Against the Gods - Volume 08 - Cloud's End Mirage

by Mars Gravity

  “We… succeeded!” Xiao Yun shouted in agitation.

  “Heh…” Xuanyuan Wentian who was sent flying looked up strongly, his eyes which were filled with the black light stared fixedly at the barrier that he did not think much about before, “A defensive formation that could gather profound energy from within. The tiny Illusory Demon Realm actually has such a thing!”

  “Hmph! This was the product of our Illusory Demon Ancestors’ wit and strength. Now, it also contains all our strength and willpower,” Yun Qinghong coldly said. “It’s not something a maniac who lost his mind can break through.”

  “Hoh, is it?” Xuanyuan Wentian revealed an extremely dangerous cold laugh, “This sovereign’s power has long since exceeded the limits of this world. There is nothing in this world capable of stopping this sovereign. Let alone a mere barrier!!”

  Both of Xuanyuan Wentian’s arms waved and black aura rumbled behind him. Then, it ferociously turned into ten black tentacles, concentrated and struck at the barrier in front of Yun Qinghong.

  Yun Qinghong’s Purple Cloud Art was already activated to its limits. Both his palms were deep purple and they directly held onto the part of the formation where Xuanyuan Wentian’s dark energy was going to strike. All the Yun Family elders and disciples followed Yun Qinghong’s actions and screamed loudly and struck their energy onto the barrier.

  The most special part about Demon Imperial City’s Great City Barrier Formation was that it could absorb the profound energy of those within the formation and turn it into its own defensive power. The Great City Barrier Formation was split into eight parts. Any energy from within that struck onto it would turn into the formation’s defensive power and the efficiency of this was exceptionally high.

  This Great City Barrier Formation had already existed for thousands of years but this was the first time it was actually used. Its power brought about surprise and hope for everyone.

  Bang bang bang bang bang…

  As thought a meteor had crashed, the noise was deafening. Xuanyuan Wentian’s strength was exceptionally frightening but the formation that had turned purple stood on steadily and there was no sign of it breaking. Although a crack might appear occasionally, it would disappear immediately as well.

  Although the Yun Family was strong, against Xuanyuan Wentian, who was half-step into the divine way, even if all the Yun Family elders and disciples ganged up on him, the outcome would still only be their complete destruction.

  However, a defensive power made up of all the gathered profound energy from everyone in the Yun Family was not something that even Xuanyuan Wentian he could easily break!

  Looking at the formation that remained undamaged under his strength, the black glow within Xuanyuan Wentian’s eyes started to turn hideous. He stared widely and roared as thousands of black sword beams filled the skies.

  “Pointless struggle… All of you can die now!!!”

  Thousands of sword beams shot down as though it was an apocalyptic rain.

  “Defend with all your might!!!” Yun Qinghong’s Purple Cloud Art that had already been activated to its pinnacle had been forcefully raised by another level. At the same time, he shouted, “Brother Under Heaven!!!”

  Screeeeeeee…

  The pitch black sword light stabbed ferociously at the purple barrier like a blade from hell. Although they were separated by the barrier, all the Yun Family disciples were experiencing a deadly pressure that they had never experienced before. Their eyes turned bloodshot and they all struck with the Purple Cloud Art like mad men as they used up all their strength to support this barrier that would decide the fate of the entire Demon Imperial City.

  Cra-crack…

  Under the impact of the black sword beam, the purple glow on the barrier began to dissipate bit by bit. It gave off an ear piercing screech and cracks started to form and spread.

  At this time, following a roar from Great Ambition Under Heaven, everyone from the Under Heaven Family who had not acted since the start leapt into the air and thousands of pale green profound lights shone gently.

  Clanggg!

  The purple barrier that protected the city started to give off a jade green glow. Under the combination of the deep purple and jade green colors, the cracks on the barrier disappeared quickly. The black sword beam continued to descend ferociously but it was no longer able to damage the barrier at all.

  Chapter 858: Miserable

  The Great City Barrier Formation was still in perfect condition, while Xuanyuan Wentian’s expression had finally turned ugly.

