Chapter 1001: Lurker
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang hid in the alternate dimension and watched everything that was happening on the platform of the airships through the semitransparent defensive shield far away.
Despite the defensive layer through which he could not see the people’s faces, he could sense each of their combat strengths clearly.
“How many demigods are there in the Purple Crow?!” The Purple Crow had 14 demigods, which shocked him. He initially thought the Purple Crow would only have four to five demigods at the most. However, the reality was three times more than he expected.
“I suppose the demigods from each zone are gathered here. Wow, they’re really going all out!” Bloody said while smiling, “But the number is really so much higher than we expected.”
“Seven among the 14 demigods just elevated these recent months.” The stone tablet’s voice came all of a sudden. “A few of them haven’t even had their demigod aura stabilized completely.”
Lin Huang smiled casually after hearing what the stone tablet said. “I see… I suppose they know they’re short-handed since the Crow Spirit election is happening this year. They picked a few of the imperial-level purple gold-rank members who are hopeless to elevate to Virtual Gods and elevated them to demigods.”
Although Bloody could not hear the stone tablet’s voice transmission, it figured Lin Huang must be speaking to something inside his body and could not help but to interrupt, “What you said is highly possible. The Purple Crow’s all set for the Crow God Ceremony this time, so they definitely are ready for any interference. Elevating demigods at the very last minute before the Crow God Ceremony is indeed the best way to fortify the number of members with top combat strength in the organization.”
“But I can’t figure out their standard of Crow Spirit candidates.” Lin Huang raised another doubt. “Theoretically, the higher the combat strength is, the better it is for the Crow God’s body because a high combat strength would mean a stronger flesh and soul. That should be the best Crow Spirit candidate. I think it’s best for them to pick a demigod as the Crow Spirit. However, not only did they pick a couple of immortal-level candidates, but there’s even a holy fire-level among them.”
“What you said is merely your subjective judgment.” The stone tablet could not help but point out through voice transmission again after hearing Lin Huang’s observation. “The most important thing when it comes to picking the right body isn’t the strength of flesh and soul but the compatibility.”
“To powerhouses who are on true god-level or above, imperial- and holy fire-levels are no difference to them; they’re just ants. To them, the difficulty of transforming a holy fire-level’s flesh and soul is no different from transforming an imperial-level. The most would just be the slight difference in the time spent.”
“What you said about demigods being the most suitable vessel is so wrong on all levels.”
“Unless there’s no other option, no True God would want a demigod to be their vessel. The reason being, the broken Godhead in a demigod’s body would be a great limitation. Using a demigod as their vessel would mean that the maximum combat strength of the vessel can only be perfect-stage demigod-level. On the other hand, the True God could possibly train the candidate to virtual god-level or even true god-level if he picks an imperial- or immortal-level candidate with outstanding potential.”
While Lin Huang was in a heated discussion with the stone tablet and Bloody in the alternate dimension, the world out there was tossed into chaos as well.
Below the sea level of the Tranquil Ocean, the people from God Bless hid in a demigod relic space a couple of kilometers away from Lin Huang’s alternate dimension.
The demigod relic was disguised into a liquid droplet and rippled following the waves on the Tranquil Ocean.
The people in the droplet observed everything that was happening on the airship not far away.
Two people in the space were fighting.
“Commander Feng, I think we should give up on the second target of our mission which is the Crow Spirit. As soon as the Purple Crow takes the Detective Eye out, we’ll snatch it immediately. We don’t have to wait for the Crow God Ceremony to begin so that we can avoid unnecessary trouble,” Shen Yu suggested directly.
“Shen Yu, Master God’s Messenger gave us two missions. You’re asking us to give up on one mission before we’ve even begun. What are you trying to do here?” Commander Feng looked at Shen Yu in contempt.
“So, let me say this to your face. Your suggestion has been rejected. I’m the commander and it’s my call. I want both of the mission targets! We’re not giving up on any of them!”
“Feng Li, it only takes a few minutes to transform the Crow Spirit’s body. If you want to capture the Crow Spirit, you can only do that within those few short minutes. It undoubtedly raises the difficulty of the mission by heaps. If we fail to capture the Crow Spirit within the given time, we’ll be fighting an opponent who is comparable to perfect-stage demigod-level or even virtual god-level when the integration of the Crow Spirit and the Crow God is completed! By then, we might not even complete any of our missions!”
“Then, we’ll capture the Crow Spirit within the few minutes of transformation!” Feng Li insisted while glaring at Shen Yu.
“You mother—” A young man gripped Shen Yu’s shoulder and shook his head when Shen Yu almost cursed out loud.
It was the other Division 3 captain, Li Qing.
“Shen Yu, if you insist on disobeying my order like this, I’ll talk to Master God’s Messenger and send you out of Division 3 when the mission is over.”
“I don’t need you to talk to him. I’ll do it myself. You as*-kisser, I’ve been tolerating you for way too long! I’ll report your misguidance if this mission fails!” In his rage, Shen Yu shook Li Qing’s hand off from his shoulder and began screaming.
Lei An and the other three who stood aside turned pale from the scare.
Even Captain Li Qing smacked his forehead, feeling helpless about the situation.
“Shen Yu, are you asking for death?!” The intention to kill flashed in Feng Li’s eyes.
“Alright, alright. Let’s take a step back. We’re on a mission now. Both of you can solve the conflict between you guys after the mission is over. Don’t interfere with the mission.” A tall and big fatty walked past Feng Li and stood between both of them. “If Master God’s Messenger finds out that the mission failed because of your internal conflict, I’m sure you guys will be in grave trouble! Moreover, we’ll be affected too. Please don’t hurt the innocent. I’m begging the two of you. Can we do that? I don’t want to be sent to God-knows-where for hundreds of years.”
“Brother Fatty is right. Don’t hurt the innocent.” Another female demigod stood out and grabbed both of them.
The duo finally stopped fighting after hearing the fatty mention the God Messenger.
They knew very well that being benched was not the only thing that would happen to them if they really caused the mission to fail because of their internal conflict. They might even have their cultivation abolished and be asked to leave God Bless.
Just when they stopped arguing, they soon saw ten Crow Spirit candidates in white robes surrounded the altar in a circle, flanked by empty space on the airship deck.
Subsequently, the ten of them removed their white robes and revealed their naked bodies.
Chapter 1002: Young Man, Tell Me Your Name
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A black altar seemed to have grown in the middle of the massive platform made out of the four airships. It integrated with the pitch-black platform, appearing out of place.
Ten naked young men and women sat in a circle surrounding the altar with space between each other.
Lu Dong and the other 12 demigods and two demigod-level summoning beasts hovered above the altar. They surrounded the ten Crow Spirit candidates and the altar in order to protect them.
Clearly, they had rehearsed the formation many times. They were in position without even speaking to each other. The entire process took less than a minute.
The Crow Leader hovered into the air above the altar and looked at the time on his Emperor’s Heart Ring.
Lin Huang, who was watching in the alternate dimension far away, could not help but glance at the time too.
“11.58 p.m….”
The Crow Leader crossed his arms in front of his chest and shut his eyes. He waited for the time to pass patiently.
A moment later, it was 12 a.m. sharp.
He opened both of his eyes as a gigantic Imperial Palace solidified rapidly above his head.
It was a massive black city. The city walls alone were 100 meters tall and spread tens of kilometers. It was a few folds bigger than the platform made of the four airships.
Two majestic city gates that soared 200 meters high were in the middle of the city wall. They stood even taller than the city walls.
There was a purple crow with its wings spread wide open carved in the middle of the two massive gates. The crow’s eyes seemed to have two huge red rubies mounted on them, sitting on each gate.
It was the Purple Crow headquarters, the Crow Leader Yan Ping’s Imperial Palace — the Crow City!
As soon as the Imperial Palace appeared, Yan Ping’s aura was completely released without him hiding it. He was clearly on perfect-stage demigod-level and was a terrifying existence comparable to a Virtual God.
The air around seemed to have frozen as the massive black city hovered in the sky.
Even Lin Huang could not help but exclaim out loud, “What a gigantic Imperial Palace!” This was the biggest Imperial Palace he had ever witnessed in his life.
“Although a demigod can’t form a God Territory, an Imperial Palace possesses a certain God Territory characteristic. It’s usually much bigger than an ordinary Imperial Palace,” the stone tablet explained.
Just when Lin Huang was musing about the reason Yan Ping summoned the Imperial Palace, Yan Ping began controlling the Crow City.
The eyes of the purple crow on the massive black city gates seemed to light up with a red glow. Two glaring sparks burned all of a sudden.
A rumble broke the sky a moment later.
The two massive gates of the Crow City seemed to be pushed open by a pair of invisible hands.
As soon as the gates were opened, black silhouettes poured towards the altar in a frenzy. They were like a black waterfall drowning the inside of the altar. The black silhouettes in the altar became rowdy, seeming to seek escape. However, they appeared to be shackled by an invisible force.
“That soul power wave…” Lin Huang frowned as he watched. He sensed what the black silhouettes were faintly, but he could not be sure.
“It’s his soul. Due to the Imperial Palace, it became visible to the naked eye,” the stone tablet explained, “Seems like he’s using soul sacrifice to summon the Crow God.”
“What a Crow God!” Lin Huang’s expression became serious as he watched countless souls being poured into the altar and gradually turning into a black liquid.
The pouring lasted for over ten minutes. Yan Ping only recalled his Imperial Palace when the black liquid in the altar turned into a whirlpool. He took a box from his storage space out.
The box was only the size of a fist. It was the color of blood with black sigils covering it.
Yan Ping performed a complicated hand seal quickly and the black sigils on the box soon began to flow rapidly. Later on, the sigils on the box cover faded and it opened automatically.
There was a crimson eyeball in the box.
Yan Ping seemed not to dare to touch it. When he flicked it through the air, the crimson eyeball flew out of the box and dropped into the whirlpool within the altar below.
A while later, the crimson eyeball began expanding at a high speed.
It grew from normal human-size to a giant sphere of approximately three meters in diameter half a minute later. It hovered from the altar slowly and hung in the air about ten meters from the altar.
The eyeball had completely transformed by now. There were red and purple blood vessels all over it and many blood vessels dangled like vines from it. They connected to the whirlpool in the altar below.
The eye now had a red iris and a pitch-black pupil.
An ominous aura spread across the space, lingering in this broken mini world.
Even Lin Huang felt a slight suppression as he watched everything far away in the alternate dimension. He had goosebumps all over and his scalp tingled numbly.
He did not find the eye scary, but rather it was the Crow God’s aura that spread out which gave him a physiological reaction.
The people who had the same reaction at the same time were the God Bless members and Hong Zhuang who were hiding in the dark.
“This is scary. The aura alone gives someone a sense of despair. It can almost make someone lose their will to fight,” Lin Huang could not help but exclaim.
“Apart from a True God’s Holy Power, this Crow God should have some other suppressing power that exudes such spiritual oppression that’s so much higher than others who are on the same level as he is!” explained the stone tablet.
On the deck of the airships, everyone including the Crow Leader Yan Ping, the other 13 demigods and the two demigod-level imperial monsters fell from the air onto the deck due to the Crow God’s Holy Power.
The ten naked men and women at the border of the altar were quivering. They were not afraid, but it was a physiological terror that made them lose control of their bodies.
All demigods had Divine Power in their bodies, so they had a certain resistance to such Holy Power. However, people below demigod-level who had zero Divine Power in their bodies were like naked humans in the snow whereby they could not resist the Holy Power’s suppression at all.
Yan Ping, who hovered above the air, spoke as soon as the eyeball had completed its transformation.
“Master God, we’ve picked ten Crow Spirit candidates. You may select the Crow Spirit.”
The eyeball peeped at Yan Ping and subsequently glanced through the ten naked men and women below one after another.
Less than ten seconds later, the eyeball stared at the fifth person all of a sudden after it had just glanced through five of them.
Yan Ping and the rest held their breaths. ‘He’s done picking so soon?’
The eyeball was staring at the young man who had the lowest combat strength among the ten candidates.
The young man looked only 17 or 18 years old. He was skinny and stood less than 1.7 meters tall. Despite his tanned skin, he was not considered good-looking. There was a circle of black, complicated sigils on the left side of his chest which looked like a black tattoo.
There was a massive amount of black fog billowing out of the eye, forming a massive black silhouette before the young man. The black shadow looked like a crow spreading its wings, and there were 108 red pupils on the black silhouette’s head like a sky full of stars.
“Young man, tell me your name.” The black silhouette’s head came less than a meter before the young man and asked for the young man’s name. Its voice was overlapping; it sounded like more than 100 men and women talking at the same time.
The young man’s shivering body surprisingly calmed down as he looked at the black silhouette’s 108 pupils that looked like stars. He told his name without hesitation, “My… My name is Xiao Mo…”
Chapter 1003: A War Has Begun!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When the Crow God asked for the young man’s name, Yan Ping and the rest of the demigods knew very well that the Crow God had basically decided on the Crow Spirit.
However, Lu Dong and the rest were a little confused.
Among the ten candidates, the Crow God had gone for the one with the lowest combat strength. Furthermore, he went for the most inconspicuous person.
Almost everyone thought the young man who had just broken through to white flame-level recently was just a stand-in for the Crow Spirit candidate.
Even Xiao Mo himself thought the same too. However, never had he thought that the Crow God would select him right away.
The black silhouette which was the incarnation of Crow God asked in a deep voice, “Xiao Mo… Are you willing to be my Crow Spirit?” His voice remained overlapping.
“I do!” The young man nodded vigorously.
“The deal is done!”
As soon as the Crow God was done speaking, crimson beams of light shot out of the 108 pupils at the same time. It was as if a bloody sun was shining with an endless glow, causing everyone to shut their eyes.
The red glow only went off for a second. As soon as their vision recovered, they saw Xiao Mo hanging mid-air and the Crow God’s black silhouette entering his body at a high speed by turning into a black fog and entering through his mouth and nose.
Xiao Mo’s body hovered into the air without him controlling it. His flesh and bones were disintegrating. Subsequently, his body was reforming at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.
However, the process was clearly an unpleasant one. While Xiao Mo’s flesh was flying all over in the air, the remaining nine candidates were frowning slightly as they witnessed the horrible scene while hearing his devastating shriek.
…
In a droplet disguised beneath the Tranquil Ocean, Commander Feng Li put on a golden mask and ordered without hesitation upon seeing Xiao Mo being wrapped within the Crow God, “Let’s go!”
As soon as the order was issued, Shen Yu and the other three demigods who wore their masks got out of the droplet space.
A thousand-meter high wave rumbled on the peaceful the Tranquil Ocean, advancing toward the airship.
Four white silhouettes were riding on top of the massive wave.
The four had a majestic aura, clearly exhibiting their demigod status. Furthermore, one of them even had the same combat strength as Yang Ping which was perfect-stage demigod-level.
The Crow Leader Yan Ping narrowed his eyes as he watched the wave coming. “Lu Dong, bring the nine candidates with you! Leave the imperial monsters behind!”
Lu Dong had no objection upon hearing the order. He was different from Lin Huang whereby he was purely an Imperial Censor, and his combat ability lagged far behind compared to his imperial monsters. Although he was a demigod, he might lose if he encountered an imperial-level who was experienced in combat.
“All candidates, follow me!” Lu Dong knew he would be a burden if he stayed, so he obeyed the order directly.
The nine of them stood up immediately. They did not even take the white robe lying on the ground and ran toward Lu Dong with their naked bodies.
They had rehearsed such a crisis multiple times before. They followed Lu Dong into the elevator without saying anything.
On the massive platform, only 13 demigods, two demigod-level imperial monsters and Xiao Mo, who hovered in the air taking in the Crow God’s transformation above the altar, were left.
The giant wave collided with the giant airship’s defenses almost at the same time that Lu Dong brought the nine candidates away in the elevator.
Shen Yu and the other three demigods attacked at the same time as the collision.
Shen Yu held a demigod battle saber and swung it across the sky. A crescent-shaped black glow charged out and collided with the defensive layer.
Li Qing held a blue sword weapon in his hand. A dazzling white glow shone when the tip of the sword struck the shield.
Meanwhile, the female demigod held a silver sword in her hand. The tip of the sword also smashed into the defenses as she swung it across, and a silver glow exploded like fireworks.
However, the one who had the most powerful combat strength was the tall and big fatty. Just like Yan Ping, he had perfect-stage demigod-level combat strength and he held a giant dark blue spear in his hand.
The giant spear was five meters long and the body was in a spiral form.
When the fatty laid his palms at the bottom of the spear handle, the giant spear shot out into the air. Everywhere the tip of the spear passed by became distorted, including the air.
Yan Ping and the other Purple Crow demigods had a dramatic change of expression when they saw the power coming from the spear.
“Is that a god relic?!”
Meanwhile, Lin Huang who was hiding in the dark was shocked. “Is that the Ba Huang spear?!”
The Ba Huang spear was the god relic spear that Lin Huang had auctioned off at the Wanbao Auction earlier which turned out to be a bought-in. Someone bought it with three God Figurines and two demigod soul crystals later on. Never had he thought it would end up with God Bless.
Soon, the Ba Huang spear tip hit the defensive shield formed by the four demigod airships.
An endless golden light exploded from the collision while strong winds spread from the center. A tsunami was set off on the peaceful Tranquil Ocean.
The four Midnight God airships went through a slight tremor as a result of the hit, and they even sank close to a meter lower. Finally, a spider web-like crack appeared on the defensive shield formed from the Divine Power coming from the Divine Stone above the airships.
Yan Ping and the rest of the Purple Crow demigods were frowning as they watched. They knew very well that the defenses would not last any longer.
