Chapter 689
“This place is more chaotic than I expected.”
Extreme Tiger, Bright Dragon, and Cheongwol, three martial artists, were rushing somewhere in a hurry. Bright Dragon, while dragging out the Heavenly Cloud Sect Technique, shouted at Extreme Tiger,
“Are you really going to follow that guy’s plan?”
“……”
“That’s suicide! We won’t even have enough strength to fight together, and yet…”
Bright Dragon and Cheongwol were reluctantly following the strategist’s orders, their faces showing clear signs of distress. They were aware of the current situation since they were companions of Baek Woong and had heard about the formidable Eight Parts of the Divine appearing. Still, the final directive from Zhuge Sa, distancing them from the group, was far from what they had imagined.
Extreme Tiger gripped his spear and said,
“Don’t worry, seniors. Just having the choice to die as a martial artist is a luxury, isn’t it?”
Cheongwol scoffed.
“Hmph! So by killing that bastard, you’ve settled your grudge. But for me, not taking down the Master yet makes it feel a bit unfair to die like this.”
“What do you know? According to Zhuge Sa’s calculations, there’s a good chance the Master will die right here as well.”
“Do you trust that guy?”
“If you say you trust Guangsheng, you’ll just be labeled as the craziest guy in the world…”
Extreme Tiger grinned.
“Let’s not overthink it, seniors. After all, the mission that guy has given us isn’t a walk in the park.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Cheongwol quickly nodded in agreement. In such chaotic circumstances, a martial artist couldn’t possibly predict all of the strategist’s intentions. Besides, as Extreme Tiger said, the act of performing that ‘suicide mission’ was actually quite a daunting task.
Suddenly, a huge group of Yacha appeared before them, making Bright Dragon’s eyebrows twitch.
‘Just as Zhuge Sa said.’
As expected, there was a powerful barrier prepared directly by the Twelve Joules and Manha Spiritual Gate in this area. Yacha, summoned by high-level sorcerers, were far stronger than your average martial artist and were often called upon for self-defense. Bright Dragon decided to test things out by launching a crescent-shaped sword strike infused with his internal power at the group of Yacha.
Boom!!
A massive air blast burst forth as the three-meter radius of pure qi collided, sending the Yacha flying like corpses. But unlike humans, the Yacha weren’t fazed or lost their fighting spirit; instead, they assumed a battle-ready posture and assaulted the group. This was because Yacha, being combat phantoms summoned from the underworld, felt neither human emotions nor weaknesses.
Suddenly, Cheongwol screamed,
“Haap!!”
Boom!!
Executing the Thunder God Lineage’s advanced technique, Thunderclap Dual Wheels, Cheongwol wiped out ten Yacha in one go. It took about a short moment for them to eradicate hundreds of Yacha, and Extreme Tiger wiped the sweat from his forehead as he said to the two,
“Seniors, do you have plenty of internal power left?”
“I think we’ve used about a third.”
Extreme Tiger scratched his head and clicked his tongue. He had unexpectedly exerted more effort than anticipated against the first barrier.
“There won’t be time for full recovery. Instead, let’s circulate our qi while moving. Bright Dragon, use the Nine Palaces Divine Technique, and Cheongwol, you can operate the Thunder Dragon Absorbing Moon.”
Bright Dragon, feeling slightly bewildered, replied,
“Of course, I can do that; but… must we really move while applying techniques? Is it that urgent?”
“Yes. It’s already pretty late.”
Extreme Tiger looked up into the dense mountains,
“We have to take advantage of this chaos to reach the Sacred Altar Tree’s peak. That’s our mission.”
Crack—
The light distorted, and a dimension shattered, a gigantic arm emerging from inside the broken dimension. It wasn’t human at all; it was the size and shape of a magical beast clutching the mountain range.
As the Yacha of the Eight Parts of the Divine revealed its true form, it brought its arm down.
BOOM!!
The initial clash! The power behind the Yacha’s attack slammed into the barrier protecting the Sacred Altar Tree, causing it to shake violently. The Yacha slowly pulled its body through the air, grinning wickedly.
[World Tree… it possesses the most perfect essence of chaos… Humans hold treasures even gods covet.]
It appeared as if the Yacha had perfectly blocked the attack from the Eight Parts of the Divine’s main body, but there were tiny threads in the barrier resembling spider silk. At the very least, it indicated that the barrier’s durability had depleted significantly.
