Archfiend

Chapter 222: Danxia Temple (41)

Translator: XTB

At this moment, the small half-box on Xu Yangyi’s chest suddenly began to tremble!

Buuuuzzz... On his chest, it vibrated incessantly. Even he could sense this “object’s” delight. Xu Yangyi used his hand to firmly press down on his chest and studied Wei Zhongxian gravely. The Animus Armament... had finally appeared! It was no wonder, no surprise that when the secret realm emerged, that throbbing had appeared in his heart. Now the crux of the matter was... what was he to do?

The upper-half of the Animus Armament granted him endless advantages. It was also hiding an absolute secret. This was the reason he had to seize it. To know something was to furthermore know WHY it was. Why had this once-in-5,000-years object chosen him? If this riddle was left unsolved, he would always have a heart devil existing in his heart.

Crack... Crack... The corpse’s five limbs were separated. Wei Zhongxian’s head was no less than several meters away from his body. Like a puppet being pulled on, the five body parts seemed to use string to be hoisted up at the seams.

Thus... from the throat of Ye Old Four’s corpse, blood drops spilled onto Wei Zhongxian’s body below. The image was terribly bloody.

The mighty pressure of initial-stage Foundation Establishment swept through everyone present. It was a totally different level of oppressive might that caused each person’s sweat to pour out like broth. Their breathing started to become hurried and curt.

Even if this wasn’t a living Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if his strength was certainly inferior to the time when he was whole and intact. Nonetheless, Foundation Establishment was Foundation Establishment! A completely preserved corpse held at least sixty to seventy percent of its might in its prime! And this sixty percent... was already enough to create a fatal thread to all the cultivators here!

Yet this wasn’t the only thing! Everyone was taking precautions with great focus. Xu Yangyi’s gaze cruised, searching for all suitable opportunities! The best method was to directly knock the corpse down... and then take the spoils, seizing food from a tiger’s mouth as no one was paying attention to this little box.

Before his train of thought even finished, though, an indescribable, wild qi suddenly flared from Wei Zhongxian’s body as blood dyed the corpse’s figure! Foundation Establishment was still Foundation Establishment, but that dreadful feeling that weighed on the mind was just like a Core Formation ancestor!

“Heavenly...” All of a sudden, the corpse’s two hands clasped together and formed seals at blinding speed. It was simply hard to believe that this was the speed of a corpse!

“Opening...” Following the emergence of these two vague words, the entire space seemed to quake! Soon after... the heavens... opened. The talismans in the sky quickly became fuzzy without end. Even more strangely, stratas of black clouds appeared! Furthermore... in the cloud bank, a colossal creature was faintly visible!

“W-What is this...” All emotions were displayed on the face of a cultivator who had followed. If said this was a divine ability, it was impossible for it to emerge on the body of a Foundation Establishment cultivator! Even a Core Formation ancestor fell short in power!

As far as the eye could see, all that existed was a domain of black clouds! In the black clouds, there seemed to be something flitting across, a fleeting glance of a scaled claw. The entire view couldn’t be clearly seen at all! It seemed like a dragon roaming through clouds and spreading rains. Under the black clouds that it traveled, it was going to pour down a torrential rain here and now!

“First...” With the third word, the corpse’s voice was already becoming louder and louder. If said, this corpse’s indistinct voice from just at the start had now already transformed into waves of sound! Black clouds suddenly appeared in the surging sky! At the same time, nine screeches passed down from the black clouds!

It was by this word... that all qi in this space completely erupted!

If said, qi was mild and gentle. In that case, this qi now seemed to transform into sharp swords, pressuring the sides of one’s body!

“Fuck me...” Yi Old Five was already dripping with cold sweat, unable to move... He clearly sensed that he was immobilized! It wasn’t that he couldn’t move but rather a kind of great unknown terror cloaked his entire body, mind, spiritual sense, and qi sea!

He knew what this was... It was called intuition! In his mind, there was a voice warning him with the utmost effort to run! He HAD to run! Leave immediately! Regardless, that sensation of terror, formed in the heart, left one unable to shift their feet at all!

Xu Yangyi tightly clenched his fists, qi already swimming out from his whole body! He sensed... even more! It... was a kind of heavy, inexplicable feeling... seemingly crossing over history’s long river to arrive here and directly face the darkness of men’s hearts!

“What the fuck is this thing?!”

It wasn’t a divine ability... at least not a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s divine ability! If a Foundation Establishment cultivator held such might, what did Dao Masters even have to be scared of nuclear warheads for!

This was a damn alteration of the heavens and conversion of the earth! How could it even be said that this was a divine ability?!

“Erosion...”

Swoosh... Without warning, a wild squall blew up from Wei Zhongxian’s position! The wind ruffled everyone’s clothes into a mess.

This wasn’t a vague wind, but the aura of hell. On all four sides, lotuses madly swayed. In the sky, black clouds surged and infinite rays of black light shone. It seemed like Judgement Day had come. The water’s surface was also completely still. The fishes below cowered as they hid underwater. Even they sensed a great physiological dread.

“RUN!!!” Xu Yangyi was no longer willing to stay here! He was planning how to steal a morsel from the tiger’s mouth, but this corpse had indeed taken the initiative to act. He bellowed and piloted the Chasing Skylark at full speed towards the Xingtian Legion’s position!

At this very instant, the main objective was surviving from the hand of this old Foundation Establishment monster, this move that could compare to a Core Formation divine ability! The Emperor Armament had to be obtained! Furthermore, both sides had to be united to activate its true secret. Nonetheless, one still needed to have a life to enjoy an even better Emperor Armament.

