Chapter 305 - 190: Savage Wilds

Chapter 305: Chapter 190: Savage Wilds

A chill ran down Wu Qiuyuan’s spine.

If things really escalated to that point, he would be the man who brought ruin to the Wu Family.

"Lord Shao, just give the order. I will do whatever you say,"

Wu Qiuyuan said hurriedly.

Shao Santong lowered his voice and whispered something.

Wu Qiuyuan’s expression changed drastically. He shook his head repeatedly. "No, absolutely not!"

"Very well. I’ll announce what the Wu Family has done to the entire world and let everyone be the judge. Does the Wu Family really think they can do whatever they please?"

Shao Santong sneered.

Instantly, all the color drained from Wu Qiuyuan’s face. He collapsed weakly to the ground.

...

Su Mu’s group of eight emerged one by one from the forest.

Standing at the edge of the woods, they all looked out into the distance.

Within their line of sight was a stretch of rolling hills. Farther beyond lay a vast, seemingly endless desert of gravel.

Even from a distance, they could see all sorts of foul, miasmatic, and hostile auras blanketing the area.

This was the aura that humans collectively called Demonic Qi.

Humans living in this environment would be corroded by the Demonic Qi, which was harmful to the body. The final result was demonic corruption and death.

Demons, however, could use this aura to cultivate.

Even so, the demons didn’t like living in such a harsh environment. That was why the demonic beasts of the Barrens had always wanted to invade the Da Xuan Dynasty.

"Just how big are the Barrens, anyway?"

Xu Chongyuan lamented.

"Probably no one can say for sure just how big the Barrens are,"

Shi Ziran said.

Along the way, he had finished all the Elixirs he had seized from the Demon Court’s beasts.

By sparing no expense, his injuries had mostly recovered.

Shi Ziran was a True Essence Realm Martial Artist, after all. Though he had looked miserable before, superficial wounds were actually the easiest for a True Essence Realm Martial Artist to recover from.

His old internal injuries, however, had never fully healed.

Even so, he could now just barely exert the strength of the Initial-Tier True Essence Realm.

At least he no longer needed to be carried.

"As far as I know, the territory currently controlled by the Demon Court alone is no smaller than the Da Xuan Dynasty,"

Shi Ziran said.

"It seems the Taiping Bureau has been underestimating the Demon Court all this time,"

Xu Chongyuan mused.

"It’s not necessarily that we underestimated them. It’s just that the Taiping Bureau has enough power to protect itself, but not enough to meddle in the affairs of the Barrens,"

Su Mu said.

The Taiping Bureau was already very strong, but it wasn’t without its own troubles.

Just the fall of two Marquises was enough for factions within Da Xuan to target the Taiping Bureau at every turn.

Under these circumstances, it was already impressive that the Taiping Bureau could maintain order within Da Xuan. How could it possibly have the strength to manage the Demon Court outside of Da Xuan’s borders?

"That’s true,"

Xu Chongyuan sighed. "It’s a shame the Demon Court has already become so established."

"Even without the Demon Court, there’s always the threat of a Demon Tide that could erupt at any moment. Da Xuan can never truly rest easy,"

Shi Ziran said.

"The affairs of the world aren’t for a few Taiping Captains like us to worry about. Do you think the Marquises can’t see what we can?"

Su Mu said, "Shi Ziran, which way to Hujue Pass?"

"To the south,"

Shi Ziran explained, "If we just follow Daxing Mountain south, we’ll see Hujue Pass. However, there’s a large army of Demon Court beasts on that path. If we want to get through, we’ll need to circle around through the Barrens here."

He had previously followed Sha Tongtian all the way from Hujue Pass to the Barrens in order to assassinate him.

"I was mixed in with Sha Tongtian’s group before, so I didn’t encounter any attacks from demonic beasts along the way,"

Shi Ziran said with a serious expression. "The Demon Court’s beasts won’t attack members of the Pure Land Sect, but if they discover us, they absolutely will not let us go."

Leaving Daxing Mountain didn’t mean they were safe.

On the contrary, the Barrens were even more dangerous than Daxing Mountain.

The demonic beasts in Daxing Mountain might have ignored them, but once the Demon Court’s forces discovered people from the Taiping Bureau, it would be a fight to the death.

A few Taiping Captains appearing in the Barrens was like tossing chunks of meat into a pond full of piranhas.

