Rise of Humanity

"Tian Myriad Mother, are you saying that the Zhong Shan boy might know your identity?"

In an empty palace, 'Shui Qingyan' vigilantly stared at the figure in the shadows. The figure smiled and said, "Rest assured, I've found out how that boy has come to acquire that old geezer's [Great Boundless Sword Qi]. The old geezer was sympathetic toward the Qiu Tan Clan's daughter, Qiu Jin'er, because of the curse of her innate spirit body. He doesn't want the Wood Qi to affect her body fully. Hence, he allowed the Qiu Tan Clan lady to steal the sword token. But sadly, Qiu Jin'er was too inept to comprehend the true essence of the token and so handed it off to him. The Zhong Shan Clan disciple might know of your identity, but the old geezer will not. There is no need for you to worry."

'Shui Qingyan' heaved a breath of relief, and she said, "What should we do with the Zhong Shan Clan disciple? He knows who I truly am, and that is something we can't allow for our plans to proceed smoothly. No one may believe him now, but one day, once his influence grows, it will be a different story if he decides to reveal my identity. Even the elders will give serious consideration to his words! Heihei, if I am exposed, don't expect that I will keep your identity a secret!"

The figure hiding in the shadows smiled and said, "Don't you worry too much about it. I've passed down the word. He will not walk out of Swords Gate alive."

'Shui Qingyan''s heart thumped in shock, and she shouted out involuntarily, "You want to obliterate him in Swords Gate? You are mad! That little brat has caught that old geezer's eye. If he dies here, you and I will be exposed!"

"Tian Myriad Mother, calm your heart."

The figure was all relaxed, "I will not leave a single clue behind, if I want to kill someone, even if I did it right in your face, you wouldn't even realize it was me that did it. My influence and reputation in Swords Gate are above reproach. Shui Tu Clan is not the only one supporting me. The Zhong Shan boy's death will only make momentary ripples in the Swords Gate's peace that will quickly subside…"

...

Zhong Yue carried the medicine basket on his back and made his way to the mountain. He struck the copper gong and out came the Croc Dragon from the clouds. It flew over and stopped right beside the escarpment.

"Senior Croc Dragon, please send me over to the other end." Zhong Yue leaped onto the Croc Dragon's back and said politely.

The Croc Dragon turned and flew into the clouds toward the other side. When they were halfway through in the clouds, Zhong Yue furrowed his brows as the Croc Dragon slowed down its speed before finally coming to a stop.

"Young man, it's not that I have the intentions to kill you, but I owe someone a deep favor, and I have to pay a debt of gratitude."

Beneath Zhong Yue, the Croc Dragon mumbled lowly, "Don't you blame me…"

Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat, all of a sudden the Croc Dragon beneath him rolled vigorously, his sights were spinning, his body, the sky, and earth were all upended!

The death roll of a crocodile!

Obviously, this Croc Dragon intended to throw him down from its back into the Swords Gate forbidden land beneath them!

The Swords Gate forbidden land was the place where the devil souls were sealed. The demonic aura in it was egregiously strong; there were even flesh meats growing and climbing up the steep slopes of the mountains. They appeared nefarious and wicked, and only the ancient seal from the gods could repress them!

If he were thrown into the forbidden land, then death would be his only ending!

However, Zhong Yue's reactions were quick, the moment the Croc Dragon started rolling, he crouched down and clasped his hands onto Croc Dragon's skin, his body went all upright, and he almost fell into the forbidden land.

Visualize the Sui Sovereign!

The moment the thoughts flashed through his mind, his psyche shifted in the psyche ocean but the demonic aura was too strong, and the godly seals were too powerful. His psyche nearly formed the Sui Sovereign but was crushed instantly. He could not visualize at all!

In the clouds, Croc Dragon started rolling again, this time with renewed momentum and with great determination to throw him down into the forbidden land.

Zhong Yue's hands were on the verge of sliding off from Croc Dragon's skin, his heart sunk and all of a sudden, he let go of his hands. He was then instantly flung out.

"Erupt!"

Zhong Yue shouted aloud, and he fell toward the forbidden land like a flaming meteor. Suddenly, his legs stomped heavily in the air. The air within a radius of thirty feet was compressed into a seemingly tangible platform—Dong! A loud bang was audible!

He momentarily stopped in the air, Zhong Yue lifted his other leg and stomped down heavily again—Dong! Another loud thud and the air around was again condensed, slowing down his rate of descent.

His legs continued stomping in this fashion as the vapors in the air around were condensed and released. A drizzling red rain started to fall, lightly staining the surrounding in a sanguine hue.

He was close to the forbidden land, the vapors in the air were not water, but blood—his action of stomping on the air condensed the blood vapor out of the air!

Zhong Yue was finally able to disperse his downward momentum, the advantage of a strong psyche was beginning to show itself. His legs stomped and walked in the air toward the escarpment.

"This brat, he trained his psyche to such a magnificent level!"

In mid-air, the Croc Dragon saw what he did, and it was shocked, without visualization, and he walked in the air, condensing the air beneath his feet and lifting himself up with the reactionary force. In order to do this, it would require a strong psyche and an incredibly explosive force of strength to counteract his downward velocity. It was seemingly improbable even for a monster race like the Croc Dragon.

And yet, Zhong Yue was able to do it; one could then infer the degree to which the young man had refined his body!

Zhong Yue incessantly stomped the air and skyrocketed toward the mountain, but continuously using so much strength placed a heavy burden on his body. Even with his strong psyche, he wouldn't be able to sustain another few more steps.

