One Pound Meat, One More Attribute Point

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The grand doors opened slowly before Su Heng, as gusts of wind tumbled and white mist surged.

But the sight that revealed itself inside was not reminiscent of a chilly tomb; rather, it resembled a vast square.

Under his feet lay a floor of thick, dark bluestone slabs, upon which stood rows of towering guards.

Each of these warriors was over three meters tall, appearing to be molded from clay, yet every detail on them was vividly lifelike.

They stood in formation, emanating a terrifying presence as unyielding as mountains.

Su Heng stepped forward onto the square.

Above the dome was not a ceiling but a mass of heavy, roiling amber mist, from which light was radiating outwards.

Giant dragon pillars and shadow walls stood on either side of the square, all carved from precious white marble.

Su Heng stopped in his tracks.

His gaze inevitably fell upon the shadow walls.

One wall depicted vast mountains, atop which stood an armor-clad giant.

He was clothed in the attire of the prairie peoples, adorned with metal sequins and decorations made from the teeth of wild beasts, wearing riding boots, with a narrow ceremonial scar on his face. His eyes were like those of a hawk, brimming with vitality.

Within that gaze was a familiar hunger to Su Heng, one that could never be satisfied.

Some people need water and food to live.

But some require something else to survive – blood, slaughter, and never-ending war.

There was also an inscription in ink on the massive shadow wall that hadn’t faded even after a thousand years – "This is the back of the world, conquer these lands, and you conquer fate itself."

"An Shelie doesn’t seem to be a local," Su Heng mused, stroking his chin while looking at the clothes in the portrait.

He should have realized it earlier, after all, the name An Shelie had always sounded somewhat strange.

"He is from the Tarkas Prairie," An Ran appeared silently beside Su Heng, her gaze falling on another shadow wall.

A golden sun casts across the safflower sea, myriad miles of lush green reflecting the fire lake.

Another landscape unfurled on that shadow wall, equally grand, but without human figures.

"The Tarkas Prairie... I’ve never heard of this name," Su Heng pondered for a while but couldn’t gather more information from the shadow walls.

"Tarkas, in the local language of An Shelie’s homeland, is known as ’Dragon Abyss,’" explained An Ran.

"Legend says it’s where true dragons are buried."

"If An Shelie indeed acquired his Dragon Blood from the prairie, then the legend is not without merit" Su Heng’s interest was piqued. Information on dragons, creatures at the apex, was always valuable.

The secret realm "Heavenly Deceit" had attracted countless powerful figures to shed blood over it, simply because a tyrant dragon had once left its mark there.

"If the Tarkas Prairie truly conceals dragon bones, why haven’t I heard of it?"

"These are myths that have circulated for thousands of years; who can tell what’s true and what’s not. Canglong Mountain also purports to be the transformation of a true dragon, yet to this day, it has shown nothing magical," An Ran explained. "Furthermore, the Tarkas Prairie lies beyond the empire’s borders."

The Great Zhou Dynasty was an empire with an exceedingly strong desire to expand.

From its birth, through a millennium.

War had never ceased.

If a land was not assimilated into the empire’s domain, the cause was usually similar to that of Skull Plain – the environment was simply too harsh.

And what An Ran said next confirmed Su Heng’s guess.

"South of Jiangzhou is Liuzhou, and west of Liuzhou is Hunxi Mountain. To reach the Tarkas Prairie, one must figure out a way to cross Hunxi Mountain. And Hunxi Mountain..." An Ran shook her head, "stretches barren for eight hundred li, without a blade of grass. To cross this mountain, even one with a head as hard as copper and a body as tough as iron would be boiled down to pulp."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Su Heng remarked calmly.

"After the fall of An Shelie, the rest of the An family certainly considered exploring the prairie to trace the source of the Dragon Blood. But to this day, the attempts made by several generations have all ended in failure," explained An Ran.

She followed Su Heng, matching his pace step for step.

At this moment, the two of them walked and talked, traversing the square to stand at the foot of the steps.

On the ancient steps, giants clad in golden armor held long spears, their expressions solemn and dignified, exuding a mountain-like heavy presence. They stood guard over their master, waiting for their king to conquer death and return once more.

Crack!

An Ran stepped on something that made a noise.

Both halted their steps and looked down. A fragment of a broken bone starkly appeared before Su Heng.

"Interesting..." Su Heng glanced at it, determining that it had possibly been there for three to five hundred years. The owner was not weak; on the bones were the clear marks of martial transformations that came from a second phase of development.

"Someone else has been here before us?" Su Heng exclaimed in surprise.

"This..."

An Ran shook her head, "The affairs of the ’Heavenly Deceit’ are unclear. Perhaps someone accidentally entered the tomb through some chance or trick."

"How did he die? There are no traps here."

