Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  “I simply don’t need them.”

  Jun Sixie nearly passed out of rage and anger upon hearing his blunt answers, which Qi Practitioner never ever needed any medicinal pellets? This brat is totally a country bumpkin who even had the audacity to act like a noble dragon among the monsters!

  She took a few moments to regain her composure, she saw that Zhong Yue was holding a steel fork in his hands and out of curiosity she asked, “What are you doing?”

  “Practicing the Geng Jin Sword Qi to increase my strength. When in a combat situation later on, it might be useful. After all, the Geng Jin Sword Qi is stronger.”

  “Geng Jin Sword Qi with the soul weapons?”

  Jun Sixie went speechless, she said, “What do you think you are practicing, the 【 Great Boundless Sword Qi】? It’s easy to cultivate the Geng Jin Sword Qi, exchange some Jinyuan Pellets from the Valley of Remedy, extract the Gold Qi in the pellets and use it to practice the Geng Jin Sword Qi. Which idiot told you that you can extract Gold Qis from the soul weapons after acquiring a spirit, you are dreami….”

  Hua-la.

  The steel fork in his hands crumbled like clay soils, and the energy in the soul weapon was siphoned away; Jun Sixie stared blankly right at him, her mind was going insane, this young man, this brat, he really extracted the Gold Qi from the soul weapon!

  Zhong Yue chuckled and said “It’s true! After becoming a Qi Practitioner, having the life essence, I can extract various energies from the world to cultivate the Sword Qi!”

  He then took out another steel fork, the steel fork that had formerly emitted a metallic luster was patently fading away as the Gold Qi in it was getting extracted out from it.

  Jun Sixie could vaguely feel the Gold Qi flowing around Zhong Yue’s hands and her heart thumped in shock. Just exactly what art was this brat cultivating, he really did extract the energy out from the soul weapons!

  This was simply beyond her understanding, as she was taught from young that only the headmaster’s【 Great Boundless Sword Qi】had such an arcane ability; as for the extraction of Gold Qis from soul weapons being the natural ability of a Qi Practitioner after manifesting the spirit, who the heck instilled such a concept in this brat? And what was crazier was that he actually did it!

  Who is he? Is the Zhong Shan Clan an ancient clan with incredible prowess that was hiding in Great Wilderness, how else can it explain how he could extract the Gold Qi out of the soul weapons so easily? Jun Sixie thought to herself.

  “Didn’t Senior Martial Sister Jun know that after manifesting a spirit, you can then extract the energy from the heaven and earth to cultivate the Sword Qi?”

  Zhong Yue was baffled, he said, “Isn’t this something normal for the Qi Practitioners?”

  “Nonsense!”

  Jun Sixie was enraged, “Who told you such nonsensical drivel? What an unreliable person … What’s with that expression in your eyes? I’m not a stupid girl, and neither have I lost my sanity after getting beaten by the monsters. Don’t look at me like that, it’s like I’ve gone crazy or something like that!”

  The lady in green was losing her mind, she was on the verge out passing out of rage and anger, Zhong Yue comforted her and said, “Senior martial sister you must be severely wounded, your injuries are clouding your mind, it’s best if you take a nap and rest.”

  Jun Sixie yelled out in shock, “What are you trying to do? Brat, stop….”

  Zhong Yue gently pinched the nape of her neck, the young lady immediately lost her conscious and fainted away.

  “Nicely done!”

  Xin Huo leaped out, he looked at Jun Sixie and twitched his mouth, he said, “This little heifer is an unenlightened country bumpkin, how dare she say that the smart and brilliant Xin Huo is unreliable.”

  Zhong Yue said worriedly, “Xin Huo, she is one of the four successors of Swords Gate, if the poison is not eradicated, she might die, and with her wounds….”

  “Rest assured, she is an innate spirit body, one whose birth coincided with the eruption of the Water Celestial Star’s planetary energy, she won’t die so easily.”

  Xin Huo smiled and said, “The water element is naturally proficient in the arts of recovery, the Water Qi in her body will cast off the poison in no time, the wounds may look severe but they are not deadly. Careful, monstrous Qi incoming!”

