Chapter 321
Just from the way he responded to Long Haochen’s fatal blow, it could be
seen that Ah’Bao’s strength indeed exceeded the strength of that young Fiend
Shen Can by far. The key point to that difference was in fact his external
spiritual energy exceeding 20,000 units.
It was the first time Long Haochen became aware of how terrifying external
spiritual energy could become after reaching a certain level.
However, his attack didn’t stop at that. As Long Haochen let out a mouthful
of blood, a resonant dragon cry shot up from him. Although Asura Thrust had
been deflected, Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light instantly turned into two mini
dragons of light and rain, which went straight at the opponent.
Long Haochen’s way of thinking was simple; facing such a powerful opponent,
he couldn’t possibly win only by going all out. It would just be a matter of
time before the opponent would kill him. His only choice was to rely on
burst attacks with instant destructive power great enough to overpower him.
Therefore, he used the entirety of his techniques, and aimed at least at
wounding the opponent seriously.
Inside of the Illusory Paradise, the recovery speed of Long Haochen’s
spiritual energy was severalfold faster than anyone else’s. Even compared to
this Ah’Bao, Long Haochen was confident that his recovery of spiritual
energy was greater. Under such circumstances, he was the least afraid of
fighting without reservations. If he could wound Ah’Bao, by proceeding with
a series of attacks, he would have a chance.
Ah’Bao naturally didn’t expect Long Haochen to actually still have tricks up
his sleeve. And especially not that they would be so powerful.
Long Haochen spouted another mouthful of blood, not because of the wounds
from Ah’Bao’s attacks, but because of having chained all his most powerful
attacks consecutively. His energy channels were under heavy stress, causing
him to splurt out his own blood unconsciously. But even under these
circumstances, the Dual Dragons of Light and Rain were still released
successfully.
With violent bang sounds, Ah’Bao coughed once again. His body was sent
flying by the attack, two blue and golden little dragons unwaveringly
winding around his body.
Long Haochen stood straight in his original place. Not giving himself any
time to recover, a golden fog of light ascended from his body in a flash. It
was Storing Power.
His total amount of internal spiritual energy was around six thousand, but
after this combo of three consecutive attacks, he had already consumed over
five thousand units. That was to say, his remaining spiritual energy was far
from enough for a second Asura Thrust.
However, here in the Illusory Paradise, with the help of the Light Elemental
Fairy Yating, Long Haochen managed to stubbornly release a second Asura
Thrust.
Bright Discipline already took over the position of Blue Rain, Hibiscus of
Light, and Long Haochen couldn’t help but splurt out another mouthful of
blood, because he already used his Storing Power’s ability to its peak. In
the air, the golden fog was flocking outright, not restoring his spiritual
energy, but entering directly into him to become a part of the Asura Thrust
together with the stored energy.
This guy is a madman! That was Ah’Bao’s current thought.
Since the launch of Long Haochen’s first Asura Strike, his combination of
attacks was chained up without the slightest pause, reaching the limit of
his own body’s capacity. Not giving himself the slightest second to merely
gasp for breath, it could be said that this Dual Dragon of Light and Rain
was unleashed by going over the limits of his own body. This even caused him
to injure his own body, and the overdraft of his body from this tyrannical
fighting style was a burden the Soul Linking Chains were not even able to
share among his teammates.
Not only that, but a red radiance appeared at that time on Ah’Bao’s body, it
was the Lock ability. Then a similarly red glow appeared around Long
Haochen’s body as he launched the ability Sacrifice.
He was going over his limits, as if his life depended on it! But this was
also the best timing he could choose to do that.
Even considering Ah’Bao’s strength, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat
afraid of Long Haochen’s act of not holding back at any cost. Such a madman
that didn’t even consider any aftereffects of the attack would very possibly
hurt him seriously.
At this time, Ah’Bao didn’t show any more reversation. An oppressive force
full of an antique aura was released from his body, and his originally black
spiritual energy turned a dark purple color. Even his eyes became completely
purple.
A pair of black dragon wings unfolded on his back, and his white skin was
covered with fine deep purple dragon scales. Struggling to get free, his
both arms broke past the binding of the Dual Dragon of Light and Rain
ruthlessly.
Affected by his impulse, Long Haochen’s stored Asura Thrust seemed to take
only a split second to be launched.
An ear-piercing hissing sound spread to the surroundings, causing violent
twists in the air, and under the effects of the ability of Sacrifice, Long
Haochen’s attack directly cut through the air. Strangely enough, the
surroundings of his body seemed devoid of fluctuations of spiritual energy.
But all of this was only the beginning, before a very weird scene emerged.
All this concentration of spiritual energy was gathered in one point.
Ah’Bao’s grave expression became all the more unsightly. With a wave of his
right hand, a thin sword appeared. Thrusting its sharp end forward, he
directly aimed it against Long Haochen’s Asura Thrust.
“Ding.”
After a deafening exploding sound filled the air, Ah’Bao coughed hard,
finally spouting a mouthful of purple blood himself. His entire body,
completely glowing purple, was immediately pushed back a distance of more
than ten meters by Long Haochen’s attack. The thin sword in his hand
shattered into small pieces, unexpectedly reduced to nothing.
However, after completing this attack, Long Haochen also fell to the ground,
gasping desperately for breath. In his mouth was already a Great Spiritual
Recovery Pill, as his whole imposing aura collapsed at an astonishing speed.
Ah’Bao’s eyes were igniting with raging flames. Wounded. He had actually
been wounded twice in succession by this human far from being his equal in
strength! Since that was a madman, then he should just be left to meet a mad
death.
Ah’Bao’s body abruptly became more robust, both of his arms turning into
dragon claws and a series of purple blackish bolts of lightning started
hovering around his body.
However, an incomparably cold killing intent instantly filled the air right
at that moment, and all the surroundings became dark black. It seemed that
right at this time, the Illusory Paradise turned entirely grey.
A black silhouette appeared noiselessly next to Long Haochen, silently
gazing at the nearby Ah’Bao. Her left hand raising unhurriedly, an immense
grey luster gradually took shape at her back. As it formed the shape of a
sword, the frantic killing intent reached its peak.
“Perhaps I am unable to defeat you, but I can drag you to the other world
with me.” Cai’er’s cold voice reverberated in the air. She hadn’t given Long
Haochen a mere look, but her killing intent still reached its supreme limit.
The killing intent bursting out from the Spiritual Stove of Samsara and the
Dagger of Samsara gave a terrifying feeling of total destruction. Even Long
Haochen distinctly felt that a change seemed to have occurred on the
Spiritual Stove of Samsara, whose killing intent was even more substantial
than in the past.
The killing intent from her Spiritual Stove was usually dispersing in all
four directions, but now it was locked entirely on Ah’Bao’s body.
“Brother Bao, be careful, that’s the Spiritual Stove of Samsara and the
Dagger of Samsara.” Yue Ye’s alarmed cry resounded. Immediately afterwards,
both Leng Xiao, Yue Ye, as well as the other two demon powerhouses swiftly
appeared at Ah’Bao’s back.
Among those four was the previously proud orange clad demon, who looked
severely beaten, and had apparently suffered serious injuries. The other one
who directly appeared at Ah’Bao’s back was the second ranked among the ten
demons that came to the Illusory Paradise. A young man clad in a purple
robe. He was the one that intervened to kill the mage Demon Hunter, narrowly
gaining control over the battlefield.
At the same time Cai’er appeared, the members of the 21st Demon Hunt Squad
appeared in succession at Long Haochen’s back, and stood together with Zhang
Fangfang..
That was to say that the other warrior Demon Hunter had also died from the
injuries he had received during the previous battle.
The battle between Long Haochen and Ah’Bao had been so intense in the use of
formidable spiritual energy that everyone from the demon side had naturally
sensed it. And it was the same for Cai’er and the others.
The members of the 21st Demon Hunt Squad had arrived in time, heavily
injuring the orange mage while turning back the tide of the battle. By the
means of their top level coordination, Zhang Fangfang had temporarily taken
Long Haochen’s usual duties, and together they had forced the enemy back.
Now, they stood shoulder to shoulder, opposing Ah’Bao here.
In terms of the overall situation, the members of the 21st general grade
Demon Hunt Squad were still better off. Only Long Haochen was completely
exhausted, after facing his opponent who turned out to be quite a big-shot.
But the same didn’t hold true for the demons. They all understood how
powerful Ah’Bao was, and yet, he had been wounded by Long Haochen.
Yue Ye’s shock was naturally the greatest. She knew Ah’Bao since young, and
if she had to pick someone as a target of admiration among the younger
generation, that would definitely be Ah’Bao.
Furthermore, she also clearly understood Long Haochen’s level of
cultivation, and to her, these two were impossible to compare at any point.
However, this very situation was entirely different from what she had
imagined.
Although Long Haochen was totally worn up, Ah’Bao had also sustained
injuries, and they were caused by Long Haochen’s attacks? And in a one
versus one fight?
In terms of numbers, Long Haochen’s group had eight members, whereas the
demon group numbered only five, including a seriously injured person. Ah’Bao
had also suffered severe injuries, but as a whole, the gap between the two
sides wasn’t so large anymore, though the demon side likely had the upper
hand.
Ah’Bao’s blank look gazed fixedly at the black wings spreading from Cai’er’s
back. Seeing the black wings expanding ominously, and sensing the killing
intent that could burst out at anytime, his eyes gradually narrowed and his
dragon claws retracted with cracking sounds.
“Let’s leave.” Ah’Bao ordered indifferently.
“Brother Bao!” Leng Xiao called out in resignation.
Ah’Bao coldly swept her a glance, lightly unfolding the wings on his back
and sweeping them close to the ground.
The others didn’t dare say anything further, and Yue Ye gave Long Haochen
and Cai’er a profound glance before rapidly following Ah’Bao, leaving
quickly.
The killing intent dispersed slowly, and Long Haochen hesitantly got up. His
face did not relax in the slightest because of the departure of the enemy.
Instead, it looked even more serious.
“If this wasn’t the Illusory Paradise, I’m afraid that we would have been
doomed.” Long Haochen murmured quietly.
Sima Xian asked in a low voice, “Boss, how powerful was that guy?”
Chapter 322
Long Haochen nodded, giving him the reply, “Very strong. The demons that
came this time seem to have suppressed their strength before entering the
Illusory Paradise. That Ah’Bao is at least at the eighth step, or may even
have reached the ninth step. His external spiritual energy has reached
20,000 units. Even with the combined power of Asura Strike and Asura Thrust,
I could not break past the natural defense of his physical body. He is
afraid of Cai’er’s Spiritual Stove of Samsara, so for now, we have to be
steady and cannot let emotions affect our decisions. He is bound to become
one of our future great enemies. And he’s very possibly the successor of the
Demon God Emperor.”
Hearing this, everyone’s expression changed completely. The successor of the
Demon God Emperor, just what kind of status was that?
Chen Ying’er said, unconvinced, “So what about it? Haven’t we just chased
them off?”
Cai’er replied indifferently, “The reason why he was wounded by Haochen and
prefered to escape was because he is more afraid of death than us. Being the
successor of the Demon God Emperor, he will become the future ruler of the
demons, and is thus not willing to take risks. Otherwise, we would have all
died here today. Even by utilizing the full force of the Spiritual Stove of
Samsara, I have only one sixth of certainty to take him down. To him, we are
the same lowly existences as the six Demon God Slayers in relation to the
Demon God Emperor when they appeared in front of him on that day.”
Standing in front of Long Haochen, Zhang Fangfang expressed his
appreciation, “It’s fortunate that you came here in time, otherwise I would
also have ended up dying here today. We have after all underestimated those
who came from the demon side. To the best of my knowledge, the other two
aside, at least three more of the ten of us have already died in battle. And
the spiritual stoves acquired by the demons are exceeding seven.”
He didn’t inquire Long Haochen’s team about how they appeared in the
Illusory Paradise, but only provided them with all the information he had.
Long Haochen furrowed his brows, “Let’s go then. We should recover those
three spiritual stoves first and bury the corpses of those magical beasts
before discussing how to move forward.”
Returning to the previous battlefield, they saw the corpses of the mage and
the warrior from different Demon Hunt Squads, in a very miserable state.
Long Haochen recovered their corpses and transported them to the Tower of
Eternity, planning to hand them back to their own team after leaving. In
fact, the death of a Demon Hunter was considered a fatal blow for the whole
team, and would very possibly cause the disbanding of this Demon Hunt Squad
as a whole. Moreover, this time almost only core team members came, so those
demons would naturally show no reservation to kill them upon encountering
them. Just like the Demon Hunters would kill them without any reservations.