“Such a tough tortoise shell!” The fatty smirked. He was a little worried that the defensive layer might not have any damages from the attack. If that was the case, they would have to spend a lot of time breaking the shield and might miss the opportunity to capture the Crow Spirit. Now, it seemed like the concern was unnecessary.
Soon, the fatty swung the spear for the second time, and the third time… After-shadows were drawn in the sky one after another.
Meanwhile, the two demigod imperial monsters above the airships and the other two in the ocean attempted to stop the fatty from breaking the defensive layer. However, they were hindered by the other three demigods.
The airships’ defenses finally collapsed when the tip of the spear struck the same spot for the third time. It broke like a piece of glass, collapsing and fading away.
Finally, everything on the platform was clearly exposed to the outside world.
Lin Huang could finally see how the young man who was selected as the Crow Spirit looked like.
In the alternate dimension, he was clearly stunned when he saw the face of the young man who was hovering above the altar.
“Isn’t that… Xiao Mo?!”
The person had been his roommate back at the Purple Crow training camp. Lin Huang almost forgot his name. Never had he thought he would see him again at such an occasion.
Xiao Mo had had few changes to his appearance. He was slightly taller now, but his skin remained tanned. What made Lin Huang recognize him right away was the bunch of complicated sigils on the left of his chest.
That was not some tattoo, but the mark of the Descendants of the Sin. Nobody would get a slave mark as a tattoo at their own will.
As Xiao Mo hovered above the altar, not only were his flesh and bones reforming, but even his combat strength was elevating at a terrifying speed.
He elevated a rank almost every few seconds.
White flame-level!
Crimson flame-level!
Blue flame-level!
…
In a short burst of time, his combat strength broke through to immortal-level directly.
At the same time, Yan Ping and the rest charged toward Shen Yu and the other three on the platform.
Chapter 1004: I Just Want to Watch
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As soon as the defensive shield above the airship collapsed, the Purple Crow and God Bless began fighting. They wasted no time with words.
The Purple Crow Leader Yan Ping held a three-foot golden sword in his hand and went after the fatty who had the most powerful combat strength.
The sword in his hand was like a golden arrow burning in golden flame. It only took a second to arrive less than ten seconds before the fatty. Within no time, it was pointing between his brows.
The fatty grinned. The spear in his hand shrunk and turned into a sharp seven-foot spear. The tip of the spear turned into a sharp blade that was close to 30 centimeters long.
He looked at his opponent in a condescending way as he swung the spear like an agile dragon.
A dark-blue fire burned on the dark-blue spear, making it look like a meteor shooting toward the golden sword.
The two god relics collided in the next second.
As soon as the tips of the sword and the spear met, the two perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses did not hold back as they inserted all their Divine Power into the god relics in their hands.
A golden sun formed at the point of the collision when the god relics and Divine Power clashed intensely.
Subsequently, the golden sun above the airship began to expand rapidly like a balloon as the duo inserted their Divine Power into the weapons.
The glaring golden glow began to spread all over. The terrifying impact of the duo’s impact soon made everyone in the fight step back immediately.
Only two the Purple Crow demigods remained to hold the defense above the altar up, covering Xiao Mo and the altar within.
However, a white silhouette shot out of the ocean at a high speed that very instant. As opposed to the rest who retreated, the white silhouette was going after the altar.
The ten Purple Crow demigods reacted one after another. They attempted to stop the white silhouette, but it was terrifyingly quick. It dodged the attacks easily like a loach.
The white-robed man was the same as the rest of them in white robes. He wore a golden mask on his face and his right hand had a black glove over it.
He arrived at the altar within the span of a breath. Then, with his gloved hand, he pressed his right palm on the shield built by the two demigods.
The defenses broke almost immediately.
The pupils of the two Purple Crow demigods shrunk slightly. The glove was clearly a god relic!
The duo ground their teeth and attacked the man with the glove almost at the same time. Instantly, black and purple Divine Power charged out.
The man with the glove scoffed while his perfect-stage demigod-level aura exploded. He pointed two fingers outward and two black streaks flicked from his fingers like bullets. They broke through the two Divine Power attacks like a piece of cake.
Shock flashed through their eyes and they stepped back immediately.
The man with the glove did not go after them. Instead, he grabbed Xiao Mo’s shoulder with his left hand and tossed him away with immense strength.
At the same time, a couple of the Purple Crow demigods who were far away arrived before him.
A couple of white silhouettes came out of the ocean all of a sudden. They were going after Xiao Mo who was falling although their combat strength was only on imperial-level.
A giant tentacle that was hundreds of meters long shot out of the ocean, entangling around Xiao Mo before the white silhouettes could get to him.
Meanwhile, more than 20 imperial-level purple gold-rank powerhouses came out of the ocean again. They were hacking at the tentacle by constructing a battle formation.
“Xiao Mo…” Lin Huang frowned slightly as he watched Xiao Mo becoming the target of the battle. He was hesitating if he should get involved in the fight.
After all, Xiao Mo would live a torturous life if he ended up with God Bless.
However, he would turn into the Crow God’s shell completely if he stayed with the Purple Crow. He would also have his consciousness wiped away.
No matter which organization he ended up with, Xiao Mo’s fate was set to be miserable.
Just when Lin Huang was hesitating, a crimson pupil on the Crow God’s black silhouette lit up all of a sudden. A loud, overlapping voice drifted across the ocean. “Are you asking for death?!”
The Crow God was enraged!
The sound wave spread out hundreds of times faster than the speed of sound. Tens of God Bless imperial-level powerhouses in white robes had zero resistance to that and they exploded right away.
Even the tentacle of the monster that stretched above the ocean towards Xiao Mo turned into dust.
The demigod monster beneath the ocean let out a devastating shriek and burrowed deep in the ocean immediately.
All the demigods above the airship spat mouthfuls of blood out.
Even the two perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouses who were fighting held their breaths. The golden sun between their god relics that had been maintaining its balance shattered.
The duo stepped back immediately because they knew very well that the explosion caused by the collision should not be underestimated.
However, Feng Li, who was wearing the glove, did not leave the airship deck just yet. A ferocious gleam flashed through his eyes. He held his right fist with the glove tightly with Divine Power rushing into it. He was punching the Detective Eye.
“You’re asking for death!”
A furious voice came from the Detective Eye at that moment.
The eyeball shifted its focus and glared at Feng Li.
A powerful spiritual suppression was released from the Detective Eye just then. Even Lin Huang, who was in the alternate dimension a couple of kilometers away, felt his heart sink.
Bearing the brunt, Feng Li froze completely as if he was entrapped in a spell. In reality, apart from him, nobody knew what had just happened.
He saw a real crimson eye through the Detective Eye. The second he saw the eye, his soul went through an intense tremor like an earthquake.
Fortunately, a golden glow came to suppress the tremor. His soul was stabilized and he narrowly escaped having his soul destroyed.
However, his eyes shattered instantly. While it was the price to pay for an ordinary person to look at a True God, it was also the lowest price one could pay.
Although he escaped death from the soul-type god relic in his soul which he prepared ahead, the power from the True God’s eye struck the god relic, so it still rang intensely in his head. He lost all of his senses at the moment, and his Divine Power retreated back to his body.
He could not even feel that his eyes were now blinded.
Just when everyone was wondering what happened to Feng Li, a pitch-black arrow shot through the air.
The strike tore the air and nobody saw the arrow’s flight trajectory. The arrow that came with black fog collided right into the Detective Eye.
There was no thud or collision noise.
When the black arrow hit the Detective Eye, it turned into a lump of black liquid that spread rapidly as if it was alive.
In the alternate dimension, Lin Huang raised his brow. He knew another party had attacked. It must be Hong Zhuang and Yang Ling if he was not mistaken. However, Lin Huang was unsure if they had any help.
“I can’t believe they’re using the Abyssal Demon Curse to contaminate a god item. Under normal circumstances, such a disposable curse arrow can only be used in battles in the other world. Also, it isn’t something that’s available in this world,” said the stone tablet’s voice calmly, “Seems like your friend who has been helping you to unlock storage equipment is familiar with the other world.”
Just when Lin Huang was chatting with the stone tablet, the black silhouette, which the Crow God had taken the form of, was completely mad.
“Come out now, all of you bastards who are hiding!”
The voice diffused more than a hundred times faster than the speed of sound. Everyone who was hiding in the dark within 1,000 kilometers was forced out.
Even Lin Huang was squeezed out of the alternate dimension by a mighty force after sensing a tremor.
The Ninetails Lynx that was sitting on his shoulder looked solemn like it had never before as it watched the Crow God which had taken on the black silhouette form.
“What’s wrong? I just want to watch.” Lin Huang looked aggrieved when he saw many members from the Purple Crow and God Bless staring at him.
Chapter 1005: Yang Ling’s Trump Card
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang really did not want to stick his nose in the bickering the Purple Crow and God Bless were in.
He came here this time to see the fight between demigods. After all, it was hard for such a level of battle to come by. Apart from that, he was rather curious about what God Bless was trying to do. On the other hand, he wanted to know what Hong Zhuang was up to.
Never had he thought that he would be forced out of the alternate dimension by the Crow God’s projection.
“Lin Xie?” Among the God Bless members, Li Qing and the rest soon recognized him.
The division that Li Qing was in had issued the order to capture Lin Xie. That was how they identified him as soon as they saw him.
Although not many demigods from the Purple Crow knew him, they had heard his name before. After all, he was the young supreme genius who ranked No. 1 on the Genius Union leaderboard for two years consecutively. Everyone more or less heard about him.
Lin Huang was calm despite realizing that he had been recognized. He waved while smiling. “I just happened to pass by, so I thought I’d stay to watch. Please proceed. Just pretend that I’m not here.”
The demigods were rather speechless.
However, noticing that his combat strength was only on immortal-level and figuring that he was not a threat, they shifted their focus.
They clearly had a greater threat on the other side with ten demigods including Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang.
Even Lin Huang was a little surprised to see the ten demigods behind the duo.
“Smart Puppets? Interesting…” The stone tablet’s voice came out of the blue. “I suppose this guy who helped you unlock those stuff is a traveler too?”
“How could you tell?” Lin Huang thought it was rather peculiar. “Also, what’s a Smart Puppet? Are you talking about those demigods?”
“It’s simple. What he’s doing isn’t something that someone is capable of doing in this world,” the stone tablet explained, “The genetic technology in this world is advanced, but the artificial intelligence technology is almost non-existent. The modification he made to those demigod bodies can’t be found in this world.”
“Demigod bodies?” Lin Huang took a closer look but did not see anything off. “How come they don’t look like dead bodies to me? They look quite real.”
“They look real, but in reality, he used artificial intelligence to replace the vanished souls in these bodies. Only very few people in the great world can do this. Since he managed to come up with these products, it only proves that he’s an expert in this field.”
“So, how’re these demigods different from dead puppets?” Lin Huang asked again.
“It’s a major difference!” The stone tablet laughed. “Dead puppets only have the remnant of battle will whereby they depend mainly on their battle instincts or require a master to control them. Their abilities are far behind what they possessed when they were alive. However, these Smart Puppets that he made have bodies of a demigod with battle data installed. The puppets can perform calculations on the spot during the battle and the speed of their calculation surpasses the human brain by heaps. If I’m not mistaken, these ten puppets’ abilities should be much more powerful than when they were still alive.”
“Look, the puppets all have god relics in their hands. We can tell who’s going to the biggest winner of this battle,” the stone table spoke while smiling.
“But I think the Crow God’s projection is scarier.” In comparison, Lin Huang was more afraid of the Crow God’s projection. He figured that the projection’s capacity was on at least virtual god-level.
“Although the Crow God’s projection is powerful, the medium, which is the Detective Eye, has been contaminated by the Demon Curse. When the medium is completely contaminated, that will be when the Crow God loses contact with this world. By then, the Crow God’s projection will fade automatically.” However, the stone tablet disagreed with the notion that the Crow God’s projection was a threat.
“Lin Xie, you came after all.” Yang Ling let out a soft sigh when he saw Lin Huang. “Must you interfere with this?”
“I said that I’m just here to watch. Just go ahead and ignore me. Just pretend that I’m not here.” Lin Huang smiled while spreading his arms.
Standing aside while observing Lin Huang, Hong Zhuang asked all of a sudden, “Did we meet somewhere before?”
“The last time, I went looking for Yang Ling to unlock the stuff at the hotel. It was you who opened the door,” Lin Huang replied naturally, “Don’t you remember that?”
“That’s not it. I mean before that. Did we meet somewhere else?” Hong Zhuang proceeded to ask.
“I don’t think so. I’d definitely remember you if we had met before,” Lin Huang denied directly. He did not want to have any association with Hong Zhuang at all.
Just when Hong Zhuang wanted to say something, she was interrupted by the Crow God’s projection.
The 108 crimson pupils on the gigantic black projection stared at Hong Zhuang and the rest.
“I’ll keep your dead bodies in one piece if you give me the anecdote!” The overlapping voice was as if 100 men and women were talking at the same time through everyone’s ears.
“I’m sorry. I’d like to live, so I’ll reject your offer.” Yang Ling took a step back.
Lin Huang sensed no cultivation aura on Yang Ling, but he had no idea why he seemed like he was standing on the ground when in reality, he was standing in the air.
“Go to hell then!”
As soon as the Crow God’s projection was done speaking, a black thread stretched from its projected body at a terrifying speed hundreds of times faster than the speed of sound. It pierced through Yang Ling’s body in the next second.
The hit was so fleet that even Lin Huang did not manage to react in time. He saw Yang Ling’s body being stabbed by a black thread and he was pitched high into the air.
“Yang Ling…” Lin Huang frowned but soon something shocking happened.
Yang Ling’s body that was tossed into the air like a ragdoll disintegrated into cubes rapidly and soon vanished. However, countless cubes reformed next to Hong Zhuang in the next second. To Lin Huang’s fascination, Yang Ling’s body seemed completely unharmed.
“Crow God, you can’t kill me with your projection alone.” Yang Ling seemed like he was narrating a fact expressionlessly.
“Hmph!” Another black thread stretched out after the scoff, piercing through Yang Ling’s body again.
As his body disintegrated into cubes, more black threads extended from the Crow God’s projection to attack the thousands of cubes.
However, the cubes that were attacked merely broke into smaller cubes instead of being destroyed completely.
Just like that, the thousands of cubes broke into smaller cubes again and again. Eventually, they broke into millions of tiny cubes that were almost invisible to the naked eye. By then, the Crow God recalled the black threads grudgingly.
In the next second, Yang Ling’s body consolidated next to Hong Zhuang again. This time, it took slightly longer than before.
“No wonder you’re so arrogant before me. It seems that you’ve mastered the Rule Bending Power,” the Crow God’s projection spoke calmly. It clearly knew what Yang Ling was doing.
“You’re worthy of being called the Crow God.” Yang Ling grinned. “Let’s make a deal.”
Chapter 1006: Rich is the Word
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lim Huang was dumbstruck as he watched Yang Ling, who he thought had zero cultivation, remain unharmed after being attacked by the Crow God’s projection twice.
He was even more shocked when he heard the conversation between the Crow God and Yang Ling.
“The Rule Bending Power? Isn’t that something that can only be mastered by a True God? Could Yang Ling be a True God? Has he been hiding his aura? Is this why I can’t sense it?”
“He didn’t hide his aura. He really has zero cultivation.” The stone tablet’s voice soon came into Lin Huang’s ears.
“Then, why did the Crow God say he mastered Rule Bending Power?”
Hearing the question, the stone tablet fell into a moment of silence before answering, “Maybe he used to be a True God or even a more powerful being.”
The stone tablet’s answer made Lin Huang stare at Yang Ling in awe.
…
At that moment, Yang Ling began talking to the Crow God. He showed no respect to the Crow God, using a tone that he usually spoke to the neighbors with.
“Let’s make a deal. I’ll remove the curse on your eye and let you complete the Crow Spirit transformation. The condition is that you’ll give us the eye.”
“Who do you think you are? It was you who cast the curse but you’re using that against me now?” The Crow God’s projection rejected the condition directly. He was clearly disgruntled judging by his tone.
Yang Ling fell into silence for a moment with his head down. He then lifted his head to look at the Crow God’s projection. “I’ll owe you a favor. I can do one thing for you when I get to the great world as long as it’s something that doesn’t cross the line.”
Yang Ling’s offer made the Crow God fall into silence. He seemed to be thinking about whether the deal was worthy or not.
He seemed to have come to a final decision a moment later.
“I decline. Although you might be a True God or even a more powerful existence before, you have zero cultivation now. It’s simple to determine from your aura that you’ve been staying in this broken world for a long time, but you’ve remained cultivation-less. It proves that something is very wrong with your body or maybe something is wrong with your cultivation base.
“No matter what’s wrong with your body, judging from your current condition, the probability of you getting back to your initial combat strength is almost zero. I’d accept the deal you made without hesitation if you were at your peak, but now, your favor means nothing to me.”
“Hundred-eyed Dark Crow, think carefully. If you reject my suggestion now, you might not have the opportunity to come to this gravel world again in the future.” Yang Ling called out the Crow God’s tribe name directly. He clearly knew about the tribe very well.
“Are you threatening me now?” The Crow God knew that his projection would be destroyed as soon as the medium was completely contaminated. Furthermore, if Yang Ling obtained the medium, he would definitely disconnect the eye with the Crow God’s consciousness. It would be almost impossible for the Crow God to project himself into the world in the future unless the people from Purple Crow managed to find another god item to connect him from the other realm.
“I’m just hoping that you can think this through.” Yang Ling’s tone remained calm.
