Heaven’s Shadow

After which, Lu Chen whipped out a few medicinal paste and started to treat the fatty's wounds.

"Lighter, lighter... AH!" Old Ma's plump face distorted in pain and cold sweat flowed profusely down his forehead. He stared at Lu Chen in anger and through gritted teeth, he spat, "You bastard, can't you see that I am severely injured? Can't your movements be any lighter?"

Lu Chen was silent for a brief moment before pouring some bizarre pink powder onto his wounds.

Old Ma yowled, nearly fainting from the excruciating pain. It took a few moments before he managed to recover from his ragged panting. However, he didn't seem to wield sufficient strength to reprimand Lu Chen anymore.

Lu Chen glanced at him and calmly said, " 'Dhumnades Snake Powder' is something good. Even though it stings a little, it helps to recover your vitality swiftly. At the very least, you won't die in the middle of the journey."

The fatty's face turned ghastly white. Through uneven panting, he protested weakly, "Go and die! This sensation... Why don't you pour it on your own face?"

"Ten years ago, when I came back, I had this stuff poured all over my entire body." Lu Chen said.

The fatty's body trembled, seemingly shocked by his words, He stared at Lu Chen with widened eyes and asked, "Is that true?"

Lu Chen did not reply him. Instead, he quietly bandaged Old Ma's wounds.

From then on, seemingly shocked by those casual and calm words, the fatty no longer said anything excessive.

While the two were busy bandaging their wounds under the glow of flames, amidst a sea of corpses, footsteps could suddenly be heard from ahead. The duo lifted their heads to take a look, only to see a black figure strolling slowly out from the depths of the darkness.

Through the illumination provided by the flames, they saw that the one that walked out was actually a cow.

A Jade Buffalo!

This Jade Buffalo had an unearthly appearance. Putting aside its towering stature, the pair of horns on its head had a color of pure jade and looked extraordinarily warm. It was an extremely rare and magnificent sight.

The Jade Buffalo walked right up to Old Ma and Lu Chen and glanced at them. Disdain could be seen in its gaze as it mooed.

Lu Chen and Old Ma exchanged gazes. After a moment, Lu Chen harrumphed, "This cow sure is ugly!"

"Moo!"

The Jade Buffalo turned around and stared at Lu Chen with bell-sized eyes on its gigantic cow head. Its gaze was ferocious and it was clearly piqued by Lu Chen's remark.

Ignoring it, Lu Chen helped Old Ma up and supported him to the Jade Buffalo.

The Jade Buffalo seemed displeased and swung its head. Even so, it didn't avoid the two and stood rooted to the ground. Just that, its gaze toward Lu Chen grew progressively hostile.

Lu Chen dragged Old Ma's body and then threw him up onto the back of the Jade Buffalo as though tossing a sack. Then, he searched for a rope and secured him tightly to the back of the cow.

Throughout the process, Old Ma did not say a word. When Lu Chen was done and had retreated a step backward, signs of worry appeared on his plump face. Sighing, he asked, "What are you going to do?"

Lu Chen stated indifferently, "You shouldn't interfere in my business."

Old Ma shook his head. With a lowered voice, he said, "Don't be like that. I'll beg him in your stead."

Lu Chen harrumphed, "He refused to come personally, sending this dumb cow in his place. Can't you tell the meaning behind his gesture?"

Old Ma smiled bitterly as he replied, "He has his own problems to deal with, it's not like you are unaware of them. Besides, if he came here personally, given the number of eyes on him, he would be doing you harm instead."

Lu Chen waved his hands. With an impassive face, he said, "There's no need to speak anymore. I'll just travel around leisurely by myself, all of you don't need to care about me anymore. Otherwise, it would be hard to tell when I would die in the hands of those from the same faction."

Old Ma was speechless.

Lu Chen turned around and began walking. A few steps later, he looked back and glanced at the Jade Buffalo. In response, the Jade Buffalo widened its eyes and glanced at him as well.

The cow and human stared at one another. Lu Chen's lips curled upward as he commented, "No matter how wide you open your eyes, you are just an ugly cow!"

The Jade Buffalo flew into a rage. It mooed and stomped its hooves heavily onto the ground. Instantaneously, the ground in the surroundings quivered. The shock wave could even be felt from afar... the burning houses shook violently before crumbling inward, adding to the majesty of the buffalo's action.

At this moment, the Jade Buffalo was as though a towering mountain, an existence which one could only look up to.

But for some reason, fear did not appear in Lu Chen's eyes. Staring at the beast, his gaze slowly grew gentler. Then, he stretched out his hands and stroked the buffalo's head.

The Jade Buffalo glared at him but did not avoid his touch.

After briefly caressing it, he patted the buffalo lightly before departing with huge strides. Very swiftly, he disappeared completely into the darkness.

The Jade Buffalo watched as Lu Chen's back view vanished into the darkness and mooed lightly twice behind him. Then, it turned around and left in another direction.

It left the Clear Stream Village, leaving behind the darkness and burning houses in its wake. At that moment, in the faraway night sky, a glimmer of light, resembling the shimmer of a sword, could be seen traveling swiftly toward the village from Nansong Mountain.

