Free Web NovelChapter 542: Chapter 324: City Lord Marries Off His Daughter, Ten Thousand Corpses Pit
Not every place in the Beiding Continent is blessed with talent and resources; like the Wilderness, there are relatively "barren" areas.
This "barren" doesn’t refer to wealth, but to Martial Arts.
After eight days, Wei Fan and the other two stepped into the border of Ghost Mountain City. Unlike Celestial Star City, the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi here was not as plentiful, as if there was a lack of vitality in the air, casting an oppressive atmosphere similar to the Wilderness, making Martial Arts not flourish.
Martial Artists naturally don’t like such places.
However, for ordinary folks, there’s no difference between here and Celestial Star City; for them, being able to live and work in peace is already quite good.
The three entered Ghost Mountain City, and sure enough, Martial Arts here was not thriving.
While Martial Venerable Powerhouses are common on the streets of Celestial Star City, here it’s difficult to find even one. Divine Realm Martial Sect members are rare; True Qi Martial Artists are the mainstream, Celestial Martial Artists are few, and there are even people without any cultivation.
Logically, with the widespread Martial Arts in the Five Great Domains, there shouldn’t be people who know none of it.
Even if Martial Arts are not prominent in Ghost Mountain City, it shouldn’t affect them until the Martial King level. The cultivation environment here shouldn’t hinder True Qi Realm Martial Artists to the point of decades of training without reaching Entry Level.
"The Demon Hunter Organization cannot cover everything or protect every human race. In some remote, barren places, practicing martial arts is actually less safe than not practicing it!"
It seemed Zhi Hua saw Wei Fan’s confusion and explained, "Where the Demon Hunter Organization cannot reach, demons are more rampant and dangerous."
Isn’t the best approach to strengthen oneself?
Logically, in places without the protection of the Demon Hunter Organization, relying on the goodwill of the City Lord and nearby forces, the best way is to become strong oneself.
Feng Hua shook his head: "You make a good point, but you’re being too simplistic. Not everyone is a prodigy like you, able to show results through cultivation.
In poor and unsafe places, the experience of countless years by the people is that not cultivating is safer than cultivating, unless one can become a powerhouse.
If they can’t become powerhouses, cultivating only makes their Blood Qi richer, turning them into preferred prey for demon fiends.
Think about it, when demon fiends want to eat people, do they grab those with rich Blood Qi or ordinary people?"
Wei Fan nodded, realizing he was only considering the human race’s perspective but ignoring the demon fiends.
To ordinary people, if cultivation doesn’t yield results, only increasing physical stature, it’s truly risking becoming something demon fiends prefer to eat.
In such situations, practicing martial arts is less safe than not practicing them.
The three did not rush to investigate the places with disappearing populations, but planned to gather intel first. In the Five Great Domains, it’s unknown how many Demon Saints exist, with various taboos and strange occurrences.
The trio entered a large tavern in the city, where they ate and gathered information. Shortly after sitting, discussion about villagers disappearing began.
"This is the fourth village now; what demon fiend did it?"
Someone spoke, showing a look of worry.
Wei Fan and the others all wore solemn expressions, realizing that during their trip, people in two more villages vanished without a trace.
"Where are the knights of Ghost Mountain City? Why hasn’t anyone investigated?" someone asked, confused.
"How could there be none? The Iron Sword Scholar Li Canyun, Master Li of the Li Family Manor, pursued the issue on the day the first village had problems. Didn’t you know? The second disappearing village was the Li Family Manor."
"Some say this is the demon fiends’ revenge against Iron Sword Scholar Master Li Canyun, which frightened many. Cultivations inferior to Master Li’s only bring calamity to one’s family!"
"Why doesn’t the City Lord handle this? If he requests external aid, powerful figures will certainly come to solve it."
"The City Lord is busy marrying off his daughter; how would he have the time to care about this? These years, the City Lord hardly cares about the lives of those outside the city; Ghost Mountain City’s population is decreasing."
...
After listening for a long time, Wei Fan and his companions didn’t hear any particularly useful information.
Wei Fan called out: "Waiter, bring a pot of Spirit Wine to these gentlemen’s table, on me."
He gestured to those conversing, who looked at Wei Fan in surprise: "Brother, what’s the meaning of this?"
Wei Fan cupped his hands and said: "Gentlemen, I’d like to ask, what cultivation does the Li Canyun, Master Li you mentioned have?"
The group, seeing this, understood Wei Fan was also part of Jianghu, and immediately cupped hands: "Brother must be from outside; honestly speaking, Master Li Canyun is at the Martial King First Layer, ranked in the top ten powerhouses of Ghost Mountain City."
Martial King First Layer, ranked in the top ten...
Wei Fan was taken aback. The situation here is only slightly better than the Wilderness.
Having seen Celestial Star City overflowing with Martial Venerables and Martial Kings abundant as dogs, he was momentarily unable to adapt to Ghost Mountain City’s situation.
Of course, it’s not that there are no talents here; presumably, any talent would have left, recruited by major cities or sects where Martial Arts flourished, leaving this place even more sparse of powerhouses.
