NOVEL NEXT Chapter 689
Chapter 689: The Dark Heaven Village
“Pababat!”
Extreme Tiger, Bright Dragon, and Cheongwol, the three experts, were urgently running somewhere. Bright Dragon, fiercely using the Heavenly Cloud Sect Technique as he dashed forward, shouted to Extreme Tiger.
“Are you really going to go along with that guy’s plan?”
“……”
“It’s suicidal! Even if we teamed up, we’d be outmatched, and what’s this…”
Although Bright Dragon and Cheongwol followed the strategist’s orders, their expressions were clearly troubled. They were also allies of Baek Woong, so they knew the situation and were well aware of the monstrous Eight Parts of the Divine that had appeared. Yet, the final command issued from the Zhuge Sect was completely different from what they imagined.
Extreme Tiger gripped his spear and said,
“Don’t worry, seniors. Being able to choose our death as martial artists is a luxury, isn’t it?”
Cheongwol scoffed.
“Hmph! So you think killing that Cheon Woo-jin guy would settle the score? But I’d feel pretty unjust to die like this without taking down the Master.”
“What do we know? According to Zhuge’s calculations, there’s a decent chance the Master might die here too.”
“Do you trust that guy?”
“If saying I trust Guangsheng makes me the craziest guy in the world…”
Extreme Tiger grinned.
“Let’s not overthink it, seniors. After all, the task that guy has given us is no walk in the park either.”
“Hooh… Is that so?”
Cheongwol quickly agreed. In such chaotic circumstances, it was impossible for a martial artist to fully grasp the strategist’s intentions. Moreover, as Extreme Tiger said, even carrying out that ‘suicidal act’ wouldn’t be easy.
“Kuung…”
As Bright Dragon noticed a massive horde of Yacha appearing right in front of them, his brows furrowed.
“Just as Zhuge said…”
As expected, there was a powerful barrier set by the Twelve Joules and the Manha Spiritual Gate nearby. The Yacha were combat spirits summoned by high-level sorcerers and far stronger than typical martial artists, often summoned for self-defense. He decided to test it out by launching a crescent-shaped sword attack filled with his internal power at the horde of Yacha.
Boom!
A massive energy projectile with a radius of three feet collided, causing a thunderous explosion as the Yacha transformed into corpses and flew away. However, unlike humans, the Yacha showed no confusion and instead adopted a combat posture to attack the group, as they were combat spirits summoned from the underworld without human emotions or weaknesses.
“Kiiiiing—”
“Haap!!”
Boom!
Cheongwol shouted as he unleashed a high-level Thunder God Technique, the Thunderclap Double Wheel, instantly knocking away ten Yacha at once. It took about a mere while for them to wipe out the hundreds of Yacha, and Extreme Tiger wiped the sweat off his forehead, speaking to the two of them.
“Seniors, do you still have enough internal power left?”
“I think we’ve used about one-third.”
Extreme Tiger scratched his head with a click of his tongue. They had spent more energy than expected on the first barrier.
“It seems there isn’t time to recover our Qi. Instead, while we walk, harness your vital energy and recover. Bright Dragon, you should use the Nine Palaces Divine Art, and Cheongwol, utilize the Thunder Dragon Absorbing Moon.”
Bright Dragon seemed puzzled.
“I can certainly do that, but… Are you saying we must move while doing so? Is the situation that urgent?”
“Yes. It’s already quite late.”
Extreme Tiger looked up at the canopy of towering trees in the dense mountains.
“We need to reach the top of the Sacred Altar Tree amidst this chaos. That’s our mission.”
————————————————
“Kugugugugu…”
Light warped, and dimensions shattered as a massive arm emerged from the broken dimensions. The arm was of a size and shape that was definitely not human, looking as if a demon beast were clutching the mountain.
The first to reveal its true form, the Yacha of the Eight Parts of the Divine, slammed its arm down.
Boom!
The first impact! The force of the Yacha’s attack struck the barrier protecting the Sacred Altar Tree, shaking it violently. The Yacha slowly suspended itself in the air, a sinister smile on its face.
[The World Tree… the most perfect chaos of life… Humans possess treasures that even gods covet.]
Soon, all six Yacha of the Eight Parts of the Divine would unveil their true forms. At this rate, the Sacred Altar Tree and the Divine City would surely face destruction. As the Yacha leisurely summoned its body to the earth for its planned victory,
*Whooosh*
[……!!]
