Chapter 294: The Millennium Mountain Challenge
Chapter 294: The Millennium Mountain Challenge
Su Chen was always cautious in his actions.
At times, even he felt that he was being overly cautious.
Occasionally, he would remind himself to take a little more risk.
But changing one's nature was not an easy task.
Besides, being cautious wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
It had its pros and cons, and each had its benefits.
Just now, Su Chen could have easily taken down those five demons with a single strike of his sword.
However, Su Chen chose not to act but to give a warning instead.
With this warning, Su Chen assessed their strength, concealed his true abilities, and saved their lives.
This choice was actually quite beneficial for Su Chen.
Hui Yilian and the others were polite, and they were grateful for Su Chen's rescue.
Upon learning that Su Chen had just arrived in Red Maple City, they invited him to join them.
After all, in this wilderness, it was too dangerous for Su Chen to be alone.
Having more people around would ensure safety.
They didn't find it strange that Su Chen was an outsider.
But during their conversation, they were surprised that Su Chen was unaware of many common knowledge.
Hui Yilian and her group didn't plan to stay any longer; they cleaned up the battlefield and left the wilderness to return to the city.
Facing four powerful demons, Su Chen watched as they approached and directly sliced off the left ears of the demons.
Apparently, the way to record achievements here was similar to that of Great Zhou.
In the past, at Yunyang Sect, they would also cut off the left ears of demons as proof of their demon-slaying accomplishments.
For demons like the serpent demon, which didn't have distinct external ears, they would usually cut off the snake's tail as evidence.
Initially, they would cut off the snake's head as proof.
But later, people discovered that even after a long time, the severed snake heads could still bite.
The critical issue was that many snake demons were venomous.
To avoid such situations, they gradually optimized the process.
Su Chen collected the left ears of the demons and followed them back, asking many common sense questions along the way.
Hearing these questions, the group looked puzzled.
Perhaps remembering Su Chen's earlier warning and considering it a life-saving favor, they answered his questions.
From their responses, Su Chen learned that there were multiple countries in this region.
In their eyes, he was a young warrior from another country, possibly a junior member of a family, unfamiliar with the ways of the world.
Carrying these thoughts and a desire to prove himself, he arrived at Red Maple City.
Red Maple City was a frontier city of Anshan Kingdom.
As the saying goes, warriors of the world look to Anshan, and Anshan warriors aspire to Red Maple.
Powerful warriors have all visited Red Maple City, and in this realm, it serves as a training ground for warriors.
Bordering the wilderness with the highest concentration of demons, it was the most dangerous place.
If one thought that this place was merely for warriors to gain experience, they would be sorely mistaken.
Why did so many warriors come to Anshan Kingdom and Red Maple City?
It wasn't just for demon-slaying and tempering themselves, nor was it for fame and glory.
Perhaps some warriors had such intentions, but most did not.
On the southwest side of Red Maple City, there was a treasure known as the Millennium Mountain.
This Millennium Mountain was the real reason why these warriors came to Red Maple City.
Atop the Millennium Mountain were stored the most advanced cultivation techniques of the Anshan Kingdom's royal family.
There was a rumor that this realm used to be a single country.
That country was Anshan Kingdom.
Later, it encountered some unknown catastrophe, and the vast dynasty crumbled.
Anshan Kingdom inherited the martial arts legacy of the past.
The inherited cultivation techniques were all stored on the Millennium Mountain by the Anshan Kingdom.
The true purpose of the many warriors who came to Red Maple City was to venture deep into the Millennium Mountain and gain enlightenment in their cultivation.
How could one reach Thousand Year Mountain and view those precious and profound cultivation techniques? Su Chen naturally asked this question.
The reason why Hui Yilian and her group ventured into the wilderness to slay demons was because the Anshan Kingdom's royal family was quite clever.
Their location was the region most plagued by demon attacks.
How could they get warriors to risk their lives to deal with the demon infestation?
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the solution was to enlist the help of sects.
The Great Zhou's royal family allocated cultivation resources through certain means, allowing various sects to specialize in their responsibilities, making demon slaying and eradication their own duty.
However, the Anshan royal family lacked the ability to allocate such vast resources.
Secondly, they also didn't have many sects willing to serve them.
But by employing this method, they could attract an endless stream of warriors.
As long as one slew enough demons and submitted proof of their kills, they would be given a chance to challenge the Mountain Lord during the moonlit night of that month.
If they won against the Mountain Lord of a certain level, they could access the treasures and cultivation techniques of that level and below.
Upon hearing this, Su Chen felt that it was quite good.
He wouldn't need to waste time searching for cultivation techniques himself.
Furthermore, Hui Yilian mentioned that the deepest part of Thousand Year Mountain housed cultivation techniques authored by the sages who had ascended to Sainthood.
However, this set of techniques was not easily obtained.
Moreover, it seemed incredibly difficult to comprehend.
"Senior Sister Hui, I wonder about the difficulty of the challenges to become the Mountain Lord of Thousand Year Mountain?"
Hearing Su Chen's question, Hui Yilian smiled.
"It's not as simple as you imagine. It's unlikely for someone like you to come alone.
The challenges of Thousand Year Mountain are undertaken by teams, with five people forming a group to participate.
After all, demon slaying has never been a solo endeavor.
As long as a team defeats the Mountain Lord of a certain level of Thousand Year Mountain, everyone on the team can visit the treasure trove of that level and study the cultivation techniques within."
Team participation was still required.
Su Chen was somewhat dissatisfied with this aspect.
If he could participate individually, it would be more convenient.
In fact, under this rule, strength wasn't an absolute requirement.
As long as the team had a powerful warrior, they could even provide support and still reap the benefits.
With this in mind, Su Chen thought for a moment and then spoke up.
"Senior Sister Hui, can I join your team?"
Hui Yilian seemed to have anticipated Su Chen's question.
"Joining our team isn't a problem, but I already have eight junior brothers and sisters under my command.
We can't take you to the challenge this month.
You'll have to wait at least three months for an opportunity."
Su Chen didn't have that much time to spare.
Unless there was an unparalleled cultivation technique here that could clearly enhance his strength, he had to return to Celestial Capital before mid-June.
Compared to the items in the Anshan Kingdom, Su Chen still felt that the mid-year tournament organized by the Great Zhou's royal family was more reliable.
Seeing Su Chen's furrowed brows and hesitation, Hui Yilian felt that she had seen through him.
She judged that Su Chen might be a bit impatient and arrogant.
Otherwise, why would he be unwilling to wait for three months?
In fact, three months was already a good offer, and she only made this suggestion because of Su Chen's help today.
"If you're unwilling, I can also ask other teams on your behalf.
Hopefully, you'll be able to participate in the Thousand Year Mountain challenge this month.
But you must prepare yourself; such a team won't be easy, and it might be exhausting."
"Thank you, Senior Sister Hui. A little exhaustion is fine, as long as I can participate in the Thousand Year Mountain tournament this month."
(End of Chapter)
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