Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Chapter 86: Wolves and Hyenas |

  Ey? Bei Shisong and his monster packs are just standing right beside the zither string, none of them are standing on top of it.

  Zhong Yue was surprised, he slowly moved the zither string in the underground towards the beasts; but as the zither string moved, the beasts, seemingly cognizant of the strings, moved a few steps unintentionally, away from the strike zone of the zither string.

  Did he notice it?

  Zhong Yue furrowed his brows, Bei Shisong was not like the other monster Qi Practitioners that came directly after Jun Sixie, instead, he stood there and showed his unction concerns; he was clearly not someone who could be easily dealt with!

  Bei Shisong saw him hesitating, he quickly put up a sincere smile and said, “Junior martial brother, rest assured, although Jun Sixie is valuable, I am a well-known Qi Practitioner of Gu Xia City with a reputation to maintain, I will definitely not snatch over your trophy. Jun Sixie had slain our dear friends and families, even our two island lords nearly died in her hands. She poses a great threat to the monsters, my sole intention is to secure the future of the monsters. Hence, I’m offering my help with the fullest sincerity, I only intend to escort junior martial brother back to Gu Xia City so that I can have the privilege of witnessing this flagitious young lady receiving her judgment before my eyes!”

  Zhong Yue kept mum for seconds, all of a sudden, he smiled and responded, “I’m grateful for Senior Martial Brother Bei’s well intentions, but….”

  Bei Shisong’s eyes flared with rays, he said, “Does junior martial brother have no trust in me? My loyalty to the monster race shan’t be doubted! I’m not like the other avaricious Qi Practitioners that had assaulted you. With me by your side, not a single Qi Practitioner will dare to show their ill-intents!”

  Zhong Yue gently smiled and asked, “So Senior Martial Brother Bei is aware of the Qi Practitioners that assaulted me?”

  The smile on Bei Shisong’s face intensified as Zhong Yue continued on, “That said, has Senior Martial Brother Bei seen their corpses? I wonder if it’s the ox’s or the wolf’s you saw?”

  Bei Shisong smirked, “Their hearts were engulfed with greed, they were deserving of their fate; it was completely normal for junior martial brother to kill them. But I’ve no such ill intent, my loyalty to the monster ra….”

  Chui!

  String-like sword, it emerged from the ground and slashed horizontally towards the monsters; but it was too late, the monstrous clouds billowed in the air, the hyenas and wolves formed a pair of wings on their backs, their psyche wings winged them up into mid-air, dodging the zither string’s assault by the narrowest of margins.

  Bei Shisong stood on top of the alpha wolf’s head, his short stature made him almost the same size as the wolf’s head, he guffawed out loud and asked, “Hei-hei, you’ve noticed, little brat, being so dubious will get you killed easily! How did you realize it?”

  “My movements are in a backward motion, I ride on the Jiao Dragon without touching the ground, I left no traces of scent behind; but one moment of inattentiveness and I’ve left behind a flaw.”

  Zhong Yue stood on the twin dragons, the zither string flew back to him, it shrunk down, flitting and looming around him, he said, “I should’ve eradicated the corpses, but there so many hyenas and wolves with Senior Martial Brother Bei, with their strong sense of smell, even if I’d buried the corpses deep beneath the earth, they would still be able to dig it out. You must have found the bodies and realized that I’m not heading towards Gu Xia City, but rather, the Great Wilderness, to the humans. It was hence clear to you, that I was a human Qi Practitioner.”

  “So that’s how you’ve seen through me.”

  The hyenas and wolves retracted their wings and alighted onto the ground, leaving Bei Shisong alone, smiling in the air, “I’d heard that a dragon had arrived at Gu Xia City, when the news reached me, I was just thinking that it is the time for the rise of the monster, with even the dragons coming to our aid. But when I met with you, my heart sank, it turned cold and forlorn; just exactly how did you turn yourself into a dragon ... so genuine even the seneschal can’t see through your disguise?”

  Zhong Yue opted to ignore the question and deflected, “You’ve seen through my identity, with the intention of bringing me back to Gu Xia City, you’ve decided to turn my tricks against myself. To be honest, you don’t even have to wait until you lure me back to Gu Xia City to capture me as you could expose my true identity to any monster Qi Practitioners we encounter later and work with them to capture me.”

