Chapter 614: The Luminous Tree and Silver Flowers in the Twilight
The sounds of slaughter rose, and many demon gods roared in fury as they charged toward Xích Khê.
After a bloody battle, corpses piled up like mountains, and even Xích Khê couldn't help but feel weary. He cultivated the Vô Lậu Đấu Chiến Thần Công from the Xích Minh era, a technique that seized qi and blood from others to keep himself at peak condition at all times. Moreover, with three heads and six arms, his close-combat offense could be said to have reached a state of perfection.
As long as an enemy was wounded, they would continuously lose qi and blood, and that lost qi and blood would surge into his body. One side waned while the other waxed—the longer the battle, the more advantageous it was for him.
This divine art could be said to be one of the finest techniques of the Xích Minh era. Many people cultivated it back then, and naturally, there were no small number of gods and demons who did as well. This was why the gods and demons of the Xích Minh era often took on the form of three heads and six arms.
The Vô Lậu Đấu Chiến Thần Công had two shortcomings. The first was that it placed a great burden on the physical body, so one would feel bodily fatigue, but the qi and blood would grow ever more vigorous.
The second shortcoming was in divine abilities.
Because it was a close-combat divine art, his mastery of divine abilities was not particularly high.
This executioner official of the Xích Minh era sat atop a high pile of corpses. Night had fallen, and there were many fires around him—flames left behind by divine abilities, sending columns of black smoke rising into the twilight.
The Cổ Thành (Gu City) was in ruins.
Paper boats were sailing in from the darkness, and the yin messengers on board were collecting the souls of the dead. Xích Khê stared blankly at these suddenly appearing yin messengers but did not question them.
After all, he was an executioner official of the Xích Minh Heavenly Court, a figure of great standing, long accustomed to such phenomena.
He sat on the mountain of corpses and looked into the distance. In the distance, a three-faced demon god was walking toward him. That demon god adjusted his state as he walked—a terrifyingly powerful opponent.
Phục Nhật La Tôn Vương!
Xích Khê rested one leg on the head of a corpse beneath him while the other leg dangled loosely. He too was steadying his breath, calming his mind, and doing his utmost to suppress his rage, waiting for the moment when that fury would erupt.
His enemy was a demon race Tôn Vương. He had once slain another Tôn Vương of the demon race, relying on the Trảm Thần Huyền Đao. He knew well how powerful and fearsome such an opponent could be. He had to make his state of mind perfect, leaving no opening for his enemy to exploit.
Rage and the thirst for revenge gave him strength, but they would also rob him of reason.
Only by suppressing his anger, waiting until the moment of life-or-death battle, and then suddenly unleashing the long-suppressed fury to strike a fatal blow at his enemy—only then would it be truly cathartic, pouring out his wrath. The success of his revenge would bring immense joy to his dao heart!
In the distance, Phục Nhật La Tôn Vương was still approaching. If one didn't look closely, he didn't seem like a demon god of the demon race at all, but rather a handsome, refined middle-aged man well-versed in literature.
As he walked, his arms flew about, unleashing divine abilities—one after another, they manifested. Yet these abilities gathered without dispersing, their power contained but not released.
His pace was not fast, but his speed was extremely quick, giving one the illusion that he was charging down from a high mountain.
That was a momentum—an invincible momentum!
Momentum did not depend on the frequency of one's steps. His steps were slow, but the feeling he gave was of an irresistible, overwhelming force!
The speed at which he accumulated his divine abilities was astonishing, putting pressure on Xích Khê—pressure that grew greater and greater, until he could no longer remain seated!
Behind him, space suddenly bloomed layer upon layer, pushing Cổ Thành farther and farther away. Not only that, the demon corpses near the mountain of bodies were also gradually receding.
Phục Nhật La's divine abilities had already begun preparing for the coming fierce battle—moving away these demon corpses so that Xích Khê would have no qi and blood to draw upon.
If he did not act now, Phục Nhật La would build up an invincible momentum!
Xích Khê soared into the air, six hands wielding six gleaming golden long blades. The blades danced, and all manner of combat techniques and divine abilities erupted from beneath his hands!
Combat techniques surged like a torrent of waves—one wave stacking atop another, accumulating endlessly, the blade-light waves rising higher and higher!
His steps quickened, faster and faster. Every step he took landed on empty air, still a hundred trượng above the ground, yet suddenly a depression appeared on the earth below—a dried-up lake in the shape of a footprint!
The earth trembled as footprint-shaped dried lakes appeared one after another, even mountains sinking abruptly under his tread, as he closed in on the unhurriedly approaching Phục Nhật La at a terrifying speed!
The footprint lakes appeared before Phục Nhật La in an instant, leaving less than two hundred trượng between them.
The two terrifying existences finally collided!
At this moment, in distant Ly Thành, Tần Mục climbed the city wall in the twilight, preparing to rest. Then he saw the light coming from the west.
The west—that was the territory of the demon race.
The youth stood atop the city wall and gazed into the distance. The light erupted from the twilight. Though the distance was immeasurable, it was still blindingly bright.
The light was like a very thick, very sturdy tree. Its massive trunk suddenly rose from the ground, a torrent of swirling light surging into the sky. Even from Ly Thành, one could see the pillar of light growing upward.
Then, a brilliantly shining branch burst forth from the bare trunk, taking on a dazzling form of lightning.
Tần Mục strained his eyes, trying to use the Cửu Trọng Thiên Khai Nhãn Pháp to see what was happening there, but his vision could not reach such detail from this distance.
At this range, not even the figures of gods and demons could be seen—not even a mountain ten thousand trượng tall!
One could only imagine how fierce and violent the battle was!
"Could it be that Phục Nhật La and Xích Khê have clashed?" he wondered inwardly.
