Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Upon seeing this scene, hopes burgeoned within both Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei again. Hu Qimei then murmured, “Such amazing fire abilities… Maybe Brother Long Yue’s fire could actually burn through the seals cast by King Teng. Perhaps he has a chance of defeating him….”

  “There’s little possibility of that happening.”

  Yu Xuanji replied worriedly, “Someone tried to burn him with fire and that person was an Awakening level Qi Practitioner and even was helpless to do anything against King Teng. What I am more concerned about is whether Brother Long Yue can make it out alive. If he is able to escape, then he can bring us along with him and King Teng will definitely be unable to catch up to him.”

  Hu Qimei nodded to Yu Xuanji’s remark. In truth, they would not blame Zhong Yue if he did not bring them with him when he escapes as were not related at all. Thus, there was no need for him to burden himself.

  However, it doesn't matter if the person is a human or a monster, that person will definitely want to keep on living instead of dying. And with that, they certainly hoped that Zhong Yue could escape alive from King Teng.

  “Brother Long Yue, what are you waiting for? Run, quickly!” shouted Yu Xuanji as he could not hold back anymore.

  Hu Qimei became nervous as well and she shouted, “You will have nowhere to run if King Teng extinguishes all of your fire! What are you still waiting for?”

  Their shouts were however, ignored as Zhong Yue said to King Teng, “That’s right, the fire that will kill you will start in your body. One of the Sword Qi I launched just now was a fire elemental Sword Qi and the fire of that Sword Qi was made with the spirit of fire that was merged with the sun’s fire in my body. The fire will erupt as I trigger it.”

  In the palace, Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei’s shout could be vaguely heard and the two fiery wings behind Zhong Yue slashed forward, launching out fiery Sword Qi towards the plunging King Teng while Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen and body cast out the Ba Ji Slaughtering Array to fend off the other King Tengs.

  Whereas for the eight hands of the huge vine man, Zhong Yue took on his attacks directly without avoiding them.

  “You shouldn’t have sealed my seven Sword Qi in your body because I am better in carvings compared to swordsmanship.”

  Zhong Yue smiled and said, “When you were still pursuing me, I had already carved the Great Sun and Golden Crow totem patterns onto most of the vines in your body. The reason why I set this palace alight was because I wanted to force your Yuan Shen out, not to kill you with the fire!”

  Boom boom boom!

  Fire suddenly erupted on from the inside of the huge vine man and fire started ravaging all over the body of the huge vine man. The fire then turned into a huge burning conflagration that looked like a miniature sun, out of which, flew countless three-taloned golden crows, setting the body of the vine man ablazed.

  Zhong Yue’s【Boundless Great Sun】shrouded the entire palace with its flames. The entire palace was filled with fire and countless suns ascended from the fire, producing countless three-taloned golden crows that absorbed the heat from the【Boundless Great Sun】. Just imagine the temperature of the golden crows!

  The huge body of the vine man began to collapse and the golden crows that covered the skies charged towards the countless King Tengs, destroying, burning, crushing and slicing them into pieces with their sharp claws, wings and explosions!

  Zhong Yue eventually stopped attacking and his Yuan Shen flew up into the skies, visualizing the eight hands of Ming King with his body.

  “I found out your weakness as soon as we fought, which is your Yuan Shen!”

  Zhong Yue showed a sharp expression and both of his eyes that contained the majesty of Yin and Yang – the Sun and the Moon pupils stared imperiously at King Teng while he said, “You quickly retracted your Yuan Shen when you discovered it was weaker than mine when we began our fight. Then, you summoned this vine treant and that was when I immediately realized that your Yuan Shen was your weakness. You would die for sure if I were to destroy your Yuan Shen.”

  One after another, the miniature King Tengs were burnt into ash and the vine man who was set ablaze angrily rushed towards Zhong Yue in a final act of desperation.

