Chapter 33: The Jade Tome of the Earth’s Heart

The speed of advancement for the blood aura nurtured by the pure dark force greatly increased. Inside Qianye, seven ordinary blood auras had already successfully advanced, and the purple blood aura was on the verge of reaching the third stage. From this point on, all the essence blood he obtained from the Iron Rhinoceros Beast was refined and transformed.

The war on the ground continued, but since that earth-shattering battle, there had been no conflicts of equal intensity. After sporadic fighting for a while, things gradually quieted down.

Deep in the mountain’s belly, unaware of day or night, Qianye’s cultivation reached a critical moment, as the seventh origin node was about to be lit. The pure dawn origin power ignited the nodes more effectively than regular origin power.

At one moment, Qianye suddenly shuddered, and a burst of light radiated from within him. The barrier of the seventh origin node shattered with a thunderous sound, and the origin power surged out from the node. The other six nodes also vibrated in response, as if resonating with the newly born origin node.

After the node stabilized, Qianye controlled the surging tide of origin power within him, allowing it to slowly subside. He felt strength coursing through his entire body, making him feel like unleashing a fierce explosion.

From this moment on, he officially entered the seventh rank. According to the standards of the blood race, he had stepped into the realm of the upper-class blood race, qualifying him for the title of knight. In the human empire, the seventh rank was also the threshold for new nobility, allowing one to be promoted to lieutenant colonel in the military and to become the commander of a regiment.

The surroundings had been quiet for a long time, indicating that the battles on the ground had come to a halt. Qianye followed the winding passageway to the cave entrance, listened for a moment, and then broke the seal of mud and stone at the entrance.

Outside, it was daytime, and as the light season approached, the sunlight seemed even brighter. The wind in the mountains carried a scorching heat, yet it was still tinged with a strong smell of gunpowder and blood.

Qianye climbed to the peak and gazed into the distance. The remnants of a ferocious battle were spread before his eyes.

The plains had long been scorched by fire, and several towering mountains had been cut off at their waists. The great river had dried up, and the trees were reduced to charred earth. The war beasts, which had once wielded immense power, now remained only as enormous skeletons.

The battlefield had clearly been cleaned up, and the remains of soldiers from both sides were removed. However, the dark races’ war beasts and fodder like the spider servants were left unattended. At this moment, countless crows and vultures swarmed the battlefield, and under their sharp beaks, corpses quickly turned into skeletons.

Qianye did not know whether the empire won or lost the battle. It was difficult to determine the victor from the battlefield remains, but based on the aftermath, it seemed that both sides had fought to a draw and each took care of their own cleanup.

In Qianye’s line of sight, there were no dark races or humans. Such battlefields, because the dark races often abandoned large numbers of cannon fodder and war beast corpses, were prone to epidemics in the short term. For humans with insufficient strength, this place was a death zone. Although Qianye was not afraid, staying here for too long would make him uncomfortable.

He determined the direction and set off towards Weiyang City.

After the great battle, the vast area became almost empty. On the way, Qianye did not encounter any high-level warriors, nor did he see any beasts.

However, a large number of scavengers and vagrants flooded into this area. For them, the battlefield of the just-ended great battle was an untapped gold mine, full of endless opportunities. Even the small items left behind during the cleanup could allow these scavengers to live a life of luxury.

Qianye arrived smoothly in Weiyang City. The great battle seemed to have had no impact on this largest city of the empire on the Eternal Night Continent. The city remained prosperous and luxurious, teeming with people.

In the night sky, one could see various colored lights, resembling dazzling stars. These were airships arriving and departing across the vast expanse of space.

As one of the two major hubs connecting the Eternal Night Continent and the mainland, the airship base in Weiyang City was almost a small city. Every day, hundreds of airships took off and landed here. During the war, to transport troops, this number could increase several times over. Most of the main forces that came from the mainland to participate in the war passed through this hub.

Qianye, however, had no interest in appreciating the city’s splendor. Due to the battle, he had been trapped underground for more than ten days, and he did not know how things were going for Song Zining.

After entering the city, he found a small inn, and then went to the imperial merchant houses and other places to sell most of the crystal snake scales, earning several hundred gold coins. Finally, he went to the original force material merchant operated by the Ningyuan Group in the city.

There, he sold the remaining crystal scales and other materials, presented a token, and received a package left by Song Zining. Apart from this, he received no further information.

It was said that the senior managers of the local Ningyuan Group were not in the city, and the shopkeeper only handed over the package based on the token. Qianye chatted with him for a while and realized that the shopkeeper was probably just an outsider, thinking that Qianye was a customer who had ordered special equipment.

Back at his accommodation, Qianye opened the package to find a jade plaque the size of half a palm. It was a rock-core jade letter, its surface smooth and seemingly empty, but it had been engraved with information using origin power. Only the recipient, following a specific method, could reveal the text. If the method was not followed, the content could not be retrieved even if the jade plaque was destroyed.