Almost everyone in Ly Thành was stirred, flying into the air or climbing to high places to witness this rare spectacle.
The tree of light had its first branch, then light burst from the trunk—a second branch of light spread outward, then a third, a fourth...
More and more branches extended from the tree of light, growing denser and denser. Within a few breaths, Tần Mục and nearly all the cultivators and gods and demons in Ly Thành saw a colossal tree of light rising in the dark night sky of the west, its crown lush and dense, swaying mightily.
Just then, the tree of light suddenly dimmed and vanished, and the west returned to darkness.
"The battle is over?"
Tần Mục's heart pounded wildly. He murmured, "Phục Nhật La and Xích Khê—who won?"
"I don't know." A voice came from behind him.
Tần Mục quickly turned around. He saw Bàng Ngọc Chân Thần, Tang Diệp Tôn Thần, and other deities of Thái Hoàng Thiên had arrived behind him without his notice. These deities moved like ghosts—they had probably come because the city wall was the highest point, so they gathered here to watch the spectacle in the western night.
Bàng Ngọc Chân Thần shook his head and said, "Although I have crossed blows with Phục Nhật La several times, I almost always ended up defeated. There are not many in this world who can stand against him. From my experience of defeat in that battle just now, Phục Nhật La had already used every means at his disposal, but the outcome is still hard to say. Even if he wins, it will be a pyrrhic victory."
Tần Mục's heart itched with curiosity. "I really want to go there and see..."
Bàng Ngọc Chân Thần grew alert and said, "Tần Giáo Chủ, the Quốc Sư and the Thiên Sư are not here. It's best you don't stir up trouble."
Tần Mục said solemnly, "Chân Thần, I've been in Thái Hoàng Thiên for over half a year now. Have you ever seen me cause trouble? Don't slander me."
Bàng Ngọc Chân Thần smiled broadly and nodded repeatedly, saying, "I understand everything Tần Giáo Chủ says. My words were inappropriate—please forgive me, Giáo Chủ."
Tang Diệp Tôn Thần leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Thành Chủ, have you forgotten that he blew up our Thái Hoàng Thiên's sun?"
"Quiet."
Bàng Ngọc lowered his voice and said, "He has no sense of proportion—but don't you either? He's the Thiên Sư's disciple; we can't afford to offend him! Besides, he had the Quốc Sư forge two new suns for us, much prettier than the old ones."
Tang Diệp Tôn Thần quickly shut his mouth.
Tần Mục watched the darkness in the west grow deeper, clenched his fist, and said in a low, excited voice, "Phục Nhật La and Xích Khê have both wounded each other—this is the perfect chance to pick up heads! I really want to go collect the heads of Phục Nhật La and Xích Khê..."
Bàng Ngọc felt a chill in his heart. He shot Tang Diệp a look and whispered, "Keep an eye on him. Don't let him go cause trouble."
Tang Diệp nodded repeatedly.
On the other side, outside Cổ Thành, Phục Nhật La landed, turned, and walked away. In an instant, his figure vanished into the darkness.
Xích Khê stumbled as he landed, suppressing the stifling blood in his chest, but he couldn't hold it back. Suddenly, his body split open all over, and he sprayed out a torrent of blood—three heads, three mouths, all spewing blood continuously.
His body withered in a matter of moments, and the six blades in his hands shattered with a clatter.
He and Phục Nhật La had indeed wounded each other gravely. Neither of them had spoken a single word from start to finish—only silent, desperate combat. In that brief exchange, they had gravely wounded each other, both nearing the point of utter exhaustion!
The reason Phục Nhật La turned and left was that he bore wounds in many places and feared Xích Khê would seize his qi and blood. Retreating was actually the best way to kill Xích Khê.
He only needed to send a demon god without wounds to come and easily take Xích Khê's life.
As the wise one of the demon race, he saw things clearly—more clearly than anyone.
Xích Khê also understood why Phục Nhật La had retreated, and he knew this place was not safe to linger. Before long, demon gods would surely come to claim his life.
But his qi and blood were withered and failing. He probably wouldn't get far before the demon gods caught up. That would be his death.
"Am I going to die here?"
Xích Khê knelt down, his three heads hanging low, his heart utterly still. "I haven't yet gone to the ancestral land, haven't returned to my secluded kin to tell them of the ancestral land's situation. I refuse to accept this..."
In the distant Cổ Thành, a wisp of black qi drifted ghostlike among the piles of corpses, sometimes transforming into a small tree, sometimes into a boulder.
There were also small banners fluttering around this wisp of black qi, collecting demonic energy and the remnant souls the yin messengers of U Đô didn't want.
This wisp of black qi drifted about, ever-changing. Sometimes it would fall into the flames of divine abilities and become a ball of fire.
After a while, this wisp of black qi hesitantly approached the kneeling Xích Khê. It seemed uncertain—clearly wanting to check whether Xích Khê was dead and plunder some wealth, but also somewhat wary.
"You are a human." Xích Khê suddenly spoke.
The wisp of demonic qi started in surprise, and in the next instant transformed into a patch of grass.
Xích Khê continued, "No need to change forms before me. I can see through you. If you can save me, I will take you as my disciple, teach you the highest supreme art of the Xích Minh era—the Vô Lậu Đấu Chiến Thần Công—and grant you great benefits."
The patch of grass swayed, then disappeared. A youth with two deer legs appeared before Xích Khê. His deer legs bent, and he kowtowed, proclaiming loudly, "Ban Công Thác pays respects to Master! Master, rest assured—I've been mingling among the demon race for months. When it comes to the art of escape, no one in this world dares claim to be better than me!"
—Last month's matters are finally over. Brothers and sisters, have you noticed that the chapter quality has improved a lot recently? Hehehe.