Chapter 1161: To Beat The Veranda Master At His Own Game
The Veranda master had dispelled the formation of his own
accord for a clearer view of the ugly struggles of cultivators in their death
throes. It was obvious that he hated the royal family quite a bit. His hate
encompassed even the entire Great Scarlet Mid Region. And of course, he hated
Jiang Chen, the unpredictable variable, immensely as well.
The perfect prey had fallen into his hands, so it would be a
crying shame if he didn’t fully enjoy and play with them after his success. He
had spent many years preparing for the moment, and now was when he enjoyed his
harvest! The moment the formation was dispelled, the Veranda master made a
beeline for Imperial Prince Zhao with a taunting look. He stomped firmly on the
prince’s face twice.
“Imperial Prince Zhao, is it? Where’s your cool act now,
hmm? Why are you lying here like a dying dog? How does this feel?”
Prince Zhao had been a proud man his entire life and had
never thought that he would succumb to a situation like this today. Flustered
and exasperated as he was, there was nothing he could do about it.
“Kill me if you dare, Cui! My royal brother and forefather
will absolutely take revenge for me, for you are the enemy of humanity the
moment you submitted to the demons! Even if I were to die today, you will never
get me to bow my head and make a fool out of myself!” Prince Zhao knew that it
was pointless to beg for mercy, so he didn’t even bother trying.
“Kill you? Such naivete.” The Veranda master laughed
heartily. “You can’t die even if you want to now. Didn’t that kid tell you all
to commit suicide earlier? It might have sounded ridiculous, but it was
actually the smartest choice. But it’s too late now. Both life and death are
literally out of your reach, so just wait here like obedient dogs for the lord
demon emperor to devour all of you, hahahaha! I’m sure it’ll be the time of
your lives!”
Prince Zhao cursed him. “What are you so happy for, Cui? No
matter how happy you are, you’ll never be able to change the fact that your daughter
is the royal family’s toy. Tell me, can you think of a single lover in your
life that hasn’t been taken and enjoyed by the royal family? Hahaha, so I may
die today, but it’s still worth everything you lost! Can you really wash that
shame away even if you kill all of us, Cui?”
The Veranda master’s face darkened. “Are you trying to get
me to kill you? Dream on! Remember this well: I shall return ten times, a
hundred times the shame you’ve inflicted upon me! I’ll invade Great Scarlet and
murder your forefather and your emperor. Then I’ll rape every Yan woman. Once
I’m done, I’ll cast them on the streets so that every beggar in Great Scarlet
Mid Region will get the chance to enjoy them! They’ll provide pleasure until
they die!”
Only the heavens knew how big a hatred the Veranda master
harbored to say such a thing. All color drained from Prince Zhao’s face. He
knew that the Veranda master would absolutely do what he said if he really
could replace the Yan family.
The Veranda master laughed out loud with great satisfaction
when he saw that the ashen-faced Prince Zhao could no longer refute him. He
left the prince and walked towards the others.
When the Veranda master stopped by Ole Zhang, a half smile
danced across his lips. “My apologies, Old Zhang. I knew that you belong to the
royal family. I recruited you as my escort to bring you into this trap. If you
wish to blame someone, blame yourself for being as naive as you are at your
age.”
Ole Zhang responded calmly. “The victor is king, so you may
say anything you wish since you’ve won. It is unfortunate that Prince Zhao
didn’t listen to me, or you may not have been the final victor.”
The Veranda master laughed proudly. “The Yan family has
always been a bunch of self-conceited bastards. Such is their fatal flaw.”
Ole Zhang couldn’t say anything at that. He sighed softly,
shook his head, and fell silent.
The cultivators of the three great third rank sects turned
their heads away and ignored the Veranda master when they saw him walking
towards them.
However, the Veranda master wasn’t going to let them off. He
taunted, “Not so high and mighty now, are you? Why so quiet, hmm? You’re cultivators
of third rank sects, aren’t you? Your eyes normally grow on top of your heads,
am I right? Look at you now!”
His audience wore ugly looks on their faces, but they were
unable to say anything in response. They knew that nothing they said now could
change their situation.
Someone in the fourth rank sect cried out. “Don’t kill me,
master of the Veranda. I surrender! I’ve always admired the demons, so can you
recommend me to the demon emperor? I would like to serve him.”
“Me too, please recommend us, master of the Veranda. We are
willing to serve your every whim.”
The Veranda master smiled faintly. “It’s true that I am
lacking in manpower right now, but even then you weak-minded people are beneath
my attention.”
The Veranda master was even less interested in the fourth
rank sects. His next target was Jiang Chen.
A gleeful victor’s smile on his face, the Veranda master
walked towards Jiang Chen with unconcealed ridicule. “Boy, you were harder to
deal with than that idiotic Prince Zhao. If you hadn’t ruined part of my plans,
I might have wanted to keep you around. Unfortunately, not only did you do
exactly that, you even stole my woman…”
Jiang Chen snorted coldly. “Dog of the demon race, what are
you so proud about?”
“Hahaha, the victor is king, and the loser is nothing. I’m
the king, so why shouldn’t I be proud of myself? The demon race, the human
race. Are they really all that important? In the martial dao world, the law of
the jungle is the most important!”
“So, you mean to say that victory is in your grasp, is that
it?” A hint of ridicule escaped the corners of Jiang Chen’s mouth.
“What , am I wrong?” The Veranda master countered with a
cold snort.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen leapt from the ground, activating the
formation disk in his hands. The moment he did so, the Ancient Slaughter
Formation of Seven instantly wrapped around the Veranda master.
The sudden action stunned the Veranda master greatly. It was
unfeasible to him that someone stripped of all fighting ability could summon
such explosive strength without warning.
Long Xiaoxuan also acted when Jiang Chen activated the
formation, trapping the Veranda master inside a dragon domain. Then, Jiang Chen
fired the Featherflight Mirror at the Veranda master in succession and without
mercy.
In just a breath’s time, the young man had executed three
moves at once: the Ancient Slaughter Formation of Seven, the dragon domain, and
the Featherflight Mirror.
All three techniques were entrapment moves.
As strong as the Veranda master might be, he was caught on
the back foot after being caught completely off guard. Not reacting in time,
the three successive moves had him completely trapped before he could recover
his wits.
Long Xiaoxuan might have just entered emperor realm, but he
was still a true dragon. As an initial emperor realm cultivator, he could fight
an average high level emperor head on.
The Veranda master was just sixth level emperor realm. He
cultivated the demonic arts, but Jiang Chen hadn’t given him a chance to
transform. As a mere human, the Veranda master couldn’t struggle out of the
shackles that held him in place.
Jiang Chen immediately formed the Vermillion Bird image and
sent it flying towards the Veranda master. Long Xiaozuan also executed the Claw
of Crushed Mountains and Rivers and swiped at the Veranda master’s face.
The schemer cried out in pain when the attacks hit him. The
dragon’s attack hit the Veranda master in the head, exploding the latter like a
crushed watermelon. The Veranda master barely managed to form a single thought
of hatred before he was completely wiped off the face of the earth.
Those outside had no idea what was going on inside the
Ancient Slaughter Formation of Seven. All they saw was the blurry outline of
the formation. No one saw Jiang Chen and Long Xiaoxuan working together to kill
the Veranda master in the blink of an eye.
They only knew that something had happened, and that the
Veranda master seemed to have encountered a bit of trouble. Faint hope rose in
everyone’s hearts. Although they had been chasing Jiang Chen just now, they all
hoped that Jiang Chen would be the victor instead of the Veranda master.
Long Xiaoxuan hid himself when the formation dissipated. A
distant-looking Jiang Chen walked out of the air and stood before Imperial
Prince Zhao and the others. The prince hadn’t imagined that the young man would
be the one to walk out of the fight instead of the Veranda master.
“Hmph. Have you come to ridicule me like that Cui, boy? Kill
me if you want. I’ll be a damned coward if I beg you during the process!”
Jiang Chen smiled indifferently before ignoring the prince
completely, dashing straight outside instead. Currently, the most pressing
thought in his mind wasn’t the demon emperor, but the earth attribute treasure.
The Veranda master had done one good thing prior to his
death, and that was to dispel the sea of fog so that he could taunt his
enemies. As a result, Jiang Chen could observe everything around him with ease.
He swore to find the treasure even if the demon emperor were to awaken from his
slumber in the next instant.
They were still all underground. After expanding his
consciousness to its fullest, Jiang Chen quickly found the place with the
richest source of energy.
“This is it!” Jiang Chen’s eyes lit up. When his
consciousness swept across this area, he discovered a pouring fountain of earth
elemental energy.
Jiang Chen immediately summoned the Goldbiter Rats.
“Head down there and take a look, Ole Gold.”
The Rat King had no choice but to comply. Luckily, the pulse
of the earth treasure wasn’t too powerful even though it was overflowing with
energy. It didn’t take long for him to hop back up. “Sir Chen, there are
actually several levels to this underground world. For example, there’s another
space beneath here that enshrines a single pearl. All of the elemental energy
we’re sensing comes from it.”
“Oh?” Jiang Chen’s eyes lit up. “Let’s head down and take a
look then.”
He immediately went down to the floor below with the Rat
King. There were many giant rock pillars inside this layer. They looked like
pillars supporting this underground world and were quite fantastical.
An enormous rock sculpture of a giant stood at the center of
the rock pillars. Surprisingly, the giant had only one eye. Its eyeball was
none other than the pearl the Rat King had glimpsed. Even from afar, Jiang Chen
found the giant incredibly imposing.
“Is this the pearl?” Jiang Chen looked contemplative for a
moment. He first scanned his surroundings to make sure that these giant rocks
wouldn’t suddenly come to life and attack them. Then, he summoned the
Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice for it to grab the pearl with its vines.
Chapter 1162: The Demon Emperor Awakens
With a casual sweep, Jiang Chen gathered the pearl into his
hand. In the next moment, it was as if the underground world had its soul
pulled out. The stone pillars became like paper, collapsing into heaps one by
one. Cursing quietly, Jiang Chen immediately called to the Goldbiter Rat King.
“Ole Gold, we have to get out of here.”
The Rat King was unconcerned about this layer’s loss of
structural integrity. “Don’t worry about it, Master Chen,” he slowly trotted.
“Even if the sky falls, I can bring you out with no problem.”
The Rat King was scared of a great number of things, but the
ground collapsing was not one of them. His race’s foremost talent was digging
holes. No matter how deep a Goldbiter Rat was underground, a tunnel could be
dug out for sure.
Jiang Chen didn’t treat it with the same levity. Though he
wasn’t afraid of losing a clear way out, this underground was a strange and
ominous place. It was a literal demon lair. If he unwisely attracted the demon
emperor’s premature attention, it would be disastrous. He ascended to a layer
above, which was also crumbling to dust with the same speed as everywhere else.
Cries of pain could be heard incessantly from Prince Zhao’s
direction. They had been utterly consumed by the power of the bloody fog, and
couldn’t lift a finger to resist their fate. Enormous boulders crashed down
from above with alarming frequency, creating more splats of cultivator gore on
the ground. Jiang Chen’s reappearance elicited relief from the remaining few,
as if their savior had finally arrived.
“Save us, save us!” They called out in unison. “Friend, I am
willing to pay you thirty million spirit stones if you take me with you!”
“Sir, we don’t have a life-and-death grudge between us. All
of us can reward your kindness well!”
Imperial Prince Zhao harrumphed. He was unwilling to ask for
help. He wasn’t going to get it anyways. After all, he had issued a kill
command on the young man just moments prior. That alone was grounds for a deep
grudge between them. How could he expect the other to save us?
Ole Zhang was far more practical. “Friend, I can speak for
both of us. If you save the two of us, the royal family will reward you with
one billion spirit stones as thanks.”
For the Great Scarlet Mid Region, one billion spirit stones
was an insurmountable amount of wealth. But no matter how large that sum was,
it was still less than what their lives was worth.
The prince didn’t blame the old man for deciding for him. In
fact, he secretly felt that Ole Zhang should’ve named two or three instead. The
prince wasn’t shameless enough to make the request, but he didn’t entirely
oppose others doing so on his behalf. Deep down in his heart, he wanted very
badly to live. As for the money, the royal family always had ways to make that
up.
