The Magus Era

Lou Lin, Earl Ji, was just a hundred years old. He was the third son of the old leader of Soul Wolf Clan. He had accumulated contributions and been awarded by Emperor Shun, attaining the noble title of Earl Ji, and Ji Mountain as his enfeoffment.

The contributions Luo Lin made couldn’t be compared with the ones Ji Hao made. Therefore, Ji Mountain surely couldn’t be compared with Ji Hao’s Yao Mountain. As Earl Ji’s territory, Ji Mountain area was only five-thousand miles in radius. Lou Lin was supported by his father, the leader of Soul Wolf Clan, and brought out a batch of clansmen to develop his own territory. With tens of years of hard work, the population of his clan had reached to around ten million.

Lou Lin had four sons. He divided his clansmen into five smaller clans, with each of his four sons ruling over around a million clansmen and stationed on four different sides of his territory, while he led the rest around six-million clansmen, living around Ji Mountain, accumulating powers bit by bit and making their clan keep growing.

Ji Mountain was four-thousand meters tall, extending for a hundred miles. The main city built by Luo Lin, the old Earl Ji, was located on the south side of Ji Mountain, facing a water area while backed on the mountain. It was surrounded by broad fertile fields and had large orchards developed around it, accompanied with livestock pens. It was indeed a wonderful place for people to live and work in peace.

Nevertheless, shrill howls suddenly broke the quiet of the morning. A few people staggeringly leaped across Ji Mountain City’s fence wall, yelling and screaming while rushing towards the southeast, which was the location of Pu Ban city. They only made less than a mile far before tens of arrows flew through the air from above the fence wall and fiercely pierced into their bodies along with high-pitched swishing noises.

The arrows punctured their bodies and the few desperately running people fell straight to the ground. They wailed in pain while pulling the arrows out of their own bodies. Blood surged around inside their bodies and the strong life-force possessed by Senior Magi spread out, healing their wounds at a visible rate.

All of a sudden, puffs of black mist spurted out from their wounds, and darkened blood splashed out all over the ground. Their life-forces were dispelled immediately, and their wounds blasted out, instantly enlarging to the size of fists. Within that suffused black mist, their wounds started expanding and festering quickly, and soon, the fester reached to the bones. Their bones festered speedily as well, and within the blink of an eye, even their marrow was exposed.

Over ten heavily armored elite warriors leaped down from the fence wall, leaving smooth, arched traces in the air, landing heavily beside these few desperately fleeing elderly men. Those warriors raised the large axes held in their hands high, neatly beheading these few, white-haired elderly men, then kicked their heads away as if those were just balls.

“You lowly stupid, reckless people. Prince has given his words, and you were still trying to defend this piece of land to the last?” A sturdy man with a curly beard laughed out loud viciously, then said, “Ji Mountain is not so big, but it’s enfeoffed by the human emperor after all. It can be counted as a fleshy piece of meat. With the loyalty pledged by Ji Mountain people, another force will be added to our prince.”

Inside the Ji Mountain City, blood had been flowing in streams. Tens of elders and warrior commanders who were loyal to Luo Lin had all fallen in puddles of blood, while large groups of clansmen gathered in front of their ancestral temple in a great panic, staring at Luo Sheng and Lie Mountain Xu, who had been standing by the gate of the ancestral temple.

Lou Sheng was one of Luo Lin’s cousins. Reasonably, Ji Mountain wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

Lou Lin died in battle in Chi Ban Mountain, but he had three sons and a large number of grandsons. Until all these male descendants of his died out, Luo Sheng shouldn’t even cast a single glance at Ji Mountain, as this feoffment would never fall into his hands before that.

Nevertheless, Lie Mountain Xu showed up abruptly. He declared that he would fully support Luo Sheng to become the new Earl Ji and to take the whole Ji Mountain under his control. Lou Sheng, a man who didn’t have any real powers in Soul Wolf Clan, and neither did he have any talent or capability, mostly had been sitting around and waiting to die all day, was thrilled by this surprise. He immediately acknowledged Lie Mountain Xu as his master, eagerly coming over to Ji Mountain City with a few of his trusted subordinates to try to usurp the throne.

After an intensive argument, elders who were loyal to Luo Lin gave the order, intending to banish Luo Sheng who was attempting to occupy the position that didn’t belong to him. But consequently, elite warriors brought by Lie Mountain Xu started a massive killing. Almost all elders and warriors commanders who used to be under Luo Lin’s lead were slaughtered.

