Chapter 35 On the Road

On the journey, through conversations with the escort team, Su Zhou gained a better understanding of this world.

The Divine Tree World is indeed a world with a martial arts flavor. Spiritual power practitioners are called Inner Force Warriors here, and the levels are roughly the same. The birth of inner force is known as Awakening, and the mastery of inner force (awakening) is known as Houtian Warrior (Acquired Warrior).

The three stages of Houtian Warrior: 'Ningqi Dantian' (Condensing Qi in the Dantian), 'Xinyan Tongming' (Clairvoyant Eyes), and 'Han Shu Bu Qin' (Impervious to Cold and Heat), do indeed correspond to the three stages of Awakening.

Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, there were Xiantian Wusheng (Innate Martial Saints) who could dominate the world alone. The founding emperor of the An Dynasty was such a figure, and there were even higher-level Tiangang Realm Grandmasters, but the latter were basically figures from myths and legends thousands of years ago, just like the leaders of the group who suppressed the evil spirits of Kunlun Mountain, as recorded in the classics.

But for this world, where even a single Xiantian Warrior is absent, such legends are meaningless.

"Young Hero Su's strength is probably already beyond the three stages of Houtian."

This was Mo Ganxiu's judgment. In fact, it was indeed the case, and he couldn't help but sigh: "To reach the Grandmaster realm at such a young age, truly Xiantian is within reach! Originally, Nephew-Apprentice Zhou was called 'Xiantian is within reach' when he broke through the 'Ningqi Dantian' and 'Xinyan Tongming' realms before the age of twenty-five, but compared to you, he is still slow."

The current peak martial power of the Divine Tree World is only the peak of Houtian. There are only a few Grandmasters in the entire Divine Continent who are only one step away from Xiantian, and Su Zhou's strength is already considered top-notch in this world, and he can be called a Grandmaster, capable of founding a sect.

Zhou Buyi, the monk Fang Hui, and the Xia Zhao female knight are already first-class experts among the new generation, but they have only broken through one or two of the three stages, and are still some distance away from Grandmaster.

As for ordinary warriors, being able to break through Houtian is already considered famous.

"It seems that this world has also declined for a period of time due to the disappearance of transcendence. Even Grandmasters disappeared two hundred years ago, and many inheritances were cut off."

After knowing his strength's position in this world, Su Zhou did not become dismissive. He was a Grandmaster, but there were still Great Grandmasters in this world who were only one step away from Xiantian. And in this martial arts world, in this era of great strife, how rich would the Great Grandmaster's combat experience be?

Because he held such a mentality, when Su Zhou arrived in front of the Taibai Volcano Fortress, he was not surprised to see in his spiritual vision that there were actually three extremely bright auras inside the small stone fortress, representing Awakening High Stage Grandmasters whose realms were similar to his own.

"After all, this is where the Divine Weapon, Extinction Blade, is being forged. Even if the main force is in the south fighting a war of attrition with the An Dynasty's demon army, there are still three high-end combat forces stationed here."

Together with the escort team, Su Zhou slowly approached and looked at the fortress, which relied on the mountain's terrain and had walls three zhang (about 10 meters) high. He couldn't help but sigh: "After all, it's a martial arts world, so they can build a fortress in such a high place. The altitude here should be over one or two thousand meters, right? And with this terrain, a Grandmaster expert can hold it against ten thousand men."

But after all, it was a martial arts world. This kind of stronghold was just a slightly taller fence for martial artists. It had a certain effect, but if the defenders were not strong enough, it would just be a good-looking railing.

At this time, the sentry at the top of the fortress saw the escort team. Zhou Buyi, as the leader, took out a whistle and used his inner force to create a tune of three longs and two shorts, and the sentry responded with a tune of four shorts and one long.

"You guys go ahead first."

Su Zhou did not intend to mix into the crowd and enter the fortress. While the escort team was walking towards the fortress gate, he stopped in place.

Su Zhou believed that the Hundred Families Righteous Army was not stupid and could tell the difference between fourteen people and fifteen people.

If he wanted to solve the problem of trust, he would rather communicate with the other party's high-level officials in a place where he could attack or retreat, rather than mix into the fortress and be caught like a turtle in a jar.

In fact, the sentry had already noticed him, this guy who was carrying a mountaineering bag as tall as a person, dressed in a very strange way, and most importantly, had three demon soldiers' heads hanging on his waist.

"Quick, go call Master, there's a weirdo following Senior Brother Zhou..."

"No need to call, I'm already here."

But before the sentry could notify him, a middle-aged man with a bun and a white beard walked up the city wall with a solemn expression.

