Chapter 450: Divine Snail Shield of Sun and Moon (I)
“You cannot see me?” Long Haochen gave a shocked look to the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon. He seemed unable to understood what this self proclaimed beseecher of the peace and the order meant by that.
The Divine Snail of Sun and Moon revealed a expression close to a smile, “Can you guess what I meant?”
At a loss, Long Haochen shook his head.
The Divine Snail of Sun and Moon continued, “The defect of my two ancestors was their spirit of sacrifice. They had forgotten that belonging to our race of Divine Snail of Sun and Moon is originally a crime. Our very existence and our flesh is a lure, that even a Scion of Light cannot resist. But in the same way, as spokespersons of the God of Light, we don’t have the obligation to assist the Scion of Light wholeheartedly. So I came to a decision long ago. Now that you finally appeared before my eyes, this long life of mine should finally be close to its end. I cannot see what will happen later, but only the Will of Heaven, I only hope that this sacrifice of mine won’t come to naught.
“Senior, you…” Full of shock, Long Haochen unconsciously stamped the ground.
“Don’t attempt to stop me. No one can control me. Even god wouldn’t be able to. Youngster, although I don’t know your name, what moved me was the earlier display of your kindness. You still possess the essence of your purity as a Scion of Light. You don’t have to feel pained because of my death, I have already been living in this world for far too long. My life energy is already close to extinct, and I am already near my last breath right now. To me, having been able to live long enough to encounter you is a perfect ending. I also hope that I will be the very last Divine Snail of Sun and Moon to descend in this world.”
“My name is Long Haochen.” Long Haochen’s both fists were gripped tightly. He could clearly perceive that the life energy of the nearby Divine Snail of Sun and Moon was circulating at an extreme speed. Just like a dam, his circulation of energy increased in intensity, as if his body had turned into a waterball long ago. But the next instant, the external part of this waterball was breached in an irreparable way.
Dots of sparkling golden light drifted through the air from the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon, filling it with brilliant gold and slightly shivering. Every soft fluctuation produced this way would cause the air to shake. A rich and soft light essence propagated, cleaning the hearts of all the people present.
“……”
The Divine Snail of Sun and Moon declared in a soft voice, “Long Haochen, keep my previous words in your mind. The tolerance I spoke about is not only to be directed at others, but also at yourself. You may be the Scion of Light, but it doesn’t make you a perfect being. Everyone can make mistakes, but you don’t have to let them affect your heart, and stay tolerant toward yourself. I have to go, my body will be protecting you as an unyielding shield. I hope that my departure today will help to change your concepts of morality and conscience. No matter what you may encounter in the future, you mustn’t go past your limits. If one day, you manage to meet the Slumbering Calamity Elux, please ask him about the motives behind his acts on my behalf. With that shadow in his heart, his soul cannot possibly have found peace yet, even after so much time passed.”
The voice of Divine Snail of Sun and Moon appeared weaker and weaker, until disappearing completely. And its body started getting transparent. Brilliant light drifted in the air like golden crystals, before slowly falling onto that carapace. The soft golden light kept drawing circles and emitting impressive light waves.
Tears started dripping from Long Haochen’s face, as his expression changed indescribably.
With his right hand placed on his chest, thumps could be heard resounding from his heart, performing a dignified knight salute in front of the gradually disappearing Divine Snail of Sun and Moon.
Not only him, but the others also performed dignified salutes of their respective vocations, following with the eyes the departure of that dignified divine beast aged thousands of years.
Along with specks of golden light, its huge shell suddenly started whirling. At every spin, its color darkened bit after bit, and its volume shrank. As it went on at a speed that one could still follow at the naked eye, a short while later, it shrunk into a yellow ball of light, floating in the air heading straight toward Long Haochen.
On his left hand that Long Haochen unconsciously lifted, that orange ball of light looked about as big as an eye, falling directly on his left hand.
The Glorious Holy Armor didn’t seem to be any obstruction in front of it, and Long Haochen just felt a warm feeling on his left hand, before that warmth spread out onto his whole body, including even his very soul.
Permeated by this warm feeling, Long Haochen felt his heart becoming all the more transparent, as all the constrained feelings in his heart, including the remorse he had after learning about Elux’s origins, disappeared without exception. That kind of pure heart like what a newborn would feel unaffected by any impurity.
His spiritual energy didn’t increase at all, but from his first contact with that moist feeling, Long Haochen came to understand how important the gift he just received from the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon was. It didn’t only help him by sharing his memories and warnings, but most of all, used his last bits of vital force to cleanse his soul.
The others didn’t have direct impact, but in their eyes, the changes on Long Haochen were however very clear.
