Chapter 211

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Chapter 211: The Empty City in the Desert

In the first twenty years of the Inhuman War, there were still Inhumans dying at the hands of both the military and the civilians in the city.

However, since the Vice General Li Changge, who served under the Martial Saint in the past, died in battle twenty years ago, there haven’t been any Inhumans dying in combat.

Not only that, but in the following twenty years, Captain Hai and the others rarely saw the true form of the Inhumans. Most of the time, they were fighting against Taoist soldiers called "paper men," who came and went like waves.

In the past forty years, the Inhumans that were lost in the hands of the remaining soldiers in the isolated city were only the early-stage cultivators of Foundation Building. Therefore, the immortal techniques that Earth Sword Immortal stole were naturally limited.

So, in fact, Earth Sword Immortal’s path in the Immortal Dao was not very smooth. It was just a means he tried when he attempted to escape from this prison.

He may have reached a high cultivation level, but his methods in the Immortal Dao were actually inferior to those of the Nine Immortal Gates cultivators at the same level, not to mention comparing with Taoist Qingzhuo.

This was a path that Earth Sword Immortal gave up on. The only two achievements were to show off in front of Qiao Mu and the others, and to possess this Stone City in his hands at this moment.

Stone City was a treasure that Earth Sword Immortal refined using the alchemy methods he learned from the Nine Immortal Gates. The only two functions of this treasure were to enlarge and shrink, and to contain an inner space like a storage bag.

And this is the reason why he took out this city.

Stone City spins in the palm of Earth Sword Immortal, floating in the air with his thoughts.

"Qingzhuo is coming, and you, Wu Ge, are too weak, too weak to look at," Earth Sword Immortal said bluntly.

"When two powerful warriors like us fight, mountains crumble, the earth splits, and sand and stones fly. The great path itself is at risk of being destroyed. But you, Wu Ge, are too weak, you don’t even have the qualification to be shocked on the sidelines. I’m afraid you won’t be able to withstand the aftermath," he continued.

Lu Yanbei: …

"So, just come in, don’t make trouble for me," Earth Sword Immortal pointed his finger, and an invisible force captured Lu Yanbei and flew towards the stone city floating in his palm.

"Wait…" Lu Yanbei only then realized what Earth Sword Immortal intended to do and without thinking, he said:

"Yan Nan, there are still half of the elderly in the city. Protecting me alone is one thing, but protecting them is another. Why not let them in as well?"

Earth Sword Immortal slightly frowned, feeling a little impatient.

He didn’t care about the life or death of others, but when he remembered Lu Yanbei fighting to death with the old soldiers on the battlefield, his heart softened.

He didn’t argue, just nodded slightly.

"Are there people secretly cultivating immortality in this city?" he asked, raising his voice.

"Yes."

Sure enough, someone in the crowd responded.

The person who walked out of the crowd was an old man with a hunched figure and half of his face scarred from burns.

The old librarian only had half of his face left, but his single eye glowed brightly:

"I may not be strong, only at the peak of Qi Refinement, not yet at Foundation Building. Earth Sword Immortal, do you have a need for me?"

The old librarian was Li Changge’s younger brother. He destroyed half of his face with the Etching Bone Li Fire Talisman, but he courageously cut off his own half face in time, saving his own life.

He is even older than the old soldiers like Captain Hai. He was one of the former generals in the army, but he couldn’t go to the battlefield anymore. He usually only guards the armory and enjoys his retirement. But little did he know, he was also secretly cultivating immortality.

"I’ll leave the troublesome task of capturing the elderly in the Lonely City to you," said Earth Sword Immortal casually.

"Although my magical powers are weak, it should be enough to simply control this Stone City," he thought.

The stone city in his hand floated up and flew into the hands of the elder in the library.

The elder in the library bowed and thanked him, then left.

"So now…" He turned around and looked at Qiao Mu, Captain Hai, and others who were still standing in the courtyard.

"So now, you should tell the truth, right, Earth Sword Immortal?" Suddenly, Qiao Mu, who had been silently listening, spoke up.

"The truth? What do you mean, Third Brother?" Earth Sword Immortal showed surprise.

Captain Hai was also puzzled. Although he had only recently met Qiao Zhuosen, he had a good impression of him based on the previous Qiao family members. He subconsciously thought that Earth Sword Immortal was secretly doing something and silently signaled a few old soldiers to surround Earth Sword Immortal.

"Your words can deceive your own brother, but not me," Qiao Mu pondered.

"Thirty years ago, you were not a match for Taoist Qingzhuo from the Great Dao Sect. He captured you and placed you in this isolated city."

