Chapter 457: It Has Begun
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Huiming City.
Within an underground mansion not known to many in the Core Area, Xing Hezi looked the same as he held on to his whisk.
Suddenly, he stood up and his eyes glistened. "He has finally appeared... I knew that he would never give up on such an opportunity."
At this point in time, a talisman on his body started to burn up in flames. However, he did not pay any attention to it as he quickly retrieved a piece of jade rock to send a message. "Brothers, we have located traces of that demon!"
"Great!"
"We will rush here!"
From the jade, there were a few excited voices.
Xing Hezi stood up, examined his surroundings and activated a few arrays around before having a sigh of relief.
After the fight that year, the news of Fang Yuan being an otherworldly demon had spread. He was being investigated by the Demon Alliance and the Hidden Cultivators Sect and had to disappear without a trace.
To think about it, Xing Hezi had some feud with him and therefore had to put in more effort to trace him.
Through the talisman, he knew that Fang Yuan had also taken control over the Demon Weapon and was on alert. 'Considering my powers, I am no match for any single one of them. However, if I rely on this array and our previous set-up, I should be able to wait out until my reinforcements arrive.'
In the past 10 years, a few other seniors of the Hidden Cultivators Sect had also woken up.
However, most of them were still heavily injured and could not restore their original power due to the fact that the spiritual energy in the planet was not at its peak yet.
Once all the old demons were to gather together with the members of the Demon Alliance from the East and West Continents, what threat could a small thief possibly bring about?
Unfortunately, his thoughts only lasted for a while.
In the next moment, the defensive array over the entire city was being destroyed by an immense force. The defensive weapons were of no use and an ear-deafening alarm was being sounded.
"Ah!"
Xing Hezi exclaimed loudly as though the skies were being ripped apart.
From the tremor, his underground mansion started to collapse. The ceiling flew apart, revealing two weird-looking silhouettes outside.
"Fang Yuan! Do you really dare to take action?"
Xing Hezi shouted with vigour as the power of stars started to descend, forming an array around. Numerous blue glows started to gather together, forming a protective membrane. A few silhouettes of dragons were flying about on the surface of the membrane, roaring with life.
"The Xinghe 4 Spirits Array?"
Fang Yuan stood in mid-air and scoffed. "Old thing, who would think that you would reveal your killer move..."
"Fang Yuan, you otherworldly demon! How dare you go against the strongest force on the planet!"
Seeing how Fang Yuan was about to strike without hesitation, Xing Hezi's eyelid twitched.
As they spoke, the city had realised that something was wrong. All types of guided missiles and special abilities erupted into the air like fireworks.
"Go against you guys? Do you think you are worth it?"
Fang Yuan scoffed once again. He knew that his ultimate plan was to go against the world to perform a high-dimensional experiment.
How would such a lowly being understand his lofty goals? Ambitions? It was wasting his own effort to explain these to others.
With this, Fang Yuan struck his right fist out. A green-coloured illusionary shadow of a giant appeared as it roared loudly before landing a fist.
"Bang!!!"
Amidst the explosive force, the original membrane of the array started to flicker and the dragons on the membrane slowly dispersed as though they were being attacked.
"Rumble!"
After the first fist, there was a huge crater on the ground. Xing Hezi turned into a streak of starlight and retreated with embarrassment. "Fang Yuan, don't push it!"
"So what if I'm pushing it? Previously, you people from the Hidden Cultivators Sect had combined forces with the Demon Alliance to ambush me many times. Do you think I will let you guys go?"
Fang Yuan took a step forward and streaks of lightning landed on him. Suddenly, the streaks of lightning transformed into a lightning dragon which slithered around the giant's body. With that, the giant struck his palm out with the force of a mountain.
"Thousand Stars and Spirit, protect me!"
Xing Hezi roared as he transformed the day into night. The stars in the night sky scattered their light down towards him, blessing him with increased powers.
However, Fang Yuan did not care what Xing Hezi was doing. He was simply delivering punches like a reckless person.
"Crackle!"
The glow of lightning flashed across and all the stars disappeared.
"Rumble!"
Under a single punch, the night scene was being destroyed, revealing the actual clear skies.
Fang Yuan held his hands behind his back and stood by the side. Xing Hezi's clothing was filled with blood as he crawled on the floor with embarrassment. He appeared extremely pitiful.
"You... The Hidden Cultivators Sect will never let you go. I have already called for reinforcements..."
Xing Hezi attempted to struggle for the final time.
"Is that so?"
Fang Yuan appeared calm as though he didn't care. "Where are your reinforcements? What do you think they will do if news of your defeat were to spread..."
As soon as Fang Yuan spoke, Xing Hezi's expression changed.
