Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 884
Of course, the role that Li Yao was playing was one of the 'stupid boys'.
Thinking of something, Li Yao pinched his legs. The giant python below his bottom slithered like a dragon and squeezed into the middle of the two barbarian Cultivators.
"Huo!"
Li Yao glared at him, and his python was gazing at the two of them maliciously, too. He declared, "I heard you mentioning my name while laughing. Were you making fun of me?"
The two barbarian Cultivators were greatly shocked. They did not realize that the boy who popped up from the Head Cutting Cliff had been following them so closely all the time without being discovered and that his ears were keen enough to catch their mosquito-like voices.
"Brother Snake Swallower, make no mistake!"
The fat barbarian Cultivator who was tied up in snakes hurried to drop a hint at the other barbarian Cultivator who was as slender as skeleton before he said with a smile, "Come here. Let me introduce to you Brother Gu Siduo from Black Mist Village. I was talking about your strength with him just now, Brother Snake Swallower. It was truly marvelous of you to have thrown away three leaders of Hundred Flowers Village of the Sky Touching Mountain.
Li Yao's fake named 'Snake Swallower' suggested that he had grown up feeding on vipers.
It was a rather common way to give names in the uncivilized tribes in the southwest.
Raising his chin, Li Yao did not even bother to look at them. "Is that worth mentioning at all? Not just the three monkeys, when I was in the woods, I could casually toss giant boars weighing a thousand kilograms several kilometers away!"
"Of course. We absolutely have no doubt you can. You are certainly going to distinguish yourself under the Appeasing Ambassador's command. These old bones here are all counting on young heroes such as you!" Gu Siduo adulated him with a feigned smile.
Li Yao was so delighted that his face was beet red. Suddenly, he lowered his head 'in embarrassment' and asked, "Hey, let me ask you something. I'm told that, after we reach the village of the Fire Rude Clan, if I throw the opponents several kilometers away as I did just now or smash them into rocks, there will be great rewards. I can get all the rare treasures and even be a man with power in the central plateaus. Is it true?"
Looking at each other in bewilderment, the two barbarian Cultivators both held back their smiles and nodded. "Of course it is true. As said clearly in the 'Appeasing Order', as long as you try your best and preferably kill dozens of Cultivators on the enemy's side, you can get as much gold, Cultivation arts, and magical equipment as you want. You will be granted a high position, too, and you will get to choose what official you would like to work as!"
Li Yao scratched his face in joy. "The guy surnamed Ling said that we are on… right, Huo Wuji's side, and I should not kill anyone randomly on our side. I wonder, who are the people on the enemy's side? Are they capable of bearing my toss, punch, and strangle?"
Meng Duo, the fat barbarian Cultivator with vipers all over his body, smiled. "Brother Snake Swallower, you boast naturally-endowed formidable strength. You also have your extraordinary arts that have domesticated such a dangerous Highly-Crowed Lethal Python. You are obviously second to none in the Southland of Sorcerers. Isn't it so, Brother Gu Siduo?"
"Of course. Of course!" the zombie-like barbarian Cultivator said solemnly. "Brother Snake Swallower, you will certainly make the greatest contributions in the battle to come!"
"Fantastic!"
Li Yao smashed his fists in excitement before he glared at the two of them. "Don't steal my opponents after the battle begins. Otherwise, I may remember your names, but the giant python below me certainly won't!"
The two barbarian Cultivators were too old and cunning to bother fighting for credit with him. Therefore, they simply flattered Brother Snake Swallower and described him as a great hero who would not only dominate the Southland of Sorcerers but also make a name for himself in the central plateaus or the northern prairies.
Li Yao seemed to have been lost in their exaltations. While clapping his hands and bursting into laughter, he declared arrogantly, "Right. A few years ago, when my master was still alive, he often mentioned a tough guy named 'Master Spiritual Vulture'. My master's greatest regret in his life was that he didn't have a chance to fight Master Spiritual Vulture!
