Chapter 1 Snow, Mountains, and Forests

At this very moment, within the snowy mountain forest...

"Huff, huff... Where did this near 'Rejuvenation' realm Houtian Grandmaster suddenly spring from?!"

Mo Laotou, rapidly gliding through the woods, was filled with despair.

He didn't believe that Su Zhou was truly as young as he looked—that was clearly the effect of a martial artist's cultivation nearing the Xiantian realm, extending lifespan and causing white hair to turn black!

"Shizhi Bu Yi, the monk Fang Hui, and the heroine Xi Zhao and the others are already excellent figures among the Hundred Schools. Otherwise, they wouldn't be entrusted with the important task of escorting the relic. Yet, their combined attack was easily neutralized by the opponent. The 'Execution Sword' strike seemed simple, but great sound is silent. It was truly a blow capable of cleaving through stubborn rock and solid iron, even shattering the soul!"

"And yet, when it struck his forehead, the opponent didn't even yawn—this kind of undying power, it's probably similar to that of the Demon Dynasty's royal family!"

Mo Laotou knew that although his seniority was high, he only understood strange techniques and not martial force. Since the opponent was terrifyingly strong, his greatest task in carrying out the transport mission was to run as far as possible—even if it meant destroying the relic, he must never let those demonic soldiers get their hands on it!

Boom, boom, boom, boom—

But he heard the sound of trees shaking and branches breaking.

Mo Laotou instinctively looked back, and his soul nearly departed—he saw that the gray-robed, black-haired 'young man' from before was flying through the trees! With each step, the branches under his feet either snapped immediately or shook violently. And this gray shadow was rapidly approaching him with an awkward, bouncing posture that wasn't qinggong at all, but was just unbelievably fast!

"Don't come any closer!!!"

"No, stop for me!"

Some time later.

"Esteemed sir, how should I address you?" By the roaring bonfire, Su Zhou, who was diluting holy water with snow water and applying it to the martial monk's head, looked up at the white-haired, robust old man with a ruddy complexion.

The martial monk's head was smooth, and felt a bit like it had been encased in a protective layer. The broken cheekbones from earlier had also been set back into place by the skilled old man using his own knives and tweezers, picking out the bone fragments. Now, he only needed to use the holy water to accelerate the healing of flesh and blood.

While treating the other party's injuries, he very politely asked, "Where is this place? Why did you all try to fight me to the death when you heard the words 'leave the mountain'? And why did you misunderstand me as some kind of demonic soldier's guard? Is it because of my wooden centipede spear? How strange."

"This old man… uh, my name is Mo Ganxiu." On the other side of the bonfire, the old man, who was helping Su Zhou move the unconscious members of his team to the bonfire and arranged them in a circle, shuddered when he heard Su Zhou's voice, and replied with equal politeness.

This old man had short white hair and no beard, seemingly shaved to avoid obstructing his vision. His face was weathered, covered in wrinkles, but his eyes were bright, and he exuded an artisan's aura.

This could also be seen from his hands. This old man, who called himself Mo Ganxiu, had hands that were much better maintained than others, looking at least fifty years younger than his face, like those of a young man, without any scars.

And this old man was still a little dazed from the feeling he had experienced a dozen minutes ago when Su Zhou pounced on him and grabbed the nape of his neck, picking him up like a chick.

—Mo Laotou had lived for sixty-nine years, had crafted countless mechanical devices for others, and had even personally built a true-force steam engine. It was the first time he had ever felt that "this old man's neck and spine were about to be torn out!"

"As for this place, it is the Tai Bai mountain range..." For his own life, and also for the mission of the entire team, Mo Ganxiu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, carefully choosing his words: "As for leaving the mountain... Young hero, alas, could it be that your lineage hasn't returned to Shen Zhou in recent decades?"

"These days, the world is turbulent. That undying emperor of the An Dynasty has caused the people to live in misery. Nine out of ten houses in Shen Zhou are empty. The living are either rebelling or forced to take refuge in the mountains and marshes, or leave Shen Zhou to wander. Apart from the livestock they raise, few dare to travel outside the mountains—apart from the areas controlled by the rebel army, perhaps some remote border states still have some cities, but not many; they are basically about to collapse."

"An Dynasty? Nine out of ten houses empty? Livestock?" Su Zhou chewed on the terms, frowning. Of course, he knew about the An Dynasty—the last imperial dynasty before Zheng Guo. He could even recite the names and main achievements of the nine emperors of the An Dynasty one by one.

But currently, it seemed that even the tyrannical King Li in his later years hadn't caused such misery. That fellow was just sacrificing everywhere for the sake of longevity, offering human tributes... Wait. Su Zhou's breathing paused slightly.

