Book 10: Chapter 17 – Strength
Lord You Lan, General Ku Meng, and Nuo Nuo An witnessed their surroundings change as their minds were forced into the Mirage.
Lord You Lan snorted. “Hmph! Are you seriously trying to confuse me with an illusion of this level?” He emitted a strong spiritual wave of willpower to forcefully break the illusion, shifting the scenery back to the one in the real world. Back in the Dark Abyss, You Lan had started off a weak demon crawling about and had slaughtered his way up to his current level. On his road to power, he had witnessed a myriad of charming attempts and countless enticements.
General Ku Meng and Nuo Nuo An were similar in that they could not so easily be trapped inside the Mirage. In but a short moment, they had also broken their way outside through force.
“This…”
Despite having broken free, their expressions paled ever so slightly.
And that was because they could only see mist surrounding them, a white fog stretching for thousands upon thousands of kilometers all around them. The shrouding mist was so thick it could even block sunlight.
“We’re still trapped inside an illusion.” Waves began rippling from Lord You Lan’s body, spreading out uniformly and shaking the layer of space as it passed along. The white mist surrounding him slowly dispersed until there was none left in a radius of five hundred meters around him.
Not too far from Lord You Lan, General Ku Meng and Nuo Nuo An spread the Laws of Profound Mysteries around them to protect their bodies and block the fog.
“My Time Domain is only able to reflect this illusory white fog,” Lord You Lan began, his demeanour calm. “The illusion is spread over more than a thousand kilometers. It seems his True Meaning is not the True Meaning of Shadow, but that of Mirage. Considering its range, he must have reached at least the stage two realm in it, which means that before he moves, we can’t find any trace of him. The most we can do is wait for him to make his move; only then can we counter it and kill him!”
As long as he didn’t attack, Xue Ying was undetectable.
But the moment he unleashed a strike, he would also become vulnerable!
“Leader, this Dong Bo Xue Ying’s attacks have no power backing them. Even with this illusion, he still has no way of hurting me,” General Ku Meng said, confident in his ability.
“Hehehe, Dong Bo Xue Ying dared say he would kill me. He was even arrogant enough to call me out as the first target. Leader, just leave him to me.” The black-robed Nuo Nuo An looked around. His eyes radiated with a green light tinted by killing intent.
Lord You Lan nodded. “Fine.”
During his time in the Dark Abyss, Lord You Lan had faced plenty existences Xue Ying couldn’t compare to. He calmly faced the current situation; in his opinion, his subordinate was more than enough to handle it.
Battleship D9 had also been surrounded by the white mist.
But the observation tools of a battleship from the Deity Realm allowed them to see through it, giving those inside a clear view of Lord You Lan’s group.
“Is this Xue Ying’s True Meaning of Mirage?” Palace Head Chen, Mountain Lord He, and the other Transcendents all watched with bated breaths.
Without any warning, a voice resounded inside the battleship’s main deck. “Palace Head Chen, please isolate the surrounding thousand kilometers of space.”
“Isolate?” Palace Head Chen replied in confusion.
“Once the space is sealed, they will have no way of instantly escaping. That way, I’ll have enough time to take them on one by one,” Xue Ying explained.
“Alright.” Palace Head Chen agreed, prompting Mountain Lord He to quickly put Battleship D9 into operation. This type of action only consumed his personal magic power as a Demigod and had no effect on the ship’s energy reserves or other sources of power.
嗡~~~
Weng~
The space in a thousand kilometers around Battleship D9 seemed to freeze solid as the World Energy moved to seal and isolate the area from the outside.
Chi Qiu Bai worriedly whispered, “This… isn’t Xue Ying being a bit overzealous?”
“Indeed, his actions are too risky. Although his True Meaning of Mirage has a bewildering effect, is it really sufficient to deal with Lord You Lan and his group?” Palace Head Chen shook his head. “I tried warning him, but it was for naught.”
Si Kong Yang frowned. “From my exchange of moves with Nuo Nuo An, I could tell he has an Undying Body. I couldn’t do anything to hurt him.”
City Lord Bu laughed bitterly. “There’s no use arguing! Xue Ying will keep going regardless of what we say. We can only wait and hope he’ll somehow kill Nuo Nuo An.”
The atmosphere turned heavy. The Xia Clan Transcendents all put their hopes on Xue Ying, on him somehow being able to suppress and kill them—even just one if at all possible! But they were aware of just how hard it was to kill an Era Suppressor. Even with the Nine Dragon Fire Deity Armor boosting his power to the level of an Era Suppressor, Si Kong Yang had been unable to put even the slightest of scratches on Nuo Nuo An, far from killing him.
The Transcendents were far more concerned with Xue Ying’s safety, as they were afraid Xue Ying would die before he even got the chance to kill the enemy.
