Chapter 113: "Who Should I Choose?"

Chapter 113: "Who Should I Choose?"

The young brown bear, having pulled his head out of the desert, sat expressionlessly on the sand, gazing at the setting sun on the horizon. All he could hear was the excited chatter of his tribe members surrounding the bountiful Spirit Rice, but he remained silent, not uttering a word.

The joys and sorrows of people are not always shared.

The same was true for the brown bears.

The Endless Desert was no ordinary desert. The scorching sun baked the sand to such an extent that even seeds placed in the desert at night would be instantly cooked. It was a miracle that rice could grow in such an environment.

It was only through his stealthy efforts that he had managed to plant the Spirit Rice while everyone else was asleep, creating the illusion that he had led the tribe to this miracle. This not only boosted morale but also solidified his position as the young clan leader.

However, now...

It seemed that things had taken a slight detour.

Perhaps these brown bears didn't hold much grudge against the Great Xia Kingdom. In their eyes, the unintelligent demon beasts were not even on the same level as them. No matter how many of these beasts were killed, the brown bears felt no pity. They even hunted and ate them themselves.

In this situation, training a demon beast army of his own would require a different approach.

The young brown bear looked down at his fluffy bear paws and then back up at the setting sun on the desert's edge, muttering to himself.

"If I weren't a transmigrator, perhaps I could have lived a quiet life."

"But since heaven has given me a chance to change the world..."

"If I don't make some achievements—"

"How can I face my fellow villagers?"

In Fat City, Fat Province.

Chen Qiu sat cross-legged on the bed in the inn, gazing at the panel floating above his Dantian, shrouded in clouds. He had yet to choose a new entry after breaking through the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment.

-

"Cultivation level has greatly increased, officially entering the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment."

"Please choose one of the following three random entries within ten breaths."

1:

"Entry Name": Not Mad, No Success

"Entry Rank": White

"Entry Effect": When you feel pain, your injuries will slowly recover. The more excruciating the pain, the faster your recovery speed will be.

2:

"Entry Name": Moonlit Werewolf

"Entry Rank": Green

"Entry Effect": When you sign a Beast Taming Contract with the first Moonlit Werewolf, its size will increase tenfold, and it can absorb moonlight essence for cultivation.

3:

"Entry Name": Reality and Illusion

"Entry Rank": Green

"Entry Effect": Each spell attack you cast will automatically create an illusory attack. This illusion cannot cause any damage and cannot be detected by Divine Sense.

-

Chen Qiu narrowed his eyes, examining the three entries before him. To be honest, he was quite tempted to choose the white entry, "Not Mad, No Success," as he already had an entry that could complement it.

"Heaven-Deficient Person."

This entry could greatly increase pain perception when one's eyes are closed or blind.

And the entry he obtained when he broke through the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment.

"Pain Amplification."

The pain endured is increased fivefold, but the pain inflicted on enemies is also increased fivefold.

He had not chosen this entry then, but he still had one unused Heavenly Dao Rewind Talisman for the Foundation Establishment stage. If he wanted to, he could select this entry that he had previously passed on. However, it wasn't necessary, as the pain amplification only enhanced his physical injury recovery speed.

It overlapped with his current entry a bit.

Currently, he didn't need to increase his physical injury recovery speed.

This entry seemed more suitable for a body cultivator, like Zhao Yishi.

With "Heaven-Deficient Person" + "Pain Amplification" + "Not Mad, No Success," if one were to go even further and blind themselves, they might be able to withstand the demon tide.

If an enemy also had the "Pain Amplification" entry, the pain caused by their attacks would be multiplied by five.

In that case, one might be able to withstand a sky full of sword rain, although it would be quite painful.

Chen Qiu shook his head and decided to give up on the "Not Mad, No Success" entry combination. The drawbacks were too significant. Aside from other considerations, the human body has a limit to the pain it can endure. No matter how strong one's will is, the body might pass out from the pain.

If one were to encounter something extremely painful, like a deadly poison or curse.

It was possible to die from the pain.

He still had one unused Medium-grade Heavenly Dao Rewind Talisman, but if he didn't use it before breaking through to the Core Formation stage, it would be wasted. Since "Not Mad, No Success" was out of the question, he was left with only two entries to choose from: "Moonlit Werewolf" and "Reality and Illusion."

Chen Qiu quite liked the "Reality and Illusion" entry. In the future, his Lightning Dragons could be doubled, with one real and one illusory. It would be a challenge to distinguish between them, but the increase in momentum alone would be significant.

As for "Moonlit Werewolf," it seemed to be a top-tier entry among the hundred cultivation arts for beast taming.

