Zhu Tarun, healed by the Holy Light, became vigorous once more.
Anxious about Zhuhe Temple, he eagerly wanted to invite Jialin to come out of seclusion. Jialin, also aware of the gravity of the situation, instructed Alleria and Sylvanas to stay on the hillside with the children, while he and Zhu Tarun ventured once again into the Krasarang Wilds!
Jialin was no stranger to this coastal jungle located in southern Pandaria, having spent a considerable amount of time there in the past, all for the sake of obtaining a mount capable of walking on water.
Few Pandaren lived in this area, mainly concentrated around Zhujia Stronghold in the northeast corner and Zhuhe Temple on the southern coast.
Only these two locations possessed substantial guard forces to combat the dangerous creatures within the jungle.
The remnants of the Mogu and the lizardman bandits.
Hidden within the Krasarang Wilds, stretching along Pandaria's southern coast, were many ancient secrets of lost dynasties. This area was once the edge of the brutal, tyrannical Mogu's dominion, where they had constructed a massive port.
Furthermore, the Mogu created the lizardmen. Similar to the stone gnomes, they were considered flawed creations. After issues arose with the Mogu's soul magic, the lizardmen rebelled.
The rebellious lizardmen took refuge here and fought against their former masters, while the Mogu were determined to exterminate these reptilian races. Countless years passed, and the Mogu's efforts failed. Emperor Dao-yang II eventually died at the hands of a lizardman assassin, plunging the empire into chaos, and the lizardmen have ravaged the Krasarang Wilds ever since.
Jialin, riding Yu'lei, had just entered the southern jungle along the river from the Valley of the Four Winds when he was attacked by lizardman bandits not far from Thunder Cleft.
These lizardmen had upright bodies, covered in various scales, with lizard heads and tails, making them look extremely ferocious and ugly. They also had a circle of fleshy wings around their necks.
This group of lizardmen foolishly tried to attack Jialin in the sky from the ground. Facing their crude javelins, Jialin almost laughed in anger...
Truly, ignorance is bliss. They had no idea who they were attacking.
Jialin patted Yu'lei's back, and the Daughter of the Azure Dragon understood. She swung her tail and made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
She hovered over the lizardman village, cooperating with Jialin to drop engineering bombs evenly!
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
For a time, the sound of engineering bombs exploding echoed throughout the jungle, and flames soared into the sky!
The houses and tents built by the lizardmen were reduced to ashes in the flames, and the lizardmen's fragmented bodies were scattered everywhere.
Hiss!
Zhu Tarun had gasped in surprise countless times since meeting Jialin.
The Riverblade clan of lizardmen, who had plagued Zhujia Stronghold in the northeast and the Anglers to the south, had been wiped out just like that?
For the first time, Zhu Tarun became interested in the explosives that Jialin dropped. Perhaps they could be used to deal with the Mantid?
"Let's go, continue forward!"
Feeling refreshed and enlightened, Jialin directed Yu'long to continue flying. Zhu Tarun returned from his thoughts, pulled on the reins of his Cloud Serpent, and followed closely behind.
"Is that the Ruins of Dojan? The former Mogu capital in the Krasarang Wilds?"
"That's right, Great Lord. That was once the Pandaren city of Dojan, actually built by our Pandaren ancestors." Zhu Tarun replied loudly to Jialin's inquiry.
"I'm afraid the Mogu never completely conquered this dangerous jungle."
The environment here was simply too hot. The humid and damp weather created too many venomous insects. Perhaps only the lizardmen liked this environment?
"Compared to the hot Krasarang Wilds, the cold Kun-Lai Summit, the Mantid-infested Dread Wastes, the Emerald Forest and the Valley of the Four Winds, with their spring-like climate, are indeed more suitable for Pandaren to live in!"
Zhu Tarun listened to Jialin's exclamation and nodded in agreement, then shook his head.
"Oh? Zhu Tarun, do you have a different opinion?"