  Zhong Yue, however, ignored it and he said, “The only reason I flew towards the outside of the palace was to ensure that there would be no path of retreat for your Yuan Shen. I have to wipe out your Yuan Shen to preclude you from resurrecting as your Yuan Shen could easily revive yourself if it was hidden into one of your vines, leaves, stems or roots. I checked how far your seal could cover so that my【Boundless Great Sun】could cover every part of your body.”

  The huge vine man roared and his four arms smashed towards the inextinguishable flame. Those flame were created by the Sun totem carvings and the Great Sun Golden Crows totem carvings that were carved onto him with Zhong Yue’s seven Sword Qi. Zhong Yue treated the body of the vine man as a huge stake upon which, he carved the totem carvings to produce an undying fire that will never stop burning until their target died.

  Besides, there’s this Zhong Yue who kept on detonating the traps that laid into the body of the vine man, pouring oil onto fire, causing the fire to burn even stronger!

  Zhong Yue just stood there and he let the four fists strike onto him but before these fists could even land on him, the vines were already burnt into ashes and the fists fell helplessly onto the ground.

  The huge vine treant let out an angry roar and his remaining four hands were already burnt into ash before he could even lift them up again. Then, his burnt legs could no longer support his heavy body and he fell down onto the ground.

  “Previously, I was worried that your roots could burrow deep into the mountain below this palace so I only unleashed half of my sun into the skies while I left the other half deep in the ground, incinerate the entire mountain so that your roots would also be burnt to dust.”

  Zhong Yue then looked at the burning vine man and the countless King Tengs that were set ablaze by his three-taloned golden crows.

  “But even then, I was still worried that you hid part of your body in the black forest outside of the palace. I assume that you still have a layer of protection that could protect you from dying since you could face all of these so peacefully without any fear of death. As long as your Yuan Shen could return to that part of the hidden body then you would be able to survive.”

  He then smiled and said, “With that strong vitality of yours, your Yuan Shen should be able to sustain for a long period after leaving your body for a long time, long enough for you to return and search for the other parts of the body. Therefore, I have to destroy your Yuan Shen here so you can truly die! King Teng, are you still not going to show me your Yuan Shen?”

  As soon as Zhong Yue was done talking, King Teng’s Yuan Shen could be seen dashing out of the palace from a pile of ashes like a slithering snake!

  “Long Yue, I have lost the fight today and you will now become the strongest Rebirth level Qi Practitioner among the monsters! But don’t be so full of yourself as you will not be able to live for much longer after this!”

  The weird vine was the Yuan Shen of King Teng. Judging from the appearance of the vine, he was a jade green vine that became a monster, later becoming a Qi Practitioner in the Ju Xia Valley. He then managed to acquire his spirituality after being exposed to the essence of the Sun and the Moon to produce his own soul. However, no matter how strong he was, the root of his soul would always be a jade green vine.

  The soul is the root of all types of Yuan Shen. All types of spirits could turn into different forms of Yuan Shen just like how Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen could turn into the Great Sun Golden Crow, the three-taloned crow faced celestial man or even the Moon Starry Jade Toad. But the base of the Yuan Shen was immutable and will forever be one’s soul – his being the soul of a human.

  The spirit acquired by King Teng was a type of godly vine spirit that enabled him to shift into the form of a strange vine that would lend him an additional
degree of flexibility and agility so as to facilitate underground travel and escape, while also being able to hide his Yuan Shen.

  King Teng’s voice could then be heard from the strange vine Yuan Shen, “You have that creature’s key and that is the key leading straight to the treasure protected by the Monster God Ming King. Thus, all I have to do is just expose this information to everyone and you will definitely die. You will die in the cruelest and gruesome way and you will die in a very short period of time! But for me? I will remain as the strongest Rebirth level Qi Practitioner in the city and become the disciple of the Saint City Lord!”

  “But, that is ultimately predicated on you being alive to tell the tale!”

  Zhong Yue pointed out his fingers and the seven Sword Qi flew into the ground, turning into a Sword Seven Style Slaughtering Array. However, the vine had a high mobility, making it difficult trap.