  Bei Shisong sighed heavily, he said, “I had planned to keep my hands clean and be credited for discovering your true identity and taking you down. But it seems like you are not a naive idiot that knows nothing, you’ve left me with no choice.”

  Zhong Yue nodded and said, “You’ve discovered my true identity, surely I wouldn’t let you live. If my identity were to be exposed, the tens of thousands of humans in my territory will be sacrificed because of me. But I’m really curious, how did you notice the zither string?”

  Bei Shisong laughed loudly as he stood in mid-air, gazing at Zhong Yue from above, “I’ve inspected the corpses, examined the wounds and surmised it all out, your soul weapons, your Sword Qis, your skills, I’ve prepared myself so if a battle is unavoidable, I will not be caught by surprise. When you killed the ox, a sword silk unburrowed from the ground, it should be Jun Sixie’s zither string; when I saw you, the zither on your Jiao Dragon had no strings, thereby proving my conjecture. Since I’ve known of its existence, how could I be ambushed by it easily? The zither string is thin and small, but is still noticeable if you reach out your senses meticulously.”

  Zheng-zheng-zheng!

  The sounds of metal creaking could be heard as the hyenas and wolves reached out their claws to their backs and groped for their monster weapons, they were all sabers with long broad blades of at least dozens of feet long.

  The monster hyenas and monster wolves had a pair of psyche-formed wings, they were all brawny and sinewy. With the long sabers in their hands, their imposing manner could rock the weaker souls to tremble in terror!

  “You ambushed the monster wolf with a beast type Sword Qi that possessed a draconic aura and there were traces of a god’s fang on the ground. You’d handed over the god’s fang, but had concealed a strand of Sword Qi in it. When he grabbed on the god’s fang, your Sword Qi surged outwards and killed him.”

  Bei Shisong continued on, “You have another Sword Qi, swift underneath the soils, most probably a Wooden Sword Qi. It came out from the soils and lacerated the monster dhole into bits. There was a small sapling on the ground where you fought with the ox you must’ve also used it against the monster ox. Oh and let’s not forget the fact that you’ve slain Sun Xiao and had become a territory lord under Gu Xia City. Sun Xiao’s soul weapon, the Coral Tree is also in your hands.”

  Zhong Yue’s face darkened, the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi and Wooden Sword Qi flitted out and hovered in the air, he flipped his palm around and the Coral Tree slipped out from his sleeves into his hand.

  Bei Shisong gently smiled, his atman burst out behind him, his Yuan Shen was a human-bodied Bei God1, twenty-some feet tall, it’s leg stomped on the ground, standing tall and magnificent. Its head was at the same height as the monster wolves, he continued on saying, “You were weak and petty when you first arrived at Gu Xia City. I’ve examined the battlefield, although you had the element of surprise in the instances you fought, you had a difficult battle with the monster ox, but you ultimately managed to kill him in the end. I suppose you are now already a Qi Practitioner?”

  Jun Sixie kept quiet throughout the conversation, but her heart skipped a beat upon hearing the words uttered from the opposing party’s mouth, This Bei Shisong so intimately understands Junior Martial Brother Zhong’s strength; had he also noticed the biggest flaw in his strength, his lack limited repertoire of skills?

  After all these days spent together,
she could tell that Zhong Yue’s skill set was incomplete – there were a lot of flaws. Other than the defensive skills, Zhong Yue still lacked a flying skill and his combat skills were also pitifully few.

  He will be fine if he was facing the monster ox, monster wolf and monster dhole like what he have encountered before; but when it comes to the strong and formidable ace cultivators, this skill would spell death for him!

  Bei Shisong waved his hand, the monster hyenas and monster wolves dashed over. One after another, the monster beasts entered and glutted the Bei God’s body.

  While Bei Shisong casually took a step back, he himself formed the Bei God’s head and his feet stood on the alpha wolf’s head He smiled and said, “This is my combat body, I’ve yet to cultivate to the stage of Spirit Body as One. Hence, I have to resort to this small trick With my lovely children as the Bei God’s body, and I myself as the head, I can command them to fight combat.”

