819 - Black Moon Warships
Chapter 819 - Black Moon Warships
When the silly dog was interrupted just as it was going to brag about itself, it leered at the two people, but then seemed to realize that this was not the time to chitchat, and immediately responded, "Woof... they should still be alive. We were always together, but they're now still trapped in the chaotic windstorms and are being pursued by the Black Moon Divine Palace. Woof woof, hurry up and follow me, I can explain on the way!"
Hearing that they were alright, the tightly stretched string in Ye Qingyu's heart could finally loosen somewhat.
Yet, seeing the silly dog reveal a rare serious expression, he knew very well that the Heaven Wasteland envoy mission was in hot water and needed to be rescued without delay.
Subsequently, without thinking too much else, the duo picked up the silly dog and allowed it to lead the way. Turning into two beams of flowing light, they rapidly swept across the air.
Two fissure-like trails of light lingered in the Void for a long time.
In the chaotic Void outside of Inferno City.
In the desolate and dark chaotic Void, chaotic windstorms which seemed like they had time-traveled from a primitive age surged non-stop with great impetus.
They raged and roared like ancient dragons and beasts, unremittingly tearing the cosmic stars into fragments.
At the heart of the windstorms quietly drifted a giant blue splendor with a bubble-shaped contour which was several hundred meters in diameter. As windstorms rampaged across endlessly, the splendor was contorted into round or flat shapes intermittently, looking so delicate and weak as though it could burst from the wind pressure at any time. However, covering its surface was a filmy layer of blue gloss, on which ancient and profound formations wandered and flickered, giving off a faint blue fluorescence.
A terribly strange yet majestic power was gradually emitted from the splendor.
An aura like that of an ever-churning ancient ocean emanated from all over the splendor, indistinctly repelling the windstorms which were wildly sweeping in from all directions. Such a sight caused one to involuntarily feel a sense of constriction akin to the approaching of an upsurging wave. No matter how furious and brutal the power of the passing windstorms, this blue splendor which spangled with formations and ancient aura time and again withstood their onslaught.
Surrounding the blue splendor were also six giant warships which were as lofty as mountains.
They were abnormally huge yet ancient, were completely black-bodied, and were made using an unknown material similar to steel. Although they looked rather cumbersome, they, too, could completely withstand the onslaught of the chaotic windstorms. Their surfaces were covered with formation radiances which served as shields, and furthermore, each of these battleships possessed agility which was incommensurate with their massive sizes. Coordinating with one another, they each occupied a point to form an array like that of six stars, thereby hemming in the blue splendor.
On each warship was hung a flag bearing the Black Moon Divine Palace totem.
A highly-terrifying and mysterious energy was continuously released from the midst of the warships to the surroundings, forming a formation light shield which emitted a faint black- and gold-colored mist. This shield protected every one of the warships, allowing them to stand steadily in the midst of the chaotic windstorms without being affected by the raging wind power at all.
At this time, several dozen figures, each of whom gave off a vigorous yuan qi splendor, could be indistinctly seen on the deck of each warship. They stood neatly on both sides of the deck, unceasingly bombarding light-energy cannonballs in the same direction by firing off several dozen light-energy cannons on whose surfaces flickered black formation lusters.
Every cannonball, which contained enough power to destroy a mid-sized city, was fired at the same target, that being the blue splendor which drifted in the midst of the windstorms.
The six arrayed warships aggressively and relentlessly bombarded the blue splendor in the midst of the windstorms with light-energy cannonballs.
Resembling giant meteorites covered in black flames, these cannonballs arrived from all directions and struck heavily on the blue splendor, as if they would only stop when it had been completely destroyed.
Nevertheless, the formations on the blue splendor continued to flicker gently while ripples of light twirled as the splendor tirelessly endured the dual attacks of the wildly-sweeping chaotic windstorms and the incomparably-aggressive giant cannonballs.
Like bubbles in a gale or driftwood among waves, the blue splendor was at a tipping point of imminent danger, as if it could blow up at any time.
At this time, to the east of the array.
A command warship, which looked twice the size of the other warships, stood steadily in the midst of the windstorms.
An old man was sitting on a fauteuil on the bow deck of this command warship. With his eyes squinted, he seemed to have dozed off. He had a bronze-like face on which sharp white brows slanted to his temples while three long and ravine-deep wrinkles cut across his forehead. Though he seemed very old, his vigor remained fierce like no other, and just the tiny wisps of aura which sprang from between his eyebrows were more powerful than those of many young and strong experts.
He wore a black cold-light armor every scale of which was branded with a black-fluorescence-flickering moon shape. The cold light given off by these shapes was incomparably piercing, augmenting the man's powerful appearance by several notches.
Several hundred Black Moon Divine Palace experts stood silently and respectfully behind the old man.
A moment later.
At last, the old man gradually opened his dark-brown eyes which were bright yet profound.
His eye beams were like torches as he peered in the distance at the blue splendor which was endlessly being attacked by the giant cannonballs. In a stentorian voice, he asked, "How many days have gone by?"
"Elder, six days or so," among the neatly-arrayed experts, a young expert who stood in the row closest to the elder hastily replied.