With this entry, signing a Beast Taming Contract with a Moonlit Werewolf would greatly increase his strength. However, it wasn't of much use to him.

Could he even defeat a Moonlit Werewolf?

Nevertheless, it was a rare entry he had never seen before. He decided to wait and see if he could encounter a Moonlit Werewolf before breaking through to the Core Formation stage. If he did, he would keep the entry; otherwise, he would use it as a Core Formation material.

"Moonlit Werewolf?"

The scholarly cultivator frowned and shook his head. "I've never heard of it, but from the name, it seems like a proper demon beast with spiritual intelligence, not an unintelligent demon beast."

"There are many beast tamers in the Great Xia, and some even dual cultivate with demon beasts."

Fat Dragon looked at the scholarly cultivator expressionlessly. "No, I'm not choosing you, Fat Dragon. There are indeed others in the Great Xia who can do this, and they are not few. After all, some people have entries that are very suitable for dual cultivation. If they don't take the path of dual cultivation, it would be a waste of their randomly obtained entries."

"But if they were to follow the ways of the 'Flower Offering Sect', treating men and women as consumables, a practice akin to the demonic path, their conscience wouldn't allow them to harm innocent people."

"So, this group of dual cultivators with a conscience went to find demon beasts instead."

"From time to time, news would spread of someone finding a demon beast with awakened intelligence, and then giving up their old ways, the two falling in love and disappearing to the ends of the earth. After all, ordinary demon beasts couldn't withstand the intense spiritual energy surge from dual cultivation, but those with awakened intelligence and higher cultivation levels could."

"Of course, this is also why I rarely eat meat at small restaurants. Those who dual cultivate with demon beasts would never throw away the dead beasts, as they are still worth money. Some people even specialize in buying this meat at low prices, chopping it up, and selling it to small restaurants. You never know what kind of meat you're eating."

Fat Dragon nodded thoughtfully, "I always thought my actions were beastly, and I would feel inferior at times. Hearing you say this, it seems like I do have some conscience?"

"Of course you do."

"Recently, a man in Great Xia fell in love with a demon beast from the New Demon Race. What kind of demon was it?"

"A Communicating Elephant Demon."

"An elephant?"

"Yes, it stands on four legs, and its back is over thirty zhang high."

"Oh?"

"The Communicating Elephant Demon is a Golden Core Demon Cultivator. Demons that have reached the Golden Core stage can transform into human form."

"See, I knew it!"

Fat Dragon waved his hand awkwardly, his face turning slightly embarrassed, "Doesn't Great Xia care about relationships between humans and demons?"

"Why would Great Xia care about that?"

"It's a forbidden love."

Scholarly Flying shook his head slightly, "Great Xia doesn't have the time for that."

He then turned to Chen Qiu, who was tasting wine, and said seriously, "Brother Qiu, I've never heard of the Moonlit Werewolf you mentioned, but I'm sure it's not in the Endless Desert. Although the Endless Desert is home to many demons, not all of them are suited to live in such an environment."

"The name Moonlit Werewolf doesn't sound like a typical demon name."

"It's most likely in the Endless Ice Plain, the Endless Sea, or the Endless Snow Mountain. These three places are more likely."

"Hmm."

Chen Qiu nodded, not overly concerned about the matter. He had casually asked about it, and if he couldn't find it, he wouldn't bother searching further. It wasn't something important. Then, with a satisfied look, he finished the wine in his cup and turned to the two men.

"As expected of spiritual wine, the taste is much better than ordinary wine. Do you want to try some?"

He had quite a few spirit stones in his pocket.

But he had never heard of spiritual wine before, and no one had ever mentioned it to him. When he returned to the inn earlier, he saw someone order a jar of spiritual wine, so he decided to try it as well.

It had to be said that the taste was indeed excellent—a sweet and sour flavor with a clear, almost impurity-free quality. The alcoholic content was minimal, and upon drinking, a faint spiritual energy seeped into the body, providing a barely noticeable boost to cultivation.

But it did feel comfortable to drink.

Without waiting for the two men to speak, Chen Qiu stood up, took a breath, and drank the wine from both jars in one go. Then, he slapped the table and headed for the door.

"Let's go. I just remembered something."

"Let's go."

"Huff"

In a secret underground cultivation room in a certain family's estate in Fat City, an old man with a wrinkled face sighed in relief, gazing at the newly repaired entrance to the room. Only then did he feel slightly more at ease as he sat down in a chair.

His name was Li Jia.

He used to be the second-best Artificer in Fat City.

