Chapter 682 - There is Something I Can Teach You
What did it feel like to ask your master about the dao of defense, only to have your master proposed to teach you the way of cooking and flexing?
Xiao Ze felt like killing himself.
He looked at An Lin with a helpless expression, and both of them fell silent as he discovered that his expression was also mirrored on An Lin’s face.
“Er… Master, I think I’ll work on perfecting my defense on my own.” Xiao Ze forced a smile onto his face, but his heart was throbbing.
An Lin scratched his head as he looked at the delicate youth before him, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Wait! There’s something I can teach you!”
Xiao Ze shot a glance at An Lin. “What is it? A vehicle-repair technique? Or a foreign language?”
An Lin’s lips twitched upon hearing this. “Am I that kind of person?”
Xiao Ze didn’t say anything in reply, but he provided an affirmative answer in his heart.
“This is a real cultivation method.” The insignia of a golden lotus flower appeared on his head, and the boundless power of the earth instantly burst forth.
Xiao Ze’s body trembled with excitement. “Is this the power of Master’s divine body?”
“That’s right, this is a part of the power of the War God. This is a technique known as the Earth Lotus Supreme Skill, and it is a peerless earth-type cultivation method, the mastery of which would allow you to draw on the power of the earth in order to forge an indestructible body!” An Lin nodded.
He didn’t have the cultivation method for the body of the War God, but he did receive all the mantras, techniques, true intent, dao intent, and everything else in a complete package when he received the Earth Lotus Supreme Skill.
It was exactly because of this that he was able to understand that the Earth Lotus Supreme Skill could significantly bolster one’s defensive ability and was not just a technique that could improve one’s mastery of the earth. The outer section of the body of the War God was also constructed by the Earth Lotus Supreme Skill, which was why An Lin’s skin was so thick. This Earth Lotus Supreme Skill was something he could teach!
“Do you want to learn it?” An Lin asked with a smile.
“Yes!” Xiao Ze nodded adorably.
An Lin didn’t hide anything from him and imparted all the mantras and true intent of the Earth Lotus Supreme Skill upon Xiao Ze. As for the abstract things like the dao intent, this was not something that could be passed on through words. An Lin could only demonstrate the Earth Lotus Supreme Skill a few times, and it would be up to Xiao Ze to observe and attain enlightenment for himself.
After receiving An Lin’s teachings, Xiao Ze asked a few more questions, and once those had been answered for him, he joyfully found a quiet place to experiment and practice.
The Earth Lotus Supreme Skill was an extremely potent defensive technique, and even if Xiao Ze was not able to master it, he would still be able to use the knowledge imparted on him to attain further enlightenment in the dao of defense.
An Lin nodded with elation at the sight of his excited disciple.
His dignity as a master had been saved!
He continued to stroll over the city wall, and he soon discovered Sword Immortal Ling Xiao walking toward him from the opposite direction.
“Hi, homeroom teacher!” An Lin extended a greeting.
“An Lin, you’re finally back.” Sword Immortal Ling Xiao hurried in his footsteps as he made his way toward An Lin.
An Lin’s heart stirred slightly upon seeing the grim expression on Sword Immortal Ling Xiao’s face. “What is it?”
“There are two things that I have to tell you.” Sword Immortal Ling Xiao said, “The first thing is that Cassidy, Tobias, and Merlin sent a message to the Heavenly Court via a spy in the Blood Tribe. They informed us of the fact that Emperor Yi Deng was looking for the Blood Tribe traitors with an extreme determination. As such, the plan of converting more underlings with the holy blood would have to be set aside for now. They have re-entered the Blood Tribe to wait until everything dies down, so they won’t be coming back for a while.”
An Lin nodded upon hearing this. This was quite a predictable turn of events. “What’s the second thing you wanted to speak to me about?”
“The second thing is that Cang Lan City of the Gem State has been conquered by the Blood Tribe army. Over thirty million humans have had their blood sucked dry as a result. Apparently, the army was led by a Blood Tribe Return to Void Stage mighty figure by the name of Morton, who is one of Emperor Yi Deng’s trusted subordinates. After laying waste to an entire city, the Blood Tribe army retreated back to the Dark Marshlands, and the cultivators from the Heavenly Court executive department have tried to chase them down but were unable to slay Morton,” Sword Immortal Ling Xiao elaborated with furrowed brows.
An Lin nodded. This was an act of vengeance from Yi Deng. It was actually more accurate to refer to it as a test.
“According to Department Head Jin Hu, Morton possesses a Return to Void Intermediate Stage cultivation base and is extremely difficult to kill even for Return to Void Stage mighty figures. Furthermore, Morton’s crusade has only just begun. The twenty cities surrounding Cang Lan City may well be targeted by him next.” Sword Immortal Ling Xiao’s eyes had already turned to An Lin as he spoke.
“You want me to go to Cang Lan City and find a chance to eliminate Morton?” An Lin asked.
Sword Immortal Ling Xiao nodded with a sheepish expression. “Huang Quan City is already safe with Emperor Tian Huang around, so the Heavenly Court executive department decided to ask you for help. After all, they’re well aware of how powerful your forces are… Of course, you can choose whether or not you would like to go.”
An Lin mulled over it for a moment. He was primarily concerned about the threat posed by Emperor Yi Deng.
However, there was not much for him to hesitate about after considering all those cities that were at risk, and he nodded. “That’s ok, I’ll go.”
Sword Immortal Ling Xiao didn’t expect An Lin to agree so easily, and he couldn’t help but look at him with a profound expression. “Then you have to take the utmost care and make sure to never force yourself into anything!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.” An Lin waved his hand and gathered the specific details from Sword Immortal Ling Xiao before calling on his friends to head to Cang Lan City together.
In the end, only Xu Xiaolan wanted to accompany him.
Big Brother Cheng wanted to finetune his domain, and Su Qianyun felt like she wouldn’t be of much help anyway, so she decided to stay behind and try her best to break through to Soul Formation Stage.
As for Miao Tian, Luo Ziping, and the others who volunteered, An Lin turned them down in fear of them coming to harm.
In order to avoid detection from the Blood Tribe, Bryce stayed at Huang Quan City to photosynthesize.
Thus, An Lin and Xu Xiaolan traveled on dogback. Xiao Chou and Xiao Ze also accompanied them toward Cang Lan City of the Gem State.
Cang Lan City was located eight hundred kilometers to the north of Huang Quan City. It was quite a grand city in itself with a huge rive nearby that separated the Kingdom of the Nine States and the Dark Marshlands.
Da Bai descended from the clouds and drew a sharp intake of breath as he looked down at the city below, which had been razed to the ground. “Big Brother An, this is going too far, woof!”
A cold light burst forth from An Lin’s eyes along with unadulterated killing intent. “Morton, is it? I won’t return to the Heavenly Court until I kill you!”
The city wall had already fallen, and all the inhabitants and soldiers had been reduced to dried, shriveled corpses with their blood sucked dry. Expressions of pain and despair lingered on their faces, and An Lin could even identify some Heavenly Court students among the casualties.
Hundreds of thousands of city inhabitants had all died in the same manner.
There were a few dozen Heavenly Court executive department workers who were gathering the bodies in preparation for a mass burial.
Elsewhere, there were about a dozen Heavenly Court students sobbing as they knelt on the ground.
A man in a green daoist robe half-knelt before them with his sword stabbed into the ground to support his upper body. His head was bowed, and his face was shriveled and completely devoid of vitality.