“I’ve thought it through.” The Crow God’s projection looked ferocious. “All of you, go to hell!”
Hundreds of black threads shot out of the projection in a frenzy immediately. They were flying toward Lin Huang and Yang Ling.
Before Lin Huang could react, the Ninetails Lynx pulled him into the alternate dimension.
Two black threads shot like an arrow where Lin Huang and the Ninetails Lynx were initially standing almost the moment when the human and cat disappeared.
Lin Huang looked gloomy as he watched this in the alternate dimension. “Why did he attack me? I’m not in the same team as them!”
“Maybe he just did it for the convenience. Looking at the overall direction, we were in the same direction as Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang.” Bloody that was in Lin Huang’s sleeve explained, “Look, he didn’t attack the other direction where God Bless was.”
“Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang are such burdens.” Lin Huang was not sure to laugh or cry when he realized the Crow God certainly did not attack the people from God Bless.
One must know that the people from God Bless initiated the fight. However, the Crow God ignored them completely. Yang Ling’s words earlier clearly crossed the line and caused Lin Huang to get into trouble.
While Lin Huang managed to dodge the Crow God’s attack, Yang Ling and the rest did not.
They seemed to have no plan of evading since the beginning. The ten demigods stepped forward to protect Yang Ling and Hong Zhuang behind them. They charged their Divine Power directly. Ten god relics lit up with the divine glow of various colors at the same time, going after the black threads. What ignited at the same time were the battle armors on them.
Lin Huang was completely shocked to witness that because he just realized that all ten demigods had perfect-stage demigod-level combat strength.
“Damn, Yang Ling is so rich! His ten perfect-stage demigod-level puppets have 20 god relics! He’s indeed a whale!”
Naturally, Yang Ling did not hear Lin Huang teasing him in the alternate dimension.
The black threads soon collided with the god relics in the hands of the ten perfect-stage demigod-level puppets above the Tranquil Ocean.
The dark night sky seemed to have lit up with hundreds of mini-suns coming from the impact. The area within thousands of kilometers looked like it turned into day for a second.
The impact of the Divine Power spread out after the red glow came. The entire Tranquil Ocean seemed to have endless boiling waves rumbling.
Within 10,000 meters from the sea level, countless monsters were crushed directly from the tremor. Only a minority of them that had a combat strength above imperial-level were harmed but they survived as they ran for their lives deep into the sea.
Soon, the Tranquil Ocean was dyed red. The entire ocean seemed to have turned into a bloody sea in the blink of an eye.
Even the four demigod-level giant airships a couple of kilometers away began rocking as if they had been hit by an earthquake. The platform at the back of the giant airships seemed like it had been drowned in countless bloody waves like a waterfall. It turned into a swamp right after that.
The demigods from the Purple Crow and God Bless had to put their fight into a halt. They held up their own defenses to fight the impact of the Divine Power coming from the Crow God and Yang Ling.
“So, this is how a virtual god-level collision looks like!” Lin Huang could not help but exclaim as he watched the force. ” How terrifying!”
“I’d like to see how many blows the Divine Power all of you have can take!” The Crow God’s projection’s voice soon spread out.
Lin Huang did not see what happened to the fight under the glaring red glow caused by the collision. However, judging from what the Crow God said, the latter did not get what he wanted from the first strike.
Hundreds of black threads shot out of the black silhouette. Not only were there more threads this time, but the attack speed was also much faster now.
However, the Crow God ignored Lin Huang and the Ninetails Lynx that were hiding in the alternate dimension this time. He clearly made Yang Ling and the rest of the team his main killing target.
The black threads danced around the ten demigods just when the Crow God was done speaking.
The Divine Power in the ten demigods’ bodies went through a tremor again. They held their god relics and charged fearlessly.
Chapter 1007: Lin Huang’s Inteference
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The collision from the ten demigods and the Crow God’s projection was like countless of nuclear bombs setting off consecutively above the Tranquil Ocean. It seemed as if massive, bloody suns lit up the entire ocean as if it was daytime.
Countless lives in the Tranquil Ocean were crushed from the impact, dying the entire ocean red.
The sea seemed to be like a washing machine that was set on turbo mode, only a hundred times faster. Endless giant waves rumbled and poured down like a waterfall.
Water vapor evaporated in the high temperature, causing the sea level of the Tranquil Ocean to drop at a worrying rate.
The fight between the Purple Crow and God Bless had since moved away from the area to tens of kilometers away.
Apart from Yang Ling and his team as well as the Crow God’s projection, Lin Huang, Bloody, and the Ninetails Lynx in the alternate dimension and Xiao Mo whose combat strength remained elevating were the only ones left.
Although they were in the middle of the battle, the Crow God’s projection did not stop the transformation process on Xiao Mo.
The black fog continued to penetrate Xiao Mo’s mouth and nose. His combat strength aura had elevated all the way from white flame-level to imperial-level. However, the speed of his elevation had clearly slowed down. Nobody knew if it was caused by the Crow God’s projection being distracted in the fight or Xiao Mo’s elevation on imperial-level.
Within a mere few seconds, the Crow God’s projection collided with the ten demigods more than a hundred times.
However, the Divine Power in the ten demigods’ bodies was yet to be drained. Even Lin Huang thought it was rather odd. Theoretically, demigods could not generate Divine Power in their bodies. The Divine Power in their bodies would dwindle whenever they used it.
Naturally, the Crow God noticed that too, but he did not plan to stop attacking just yet.
“I didn’t tell you earlier, but the Divine Power in these demigod puppets’ bodies can’t be drained. I want you to experience it yourself.” Yang Ling’s voice came behind the demigod puppets, “After all, you’ll only believe it after experiencing it.”
The Crow God’s projection scoffed and he did not slow down on his attack at all.
“Do you know why the Divine Power in these puppets’ bodies can’t be drained?” Yang Ling’s voice soon came again. “Because I installed the True God’s Divine Fire in their bodies. The Divine Power in their bodies are bottomless, they can never finish it.”
“You’re lying. A demigod’s body can’t handle the True God’s Divine Fire at all unless the True God gave it up willingly,” the Crow God finally responded.
“What if I made the Divine Fire myself?” Yang Ling asked.
The Crow God fell into silence at that moment.
“I spent hundreds of years studying the Godhead and Divine Fire, so I’ve finally managed to come up with the Divine Tinder more than a hundred years later. After that, I spent decades figuring out a way to integrate the Divine Tinder. Unfortunately, I’ve not experienced a breakthrough in studying the Godhead. Otherwise, you would see more than just demigods today,” Yang Ling explained while smiling.
“Give it up. The speed of the Divine Power supply in these puppets’ bodies is comparable with a True God’s. It’s impossible for you to defeat them by draining the Divine Power in their bodies,” Yang Ling proceeded to advise the Crow God, “The suggestion I gave still stands. As soon as you give us the eye, we’ll remove the contamination immediately so that you can complete the Crow God Ceremony.”
The Crow God turned his head to look at the Detective Eye, 80% of which had black goo dripping all over it. Only a small portion was untouched.
“You’re running out of time.” Yang Ling peeped at the direction of the Detective Eye and bent his head down to look at the time on his Emperor’s Heart Ring. “Looking at the current progress, the eye will be completely contaminated within 30 seconds at the most. You won’t be able to complete the transformation of your Crow Spirit. As soon as the eye is completely contaminated, you will lose contact with this world entirely and you’ll disappear right away.”
“Really?” The Crow God’s projection laughed all of a sudden. His crimson eyes shifted away from Yang Ling and subsequently stared at Hong Zhuang. “I suppose this lady is very important to you, isn’t she?”
“What are you trying to do?” Yang Ling frowned slightly.
“You’re too amateur to be playing tricks with me.” As soon as the Crow God’s projection spoke, a black thread that was the width of a hair revealed itself on Hong Zhuang’s neck. The black thread wound around her neck, sinking into her skin a little.
The Crow God had placed the black thread there secretly during the fight earlier. He hid its aura intentionally as well as its trace.
“Remove the contamination on the eye if you want this lady to live.” The Crow God’s projection chuckled cunningly.
“You’re a True God and you’re threatening me, an ordinary human with a lady. Do you think this is right?” Yang Ling taunted.
“Quit your nonsense. Do you want her to live or do you want her to die?” The black thread that was the width of a hair on Hong Zhuang’s neck tightened slightly now.
“Release her. You have my word!” Yang Ling scowled and fell into silence for a moment. Eventually, he made up his mind.
“Don’t give him what he wants!” Hong Zhuang shook her head at Yang Ling.
“You better be quiet, lady.” The thread the Crow God had tied on Hong Zhuang’s neck tightened even more now. Blood was flowing from the cut on Hong Zhuang’s neck. The Crow God then looked at Yang Ling. “Remove the contamination! I’ll release her as soon as you do that.”
“I don’t trust you. Release her first!”
“It’s not your choice whether to trust me now.” The Crow God’s projection smiled. “This is the only option you have. I don’t plan to give you another option.”
“Alright then. I hope that you’ll do as you promised.” Yang Ling decided to compromise in the end.
A demigod puppet with a battle bow in his hand soon walked out among the ten puppets. Clearly, he was the one who had shot the arrow at the eye to contaminate it earlier.
He moved and appeared next to the eye above the airship in the next second. He touched the battle bow in his hand to the eye.
The black goo that occupied close to 80% of the eye began fading away and flowed towards the battle bow in the demigod’s hand.
Lin Huang, who was in the alternate dimension, raised his brow as he watched that. He asked the Ninetails Lynx, “Can you cut his thread?”
“It’ll take some effort but it’s doable,” the Ninetails Lynx confirmed.
“Then, cut the thread on Hong Zhuang’s neck,” Lin Huang ordered.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” This would mean we’re involved in this fight.” Bloody’s voice came out of his sleeve.
“Don’t worry. The Crow God has no time for us. Yang Ling won’t give him the opportunity to do anything to us,” Lin Huang assured with a smile.
In the next second, the little white cat disappeared from Lin Huang’s shoulder.
Lin Huang saw the black thread on Hong Zhuang’s neck being snipped off, then the little white cat returned to his shoulder.
Yang Ling was stunned for a second and reacted immediately. He controlled the demigod puppet to recall the absorption of the Demon Curse on the battle bow. As a result, the Demon Curse began to contaminate the eye again.
The Crow God’s projection noticed something off right away. The 108 pupils stared at where Lin Huang and the Ninetails Lynx were hiding. Without a doubt, the Crow God was enraged.
Chapter 1008: Raider
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang saved Hong Zhuang not because he knew her and Yang Ling. He did it because he did not hope to see the Crow God complete the Crow God Ceremony which would remove Xiao Mo’s consciousness and take over his body.
Moreover, Lin Huang thought that the Crow God threatening Yang Ling by taking Hong Zhuang as a hostage was shameless. He could not help himself but get involved in the fight.
He was not afraid of the Crow God’s projection because it was limited to the eye whereby it could not leave the latter too far away. If he wanted to run, the Ninetails Lynx could always take him away.
Another reason was that the Crow God would be attacked by the enraged Yang Ling since Hong Zhuang was no longer a hostage. Furthermore, the eye would soon be completely contaminated. The Crow God had no time for Lin Huang at all.
As expected, the Crow God only glared at Lin Huang as he extended tens of black threads out, sweeping toward the demigod who held the battle bow. He wanted to take the battle bow in his hand to remove the curse cast on the eye.
Yang Ling noticed that and got help right away.
A couple of demigods attacked the Crow God’s projection and Xiao Mo from a distance.
Feeling helpless, the Crow God could only spend some effort to build a defensive shield.
The war between the two parties began again.
Nobody knew what technique Yang Ling performed when he sent Hong Zhuang away by merely a wave of his hand. He was the only one left watching the battle.
This round of fighting was completely different from before. To protect Hong Zhuang earlier, the ten demigods stood guarded in front of her. Even if they attacked, they did so from a distance.
However, a couple of demigod puppets charged straight at the Crow God’s projection and Xiao Mo as soon as the battle took place.
The Crow God’s projection felt more pressure than before.
Infinite large, bloody suns lit up in the air when the demigods collided with the Crow God’s projection.
The sky above the Tranquil Ocean and the water turned red. It looked like Doomsday was coming.
Circles of Divine Power swept in all directions in the form of endless wind while the entire Tranquil Ocean rumbled with waves.
“Thanks for helping me earlier.” Yang Ling’s voice transmission came into Lin Huang’s ears all of a sudden while he was in the alternate dimension. He turned his head to look at Yang Ling immediately, and he saw the latter smiling at him while nodding.
“You can see me?” Just when Lin Huang asked that out loud, he recalled he was in the alternate dimension, so Yang Ling was unable to hear him.
However, Yang Ling soon replied through a voice transmission, “Not only do I see you, but I can also hear you.”
“This Combat Soul of yours isn’t too shabby,” Yang Ling proceeded to say while peeping at the Ninetails Lynx on Lin Huang’s shoulder.
“So, you’re really a True God? Or you were a True God before?” Lin Huang asked immediately. Only a True God or powerhouses above the true god-level could see the Ninetails Lynx’s alternate dimension.
“The Hundred-eyed Dark Crow’s speculation is basically correct,” Yang Ling agreed, “It’s just that he underestimated my combat strength during my peak.”
“Were you a Heavenly God?” Lin Huang asked immediately. Seeing Yang Ling grin without saying anything, he proceeded to ask, “Were you a Lord?!”
“It’s all in the past now.” Yang Ling shook his head without giving a final answer.
“So, you really have no cultivation now?” Lin Huang asked in confusion.
“I don’t.”
“Then, how did you resurrect your abilities and were able to see the alternate dimension?” Lin Huang was a little curious about that.
Yang Ling smiled at Lin Huang upon hearing that question. He only spoke after a while, “It’s the remaining ability from my Goldfinger.”
“A Goldfinger?!” Lin Huang’s heart jolted when he heard that. He knew Yang Ling was hinting something in his quirky smile.
“Yes, a Goldfinger. Don’t you have two with you?” Yang Ling said while smiling, “My homeboy from Earth…”
Lin Huang was completely shocked. He did not expect to be exposed. It seemed like his identity had been buried long ago.
“Don’t worry. I’ve no ill intentions.”
“How did you find out?”
“I knew that when I first saw you three years ago. I sensed the Goldfinger in your body. That’s how I knew you’re a traveler.”
“Also, you showed flaws the moment you saw the football I made. You hid it well on the surface, but your heartbeat, your breath, the reaction of your pupils and the bioelectricity in your body told me that you knew what a football is. Apart from that, you told me that your name was Ye Xiu. I read the novel too, alright,” Yang Ling explained while smiling.
“Three years ago…” Lin Huang frowned. He was using the identity as Lin Huang when he first met Yang Ling three years ago instead of his current identity as Lin Xie. He only assumed the new identity when he came to the core zone more than a year ago.
“Yes, Mr. Lin Huang,” Yang Ling called out Lin Huang’s real name while smiling.
“So, has my disguise been redundant to you?” Lin Huang was almost speechless.
“No matter what you disguise yourself as, your Goldfinger’s aura won’t change,” Yang Ling said while smiling.
“Why didn’t you expose me earlier? And why are you telling me all these now out of nowhere?”
“I didn’t expose you because it was unnecessary. I have many clients who have multiple identities. You’re not the only one. People disguise themselves because they don’t want me to know who they really are, so why should I expose them?”
“I’m telling you all these now because there’s no need to hide it any longer. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be going to the great world really soon. We won’t be seeing each other often anyway, so I thought I would be honest now. It’s rare to meet a fellow traveler from Earth. It’ll be more awkward to talk about this if we bumped into each other in the great world in the future.”
Lin Huang felt really uncomfortable now. Yang Ling took the initiative to change the subject just when he had no idea how to proceed with the conversation.
“You’ve pretty much grown now. You won’t take very long to get to the great world. Since we’re from the same hometown, I’ll give you a few pointers.”
Lin Huang nodded while smiling.
“Firstly, never tell anyone what’s the core ability of your Goldfinger. If you can, it’s best that you don’t reveal anything about your Goldfinger. Even your parents, siblings, partner and all other travelers! Especially not other travelers!”
Yang Ling continued speaking looking at Lin Huang’s doubtful expression.
“Not all travelers are friendly to other travelers. Most of the travelers come from different worlds. There are very few travelers who come from the same planet as we do, and it’s even rarer to meet another traveler on the same planet. Even if you met another traveler from Earth, you must have your guard up and not trust the person completely.
“There’s this group of people among the travelers called the Raiders. They especially hunt travelers to take their Goldfingers. Such travelers are extremely dangerous. They’ve no morals at all and they’re capable of doing anything at all for the sake of obtaining other Goldfingers.
“I was cheated by a powerful Raider before. That’s how I ended up like this. He attacked me and took my Goldfinger away. I would’ve been dead if I didn’t escape with my very last gush of a soul from self-explosion at the very critical moment.
“I thought I could start over again, but never had I thought that my cultivation base was destroyed because my soul remnant was severed. Moreover, I was left with less than 10% of ability in my Goldfinger. It’s difficult for me to go down the cultivation path again, let alone obtain the combat strength I had back then.”
“So, have you found the way to cultivate again?” Lin Huang could not help but ask because he heard Yang Ling mention that he would go to the great world soon.
“Pretty much.” A slyness flashed through Yang Ling’s eyes. “If I succeed…”
Chapter 1009: The Little Elephant Swings Its Trunk
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Above the Tranquil Ocean, the Crow God’s projection and ten demigods clashed again and again. The entire ocean thundered.
