Chapter 895: Chapter 618: Harvest
Tianxia Civilization base.
"That was exhilarating!"
"We’ve finally taken a city."
"So many of us couldn’t take the mine, but the Military Leader breached it alone. Truly puts us to shame." Chen Beiming laughed bitterly.
Alcohol King flexed his newly-regenerated arm.
"The might of a cultivator ultimately lies in the individual. Though we have the numbers, we lack a quasi-Eighth Realm above the Seventh Realm. This avoids triggering an Eighth Realm war, yet still allows us to sweep away all Seventh Realm opponents on the battlefield."
"True. In an era without Great Powers, Eighth Realm experts are often strategic-level weapons for all great civilizations, leaders of their clans. They dare not act lightly, for exposing themselves would make them targets. If they don’t act, their enemies can’t gauge their depth and become wary."
Ye Xiaoyao said.
Heart Dream Emperor smiled, "In this light, the Military Leader is actually more strategically important for Tianxia Civilization than an Eighth Realm expert. He’s Seventh Realm, so facing other Seventh Realms is neither bullying the weak, nor does he have to expose the true strength of our other Eighth Realms."
Wang Changming nodded, showing a bit of pride, "After slaying Lei Qiu and the other, Military Leader’s strength should undoubtedly make him Tianxia’s number five."
"Number five? I fear that’s an understatement." At some point, Emperor Shitian had returned to the base. He said calmly, "With the abilities of the four Great Commanders, they may not match an Early Eighth Realm, but escaping is not a problem. Beating is easy, killing is hard. To be honest, if it were me tonight, I could only guarantee to kill one out of those two—killing both? That’s tough."
"Hahaha, senior, you’re much too modest." Old Wang covered his inner pride.
The other Seventh Realms all chimed in agreement.
Soon after, everyone started teasing Wang Changming.
"Xiao Wang, damn, you’re really favored by fortune, how’d you manage to pick up such a treasure?"
Old Ghost of the Yellow River was inwardly envious.
"Hey, honestly, Old Wang, when you first took the Military Leader as your True Inheritance, did you ever imagine he’d achieve what he has today?"
One Seventh Realm joked self-deprecatingly:
"Truthfully, when the Military Leader first came to prominence, I was already an old veteran Heavenly King. I met him at an event, thought of him as a Grandmaster at most."
"It was the Dragon King who saw truly. Before the Military Leader was even a Martial Artist, he judged him as Absolute Peak. I happened to be there and, for the Dragon King’s sake, agreed. But honestly, I couldn’t see what was special about him at all. Time has proved that it was I who failed to recognize Mount Tai."
"Let’s go, to the mine."
With the Military Leader in charge, everyone was emboldened. After decades wandering the stars and the Star Dome Sea, for the first time they left the desolate waste and set off for the Mystic Sky Continent.
From now on, no more running.
...
At the mine.
A streak of light crossed the sky. Bai Feng, hugging the gravely wounded E Fairy, descended at Aurora Palace, her face anxious.
"Military Leader, E Fairy is injured."
"With E Fairy’s strength, how did she suffer such heavy wounds?" Lu Chenzhou frowned deeply.
"Fang Xingyu advanced to World Venerable years ago but kept it secret. To stop her, Yaochi Immortal, the Abbot, and the rest all used the Life Burning Technique. Thankfully, Yaochi Immortal had the Cosmic Light Sword to help out, or else this operation would’ve been doomed." Bai Feng sighed.
This is war.
Unexpected things happen constantly.
Carelessness means death and Dao dissolution.
Lu Chenzhou took out a drop of Heavenly Immortal Dew and fed it to E Fairy. The medicine entered her body, transforming into a trickle of healing for her hidden wounds. E Fairy groaned awake, dazed, realizing she was lying in Lu Chenzhou’s arms. Her cheeks reddened, and she jumped up, bowing shyly, "E Fairy greets Mr. Lu—Military Leader."
"Just call me sir."
Lu Chenzhou smiled.
