Cultivation: Being Immortal
Chapter 530:

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Qing State, Clan Alliance Big Village

The Immortal Sect and Wu Sect’s Martial Saints came, and upon hearing that a new Martial Saint had arrived at the Lin family’s place, they all came to visit together.

Martial Saints are the pinnacle of martial power in the world today. Each Martial Saint is extremely important. If they could persuade Lin Jiang to stay, it would be very beneficial for them.

All three families proposed marriage alliances with Lin Jiang. They allowed Lin Jiang to choose from the unmarried women of the three families. Even if all three families married Lin Jiang simultaneously, they would consider it advantageous because women were not valuable, but Martial Saints were. However, Lin Jiang rejected all of them.

"Dear Taoist friends, I wish to cross the Qing River to investigate the Demon Human’s background. Is there any Taoist friend willing to accompany me?"

Lin Jiang had neither the time nor the inclination to play with them. He wanted to cross the Qing River to take a look.

"Taoist Friend Zhang, absolutely not."

As soon as Lin Haiqing heard this, his expression changed instantly, and he hurriedly stopped them.

"Taoist Friend Zhang didn’t know that the Demon Human was very strong. Except for some weak Demon Human Tribe members, most adult Demon Humans had the strength of an Innate Martial Artist. Even our Martial Saint could easily be surrounded and killed by them in the past."

"Are there strong Demon Humans?"

"Yes, the strong Demon Humans are not weaker than our Martial Saint. We have been fighting against the Demon Humans for many years, and six Martial Saints from our human race have died at the hands of the Demon Humans, including an ancestor from my Lin family."

"Ancestor."

"Oh, it means ancestor."

Lin Haiqing was surprised and quickly explained that although they always regarded themselves as descendants of ancestors, the matters of the three ancestors were top secret.

They didn’t know much about the internal affairs, only that there were ancestors sleeping in a certain place. Sometimes, these ancestors would awaken. Apart from being powerful and capable of reaching at least the level of Grand Master of Martial Arts with little effort, the awakening ancestors could bring them some unexpected things, such as top martial arts manuals.

From their reactions, Lin Jiang had already guessed the reason. It seemed that most of the cultivators from the sleeping place had already awakened.

"Taoist Friend Zhang, please don’t cross the river easily. It is really dangerous to cross the river."

"Our people and Demon Humans are different. Once discovered, there’s no way to hide. No matter how strong you are, you can’t withstand the continuous attacks of Demon Humans."

Several people advised Lin Jiang not to cross the river easily, as it was too risky for our kind. Once exposed, Demon Humans would keep coming, no matter how much strength you have, especially when they have skilled fighters too.

······

In the middle of the night, Lin Jiang left the village on a small boat, equipped with armor, daggers, swords, and a strong bow – all top-quality gear given by the Lin family. He was also supposed to take a horse but the boat couldn’t fit it.

"Brother Lin, do you think Taoist Friend Zhang is fearless due to ignorance or skilled and fearless?"

"Does it make a difference?"

"Haven’t you sparred with him before? Don’t you know his secrets?"

"I do."

"Mysterious."

On the south bank of Qing River, Lin Haiqing and several Martial Saints watched the boat drifting away, whispering to each other.

"Even with Brother Lin’s abilities, he still finds this person mysterious. Where does this person come from?"

"He is definitely not from Xia Kingdom. I have tested him several times, and he knows very little about Xia Kingdom."

"Then why is your Lin family trying to befriend him?"

"As long as he is human, that’s good enough. What’s there to fear? The Lin family is very welcoming."

"Haha, Brother Lin is so generous, my family feels inferior."

"Don’t boast too much. Let’s wait and see if he can come back. If he dies on the other side, then everything is useless."

Lin Haiqing shook his head. They had sincerely advised him, but he was rebellious and didn’t listen to them. What could they do? They decided to see if he could survive first.

An hour later, Lin Jiang appeared on the north bank, standing on a mountain peak. From there, he could see the lights below, possibly campfires.

"If they can use fire, that means civilization exists."

Lin Jiang felt uneasy knowing that using fire is a sign of civilization. If Demon Humans can use fire, it means they also have civilization. This sets them apart from wild beasts and poses a greater threat to the human race.

After daybreak, Lin Jiang quietly descended the mountain to observe the Demon Human Tribe up close.