He looked at the young man in the distance who was carrying a large spear, actively displaying his aura, and was now easily carrying the demon soldiers' heads and waving to him. He couldn't help but ponder: "Grandmaster? So young..."

"Why did this person come with Buyi and the others? If he is an enemy, why didn't he coerce them? If he is a friendly force from the Hundred Families, why didn't he follow Buyi and the others into the fortress?"

The middle-aged man couldn't see Su Zhou's eyes because he was too far away. While he was thinking, the other two Grandmasters also arrived on the city wall.

These were two older Grandmasters with many wrinkles on their faces, but their bodies were still strong. In terms of muscle bulging and aura, even many young people could not compare.

The Grandmaster without hair was carrying a large bow on his back. His arms and back were strong and powerful. It was clear at a glance that he should be a sharpshooter.

The older Grandmaster with hair had eyes like lightning, with inner force circulating in his eyes. Obviously, he had a special technique that could enhance his vision.

He could see more clearly than the other two, and his brows furrowed immediately: "That is indeed a demon soldier - did he kill them all alone?"

"Strange, Nephew-Apprentice Buyi and the others were injured, but if they were really injured and coerced by that person, why would he let them leave now?"

At this time, the escort team had arrived at the gate of the fortress and was matching their identities with the guards, letting them in one by one. Zhou Buyi and Mo Ganxiu were the first to pass through. They were preparing to go up and tell their master and acquaintances about their experience with Su Zhou, but unexpectedly, Su Zhou's voice came from afar with spiritual power.

Using spiritual power to transmit his voice, Su Zhou was straightforward, without any beautification or embellishment. He told everything he had fabricated about his identity, as well as how he had beaten up Zhou Buyi and others, and after learning the truth, killed several demon soldiers.

The fortress was in an uproar.

After hearing this, the middle-aged Grandmaster stroked his beard and looked at his disciple thoughtfully: "Buyi, is what he said true?"

"Master... it's true." Zhou Buyi's face was a little red because he had been knocked down in a few words in the description, but he still honestly admitted: "Su Zhou - that's what he called himself. At least as far as I can see, he really didn't have any malice from beginning to end. I don't know if it's because his skill is too high, and he didn't need to use his full strength when dealing with us. In short, during the fight, we didn't see any signs of Undying Roots sprouting on him - except for a little wood energy, there were no traces of erosion on him, even like Uncle-Apprentice Mo."

"But Master, this Su Zhou is indeed mysterious and strange. His self-healing speed is no less than that of a demon general, and his pupils are like dragon eyes. Both his aura and appearance are majestic and handsome, unlike a normal human being. I suspect... he may really be a successor from the Western Kunlun Divine Tree, but not a human being, but a demon from legends!"

If Su Zhou were here, he would definitely curse loudly 'You're the demon!', but this guess was actually not wrong, and even quite persuasive. At least the hairless old Grandmaster seemed to understand something: "According to legend, there have always been many demons and saints in the Kunlun lineage. Thousands of years ago, there were indeed demon martial saints and Tiangang martial gods who suppressed evil spirits together on Kunlun Mountain... If he is a demon who came out of the mountain recently due to the turbulence of the world's spiritual energy, then it is normal for him not to understand the great human disasters of the past few decades."

"But the problem is, what is he doing coming to Taibai Volcano? Kunlun Mountain and Taibai Mountain span an entire Divine Continent!"

"Who is coming?"

The middle-aged Grandmaster used his inner force to amplify this question and responded to it. Not long after, Su Zhou's answer came from afar.

"Just a passing ordinary hero who eliminates evil and brings peace out of interest!"

"...?"

Remote air-to-air dialogue was really inefficient. To be cautious, the three Grandmasters took a few experts out to meet Su Zhou.

As they approached, the middle-aged Grandmaster became more convinced of his eldest disciple's guess. The young man in front of him was handsome, but he could still see some of the youthfulness that only real young people have. He was not an old Grandmaster who had rejuvenated, and his eyes were flashing with cyan-purple spiritual light. His pupils were even similar to dragon pupils, with a kind of pressure that was not like a human, but more like a beast.

Su Zhou also looked at the three Grandmasters with interest. The leader, who called himself 'Li Xingde, styled Daoran', was Zhou Buyi's master, but this master and disciple were quite different in temperament and techniques. Li Daoran was obviously a Taoist expert, while Zhou Buyi's learning was quite mixed. What he had used to fight before was clearly Legalist swordsmanship.

But that was not important. Su Zhou turned to look at the other two Grandmasters. The one with hair did not speak, but looked at him cautiously, his eyes as sharp as knives, as if he was dissecting his flesh and bones. The hairless one was relatively far away. He smiled and called himself 'Wei', carrying a large bow on his back. Although he had no scars on his body, his aura of killing was extremely heavy. It seemed that he had been in the army for many years.