E Fairy nodded like a pecking chick, finding some of Lu Chenzhou’s temperament truly reminiscent of Mr. Wan.
Or perhaps all Seven Realm Martial Artists of Da Xia share this quality: self-confident and gentle, neither arrogant nor humble, poised and generous.
This is the gift of the mysterious Martial Arts.
Mr. Wan says, cultivate virtue before Martial Arts; in Tianxia, without martial virtue, one will not go far.
Feeling the powerful efficacy of the Heavenly Immortal Dew, E Fairy said, "Thank you sir for saving me. I don’t have enough money right now, but... I’ll pay you back in the future."
As a demon, her cultivation also requires a large number of mid/high-grade Primordial Stones to temper her body and bloodline power.
"Fairy, you are a friend of Tianxia Civilization. You fought for us and were injured; of course we’ll heal you free of charge. When the war is over, I’ll help you ascend to Eighth Realm, so your trip won’t be in vain."
"Thank you, sir!!"
In the past, E Fairy would have thought this man was boasting. Demons seem powerful by bloodline, but advancement is harder—especially for those with True Spirit blood, like her. But tonight, having seen Lu Chenzhou’s feats, she believed it without doubt.
In Lu Chenzhou, she saw that same invincible spirit Han Zhenjun had when, as Seventh Realm, he slew an Eighth with his Sword Array, shaking the Southern Boundary Domain.
People like this—born extraordinary!
They will eventually break out of the mundane, transcending the Three Realms!
E Fairy gave a soft sound, then spit out Yaochi Immortal, Xuanwu Daoist, and Hui Kong Abbot from her stomach.
The three were still unconscious.
Lu Chenzhou checked with his perception—they were all extremely depleted. He gave each a drop of Heavenly Immortal Dew, and soon the three awoke, color returning to their faces.
"Heavenly Immortal Dew is true hard currency. I need to buy more, store them in the Treasure Vault for everyone to exchange."
This is a necessary military expense, not to be skimped. With a top-grade mine, Tianxia Civilization can finally replace rifles with cannons. Before, they were so strapped that, when Bai Feng was wounded, there wasn’t even a single drop of Heavenly Immortal Dew in the treasure vault.
"Military Leader, you’re not hurt, are you?"
Yaochi Immortal rubbed her brow.
"I’m fine. You three shouldn’t participate in any battles for a while—go into retreat and heal."
"But we’re so short-handed these days..."
Xuanwu Daoist sighed.
"That’s an order," Lu Chenzhou said directly. "The three of you have the best hope of advancing to the peak of Seventh Realm. Once you break through, pair your new realm with Eighth Realm Spiritual Weapons and trump cards, and you’ll become the ace of our civilization—each a Great Commander level power."
Yaochi Immortal chuckled.
"The Military Leader is right."
The monk and Daoist both smiled wryly.
"Then we’ll go into retreat for a while."
Truly, the three of them were in an awkward position.
Neither here nor there.
...
Soon after.
Tianxia Civilization took Aurora Palace as their base, recruiting hundreds of thousands of Mystic Sky Continent natives, stationing troops to open the wilderness, enabling sustainable mining. Though production fell by thirty percent from before, the advantage lay in endurance.
...
Aurora Cave Heaven.
In the secret chamber, eight storage bags floated before Lu Chenzhou. He had finished inventorying the enemy spoils.
Mid-grade Primordial Stones: 28 million.
High Grade Primordial Stones: 168 pieces.
The number of Low Grade Primordial Stones was negligible; to a Realm King, low-grade stones are worthless, taking up space in storage bags—like silver and gold.
Lu Chenzhou managed to slay Lei Qiu and the other thanks in part to E Fairy’s side restraining Fang Xingyu. If she’d arrived, killing the two under World Venerable eyes would have been much harder. With team operations, fortune must be shared; thus, he’d fairly allocate some Primordial Stones to the five based on merit.
Seventh Rank Heaven and Earth Treasures: 8. All plundered from Mystic Sky Realm natives. Lu Chenzhou selected three to enhance his soul and body.
