Chapter 168 - Female Battle God
Chu Feixiong was so amused that he let out a huff that blew a bubble from his nose. “Seriously?!”
“Feixiong, we’re friends who have fought in life and death situations. When you downloaded those dangerous and stimulating life science videos in the past, you shared them with me so we could criticize them together. Why would I lie to you?”
Meng Chao slapped Chu Feixiong’s shoulder and said firmly, “Don’t worry. Even though I don’t have great knowledge about heroic spirits, the 1,024 branch meridians we cultivate in the Ultimate Style aren’t connected to any killing moves that require you to form a spirit energy magnetic field. It shouldn’t clash with your Army Fist.
“It’s fine even if you don’t have any skills. When you wander around the land, you need to rely on a sturdy body and a firm fist to survive, not some dazzling skills!
“You mentioned something that I agree with. Regardless of whether it’s a martial artist, heroic spirit user, or heroic spirit, all of them can grow. Even if your heroic spirit is very weak right now, as long as you cultivate your 1,024 branch meridians until they are as tough as steel and are perhaps even thicker, sturdier, and even more energetic than your main meridians, even the most normal Army Fist will be able to kill Nightmarish Beasts, Hell Beasts, and even Apocalyptic Beasts.”
Meng Chao thought about it. Army Fist might be a beginner fist technique that millions of Red Dragon Army soldiers knew, but that was also its advantage: There were a lot of people who practiced it, which meant that it had built up a large database. There was feedback from people using it in real fights, which meant that there were various ways to use the fist technique against most monsters. It was modified nonstop to cover up its weaknesses, and new skills were developed from it.
In contrast, when an ultimate technique was only available to Deity Realm elites, it inevitably had little data about its usage in real fights. It might have a fatal weakness that did not mean anything against 99% of the superbeasts, but would be deadly against one type of superbeasts.
Because of this, Army Fist was definitely not the strongest fist technique, but it was definitely the steadiest fist technique.
When monsters will start mutating madly, the old way of fighting and going to war would become outdated, and steadiness would become incredibly important.
“But you still need dreams. After all, what if you do manage to achieve it?” After thinking about it, Meng Chao continued. “Don’t give up on becoming a mighty general, and I’ll do my best to help you. Of course, we can’t go dreaming too big and hope to reach the top in one go. Let’s set a small goal first.
“How about this? Let’s not be in a hurry to fight against those who are stronger than us. Let’s start with the peers who are in Spirit Tattoo Realm! If we work together in the northern offense, we’ll definitely become the strongest one-star superhumans in Dragon City. Then, we’ll reach two stars in a brilliant manner!
“That way, I can make the Ultimate Style shine, and you can suppress your female squad leader so that she can see your manliness!”
When Chu Feixiong heard this, he could not help giggling.
He laughed for a while until his face turned a little red, and he whispered, “I don’t have a problem with practicing the Ultimate Style, but forget about suppressing the female squad leader. You don’t know about Shao Jianqing’s origins, do you? She’s a legendary specially recruited student.”
Meng Chao snorted. “Her dad is a general. There’s nothing special about her being a specially recruited student.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Even though I despise the woman’s evil ways, as it stands, she’s so strong that she doesn’t need General Shao pulling strings for her.”
Chu Feixiong actually started defending the female squad leader. “Also, General Shao is known for being unbiased and not adhering to logic. He won’t just pull strings for his relatives and children. He’s the type who’s a prude when it comes to morals. He’s afraid of people talking bad about him, so he’s especially strict when he treats his relatives and children.
“General Shao has a total of seven sons and three daughters. Aside from one son and daughter who have not become adults just yet, after his other children graduated, he sent them to the harshest and most dangerous squads. He doesn’t give them special treatment. Instead, they have to face the most difficult trials, and they get promoted slower than their peers.
“He has been leading the army for years, and he has already sent three sons and one daughter to their deaths in the wild. The other generals and his former subordinates could not bear to watch it and tried to persuade him to stop sending his children to such dangerous places, but General Shao could not be convinced.
“He said that he can’t show love when he commands his soldiers. As a general, he’s supposed to use the deaths of his soldiers to gain the greatest benefit. If he’s unwilling to send his children to their deaths, why should he have the right to send other people’s children to their deaths?”
Meng Chao fell silent.
Thunder God Shao Zhengyang was not a general who created miracles like a magician. He was not skilled in using a small number of soldiers to win against a large number of enemies.
His strategies could be described as a thunderbolt. They were simple, crude, and fierce. He was skilled in fighting against powerful enemies in the most difficult and bloody battles.
Out of the ten expeditions that the Red Dragon Army had ever launched, the three he led gained the greatest success.
But at the same time, the number of soldiers and elites lost was also the highest.
A lot of people in the Red Dragon Army, Supernatural Tower, and the Survival Committee criticized him, which prevented him from being promoted further. Otherwise, with his grand achievements during the three expeditions, he would have long since been promoted to the rank of a field marshal.
He was ruthless to other soldiers, but he was even more ruthless to his own children. If that was how Thunder God Shao Zhengyang behaved, it was indeed quite impossible for him to pull strings for his daughter to become a specially recruited student.
“Speaking of it, though, we can’t say that General Shao has absolutely nothing to do with Shao Jianqing becoming a specially recruited student,” Chu Feixiong said. “There is a tradition in the Shao family that during the winter holidays before the children of the Shao family go for their national college examinations, General Shao sends them into the wild. He only gives them a dagger and a bottle of freshwater before telling them to survive on their own for three days and three nights. This is considered their coming-of-age ceremony.”
