by <unknown>
Qi Zhongdao was not a merciful monk like Master Bitter Cicada. Everything that he did was for the interests of the Cultivators.
He would not bat an eye if thousands of victims were killed, but it was utterly intolerable if those victims could be turned into deadly ghouls and sabotage the southeast farmlands under the lead of Mother White Lotus!
There were thousands of training techniques in the Ancient Sages Sector. However, there was one fundamental training principle that transcended all other methods.
Nobody could do anything without food!
Cultivators boasted marvelous capabilities. The functioning speed of their cells, nerves, and muscles was ten times and even a hundred times higher than that of the ordinary people. To maintain the activity of their cells, they had to devour an astronomical amount of food every day. Otherwise, it would be very easy for them to starve themselves.
If they fed on regular food and meat, they would require a huge amount of provisions, and they might not be full after consuming a hundred kilograms of food. In the meantime, such food could only keep their current level from falling at best.
If they intended to progress, they had to feed on the meat of the animals that boasted tremendous spiritual energy or food such as Jade Crystal Pellets.
The animals that boasted tremendous spiritual energy had to be hunted. They were not readily available for low-level Cultivators. The rice and wheat grown in the farmlands where spiritual energy was dense, in comparison, was the foundation for the Cultivators' training and for a Cultivation sect to exist!
Half of the farmlands were located in the southeast, which was also the better half with the most spiritual energy.
If the southeast farmlands were destroyed by the White Lotus ghouls, there would certainly be a 'food crisis' among the Cultivators in the harvest season in the latter half of the year!
Qi Zhongdao unfolded a map of the Great Qian Dynasty painted on goatskin.
Mystic rays were slowly rising up, congregating into an uneven sand table where the mountains, rivers, and towns were all detailed.
He pointed at the sand table and said, "Right now, the five main troops of the court are marching to the southeast at top speed. As all you fellow Cultivators know, most of the soldiers of the court are ordinary people who can barely move forward in the flood. It will take them at least a fortnight to arrive at East Peace County.
"During that half a month, it will be our job to help stabilize the situation!
"We have three missions in total. First of all, pacify the victims and prevent them from getting killed by coldness and hunger and turning into hateful, restless ghosts. Secondly, protect the farmlands from the scourge of the army of ghouls. Thirdly, if possible, find 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu and execute the 'mother of all ghosts'!"
"This is indeed great kindness. With everyone's help here, the folks in the southeast will finally have a chance to be saved. You are all making great contributions, fellow Cultivators!" Master Bitter Cicada, who had been informed and come over, put his palms together and asked, "But I wonder, where will the food for the homeless victims come from in the next half a month?"
Qi Zhongdao slashed his hands. "The Grand Mystery Sect, the Purple Pole Sword Sect, Thunderstorm Valley, Flying Spirit Island, the Gold Armor Clan, and the Monster Taming Pavilion, as well as many other large sects, have dispatched a sizable batch of emergency food that will be delivered in a couple of days!"
This was the first time that Li Yao had heard of the Purple Pole Sword Sect providing a large batch of food for the disaster area. After a momentary daze, he somehow had a better impression on the Cultivation sects.
Whatever their purpose was, supporting the disaster area with precious food would save a lot of victims. It was indeed worth commending.
Li Yao could not help but glance at Dan Fengzi, the leader of the Purple Pole Sword Sect, only to discover that Dan Fengzi was wearing a weird smile.
Sensing Li Yao's eyes, he scratched his nose and turned his face.
Taking a breath in relief, Master Bitter Cicada thought for a moment and asked again, "Then, what are the victims going to eat for the next couple of days?"
After hearing that, Qi Zhongdao's face was even darker than before. His cheeks cramping, he said coldly, "I'm afraid we'll have to ask the local sects in the southeast to provide food. This is a local affair of the southeast after all. How can the local sects idle by while the foreign sects are doing everything we can?"
