Chapter 111
“Now that everyone is present, the ceremony of subdivision may begin. All competitors will keep the numbers they had during the preliminaries. Your teachers should have already told you how the final stage was going to take place, so this old man will directly get to the main point. Now, the drawing of lots may begin. Everyone will be in a group. After this drawing of lots, you will directly leave for the stadium where the first matches are going to take place. ”
As he spoke, an enormous crystal ball rose from the platform. This crystal ball was at least of a diameter of a meter. Transparent, it contained 60 yellow-colored little balls, each one containing some characters.
The crystal ball was surrounded by six crystal pillars in the air, with the characters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on top.
Without a single move that could be discerned from that elder, the saffron-colored little balls in the crystal ball started to twitch, and instantly following, one little ball after another started to move at a speed making them difficult to keep track of with the naked eyes, before precisely falling inside of these six crystal pillars.
Obviously, because they were rather far apart, the characters on the balls could basically not be discerned, but except from Cai’er, all the competitors in this official business hall had their eyes wide open, trying to find their own numbers in these crystal pillars.
Quickly, all the 60 little balls entered the crystal pillars, there were precisely ten balls inside of each of the six pillars.
The elder on stage started to speak in a dull voice, “I am the Hall Master of the Warrior Temple; you may call me Mad Warrior Ren Wokuang. The drawing of ballots will take place on the second floor of the building. If you don’t have any questions, let’s start right now.”
Second floor, Ruoshui said in a gentle voice, “Everything is as usual, please start whenever you want, hall master.”
Ren Wokuang wore a smile, as he slightly nodded, looking at the direction of the second floor and advancing towards the crystal pillar. Without any distinct movement from him, the ten orange little balls jumped up, surprisingly aligning and forming a row that floated in before him.
“Final stage, first group, your matches will take place in the Knight Stadium of the Alliance’s Great Stadium. The first group will be composed of the knight #1, the warrior #2, the warrior # 67….”
Hearing ‘Knight #1’, Long Hao Chen’s gaze was immediately aimed at Yang Wenzhao. The first group was clearly Yang Wenzhao’s. He wished that he could be in the same group as him, but unfortunately, it didn’t turn out this way. His name didn’t appear in the first group’s list.
“Now that the list of the first group of competitors has been revealed, stand up! The staff members will take you to the stadium to start the first matches of this round-robin tournament.”
Yang Wenzhao slowly got up, and left under the lead of staff members from the Alliance. Right before leaving, he intentionally gave a look to Long Hao Chen and Cai’er’s side. His eyes looked somewhat regretful. Just like Long Hao Chen wanted to challenge him once again, he wanted to challenge Cai’er, this time in an all-out fight.
“Final stage second group, your matches will take place in the Mage Stadium of the Alliance’s Great Stadium. List of the competitors of the second group: knight #98, assassin#1, priest #18, mage #1…”
Hearing the number 98, Li Xin felt nervous and excited. Looking all around, she said in a low voice to Long Hao Chen, “Lil’ bro, who is this
assassin #1 in your opinion? An assassin of the fifth step! Do I have a chance? T.T&rdq
Long Hao Chen shook his head and said, “Big sis, you will definitely be okay, cheer up!”
Cai’er was still seated there, as cold as before. Except from the times she was all alone with Long Hao Chen, she was usually like that.
While Ren Wokuang followed the staff members to the Mage Stadium, Lin Xin hurriedly stood up, and Lin Xin who was at the other side of Long Hao Chen as well. Cai’er also stood up.
“I’ll leave first.” Cai’er told Long Hao Chen in a low voice.
“Eh? ” Long Hao Chen had clearly remembered that in the second group, there was only a single assassin and it was the Assassin #1.
Cai’er’s voice, as thin as a gossamer, sounded in Long Hao Chen’s ears, “Be careful during the competition. Don’t be wounded again. After the match, I will be waiting for you in that place.”
“Wow! Lil’ sis Cai’er, so you were actually the assassin #1. Come, I am pulling you along.” Li Xin was straightforward and passionate, and without the slightest inch of restraint, she pulled Cai’er’s bamboo cane and walked forward with her. Cai’er was startled for a moment, but as soon as she thought about the fact that she was Long Hao Chen’s big sister, she immediately followed her along.
Lin Xin rubbed his forehead, and with a bitter smile, he said, “What a headache! It looks like luck will not always be in my side.” This second group was a lot more powerful than the first one. Lin Xin was a lot more informed than the other competitors. The Assassin #1 was actually the previous little blind girl! This was something that he didn’t expect. Reportedly, this assassin of the fifth step had challenged eleven other competitors at the same time during the previous qualifiers, but in the end, no one dared act against her. What kind of strength was that? There was also this priest #18, who ended up as the first ranked of his qualifiers! As
Lin Xin’s heart felt gloomy, Long Hao Chen also saw that shiny bald head before him standing up. This tall and robust stature made him look completely unlike a priest, as he took big strides, walking along with the staff members.
The absolute majority of the competitors were rejoicing about this sad news, because without a doubt, a slaughter was going to take place among the members of this second group. Assassin #1, mage #1, the first numbered of two of the Six Great Temples were in the same group, and the others weren’t weak either.
The most delighted people were those from the Assassin Temple. None of them was in the same group as Cai’er, so their current mood was pretty easy to guess.
Final stage, third group, your matches will take place in the Warrior Stadium of the Alliance’s Great Stadium. Composed of the competitors as follow: “Summoner #1, mage #2, knight #97, warrior #23, assassin #13,
assassin #16, assassin #18, assassin #24…”
Among these 10 youths, there were unexpectedly 4 assassins. In addition, the others weren’t weak either. The first competitor belonging to this mysterious Spiritual Temple, and also the second competitor of the Mage Temple.
The four assassins stood up, immediately heading towards the staff members, but their faces that had been filled with joy a little while before instantly became an ugly sight to behold.
That’s right, they didn’t end up in Cai’er’s group, but who did they see?
Wasn’t he exactly the youth that was seated together with big sister #1?
Although the Assassin Temple and the Knight Temple sealed off their informations, these assassins who managed to enter the top ten were all elites among the youths of the Assassin Temple and all of them naturally received the guidance of a powerful master. They had vaguely heard about the news that shook the two Temples during these last few days. It was precisely because this big sister #1 went to raid a certain competitor coming
from the Knight Temple, and she did so for the sake of another competitor of the Knight Temple.
Without a doubt, it was precisely this knight #97 who was standing before their eyes.
Looking at Long Hao Chen and his handsome face that could go as far as to be described as a stunning sight, these assassin maintained their guess. Their hearts were howling in grief, because they knew that if they were to win against this knight #97, and to wound him in the process, wouldn’t…
Long Hao Chen naturally didn’t know what these assassins were thinking about. As he walked forward toward the staff members, he observed some female competitors.
The ones he paid the most attention to were two girls. The small and delicate one looked like she was even smaller than him, and had a very weak-looking appearance. When he occasionally sent curious glances to this older female competitor, he appeared somewhat bashful. What she wore was an exotic blue-colored mage gown.
The other girl was a lot taller, her height exceeded 1.7 meters and her black hair formed a neat and nimble twintail. With her picturesque appearance, she looked slender and agreeable. However, at her back was an enormous shield. Because this shield was even taller than her, she could only put it at her back, horizontally.
Besides the summit of this shield, its two sides were curved, almost shaped as blades. These two curves met each other, taking the shape of a sharp needle. From its looks, this shield was just like a sort of enormous sharp blade.
The thickest place of this shield was frighteningly roughly a foot wide, with nine spikes all around. The outwards space was completely empty, and its uses were mysterious.
How heavy could this shield be? A knight like Long Hao Chen felt afraid of this sight; this girl carried it as if it was nothing.
The Alliance’s office palace was not far from the Alliance’s Great Stadium, and quickly, they arrived to the Warrior Stadium.
The drawing of lots kept going, determining the remaining groups for the competition. The matches were going to take place for nine days in every group, with five matches every day. The ten competitors would fight against a different person on every day of competition. The ranking was going to depend on the number of wins. After the first and second were determined, the third of the ranking could also have the occasion to enter the round robin tournament opposing those belonging to the top 16.
Because it was a round-robin tournament, the drawing of ballots was not so important, and after completing it, the first battle of the final stage would immediately take place.
The Demon Hunt Selection matches were even colder during the final stage than the competition. There were already a lot less people sitting on the platform, only six people. However, the competitors didn’t know that these six people came from the Six Great Temples, and were in charge of supervising the course of the competition.
Before it officially started, Long Hao Chen’s group of ten received another list. Above it, there was no number, only names, and Long Hao Chen’s first opponent was a member of the Assassin Temple, named Xing Xuan. This name sounded very feminine, but in reality, it was a small youth with a wretched appearance.
“First match, Long Hao Chen vs Xing Xuan. The match may begin” All referees were powerhouses at the seventh step. Looking at their clothes, it looked like today, the referees were War Kings of the seventh step.
With a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right hand, Long Hao Chen walked into the stadium. In this group, there were a lot of people from the Assassin Temple, four of them. There were also two priests, but only a single person from all the other Temples. Compared to those from the second group, Long Hao Chen felt that his luck was not bad, and that he had great chances to end up in the top two.
Chapter 112
“Because the stadium is unsuitable to assassins’ performances, four pillars that can conceal them will be erected, to guarantee the competition will be fair.”
What wasn’t known was that a particular mechanism was used to form one thick pillar after another’ they came out from the ground instantly, sending out crunching noises. They finally stopped expanding after growing 15 meters high. The presence of these four pillars that needed two people to fully encircle them was very advantageous to assassins. If not for them, in this wide and flat stadium, they had no way to display the most of their speed, dodging abilities, and concealment.
The small Xing Xuan moved his eyes, looking at Long Hao Chen with a cautious look. He was inwardly complaining, Why am I his first opponent? Please let someone else switch with me, at least to let me see the reaction of big sister #1. Let’s forget about it, and have a probing match.
“Match begins!”
Along with the referee’s loud voice, Xing Xuan didn’t move back; his silhouette instantly twinkled before disappearing behind a pillar. To an outstanding assassin, the most important thing was to never let the opponent find out his definite location.
Long Hao Chen stood there, without following him. A golden fog raised around him, revolving around his body, and twinkling, while emitting a gentle luster. It was precisely [Storing Power].
Within the third group, he was the only knight. As a result, his opponent didn’t know at all what his fighting style was. This [Storing Power] was not a commonly used skill, so even within the Knight Temple, a lot of people didn’t know it, let alone people coming from other Temples. Except for the mage bearing #2 and the female warrior bearing an enormous shield, the other people were at a loss, not understanding what Long Hao Chen was doing.
At the moment Long Hao Chen used [Storing Power], he moved to some extent. The Radiant Shield in his left hand was covering his chest while the Light Sword in his right hand was inclined parallelly to the ground. With one foot forward and the second one backwards, he took the stance that would give him the best reaction time.
Xing Xuan was concealed behind a pillar. After having rapidly moved away, he watched Long Hao Chen’s movements.
He didn’t recognize the skill [Storing Power], but the assassins’ perception was very high. He could clearly feel that Long Hao Chen was becoming more and more dangerous at an astonishing speed. Certainly, the ability he was using was one that was the more powerful the longer it lasted.
It was very unlikely for weaklings to be able to enter the final stage. Xing Xuan immediately shifted his thoughts away from big sister #1, and immediately responded using his battle instinct.
As his figure twinkled, he had already leaped to the sky, arriving next to a pillar located on the left side of Long Hao Chen’s back. As he jumped, a membrane made of leather appeared on both of his arms. This was special equipment belonging to assassins, called Defensive Wing that enabled him to glide at a short distance. It could also be used to parry the opponent’s attacks, and was one of the favorite pieces of equipment used by assassins below the sixth step.
[Holding Back Breath]. This skill was a required course for assassins. Xing Xuan was currently just like a tree leaf, and didn’t let out any sound as
he fell on the ground. He approached Long Hao Chen from the back, not only rapidly, but also without causing the slightest vibration in the air.
