Primordial Era: Starting with slaughtering all the gods and Buddhas in the sky

Read Chapter 51, Hidden Edge in the Wasteland, now to begin today's exciting read.

The Soul-Destroying Chisel on Huang Chen's leg reflected a dim light, its newly cracked edge resembling a sawtooth. He slowly ran his fingertip across it, paused, and then put the item back into his storage compartment.

The people in the cracks in the rocks didn't say much.

The only sound was the soft crunching of the herbal pills, which would occasionally ring out and then quickly stop.

That wasn't the sound of eating; it sounded more like a group of people were afraid of making a sound while eating, so they were even suppressing their swallowing.

Huang Chen looked up and glanced around.

A dozen or so laborers, dragged from the Broken Vein Camp, huddled deep in a crevice in the rock, their clothes tattered, their faces ashen, two of them trembling. Lan Gu squatted by the entrance, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and finally managed to swallow the half-pill of the Bigu Pill, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down like he was swallowing a pebble.

"Everyone, take another half a step in."

Huang Chen spoke, his voice not loud.

"Don't block the vents. There's a chill outside; if it blows in, it will freeze your lungs."

'

Everyone immediately moved.

No one dared to be slow.

The woman leading the way helped a middle-aged man with an injured leg, carefully guiding him deeper into the crevice. The gravel underfoot scraped against each other, making a soft, rustling sound that sent chills down one's spine.

Huang Chen leaned against the stone wall to stand up. The palm print on his chest throbbed with pain, and it felt as if a blunt hammer was slowly grinding inside his ribs. His expression remained unchanged. He simply raised his hand and flipped it over, revealing the imitation of the twelfth-grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus in his palm.

The lotus platform is a deep crimson, its fiery intent subdued.

As soon as it appeared, the chill in the crevice immediately subsided by three points.

Several laborers instinctively shrank back, clearly still remembering what this thing looked like when it burned people and demons in the Broken Vein Camp.

"It's not for you to burn."

'

Huang Chen said something and pressed Honglian onto a protruding rock platform in the middle of the crevice.

Spiritual energy is infused.

hum.

A dark red halo slowly spread out, hugging the rock wall and keeping out the chilling aura and yin energy seeping in from outside.

The bone-chilling cold was instantly suppressed, and the cracks in the rocks seemed to have been covered by a layer of lukewarm fire. The wind was still blowing outside, but it was gently blocked by the red light at the entrance, leaving only a little cool airflow to pass through.

Someone took a breath, and their eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Sit down and rest."

Huang Chen rubbed his chest, which felt stuffy, and looked down at the terrain.

The crevice wasn't large, but it branched into two paths. One path descended to the ground, damp and cold; the other slanted upwards, so narrow that only one person could squeeze through sideways. It was enough to hide people for now, but not for long. The water and wind were unstable, and encountering the demon soldiers searching the mountain would be even more troublesome.

We need to find a new place.

but not now.

He closed his eyes and listened for a moment, using the pulse sensation brought by the introductory talisman of the Pulse Tracing Spirit Listening Technique. The water line deep in the rock strata was still flowing slowly, not far from here, like a dark vein buried in sand and gravel.

There were still a few intermittent tremors in the direction of the rift valley, which should be the aftershocks of the collapse of the sacrificial canal. In the short term, the remnants of the Xuantian Sect and the remaining shaman soldiers did not have time to turn the surrounding area upside down.

Half an hour.

That should be enough for him to stabilize the situation here for now.

Huang Chen opened his eyes and began issuing commands.

"Those who can stand, divide into three groups. The first group goes to the right side of the entrance and moves the pine stones over, but don't block them all; leave two hand-width ventilation gaps."

The second group tore off any usable cloth from their bodies and used it to wrap the wounds to stop the bleeding. The third group searched for anything that could hold water—bone bowls, broken jars, helmets, anything would do.

'

There was a moment of silence in the crevice.

The group looked at each other, as if they hadn't understood.

Huang Chen frowned: "Are you expecting me to teach them one by one?"

Lan Gu was the first to stand up; he was as thin as a stick, but he moved very quickly.

"I'll go move the stones."

"Um.

'

The woman also stood up, leaning against the stone wall: "I...I'll bring people to collect the strips of cloth."

