The Land Candle Dragon began descending the mountain. This was the mountain's southern foothills, stretching for more than ten miles. Compared to the northern foothills, the southern side was relatively gentle, and looking south from the mountain, one could see the lights of a town.
Once they left this mountain, they would leave the Old No-Man's Land and Tianshiyuan, entering the territory of the Northern Frontier.
On the Candle Dragon's back, bells rang out incessantly. A small figure had a great bell floating above his head as he raced across the Candle Dragon's back, repeatedly clashing with a giant ape wielding an iron staff.
The two Spirit Scholars fought as they moved, every collision erupting with a resounding bell chime.
In the pavilions atop the carriages, the Spirit Scholars guarding the Candle Dragon Carriage anxiously activated their lamps, illuminating the dark night sky and driving back the Artificer Puppets swooping down from above.
From one carriage came the tinkling cry of a sword. Li Muge was doing everything he could to fend off the Artificer Puppets' assault.
Below, Artificer Puppets had charged into the carriages. Flower Fox shielded the passengers behind him, fighting the Artificer Puppets to the death.
In another carriage, Hu Buping, Qingqiu Yue, and Li Xiaofan had also reached the most critical moment. The Artificer Puppets they faced were growing more numerous, soon to exceed the limits of what they could endure.
Clang—
With a bell chime, Su Yun and Ancestor Yuan San met again and erupted with all their strength. Above Su Yun's head, the markings on the Yellow Bell suddenly turned. White apes leaped out one after another from within the bell, attacking Ancestor Yuan San from every direction!
Ancestor Yuan San gave a muffled grunt. The attacks of those white apes landed precisely on his old wounds, bursting them open!
At the same time, Ancestor Yuan San drove his staff into Su Yun's chest. The bell boomed, shedding the force of the blow, but at the instant it rang, Ancestor Yuan San's other fist smashed into the tail end of the Iron Cudgel!
The bell did not ring again. The power of this strike struck Su Yun squarely in the chest. Sweetness surged into Su Yun's throat as his whole body flew backward.
Just as he flew back, the great bell spun, and dragon roars shook without end. Flood Dragons flew out from the bell and slammed into Ancestor Yuan San all at once.
Man and ape fell backward in opposite directions, dropping from the Candle Dragon Carriage and vanishing into the darkness.
"Mooong—" The Land Candle Dragon's roar stretched long and deep, deafeningly loud.
The enormous creature's long dragon whiskers drifted in the wind like ribbons. One whisker floated out of the darkness, and Su Yun clung to it with one hand, blood continuously running from the corner of his mouth.
Another dragon whisker drifted over. Ancestor Yuan San's face was grim as he crouched upon it, both feet and one hand gripping the whisker while his other hand clenched the Iron Cudgel tightly.
Drip. Drip.
Every wound on his body had burst open, blood pouring down in streams.
With injuries this severe, continuing to fight would sever his last thread of life. Yet the savage ape's gaze was cold and sinister, with not the slightest intention of retreating.
Su Yun panted heavily, his mouth full of bloody foam. His lungs must have been injured; his chest felt as though it were on fire, and every breath echoed in his throat.
He had just activated the Yellow Bell's seventy-two imprints. Now his qi and blood were depleted. If he fought again, the force of his moves would surely plummet.
The Land Candle Dragon's long whiskers drifted in the wind like giant pythons swimming through water. At the instant the two whiskers were about to cross, Ancestor Yuan San leaped up, whirling the Iron Cudgel as he smashed it toward Su Yun!
Su Yun swung forward, his body tracing an arc through the air as he rose from below to appear behind Ancestor Yuan San.
Yet Ancestor Yuan San seemed to have anticipated this move. Without turning around, he swept the Iron Cudgel backward, aiming straight for Su Yun's head!
At the same time, the bronze bands at both ends of the Iron Cudgel spun with a howl, and six white apes leaped from them!
