Chapter 238: Zodiac
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"The demon who did black magic is in front!"
In the forest, a group of soldiers were chasing Fang Yuan and their expressions appeared solemn.
They were wearing uniforms and it appeared that they were from a single organisation.
At this point in time, a small-eyed man next to the leader twitched his nose.
"Whoosh!"
As a yellow glow emerged, his nose started to change. Facial hair started to grow on both sides of his face, which appeared a little yellowish.
After a deep breath, he came to a decision.
"Very well, let's split!"
The leader of all of them was a young man wearing a bamboo-woven crown. He was wearing long silk robes with an image of a cockerel sewn on it and a pair of cloth shoes. Although he appeared young, his actions seemed matured and he seemed to have a lot of influence.
"Yes, sir!"
Behind him, a few groups started to split and approached the river.
While they were splitting up, behind every leader of each group was a dim glow which took the shape of a tiger or leopard. With this, their speed in the forest increased.
"Great! With Shinto, I'm afraid he won't be able to escape!"
Everyone looked jubilant.
"Hmph! We cannot find any evidence at the site where Su Guo had cast his black magic. This time, with the help of the mountain gods, we might be able to get some leads!"
The young man let out a laugh.
"Sir... We cannot control the gods. Please mind your words!"
The few of them beside him twitched a little.
The presence of the gods in the mountains must be related to the supernatural event. This young man was the envoy of the capital of Lie Country. He was not afraid of anything. After all, he had to lead the country in the presence of the gods above him. How would he dare to be disrespectful?
"Heh..."
The young man was extremely quick, but a little impatient. "We have already investigated that Su Guo must have used illegal means to build his wealth. We wanted to capture him as soon as he was rich enough. Who would know that Deity Feng... Hehe, that deity is most likely an evil one!"
"With such a thing happening, someone must be held responsible and accountable for this. This is my chance to perform!"
Nonetheless, he would not put all his resources here just to capture Su Guo.
"We see him!"
As the soldiers spoke, they continued making their way through the forest. As the arrived at the river, a silhouette of a young man was seen.
The young man was wearing a servant's uniform and appeared to be one of Su Guo's subordinates. He was standing in the middle as the soldiers started to surround him.
"I am Qin Yi, the Silver Badged Envoy of the Six Gates of Lie Country. Surrender!"
Qin Yi leapt towards the young man an exclaimed. It was a sight to behold.
After all, he was on the good side and the young man was the bad guy! It was only logical for him to take the young man down!
After all, the bad people would naturally be a little more cowardly and wouldn't dare to go against a government's official, right?
With such a pressure from Qin Yi, the young man would surely be unable to even use half of his original power. Therefore, he was at an advantage.
"Whoooo!"
As his claws struck towards the young man, a white glow appeared behind which quickly transfigured into the shape of a huge tiger. With such a ferocious strike, the atmosphere was tense.
"Hmmm... is this how energy is being used in the Hui Realm? Interesting!"
Fang Yuan smiled as he looked at Qin Yi.
Although there was martial arts and spiritual spells in the Hui Realm, it was not common.
In this realm, the popular practice was through Shinto combined with royal energy to form a unique relationship.
Those in a position of power would be designated the mountain gods and water gods. They would have spirits protecting them wherever they go. Even lowly officials and citizens were allowed to absorb spiritual objects and harness their abilities based on their zodiacs.
Take for instance, Qin Yi. He was born with the attributes of a white tiger, with his zodiac being the tiger. With his cultivation in a Hundred Year Spiritual Tiger Palm and strength from the royal energy, he was able to form the shape of a tiger. It was impressive and even comparable to a 4 Heavenly Gates martial artist!
In contrast, the poor and lowly people had to train hard and cultivate in martial arts and spiritual spells. They would take a very long time to reach a certain cultivation level.
Qin Yi was only 20. Born with a silver spoon and a high status in the government, he was comparable to a 12th Gate martial artist at his peak. He would still be considered a talent in Da Qian.
With his tiger claw, the people around witnessing it were all doubtful that Fang Yuan could escape from it. Afterwards, it would be the routine capturing and questioning.
"The spirit of a tiger? Spiritual technique? Martial arts? Interesting! Really interesting!"
Fang Yuan raised his right fist and countered his claw.
"Bang!"
His fist was ordinary-looking and there was no white tiger behind him. It was incomparable to Qin Yi's tiger claw.
However, after a loud bang, Qin Yi exclaimed as his right arm shattered. He flew backwards.
"Aw! Aw!"
Behind him, the spirit of the white tiger was making noises as though it wanted to protect its owner.
"What the hell is this?"
Fang Yuan looked at all of them as though they were not worth his time. "Get... lost!"
"Rumble!"
As the energy in him surged, his temperature rose and his blood gushed around in his veins. From him, there was the sound of a huge river gushing its way downstream and he was like a human furnace.
As he shouted, the white tiger exclaimed and exploded into sparkles.
"What... what the hell!"
The soldiers around were stunned."
