Chapter 75: Southern Spirit
Southern Ling River, an eighty-person Clawed People troop served as the vanguard scouting ahead, directing local defectors to the Clawed People to find rivers and water sources along the way.
These Clawed People north of Ling River all wore straw sandals, tied straps, carried water canteens slung over their shoulders, and donned vine helmets, looking quite imposing. As the earliest batch to submit, they now felt contempt for their kin south of Ling River.
Among all the Clawed People in the troop, the one holding his head highest was Yi Ke Te. Three days ago, he was granted a Qi Ling Dan refined from Wu Fei’s ashes. After his bones were reforged, he was largely indistinguishable from a human, except for the extra bones on his palms that had not yet been refined, but this did not hinder his finger dexterity. His claws could now extend and retract freely like Wolverine’s, and if not deliberately revealed, no one would notice.
While issuing commands to the Clawed People troop he led, Yi Ke Te also regarded himself as a Da Yao Soldier.
Although as long as the Southern Border Mountains and Rivers remained peaceful and continuously enriched, the hundred tribes would increasingly resemble the inland populace, Yi Ke Te had skipped several generations of detours, transforming directly from a barbarian into a Da Yao Person. In the current Southern Border full of opportunities, he had started ahead of other Southern Border people.
Terms like “barbarian” had begun to be used more and more by the recruited vassal army after the Wu Family Army won the Black Tide War. And with year after year of exiting closed-door cultivation, it gradually spread across all of north of Ling River.
As Wu Fei’s forces approached Ling River in recent years, the Southern Border descendants on the North Bank of Ling River, who were despised, quickly passed this contempt on to their kin in Southern Ling River who were still eating raw meat and drinking blood.
Especially now, after the Wu Family Army fully crossed the river and the hundred tribes surrendered one after another, these earliest Clawed People who defected to the Wu Family Army naturally wanted to carry this Winning Studies through to the end.
Because the “taste of victory” is a spiritual stimulant that every social group must acquire to maintain its cohesion.
In the main force, Xuan Chong observed the vassal army’s situation and silently recorded it.
…Notebook…
Xuan Chong on the “Mental Victory Method of Religion”: In previous life history, the difference between mature civilizations and immature ones in this regard was that after development stagnated, mature civilizations could better restrain this demand. Immature civilizations, however, seized every opportunity to humiliate and torment weaker groups, endlessly acquiring this spiritual stimulant. They would repeatedly pose conditions in a teaching posture but offer no chance for the weak to join.
This caused immature civilizations, during their dominant periods, to always fail to unify and merely maintain division’s drawbacks.
The Southern Border hundred tribes were never united to begin with. Li Huo Sect had violently gathered these slave livestock by “lighting the only beacon in dark terror,” and under the tyrant’s whipping, everyone was very equal as livestock. But now that these “livestock” stood up and began learning to be human, they started discriminating against and comparing with each other.
…Switch back to the present…
Wu Fei thought ahead: after governing south of Ling River, how to heal the rifts between ethnic groups. Or control contradictions so they did not become barriers in regional economy and cultural communication.
One: Continue fighting south, maintain the civilized circle and uncivilized circle, keep the contempt chain intact, and after a few hundred years, leave a “Holy Descendant” bloodline branch here as a faith condensation core.
Two: Still need to use Da Yao systems and laws, through generation after generation of education and indoctrination, to push the civilization line south.
“General—” Yi Ke Te had already knelt before Wu Fei to report, skillfully recounting his findings: there were three paths through the jungle ahead leading to Yun Qie Valley.
Yi Ke Te trembled as he looked at Wu Fei.
Two days ago, when the “advance mission” was issued in the main camp, the vassal army was extremely excited. Various troops nearly fought collectively on the drill ground for this “yellow” level mission.
In the end, they had to don vine armor and play a rugby game to decide ownership of the mission. Finally, after Yi Ke Te’s physically strongest team rammed their opponents to victory, they shouted “It’s ours!”
Sitting on a fallen tree trunk, Wu Fei began filling in the silk book map: “Of these three paths, which has the highest risk?”
Yi Ke Te paused, then immediately drew one out, puzzled by why Wu Fei would choose this path.
Wu Fei: “You explore this path. Since it’s the riskiest, there must be many tribes along the way, right?”
