Chapter 481 The Great Battle of the Five Impermanent Ones (Part 3)
Willow Shadow is engaged in a fierce battle with the Lord of Peach Blossom Village in the distance, while I must fight Yellow Spring and Dog Dog here.
Excluding the Dog (戌) which cannot use the Dharma of Heaven and Earth, there are a total of four types of Dharma of Heaven and Earth rampaging across this world. Normally, the Great Impermanence (大无常) can restrain its Dharma of Heaven and Earth, preventing it from affecting the surrounding nature, but in battle, there is no such leisure. Not only is the Dharma of Heaven and Earth uncontrollable, but it is also amplified far beyond normal levels due to the Great Impermanence's intense and surging emotions.
If the ever-changing laws of nature can be seen as an alternative natural order, then what is happening here is a conflict between different natural orders. Heaven and earth seem to be screaming, the earth is trembling and shaking wildly as if it is being tortured, the temperature is rising abnormally, and hurricanes and lightning are sweeping everything away.
Although I am very interested in what exactly the special celestial phenomenon of the willow tree shadow is, I don't have the time to carefully observe other directions right now.
I took a deep breath and summoned a vast sea of fire on the battlefield, large enough to cover the horizon.
The Dog unleashed a silver-white beam of light, similar to the White Tiger's killing power, at me, while the Yellow Springs launched a clever coordinated attack, manipulating yellow-black magic from different directions. In terms of combat strength, these two were on par with me, wielding a slag straight sword, and their simultaneous attacks made me feel like I couldn't fight them all.
I finally had no time to defend or dodge. While barely dealing with the Yellow Springs' attack, I was hit by the beam of light from the Dog's full-force strike.
The Slag Straight Sword is not only for attacking, but the ultra-high density explosive flames it releases can also be used to counter enemy attacks, making it an "alternative shield" that achieves defense through offense.
However, even the most powerful shield cannot withstand attacks from completely different directions, nor can it increase the user's own defense. The power of fire is inherently far greater in attack than in defense. This fire elemental body was struck by such a powerful attack and was instantly shattered to pieces, its soul also being torn apart.
Immediately afterwards, I quickly absorbed the flames from the surrounding sea of fire and returned to a state where I appeared to be completely unharmed.
When Xu Gou saw me, he instantly "fully recovered" as if he had just fought me before. He seemed to remember the "Third Apostle of the Void Realm" who fought him at the branch base before, and he made a surprised sound. Huang Quan also paused slightly when he saw this, seemingly very surprised by my change.
"You were the previous 'Number Five'? But your appearance and strength clearly belong to Zhuang Cheng, the Great Impermanence of Luoshan. You should be 'Number Three'..." Xu Gou said. "You misled me last time, making me think you were Number Five?... I see. You didn't want me to know you were the Great Impermanence of Luoshan before..."
He seemed to have figured out a lot of things, and at the same time, his attacks did not stop at all, cooperating seamlessly with Huang Quan to besiege me.
"Xu Gou, why are you on Taoyuan Township's side? What did the Taoyuan Township Lord promise you?" I tried to understand his true fighting motives.
Xu Gou said in a deep voice, "Joining Peach Blossom Village... what other reason could there be?"
"Are you also pursuing a 'Shangri-La'... a dream of eternal happiness?" I asked in return.
“What’s wrong with pursuing a dream of eternal happiness? As long as I truly complete the ‘Shangri-La,’ I can reunite with her… I can reunite with Ai Ye again…” Xu Gou’s voice became somewhat lost in thought.
However, I find it hard to believe that his true motives were really limited to that. In the magical power that accompanied his words, I didn't sense the same kind of fanatical will to give up everything to achieve his goal as Ying Lingyun did.
I have no doubt about his strong desire to reunite with his lover; however, the core of his plan is probably not "Shangri-La," but rather there are many other considerations at play.
In order to achieve his goals, he must now stand on the same side as the Lord of Peach Blossom Village and Huang Quan; it is impossible to turn him to a side on short notice.
At the same time, Huang Quan was also constantly examining my body while making his move after move.
"Not only did he instantly regain his physical body, but he also instantly regained his soul..." he said. "Even the Great Impermanence couldn't possibly do something like this..."
"In addition to your elementalization and the way you manipulate fire as if it were your limbs... could you be a 'manifestation'?"
"No, as a 'manifestation,' your methods are far too clumsy, like having a strong body but having almost never properly learned how to use a technique... Is your 'manifestation' innate? But how could there be an innate 'manifestation'?"
As the other party looked puzzled, I felt a thought remotely accessing my mind from the outside, and Liu Shuying's voice came from it, "Zhuang Cheng, I'm sorry, please help me delay those two Great Impermanence. I must focus on dealing with the Peach Blossom Village Lord now, and I will come to support you after I've dealt with this."
"Okay," I replied briefly.
When I was alone and facing the combined attack of two Great Impermanences, I struggled to even defend and dodge. I was constantly being hit, and my body and soul were shattered once again.
"Fine, I'll just consider you a 'manifestation' of the universe. But don't think that just because you're an 'manifestation' and immortal, you can take my attacks without any burden."
Just like Mingzhuo in the past, Huangquan seemed to possess some understanding of true spirits, as well as a sure-fire method to strike them. His yellow-black magic power underwent a strange change. Although it looked exactly the same as before, a rather ominous sense of crisis rose in my heart.
I can't rashly take his attacks, otherwise I'll die in just a few rounds.