But from today’s situation, it was visible that the Demon Hunters were in a
state of absolute disadvantage.
However, it was already too late to say anything now. Who would have
expected that this time the assets that came from the demon side, including
several successors of the seventy-two demon gods, came after suppressing
their own strength through secret methods.
After burying the corpses of the magical beasts without even touching their
magic crystals, Long Haochen led his comrades in front of those three
spiritual stoves.
A fantastic scene happened; Yating slowly floated to the front of those
three spiritual stoves, murmuring some incantations which surrounded the
three spiritual stoves with a soft golden light. Immediately, the three
spiritual stoves glowed with a soft radiance, as they arrived before Long
Haochen while following Yating.
Facing the three spiritual stoves, everyone immediately looked fervent at
this sight, but Long Haochen turned towards Zhang Fangfang, telling him,
“Brother Zhang, pick one of those first.”
“Eh? Me?” Zhang Fangfang looked at Long Haochen with some astonishment.
It was impossible to deny that he longed for these three spiritual stoves,
but he had already suppressed the desire deep inside of him. The fact that
Long Haochen’s whole team was brought magically to the Illusory Paradise as
a whole was not a matter of strength, but their own secret. And furthermore,
if not for the presence of these people from the 21st general grade Demon
Hunt Squad here, survival would be very hard for him. Thus, he naturally
didn’t hope for too much. In the previous battle, he saw personally the deep
mutual understanding and the great strength of their whole team. Although,
with the exception from Long Haochen and Cai’er, none of them had broken
through to the sixth step yet, their cooperation was plentily formidable.
Never did he expect Long Haochen to let him first pick a spiritual stove.
Long Haochen explained, “Brother Zhang, you were the one who discovered
these spiritual stoves, and without you, we wouldn’t necessarily have been
able to drive those demons away. Don’t be modest, Brother Zhang, please just
go on.”
Zhang Fangfang took a deep breath, unconsciously looking at the others at
Long Haochen’s side. Regarding Long Haochen’s words, no one opposed in the
slightest, and no one even looked unsatisfied in any way.
After a short time of internal struggle, Zhang Fangfang’s face returned to a
serene look, declaring earnestly, “Brother Long, thank you. However, I can’t
accept. I cannot deny that I long for spiritual stoves. However, if not
for the help I had from you during this battle, I wouldn’t even be alive.
You are my saviors so for now, how could I take one of the spiritual stoves
you gained from having fought such a hard battle.”
“Brother Zhang…” Long Haochen was about to keep insisting, before being
prevented from saying anymore by Zhang Fangfang. With resolution, he
declared, “Brother Long, how about that, I just have a little request. I
hope that I could stay with your group for the time being. If our luck is
good enough to encounter more spiritual stoves, how about giving me one at
that time? I really don’t want any of these three.”
This being said, the members of the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad
exchanged surprised looks when seeing Zhang Fangfang, but they were all full
of respect. Not everyone was able to renounce something as enticing as
spiritual stoves. Although they made an agreement to let him have the next
spiritual stove they would run across, who could guarantee that they would
still encounter any more spiritual stoves?
Long Haochen wasn’t an unreasonable person, and time wouldn’t wait for them.
After a short time of reflexion, he replied, “Okay then, since this is what
you want, I won’t show reservation.
Lin Xin, the red spiritual stove is yours. Sima, that spiritual stove
glinting in a frantic red is for you. And Yuanyuan, assimilate the
silver-colored spiritual stove. Start assimilating now, we will give
assistance by guarding you during this time.
Everyone in the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad was not only full of
trust towards Long Haochen, but also trusted his judgment. Hearing him, none
of them spoke anymore, and the three immediately started the absorption of
the three spiritual stoves.
Because this was merely a temporary absorption, and they wouldn’t directly
be able to use them, so it took only a short time before the three of them
completed their respective assimilations.
Lin Xin and Yuanyuan had tolerable reactions, just showing happy
expressions, but having just assimilated his spiritual stove, Sima Xian
shouted loudly, “So invigorating! This almost electrocuted me to death.”
Long Haochen smiled, “The spiritual stove Lin Xin assimilated is called
Heart of Flames, and forms a flame of extremely high temperature. It cannot
help the fire element mages in cultivation nor does it carry any additional
ability, but it causes the quality of the flame released by the mage to
reach the greatest levels. Its temperature will also reach a terrifying
level. The Heart of Flames Spiritual Stove may not seem to be of great
value, but it is ranked in the top five among all spiritual stoves that can
be absorbed by mages, and in practice, it is of formidable utility.
Yuanyuan’s spiritual stove is a rarely seen space elemental spiritual stove,
and matches perfectly with her. It is known as the space elemental spiritual
stove with the highest utility. If the flames from Lin Xin’s Heart of Flames
Stove can be said to have the risk of producing bad aftereffects upon
overuse, Yuanyuan’s spiritual stove is however absolutely not the least
dangerous. This spiritual stove is called Spatial Gate, and simply said, it
enables Instant Shift. If I’m not remembering it wrong, the Spatial Gate can
be used multiple times every day, and the frequency and range will depend on
its degree of evolution. And to a warrior of spatial element, taking
possession of this spiritual stove gives an enormous boost to any other
spatial elemental techniques that can be learned. Wang Yuanyuan and Lin Xin
had pretty good luck.”
“Then, boss, how about me? What about the spiritual stove you told me to
assimilate? It really electrocuted me without limits…” The expression on
Sima Xian’s pained face looked far from merry.
With a laugh, Long Haochen explained, “Didn’t you want a spiritual stove of
high bursting power? This is what you wished for. It’s a rather uncommon
spiritual stove, and very rarely seen. It is of the thunder element and
anyone can absorb it.” Arriving at this point, he gave Zhang Fangfang a
look. His original intention had been to let Zhang Fangfang choose this
spiritual stove, because in contrast, he couldn’t surrender the two
spiritual stoves given to Wang Yuanyuan and Lin Xin, especially the one for
Wang Yuanyuan. As known, the spatial elemental spiritual stoves after all
even exceeded the top three ranked in rarity.
“Sima Xian’s spiritual stove is called Purple Thunder, and doesn’t carry any
active, but a very powerful passive ability instead. As long as your body
can bear it, after assimilating this spiritual stove, all your attacks will
carry a powerful lightning force. As for the specific level it can reach, we
will know after trying it ourselves in the future. However, I need to warn
you that because of the tyrannical and brutal aspect of this Purple Thunder
Spiritual Stove, I’m afraid that at the time you will undergo its real
trial, the degree of difficulty will be rather high. You have to prepare
well mentally.”
Sima Xian appeared satisfied, “Very good. I like this one.” His
straightforward personality aside, he was actually a rather thoughtful
person. Although Long Haochen didn’t tell him about its real level of power,
he could tell out that even among all uncommon elements, the thunder was the
most powerful one.
Having already obtained four spiritual stoves, Long Haochen finally felt the
pressure on his shoulders ease. These were a lot of rare heavenly treasures,
and all of them were very useful. These four spiritual stoves already made
their trip worthwhile, but there was still some time, though it was hard to
say whether there were still any free spiritual stoves left.
Everyone got in action once again, and with the addition of Zhang Fangfang,
their group now reached a total number of eight people. Even when
encountering those demons, they would still be able to put up a fight. But
that would be on the premise that the entirety of the demons weren’t
gathered.
Time passed little by little, and on their road, they didn’t encounter any
other spiritual stoves. Long Haochen also didn’t sense much, just
encountering the corpses of magical beasts, which they buried just like
before.
With the descent of night, the Illusory Paradise seemed to look the same as
outside; there actually existed both a day and a night. The eight of them
were gathered together, looking for a rather covert place to have some rest.
This was how they passed their first day since entering the Illusory
Paradise, but this was just the beginning. According to Ling Xiao’s
information, the following days were still going to be filled with
opportunities, but even more danger.
Chapter 323
Before their departure, Ling Xiao had given the ten Demon Hunters designated
to enter the Illusory Paradise detailed information about their possible
future encounters inside.
Generally speaking, the Illusory Paradise would be rather peaceful and they
would just encounter the magical beasts guarding the spiritual stoves they’d
find. However, some special circumstances could also appear. For instance,
if the concentration of killing intent was too intense in the Illusory
Paradise, it could very possibly cause changes to the surroundings.
The Illusory Paradise would produce approximately twenty spiritual stoves
every single time, but before these spiritual stoves were truly absorbed,
they would remain masterless objects. And that was to say, even if one had
temporarily absorbed a spiritual stove, in case he died, the spiritual stove
would regain its freedom.
Ling Xiao had told them about a story that had happened once, around three
hundred years ago, when the Illusory Paradise had opened. At that time,
differences had risen among the people from the Temple Alliance, and they
had resulted in an intense battle. That time, a change had happened in the
Illusory Paradise, and that change had started on the second day, ending
with only two people who had returned alive.
Furthermore, Ling Xiao had told them sincerely that the best method of
gaining a spiritual stove in the Illusory Paradise was rather to gain the
approval from the magical beast acting as its guardian. This dependable
method would also enable the humans inside to avoid infuriating the Illusory
Paradise.
However, this time it didn’t end so peacefully. The demon’s slaughter was
bound to enrage the Illusory Paradise. Perhaps the spiritual stoves they
already gained were not few, but in case a change appeared on the second
day, only those possessing Illusory Gems like Long Haochen or Cai’er would
be able to leave prior to the end of the period of three days.
Long Haochen gathered his comrades, including Zhang Fangfang, and talked
with them about the possible changes Ling Xiao had told them about.
“Since the situation is like this, I estimate that the Illusory Paradise
will very likely show some changes. In case this happens, we will also face
an incredible crisis. Since we have already obtained four spiritual stoves,
if we leave this place now, it can be considered a fruitful trip. But in
case we stay, we will very possibly be unable to leave even if we want to do
so later. We will have to wait for the end of the three day period to leave.
Should we leave or stay? Decide, everyone.”
“Of course we should stay. This is an opportunity that arises only once a
century! Who would not be willing to take a risk to gain some more spiritual
stoves?” Lin Xin said without any hesitation.
Sima Xian twitched his mouth, saying with disdain, “What a miser you are!
However, I also think we should stay.”
Everyone from the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad soon came to the same
decision. They wanted to stay.
In the end, everyone finally looked at Zhang Fangfang, who declared with a
smile, “Since you all have decided to stay, I will very possibly be able to
obtain a spiritual stove, so I am naturally willing to risk my life with
your noble group. Although I feel that staying is a dangerous choice.”
Zhang Fangfang’s greatest quality was his sincerity. Long Haochen could feel
that he was a straightforward person and spoke from the deepest parts of his
heart, thus he had acknowledged him since long before.
That’s right, choosing to stay was undoubtedly quite dangerous. But Long
Haochen was also inclined to make this choice, and it was for a simple
reason, they had a way out.
It wasn’t the Illusory Gem, but the Tower of Eternity. As long as Long
Haochen was given enough time, he would be able to take his comrades
covertly inside the Tower of Eternity to get them to survive in case of
excessive danger. By the end of their time in the Illusory Paradise, he
would just have to come back with Cai’er to leave for the exit.
For this reason, no matter what kind of danger they met, they would have a
way out.
Slightly pondering, Long Haochen took out his Illusory Gem, handing it to
Zhang Fangfang
“Brother Zhang, we can at least be considered good friends. You are above us
all in standards, but didn’t take account of our former enmity and even
assisted me several times. Take this, it is an Illusory Gem. In case you
encounter a danger you are unable to resist, no matter in which state the
Illusory Paradise is, you can get transported back by relying on this
Illusory Gem, getting away from the danger.”
Zhang Fangfang showed some surprise, “Something like this exists?
You’re giving it to me, but isn’t it of use to you too?”
Long Haochen smiled calmly, “Although Brother Zhang didn’t say it out loud,
I know that you have some doubts deep inside why my team is here with me.
However, this is the secret of my team, and I cannot tell you about it. But
what I can tell you is that since I managed to bring them here, I can bring
them out as well. Be at ease, this Illusory Gem is something you have to
take. It can be used to save your life at the most crucial time.”
Zhang Fangfang muttered to himself irresolutely, “Okay, then I won’t be
overly modest.”
Then, he took the Illusory Gem with alacrity.
After they finished eating their rations and started to rest, unfortunately,
a change happened in the whole Illusory Paradise.