  Three months ago, his strength rose explosively and he had believed that there was no longer anyone that could go against him. However, he was heavily injured by the Little Demon Empress and he only managed to turn the tide by relying on the Eternal Night Devil Sword. Within these three months, sixty percent of his devil blood had already awakened and he believed that even if there were three Little Demon Empresses, it was definitely impossible for them to be his match. However, before he could even encounter the Little Demon Empress, he was being slapped in the face by this Great City Barrier Formation.

  A droplet of water was not enough to form a stream but by gathering countless droplets, it could bring about a large wave that could cover the skies!

  The dark clouds in the sky were tumbling. With a face that had twisted into that of a ferocious devil’s, the black aura on Xuanyuan Wentian’s body reached an extreme level of density. An enormous black vortex revolved behind him, as though it was the first terrifying black hole made in primordial space.

  An indescribable pressure enveloped Demon Imperial City and it even enveloped the entire sky and earth. Xuanyuan Wentian had actually elevated his darkness profound energy to his absolute limits!

  Before arriving here, he had actually believed that with present strength, he could sweep across the Illusory Demon Realm with a wave of his hand. He had definitely not expected that he would actually have to unleash his full power to deal with a mere barrier!

  “Heh… Heh… Heh… This sure is done pretty well.” Xuanyuan Wentian laughed in a sullen manner. However, his expression was no longer covered completely with scorn but now with a hint of fury and irritation. “However, no matter how ants struggle, they will still be merely a bunch of lowly ants!!”

  Xuanyuan Wentian pounced towards the barrier with a dark aura that filled the entire sky and a huge pitch-black hand stretched out of the dark vortex behind him, violently smashing onto the barrier which was flashing with purple and green lights.

  This was strength nearing the divine way, a terrifying power that had never appeared in this plane. Wherever the gigantic pitch-black claw reached, the fragile space would immediately break down into dust and before it even closed in, the barrier was already twisted to a significant degree.

  “Brothers, let’s bet on the life and honor of every single one of us… We must hold on!!”

  After the intense roar, the Yun Clan, Under Heaven Clan and all the Illusory Demon profound practitioners behind them let out roars that filled the sky as they blocked Xuanyuan Wentian’s attacks one after another. The roars allowed them to suppress their initial fear with even more confidence as several hundred thousand profound lights instantly shone, merging into a radiance above the barrier that was comparable to the sun…

  Boom——

  The entire barrier, along with the entire Demon Imperial City, shook intensely. The sky suddenly darkened as the gigantic dark hand struck the barrier. A black vortex of more than three kilometers in diameter exploded forth as it wildly struck and devoured the barrier which was imbued with the profound energy from hundreds of thousands of profound practitioners.

  The barrier was like an air balloon being pressed down by a gigantic force and was displaying a shocking distortion under the black vortex. However, due to the agglomerated energy within, it stubbornly remained unharmed.

  “You bunch of detestable trash!”

  The dark strike which he unleashed with his full power still ende
d up being blocked. Xuanyuan Wentian roared as he was shrouded by the dark aura. Like a hurricane, he smashed towards the barrier with both hands, bringing about terrifying explosive roars.

  Traces of cracks spread on the barrier, however, they would heal speedily, albeit with difficulty.

  “This sovereign shall see how long you bunch of trash can hold on!!” As Xuanyuan Wentian’s attacks continued, his heart grew even more enraged and irritated, dark profound energy was being smashed out like crazy.

  The profound energy of the Illusory Demon profound practitioners were being expended quickly, however, as they continued to hold on, their confidence was constantly rising as well, allowing them to unleash endless energy from their bodies which were being heavily suppressed by the darkness, as they resisted the almighty Xuanyuan Wentian with brute force.

  The strength of the Illusory Demon profound practitioners was quickly diminishing and they had long since lost their calm, while the strength Xuanyuan Wentian, who was anxiously smashing onto the barrier, was similarly diminishing quickly as well. As the power of his devil blood awakened even more, the calmness in his personality would continue to diminish, converting into its opposite—irritation.

