Chapter 618: A Blood Red Banner, A Fiend
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh_
"That fellow is so fierce!" Wu Qi felt a stabbing pain as he touched the wound on his face.
The story of Wu Qi being wounded by Madman Xue and escaping had spread across the entire Zhong Province. After reporting the incident to Bo Yunting, with the excuse that his injury was too severe, he returned to Hai Province with dozens of personal guards. The rest of his soldiers continued to fight, led by military officers sent by Yu Clan.
The Muni Pearl was a Buddhist magical instrument. It was crafted by fusing the power of an eminent monk with the faith power of common people, and used the precious pearl found in nature as a physical form. It had the power to break away delusions and eradicate evils. The pearl used by Madman Xue was crafted by Yab-Yum, which made it even more powerful, capable of even hurting a Gold Immortal.
Although Wu Qi had a very strong fleshly body, the pearl still gave him a very serious injury, and even his nose was broken. To make matters worse, there was a trace of Buddhist power in the wound, and it would not heal no matter what spirit pills he consumed.
Luckily, he had Princess Zhang Le, who had inherited the Great Dao of the Ancient Gods. Using the power of heaven and earth, she managed to remove ninety-nine percent of the Buddha power, which allowed him to recover most of his injuries. But, a person's face was the most vulnerable, so although most of his injuries had healed, the wounds on his face still made him feel very uncomfortable. There were still cracks in his cheekbones, and he felt a sharp pain as he breathed.
After looking at the reflection of his face in a puddle of water in the desert, Wu Qi took a deep breath and dashed away.
He was no longer in Zhong Province, but in Huangsha Province, more than a hundred provinces from Zhong Province, the place where Liu Bang was assassinated. In just a few days, the news about the assassination had spread throughout Great Yu. After hearing the news, emissaries from all powers rushed to the crime scene, and so did Wu Qi. He left a celestial fiend puppet pretending to be badly injured in Hai Province, while he himself headed straight to Huangsha Province.
Because it was a time of war, Great Yu authorities had exercised a very strict control over all the teleportation formations, which led to Wu Qi having to use various means to get to his destination. When he finally arrived, three days and four nights had passed since Liu Bang's assassination. He left the capital city of Huangsha Province in a hurry, then rushed as fast as he could to Yuaya City, the crime scene.
In Huangsha Province, Yuaya City was the most important city apart from the capital city, and it was destroyed by Myriad Immortal Alliance with a meteor more than a year ago. The city was well-known for its rare metallic minerals, and was the home of the raw materials used by Great Yu Military Court to make all sorts of excellent weapons, armors, and countless large-scale war machines. So, there were hundreds of millions of people who lived here all year round, who made their living solely from mining.
The meteor had killed hundreds of millions of civilians living within tens of thousands of miles around Yuaya City, and sixty percent of those killed were skilled miners and smelters. This had caused a devastating blow to the local mining industry. Because of this, the battle in Huangsha Province was the fiercest across all the provinces, and the Military Court in Liangzhu even sent an elite army of three hundred thousand soldiers, who were directly commanded by the Human Emperor, to station in Huangsha Province, with the sole purpose of killing all the Immortals and itinerant cultivators.
Just because it was such an important place, Liu Bang certainly needed to come here for mediation. But, as soon as he arrived, the Left Military Minister of Huangsha Province, Jing Mo, had stabbed him in the chest with a sword, leaving him badly injured and likely to die at any moment. This was a serious matter, so Great Yu immediately sent someone to deal with it, and many other powers had also sent messengers to pay attention to it.
Wu Qi sped through the boundless desert with an innate escape art, trying to get to Yuaya City as fast as he could to see what Liu Bang was up to. If he were not badly injured, Wu Qi was ready to make that become a reality! And if he were really injured, Wu Qi did not mind to sprinkling salt on his wounds. He was even prepared to use a curse spell to teach the trace of souls Liu Bang had placed in the lotus throne a lesson!
Of course, as the Eight Treasures Lotus Throne was the personal treasure of the present Lord Buddha, and was born at the beginning of the world, it was very difficult to do something on it. But, even if Wu Qi could not destroy Liu Bang's soul, he was still going to teach him a lesson and make things difficult for those Buddhist cultivators.
Wu Qi had a bad feeling. The collusion between Buddhist cultivators and the Immortals of the Heaven could potentially endanger him, his friends, and loved ones. If he ignored them and let them do their things, the consequences could be hard to clean up. So, he had to do something about it.
"No matter how insignificant my strength is against them, I'll have to do something!"
He took a deep breath, and in the next moment, the heavy earth energy under the yellow sands began to rush into his body, then the underground energy vein under his feet trembled suddenly. In the blink of an eye, he was hundreds of millions of miles away. The combination of innate escape art and Kuafu Steps had allowed him to travel a super-long-distance without stirring up a speck of dust, as he finally arrived at Yuaya City, the city situated near the border of Huangsha Province.