The Yacha flinched, raising its scythe to slash at a fire that had suddenly flown in from somewhere. However, it soon let out a screech, engulfed in flames.
[Graaaaah…]
Inferno!
Had the fire been of earthly origin, the Yacha was confident it could extinguish it with its powers, but the flame that had just come was of an entirely different otherworldly nature. Caught off guard by this unexpectedly powerful attack, the Yacha worked desperately to defend itself, and during that moment, the other Yacha gradually began to reveal their true forms.
“Kehaak!”
The Garuda of the Eight Parts of the Divine sharpened its eyes and spat flames from its beak. As Garuda’s flames swept over the Yacha’s body, the explosive blaze and divine flames roiled in an intense clash before eventually subsiding. It was a rare phenomenon where flames battled one another.
“Extreme Tiger,” commented Gin Nara as he looked toward the distant sky.
[It’s the avatar of the Flame King.]
[Is it strong?]
[I don’t know… I’m unsure of what offerings or constraints it has.]
The Gang Leader of the Eight Parts of the Divine spoke.
[We can’t be held back by the master’s avatar for too long. How about splitting up and attacking?]
[That sounds good.]
Their strategist, Gin Nara, commanded,
[Yacha, Gang Leader, and I will break the barrier of the World Tree. Garuda, Celestial Sage, and Mahuraga, take down the master’s avatar.]
[Understood.]
[Pababat]
Without lingering on the matter, they split up to carry out their respective missions. And soon after, the avatar of the Flame King, Karbadok, transformed into a giant Black Dragon upon appearing in the sky, while a Garuda that looked like a bird person appeared before it. Next to Garuda were the Celestial Sage and Mahuraga.
Seeing them, the avatar of the Flame King burst into derisive laughter.
“Kwaha! How dare a mere Changhil’s avatar stand in my way?”
“Are you in a position to laugh at us? In terms of being the avatar of the Old Ruler, we are equals.”
A white luminary with no eyes or mouth, enveloped in clouds, was the form that the Celestial Sage Tripitaka embodied. After the Celestial Sage lightly rebutted, the Flame King’s avatar hissed a black flame in displeasure.
“How dare you… do you think I don’t know your master is a side piece? Do you think you can be on par with one born from chaos from the beginning, fighting among the constellations?”
[……]
“Don’t dare to try to exceed your station. No matter how strong your presence, to me, you’re nothing more than a bug!”
Though it was endlessly arrogant, no one among the Eight Parts of the Divine responded sharply to those words. Whether it was because it was true, or because they felt it wasn’t worth answering, it was hard to tell. Instead, Mahuraga, who appeared to be a hybrid of a snake and a human, spoke.
“I have fought scornfully against beings like you in the darkness of Central Plains history. But you, in this battle, are entirely ignorant of its essence… No matter whose avatar you are, ultimately, you will die by our hands.”
“You insolent wretches!!”
Boom!
[Graaaah.]
In the battlefield filled with radiant flames, the black dragon, the avatar of the Flame King, raged as it unleashed torrents of black flame. The flames were enormous, reaching a diameter of hundreds of feet and erupting simultaneously from its entire body, resembling a natural disaster. Moreover, when gathering its fire, the column of black flames could easily pierce mountains.
Garuda managed to counterbalance the radiant flames against the avatar of the Flame King, but even that had its limits. The Flame King, the Old Ruler, was an exceedingly elevated being, which naturally made his avatar immensely powerful. Furthermore, due to the Master of the White Lotus Sect faithfully presenting offerings, its strength remained unscathed. In contrast, the Yacha of the Eight Parts of the Divine had become considerably weaker due to forcibly manifesting on the earth, leading to a clear gap in strength.
*Piyung*
[Kudakaka—]
“Mahuraga!!”
The Celestial Sage flinched as he turned around. Just as suspected, the earlier black flame attack had inflicted significant damage, tearing Mahuraga’s spirit body to shreds. Despite being among the weaker Yacha, Mahuraga could never have anticipated that it would succumb to an attack from a singular avatar. Thus, the Celestial Sage appeared quite flustered.
Garuda growled,
“The mortal summoned quite a troublesome opponent… Take this!”
Whoooosh
Garuda’s divine flame spewed forth, ready to counterattack against the avatar of the Flame King, but the flame couldn’t even graze its target due to the fast speed of the Flame King’s avatar. Garuda had confidence in his swiftness, but upon confirming the avatar’s speed exceeded his own, he appeared aghast. As the avatar of the Flame King exhaled once more, Garuda was struck down as well.