The Croc Dragon fluttered over with its wings, and it had the blood of a Jiao Dragon and Dragon. Its body was strong and huge yet agile. When the force of the gale around it tore into Zhong Yue, he nearly lost his footing in the air.

"Little brother Zhong, it's not that this Croc Dragon wants to kill you, but you have made enemies with the wrong person. I owe that person a huge debt, and I am only here to repay that debt."

The huge and humongous Croc Dragon pounced down onto Zhong Yue. Zhong Yue rapidly stomped the air to dodge away from it, he threw a punch at the monster beast's body, but its tough skin left it unharmed.

Zhong Yue was launched away from Croc Dragon by the reaction force. He quickly stomped his way up to the mountain, "Who asked you to do this? Croc Dragon, who wants me dead?"

The Croc Dragon was quiet; it fluttered its wings and flew up right toward Zhong Yue, in an instant, it passed him, and with its giant tail, it slammed down from the top right at Zhong Yue. It was too quick, Zhong Yue had no time to evade and was sent slamming right down toward the bottom of the mountain!

The giant crocodile inhaled a deep breath of air, sucking in all the surrounding air into its lungs. The resultant vacuum left Zhong Yue robbed of his footing as he finally plummeted down helplessly into the forbidden land that was eagerly waiting for him below!

"I'm sorry, but the debt I owe him is too great, I was forced to do this…"

The Croc Dragon flapped its wings and disappeared into the clouds.

Zhong Yue's face changed drastically, he stomped incessantly, but the raging storm was too strong. It pressed him down and rendered his efforts an exercise in futility. The steep slopes of the mountain flashed across became a blur as he continued to accelerate downward. The bloody flesh was exposed in the air without any skin, squirming like a repulsive bed of worms as the large veins pulsed, incessantly supplying them with blood.

On the surface of the slopes were engraved large bloody totem carvings that were emanating in faint glimmer of light. It was their presence that repressed the demonic aura and nefarious bloody flesh; the scene that was presented to Zhong Yue was indelibly blood-curdling.

As he plummeted down, the demonic aura in the air started to pervade his mind; heart demons began burgeoned within him, unleashing unbridled chaos in his psyche ocean.

Zhong Yue's emotions were slowly growing out of control, and his eyes were suffused with a bloody-red light, and yet, his thoughts remained calm and steady. The effect of the seals of gods repressed the inner evils and prevented him from being wholly consumed by the demonic aura.

The black haze that possessed the same appearance as the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium surged toward Zhong Yue. All of a sudden, Xin Huo leaped out from his psyche ocean and stood atop his shoulder. Light rays radiated out from the little flame, fending off the evil haze from Zhong Yue, even the demonic aura and the seal of gods were both cast away from the light barrier around Zhong Yue.

Dong——

Zhong Yue reached to the bottom of the mountain, unlike the usual ground that was paved with soils and rocks, this one he landed on was soft and fleshy—the bloody flesh meat filled the entire landscape.

As the light barrier emanated by Xin Huo cast away every other element around him, Zhong Yue could once again visualize the Sui Sovereign, smiting away the heart demons within him.

Thankfully Xin Huo is here with me, or otherwise, the black haze would have taken away my life.

Zhong Yue heaved a breath of relief, but that was not all, the air above him drastically changed as a huge boulder fell down toward him. Zhong Yue mustered all his strength and sprinted forward. His heart filled with shock and anger, This Croc Dragon noticed that I still survived and is still trying to smash me with a rock?

Boom!

A heavy load crashed down right behind him, Zhong Yue dodged the assault as he was on the verge of getting smashed into minced meat. He turned his head and cast his gaze toward the fallen rock. To his shock, it was not a massive rock, but rather, the Croc Dragon itself!

The giant crocodile's eyes were wide and glazed in disbelief, an unknown object pierced through its head, leaving behind a large perforation and a chunk of its brain missing—the Croc Dragon was dead!

Billowing waves of black haze engulfed the carcass, and in a trice, only its gray, white skeleton was left on the ground.

Zhong Yue's body shuddered in the cold, but his heart felt utterly frozen.

Croc Dragon tried to repay his debt by throwing me down from the mountain and let the black haze kill me. But the mastermind wanted no witness as well …

He looked up, but his sights were fogged, nothing could be seen other than the heavy black haze.

Could it be the Shui Tu Clan Qi Practitioner that summoned Junior Martial Sister Shui? No, it can't be, Croc Dragon owed a great deal to that someone. It came from the Lei Hu Clan and was brought here by the Lei Hu Clan. That particular person must be one from the Lei Hu Clan….

The image of the brawny Lei Hu Clan elder came into his mind, Spreading the word that I had the sword token to the disciples, instructing the Croc Dragon to kill me, then slaying the Croc Dragon right afterward. Sowing discord within the Swords Gate and conspiring with the demons—what are they trying to achieve?

The flesh meats squirmed around and latched onto the remains of the Croc Dragon, the giant skeleton slowly sunk into the meat, not long later, it would be engulfed by the flesh meat and all vestiges of the Croc Dragon's existence would disappear from this world.

Zhong Yue felt the flesh meats starting to creep over his feet, he quickly leaped into the air and tried to stomp his way out. A thousand feet into the air and suddenly, the totem carvings of the seal of gods gleamed. A large barrier appeared above him, forming a ceiling that pressed him down!

Zhong Yue groaned as he unwillingly fell back down!

The seals of the gods!

This whole place was engraved with the seals of the gods. One could only enter but not exit; it seemed like Zhong Yue would be trapped in here for quite some time....