  Zhong Yue’s face stiffened up, he lifted his head and vigilantly stared at the giant in front of him, his mind went blank for a moment.

  The Bei God Yuan Shen was Bei Shisong’s atman, the monster wolves and monster hyenas formed his body; as of now, all around the Bei God, whether it be its limbs, body, or even it’s back, there were arms protruding out everywhere!

  These were the arms of the monster wolves and monster hyenas, each armed with dozen-feet long sabers!

  The Bei God Yuan Shen galvanized the collated strengths of these monster beasts and turned itself into a war machine – a deadly war machine armored with saber blades!

  The floor trembled as Bei Shisong stomped forwards, a single stride and he was already a hundred feet away from Zhong Yue, he swung his arm and the sabers collectively slashed down right at Zhong Yue – the scene was terrifying!

  The dragons beneath Zhong Yue moved around swiftly and evaded the sabers －Chui-chui-chui－ in the time he dodged the sabers, Bei Shisong kicked his left leg up and the monster sabers brandished right at the two Jiao Dragons, lacerating them into dozens of pieces!

  Jun Sixie shouted in shock, her body was thrown into the air, and a few sabers were coming right after her!

  “Death is upon me….”

  Just as she thought she would be killed, a Jiao Dragon came out of nowhere and carried her away like a flash of lightning, saving her life from those murderous blades.

  At the same time, Zhong Yue raised the scarlet Coral Tree in his hand, eighteen Sword Qis bursts out and countered the sabers; the Great Sun Golden Crow Yuan Shen inhabiting his psyche ocean controlled the eighteen Coral Tree Sword Qis, sending them slashing over to Bei Shisong!

  Hong-hong-hong!

  The discordant whining of blades effused throughout the battlefield Around the gigantic Bei God Yuan Shen emerged a few shields which dynamically reacted to the path of the eighteen Sword Qis slashing around the Bei God, parrying them in their paths.

  Bei Shisong laughed, he took a step forward and the sabers slashed down like a torrent of water cascading down; Zhong Yue reached his hands out, clenching the Xiang Dragon Sword Qi in his palm －Shua!－ It bolted upright and its radiant rays began glistering incessantly, it clashed head-on with the incoming saber blades.

  The relentless surges of impact from the sabers gushing into his body forced Zhong Yue to let out a muffled groan. Just right when he was launched out by the impact force, dozens of sabers came right at him!

  At this point in time, a Jiao Dragon suddenly emerged out of thin air beneath Zhong Yue, it backed on his body and unloaded the impact force while slithering in the air to circumvent the Sabres.

  “You were injured while fighting with the monster ox, your defense capability must be weak; you ambushed the dhole Qi Practitioner with the Wooden Sword Qi. This only shows that you have no measures in a head-on engagement, all you can do is just resort to petty tricks and ambush. From all this, it’s simple for me to know that you have a great flaw in your cultivation!”

  Bei Shisong let out a kick, the monster beasts brandished their sabers, the Jiao Dragon Zhong Yue had just visualized crumbled into pieces, and he plummeted down towards the ground. Bei Shisong chortled, “You don’t how to fly nor can you defend yourself, and your combat skills are little to none. All you’ve got are just your Sword Qis, zither string, and Coral Tree. And from the traces of the battlefields, your coordination is too tragic to even consider, you clearly don’t have a proper movement skill. In front of my combat form, you will be crushed like an ant!”

  Jun Sixie was carried away from the battlefield by the other Jiao Dragon Zhong Yue visualized, she heard Bei Shisong’s words and her heart sank. His perception was indeed impressive, he was able to deduce so many details that all led to him to discover the fatal flaw in Zhong Yue’s strength!

  Bei Shisong’s prowess is not really that strong, but he is too sly and cunning. In addition to the monster hyenas and monster wolves, I wonder if Junior Martial Brother Zhong is able to withstand him?

  Her heart was undulating in trepidation as she thought to herself, I’ve taught him how to control the soul weapons with Yuan Shen and the art of Xuan Wu, I’ve remedied two of his flaws, but he is still too new in his path of cultivation….