After listening to Qi Zhongdao's explanation, Li Yao finally realized that not every place was demolished in the febrile typhoon and flood. There were still some paradises in the area.
They were the headquarters of the local sects in the southeast.
It was needless to mention East Peace County, a splendid city where dozens of sects were headquartered.
Even the sects in local towns had mostly established their headquarters against the mountains. The headquarters were often magnificent and impenetrable.
They were also surrounded by defense rune arrays and barriers. Floods, febrile typhoons, and other natural disasters would be hard pressed to breach their defenses.
Even when the bureaus of the Cultivation sects were destroyed, they were often the last establishments in the local area to be destroyed.
Therefore, when a natural disaster was nearing, most of the Cultivators would reap the rice, store tremendous assets, and escape into their headquarters in advance. They would defend the strongholds and would not be active in the outside world until the natural disaster was over.
Since the Sorcerers' River downstream was a kingdom of swamps and the southeast was basically drowned, the headquarters of the Cultivation sects had essentially become lone islands where tremendous resources were stored.
However, it was certainly not easy to open the lone islands.
"Three hundred and fifty kilometers from here, it's the headquarters of Roaring Tiger Hall!"
Pointing at the edge of a rather high mountain on the mountain, Qi Zhongdao said, "Roaring Tiger Hall is one of the few most famous sects in the southeast. Two thirds of the farmlands in the entire West River Stage belong to Roaring Tiger Hall. Roaring Tiger Hall first thrived based on the farmlands. Then, they monopolized the transportation business along a stretch of the Sorcerers' River and accumulated tremendous wealth. They have spent twenty years hollowing Heavenly Tiger Mountain and establishing the magnificent Roaring Tiger City!
"Roaring Tiger City has been built next to the mountain and is extraordinarily spectacular. When it was built, an enormous Tiger Apparitions Array was already buried deep beneath the ground. Also, more than a hundred Crouching Tiger Cannons and Fiery Crow Ballista have been forged in the critical locations in the city. It is essentially an impenetrable fortress!
"Roaring Tiger Hall boasts two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and ten at the peak of the Core Formation Stage. They are the dominators in the West River State!
"Hearing that the febrile typhoon and the flood were coming near, they collected all the resources, escaped into Roaring Tiger City, and shut the gate!
"Because Roaring Tiger City is the highest place in the hundreds of square kilometers nearby, it has not been damaged at all in the natural disaster. Right now, hundreds of millions of disaster victims are gathered below Roaring Tiger City, and millions more are still running toward the place. If Roaring Tiger City keeps their gates shut without letting anybody in or any grain out, there will be great trouble soon enough!"
Chapter 1424: Uneasy Ghosts Below Roaring Tiger City! |
Deep in thought, Master Bitter Cicada nodded. "Then, have you paid a visit to Roaring Tiger Hall, Master Qi?"
Qi Zhongdao's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot that had been brushed with shoe polish. He gnashed his teeth. "The Grand Mystery Sect has already visited them. It's a pity that the meeting did go so well. Therefore, I'm hoping that Leader Dan Fengzi, Fellow Cultivator Yan Liren, Master Spiritual Vulture, Master Bitter Cicada, and the o
ther Cultivators here can go persuade Roaring Tiger Hall to consider the big picture together!"
It was obvious that the super Nascent Soul Stage, who was the nominal leader of all the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty and supported by the ultimate treasure of the Ancient Sages Sector, was more than infuriated.
Qi Zhongdao's words made a lot of sense. Naturally, Li Yao and the rest of them followed his command. The high-level Cultivators from dozens of sects, carrying their vivid banners, rushed toward Roaring Tiger City like almost a hundred rainbows with their own unique techniques.
While they were on their way, Li Yao approached Dan Fengzi and asked, "Leader, I didn't know that the Purple Pole Sword Sect would be so generous as to provide food for the disaster victims. Is it true?"