He had already seen through the flaw in Su Yun's Great Yellow Bell.
The Great Yellow Bell's defense was indeed formidable. It could probably shed two-thirds of his force, leaving Su Yun to endure only one-third of the impact. But this bell required a process and time to disperse force.
And that time was exactly the time needed for the seventh marking of the Great Yellow Bell, the Hu marking, to complete one rotation: one second.
In other words, as long as one continuously attacked the same spot within a single second, the Great Yellow Bell would not have time to shed the second attack, and Su Yun would have to take that attack in full!
This time, Ancestor Yuan San had prepared not two attacks for Su Yun, but seven!
He would beat this youth alive into pulp!
Clang!
His first strike had already landed on Su Yun. The Yellow Bell let out a thunderous boom, its surface shuddering as the seventh layer of markings spun. Of the three hundred and sixty markings, more than a hundred had already turned.
Ancestor Yuan San turned his head, baring his fangs in savage ferocity.
His second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh strikes would all land upon Su Yun before the Hu marking could finish its remaining two hundred-odd divisions!
His second strike would directly shatter the youth's throat cartilage and blast his seven neck vertebrae into fragments.
The third strike would crush the youth's skull, smash open the crown of his head, and turn his brain into mush.
The fourth strike would tear off one of his arms!
The fifth strike...
As Ancestor Yuan San turned his head, before he could fully picture the effects of all seven strikes landing upon Su Yun, in the instant of that sudden change, he saw Su Yun's qi and blood surging violently. He heard the youth's blood rushing through his veins with a tremendous roar like ocean waves crashing against the shore!
He saw Su Yun's vital qi running so violently that it directly shredded every scrap of clothing from his right arm!
He also saw Su Yun's arm suddenly swell to an incomparably massive size, thick veins throbbing beneath his skin. He saw the edge of Su Yun's palm become incomparably sharp.
Having taken the force of his first blow, the youth's body twisted and spun. As he spun, the youth's right arm swept upward from below.
It resembled a sword technique.
Ancestor Yuan San saw Su Yun's arm slice through the six white apes, cutting all six in half and smashing them back into states of qi and blood. He saw Su Yun's palm slice through his Spiritual Ability, the Iron Cudgel, with virtually no resistance.
The Iron Cudgel was split cleanly into two, its cross-sections incomparably sharp.
Then he saw Su Yun's palm sweep upward from beneath his left rib and emerge from his right shoulder. At the instant Sword Aura flew from the edge of that palm, he saw his own scorching blood evaporated by the Sword Aura, turning into red mist.
Ancestor Yuan San's upper body flew up. In midair, he praised, "What a sword technique! Yuan San is utterly convinced. I can die without regrets!"
His lower body landed atop a dragon whisker and stood there for a moment before finally losing all strength. His nimble ape feet could no longer grip the whisker, and it tumbled down.
Su Yun landed, nearly slipping from the slick dragon scales. He hurriedly reached out and gripped the steel support beam of a wooden tower, only then avoiding being flung from the Candle Dragon Carriage.
Half of Ancestor Yuan San's corpse slid past him and fell into the dark mountain forest.
Su Yun's expression dimmed. Though Ancestor Yuan San had sought his life, Su Yun could not bring himself to hate him.
The reason the two had fought to the death was merely ten extra coins collected at the bridge.
Yuanjia Ridge acted as road tyrants, robbing homes and murdering for wealth. Even if they had not met me, they would have met someone else. This day was bound to come sooner or later.
Artificer Puppets whistled through the sky as they pounced toward him.
Su Yun sighed and waited for death to descend. He no longer had the strength to resist.
At that moment, the Land Candle Dragon paused slightly. It had finally reached the foot of the mountain, and the Artificer Puppets flew away in a great rush.
"Ha..."
Su Yun laughed once, then suddenly burst into loud laughter. As he laughed, he began coughing violently again, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood as his breath grew weak and listless.
