Chapter 2053: Spark
Chapter 2053: Spark
Zu An quickly returned to his original spot. With a wave of his sleeve, an invisible wave of energy brushed past the many years of built-up snow, revealing a dozen or so tombs underneath.
His gaze landed on the weapons stabbed into the dirt. They included swords, blades, spears, bows, and other weapons. However, the unusual thing about them was the amount. There were some graves that only had a single sword, while others others had blades, spears, swords, and bows.
If they were normal tombs, perhaps such a thing could signify that the owners' statuses were different, causing a difference in their burial goods. However, these were soldiers who died on the front lines. They had clearly been buried hurriedly under ice and snow so they wouldn’t just be sitting out in the open. People absolutely wouldn’t bother to treat them differently in such a situation.
If they were provided different burial goods, wouldn’t the soldiers all be bitterly disappointed, too? In theory, the tombs would normally have carried the weapons they used when they were still alive. Perhaps some soldiers would use both a blade and a spear, but why would they have bows and arrows too? Furthermore, there were some blades and spears of different styles too.
With Zu An's present cultivation, he keenly sensed that these blades and spears couldn't possibly have been used by the same person. In that case, the weapons had to have another special reason for being here. Thus, he swept clear another area of snow, revealing even more tombs.
After investigating them, he discovered that the appearance and style of the weapons weren't what mattered, but rather the number of different types of weapons. All of the blades, no matter how many of them there were next to the tombs, could be considered one type; so could all of the spears, all of the swords, and so on... Additionally, the types of weapons next to the tombs increased in order from one to nine, with nine tombs forming one set. The sets seemed to be arranged together like a kind of formation.
Earlier, when he opened up the graves, the weapons next to them seemed to have been shining with a weak light, but it had quickly faded.
After taking a moment to think to himself, he walked up to a tomb with just a single sword. A fine streak of ki cut open one of the graves. Sure enough, the sword lit up. Then, he walked up to a tomb that had two types of weapons... Just like that, the tombs lit up one after another until nine tombs were lit up.
Zu An sighed in relief. Even if an ordinary person just happened to light up one or two of them by accident, if they didn’t follow the patterns, the lights would quickly fade away.
As the nine tombs lit up, a vibration came from the ground as if there were an earthquake.
Zu An rose into the air and looked down at the snowy tombs. Soon after, he followed another special sequence and lit up some tombs. The entire snowfield suddenly emanated streaks of blue lines. Then, a giant formation began to appear in the snowfield.
Zu An was pleasantly surprised. This had to be a formation the ancient Fiend race ancestors set up! The way to use it had probably been left with the Fiend races, but as time went on, the things they left behind had gradually been lost. There were likely only some fragmented legends left behind here and there. That was why he had only been able to arrive at this place after many officers shared and discussed their intelligence together at Mengte City.
Fortunately, he had learned the Baopu Sutra and was familiar with formations. He wasn’t too stupid either, and was able to activate this ancient formation through trial and error.
Just what did those fiend seniors from back then leave behind?
He stared at the formation that gradually took form on the surface. His expression suddenly changed. This seemed to be a Soul Capturing Formation! Such a formation was extremely treacherous. The souls of the creatures who died here would never be able to transcend! Was this a formation left behind by the ancient Fiend races or the ancient monsters?
Suddenly, a drone filled the air. The weapons next to the tombs trembled. At first, it happened in an extremely small range, but the vibration soon grew more and more intense. The snow that had accumulated for many years also began to break apart bit by bit, revealing the original forms underneath.
Weapons flew up one after another, then moved toward set graves. They flew in circles while releasing waves of cries. Immediately after, the surroundings became extremely cold. This world of ice and snow was already extremely cold, but now, it had become even colder. It wasn’t just a chill in the physical sense, but rather one that came from the soul.
Soon after, figures rose one after another from the tombs. Even Zu An shivered a bit, because he saw the person from the tomb he had opened up earlier also standing up. However, he quickly calmed down. These seemed to be the souls of the ancient fiend soldiers. What kinds of beings hadn’t he seen before in the different secret dungeons he had visited in the past? Ghosts weren’t all that strange.
The soldiers’ spirits all turned to Zu An just then. They muttered, “You are not a descendant of the Fiend races; you are a human, an enemy. Exterminate...”
As they spoke, their weapons pointed straight at Zu An. There were countless weapons everywhere, all surrounding Zu An at the center.
“Wait! I am the Fiend races’ reg...” Zu An began, but before he could even finish, the spirits already entered their respective weapons and attacked him from all directions.
Zu An darted around like lightning, barely dodging the attacks. Unfortunately, there were too many weapons, and these soldiers’ cultivations in life weren’t low. At the very least, they were far stronger than the elites the Second Empress commanded. Eventually, he had nowhere to escape. Ten thousand swords were about to penetrate his heart when a great golden bell suddenly appeared. The weapons were all deflected when they made contact with the bell's surface.
