Chapter 2 Female General

Qi Ziru said, "Did that woman pass on a cultivation technique to him?"

Shen Youkun replied, "That has not happened. Unlike the outside world, this place isn't short of exiled monks who need to bring something to the table in order to survive here. So, the local natives do have an abundance of cultivation techniques. Shi Chun's cultivation journey started when he was a child; that woman merely taught him to recognize a few characters. Ridiculously, since then, he has been pretending to be a scholar and even believes himself to be a literatus. Later, I don't know where he got a set of lanshan robes from and he often masquerades as a scholar, which is truly nauseating..."

Qi Ziru abruptly interrupted, "Get to the point."

Shen Youkun cleared his throat, "With his deceitful cunning of saying one thing to someone's face and another behind their back, this fellow quickly took control of East Nine Plain after his cultivation had improved, becoming the Master of East Nine Plain. After taking charge, he claimed that he grew up on meals from a hundred families in East Nine Plain and wouldn't let everyone down. Indeed, he later did put in effort to send quite a number of people from East Nine Plain into the city. It was after noticing this loophole that I enticed him with bait and wiped out his informants."

Qi Ziru was somewhat surprised, "If he had a chance to leave the Land of Exile, why didn't he? Was it because the resources for the bait weren't enough?"

As he finished speaking, the wind picked up again.

Speaking of this, Shen Youkun's mouth twitched slightly. He leaned forward and rolled up his sleeves to shield his uncle from the blowing sand, "The resources were reliable enough, definitely more than enough to ensure that he could leave with the accumulated merits. Who knows what was wrong with that guy; I was also confused by his actions at the time. Why wouldn't he leave when he had the chance, especially since he was no longer backed by any power? Wasn't he afraid of unforeseen complications if things dragged on? Reflecting on it afterward, I would guess that nine times out of ten, it was because of a woman."

"It's no secret— that fellow had his eye on the daughter of the owner of Bowan Building in the city. Those who can run a business in the city of the Land of Exile have quite the background, so how could they take a fancy to him? He's a toad lusting after swan meat, completely ignorant of his own limitations. Other than that, I can't think of any other reason he would stay. There's surely nothing left here in this godforsaken place that would make him want to linger."

After he finished his conclusion, he observed his uncle's expression. Seeing no reaction, he continued, "As for Wu Jinliang, he's a tall man who usually likes to show off by carrying an exaggeratedly large saber. In reality, he's nothing special, just a lackey relying on Shi Chun's power to bully others and act as an enforcer. He's no good either."

"It is said that at birth he was both small and thin, barely surviving, hence the name 'Jinliang'. Later, after Shi Chun learned to read, he pompously added the surname 'Wu' to the name. Wu Jinliang—the name implies he has no substance, haha, uncle, just by the names he's chosen, you can tell what kind of person he is."

The fact that he could recount all these stories behind their backs showed that he had taken the time to understand them.

While he talked, Qi Ziru quietly listened, offering no judgment, and then asked, "What about Shi Chun's cultivation level—is he a High Martial?"

Already setting his estimations low, Shen Youkun still chuckled, "Uncle, you're giving too much credit to this place of exile. With almost no cultivation resources, even finding enough to eat is difficult. Those who can break through to the High Martial level are few and far between in the entire Land of Exile. If they were that strong, they would have left this miserable pit a long time ago. Probably at the Initial Martial level, he should still be a bit away from High Martial; with the strength of a thousand catties, he's still considered quite capable around here."

When mentioning "the strength of a thousand catties," a hint of self-mockery appeared on his face. When he still had his cultivation, he wouldn't have bothered to speak about such trivial matters, but now he had to admit that "the strength of a thousand catties" was indeed considerable.

This so-called Initial Martial was actually nothing remarkable—the significant cultivation realms are divided into High Martial, Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal. Anything above that didn't pertain to the matters of "Immortals."

Of course, there were countless people of no consequence in this world, a sea of beings.

Qi Ziru's tone took on a questioning edge immediately, "If he hasn't reached High Martial, there should be many among your recruited followers with similar strength. Why keep those two around and not eliminate them? Surely you're not hiding them because you can't find where they are?"

Shen Youkun then realized the purpose of his uncle's question about cultivation levels and instinctively responded, "It's not that we can't find them..." He trailed off, showing a bit of embarrassment.

However, since he wasn't in front of a stranger, he soon mustered the courage to explain, "Uncle, you may not be aware, but Shi Chun is indeed crafty and difficult to deal with. Born and raised here, he has fought his way up from the brutal struggles of his childhood, he is fearless and refuses to die. If you move against him, it must be decisive. Strike at a snake and you must kill it; otherwise, it will easily coil around you and not let go. He has always been the type to never relent until he bites back if wronged."

"The secrecy of our activities is paramount; it's inappropriate to get endlessly entangled with such a villain. This is also why I went to great lengths to lure him away. The matter here is of utmost importance. I intended to not bother with him for the time being, to deal with him slowly once he left. There are plenty of ways to handle him outside. After careful planning, it should have been foolproof. To my surprise, however, this crook stuck around and refused to leave, catching me off guard."

Qi Ziru glanced sideways, "Despite the surprise, how can you be sure he hasn't noticed the activity here? After all, this is his long-held territory."

