“The Demonic Emperor’s disciple?!”
“The fake Young Master Qingyang?!”
Cries of alarm came from various parts of the formation.
The match between Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang had attracted far too much attention. Many still remembered how that audacious youth had dared to have a contest of skill with Young Master Qingyang right in front of Song Yuanyi and the Black Yin Ancestor.
The Black Yin Ancestor and Song Yuanyi had particularly nasty scowls on their faces.
As titans of the martial arts world, they had each believed that it was the other who had entered the core and destroyed the formation. To their surprise, the one who had assisted all the people of the martial arts world by entering the core and destroying the formation was one of the people they had immediately ruled out.
The result was unquestionably a sharp slap to the face.
“Hahaha, Zhang Wenfu, you see! That kid really did make it into the core!
“Haha, good! As expected of the Demonic Emperor’s disciple!”
The Formation Elder’s eyes were practically glowing at the sight of Wang Chong’s magnified figure, and he was jumping around in excitement.
There had been a moment where he wondered if Wang Chong had already failed. But in the end, Wang Chong had really managed to do it. He had broken the world’s number one formation.
And just the thought that he had been the one to teach Wang Chong about formations had the Formation Elder bursting with pride. Indeed, it was enough to keep him proud for the rest of his life.
“It’s too soon to be that excited. Until the formation is completely destroyed, there’s still no guarantee of how things turn out,” the Demonic Emperor Old Man indifferently said, appearing utterly unmoved. Only the trembling of his eyelids betrayed his true emotions.
……
Meanwhile, in the formation core, Wang Chong only saw the light erupting from beneath the banner. He was completely unaware that his every move in the core was being displayed for everyone else to see.
“Only a little bit left!”
Wang Chong was completely focused on the Origin Immortal War Banner. The connection this banner had with the energy of the world was getting looser by the moment. He was pouring in so much of his energy that the energy circulation in his body was falling into disarray and cold sweat was pouring out of his forehead. But he had no time to worry about such things.
“Just a little more and I can break the formation!”
After what seemed simultaneously like a second and like countless eons, there was a boom. Wang Chong felt his entire body relax as he finally pulled out the Origin Immortal War Banner.
The moment he pulled out the banner, countless cracks appeared on the altar with a clackclackclack, and then it simply exploded.
With the destruction of the core, the entire formation swayed. Enormous explosions came from various parts of the formation as if in response to the destruction of the core.
Wang Chong could sense that the dangerous Origin Immortal Formation was now deflating like a punctured balloon. The boundless pulses of energy were rapidly weakening.
Bang!
A moment later, the formation exploded with cheers. Seeing the change in the formation, all the martial artists celebrated the fact that they had survived this calamity.
Some of them even released their weapons and plopped to the ground.
But in the core of the formation, Wang Chong cared little about such things. Pulling out the Origin Immortal War Banner had resolved the crisis.
The formation would need some time until it completely collapsed, and what Wang Chong was focused on right now were the several objects revealed by the altar’s explosion.
There was a black statue, about the size of a fist, of some unknown beast. The beast had a savage expression as though about to leap at its prey.
Wang Chong immediately noticed the lower jaw of the beast and the sharp fangs protruding from its mouth. Wang Chong’s heart began to thump. The lower jaw and fangs of this small beast were none other than those of that symbol on the Doomsday Altar.
Is this the true form of that beast symbol on the Doomsday Altar?
Wang Chong blinked as he murmured to himself.
All this gave him a feeling of indescribable mystery, one that only got stronger as he examined the beast statue.
This Origin Immortal Lord of unknown background was undoubtedly inextricably connected to those apocalyptic invaders.
No matter what, I have to find out the truth. Just what in the world is going on here?
That Doomsday Altar that had summoned the otherworldly invaders to destroy the Great Tang and all the other civilizations of the continent was a secret that no one had ever found the truth to, not even at the very end. They didn’t even know how it had been constructed or the materials used in its construction.
But this time, Wang Chong sensed that he had accidentally bumped into one of the crucial truths behind the calamity.
Wang Chong took in a deep breath and quickly noticed that the small beast had two horns, and that something was held between them.
This was a red translucent pearl about the size of a thumb. It seemed like lava was flowing within the pearl, and Wang Chong could sense powerful pulses of energy. Wang Chong suddenly felt like this red pearl was a bottomless pool of water, capable of holding endless amounts of energy.
But Wang Chong quickly shook himself free of this illusion.
His eyes turned to another nearby object that had been revealed by the explosion of the altar. This was a mysterious scroll, old and mottled, that appeared to be made of some strange fusion of metal and cloth. The scroll was extremely clean, and he could see at a glance that it was covered in golden threads outlining many mysterious patterns and words.
Wang Chong opened his palm and drew the scroll into his hand.
Upon opening the scroll, Wang Chong brightened up in surprise. “This is… the diagram for the Origin Immortal Formation!”