Now, he was the top Artificer in Fat City.

Although he had just been blasted out of his cultivation room by a fierce man and dragged to the outskirts of the city, the fierce man had kept his word and let him go. He didn't seem as bloodthirsty as the rumors suggested.

Now that it was all over, he sat in his chair, gazing at the wooden plaque that had just been hung on the wall, his face filled with intoxicated admiration.

"Fat City's Top Artificer."

The title sounded so pleasing to his ears, and he had been longing for it for a long time. Of course, he couldn't openly display this plaque, as it would invite ridicule. But hanging it in his cultivation room for personal admiration was perfectly fine.

Just then—

"Boom!"

The recently repaired entrance to the cultivation room was blasted open again by a lightning dragon. He vaguely saw four men rushing towards him, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the wilderness outside Fat City.

"Old sir."

Chen Qiu squatted down, his expression serious as he patted the old man's shoulder, "I just remembered, I need your help with something. I have a batch of storage rings with restrictions that need to be removed. Can you do it?"

As he spoke, Chen Qiu tossed a storage ring onto the ground.

These storage rings were the ones he had accumulated over the past few days, to be precise, the previous night. They included Senior Ning's, Young Master Ning's, and those of other Artificers and Cultivators.

"I..."

The old man looked around at the familiar surroundings with a tearful expression, then glanced at the storage ring on the ground and said in a trembling voice, "I can remove the restrictions, but I can't break the ones with Golden Core auras."

"Those two storage rings with strong Golden Core auras likely have restrictions set by powerful Golden Core Cultivators, which are difficult for ordinary people to remove."

"The remaining seven rings have weaker Golden Core auras and belong to Senior Ning. He's an expert at breaking restrictions on storage rings, but his rings also have many restrictions that I can't break."

"I can break the rest."

"I see."

Chen Qiu frowned slightly. Was Fat City's second-best Artificer this incompetent? When he was in Kaishan City, he had randomly found a shopkeeper who could remove restrictions from Golden Core storage rings. It seemed like he would have to make a trip back to Kaishan City.

After that, he didn't say much more and simply put away the nine storage rings that had the aura of Golden Core cultivators.

"As for these nine, you can leave them. Go ahead and break the rest."

"Okay."

Three hours later.

The sky had turned dark, and the countless stars above looked especially beautiful, growing brighter and closer as if they were about to crash down any moment.

On the grass beside them.

Chen Qiu laid on the grass, his head resting on his arms, gazing dreamily at the starry sky above. It was truly a breathtaking sight, something he rarely saw in his past life. Under the starry sky, one couldn't help but feel a sense of insignificance.

He wondered if one day, when his cultivation level improved, he could reach the realm of being able to fly among these countless stars.

At that moment—

The old man, whose hands had begun to tremble from long hours of intense concentration, finally put down all the storage rings and looked up at Chen Qiu, his voice trembling as he said, "I've broken all of them."

"Good, then you can go now."

Chen Qiu waved his hand, indicating that the old man could leave. But just as the old man turned to leave, Chen Qiu suddenly spoke up, "Fat Dragon, give the old man the payment for breaking the storage ring restrictions, just like the price in Mountain Opening City."

"We're not demon cultivators or anything, we can't take things without giving back. We can't even take a single needle or thread from the common folk."

"Don't let them lose heart."

"Okay."

Fat Dragon stood up and walked towards the old man, stuffing a storage bag into his embrace and saying with a smile, "The spirit stones are all here. You've worked hard."

"It's good."

Although the storage rings of the two Golden Core cultivators weren't broken, he had obtained what he wanted the most – two entry scrolls. Ning Wuping was a good person; he didn't immediately crush the entry scrolls but seemed to be waiting for an auspicious day to do so, which gave Chen Qiu the opportunity he needed.

Perfect.

The rest were just a bunch of miscellaneous items, adding up to over 4,000 spirit stones, along with some elixirs, forging furnaces, and various materials for forging spirit treasures, most of which he didn't recognize.

They were casually placed in the storage rings without any boxes, so they probably weren't very valuable materials.

He piled them all up in a corner of his little world that he had cleared out to use as a warehouse.

These items wouldn't fetch much money if sold, but they might come in handy someday.

Only then did he turn his attention to his own panel.

-

Name: Chen Qiu

Cultivation Level: Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment (47.5%)



Entries: Gradual Rise, Summon Vengeful Spirits, Heaven-Deficient Person, Spirit Qi Pressure, Dantian Expansion (Unique), Self-Destruct Entry, One with Nature, Alchemy Posture, Focused Power (Lightning Summoning Art), Reviving Breeze, Step by Step, Slippery Hands, Resurrection, Captivating Beauty, For My Use, Moonlit Werewolf, Reality and Illusion, Forging Posture, Forging Deity, Mutual Support, Dual Spellcasting, Ten Layer Spellcasting.

