Chapter 81: The Unthinking, Unfeeling Demon Soldier

Staring at the skeleton, Qin Haoxuan was completely transfixed. If it could still possess such an overwhelming aura as a pile of bones, how magnificent must it have been in life?

An image bloomed in his mind: a colossal golden ape, clad in armor of myriad beast hides, wielding a sky-piercing iron staff. Its golden fur shone with a dazzling light. With a swing of its staff, mountains would crumble and the earth would crack.

With a single breath, the very winds and clouds would change color. The image of this giant, sweeping across the battlefield, unstoppable, as if it could punch a hole in the heavens themselves, was seared into his thoughts. He wondered, in that brutal ancient war, how many of the corpses lying beneath the earth had been slain by this creature?

No, he corrected himself, none of them were killed by it. Anything that died under its staff would have been smashed into a pulp.

He stood on the small hill for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, lost in awe. Finally, he snapped out of it. It was time to find treasure. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time, or dawn would break.

He descended the hill, his first destination being the giant ape’s skeleton. He was certain he would find something valuable there. But as he drew closer, his entire body felt as though it were being pricked by a thousand needles. Though the ape was long dead, its residual aura was still potent enough to pierce the sky. The massive, rusted iron staff beside it radiated a palpable killing intent, like the reaper’s scythe.

Under the dual pressure of the valley and the skeleton, Qin Haoxuan, who already struggled to take each step, found it nearly impossible to move. But for the sake of growing stronger, he gritted his teeth, suppressed the terror in his heart, and forced himself forward.

The skeleton was only a dozen paces from the hill, but as the small snake passed by it, a jolt shot through Qin Haoxuan’s entire being. He felt a heaven-shaking power surge into the depths of his soul, a blow so immense it nearly scattered his spirit.

It was a power far beyond anything he had ever experienced. If he hadn’t devoured the Undying Witch Fiend’s demonic intent and diligently cultivated his Spiritual Sense every day since, that single shockwave would have annihilated him completely.

Even so, he felt as if he had just taken a stroll through the gates of hell. And the skeleton hadn’t even intentionally targeted him. Its passive aura was stronger than the fiend’s most powerful attack.

He looked up in reverence at the hill-sized skeleton. How powerful must its presence have been when it was alive? he thought in awe.

As he moved forward again, the valley’s pressure felt like it was trying to squeeze his organs out of his body. He clenched his jaw. He knew this was the most likely place to find treasure. He could not retreat.

A cultivator who dares to defy the heavens should not be scared off by mere pressure. Steeling himself, he began to search the skeleton as quickly as he could. He had to be fast, or he would run out of spiritual energy and might not be able to escape the valley at all.

The ten-zhang-long skeleton was clad in Myriad Beast Hide Armor. After thousands of years of corrosion, it was in tatters, but its former glory was still apparent. In Datian Town, Qin Haoxuan had been a renowned young hunter.

Countless lions and tigers had fallen to him. Yet when he saw this armor, he was dumbfounded. It was exquisitely crafted, each piece a complete, unblemished hide from a different beast. He was speechless. How many different kinds of animals had been slain to create this single piece of armor?

He searched for the entire night but only managed to cover about half of the massive skeleton. He found no artifacts or pills as he had hoped, only a tattered and ancient manual. The book was extremely well-packaged, wrapped in three layers of an unknown, durable beast hide. If not for this protection, it would have long since turned to dust, and he would never have had the chance to find it.

After retrieving the manual, he checked the time. If he delayed any longer, it would be dawn. The skeleton was simply too large to search in one night. He hurriedly retreated from the valley and rushed back to his room.

There, by the dim light of a candle, he tried to read the tattered book. But the text was archaic and obscure, filled with characters he had never seen before. After a while, he gave up with a sigh and placed it on his desk, deciding to study it more carefully the next day. Exhausted from the intense pressure of the valley, he fell onto his bed and was instantly asleep.

