Martial King's Retired Life

Volume 9 Chapter 70 Long Ago, There was a Mountain (Part 2)

Since the beast invasion was compared to a curse that human civilization couldn’t completely recover from in a decade, they called the long three decades “Fiend Calamity”.

It’s believed that the six evil beasts returned because they are born from natural miasma, therefore can never be exterminated. Howbeit, when the leaders returned, they no longer appeared the same, had an army at their command or decades to accumulate power. As such, it took only a few months to put them away when the reigning Emperor personally went to the battlefield, polishing his reputation. Subsequent to their victory, the Emperor discovered that he had not killed them for good. Consequently, he asked someone to investigate so their origins.

The individual the Emperor sought the aid of was an eccentric active in the pugilistic world and a myth in the martial world for his unmatched prowess - Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean. He was the man who delivered ten lightning bolts unto the beast that survived it - Huohu. Because the two of them went through life and death together, the Emperor decided to become sworn brothers with him and trusted his new brother with World Guardian Dragon so that the latter could command people with the same authority as himself.

The fiends didn’t give mankind anytime to prepare for their invasion. Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean, fortunately, found the mountain that the miasma came from after a three-year search. Finding that the thick miasma was more poisonous than any other poison he had ever witnessed and divining it was the home of evil, he called it Six Evil Beasts’ Genesis Grounds.

He thought climbing to the peak was tough, only to then fight the toughest, most dangerous battle of his life. He had no time to marvel the scalding-hot, elephant-sized egg on the peak for it cracked upon sensing his presence. Although the newborn beast had yet to grow into an adult, it already had a stare that could petrify its prey and a resentful howl. It took him ten days of outwitting the beast and guerrilla warfare to wear it down.

Exhausted, barely conscious and thirsty, he reactively swallowed whatever the liquid on his dry lips happened to be, thereby replenishing his true qi. By the time he came to, it dawned on him that drinking the Colossal Chaofeng’s blood saved his life. When he resumed exploring the mountain, he noticed that the miasma no longer impacted him, and all the beasts would bow in servitude to him, keeping him arms’ lengths away.

He resided on the mountain for a prolonged period to research the roots of the six evil beasts, confirming they were born from natural miasma and manifested inside ordinary beasts. Whenever the miasma was thick enough, one of them would spawn. In other words, there was no means of exterminating them permanently. Give them a few decades, and they would’ve built a military in the mountains they resided.

He sent a report of his findings back to the capital but stayed on the mountain for… he discovered another egg where he fought the Colossal Chaofeng, except there were no odd attributes. Unsure if it was malignant or not, he called his five other brothers, all of whom were exceptional fighters, to the mountain. Together, they were known as Six Luo Empyreans.

The six of them cast a formation to disperse the miasma on the mountain, allowing humans to inhabit it. During the window they were afforded, they left the mountain to recruit disciples in preparation for the next calamity. Ever since then, they resided on the mountain to train themselves and study the beasts, awaiting the day they would have to take up arms again to guard the human realm.

It took him thirty years to comprehend the evil beasts’ birth system, inspiring him to find a means of repressing their violent urges.

Thanks to his time on the mountain, he was able to consume natural, fresh dew, water from snow, ginseng and avoid toxic people, blessing him with the appearance of a forty year old when he was close to a hundred. On the other hand, the Emperor had already passed the reins on to his grandson. Thus, he left the mountain to pay his respects to the imperial court and pass on his method for repressing the beasts’ violent urges to the reigning Emperor. His old friend’s grandson saluted the elder on his knees and showed the utmost respect.

He returned to the mountain to resume his research, hoping to find a method to stop the calamity once and for all after. Unfortunately, only a few years later, he was asked to come down the mountain because the six evil beasts were back and as hazardous as the first time they descended. The elder didn’t see the egg hatch. Moreover, according to his calculations, it should’ve been sixty years before the next invasion.

When he headed out to investigate with his brothers, it turned out that the young Emperor he trusted had utilised the method to have his men fetch eggs of the six evil beasts, using them as soldiers to attack the nations to the west. The young Emperor only managed to hatch two eggs - which were from the two his grandfather slew. Once he raised them into fiends capable of besieging cities, he could no longer rein them in.

Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean was left with no choice but to bring out World Guardian Dragon to recruit help. With his newfound knowledge and more refined skills, they managed to quell the mayhem in a shorter time frame and reduce their losses compared to the first round of carnage. Nevertheless, when the infuriated ruler in the west retaliated, Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean walked away. The hubristic Emperor thought he was born as tough as his grandfather and rode into battle, only to be knocked off his horse and stomped to death under horse hooves on his first battle. By the time peace was restored to the imperial court and Central Plain, Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean had left the mundane world for dozens of years already.

When Impregnable Daluo Golden Empyrean returned to the mountain post-war against the two rampaging beasts, a disciple reported there was another egg on the mountain - another Colossal Chaofeng. He had no spare time or energy to spend on the other four, but he made it his mission to watch over the two evil beasts on the mountain.

To avoid history repeating itself, he kept the existence of the two evil beasts on the mountain a top secret from the rest of the world. In addition, he passed on all of his skills and knowledge to his disciples, entrusting them with the task of continuing the job he dedicated almost half of his life to. He never left the mountain again until the day he took his last breath.

Not avoiding a natural disaster despite knowing about it. Not complaining when he knew the undertaking meant he’d likely be stuck on the mountain for the rest of his life. His surname was Ming. He was the founder of the sect that flourished on the mountain that would later be named Mount Daluo just as the sect was.

Regardless of how the stars moved, how many times the sun rose, Mount Daluo was attached to the martial world’s history. Regardless of how much time went by, they were always hailed as one of the leaders of the orthodox sects. Regardless of what heinous crimes they committed, they would were granted indemnity as they sacrificed their life, and the lives of their descendants, to ensure mankind would live to see another day. Because they gave their lives to stop the natural calamity, the world still stands today.

Glossary

Colossal Chaofeng - The “colossal” word is a made up addition, but the Chaofeng is an actual savage beast in Chinese mythology known for its fearlessness and love of high places. The legend says that it’s one of Dragon King’s nine offspring. That being said, there are arguments that claim otherwise as not all sources agree which creatures make up the nine offspring.