Chapter 1516: The Stacking Mountain Range
More than 10 million people had escaped from the monsters, which was an impressive scene to witness. However, even more impressive was Xiang City’s crippling defeat. The Forsaken Soldiers had never managed to achieve such a thing before, and this military victory was sure to be carved down in history.
Due to the overwhelming number of refugees, it was quite a ha.s.sle to settle everyone in, and it took several days for the situation to stabilize.
The Stacking Mountain Range was extensive, and there were more than 20 million Forsaken Soldiers stationed within the mountains. This was the largest army that Lu Yin had ever seen. Well, it would be difficult to call them an army, as cultivators did not easily accept the rigid discipline and structure that an army required.
As he looked out at the Forsaken Soldiers surrounding him, all that Lu Yin could see was their desire to survive. They did not possess the unyielding spirit and toughness that was usually found in soldiers.
As Mr. Guo had mentioned before, the Forsaken Soldiers were mostly criminals who had been exiled from the Perennial World and sent down to the New World. These people did not follow formal regulations, and each one had their own means of survival.
“Brother Long Qi, Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng wishes to see you,” Brother Hong approached to inform Lu Yin.
Lu Yin nodded and followed Brother Hong to the highest peak of the Stacking Mountain Range.
Because most of the members of the Forsaken Soldiers stationed in the Stacking Mountain Range were condemned criminals, the “survival of the fittest” theory manifested in a primitive and instinctive manner in this place. The closer to the peak a person lived, the safer they would be. On the other hand, the nearer one lived to Xiang City, the more danger they would face.
The weak could only stay in the lower regions, where they were constantly at risk of being slaughtered by corpse kings while the strong were able to protect themselves.
As a Semi-Progenitor, it was natural for Ji Feng to live at the very peak of the Stacking Mountain Range.
“Brother Hong, what kind of person is Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng?” Lu Yin asked.
Brother Hong replied, “I can’t say that I know him myself, but since he became a Semi-Progenitor, he must have lived for far too long. He’s certainly not from our era, though Mr. Guo might know something about him.”
However, Mr. Guo was nowhere to be found.
After the survivors had arrived at the Stacking Mountain Range, everyone had been separated. This was not because of infighting, but rather because the Forsaken Soldiers had deliberately separated the refugees. They had done so to investigate if there were any traitors within them. This was actually normal protocol.
As they approached the peak of the Stacking Mountain Range, the suppressive aura of a Semi-Progenitor became more p.r.o.nounced. After all, there were two Semi-Progenitors present.
Located just beneath the Semi-Progenitors were a large number of Envoys.
Lu Yin had seen no fewer than ten Envoys during the attack on Xiang City, and all of them had been more ferocious and unapproachable than any Envoy he had seen before.
Even though their numbers were mostly composed of criminals and they were unable to take a single step beyond the Stacking Mountain Range, the Forsaken Soldiers could still be considered to be one of the most elite armies in existence, and they were even capable of taking on the array bases.
Before long, Lu Yin arrived at Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng’s place. Sure enough, he was the old man who had saved Lu Yin and the others at Xiang City.
“Junior Long Qi pays his respects to Senior Ji Feng.” Lu Yin quickly bowed and greeted the expert with evident grat.i.tude and delight.
Brother Hong did not enter the room, as all of the Envoys like him had already met Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng, and they were the ones who had explained the recent series of events to Ji Feng, whose curiosity regarding Lu Yin had been stoked. Thus, the old man had wanted to meet Lu Yin.
As he stared at Lu Yin, Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng exclaimed, “You’ve only just cultivated to the Enlighter realm!? Where did you get the power necessary to save Zhou Tang and the others? How in the world did you accomplish such a thing?”
Lu Yin replied in a respectful tone, “Everything simply stemmed from my desire to continue living.”
Ji Feng nodded and gave the youth a slight smile. “You don’t claim credit for yourself, and you’re honest with your words. Not bad at all, child.”
Lu Yin felt taken aback. Why did every old fart call him ‘child?’ It was really grating on the ears.
“If not for Senior’s timely rescue at that critical moment, we would have had no chance of surviving at all. This junior once again wishes to express his deepest grat.i.tude to Senior Ji,” Lu Yin said as he bowed low.
Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng was moved, and he sighed. “To be able to force your way here to the Stacking Mountain Range from where you all fell while also destroying two cities, risking discovery, and even saving more than three million people… Child, your behavior is very commendable. There aren’t many like you within all of humanity. I heard that you even repaired the sourcebox array, no? Are you an Array Master?”
