136: Chapter 129: Long Since Dead!

136: Chapter 129: Long Since Dead!

“My lord…

we’ve really made it ashore!”

After more than thirty people made it ashore, almost everyone was so weak-kneed that they lay on the ground, obviously still under great mental pressure from having swum through that huge group of zombies.

It wasn’t just them, even Chen Qing, who was sure in his heart that those zombies definitely wouldn’t attack him, also felt a wave of fear afterwards.

The scene was too shocking, indeed difficult for anyone to not feel unnerved.

Ghost Doll, however, didn’t seem to feel much, but was somewhat wary of those few black zombies.

Chen Qing turned around and looked at a black zombie emerging at the shore.

The other party was staring dead at Chen Qing through the black fog, not saying a word, only shakily raising its arm and pointing at the wrist.

Chen Qing looked down at his wrist, where there was a black line.

If he focused on it, he could sense the position of those black zombies, capable of activating communication within a hundred miles.

This was the deal he had with that fellow.

“Nezha, what do you think, those few black ones, compared with Weichi Peng, how big is the gap?” Chen Qing asked directly.

Upon hearing this, Ghost Doll slightly frowned but then said, “The gap isn’t big, and they have something very alarming inside their bodies.

I have a feeling that if they were to burst forth, Weichi Peng might not be a match for even one of them!”

Chen Qing nodded at this response.

Ghost Doll’s judgment was very precise, truly a top-level demon.

These few black zombies must be those that the fellow cultivated for thousands of years, dependents that likely each of the nine Ancient Worms possessed, constituting the strongest military force at hand.

Not only were these dependents powerful, but their bodies also harbored Forbidden Techniques implanted by their master.

Once unleashed, they could briefly break through the limits of Super First Rank.

As Ghost Doll had assessed, a top-tier Super First Rank warrior like Weichi Peng could potentially be killed!

And according to what the other party said, her dependents lost nearly half in the last scheme, forcing her to flee to the periphery because if she were to face them head-on now, she might not be a match for any of her siblings.

That is, the other few possess at least five such formidable dependents!

If they were to unite, even the whole noble Houses of the Great Jin Dynasty joining forces would seem precarious…

Chen Qing stood up, looking at the black-shaped corpse slowly leading a large group of zombies away from the coastline, feeling somewhat relieved.

He was also glad that when he had designed them, he made the nine Ancient Worms antagonistic toward each other; their personalities were crafted to never ally together.

Otherwise, with just this wave alone, the Human Race might have been doomed.

“My lord…” a tall man behind him watched the horde departing, frowning deeply: “Will they…

really keep their promise not to harm the Human Race?”

“Of course not!” Chen Qing sneered.

Although devouring other dependents could progress their own evolution, feeding on living humans was the best way to replenish their basic dependents.

To suggest that the woman would abstain because of a deal with him, he wouldn’t believe a single punctuation mark of it.

Could the words of a woman who sacrificed her own country be trusted?

After the Ancient Worms were split by the Nine Heavens Mirror, their personalities were incomplete, and it was the first host they possessed that filled in their character gaps.

If that woman wasn’t so ruthless herself, the Ancient Worm that possessed her wouldn’t have been able to force her to do such things.

Just like her deceased fourth sibling she mentioned, the original design was of a prairie general who sought the ultimate power.

Its dependents always followed the will of their master, never laying hands on the weak, especially children, maintaining the prairie folk’s nature—those shorter than a wheel were strictly off-limits to premature execution.

But among the dependents of the nine Ancient Worms, the one behind Weichi Feihong, Old Qi, specifically targeted children because they were more malleable and could evolve higher-level dependents capable of mastering Techniques.

From this, you can see that among the nine monsters, in terms of viciousness, Old Qi could easily rank in the top three, and not necessarily third.

Weichi Feihong’s taste in masters was quite average; could he really believe that monster would coexist peacefully with the Human Race?

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that he couldn’t contact the others, and considering that Old Qi was relatively weaker at the moment, Chen Qing’s preference for an ally would definitely not be her.

“Then, my lord…

what are we…” The soldier’s face showed some conflict, clearly struggling with the idea of cooperating with such a demon.

Chen Qing shook his head and said, “That creature in the sea, whether she cooperates with us or not, she won’t stop her killing.

What we must do is rescue our compatriots as much as possible, and working with her, to possibly exterminate the dependents of other factions, is also a way to protect the Human Race.

As for her…

we’ll settle the account in the end!”

“Let’s head to Yangzhou City!” Chen Qing declared invigorated: “Our aim this time is to turn Yangzhou into a sanctuary like Lyuzhou, a haven where we can shelter our compatriots!”

The soldiers, upon hearing this, were also energized and knelt on one knee: “We will follow your commands, my lord!”

—————————————–

“You’ve returned?”

In the deep sea, a giant shell slowly opened, and a beautiful woman tenderly looked toward Weichi Feihong.

Adoration flashed in Weichi Feihong’s eyes, but it was immediately replaced by a stern coldness as he bowed and said, “My sovereign, Chen Qing and the others have safely arrived at Yangzhou.

It seems they truly intend to take Yangzhou City!”

“That little guy’s got quite the ambition,” the woman said with a yawn.

“He wants to use this opportunity to carve out his own domain in Jiangnan!”

“He can’t possibly become…” Weichi Feihong shook his head.

