Chaotic World Book
Chapter 361 - 354 Wushan Storm

Zhao Changhe was taken aback.

Watching the snow flying over Kunlun, his mind was still in winter, but had the New Year really approached so soon? Time had flown so fast...

Though it had seemed like a short stay in Kunlun, a month had actually passed.

He vividly remembered when Chaotic World Book reported the delay; it was early December back then, though he didn’t know exactly which day. Perhaps the early part of the month was almost over.

Then, unknowingly, another half month had slipped by...

The New Year had come, and he couldn’t feel a bit of the festive spirit, messing around in the City of Evil with a bunch of fools. What was more tragic was that, by this calculation, he’d still be on the road on the first day of the New Year. Actually, he had been traveling for about seven or eight months of the past year and a quarter—like the nearly a month it took to travel from Beimang to Kunlun...

No wonder the ancients wrote so many poems about traveling; it was indeed frustrating.

Zhao Changhe sighed, "That’s just how it is, I’ve only celebrated the New Year once in this world."

The old man looked at him sympathetically, though how he interpreted that statement was anyone’s guess.

Zhao Changhe didn’t elaborate further. After thanking the old man for the warm soup and meal, he rode off from the small town early in the morning.

As he slowly walked through the morning mist, he pondered to himself that he had grown another year older. He had been twenty years old when he crossed over to this world, and soon he would be twenty-two.

Being twenty and still called a youth was a stretch; originally, in the heart of Vermilion Bird, he was considered an "older bachelor", and now even more so... In every sense, at this age he was now among the sturdy backbone of the Worldly Society, right? Chaotic World Book set twenty-five as the age to enter the Hidden Dragon List, which seemed a bit too high, didn’t it?

Time truly flew. Wanzhuang must be around thirty now.

Uh... Will Yangyang be coming of age in a few days..? Or does it count from her birthday? When was her birthday again?

If counting from the day the three-year pact was made, not even a year had passed yet—it was set in March... Thinking about it, he really had been quite awesome, mainly because his luck seemed extraordinarily good, almost to the level of the chosen one.

The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Layers of the Mystical Gate belonged to the upper three layers, each quite challenging. Originally, moving from the sixth to the seventh could be considered a moderately large hurdle; one moment he thought it would take a long time, the next moment Xia Longyuan gave him a fruit, and it was resolved instantly;

He thought it would take a long time from the seventh to the eighth layer, but it was resolved with dual cultivation with Yue Hongling in the Xuanwu Secret Realm involving jelly;

The hurdle from the eighth to the ninth layer, according to the experiences of Yue Hongling, Cui Yuanyong, and Chi Li, all of whom had been stuck for a year or more, he thought he’d need months even if he was a genius, but it was directly broken through with a Dragon Elephant Blood Ginseng, leading straight to the door of the Secret Treasure.

His search for the Secret Treasure actually began from the Mystical Gate Eighth Layer, having witnessed Yue Hongling’s breakthrough and being guided by her to prematurely explore spiritual power. In his perception, searching for the Secret Treasure had been ongoing for months, facing numerous setbacks, almost the biggest hurdle he had faced.

Yet really, if others saw it, they’d probably curse and say, how long has it been since your Ninth Layer breakthrough...

Even Yuxu couldn’t help but ask, "Is someone chasing you?"

Indeed...

Having witnessed the power of the Ancient Demons, no matter how splendidly he paraded in fancy garments across the Worldly Society, he must seem as insignificant as an ant in the eyes of others.

When could he touch that realm?

...

Several days journeying south from Kunlun, and indeed, he spent the New Year on the road, without even a scent of firecrackers to mark the occasion.

Throughout the journey, the countless towering mountains to the south were still visible.

Zhao Changhe knew that beyond these mountain ranges lay the Heavenly Mansion of Shu.

Ba Mountain Sword House was not far from here, and Yue Hongling had mentioned visiting to experience their swordsmanship, before continuing southwest to investigate the affairs of the Miao Region regarding witchcraft.

Originally, Zhao Changhe had said to Yue Hongling that it might be possible for them to meet again by fate in this vast worldly society — that was because Ba Mountain and Wushan are very close, belonging to the same mountain range, and in many poems, they are even interchangeable.

He had long planned to go to Wushan to find Sect Hierarch Xue, and of course, he might "bump into" Yue Hongling at Ba Mountain, tricking a "pose you desire."

After spending such a long time in Kunlun, now it seemed that by the time he arrived at Ba Mountain, Yue Hongling had obviously left...

Ba Mountain Sword House was Han Wubing’s birthplace, but after a fallout, there remained some connection. Originally, he was also interested in visiting, but now was not the time; better to deal with the Blood God Sect’s matters first.

