Xiong Li sensed the murderous intent of the six members of the Demonic Army, but at this moment he was not paying attention to them not because he disdained them but because it was simply difficult for him to accept the situation in front of him.
“How can this be possible…” He muttered to himself while wide-eyed looking at the most terrifying scene he could have imagined.
Xiong Li had been fighting against Luciah for days, but although the Spear Goddess was certainly powerful to the point of being able to hold him back it still wasn’t enough for Xiong Li to have to give his 100%. Therefore, he could afford the privilege of diverting his attention to other areas of the battlefield in general and thus get a clearer picture of how the war was developing over time.
This naturally changed after Fire Sorrow decided to step in to support Luciah.
The magical power of Fire Sorrow was simply monstrous, and even Xiong Li did not dare to act too arrogant under the assault of the two women. Therefore, he had to forget about the rest of the war and focus on his own battle not only to kill two powerful enemy generals as soon as possible but also to avoid losing his head in the process.
Facing Luciah or Fire Sorrow in a one-on-one was one thing and facing both at the same time was a completely different matter.
But… When Xiong Li saw the scene before him it was hard for him to accept the reality.
It had only been a few hours, maybe 40 at most since he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings. However, in such a short time the changes that had occurred were simply monumental.
Broken limbs, shredded pieces of cloth along with metal fragments of what were once complete weapons and armor. Even more terrifying than the incomplete corpses, however, was the massive river of crimson blood that floated in the emptiness like a legendary monster.
Yes, there were corpses of members of the Demonic Army.
However, the number of losses of the Demonic Army was nothing compared to the losses of The Golden Domain.
But soon, Xiong Li understood what was going on.
“I see…” Xiong Li said as he looked at Lilith and the others. “You four killed the 6 Sons of Heaven and then took care of the younger ones.”
Xiong Li admitted in his heart that these enemies were powerful, so powerful that they could even hold their own against two Sons of Heaven at the same time even though the power energy they used was inferior to theirs. Therefore, imagining the scene of two enemies of Seventh Order or similar strength joining together was no longer difficult to comprehend what had happened.
Sons of Heaven, a title that geniuses among geniuses like Lim Qinyu and the rest held over their heads from the moment they were born.
Xiong Li’s expression was not very friendly. This was because warriors comparable to Fifth Order soul evolvers were replaceable, but warriors comparable to Sixth Order soul evolvers were geniuses and the loss of a single one was quite painful.
As for the loss of a single Son of Heaven… Probably an entire sect would be shocked if such a thing happened.
But now that 6 Sons of Heaven had fallen in this invasion… Xiong Li could only imagine how fierce the earthquake that would fall on The Golden Domain was going to be.
Xiong Li looked at the red-colored crack in the distance at the same time as Fire Sorrow’s voice sounded in front of him.
“It looks like The Crack is closing… No more reinforcements for you.”
The thought of going back the way he came flashed in Xiong Li’s brain but in less than a second he simply dismissed the idea even faster than the speed at which it popped up.
Xiong Li looked at Fire Sorrow and said indifferently, “The war of the little ones is over, but the war of the big ones is still ongoing.”
That was correct.
Although The Golden Domain had lost the large-scale battle, the final outcome of the war had yet to be decided.
Fire Sorrow and the rest looked toward the large black sphere in the distance. Almost two days had passed but there was still no sound or change to give any clues about the situation inside.
“Even though I and that old man you saw before are both in the same realm of power, I am at Stage 2 but he is at Stage 7.” Xiong Li scoffed. “In other words, I am at the early stage of Foundation Forging realm while the person your leader is facing is at the late stage. The difference in power is more than a little!”
Soon enough, the battle between Xiong Li against the six strongest generals of the Demonic Army broke out.
For 17 continuous hours, the Higher Existences of the Demonic Army who had successfully survived the war against The Golden Domain until today watched from afar how space constantly shuddered and vibrated under the burst of power from the diverse physical and magical attacks flying everywhere.
None of them intervened. Partly because they did not want to and partly because they could not.
Xiong Li was indeed powerful, very powerful; powerful enough to compare to a faction leader of Higher Existences.
However, despite the fact that five of the six generals of the Demonic Army were wounded and tired, the six of them together formed a practically perfect team.
With Luciah, Valiant, and Hellscar in the vanguard, Xiong Li could not make use of his higher speed and thus was unsuccessful every time he tried to reach the weaker mages in the rear.
Relying on the triple alignment, Crow, Lilith, and Fire Sorrow were able to unleash their most powerful attacks which forced Xiong Li to focus completely as a single mistake would mean his death.
After 17 hours of continuous battle, both sides broke apart and stared into each other’s eyes.
“Crap, I have almost nothing left of Mana.” Crow whispered under his breath.
He had become a bloodstain as there were practically no healthy places on his body.
The rest of them didn’t say anything, but they weren’t much better either.