An Ran’s delicate brows also furrowed deeply, this was beyond her understanding.

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She took a step back and came to the other side of Su Heng’s body.

Bowing her head, she could see the corpse was severed into an upper and a lower half; it seemed to have been dragged on the ground for a while, its death utterly gruesome, with dried blood leaving behind dark streaks.

"It’s like he was cut in two by a giant blade," An Ran stuck out her tongue and suddenly realized something.

She blankly raised her head, her gaze landing on those golden-armored giants standing atop the steps.

"No way!" An Ran swallowed hard, her face stiff with disbelief.

The next moment, those giants began to move.

Bang!

From resurrection to regaining full strength, it took them less than half a breath’s time.

The golden blades in the hands of the giants descended from the sky with a sharp, piercing sound and smashed down right toward An Ran’s forehead.

Some mysterious power sealed off the surroundings.

An Ran’s internal strength surged, but she was unable to break free from such a seal.

All she could do was widen her eyes as the golden blade swiftly enlarged in her view, until it occupied her entire field of vision.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, everything in front of her went dark.

The intense pain she anticipated did not come.

Like an expansive hand from the heavens, Su Heng’s reached out in time, pressing against the golden armored giant’s chest.

Power vibrated, muscles bursting forth like springs loaded with force.

The giant, more than three meters tall and wearing a golden armor, wasn’t much different in size from Su Heng in his normal state.

But the gap in strength between them was vast.

Su Heng appeared to simply extend his hand lightly and push forward, yet the giant, as though hit by a direct cannonball, was knocked down without the slightest ability to resist.

He flew backwards, crashing onto the steps.

A huge dent appeared on the golden armor, almost pierced through.

But the giant seemed to have sustained no serious injuries, and amid the grating sound of metal, he struggled to get up from the ground, while more golden armored giants on the steps began to awaken from their slumber.

"Interesting," Su Heng’s face showed an intrigued expression.

Though it was just a casual blow, the power unleashed should have been enough to severely injure Heavenly Deceit, yet it hadn’t managed to incapacitate the giant.

Su Heng looked around.

There were a total of seventy-eight resurrected giants on the steps.

The one who Su Heng had flung away just moments ago was the tallest. He wore a red tassel on his head and his armor was the most elaborate, seemingly the leader of these warriors.

"I remember now," An Ran’s face turned pale, whether from fear or the blood loss from opening the tomb earlier was uncertain.

"These are the Dragon Guards who once followed An Shelie and achieved great military exploits. After An Shelie’s defeat, these Dragon Guards also disappeared. It was thought they were wiped out by Great Ancestor’s army, or that they chose to retire in seclusion somewhere. But to think they were actually taken directly into An Shelie’s tomb."

"A thousand years have passed, An Shelie is already dead, but his Dragon Guards are still here, which is truly unbelievable."

Excitement shone faintly on Su Heng’s face as he observed these giants.

It wasn’t excitement born of bloodlust.

The strength of these Dragon Guards was formidable, but they posed no threat to Su Heng.

It was primarily their towering bodies and the fine armor and weapons they bore, akin to a collector seeing a limited edition gilded figure.

And indeed, Su Heng was in need of such powerful followers; after all, having to deal with every Tom, Dick, and Harry that challenged him in person was somewhat beneath him.

"Be careful," said An Ran not knowing why Su Heng suddenly perked up.

She rubbed her cheeks and dutifully warned, "These Dragon Guards are endowed with Dragon Blood, and their strength is formidable. Also, they share a collective hive mind; they move as one. Even the usual Heavenly Deceit powerhouses would be minced finely upon entering their ranks—an amount sufficient to mix with a large bowl of noodles."

"An Shelie controlled you with Dragon Blood?" Su Heng naturally figured, "His era has ended; kneel before me. Once I kill An Shelie, I will grant you your freedom."

"He never coerced us," the lead Dragon Guard Leader aimed his weapon at Su Heng, while the rest of the Dragon Guards formed a ring, surrounding Su Heng.

"He is the Dragon King, the conqueror among conquerors, and we are his kin."

The Dragon Guard Leader spoke calmly, "I offer all that can be offered, serve all that can be served. One lifetime, a hundred lifetimes, a thousand lifetimes—he demands, and we shall give."

"He indeed is a sovereign worth following," chuckled Su Heng, and then with some regret, he said, "If that is the case, I can only grant you death."

"We’re more than willing," came the reply.

Roar!

No sooner had the Dragon Guard Leader finished speaking than Su Heng let out a roar.

A cloud of black smoke burst from his body, his power as vast as the abyss, akin to a tidal wave of blackness engulfing the entire burial site in an instant.

And in the smokescreen that obscured everything,

Su Heng’s eyes glowed red, his arms transformed into fierce dragon claws, and he lunged forward.

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