As if they had woken up from a dream, everyone was roused from this apocalyptic image. Fahui didn’t utter a second word. In one second he lifted up his leg, and in the next, he already drew forth a string of afterimages, leaving at lightning speed!

Sumeru’s Solitary Steps! This time, he’d used it without the slightest hesitation!

Sound seemed to pause. Xu Yangyi used all his speed to reach the lotus leaf that the Xingtian Legion was on, but he discovered that everyone was looking behind him in shock.

Swoosh... Swoosh... He didn’t turn his head. At this moment, a deathly silent swooshing noise resounded through the infinite lotus sea. Countless lotuses and lotus leaves faced his back and drifted. Rays of black qi wandered all around like vengeful spirits. In the realm, they hissed sharply and roared, filling the endless space!

Hell’s gate... was already opening little by little!

This... was a ranged-attack divine ability... Xu Yangyi painfully shut his eyes. As he opened them, he turned back on his heels and looked!

Currently, myriad rays of black qi lingered upon Wei Zhongxian’s corpse! To the extent that not even Wei Zhongxian himself could be seen! As for this black qi, it formed a black qi vortex that reached straight up to the sky! This maelstrom was crying out and responding to the giant entity in the clouds!

Yet for the first time, Wei Zhongxian extended his hand and gently grasped out to an unknown direction. A voice that seemed to stride over time sealed itself into everyone’s minds!

“Devour... Bone...”

Heavenly Opening First Erosion—Devour Bone!

Meanwhile, the Animus Armament’s lower-half in his mouth radiated a heart-shaking golden light! It embraced Wei Zhongxian entirely inside! The light, divine and pure, was at two extremes with the gloomy corpse!

Rumble! The instant the fifth phrase emerged, the clouds in the sky... split apart. Its entire body shrouded in the black clouds, a giant nine-headed pheasant screeched down! Its size and height were a mystery, but it was at least 200 meters! Moreover, its facial features were blurry! It was like the ox-headed demon and the horse-faced demon dispatched by hell to lead spirits. Its thundering arrived to the human world!

“SKRAW!!!” The giant nine-headed pheasant released a screech, its voice shaking the skies!

“This is... a divine ability anomaly...” Xuan Chengzi, Qing Jingzi, and Ling Xiaozi looked at the sky in astonishment.

Zhao Wuye’s entire face was incredulous. “How... How is this possible... even... the divine ability of a Nascent Soul Dao Lord isn’t possibly such a sight in the records! T-This is at least several hundred thousand square kilometers... This...”

Bang! Zhao Wuye choked on the next word in his mouth. This was because his entire body seemed not to have a single bone! He looked up at the sky and fell down! Shock covered his entire face, and his heart was deathly ashen as he looked up at the sky. “Heavens... what... on earth... is this monster...”

Bang bang bang! At this instant... everyone’s bones throughout their bodies crackled! Following heavy groans, all of them collapsed the ground!

Xu Yangyi rigidly gritted his teeth. A stabbing pain was felt from within his body. His bones... had disappeared!!!

Just now... he clearly sensed a terrible attractive force. It seemed like a palm, pulling out bones from inside his body! All of this happened in merely a twinkling!

Until a moment ago, there was such a sensation and then it vanished into nothingness in the next second! He couldn’t feel his bones anymore! The disappearance of bones wasn’t so simple. Without bones, a human was like soft mud, unable to be connected and contained at all!

In other words... this move exploited their power to use divine abilities! However... across every person, only he alone was now standing!

Fahui’s eyes rounded, and he looked at Xu Yangyi in disbelief. He and Greenwall’s Three Swords hadn’t fallen. In front of him, a lotus lantern was emitting bean-sized motes of light. It enveloped him head to toe in lantern embers. Apart from spitting out a great mouthful of blood, his hand was still forming seals at a swift pace!

Greenwall’s Three Swords likewise had a lantern, but it was an ancient oil lamp. In the same vein, a mote of brilliance completely filled their positions and produced a fragrance. It safely protected the three of them!

Xu Yangyi looked at his hand in shock. It wasn’t wrong... He was sure that he’d sensed his bones vanish, but there was something else inside his body that was supporting him! He clearly felt this thing. It wasn’t bone but was even more solid than bone! Even more flexible than bone!

“This is... a Demonchariot Pheasant...” Zhao Wuye’s aching face was wet with cold sweat. The pain brought by the sudden disappearance of his bones and the dread of a hand entering his body and removing each bone caused an extreme hideousness to appear on his face. However, in his hideousness, he seemed to recall... some matter...

A matter... of great significance...

“Fellow Daoist Xu!” Zhao Wuye opened his mouth and a full mouth of blood jetted out. He spread open his reddened eyes. “Give me a blade... Hurry... Before I pass out, hand me a blade!”

“What’s the reason?” Xu Yangyi gritted his teeth and said.

“This isn’t a normal divine ability...” Watery perspiration trickled down Zhao Wuye’s forehead. “Fellow Daoist... Xu... this... divine ability... I-I h-have a little... doubt about it... in my memories... HURRY!!!”

Zhao Wuye began to shout out in madness. Xu Yangyi took a deep breath and took out a small blade from his storage ring without the slightest hesitation. He nailed it into Zhao Wuye’s hand!

1. Demonchariot Pheasant. This is another name of the Nine-Headed Bird/Pheasant. You may remember that this is one of the Three Demons of Xuan Yuan. It is called chariot because the noise it makes at night as it flies is like a chariot.