Jiang Chen harrumphed. The only one that he felt the
slightest bit of empathy towards was Ole Zhang. He didn’t have any compassion
for anyone else here.
“I thought you were the Great Scarlet Mid Region’s hotshots?
Why are you afraid now? Giving up so soon?” He sauntered over, smiling, his
voice filled with contempt.
“Friend, now isn’t the time to squabble,” Ole Zhang couldn’t
resist interjecting. “We are in the wrong, yes. We can pay an additional
billion on top of the previous promised, as a token of apology.”
Prince Zhao couldn’t resist his approval of the old man’s
clever addition. Unfortunately for him, Jiang Chen didn’t seem to care.
“Whether you want to pay one or two billion, I’m afraid that you’ll meet the
same fate here today. Death!”
Without saying another word, he used the Supernova Point in
quick succession. Each point reaped a life, their owners popping like balloons
under the pressure. Jiang Chen was exceptionally cruel with his attacks. He
left no room for mercy. Nothing remained in the wake of his fingers’ passing.
There wasn’t even a mote of dust left behind after his total eradication. This
was the most fearsome thing about this technique. Anyone hit by it would
explode like a supernova, becoming one with nothing in the process.
Jiang Chen’s incredible speed at killing off most of the
group in an instant made Ole Zhang gasp. He couldn’t believe it. “You… you sold
out to the demons as well?”
“Ole Zhang, you let me in,” Jiang Chen smiled coolly. “When
the prince gave that order against me, you at least tried to do something. I
can make an exception for you and let you go. Everyone else has to die.”
His hands did not lie idle as he said this. By now,
essentially all of the Great Scarlet Mid Region’s experts were gone.
Imperial Prince Zhao watched Jiang Chen kill with the ease
of butchering fowl. His absolute lack of sympathy was the last straw, cementing
the thought that he wasn’t going to live today.
“The Great Scarlet Mid Region won’t let you off for this,
kid!” Vengeful words, spoken with one’s dying breath, were the weakest of all.
Jiang Chen smiled coolly again. “Don’t worry. I’ll exact the
same vengeance upon everyone else deserving in that region, too. I won’t act as
the Veranda master against your women, of course, but your experts… well,
they’ll join you before long.”
“You…” Prince Zhao was flabbergasted. The young man before
him suddenly seemed foreign. Who was he, and why was he so bitter against Great
Scarlet Mid Region?
Jiang Chen summoned the Goldbiter Rat King forthwith. “Ole
Gold, you go on ahead. Take Old Zhang out of here.”
Without another word, the Goldbiter Rat King did as he was
told.
The prince’s face was ashen. He glared at Jiang Chen
defiantly. “I can understand the Resplendent Emerald Veranda master’s enmity
towards our house. But who are you? What did Great Scarlet ever do to you?”
“The Veranda master’s grudge is small fry compared to mine.
When your region invaded Myriad Domain all those years ago, you were certainly
more than happy to kill with smooth, steadfast strokes. With much more pleasure
than I today, I’m sure. ” Jiang Chen’s tone was derisive.
“What?” Prince Zhao’s own voice froze. His eyes betrayed his
incredulity. “You… are a remnant of Myriad Domain? Who… who could you…”
Jiang Chen’s smile was unchanging. “There’s no need for you
to be concerned about that. Don’t worry, the royal family will join you on the
path to oblivion quite soon. I won’t make you wait long for a family reunion.”
With another two points, he killed two of the last three
people. Prince Zhao was the only one that remained now. His expression looked
absolutely ghastly. “The Myriad Domain… Myriad Domain… who could’ve expected
that a remnant of Myriad Domain would stir up… so much trouble…”
Snorting, Jiang Chen pointed at the prince to blow him up as
well.
The antique Skyclearer Talisman fluttered into his hand. He
put it, along with the storage rings of the dead, with his belongings. After
scavenging the battlefield, he lazily began to depart upwards.
As he did so, a majestic voice mentally confronted him from
within the chaos. “Who? Who is it that’s meddled in my business?”
Jiang Chen’s heart skipped a beat when he heard it. The will
of the voice was filled with power and resentment.
“Has the demon emperor awakened?” A scary thought popped
into his head. He felt cold sweat bead all over his body, and hurried in his
escape. He broke out of the earth not long after and was met by a very anxious
rodent.
“Master Chen, it seems… that the demon emperor awakened?”
The Rat King was cowardly by nature. Just being exposed to
the will of the demon emperor caused him to shiver uncontrollably.
Jiang Chen looked serious. “Put yourself away, Ole Gold.
Don’t worry. I have a plan to get out of here.”
Having plundered the orb at the source of the earth pulses,
Jiang Chen had effectively disabled the outside formation. After making sure
the Rat King was safely tucked in, he turned to Ole Zhang. “Go on ahead. If you
see the Silversand Cavalier and others, you can leave with them.”
Ole Zhang was almost as white as the prince had been. “I’ve
served the imperial family all my life, but you killed an imperial prince. Even
if you let me go, how can I possibly live?”
“I spared you solely because of your previous attitude,”
Jiang Chen waved a hand. “I’m not responsible for any suicidal tendencies you
may have because of my other actions.”
The old man shook his head. After a long while, he began to
drag his feet away with some difficulty. Jiang Chen hadn’t personally killed
him, but it was impossible for him to leave alive like this. The young man was
in no rush to leave himself, though. The demon emperor’s presence was
terrifying, but he refused to be cowed by it.
The first step of the blood sacrifice had been completed
when the demon emperor feasted upon those female cultivators, but the process
had also been imperfect without Wei Xing’er. The demon emperor wasn’t at the
peak of his strength right now. He probably only had a third of his power
available at most. In this state, the demon emperor was unlikely to be stronger
than a human great emperor.
Therefore, Jiang Chen decided to stay for an opportunity to
kill the demon emperor as well. It seemed futile to attempt to stop the demon
race’s renaissance. But he didn’t want the demonic invasion to occur
immediately.
Even though it was unlikely that a demon emperor at his peak
would be able to destroy the entire human domain, the blood demons’ bloodline
was exceptionally infectious. If this demon emperor had just a bit of breathing
room, he could grow an entire cult of blood demon loyalists in less than a
decade.
There were countless human cultivators like the Veranda
master or Sir Miao. The best solution was to nip the threat in the bud. Of
course, Jiang Chen was aware of the difficulty of killing an ancient demon
emperor even in a state of weakness. But he had plenty of aces up his sleeve.
Emperor Peafowl had given him the Imperial Advent Defense
and Onslaught Talismans. Each was equivalent to borrowing a great emperor’s
defensive or offensive strength, respectively. Though one use lasted only about
two hours, that was more than enough to do what he needed to do.
Both talismans had three uses before they were used up.
Continuous usage demanded immense physical condition and exertion. The
slightest indiscretion could lead to tremendous backlash. Typically, talismans
like these weren’t used consecutively.
Demon Emperor Bloodmalva, emperor of the blood demons, had
finally struggled free of his seal. Though the ritual to wake him had been
somewhat flawed–notably, the crucial component Wei Xing’er had been missing–the
demon emperor had successfully awakened nevertheless. However, he was surprised
to find that the one who’d organized the sacrifice had disappeared. There was
no response to his attempts at bloodline resonance. Where was the Veranda
master?
Chapter 1163: Demon Emperor Bloodmalva
Demon Emperor Bloodmalva’s sacrifice had lacked Wei Xing’er
as a crucial component. Thus, he was only at roughly thirty percent of his full
potential. But even a crippled demon emperor was still astonishingly mighty.
The great emperor aura filled the interior of the mountain.
The Resplendent Emerald Veranda master’s aura is nowhere to
be found. Has he died?
Though the demon emperor had only been recently freed, his
consciousness was perfectly clear. There was no way otherwise he could’ve
convinced the Veranda master to join the blood demons, nor laid out this plot
for his human agent over these several years.
Transforming himself into a bloody cloud, the demon emperor
stormed from the altar to the dissipated fog formation. He arrived to the sight
of utter ruin. His prepared food was long gone. The only thing that remained
was a strong lingering scent of battle.
“Aaah!” Demon Emperor Bloodmalva knew that his plans had
fallen awry. He was completely furious. He’d arranged such an intricate plot,
only to have its fruit stolen from him at the last second! The imperfect blood
sacrifice and the disappearance of his food further detracted from his
awakening. Two mishaps in a row upset the demon emperor greatly.
“Was the Veranda master too unlucky after all? Was he
insufficient to shoulder the burden of the demon race’s destiny? It seems that
I’ve picked the wrong man for the job.” The demon emperor’s eyes were rimmed
with red. He wanted to kill someone. “Who is it? Who dared interfere with my
great scheme?! I don’t care who you are, I’ll eat you alive when I find out!”
This series of disruptions so soon after his revival ignited
his demonic malice. Like a crimson haze, a cloud of blood tore out of the area
with almost impossible speed.
An immense demonic consciousness spread out instantly for a
radius of several dozen miles, seeking out a possible culprit who was still
around.
With the Veranda master’s death, the demon emperor no longer
had a source of information. But Demon Emperor Bloodmalva knew well that the
disruptor for such a well-constructed plot was definitely still close by. It
was obvious that the fighting within the formation had just ended moments
prior. The lingering ripples of battle still clung to the air.
As soon as the demon emperor tore through the earth, Jiang
Chen sensed the demonic aura approaching from a great distance. The young man
was startled by its sheer intensity.
“Even a weakened demonic emperor has such impressive might!
He truly is an emperor from the ancient past. If he’s allowed to return to peak
strength, who in Great Scarlet Mid Region, the Upper Eight Regions even, will
be able to face him head on?”
Concerned, he began to think of a solution to the pressing
problem before him. The selfish choice was to up and leave immediately. But he
had to be more responsible than that. If he left now, the demon emperor would
have more than enough time to recover and would surely leave Cloudshatter
Mountain to wreak havoc in the wider world. There would be a massive loss of
life then.
Even if a demonic invasion was inevitable, Jiang Chen wanted
to delay that eventuality for as long as he could. Not a single region in the
human domain had made sufficient preparations. He began to dash outwards
without delay. He didn’t have the luxury of time.
Now that the earth attribute orb was in his possession, the
formation on the outside was rendered largely ineffective. Jiang Chen wanted a
fight with the demon emperor to take place out of this strange area. It was
unwise to fight on unplumbed enemy territory.
As he sped by in the air, he saw Ole Zhang slowly trudging
in the same direction far below. Having been corroded by the blood mist, the
old man had no strength to go any faster. He walked at a snail’s pace. There was
no way he could escape at his current pace.
Sighing softly, Jiang Chen dove down and picked the old man
up. “Don’t move,” he growled. “I’ll bring you out.”
With his Kunpeng Meteoric Escape pushed to maximum speed,
Jiang Chen was barely affected by his new burden. He pushed outwards once more
with all the force he could muster.
On a mountain trail near the outer reaches of the mountains,
Jiang Chen keenly spotted a wandering Silversand Cavalier.
“Sir Silversand, the demon emperor has awakened. You must
leave Cloudshatter Mountain immediately!” He reminded aloud as soon as he saw
the man.
The Silversand Cavalier was surprised by the sound of Jiang
Chen’s voice. He saw a bolt of lightning blitz outwards through the air.
“Friend,” he shouted upwards, “how are things inside?”
“They’re all dead. You better hurry up and leave. The demon
emperor has descended upon the lands. If you don’t, you’ll just end up as food.
He’ll recover faster because of it.” Jiang Chen knew that advice wasn’t always
enough to convince men like the Cavalier, but clear analysis usually did the
trick.
Right on cue, the cavalier immediately looked apprehensive.
The prospect of staying only to become food and strengthen the demons was
thoroughly unattractive to him. Having witnessed Jiang Chen’s incredible speed,
he didn’t dare defer his own departure.
“Friend, I thought there was a formation outside that
restricted our movement?” He asked while running. “Can we really get out?”
