Torsten Hewson
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v4c74: To the North
🕑 Added 2024-01-16 04:16:55 +0000 UTCThere is a minor change to the end of the last chapter. It now ends on
Shen Yu returned not long after, his face like stone.
Instead of him demanding they make a decision to follow him.
==============================
Shen Yu frowned at the mountain before him, still belching smoke. Demons and demonic cultivators always soured his disposition, mostly because they always found a way to be inconvenient.
He had been almost looking forward to meeting Zang Shenhe; her work against the various demonic bases had been praiseworthy in its completeness and effectiveness. They had one and all been burned down to the bedrock, and the taint they exuded was so miniscule Shen Yu himself could barely feel it.
It was enough that he had decided that he wouldn’t be too harsh on her when they met—the Empire needed able warriors against these beasts. He would tear down any face she had, of course, for the incident in the Azure Hills, but she would return to her sect unscathed and with a pat on the shoulder.
He imagined he would find her in the ruins of another demonic base; she was in the middle of the Earth Realm, Zang Shenhe, and the cult seemed to be one centered around infiltration. A strong assault, coupled with the competence the woman had shown, should have seen another base destroyed.
But she had been laid low. Laid low by a trap; a formation whose residue was largely alien to Shen Yu, something which still sat ill with him now. The power had peaked at the Sky Realm, and the echo of it spoke of an enormous amount of reagents used to reach those heights.
Shen Yu was fairly certain that this was the extent of their power. This base was too large and the battle here had been too vicious for it to have been anything less than their main stronghold… but he was dealing with a demonic cultivator who was not completely insane, as most of their wont had the grace to be.
The enemy had even collapsed the base behind them and taken away nearly all traces of their presence.
For that alone, Shen Yu would have to personally hunt them to the ends of the earth. The subtle knife was the most dangerous, and demons did so love to ferment the worst poisons. They had to be destroyed before they could lick their wounds and enter the Empire again.
And they had nearly erased their trail.
Shen Yu had their direction. North. North, into the Sea of Snow.
An unfortunate direction.
Shen Yu’s brooding was interrupted by Ri Zu’s approach.
“It is as you postulated, Master Shen Yu.” he looked back to the rat, currently in the form of a woman. She was standing at attention, the task he had given her complete. “The corpses are… relatively fresh, and their meridians are developed enough that these people either had cultivation potential or were cultivators already.”
The rest of the disciples were looking at the dissected bodies with varying levels of discomfort.
He had, of course, already known that, but it was best for the children to familiarize themselves with the operations of demonic cultivators.
Shen Yu glanced at the pieces of evidence he had found. While the enemy had been thorough in destroying the important things, some rooms had only been lightly touched. Shen Yu had found a… resource stockpile that had been somewhat intact.
Full corpses and body parts. Rather fresh corpses that had likely been under preservation wards to keep the poor wretches alive—at least until they had been buried for two days in the freezing temperatures of the Howling Fang Mountains. The various other body parts had been preserved in jars.
“A common tactic,” Shen Yu said bluntly. “They were either intending on refining or experimenting on them.”
The rat paused at his declaration. She seemed to be debating whether a question would be appropriate, so he raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to speak.
“Ri Zu thinks the experimentation might have already begun,” she said. “Ri Zu has some experience with impurities. On a brief glance, they look like what would form naturally after eating a poorly refined pill… but the deposits are oddly regular, distributed throughout the body. Some are very large.”
Now that was something he hadn’t noticed.
“Interesting… but nothing we can act on at the moment,” Shen Yu said before turning back to the last two bodies in their camp, the still living but unconscious forms of the Shrouded Mountain Disciples. “And them?”
“They should be awake within the hour.”
“Good,” Shen Yu said. “A firsthand account is always valuable… though it is interesting that you know them.”
“They were both a part of the team that was sent to capture us,” Ri Zu replied after a moment.
“Oh?” Shen Yu asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. He locked on to the man who had gotten one of his legs put back on then conspicuously considered at length the man with half his face bandaged. Their faces were flush with healthy colour. “And yet still you have tried your best to heal them?”
