by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
The entire world began to shake, and the ground was collapsing. It was like the end of the world had come.
Chapter 1706 Surging Fury
Long Chen had reacted immediately, but he was still one step too slow. That person still managed to toss the pagoda into the spatial gate.
Long Chen was enraged. He hadn’t expected someone to be able to sneak their way here without him even sensing it. Although he didn’t know what that person was doing, it definitely wasn’t something good.
In his fury, he slashed Evilmoon at the figure.
“Long Chen, patiently await your death, hahaha!”
That figure was enveloped by divine runes that covered his true face. However, he sounded masculine and young.
Those runes around him began to fade in the face of Long Chen’s saber. His entire body faded along with them, vanishing.
“Star Fall!”
Long Chen was startled. He had clearly locked onto this fellow, but the latter had instantly escaped his lock. This was his first time encountering such a thing.
Without even thinking about it, as his saber landed on nothing, Long Chen raised his left hand, unleashing Star Fall toward the space not far from him.
BOOM!
Space exploded, revealing the figure that had already fled a hundred miles. He was forced out of hiding by Long Chen’s attack.
“Raging Flame Prison!”
Long Chen formed one-handed seals, and golden flames condensed in the distance, forming a giant cage.
“Your reactions are fast, but unfortunately, you still can’t hold me!”
That figure suddenly began to shine, and eight strange symbols appeared around him. When those symbols appeared, the energy of heaven and earth began to move slower. Long Chen hastily forced the Raging Flame Prison to close, but it was still a bit too slow.
That person suddenly took out a sword, which was inscribed with countless tiny runes. It was like a ruler used by a tailor.
That sword swung through the air, causing countless runes to explode in the air. Long Chen was surprised.
“Explode!” Long Chen directly detonated the Raging Flame Prison, causing flames to devour that space, crumbling it. Within those flames, that figure coughed up blood, not having expected Long Chen to do such a thing.
Long Chen had no idea what kind of magical art this person was using, but he had already managed to sneak his way out from between the chains of the Raging Flame Prison. That was why Long Chen had been forced to detonate it first.
“Heavenly Fate Island! You really are courting death!”
Long Chen finally guessed this person’s identity. Only the people from Heavenly Fate Island could screen themselves from fate while still disturbing the lines of karma. It was no wonder the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art also didn’t manage to sense them.
As for that strange sword, it was no sword. It was actually a ruler, a special one used to appraise the very heavens. It was the specific weapon of Heavenly Fate Island.
This ruler was covered in runes used to read the lines of fate. Whether it was for attacking or defending, it would calculate the weakest aspect of an opponent’s attack or defense, allowing the user to easily dodge or counterattack.
The appearance of the sword was just to cover up the fact that it was a ruler. However, while making it look like a sword might be able to trick others, it couldn’t escape Long Chen’s sixth sense.
“Don’t you think saying that is already meaningless? You should think about how you plan on dying instead.”
That person didn’t argue with Long Chen’s declaration. Instead, he cut a cross in the air with his ruler, tearing through space and vanishing within it.
That ruler was something capable of measuring the heavens, the earth, and all things in between. To be able to easily find spatial nodes within this turbulent space was something only Heavenly Fate Island’s experts were capable of.
This time, he hadn’t used some kind of teleportation art but a true spatial transfer. Even if Long Chen caused the surrounding space to explode, he wouldn’t be able to drag that expert out. He had already fled an extremely great distance.
That expert had vanished. Far away from Long Chen, Meng Qi, Chu Yao, Tang Wan-er, Gu Yang, and the others joined hands to attack the long-haired man. He was now charging toward the widened spatial channel.
Liu Ruyan formed hand seals, sending a heaven-encompassing net of willow branches. No matter how the long-haired man tried, he couldn’t get out. However, just as he was about to be captured…
BOOM!
The long-haired man ended up roaring furiously. His wings and crystal core unleashed blinding light as he self-detonated. His detonation blew apart Liu Ruyan’s branches.
“Boss, what do we do?”
Guo Ran and the others flew over. They were looking at the spatial gate that was still growing larger. They had no idea what to do.
Just at this moment, cracks began to appear in the space around the spatial gate. The void began to explode, and web-like cracks spread.
BOOM!
The entire underground space collapsed. Li Qi and Song Mingyuan slammed their earthen giants’ hands on the ground, forming a huge bubble that covered everyone.
Within the earthen bubble, they felt like they were a tiny boat on an angry sea. They were constantly flung about with such power that they almost coughed up blood.
BOOM!
Finally, a particularly powerful blow caused the earthen bubble to explode. Some disciples were thrown into the distance.
“We’re aboveground?”
People were shocked to see the sun again. The underground space had collapsed. However, they weren’t able to feel the slightest bit warm.
They could still see the spatial gate. It was still growing larger, and its fluctuations were starting to stabilize. Once it stabilized, the new spatial channel that had been expanded would be able to allow those Empyrean Winged Blood Devils that were on the level of the Life Star realm to pass through.
