Chapter 391: [Soros Double Trees. Demon Sorrow Pure Land]

The muffled sounds from within the peak were masked by the roar of the waterfall, but the Fire Cloud Army soldiers standing beneath a strange, protruding rock halfway up Celestial Waterfall Peak heard them clearly.

Seeing Xie Mingzhi rise, they immediately swarmed toward a hollow at the base of the rock.

This hollow was like an exposed chest cavity on Celestial Waterfall Peak, and it was also the location Xie Mingzhi had deduced to be the “Dragon Gate.”

BOOM!

Another roar echoed from the hidden stone passage within, louder and clearer this time.

The men of the Fire Cloud Army silently tightened their grips on their firearms and blades.

In the next second,

THUMP THUMP THUMP—

A flurry of chaotic, rapid footsteps emerged from the stone passage, growing closer.

The instant the first figure sprinted out of the passage— WHOOSH!—

a Fire Cloud Army soldier suddenly struck, his Blood Drop whistling through the air!

The figure, who had just taken a single step out of the passage, hadn’t even had time for a look of joy at his escape to form before his head flew high into the air, blood fountaining from his neck!

Following that, the sound of blades cutting through the air and the roar of firearms was unending. The five or six figures who had run out right after the first man were torn to shreds by the dense assault before they could even scream.

Severed limbs flew everywhere like broken dolls, accompanied by splatters of warm blood that bloomed into dark red flowers on the rock face.

SPLAT!

A young Manchu, the side of his body cleaved in two, collapsed to the ground with a dazed expression. His body twitched unconsciously. His eyes reflected the brilliant rainbow outside Celestial Waterfall Peak, but even in death, he never understood how he had died.

They had expected masters raised by the Yingjing Nine Banners families to emerge from the “Dragon Gate,” not these worthless grunts from the Nine Banners leading the charge. The first wave of the ambush was so successful that it surprised even the Fire Cloud Army soldiers.

Just then, another person came tumbling and scrambling out of the passage.

BANG!

The person who appeared this time was not as useless as the previous batch. The moment he sensed the killing intent permeating the air outside the cave, he was instantly on alert.

With an agile, if clumsy, roll, he dodged several flying blades and a volley from the firearms.

“Don’t attack!!”

Before he had even steadied himself, he immediately began screaming at the top of his lungs.

The Fire Cloud Army soldiers paused, their hands hesitating. They looked at the young man standing pale-faced at the cave entrance, dressed in a crimson-purple mandarin jacket. Though his queue was a mess, a single glance was enough to tell he was of high birth.

He clearly saw the mutilated corpses of his companions scattered on the ground and the murderous soldiers of the Fire Cloud Army. He obviously understood perfectly well the danger of the trap laid before the cave.

Yet, he would rather have dozens of firearms and blades aimed at him from a distance than retreat even half a step back into the stone passage from which he came.

“Don’t attack! I’ll make a deal with you!”

The young man gasped for breath. The biting cold of Celestial Waterfall Peak couldn’t stop the large beads of cold sweat popping out on his forehead.

He spoke rapidly, his face ashen, but his eyes kept darting back toward the passage behind him, his face filled with an unconcealable panic and terror.

The Fire Cloud Army soldiers instinctively looked toward Xie Mingzhi.

Xie Mingzhi said nothing, merely staring intently at the stone passage behind the young man.

It seemed that something lurked in the darkness—something that greatly interested Xie Mingzhi, yet terrified the young man—and it was slowly, slowly walking toward the light.

“I… I’m Wei Jie! Inside is the tomb of the former Emperor Qianming—the Qianming Armory!”

The young man stared, white-faced, into the depths of the dark passage, his body trembling as he backed away from the cave mouth.

He pointed inside, his voice trembling so much it was nearly distorted as he shouted, “I’ll trade the entire Qianming Armory with you! I don’t care who you are! Kill him! Help me kill him! Everything in the Armory will be yours!!”

As the young man’s shrill voice echoed, and a light began to blossom in Xie Mingzhi’s eyes, someone finally… slowly walked out from the deep, dark passage.

