Chapter 3: The Short Spears and the Broken Arm |
Zong Ge was slowly walking through his clan’s armory.
The radiance of the enchanted torches shined brightly against every corner here.
There were many types of weapons and armor here.
Golden light sparkled, killing aura emitted from a large axe, there a malevolent looking dagger here, a ginormous wolf tooth club, exquisite armor…
Zong Ge ran his attentive eyes over every piece of martial equipment.
He knew being here was an exceedingly rare opportunity.
This was fine equipment, it would have taken several, even up to ten years of savings to buy any one piece here.
“Quickly now, don’t tell me you want to sit down here all day?” A knight pushed Zong Ge from behind impatiently.
Zong Ge staggered forward, then after steading himself, he continued to walk with a slight frown.
A half beastman.
He was a bastard, the only reason he could enter the armory was because he had obtained his father’s approval.
However, the knight behind him was also a clan elder, and a zealous supporter of one of his younger brother at that.
Knowing that time was short, Zong Ge had to pick up the pace.
However, when he saw how much martial equipment there was, he became increasingly bewildered.
The dazzling lineup of equipment blinded him, when there were so many choices, he couldn’t decide what to choose.
“I’ll give you five more minutes, past that, even if you haven’t picked anything by then, I shall drag out myself!” The knight behind him grumbled.
Zong Ge sensed his malice, and understood the latter’s words clearly.
Although this was the first time he had entered and with his father’s approval too, Zong Ge wouldn’t be reporting anything back to his father.
After all, he and his father only met two or three times a year.
If he complained to his father that he’d been bullied, he would likely be berated by his father – I gave you a chance, yet you weren’t able to seize it? Did an underling actually bully my son? Incompetent!
As time grew shorter, Zong Ge could only take a deep breath and focus his complete attention on finding a weapon that suited him.
He already had a choice pictured in his mind.
After hurrying back, he came back to a black steel lance.
Just as he was about grab it, he was suddenly distracted by something in the corner of his eye, two short spears leaning in the corner.
Compared to the black steel lance, the two short spears were smaller. Although they were made of quality materials, they did not conform with Zong Ge’s fighting style.
Even though he was proficient in all kinds of weapons, he preferred certain ones.
Yet, those two short spears impressed an interesting feeling in him.
It was a sense of familiarity, like a distant relative calling out to him.
“Have you made your choice yet? Time’s up!”
“I did!”
Due to a curious coincidence, Zong Ge gave up the rational option that was the black steel lance, and instead walked over and picked up the two short spears.
The moment he touched them with his hands, he immediately felt an indescribable emotion.
After leaving the armory, Zong Ge didn’t have time to think, he still had to meet his father.
“You chose those?” His father asked when he saw the spears in Zong Ge’s hands, his eyes flashing with astonishment.
“Father, these two short spears are…” Zong Ge respectfully asked after saluting.
“They belong to you.” His father did not explain anything, instead he waved his hand, “Go to the Wilderness Continent, establish your own achievements. You shall not use neither the clan’s resources nor our name, let me see what you can do on your own.”
“Yes, father. I will not disappoint your expectations!” Zong Ge repressed his rage, and firmly grasped his short spears.
He then opened his eyes to see the Deep Sea Monster Fish, half remembering his dream as he awoke.
He couldn’t help but notice that he was gripping those very spears in his hands.
He was no longer sleepy.
Zong Ge got up, took out a tarpaulin, then sat on his bed and cleaned his spears.
Weapons needed to be maintained.
This habit was engrained in Zong Ge’s bones, as if it were instinct.
Mystifying Monster Island hadn’t allowed him to do so, but now that he could, he wouldn’t forget.
War Merchant’s stores had had top-notch maintenance oil.
Soon after, the maintenance was finished, exhibiting the quality of the spears even more.
Buit Zong Ge still frowned, exposing his vexation.
Although these spears looked impressive, they were hard to use.
It would be easier to imbue a stubborn stone with battle qi than it. What’s worse, wielding them would also lower the concentration of Zong Ge’s bloodline.
After using it several times, Zong Ge had made the shocking discovery that if he held them for too long, his bloodline would thin!
Bloodline concentration determined his cultivation aptitude.
As soon as he noticed this drawback, Zong Ge had shelved these spears away.
“To have such a great flaw, yet still be stored in the clan’s armory, these surely must be extraordinary.”
“I just haven’t found the correct way to use them!”
It wasn’t because Zong Ge hadn’t tried, but his father hadn’t given him anything and nothing was recorded in the clan’s library on what these two short spears were.
Zong Ge surmised: perhaps this was a test from his father!
“If I cannot even use the weapon I chose and fumble about, am I even qualified to be his son?”
Zong Ge’s thoughts shifted from his father to his current situation.
He had teamed up with the monstrous youth, Zi Di, and Cang Xu. Their shared experience through life and death together had caused him to have a deep connection to this group.