“You never know…” The woman chuckled.

“His capabilities are quite interesting.

If he can pull it off, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

At the very least, it would allow more people in Jiangnan to survive.”

“Let’s hope so…” Weichi Feihong sighed.

“My lord, according to what Chen Qing has said, Old Nine of the Shen Family might be possessed.

Do you think it’s possible?”

“It’s possible…” The woman nodded.

“But if that’s the case, it should be quite weak.

It shouldn’t have exposed itself so quickly.

After all, Old Nine of the Shen Family was created by Old Ancestor Shen as a means to control us.

It doesn’t meet the needs of any of the original hosts.

Forcing possession on Old Nine, although it poses a great threat to us, is not beneficial for itself.

Over time, it could lead to rejection and can damage its own roots…”

Weichi Feihong lowered his head upon hearing this.

Even he was astonished by this secret history.

It turned out that Old Ancestor Shen learned the technique of transforming into a dragon from these creatures, and that Old Ancestor Shen…

had died decades ago!

—————————————

“You’re saying…

Old Ancestor…

had died long ago?”

In Nanyang City, in the cellar belonging to Old Liu of the Shen Family, Wang Ye looked at all the materials related to dragon transformation and finally confirmed all the information Chen Qing had given him!

“There’s no mistake.” In the face of Old Liu’s shock, Wang Ye pointed to the materials.

“Seven hundred years ago, Old Ancestor Shen initiated dragon transformation for the first time, and a great catastrophe occurred in the West Sea.

Nobody knows the reason, but it’s said that the population of three island nations vanished.

That year, including Old Ancestor Shen, the four great magicians of Jiangnan went to the West Sea, obviously having discovered something.”

“This dragon transformation technique was not your ancestral creation, but taught to him by someone else.

After the first successful extension of his lifespan, your ancestor began to collect techniques all over the world.

This, in itself, was nothing unusual, but the most recent collection of techniques, particularly, is too scattered.”

Wang Ye pointed to several of the most recent techniques.

“In the past, when your ancestor collected techniques, most of them were in the Central Plains, not far from Jiangnan, and they were all exchanged through matrimonial connections, which is a traditional method for many technique-wielding families.”

“But this latest time, didn’t you notice?

Your ancestor collected ever more obscure techniques, and from increasingly remote places.

The Divine Wind of the Celestial Wolf Family, the Thousand Eyes Technique of the Evil King Family, these are techniques from Ancient Huan Country beyond the Central Plains.

There are plenty of excellent technique inheritances in the Central Plains.

With the Shen Family’s reputation and resources, any family would be willing to exchange techniques through marriage alliances.”

“So why?

Why pick such obscure techniques and spend so much effort going to the Western Regions, the North, and even Ancient Huan to collect them?”

Old Liu’s eyebrows furrowed; indeed, the first two dragon transformations involved cooperation with nearby Jiangnan technique families.

Only this time, besides himself and Old Wu, the techniques of other brothers all came from far and wide, making acquisition much more difficult.

For example, the Divine Wind of the Celestial Wolf Family, for which the Shen Family paid a tremendous cost and had to resort to various threats, barely managing to marry Murong Yunji.

Although the Divine Wind was powerful, there were many families in the Central Plains that were no less formidable.

So why insist on the Divine Wind?

This was also a point of doubt for Old Liu back then.

“Perhaps it’s a requirement for dragon transformation…” Old Liu said thoughtfully.

“A requirement for dragon transformation?” Wang Ye scoffed.

“Who set that standard?

I’ve looked through the information on several generations of your family’s dragon transformation techniques, and I can’t see which one is necessarily related to dragon transformation.

It’s true that you must refine a demon descendant with dragon bloodline, and that does seem to relate to dragon transformation, but tell me, Old Liu, as an expert, can you see how these techniques are necessarily related to dragon transformation?”

Old Liu fell silent.

This…

he had also wondered before.

The first generation transformed using the Divine Fire Technique, becoming fire dragons.

But if fire techniques could work, wouldn’t earth, fire, water, and wind all be possible?

And the second generation succeeded with the Eldest Master of the Shen Family’s serpent cultivation technique.

If pressed, one could arguably extrapolate from snakes to dragons.

But Old Jiu’s Insect Technique, Old Qi’s Thousand Eyes Technique, Old Ba’s Origin Technique—how could any of these be connected to dragon transformation?

“This isn’t a requirement for dragon transformation…” Wang Ye said softly.

“It’s what that creature who taught your Old Ancestor Shen how to transform into a dragon required.

For the first two times…

to lower your ancestor’s guard, they didn’t make all their requirements known.

But this time, I suspect these techniques are what they truly need.”

“They?” Old Liu’s eyes narrowed.

“Minister Wang, are you hiding something else from me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell Old Liu…” Wang Ye said with a wry smile.

“It’s just that Chen Qing’s last conjecture was too bizarre, but now it seems very likely to be as he described.”

“What is it?” Old Liu asked grimly.

“Back then, it wasn’t just your eldest brother who died mysteriously, but also your so-called Old Ancestor Shen.

And now, the monster in the mist didn’t arrive in Great Jin recently, but decades ago, before the death of the Eldest Master of the Shen Family, it was already in Great Jin, in Nanyang.” Wang Ye stared intently at Old Liu.

“Among your several brothers!”