The scroll displayed an exquisitely detailed formation diagram that contained more than ten thousand formation gates and countless traps, and also the pathways through which energy circulated through the formation… Everything needed was here, in all its complexity and immensity. It was even more complex and immense than the Origin Immortal Formation that Wang Chong had derived.
As Wang Chong read it over, he saw detailed accounts of secretive functions that had been triggered.
Wang Chong had already managed to derive a model that was ninety percent similar to the real Origin Immortal Formation, and with this formation diagram, he further deepened his understanding.
Upon seeing a certain part in the center of the formation diagram, Wang Chong coldly laughed. “So it seems like those people controlling the formation were hiding here!”
With a flourish of his palm, he put away the black beast statue and the Origin Immortal War Banner.
Swish! His body vanished, and then he suddenly appeared at the edge of the core, next to the golden walls of the sphere. He pressed his palm on a protruding golden brick, and there was a clacking and groaning. A golden staircase spiraled down, creating a new path.
Wang Chong rushed up the staircase to the top of the golden sphere.
Buzz!
As he rushed upward, he sent out his Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, drawing in the now-unbound energy drifting through the world into his body. This loose energy was currently the only source of Stellar Energy Wang Chong had to replenish himself.
As he continued to travel up the stairs, he put on the Heavenly Mandate Battle Armor and used the world of energy to communicate with his master.
A few moments of rest and the energy he had absorbed was enough for Wang Chong to last until the Demonic Emperor Old Man arrived.
In a flash of light, Wang Chong reached the hidden space at the top of the golden sphere. Those figures who had once stood on this golden platform seventy to eighty meters in the air had vanished
long ago. All that was left was a massive screen made of dark red crystal and several shattered mechanisms, clear signs that those figures had once occupied this place.
“I came too late!”
As Wang Chong walked up to the crystal screen, he saw a mess of footsteps on the floor that informed him that he had found the right place.
It was obvious that these people had realized he would probably come up here and left beforehand.
“Just who are these people?”
Wang Chong frowned in confusion. He had expected at least a brief battle.
As he calmed down, Wang Chong gradually began to notice a few suspicious points. Now that he thought about it, since these people had such a high vantage point, they had probably been observing his every movement.
In other words, they had had plenty of opportunities to stop him.
But for some reason, these people had completely given up. Even when he was pulling out the war banner and destroying the formation, they still had not appeared.
This was completely different from the way they had used the formation to kill all the people within it. It was far too abnormal.
After some thought, Wang Chong quickly understood. “It’s not that they’re unwilling, but that they can’t! Since these people control the Origin Immortal Formation, they must have an extremely close connection to this place. If they won’t even appear when the formation is in danger of being destroyed, the reason must exist with them. They probably have to take some sort of unbreakable oath before they are able to control the formation!”
It was obvious that these people had some deep connection with the Origin Immortal Formation.
Chapter 1414 - The Men in Black Take the Stage!
Chapter 1414: The Men in Black Take the Stage!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Kill!”
As Wang Chong was thinking, thunderous roars exploded around him. Wang Chong turned his head and saw from his vantage point more than seventy meters in the air that the numerous martial artists within the tens of thousands of formation gates had begun to fight with each other.
Nearby, Wang Chong spotted the Black Yin Ancestor and Song Yuanyi fighting with each other. Elsewhere, Myriad Ghost Ancestor Pei Luanchang was battling with his master and the Formation Elder.
The formation had ceased operating, but the battle between martial artists had only just begun.
And countless people were heading in Wang Chong’s direction.
Crack!
As Wang Chong looked down on the formation, there was an earth-shaking rumble, and a golden light suddenly burst out above his head. Wang Chong looked up and saw a stunning sight.
A massive golden hand had reached into the Origin Immortal Formation, its massive golden fingers grasping the curved dome of the formation. And then another massive hand reached over and grabbed the formation from the other end.
Rumble!
The two gigantic hands began to pull upon the curved dome, and with a thunderous boom, tore a massive fissure in the sky, almost completely ripping apart the dome.
Air and light rushed in through the gap, illuminating the entire formation.
Not only that, as the formation was already teetering on the verge of collapse, this massive outside force instantly hastened the process.
The earth began to shake as cracks spread across the formation, dividing it into numerous pieces.
“Aaaah!” Many martial artists cried out in panic as they were jolted into the air.
As the martial artists in the formation panicked, a cold and dignified voice came from the fissure in the sky. “The formation is broken, so I’d like to see where you can run now! Hurry and hand over the treasure!”
Wang Chong stared in alarm at the center of the fissure. Between those two golden hands was a figure completely garbed in black robes who was currently heading in his direction.
It’s them!
Wang Chong was stunned. He instantly recognized that figure as a member of that faction of men in black who had been constantly chasing him. He was exceptionally familiar with their energy.