  The sky had already completely darkened and for over fifteen minutes, Xuanyuan Wentian had consecutively thrown out millions of smashes. The energy exuded outwards had turned the surrounding area of fifty kilometers into nothingness, yet he was still unable to break through even an inch of the barrier.

  “Patriarch, over half of our profound strength has already been depleted, if this keeps up… we will lose all the energy to hold on!” Yun Waitian said with a painful expression. “Let us just call the people from the rest of the domains to provide aid.”

  “That’s right… Xuanyuan Wentian has been attacking our side the entire time and basically does not carry any trace of wanting to attack anywhere else,” Greatest Ambition Under Heaven followed up.

  “We can’t!!” Yun Qinghong however shook his head decisively. “Don’t forget, Xuanyuan Wentian is someone who is even more cunning and treacherous than Duke Ming! With his realm of cultivation, he will be able to see through the intricacies of the Great City Barrier Formation with a glance. If we mobilize the power from the rest of the domains, there’s an extremely high possibility that he will switch to that domain… Once an opening is opened, all of our earlier efforts will be wasted!”

  After saying that, Yun Qinghong roared out with a raised head, his voice instantly transferred to every corner of Demon Imperial City. “All of you, do not move. We can hold on!”

  Though they had only held on for a short fifteen minutes, to them, the consumption of their profound strength was far more intense than having undergone a battle of life and death. Yun Qinghong’s breathing had turned coarse and at the same time; he could feel Xuanyuan Wentian’s attacks were constantly weakening at a slow rate.

  At this moment, the dark smashes that could shake the skies suddenly stopped. Xuanyuan Wentian had stopped his actions. Before the Illusory Demon profound practitioners could take this opportunity to catch their breaths, a sinister smile suddenly rose at the corners of his mouth. A black glow flashed in his hand and he then grasped the pitch-black Eternal Night Devil Sword.

  And at the same time, an aura that was far more sinister than before suddenly enveloped downward, causing everyone to feel a stifling sensation in their chests, making it hard to breathe.

  “It’s that Heavenly Sin Divine Sword… Watch out!!” Xiao Yun roared out in shock. Three months ago, in the Snow Region of Extreme Ice, it was this exact sword Xuanyuan Wentian used to reverse the tide against the Little Demon Empress.

  “A bunch of trash actually forced this sovereign to use the devil sword, this sure is a humiliation!” Xuanyuan Wentian’s laughter was no longer the same as his former wild laughter but a sunken one. “It seems, this sovereign has no choice but to turn this place… into the cruelest purgatory!!”

  Xuanyuan Wentian’s body… Fen Juechen’s body to be more exact, was definitely not the true physique of a devil and merely carried an extremely thin amount of a Devil God’s bloodline. Similarly, the devil soul in the Eternal Night Devil Sword merely had a thin strand as well. Adding that the power of the devil blood had yet to fully awaken, the two were basically unable to attain perfect compatibility.

  Though the darkness profound energy unleashed by the devil blood could expand to its limits by using the Eternal Night Devil Sword, at the same time, it would increase the rate of consumption. Furthermore, it would cause him to endure immense pain for the next several days. That was why, unless it was the last resort, he would not make use of the the devil sword’s power.

  He came to the Illusory Demon Realm on this day in order to, one, seize the Mirror of Samsara and two, kill the Little Demon Empress. However, he never expected that he would have to make use of the Eternal Night Devil Sword.

  To him, this was indeed a great humiliation!

  “All of you, die!!”

  The Eternal Night Devil Sword, engulfed in a black aura, struck down amidst Xuanyuan Wentian’s roar, along with an indescribable ice-cold pressure which descended mercilessly from the skies above.

  Crack!!!!

  The barrier that had lasted long against Xuanyuan Wentian’s darkness profound energy emitted an ear-piercing screech under this sword strike and a crack of several meters in length instantly extended on the surface of the barrier. Wisps of dark profound energy seeped through the crack, bringing sinister winds which felt like they had originated from hell into Demon Imperial City.