"I'll find the water containers."

"A man with half his sleeve torn off quickly chimed in."

When a person moves, the deathly aura dissipates somewhat.

Huang Chen leaned against the rock wall, regulating his breathing while watching them work. He could clearly see who was so shaky they couldn't hold the stone, who had a cut that exposed bone but still tried to be brave, and who was just stunned with fear.

Upon seeing someone piling large pieces of gravel directly into the ventilation vent, he immediately cursed.

"You guys want to suffocate at night by blocking the road?"

'

The man shuddered in fright and quickly moved away.

"The large stones are on the outside, the small ones are on the inside, and there is a gap in the middle."

"The wind should be blocked, not the coffin sealed."

"Yes, yes..."

Huang Chen took a breath and then pointed to several bone poles and rags that had been taken from the dead.

"Build a sloping windbreak, facing north, not directly opposite the entrance. When the wind blows in from outside, it will hit the windbreak first and then shear off a layer."

'

This is the most basic method I remembered after exchanging for the modern knowledge package in Chapter 47.

Not difficult.

In this desolate wilderness where the cold makes one's bones brittle, it can save lives.

The group did as he said, but they were clumsy at first and it took them a couple of tries to get the windbreak tilted.

A gust of wind blew, and the tattered cloth fluttered loudly. The entrance was indeed not as rough as before.

Huang Chen then had someone bring over the broken pottery jar and half an iron pot that he had collected.

"Lan Gu, come with me."

Lan Gu was taken aback for a moment, then immediately nodded: "Okay."

'

Huang Chen grabbed the black wind cloak and draped it over his shoulders to cover his figure. He took out the Xuan Tian Sect's standard flying sword but didn't use it, only carrying the most inconspicuous black iron knife.

The two of them went out by hugging the stone wall.

The sky outside was still overcast, and a cold wind swirled from the ravine, smearing the remaining snow on the ground with black ash into a dirty white layer. In the distance, the occasional muffled thud of collapsing rocks could be heard, as if something was churning inside the earth.

The two of them went out by hugging the stone wall.

The sky outside was still overcast, and a cold wind swirled from the ravine, smearing the remaining snow on the ground with black ash into a dirty white layer. In the distance, the occasional muffled thud of collapsing rocks could be heard, as if something was churning inside the earth.

Huang Chen didn't go far, only finding a narrow crevice in the rock behind a pile of collapsed stones where water was seeping through.

Water dripped from the crevices in the rocks, falling into the shallow pit below, accumulating to a depth of half a palm's width, with a thin layer of ice already forming at the edges.

"Pry open the ice and take the bottom part."

Lan Gu squatted down, her hands were red from the cold, but she still gritted her teeth and did as she was told.

Huang Chen stood guard to the side, casually snapping off a few dry, stiff brambles and gathering them up along with the withered grass. He then dug out some whitish salt crystals from under the collapsed rocks, crushed them between his fingertips, and tucked them into a tattered cloth.

When they returned, the people in the crevice had already set up a windbreak, and the entrance was partially blocked by rubble and broken wood. From the outside, it was pitch black, and it was impossible to tell that anyone could hide there without careful searching.

Huang Chen nodded.

"Don't let the fire smoke. Line the bottom of the pot with gravel, half a foot off the ground, and use dry grass and bone oil. Keep the fire low."

'

"You can start a fire here?" The woman was stunned.

"Yes, you have to know how to apply the pressure."

Huang Chen personally set up the pot, using the residual heat of the Karmic Fire Red Lotus to ignite it. He then surrounded it with a damp cloth and gravel to allow the heat to rise and prevent the smoke from rising directly.

Fill the earthenware pot with the water that was just brought back, let it settle for a while, and then boil it.

When the water boiled, a little life finally came to the cracks in the rocks.

The rising steam, carrying the smell of earth and a faint fishy odor, left many people staring in disbelief.

Huang Chen shook in some of the salt frost he had just scraped off, and then had someone break the last few pieces of dry food into pieces and throw them into the pot to cook into a thin porridge.

"Drink something hot first, don't eat too much."

"If you're starving for too long, you'll die even faster if you force yourself to swallow something whole."

'

No one objected.