Flash
“Graaaah…”
As Garuda transformed into a pile of blackened ash and fell to the ground, the Flame King’s avatar lunged toward the Celestial Sage with a laugh.
[……]
Boom!
The Celestial Sage calmly maintained a barrier with time and space sorcery. Even against the avatar of the Flame King, who had reached the pinnacle of sorcery, the Celestial Sage was not easily penetrated. After withstanding a fierce barrage, the Celestial Sage wore a sly smile on the face resembling a pale egg.
“You know nothing about us…”
[What?]
It was the moment the Celestial Sage said that.
Flash!
Suddenly, light shone down from the sky, revealing once more the forms of Garuda and Mahuraga.
The avatar of the Flame King stared blankly for a moment, rendered speechless by the sudden turn of events. After a brief pause, it spoke in bewilderment.
[What… I clearly destroyed them…]
“Kwaha.”
The Celestial Sage scoffed.
“Thanks for your confidence. Use all your power to waste your energy.”
“Don’t spout ridiculous nonsense!”
Boom!
The battle resumed once more.
“……”
The Master of the Twelve Joules, Ha Eun-cheon, observed the combat from a distance. Everything within several miles around the Divine City was under his gaze and hearing, a privilege of being the master of the liberating wood essence. Therefore, he was currently eavesdropping on the conversations of the Eight Parts of the Divine while gathering information.
Suddenly, the Master turned to the Wind Master beside him and said, “Be careful.”
“What do you mean…”
Whoosh!
Ha Eun-cheon delivered a fierce blow to the Wind Master’s chest, causing dark energy to surge behind him. Startled, the Wind Master turned to look, but Ha Eun-cheon attempted to capture the energy with a spell only to find it hard to grasp.
The Master of the Twelve Joules chuckled bitterly.
“Kurh, I don’t know when it started, but it seems I’ve been eavesdropped on. So, does Zhuge know that we might be listening to the Eight Parts’ conversation?”
“Ugh. Do you mean that demon sorcerer cast a spell on me? That’s absurd!!”
The Wind Master was thrown into a panic. This was something that shouldn’t be possible.
Disregarding the difference in magical power for the moment, he and the other Three Masters were non-human divine beings, a special existence. Thus, their resistance to magical spells was exponentially higher than that of ordinary humans. Unless they were facing the avatar or apostle of the Old Ruler, it was impossible for them to be harmed by sorcery or magic.
Then, the Master of the Twelve Joules remarked,
“Zhuge. You’re probably listening to me right now. I imagine this spell wasn’t cast by your own ability. You must have contracted with the magical source behind you and must have thrown in a hidden card. The magic gained through such a contract can transcend a sorcerer’s level by using its constraints.”
He pointed to the dark energy.
“Listen well. You’re not the bug inside a tiger’s body; you’re simply a rat in a poisoned pit. I’ll crush you first, then deal with the Eight Parts of the Divine. You’ll never take the Seven Luminaries from me.”
*Boom!*
The dark energy erupted.
*Thud!*
At that moment, Zhuge Sa, who had been walking somewhere, felt a jolt and dropped to his knees.
*Drool…*
“Kuhuh… As expected of the Master of the Twelve Joules, the Easternmost powerhouse… You noticed sooner than I thought. I imagined you would realize when the battle of the Eight Parts reached a conclusion…”
Zhuge Sa felt the vision from his right eye vanish, and thick bloodstreams gushed from his eyelids. Just as the Master of the Twelve Joules said, Zhuge Sa had implanted dark energy in the Three Masters to eavesdrop and made a powerful contract with the Demon King as collateral. Thus, he had traded away his right eye. Since the Master of the Twelve Joules unraveled the magic, it was only natural for the collateral eye to shatter.
Zhuge Sa mumbled,
“I thought about stealing the Seven Luminaries as well. It might have been possible if I sacrificed my soul and set the conditions tightly, but that’s not my goal right now.”
Zhuge Sa grinned.
Despite the quicker movements of the Master of the Twelve Joules, he still believed himself to be in a favorable position.
Because the Yuan Master – he had no idea where he was, where he was going, or what he wanted.
“Shall we go then…?”
*Thud.*
*Thud.*
Zhuge Sa walked through the dark and muddy Dark Path, confident that victory awaited him at the end of this road.