu Zuo nodded his head: “Correct. This is the Violet Bedrock Flame. Its temperature is relatively intense. After big brother gets hungry, if he only eats the meat of lower-ranked wild beasts, I wouldn’t know how many he would need to eat. He also won’t be able to eat his fill. On the contrary, because the energy is insufficient, it’ll negatively affect his body. As a result, the medicinal cuisine I’ll cook for him will be prepared from the meat essence of an origin beast. In addition, I have to match it with several other medicinal herbs of similarly high product grades… Although the meat of origin beasts is pretty good, it would be hard for an ordinary flame to cook it. Thus, I need to use a wondrous fire with a fierce blaze for the softening process.”
— Tianheng went out to hunt. But actually, it was to slay a rank one wild beast for its meat essence. This was because the meat essence of this rank had long been used up in Gu Zuo’s storage s.p.a.ce. With regards to the limits of Gu Qi and Zhao Ji’s bodies, they definitely couldn’t eat anything of higher ranks. Therefore, Tianheng had to go to work again.
Gu Qi listened to Gu Zuo speak so clearly and logically. He felt that his family’s foolish son was different in many aspects. As a result, a thought arose within his heart. Once he started learning martial arts, he needed to speed up his progress. Otherwise, wouldn’t he and Zhao Ji end up dragging down their son? This couldn’t be tolerated.
However, though he was thinking such things, Gu Qi didn’t say anything. He only watched his family’s son cook a meal for his big brother. In pa.s.sing, he came to appreciate the unusual inspiration brought about by this cooking.
The profession of pharmacists…was really special. And something like growing medicinal beads in one’s hands was truly strange.
Not long after, the inspiration of the origin level flood dragon’s meat essence in the cauldron started to float up into a layer of faint, white light. This was a sign that the meat essence was gradually being softened. It was just that the heat control wasn’t finished yet. Once the origin flood dragon’s meat essence was completely soft and springy, it could be placed into another recipe to be refined into a medicinal cuisine.
Gu Zuo was fully concentrated. With the utmost care, he controlled the wondrous fire to prepare the origin flood dragon’s meat essence into the most optimal state.
Right at this time, Gu Zuo’s brows suddenly furrowed.
Gu Qi just so happened to see this, and couldn’t help asking: “Son, what’s wrong? Has the cooking failed?”
Gu Zuo shook his head: “People are coming.”
Gu Qi was startled: “Where?”
He didn’t hear any movements from other people. After thinking about it, could it be that they were still rather far away?
At this time, Zhao Ji opened his mouth: “Two hundred meters.”
Gu Qi paused, and turned his head to look at Zhao Ji: “You’re saying that they’re outside the range of two hundred meters?”
Zhao Ji: “Inside.”
Gu Qi: “…”
Gu Zuo felt a little astonished. It stood to reason that ordinary people had no way to hear sounds that were two hundred meters away, but his father managed it. Could it be that — After he suffered those ordeals, although his mind and spirit were greatly devastated, it increased certain abilities in other aspects? For example, his hearing or perceptivity?
If it was like this, then it could barely be considered a bit of compensation.
Zhao Ji held Gu Qi in his arms: “Here.”
Gu Qi followed Zhao Ji’s line of sight. Sure enough, he saw a disturbance coming through the trees about a dozen or so meters away. Moreover, that place also had the sounds of footsteps and gasping breaths. Indeed, it looked like some people were getting closer. In the time it took to speak a few words, those people were able to arrive so quickly. It could be seen that they were martial artists with some strength.
The next moment, those people appeared before their eyes.
Gu Qi looked, and discovered that there were two men and one woman. Those two men were protecting the woman, who was in the middle. As for that woman, while fear was etched across her whole face, her footsteps never faltered.
At the same time, stampeding closely behind those three people was an enormous and ferocious wild beast. Its entire body was pitch-black, and it looked like a Spanish fighting bull. However, compared to the fighting bulls Gu Qi knew about, this one was bigger and fiercer — This bull was as tall as a one-story building and as long as seven to eight meters!
How could this bull still resemble a normal cow?!
It utterly refreshed Gu Qi’s understanding of the creatures of this other world!
Back to those three people. They had been panicking and running aimlessly. After appearing from the underbrush, they naturally saw the other three people here. With their eyesight, they were able to tell that Gu Qi and Zhao Ji were two ordinary people. As for Gu Zuo, who was cooking some meat, he was a pharmacist.
Obviously, the three people they encountered had no fighting strength whatsoever. Thus, although they showed happy expressions upon discovering others, their happiness turned into disappointment when they got a clear look at the group of three.
Fortunately, these newcomers didn’t have bad consciences.
Among them, a man took the initiative to shout: “Quick, run away!”
Immediately following this, the other man and woman carried a bit of urgency in their voices: “Drop everything, and run!”
Gu Qi looked at this terrifying creature, and his heartbeat raced a little.
Merely, upon seeing how calm and unperturbed his family’s son was, he suddenly didn’t feel that worried.
Gu Zuo unhurriedly formed a hand seal. After directing it into the medicinal cauldron, he lifted his head: “Many thanks for the concern, but it’s no bother.”
Once he finished speaking, the s.p.a.ce between his brows suddenly fountained with a surge of invisible energy. Constantly gathering together in the air, it seemed to roll up into an endless wind stream. In only a single breath of time, it swiftly condensed, and formed into solidified psychic power!
It was a gigantic wolf-tooth cudgel. It was about a dozen meters long, and over a meter in diameter. As for the sharp spikes on the surface, each of them was just over a foot long!