When the first bowl of hot water was handed out, the middle-aged man with the leg injury held the bowl, his hands trembling so much that he almost spilled it.

He took a sip, made a gurgling sound in his throat, and tears streamed down his face.

"It's hot..."

He seemed incredulous, took another sip, and his lips trembled.

Suddenly, someone began to sob softly from the crevice in the rock.

Huang Chen didn't offer any comfort; instead, he moved to another corner and re-bandaged the wounds of the most severely injured.

If there weren't enough strips of cloth, they tore the lining from the tattered armor of the demon soldiers; if there was no hemostatic medicine, they pressed on the cloth that had been heated over a fire, and then tightened it layer by layer with cleaner cloth.

A young convict was in so much pain that he was covered in cold sweat and his teeth were clenched so tightly they were grinding together.

Huang Chen pressed on his shoulder: "Speak."

The man was stunned.

"If it hurts, yell out. Don't hold it in. Holding it in will only make things worse if you faint."

'

The young man let out a hoarse howl, finally releasing the breath he had been holding in.

After finishing all that, a while had passed.

The wind outside the crevice grew stronger, and the sunlight turned from grayish-white to iron-blue. It wasn't quite half a day, but at least two or three hours had passed.

Huang Chen sat down again and brought up the system panel.

A pale golden light curtain spread out before my eyes.

[Main Quest Part 3 is now active: Track down the mastermind and stop the collapse of the heavens]

[Mission Clues: Envoy from the Northern Sea / Trade Line of the Remnants of the Xuantian Sect / Ferry of Cold Souls]

[Current Status: Recovery Initiated]

The "Karma" column below is still conspicuously high.

Merit also increased significantly, especially the settlement of the first two rounds, which made the line of numbers so thick it was almost dazzling.

Huang Chen stared at the cultivation level bar for a while.

He's just one step away from the mid-stage of the Earth Immortal realm.

It's not a vague, distant vision.

It's something you can reach out and touch almost immediately.

But he quickly scrolled down the panel and landed on the task prompts and environment assessment bar.

Those actions of diverting air, creating wind barriers, purifying water, and starting fires were actually recorded by the system as part of the "increasing the survival rate of the human race" criterion.

The next moment, a notification popped up.

[The host was detected to have significantly improved the survival conditions of the surviving humans]

Merit Points +120

Huang Chen raised an eyebrow.

Not much.

But it is true.

Someone nearby noticed a slight change in his expression and whispered, "My benefactor, is... something wrong outside?"

"fine.

'

Huang Chen put away the panel and looked up at everyone.

Who is familiar with the waterways to the north?

'

After these words were spoken, the crevice in the rock fell silent for a moment.

The group looked at each other, and finally, a tall, thin woman who had been huddled in a corner slowly raised her head.

She was not old, but her face was roughened by the cold wind and whip marks, a small piece was missing from her left ear, and her hair was still covered with black mud.

Huang Chen's gaze fell on her.

"you?"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"I...I am Xin He."

Her throat was terribly dry, so she swallowed some hot water before continuing.

"I was originally a member of a branch of the Gonggong tribe. Three years ago, there was an internal strife within the tribe, and my branch lost. I was sold to the canal transport station, and later transferred to the Broken Vein Camp."

'

Escaped slaves from the Gonggong tribe.

Huang Chen noted down the identity, but didn't respond, gesturing for her to continue.

Xin He drew a few lines on the ground with her fingernails, barely managing to sketch the outline of the terrain.

"The black water in this area flows in three streams."

The group that openly heads towards the Rift Mountain Sacrifice Canal secretly turns north, crosses a frozen swamp, and further on, there's a Blackwater Post Station called Cold Soul Ferry.

As she said this, a hint of fear flashed in her eyes.

"That place is neither a city nor a stockade. From the outside it looks like a few dilapidated wooden sheds, but underneath there are water dungeons and ice cellars."

They were all doing shady business. People from the remnants of the Xuantian Sect, the northern sea monsters, and the Blackwater witch traders all met there.

'

"What are you collecting?"

"Soul ash, sacrificial artifacts, and... a bone box that once contained the bloodline catalyst."

'

Huang Chen's eyes turned cold.

Seeing his expression, Xin He tensed up even more and quickly added, "I just overheard it."