Soon, all six Yacha would manifest their forms. If things continued like this, the Sacred Altar Tree and Divine City would be doomed. Just then, as the Yacha was leisurely summoning its body to the ground, it suddenly flinched.
WHACK!
[……!!]
The Yacha swiftly raised its scythe to strike at a fireball that had been sent flying from somewhere. However, it soon screamed as it was engulfed in flames.
[Kraaaargh…]
Explosion!
If it were flames from the earthly realm, the Yacha would have confidently extinguished them with its own powers. But the fire that had just come flying in bore a completely different otherworldly property. Caught off guard by such a powerful attack, the Yacha exerted all its strength to shield itself, and during that moment, the other Yacha gradually revealed themselves one by one.
The Garuda among the Eight Parts of the Divine flashed its eyes, unleashing flames from its beak. As Garuda’s flames swept across the Yacha, the explosion and divine flames wrestled with each other before finally calming down, creating a rare phenomenon of two flames battling for dominance.
Gin Nara stared at the distant sky.
[It’s the Avatar of the Flame King.]
[Strong?]
[I don’t know… I’m not sure how much offering and limitations are involved.]
The Thief Gang chimed in.
[We can’t be held back by the Ruler’s avatar for long. How about splitting up to strike?]
[Sounds good.]
Gin Nara, the strategizer of the group, commanded:
[Garuda, Celestial, and Mahuraga will deal with the Ruler’s avatar while Yacha and I will break the barrier of the World Tree.]
[Alright.]
BOOM!
Without further deliberation, they split up to fulfill their respective roles. Shortly thereafter, the Avatar of the Flame King, Karvadok, transformed into a colossal black dragon, appearing in the sky as Garuda, akin to a birdman, emerged before it. Beside Garuda were Celestial and Mahuraga.
Upon spotting them, the Avatar of the Flame King laughed loudly.
[Kahahaha… Do you dare to block my path, a mere avatar of Chi You?]
[In terms of being the Avatar of the Old Ruler, we stand on equal footing.]
A snow-white light being, engulfed by clouds, was the true form of the Celestial Sage Tripitaka. When the Celestial of the Eight Parts of the Divine rebutted lightly, the Flame King’s avatar let out a displeased huff of black flame.
[Do you think I don’t know that your master is a mere fragment? Do you honestly think you can stand on equal ground with someone who was born from chaos and has fought in the constellations since the beginning of time?]
[……]
[Don’t dare attempt to transcend your status. A lowly creature like you who tries to curry favor with a mighty existence is no more than a bug!]
His words, full of arrogance, went unchallenged by the Eight Parts of the Divine. Perhaps it was the fact that they knew it was true or perhaps it seemed unworthy to respond. Instead, Mahuraga, resembling a snake-human hybrid, spoke up.
[I’ve fought against creatures like you in the shadows of Central Plains history. However, you’re oblivious to the essence of this battle… No matter whose avatar you are, you will eventually perish at our hands.]
[Impudent fools!!]
Boom!
[Kraaaargh.]
The black dragon, the avatar of the Flame King, unleashed a barrage of black flames amidst the blazing battlefield. The flames erupted in columns, reaching several meters in diameter, shooting from all over its body in a chaotic display that resembled a natural disaster. Moreover, when gathered and fired, the columns of black flame could slice through mountains effortlessly.
Garuda was managing to counterbalance the Flame King’s avatar’s attacks with its own divine flames, but even that had its limits. The Flame King, being the Old Ruler of [Ancient Ruler], was naturally a being of high caliber, and thanks to the Master of the White Lotus Sect dutifully offering sacrifices, its strength had not lessened in the slightest. In contrast, the Eight Parts of the Divine had been weakened significantly due to their forced physical manifestation on the earthly realm, and the disparity in power was glaring.
Shwoosh.
CRACK-BOOM!
[Mahuraga!!]
The Celestial flinched and turned to look back. Sure enough, Mahuraga had suffered a severe hit from the recent attack of black flame, causing its spirit body to split apart. Although Mahuraga was one of the weaker ones among the Eight Parts of the Divine, the idea that it would fall to an avatar’s single blow was utterly unexpected, leading to considerable alarm from the Celestial.
Garuda growled angrily.
[The mortals summoned a really troublesome being… Here it comes!]
