Chapter 522: Camps on the Huangyu Island, Primitive World of Xuan Wu
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The Primitive World of Xuan Wu was suspended between chaotic heaven and earth. It was far from Kunlun’s Field, so even the Saints had difficulty flying across. Had they not passed through the spatial channel, they could not have reached it.
“Bang!”
The array of ships quickly shifted and had violent friction with the atmosphere of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu, resulting in a mass of crimson fire clouds.
If people on the ground looked up they would have seen a mass of fire clouds in the originally pale blue sky. The fire clouds covered half of the sky, which made spectators feel horrible – as if it was the end of the world.
From the mass of fire clouds, a pitch black ship flew out and rushed to the ground.
A moment later, the ship passed through the atmosphere of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu and appeared in the sky above the clear waters. Then the ship descended slowly and landed on a yellowish-brown island.
“Boom!”
A layer of thick, slimy mud was pushed up and the whole island shook a little.
Huangyu Island extended about 160,000 meters from north to south, and 85,000 meters from east to west. It was a base of the Ministry of War in the Primitive World of Xuan Wu.
A seven-layer defensive array was arranged around the island.
Underground palaces and camps were built inside the island, which could hold 30,000 soldiers of the Primitive World.
Everyone stepped off the ship onto Huangyu Island. Immediately, a soldier of the Primitive World wearing the armor of the Ministry of War came over and led them to the underground camp.
The soldier informed them, “Being located at the edge of the Xixuan Sea, Huangyu Island is one of the top ten military bases in the Primitive World of Xuan Wu. It is ruled by King Jinhuang. Within a sea area of thousands of miles around the island, all aboriginal savage beasts have been removed. Please rest assured that Huangyu Island is a very safe place.”
Then he continued, “However, the aboriginals of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu are very clever. They often disguise as soldiers of the Primitive World to sneak into the base, gather intelligence, and wreak havoc. Therefore, in case of emergency, you must leave an image and a drop of blood on the Mirror of Truth.”
The Mirror of Truth was a Hundred Inscription Weapon developed by the Federation of Inscription. It could reveal a person’s true body.
Due to its special power, the First Central Empire purchased the Mirror of Truth in mass quantities from the Federation of Inscription. It was widely used in the Battlefield of the Primitive World to recognize those aboriginals who wanted to sneak into the base or Kunlun’s Field.
Suspended in mid-air, the Mirror of Truth was round, with a diameter of three meters. It was made of unknown materials.
A layer of pale white light emitted from the mirror surface. It was bright and clear, like the moon hanging in the night sky.
Zhang Ruochen was the first to move toward the Mirror of Truth. His shadow was reflected on the mirror.
He cut a finger and squeezed out a drop of blood.
The mirror then absorbed the drop of blood and kept a record of Zhang Ruochen’s biological information.
After doing this, Zhang Ruochen glanced at Xu Hai and the Green-robed Emissary behind him. Then, he quickly moved his body and rushed out of the underground camp.
“Hurry, hurry, keep up with him. We can’t let Zhang Ruochen get away.”
Xu Hai immediately rushed forward to chase after Zhang Ruochen. However, after just three steps, he was blocked by the soldier who was guarding the Mirror of Truth.
The soldier held a long spear with a sharp point. He pointed it at Xu Hai’s heart and said coldly, “Since you’ve come to Huangyu Island, you must leave your image and blood in the Mirror of Truth. Otherwise, you’ll be treated as aboriginals of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu and killed on the spot.”
Xu Hai clenched his fists, fire burning in his eyes.
He looked in the direction that Zhang Ruochen had gone. Finally, he subdued his mounting anger because he did not dare challenge the Ministry of War.
He quickly moved beneath the Mirror of Truth. After he left his image and blood, he hurried toward the stone ladder and resumed his chase.
By the time Xu Hai reached the ground, Zhang Ruochen had already rushed out of the seven-layer defensive array and disappeared into the sea, sitting in a small ship that was more than 30 meters long.
The other three cultivators of the Fish-dragon Realm from Saint Xu Gentry reached the ground and came behind Xu Hai.
“Child, what can we do now?” asked a cultivator of the Fish-dragon Realm.
Xu Hai solemnly said, “Don’t let him escape. Go and chase after him. We must catch up with him.”
“But… we won’t wait for the people of the Black Market?”
Xu Hai got angry and said, “By the time they get here Zhang Ruochen would have already gone far. It will be difficult to find him then. It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack considering the vastness of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu.”
Xu Hai and the three cultivators, together with six soldiers of the Primitive World, formed a squad. They boarded a small ship and chased after Zhang Ruochen’s ship.
…
…
In the Battlefield of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu, only people in groups could kill and hunt aboriginal creatures at sea.
Ten soldiers of the Primitive World formed a squad. A hundred soldiers formed a squadron. A thousand soldiers formed a battalion. Ten thousand soldiers formed a legion.
