Chapter 334. A Violent Conversation (1)

Anticipating a fierce battle in Guizhou, the higher-ups of the Martial Alliance dispatched a special force consisting of Zhou Xuchuan and other experts.

Since Guizhou could explode at any moment, they decided to send only the fastest of them—Zhou Xuchuan.

Yes, his lightness technique was paces ahead of the others, but his qi reserves were seemingly infinite as well, so there was bound to be a difference in speed and endurance.

As the pacification of the Righteous and Evil Alliance was still ongoing, the special force dispatched by the Martial Alliance passed by Dongting Lake, a Yangtze River basin in Hunan, northeast of Guizhou.

Dongting Lake was the second-largest freshwater lake in the Central Plains and was famous for its beautiful scenery. However, they hadn't come all this way for leisure purposes.

It was faster for them to ride a boat from here and travel using the current of the Yangtze River than to continue on horses from Anhui.

They planned to alight at the port located at the southern end of Dongting Lake and ride a horse or use lightness techniques to go to Guizhou in the southwest.

However, this journey wasn't as simple as it sounded.

The current of the Yangtze was already dangerous, but a swarm of bandits stopped the special force as well.

"Do you happen to know who we are?" Duan Lihua asked with a smile, slightly lifting her bamboo hat. Unlike her mouth, her eyes were not smiling at all.

"I know who you are, Wave Sword Phoenix. Or should we call you something else now that you've reached thirty? Duan Lihua."

Half of the Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest, the Nine Forest Gangs, were mostly concentrated in the forests of Chongqing.

On the other hand, the Nine Water Gangs were active not only in Chongqing but throughout the entire region—or to be exact, along the Yangtze River, with each of the Water Gangs spread out evenly throughout the region.

Thus, there was also a Water Gang situated within the Dongting Lake region of Hunan. It was a medium-sized pirate gang called the Grotto Lake Gang.[1]

"Perhaps the reason you haven't met a man to

love

despite being thirty years old is that I, the Grotto Lake Gang Boss Liu Zhuo, am supposed to embrace you?" Liu Zhuo asked, laughing sinisterly. His bulging muscles, messy beard, and ugly face were the hallmarks of a ruffian.

Duan Lihua's face was indifferent as she replied, "No, it's because there are no good men. Especially men like you who only have loud voices and bulging muscles, you all have

lower bodies

the size of a fingernail."

"..."

A beauty would find it difficult to say such things, and it was even more difficult for a senior member of the Righteous Faction to do so. Thus, the members of the special force dispatched by the Martial Alliance were speechless and dumbfounded to hear that from Duan Lihua.

Tang Hui furrowed her eyebrows and muttered, "Why am I the one feeling embarrassed here?"

"..." The Mount Hua Sect's Plum Blossom Swordsman Luo Xiaoyue blushed slightly and decided to focus only on the number of enemies in front of her.

"Y-you bitch..." Liu Zhuo glared, trembling in apparent anger.

Duan Lihua laughed at Liu Zhuo's reaction, seemingly finding it amusing as she replied, "Oh dear, that was just a joke. But your silence makes it clear that it really is the case. Well, it's okay.

"As long as you have the skill, it doesn't matter if you're small. Oh, but looking at you, it seems that you're not that great at it as well... How about you try to impregnate the Yangtze River instead?"

"I'll kill you!" Liu Zhuo roared, and his veins bulged on his skin.

L-let's stay quiet.

If we laugh, we'll die.

The bandits of the Grotto Lake Gang bit their lips tightly. All pirates had rough and rascal personalities. A gentle pirate would be seen as ridiculous and would die quickly.

To prevent anyone from looking down on them, one had to be a rascal. In other words, it meant that one had to be the most raucous among a bunch of people.

If one of them laughed here, they would definitely be beaten to death after this incident or thrown into the river as fish food.

"Take them down!" Liu Zhuo roared, and his allies rushed in.

So they know who we are, and yet they still decided to attack us.

Duan Lihua thought as she swung her sword. Her sword was like flowing water in midair.

The Yangtze River is within their territory, so it's one thing that they were able to find out our location, but to attack a ship with so many Martial Alliance experts, even though they know that we're in the midst of a war...

