Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Kong Yao glanced at Yuan Hong. It was true that Yuan Hong had defeated the City Lord of White Cloud City and was able to become one of the top five in the Barren Sky Ranking. But for Yuan Hong to want to defeat him, who was ninth in the Sage Ranking, Yuan Hong really was getting ahead of himself. By that logic, the Sage and Saint Rankings of the Nine States would be placed below the Barren Sky Ranking, which was an absolute joke.
In a flash, Kong Yao moved up into the sky, his will emanating from his being. Instantly, it seemed as though countless divine elephant shadows had appeared in the vast sky. The central area of Xuanwu City seemed to be besieged by a monstrous pressure, and many found it hard to breathe. Sage Intent merged with heaven and earth to turn into rules. At the Sage Plane, Kong Yao was almost an unrivaled existence. One could imagine the magnitude of the power that would be released when the will power of the rules was truly activated.
Yuan Hong stepped forward, sending massive cracks running throughout the earth. The Xuanwu Tower area seemed on the verge of being reduced to rubble as the giant Golden Ape endured immense pressure to rise up into the sky. With a roar, thousands of Ape shadows seemed to appear at the same time, soaring through the sky.
Countless people looked up into the sky. Demon Elephants and Demon Apes were both demonic beasts known for their sheer strength. Now that an actual Golden Ape was about to face off against Divine Elephants on their own turf, it was unimaginable just how frightening the clash would be.
The power of Kong Yao’s Divine Elephants was no longer of the elemental kind. Instead, it had been transformed into the rule power of Divine Elephants. An enormous Demon Elephant shadow appeared behind Kong Yao. Its height reached about a thousand feet, and it was even wearing a demonic crown as if it were the king of Demon Elephants, the real Divine Elephant.
The trumpet of an elephant sounded, and many people instinctively covered their ears with both their hands. However, it was no use. Their legs turned to jelly, and they fell to their knees. Despite moving to a great height in the sky, the pressure that emanated from Kong Yao as he engaged in battle was still immensely overpowering.
Zhuge Qingfeng lifted his head to look at Kong Yao as well. Ten years ago, he had encountered Kong Yao back at that place. Back then, he had used this unparalleled Divine Elephant rule power in order to kill many top-notch sages. Kong Yao could even be said to have been absolutely undefeatable at that point. It had been a vicious battle, and Kong Yao had performed majestically to the point of being unrivaled. He had polished his Divine Elephant rule power to the maximum, such that he held sway over everything.
The Divine Elephant Life Spirit seemed to contain an endless rule power, which emanated a great pressure. Kong Yao’s gaze leaped to where Yuan Hong was as the latter continued to ascend through the sky, and he stomped downwards. While it seemed like a casual movement, an impressive sight appeared in the sky.
A large number of elephants trumpeted together before tens of thousands of Divine Elephants led a stampede through the sky. The sky itself seemed to be on the verge of being flattened, and within the army of Divine Elephants, a humongous Divine Elephant stormed towards Yuan Hong and raised its leg to stomp on him, the attack seeming like it was descending from the heavens itself.
Yuan Hong raised his head to look at the sky, and his golden pupils emitted a brilliant dazzle. With a loud roar, he shape-shifted into a Golden Demon God and twirled the Divine Destruction Polearm in his hands about. Many Golden Ape shadows appeared at once as he struck out with the Polearm, tearing through the sky with his attack.
Deafening cracks were heard as countless Divine Elephant shadows were shattered into nothing by the attack. The humongous elephant foot that descended towards Yuan Hong was struck apart as well. Everyone was blinded by the dazzling golden rays of light, and with his magnificent stature, Yuan Hong looked just like a god of war.
“Humph.” Kong Yao let out a cold snort that sounded surprisingly sullen before he started walking towards Yuan Hong. Every step he took felt like a Divine Elephant was stomping directly on the hearts of everyone present. The scene in the sky was even more frightening. With every step Kong Yao took, Divine Elephant shadows struck out in the sky.
Even as Yuan Hong cut an impressive figure with his mighty golden body, in the face of Kong Yao walking towards him, everyone got the impression that he was on the brink of being taken down ruthlessly. This was exactly the kind of aura that Kong Yao gave out. It was an indomitable aura that seemed unshakeable.
