Legend of Mir 2: Seeking the Truth in Marfa

"One of them is a 5th-rank warrior, and the other is a 7th-rank warrior. Both are criminals exiled here. Their equipment has been confiscated by us, and they are tied with special chains, which prevents them from using active skills. So they will not pose any threat." Lu Tiande explained.

Brooke nodded.

When the three of them came closer, Lu Tiande instructed Ximen Kongmie and Ximen Wudi:

"This gentleman is the owner of this escort vehicle. Everything you need to do during this transportation of supplies must follow his instructions. You know the rules, go early and come back early."

Ximen Kongmie and the other man looked at Brook in surprise.

Brook smiled at them, then turned to Lu Tiande and said, "Thank you for your guidance, sir. I'll set off now."

Brook walked in front, and Ximen Kongmie and the other man followed behind, pulling the escort cart. They quickly walked out of the military camp and headed along the wide road towards the left sentry camp.

"Brook, why are you here?" Ximen Kongmie finally couldn't help but ask.

"I offended Lu Renlong from Wolong Villa, so I came to the Warcraft battlefield to avoid the limelight." Brook did not hide it from him.

"Oh~ Lu Renlong, maybe he has taken a fancy to some treasure of yours again?"

"Senior, do you know him?"

"Of course. Lu Renlong is the eldest son of the previous owner of Wolong Mountain Stronghold. Originally, he should have inherited Wolong Mountain Stronghold. Unfortunately, he is notoriously stingy, greedy, and has no vision. He has done several outrageous things in the past, and everyone in my generation knows about it. In the end, the old owner had no choice but to pass the position of owner to his sister Lu Renfeng."

"Lu Renfeng? The current owner of Wolong Villa is a woman?" Brooke asked.

"That's right. This woman is extremely talented and dedicated to cultivation. Coupled with the resources of Wolong Villa, she was already an 8th Rank Master decades ago. She has been in seclusion for many years and is rumored to have survived the second level of wind and thunder tribulation. Her strength is extremely strong."

"Second level wind and thunder tribulation? How many tribulations do I have to go through after the eighth transformation?"

"...I'm not too sure. It could be 5 times, and there are also rumors that it's 6 times. In fact, this is not important. Overcoming tribulation is something that only eighth-level cultivators have to consider. People like us may not even reach the eighth level in our lifetime, so why bother ourselves with trouble now?" Ximen Kongmie said self-deprecatingly.

"That's what the senior said. By the way, are Ximen Wuxie and Ximen Wuqing also in the quarry?" Brook asked casually.

"...They have died in battle." Ximen Kongmie said lightly.

"...What exactly happened?" Brook asked.

Ximen Wuxie had previously ambushed Wenren Muyue, and Brook had no fondness for him. But to die so suddenly was truly surprising. While third- and fourth-rank cultivators struggled in the Warcraft battlefield, with the seventh-rank Ximen Kongmie watching over them, it was unthinkable.

"It happened a month ago. We were sent to the frontline battlefield and encountered a large number of monsters. Our team was surrounded, and everyone except me died. Wuxie and Wuqing had just used up all their resurrections, and Wudi only had one chance left to revive. I couldn't save them."

"Oh... you must be having a hard time here."

"Actually, it's not that bad. If we just mine ore, we can just muddle through. As long as we find a way to avoid going to the front line battlefield, we will definitely survive. In another 10 months, Wudi will be able to get out." Ximen Kongmie said.

Ximen Wudi served for a year, while Ximen Kongmie himself did not know when he would be exiled.

"Senior, if you had known this would happen, you shouldn't have gone to the Marfa continent." Brook said.

"It's all because of you. You ruined my good thing! But I can't blame you entirely. Who knew it was such a coincidence that I would run into my enemy from more than 30 years ago? What's more, they have a magical weapon and are blocking the intersection and won't let us in. And Luo Xuan is also in that area. Hey, it's the time and the fate! If I get it, I'm lucky. If I lose it, I'm doomed." Ximen Kongmie sighed.

"For the sake of a derelict divine weapon, your Ximen family robbed and killed the Marfa monks who entered the Dragon Empire; for the sake of the artifact, you tried every means to stay in the Marfa continent. You are really trying hard! Why do you have to do this? Don't you, the dignified Ximen family, have a decent artifact?" Brook teased.

"Who said we don't have any artifacts? It's just that our family's artifact was lost in the Warcraft battlefield a long time ago." Ximen Wudi on the side interrupted unconvinced.

"Huh? Yours also fell here? I thought only the Wenren family's flame ring fell here."

"Hmph! Compared to the Wenren family, our Ximen family has a rarer invisibility ring. And it dropped earlier than the Wenren family." Ximen Wudi said proudly.