Shen Youkun swiftly bent forward in a bow to assure him, "Uncle, you can rest assured, I know their whereabouts very clearly. I have arranged for men to secretly monitor them. At the moment, they are still meditating in their lair. If there's any commotion, I'll be informed immediately. They definitely won't detect anything unusual going on here."

Qi Ziru looked toward the busy personnel coming and going in the gully below, and since matters had come to this point, pursuing blame had lost its meaning. He changed the subject, "Are the people you've recruited reliable?"

Shen Youkun bent over again, "Reliable, they were all recruited from other regions and basically do not know each other. They didn't know they were coming to East Nine Plain before they arrived, nor did they know what they were going to do."

"It's still the same message, the affairs here must not be leaked…" Qi Ziru, speaking slowly, looked toward the twilight sky, paused, and then weakly added, "Afterward, not a single one is to be left."

"Uncle, rest assured, all the preparations are in place." Shen Youkun whispered into his ear, rising slightly, and then he thought of a question. He asked curiously, "Uncle, what exactly are those Dragon Bones we've excavated underground? What use could a pile of bones be to warrant such a great price from you?"

He naturally knew that his uncle hadn't been truly demoted to this place for committing offenses, but rather because those above lacked confidence in him, fearing he couldn't hold the situation, and worried about potential losses, thus they sent someone more capable to take charge. The Land of Exile was not a place just anyone could enter and leave as they pleased. The price was to intentionally commit an offense and, according to the rules, be demoted after destroying one's cultivation.

That was the loss of many years of hard-earned cultivation!

"Who knows what use it could be." Qi Ziru let out a self-deprecating laugh, with a hint of sorrow in his eyes. He raised one hand towards the setting sun, reaching into the void as if muttering to himself, "Since ancient times, there has been various skepticism about the Ancient Saints creating the heavens and the earth. Many people believe that there is no distinction between heaven and earth at all, that chaos still exists, and that we have always lived in chaos, it's just that with our mortal eyes and flesh, we see and touch so little. In truth, there are many objects that we cannot see or touch, many forces that we cannot feel."

Shen Youkun felt puzzled by this lament, unsure of its meaning; could it be related to his uncle's visit?

Qi Ziru then gave him an answer, "Before I was sent here, your grandmother did give me some instructions. Rumor has it that there was a Divine Beast in ancient times, a serpent-like creature of immense length called 'Shejiang' born from chaos, living within chaos.

Later, our family accidentally discovered an Ancient Cave Mansion, and inside, a record in an ancient manuscript claimed that a certain Ancient God's mount was a giant Spirit Snake that, while wingless could not fly, was able to navigate between the concrete and the abstract realms, and even predict disasters in advance. Its description was similar to 'Shejiang', but, unfortunately, was slain in a great battle.

For this reason, the family covertly spent a lot of effort searching for a long time, finally locating the burial place of that Ancient God's mount." He said, pointing at the excavation site below.

Shen Youkun didn't need his pointing, he had already guessed, but was still puzzled, "Found it for what purpose? Can it be used for medicine, or to refine treasures, or benefit cultivation?"

Qi Ziru replied indifferently, "If 'Shejiang' really exists, then it could verify whether chaos has truly always existed."

Shen Youkun exclaimed in disbelief, "All for that?"

Qi Ziru added, "That's what they say, but do you believe it? Clearly, they also want to bring it back to see if it has any other miraculous effects."

Shen Youkun couldn't believe it, "For such an unsubstantiated possibility, grandmother had the heart to let you destroy your cultivation and be demoted here?"

"If it were truly something significant, would it be our turn to handle this? You and I probably wouldn't even have the right to know. Do you think I wanted to come here? When you got in trouble, your mother came crying to me, asking me to find a way to help you survive here, and I secretly broke the rules of the Land of Exile. When the family found out, what could your grandmother do?" Qi Ziru showed some emotion, tapping the armrest.

Shen Youkun fell silent, realizing he had inadvertently implicated his uncle in his demotion here. He understood that the claim that his uncle had broken the rules was just a pretext by the family; after all, nobody wanted their cultivation destroyed to be sent here, so they were forced to press someone capable into service, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

"Alas." Qi Ziru sighed deeply, "Now that things have come to this point, thinking too much is useless. Let's just get the job done honestly. Your grandmother will watch out for us from the outside, and the family has also promised that once the job is done, they will find a way to get us out early and also find a way to restore our foundation, to recover our cultivation abilities, and there will be additional rewards."

Seeing his nephew's eyes suddenly fill with joy, he cautioned again, "You know the consequences of a leak, not worrying about the bones underground being lost, but that our actions have broken the rules of the Land of Exile. That 'Prison Chief Nie,' who has been demoted here to oversee us, is a tough character who dares to defy the heavens, and the family can't handle him if it really comes to it, by then, the blame will only fall on us, and you should be clear about the consequences."

"Uncle, don't worry, the Dragon Bone has already been found, and judging by the scale, it will all be dug out in about half a day. We've been digging for a month with no issues, what could possibly happen now at the tail end? What I'm worried about now is how to get such a big creature out of here."

"What you and I need to do is to secretly confirm and locate the item, how to take it out is not our concern, others will worry about it."