"Little Yun! Little Yun! Where are you?" Flower Fox's voice called out.
"Junior Brother Su Yun, answer if you can hear us!"
"Brother Little Yun, we're safe now! Where are you?"
Su Yun answered, "I'm here..." But his voice was too hoarse to carry far through the wind.
"I'm here."
Su Yun caught his breath and repeated, "I'm here."
Light shone from a pavilion atop another small wooden tower, falling upon him. Then lamps from the other towers of the Candle Dragon Carriage shone over one after another. Su Yun froze for a moment, then smiled.
For the first time, he felt the warmth given by strangers.
On the Candle Dragon's back, Flower Fox, Li Muge, and the others hurried over following the lights. After a while, Su Yun, nearly frozen stiff, was helped into a small tower. Strangers took off their clothes and wrapped him in them. Someone else boiled hot water and had him hold a porcelain cup to warm his hands.
Li Muge carried medicinal supplies, both for internal consumption and external application.
Warmth filled Su Yun's heart.
The carriage gradually quieted down. Su Yun mobilized his remaining vital qi and activated the Great Furnace Transformation: Qi Cultivation Chapter to heal his wounds, using his vital qi to stimulate the medicine's effects. This cultivation technique was highly beneficial for strengthening the internal organs.
Beyond the window was utter darkness. Specks of light dotted the fields, outlining a small town.
Li Muge said, "That is Qingyu Town."
Su Yun was slightly startled. For some reason, the name felt familiar to him.
Flower Fox asked curiously, "Why is it called Qingyu Town when it is so far from the sea?"
"It is said that the people there moved out of Tianshiyuan six or seven years ago. They were originally fishermen from the North Sea."
Li Muge said, "Afterward, a disaster occurred there, and it became a No-Man's Land. Only those who moved away survived."
Su Yun shook his head. His mind buzzed. The name Qingyu Town felt familiar, yet whenever he tried to think of things from before the disaster, his mind went completely blank.
It was as though a huge piece of his memory had gone missing. Every memory from before the disaster had vanished entirely!
The more he tried to think, the more his head hurt, and the louder the buzzing became!
His face immediately turned waxen yellow, and he could not help covering his ears. Flower Fox, Li Muge, and the others spoke anxiously to him, but he could not make out a single word they said.
After a while, the buzzing finally disappeared.
Su Yun panted heavily in a daze and waved his hand at Flower Fox and the others. "I'm fine. Perhaps my injuries have flared up again."
Outside the window, Qingyu Town had already flashed past.
"Qingyu Town..."
He silently said to himself, I must go and take a look at this place!
The Candle Dragon raced onward. Though it was night, the scenery along the way made Su Yun, Flower Fox, and the others click their tongues in wonder.
There were great mountains along the road. At their feet, lights blazed brightly, and people came and went in lively crowds. Su Yun asked Li Muge and was told that those were mines.
"Some places are kiln factories as well."
Li Muge said, "The mines extract gold, silver, copper, and iron ore. The Calamity Ash Factories dig Calamity Ash from underground. Smelting Plants burn Calamity Ash to refine ores, while kiln factories burn Calamity Ash to make bricks, tiles, and porcelain. Besides those, there are Glazed Tile Factories that make glazed glass, steelworks that refine steel, and refinement factories for sacrificial refinement. All these factories require Calamity Ash."
Flower Fox asked curiously, "What is Calamity Ash?"
"It is the stone coal beneath the earth. During the Martial Emperor's reign, Spirit Scholars in the Northern Frontier dug a thousand feet underground and discovered stone coal. It could be lit, and a small piece could burn all night."
Li Muge said, "The Martial Emperor ordered people to investigate the origin of the stone coal. A Sacred Buddha said that it was Calamity Ash from the previous era. There were people, things, and plants and trees in that era as well, but for some unknown reason, a Great Tribulation erupted, and they were buried underground."
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