Chapter 182: Chapter 133: Mysterious Firebird; The Great Fire of Tianduan Mountain
anwhile, in the core region of the Celestial Break Mountain Range, within the Linchuan Territory.
Thirty-four Innate Realm Martial Artists, shielding themselves with Innate Gang Qi against the scorching heat, surrounded a Firebird. Though wreathed in flas, the goshawk-sized creature was on its last breath!
For several miles around, the land was nothing but scorched earth.
The countless corpses of humans and beasts were strewn about haphazardly.
Among the encirclent, a pale, white-haired old man stared at the fireballs scattering across the sky, his expression grim.
"Damn it! To think it still had a trick like this right before death...!!"
"Dad, what do we do now?!" Su Ze asked, his expression equally grim as he watched the fireballs fall in every direction.
’At this rate, I’m afraid the entire Celestial Break Mountain Range will be devastated! And the countless villages, towns, counties, and Prefecture Cities at its base could all be in danger.’
"Go back at once and report this to the Sovereign! Then, notify the border armies of Linchuan, Xiangyang, Xichuan, and Haining. Tell them to be on guard against the Thirteen Royal Families from the northwest to the south, and watch for any moves from the Jin Kingdom to the north!"
Su Ze frowned, his expression indignant. "The Thirteen Royal Families? Would they dare?!"
Su Wuwei stared intently at the Firebird. It lay on the ground, still faintly breathing, on the verge of death. A look of excitent crossed his face as he quickly explained:
"Although they aren’t a Dynasty, they are ancient families with legacies spanning hundreds, even thousands of years, far surpassing the Gate Valve Families. If they unite, they’ll have more than enough power to confront Da Liang!
"Furthermore, the Innate Perfection Martial Artists within those families, experts just like , have been waiting a long ti for an opportunity just like this!
"This Firebird caused a two-year drought in the Land of Four Mansions. If the Sovereign’s Six Paths Bureau and Reincarnation Bureau hadn’t been keeping the Gate Valve Families in check, they would have gotten involved long ago.
"Now that the Thirteen Royal Families have seen the phenonon in the sky and the fireballs landing, how could they not realize this will cause civil unrest? They won’t ignore an opportunity like this; they’re bound to make a move! You must make arrangents imdiately, or the Four Mansions will descend into chaos! This is a critical situation—once the Four Mansions are in turmoil, the Jin Kingdom to the north will surely act."
Hearing this, Su Ze understood the urgency of the situation. He cupped his fists and said, "Yes, Father. I’ll go at once! Please be careful."
"Hahaha! Don’t worry about . We’ve been wearing it down for two years! Even though we lost so many masters of the Third Grade and above, it was all worth it. The creature will be dead in a matter of days!" Su Wuwei bood with laughter.
Su Ze took one last, deep look at the Firebird in the distance. It lay in a scorched crater, breathing faintly, no longer able to resist. A fervent glint appeared in his own eyes.
Three years ago, a ball of fire had fallen from the sky, which wasn’t considered a major event at first. After all, falling teorites were common enough.
But when it was discovered that this "teorite" could change direction, it imdiately drew the attention of the Six Paths Bureau and the Reincarnation Bureau, the organizations responsible for monitoring the entire Da Liang Dynasty.
The object eventually landed in the heart of the Celestial Break Mountain Range. From that point on, outside the mountains, river levels began to drop, and a drought slowly took hold.
The cause of it all was the mysterious Firebird. Countless Upper Three Grades Martial Artists, and even Innate Experts, had spent two years wearing it down. Though the casualties were imnse, it seed their efforts were finally about to pay off.
Su Ze imdiately turned, and with a few leaps, vanished into the mountain forest.
「At the Salt Workshop, northwest of the Inner Mountain Pass.」
Zhou Hanchang and his n were huddled in an earthen pit, sheltering from the nurous shockwaves.
Ordinary people were not Martial Artists; they lacked their resilience and could only take cover in the pits dug for the saltworks. Fortunately, no fireballs had landed in their imdiate vicinity.
"Sir, what in the world is going on?! Why is this happening?!" Wang Chunming cried out, his face a mask of terror as he stared at the fireballs that continued to rain down from the sky.
Zhou Hanchang didn’t know how to explain. But he was reminded of the object that had fallen from the sky three years ago. It had looked just like this.
"Could it be true, just like Zongyang said? Is there really so great secret in Tianduan Mountain?" Zhou Hanchang muttered. He felt a surge of anxiety. ’I still don’t know what’s happened back at the Inner Mountain Pass.’
As more fireballs crashed down, Zhou Hanchang watched the surrounding forest erupt in flas that shot toward the sky. He saw countless animals, their fur ablaze, shrieking as they fled for their lives. For a mont, he was frozen, completely at a loss.
The path back was consud by the forest fire. There was no way out!
They were surrounded by the blaze, with no idea where to run!
"Sir, what are we going to do?! I want to go ho! I have a wife and kids!" a big man cried out, his face streaked with tears as he choked back sobs.
"We can’t go back! We’re... we’re going to burn to death here!" another man cried, his face a mask of despair.
The others didn’t speak, but slumped weakly to the ground, their faces ashen with hopelessness.
In a situation like this, what escape could there possibly be?
Zhou Hanchang scanned his surroundings, but he refused to give up. He had promised Zongyang he would protect his workers.
However, their location, a barren patch where no trees could grow due to the high salt content in the soil, ironically protected them from the spreading flas.
But in this heat and smoke, they would either be roasted alive or suffocate!
Many animals had also fled the forest and taken refuge in the clearing, but this did nothing to solve the n’s predicant.
"Alright!"
Just then, Zhou Hanchang’s eyes fell on the water reservoir, and he made a decision. He jumped up and quickly tossed the n one by one into the water, shouting:
"Subrge yourselves in the water, leaving just your noses out to breathe! But hold your breath as long as you can. Only co up for air when you absolutely have to."
After saying that, he quickly checked the bamboo pipe that ran to them under the ground.
Water was still flowing from it, which ant it hadn’t been damaged by the disaster.
That was a small bit of good news.
The reservoir should be enough to ensure they all survived the blaze.
Wolves, tigers, leopards, deer, wild boars, monkeys, pythons, squirrels, rats, rabbits, goats, pheasants, foxes—countless animals of every kind, creatures they often saw in the mountains, were now all gathered together in the clearing.
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