Behind the three, there were eight warriors holding long spears, nervously pointing their spearheads at him.

"In terms of spiritual power cultivation, they are all about the same as me, but in terms of physical fitness, they are far inferior."

Although the atmosphere was not very friendly, Su Zhou didn't care much. He had also analyzed the strength of both sides just now and confirmed that even if they turned hostile, these three people could not keep him.

—Sigh, so my talent is so strong? As expected of me!

"May I ask, young hero, what is your purpose in coming here?"

"Having heard that the An Dynasty is tyrannical and tyrannical, I volunteered to help you - look, demon soldiers' heads."

With a laugh, Su Zhou took out the demon soldiers' heads and threw them on the ground, letting the heads roll so that everyone could see them clearly.

"So that's how it is..."

Looking at the dead demon soldiers, solemn and joyful expressions appeared on the faces of the Grandmasters and the other warriors. Su Zhou could also see that although the other party did not have much hostility towards him, they probably did not believe much of what he said about his origins. There was no way, he could only continue to mislead them: "Of course, it's also for that Pan Rong Undying Tree... I came here specifically because I heard about it from the escort team - for the sake of the inheritance of our lineage, it must be completely eradicated!"

Although the main purpose was to strengthen his strength, there was no doubt that the essence of Su Zhou's transmigrating to another world was also for the safety of the earth, to destroy the evil god's incarnation! This was the truth, and the long-haired old Grandmaster, who had been silent and watching Su Zhou, nodded and said lightly: "What he said just now is the truth, and it is credible."

He could see whether people were lying or not - the Grandmasters here seemed to have their own specialties. Although the spiritual energy cultivation method of the next level was cut off, various refined skills were thriving.

After hearing these words, the other two Grandmasters felt a little relieved... A hidden successor of a divine mountain coming down the mountain to eliminate demons and defend the Dao? Or a struggle between the orthodoxies of the divine trees? No matter which one, this reason was much easier to understand.

"We all believe what little brother Su said, but please forgive us for being rude, there is still one thing we need to confirm... Please!"

Although they understood, there were still some things that needed to be done.

Saying this, Li Daoran took a step forward. His whole body was stimulated with inner force, and suddenly the snow dust within two meters around him exploded, and the ice crystals turned into spiral spheres surrounding him.

In the next moment, this rapidly rotating surging inner force turned into a gale in the high sky, with the intention of sharp cutting, and then pressed towards Su Zhou's face like an air wall!

One of the representative abilities of a Grandmaster is to be able to separate inner force from the body, strengthen weapons, and even drive the surrounding atmosphere to attack! Ordinary arrows and crowd attacks were useless at all, and one person could rampage in the army!

"Want to test my strength? I like it!"

Su Zhou's eyes lit up, and he smiled easily, not caring at all. Then he also condensed the spiritual power around his body, stabilized his body with 'Condensing Qi in the Body', and then operated the Sacred Geometry with 'Controlling Qi to Break the Sky', solidifying his spiritual power into a triangular shape. The cyan-purple spiritual power was like a burning flame, pressing against Li Daoran in the opposite direction!

Boom! Suddenly, on the somewhat flat mountain, a strong wind rose, and snow dust flew.

In an instant, Li Daoran staggered back three steps, the frozen soil under his feet cracked inch by inch, his clothes were bulging, and his face was uncertain. To be honest, Li Daoran felt as if he was using his inner force to impact a mass of expanding and exploding fire, a solid mountain, and not a person!

The young man's inner strength was no less than his, a seasoned Grandmaster who had cultivated for decades... Not only that, the other party's inner force was also extremely pure and solid, like a substance, with some...'Xiantian' characteristics?!

While Li Daoran was surprised and thinking, the snow dust dissipated, and Su Zhou showed his figure. He was still standing in place, with the spiritual power around him vaguely showing the shape of a regular tetrahedron.

Not to mention retreating, his expression did not change at all. Su Zhou still had a smile on his face, as if he had not collided with Li Daoran's inner force at all.

"Is that enough?"

He said so.

The other two Grandmasters looked at each other, and then one of them cupped his fist forward: "Please give us some pointers!"

……

"Little brother Su, please come in!"

"Someone, prepare a seat!"

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Dear book friends, happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

I originally wanted to post a single chapter, but I felt it was not necessary. I originally wanted to add more updates, but I didn't get listed, so I can only sigh helplessly. One chapter of 4000 words, better than nothing.

The rest will be left for the outbreak at the end of the month when it is listed.