Chapter 637: 100 Long Years

Chapter 637: Chapter 6: 100 Long Years

One hundred and forty-seven years had passed since Su Zhou first left. It was now the year 147 of the New Calendar.

The Sword Casting Museum was, in fact, a ruin that the later Hundred Schools Assembly had unearthed from volcanic ash while rebuilding the government and promoting nationalism. It was then established as a free museum for patriotic education.

The site didn’t just house the Sword Casting Museum, which glorified the Hero. To one side was the ‘Demon Dynasty Atrocities Museum,’ access to which was restricted to individuals sixteen and older. Inside were descriptions and records of the cannibalistic atrocities committed by the Demon Soldiers of the old Demon Dynasty.

The current state of the world was rather fascinating; both Su Zhou and Shao Qiming couldn’t help but marvel at it after they learned what had happened.

In the past, the Anx Dynasty had used the Divine Wood Power to wantonly slaughter commoners, causing countless Anx refugees to scatter in all directions, spreading across the entire world. At the time, this was seen as abandoning one’s home and native land. The Hundred Schools’ Righteous Army was deeply dissatisfied with this, viewing it as a surrender to the Demon Dynasty and a refusal to resist.

However, over a century later, this very exodus was officially praised by the future Tianzheng Alliance. It was regarded as a migratory wave that spread the Tianzheng Cultural Circle. Its significance was twofold: not only did it bring advanced culture and True Qi traditions to the surrounding Barbaric Wilderness, but it also provided the Hundred Schools Assembly with ample justification and claims for its future expansion and eventual evolution into the Tianzheng Alliance.

Five years after Su Zhou left the Divine Wood World, the reorganized Hundred Schools Assembly had essentially reclaimed all the former territories of the Anx Dynasty. By the thirtieth year, they had reestablished contact with the Anx refugees who had settled in the Southern Ocean. By the sixtieth year, the Assembly began to build diplomatic ties with the refugees who had migrated across the ocean to East Japan Fuso.

After that, the Hundred Schools Assembly, having regained its strength and consolidated the Anx Dynasty’s former sphere of influence, began to push outward in all directions—to conquer, or, as they put it, to guide the former refugees back into the Tianzheng Cultural Circle.

Now, more than half of the entire World Island fell under the Tianzheng Alliance’s sphere of influence. The last war of conquest—or, the last ‘homecoming’ to reclaim their ‘claims’—had ended twenty-four years ago. The entire world was now at peace.

The True Qi Mechanisms, developed during the war against the Demon Dynasty, were of course instrumental in this process. The proliferation of these machines also led to an expansion of the Martial Artist population. Perhaps the initial motive was simply to find more workers to operate the True Qi Mechanisms—much like how factory owners ‘liberated’ rural labor only to have more hands in their factories—but the result was the undeniable spread of Martial Dao traditions.

Today, one in every three people in the Tianzheng Alliance is a Cultivator, while the other two have at least some training in Inner Strength, even if they don’t pursue it as a profession.

By now, Su Zhou and Shao Qiming had left the museum. The sky was beginning to darken, and an orange-red twilight glow appeared above the thinning snow clouds.

The young man stood at the edge of the mountain peak’s platform, gazing into the distance. Through the falling snow, he could see massive Flying Airships speeding beneath the cloud layer. Far below, in the city at the mountain’s foot, plumes of white steam billowed high into the sky. The lands of Hei State and Liaozhou, once completely desolate, were now filled with thriving cities and bustling crowds.

Standing atop this high mountain, he looked down upon the world.

In the past, it was on this very spot that he had practiced his Martial Arts, defeated a powerful foe, and ultimately comprehended the Thunder Technique to attain the power he now possessed.

Back then, when he looked down upon the world from this mountain, he could only see endless, pale snowfields, a solitary, winding river, and desolate urban ruins.

And now, over a hundred years later, civilization had flourished to such an extent, even developing a True Qi-based civilization completely different from that of Earth.

Drawing the Blade of Annihilation, Su Zhou held it in his hand. His pupils contracted as if focusing, his gaze sweeping over the distant scenery. He stared at it all, the corners of his lips curling upward into a genuine smile.

“This is wonderful…” he murmured to himself.

Nearby, Shao Qiming saw that smile. He could tell it was a look of heartfelt pride. And as Su Zhou felt this pride, the fluctuations of Spiritual Power within him grew palpably purer, with almost no attempt to conceal it.

—This was the world he had saved, the tide he had turned.

And in this world, his name and his image were being passed down through the ages, eternally celebrated.

At this thought, understanding dawned on Shao Qiming. He was beginning to see why Su Zhou had wanted to come back and look upon this world again.

‘In a sense, everything this world has become is the ‘good fruit’ borne from Su Zhou’s past deeds. Perhaps this is the very sustenance required by his Divine Technique, the Evil-Devouring Demon Lord,’ he thought.

Whether it was his Devouring Evil Deeds or the good fruit borne of his benevolent acts, anything that caused his name to be celebrated… all of it aided Su Zhou on his path.

Meanwhile, others had also taken notice of Su Zhou. Some admired his appearance, while others noted the strangeness of his eyes. They could all sense that he was a person of extraordinary power, and thus, none of them had any intention of approaching and disturbing him.

But Su Zhou soon snapped out of his reverie. He raised the Blade of Annihilation and caressed its surface.

A moment ago, his Divine Technique, enhanced by his True Soul, had sensed an intangible, formless power surging toward him—it was Desire Power, laced with a great deal of impurities.

Of course, such Desire Power could not be used directly. So, Su Zhou used the Blade of Annihilation, letting it absorb the power in his place. After all, compared to his name, the Divine Blade itself was a totem, a Mark. It could perfectly well receive the benefits on his behalf, and in doing so, help him circumvent certain limitations.