Chapter 572: The First Clash

Luoning's Mental Power swept across the group of enslaved people ahead, then covered the entire Soul Suppressing Bay.

He was surprised to discover that the number of humans living here was far more than one hundred thousand.

If it were truly as Suofeiya said, that this group of people only had the path of being killed to choose from, that would indeed be somewhat cruel.

He withdrew his gaze and focused on the Golden Knight at the very front of the crowd; although this person had not become a Witch Soul Knight, dark energy surged within their body, somewhat similar to Kaierluosi's situation back then.

However, this person's ability to reach a state of free control was a bit like Lulansi nowadays.

In short, this group of people appeared unable to coexist peacefully with normal human races, and they should also be impossible to reform.

If only one choice remained, then there was no other way.

Suddenly, just as Luoning was pondering, a massive pressure came from the northeast direction.

Luoning chuckled: "It looks like we have an opponent."

"Maiken, Suofeiya, you continue to control the town; Ruidar, come with me."

As his voice fell, he and Ruidar charged into the air, arriving in the sky above the wilderness outside Soul Suppressing Bay in the blink of an eye, and at this moment, a tall figure wreathed in flames appeared not far in front of the two.

Luoning was quite surprised; he had not expected the first enemy to arrive at Soul Suppressing Bay to not be the so-called Shadow Lord Salonas, but Phoenix, who had crossed paths with him on the Star Continent.

Although that had been the opponent's avatar, the appearance in human form was exactly the same, which Luoning recognized at a glance.

"You've come!"

Phoenix mocked, "I didn't expect you to be so keen on throwing your life away!"

As he spoke, he gazed toward Soul Suppressing Bay, knowing that the garrison there had already been wiped out by Luoning's forces. If he did not come over, this bay would likely turn into a base for the human race.

Thinking of this, Phoenix could not help but curse Salonas angrily in his heart.

The Demon God had already issued a warning, and he had notified Salonas of this possibility several days in advance, yet the other party had been full of confidence and disregarded it, which led to the current situation.

If a Sage had been left to guard Soul Suppressing Bay, the situation likely would not be like this.

Facing such mockery, Luoning could not help but laugh: "It's only been a few years, and you've already forgotten the pain of losing an avatar? Hehe, come to think of it, I haven't killed a Great Sage yet!"

Currently, the achievement panel only had the 【King of Slaughter】 achievement left, which required him to kill an extraordinary unit of the Great Sage tier.

Apart from this, all levels of the four achievements—Famous Throughout the World, Population Prosperity, Gongchengluedi, and Wealthy—had been completed.

Luoning did not know if there would be a next tier after killing a Great Sage.

However, just in terms of the rewards for this tier, the Light Attribute points alone amounted to two hundred thousand, which was already enough for him to max out the progress of Magician (46055/225000).

At that point, he would break through to the Great Sage tier.

The most powerful existence in history was Aerian, who had slain the Storm Demon King Bagdanna over a thousand years ago, yet even his strength was only that of a Great Sage.

No one knew if there were stronger existences above this realm; if he could slay Phoenix here, he would know the answer.

"Arrogant!"

Phoenix emitted angry flames, burning the entire sky crimson: "Do you think that because you bested my avatar, you can clamor in front of my true body?"

The flames turned into a raging storm and swept toward Luoning and Ruidar; the scorching temperature caused the green plants on the ground below to wither instantly, then burst into flames.

However, Luoning did not dodge or evade; the perfected Anti-Nothingness enveloped him and Ruidar in the center, and no matter how the flames impacted, they all turned into nothingness a few meters in front of him.

"We are not compatible."

Luoning charged out, wielding the Liuyan Sword, "Your attribute is perfectly countered by me!"

With one sword strike, the space ahead became distorted, and the unparalleled power tore through the sky full of flames, slashing onto Phoenix's body.

The Flame King's expression changed slightly, and a dark light lit up on his armor, as if a demon god were revealing a sinister figure.

With a boom, the sword light struck the dark shadow; although it tore it apart, it also dissipated all of its power.

