The Twenty-Three Swords cut essences.
Though the Golden-Winged Roc was no Primordial Spirit, its spirit and mind were destroyed by Jiang He with a single swing of his sword, and it certainly could not be deader now.
Its colossal body dropped out of the skies and smashed into the ground with a bang, causing the earth to tremble.
That was when Jiang He, still standing up in the air suddenly felt something, and looked up towards the distant horizon.
A distant cloud that had been quietly hanging there since the start of the battle abruptly turned into steam and smoke as it dispersed, as if it had never been there.
Jiang He frowned subtly. Was someone spying on him?
No, it might not even be human.
Jiang He could not help remembering the Golden-Winged Roc’s cries for help as death loomed…
The Dragoncroc Emperor?
Jiang He knew about that beast, since Three Blades Lin had mentioned it when he asked about the situation with the Golden-Winged Roc before—being one of two Feral Emperors in Hua Nation, its powers were unfathomable but squarely above the Golden-Winged Roc’s.
“That’s probably it!”
“I even heard from Minister Wang that when he, Dong Haichuan, and Yang Luchan tried to encircle and slay the Golden-Winged Roc, that Dragoncroc Emperor interfered in the critical moment… and it’s now coming to spy on me too?”
Jiang He thought to himself.
Why would the Dragoncroc Emperor spy on him in secret?
“If I’m remembering correctly, that Dragoncroc Emperor’s lair must have been Shennongjia. It’s two thousand miles away from here, and a Feral Emperor like it wouldn’t have run here for no reason!”
“The Golden-Winged Roc clearly knew that the Dragoncroc Emperor is here, which was why it cried for help… Could those two vermin have an agreement, for example… taking the advantage to kill me?”
“But because it could see that I’m actually strong enough, it betrayed the Golden-Winged Roc?”
Gasp!
Jiang He inhaled sharply.
He was actually in that much danger just now?
Indeed, if he was not powerful enough, the Dragoncroc Emperor would have blindsided him in his battle against the Golden-Winged Roc, and he would have been grievously injured even if he was not outright killed.
“I’ve never even crossed paths with the Dragoncroc Emperor, and yet it would scheme against me?”
There was a chilling glint in Jiang He’s eyes as he coldly seethed, “If the opportunity arises, I would question the Dragoncroc Emperor face-to-face about its intentions!”
Whoosh!
Jiang He descended from the skies then, stopping in front of the enormous crater that the Golden-Winged Roc’s corpse formed when it crashed down.
How heavy would a bird with a wingspan of 200 meters weigh?
Probably dozens of tons.
And when a corpse of such weight fell from thousands of meters over the skies, the crash caused by the acceleration of gravity was certainly frightening!
In fact, the crater from the crash was almost a kilometer in circumference, with dense cracks extending all over the edge of the crater over several kilometers more.
The corpse of the Golden-Winged Roc itself lay at the center of the crater, its body laden with sword wounds and untold number of its golden feathers having dropped off, leaving it basically featherless. Moreover, with half a wing sliced off and an entire talon missing—was pitiful even enough to describe its miserable state?
Even so, Jiang He was very satisfied.
“Half its feathers are gone so it saves the trouble of plucking, and since Twenty-Three Swords destroyed the Golden-Winged Roc’s mind, its corpse is relatively complete—full grilled bird is the best way to cook it.”
Yes.
When it comes to cooking an entire eagle, half a wing and one talon gone meant nothing. He just had to deal with not eating those stuff.
Come to think of it…
What was he even doing in the past?
So many delicious Feral corpses were not preserved in perfect condition, only with chunks of meat left to be stir-fried or barbecued. Was there anything thrilling about such food?
Reaching out with his hand, he retrieved the Golden-Winged Roc’s corpse.
That was when the Void-tier elites: Wang Hou, Dong Haichuan, and Yang Luchan reached him.
They were not actually too far away, but had deliberately stopped for a moment to compose their stirred emotions. Even so, they were flashing weird looks at Jiang He after they reached him, scanning him from head to toe as surprise filled their faces.
Damn it!
Those looks again!
Why would everyone love to look at him like that every time he did something not worth mentioning?
As such, Jiang He could not hold back from saying, “Gentlemen, I’ve merely killed the Golden-Winged Roc. It’s nothing that surprising, is it?”
Merely?
What?!
Us three failed to kill the bird even after we worked together to surround him. And here you are being all nonchalant about it—are you making light of us?
Nonetheless, the trio could not help being restless after composing themselves.
“Gentlemen, this is not the place to talk.”
Wang Hou suddenly said.
He was looking out at the distant horizon, and though he could not see anything, he felt something unnatural.
Hence, all four men streaked to the air and left.
After Jiang He, Wang Hou, Dong Haichuan, and Yang Luchan all left, another white cloud condensed at the distant horizon, wafting towards Mount Golden Roc and then hovering above it.
And above that cloud was a twenty-feet long crocodile with a weird appearance.
Its body was covered entirely in black scales that looked draconic, and there was also a single horn growing over its head that resembled a dragon’s as well.
