Chapter 855: Are You Even Human?

His final hum was filled with an overbearing undertone, one as large and imposing as a mountain. His threatening aura blanketed them; the pressure of the perilous situation they were in came close to stifling them in an intimidating manner!

The twelve people were suddenly scared witless, feeling as though they had descended into the pits of hell itself. They felt the chill creeping up their bodies, shivering as though it could be felt deep within their souls.

They came to a sudden realization; this Supreme Cloud before them was not only the Supreme Cloud of the Nine Supremes. He was, at the same time, an unrivaled powerhouse levels above them! He was a mega-expert whose level was high to the point where it was unheard of!

If he really intended to kill them, it would be as easy as slaying hapless chickens.

Somebody amongst them let out a cough before saying, “In truth, the secret behind the Seven Star Lake might not be worth mentioning even if it is revealed; however, since Lord Supreme Cloud has specifically asked about it, we will, of course, provide you the information you desire.”

The rest of them also lowered their heads.

A hint of iciness flashed across Yun Yang’s eyes…

These people had hidden here amidst the chaos, not giving the slightest care towards the affairs of the world. Naturally, their utmost priority was peace and quiet without any external disturbances, devoting their whole lives towards seeking the Dao, but before they could even have a taste of ut, there was nothing that could possibly cause them to be afraid for their lives.

Today, by dangling their lives on the line, he had managed to drive out their true nature.

The disdain in Yun Yang’s heart grew even more intense; with such attitudes, you lot seek the Dao? If you really do attain it, that would be the world’s greatest joke.

“The spiritual Qi at the Seven Star Lake is more concentrated than anywhere else. Practicing here would double the outcome; this place is comparable to where the gods themselves reside in the legends.”

That man took a deep breath and spoke. “Personally speaking, when I practice here, the mystical Qi accumulated after a day’s practice is a month’s worth if I were to practice elsewhere… so, I was unwilling to leave this place and have lived here ever since.

Yun Yang frowned. “Oh? This place seems to be extraordinarily magical; may I know the cause of it?”

Watching those before him, Yun Yang was quick to follow up with his queries, but his heart was plagued by sorrowful woes.

Every nation had always declared that there were no suitable high-level experts as Yutang’s great wall of defense. In the past, it was always Yun Xiaoyao who had been keeping up the facade, but that Seven Stroke Death-wielding Marquis of Heavenly Clouds back then was barely at the level of the seventh peak — by comparing him to many of the tenth perfection experts of the peak realm, there was a massive difference indeed!

However, who would have known? Just as countless good men had perished on the battlefields while the people of Yutang suffered in misery; just as these common men were willing to come to their nation’s aid, equipped with nothing but courage in their hearts as they pressed forward into the war zone…

Here in Yutang, here in this place, there were people who possessed individual strengths equivalent to a thousand-strong army, but they chose to hide away from the world, carrying on with their peaceful lives, day by day. They were enjoying themselves, living their life to the fullest!

The entire land was ravaged by the flames of war — how could they not know about it?

If they knew about the Nine Supremes and Supreme Cloud, it was not possible for them to be ignorant about the events that transpired outside.

Yet, they still chose to live away from the rest of the world.

They were clearly strong powerhouses of the world that had already attained the level of Dao realm!

Yun Yang had purposely announced his name in hopes that these people knew who he was.

Yun Yang had hoped that these people were fully devoted to their practice — he had hoped that they were truly unaware of the worldly affairs that had transpired around them…

However, the truth was out — they knew!

They were aware of everything!

Despite their knowledge, they had chosen to do nothing as the people suffered when Yutang burned to the ground.

Rage skyrocketed within Yun Yang in face of the truth; he nearly lost control and came close to having these fellows slain under his blade!

“We also don’t know the reason behind the high concentration of mystical Qi in this area. Honestly speaking, we’ve tried to investigate this as well, but nothing turned up. What we know is as much as what Lord Supreme Cloud knows.” The speaker articulated cautiously, carefully picking his words and phrases.

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However, the twelve people still felt the strong murderous aura surrounding Yun Yang and knew that Supreme Cloud’s killing intent had already been triggered. Everybody had their hearts thumping restlessly against their chest, feeling frightened to the core.

“The only thing we found special was… the mystical Qi in the surroundings of the Seven Star Lake is uncannily thick; especially during the night, where the moon seemed brighter and the stars seem to glow in an exceedingly lustrous manner. During every full moon, the concentration of this mystical Qi doubles.”

“Truthfully, we’ve also invested wholeheartedly in seeking out the origins of this secret behind the Seven Star Lake, but we never got to fulfill this desire of ours — it was an impossible task.”

