Martial Cultivator

Chapter 523: The Mystery in the Snow

Hearing this, Chen Chao did not feel moved immediately but rather found it absurd.

The common impression of foreign cultivators was deeply ingrained. They were seen as indifferent to the common people, focusing solely on their cultivation without caring about the lives of ordinary humans. But now, Liang Jinjin was telling him that the sects destroyed in the northern plains had been annihilated for the sake of humanity.

How could Chen Chao not be shocked? How could he not fall into a daze?

How could it not seem absurd?

Liang Jinjin noticed Chen Chao's expression and asked with some confusion, “What's wrong with you?”

Chen Chao rubbed his head, shook his head, and calmed himself before saying, “Continue.

Liang Jinjin gave Chen Chao a doubtful glance before continuing, “To resist the demons moving south, they fought tirelessly. Eventually, the demon army overwhelmed them. But at that time, the other cultivators seemed indifferent and did not come to their aid. I heard that these cultivators held their ground in the northern plains for a full two months, fighting until the last person.”

"Even the Great Qi didn't send any reinforcements. By then, they were already in a precarious state, preoccupied with their own survival. The South was rife with uprisings, and they were busy suppressing them.”

If Chen Chao was initially shocked, now he felt a genuine sorrow. These cultivators had fought desperately for humanity, yet no one came to help, leaving this lone army to be annihilated.

Sometimes he could not understand why the world was like this. But other times, it seemed all too clear why it was this way.

Liang Jinjin seemed to sense Chen Chao's emotional shift and also fell silent, just watching Chen Chao with his head bowed. Her Qi Observing Technique allowed her to feel emotional changes through the shifts in the qi, though she was not sure how to respond. In the end, she just reached out and patted Chen Chao on the shoulder.

Chen Chao soon looked up and asked, “Since the sects were destroyed, wouldn't the things in their sects be taken by the demons?”

Liang Jinjin had not expected Chen Chao's emotional shift to be so abrupt. For a moment, she seemed a bit disoriented, but after Chen Chao called her twice, she continued, “The demons' cultivation techniques differ from ours, it's useless for them to take human cultivation techniques. Besides, such things are usually hidden deep within the sect and protected by many restrictions. Even if they take the surface items, the more important ones remain. Furthermore, after summer in the desolate northern plains, heavy snow falls, and over time, many things would become almost impossible to find. After the fall of the Great Qi, your Great Liang built the Northern Frontier Great Wall, making it difficult for cultivators to cross. But the demons are indifferent. So, the things in the desolate northern plains have naturally been preserved.”

At this point, Chen Chao belatedly realized that Liang Jinjin had been saying "your Great Liang," indicating that she already knew Chen Chao was not from the so-called Jade Summit Mountain.

Noticing Chen Chao's confusion, Liang Jinjin explained, “When we first met and you mentioned Jade Peak Mountain, you were lying.”

Chen Chao was taken aback, having forgotten about that detail.

“But how could you determine that I'm from the Great Liang...” Chen Chao suddenly realized that aside from being inexperienced, this woman was quite smart.

Liang Jinjin looked a bit embarrassed and said, “Your waist badge is showing.”

Chen Chao looked down and saw that, indeed, the badge of the Deputy Commander of the Left Guard had been exposed for some time.

The atmosphere became a little awkward for some time.

Chen Chao put away the badge awkwardly without saying a word.

“Actually, if you think about it carefully, among the martial artists in the Great Liang, who else but you could kill so many demons? You were the champion in the martial examination, and I heard that many people tried to cause trouble for you but failed. So, you can only be him.”

Liang Jinjin said this and could not help but glance at Chen Chao a few more times.

Chen Chao sighed and said, “Since you’ve figured out my identity, I guess I'll just…”

Chen Chao pretended to draw his saber.

Liang Jinjin was startled by Chen Chao's action but quickly smiled and looked indifferent.

Chen Chao remembered her ability again.

He felt somewhat speechless.

“You qi refiners seem to all want to kill me. As one of them, why don't you share the same enmity?”

In the foreign lands, Chen Chao had a considerable reputation, but it was not a good reputation, especially among the qi refiners, who generally held no good opinion of him. However, Liang Jinjin had been curious about him from the start. She was skeptical of the rumors, and now that Chen Chao had even saved her, she naturally no longer believed those things.

“Because you’re a good person.”

Liang Jinjin said seriously, “Just because others say you're a bad person doesn't make you one. Whether someone is good or bad, you have to judge for yourself. If you only listen to others, how terrible would that be?”