  “UUAAAAHH——”

  Though it was merely an extremely frail amount of dark profound energy, it was still undoubtedly a terrifying nightmarish power to those Illusory Demon profound practitioners with weaker cultivations. Several thousand profound practitioners instantly tumbled over and their bodies felt as though they were falling into a cave of ice as they huddled their bodies in pain. They were unable to release even the least bit of energy.

  The crack on the barrier was still expanding and even more darkness profound energy were seeping through. If it continued to expand, the barrier would definitely collapse.

  “Father, what… what do we do?” Xiao Yun asked with trembling lips. He was releasing the Purple Cloud Art through both of his hands with all his might and leaning closely behind his back, was Number Seven Under Heaven, who had been his source of reliance and faith, like how he was to her.

  Under the Eternal Night Devil Sword, the pressure on the Illusory Demon profound practitioners rose steeply. Yun Qinghong’s expression was calm as he watched the quickly spreading crack in the sky above. His hand gesture quickly changed and his body began to flash with lightning sparks. Even his pair of eyes had turned amethyst purple in color.

  “Purple Cloud Domain!!”

  An enormous lightning domain expanded, paving onto the barrier. This action of his was immediately followed up by a coordinated movement of all the Yun Family elders and Yun Family disciples above the Emperor Profound Realm as they released the profound energy in their bodies to their absolute limits and expanded several thousand Purple Cloud Domains. They overlapped and turned into an incomparably immense sea of purple clouds, enveloping the barrier.

  The eyes of Greatest Ambition Under Heaven flashed, roaring out, “Castle of Elves!!”

  The rumbling sea of purple clouds had also ignited the heavily suppressed resolve of the elven clan, as all of them expanded out their Elven Domains, pouring another mass of immense domain energy onto the barrier… Instantly, the crack on the barrier stopped spreading and then, it began to heal at a slow pace.

  However, before they could even celebrate, an incomparably terrifying black radiance had exploded forth from Xuanyuan Wentian’s body. A pair of ferocious eyes opened sharply from the Eternal Night Devil Sword, as the pitch-black blade wildly smashed towards the barrier that protected the city.

  Boom boom boom boom boom boom…

  Under the terrifying po
wer of the Eternal Night Devil Sword, the defenses molded by the domain power of the two great Guardian Families were collapsing layer by layer. Streaks of cracks wildly blasted open on the barrier and in the blink of an eye, the barrier which was initially in a seemingly perfect condition, was filled with spiderweb-like cracks. Its restoration speed was far from its speed of collapse.

  “This… This is bad!” The faces of the Illusory Demon practitioners turned incomparably pale. Deep fear and despair emerged coldly on their faces.

  “Not good… We can’t… We can’t hold on any longer!” Greatest Ambition Under Heaven had both of his arms facing the sky, desperately squeezing out all of the energy in his body as he roared out his unwillingness.

  Yun Qinghong’s expression turned incomparably cold. He slightly gnashed his teeth and his fists were tightly clenched. When a streak of cracks suddenly stretched all the way to the part of the barrier where he was facing, the light in his eyes instantly turned determined. Suddenly, he retracted the Purple Cloud Domain and charged out of the barrier.

  However, just as he was about to move, his arm was already tightly grasped by a hand. When he turned around, he saw Mu Yurou’s face which carried a teary smile and she lightly said, “Husband, are you really willing to leave me behind… If you’re going, we husband and wife should be going together.”

  Yun Qinghong’s eyes instantly turned misty and then, he gave a slight smile as he held tightly onto Mu Yurou’s hand. They raised their heads together and looked towards the sky above, their expressions turned bone-piercing cold at the same time. Then, they flew up arm-in-arm and charged straight towards Xuanyuan Wentian.

  “Father… Mother!! You two…” Xiao Yun was stunned for a short moment and then he understood their intentions right after. With a frightful roar, he desperately pounced towards the two of them. However, how could he possibly catch up to Yun Qinghong and his wife with his speed?

  “Patriarch, allow us!!”