"Watch out over there!"
Rumble...
A thunderous crash rang out across the grassland bordering a great forest as dozens of trees, struck by something enormous, snapped and toppled. Officers in black uniforms leapt apart in every direction, weapons gripped tight, their faces growing grim.
"The support unit's up ahead! Don't let it reach them!"
"We've got wounded. Stop it, now!"
The man who seemed to be the team leader rapped out his orders. He unleashed his qi, and sparks blazed up around him, his unkempt beard bristling like a beast's mane. A roar that shook the soul accompanied his every movement, and his huge frame launched forward, covering dozens of meters in a single leap.
"Asura Body!"
"That's General Ma! The Eastern King, Ma Fufeng, has arrived!"
BOOM!
There was a violent clash, and a colossal black wolf, over three meters tall, was hurled from the forest.
Its eyes were a blazing crimson as it let out a ferocious cry. A surge of energy equal to a Grandmaster's burst from its body, leaving the weaker officers trembling uncontrollably.
"It's about to attack! Everyone, fall back, quick!"
The black wolf let out a deafening roar and spat a fireball nearly two meters across from its mouth. But that was not all. With a single upward toss of its head and one circular whip of its neck, it sent dozens more of the same size scattering across the whole sky!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The fireballs fell like a meteor shower, and the officers and cultivators fighting the beast scrambled to flee in disarray. Where sparks touched grass and dry leaves, fire spread in trails. With the battlefield right beside the forest, the danger was greater still!
"Shut your mouth, you brute!"
CRACK!
The Eastern King, Ma Fufeng, appeared in midair once more. His qi seethed like burning oil, especially around his hands, which were wreathed in a flow of power shaped like enormous claws. He drove a heavy fist, cloaked in that claw-shaped qi, squarely into the wolf's mouth as it spat fire.
"Yelp!?"
Despite its massive body, the black wolf could not resist the fist of a single human. All four legs left the ground as it bounced and tumbled in a cloud of dust toward the meadow where dozens of officers waited.
"Take positions!"
Snap!
Guns of every kind were drawn and aimed at the demonic beast in perfect unison. Their qi spread around them in an instant, then flowed together and packed tightly into the barrels, leaving the metal scorching hot.
"Fire!"
BANG, BANG, BANG!
No one fired more than a single shot, but with dozens firing at once, the shots merged into a coordinated strike that finally pierced the wolf's hide, hard and thick as it was. The black wolf let out one last roar of agony before it breathed its last.
Many officers kept their guns raised out of wariness. Only once they were certain, and the signal came, did they hurry to spread out, clear the area, and deal with the damage from the rampage.
"Reporting thirty-two injured, twenty-four of them civilians, sir!"
An officer ran up to report to Ma Fufeng, who stood beside the beast's carcass. The bushy-bearded general could only sigh.
The appearances of these demonic beasts grew more frequent by the day. No one could say when they would appear or in what numbers. More importantly, their power ranged widely, from beasts an ordinary Martial Master could still handle to the likes of this black wolf, which took a general and a contingent of special forces to deal with.
What was more, lately they had sometimes appeared close to residential areas. This time, even on grassland near farmland far from the city proper, more than twenty people had been injured by the time the officers arrived.
"Report to the higher-ups and the Cultivator Alliance."
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh, and pass the weapon test results on to the lab too. Got it?"
"Understood, sir!"
There was one silver lining. A few days earlier, the laboratory had succeeded in mass-producing firearms that used compressed qi as bullets, modeled on the prototype of Tang Yeye's white rifle. Not all of them performed equally well, but they were a major help to officers with weaker cultivation in dealing with these demonic beasts.
Judging by today's results, they seemed to have done their job well. Their durability looked a little low, but the laboratory would surely solve that before long.
"Heading back now, sir?"
"I've got business at the Eastern Base. You guys head back."
"Yes, sir. Good luck, sir!"
Once Ma Fufeng was satisfied that everything had been taken care of, he leapt into the air. A deafening roar boomed once, and then the soldiers and officers below watched him turn into a streak of red light and vanish from sight.
.
.
.
At the far end of the eastern coast lay land that had once been nothing remarkable, waiting on development from both the government and private sectors. Neither its landmarks nor the power that ruled it had ever been great. As a region it was middling, standing out in no particular way. But over the past month, many things had changed.
Land values in the area had skyrocketed to historic highs!
