Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

Chapter 142 A Way Out (4K)

Along the buffer zone of over a hundred miles at the border of Zezhou and Yongzhou, the three major families have maintained outposts year-round.

It's not to protect against the imperial court, but to protect against things that crawl out of the myriad poisonous forests.

The Qin family's outpost was located at the easternmost point, next to a dried-up riverbed, and had three arrow towers built there.

The Mu family occupied the highest hill in the area.

The Gu family set up a semi-permanent military camp on the west side, about twenty miles away from the Mu family.

The combined garrison personnel of the three factions number less than three hundred, with those at the Bone Forging Realm as the minimum and those at the Tendon Changing Realm as the leaders, rotating year-round.

The work wasn't strenuous; it involved keeping an eye on the edge of the forest, killing any stray poisonous creatures or fallen martial artists that came out, and taking the valuable parts back to sell.

There was plenty of profit, but also a lot of deaths.

But tonight is different.

On the arrow tower of the Qin family's eastern outpost, a martial artist in his forties, at the Yi Jin realm, was on night duty.

His name is Qin Wuyong. He is from a branch of the Qin family and has been in charge of this outpost for three years. He has seen all kinds of storms.

Just after midnight, he glanced in the direction of the forest.

The pupils suddenly contracted.

To the due south, deep within the heart of the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, a dark golden pillar of light shot into the sky.

The beam of light was over ten feet thick and pierced straight into the night sky.

The beam of light cleaved open a huge gap in the surrounding thick fog, revealing a starry sky above the Myriad Poison Forest that had not been seen for decades.

"What the hell?"

Qin Wuyong's hand had already reached for the knife at his waist.

The ground began to shake the next moment.

It's not the up-and-down shaking of an earthworm turning over, but a continuous, low-frequency resonance that travels from the soles of your feet straight to the back of your head.

My teeth were chattering, and my ear canals felt swollen.

The watchtower on the arrow tower creaked and groaned from the vibrations.

Immediately afterwards—Wan Du Sen Hai was in an uproar.

Not just one place, but the entire forest opposite the northern edge of the defense line simultaneously emitted a deafening roar.

Qin Wuyong had never heard such a sound in his entire life.

It wasn't the combined cries of a few or dozens of strange beasts; it was hundreds or thousands of voices simultaneously being gripped by something, involuntarily howling.

Screams, growls, wing flapping, the rubbing of joints, and the popping sounds of venom sacs bursting and bulging all mingled together, surging from the depths of the dense forest.

The treetops at the edge of the forest began to shake violently.

It wasn't the wind blowing; something was moving underneath.

A large amount of things.

Qin Wuyong jumped down from the arrow tower, and the moment he landed, the sole of his shoe crushed a fist-sized poisonous centipede that darted out of the forest.

"Everyone, rise up!"

'

The torches of the three arrow towers were lit simultaneously.

More than thirty Qin family warriors rushed out of the tent, hurriedly putting on their armor and drawing their swords.

Then they saw the view at the edge of the forest.

The bushes are moving.

The entire grove of trees surged towards the depths of the forest.

They're not running outwards, they're running inwards.

Poisonous snakes, giant frogs, armored centipedes, and all sorts of strange beasts whose names were unknown rushed wildly toward the dark golden pillar of light in droves.

They trampled bushes, snapped tree trunks, and stomped on each other. Some of the slower ones were crushed into mincemeat by their own kind, without even a chance to cry out.

The fallen warriors were also running.

Qin Wuyong saw at least twenty distorted human figures crossing the edge of the forest in a manner that was not human.

Some ran on all fours, while others swung through the treetops.

All facing south. All facing this pillar of light.

"Are they crazy?" A Qin family member at the Bone Forging Realm asked, his mouth agape, his knife half-raised.

Qin Wuyong didn't answer. He stared at the dark golden pillar of light, his mind racing.

The Wan Du Sen Hai region has never seen anything like this in decades.

The last time there was a similar phenomenon was when his father was young and heard from the elders that a giant forest python at the Tongqiao realm shed its skin and transformed into a dragon, which triggered a riot of strange beasts within a radius of fifty miles.

But there was no beam of light that time.

The aura emanating from this beam of light, shooting up from the ground, could be felt even from over a hundred miles away.

Clean, heavy, ancient.

It's completely different from the miasma and poisonous fog in the Ten Thousand Poison Forest.

"Withdraw." Qin Wuyong made the decision.

"Uncle Yong, should we not fight?"

"Hit you my foot!" Qin Wuyong had already started dismantling the crossbow parts on the arrow tower. He couldn't lose anything valuable. "The things in the forest are all running inwards; they don't have time to deal with us. But who knows if, after an incense stick's time or half an hour, things over there will be settled, and these beasts will rush out?"

66

He glanced at the edge of the forest.

The horde of strange beasts continued, but it was much thinner than before; those that could run had already fled.

"Retreat five miles north. Release the carrier pigeons to inform the head of the family that a major incident has occurred in the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, the scale and nature of which are unknown. We recommend a full retreat."