“The formation should be gone now.”
“Oh? The formation is gone? But then, if we leave now, what
if the demon emperor leaves Cloudshatter Mountain? Won’t a lot of people die?”
The cavalier had a stronger sense of racial responsibility than most.
Jiang Chen approved of this trait a great deal, but he
wasn’t pleased with the comment’s timing. “If you’re not leaving, then you must
be confident in your ability to defeat an ancient demon emperor, correct?”
The Silversand Cavalier blinked. Right, er, did he have that
confidence? In his moment of hesitation, an inexorable tide of demonic aura
came up behind them. It moved with such velocity and vehemence that the air
visibly roiled.
Demon Emperor Bloodmalva’s ominous laughter could be heard
within. “I knew there were some stragglers. So, you’re the culprits that ruined
my plans?”
The demonic presence rushed in like water, crashing closer
with vexing rapidity. Jiang Chen found the last part extremely surprising.
Though the demonic emperor wasn’t necessarily moving faster than the Kunpeng
Meteoric Escape, he wasn’t much slower either. However, it wasn’t a real
comparison. Jiang Chen was at close to top speed, while the demonic emperor had
regained maybe twenty to thirty percent of his strength.
This benchmark deepened Jiang Chen’s understanding of
ancient demon emperors in general. If he pushed his Kunpeng Meteoric Escape to
its maximum limits, he’d find it easy enough to outrun the demon emperor’s
wrath. But the Silversand Cavalier couldn’t say the same.
The Cavalier wasn’t particularly slow, but the demon emperor
blew him out of the water. The former moved at about half the speed of the
latter. Thus, the Cavalier’s fate was all but sealed.
When the demon emperor inevitably caught him, he would be
turned into nourishment in short order. Though a single third level emperor
realm wasn’t near sufficient, it would still be an excellent snack. Any amount
of strengthening in the demon emperor’s power at this stage was terrifying to
contemplate.
Jiang Chen was at his wit’s end. He was caught between a
rock and a hard place. After a few moments, he dipped downwards decisively
after all. Tossing the old man in his hands to the Cavalier, he called out,
“Take Ole Zhang away. I’ll bring up the rear.”
The Silversand Cavalier couldn’t have imagined this kind of
development in his wildest dreams. He instinctively caught Ole Zhang.
“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and go!” Jiang
Chen glared at him angrily.
“If you’re staying, then I will stay too. Us two together is
better than you alone…” The cavalier stomped his foot.
“Stop wasting time. You’ll just cause more trouble for me if
you stay. What’s with all the sentimentality, huh?” Jiang Chen admonished,
rather angrily.
The cavalier made to speak some more, but decided against it
after noticing Jiang Chen’s increasingly darker expression. The young man spoke
the truth.
“Alright,” he nodded, “I’ll take your kindness at face
value, then. I will head for Great Scarlet Capital immediately. You must hold
fast as much as you can. You’re fast, so try to drag things out as much as
possible. When more of us human experts can get here…”
“Get out!” Frowning, Jiang Chen loudly urged the other man
away. His tone had become rather harsh. The Silversand Cavalier had a good
heart, but now wasn’t the time for small talk. A second lingered was a second
gambled.
The Cavalier didn’t dare venture another word. Old man in
tow, he raced outwards without looking back.
Brows still furrowed, Jiang Chen chose not to run any more.
Instead, he stood in place, staring at the direction from which he came. He
activated his Imperial Advent Defense Talisman. The talisman shone with a
blinding light that seeped into Jiang Chen’s body.
In the next moment, an invisible shield sprang into being
around the youth. The talisman produced an effect comparable to a great
emperor’s defense. It had a duration of two hours, and each possessed three
charges. Jiang Chen’s particular talisman had only two remaining.
Within another few breaths, a cloud of blood arrived within
the mile. Transforming into a more physical form, Demon Emperor Bloodmalva
skewered the young man opposite him with his gaze.
Jiang Chen stared back fearlessly. God’s Eye working in
tandem with his Evil Golden Eye, he confronted the demon emperor’s look head
on.
The demon emperor was enshrouded in a bloody haze. The body
within was extremely burly and tall, and wore scarlet armor. There was a mark
on the body’s forehead, unique to the blood demons. It was a flame-shaped sign,
diabolic in its fascination.
“You again?” Demon Emperor Bloodmalva dug into Jiang Chen
with a fierce look. “I remember you. You’ve been to my altar! You stole a girl
from me. You! You were the one that ruined my revival.”
The demon emperor had still been within his seal then, but
Jiang Chen’s presence had made a strong impression. After all, the bloody
formation around the altar had failed at trapping him. It was easy to remember
someone so exceptional.
Chapter 1164: Defying the Demon Emperor
Jiang Chen wasn’t surprised that the demon emperor had
recognized him.
“You shouldn’t have awakened. You escaped death during the
ancient cataclysm, and should’ve been obediently stayed hidden in your seal.
Why are you in such a hurry to die? We are no longer in the ancient times, and
you no longer a demon emperor that can rampage through the lands!”
Emperor Bloodmalva smiled angrily. “Human brat, how dare you
insult a demon emperor when you still reek of your mother’s milk? You’re merely
a half-step emperor! I’ve slaughtered more half-step emperors than I could
possibly count! Ignorant child, you should know better!”
Jiang Chen laughed coldly. “This half-step emperor shall be
your maker. You’ve left your home and crossed countless planes just to die in a
foreign land. Is that really worth it?”
The demon emperor was taken aback. “Brat! You know about the
planes as well? When did the humans from the Divine Abyss Continent become so
knowledgeable?!”
“Hmph! How could a foreign invader possibly know about the
depths of our knowledge?” Jiang Chen answered mockingly.
The demon emperor suddenly flashed an odd smile and nodded.
“Brat, you’re clearly stalling for time! Sadly for you, whatever you have up
your sleeves won’t be effective against me. Killing you will only take a
second. Your hard work thus far will be all for naught. You’ve single-handedly
foiled my plans and ruined my feast! I have no choice but to have you as
appetizer. Something tells me that your flesh will be tastier than those cows
or lambs!”
Jiang Chen snorted coldly. “You want to feast on my flesh?
At your current strength?”
The demon emperor burst into laughter. “You’re a mere
half-step emperor! I could easily slaughter you with just a tenth of my power!
Killing you will be as easy as squashing a bug!”
“You sure talk big.” Jiang Chen decided to stop stalling as
the enemy had seen through his plans.
If an earth-shaking and tremendous fight was what the enemy
wanted, then an earth-shaking and tremendous fight it would be. No one else was
around. It was a good opportunity for him to flex his muscles.
Jiang Chen had fought many powerful experts ever since
embarking on the path of martial dao, but not a single one was as frightening
as the enemy he was currently facing. Fortunately, the demon emperor was still
far from top shape and seemed to only possess a rough third of his true
potential. If the opponent was in prime form, Jiang Chen would have no choice
but to run. If his speed wasn’t enough, he might not even make it out alive.
He immediately drew out his strongest weapon, the Pentecolor
Divine Sword. He wasn’t confident enough to take on his opponent without a
weapon.
Demon Emperor Bloodmalva cackled oddly. An enormous wave of
bloody mist suddenly shot forth. The demonic clouds were much more frightening
when the demon emperor was wielding it. The clouds converged into an enormous
vortex that sucked in all of the surrounding air.
Jiang Chen was dumbfounded. This must be a demon emperor’s
unique domain power. He never thought that a domain formed out of demonic
clouds could actually be so powerful.
He was nearly sucked in with his surprise and couldn’t
believe his eyes. The demon emperor had dealt a strong attack right from the
start! Fortunately, he was prepared for such an occasion. He executed the
Kunpeng Meteoric Escape and turned into a bolt of lightning, piercing through
the bloody vortex.
“Mm?” The demon emperor was mildly surprised. His demonic
miasma was much weaker than what it could’ve been at his peak, but it was still
an combination of his strength and domain power. It seemed powerful, but only
contained a tenth of his true power. However, he didn’t think that it’d fail to
restrict the young cultivator. He was rather taken aback by this.
Jiang Chen could feel cold sweat running down his back. He
grabbed an Imperial Advent Onslaught Talisman and contemplated using it. The
talisman was roughly equivalent to a great emperor’s attack power.
Using it was one of the best ways to exterminate the demon
emperor, but activating both talismans at the same time would impose an
enormous burden on his body. They were both extremely heaven-defying talismans.
Even a single use meant a great amount of stress on the cultivator’s body.
Cultivators with insufficiently tempered bodies could even
implode if they used talismans that were too strong. It was extremely dangerous
act. Just one talisman was uncomfortable enough, so Jiang Chen wasn’t
completely confident that his body could handle two. However, he knew very well
that there was no going back. In order to deal lethal damage to the demon
emperor, he’d have to rely on the Imperial Advent Onslaught Talisman.
And so, he stopped hesitating and immediately activated the
talisman. A fierce and domineering beam of light poured out from Jiang Chen's
body. His body was roiling with power. It almost felt like he was in a berserk
mode. The talisman’s power flowed into Jiang Chen’s body and formed a link with
his own energy.
The demon emperor furrowed his brows. “You’re using a
strength enhancing talisman?”
He had been sealed for countless of years and thus knew
nothing about the Imperial Advent Onslaught Talisman. However, he was certain
that it was some kind of strength enhancing talisman.
“Hmph! A mere half-step emperor human dreams of defeating a
demon emperor with just a strength enhancing scrap?” The emperor snorted
coldly. He tightened his grip to materialized a crimson red blade in his hands.
The blade was shaped like a curved moon and was wreathed with an eerie and
terrifying aura. It projected a bloodthirsty and cruel presence of having
devoured countless ferocious beasts.
“Brat, I’ll send you off with my Bloodmalva Demon Blade.
Don’t worry, not a single drop of your blood will be wasted!” The demon emperor
flashed a sinister smile. A scarlet tidal wave immediately crashed down on
Jiang Chen.
The frightening blade shimmered a the blood-red cosmos. The
blade strike felt like a ravenous beast prepared to ravish its prey. It was so
brutal that it split the air in half and pierced through the void to appear
right in front of Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen leaped and turned into a flash of light to avoid
the sword strike. Even though he was armed with the dual talismans, he wasn’t
willing to take the blade strike head on. The strike wasn’t just incredibly
lethal, it was also immensely corrosive. This power was the blood demons’ most
frightening ability. It could eat away a cultivator’s bloodline, weapons,
pills, and many more. Almost nothing was immune to the power of corrosion.
The Pentecolor Divine Sword was legendary, but Jiang Chen
wasn’t going to take any risks.
“Hmph! Your speed is impressive, but my blade will not be
hindered by it! I’ll dice you into pieces!”
Another strike! This time, it descended as a powerful meteor
and was accompanied by a torrent of blood that quickly formed a threatening
vortex. The surrounding air was immediately drawn into it.
It was a strike that moved the heavens and shattered the
earth, cleaving seas and mountains! The enormous vortex blotted out the sun,
sucking in the surrounding air in its vacuum. Jiang Chen was incredibly solemn
when he experienced the momentum. Countless rays of blade qi abruptly shot out
from the vortex and furiously laid siege to Jiang Chen like ghouls and ghosts
that wouldn’t be chased away.
Materialization of the blade stroke? Jiang Chen noticed the
profoundness of the strike. He knew that he’d die a very gruesome death if he
met it head on. That was tantamount to suicide.
He immediately took out the Featherflight Mirror and flashed
it on the relentless blade qi. At the same time, he used an escape art and
flung himself towards the outer regions of the vortex. Unfortunately, the
restrictive power of the vortex was simply too intense. After multiple tries,
he failed to pierce through the vortex even with the Kunpeng Meteoric Escape,
“Brat, do you really think that you can pierce through my
ultimate sword intent with a simple escape art? You’re too naive!” The demon
emperor burst into an eccentric cackle.
Jiang Chen kept on trying, but the thick killing intent only
became thicker as time went on. This surprised him greatly. He never imagined
that his opponent’s blade strike would contain such a profound formation. Blade
and formation had merged into one.
