Chapter 118: Sudden Attack

Darkness.

Boundless darkness.

In the thick, viscous, suffocating despair of darkness, a speck of seven-colored crystal light suddenly flashed.

It was a palace assembled from countless multicolored crystals, its surface covered with innumerable long and short crystal clusters extending outward, each tip of a cluster spraying out extremely fine seven-colored crystal light.

Inside the modest crystal palace, beside a seven-colored crystal platform, two translucent bodies entwined.

The burly man and the lovely girl let out low growls, their bodies wildly colliding, producing a crisp 'ding-ding' sound.

Light flowed over their bodies, strong lights merging together, rising and falling like flames.

Behind them, in the palace, two colossal muscular figures a thousand zhang tall knelt.

Their skin was ancient bronze, their bodies burly, muscles knotted, covered in long hair; these two bodies were identical to the ox hero Wu Tie had seen, their aura even more overbearing.

Their chests were pierced by a crystal spear, the spear embedded in their bodies, flashing with blinding light.

Their skulls were lifted, their crania filled with seven-colored, molten-crystal-like grease; two wicks about the thickness of a rice grain extended from their skulls, and two hundred-meter-wide seven-colored flames blazed.

The seven-colored flames illuminated the entire hall, making the crystal palace even more bizarre and illusory.

Two burly giants knelt on the ground, arms outstretched like a giant holding up the sky, using their arms and sturdy backs to support a crystal mirror three kilometers in diameter, nearly a hundred meters thick, its surface faintly lustrous and rippling like water.

Rosy light swirled across the mirror's surface, occasionally a dim human silhouette flashing by.

A sheet of rosy light hovered before the mirror, within which countless hard-stroked characters, like facets of shattered crystal, flowed downward.

After who knows how long, when the light flames on the man and woman in the hall suddenly peaked, a silhouette emitting golden strong light on the mirror abruptly froze.

A piercing cry rang out from the crystal mirror, a sharp screech like a billion crystal glasses shattering simultaneously, heart-rending, filling the air with an extreme sense of agitation and unease.

The entwined man and woman suddenly separated, both gazing at the crystal mirror. Flowing light swirled, and an elaborate, complex suit of armor appeared on them out of thin air; they rose into flight, arriving before the mirror, fixing their gaze on the tiny golden figure within.

"Supreme threat?" the man muttered lowly: "Is it in our territory?"

The woman placed her hands on the mirror, squinting as she sensed for a moment: "The aura is vague, the distance far. It's not our concern; it's the territory of that cold-faced, cold-hearted ice block group… hehe, they're in trouble."

"Still weak, but the growth rate of this weakness is terrifyingly fast." the man gloated: "Perhaps in just a few years, the territory they monitor will spawn a huge problem."

The woman and man exchanged a glance, both eyes flashing with a mysterious light.

"Don't inform them." The man pointed, instantly erasing a rapidly flashing line of bloody text on the light screen.

"We didn't detect it." The woman smiled, lightly wiping her hands across the mirror, clearing the tiny figure completely: "The aura is so faint, the distance so far… even the Heaven-Patrolling Mirror isn't omnipotent."

"Even if we informed them, in such a vast territory they'd never know how many years it would take to find him." The man said calmly: "Let them conserve a bit of strength, let this danger reveal itself… that's our goodwill."

"I hope this danger becomes stronger." The woman narrowed her eyes, speaking viciously: "Those ice blocks are truly annoying… do you remember the piece of primordial ore they snatched from my hand?"

The man placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, speaking low: "Why bring up these old stories? Don't disturb our mood… while we're on duty together, your damned fiancé was transferred out… let's not waste time."

The woman giggled, and the two quickly descended back to the ground, returning to the crystal platform.

The 'ding-ding' collision sound rang out again, and the two bodies once again surged with bewildering flames. Within their translucent forms, massive energies rolled and merged; each time their energies combined, they became denser, purer, stronger.

This was not merely a ritual for procreation; it was evidently a wondrous, bizarre cultivation method.

On the Heaven-Patrolling Mirror, silhouettes of light continued to drift by, some brighter, some dimmer, occasionally flashes of rosy light indicating the surroundings of those figures.