Long Hao Chen had kept his original defensive posture all along, as he used [Storing Power]. The gold-yellow-colored fog surrounding him seemed to become more and more intimidating.
Xing X
Naturally, if Long Hao Chen didn’t react, he wouldn’t really slay him. It was after all a match, not a death-or-life combat.
In a split second, as Xing Xuan was about to attack, Long Hao Chen moved.
He rapidly stepped half a step forward with his right foot, only half a step, and immediately, his shoulder flashed as he turned towards his left side. Meanwhile, his right foot served as a fulcrum for his body to swiftly turn around, facing Xing Xuan who was previously at his back.
Xing Xuan’s swipe naturally had no effect, and his dagger which was stabbing toward Long Hao Chen’s back happened to graze his armor, producing a spark on it, without hitting his body.
[Shield Charge], Long Hao Chen’s center of gravity wasn’t the slightest unsteady as he issued out this skill. The Radiant Shield simply sparkled intensely, as a halo of rich light instantly expanded forward, turning into an immense shield with a height of two meters, directly bumping into Xing Xuan.
Fifth step!
In a split second, Xing Xuan figured out Long Hao Chen’s cultivation level through the formidable power of his [Shield Charge]. There could only be a single explanation, that Long Hao Chen was at the fifth step. He could not think of anything else, as his body instantly curled up, emitting spiritual energy as his two daggers darted forward at light speed, instantly stabbing against the Radiant Shield.
With a Peng sound, Xing Xuan was sent out flying. Because Long Hao Chen’s cultivation had already officially broken through the boundary of the fifth step, this [Shield Charge] made of liquid spiritual energy wasn’t something Xing Xuan could possibly manage to block, even without the addition of the effects of [Storing Power]. His body was sent flying just like it was victim of an explosion.
But an assassin also had some strong points; in a short span, after falling victim to this intense charge, Xing Xuan seized the opportunity to leap away, making use of the astonishing impulse. At least, he didn’t sustain any heavy injury.
[Assault], a skill of knight of the fifth step.
Long Hao Chen didn’t stop to there. As nimble as wind and as scorching as fire, his whole body launched [Assault], appearing like a bolt of lightning, and directly aiming for his opponent. A blade made of light filled the atmosphere, it was a golden edge of light that was launched, [Light Thrust].
At this moment, Xing Xuan didn’t have any support in the middle of the air, further adding the fact that his whole body had become numb because of the charge, how could this attack be easy to avoid? If he was hit by this [Light Thorn] of the knight of the fifth step Long Hao Chen, the match would surely end up as his defeat.
Xing Xuan’s training level was outstanding, even when compared to all these other young talents, and the fact he managed to go through the preliminaries testified of the fact he was in no way weak. In such an unfavorable situation, he stretched his left hand, extending his Defensive Wing. Relying on the ability of his Defense Wing ‘rapid deflection’, he avoided the danger by a little, dodging Long Hao Chen’s [Light Thorn]. Right after his two foot landed on the ground, he instantly disappear behind a stone pillar.
Long Hao Chen’s face appeared to become suddenly astonished, but he didn’t immediately pursue and attack. His feet halting, with the same motion as previously, he used once again [Storing Power]. Looking at his
quiet and indifferent appearance, it was clear that he hadn’t the slightest worry.
Hidden behind a pillar, Xing Xuan took big mouthful after big mouthful of air. No wonder… No wonder that he could become big sister #1’s friend. He’s a powerhouse of the fifth step!
At the same step, assassins that met knights as their opponent were already disadvantaged, to say nothing about the case where there was a gap between their cultivation level. He was extremely lucky during this face-to- face clash. And even though his opponent looked focused on storing, he absolutely wasn’t taken by surprise by his attack.
I cannot fight him head-on, but in a turnaround fight, I may have a thin chance. Thinking this, Xing Xuan didn’t come out. I won’t take the initiative to attack you, even if the spiritual energy you are gathering together is growing more and more formidable, what use will it have if you are unable to find my location?
Thinking up to this point, Xing Xuan turned back towards the opposite direction, standing, without shame at the same place, without moving the slightest bit.
Long Hao Chen seemed that he wasn’t the slightest bit worried about being unable to find his opponent’s location. Not only did he maintain his [Storing Power], he was in addition shutting both eyes, little by little.
The whole stadium immediately sunk into silence.
However, the referee didn’t stop this kind of fight from proceeding; as a War King of the seventh step, he naturally understood the skill [Storing Power]. Once Long Hao Chen would have wasted his whole internal spiritual energy, if he didn’t immediately launch the attack, his spiritual energy would naturally scatter, and may result in him losing this match.
This referee was sunk in his thoughts, wondering what Long Hao Chen was planning to do. What he didn’t understand was the reason why Long
Hao Chen was standing motionless and kept storing power. What use was there to act this way?
The concealed Xing Xuan was all along observing Long Hao Chen’s actions. The more he watched him, the more he felt helpless. Long Hao Chen’s whole body was already glittering in a gold color because of [Storing Power]. This rich light essence gathering around him was truly frightening, the attack that would follow along was truly going to be extremely tyrannical. Xing Xuan didn’t pick any other choice, he could only keep himself concealed, continuously using the assassin skill [Holding Back Breath], as he didn’t dare move the slightest bit.
In addition, looking at Long Hao Chen’s closed eyes, and thinking back about Cai’er’s previous tyrannical attacks, he didn’t even dare imagine the power of the incoming attack.
Just like that, time kept passing, minute after minute, seconds after seconds, Long Hao Chen’s [Storing Power] was continuing and had already lasted two minutes.
At this very moment, Long Hao Chen finally started his next move. His body surrounded by a dense fog dispersing around, he lifted up the Light Sword in his hand.
A blazing white gush erupted from the blade, and within the time of a single breath, his Light Sword had already turned into an incandescent color.
[Holy Sword].
Because of the huge concentration of spiritual energy gathered by [Storing Power], by the time he made use of [Holy Sword], the energy stored seemed to be already reducing drastically.
Long Hao Chen’s gaze shot toward a pillar. It seemed as if he was looking at his target through it.
Still concealed, Xing Xuan greatly loosened his breath. The pillar Long Hao Chen was looking at was at the complete opposite direction compared to his. Although the strength Long Hao Chen previously displayed was extremely great, if this [Storing Power] of his was wasted like that, even he would lose his chance to prevail over his opponent. At best, the match would end up as a tie, and this way, there would be no need to fear the incoming resentment of big sister #1.
As Xing Xuan was scheming in his mind, the Light Sword in Long Hao Chen’s hand was finally chopped down. A blazing white light was turning into a huge edge of light filling the atmosphere, but what shocked Xing Xuan was that even though Long Hao Chen was looking in the other direction, his edge of light aimed was precisely pointed at his direction.
Impossible, how could he find me? This was the sole thought in Xing Xuan’s mind. However, at this moment, how could he still avoid that? Only heaven knew how solid this pillar was, and this [Holy Light Strike] produced by Long Hao Chen’s [Holy Sword] made even this War King feel a threatening pressure. Let alone Xing Xuan, this sort of pressure even affected the subconscious mind of a War King, leaving inside a thread of fear.
Both feet exerted strength to move forward, at the direction of the stone pillar, as Xing Xuan splashed across, trying to dodge Long Hao Chen’s attack.
However, at this very moment, Long Hao Chen’s eyes suddenly flashed with a red ray, flying out toward Xing Xuan, as his body was instantly covered by a layer of red all around.
Chapter 113
Knight skill of the sixth step, [Lock on].
Even Yang Wenzhao, with his strength that reached the fifth step, found this [Lock on] skill quite threatening, let alone this Xing Xuan whose cultivation level was quite inferior to Long Hao Chen. No matter how great his dodging abilities were, [Lock on] was completed in an instant, and [Holy Sword Strike] instantly twisted the air, aiming to strike him as Long Hao Chen pursued him.
To assassins, “What one should be the most afraid of is the skill [Lock on] used by knights. When an assassin trains to the sixth step, gaining the possibility of learning the skill [Invisibility], he will still be countered by the skill [Lock on].”
However, just like this red-colored [Lock on] was fast to appear, it was also fast to disappear. After twinkling for an instant, this red light dissipated. Because Xing Xuan kept flying away, [Holy Light Strike] didn’t have a target to reach, and could only scatter on the ground.
Bang.
The yellow dirt suddenly brightened, making an astonishing sight appear in the eyes of the other competitors. On the ground, a 15 meters high and 10 meters large immense ravine appeared, and all the surrounding yellow dirt turned brown, clearly from the effect of the light-elemental luminous scorching attack. An intense aura of the light attribute rapidly surged out from the ground.
As Xing Xuan’s both feet touched the ground, his eyes twinkled with an infinitely bewildered look. In a split second, he felt as if he had risen to heaven. Looking around, as soon as he saw this immense ravine, his clothes started to be soaked in cold sweat. If such a tyrannical attack had hit his body, he was afraid that there wouldn’t even be bones left of him. Without the slightest hesitation, Long Hao Chen had voluntarily removed [Lock on] so that this attack wouldn’t really fall on his body.
Completely terrified and extremely nervous, he let these words slip, “I admit my defeat, thank you for having been lenient, big sister’s man.”
As expected, he conceded to Long Hao Chen but this appellation astonished him completely, “Big sister’s man? What’s a big sister’s man?”
“Victor, Long Hao Chen.” The referee declared Long Hao Chen the winner of this match, as he sent astonished looks to him. This powerhouse of the seventh step had no idea what ability Long Hao Chen had relied on to find Xing Xuan’s location.
Of course, what they didn’t know was that Long Hao Chen’s mental capacity was completely different from ordinary people, who would be completely unable to immediately find an assassin using [Holding Back Breath]. ly, when Xing Xuan had been dodging and concealing himself from him, Long Hao Chen relied on his powerful perception, and mental capacity to follow Xing Xuan’s moves, He shut his two eyes to focus on using his mental capacity to determine his accurate position. It was for the same reason that he was calmly using [Storing Power].
Knight of the fifth step, this was enough to make all the other competitors of this third group alert . They clearly saw that Long Hao Chen hadn’t released his mount at all! If this kind of knight of the fifth step also had a powerful mount, his strength was bound to be on the height of an enormous tower.
The most gloomy were these few assassins. [Lock on]; this man of big sister surprisingly had such a skill normally used by knights of the sixth step. How could they be a match for him? Without the slightest hesitation, all they could aim for was the possibility of ending up second of this group.
At the moment Long Hao Chen obtained the victory of this first match, the second group’s competition was also extremely fierce and bitterly ongoing.
“Seco
Lin Xin didn’t know this bald priest at all, and he walked over to the stadium while looking up to his opponent.
This was a priest gown, but this guy was extremely robust. Weren’t priests’ bodies supposed to be extremely feeble?
Head full of doubts, Lin Xin was heading to the stadium.
Sima Xian wasn’t nervous at all. The word ‘fear’ didn’t exist in this bald priest’s vocabulary. Grabbing his thick staff, he walked forward with large strides, heading to the stadium.
The referee calmly said, “Because priests aren’t good at attacking, as long as a priest manages to hold out for ten minutes, the match will be considered as his victory. The match may start.”
The most important thing for a priest in a teamfight is actually his ability to heal and to support, and as a result, a pure combat is absolutely unfair to a priest. Thus, the Demon Hunt Selection designed these rules.
Facing Sima Xian, Lin Xin showed his most handsome smile, “Hello brother Sima. I am the mage bearing the number 1 and also the one who ended up ranked first of the preliminaries. Let me give you a piece of advice: it would be better for you to concede now; if I were to injure you, wouldn’t it affect the rest of your competition?”
Mages were publicly known as the most powerful among the six temples in terms of offensive power. What priests were the weakest against were assassin, and then mages. Lin Xin told Sima Xian that his attacks were extremely powerful and that he had no way to bear them, and so, the best for him to avoid losing face was to concede.