In the concept of Hua Xia, Wushan has always been associated with clouds and rain, stirring emotions upon hearing it, but in this life, it didn’t hold much reputation... Although this life still contained records of ancient times, with tales like the Wushan Goddess, it seemed the Wushan Goddess was not an Ancient Demon God, merely a figure of stories, hence no one cared.

What people care more about is the concept of "witch."

For example, the Blood God Sect. They practice the method of cultivating Qi and blood, had various types of blood and flesh offering ceremonies, even cruel rituals such as skinning people were present, perhaps due to the Ancient Demon God Array Plate they obtained, leading to their cruel, bloodthirsty, wicked, and heinous nature, they were even more of a typical Demon Sect than the Four Symbols Sect.

When Zhao Changhe entered their stronghold, he was just an unofficial bandit; the atmosphere in the stronghold was already brutal. It was hard to accept if one actually joined the sect.

Thus, for a long period, the worldly society viewed Zhao Changhe, who came from the Blood God Sect, as a ferocious demon "Bloodthirsty Shura," and this nickname stemmed from that time. People even dared not believe that Zhao Changhe could be a knight; it just didn’t fit.

These people liked the notion of "witch," transforming this spiritually beautiful region into a Demon Cave was not surprising at all.

Fortunately, their cultivation was mediocre, making it hard for them to cause trouble in the Worldly Society.

Even the strongest Sect Hierarch was only at Mystical Gate Ninth Layer, stuck before the Secret Realm entrance for a lifetime. At peak Martial Arts age in his forties, having honed his Cultivation Techniques for decades, but surpassed by a mere twenty-year-old girl at Mystical Gate Eighth Layer, became a laughingstock, even until now.

As it was with the Sect Hierarch, the limits applied to each level of their skilled practitioners.

For example, those who practiced the Blood Evil Cultivation either suffered excruciating torment from the Evil Qi, leading them to give up training; or they relied on Blood Stabilization Pills to suppress it, leading to the dissipation of Evil Qi, rendering their training fruitless — once Blood Evil Skill lost the support of Evil Qi, simple Body Refinement couldn’t compare to any random Body Refinement Realm, losing its primary significance.

Then there were others who practiced what was claimed to be an advanced version of the Blood God Skill, a goal Zhao Changhe once yearned for in his dreams.

In fact, this skill proved to be on par with taking Blood Stabilization Pills, only lacking in dependency on the pills, similarly resulting in suppressed dissipation of Evil Qi, failing to bring out its true value.

The biggest factor in Xue Canghai being surpassed was here; otherwise, in terms of technique refinement and Martial Arts understanding, Yue Hongling truly wasn’t his match at that time. It was purely because the Cultivation Technique practiced was flawed, which keen Yue Hongling exploited to find the winning strategy.

Given such a Blood God Sect, no matter how evil, it was hard to make any waves. Barely manage to show their presence before being counteracted by Tang Wanju’s managed Demon Suppression Department and various orthodox martial artists and knights seeking reputation, let alone being attacked by the Four Symbols Sect — to be precise, attacked by a single Vermilion Bird who fought her way from outside the gate to the core hall alone, turning the entire Sect silent, falling to their knees in allegiance, completely losing their spirit.

The cause was merely Vermilion Bird thinking, "Dead turtles do no work; we’re short on hands and need some people for grunt work."

In other words, the evil deeds of the Blood God Sect were generally accumulated in the early years. The declining Blood God Sect in recent years didn’t actually have many evil deeds left... not that they didn’t want to do evil, but they lacked the capability, with the attack on Luo Family Manor being their most impressive battle in these years.

During this period, the Blood God Sect was also facing another annoying situation — the Maitreya Sect’s eastward advance was frustrated at Gusu, and recently, started progressing westward into Jingxiang, Jingxiang battles raging. Thus, they sent an envoy to Wushan, hoping to collaborate with the Blood God Sect for rebellion.

Xue Canghai was conflicted; he certainly wanted to rebel, with even the atmosphere of a thousand-mile massacre potentially enabling him to breakthrough the Secret Realm, and possibly even break free from the constraints of the Four Symbols Sect, gaining independence.

But Maitreya Sect was not a good collaborator; from its initial momentum to the recent half-year of being contested by southern clans represented by the Tang family, trapped in pervasive battles like in a grinding mill, barely making any progress, there was no sight of sweeping across the south.

To gamble or not?

As Xue Canghai hosted the Maitreya envoy in discussions, Zhao Changhe, after half a month of traveling and with Wuzhui treading through the spring rain, arrived at Wushan.