The needle-leaf forest consisted of trees growing for the last thousand years. Each of them was as thick as a huge grinder.
More than fifty beast kings were taking soldiers adorned in bright armor through the area. Dust scattered everywhere while other beasts ran away.
Mo Chongji rode on a 900-year Flying Serpent’s head. It was two meters wide and more than sixty meters long with a pair of scaly wings. It spewed poisonous fog, causing the pine trees nearby to wither.
Mo Chongji was ecstatic about riding this mount. It wasn’t weaker than him at all.
“Your Excellency, that Shi Zhenxiang is still alive. He’ll pursue us again after taking care of his injuries. What will we do then?” Mo Chongji was slightly nervous.
Feiyun sat on his tiger while trying to refine his 5,000-year root. It wasn’t that easy to create a second phoenix bone. This plant alone wasn’t enough; assistance from spirit cores taken from beasts was required. He wanted to finish the process before reaching Heaven Worship Division so he stayed up all night.
He casually replied: “We just need to make it to Heaven Worship and he won’t be able to do anything.”
“But Heaven Worship is part of the Jiang too, it’s stronger than Heavenly Witchcraft Division and has five tribe lords…” Mo Chongji said.
Any Jiang comparable to a Giant was called a tribe lord. This was a territory-granting title.
Feiyun understood the guy’s worries because the Jiangs hated outsiders. Moreover, Feiyun was the Divine King. His position would bring about distrust from the tribe lords. They might even band together against him.
Feiyun said: “Don’t worry, Strategist Mo. Have you told the governor and tribe lords about my arrival?”
“I sent a jade message yesterday. The Ancient Jiang Governor knows you are coming and couldn’t sleep from excitement. He said he wanted to personally greet you at Witchcraft God City.” Chongji remained worried. He has visited these tribes before and knew the Jiang’s ferocity. He wasn’t as relaxed as the other soldiers.
The governor’s mansion was located at Witchcraft God. However, this was rather empty. The real rulers were the six tribe lords and Heavenly Witchcraft Goddess.
Feiyun stopped speaking and continued to refine his root. This trip wasn’t going to be easy so any improvement would be helpful.
Senluo Temple and the Dark Realm have entered Ancient Jiang. Feng Feiyun cared more about these two powers rather than the tribe lords.
They marched for three days across the mountains and marshes, a total of 70,000 miles, and finally made it to Witchcraft God City.
Along the way were many smaller tribes. Feiyun ordered his men to exercise caution and avoid the tribes in order to avoid needless trouble.
The governor of Ancient Jiang, Chen Daoran, several county lords, and various officials have been waiting at the gate earlier in the morning.
It wasn’t until dusk until they saw an impressive group of soldiers leaving a dusty trail behind them. The accompanying beasts roared loud enough to shake the ground.
Witchcraft God City was filled with white bones from beasts. The Ancient Jiangs were alarmed and thought that beasts were attacking the city. They became tense and lifted up their golden crossbows. Some were as long as seven meters; the arrows looked like a flag pole. Even a 600-year spirit beast would be instantly penetrated.
Chen Daoran roared: “Such impudence! This is His Excellency, the Divine King. Put away your crossbows!”
Daoran had an impressive cultivation - an early Giant. He was a good student under the Grand Tutor, Dongfang Hanlin, so he was considered part of the Yin Gou Clan.
His roar contained a heavenly dao so he nearly ruptured some eardrums. A green beam shot to the sky, toppling many Jiang warriors to the ground.
“Haha, Governor, this city isn’t under your command, who cares about this Divine King? Never heard of him. I only know that many powerful beasts are coming. If they were to get inside, they would cause incalculable damages. In fact, if they hurt Her Highness, I’m afraid you won’t get to keep your head.” A hairy, four-meter-tall Jiang stood on the wall and held an ax weighing over 100,000 pounds, looking quite arrogant.
Did people want to get through the gate? They would need to craw under his crotch to get inside.
Chen Daoran was furious: “Chang Dakai, don’t think you can disrespect the Divine King just because you are the sixth tribe lord. Do you not give a damn about the dynasty?”
“Pah! I only know Heavenly Witchcraft God and Her Highness, I don’t give a dog shit about your dynasty.” Chang Dakai smirked while looking at the incoming group. He revealed his big teeth like a beast opening its jaw.
In the distant, Feiyun saw the black city. It had a sad and old aura, almost like a city from tens of thousand years ago suddenly dropping into the present.
Some beast bones piling up outside the city were massive. A few of them were ninety-meter tall. The mounts in his group became afraid. They would have backed off if it wasn’t for Feiyun’s control.
There was a frightening power in the city deterring the beasts from getting close.
This wasn’t Mo Chongji’s first time visiting the city. He still became emotional: “I heard this city is actually the grave of Heavenly Witchcraft God. It has a powerful force protecting the city. Even the monsters in Endless Land don’t dare to come here. This is a sanctified area.”
Feiyun activated his phoenix gaze and saw a dominating qi image on top of the walls. It looked like a hybrid between a man and beast towering at 37,000 feet. It held a hammer with a black glow. However, it didn’t have a head, only red clouds looming above the upper torso. The body was tied up by numerous iron chains.
This looked like a saint from the legends of this tribe. Just one smash could destroy a corner of this continent or an entire dynasty. This qi image above the city was frightening indeed.
Feiyun recalled his gaze and took a deep breath: “This city might actually have an amazing origin. Perhaps a heaven-defying master eventually turned into it.”
Mo Chongji didn’t see the qi image so he wasn’t as shocked as Feiyun. He looked at Feiyun and asked: “Your Excellency, you are versed in qi observation and astronomy?”
“Just a little bit.” Feiyun replied.
This humble answer still moved Chongji. He said: “You are too humble, Your Excellency. Reading qi images requires a great understanding of astronomy and geography, grasping the momentum of the land and the movements of the stars. Even a ninth-ranked wisdom master might not be able to do it. Less than ten in all the dynasty can read images. All of them are so knowledgeable or are Enlightened Beings close to the heavenly dao.”
“The truth is that I have been researching astronomy and geography for more than three hundred years and I’m still not close to your level, Your Excellency. I can only see faint outlines of qi images from certain geniuses. This particular qi image of the land? I can’t see a single thing. There are plenty of us but only a few of you, Your Excellency.” Chongji was full of admiration.
Feiyun didn’t think that this was special. His heavenly gaze and research of the heavenly dao from his previous life allowed him to read qi images easily. He didn’t consider the feat to be exceptional, unlike others.
“Your Excellency, since you are a master at qi observation, may I speak my mind?” Chongji asked.
Feiyun tapped his shoulder and laughed: “Old Mo, no need to be so reserved, go ahead.”
Chongji has been around Feiyun long enough to know that he was an amicable person. He smiled and said: “Some say that Heavenly Witchcraft Goddess has inherited Grand Wisdom Master Jing Feng’s witchcraft arts. She is also an astronomy master. If you can take advantage of this and befriend her under the guise of discussion and learning, it will be very beneficial for our trip. Winning her favor is the same as winning the heart of the Jiangs. We can do everything far easier from then on.”
“Haha, very well, I’ll let you prepare this.” Feiyun rushed towards the city while a certain image popped up in his head.
It was a little girl from a teashop - afraid and shy, trying to hide her body with both hands while crying: “Young Master Feng, please spare me, I’m still so young… please spare me…”
This pitiful girl has become the spiritual leader of all the Jiangs - the famous Heavenly Witchcraft Goddess. People said girls change completely at the age of eighteen. Feiyun wondered what this little girl looks like right now.