But what truly drew Wang Chong’s attention was the icy and determined man fighting next to Song Yuanyi.
He wore a dragon-shaped golden ring on his left index finger, and it caused the man to exude a noble and distinguished air, even from a distance. But what Wang Chong truly cared about was this man’s terrifying energy.
Bang!
Just like Song Yuanyi, this white-robed man did not use any sort of weapon. He merely used his fists, but his punches contained a power that could sunder the heavens and cleave open the earth. Wang Chong could clearly sense that with each of the man’s punches, the vast Stellar Energy of the bamboo hat man he was fighting tore apart like paper.
Even when that golden giant was facing an ordinary punch from that white-robed man, the golden waves around him were torn asunder, the attacks neutralizing each other.
While Song Yuanyi was a long-endurance fighter with swift recovery time, the three bamboo hat men were clearly much more apprehensive about the white-robed man. Whenever one of those black fissures in the air extended toward them, they rushed to get back, apparently terrified at what they could do.
Even Wang Chong couldn’t help but feel his heart shiver at those fissures in space.
As that white-robed man punched again and again, tearing asunder the attacks of the bamboo hat men, Wang Chong suddenly realized what art this was, and he immediately found it impossible to remain calm.
The Universe Sundering Art!
To see even one of the ten great arts of the Central Plains was incredibly rare, let alone two. Wang Chong was already flabbergasted to see Song Yuanyi use the Immortal Universe Eternal Spring Mantra, and now, this extremely noble and dignified vice alliance lord was using another one of these techniques: the number one art in the world when it came to breaking through Stellar Energy, the Universe Sundering Art!
Although this art was ranked below the Art of God and Demon Obliteration and the Origin Immortal Art, it possessed terrifying might in battles between martial artists. It was said to be able to break through all Stellar Energy techniques in the world, and even a light touch when using this art would be enough to shatter the toughest steel like it was a block of tofu.
Song Yuanyi was already extremely powerful and now that he had the offensively-inclined vice alliance lord at his side, the three bamboo hat men were instantly hard-pressed.
As for down below, the Righteous Alliance experts who had come with the vice alliance lord had already entered the battle.
Chapter 1364 - The Men in Black Retreat!
Chapter 1364: The Men in Black Retreat!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Retreat! Everyone, retreat for now!” the golden giant on the summit growled thunderously. The Righteous Alliance was far more difficult to deal with than they had imagined, and it would be very difficult for them to win in the situation as it stood.
Buzz!
When a tree fell, the monkeys would scatter. The men in black at the base of the mountain were the first to retreat, and then the men in black midway up the mountain frantically fled into the darkness. Finally, the three bamboo hat men began their escape.
“Hmph! Don’t even think about it!”
With a bone-chilling cry, the Righteous Alliance Vice Lord gave chase, his robes flapping in the wind.
But a moment later, a white fog swept toward Song Yuanyi and the vice alliance lord.
“Careful!” a voice warned from behind him.
The vice alliance lord also seemed apprehensive. One could see at a glance that there was poison in this fog, but he was not too worried. Rumble! White Stellar Energy roared out of his body, instantly scattering the fog. The remaining power in this attack rumbled forward and struck the bamboo hat man who was farthest behind in the back.
Fwoosh!
This attack came with incredible speed, and even though the third bamboo hat man had somewhat prepared himself, he still could not endure the power of the Universal Sundering Art. His Stellar Energy instantly crumpled as a grievous injury was inflicted on his body, causing him to vomit blood.
This energy caused his body to hurtle forward, flipping over in the air several times, but he was also able to use this energy to swiftly escape into the darkness.
“Guangting, forget it! Don’t pursue a cornered enemy!” Seeing that the vice alliance lord wanted to continue the chase, Song Yuanyi called out to stop him.
This momentary delay was enough for all the men in black in the distance to completely vanish from sight.
Since the enemy had fled, Xie Guangting could only give up on the pursuit and turned to Song Yuanyi.
“Yuanyi, what’s going on here? Where did such powerful opponents come from, and with such bizarre arts?”
“The origin of these men in black is unknown, and I cannot answer your question. We should treat the wounded first and talk about this matter later.”
Song Yuanyi’s face was rather pale. It was clear that he had been injured in that fierce battle. Slowly, he walked down from the sky.
Swish!
He scanned the area, a hand reaching out from his sleeve and lightly flicking. Ten-some bolts of energy flew through the air, each one entering the body of a wounded Righteous Alliance disciple who had fallen.
Song Yuanyi had not dared to consume too much energy before the defeat of his opponent, but now that the battle was over, he could spend his energy liberally.
“Ah!”
With cries of pain, those motionless Righteous Alliance disciples began to cough and slowly get up.
Their breathing was still weak, but color was rapidly returning to their faces while their wounds were rapidly closing.
“Alliance Lord!”
Seeing Song Yuanyi, these people all bowed, but Song Yuanyi ignored them, swiftly walking past these people. Boom! With a wave of his sleeve, he sent out a boundless wave of Eternal Spring Stellar Energy. Wherever this wave passed, many of the fallen Righteous Alliance disciples began to stand up, the injuries on their bodies healing.