  Zhong Yue stopped abruptly and Xin Huo lunged back into his psyche ocean; with a shift of his psyche, the silk-like zither string fell off from the Fang Blade and burrowed into the ground a few miles away.

  At almost the same instant, Zhong Yue gently stomped his leg, the Wood Sword Qi turned into a petty small tree planting itself not far away from him.

  Surges of monstrous Qi inundated the air and waves of monstrous clouds billowed over with great speed towards him. He could vaguely see the head of an ox looming in the clouds, and he could hear thundering sounds of a monster saying, “Jun Sixie, stop running and follow me back home, I will take you in as my wife!”

  A monster ox alighted onto the ground, a pair of black wings were retracted and it turned into an ox-headed man holding a thirty to forty feet long spear. In an imposing manner, the ox looked at Zhong Yue and said, “Who are you? A dragon … Hehe, I hear that there is a newcomer in the Gu Xia City, a petty child from the dragon race, is that you?”

  “How may I call you, senior martial brother?” Zhong Yue greeted him.

  “No need for that!”

  The monster ox cast his gaze over at the unconscious Jun Sixie, he raised his spear and pointed it at Zhong Yue, “Jun Sixie, one of the four successors of Swords Gate, she is very valuable, she has the innate spirit body of water, if I can copulate with her, I would be able to extract her Water Qi for myself. My prowess will surely increase greatly! Furthermore, the two island lords are offering a reward for her head. I will first take her, extract every morsel of out of her until there is no residual value left and behead her for the reward! Brat, if you are smart, you should hand her over to me now!”

  Zhong Yue smirked and said, “Brother Ox, you want the energy in her body, but so do I. It seems like a negotiation is impossible, then there is only one option left!”

  It was right at this moment that Jun Sixie regained her conscious after much difficulty, but upon hearing his words, she immediately fainted away again.

  The young man’s face darkened as he thought in his heart, Oh no, how am I going to explain to her….

  The monster ox guffawed out loud and turned into his true form, he was a mountain-sized black ox. His four hooves caused the ground to quake and the mountains to tremble as he charged his way towards Zhong Yue!”

  At the same time, his life essence manifested behind him – it was a dragon king that commanded the black waters and it swung the spear towards Zhong Yue!

  As the monster ox moved, the zither string planted by Zhong Yue also flitted, it pierced up from beneath the ground and shot out from right beneath the monster ox.

  The monster’s heart thumped heavily, he sensed the imminent danger; four patches of dark clouds emerged beneath his hoofs, the monstrous wind blew and along with the pair of black wings on his back, he flew into the air like a flash of lightning.

  The zither string could not make it in time to slash the monster ox into half, it could only wreath around one of his hooves and amputate it; blood rained down from the sky as his hooves were shredded into thin slices of meat!

  Zhong Yue reached out to his Fang Blade with the two dragons beneath his feet lifting him in the air, he swung his blade at the spear and dashed right at the three-legged monster ox!

  In mid-air, a loud deafening sound burst out, the spear was cleaved in half by his blade which unrelentingly continued on slashing towards the monster ox.

  “How sharp is that blade?”

  The monster ox roared furiously, one of his horns flew out to block Zhong Yue’s blade – Pu! The horn was broken into pieces.

  While at the same time, the black dragon king behind the monster
ox grabbed on his other horn and thrust it forward. Blood splattered down the sky and Zhong Yue muffled a groan, his shoulder was pierced by the ox horn, the tip of the horn could be seen protruding out from his back.

  Chapter 84: Wielding With Yuan Shen |

  Zhong Yue and the monster ox were both wounded, but the latter’s injuries were decidedly more severe. Their eyes turned red as they lunged towards each other. The black dragon king behind extended its claws in an attempt to grab for Zhong Yue’s head. At the same time, the Great Sun Golden Crow flew out from Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean; the little crow that was less than an inch tall pounced at the dragon claw.

  The air around quivered vigorously, but the seemingly equal strength of the two spirits was simply incongruous with the massive disparity between the huge form of the black dragon king and the rather petty and small frame of the Golden Crow. The black dragon king could not advance further and it reached for the broken spear, intending to spike the broken spear fragments into Zhong Yue’s head.