The demonic miasma was truly a toy in the Veranda master’s
hands. Only the demon emperor is capable of harnessing its true might and
frightening power. After a few more attempts, Jiang Chen realized that the
vortex was regenerating too quickly for him to pierce through it with speed
alone. Without wasting any more time, he grabbed the Pentecolor Divine Sword
and chanted the incantation.
“The first strike shocks the heavens, the second strike
moves the earth.
“The third splits the yin and yang, and the fourth
encroaches on the sky.
“The fifth condenses all five elements and coalesces
thunder. Torrent of Ten Thousand Swords, pierce through the heavens!”
The Pentecolor Divine Sword drew in the five thunders of
heaven and earth to form an ultimate thunderclap. Natural phenomena danced in
the sky and condensed into incredibly frightening sword intent. Like a
ferocious ancient beast freed from its cage, the sword intent immediately
charged towards the demonic miasma.
Boom!
At the great emperor level, the Divine Five Thunderclap
Sword Technique was an unbelievably powerful technique. Even Emperor Peerless
would struggle to receive the attack head on. Boundless sword light and
thunderclaps merged to form the most powerful attack. Light erupted from the
sword, narrowing into a small dot, and shot towards the miasma.
Boom!
A large hole appeared in the miasma. Jiang Chen immediately
turned into a flash of light and flung himself through the hole.
“Well met!” The demon emperor was incredibly taken aback
when Jiang Chen pierced through the clouds. However, a demon emperor wasn’t to
be trifled with. Although he was surprised, a counter response was already at
hand. With a palm strike, he slammed an enormous, red mountain shape down upon
Jiang Chen’s head.
Chapter 1165: Ambush
A demon emperor who’d just regained roughly thirty percent
of his strength was theoretically inferior to a human great emperor, but really
wasn’t as far as behind as the numbers might imply. An average peak ninth level
emperor would be lucky to escape Demon Emperor Bloodmalva with the demon’s
current state, much less fight him head on.
But Jiang Chen wasn’t afraid of the palm seal bearing down
on him at all. Instead, he blurred into a beam of light with increased speed
and dived at the ground even more quickly than before. He passed right through
the ground in an instant.
“Useless effort!” Demon Emperor Bloodmalva proclaimed in a
cold, indifferent voice, raising the his blade and slashing at the ground
repeatedly like he was tilling the fields.
Crash! The giant rocks on the ground split apart like tofu
beneath the Bloodmalva Demon Blade’s assault. Deep ravines crisscrossed the
ground.
“Hmm? He can dive this deep?” Emperor Bloodmalva sounded a
little surprised. At this point, he was forced to admit that the young man was
more capable than he’d initially imagined. Although the demon emperor had only
executed a few moves, they were all unique techniques that he was reknowned
for.
Of course, their strength were incomparable to when he was
at his peak, but Emperor Bloodmalva had thought that victory was all but
certain since his opponent was just a mere half-step emperor youngster.
And yet, reality was a cruel mistress. He was unable to
defeat the young man despite using many moves. While it was true that that
young man had empowered himself with a strengthening talisman, his continued
existence still was unbelievable to the demon emperor.
After all, he was an ancient demon emperor! According to the
Veranda master, the cultivators of the human race had become much weaker and
more cowardly compared to the ancient times. Barely any ancient human
cultivator had left legacies behind at all. Emperor Bloodmalva had been
emboldened by this information. In the ancient times, he had been just an
average general. He was too weak to qualify as a commander, much less a demon
forefather.
At first, he’d thought about hiding himself even after
returning to peak strength, but then the Veranda master had told him that there
hadn’t been an empyrean expert in the human domain for many years. In fact, the
general populace believed that empyrean experts no longer existed in the human
domain. All powerful empyrean experts had either been forced to depart to
another plane due to the heavenly laws or had left for other mysterious lands.
This had greatly boosted Emperor Bloodmalva’s confidence. It
even made him scorn the human cultivators of current times. However, after he’d
broken free, he discovered that he was unable to take down the very first human
youngster he encountered despite using nearly every powerful skill in his
arsenal. He began to begrudge the Veranda master.
Emperor Bloodmalva’s murderous nature was fully provoked by
Jiang Chen at this point. His blade strokes and blade qi nearly turned every
inch of the floor upside down. But no matter how powerful his slashes were, he
wasn’t able to dig out Jiang Chen.
“Boy, I’ll catch you and skin you alive even if you escape
into heaven or hell!”
Now incredibly enraged, Emperor Bloodmalva transformed into
a bloody cloud and charged into the ground. It was obvious that the demon
emperor hated Jiang Chen so much that he was willing to go through any trouble
to find the human.
Jiang Chen was currently very deep underground thanks to the
Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice. He knew that the demon emperor’s
consciousness was a high enough level that the demon could track Jiang Chen
through lingering traces of presence. This was why Jiang Chen didn’t plan on
hiding. As for using the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice to fight Emperor
Bloodmalva, the idea never crossed his mind.
At this level, there was almost nothing that the Lotus could
do against the demon emperor unless the spirit creature broke through to great
emperor realm. While the Imperial Advent Defense and Onslaught Talismans had
enhanced Jiang Chen greatly, the same couldn’t be said for the Lotus.
Jiang Chen calculated the elapsed time before suddenly
activating the Ancient Crimson formation disk in his hand. Out of the ten great
formations it could simulate, he immediately chose the Major Artifice Formation
without much thought.
He didn’t expect the formation to be able to contain the
demon emperor at all. All he wanted was to restrict Emperor Bloodmalva for an
instant, just enough for him to launch a single attack. Chances of success
aside, it was something he had to try.
“Brother Long, don’t reveal yourself just yet. Attack
together with me when I give you the signal to. Everything hinges on this one
attack!”
Jiang Chen knew that he was incapable of beating Emperor
Bloodmalva even in the demon’s limited state. The talismans were just temporary
enhancements. He wasn’t actually a great emperor, and the rest of his equipment
weren’t up to par either. He was strong, but his fighting prowess was
ultimately incomparable to that of a true great emperor. The sheer gap in power
meant that his chances were few from the start. It was exactly because that his
chances were few and far inbetween that Jiang Chen wished to attempt an attack
using the underground terrain.
Emperor Bloodmalva chased after the human murderously. The
demon emperor wasn’t especially proficient at fighting underground, but he was
powerful, angry, and confident in his abilities. That was why he chased Jiang
Chen while throwing caution to the winds.
Jiang Chen activated the formation disk when he saw the
rapidly approaching crimson cloud. The Major Artifice Formation instantly came
to life. Emperor Bloodmalva’s surroundings immediately changed.
“Hmm?” The demon emperor frowned slightly, but he quickly
grasped what was going on. “A formation? Boy, you are but half-step emperor.
Even if the talismans have enhanced you to the realm of great emperor, do you
really think that you can trap me with a formation? You are far too naive!” The
demon cackled gruesomely and swung the Bloodmalva Demon Blade. He was actually
planning to slash through all obstacles with brute force.
His reputation was well deserved. His eyes were so keen that
he was able to instantly discern that the formation was just an illusory formation
used to confuse one’s opponents.
The demon emperor waved his weapon and parted the air with
terrifying blade qi, yelling, “These are all just fabricated lies! Destroy,
destroy, destroy them all!”
The Major Artifice Formation was ten times stronger than the
Minor Artifice Formation and more, but it was nothing more than a small trick
in the ancient demon emperor’s eyes. Of course, the formation was weak because
Jiang Chen could only do so much with his current level of power. If it was
commanded by a real great emperor expert, the effects would’ve been entirely
different.
That being said, Jiang Chen had never planned to trap
Emperor Bloodmalva with the formation in the first place.
The young man yelled when he saw the demon emperor waving
his blade to cut through the formation. “Brother Long, now!”
Jiang Chen activated another formation, this time the
Ancient Slaughter Formation of Seven. It was the same formation he’d used to
ambush the Veranda master. He had arranged a formation within a formation.
Everything had been set for this one attack, and now the time to do so had
arrived.
Jiang Chen unleashed the golden body of demons and gods to
the maximum and gathered countless flames of Prehistoric Flame Essence to
summon the Vermillion Bird image. The attacks erupted towards the demon like a
violent volcano.
Meanwhile, Long Xiaoxuan revealed himself in full draconic
glory and brought his own domain to bear. He swiped repeatedly at the air and
drew in the qi of five thunders to form a terrifying dragon seal of five
thunders, sending it flying towards the demon emperor as well.
These two attacks were the strongest attacks Jiang Chen and
Long Xiaoxuan could muster at their current level. Long Xiaoxuan had called
upon his bloodline and entered a berserk mode, enhancing his attacks so that
they rivaled that of a half-step great emperor’s. Jiang Chen’s Vermillion Bird
image was also on par with a great emperor’s attack as it was composed of
Prehistoric Flame Essence and he himself was enhanced by the Imperial Advent
Onslaught Talisman.Emperor Bloodmalva broke out in a in cold sweat as the
combined attack hurtled at him. The Ancient Slaughter Formation of Seven had
distracted him at the perfect moment, so by the time he reacted, the two
attacks were already closing in on him. Panic finally dawned on the demon
emperor’s face as he swiftly summoned demonic clouds to form a line of defense
around him.
However, the terrifying attack instantly tore through the
makeshift defenses and barged straight at his chest. Emperor Bloodmalva raised
his demonic blade defensively in front of him.
Bang!
The powerful attack sent him flying backwards. The collision
was so powerful that it ignited countless shockwaves and literally tore a hole
several kilometers wide in the underground world. His qi and blood roiled as he
spat repeated mouthfuls of blood.
Jiang Chen hurriedly cried out to Long Xiaoxuan. “He’s hurt!
Get him!”
Jiang Chen’s decisiveness had allowed him to seize an
opportunity to hurt Emperor Bloodmalva. If they didn’t attack him now, they
wouldn’t get a second chance to kill him.
Emperor Bloodmalva had never suffered such a terrible loss
except at the hands of empyrean experts. For a time, he could hardly believe
this was happening.
The demon emperor finally snapped out of his shock when he
saw Jiang Chen and Long Xiaoxuan pouncing towards him. He understood that his
life was literally on the line now. The attack earlier had completely crushed
his courage, so he shrieked with no trace of imperial dignity left, turned into
a bloody cloud, and fled madly towards the surface. Obviously, Emperor
Bloodmalva was sounding the gong of retreat.
“Don’t let him escape!”
Jiang Chen and Long Xiaoxuan gave pursuit without
hesitation, but the demon emperor’s speed was barely affected even though he’d
just suffered an injury.
The trio quickly returned to the surface and Emperor
Bloodmalva turned around back to the altar. It was obviously that he was
planning to escape back into his old haunt. Jiang Chen and Long Xiaoxuan chased
after him relentlessly. Jiang Chen knew that they wouldn’t be able to get
another opportunity to kill the demon emperor if he was allowed to regain his
full strength.
Forget Great Scarlet Mid Region, the entire human domain
would be at risk if Emperor Bloodmalva managed to return to his peak form.
Jiang Chen might dislike Great Scarlet Mid Region, but he also knew that
Emperor Bloodmalva’s ambitions didn’t encompass that region alone.
Meanwhile, the demon emperor was feeling a mixture of anger
and shock after Jiang Chen and Long Xiaoxuan dealt him an injury. He never
imagined that he would be hurt by a human, much less a half-step emperor
youngling. It was unprecedented humiliation to say the least. Moreover, the
human boy was accompanied by a dragon! The demon hadn’t had the chance to catch
a clear glimpse, but it really did look like a true dragon.
Chapter 1166: Charging Back to the Altar
Demon Emperor Bloodmalva wasn’t scared of anything in the
world. In particular, he tended to hold human cultivators in contempt. But now,
before this particular human, he felt the slightest sliver of fear. It was
because of none other than Long Xiaoxuan.
“Just where did this human cultivator come from? How did he
manage to contract a true dragon as his battle-beast? The true dragons are a
proud race. Why would one of them serve a mere human?” The demon emperor was
thoroughly confused. Unfortunately, it was a bad time to grapple with
philosophical problems such as this.