Dan Fengzi chuckled but hesitated. Looking at the high-level Cultivators of other sects nearby, he said in a low voice, "There is more to the matter. We'll talk about it later. All in all, we only need to follow the Grand Mystery Sect's lead. Whatever the Grand Mystery Sect does, we do exactly the same!"
Pausing for a moment, he said again, "Later, after we arrive, you must tread lightly, Elder Spiritual Vulture. Roaring Tiger Hall boasts two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, ten at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, and countless low-level Cultivators. It is one of the most distinguished sects in the entire southeast and stronger than many sects in East Peace County.
"Also, Roaring Tiger City, their headquarters, is a city that has recently been built in the past ten or so years. The Tiger Apparitions Array is a first-rate defense array. The Crouching Tiger Cannon is also very powerful remote magical equipment!
"On our side, although we have many sects and experts, and the six major sects seem to be joining hands, most here are not united at all. Who is willing to be the first to march forward and take the blow of a hundred Crouching Tiger Cannons in the middle of the Tiger Apparitions Array?
"What's more, those who are capable of flying tens of thousands of kilometers above the inundated area in only a couple of days are all high-level Cultivators. Therefore, it's all the leadership of the major sects who have come on the trip. Look. Even our empyreal swordsmen have had to stay in the camp at the rear because they can't follow us.
"Now that we are short of an army of mortals and low-level Cultivators to consume the array and the cannons, there will be a great loss if the high-level Cultivators attack all by themselves!"
"What do you mean, leader?" Bulging his eyes, Li Yao pretended to be surprised. "Are you going to assault Roaring Tiger City?"
"It all depends on Master Righteous One!" Dan Fengzi blinked and said, "Everything is obvious now. To weaken 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu's power and prevent her from gathering an army of ghouls to attack East Peace County, we cannot allow too many disaster victims to die in hatred and remorse.
"To prevent the disaster victims from dying in hatred and remorse, they must at least be fed so that they will die with their belly full if they have to!
"But where can we find food exactly? Other than East Peace County, which is surrounded by the White Lotus ghoul army, the fortresses of the Cultivators scattered in the southeast are the only places with a storage of food!
"But will the local Cultivators behave nicely and simply offer their food?
"Roaring Tiger Hall is the largest Cultivation sect in the southeast outside the ones in East Peace County. I assure you that countless pairs of eyes are focused on Roaring Tiger Hall right now.
"If Roaring Tiger Hall is willing to provide the food, other sects will certainly follow the example.
"If we can't bite the hard bone that is Roaring Tiger Hall, the other local sects will certain refuse to offer a single grain of food!"
After pondering for a long time, Li Yao said, "Master Righteous One's words make a lot of sense to me. If the White Lotus ghoul army savages the southeast and destroyed the farmlands, the rice and wheat for the Cultivators will be highly insufficient, which will do nobody any good. Do the local sects not bear the big picture in mind at all?"
"Big picture?" Dan Fengzi chuckled. "Hehe. Hehehehe. Look, Elder Spiritual Vulture. Roaring Tiger City is here!"
Lowering the tip of his sword, Li Yao narrowed his eyes and looked afar.
Before he saw Roaring Tiger City, he heard cries, screams, shouts, and moans that were soaring into the sky first!
Victims!
Hundreds of thousands of disaster victims, in a series of thick, black torrents, were flowing incessantly from various directions toward the highest place in the hundreds of square kilometers nearby—Roaring Tiger City!
But they were all blocked outside the city by colorful screens of light, only to form a camp of disaster victims, which was like a hell on earth!
Inside the camp, cries were echoing everywhere. Disaster victims in ragged clothes who looked like walking dead were crammed together!
Some of the disaster victims only had their last breath. They had been dragged to the same place, waiting to die. Extending their dry, thin arms where veins were bulging, they were snatching at the sky. There was no telling what they were trying to catch.
Some of the younger and healthier folks were kneeling toward Roaring Tiger City, begging the deities to let them into the city. Many men kowtowed on the rocks so hard that their heads were bleeding until they fell to the side and stopped moving.
