Chapter Fifty-Eight: Old Man, Your Divine Weapon Is the Most Useless

Luozu was unwilling to give up and delved deeper into the earth vein, stopping only when he reached a depth of a thousand feet. It was infuriating that the wastrel’s supernatural power was so formidable; he had forcibly seized seventy percent of the earth vein’s metallic essence, leaving the vein itself loose and unstable. A heavy rain might well turn the ground into a mire of mud.

There was nothing Luo Zu could do to change this. He could only announce to the people that the valley was no longer qualified as a candidate for the third settlement.

This left only two possible sites, and so the Salt Pond site was unanimously approved.

Thus, the third settlement would be named Salt Spring Village.

It was entrusted with two major tasks: agriculture and salt production.

Upon inspection, the salt here far surpassed the stalactite salt found in the caves—less toxic, and much more suitable for supplementing the community’s dietary needs.

With the location settled, a great wave of construction began in earnest. Foundations were laid, and one by one, houses rose upon the lush, fertile land.

Time passed, and three years went by.

However, these three years transpired within the World-in-the-Jar.

The situation there changed dramatically in that span. Though the Barbarian Lord had yet to advance eastward, he had amassed sufficient strength, particularly through an alliance with the wild demons. With their help, over a hundred giant beasts had been tamed.

They waited only for the right moment to march east, invade the human realm, seize its civilization, and perhaps even enslave humanity in turn.

As for the First Kingdom, their monarch had already changed hands five times—each new ruler barely lasted a few months before being overthrown or killed.

Now, the First Kingdom was carved up by five major powers. The foremost was the Northern Commandery of the General’s Mansion, once the premier army of the First Kingdom, stationed in the north to campaign against demons and barbarians and defend the frontier. It boasted sixty thousand troops, numerous cultivators, and three who had achieved the Yang Spirit. Thus, it was preeminent among the five warlords.

The second power was led by the current Grand King of the First Kingdom, scion of the previous king and supported by the Real Person of Virtuous Speech, the late king’s chief minister, who himself had attained the Yang Spirit and maintained order in the central capital.

Another power practiced the unorthodox Viscera God Refining method, led by the Lord of Five Viscera, who had cultivated five inner gods. He controlled seventeen cities over a thousand li in the southwest, with three thousand disciples causing a stir throughout the region.

A fourth faction in the southeast held five hundred li of territory; with its dense waterways, practitioners improved upon early Yang Spirit techniques, giving rise to true gods capable of soul projection, rivaling orthodox methods.

The final power resided in the west—those who had escaped the path of demons, calling themselves “Abstainers.” They sought to suppress their demonic nature through three tribulations: the first by absorbing the life essence, spirit, and energy of living beings; the second by absorbing essence and energy without causing death; the third by absorbing spirit without driving victims mad. Through this, they achieved great liberation, able to command the minds of all and manifest true forms of gods and demons.

This fifth faction was the smallest, holding only three cities and often oppressed by the other four. Yet their leader, known as the Real Person of Abstaining Demons, had perfected the method and condensed a true god-demon body, making his strength comparable to those who had refined their spirit and returned to the void.

On the surface, a fivefold contest for supremacy raged, but beneath it, undercurrents seethed. The barbarians and their human-barbarian offspring quietly gathered strength, preparing to launch a grand rebellion against the First Kingdom.

With the Barbarian Lord lurking outside and demons encircling, Luo Zu had not expected that even a single night’s inattention would allow such chaos to erupt.

Yet he was content to watch the drama unfold, to see what wisdom or calamity might arise among these small tribes of humanity in such a crucible.

At this time, the Barbarian Lord began reaching out to the barbarians and mixed-bloods within the First Kingdom, aiming for an inside-outside pincer strike—a Western Barbarian invasion.

But before he could act, the First Kingdom was thrown into fresh turmoil.

The Grand King was dead again.

This one had ruled for just a month before being assassinated, and not even the Real Person of Virtuous Speech could save him—only watch him die.

No one claimed responsibility for the king’s death; the other four factions denied any involvement. Then came news that the Real Person of Virtuous Speech had been attacked in the street—his assassin died on the spot, while he was gravely wounded.

The Northern Commandery promptly marched south, seized the capital, and enthroned an unknown youth as Grand King.

As for the Real Person of Virtuous Speech, he was never heard from again.

Thus, the First Kingdom was now divided among four competing powers.

Upon learning this, the Barbarian Lord knew he could wait no longer. With the Northern Commandery swelling in population and resources, it now outmatched all rivals and seemed poised to unify the realm.

Any further delay, and the barbarians would face a united First Kingdom.

He gave the order to march east.

“Why do we fight? That is the land where our ancestors once lived! Our forebears’ blood was spilled upon that earth! So we must reclaim it!”

Before setting out, the Barbarian Lord delivered this short declaration to all the warriors about to march.

The barbarian warriors were inflamed with passion, heads held high as they advanced.

Yet the first obstacle they encountered was the three cities held by the Abstainers.

Their movements were too overt; the Abstainers learned of them early, but because they were at odds with the other factions of the First Kingdom, their pleas for help could only reach them after surmounting many difficulties.

But the barbarian forces were formidable—under the Barbarian Lord were a Grand Marshal, two Deputy Marshals, five Generals, and sixteen Commanders; nine among them had cultivated the Aspect Method created by the Barbarian Lord. He himself had advanced even further, reaching the Dharma Body stage.

The Aspect serves as the mind; the practitioner’s own vital energy becomes magic, forming the body, thus manifesting the Dharma Body—comparable to the Yang Spirit.

In the end, this method, though different in name, followed the path of Qi refinement taught by Luo Zu.

Moreover, the Barbarian Lord had refined a Divine Hammer, forged from the purest essence at the heart of a mineral vein in the desert—a substance called True Gold, harder and tougher than the finest tempered steel. With this as its core, he fashioned the Divine Hammer, wielding it with his Dharma Body, aspiring to create a weapon worthy of the ten great divine arms of old, or even to surpass them.

The Real Person of Abstaining Demons, however, possessed one such ancient divine weapon—the Blade of Slaughter and Life!

“Legend has it that when the Blade of Slaughter and Life was born, the night was as red as blood, ghosts wailed, and the people of the entire city fell into nightmares, waking in terror with tears of blood,” said the Real Person of Abstaining Demons, drawing an unremarkable long blade from a golden scabbard inlaid with five-colored gems.

“This calamity wrought by the barbarians is our great sin.”

“Master, this is not your fault,” his chief disciple, Maya, knelt before him.

“No matter. Today, I will atone for this sin.”

With that, the Real Person of Abstaining Demons, his thin figure shrouded in black, drifted out of the darkened hall.