If it was another priest who was about to face the first ranked mage of the preliminaries, he would probably be completely intimidated. But was it like that for Sima Xian? This fellow was a priest, but there was only violence in his mind.
“Concede my ass. The great I has also ended up first in the Priests Preliminaries. I am coming.” As he spoke, Sima Xian took big strides forward, directly charging toward Lin Xin. His dark-colored staff with a faint gold-colored gem atop suddenly shone, spreading a rich sacred light all around, proper to priests.
This fellow really was a wooden club. Lin Xin was sighing to himself as he lifted up his right hand, making a fire cloud crystal that served as his staff immediately appear in his hand. The fire attribute was immediately amplified around him; a thick fire essence filled the air surrounding his whole body with a thin red color.
Looking at this scene, without needing to mention that Li Xin was startled, even Cai’er wrinkled her brows as she felt the intensity of the fire essence that was filling the air around them.
The fire cloud crystal was pointed forward, making an immense blazing shield appear before Lin Xin. This was the skill [Fire Shield] of the second step, but used by Lin Xin, this [Fire Shield] was a foot long, and half a foot wide. His body was entirely behind it, making the atmosphere of the whole stadium blazing.
Sima Xian was also shivering, but it didn’t affect his charge. With a shout, the staff in his hand directly smashed against the [Fire Shield].
Is… Is this a priest?
Lin Xin opened his eyes wide, and all the other competitors of the second group did the same.
With a Puff sound, the [Fire Shield] violently swayed, and countless cracks appeared at the place against which the rod collided.
Sima Xian didn’t stop moving, his enormous rod hitting the ground, Bang bang bang bang.
Repeated series of blows fell on the [Fire Shield], fire scattered in all direction, and the the [Fire Shield] couldn’t stand the attack anymore.
Lin Xin’s immediate reaction was to curse him secretly: Damn!
Once again raising his fire cloud crystal, he didn’t omit chanting another incantation. A rich flame blossomed from him, it was [Repelling Ring of Fire]. Just like his [Fire Shield] this [Repelling Ring of Fire] was at least twice the size of usual ones.
But at this moment, the gem in Sima Xian’s staff brightened, creating a white vibrating ring, fiercely striking against [Repelling Fire Ring].
[Sacred Knock].
[Repelling Ring of Fire] and [Sacred Knock] met each other. Sima Xian’s magical staff swept away, Bang, [Fire Shield] was dispersed.
Lin Xin was a mage of the fifth step. When compared to Sima Xian who was only at the fourth step, there was a big gap between both sides. In particular, Lin Xin’s control over the fire element was especially formidable. In the instant the [Fire Shield] was dispersed, another [Fire Shield] immediately appeared, and another [Repelling Fire Ring] was released. These ones struck Sima Xian, pushing him back.
Is there a mistake? Isn’t this guy closer to a warrior? A warrior draped in priest clothes.
Lin Xin was completely speechless. Murmuring the verses of another incantation, he shot a reddish-gold-colored fireball. As everyone thought that he was about to attack, this reddish-gold-colored fireball divided into more little fireballs, aimed at the six directions around him.
“Pure Element [Fire Shield], let me see how you will break through this.” Lin Xin shouted in anger.
Sima Xian disdainfully twitched his mouth, “Pure Element [Fire Shield] my ass, I’ll break it the same way.” Right after speaking, he bellowed a warcry, before charging once again. Lifting the magical staff in his hand, he concentrated a lot of power. Simultaneously, an enormous [Sacred Hammer] ferociously hit his [Pure Element Fire Shield].
For a moment, on the stadium, a fire-red-colored light and a gold-colored light simultaneously appeared. A concentrated spiritual energy unceasingly surged out on the battlefield.
“Big sis Li Xin, how is it that I can’t really make sense of what I’m hearing?” Cai’er asked Li Xin, looking at a loss and uncomprehending.
A bitter smile was drawn on Li Xin’s face as she replied, “Don’t say you can’t make sense of what you’re hearing… I cannot even make sense of what I’m seeing. A mage is fighting against a priest, but the priest is the main attacker, and the mage is the main defender. It’s really…”
Abnormal, this was abnormal combat. The bald priest Sima Xian was charging while lifting up his magical staff, just like a dragon about to sail out, unceasingly bombarding Lin Xin’s defense.
Lin Xin was quite firm, constantly releasing his defense. Letting Sima Xian constantly attack, like rain, he didn’t move the slightest bit. But he didn’t use any offensive abilities.
Lin Xin’s fire cloud crystal occasionally repaired the defense, and with a proud look, he said, “Baldie, it won’t do. Do you think you will break through my defense one day? Let me see how you will manage to, hmpf.”
Sima Xian let out a cold snort, “What is there to be proud of? The great I is only using his physical strength to attack you. You are using up your internal spiritual energy, so sooner or later, it will end up completely depleted. At this moment, let me see how you will block my attacks.” Actually, he was completely baffled by the power of Lin Xin’s spiritual energy. If he used some tyrannical offensive magic, he was afraid that there would be no way for him to resist them, since he could use none of the
defensive abilities normally used by priests. However, from beginning to end, this guy had never attacked. Why?
Lin Xin, full of disdain, curled up his lips, extending his left hand. With a sparkle, a crystal bottle appeared in it.
“For you to want to use up my spiritual energy, I’m afraid that it will be nothing more than daydreams. Big bro has drugs. Do you see, each of the pills in this battle can restore 200 units of spiritual energy. Let me see for how long your body will be able to hold out.”
Sima Xian opened his eyes wide, “This is clearly a shameless act.”
Lin Xin, with an air of complacency, spoke back, “What are you calling shameless act? The great competition doesn’t forbid taking medicine. Big bro has drugs, big bro has drugs, do you have some? Let alone this, for such a little amount of spiritual energy, who would contest the fact big bro is taking medicines?”
Chapter 114
“Stop.” In this very moment, the referee called out in a loud voice, making both people to be deadlocked. “The match is over. Victor, Sima Xian”
“Eh?” Lin Xin frantically protested, “How is it that he won? Referee, haven’t you seen that he didn’t manage to break through my defense?”
The referee gave him an unhappy look, and answered, “Are you the priest or is he the priest? Ten minutes, didn’t you know? You two abnormal guys, hurry up to go down.”
“Hic..” Lin Xin finally remembered that his opponent was a priest, not a warrior. The limit of ten minutes was finished. Only, he just defended while his opponent was the attacker.
Sima Xian immediately reacted, without holding back, he laughed out loudly, “Wahaha, you fool, big bro is a priest.”
As he walked over to the side, Sima Xian imitated Lin Xin’s demeanor and speech, inclining his sturdy bottocks, “Big bro has drugs, big bro has drugs…”
The other eight people in the rest area didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. What a clown! Only, what they didn’t understand the most was the fact that Lin Xin had not used any offensive spells all along.
Only Li Xin had an idea about that: she remembered Ye Hua’s words, that this Lin Xin was most likely unable to attack.
“ match, Cai’er against Li Xin. Both sides may enter.” The referee gave a kind of demonic feel as he announced the begin of the next match without the slightest halt. Staring at Cai’er, Li Xin really felt embarrassed. This delicate young lady was blind. As such, how could she possibly fight?!
“Cai’er, we should go on stage.” Li Xin had already made up her mind; for having passed the preliminaries, her luck was already excellent. For her to aim for obtaining in addition a good ranking was an impossible feat. Only one who entered the top 16 would have the possibility of obtaining a reward, but to do so from that group wouldn’t be easy. Since it was this way, she would just let it be water off a duck’s back and forget about it. She also made it clear to her little brother. Thinking about this, she pulled Cai’er’s bamboo cane and led her to the stadium.
Both sides stood straight, and at the moment the referee was about to announce the raise of the pillars to enable assassins to display their might, Cai’er suddenly said, “No need, I concede this match.”
”Dang” Li Xin was instantly astonished, “Little sister Cai’er, you…”
Cai’er calmly shook her head, looking at Li Xin. The bamboo cane in her hand hit the ground, as she left it without notice.
Li Xin hurried to follow her. Yes, it was a good thing to win without a fight, but looking Cai’er who was taking somewhat unsteady steps, she felt greatly unwilling. “Little sister Cai’er.” Li Xin took her hand, “No need for you to concede, I have no way to enter the top 16 anyway.”
Cai’er faintly smiled, “It is a matter for your own effort, you can’t say for sure that you can’t, right?” As the two last matches of the second group ended abnormally, another abnormal combat was also going to take place among the third group in the Warrior Stadium.
“
Chen Ying’er repeatedly nodded as she stared at this enormous shield, showing an extremely frightened appearance. “The match may start.” The referee declared while simultaneously drawing back. Wang Yuanyuan carried her immense shield in her left hand, entering a combat
posture. Moving her two legs rhythmically at high speed, she immediately charged toward Chen Ying’er. Her pace was quite fast, it could even be compared to that of knights using their skill [Assault]. On her shield, her hand splattered an intense blue brilliance. Facing Wang Yuanyuan’s lightning bolt-like assault, Chen Ying’er didn’t panic; with her hands joining with a movement, a big crystal ball immediately appeared in her palm.
With a buzz sound, a soft energy was fluctuating around this crystal ball.
Wave-like ripples of spiritual energy were quickly being spread around.
Although Wang Yuanyuan was coming at a great speed, it wasn’t, in the end, faster than the speed of release of the spiritual energy. The layer of ripples that undulated around Chen Ying’er were already blocking her path after only ten meters. “Ah, hey!” Wang Yuanyuan cried out loudly. Lifting the shield in her hand, she directed its sharp end forward. To one’s surprise, she moved her hand and lifted up her shield above her head, as if it was an axe, ruthlessly striking it down forward against the invisible protective screen. With a puff light sound, Wang Yuanyuan only felt that Chen Ying’er’s defense was pierced as if it was cotton. This blow didn’t really get stopped, but a cotton-like soft feeling bound her, and immediately, a soft elastic force was produced on her, knocking her back together with her shield, making her steadily fall on the ground.
How could that happen? Wang Yuanyuan’s eyes contained a bewildered look. In the past, she fought with mages, but this was the first time she battled a summoner. It was the first time she saw these techniques. The Chen Ying’er, who looked harmless at the first glance, wasn’t actually as easy to deal with as it seemed!
Chen Ying’er seemed as if she didn’t see Wang Yuanyuan at all. Her pair of eyes were staring fixedly at the huge ring the size of a human head, above her crystal ball. A soft thin blue radiance sprinkled from her crystal ball, and suddenly, a thin blue-colored hexagram appeared on the ground before her. Her spiritual energy that was fluctuating on the ground from beginning to end gave off a very gentle vibe, but this thin-blue hexagram appeared instantly, and at the same time, Chen Ying’er’s face turned paler, so much that her body was on the verge of collapse.
Immediately following, a gate rose from the middle of this hexagram.
This gate was extremely beautiful, 6.5 meters wide, over 13 meters high, and as soon as it appeared from the ground, countless glows of light seemed to have appeared, hooping around excitedly. Numerous animal cries could also be heard, insect cry, bird cry, dog bark, tiger hiss, dragon roar, and countless living creatures cries resounded in the middle of this stadium.
Around the magnificent gate were drawn countless carvings. It seemed like carvings of magical beasts. These magical beasts all looked extremely excited.
Only, there was unexpectedly no way to recognize these magical beasts. From around the gate, a light-blue-colored weapon appeared, emitting a dark green luster all around.
“’[Creature Summoning Gate]?” Not far apart, the referee let this remark slip, as he saw the huge changes that appeared in Chen Ying’er’s face.
Long Hao Chen opened wide his eyes as well. It was the first time he saw such an astonishing scene, associating it with the previous list of names. Then, it occurred to him that summoner #1 from the Spiritual Temple was in his group. Could it be that it was actually this little lady who didn’t seem any older than him? It was clear that she was at least at the fifth step, after all, what was [Creature Summoning Gate]? The most nervous person was undoubtedly this Wang Yuanyuan in the middle of the battlefield. Not the least impatient to attack, she slightly curled up as an extremely tyrannical aura started to spread around her body. A strong blue-green radiance covered her body, including the shield in her hand. What no one saw was that an enormous gem appeared in her left hand; what mysterious use could it have?
