Chapter 1 The Beginning

South of the Central Plains, along the Nanjiang River.

Overcast clouds filled the sky, and a torrential rain poured down.

The Suzhou region, once renowned as a land of fish and rice, had transformed into a dense, primeval forest after nearly eighty years of neglect.

Clouds swirled, wind and rain scattered, and the humid breeze swept across the forest canopy, carrying with it various miasmas that had accumulated within, instantly painting the entire jungle with vibrant colors.

One could vaguely discern countless plants and beasts, never before seen on this world before the appearance of the divine tree, breeding and moving within, turning this land into an extraordinary alien realm.

And a vast river flowed, like a dividing line separating heaven and earth, cutting through this alien-like forest in the torrential rain, stretching from the depths of the distant continent to the ocean at the horizon.

Su Zhou stood at the forefront of a True Qi airship named 'Changfeng' (Long Wind), watching the distance with Li Daoran and another Daoist grandmaster, towards the Baijia (Hundred Schools) encampment that was gradually becoming visible—and the incredibly massive 'Banyan Tree', whose canopy covered nearly a thousand li in circumference.

Panrong Undying Tree!

The oncoming gale and downpour whipped against the young man's robes, who carried a long spear on his back and a long saber at his waist, and made the flags hanging on the True Qi airship flutter loudly—but Su Zhou paid it no mind, because the fire elemental power naturally emitted from the divine weapon he wore at his waist easily blew away all the rain.

He simply narrowed his eyes, staring at the divine tree in front of him, and the heavenly palace vaguely visible at the top of the divine tree.

"That is the base where our Baijia confront the Demon Dynasty—if it weren't, why would the Demon Dynasty's demon army station the majority of their combat power on the other side of the Nanjiang River?"

Li Daoran explained to Su Zhou, pointing with a hand wrapped in bandages to the heavenly palace at the top: "And that is the Heavenly Palace, the Demon Emperor's residence, and below it are the New Nantian Capital and the Nanjiang Heavenly Gate."

Li Daoran's arm, injured by the National Teacher, had not yet healed. After all, he was just an ordinary human, without the terrifying recovery power of the Divine Wood Kindred and Su Zhou. Su Zhou glanced remotely at the thirty-odd zhang high city walls of the Nanjiang Heavenly Gate, and couldn't help but click his tongue, "As expected of a world with martial arts and techniques, this hundred-meter-high city wall is truly terrifying!"

However, Su Zhou wasn't worried about such city walls—with his current Grandmaster cultivation, climbing the city walls was as easy as walking on flat ground. He could stomp a hole in the city wall with one foot; gravity could hardly bind him anymore.

More than that, he was a little worried, and turned to look at the other Daoist grandmaster beside him: "Grandmaster Liu, do you think I can use this Blade of Annihilation to fight? Although you said that my internal force is fire-attributed, and I have a certain foundation in lightning techniques, so I am best suited to control this divine blade… but this should only be a temporary measure."

"Compared to the Baijia, I am, after all, just an outsider. This kind of divine weapon should be given to other grandmasters to use, right?"

Although Su Zhou never underestimated himself, he also knew very well that things like divine weapons were probably not so easily handed over to this 'hero' of his… Of course, he protected the forging of the divine weapon and defeated the National Teacher, proving his position and strength, but in the final analysis, the ownership of this blade was not in his hands.

But even more terrifying was the Baijia army's attitude of welcoming him to hold the divine weapon—these people's attitude towards him was too good. Not to mention anything else, the daily food supply and cultivation materials were all provided in abundance, even if they had to eat and use less themselves, they would give Su Zhou unlimited supplies, to the point where he himself felt a little awkward.

In response, the Daoist Grandmaster Liu was stunned for a moment, but did not expect Su Zhou to ask such a worried question. He touched his rather rounded belly and smiled, shaking his head, "Grandmaster Su is overthinking things. Dao Saint, Buddhist Saint, and Confucian Saint have already sent messages a few days ago, entrusting the Blade of Annihilation to you… Please do not doubt, we are about to arrive at the base, and the three leaders are waiting for your arrival."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Several hours later, in the Baijia army's base, in the underground gathering hall, the Daoist grandmaster called 'Dao Saint', who had made a special trip to meet Su Zhou, said softly with a somewhat complicated expression: "Why not? Grandmaster Su, you possess the Qi of Thunder and Fire, and there is probably no one in this world more suitable than you."

"Indeed."

"Not bad."

On the other side, the Buddhist Saint and Confucian Saint both nodded slightly, expressing their agreement.

The Dao Saint, Buddhist Saint, and Confucian Saint were all white-haired, wizened old men. Even the Buddhist Saint, who looked the youngest of the three, had wrinkles on his face that were layered like tree bark. Although the three of them spoke with full energy, and the internal Qi cultivation they revealed when they greeted Su Zhou was truly shocking, not far from that of the National Teacher, and even comparable—if one were to exclude the undying body, it would probably take a hundred rounds or more for the National Teacher to gain the upper hand in a one-on-one fight with these three Baijia grandmasters.

But they were indeed very old, and even their entire life force was supported by their profound cultivation.

"Actually, if it weren't for the appearance of Grandmaster Su, we would have had to choose a grandmaster who cultivated lightning techniques to hold the Blade of Annihilation, rather than using it ourselves."

At this time, the one speaking was the contemporary Confucian Saint, a tall, rough-looking old man, but with a surprisingly humble tone. He patted the sword at his waist and sighed with a wry smile, "It is shameful to say, we cannot personally kill that dog emperor and avenge the tens of millions of wronged souls in this world—this matter, I am afraid we can only entrust to you."

"Why…" Hearing this, Su Zhou was even more puzzled: "To be honest, I feel very comfortable holding the Blade of Annihilation, but why don't you go yourselves? This is a divine weapon!"

"Now the Baijia army, including me, has four grandmasters—even if that Demon Emperor advances to the Innate realm, one person, one blade, can kill him. I'm not kidding, how strong can one be when they first enter the Innate realm? I have reliable traditions to prove this!"

Yala said it personally, how could it be false? Even if it were false, it wouldn't be on such a trivial matter.

Then Su Zhou saw the contemporary Buddhist Saint put his palms together and sigh: "Benefactor Su, we have been fighting for eighty years, and now… we have lost the qualification to go above the divine tree. Although we are fortunate to survive, we can no longer face that Demon Emperor."

"Everyone, there's no need to hide it, let Benefactor Su see."

After saying that, the old monk generously reached out and lifted his kasaya (monk's robe), showing Su Zhou his arm, which at first glance, seemed to have quite muscular flesh.

Then Su Zhou gasped in horror.

"Heavens!"

What appeared before Su Zhou's eyes was not human flesh and blood… but an unspeakable, bizarre body composed entirely of various metal levers and parts, plus countless entangled tree roots!

Su Zhou could sense that on these metal skeletons and parts, and on those tree roots, there was an internal Qi flow almost identical to that of humans, so even when he observed with his spirit sight, he didn't immediately see the abnormality of the Buddhist Saint in front of him!

"This, this is simply like those demon generals…" For a moment, Su Zhou didn't know how to describe this situation. He turned his head again and looked at the arms that the Dao Saint and Confucian Saint silently showed him, which were exactly the same as the Buddhist Saint, already completely mutated, with metal structures barely maintaining a human form!