Breaking free from the chase was a top priority. A great
demon emperor was being hunted down by a brat still stinking of his mother’s
milk! The demon was even as frightened as a stray dog. The very thought of it
pained Emperor Bloodmalva’s heart. It was so frustrating that he almost wanted
to cough up blood.
Shame, aversion, dejection. A multitude of emotions hung
upon his chest, pressing against it uncomfortably. Thankfully, the demon
emperor was no slouch in terms of quickness. He reached the altar in no time at
all. Getting there gave him a much needed boost in confidence.
Turning from bloody cloud into a streak of red light, he
darted towards the center of the altar. This was the place where the blood
sacrifice had been completed. Apart from Wei Xing’er, the eighty-one female
cultivator girls had been sucked dry of their blood and essence. Their
corpse-like bodies were laid out on the altar’s smaller satellites.
Sitting down upon the main altar, Emperor Bloodmalva
activated the formation embedded within. The eighty-one smaller altars began to
turn gradually, spinning into orbit around the main one.
The bright mark on the demon emperor’s forehead suddenly lit
up. An unnatural ray of red light shot out towards the eighty-one smaller
altars, like a candle lending its flame to a mass of peers.
All of the bodies upon the smaller altars trembled in
synchronicity. All at once, they began to slowly crawl back up. But these young
girls’ faces were bloodless, their expressions stiff and numb. They were like
actual corpses that had been reanimated, and that actually wasn’t far from the
truth. It was an oddly chilling sight.
The demon emperor’s light produced similar marks upon the
girls’ foreheads, though their versions were a tad fainter.
“O demonic soldiers, heed my command! Battle preparations,
for an enemy comes!” As he spoke, bloody demonic clouds began to roil around
the altar once more. Crimson wisps began to coalesce into the girls’ bodies.
There was more than enough bloody clouds to go around here.
Being charged with demonic energies gave the cultivator girls newfound
strength, and they moved with renewed speed. They brimmed with terrifying
demonic aura and were creepily eerie. The once-pretty girls now looked more
like female demons, and soulless ones, at that.
“Here we are, Brother Long. Be careful!” Jiang Chen and Long
Xiaoxuan arrived only a few moments later.
A bizarre scene jumped into focus as soon as he descended
into the subterranean structure. Jiang Chen frowned at the corpse desecration.
“Evil must be purged. What has caused this perversion must die also!”
It was patently clear to him that the cultivator girls were
no longer among the living. They emanated the same aura as the blood demons’
demonic clouds. They had unquestionably become not only Emperor Bloodmalva’s
sacrifices, but his soldiers as well. This made him quite upset.
“The blood demons are truly the worst of their kind!” Jiang
Chen declared angrily.
Emperor Bloodmalva was still somewhat pale. He sat upon the
main altar, a flock of his girl soldiers all around him. Bloody haze from
demonic clouds permeated the air. Furthermore, he had a formation to protect
him. He felt much safer now. He glanced coldly sidelong at Jiang Chen, as if
wanting to burn an image of the youth into his mind.
“I don’t care who you are, kid. The humiliation you brought
me today will be visited tenfold upon you! Mark my words, that day will come.”
“Why wait?” Jiang Chen snickered. “Victory and defeat, life
and death; everything will be decided by the end of today.”
“I admit that you have some skill,” the demon emperor
replied coolly. “But you achieved what you did purely through ambush. When I
have but half my strength, I’ll be able to kill you as easily as stepping on an
ant.”
Emperor Bloodmalva was exaggerating things a little, but his
claims weren’t entirely unfounded. He had suffered a loss today because of two
reasons. One, he hadn’t recovered the bulk of his strength yet, and two, he’d
been snuck up on. In a full-on fight, he absolutely did not believe that he
would be wounded.
Regardless of those contributing factors, however, the demon
emperor took to heart the unprecedented humiliation of being hurt. Thus, he
hated Jiang Chen to the bone.
“Brother Long, back me up. I’ll try to break through the
formation!”
Jiang Chen wasn’t scared of the demonic clouds. Though Long
Xiaoxuan was a true dragon, he wasn’t necessarily immune to the corrosion from
the same. It was better for Jiang Chen to do the work himself. A wounded demon
emperor meant an even weaker opponent. He wanted to strike before Bloodmalva
had a solid handle on anything.
Without hesitation, he drew his Pentecolor Divine Swords.
The beginnings of his Divine Five Thunderclap Sword Technique began to form.
Torrent of Ten Thousand Swords! That was one of the most
lethal techniques of the Thunderclap Sword. Will brought into being a myriad of
blades. A single sword was enough to lead them, and ten thousand moved with the
unity of one. The swords gushed forth like an incessant flood.
The demonic clouds were quite potent defensively. But the
Torrent of Ten Thousand Swords, bolstered by the Imperial Advent Onslaught
Talisman, was even more jaw-droppingly powerful. The swords became countless
streaks of light, pouring down from the heavens like a shower of stars.
Boom, boom, boom.
The formation around the altar was beginning to crack under
the pressure of the unrelenting sword-strikes. Jiang Chen escalated the force
of his assault by producing his Vermilion Bird image once more. He pressed down
on the formation with the momentum of a volcanic eruption.
Boom, boom, boom!
Despite the duress it was receiving from Jiang Chen’s
attacks, the formation just barely managed to maintain its integrity. Any crack
that appeared was instantly filled by new haze. However, the speed of Jiang
Chen’s attacks was noticeably faster than that of the crimson mist filling in
formation cracks. Therefore, the formation swayed and seemed even more tenuous.
On the main altar, the demon emperor became more and more
restless as the formation was subjected to increasing stress. Without his
recent wound, he would’ve long leapt into action.
“Demonic soldiers, marshal yourselves. Attack that fool with
all haste!”
The cultivator girls had become Demon Emperor Bloodmalva’s
puppets. They jumped out at the demon emperor’s words, wrapping themselves in
demonic clouds without hesitation, then assailed Jiang Chen without hesitation.
Snorting, Jiang Chen formed another sword seal, delivering a
decisive strike at the girls. Their blood and essence sucked out by Demon
Emperor Bloodmalva, the girls were no longer human. At best, they were walking
zombies. Even if he did rescue them, he wouldn’t be able to restore their
former selves.
In actuality, they were already dead. Their bodies had
merely been taken advantage of by the blood demons’ secret arts, transformed
into soldier puppets by demonic energy. These demonic soldiers were not to be
underestimated. The transformation enhanced their fighting prowess to three to
five times what it’d been. A combined strike from eighty of them had remarkable
power.
Thankfully, Jiang Chen was never one to shy away from a good
brawl. The Torrent of Ten Thousand Swords, for example, excelled at fighting a
multitude of targets. Mobilizing the torrent once more, he ordered innumerable
sword auras to deliver relentless cuts across the demonic soldiers.
Tss, tss, tss… The demonic girl-soldiers were sliced up as
easily as bread.
Appalled at the loss of his troops, Demon Emperor Bloodmalva
hastily directed the remainder to withdraw. Each returned to her own satellite
altar. One skirmish had been enough to cut down more than a dozen of the
soldiers. Only sixty-odd remained.
Jiang Chen was a little suspicious of the instruction to
retreat. The demon emperor was neither kind nor sympathetic. He definitely had
other ideas for these demonic girl-soldiers. Though Jiang Chen presently had
the advantage, he wasn’t going to take the demon emperor so lightly.
He was perfectly aware that his opponent was a demon
emperor. No matter that he had only twenty or thirty percent of his full power,
Jiang Chen couldn’t afford to dismiss him all the same. Given how long these
demon emperors had lived for, none of them were lightweights.
A glimmer of hatred flashed through Demon Emperor
Bloodmalva’s eyes. He glared viciously at Jiang Chen. “You bastard whelp! Do
you really intend on hounding me unto death?”
“You’re the freak here, demon,” Jiang Chen sneered. “Demons
are like weeds. Any that are not completely uprooted will spiral into disaster
for its surrounding environment.”
The demon emperor broke into hideous laughter.
“How quaint! After a hundred thousand years, you humans are
still as scared of us demons as ever, hahahaha. Kid, I haven’t seen a human
cultivator as talented as you even in ancient times. A man of your gifts should
just join up with us, hmm? Don’t you know that humans are a hopeless race? We
demons, on the other hand, are exalted within the heavenly planes. The Divine
Abyss Continent will fall into our hands sooner or later. Rather than futilely
resisting, it’s better for you to surrender outright. If you join our cause,
then you’ll be amply rewarded on the day of our dominance. I firmly believe that
you’re more suitable than the Resplendent Emerald Veranda master as one of us
blood demons. Perhaps you’ll even become our young lord one day, heir to the
greatest dao…”
The demon emperor’s speech was reasonably convincing. More
remarkably, he resorted to solicitation without hesitation when he found that
he was at a disadvantage.
However, giving Jiang Chen that spiel was like talking to a
wall. Anyone on the Divine Abyss Continent could join up with the demons, but
it was flat-out impossible for Jiang Chen. Doing so would be an enormous loss
of face. He was the son of the Celestial Emperor! He wouldn’t know how to face
his father if one day they came face to face again.
“Bloodmalva, the demons do very well within the heavenly
planes, but they are hardly the only dominant race. Put away your ridiculous
superiority complex. Do you think that everyone wants a demon bloodline?” Jiang
Chen’s tone was filled with derision.
Chapter 1167: Bloodline Reversion
The demon emperor’s solicitation was just another tactic to
stall for time. His eminence among his fellows came with uncanny astuteness and
experience. The momentum of Jiang Chen’s pursuit indicated that the young man
hated demons’ guts. There was zero chance that he would join up with any demon
race.
Given the young man’s breadth and depth of methods and
tools, he had to be one of the humans’ best geniuses. Though Emperor Bloodmalva
didn’t know Jiang Chen’s particulars or any exact details about his background,
there was no doubt that someone who had a true dragon as a companion was one of
the luckiest few, even amongst geniuses.
A genius of his caliber had to die. Regardless of cost,
regardless of price!
Jiang Chen wasn’t aware of the demon emperor’s two-faced
behavior, that an evil heart was hidden behind the offer of allegiance.
Emperor Bloodmalva smiled sinisterly. “A demon bloodline
reigns supreme above all. You dare to belittle us, puny human?”
“Reigns supreme?” Jiang Chen snickered. “Demons are just the
heavenly planes’ locusts. They bring destruction wherever they go. How many
divine emperors are of the demon race, hmm?”
“You’re just a mortal, kid! Don’t make things up about the
heavenly planes. So, you look down on our race’s bloodline, hmm? Good, good,
good! I’m going to teach you a lesson today, so that before you die, you’ll
know how powerful a demon bloodline truly is! You’ll learn why it’s
unquestionably invincible!”
Jiang Chen’s expression froze. He didn’t know what the demon
emperor was plotting, which made it all the more necessary to exercise caution.
“Brother Long,” he said to the dragon, “Hide yourself first.”
Long Xiaoxuan obeyed the advice wordlessly, turning into a
mote of dust that clung to his friend. Counting the time, Jiang Chen noted that
his two hours from the Defense and Onslaught Talismans were almost up. He
needed to engage in the next few minutes. No matter what conspiracy the demon
emperor was cooking up, he needed to deliver a lethal strike. He produced his
magnetic golden mountain once more.
“Fall!” Jiang Chen smashed the hundred-yard-tall mountain
into the formation.
Boom! Once, twice, thrice!
The mountain grew in might and stature with each consecutive
smash. After fifteen or sixteen, the formation finally split open with a
resounding crack. All of the demonic miasma was forced aside. Putting away the
golden mountain, Jiang Chen produced his Pentecolor Divine Swords once more. He
slashed towards Demon Emperor Bloodmalva in an arc of lightning. “Die!”
There was no fear on the demon emperor’s face. Instead, he
looked decidedly pleased. In the next instant, he pushed both hands outwards. A
burst of bloodline presence shot out from each palm, inundating the space with
frightening power.
The sixty-odd remaining demonic soldiers shook at the aura,
as if they had truly come alive. In the next moment, they galvanized into
frenzied action. Like human bombs, they charged at Jiang Chen with wanton
disregard.