Zhu Talan organized his words and retorted to Galen: "Highlord, you are also the ruler of a country, even the master of the Eastern Continent, so you should have noticed that the mentality of people in the city is different from that of people outside the city."
"The more prosperous it is, the more people yearn for enjoyment, and the less sincere they become in their pursuit of power..."
That's true, no civilization can escape this law.
As far as the current alliance of the Eastern Continent is concerned, most of the nobles among humans and high elves are greedy for pleasure and averse to work. Only a small portion of people are truly useful, namely, the military merit nobles.
After the end of the war between humans and orcs, humans experienced more than ten years of peace. Later, although they experienced the Scourge, only Lordaeron was affected.
Therefore, after the opening of the Dark Portal, although the human territories have experienced two major wars, the population has increased, from more than ten million to more than doubled now.
However, it was also this period of peace that made some nobles forget the cruelty of the green-skinned orcs, the ruthlessness of the undead, and the cruelty of war.
Seeing that Galen agreed with his point of view, Zhu Talan continued: "Most of the members of the Shado-Pan come from the Temple of the Jade Serpent, the Temple of the White Tiger, the Temple of the Red Crane, the Temple of the Ox, and the Peak of Serenity."
"Generally speaking, local monks with some aptitude will enter these temples to practice. Among them, every year they will recommend some more outstanding disciples to join the Shado-Pan."
"Among them, the Temple of the Ox is located in the Dread Wastes. The followers of Niuzao the Black Ox not only seal the Sha demons, but also resist the Mantid. The apprentices who come out of there are tenacious and are the best defenders."
"The followers of the Red Crane are elite mistweavers, because Chi-Ji is very good at cultivating excellent healers. Although the scale is the smallest of the four monasteries, the reputation of the Temple of the Red Crane is extremely high among the four monasteries."
"Then there is the Temple of the White Tiger, which, like the Shado-Pan Monastery, is located in the bitterly cold land of Kun-Lai Summit. However, the Windwalker monks who come out of the Temple of the White Tiger are the best in Pandaria. When I was a child, I also entered the Shado-Pan Monastery for further study after graduating from the Temple of the White Tiger!"
"So? What do you mean?"
Galen had already guessed what Zhu Talan meant. Zhu Talan praised the Temple of the Red Crane, the Temple of the White Tiger, and the Temple of the Ox, so the remaining Temple of the Jade Serpent and the Peak of Serenity...
"The monks who come out of the Temple of the Jade Serpent and the Peak of Serenity are much worse than the monks from these three sacred places, whether in terms of strength or mind."
Galen understood. It's not that the inheritance of the Temple of the Jade Serpent and the Peak of Serenity is not good. After all, one is the sacred place where the Supreme Celestial Serpent resides, and the other is the royal monastery during the Pandaren Empire. The foundation will not be bad.
It can only be said that the Jade Forest is too prosperous and too comfortable.
"Over the years, I have been committed to changing this situation, focusing on cultivating the monks of the Jade Forest and letting them experience the cycle of the Mantid on the Serpent's Spine."
"Unfortunately, the effect is not good. Pandaria is well protected by Emperor Shaohao, but it has also lost something."
"Highlord, I sincerely hope that you can bring some changes to our Pandaren. The cycle of the Mantid has allowed them to accumulate a large number of elites, but our Pandaren have remained unchanged. Sooner or later, our Serpent's Spine will be breached, and our homeland will be destroyed by the Mantid!"
Zhu Talan's worries are not unreasonable. The insects of the Mantid Empire are using the Pandaren to train troops, or to raise Gu. Each attack on the Serpent's Spine is to select excellent warriors and then seal them with amber.
They don't know how much heritage they have accumulated over the millennia. If they are released in one wave, even if Pandaria has the protection of the four Celestials, it will be difficult to resist the invasion of the Mantid.
But who told you to meet me.
Not long after the two stopped talking, Galen saw a tall building protruding from the top of the jungle in the distance.
Zhuhe Temple, here we are!