Lu Yin answered, “I have comprehended two sourcebox arrays, but because I have been unable to unlock many sourceboxes, I still can’t be considered a true Array Master yet.”
Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng smiled gently. “Being able to comprehend sourcebox arrays is enough to qualify you as an Array Master. There are many Lockbreakers out there who have managed to reach the required level but are unable to comprehend a sourcebox array, leaving them forever stranded as five star Boundless Advanced Lockbreakers. Your talent is truly extraordinary. It’s no wonder why General Xia Yan insisted that we rescue you.”
It was only then that Lu Yin understood that the Forsaken Soldiers’ large-scale a.s.sault on Xiang City was something that had been ordered by Xia Yan.
“The terrain of the Stacking Mountain Range is quite precipitous, which means that it complements our defenses quite well and makes this a strategic location that is well-protected, but as a result, it is difficult to launch attacks from here. This place is relatively safe, so if you wait here for General Xia Yan’s reinforcements, you’ll most likely be able to return to the second array base quite soon,” Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng said.
Lu Yin asked, “Senior, what of Senior Zhou Tang and the others?”
Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng explained, “They might be forced to stay here and become a part of the Forsaken Soldiers, or they might be allowed to return to the Star Alliance. We’ll have to see how things go.”
“Can’t we return on our own?” Lu Yin asked.
Ji Feng laughed. “Naturally, we aren’t able to do so on our own. You can think of this place as the Lower Realm of the Mother Tree. So if we want to return to the second array base, we’d have to climb up the Mother Tree’s trunk. Even ignoring the vast distance that we would need to cover, there’s no way that Marquis Xiang would ever allow anyone to leave this place so easily. He periodically attacks the Mother Tree’s trunk without fail. This causes the death rate of those trying to climb up the trunk to the second array base to be over 90%. That is, unless they are accompanied by a Semi-Progenitor.
“Also, we have to stay here and protect this place, and we are not allowed to leave. Essentially, the only way for you to escape from this place is for the higher-ups to make a decision to send out reinforcements to help you ascend.”
Lu Yin bowed. “I understand.”
Semi-Progenitor looked at Lu Yin with sympathy. “For you to receive so much attention from General Xia Yan, it means that you are a person worthy of his admiration with or without your ident.i.ty as a part of the White Dragon Clan. Child, continue doing your best to live.”
Lu Yin bowed once more. “Thank you, Senior Ji, for your guidance.”
After Lu Yin left Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng’s room, Brother Hong spoke up when he saw Lu Yin. “The people that we saved are only able to settle down at the foot of the mountain for now. It’s very close to Xiang City, but they won’t be allowed any higher up the mountains.”
Lu Yin replied, “There’s no helping it. Those are the rules of this place, and we have no right to break them.”
Brother Hong continued on with a solemn expression. “Once the corpse kings push over here, those people will most likely struggle to survive.”
Lu Yin did not know how to respond. After all, this place was still a battlefield, and anyone could die here. He had no way to further help the people whom he had rescued. Saving them from the underground chambers where they had been trapped was already the best that he could do for them given his own circ.u.mstances.
High above, the second array base had shifted slightly from its original position, and even further away, the vague silhouette of another array base had appeared.
Lu Yin started living inside the Stacking Mountain Range. While he was some distance below the peak, he was still quite close. He had earned this location, and while some people would show up to stir up trouble now and again, they were all easily dealt with by Che Zhan.
In the blink of an eye, they had already spent ten days at the Stacking Mountain Range. The battle that had been launched against all five of the array bases continued without ebbing.
On the tenth day, numerous black dots could be seen descending from up above. When Lu Yin saw them, he was completely surprised. Were those… humans?
Plop plop plop…
The Forsaken Soldiers did not act like the falling humans were an unfamiliar sight, because all of the soldiers a.s.signed to the Forsaken Soldiers had arrived in this manner. There were no teleportation devices in the Stacking Mountain Range, and as long as a cultivator had reached the Limiteer realm, they would not die no matter what height they fell from.
Tens of thousands of people descended together at once, and all of them grimaced in pain when they crashed onto the ground. Despite their pain, they were all fine.
As the cultivators fell down onto the Stacking Mountain Range, they were separated from each other as they had fallen in different places.
Lu Yin saw at least ten people crash to the ground right in front of him, and each of them cursed under their breath.
Dozens of people stood up and started examining their surroundings. A burly, four meter tall man pushed aside the people surrounding him and rudely shouted, "Scram! Don"t you dare to block me!"
The others who had fallen with the man within the same area did not respond kindly to his rudeness, and they all gave him frosty glares or bloodthirsty stares. However, no one retaliated, as they were wary of the tall man’s impressive strength.