Duan Lihua's eyes narrowed into slits as she fell into deep thought.

The Eighteen Stockades of the Red Forest have joined hands with the Dark Heavens Association.

***

There were over two thousand Evil Faction members gathered in Weng'an, Guizhou.

After the pacification agreement brokered by Zhou Xuchuan and Gao Hun three days ago, Evil Faction members gathered from all over the place, increasing their numbers by another one thousand.

As expected of the Evil Faction, which had a small number of experts but a large population of warriors, they had twice as many warriors as the Martial Alliance. The Martial Alliance only had about one thousand and five hundred members.

The Righteous and Evil Alliance of Guizhou now had four thousand and five hundred members. Their numbers were okay, but the average cultivation among them was a bit low.

Three days later, the Righteous and Evil Alliance reconciled, reorganized, and established a command structure as an allied force.

Zhou Xuchuan, Shen Daoyun, and Meng Chuhe led the Righteous Faction side.

Zhu Meng led the Evil Valley side.

Gao Hun led the Gold Will Merchants.

"Destructive Soldier and a great army have appeared!" a messenger shouted urgently, interrupting the conversation in the command barracks. "The escaped Zongli Daojun is there as well!"

Two days ago, Zhongli Daojun had disappeared.

Zhou Xuchuan had expected Zhongli Daojun to be part of the Avaricious Wolf Star, so he wasn't that flustered.

"

Ugh,

that bastard... to think that he has been using me..." Zhu Meng grumbled, scratching his head.

Zhongli Daojun was a comrade with whom he had fought back to back in Guizhou for several years. They were sworn brothers, so he was greatly shocked by the betrayal.

"Let us show the strength of the Guizhou battlefront." Shen Daoyun left the command barracks with a confident smile.

"You must not be arrogant. Do not look down on the Dark Heavens Association. They aren't ordinary," Zhou Xuchuan remarked, warning the others while staring up ahead.

Shen Daoyun, who had been living in danger every day in Guizhou, lacked the prideful characteristic of the Righteous Faction members, but he still had some confidence and pride.

In fact, the Dark Heavens Association's power was only rumored, and they had never come out on such a large scale. Thus, Zhou Xuchuan had to emphasize their strength several times over the past few days.

"Beware of Destructive Soldier, the one who's covered from head to toe in armor."

"Is his armor really made entirely of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron?" Meng Chuhe asked, sounding doubtful. Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron itself was a legendary metal, and a raw ore was enough to forge a sword or a dagger that could be sold for an astronomical amount of money.

Thus, when Zhou Xuchuan had told them that someone was wearing a full-body armor made entirely out of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, they found it completely unbelievable.

"Yes."

To be honest, he wasn't completely sure about it. However, he still confirmed their suspicions on purpose to heighten their alertness.

While he would have known for sure if he had brought Gan Yezi, Gan Yezi was by Zhuge Shengji's side, so there was no way for Zhou Xuchuan to confirm the true nature of the armor.

"I would like to ask the Guizhou Branch Manager, or rather the Guizhou Battlefront Commander, to take overall command."

"Leave it to me."

Shen Daoyun nodded.

Meng Chuhe and Zhu Meng looked at Shen Daoyun enviously.

They looked at him with eyes that seemed to be saying that they coveted the title "Guizhou Battlefront Commander.'

Hey, if I do this well, I can hand this position off to my successor, right?

Shen Daoyun actually disliked the Guizhou Battlefront Commander position.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

While the position itself was good, the fact that it was in Guizhou, a place that he had been rolling around in for over ten years, was a turn-off. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.

If the Righteous and Evil Alliance lasts long and the first clash goes well, I'll just hand it over to Meng Chuhe or Zhu Meng.

Shen Daoyun walked forward, making an

evil

plan.

A vast plain stretched out in front of Weng'an.

Four thousand five hundred Righteous and Evil Faction warriors were densely packed, waiting for the Dark Heavens Association army that was beyond the horizon.

Even though they were a force mostly composed of Third Class and Second Class warriors, the combined fighting spirit of four thousand five hundred such warriors was extraordinary.

Moreover, the Evil Valley's bloodlust was especially strong, as they all planned on beheading the leader of the Dark Heavens Association's army to receive more compensation.