Chen Chao loosened his grip on the saber hilt and smiled, “That makes sense.”

“But knowing my identity, do you still dare to travel with me? What if your sect finds out? Won't they punish you?”

Chen Chao tossed a dry branch into the fire and glanced at Liang Jinjin.

Liang Jinjin smiled and said, “Not everyone can tell if someone is lying. I can lie too. I'll just say I didn't know it was you.”

Chen Chao responded with a serious tone, “What if I go around saying that you actually know me and we're colluding?”

Liang Jinjin pouted and did not reply, clearly not concerned.

Chen Chao rubbed his pale cheek and smiled, “How about talking more about destiny? I'm quite interested.”

Liang Jinjin was a bit reluctant, “I’m tired.”

Chen Chao grinned, “You're lying.”

……

……

In the following days, Chen Chao and Liang Jinjin changed locations every two days. Originally, Chen Chao thought it was just a matter of changing locations, but Liang Jinjin who was a qi refiner insisted on leaving no traces behind. She explained that if they did not erase all traces thoroughly when they left, they could easily be discovered by someone with ill intentions. Since Chen Chao was just a martial artist and did not know any magic spells, he only knew how to destroy his traces using qi. However, Liang Jinjin saw this as leaving numerous flaws. She personally performed the task, each time taking nearly an hour to ensure everything was satisfactory before leaving.

The two of them walked and stopped, never venturing deep into the desolate northern plains. It was not that Chen Chao wanted to waste time, it was simply because of his current physical state. If he forced himself into the desolate northern plains and encountered someone as formidable as Yuan Ling again, he might very well meet his end in the desolate north.

As for Liang Jinjin, Chen Chao had never pinned any hopes on her.

A qi refiner who had not reached the Bitter Sea Realm would likely be seen as no more significant than an ant in the eyes of those demons.

Speaking of Yuan Ling, Chen Chao found it somewhat strange. Was any random young genius in the demon race so powerful? Or was that guy one of the top young talents among the demon race?

The Lord Warden Commander's booklet had only informed him of the existence of such a figure but provided no details on just how remarkable the person was.

Given the prolonged dealings between the Northern Frontier Army and the demons, it was already extremely challenging to respond effectively. Even when sending scouts, it was difficult to obtain the specific information they needed.

Chen Chao thought about this and felt depressed. Those cultivators had their sects supporting them, but it seemed he had to rely entirely on himself.

However, since he was already here, he decided to make the best of it. There was no use in overthinking things. In the end, it was very simple: kill what could be killed with his saber. If he could not kill them, he could only wait for others to kill him.

All preparations were ultimately no match for the size of the fist.

After coming to terms with this, Chen Chao felt much more at ease.

……

……

Desolate northern plains, several figures searched the site of a major battle. After a moment, a young demon cultivator with a green face unearthed a massive, ferocious ape head from the snow. Seeing the ape head with its eyes still open in death, the green-faced demon cultivator's voice trembled, “Found it!”

As he spoke, several other demon cultivators quickly gathered around. When they saw the head, they were also struck with shock.

They exchanged glances, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Not far away, another demon cultivator spoke up, “The body is over here!”

Soon, several demon cultivators gathered the remains and looked at the massive, mutilated corpse of the green ape, which was missing an arm and covered in countless wounds. All of them fell silent.

After a long while, someone said in disbelief, “Could this be Yuan Ling?”

Clearly, this was deceiving themselves as well as others.

No matter how you looked at it, the corpse in front of them was Yuan Ling.

But no one could believe that Yuan Ling was dead.

Furthermore, it looked like he had suffered a fierce battle before his death.

“How many humans were there to encircle until they killed Yuan Ling? He didn't even have a chance to escape.”

A demon cultivator said in a deep voice, “Cunning humans!”

The others said nothing. But soon, someone began digging up all the nearby demon and human corpses.

The green-faced demon cultivator walked past the row of corpses, carefully examining them for a long time, then arrived at a conclusion he had no choice but to accept.

“Aside from a few scattered bodies who died from flying swords, the rest must have all been killed by the same person.”

A demon cultivator asked with curiosity, “Could they have died at the hands of that sword cultivator?”

“It's possible, but judging by the residual sword qi, that sword cultivator's realm shouldn't be that high. At least, it's not high enough to kill Yuan Ling.”

While the green-faced demon cultivator was pondering, another sound came from the distance. Another batch of corpses was found.

This time, that sword cultivator was among them.