“If I contacted my father and gave him some of the merits, would he help us shed our sin?”
Zong Ge shook his head.
It was an uncertain hope.
He understood his father well.
Iron-willed and haughty.
“The most likely outcome would be that my father would slaughter everyone but me.”
“The divine artifacts and War Merchant’s alchemy will net me many merits.”
“But I do not want that.”
This was not the way he wanted to achieve glory.
He didn’t need to wonder how his siblings would be evaluating him.
He stepped on dog shit luck.
It was too convenient.
He was a treacherous snake who murdered a Sheng Ming priest and his own comrades!
Zong Ge wanted to succeed, but not like this.
He wanted an outstanding military career, he wanted to shut everyone up, he wanted to bravely display that he could accomplish his goals, and he wanted all doubts and slander incapable of staining his honor.
From beginning to end, the half beastman’s lofty aspirations had never been cowed.
During the prior meeting, everyone had been divided into their respective duties.
Zong Ge had to follow, for the youngster’s prestige and leadership was insurmountable and immovable.
“After solving our current predicament, I’ll be able to leave this group and move freely again.”
“After reaching the Wilderness Continent, I shall fight bravely and establish myself.
“I still need my own team.”
“Anyways, if they also go to the Wilderness Continent, they’ll be dependable allies.”
Zong Ge’s great ambitions were unwilling to be subservient to others. His career of leadership had also made him used to having supportive subordinates around him.
But because of their shared trials and tribulations, he trusted his companions completely.
The more he thought of the future, the less drowsy he became.
He got up and practiced his sword in a small cabin.
The precise sword motions calmed and brightened Zong Ge’s heart.
A faint pain pricked from his arm.
It was where his arm had been broken.
It had been a lingering injury from the control tower.
At the time, half his arm had been severed from his body.
Although he had used a treatment scroll after the situation had been stabilized to repair the cut, the wound still hadn’t fully headed even after all this time, there was still lingering damage.
“To have such a distinct feeling with mere practice strokes.”
Zong Ge’s heart sank, he sensed things were far from good.
He began to use his battle qi.
Th half beastman’s iron-will battle qi was a common type among imperial military commanders, it brimmed with the characteristics of strength, firmness, and impassioned bravery.
Zong Ge’s internal battle qi seemed to assemble like troops as it washed through every pore in his body.
His other limbs were normal, however, his broken arm reacted with acute pain!
Soon after, the iron-will battle qi began to seep from his broken arm and out of Zong Ge’s body.
Zong Ge stopped his battle qi at once, then looked at the scar circling his arm.
The scar coiling his arm was beginning to slowly leak blood.
“My broken arm hasn’t been fully healed, the iron-will battle qi cannot flow through it.”
“If I fight a powerful enemy in the future, this wound will become my mortal flaw!”
“I must resolve this.”
He could not solve this problem by himself.
Zong Ge’s battle qi couldn’t heal, so he decided to ask for help.
Screee.
The metal cabin door opened, and Zong Ge left to find Zi Di and Cang Xu.
The half beastman acted swiftly and decisively.
The alchemy testing chamber cabin.
This place in the Deep Sea Monster Fish was the most spacious place and had the most luxurious facilities on the ship.
When Zong Ge arrived, Cang Xu was in the middle of running an alchemy test on the Mermaid Fairy Tale.
After escaping the countless perils, they had joyously welcomed their exhaustion, and nearly all of them were sleeping right now.
But Cang Xu was a necromancer, his body had been transformed into a state between life and death, half dead and half alive. This gave him stamina and energy far greater than normal people. It was because of this constitution that this old and withered man could have survived the tribulations of Mystifying Monster Island.
Rays produced by the alchemical installation were shining on the divine shell, one red and one blue.
Cang Xu was holding a pearl bubble and carefully observing it.
The red and blue lights were reflecting on his face as the necromancer was immersed in his pondering.
Screee.
The metal cabin door opened, interrupting Cang Xu’s thoughts.
It was Zong Ge.
Cang Xu pursed his brows, the interruption completely obliterated the inspiration his mind was on the verge of seizing.
Zong Ge pressed down his complex observations, his face expressionless.
On the one hand, Cang Xu was his comrade through life and death. On the other hand, Cang Xu was a necromancer!
This necromancer was an enemy of all living beings and every god.
Although Zong Ge was a bastard, his father was a famous imperial noble and he had been taught the empire’s universal values since childhood, and had been molded by them especially during his military career.
Zong Ge looked around, he didn’t see Zi Di, only the scowling Zi Di. He immediately explained his purpose in coming,
Cang Xu sighed, “It seems we didn’t treat it on time, there are still sequalae remaining.”
“Although I sympathize, I cannot help you with it.”
“I am a necromancer, good at harming life, but terrible at healing it…”
He shook his head when he said that.
“In that case, where is Miss Zi Di” Zong Ge asked.
“She is in the captain’s room right now.” Cang Xu replied.