Supreme Sword Exalt

Chapter 166 - A Millennium Ago, a Giant Descended Upon the World, Claiming to Be a God

The interior of the secret realm was constantly saturated with red mist. Be it the ground, the vegetation, or scattered rubble, their colors deepened by several shades.

Inside a valley, a Qingyun Pavilion disciple wore a face full of lingering fear. “We’re lucky! If not for Junior Brother Chu’s timely warning, we would have likely suffered heavy losses this time!”

Chu Kuang noticed the anomaly first. Thanks to his warning, everyone but one slow-witted individual raised their protective spirit lights in time and avoided turning into monsters.

Full of emotions, Yuan Gang stared at the yellowish, incredibly profound and mysterious pill in his hand. “Not just that! This True Origin Pill is the highest grade pill for recovering cultivation, often priceless and unavailable on the market. Who would have thought he carried quite a few! Heh... By relying on these, we can easily endure for half a month, and even explore the center area!”

Like Yang Lin, they too fell into pill shortage. Yet Chu Kuang resolved everything with ease. Not only did he carry a substantial amount, each type was of extremely high quality and preciousness like the True Origin Pill. Helping everyone cope for half a month was more than sufficient. Their gratitude toward him had almost reached an unsurpassable level.

Chu Kuang smiled faintly. “The secret realm’s center? It is definitely worth a visit, just not now!”

Yuan Gang was somewhat curious. “Do you perhaps have other plans?”

He hadn’t noticed how his attitude toward Chu Kuang had shifted, going from initial appreciation to seeking his opinion on everything.

Chu Kuang was brimming with confidence, as if he had everything under control. “What about Yang Lin and the others? It’s unlikely they foresaw such a scenario and specially prepared a large amount of pills on them, right?”

Yuan Gang’s brow furrowed slightly. “Still, he has that red bead. I’m sure Murong Yan and the others have died already. Plus, with those pills—”

Chu Kuang’s gaze turned distant and profound. “Haven’t you noticed? The red mist is thickening.”

The group’s gazes swept around, their hearts tightening. He’s right!

Chu Kuang grinned. “The more time passes, the greater their consumption will be. Even if they robbed Murong Yan and the others’ pills, it still wouldn’t be enough.”

Seeing Chu Kuang’s expression, Yuan Gang thought of the man’s origins and an idea stirred in his heart. “Do you know what exactly is this red mist?”

Chu Kuang sighed. “It’s the power of a god.”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. “A god?”

That was the second time Chu Kuang had used the term.

One person was greatly puzzled. “In this world, could there truly be gods?”

Chu Kuang shook his head, answering vaguely, “Who knows?”

He seemed somewhat distracted, as if recalling something.

In fact, a giant had descended upon the world a millennium ago, claiming to be a god.

***

Within the consciousness space, the shadow exhaled, laden in feeling after hearing Gu Han’s account. “Marrow-Draining Pill? That’s some good stuff, countless times better than my Blood Spirit Art. It’s your go-to for cultivating a cannon fodder for the demon soldiers! Pity, if I hadn’t been ambushed back then, I would have wanted to have someone refine a batch...”

Once again lost in the irretrievable glory of the past, he chatters incessantly, unaware that Gu Han’s expression had turned extremely ugly.

Gu Han forcefully suppressed his anger. “Is there really no solution?”

The shadow looked at him as if he were a fool. “Solution? Come, come, let me explain to you what cannon fodder is! It’s consumable, used once and discarded, the kind that can’t be recovered! Why save one when it costs about the same to make thousands more?! Who would be so foolish to specially research a method to cure them? If you really cured them, could they still be called cannon fodder?”

Ignoring his sarcastic tone, Gu Han focused on one point in his words. “So, there is a way?”

The shadow faltered. “It’s actually very simple, just next to impossible for you all to accomplish.”

“Tell me then!”

“It’s been too long. The pill’s medicinal power has long fused with him. Ordinary spirit herbs that replenish foundation and potential are already useless for him. Well, unless you can find a spirit herb of saint grade or above.”

Saint herb? Gu Han’s heart sank. He hadn’t even seen a saint herb, let alone a half-saint herb. Moreover, it had to specifically replenish foundation and potential?

The shadow sighed, getting emotional again. “Back in the day, even my war pets ate saint herbs—ahem!”

Seeing Gu Han’s unfriendly expression, he shifted his tone. “Fine, since he is your friend, I will impart a secret technique to him. Although it cannot solve his problem, it can help him avoid that bone-gnawing, marrow-sucking pain.”

Gu Han’s mood improved slightly, but as he listened, his mood soured again. “Your method...”

The shadow generously admitted. “There’s no need to doubt! It’s still a method for cultivating cannon fodder! Someone who is oblivious, senseless, and only knows to charge forward is a qualified cannon fodder!”

Gu Han almost gave him a taste of his sword. In the end, he shot the shadow a cold glance and turned to leave. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something else. “Right, there’s one more thing...”

He recounted his observations within the secret realm.

The shadow was stunned. “God? Three eyes, six arms?”

“You know about them?”

The shadow’s tone turned grave. “A bit. In the distant Primordial Era, an unprecedented great war erupted. Heaven and earth shattered, and the great Dao crumbled. It was a tremendous calamity. Legend has it, a clan that called themselves gods participated in that war. Three eyes, six arms, matching your description perfectly.”

Gu Han was taken aback. “You fought in it too?”

The shadow answered irritably, “I said it was the Primordial Era! I wasn’t even born then, what war would I have fought in?! This is all knowledge I gleaned from some remnant ancient texts.”

“The result?”

The shadow sighed. “The result? According to the fragmentary words left in the texts, that war left the myriad races in decline, with less than one in a hundred living beings surviving. Ever since then, many powerful races either went into seclusion, or gradually declined. They vanished completely into the long river of time, leaving almost no traces. Even if news occasionally emerged, it was unverified and baseless. This god clan was no exception. Why would traces of them exist here? This continent is clearly just an obscure, out-of-the-way place. Strange, truly strange...”

Gu Han frowned. “Are these monsters the gods?”

“They have no divine intellect to speak of, not even worthy of being called divine servants! At most, they are...” The shadow sneered repeatedly, thinking for a moment before giving a very apt analogy. “Cannon fodder!”

Gu Han was speechless. It seemed the shadow had a special fondness for such things.

He shook his head and was about to leave when the shadow called out, “Wait.”

The shadow seemed to remember something.