“Open please, Creature Summoning Gate. All living beings shall obey my call, return to me, my companion!” Chen Ying’er’s melodious voice was ringing in the middle of the battlefield, and immediately, from this Creature Summoning Gate, a white ring appeared, shooting a bolt of white light and then what came out from the gate was…
The gigantic shield in Wang Yuanyuan’s hand was lifted up, as she was prepared to insert the gem in her other hand into one of the nine holes of her shield. However, in the next instant, she stopped her hand’s motion, and opened wide her mouth, seeing a completely inconceivable scene.
It wasn’t only her; even the referee and the other competitors, including Long Hao Chen, had exactly the same reaction. All had their mouth wide opened, not daring to believe the sight before their eyes. Right, this was a too inconceivable scene. From this enormous Creature Summoning Gate, a summoned beast had appeared. Only, there was too huge a disparity between its body and the size of the Creature Summoning Gate. “Meeh–” The summon called out in a soft voice. Its soft little silhouette moved slightly; it seemed almost afraid of the surrounding atmosphere. Turning around, it ran in the opposite direction. Arriving before Chen Ying’er, it hopped and hopped, as if searching for protection. Exactly, that was a little lamb, a little lamb whose height didn’t even reach a foot. Its soft and curly woolen appearance was especially lovely. A pair of watery little eyes winking, it seemed to want to drink some milk. From Chen Ying’er’s face, it could be seen that she absolutely didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry as she carried it in her arms, stamping her feet, “What a bad luck, unlucky me; I concede.” The enormous Creature Summoning Gate slowly sunk down in the ground before disappearing completely. Chen Ying’er was still holding this little lamb, and under the attentive watch of the completely dumbfounded Wang Yuanyuan, left resentfully. Clearly, she was dissatisfied with her performance.
“This…” The referee didn’t know what to say anymore. In the instant he saw this Creature Summoning Gate, he became completely terrified. Within the Spiritual Temple, only Spiritual Emperors at the eighth step of vocation or above could use this formidable summoning magic ability. By the means of the Creature Summoning Gate, extremely powerful creatures could be summoned. And its best benefit was precisely that by the means of this Creature Summoning Gate, the summoned creatures were completely obedient. During their time of existence here, they would be completely under the control of their summoner.
Chapter 115
However, what came out from such a formidable spell of the eight step was unexpectedly being held in this young lady’s hand. How couldn’t that astonish everyone? The ultimate result left everyone between laughter and tears 1. To everyone’s surprise, what she summoned was nothing more than a little lamb.
Without the slightest hesitation, this was another abnormal match, and a fairly abnormal one at that…
Long Hao Chen’s gaze was focused on Chen Ying’er who walked forward, the corners of her mouth twitching around. He suddenly thought that it seemed that he had heard his teacher say that a genius appeared the Spiritual Temple, and he went as far as to summon a magical beast of the eighth step! It should be her. However, if she could summon a magical beast of the eighth step, what was up with this little lamb that she had just summoned?
Wang Yuanyuan was also baffled. Stealthily stowing the gem in her hand, she moved away from the stadium, remaining completely puzzled.
Thinking about Cai’er, Long Hao Chen didn’t remain any longer, and walked away from the stadium at a fast speed, directly heading to their usual place.
Because in the second group, Lin Xin and Sima Xian’s match lasted ten minutes, when Long Hao Chen arrived, Cai’er wasn’t here yet.
Finally having arrived earlier than her, Long Hao Chen relaxed. He calmly stood there, waiting for her.
He never knew that waiting like that could leave people so full of expectations.
“Du, Deng, Du.” Light sounds came out from a fairly distant place. Long Hao Chen’s hearing was pretty good, so he immediately recognized this familiar sound. Lifting up his head, he immediately saw Cai’er coming from there, together with Li Xin, supported by an arm of hers. Seeing Long Hao Chen at the side, Li Xin immediately waved her other hand.
“Hao Chen.”
Long Hao Chen revealed a knowing smile, before intending to meet them, but suddenly, a blazing scene occurred. From his forehead, Long Hao Chen felt as if an enormous furnace coming from heaven was enveloping him. In the next instant, his brain was completely blank.
From a distance, Li Xin who was supporting Cai’er was about to walk over, when suddenly, she discovered to her astonishment that Long Hao Chen’s forehead had lightened with a purple light. From this purple light, nine branches could vaguely be seen. This purple light suddenly flashed, and instantly, Long Hao Chen disappeared without any basis.
“How did that happen? Hao Chen!” Li Xin anxiously called out, and Cai’er by his side, instantly feeling that something was not right, hastily asked, “Big Sis Xin’er, did something happen? ”
“Hao Chen… Hao Chen disappeared!” Li Xin pulled Cai’er’s arm and dashed toward the place where Long Hao Chen formerly disappeared. They weren’t the only ones astonished, but each of the surrounding passants in the street, shocked by the sight of such a scene, cried out in astonishment.
“How… How could he suddenly disappear?“ Li Xin reacted, her expression filled with disbelief.
In comparison, Cai’er was fairly calm. Grabbing Li Xin’s hand, she said, “Big Sis shouldn’t worry. Just tell me what happened in the end.” Regardless of how sharp her five other senses were, since she couldn’t see, all she could previously feel was a fantastic fluctuation of spiritual energy that disappeared in a flash, before Li Xin cried out in alarm.
Li Xin cautiously narrated everything she saw a moment ago, and hearing her words, Cai’er face suddenly became serious. From her knowledge, she had no idea what could have happened.
“Big
“Okay, please inform me whenever you get some information.” From the path she took previously, she already knew where Cai’er lived.
Cai’er looked currently calm, but deep inside, she wasn’t any less anxious than Li Xin. Long Hao CHen’s disappearance was just too odd a phenomenon. It had completely bypassed common sense.
Without returning to her dwelling place, she rushed with the use of her blue bamboo cane, directly heading to the Alliance’s office palace.
After ten minutes, Cai’er was finally standing before Ying Suifeng.
Ying Suifeng wrinkled his brows, “Based on your description, it seems that this fellow was transported by a magical array. Furthermore, it was a transfer initiated by someone else. From there, there are in total three possibilities. First possibility: he was summoned by another living creature that concluded a master-servant agreement with him, making him become his subordinate, and this master needed his help, so he summoned him. Second possibility: he received a powerful curse that forced him back to another space. Third possibility: the life of his companion, with whom he completed a pact of equals, has been threatened, so he went to help him. There are other possibilities, but for the time being, the only ones I can think about are these three. And based on the previous situation, he should have been waiting for you, so it is impossible that he used a scroll or something like that to teleport. In addition, he isn’t a mage, so it is impossible for him to use spatial magic,
so as a result, from my estimate, the most likely explanation is that he was taken away by his companion linked to him through a pact of equals. Do you happen to know what kind of mount companion it is?”
Cai’er shook her head, looking at a loss, and immediately followed up with another question, “Grandpa Yingzi, could it be dangerous?”
Ying Suifeng revealed a bitter smile and answered, “It’s hard to say. If he was really called out by his contracted mount, then it depends on how strong this contracted mount is. The more formidable the contracted mount, the more likely he’ll be to encounter dangers. Conversely, the weaker his mount, the smaller the danger will be. However, this is difficult to predict. Not speaking of you, even a powerhouse with such a cultivation level as me cannot accurately tell this, and it is impossible for me to find him. He has likely been teleported to another space. As a result, there’s no use for you to be anxious right now, all you can do is to wait, wait for his return.”
“Then, what if he doesn’t come back?” Cai’er’s hands gradually tightened.
Ying Fengsui took a deep breath, and calmly said, “Then, it will be proof that he died.”
Cai’er’s body shook before she turned around to leave.
“Girl, where are you going to go?” Ying Suifeng eagerly asked.
Cai’er answered without turning the head, “I will be waiting for him at the place where he disappeared. It’s because when he comes back, it will definitely be in the place where he disappeared.”
Was Long Hao Chen really teleported away? This question didn’t even need to be asked. Just like Ying Suifeng predicted, the cause was that he was summoned through his contract with his companion mount.
Gradually coming back to his senses, a feel of worry quickly spread to his whole body, and Long Hao Chen looked around.
“Ke, ke.” As soon as he appeared there, Long Hao Chen couldn’t help but cough. It was because a single mouthful of the air that filled the atmosphere was already extremely muddy. This air contained a great amount of dirt, in addition to numerous magical essence that spread in it. A single breath of it was what made Long Hao Chen repeatedly cough. He unconsciously released [Divine Light Mantle] with haste, disconnecting himself from the external world. Relying on the use of [Divine Light Mantle] to act as a filter, he breathed in succession some purified air, feeling relaxed again.
Where are we? With a radiance from the forget-me-not ring in Long Hao Chen’s finger, the Light Sword and the Radiant Shield immediately appeared in his hands. The first thing he had to do when facing a dangerous situation was to stay calm. He immediately made the right move to protect himself.
After stabilizing his breath, he discovered that he was located halfway in a mountain, and the next sight he had completely shocked him.
This world was completely black and red. The sky was pitch-black, and there was no star in it. The atmosphere was full of dark elemental essence and fire elemental essence. There were also other elemental essence, but they were extremely heterogeneous and without equal to the abundant dark and fire elemental essence.
As far as his eye could see, on the ground, countless crackles were left, letting an impressive amount of magma intertwine, forming a river.
No wonder the temperature was so high. Although Long Hao Chen was still in shock, he was also completely alert. How did I arrive there? Unconsciously, he felt a scorching heat coming from his forehead
At this very moment, a familiar shout was resounding in his heart. Long Hao Chen was completely shaken, and involuntarily let these words slip out, “Hao Yue.”
He suddenly turned around. From there, he saw at his back a cave that didn’t seem very wide. Inside, a faint brilliance was emitted, faintly
discernible from his point of view.
That’s right, it was Hao Yue’s aura. Long Hao Chen was finally sober after having been so suddenly teleported, and after covering himself once again in [Divine Light Mantle], he quickly headed to the cave.
This cave wasn’t deep at all, and quickly, he found Hao Yue. But Hao Yue’s current appearance left Long Hao Chen flabbergasted.
Hao Yue had crept inside; his breath appeared to be very feeble. Little Light and Little Fire were bent down on the ground, and his body had grown a lot larger than when they parted. On his neck, the bulge that was previously there had grown a lot larger.
However, the scales on Hao Yue’s body had at least ten crackles, and vague purple-colored bloodstains were left. The most mysterious thing was that on his body, from the outside to the inside, layer after layer of blue light was uninterruptedly flashing. It seemed that once every three breaths he took, this light would twinkle once.
“Hao Yue, how are you doing?” Without the slightest hesitation, Long Hao Chen released a [Holy Mantle] to cover Hao Yue’s body. The gold light brought by [Holy Mantle] continuously healed the wounds on Hao Yue’s body.
Hao Yue recovered his consciousness, and Little Light as well as Little Fire lifted up their heads with difficulty, looking at Long Hao Chen, transmitting a series of informations to him through his thoughts
Hao Yue didn’t explain how he became in this state, but only told Long Hao Chen that this was his original world, that he was currently evolving and that he was on the edge of accomplishing the last breakthrough. And at this moment, he was at his weakest state, and needed Long Hao Chen’s protection. As long as he could complete his evolution, he could return together with Long Hao Chen to Shengmo Dalu.
“Hao Yue, evolve at ease. I will be your protector.” Long Hao Chen said this without the slightest hesitation, before releasing another [Holy Mantle]
to keep healing him, before turning around and leaving the cave, about to guard the cave mouth.
This was another world, and there was nothing he knew about it. It was impossible to say that there wasn’t the slightest fear in his heart, but to Long Hao Chen, the most important was Hao Yue’s safety. After all, Hao Yue was his little brother; each of them had the blood of the other one flowing in them. If this wasn’t an extremely dangerous situation, why would Hao Yue have forcefully summoned him?
