Chapter 1171 - 799: Poor Chen Xu

Whatever this so-called Ancient Divine Demon Tomb is, as long as I pry everything open, let’s see how you can keep anything hidden.

No one can stop Zhou Chuan from advancing; only if his Martial Dao breaks through to the Eleventh Tier will he have a chance to completely resolve this Gong Family trouble.

Zhang Chen looked at the indignant Zhou Chuan, a strange look flashing in his eyes: "Old Turtle Ridge stretches for eight hundred miles, with countless great mountains standing tall. If you want to bore through all of them, I’m afraid it would take thousands of years. Moreover, this place is protected by the Power of the Dragon Vein, even Divine Techniques can hardly shake it. Trying to tunnel through it will be hard as hell—you’d be digging till the Year of the Monkey."

"For my Martial Dao to break through to the Eleventh Tier, I must use the souls of Ancient Divine Demons to grind my own soul, only then can my soul undergo metamorphosis. I have no choice! If I can’t break through the Eleventh Tier in Martial Dao, the Gong Family will never let me go, they’ll keep tangling with me endlessly, and I’ll never know peace for the rest of my life." Zhou Chuan’s voice was full of steely resolve.

"Is the Gong Family really that terrifying?" Zhang Chen asked.

At these words Zhou Chuan’s expression turned grave: "The Gong Family people wield a bizarre wind ability that’s extremely uncanny—some winds can blow all matter into annihilation, some winds can blow a person’s soul out of their body, and some winds can whip up spatial tides... all kinds of effects that are impossible to guard against!"

Zhang Chen’s brows furrowed; in his heart he felt he ought to lend Zhou Chuan a hand, help him refine a Martial Dao sixteen-zhang Golden Body to counter the Gong Family’s might.

Zhang Chen knew the cultivation realms of the Martial Dao. The First Realm of Martial Dao is the mortal flesh; the Second Realm is refining Qi Blood; the Third Realm is opening Acupoints; the Fourth Realm is refining the Dharma Aspect; the Fifth Realm is the Martial Dao Golden Body.

This realm system is different from the cultivation world’s tier divisions. Zhou Qiucheng refining a Martial Dao Dharma Aspect has already stepped into the Tenth Tier, and can even clash with Eleventh Tier experts.

The Martial Dao has an innate advantage: the Martial Dao body is extremely tough. After being tempered by Qi Blood and other Sacrificial Refining, especially upon reaching the Tenth Tier and undergoing tempering by the Three Calamities, it transforms into Steel Bones, essentially a natural vajra physique.

One can’t say heaven can’t extinguish it or earth can’t bury it, but destroying and crushing it is extraordinarily difficult.

And for the Gong Family to inspire such dread in Zhou Chuan, it seems he had indeed underestimated the people of this world.

"The Gong Family... truly worthy of an Ancient Race that has persisted for countless tens of thousands of years, surviving from the Ancient Era until now. It really is terrifying." A solemn light flashed in Zhang Chen’s eyes.

Fortunately, he had dug a massive pit for the Gong Family. Once the matter of the Tree of Life spreads, the Gong Family will likely be not far from annihilation.

In a matter concerning extending lifespan and Immortality, no one will yield. The Great Victory royal clan will not back down, and neither will the great families and various Ancient Races of the world.

"Come to think of it, it’s strange—recently the Gong Family’s activities seem to have quieted down. My troubles seem to have lessened quite a bit." A trace of puzzlement appeared in Zhou Chuan’s voice.

At this Zhang Chen felt a peculiar ripple in his heart; he thought of the Tree of Life Coffin. Most likely the news of the Tree of Life Coffin had already been sent to the Great Victory royal court by the old eunuch Dugu Qiu, and the Great Victory royal clan should be making moves, so the Gong Family’s influence has begun to contract.

Zhang Chen and Zhou Chuan talked for a while longer, then heard Zhou Chuan say: "It’s a pity we can’t quickly find the precise location of that tomb. I’ve heard the Demon Race army is sweeping forward like bamboo; I don’t know if I can locate that tomb before their army arrives."

Hearing this, Zhang Chen pondered for a moment, and suddenly a figure surfaced in his mind: Chen Xu.

If he could find Chen Xu and have Chen Xu search for the tomb’s location, wouldn’t that solve everything?

"I wonder if that kid Chen Xu took the chance to slip away. But how did that kid get caught by a bunch of Samurai?" Zhang Chen thought of Chen Xu but didn’t know whether Chen Xu had some other plan. So as not to interfere with Chen Xu’s affairs, Zhang Chen didn’t mention him and instead pretended not to know his whereabouts.

Only when night fell did the situation quickly take a turn.

That night

In the team that Chen Xu was in, a group of people were all worrying over their own futures, while only Chen Xu shrank within the crowd, countless thoughts flashing in his mind:

"There’s a tomb here left over from Ancient Times, but it’s been occupied by that brute Zhou Chuan who wants to build a mountain stronghold. To search for traces of this tomb, I had no choice but to pretend to be a refugee and sneak in. Tomorrow, once I’m assigned to do menial labor, I’ll find an opportunity to wander all over the mountains. If I can find the location of that Ancient Divine Demon Tomb, I might be able to push my cultivation further."

Years ago, Chen Xu had come from the Northern Land and, passing through here by chance, sensed the aura of a great tomb. Unfortunately, before he could act, Zhou Chuan seized the area and became king of the mountain, and Chen Xu no longer had a chance to get close.

Only after finally waiting until Zhou Chuan wanted large-scale construction to build palaces did he have an opportunity to sneak in.