Meng Chao remembered the Bloody Moon Wolf King he encountered in the wild and gasped. “Isn’t that a little too crazy?!”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t. I think General Shao would send someone to protect them in the dark, but no matter what, the children are just normal teenagers who have not awakened to supernatural abilities yet. If they really ran into danger, even the bodyguards might not be able to protect them in time,” Chu Feixiong said.
“And just as everyone thought, when it was Shao Jianqing’s turn for her coming-of-age ceremony, her luck was especially bad. She ran into a Grade Three Nightmarish Beast called Lightning Dragon, which is a very fast beast. She was taken away and vanished after entering a crack in the ground. Its end could not be seen.
“When Shao Jianqing was dragged underground by the Lightning Dragon, everyone thought that she would definitely die. The Shao family even began preparing for her funeral, but she discovered a huge, incomplete, and mottled sword in the dragon’s nest. She also awakened the power that had been lying dormant in it for twenty years. She obtained the acknowledgement of the heroic spirit in there and killed seven Lightning Dragons in the nest in one go to carve a bloody way out of the underground!”
Meng Chao was dumbfounded.
Lightning Dragons were the kings among Nightmarish Beasts. They were just one step away from Apocalyptic Beasts and were much stronger than Bloody Moon Wolf Kings.
He had thought that he could boast about his feat of killing a Bloody Moon Wolf King during the national college examination for at least a year, but Shao Jianqing killed seven Lightning Dragons during her winter holidays, and she even kept a low profile about it. The world did not even know about it.
Seriously, she showed no respect to him, a returnee!
“If you knew who formerly owned the sword she picked up in the dragon’s nest and whose heroic spirit she awakened, you wouldn’t find this strange or ridiculous.” Before Meng Chao could say anything, Chu Feixiong was unable to stop himself from revealing the mystery. “Didn’t I tell you just now that her heroic spirit is called the Female Battle God?”
A thought arose in Meng Chao’s mind, and he was so shocked that goosebumps broke all over his skin. “The Female Battle God Su Jianqing?”
The last fifty years, there were all sorts of amazing people in Dragon City. Numerous peerless fighters showed up, but there was only one person who had the right to be known as the Battle God, and that was Lei Zongchao, a nine-star superhuman who stood at the peak of Deity Realm.
As the Battle God’s name rang through Dragon City and all other powerful fighters could only stare at him in awe, Su Jianqing gained the title of Female Battle God and obtained Lei Zongchao’s acknowledgement. Since the Dragon Citizens were willing to print her title into their textbooks, it should be clear just how strong she was.
Among the superhumans who were lost during the fifty-year bloody war in Dragon City, Su Jianqing’s cultivation realm was the highest, and she was the one who sacrificed herself in the most heroic manner.
The last of the ten expeditions was held in Chaotic Dreams, a river located to the west of Dragon City. With two broadswords, Violet Fang and Lightning Slayer, Su Jianqing killed three Apocalyptic Beasts and more than fifty Hell Beasts, creating the best chance for the Red Dragon Army to attack. Once they chipped down three mountaintops that served as gathering spots for monsters, Su Jianqing died after running out of strength, and her corpse was dragged underground by some monsters.
The Earthlings’ might was displayed in that battle, and it made the remaining Apocalyptic Beasts residing deep within the Monster Mountain Range shudder. In the next twenty years, they did not dare to invade Dragon City, and their fear turned into a steady shield in the beginning of the Great Construction Era.
Many of the citizens idolized and missed Female Battle God Su Jianqing dearly. Many years after her death, Jianqing became the most common name for newly born girls in Dragon City. Shao Jianqing’s name was also deliberately given to her because Thunder God Shao Zhengyang wanted to commemorate the deceased Female Battle God.
Of course, aside from the name, many people also longed to locate Su Jianqing’s fragmented soul so that they could slowly nourish it and turn it into a heroic spirit, which would then lead to them being able to inherit her power.
But there were many conditions required for the birth of a heroic spirit, and all sorts of unique circumstances had to be met. It did not mean that if a person’s cultivation realm was high, their soul would be stronger, and because of it, they would definitely turn into a heroic spirit.
If the conditions were met, even a normal person like Xu Wanshan could turn into a heroic spirit.
But if a person was fighting fiercely before their death, all sorts of spirit energy magnetic fields clashed into each other, which could stir up a spirit energy storm. If that happened, no matter how strong a soul was, it would scatter and be completely destroyed.
There were also cases like Meng Chao’s former principal, Sun Daxing. For the sake of protecting his students, he stimulated his brainwaves and burned his own life so that his soul would turn into a dazzling torch. His life was completely extinguished like that, so it was difficult for him to turn into a heroic spirit.
Female Battle God Su Jianqing fit the latter two categories that could prevent her from becoming a heroic spirit
To kill three Apocalyptic Beasts and more than fifty Hell Beasts, she had to burn away her own life, just like Principal Sun, and when the Apocalyptic Beasts delivered violent attacks while at their death, her soul was damaged badly and torn to shreds.
Besides, her corpse was dragged underground, so her weapons, armor, and accessories—all things that might carry fragments of her soul—fell underground as well.
Trying to search for her fragmented soul in the endless uncultivated land was the same as searching for a needle in a haystack.
Twenty years had passed, and everyone had given up on hope, thinking that even if Su Jianqing had left behind a shred of her brainwaves and her vitality magnetic field when she died, it would have long since been blown away and completely destroyed by the planet’s magnetic field, the radiation from the stars, and the spirit energy from underground.
But to their shock, Shao Jianqing was able to find Su Jianqing’s broken swords in a dragon’s nest, and she inherited the Female Battle God’s power!