“Fine, let me do it.” Ma Duo Bao walked out with his big belly and smiled. “It’s alright not to break this formation. Anyway, we just have to pass through it. Just making an opening will do.”
“Doesn’t this mean we have to squeeze in? Your Majesty, your requirement is really too low!” The Lunar King immediately opposed it.
“That right. Boss, that isn’t domineering enough!”
“It’s better to blast through it!” The other seven Kings added on.
Ma Duo Bao laughed with an amiable expression. His little eyes squinted into crescents. He said, “My beloved kings, do you bear any dissatisfaction towards me?”
The Eight Kings immediately shook their heads, and replied in unison, “No! No!”
He had to be joking. Their boss usually spoke very courteously, but once he was serious, he became a person who would destroy the gods and knock down Buddha if they were an obstacle in his path. From the beginning, which of them wasn’t a ruthless person? And yet, weren’t they still beaten into submission by Ma Duo Bao?
“It’s good if there is none!” Ma Duo Bao said, all smiles. He casually stroked a few fingers, kuang , and the defensive barrier of the formation immediately revealed a gap. The gap was cut into a large opening, enough to accommodate the army.
So powerful!
In his heart, Ling Han was dumbstruck. Earlier, the Pure Golden King had wanted to break the formation, while Ma Duo Bao had only created a passage. The difficulty could not be compared, but having such a destructive power with just a few casual strokes, it really made sense for Ma Duo Bao to become the boss of the Eight Kings.
He raised his head and saw that the Heaven’s Sword Sect was close at hand.
Chapter 827 - Wager
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When was the last time he came to the Heaven’s Sword Sect?
Ling Han could not help but look dazed as if he had returned to ten thousand years ago. He was invited by the Sword Emperor and came here to concoct alchemical pills. It was here that he managed to con the Three Techniques of Black Origin from the Sword Emperor.
Ten thousand years had passed, and nothing seemed to have changed here at all. It looked just like it looked those many years ago.
Wu!
The bugle horn sounded, and innumerable people flew out from various spots in the mountains. This Protection Mountain Great Formation had been broken, so every member of the five sects naturally moved out.
The aura of powerful elites undulated, shockingly frightening.
If these people combined their forces and attacked at the same time, would this realm collapse instantly? However, it should not go that far with the existence of the Eye of Heavenly Dao. It would definitely interfere to maintain the stability of this realm.
To the Eye of Heavenly Dao, as long as the regulation of this realm was not destroyed, then no matter how many people you killed, it would not care.
Azure Phoenix Divine Empress, Beast Snake King, and the others were all here. Upon careful estimation, the Shattering Void Tier elites here actually numbered in the hundreds, which proved that the five great sects had indeed revealed all their cards, intending to have a fight to the death with the Purple Moon Empire here.
After this battle, the world would be at peace?
A feeling of disbelief rose up in Ling Han; this was a little too easy, wasn’t it?
But when he thought about it again, the Purple Moon Empire had indeed grasped an overwhelming amount of power. Even if Ma Duo Bao himself had not moved, the Eight Kings had already thrashed the five sects severely. In the end, they could only be trapped here and guard this last piece of territory.
That the final battle would happen now seemed understandable.
“Respected guests have come from afar, please forgive us for not coming out to receive you!” An old man who looked very amiable walked out. He was tall and slender, with a full head of white hair and a white beard. Wearing garments of coarse cloth and hemp, he seemed filled with a sage-like air.
When he walked out, even those like the Sword King and the Azure Phoenix Divine Empress tacitly took a step back to offset his position.
By now, those that could stand together with this old man were four similarly white-haired elders, three men and one woman. They were absolutely antiques, and one could clearly see that their vitality was declining.
It was very strange. The five sects obviously possessed the Time Liquid and could seal off the lapsing of their life energy. After the Reckoning, they could ascend to the Immortal Realm and have another breakthrough. After they had become Immortals, their lifespan would gain a terrifying increase.
“Hoho, is this meant to deal with powerful enemies like ourselves?” Justice Mountain King smirked.”
“It is impossible to break through to become Immortals in this realm. So, the more time you spend, the more possible it is to advance further in the level of the Shattering Void Tier, increasing your battle prowess to fifteen Stars, sixteen Stars, or even more,” the Flame King continued.
“However, fourteen Stars would be a milestone, and the breaching of every subsequent Star would be as difficult as climbing up to the heavens!”
“Even Shattering Void Tier elites only have just slightly over a thousand years of life. So what if you had spent your whole life on study and research? Your talent is a cold, hard truth. If you are only capable of reaching twelve Stars of battle prowess in the prime of your life, then even until you die of age, your highest level would be fourteen Stars at most.”
The Eight Kings offered their comments one after another, completely indifferent and treating these five elders as if they were empty air.
“Hoho, I’ve long heard that the Eight Kings are unprecedented heroes, and their divine techniques are invincible. Today, I have finally seen it for myself!” That old antique from before was not angered, either. Instead, he smiled, and asked, “Why don’t we set ourselves a wager?”
“Just a bunch of losers, what right do you have to make a wager with us?” the Eight Kings sneered.
