Chapter 267: Brewing Unrest

Thinking back over the past year, Chu Qiguang realized that he had indeed been accumulating more and more knowledge.

"Are you alright?" the gatekeeper asked, wary after seeing Chu Qiguang fall into a thoughtful silence.

"Has Lin Lan read this book as well?" Chu Qiguang asked while looking at the familiar handwriting on the page.

"How do you know that?" the gatekeeper asked in surprise.

"There's a passage here that looks like it was written by her," Chu Qiguang explained. "Knowledge attracts knowledge... is that something she discovered?"

The gatekeeper was silent for a moment before sighing. "This idea was discovered long ago. Lin Lan merely stumbled upon it. Unfortunately, by the time we realized that it had to be taken seriously, it was already too late."

Chu Qiguang wanted to ask more questions, but the gatekeeper seemed lost in his own thoughts as he mused, "It was discovered a very long time ago that knowledge attracts more knowledge, but humans are ultimately unable to resist the allure of pursuing it. The more power one obtains, the more knowledge one desires, and because of this attraction between knowledge, people who possess knowledge are often drawn to one another as well.

"They either fight or communicate with each other, causing more knowledge to come together. Eventually, someone may obtain all the knowledge under the heavens and become the most terrifying demon of all. In recent years, the demonic tainting has become increasingly severe. Perhaps this is a warning from the heavens."

Leaving the gatekeeper to his thoughts, Chu Qiguang returned his attention to the page of the Corpse Codex before him.

As soon as the boon arose in his mind, he immediately chose the Blood Activation Arts. Immediately afterward, he felt his heart contract violently, drastically accelerating the circulation of his qi and blood.

"What's going on with you?" the gatekeeper asked, snapped out of his train of thought by the burst of heat that had just erupted from Chu Qiguang's body.

"I'm fine," Chu Qiguang replied, maintaining an expressionless facade to conceal the joy of reaching the second level of the Blood Activation Arts. "My leg fell asleep, so I sped up my circulation a little."

That night, Chu Qiguang discovered that the countdown for the Heavenly Blood Gale Force cultivation art had been shortened once again.

"27 days 2 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds."

The following day, when he left the mountain to cultivate the Sumeru King Scripture, he discovered that the countdown had also been shortened thanks to the Blood Activation arts, reduced from over 4,900 days to 4,290 days 8 hours 32 minutes and 55 seconds.

That's a reduction of over six hundred days! How has the Hunter Hand Faction not discovered that the Blood Activation Arts can aid in the cultivation of the Sumeru Strength Scripture? Is it because the factions are estranged from one another, or because the Blood Activation Arts is too difficult to cultivate? Perhaps they don't realize that the Blood Activation Arts aids in the cultivation of the Sumeru Strength Scripture because they don't have my dragon ocular power.

***

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, early November had already arrived.

By this point, autumn had well and truly set in, and the trees on Jade Face Mountain had already been stripped of their leaves.

On this day, Chu Qiguang was standing in a courtyard with Jiang Longyu, awaiting Zhong Shan'e's arrival.

Jiang Longyu was looking at Chu Qiguang with a triumphant expression. He had reached the first level of the Blood Activation Arts and couldn't wait to tell Zhong Shan'e the good news.

Just then, a voice rang out in the distance.

"You have to help us, Elder Zhong. Right now, you're the only one in the Demon Vanquishing Department who can quell the unrest at the nine border military bases."

"I'm nothing more than an old man! Are you trying to send me to my death?!"

Zhong Shan'e was walking alongside a middle-aged man with an imposing build and authoritative appearance. However, at that moment, the man was hunched over and gazing up at Zhong Shan'e with a pleading expression.

Upon noticing Jiang Longyu and Chu Qiguang, the man immediately straightened his posture, seemingly unwilling to embarrass himself in front of two trainees.

"This is Thousand-Man Commander Bai Lingxuan of the Jing Province," Zhong Shan'e casually introduced.

Chu Qiguang immediately recognized the name.

Bai Lingxuan? Isn't he the thousand-man commander who holds the record for reaching the third level of the Blood Activation Arts faster than anyone below the Dao Comprehension state?

Chu Qiguang could see eight tentacles extending from Bai Lingxuan's shadow.

Bai Lingxuan gave Chu Qiguang and Jiang Longyu an aloof nod of acknowledgment before turning back to Zhong Shan'e. "The nine border military bases are integral to the safety of the Great Han Empire, Elder Zhong. If they rise up in revolt, the consequences will be catastrophic!"

Zhong Shan'e heaved a faint sigh, then asked, "Have the two martial gods in the north said anything yet?"

Bai Lingxuan cast a hesitant glance at Chu Qiguang and Jiang Longyu.

"It's fine. You can discuss these matters in their presence," Zhong Shan'e reassured. "This is Jiang Longyu, and this is Chu Qiguang. They're both part of the current batch of trainees on Jade Face Mountain."

Bai Lingxuan's eyes lit up slightly as he looked at Jiang Longyu. He smiled and greeted, "I've heard a great deal about you, Jiang Longyu. I'm sure you'll be joining me in the Demon Vanquishing Department in the near future, and we're both members of the Fiend Assassin Faction, so I'll be sure to look after you wherever I can."

He then turned to Chu Qiguang, and his demeanor cooled slightly. "I've heard about the role you played in defending the archive building, Chu Qiguang. I'm sure you have a bright future ahead of you in the Demon Vanquishing Department."

"Tell me what's going on at the nine border military bases right now," Zhong Shan'e demanded. "If you don't tell me the truth, I won't get involved."

"Over the past couple of months, there's been a lot of unrest at the border military bases," Bai Lingxuan said. "They claim that they're mobilizing their forces in preparation for an invasion by the fiends, but they didn't report it to the Ministry of War at all. We haven't received any word that the northern fiends are preparing to invade, either."

"This is completely absurd!" Zhong Shan'e snapped, clenching his fists tightly. "Have those two bastards said anything?"

"Neither Martial God Zhou nor Martial God Shen has said anything, and neither of them has responded to the official letters sent to them by the imperial court," Bai Lingxuan replied.

Chu Qiguang had learned from Qiao Zhi that two Dao Comprehension-state martial gods presided over the nine border military bases. They were Spear God Zhou Junyan and Heavenly Lord Shen Rusong.

Both of them were members of the Vast Heavens Faction, and for the past decade, they had presided over the Cloud Midst Military Base and the Northern Peace Military Base, lauded by countless people as guardian deities of the north.

According to Qiao Zhi, there weren't supposed to be any survivors from the attack on Jade Face Mountain. That means without my interference, Zhong Shan'e would already be dead by now, so he obviously wouldn't have been able to go to the nine border military bases. Now that he's still alive, how will that alter the course of fate? Chu Qiguang wondered.