The Zhuhe Temple complex is not as large as Qinglong Temple, and from the appearance of the decoration, Qinglong Temple looks like a magnificent palace, while Zhuhe Temple looks particularly old.
It seems that Zhu Talan was right. The conditions in Zhuhe Temple are much more difficult than those in Qinglong Temple in Jade Forest.
However, it is understandable that this is not the core of the panda people's lives. The scarcity of personnel has made it impossible for Zhuhe Temple to maintain a building complex as large as Qinglong Temple due to construction personnel, building materials, and defense forces.
Before landing, Galen felt a black mist enveloping the entire temple from the air.
"Is this the crisis you are talking about? Zhu Talan?" Galen felt the power of chaos in this black energy. It and the aura of the Sha of Doubt came from the same source.
"That's right, Grand Lord, there is a problem with the seal of Zhuhe Temple. The Sha of Despair has broken the seal, and now Master Chijing can only struggle to support it in the underground palace!"
The so-called Sha of Despair is the Sha of Despair. According to the legend of Shao Hao, the Sha of Despair is more powerful than the Sha of Doubt, because in the arrangement of negative emotions, despair has a more terrible impact on life than doubt.
Sure enough, when Galen looked down, he found that Sha energy was spreading around, and even formed a solid despair mist that enveloped the entire temple.
The area around the temple has also been occupied by those solid small Sha demons. Those small Sha demons crawled on the ground like octopuses, and the larger ones have grown legs and wandered around on the surrounding land.
Due to the influence of Sha energy, most of the trees around Zhuhe Temple have died, and the withered branches are stained with gray-white Sha energy.
The broken corpses of panda monks were scattered everywhere in front of the temple. Those surviving ascetics were still struggling to support themselves. Galen even saw a monk fighting three Sha energy aggregates alone.
Yu Lei swooped down, Galen jumped off her back, and threw a shield at the Sha demon in front of him!
The shield turned into a golden light and shadow, and after hitting a Sha of Despair, it bounced again, hitting three Sha demons in succession before bouncing back to Galen's hand.
The three despair aggregates that were besieging the monk just now have turned into piles of black ash in the holy light contained in Galen's shield!
"Elder Crane Wing, how is the situation in Zhuhe Temple!" Zhu Talan helped the monk who had just fought three from the ground.
Galen saw that his injuries were not too serious, just a little exhausted, so he threw a holy light spell to heal him.
Elder Crane Wing regained his breath. He was almost exhausted just now. After he straightened out the disordered breath in his body, he eagerly said: "Head Zhu, the masters in the temple have been ordered to send the surrounding civilians to the shelter in the north. Our last group of people stayed to assist Master Chijing in guarding Zhuhe Temple."
"It's just that we underestimated the power leaked by the Sha demons this time. It caused strong emotional fluctuations in our monks and priests. The affected brothers have been placed in the temple. If you don't come, we old guys will not be able to hold on!"
According to the elder's words, Galen and Zhu Talan arrived not too late, but the situation is not optimistic. If this continues, Zhuhe Temple will be lost.
Zhu Talan turned to Galen and said: "Grand Lord, I need to help them guard the gate of Zhuhe Temple. The seal of the Sha of Despair in the temple is up to you."
Zhu Talan did not choose to go in with Galen. With his confidence in Galen, this human being of the same rank as the Four Heavenly Gods could defeat the Sha of Doubt, so the Sha of Despair in Zhuhe Temple would not be a problem either.
Instead of risking being disturbed by the will of the Sha of Despair, it is better to guard at the gate.
"You must be quick, Envoy of Qinglong. Without a doubt, our monks have suffered a huge mental shock, and I am worried that they are not strong enough. Sooner or later, they will fall into despair. You must prove to them that there is still hope, and prove to them that despair can also be defeated!"
The news that Galen defeated the Sha of Doubt was told to the monks of Zhuhe Temple by Zhu Talan some time ago. This elder guessed the identity of Galen, a foreigner, through Yu Lei. Now their success or failure depends entirely on Galen!