“He’s insanely powerful.” Many people felt their hearts pounding within their chests. This was a person in the top ten of the Sage and Saint Ranking. The power of a single step from this man was enough to kill a top-notch sage, and considering how every step he took contained this sort of might, there was no doubt that Kong Yao was absolutely terrifying.
Right then, the golden glow that emanated from Yuan Hong’s body grew even more dazzling. The rays of light gathered together to form a curtain of golden light that covered his body. The power of the Divine Elephant, which had been so frighteningly mighty, was immediately dulled greatly as it made contact with the curtain of light. It barely affected Yuan Hong at all.
“That is…” The eyes of many influential characters lit up at the sight.
“It’s a divine implement,” said Yan Wuji of the Sword Saint Villa, whose gaze was sharp as a blade. He felt the energy emanating off the divine implement, as did many others in the crowd. Kong Yao definitely felt it the clearest, and his expression immediately darkened.
Kong Yao was ninth on the Sage and Saint Ranking, but he still didn’t have a true divine implement within his possession yet. Sage-level ritual implements were of little use to him. He was already at the peak of the Sage Plane, and his attacks contained the maximum power a sage could have. He would not be able to break through this limit even with the help of ritual implements.
Only saints had the right to use divine implements at Zhisheng Cliffs, and they were only entitled to borrow these divine implements while going on extremely important missions. Now that Kong Yao had come to the Barren State and met two opponents one after the other, he had initially thought that he would be able to just kill them without any problem. However, his opponents had both revealed that they had divine implements on them, and it pissed him off to no end.
“Where did this ritual implement come from?” asked the head of Nantian House, who looked incredibly troubled. Could this be an heirloom passed down by the ancestors of the Apes?
Everyone knew that there had been an Ape Emperor who accompanied Emperor Ye Qing as he went about conquering the world. However, the Golden Apes had long been integrated into the Barren State since then, and should not have any more connection to that Ape Emperor. Yet, where had they gotten that divine implement from?
A single divine implement alone could potentially affect the outcome of this fight. If Zhuge Qingfeng had been the only one to possess a divine implement, then things could still be resolved easily. As long as Kong Yao managed to keep Zhuge Qingfeng in check, they would be able to kill Yuan Hong before helping Kong Yao to get rid of Zhuge Qingfeng. It would have been an easy win, which was why they had joined in the fight in the first place. However, now it seemed as though things would not go as planned.
“Are you all not going to make your move?” Kong Yao spoke calmly from where he was in the sky. Yuan Hong’s own power surpassed that of the White Cloud City Lord’s. With the addition of this defensive divine implement, Yuan Hong was enough of a threat to keep Kong Yao occupied. As such, Kong Yao could only let the rest join forces to kill Zhuge Qingfeng.
A gleam shot through the eyes of Yan Wuji and the rest before they began to release mighty energy. Since they had made a promise to Zhisheng Cliffs, they were all in the same boat now. There was no backing out at this point. If Yuan Hong and Zhuge Qingfeng were to get out of this alive, they would be in deep trouble.
“Let’s go,” Yan Wuji commanded, and he leaped up into the air. Sword Qi whistled through the air, and a Holy Sword appeared behind him, merging into one with his Life Spirit. This was the Holy Sword Yan Wuji’s ancestors had passed down to him.
The Holy Sword shot through the air, and even those who stood a great distance away felt as though their bodies were about to be torn apart. Everyone began to retreat further still, even those who were at the Sage Plane. This was a battle between those at the top.
Zhuge Qingfeng stood within an Eight Trigrams formation that glowed brightly in the sky. He was surrounded by images of himself, and the terrifying energy of destructive lightning crackled within the formation.
Crack! The Holy Sword landed on one of Zhuge Qingfeng’s shadows. The other shadows around him seemed to become one, forming a dazzling formation before Zhuge Qingfeng that swallowed up the power of the Holy Sword bit by bit. The earth around Zhuge Qingfeng was torn apart relentlessly, and the buildings nearby were reduced to rubble as well, resulting in a scene of pure destruction.
Within the crowd, Zhan Xiao, who had already retreated far away, shot Gu Dongliu a frosty gaze before giving those from Zhisheng Cliffs a single command, “Take Gu Dongliu down.”
