Chapter 98: Flowing Gold Fort

At Flowing Gold Fort.

This fort, which had been around since the Illustrious Divine Dynasty, had around seven thousand years’ worth of history.

It was initially constructed during Emperor Ping’s rule and had been revived and abandoned many times afterwards. The first time it had revived was when Emperor Ping lost a lot of territory and the Ferocious Race took over. To deal with the Ferocious Race’s attacks, the Illustrious Divine Dynasty had established this fort.

Not too long after, the humans reclaimed some of the territory lost to the Ferocious Race. As their borders expanded, the Flowing Gold Fort gradually lost its purpose.

However, the Illustrious Divine Dynasty’s counterattack was like that of every dynasty’s final generation: the Ferocious Race retaliated very quickly, and the Flowing Gold Fort once again became an important pillar in defending the country.

After seven thousand years, the Flowing Gold Fort had gone through many such cycles, and every time it revived, it corresponded to a weakening of the country.

In that sense, the Flowing Gold Fort’s importance was quite ironic.

After the Illustrious Divine Dynasty split apart, Long Sang Country shouldered the burden of defending against the Ferocious Race because of their proximity to the north.

As the current human race was quite weak, the Flowing Gold Fort had once again become a strategic location.

The Flowing Gold Fort was located in between the Scarlet Mountain Range and the Limestone Mountain Range, while the Goldwater River flowed nearby. The fort was surrounded by water and mountains, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It was for these reasons that the fort served as a shield to prevent the Ferocious Race from sneaking in.

There was technically only one Flowing Gold Fort, but there were actually two more citadels and two more wing cities in that area for a total of five. They were placed in five strategically important locations across the two mountain ranges and were closely linked to one another.

The main fort had two layers; the outer wall was 150 feet tall, while the inner wall was 200 feet tall. This way, even if the enemies were able to scale the outer walls, the soldiers in the inner city could still attack the enemies outside.

The walls were made from refined black steel. When black steel was mixed with blood, it would turn a golden color; hence the name Flowing Gold Fort. Refined black steel wasn’t known for its toughness but rather its ability to conduct Origin Energy. Each chunk of refined black steel was covered in Origin Formation Inscriptions. The refined black steel walls’ primary purpose was not to withstand the attacks of the defenders but to power an Origin Formation. Once this formation was activated, a massive defensive barrier would be erected around the fort.

This barrier only allowed attacks through from the inside of the barrier and would block all attacks coming from outside the barrier

There were nine tall towers within the city which protected the core of the Origin Formation. As long as one of these towers remained standing, it could supply an endless source of Origin Energy to the protective barrier. Of course, activating such a large formation required a ton of Origin Energy. Apparently, each second the barrier was active cost tens of thousands of Origin Stones.

As such, the Flowing Gold Fort wouldn’t activate this formation unless it was an emergency.

Apart from the defensive barrier, the Flowing Gold Fort also had 1,400 Divine Flame Cannons, each one stronger and larger than the Sky Lightning Cannon that Su Chen had owned previously. There were even twenty specially constructed cannons that could apparently kill a Demonic King in a single blow. When faced with this kind of firepower, a single person would be totally outmatched no matter how strong they were.

Even so, the most powerful weapons needed talented soldiers to bring out their full potential. As such, the Flowing Gold Fort was filled with powerful warriors.

There were a total of one hundred thousand soldiers within the fort, each of them an elite soldier from Long Sang Country. Their training was rigorous and their coordination immaculate, and each one of them possessed a brave and heroic spirit. Because their main battles were against the Ferocious Race, they were known as the Ferocious Extermination Army. This army was the most well known throughout the whole Long Sang Country.

The Ferocious Extermination Army was split into ten battalions, each with around ten thousand people. They were named as follows: the Heavenly Might Battalion, the Heavenly Enlightenment Battalion, the Heavenly Mist Battalion, the Heavenly Fiend Battalion, the Heavenly Extermination Battalion, the Earthly Ferocious Battalion, the Earthly Fire Battalion, the Earthly Dragon Battalion, the Earthly Tranquility Battalion, and the Earthly Peaceful Battalion.

The Heavenly Battalions were primarily responsible for offensive maneuvers, while the Earthly Battalions focused on defense.