"Rest assured! Leave everything to me!"
Leaving Zhu Talan and Elder Crane Wing to guard at the gate, Galen strode into Zhuhe Temple.
The temple does not cover a large area, not even half the size of Qinglong Temple, but according to Zhu Talan's introduction, its main part is underground.
The Sha of Despair is sealed on the third floor underground!
In the hall on the first floor, many panda monks were sitting around, but their condition was very strange. Most of these fat and sturdy monks were sitting or lying on the spot, looking like they had no love for life, and muttering something to themselves.
Galen originally wanted to ask where the entrance to the second floor underground was, but the only few guys who were still walking around were also silent and did not communicate with Galen.
Their minds have been invaded by Sha demons. Now Galen has no time to deal with them. He can only wait for him to go down and kill the Sha of Despair, clean up the source of corruption, and then slowly treat them.
After walking down countless steps, Galen finally arrived at the bottom floor of Zhuhe Temple!
When he stepped into this hall, he saw a huge dark black Sha demon!
The Sha of Despair has taken shape!
The Sha of Despair, a Sha demon whose appearance is almost identical to the Sha of Doubt, spreads despairing emotions.
At this moment, the Sha of Despair was pinning a huge bird-like creature beneath it. This was the master of Zhuhe Temple, Chi-Ji!
Chi-Ji was originally a crane deity of Pandaria. It had snow-white feathers, Scarlet wings, a slender neck, and a noble appearance.
But now, this Pandaren celestial being was without any semblance of elegance, being miserably controlled in place by the Sha of Despair. Blood continuously gushed from the wound on its chest, and black mist enveloped its body.
Clearly, it was being corroded by Sha energy.
If Zhuhe hadn't been skilled in the Flame of Hope, which could effectively restrain the spread of Sha energy, it would probably have been the first celestial being to have its mind clouded by a Sha demon.
Sensing the arrival of a living being, Chi-Ji, whose eyes were originally closed, opened them again. It sensed that Galen, like itself, possessed the power of Order within him.
However, Galen was usually low-key and reserved, often concealing his aura, just like the Earth Special Forces. Combat detection goggles couldn't accurately estimate his combat power.
Therefore, Chi-Ji weakly whispered, "Leave quickly, stranger. I'm about to lose my hold. Go and inform my brothers and sisters. The Sha demons have broken free!"
Galen ignored Chi-Ji's words and continued to stride towards the Sha of Despair and Chi-Ji.
A cloud of black mist spewed out from the Sha of Despair's mouth, its target being Galen, who was constantly approaching!
"Chi-Ji, do you believe in the light?"
Chi-Ji: "???"
Chi-Ji became agitated, struggling even more violently, causing more blood to gush out, staining the surrounding stone slabs red.
Just when it thought another innocent person would be tainted by Sha energy, golden light erupted from Galen's body!
With a wave of a golden hand, he easily dispersed the Sha energy spewed out by the Sha of Despair.
"Behold my great sword!"
Galen directly transformed into a giant of Holy Light, pulling out a golden giant sword from behind!
"…Unbelievable!"
The eyes of Chi-Ji, which were originally filled with despair, burst forth with infinite hope!
Originally, it was Pandaria's creatures who brought the light of hope to it, but now the God of Hope was being given hope by another!
The Ashbringer greatsword directly pierced into the Sha of Despair's body, and powerful Holy energy flowed from Galen along the Ashbringer into the Sha of Despair's body!
"Aow!"
The Sha of Despair let out a beast-like, shrill scream, and then desperately pulled its power out of Chi-Ji's body to fight against Galen's Holy Light!
Galen only felt the Sha of Despair's black mist rushing towards him, enveloping him like a black curtain!
This Sha of Despair was indeed a bit stronger than the Sha of Doubt. Of course, this might be related to it having absorbed a large amount of the Pandaren's despair and a portion of Chi-Ji's emotions.
"Experience the power of despair!"