A few square meters of land, however small, were enough to trade for a luxury apartment in the capital. The moment word spread that someone was selling, investors and powerful figures alike were ready to leap in and fight over it, none willing to yield.
And it must be said that it was a stroke of fortune for the Tang clan. They had foreseen the future value of this land before anyone else and bought up most of it for themselves while prices had not yet fluctuated much.
Thud!
The Eastern King landed at the village entrance and took a deep breath, filling his lungs. Merely being near the village, he could sense a flow of life force that left his body feeling refreshed. This was another reason he had not gone straight to the Eastern Base but chosen to stop here first.
The land around the village, once nothing but tangled forest, had been thoroughly redeveloped into a small town. Cultivators came and went just like ordinary people. They glanced at Ma Fufeng with interest for only a moment before turning back to their own business.
A Grandmaster who could fly had caused a great stir a year ago, but within a single year people had come to see it as nothing special.
It was not that Grandmaster-level beings had grown weaker, but that the existence of this village meant the number of those able to reach Grandmaster increased with every passing day!
Last week he had heard that the number of Grandmasters registered with the authorities had already passed fifty.
"Why can't we go in!?"
"I'm very sorry. Only people with permission can go into this village."
Incidents like this happened regularly. Word of cultivators had spread throughout the country, and a great many people, curious outsiders and newcomers to the world of cultivation alike, made their way to this place known as the Heaven of Cultivation. There were so many that the security officers were worn out every day.
"Hmph! Don't you know who I am!? I'm Elder Jing's grandson. He just reached Grandmaster ten days ago! Guards like you dare to block my way!?"
A teenage boy stepped out, swaggering without a trace of fear. He had bragged to his friends about his grandfather's influence and now dreaded losing face. Come what may, today he had to get his gang inside for a look around.
But who would have thought the older-looking security officer would remain perfectly calm.
He tugged his cap down to cover his face slightly.
What happened next was unbelievable.
"Pardon me... but I've never heard of him?"
Rumble!
A burst of clear blue qi exploded from the security officer's body, shaking the very air. The cultivators who had lived nearby for some time shook their heads slightly at the teenagers' misfortune, as if it were a sight they had long grown used to. Then the officer's feet lifted off the ground, and he came to stand above the head of the arrogant youth, whose eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
W-why is this village's guard...
...a Grandmaster-level cultivator!?
Even though there were more Grandmasters in this age, their authority remained unchanged. Reaching that level alone was enough to become a powerful figure capable of ruling an entire clan. So why would someone at that level be content with being a mere guard!?
These kids had no idea how coveted the post of "guard" in this village was.
Besides a generous salary fitting for guarding the important figures inside, they also received free food and lodging within this sacred ground, twenty-four hours a day!
As a result, the minimum strength required for the post rose steadily, and before anyone noticed, only those of Grandmaster class could even apply to fight over it!
"Haah... such a pain, really."
The security officer sighed after sending the teenagers off. He was too old to bother squabbling and scuffling with youngsters. At last he walked back to his usual post and raised a hand in salute to Ma Fufeng, whom he had noticed from the moment he landed.
"...General!"
"No need to make a fuss..."
The Eastern King waved a hand and cleared his throat softly, then brushed the dust from his body. Wild as he was by nature, when it came to entering a place that belonged to that person, even he did not dare to behave without manners. The big man used his own spit to smooth down his once-unruly beard until it lay flat. Before leaving, he turned back to ask the security officer once more.
"How do I look?"
"You look... um... presentable, sir?"
"Mm..."
Ma Fufeng nodded in satisfaction and walked away. Once he had gone, a boy who had been secretly watching the scene for quite some time, and who had only recently set foot on the path of cultivation, came over and nudged the same officer with a surprised look.
"Brother, who was that just now?"
"You don't know the Eastern King?"
"Heh heh... I'm from the countryside. I only just got into this scene..."
Seeing how innocent and clueless the boy was, the officer could not help feeling sorry for him, and he explained.
"Then remember this well. His name is Ma Fufeng, the Eastern King, also known as the 'Sky-Shattering Sage.'"
"H-he's a Sage!?"
"That's right. If you're counting, he'd be the fourth Sage in this country, after the 'Sacred Light Sage,' General Liu Yianfei..."
"The 'World-Cleaving Sage,' Sword Master Zheng Renyi..."
"And last, the 'Warlord Sage,' Marshal Zhang Xianyuan."
"All four of them are in this village right now. Kid... if you're lucky, you might even get to see them in the flesh, you know?"