“Prepare to meet your demise, kid! Bloodline reversion,
explode!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! The demonic soldiers cannonballed towards
the youth, detonating their bodies as soon as they reached their target. The
blast caused Jiang Chen’s own blood to roil.
“Bloodline reversion?” Astonished, Jiang Chen suddenly
remembered something. The blood demons had a devastating secret art known as
bloodline reversion. This was the action of returning the blood and essence
they’d consumed and refined back to the original owners.
It sounded simple,, but the amount of power in the returned
blood was ten or twenty times what the bodies could bear. The overflow
naturally led to the puppets’ detonation.
Of course, this was a painful process for the demon user as
well. Especially on a large scale, it was tantamount to an almost suicidal
attack. Emperor Bloodmalva had only done this because he was at his wit’s end.
He had been ambushed at thirty percent strength, and thus could only use a
fraction of his cultivation.
If Jiang Chen was allowed to pierce his defenses unhindered,
he would surely die. That was why he was willing to use bloodline reversion in
an attempt to blow Jiang Chen to smithereens. The cost of a hundred years of
cultivation barely mattered considering the gravity of the situation.
One or two detonations didn’t have a lot of destructive
power, but sixty-plus in tandem could wound even an empyrean cultivator.
Receiving the brunt of the damage was mortal for a great emperor realm
cultivator, not to mention anyone below that. Thus, the demon emperor adopted a
victor’s stance after deploying the technique. He knew that his victory was
assured.
The brat was dead without a doubt!
Alas, his plan to return to the world was foiled with this
development. Using bloodline reversion to detonate his puppets cost him more
than a few decades of cultivation. He needed to turtle up and hide again for
approximately the same. The prospect of being found out and hunted down by more
human experts in his weakness was disastrous.
Bang, bang, bang, bang. The blast waves pressed inward, the
ripples set on besieging Jiang Chen. The simultaneous discharge of sixty-odd
girl puppets made the available window of reaction very small.
The destructive energy swelled upon their target in an
instant. Jiang Chen felt an unprecedented sense of danger because of it.
“This isn’t good! The collective energies of the blasts have
gathered together and I’m their only outlet. If I take this hit, there won’t be
much more left of me than a few particles of dust.”
There was no time to delay. Jiang Chen hastily grabbed his
spacetime seal. It activated in a hair’s width of light, pulling him through
the fabric of reality into nonexistence.
Boom!
The blast waves finally congregated at a single point, a
space where the youth had been just a second prior. The aftershocks of the
explosion shook the air for miles around, and the altar complex was instantly
upended. A crater a few hundred yards deep was left where it had been. The
subterranean levels, every building, and all the altars within had been
annihilated by the blowout.
A crestfallen Emperor Bloodmalva crawled out from the
crater, scanning the ruins. In theory, the blast should have eradicated all
traces of the young man’s physical form, including any leftover limbs. The
demon emperor licked away the blood at the corner of his mouth. He frowned as
he continued to survey the wreckage, his heart doubtful.
“So… did that kid die or not?” He was unsure whether theory
had transferred perfectly to reality. There wasn’t a good reason for the kid to
not have died from his bloodline reversion technique…
But there hadn’t even been a scream. Moreover, there’d been
a hair of light where the kid had been. However minuscule it had been… however
imperceptible to physical eyes...
it induced in the demon emperor a sliver of uncertainty and
discontent.
“If he didn’t die after that, then he is an opponent to be
feared.” The demon emperor muttered under his breath. Despite his past glory as
a ruler of demons, he didn’t have enough experience to say whether the young
man was dead for sure. He’d left no traces behind in the crater. Oddly enough,
not even his aura lingered.
“Very strange. Did he… maybe… did he really escape?” The
more he thought about it, the more it discomfited him. He was the wrathful
emperor of the blood demons, and fear and discomfort were emotions foreign to
him. Indeed, any demon would find it unnatural to feel these. And yet, that
didn’t change the fact that he did feel them at the moment.
“Impossible, impossible… even if that kid had two more heads
and four more arms, he wouldn’t have been able to flee from such a deadly
situation. If he fled in that thread of light, then I would have seen him. I
didn’t see any light escaping from the blast. Maybe I’m just overthinking
things…” Demon Emperor Bloodmalva tried to convince himself.
After walking around the crater a long while, he finally
shook his head in exasperation. “Never mind, this place has been totally
destroyed. It seems that I must find a new lair elsewhere. If strong human
cultivators showed up right now, I will surely die.”
The demon emperor had been further weakened as a result of
bloodline reversion. Even a high-level emperor realm cultivator could kill the
current him. As long as they had a way to deal with his demonic clouds, of
course.
The demon emperor knew that some had escaped from
Cloudshatter Mountain. Those who had would surely spread the news about him.
Therefore, this place was no longer safe. Demons were a tyrannical bunch, but
they also exercised caution when necessary. Though the demon emperor was
displeased about having to do so, he left without hesitation anyway.
As for Jiang Chen, he’d been been swept away by the
spacetime seal he’d activated. The thread of light took him across space to
arrive at a new place. When he recovered from the shock of displacement, he
noticed that his trip was already over.
“Young man, welcome to the second palace of the Six Palaces
of Heritage, the Crimson Heavens Palace!”
Jiang Chen had scarcely steadied his step before a clear
notification rang at his ear.
The Crimson Heavens Palace? The name shook him to the core.
That was the name of the second palace? Back at the first palace, Master P’eng
had spoken of a revered senior from the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect who
resided within another of the six palaces.
Was this second palace where that senior was? He had an
interesting relationship with this place, then. Most of brain was still stuck
in the combat with Demon Emperor Bloodmalva. Only after hearing the message did
he completely snap awake.
“Hmph, absent-mindedness is a sign of discourtesy. Is this
the level of humans’ culture of martial dao these days? It’s been a long time
since anyone has come to the Six Palaces of Heritage. That a person who does is
so stupid is… disappointing.” The voice spoke with a serious, almost dark tone.
“Please do not misunderstand, senior,” Jiang Chen smiled
wryly. “I was embroiled in a fierce battle with demons in which I was forced to
use my spacetime seal to escape. I’m still trying to recover from the shock of
that battle. Forgive my inattentiveness.”
“Demons? Has the demon race reappeared in the world once
again?” The voice was surprised.
“Not on a large scale,” Jiang Chen sighed softly, “but
demons everywhere are reawakening. Traces of their activities are becoming much
more commonplace.”
Chapter 1168: Venerated Skysoarer
“The demon race, the demon race…” The muttering sounded
extremely sad and hateful. The owner appeared to be fuming with rage behind
gritted teeth.
Jiang Chen knew that practically all ancient experts hated
the demon race. Even the ones who’d escaped to Myriad Abyss Island hated them.
After all, the demons had forced them to leave their homeland. Because of the
demons, they endured the unsightly label of a deserter and a never ending
guilty conscience.
The demon race had terrorized all living beings, destroyed
the human domain, damaged the spirit veins within, and consumed a large amount
of resources. That was why the surviving ancient experts had no choice but to
head for Myriad Abyss Island.
Jiang Chen didn’t interrupt him. He sat down cross legged
and stayed silent. The earlier battle had sorely tested his strength and
exhausted him greatly, especially because he’d activated both the Imperial
Advent Defense Talisman and the Imperial Advent Onslaught Talisman at once. The
pressure that he’d had to bear at mere half-step emperor was enormous to say
the last. If he hadn’t cultivated the golden body of demons and gods, he
would’ve been lucky not to be crushed outright by the combined pressure. At the
very least, he would’ve suffered severe injuries.
The protector of Ancient Crimson Palace was taken aback by
Jiang Chen’s actions. “Young man, I can see the lingering aura of powerful
talisman around your body. Were you using some sort of unnaturally powerful
talisman just now?”
Jiang Chen didn’t deny it. “Yes. I’m half-step emperor realm
and used both the Imperial Advent Defense Talisman and the Imperial Advent
Onslaught Talisman. As a result, I am deeply exhausted.”
“Half-step emperor realm?” The Ancient Crimson Palace
protector seemed surprised. “You’re only a half-step emperor realm cultivator,
and you made it into the Six Palaces of Heritage?”
Jiang Chen nodded. “It’s true that I’m not officially an
emperor realm cultivator yet.”
The protector looked even more surprised. “Incredible! To
think that the next genius to enter the Six Palaces of Heritage tens of
thousands of years later would be a mere half-step emperor!”
Jiang Chen wasn’t sure how to answer. However, judging from
the protector’s tone, it didn’t sound like he was complaining about Jiang
Chen’s low cultivation level.
“Young man, I believe you are in your twenties, aren’t you?
There were a lot of youngsters who reached emperor realm at your age in the
ancient times as well. However, I can tell you for sure that you’re at the very
least as talented and intelligent as they were!” The Ancient Crimson Palace
protector was sounding a little impressed by now.
In the ancient times, cultivation was never the first
parameter to consider when a genius was selected. The most important was one’s
growth potential. With the current state of the martial dao world, it was
incredibly rare to find someone who could cultivate to half-step emperor realm
at Jiang Chen’s age.
What was even better was that Jiang Chen had successfully
challenged all nine Veluriyam Obelisks and obtained the right to enter the Six
Palaces of Heritage. He’d even made it past the first palace’s test. This last
achievement was the one that surprised the protector the most.
“The fact that you had passed the test of the first palace
is proof that you share an unseen bond with the Six Palaces of Heritage. My
name is Skysoarer. I am the protector of the second palace, the Ancient Crimson
Palace. Tell me your name, young man.”
“This junior is named Jiang Chen.” Jiang Chen hadn’t
concealed his identity when he entered the first palace and spoken to its
protector. Since the second palace was called the Ancient Crimson Palace, he
had even less of a reason to conceal himself. After all, it could be said that
both he and the protector of Ancient Crimson Palace shared common origins.
“Very good, very good! Jiang Chen, please forgive my earlier misunderstanding.
I must admit that it is truly rare to hear of a half-step emperor fighting a
demon emperor and coming away unscathed. A genius like you is exactly what the
Six Palaces of Heritage has been looking for all this time. That being said, I
won’t give you preferential treatment just because I admire your talents. If
you wish to pass through Ancient Crimson Palace and claim its inheritance in
the process, you must go through three tests just like before.” Skysoarer
didn’t hide his admiration for Jiang Chen at all. It was quite similar to
Honored Master P’eng’s reaction.
Jiang Chen knew that the protectors had all been important
figures during the ancient times. However, the creator of Veluriyam Pagoda had
been stronger and more powerful than all of them. That was why he’d been able
to coerce these important figures into guarding the Six Palaces of Heritage.
Who knew how many years it’d been since the ancient times?
The protectors no doubt felt very lonely while they waited through an infinity
of time. It had been at least tens of thousands of years since the last genius
that entered the Six Palaces of Heritage.
So it was no wonder that the protectors were eager to meet
every challenger who successfully made it into the Six Palaces of Heritage. As
long as their attitudes weren’t too awful, the protectors almost always liked
the challengers.
“Venerated Skysoarer, while I was exploring the Upper Eight
Regions some time ago, I encountered a sect called the Celestial Cicada Court.
They gave me a formation diagram that they’d claimed to inherit from the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. If I may ask, are you…” Jiang Chen asked
tentatively without reveal everything.
“What?” As he had expected, Skysoarer’s voice abruptly
turned serious. “The Celestial Cicada Court? The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect?
Young man, where did you learn about the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect?”
Jiang Chen grew even more confident when he took note of the
urgency and hastiness in the protector’s voice.
“The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect is a great formation sect
during ancient times. Although there are no written records left in the world,
the name of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect is passed down verbally. I would
occasionally hear of this sect being mentioned, and these days the Ancient
Crimson Heavens Sect is referred to quite often when the subject of ancient
formation experts is brought up.”
What he said was actually less the truth and more flattery.
There were very, very few ancient sects that managed to leave behind a legacy.
The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect couldn’t really be considered a top tier sect
back in the ancient times. At best, they were half a rank below the top tier
sects. Therefore, they weren’t particularly influential.