Chapter 116
Long Hao Chen was seated cross legged on the ground and, as before, using [Divine Light Mantle] to protect his body. Isolated from the external world’s harmful air, he took breath after breath of filtered air filled with light elemental essence.
To Long Hao Chen, this world wasn’t any kind of good place because the light elemental essence was present in such a small proportion. It did not hold even 1% of the quantity of light essence in Shengmo Dalu. He had to unceasingly filter the surrounding air from the heterogeneous essence filled with magic power, to finally inhale it safely.
Long Hao Chen took out two bottles from his bosom. The first one contained the pill that could restore 200 units of spiritual energy, that Long Hao Chen named the Restoring Spiritual Pill. The ones contained in the other bottle could instantly arouse his potential and increase his physical strength by 20% for 30 seconds. After use, 12 hours had to pass before taking another Bursting Spiritual Pill.
In this place with a great lack of light elemental essence to absorb, one could well imagine the utility these two pills would have. Calmly standing in the cave, Long Hao Chen began to feel everything around him, cautiously, uninterruptedly gazing at the four directions.
But at this moment, suddenly, a wave of spiritual energy undulated, creating mysterious ripples made of spiritual energy in the air.
A drizzling purple-colored ring scattered in the next instant, not only spreading throughout the whole cave, but going as far as to spread to the
surrounding rocks and the rest of the air of the external world.
Hao Yue is breaking through! Long Hao Chen felt nervous, because Hao Yue told him previously that in case he were to break through the last bottleneck, the aura released by his body would be likely to attract powerful magical beasts. This was the most dangerous stage of his evolution.
As soon as this purple-colored aura appeared, Long Hao Chen suddenly felt to his astonishment that a scorching feeling reached his very own body. Lowering his head, he took a look and saw that the veins behind his own skin turned into a faint purple color. An immense force was uninterruptedly filling his own body, continuously strengthening his physical body. All Long Hao Chen could feel was that his own external spiritual energy was boiling, and in a strengthening process. Moving his body around, he felt that his strength had tremendously increased.
Hao Yue’s evolution also has an effect on the cultivation of my own external spiritual energy?
Long Hao Chen calmly pondered what was happening to him. Without the slightest doubt, this promotion was due to the blood contract. He and Hao Yue had some blood of the other in their own body, so in addition to their regular contract’s uses, it implied that their blood vessels were genuinely interlinked. As a result, when Long Hao Chen increases his cultivation level through his training, Hao Yue could benefit from it to some extent. Similarly, when Hao Yue evolved, Long Hao Chen could feel an enhancement to his own body as well.
Apparently, at that time, when Hao Yue had an abnormal thirst for that stone orb, it was because he needed it to make his body evolve.
Right when Long Hao Chen was in the middle of his thoughts, suddenly, he felt that in the air, the numerous magical elemental essences turned frantic. In particular, the dark elemental essence, just as it was flowing out from the galaxy, frantically headed towards the inside of the cave at his back. No matter how frantic this elemental spiritual energy was, it seemed to have a single target this time, the cave at his back.
Long Hao Chen could vaguely see that a spiral shaped black cloud had started to form, attracted by this cave, sucking in all the surrounding elemen
Such a huge activity, it’s no wonder that Hao Yue was worried about magical beasts coming to attack.
Long Hao Chen was even more on the alert as he observed his surroundings. What he didn’t realize was that on his forehead, the mark of contract had appeared once again.
This mark was formed of a total of nine purple-colored veined patterns. Among these nine original veined patterns, the first two were bright; in this moment, a third rune started to brighten as well.
After breaking through the third step, to keep advancing, what practitioners of all vocations needed was internal spiritual energy. No matter how the external spiritual energy increased, it didn’t affect the advancement of the vocation. In other words, even if your external spiritual energy reached 2000, as long as your internal spiritual energy didn’t reach 2000, there was no way for you to break through the fifth step.
Long Hao Chen felt an intense and warm power constantly rising in him, but he didn’t know which level his external spiritual energy had reached. Nevertheless, in his chest, the golden drops of liquid surrounding his Saint Spiritual Stove were unceasingly revolving, not showing the slightest change. It was the symbol of the barely reached level of having liquid spiritual energy, as well as having entered the fifth step.
After entering the fifth step, Long Hao Chen clearly discovered that his cultivation speed had lowered by a wide margin. To gain a spiritual energy level, he needed to spend at least ten times more effort than in the past. After a day of bitter training, the limit of what he could gain was at most one or two spiritual energy levels.
Even as a knight, what he had no way of knowing was that if he told others about his cultivation speed, it would absolutely shock anyone. After breaking through the fifth step, who would imagine that someone who could raise his spiritual energy level every day could exist? If everyone had
this ability, then only by continuing to cultivate, everyone would sooner or later break through to the sixth step.
Together with the enhancement of his physical strength, Long Hao Chen could even more visibly benefit from his advantageous physique of a Scion of Light.
To any vocation, the fifth step was the threshold to the appellation of powerhouse. However, to be considered as a real powerhouse, one needed to step across the threshold of the sixth step. This was because, it was only when the sixth step was reached, that the might of the liquid spiritual energy would really come out; it was the key to the spiritual might, enabling the speed of cultivation of the liquid spiritual energy to really accelerate.
ANG-DANG!
A fierce rumbling sound reached Long Hao Chen’s consciousness, making him lift up his head to look towards the bottom of the mountain
As soon as he saw what was at the bottom of the mountain, he instantly gasped in astonishment. What he saw was a human skeleton; a wide, very wide human skeleton, advancing at great speed toward the top of this mountain. The previous rumbling sound was coming from one of its bones carelessly smashing a huge rock.
There were countless skeletons coming. It was impossible to discern just how many there were with the naked eye, all covered in black and different in height; however, they were all human-shaped. They quickly climbed up the mountain, with only the cave behind Long Hao Chen as their goal.
Taking a deep breath, Long Hao Chen took half a pace back, blocking the cave entrance. Thus, he would not have to face opponents from many directions at once, and only needed to face those at the front.
Without time to think about the reason why so many skeletons were coming, the only thing he could do was to resist the skeletons’ advance, giving Hao Yue enough time to finish his evolution.
Inside the cave, Hao Yue was trembling violently, his scales already splitting open: the effects of [Holy Mantle] from before were already disappearing.
But no matter whether it was Little Light or Little Fire, they were both biting the bullet, refraining to scream, because they didn’t want to disturb Long Hao Chen with their cries.
The bulge on Hao Yue’s third neck protruded outwards, and Little Light as well as Little Fire’s neck was growing, brilliant green light unceasingly glittering on top. Despite Hao Yue’s body being badly mangled, purple stripes of light were slowly appearing on his body.
Large amounts of spiritual energy were violently pouring into his body from the outside. Crackling sounds and growth was happening all over his body, and that mangled piece of flesh was continuously expanding, causing him to grit his teeth. The unstable spiritual energy in his body frantically wreaked havoc in him. An ancient and desolate terrifying aura was emitted from his body, as Little Light and Little Flame’s eyes once again turned purple-colored, appearing heartless and ice-cold, emitting a monstrous presence. His mutilated body was also undergoing an uninterrupted process of expansion.
Bang. Long Hao Chen leaned slightly on the Radiant Shield on his left hand, sweeping away a black skeleton with one strike, and with the Light Sword on his other hand, he struck a skeleton right in the stomach.
Drawing closer, Long Hao Chen further understood the terrifying aspect of these skeletons. Although only bones remained of them, these bones were as hard as steel, and their strength was equal to that of ten men. Their eye sockets also contained a dimly lit flame.
As he kept immersing himself in battle with these skeletons, Long Hao Chen discovered their bones were not originally black in colour. Their bones had that colour because of the sheen given off by being covered in a spiritual energy of the dark attribute. With unceasing violence, they continued to attack.
Long Hao Chen right now rejoiced at the fact that he had the holy attribute. Although these black skeleton’s bodies were incredibly tough, when the holy essence coming from his Light Sword and Radiant Shield landed on the skeleton’s bodies, they were clearly very fearful of it. Immediately, there would be white smoke coming from where they were hit. Obviously, light elemental essence had a very strong restraining effect on the black skeletons.
Snap. [Light Thrust] was released. Three skeletons were immediately struck down by Long Hao Chen, obstructing the advance of further skeletons. After obtaining liquid spiritual energy, there was a clear increase of strength in all of his abilities.
Taking a short breath, Long Hao Chen consumed a Restoring Spiritual Pill. His consumption of spiritual energy was not that large, but in the current situation, how could he dare to wait until his spiritual energy was completely exhausted before replenishing it? Maintaining the optimal amount of spiritual energy was the best choice here.
In front of this large skeleton army, he was not using too many abilities, preserving his spiritual energy as much as possible. It was certainly not some one on one battle nor some sort of competition, it was a life and death situation. If he was even a little bit careless, he could be stuck in this world forever.
One skeleton after another fell, and even though Long Hao Chen could hold against ten thousand of these skeletons, there were simply too many skeletons coming at him. He could not even see a shred of hope.
In light of this battle, Long Hao Chen gradually discovered the advantages of being a Guardian Knight. Even though Retribution Knights had more tyrannical attack power, in a sustained battled, a Retribution Knight simply couldn’t measure up to a Guardian Knight in terms of endurance.
After using several guardian knight abilities to enhance himself, Long Hao Chen only used a little spiritual energy every time he took down a skeleton. Also, his objective wasn’t to annihilate the entire skeleton army,
since it was simply impossible to do so. He only needed to buy enough time for Hao Yue.
The greatest weakness of these black skeletons was that they were dumb and could not use any abilities. They only knew how to advance forward. In this situation, Long Hao Chen used his advantageous terrain as well as his Restoring Spiritual Pills to prolong the battle.
Chapter 117
A gold-colored mantle slowly rose up, wrapping Long Hao Chen inside. With this dense light surrounding him, he could recover a bit of spiritual energy. More importantly, inside of this [Holy Mantle], those skeletons did not dare advance. As soon as they even touched [Holy Mantle], the black- colored sheen on their bodies would immediately melt.
Long Hao Chen took several deep breaths. Two hours had passed. He had been there for exactly two hours.
Both of his arms were too sore for him to lift at this point, so he had to constantly urge himself to muster up more internal spiritual energy. He had already consumed six Restoring Spiritual Pills, but in these kinds of prolonged battles, it was not just spiritual energy that was consumed. The burden on the body as well as the heart were all important factors.
Visibly, the burden on his arms had become greater and the skeleton’s attacks were becoming fiercer and fiercer. Long Hao Chen had no choice but to activate [Holy Mantle] from his Divine Wristband.
Ye Hua had given him a Divine Wristband that could activate [Holy Mantle] three times a day. Not only did the activation require no spiritual energy, it also partially restored his own spiritual energy and aided in the recovery of his body. Long Hao Chen’s body state suddenly improved. The purple air behind him grew more and more prominent; he could even faintly hear Hao Yue’s heavy breathing.
Hold on, I must hold on. Long Hao Chen secretly commanded himself. No matter what, he had to block these skeletons, for Hao Yue’s sake. Right
before the effects of [Holy Mantle] dissipated, suddenly, a mournful bellow sounded. The unceasing skeleton army suddenly stopped and moved aside. A silhouette slowly appeared in the distance.
Humans, how did humans appear in our dark and fiery world. Do you know what kind of being you are protecting? An old voice brimming with confidence and oppressing force said. Under this oppressive force, Long Hao Chen immediately shivered. Once again, he activated [Holy Mantle], before taking another Restoring Spiritual Pill.
What appeared out of the silhouette was an elderly figure, tan in colour, in tattered clothing, wearing a withered complexion, but without even a sign of health, and disheveled yellow hair that had long lost their luster. His right hand was holding a staff made of bone, as he was walking on a black cloud. His eyes were not visible, because where they were supposed to be, there were instead two flames.