The Dragoncroc Emperor, the other Feral Emperor of Hua Nation!
And yet, the feral that was superior to the Golden-Winged Roc was lying prone on the cloud, with a youth standing beside him.
The youth was wearing a green shirt and his visage had yet to be completely free from childishness, but his gaze was rather distant and there were several scales on his forehead.
“Your highness… did that kid cultivate immortal arts?”
The Dragoncroc Emperor spoke in human tongue hesitantly. “Perhaps the cultivators were not completely wiped out?”
“There’s no need to be concerned about a mere Golden Pellet cultivator. He must have inherited some legacy to gain such cultivation anyway.”
The scaled youth smiled faintly. “Back when the races of beyond invaded and Earth was being torn apart by war, the first emperor of humankind summoned every Qi Refinist in the world to build twelve Bronze Men and setting up a world barrier to seal the Stargate and the Earth’s draconic veins. Though they succeeded in cutting Earth out of the era of immortal arts for two thousand years, the draconic veins are now reviving, and it seems that the profound age of unrest is returning now.
Puzzled, the Dragoncroc Emperor was about to ask about the past when the youth shook his head, saying, “You’ll know when the time is right, Dragoncroc. Take me back, for I have just revived and need to cultivate in seclusion in order to stabilize my current tier.”
***
Meanwhile.
Beside a scenic lake over a thousand miles away.
Whoosh!
Four figures—Jiang He, Wang Hou, Dong Haichuan, and Yang Luchan descended from the skies.
Once they landed, Jiang He could not refrain from complaining, “What’s up, Old Wang? I had yet to scrounge through the Golden-Winged Roc’s nest, and there might be treasures within since it was a Feral Emperor and all.”
Wang Hou’s eyes glinted in slight confusion, but he frowned regardless. “I don’t know, but I suddenly felt something dangerous as if a certain eminence was spying on us in secret.”
Both Dong Haichuan and Yang Luchan turned to him then.
They were both Void-tier elites and did not dull in comparison to Wang Hou in martial cultivation.
Even so, they sensed nothing.
“This has to do with my path.”
Wang Hou simply explained.
Jiang He gasped in surprise then. “Oh, yes, I did sense something right after I killed the Golden-Winged Roc too, as if something powerful was watching in secret… Could it be the Dragoncroc Emperor?”
“No way.”
Wang Hou said confidently. “The Dragoncroc Emperor may be powerful, but there was no way it could trigger my danger sense with us four together. I suspect that some powerful being who had been in slumber has awakened!”
“Oh?”
Jiang He turned to Wang Hou at that as well.
Both Dong Haichuan and Yang Luchan were stunned as well.
“Minister Wang, the Dragoncroc Emperor had mentioned that as well… could the daemons really have powerful comrades in slumber?”
“I don’t know.”
Wang Hou shook his head in reply. “Still, there is a good chance that there were: according to the data from the Superpower Research Department, animals that evolve into Ferals would gain extremely long lifespans, and while Void-tier humans could only live up to five hundred years, Ferals of the same level could easily live up to eight hundred years, and the stronger ones would survive even longer!”
“Of course, Ferals are what we call them. Those things refer to themselves as daemons, and I myself had read about them even on ancient archives when I had been investigating certain matters. It was the Era of Qi Refinists then, and the daemons would certainly have been much stronger, even oppressing humankind.”
As he spoke, he turned towards Jiang He with a smile. “Jiang He, you must have inherited the heritage site of a certain Qi Refinist or cultivator, yes? Do you know much about the daemons?”
Inherited, my foot!
As for daemons or whatnot… hell if I know?
Nonetheless, it was best if he did not reveal that he was creating immortal arts. Since Wang Hou was presuming that he possessed some heritage site or legacy, let him presume away.
Hence, he simply said, “I’ve only received two immortal arts and one soul weapon that is the flying sword, and nothing else.”
Yang Luchan’s eyes lit up at that. Despite knowing that it was impolite to ask about another person’s cultivation methods, he could not help asking, “Was the last sword technique that you killed the Golden-Winged Roc with an immortal art? It was truly formidable, and my sword was humming in resonance in from a dozen miles away.”
“Oh, are you talking about the Twenty-Three Swords?”
Jiang He replied earnestly. “It’s not actually an immortal art but a swordplay I put together myself… it should still be categorized as martial arts.”
That’s right.
The Twenty-Three Swords was not an immortal art.
The Storm Riders franchise was a martial artist show and high fantasy at best. What does that even have to do with cultivators?
Still, silence immediately ensued.
Astonishment was written all over Yang Luchan’s face as he exclaimed in shock, “You truly are a divine prodigy, creating such an extraordinary sword technique at such a young age!”
“Haha!”
Amused, Jiang He answered humbly, “I’m not actually that powerful. I merely developed that technique by referring to movies and tv dramas.”
Yang Luchan: “…”
Wang Hou: “…”
Dong Haichuan: “…”
‘Is this person even human?
‘Movies and tv dramas…
‘You actually managed to develop a swordplay of such nature-defying proportions just by watching that stuff?!’