  All of a sudden, the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi lunged out from his glabella, the sharp and incisive Sword Qi slashed horizontally and the monster ox cried out a roar of pain as another front hoof was slashed off.

  Zhong Yue clenched the blade in his hand and swung it fiercely. As both of his front hooves were slashed away, the monster ox’s heart thumped in fear, he quickly fluttered his wings and landed down to the ground.

  Zhong Yue swiftly followed behind, the two Jiao Dragons beneath his feet plummeted down in pursuit of the monster ox.

  Just right when the monster ox landed on the ground and was trying to run away, all of a sudden, a little tree emerged from the soils. One after another, the Wooden Sword Qi flitted in the air surrounding him in the middle.

  “Mou——”

  The monster ox boasted superior defense, he did not die even after getting mangled by the Wooden Sword Qi; he forcefully broke out from the encirclement of Wooden Sword Qi and decisively headed right towards Gu Xia City.

  “Brat from the dragon race, I’m not your match, I’ve lost two of my legs to you, let me live!”

  The monster ox’s two front legs were sliced away, he was now running with only his rear legs, but he was still swift as the wind; with but a mere few steps, he had broken through the sound barrier, propelling himself away like a flash of lightning. But all of a sudden, he could see a thread of silk standing vertically upright in front of him.

  And the next moment, he saw himself getting severed in half, ironically killed by the speed he himself had built up in his efforts of escape.

  Even after his death, his body muscles continued to drive him dozens of steps for the next few miles before the residual spasms subsided and the dead body crumpled onto the ground.

  Zhong Yue kept the zither string as it coiled around the blade hilt, there were no traces of blood on it. It was Zhong Yue that had placed the zither string in front and sliced the monster ox into halves.

  “Killing made easy like mowing grass, I’m afraid Senior Martial Sister Jun’s zither string will turn into a Malefic Soul Weapon in the future!”

  Time slipped past them without anyone’s notice. Jun Sixie slowly regained her consciousness to be met with the dark and gloomy ambiance of the sky and the sight of the young Qi Practitioner of the Zhongshan Clan sitting atop the Jiao Dragon’s back. The Jiao Dragon was still slithering backward in the air heading back to Swords Gate, while there was a huge hole on Zhong Yue’s shoulder – a hole bored by the ox’s horn.

  His wound was suppressed by his muscles, his psyche sealed the blood veins and stemmed the bleeding.

  “Senior martial sister, please do not misunderstand, I’ve only said those words to lull him.” Zhong Yue’s smile was bright and sunny, it was as if he was oblivious to the pain in his shoulder.

  Jun Sixie had slowly regained her conscious entirely, she could tell that her wounds continuing to alleviate and the poison in her body diluting and its efficacy getting weaker. She covertly checked her body and heaved a breath of relief, Zhong Yue did not take advantage of her.

  He may be lulling the monster ox or he might be true about it … Hmph-hmph, that ox wanted my body, but he wanted my heart….

  Just when Jun Sixie was thinking about it, her face blushed red, she lowered her head and even her earlobes reddened. Moments later, the sounds of a stomach growling echoed out, Zhong Yue turned and look at her, Jun Sixie’s face turned shy, right at this moment, she did not look like the successor of Swords Gate but rather, she seemed like a little girl. She whispered, “I’m hungry … I deliberately wanted to be hungry! But if there are any medicinal pellets to restore my energy, then my stomach will not growl anymore….”

  Zhong Yue raised his hand, a clump of bloody, raw beef fell into her hands, he said, “Quickly eat.”

  Jun Sixie yelled in anger, “It’s raw!”

  “I salvaged it from the dead monster ox.”

  Zhong Yue cast his gaze into the endless darkness, he then retrieved his sights back and said gravely, “You can only eat raw food for now, I….”

  The young man was ashamed, he said, “...I don’t know any fire style visualization art.”

  The young lady in green was staring at him in round-eyed disbelieve, she was lost of words; A Qi Practitioner and yet he did not know any fire style visualization art, no one would ever believe such a ridiculous story.

  “My prowess increased too rapidly and my training was haphazard, I didn’t have the time to learn a fire style or water style visualization art.” Zhong Yue explained to her.