When it emerged in the air before everyone’s eyes, it instantly gave off a type of boundless and vicious might. It abruptly turned around, and ruthlessly swept towards that fighting bull like it was swinging out an enormous circle!
In the blink of an eye, that fighting bull let out a mournful and anguished wail. Its entire body had been punctured by the wolf-tooth cudgel’s spikes, and countless small holes that dribbled with blood appeared. After that, it suddenly charged forward again — Yet, before the charge was over, it collapsed to the ground. It had perished just like that!
Following this, the wolf-tooth cudgel abruptly vanished. It transformed into an invisible stream of qi, and went back into the s.p.a.ce between Gu Zuo’s brows.
All that was left behind was the gigantic corpse of the fighting bull, which seemed like the size of a small hill.
The two men and one woman were shocked. This pharmacist was actually so powerful? Could it be possible that he came from one of those large organizations that had an exceptional inheritance of a pharmacist powerhouse?!
Greatly amazed, they promptly adjusted their att.i.tudes, and their faces showed somewhat deferential expressions.
The three people quickly arrived in front of Gu Zuo and the others. They bowed to observe the proper etiquette, and respectfully said: “Many thanks to this honorable pharmacist for saving our lives.”
Gu Zuo waved a hand: “I saw that you guys still had a bit of conscience, so I took action. There’s no need for thanks.”
But even though Gu Zuo said that it wasn’t necessary, how could those three people dare to think that it wasn’t worth mentioning?
Hence, they introduced themselves: “We are citizens of the Great Zhou Empire. We had been given orders to come to this place to search for spirit medicine. Unfortunately, we weren’t careful, and provoked that basic spirit-level wild bull. It was to the point that we were nearly killed by it… By good fortune, we were saved by this great one. We couldn’t thank you enough, so please do us the honor of accompanying us back to the imperial capital. We will offer gifts to express our grat.i.tude.”
Of course, Gu Zuo refused: “That’s unnecessary.” Soon after, he pointed to a place on the side, “On the contrary, there are a few matters I want to ask about. If you guys don’t mind, answering these questions can be considered repayment.”
The two men and one woman exchanged glances. Then, they complied, and sat down: “Great one, please ask your questions. If it can be said, we won’t hide anything we know.”
During the conversation, Gu Qi was still immersed in astonishment.
Just then, what his foolish son used was…a wolf-tooth cudgel? He knew that his son’s psychic power could be condensed to carry out attacks, but he didn’t expect the condensed object to be this kind of weapon!
It had a lot of destructive power, but he felt that it was a little strange. Moreover, while his son still appeared somewhat silly at times, Xiao Zuo’s strength had already become great enough to wipe out a monster as big as a hill in a single blow? In this other world, where violence was used to curb violence, this was also too unscientific!
Afterwards, Gu Qi listened to Gu Zuo and those three people talking, and found that his son’s behavior and way of speaking had undergone many changes. It was completely different from that sense of simplicity when he was in front of them.
This was also considered…growing up, right?
But his silly son had just turned twenty years old. In the modern world, that was the age when people went to university. In this place, he didn’t know how much suffering would bring about this kind of change.
Of course, from the stories of the other world that Gu Zuo mentioned to Gu Qi, there were no indications that Gu Zuo suffered any hardships at all. In fact, he had been under the protection of Gongyi Tianheng ever since they first met. Indeed, this wasn’t considered a great hardship.
However, as Gu Zuo’s dad, Gu Qi thought that his son still had suffered greatly… He couldn’t help but feel that he was too incompetent.
Zhao Ji cupped the back of Gu Qi’s neck: “Take it slow.”
Gu Qi leaned against him: “We can’t take it slow. We have to be fast.”
Zhao Ji followed along: “Take it fast.”
Gu Qi showed a smiling expression. His determination was stronger than ever.
Off to the side, Gu Zuo started asking the three people: “Where’s the specific territory of that Great Zhou Empire you guys mentioned? How far is it from the Ten Ultimates Domain?”
The Ten Ultimates Domain referred to all the regions included within the jurisdiction of Ten Ultimates Sect. This question of his caused those three to immediately understand. As it turned out, this honorable pharmacist had lost his way?
Thus, among the three, it was the woman who responded: “The land where our Great Zhou Empire is located is known as the Sagely Hand Domain. It’s the administrative region of the Sagely Hand Sect. The Sagely Hand Domain and the Ten Ultimates Domain are adjacent to one another, but our Great Zhou Empire is close to the center of the Sagely Hand Domain. If anyone wants to proceed towards the Ten Ultimates Domain from here, I’m afraid that it’ll take a long time.”
From her point of view, this group of people didn’t have any wild birds for transportation. This pharmacist was also bringing along two ordinary people. Even if he travelled day and night with them in tow, they wouldn’t reach their destination in just a few months.
Gu Zuo murmured to himself: “So it’s like this…”
He was imagining how far this journey would be. At the same time, he also recalled something. It seemed that he had heard about this Great Zhou Empire from somewhere before? It was just that he still needed to mull over it for a short while.
Right at this time, the heavy stench of blood wafted over.
Subsequently, what arrived was a streak of incredibly familiar qi emissions.
Gu Zuo raised his head, and looked where the qi emissions were coming from. He smiled, and called out: “Big brother, you’re back!”
A young man with a slender build leisurely walked out from the trees on the other side. In his hand, he dragged the corpse of a wild beast. His steps were unhurried, and there was a smile on his face: “Ah Zuo, I’m back.”
T/N: Thanks for the correction, Charysa.
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