The transformation the Crow God was performing on Xiao Mo did not stop just yet. His combat strength had entered imperial-level white gold-rank and was still elevating.
However, the Detective Eye above the altar was 95% covered in black goo. It would be completely contaminated soon.
Naturally, the Crow God noticed that as well, so he was panicking.
Lin Huang and Yang Ling, who were chatting a couple of kilometers away while watching the fight, felt something happening on the battlefield out of nowhere.
A terrifying red glow lit up the 108 pupils on the Crow God’s projection as if a blood-colored laser was shining in the dark.
At that moment, the ten demigods stopped moving as if a spell was cast upon them.
A black thread turned into a long whip as it shot into the air. It lashed through a demigod’s right arm in the blink of an eye, severing the muscular limb right away. Blood spurted out from the wound.
In the next second, the black thread wrapped around and grabbed the battle bow from the severed arm directly. It then pressed the battle bow onto the eye that was almost completely contaminated now.
As soon as the battle bow touched the layer of black goo, the sticky goo began to rush toward the battle bow as if it was alive.
The black goo that was covering the eye began fading slowly.
Subsequently, hundreds of black threads came out of the black silhouette which was the Crow God’s projection in a frenzy. They were going after the ten demigods who were unable to move.
Noticing that the threads were going to pierce through the demigods’ bodies, Yang Ling raised both of his arms suddenly and moved all ten fingers.
The ten demigods who were unable to move seemed to have their mobility recovered in flash. They activated the gold relic in their hands to strike the black threads.
Even the demigod whose arm was severed had his limb grow back soon. He held a golden arrow in his hand, tossing it out after covering the entire arrow with Divine Power.
A golden glow flew into the air. As the golden glow flashed, it pierced through the black thread that was wound around the battle bow.
The black thread was torn into a few parts as a result of the attack.
A silhouette flew across the sky at a high speed. He stretched his hand and picked up the battle bow to stand hundreds of meters away. It was the demigod whose arm had been severed earlier.
At the moment, the eye that was initially 95% contaminated was left with 80% corruption since the Crow God’s projection used the battle bow to remove the curse.
Although the actions of the Crow God’s projection earlier did not remove the eye’s contamination entirely, it bought him some time.
A couple of seconds later, Xiao Mo’s combat strength finally arrived at imperial-level purple gold-rank. He had reached the preliminary stage to qualify as the Crow God’s vessel. The Crow God began inserting Divine Power into his body to transform him further. Consequently, his combat strength, body, and soul proceeded to heighten.
To a Crow God, a qualified vessel must have a minimum combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank. If the vessel was to be used for a long time, its body and soul must be strong enough to take in the draining of Divine Power. The more thorough the transformation of body and soul with Divine Power was, the longer the vessel could be used.
A perfect vessel that was transformed entirely with Divine Power could even last for more than 100 years.
The Crow God’s Divine Power penetrated into Xiao Mo’s body again and again. It was the beginning of the body transformation. Each and every cell in his body was destroyed at a high speed wherever the Divine Power passed by. Right after that, the Divine Power would work on the recovery. The cycle repeated over and over again, and the cells in his body would become stronger from the repeated cleansing.
However, Xiao Mo who was being transformed was feeling a pain that was tens of times more intense than before. Although a tsunami was rumbling on the Tranquil Ocean, Lin Huang could faintly hear his devastating shriek.
Lin Huang frowned slightly and looked toward Xiao Mo, hesitating if he should help.
Judging from the current situation, the Crow God was buying time in an attempt to finish Xiao Mo’s transformation. As soon as Xiao Mo’s transformation was completed, he would turn into the Crow God’s projection’s shell. By then, the Crow God’s projection would not need to use the Detective Eye to maintain his existence. Even contaminating the eye completely would do nothing to him.
Therefore, Lin Huang knew very well that the Crow God would definitely attack him as long as he helped Xiao Mo. The Crow God might even give up on fighting Yang Ling’s ten demigod puppets and come for him instead.
Although Lin Huang was very confident in his God Figurines, he had no faith in fighting a True God’s will projection that was comparable with a Virtual God’s.
During the few seconds Lin Huang hesitated, the contamination level of the eye above the altar went above 90% again. It would take ten seconds at the most to corrupt it completely.
Right at that moment, the battle took a turn again.
A golden beam shot through the sky like a meteor. It was going after the demigod puppet who was holding the battle bow.
The Crow God’s projection knew he had help now. He attacked the ten demigods with more black threads now, none of them had managed to fight back.
The golden beam soon arrived like a flash and crashed hard into the muscular demigod who held the battle bow in his hand.
When the golden beam froze after the collision, Lin Huang managed to see who invaded the battlefield. It was the Purple Crow Leader, Yan Ping.
He was fighting a demigod who was exactly like him with a combat strength of perfect-stage demigod-level and holding a god relic in hand filled with Divine Power. They crashed.
The demigod blocked the tip of the sword that was pointing between his brows with the crescent-shaped battle bow.
A golden glow lit up in the air when the god relics collided.
It was initially just a golden glow that was smaller than the size of a thumb. It began expanding rapidly at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye like an expanding balloon.
A golden sun that was nothing less than a blood sun appeared out of nowhere within the span of a few breaths. It grabbed everyone’s attention again.
The other demigods wanted to help, but they were stopped by the black tentacles. They could only watch the large, golden sun growing in the sky and subsequently exploded.
A silhouette shot out among the golden light. However, another silhouette passed through the exploded golden glow and went after the silhouette that shot out after turning into a golden flash.
Yang Ling appeared serious. Although his demigod puppet was no weaker than Yan Ping in all aspects, Yan Ping was a legit sword cultivator. A sword cultivator was best in close-range combat. Meanwhile, the demigod puppet that was attacked was an arrow cultivator when he had been alive. He was best in mid-range combat. He could not perform at his full ability in close-range combat.
Meanwhile, the other demigods were obstructed by the Crow God’s projection at the moment so they could not help.
Lin Huang squinted slightly as he watched the demigod puppet who was going to killed by the golden glow’s sword and have its battle bow taken away.
Just when Yan Ping was going to swing his sword, a silhouette came between the duo.
It was a little elephant whose body was less than two meters long!
Everyone was stunned to see the monster that invaded the battlefield out of nowhere.
Even Yan Ping stopped moving. However, his expression soon turned cold. He wielded his sword in an attempt to kill the little elephant before him.
The little elephant swung its trunk like a whip and collided with the golden sword glow.
What happened next shocked everyone.
An invincible force rushed toward the god sword relic in Yan Ping’s hand. As it struck, the bones in his right arm that was holding the sword were broken immediately. Later on, a powerful impact spread through his body and he shot out without having the ability to control himself. He shot out tens of kilometers away within the span of a breath and fell into the Tranquil Ocean.
The little elephant that swung its trunk at the god relic flew back a few kilometers away. It stood still and shook its head. There was not even a cut on its trunk.
Chapter 1010: The Projection Collapsing
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Destructive Divine Mammoth’s sudden appearance was beyond everyone’s expectations.
What shocked everyone even more was that this little elephant that cannonballed the perfect-stage demigod-level powerhouse far away only had a combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank. Furthermore, it suffered no injury after colliding with a god relic head-on.
Apart from Yang Ling, nobody else could tell it was just a Combat Soul.
Many people shifted their focus onto Yang Ling; they thought it was him who released the summoning beast.
The Crow God’s projection was stunned for a moment and turned his eyes on Lin Huang’s direction. Rage filled his eyes. He knew it was Lin Huang who had done that because it was the Ninetails Lynx that sent the Destructive Divine Mammoth out of its alternate dimension. Clearly, it came from the same person who was Lin Huang hiding in the alternate dimension.
However, the Crow God’s projection merely glared at Lin Huang and subsequently stretched many tentacles out that went after the demigod with a battle bow who had just stood still in the air.
At that moment, the Detective Eye above the altar was close to being 95% contaminated. Xiao Mo’s transformation had still yet to be completed, and the Crow God was only left with ten seconds. He needed to seize all the time he was left with, so he had no time for Lin Huang at all.
Lin Huang dared to take the risk to stop the attack and buy Yang Ling some time since he knew that the Crow God’s projection would not come for him.
He gave the Ninetails Lynx a signal as he watched the Crow God’s projection go after the demigod with the battle bow again.
In the next second, the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth disappeared almost at the same time.
When the Destructive Divine Mammoth appeared again, it blocked the demigod right in front while the Ninetails Lynx returned to Lin Huang’s shoulder again.
Lin Huang dared to fight the Crow God’s projection this time because he was sure that the latter’s attack could not break his God Figurine’s defenses. He wanted to see if the Destructive Divine Mammoth had the ability to fight a real virtual god-level powerhouse head-on.
After all, Yan Ping, who had a god relic earlier, had an ability no less than a Virtual God’s.
However, there were different levels of Virtual Gods. It was certain that the Crow God’s projection was much more powerful than Yan Ping. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to suppress ten perfect-stage demigod-level puppets with god relics at the same time.
Seeing the Crow God’s tentacles coming toward it, the Destructive Divine Mammoth dared not underestimate its opponent at all. It lifted its front feet high and stomped in the air.
An invisible force spread out like a ripple. As a result, everything it passed was destroyed and turned into dust.
Within a couple of kilometers of the Tranquil Ocean, the sea bed collapsed directly. A giant bowl-shaped sinkhole was formed, and its diameter was expanding continuously.
Tens of black tentacles shot out like arrows, colliding with the invisible force in the blink of an eye.
The tentacles were shredded at a high speed. However, there were black cracks in the invisible force at the same time and it seemed like the air was cracking.
It seemed like it was a tie among the duo, surprising Lin Huang as he watched.
“Not bad. This God Figurine’s Combat Soul’s ability is slightly more powerful than a Virtual God rank-2’s. It’s close to a Virtual God rank-3 standard now, but it’s impressive that it manages to do this when it’s still a child.” The stone tablet’s voice came into Lin Huang’s ears all of a sudden.
“It’s close to Virtual God rank-3 now? Then, how about the Crow God’s projection? Which rank is he on? How about those demigod puppets with god relics?” Lin Huang asked immediately.
“The Crow God’s projection is Virtual God rank-3. Those demigod puppets are comparable with Virtual God rank-1,” the stone tablet answered immediately.
“So, they’re two ranks away from each other? Theoretically, shouldn’t the Crow God’s projection be able to suppress the ten demigod puppets easily?” Lin Huang could not understand that.
“The Crow God can’t use most of his abilities when he projects his will by crossing realms before he integrates with his vessel. Moreover, the Hundred-eyed Dark Crow isn’t good at fighting physical monsters. Its physical attack technique is considered low among Protosses of the same combat strength. Furthermore, those demigods have god armor relics defending them. It’s a limitation to the Crow God. It also causes him to be able to only perform 20 to 30% of his ability,” the stone tablet gave a detailed explanation.
“I see.” Lin Huang just realized that it was not the Crow God’s projection that was weak, but his abilities were limited too.
“Judging by the current situation, this Destructive Divine Mammoth of yours is limiting him gravely. The Destructive Divine Mammoth happens to be best at long-distance combat and defense while its ability is nothing weaker than the Crow God’s projection. If they were to fight head-on, the Crow God’s projection might not have the upper hand,” the stone tablet smiled while saying.
“I’ve always thought that my Combat Souls’ ability is just slightly more powerful than demigods or maybe on par with perfect-stage demigod-levels.” Lin Huang realized that he had been underestimating his God Figurines’ abilities.
“How can it be? Your Combat Souls are all true spirit-level monsters. If you really want to measure them by rank, they’re far ahead of mythical-levels. Even a mythical-level monster that has a combat strength of imperial-level purple gold-rank would have an ability comparable to Virtual God rank-1, let alone monsters of a higher rank,” the stone tablet told another piece of common sense. “To a mythical-level monster, this is a huge divider. As soon as they arrive at this rank, their ability that’s comparable with an ultimate evolution (legendary-level) will be boosted exponentially. There is no comparison between the two.”
As Lin Huang and the stone tablet chatted, the battle turned intense like it never had before.
The Crow God’s projection attempted to pass by the Destructive Divine Mammoth to attack the demigod holding the battle bow directly.
However, the Destructive Divine Mammoth did not back off at all. It would stop the Crow God as soon as he stretched his tentacles out.
The Crow God’s projection was furious now. Seeing that the eye was going to be completely contaminated by the black goo, he finally could not help but use his trump card again.
A crimson glow shot out of the 108 pupils, freezing the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the demigods present. They could not move at all.
The only ones that remained unaffected were Lin Huang in the alternate dimension and Yang Ling who was watching on the side.
“This attack must be draining for him!” Lin Huang could not help but comment.
“This is his gifted ability. It’s also one of the limited abilities he can use in the form of projection. However, he can only use this ability three times at the most when he’s in projection form. By then, his projection will collapse entirely,” the stone tablet explained.
“Three times only… No wonder he hasn’t been using it.”
After freezing all of his opponents, the Crow God’s projection did not even bother to look at Lin Huang and Yang Ling. He stretched his tentacle towards the demigod who had the battle bow in his hand again, taking it away.
Before Yang Ling could control his demigod puppet again, the tentacle that grabbed the battle bow retreated rapidly. The Crow God’s projection could not wait to remove the curse on the eye to buy himself some time.
However, Lin Huang signaled the Ninetails Lynx again at that moment.
The little white cat disappeared in the next second and appeared by the eye’s side. The little white cat scratched the air as it watched the black tentacle advancing.
In the next second, the tentacle that was grabbing the battle bow was ripped. A white silhouette flashed in the air, and the battle bow was now in Lin Huang’s hand who was in the alternate dimension. The little white cat returned to his shoulder once again.
The Crow God’s projection glared at Lin Huang in the other dimension. His eyes were so ferocious that they seemed as if they were going to bleed.
However, he only glared at the eye’s direction and looked away without thinking twice. He turned his body into a cloud of fog and went into the nostrils and mouth of Xiao Mo who had yet to complete the transformation.
At that second, only a thumb-sized area of the eye was uncontaminated. It would take less than three seconds for the eye to be completely corrupted.
A silhouette appeared behind Xiao Mo right just then. The silhouette held a golden talisman and pressed it to the back of Xiao Mo’s head.
It was the leader of the God Bless mission this time, Feng Li!
As soon as the golden talisman stuck to the back of Xiao Mo’s head, it turned into a golden glow and penetrated his head.
In the next second, a furious shriek came through the air. After having a small part of his body go into Xiao Mo’s body, the Crow God’s projection stopped moving. His 108 bloody pupils glared deadly at Feng Li.
“You’re asking for death!”
Almost at the same time, tens of black tentacles flew out after Feng Li in an attempt to kill him.
However, Feng Li was smirking at the same time. “You’re running out of time. We’ll gladly accept your Crow Spirit.”
A giant shield appeared before him as he spoke. It turned into an enormous metal wall dazzling with a golden glow, blocking the tentacles’ attack.
Since the first attack failed, the Crow God attempted to attack again in his rage. However, his body began to turn into a fog that billowed out of control.
The crimson pupils were dimming one after another, and they soon turned black.
He looked up to see the eye above the altar being covered in the black curse completely. There were no gaps in between.
As soon as the eye was completely contaminated, it only took a couple of breaths for the Crow God’s 108 crimson pupils to dim completely. His body that was turned into black fog faded rapidly and disappeared as his raging condemnation echoed.
Chapter 1011: The End
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the Crow God’s projection faded away, Feng Li pressed his hand to Xiao Mo’s shoulder in an attempt to take him away. However, he sensed a silhouette flash by at a high speed.
In the next second, he felt his left arm that he stretched out go numb. He realized that the portion below his left elbow had been severed and blood was spurting out of the wound.
Almost at the same time, the Crow Spirit in his hand disappeared.
Feng Li was only stunned for a moment but he soon snapped back to his senses. Instantly, he knew who had done this to him.
“Lin Xie!”
He sensed everything within the range of his territory in an attempt to look for Lin Huang. However, a voice came behind him.
“Are you looking for me?”
Lin Huang appeared less than 20 meters behind Feng Li. He hovered above the rumbling Tranquil Ocean with a little white cat sitting on his shoulder. The little elephant that had fought head-on with the Crow God’s projection earlier was on his left while the Crow Spirit version of Xiao Mo, whom he had taken away from Feng Li earlier, was on his right.
At the moment, Xiao Mo was unconscious while his body hovered in the air. Lin Huang held onto his shoulder to adjust his posture.
“Lin Xie, give me the Crow Spirit!” Feng Li did not attack right away. He was even a little terrified of the Ninetails Lynx that had severed his arm earlier.
He did not really care for the Destructive Divine Mammoth because he did not see it fighting the Crow God’s projection head-on earlier, so he had no idea that this God Figurine’s Combat Soul was as dangerous.
“I’m sorry, he belongs to me now.” Lin Huang waved his hand and the Ninetails Lynx sent Xiao Mo into its alternate dimension.
“I’m telling to you to give him to me. Trust me. You don’t want to mess with us.” Feng Li’s severed arm was regenerating at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. However, his eyes that exploded from looking at the Crow God through the Detective Eye did not have any signs of regenerating. Under the golden mask, his eyes were hollow and bleeding.
“What? You don’t even dare to say your organization’s name?” Lin Huang did not care about the regeneration at all. “The Commander of God Bless’s Division 3 branch, Mr. Feng Li.”
Feng Li frowned under the golden mask. He did not expect his identity to be exposed in such detail. Not only did the person he was speaking to know about God Bless, but he also knew his position and name.
“You know too much.” After a moment of silence, Feng Li lifted his head slightly while aiming for where Lin Huang was with his hollow eye sockets that were filled with blood.
