Chapter 503: An Ill Wind
Chapter 503: An Ill Wind
Translator:Radiant
Editor:Radiant
Within the Eastern Region City of the Calm Sea Prefecture, there was an extravagant restaurant where an azure-robed man and a gray-robed man were sitting, eating and drinking to their hearts' content as they looked outside through the window. With how good the vision of a World Deity was, these people could clearly see the front gate of the conspicuous supervisor residence in spite of their large distance from it.
"Sir, Shang Yi has transformed his appearance, changed his name to Bai Li Shang, and entered Xue Ying's retinue in search of shelter. The investigation has confirmed all of this. What is our next step? Do we search for an opportunity to kill him directly?" the grey-robed man asked. As the two conversed, they simultaneously blocked off forms of probing around them, so they did not fear the possibility of anyone eavesdropping on them.
The azure-robed man looked to the distance with a frown. "Back when the ruins collapsed, a large amount of World Deities scattered in every direction, and we're not sure which of them ended up with the absolute treasure. Furthermore, everyone in that group was scared back then, and they were are all incredibly cautious and timid. Monarch used up any method he could to find a few of them and, in the end, spared no small cost to conduct an investigation through karma… We've found all the others one after another. So far, we've searched 355 World Deities, yet the one who hid away the absolute treasure still eludes us. We might have found another World Deity, but who knows whether this Shang Yi guy really has the absolute treasure…"
After the search of so many World Deities ended up in failure, Monarch Cang Yong began to wonder whether the absolute treasure really was ever hidden within the ruins! However, the large number of treasures and different evidence he received all pointed to one thing…the ruins contained an important absolute treasure. That was precisely why Monarch Cang Yong had spared no effort or resources to look for each and every World Deity.
"Had he been hiding by himself, we could've grabbed him as we wished." The azure-robed man shook his head. "However, he's now relying on his connection with Dong Bo! It was long ago that he first sought help, and he's now one of the commanders of his personal guard. Would Dong Bo really permit us to just grab one of the commanders of his personal guard just like that?"
"What, are you saying Monarch is afraid of Dong Bo?" the gray-robed man couldn't help but blurt out.
"Hmph! Of course, Monarch doesn't fear Dong Bo. Unless it's absolutely necessary, however, he's also unwilling to start a feud." The azure-robed man shot a glance toward the gray-robed man. "It's not that simple to provoke Dong Bo. He is the Bloodshed God Emperor's personal disciple, and he possesses one of those absolute arts of legends. I'm afraid that even if I move, I would not necessarily match his power. Not only that—in the future, he will become a terrifying existence that even Monarch would never dare provoke. Once he becomes a stage four World Deity, he is sure to be an overlord amongst all other stage four World Deities."
The gray-robed man nodded. "What do we do, then?"
"In the end, we're talking about Xue Ying's personal guard; had he been an idle visitor, Xue Ying's protection would not have been too excessive, but he's one of the commanders, so he'll surely try to keep him safe," the azure-robed man's voice became cold as he considered his possibilities. "Either way, Monarch has already paid a huge price for the treasure in the ruins. No matter what, we have to check all the World Deities that fled back then to the last, with no exceptions!"
"Mn." The gray-robed man nodded then suddenly continued, "Look, quickly! Shang Yi has returned to the supervisor residence."
At that moment, Commander Bai Li Shang was flying back from the distance to enter the supervisor residence, followed by a few other soldiers. His expression was relaxed and he seemed to be at ease. After he became a commander of Xue Ying's personal guard, his days became rather free, seeing now nobody dared to provoke him any longer.
"That Shang Yi who was known to be rather handsome has unexpectedly taken on this ordinary tanned appearance." The azure-robed man shook his head. "He's quite cautious." The World Deities that had fled back then were all cautious, which made Monarch Cang Yong's search for them very difficult. Ultimately, he had to resort to tracking them through karma, despite the fact that Monarch Cang Yong himself had not grasped the Karma Deity Heart.
"Very well, everyone is dismissed. I'll be going into closed-door cultivation for a period of time, so unless something important comes up, you guys can do as you see fit," Bai Li Shang gave a casual order then returned to his abode.
"Yes, Commander."
The soldiers also laughingly dispersed.
As Xue Ying's power increased, the other parties from throughout the eastern region of the Calm Sea Prefecture all turned extremely obedient, and even those with rather strong backgrounds and connections who would normally hand over a small amount of faith energy had now temporarily put a limit on their greed. As per their words, "The speed at which Xue Ying cultivates is astonishing, and it won't be long until his power becomes even stronger. By that point, perhaps His Majesty would value him even more, so it's best not to provoke him during his time as a supervisor envoy."