Before this, just the Soul Transformation level Empyrean Winged Blood Devils had already been terrifying enough. If it hadn’t been for Guo Ran’s black water, it was unknown how many of them would have died.
If the Empyrean Winged Blood Devils on the Life Star level came through, then who would be able to stop them? They were a whole major realm above the disciples.
The Empyrean Winged Blood Devils were already gathering and organizing themselves. They were just waiting for the spatial gate to stabilize.
It was unknown what material that pagoda had been made out of for its explosion to actually damage the spatial gate’s structure. It had caused this side’s spatial energy to become incredibly weak, while the other side’s spatial energy had grown incredibly powerful. This imbalance was what would allow the higher-ranking devil creatures to cross through.
“Can you put out the call for reinforcements?” asked Long Chen. His expression was dark. Heavenly Fate Island had managed to scheme against them.
“Boss, we’ve already sent out the call, but we haven’t received any response,” said Guo Ran, looking at a formation tablet in his hand.
“Then there’s no need to waste any more effort on it. Those bastards really know how to scheme. Since they’ve made their move, they’re confident in getting us killed. They won’t allow the Xuan Master to come save us,” said Long Chen. He knew that a trap made by Heavenly Fate Island wouldn’t be as simple as it appeared.
“Boss, what do we do?” asked Guo Ran. They were all out of ideas.
Long Chen took a deep breath. “Have the Dao Sect’s disciples retreat back to the Xuantian Dao Sect. The Dragonblood Legion will stay behind.”
“No! Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, you can’t push us away. We’re also disciples of the Dao Sect. We will face death together.”
“That’s right, we’re not leaving. We’ll fight too. To have fought alongside you and the Dragonblood warriors, we’ll be able to die without regrets.”
These disciples had been fighting in the Devil Abyss for so long. They had brushed past death repeatedly during this time. Under the intense pressure, they had formed solid bonds with their comrades. In the face of this bond, even their life didn’t feel as important as before. Perhaps this was what it meant to love others as much as you loved yourself.
“Hmph, we’re not dying, so don’t get so emotional. I, Long Chen, am more afraid of death than anyone, so I naturally have my own arrangements,” said Long Chen with a smile. Perhaps the battlefield was the place to form the fastest and strongest bonds. After this life and death battle, the Dao Sect’s hearts had been united.
“Really?”
“Of course. Don’t mess around and return to the Dao Sect immediately. I’m guessing that the Dao Sect has been isolated from the rest of the world, which is why they can’t receive our distress signal. You must go back and report the situation as fast as possible. We will do our best to hold this position as long as possible. We’ll entrust our lives to you,” said Long Chen.
Hearing this, the disciples nodded. They immediately took out their maps and sped in the direction of the Dao Sect.
Only once they took out their maps did they realize that this was a barren land. There were no cities and no transportation formations in the surroundings. They could only use their own legs.
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, it won’t take that many people to report this. We feel like our combat power isn’t bad. Let us stay and fight alongside you,” pleaded a rank nine Celestial.
“You’re too naive. Our enemies arranged this trap, so they won’t let us receive assistance so easily. Who knows whether or not there will be enemies on the way back to the Dao Sect? That’s why you all have to go. Don’t separate. Hurry up!” shouted Long Chen.
“Yes.”
All the Dao Sect’s disciples began to rush toward the Xuantian Dao Sect under the lead of Hua Shiyu, Wang Zhen, and the others.
Only the Dragonblood Legion remained on the battlefield. Long Chen laughed, ”Brothers, now it’s just us. We can fight all-out now.”
“Hahaha, we’ve been itching for this moment.” The Dragonblood warriors also laughed. Because of the Dao Sect’s disciples behind them, they hadn’t been able to fight freely. Now, it was only them.
“Get into formation. Don’t let them charge past.” Long Chen immediately arranged the Dragonblood warriors into a defensive line, blocking the path.
Although the gate had been expanded, the actual path through was still the same size. It was just that it would allow Life Star level Empyrean Winged Blood Devils through. Whether or not they could win would be decided by whether they could defend the channel’s exit. As soon as their enemies broke past the exit, they would be surrounded by enemies from the front and back.
“Boss, why is this central area empty?” Once all the Dragonblood warriors stood in their position, they found that there was a giant empty space. Guo Ran couldn’t help asking what that was for.
BOOM!
Before Long Chen could reply, the spatial gate shook. It was now fully stabilized, and the channel within it was open. Countless Empyrean Winged Blood Devils charged through.
Those Empyrean Winged Blood Devils had just charged into the channel when Long Chen crushed a talisman disc. A large group of people appeared in front of the channel, filling the previously empty space.
“Hahaha, warriors of the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect, it must have been tough to hold back for so long. Don’t blame me for it. I’ve left the best for you,” laughed Long Chen.
Chapter 1707 Defending the Channel
A group of large men appeared in front of the spatial gate, and they all had huge broadswords. The ones at the front were Bao Buping and Chang Hao. The disciples of the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect had come!