In the next second, he pointed his fingers in a black god relic glove and launched his attack on Lin Huang.
He was charging with full Divine Power as the black force coming from his fingers shot out like bullets but tens of times faster.
The force that was almost 100 times faster than the speed of sound arrived before Lin Huang in the blink of an eye.
At the moment, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped in the air. An invisible force pushed out, annihilating the force coming from Feng Li like a rumbling wave.
The Tranquil Ocean below seemed to be hit by a meteorite whereby massive waves rumbled and tumbled like a waterfall.
When the water fell, the explosion coming from the collision of the force faster than the speed of sound echoed like a clap of thunder.
Feng Li’s expression turned grim beneath his mask when his test attack was destroyed right away. Lin Huang’s ability was beyond his expectations.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang who stood across him summoned his third God Figurine’s Combat Soul, the Nightmare Tapir. He then gave his order, “Don’t kill him. We’ll see what to do after retrieving his memory.”
As he issued the instruction, the Ninetails Lynx on his shoulder disappeared.
The Destructive Divine Mammoth took action as well, leaping and charging at Feng Li.
The Nightmare Tapir stayed by Lin Huang’s side. He would only take care of the battle when Feng Li was crippled.
Although Feng Li was on perfect-stage demigod-level, he was still a demigod after all, so the Nightmare Tapir would be able to penetrate his soul and read his memory when he was beaten and exhausted.
The collaboration of the two God Figurine’s Combat Souls made the defeat a piece of cake no matter how many god relics Feng Li had with him.
He completely became the two God Figurine’s Combat Souls’ toy.
It was a repeated game of the Ninetails Lynx scratching him while the Destructive Divine Mammoth whipped him with its trunk. They were having so much fun.
In less than three minutes, the Divine Power in Feng Li’s body was completely drained. He could not even summon his god relic armor any longer.
Noticing that, Lin Huang stopped the duo from playing and got the Nightmare Tapir to take over.
The Nightmare Tapir extended its trunk and pressed it against Feng Li’s head. Without any strength to fight back, he was dragged into dreamland.
In less than a minute, the Nightmare Tapir had retrieved everything that could be read in his memory. He then nodded at Lin Huang.
“Kill him.” Lin Huang responded to the Ninetails Lynx and the Destructive Divine Mammoth.
The Ninetails Lynx stretched its claws and severed Feng Li’s head in one fell swoop.
Almost in the next second, the Destructive Divine Mammoth stomped and turned Feng Li into mush.
A few god relics that he had refined came out. There were a black glove, a battle armor, and a shield.
With a wave of his hand, Lin Huang put the three god relics that were now ownerless away. He also conveniently took the Emperor’s Heart Ring on Feng Li’s finger.
Yang Ling, who was watching from far away, said nothing. He did not even ask for the god relic battle bow from Lin Huang. Instead, he appeared directly before the Detective Eye that was completely contaminated above the altar.
“You’ll take the person and I’ll take the eye. Deal?”
“Sure.” Lin Huang shrugged.
The people from the Purple Crow and God Bless were still fighting kilometers away. They did not notice that the battle on the main battlefield had ended and even the loots had been distributed.
Just when Yang Ling stretched his hand to retrieve the eye, he noticed a silhouette shoot out of the ocean into the air. The silhouette had a golden sword in its hand and was coming after him.
At the same time, ten silhouettes appeared before Yang Ling and charged at the incoming silhouette.
Within the short two to three minutes, the Purple Crow Leader Yan Ping was killed by the ten demigods and died on the spot.
Yang Ling then retrieved the eye while watching a demigod puppet pilferage for loot on Yan Ping.
At the moment, Lin Huang flashed and appeared on the airship platform.
A couple of demigod puppets immediately blocked him before Yang Ling with their guard up when they looked at Lin Huang.
“Step aside. He’s my friend,” Yang Ling ordered, so the demigods obeyed.
“Do you have anyone to recommend me for unlocking services in the future?” Lin Huang asked while smiling.
“I do know a girl who has a great character and skill. I can send you her contact. Just tell her that I gave you her contact, but don’t look for her if you’re unlocking storage equipment from other worlds. She can’t do it,” Yang Ling said with a smile, “I’ll send you my number in the great world as well. I can only contact you with the communication device from the great world.”
“I have one more question.” Lin Huang nodded as he listened but he could not help but raise a doubt, “Do you really have feelings for Hong Zhuang? Or were you just acting?”
“You can consider it real.” Yang Ling fell into silence for a moment before giving his answer. “I really like her, but I know she has no feelings for me.”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t talk behind people’s back, but Hong Zhuang isn’t as simple as you think. You’d better watch out if you plan to spend a long time with her.” After some hesitation, Lin Huang could not help but warn Yang Ling.
However, Yang Ling smiled when he heard that. “She’s actually a very simple lady. You guys only see what’s on the outside.”
Lin Huang raised his brow when he heard his response, but he did not bother arguing.
The duo chatted for a while before summoning a dimensional portal and stepping into it one after another.
Just a giant airship platform and a bloody Tranquil Ocean which sea level had dropped by 1,000 meters remained.
After a long time, a monster’s head popped out of the Tranquil Ocean below the airship platform all of a sudden. It stared toward the direction where the duo disappeared.
The monster that looked like a sea snake was Lu Dong’s demigod-level imperial monster. Its body was severely lacerated but a bloody light flashed through its four pupils. It flew towards the airship.
A moment later, Lu Dong opened the airship door as he sensed the imperial monster’s aura that survived. He let it into the airship.
“Ah Hai, you’re still alive. That’s great!” Lu Dong was excited. He previously sensed that three of his four imperial monsters had lost contact. Never had he thought that the Sea Demon who had lost contact a long time ago would appear all of a sudden.
Lu Dong hugged the Sea Demon’s head with a thrill. At that moment, a bloody glow flashed in the Sea Demon’s four pupils again. A gush of black fog came out of its body, entering Lu Dong’s mouth and nose quietly.
In the span of a couple of breaths, a red glow flashed through Lu Dong’s eyes. He let go off the Sea Demon’s limp carcass while his face looked ferocious. “I, the Majesty, will remember the both of you. You wasted my massive amount of Divine Power and forced me to use a demigod who has no elevation potential to be my vessel!”
Chapter 1012: Counting the Loot
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang returned to Wanbao City and checked into a hotel. Only then, he got the Ninetails Lynx to release Xiao Mo from its alternate dimension. However, Xiao Mo was still unconscious.
Although his combat strength remained on imperial-level purple gold-rank, his aura was close to demigod-level. Fortunately, his aura did not extend very far, so only people within 100 meters could sense it. As a result, he did not cause chaos.
Looking at Xiao Mo who was lying on the couch, Lin Huang summoned the Nightmare Tapir again and got him to transfer the information he had retrieved from Feng Li’s head to Bloody.
A moment later, Lin Huang asked when Bloody was done arranging the memories, “Is his consciousness still there? Or has it been replaced by the Crow God?”
“Looking at Feng Li’s memory, the talisman he used on this young man was a disposable soul-type god relic whereby it can block the user’s soul for a short period of time. This god relic must’ve blocked the outside of his soul. That’s why the Crow God’s projection did not take over his body completely. After all, the god relic held up a defense which even the Crow God’s projection’s ability could not penetrate within a short period of time. That was why he was so mad in the end.”
“So, why is he still unconscious?” Lin Huang asked rather confusedly.
“Feng Li activated a double shield to make the capture easier. Not only does it block the Crow God’s projection from taking over the body, but it also locked the young man’s consciousness in the soul space,” Bloody explained, “However, this disposable god relic will only work for a maximum of 24 hours. Even if it’s not being attacked, it will break on its own in 24 hours. This young man should wake up automatically by then.”
Lin Huang was relieved to hear the answer. He was still a little worried that the Crow God might have done something else to Xiao Mo.
“Is there anything useful in Feng Li’s memory? Is there anything about Chan Dou?” Lin Huang pried again.
“There’s nothing about Chan Dou. We know about the capture more than he did. He only knows that it was done by people in the Division 1 branch,” Bloody proceeded to say, “There’s nothing much that’s useful. The core information about Division 1 branch is blocked by some unique seal. It’s a technique of at least virtual god-level. Even the Nightmare Tapir can’t break it.
“Nevertheless, the mission this time is quite informative. Feng Li and the rest wanted the Detective Eye for their Master God who’s like the Crow God whereby they need a representative for the former. This young man became their second target because they think he must be special since he’s been chosen by the Crow God. He can be the Master God’s representative candidate too.
“We also learned about the eye’s function. This thing isn’t only a communication tool but also a temporary teleportation tool. The eye allows us to communicate with powerhouses in the great world which crosses realms. The powerhouses from the great world can even create a projection of their will and stay here temporarily through the eye.
“The higher the combat strength of the projection of their will, the more sacrifice it’ll take to maintain the opening of the eye and the shorter it can stay. Therefore, most powerhouses will keep the combat strength of the projection of their will at beginner-stage virtual god-level which is Virtual God ranks-1 to 3. Keeping it at Virtual God rank-3 drains four times more energy than Virtual God rank-1. However, if one were to project mid-stage virtual god-level which is above Virtual God rank-4, it would drain at least ten times more than onVirtual God rank-3. High-level virtual god-level which is Virtual God ranks-7 to 9 will drain even more energy — at least ten times more than Virtual God rank-6.
“Also, as soon as a projection of their will enters the eye, the combat strength can’t be changed. Changing the combat strength will only cause a disruption in the energy wave, causing the temporary tunnel to collapse. Therefore, one can only perform the combat strength adjustment before putting a projection of their will through the eye.”
“I see. I thought the Crow God’s projection’s combat strength is only Virtual God rank-3 because his combat strength is low.” Lin Huang just realized that they managed to beat the Crow God’s projection over and over again because he did not even show his real ability.
“Apart from that, the temporary tunnel the eye builds can teleport items both ways, even living things. It’s possible as long as the energy wave of the items or living things that are being teleported don’t exceed the tunnel’s load limit,” Bloody continued, “In other words, Yang Ling can go to the great world through the eye as long as he manages to build the tunnel.”
“It can be used as a dimensional portal as well?!” Lin Huang’s eyes lit up when he heard that revelation.
After they were done talking about the eye, Bloody proceeded to give a short description of the rest of the useful information and shared the memory that it had categorized with Lin Huang directly.
Lin Huang looked through the memory in his head. After a short discussion with Bloody, he then put aside the matter about God Bless.
He used his Divine Telekinesis to carry Xiao Mo and put him in one of the guest rooms. Then, he returned to the living room and began looking through the loot he gained this time.
First was the four god relics — a black glove, a battle armor, a shield, and a battle bow.
Apart from the battle bow that came from Yang Ling which he had shamelessly taken, the other three came from God Bless’s Division 3 branch Commander, Feng Li.
However, Lin Huang deserved Yang Ling’s battle bow. If he had not extended help twice, Hong Zhuang would have definitely died while Yang Ling might not have been able to obtain the eye. It was him who helped during the critical times and turned the tables around. Yang Ling clearly gave him the god relic battle bow to reward his assistance.
Trading a god relic for an eye that he desired, Yang Ling was not considered to have lost anything in this deal.
Apart from the four god relics, Lin Huang also got a demigod-level golden mask which he had grabbed from Feng Li’s face. As soon as one put on the mask, it could block the user’s aura completely and even prevent a demigod-level from detecting it. It was a magnificent item.
As for Feng Li’s Emperor’s Heart Ring, although Lin Huang had yet to open it, there were many useful stuff in there according to Feng Li’s memory. There were at least two god relics and more than ten demigod relics.
After all, he was the Commander in God Bless’s Division 3 branch so he would have much more inheritance compared to the ordinary demigods. What he possessed was comparable with a prominent family’s inheritance through generations.
Apart from the loot he got from Feng Li, he had the storage equipment that he had asked Yang Ling to unlock earlier. Among the over 280,000 storage equipment that could be unlocked, over 50,000 of them had nothing useful in them since it had been too long. Lin Huang gave the remaining demigod relics, ancient-level relic equipment, and materials to the Warlord to make and modify his mechanical army.
Among the over 220,000 pieces of storage equipment, Lin Huang found over 100,000 demigod relics and equipment, minerals, and spirit stones of many varieties, elixirs, elixir materials, equipment materials, various methods, a massive amount of miscellaneous items that could not be identified, and currencies from mini worlds and some from the great world.
Yang Ling even helped Lin Huang transfer the accounts that had stored information and currencies into a great world storage ring. Apart from the sea of stored information from various worlds, Lin Huang also obtained over 80 million Divine Stones in total. They were worth eight trillion Life Crystals in a gravel world. Those excluded the currencies from up to a hundred mini-worlds. After all, they came from hundreds of thousands of supreme geniuses and were sufficient to purchase up to a hundred expert-grade god relics.
Among the loot, the methods were the ones that Lin Huang had the most interest in. Supreme geniuses from all major organizations cultivated the most prominent methods in the cultivation systems of their worlds.
There were tens of thousands of methods in the storage equipment and stored information. There were up to 1,000 sword skills alone whereby each of them was above legendary-level. More than 100 pseudo-god-level sword skills and seven god-level sword skills were also among the sword skills he obtained. They greatly enriched Lin Huang’s sword skill inventory.
Chapter 1013: Xiao Mo Awakens
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Wanbao City was chilly in the middle of the night.
It was June and it was early in the summer in Wanbao City. It was almost 27 degrees Celsius during the day but the temperature dropped to 20 degrees at night. Nonetheless, it was a comfortable kind of coolness for most people.
In a hotel room, the balcony door that was facing the living room was completely open, so the breeze blew in with fresh air.
The light in the living room was still turned on. A young man with short, puffy hair in a white printed t-shirt and thin beige linen pants sat on the couch barefooted while crossing his legs.
He seemed to have just taken a shower as his hair was still damp. A pair of bright, black eyes peered out from under the few strands of wet hair. A square screen was reflected in the eyes at the moment.
There was a little white cat sleeping on the young man’s shoulder. Only half of his back was leaning on the couch while his body was leaning forward slightly as he looked down at the projected page on his Emperor’s Heart Ring.
There was a monster that looked like a young sharp-toothed tiger sleeping on the couch on his left. With a pillow under its head, its trunk leaned on the young man’s thigh.
Naturally, the young man was Lin Huang. However, he did not disguise as Lin Xie at the moment; he was in his own skin now.
He would usually sleep in the room after he was done practicing his sword skills and had taken a shower. However, it was past 12.30 a.m. now and he was still reading the news on the living room couch. There was no other reason why he was doing that. The 24-hour period of Xiao Mo being unconscious was coming to an end and he would awake anytime soon.
He had the Nightmare Tapir and the Ninetails Lynx with him mainly to defend Xiao Mo just in case his consciousness was replaced by the Crow God.
Lin Huang smirked all of a sudden when it was 12.42 a.m. He sensed Xiao Mo’s finger moving a little in the living room within the range of his territory.
A moment later, Xiao Mo opened his eyes slowly.
The surroundings changed from blurry to clear as he looked around in confusion.
“Where is this place? Aren’t I being transformed by the Crow God?” Xiao Mo soon recognized that he was in a hotel room. Moreover, it looked like an expensive, luxurious hotel and he guessed that he was not in the master bedroom.
‘Could the transformation be completed and I’m officially the Crow God’s Crow Spirit now?’ The thought flashed in Xiao Mo’s head after he sensed that his body had improved many times while his combat strength had elevated to perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank. However, he dismissed the thought a moment later because he did not sense the slightest hint of a Crow God’s will remnant in his body. He looked horrified. “Could the final integration have failed?!”
He shot to his feet immediately. He just realized that he was wearing beige pajamas and had a significant change in his height and body size.
He took a step and arrived before the full-sized mirror to see a completely different self.
The young man in the mirror was approximately 1.85 meters tall with a slender body. Although he was still a little skinny, he could clearly see the lean muscles on his arms.
The biggest change was on his face. His old face that was once so ordinary that one would not notice him among a crowd had sharp features now. It complemented his rather tanned skin and he now looked like a tough, mature man. He even had stubble growing on his cheeks and above his lips.
Xiao Mo touched his own face in excitement. “Is this me? Man, I’m so good-looking now!”
Looking at the muscles on his arms, he could not help but pull his pajamas up. He soon saw eight packs bulging in the mirror.
“Is this really me?” Xiao Mo thought it was a little unbelievable. All of a sudden, he seemed to have recalled something. He pulled his pants down even further while flushing a little. When he looked down between his legs, he could not help but exclaim, “Gee, it’s huge!”
Xiao Mo, who was a little upset because of the failed integration with the Crow God, soon became happy again after seeing that his body had undergone a significant change.
“Delighted, are we?” A voice came to Xiao Mo’s ears all of a sudden as he was drowning in joy.
He turned his head immediately to see a young man in slippers looking at him while leaning against the cabinet at the door.
He had his guard up as soon as he saw the person. However, his expression subsequently changed to one of surprise. He recognized Lin Huang immediately even though three years had passed.
“Lin Huang?!”
“It seems like you still remember me, little guy.” Lin Huang smiled while nodding.
“Aren’t you dead?” Xiao Mo soon snapped back to his senses and could not help but take a step back. He looked terrified as he stared at Lin Huang. “You’re Lin Huang’s ghost…”
Lin Huang could not help but chuckle out loud. He did not expect Xiao Mo to have such a reaction.
“If I’m a ghost, would I have a shadow?”
Xiao Mo held his head down immediately and looked at the ground. He noticed Lin Huang’s shadow.
