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Three Days Later…
He Gengxin still could not get used to the frogs' eating habits. No…. The Toads eating habits. He'd been corrected about fifty times in the past hour or so by the mysterious crazy Senior, who seemed to be rearing some kind of demonic creature in a pot. The amount of killing intent radiating off of whatever that thing was… The young master shivered.
If he'd visibly seen the "shark" coming out of the pot, there was no doubt that all the bones and organs in his body would probably rupture from the pressure. Senior Xie had assured him that he'd find something to do about the shark problem.
He watched as the Toad he was clinging to began to slow to a light hop as they neared their destination. With a few more bounds of their legs, the toads finally brought them in view of their first destination on this harrowing journey.
It sat atop a craggy plateau mountain of sorts, jagged ashy rocks sticking out in all directions. This intimidating stone-face stretched on for miles upon miles on each side. He Gengxin blinked as a distant rumbling filled his ears. Something beyond that mountain…. Was shaking. He could feel the ground vibrate and shake.
So this was the Southern Drowned Earth… He parted his two long bangs and narrowed his eyes. Much trouble was to come. Much trouble indeed.
Shaking his head a little, his attention turned back to their current place of interest. Carved into the mountain's cliff-face was a giant steel fortress. Long runic pillars stabbed into the Earth around it, and the walls were jutted and rough, as if bombarded by many cannons.
Standing in long rows atop the thick walls were stern soldiers. They wore masked helmets made from black-steel and bulky plated armor consisting of dirt-stained scales. Giant halberds a good few feet taller than them sat in their outstretched hands, ax-heads rugged and arcane.
Sitting at the face of the mountain, was a giant set of open stone doors.
This was a city that had lasted through countless wars and bloodshed. Something that existed from the very beginning of the Southern Drowned Sea. Shattered Earth Temple.
Yun Xie whistled as he stared at it, somewhat impressed. The toads behind him also looked at the fortress in relative awe. They had never seen a structure as big as this before….
To the side, the other three looked among themselves as they reached for their cloaks. It would not do well to enter with their faces revealed. The general agreement among them was to act as merchants or traders seeking entry into the city.
When a Secret Realm or major opportunity was created, many people would also be drawn to their general area. It was a rather common practice as the surplus of cultivators made for risky yet profitable business.
Somewhat to the disagreement of the majority, they were going to be under the guise of "Great Toad Merchants" from a Mountain Hermit Sect secluded in the Holy Mountains. It was obvious who was behind the naming suggestion and backstory.
Their small caravan soon broke out into a trot as they joined a long line. Actually… Long was probably an understatement. The trail went down for leagues upon leagues as tens of thousands of people waited rather restlessly.
Further down from them, a group of white-robed cultivators stood, long mystical swords sitting upon their backs and haughty looks upon their faces.
"Master Wu! Despite being from the Whirlwind Sword Sect, we have been waiting here for days! What right does the Shattered Earth Temple have to keep us waiting along with these…. Filth!"
A loud and arrogant voice that practically begged for people to punch them, the young man complaining stomped his foot into the ground. He was dressed in elegant white robes, a cloudy-wind pattern trailing down the side of the uniform, and a blue band held his thin grey hair in place.
His skin was a vampire-pale, with arrogant venom-black eyes and a long snotty nose. His posture radiated cockiness, chin up high in the air and his chest puffed out.
From this, Yun Xie could easily deduce what kind of person this guy was. It was virtually impossible to deny the fact. The man before them was a Young Master.
It was rather surprising to Yun Xie as to the amount of young masters he had encountered in the world of Emperor's Domination. In his travels, he'd only met about ten or so of them. It seemed that he did not have the main character's "luck". Or it was the fact that he tended to avoid confronting people as he traveled.
Something uneasy within him told that, perhaps in the future, confrontation with young masters could only grow.
As much as he wished to just pull out some amplified Wind Breathing to completely disrespect the Young Master and his Sect with no context, sadly, he would have to patiently wait in line. Patiently. Staying still and waiting wouldn't be too bad, right?
The old man the Young Master had been speaking too, a formidable burly elder with a pronged grey beard grunted slightly. "Please be patient, Young Master Feng. The Mistress of Shattered Earth Temple has just recently given birth.
She has decided to exercise more caution… Many would like to kidnap or kill the child of one of the Difficult Dao Era's greatest. You must show nothing but respect once we enter the city."
Yun Xie blinked. And then he blinked again. This was technically traffic. In a mystical Eastern World. Traffic. He could wait. He could definitely wait. There was nothing wrong with waiting. Perhaps meditate a bit. His patience was insurmountable in the Nine Heavens after all.
Twenty Days Later….
Nope. Nope. Nope. He'd already seen a good amount of people simply leave the hellish line. Merchants and businesspeople for the most part. Nearby, He Shuren and He Gengxin lay there grimly in lotus position.
The Southern Drowned Earth was well due to open in a few months… But this wait was giving ample time for the Heartless Gu Cult to prepare… Not to mention it would also give themselves less time to prepare.
It was a good approximation to say that part of the Cult had probably already entered the city….
Yun Xie kicked a rock aside as his temple seemed to throb and a pissed-off expression graced his face. He had sent a clone in and gone out exploring. It had been pretty fun; Though he hadn't checked out the Southern Drowned Earth yet, he felt the atmosphere was not appropriate yet.
But just the fact that he was technically, story-wise, in a line for the past twenty or so days was very irritating.
And with that, the simple-minded transmigrator decided his current course of action. The Plan was rather simple.
"I'll create a random crew of clone-Bandits with various cool powers, vandalize the Cities exterior-walls, blow the hell out of this area, rob about half of the line, and create a distraction that'll let us get in. Genius."
It was a completely unpredictable and unnecessary strategy that would doubtfully draw any attention to the harmless old Great Toad Merchants.
Definitely not a lazy way for the author to fulfill his desire to write more random anime-ability crap.
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My update schedule is just too good.