This was especially true after the ancient experts had
migrated to Myriad Abyss Island. Their departure meant that a gap had formed in
numerous human martial dao inheritances, resulting in the loss of many ancient
inheritances.
The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect had sealed off their entire
sect when they met the demon race in battle, so they’d left behind practically
no inheritances. Even if there had been, it was likely the work of other
branches.
“Young man, did Honored Master P’eng teach you these words?”
Skyddiver’s voice abruptly turned cold. Even his earlier admiration had thinned
a little.
Jiang Chen understood that Skysoarer had misunderstood. But
instead of explaining, he smiled. “You’ve misunderstood me, senior. I just want
to confirm if you hail from the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect.”
“What if I am? What if I’m not?” Skysoarer sounded a little
stiff.
“If you really are a senior in Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect,
then there’s something I would like to show you. If you aren’t, then I would
like to move on from this.”
“What is it?” Skysoarer asked indifferently, “Show me.”
Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate. He opened his palm and revealed
the Ancient Crimson Medallion he’d obtained from the sect’s tower of
inheritance.
“Please, have a look.” Jiang Chen tossed the medallion into
the air. An unnatural wind held it in midair.
Although Venerated Skysoarer couldn’t move as he pleased,
his consciousness enveloped the entire Ancient Crimson Palace. He was greatly
stunned the second he saw the medallion.
“The Ancient Crimson Medallion?” Skysoarer cried out
involuntarily. “Young man, where did you obtain this item?”
“I obtained it from the ruins of Ancient Crimson Heavens
Sect at Mt. Rippling Mirage.” Jiang Chen finally decided to let it all out.
“What?” The voice sounded shocked. “You… you entered Mt.
Rippling Mirage? You found the ruins of the sect? Does that mean… does that
mean you’ve obtained the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s legacy?”
Jiang Chen took out the Ancient Crimson formation disk and
suspended it in midair for display.
“All three items of inheritances of the Ancient Crimson
Heavens Sect yet exist. You can see I have the Ancient Crimson Medallion and
the formation disk here. The formation flags aren’t with me right now because I
used them for some other purposes.”
There were two sets of Ancient Crimson formation flags. The
secondary set had been used at the entrance of the desolate wildlands, and the
primary used on the Nine Sparks Petalstorm Formation he’d arranged at Sacred
Peafowl Mountain’s young lord residence.
Skysoarer couldn’t quite control his emotions because he
hadn’t expect to be able to see his sect’s keepsake after tens of thousands of
years. He murmured, “It’s true. It’s actually true… To think that the sect
would be able to see the light of day once more. Heavens bless the legacy of
the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect!”
Skysoarer remained agitated for a very long time before he
recovered. “Young man, you said your name is Jiang Chen, am I right?”
“Yes, senior. This junior is named Jiang Chen.”
“Oh no, no, no, you can’t call me a senior. You are the
holder of the Ancient Crimson Medallion, so that means you are the current sect
head of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. I may be an elder of the sect since
ancient times, but all elders are required to serve the sect head. Therefore, I
cannot possibly allow you to call me your senior!” Skysoarer sounded both
serious and happy.
“Don’t be nervous. Feel free to act as you like, sect head.
You’ve successfully entered the forbidden ground of the Ancient Crimson Heavens
Sect, passed through many tests and obtained our three great inheritances from
the tower of inheritance. This means that your status was acknowledged by
everyone in the sect since the experts crafted the tests together. Since you’ve
passed through the tests, this means that you are the new sect head of the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect!” Skysoarer’s explanation rambled on non-stop,
almost as if he was afraid that Jiang Chen would turn around and walk away.
To an ancient expert, there was nothing more reinvigorating
than hearing news of their sect. Skysoarer had participated in the war against
the demons and nearly all of his sect mates had perished back then. However,
the master of Veluriyam Pagoda had rescued him from the battlefield and brought
him here.
When Skysoarer had first arrived at Veluriyam Pagoda, he’d
been absolutely shattered. His sect had been destroyed, and his sect mates were
dead. To a person who felt very strongly towards his sect, the blow felt that
it would be the end of him. If the master of Veluriyam Pagoda hadn’t tricked
him, he might’ve committed suicide and joined his sect in death.
As the years passed, the infinite passage of time slowly
eroded the pain in Skysoarer’s heart and helped him get used to being a
protector of Veluriyam Pagoda. However, his hatred towards the demon race
burned as brightly as ever despite the sands of time. His longing for his sect
hadn’t changed either.
Today, Jiang Chen had appeared out of nowhere and brought
him news of the sect. How could he not be overjoyed by this? If his impression
of the young man before was mild admiration, it was now deepest affection after
he learned that the young man had obtained the legacy of the Ancient Crimson
Heavens Sect.
Chapter 1169: Breaking Through to Emperor Realm
Jiang Chen patiently recounted all that had taken place at
the Mt. Rippling Mirage Pill Battles to the venerable master. After all was
said and done, Venerated Skysoarer sighed. “I designed the formation outside
Mt. Ripping Mirage. My first version was extremely difficult, but the sect head
at the time advised me otherwise. If the formation outside is this hard, he
said, then how can anyone have a chance at entering the restricted area?”
The exterior of Mt. Ripping Mirage, the ancient spirit herb
garden, the sacred altar: all of these were an interconnected part of the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s grounds. The caveat was obtaining the nameless
saber first. The unassuming weapon was the real key to opening up the ruins.
One would be lucky to get to the ancient spirit herb garden otherwise, with no
possible entry into the sect’s ruins proper.
From Jiang Chen’s mouth, Venerated Skysoarer heard the
entire story of how Jiang Chen had gotten his hands on the saber. It had been
confiscated as part of a certain Hidden Dragon Trials examiner’s possessions
back in the Eastern Kingdom.
Jiang Chen had taken it purely because he thought the saber
was a nice weapon. He hadn’t dreamed that doing so would lead to the events
that proceeded much later down the line. Fate and destiny were sometimes
wondrous things.
Venerated Skysoarer grew emotional as he listened to Jiang
Chen’s retelling, especially the details about several of the dangers he had
fortunately evaded in the restricted area.
“Sect Head, the mechanisms I prepared target the hearts of
men. If someone with ignoble morals entered the sect’s grounds, they would not
be able to pass those tests. Our heritage is not meant for the villainous and
vile. That you were able to obtain the inheritance proves that you are
deserving.”
The venerable master became animated as the topic of
conversation shifted. He asked incessantly about the Ancient Crimson Heavens
Sect, and Jiang Chen withheld nothing from the old man. When he had heard all,
the venerable master sighed.
“Now that our sect can see the light of day again, I have no
regrets. Sect Head, as a guardian of the Six Palaces of Heritage, I made a
promise to the lord of the Veluriyam Pagoda. Therefore, I cannot cheat on your
behalf. My apologies in advance.”
“I’m not here to cheat,” Jiang Chen smiled. “If I pass the
challenges with such underhanded methods, what’s the point of taking them in
the first place?”
“That is so.” The venerable master was even more certain
that Jiang Chen was an upright man, worthy of shouldering the sect. “However,
you should’ve seen them already back at the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s
tower of inheritance. Though they’ve been scaled up several times in
difficulty, it shouldn’t be an arduous task for you.”
Jiang Chen’s jaw dropped. “Not the Minor Artifice Formation,
Ancient Slaughter Formation of Seven, and the Great Dream of Spring and Autumn
Formation?”
“The Minor Artifice Formation has been ranked up to Major
Artifice, and Ancient Slaughter is at its highest difficulty. Similarly, the
Great Dream formation has been increased greatly. But before you take the
challenge, we have a great deal of information here available for your study.
The time limit is three months.”
Jiang Chen thought about it for a moment. “Venerable master,
I’d like to solidify my cultivation a while before I take the challenge and
break through to emperor realm.”
“Of course, feel free.”
The young man had had the opportunity to break through to
emperor realm for a long time now, but he had intentionally held himself back.
Now, after obtaining the earth attribute orb from Cloudshatter Mountain, Jiang
Chen had a treasure from all five elements. He was finally ready to make the
leap.
He took the orb out from his storage ring and couldn’t help
but relish the potent earthen aura that filled the air. The orb was
extraordinary without a doubt. The tremendous power contained within its pulses
and its sheer ability to sustain an entire subterranean realm were both clear
indicators of that fact. The powerful formation it fueled in addition to that
only cemented that conclusion.
The collapse of the realm at the orb’s removal was a
testament to its absurdity. The Crimson Heavens Palace was instantly enveloped
by powerful earth energy when he took the orb out, filling the air.
“Hmm? Sect Head, the orb in your hand is… curiously exceptional.”
Even an ancient expert like Venerated Skysoarer was moved at the sight of Jiang
Chen’s treasure. After hearing the youth’s retelling of how he’d procured it,
the master gasped. “From what you say, Sect Head, this orb is the Earth
Bodhisattva Orb, from the sect of the same name.”
“The Earth Bodhisattva Orb?” Jiang Chen was surprised. “Is
the, er, Earth Bodhisattva Sect an ancient sect as well?”
“Not just an ancient sect. One of the greatest and with a
name for formations. Possibly stronger than the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect in
some respects. They didn’t surpass us in terms of technique or heritage, but
their possession of this Earth Bodhisattva Orb gave them an edge over us.”
“You are a blessed man, Sect Head,” the venerable master
sighed softly. “To receive the crowning treasure of the Earth Bodhisattva Sect…
Hahaha, I remember their swaggering ways way back, and how they used to call
themselves the number one formation sect, but what now? Their treasure is in
our sect head’s hands! The ways of fate are strange indeed.”
Jiang Chen savored the potent spirit energy from the orb. It
certainly lived up to its outstanding reputation as a top ancient sect’s
paramount treasure. The formation that had harnessed the earth pulses was proof
alone how terrifying the orb could be.
The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect had a great deal of
formation-related knowledge, but it lacked a sovereign treasure that it could
call its own. With this orb in hand, even the weakest of formations could
produce miraculous results.
The Earth Bodhisattva Sect had relied solely on the orb to
push them into the ranks of the top sects in the ancient times. The orb had
even been enough to shove the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect aside, a sect famous
for its ingenuity in formations.
With the Earth Bodhisattva Orb, Jiang Chen now had all five
elements at his disposal. For metal, he had his magnetic golden mountain; wood,
his Taiyi Jade Vine; water and fire, his Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice; and
now earth, his Earth Bodhisattva Orb.
When Jiang Chen had broken through to spirit realm all those
years ago, he’d laid the foundation for this step by refining and consuming the
Five Dragons Opening Heavens Pill. This meant that his long-run potential far
surpassed his peers’.
The Earth Bodhisattva Orb had been ownerless for countless
years since time immemorial. This made Jiang Chen’s refining process
comparatively easier. He finished before long, claiming the orb as yet another
one of his exclusive treasures. This now meant that Jiang Chen had finished
every preparation for attuning his meridians to the five elements, thereby
ascending them.
It was time for him to formally break through to emperor
realm! Given Jiang Chen’s amount of cultivation, he had been eligible for emperor
realm for at least several years now. Thus, this was more of a very natural
upwards move.
All five elements rising within, Jiang Chen felt the streams
of inner energy become a transformational cycle, radically reconstructing his
spirit ocean with each pass. The binds of sage realm were easily ripped
asunder, and checks and blocks broken effortlessly. The path of his entrance
into emperor realm was clear.
For the average half-step emperor realm cultivator, the
process of breaking through to emperor realm was intimidatingly arduous.
However, Jiang Chen’s own had no obstacles whatsoever. The brevity and ease
with which he broke through was like a simple increase in power.
It was more dangerous to break through, the more advanced
one was in cultivation. Often, heavenly wrath would be visited on someone who
attempted to step from one realm into another. Most cultivators feared this
wrath as a ferocious beast. Yet nothing of the sort had been visited upon the
young man.