6

The carrier pigeons flapped their wings and flew into the night sky.

Meanwhile, at the Mu Family Hill outpost twenty miles away, Mu Qing, the Mu family's steward on duty, had already made the same judgment.

Mu Qing is in his early thirties and at the late stage of the Yi Jin Jing realm. He is one of the most promising young people in the Mu family this generation.

He didn't have Qin Wuyong's many years of border defense experience, but he had something Qin Wuyong didn't—a "listening gu" passed down in the Mu family.

The Listening Gu is a living sensor. It was a seed that the Mu family stole from Master Gai in the Southern Wilderness a hundred years ago. It is kept in a silver bottle and can sense the direction and intensity of large-scale biological activities within a radius of two hundred miles.

Normally, the Gu (a type of insect) stays quietly inside the bottle, and it's considered lively if it moves once or twice a day.

Tonight, I hear the Gu (a type of poisonous insect) clattering inside the bottle.

He banged his head against the bottle wall like he'd gone mad.

The silver bottle bounced three inches high on the table after being hit by it.

Mu Qing unscrewed the silver bottle cap, and the listening gu rushed out, swirling three times in his palm, its tentacles all pointing due south.

His whiskers were trembling.

Mu Qing had never seen Gu tremble in his life.

"All personnel withdraw to Camp Two," Mu Qing said calmly. "Take all medicinal herbs and valuables with you; we'll leave the tents behind."

"Manager, this beam of light—"

"6

"Whatever it is, it's not something we can get involved in."

The Mu family acted faster than the Qin family. Within three-quarters of an hour, the sentry post on the hill was cleared, and more than fifty people, carrying large and small bags of recently collected medicinal herbs, retreated five miles north overnight.

The Gu family was the slowest to react on the west side—moving a camp of about two hundred people was a hassle, and the officer on duty was reluctant to part with a batch of ghost-face mushrooms that he had just picked from the edge of the forest, so he dawdled for half an incense stick before ordering a retreat.

The outposts of all three families withdrew five miles along the entire line.

No one knows what exactly happened in the heart of the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest.

The carrier pigeons released by the three families flew to their respective main residences in Yongzhou. Before dawn, the heads of the Qin, Mu, and Gu families would all receive the message.

But there was one thing that everyone at the three checkpoints noticed.

After retreating, they looked back towards the direction of the Myriad Poison Forest.

The dark golden pillar of light had disappeared, and the night sky was once again shrouded in thick fog.

The forest returned to its usual deathly stillness.

However, the concentration of miasma is decreasing.

Qin Wuyong stood on the new position five miles away, took a deep breath, and frowned.

The pungent, sweet smell of rotting fruit mixed with poison in the air had faded.

Not much, about 10% lighter.

For a veteran who had been stationed on this defensive line for three years, a 10% change in miasma concentration was more unsettling than the dark golden pillar of light.

Miasma is the root of all poisonous forests.

As long as the roots are there, the forest will remain, the poisons will remain, and so will the business.

If the roots are disturbed, will the three major families still be able to continue their business that relies on this forest?

The poisonous vines of the Myriad Poisonous Forest parted on their own beneath Xu Hao's feet.

It wasn't being trampled, it was yielding.

The intertwined poison vines surged to both sides like a tide, revealing the solid mud beneath.

There were no swamps, no insect nests, and no strangler vine roots buried in the dark on the muddy ground.

A road three feet wide appeared out of thin air in front of him.

Shen Xiaohan walked second behind him, still clutching the broken spear in her hand. He glanced down at the poisonous vines that had automatically retreated, then looked up at the spine in front of him.

He moved his lips, but didn't ask.

Seven drug slaves stumbled and fell behind him.

The oldest among them was a lame old man in his fifties, being supported by a woman in her early twenties. The youngest was a girl of seven or eight, barefoot, being carried on the back of another medicine slave.

No one spoke.

When they arrived, the convoy had traveled for a day and a half and dozens of people had died.

They have walked for less than two hours and haven't encountered a single poisonous insect.

The tree canopy overhead still blocked out the sun, and the pale green light filtered through layers of leaves to fall to the ground.

However, when these rays of light fell within a 30-foot radius around Xu Hao, the greenery faded, replaced by a dry, warm, normal hue.

Miasma swirled around.

The pale yellow poisonous fog seeped out from between the tree trunks on both sides, and when it was about ten steps away from Xu Hao, it hit an invisible wall, went around the curved boundary, and rejoined the group at the back.

This is not a barrier created by external energy.

It was Wan Du Sen Hai itself paving the way for its new master.

He didn't need to take active control—Fudi's instinctive reactions were enough to clear away all threats in his path.

It took us eighty li to get here, a day and a half.

He estimated that the return journey would take eighty li, and four hours would be enough.

Another hour passed.

The terrain begins to rise.

The concentration of miasma in the air decreased visibly.

The decaying leaves underfoot had thinned, and occasionally one could see normal weeds and ferns.

The light came on.

