Chapter 129

The farm is about four hundred li from Dragon City.

Wu Tie and his party did not spare their mounts' strength this time, letting the mounts gallop all the way. After about two and a half hours, when the light and heat of the False Sun overhead peaked, they arrived outside Dragon City.

Outside the city, on one side of the road, a piece of flat ground about five to six hundred mu in size had been cleared, covered with fine sand.

Over a thousand disciples of the Changsheng Sect wore only a loincloth around their waists, drenched in sweat as they tempered their bodies on the flat ground. Their method of training the body left Wu Tie gaping.

Half of the disciples stood firm in horse stances, while the other half, each holding an iron rod as thick as a bowl's mouth, grimaced and wildly smashed down on their partners.

They held nothing back; the iron rods whistled with a 'whooo' sound, each strike heavily slamming onto these Changsheng Sect disciples' bodies—on the head, neck, shoulders, back, chest, lumbar, lower abdomen, thighs, buttocks, calves, shins, and even the most vital groin……

The iron rods made the disciples' bodies go 'bang bang', each of them gritting their teeth and enduring the rods' bombardment.

Beneath their iron‑black skin, tiny blood vessels like earthworms writhed, and countless veins bulged on their scalps, making them look horrifying at first glance.

Wu Tie and his companions slowed their mounts, slowly riding past the edge of the training ground, and everyone stared wide‑eyed at the Changsheng Sect disciples.

Lao Bai and Lu Ji stared blankly at those bowl‑thick iron rods, instinctively comparing them to their own necks. One was a rat‑person, the other a human‑dwarf hybrid; their petite builds meant their necks were still thinner than the rods, and their physiques were their greatest weakness.

With such iron rods, a single blow could surely crush them, right?

"Changsheng Sect… so terrifying." Lao Bai muttered softly.

Beside the training ground, by the road, a dozen or so bronze‑skinned sturdy men gathered around a silver‑skinned hulk. The silver‑skinned man stood nearly three meters tall, like a small iron tower planted there.

Their powerful physiques brought terrifying bodily functions; this group of sturdy men all heard Lao Bai's low whisper, then turned their heads and bared their teeth at him in a grin.

Especially the tallest silver‑skinned man, his eyes like knives swept harshly over Wu Tie and his party, and he snorted from his nose: "Rat‑person? Trash… dwarf? Trash among trash… woman? Not even fit for trash… Hmm, you two seem to have some potential."

The sturdy man made no effort to hide his contempt for Lao Bai, Lu Ji, and Yan Hanlu, declaring proudly: "That lanky kid, and that fatso… if you've got the guts, join my Changsheng Sect… even as the lowest‑rank outer disciple you'd get five gold dragons' pocket money a month."

"Besides, food and drink are free—big chunks of meat, big bowls of wine—and every day you can train your body with a bunch of hot‑blooded men, brawl, slash people… what a joy!"

"What do you think? Give it some thought… real men join my Changsheng Sect… only women go to the Longevity Sect!"

The burly man had no idea how many times he'd repeated this spiel back and forth; though he seemed rough‑spoken, his tongue stumbled not at all, and he delivered the long string of words fluently, clearly and plainly.

A group of burly men grinned widely, striving to show off their brilliance and enthusiasm.

In their eyes, Wu Tie was a fine specimen.

His youthful face showed he wasn't old. His height, slightly over two meters, indicated a good physique. Though a bit scrawny, if fed plenty of meat and fattened like a pig for a few months, he'd become a sturdy lad.

As for Shi Fei, needless to say, his thickset, towering build reveals he has a trace of Giant Bloodline.

This is exactly the type of disciple the Changsheng Sect likes best.

Giant Bloodline signifies strength, frenzied strength. And Shi Fei being so plump proves he is healthy, with a hearty appetite—a guy who can eat and drink, loves to eat and drink; placed in the Changsheng Sect he'd be talent, absolute talent!

"Think it over… joining my Changsheng Sect brings more benefits than this." The burliest man shouted: "We've been at war year‑round with the Longevity Sect, killing their sissy men, seizing their women… the Longevity Sect's women, one by one, are trained to be all soft and giggly—hehe, messing with them is the utmost fun, hahaha!"

"How about it? As long as you join my Changsheng Sect, with merit you'll get money, grain, and women!" The man slapped his solid, sturdy pectorals, two lumps like small wine jars jumping violently.