"People only do things for their personal interests. Now that the plan is about to be completed, how many will be willing to put their lives on the line and sacrifice their optimistic future?"
Fang Yuan continued in a calm and composed manner. "Let's not talk about the fact that they would need to sacrifice a lot to take me down. Are you guys not afraid that I would escape once more and threatened the other array eyes like your worst nightmare? Look at the recent years! Even the Demon Alliance has given up on chasing me."
"What do you want exactly?"
Xing Hezi grunted.
"Don't worry, I will not disrupt your plans. I only want to see where you all will end up..."
Fang Yuan replied with much composure.
"Haha... Professor!"
At this point in time, there was a commotion in the Core Area.
Zhao Daniu made his way towards Fang Yuan and his face was filled with happiness. "We have worked together to capture all the members of the Five Elders Association. Now, we are in the process of taking over their military. This city is now back under the control of the country. What do we do next?"
"What do we do next? We shall wait!"
Fang Yuan closed his eyes as he sensed the increasing concentration of spiritual droplets in the air. "The fourth occurrence might just come tonight!"
"What?"
Zhao Daniu's eyes widened. "It's not right, there's still some time until the end of the year!"
"Who told you... that the occurrence will only happen at the end of the year?" Fang Yuan gazed at Zhao Daniu with a look of pity in his eyes. "This is according to nature. Isn't it normal to have deviations once in a while?"
However, it was not at all normal for the occurrence to arrive so early!
Even Fang Yuan had only just detected it. It felt as though someone was impatient and wanted to rush things, accelerate the process and catch him by surprise.
"D*mn it!"
Zhao Daniu was panicking. "We have many arrangements that have yet to be completed. I have not even talked to the other two cities!"
"It's too late!"
Fang Yuan gazed at the horizon with a look of anticipation.
...
"Xing Hezi has been captured!"
In an unknown space, a few holographic images of powerful beings were gathered together as though it was a meeting between international parties.
One of the black shadows spoke first. "We have already found out the killer. It is Fang Yuan and the Demon Weapon, Extreme Darkness!"
Gazing at the screen in mid-air, the few holographic images remained silent.
"The few of you from the East, what do you think of this?"
An old man sitting in the centre broke the silence. His voice sounded mysterious.
"The Sea Dragon King has already declared that he will not be involved in this. Furthermore, we do not have any agreement with you guys on this..."
Among the people from the west, the imagery which represented Farquhar spoke. "Furthermore... Can the few from Hidden Cultivators Sect ensure that the array will continue to remain active?"
"More than half of the array eyes have already been operational for the past 10 years. Even if we want to destroy it now, I'm afraid that will be impossible!"
An elder of the Hidden Cultivators Sect shook his head. "Huiming City has been invaded, but that is a small issue. The few of us elders will personally guard the important array eyes. After all, according to our detection of the heaven's will, the fourth occurrence will arrive earlier than expected. This is a change that has not happened since thousands of years ago! We do not know what it means!"
Everyone remained silent for a little longer. They all knew that they had given up on Xing Hezi.
At the beginning of the new era, during the darkest hours before dawn, no one wanted to be left out.
What about the otherworldly demon?
As long as the two worlds coincided, everyone around would experience an increase in their cultivation to a whole new level. By then, dealing with the otherworldly demon would be as simple as squishing an ant.
"Eh?"
Suddenly, all the holographic images shook as though they had felt a powerful will of the world.
"Is it brought forward once again?"
One of them spoke. "Tonight?"
"Why would the will of the spiritual will change so suddenly?"
Curtly spoke solemnly. "Everybody... We should stop playing guessing games with each other. Just previously, I had detected the will of the Spiritual Realm. Not only did it remind me that the occurrence would be brought forward, it also wanted me to remove a threat for it."
"Why is it so coincidental to happen now, just when Fang Yuan invaded Huiming City... could Fang Yuan have done something?"
"To speak the truth, I have also received the same will and I have vaguely detected that the arrangements in Huiming City seem to be out of place. It seems like this trouble is created by Fang Yuan."
...
As the 4th Tier powerful beings exchanged glances, finally, it was the person in the centre who made the decision. "Since this is so, let us do this together! This will be the first operation where the Hidden Cultivators Sect will work with the Demon Alliance. At midnight, we shall gather around Huiming City and attack all at once to remove the threat."
"Alright!"
Those around felt that this was a good idea.
After such a huge incident, they could no longer trust each other. Even when they were gathered, they were all observing each other to see if anyone were up to any tricks.
Furthermore, that otherworldly demon seemed suspicious. Since they were in this together, they would be able to remove the threat with their combined powers.
Among them, they could possibly even be a 5th Tier powerful being around. After tonight, their full powers would be restored!
With such a powerful alliance, how would a single otherworldly demon be able to fight back?