The surroundings flickered as it seemed that the fog covering the boundless
forest became thicker, until condensing into dots of light spreading in all
directions. Slowly, the Illusory Paradise’s illusory feel was replaced by a
sense of reality, and the life energy became stronger from that. However, a
somber and desolate atmosphere arose.
Daybreak.
When the first signs of the morning light started to show, Long Haochen
jumped up with alarm.
Before starting to rest, they had planned for everyone to take turns to hold
vigil, and the one currently keeping watch was Lin Xin. However, he was
currently staring up, as if looking at an inconceivable sight.
His sound of alarm had immediately woken up everyone, who stared at him,
unable to hide their absolute shock.
Their shock was due to the changes in the sky. There, they saw a dense
multi-colored cloud float, encircled by a soft fluctuating energy. This
dazzling magic cloud was very moving, and from its core, a colored luster
slowly dropped down.
Even the radiance of the sun became softer because of that magic cloud. And
all the life energy inside the Illusory Paradise seemed to rotate around it.
“Is that… a spiritual stove?” Zhang Fangfang cried out in astonishment.
In the midst of that magic cloud was a glint of light that appeared even
larger than those released by the other twenty spiritual stoves they had
seen the day before. And from this, it could be seen how abnormal this
spiritual stove was compared to others.
Unconsciously, all looks focused on Long Haochen. The most knowledgeable in
the group regarding spiritual stoves was him.
However, all they saw was a bitter smile from Long Haochen, “I don’t know
about this spiritual stove either. Out of everything my father had told me
about spiritual stoves, there was nothing like this. If this is really a
spiritual stove, then there can only be one explanation. This could be one
that has never appeared in the continent before, a brand new spiritual
stove.”
Shock was reflected on all faces. They were in fact all Demon Hunters, and
remembered as such an unbound rule in the Demon Hunt Mission Tower.The feat
of discovering a new type of spiritual stove that had never appeared before
alone would be rewarded with a hundred thousand contribution points.
From its first issuing to now, this mission had only been completed five
times, and this was a mission that had existed since the very beginning,
going on from generation to generation.
No one would know about the power of a completely new and unknown spiritual
stove, but since it appeared in the Illusory Paradise, and moreover by its
own, how could this multicolored spiritual stove possibly be weak?
“What are we still waiting for? Let’s head out!” Chen Ying’er said with
excitement and full of impatience.
“No, wait.” Long Haochen stopped the others that had started to get
restless, “Don’t you find this very strange?”
“Mh?” Everyone looked at him.
Han Yu said with a serious tone, “It appears very strange indeed .
Yesterday, Captain told us that some change would very possibly appear in
the Illusory Paradise, and today, such a mystical scene appeared in front of
us. Perhaps this is really a spiritual stove, but it may also be an enormous
trap to lure us.”
Zhang Fangfang nodded in response, “I agree. How could we be attracted to
fight each other without a sufficient enticement? Even if the Illusory
Paradise didn’t set any traps, this multi-colored spiritual stove moving so
slowly in the sky, with its location being in full sight, we will not only
meet our allies there, but also some demons for sure. Haochen, what’s your
opinion about that? ”
Long Haochen looked at the multicolored brilliance moving slowly down from
the sky. After pondering shortly, he declared, “Going there is unavoidable,
even if it’s only to save our fellow comrades who came here with us.
However, I need to warn everyone once again, if you run across some powerful
magical beast, no one is allowed to attack it. Even if they take the
initiative to attack us, we have to stay on the defensive. This is an
important directive, that no one can ignore. Otherwise, it will very
possibly waste all our previous efforts.”
Hearing the serious tone of Long Haochen, the others nodded in succession,
expressing their approval.
After a short time of pondering, Long Haochen had Zhang Fangfang and Han Yu
stay together, handling the defense in the rear, while the rest of the
formation didn’t change. Under his lead, everyone headed directly in the
direction of that multicolored mass descending to the ground.
After advancing for less than a hundred meters, Long Haochen suddenly
stopped in his tracks, “Has anyone found traces of those colored patches of
fog? They seem to have disappeared.”
Everyone looked around and indeed, the very peculiar shining patches of fog
glowing in all colors had all disappeared. The surroundings only looked like
a huge ordinary forest with a rich vegetation and nothing more.
Long Haochen declared in a deep voice, “It looks like we weren’t mistaken, a
change is really happening in the Illusory Paradise.”
“Boss, what should we do?” Sima Xian asked.
Long Haochen lifted his hand, handing Bright Discipline to Han Yu behind
him, as he took out the Glorious Holy Shield for himself, “We still have to
advance. Don’t forget what I said before, no one is allowed to attack the
magical beasts.”
Cai’er followed behind Long Haochen all along, observing his confident lead
with a gentle look. As expected, her intelligence and her perception were no
lower than Long Haochen’s. However, she just willingly acted as support for
him. She wouldn’t meddle in his decision unless Long Haochen was doing a
fundamental mistake in his lead. Trust was after all built during this kind
of difficult experiences.
This was a perfect example of something appearing to be seemingly close,
while actually being very far away. In truth, they travelled for a whole
hour in pursuit of this multicolored cloud, but were still unable to discern
traces of the pieces of light falling into the forest.
Chapter 324
However, the surrounding changes were very visible. They clearly sensed that
the atmosphere became gradually more solemn, and at the same time, the life
energy didn’t seem as soft as before.
“Houu.”
A deep and low thundering sound echoed in front of them, and suddenly, an
immense figure rushed straight at Long Haochen.
This figure jumped from a tree above, and appeared so suddenly that even
with his superior senses, Long Haochen didn’t notice its presence in
advance.
“Don’t move, everyone!” Stepping forward, Long Haochen took out the Glorious
Holy Shield, holding it vertically.
With a loud bang, Long Haochen’s body was propelled backwards, and both of
his feet left deep marks on the ground. However, that massive black
silhouette bounced back as well, landing nearby.
The intense light released from the technique Bright Vengence shone brightly
on Long Haochen’s figure, as he, without any intent to attack, recovered
Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light from his other hand.
“Don’t worry, my friend.” Long Haochen did the best to let his own voice
sound the gentlest possible, as he looked at that three meters tall figure.
This was actually the first magical beast they had encountered before, the
massive gorilla.
The gorilla clearly had a look filled with ill intent, but staring at Long
Haochen, he let out an appeased roar.
The Light Elemental Fairy Yating flew up to him, whispering something in the
gorilla’s ears.
Long Haochen didn’t understand the beast language, but Yating understood his
words. Thus, he immediately told her, “Yating, tell this friend that we
don’t have any evil intent. We only felt the changes on the Illusory
Paradise, and believed that our comrades could be in danger, thus came here
to help.”
Yating rapidly translated Long Haochen’s words to the gorilla, who slowly
walked in front of Long Haochen, doing a thumbs up gesture like the last
time.
Long Haochen didn’t have any hesitation to push his own hand against his
finger, showing an honest expression.
He vaguely understood that the gorilla was able to sense the intentions in
it’s enemies’ hearts through some method.
Long Haochen truly didn’t have any evil intent, and being the innately
kind-hearted Scion of Light, he was purely filled with clean thoughts, to
the point that probably no one among all humans could compare to him in that
regard. A short time later, the loathing and angered look in the gorilla’s
eyes vanished gradually, as he nodded in Long Haochen’s direction before
heading back to the depths of the forest.
Yating immediately transmitted to Long Haochen the message to follow him.
Under Long Haochen’s lead, everyone rapidly followed the gorilla, heading in
the dense forest.
After walking for less than a hundred meters, they saw some formidable
magical beasts with visibly irascible looks, who immediately showed
aggressive reactions upon seeing Long Haochen’s group of outsiders.
It was a chance that they had that gorilla to lead the way. With a low
bellow of his, all the hostility towards Long Haochen vanished.
Looking at the magical beasts around him, Long Haochen noticed to his
astonishment that these magical beasts were all around the seventh or the
eighth rank in strength. There weren’t any especially powerful existences
among them, but their strength resided in their quantity, as they were close
to twenty in number. On top of that, these magical beasts were advancing in
the same direction as them, towards the multicolored shiny cloud.
Looking at Long Haochen, Zhang Fangfang couldn’t help but be filled with
respect. The experience they had right before vindicated Long Haochen’s
choice. What had astounded him the most was that Long Haochen had actually
established a peaceful relationship with those extremely fierce magical
beasts, and clearly obtained their acknowledgement. No matter what, this was
something he couldn’t even have thought of.
In truth, this was the first time someone obtained the true acknowledgement
of the magical beasts from the Illusory Paradise like Long Haochen did. The
process of how he achieved this was however actually pretty simple; first,
he made the right choice to treat the magical beasts as well as the
environment in the Illusory Paradise with respect, never committing any
destructive act. This way, he at least hadn’t roused any ill will from the
magical beasts. As for the second point why he had gained its
acknowledgement, it was simply due to the physique Long Haochen had as the
Scion of Light.
What was acknowledged by the Illusory Paradise was not simply the status as
Scion of Light possessed by Long Haochen, but the status as Scion of Nature
which was extremely rarely seen, and enabled the bearer to reach the utmost
level of harmony with nature.
Undoubtedly, the existence of a Scion of Nature was even less probable than
that of a Scion of Light, but it didn’t mean that it hadn’t appeared before.
The previous Scion of Nature to appear was the founder of the Illusory
Paradise, the goddess of nature. Thus, she should be called Daughter of
Nature.
Following possessors of a physique such as that of the Scion of Nature, the
next ones to follow in the ranking would be the two most related to the
energy of life, water and light. Those were even above the wood and earth
element in importance. As the Scion of Light, Long Haochen naturally showed
concern towards the Illusory Paradise, and the test given to him by the
gorilla was a test the Illusory Paradise itself gave to him. After passing
it by relying on his sincere nature, he had gained the acknowledgement of
the Illusory Paradise and all its inhabitants. Since they managed to blend
with the inhabitants of the Illusory Paradise, this implied that the rather
weak group of Long Haochen gained the support of the Illusory Paradise.
This thought didn’t cause Long Haochen to relax. It instead increased his
worries towards the rules of the Illusory Paradise even further.
After a day of contact, he discovered that although the Illusory Paradise
restricted the strength of its visitors, it also restricted the strength of
the residents in the same way. Otherwise, given the massive life spiritual
energy in the Illusory Paradise, how could it be that no magical beast had
reached the ninth or the tenth step?
Although these magical beasts weren’t few in quantity, could they really
resist a group as strong as Ah’Bao’s?
Long Haochen had personally experienced the formidable strength of Ah’Bao,
and clearly understood that he had only managed to injure Ah’Bao because of
the element of surprise. But in an open one against one battle, Long Haochen
actually wouldn’t stand a chance against Ah’Bao.
It could be said that because of their own secrets, Ah’Bao’s strength was in
fact not that strongly restricted by the rules of the Illusory Paradise.
With the addition of Long Haochen’s squad, perhaps they could resist them as
a group, but if the demons were determined to attack the magical beasts’
ranks to get the multicolored spiritual stove, it would be a hard task to
defend themselves.
Under the lead of the gorilla, they gradually penetrated into the denser
jungle, and less than half an hour after their entrance, strong fluctuations
of spiritual energy already affected Long Haochen’s senses. The battle had
started, and it felt extremely intense. However, the most critical part was
that he sensed no other existence except from those of darkness and life
spiritual energy.
Long Haochen clearly understood what this implied. It most likely meant that
from the original Alliance group, only Cai’er, Zhang Fangfang and he himself
were still alive.
The darkness energy unmistakably belonged to the demons, and no matter which
element the magical beasts of the Illusory Paradise had, they all possessed
a strong amount of life energy. With the support of the Illusory Paradise,
Long Haochen’s judgement couldn’t be mistaken.
After passing through a large forest of shrubs, the battlefield appeared in
front of them.
It was set on a little hill, surrounded by hundreds of magical beasts. The
most surprising thing was that these magical beasts were absolutely not
frantic, but instead appeared very organised. They didn’t even produced the
slightest sound or superfluous noise of rage.
On the other side was naturally the demon group. Ah’Bao appeared once again
in Long Haochen’s line of sight, his injury already healed. Even the demon
that the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad had heavily injured, had
recovered as well. After a simple count, the total number of demons present
was nine.
That was to say that with the exception of the fiend, who had used the blue
flames and had been killed by Long Haochen’s group, the demons didn’t suffer
any losses even after the past day of trial. And, they all had assimilated
spiritual stoves.