What a surprise, this creature knows human speech? Long Hao Chen surprisingly thought and tensed up further. “The one I am protecting is my friend and partner.”
The elderly figure coldly said, “No, what you are protecting is the reincarnation of the devil, the creator of our dark and fiery world. His existence is precisely the reason why our world is like this. Our world is broken down and magma is flowing through the Earth. Countless species became extinct all because of him. The strong have already escaped, the less fortunate all became undead, and now, only the undead can exist in this accursed world. I do not know how you came here, but your holy aura disgusts me and your actions anger me even more. I will give you one more chance to return to your world right now. Now that the devil, Austin Griffin, appeared in my territory, even if I am just a lich, I must kill him. Otherwise, who knows what other miseries his restoration will bring to our world?”
Long Hao Chen doubtfully looked at the elder lich; he did not quite understand what the lich implied. However, according to him, Hao Yue was very dangerous, to the extent that the main cause of the destruction of this world was him.
“Hao Yue is my friend, my partner. There is no one I trust more than him.”
The lich coldly said, “Since this is your answer, you shalt be buried here because of Austin Griffin.”
As the bone staff in hand pointed toward Long Hao Chen, suddenly, a sharp and deathly whistle sounded.
Long Hao Chen’s entire body trembled slightly, his blood boiling at the sound of the whistle as he suddenly felt very dizzy and almost started losing consciousness. Unable to conserve his spiritual energy, he rapidly lifted up his Radiant Shield, simultaneously using [Guardian Favor] and [Faith Halo] to cover his own body.
In this situation, Radiant Shield was also able to dispel the negative effects to some extent, especially effective against undead magic. [Guardian’s Favor] and [Faith Halo] were both support skills that used the light attribute to provide defense, and also had the effect of protecting him from various negative skill effects.
As a result, the effects of the deathly whistle were reduced. Long Hao Chen’s mind cleared up, as he lifted up his Light Sword decisively. Gold colored liquid spiritual energy poured out from his hands, and entered his Light Sword. Light Sword’s mild gold color was gradually being replaced by a sacred white color, it was [Holy Sword].
Looking at the resplendent holy light in the Light Sword, the elderly lich clearly showed fear in his ghastly eyes. Honestly, his plan was to bluff Long Hao Chen through his words, precisely because he was fearful of Long Hao Chen’s holy attribute.
A long string of incantations came out of his mouth, as he pointed his bone staff to the ground, from where countless skeletons broke down. Those black skeletons fused together at a breakneck pace and gradually took the shape of a much larger skeleton.
Skeleton King! A tyrannical undead summon, coming from the formidable fusion of several undead. With its height of 6.5m and a 3.3m bone blade in his right hand, it ferociously leapt straight for where Long Hao Chen was standing and hacked at the cave.
Not good.
Long Hao Chen no longer dared to guard the cave entrance: all the hacking the Skeleton King was doing to the cave entrance could cause a cave-in and bury him alive.
[Charge], stopping the charge, [Divine Obstruction]. Long Hao Chen acted extremely quickly, completely blocking the black bone blade with his Radiant Shield.
A loud explosion sounded. Long Hao Chen felt that in this instant, his entire body was about to shatter, his innards about to explode, as the tyrannical strike almost split the Radiant Shield.
A very powerful force.
Even under the effects of [Divine Obstruction], Long Hao Chen’s seven apertures had been injured; this was how tyrannical the force of this Skeleton King indeed was. The ground under him had been split. If not for the fact that he had reached the fifth step and Hao Yue’s evolution had brought a synchronized evolution to his own body, there was no way that he could possibly stand after this blow.
[Holy Mantle]. Long Hao Chen immediately activated the second use of the Divine Wristband’s [Holy Mantle], and consumed a Bursting Spiritual Pill at the same time. Jumping in the middle of air, as he put the Radiant Shield in his hand away, his Flame Sword appeared. He took the two swords in his hands, and used the force of [Divine Obstruction] combined with [Bright Vengeance] in a split second. After vaulting, he immediately arrived in front of this Skeleton King.
In regards to the [Holy Mantle] surrounding Long Hao Chen’s body, even this Skeleton King felt some fear. This attribute was his innate weak
point, delaying even his movements.
In his left hand, the Flame Sword moved, and with a [Light Thorn], a flaming golden radiance ruthlessly struck the body of the Skeleton King.
“RAAAWR” The Skeleton King bellowed, raising his body. To him, the power of this [Light Thrust] in itself was no big deal, but the most frightening thing was the supplementary holy property it had, concentrated in its incandescent body, bringing him an intense pain.
The ghastly eyed lich suddenly leapt in the air, brandishing its bone staff, and a great army of skeletons suddenly headed towards the cave, aiming to go around Long Hao Chen, and it simultaneously released a dark wave of radiance from his staff, falling onto the Skeleton King. Immediately, the bones of the Skeleton King turned even darker, vaguely releasing a fluorescent layer of light. His tyrannical aura left Long Hao Chen at a standstill.
Bang–
A black bone blade ruthlessly hacked at the ground. Long Hao Chen used his Flame Sword, unleashing its power and sweeping this blade away, but he was pushed back on the side by the enormous power of this black bone sword. As his whole body was immediately sent rolling on the ground, before raising like a bullet, he shouted out loudly, “You and I shall stake everything!”
In midair, the withered undead face looked disdainfully at him. Although the supplementary attribute of this human’s body was extremely terrifying to him, he was in the end far from being powerful enough. He wasn’t even a threat to him.
The Skeleton King was really too powerful. Right before its attacks landed, Long Hao Chen could only think about how to dodge them: he did not dare try to clash head on with him once again. And when his attacks fell on the body of this Skeleton King, the holy attribute, the only thing that could possibly injure him to death, had a sure effect. But with the lich
nursing him nearby, he had basically no way at all to bring substantial damage upon him.
More importantly, Long Hao Chen had just seen skeletons enter the cave, bringing huge changes to his complexion. Unceasingly being engaged by the Skeleton King, the huge power of his blows prevented him from stopping them.
The lich had already stopped looking at Long Hao Chen, it was only a matter of time before he would end up killed by this Skeleton King. His gaze was focused on the entrance of this cave. His ghastly eyes jumped up, revealing a nervous and somewhat restless state of mind. This was, after all, Austin Griffin! Would he really have the strength necessary to kill him? If I could really kill him and absorb his blood vessels, then, how powerful will I become? Could I become the next Austin Griffin? At that time, I will perhaps be able to rely on my willpower to overcome it.
As this lich was nervously pondering on whether he really wanted to enter this cave or not, suddenly, a violent attractive force pulled his body, which was in midair, making him fall directly down on the middle of the mountain.
What? How could that happen? The lich was greatly alarmed, unconsciously looking at its own body. Immediately, he discovered that, without prior notice, a white glow without the least bit of energy concentrated in it had entered his own body.
This white glow looked quite soft at first glance, but its attractive force was extremely great. The lich used its undead magic to command his army, but in the end, it was a creature relying on magic, and as such, its body was quite weak. Facing such attractive force, it could barely rely on the energy in his body, and it had no possibility to struggle free from it.
Chapter 118
A moss-green-colored radiance instantly surged out of the shroud as the lich attempted to use undead magic to free its body from the strange energy wrapping it. Unfortunately, its hopes were crushed. That soft-looking milky-white energy didn’t seem to show the slightest reaction to its undead magic.
Bang.
The black bone blade of this Skeleton King hacked toward the ground once again, but this time, it went past Long Hao Chen’s body, almost hitting him. The golden armor covering Long Hao Chen’s body burst out, emitting its last golden radiance, as he took it out completely.
Actually, that corpse-pulling white-colored radiance was coming directly from Long Hao Chen’s chest. And precisely because of the moment of pause that occurred when he produced it, he was close from being crushed by the Skeleton King.
The lich looked once again toward Long Hao Chen, its face displaying a bit of anxiety; or was it fear and anger? What came from its extremely calm face was a calm and collected look filled with an intense murderous intent.
Not good. An intense fear instantly reached Long Hao Chen’s mind, “But it shouldn’t currently be able to attack freely.”
Two strong golden lights burst out from Long Hao Chen’s body in succession. From the Divine Light Wristguard, the third [Holy Mantle] was activated. In addition, he stuck the Flame Sword in the ground, releasing a
[Heavenly Battle Array] and forcefully stopping the Skeleton King’s next attack. A strong holy property was being released, going as far as to make the nearby Skeleton King stumble.
And Long Hao Chen hadn’t used the Light Sword in his right hand to attack yet.
[Last Gambit], skill of Retribution Knights of the fifth step.
[Holy Sword], skill of Retribution Knights of the fifth step.
[Holy Sword] was something he had prepared a long time ago, and [Last Gambit] was something he unlocked after having reached the fifth step of cultivation, as his breakthrough broke another seal of his Inheritance Ring. The Light Sword turned into a glittering white light, directly aiming for the lich.
“No!” The lich mournfully bellowed, an intense dark green radiance erupting from him, attempting to stop this radiant [Holy Sword].
Only, the sacred holy attribute was too strong against the undead. With his [Holy Sword] prepared through the use of [Storing Power] for a long time, and with the addition of his Bursting Spiritual Pill that strengthened the explosive power of his [Holy Sword], how could this attack of his be so easy to stop?
If both sides were more than 25 meters from each other, this attack from Long Hao Chen couldn’t possibly be enough to harm its life. However, their current distance was even closer than 10 meters apart. [Holy Sword] in the state of [Last Gambit] in this situation was indeed so fast that it could be said that it did not give the lich the slightest opportunity to unleash its formidable defensive spells.
Bang.
[Holy Sword] was instantly connected, passing through the lich’s dark green protective screen, with a doubled efficacy coming from the
combination of [Last Gambit] and [Holy Sword]. This blow had already the formidable might of an attack coming from a Radiant Knight.
A pure and holy light shone upon his chest, making the nearby lich seemingly freeze.
The current Long Hao Chen was going all out, and after making use of
[Last Gambit], his body was already completely limp.
The lich’s black bones looked just like an apparition of death suddenly emerging. His eyes, staring at Long Hao Chen were seemingly losing all resolution. 噗啡。 Pfutuft
The body of the Skeleton King suddenly became stiff, just as the bone blade was drawing extre
Those skeletons which had charged within the cave had already turned motionless, one after another, turning into dried-up bones.
A faint smile was drawn on Long Hao Chen’s lips as the armor before him shattered completely. The collision of these crumbled bones on his body hurt a lot, but it didn’t truly injure him.
Success! Long Hao Chen ruthlessly clenched his fists, despite the fact that his body was currently in a very bad condition and feeling very weak. The aftereffects of the Bursting Spiritual Pill gradually started to appear, stimulating his spirit to a great extent.
Long Hao Chen wasn’t the slightest bit familiar with undead life forms, but his mental capacity which was so different from ordinary people’s gave him an exceedingly high sense of observation.
No matter whether it was about the lich or the Skeleton King, they were both clearly above Long Hao Chen in terms of strength. Long Hao Chen was supposed to have no way to withstand the attacks of either of them.
However, strength wasn’t a factor of sure victory. Long Hao Chen had just inferred the meaning of the classical case of war called “to win from a
position of weakness”.
And as soon as this lich appeared, Long Hao Chen had clearly felt its similarity to these skeletons; he was afraid of his holy attribute. Otherwise, it would simply have needed to kill him directly to deal with everything; was there a need to spare efforts? Furthermore, when that lich king summoned this Skeleton King, it revealed its identity as an undead. For sure, this undead army had been summoned by this lich, otherwise, they couldn’t have fused together into a formidable Skeleton King.
This information appeared useless at first glance, but for the contemplative Long Hao Chen, it was a clear-cut way out of this certain death situation. In other words, he only had to kill the lich and the summoning would end together with its life.
At first, he had to show weakness; for that purpose when he blocked the Skeleton King for the first time, although he used [Divine Obstruction], he did not use [Leaned Shield Unloading Power]. It was to test the Skeleton King’s power as well as to paralyze the lich. Once again, this proved that the Skeleton King’s strength was much greater than he originally thought, injuring him right away. Long Hao Chen did not fret; at least, he blocked it. If he had not been able to do that, there wasn’t the slightest chance for his plan to work.