"My master is dead now. I've lived more than ten years in the wilderness, and I feel that I'm much stronger than him when he was alive! I wonder, is Master Spiritual Vulture coming or not? If he does, which side will he be on? It will be best if he is on our enemy's side. I'll punch him into pieces easily and pour a cup of wine for my master with his skull!"
Hearing that, Meng Duo and Gu Siduo both shuddered, and their faces immediately turned pale.
The temperature around the three of them suddenly lowered by dozens of degrees, as if an invisible block of ice hit them hard.
The two of them looked at Li Yao as if he were a dead body filled with venom and plague.
"Brother Snake Swallower, watch your mouth!" Meng Duo was smiling in a way uglier than crying. "You must not joke about M—M—Master Spiritual Vulture's name!"
"Exactly!" Gu Siduo had not entirely recovered from his shock, either. "It doesn't matter if you want to get yourself killed, but please don't bring the two of us down with you!"
The two of them quietly moved away from him, as if they were avoiding a leper.
But Li Yao certainly would not let go of them so easily. He intentionally raised his voice and shouted, "Huh? What are you doing? Is Master Spiritual Vulture so terrible? Can we not defeat him even if the three of us join hands?"
Chapter 1356: Unimaginably Brutal! |
Hardly had Li Yao finished his sentence when Meng Duo and Gu Siduo, two hideous-looking barbarian Cultivators, shivered as if they were suffering from a high fever. One on the left and the other on the right, they carried Li Yao aside before exclaiming, "Dear heavens! Brother Snake Swallower, you can always kill yourself if you want to, but why do you have to involve the two of us? You are all by yourself without any dependency, but we have our villages and compatriots behind us. One moment of carelessness, and the entire tribe might be wiped out. It's not a joke!"
Realizing that Li Yao was probably an idiot who did not know what fear was, the two barbarian Cultivators somewhat regretted talking to him.
But what was done could not be undone. They could only explain Master Spiritual Vulture's background to Li Yao as vividly as they could so that the reckless young calf would know what was best for him.
So to speak, Master Spiritual Vulture was a brutal man who had been active in the Southland of Sorcerers some seventy years ago.
It was said that he was the son of the leader of Red Feather Village, which was at the west of the Southland of Sorcerers. He was supposed to inherit the leadership after his father passed away.
But as it turned out, there were quite a few ambitious fellows in Red Feather Village, who learned some evil arts from a few sorcerers from outside towns. They claimed that the giant birthmark on his forehead was an embodiment of an evil god and an ill omen.
For the safety of the village, the 'Green Crow Evil God' at the center of his eyebrows had to be plucked out. But their sole purpose was merely to kill him.
Master Spiritual Vulture had a series of fierce battles with the enemy. He luckily escaped but went missing afterward.
In fact, he was recruited by Elder Five Despairs of the Flying Thunder Cave of the Broken Stomach Mountain as a disciple. He had a senior brother named 'Master Black Moon'.
Since the birthmark on his forehead looked like a soaring bird, and it was the source of the vicissitudes of his life, Elder Five Despairs named him 'Spiritual Vulture'.
In the decades that followed, Master Spiritual Vulture and Master Black Moon trained under Elder Five Despairs in the Flying Thunder Cave.
Later, for reasons that no one knew, Elder Five Despairs died abruptly.
Rumors in the Southland of Sorcerers had it that the two of them, having learned all the necessary knowledge, were so greedy for their master's magical equipment and techniques that they killed their master in an ambush while Elder Five Despairs was unprepared!
After the senior brother and the junior brother split their master's belongings, they went their separate ways. Naturally, Master Spiritual Vulture went back to the Red Feather Village for revenge.
What he had done up until then was still within the understanding of most people. It did not seem inappropriate although he minced his former enemies into pieces.
But as it turned out, Master Spiritual Vulture was a temperamental, bloodthirsty, and even psychopathic person.