“So everyone else is dead without exception?” Behind him, Zhang Fangfang
revealed a bitter smile. In fact, this time, there had been a lot of
captains from commander grade Demon Hunt Squad among the Alliance’s group.
The death of seven of them would be a severe blow to the Demon Hunt Squads.
The present situation was very clear. The objective of Ah’Bao’s group was to
reach the hundred meters tall hill, and the magical beasts bravely blocked
their way forward. The battle was extremely fierce, and although the magical
beasts couldn’t compare to the demons in individual strength, their
coordination was extremely good. They were neatly organized and surrounded
the demons from all sides. Their cooperation was the determining factor in
blocking the demons’ way.
The gorilla let out a furious roar, looking back at Long Haochen’s group
before rushing to the hill.
Long Haochen and his comrades followed with haste. Because the gorilla was
opening the way, roaring lowly, the magical beasts battling the demons
didn’t block their way.
As they appeared, Long Haochen’s group naturally attracted Ah’Bao’s
attention. Seeing them, he actually went straight for the mountain.
Determination filled Ah’Bao’s eyes. Transforming his arms into a pair of
dragon claws, he tore a magical beast to shreds, leading the other eight to
charge at great speed.
Right at that time, a resonant sound was clearly heard on these hills, and
the attacks from the magical beasts instantly became a lot fiercer. With
united strength they forcibly drove the demons back to their original place.
On the top of the hill, a six or seven years old looking girl emerged.
Shehad a cute jade-like appearance. Her skin looked fair, and her most
noticeable trait was her baby-face. Her long light blue hair was braided
into twintails, and with a slight movement of her hand, she pointed her
tender finger downwards. As she spoke, her voice sounded quite frail.
She’s commanding the magical beasts? Long Haochen looked at this young lady
with shock, following the gorilla to the peak of the mountain.
The smell of life energy was even more vigorous here, and came with an
exuberant feel. That beautiful young lady’s face was however filled with
anger, and her big dark green eyes were filled with great determination.
Chapter 325
The gorilla came to her side, naturally looking at her with a lot of
confidence, letting out a low shriek.
Hearing the gorilla, the young lady turned her head to look at Long
Haochen’s group. Her gaze wandered over every member, stopping at Long
Haochen only a second later. Her dark green eyes were immediately filled
with an intense shock.
“Human, you’re the Scion of Light?” The young girl said these words in a
very clear voice.
Long Haochen nodded, “Hello, little sister. We have come here to help you.
What do you need us to do?”
He didn’t immediately give the others the order to join the battle, because
he could see that this young girl had a good control over the battlefield.
Under her lead, the casualties among the magical beasts were optimally
minimized, and the demons were surrounded in an efficient way. In this
situation, their addition would perhaps not be beneficial.
The little girl revealed a happy smile, replying, “Finally, there are some
good news. That’s perfect. Scion of Light, protect me for now, please. Let’s
talk after I turn this filthy group into nutriments for the Heavens.”
“Okay.” Long Haochen gave a straight reply. He took position near the young
girl, and watched the battle in the distance from the hilltop, while giving
simple orders to have his comrades cultivate.
“I am Long Haochen. You can call me directly by my first name.” Long Haochen
told her with a smile.
As the girl commanded the battle, she turned her head and replied, “I am Ye
Xiaolei. Although I don’t really like this name, it has been chosen by my
older sister for me, and I cannot change it. You can call me Xiaolei.”
After saying this, her voice turned odd, issuing a series of orders. The
magical beasts below once again changed their formation, increasing their
aggression. At that moment, magical beasts kept joining the battle on the
hillside. It looked like the nine demons wouldn’t were pressured hard. And
furthermore, their battle power would be consumed as the battle kept going
on.
Zhang Fangfang stood on the side, tightly compressing his lips. He was
currently filled with complete shock. It was the same for the others who
also had unusual expressions on their faces, occasionally peaking a glance
towards the young girl.
The reason for this was simple, it was because that so-called Ye Xiaolei
girl emitted a faint multi-colored radiance. But except from her, no other
multicolored existence was on this hilltop.
Could she be the multicolored radiance that descended from the sky?
Zhang Fangfang had another issue he was puzzled over. Why would this young
girl call Long Haochen Scion of Light? It could be said that they already
held a considerable advantage because they were on the side of the Illusory
Paradise! But how did Long Haochen manage to achieve this so smoothly?
The battle kept going on, and Long Haochen cautiously watched Ye Xiaolei’s
command. Although he didn’t understand the language used by Ye Xiaolei, he
could determine her commanding patterns.
Ye Xiaolei’s orders were actually not that complicated. First of all, she
made these magical beast act as a whole, just the same as an army in battle,
not letting them break ranks.
This way there wouldn’t be any meaningless sacrifices.
On the frontlines were magical beasts with astonishing defensive strength
that could meet force with force, attacking the demons head-on, whereas the
magical beasts on the rear were adept in magical attacks. This sort of
battle formation was the same as the one used by humans.
More importantly, when the magical beasts in the front received severe
wounds, Ye Xiaolei would immediately order them to draw back and retreat to
the rear, joining some magical beast specialized in healing. Conjuring layer
upon layer of green radiance, they would quickly heal the wounds, before the
recovered magical beasts would return in battle.
Every time a powerful ability was launched by the group of nine demons, Ye
Xiaomo would then put all her energy into ordering the magical beasts to
retreat or launch their own wildest attacks, to either evade, block, or
break through the enemies’ abilities.
The group of nine demons couldn’t be said to have such great coordination,
but their individual strength was high. Even the strength of Yue Ye was a
lot greater than in the past. Ah’Bao was all the more powerful, to the point
that the magical beasts were unable to cause any damage to him. But even
under those circumstances, they were being held back, unable to break
through the magical beasts’ ranks, and the damage they managed to inflict to
the magical beasts was limited as well.
Long Haochen had originally been unable to calm down, but with a commander
such as Ya Xiaolei here, even those strong demons had a hard time assaulting
them. This was after all the Illusory Paradise, her home ground.
However, Long Haochen also felt curious about the identity of this Ye
Xiaolei.
The multi-colored light she emitted implied that she was very possibly the
origin of the multi-colored cloud of light which had been soaring in the
sky. However, how was it that she was shaped like a human. Could it be that
she…
At this point, Long Haochen felt some astonishment deep inside, thinking
about the words his father had told him before, regarding the tiers of
spiritual stoves.
Long Xingyu had told Long Haochen that spiritual stoves were also classified
into tiers, encompassing five different levels. Among them, the Saint
Spiritual Stove Long Haochen possessed only reached the fifth, which was
also the lowest one.
The tiers of spiritual stoves were divided based on their utility as well as
their might and potential for growth, and also their overall evaluation.
The reason why the Saint Spiritual Stove was only at the fifth tier was that
its particular nurturing ability had never been published by the Knight
Temple, or else, it would very possibly have reached the third tier.
The great majority of the spiritual stoves of the fifth tier were either
defensive or support-oriented, but very few were offensive spiritual stoves.
Generally, they only carried a single ability, and had merely a possibility
of evolving twice. The Saint Spiritual Stove was the only exception to this
among spiritual stoves of the fifth tier. In the opinion of a lot of people,
the greatest utility of the Saint Spiritual Stove lied in its use by a user
with a relatively low level of cultivation, acting as the core of his team.
However, with the increase of one’s cultivation, the Saint Spiritual Stove’s
utility will decrease.
At the fourth tier, diverse spiritual stoves would be present. The
overwhelming majority of them didn’t only possess one ability, and this was
their main difference with the spiritual stoves of the fifth tier.
Spiritual stoves of the third tier also possessed two or more abilities, and
were bound to reach a certain level of power in battle. The Saint Spiritual
Stove Long Haochen possessed only had a pulling or attracting ability, whose
ranges were also limited. They were effectful, but they couldn’t be called
really powerful.
Cai’er’s Thousand Strikes Spiritual Stove belonged to the third tier. It was
just that it had yet to evolve, which was the reason why the Thousand
Strikes Spiritual Stoves was at the moment only able to activate a single
offensive ability. However, in case she managed to let it evolve, the
Thousand Strikes Spiritual Stove would gain a great amount of strength.
At the second tier were the most powerful spiritual stoves known to humans.
Among the seventy-four spiritual stoves known in total, only seven reached
this tier, each of which had at the least three abilities. Of course, their
backlash effects were also be quite severe. There were also some with a
single ability among this tier, but it would be an ability with incomparable
power. Like for instance the Spiritual Stove which Cai’er’s father
possessed.
Being able to get a spiritual stove of the third tier would let the user’s
strength rise by a wide margin. As for a spiritual stove of the second tier,
it was even known as having the ability of turning around an undesirable
situation in times of war. And furthermore, the higher ranked the spiritual
stove was, the more would it increase the user’s strength.
If Sheng Lingxin had attained the ninth step of cultivation, even inflicting
damage to demon gods among the top ten in the ranking wouldn’t be impossible
by using his Spiritual Stove of Return to Childhood.
As for spiritual stoves of the first tier, only one existed at the present
time, and it was Cai’er’s Spiritual Stove of Samsara.
Spiritual stoves of the first tier weren’t classified as such for the number
of abilities they possessed, but for the bursting power erupting when they
were unleashed. The requirements for a spiritual stove to be classified at
the first tier were very simple, it only had to make up for two steps of
difference.
If a spiritual stove could permit its user to kill powerhouses two steps
above their own cultivation, this spiritual stove would then be ranked at
the first tier. Until this day, only Cai’er’s Spiritual Stove of Samsara had
managed to fulfill these criteria. Of course, its backlash was also very
well known to Long Haochen.
At that time, when Long Xingyu had told Long Haochen about the five tiers of
spiritual stoves, he had also told Long Haochen a last thing; that in
legends, another type of spiritual stoves existed, which could even exceed
the first tier. However, it had been said to have only appeared in legends.
It had never existed in the history of the Temple Alliance, but it had been
reported that once in the Glorious Era, the emperor of the most powerful of
the three empires had possessed that kind of spiritual stove.
In legends, that type of spiritual stove was known as intelligent spiritual
stove. That was to say that the main body of the spiritual stove didn’t take
the shape of a heavenly treasure, but had a genuine living body, possessing
advanced knowledge and intelligence. The possible evolutions for such a
spiritual stove were unlimited, thus making its assessment hard.
However, Long Haochen had assumed at that time that this kind of spiritual
stove was only part of legends and nothing more. But it didn’t mean that it
couldn’t appear.
Looking at the commanding Ye Xiaolei, Long Haochen couldn’t help but feel
secretly astonished. Could this young girl be one of the legendary spiritual
stoves Father spoke about?
He couldn’t ascertain it, but if this was true, Ye Xiaolei’s identity
wouldn’t be hard to predict. The older sister she just spoke about would
then be the founder of this Illusory Paradise, whereas she should be its
guardian.
Even with Long Hoachen’s disposition, he felt dazzled just by thinking about
that. An intelligent spiritual stove, even surpassing Cai’er’s Spiritual
Stove of Samsara! However, he quickly stopped himself from having such
thoughts. No matter what, he couldn’t do anything detrimental to this young
girl, and couldn’t permit anyone to do so either.
This feeling was truly sincere, and had emerged when Long Haochen had seen
Ye Xiaolei for the first time. He didn’t know where this feeling came from,
but it caused a change in his own heart, bestowing smile on his face. It was
a feeling that gave him comfort and ease.
However, it was only the kind of feeling one gets from accomplishing good
deeds. Not deeds one would do for the sake of some reward or to heighten
oneself, but deeds coming from the depth of one’s heart. This would put one
at ease, and set his mind at rest.
Chapter 326
Just when Long Haochen was deeply pondering, a change appeared on the
battlefield below.
Completely suppressed by the magical beasts, the strength of the nine demons
suddenly weakened, and the magical beasts attacking them suddenly pulled
back.
There was a simple reason for the sudden decrease in the strength of their
attacks. Ah’Bao suddenly showed signs of withdrawing, placing himself in the
midst of his allies. His body was covered by an orange glint, and it looked
as if the demon, who had been wounded by the 21st general grade Demon Hunt
Squad, was telling him something at the same time. His expression was as
indifferent as before, but the orange spell was visibly not as peaceful.
“Be careful, they are most likely preparing something.” Long Haochen told
the nearby Ye Xiaolei in a low voice.
“Yeah.” Ye Xiaolei gave a calm reply, but her expression immediately became
extremely serious. Although nothing had happened yet, she also felt
something was amiss.