The group that had disappeared amongst the Harvey Plains was Shi Kaihuang’s Heavenly Might Battalion.

The midday sun was blazing brilliantly.

Su Chen stared off into the distance at the towering walls that were already coming into view. The intense sunlight bounced off the refined black steel walls and scattered into dazzling rays.

Because the Flowing Gold Fort was enveloped in a large formation and flying was forbidden, Su Chen could only walk there on foot.

He had run his horse to death on the mountain, so Su Chen had to walk quite a ways before he arrived at the fort.

The fort loomed over him like a tall mountain, making Su Chen feel as small as an ant in front of the main gate.

Fighting the various races had one benefit, which was that there were rarely any foreign spies. After all, if someone with the Ferocious Race’s unique physical features were to try to mingle with a group of humans, they would be spotted immediately. As such, the defenses at the back of the fort weren’t very strict. The guards of the city just asked him a few perfunctory questions, and no extortion took place.

According to the plan, Su Chen was originally going to find the Heavenly Mist Battalion in order to search for Xiao Feinan, but immediately upon entering the city, he felt his stomach rumble in hunger. It just so happened that Su Chen spotted a wine tavern nearby, so he headed in that direction.

He had just entered when someone suddenly jumped out in front of him. “I’ve finally caught you! Haha!”

Su Chen was badly startled and attacked instinctively with a palm strike. Just before it was about to land, however, he suddenly noticed that it was Night Demon. Su Chen quickly forcefully dissipated the energy of his strike, causing his wrist to dislocate itself in the process, and gritting his teeth from the resulting pain.

Night Demon didn’t notice anything. She laughed, her hands on her hips. “What do you think? You didn’t discover me beforehand this time, right? I’ve finally successfully ambushed you?”

“......Yes.”

This time, Su Chen really hadn’t sensed her presence, but did she really need to be so happy about it?

They were in a military town and the streets were filled with people. In addition, there was a lot on Su Chen’s mind. It was no surprise that he hadn’t noticed her.

He stared harshly at Night Demon. “Why are you here?”

“I came looking for you, of course,” Night Demon said in high spirits.

Su Chen glanced around them. It didn’t seem that anyone was paying them any attention, so he pulled Night Demon over to the side and asked her in a hushed voice, “Young Miss, are you trying to get yourself killed? Don’t forget that you’re part of the Immortal…… You’re one of them. If you get discovered, do you think you’ll be able to escape?”

“I’ll just be a bit more careful than usual.” Night Demon seemed like she couldn’t care less.

“......Who told you to come look for me? And how did you know I was here?”

“Of course it was the boss. Don’t you know that everyone has been paying close attention to you after the situation at Mountain Overlook City?”

Su Chen laughed coldly, “Are they paying close attention to the Hemolytic Totem or the Primordial Blood Incarnation? Or is it the Soul Armaments?”

Night Demon’s eyes lit up. “Oh? So you already knew!”

What a joke! How could he not know?

Even though Su Chen had profited quite handsomely from the trip to the castle, he had also revealed quite a bit of his strength. The Hemolytic Totem, Soul Armaments, and Primordial Blood Incarnation were all techniques that could make huge waves in the world. Who wouldn’t be interested in obtaining these techniques for themselves?

Because of this, the Immortal Temple had been keeping a close eye on him.

Under these kinds of circumstances, it wasn’t actually that surprising that they knew where he was.

Su Chen going to the Gu Clan to ask for Gu Qingluo’s hand in marriage didn’t affect them, so they didn’t intervene.

But if Su Chen was going to the Ferocious Race’s territory to search for Shi Kaihuang, then the situation was different.

Even if Su Chen hadn’t figured out what was happening at first, as soon as Night Demon mentioned that everyone was paying close attention to him after Mountain Overlook City, he had figured it out. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be Su Chen anymore.

When he heard what Night Demon said, Su Chen coldly laughed. “I know, but unfortunately I’m not planning on selling any of these three techniques.”

Night Demon clapped her hands and said, “The higher-ups knew you would say this, so they wanted me to tell you that you really might need our help if you want to save Old Shi.”

“What did you say?” Su Chen was stunned.

“Nothing, really. It’s just that my boss wanted me to tell you one thing: the remnants of the Arcana Race are everywhere. If they’re amongst the human race, they must also be amongst the Ferocious Race.”