“There’s a shadow! So, you’re really not a ghost?” Although he saw the shadow, Xiao Mo was still unsure.
“You’re on imperial-level now. Although you still have no Life Palace yet, you should have Territory sense now. Sense with your Territory, then you’ll know whether I’m a human or a ghost,” Lin Huang continued.
Xiao Mo got familiarized with his body and soon expanded the range of his territory. He sensed Lin Huang and the two God Figurine’s Combat Souls.
He then widened his eyes as he looked at Lin Huang. “You’re really still alive?!”
“I didn’t die. I faked my death so that I could leave the Purple Crow,” Lin Huang confirmed while smiling.
Xiao Mo walked to him slowly but he still had disbelief written all over his face.
Lin Huang knew he was unsure, so he stretched his hand. “You’ll know whether I’m alive by shaking my hand.”
Xiao Mo walked to Lin Huang hesitantly. He stretched his hand out slowly, scared and ready to bolt anytime.
As Lin Huang held his hand, he felt how real and warm his palm was. He was very relieved.
“So, do you believe me now?” Lin Huang let go of his hand and asked while smiling.
Xiao Mo then nodded.
“I know you have many questions. Let’s talk in the living room.” Lin Huang turned around and brought Xiao Mo to the living room.
Xiao Mo looked around anxiously when he arrived in the living room. “Where’s this place?”
“It’s the hotel that I’m staying at.” Lin Huang gave a short explanation.
“Where are the rest of them from the Purple Crow? Where’s Master Crow God?” Xiao Mo knew he and Lin Huang were the only ones in the hotel room.
“The Purple Crow’s Crow Ceremony failed and the Crow God’s will projection collapsed. Crow Leader Yan Ping is dead. I suppose the rest of them have returned to the Purple Crow headquarters,” Lin Huang explained, “I’ll tell you more about the details of what exactly happened later.”
Xiao Mo was overwhelmed with anxiety when he heard what Lin Huang said. He had never thought the Crow Leader would be dead or that the Crow God’s will projection would have collapsed.
“You’ve been unconscious for a day. Let’s get some food. We’ll talk later.” Lin Huang brought Xiao Mo to the couch.
Chapter 1014: Pillow Talk
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was almost 1 a.m. and all the food delivery services were basically closed. Lin Huang took out the instant food the hotel had prepared in the refrigerator and heated it up. He got Xiao Mo a drink too.
Lin Huang only asked when Xiao Mo was done eating, “Do you feel anything off in your body?”
“The Crow God transformation is pretty successful to me. My height and body have undergone a major change. My body and soul have elevated so much that it’s unbelievable. Even my combat strength has attained perfect-stage imperial-level purple gold-rank now. I feel like I can even fight a demigod!” Xiao Mo was excited as he talked about this after he was fed.
“Do you feel any Crow God’s will remnant in your body?” Lin Huang picked up the cup and drank the tea while asking casually.
“No, that’s what I find strange. According to what the Crow Leader told me, the Crow God’s will remnant should be integrated with my consciousness when the integration is done. However, I don’t feel any Crow God’s will remnant in my body, not even a tiny bit,” Xiao Mo said while frowning, “You told me that the Crow God Ceremony failed. Did the integration fail because the Crow God’s will remnant isn’t compatible with my body?”
‘Seems like the Crow God’s will remnant is really dead…’ Lin Huang thought to himself. Then, he explained to Xiao Mo, hiding the truth, “Yan Ping lied to you. To the Purple Crow, the Crow Spirit’s existence is just to be the Crow God’s vessel. He transformed your body so that you can take in the Crow God’s will remnant. As soon as the transformation is completed, the Crow God’s will be integrated into your body. Meanwhile, your consciousness will be wiped away and your body will be taken over. Your body will be his temporary shell. There’s no such thing as sharing your consciousness with him.”
What Lin Huang said was completely the opposite of what Xiao Mo had been told earlier. He had been taught by the Purple Crow all this while that being the Crow Spirit and sharing his body with the Crow God was the highest honor. Never had he thought this would be the truth about being a Crow Spirit.
“The Crow God Ceremony failed not because you aren’t compatible with the Crow God, but because the eye that he used to project his will was contaminated. The teleportation tunnel was cut, so his will projection collapsed automatically.”
“I was worried that a portion of his will remnant might have been left in your body and he would take over your body whenever he can. It seems like he completely disappeared before he could do anything to you.”
“Are you telling the truth?” Hearing what Lin Huang said, Xiao Mo looked at him solemnly.
“You can spend some time verifying it if you don’t believe me.” Lin Huang arched his brow. “The upper echelon of the Purple Crow and many other underground organizations know about the Crow Spirit. This isn’t a secret at all. Also, the Purple Crow isn’t the only one among the underground organizations that are doing this. I heard the Saints also perform a similar vessel ceremony too.”
Xiao Mo stared at Lin Huang’s eyes to see if he was lying. However, he soon realized that what he said was most probably the truth.
“I have a question. Why am I in your hotel room?” Xiao Mo finally asked the enigma that had been bothering him since the beginning.
“The people from God Bless wanted to take you away when the Crow God’s projection disappeared. I took you away from them,” Lin Huang said and he proceeded to tell him what happened earlier.
Xiao Mo was in disbelief when he heard that. “So, they wanted to take me as their vessel too?”
“That’s my speculation, but only people from God Bless’s headquarters in Division 1 will know what the exact use is.” Lin Huang nodded.
“Can you tell me more about this God Bless?” Xiao Mo asked.
Lin Huang did not hide anything and told him everything he knew about God Bless, including their plan to take the eye and Xiao Mo. He also told him about them blending in other organizations, capturing Chan Dou and so on…
After Xiao Mo listened, he thought the Purple Crow was nothing compared to God Bless.
“This organization is so scary! They’ve got the ability to plot all these and blend in secretly. I suspect they’re also in the Purple Crow’s upper echelon. Otherwise, it’s impossible for them to have known the exact coordinates of the Crow God Ceremony.”
“Speaking of the Purple Crow, you definitely can’t go back judging by your current situation,” Lin Huang reminded, “I advise you not to return. Although the eye has been taken away, the Purple Crow might have some other backup communication tool. If you go back, you might face the Crow God Ceremony for the second time. By then, you would have your consciousness wiped completely and you’ll become the Crow God’s vessel.”
Xiao Mo fell into silence again. He only lifted his head to look at Lin Huang. “But where can I go if I don’t return to the Purple Crow?”
Now that Lin Huang thought about it, he remembered that Xiao Mo was not only an orphan, but he was also a Descendant of the Sin. None of the union organizations would accept a sinner from the Descendants of the Sin. Xiao Mo could only join other underground organization if he did not return to the Purple Crow. Furthermore, he would be homeless if he did not join any underground organizations.
If Xiao Mo was still on white flame-level like he was before, he could do no harm to other people if he was left alone. However, he now had the ability close to a demigod’s and he had the potential to elevate to Virtual God. He could join any underground organizations he liked. By then, he might be a larger threat to this gravel world.
Lin Huang made up his mind after some pondering. “Why don’t you stay with me? You can be my bodyguard for the time being. Later on, we’ll find an organization of our own and I’ll ask some trustable friends of mine to join.”
Lin Huang had discussed establishing an organization with Bloody before. It was Bloody’s idea. This was especially because fighting organizations like God Bless alone would be impossible. Moreover, no matter how powerful he was, his ability was limited. It would be better to start a team and get everyone to perform what they were best at.
As a God himself, even Mr. Fu could not fight the Union Government which was a big organization. If he had founded an organization of his own back then, he would not be in the rut that he was in right now. The people from God Bless might not dare to attack him through the Union Government.
Mr. Fu’s situation was the reason why Lin Huang was determined to establish his very own organization.
Xiao Mo’s eyes lit up when he heard that Lin Huang wanted to establish his own organization and even invited him. Indeed, he dared not go back to the Purple Crow after learning the truth about the Crow Spirit. Facing a bunch of strangers by joining other underground organizations would only make him uneasy.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang was someone that he was familiar with. He had even saved him before. To him, joining Lin Huang’s organization gave him a sense of relief more than joining other organizations.
“I’ll stay if it’s no trouble for you.”
“It’s just one more mouth to feed,” Lin Huang smiled as he said. After all, he had the money to feed one more person.
After confirming where Xiao Mo would go, the duo began talking about their experiences throughout these years.
Lin Huang could tell that Xiao Mo’s life was a tough one.
After Lin Huang faked his death, Xiao Mo was treated the same old way whereby he was bullied almost every day in the Purple Crow training camp. However, he did not allow that to continue. He fought back again and again and stood up over and over again. Though slow, he toughened up firmly.
After he graduated from the training camp, he had been placed in an awkward position. His teammates would put him on the bench time and time again. However, he did not give up just yet. He spent more time practicing battle skills when he had insufficient cultivation resources. Slowly and surely, he finally proved himself in the Purple Crow.
Since he elevated to transcendent-level, his sinner’s nature was activated. He obtained a memory inheritance of his bloodline. He had also activated his gifted superhuman strength and powerful defensive ability. In a short span of time, he managed to elevate his ability to supreme genius, hence he was selected as a Crow Spirit candidate.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang told him about some minor events. Even so, Xiao Mo indulged in his stories, envious of his experiences.
Just like that, the two old roommates talked until the next morning.
Chapter 1015: Two Missions
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was the beginning of summer and the sun rose in the east of Wanbao City before 6 a.m.
Watching the sky turn bright outside the window, Lin Huang and Xiao Mo realized that it was already morning.
“Let’s take a walk outside and have breakfast,” Lin Huang suggested after looking at the time and realizing it was not even 6 a.m. and since both of them were not sleepy at all. “There’s this breakfast place nearby that’s run by a couple. They have really good fried buns and fried dumplings that are absolutely delicious and really popular. There’ll be people queuing past 7 a.m. every day. They begin the preparations at 6 a.m. Let’s wash up and it’ll open when we arrive.”
Naturally, Xiao Mo had no objection to that. He hardly had the opportunity to go out. As a Purple Crow member, he would basically stay in when he had no mission. He would focus on the mission whenever he was out, so he had no time to enjoy the view outside at all. Now that his identity was different and it was his first time in Wanbao City, it was only natural for him to be so excited with all the fresh and new sights.
After quickly washing up, Lin Huang brought along the Nightmare Tapir, the Ninetails Lynx, and Bloody when they headed out.
Many cultivators brought their pets out in Wanbao City. Most of them were not Imperial Censors; they merely spent money to buy pets that had already been tamed. The two God Figurine’s Combat Souls that Lin Huang brought along did not catch any attention. However, Nightmare Tapir’s rather unique appearance would attract some occasional stare.
The breakfast place that Lin Huang talked about was less than a kilometer from the hotel that he was staying at. They arrived in a couple of minutes as they conversed along the way.
The couple had just opened the store. Even the pots had just been put on the stove. They had worked out their specific responsibilities. One was filled the buns while the other wrapped the dumplings.
Lin Huang picked an al-fresco table casually outside the store and sat down. He and Xiao Mo were their first customers.
“Why are you so early today, young sir?” greeted the lady boss while smiling. Lin Huang was clearly a regular here.
“Oh yeah, we woke up early today.” Lin Huang smiled and nodded.
“You brought a friend today.” The lady boss peeped at Xiao Mo. She smiled happily when she noticed that it was a handsome man.
“That’s right. I told him that you guys have delicious fried buns and fried dumplings, so I brought him here.”
“You guys are too early today. You might need to wait for a while,” said the boss, feeling a little bad.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re not in a rush.”
Lin Huang chatted with the couple for a while after he ordered. Then, they began cooking.
Xiao Mo lowered his voice and asked while feeling a little confused, “The boss and lady boss are ordinary people, am I right? Do you usually talk to them like this?”
“More or less. They usually have many customers. It’s rare for us to talk so much today. We usually only make small talk,” Lin Huang answered, “Is there anything wrong?”
Xiao Mo fell into silence for a moment before speaking again, “We basically don’t talk to ordinary people.”
Lin Huang recalled that they did indeed teach the members of the Purple Crow training camp that they should keep their distance and not communicate as much as possible.
“The Purple Crow limits the members’ contact with the outside world except when they’re on a mission. It’s mainly to prevent the members from being influenced by the outside world to have their perceptions changed. Now, what you need most is to change your perception. You don’t have to tie yourself down with the Purple Crow’s values.”
“But most of the information you get from talking to them is largely useless.” Xiao Mo habitually analyzed and categorized the information from the conversation following the Purple Crow standard.
“If people only speak 100% useful information with nothing unnecessary, how boring would it be?” Lin Huang said while smiling, “The useless information makes the conversation colorful and warm. It makes people’s relationships rich and interesting.”
Xiao Mo was confused about what Lin Huang said. “How is that interesting to you?”
“You’ll be living and working with other people from now on. Don’t decline communication. If you don’t know what to say, then listen to what they’ve got to say. It’s good to be a listener. Slowly, you’ll learn the fun in communicating.” Lin Huang patted Xiao Mo’s shoulder.
The lady boss served them three plates of fried buns and two plates of fried dumplings while chuckling as the duo chatted. She then brought them two bowls of porridge.
The serving was not considered large with ten pieces per portion.
The fried dumpling was crispy while the fried bun was filled with juicy soup. Lin Huang, the Nightmare Tapir, and Bloody preferred the fried buns but Xiao Mo and the Ninetails Lynx preferred the crispy fried dumplings.
Lin Huang only ate half the portion of the fried buns and left the rest for Xiao Mo, Bloody, and the two God Figurine’s Combat Souls.
Xiao Mo had four servings of fried dumplings alone and was a little embarrassed when he was done.
Seeing his expression, the lady boss said while smiling, “You’re still growing, young man. It’s normal to eat a lot, so don’t be embarrassed.”
“The lady boss is right,” Lin Huang teased with a grin.
After they were done with breakfast and had paid, Lin Huang brought Xiao Mo to the park nearby.
It was almost 6.40 a.m. at that moment. There were some aunties and uncles exercising at the park.
Lin Huang ambled down the little path with Xiao Mo toward the park.
Xiao Mo thought that the weird exercise the aunties and uncles were executing was rather new to him.
Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction upon noticing his curious expression.
He strolled in the park with Xiao Mo. Soon, there were more and more people in the park. Xiao Mo began to feel uncomfortable as he was still not used to crowded places.
They walked around until approximately 7.30 a.m. before returning to the hotel.
Lin Huang asked Xiao Mo when they returned to the hotel room, “How do you feel after that stroll in the park?”
“I felt uncomfortable, especially when it’s so crowded, but there’re some things that are pretty interesting,” Xiao Mo answered.
Lin Huang was basically satisfied with his answer. He was a little worried that Xiao Mo might not have the interest to blend into normal life. Now, to his relief, it seemed like he was not as close-minded as he thought he would be.
“I’ll begin my closed-door cultivation from today onwards. It might last for more than a month. Within this one month or so, I’ve got two missions for you. I hope that you can complete them.
“As the first mission, I’ll give you a brand new method. I hope that you can build a whole new cultivation system in your body with this method. This method can help you break through from imperial-level purple gold-rank to virtual god-level. My request is that you cultivate this brand new cultivation system with this method as much as you can until you reach holy fire-level.”
Xiao Mo was rather anxious to hear the mission. He thought it would be difficult since he spent three years to break through from iron-level to white flame-level.
Naturally, Lin Huang noticed his concern and added immediately, “You already possess a powerful cultivation base now. You should be quick in building a new system. Don’t worry too much about your progress. You can ask Bloody if there’s anything that you don’t understand. I’ll leave it to accompany you.”
Lin Huang shook his left hand as he spoke, then Bloody came out of his sleeve.
Xiao Mo was astonished to find out that Lin Huang had a summoning beast hidden in his sleeve all this time.
Lin Huang proceeded to speak after giving a simple introduction on Bloody, “The second mission is to go to the park that I brought you to earlier every day. You’ll have to spend at least an hour there. Also, you’ll need to talk to at least three people every time, even if it’s just one sentence. You can go there anytime between seven in the morning to seven at night, but you must spend an hour there. If you don’t do it, you’ll have to spend double the duration on the next day and double the number of people that you talk to. Bloody will monitor your progress during that period. This is a basic lesson for you to learn to communicate with your future partners. I hope that you’ll take this seriously.”
Xiao Mo looked even more nervous now after hearing the second mission. He thought this mission was even more difficult than the first one.
Chapter 1016: Perfect-Stage Immortal-Level Rank-10!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Of the two missions Lin Huang assigned to Xiao Mo, the first one might have been very difficult for ordinary people, but Lin Huang figured it should be easy for him.
Although he was assigned to cultivate a different cultivation system, to an imperial-level powerhouse, it was easy to elevate to transcendent-level. The difficult thing was to break through transcendent-level. Getting him to cultivate a brand new cultivation system was a practice for him to master his power again. After all, he did not get to his current combat strength by himself. He needed a certain time to familiarize with his power.
As for the second mission, Lin Huang noticed through their conversation that most of Xiao Mo’s values influenced by the Purple Crow. The one that influenced him the most was interacting with people.
If Xiao Mo were to maintain the old habits he had when he was with the Purple Crow, it would be a disadvantage no matter whether it was to him as a person or to the organization Lin Huang would be establishing in the future.
Therefore, Bloody suggested Lin Huang do this. He could get Xiao Mo to talk to harmless, ordinary people to give him a brand new view to learn about this world and break the strange values the Purple Crow had instilled in him.
