The Dao of Reincarnation(128-129) (Patreon)

Chapter 128: Deity in the Martial World (Part 4)

"Are you looking for me?"

Su Chen hovered in the air, gazing down at the group below with complete indifference. His eyes carried the detached calm of someone regarding corpses that simply hadn't stopped breathing yet.

The man chained like a dog suddenly trembled with excitement the moment he saw Su Chen. Tears streamed from his eyes as he tried desperately to speak, but only bloody gurgles escaped his ruined mouth.

The Black Tiger Gang members instantly recognized the youth floating above them. Yet none of them felt any joy. Because this person could fly… and in this world, only sixth-tier powerhouses could fly.

"No—wait, you can't possibly be sixth-tier. You have wings! True sixth-tier experts fly without wings. You must have obtained some kind of inheritance!"

The tattooed man's eyes lit up with naked greed when he noticed the pair of wings on Su Chen's back. If he could seize such an inheritance, why would he still be stuck serving in a petty gang like Black Tiger? The profits alone would tempt even legendary sixth-tier powerhouses!

But in the next instant, the youth in the sky vanished.

A gentle breeze brushed past.

The tattooed man felt something warm trickle across his cheek. He reached up instinctively—his fingers came away bright red.

He looked down.

A familiar face stared up at him with wide, uncomprehending eyes—lifeless.

It was one of his own subordinates.

The tattooed man turned stiffly.

Every single member of the Black Tiger Gang lay dead around him. Only he remained, standing alone.

"Take me to the Black Tiger Gang's headquarters."

The tattooed man opened his mouth to snarl something defiant—only for a blade to press against his throat. The razor edge and the warm stickiness of fresh blood silenced him instantly.

"Sir… no problem at all."

He did not want to die.

The chained man crawled painfully to Su Chen's feet. He knelt and kowtowed again and again, bloody tears mixing with the dirt as he tried wordlessly to beg.

"Why bother?"

Su Chen looked down at him calmly. "Because of your selfishness, people who could have lived are now dead. You want me to save you—but this is your retribution. Cause and effect devour their own."

Su Chen turned away, leaving the man wailing on the ground. There was no pity in his heart. He had already given them the chance to survive.

Su Chen forced the tattooed man to lead him back to the entrance tunnel of the Dwarf Earthly Rift.

Fresh corpses now littered the passage—adventurers who had entered the rift. Every one of them had been killed by the Black Tiger Gang, stripped even of their clothes.

Guards still stood watch at the entrance, but to Su Chen, they were no different from ants.

"Sir, they don't know what's really happening in the rift. They're just following orders from above. Please spare them, sir."

The tattooed man watched one brother after another fall, his voice trembling as he begged.

Su Chen shook his head.

"If I spare them, what about the people who died in ignorance at their hands?"

He carved a path straight out of the tunnel. By the time the people outside reacted and tried to slam the profound iron gate shut, it was already too late.

"He's one of our thirteen hall masters."

The tattooed man pointed at a man with a handlebar mustache and introduced him in a low voice.

"Stray Dog, you actually betrayed Black Tiger Hall!"

The mustached man's face twisted with rage when he saw the tattooed man leading a youth out of the rift.

Su Chen was already standing in front of him.

"Why collude with the dwarf tribe to slaughter your own people?"

Su Chen pressed the blade directly against the man's throat.

The mustached man gave a wretched laugh. "Those idiots came into the dwarf rift looking for resources. They never realized—they were the resources. Rifts are dangerous. A few explorers dying inside is perfectly normal."

Su Chen shook his head.

"You're lying."

The mustached man's pupils shrank violently. Before he could even struggle, Su Chen's blade flashed once. The head tumbled free, rolling across the dirt with wide, uncomprehending eyes.

Su Chen closed the entrance to the Dwarf Earthly Rift. Under the tattooed man's trembling guidance, he headed straight for the Black Tiger Hall's main stronghold.

Inside the hall, Su Chen moved like a ghost through an empty graveyard.

"You must be the Third Hall Master of Black Tiger Hall."

Before him stood an elderly man with gray-streaked hair and a monocle perched on one eye.

A ninth-layer Spirit Sea realm powerhouse.

"Young man, arrogance has a price."

The old man narrowed his eyes. Behind him materialized a three-eyed black serpent.

Su Chen swung his blade in a single, casual arc. The three-eyed serpent split cleanly in two and dissolved into black mist. The old man coughed up a mouthful of blood and flew backward.

The next instant, he felt cold steel against his throat.

The old man let out a long sigh. "The Yangtze River's waves push the old ones forward… What do you want to know?"

Su Chen spoke indifferently. "Tell me—why collude with the dwarf tribe to slaughter your own kind?"