In his bosom, the box given to him by the Sindhu High Priest was turning scalding hot, and this was while that black-robed figure was coming his way. There was no question that these men in black were coming for him.
Buzz!
One stream of spiritual energy after another converged around Wang Chong and rapidly strengthened him. Wang Chong’s Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art was already in a dangerous state, and absorbing any type of energy could trigger his cultivation defect, but at this point, Wang Chong could not worry about it so much.
Wang Chong had seen with his own eyes the strength of the three bamboo hat men in the Righteous Alliance’s temporary base, and the man in black before him could tear apart the Origin Immortal Formation using his own power, making him seem even more formidable than those three.
This was no time for Wang Chong to worry about anything else.
Clangclang!
Halos erupted from beneath Wang Chong’s feet. As he looked solemnly up to the sky, Stellar Energy seethed within his body.
He had used up the time of the Heavenly Mandate Battle Armor, and without the armor, Wang Chong had little confidence in dealing with these men in black. But at a time like this, Wang Chong had no other choice than to battle.
Bang!
Wang Chong’s entire body tensed as he took a step forward and prepared to fight. He would at least need to hold out until his master and the others arrived.
But a moment later, something completely unexpected took place.
As Wang Chong’s right foot stomped down, the ground gave way and mechanisms began to rumble. Before Wang Chong could react, the Stellar Energy he had just gathered up flowed out once more into the ground.
If one looked down from the sky, one would see a miniature formation lighting up around Wang Chong, and Wang Chong was in the exact center.
Light shot up into the sky, and then Wang Chong’s vision darkened and the world began to spin, Wang Chong spinning with it. The last thing Wang Chong saw was that man in black in the air trembling in shock and picking up the pace.
Wang Chong could clearly see that this man in black was wearing a golden mask depicting a three-eyed deer, giving him a truly bizarre appearance.
Bang!
Others could only look on in consternation as the figure of Wang Chong atop the massive golden sphere blinked out of existence, leaving only the empty platform. A split-second after he was gone, golden Stellar Energy slammed into the position he had formerly occupied.
This Stellar Energy was powerful enough to obliterate a mountain, much less a few pieces of metal. Strangely, however, this immense energy striking the golden sphere only caused a slight deformation around the top platform.
The golden sphere was barely affected overall.
“Damn it!”
A vicious gale slammed into the top platform, and at the same moment, the man in black with the bizarre deer mask appeared where Wang Chong had been standing, his robes flying around him.
“I came too late!”
The man in black with the three-eyed deer mask gnashed his teeth.
“Milord, what do we do now?”
“We managed to break the formation with great difficulty, but it seems like they were ready and fled in advance!”
Behind him, two other men in black, their arms spread out like wings, dropped down from the sky. The two of them exuded vast auras, indicating that they clearly possessed great power.
The expression in the eyes of the golden-masked man in black was uncertain and shifting, and his entire body radiated a frightening energy that caused the space for a hundred feet around him to distort. From a distance, the region appeared blurry and unable to endure his power.
“The Origin Immortal Formation has been broken! They can’t escape! No matter what, we must have that item!” the golden-masked man coldly said.
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br /> Buzz!
At this moment, a gust of air came from behind them, and a slender figure wearing a black robe and with a bone flute on their waist appeared in the distance. He was making his way toward the golden sphere on which the three men in black stood.
“Heh, brothers, this one is King Ashina Bagushidu. It is nice to meet you.”
The voice of Ashina Bagushidu came from the distance.
The opening of the Origin Immortal Formation had caused countless martial artists to converge upon it. Only Ashina Bagushidu had remained spectating from a distance. But when the formation broke, this Eastern Turkic King came faster than anyone else.
The voice of Ashina Bagushidu caused the three men in black to turn their icy eyes on him.
“Milord, should we kill him?” one of the men in black said, his eyes cold and frightening.
“There’s no need. He is not our target. Don’t make unnecessary trouble!”
After taking a glance, the golden-masked man turned back around and ignored this Turkic King. It was as if Ashina Bagushidu was nothing more than an insignificant ant.
Swoosh!
In a flash of light, the man disappeared from the golden sphere, and the two men in black behind him soon followed.
“Heh, interesting!”
Not long after they were gone, Ashina Bagushidu drifted onto the platform like a leaf. His eyes were bright as he gazed in the direction the three men in black had departed.
“I didn’t think that the Central Plains had a faction like this. But it appears as if they’re not associated with any faction!”
The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Ashina Bagushidu had always taken himself to be the oriole, but when he finally acted, he realized that there wasn’t only one.
Whoosh! Ashina Bagushidu did not pursue, instead descending into the depths of the golden sphere.
“The altar has collapsed! It seems that kid took the item within the core! I really didn’t think that this number one formation of the Central Plains wasn’t broken by Song Yuanyi or any of those other titans, but by the King of Foreign Lands, someone with no reputation at all in the martial arts world!” Ashina Bagushidu murmured to himself.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 885