Those people said that the ancestral mountain of the Xuantian Sect was damaged, and the Duanmai Camp was in chaos. Recent shipments were being held up at Hanpo Ferry, and they said they were waiting for the people from Beiming to take them away as well.

The laborers in the crevice turned pale upon hearing this.

"They even accept soul ashes?" Lan Gu couldn't help but ask. "They want the ashes of the dead too?"

'

Xin He forced a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.

"want.

In some northern rituals, bones are taken from bones, ashes from ashes, and even the captured souls are divided into different ranks. The most valuable are cultivators from sects and living people with a lineage of witchcraft.

As for the rest, human lives don't matter.

Huang Chen stared at the waterway map she had drawn on the ground and remained silent for a moment.

Cold Soul Crossing.

Blackwater Station.

The envoy from the Northern Sea didn't appear out of thin air; rather, it was part of a well-established network. The Broken Pulse Camp was merely a segment of that network.

"How often do you come?" he asked.

Xin He shook her head.

"No."

Sometimes it takes three to five days, sometimes seven or eight days. It should be soon these days.

The Broken Vein Camp is pressing for supplies, and they have a lot of goods piling up.

Just as Huang Chen was about to ask another question, a laborer with his arm wrapped in bandages suddenly propped himself up, trembling.

"My benefactor... I... I have something here."

Huang Chen looked over.

The man was in his thirties, and his face was cracked from the cold. He fumbled in his pocket for a while and finally pulled out a domino about half the size of his palm.

The dominoes were entirely white, cold to the point of bluish, with one edge broken in half. A crescent-shaped sea creature pattern was carved on them, the lines of which were fine and resembled a fish or some kind of monster with bony fins.

Huang Chen's eyes narrowed.

He remembered this thing.

It is the Ice Bone Token.

He already had one in his hand, and now this half of it was taken out. The pattern and energy were similar, but there was a newly engraved water pattern mark, which was obviously not an ordinary pass.

Where did it come from?

'

The laborer, his face pale, hurriedly said, "The day before yesterday... no, the two days ago, the camp was packing boxes to the north, and I was forced to carry things. A soldier wearing black armor had his leg broken by a stone hook, and when I went to drag the body, I took it from his waist."

I originally wanted to try something different, but I never dared to take it out.

Huang Chen took the dominoes, their coldness biting to the bone.

There is also half a line of incomplete characters on the back of the dominoes.

— Soul Crossing.

The first character is broken, but the last two are still there.

Cold Soul Crossing.

The clue is now irrefutable.

Huang Chen examined the dominoes several times, then compared them with the Ice Bone Token in his storage. The energy of the tokens seemed to match, indicating that they came from the same source, only with different uses.

One piece resembles an outer passageway, and the other resembles a receipt or access card.

Everyone in the crevice was watching him, but no one dared to utter a sound.

Huang Chen put away the dominoes and suddenly stood up.

"If you can still move, come with me."

'

He led Lan Gu, Xin He, and two relatively nimble laborers out of the crevice and walked down several dozen feet along the adjacent broken rocks. The terrain here was lower than before, but the wind was blocked by the collapsed rock walls on both sides.

Below is a half-collapsed abandoned rift valley cave, the entrance of which is covered by rubble. The interior is dry and can accommodate dozens of people.

Huang Chen looked around from a high vantage point and made the decision immediately.

"Let's change locations."

"It's close to the waterline here, so we can get water."

There was a collapsed section outside blocking the view, so the searchers wouldn't be able to spot it unless they got very close. They created three false tracks at the entrance to confuse footprints, and left two escape routes.

'

Lan Gu asked, "How should we leave an escape route?"

"Only women and the seriously injured are allowed to walk on the uphill path on the east side."

The crack on the west side is narrow, so leave it for those who are quick on their feet. If someone does come looking for it, don't all crowd into one opening.

'

As he spoke, he picked up a stone and quickly drew a picture on the ground.

"Here, empty pots and scraps of cloth are piled up to make it look like someone hastily abandoned the camp."

Dig a shallow ditch here so that when the snow melts, the water can drain out without softening the entrance to the cave. Bury two bundles of dry grass and half a jar of clean water here; if anyone gets lost, look for them in these three places.