"Invincible, since it's already fallen, it's gone. No need to brag about it." Ximen Kong said, "Brook, you said we intercepted the Marfa monks from the lower realm, snatched the fallen divine weapons, and found a way to enter the Marfa continent. We all agree with these things! But do you know how important a divine weapon is to a family? Whether it's the Ximen family or the Wenren family, they became aristocratic families because of divine weapons. A family without the support of a divine weapon will eventually decline even if it has a 7th-rank master. Not only that, if a 7th-rank monk wants to advance to the 8th rank, he must possess a divine weapon. If it were you, would you not fight for it?"

"What the senior said makes sense. But why do I need a magic weapon to upgrade to the 8th level?" Brook was puzzled.

"Hehe~ Well, you'll understand when you want to upgrade to rank 8. If it weren't for the lack of divine artifacts, there wouldn't be so few rank 8 cultivators in the Dragon Empire!" Ximen Kongmie kept the secret and refused to explain the specific reason.

Brook pondered. What Ximen Kongmie said was probably true. Although reaching Rank 8 required a significant consumption of bloodline essence, for cultivators, especially those from wealthy, aristocratic families, as long as they slowly accumulated bloodline essence and diligently leveled up, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they could certainly reach Rank 7 or even Rank 8 within their lifetime. However, in reality, Rank 8 cultivators were extremely rare. I had thought the most important reason was the numerous deaths of high-level cultivators in the Warcraft battlefield, but it seemed that was secondary; the primary factor might be related to the artifact.

The three of them walked forward for a while in silence, each with their own thoughts.

Ximen Wudi broke the silence and asked:

"Brook, do you know what's going on with our Ximen family?"

"It's been pretty peaceful lately, nothing major has happened. Two days ago, I saw Ximen Shangli at the ore auction at Wolong Villa. He was bidding on the ore on behalf of your family and was quite active. Although I didn't gain much, I didn't suffer any losses either."

After hearing this, Ximen Wudi felt a little relieved.

"By the way, Brook, Lu Renlong is causing trouble for you. Is it because he has his eyes on some treasure of yours?" Ximen Kongmie asked.

"An ordinary Primordial Heaven-Swallowing Dao Shield. I found it at an ore auction. I wanted to use it myself and refused to sell it to Wolong Villa, so I was hunted down," Brook said. The main reason was the artifact, but Brook wouldn't say it, and neither would Lu Renlong. They claimed to be after the Primordial Heaven-Swallowing Dao Shield.

"Tsk tsk, a Sky-Swallowing Shield! No wonder. Our Ximen family only has one Sky-Swallowing Shield. You're really lucky."

The outpost camp has appeared ahead.

"Senior, please add me as a friend. I will be in the Warcraft battlefield recently. If you need anything, you can tell me. I can help to the best of my ability." Brook said.

"Aren't you from the Wenren family? Are you willing to help us?" Ximen Kongmie asked curiously.

"Why not? At least in the Warcraft battlefield, we are not enemies." Brook said.

"Haha, great! Just for what you said, if I can get out, I will never embarrass you again. I do have something I need help with."

"You said."

"You know, I was exiled to this damned Warcraft battlefield. If I want to get out, I must atone for my sins and perform great deeds. If you receive an important mission and need help, you can come to the quarry to find me." Ximen Kongmie added, "It's just me, so I'm invincible. He has no chance of resurrection. He can get out naturally after a year. He can't take any more risks."

"You're a prisoner. Can I take you on a mission? Your equipment and skills won't be usable, right?"

"When we participate in the battle, our equipment will be returned to us and our chains will be removed. As long as you specifically require my help and you pay less than the price, the quarry will release me."

"Okay. I'll come find you." Brooke agreed.

"Brook, you haven't turned 5 yet, right?"

"not yet."

"This is for you. They all died last time, and this is the only trophy left." Ximen Kongmie said, trading something with Brook.

1 fifth-turn pill!

"...Thank you!" Brooke accepted it. He had never expected that the tenth fifth-level pill would be given by Ximen Kongmie.

"No need. You need to hurry up and reach 5th rank. 4th rank monks can't get those important missions."

"Don't worry. When the time comes, I will come to find you with a mission. Don't think the mission is too dangerous. Also, if you are surrounded by monsters again, as a warrior, you should not run away in front of others." Brook implied that he ignored his teammates.

"Bullshit! We were surrounded at that time, and I tried my best, but still couldn't save Wuqing and the others. I didn't run away until everyone was dead using my skill of killing one person every ten steps. I, Ximen Kongmie, still have several chances to resurrect, so how could I abandon the younger generation of my family and run away by myself! I really can't save them! If you are willing to help me this time, I promise that no matter how dangerous it is, I will not complain! No matter what the situation is, as long as you are still there, I will never run away first!" Ximen Kongmie argued, almost swearing an oath.

Brooke nodded: "That's great!"