  Besides, the【Seventh Sword Style】was not as flexible in the ground as it was in the air, resulting in the strange vine managing to escape from the【Seventh Sword Style】 to reach outside of the palace.

  The strange vine Yuan Shen moved in the scorching ground while the other half of the Unlimited Great Sun in the ground incinerated the mountain, producing an ocean of lava that flowed everywhere around the palace.

  Under the palace was a hill located high above the abyss under the support of huge pillars and Absolute Decimation Seals covered the entire space outside of the palace, eliminating any and all chances of ever stepping foot anywhere except for the pontoon bridge. Zhong Yue’s Unlimited Great Sun precisely covered the entire Ming King palace and the hill.

  Then, the strange vine Yuan Shen could be seen flying out from the mountain and slithering on the pontoon bridge trying to escape.

  At the same time, the divine third eye of Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen opened and shot out a divine laser towards the strange vine. The laser then accurately landed on the strange vine Yuan Shen, cutting it into two pieces as Zhong Yue floated at the top of the palace.

  The strange vine let out a shriek and the soul of King Teng residing in the strange vine immediately dispersed!

  On the stage linked by the pontoon bridges, Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei received the shock of their lives and their jaws dropped onto the ground.

  “King Teng is dead! Brother Long Yue actually killed him! How is this possible!”

  The two monsters shouted, “How could someone as strong as King Teng die just like that?”

  On the top of the Monster God Ming King’s palace, the fiery great sun suddenly disappeared and Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen also vanished into the thin air.

  Chapter 134: You Think Too Low of Me |

  “*cough *cough, King Teng really was a knotty opponent.”

  Zhong Yue was in the monster god Ming King’s palace. He laid a palm on his chest, his eyes twitched in pain. The battle with King Teng had been too risky, King Teng was indeed worthy of his title as the undying one, his prowess was incredibly strong. The battle with him had inflicted immensely heavy injuries to Zhong Yue’s body.

  His muscles were almost ripped apart during the fight, a few tendons snapped from the tension. Deep wounds and small cuts added up to a hundred on his body, and his internal organs were slowly beginning to dehisce!

  The injuries would have been the death of most ordinary people, but he was still able to temporarily suppress the wounds and maintain his peak condition for the duration of the battle. However, as time passed, his wounds would eventually erupt and if by then, he was still embroiled in a protracted fight with King Teng, unable to finish him once and for all, then his ending would’ve only been death.

  His forte was that he was taught the art of sculpting by the Swords Gate headmaster. Although the art of sculpting seemed to be useless, it was the key for him to turn the tide of battle and ultimately slay King Teng’s undying body, and incinerate him from the inside to destroy the giant vine treant.

  Otherwise, if the battle had persisted, Zhong Yue would’ve been in grave danger!

  Come to think of it, King Teng’s defeat was reasonable and his death was not an injustice, it could even be said that it was unfortunate that he was matched up with Zhong Yue. He was after all, a wood affinity monster cultivator who has cultivated from a green vine. His body was made up of the vines which just happened to be a suitable material to engrave the totem patterns. What led to his defeat was his own recklessness in entrapping the seven Sword Qi inside of his body with the intention of preventing Zhong Yue from reclaiming them.

  “King Teng forced me to muster all my strength in battling against him, and yet, he was only regarded as the second strongest among the monster Rebirth Qi Practitioners?”

  The sun and moon spun behind Zhong Yue, the sunlight and moonlight shone onto his wounded body, healing his injuries, and he became lost in his own thoughts, King Teng despised the saint city lord of the monster race, accusing him of being biased towards the Heaven Monster, Li Jun. But what kind of existence is the saint city lord? One that was on par with the old man, the old man had only taught me the art of sculpting and just with that, I was able to use it to finish King Teng’s undying body. It isn’t likely that the saint city lord’s evaluation was erroneous. That would mean that this Heaven Monster, Li Jun truly is even stronger than King Teng! What a shame that he died, I could have used him as a test subject for my strength to ascertain any flaws in my prowess in the Rebirth level.”