Afterwards, he was constantly shifting around, dodging the Skeleton King’s strikes with great difficulty as he didn’t dare to take them head on, but in fact, from beginning to end, he was advancing towards the lich in the middle of the mountain.
After he completed the evolution of his Saint Spiritual Stove, not only did the range of it increase from 25 to 50 meters, it could also attract the attention of two enemies instead of one. More importantly, it gained another special ability, [Pull].
[Attraction] attracted the enemy’s attention, but [Pull] pulled the enemy towards him. The effect of the Saint Spiritual Stove’s ability [Pull] was akin to Long Hao Chen using his full strength to personally pull the target. This skill was purely defensive, and didn’t hold any attack power. However, it
was extremely practical, with an effect equivalent to what would have happened if he gained an invisible rope, able to pull anything.
[Pull] had a small range of 25 metres, and was able to aim at a single target.
As the lich was in midair, Long Hao Chen continuously tried to approach it, for the precise reason being that his Saint Spiritual Stove contained this mysterious ability. He had also never revealed the true power of his Light Sword.
In the end, the Lich’s underestimation of Long Hao Chen’s abilities cost him his life. Compared to the cunning humans, the lich was really simple- minded. Long Hao Chen’s Saint Spiritual Stove changed the face of the battle completely.
The flames in the lich’s eyes gradually dimmed. It took a look at the hole in its stomach and then looked at Long Hao Chen on the ground. Suddenly he let out a screech. He was unable to accept the reality of the situation.
“No……….., now that the sealing pillars are already gone, don’t tell me that Austin will once again descend upon us after his six previous reincarnations? My masters from the undead world, why is it that you haven’t arrived yet?! Destroy him, destroy him, quick… ”
Accompanying its cries, the Light Sword’s holy light had already spread through its body. White cracks of light appeared all over and eventually before exploding, and finally condensing, intensely lighting up this dark and gloomy world.
Long Hao Chen laid on the ground, breathing heavily, intense fatigue rushing into his head. Despite the backlash not being as heavy as using [Sacrifice], with the Bursting Spiritual Pill increasing his overall battle strength by 20%, at this moment the side-effects were not light.
The lich and his skeleton army fell; however, now was not the time to relax. Long Hao Chen once again consumed a Restoring Spiritual Pill, striving to restore even a little bit of spiritual energy.
At this moment, a muffled cry sounded, and it was immediately followed by mixed shouting; after that the muffled cry sounded again. Afterwards, a third cry resounded. Despite clearly being somewhat weak, it was no less dignified than the previous two.
Hearing this muffled cry, Long Hao Chen was surprised, because the sound came from inside the cave.
A heartwarming feeling came from within Long Hao Chen as he suddenly felt that his strength returned. Looking down, he discovered to his astonishment that brilliant purple lines had appeared all over his body, which were his own meridians alight. No matter if his veins’ size could be considered as average or slim, they were currently all flashing with a purple color. A formidable force could be unceasingly felt, appearing before his eyes and reinforcing his muscles’ power, contrasting with his currently weakened internal spiritual energy.
Once again, the yelling cry sounded, but this time it was much stronger than the previous three. A silhouette appeared from within the cave. Without Long Hao Chen even seeing it clearly, it already appeared beside him. Golden light flashed and gentle light elemental essence wrapped around Long Hao Chen’s body. Immediately, Long Hao Chen felt lighter, and a fiery feeling appeared on his forehead. The surroundings were all lit with a mysterious light. He once again entered into a transient state.
In this dark and fiery world, a purple light glittered, space opened, and with a flash of light, the purple light disappeared immediately.
In the next second, a cold cry suddenly sounded, Austin Griffin…..
This sound was very sharp. The moment it appeared, the black sky turned grey all of a sudden. The lava on the earth all dried up, and the temperature dropped drastically.
We have arrived late. A low bellow sounded, large pieces of black silhouette slowly closed in, and an enormous figure emerged out of the shadows. The figure was of a bone dragon larger than 30 metres in length.
The skull of the bone dragon had a strange light blue colour; the body was white, but there was certainly a blue light brandishing its entire body. Under its large wings, there appeared to be a layer of skin. This bone dragon was surrounded by sticky black miasma that slowly spread outwards.
Chapter 119
Inside the eye sockets of the bone dragon, brilliant blue flames were lit. Just by its tyrannical aura, this dragon could comparably be of the ninth step. On the back of the bone dragon, there was a male clad in black armor. The figure was over 2.5 metres tall and it sat patiently at the base of the dragon’s neck. On its right hand, there was a lance that might be longer than its wielder, covered in dazzling purple.
The boundless grey sky suddenly split open, and a graceful figure appeared, its body was shrouded inside a black mantle. Although the figure was barely visible, two scarlet flames were moving on its head.
That’s right, we are late. Although we came as soon as we obtained information from that lich, in the end, we are still late. The one this sharp voice belonged to was precisely that ‘master’.
“A year ago, when we discovered Austin Griffin, he had just been reincarnated. To hide from our attempts to kill him, he used an innate ability enabling him to become extremely weak, lowering to a great extent his evolving speed. However, after such a small duration, how could his third head already be born? According to this terrifying evolution speed, I am afraid that before a hundred years pass, the calamity that occurred at that time will descend once again. Undead Abdicator Knight, do you have a method to find him?”
The Undead Abdicator Knight coldly answered, “If you, in your capacity as the Lich King, are unable to find him, how can I? Austin Griffin has already changed locations. But every time he wants to evolve,
he will be bound to return to this world where he was born. We can only wait for the next opportunity now.”
The Lich King coldly spoke back, “What are the others doing? Can it be that they believe that this Austin Griffin will be as easy for us to deal with as its six previous reincarnations? His third head has already grown, he is already becoming harder and harder to deal with. We will have to convene the Undead Monarch’s General Assembly. After combining our forces, I believe that we’ll come up with a solution.”
“All right. About this matter, you and I hold the same point of view. In those days, at the moment Austin Griffin broke the seal pillars, calamity fell upon mother earth, the skies collapsed, and everything died. Relying on his strength at the heavenly step, he can at most reincarnate nine times. As long as we can destroy him this time, and persist for 2000 years, he will be left with no means to descend to this world ever again.”
The Lich King said, somewhat astonished, “I didn’t expect the cold and indifferent you to be also afraid of desolation.”
“Can it be that you’re not afraid?” The Undead Abdicator Knight snorted coldly, as the enormous bone dragon he was riding turned around. Then, a rich black-color was released all around it, and in the next instant, he disappeared completely.
The Lich King was currently in the cave where Hao Yue had previously been, coldly looking around. In the next instant, an enormous purple blister appeared there, and instantly, the whole mountain peak melted. The Lich King’s body also disappeared in the air, fading away and leaving only gray ashes behind. …… The steady and determined Long Hao Chen had his body completely shaken. Unconsciously looking forward, he discovered that the purple color under his skin suddenly disappeared, leaving no traces in his body. And the aftereffects of the Bursting Spiritual Pill seemed to have completely disappeared with it, even though 12 hours were far from having passed from the time he took it.
The surrounding purple color quietly weakened, as Long Hao Chen discovered, to his astonishment, that around him was a pitch black landsca
“Hao Chen.” A familiar voice shouted his name, and immediately, Long Hao Chen recognized two familiar silhouettes.
“Du, du, du.” Li Xin and Cai’er, who was moving with Li Xin’s support, ran to his side from a nearby place.
Long Hao Chen immediately reacted. He had already come back to Holy City, and as he lowered his head, he could instantly see a huge fellow that was crawling under him, looking at Cai’er somewhat vigilantly.
This… This is Hao Yue?
Instantly, Long Hao Chen felt a bit listless.
What was crawling below Long Hao Chen could only be called a huge fellow. With its four thick and sturdy limbs, a height that exceeded 4 meters, it could only be categorized as a lot more robust than the former Hao Yue. If the former Hao Yue could only be called a huge lizard, then, this one could be called a huge crocodile. Furthermore, he had a third head.
That’s right, it’s precisely a third head. Aside from Little Light and Little Flame, Long Hao Chen could also see another head that was green-colored. Just like Little Light and Little Flame, his look when gazing at Long Hao Chen was brimming with affection. Seeing that Long Hao Chen was looking at them, the three huge heads immediately gathered together, rubbing against Long Hao Chen’s body.
“Hao Yue, it’s all right. Cai’er is my friend.” Long Hao Chen couldn’t fail to discern the change in Hao Yue’s expression. As he hurried to take two steps forward, he gave an ashamed look to Cai’er who was standing before him.
“Cai’er, I’m sorry. I… I missed our appointment once again.” He didn’t try to come up with an excuse. It was already late, so clearly, Cai’er and Li Xin had been waiting for his return in this place all along.
Long Hao Chen felt comfortably warm in his heart. His look was quite cordial, and these feelings of concern were undoubtedly something he
longed for.
Cai’er didn’t rebuke him. Subconsciously holding one of his hands, she transmitted to his body a gentle wave of spiritual energy.
Long Hao Chen didn’t guard the slightest bit against Cai’er, as he simultaneously used his second hand to pat Hao Yue’s big head that had just come out.
Cai’er said in a neutral tone, “Fortunately, you are not wounded. However, how could the consumption of your spiritual energy be so huge, are you alright?” She couldn’t see Long Hao Chen’s current facial expression, but through observing his breath, she could determine that there wasn’t any big problem: he only suffered a few light injuries.
Long Hao Chen answered, “I’m all right. Hao Yue happened to be in a little danger, so I went to help him. Cai’er, I…”
Cai’er lightly shook her head, “It’s nothing, I don’t blame you. The fact you came back safe and sound is enough.” From her point of view, magical beast companions were only beings coming from some random mountain, so in regard to the kind of enemy Long Hao Chen could have run across when being summoned, she didn’t think too much.
But unexpectedly, Li Xin was on the contrary full of doubts, “Hao Chen, is this Hao Yue? How could he become so huge, wah, and there’s another head. What a surprise!”
Long Hao Chen made a silent gesture directed at her,saying in a low voice, “Hao Yue has most likely evolved. Let’s go, it’s already so late, we should go back first before talking about this.”
Long Hao Chen was safe and well, and Cai’er was finally relieved. Li Xin and Long Hao Chen went to see her off before taking Hao Yue to return to their hotel.
The bedroom wasn’t too big, so as soon as Hao Yue, with his tremendously bigger body, crawled in the room, it appeared a lot smaller;
but whatever he was told, he was unwilling to sleep outside. The third big head was only nagging Long Hao Chen, his eyes full of appreciation and affection. It was just like a child who was getting close to his own father.
“Okay, okay. Isn’t it natural that I went to your rescue when you faced some dangers? There’s no need for you to be so reserved.” Long Hao Chen gently caressed Hao Yue’s third head, and had a smile on his face.
Despite the fact that he had faced the lich and his skeleton army in the previous fight, and his heart was beating a lot faster all along and until now, he didn’t regret anything in the slightest. He was a Guardian Knight, Hao Yue was a dear person to him, so he naturally had to protect him well.
Long Hao Chen was still sometimes carefully watching Hao Yue’s appearance after his evolution.
It could be said that Hao Yue’s whole body had evolved. His body was two times taller, and had become a lot sturdier. His body only, when sitting straight, was already nearly 1.5 meters tall, with his four robusts limbs, his sharp claws, raising his three huge heads, he looked rather impressive.
The scales covering his body had also evolved. Each of them appeared oval, but on them, there was another bulge, covering these scales that appeared thick and firm. He was still completely black, but under the illumination from the external world, a faint trace of purple color could be discerned. On his back, the protruding bone already had a big volume, and appeared to make him look even larger.