As such, be it Xue Ying's personal guard, or the supervisor army, they were truly without a care.
"These days are truly carefree." Bai Li Shang entered his cultivation room where he obscure time and space to block any prying eyes, and finally took out and opened the wooden case. Inside the case was the same black sphere with uneven patterns from before.
Bai Li Shang lightly stroked the black sphere which, in response, slowly lit up, its uneven patterns sending out rays of light to shine in the surrounding space. The complicated three-dimensional patterns covering up the whole area were still immeasurably profound—the most complex Bai Li Shang had ever witnessed. Even the formation arrays of the Capital were far from being able to compare with them...
The Black Sphere slowly lit up, the uneven patterns giving off rays of light, and shined in the surrounding space. The complicated three-dimensional patterns were still immeasurably profound in the surroundings. The patterns were the most complex that Bai Li Shang had seen in his life. Even the formation arrays of the Capital were far from being able to compare with it.
Monarch Cang staked his life and paid an enormous price, even going as far as to send so many World Deities to die, just to get this! Bai Li Shang caressed the black sphere, as anxiety gathered in his eyes. But what secret do you have? What are you hiding? Is it an absolute art? Is it some fearsome, exotic treasure?"
Over thirty thousand years, Bai Li Shang had thought up all sorts of methods, and all kinds of refining techniques, sensing abilities, even anxiously experimenting with an increasingly large amount of brute force, yet nothing he did managed to disturb the sphere in any way.
He was unable to damage it, to disturb it, or to refine it in any way.
With the exception of using Deity energy to light up the incomparably profound three-dimensional patterns, nothing else seemed to work.
"I can tell that something isn't quite right. Bai Li Shang felt himself grow increasingly anxious. But just what am I doing wrong. What secrets do you hide?"
The treasure was in his hands, yet he was unable to unravel the profound mysteries inside.
Bai Li Shang found himself in a hurry.
The supervisor residence only had a few areas in front reserved as abodes for Xue Ying's personal guard. A much vaster area in the back was left for Xue Ying's family to use as a cultivation ground.
Xue Ying was sitting cross-legged alone, within a sealed gloomy palace hall deep beneath the ground.
"Rumble!"
Countless scenes appeared all around him depicting the crumbling of the world, the collapse of chaos, and even a faint image of the appearance of an extreme point. These were joined by scenes of flowers and plants wilting, of flying insects and grounded beasts aging and turning into desiccated bones, as well as fires raging and turning entire forests into ash.
Countless scenes had appeared, surrounded by a destructive intent that rippled in a way that could strike fear in most people's hearts.
World, Chaos, and Extremity were the three stages of the Large Destruction aspect pertaining to the laws of the world. Xue Ying unceasingly pursued them as the three strongest killing moves he had at the moment. As his destruction spear techniques were perfected, he could also increase his comprehension of the Extremity Deity Heart.
Extremity...
As a young Transcendent, Xue Ying began his comprehension with the True Meaning of Extreme Piercing. But now, he finished his comprehension of the World Deity Heart and the Chaos Deity Heart, while the Extremity Deity Heart still eluded him.
This was because Extreme Piercing and the Extremity Deity Heart were as far apart as the heaven and the earth, and they even followed completely different directions.
While Extreme Penetration walked a path of total extremity, the Extremity Deity Heart itself focused on absolute unification and balance; it was the beginning and end of everything. He had long since understood this point to be true, but of all the beginnings and endings in laws of the world, that incomparably profound one was very hard to truly grasp. Still, Xue Ying's focus on his destruction spearmanship over many years, combined with a deep foundation in the direction of Extremity, he had long since touched that upon that separating layer.
He was separated by what seemed like nothing more than a layer of cloth, yet he still found himself unable to truly breach it. Just separated by a layer of cloth, yet why was he unable to grasp it?
"I can feel myself unceasingly approaching it." Xue Ying smiled faintly, and the countless scenes of destruction surrounding him began to dissipate. There's no hurry. Where water flows, a canal is formed.
Then, he got up.
Xue Ying left the underground palace hall, walking upwards along a flight of stairs before eventually arriving at an outer door. Opening it, Xue Ying walked right out. The palace hall which he just left was a secret area Xue Ying used for cultivation and practice. Without his permission, nobody was allowed to enter. Normally, he would only go as far as to bring his son, daughter, and wife inside, giving out pointers to help solve problems his children faced in their cultivation.
As soon as he walked out, an attendant respectfully called out to him, "Your Majesty, a guest has come over on a visit, and he has already been waiting for two days."