Even from such a distance, Long Haochen could faintly feel that the energy
surrounding Ah’Bao felt just like that of someone about to use a forbidden
spell. That orange demon’s spell seemed to resist its activation, as if it
wanted to reverse the situation on the battlefield. But at that time, signs
of dispute seemed to appear between the two demons.
This is abnormal! If Ah’Bao is the prince of the Devil Dragons, would his
words really get refuted? Unless…
“Be careful, they are probably trying to break the restrictions of the
Illusory Paradise.” Long Haochen said hastily.
Right at that time, that demon mage was finally persuaded by Ah’Bao,
returning its attention back to the battle. Now, an orange radiance was
released from their bodies.
That orange color wasn’t really intense, but it was strong enough to give a
strange feeling. The breath of life seemed to freeze fazed by the appearance
of that orange color. More astonishing, this radiance looked like its
strength didn’t exceed the ten thousand units of spiritual energy.
How could this happen?
Both Long Haochen and Ye Xiaolei seemed at a loss. They had felt the
pressure of this orange radiance before, but how was it that it still
remained within the scope of the restriction?
Zhang Fangfang suddenly said, “A Star Demon! That person is probably a Star
Demon. Be careful, he is using the Technique of Great Prophecy.”
Hearing the words Great Prophecy, huge changes immediately appeared on Long
Haochen’s face. The Technique of Great Prophecy was a powerful magic
specific to the Star Clan, which only the Star Demon God’s direct lineage
was able to use. It came with a compensation so high that even the Star
Demon God himself had to pay with a part of his life essence to use it. But
without the support from the Demon God Pillar, using the Technique of Great
Prophecy would cost the user his life.
The Technique of Great Prophecy didn’t really belong to the magic category,
but couldn’t really be rated otherwise either. It could instead be called a
godly technique. Would the use of this technique enable him to avoid
breaking the rules of this place?
Right at that time, Ye Xiaolei suddenly shivered at Long Haochen’s side.
Immediately afterwards, the multicolored glow from her became more intense,
and a tyrannical breath of life was emitted from her, spreading in every
direction. At that time, Long Haochen’s group of eight noticed with
astonishment that their own spiritual energy was instantly strengthened.
This wasn’t a simple restoration of spiritual energy, but their spiritual
energy was just increasing in the same way as if they were cultivating.
Long Haochen, Cai’er and Zhang Fangfang were better off, and the three of
them felt with a nice surprise an increase of their own strength at a rate
of ten units of spiritual energy per second. In a few seconds, their
spiritual energy had already risen hundreds of units.
But the other five felt totally different.
Lin Xin, Wang Yuanyuan, Sima Xian, Han Yu and Chen Ying’er were currently at
the peak of the fifth step, and this sudden increase of spiritual energy
caused them to feel that the bottleneck that had been limiting them was
being shaken.
As intelligent people, how could they not grasp such an opportunity?
Immediately rushing their spiritual energy, they made an all out effort to
break through.
The breath of life released from Ye Xiaolei wasn’t only powerful, but also
gentle, and was easily accepted by any existence of a different attribute
than death and darkness. Absorbing such a massive breath of life was the
same as absorbing an elixir, causing an instant burst in strength. Even to a
powerhouse such as Ah’Bao, resisting this would take some time and effort.
Without a doubt, Ye Xiaolei started to go all out after sensing the crisis.
However, on the other side, that orange light also looked increasingly
intense, and in the sky, a large orange star-shaped pattern appeared,
carrying intense and strong glitters of stars. Every time it glittered in
the sky, Ye Xiaolei’s face would look somewhat paler.
“Long Haochen, this technique of Great Prophecy is sealing me. The seal will
last for an hour. Protect me, just for this hour. When I throw it off again,
they will all die.”
Ye Xiaolei’s frail and childish voice was filled with rage and
determination, but she slowly sat in a cross-legged fashion, placed her
palms together on her chest and shut her eyes.
At that time, the breath of life from her increased severalfold, turning
into the shape of a green ring of light spreading onwards.
A sort of moaning sound came out from Lin Xin, Wang Yuanyuan, Sima Xian,
Chen Ying’er and Han Yu, and pairs of spiritual wings extended from the five
of them for the first time. This was the crucial time of their breakthrough,
the opening of their spiritual cavities.
The gift Ye Xiaolei offered them was invaluable, helping the five of them to
break through the bottleneck of the sixth step. If they had cultivated
normally, even several more months wouldn’t necessarily have been enough for
them to accomplish this.
However, at the time she released the green ring of light, Ye Xiaolei’s body
was surrounded by an orange light, sealing her inside and stopping all the
aura from surging out.
The Technique of Great Prophecy was an extremely powerful godly technique,
of incredible and various uses. With such immense compensation cost, how
could its power be lacking?
Simply said, if it was used on an ordinary person, and if the chosen
prophecy was death, it would just cause immediate death.
But Ye Xiaolei was not an ordinary person. At that time, even the technique
of Great Prophecy used on her could only temporarily seal her and nothing
more.
At the same moment the seal closed, a loud bang suddenly erupted on the
demon that used the technique of Great Prophecy, echoing in the air. As a
rain of blood splattered in the air, dozens of magical beasts rushed forward
like arrows.
This was the great cost that came with the technique of Great Prophecy.
However, relying on it could undoubtedly change the whole situation on the
battlefield.
Along with his death, two soft spiritual stoves as well as an orange Crown
of Heritage were set free. It was clearly the sign of his status as a Star
Demon as well as his reaps from this travel to the Illusory Paradise.
Ah’Bao’s face became grave and stern, but this was absolutely not because he
was moved by his comrade’s death. It was by swearing an oath that he had
gotten this ally to use the Technique of Great Prophecy at the crucial time.
Although the cost they paid was considerable, if they managed to obtained Ye
Xiaolei that stood on top of the mountain, it would have been worth it. It
was not just him, but even the Demon God Emperor would covet Ye Xiaolei.
The demons didn’t spare any cost to attack the Southern City’s Mountain
Pass, also devoting a lot on this trade with the Temple Alliance. For them
to dispatch ten demons to enter the Illusory Paradise, there had only been
one goal, and that was Ye Xiaolei.
The Temple Alliance’s side believed themselves to have the advantage in this
trade, but they didn’t know that Ye Xiaolei was of utter importance to the
demons, and particularly to the Demon God Emperor. However, this secret was
only known to the Demon God Emperor and Ah’Bao, who shared a father and son
relationship.
Having lost Ye Xiaolei’s lead, the magical beasts’ attack became frantic.
Filled with wrath, they initiated mad attacks at the demons. Although they
contained a great level of strength, after the loss of their coordination,
their efforts became fruitless.
A purple glow was released from Ah’Bao’s eyes, enveloping the seven of them
in its range, and all of the group was immediately surrounded by a purple
black haze.
However, no matter whether it was in terms of attack or defense, they
immediately reached their peak condition, and started to do carnage. The
magical beasts that came in contact with Ah’Bao’s powerful limbs became
unceasingly torn to shreds, and from his chest emerged a black longsword,
which wasn’t grasped in his hand, but autonomously launched attacks while
floating in the air. With every attack from it, a magical beast would be
killed. This great might became the vanguard of their attack, until reaching
the hillside. At this point, all that was left were the limbs and corpses of
the magical beasts.
Long Haochen and his group stood motionlessly on the hilltop.
Zhang Fangfang looked at Long Haochen with some anxiety, but didn’t say
anything
The current Long Haochen had a very serious face, but still looked
unflustered, not showing any signs of acting. The battlefield underneath was
in total disarray, and the group of eight demons started to make a
breakthrough, but Long Haochen couldn’t act yet.
Five of them still needed time to adapt to the changes after their
breakthrough, having gained the boost from the spiritual cavities and the
spiritual wings. And furthermore, given how frantic the situation below was,
even if they joined, they couldn’t do very much. Because of Ye Xiaolei’s
sealing, the magical beast were totally out of their minds with rage.
Joining the melee could even be regarded as an enemy attack by them.
The breath of life released by Ye Xiaomo had caused a good increase to their
total amount of spiritual energy, in addition to having helped Lin Xin and
the other four to break through to the sixth step. Now they had to return
this gift. And furthermore, even if not for that, Long Haochen would still
give priority to the protection of his comrades. He had made his
preparations well, and if things didn’t go as planned, he would bring Ye
Xiaolei along with them to the Tower of Eternity.
Of course, that was just the last resort. Unless it reached the point of no
return, he would absolutely not do so, for the simple reason that although
the Tower of Eternity had holy properties, it was still filled with energy
of
death. It was impossible to predict which effect entering it would have on
her.
Chapter 327
Long Haochen turned his head to look at Zhang Fangfang, telling him in a
serious tone, “Brother Zhang, if things don’t go well, just activate the
Illusory Gem and leave, we have our own ways to return.”
Zhang Fangfang nodded in response. Seeing Long Haochen, he understood that
this young captain had a card up his sleeve, and had at least an escape plan
ready. This was related to the other party’s secrets so he naturally didn’t
ask.
Seeing the battlefield below, Long Haochen’s expression was severe. After
all, the magical beasts in the Illusory Paradise gained a burst of strength
from Ye Xiaolei’s boost, a group of them reaching the eighth rank, which was
approximately equivalent to the strength of human powerhouses of the seventh
step. Although they were mostly acting out of instinct, these hundreds of
magical beasts were up against a group of eight, surrounding them and
attacking fiercely.
But even in those circumstances, the battle went as a one-sided carnage.
Of the eight demons, Ah’Bao was in the middle and his fighting style was
simple and straight. The attacks of the magical beasts were totally useless
against him, and he didn’t avoid any, just launching his own attacks against
them. All the magical beasts in front of him would hardly escape the fate of
being torn to shreds. At the same time, he relied on his own strength to
block the overwhelming majority of the attacks directed at him, playing the
equivalent role as Long Haochen’s in his team.
At his side were two sturdy demons, resembling one another but, they didn’t
have human appearance. From afar, they looked like Earth Dragons, but with
smaller builds, only reaching two and a half meters in size, with long tail
behind their back.
However, the difference in build didn’t mean they were any weaker than Earth
Dragons in strength. In the opposite, their purely offensive combat methods
were actually not that much inferior to Ah’Bao. Their sturdy forearms and
their horn forming an obtuse angle were life-destroying weapons, while their
black scales gave them an extreme defensive strength.
Just by themselves, the three of them stopped all the attacks directed to
their group.
In the rear of the group of eight were three other close quarter warriors,
among which Leng Xiao acted as the core. At the two at the sides of Leng
Xiao were demons issued from variations of magical beasts. The first had an
imposing build, appearing like a giant bear. From his body, deep yellow
light was continuously released. At every rush from the magical beasts, he
would energetically stamp on the ground, launching intense shocking surges
of energy, causing even large areas of cracks to appear on the ground.
On Leng Xiao’s other side was a lion-shaped powerhouse with a human body,
also extremely tough in strength.
Yue Ye and another female mage were positioned between these two subgroups,
releasing their magic from there. Although the core of the entire team was
Ah’Bao, its conductor was Yue Ye. The staff in her hands was exchanged for a
deep purple one, and intense surges of magic spread continuously from it,
giving the other demons a magic boost while healing them.
The other demon female at her side was clad in red, looking the same as a
human, with the exception that her temper was a lot more fiery. Her figure
was quite something, particularly her watermelon-like chest, combined with
her slim waist and her rising butt. This figure reached a level a human
wouldn’t possibly be able to reach.
On her hand were two coral-shaped staves, shaking in the air and dark red
glows were continuously shot from it. All the magical beast victims of her
attacks were pulverized with an extremely great power, and all she used were
single-target attacks; no large scale attacks were launched by her.
The level of coordination these eight achieved could definitely not be
called perfect, and obviously, it hadn’t been for a long time since that
they formed a team. However, under Yue Ye’s lead, they didn’t have any
loophole. But even if there was, their overwhelming dominance in strength
would be enough to make up for that.
After this short observation, Long Haochen discovered their secret. In fact,
with the exception of Yue Ye and that red-clad red haired girl whose
identity was unclear, the other demons definitely reached a phenomenal level
of external spiritual energy, reducing all of the magical beasts into a
disadvantageous position.
After the loss of Ye Xiaolei’s lead, the attacks from the magical beasts
gradually became more and more chaotic. This lump of frantic attacks lost
all discipline, and without a brain to lead the armies, they ended up only
being pushed by these eight demons. No matter how berserk their attacks
were, they were still unable to stop the advance of the group of demons.