When they got a clear look at the person’s appearance, all the Fire Cloud Army soldiers surrounding the cave entrance were slightly taken aback.

It wasn’t that the newcomer’s appearance was terrifying—quite the opposite.

It was an incredibly handsome young man with a noble and dignified air.

He had a casual demeanor and a smile playing on his lips, strolling out of the passage as if he were taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard.

If not for the battered, bloody, and dying brute he was carrying in one hand, he would have looked like a noble Young Master just leaving a brothel after a night of debauchery, rather than someone appearing here, at this time.

“Quick! Kill him, kill him!!”

Amidst Wei Jie’s terrified shrieks, the light in Xie Mingzhi’s eyes, watching from atop the giant rock, intensified to its peak.

He gripped the Winged Ring with both hands. The moment the young man appeared, Xie Mingzhi soared into the air like a great bird.

Within the vast mist of the cascading waterfall, Xie Mingzhi raised his hands high. The Red Ring in his grip seemed to catch the light of the rainbow as his Momentum surged. Then, with the pounce of a hawk, he dove swiftly toward the man.

“Fu Lingjun.”

“I… have been waiting for you for a long time.”

…

Outside the cave, Fu Juemin squinted, watching Xie Mingzhi leap into the air, his fighting spirit soaring to the heavens.

With a flick of his wrist, he viciously drove a strand of Glazed True Gang, laced with a sliver of Innate Primordial Liquid, into the body of Hong Huan, before casually flinging him aside.

Then he raised a palm, meeting Xie Mingzhi’s ring-wielding attack head-on from a distance.

RUMBLE!

Two incomparably strong forces, far beyond the realm of Heart Intent, collided violently, erupting in a massive shockwave!

Within the shockwave, Fu Juemin’s figure remained as steady as a mountain, while Xie Mingzhi was sent flying backward.

After effortlessly blocking Xie Mingzhi’s attack, Fu Juemin lowered his gaze. His body trembled slightly, and a visible golden ripple spread out from him…

WHOOSH—

A terrifying wave of pressure radiated out from him. Brilliant Buddha Light connected with the rainbow above, refracting into myriad spots of light in the waterfall’s mist. The four-faced, Eight Arms of the Dharma Demonic Buddha Dharma Form—over nine meters tall and solid as if real—appeared once more.

Under the pressure of the Dharma Form, the attacks from the Fire Cloud Army soldiers who had moved the instant Xie Mingzhi struck were like willow branches in the wind. Before their attacks could even land, they were all blown back.

A terrifying pressure naturally enveloped the entire area. Cries of alarm rose as the Fire Cloud Army soldiers retreated, their faces filled with profound shock.

In that moment, they finally understood why Wei Jie had been so terrified!

“Kill!”

His first attack having failed, Xie Mingzhi charged back in. His eyes shone brilliantly, his body overflowing with a sharp, intimidating battle intent. It was as if he had been waiting for this very moment!

With a low roar, a large amount of scarlet, mist-like Soldier’s Killing Qi poured from Xie Mingzhi’s pores and flowed into the Winged Red Ring in his hand.

The Red Ring trembled, emitting a long hum like a hummingbird. It suddenly transformed into an arc of red light, shooting toward Fu Juemin at an unbelievable speed.

“[Four Emptiness Heavens]!”

Fu Juemin raised his hand and struck out with his palm, the Desire Realm Celestial Prince Form behind him mirroring his movement.

The giant Dharma Arm gathered Buddha Light, and the Buddha Palm pushed forward a patch of utter, distorted blurriness!

BOOM!!

Amidst the deafening collision, the massive Demonic Buddha Dharma Form trembled slightly, and Fu Juemin took a step forward.

As the mist churned, Xie Mingzhi’s figure was thrown back along with the Red Ring. His Momentum, however, did not diminish in the slightest. After executing a maneuver like a returning swallow, he seamlessly flowed into a second round of attacks.

CRACK CRACK CRACK…

Even more Soldier’s Killing Qi, like a bloody mist, surged from Xie Mingzhi’s body and was poured unreservedly into the Red Ring.

