Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  “Don’t go!”

  On the skull's head was the other end of the hairs that moved the faces. The pallid faces were flying everywhere in mid-air, but they were all staring at Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er, saying in unison, "Please, don't go, don't go! We are a family, and a family stays together!"

  Zhong Yue gritted his teeth hard and strode faster than ever. The giant sword slashed even faster and heavier at the hairs as he forcibly opened a way through the faces. Meanwhile, Qiu Jin'er was feeling anxious and followed close to his back.

  Suddenly, the water surface around them rose high, and another skull emerged. Hundreds of thin hairs curled together into a thick rope, hissing like a black serpent and slithered toward the two humans!

  While on the serpent's head, it was formed by many pallid faces that were still shouting at Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er.

  Husan Weng was clenching Zhong Yue's hairs with its carrot hands and shouted as well, looking at the incoming hairs in great terror.

  Zhong Yue then immediately took out the shabby copper lamp, and he shouted out loud, "Xin Huo!"

  A little flame flew out from his psyche ocean and entered the copper lamp. Right away, the copper lamp started emanating a faint and warm light and shone to the surroundings.

  As the hairs entered the light radius of the copper lamp, it started burning, and the pallid faces were crying in pain. They all flew up and landed on the skull's head. Immediately, the skull head beneath them had over thousands of faces on them, burned and partially destroyed.

  Zhong Yue held the copper lamp in one hand, and Qiu Jin'er in the other as he blasted out like an arrow. Wherever he went, the hair would move out of his path, returning to the skull's face.

  The two of them dashed out like a flash of lightning. Suddenly, another huge skull rose from the bottom of the river again. Many pallid faces were flying out from the skull's head in all directions, and as soon as they came out, the lights of the copper lamp shone on them. Unsurprisingly, they let out a shrill cry and flew back to the skull's face.

  Qiu Jin'er looked back and saw the three huge skulls paved with the many faces, forming into a bizarre head with eyes, mouths, ears and noses.

  The three skulls were following behind them, they wanted to go nearer but were also afraid of the light.

  The two of them were still striding forward. The Crimson Water River was huge and vast. It was miles in width, and it took a long time before the two of them reached the riverbank on the other side.

  Zhong Yue turned his head and looked back. The three skulls stopped beside the riverbank, and the pallid faces fell off from the skulls. The three skulls then sunk into the waters while the faces floated on the river surface for some time before disappearing into the river as well.

  “Phew…”

  Zhong Yue heaved a long breath of relief, and he exchanged a look with Qiu Jin'er. They had just slipped through death's clutches while Husan Weng collapsed down on Zhong Yue's shoulder, panting heavily from terror.

  The copper lamp then slowly dimmed down, and Xin Huo's feeble voice sounded in Zhong Yue's mind, "Brat Yue, I've lit the lamp twice in a row now, this took … a great toll on my essence … I have to … rest, it will take … some … time …to recove-…."

  “Noo!”

  Zhong Yue was shocked, but it was too late as the little flame had already fallen into a deep slumber.

  Chapter 443: Divine Herb Delivery Man |

  It was only less than two days since Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er had come to the Returning Ruins, and they had already witnessed a myriad of things beyond imagination. Every single incident they witnessed flew in the face of their worldviews; it would be a lie to say that they were not terrified at all.

  And the biggest trump card Zhong Yue has was precisely the copper lamp and Xin Huo, but he had just gone into hibernation. With his trump card gone now, even Zhong Yue couldn't tell if they would survive what's to come.

  For example, the hairs, skulls, and pallid faces were not something he was able to defend against, and if it weren't for Xin Huo's help, they would already be long dead!

  Without Xin Huo's help, the rest of their journey was bound to be filled with peril!

  Zhong Yue sucked a deep breath of air, and he calmed his mind and kept the copper lamp in his Yuan Shen secret realms. He raised his head and said, "Jin'er, let's move!"

  They did not travel far from where they were before Qiu Jin’er exclaimed, “Senior martial brother, look! Is that the godly rays of a divine herb?”

  Zhong Yue raised his head and looked over. Sure enough, there was the godly rays and the intriguing fragrance characteristic of a divine herb!