Even some of the Righteous Alliance disciples who had been poisoned by the Celestial Powder were cured by Song Yuanyi’s Eternal Spring Stellar Energy and began to awaken.
Rumble! Song Yuanyi’s Eternal Spring Mantra poured down the slopes of the mountain. Many Righteous Alliance disciples stood back up, but many more remained motionless on the slopes.
Many of these people had been killed in the battle with the men in black, but a significant portion had also taken in too much Celestial Powder. Not even Song Yuanyi’s Eternal Spring Mantra had any effect on them.
As Wang Chong made his way up the mountain, he also noticed the miserable condition of the disciples who had been poisoned by the Celestial Powder.
The Celestial Powder this time is different. It seems to be much stronger!
The men in black had also used the Celestial Powder on him at Liuyao City, but that odorless and tasteless powder was meant for paralyzing Stellar Energy and capturing the target alive. The poison this time was much more lethal.
Fortunately, the night wind blew in only from one side, or the losses would have been much worse, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
The vast majority of these dead disciples were on the eastern face of the mountain. The organization of men in black had sprinkled the poison powder in the wind, catching these disciples completely off guard and poisoning them.
Wang Chong could see that their skin, fingernails, lips, and faces had started to shrivel up and turn black. They were already thoroughly dead, and their bodies were contorted as if they had experienced immense pain before death.
Although Song Yuanyi’s Eternal Spring Mantra was said to be able to regrow bones and heal mortal wounds, even it was powerless in this situation.
Everything had calmed back down, but cleaning up the situation would take a very long time.
……
With the battle over, the three bamboo hat men and the surviving men in black rec
onvened at a forest several dozen li away from the Righteous Alliance base. The bamboo hat man who transformed into a golden giant had undone his transformation and returned to normal size.
“What’s going on? After such a long time, did no one find any sign of the target?”
The bamboo hat leader’s face was pale, his body naked. He took a towel from a subordinate and wiped his face, which was drenched in cold sweat. If one looked carefully, one could see a tattoo of a golden man on the stomach of the leader, moving along with the tensing of the muscles and bursting with light.
The bamboo hat leader seemed extremely exhausted. Returning from that golden giant to his ordinary body did not consume much Stellar Energy, but it put the body through excruciating pain and required vast amounts of physical strength. This Righteous Alliance Lord had been much harder to deal with than he had imagined.
“No, we were searching the entire time, but we found no sign of him.”
The men in black lowered their heads.
The bamboo hat leader who had been wiping his face suddenly stopped, a cold light in his eyes.
Bang!
There was an explosion of Stellar Energy, and the several men in black who had spoken up just now were immediately sent flying into ancient trees with trunks that would take three or four men to completely encircle. Boom! Wood chips flew as these men were half-buried in these trees.
“Useless things!” one of the bamboo hat men cursed as he slowly withdrew his palm. This night raid had been a major defeat, completely different from the nearly assured victory they had initially expected. In the end, they didn’t even know where the target was! It was simply disgraceful.
A man in black lowered his head and muttered, “Milord, we were standing guard around the base of the mountain this entire time, but no one ever left. We also don’t know what happened. Logically speaking, the soul eagle shouldn’t have failed…”
“Trash!”
The bamboo hat man who had previously lashed out now stared at this black-clothed man, a stream of Psychic Energy surging forth. A moment later, this black-clothed man’s eyes went slack, and then his hands clenched around his throat as he fell to his knees. His eyes began to bulge outward, and then, plush! Black blood poured out of his eyes, mouth, ears, and nose. Thump! He dropped to the ground, devoid of any life.
Only now did the bamboo hat man’s mood seemed to improve. The other men in black fell into fearful silence, not daring to make a noise.
At this time, the third bamboo hat man finally spoke. “Forget it. The mission failed, and killing those people now will do us no good. Even the Immortal Lord has been alarmed by his multiple escapes and has been compelled to personally move out. This target isn’t as easy to deal with as we imagined. Our first priority should be to consider what our next move will be.”
The third bamboo hat man quickly turned to the ordinary men in black.
“You’re all dismissed! I’ll summon you again when you’re needed!”
“Yes, Milord!”
The men in black fearfully scattered like frightened birds.
Only when these men had dispersed did the three men finally turn back around.
“Milord, what should we do?”
The second and third bamboo hat men turned to their leader. Even though the others hadn’t realized and had only believed that their leader had undone the ‘Golden Warrior’ transformation, these two understood that his condition was actually rather poor.
“I underestimated him. I didn’t think that there was such a formidable individual amongst the sects of the Central Plains! To think he could cultivate that technique to such a level!”
The bamboo hat leader did not directly answer, his eyes turning to the mountain where the Righteous Alliance base was located. Slowly, a thin trickle of black blood seeped down his lips.
The other two bamboo hat men were alarmed at his sight. They were keenly aware of their leader’s strength. In this battle, he had seemed invincible in his golden giant form, but in the end, he had actually lost his battle with the Righteous Alliance Lord!