Wu Fei ran his finger over Yi Ke Te’s head, like petting a hamster: “Thoroughly scout the tribes near this path, subdue all their leaders for me, and I’ll give you ten merits.”
Yi Ke Te responded loudly: “Understood!”
After Yi Ke Te left, Wu Fei said to Ang Ri beside him: “We take the safest path.”
Let the vassal army scout the most complex path; let the possibly hostile or neutral waiting tribes still hidden in Southern Border know that he had arrived!
…Six hours later…
When the army corps arrived at “Yun Qie Valley” as pointed out by the surrendering tribe members, a giant eagle carrying a person descended from the sky. All soldiers immediately raised shields, then loaded crossbow bolts and spears, bristling like hedgehogs ready for battle.
But atop this giant bird sat a mage distinctly different from Da Yao People. The mage dismounted, holding a peace banner as he approached, accepting escort by soldiers on both sides to show he meant no harm.
This unexpectedly appearing mage got straight to the point: “I am Cang Meng, pleased to meet you, General.”
According to the mage’s account, he was from the even more distant Feathered People Kingdom in the southern region, originally trading annually with Li Huo Sect, but now Li Huo Sect had inexplicably become a land of death. He wanted to inquire what had happened.
Though Wu Fei was very suspicious of this Daoist priest of unknown origin, adhering to the principle of not stirring trouble, he still cupped his hands in salute. As for the mage’s request to “invite entry into Yun Qie Valley,” Wu Fei sidestepped it and had Ang Ri receive him.
In the aerial queue, Ang Ri exchanged a glance with this Feathered Person: one gaze held “suspicion,” the other keen interest. But after Cang Meng made a hand gesture, Ang Ri was slightly stunned and whispered: “You received the Moon Empress’s imperial decree.”
Cang Meng countered: “Are you that Chosen One?”
Ang Ri was taken aback, then shook his head: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ang Ri messaged Wu Fei, who was watching them: “He’s a fortune-teller. This profession is mystical, but he might have real goods.”
Wu Fei nodded, while asking Jia Mude about Li Huo Sect’s diplomatic relations with their forces.
Jia Mude glanced at Ang Ri and the new Feathered People mage exchanging subtle looks, then advised Wu Fei: “Li Huo Sect did deal with the southern Feather Tribe, but mostly slave redemptions; they had no good relations.”
Jia Mude eyed Cang Meng, suddenly thought of something, his eyes lit up, and he spilled it out like beans from a bamboo tube.
“Perhaps he’s connected to Chi You Soldiers.” Jia Mude added at the end.
…One hour later, secrets unfolded…
Outside Yun Qie Valley, Cang Meng, under guard by Da Yao Army soldiers, accepted Ang Ri’s invitation and stayed on the periphery drinking tea.
At this moment, he quite liked this magical leaf from the north, looking utterly relaxed after sipping it, with no worry that the Wu Family Army might turn hostile. Just one incense stick ago, Cang Meng had bowed and handed over a “Form Transformation Record,” and explained the hundred tribes’ ancient origins thoroughly.
The “Form Transformation Record” detailed the intermediate process of human race entering Southern Border and becoming the hundred tribes, with illustrations marking the mutation processes of various organs, page after page of diagrams and text, clearly products of dissection, possessing considerable medical value.
Cang Meng recited the original words: Legend has it that long ago, the birth of Southern Border hundred tribes stemmed from an “ancient evil” existence in ancient times. After it descended upon Xi Ren Realm, it conducted diverse racial transformations. At that time, it was not just Southern Border; all Xi Ren Realm races mixed in massive demonic bloodlines. This perversity ultimately drew correction from “Human Ancestor” lineage forces. It was then that this realm was called Xi Ren Realm.
However, the hundred tribes of that time remained, forming a unique Human Realm adaptation to Southern Border Mountains and Rivers.
Heaven has benevolence for life; the ancient Human Ancestor Xi Huang did not exterminate these hundred tribes, thus summoning the “Four Spirits” to guard the four directions, ensuring a path for these mutated races to return to the human path.
This plan was effective: under the Four Spirits’ education and indoctrination, the races reverted to human form and successfully intermarried with the human race. Their bloodlines purified continuously under Heaven and Earth’s order. At least by Da Cheng’s founding, Under Heaven was basically all human-like.