The reason why Bloody suggested that was because it had actually gotten the Nightmare Tapir to read Xiao Mo’s memory secretly. It had done so earlier to take precaution against this unknown little guy who might be dangerous. After learning about Xiao Mo, Bloody realized that this kid had a naive nature because he had been living in a terrible environment which affected him.
However, Bloody hid the fact that it had checked on Xiao Mo earlier from Lin Huang.
The ancient cultivation method Lin Huang gave Xiao Mo was called the Unrivalled Combat God. It was a combat cultivation method which happened to be compatible with Xiao Bo’s body. Moreover, there was a combat skill set called Unrivalled in it.
Apart from this method, Lin Huang also picked thousands of close-range combat skills in his head and shared them with Xiao Mo.
“You’ll be focusing on the Unrivaled Combat God throughout this month. Of all the combat skills, just focus on Unrivaled. The remaining battle skills are mainly for your reference. You can learn them if you come across any that you’re interested in, but know what to prioritize.”
After Lin Huang was done making the arrangements, he left Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx behind while he got to a cultivation room to focus on his closed-door cultivation.
He had gotten the last three God Figurines much earlier and even completed the integration.
However, considering that the visualization would take a long time, he had been putting visualizing the last three God Figurines into True Spirits aside.
He finally had some time to do this.
The first among the three God Figurines was the Coffin Carrier.
This monster was entirely red with bulky muscles all over. Its body looked like a skinned bullfrog that had just been scooped out of a spicy hot pot. It looked slightly humanoid but its head appeared like a combination of a dog and a bull. It had sharp fangs and two buffalo-like horns on its head. Its feet had hooves but its hands had sharp claws like a devil.
It had two thick, black chains behind its shoulders, and a black coffin was tied at the very end of the chain. The coffin was clearly heavy since its back was hunching a little from the weight.
The monster was a fallen Abyssal Protoss. Even the stone tablet was a little surprised when it saw this monster manage to form into a God Figurine. It was the stone tablet’s first time seeing a dead Abyssal Protoss being consolidated into a God Figurine.
The stone tablet had explained the True Spirit’s choice to Lin Huang earlier.
He decided to follow the stone tablet’s suggestion which was to visualize this Coffin Carrier as a Death Butterfly.
The Death Butterfly mastered the Yin Yang Gate. Only such a True Spirit could travel freely within the material and spirit realms when it was on true god-level.
Although its beginning combat strength was not considered powerful compared to other True Spirits, it had great potential for growth. According to the stone tablet, it was one that was worth training among the True Spirits that mastered the Death Rule.
After finding the Death Butterfly in the True Spirit Guide, Lin Huang crushed an Epiphany Card and soon fell into visualization mode.
Lin Huang finally visualized the Death Butterfly successfully after 13 restless days. By then, he had officially consolidated his eighth God Figurine.
After a day of rest and adjusting himself, Lin Huang went into the second round of visualization.
The God Figurine took on the form of a lady.
The lady wore a thin purple dress that was almost semi-transparent while hovering in the air barefooted. Her jade-like skin that was vaguely exposed underneath the thin, purple dress made her seem like she had a great figure. However, she had long, black hair that touched her waist but no face or features. She was horrifying to look at.
Her long, black hair that looked like countless little snakes with their own consciousness were writhing in the air. They were moving without any wind and they looked gravely menacing.
This monster was called the Hair Demon which was an evil spirit among Protosses and mainly mastered the Sealing Rule.
According to the stone tablet, the monster that had the highest compatibility was the Shackle Serpent. It was a formidable sealing-type of True Spirit. Legend had it that the ancestor of the Medusa Tribe, who had the most powerful sealing ability among the Protoss, obtained the ability from a Shackle Serpent.
Soon, Lin Huang found the Shackle Serpent in the True Spirit Guide. He crushed an Epiphany Card and went into visualization mode immediately.
The visualization went on for a total of 12 days before it was completed.
After a day of rest, Lin Huang looked at the last God Figurine in his body.
This God Figurine looked like a toy doll. It had short limbs and its face looked like a clown with makeup on. Its tummy was made of a mechanical clock. Not only the hour hand, but the minute hand, the second hand, and the timescale that could be seen clearly, and even the big and small gear wheels within were also clear.
It was a Time Spirit, a unique species among the Protoss with a limited number. This monster mastered the Time Rule and it would control the flow of time in a specific area and even stop time.
The True Spirit Lin Huang wanted to visualize through this Time Spirit was called the Creation Clock.
Legend had it that such a Creation Clock was the world’s stopwatch. By changing the hour hand on the clock, It could control the life and death of all creation. Such a True Spirit could even control the speed of time.
The Creation Clock was on the first page of the True Spirit Guide. Lin Huang had seen this True Spirit information more than once when he flipped through the guide. Now, he finally had the chance to officially visualize it.
As he crushed another Epiphany Card, Lin Huang soon went into visualization mode.
The visualization of the third True Spirit lasted for a total of 18 days. It was the True Spirit that took the longest time to complete the visualization among the ten True Spirits that he possessed.
Lin Huang let out a long sigh of relief when he saw the tenth God Figurine’s Combat Soul that had finally consolidated into a True Spirit.
However, the consolidation of ten God Figurine’s Combat Souls was not the end.
Lin Huang took out a sea of soul crystals and began feeding his last three God Figurine’s Combat Souls. He spent almost half a day to finally feed them until they reached imperial-level white gold-rank.
Since he was unsure if the remaining soul crystals could elevate an imperial-level white gold-rank Combat Soul to imperial-level purple gold-rank, he put aside the elevation of Death Butterfly that was poor in battles compared to the rest.
He took out the last two demigod-level soul crystals he had and fed the Shackle Serpent and the Creation Clock respectively. The duo then elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank.
Subsequently, Lin Huang fed the remaining soul crystals to the Death Butterfly. When the sky was turning dark, the Death Butterfly finally elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank after digesting a massive amount of soul crystals. At the moment, less than 1,000 soul crystals were left in Lin Huang’s storage space.
At that point, all ten of his God Figurine’s Combat Souls had elevated to imperial-level purple gold-rank while he had finally arrived on perfect-stage immortal-level rank-10.
Chapter 1017: Xiao Mo’s Challenge
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was the first day since Lin Huang went into closed-door cultivation 45 days ago.
Xiao Mo was reading the Unrivalled Combat God in his head. The method was a completely new cultivation system. After flipping through it roughly, he realized it should be an ancient cultivation method. According to Lin Huang, this method should allow him to cultivate all the way to virtual god-level.
With excitement and anxiety thrumming in him, he began the level-1 of the Unrivalled Combat God’s cultivation.
This method was special whereby the first three levels were about integrating the power into his body, strengthening his flesh, organs, and bones to its maximum capacity for a human. On level-4, the method would begin using the sea of power to break through his body limit. If that was successful, it would mean that he would get to holy fire-level and become transcendent.
Xiao Mo cultivated level-1 of the Unrivalled Combat God following the Life Power in his body. It was much more successful than he imagined. Under normal circumstances, not many people could complete the level-1 full rotation in the first cultivation. However, he spent less than three hours completing one full rotation.
It was just a trickle in the beginning and it accumulated into an energy stream when the first rotation was done. A complete circle was formed. Just like that, he built the foundation of the level-1 energy like a piece of cake. Even he found it a little unbelievable.
After he completed level-1’s cultivation, Xiao Mo did not begin level-2 just yet. Instead, he proceeded to rotate level-1, adding more energy from his Life Wheel into this new energy circle.
The stream was growing while the speed of the flow was accelerating. Xiao Mo was performing the rotation with his energy over and over again at an accelerating speed.
The next morning, he shortened the rotation time to within a minute. The initial energy flow was so powerful that it was now a massive surging river.
“I’m pretty much done with the level-1 cultivation for now.” Xiao Mo pulled his senses out of his body and realized that it was the next morning now.
Bloody’s voice came loud and clear at the moment. “It’s almost seven now. Although Master said you can pick any time within 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. to complete your mission of interacting with people for an hour, I personally suggest you go there after breakfast.”
“Would there be any difference if I go at a different time?” Xiao Mo asked rather confusedly.
“Morning is usually the new beginning of a day. After a good night’s sleep, people have the best energy in the morning and they’re happiest in the morning too. Therefore, that’s the time most people are friendliest to others,” Bloody explained while smiling.
Xiao Mo thought to himself and realized he did have the best mood after getting out of bed in the morning. “It seems like it.”
“Go wash up now. We’ll take a walk in the park after breakfast. After strolling for an hour, you’ll return to cultivate with an ease of mind.”
Although Xiao Mo was unwilling to go to the park, he nodded anyway. He got up and washed up in the bathroom. It was almost 7 a.m. when he was done.
He then went out with Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx.
Bloody transformed itself into a little cat and sat on Xiao Mo’s shoulder just like the Ninetails Lynx always did. Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx walked on its own, refusing to interact with anyone else except Lin Huang.
Xiao Mo had no idea what to eat, so he went to the fried bun store Lin Huang brought him to yesterday. It turned out there was already a queue there. Just when he was going to leave after seeing the fully seated tables and the crowd at the queue, the lady boss saw him and called out to him, “Young sir, you’re here!”
Xiao Mo stood where he was feeling awkward, but he nodded at the lady boss.
“You’re not late today. There are only two people queuing before you,” the lady boss updated while smiling. “Just give me a moment. It’ll be your turn very soon.”
Xiao Mo nodded, feeling helpless, and he queued behind a man and a woman.
Soon, it was his turn. He ordered two servings of fried dumplings for himself and two servings of fried buns and fried dumplings for Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx.
However, he realized there was no vacant seat when he turned around after he placed his order. He stood where he was, clueless about what to do.
At that moment, Bloody hopped off his shoulder and jumped onto a seat that had just been vacated.
However, there was a girl sitting at the table.
Xiao Mo had never shared a table with any strangers before. He was stunned to see what Bloody did. Bloody’s voice came to his ears at that moment. “Sit here. We can only share tables now. There’ll be more people later if you don’t take this seat now. It’s still early now, so we can leave as soon as we’re done eating.”
Xiao Mo walked to the seat Bloody reserved without having a choice.
Meanwhile, the Ninetails Lynx hopped onto the bench and glanced at the girl across it. It did not go to the table.
The girl, who was eating a fried bun, asked in excitement when she saw Xiao Mo with two cats sitting across her, “Such beautiful cats! Are they yours?”
Xiao Mo felt troubled when the girl talked to him. He wanted to prevent such a situation, which was the reason why he was unwilling to share the table with a stranger.
Just when he was going to ignore the girl’s question, Bloody’s voice came to his ears again. “Don’t reject interaction. I’ll teach you if you really don’t know what to say. I’ll say it and you’ll repeat after me.”
Xiao Mo looked at Bloody and nodded lightly.
He spoke a moment later, “No, they aren’t mine. They belong to my friend.”
“Oh, really? Can I touch them?” The girl asked in excitement.
Xiao Mo looked at Bloody before answering, “You can touch the one on the table. The one on the bench bites.”
The girl began caressing Bloody after getting his permission. Bloody went along with it while squatting on the table, not dodging at all. It considered sacrificing itself to solve Xiao Mo’s communication problem.
Soon, the lady boss came with a few plates of fried dumplings and buns.
“Isn’t the young sir joining you today?”
Xiao Mo peeped at Bloody again and answered, “He’s been busy recently.”
“Oh, enjoy your meal then.” The lady boss nodded while smiling. She then turned around to go on with her work.
Seeing the lady boss serve six plates of fried buns and dumplings, the girl across looked surprised. “Can you eat so much?”
“The both of them will help,” Xiao Mo answered.
While the girl across was still in surprise, Bloody and the Ninetails Lynx soon finished a whole serving. They were no slower than Xiao Mo.
The girl across was shocked when she watched the two cats finishing two plates of fried buns and dumplings on their own. “These two cats have such big appetites!”
There was a long queue at the breakfast store when they were about to leave. Xiao Mo paid the bill quickly and walked to the park.
Fortunately, to his relief, there were lesser people at the park. Soon, he was surrounded by a bunch of students who were on their way to school. They were obviously attracted to the two cats.
Before the students came around, the Ninetails Lynx took a step out and disappeared. It was tens of meters away when it appeared again.
“Brother, this cat is so cute. Is this yours?”
“Brother, may I touch it?”
…
Xiao Mo had no idea what to do at the moment. He glanced at Bloody immediately, hoping to get help. However, Bloody’s voice came to his ears. “This is the park. You’ll have to depend on yourself from now on. I can only give you one advice — don’t reject interaction.”
His face turned gloomy but he did not choose to run away in the end. Instead, he answered in a shy manner, “Y-You can touch it. It’s my friend’s cat.”
Xiao Mo let out a long sigh of relief after he watched the little kids leaving happily. However, he suddenly realized that interacting with strangers was not as difficult as he imagined.
“You’ve completed the mission of speaking to three people today. All you have to do now is to stay here for an hour,” Bloody reminded out of the blue.
Xiao Mo’s face turned morose again.
Chapter 1018: Exposed Identity
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Xiao Mo’s Unrivalled Combat God cultivation went unusually well beyond his imagination.
In merely five days, he completed level-3 of cultivating. He built three energy circles in his body and spent three days to complete level-4. Then, he built a bigger circle in his body that connected the three smaller circles together without any bottleneck at all. He also completed the one-month mission Lin Huang assigned him, which was breaking through to mortal transformation-level (holy fire-level) successfully.
After that, he spent approximately ten days completing level-5 and level-6 cultivation. He had arrived at perfect-stage mortal transformation-level.
Since then, his cultivation speed had finally slowed down. He spent a full week to break through whereby he got to level-7 of the Unrivalled Combat God while his combat strength had elevated to the ascendance-level (immortal-level).
Even though he slowed down, he only spent a total of 25 days to get from having no cultivation to ascendance-level now which was on par with immortal-level.
What Xiao Mo had no idea about was that Fu Minghan and Qi Hao were the fastest people who cultivated the ancient method a few months ago.
One of them spent 23 days while another spent 27 days to get to mortal transformation-level.
Meanwhile, Xiao Mo only took eight days to break through to mortal transformation-level.
Cultivating the Unrivalled Combat God did not give Xiao Mo any pressure at all. Instead, he gained a lot more confidence from it.
Bloody was satisfied with his progress at the park too.
Although Xiao Mo still did not like crowded places, he began to get used to making small talk with strangers throughout the past 20 days or so. Furthermore, since he had to stay there for an hour, he began to observe the people’s daily lives at the park when he had nothing to do.
Exercising, playing chess, drinking tea, dancing, singing…
Although he could not understand most of the things as they seemed like a waste of life to him, he began finding the fun in it.
He even tried to participate in a minority of activities after Bloody encouraged him.
After getting used to it, he heard many stories of other familiars from some talkative aunties and uncles. It was something that he had never heard before and he found it fresh.
Early in the morning, Xiao Mo saw an old man with gray hair and a beard walking toward him not long after he arrived at the park following breakfast.
The old man looked slightly skinny and was approximately 1.8 meters tall. He walked toward them in a pair of mossy green shoes.
The Ninetails Lynx that walked in front stopped all of a sudden while glaring deadly at the old man that was walking toward them.
Soon, Xiao Mo stood still on the bridge. He instinctively sensed a threat from the person, so his heart was racing.
On the other hand, Bloody sensed nothing, perhaps because of its low combat strength.
The old man walked slowly to Xiao Mo and asked while smiling, “Kid, do you know Lin Xie?”
Bloody’s guard shot up right away when it heard that.
Aside, the Ninetails Lynx was in a position to attack anytime.
Xiao Mo’s eyes became sharp now since he knew about Lin Huang’s other identity.
“Don’t worry. I’ve no ill intentions. I just need to ask Lin Xie something.”
“I’m sorry. You’ve got the wrong guy,” Xiao Mo answered with a stony face following Bloody’s voice transmission, “I don’t know any Lin Xie.”
“How about… Lin Huang?” asked the old man without giving up.
Even Bloody’s pupils shrunk upon hearing Lin Huang’s name.
The person clearly came prepared. He had even done a background check on Lin Huang and found out his real identity.
“I don’t know him. I’ve never heard of that name.” Bloody got Xiao Mo to decline directly.
“Alright then.” The old man nodded while feeling a little disappointed. “Sorry that I behaved absurdly.”
The old man stopped his questions as soon as he was done speaking. He walked past Xiao Mo and shuffled away like a normal person.
Xiao Mo only let out a long sigh of relief when the person left his field of vision.
“I think that guy’s at least a demigod. He might even be on perfect-stage demigod-level.”
“He’s here for Master, but he doesn’t look like he has ill intentions for now.”
“How are you sure that he has no such intentions?” Xiao Mo could not help but probe.
“Do you think a person who manages to find out who Master really is wouldn’t find out who checked in to our hotel room?” Bloody asked him back, “He gave up noticing that we have our guard up. He didn’t expose our lie. He’s actually proving his pure intentions.”
“So, do we tell him the truth?”
“No need. He’ll definitely come back if there’s something urgent. If not, we can wait until Master comes out of his closed-door cultivation.”
Bloody did not take that meager episode to its heart.
Xiao Mo stayed at the park for an hour like he usually did. He talked to a few people and returned to the hotel after he was done with his mission. Then, he began cultivating again.
To Bloody’s surprise, the old man with gray hair and the beard checked into the suite next door with another middle-aged man in the afternoon. It felt helpless about their actions.
Fortunately, the two demigods did not do anything apart from checking in next door. The most they would do was to greet them when they bumped into each other. They stopped asking about Lin Huang.
Time flew by. Xiao Mo spent 17 days to break through two levels in the method and arrived on level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God. His combat strength had reached peak-stage ascendance-level which was on par with immortal-level rank-9.