"Gold bricks, gold bricks..."

"If that's your goal, then give the money to me."

"Have you ever been beaten up using money?"[2]

The excitement, bloodlust, and nervousness of the martial artists on the battlefield were all mixed together. Laughter occasionally spread as they joked to ease the tension.

Although they looked frivolous on the outside, they were all highly vigilant for the upcoming fight.

This sight...

Standing between the Righteous Faction members and the Evil Faction members, old memories flooded Zhou Xuchuan's mind.

Really... really, it's been a long time.

It was an old memory, but an unforgettable one.

After the ten-year-long Great War of Good and Evil, the Dark Heavens Association appeared, and the Righteous and Evil Factions went through many hardships before joining forces.

He couldn't remember exactly how many decades ago it had been, but even then, just like today, they had waited for the enemy while standing side by side—the Righteous and Evil mingling together.

"...They're here."

No one shouted, and it wasn't like they were notified by the drums, either.

At a certain point, the Dark Heavens Association's army came within a stone's throw, and the voices of the Guizhou forces stopped.

They're almost like a wave.

The army before them was like a tidal wave—a wave that swallowed up the sand on the beach and brought it back to the endless sea.

Although they weren't wearing masks for the sake of covert activities like before, they were still dressed in black military uniforms. Thus, if one were to use a metaphor, one could say that they were tidal waves of darkness.

Destructive Soldier...

What stood out the most in the midst of the black wave was a black iron armor covering someone's entire body and a spear made of red and gold interwoven harmoniously.

The aura emanating from their figure was extraordinary.

"Zhou Xuchuan..." Destructive Soldier recognized Zhou Xuchuan at a glance. There was no way he wouldn't know the Dark Heavens Association's most hated enemy, the Sword God.

The two men walked forward, facing each other.

When they were about five li away, the two armies stopped and stood still as if they had agreed to do so beforehand.

Zhou Xuchuan closed his eyes in silence and thought.

This is... war.

In his previous life, he had never faced a big shot like the Destructive Soldier. He had always just looked at someone's back. He stood in the middle, not in the front, wondering if he would survive the fierce battle that was to come.

Before he knew it, he found himself standing at the front.

His back was facing four thousand five hundred martial artists.

He didn't bother to look back.

He could tell what their faces looked like at the moment.

He could

feel

it without looking at them.

The memories of war engraved in his brain resurfaced at this moment.

"

Whew...

" He took a deep breath.

"...Haa." He exhaled and opened his closed eyes. "Listen!"

He didn't look behind him, and he didn't look to the side.

"The martial artists of the Righteous and Evil Paths have been fighting for something for a long time!" He looked ahead—at the enemy—and shouted, "Starting from our paths to the differences in our ideals!

"Sometimes, we even fought over grudges and our own interests!"

Zhou Xuchuan's shout echoed throughout Guizhou.

"Psychologically, physically, politically, economically, strategically, we've fought each other in various ways! But at this very moment! Let's put aside our conflicts and unite both the Righteous and the Evil! Why, you ask?!"

No one answered Sword God's question.

They simply waited for his next words.

"It's because of those bastards who act like they're gods because they've succeeded in a few operations from the shadows!"

Even the Dark Heavens Association's army was quiet.

"From now on!"

Their faces seemed cold.

"Let them know how shitty it feels!"

A tempest of bloodlust raged.

"Let those bastards who want something without doing anything know how much of a thief they are!"

Zhou Xuchuan raised the sword in his hand and stepped forward with all his might.

"Heroes of the Righteous and Evil Factions!

"Show them the Righteous Path!

"Show them the Evil Path!

"Show them the Benevolent Will![3]

"Show them the Gold Will!

"Show them the Righteous Will!

"Show them the Evil Will!

"For the sake of our companions, for the sake of our family, for the sake of our sects, for the sake of our disciple brothers and sisters, for the sake of our lovers, and for the sake of ourselves!

"Whatever your reason is, that reason is right!

"If you've come to this battlefield with a conviction, then show them your determination!"

Clang!!!

"LET'S GOOOOOO!!!"

1. Dongting Lake literally means Grotto Court Lake. ☜

2. I have, it hurts. ☜

3. As in the Benevolence Clinic. ☜