But whenever Heaven and Earth’s order imbalanced, these demonic forms would reemerge.
Among the Four Spirits, the Vermilion Bird guarding Southern Border excelled at providing Sacred Fire, offering a nirvana dharma gate for human race tainted by demonic qi to restore human form. It seemed the fastest treatment, but only one in a hundred survived the Sacred Fire’s scorching, so Southern Border hundred tribes still revere the Vermilion Bird to this day.
However, during Vermilion Bird’s purification of demonic tribe bloodlines, most purified demonized ones took shortcuts, stealing and consuming Vermilion Bird’s leftover ashes to achieve their own transformation.
Though they became human within one generation, the demonic blood remained inside; with reproduction, it reemerged due to Mountains and Rivers mutations.
Azure Dragon’s method was far more ingenious: he used his bloodline power to analyze all demonic groups’ bloodlines, enabling his descendants to mate with all demonic tribes. Then, without discrimination, he provided methods to refine demonic power for all demonized humans. These demonized descendants discovered that purifying bloodlines to a certain degree allowed mating with Azure Dragon descendants to produce Dragon Descendants.
Thus, the strongest demonic-blooded humans, through generations of mating with dragon race, gradually became Dragon Descendants. Dragon Descendants could soar with Azure Dragon descendants to other realms (other planets).
As Dragon Descendants grew to cherish their bloodlines and ceased intermarrying with humans, Xi Ren Realm’s human bloodlines restored purity, hence Da Yao’s northern humans rarely mutate into Southern Border-characteristic groups.
By Da Cheng Dynasty, seven thousand years ago, humans and demons coexisted, but northern humans and demons had clear separation. By Da Yao’s founding, with Dragon Descendants gone, humans were purest.
Cang Meng inadvertently revealed his personal view: Azure Dragon’s method, though circuitous, perfectly completed the task. After Da Yao’s founding and Dragon Descendants’ migration, they left Xi Ren Realm. But Vermilion Bird? Seeking quick success, seeing Azure Dragon gone, left a wisp of remnant fire locally to feign presence, then quietly slipped away.
Wait, that’s what Cang Meng previously thought, but as he drank tea, he looked up at Wu Fei advancing along the steps into Yun Qie Valley’s interior. Cang Meng suddenly felt he had misunderstood Vermilion Bird.
Cang Meng: Vermilion Bird, you didn’t leave?
…Walking on Yun Qie Valley’s axe-hewn steps…
Wu Xiao Que, having learned the ancient secrets, was utterly speechless. Whether Vermilion Bird left was unknown, but he knew he was likely a stand-in.
Wu Fei asked the System: “If I’m now masquerading as Vermilion Bird, will there be problems?”
System: “Perfectly sealed.”
Wu Fei: “What the hell is Vermilion Bird!”
System: “History class doesn’t cover biology class.”
Wu Fei: “So next, where will this impostor go? Will I be burned to death by Vermilion Bird Fire?”
The System stayed silent, opening the academic credit exchange list for Wu Fei, listing items like three credits, five credits, and more. It indicated these “slingshots” could shoot down Vermilion Bird.
…Outsider perspective…
At this time, Ang Ri, Jia Mude, and Wu Qing accompanied Wu Fei on the final steps.
The various vengeful spirit clouds and mists Ang Ri saw days ago had all vanished after Wu Fei’s arrival. So what everyone saw differed greatly from Ang Ri’s description.
Yun Qie Valley was not the imagined demonic lair; the Wu Family Army escorts found lush grass and peaceful birds and beasts here.
But the other two mages did not blame Ang Ri for inaccurate reporting, for they saw a pure fire qi above Wu Fei’s head forming a canopy-like fire cloud over Yun Qie Valley.
Arriving at Yun Qie Valley’s center, Jia Mude pointed to the sacred cave: “This is our sect’s sacred ground.”
Looking in the direction he pointed, it was an abrupt sinkhole, with edges formed by melting and collapse, like incense candle flames burned concave.
Wu Fei realized: the entire mountain top had been burned through from the center by terrifying firepower, collapsing underground. Just like a nuclear leak where the molten core drops into the depths.
Wu Fei suddenly asked in surprise: “Your old ancestor is in there?”
Jia Mude paused, puzzledly looked at Ang Ri, then said: “Should be in there.”