  He recollected his thoughts and took out the key he had obtained from Zhu Xian’er, he then placed it on the notch of the door.

  The five poison totem patterns on the notch were completed, and it was as if the mother insect and the five poison totem patterns were coming to life, moving on the surface of the door as if they were swimming in the water. The scene was incredibly bizarre.

  The tracks they took seemed to be random but they in actual fact, they followed a certain pattern of a seal. On the outer-most rim, was the big mother insect, it was squirming its body tardily, while incubating eggs within its womb.

  Those are the just changes of the totem carvings on the door. The five poisoned insects and the mother insect did not actually come alive, and the formation of the eggs was not real either.

  After a short while, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a pathway tunneling down a stoned stairway. Walking down the stairs into the deep space beneath the palace, Zhong Yue thought with curiosity, Why didn’t I notice this place when I was casting the【Boundless Great Sun】to burn down the entire Ming King palace? Furthermore, Ming King palace is located on a mountain, the mountain dangling mid-air with only a pillar connecting it to the abyss. Are the guarded treasures of the Ming King palace in this very mountain? If they were, wasn’t this place too easily discovered?

  “Why isn’t Brother Long Yue out yet?”

  Hu Qimei and Yu Xuanji looked at each other and waited patiently. There was no movement after Zhong Yue killed King Teng and the two cannot help to ask themselves, Is there really a complete heritage of the Monster God Ming King in the palace? Or is he severely injured?

  Suddenly, both of them felt something and turned their heads around, what met their eyes was a ‘young and pretty’ man treading on the pontoon walking towards them.

  The description of “young and pretty” was because he had a countenance that would even incite the jealousy of females; he boasted flawless skin and his pointed ears could make the females erupted with an obsessive furor!

  His charming eyes were like a twin emerald that exuded an extraordinary and refined aura. Zhong Yue held a stern and unflustered bearing, but under which, there was hidden an explosive power that would instill fear in all. He was akin to a simmering volcano that was on the verge of eruption. King Teng was malicious; Yu Xuanji was peculiar; and Hu Qimei was temperamental — each individual had a unique air of their own. Likewise, this man also commanded his own charm.

  He carried himself like an elegant fairy in the midst of clouds; like an eagle that soared unfettered in the loft
y firmament, and like a slumbering dragon quietly hibernating in the cold and desolate winter.

  He was the prodigal son of the monster race!

  “The Heaven Monster, Li Jun!”

  Hu Qimei and Yu Xuanji were shocked and dumbfounded at his unexpected arrival. The Heaven Monster, Li Jun, proclaimed to be the strongest among the Rebirth Qi Practitioners by the saint city lord of the monster. He was believed to have been killed in the dark forest, but had just made a sudden appearance, nearly reaching their sides without them even noticing at all!

  Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei exchanged panicked looks, catching the anxiousness in each other’s eyes, He is here to act as the fisherman! He waited in silence until both Long Yue and King Teng were embroiled in battle, so that he could then jump out and reap the rewards from the effort of the two formidable opponents to secure his place as the disciple of the saint city lord!

  Heaven Monster Li Jun must have thought that he could not handle Long Yue and King Teng at the same time, given their strengths. So he decided to wait until Long Yue and King Teng’s strength was exhausted to take the fruits of their labor!

  Heaven Monster Li Jun was already at the hundred and eighth step of the stoned stairway when they returned their attention to him. He stepped on the first pontoon, passing the first threshold and continuing on towards the second platform.

  He gazed at the totem engravings for a few seconds and then proceeded past the second pontoon, reaching the third platform easily!

  His speed was terrifying, he only glanced over the third and fourth platform, and crossed the bridge without a trace of error!

  Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei were amazed to see him pass the first test on the first pontoon with ease, not being hurt by the Ming King divine eye totem patterns on the pontoon.

  Regardless whether it was Zhong Yue or King Teng, they had been attacked by the Ming King divine eye on the first pontoon — all because of the missing divine eye totem patterns on the stone wall.