Techniques: Earth Penetrating Technique, Illusion Technique, Lightning Summoning Art, Nine Toxin Soul Devouring Technique.

Spirit Beasts: None.

Affiliation: Chao Tian Sect, Sect Master.

Country: Great Xia.

-

Total of 22 entries.

Among them, several entries were basically useless and could be used for self-destruction at any time, such as "Alchemy Posture" and "Forging Posture." These self-destruct entries were his trump cards.

They could also be used as materials for Core Formation.

A Tenth Rank Golden Core required ten arbitrary entries as Core Formation materials.

Some entries were somewhat useful but not as crucial, like "Heaven-Deficient Person," which could also be used as a self-destruct entry in critical moments.

These 22 entries were currently his biggest trump card.

If someone really pushed him to his limits.

Aside from some entries that couldn't be removed, a continuous barrage of full-power strikes from a Ninth Layer Golden Core cultivator would be enough to destroy anyone who wasn't at the Nascent Soul stage. Of course, this was essentially a mutual destruction move, and even if he survived, his potential would significantly decline afterward.

As Chen Qiu examined his panel and pondered how to improve, Fat Dragon suddenly spoke up in a trembling voice, "Brother Qiu...the sky seems to be falling."

"Falling again?"

Chen Qiu sighed in exasperation. He withdrew his mental energy from his body and followed Fat Dragon's gaze upwards. As he looked at the starry sky above, the smile on his face gradually froze. Countless stars were falling like a meteor shower, each with a tail of crimson flames, crashing towards them.

They weren't just passing by.

They were falling!

Visible to the naked eye, the stars were getting closer and closer, and at least tens of thousands of them were plummeting from the sky.

".

Chen Qiu's lips twitched slightly. He immediately stood up and slapped the scholar, who had fallen asleep beside him, to wake him up. "Wake up! We need to run!"

Yes, it was time to run again.

He had a premonition that if they waited any longer, they might be drawn into another invasion, just like the demon tribe's attack.

However, before he could say another word, a hoarse and ethereal voice echoed in his ears.

-

Celestial Mandate Scroll: Great conflicts are about to unfold. The 'Evil Tribe Invasion' will occur in the Endless Ice Plain south of Fat Province.

Stars fall, and the evil tribes invade.

A very brief decree, but soon, almost simultaneously, three more decrees sounded.

Celestial Mandate Scroll: Great conflicts are about to unfold. The 'Evil Tribe Invasion' will occur in the Endless Desert north of Xuzhou.

Stars fall, and the evil tribes invade.

Celestial Mandate Scroll: -

The four corners of the world.

Endless Desert, Endless Ice Plain, Endless Snow Mountain, and Endless Sea.

Simultaneously suffer the 'Evil Tribe Invasion,' while the Great Xia Kingdom at the center remains untouched.

". Let's run first."

Chen Qiu gazed into the distance and noticed that there were no dark clouds this time. Moreover, the decree didn't prohibit them from leaving Fat Province, which meant they could leave. The scholar didn't hesitate either.

Within ten breaths, their spirit energy surged.

They arrived at the highest peak on the edge of Fat Province, ready to leave its boundaries at any moment. They watched as the countless stars crashed towards the edge of the Endless Ice Plain, causing the ground to tremble.

Chen Qiu looked up at the sky above him, the countless stars still filled the night sky, and the falling stars were almost insignificant compared to the vastness of the night sky.

"Not leaving, Qiu?" Fat Dragon asked, standing beside him on the mountain peak, overlooking the entire Fat Province. It was already night, and the province was mostly dark, but as the Celestial Mandate Scroll sounded, countless households lit up their lamps and torches, making the entire province seem ablaze with starlight.

". . ."

Chen Qiu remained silent, his brows furrowed as he gazed towards the edge of the Endless Ice Plain. He could already sense the surging evil energy from the plain rushing towards Fat Province, and he knew that the number of evil tribes this time would far exceed the previous demon invasion.

This time, Fat Province was in grave danger.

"Let's go!"

Without hesitation, Chen Qiu summoned Scholarly Flying and left the mountain peak, shooting towards the Great Xia Capital.

The scale of this evil tribe invasion was much larger than the previous demon invasion.

There must be Golden Core evil cultivators among them.

In such a grand battle, just a divine sense sweep from a Golden Core evil cultivator would be enough to finish them off. It was not a situation they could easily intervene in.