Based on Ang Ri’s account, Jia Mude inferred the old ancestor was in the cave, likely being counter-devoured by numerous fog-smoke ghosts. But the old ancestor’s vitality was tenacious, could be gnawed for ten years without dying, but now where was he?
Ang Ri, viewing through Gongshu Wang’s crystal ball feed, was also surprised: when he came, this pit was densely packed, now how was it empty?
But then anomalies emerged from the cave, making him sense the reason intuitively.
Now he saw that as Wu Fei approached, the cave seemed to glow, the light shifting like a mirror with Wu Fei’s movement.
Ang Ri paused and understood: this was “rekindling.” As Vermilion Bird Fire neared, the millennia-burned residual power in the cave was ignited. As for the original vengeful ghosts and that old demon surviving by devouring human vitality for a thousand years, how could they withstand such majestic Sacred Flame? Likely turned to flying ash when Wu Fei approached within a hundred meters.
And as Wu Fei drew closer, the rekindled Vermilion Bird Fire would emerge, licking at Wu Fei.
Ang Ri wanted to divine for Wu Fei, but Gongshu Wang stopped him. Ang Ri was puzzled; Gongshu Wang: “This is (Wu Fei’s) time to bear Heaven’s Mandate; (you) without great auspicious qi must not approach.”
…Steps approaching the rock pit cave…
Approaching the cave, Wu Fei discovered many deep fissures inside, bottomless. He thus ordered soldiers to check nearby fissures to see if they were the same.
Meanwhile, Wu Fei cautiously approached the sinkhole, confirming no one behind (fishing requires a helmet; check behind at the pit edge) before peering over.
Wu Fei peered through the fissure gaps: the pit below glowed red vertically downward. From gestures by soldiers opposite the pit, Wu Fei learned the fissures there were identical.
Yet in this short moment, the firelight in the pit deepened further.
Lying flat for a closer look, Wu Fei saw a flicker of firelight in the bottomless fissure, chilling him. Such intensely hot material continuously sinking—could it burn straight through the crust, forming a three-hundred-li bottomless pit in the hollow mountain?
As Wu Fei carefully retracted the rope, a heatwave suddenly surged from the pit, followed by red light from the bottom. Just as Wu Fei prepared to retreat, he realized the red light was tangible, coiling him upward.
Wu Fei saw his feet leave the ground, with wind and thunder sounds around.
Wu Fei’s heart sank: bad. He immediately activated the System, ready to exchange for life-saving items.
Xuan Chong: “We’re done for, we’re done for.” Yet the System list popped up leisurely, lines of small text emerging like danmaku.
Suddenly, the fissure erupted like a volcano; the deeply buried, blazing hot energy below surged upward. Nearby observing soldiers were directly swept flying by invisible force, landing twenty zhang away, kneeling motionless.
Wu Fei felt directly hit and sucked by this force, then noticed red footprints where he had walked over. Confirming they were his, the rocks beneath melted like butter.
Then he landed on this molten ground. Just as he prepared to flee, something massive in the air seeped into his body, making it denser, so his feet stepping on melting rock felt like treading buttercream cake.
As Wu Fei touched these buttercream-like rocks, the contact points quickly melted, then spread, the entire rock mass melting and dropping.
More despairingly for Wu Fei, the melting around him seemed faster than the edges; within ten meters, it collapsed wholly like microwave-heated buttercream cake. Just as he was about to fall with this softening molten mud, a rising force lifted him, directly to the pit’s center.
Wu Fei saw the molten mud below splatter on pit walls, billowing gray smoke and brilliant red firelight, realizing how terrifyingly hot this molten stone mud was.
Fully activating his “strong oxidation” supernatural ability, Wu Fei was surprised: at such high temperature, why did he feel nothing?
In midair, Wu Fei pinched his arm: still soft, mortal flesh.
Wu Fei did not know that what he encountered was stellar-level energy; such caliber vaporizes any planetary matter on contact, except for specific quantum frequency organic matter unharmed.
When this core of the Earth energy contacted specific spectrum organics, it rapidly converted to mass per E=mc², forming an equilibrantly stable zone around Wu Fei that stunned industrial equipment—this is why his clothes did not burn.