The old man laughed bitterly. "Nothing but profit."

Su Chen shook his head. "You're lying. But I don't care."

He killed the old man and continued deeper into the hall.

The Second Hall Master was absent.

Su Chen arrived at the location of the First Hall Master.

The First Hall Master was a fifth-tier Spirit Soul realm powerhouse.

What caught Su Chen's eye was the statue enshrined at the center—not a god, not a Buddha, but a dwarf.

"You're surprised?"

The First Hall Master caught the flicker of astonishment in Su Chen's gaze.

Then, with a trace of madness in his voice, he continued: "The dwarf tribe is the god of our Black Tiger Hall. The sole purpose of our existence is to serve the dwarf tribe and provide them with sacrifices."

This time, he spoke the truth.

Su Chen thought of the Jiang family—generations who had sacrificed everything for Longxia—and asked the question burning in his mind.

"The dwarf tribe is such a weak race. Why would you willingly become their slaves?"

The First Hall Master laughed, the sound filled with bleak despair. "You don't understand… You simply don't understand. Behind every Earthly Rift and Heavenly Rift stands a deity. Only humanity has no deity watching over us. Even the weakest dwarf tribe has the protection of a god…

"Humanity will eventually be devoured and enslaved. Though the dwarf tribe is weak now, with a deity's blessing, they will one day grow strong. When that day comes, Black Tiger Hall will submit to a divine-favored race and preserve the last ember of humanity."

He took a deep breath and murmured, "I've told you so much so you can die with understanding. Now you may die."

Su Chen suddenly found the whole thing both laughable and tragic.

"Deities? They're nothing but a bunch of defeated, lingering wretches clinging to life."

Why had no forbidden-zone creature ever forced humanity to worship them? Because in the current cosmos, the only Emperor was human! What those forbidden-zone beings dared not do… was mistaken for abandonment, for weakness.

Su Chen raised his blade. The Heavenly Yang Imperial Divine Blade technique unfolded. A dazzling streak of knife-light flashed through the First Hall Master's vision.

In a single strike, the entire Black Tiger Hall was razed to the ground.

Su Chen turned to the tattooed man standing beside him.

"You recognized my identity?"

The tattooed man nodded slowly.

"You are Commander Jiang's son. I know I won't leave here alive today… but I believe you… Perhaps you can change this world."

Blood poured from his mouth as he whispered his final words: "Be… be careful… of the Celestial God Cult…"

Before Su Chen's eyes, the tattooed man dissolved into a cloud of bloody mist.

Chapter 129: Deity in the Martial World (Part 5)

"The Celestial God Cult…"

The massive commotion caused by Su Chen's destruction of Black Tiger Hall inevitably drew the attention of provincial law enforcers.

By the time they arrived, however, Su Chen had already vanished from the ruins.

"What kind of terrifying powerhouse did this?"

The investigators stared at the scene: not a single survivor remained, and Black Tiger Hall had been reduced to rubble. They exchanged uneasy glances.

A fifth-tier powerhouse had been stationed here.

A man in military uniform crouched down and picked up a broken fragment of stone. "Could this be the work of a sixth-tier expert targeting Black Tiger Hall?"

He could sense a terrifying residual aura lingering in the debris.

His expression gradually grew grave. Every sixth-tier powerhouse in Longxia was required to register with the authorities. The sudden appearance of an unknown one… if mishandled, it could unleash unimaginable disaster.

"Investigate. Spare no expense. We must uncover the identity of this sixth-tier expert!"

The entire Huan Province trembled.

...

No one knew that the one responsible for all this upheaval was still a youth who had awakened his Martial Spirit less than a month ago.

Su Chen returned to the Jiang residence. His journey into the Dwarf Earthly Rift and his clash with Black Tiger Hall had made one thing painfully clear: this world was far more complicated and rotten than he had imagined.

"Uncle Wu, have you ever heard of an organization called the Celestial God Cult?"

Wu was the steward of the Jiang household.

The moment Steward Wu heard the name, his face changed dramatically. His voice turned deadly serious. "Young Master… where did you hear about the Celestial God Cult?"

Su Chen replied calmly, "I took care of a small matter and happened to come across the name. It seems you're familiar with them as well."

Steward Wu gave a bitter laugh. "Young Master, these are things you shouldn't be exposed to yet… but if you've already come into contact with the Celestial God Cult, I suspect it was far more than just a 'small matter'…

"The Celestial God Cult is notorious. They worship evil gods and preach that all humanity should become slaves to other races in order to survive. They collude with alien species to slaughter their own kind. Every year, countless people die at their hands. The cult's members are powerful and extremely cautious; they are nearly impossible to eradicate completely. If you've encountered people from the Celestial God Cult, you must not let them sway you. I will report this to the master at once. He will send people to handle it."