Garuda unleashed its divine flames toward the avatar of the Flame King, but because of the avatar’s incredibly swift speed, the flames barely even skimmed by. Garuda had been confident in its speed, but realizing that the avatar’s speed exceeded its own left it in shock. As the avatar spewed forth another wave of black breath, Garuda ultimately fell victim to it.
Flash.
[Kraaaargh…]
As Garuda crumpled into a pile of black char and fell to the ground, the avatar of the Flame King charged toward the Celestial, laughing.
[Kahaha… The Eight Parts of the Divine are nothing special!]
[……]
BOOM!
The Celestial, remaining calm, was focusing on defensive tactics using time-space sorcery. With mastery over sorcery at the peak level, the Celestial was preventing the avatar’s attacks with all sorts of arcane techniques from throughout history. After a resilient defense, the Celestial revealed a mischievous smile, resembling that of a pristine egg.
[You know nothing about us…]
[What?]
At that moment, the skies suddenly glimmered, and Garuda and Mahuraga’s figures reappeared!
Flabbergasted for a moment, the avatar of the Flame King gazed ahead blankly. After a short while, it spoke in confusion.
[What… I clearly thought I destroyed them…]
[Kahaha.]
The Celestial scoffed.
[Relax. You’ve wasted your energy unnecessarily.]
[What nonsense!]
BOOM!
The battle resumed.
……
The Master of the Twelve Joules, Ha Eun-cheon, was watching the fight from a distance. Within the range of dozens of miles around the Divine City, his eyes and ears reached everywhere as the owner of the Liberated Wood Element. Thus he was able to overhear all the conversations of the Eight Parts of the Divine and was gathering information.
Suddenly, he turned to the Wind Master beside him and said,
“Be careful.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
Whoosh!
Ha Eun-cheon struck with One Palm to hit the Wind Master’s chest, causing dark energy to churn and geyser from behind him. When the Wind Master nervously turned to look back, Ha Eun-cheon used a technique to try and capture that energy, but it stubbornly refused to dissipate.
The Master of the Twelve Joules wore a wry smile.
“Heh, I don’t know since when, but I’ve been eavesdropping all along. So Zhuge Sa must also be listening to all the conversations of the Eight Parts of the Divine right now…”
“Ugh… Do you mean the Demon Sorcerer cast a spell on me? That’s outrageous!!”
The Wind Master exclaimed in great shock, for it was utterly impossible for such a thing to happen.
Putting aside the difference in techniques, the Three Masters he belonged to were originally part of the Divine Race and were special beings. Therefore, their magical resistance was incomparable to regular humans. Unless it was an entity of the caliber of the Old Ruler’s apostle or avatar, it was simply not possible to affect them with sorcery or magic.
Then the Master of the Twelve Joules declared,
“Zhuge Sa. You’re probably listening to me right now. I can guess that this spell wasn’t cast with your power alone. You must have made a contract with a demonic entity, using it as a trump card. Magic gained through contracts can surpass a sorcerer’s level by utilizing limitations.”
The Master of the Twelve Joules pointed at the dark energy.
“Listen well. You are not a bug inside a tiger but rather a rat in poison. I’ll deal with you first before facing the Eight Parts of the Divine. You will never be able to take my Seven Luminaries from me.”
Bang!
The dark energy burst forth.
Splurt!
The moment Zhuge Sa was walking somewhere, he suddenly shivered and knelt on the spot.
Dripping…
“Khehe… as expected, Master of the Twelve Joules. The strongest in the East… you’ve noticed quicker than I thought you would. I expected you’d figure it out once the battle of the Eight Parts of the Divine reached a conclusion…”
Zhuge Sa felt as vision was lost from his right eye, and a thick stream of blood trickled down from his eyelid. Just as Master of the Twelve Joules stated, Zhuge Sa had implanted dark energy into the Three Masters to eavesdrop, striking a powerful deal with the Demon King as collateral, sacrificing his right eye. Since the Master of the Twelve Joules had unraveled the spell, it was only natural that the collateral eye would be destroyed.
Zhuge Sa muttered,
“Well… I did contemplate taking the Seven Luminaries. If I devoted my soul and set up conditions firmly, it might have been possible, but that’s not my goal right now.”
Zhuge Sa smirked.
Though the Master of the Twelve Joules moved faster than expected, he still believed he held the upper hand.
This was because the Joule—he had no idea where he was now, where he was going, or what he truly wanted.
“Shall we go…?”
Step. Step.
Zhuge Sa walked down the dark, sticky Dark Path.
He was certain that victory awaited at the end of this road.