By continuously absorbing and removing energy, Wu Fei’s current “mortal flesh” had density exceeding aluminum metal during the process. After initial panic in floating, Wu Fei found struggling useless and began to give in, gazing at the world beyond the red filter.
Then, Wu Fei sensed this pit’s power wanted to carry him into space, but as he steadily eyed the ground, pondering landing, he drifted toward the pit edge.
Thus, a tug-of-war began; Wu Fei, like a reluctant big fish, pitted strength against the fisherman. In this process, he glanced around: masses knelt at the pit edge kowtowing to him.
At this point, the fire cloud carrying Wu Fei skyward seemed strained, forced to release him to the ground.
Yes, Wu Fei’s “energy-to-mass” conversion speed far exceeded Vermilion Bird Fire’s master’s expectation, like a starving child finishing a bottle of milk and still demanding more, ceaselessly absorbing stellar-level energy.
Precisely because it fit so well, Wu Fei felt no fear of this terrifying energy, merely wondering why he floated.
Any second- or third-generation Vermilion Bird blood descendants would have all incompatible organics burned off, suffering agony to achieve fit.
Landing, Wu Fei felt his boots fragile, shattering instantly; his palm crunched “unstable” stones, staggering him two steps, scraping visible marks on the rock.
At this moment, the red filter lifted; the red light released Wu Fei and fled into the sky. Wu Fei finally looked up clearly: the fire cloud enveloping him was bird-shaped; he had just been swallowed into its belly.
This flame bird circled Wu Fei once at kilometer altitude, seemingly reluctant, sweeping him twice with flame tail feathers. Wu Fei dodged once, failed the second, then stopped dodging, feeling the motion like an elder dusting ash from a child’s clothes.
Finally, this flame giant bird returned to the cave. The fissure red light gradually dimmed, clearly retreating below.
Narration: For this “Sacred Fire,” the energy just drawn from this star’s crust was largely eaten by Wu Fei, needing to replenish nutrition.
…Fledgling unwilling to leave the cradle…
However, returning from the sinkhole mouth, Wu Fei found things changed: distant vassal army and Southern Border tribe leaders trembled kneeling before him.
If previously fear hid a trace of wavering, now it was like beholding an ancestral god.
Wu Fei called Jia Mude over: “What’s going on? Your wife’s locals now bow their heads to me. Am I the noonday sun, too dazzling?”
Jia Mude eyed Wu Fei: “General, just now, did you see Ver—Vermilion Bird?”
Hearing this, Wu Fei grew serious: “Was about to ask you. Just now in the sinkhole, I saw that fire mass turn into a bird! Clearly you knew. Why not tell such vital info? I nearly got whisked to the heavens.”
Jia Mude was slightly stunned, then slowly said: “My lord, just now you didn’t follow Vermilion Bird?”
Wu Fei suspiciously eyed his cheap brother-in-law: “What, hoping I’d kick the bucket?”
Jia Mude: “No, just—just—” Stammering, he said, “Vermilion Bird’s traces haven’t appeared for millennia. It just now wanted to take you to ascension.”
Wu Qing, leading many Southern Border vassal army and guides, head bowed: “My lord, since you did not leave, you are our Southern Border’s common lord. Your bloodline is henceforth Holy Descendant.”
This Snake Tribe woman’s statement drew no opposition from other tribes. Some even collected fragments of Wu Fei’s shattered boots, tucking them away.
…Crowd scrambling for sacred relics…
After brief exchange, Wu Fei confirmed he had just undergone “Divine Right of Kings” in this world.
Wu Fei rapidly calculated inwardly: originally planned over a dozen years for military unification, then gradually erase local heterodox faiths differing from Da Yao. Even his original task was to use explosives to collapse the sinkhole, bury this fire pit, eliminate feudal superstition entirely. But—suddenly, the object of lewd worship is himself.
Oh, “Vermilion Bird” is one of the Four Spirits, not lewd worship. Wu Fei “flexibly” adjusted his religious stance.
…Light-year divider…
6844 light-years away, on a red giant star’s core, Vermilion Bird, via coordinates left in Xi Ren Realm, reconfirmed it seemed to have misjudged the child’s grade. Hesitant and conflicted, for the message from coordinates showed the overlooked child’s bloodline and spiritual intelligence activation were unexpectedly excellent.
But now the nest still had eggs to incubate, unable to go personally.
