Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 366: Three Fifty Two Mountain God Land

Chapter 366: Three Fifty Two Mountain God Land

Law, Companions, Wealth, and Territory - the four aspects that any cultivator could not avoid.

Even someone as formidable as Jiang Chen couldn’t escape the need to wander in search of resources for cultivation. The monsters and demons in the Little Cang Mountain range alone were no exception.

The city that Jiang Chen planned to attack was called the Three Mountain City due to it being surrounded by three mountains. It was believed that monstrous demons in the locality had built the city, emulating the myriad monsters’ city in the Beijulu Continent.

Initially, the city was just a marketplace for the monsters and demons of the Little Cang Mountain range to trade resources for cultivation. Over the years, the initial swarm of monsters and demons propagated and multiplied.

This led to the expansion and subsequent enlargement of the city, evolving it to its current scale. The growth of the Three Mountain City has also brought benefits to the monstrous demons behind it.

Why are immortals so keen on establishing sects and passing on their Tao? Isn’t it better to be a free and easy roving immortal? The prime reason lies in the pursuit of fate. Only by establishing a power can one gather fate.

And with fate on one’s side, apart from accelerating the cultivation speed and making it easier to break through realms, there are countless other advantages, which are too numerous to mention here.

In short, the benefits of having fate on one’s side are infinite.

For this reason, some senior cultivators with substantial accomplishments choose to establish their sects, accept numerous disciples, and pass on their Tao.

Though the Three Mountain City is not a sect, it’s considered a form of power and hence can gather fate.

The monstrous demons and devils behind the city built the Three Mountain City purely for the sake of gathering fate. The Little Cang Mountain range is inherently barren, so without the assistance of fate, how could they step into a higher realm?

The Little Cang Mountain range is vast, spanning a radius of millions of miles, and houses countless monsters and demons. There are more cities besides the Three Mountain City, none of which are the strongest.

Apart from Three Mountain City, there are hundreds of cities, big and small, within the Little Cang Mountain range. What’s more, a regime reigns in the deepest part of the mountain range.

Jiang Chen was quite stunned when he first heard about it. He was amazed that a country could be established in such a remote and poor place.

Thanks to these fateful happenstances, many masters were born in the barren Little Cang Mountain range. There might not be top-notch masters, but there was no lack of standard Great Luo Golden Immortals either. There shouldn’t be an issue gathering a dozen or two if need be.

In terms of power among the multiple cities in the Little Cang Mountain range, Three Mountain City could be considered among the top tier, of a medium to high standard. Jiang Chen chose to attack Three Mountain City for two reasons.

Firstly, Three Mountain City was the closest to Jiang Chen.

Secondly, the Great Luo Golden Immortal behind Three Mountain City had died. He was slain by Jiang Chen in a grand battle for Innate Essence three years ago.

With the loss of their backing, the Three Mountain City became an enticing chunk of meat; various forces were eager to snatch a bite and swallow it for themselves.

Jiang Chen was no exception.

Therefore, Jiang Chen arrived. The Great Luo Golden Immortal behind the Three Mountain City had precisely been killed by him. In other words, the Three Mountain City was his spoils of war, and he was now here to claim his rightful reward, a totally justified act.

...

When they were about a hundred miles away from the Three Mountain City, Jiang Chen suddenly halted his army, leaving it stationary.

It was at this moment that Yun Ting, the divine general, understood his hint and recited a spell, lifting his foot and lightly stamping on the ground.

"Which great immortal disturbed this old man!"

Blue smoke rose from the spot where Yun Ting stamped, and two figures emerged.

An old man, fully bearded in white, thin, wearing a blue longevity robe and holding a walking stick. Following him was a naked evil-looking demon, measuring twelve feet tall with a steel fork in hand, exuding a scary aura.

The old man emitted a faint scent of liquor, while signs of oil stains were visible on the hands and mouth of the vile demon. It seemed they were enjoying their meal and drink when Yun Ting called upon them with his spell.

At the beginning, the old man seemed rather irritated because his revelry was interrupted. Obviously unhappy, he asked rather grumpily, "Who are you to summon us? What do you want...?"

Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish his sentence. Seemingly still somewhat sober, he saw the lines of silver-armored, spear-holding soldiers exuding an indifferent demeanor in front of him, his joy from the indulgence instantly vanished.

At this sight, the old man immediately broke into cold sweats, sobering him up instantly. He quickly knelt down and shouted, "Unaware of your arrival, we were unable to receive you properly. We have offended you, may you excuse us."

The old man looked so scared as if he had lost all color. Presently, the wicked demon also came to his senses and started to beg for mercy along with the old man.

The old man and the demon were the local deities of this mountain and land. It is indeed true that there are countless deities across the Three Realms for every mountain and piece of land, so much so that they are seen as plentiful as cow’s hair.

However, due to their large numbers, these deities are treated as low value, holding very low status. Although they are within the jurisdiction of the Heaven Court, their ranking is only slightly higher than that of celestial soldiers.

As mountain and land deities, they are supposed to be protecting their regions. However, they were indulging in food and drink here, making their conduct quite suspicious. Now that they have been discovered by the celestial beings, they are naturally scared.

