Chapter 418: Like A Person
Translator: Yukidaruma Translations Editor: Yukidaruma Translations
The entire mountain range was slapped down into the ground. Limitless lava and volcanic ash were just about to erupt when they were smashed by that terrifying power and pushed back in.
All the dust in the air was slapped back down onto the ground as well. The entire scene had looked like a volcano eruption had been about to occur when it was slapped right back down.
Everyone looked at this astonishing scene and sensed the overwhelming feeling brought about by that pure violence.
Jia Wei suddenly bellowed, "All those who are at the second transition come to the front! The shock waves are coming!"
Although they were over ten kilometers away, the shock waves created by the collision of such violent forces continued to gush in their directions, bringing about sand and dust with them.
All the Conferred Knights took action immediately, extending out force fields and forming a barrier in the front.
Bang! Countless amounts of gravel collided against their force fields like bullets. The entire team was now encompassed by sand and dust, and the darkness which covered them made it seemed as though it was the end of the world.
After an entire minute, the shock waves passed by their bodies, and the several Conferred Knights exchanged horrified glances.
Jia Wei was extremely astonished. To think that the shock waves coming from over ten kilometers away would still have such great power... One could only begin to imagine just how terrifying a force had emerged from the palm which had smashed down on and crushed the volcano.
Just as everyone was still drowned in the aftershock, a small dot quickly expanded to become a human figure as it approached from the direction of the volcano. In the blink of an eye, the human figure passed through the distance of over ten kilometers and arrived before everyone.
Fang Xingjian was wearing ordinary training clothes and carrying only the bare necessities with him, and appeared naturally before everyone.
"You need my signature for the authorization letter?"
Ferdinand was stunned for a moment before he walked up and said, "That's right. It's this." He took out a document and a pen, and passed them to Fang Xingjian.
Fang Xingjian took them and scanned through the document briefly. When he saw that the total price was at three million gold, his brows twitched, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
He signed and said, "When will the money be transferred over?"
Jia Wei said, "It'll be remitted into your account within three days. May I ask... the volcano eruption from earlier..."
He had asked the question which everyone wanted the answer to. The impact from earlier was far too terrifying. In everyone's impression, it was something that likely only Divine level experts would be able to accomplish. However, right now, it had occurred before their eyes.
Additionally, Fang Xingjian happened to be in the direction of the volcano. Although they were very suspicious, they found it a little unbelievable too.
Had that impact been caused by Fang Xingjian?
When Fang Xingjian heard this question, he threw a glance toward Jia Wei and did not say a word. Then he tossed the document to Ferdinand and disappeared.
With how much Fang Xingjian had improved during the past ten days, not only were his sword arts at currently the peak of perfection, but he had also reached level 28 and gained ether organs.
Right now, Fang Xingjian's lungs had already turned into an ether organ. With each breath he took, a tremendous amount of ether particles would enter his lungs, which would then complete the energy transition.
With every breath, the energy increment in his body was the equivalent of an ordinary person having eaten a sumptuous meal. As such, it could be said that the energy storage in his body was constantly increasing.
This was how powerful a level 28 Conferred Knight was. As long as one were to complete transforming all their internal organs into ether organs, then they would be able to gain endless power and never have to worry about dying from a depletion of energy.
Of course, Fang Xingjian's Prodigious Astral Divine Powers Waves had also finally reached level 8. The impact on the volcano earlier was from his use of Terra Ingurgitation.
Therefore, Fang Xingjian's currents attributes had become:
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Name: Fang Xingjian
Age:18
Occupation: Heavenly Sword Sovereign
Level: 28
Strength: 282+16
Agility: 297+16
Reaction: 198
Endurance: 176
Flexibility: 175
Ether Synchronization Rate: 90%
The attributes above come into effect once the Prodigious Astral Divine Powers Waves are activated.
Due to Perfect Muscles, +16 in strength and agility (10% of the endurance attribute).
