Shackles of Humanity

In Longyang City, at the Su Family Manor, Su Chengbo sat in his study, flipping through documents delivered by his secretary. Although he was the City Lord of Longyang City, he had no need to handle daily administrative tasks. The team of advisors he’d recruited had already organized all government affairs impeccably, leaving him to simply give them a brief review and sign off.

He finished in less than half an hour. After his secretary left, Su Chengbo rose and walked to the window. He closed his eyes, but the vertical eye on his forehead opened, facing the sun. The piercing sunlight converged, transforming into streams of silver light that poured into his vertical eye.

The Tri-Eyed Race possessed a natural Light Energy Affinity. As long as they opened their third eye, they could channel Light Energy to strengthen their bodies. The process was not dangerous, so every member of the Tri-Eyed Race who fully opened their third eye would most likely advance to become a Body Master.

They only needed to remain patient and composed, guiding Light Energy to temper their bodies each day. Once their bodies were completely transformed, they would become a Body Master. Of course, becoming a Body Master was not the end, but merely the beginning.

To Body Masters like them, all worldly matters were dull and tasteless. The supreme path of evolution was the ultimate goal they pursued.

It was for this very reason that the Tri-Eyed Race boasted numerous Body Masters. Body Masters represented the pinnacle of the Human Race’s martial power, each one an old monster in their own right. Even Emperor Dongyuan had to think twice before acting against them; after all, a political power without martial strength was like a castle in the air.

”Father,” Su Wenlin said in a low voice as he entered the study.

Su Chengbo closed his vertical eye and turned. ”What is it?”

”Father, the twenty engineers sent by the clan as support have arrived. Also, Fourth Uncle is here,” Su Wenlin said respectfully, his head lowered.

”Mm.” Su Chengbo nodded faintly and returned to sit at his desk.

Su Wenlin hesitated for a moment before probing, ”Father, I heard you’re preparing to rebuild the Wolf Soul Army?”

Su Chengbo looked up at him. ”Wenlin, do you feel that having you supervise the construction of the industrial zone is a waste of your talent?”

Su Wenlin took a few steps forward. ”Father, what’s so interesting about that industrial zone? Just let me go to the army and gain some experience.”

Su Chengbo pondered for a moment. ”I do intend for you to gain experience in the military. However, it won’t be the Wolf Soul Army, but the navy.”

”Ah, the navy? Do you mean the Nanya Island fleet?”

Su Chengbo nodded. ”Right now, none of the nations place much importance on their navies. But once the situation changes, the future will absolutely belong to the navy. They can advance to attack and retreat to defend. The resources I requested from the clan this time are for the sole purpose of building a powerful navy. The Sea Race emissary has already agreed to an alliance and will provide us with advanced shipbuilding technology. Your Fourth Uncle will be in command of all naval matters. You can go and serve as his deputy.”

Su Wenlin was excited at first, but his excitement soon turned to disappointment. He mumbled, ”Just going to be an assistant, huh.”

Su Chengbo sighed. ”Wenlin, I know you’ve always wanted to prove yourself. I am aware of your capabilities. Your only weakness is that your temperament isn’t steady enough, and you lack experience. You must understand my good intentions.”

”Yes, I understand.” Su Wenlin walked sullenly toward the door. Just as he reached it, he turned back. ”Father, Little Sister hasn’t left her room in days. She listens to you the most. You should try to talk to her.”

A trace of warmth appeared on Su Chengbo’s face. ”Your little sister is studying Nine Extremes Numerology with a young friend. Don’t disturb her for the next couple of days.”

Su Wenlin said with some regret, ”Oh, that would be Miss Xiaoxue, right? Such a nice girl. Why can’t she speak? Father, shouldn’t we have someone take a look at her?”

Su Chengbo shook his head. ”The Celestial Dao is imperfect. Heaven gave her an extraordinary gift, so it naturally took something else away. This is fate. We cannot change it.”

Not long after Su Wenlin left, an advisor rushed into the study. ”City Lord, an urgent request for help has arrived from Changyuan County in the Southern Region! They report that a massive swarm of mutated locusts is flying in from the South Sea and is about to cross into our territory!”

Su Chengbo’s expression darkened. ”How could locusts fly across the vast sea? Do we know where they’re from?”

The advisor took a map from his coat, spread it on the desk, and pointed to a lone continent in the deep sea. ”Your subordinate suspects they flew from the Land of the Red Pole.”