This guy's muscular strength is fierce as a demon; when his pecs jump, the muscles violently shake the air, actually emitting a low, thunder‑like rumble.

Such an extraordinary physical endowment… even if Wu Tie's bodily strength might already be on the order of millions of catties, he couldn't manage it!

Wu Tie has a lean, wiry build, his whole body covered in streamlined muscles like iron plates, tightly wrapped around his bones. He wants to shake his pecs to produce such a roar, but he can't!

Wu Tie stared, astonished and shocked, at the burly man's violently trembling muscles.

The burly man intended to show off; he and the dozen or so bronze‑skinned men beside him simultaneously flexed their whole bodies' muscles.

A dozen or so men, over two meters tall but under three, each wearing only a loincloth around the waist, flexed their bulging muscles to show off their extraordinarily sturdy physiques to Wu Tie and Shi Fei, the two big men……

The six False Suns in the sky were very conspicuous.

On the main road, people came and went, with several caravans moving in and out.

Wu Tie suddenly felt a pang of shame… his face felt as if it were about to melt from the heat.

"Thanks for your kindness… but… hehe, hehe, kid I still have important matters to attend to… hehe, kid I need to go find my elder brother…" Wu Tie stammered, then bowed his hands to the big man.

"No rush, think it over… real men, just join the Changsheng Sect." The man laughed loudly: "Remember, big brother I'm the Changsheng Sect's instructor stationed in Dragon City, Wang Wu… old brother I like to cleave people with a big saber, so they all call me Big Saber Wang Wu."

"If you want to join the Changsheng Sect, go to its garrison in Dragon City and give my name, big brother. Big Saber Wang Wu, who specially likes to cleave people with a ten‑thousand‑catty great saber—Big Saber Wang Wu."

Wang Wu laughed smugly, deliberately showing off his great saber that weighs ten thousand catties.

"Listen up, folks, look well—this is my, Old Man Wang Wu's, ten‑thousand‑catty great saber." Feeling proud, Wang Wu picked up from the nearby weapon rack a saber almost as tall as he is, with a hilt one meter long and a blade about two meters long.

"It's not that I, Wang Wu, can't wield a heavier weapon… it's the fault of the Changsheng Sect's smiths—they can't forge anything heavier." Wang Wu smugly brought the back of the blade down hard on his own skull, producing a loud 'dong'.

"Actually, I've tested my strength—I could handle weapons weighing thirty‑to‑fifty thousand catties with ease, swinging them lightly. But the Changsheng Sect's smiths… tsk, it's not me bad‑mouthing them behind their backs; they truly lack skill, they can't forge the heavier weapons I want."

Every word from Big Saber Wang Wu carries an aura of embarrassment.

Wu Tie and his party spurred their mounts, fleeing in a sorry state toward Dragon City.

On the main road, people came and went, with several convoys passing by; Big Saber Wang Wu sprayed saliva as he showed off his weapon, not noticing that Wu Tie and company had already run off.

When he got excited, Big Saber Wang Wu grabbed his weapon and blocked a passing caravan, then slammed his great saber heavily into the ground.

"Come, come, come, do you believe my saber weighs ten thousand catties?" Big Saber Wang Wu hammered his chest, emitting a 'dong dong' thunderous sound: "In your convoy, send a man to pull out my saber and try a few moves."

"If you can do it, I'll have the junior brother in charge of taxes waive all your fees for this trip."

"Putting it bluntly, if you can't, hey, cough up ten big gold dragons and invite Grandpa Wang Wu for a drink… Grandpa will show you a set of Arhat Subduing Demon Saber; who knows, you might pick up three or two moves."

Wu Tie and his group had already run far away.

Suddenly hearing Wang Wu's loud shout, Wu Tie jerked his head back to look at him.

Is the Changsheng Sect's sword technique called the Arhat Subduing Demon Saber?

Diamond Subduing Demon Fist, Arhat Subduing Demon Saber… in Old Tie's inherited martial arts, there indeed is the Arhat Subduing Demon Saber.

Simple and heavy, the Arhat Subduing Demon Saber consists of only eighteen strokes, yet each stroke is supremely straightforward, filled with an upright, righteous flavor of slaying demons.

Wu Tie's mood inexplicably became quite good.

Wang Wu seems not bad.

These Changsheng Sect disciples seem a bit simple‑minded, but they're not exactly bad people.

