Green Mountain-Chapter 542 - 404: The Beauty of the Mortal World

Stone Tortoise!

Chen Ji seemed to have seen where the stone tortoise was.

He swung his blade down from the air, but the force dissipated midway, lacking the might of a dragon stirring the sea or a tiger roaring in the forest.

The Centurion frowned, "What’s wrong?"

After landing, Chen Ji stood there in contemplation.

The Centurion was just about to swing his sword down, but Chen Ji stopped him, "Wait a moment."

Wait a moment.

Chen Ji called out to wait, and the Centurion really waited there, slowly pulling back his broadsword.

Chen Ji dragged his long knife to the mountain’s edge, where five mad soldiers had formed a circle. He nonchalantly pushed them aside, and surprisingly, they allowed him to do so.

The five mad soldiers exchanged looks and glanced at the Centurion, who gently shook his head. It seemed there was a mutual understanding among them; they all realized something but chose not to expose it.

Chen Ji gazed toward the South and then dragged his long knife towards the North. This time, the five mad soldiers blocking the North voluntarily stepped aside, letting him peer across the northern mountains.

Suddenly, Chen Ji turned back and asked, "In ancient times, what was said about the stone tortoise and Bixi?"

This was a knowledge gap for him, so he could only ask the five mad soldiers.

After a moment of silence, the Centurion actually answered, "The Bixi, with five fingers on the front paw representing yang, and four on the back representing yin, thus signifying the great use of yin and yang."

Chen Ji turned his head again towards the northern mountains, where the distant low outline distinctly resembled the five fingers of a stone tortoise.

He looked south once more; the contours of Yingle Rock and Furong Plain appeared as the four fingers of the hind paw, the west mountain like the raised turtle back, and Incense Burner Peak as the head of Bixi raised towards the sky.

Chen Ji looked at his feet, at the top of the mountain paved with square stones.

He tossed the long knife through the air towards the Centurion, "Help me cut open this ground."

The Centurion didn’t understand but complied anyway.

He took the long knife and hacked at the stones, the force of the cuts making the air swirl wildly, causing the clothes of everyone at the peak to flutter.

The square stones were thick, and only after more than ten cuts did a crack appear.

After thirty-two strikes, a loud rumble was heard. The long knife shattered the rocks on the mountain top, cleaving a ravine in it.

Smoke and dust filled the air.

Chen Ji held his breath until the dust settled, revealing the half-foot length of a sword hilt in the ravine.

He glanced at the surrounding five mad soldiers, hesitant about whether to draw his sword now, but saw the Centurion use the long knife to lift the sword hilt, bringing the divine sword hidden underground into Chen Ji’s arms.

The long sword was yellowish-red, brand new as if fresh from the forge.

The Centurion casually asked, "Did you cross several peaks just to find this sword? If you’re looking to nurture a sword with a sword, this one is indeed the most suitable."

Chen Ji remained silent.

He had originally sought the sword to battle the five mad soldiers, but now that he had found it, he was unsure if he should continue fighting.

Just then, the mountain wind swept by, stirring Chen Ji’s attire.

The sky gradually brightened, illuminating the three stripes faintly visible beneath Chen Ji’s tattered clothes.

The fire in the eyes of the five mad soldiers danced wildly, as if witnessing something unbelievable, or perhaps as if a great weight had been lifted from their hearts. All previous doubts were explained by those stripes.

The Centurion quietly said, "You are back."

These four words were as heavy as a thousand weights, leaving Chen Ji unsure of how to respond.

He glanced at the Centurion’s long knife, "Shall we compare once more?"

The Centurion turned and looked at the sky, seeing a streak of golden light bursting from the mountain’s outline, as a red sun began to peak over the ridge.

The Centurion smiled, "No need, no regrets."

Chen Ji paused before asking, "Those I killed earlier..."

The Centurion was indifferent, "Our lives were yours to give. Allowing you to kill us once, what harm? It’s too late, let me do one last thing for you. Care to promise a bowl of wine for each of us?"

Chen Ji was startled, "I owe each of you a bowl of wine."

The five mad soldiers burst into laughter, and the Centurion did too: "No regrets!"

Saying this, he suddenly carried his long knife to the mountain edge, the five mad soldiers, seemingly in sync with his intentions, followed.

As they were about to descend, the Centurion looked back, and so did the five mad soldiers. The golden sunlight illuminated their silhouettes at the edge, both chaotic and majestic.

They all adjusted the white bone masks on their faces, "Victory!"

The next moment, led by the Centurion, they all jumped from the mountain top, charging down like a mighty force.

The Centurion dragged his long knife, plowing through the soil and decayed leaves on the slope, carving out a deep furrow behind him.

The five mad soldiers blew four horns in unison as they followed.

Three mountain hunters moved faster than the Centurion, leaping between trunks as if moving on flat ground. They reached the mountainside and suddenly saw numerous faceless corpses of Eastern Palace Death Soldiers, then continued following the trail downhill.

Until they saw Mr. Liao in a brown robe, simultaneously shooting signal arrows into the sky.

The signal arrows whistled piercingly, guiding the army to kill.

Mr. Liao’s face was shocked; he did not know why these ghostly beings, who originally hunted Chen Ji, suddenly turned to kill him. Was Chen Ji dead or alive?

Lost in thought, a sword cry suddenly echoed from the peak of Incense Burner Peak, as if reverberating in everyone’s heart. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Mr. Liao’s face changed, what was that sound? Before he could think clearly, three Mountain Hunters had already arrived to kill.

He saw the Mountain Hunters reach into their abdomens, pull out a rib which transformed into a bundle of Bone Arrows. They grasped the Bone Arrows with the hand holding the bow, firing them rapidly and forcing Mr. Liao to twist and turn to dodge.