Surrounded by his spell waves, Lord You Lan hovered high in the sky, joined by General Ku Meng standing calmly nearby. Nuo Nuo An carefully inspected his surroundings through his green pupils, which brimmed with killing intent. He let out a cold laugh.
“Come, Dong Bo Xue Ying. Come and let me see how—” He had yet to finish his phrase when the shaft of a fiery-red spear flashed before him. It shot forward fueled by an oppressive killing intent, piercing even space as it directly impaled Nuo Nuo An’s head!
Si la—
Unexpectedly, Nuo Nuo An had not even attempted to dodge. Despite the spear stuck between his eyebrows, he merely let loose an evil laugh.
“Die for me!” He spread his mouth wide to release a terrible growl. His snarl was accompanied by a quiet wave of sound which spread along the Stellar Fire Cloud Spear and pushed directly into the Mirage! Considering the power of the three from the Dark Abyss, they could forcefully attack and affect the Mirage.
Inside the Mirage, Xue Ying watched indifferently as the soundless wave approached. To break into the Mirage, the wave of sound had expended 90% of its power, while the remainder energy was too weak to even shake Xue Ying’s protective True Meaning of Star.
The True Meaning of Star was famous for its defensive ability and its power. Even without the Mirage, the sound wave would have still been too weak to bother him, not to mention this weakened version.
“Ah!” After unleashing his growl, Nuo Nuo An’s complexion paled. “Damn it!”
Pu! His body exploded into hundreds of chunks, and each individual part transformed into an evil spirit. One had the appearance of a seductress, one a wicked youth, one an old man—there were many kinds. They spoke simultaneously, “Lord, this Dong Bo Xue Ying’s spearmanship has a terrifying destructive ability. My body can’t withstand it—” He was still speaking when the spear struck once more out of thin air with lightning speed. Setting aside its speed, the spear possessed incredible sharpness. As soon as it appeared, it would instantly pierce the body of an evil spirit and cause it to immediately begin dispersing.
Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!
长枪一次次从虚无中出现，每一次必定刺中一头恶鬼，且必定幻灭。诺诺安附身都无用。The spear appeared time after time, each instance signifying another evil spirit being stabbed. A single strike was enough to slay a spirit, no matter what Nuo Nuo An did to control them.
“Fierce! He’s too fierce!” The Transcendents inside the battleship were in a frenzy. They had been worried over Xue Ying’s safety, but they could now see the ease with which he slayed those evil spirits!
Si Kong Yang exclaimed in surprise, “Xue Ying can kill those spirits I was unable to scratch in a single strike. Incredible… Simply describing ‘space’ to be powerful is truly a joke. In the end, only the Laws of Profound Mysteries truly matter. Without them, even if they were more powerful, they still couldn’t use that power. Xue Ying’s True Meaning of Extreme Penetration certainly allows him to destroy that Undying Body. There’s not even a need for multiple moves, he can simply annihilate one with each attack.”
“I had no idea Xue Ying’s power increased so much over the years.” Palace Head Chen gave a slight chuckle. They had guessed Xue Ying would display some growth, but they were surprised to see his progress far exceeded their estimates. As soon as they saw his ability, they realized how much they had underestimated him.
General Ku Meng was startled. “A single stab is enough to destroy one of the spirits? How can he have such power?”
Lord You Lan frowned. “The power of his strikes is comparable to a grade two True Meaning with a comprehension at the stage three realm! But Extreme Penetration is a purely offensive True Meaning, so my assumption is that Dong Bo Xue Ying has, at most, reached the peak of the stage two realm.”
“It might only be at the peak of the stage two realm, but its destructive power is already comparable to an ordinary grade two True Meaning at the stage three realm,” General Ku Meng, said, voice filled with worry. “Even now, it has a terrifying destructive power—one at an even higher level than the Xia Clan’s most powerful Demigod. His and Nuo Nuo An’s might are only separated by the Deity treasure.”
A powerful existence whose comprehension reached the stage three realm with a grade two True Meaning would reach the level of an Era Suppressor once they wielded a Deity treasure. With Xue Ying’s Extreme Penetration being a grade two True Meaning with power comparable to the stage three realm, he now only lacked a Deity treasure! A common Deity treasure would usually double one’s power.
Although Xue Ying lacked such a treasure, it only made him slightly inferior. Both parties were still well-matched, without any major disparities in their levels.
“That’s wrong. You’re underestimating this Transcendent afflicted by the hexing poison,” Lord You Lan said, his tone solemn. “He’s stronger than Nuo Nuo An. True, if he only had the True Meaning of Extreme Piercing, he would have been weaker than Nuo Nuo An. But don’t forget he also has the True Meaning of Mirage! With the two combined, he can really guide his opponents into despair.”