Kong Yao was the main powerhouse of this party from Zhisheng Cliffs. They had originally planned for Kong Yao, who was ninth in the Sage Ranking, to simply descend upon the Barren State, capture their man, and leave. Which was why the rest of the party were not incredibly powerful people. However, there were still several people in the party who were archmages. At Zhan Xiao’s order, they stepped forward.
Powerful individuals from Taihang Mountain were standing guard by Gu Dongliu and Ye Futian’s side. At the sight of those from Zhisheng Cliffs advancing towards them in an attack, they stepped forward as well, causing the earth to shake and rumble.
A massive battle erupted immediately. The citizens of Xuanwu City had never seen a battle of this scale before. It was probably a sight that was only seen back during the time of the Saint.
Amidst the chaos of battle, Gu Dongliu’s eyes were locked on Zhan Xiao. He did not retreat but walked forward instead. Step by step, he moved towards Zhan Xiao, and spoke, “Zhan Xiao, you do things using such underhanded means, yet your abilities are beyond subpar. You are one of the Nine Warriors, yet you are such a coward. I hope you’ll still be able to keep your position as one of the Nine Warriors when you get back to Zhisheng Cliffs after this.”
Zhan Xiao’s expression was steely. The party from Zhisheng Cliffs had taken note of Gu Dongliu’s humiliating insults towards Zhan Xiao. Furthermore, the truth Gu Dongliu claimed to speak was an incredibly huge blow to Zhan Xiao’s reputation. If Zhan Xiao didn’t manage to take back the holy item, it was highly possible that he would be punished once he returned to Zhisheng Cliffs. Right now, he had to kill Gu Dongliu and get the holy item back in his possession in order to atone for his mistake.
“I just didn’t think you were worth the effort. Since you’re begging for death now, I’ll grant your wish,” Zhan Xiao stepped forward, and the energy of an upper-level sage emanated from his being. Zhan Xiao was of the same plane as Gu Dongliu.
Upon seeing that Zhan Xiao was finally participating in the fight, a cold murderous intent flashed in Gu Dongliu’s brooding eyes. With a step forward, Gu Dongliu released his Life Spirit, which seemed to appear in the form of a celestial being. Ancient characters surrounded it, and heaven and earth resonated with each other.
Compared to his battle with Bai Luli back then, Gu Dongliu was even more eye-catching now. The glow emanated from his Life Spirit was even more dazzling as it seemed to be one with both heaven and earth. The will of heaven and earth itself seemed to be at the disposal of Gu Dongliu.
“Zhan Xiao!” Gu Dongliu roared. At the sound of Gu Dongliu’s voice, Zhan Xiao’s mind was suddenly filled with a buzzing.
“Zhan Xiao, Zhan Xiao, Zhan Xiao!” Voices buzzed in Zhan Xiao’s ears, and a powerful will power wormed its way into his mind. He saw countless images of Gu Dongliu, and his Spiritual Will was shaken. It was as if Gu Dongliu was everywhere surrounding him. Zhan Xiao suddenly felt like he was in a trance. Zhan Xiao then vaguely caught a glimpse of the shadow of the real celestial being. It was indomitable, as if Gu Dongliu had managed to walk directly into his mind.
“Zhan Xiao, Zhan Xiao, Zhan Xiao…” Voices echoed in his mind as the shadow of the celestial being grew clearer. His Spiritual Will was shaken, and Zhan Xiao suddenly sensed a great danger before him. In a flash, he retreated and drew his ritual implement before him. Almost at the same moment, the thousands of shadows became one, and Gu Dongliu appeared directly before him. Swiping through the air with one finger, the sky itself seemed to be torn apart by the immense power of the laws of the sword.
A stream of blades shot through the space, and even as Zhan Xiao retreated hastily, he felt blood surface through cuts in his skin. His body also felt as though some of the laws of the sword had entered it. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Zhan Xiao’s face turned pale.
“This here is one of the Nine Warriors of Zhisheng Cliffs!” Gu Dongliu’s voice boomed throughout the space. Zhan Xiao grew paler still. Gu Dongliu was going to utterly destroy his reputation!