Rather, the final moment in Jiang Chen’s breakthrough was
accompanied by countless visions and marveling natural phenomena. Back when he
broke through to origin realm, he had caused a similar display to occur at the
Precious Tree Sect. The show was no less grand this time around, but it was
muted to a certain extent by the Pagoda around it.
“It’s been so many years… but, I’m emperor realm now!” Jiang
Chen opened his eyes, shining with happiness. It couldn’t be called a
long-awaited development, exactly, but it was an important step on his martial
dao journey.
It meant that he was almost at the pinnacle of the martial
dao world of the Divine Abyss Continent! Any emperor realm cultivator was a
force to be reckoned with here, and he had a wealth of tricks up his sleeves to
back his cultivation up. Plus, he was only twenty-something. He had a lot of
room to grow.
Jiang Chen was in high spirits. He’d suffered a great deal
after coming to this world, braving ordeal after ordeal. But he considered
everything he’d been through worthwhile. Better to live a fulfilling life than
to be unable to cultivate for eternity.
“Congratulations, Sect Head! You’ve managed to break through
at such a remarkably young age. I’ve no doubt at all that you’ll become a great
emperor before you’re sixty.” The venerable master was just as pleased as his
newfound peer.
Jiang Chen flashed him a smile. It had been a one-of-a-kind
experience to break through inside the otherworldly Crimson Heavens Palace. He
had found things both astonishing and intriguing. He spent another fortnight to
solidify his progress and foundations.
“My level of cultivation is stable now, Venerated Skysoarer.
Starting today, I’d like to put my all into challenging the palace’s three
trials.”
“Good, good. Now that you are in emperor realm, Sect Head,
the possibility of you passing is over ninety percent!” The venerable master
replied, overjoyed.
Jiang Chen never did things carelessly. Though he knew ahead
of time that he had taken the three trials before in another form, he didn’t
underestimate the coming task. He studied the materials in the Crimson Heavens
Palace very carefully. Only after every potential problem and knowledge point
was internalized did he actually begin the trials.
As the higher level versions of the formations in the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s tower of heritage, the trial formations shared
many of the same principles of their lower level selves. Passing the trials
turned out to be child’s play. Jiang Chen perfectly completed all three in the
span of two hours.
“Genius, a true genius!” The venerable master had nothing but
praise to offer. “The Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect is fortunate indeed to have
gained such a genius sect head. A renaissance for our sect is at hand!”
Venerated Skysoarer was utterly convinced by the young man’s
skill. Despite knowing that Jiang Chen had tried these formations before, the
flawlessness and ease with which the young sect head passed astonished him
nevertheless.
Chapter 1170: Rewards of the Second Palace
Though the three tests were reasonably difficult, Jiang Chen
completed them perfectly and effortlessly. Venerated Skysoarer found it hard to
describe, but he felt that Jiang Chen had a confidence that belied his age. Not
a blind assurance, but true, reliable confidence that was backed up by
something substantial.
He seemed to have everything that he did planned out
beforehand. It was an odd feeling. The young man was collected, certain, and in
absolute control. Traits that, in all honesty, were completely inappropriate
for someone of his age.
The venerable master mused that if he were to venture into
the three formations himself, he wouldn’t have been able to do a better job. In
fact, he would probably lack in the treatment of certain details.
“Congratulations, Sect Head. You pass the three trials of
the Crimson Heavens Palace!” Ever since entering the Veluriyam Pagoda as one of
its guardians, Venerated Skysoarer had never been so happy as he was today.
His heart had been nothing short of bleak for the past
hundred thousand years or so, but he now felt that everything had been worth
it! The gloom in his heart was clear. With a sect head like this, how could the
Crimson Heavens Sect not flourish? What was there to worry about regarding the
sect’s heritage?
Jiang Chen wasn’t uncomfortable with the fact that the
venerable master called him ‘sect head’. He knew that as soon as he’d received
the Crimson Heavens Medallion, he had a responsibility to act as the de facto
leader of the sect. He had a responsibility, moreover, of sustaining the sect’s
lineage. This was one of his life principles.
“I was a bit lucky this time. If I hadn’t obtained the
Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect’s heritage, then this palace would’ve been
significantly more difficult.” On this point, Jiang Chen was self-aware.
Compared to the first palace, the second was unreasonably easy.
“It is your blessing and fortune alone, Sect Head.” The
venerable master disagreed. “Any other genius would have much more trouble
passing this palace’s test. I have a feeling that you’ll really be able to
conquer all six of the palaces and become the new master of the Veluriyam
Pagoda.”
“Ah, perhaps.” Jiang Chen sighed thoughtfully. “I hear that
the six palaces sequentially increase in difficulty?”
Venerated Skysoarer nodded. “The first and second palace are
about the same, though the latter is probably slightly harder than the former.”
“Starting from the third palace, the difficulty ramps up
significantly. I don’t advise you to rush into it blindly until you’re advanced
level emperor realm. Of course, you have the one chance at failure allotted to
you for every palace. The fourth, like the second, is not much different from
the third… but the fifth palace marks yet another harsh increase, as does the
sixth. If you conquer the sixth palace, that means you’ve claimed complete
mastery of the entire Six Palaces of Heritage. You’ll have a pretty good chance
of becoming the new master of the Veluriyam Pagoda, and then receive all of the
inheritances.”
The venerable master paused here a moment, sighing himself
in turn. “In ancient times, the master of the Veluriyam Pagoda was one of the
leaders of the human race. He possessed great knowledge and skill, and gave up
all he had to preserve the human race in the wake of the demonic invasion. He
burned away his lifespan to peer into the river of time, and built the
Veluriyam Pagoda for the sole purpose of passing on the torch of humanity to a
future generation. The greatness of the Pagoda master surpasses eras and years,
but few know of his greatness. His noble intentions? Fewer still.”
Jiang Chen found this amazing. He had heard of the Pagoda
master’s great deeds from the mouths of both Masters P’eng and Skysoarer.
Neither master seemed particularly willing in their custodial duties here, but
they hadn’t a single complaint against the Pagoda master.
Though Jiang Chen didn’t know who the Pagoda master was yet
or where the master was from, from what he knew so far, the mysterious man was
someone he could hold a great deal of respect for. If a man could leave his
enemies silent about his shortcomings, then he was truly great beyond compare.
The more Jiang Chen heard, the more the Veluriyam Pagoda and its master
garnered his interest.
“The Six Palaces of Heritage and the Veluriyam Pagoda.” His
eyes shone with a keen radiance. “I’ll conquer the palaces step by step. There
is none other worthy of being the Pagoda’s new master!”
Jiang Chen had a feeling that amazing opportunity lay
within. There was no greater on the Divine Abyss Continent, and it could easily
match anything that Myriad Abyss Island had to offer. He was here already. Who
else could rule the Pagoda better?
“Venerated Skysoarer.” His expression became serious and
honest. “I don’t know who the Veluriyam Pagoda’s master is yet, but the remarks
from Master P’eng and yourself have decidedly piqued my interest in both him
and his Pagoda. I will master the Pagoda and make it my own. You can count on
it!”
“Hahaha, wonderful. A genius like you would shine brighter
than the brightest of stars, Sect Head, even in ancient times. Furthermore, you
have fortune on your side. I think you have more than a fair chance at taking
the Pagoda as your own.”
Having appreciated Jiang Chen from the start, the old
master’s impression was improved by the fact that Jiang Chen was also his sect
head. These two points combined made Venerated Skysoarer more hopeful than ever
that Jiang Chen would one day become the Pagoda’s master. It was normal for a
man to have his biases. The venerable master was no different.
“You are granted to two rewards for conquering the Crimson
Heavens Palace, Sect Head. Naturally, both are formation schematics. One is for
the Great Dream of Spring and Autumn Formation, and the other, for the Heavenly
Chalice Sword Formation.”
Jiang Chen was no stranger to the former. It was a
terrifyingly murderous formation, and anyone who couldn’t pierce its mysteries
was stuck in a deathtrap. However, this was his first time hearing of a
Heavenly Chalice Sword Formation.
“Sect Head, I’m sure you know of the Great Dream formation
already. I should remark, however, that if you have wood from the Divine Tree
of Dreams, then the formation will be ten times as effective as it is
normally.”
“The Divine Tree of Dreams?” Jiang Chen remembered the first
trial he had gone through in the sixteen kingdom alliance. It was during the
trial of fortune that he’d seen a Divine Tree of Dreams.
“Yes. Aside from the formation itself, you will receive a
set of flags fashioned from that kind of tree’s wood. If you use the flags,
even a great emperor realm cultivator will find it exceedingly troublesome to
be ensnared by your formation. You’ll have about a fifty percent chance of
victory over them. If you are a great emperor yourself, you can kill fellow
great emperors outright.”
As an ancient formation sect, the Ancient Crimson Heavens
Sect had a tremendous amount of knowledge. The only reason for the Earth
Bodhisattva Sect’s dominance over it all those years ago was the Earth
Bodhisattva Orb’s power. In terms of formation-related skill alone, the Ancient
Crimson Heavens Sect reigned supreme.
“The Heavenly Chalice Sword Formation is a bitingly sharp
formation in its lethality. If used together with the Great Dream formation,
the duo becomes a fearsome combination. However, usage of this excessively
powerful formation is rather taxing on the consciousness. Moreover, it requires
eighty-one flying swords forged from very specific materials. Compared to the
Great Dream of Spring and Autumn Formation, this one is much harder to
cultivate. Alas, neither do we have a set of flying swords for you.”
Though the master of the Pagoda was fabulously wealthy and
owned countless treasures, he didn’t quite have everything on demand. In
particular, the matching swords for this formation required several types of
high-grade materials, as well as one of the very best blacksmiths at the
pinnacle of his craft. It was impossible to get a full set in a short amount of
time.
Jiang Chen found this a little lamentable, but wasn’t overly
disappointed. After all, his Divine Five Thunderclap Sword Technique did pretty
well on double duty as a sword formation. The thunder and lightning in its
blades was a veritable formation itself.
“Sect Head, the necessary materials for the matching swords
should be at the back of the book. If you’re lucky enough to get all of them
one day to forge the swords, then you must practice the formation. Since the
founding of our sect, not a single one of us has succeeded in cultivating the
formation perfectly. However, there was once a noteworthy senior who used a
simplified version of the formation to kill three cultivators the same level as
him in a single stroke. It is optimistic to say that he managed to harness even
a fifth of the formation’s true strength.”
“A fifth? Multiple cultivators the same level as him, you
said?” Jiang Chen was mildly astonished. He noticed that the Heavenly Chalice
Sword Formation was a powerful one, but he didn’t expect it to be quite so
effective.
After all, if a formation only had a fifth of its power,
then it wouldn’t do very much against real experts. That this formation could
kill three cultivators of the same level at twenty percent of its full
effectiveness was incredibly staggering. Despite the wealth of experience from
his previous life, Jiang Chen had very rarely heard of this kind of thing.
Looking over the sword formation’s book of diagrams, Jiang
Chen pondered it quite a while before putting it away.
“If I have the chance to, I’ll definitely study the sword
formation,” he promised to the venerable master.
“Excellent.” The venerable master was fired up by his
commitment. “I’m looking forward to it.”
After finishing the second palace, Jiang Chen had no
intention of proceeding directly to the third. Just as Venerated Skysoarer had
said, it was better to wait until advanced level emperor realm to try his luck
there. Having entered the realm only a short while ago, he had a long way to go
and so was in no hurry at all.
Knowing that Jiang Chen was about to depart soon, the
venerable master was a bit sad. “Good luck and stay safe, Sect Head. Here is
the spacetime seal for your safekeeping. When you next come into the Pagoda
through the seal, you will be transported directly to the third palace. If we
meet again, it will be when you’ve fully mastered the entire Veluriyam Pagoda.”
The Veluriyam Pagoda had very strict rules. Jiang Chen could
only return its guardians’ freedom after he gained full control. This was the
law laid down on the day the Pagoda had been built. No matter how badly Jiang
Chen wanted to take out the two masters he’d met so far, it was unrealistic.
As Jiang Chen prepared to leave, a stray question suddenly
came to mind. “Venerated Skysoarer, there’s a formation called the Great
Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement. Do you know of it?”