“Ri Zu does not like them… but neither does she hate them,” the woman pronounced. “Yingwen was furious about the mission they had been given. Although he did assault Ri Zu’s friends… even when he was losing, he refused killing blows, content with repelling the cultivators of the Azure Hills. In the end, he offered his own head to spare his subordinates' lives.”
Shen Yu considered her words. Indeed, an enemy today could be an ally tomorrow, so long as certain courtesies were kept. Not everything devolved into centuries long blood-feuds.
And besides, there were demons to slay; punishment could wait.
=======================
Like any other cleansing, it had been routine.
Had been.
The lightning struck, and the vanguard went into the tunnels. In all the other bases, there had been a few demonic cultists in the halls. They were immediately killed, as was their squad’s usual standing orders. Only the leaders were captured to have their information extracted.
In each and every base, they had found corpses; but none of them had any ritual rooms or any place to refine the bodies. After months of interrogations, a leader had finally snapped and revealed this location to them, the main hub where everything was transported to.
It was to be the final battle.
Yingwen and his squadron had entered from the south with the rest of the Rampaging Roar Squadron. Behind them the Inescapable Judgment Squadron had formed the cordon meant to capture any escapees, and beyond them the Outriders ranged even further.
They fought through the demonic cultists swiftly, the shock and awe paving the way to plunge deep into the heart of the mountain. Elder Shenhe was naturally in the lead, ready to reinforce any problem points.
It was there they found a man, sitting on a throne, and smiling. Shenhe had immediately gone on the offense, only for a great barrier of what looked like constellations to block her blow—and then, the explosions started. Walls collapsed and out poured a new foe.
They were biological horrors; these things that had once been men. Bones burst from their bodies and extra limbs spasmed in the air. They had never seen the like before.
Elder Shenhe had made the call to retreat, but it was too late as another formation activated and their Elder screamed.
In addition to the tide of horrors, there were several skilled cultivators within the beast’s ranks who were the equal of any Shrouded Mountain Disciple—one was even in the middle of the Spiritual Realm.
Fenxian had managed a fighting retreat—only to find that their camp, the cordon, and the Outriders had been similarly ambushed. Nothing like this had ever happened. There had been bad raids before, but never had even their established base been yet another trap.
Thus, in the middle of the blizzard, they continued with their last orders to retreat.
Or rather Fenxian did. Yingwen had been indisposed.
===============================
“That is all these disciples know, Great Expert,” Bi de frowned as Yingwen finished his report.
They were all seated in the tent to hear about their new enemy. Well, they had finally found the actual demons; and they were as monstrous as the stories. Only Sun Ken could come close to their depravity—and he had been hampered by the fact that he had lived in the Azure Hills.
“Hmmm. Artificial demons,” Shen Yu said after a moment. He stroked his beard. “It has been a long time since those have been encountered.”
“Artificial demons?” Bi De asked.
“Indeed, they are as they are named. Wretches created by suffering and foul alchemy to ape a fraction of an actual demon’s power. They’re mindless things, without skill—but their physical abilities tend to wind up several stages higher than the person that was used to make them—and the best ones can be up to a full realm superior.”
Yingwen and Fenxian paled. Elder Shenhe was in the Earth-Realm—and while Shen Yu was still above that, a full realm higher meant that Demonic Shenhe would have been stronger than their previous Patriarch.
“They’re a small thing in the end,” Shen Yu said with a shrug. “It takes time to break and form one of those beasts… but still, speed will be our ally here. We will not be returning to the Azure Hills at this time.”
Bi De caught nods from his fellow disciples.
“Then, what shall we be doing?” Bi De asked.
“We shall be heading into the Sea of Snow; we shall tear this out by the root. Left untouched and given time, it shall ferment like rotten poison” He turned to the rest of Bi De’s companions. “If you are not confident in your strength, stay here. We shall camp here for the night. Make your decision by the morrow.”
His words were heavy. Bi De looked to his companions. They would speak about it… but Bi De could see the hardness in Ri Zu’s eyes.
Yingwen cleared his throat. “Great Expert, may this Yingwen speak?”
Shen Yu looked at the man and shrugged.
“This humble disciple knows the Shrouded Mountain Sect would deploy its full might for this, if it pleases you,” Yingwen said. “With our formations we may reach the Sea of Snow and forge onwards, bringing all of these creatures to justice.”