The next morning, the warm sunlight streamed through the window, waking him. He opened his eyes, preparing to sit up and practice the Celestial River Dao Art, when an astonishing sight met his eyes.

Little Gold, who had woken up at some point, was perched on the desk, its rear end in the air, completely engrossed in the manual he had brought back. As it read, its eyes shone with a sharp, intelligent light. In a short time, it finished the thin book. The moment it did, the already fragile manual crumbled into fine powder.

Then, Qin Haoxuan watched as the monkey, seemingly unaware that he was awake, faced the rising sun. It assumed a seated, dog-like posture, formed an elegant orchid-finger gesture with its paws, and began to absorb the essence of the sun and moon. A vortex of pure spiritual energy formed around it, so dense it looked like mist as it flowed into its body.

“The… the monkey… is cultivating?” Qin Haoxuan was utterly speechless. That Little Gold could command the energy of heaven and earth was already incredible.

But to see it meditating like a human, absorbing the essence of the world to strengthen itself… it was unbelievable. As he watched, an image of the giant ape skeleton flashed in his mind. He realized that the monkey’s posture, its very aura, was faintly similar to that of the great skeleton, only infinitely weaker.

Not wanting to waste the precious morning, he shook off his astonishment and began his own cultivation.

Half an hour later, he and Little Gold opened their eyes at the same time. The monkey looked at the dust on the table and chattered apologetically. Qin Haoxuan just smiled. “Little Gold,” he asked, “did you understand and memorize everything in that book?”

Seeing he wasn’t angry, the monkey nodded happily, chirping to indicate that it had.

Qin Haoxuan fell into thought. The manual had come from a giant ape’s skeleton. Little Gold was a monkey. The book was written in a strange script he couldn’t read, but the monkey could. Could it have been a secret art for their kind? Since he couldn’t read it anyway, he wasn’t upset.

He just spoke to the monkey in a soft voice. “You must never let anyone know that you can cultivate like this. If someone with bad intentions finds out, they will surely capture you and refine you into a Demon Soldier.”

“Squeak?” Little Gold chirped, its head tilted in curiosity. It didn’t know what a Demon Soldier was.

“A Demon Soldier…” Qin Haoxuan paused. He wasn’t entirely sure himself, having only heard Pu Hanzhong mention it in passing. He tried to explain. “I don’t know the specifics, but once you’re turned into one, you lose your sense of self. You have to do whatever others tell you to do.”

Little Gold seemed to understand. It suddenly pointed a paw at the Mighty Apes huddled in the corner.

Qin Haoxuan shook his head. “It’s much worse than them. They still have their own consciousness. A Demon Soldier might not even have that. And you’d have to work much harder.” The thought sent a shiver through Little Gold, and its eyes filled with fear.

Not long after, Pu Hanzhong knocked on the door. From today, he would begin to teach Qin Haoxuan how to make medicinal powders. Qin Haoxuan was very interested. Once he learned, he would no longer have to eat the raw spirit herbs he found in the valley.

Although making them into a powder would result in some loss of potency, if he ever found an herb more powerful than the One-Leaf Golden Lotus, swallowing it whole might just kill him.

For the next seven days, Qin Haoxuan spent his days learning the Six Arts from Pu Hanzhong and his nights searching the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

He found nothing of value, but under the dual pressure of the valley and the giant skeleton, he felt his Spiritual Sense make significant progress. When he passed by the great skeleton now, though its aura was still terrifying and made him hold his breath in fear, he no longer felt like he was walking on the edge of death.

Without spirit herbs to aid him, his cultivation speed had slowed noticeably. Xu Yu saw this and grew anxious. During those same seven days, news had come from the Profound Ice Grotto. Zhang Kuang’s confinement was not hindering him at all.

In fact, he was using the harsh environment to temper his body and mind, and his cultivation was progressing at a rate that could only be described as alarming.

(End of Chapter)