...

Without the Mist to hinder him, Luo Kai dashed out of the valley in an instant. Gradually, his entire body seemed to take flight. With Lu Qing on his back, he leaped between the treetops like a wildcat, a slight push-off sending him gliding dozens of meters.

Lu Qing saw the terrifying creature chasing them from behind. She was about to cry out when a gust of oncoming wind filled her mouth. She simply closed her eyes and, smelling a strong masculine scent, her terrified heart gradually began to calm.

The Cyan-Scaled Python behind them was just as fast. Snakes rely on muscle contractions to move, and its body, as thick as a century-old tree, rippled as it wove nimbly through the forest, its speed no less than Luo Kai’s.

The white-furred mouse standing on the Big Snake’s head clung tightly to its two horns with its hind limbs. It waved its front paws, and the Water Element in the air continuously gathered and rapidly froze, forming one Ice Arrow after another that shot toward Luo Kai.

The Ice Arrows shooting from behind were no slower than bullets. Luo Kai pushed his Spiritual Sense to its absolute limit, deftly dodging them. At the same time, he spurred his heart to beat faster. A hot current surged through his body, and his speed increased once more. He had no time to figure out his direction; he could only run blindly and hope to shake off the two Fierce Beasts behind him.

The white-furred mouse, perched atop the Cyan-Scaled Python, chattered nonstop, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, urging the Big Snake to chase faster. After a while, the Big Snake grew impatient and hissed back in anger. It wasn’t that it didn’t want to go faster; it had already reached its maximum speed.

Yesterday, three Fierce Beasts had fought a bitter battle for an entire day, finally killing all the other creatures that had appeared. When they were about to divide their spoils, they discovered that more than half of the Cyan Dragon’s Brain Marrow was missing. The three Fierce Beasts thought one of the others had secretly eaten it and nearly came to blows. Fortunately, their intelligence was superior; they remembered the human who had snuck away during the intense battle. After devouring what little Cyan Dragon Brain Marrow was left, they immediately began searching the forest for humans. This brought disaster upon the Medicine Gatherers in the forest. The commotion in the forest last night was caused by this very hunt.

Luo Kai had no idea how long he’d been running. Low shrubs and weeds finally appeared before him, indicating he had run out of the forest. He had also managed to shake off the two Fierce Beasts. His heart rate began to slow, and he gradually reduced his speed. He set Lu Qing down beside a large boulder, then collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

”Oh no! We lost two bags of herbs!” Lu Qing rubbed her sore lower back and stood up. When she looked, she saw she was only holding two bags of herbs, while the ones Luo Kai had been carrying were long gone. She couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.

”If they’re lost, they’re lost. They’re just worldly possessions,” Luo Kai said helplessly. ’This girl really is a miser,’ he thought. He had to run at full speed, and carrying two Snake Skin bags severely hampered his pace, so he’d tossed them halfway.

Lu Qing huffed angrily. ”Do you have any idea how much one bag of these herbs is worth? Ugh... you can’t even buy them with money.”

”Alright, I’ll carry them.” Luo Kai slung the two bags of herbs over his shoulder, looked up to get his bearings, and was just about to set off when he suddenly caught the scent of blood. He narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the smell. On a distant tree, a leopard was gnawing on half a corpse—a human corpse.

Lu Qing followed his gaze and saw it too. Her stomach churned, and she bent over, gagging. She had seen many bloody scenes before, but those had always involved animals.

The leopard in the tree saw them as well but showed no sign of alarm. It bared its teeth in a threatening display, then lowered its head to continue enjoying its meal.

Luo Kai did nothing. ”Let’s go,” he said in a low voice.

The surrounding area was wide open; they should have left the forest. There was just no sign of civilization. After walking for about ten minutes, Luo Kai suddenly stopped. At that exact moment, a shadow shot out from the nearby tall grass and pounced at them. It was the leopard. It had been secretly following them, waiting for a chance to ambush.

Luo Kai’s face turned cold. With a flick of his wrist, accompanied by the clear ring of the Severing Blade, a flash of light from the blade streaked past, slicing the beast in two. Its entrails splattered across the ground with a wet SQUELCH, and the overpowering stench of blood hit them. Even so, the leopard wasn’t dead. It clawed its way forward for a moment with its front paws before finally going still. The Life Force of animals was extremely resilient, so Luo Kai wasn’t particularly surprised. He grabbed Lu Qing and continued walking forward.