As the yellow light fused with him, Long Haochen’s whole body appeared transparent. Be it in his expression, aura or spiritual energy, he appeared to have gained a kind of pure and holy touch. In particular, the expression in Long Haochen’s eyes seemed to have gotten back to how it looked at the time of their first encounter.
Looking at his left hand, Long Haochen went silent for a moment. Suddenly, he then took two steps forward, slowly kneeling onto the ground, before bowing in the direction where the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon disappeared.
The Divine Snail of Sun and Moon didn’t only teach him about tolerance, but also about sacrifice.
“Defense of Sun and Moon, borrowing strength from the owner’s heart. Guided by the Light, Blessed by the Gods. Bringing a new dawn, the divine snail shall act as shield.”
Once again standing up, Long Haochen slowly lifted his left hand. An orange luster suddenly shone on it, and immediately, an entirely pure and limpid shield of one meter diameter appeared on his left hand. Its shape was exactly the same as that of the shell of the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon. The ring of light forming its shape condensed little by little, gaining in power and softness, containing boundless and lofty power. It carried the name Divine Snail Shield of Sun and Moon.
That golden shield glinted of an orange brilliance, which could only signify one thing. That it was a piece of Epic Tier Equipment.
Any existing weapons would, only upon reaching the Epic Tier, acquire a special luster of orange color, symbol of the Epic Tier. And another change would follow upon reaching the level of divine tool, the disappearance of that luster.
Even within the Knight Temple, only twelve of the Pure Gold Foundation Armors reached that level. And the Twelve Saint Knights wielding them are second only to the Divine Knights in position.
The Saint Knight Han Qian was formerly one of these twelve Saint Knights, but after becoming old, he retired from the front lines, and thus handed the Pure Gold Foundation Armor of Epic Tier back in exchange for an ordinary Pure Gold Foundation Armor.
The Divine Snail Shield of Sun and Moon Long Haochen gained at this very moment was exactly a powerful piece of Epic Equipment as well, boasting the legendary defense of the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon. From this, one might well imagine the boost this would give to a Guardian Knight such as Long Haochen. This was already beyond the reaps from a lucky encounter, and closer to mad luck.
But at this very moment, Long Haochen only had his heavy duty and deep emotions in his mind.
“We are going.” Once again giving a serious look at the direction of the place where the Divine Snail of Sun and Moon disappeared, Long Haochen led his comrades towards the exit.
The rewards they gained this time from the Swamps of Gloom were a lot more valuable than they imagined, comparable even to what they originally had gained back in the Illusory Paradise. It was just that the gains from this time weren’t as direct, but in some sense, they could be said to be even more important.
Forest Boas, Saw Skates, Devil Snakes, the Devil Snake Demon God and the Forest Boa King, as well as the fallen demon god pillar and the Divine Snail Shield of Sun and Moon they obtained. If all this could be converted into something valuable, and given a few years to be assimilated, it could be actually enough to make them reach the Emperor Grade as a Demon Hunt Squad. But, until this day a Demon Hunt Squad of less than thirty years of age never appeared. Without a doubt, the dual core they had with the pair of god’s chosen one formed by Long Haochen and Cai’er played an extremely important role, but just as importantly, luck stood by their side.
After coming out from the cave, everyone looked at Long Haochen, waiting for him to direct them. If they took the same path as before, they would undoubtedly once again face great difficulties, so the best way was obviously to leave from the poisonous swamps by flight. This would not only optimize their speed to the maximum, but also save them a lot of time, for their most important priority was to leave the Swamps of Gloom as soon as possible.
But unfortunately, given Haoyue’s massive consumption, he wouldn’t be able to carry everyone and fly. Thus Long Haochen sank into a short time of hesitation.
“Boss, how about leaving by flight? Isn’t that just a bit of poison? We’ll just have to make a path and that will be it.” Sima Xian proposed.
Long Haochen looked at Lin Xin, querying, “Is your spiritual energy enough?”
Lin Xin nodded, hinting that he had no problem.
Long Haochen declared, “Okay, then I will be in charge of clearing up a way in a bit. Preserve your battle formation, everyone; we will be flying straight ahead, and go to high altitude right after coming out of the poison fog. Then we will keep charging straight. Han Yu, Sima, Yuanyuan, Twelfth and Tenth, the five of you will form an external circle in the formation. I will be flying at the very front, while Ying’er, Cai’er, Ninth, Eleventh and Lin Xin will remain in the center. The mages in the center of the formation are to have some spell kept in preparation. Ying’er, have McDull get ready to release the imposing might of a Devil Dragon. In case we encounter some obstacle in our way, no matter what enemy it is, everyone is to attack at full strength, before getting away from it, and rush out as fast as possible. Understood?”