Bi De winced slightly. Yes, this would be a moment where the Shrouded Mountain might shine in its own way and show their worth… but what was done was done.
“That is an impossibility at this time,” Shen Yu replied bluntly. “They are in the middle of a civil war.”
Both of the Shrouded Mountain disciples’ jaws dropped.
Blunt, Bi De judged his words, but effective.
“On the morrow,” Shen Yu merely repeated. And then he was gone.
Fenxian turned woodenly to Yun Ren.
Yun Ren sighed and pulled out his recording crystal.
==============================
Zhou Yingwen could barely process what had happened. It was unthinkable, inconceivable.
And yet, with the monster of a man right there and the recording… how could it be anything other than the truth?
He was numb. Here he was, missing a leg and absolutely useless, an absolute failure of a cultivator in the hour of the Mountain’s need.
Yigwen considered his options. He never was one for rash action. But at this point, what other action was there?
He looked to Fenxian.
His friend shrugged.
“Might as well go out like a bolt of lightning,” Fenxian said.
Yingwen licked his lips and looked at the stump of his leg.
Fenxian had managed to save one. Well and good; this meant he only needed one more.
“Miss Ri Zu,” he said, his voice breaking despite his best efforts to keep it level.
The woman looked up from where she was finalizing her preparations, packing away her medical supplies.
“Though it is the height of impertinence, this Zhou Yingwen has a favour to ask of you.”
The spiritual doctor listened to his request, and her eyebrows raised.
“Ri Zu can remove the impurities… and Master Jin did say something about transplants…” The woman sounded intrigued, but she was hesitating, quite reasonably. There was a strange comfort in that. Yingwen would’ve been worried if the healer had been anything but hesitant.
“If it starts killing me, I’ll cut it off,” Yingwen assured her.
===================================
Bi De, in his natural form, stood in a line with the rest of his companions, waiting for Shen Yu to descend the mountain.
All of them were calm. All of them had made their decision.
The dawn light crested the horizon and Shen Yu landed in front of them, his eyes gazing out over their line in approval.
“The road ahead shall be challenging—we are headed into the Sea of Snow at the start of its winter, chasing the trails of demons. Who will join me?” Shen Yu asked.
Bi De stepped forwards, and Shen Yu smirked at him. “I do not remember giving you much of a choice, disciple.”
The rooster chuckled. “And yet if you had, I would be joining you anyway. I swore to follow this path until the end; and I shall.”
Shen Yu smiled as next Ri Zu stepped forwards.
“A group needs a doctor. Especially Master Shen, who still needs his treatments to draw out the residual demonic Qi,” Ri Zu said.
“If we are headed for the Sea of Snow, it would behoove us to stop by Terminus Station,” Shao Heng said, strolling forward nonchalantly. “Stock up on more fire crystals and rope.”
Yushang’s eyes were burning as she stepped forward. “They made those demons out of people. People go missin’ in the mountains and that's a fact of life… but what if they weren’t all missing? What if they were taken? Like hells I’m letting them get away with it!”
Che Han sucked in a breath and stepped forward as well. “If they’re going, I’m going,” he said simply.
There was a beat of silence, and Shen Yu turned to Yun Ren. The man sighed and scratched the back of his head. “I came here to record images. Nezan talked me into going to the Shrouded Mountain, but chasing demons into the Sea of Snow wasn’t exactly in the plan, yanno?”
Both Shen Yu and Nezan nodded; the fox actually looked quite relieved—at least until Yun Ren took a step forward himself.
“Plans change, I guess,” Yun Ren said with a shrug. His hand was shaking slightly. The sword at his hip rattled.
Bi De knew his friend was scared of what was to come. Bi De had, last night, even tried to convince Yun Ren to stay.
But in the end, Yun Ren had made his decision.
“They make women fine in your Azure Hills; but the men, so far as I've seen, are of equal quality,” Shen Yu’s allowed approvingly.
Finally, Shen Yu turned his gaze to the last two; the ones that were not Bi De’s friends, but still had conviction and drive Bi De had to respect.
Yingwen stood stoically on a new leg—one from the preservation jar that Ri Zu had removed all the impurities from. Bandages with medical formations on it were wrapped around the leg.