"Who said there are only a few Demon Humans? Curse it, each tribe has thousands of them."

Looking at several tribes, Lin Jiang cursed to himself realizing that there are not just a few Demon Humans, but many. Larger tribes have thousands of Demon Humans.

Some strong Demon Humans seemed to possess at least the strength of a Martial Arts Master. Lin Haiqing mentioned Demon Humans with strengths comparable to Martial Saints, which seemed to be true.

"Although there may be fewer Demon Humans compared to the human race, each individual is stronger. Their overall strength is uncertain. Without obstacles, Demon Humans might truly be able to wipe out the human race."

After observing for a few days, Lin Jiang concluded that individual Demon Humans are indeed powerful. As for the human race, they only have two advantages currently. Firstly, they have large numbers. Lin Jiang didn’t know exactly how many people there are in the Xia Kingdom, but several large kingdoms have at least a million armored soldiers. This means that those kingdoms have at least tens of millions of people, and perhaps the whole Xia Kingdom has over a hundred million people, with the Qing State having several tens of millions.

The second advantage is their greater potential. With such a large population, there must be many geniuses with significant room for growth.

There is another place that may be an advantage, their level of civilization is higher. Lin Jiang observed many Demon Human Tribe over the past few days. Their level of civilization is similar to that of primitive humans, similar to the early days of Xia Kingdom. They can use fire skillfully and some tools, but their civilization is not very advanced.

The reason why it may or may not be an advantage is because the level of civilization doesn’t necessarily determine combat effectiveness, just like in the case of Ming Dynasty and Later Jin. The civilization of Ming Dynasty was definitely higher than that of Later Jin, but they still got defeated. External factors play a big role.

"Human race…"

"Human race…"

Lin Jiang wandered around in the Demon Human territory for half a month, but he was eventually discovered. The Demon Humans immediately shouted in surprise, and then a tribe was alerted.

Strong Demon Humans came at Lin Jiang with swords and knives, moving very fast. Lin Jiang took out his bow and shot them down directly.

"Bang"

"Bang"

"Bang"

The arrows didn’t miss their targets, killing three Demon Humans charging at the front. The arrows pierced through their armor, but instead of stopping the other Demon Humans, it made them more fierce. Even the women and children among them charged forward without fear of death.

Lin Jiang looked at the Demon Humans in front of him without fear for now, but what worried him was that the Demon Humans further away had been alerted.

Lin Jiang stepped back slowly, continuously shooting arrows from his bow. The Lin family had given him five bags of arrows, with twenty arrows in each bag. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to give more or were afraid Lin Jiang couldn’t carry them, but because too many arrows would attract too much attention.

After shooting a hundred arrows, Lin Jiang threw away his bow and picked up a stone, throwing it casually and making the front-charging Demon Humans scream in pain.

Lin Jiang moved quickly, making it hard for the Demon Humans to pinpoint his location, so they had to rely on their large numbers to surround him.

When he reached a river, Lin Jiang used his light footwork to walk on water, leaving behind most of the Demon Humans. Ordinary Demon Humans didn’t have the skill of light footwork; they just relied on their instincts to run fast, with only a few skilled individuals capable of it.

Lin Jiang wasn’t wearing any armor except for a leather one under his clothes, so his speed increased, leaving the Demon Humans behind.

"Humans, die."

A skilled Demon Human appeared, a creature with a snake lower body and human upper body, holding a steel fork and thrusting it towards Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang clashed swords with Demon Human, causing Demon Human to be pushed back. It was the first time Lin Jiang felt the power of Demon Human.

"This power doesn’t seem like demonic energy. It should be a type of internal strength."

Lin Jiang pondered, thinking about how the great way was gone, and there was no demonic energy. This power seemed similar to internal strength, like a level below spiritual and demonic energies. He couldn’t understand why they naturally possessed this power, while humans needed to cultivate it.

The skilled fighters of Demon Humans with carnivorous features are more powerful, with very agile movements and strong bodies.

More and more skilled Demon Human experts appeared, and Lin Jiang didn’t waste time with them. His inner strength was not unlimited, if he was surrounded by enemies, he would be defeated.

Lin Jiang quickly broke through towards Qing River, trying to escape back to the south bank. Just as he reached the river, a skilled Demon Human was already waiting there. Lin Jiang didn’t see any demonic features on him, which caught Lin Jiang’s attention.