  “Another divine herb!”

  Zhong Yue glanced at the huge carrot on his shoulder and said, “This is where your Cusia brother is at?”

  Husan Weng shook its head with a puzzled expression on its face, "This is too close to the Crimson Water River, there shouldn't be any divine herbs here at all. Well, there was once a divine herb here, but it was soon flushed away into the river by the big guys. Did any divine herb so stupid enough to not learn from its senior's experience?"

  Zhong Yue mulled, and he whispered to the young lady and said, "Jin'er, careful. It might be a trap."

  Qiu Jin'er nodded. She wasn't the young and inexperienced girl anymore, but a hall master of Swords Gate. She had fought countless battles and pulled through many dangers. She battled in the war with the South Barren Zhong Li Celestial Race that even Zhong Yue didn't join. Qiu Jin'er had valiantly fought at the frontlines of that war from the first clash to when the last speck of dust finally settled on the battlefield.

  The two of them walked forward, and they reached the front of an abandoned backyard with the fences broken and part of the walls crushed. This would be a ruined celestial temple abandoned when the imperial court shattered away. There was still the hazy smoke threading out from underground.

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er didn't look at the divine herb and scanned the surroundings. Qiu Jin'er then looked at Zhong Yue and said, "Senior martial brother…"

  Zhong Yue was also looking at her, and he winked his eyes and exclaimed in happiness, "No one!"

  Qiu Jin'er hesitated for a final time before nodding, "Yes, there's no one around here. It seems like the divine herb is ours to claim!"

  "However, we still need to be careful. There are usually some godly seals around the divine herbs, although thousands of years have passed, there is no guarantee they are gone now. Crossing the river was not easy, and we need to tend to our wounds as soon as possible. We should fully recover first before going for the divine herb."

  Qiu Jin'er nodded obediently, and then the two of them sat down at a corner of the backyard. Zhong Yue took out the divine herb that he stole from the Gui Shen Celestial race, a plant whose leaves were shaped like hands and their fruits resembled like the tiny pearls.

  It was a divine herb that went by the name of the Rosary Fruit Plant.

  Zhong Yue plucked out two fruits and gave one to Qiu Jin'er. He smiled and said, "We have both taken a Shen Yi Fruit just now, and these divine herbs are truly beneficial to our cultivation base. I wonder what kind of effect these Rosary Fruits will have on our cultivation base."

  Yan Zhen in the dark was excited, What luck, these two Kun Lun Qi Practitioners have to have gotten two divine herbs! But now, they are all mine!

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er both consumed the Rosary Fruits, and their bodies shuddered for a split second. There was a grand and imposing voice sounding in their ears, stimulating their psyche ocean and stirring their psyche vigorously!

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er both had strong and extraordinary psyches; they had cultivated the lightning and thunder totem patterns and tempered their psyche in the lightning zone. Zhong Yue's psyche ocean was wholly converted into a lightning sea, and Qiu Jin'er was not too far away from that stage as well.

  While as soon they consumed the Rosary Fruits, their psyche ocean expanded at an incredible rate, and their psych
e filled their psyche ocean to the brink, their strength increased at a monumental rate!

  In the dark, Yan Zhen frowned and thought, Why are they consuming the divine herbs here? Logically speaking, any Qi Practitioners would get their hands on the free-to-claim divine herb before doing anything else. Did they see through my covers and noticed it as a trap?

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er sat unmovingly for nearly a whole day. It was only once they had fully processed the medicinal efficacies of both the Shen Yi and Rosary Fruits that they stood up.

  Their gains this time were considerable, to say the least!

  But Yan Zhen was also a patient hunter, he remained still and waited even though Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er stayed unmoved for nearly a whole day.

  Now they had absorbed the medicinal efficacies, the next thing they would do would be to keep the divine herb?, Yan Zhen thought, My Xuan Yin Hundred Demon Banners are the divine weapons of my teacher Yama three saint. As long as they enter the banner array formation, they won't be able to even survive seconds in it!