“Are you afraid?” the old man provoked.
Though the heroic spirits of the Eight Kings reached the clouds, they would definitely not act rashly; none of them replied.
They had come to deal with the five sects, and not for some kind of wager!
Yet Ma Duo Bao smiled, and asked, “What kind of wager?”
“We are all cultivators, so the wager is naturally regarding ability!” That old man smiled. “Both sides will send out nine people to fight a one-on-one battle. The side that wins five rounds would be winning this wager!”
The Eight Kings stared blankly. Nine rounds? Were you sure? Could it be that you know that them Eight Kings along with Ma Duo Bao were precisely nine people, and just happened to be strongest battle prowess of the Purple Moon Empire?
This kind of one-on-one battle was practically the strong suit of the Purple Moon Empire.
Using one’s shortcoming against their opponent’s strength, were they so stupid? But, there were so many sly old foxes in the five sects—how could all of them be fools?
Ma Duo Bao continued to ask, “What happens if we win? And what happens if we lose?”
This was the key of the matter. If they lost, and the consequences were practically harmless, then they’d just go ahead with the wager.
The old man stated, “If we lose, we shall surrender to the Purple Moon Empire, and you may do as you like with us!”
With these words, even the Eight Kings were moved.
Had they nothing else to do? Become idiots? Or been kicked by an ass?
Ma Duo Bao smiled faintly, seeming to be completely uncaring, and asked, “Then what if we lost?”
“Within a hundred years, you all must not go to arms!” The old man raised a single upright finger.
The conditions of this wager were practically very unfair. If the five sects lost, their lives or deaths would be completely up to them, b
ut if the Purple Moon Empire lost, they would only be unable to go to arms for a hundred years. For an ordinary person, a hundred years were his whole life. But for the Shattering Void Tier, a hundred years could only be considered the equivalent of ten years of a normal lifespan.
Ma Duo Bao looked confused. The only thing the five sects had to rely on were the numbers of their Shattering Void Tier. As the saying went, a great number of ants could kill an elephant; strength came from numbers. However, he was naturally unafraid. Aside from he himself, no one knew what extent his strength reached.
Now, the five sects had given up their numerical advantage, and desired a one-on-one battle with them. This was pitifully foolish of them!
What reason was there behind their actions?
The old man raised another finger, smiled, and said, “However, we have one condition!”
So this was the main point?
“And that is: Your Majesty cannot participate in the battles!”
Ma Duo Bao could not participate; this indeed caused the Purple Moon Empire to be short of a very strong fighter, but the problem here was the Eight Kings were practically invincible. So far, aside from that giant silver spider in the ancient mine of Fire Country and Yi Shuang Shuang, there should be no one alive with fifteen Stars of Shattering Void Tier of battle prowess, right?
Even if the five sects managed to get these two esteemed beings to help them, and the Eight Kings lost two rounds, weren’t there still six rounds they were guaranteed to win?
How strange!
“Do you dare?” the old general asked.
Ma Duo Bao hummed slightly, then nodded, and said, “All right, I shall agree to this wager!”
The other side had over a hundred Shattering Void Tier elites, after all. As long as a few of them managed to escape successfully, and wrought havoc and destruction in the wider world, that would be enough to cause tremendous damage to power of the nation. Thus, if he could subdue the enemy troops without actually going to arms, that would be the best strategy.
The old man laughed, and said, “If that is so, then in the first round, we shall first send out someone, and the next round will be your turn. In this way, we will take turns. How about it?”
“Agreed!” Ma Duo Bao assented.
“Anyun, you will fight in the first round,” the old man said.
“Yes!” the Sword King answered. He walked on air and stopped about a hundred li 1 above the mountain peak, and asked, “Eight Kings, who among you would be fighting with me?”
“I’ll go!” The Lunar King rose up into the skies as well, and stood on the same level as the Sword King.
In this first round, it was obvious that the Purple Moon Empire was sure to win.
The Sword King was indeed very strong. He had comprehended Sword Heart, but he had not yet reached the ninth layer of the Shattering Void Tier. His battle prowess did not yet reach eleven Stars, so how could he be a match for the Lunar King? This was a battle between two opponents who were on two completely different levels.
“Please!” The Sword King was unafraid, though. With a sword seal formed on his fingers, he seemed graceful and poised.
Chapter 828 - Surprise Reinforcements
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After exchanging greetings, the Sword King immediately displayed his might, unleashing a sword strike. It was precisely the 10,000 Techniques Return to One, which condensed into a three-hundred-meter long Sword Ray, slashing towards the Lunar King.
The Lunar King, however, seemed totally unconcerned, reaching out with her hand and grabbing Sword King’s Sword Ray. She clenched it, and pa , the Sword Ray instantly shattered, turning into endless pieces and falling down. She nodded, and said, “Your talent isn’t bad. After reaching the ninth layer of the Shattering Void Tier, cultivating arduously for another hundred years to increase battle prowess, you can attempt to reach fifteen stars of battle prowess.”