The sea around Huangyu Island had already been swept over by the Primitive World battalion. Almost all of the strong aboriginal savage beasts were killed. Only a few inferior class beasts still lived here.
The inferior class beasts had low intelligence and limited attack force, therefore they were not the targets of the soldiers of the Primitive World.
The imperial court’s intention was to rule the Primitive World of Xuan Wu, not exterminate all creatures there.
They usually went to sea in squads of ten to accumulate military merits. They would only go to sea in a squadron or battalion if strong aboriginal creatures were found.
Zhang Ruochen had joined a squad of ten so he could go out to sea immediately.
All members of the squad were sergeants of the Ministry of War. With the most profound cultivation, the squad leader had only reached the Medium State in the Heaven Realm. Almost all the others were only at the Initial Stage or the Mid Stage in the Heaven Realm.
The squad leader was Nie Nanfei. He looked more than 30 years old, with somewhat a sense of the vicissitudes of life. He was obviously battle-hardened; his hands and face were full of scars.
After talking to him for a while, Zhang Ruochen learned that he was already 68 years old, and he had fought for 21 years in the Primitive World of Xuan Wu. He had enough military merits to exchange for a title of Low-grade Commandery Prince in the First Central Empire.
“How old are you? You should be less than 30! Is this your first time to the Primitive World of Xuan Wu?” asked Nie Nanfei.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said with a smile, “Yes.”
Nie Nanfei signed and said, “You can reach the Heaven Realm at such a young age, you must be a talent who wants to enter into the Heaven Board. However, I must tell you the truth. The Primitive World of Xuan Wu is a top-class medium-level Primitive World, almost close to superior-class Primitive World, so it’s very dangerous. Not to mention warriors of the Heaven Realm, even warriors of the Fish-dragon Realm could die here if they are careless. Therefore, if you want to accumulate military merits and enter into the Heaven Board, you’d be better off going to the Inferior Primitive World, where the risk is lower.”
Zhang Ruochen knew that Nie Nanfei meant well, but since he was already here, he would not leave easily.
Zhang Ruochen said humbly, “Brother Nie, you’ve been here for over twenty years. You must be familiar with everything here, right? Can you tell me something?”
Nie Nanfei knew that he was unable to persuade Zhang Ruochen. Out of those he’d seen, young and aggressive talents like Zhang Ruochen, only a few could survive.
However, as an old soldier, he had already done his duty to try to persuade Zhang Ruochen, and he would not continue to do so.
Nie Nanfei explained to Zhang Ruochen, saying, “The Half-Saint in the army is not clear about how vast the Primitive World of Xuan Wu is. According to the current map unveiled by the Ministry of War, two continents have been discovered in the Primitive World of Xuan Wu, respectively called as ‘Xuan continent’ and ‘Continent of Wu’.”
“The two continents only occupy a small part of the map. In fact, more than 90% of the Primitive World of Xuan Wu is covered by the sea.”
“Almost all of the aboriginal humans live on the two continents and some large islands. In the sea, most creatures are aboriginal savage beasts of high intelligence. Some are much smarter than human beings.”
“Huangyu Island is located at the edge of the Xixuan Sea among the eight seas. Within thousands of miles around it, nearly all savage beasts above the fourth level have been exterminated. Therefore, if we want to obtain military merits, we must move further out to sea.”
“The soldiers of Primitive World who haven’t reached the Fish-dragon Realm yet should not go further out to sea. They’d better act within 1,500 kilometers of Huangyu Island, where the risk is lower. Once beyond 1,500 kilometers, it’ll be easy to meet strong fifth-level savage beasts. Meeting even one of them will be a catastrophe for a squad like us.”
Zhang Ruochen listened carefully and kept Nie Nanfei’s words in mind.
While they were speaking, the ship had already sailed a thousand miles from Huangyu Island and entered the dangerous area. It slowed down markedly.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen glanced behind him and saw a black dot on the sea approaching quickly.
It was a small ship.
Zhang Ruochen looked over at it with his Skyeye. He clearly saw Xu Hai standing on the bow. Beside him, there were three other cultivators of the Fish-dragon Realm from Saint Xu Gentry.
“How did they catch up to me so quickly?”
With a smile, Zhang Ruochen stood up and leaped. He flew from the defensive array and fell about 33 meters to the water surface.
A current of Genuine Qi surged from his feet and supported his body.
Nie Nanfei said with some amazement, “Brother Zhang, what are you doing?”
Zhang Ruochen stepped on the water as easily as if he was walking on firm earth. He said to Nie Nanfei, who was on the ship, “Brother Nie, go ahead! I have some personal affairs to solve. I hope to see you again soon.”
Glancing at the ship behind him, Nie Nanfei became very thoughtful. He nodded and said, “Ok! Please take good care of yourself.”
With this, Nie Nanfei and the rest accelerated and sailed away.
A moment later, Xu Hai and the three cultivators of the Fish-dragon Realm from Saint Xu Gentry sailed through wind and waves and berthed 1,500 meters away.