28: Raising Soldiers

“Aw~”

The Leopard Consort was instantly slain, and the Snake Consort, furious, burst out from a nearby residence. Chen Longshi was startled—she had already been lurking here, and his spiritual senses had failed to detect even the slightest warning. Perhaps the King of Chu managed his harem well, or maybe there was genuine affection among these demon consorts, for the Snake Consort, enraged by the Leopard Consort’s tragic death, abandoned her hiding place to attack Chen Longshi head-on. With this reckless charge, she relinquished her greatest talent for concealment. Chen Longshi would show no mercy now. He tapped his foot, leapt backward, and narrowly avoided the Snake Consort’s torrent of black venom.

The venom sprayed out, melting into the snowy ground with a hiss, raising white smoke and leaving the earth pitted and unsightly, a foul stench assaulting his nose. Chen Longshi quickly sidestepped. Seeing the Snake Consort’s cheeks bulge again, he dared not wait for her next attack and hurled his flying axe.

The Snake Consort dodged with her head, but failed to avoid her tail, which was severed in half. With her tail gone, half her martial prowess was wasted. She howled wretchedly, her face reverting to human form.

She possessed a delicate oval face, dignified and beautiful—a rare beauty. Yet now, her features were filled with disbelief as she looked at Chen Longshi, whose eyes were cold and ruthless as he raised his axe.

Despair flashed in the Snake Consort’s gaze. In the next moment, her head was cleaved from her body, and a large foot stomped down, crushing her terrified skull.

TunTun devoured her soul. The two corpses on the ground shriveled like ancient, desiccated mummies, and as the wind swept by, they turned to ash, scattered like dust.

Soul rations +652

A star core was left on the ground—a skill star core—which Chen Longshi swiftly collected.

A mournful cry echoed.

Indeed, sisterly affection ran deep. Sensing the deaths of her two sisters, the Eagle Consort let out a pained shriek from not far away, rushing in with wings only half healed. She circled overhead, shaking her wings and scattering countless feathers, which shot down like arrows.

Chen Longshi stood unmoved, arranging six-pointed star shields above him in the air.

The feather arrows rained down, absorbed entirely by the Counter Shield.

Though this bronze-tier star skill lacked resilience—breaking instantly under stronger attacks, without exception—its casting speed was now instinctual, and the nine Counter Shields deployed were immensely powerful. This skill had become a staple of Chen Longshi’s arsenal.

Seeing she could not harm him, the Eagle Consort hovered, mourning shrilly, hatred burning in her eyes as if she wished to flay him alive. Yet she was no fool; knowing she was outmatched and her wings not fully healed, she hesitated to descend and fight. After two threatening roars, she prepared to flee.

“Trying to escape?”

“Did you ask my permission?”

Chen Longshi hurled his flying axe skyward like lightning. The Eagle Consort, startled, dodged nimbly, but suddenly felt an invisible force seize her talons. Glancing back, she saw the dreadful man below making a grasping motion toward the sky, as if an unseen rope had bound her, engaging her in a struggle from afar.

The eagle demon beat her wings fiercely, but the invisible rope held firm.

The flying axe shot upward like lightning; the eagle demon shrieked, her powerful sonic blasts throwing off the axe’s trajectory. But she could not break free from the force binding her. Nearby militia, seeing the eagle demon trapped, rushed out from their hiding places, loosing volleys of arrows into the sky.

No need for aim when shooting a pinned target. The militia’s archery skills were surprisingly superb—within moments, the eagle demon bristled with arrows, weighed down and dragged earthward.

The flying axe spun back, caught deftly by Chen Longshi. The more he wielded it, the more it suited him, perfectly paired with his mind-force.

He dashed forward with Swift Step, wielding the axe as a blade, executing the Star-Moon Chain Slash. The axe flashed coldly, carving a moon-like arc that sliced the terrified eagle demon into several pieces.

Soul rations +652

All three demons had fallen. Chen Longshi finally exhaled deeply.

The sword rune on his arm had unknowingly risen to 58%. Once he dealt with Bone Dry and the Green Crocodile, his rating would soar again.

More importantly, he had acquired a rare bronze-tier star skill, Breath Concealment, left by the Snake Consort. Its effectiveness he had already experienced. Without much deliberation, he crushed the star core on the spot, imprinting the skill on his star skill panel.

When he climbed the city walls again, Qu Chenzi visibly relaxed.

Chen Longshi cupped his hands. “Mission accomplished. The three demon consorts have been slain.”

Qu Chenzi's aged face was filled with excitement. “Thank you, sir, for your aid. All of King Town shall remember your kindness forever.”

At that moment, Ji Bu and Zhi Jiang were battling Bone Dry and the Green Crocodile together. The Spider Consort, her head pierced by an arrow, was pinned under a massive stone at the base of the wall. She was still alive, barely, slowly healing her wounds.

Chen Longshi wasted no words, finished off the Spider Consort, earning another rare bronze skill star core—Spider Climb—and a star energy core.

Returning to the main battlefield, TunTun impatiently left his side, transforming into an invisible maw that voraciously consumed souls across the field.