  Chapter 87: Inversion of Roles |

  In the Savanna Wasteland, an over two hundred feet tall Bei-headed humanoid rendered apart from the land. Sabres brandished and swung around in a flurry as they assaulted their targets with slashes, stabs and chops at tremendous speed.

  The Bei-headed creature moved swiftly around, it’s pace was quick and fast, every step it laid would gouge out the soils beneath the frozen land; the sabers on its body followed behind the little human silhouette in the air!

  Not far away in front of them, a lady dressed in green blouses sitting on top of a Jiao Dragon was carried away, leaving as far away as they could from the battlefield so that the young lady would be safe from harm.

  In such a short while, Zhong Yue had escaped from death quite a number of times, Bei Shisong’s combat body was something he had never met before – dominant, bizarre, and yet, incredibly strong!

  His atman, the Bei God Yuan Shen, amalgamated the prowess of the monster hyenas and monster wolves into a synergistic unity that is greater than the sum of its parts. With the coordinated forces working in tandem with one another, a single saber contained a stronger strength beyond what Zhong Yue could retaliate against!

  Even fending off a single strike from a saber and bearing the weight of the impact sent a surge of pain down his spine and throughout his whole body.

  Many times, his strength had been proven to be incredibly strong, and yet he was suppressed into such a quagmire; it was clear that if he were to ever take a blow directly, he would be bisected into halves!

  Bei Shisong acted as the body’s brain and the vanguard that led the defense, he visualized the shields and whirled them around the giant’s body, blocking down the eighteen Coral Tree Sword Qis, rendering them useless against his flawless defense.

  Bei Shisong was undoubtedly the strongest monster Qi Practitioner Zhong Yue had ever met, he was extremely precarious, sly and cunning. His defense was impeccable and his attacks were sturdy, tossing Zhong Yue into a perilous state.

  “Go!”

  Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen, the Great Sun Golden Crow, controlled the Wooden Sword Qi and zither string into the air, they flitted around like flashes of lightning It was as if he had suddenly possessed over twenty arms, swinging and thrusting the Sword Qi naturally like an extension of his own body. They slashed right at Bei Shisong.

  Especially the zither string, it was way more incisive than the others. As a soul weapon that was refined numerous times by Jun Sixie, how could it be possible for the ordinary soul weapons of the monster beasts to be compared to it.

  Zheng!

  One of the sabers clashed with the zither string and was immediately broken into half; under the control of his Yuan Shen, the zither string threaded through the sabers and bolted upright stabbing towards the Bei G
od’s head, Bei Shisong!

  One after another, those sabers that dared to obstruct the zither string’s path ended up sever into halves. All of a sudden, the strong and robust strength in the sabers disappeared, instead, a flexible force surged and they deflected the sabers up into the sky.

  “He-he, Jun Sixie, as one of the four young successors of Swords Gate, her sword silk was tempered to be way stronger than the ordinary soul weapons, how can I possibly let my guard down against it?”

  Bei Shisong strode forward, he smiled, “Ambushing Jun Sixie, I myself have contributed a little to the little heifer’s severe wounds!”

  Zhong Yue’s heart sank, Bei God, this combat body’s strength was immense and yet it was still able to use such a fine and delicate yielding force!

  The versatility of Bei Shisong’s strength is impressive, it seems that his methods aren’t merely limited to brute force.

  He quickly stepped back, one Jiao Dragon after another unburrowed from the ground and gnawed towards the striding Bei God; however, a few flashes of rays and the Jiao Dragons were bisected down the middle!

  After the sabers cut through the dragons, a small sapling emerged from the soils, the Wooden Sword Qi split into thousand Sword Qi and rained down onto the Bei God’s feet!

  “Petty human, the same trick doesn’t work twice, not on me!”

  Around the Bei God’s perimeter, a shield emerged out of nowhere and warded off the Wooden Sword Qi, Bei Shisong released a wicked peal of laughter, “Whether it’s my attack or defense, I’m flawless at both! Both my blade skill and shield skill, the Sabre Blade Array, and the Hundred Shield Union Array, are created by our great City Lord Gu Hongzi! I’ve seen through all your arts and skills; every movement you take, every decision you make, all is laid bare to me! No joy, no excitements, and no surprises! If this is all you’ve got, then it is time for you to go!”