Carrying the moaning fatty, Old Ma, its footsteps started to hasten. In the blink of an eye, it melded into the depths of the darkness.

※※※

The path of cultivation flourished in this era. Countless lives in the world had placed their faith into immortalhood, and the royal court had fallen into decline. This was especially so in the vast lands of the Central Divine Continent.

Three thousand years ago, beginning with a collaboration between Kunlun and the Primordial Heaven Sovereign, and then within the next century, with Grand Jade, Phoenix's Feather, and Thousand Peaks, the three great and newly rising sects then, the True Immortal Alliance was formed. Of which, countless talents had come to govern it, heightening its strength, to the point that the True Immortal Alliance had become the strongest power in the entire Central Divine Continent.

The True Immortal Alliance helped to mediate conflicts that rose among the different cultivator sects in the world, guiding the cultivation of others, allocated resources to the various sects, helped to create a balance among the various powers in the continent, united the orthodox sects, and suppressed the demonic sects. More than a thousand years ago, it had led countless cultivators of the Central Plains to the Confounding Mountains to battle the Southern Barbarian Tribes, of which, they emerged victoriously. As such, the reputation of the True Immortal Alliance started to soar and it became an entity respected and feared by the entire world. All cultivator sects had viewed it as a normal occurrence to be accepted into the True Immortal Alliance. Even more so, they thought of ascending into the 'Ten Thousand Immortal Board' of the True Immortal Alliance as an honor.

The Central Divine Continent was indeed a land blessed by the heavens. Of its vast domains, there were countless mountains dense with spiritual energy, which gave rise to countless cultivators and cultivator sects. Compared to the sterile and deficient Southern Barren Plains, it was in a much better position.

As such, since ancient times,  the Barbarian tribes which had been residing in the Southern Barren Plains had been coveting the lush lands of the Central Divine Continent. Many times, they had planned to obtain the magnificent lands for themselves by traversing the Confounding Lands, and for this purpose, they had committed innumerable murders.

Even so, generations after generations of humans from the Central Divine Continent had managed to eventually destroy and repel the Barbarian tribes, especially during the war a thousand years ago. The entire Barbarian army had fallen completely and since then, the Barbarian tribe had been unable to recover. This had rid the Human race of a thorny source of unease. For at least a millennium, they would not have to fear another invasion by the Southern Barbarians.

In fact, if not for the menacing nature of the Confounding Lands and the human tribe's lack of knowledge of the territory, the human army might have already charged into the Southern Barren Lands and destroyed the Barbarian tribes once and for all. A major impediment was the exceptionally vast and mysterious 'Spirit-shattering Desert' near the borders to the Southern Barren Plains, whereby upon entering, one would find their spiritual energy mysteriously disappearing. This formed an impassable and desolate land for human cultivators.

The Confounding Lands was actually a geographical terrain stretching for millions of li across the Southern lands of the Central Divine Continent. On this mysterious plot of land, Five Element Spiritual Energy, which forms the building blocks of the universe and was usually stable, falls into chaos, resulting in the formation of geographical terrains completely different from the other parts of the world. Countless spiritual beings and natural treasures existed here, and of which, most of them were one-of-a-kind. In other words, the extraordinarily expansive terrain known as the Confounding Lands was actually the largest and most valuable treasure vault for the cultivators of the Central Divine Continent.

(Li -> 0.5km)

This autumn, three people had entered a small city known as 'Moonfang City', a place which wasn't too far away from the borders to the Confounding Lands. After drinking a few cups of wine and resting for some time in the busiest tavern in town, a man from the trio approached the boss who owned the facility and requested for a guide familiar with the Confounding Lands.

It was common practice for people to look for guides in the Confounding Lands. The Confounding Lands had a complicated geographical terrain and was inhabited by countless demonic beings. Furthermore, given the unstable Five Element Spiritual Energy there, there were many unimaginable dangers and threats. To many cultivators here for the first time, a seasoned guide who was familiar with the terrains could help them avoid many unnecessary dangers.

In fact, many human cultivators who had already been to the Confounding Lands tend to still request for some local guides because this move could truly save them from numerous inconveniences and difficulties.

The tavern boss quickly acceded to their request. Very swiftly, he found several people and brought them over for the trio's choosing.

The first was a tanned and emaciated old man who had creases all over his face. He stood on the spot without saying a word, simply puffing on a tobacco pipe.

The second one was a middle-aged man. Well-built, even his voice sounded majestic. It was as though he were a small mountain of muscles.

The third one was a young man in his twenties. With an ordinary and calm appearance, he had a faint and warm smile on his face as he introduced.

"I am Lu Chen, Lu of land, Chen of dirt."

...  

TL: The cow is known as qingniu. In ancient mythology, it is the mount of Daode Tianzun, one of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism. The Three Pure Ones in Taoism is known as the origin of all sentient beings in the world. Even though qingniu translates to Green/Blue cow, it is described to resemble a buffalo, has black fur, and a pair of majestic horns. Even though it resembles a cow, it would be more exact to treat it as an ancient mythological creature.