Chapter 177 - 169 Guardian!
Just as the Blade Master, old Wang, Zhan Yunyi, and the Evil Monarch were seated in meditation to recover from their injuries, Shang Sheng and Du Tianyang, whose injuries were lighter, climbed up that Stone Mountain to bring down Yao Wumeng, previously taken up there by the Five Demon Gods.
However, when they reached the protruding part of the stone mountain, they discovered that not a single person was there. After a thorough search, they indeed could not find Yao Wumeng. It seemed that Yao Wumeng had awakened during the battle among the ten and had swiftly escaped; it was now impossible to determine when he had escaped or where he had gone.
Even if they had wanted to pursue him, there was no way to do so.
The two jumped down and spoke of Yao Wumeng’s disappearance to the Evil Monarch who, to their surprise, seemed quite astonished. However, he didn’t say much; instead, he took a golden elixir from Zhan Yunyi and focused on refining the azure flame with great effort.
This azure fire from the Glassy Azure Candle was truly domineering. Though it had lost the support of the Candle Blaze Command, the Glassy Azure Candle flame absorbed by the Evil Monarch was still stubbornly burning.
At that moment, the Evil Monarch was beginning to regret his actions; he had whimsically thought about using a secret technique to make the Glassy Azure Candle fire his own, but he had underestimated the flame.
Nevertheless, after swallowing the golden elixir, he hadn’t completely refined the Glassy Azure Candle fire, but he had managed to suppress it within his body, planning to refine it slowly later on. By then, old Wang and Zhan Yunyi had also somewhat recovered. At the very least, they no longer had any trouble moving around, but complete recovery would still take some time.
Seeing that the few of them were not in too much trouble—aside from Zhan Yunyi, whose Divine Crystal was damaged and therefore difficult to recover—the Evil Monarch called the others together.
Of course, before this, Shang Sheng and Du Tianyang had already excavated the Divine Crystals from the three deceased Demon Gods, and bound Chu Zhan who had been directly hit by Shang Sheng’s Star Sinker Divine Dragon but had not died.
It is worth mentioning that in their battles, only Shang Sheng captured his opponent alive; all the others, without exception, had killed theirs outright.
After securing the still unconscious Chu Zhan, the five of them sat down together. The Evil Monarch checked over the group and then suddenly burst into laughter, "True to the name of the Five Evil Monarchs’ brethren. Not a single one lost, we utterly defeated the Myriad Demons Country’s Five Demon Gods. This proves that we brothers indeed are the most formidable!"
Finished speaking, the remaining four also exhibited smiles, particularly old Wang. He had first defeated Yao Wumeng, rendering him powerless in combat; then, he had slain one of the Five Demon Gods, Han Ling. Despite sustaining serious injuries himself, at least his life was not in danger. It could be said that this time, the Netherworld’s Five Battle Generals had achieved a grand victory!
After a pause, the Evil Monarch continued, "However, we still should not underestimate those Five Demon Gods. Now, let me share two discoveries with you, and you will understand why I say this. First, the reason we won so decisively, I suspect, is because our Guardian intervened!"
This statement undoubtedly aroused curiosity among the four; the Guardian? That formidable being ranked just below the Domain Lord. Although the Netherworld’s Five Battle Generals had seen the Domain Lord on several occasions and were under his direct command, when it came to the Guardian, the five had only heard of him but had never seen him.
Because the Guardian was the most mysterious individual in the Netherworld World, immensely powerful but unseen by anyone. There were legends that the Guardian could be any person in the Netherworld World; it might be a soldier guarding the city, a common resident, or even a friend by your side. Some say the Guardian is the Domain Lord of the Netherworld World itself.
Nevertheless, the identity of the Guardian is incredibly mysterious. This is not unique to the Netherworld World but is the same across the several Great Divine Nations, each harboring a Guardian shrouded in utmost secrecy. It is said that the Guardian of the Dominion of Soil, who was collectively slain years earlier, was an ordinary palace maid.
After the people killed the Domain Lord of the Dominion of Soil, the maid suddenly turned hostile, killing dozens of Domain Lord level fighters in succession.
If it hadn’t been for several Domain Lords suppressing her with the World Suppressing Stele, the Guardian might have slain everyone before hurriedly departing. From this, one can gauge the formidable strength of a Divine Nation’s Guardian. And the one from the Netherworld World, even more so, was no weaker than the one from the Dominion of Soil.
"Boss, are you saying that the Guardian called Star Sinker intervened? But why would she help us?"
"It’s very likely. Because while Fen Yan and I had just begun fighting, I suddenly felt someone breaking through space and appearing above that Stone Mountain, and it was at that moment that Yao Wumeng escaped. It wasn’t just me; Fen Yan probably sensed it too!"