The bodies were soon brought over, and the green-faced demon cultivator, looking at the sword cultivator's corpse, fell into thought once more. From the residual sword qi in his body, it was clear that some of their members had indeed died at the hands of this sword cultivator.

However, although there was residual demonic qi on the sword cultivator's body, it was clear that it was not the cause of death.

“This sword cultivator was killed by the same person who killed Yuan Ling."

The green-faced demon cultivator said with a frown, “But if they were from the same group, why would they kill each other?”

He could not make sense of this.

But he did figure out one thing from the scene: the person who killed Yuan Ling not only killed this sword cultivator but also killed most of the demon cultivators. In other words, that person did many things with his power alone.

They wanted to find more evidence at the scene to prove that there must have been more than one person involved, but all the evidence suggested that it was just one person who killed Yuan Ling, along with most of the demon cultivators and that sword cultivator.

“That person should also be a sword cultivator, but why can't I sense any trace of sword qi on Yuan Ling's body?”

The green-faced demon cultivator was puzzled. “But judging from the wounds, it should have been caused by a flying sword, so it should have been a sword cultivator. Besides, only a sword cultivator could have such lethal power. Otherwise, how could Yuan Ling have been killed?”

“Even if it was a sword cultivator, how could they have killed Yuan Ling? Since when has there been such a formidable young sword cultivator among the humans? Could it have been a sword immortal lowered their cultivation realm to strike?”

Yuan Ling was undeniably one of the top three most powerful figures among the young generation of the demon race. The idea that he was killed by a similarly aged human cultivator was hard for them to accept. Over the years, the demon race had increasingly disregarded the humans, believing them to be inferior. But now, with Yuan Ling suddenly being slain, they could only think that a sword immortal must have suppressed their cultivation to make the kill.

Otherwise, there was no reason for a young human genius to surpass their demon counterparts.

The various clues at the scene seemed to point them easily to an answer, yet everything remained shrouded in mystery.

“It was a saber wound.”

As these words echoed through the snow and wind, a figure slowly appeared before the group.

Upon seeing the arrival, they quickly bowed and greeted, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Autumn scanned the bodies scattered on the ground and, after a moment of silence, she had an answer, “That sword cultivator must have struck the other cultivator once, clearly intending to abandon his own kind and flee after being surrounded by us. He attempted to escape by launching a sword strike at that person but didn't anticipate that we had forces lying in wait on the perimeter, so he quickly became severely wounded. As for why he was killed by his own kind, it was because that person saw what he had done and took action.”

With just a few words, Autumn had accurately reconstructed the events of that time.

“That person must have arrived later, first killing our forces on the perimeter, then taking down this sword cultivator, and finally joining the battle to eliminate the remaining foes. As for that fool Yuan Ling, it was arrogance that led him to his demise. He definitely didn't attack initially, thinking about having a one-on-one fight. But he ended up losing an arm and getting his head cut off, a defeat that was open and above-broad.”

“There's no sword qi on the weapon, so it wasn't a flying sword. The only weapon comparable to a flying sword is a saber.”

Autumn looked at everyone with a blank expression. “It was a martial artist.”

The green-faced demon cultivator wanted to speak but swallowed the words back down.

Autumn knew what he wanted to say and shook her head. “It wasn't a Nepenthe Realm expert suppressing their cultivation. It was just a martial artist at the Great Beyond Realm.”

The green-faced demon cultivator's expression changed drastically. “How is that possible? How could a martial artist possibly kill Yuan Ling?!”

In their minds, Yuan Ling had always been revered as a godlike figure. Though he always acted alone, his combat strength was formidable. In the eye of the demon race, which worshiped power, he was highly admired.

Moreover, he was indeed one of the top three most powerful existences among the younger generation of the demon race.

An existence like Yuan Ling should not have lost to any young human cultivator in a one-on-one battle.

Autumn said calmly, “The human race also has its geniuses. If you all continue to be like frogs in a well, our race won't be far off from going extinct.”

Despite Autumn’s words, they still found it hard to believe.

“I've fought with that human before, I recognize his aura.”

Autumn recalled the events within Great Liang's borders. Although that young martial artist had been suppressed by her at the time, in reality, she had not been confident she could kill him either.

Moreover, she had the advantage from the start, stopping him from drawing his saber the entire time. If he had drawn it from the beginning, she might not have been able to deal with him so easily. Moreover, judging from the aura, that young martial artist had made significant progress since then.

The fact that he could kill Yuan Ling spoke volumes.

“I will find him and kill him.”

With those words, Autumn disappeared into the wind and snow without looking back.