It was a stopgap solution, and painful enough to the man that Ri Zui had considered simply removing it again, but Yingwen had refused.
“If we fall behind, cast us off without hesitation,” Yingwen said with determination.
“If nothing else, we can be shields,” Fenxian continued.
Shen Yu considered them for a moment. He nodded once.
“I accept your resolve,” Shen Yu said, his eyes hard. “Very well, then we go. North, to the uncharted lands. North, to the Sea of Snow.”
Shen Yu exploded into motion. Not the fastest he could go, but still an absolutely punishing pace.
They all burst into motion behind him.
Bi De kept his eyes fixed on the horizon.
The beginning of winter….
He hoped he would be home in time for the Solstice.
=========================================
and I return! Break was a bit less restful than I would have liked, as edtiting for the next volume release is ramping up. But I got a good few days of doing nothing. Next chapter should be a Jin one.
Editors: Massgamer, Aaron “Pastafarian” Sofaer, Ayje, Brandon “Philosophysics” Zhang-Leong
Comments
Aaron
Bi de frowned as Yingwen finished his report. Need to capitalize De here.
Echo Sparksong
What do you see as a red flag?
Cinnamon Toast
He’s an old immortal it can get boring if you don’t experiment
Net
Character. Women and men of strong character.
closeded
“They make women fine in your Azure Hills; but the men, so far as I've seen, are of equal quality,” Shen Yu’s allowed approvingly. Eww... that's a ship I never imagined...
Len
i think that is coming in the upcoming Jin Chapters.....
Echo Sparksong
Possibly? I must have missed that. I just remember him sending more of himself when they set out from the farm
pokemorph
I thought she already knew? I should keep an eye out the next time I re read that part.
Echo Sparksong
Wonder when the lady from the Azure Trading Company is going to realize Washy is more than a talking fish 😁
Justus Saucedo
I'm getting bad vibes about this Latest arc, Yun Ren is giving off some slight red flags. I might be over thinking it. who knows? Thanks for the chapter
Net
And what happened to the auditor?
Melanie Me
Is he? I thought he went and got the rest of himself when they were in the SMS for 5 months
Echo Sparksong
Shen Yu should have called for backup. He's still not 100%. Since he's considered nearly invincible... That and Nezan is only half there. The rest is back in the cave guarding Wen's grave.
Echo Sparksong
Looking forward to a Fa Ram chapter. And I want to hear from the Moose Yun Ren met. The lords of the sea of snow... They gotta be angry bout demons in their home...
Skylar
Me too! So much.
Jeremy Young
TFTC
Net
The bees! I need the bees!
Randall Brynsvold
He's positively bristling with extra fox bits!
Truedragon5374
Well if anyone is going to come up with a working Ice Mecha you know it's Jin.
Truedragon5374
The 4 sets was a typo. He has 4 ears and 1 tail. It will probably be a century or two before he gets a second
jordan silvester
Welcome back
N0ct3m
its ironic that the day that they head into the frozen north louisiana has its first hard freeze this year lol. Welcome Back!
matthew gilley
So shenhe might still be alive!!!! YES!! She is who I wanted to inherit the human side of the mountain anyway
Christopher Allen
I’m glad you’re doing a Jin story next. This arc has me missing the farm.
BlueMage_VT
Glad you got at least some time to just sit and enjoy a break! Welcome back, and thanks for the chapter!
Logrus
It's variable I think, depending on how much power Tianlan pumps into him at any given moment. That's one of the fundamental difference between his Earth-bound cultivation and the normal Heaven-defying kind - His power is bound entirely to the land's whim.
Drendude
Noooo! Don't say "We'll be home by Christmas" that's a terrible omen!
Justin
I'd be a puddle. +45 & - 45 are similar in the fact that you don't go outside for a prolonged period of time. Dress accordingly when you do. I can put on more layers, you still have sunburn and stuff like public indecency for taking too many layers off.
Old Dog
As always, thank you for the chapter. Glad to hear you got a few days of just chill'n in the chill. Looking forward to your next book release. Audible tells me that I listened to your books the most last year, like they needed to tell me :p.