“Haha, I thought that you had forgotten about us!” Bao Buping looked at the endless Empyrean Winged Blood Devils charging through the channel.
“Brothers, time to get to work.” Chang Hao raised his broadsword. A huge sword-image slashed out.
“Split the Heavens 5!”
A thousand disciples of the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect followed Chang Hao, raising all their broadswords together. A thousand attacks merged into one giant arc that slashed through the Empyrean Winged Blood Devils.
The Empyrean Winged Blood Devils roared furiously as they resisted, but despite that, this one attack killed the majority of them.
These Empyrean Winged Blood Devils were on the Life Star level, and their wings had bone-like supports growing out of them. Their defensive power was clearly much greater, but even they were unable to resist the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect’s disciples’ merged attack.
This merged attack even shocked Long Chen. He had never thought of the possibility of Split the Heavens being able to merge. For the power of a thousand people to merge together so perfectly was extremely difficult.
“We just got here and directly ran into some tough bones.” Bao Buping and Chang Hao were surprised that they hadn’t managed to kill all the Empyrean Winged Blood Devils in the channel. They were very clear on how powerful this merged attack was. Of course, this ability to merge Split the Heavens was one reason the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect had once been the head of the three great sects.
Originally, Bao Buping and Chang Hao had been planning on giving Long Chen a nice surprise by slaughtering them all, but their expected perfect result never appeared.
“Of course, if they weren’t tough, why would I call you? Everyone else, prepare yourselves! Assist the brothers from the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect in killing the Empyrean Winged Blood Devils. Make sure no fish slip out of the net!” shouted Long Chen.
At this moment, the Empyrean Winged Blood Devils had recollected themselves and were attempting another charge. The channel wasn’t very long. They could cross it in just a few seconds.
“Split the Heavens 5!”
The first attackers retreated one step, while another one thousand disciples replaced them, unleashing an identical attack.
BOOM!
This time, the Empyrean Winged Blood Devils were prepared. The ones at the front were killed, but the others behind managed to endure the impact and charge through.
In their defensive states, they were too tough to kill. Half were killed, but half managed to charge through.
“Meng Qi, Chu Yao, Wan-er, Ruyan, Cloud, and Zifeng, attack together. Win us some buffer room,” shouted Long Chen.
Following his orders, the six of them attacked at the same time. Six long-range attacks exploded through the spatial channel. Those Empyrean Winged Blood Devils were instantly killed, with no one managing to survive.
This made Bao Buping and Chang Hao’s expressions twitch. A thousand of them hadn’t been as powerful as the six of them. That was too embarrassing.
“What are you lazy fellows doing? Summon your manifestations! Are you holding back your spiritual yuan until you have kids?!” shouted Bao Buping.
The Heaven Splitting Battle Sect’s disciples roared and summoned their manifestations. These three thousand disciples were all rank nine Celestials.
These three thousand disciples were the elites of the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect. The Heaven Splitting Battle Sect hadn’t had that many disciples originally, but now that the world’s karmic luck was changing, the old man had spent all that karmic luck on these three thousand disciples. The power of these three thousand elites was truly terrifying.
Originally, Bao Buping and Chang Hao had been planning on going into the Devil Abyss with Long Chen, but after Long Chen had learned how powerful these disciples were, he had decided to keep them back as a trump card. Hence, he had Zheng We
nlong send him a long-distance transportation formation disc.
Long Chen had made Bao Buping and Chang Hao wait on standby as a killer trump card. He had predicted that there was a high chance of him being sneak attacked during this battle.
After all, there were plenty of channels within the Devil Abyss that led to all the large sects. Anyone could go through any of them to sneak attack the Dragonblood Legion.
That was why Long Chen had arranged warning indicators around the area they had been defending in the Devil Abyss. As long as a large number of experts got close to them, he would immediately be alerted of it.
He had thought that the sneak attackers would be from the Corrupt path, the ancient races, or the Xuan Beasts. However, it had ended up being Heavenly Fate Island.
If experts from Heavenly Fate Island wanted to sneak attack him, then those preparations he had made would be useless.
As a result, the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect’s disciples had come into play.
When they unleashed their full power, their killing prowess exploded. The three thousand disciples divided into three waves, cycling their attacks. At the same time, Meng Qi and the others were assisting. All of them forcibly blocked the channel.
“This is not a solution. Although we’re only using the fifth form of Split the Heavens, it’s still using up too much energy. It’s only a matter of time until we’re out of energy.”
After an incense stick’s worth of time, each of the Heaven Splitting Battle Sect’s disciples had used the fifth form of Split the Heavens over ten times. The exhaustion was starting to grow.
“There’s no way around it. We’re stalling. This channel doesn’t look like it will close for several hours. We have to defend it until the Xuan Master comes.”
“Boss, if this continues, I’m going to be the first one to be unable to endure,” said Guo Ran bitterly.
He saw that his kill points were stagnating, while others were still crazily gaining points. It wouldn’t be long before they surpassed him.