Chapter Seventy-Seven: Rise
The shadows of serpents appeared outside the mountains, accompanied by the winds and rain.
One dark light flashed under the winds and rain, and then the storm suddenly stopped. The four soaring snakes, just like the previous two, coiled up on the side, like sheep afraid of a wolf, not daring to move.
Thinking of the effort of generations Jiaodong Commandery had spent to raise these snakes, how they were one of the foundations of Jiaodong Commandery, and one of the important chess pieces Zheng Xiu had set up on the field, but now, Jiaodong Commandery was sending them to their hands, it felt so good.
Looking at these soaring snakes which did not dare to move, Qian Mu regretted how Qing Yaoyin had come a bit late, as two waves of soaring snakes had died by Tantai Guanjian’s sword. Then thinking of how Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu had gotten the Qin Dynasty by stealing from Ba Mountain Sword Field, he felt that this was karma, and Jiaodong Commandery paying its debts.
“If we can get out of here, can we turn these soaring snakes into steeds?” he looked at Qing Yaoyin, saying softly. His voice was filled with humbleness and uncertainty.
His humbleness came from the fact that he thought his everything came from his teacher. So he had so much pride. In his eyes, Qing Yaoyin and the others were elders he must respect, and his uncertainty came from two places.
First was the question itself, and the other was whether they could leave this place alive. Even though these soaring snakes of Jiaodong Commandery were now on their side, becoming great aids, even people like the descendants of the academician of the last Qin emperor’s era had appeared. There would be other experts that they could not predict who would appear.
It was hard to predict what kind of battles they would face next. But he thought, if they could leave here with the soaring snakes, then Baili Suxue may be able to use the Nether dragon to leave the Changling imperial city. They could use the soaring snakes the same way.
The soaring snakes did not have the hard scales of the Nether dragon but they were true serpents that would fly very high to a level that many seal weapons and flying swords could not reach.
Qing Yaoyin shook his head simply and said, “The soaring snakes are innately violent, especially since Jiaodong Commandery always uses medicine and sounds to control them. They are damaged in the mind, and they are more violent than the wild soaring snakes. We can order them to do simple things, but it would be very hard to make them into steeds that would do as you wish.”
After a thought, Qing Yaoyin looked at Qian Mu who was still confused and explained, “To use the example of flying in the air, you can have them fly to a place, but it is almost impossible to have them conceal their bodies and sounds when flying, especially their energies.”
Qian Mu was silent for a moment, and thought that this really was a hard problem. Simply speaking, you could tame some shepherd dogs to help you herd the sheep, but not order them to do smarter things.
But at this time, Ding Ning’s voice sounded, “We cannot do it, but this Friendship Blessing may be able to.”
Qian Mu stilled. Qing Yaoyin and the others were stunned.
Friendship Blessing was the name of the infant Nether dragon. Because the name was slightly strange, everyone was not used to it yet. But the words seemed to be… reasonable! They were not soaring snakes, so they could not communicate. But this infant dragon had already shown the power to control them.
Ding Ning took a deep breath. The most difficult thing for Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu was that they lived deep in the Changling imperial palace, were surrounded by many armies and guards, and there were many powerful cultivators protecting them. Even if they had people of the same strength which came in front of them, they would be in a case where it was the few against the many.
But if many experts gathered together to face Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu, many things would be different. However, this was something that should be carefully considered after they left this place.
Baili Suxue had planned for many years for a chance to assassinate Zheng Xiu, while Ye Xiao had used half of his life to plan a chance to kill him.
The thousand dust mountains here were still so steady, and did not show signs of loosening.
The thousand dust mountains here were still so steady, and did not show signs of loosening. The mountains he saw were blurry with light and shadow. Some fine dust glowed and it was possible to occasionally make out the shapes of swords.
The world of cultivators rapidly changed, and there were countless opportunities and changes.
Like today, a black ice worm turned into a Nether dragon, and Jiaodong Commandery’s assets of centuries werewas being unknowinglyunknowningly stolen.
Some cultivators were unable to break through to realm four their entire lives, while some cultivators were able to overcome a barrier of many years due to a chance.
In the Longxi Commandery of the Qin Dynasty, in the Baiji quarry, a man covered in dust put down the metal drill he held. After being silent for a few breaths, he slowly looked up, straightening, and gazed at the great river a few feet away.
The quarry here was one of the most important quarries of the Qin Dynasty. The stone here was very hard, and could be used to build city walls. At this time, the Qin Dynasty was fighting the Chu Dynasty and the borders needed more of the hard stone. There were a dozen ships waiting by the river.
Quarrying, especially with some hard stones, was a very difficult job. The great fatigue and the flying dust were great harms to ordinary people, so most of the people in the quarry were people punished with hard labor.
The war was tense, the and the officials in charge naturally were more strict.
Seeing someone stop working and look in a daze at the scenery, one official changed expression, and walked towards the man with his long whip.
This official was very fat. Longxi Commandery originally belonged to the Chen. This small country had been gone by the time the Qin Dynasty destroyed the Zhao, but the Chen surname was one of power in the local area. This official had the surname Chen. While he was always with these prisoners and dust, this was a rich job. The families of some of the prisoners would bribe him to arrange for their family members to get light work.
After many years, they treated him like a local emperor, which increased his arrogance. Usually, he would beat and curse at the prisoners he did not like, and whip others until they were bloody. So seeing this official walk out of the shaded hut, even if the other was not targeted at them, many people were trembling in fear.
But that man was in a daze, and did not even hear the trembling warning from beside him.
The shadow of the official came in front of him. Seeing the man still ignoring him, the official felt he was greatly insulted. “You want to die?”
With a shout, he did not even think as he swung his whip at the man’s head.
Popping sounds occurred.
This whip hit the man’s forehead.