I quickly dodged his yellow-black magic, focusing most of my attention on him. This made it easier for the Dog of the Dog to hit me. Although the Dog of the Dog's attacks wouldn't put me in a life-or-death situation, they would disrupt my defensive and dodging rhythm, and if I wasn't careful, Huang Quan would find an opportunity to kill my true spirit.
In this way, let alone turning the tide, let alone buying time, even survival becomes an extremely challenging and difficult task.
The life-or-death crisis felt like a dark cloud looming over my head, or a whetstone sharpening my soul to become ever more razor-sharp.
Right now, including myself, there are a total of five great impermanences fiercely fighting on this land. This is probably the first time since the dividing line between the strange world and the common world disappeared.
Last year's battle at the Humanitarian Division's main stronghold involved a total of seven Great Impermanences, including those from the Rabbit and Sheep factions—and there were likely even more. Yet, there was never a time when all of them fought at full strength simultaneously, and the conflicts all occurred in separate real-world spaces. But this chaotic battle is taking place in the real world.
Yellow-black and silver-white magic clashed as it hurtled towards me. I fought like a tightrope walker, defending and dodging, while deliberately asking a question with the intention of baiting: "Huang Quan, does your Gospel Academy really intend to stand with Shan Liangyi? The achievement of 'Shangri-La' won't benefit your Gospel Academy either, will it?"
Huang Quan was taken aback at first, then laughed, as if he had figured out why I had asked that question, and said without leaving a trace, "Oh...you think that the Lord of Peach Blossom Village is the Two Elements of Mountain?"
As a great impermanence in the apocalyptic era, he didn't ask who Shan Liangyi was. Instead, he naturally followed my train of thought. Was it because Taoyuan Village Master, as a collaborator, really was Shan Liangyi, which is why he was confident in Shan Liangyi's existence? Or was Shan Liangyi a well-known figure even in the apocalyptic era, so he had knowledge in this area?
While I was observing and pondering, Huang Quan spoke again: "Then I have to ask you a question, successor of the Vermilion Bird... do you really benefit from making moves here?"
He not only knew about the existence of the Mountain Yin-Yang, but also knew that I was the successor of the Vermilion Bird.
"What do you mean by this?" I asked.
"You don't even know if the Lord of Peach Blossom Village is a Mountain Two Elements, do you? You even lack crucial evidence as to whether he is a descendant of the Azure Dragon, right?" Huang Quan said. "If he is a Mountain Two Elements, you should join forces with Willow Shadow to kill him; if he isn't, since he is a descendant of the Azure Dragon, he will definitely want to eliminate you, the descendant of the Vermilion Bird, in advance, so you might as well strike first... That's probably what you're thinking."
"However, it is necessary for the Azure Dragon successor to eliminate the Vermilion Bird successor in advance to prevent him from becoming the source of resources for the Mountain Yin and Yang; as the Vermilion Bird successor, is it really necessary for you to eliminate the Azure Dragon successor in advance? The Azure Dragon is both the mortal enemy and the nemesis of the Yellow Dragon. You might as well hide and let the Azure Dragon and the Yellow Dragon fight each other on their own. Why do you have to personally join the battle?"
Clearly, Huang Quan's plan was to diminish my fighting spirit.
However, his plan backfired.
For me, confirming whether the Lord of Peach Blossom Village is Shan Liangyi is important, but not necessary. Because from the moment the Lord of Peach Blossom Village revealed his clear killing intent and fangs to me, his existence had already become a challenge that I had decided I had to overcome.
I never bury my head in the sand like an ostrich when it comes to the source of danger. Either I eliminate it, or it eliminates me.
"Whether it's Shan Liangyi or Taoyuan Xiangzhu, they are both my prey, and I will not give them up easily," I said.
Although Liu Shuying asked me to stall for time, I didn't intend to wait until he came to help. I wanted to defeat Huang Quan and Xu Gou here on my own, and then join the battle to defeat Taoyuan Village Lord.
Huang Quan paused again, then chuckled, "There's actually a madman like you... Yes, I should have thought of that."
"Not only are you inseparable from Asaha, but you're also going to fight against that brat Meisuke for the sake of that troublesome little girl... How could you do something like that if you weren't out of your mind?"
"Since you have no intention of stopping, then don't complain about dying here."
"However, I never intended to let you go back anyway, so this makes things easier for me. After all, it would be quite a lot of effort to catch up with and kill the Great Impermanence who is determined to escape."
As he spoke, the oppressive aura of his yellow-black magic seemed to intensify, giving me a suffocating feeling.
Judging from his tone, he seemed quite familiar with Mingzhuo. Despite being from the future, he acted as an elder. Furthermore, the special attributes of his magic power were somewhat similar to Mingzhuo's.
His yellow-black magic and the dark red magic of the Turbid Life both seemed to carry the imagery of "death." If the Turbid Life's magic leaned more towards aging and decay, then the Yellow Springs leaned more towards dampness and heaviness. Just hearing the Yellow Springs' words gave one the feeling of being buried alive in a grave, with one's body and soul tainted by a heavy, cold, and damp atmosphere.
Unconsciously, even the operation of my own consciousness seemed to become sluggish, and the manipulation of the flames became increasingly slow. The next moment, his yellow-black magic power and the silver-white beam of the dog's energy bombarded me from different directions again. I had no time to dodge, nor time to mobilize the flames to defend against any of the attacks, and I was about to be hit.
At the critical moment, I made a decision.
I turned around and plunged the slag-straight sword into my own body.
(End of this chapter)
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