The most evident change on Hao Yue was in his three heads. Clearly, on the two sides of his heads appeared some other bulges that seemed connected to each other. However, these bulges weren’t too distinct, but their eyes changed a lot, the side of their mouth appeared rounder and sharper than in the past. More importantly, his heads had become at least twice as large.
Because of the bonds of the blood contract between them, Long Hao Chen could clearly feel that Hao Yue was a lot more powerful than in the past. If Long Hao Chen were to be up against him, even with his current
force, he was afraid that he wouldn’t necessarily win. He had clearly entered the boundary of the sixth step as a magical beast!
Wasn’t this kind of evolution too frightening? From the time of Long Hao Chen’s contract with Hao Yue to now, an entire year had not passed yet. His first evolution was because of Long Hao Chen’s blood and his second evolution was something he provoked himself. It should have a relation with the stone orb he had eaten.
This wasn’t the crucial point. The crucial point was that every time Hao Yue evolved, his strength would grow substantially. Growing a second head made him turn into a beast of the fourth step from the second step, and this third head that had now appeared had made him change from the fourth step to the sixth step. No matter if it was from his father or his teacher, Long Hao Chen had never heard of a kind of magical beast that could evolve in such a way, and so rapidly.
In addition, Long Hao Chen found out to his astonishment that near his neck, next to the green-looking neck, there was, as before, another bulge. From the other side, at Little Fire’s side there was also another bulge. In other words, after this evolution, two bulges had grown on the side of his necks. Could it be that he would sprout out two other heads? If it was the case, what level would he reach at that moment?
In regard to Hao Yue, Long Hao Chen was currently growing more and more curious.
Hao Yue could feel Long Hao Chen’s thoughts, and stared at him with his three heads. Little Light was the first, as he directly stuck out his tongue to lick his face, giving Long Hao Chen a face-washing.
“Haha, stop licking me! It tickles!” Little Flame and the newly born head immediately joined him, and the three heads playfully assaulted Long Hao Chen.
Chapter 120
At the same time, Long Hao Chen received a message conveyed by Hao Yue. The next time he would evolve, it would be a lot harder than this one. Indeed, he would once again undergo qualitative changes, but the degree of evolution wouldn’t be as great as this time. After all, it was a lot harder for a magical beast to evolve from the sixth step to the seventh than to evolve from the fourth step to the sixth. In regard to the circumstances of this evolution, Hao Yue didn’t say anything further, but from the message he previously conveyed, Long Hao Chen could feel that he was also trying to say that no matter how much he would change in the future, he would forever be his relative, companion, elder brother, or even his father.
It was deep at night. As Long Hao Chen was about to enter the state of cultivation after having taken a bath, Hao Yue was still sleeping deeply. As he had just completed his evolution, his body was currently feeling extremely weak. Clearly, all his energy was used up during this process, and to return to his optimal state, he still needed more time.
Hao Yue also told Long Hao Chen that the attribute of this newborn head was the wind, so Long Hao Chen gave him the name Little Green, just like the color of his eyes.
day, morning.
The sunlight coming from the outside of the window was still entering the room as Long Hao Chen, who was in the middle of cultivation, slowly awoke. Bathing in the warm sunshine, he couldn’t help but reveal disappointment and frustration in his eyes. The ocean of his soul was still unconsciously recalling that world filled with dark and fire.
Compared to that place, Shengmo Dalu was simply like a heaven!
Through the window, as he looked at the gentle morning sun, Long Hao Chen really felt blessed from the bottom of his heart.
Hao Yue had seized Long Hao Chen’s bed, so he could not sleep there, because it wasn’t wide enough. In the end, Hao Yue’s body ended up curled up there, as his tail was held in Little Light’s mouth. From the look of other people, this appearance would perhaps look fierce and fearsome, but to Long Hao Chen it was simply Hao Yue and nothing more.
Groping the place above the three heads, Long Hao Chen didn’t awake them. Calmly walking away from the bedroom, he took his breakfast. Today, he was going to take part in another match.
But when Long Hao Chen walked away from his bedroom, Hao Yue’s three heads eyes simultaneously opened. Looking face to face at each other, the three different colored pairs of eyes were displaying a faintly warm look, as the corner of his mouths rose, and his eyes shut once again. His breathing resumed as well, smoothly.
Exerting his strength to stretch his body, he felt that his internal spiritual energy was still feeling weak, from the previous day. Last night, after coming back, it was already deep night. The brief period of cultivation didn’t give enough time for Long Hao Chen’s spiritual energy to be restored to its peak condition. But he could clearly feel that his own physical body had grown a lot sturdier, and that there was a tremendous increase to his physical strength.
It appeared that he had to find the occasion to test his external spiritual energy.
He took his breakfast together with Li Xin and Ye Hua. Because Ye Hua couldn’t watch him, he stayed here, as before. At least, he would wait for all Long Hao Chen’s matches to be over before leaving. Only when he would genuinely be a Demon Hunt Squad member would Ye Hua go back to Hao Yue City.
“Xin’er said that Hao Yue was back, and he evolved once again?” Ye Hua asked Long Hao Chen in a low voice.
Long Hao Chen nodded.
Ye Hua who looked quite curious, immediately asked, “And what level did he
Long Hao Chen answered, “It should be the case. Otherwise, I can’t think of a reason why he could evolve once again in such a short time. Teacher, I think Hao Yue is really quite abnormal. With this evolution, he should be considered as a magical beast of the sixth step. In addition, he can use another elemental attribute.”
Ye Hua showed a faint smile and said, “For you, this is good news. The stronger Hao Yue is, the more assistance he will be able to provide you with. In this final stage of the competition, his appearance will be of an extremely great help for you. You will be able to take it a lot easier for the rest of the competition.”
Long Hao Chen chucked, “Hao Yue is still feeling weak right now; before he completely recovers, I will not let him battle together with me. Teacher, it’s getting late, big sis and I will be leaving for now.”
Ye Hua nodded, “You can go.”
Long Hao Chen and Li XIn bade farewell to Ye Hua, and headed to the Alliance’s Great Stadium. Looking at their leaving figures, Ye Hua lightly nodded, “Hao Chen, this kid is really good at everything. Only, he’s just treating everyone around him too well. He’s paying too much attention to his entourage.”
Warrior Stadium.
When Long Hao Chen entered the stadium, he remembered about the circumstances of the matches of the round-robin tournament that had already taken place the day before. Today, it looked like the opponent he was going to face was this second competitor coming from the Mage
Temple, a Magic Leader of the fifth step. Without a doubt, this was going to be a tough fight.
On the previous day, he had left early, so he naturally didn’t know about the results of the rest of the matches. After entering, he heard that his opponent of today had also obtained victory yesterday. Just like Long Hao Chen, he fought an assassin.
In the lounge, he looked for a place to sit. Long Hao Chen’s eyes swept through his surrounding, and what attracted his attention the most was once again the two girls of the day before.
The loli summoner looked quite depressed; it seemed that she still recalled her awkward summon of a little lamb on the day before.
Wang Yuanyuan, seated beside, was wiping clean her enormous shield. Her eyes seemed to be brimming with affection, just as if she was fondling the body of a lover.
Naturally, Long Hao Chen wouldn’t simply think that this loli summoner could only summon sheep. First of all, she was for sure the summoner bearing the number 1, which was a proof that she had reached the fifth step of cultivation. Secondly, the fact she could get in the final stage of the competition was in itself a proof that she was at least top 10 of the Summoners’ Qualifiers.
On the previous day, when the Creature Summoning Gate had appeared, the vibrations that appeared together with it were something that Long Hao Chen wouldn’t be able to forget. Although in the end, the final result was nothing more than the dramatic appearance of a lamb, still, did it imply that this Creature Summoning Gate could only summon sheep? It couldn’t be so simple, right?
Without thinking deeply over this, right after sitting down, Long Hao Chen immediately shut his eyes, letting himself enter a state of meditation. Last night, a great part of his spiritual energy was depleted, although the sluggishness of his body was due to his disappearance, for Hao Yue’s evolution. However, the internal spiritual energy in itself was overdrafted
by his use of the Bursting Spiritual Pill, and there was no way to change this fact. He had to do his utmost to recover some internal spiritual energy. The opponent he would face in a little while was that number #2 from the Mage Temple, undoubtedly another powerhouse at the fifth step.
Ye Hua previously taught Long Hao Chen that as a mage’s cultivation level grew, his personal power would increase by leaps and bounds. As a simple example, a mage of the second step could not contend against a warrior of the second step, but after a mage reached the fifth step, even ten warriors of the same step would not necessarily be able to contend against him.
Mages relied on their great offensive power and control over the battlefield and an outstanding mage was the main element of the offensive power and burst of his team.
The first match of the day was a clash between two assassins, a confrontation of speed and control; it was as if the first to hit was going to win and obtain the final victory. As a result, this match was pretty fast to end, to the extent that almost no one could see clearly how the victor had managed to exert his control over his opponent as the match had already ended.
“Second match, Huang Yi against Long Hao Chen, battle start.”
The referee’s voice awoke Long Hao Chen from his state of cultivation. On the other side, this continuously silent mage slowly stood up. Like Long Hao Chen, he had a quite handsome face, and the lines on it looked as soft as on Long Hao Chen’s. In terms of build, he was a little taller than Long Hao Chen, but was still far from having Lin Xin’s stature. As he advanced, full of confidence, it seemed as if the trajectory he took was already fixed.
Long Hao Chen’s look changed, it looked like this opponent wouldn’t be easy to cope with! From Huang Yi’s body, he could feel a threat similar to the one Yang Wenzhao made him feel, only, it was far from being as intense as the one Yang Wenzhao brought upon him.
“To make the battle between a knight and a mage fair, both parties will start at a distance of 50 meters.” The referee commanded Long Hao Chen and Huang Yi to start at a fair distance between each other, before proclaiming, “Match start!”
This time, Long Hao Chen no longer chose to use [Storing Power]. Against a mage, it was necessary to continuously approach the opponent. Compared to their strong attack power and control over the battlefield, mages generally have a weak body. As soon as a knight closed the gap, the battle was basically decided.
[Charge]. Long Hao Chen sped forward, in his left hand was the Radiant Shield, the right hand was changed into the Flame Sword. His Light Sword was lost last night during the battle with the lich; thus, he only had the choice of using one sword.
The Radiant Shield has the ability of self-protection, but after the battle last night, it had still not recovered its full strength, the split suffered during the battle was still apparent. Long Hao Chen wasn’t even wearing his armor; a single strike from the Skeleton King’s single strike had completely broken this armor of the holy attribute of his.
After looking at the equipment taken out by Long Hao Chen, Huang Yi scowled slightly,but his movements weren’t slow at all. A small staff appeared in his hand.
The entire staff became topaz colored, there was no way to know the material it’s made of, but there were strange patterns on it and a brown spherical gem embedded on top. When Huang Yi took out the staff, yellowish-brown colored circles dispersed.
A quiet incantation with a bizarre rhythm was casted by Huang Yi. As he pointed his staff towards the direction of Long Hao Chen, suddenly, a brilliant yellow light entered the arena, and spread out into yellow rings.
Long Hao Chen’s awareness was extremely high, he immediately felt danger, and instantly stopped his charge and made a horizontal dodging motion on his toes.
Boom!
A huge [Earth Wall] was suddenly erected from beneath the ground, if Long Hao Chen had continued his forward charge, he would be fiercely ramming the wall right now.
One wall after another appeared from the earth, no matter what direction Long Hao Chen approached from, there was always an [Earth Wall] that blocked his advance. After a while, his entire vision was blocked by these walls.
These walls were 6.5 meters wide, 10 meters tall and two thirds of a meter thick, breaking through wouldn’t be easy.
Right before Long Hao Chen’s sight was completely blocked, Huang Yi suddenly stopped his motions, and a round yellow light appeared from his body. This round yellow light didn’t appear to be attacking or defending, simply floating in midair and dropping on top of Huang Yi’s left shoulder; faintly visible, it was a small person with transparent wings. It was only the size of a palm and appeared very cute, but the sounds it was emitting against Long Hao Chen weren’t cute at all.