Chapter 34: Arrival - 34
When he reached the courtyard, Zhou Fan put up the items he bought and went straight to his room. He hadn't cultivated seriously in a while and felt excited to do it again. He decided to spend four days cultivating before the empire's soldiers arrived.
Although he wouldn't be able to make too much improvement, he could probably break into the 4th level. Not wasting any time, Zhou Fan sat on his bed and got into a meditation position.
While cultivating, time flew past and before he knew it, 4 days had passed.
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Zhou Fan stood up from his bed and stretched his body that hadn't moved in 4 days. He noticed that it was getting much easier to get into a state where time moves extremely fast.
After the four days, he had broken into the 4th level of core formation. Unfortunately, Zhou Fan only made it to around 25% to the next level.
It seemed that cultivation was going to keep getting harder and harder. After a couple more realms, it might take 100 years to break through. Thinking that far, Zhou Fan hoped that his lifespan would also increase. Otherwise, his life would end before he knew it.
After thinking, Zhou Fan went outside and saw Yipeng. Throughout the last four days, Zhou Fan would subconsciously see him walk past him to get food before leaving for the rest of the day. Zhou Fan assumed that he had been meeting up with his friends at the park.
Zhou Fan did tell Yipeng that he would be meditating for four days straight beforehand, therefore, he wasn't worried for him.
After a quick chat, Zhou Fan learned that the army hadn't arrived just yet but should be here any minute. Hearing that, he walked over to the city gates and saw the people who hadn't evacuated lining the city walls. Zhou Fan went up the stairs and arrived there in order to see what was going on.
When he arrived, he noticed the sudden silence. He looked out of the city and was awed at the sight before him. In the distance, a mass of black dots was making its way to the city. Such a scene would strike fear into anyone's heart. Looking at them, Zhou Fan wasn't sure if he could defeat them with his current strength. He estimated that he should be able to win at 6th realm core formation.
However, such thoughts did nothing to quell the slight fear in his heart. Even now, he wasn't invincible. However, he might be once he reaches the realm after core formation. Thinking of that, Zhou Fan was extremely excited. The day when he could walk through the world unmatched is near.
It wasn't long before the ground started to shake. Most people fled from the city walls since they felt it was going to fall down. Some people such as Zhou Fan chose to stay up there because they knew it wouldn't fall.
When the army reached the city, it sent a few people towards it before it circled around the wall. Looking at the army up close, Zhou Fan started to count. Even with his current brain, it still took two minutes before he came up with a number. 10 million! Many were riding horses while many others held a sword or a bow and marched.
The army only stopped when they were defending the spot that the truth empire would come towards. It was then that they started to set up camp while a group of 200 rode towards the city. The people who had come earlier were here to deliver news.
However, Zhou Fan could tell from afar that this group was different. In the back, 150 men with medals across their uniforms rode. In the middle, 49 crowned men rode. Finally, leading the group, a man with a much more elegant crown rode. When Zhou Fan saw him, he instantly recognized him.
The boundless emperor! Emperor of the boundless empire. Behind him rode 49 of the 150 kings of the empire and behind them were the greatest generals in the empire.
It didn't take long before they reached the gate. Everyone within their sight kneeled in respect. After all, they wouldn't even dare stand in the presence of a king, much less the emperor and 49 kings.
Since they were far away from them on the city walls, few people bothered kneeling. Zhou Fan was one of the ones who stood. In fact, even if the emperor were right in front of him, Zhou Fan wouldn't kneel.
Although he wasn't exactly a prideful person, it seemed shameful to the name of a cultivator to kneel.
The emperor passed through the city without stopping and went right to the mayor's house. The mayor was one of the few people who had to stay behind regardless of their personal reasons or feelings.
He greeted the emperor at the manors' gate and led him inside along with the 49 kings. The generals stayed outside and guarded the area, although unecessary.
That was all Zhou Fan could see as he once again looked at the 10 million strong army outside the city walls. By now, they had mostly set up camp.
Since the great arriving had finished, Zhou Fan went back to his courtyard. When he got back, he explained to Yipeng what he had missed. Yipeng was awed at the description of the 10 million strong army and the arrival of the emperor. He was also feeling regretful that he didn't go and instead went to the park to see his friends.
After their chat, Zhou Fan went inside and started cultivating. Although he wouldn't reach the 5th level in the remaining 3 days, Zhou Fan still chose to make some progress.
2 days passed in a flash and Zhou Fan decided to spend the last day before the war looking around the city.
He walked into shops he had never entered before and visited the places he hadn't seen. After all, Zhou Fan had no idea whether the city would still be here after the war. It wasn't long before night fell and Zhou Fan cultivated once again.
Finally, at 10 o'clock in the morning, Zhou Fan felt the ground shake.