Chen Xu was thinking about the tomb when he suddenly saw a group of Samurai approaching. The Sixth Son’s gaze swept the crowd and fell upon the tender, delicate Chen Xu; he pointed a finger: "You. Someone come tie him up."

With that order, a pack of guards fierce as wolves swarmed up and directly bound Chen Xu.

A bad premonition rose in Chen Xu’s heart: "What are you going to do?"

He’d already sensed something was wrong and was just about to circulate his Bloodline Power to resist and then flee down the mountain. But before he could make a move, the next instant he saw an iron collar appear in the other man’s hand, and with a sharp "clack" it snapped around his neck. Chen Xu’s Bloodline Power instantly vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed, his body completely reverting to that of a mortal.

"What the hell is this thing?" Chen Xu hurriedly tried to yank off the iron collar around his neck, but that collar was immovable as a mountain. As a mere mortal, how could he possibly pry it open?

"Tie him up and carry him off!" Sixth Son said with a smile.

Night Feast

To welcome Zhang Chen’s group, Zhou Chuan held a grand bonfire party in the mountains. In the middle of the drunken revelry, Zhang Chen’s gaze suddenly sharpened—he saw Chen Xu, his legs and feet bound with ropes, being carried in on a thick pole.

"To liven things up for everyone, today we’ll put on a little specialty act for you. We locals like to use live people to greet guests from afar, so we picked someone with just the right mix of fat and lean to entertain everyone." Sixth Son stood in the middle of the crowd and called out, instantly drawing all eyes to him.

"Eating people?" Zhang Chen looked at the suspended Chen Xu, a hint of severity flashing in his eyes.

Beside him, Zhou Chuan said, "It’s the local custom. This is the territory of the Marquis of Nanyang. Using live people for burial, for sacrifice, for eating—that’s the custom here. I just want to dig up that big tomb and can’t be bothered to manage them. Of course, these Nanyang people aren’t human in my eyes either, they’re all man‑eating beasts. Even if I work them to death, I don’t feel a thing."

"Honored guest, you have the honor of ordering the first cut." Sixth Son, holding a small knife, came respectfully before Zhang Chen and bowed. The little knife gleamed coldly; under the firelight it made people’s hair stand on end.

Over there, when Chen Xu saw Zhang Chen, his eyes suddenly lit up. Unfortunately his mouth was gagged, so he couldn’t make a sound, and could only struggle with all his might.

Zhang Chen acted as if he hadn’t seen Chen Xu at all, instead showing interest. "So where should we make the first cut?"

Sixth Son chuckled flatteringly at the words. "We locals usually start with the ears. Ears taste the best, they’ve got the most chew."

"Mmm~ mmm~ mmm~" Chen Xu twisted desperately on the pole, his mouth constantly whimpering as he tried frantically to draw Zhang Chen’s attention.

But Zhang Chen seemed not to notice any of the commotion over there. After a brief thought he said, "Then cut the ears. First slice off one ear and let me have a taste."

At the side, Zhou Chuan’s expression turned strange. "Zhang, you’re actually going to eat it? I’ve heard people say that eating human flesh causes Bloodline diseases. Human meat shouldn’t be eaten."

Then Zhou Chuan scolded Sixth Son: "What kind of way is this to receive a distinguished guest, you locals? Hurry up and carry him away, you embarrassing fools."

Sixth Son shuddered at his words, hurriedly apologized, and was just about to leave when he heard Zhang Chen say, "I’ve actually never tasted ears before. Go ahead and cut them off for me to try."

In this world, eating people is nothing unusual. And not just this world—the previous life was the same, wasn’t it? Before the Spring and Autumn period they used living people as burial goods, the wax‑sealed palaces used young girls as Magical Artifacts. As for that so‑called holy land in the West—what holy land? It’s clearly Lion Camel Ridge, a place cast in red with living human blood and flesh.

In this world it’s all too common to use living people as rations.

Over there, when Chen Xu heard this his mind instantly panicked, and he struggled frantically.

Sixth Son hesitated briefly, then turned and said to the guard, "Wash his ears!"

Once the ears were washed, someone was about to slice them off. Seeing this, Chen Xu whimpered in terror, his body twisting and writhing like a giant earthworm. The man said, "Someone come hold him down for me!"

A few people pressed Chen Xu flat to the ground. Just as they were about to put the gleaming blade to work, they heard Zhang Chen suddenly change his mind. "Don’t cut the ears. Cut the nose instead."

"Someone, wash the nose!"

The guard quickly started washing his nose again. Chen Xu, scared out of his wits, made muffled, hoarse sounds, but with his mouth gagged he couldn’t shout.

When the nose was finally cleaned, the guard was just about to bring the knife down when Zhang Chen again changed his tone. "Hold it—better cut his dick. I’ve heard that you are what you eat; I’m curious whether eating dick is a great tonic."

Sixth Son’s expression changed, a chill running through his crotch, then he quickly turned to the guard and said, "Someone, cut his dick! Find two young maidens to wash his dick."

Then he turned back to Zhang Chen and said, "The best way to eat dick is to have eighteen‑year‑old girls do a live wash. Once it swells up and is filled with blood, you slice it off—it’s the best tonic. At that moment all the Yang Qi in a man’s body gathers in his dick; the dick is flooded with all his Yang Qi. That’s what makes it a truly supreme tonic."

"Mmm~ mmm~ mmm~, Zhang Chen you heartless bastard, you son of a bitch!" Chen Xu writhed madly, trying to curse him out, but all his raging insults turned into whimpering sounds.