After he returned to the Red Feather Village, not only did he torment the few members of the tribe who framed him in the past to death in the cruelest methods, he even blocked the gate of the village and butchered the hundreds of people living there, leaving no survivors to celebrate him as the new leader.
"In the past, when they said that I was possessed by the evil god and were about to dig out my brains, you were all reluctant, suspicious, and even taking their side. You thought that I ought to be sacrificed for the sake of the village!
"Hehe. In my opinion, it is you who are possessed by the evil god. For the safety of the village, let me open your head and see if there's an evil god inside!"
It was said that Master Spiritual Vulture crushed the members of his tribe's skulls one after another while declaring such.
Such an insane and inhuman action was appalling enough even for the uncivilized 'strange barbarians' who feasted on raw meat and blood.
But it was not the end of his revenge.
Although all his enemies had been killed, his enemies were all disciples of certain sorcerers of other villages and only coveted his right of succession because the sorcerers' instigation.
Master Spiritual Vulture made a list of seven sorcerers. He massacred them as well as their whole villages. Not even the animals in the villages were left alive.
Master Spiritual Vulture's brutality henceforth spread out to the entire Southland of Sorcerers.
His blatancy was putting everybody in the Southland of Sorcerers in panic. They became scared whenever they heard the name 'Spiritual Vulture'. Naturally, many barbarian Cultivators intended to remove the hazard.
This was the time when Master Spiritual Vulture showed his wisdom.
The guy was strong enough after inheriting Elder Five Despairs knowledge. He had also butchered everyone in his own village. He had absolutely no weakness or anyone that he cared about.
Therefore, he came and went unpredictably in the forests. It was difficult to keep track of him.
Besides, he understood the importance of 'cutting the roots of weeds to stop them from growing again' very well. His attacks were well-considered and thorough. The entire families of his enemies were slaughtered, and not a single victim survived.
The barbarian Cultivators mostly pursued him to maintain the order and peace of the Southland of Sorcerers. They had no direct grudge with him.
He also announced to the Southland of Sorcerers everything that had happened in the past. He claimed that what he did was purely for vengeance.
Whoever came after him must note that their family and tribes might end up the same way as the eight villages, including the Red Feather Village, did!
However, if he was not attacked first, he would not go on a killing spree without a reason.
After all, he was all by himself right now and had nothing to lose. It was more than simple for him to find out who was hunting him.
While the enforcers of justice were looking for him in the forests, they might not be able to look after their villages properly. So, it would be easy for him to 'look after' their villages!
After such an announcement was made, the barbarians, who were 'determined' to remove the public hazard in their 'indignation', instantly went their separate ways. Who was willing to mess around with such a brutal man when there were no gains?
All in all, Master Spiritual Vulture was such an insane, vicious maniac who had massacred his own village when he went crazy!
Massacring eight villages in a row and still swaggering in the Southland of Sorcerers, he had been a unique Cultivator in the Southland of Sorcerers a hundred years ago.
Because of the betrayal of his fellows in the past, Master Spiritual Vulture was quite solitary. Later, after he grew notorious, he would always act on his own.
He retrieved tremendous resources and Cultivation arts from the eight villages that he demolished. After training for another twenty years, he had almost grown into the top expert in the Southland of Sorcerers.
Then, even fewer people dared to piss him off here. Occasionally, when he visited a certain village, all the folks in the village would be so frightened that they offered everything that he desired as if he were a deity.
Even if he appeared in front of the barbarian Cultivators blatantly, most of them could only swallow their pride and call him 'master' respectfully because of his formidability.
Around fifty years ago, Master Black Moon, Master Spiritual Vulture's senior brother, sent a letter to him, stating that he had encountered a secret treasure and would like Master Spiritual Vulture to explore and capture it together with him.
Different from Master Spiritual Vulture, his senior brother Master Black Moon took the more orthodoxy career of the barbarian Cultivators.