At that moment—

In the City Lord's Mansion.

A man with a fat head and ears sat in the City Lord's chair, holding a cup of wine with a smile. With his eyes closed, he savored the overwhelming evil energy coming from the Endless Ice Plain. "After thirty years of waiting, they've finally come. The Grand Master's predictions are truly divine."

"Indeed."

"I've been itching for a fight."

The next moment, a powerful surge of spirit energy carrying murderous intent exploded within the City Lord's Mansion, and the man instantly vanished without a trace.

As Chen Qiu flew away from Fat Province towards the capital, the ancient and ethereal voice sounded again.

-

"Celestial Mandate Scroll": Great chaos is about to descend upon the world. The 'Evil Tribe Invasion' has begun, and in this version, cultivators, demon races, and evil tribes with cultivation levels of Golden Core and above will be unable to take action and cannot be attacked.

"Heavenly Dao Evil Slayer Rankings" have been activated.

After the Evil Tribe Invasion concludes, rewards will be given based on the ranking positions.

If the 'Evil Tribe Invasion' does not end within ten days, the 'Great Chaos' will commence immediately.

-

At that moment, on the Endless Ice Plain.

The Fat City Lord, who had been panting heavily on the ground with a ferocious expression, suddenly felt the pressure on his body disappear. Hearing the Celestial Mandate Scroll's announcement, he struggled to get up from the ground and looked towards the nine Golden Core Peak Perfection evil cultivators across from him.

A sinister smile of survival appeared on his face.

"I almost died."

"When the Grand Master sent me here, he didn't tell me that my opponents would be nine Golden Core Peak Perfection cultivators."

"Does the Grand Master really trust me that much?"

Chen Qiu, who had already left Fat Province, heard the Celestial Mandate Scroll and without hesitation, turned around and headed towards the Endless Ice Plain.

With the Golden Core cultivators unable to act, he wasn't afraid of anything.

No matter how many evil tribes there were, he could slaughter them all single-handedly. With his current strength, as long as the Golden Core cultivators didn't interfere, even if there were countless Foundation Establishment cultivators, they were all like ants to him.

After a short while, Chen Qiu and the others once again stood on the Endless Ice Plain. The plain was as it always was, with dark clouds stretching for millions of miles overhead, and the horizon was invisible. The bone-chilling cold wind howled from the depths of the plain.

Only today, there was an added presence of evil energy.

". . ."

Chen Qiu stood on the Endless Ice Plain, looking into the distance, where there were at least a hundred thousand evil tribes. His brows furrowed, but he remained silent. The reason for his frown was mainly due to the unpleasant appearance of these evil tribes.

They resembled humans but were not.

They had two hands, two feet, and nine pairs of eyes.

Their upper bodies were bare, and their abdomens were neatly embedded with eight pairs of eyes, resembling a sow's belly. Their heads had no skin, as if their scalps had been torn off, leaving their flesh and blood exposed.

And they had no skull.

Their white brains were exposed to the air, and with each step, their brains wobbled. There must be a thin transparent membrane covering the brains, otherwise, a simple headstand would cause them to fall out.

At that moment, the evil tribes, which seemed to occupy the entire Endless Ice Plain, were rushing out from the depths of the plain, gathering to fight the Fat Province cultivators.

A powerful and chaotic surge of spirit energy accompanied the clash of the two forces, creating a deafening roar in the sky above the Endless Ice Plain.

Countless limbs flew in the air, and blood stained the ground red.

The intermittent wails and roars formed the main melody of the Endless Ice Plain.

These evil tribes seemed unable to speak, or perhaps their language was incomprehensible. They could only make incoherent noises, but it was clear that they possessed intelligence.

". . ."

Chen Qiu, who had remained on the sidelines and observed from the edge of the battlefield, suddenly narrowed his eyes. In a small corner of the Endless Ice Plain, a withered tree stood out of place.

He hadn't recognized it before, but he had learned about it recently. It was called Malevolent Wood, a type of wood that grew in malevolent lands. Strangely, it only grew in Fat Province and its surrounding areas, and it was not rare but rather common.

It wasn't particularly valuable.

Chen Qiu hadn't noticed the Malevolent Wood on the Endless Ice Plain, but what caught his attention was the behavior of the evil tribes. Several of them, with their eyes bloodshot, rushed towards the withered tree without regard for their own safety!

Even the slowest one among them had started to slash at its fellow tribesmen with a knife.

As the two tribes clashed, it was bizarre to see an evil tribe member turn their weapon against their own kind.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end