Chapter 43: The True Great Terror, The Foundation of the Xuanwu Kingdom
Chapter 43 – The True Great Terror, The Foundation of the Xuanwu Kingdom
The crimson earth stretched to the horizon, an endless expanse of dried blood.
In the distance, a black mountain range thrust upward from the center of this crimson plain, the two colors colliding in a violent, stark contrast.
The million-strong army of the Xuanwu Kingdom halted at the boundary of the red soil. Even a figure as tyrannical as Emperor Zuo dared not carelessly set foot upon this domain.
For ahead lay the legendary Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.
Scouring the most ancient and dusty scrolls of the Xuanwu Kingdom would yield not a single word regarding the specific perils of this place.
The records concerning the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land contained only a single, heavy phrase.
“Great Terror. Ten deaths, no life.”
“Hoo…”
Emperor Zuo exhaled a heavy breath of turbid Qi. With a wave of his right hand, he dispatched three humanoid puppets into the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.
He had exhausted the immense resources of the entire Xuanwu Kingdom to forge these three vessels.
Each puppet possessed the might to rival a Soul Formation great expert. Their husks were so dense that even the full-force strike of a Soul Formation cultivator could not easily shatter them.
Sacrificing these lifeless constructs to test the depths of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land was undoubtedly the safest approach.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Guided by Emperor Zuo’s will, the puppets crossed the threshold into the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.
Yet, as they ventured deeper, the anticipated slaughter did not manifest. The puppets advanced smoothly for several miles.
Witnessing this, Zuo Xinghe exhaled a sigh of relief and smiled.
“It seems the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land is not as terrifying as the legends claim…”
Hoo…
Before Zuo Xinghe could finish speaking, a gentle breeze swept over the three distant humanoid puppets. Instantly, they turned to fine dust, drifting into nothingness.
Faced with this silent, traceless obliteration, a heavy silence fell over the army.
Gulp!
Chen Changsheng swallowed hard, his mouth twitching. He considered asking Emperor Zuo if he had comprehended the laws behind that destruction.
But catching sight of Emperor Zuo’s icy expression, Chen Changsheng quickly buried the thought.
Acknowledging that mere objects could not map this abyss, Emperor Zuo waved his hand once more.
The million-strong army of the Xuanwu Kingdom shifted, their movements forming an impossibly profound grand Formation.
They channeled their collective Essence, refining the sheer martial will of a million men into a massive black spear spanning over ten miles.
Fusing a million lives into a single strike was the Xuanwu Kingdom’s supreme trump card, the very foundation of their undefeated martial history.
“Kill!”
A million soldiers roared as one. The resulting wave of blood-qi shattered the clouds in the firmament.
Carrying an apocalyptic weight, the colossal black spear tore toward the black mountain range of the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.
Boom!
The spear forged by a million men never touched the mountain. Instead, it violently collided against an invisible barrier.
Provoked by the strike, silver Formation Patterns instantly manifested across the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.
These cosmic scars ran deep, etched into every grain of earth within the domain.
As an Expert in Formations, Chen Changsheng cast a single glance at the unfathomable laws, and instantly, his vision went black, his very soul throbbing in agony.
The terrifying backlash forced him to avert his gaze, no longer daring to peer into the supreme manifestations of the Heavens that guarded this graveyard.
“Kill!”
Failing to pierce the peerless Formation Patterns, the Grand General of the Xuanwu Kingdom bellowed once more.
Blood poured from the seven orifices of a million soldiers. They burned their own lifeforce, forcing their inner fires to temper their mortal strength.
Gorging on this ocean of blood-qi, the black spear transmuted into a ghastly crimson, its crushing weight multiplying exponentially.
Supported by this suicidal offering, the crimson spear ground forward.
It pierced the invisible barrier by a single inch.
Neigh…
Just as a fleeting sense of triumph washed over the army, the hollow cry of a horse echoed into their ears.
The earth parted, birthing a skeletal horse from the dust. Atop its rotted saddle sat a suit of ancient bronze armor.
At a glance, it mirrored the silhouette of a man. Yet, a closer look revealed an absolute, hollow void beneath the bronze plates.
Clop. Clop. Clop.
The empty bronze shell urged the skeletal beast into a charge. With a casual sweep of a decaying war halberd, it struck the crimson spear forged by a million lives. The monumental weapon shattered like brittle glass.
A creeping numbness spread across Chen Changsheng’s scalp as he bore witness to this eerie entity.
As the bronze rider closed the distance, three white-haired elders burst forth from the ranks of the army.
The sheer gravity of their movements caused mountains to tremble and drained the color from the sky.
These three ancient men were the hidden foundation of the Xuanwu Kingdom. Each had clung to life for over 1,500 years.
Emperor Zuo’s lifespan drew to its bitter end, forcing his hand to breach the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.
These living ancestors of the Xuanwu Kingdom sought the exact same prize: to plunder the Forbidden Land and steal a few more centuries from the Heavens.
Seeing the kingdom’s foundation make their move, Emperor Zuo finally joined the fray.
Standing tall upon his war chariot, he pushed his bodily tempering to its absolute zenith. Through sheer, barbaric physical force, he tore a fissure directly into the supreme Formation Patterns.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The heavens roared in Chen Changsheng’s ears. With his meager cultivation, he could do nothing but huddle in the corner of the chariot, quietly observing the massacre.
Watching Emperor Zuo descend into a state of martial frenzy, Chen Changsheng could only lament the sheer horror of the tyrant’s might.
The paths of cultivation across these lands were vast and varied. Some sought the Dao through internal refinement, others through external tempering.
The Daqian Dynasty walked the orthodox path of internal Qi: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Soul Formation.
Conversely, the Xuanwu Kingdom forged themselves as living weapons, tempering their mortal flesh and sinews to godlike density.
Their stages of external cultivation were far simpler, categorized merely by distinct layers of physical ascension.
The measure of strength depended entirely on the specific manual they practiced, keeping the boundaries of power relatively aligned.
Despite the vast differences in method and terminology, the resulting destructive power mirrored each other perfectly.
The First Layer of Body Tempering matched Qi Condensation. The Fifth Layer mirrored the Soul Formation stage.
Ever since Emperor Zuo discarded the Ascension True Person as a mere afterthought, Chen Changsheng had been weighing the true depth of the Emperor’s realm.
Soul Formation was the fifth boundary of cultivation. To effortlessly butcher the Ascension True Person, Emperor Zuo must have ascended into the sixth layer.
Yet, staring at the furnace of blood-qi erupting from the Emperor’s body, Chen Changsheng realized he had still underestimated the man.
His cultivation had firmly planted its roots in the seventh realm.
The only imperfection was that he had likely just broken through, his foundation in this new realm still settling.
Sigh…
An ancient, melancholy sigh drifted from the black mountain range. In the blink of an eye, the three 1,500-year-old ancestors engaging the bronze armor collapsed into a fine mist of blood.
Chen Changsheng: !!!
Witnessing the Great Terror bare its fangs, the suffocating aura radiating from Emperor Zuo flared even higher.
“Sword, come!”
Emperor Zuo roared, his fist shattering the very fabric of space. Reaching into the void, he extracted an ancient, unadorned longsword.
Unhindered by the pulverized elders, the hollow bronze armor turned its dead gaze toward the Emperor.
Swish!
A single arc of sword Qi swept forward. Stretching for thousands of miles, the devastating wave effortlessly cleaved the bronze armor into broken fragments.
This divine artifact of slaughter was the ultimate heirloom of the Xuanwu Kingdom—the True Martial Sword.