Long, deep tunnels, various-sized stone caves, simple or elaborate stone dwellings… or beside lava rivers, in lava lakes, within subterranean yin rivers…

The figures' light varied in strength, but even the combined light of tens of thousands of them could not match the brilliance of that earlier golden figure.

At the instant the golden figure appeared, it was precisely the moment Wu Tie consumed the Blazing Three Tribulations Fruit, condensed the Chonglou Heavenly Lock, and officially stepped into the Half-Step Chonglou Realm.

The 'ding-ding' impact sound continued without cease, when suddenly a roar echoed and the heavy seven-colored crystal stone gate of the hall was kicked open.

A tall, mighty figure engulfed in seven-colored blazing flames, with an astonishingly massive aura, stormed into the hall, clad in heavy armor, wielding a long halberd, followed by dozens of sturdy men whose aura was like wolves and tigers, fierce and brutal.

At a glance they saw the man and woman wildly entwined on the crystal platform; the halberd-wielding giant immediately let out a hysterical roar.

The halberd tore through the void, and with a 'boom' struck the stiff, unmoving man and woman.

The man and woman were blasted flying, their heads smashing into the huge Heaven-Patrolling Mirror.

The Heaven-Patrolling Mirror emitted a low rumble, tilted slowly under the impact of the pair, and finally crashed down heavily.

The two burly figures supporting the Heaven-Patrolling Mirror also toppled askew, the viscous seven-colored grease in their skulls splashing out, instantly igniting large flames in the hall that rapidly melted the crystal stones on the floor.

"Listen to my explanation!" the blown-away man shrieked hoarsely, staggering to his feet.

"You desecrated my family's honor, die!" the halberd-wielding man strode forward, thrusting his weapon and piercing the man's chest.

The man's body stiffened, then exploded into countless tiny crystal shards.

"Dear, hear me out!" the woman lying on the ground screamed shrilly.

In response, a particularly burly man among the invading warriors swung his sword with all his might.

"You desecrated our family's honor… you must die." The woman's beautiful head flew high, she let out a despairing cry, and her body likewise shattered into fragments.

The entire hall shuddered violently, a deep, mighty, awe-inspiring voice boomed: "You little brats, what happened? Damn it, who knocked over the Heaven-Patrolling Mirror? You… you really know how to… stir up trouble."

A group of men dropped to one knee, bowing their heads deeply, silent.

The Heaven-Patrolling Mirror has fallen… now we're in trouble… raising it again won't be easy. Just hoping that, during the time we spend re-erecting the mirror, no dangerous figures will emerge from the hazardous region they monitor.

Otherwise… it'll truly be a problem.

In a narrow stone crevice, Wu Tie poked out half his face, gazing into the distance.

Wu Nu cradled the Wind and Cloud Banner, lying on Wu Tie's head, likewise mischievously looking far away.

Below lay a canyon of towering boulders, hundreds of li wide, its length unknown; after all, the giant clan had spent vast time exploring both sides, yet never discovered the origin or end of this great canyon.

At the widest point of the canyon ahead, a river over ten li wide surged forward.

On one side of the river, a cliff bears a huge mouth over two hundred meters high, its entrance over a thousand meters above ground, with a simple, broad stone stairway carved into it, allowing passage from the riverbank to the mouth's exterior.

On the cliffs flanking the mouth, using exceedingly exquisite craftsmanship, vast monumental stone murals were carved.

There were scenes of giants battling giant birds, giants fighting giant beasts, giants cleaving mountains, and giants damming rivers.

The stone carvings contain many ordinary human figures; using them as reference, the giants in these murals are normally under ten meters tall, with sturdier ones reaching twenty or thirty meters…

And in some of these stone murals, the giants' height, calculated by scale, reaches roughly two to three hundred meters.

The largest giant statue, his feet on the riverbank, his head under the dome above; by proportion, his height could be tens of thousands of meters. Beside the giant, silver hook and iron etchings carved two huge ancient seal characters—'Dragon Count'!

'Dragon Count,' Wu Tie's eyes flickered with light; he seemed to have thought of something, but couldn't recall it for a moment. This seemed like deeper memory knowledge; to retrieve it from Old Tie's inherited knowledge would take considerable time.