  Zhong Yue stood up. Seeing the young man striding toward the divine herb in the middle background, Yan Zhen readied himself, and his heart pounded in joy. Suddenly, Qiu Jin'er said, "Senior martial brother, are you hungry?"

  “A little.” Zhong Yue stopped and turned his head back, he smiled and answered.

  Qiu Jin'er then took out packs of snacks, and Zhong Yue sat down. The young man and young lady were enjoying the snacks and conversed happily. Another hour or so passed and Yan Zhen was still hiding in the dark, waiting for his prey to finish.

  Finally, Zhong Yue finished the meal and stood up while saying with a smile, "I'll get the divine herb now."

  Yan Zhen rose to attention, and he stared anticipatingly at Zhong Yue as the latter slowly walked toward the array formation of his Xuan Yin Hundred Demon Banners. But to Yan Zhen's disappointment, Zhong Yue stopped just right a step away from the array formation and surged out the arcane energy, forming a huge hand that grabbed on the divine herb. The arcane energy-formed hand then plucked the divine herb out from the soil and kept it in Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen secret realms.

  "Done!", Zhong Yue turned and walked back. He was smiling as he said, "Junior martial sister, let's go, shall we?"

  Yan Zhen's chin almost couldn't help but drop down to the floor. The backyard was huge, at least a few miles in width and he has calculated before — even the True Spirit magnates in such a place like Returning Ruins wouldn't be able to reach to the divine herb with their arcane energy. There was only one way to reach the divine herb, and that way should've placed Zhong Yue within the range of the demonic array formation.

  It was all because of the suppression being too strong in the Returning Ruins. The arcane energy was controlled by the psyche, and fine control over the psyche allowed one to manipulate the arcane energy more proficiently. Even the energy hands of True Spirit magnates wouldn't be able to reach as far as Zhong Yue's did in the Returning Ruins.

  The psyche was suppressed, and in just less than a mile's distance, the arcane energies would collapse into thin air.

  But who knew that Zhong Yue was able to reach so far. After consuming the Rosary Fruit, his psyche volume and control had reached a whole new level such that he didn't even need to step into the demonic array formation. This was something that greatly shocked Yan Zhen!

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were conversing happily as they walked out from the ruined celestial temple, seemingly oblivious to Yan Zhen's tumultuous emotions.

  If this plan doesn't work, then I will set up a bigger trap! I don't believe the two of you can run away from this!

  The banners flew out from the ground, and Yan Zhen turned into a plume of black smoke. He took a detour around Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er and went tens of miles ahead of them.

  Rays flashed across Yan Zhen's eyes, and he raised his hand. The dark banners were buried into the soils, forming a bigger array formation of the Xuan Yin Hundred Demon Banners, covering a wider area than the one before.

  Then, he took out the Phoenix God Plant he has plundered from Kui Longzi and buried the whole jade bottle in the soil and only exposed the plant body above the ground in case Zhong Yue noticed anything odd.

  After he had set up the trap, Yan Zhen blew a mouth of air at the divine herb and immediately, the Phoenix God Plant emanated bright godly rays that pierced through the heavens. Yan Zhen gave a cold sneer and turned into a black smoke to disappear into the air.

  "Senior martial brother, what luck! Another divine herb!" Soon, Qiu Jin'er saw the divine herb, and she called out in joyous surprise.

  Yan Zhen was gritting his teeth, and he thought, This time, I refuse to believe that luck will still be on your side. Once you enter my demonic array formation, I will send the two of you to the afterlife, and your treasures will all be mine!

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er strode forward, he surged the divine third eye and looked around carefully. Zhong Yue then laughed and said, "Indeed, we are in luck today. Including this divine herb, we have already four divine herbs!"

  Zhong Yue walked toward the Phoenix God Plant, but suddenly, without rhyme or reason, Qiu Jin'er asked again, "Senior martial brother, are you hungry now?"

  Yan Zhen who was hiding around nearly spurt out a mouth of blood, he nearly jumped out to scold them as he thought, You’ve just eaten!

  Thankfully, Zhong Yue shook his head and said, "No, I'm not hungry yet. Junior martial sister, wait for me a second, I will grab this divine herb, and we will leave immediately."