In their sword training, they have the Arhat Subduing Demon Saber.

In this world, Wu Tie seems to have gained a bit of connection with many people, a slight bond. This feeling, inexplicably, is quite nice.

From behind came Wang Wu's loud shout: "Forget it, I don't need you bunch of bitter big golden dragons… Hey, watch closely, the Arhat Subduing Demon Blade has twelve styles in total, first style, Subduing Dragon Arhat Furious Slash of the Magic Dragon."

Wu Tie stared blankly; the first style of the Arhat Subduing Demon Blade is indeed Subduing Dragon Arhat Furious Slash of the Magic Dragon, but the Arhat Subduing Demon Blade isn't supposed to have eighteen styles total?

Wang Wu, feeling smug, waved a broadsword on the main road, producing a sheet of snow-light that blocked the entire road; gradually, the crowd and convoys on the road grew more and more, with nobody daring to pass by Wang Wu's side.

As Wu Tie and the others entered Long Dragon City, a loud, coarse voice suddenly rang out from a high tower, thunderous and echoing for dozens of li around: "Wang Wu, you damn bastard… get lost… you're blocking the road, who am I supposed to collect taxes from? Get out!"

A thick iron pole, about a foot in diameter and three meters long, came whistling out from the tower.

The iron rod instantly sliced through a distance of several hundred zhang, heavily slamming into that blade-light.

The iron rod shattered the blade-light and slammed hard into Wang Wu's face. Amid the deafening bang, Wang Wu grabbed the iron rod with one hand and staggered back dozens of steps, each step leaving a water-tank-sized hole in the ground.

Wang Wu shook his head, hurled the iron rod heavily to the ground, and pointed at the tower, cursing loudly.

Wang Wu's face didn't redden at all; instead, one end of that iron rod, originally smooth, bore a harshly impressed three-inch-deep human face outline. Wang Wu's head was far harder than that iron rod.

Wu Tie and the others had already entered Long Dragon City.

This city was more than ten times the scale of the Black Stone City and Big Stone City that Wu Tie and the others had seen before.

Inside the city there were several wide main roads, with neatly planned various buildings along the sides—shops, restaurants, taverns, even dedicated brothels, and hotels for senior personnel of passing caravans to rest.

The Long Dragon Realm is indeed much more prosperous than the Cangyan Realm; at least in Black Stone City you couldn't find a tavern open to the public, couldn't find a hotel specially for receiving honored guests, and couldn't find an entertainment venue for passing customers to release ** power.

What surprised Wu Tie even more was that at the crossroads where two main streets met, he saw a shop bustling with people coming and going, and at its entrance stood a neat row of clean‑cut Rat Warriors wearing soft armor.

These Rat People grinned, showing bright big teeth, and enthusiastically greeted the customers coming and going.

Looking at the shop's signboard outside, it was a place run by Rat People that specialized in selling all kinds of information.

Lao Bai's body went stiff; he stared blankly at the shop, his face suffused with an extremely holy glow, and, as if drunk, his cheeks turned slightly red.

In the Cangyan Realm, Rat People are either wandering thieves and bandits or the lowest‑rank warriors of each clan, and they have always been bullied and looked down upon.

He had never imagined that Rat People could run such a large operation.

Such… magnificence, splendor, such grandeur and dignity… Lao Bai seemed to suddenly see the heaven of his dreams.

Wu Tie tapped Lao Bai's head hard with his finger, pulling him out of his reverie.

"Lao Bai, go ask your kin whether there are any caravans heading to Nüwa Valley."

"Also ask, if I want to buy large quantities of primordial grass, of various attributes, who should I go to."

"Well, this hotel is not bad; we'll just go in to rest up. Once you've gathered the news, hurry back and meet up with us."

Lao Bai hurriedly nodded, smiling all over as he rode a snake‑pattern lizard, darting off toward the Rat‑run information stall.

Wu Tie and the others, meanwhile, entered the hotel opposite the crossroads, which bore the sign of the Six Paths Palace Stone Gate.

Several neatly dressed, clean‑washed dwarf maidens, whose looks had been carefully selected and were quite pretty and lovely, came forward warmly, yet without any obsequious flattery, and bowed to Wu Tie and the others.

"Honored guests, please come in…… The Six Paths Hotel is the largest hotel in Dragon City, offering everything one could need; any legitimate request, we can fulfill."