"At our speed, if we’re lucky and don’t run into any demonic beasts, we should be able to reach the outskirts of Hujue Pass in seven or eight days,"

Shi Ziran said.

"Lead the way,"

Su Mu said without hesitation.

Shi Ziran nodded gravely and took the lead, heading forward.

He had been to the Barrens before and naturally understood the danger of this journey. One wrong move, and they could all die here.

Shi Ziran wasn’t afraid of death, but he didn’t want to die either. He still had a great vengeance to enact, and he couldn’t stop worrying about the Saintess.

But back in Daxing Mountain, he had made his decision. He was going to take a huge gamble.

The Saintess’s feelings for Su Mu were obvious. Even if Shi Ziran hadn’t acknowledged him as his master that day, Su Mu was bound to become his superior eventually.

That being the case, it was better to acknowledge Su Mu as his master now and pave the way for the Saintess.

Besides, he was betting that Su Mu would one day become a great figure in Da Xuan.

He, Shi Ziran, only had so much ability. It was already unlikely he could avenge the Sect Leader and the Saintess on his own.

If Su Mu truly grew powerful one day, then he, Shi Ziran, would be a follower who had backed a rising dragon. When that time came, his great revenge might finally be possible.

He was betting that Su Mu wouldn’t die prematurely.

That was why he had willingly become a servant and risked his life to accompany Su Mu back into the Barrens.

Shi Ziran mustered all his concentration and walked at the very front to lead the way.

Xu Chongyuan and the others followed close behind.

After leaving Daxing Mountain, they were completely unfamiliar with the Barrens. For now, they could only rely on Shi Ziran to guide them.

Fortunately, Shi Ziran had already proven his reliability along the journey.

If he had truly wanted to harm them, he’d had countless opportunities back in Daxing Mountain.

The group traveled in silence, quickly covering twenty or thirty li.

By this point, they were all beginning to feel the harshness of the Barrens’ environment.

The ubiquitous Demonic Qi constantly assaulted their bodies, forcing them to continuously circulate their qi and blood to resist its corrosion.

This caused their stamina to deplete at an extremely rapid rate.

Besides needing to constantly resist the Demonic Qi, the foul, coppery stench that lingered in the air made it difficult for them to breathe.

In this kind of environment, if they encountered a demonic beast, they would be lucky to unleash even eighty percent of their full strength.

"Stop!"

Su Mu and Shi Ziran whispered at almost the same time.

Then, with a flicker of movement, both of them dove behind a dune.

Although Xu Chongyuan, Zhong Guizheng, and the others didn’t know what was happening, they didn’t hesitate for a second, mimicking Su Mu and Shi Ziran by diving behind the dune.

They suppressed their auras and, following Su Mu’s lead, slowly crawled to the top of the dune to look ahead.

Instantly, they all held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

A little over a hundred zhang away, several dozen demonic beasts were marching past in formation.

These dozens of demonic beasts were all walking upright on two thick, powerful legs. If not for their large size, they would have looked almost human from a distance.

The beasts carried a motley assortment of weapons in their hands: greatswords, long spears, Long Halberds, and some even just carried iron rods.

They looked like a disorderly mob, yet they gave off a strangely shocking impression.

The auras of these dozens of demonic beasts were quite strong. Most were Tier-Two, and the two leading them were definitely Tier-Three.

Seeing Su Mu looking eager to make a move, Shi Ziran frantically shot him a look.

If it were just these few dozen demonic beasts, with his and Su Mu’s strength, plus the five other Taiping Captains, they would have a chance of wiping them all out.

But this was the Barrens. Their opponents weren’t scattered stragglers, but Demon Soldiers of the Demon Court.

Once they made a move, unless they could kill them all instantly with a lightning strike, they would definitely attract even more Demon Soldiers.

Shi Ziran didn’t need to remind him; Su Mu knew it himself. This was a merit they couldn’t afford to earn.

The most important thing now was to get to Hujue Pass. It wasn’t wise to cause unnecessary trouble here.

They lay quietly behind the dune until the dozens of demonic beasts were far in the distance, and only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.

"My Lord, we have a problem. When I passed through here before, there were no Demon Soldiers from the Demon Court. It seems the Demon Court may have already begun its move. They might have even surrounded Hujue Pass.

I’m afraid it won’t be so easy for us to approach Hujue Pass now,"

Shi Ziran said in a low voice, his expression grave.