Chapter 30: Zhu Yan Revived

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Jiang Xia shoved Wang Teng away and held the Kusanagi Sword to block the leaf blades.

A leaf blade was about to strike Jiang Xia; he rotated his Mangekyo Sharingan and used Kamui to phase through the attack.

“Disrupt space! Annihilate!”

Zhu Yan clasped his hands together; a torrent of malevolent energy radiated from his body, and within moments, Jiang Xia and the other two were trapped inside Zhu Yan’s Chaos Space.

"Demon God Weapon Mirror, transform into ten thousand weapons!"

The malevolent energy coalesced into countless weapons that shot toward Jiang Xia; he prepared to phase away.

But he found the space around him locked—there was no way to enter Kamui’s void.

“Susano’o! Yata Mirror!”

The second-form Susano’o’s right hand formed the Yata Mirror, blocking the relentless barrage of weapons before Wang Teng and Ye Lingxi.

“Damn it, this thing won’t break through—do we really have to hide behind Lao Xia?” Wang Teng gritted his teeth, furious.

Ye Lingxi leaned close to Wang Teng’s ear and whispered a few words; after listening, he clenched his teeth and nodded. “There’s no other choice!”

Ye Lingxi plunged her longsword into the ground, condensed an ice bow in her hands, and fired three frost-laced icy arrows at Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan raised his hand to swat them away—but the arrows suddenly exploded, forming a mist that obscured his vision.

“Fatty!” Ye Lingxi shouted urgently to Wang Teng.

“Watch this! Fire Spell: Inferno Heaven!”

Wang Teng pulled the trigger again; the crossbow bolt shot forward, trailing fire toward Zhu Yan.

The moment the bolt struck Zhu Yan, flames erupted, engulfing him in a sea of fire.

“So that’s it—the Totsuka Blade!”

The Susano’o’s left hand condensed a gourd, from which a crimson blade shot forth toward Zhu Yan!

“Boom—”

After a tremendous explosion, the space shattered, and Zhu Yan’s phantom dissolved.

“Phew—”

Ye Lingxi exhaled in relief; Wang Teng spoke with a hint of pride.

“This monkey was tough, but with our three working together, he was still too green.”

Jiang Xia stared at the spot where Zhu Yan had vanished, a quiet unease stirring in his chest.

“My attack was clearly a seal—why did it just vanish?”

As he pondered, an alarm blared—the ceiling of the training room exploded.

Shards flew everywhere; from the swirling smoke, Shen Wenru stepped forward, flanked by dozens of black-robed members of the Cult of the Dark God.

Each of these men was at least mid-Martial Master, their aura overwhelming.

“Impossible!” Lu Wujiao cried out in shock in the monitoring room, slashing his knife through the wall before him and dashing to Jiang Xia’s side.

Other Night Watchers in the base quickly assembled, surrounding the Cultists.

“Shen Wenru, how dare Itachi storm our headquarters!” Lin Qing snarled.

Lu Wujiao watched Shen Wenru’s calm expression warily. “Be careful—this might be a trap!”

Shen Wenru glanced at Lin Qing with disdain. “Do Itachi think I’d storm your den without perfect preparation?”

“Guardians, appear!”

He clapped his hands; four rifts tore open before him, and three crimson-robed adepts and a towering, upright wild boar stepped out.

Lu Wujiao’s eyes narrowed. “Three Wang Hou cultivators—and a Catastrophic-Level beast!”

“Correct. Without preparation, how could I dare enter your Night Watcher headquarters?”

“Our Cult has mobilized fully—your outposts are all being harassed, so no reinforcements will come.”

Lin Qing sneered. “Hmph. Just a rabble. In less than half an hour, reinforcements from Shanhai Pass will arrive.”

“Then Itachi’ll all die here!”

“A frog in a well.” Shen Wenru didn’t argue. He pulled a small vial of blood from his robe.