"Since you have been deteriorating for forty years, with declining vitality and weakening internal strength, can your martial arts skills really be stronger than they were thirty years ago?"

"As for your cultivation in the immortal path, you yourself admitted that trying to compete against Taoist Qingzhuo using immortal techniques would be like bringing a hatchet to a master carpenter, with no possibility of winning."

"After thirty years, your immortal techniques are not enough to confront him, and your martial arts skills have also declined. So where does the confidence you mentioned come from?"

Earth Sword Immortal fell silent and looked at Qiao Mu with a hint of surprise.

"Third Brother indeed has sharp insight…"

His previous boastful attitude was actually for Lu Yanbei’s benefit.

If he didn’t sound confident, how could he persuade Lu Yanbei to leave the city with all his might?

If he wasn’t afraid of bragging too much, he would have just said he was 80% certain, instead of 20%.

But Lu Yanbei is not a stupid person either, after all, he is a famous martial arts master of 87 years old, with a lot of experience.

However, as the older brother of Earth Sword Immortal, he has always had a blind trust in Earth Sword Immortal, believing everything he says.

"When I said I was 20% certain, it actually meant 20% certainty of my older brother’s survival."

Earth Sword Immortal looked straight at Qiao Mu’s eyes, as if trying to see his slightest emotional fluctuation from the old man’s eyes.

"Third Brother, if I were to say that in order to have just a little more certainty of success, I would need your life, what would you do?"

"Is there such a good thing?" Qiao Mu blurted out, with a joy in his eyes that Earth Sword Immortal couldn’t understand at all.

He had already seen many fearless people who were willing to die in the past thirty years.

But seeing a glimpse of hope for survival and still willingly choosing a dead-end, while being so joyful… It truly puzzled him.

"Earth Sword Immortal, even though we’ve just met, you should know… my Qiao family has no greedy or cowardly people." Qiao Mu smiled and touched his own neck, bravely saying:

"If you want to use my precious head to sacrifice the sword, feel free!"

Earth Sword Immortal silently watched Qiao Mu’s expression, her face also showing slight changes.

In fact, he and Qiao Zhuosen had just met.

The one who had been with him day and night for over a month was Qiao Shuangsen, who was the first to enter the lonely city.

Qiao Zhuosen had this question because he was not Qiao Shuangsen.

Qiao Zhuosen had this question because he was also a member of the Qiao family.

And now he had the answer in his heart.

"After thirty years without leaving Jiu Province’s martial arts world, there unexpectedly appeared a Qiao family in the martial arts world? It seems that in these thirty or forty years, the martial arts world has finally undergone some changes that have never happened before." Earth Sword Immortal nodded:

"Third Brother, you’re worrying too much. Your life should not be sacrificed for the sword."

"I practice swordsmanship, not magic."

Speaking of this, Earth Sword Immortal also felt a bit gloomy in his heart.

These thirty years, in the end, were still wasted.

His skills not only stagnated but also regressed, there must be a reason for his decline.

"But do you need my help in battle?" Qiao Mu asked again.

Apart from Earth Sword Immortal, he was already the most skilled fighter in this lonely city.

Although not a match for the elder of the Immortal Gate, perhaps he could still contribute in his own small way.

Seeing Earth Sword Immortal nod, Qiao Mu even offered his help proactively:

"If that’s the case, then let’s just do it this way."

"You and I stay in this city to fight, even if we can’t win, we can still act as bait."

"And my younger brother in my clan…" Qiao Mu looked at his silent dead body behind him and took a while to remember the name he casually mentioned earlier.

"Qiao Xiaoming is also quite skilled in martial arts. With him leading Stone City to hide in the shadows, we can wait for the right moment to strike."

Speaking of this, Qiao Mu remembered something and picked up the little kitten that was greedily sucking on him:

"This enchanted cat’s name is Wuchang. It can hide within my shadow, even a powerful immortal might not be able to find it. If it carries Stone City in its mouth and hides within my shadow, Lu Yanbei’s chances of survival will increase."

Qiao Mu prepared to split his troops into two directions.

One route is him, and the other route is also him.

In the meantime, the streets outside the Taoist temple grew quiet.

The old man in the book library held Stone City in his hand, sending all the old men, women, and children in the city into the palm of Stone City.

If Earth Sword Immortal were to do this, the remaining elderly in the city would not trust him easily, and it would take some convincing.

As for Li Changge’s younger brother, the half-faced old man who had come down from the battlefield, the remaining elderly in the city naturally trusted him.

Taoist Qingzhuo was about to arrive, and time was of the essence. There wasn’t much time for explanations, but there were no objections either. The speed of entering Stone City was fast.