Skills / Techniques: Boundaries Negation, Level 40 Rebirth Sword Technique, Level 40 New Nine-Headed Dragon Sword Technique, Level 40 Zenith Light Sword Formation, Level 40 Prodigious Demolition Sword Physique, Level 12 Ether Divine Art, White Bone Divine Weapon, Heaven's Volition Sword Intent, Ether Sword Ripples
Internal Specialties: 213
External Specialties: 8
Waves: Level 8 Prodigious Astral Divine Powers Waves
Mental Cultivation Method: Level 7 Universal Sword Dominance Lunisolar
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The reason why Fang Xingjian had gone to the volcano's crater this time around was so that he could go against a natural disaster in a bid to test out his sword arts. The last attack using Terra Ingurgitation was to test out the impact of the level 8 Terra Ingurgitation, which could utilize the prowess of the gathered gravitational forces from an eight kilometer radius.
The gravity, which was within a range of eight kilometers from Fang Xingjian, gathered with a prowess 512 times stronger than the Terra Ingurgitation he had used at the very beginning. Even if Fang Xingjian's sword arts cultivation had reached the peak of perfection, it was still a bit hard for him to keep it under his control.
Otherwise, the sword attack from earlier would not have destroyed the entire volcano but merely suppress the volcano's eruption.
...
Elsewhere, the Church of Universal Truth's archbishop frowned and said, "You said that after you left, there was a sudden surge of extremely violent force which collapsed the entire volcano, sinking it into the ground and leaving behind a deep crater?
"Furthermore, even the lava was pushed back and the volcanic ash was unable to erupt?"
After asking Jia Wei for a few details, the archbishop sighed and said, "Fierce, that's really fierce. The instant explosive prowess of such a violent force is one which only the few people at the top of level 29 are able to do."
Gardner asked puzzledly, "But Fang Xingjian... He's really able to do this? It wasn’t done by someone else?"
The archbishop smiled and threw a glance at the guards before saying, "Alright, you guys can take your leave first. One more thing, don't spread the news about Fang Xingjian."
"Yes."
After a short moment, the archbishop ensured that there was no one around. Then he looked at Gardner and said, "Gardner, haven't you always been curious about why I've been giving Fang Xingjian such preferential treatment?"
A gleam of light lit up in Gardner's eyes. This was really something which had been on his mind. Ever since the day when they competed in the speed at which they picked up sword techniques, the archbishop had been taking the initiative to provide Fang Xingjian with favorable conditions. He had even increased the royalties to be paid to Fang Xingjian and accelerated the speed at which the funds for the Martial Techniques Grading Plan were remitted. However, Gardner could not understand all of these.
The archbishop said, "It's because he looks like someone."
Fang Xingjian looked like someone?
When Gardner heard this, a hint of disapproval flashed in his eyes. No matter who Fang Xingjian looked like, what difference would it make?
However, at the next moment, the name of someone who would make his teeth clatter emerged from the archbishop's mouth.
"18 years ago, you hadn't started working in the Holy Inquisitorial Court. Therefore, you haven't met him before."
Gardner was stunned, and his eyes narrowed. "18 years ago... 18 years ago... Are you referring to..." The hair all over his body stood up at once as he looked at the archbishop in disbelief.
The archbishop nodded. "18 years ago, the Pope vanished. Ever since then, our Church of Universal Truth fell apart. The three Saints each held onto their own statements, and each of the 16 Guardian Kings had their own thoughts.
"Everything only settled down last year."
Cold sweat started to drip down Gardner's forehead. "From what I know, the past generations of Popes were selected from the Saints. None of them have any kin, siblings, or descendants. However, to think that Fang Xingjian would look akin to the previous Pope? Could it really be just a coincidence?"
"Haha," the archbishop laughed. "Do you really think that things could be so coincidental? That a genius from the Empire, who would be hard to find in a 100 years—no, in 1,000 years, would look exactly the same as the previous Pope? And that at 18 years old, Fang Xingjian's age coincides with how long the Pope has been missing for? But to him, this is probably not a good thing."
"Gardner, I know you have a Guardian King, or even a Saint backing you up. But this is not a small matter, and it's best for you to pretend that you don't know about this. Quickly finish up the mission here and return. Don't procrastinate any further with the Martial Techniques Grading Plan."
Gardner let out a long breath and said, "Yes, archbishop."