He instantly aged by more than ten years.

But within a few breaths, he rapidly recovered, the light in his eyes growing even more brilliant!

“Yan Huihuan!”

Now empowered by two stacked momentums, the Winged Red Ring let out a terrifying shriek. It tore through the air, unleashing visible crimson ripples that spread outwards.

Fu Juemin narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn’t retreat, still just raising his hand to palm-strike.

“[Sanzu River]!”

Three of the Dharma Form’s arms lifted, violently erupting with a torrent of Vitality formed from the fusion of three types of True Gang!

The terrifying torrent collided with the Red Ring, and the resulting aftershock blasted away the surrounding ring of churning mist and waterfall spray, creating the bizarre spectacle of a massive “cloud ring” halfway up Celestial Waterfall Peak!

BOOM!

Xie Mingzhi was pushed back again, but instead of anger, he laughed.

His long laugh pierced the waterfall’s cloud of mist, clashing against the rainbow.

He flicked his right hand, which held the ring, and in an instant, shook out a dense swarm of the Red Ring’s phantom images.

“Thousand-Shatter Ring!”

Amidst the countless ring phantoms hurtling down from above, the bloody mist around Xie Mingzhi gushed out as his Momentum soared to an unprecedented peak.

The tide of ring phantoms instantly swallowed the daylight, threatening to engulf half of Celestial Waterfall Peak, along with Fu Juemin and his Dharma Form below.

Facing this attack, Fu Juemin took another step forward.

He lowered his eyes and spoke in a low voice.

“[Demon Buddha Rebirth]!”

VMMMM—

In an instant, the central Desire Realm Celestial Prince Form of the nine-meter-tall Demonic Buddha Dharma Form let out a sorrowful wail, and tears of blood streamed from its eyes.

The faceless visages spun. The Buddha Light peeled away from the Dharma Form’s body as black demonic flames began to climb upward, wisp by wisp…

As the countless ring phantoms descended, the “Chi Xia” bore down.

BOOM!

A terrifying aura, several times more powerful than before, suddenly erupted.

A pair of thick, ferocious, black-scaled giant Dharma Arms suddenly tore through the layers of “Chi Xia.” The ring phantoms struck the giant arms, producing a series of sharp CLANGS.

“[Soros Double Trees. Demon Sorrow Pure Land]!”

The giant Dharma Arms, pitch-black and wreathed in demonic flame, suddenly trembled and, in an instant, ripped the vast expanse of red ring phantoms apart!

Xie Mingzhi, holding the Red Ring, felt his pupils shrink. Caught off guard, he was swatted by one of the giant Dharma Arms and sent flying like a cannonball.

When the phantoms in the sky had all scattered and dissipated, all that remained at the base of the massive Celestial Waterfall Peak was a nine-meter-tall black Dharma Form. Its eight arms were raised, its entire body burning with raging black flames. All trace of Buddha was gone, replaced by a monstrous demonic nature that blotted out the sky!

On Celestial Waterfall Peak, an invisible wind stirred the hem of Fu Juemin’s robes.

He stood at the base of the Dharma Form that had completely transformed from Buddha to Demon. His flawless, handsome face was now tinged with the Dharma Form’s demonic aura, giving it a bewitching, almost fiendish cast.

Fu Juemin continued to walk forward, finally emerging completely from the shadow of the cave to stand in the light of day.

At this moment, with the demonic form at his back, the aura he naturally emanated churned the flowing clouds. The waterfall’s mist was pushed back by an unseen force three feet before him, creating a pocket of dry air.

Fu Juemin smiled, his dark-lotus-like eyes sweeping over each of the Fire Cloud Army soldiers before finally landing on the solemn face of Xie Mingzhi in the distance.

He spread his arms as if to embrace the uniquely magnificent scenery.

The rainbow from the celestial waterfall cascaded over him.

He closed his eyes and spoke softly to everyone present:

“I truly envy you all…”

“You get to die in such a beautiful place.”

…

A great battle is imminent. I’ll start making up for missed chapters tomorrow. Please vote with your monthly tickets, orz!