However, the Changsheng Sect members blocking that huge entrance were obviously not interested in those two characters.

Outside the entrance, twelve Changsheng Sect-exclusive levitating flying vessels hovered in a row; Zhu Zixi, dressed in fine robes, sat upright at the prow of one vessel, angrily scolding: 'Yan Hanlu, I see you have some talent; I will take you as my attendant… and have you personally serve Yu Mo—this is your great fortune.'

You actually stole treasure and fled… you, you, you, you—do you think you deserve this kindness of mine?

Moreover, Yan Mo, the elders of your Yan family have already submitted; Yan Mo, you and a few other obstinate people, you cling to futile resistance, refusing to obey my Changsheng Sect's rule—do you think you have a chance to win?

Furthermore, Shi Fei… what a bold Shi Fei, bringing a few diehards to escape is bad enough, but you actually poisoned the Shi family's granary, destroying all stored grain…

You even had people collapse and destroy all the Shi family's mines; for a long time, no ore could be extracted from the Shi family's mines… very good, you've got guts.

Inside the pitch-black entrance came Shi Fei's 'honest' voice: 'Grand Elder, you also forgot one thing: under my direction, all the Shi family's mounts were poisoned to death, all their stockpiled refined metal was poured into the magma, and all their wealth was hidden away…'

In other words, aside from a band of traitors, the Shi family left you nothing—not even a fart—spotlessly clean; are you pleased?

Shi Fei laughed brightly.

Zhu Zixi's face grew very dark; he calmly said, 'I am quite pleased, pleased enough to have you sliced to pieces.'

He waved his right hand; a great cloud of blood mist rolled and rose, a huge blood-colored skull slowly rose from behind Zhu Zixi, a seal from a skull-button flew from his forehead, turning into a bolt of blood light that slammed heavily into the entrance.

On both sides of the entrance, countless stone giant statues simultaneously flashed a burst of strong yellow light; a thick halo of yellow light appeared outside the entrance, within which huge stones and mountain peaks continually flickered and rotated.

The cliff face trembled violently as a howling wind swept outward in all directions.

Near the entrance, the boulders rumbled and shook; some with shallow foundations were uprooted, rolling away, blown far off by the wind.

The ground was in utter chaos; the river below surged with huge waves, crashing heavily against the banks.

The yellow light flickered slightly, unbroken.

Shi Fei's laughter came: 'Grand Elder, it's useless; this is the ancestral land of the giant clan of the Cangyan Realm, also their burial ground—all the ancestors' bones are buried deep in the caves, fused with the earth's veins and spirits.'

With the ancestors' power, though the forefather is only a half-step Life Pool Realm, the defensive force he can exert is not inferior to that of a Life Pool Realm.

Plus, giants are innately skilled at defense… you cannot breach this place.

Shi Fei enthusiastically suggested to Zhu Zixi: 'Why not take your people and leave? Staying here accomplishes nothing… how much time can you afford to waste here?'

Zhu Zixi snorted coldly: 'The giant clan eats enormous amounts; they rely on your Shi family to ship massive quantities of grain each month, or they will starve… I indeed have little time to waste, but holding out until you all starve to death is no problem.'

Shi Fei's laughter cut off abruptly.

After a long, long while, Shi Fei finally spat out resentfully: 'So cruel, so cruel, you are so cruel… starve to death, be starved to death? You'd be better off rushing in and having me sliced to pieces.'

Zhu Zixi laughed gleefully, waved his hand, and the skull-button seal blasted out again.

With a booming roar, the blood light and yellow light violently shook; the twelve flying vessels kept swaying, a wisp of smoke came from diagonally ahead, Wu Tie let out a loud long howl, heavily landing on the prow of a flying vessel, the White Tiger Split brought forth dozens of cold lights, piercing the chests of dozens of Changsheng Sect disciples.

The White Tiger Split emitted a low tiger roar; each Changsheng Sect disciple's body burst into a cloud of blood mist.

Having succeeded in one strike, Wu Tie did not linger but turned and left.

Zhu Zixi stared, then suddenly rose to his feet, letting out a hoarse long howl as he turned into a vast sheet of blood light chasing after Wu Tie.