  “Brazen! Self-praising!” Jun Sixie twitched her mouth in disdain.

  Zhong Yue ignored her comments, he raised his head up and gazed afar as he whispered, “In addition, behind us, there are hyenas and wolves following our tracks. If we cook the beef, the aroma will get heavier and allow them to catch up to us quicker.”

  Upon hearing the words, Jun Sixie quickly turned back and look behind. The darkness blanketed the Savanna Wasteland. Within the endless darkness, the glow of faint and dim flares could be discerned and she could vaguely hear howls of hyenas and wolves.

  Those were huge hyenas and wolves, the beasts followed the scent they left behind and traced them all the way here; judging by the glowing flares, the hyenas and wolves came in packs, and their numbers were great!

  Jun Sixie furrowed her brows, she clenched her teeth and raised the bloody beef to the side of her mouth; all of a sudden, she opened her mouth and gnawed right at it.

  Moments later, Jun Sixie forcefully finished the bloody meat in her hands, she wiped off the blood trickling down her mouth and said, “You still have any? I need to restore my energy, and a piece of beef is not enough, even if it’s from a monster ox. I need more, more so that I can restore my energy faster and recover my wounds quicker!”

  Zhong Yue threw another few pieces of raw beef over to her, he was surprised; the young lady was eating ravenously, each and every piece of beef weighed at least a few kilograms. Jun Sixie was the only female disciple among the four successors of Swords Gate, and yet, she could force herself to devour the beef despite their decidedly unappetizing state of raw bloodiness.

  “Senior Martial Sister Jun, you are exceptional. Oh right, senior martial sister, you are so strong, how could you have been so severely wounded?” Zhong Yue asked.

  Jun Sixie’s eyes dimmed down, she fiercely gnawed at a mouthful of meat and said gravely, “I’ve been set up; Qiu Qingshan, Lian Xin and the other monster cultivators caught me.”

  She forced herself to swallow the bloody meat, and her voice was indifferent, “Among the four of us, a traitor emerged. He revealed my location to the monsters, that was how I got set up.”

  Zhong Yue’s heart was filled with shock, he shouted out involuntarily, “Feng, Fang, Lei, Jun, the four successors of Swords Gate, the four of you are the exemplars that every Qi Practitioner in Swords Gate looks up to, how can there possibly be a traitor among you? Who is the traitor?”

  J
un Sixie continued consuming the beef, she answered, “I don’t know. But among three of them, one has turned his back on Swords Gate. He asked for my death, or else how would I be ambushed and severely wounded? If I die, he will be a step closer to becoming the next Swords Gate headmaster.”

  Zhong Yue kept mum, and so did Jun Sixie.

  After a period of time, Jun Sixie finally finished her meal, she smiled teasingly, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, I’m aware that you’ve manifested your own spirit and coalesced it with your soul, but I’ve noticed quite a few flaws, that’s why you always needed to play some little tricks when in combat. You are restrained, your hands and bound, and you can’t fully unleash your prowess; I can see that you haven’t explored the knowledge given by your spirit, and retrieved the totem of your spirit, am I right?”

  Zhong Yue nodded, he said, “My prowess increased too rapidly….”

  “Stop blowing on your own trumpet!”

  Jun Sixie gave a proud grin, she said, “There are a lot of good points in you but you have a shortcoming — you like to blow on your own trumpet too much. Although I’m only a few years older than you, I’ve been a Qi Practitioner far longer than you have, I can’t boast too much, but I sure can teach you a thing or two. Can junior martial brother show me your Yuan Shen?”

  Zhong Yue nodded, the Great Sun Golden Crow flew out from his psyche ocean.

  Jun Sixie measured it with her eyes, she said, “It’s a sun spirit. It seems like you’ve gotten it somewhere else other than the Ethereal Palace? There are over a hundred spirits in Swords Gate Ethereal Palace but none of them are the sun and moon spirit, mainly because the sun and moon are too far away from us, these two spirits are fairly hard to cultivate. The only sun spirit holder in Swords Gate is Zuo Xiangsheng, but he had his own fortune, he became a Qi Practitioner with a sun spirit when he was having a training trip out of Swords Gate.”