The remaining five went to others according to their efforts.
Heavenly Immortal Dew: 15 drops.
He kept five; everyone else got two each.
Miracle Divine Iron: 5 pieces, with varied properties, including one Eighth Rank Divine Iron [Heart Shadow Steel]. All suited his needs, so he kept them without politeness, for forging the Tiger Soul Spear.
There was also the quasi-Eighth Rank Source Ore left by Qiu Kuangyi, another superb material for divine weapons.
Seventh Rank Spiritual Weapons: 6. Useless for Lu Chenzhou; he put them in the Tianxia Treasure Vault for new Seventh Realm to exchange, easing the bottleneck of going without Divine Weapons after achieving the realm. Over at Primordial Mountain Cave Heaven, aside from the Patriarch’s two Ninth Rank Spiritual Weapons, the rest had been taken. These would ease Tianxia’s urgent need.
Eighth Rank Spiritual Weapons: 2.
These two were worth a closer look.
First: a set of purple soft armor, named [Purple Thunder Armor], woven from the extinct Eighth Rank Fierce Beast [Ancient Purple Lightning Mink] bristles and [Thunder Insect] silk. It possesses supreme thunder affinity; once worn, it constantly gathers thunder power of heaven and earth to temper flesh and bloodline, as well as aid in comprehending Thunder Dao Essence, and enhances thunder divine power. Additionally, it can withstand the attacks of an Eighth Realm, though as soft armor, it only guards against penetration, not impact; the defense is average.
Purple Thunder Armor, ranked 98th in the Spiritual Weapon List.
Belongs to the lower-end, and cannot compare with famed items like Aurora Palace or Divine Phoenix Immortal Armor. Its ranking is below even the Seventh Rank top-grade [Myriad Sword Shining Dragon Armor], but making the list is already extraordinary.
Still worth a hundred High Grade Primordial Stones.
"Not bad. Defense doesn’t matter—as long as it enhances [Thunder Dragon Nine Kills], I’m good. My Mystic Sky Shield defends enough, so I’m going all in on offense for Spiritual Weapons."
After erasing the previous owner’s spirit mark, Lu Chenzhou refined the purple armor. A voice echoed in his mind.
[Little Zi greets Master.]
He saw a purple weasel-like Artifact Spirit appear in his Inner Scenery Land, eyes gleaming mischievously.
"Are you the Purple Lightning Mink?"
[Yes, Little Zi was once an Eighth Realm Purple Lightning Mink. After being slain, my essence was used to create this armor’s Artifact Spirit. Since my memories remain, I know plenty about the Great Wilderness, Master. If you have questions, ask away! Little Zi is so happy, after drifting half a lifetime, I’ve finally found a worthy master.]
Little Zi was quite savvy.
Donning the Purple Thunder Armor, Lu Chenzhou was bathed in lightning, his eyes filled with thunder, looking almost like the Thunder God himself.
After some testing—
The power of Thunder Dragon Nine Kills was brought to a new level.
Roughly equal to unleashing eight Nine Tribulation Lotuses at once, second only to his six-headed form after [Devouring Heaven and Earth].
The other Spiritual Weapon was a massive hammer. Its shaft was forged from the leg bone of some unknown Fierce Beast; the head was a ferocious tiger, horns menacing, radiating Evil Qi. When Lu Chenzhou sent his mind into it, he saw a colossal beast burst into his spirit: a tiger-headed, ox-bodied giant with dragon scales, thousands of meters tall, emanating ancient primordial might. It stood with four feet in the Void, both underfoot and atop its head shrouded in a demonic blue flame cloud that froze the nearby time and space, breaking his spiritual barriers.
Crack—
His mental barrier shattered.
"? What’s the origin of this Spiritual Weapon?"
Until now, only the Heavenly Gu Daoist had broken through his Immaculate State of Mind’s defenses.
But this weapon had done it.
The four-legged behemoth let out a roar.
With menacing force, it charged at him.