Chapter 354: Butian Alliance! (First update, seeking monthly votes!)

Ding!

Just as the red light was about to pierce into Ao Zhun's pupil, at that critical moment, his eyelids slammed shut, using them to block the incoming threat.

But the defense of the eyelids alone was not enough; although the obstructed red light slowed down slightly, it still successfully pierced through the eyelid and into the eyeball.

Sss—

"Ahhh!!!"

Ao Zhun felt excruciating pain and let out a shrill howl.

But this was not the end; the red light continued to press inward, and if not stopped, it would directly pierce his brain!

Yet Ao Zhun had been through a hundred battles, and his reaction speed was extremely fast.

At this critical juncture, he did not hesitate, directly clawing at his own left eye and digging out half of the eyeball with his sharp claws!

Ao Zhun angrily flung away the eyeball containing the red light, and the moment it left his hand, that half of the eyeball began to burn rapidly in mid-air.

One can imagine what the result would have been if Ao Zhun's actions had been a step slower.

Crackle, crackle.

Accompanied by the sound of flames scorching the eyeball, the red light revealed its true form.

It was a crimson Dragon-Patterned Long Staff, with crimson flames burning at both ends.

Just as Ao Zhun was about to retrieve the Dragon-Patterned Long Staff, the staff transformed back into red light and swooshed away, dodging the dragon claw.

However, this time it did not flee into the distance, but instead made a turn and flew into the hands of a sturdy man wearing a mask.

The man appeared silently within the Thunderstorm Cloud Cluster, extremely close to Ao Zhun, yet this old Dragon King had not been alert at all!

!!!

Ao Zhun did not say a single word and directly attacked, whipping his tail toward the man.

The tail-whip was extremely fast, and the tip of the tail carried the myriad lightning bolts from within the thunderstorm cluster, directly crashing toward where the man was.

Boom!

The man's figure was directly shattered.

It turned into a ball of flame and re-condensed in another spot.

Clap, clap, clap.

The reappearing man seemed to have forgotten about Ao Zhun's tail-whip; he clapped his hands and praised sincerely:

"Should I say as expected of the East Sea Dragon King? The sneak attack I meticulously prepared for a day was so easily broken by you; it truly makes me feel ashamed!"

He took a breath and sighed:

"As expected, is it still too difficult to plot against an Ask Dao Peak?"

He was talking to himself, appearing completely defenseless, but Ao Zhun did not strike again.

This guy... is not simple.

From his attack to his technique, the man revealed a sense of incongruity in every aspect, causing Ao Zhun not to act rashly again.

The old Dragon King, blind in one eye, stared gloomily with his only remaining eye at this guy who was still talking to himself after a sneak attack, and growled:

"Who are you?"

His voice was low, and as he spoke, it was accompanied by the sound of thunder and lightning exploding, as if a thunderstorm were detonating in one's mind.

The man blinked as if waking from a dream and asked curiously:

"Me? Did I not introduce myself yet? Forgot, forgot!"

The man slapped his forehead as if he had finally come to his senses, then slapped the mask he was wearing.

"Sorry! I was just too excited; this is my first time acting under this identity, and I actually forgot this most basic etiquette."

After speaking, he held the staff and bowed respectfully to Ao Zhun, smiling:

"Dragon King, you can see that I am wearing a mask, so I regret that I cannot tell you my true name."

"But it doesn't matter; what my true name is is not important. You can just call me by my codename—Xianglou."

"Butian Alliance Xianglou, greets the East Sea Dragon King."

The man who called himself Xianglou performed the bowing motion meticulously; one could not tell at all that he had been assassinating Ao Zhun in secret just a moment ago.

"... Butian Alliance?"

What kind of faction was this?

Ao Zhun's brows were tightly locked; he searched his mind but could not find any relevant information.

"It is normal for the Dragon King not to have heard of us, because although our Butian Alliance was founded a long time ago, we have always operated in the shadows and never revealed our tracks."

Xianglou saw Ao Zhun's confusion and explained at the right moment:

"A Dragon King who has cultivated to this level must surely know about the fact that Heaven and Earth are incomplete today, right?"

"The Heavenly Dao is flawed, preventing all living things from attaining Chang Sheng. We are unwilling to accept the status quo, so we formed an alliance to mend the flaws of the Heavenly Dao ourselves."

Its name is... Butian!

Hearing Xianglou's words, Ao Zhun could not help but want to sneer.

Delusional!

So many Immortal Gods fell back then, and Heaven and Earth underwent such a great change; how could you possibly mend this Heaven?

"We can mend it!"

Xianglou saw Ao Zhun's sneer and said with a firm attitude:

"We have already achieved results!"

He was trembling with excitement and said fanatically:

"The four Four Symbols Lords have all taken a half-step forward; although they have not yet successfully broken through the barrier of Chang Sheng, they have all advanced further, reaching a new realm!"

"Half-Step Immortal God!!!"

"The Alliance Leader has walked further than the Four Symbols Lord, only a thin line away from true Immortal Gods."

"Chang Sheng, it is within reach!"

In his loss of composure, Xianglou's aura became somewhat chaotic, erupting with Ask Dao strength no less than Ao Zhun's.

And just as Ao Zhun struggled to identify the source of this power, Xianglou quickly calmed down again, disguising himself once more.

