novelraw Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Facing a Three-Fountain Expert
Immortal Burial Town once housed thousands of residents, with thousands of buildings sprawling in an impressive layout. Too close to the Departed Spirit Fog, it was often plagued by eerie disturbances, gradually becoming an abandoned settlement.
Most houses were dilapidated, doors rotted, tiles missing, mud walls crumbling at a push.
Only during coffin-retrieval season did the Jiuli tribes repair dozens of buildings at the town’s entrance for rest and resupply.
But they never ventured deeper.
A rumor held that this was a cursed town. Its residents didn’t leave— they became departed spirits, emerging on full moon nights.
…
At noon, the sun blazed.
The Underworld Lamp Guide, Li Ling, the Cangli chief, Li Songlin, and the chief’s grandson, Cangli, led the coffin procession up the narrow path to Dragon-Slaying Pass, heading toward Immortal Burial Town miles away.
Cangli, eighteen or nineteen, striking and elegant, rode a tiger-like Zouwu beast, wielding a ten-foot silver spear, gazing at the quiet, serene town.
“It’s too quiet— where are our people? Fourth Uncle, something’s off,” he said, senses sharp.
Li Songlin, atop the giant ox, signaled a halt.
After discussion.
Cangli spurred his Zouwu, racing like an arrow to scout the town.
…
“Too damn alert! You idiots— why kill everyone? Why not leave a few for show?”
Shi Jiuzhai, donning a Buddha-head mask, cursed his three disciples, then roared, “Attack!” He shot out like a cannonball, meeting Cangli.
Instantly, the town erupted in battle cries.
Earth Wolf King soldiers in monk robes, wielding weapons, poured from alleys. Many, with opened mana fountains, moved swiftly, charging the coffin procession, slashing wildly.
The masked guest stood atop the town’s archway, playing a two-foot bone flute.
Its mournful notes, haunting and plaintive, spread miles under mana’s power.
Mountains echoed with owl-like screeches as two-to-three-meter man-eating dusk bats flew from the forest.
Hairless, black, with grotesque human-like heads.
Broad wings, claws like knives.
As chaos reigned, I and Gao Huan fled the town, racing through the Sui River’s reed-covered banks.
We should’ve returned to the Blood Sea and the bronze ship, but that was the battlefield. We’d wait until the fighting ended.
“No more picking up random clothes— nearly got us killed,” Gao Huan said, shaken.
Speaking of clothes, we moved to shed the monk robes.
Hooves thundered behind, startling countless waterfowl to the opposite bank.
A voice bellowed from afar: “Stop them— don’t let them escape to get help.”
I glanced back.
Two three-meter-tall, brown-robed mutant monsters chased five Cangli tribesmen on horseback, just dozens of meters away, closing fast.
They mistook us for allies again.
I despised the Earth Wolf King Army’s cruelty but hadn’t planned to join the slaughter. Against someone like Shi Jiuzhai, I’d die without a fight.
Reason urged me to ignore it.
Fleeing with Gao Huan was the wisest choice.
The five Cangli riders, led by Zhao Zhizhuo, saw us in monk robes, hearts sinking in despair.
Their chief, injured, had carved a path for them to seek aid from the nearest Beast Li tribe. They carried the lives of five thousand Cangli.
Unexpectedly, we stopped, glanced at them, and fled faster.
Hope flared in Zhao Zhizhuo’s eyes.
“Swish!”
An arrow whistled.
One of the five was shot dead.
A monkey-armed mutant, running swiftly, wielded a two-hundred-pound spine bow, firing two-meter arrows, killing three.
The other mutant, like a chopstick, had legs twice his torso’s length, covered in fur, hoofed feet faster than Zhao Zhizhuo’s Zouwu-blood-enhanced horse.
Catching the fourth, he leaped onto the horse, biting the neck, sucking blood, cackling.
In moments, only Zhao Zhizhuo remained.
The long-legged mutant tossed the bloodied tribesman, chasing Zhao Zhizhuo, glaring at us: “Deserters? So bold. Even to the ends of the earth, I’ll drag you back, make you beg for death.”
I hadn’t wanted to join the slaughter, but his words tipped the scales, my reason overcome by resolve.
…
Zhao Zhizhuo, with two fountains opened, was strong but old.
Wielding a long blade, he fought the long-legged mutant dozens of rounds, falling behind.
“Pfft!”
A two-meter iron arrow, like a spear, flew.
He dodged the vitals by sound, but it hit his shoulder, knocking him off his horse.
It was over!
Five thousand Cangli would perish.
Blood gushed from his shoulder, bones damaged, arm useless, half his body numb with pain. Yet he stood, ready for a final stand.
“No escape, haha!”
The long-legged mutant, a two-fountain martial cultivator, enhanced by mutation, outmatched Zhao Zhizhuo.
His two-meter leg swept, shaking the air, rattling nearby plants. It could snap a tree.
“Splash!”
I leaped from behind Zhao Zhizhuo like a shadow.
The Yellow Dragon Sword trailed a yellow gleam.
“Pfft!”
A half-meter severed leg flew in a spray of blood.
Before the mutant could scream, I leaped, kneeing his chest, palm striking his head. Blood poured from his orifices, and he died in a muddy puddle.
Zhao Zhizhuo, stunned, thought the Cangli doomed, not expecting enemy infighting.
“Go get help— I’ll hold him,” I urged, eyes locked on the approaching bow-wielding mutant.
Zhao Zhizhuo realized this wasn’t infighting— this youth risked his life to save him and the five thousand Cangli.
Why?
“That ape mutant is a three-fountain cultivator. Be careful!”
Knowing the stakes, he mounted his horse despite his injuries. But as he did, I tackled him down.
“Swish!”
An arrow whistled over the saddle, nearly piercing him.
The ape mutant, bow strung, advanced swiftly.
Huge, muscular, with long arms, like a human gorilla, he locked onto our reed patch.
Closing in.
A sharp whistle.
A metal shard flew from the reeds.
“Swish!”
As he shot at the shard’s origin, he dodged right.
Before he could draw again, I rushed from the reeds, using Yellow Dragon Ascending, stepping five times in the air, diving at him.
“Traitor, seeking death!”
His fan-like hand struck.
I formed the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal, channeling airflows into the silver-threaded gloves, palm glowing silver, clashing head-on.
I braced for injury.
He was a three-fountain cultivator, a realm above me, with a monstrous body far stronger.
“Thud!”
The ape mutant staggered back six or seven steps, hand aching as if broken.
I was shocked, thinking Zhao Zhizhuo misjudged— this ape couldn’t be three-fountain, likely one.
So weak— why fear?
Kill!