Su Chen shook his head. "I already dealt with them."

Steward Wu froze. He didn't even notice when Su Chen turned and walked back to his room.

"The Young Master said… he dealt with people from the Celestial God Cult?"

To become a member of the Celestial God Cult—someone qualified to serve alien races—the minimum requirement was fifth-tier strength!

Steward Wu found the claim utterly absurd. But not long after, a piece of news shattered his worldview.

Black Tiger Hall… had been annihilated!

Although the surveillance footage captured only a blurry silhouette, Steward Wu—who had lived with Su Chen for over ten years—recognized the lone figure who had single-handedly destroyed Black Tiger Hall in an instant.

It was unmistakably his own Young Master!

….

Su Chen learned of the Celestial God Cult and grew increasingly convinced that this world was rotten to the core. Originally, he had little intention of meddling deeply in the affairs of this realm. Now it seemed clear: behind it all lurked some powerful forbidden-zone existence, scheming something in secret.

For a forbidden-zone being to go to such elaborate lengths, the object they sought could not possibly be ordinary. Combined with the mystery surrounding his own Martial Spirit, a terrifying hypothesis formed in Su Chen's mind… perhaps this world contained an item connected to an "Emperor."

He began refining pills in earnest and used them to cultivate.

Soon, the day of the martial academy entrance examination arrived.

In other words, college entrance exams.

At Huan Province No. 1 High School, a tall young man with mismatched eyes scanned the crowd restlessly.

He found his target at last.

"Jiang Chen! You finally showed up!"

Yang Fei's face lit up with savage delight. Today, he would drag this former genius down into the mud. As the only son of the Jiang family—whose ancestors and parents carried unparalleled glory—Su Chen had always been the school's shining star, the center of everyone's attention.

Yang Fei, on the other hand, was just a bottom-feeder. Perhaps Su Chen didn't even know his name. But Yang Fei knew the young master of the Jiang family very well. He hated the way everyone revolved around Su Chen—like right now, watching the goddess he had chased for so long rush forward to fuss over Su Chen the moment he appeared. The sight stabbed straight into Yang Fei's heart.

"A C-grade trash—how does he deserve so much respect? It's all because of his parents! Without them, he's nothing but a useless waste! But I, Yang Fei, am an A-grade genius—the future of Longxia!"

Having awakened an A-grade talent, Yang Fei had only one desire: to trample the former genius beneath his feet.

Unfortunately, from beginning to end, Su Chen never once glanced in his direction. As the students prepared for the martial exam, the school leadership suddenly appeared in full force.

Yang Fei asked around curiously and learned that an extraordinarily important figure had arrived at the school. Moments later, he saw the entire group of school leaders clustered around one man.

"Jiang Chen, are you willing to join our War Martial Academy? Our War Martial Academy promises to grant you every resource at our disposal—as long as you join us!"

The man appeared taciturn and reserved, yet the moment he saw Su Chen, he stated his purpose plainly.

The entire crowd fell deathly silent. One could have heard a pin drop.

War Martial Academy—one of Longxia's top ten martial academies. Over two thousand years, how many commanders and marshals had graduated from its halls?

Yang Fei could hardly believe it. Someone from War Martial Academy had actually come to No. 1 High School—and it seemed they had come specifically for Su Chen.

This had never happened before!

"So… this is what real influence looks like? My A-grade talent can't even compare to a C-grade waste—just because he's from the Jiang family?"

Yang Fei clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. Even with his A-grade talent, he wasn't guaranteed a spot in War Martial Academy.

"Student Jiang Chen, whatever the War Martial Academy can offer you, Imperial Capital Martial University can match. Join us, and you needn't worry about resources. Our death rate is far lower than War Martial Academy's."

Imperial Capital Martial University—the number one ranked martial academy in Longxia! And now they were making such an offer to Su Chen!

Yang Fei's face turned livid, then ashen. He was unwilling—burningly unwilling!

Yet it didn't end there.

Soon, representatives arrived from Magic City Martial University, Azure Dragon Martial Academy, Black Tortoise Martial Academy… even Vermilion Bird Martial Academy, which had never before accepted male students, sent people. They were all willing to pay any price to recruit Su Chen.

Faced with offers from every major academy, Su Chen ultimately chose War Martial Academy. He departed with the War Martial Academy representative, heading straight for their campus.

Behind him remained a sea of stunned students. Just now… had all ten top martial academies really come here? All of them fighting over Su Chen? No need to take the martial exam at all? Direct recommendation… this was unprecedented in the entire history of Longxia!