The tree canopy ahead thinned out, and a ray of real sunlight fell through the gaps, hitting the muddy ground.

The seven- or eight-year-old girl, clinging to the back of the medicine slave, suddenly burst into tears.

It's not fear.

Yes, we saw the sun.

The old man with the ailing leg sniffed, remained silent, and his eyes reddened. On the way here, he thought he was going to die; he had even recited his last words in his mind as he was about to enter the furnace.

"The watershed is half a mile ahead." Xu Hao stopped and turned to face the eight people.

"If you go north over the mountain ridge, you can leave Zezhou in two days."

He took out the dry rations and water bag he had collected from the dead captain from his bosom and placed them on the ground.

He then took off a cloth bag hanging from his waist. Inside the bag were a dozen or so wax pellets he had picked up from the ruins of the camp, meant to ward off miasma.

"Each person should take one wax pill; once we reach the north side of the ridge, we won't need them anymore. Consume dry rations sparingly, and replenish water from your water bags in the streams below the ridge."

Shen Xiaohan squatted down to pack things and quickly made arrangements.

There weren't many people, but we had just enough food.

"Aren't you leaving?" Shen Xiaohan straightened up and looked at Xu Hao.

"I have something to do."

Shen Xiaohan pursed her lips.

He wanted to ask what it was, but swallowed his words. This person killed cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm like beating children; he was not someone whose plans he could interfere with.

"Head northeast," Xu Hao added. "Stay along the border between Zezhou and Yongzhou, but don't go into Yongzhou. The three major families in Yongzhou are even more cannibalistic than the Ten Thousand Poison Forest. If you have no one left in your family, you can go to Chenzhou to make a living."

"What's your name?"

'

"Xu Hao".

Shen Xiaohan pondered those two words and nodded.

The drug slaves knelt down and kowtowed, chattering amongst themselves.

Xu Hao didn't let them finish kowtowing before turning around and leaving.

Shen Xiaohan stood there, watching that figure step back into the dense forest.

The decaying leaves receded beneath his feet, the strangler vines above the canopy retracted their tendrils, and even the miasma in the air made way for them.

When he arrived, he thought this forest was a graveyard.

This cemetery now has an owner.

"Let's go." Shen Xiaohan withdrew her gaze, her voice firm.

Carrying the broken spear, he led seven medicine slaves across the mountain ridge and disappeared into the sunlight of northern Zezhou.

Xu Hao walked for half an hour and returned to the ruins of the camp.

The air was still filled with the stench of dragon's saliva and charred bones.

The broken ore on the ground was burned into a patch of vitrified scorched earth by the dark gold beam.

The remaining tent fabric and broken iron chains were scattered everywhere, interspersed with cleanly gnawed bones and fragments of armor.

The fallen warriors have dispersed.

After the dark golden pillars disappeared, the attraction vanished, and they instinctively retreated into the depths of the dense forest.

The remains of the black cauldron are still there.

Xu Hao squatted at the edge of the crack, looking at the scattered black fragments.

Most of the fragments have lost the luster of the ancient patterns and turned into ordinary black slag.

The essence was absorbed by the Sea-Devouring Blade.

He drew the Sea-Devouring Blade.

The blade is half an inch wider and thicker than before, with dark gold patterns flowing slowly across its surface.

11% repair rate.

It's still far from being a complete entity, but it has already undergone a complete transformation.

He inserted the tip of the knife into the crack.

A faint humming sound came from deep within the earth's veins.

The seal on the secondary nail was stabilized, but only barely.

One-third of the inscription is destroyed, which is irreversible damage.

In the sea of ​​consciousness, a line of small golden characters flashed in the corner of the scroll.

[Note: The Myriad Poisons Forest is a growth-type blessed land. The blessed land level can be increased by refining a larger area of ​​the forest sea through the following methods: repairing the seal of the secondary nail in Zezhou; and clearing the nests of high-level fallen warriors and alien beasts within the area.]

He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

The dark metal circulation of the five internal organs, which is the foundation of internal organ health, operates smoothly within the body.

The earth's energy slowly seeps in from the soles of the feet, is received and purified by the dark gold kidneys, and then supplied to the whole body.

The scroll of the blessed land unfolded completely in my mind.

A complete view of the Myriad Poisons Forest.

Every underground river, every swamp, and every beast's lair in the Thousand-Mile Poisonous Forest was clearly marked.

But his attention was fixed on a single point at the very depths of the painting.

Due south.

It is about four hundred miles away from his current location.

This area on the scroll is obscured by a thick fog, making it impossible to discern any details. It's not miasma; some force is actively blocking the perception of this blessed land.

There's something hidden there that they don't want to be found.

Xu Hao pressed his palm against the hilt of the Devouring Sea Blade.

The handle got a little hot.

It wasn't him who initiated it.

It's the knife's own reaction.

The dark gold pattern lit up for a moment, pointing due south.

Homogeneous resonance.

At that shielded location four hundred miles away, there's something that the Sea-Devouring Blade recognizes.

Another fragment? Or more?