Long Haochen was standing on the mountain top, still motionless, only
occasionally looking at Yue Ye. If he could command the magical beast,
perhaps they could still stop the enemies like they did before, but he
couldn’t. All he could do now was to rely on the terrain to try to stall for
time.
An hour was a very long period of time, and under the influence of Ah’Bao’s
spell, these demon powerhouses didn’t feel the least exhausted, pushing
forward every second. Every step they took forward, quite a few magical
beast’s blood and internal organs would scatter in the air.
After the sealing of Ye Xiaolei by the Great Prophecy Technique, the
reinforcements of magical beasts surging from all directions lessened. This
was another piece of bad news.
Cai’er calmly joined Long Haochen’s side, telling him in low voice,
“Should this be done?”
Although she didn’t put it clearly in words, Long Haochen understood what
she meant, and lightly shook his head in response, “Now is not the time
yet.”
Cai’er lowered her head, and didn’t say anything more.
Long Haochen turned back to Han Yu, doing a hand gesture to him.
Han Yu immediately understood his meaning, and joined his side, stating the
chant of a slow incantation. Meanwhile, Yating who was behind Long Haochen
also started to chant.
At this moment, the group of eight demons was gradually closing the distance
between the hilltop. Of course, as they advanced, the attacks of the magical
beast became even more frantic. With the rise of the danger facing Ye
Xiaolei, they wouldn’t shrink even if they had to sacrifice their own lives.
A faint mantle of light spread from the mountain, shrouding the battlefield.
Getting moisturized by this golden light, the injuries sustained by the
magical beasts were immediately healed to a certain extent, and their power
increased to some extent.
Immediately, another even more intense surge of light was sprinkled, and
even more magical beasts were healed to an even greater extent. This sudden
boost and recovery made the group of magical beast even more ferocious,
bringing the rush of the group of eight demons to a stop.
These two spells naturally came from Long Haochen and Han Yu. Although Long
Haochen wasn’t capable of using large-scale healing magic, Yating could!
Although she couldn’t directly use magic by herself, she transmitted the
spell to Long Haochen after completing its incantation.
Ever since they met Ye Xiaolei, it seemed as if they had become a part of
the Illusory Paradise, obtaining the full support from the latter. In these
circumstances, everyone recovered their spiritual energy at a greatly
accelerated speed.
Long Haochen turned around, calling Chen Ying’er to join him and mumbling
something in her ears.
After staying sluggish for a short time, Chen Ying’er nodded in response.
The look she gave Long Haochen suddenly became quite different.
Sima Xian and Wang Yuanyuan were already at either side of Long Haochen,
prepared well. It seemed that the enemies were now only at a distance of a
hundred meters, but this could be covered in a few dashes by a powerhouse.
Healing spells started to emanate unceasingly from the mountain, and the
magical beasts receiving its effects didn’t only recover from their
injuries, but also calmed down from their frenetic state. To them, the fact
that healing magic was released from the top of the mountain implied that Ye
Xiaolei was all right. And so long as they could maintain their own
judgement, the powerhouses before them were nothing to fear.
Long Haochen told Yating, “Use the language they can understand to tell them
that Ye Xiaolei is only temporarily sealed, and will need some time to
liberate herself. We’ll need to delay the enemy for at least an hour.”
Yating nodded lightly, flying in front of Long Haochen and grumbling some
words. Under the effects of the light essence, her voice was spread afar.
Hearing Yating’s voice, the group of magical beast immediately burst out in
utter rage. The fact that Ye Xiaolei had been sealed by these enemies was to
them a total disgrace. But their morale was instantly raised up, and
supported by the healing spells from the mountain, the magical beasts’
attacks became more co-ordinated.
It wasn’t that Long Haochen hadn’t thought about commanding these magical
beasts with Yating’s help, but in these circumstances, this would obviously
not show very good results. This was because he was absolutely not familiar
with these magical beasts, not knowing about their specialities let alone
their names. If he really commanded them, the group of magical beasts would
perhaps become even more confused. Thus, what he could do was only to give
these magical beast a healing support and to raise their morale.
On the other side, Chen Ying’er had at some point sat on the ground, with
the little pig McDull sitting on her lap. The girl and the beast seemed to
be communicating over something, and immediately, Chen Ying’er took out some
huge magical crystals, placing them in front of McDull.
McDull appeared somewhat surprised, but quickly made up his resolve under
Chen Ying’er’s encouragement. Watching those magical crystal that were
clearly at the seventh rank, he shut his eyes.
Zhang Fangfang also joined the ranks of the healers, only, his healing
spells were honestly speaking, far from reaching Han Yu’s level. After all,
he had in his own team a specialized healer, and didn’t need to give much
investment to the field of healing as a Guardian Knight. However, he was
after all a powerhouse at the peak of the sixth step, and was still capable
of a simple Great Recovery technique. Though large-scale healing spells were
unfamiliar to him, single targeted ones weren’t. His series of Great
Recoveries were aimed at the rather severely wounded magical beasts, and
gave support to the magical beasts beside Yating and Han Yu’s large-scale
healing.
With their help as well as the news that Ye Xiaolei was sealed, the magical
beasts forcibly held back the eight charging demons. In particular, the
large-scale healing abilities being of light element, their effects were no
different from offensive spells in the demons’ eyes. Although it was unable
to inflict real wounds to these demons, it still had the effect of weakening
Ah’Bao’s boosting spell that all his allies benefitted from.
Long Haochen gave a glance to the sky, before looking at Ye Xiaolei next,
hardening his inner determination and resolve.
This wasn’t his first time commanding a battle that could be said to reach
the scale of war, but this time was clearly the most dangerous. In case
Ah’Bao’s group of eight reached them, it would be hard to say for how long
they would be able to resist. At least for now their strength was still way
far from their grasp.
Chapter 328
However, with so many powerful magical beasts, their side managed to block
the main force of the enemies.
One hour; all they needed was one hour.
In a dim flicker of light, Long Haochen revealed an ice-cold look, looking
right into Ah’Bao’s eyes. Their looks clashed with each other in midair, as
if producing countless sparkles.
In terms of strength, Long Haochen was still far from an equal to him, but
he was not the slightest bit inferior to him in temperament, and in
particular, in terms of mental strength, Long Haochen was on par with the
other party.
Ah’Bao’s cold glace was concentrated on Long Haochen, but he was actually a
lot more shocked than the latter. His eyes were focused on Long Haochen’s
group over the mountain, that wasn’t blocked the slightest by the magical
beasts.
To him, this had to be the conspiracy from the humans. The fact Long Haochen
managed to bring so many people through the Illusory Paradise was already
above his expectations, but he saw atop of that that Long Haochen’s group
was clearly in perfect symbiosis with the magical beasts from the Illusory
Paradise. Not only were they not attacked by the magical beasts, but instead
had their support.
This was the most important reason that caused him to compel the other
powerhouse from the Star Demon Clan into using the Great Prophecy. The
arrival of Long Haochen’s group caused him to feel an intense surge of
crisis. In case Ye Xiaolei fell into their hands, all their past efforts
would have been for nothing. For this reason, he had no choice but to
sacrifice an extremely important comrade, and to make use of an oath for
that.
At that moment, their distance towards the peak of the mountain was
shrinking, and Ah’Bao had a very clear view of the terrain. It appeared that
Long Haochen’s group absolutely didn’t know the importance of Ye Xiaolei,
and that they just stood on her side. Their sole goal looked to be to stop
them and no more.
With this discovery, Ah’Bao finally relaxed. Although the magical beasts
surrounding them were a lot, he still had confidence in being able to break
through their ranks. Still having a deep impression from the wounds Long
Haochen left on him the day before, although he felt the desire to make him
yield, he still made the right decision at the crucial moment. However, this
didn’t mean that he didn’t hold any grudge. On the contrary, considering he
never had to suffer any wound for so many years, how could he accept the
fact that Long Haochen was the one to commit this offense towards him.
Giving a look to the top of the mountain, Ah’Bao’s attacks became all the
more powerful. Although they slowed down, their group still steadily
approached the hill.
Yue Ye occasionally looked to this hilltop. If one were to ask who was the
most unsteady person in the battlefield, that would definitely be her.
When she saw Long Haochen take part in that battle, she felt contrasted
feelings. Actually, what she wished the most for was to see Long Haochen’s
group emerge victorious. If Long Haochen’s group won, there wouldn’t be any
loss for her, but conversely, what if Long Haochen’s group was forced into
desperate straits? Then, wouldn’t she be the one to end up punished from
that? That frightful girl, full of murderous spirit, was also here, and
could take her life at any time.
If they really managed to make it through, and if Ah’Bao completed his goal,
she would be bound to an undoubtable death.
This won’t do, I have to do something. That guy from the Star Clan said that
his Great Prophecy would only persist for a hour. I have to help Long
Haochen’s group to stall for time.
At this point of thinking, Yue Ye’s offense and her command started to lose
gradually in power. Not only that, but she did an extremely critical
mistake, narrowly enabling a robust magical beast to break through their
ranks. Immediately, the entire formation of the eight demons started to be
in disorder to some extent.
Yue Ye obviously knew that she had no real way to block the advance of the
demon powerhouses, but given her intelligence, this was naturally done on
purpose, as an attempt to tell Long Haochen that she was doing her best to
help them.
“Yue Ye, what are you doing?” Ah’Bao shouted coldly, turning back and giving
her a ferocious glance. Quickly, a purplish black radiance fell onto Yue Ye,
causing her aura to gain in strength. Her magical force was instantly
restored to its peak.
“Thank you, Brother Bao. I am all right, be at ease…” Yue Ye told him in
appreciation.
As far as it went, the relationship between Yue Ye and Ah’Bao was very
subtle. Strictly speaking, she didn’t originally have any link with this
brother Bao, but due to some total coincidences, although she should
normally never have been able to meet Ah’Bao due to her secret identity as a
half-human, she came across him once.
Ah’Bao didn’t know how this could have happened either, but among the
countless beautiful demon women that were given for him to choose, the only
one to his liking was Yue Ye.
It was only that the matter of marriage between the two of them was totally
impossible. The Devil Dragon Clan was extremely exigent in the matter of the
purity of their bloodline, and generally, only members of the same clan
could be chosen as partner. Even if an outsider was taken as wife, she
wouldn’t become an official wife.
If Yue Ye was just an ordinary girl, things would be better off and she
would just become Ah’Bao’s woman. No matter from which clan she would be
from, this would be regarded only as a great honor, a glorious matter.
However, Yue Ye’s father was the Moon Demon God, second among all demon
gods! Given her position as the most beloved daughter of the Moon Demon God,
how could she be made a mere concubine for Ah’Bao?
Thus, the two of them had a very subtle relationship, and Ah’Bao argued
strongly on this matter with the Demon God Emperor many times personally.
Perhaps it was a thirst for something he couldn’t obtain, but he had the
absolute resolution to gain Yue Ye’s heart, and even expressed his absolute
will to make her his official wife.
For this reason, the Demon God Emperor almost crippled him from the right of
inheritance in an excess of rage. But unfortunately, the Demon God Emperor
only had this one son, and if he were to do that, the throne could only
possibly be given to Leng Xiao.
It had been nearly two years that the two of them, father and son, fought
over this matter.
The first time Long Haochen encountered Yue Ye, Leng Xiao had actually been
sent to bring a letter to Yue Ye from her brother.
First of all, Ah’Bao’s strength was a result of his identity as the crown
prince of the Devil Dragons, not only was he very powerful but also wise and
farsighted, and dearly liked by the Demon God Emperor. Seeing the
relationship between the two of them, as a son and his father, being
destroyed over a matter of marriage was something the Demon God Emperor was
completely unwilling to see.
Although Leng Xiao’s talent was also significant, it was still far from that
of Ah’Bao, especially since Ah’Bao revealed such talent lately over the
years, displaying a podigious burst of talent stemming from his lineage as a
Devil Dragon.
Demons were different from humans, when a human sovereign would see his own
son gain too much power, he would definitely try to reduce the strength of
this crown prince to deepen his own ruling, but the demons were exactly the
total opposite. Any demon ruler would be hoping to see his own son become
all the more powerful the earlier possible, and the very best to him would
be to see him have the ability to kill him for kingship.
Thus, the Demon God Emperor had finally been persuaded by his son, and ‘that
day’, it was for this matter of marriage that he came to look for the Moon
Demon God.
