Cultivators Are So Weak in This World

Chapter 519 - 488 Soldiers’ Calamity II

In an instant, inside the cell, the old man attacked like lightning, unleashing his full power without any reservations.

But every one of his attacks was perfectly dodged by Zhang Rongfang.

Their abilities to anticipate the enemy’s moves were vastly different. Furthermore, the old man seemed to have lost consciousness, making his moves even more rigid and predictable.

After observing for a while, Zhang Rongfang confirmed that the opponent had indeed lost consciousness.

Immediately, he extended a finger, calculated the trajectory of the moves, and suddenly thrust it at the other’s forehead.

Chirp.

A drop of blood seeped into the wound on the old man’s forehead.

What Zhang Rongfang didn’t expect was that as soon as the blood entered, it began to emit wisps of white smoke as if corroding the flesh like strong acid.

The old man immediately stopped moving, and the silver lines on his forehead began to surge, as if stimulated by something.

A large mass of silver lines frantically gushed from the wound on his forehead, wrapping the drop of blood into a small sphere, contracting violently.

Amidst a hissing sound, more intense white smoke seeped from the spiritual line sphere, then the sphere dispersed, transforming into countless spiritual lines, re-entering the old man’s body.

Everything returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.

And the drop of blood just now disappeared completely without a trace.

Watching this scene, Zhang Rongfang stepped back a few paces, understanding dawning in his heart.

Just now, he felt the drop of his blood was crazily incinerated by some flame-like force.

This sensation lasted only a few seconds before the drop of blood disappeared, and he lost connection with it.

"Then... what about more?"

Thinking this, Zhang Rongfang suddenly dashed forward, his palms swiftly tapping on the old man’s four limbs one by one.

Under the suppression of anticipating his enemy’s moves, the old man tried to block, but it was meaningless; all his blocks were seen through and evaded.

After several sounds of bones breaking.

Sure enough, the old man collapsed to the ground, unable to get up again. His injuries did not heal and recover quickly. It seemed that without human blood, his self-healing ability was much weaker.

Zhang Rongfang did not hesitate, once again reaching out to release blood, which hit the opponent’s chest, seeping into his wounds.

Hiss!!

This time, large amounts of white smoke emerged.

It was like water entering a pan of hot oil.

With a boom, from the chest where his blood seeped, countless silver spiritual lines frantically surged out, attempting to attack Zhang Rongfang’s hand.

But as soon as they appeared, they were drenched by the dripping blood.

Instantly, a large number of spiritual lines began to blacken, thin, and retreat.

Meanwhile, the blood quickly turned into white smoke, evaporating and disappearing.

Zhang Rongfang watched this scene with a calm expression.

Currently, his body’s blood production rate far exceeded that of ordinary people, so such an amount of blood was insignificant to him. The key was the current situation, which exceeded his expectations.

His blood.

It seemed to be like a deadly poison to the spiritual lines!?

Outside the cell, Hongxian Daoist also approached, watching the scene before him in shock.

He also understood the spiritual lines, knowing that these things were invincible, with the exception of divine and Buddha sculpture materials, nothing in the world could stop them.

But now... these spiritual lines were being blocked by something else!?

The confrontation between blood and spiritual lines lasted only a short while before it ended.

All the spiritual lines turned into a piece of black ash, disappearing completely.

The old man surnamed Hu also completely turned into a dried corpse, the body gradually turning black, starting the process of turning to ash.

Zhang Rongfang withdrew his hand. From the beginning to now, he had used about half the blood volume of an adult.

And the result was, the spiritual lines were corroded and perished.

"Why is it like this?" he couldn’t help but ask softly.

"Probably because of willpower." Hongxian Daoist, standing beside him, looked somewhat dazed.

"Willpower?" Zhang Rongfang looked at him. "Daoist friend, could you explain in detail?"

"There’s no need for politeness, Observant Master." Hongxian Daoist thought for a moment. "Having lived for nearly a hundred years, I do have some knowledge and experience, let me explain to you."