Standing on the top of a bronze-colored mountain, Wu Qi glanced at the surroundings.
The mountain stood about one hundred miles tall, and was surrounded by ridges that stretched out in all directions. With his Chaotic Divine Eyes, Wu Qi could not see where they ended. In the west, however, the ridges opened to a giant valley that was shaped like a crescent, and at the bottom of it was a large blue lake, also shaped like a crescent.
Yuaya City once sat between the big blue lake and the mountain. But, the meteor had completely wiped out the city, leaving only a colossal sinkhole on the ground, making this otherwise harmonious scene bizarre and ferocious.
The place where Wu Qi stood was the edge of the ridges that had been shattered. It was near here that the meteor fell and smashed everything. Although Pangu Continent could heal itself, the terrain had changed permanently. The ridges, which once stretched out like screens, had become a jagged stone forest, and the lake water was flowing along the terrain to half-submerge the stone forest.
A new city had been built right next to the stone forest, surrounded by many barracks which emanated a towering killing intent. At least one hundred thousand soldiers were stationed here. High up in the air above the city, apart from hundreds of flying ships, there was also a strange-looking pyramid made of black boulders.
The base of the pyramid measured about one mile in both width and length, and it stood about two thousand feet tall. It was divided from top to bottom into three parts; larger at the bottom and smaller at the top, and interconnected by steep steps. Hundreds of Oracles sat cross-legged on the edge of the pyramid, all covered in a hazy halo with shadows of ghosts and deities hanging motionlessly overhead. Vague runes flickered on the dark surface of the pyramid, emitting a horrifying pressure that made one's heart race.
By just glancing at the pyramid, Wu Qi immediately felt cold, as if an ancient monster was hiding in it. It was a horrible monster who killed humans like ants; it was hiding in its nest and probably sleeping, but its aura made Wu Qi feel as if he had encountered a natural enemy. His muscles were tensed and his heart was racing; he was eager to leave the place at once.
Suddenly, Ao Buzun poked his head out of Wu Qi's shirt, spat out a little flame, and muttered in a low voice, "That damn Flaming Tiger... I've finally digested all his power... What the fu*k? Why am I smelling the aura of Yazi 1 ? [1] Mm... In terms of seniority, I'll have to call their ancestor 'uncle'. Judging from the aura, though... it should be one of their descendants, right?"
"Yazi?" Wu Qi patted Ao Buzun on the head. "You mean inside that black pyramid is a Yazi?"
Ao Buzun licked the corner of his mouth and muttered, "This is clearly the Supreme Tower of the Directorate of Celestials, which proves that there is a Supreme Oracle here. It is not a pyramid! Can you see that it is divided into three parts? It means that there is a lower-tier Supreme Oracle in it. Aye, a mighty expert of Primordial Immortal level!"
He chuckled and continued, "This is a Supreme Oracle who has fused with the soul of a Yazi, an expert who cultivates both magic and body! It's best not to get near that thing, as we can't afford to provoke someone like that. Those Immortals from the Heaven and bald donkeys from the Buddhist League hate to face an old fellow like this. The one in front of us can fight at least three Immortals of the same realm as him at the same time!"
Wu Qi looked at Ao Buzun in horror. An Oracle or warrior, who reached the level of Primordial Immortal through cultivating both magic and body, could fight three Immortals of the same realm at the same time?
Sensing the shock in Wu Qi's heart, Ao Buzun began to count, "The soul of a Yazi is equal to an expert of a Primordial Immortal level. The fleshly body as strong as a Primordial Immortal who cultivated only the body counts as another one. And, since he is cultivating the Dao of Ghost and Deity, the ghost and deity he worships must be as strong as a Primordial Immortals as well. With these, it is pretty easy for him to fight against three opponents of the same realm at the same time.
"Of course, the three Primordial Immortals can't be armed with Primordial Immortal items. You know, a Primordial Immortal item is like a seasoned Primordial Immortal, and only stronger. If they were to be armed, the old man in front of us would be defeated!"
Wu Qi nodded slowly. Primordial Immortals were extremely strong; a Supreme Oracle, even if he cultivated both magic and body, was not likely to defeat three Primordial Immortals at the same time. Usually, half the strength of an Immortal was in his weapon.
As Wu Qi looked at the black Supreme Tower, wondering why such a mighty expert was here, a faint mist of blood suddenly drifted through the air beneath him.
He looked down hurriedly. The blood mist was clearly a hazy banner, with a tall fiend shadow wrapped in it.
"The Banner of Chiyou... and... this guy!" Wu Qi's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a needle.