  Qiu Jin’er then smiled, “Senior martial brother, can I do it this time?”

  Zhong Yue nodded and said, “Alright, sure you can. Stand on my sword.”

  He then took out the Golden Feathery Peng Sword and pierced it on the ground. Qiu Jin'er walked over and stood on the top of the sword's hilt. She was chanting an unintelligible chain of words and opened her hand, revealing a green little seed in her palm. In just a few seconds, the seed into long verdant twine that was a few tens of miles long, curling at the Phoenix God Plant and pulling the whole divine herb along with the jade bottle out from the soil.

  Yan Zhen was shocked, he turned anxious, and he had lost one divine herb, so how could he ever let the second one slip from his grasp?

  With just a thought, he activated the Xuan Yin Hundred Demon Banners to destroy the verdant twines. But as he surged out his arcane energy, the Hundred Demon Banners didn't respond to his call at all as they were suppressed by a strong force!

  Meanwhile, Qiu Jin'er kept the Phoenix God Plant and the jade bottle in her Yuan Shen secret realms and said sweetly to Zhong Yue, "Senior martial brother, do you think there will be more divine herbs in front?"

  Yan Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly realized, The sword! It's that sword he was pierced into the ground, it pierced through one of the Xuan Yin Demon Banners, and his arcane energy was locked down the whole array formation!

  He could nearly instantaneously find the source of the suppressing force he was fighting with — Zhong Yue's arcane energy!

  Zhong Yue then lifted up the sword, and he answered placidly, "Don't think so. The divine herbs aren't simply found anywhere. He is here only about the same time as us, and even though he had ambushed another few Qi Practitioners, it is impossible to have too many divine herbs. I'd say, two is at the most already."

  They had seen through my tricks! How dare they toy with me!

  Yan Zhen was filled with immense killing intent and soon revealed himself before Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin’er. He gave a cold sneer, and his face was gloomy like a thundery sky, "I didn't want to do it personally. But it was out of my expectations that the two of you were smarter than the others. It seems like I can only personally send you two to the afterlife!"

  Zhong Yue returned a gentle smile while the carrot on his shoulder, Husan Weng, looked at Yan Zhen and said with surprise, "Oh, so the two divine herbs were because of this brat? Is he an idiot? What a charitable person...."

  Yan Z
hen was immediately incensed, and he mumbled furiously, "Demon slave, come out!"

  Chapter 444: An Equal Opponent |

  Behind him, a plume of black smoke billowed up to the sky. And from the dark smoke came the sounds of heavy breathing. Two bright eyes were also visible within it like fireballs!

  A huge demonic creature walked out from the dark smoke, it stood and was was like a giant man. It had a wild and ruthless air, and its eyes were calloused and emotionless!

  Its presence was virtually undetectable, to the point that even Zhong Yue was unable to see where it had come from.

  “Similar to those of the Gui Shen Celestial Race…”

  Zhong Yue exclaimed as he thought. The Gui Shen Celestial Race was a race of natural assassins. They could hide inside the dimensions and completely disappear from the senses of others. Clearly, the demon slave had the same talent as well!

  Yan Zhen stared coldly at Zhong Yue and said solemnly, “Demon slave, he is mine. You will take care of the girl!”

  The demon slave then let out a deep roar, and it disappeared into thin air.

  Krong——

  Immediately as the beast disappeared, Qiu Jin'er's heart stiffened up. Just right when she leaped backward, the place where she stood before sunk into the ground as an invisible fist punched it!

  The young lady was moving backward quickly and left a trail of craters on the ground due to the beast’s punches.

  In stark contrast to the Gui Shen Celestial Race that Zhong Yue had encountered before, the Gui Shen experts would have to come out from the void in order to strike. This demon slave able to strikes from within the void itself. It was evident that this demon slave was stronger than the Gui Shen Celestial Race at their own strength!

  Suddenly, Qiu Jin’er’s face changed slightly. She pushed her hands out and clashed with the invisible fist. Immediately as the strikes crashed together, the young lady was pushed out and sent flying away!