Looking at the body gradually turning to ash on the ground, he said softly, "Many years ago, shortly after the emergence of the Extreme Realm, it was said that someone tried using the Extreme Realm to worship gods, to see if they could reach a higher level. But later, they all failed without exception."

"How did they fail?" Zhang Rongfang asked.

"It was the same. As soon as the spiritual lines touched the forehead of the Extreme Realm expert, it was like oil and water, neutralizing each other with the expert’s blood, and they both dispersed." Hongxian Daoist answered.

"Since then, it was speculated that the reason the worship of gods was incompatible with the Extreme Realm was probably because of willpower."

"I’m not in the Extreme Realm, so why is this happening to me?" Zhang Rongfang wondered.

"The Observant Master might not know. When we accepted your blood, we could sense it was alive! Like a greedy, living being wanting to devour everything, corroding everything it touched into nutrients, then growing more of itself."

"When the blood itself carries a strong willpower, this willpower does not submit to the spiritual lines, and a conflict might ensue. That could be the root cause of the scene just now." Hongxian Daoist speculated and explained.

"If that is true, then it’s such a pity..." Zhang Rongfang shook his head slightly. He originally planned to convert the martial practitioners who worship gods.

Now it seems, he can only give up.

"Since it doesn’t work, then let it be. Next, with enough provisions and medicine, and with the situation outside being unpredictable, we will covertly stay in Wish Girl Gorge for a while. If you have any matters regarding the medicine knowledge, deal with them quickly." he said softly.

"Understood. The subordinates will soon start preparing the arena." Hongxian Daoist said with a smile.

Leaving the dungeon, Zhang Rongfang opened the attribute panel and glanced at it.

Life Points: 271.

And the accumulated freedom attribute points have reached ten again.

He quickly added all the points to life.

After a slight warm current, his life value increased to 281.

’Almost there... almost there... soon I will be able to unlock the third quality talent...’

Now everything has settled down, and the surroundings of Wushan Prefecture have returned to calm.

As long as I can cultivate peacefully for a few months, by then, with the new talent, I will max out the Grandmaster realm, condense the spiritual will field, and enter the Grandmaster level.

Then I’ll almost have some ability to protect myself in this world....

At this thought, a strong sense of security surged in Zhang Rongfang’s heart.

*

*

*

Time slowly passed.

Just as Zhang Rongfang was focusing on reclusive and stable cultivation life.

Across Great Spirit, the Red Turban rebellions were becoming increasingly severe. Countless civilians in cities and towns died or were injured, and tens of thousands of people were converted into rioters, flooding into larger cities in search of food.

Farmland was abandoned, gardens began to overgrow with weeds, townhouses were set ablaze and turned to ashes, and many resisters died or were injured. Countless people were in fear and unease, moving their entire families to migrate towards large cities.

The migrating refugees were also attacked in large groups. Without enough food, no extra warm clothing in the cold season, and a lack of medicine for treatment.

Refugees were getting sick and dying, bones littered everywhere in a short time, with blood flowing for miles.

During such suffering, King Mu Li led his army into the suzerain nation, sweeping away the rioters wherever he went. In just a fortnight, with many people seeking refuge and surrendering, his forces rapidly expanded to 650,000, known as a million-strong army, marching straight towards the Great Capital.

Approaching halfway, they camped by Yanshui River. King Mu Li appealed to the gods, distributed proclamations to the world, listing ten major crimes of Yue Dewen of the Great Dao Teaching, denouncing him as a demonic Daoist, saying that the current riots were all due to his inaction, blaming him for causing disaster to the nation, deceiving the royal family, bringing chaos to the world, and deserving death for his extreme evils.

The mighty Great Brightness Religious Alliance Leader Cosimo, who was beside him, simultaneously stepped forward to openly challenge Yue Dewen at the side of Yanshui River to contest the title of the first under heaven.

The vast army, divided and commanded by various leaders, settled into camps.

Banners lined the riverbank, fluttering in the wind with a loud rustling. For a time, the entire riverbank was turned into a military camp.