"Cough, cough, I lost my composure a bit."

He looked at Ao Zhun, his attitude extremely sincere:

"Dragon King, my attack just now had no other purpose; I only wanted to test your true strength."

"I have come this time precisely to invite you to join us and become a member of the Butian Alliance."

Ignoring Ao Zhun's increasingly ugly expression, Xianglou firmly extended an olive branch:

"As a powerhouse at the Ask Dao Peak, you will directly obtain the same 'Twelve Star Sequence Envoy' status as me; we are all at the Ask Dao realm."

"Below, there are Twenty-Eight Constellation Envoys of the Wuxiang realm to command, and above, there are only the five people including the Four Symbols Lord and the Alliance Leader."

"Come! Join us!"

"Let us plan the great cause together! Mend this broken Heavenly Dao! Return Chang Sheng to all living things!"

After saying this, Xianglou's entire being was emotionally stirred, surrounded by flickering firelight, as if he might explode at any moment.

But opposite him, Ao Zhun's emotions were completely different.

Gloomy, icy, disdainful.

The one-eyed old Dragon King let out a mocking laugh:

"Join you?"

"What kind of joke are you telling?"

Regarding Xianglou's rhetoric, Ao Zhun scoffed, not believing it at all.

"Twenty-Eight Constellation Envoys? Twelve Star Sequence Envoys? Since when did Ask Dao and Wuxiang become such cheap things?"

Ao Zhun was not clear about the specific situation in the Four Great Divine Continents, but he knew the situation in the Four Seas, and could generally deduce some things.

Wuxiang as common as dogs, Ask Dao walking everywhere?

What a joke!

How many Ask Dao and Wuxiang are there in the entire world combined?

Your Butian Alliance alone occupies more than forty!!?

Therefore, Ao Zhun did not believe a word of what Xianglou said.

"If you really had such strength, why not just dominate the world? Why go to such trouble?"

"If the Human Race could be this united, the Demon Race would have been completely wiped out by you long ago."

Facing Ao Zhun's sarcasm, Xianglou laughed out loud and shook his head vigorously: "Human Race? Demon Race? No, you are wrong!"

"When did I ever say that the Butian Alliance belongs to the Human Race?"

"Furthermore, if the Butian Alliance were a Human Race power, why would I invite you, Dragon King, to join?"

Ao Zhun narrowed his eyes, also discovering a point he had taken for granted and overlooked.

That's right.

Why would they invite me?

"Although we do not know each other's true identities or specific powers within the Butian Alliance, we can still distinguish the most basic races."

"We come from the Four Great Divine Continents, from beyond the Four Seas; there are humans and there are demons!"

"Before Chang Sheng, what difference is there between demon and human? There is no difference!"

"We do not care about these trivial matters! We care even less whether you are righteous or evil! We join the Butian Alliance for only one thing... mending the Heaven!"

"We only live for Chang Sheng!"

Chang Sheng!!!

A nightmare that has trapped countless cultivators.

How many heaven-gifted geniuses have bowed their heads here? How many heroes have gone mad for this?

Ao Zhun was also a member of this path of no return.

Xianglou's words touched the greatest taboo in Ao Zhun's heart, making him suddenly quiet down.

The Thunderstorm Cloud Cluster, which had been irritable for days, quieted down, with only Xianglou's voice echoing within it, pouring into Ao Zhun's ears.

"Cast aside those decaying prejudices and join us; together we will mend the Heavenly Dao!"

"As for dominating the world, that is merely a small matter; we just haven't wanted to do it before, not that we couldn't."

"However, we have changed some of our policies over these years and have already made many preparations in various places."

"Let us work together!"

"Hoo..."

After a long time, the motionless Ao Zhun slowly moved, his eyes looking toward Xianglou.

Then, in the eyes of Xianglou's anticipation, he opened his mouth and said wearily:

"Why did you only come now..."

"If you had come a little earlier, how good that would have been."

"How good... it would have been..."

?

Xianglou, who was still full of anticipation, had his expression change, and his figure turned into a ball of fire and retreated violently!

In the very next instant, the space where he had previously been was bombarded by countless thunderbolts!

But he was still a step too late; half of his body could not transform into flames in time and collided head-on with the sky full of lightning.

Boom!!!

The voice of Ao Zhun, like a fierce ghost, resounded through Heaven and Earth!

"Why didn't you come to find me sooner!!?"

The aging Dragon King let out a desolate roar:

"It's too late!!!"

"I no longer have a chance!"

His final chance had already been destroyed; there was absolutely no hope left.

"It's all... your fault!"

The twilight dragon danced wildly, lightning snakes flashed, and they ravaged the sea of clouds.

Ao Zhun vented the anger in his heart crazily, throwing Heaven and Earth into complete chaos.

He no longer cared what exactly he was attacking, while Xianglou, who had originally been his target, had already escaped outside the thunderstorm cluster.

"Cough, cough... Damn it!!!"

Xianglou looked very comical at this moment; half of his body was unscathed, while the other half was pitch black, and his hair had exploded into a ball.

Although he had taken a violent strike from Ao Zhun, other than looking disheveled, he had not suffered any major injuries.

"Tsk! I misjudged him; this old fellow doesn't harbor hope, but has long since become completely Demon-possessed... and made me waste so much breath for nothing."