Standing in one corner, an elder sighed. “Actually, perhaps we wouldn’t have been so distracted if had been able to discover this secret earlier. Perhaps we might have already left this place to participate in the battles… after all… cough… everybody is responsible for the rise and fall of our nation… cough, cough, we… are also the people of Yutang, are we not?”

Yun Yang sucked in a deep breath of air. He was on the brink of initiating a killing spree when he heard such words being uttered; they never realized how close he came to taking away lives.

Everybody is responsible for the rise and fall of the nation — you would know that, wouldn’t you?

Do you even deserve to utter such words?

Yun Yang was not the only one affected. Ji Lingxi was also trying her best to suppress the urge to vomit upon hearing those words that spilled from the elder’s lips.

Yun Yang stood there in disappointment for a while before waving them away weakly. “Whatever. Just… go back to wherever you came from, all of you…”

He suddenly lost all interest in conversing with these people, and only wished for them to disappear from his sight as fast as possible.

As if they were granted amnesty, all of them turned around and fled as if they had wings.

The last of them looked back abruptly after taking a few steps, his face etched with sorrow. “Lord Supreme Cloud, we are not as heartless as you think we are. Practicing has always been a hard and arduous course, just like rowing a boat against the current — one will fall behind if he is not moving forward. Now that we’ve finally stumbled across such an advantage that could complement our training, who would bear to abandon this place? Lord Supreme Cloud, I have nothing to say when you accused us of not contributing to our nation at all — I can only accept your chiding shamefully… but you can’t possibly know…”

“What? What do I not know about?” Yun Yang questioned icily.

The man sighed. “My family… had also perished in this conflict. I watched this tragedy unfold with my own eyes, completely helpless… the day when Dongxuan’s troops marched. Even if I had some notable abilities, my strength is limited. This meager strength of mine wouldn’t be sufficient to incite millions of soldiers anyway… This old chap here couldn’t even protect my own family, so why should I have bothered?”

“Just because your strength as a Dao realm practitioner was weak, you watched your family murdered before your very eyes? You paid no heed to them at all?”

The man expressed another deep sigh. “I am but one man. Even if I put my life on the line, can I truly inspire a million-strong army?”

With a bright red face, Ji Lingxi’s slender body trembled with rage. “Y-You… are you even human?”

The strength of hill realm practitioners was already known to be quite extraordinary, but their weakness lied in a strategy by the masses — chances of survival were extremely low if they were surrounded and attacked by a large army; whereas the strength of heaven realm practitioners were a few times stronger than that of a hill realm practitioner, but they still could not go head-to-head against a battalion with a large number of soldiers. Back then, even when Yun Xiaoyao, Bai Yixue, Fang Mofei and the rest demonstrated extraordinary skills during the battle at the Fortress of Resilience, they still could not change the outcome of the battle.

However, the strength of Dao realm practitioners was paramount in this world, their powers defying even common sense. Even if they were encircled and attacked by a ten-thousand-strong army, they would definitely not be killed. Hence, many dynasties would dare to lay a hand on heaven realm practitioners, but were wary of facing Dao realm practitioners!

If they were pushed to the edge, Dao realm practitioners could even massacre an entire army on their own. Of course, an outcome like this would exhaust their Qi, and they would be completely worn out to the point of demise!

However, this Dao realm practitioner before him was blatantly saying that he dare to face an army, or even aid his own family members — this was clearly the biggest joke in the world!

Yun Yang’s eyes had also widened in shock upon hearing his words. He stared intently in disbelief at this man before him who was busy defending himself!

A Dao realm practitioner who had already surpassed the highest possible level in this world could say something like that — what was he even thinking?

His message was clear; if I could bear to watch my own family die before my own eyes, why should I even bother to save my own nation and people? Contributing to the nation… that’s a bit of a joke, isn’t it?

Do it for your nation, then for your home; for you must first have a nation then only a home. The term 国家 (nation) consists of two words: 国 (also nation) and 家 (home), which implied the nation should come before family. Here, the entire saying had been flipped around, suggesting instead that there was no point in fighting for the nation since his family was gone. It was shocking — this was a whole new level of surprise indeed!

He was truly cold-blooded to the core.

Stunned for a moment, Yun Yang laughed good-naturedly. “When it comes to a practitioner and his mental state, the state of mind is a shackle that is the hardest challenge to overcome. You looked so remorseful — I’d imagine you are constantly plagued with pangs of pain. Whatever journey of yours is doomed to fail anyway, so come now, allow me to send you off for a little family reunion.”

As it turned out, Yun Yang’s killing intent could not be suppressed any longer.

His single palm raised winds and thunder; in one clean, swift strike, he slammed his hand against this so-called incapable man, turning him into a mass of flying ash — into dust that blended gently with the skies.