'

Xin He squatted down beside her, looking somewhat dazed.

These methods are not mysterious.

It's even incredibly unsophisticated.

But they all care about survival.

Huang Chen ignored what she thought and led his men straight to work. The diversion ditch wasn't dug deep, only up to halfway up the calves, enough to divert the seepage.

Two more layers of windbreaks were erected: an outer layer of tattered cloth wrapped around the bone pole, and an inner layer padded with shredded leather armor. Deep inside the cave, there were separate sleeping areas, wound areas, and water-boiling areas. Even the filth was kept in a separate corner to prevent people from getting sick from the stench inside the cave.

As the work progressed, even those who were initially numb were now working up a sweat.

Lan Gu's face was streaked with gray and white, and he was panting heavily, but his eyes brightened a little.

"Will this... really extend my life by a few days?"

Huang Chen pushed the last windbreak stone to its proper position and casually replied.

"Do as instructed, and you'll live longer."

The sky gradually darkened.

The sun was not shining on the frigid plains; only a layer of dark, cold light pressed down on the ground. In the distance, the rift valley was still shrouded in black mist, like a wound that had not yet died.

After everyone moved into the abandoned rift valley cave, Huang Chen explained the route again.

It was explained in great detail.

He even had Lan Gu and Xin He repeat it to him to make sure they both remembered it. He told them which rock looked like a beast's head, which crack led to a frozen swamp, and which pile of short, black pines to avoid touching because it concealed a hidden pit.

The woman, holding a sleeping child, asked in a low voice, "My benefactor, you...aren't you staying?"

Huang Chen raised his hand and tugged at the tattered armor he had stripped from the soldiers of Suoqu.

The armor plates were broken in two places, stained with black blood and mud, making him look even more like a lowly transport soldier. He then draped the Black Wind Armor over his body, revealing only half of his cold, hard-edged face.

I'm going out for a bit.

The woman's lips moved, but she only managed to utter one sentence: "You saved so many of us, if... if you don't come back—"

"Shut up.

Huang Chen interrupted her.

The woman trembled and immediately dared not speak.

Huang Chen placed a bag of fasting pills and half a pot of boiled water in the corner of the cave, and left a few pieces of dried monster meat.

"Divide it according to my plan."

Three people per group take turns guarding the pass, and no one is allowed to fall asleep at night. If black water is seen flowing back in, run to higher ground first.

Hearing three short and one long sound of stones striking each other, we knew it was our own people. All other sounds were seen as death knells.

'

Lan Gu clenched her fists: "I'll defend the first round."

"OK.

'

Huang Chen then looked at Xin He: "Draw me the waterway map of Hanpo Ferry again."

Xinhe squatted down and used the tip of a stone to redraw the curved waterline and several forks on the ground.

Huang Chen memorized the directions and then smoothed out the map with his foot.

The night was darker.

The wind howled and whistled through the abandoned rocks from the other side of the rift valley, like many people with hoarse voices gasping for breath in the dark. Huang Chen said nothing more and turned to walk into the darkness outside the cave.

After walking a dozen steps, Lan Gu's extremely low voice suddenly came from behind.

"grown ups!

'

Huang Chen turned around.

Lan Gu was stunned for a moment, as if she hadn't expected to shout like that. Her ears turned red, but she still gritted her teeth and finished speaking.

"You...you take it."

He ran over and shoved a sharpened bone whistle into Huang Chen's hand.

"It was found inside a cave. If you blow on it, the sound isn't loud, but you can hear it up close."

'

Huang Chen looked down.

The bone whistle was very rough, with the edges not yet worn smooth, like something that some laborer had secretly whittled in his spare time.

"Um."

He tucked it into his sleeve.

Lan Gu stood there, his shoulders trembling from the cold, but he didn't retreat.

Huang Chen didn't stop. He followed the black water vein that Xin He had pointed out and skimmed away close to the ground.

The broken pieces of armor collided gently, producing a soft clanging sound, which was then swallowed up by the sound of the wind.

Ahead lay a dark wasteland, the ground riddled with cracks, and wisps of cold mist slowly rose from above the water veins, swimming close to the feet.

In the distance, a cluster of low-lying trees lay hidden in the night, with a faint, eerie light flickering like bone lamps.