A punch and a shout were all it needed to defeat the envoy from the Six Gates, the reincarnation of the white tiger, Qin Yi?
And the person who defeated him was a small servant?
Illusion! It must be an illusion!
"This is impossible..."
Qin Yi laid on the floor and shouted with embarrassment. "You are using... martial arts?! How is this possible?"
In this realm, it was a hard and tedious process to cultivate in martial arts. Therefore, it was always being belittled. Even though there were a few people who were at the cultivation level of sect masters, Qin Yi did not put a single one of them to heart.
This was until he met Fang Yuan!
After a punch, he was sure that he did not harness the strength of his zodiac!
If he did, they could suppress his zodiac's strength with the help of the Mountain God.
A simple fist without drawing strength from external sources gave him a new understanding.
Even the simplest martial arts could be so powerful!
Unfortunately, Fang Yuan could not understand a single word he was saying.
By looking at his expression, Fang Yuan could still understand what was going through in his mind.
"Ah... I knew it. It is troublesome to bridge the language barrier. Fortunately….. I have you guys!"
Fang Yuan looked around and smiled.
"Get up!"
Seeing their envoy on the ground, the soldiers were a little afraid. However, they still obeyed and got to their feet.
Not just that, the array which they formed was glowing. It was able to harness strength from the heavens and earth, which resembled elemental force a little.
"No... Rather than describing it as elemental force, I should call it miniature elemental force! This is because they can only draw strength from this forest!!"
Fang Yuan's eyes glittered.
The difference between elemental force and miniature elemental force was the difference between an 11th Gate martial artist and a Wu Zong!
Therefore, after gathering his elemental force, he struck another punch out.
"Rumble!"
As the air exploded, a wave of heat spread.
The trees and grass fell. Even a layer of the ground was shaved off as dust flew about.
As everything settled down, there was a pile of unconscious soldiers lying about.
"What did you do? Don't come over..."
Seeing Fang Yuan approaching him, Qin Yi slowly crawled backwards and appeared flustered. "I knew it... you are not human! You are being possessed by that evil Deity Feng!"
"What I pity! I don't understand a single word you are saying!"
With a face of regret, Fang Yuan shook his head. Swiftly, he struck Qin Yi, making him unconscious. With his right index finger, he pointed in between Qin Yi's eyebrows.
"Dream accessing!"
The dream lasted for 10,000 years.
Within moments, Fang Yuan witnessed Qin Yi's life from a 3rd person's perspective.
From his innocent days while he was a child to his discovery of his zodiac sign, then to his smooth career in the government's office into the Six Gates. Finally, vices consumed him as his personality changed.
Fang Yuan's motive was to learn the language of the Hui Realm.
Along the way, he learnt about the zodiacs, gods and royal energy.
"The zodiac of a white tiger would allow him to train a Spiritual Tiger Palm?"
In the Hui Realm, Fang Yuan opened his eyes and looked at Qin Yi's claws.
Indeed, the bones in his arms were thicker than normal.
"Unfortunately... the path of the zodiacs is too reliant on external strength!"
Fang Yuan shook his head. Looking at Qin Yi's personality, even a martial artist of 4 Heavenly Gates from Da Qian would be able to defeat him easily.
"Regardless, it is still a quick way to cultivate such power. Compared to martial arts which would require patience and a lot of hard work, this path would surely be more attractive, especially for the people of higher status with access to the royal energy!"
It was best to be able to control one's own strength and power independently.
The cultivation on the path of zodiac would require a lot of resources and the approval from the royal family. Additionally, through Shinto, cultivation on the path of zodiac was the preferred choice over cultivating in martial arts and spiritual spells.
"Zodiacs are the heart of how energy is transferred in the Hui Realm. It is through the combination of the royal energy. Without these sources of energy, one would lose their strength. This would be a good way to have control over the cultivators."
"Qin Yi was young and was even a Silver Badge Constable. His status is still considered low and therefore the help he had was limited! He should be around the same status as a 7th Grade official... If it was a 1st Grade official in the Lie Country, with the combination of their zodiacs, he would surely be able to obtain elemental force or even achieve the Elemental Opening Realm!"
"Other than self-cultivation, there is another path of cultivation in Hui Realm! That is Shinto! To be accepted by the gods, the person would have to submit himself to the royal family. Otherwise, it would be classified under the worship of evil gods and he would be captured!"
...
As his thoughts whirred in his mind, Fang Yuan scanned the peaceful forest and scoffed.
"You stalked me before and now you help them secretly. Do you think you can hide from me? Mountain God, come out! Do you want to force me to burn down this place?"
"Aww!"
Within seconds, there was a change in the forest.
Eyes appeared amidst the vegetation. It was a pack of wolves.
With the appearance of the wolves, other animals began to appear as well. All of them remained silent and appeared in an orderly fashion, which makes the entire scene creepy.
"Oh?"
Seeing the animals, Fang Yuan shook his head. "It seems that there is a huge difference in power between the good and evil. Are you only capable of this, Mountain God?"