The Demon God Emperor’s deal was simple. He could let his son choose Yue Ye
as a formal wife, but in this case, his son would have to pick two women of
his own clan as concubines, and would have to pledge to all his clansmen
that his future successor would be picked in priority among the sons of
these concubines.
Given how great the Demon God Emperor’s position was among all the demon
race, being a little flexible like this wasn’t much of a matter to him. Even
if some disapproved, they would be suppressed by father and son, so this
matter could already be said to be considered as fixed.
Although the Demon God Emperor could be said to have reached these terms
with his son, this move actually came with two gains. Not only would it
satisfy his own son’s desire, but it would at the same time further deepen
the relationship between the Moon Demon God and himself, securing even
further his own position as the ruler.
Because of these changes, Ah’Bao managed to bring Yue Ye to participate
along in this operation. Otherwise, given Yue Ye’s strength, the demons
would naturally rather pick a more suitable individual than her.
As for Yue Ye, did she actually like Ah’Bao? No matter whether it was to the
Demon God Emperor or Ah’Bao, this matter was something the two of them had
basically not even put in consideration. Even the Moon Demon God didn’t give
a thought over that. From their opinion, this was simply not of any
consequence; after all, among all demons, was there even someone who could
compare with Ah’Bao?
It was actually because of the deep feelings that Ah’Bao held towards her
that Yue Ye felt fearless and dared make such a critical mistake. If this
was someone else, perhaps Ah’Bao would have just slapped him without any
reservation, but because it was her, he instead didn’t spare any cost to
heal her.
Brother Bao, you are really treating me well, but I wonder why, I just
cannot fall for you. Perhaps I can become your wife, but I actually don’t
love you. In my heart, you are more of an elder brother, not a husband.
Yue Ye secretly thought that she couldn’t keep doing mistakes forever
either, as this would appear too conspicuous. After she returned to her
normal state, the demons advance kept going in accordance.
However, it could also be seen at that time that after battling for so long,
the group of eight demons was starting to grow tired.
Yue Ye turned her head to look over the direction of the mountain, giving a
glance to Long Haochen who was standing there. The current Long Haochen was
just single-mindedly staring at Ah’Bao, not even giving Yue Ye a glance.
Seeing him, Yue Ye’s eyes started to look a bit blurry. She didn’t know
either about her own thoughts about Long Haochen, but she could at least be
sure that in her own heart, this young human knight appeared in a frequency
that surpassed that of Ah’Bao.
What’s to be done? Just what’s to be done for me in the end? Yue Ye secretly
sighed. Even given her intelligence, she was currently confused.
Long Haochen didn’t know that Yue Ye was subject to such internal struggles,
but seeing her previous performance, he naturally understood her intention.
Long Haochen already made the resolve not to let this girl be sacrificed.
Even if they had to be defeated in the end, he wouldn’t sacrifice Yue Ye.
This girl was very intelligent; having such an asset within demons was of
great value.
Cai’er also saw Yue Ye’s display, but her look toward her became colder.
This was because she happened to discern some hidden bitterness on her as
she looked at Long Haochen.
At that instant, she even had the instant urge to trigger the restriction
placed on Yue Ye, and kill her. She was just a too powerful a threat. In
terms of appearance, Yue Ye wasn’t the slightest inferior to Cai’er, and
even exceeded her in maturity.
Chapter 329
Girls understood other girls the best, and the most sensitive to them were
other girls. At that instant, Cai’er felt that Yue Ye didn’t treat Long
Haochen as a mere acquaintance. Although she had absolute confidence in Long
Haochen, that feeling still made her extremely uneasy.
Unconsciously, she drew closer to Long Haochen, and at that instant, Long
Haochen happened to turn his head, “Cai’er, listen to me. No matter what
happens, you are forbidden to trigger the power of your spiritual stove,
understood? If things don’t go well, I will take my chance and use the
Eternal Melody while bringing along Ye Xiaolei.
“Eh?” Cai’er turned back, her face appearing a bit red. It was a good thing
that she was wearing her veil, making her embarrassment not visible. I… Am I
actually feeling jealous?
Long Haochen asked with some surprise, “Cai’er, what’s up with you?”
Cai’er hastened to lower her head, “I am okay, I will do as you say.”
Believing that she was worrying about him, Long Haochen held her tightly,
“Let’s do our best. No matter how it ends up, we should at least try our
best for the Illusory Paradise.”
“Yeah.” Cai’er gave a light response, the jealousy inside of her
disappearing mysteriously along. That’s right! Why am I even getting so
insecure without any basis? Who would even be able to take him away from me?
He’s my only one fool after all.
On the field, the battle was become increasingly more violent. When Ah’Bao
discovered that the strength of his comrades had started to plummet, he
immediately came to the decision of stopping their advance. This way, their
pressure wouldn’t get reduced for some time. Meanwhile, one purple-black gem
after another came out from his chest, flying towards all of his allies.
These purple-black gems were of extremely great use to help elite demons to
recover. After every one of them took one, their recovery accelerated
immediately.
Lin Xin opened his eyes wide, “Are those demon pills? I really want to get
one to do some research.”
Wang Yuanyuan had an unhappy reaction, “Go then. No one is stopping you.”
Lin Xin revealed a playful smile, “How heartless from you! Yuanyuan, we are
part of the same group. How can you have the heart to send a lamb like me in
the tiger’s den.”
Wang Yuanyuan slightly smiled back, “Okay okay, don’t keep spreading
nonsense. They are drawing closer and closer, prepare for battle.”
Long Haochen had brought forth his Glorious Holy Shield along with Blue
Rain, Hibiscus of Light.
After taking those purplish black gems, the eight demon clearly recovered
their strength to some extent, and although the attacks from the magical
beasts were still as fierce as before, they were also starting to become
exhausted, and weren’t as bold and powerful as before anymore. Their numbers
continuously went down as well.
Without Ye Xiaolei, not only they lost their leader, but also their
persistent support and sustenance. According to their current speed, it
would take Ah’Bao at most ten more minutes. That was to say that Long
Haochen’s group of eight would need to hold for more than half an hour, but
was something hopelessly optimistic.
Lightly touching the Eternal Melody on his neck, Long Haochen sighed
secretly to himself. It looked like he would really have to make this
choice.
Of course, this was his last trump card, that he wouldn’t reveal unless it
was absolutely necessary.
Giving a look to Ye Xiaolei that still appeared enveloped in the orange
cover, Long Haochen suddenly remembered something he told his father before:
I want to become a Guardian Knight, because I want to protect those who are
precious to me.
Thinking about this, Long Haochen’s face clearly looked more relaxed.
Come, since it has come to this, just come at me.
Some orders started to be issued from him, and everyone rapidly organized in
a formation.
Chen Ying’er was seated right before Ye Xiaolei, together with her, and
surrounded by the others, protecting them in the middle of formation. The
little pig McDull seemed to have fallen asleep, and looked quite sound
asleep.
Long Haochen was the vanguard, followed by Zhang Fangfang himself followed
by Han Yu.
The three knights were unexpectedly standing in a row. On Long Haochen’s two
sides were Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian, and Cai’er disappeared gradually in
the air. Lin Xin was at the rear, currently mumbling an incantation. Since
there was the need for an incantation, he certainly wasn’t using some
offensive magic.
Every step Ah’Bao took would leave a deep footprint on the hills. His body
was already multi-colored from the blood of the magical beasts, but both of
his eyes appeared just as filled with gloom and emptiness as before, as if
all this slaughter was totally unrelated to him.
As the tiredness of his mates increased, the black gems only needed a short
moment to take effect, but increased the burden on Ah’Bao’s. Still, the
strength he displayed became even more terrifying.
Some damage appeared on the scales on his body; after all, it wasn’t as if
his body was unbreakable. However, his attacks also became all the more
violent.
After they passed halfway to the top of the mountain, the total number of
magical beasts killed in the hands of Ah’Bao’s men was already over his own
total. Corpses of magical beasts flew unceasingly, thrown by him in the air.
And that odd magic sword was already retrieved, for the sake of sparing
spiritual energy.
In fact, although Ah’Bao hadn’t really yet reached the ninth step in
strength, his internal spiritual energy still exceeded 50,000 units. In a
state of continuous consumption, more than half of his total reserves were
used up.
Of course, this was because they were in the Illusory Paradise. In this
place, Long Haochen’s group gained a severalfold increase in recovery,
whereas the demons couldn’t get any energy to replenish, and could only rely
on pills and techniques to recover their own spiritual energy.
Even so, this didn’t pose any challenge to him, still filled with confidence
in winning. After the sacrifice of two of his teammates, who were also
successors of the Star Clan and the Fiend Clan, he had to succeed no matter
what. As long as he returned back with Ye Xiaolei, then no matter whether it
would be the Demon God Emperor or himself, becoming the future ruler of the
whole continent would be no problem, or even to…
The distance to the hilltop was already close to fifty meters, and the gloom
in Ah’Bao’s eyes gradually took shape, and on his body appeared a special
aura, just like the aura that was full of light released by Long Haochen.
This aura was completely unyielding.
When identifying a target, he would go all out to forge a path towards it,
without ever cowering before it. Even with his head broken and blood
flowing, this reality wouldn’t change in any way.
An incapable being, even as the son of the Demon God Emperor, wouldn’t
possibly be able to rule the demons and succeed to the glory of the first
demon god.
As the distance was closing in, at the time they were about to reach the
hilltop, a dark golden radiance suddenly erupted.
That black golden essence was truly overly massive, a thick pillar of light
that extended over five kilometers afar. At the time it appeared, all the
light in the air instantly turned into darkness, and the instant of its
appearance, it was as if the sun was being extinguished.
The mountain range was completely enveloped in this dark golden color, and
all the Illusory Paradise seemed to become dark golden at once. Such a
sudden change even brought shock to the faces of the both the eight demon
powerhouses and to the magical beasts too.
The magical beasts were just filled with shock, but their attacks were still
just as rapid as before, but those eight demon powerhouses’ expressions
changed completely. Even the firmly determined and unyielding Ah’Bao
couldn’t help but fall back at that time, totally bewildered at this sight.
That dark golden pillar rapidly linked the sky and the earth, and its
surroundings were totally black. The dark golden color released from it gave
off a heaven-shattering might, filling the world with its light, making the
changes on it appear all the more distinct.
It was indeed really huge, to the point that even from these distant places,
its appearance could be recognized.
On the entirely dark golden massive pillar were countless strange symbols.
More importantly, a massive golden dragon was crawling on this huge pillar
of light.
This was clearly the symbol of the supreme ruler, the Demon God Emperor, his
first demon god pillar!
“His Highness! It’s His Highness.” The one speaking these words was the
Earth Dragon-shaped demon on the left side of Ah’Bao. He suddenly had a
fanatical look, and the same went for the similar demon on the right side.
These two went so far as to throw their heads onto the ground, immediately
paying respect.
That’s right, to demons, the Demon God Emperor was the absolute symbol. With
him here, who would possibly be able to harm them? What could these weak
magical beasts possibly do.
It wasn’t only the two of them that crawled onto the ground, but also the
bear and the lion-shaped demon powerhouses on either side of Leng Xiao. Only
Ah’Bao, Leng Xiao, Yue Ye and that red-clad red-eyed girl had bewildered
looks filled with uncertainty.
At the time these four demons finally crawled down to the ground, the
magical beasts that were in a state of shock received a very simple order
from Yating, in spiritual language, to attack!
The attacks from the magical beasts erupted once again, and at that time,
because the four demon powerhouses went bowing down, their entire formation
was immediately broken.
Bang.
A fearful magical beast with the shape of a large elephant abruptly lifted
up his paws, trampling fiercely on the back of one of the Earthworm-shaped
magical beasts.
Even with such powerful external spiritual energy, in such an exhausted
state, in addition to feeling the shock from seeing the first demon god
pillar, he basically didn’t have the time to defend.
An ear-piercing sound of cracking bones resounded, and this Earth
Dragon-like powerhouse had his chest entirely pierced with this stamping
attack. Although he wasn’t human-shaped, this was his vital part! At that
time, his internal organs were made mincemeat, thus even a forbidden ranked
healing spell wouldn’t be able to save him.
A look of disbelief drew on his widely opened eyes, and he murmured the
final words, “This… Can’t be… Your Highness, why… Discarding your own…
people…”
The other Earthworm-like powerhouse was a bit better off, as Ah’Bao saved
him at the crucial time.
“That’s not his Highness Demon God Emperor, but an illusion! Be prepared for
battle!”
Unfortunately, his instruction didn’t make it at time, and although he did
this rescuing act at time, the surrounding magical beasts were just far too
numerous.