In an instant, the place where he originally stood was nailed full of Bone Arrows, which relentlessly pursued his movements, leaving him overwhelmed.

But Mr. Liao was ultimately a Grand Official of the Seeking Dao Realm, having just broken through by consuming twelve Death Soldiers, ascending to the Third Heaven, and was in a period of flourishing vitality.

The Bone Arrows of the three Mountain Hunters always seemed to miss him by a hair’s breadth.

Mr. Liao angrily said, "Is there a misunderstanding?"

The Mountain Hunters ignored him, surrounding but not hunting, until the army arrived.

A Centurion dragged his long knife and surged forward, starting with a slash that was exactly the first slash Chen Ji had just dealt him.

This slash was not newly learned; he had known it for thousands of years.

Taught by the same person.

Mr. Liao dared not take this slash head-on, sweeping his sleeves and donning a red-faced fanged mask, transforming into black smoke to flee afar. But the Centurion pursued relentlessly, like a shadow following.

The black smoke flew over ten zhang and landed, just as Mr. Liao’s figure appeared, he saw the Centurion’s slash already arriving overhead.

Amidst the raging waves, he could only transform into black smoke to flee again. When he attempted to land again, a Bone Spear shot forth, accurately aiming at the location where the black smoke was set to land.

Mr. Liao had to forcibly gather breath and flee once more.

The Centurion sneered, "Your escape skill is truly remarkable!"

Mr. Liao transformed into black smoke, binding the Soul Collecting Ban.

Rolling black smoke entwined the Soul Collecting Ban which struggled non-stop, but after three breaths, the Soul Collecting Ban remained intact. His Executive Officer’s face-changing technique was useless against these Five Mad Soldiers.

The Five Mad Soldiers were inherently faceless beings.

Out of options, Mr. Liao could only flee again, while the Soul Collecting Ban, holding a head, spat and cursed, "What kind of ghostly thing is this?"

Mr. Liao entangled with another Mountain Hunter, but he was equally helpless.

These Five Mad Soldiers seemed naturally capable of restraining his techniques.

The Five Mad Soldiers surrounded Mr. Liao in a hunt, and each time Mr. Liao attempted to transform into black smoke and land, they would promptly arrive to surround him, two Soul Collecting Bans in hand with the White Bone Banner driving him, preventing his escape from the encirclement.

A Grand Official of the Seeking Dao Realm, equipped with his techniques, was forced into a pitiful flight by these Five Mad Soldiers.

The Centurion dragged his knife closer, "Relying too much on your Executive Officer skills, you’ve long forgotten how to fight."

After black smoke landed fruitlessly multiple times, the Centurion suddenly advanced - now was the chance.

When Mr. Liao landed, the Centurion wielded his long knife, using the hilt as the thundering axis, twisting towards the location where the black smoke landed. Mr. Liao’s face changed dramatically and he once again transformed into a wisp of black smoke to flee afar.

But this time, it was too late.

Just as the Centurion’s long knife fell, at the precise moment before Mr. Liao turned into black smoke, a slash struck while the black smoke was incomplete. From the fleeing black smoke arose a shrill cry of pain, an arm connected to half a shoulder fell from the black smoke, blood spilling onto the ground.

In an instant, Mr. Liao let loose and instantly transformed the black smoke into eight clusters, fleeing in different directions.

The black smoke in the mountains and forests dazzled the eyes, even the Five Mad Soldiers were unsure which direction to pursue.

The eight clusters of black smoke enveloped the mountain, raising a black mist. When the black mist cleared, a much smaller cluster of black smoke than before fled east, having gained a tens of zhang lead on the Five Mad Soldiers.

One Soul Collecting Ban shouted, "Pursue!"

But the Centurion calmly said, "No need to chase."

The Five Mad Soldiers simultaneously looked up to see a golden sun peering over the mountain ridge, the boundary between sunlight and night surged like tidal waves toward them.

The Soul Collecting Ban stood in place, gazing at Mr. Liao’s departing silhouette and asked, "What about that thief?"

The Centurion glanced back towards the mountain, just in time to see Chen Ji rapidly descending, pursuing in the direction of Mr. Liao, "Leave it to him; he should kill his own enemy."

The Soul Collecting Ban questioned, "But he’s still very weak now."

The Centurion seemed to hear a joke, "You’ve clearly not been beaten enough."

"Aren’t you curious how he managed to cultivate the sword seed? That’s a skill of Xuanyuan."

"Aren’t you curious how he returned to the mortal world?"

"Back then, he was..."

The Centurion suddenly raised his fist, and everyone fell silent.

He gazed at the distant landscape, sighing lightly, "The mortal world is truly beautiful."

In the mountains and forests, only the sound of the wind and birds remained; no one wished to disturb this rare tranquility.

The Centurion watched as the dividing line between sunlight and night was about to reach beneath his feet, turned and said to everyone, "Everyone, sorry for not being able to bring you earthly wine this time. Let’s go."

In the next moment, sunlight illuminated the Centurion’s toes, legs, entire body, as he transformed into a blaze of fire and burned into fine white ash scattered in the wind.

"Gone."

"Gone."

Handfuls of white ash scattered, and the fire they saw flew into Chen Ji’s body like a meteor.

A total of eighty-two people, one hundred sixty-four wildfires, flew into Chen Ji’s body to ignite the stove fire, six hundred ninety-one, six hundred ninety-two... seven hundred thirteen, seven hundred fourteen...

Until Chen Ji’s body ignited with the seven hundred and fourteenth stove fire, the Five Mad Soldiers were entirely dissipated.