The number of undead monsters dwindled rapidly. Chen Longshi himself charged into the fray, smashing the Green Crocodile’s massive body askew with a single axe. Ji Bu, spotting an opening, abandoned Bone Dry and rushed in to finish the Green Crocodile first. Bone Dry chased from behind, thrusting his spear at Ji Bu’s head, but a six-pointed star shield intervened.

The spear pierced the Counter Shield, stabbing into Ji Bu’s back and leaving a gaping wound.

Looking back, the Green Crocodile had already fallen under the combined assault of Ji Bu and Zhi Jiang.

Soul rations +888

...

As one of the four generals under the King of Chu’s tomb, the Green Crocodile was clearly stronger than the demon consorts.

Seeing the Green Crocodile dissipate into ash, Bone Dry recoiled in terror, retreating again and again, daring not to fight. He called a horde of undead monsters to shield him as he withdrew, then fled with a clamor.

“Don’t chase the desperate. Sweep the field quickly and finish off any crippled undead monsters,” Ji Bu commanded loudly, ignoring the hole in his chest.

Humanity had defended itself through another grueling battle.

The soldiers, nerves taut, now collapsed to the ground, leaning on their weapons, too exhausted even to celebrate, their faces bearing the bitter smiles of survivors.

This ferocious assault from the King of Chu’s tomb had nearly crippled King Town.

Perhaps the undead monsters were not individually powerful, and had the weakness of being unable to fight during the day. But all had seen, when the undead abandoned all restraint and attacked madly, their combat strength was terrifying. And this was with Chen Longshi able to slay them completely—how had King Town survived all these years before?

Chen Longshi was curious. Was there some hidden trump card he didn’t know about?

He asked Qu Chenzi, who smiled bitterly. “We don’t have any trump cards—it’s because the King of Chu’s tomb is raising troops.”

“Raising troops... you mean?”

Qu Chenzi sighed, his expression grave. “The King of Chu’s tomb and King Town are opposites, bound together like a dual curse of yin and yang. The undead monsters in the tomb are the remains of generations of King Town’s citizens.

So-called immortality comes at a great price—at least, they never emerge to wreak havoc during the day. Sunlight dissolves them if exposed too long. The day belongs to us, which is why we’ve managed to survive this long.

Of course, while King Town is indeed depleting the tomb’s strength, who’s to say it isn’t also supplying the tomb with fresh troops? I have a feeling, once the King of Chu accumulates enough power, it will be the moment he breaks free and unites the world.”

“Oh...”

Chen Longshi was speechless. Such a sinister setup hardly seemed like something the other trial-takers could ever overcome. No wonder the trial secret realm allowed endless attempts.

Yet the harder it became, the more he yearned for the legendary first-clear reward.

The night passed, and dawn broke in the east.

Judging by the weather, it seemed to be a bright and sunny day.

Opening his attribute panel, Chen Longshi was startled to see his soul rations had surged to 580,000. He quickly scanned the battlefield, and sure enough, the bodies of many humans were rotting rapidly.

Clearly, TunTun had not spared their own side this time.

He felt little about it. If it had been the day before, he might have worried about the townsfolk’s opinions, but after learning of this grim setup, he cared no longer. Let TunTun devour as it pleased—his reputation was surely secured by now.

Chen Longshi was energetic, not at all fatigued. He chose not to return to the palace, but found a spot atop the city wall to practice.

This time, he did not recklessly draw upon the Samsara Purple Lotus to cultivate the Soul Sutra, but focused single-mindedly on perfecting the Turtle-Serpent Body Tempering Technique. With further strengthening of his physical body, he could better command his mind-force.

Absorbed in training, time flew by. When the sun stood high and a harmonious feeling suffused his body, Chen Longshi finally stopped. Stretching his limbs, his entire frame emitted a series of crisp crackling sounds.

Bronze-tier star technique Turtle-Serpent Body Tempering perfected: Strength +3, Agility +3, Constitution +3, Spirit +0.3.

Name: Chen Longshi
Age: 20/30
Life Level: Bronze-tier
Strength: 19.1, Agility: 21.2, Constitution: 23.6, Spirit: 152.3
Martial Cultivation: Star Forging Realm, Grade Ten
Star Techniques:
Iron-tier: Star Forging Nine Forms (perfected), Star Force Perception (perfected), Introduction to Star Drawing (perfected)
Bronze-tier: Star Forging Eighteen Forms (perfected), Intermediate Star Drawing (perfected), Turtle-Serpent Body Tempering (perfected)
Golden Bell, Level One (1%) / Level Six (max)

He was one step closer to the peak of star forging, though this step seemed long yet. Chen Longshi felt he could break through at any moment, ascending to the next realm, Star Vessel, but kept suppressing the urge, afraid he might cross the threshold unawares.

Fortunately, the growth in spiritual power greatly improved his self-control; he could likely endure a bit longer.

Perfecting star forging was essential.

For now, the only star technique left to cultivate was Golden Bell, a defensive body-tempering star technique. Chen Longshi already had some experience with such skills. Generally, as long as his energy was sufficient, he could progress quickly.

He suppressed the urge to train immediately, for a maiden had been standing gracefully to the side, waiting for him for quite some time.