“…Although he isn’t stronger than me, his organs are far more tenacious than mine, even when I’m in my giant form. If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I would have never dared to believe it! We were truly too careless this time!” the leading bamboo hat man said.
“This Righteous Alliance is truly too bold! Some measly ants actually dare to oppose us gods! There can be no forgiving this crime. We should find a chance to completely exterminate this Righteous Alliance!” the second bamboo hat man said, his face radiating a terrifying chill.
“Now is not the time to think about such things!” The leader waved his hands and immediately rejected the idea. “The True Lord is about to descend. All of you know what will happen if we cannot find the target and complete our mission by the time the True Lord has descended.”
Buzz!
Hearing that the ‘True Lord’ was descending, the other two bamboo hat men paled, an intense and oppressive fear in their eyes.
“Milord, then we should….”
The two bamboo hat men swallowed, lacking the sharpness from before.
“Relax. The Origin Immortal Mountain will appear soon. We can deal with them then! And if all goes as expected, our target should appear there as well!” the bamboo hat leader said, his eyes profoundly turning to the northwest. A cold and callous smile emerged on his lips.
Chapter 1365 - Identity Doubted!
Chapter 1365: Identity Doubted!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
As the men in black discussed their plans, the banners of the Righteous Alliance were once more raised over its temporary base, the white crane on the Yin Yang symbol standing out in the darkness. All the Righteous Alliance disciples were busy cleaning up the battlefield.
Song Yuanyi’s white tent on the summit had been obliterated, but a new tent was quickly set up. Inside the tent, Song Yuanyi and Xie Guangting were conversing.
“Can you talk about it now? Just what is going on here? If I had come just a little later, the experts you had brought with you would have been completely wiped out. When did such formidable experts appear in the world of sects?” Xie Guangting grimly said.
The atmosphere in the tent was solemn, and Song Yuanyi remained silent, his complexion rather unsightly. Using the Eternal Spring Mantra, he had managed to save some of the disciples, but still, six to seven hundred disciples had died in this battle.
This was a grim loss for the Righteous Alliance, especially since three of the alliance elders had died in the battle as well. Not even in a battle with the Five Ancestor Alliance would the Righteous Alliance have sustained such heavy losses.
No, to be more exact, there was no faction in the entire martial arts world that would dare to so heedlessly and brazenly attack the Righteous Alliance.
“This was no sect!” Song Yuanyi suddenly declared.
“I am just as confused about where these men in black came from as you are, and from start to finish, they never said anything about who they were. Even so, I’ve begun to roughly understand what’s going on. These people did not come to attack us.”
“Oh?”
Xie Guangting raised a brow, a look of surprise on his face.
Song Yuanyi said nothing, his profound eye slowly turning elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Wang Chong was seated cross-legged on the ground and meditating when his heart suddenly thumped with an ill foreboding.
A few moments later, a voice rang out at his ear. “Young Master Qingyang, the alliance lord wishes to see you!” At some point, a Righteous Alliance disciple had come up behind Wang Chong.
“Oh?”
Wang Chong raised an eyebrow, a few thoughts going through his mind, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Okay, I’ll go over now!”
By the time Wang Chong reached the summit, many people had already gathered there. There were Righteous Alliance Elders like
Sikong Yuanjia and Ouyang Changheng, and many other experts of the alliance, including Ji Andu. All of them were assembled around Song Yuanyi and the vice alliance lord, in the middle of discussing something.
When Wang Chong arrived, the entire summit fell silent.
As Wang Chong saw the array of forces on the mountain, his heart thumped in his chest. But he said nothing and confidently strode over.
“Paying respects to Alliance Lord!”
Wang Chong stopped three or four steps away, clasped his hands, and bowed.
“Mm!”
Seeing Wang Chong, Song Yuanyi nodded.
“You’ve come. We were currently discussing the attack of those men in black. The alliance has sustained significant losses, and since Young Master Qingyang is with us, there is no harm in having you listen in and seeing whether you think of anything. Perhaps there will be an unexpected harvest.”
“Yes!”
Wang Chong’s eyes flashed, but he said nothing more and stood to the side.
The group quickly restarted the discussion.
“Alliance Lord, we’ve searched their bodies but didn’t find anything identifying them.”
“We managed to catch two of them alive, but just like the others, they were suicide soldiers. We had barely even spoken a few words with them when they punctured the poison sachets in their teeth and died.”
“We’ve truly lost too much this time. Our Righteous Alliance is so powerful, but we couldn’t find a single clue about these people! How is this possible?!”
“That’s right! And all of you saw that giant at the end. His punches could actually turn Stellar Energy to stone! That’s no longer any kind of martial art! In my view, these aren’t humans but demons! And they all used evil arts!”
The night’s events had given everyone an enormous shock. For the first time, these people had come to realize that the world was home to such a powerful and mysterious force.
“Let’s not talk about who these people are for the moment,” Sikong Yuanjia suddenly said in his rough voice. “I only want to know one thing: why did they attack us?”
His muscular and stalwart body was still seething with rage. This battle had begun in an utterly inexplicable fashion, and even now, Sikong Yuanjia did not understand why they had been fighting each other.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 856