Phoenix was knocked back hundreds of meters by this strike, "Impossible, how could you possess such strong power?"

He found it hard to believe.

When his avatar descended upon the Star Continent, he had clearly sensed Luoning's strength and was absolutely certain the other party was only an ordinary Sage.

For a Sage to want to obtain Great Sage strength, even with the help of external forces, that would likely take decades or even a hundred years.

How much time had passed, and Luoning was already a Great Sage?

"I don't believe it!"

Scales grew all over Phoenix's body, and his tailbone extended all the way to form a thick, long tail, transforming him into a dragon-man appearance in an instant.

At the same time, a terrifying black shadow expanded in all directions with him as the center, and Luoning's vision immediately fell into darkness.

However, for an existence like him, visual darkness was no longer important; he could still clearly perceive his surroundings.

Swoosh~

Phoenix's figure vanished from where he stood, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Luoning; his dragon tail, like a steel whip, lashed fiercely at Luoning's neck.

If this were to land, even if it didn't break, it would be twisted by the massive force of the impact, causing tremendous damage.

Luoning's heart jolted; Anti-Nothingness could not dissipate physical attacks, so he could only raise his arm to block.

Driven by Battle Qi, dark blue Dragon Scales emerged on his arm.

This was the defensive armor Ximeng and Kaierluosi had worked together to create using Dragon Scales.

Boom!

The whip-like dragon tail lashed against the Dragon Scale Armor, emitting blinding sparks; Luoning was knocked flying back by the immense force of this strike, and the huge power made his arm feel quite uncomfortable.

"Phoenix's physical body is extremely powerful; although the Dragon Scale Armor is formidable and sturdy, it twisted and deformed after being struck once."

Luoning estimated that if it took another two or three hits, this bracer would lose its defensive effect.

"Heavy Strike Explosion!"

Ruidar's figure fluttered to a position diagonally above Phoenix and threw a punch, stirring up the surrounding darkness.

But the opponent had vanished like a ghost.

"Is this a spatial attribute ability utilizing shadow energy?"

Luoning was alert in his heart, his Mental Power permeating the entire space, and he keenly captured spatial fluctuations coming from his right side.

"Over here!"

The Vacuum Strangling Technique was unleashed, acting directly upon the half-manifested body of Phoenix; he only felt as if he had fallen into a vortex, left to the mercy of the strangling force tearing at his body.

Rumble—

The energy storm scattered the dark space, and Phoenix's figure retreated explosively; although his extraordinary physical strength allowed him to withstand the Vacuum Strangling Technique, the upturned Dragon Scale also caused him to suffer a slight injury.

Although only three or four rounds had passed in the battle so far, Phoenix already understood the strength of the person before him; this was definitely at the Sage Tier.

Moreover, the strike just unleashed by the red-haired man beside the opponent had definitely also reached the Sage Tier.

These fellows who had come from afar from the Star Continent had already changed the delicate balance of the Xinyue Continent.

Just at this moment, two waves of pressure arrived from the distant sky.

Salonas arrived at Phoenix's side with a gloomy face; he had just observed the battle here with his Mental Power and had not expected such a situation.

Conversely, the white-haired Lian Siers laughed heartily, "Luoning, we have finally met!"

Lian Siers arrived at Luoning's side, "I knew you were strong, but I did not know you were already strong enough to trade blows with Phoenix without falling into defeat."

He said, "Shadow Shuttle is his specialty; it has made many of us suffer over these years. I did not expect that the first time you encountered it, you would capture his trail so quickly."

Luoning smiled and nodded in greeting; this was the first time the respective leaders of the two continents had met.

"I am relatively sensitive to spatial fluctuations, which is why I was able to capture it."

Over these years, Luoning had been researching the Flame Domain, the Vacuum Strangling Technique, and the Space Inversion ability unlocked by the Liuyan Sword when he ascended to the Sage Tier, and his perception of World Power had become increasingly profound.

Phoenix's Shadow Shuttle was a manifestation of a spatial ability, which was why Luoning had dealt with it relatively easily.