The Heavenly Rules hold significant deterrent power over these lower-ranked celestial beings.

Despite his resentment, Jiang Chen could understand when he saw their behavior.

After all, in the Little Cang Mountain range, they played the role of mountain gods and earth deities. Yet, the region was desolate with no signs of human life and no creatures to protect. They spent their days eating and drinking, with nothing else to do.

As for fighting off demons and monsters, don’t make me laugh. They would be lucky if the monsters didn’t wipe them out. Living as immortals in the lair of monsters, they had it tough. It was a damned if they did, damned if they didn’t situation. Action could easily lead to death.

Seeing that Jiang Chen didn’t intend to punish them, General Yun Ting stepped forward and scolded, "What sort of officers are you? This is the True Monarch of Demon Suppression from Heaven Court, specially appointed to eliminate demons and monsters. You should show your respects."

Now, the mountain gods and earth deities finally understood the identity of Jiang Chen. They hurried forward and bowed, "We humble deities pay our respects to the True Monarch."

The True Monarch!

It was the zenith of a heavenly officer’s rank. Any further progress would elevate one to emperor lords and celestials. Even the Jade Emperor’s nephew, Yang Jian, was a True Monarch.

The two individuals on the ground had never encountered such high-ranking officials since becoming mountain gods and earth deities. Their fear increased upon coming face-to-face with Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen, however, did not pay attention to the two. Instead, he looked at the soldiers around him. They were all dressed in military attire, except for Jiang Chen, who was wearing a Taoist robe, making him look rather out of place.

"If I remember correctly, there is a suit of armor in our family treasure vault left by the War God. It possesses unparalleled divine might and the blessing of the Jiuli’s fate. It might not be a bad idea to try to acquire it. Otherwise, wearing a Taoist robe to battle every day is clearly inappropriate."

After thinking it over, Jiang Chen began to consider the Jiang Family’s treasure vault. The aforementioned War God was none other than Chiyou, a great deity from the Jiang Family.

After his seal, most of his relics were reclaimed by the Jiang family. His battle armor, a priceless treasure of the Human Race, also fell into the hands of Jiang Chen.

Of course, only treasures like these would suit Jiang Chen’s current status. He needed to figure out a way to bring it out.

While thinking, Jiang Chen instructed the two mountain gods and earth deities, "You two, go to the city of Three Mountains. Tell the person in charge to surrender the city. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless."

Although he planned to train soldiers, if he could convince the opponents to surrender without fighting, Jiang Chen would not refuse. Therefore, he decided to send a messenger to persuade them to surrender first. If that failed, he could launch an attack.

After all, if a major battle were to break out, the surrounding Earth Veins would inevitably be damaged. The recovery afterwards would also be a significant hassle.

Although they were reluctant, the mountain gods and earth deities did not dare to defy Jiang Chen’s command. They bravely responded, "Yes, we obey!"

Looking at their eager-to-die expressions, Jiang Chen found it amusing, yet he understood their concerns. Monsters would not respect the rule of not killing envoys from both sides in a conflict.

Their diplomatic mission could easily anger the monsters within the city. If the Three Mountains City refused to surrender, the two individuals’ fates would be a cause for concern.

Jiang Chen raised his hand and sealed a Di Jiang Sword Qi within each of their bodies. He then said, "You are serving me; how could I let you walk into a death trap? The Sword Qi sealed within you will ensure your safety."

Hearing this, the mountain gods and earth deities promptly thanked him, "Thank you, True Monarch! Thank you, True Monarch!"

Having said that, the two used the Earth Escape Technique and rushed towards the city of Three Mountains.

Once the mountain gods and earth deities were far away, General Yun Ting asked, "True Monarch, why did you ask them to go to the city of Three Mountains?"

Jiang Chen gazed into the distance and replied, "The Little Cang Mountain Range has 2800 peaks and spans millions of miles in area. Although Heaven Court doesn’t value this place highly, it has still appointed hundreds of mountain gods and earth deities here."

"Tell me, can all of them remain innocent and avoid colluding with the monsters after coexisting with them for thousands of years?"

As soon as Jiang Chen’s words fell, Yun Ting was speechless, unsure of how to respond, "This... I hadn’t considered that."

Retracting his gaze from the distance, Jiang Chen instructed, "From now on, whenever we pass a place, I want the local mountain gods and earth deities summoned to examine their conditions and check if they have fallen into evil ways."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding officers immediately bowed and replied, "We obey."

...

...

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, two streams of sword light rose from within the Three Mountains City and hurtled towards them.

Seeing this, Jiang Chen smiled at the people around him, "It seems the monsters of Three Mountains City look down on us and refuse to surrender?"

"If that’s the case, listen to my orders, army! March full speed towards Three Mountains City. I want you to take it at all costs within a day."

Upon hearing the order, the Heavenly Soldiers immediately moved. Using the School of War’s secret technique, they quickly traversed thousands of miles and arrived directly at the city gate of Three Mountains City.

"Attack!"

Without wasting any words, the thirty thousand soldiers instantly formed a Star River Formation and turned into ten giant figures of radiating starlight. They jointly launched an attack on Three Mountains City.

PS: I’m a bit stuck on the plot, I’ll try to adjust.