“Divine Gift: Rebirth!” As the vial opened, a thick surge of blood-malevolence poured out.

The Catastrophic-Level beast’s eyes flickered with hunger, then forcibly suppressed it.

The blood-malevolence streamed toward a monkey beast corpse stored in the Night Watcher warehouse.

“No!” Lu Wujiao’s eyes widened as he saw the direction of the blood-malevolence’s flow.

“Break-Evil Blade: War’s Edge!”

Lu Wujiao raised his golden blade into the air; it shattered into countless shadowy blades that slashed toward the warehouse.

“Boom—”

In an instant, the warehouse was flattened by the storm of blades, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Through the haze, Zhu Yan slowly walked toward the training room, stretching his arms and cracking his joints as he came.

“This… what’s going on? Zhu Yan… revived?” Wang Teng stared, dumbfounded.

The Night Watchers’ elite also turned grim; no one could believe a beast dead for over twenty years had returned to life.

Zhu Yan stepped beside Shen Wenru—before Shen Wenru could speak.

Zhu Yan, still only at Second Stage after revival, casually grabbed two Martial Master Cultists from the Cult and shoved them into his mouth.

In half a breath, his cultivation surged to Third Stage mid-level.

The two Martial Masters didn’t even have time to react before they perished.

Seeing Zhu Yan reach for more Cultists, Shen Wenru rushed forward to stop him.

“Holy Zhu Yan, we are the Dark God’s emissaries sent to rescue Itachi.” He pointed at the Night Watchers. “They are the enemy. Itachi may feast freely.”

Zhu Yan ignored Shen Wenru. He grabbed several more Cultists, devoured them, belched, and his cultivation rose to Fourth Stage early-level.

Sated, Zhu Yan fixed his gaze on the standing wild boar beast. “Feng Xi? What are Itachi doing here?”

The boar beast hurried to answer: “Holy Zhu Yan, the Beast God and the Human Cult of the Dark God have revived Itachi. I am the only Beast King within human lands, so I joined this operation.”

Zhu Yan nodded. “Human lands remain as weak as ever.”

“Only two beings above Catastrophic Level—nothing compared to Shanhai Pass.”

He turned his gaze to Lu Wujiao and the others. “I’m not yet strong enough to deal with them.”

Feng Xi explained: “Itachi need not act. The Beast God’s command is to reignite the Shanhai Cataclysm and obliterate humanity.”

Zhu Yan nodded, then rose into the air. “I am Zhu Yan, the First of All Calamities—where I appear, war follows!”

As he spoke, his malevolence surged violently; calamity energy blackened the entire sky.

Clouds tore open, revealing a blood-red vortex below; countless spatial rifts exploded before Shanhai Pass, faintly revealing the snarling shapes of beasts within.

As soon as he spoke, the malevolent energy around Zhu Yan surged violently, staining the entire sky black with calamitous qi.

Nine bell tolls rang—the highest alert for humanity!

Seeing this, Shen Wenru condensed a black energy blade and lunged at Lu Wujiao. “Looks like your reinforcements won’t arrive!”

“Break-Evil Blade: Dawn!”

Lu Wujiao gripped his blade, gathered his strength, and slashed at Shen Wenru.

Other Night Watchers clashed with the Cultists; the three crimson-robed Guardians united their attack against Lin Qing.

“Kuzhu—Void Bamboo Realm!”

Lin Qing raised his hand; spiritual energy formed layers of blue bamboo shadows before him.

The combined assault of the three Guardians struck the bamboo shadows—and was deflected by most of its force.

This was Lin Qing’s famed technique: yielding to overcome hardness, concealing sharpness within.

But he was only late-stage Wang Hou; holding off three peers was already straining him.

After several rounds of assault, cracks spread across the bamboo shadows.

But he was only at the late stage of the Wanghou Realm, and resisting a combined attack from peers of the same realm was extremely strenuous.

After several rounds of assault, cracks on the bamboo shadow continued to spread.