The aura of this young expert had already reached the pinnacle of the Immortal Step realm, yet, while facing the elder who sat comfortably on the fauteuil, he inadvertently betrayed elements of fear.
Beside him, the elder slowly closed his eyes and spoke in a tone which now contained an incredibly-piercing and majestic vigor, "That's too slow, the palace master will be very disappointed in us. Peng Huaibi, dispatch my orders to fill the cannonballs with all of the remaining origin crystals, then increase the fire rate of the six warships to the maximum."
Just as he spoke, a middle-aged man who stood behind to one side, also wearing Black Moon armor, revealed a disapproving look and hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking up, "Elder, having fired for six consecutive days, three Black Moon cannons among the six warships have already sustained chamber explosions. If the fire rate is increased even more, there are likely to be more chamber explosions, which might then mess up the ships' protective formation..."
"Let these chamber explosions happen." Before the middle-aged expert had finished speaking, the elder plainly interrupted, "Do you think, if we return without completing our mission, we'll be better off than being swept into the chaotic windstorms?"
Everyone became dead silent after these words were spoken.
The giant cannonballs roared like rolling thunder.
As more and more terrifying energy was filled into these light-energy cannonballs, they bombarded the blue splendor like a tempestuous hail of bullets.
In the midst of the blue splendor.
Nearly a thousand figures stood shoulder-to-shoulder facing outside, forming a huge human ring squeezed within the splendor.
They were the surviving members of the Heaven Wasteland envoy mission.
Having encountered the surprise attack several days ago, every member had shed a little blood, albeit their bloodstains and wounds had dried up by now. Although they looked sorry and haggard, their expressions at this very moment were fervent and brave, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
A tense and cautious atmosphere pervaded throughout this blue splendor of several hundred meters in diameter, causing one to feel heroically stirred up.
In the middle of the human ring steadily stood a slender and well-proportioned figure with a movingly clear and beautiful face, albeit seeming somewhat feeble.
It was Yu Xiaoxing, the Heaven Wasteland Dynasty's first and only female emperor.
She was wearing a light-yellow palace dress on which were several meandering bloodstains. Her long hair gently fluttered and her face was rather pale, but her bright and clear eyes revealed a definite fortitude and calmness.
A pale golden imperial qi suffused from all over her body, slowly but surely, majestically and fearlessly.
With Empress Yu Xiaoxing at the center, seven figures stood at different sides along the edge of the blue splendor outside the human ring.
Standing to the east side, with blood-colored yuan qi surging through their bodies, were the crazy noodle-eating demon Wen Wan and the plump elder Yan Wushuang. Not far from them, to the northeast and southeast directions, were the blue-yuan-qi-radiance-emitting Ximen Yeshui and the demonic-power-possessing Yan Buhui respectively. Directly opposite them, stationed to the west side, was the imperial family's first martial maniac Hu Yu, while to the northwest and southwest directions were the puce-yuan-qi-bubbling Dragon Turtle Big Demon and the pale-yellow-yuan-qi-shrouded First Princess.
The brilliances of different colors and auras which burst forth from the bodies of these seven people had apparently been worked up to their most intense state, gushing torrentially and endlessly toward the centermost of the formation.
Standing steadily at the centermost position, Yu Xiaoxing snapped her fingers as if to direct the six torrents of yuan qi to enter her palms.
With the golden imperial qi enveloping the converging brilliances, a majestic and vigorous fusion power weaved like a network of veins in all directions, forming blue rays of light which shrouded above everyone's head and firmly supported the outermost blue splendor.
Visibly, the seven people guarding the outermost area of the blue splendor were using their own power to assist Yu Xiaoxing's imperial qi in setting up a defensive formation which could withstand the chaotic windstorms and light-energy cannonballs, thereby protecting all of the Heaven Wasteland envoy mission members within the splendor.
However, it had been a full six days since they became engulfed in the chaotic windstorms.
During this time, in order to preserve each member's life to the best possible extent, these front-liners frantically summoned yuan qi day and night to prop up the protection.
At this very moment, even those with robust yuan qi such as Wen Wan and Hu Yu, or those with unfathomable strength such as Ximen Yeshui, Shuang Wuyan, and Yan Buhui, had become pale-faced and grim-eyed, betraying a laborious look.
In particular, Hu Yu, once the top expert of the Heaven Wasteland's Human Race, had become a little gray-haired, his expression looking tired and haggard.
Meanwhile, as the strongest female in the Heaven Wasteland Domain, the First Princess Yu Junqing was also furrowing her brows and clenching her teeth as she held on strenuously. Even so, the splendor that surged all over her body was nowhere near as dazzling as it used to be.
However, it was the Dragon Turtle Big Demon, who stood at the northwestern side, who looked most exhausted among the six people. His vision had begun to turn turbid and blurred, and he was on the verge of fainting.
Under the increasingly-weak puce yuan qi splendor, his giant shell had become withered, with its originally-puce scales already dulled. A pale-gray layer began to spread over the fine and dense cracks, as if the shell was gradually petrifying after being drained of moisture and vitality. Blood wounds cracked open on his back near his arms, indicating that he was burning his origin power to hold on at all costs despite being in danger of exhaustion.