"The Boss is right; I felt it too. When I was fighting Jue Cha, because of my carelessness, Jue Cha managed to deceive me with his doppelgangers, and his long sword pierced through my chest. Just as my nerves were about to be destroyed by his Sword Intent, I suddenly felt a cold breeze at my back, and then Jue Cha was dead. Now, it seems that it was Lord Guardian who saved me," spoke Zhan Yunyi.
Hearing Zhan Yunyi speak like this, the others nodded in agreement because at that time, everyone was locked in a life and death struggle with their own opponents, and no one had stepped in to save him. The Evil Monarch patted Zhan Yunyi on the shoulder and inquired about his injuries before continuing, "Well, that settles it then.
Since Lord Guardian has already made a move, this matter is not something we can intervene in. So, let’s clean up and head back to report to the Domain Lord!"
"Now that this matter is settled, I have another thing to say, and that is the five Demon Gods we just faced very likely weren’t their true selves!"
Explore more stories at empire
The surprise that statement brought was even more shocking than the news about Lord Guardian taking action. Not their true selves? Then who were they? And where were their true selves? Could they have gone after the little princess?
"But you all don’t need to be too surprised, I’m just speculating. Firstly, even though the Myriad Demon King regards the little princess highly, it’s unlikely that he’d allow five Demon Gods to commit suicide to enter the Netherworld World. The Myriad Demon King should be very clear that once his people come here, there is absolutely no hope of returning.
Moreover, he wouldn’t personally descend here to take the five back, not to mention that the Domain Lord would have definitely taken direct action."
"Secondly, those Five Demon Gods were renowned figures on par with us. Even with a Guardian stepping in, it shouldn’t have been possible for them to be wiped out just like that. With our level of combat power, who doesn’t have a few ultimate moves tucked away? But what about those five? They were annihilated without even using any ultimate moves.
Do you think it was because they didn’t have the chance to use them?"
After the Evil Monarch put it that way, everyone gave it some careful thought and indeed found it to be true. Even though the battle was hard-fought, the opponents’ combat power was obviously lacking in several aspects, and they hadn’t used any terrifying ultimate moves. Even if Old Wang’s sudden explosion threw them into disarray, it wasn’t to the extent that they were so easily defeated.
"However, the biggest reason I suspect they weren’t their true selves is that after I killed Fen Yan, his weapon, the Fenji Command, actually disappeared by itself. An ancient divine object that has recognized an owner will turn into a sealed state once its master dies, but it would never vanish into thin air. So, the speculation that these five people aren’t the true selves, is very likely true!"
Suddenly, everyone fell silent, their previous joy of victory unconsciously fading away.
"What’s the matter with you guys? Is it really that big of a deal? Who cares if they weren’t the true selves? If we can annihilate their doppelgangers once, we can do the same to their true selves when they come. What’s there to fear? Besides, it’s not certain that the doppelgangers are any weaker than the true selves.
What’s more, having been completely wiped out this time, their strength is definitely compromised. In the future, they will be even less likely to be our match. Don’t you agree?" Nôv(el)B\\jnn
The youngest, Zhan Yunyi, couldn’t stand the silence. In his view, whether it was the doppelganger or the true self, show up and get beaten; if we can annihilate you once, we can annihilate you twice.
Hearing him say that, everyone’s mood improved a bit. The Evil Monarch took the opportunity to say some more morale-boosting words. Then the five cleaned up the battlefield and headed straight for the Netherworld Palace where Yue Huangquan resided.
Regardless, the five of them had completed their mission. They had successfully intercepted and killed the reinforcements from Myriad Demons Country that were sent to pursue the little fox.
Moreover, aside from Old Wang, the four had made a special trip to the edge of the Netherworld World to reinforce the spatial passageway connecting the Netherworld World with Myriad Demons Country, which is why they had arrived so much later than Old Wang.
Despite some lingering doubts, this affair was now concluded.
Meanwhile, in one of the Netherworld World’s ten major Inner Cities of the Myriad Demons City, which is the city established in the Netherworld World by people from the Myriad Demons Country after their deaths, the City Lord’s Mansion contained a mysterious chamber where, suddenly, a man with two huge swords appeared out of nowhere. It was none other than Yao Wumeng.
As it turned out, he had regained consciousness at the time of the arrival of the Evil Monarch and the others and had taken the opportunity of their chaotic battle to escape to this secret chamber below Myriad Demons City using the Fenji Sword to slice open space. However, transversing space took a massive toll on soul power, so at this moment, Yao Wumeng was on the brink of death!
(Two chapters today. Also, I have a meeting to attend tomorrow, so I’m not sure if I will have time to update. Please forgive me. Also, remember to vote daily!)