April 15th, morning.

At this time, a fine drizzle lightly descended, with the sky just faintly lightening.

By the Yanshui River’s edge, large ships slowly gathered at the newly built docks.

This stretch of river was several hundred meters wide, the current rapid and the water murky. Just standing at the edge, one could smell a faint earthy scent.

Banners fluttered on the southern side of the Yanshui, as warships gathered.

On the northern side, emergency troops arriving in scattered groups stationed themselves intermittently.

Unlike the united colors of the opposing army’s banners, this side’s banners not only varied in script but also in color and style.

These were temporary gathered allied forces from various places, urgently mobilized by the other four kings and various sects, upon learning that King Mu Li himself had entered the territory, to rush to the front lines.

Now the allied forces assembled, blocking King Mu Li’s million-strong army at the Yanshui River’s edge.

At dawn, wooden arrow towers were erected by the river for watching the enemy’s movements.

On one of the arrow towers.

A tall man and woman, cloaked and hooded, were watching the opposing side from afar, with solemn expressions.

"The people we sent last night haven’t returned. It seems King Mu Li has fully prepared this time..." the man’s eyes were dark, he said softly.

"Experts surround him, from the Alliance, the Black List, to the Red List. Over the years, this man is the most ambitious, always accumulating strength and waiting for the opportunity," the woman beside him said gravely.

"What about Celestial Sincerity Palace? Has anyone arrived?" The man seemed somewhat impatient.

"The Zhenyi Sect and the Western Sect have sent a few Grandmasters, the others have not arrived. We lack experts and troops on this side. If this battle truly commences, our chances of winning are extremely low. If the opposing side uses assassination squads of Grandmaster level, we won’t be able to resist." The woman replied.

The two of them were nominally the spiritual army generals leading the resistance against King Mu Li.

Now the throne was vacant, with only Instructor Yue Dewen’s Five Religions Circle cooperating with the royal family to temporarily manage state affairs.

They were thus considered generals of the Five Religions Circle camp and also martial Fierce Generals from the Snow Rainbow Pavilion.

But even as Fierce Generals, both felt powerless looking at the opposite army.

"It’s a pity the Weaving Elephant Army is stationed on the border suppressing unrest and needs time to arrive. We are short on troops here, and there’s no unified strength. We can only hope Sect Leader Yue personally steps in to suppress the opposing momentum. Otherwise, they cannot be stopped from crossing the river." The man sighed.

"Do our best then." The woman also sighed.

They actually didn’t understand why Great Spirit’s two major armies would sit back and watch as rebellions occurred everywhere. Apart from protecting some key cities, the rest of Great Spirit was full of Red Turban rioters.

At this moment, a blue firework suddenly rose in the rear of their camp.

The firework exploded, blooming like a flower, forming a huge character "Dao".

"This is... Sect Leader Yue has arrived!!" The two turned to look back, immediately overjoyed.

Under the firework’s light, figures in Daoist robes leaped into the sky, crossing several dozen meters of chevaux de frise, landing lightly on the open space in front of the main tent of the camp.

The head Daoist, fair and chubby, wearing a purple robe, was Yue Dewen, who had just rushed from Snow Rainbow Pavilion.

But as soon as he landed, his eyes slightly flickered, a fierce dizziness flashed through his mind, almost causing him to lose balance.

But no one noticed, even if they did, they probably wouldn’t believe it, that the number one expert in the world, the leader of the Daoist sect, the Sect Leader of Great Dao Teaching, Yue Dewen, would almost lose balance upon landing.

Raising his head to look at the distant riverbank, a knowing look flashed in Yue Dewen’s eyes.

"What a calculation, coming at such a time...."

Early arrival, late arrival, but it was right at the time when he was secretly schemed against, fighting alone with two god Buddha bodies in the secluded Earth Mother Hall.

Now still entangled by those two god Buddha bodies, yet he had no choice but to step forward to suppress the situation.

This time, it seems truly troublesome....