Only three elders survived. By now, they knelt in front of Lie Mountain Xu with flattering faces and had been bootlicking Lie Mountain Xu loudly.

“Lou Sheng will become a wonderful leader!” Lie Mountain Xu sat on a large armchair that was cast from pure gold, and said slowly with a sneer lingering on his face while fiddling with an exquisite, seven-colored glaze small wine cup.

“Prince, you are absolutely right. Lord Luo Sheng is our new clan leader from now on. We are writing to Pu Ban city right now to let Luo Sheng take over the noble title of Earl Ji.”

“Dear Prince, you shall worry no more. Governors in Pu Ban city never stepped in affairs like this. As long as elders like us submit a joint letter, Luo Sheng can certainly become the new Earl Ji. Nothing wrong will happen at all.”

“From now on, we will, by all means, stay loyal to our new leader, be delicate and assist him with no spare effort, making our Ji Mountain greater and greater. Dear Prince, any help that you might give us will be sincerely appreciated.”

The three elders let out waves and waves of flattering words, constantly fawning on Lie Mountain Xu. Also, they never forgot to give Luo Sheng a few nice words from time to time.

Lou Sheng, who had an ordinary face and an ordinary body shape, now had his pair of eyes narrowed into a pair of lines because of the big grin on his face. He was tens of years older than Luo Lin, yet he only broke into senior-level thirty years ago. If his talent had to be described with one word, that word could only be ‘rubbish.’

With thirty years of hard work, Luo Sheng had only awakened fifteen meridians and a hundred and seventy-eight Magus Acupoints. This level of cultivation was even no better than any apprentice of the Magi Palace, and among all clansmen who were of the same age as he was, Luo Sheng was definitely at the bottom level.

Normally, he liked nothing but eating and having fun. By relying on the power and position of his father, who was an elder, he bullied the other clansmen, lying drunk on women’ bellies every single day. He never expected anything more than this to happen to him in the rest of his life. But unexpectedly, Lie Mountain Xu found him, wanting to support him and turn him into the new Earl Ji. In these couple of days, Luo Sheng felt that he had been dreaming all the time. Even while walking; he felt that his body was light and he didn’t even know where he was.

A territory that was five-thousand miles in radius, with over ten million clansmen and a hundred thousand elite warriors… all these would soon be under his control. Even his father, an elder of the Soul Wolf Clan, was never as powerful as what he was going to be. Among all his brothers, the one who had reached the highest position was nothing more than an army commander who had ten thousand warriors under his lead. This one could never be compared with him, Luo Sheng, who was going to become the new Earl Ji.

In the future, even when facing the old leader of Soul Wolf Clan, who was his grandfather, he could keep his waist straightened and never need to bow again! All because he would become Earl Ji, and this title was given by Emperor Shun himself. As Earl Ji, he could walk into the Town Hall with big steps and discuss those big affairs regarding the entire humankind with Emperor Shun. Even though he might be the weakest one among all ‘earls,’ in both terms of enfeoffment area or clan power, he would be a genuinely important official of the human government!

He would become an ‘Earl’, who would have his own feoffment! The independency of his feoffment was protected by the entire alliance of human clans. Therefore, not a single clan could send a single warrior into his territory without his permission!

Luo Sheng had been grinning so happily that his eyes were narrowed and curved. In his mouth, which just couldn’t be shut at this moment, those yellow teeth were very striking.

Looking down at those over a hundred thousand residents of the Ji Mountain City, Luo Sheng only felt that he had already reached the pinnacle of his life, that even his soul had been sublimed.

Behind Lie Mountain Xu’s large armchair, Qing Mei, who was wearing a simple long dress, was holding a jade bottle in her left hand and a wintersweet branch in her right hand. She had been disdainfully looking at Luo Sheng and giving a faint, cold smile.

“Our grand Shifu, Priest Corpse, was right. These human beings are so stupid and ignorant. We can be as brave and diligent as we want when passing our great Dao on. Why should we stay so careful and cautious as we used to?”

Lou Sheng turned around with a huge grin on his face, flatteringly bowed to Lie Mountain Xu and said, “Prince, that dead brother of mine still had three sons and a bunch of grandsons. You see, we should kill them all to avoid later troubles.”

Lie Mountain Xu smiled, seeming to say something. But abruptly, a bird scream came from the sky and following that, two large eagles swiftly dove down.