One Pound Meat, One More Attribute Point

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Skull Plain, Cold Stone Mountain.

His long hair, bound up with a golden hoop, fluttered as his bronze skin gleamed.

He spread his arms wide, took a deep breath, drawing the cold, barren air of Skull Plain into his lungs. Rain poured down, baptizing the rocks. Fresh scars marked his body, with rainwater converging into streams across his mountainous muscles.

He looked up towards the distant peaks.

In the storm, the mountains were hazy. The tenacious pines and wild willows growing from the rocks emitted a fresh fragrance, stimulating his olfactory cells.

And beyond those mountains, at the edge of his sight under the far-distant dome, the bright moon hung high, its cold light reflecting, with clouds scattered like sprinting steeds.

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He seemed to have shed all his burdens, enjoying a moment of peace.

But the peace did not last long.

Suddenly, amid the rain, a noise disturbed him, halting behind him. It was a young monk in a grey and white robe, his skin dark red and cracked from the harsh environment and toxic radiation of Skull Plain.

Yet, the monk’s face showed no pain; his eyes were black and bright, twinkling like stars.

The monk looked up at the giant’s back with admiration, as if gazing at the deity he served.

"Great Khan!" the monk called out.

Talihuitai Sorban, Khan of Khans, also known as the "Barbarian King" by the subjects of the Great Zhou Dynasty, slowly turned around. He looked at the monk behind him, a soft smile crossing his face amidst the veil of rain.

"Since you have come here, it means that the trial at Jialan Gunna must have already failed," spoken Talihuitai, his voice carried by the wind.

The monk’s eyes widened, a bit surprised.

The monk was wearing a fuzzy felt hat, now clutched with both hands to prevent the wind from stealing it away.

"How do you know about this?" the monk’s eyes widened, "Ever since the fallout with the great master, you have been here meditating, oblivious to worldly affairs. Yet, you seem to know everything happening outside. Is someone else in contact with you?"

Talihuitai chuckled freely, reaching out to ruffle the monk’s head.

His gaze was clear and gentle, yet his pupils bore an unmistakable trace of fatigue, "These events were bound to happen."

"Bound to happen?"

"A man can wield a weapon, but should not be wielded by it," Talihuitai said, "He made this mistake, thus failure befell him."

"How does the front line fare? Who was defeated at Jialan Gunna?"

The monk relayed what he knew to the bronze giant. After listening, Talihuitai’s eyebrows deeply furrowed, his face shadowed with gloom.

"Is there a problem?" The last time he saw that expression was when Talihuitai decided to sever ties with his own master. Now, seeing the same expression, the monk was somewhat worried, his voice involuntarily lowered, afraid to disturb his contemplation.

"He was destined to fail, but he shouldn’t have fallen in such a way," Talihuitai sighed, "Such a loss is too severe for us to bear."

"I don’t understand…" the monk looked up, "Why didn’t you continue to take action when breaking through Cambrian Pass? They… those Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Khans from various tribes, were all desperately plundering wealth, women, and livestock, yet you did nothing."

"It was you who crushed the Demon Suppression Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty, you who bled the most." The monk clenched his fists unconsciously, voicing his complaints.

"So, you think I should be like those Buddhas and Khans who expand territories, plunder everything they see, and then bring all these back to receive the adoration and exclamations of men and women in the tribe." Talihuitai smiled at this.

"Shouldn’t it be so?" the monk frowned, "I’ve heard some unpleasant rumors."

"Some people are blaming the failure on you."

"Let them whisper behind closed doors then," Talihuitai chuckled freely, "One day, they will realize I walk the right path. I only hope that when the great calamity truly comes, it won’t be too late for them."

"The right path?" the monk looked up, his face filled with surprise.

"Do you see the temple on the distant snowy mountain?" Talihuitai extended his hand, pointing far ahead, to the resplendent palace of Temple of the Law standing atop the towering snowy mountain. Even in the gloom of rain, the massive statues and palatial ridges were emitting a dazzling golden light, brilliant and spectacular.

"It’s magnificent," the novice monk swallowed hard.

Everyone thought Skull Plain was a cursed land, yet it contained so much gold. Enough to forge palaces and massive sculptures that were stunning and hard to forget.

"This indeed is a wondrous sight," Talihuitai said, "but under the light, it buries the bones of our kin."

The novice fell silent.

His father was a skilled stonemason, who had died from overwork.

And his mother had been used as a spellcasting ingredient by a monk of the Esoteric Sect and had bled to death after suffering torment.

Before meeting the Great Khan Talihuitai, the novice didn’t even know that these things should not be happening. There was a natural order and born sins. In the hell constructed by those monks, all this was taken for granted, and he even felt guilty for his grief.

"So, Hundred Buddha Temple, the Revered Law Temple, Endless White Tower Temple..." Talihuitai sneered, "Are these ancient legacies not our enemies?"

"You could have been their leader," the novice said with some regret.

"Do you think I care about that?"

Talihuitai sighed and walked down the stone-paved path.

His voice, penetrating the curtain of rain, carried from afar, "I indeed chose a difficult path, bristling with thorns. I’m not sure whether I’ll end up shattered to pieces or successfully reach the other side. But some things are like that; I made a vow, and I will fulfill it regardless of life or death."

The novice looked towards the voice and saw the rain cascading down his broad shoulders.

The formidable figure who had never feared facing the Demon Suppression Army seemed somewhat lonely now.

...

...

In Qimu State, within a beautifully scenic courtyard.

Assigned by the court to oversee all secular affairs in the Jiang-E region, General Yuan Hong had already shed his military attire and was dressed like a wealthy lord in a flowing brocade robe.

He sat comfortably in a mahogany chair, leisurely sipping tea while enjoying the garden view outside the window.

Two slender, gentle-tempered, and beautiful maids were respectfully attending to him.

One was responsible for adding water to the tea, while the other massaged Yuan Hong’s shoulders with her delicate fingers. For a veteran Heavenly Deceit powerhouse like Yuan Hong, even if the maid had some cultivation, she could not budge his iron-hard muscles.

But what he enjoyed was not so much the massage itself as the demeanor, the scent of the maid, and the harmonious ambiance created together with the surrounding environment.

"Flap flap!"

The sound of wings beating broke the originally elegant and pleasant atmosphere.

A black feather gently fell, and then a black-feathered, red-eyed crow flew in from the window.

On its robust, dragon-scale-covered legs, a thick bamboo tube was tightly bound. The maid adding water carefully took the tube and handed it to Yuan Hong.

Yuan Hong pinched the top of the bamboo tube lightly with two fingers and opened the wax seal.

His eyes swiftly scanned the yellow parchment of the secret message, and then he straightened his back, his thick eyebrows deeply furrowing as he fell into deep thought.

A moment later—

One maid left the room and came back shortly afterward.

This time carrying a stack of documents.

Yuan Hong quickly flipped through the contents.

Hence, his expression became increasingly shocked, even showing a bit of barely concealed fear.

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