"Lian, let us join forces today and eliminate these two Demon Kings of the Demon Clan here!"

"Hahaha, I have the exact same intention!"

As Lian spoke, a faint ripple spread out from his body; this seemed to be a power of some kind of domain.

As the guardian of the City of Dawn and one of the leaders of the human race, although Lian was a half-step Sage, he had deeply cultivated the field of Magic over these years and mastered many abilities.

"What should we do?" Salonas asked in a low voice.

Phoenix wore a look of unwillingness; he should have no problem dealing with Luoning alone, after all, he had not used his full strength just now.

But Salonas would definitely not be a match for the combined attack of Lian and Ruidar.

"The situation has lost its balance; we need to report to the Demon God and reformulate our plan."

Phoenix waved his large hand, and a terrifying demonic shadow descended from the void, shrouding him and Salonas.

Was this a sign of leaving?

"Kill!"

Luoning's figure moved instantly, his World Power surging to intensify the power of his killing move.

At the same time, Ruidar and Lian also struck almost simultaneously.

Three attacks arrived at once, and the indescribable power swept everything in the vicinity into it; everything within a radius of several miles was destroyed and swallowed, and the terrifying pressure swept in all directions. Everyone in Soul Suppressing Bay was pressed so hard by this momentum that they could not breathe, feeling an urge to kneel and worship.

But even with the combined strike, the terrifying demonic shadow still activated the light of teleportation in time, teleporting Phoenix and Salonas away at the moment of collapse.

"They escaped!" Luoning felt somewhat unwilling.

Over these years, he, Beiluola, and Aierlong had also studied the teleportation arrays of the Wubei Territory; as of now, he still had not fully mastered this ability, which showed the difficulty of spatial teleportation.

Perhaps he could construct a teleportation array map by borrowing the library of the City of Dawn and obtaining guidance from Lian.

"They should have been teleported back to the base deep within the Flame Canyon."

Lian said with a smile, "Luoning, your arrival has brought dawn to the Xinyue Continent. We never thought we could take back this Soul Suppressing Bay so easily!"

As he spoke, he bowed to Luoning, "On behalf of the countless heroic souls who died here over these years, I extend my highest gratitude to you!"

Luoning hurriedly helped him up, "Eliminating the Demon Clan is not only the responsibility of the humans of the Xinyue Continent, but also the duty of us people from the Star Continent."

Sensing that the enemies over at Bolte Town seemed to have received orders from Phoenix and Salonas and were now retreating, he knew that this war had come to a preliminary end.

The further it went into the later stages, the more the clashes and victories between the top-tier powerhouses determined the direction of the entire war.

If they could have killed Phoenix and Salonas today, with only the Storm Demon King left on the Xinyue Continent, it would be much simpler for them to deal with things.

"We need to come up with a way to restrict their ability to teleport like this."

Luoning proposed, "I wonder if the City of Dawn has any research in this area?"

"We have also been actively researching spatial locking abilities over these years, but because it involves time and space, it has always been in a state of collapse and has not succeeded."

Lian said, extending an invitation, "You just said you were relatively sensitive to space; perhaps you could also join our research."

"I would be more than happy to!"

The two exchanged a few more words before landing on the ground.

Soul Suppressing Bay, this prosperous port city that once connected the two continents, was finally under the control of the human race once again, and it would surely return to prosperity in the future.

"They are beyond saving."

Lian looked at the enslaved people of Soul Suppressing Bay who were still holding weapons and resisting Luoning's team.

Facing Luoning's proposal to try and rehabilitate this group of people, he, as the leader of the City of Dawn, could only feel helpless.

"The Nightmare Evil Power surges within their bodies, and their souls have already been domesticated; their thoughts have long been branded with 'everything for the Witch Soul Clan.' No matter what method you use, you cannot make them normal human beings. Even their descendants are the same."

Lian shook his head, "Therefore, granting them death is the greatest mercy to them, and it is also a manifestation of being responsible to our soldiers and the public."

Luoning could not help but sigh, "Alright, I understand!" (End of chapter)