But this wasn’t the original Tranquility Bell in the end, and there were too many weapons. Right now, it was as if he was facing an entire army. Cracks quickly appeared on the bell, and it would clearly be destroyed soon.
Zu An was getting annoyed from being one-sidedly beaten down. With a harrumph, he used the Primordial Origin Sutra. A streak of white light appeared around him. As soon as the weapons approached, they suddenly cried out in fear and quickly flew back. White smoke came out from their bodies as if they had encountered something terrifying, to the extent that some of them lost half of their soul bodies.
Then, the weapons all stopped, not daring to crazily attack like before. Zu An said with a sneer, “Come at me! Why are you all stopping now?”
He flew at the weapons as he spoke. However, they acted as if they had seen a ghost and flew away. It really was quite a strange scene. Just then, countless weapons had cornered Zu An alone, and yet now, Zu An seemed to be the one cornering countless weapons. Wherever he went, the weapons scattered away and hid.
Zu An sneered. He wasn't necessarily invincible against other enemies, but defeating the dead was too easy. The Primordial Origin Sutra’s purification effects were their natural bane.
After he chased them continuously for a while, a strange flying sword suddenly flew out from among the weapons. The sword wasn’t straight; rather, its blade was wavy. It was dark-coloredd, and there were signs of rust on it. However, the other weapons seemed to respect it a lot. All of them moved aside respectfully in its presence.
A spirit dressed in full armor and a helmet, who seemed to be a general, flew out from the strange sword. It bowed to Zu An and asked, “What kind of relationship does your distinguished self have with our Fiend races?”
“You didn’t even hear me out and started attacking me, but you’re now here to be friends?” Zu An retorted coldly. This general’s strength didn’t seem to be low. If not because his Primordial Origin Sutra was perfect for countering him, winning wouldn't be that easy.
“It was indeed our side that was wrong earlier. But after being trapped for so many years, we could not help but develop a bit of vicious intent. When we saw that your respected self was not from the Fiend races, we naturally treated you as an enemy and attacked,” the general said with an embarrassed laugh.
“Then you're not treating me as an enemy anymore?” Zu An replied in annoyance. He hadn’t expected that this general would still bully the weak and yield to the strong even after turning into a ghost.
“That is because your respected self’s cultivation is clearly powerful, and you have a way of severely wounding our soul bodies, yet you still held back and did not endanger our lives. That was when I realized that your distinguished self was not an enemy, but a friend,” the general said in a serious tone.
When he saw that the general’s attitude had become much better, Zu An couldn't really act up anymore either. He said, “I have indeed been entrusted by the Fiend races with the task of locating the sealed land by investigating several possible locations. However, from the looks of things, the sealed land is not here.”
“Did something bad happen to the sealed land again after all?” the general asked, seemingly having already anticipated this happening.
“You don’t seem to be too surprised,” Zu An said; in fact, he was the one who was a bit surprised.
“In the past, the high priest prophesied this day, so we were left behind here to wait for the day when our descendants came here. Then, we would dedicate our lives one last time to the battlefield,” the general said. He seemed a bit hesitant as he asked, “May I ask how to address your distinguished self, and what kind of relationship you have with the Fiend races?” He quickly added, “It is not that I do not believe your distinguished self, but rather that this is related to the prosperity and decline of the entire Fiend races, as well as the survival of this world. It really is hard for me to imagine why our descendants would send a human to this place.”
“I am the Fiend races' regent. There is no candidate more suitable for this than me,” Zu An replied.
“Regent?” the general repeated, stunned. The other weapons also vibrated with noise, as if they were whispering with each other. This was completely beyond their imaginations. Why would a human become the regent?
The general had a look of grief as he asked, “Could it be that our Fiend races have already been dominated by the humans?”
Zu An knew the general was overthinking things and said, “That's not it at all. I just happened to end up in this position.” Then, he tossed over his regent token.
The general received the token and gently caressed it. Soon after, streaks of faint light appeared on the patterns. The general nodded slightly and said, “This is indeed the true inheritance of our Fiend races.” When he heard that the Fiend races hadn’t been taken over, he sighed in relief and returned the token, asking, “May I ask how your respected self became the regent?”
Zu An was getting a bit impatient, replying, “Are you all done yet, interrogating me again and again? I still have more important matters to take care of with the monsters invading, and I don’t have time to chat idly with you. You're the ones who should be talking. What are you doing here?”
The general chuckled in embarrassment and said, "I was wrong. After not talking with another for so long, I could not help but become a bit long-winded.” Then, his expression became serious as he explained, “In the past, the high priest predicted that a great disaster would befall the Fiend races, and the entire world could be destroyed. That was why we were willing to have our souls eternally trapped in these weapons in hopes that when the day came, we could serve as the spark for the Fiend races’ counterattack.”