The other Earthworm-shaped powerhouse had an arm and a leg crushed, and his
chest and head also sustained a heavy blow, he immediately lost
consciousness from the heavy blow.
The demons on the rear were better off as Leng Xiao and Yue Ye reacted
quickly. Yue Ye used a defensive spell at that time to protect that huge
bear. It wasn’t that she wanted to save him in particular, but the lion-type
demon had a defense that couldn’t compare with the bear-type, thus saving
him wouldn’t necessarily be of use.
The results were clear, the lion demon was torn to fragments by the demons,
whereas the bear was saved, but lost a paw in the act, and with frantic
counterattacks, Leng Xiao however barely managed to steady her position.
This change just happened too fast, aiming at the group of eight demons.
Even the very own son of the Demon God Emperor, Ah’Bao, couldn’t immediately
react to that.
On the hilltop, Zhang Fangfang looked totally dumbstruck. At the time the
deep golden pillar of light surged out, he was totally intimidated, to say
nothing of the demons below.
However, that dark golden pillar immediately vanished to nothingness.
The Demon God Emperor? There wasn’t even a shadow of him.
The small pig McDull appeared in Chen Ying’er’s arms with a worn out face,
immediately falling in deep sleep.
That was exactly Long Haochen’s plan, to have McDull imitate the Demon God
Emperor’ appearance to distract the attention of the eight demon
powerhouses.
But the final results even exceeded Long Haochen’s expectations. McDull
finally could be said to have failed his imitation, but even achieving the
mere imitation of the appearance of the terrifying demon god pillar
belonging to the Demon God Emperor was just too hard a task. It took up
three magical crystals of the seventh rank, and the imitation was just
rough, lasting for no more than ten seconds. In fact, McDull was supposed to
only be able to imitate one’s appearance, not his pressure and aura, or at
least was it so with his current level of cultivation. But even so, this
produced great results.
However, the demon powerhouses were still taken in, and this was exactly
because of the excessively majestic position of the Demon God Emperor to
their race.
It ended up with two dead, and two severely wounded demons, among one
severely wounded. One was just unconscious, but the other had a hand broken.
This was an extremely devastating blow to the whole demon group commanded by
Ah’Bao.
They had originally been advancing at a constant pace, but it took a mere
instant to suppress them to such extent. At this point, they wouldn’t be
able to keep advancing, and furthermore, the magical beasts’ attacks became
all the more violent, causing their group to be now unable to resist.
Long Haochen was looking from beginning to end at Ah’Bao, but he didn’t
immediately become optimistic just because of the present situation. Even a
cornered beast would keep fighting on, to say nothing of the crown prince of
the demons.
Ah’Bao’s originally unexpressive look suddenly became incomparably deep. The
demons familiar with him understood that this was the sign that his rage was
already reaching its ultimate peak.
The appearance of an imitation of a Demon God Emperor was an utter disgrace
to the demons, to say nothing that Ah’Bao clearly couldn’t accept the damage
that happened before his eyes.
The long purple-black sword appeared once again, but this time, it appeared
directly in Ah’Bao’s hand, while he carried his wounded ally in the other
hand. However, his killing intent now reached an unforeseen level. Each
attack of his now reached a peak level close to ten thousand units of
spiritual energy, with the entirety of his external spiritual energy
breaking out. The scales on his body continuously kept flickering in light.
It could be said that Ah’Bao managed to resist the attacks from the
overwhelming majority of the magical beasts with only his individual
strength. Right at that time, he suddenly let out a prolonged dragon cry,
and his tall and thin build suddenly changed in response, at a great speed.
Chapter 330
A prolonged dragon cry shook the whole field, accompanied with a series of
deep purple glows that abruptly spread out from Ah’Bao’s body, forcing the
attacks from the surrounding magical beast to an immediate stop, while
filling them in a temporary state of fear, causing them to draw back.
Taking advantage of this occasion, the remaining five demons that still had
some fighting strength gathered together, and with another dragon cry
ringing out at the same time as Ah’Bao, coming from Leng Xiao.
A heavy deep black spread out from them, and at this time it could be seen
the clear difference in their cultivation. The purplish black released from
Ah’Bao’s body was visibly a lot richer than that of Leng Xiao.
That purplish black sword floated form Ah’Bao’s hands during the time his
whole body metamorphosed, scales enlarging, and thickening. His originally
tyrannical just gained all the more substance.
Although his internal spiritual energy didn’t look to have increased, he
still gave a strong sense of danger to everyone.
Immense wings were spread out from his back, his four claws setting on the
ground, as his majestic and fierce terrible appearance landed in the midst
of the mountain.
Looking at the sky while echoing a dragon cry, Ah’Bao’s body expanded once
again, and from head to tail, reached now a size over ten meters in length.
Yue Ye slightly looked down, so that no one saw a flicker of hatred flash
through her eyes. To her, no matter how powerful Ah’Bao was, and how high
his position within demons was, he was still in the end a Devil Dragon in
truth. And that was to say that his current self was his true self. In
contrast, Yue Ye regarded herself primarily a human; the Moon Clan was also
very close to humans in terms of physique. This was all the more in her case
who carried some human blood, and held some hatred deep inside towards the
overwhelming majority of the demons.
Moments before, Ah’Bao gave that successor from the Star Clan the order to
use Great Prophecy, her original impression was that if one day Ah’Bao
encountered a threatening situation, even herself as his wife would get
discarded in the same way. To the demons who only thought about benefits,
this was highly possible. But would he actually do the same with his own
wife? Girls always have a different way of thinking, and in such an intense
battle, Yue Ye was however having a wild inner fight. And these thoughts
kept surging in her like the spring bamboo after the rain, and then raised
up her head again, looking all the more fervently towards a certain someone
on the hilltop.
Changes happened rapidly halfway up the hills, and although being ten meters
tall, the Devil Dragon didn’t not necessarily hold the advantage against the
surrounding magical beasts, but his real strength wasn’t something ordinary
magical beasts of the seventh or eighth rank could possibly compare with. In
particular, the boost they received from Ye Xiaolei was finally starting to
disappear with time.
With a dragon cry from Ah’Bao, the purplish black dark golden sword abruptly
disappeared, directly falling onto his forehead and taking the shape of a
long purplish black horn. Opening his mouth wide, he let out a purplish
black breath to the front.
With a loud bang, a violent explosion was produced, forcibly sending at
least three massive magical beasts flying into the sky, before actually
being disintegrated to nothing, as if melting instantly.
After he let out this breath, it could be distinctly seen that the horn on
Ah’Bao’s head was igniting like a black flame, the wings on his back
flapping abruptly in a rush towards the top of the hill.
In the instant he flapped his wings, he gave Yue Ye a glance downwards,
nodding to her.
Yue Ye obviously understood his meaning, shouting loudly, “Be careful!”
These two words were truly enjoyable in Ah’Bao’s ears. Even trapped in a
siege, seeing the concern of his beloved one set his fighting spirit further
aflame.
This call was however not seen in the same way from Long Haochen’s ears,
because Ah’Bao whose back was facing Yue Ye didn’t see that as she shouted
this, her look was actually totally directed to Long Haochen.
Ah’Bao erupted with the further increase in strength after revealing his
true body, as if returning to his original peak. Not only that, but the
external spiritual energy now reached its ultimate peak. Although his
internal spiritual energy was still peaked by 10,000 units, his physical
power was now totally incomparable with his human form. When the magical
beasts blocking his way clashed against him, they were directly reduced to
pieces, and the horn on his forehead was especially unyielding.
Taking a deep breath, Long Haochen calmly stamped on the ground, raising a
light fog surrounding all his body. It was precisely Storing Power.
It was not only him, but a similar fog of light also appeared under Han Yu
and Wang Yuanyuan’s bodies.
To a close quarter vocation, be it a warrior or a knight, the ability
Storing Power appeared perhaps of very little use, but in Long Haochen’s
hands, it could produce countless battle strategies.
Sima Xian slightly stepped back, not storing any power, but the Energetic
Ball of Light revolved around him at great speed. Lin Xin’s chant kept going
on since back then, not stopping at all, and actually kept going on. From
this, the level of difficulty of this spell could be clearly seen. His
forehead was already soaked in sweat. Having just broken through the sixth
step, this spell was truly challenging for him to use.
While there were still no traces of Cai’er, Chen Ying’er’s incantation
started, her two hand holding the crystall ball as the Creature Summoning
Gate started to open.
The eight of them all had their specialities, but they were now all focusing
on their strongest part, doing their utmost to resist the enemy’s attack.
Zhang Fangfang was also staring attentively. Although he was capable of
using Storing Power too, he actually didn’t use that, but stood there
calmly, staring at the magical beasts being frantically slaughtered in front
of Ah’Bao. In a very special state, his body was rapidly covered in fluid,
and in his left hand, his shield clearly gained a transparent appearance.
This was Brilliant Body, symbol of a knight of the seventh step. Although
Zhang Fangfang didn’t reach yet the seventh step in strength, being at the
peak of the sixth step, he could rely on his control over his spiritual
energy to barely use this powerful knight ability.
Closer; Ah’Bao was drawing closer and closer. After returning to his
original form, all the magical beasts present were now unable to stop his
advance. Everyone knew about the massive pressure coming out from him, but
no one hesitated, knowing that their group would end up defeated the instant
he would manage to capture Ye Xiaolei.
Ah’Bao’s purplish black dragon eyes were full of an endless cold and rage.
The pressure he bore was far surpassing Long Haochen’s. Behind him, both Yue
Ye and Leng Xiao would definitely not give up. Having lost so many of their
allies, if they didn’t bring Ye Xiaolei back, their reputation was bound to
take an enormous blow, and their father would surely punish them severely.
Under these circumstances, Ah’Bao already didn’t have any other possible
choice, and could only go all out, believing in his own strength. How could
mere humans from Long Haochen’s group possibly stop him?
This was completely impossible. By now, no thoughts of revenge appeared in
his head, his only target being Ye Xiaolei.
Finally, when his distance to the hilltop was close to five meters, the
sound of his breathing could already be heard by Long Haochen. The instant
he raised his head, it happened to come in contact with Long Haochen’s. This
golden fog was something Ah’Bao knew clearly about, and he knew what these
humans were doing. But even so, what was so terrible about that. After he
already passed through so much hardships, how could he be lacking anything
to pass this last resistance?
Bang-
The purplish black flames from the horn on Ah’Bao’s forehead spread widely
to his whole body, enveloping it entirely in flames.
This was the signature skill of the Devil Dragon Clan, Defiance!
Relying on this ability, he could increase for a short time his fighting
strength. Although the rules of the Illusory Paradise still suppressed him
very greatly, at the time these purplish black flames spread, his body
produced violent twists all around, actually temporarily shielding him from
the regulations of the Illusory Paradise for a short time.
This time would of course not last for too long, but to him, this was
enough. The terrible purplish black radiance that abruptly surrounded him
around shook off all the magical beasts heading to him at once, and with
another flap of his wings, he faced Long Haochen’s without any fear.
Long Haochen had been waiting very long for this. On his back, Yating’s
voice actually sounded somewhat rough because of the pressure she put on her
incantation. The golden light on Long Haochen’s body finally condensed to
form his pair of spiritual wings, letting him appear literally as the Scion
of Light.
Gripping the handle of Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light in his two hand and
firmly concentrating his energy on his right foot, Long Haochen did a
hacking motion towards Ah’Bao who was flying in his direction.
This blow was extremely profound, launched as light flickered all around
Long Haochen’s body, his whole being entering a state close to that of a
spiritual being.
At this instant, it looked totally devoid of threat and empty of power, but
in the instant the attack was unleashed, all the surrounding light seemed to
deepen, as if all the surrounding light essence was absorbed in his attack.
At the time of this attack, it seemed that the only golden entity left was
his body.
In the air, a faint golden radiance spread out from the sky, illuminating
Long Haochen’s body, and on his forehead, nine purple pattern appeared
visible, but became totally golden a split second later.
This attack of Long Haochen wasn’t only containing all his strength, but
also the entirety of his comprehension.
Faced against such a massive pressure, Long Haochen entered an extraordinary
state. This simple attack seemed to transcend the entirety of the
limitations placed in the Illusory paradise.
Pam.
Blue Rain, Hibiscus of Light clashed against the horn of the imperial price
of the Devil Dragons, Ah’Bao, seemingly bringing the air to a standstill,
and all the surrounding attacks from the magical beasts and people seemed to
stop right at that moment.