—This place was clearly different from the Zheng Guo of his original world. Rather, it was too different. This was a world leaning towards wuxia, with spiritual energy and internal force martial artists!

Recalling some of the terms the other party had blurted out during the battle—undying demonic soldiers, self-healing comparable to the royal family and the like.

The connection within...

Su Zhou's memory had been enhanced by the Wisdom Fruit. He lowered his head, his brow furrowed, and thought of many things. After a moment, he raised his head and cautiously asked Mo Ganxiu: "Then may I ask, old sir, what is the current reign title of the An Dynasty, and which year is it? And what exactly are you doing? It sounds like you're opposing that court with 'undying power'—are you a rebel army?"

"Young hero, you really don't know anything?"

Hearing this, Mo Ganxiu also began to believe that the young man before him was probably a descendant of some secluded lineage... If nothing else, judging by the other party's behavior—completely holding the power of life and death over them, yet still acting with such politeness, and asking all sorts of common-sense questions—he really didn't seem to have been in Shen Zhou recently.

But in that case, how to explain the gun tip forged from the venomous stinger of Jing Shui Centipede’s mandibles, and the body with an unbelievable self-healing ability, clearly implanted with the undying root of Shen Mu? Still couldn't fully believe... Hmph, what did it matter whether he believed it or not; they were prisoners, after all.

The old man's thoughts turned a thousand times, but in the end, he gave up on concealing or other plans. Anyway, they couldn't escape or win, so he directly said, "Now it is the Yongning era of the An Dynasty, the seventy-fourth year."

"As for our identities, we are naturally the 'Hundred Schools Righteous Army'—rebels against that tyrannical, Dao-less emperor."

Saying this, the old man sighed. He straightened his body and bowed deeply to Su Zhou: "We encountered an attack by demonic soldiers before, so when we saw the centipede spear, we jumped to conclusions, thinking that since we were facing a strong enemy, it would be better to strike first... We should have apologized, but time is really of the essence now!"

"We are entrusted with a great mission, concerning the lives of all the people and even the survival of this Shen Zhou. If you, young hero, are truly not of the Demonic Dynasty, please allow us to leave later. After we complete our mission, we will definitely return to serve you!"

This posture was truly very low, even quite humble, showing how important this mission was, surpassing the lives and dignity of the escort team.

—An Dynasty, Yongning era... Seventy-fourth year?

[An Dynasty, Yongning nineteenth year, King Li was tyrannical and ruthless, the Hundred Schools rose up in rebellion, and the world turned against him.]

Hearing only the first part, Su Zhou recalled these familiar historical terms... An Dynasty, late years, Hundred Schools... Could it be that this was a spiritual energy version of King Li's tyranny and the Hundred Schools uprising?

Because of the presence of spiritual energy, the persecution was even worse, leading to nine out of ten houses being empty in Shen Zhou?

But the seventy-fourth year of Yongning was too strange! Historically, by the nineteenth year of Yongning, the An Dynasty was already tottering, and by the twenty-first year, it had completely collapsed. Leaving aside other things, could King Li have lived that long and not even changed the reign title?

"Strange, as expected of a world with a deviation value of over twenty, this feeling of seeming to be but not quite."

He had learned some information, but the doubts in his mind only increased. But in the end, seeing Mo Ganxiu solemnly bowing to him, Su Zhou scratched his head in annoyance.

"Aiyo... Look at what you're saying, how could I not let you leave? It's also my fault for initially just wanting to stop you and ask some questions. If that didn't work, I could also take the opportunity to test the skills of the locals. I didn't expect you all to be so fierce."

He didn't watch many costume dramas; instead, he listened to Wen Yi's crosstalk a lot. Although the other party was speaking formally, he really wasn't used to this refined way of speaking.

Now was not the time to be reflecting on his own insufficient preparation, so Su Zhou quickly helped Mo Ganxiu up. After thinking for a while, he still used plain language: "Of course, you can leave whenever you want. I just wanted to know some information."

"How about this: you see that everyone else is still unconscious. Before they wake up, Mr. Mo, could you explain to me what exactly is going on in this world?"

After being helped up by Su Zhou, the old man stared at him intently. For the first time, his eyes closely scrutinized this young man... He really couldn't find any traces of lying or concealment. Instead, he seemed to have a natural, unrestrained, and free-spirited attitude.

—No wonder. If it was someone like this, it wouldn't be strange at all for him to do something like stopping someone on the road to ask questions.

Mo Ganxiu could only let out a sigh and say, "This world, whether it's complex or not, it's not simple either."

"Everything starts with the founding emperor of the An Dynasty finding a branch of the 'Undying Divine Tree' in the South Sea Islands..."