A lot of disaster victims were searching for trees, weeds, rats, earthworms… anything that could be put into their mouth. They were fighting and mauling each other like animals for nothing more than a tiny earthworm!
Bright, black auras were soaring from the disaster victims who were catching their last breath. Floating in midair, they condensed into what looked like dark clouds.
Some scarlet things were vaguely condensed inside the clouds. As the disaster victims screamed, they got redder and redder. Like eccentric eyes, they gazed at the ground coldly, full of gloom, hate, wrath, desperation, and other negative emotions.
The auras gave Li Yao an extremely uncomfortable feeling. Even the circulation of spiritual energy inside his body more or less stagnated. He was feeling nausea like the ordinary people who were naturally disgusted when faced with spiders or centipedes!
"The unrested souls and the devastating auras!" Dan Fengzi exclaimed. "I didn't know that such intense unrested souls and devastating auras had gathered in this place. It appears that Mother White Lotus will gain an army of aggressive ghouls with no effort!"
Reciting the sutras, Master Bitter Cicada moved out of the crowd and ran into the devastating auras above the moon-white cassock!
Almost a hundred black air masses that looked like skulls were immediately formed inside the devastating auras. Shrieking, the skulls lunged toward Master Bitter Cicada!
The pity and sorrow on Master Bitter Cicada's face grew even denser than before. He shook his enormous pearls and then swung them with his staff!
With his staff as the axis, the pearls rotated rapidly and released colorful mystic rays that sprayed on the hundred skulls.
The skulls made of black air masses were frozen in midair. They trembled violently before blossoming like buds, revealing ragged, fuzzy shadows in the middle of the black air masses!
The unconscious souls seemed to have just woken up from a dream and did not know what was going on.
As Master Bitter Cicada recited the sutras, they seemed to be reminded of everything in their past. The devastating auras around them dispersed, and peace and delight returned to their faces again, before they gradually turned into pure, transparent mist.
In the end, with sighs of relief, they left the world entirely.
All the unrested souls had been appeased by Master Bitter Cicada.
The sky, which had previously been haunted by gloomy winds, finally reembraced sunlight.
The nausea of Li Yao and the other high-level Cultivators finally disappeared.
The so-called 'soul' was actually a collection of very special waves. After a person die
d, without the support of enough energy and materials, they would soon disappear.
However, if their soul received a tiny bit of energy and managed to maintain the previous frequency and form for a while without collapsing, it would turn from a 'soul' into a 'ghost'.
The 'aggressive ghoul' referred to the highly unsteady and interferential field that contained tremendous negative emotions in this collection of special waves.
The highly interferential field, if powerful enough, would be able to affect the real world, like the magnetic field of a magnet could attract and affect many metals and even add magnetism to the metals.
If the interferential field invaded the brain of ordinary people, triggered the bioelectricity, and manipulated one's optical, audio, and central nerves, it was possible that the victim would see all kinds of terrible hallucinations. The central nerves and bodily fluids of the person could also be affected, resulting in wounds and changes to the human body, such as bloodshot eyes, uncanny laughter, weird posture, instant increase of hair and fingernails, and so on.
When the aggressive ghoul was too strong, it could even block the original soul residing inside the body and assume its place!
It was what the ordinary people called 'run into a ghost' or 'possessed by a ghost'.
A human being's potential was infinite. For ordinary people, they did not know how to activate the potential in the normal state. The most likely time for them to activate their potential was the moment before their death!
If they died peacefully without regret, their potentials would rarely be activated.
However, if they had unaccomplished wishes, if they died a painful, miserable death, or if they had not reaped their revenge, it was possible for them to activate the full potential inside their brain when they were dying, which would lead to a reaction that resembled a supernova outbreak in the brain cells and turned themselves into powerful ghosts!
If that was everything, with the Cultivator's tough body and soul, they would not be scared of a few aggressive ghouls that used to be ordinary people when alive.