On the fourth day when Xiao Mo broke through to level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God, Lin Huang finally returned to the hotel when the sky was turning dark.
A white silhouette flashed before his eyes when he opened the door. The Ninetails Lynx was then sitting on his shoulder.
As he was cultivating, Xiao Mo stopped what he was doing and looked at Lin Huang.
“You’ve cultivated to level-9 of the Unrivalled Combat God?!” Lin Huang was in slight disbelief upon sensing Xiao Mo’s aura.
“He performed well at the park too. He completed his mission every day without slacking off and missing anything,” Bloody added. It was still in its cat form at the moment. It hopped off from the coffee table and walked toward Lin Huang.
“But there are two strange men looking for you during this period. I’ve no idea what they’re up to. Both of them are demigods and they’ve been staying next door for close to 20 days. They didn’t do anything, so I don’t think they come with ill intentions.”
As soon as Bloody was done speaking, the doorbell rang all of a sudden.
Lin Huang sensed clearly with his Territory skill that there were two men standing at the door at the moment. One was tall and strong while the other was skinny. The latter was the one who rang the doorbell.
Lin Huang turned around immediately and opened the door.
The old man was stunned when he saw Lin Huang in his own skin. He then asked in a testing manner, “Are you Lin Huang?”
“That’s right. Are you looking for me?” Lin Huang raised his brow as he looked at the duo.
Chapter 1019: Dynasty’s Visit
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang connected the dots as soon as he saw the two strangers standing at the door. The duo should be the two people Bloody had just mentioned.
He observed the duo without saying anything.
The old man with gray hair and a beard standing before him was the one who had rung the doorbell. He looked like he was in his early 60’s. Despite his gaunt figure, he was in high spirits.
There was a muscular hunk behind him on the right who looked like he was in his 40’s. He was approximately 1.9 meters tall with a muscular body and he had stubble on his face. He was taking a careful look at Lin Huang when the latter was studying him too. The man was judging him.
“Come on in.” Sensing no ill intentions from these two, Lin Huang daringly invited them into the room. “May I get you a drink?”
“Tea will be good.” The old man glanced around and sat down on the couch. The muscular hunk sat quietly by his side, without speaking a word since the beginning. However, he glanced at Lin Huang, Xiao Mo, and the Ninetails Lynx.
Soon, Lin Huang served the tea.
The muscular hunk took the teacup and placed it on the coffee table. He clearly had no intention to drink it. The old man, on the other hand, was at ease. He took a sip of the tea right as soon as he accepted it.
“Is there anything that I can help you with?” Lin Huang asked casually after the old man drank the tea.
The old man glanced at Xiao Mo as he put the teacup down. “Young sir, can we have some privacy?”
Xiao Mo looked at Lin Huang who nodded at him. Xiao Mo put on his earphones and turned on the music on his Emperor’s Heart Ring. He spun around and walked to the balcony, closing the glass door.
The old man then began talking about his intention to visit gradually.
“My name is Huang Tianpu. This is Huang Tufu. We’re both from Dynasty. We’re visiting you today to inquire about something. We also have a favor to ask.”
Lin Huang jolted when he heard the duo’s name as he had heard of them before.
Dynasty’s First Grand Duke, Huang Tianpu who was also the current leader of Dynasty. Not only did he handle everything at Dynasty’s headquarters in Division 1, but he was also the current supreme leader in Dynasty who was on par with the Union Government president.
Meanwhile, the muscular hunk next to him was Huang Tufu. He was the Third Grand Duke of Dynasty, the current leader of the Dynasty branch in Division 3 and he managed all of Dynasty’s matters in Division 3. Throughout the decades, he made the Dynasty branch the most powerful underground organization in Division 3. He was the one who created the rivalry with the Union Government branch in Division 3.
The duo were the legendary underground bosses!
Hearing the duo’s identity, Lin Huang’s first thought was that they must have found out he killed the Duke and Prince of Dynasty. However, what Huang Tianpu said later on made him realize that it was not the case.
He suddenly realized that the duo might be here for his participation in the Royal Trials earlier.
“Ask whatever you have in mind, Old Man Huang. I’ll answer you as best as I can.”
“Then, I won’t beat around the bush.” Huang Tianpu nodded while smiling. “Did you participate in the Royal Trials earlier?”
Lin Huang fell into a moment of silence upon hearing that question. He thought about it carefully. Since they were here for him, they must have found out about it in their own way. It would be futile for him to hide the truth, so he admitted with a nod instantly, “Indeed, I did.”
“I think you passed the assessment in the end, didn’t you?” Huang Tianpu proceeded to ask.
“That I did,” Lin Huang confirmed.
“Allow me to ask you this — did you obtain Royal Authorization in the end?”
“I got a Rank-A if I recall correctly,” Lin Huang thought about it and answered.
Since he had been busy after the Royal Trials, he immediately set aside the fact that he obtained Royal Authorization. He did not even look at the Royal Market once.
Now that Huang Tianpu brought it up, he just recalled that he had many points that he had yet to redeem.
“Rank-A?!” Shock flashed through the eyes of both Huang Tianpu and Huang Tufu, who was sitting aside.
“Are you sure you got a Rank-A?” Huang Tufu could not help but finally question.
“Yes.” Lin Huang nodded.
“Kid, could you show us your trial token please?” On the other hand, Huang Tianpu did not raise any doubt. Instead, he asked to see the trial token.
Lin Huang nodded and took the trial token out. The trial token was registered under his name, so it would be futile for Huang Tianfu to snatch it away unless he killed Lin Huang. However, if the owner of the trial token died, the accumulated points in the trial token would be wiped away and the initial authorization rank would be downgraded automatically too.
After producing the trial token, Lin Huang noticed that it seemed to be different from before.
The original trial token had been golden with the word ‘royal’ imprinted in the middle and was filled with complicated sigils all over.
However, although the token was still golden in color, the word ’emperor’ was imprinted in the middle now. Furthermore, the back of the token, which was initially filled with sigils, had a capital ‘A’ in the middle now.
Lin Huang did not notice when the token transformed as such.
When Huang Tianpu took the token and saw the letter at the back, his hands began shaking. “It’s true!”
“He really has Rank-A authorization.” Even Huang Tufu, who had been cold, turned emotional when he saw that.
Huang Tianpu then returned the token with both hands after the both of them gave a detailed observation on it.
Lin Huang picked it up casually and tossed it back into his storage space. When they noticed that, the duo had an odd expression on their faces.
However, Huang Tianpu soon spoke again, “Kid, what do you think of Dynasty?”
‘Are they trying to get me to join them?’ Lin Huang thought to himself when he heard the question.
He did not find it odd as soon as he recalled the result he had obtained in the Royal Trials. After all, he achieved what nobody in Dynasty had in over 5 centuries — passing the trials. It made sense if they wanted to get him to join them.
Lin Huang answered after a moment of silence, “Dynasty is very powerful. Its branch alone is the most powerful underground organization in Division 3 at the moment. It’s on par with the Union Government branch in Division 3. Dynasty’s overall ability ranks at the top in the entire continent too. Among all of the underground organizations, Dynasty’s combined ability ranks No. 3, so it’s undoubtedly the underground giant. Moreover, the First to the Third Grand Dukes are the top powerhouses in the gravel world. If I’m not mistaken, apart from the three of you, Dynasty has at least ten demigods or even more.
“To be honest, I admire the fact that you guys could gather so many powerhouses and develop the organization to what it is today. However, I don’t admire the way and style of how you guys do things. Therefore, I’m sorry that I’ve no plans to join Dynasty.” He rejected their invitation before they could even extend a formal invitation.
“Kid, we’re not here to invite you to join Dynasty.” Huang Tianpu shook his head with a grin “We’re here today hoping that you would be the second Emperor of Dynasty!”
Chapter 1020: Emperor
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Emperor?” It was Lin Huang’s first time hearing that term. However, he could tell it was a high position.
“Emperor is the highest title we have in Dynasty. It’s not just a title, but the Emperor is a leader who has the real power, possessing the highest authority to control the entire Dynasty. Including the First to Third Grand Dukes like us, all the Dukes, Princes, and Dynasty members, we must all listen to the Emperor,” Huang Tianpu explained in detail.
“I don’t understand this. Why are you guys getting yourself a superior? Aren’t you just giving yourself a hard time?” Lin Huang raised his doubt as soon as he was done listening. “Without the Emperor, isn’t it great for the First to the Third Grand Dukes in reign?”
Huang Tianpu shook his head and forced a smile when he heard that. “This has something to do with the rules that were passed down from Royal during the establishment of Dynasty.
“My master, who is the founder of Dynasty, Mr. Huang Tianyu, was Dynasty’s very first Emperor. He founded Dynasty back then in an attempt to build a tremendous empire like the Union Government. He came up with the title ‘Emperor’ because it’s the equivalent of the ruler of a kingdom who possesses the highest authority.
“My master was Royalty. He needed a massive amount of resources to build Dynasty, so he signed an agreement with Royal to make Dynasty the affiliate organization under the latter. Because of the identity as an affiliate organization, Dynasty developed quickly and very soon rose in this gravel world. It never stopped growing.
“However, there’s a problem in the agreement. It clearly states that only Dynasty members have the right to inherit the Emperor title.”
“Since Master passed away, none of our Dynasty members are eligible to inherit the title. Royal contacted us and gave us two options.
“The first option is to detach from Royal to become an independent organization. If we choose that, we won’t be getting any resource support from Royal from that day onwards while all the ruins won’t be opened to us. Furthermore, Dynasty must pay the compensation for all the expenses Royal has spent on building and training us for the past 5 centuries. The annual compensation will be 50% of our annual income.
“The second option is to continue being Royal’s affiliate organization. Since we don’t have an Emperor, we’re only assigned the lowest supply of resources from them. We’d also only be given the lowest authorization for all the ruins. There’s also a request. We’ll need to find a Royalty to be the new Emperor within 3 centuries. As soon as the Emperor goes on duty, all the resources will be recovered following the Emperor’s privileges in Royal.
“However, if we can’t find a new Emperor within 3 centuries, Royal will send their people to take over the affiliate organizations. By then, the entire organization will belong to Royal, including the members and items. Everything would become Royal’s private property.
“We heard about that through some intel. As soon as we become their private property, it’d be equivalent to losing our human rights. We’d be no different from being a slave. Moreover, it would mean losing the potential to elevate on certain levels for demigods. There’s a high possibility that they might be given the slave imprint and sold to powerhouses in the great world.”
Lin Huang understood why they looked for him right after hearing Huang Tianpu’s detailed explanation.
“So, you guys went for the second option?”
Huang Tianpu nodded while forcing a smile. “It would’ve been stupid to choose the first option back then. We had gotten used to having Royal supporting us, it was hard to imagine what would happen to us without their support. Furthermore, we were very confident that we could train a Royalty within these 3 centuries.”
“However, never had we thought that we wouldn’t have even trained a single Royalty when the 3-century deadline is coming to an end. Even Huang Wuji, who we rooted for, was sent out on the second day of the trial.”
“How long more to the 3-century deadline?” Lin Huang could not help but ask.
“In 11 more years, but the Royal Trials will only happen in 100 years. We’ve lost our only hope.”
“Since there are still 11 years, why don’t you just leave Dynasty? If you leave now, I don’t think they’d come after all of you one after another in 11 years?” Lin Huang asked.
“We can’t do that. As soon as we joined Dynasty, our names were on the register of the Royal affiliate organization. Since Master died, Royal automatically recorded all the new Dynasty members’ details. As long as our names are on the list, the people from Royal will definitely find us. It’s futile for us to hide anywhere in the world.
“There’s only one way to leave Dynasty, which is to get the Emperor to remove the members from the list with his Royal Authorization.”
“What if you dissolve Dynasty directly?” Lin Huang suggested.
“There’s no way to do that,” Huang Tianpu shook his head feeling helpless, “Dynasty is Royal’s affiliate organization, so Royal has the ownership. As long as Royal disagrees with that, we can’t be dissolved. To dissolve an affiliate organization, the affiliate organization’s Emperor must send an application into Royal’s headquarters.”
“So, you guys have locked yourself in a dead-end.” Lin Huang was rather puzzled to hear that.
“We only have one solution now, which is to find a new Emperor.”
“I’ve got a question.” Lin Huang thought about it before speaking again, “Are you guys sure that the first Emperor is dead?”
Huang Tianpu nodded almost without thinking. “We’ve confirmed it. Master went to the great world a few years after breaking through to virtual god-level 3 centuries ago. Royal announced his death less than 10 years following his departure.”
“Didn’t you guys see the body?”
“There was no body but it shouldn’t be fake news,” Huang Tianpu explained, “The Royal identity token is locked with the particular person. It will only be unlocked when the person dies. As soon as the token is unlocked, Royal would have their record down automatically.”
“Do you guys have no other candidates apart from me?” Lin Huang asked rather helplessly.
“No. From what we know, you’re the second person who has obtained the Royal Authorization throughout 5 centuries apart from Master. It was the first time Royal contacted us to tell us about you passing the Royal Trials.”
“What if I reject this offer?” Lin Huang asked raising his brow, “Are you guys going to kidnap me? And force me to take the position?”
“I would love to do that,” Huang Tufu mumbled softly.
“If you reject us, we’ll stay by your side until you agree.” Huang Tianpu smiled lightly. “We’ll follow you no matter where you go, including the bathroom, the shower, when you go to sleep… We’ll guard you by your side all the time to show our sincerity.”
“Aren’t you being a gangster now?” Lin Huang became speechless right away.
Huang Tianpu became serious after cracking the joke. “We really have no other option. If you don’t like our way and style of doing things, we can implement a reformation in the entire organization. Although it’s quite impossible that we could be as clean as the Union Government or the Hunter Association, it shouldn’t be a problem to be as neutral as the Heretics. We promise to cooperate with you with all our might, transforming Dynasty into a brand new organization.”
Lin Huang was really moved hearing what Huang Tianpu said. He had been wanting to establish his own organization for some time now. Although Dynasty, who sent themselves to his doorstep, was different from what he expected, joining them would be a shortcut to fight God Bless. Furthermore, with his identity as a Royalty, it was pretty impossible for Dynasty to turn their backs on him.
To establish an organization that truly belonged to him, he could do so by building a core circle within Dynasty. When the circle developed, it would not be too late for him to part independently from Dynasty. Moreover, he could use Dynasty’s resources and the people’s relationship to develop his core circle.
“Since you’re so sincere, I shan’t hide this from you. I’m planning to visit the great world after breaking through to imperial-level. If it’s soon, I might leave this year. I’ll leave next year if I take a longer time. Therefore, your Emperor will soon be going away if you get me to be your Emperor,” Lin Huang shared his plan honestly.
“Don’t worry about it. As long as the Emperor is still alive, it won’t affect us whether you’re in this gravel world or not. Furthermore, you can assign a representative before you leave and give a portion of your authority to the representative. By then, just get the representative to handle matters that involve authority. About going to the great world, I’ll bring a few demigods to go with you for safety purposes.” Huang Tianpu seemed to have considered everything in Lin Huang’s shoes.
“If that’s the case, I agree to be your Emperor.” Lin Huang finally acquiesced. “I’m a lazy person, so I won’t interfere much with your management. However, I’ll monitor you guys since you agreed to a reformation. I hope to see the results.”
“Just trust us with the management, but you’re welcome to monitor us.” Huang Tianpu finally flashed a smile of relief on his face. Even Huang Tufu, who was sitting aside, was greatly relieved to hear Lin Huang agree.
“Master Emperor, would you prefer a grand or a low-key appointment ceremony?” Huang Tianpu changed how he addressed Lin Huang as soon as he agreed to be the Emperor.
“Low-key, I guess. Only Dynasty has to know about it. There’s no need to let the world know.”
“It’s already the 26th of July today. Should we fix it on 1st August? It happens to be an auspicious day.” Huang Tianpu even determined the date.
“So soon?” Lin Huang was not prepared at all.
“Since you want a low-key one, we don’t have to inform the world. We’ll only have to decorate Dynasty a little. It won’t take long,” Huang Tianpu said delightedly, “There’s nothing that you need to prepare. We’ll prepare everything for you. If you have guests you’d like to invite, just tell us their names and contact details. We’ll get people to pick them up when they arrive in Division 1. You don’t have to stay in this hotel. You can do whatever you want and go wherever you want. Just send me your coordinates a day ahead. I’ll pick you up by then.”
“Sure, arrange everything for me then.” Hearing Huang Tianpu’s arrangement, Lin Huang could not help but secretly exclaim to himself how meticulous this person was. He did not miss anything in his arrangements and was an all-rounded, talented manager.
“Master Emperor, I shan’t stay any longer. I’ll leave now to make the arrangements.” Huang Tianpu stood up after he was done speaking. He then turned his head to say to Huang Tufu next to him, “You’ll stay in the room next to Master Emperor. Stay with him to assure his safety within these few days.”
“Master Emperor, just do what you like and pretend he’s not there. He’ll only follow you when you go out. He won’t disturb you other than that unless you ask him to.”
“There’s no need for that. Just go ahead with your own thing. Since I’ve agreed, I definitely won’t run away.” Lin Huang shook his head kindly.
“It’s my honor to protect you, Master Emperor.” Huang Tufu agreed to the mission.
Lin Huang stopped rejecting him since he said that.
Soon, Huang Tianpu summoned a dimensional portal and left. Meanwhile, Huang Tufu did not stay in Lin Huang’s room and returned to the room next door.
Seeing the duo leave, Xiao Mo then returned from the balcony to the living room and asked about the duo rather curiously.