Chapter 35: God - 35
Feeling the ground shake, Zhou Fan stood up and prepared himself. He grabbed Yipeng and jogged to the city walls.
Of course, his jogging was many times faster than anyone else's running.
On his way, he didn't see a single resident. It seemed that they had retreated to a safer area.
When he made it to the city walls, they were lined with catapults and ballistas. Zhou Fan went up there, unstopped, and laid his eyes on the scene before him. From the distance, an army came. Once again, they looked like nothing but black dots.
After looking for a while, Zhou Fan counted 10 million enemy troops! Directly across from them, stood another 10 million troops. At that moment, drums started playing within the army and Zhou Fan heard the empire's war song for the first time. Not long after, the enemies played their war song.
Both sides started marching forward and before long, they clashed!
Almost instantly, the armies merged together and fought to the death. Before a minute had passed, Zhou Fan estimated that 100,00 had died. The ground started to turn red and it seemed as though there was a river of blood.
Many soldiers cried out, injured in the battle. Many more were already dead. Witnessing the horror of war, Zhou Fan felt fear. Never before did he imagine he would see such a terrible scene. Catapults would crush people into meat paste while ballistas would pierce them through.
Zhou Fan didn't feel fear from the power demonstrated. Instead, he felt fear at the cruelty and evilness of humanity. Every single soldier who fell had a life story. 20, 30, and even 40 years of life, only to die in a single moment.
However, Zhou Fan was astonished to see not a hint of fear on most of the soldiers. Even in their dying breaths, they tried to do as much damage to the enemy as possible. On one side, a man who had one of his arms cut off and was bleeding out on the ground grabbed the ankle of one of the enemies, allowing another soldier to kill the man. On the other side, a battered and bloody man bit the flesh off of the enemy who had pierced him with a sword.
After 10 minutes had passed, Zhou Fan had started to build up a resistance to these deaths. Millions had died as Zhou Fan stood frozen, watching. At first, he had planned to make a move. Perhaps a fireball that would burn the enemy to ashes, or a giant wave that would drown them. However now, he simply stood there, watching. As time passed, he felt enlightened. As if he had understood the meaning of life.
Seeing the endless slaughter, he had realized that both sides were fighting equally. Without their insignias on their armor, you couldn't tell who was who. Zhou Fan realized that he didn't want to make a move. He held no allegiance to the boundless empire. He held no hate towards the truth empire.
In fact, the only reason they were fighting is because they were ordered to. They believed that dying for their emperor was an honorable death. So much so that they continued to fight even in their last breath. In a way, it was an honorable death. If they didn't fight, the truth empire would kill their loved ones. However, the cause of the war wasn't so noble. It was simply because the kings and emperors of each side didn't like each other.
Still watching the war, Zhou Fan's indifference grew and grew. After 30 minutes, Zhou Fan simply didn't care. He couldn't explain why. He saw these people give up their lives and futures with their loved ones. He understood that many would be left without fathers or sons. But he just couldn't feel any sadness. He couldn't relate.
He had never felt a love so strong that he would die for it, nor an allegiance so honorable he would sacrifice himself.
'Is this the path of a cultivator? To grow beyond mortal worries or affairs? To become the one above all beings?'
Then, Zhou Fan raised his hand towards the sky. Because of the war, not a single person noticed his movement. He felt he had reached enlightenment. A new idea came to his head.
At his command, the clouds started moving in. Before a minute had passed, a giant stormcloud appeared above the battlefield. Zhou Fan shot a green light out of his fingers into the cloud. The green light was very similar to the green light he had created to heal Xiaolong. However, there was a difference. When he created the green light before, it was based on trial and error. He kept trying different combinations until something worked 'good enough'.
This time, he felt as if he truly understood what he was doing. Instead of calling the green light healing Qi. It was much more accurate to call it life Qi.
When the green light disappeared into the clouds, rain began to fall. At first, no one paid it any attention. However, they quickly noticed that their injuries were visibly healing. The bodies on the ground also seemed to be healing! It was almost as if they would come back to life. Unfortunately, they wouldn't. Although Zhou Fans epiphany was incredible, it wasn't bring back the dead incredible.
Although he could heal their bodies, their soul was gone forever. After both sides realized the rain was healing them. The battle stopped. Yelling men stopped yelling, commanders stopped commanding, and soldiers stopped fighting. Soon, clanking could be heard on the ground. Many soldiers had dropped their weapons while looking at the sky. Many even started to unintentionaly cry.
After another minute, people started to fall on their knees. They looked at the battlefield around them and cried. Even the most battle hardened and emotionless men were not spared.
At some point, a man uttered out a word. 'God'. A word that none had used before, yet felt so correct to use. As if it was an infectious disease, the word god started to pour out of many peoples mouths.
Like that, the war was over. Looking from afar, Zhou Fan indifferently turned away and walked back to the courtyard.
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200+ Power
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121 Power
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