Old Dog
I'm a wimp compared to you guys. Anything below 26 is winter, of course 44/45 is what I have over the summer.
Louisthau
We missed you. Welcome Back.
Namorat
A Jin chapter next, yay! I enjoy these chapters, but I miss Fa Ram
DrNutella
Spiritual Realm is below earth, it comes after profound than earth, sky and imperial. We know that Lu Bans Talismans were capable of stopping one blow from a cultivator in the sky realm, yet Jin punched through it and punched him into another province without issue. So he might already peak near or in the imperial realm with Tianlan putting her all into it. Also stages seem to matter more the higher they go. So the diffrence in power between a first stage imperial realm and a second stage seems to be far greater than in the profound realm. I think.
Trigun999
Awesome chapter
Demian Buckle
Thank you for the Chapter. Hope you had a good break and are recharged.
Sean McClain
Thanks, that helps bring into context what they were talking about, I assume he is capable of reaching spiritual realm (which I think is the top) but he would have to train a lot ot get there with the land providing the power. So while he can't assend, he can rivial any cultivator if he trains enough and with far faster growth.
TheBugEater
You know how the awesomely powerful guy dies at the end of the first season, and in the middle of the third season, when the heroes are about to die, he shows up and saves the day? That's how you coming off of brake feels x10!!!!
Derek Walker
When Shen Yu felt him he was near the peak of earth realm. It was slightly unclear but I think that was his base power. With Tianlan, I assume it’s comparable to at least low sky realm. This was also before he really started training with Tianlan though so maybe their combined strength is stronger. Or his skill is becoming equal to his raw power
Daniel Johnsen
Just reading this made me put on the kettle and brew a hot tea, only - 16 here atm.
BlueJayCash
Thank you for the chapter! I hope that this mostly gets resolved quickly, since while I like the "shounen" parts of this story. I most definitely prefer reading the story when there is not a sense of impending dread.
BlueJayCash
I think someone said the Earth realm but I'm not sure.
Justin
Currently - 36 and feels like - 45, last Thursday was - 44 and feels like - 666. There was ice fog! So cold the moisture in the air freezes as fog. Dry cold is the only win? vs wet cold off the water that cuts right thru you.
Sean McClain
Can someone remind me where Jin measures up in the different cultivation realms?
Daniel Johnsen
Down to - 45C? Holy hell, I whine and moan like an old cartoon villain as soon as it gets below - 20C. Hope you got plenty of tea/coffee and no winds where you live 😅
Justin
Nice return chapter! The leg transplant is interesting, I hope it was the same length! And right now this chapter felt warm! It's been -35 to - 45°C this past week so I feel like my understanding of cccccold is there right now.
Munirah Hutchinson
Thanks for the b-b-buh-bracing chapter Capt. Just in time for the real start of winter in Ontario lol 😆->😩->😞
Bandakun
Winter Shogun?
Keliana Tayler
Welcome back and thank you for the chapter! Let the hunt begin!!
Kedar
I can't wait for 'He who commands the winter' to help them out remotely
pokemorph
May we all enjoy the year of Washy the dragon.
Sezra_
Thanks a bunch! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔゞ゛
Melanie Me
Oh I hope no body dies. (wringing hands) Especially Yun Ren. He has to go home to show his family his 4 sets of ears and tail. How many tails does he have?
Red Viking
TYFTC. Ah, the age old "Back before Christmas" flag.
Bender
Winter is coming
Bonifacio Mario Peña Jr.
Omg we just got through winter, and we're going back into the cold!
Benjamin Lawton
A more Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, I've never seen. Poor demonic cultivators won't have a clue what hit them…
CringeWorthyStudios
*pours a line of powdered chapter on the table* Aaaaa yes, that’s the good stuff.
Npad11111
Welcome back cf! We've missed you. Hope you had good rest at least.
Cyrus McEnnis
Ah, yeeeessss that's the good stuff. Right into my veins if you would, good author.
Sean Ulrich
He’s Back!
lockx
Tftc
Jazer Andrew Sotomayor
Thank you!!
Andrew Denton
Yes!
Logan Jones
Nice chapter
WarStrider72
Welcome back boss!
WarStrider72
1st
Pierre laplant
Woo
