Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 281: The Classic Monster of Ice and Fire

Wu Chen was a step too late.

When he arrived, what appeared before him was not a blood-stained path, but a burning village. It was located behind a small hill when Wu Chen detected its presence, and perhaps half an hour earlier, not a single living creature remained in the entire village.

Slaughter, destruction, plunder.

This was not something a few, a dozen, or even dozens of ordinary bandits could accomplish—after all, medieval farms weren't as undefended as in Japanese goblin stories. When Wu Chen arrived at the village, he saw damaged roadblocks, makeshift fences and barricades, and some villagers' guns made of bamboo and wood, which served no purpose.

It was an army—a vast horde of warhorses with deep hoofprints. They used lances and longswords to wreak havoc—they raided the village, killing the men at the entrance. Then they set fire to all the flammable houses. And as the villagers screamed and fled from their hiding places, they brought their swords to the necks and backs of everyone.

This is all information that can be seen at a glance; it's obvious.

This army was deliberately causing destruction and ruin, not just engaging in spur-of-the-moment plunder and pleasure. They came and went quickly, spending relatively little time in the village.

Wu Chen glanced at the sky.

The sky was no longer the gloomy, overcast skies typical of the North, and the air was no longer filled with the chill of the wind. He had been riding south for several days, and he had successfully left the North, crossed the Neck Marsh, and arrived in the fertile and warm Riverlands. And if his memory served him correctly, at this time, an army was indeed slaughtering and plundering in the Riverlands.

"Such a thing actually happened... Catherine clearly didn't catch the little devil this time." Wu Chen frowned, casually dismissing the original plot from his mind. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, and in this village, there were no survivors successfully hidden in the cellars, wine jars, or wells.

The person who did it was skilled; there was no living thing in the ruins. He frowned, and an even stronger gust of wind rushed out from his side, lashing towards the burning wood debris.

The fire fueled the wind.

But a strong wind is enough to extinguish the fire.

Wu Chen took a light breath, and the surging wind precisely captured and removed the flammable material within. The fire that enveloped the entire village then intensified and then subsided. At the same time, another elemental mastery that Wu Chen once possessed also faintly appeared deep within his perception.

Elemental mastery, fire.

With the authority to control the flames, extinguish the fire before you.

With a soft 'whoosh,' the dominance of fire and wind shifted imperceptibly. The weakening fire dimmed considerably, and when the next gust of wind rose, all the flames were swept away.

The burning ended there.

"By the Seven Gods! What an evil act this is!" The old priest's voice came from afar.

While Wu Chen was busy observing, contemplating, and extinguishing the fire, his followers, some on horseback and others galloping at full speed, caught up with him as he had stopped. The entire burning village came into view.

"This must be the work of that abominable Mountain, Gregor Clegane! He's said to have burned down at least nine villages in the Riverlands in the past!" someone shouted, staring furiously at the extinguished fire. Perhaps he knew people who had died in those nine burned villages.

He looked at Wu Chen expectantly, but Wu Chen did not give any reply—Wu Chen simply looked at the numerous corpses in the extinguished fire before him. Then, he reached out and, using the lines of his telekinetic energy, dragged several burned corpses out of the ashes and placed them in the flat, open square.

He only moved a few.

The old priest behind him gave a shout and immediately sprang into action. Dozens of strong men dismounted and ran into the ruined village. One after another, the gruesome corpses were piled up in the square by their efforts. They didn't know what Wu Chen wanted to do—perhaps they thought he would grant these dead justice, appease them, or perhaps exact revenge.

However, Wu Chen simply walked quietly through the village, taking out one buried or trapped corpse after another from the ruins or crevices.

They saw the light of day again.

They gathered at the top of the square.

More than two hundred people died, and a large portion of them had lost their hands, feet, or heads.

Wu Chen walked through the clearing beside them, his gaze sweeping over each corpse. First were the strong enough men, but most of them had lost limbs or heads due to being targeted and resisting. Then he looked at the intact remains, only to find with regret that they had all been quite weak in life.

He had a bit of a headache, but Wu Chen had plenty of patience. And his luck was also quite good.

A young, healthy body, with a spirituality clearly more abundant than the other dead, came into Wu Chen's view. It looked slender and supple, with golden braids that hadn't even been destroyed by the flames.

I hope this child won't be named Marika.

Wu Chen thought for a moment and then reached out his hand. The unique magic originating from the heavens of the kingdom was forcibly activated with the support of the elemental crystal sphere.

Fifth rank, resurrected!
The dazzling beam of light obscured the outline of the corpse.

In Wu Chen's eyes, however, he saw the withered body become plump again, replenished with moisture and life force. The face, ravaged by smoke and fire, was restored, and even the imperfections honed by the elements were completely erased by the excess magic. And a soul, which remained stable despite the loss of experience points, returned to her body once more!
The dead came back to life.

She stood there, her eyes hazy, bewildered and at a loss.

The believers gathered nearby were stunned, stammering, and trembling. The old priest, who was the first to react, let out a frenzied and joyful cheer at the top of his lungs.

"A miracle! A stranger's miracle!"

"The seven gods have descended to earth and absolved this child of death!"

He was the first to kneel down on the ground.

The other believers also prostrated themselves in worship—more and more followers were arriving from behind, and they followed suit, kneeling down and praying fervently.

They do have some effect.

The tide of willpower belonging to the Seven Gods, a creation of the Westeros people that, like the Old Gods, lacked a definite direction, was brought to a halt in Wu Chen's hands. And this could serve as a medium to compensate for the soul loss inflicted on the recipient by casting a resurrection spell.

Wu Chen then reached out his hand again.

(End of this chapter)