Soon, this isolated city quieted down, and there was no sound on the streets.

In this surrounding area, only Qiao Mu, Earth Sword Immortal, Captain Hai, and other old soldiers remained.

"Earth Sword Immortal…" Captain Hai also spoke up at this time.

"Is there anything we can do?"

"You?" Earth Sword Immortal glanced at him.

"Just you guys?"

He and Captain Hai never got along, but now they happened to be on the same side.

"Oh, even though Qingzhuo’s target is me, if the entire city is empty, he might start to suspect something."

"How about this?" Earth Sword Immortal pointed at the dozens of stone statues inside the Taoist temple.

"You old soldiers, drip your own blood on the statues. These statues were made by me imitating the Immortal Gate’s method to create Taoist soldiers. Although they are crude and unfit for the battlefield, with the blood of martial artists like you, perhaps they can pass as soldiers."

"… Will this work?"

Captain Hai had some doubts, but his understanding of the immortal path was shallow, so he could only nod.

After all, most of these old soldiers were wounded in the recent battle and already lacked the strength to fight. Being able to make a small difference with a little blood was considered giving it their all.

However, when Captain Hai carefully examined the stone statues, his expression gradually became awkward.

These stone statues are all women, and they are extremely beautiful, especially the one given by Earth Sword Immortal, which is a mature woman with a graceful figure and broad-mindedness…

Captain Hai suspects that Earth Sword Immortal is targeting him, but he has no evidence.

However, at this critical moment, Captain Hai didn’t have time to be emotional. He took out a knife and cut a small wound on his wrist, letting the blood drip onto the stone statues.

After finishing this, Stone City’s library elder had also returned, allowing these old soldiers to enter Stone City one after another.

At this point.

The once bustling city is now empty and silent.

Only a few people remained inside this Taoist temple.

"The treasure refined by the immortal path is indeed extraordinary…" Qiao Mu carefully picked up Stone City, feeling that it was quite heavy, but not to the point of being unable to lift it.

He casually pressed Stone City on top of Impermanent Demon Cat’s head, but this heavy object on its head seemed to go unnoticed. The cat continued to stick out its tongue and lay down at Qiao Mu’s feet.

"The troublesome people are all gone."

"So, before Qingzhuo arrives, let’s talk about our plan to confront him." Earth Sword Immortal casually picked up a stone sword that was leaning diagonally in the corner.

"Forty years ago, I was already the number one in the world. I could kill anyone in this world."

"But even so, it’s still not enough."

"My sword can kill all the talented people in the world, but if I want to slay immortals, it’s not enough."

Earth Sword Immortal held the stone sword in his hand, looking as if lost in another world.

The sword in his hand was made of stone, but it could still be considered a sword.

This was the first time in thirty years that he, as Earth Sword Immortal, raised a sword.

Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye.

As Lu Yanbei was about to die, he finally understood the confusion in his heart and roughly understood why the old soldiers of this city were willing to die for others.

But it was too late.

Earth Sword Immortal is eighty-seven years old this year.

Four decades ago, he was already the strongest martial artist in the human world, known as a legendary figure, an extraordinary talent selected from countless martial artists in Jiu Province who dominated an era.

But he wasted thirty years of his life.

In the eyes of the Earth Sword Immortal at that time, giving up might have been a form of rebellion, even though it meant self-destruction.

Although Earth Sword Immortal didn’t care about the lives of soldiers and civilians, the Hundred-mile Desert had an Immortal Gate’s soul-capturing array. If he intervened and died at the hands of Taoist Qingzhuo who would come upon hearing the news, his soul would also fall into Taoist Qingzhuo’s hands.

He didn’t want to die in battle because staying alive was better than a good death. His own life was the most important.

However, giving up always comes at a cost.

Practicing martial arts is like rowing a boat against the current, if you don’t move forward, you’ll fall behind. He has grown old and his skills have declined, even though he is still at the same level, he has regressed in terms of ability.

If he still had time, perhaps he could start practicing martial arts again. It wouldn’t be too difficult to spend some time rejuvenating himself, after all, he still has a foundation.

But he doesn’t have any more time.

Earth Sword Immortal raised the stone sword in his hand and looked at Qiao Mu beside him.

"The sword of a mortal martial artist is not enough to slay immortals."

"In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures are required. I just wonder how determined Third Brother is?" he asked.

"Tell me, how do you want me to die?" Qiao Mu was very straightforward, and even a bit eager.

"Have you ever heard of the Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship?" Earth Sword Immortal looked up at the sky.

The sky over the solitary city was always gray, covered by a large formation. Looking up, all you could see was a scorching sun and boundless yellow sand.

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