In fact, Ghost Mountain City is likely the norm for most of Beiding Continent; those capable would head to places like Celestial Star City—just like him—having left the Wilderness, pursuing more prosperous Martial Dao in the Five Great Domains.
"I also want to know, for those vanished villages, did anyone discovering abnormalities when checking them?"
Wei Fan asked again.
Unfortunately, these people didn’t know much. Ever since the Li Family Manor incident, many dared not visit the wronged villages.
These people, while possessing cultivation, were only Celestial Martial Artists, daring not to involve themselves in matters where even Martial Kings died.
After asking numerous questions without useful answers, Wei Fan and the others finished their meal and headed to the last affected village.
Half an hour later, a silent village appeared in the sight of the three.
Row upon row of tidy houses lay at the foot of a mountain, yet there was not a soul in sight. The three entered the village and performed the Qi Collection and Demon-Hunting Technique, but they found nothing.
"Is it not the work of a Demon Fiend?" Wei Fan frowned.
Or perhaps, after the Demon Fiend took the people, it meticulously erased all traces of its aura.
The three inspected each house, finding all in perfect condition with no signs of damage.
Moreover, according to previous investigations, there were no powerful Demon Fiends near Ghost Mountain City.
The three split up and began to search thoroughly with their powerful Heart Spirit.
One or two hours later, they had scanned the entire area within a hundred miles of Ghost Mountain City with their Heart Spirit, but still found nothing amiss.
"No, there are places we haven’t scanned!" Wei Fan spoke up.
Feng Hua furrowed his brow: "Are you talking about the city?"
Wei Fan nodded: "Besides the city, there are those places covered by arrays. It’s unlikely that so many people were taken into the city unnoticed."
Though Ghost Mountain City had no notable powerhouses, there were still many forces with a Martial King stationed.
Earlier, when they scanned the surroundings with their Heart Spirit, they avoided those forces outside the city covered by the Martial King Array to prevent misunderstandings.
"Let’s check those places out!"
If they couldn’t find the problem, they’d have no choice but to resort to waiting for the mastermind to reveal themselves again.
"We don’t know them. If we go in hastily, won’t we alert the enemy?" Zhi Hua frowned.
Feng Hua also looked at Wei Fan. Even if they politely visited one by one, the others might not open their array to let them in.
"I have some understanding of arrays!" Wei Fan said.
Soon, Feng Hua and Zhi Hua understood what Wei Fan meant by having some understanding of arrays. The first Martial King Array was easily opened by him without alerting anyone.
And it was all done in the time it took for a cup of tea to cool; Wei Fan had fully deciphered the Mountain Protection Array of this force.
"You call this having some understanding?"
Zhi Hua and Feng Hua were dumbstruck. Although Martial King powerhouses must understand arrays, their skill was truly limited to merely enhancing the power of Divine Soldiers. ƒreewebɳovel.com
With such a Mountain Protection Array, they couldn’t even set it up, let alone break it.
Wei Fan’s skills in arrays were worthy of being called masterful.
Even with such rapid cultivation progress, it was hard to imagine where Wei Fan found the time to study arrays.
"That’s not the point!"
Wei Fan shook his head. The three of them concealed their auras and checked this force thoroughly but found no issues.
"Let’s go directly to the three strongest families. The other Martial King forces shouldn’t have the capability to wipe out Li Family Manor quietly."
Upon leaving, Wei Fan and the others planned to visit the three strongest forces in Ghost Mountain City first.
Li Canyun was a Martial King First Layer, and to kill him quietly would require a powerhouse of at least the Fourth or Fifth Level of Martial King.
The three quickly arrived at the Zhong Family, the nearest one!
The Zhong Family was established halfway up a mountain, but their Martial King Array encompassed several surrounding mountains.
According to earlier descriptions, the Zhong Family had powerhouses of the Sixth Layer of Martial King.
"There’s something wrong with this array!"
Even before getting close, Wei Fan sensed something unusual about the Zhong Family’s array.
Typically, such Mountain Protection Arrays prioritize defense, followed by offense, and lastly gathering Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.
However, the Zhong Family’s array prioritized concealing auras. From a distance, the Zhong Family was shrouded in a thick mist, everything concealed from view.
"Can you quietly break it?" Feng Hua asked.
Wei Fan nodded: "No big deal, though it might take more time. Be careful, there might be something here."
The three circled around the Zhong Family’s array, and Wei Fan sat down to carefully deduce for a while before opening a gap in a hidden spot.
"It stinks!"
The moment they entered the array, they were hit by an overpowering stench, making them want to vomit.
"That’s the stench of corpses!" Zhi Hua’s eyes gleamed coldly: "Could there be a mass grave here?"
This was not the putrid smell of a dead rat from a Demon Fiend, but the corpse stench of human decay. It’s hard to imagine how many people had died in the vast territory of the Zhong Family to result in such a pervasive stench.
Wei Fan opened the Qi Observation and Demon Identification Technique, and his vision turned black. From the mountain peak where the Zhong Family was situated, a plume of thick black smoke surged into the sky, exuding from there like rich ink.