This was a very high evaluation—at least up till now, fifteen stars Shattering Void Tier was the strongest battle prowess.
… Ma Duo Bao hadn’t truly showed his hand, while Helian Tianyun was glory from countless years ago, and at most only returned to the Spiritual Infant Tier by now.
Ling Han acknowledged it on the inside. Those who were able to comprehend the heart of martial arts were definitely exceptional talents, and were definitely impressive in battles at the same tier.
The Sword King didn’t reply. He had become well known long ago, being the finest elite in the world to begin with, but now, despite it being a compliment, how could he possibly be glad about being treated like a junior?
He swung his sword, the Sword Qi imposing, shining over the world; even heaven and earth paled, and only his sword danced between heaven and earth as if it could split even them.
Powerful, he was really powerful!
Unfortunately, his opponent was the Lunar King.
Four stars of a gap in strength wasn’t something that any effort and imposing manner could change. The Lunar King casually swatted the sword lights that came assaulting her, easily extinguishing them.
After exchanging about a hundred moves, the Lunar King finally got serious, and shot the Sword King down from the sky with a single slap, making him lose battle power completely.
The first battle: Purple Moon Empire won!
This time, it was Purple Moon Empire’s turn to send someone out to battle.
The Flame King took the field, while the other side sent the Azure Phoenix Divine Empress.
The Azure Phoenix Divine Empress was unexpectedly the first to reach the ninth layer of the Shattering Void Tier, her normal battle prowess reaching eleven stars, and she also had the advantage of her bloodline—as her wings spread, her battle prowess rocketed to thirteen stars.
This was extremely terrifying—she could run over the north sea’s royal clan by herself. However, against the Flame King, this wasn’t enough, and soon she was defeated, adding a second defeat to the five great sects’ side.
Ling Han had thought that the five sects would send out some mysterious expert in the second round. For example, an elite from the sea tribe—their imperial clan might have supreme elites of fifteen stars. But, by the looks of it now, the other party seemed to have given up.
This was completely off. The five great sects had deep roots in the divine realm, so how could they surrender so easily?
There was definitely something off!
Ling Han spread out his divine sense in attempt to find out whether the five great sects were taking advantage of the situation to lay down a killing formation, only using the wager to buy time and in reality attempting to kill them all in one go.
“They didn’t tamper with anything,” Ma Duo Bao said. He also had a puzzled look.
Ling Han obviously trusted his judgement. Although Ma Duo Bao had almost never displayed his strength, Ling Han believed that Ma Duo Bao was definitely the world’s number one expert at the current stage—the one and only!
In the future, Helian Tianyun should be able to compare against Ma Duobao, and after he himself advanced to the Shattering Void Tier, he wouldn’t fear the enemies, either—even Black Tower’s power boost could allow him to win instantly!
But now, Ma Duo Bao was definitely the world’s strongest, and since he said there was no ambush, then there definitely was no ambush.
Soon, two more battles were over. The Heavenly Astral King and the Grand Water King each added a victory to Purple Moon Empire.
Now, once the five sects lost one more match, there’d be no need to fight anymore, as they would’ve lost five matches.
Was it really that easy?
“Hehe, it’s come to the fifth match that quickly!” The old man from previously coughed, and said, “Zuo Qifang, you take this match.”
The crowd separated as a youngster walked out.
He was truly young; his blood and Qi were vigorous like a furnace, soaring straight into sky—the relative ag
e definitely wouldn’t surpass twenty, the stage when the body was growing. So even if he was in the Shattering Void Tier, he would be at most two hundred years old.
And this youngster was really in the Shattering Void Tier!
“This humble one is Zuo Qifang!” The youngster walked with his hands behind his back, appearing extremely nonchalant. “I’m nineteen this year.”
Those words were enough to see his pride—or else, why announce his age? I was a Shattering Void Tier elite at nineteen; if I wasn’t impressive, who was?
Ling Han, Ma Duo Bao, and the eight kings all revealed shocked looks. A nineteen-year-old Shattering Void Tier elite was too ridiculous! Ling Han was walking down the old route again, but he was almost 21 years old now, and still hadn’t returned to the Heaven Tier, and there was at least two to three years time before he’d reach the Shattering Void Tier.
However, Ling Han’s speed was already more than fast enough; he was even suppressing his own cultivation to avoid unstable foundations, which would influence his progress in the future.
A nineteen-year-old Shattering Void Tier elite? What the hell!?
How much spirit medicine did he take to achieve it? Such a Shattering Void Tier was definitely a paper tiger, and anyone at the first layer of the Shattering Void Tier could defeat him.
Ma Duobao stared at Zuo Qifang; after a while, his expression became extremely stern as he said, “This person’s in the ninth layer of the Shattering Void Tier and is very, very strong!”
Even he used two “very,” so it could be seen how cautious he was.
The eight kings were all shocked. Although it was a bit hard to accept that that Zuo Qifang was such a young Shattering Void Tier elite, there indeed was some divine medicine that allowed people to reach the heavens in a single bound. However, going from the first layer of the Shattering Void Tier to the ninth layer… several tens of years wouldn’t be long at all.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 423