Humans lived everywhere throughout the ma.s.sive Perennial World. For example, the peak of White Mountain was akin to the size of a large planet. All types of people lived in different places of the Perennial World. Even in the Fifth Mainland, there were even giants and humans who had evolved to have scales. The four meter tall man was actually quite close to what was commonly referred to as a giant.
That man looked around before finally focusing on Lu Yin. The man asked in a bland manner, “Hey man, is this New City? Where’s the actual city?”
Lu Yin stared back at him and inquired, "Were you all sent down here to serve out sentences?"
"I"m the one asking the questions here!" The man leaped at Lu Yin in one swift motion and raised his hand to grab Lu Yin. The man was violent and had a terrible temper, and a single look was enough to see that he was not a pleasant person. He looked just like a criminal who had been banished.
The other people who had fallen down with the tall man all started moving back out of fear of getting caught up in a possible fight. When they had been locked up together on the second array base, this giant had already been a tyrant, and the rumors claimed that his crimes were numerous. When the monsters had launched their attack, everyone had gotten caught up in the defensive efforts, so n.o.body had time to watch the prisoners. Due to that, they had been simply and conveniently thrown down to join the Forsaken Soldiers.
The man"s hand smashed down from above, and with his four meter tall height, he was more than capable of picking Lu Yin up with a single hand.
That man"s palm fell towards Lu Yin, but just when he was about to grab the youth, Lu Yin raised a hand and flicked a single finger, striking the giant"s palm. The tall man’s hand suddenly stopped falling, and the ground beneath his feet began to shatter without anything even touching it. The giant’s pupils shrank from his absolute shock as he stared at Lu Yin in utter disbelief.
Lu Yin stretched out his hand and grabbed the giant by his finger. "Be polite."
With that, Lu Yin squeezed down, which caused the man to cry out in pain. His finger had just been broken, and the man fell to the ground, where he caught himself on a knee. Before he could even realize what was happening, his entire body was lifted from the ground and thrown down to the foot of the mountains.
At the same time, many other people were also being thrown to the foot of the mountain from both above and below Lu Yin. These criminals had been sent to join the Forsaken Soldiers, mostly for being dismissive of any sort of law or authority. Arriving at the Stacking Mountain Range would always be a humbling experience for them.
The rest of the people who had fallen were still cowering a short ways away, and they were all staring at Lu Yin in terror.
"Get the h.e.l.l out of here right now," Lu Yin said emotionlessly.
All of the people quickly fled without daring to say so much as a word.
Most of the people who had fallen ended up getting slapped in the face by the harsh new reality of things in the New World, but there were also a few powerhouses who had been sentenced as well. There was an Envoy who had been sent down to the New World, and he fought an impressive battle with one of the Forsaken Soldiers’ powerhouses. Unfortunately, the newcomer was still forced to move down the mountain after a defeat. Even Envoys were forced to abide by the rules of the mountains, as this was just how the Forsaken Soldiers ran things.
The following day, one of the Envoys who had been forced down the mountain began climbing up the Mother Tree, intending to return to the second array base. His mind was filled with nothing but himself, and such self-serving people were unqualified to join the Star Alliance, which was the precise reason why he had been ultimately sentenced to the Forsaken Soldiers.
No one stopped the man from climbing up the trunk. Everyone allowed the man to do as he pleased.
The Envoy was still immersed in his own delight, thinking that everyone was leaving him alone, possibly because none of the Forsaken Soldiers" powerhouses wished to fight him directly. He believed that he was actually lucky enough to escape.
Before long, a ma.s.sive humanoid figure appeared in the direction of Xiang City, and it looked straight at the Envoy who was scaling the Mother Tree’s trunk. The Envoy caught sight of the figure, and stared on blankly. The man’s eyes turned lifeless, as though his soul had been sucked away. After that, his body went completely numb, before an explosion erupted in his mind, causing his head itself to explode. He died instantly.
Lu Yin and the others watching were all dumbfounded; had an Envoy really died just like that?
"What a pity. Marquis Xiang is back. It looks like that man had rotten luck. The a.s.sault on the array bases has likely ended," Semi-Progenitor Ji Feng"s voice echoed and resonated throughout the entire Stacking Mountain Range.
Those who had intended to climb up the Mother Tree from the New World in the same manner as the now-dead Envoy no longer dared to even move a muscle. If even an Envoy had been killed, then how could small cultivators like them handle an attack from one of the Twelve Marquises?
It was no wonder why n.o.body had tried to stop him from climbing up the trunk: doing so meant facing a terrible risk.
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