Chapter 45: Contact (1)

These people were wearing tattered garments, and their faces were stained with mud. They were wielding spears.

Upon seeing Iron Cliff, they froze for a moment, but when they saw the horn-blade in Iron Cliff’s hand, their expressions suddenly contorted with rage as they yelled angrily and charged over, stabbing their spears at Iron Cliff.

Iron Cliff didn’t understand where this sudden attack had come from. He was about to retaliate when Su Chen suddenly yelled, “Don’t kill them.”

When he heard this, Iron Cliff was forced to put the horn-blade away.

Even though these people attacked fiercely, they were very weak - only martial artists in the Body Tempering realm. Iron Cliff realized after defending against a few of their blows that they posed no danger to him, so he didn’t even bother to return their blows. Instead, he activated his Adamantine Battle Body and allowed them to hit him.

Those long spears clanged against his iron-like body, but they didn’t even leave behind any scuff marks.

One of the men swung his spear viciously, crashing it down on Iron Cliff’s head.

With a bang, the spear actually broke in two.

The men glanced at each other, unable to conceal the fear in their expressions; then, they yelled and retreated simultaneously.

“Want to run?” A fierce expression appeared on Iron Cliff’s face.

He was just about to snatch them all up when Su Chen said, “Let them go.”

“Hm?” Iron Cliff was stunned.

Su Chen walked over calmly. “These people are the nearby natives. They attacked not because they wanted to plunder us but because we killed their Guardian Beast.”

“Guardian Beast?” Iron Cliff didn’t understand.

“The Buried Armor Beast,” Su Chen replied. “We killed off the Guardian Beast that they had tamed. Them attacking us out of anger is understandable.”

When those people appeared, Su Chen had used his language proficiency skill to interpret their yells. As such, he could understand why they were angry.

“So that’s how it is.” When Su Chen said that, Iron Cliff felt somewhat ashamed. No matter how you put it, they were the ones at fault in the first place.

“But for a bunch of villagers to tame a top-tier Vicious Beast? That’s quite interesting. Let’s go. Since we ran into them, we should at least increase our contact with them. It seems like there are still some tricks in this place,” Su Chen said as he followed after those fleeing villagers.

When he was training in the Hidden Dragon Institute, they had taught him some tracking skills. These villagers had never been trained and didn’t know how to conceal their tracks. The direction and path they had taken when fleeing were extremely clear in Su Chen’s eyes.

As they followed the tracks left behind by the villagers, a stockaded village very quickly emerged before them.

The fortified village was constructed out of wood from the massive trees nearby. There were even a few village soldiers wielding either spears or bows standing guard.

Their strength also seemed like it was in the Body Tempering Realm, and none of them appeared particularly exceptional.

What really protected the fortified village wasn’t their own strength but that formless, invisible “curse”.

The villagers who had attacked Iron Cliff had already returned to the fort. The fort was obviously in a commotion. When Su Chen and Iron Cliff appeared, a warning call sounded out from the fort. Immediately afterwards, a bunch more villager soldiers charged to the top of the fort.

Bow after bow was drawn and pointed right at Su Chen.

An old, white-haired man missing many of his teeth stood atop the wall of the fort and yelled down, “Who are you people? Why are you attacking us?”

What came out of his mouth was standard human language.

“I think you’ve got it all wrong. We’re not here to attack you, but you’re the ones attacking us.”

“You killed our Guardian Angel Beast!” a villager who looked like he was the commander of the troops yelled.

“Angel Beast?” Su Chen laughed. “You call a top-tier Vicious Beast an Angel Beast? Then what about Demonic Beasts? Are they Divine Beasts?”

As he spoke, his expression sank. “The Beast Race is the enemy of all Intelligent Races. If we worship them as divine beings, what room does that leave us humans? We can control and use beasts, but not in this manner!”

The old man harrumphed, “You make it sound so good, but if it weren’t for the fact that you bully us tyrannically, we wouldn’t be forced to eke out a living like this. We don’t care about whether the human race is enemies with the beast race. All we know is that they keep our home safe from the invasion of you damn outsiders! Young man, we won’t squabble with you over your offense of killing our Guardian Angel Beast because of your ignorance. Leave this place now; otherwise, don’t blame us for being impolite!”

A resounding cry came from the top of the fort walls. There were many Vicious Beasts hiding within the walls of the fort. From the sounds of their howls, it seemed as if they were mid-tier or higher.

Even though these villagers weren’t very powerful, the beasts they tamed weren’t weak at all.

The Beast Race was naturally violent and savage; beasts rarely submitted to humans.

For mid- and even high-tier Vicious Beasts to submit to a bunch of weak villagers could be overlooked if it were just an exception, but a large group to submit was enough to give one significant pause.

A sharp glint flashed across Su Chen’s eyes as he said, “You won’t squabble with me, or you can’t afford to? I think that it’s the latter, isn’t it?”

If Su Chen and Iron Cliff could kill a Vicious Beast, they could obviously kill many more. Even though the old man was acting as if he was being merciful, he was motivated by fear.

Su Chen’s words shattered his facade, and the old man’s expression grew extremely ugly.

The commander of the martial artists yelled, “Chief, those outsiders are being far too brash. They were most likely sent by those Bloodline Nobility Clans. Let’s not waste our time with them and just kill them now!”

However, the old man still hesitated. It was obvious that the two people in front of him weren’t easy to deal with, and even if he could kill them, the price might be far too high for them to bear.

Su Chen, however, froze slightly when he heard this, then said, “Please, wait a minute. The ‘Bloodline Nobility Clans’ you mentioned, does that refer to the ten Bloodline Nobility Clans in Clear River City?”

“Are there any other Bloodline Nobility Clans that would come here?” the martial artist commander countered.

“It sounds like you don’t like them very much. If I recall correctly, haven’t you been doing business with them this entire time?” Su Chen asked.

“We’re not doing business with them; they’re robbing us!” the young martial artist commander yelled loudly. “But now, we don’t want to be robbed by them anymore!”

“Is that how it is?” Su Chen laughed.

The old man seemed to realize something. He asked, “Young man, you don’t look like one of those Bloodline Nobility Clan people. They wouldn’t possibly speak so cordially with us; they’re far more arrogant and usually come with more people.”

“Of course I’m not one of them. I’m actually the total opposite - they’re trying their best to kill me,” Su Chen replied.

The old man’s eyes flashed with light. “May I ask who you are?”

“Su Chen, the Knowledge Executor of Clear River City.”

The villagers glanced at each other. Evidently, Su Chen’s prestige had yet to spread from Clear River City to here.

But that wasn’t important. If you don’t know it, I can help you know it.

Sometimes, you can’t afford to be modest. If the time comes where you need to boast about yourself, then you need to boast.

Su Chen said, “One or two hundred of their subordinates have died to my hands, including two Yang Opening Realm experts and ten or so Blood Boiling Realm experts. If you are also an enemy of theirs, I think that we can dispense with baring our fangs at each other.”

“Are you telling the truth?” the old man asked with cautious excitement.

“Trust me. Your defensive tactics aren’t anything special in my eyes.” Su Chen casually tossed out a Thunderfire Ball.

The Thunderfire Ball 3.0 was much stronger than before. It exploded in a location a ways off from where they were, sending a violent wave of energy in all directions. If he were to use it on the wooden walls of this fort, he could destroy them easily.

After Su Chen revealed this tactic, the old man no longer had any more doubts. After all, the methods Su Chen had demonstrated could ruin their fort within a matter of moments. He yelled quickly, “Open the doors to the fort and invite our esteemed guest in!”