The so-called 'orthodoxy career' referred to the practice that the Cultivators would look for a village after their training was complete and work as the guardians, priests, or sorcerers of the tribe. Then, they would help the tribe hunt animals, deal with demon beasts, and fight against the priests and sorcerers of the hostile tribes.
Their own living expenses and the resources that their training demanded would be covered by the tribe under their protection.
The higher their Cultivation was, the more techniques they would be able to provide, and the more flourishing the tribe would be. As a result, the position and resources that the barbarian Cultivator had would soar, too.
If he were so capable that he could meet everyone's needs, he would also be a 'Great Sorcerer' who commanded multiple tribes. He would even be able to establish his own sect and recruit disciples, raising the disciples into the priests and sorcerers of other tribes. It would be an even more splendid cause.
That was exactly Master Black Moon's approach.
Inheriting Elder Five Despairs' knowledge like his junior brother, he did an excellent job. When Master Spiritual Vulture became the most notorious man in the Southland of Sorcerers, his personal influence spread to dozens of tribes, too. He also made friends with a lot of Cultivators from the central plateaus. He was almost considered a positive representative of the Cultivators in the Southland of Sorcerers.
The rumors that he had betrayed and killed his master were just a minor conflict among the barbarians without valid proof in the eyes of the Cultivators from the central plateaus. It was not worth mentioning at all.
Nobody knew what the relationship between Master Black Moon and Master Spiritual Vulture was.
All in all, there was no telling what promises Master Black Moon made in the letter, but Master Spiritual Vulture went to meet him gladly.
What happened later was quite uncanny, with many different versions.
According to Master Black Moon, Master Spiritual Vulture was wounded and poisoned by demon beasts during the adventure before he fell into an abyss and went missing.
But some of the barbarian Cultivators claimed that Master Black Moon killed his junior brother when he was unprepared just like how they ambushed Elder Five Despairs in the past!
As for exactly why Master Black Moon did that, opinions varied. Maybe, it was because such an infamous junior brother like Master Spiritual Vulture was a great stain and burden on his growing reputation. Maybe it was because he had been coveting the other half of Elder Five Despairs' belongings. Maybe, it was Master Spiritual Vulture who attacked first, only to be killed later… But none of the reasons mattered.
What mattered was that Master Spiritual Vulture, the notorious man that was everyone's nightmare, finally disappeared. He had not been seen for decades.
Even so, his death had not been acknowledged. Because of his appalling brutality, nobody had the courage to gossip about Master Spiritual Vulture in daylight even today.
If, however unlikely, the guy was not dead yet, it certainly would not be a joke if such a volatile, petty maniac who had a habit of killing others' entire villages set his sights on anyone.
Meng Duo and Gu Siduo were both well-renowned sorcerers in their villages. They had a lot of family members, too. They did not have a place to run to. Therefore, they were unwilling to take the unnecessary risk.
So, he is truly a brutal and notorious man! Li Yao thought to himself. He finally figured out why Master Spiritual Vulture had been hiding inside his cave for decades.
Chapter 1357: Legends of the Divinity Transformation Stage! |
What Master Black Moon said might not be entirely false, but it could not be entirely true, either.
Master Black Moon and Master Spiritual Vulture, two brothers who killed their master together, might indeed have such a deep grudge that they wanted each other dead no matter what.
But it was also possible that Master Spiritual Vulture had earlier discovered the ancient cave where the armor of the Pangu Clan and the heritage of the anterior Cultivators had been left. He intended to seclude himself for some time, but he feared that his enemies and his senior brother might find him. Therefore, he pretended that he had been tricked and met his senior brother gladly before faking being poisoned and falling into the abyss.
Chances were that, after grasping all the knowledge of the anterior Cultivators and forging eighty-one ghastly daggers, he would find his senior brother Master Black Moon and slaughter his entire family before he did anything else!