The Sha of Despair's whisper made Galen laugh. If you were the seven Sha combined, I might have to consider whether or not to fight you one-on-one, but you?
"You? You're far from it, little brat!"
Galen once again pulled out the Strom'kar-formed greatsword from behind, stabbing it into the Sha of Despair's body!
"Roar…"
Two divine weapons, one purifying, one devouring, the Sha of Despair felt its originally powerful strength being rapidly eroded!
It struggled, roared, and waved its frantic claws, trying to escape, but unfortunately, Galen's Holy Light had already filled the entire Zhuhe Temple dungeon!
It had nowhere to escape!
The easy death of the Sha of Doubt made Galen realize that he didn't have much despair in his heart, just like when facing the Sha of Doubt.
These Sha are echoes of Y'Shaarj, able to absorb the emotions of surrounding creatures to strengthen themselves. Back then, Emperor Shaohao banished the despair from his heart, and with the help of Zhuhe and the Monkey King, the battle with the Sha of Doubt lasted for four days and five nights, until Shaohao finally eliminated all despair.
This was because Shaohao was despairing about the end of the world predicted by the Jinyu elders, and the despair gave the Sha of Doubt too much nourishment.
However, it also shows Galen's confidence in himself and his confidence in a bright future.
...
So, what is the most difficult emotion to overcome in my heart?
Thinking about the remaining five Sha, Galen fell into his own thoughts for a while.
Kill!
Kill them all!
Use the Sha to temper my heart!
"Thank you, strong outsider! Thank you for clearing the Sha of Doubt and saving me and my followers!"
The freed Chi-Ji had already disguised himself as one of his disciples, transforming into a male pandaren to come before Galen.
"You're welcome, celestial of Pandaria. I have already reached an agreement with Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, to help you eliminate the Sha of Pandaria!"
"So it's you, brother from outside Pandaria. Yu'lon once sent a message telling us that Freya has returned and brought hope to Pandaria!"
"And that hope is you!"
Galen didn't expect Yu'lon to have such high praise for him, but Chi-Ji's flattery didn't give Galen too much feeling. After all, the people of the Alliance also admired him very much, and Galen was already immune.
"Chi-Ji, why did the Sha of Doubt break the seal and leak out on its own initiative?"
Galen guided the topic back to the main point. The answer to this question was very important to him. Originally, he wanted to find the Sha suppressed by the August Celestials one by one and kill them. If they all broke free, it would cause no small trouble to his plan.
The pandaren Chi-Ji, who had transformed, stroked his beard, his eyes very solemn: "Originally, this period of time was when the Sha seals were loosening and needed to be reinforced. Coincidentally, during this period of time, Yu'lon sent a message that you had killed the Sha of Doubt!"
Chi-Ji's meaning was very simple, that is, there is some kind of connection between the Sha. After all, all the Sha come from the Old God Y'Shaarj. Once a Sha breaks free, the other Sha can also sense it.
The breaking of the seal of the Sha of Doubt allowed the Sha of Doubt, which was closest to him, to feel it, so he took advantage of the unstable seal to have a big outbreak!
Thousands of years have caused some negligence among the August Celestials, and a moment of carelessness led to the disaster at the Temple of the Red Crane.
"It was my negligence that led to this crisis," Chi-Ji said with a tone full of self-blame.
"Now is not the time to blame yourself, my friend. Since there has been a problem with the Sha of Doubt, then I boldly guess, will there also be problems with the seals in the other two places?"
Galen's words shocked Chi-Ji!
The Temple of Niuzao houses the Sha of Fear, and Xuen, the White Tiger, alone suppresses the Sha of Anger, the Sha of Hatred, and the Sha of Madness!
The Temple of Niuzao is far away in the Mantid Wastes in the west, where the surrounding area is the territory of the mantid, and the breaking of the Sha seal will not harm the land of the pandaren. But the three Sha in Kun-Lai Summit are troublesome!
"Please help us, Savior of Pandaria!"
Chi-Ji sincerely requested Galen!