One of Valiant’s swords had been destroyed when its Duration hit 0 and her full plate armor was filled with cracks through which red blood with a small golden tinge was seeping out.<sub> </sub>
Lilith’s face was pale as a sheet and even her beautiful usually red lips had lost their color. The expression on her face was a mixture of indifference and occasional pain, and although her life was no longer in real danger there was still blood oozing occasionally from the wound on her chest.
Hellscar had lost his armor and had two X-shaped gashes across his upper body. His internal organs were in plain display and were it not for the fact that he was using one hand to hold them in place he might have lost them along the way.
Even Luciah had suffered. Her right arm guard had been broken to shreds, revealing her entire trembling, bloodied arm. In addition, her grip on her pitch-black spear was no longer as firm as before and the sparkle in her eyes was a bit dull.
Of course, Xiong Li was not unharmed at all.
Despite the fact that there was no air in outer space, Xiong Li was panting as a natural response to the sudden drop in physical resistance. His eyes were wide open, his left arm was gone, and it was only with great difficulty that he was able to hold his now cracked sword.
He did not underestimate his enemies, and actually praised them: “You… are really strong…. To think that… you would be able to fight me… In this kind of circumstance…”
However, Xiong Li’s eyes focused on the only existence in the entire battlefield that to this day had yet to suffer even a scratch.
“As expected of you, Calamity Witch.” Xiong Li smiled with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. “Even after all this you’re still in perfect condition.”
“You flatter me.” Fire Sorrow still had the same gentle smile that was so characteristic of her on her face. “It’s only thanks to the fact that I have excellent teammates.”
“Heh… Let’s leave it at that then.” Xiong Li sneered.
Fire Sorrow’s magic robe was neat, her hair well combed, her face had a slight natural rosy color as proof that she still had plenty of Mana to spend, and her breathing was steady and continuous.
She took a step forward, much to the surprise of everyone except Valiant and Luciah.
“You- Fire Sorrow, are you crazy?! Come back!” Crow barked from behind with wide eyes.
They had all seen and tasted firsthand how terrifying the enemy in front of them was.
Although Fire Sorrow was an extremely powerful mage, she was exactly that; a mage. Closing the distance with Xiong Li who was a melee warrior was basically asking to be killed!
However, Fire Sorrow ignored Crow and pretended not to see the wariness in her enemy’s eyes.
“Before we put an end to our own battle I’d like to make a proposal to you in which we both stand to gain something, how about it?” She said with no change in her expression.
“Oh?” Xiong Li looked at her noncommittally.
“How about if we each answer a question from the other?” Fire Sorrow said, surprising not only Xiong Li but also her allies. “That way, whoever comes out of here alive will be able to bring more than just victory home but also information that could be helpful for the future… of course, if you’re not confident about coming out on top then pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Xiong Li did not respond right away, but after some thought, he could find no reason why he should refuse such an opportunity and therefore he nodded.
“Very well, but I will ask first and you will answer. If you don’t agree then forget it.”
“Go ahead. Ask anything you want and I’ll answer with honesty.” Fire Sorrow nodded indifferently.
Xiong Li narrowed his eyes and slowly asked in a low voice, “By any random chance… The name Li Zixi… ring any bells?”
“Li Zixi?” Fire Sorrow frowned and a flash of confusion shone in her purple pupils, “…. Among the eight major factions, there should be at least a couple of existences with that name, but as one of the most powerful beings in the universe I can guarantee you that none of those beings should be whomever you’re looking for.”
Basically, while there might be some beings named Li Zixi among the factions of Higher Existences, none of them were even a Seventh Order soul evolver therefore someone at Xiong Li’s level should be indifferent to such existences.
Even then, Fire Sorrow remembered that name and filed it deep in her memory. She didn’t believe that someone who The Golden Domain seemed to be looking for was insignificant, it might even be the reason why they were invading so persistently.
“I see…” Xiong Li nodded with a frown as he saw no trace of a lie or falsehood in the words or expression of the woman in front of him.
“My turn.” Fire Sorrow said.
Xiong Li hesitated for a moment before nodding. He might as well take the opportunity to recover a little in the process.
Fire Sorrow took a deep breath, and for the first time, her calm voice changed slightly, “You… Have you ever heard of a warrior capable of controlling some natural laws? Gravity, blood… that sort of thing.”
Xiong Li rolled his eyes and pointed out, “There are all kinds of techniques in our Golden Domain, those able to control gravity or blood a little are not rare at all.”
Fire Sorrow frowned and rephrased her question a bit, “This warrior uses a spear as his main weapon… Also, when he gets angry a giant wolf totem usually appears which increases his battle power.”
Totem of a giant wolf? Xiong Li frowned and thought about it seriously for more than two minutes before finally shaking his head.
“I know that some of you can go to our Golden Domain when you reach a certain power limit… But, all the records we have, have been studied and in them, there is no one who meets the description you just gave me. Either that warrior you speak of died as soon as he landed or he simply vanished into history without accomplishing anything great.”
Xiong Li was young compared to Fire Sorrow and thus naturally was younger than Sirius the Heavenly Wolf. So much so that when Sirius ascended Xiong Li was not even born.
However, if there were no records at all…. Then Fire Sorrow could only fear the worst.
