Chapter 411 - Lord of The Feng Gu City
Outside of the monster Feng Gu City, Zhong Yue was standing on top of a mountain. His psyche surged up a giant stone, and in just the blink of an eye, the giant rock was carved into a small wayside pavilion with a stone table and stone chairs.
Zhong Yue sat down and took out teapot and cups as he began boiling tea before waiting patiently.
Half a day's time passed before a sudden ray of light made a beautiful arc across the sky, landing beside the pavilion. Gu Hongzi then slowly walked into the pavilion and said, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, what is so urgent? Is there anything that can't be said through the totem pillars? If Shi Buyi finds out about this, that old lion will become suspicious of you."
Zhong Yue gestured Gu Hongzi to take a seat, and he lifted up the teapot and laughed, "It's been a long time since we last met. I'm missing senior martial brother a little. Furthermore, even if Shi Buyi finds out, he won't suspect Long Yue at all."
Gu Hongzi sat down, and Zhong Yue poured him a cup of fresh tea. The tea was clear and had a bitter yet sweet aroma.
The tea itself carried a faint surge of spiritual energy.
“Good tea.”
Gu Hongzi praised and said, "What is this tea?"
Zhong Yue smiled and answered, "This is the Gentian Tea, the gentian is bitter, but the tea leaves themselves are sweet. I brought this tea back from the North Barren, gifted by the clan master of the Bai Zhe Clan. Give it a try, senior martial brother."
Gu Hongzi took a sip, and he praised, "How much do you have left, give me some."
Zhong Yue took out another pack of Gentian Tea, and Gu Hongzi immediately snatched it, taking half of it. He then said, "Junior Martial Brother Zhong, what do you want to say?"
"You've been missing for so long, I don't know of your status, or whether or not your injuries have recovered."
Zhong Yue then said, "Now that I see that you seem alive and well and that your cultivation base has increased substantially, my heart can be at ease. Senior Martial Brother Gu, Swords Gate is now on the rise, and we will bring humanity to the top of this world. You will only be in Shi Buyi's shadow in the East Barren as long as he's alive. Why don't you follow me back to the Great Wilderness?"
Gu Hongzi shook his head and said bitterly, "My heart has wanted to soar in this world freely for as long as I can remember, and now, the only man that can restrain me has died. It is time for me to spread my wings. Senior Martial Brother Zhong, I've repaid all my debts to the old man. Now, it is time for me to live for myself. True, I am a half-human, but let's not forget that I am also a half-monster too. Nothing can excite me more than a strong opponent like Shi Buyi. However, if I leave for Great Wilderness, I will be branded a traitor for sure. I will never be able to return to the monster race after that."
Zhong Yue sighed. He knew that Gu Hongzi was an independent man and that convincing him to change his mind was nearly impossible.
“You and I are still senior martial siblings.”
Gu Hongzi laughed and said, "In Swords Gate, I only know you, the old man, and Old Shui. Furthermore, Jun Sixie is an iron lady whose reputation was no weaker than mine. Of course, I wouldn't go and be an elder under her commands. My ambition is to become the master of the whole East Barren!"
Zhong Yue then gave up on persuading Gu Hongzi. He raised his head and looked at Feng Gu City, saying, "Other than trying to convince you to return to the Great Wilderness, I have another matter I need to talk to you about. I've found a dimensional tunnel in the Bai Zhe Clan's Frozen Ancient Capital, one that links our Ancestral Star to the insect planet. Although the grand ancestor of the Bai Zhe Clan sealed the tunnel away a long time ago, it did bring up something in my mind."
Gu Hongzi listened intently while Zhong Yue continued, "When Shi Buyi was selecting his disciples, I found out that the daughter of the Feng Gu City Lord was from the insect race. I suspect that the Feng Gu City Lord is also an insect and that he is linked to the queen mother insect that escaped from the Black Mountain Secret Realm."
Gu Hongzi then asked, “You mean…”
"That mother insect is most probably talking to the insect planet. There are quite a number of gods in the insect planet."
Zhong Yue mulled and said, "Initially, I thought that there is only one mother insect in the Ancestral Star. One mother insect isn't much trouble for the whole Ancestral Star. But what if this mother insect came from the insect planet? What if this mother insect is provided certain means that can open another dimensional tunnel from the insect planet? The consequences will be severe, to say the least, even to the whole Ancestral Star. Hence, I've asked senior martial brother over to scout out Feng Gu City with me."
Gu Hongzi finished his cup of tea and stood up, gazing deeply toward the direction of Feng Gu City before saying resolutely, "Alright! Let's do it!"
Zhong Yue heaved a breath of relief and smiled, "Right, then we will sneak into the Feng Gu City and capture…"
“No need for that!”
Gu Hongzi then let out a shrill whistle, clouds billowed over and covered the whole Feng Gu City, and the sounds of thunder rumbled through the sky, and sparks of lightning flashed across it. Gu Hongzi morphed into a bird-headed celestial being and clawed right into the center of the Feng Gu City while saying frigidly, "How does this Feng Gu City Lord even matter for us to need to sneak into the city? Just catch him right away!"
Zhong Yue's heart thumped heavily. Gu Hongzi was indeed so unbridled and willful!
The Gu Hongzi in the past was a scrupulous and conservative individual. After all, he was a spy planted in the East Barren by the old man, and he was also a city lord. The whole of Gu Xia City was under his command, and there were far too many things he had to take into consideration. However, the Gu Hongzi now was like a wild horse that was let loose; every action he took was done with an overbearing will and without a care in the world!
Maybe it's a just the right choice to let Senior Martial Brother Gu Hongzi go on his own instead of dragging him back to Swords Gate. Only an eagle in the outside world can be called an eagle; otherwise, it'd be nothing but a house bird.