The package also contained a letter, with only a few words, asking Qianye to deliver the rock-core jade letter to a war general of the Zhao clan in the Western Continent.

This atmosphere, calm on the surface but tense beneath, made Qianye very worried. But there was little he could do. He himself had his own troubles, and in this unfamiliar city, he could not rashly inquire about the Song clan’s situation.

Surprisingly, the destination was the Zhao clan in the Western Continent. The Forgotten Mountains mentioned in the Darul diary were also in that region, belonging to the same Nianqing Mountain Range as the Yanyun Pass guarded by the Zhao family.

Over the next two days, Qianye packed his gear. He disassembled the conspicuous Eagle Strike into parts and placed them in his backpack. The Twin Flowers and Radiant Fangs were also stored inside his tactical jacket. He bought some inconspicuous equipment from the weapons shop, including a second-hand butcher knife and two military tactical daggers.

This outfit made Qianye look like an ordinary lone hunter. The daggers and butcher knife sent a clear signal—that he was a madman who enjoyed close combat. Generally, rational people did not want to provoke those who liked close combat. Such people usually died quickly, but they also tended to be more adventurous and willing to risk their lives.

Qianye paid five gold coins and boarded a public airship bound for the mainland. He would transfer to the Western Continent via Qin Continent.

Five gold coins was a considerable sum, so most commoners on the Eternal Night Continent, including the expeditionary soldiers, could hardly afford to visit the mainland in their lifetimes.

It was an old airship, and Qianye crammed into the lower cabin with hundreds of people. They would remain here for the long two-day flight. There were no toilets or restaurants, and the smell in the cabin was naturally not pleasant.

But for Qianye, none of this was a problem. At least there was a seat in the lower cabin. When he first came to the Eternal Night Continent, he had traveled in the cargo hold of a smuggler ship, lying on top of ore. A few times, during severe turbulence, he almost got buried alive under a collapsed pile of ore.

Qianye did not want to attract attention, so although there were better cabins on the upper deck, he chose to squeeze in with other hunters and mercenaries of similar status.

Shortly after boarding, the airship ascended slowly with a roar and violent shaking, heading towards the edge of the continent.

The journey was long, and Qianye leaned against the cabin wall, closing his eyes to rest. Suddenly, a heavy kick landed on his leg.

Opening his eyes, Qianye saw a burly man, as fierce as a bear, glaring at him with a cold smile. “Move aside, this place belongs to me!”

Seeing Qianye look over, the burly man revealed his tattoo-covered arms and partially drew a dagger from his waist. Behind the burly man, a few companions stood with the same bloodthirsty gaze. Clearly, if a word disagreed, these men would turn into vicious wolves.

Such incidents were not uncommon, but Qianye had not expected it to happen to him. Hardly any warriors above the third rank would be in the lower cabin. These men relied on their size and muscles rather than releasing origin power, indicating their limited strength.

Qianye stood up and smiled at the burly man. “You kicked me.”

“So what? I want to kick you more!” The burly man, true to his word, aimed another hard kick at Qianye’s knee.

Qianye smiled again, his body not moving a bit, but he lifted his leg to block the kick.

A muffled sound echoed as the two legs collided, followed by a series of crisp bone-breaking sounds. The burly man let out a howl, bending over to clutch his deformed calf, screaming in agony.

Qianye rotated his ankle, feeling much more comfortable. Having just advanced to the seventh rank, his body, especially his legs, had begun a new round of growth and strengthening. The process was long and painful, and the itch in his bones sometimes made him want to kick the wall.

The burly man’s screams continued, and Qianye shrugged. “It’s too noisy.” He then delivered a kick to the back of the burly man’s head, knocking him unconscious.

The burly man’s companions, visibly shocked, had two aggressive but not very bright guys draw their guns on Qianye.

Qianye said calmly, “I’m in a bad mood. You are courting death.”

Before their eyes, there was a blur, followed by two deafening booms. In such a narrow and crowded space, the sound of the butcher knife was enough to deafen the ears.

Origin power light erupted from the two men, and they were thrown backward, their bones shattered beyond counting.

The lower cabin was extremely crowded, and several innocent passengers were standing beside the two unfortunate men. They were all pale with fear, frantically touching themselves, trying to find where they were injured, but to their surprise, they found no injuries at all.

Qianye used a high-power butcher knife, and the blast shell he fired was powerful. How could they be unscathed, standing so close to the two unfortunate men?

Chaos immediately erupted in the lower cabin, and people pushed to the sides, clearing a large space in the middle. Originally, there should have been seven people opposite Qianye, but now three of them lay on the floor.

Suddenly, the cabin door was violently smashed open, and a few ferocious-looking crew members and a bearded captain rushed in.

“Don’t you know that using origin power guns on an airship is forbidden?” The bearded captain’s voice was filled with murderous intent.