Gu Hongzi was a magnate cultivator, one that had even coalesced the godly spirit. He was so powerful that even the Imminent Deity magnates were unable to do anything against him. The bird claw ballooned in size, and it swiped right into the Feng Gu City, clawing right at the lord's manor!
The Feng Gu City was one of the six cities in the East Barren. Although its city lord was not a magnate, he was not far from it either. Furthermore, there was also an Imminent Deity spirit guarding over the city that was even stronger than before after being worshipped by Feng Gu City for years.
The city itself had many defensive array formations as this city was built as a fortress against the North Barren Bai Zhe Clan. Although the Bai Zhe Clan was a neutral faction that never intervened in worldly affairs, it was still not wise for the monsters to let their guards down.
However, Gu Hongzi clawed down as if Feng Gu City were just a little toy in his hands. Every defensive formation in the city was torn through like paper under the claws indomitable force. The city couldn't react in time to cast out the guardian spirit as Gu Hongzi already touched the city's ground!
Krong——
The earth quaked violently, and a huge hole was created in the center of the city as Gu Hongzi clawed the whole lord's manor out from the Feng Gu City.
The lord's manor was raised into the sky and was pulling over to the mountain that Zhong Yue and Gu Hongzi were standing on.
The whole city was then plunged into chaos and disorder.
Even the lord's manor was in a clamor. Some of the monster officers lunged down from the manor and quickly flew away. Some were shell-shocked, and others brought out their soul weapons and stood on guard. Cries and screams rang out from within all over the manor.
Gu Hongzi was apathetic, and he suddenly let go of the manor and let it crash right into the mountains.
“Who is fooling around with Zhu?”
A low and deep voice came from the manor, and a man in his prime age flew out into the sky. His eyes shone like lightning as he stared at Zhong Yue and Gu Hongzi imposingly.
This middle-aged man was none other than the Feng Gu City Lord, Zhu Yushan. He was a monster well-renowned for his handsomeness. The Zhu Xian'er that Zhong Yue killed in the Black Mountain Secret Realm was his daughter.
“Ah, so it’s you, Gu Hongzi.”
A cold light flashed across Zhu Yushan's eyes as he turned vigilant. His eyes then shifted toward Zhong Yue, and he gave a cold sneer, "Gu Hongzi, you really are a traitor. How dare you fraternize with the humans! Moreover, you've brought a human along to taunt the Feng Gu City!"
As he spoke, he was sending a transmission to the monster Qi Practitioners in the city telling them to notify Shi Buyi of Gu Hongzi's arrival.
"Are you hoping that Shi Buyi comes and rescues you?"
Gu Hongzi then said placidly, "It's really useless, that won't do much help to you right now. Shi Buyi's cultivation base is damaged, and it is impossible for him to recover anytime soon. Even if you inform him, it'll only be one of the four chiefs that come."
"Furthermore, their arrival might not be good news for you anyway. Zhu Yushan, your identity as an insect is exposed. If those four old codgers come and learn of your true face, your death will be even faster than if I am to kill you."
Zhu Yushan's face changed, and he said laughingly, "What a joke! Gu Hongzi, you are a traitor of the monster race, how dare you accuse…"
Gu Hongzi gave a cold sneer and raised his hand up like a sword, slashing it down at Zhu Yushan.
Zheng zheng zheng——
Dazzling light rays flitted out from Gu Hongzi’s hand, these sword feathers shining in golden rays formed a marvelous wing and slashed right at Zhu Yushan!
It caught Zhu Yushan surprise as he didn't foresee that Gu Hongzi striking without warning. He quickly retreated and shouted furiously, "Where are my children?"
Hu——
Thousands of youngsters flew out from the manor and answered loudly in unison, “We are here!”
“Formation!”
Zhu Yushan then shouted, and the few thousand youngsters formed an array formation for which Zhu Yushan was the center. He gazed coldly at Gu Hongzi and said, "Gu Hongzi, maybe the others are afraid of you, but I'm not. I have many children, and together, we can form into an array formation that can easily kill you!"
Gu Hongzi sneered disdainfully and all of a sudden, he flashed into the array formation and spun his body on the spot. Countless feathers shot out in all directions, and in just the blink of an eye, a one-thousand-feet tall golden swan goose was formed inside of the array formation. It spanned its wings out wide and released a shrill cry right beside the ears of the many monsters. Its feathers flew along with the wind and threaded around the array formation!
Chi, chi, chi——
Countless light sounds resounded their ears, and before the array formation could ever be activated, the young Qi Practitioners were all killed by the sword feathers!
Over a hundred sword feathers struck Zhu Yushan, but he was still standing. The Feng Gu City Lord then suddenly laughed and said, "I can't say how much I want to thank you for killing them, I was going to kill them anyway. After all, it is their blood that I only wanted!"
The blood on the ground then suddenly moved, and they flowed into Zhu Yushan. Almost immediately upon contact with the blood, Zhu Yushan's body grew larger. His beast-like, terrifying, veins were bulging out from his strong muscles, and bone pieces started to emerge on the surface of his skin, covering his whole body, while tens of feet long steel hairs rose up from underneath the bones like bristles.
Zhu Yushan suddenly turned into a golden shining spider as tall as a mountain and with the torso of a demon. Every breath he exhaled was filled with noxious gas, and he was laughing happily, "Finally, after restraining myself for such a long time, I can finally battle comfortably in my true form! Hehehehe, those who see my turn form shall die, no matter who you are!"
In the lord's manor, the monster Qi Practitioners were stunned, and some quick-witted ones then immediately ran out from the manor and tried to escape. But unfortunately, Zhu Yushan shot out the spider silks and wrapped them tightly away.
He then retracted the spider silks and dragged the Qi Practitioners on the ground and ate them away at the back of his body!