Archfiend

Chapter 217: Danxia Temple (36)

Swish… As Bloodblade’s hand continued to rise up, the expanse of five-colored twilight could no longer be masked. It illuminated everyone’s faces with rich and diverse hues.

At the same time, a kind of supremely pure Five Phases qi gushed out from the shadow. So long as one experienced it, they would totally feel their cultivation surprisingly increase by a hair!

Xuan Chengzi’s gaze twinkled. His hand was already pressed down on the hilt of his sword.

Fahui was expressionless, but his hand clutching at his rosary beads was already becoming faster and faster.

The Heavenmend Stone… This legendary item. Among the leading figures here from among all the present powers, nine out of ten were bound to advance to Foundation Establishment! Once they advanced, this Heavenmend stone would be immediately placed in their qi sea and nourished. Not only was this a great aid towards cultivation, a legendary spirit treasure would also arise at the dawn of late-stage Foundation Establishment!

No one was willing to abandon this destiny!

Bloodblade simply ignored the hidden currents and stormy bubblings of the present mood. In his heart, he let loose a continuous flow of grim laughter. He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, having suppressed his realm to enter this place. In everyone’s eyes, he was a heretic. If the Qi Condensation cultivators united together, he wasn’t their opponent, but if they fought here… 

Once he found a longevity-extending item, these destinies… would all be his! In a century, he would even have the hope for Core Formation! However, at this time, his brows furrowed.

“That’s not right…” he said seriously, “There’s something underneath.”

Everyone quickly turned solemn-faced. This place… was Danxia Temple! On a path with so much mortal danger, if said that the Heavenmend Stone was placed here for them to take, they certainly wouldn’t believe it!

Bloodblade took a deep breath and exhausted all of his strength to suddenly pull!

CRASH!!! Following a boom, the Heavenmend Stone was already in Bloodblade’s hand. Despite this, however, everyone’s gazes, weren’t directed to Heavenmend Stone at all. Instead, they gazed at the stone’s underside… At the chain merged with it!

“This is… a chain?” Ye Old Four studied the chain somewhat incredulously. Merely glancing, he gasped coldly. “Exorcism Godstone… This object is crafted from Exorcism Godstone!”

“Exorcism Godstone?!” Yi Old Five was stunned as well and pursued this line of questioning at once. “Are you sure you aren’t mistaken?”

“Take a look for yourself!”

Yi Old Five walked ahead and stole a few glances. He looked at the chain in shock. “It really is Exorcism Godstone… How is this possible… Exorcism Godstone is the natural enemy of demons in terms of sealing. It’s already been gone for several centuries! Not to mention such a long chain, not even a kilo can be found!”

“The main point isn’t the Exorcism Godstone.” Xu Yangyi looked as well. In his heart, he was rather surprised. If this Exorcism Godstone-crafted chain was placed in the outside world, its value would be simply difficult to estimate! He observed the crowd. “If I haven’t remembered incorrectly, the Exorcism Godstone’s function… is used for suppressing demons.”

“Any demon only requires a chain weighing a few kilograms. All demons at Great Circle Core Formation or below won’t be able to budge. Everyone… such a massive chain—who is it being used to suppress?”

These words caused everyone’s complexions to change!

“Young friend is saying… this is a seal?” Bloodblade’s face also became cautious. His hand tugged at the chain, pulling outwards. He shook his head. “If there is a sealed creature, it died countless years ago. A demon that requires such a large Exorcism Godstone chain is no small matter.” 

Xu Yangyi laughed and said nothing. At this moment, everyone’s pupils constricted. They looked at the chain in disbelief.

The chain… had moved!

Just now, the chain had clearly stirred. And yet, Bloodblade hadn’t moved his hand at all!

Swish! Everyone instantly shifted ten meters away from the chain’s vicinity. This abrupt transformation caused each person’s nerves to stretch out to peak tautness in a flash! 

Down below… there was something! There was something tethered to the chain!

“Senior.” Xu Yangyi saw that Bloodblade was still holding onto the chain and said lowly, “Letting go… is fine now.”

“I want to let go!!!” As Bloodblade turned his head back, his entire face revealed terrible anxiety. “B-But it’s sucking me in! I can’t let go!”

What?!

Shock written on their faces, everyone looked at the chain. It… was actually sucking in so much that a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn’t free his hand?

Crash… A second movement was heard from the chain. This time, it was far more obvious than the first time. It was as if… a creature, dormant for a millennium, had been awaken down below!

At this moment, Xu Yangyi felt three places on his body that were heating up! Scaldingly hot!

One… was the Animus Armament. Presently, it was vibrating chaotically on his chest! Fortunately, its width was small, else not it would’ve been discovered by others long ago! The second… was the hard incomplete shell. It was shaking incessantly in the same manner! The third… was the sword point. If it weren’t for his storage ring, perhaps it would be rushing out at this moment!

It was like… there was something calling on them from underneath!

Swoosh! Bloodblade couldn’t contain himself any longer. Fright colored his entire face, because… he discovered that the chain, this chain at the bottom of the Heavenmend Stone… was being yanked back!

“S-Save me…” He looked at the palm-sized shadow with terrible fear, his voice shaking. He was completely stripped of the bearing a Foundation Establishment cultivator should’ve had. In the next second, his voice fully exploded and transformed into a screech. “Young friends! Save me!! SAVE ME!!!”

Swoosh! The chain abruptly shrunk back into the shadow! Along with Bloodblade’s lung-splitting screech, his foot dragged out a roughly meter-deep scar in the ground. Nonetheless, he was unable to resist the pull!

Everyone stared blankly. No one had even thought of such a transformation!

Not a person moved forward. Everyone’s steps were falling back.

“Junior Brother…” At this time, Fang Cheng moved close, his face dreadfully pale. “We… have to go NOW!”

Xu Yangyi regained his wits and looked at him with a solemn face. “How?”

“I don’t know!” Fang Cheng was already heavily sweating. He gnashed his teeth and flipped over his hand. On the surface, a blood-colored rune was throbbing endlessly. “T-This is a Warning Talisman that Master-Ancestor drew for me… In case a situation occurs that Master-Ancestor can’t save me from, this talisman will then appear and…” His voice was fairly shaky. “This shadow isn’t ordinary… I’m half wolf-demon. A wolf’s sense of smell is several hundred times greater than a human’s! I smelled… I really smelled…” 

Fang Cheng broke out in shivers. Xu Yangyi pressed down on his shoulder and said gravely, “Senior Brother, don’t lose yourself. What did you smell?”

Fang Cheng’s chest heaved up and down violently. He shut his eyes, deeply heaved in and out a few times, and then gritted his teeth. “Demonic qi… Demonic qi so strong that it doesn’t dissipate… I fucking swear, I’ve never smelled such strong demonic qi!”

“Junior Brother, run! There’s something down there! Something living! This chain is sealing some living thing! It hasn’t died! Bloodblade… is screwed!”

Seemingly validating his words, Bloodblade had already been pulled less than a meter away from the shadow!

“Three Suns Open Tai!!!” Bloodblade was already panic-stricken! Following his screech, three suns suddenly appeared above his head. His body seemed to recover its youth! His muscles sharply expanded, and his wrinkles were smoothed out by the swell of his flesh. Even a rosy color emerged on his face! [1]

“HURGH!!!” he fiercely shouted and consumed all his strength to pull back. However, the chain was simply indifferent!

As for his response, it seemed to infuriate the entity down below. In an instant, the chain rumbled, sending Bloodblade flying into the shadow at a speed several times greater than before!

“Save me! Young friends!! Save me! SAVE, THIS THRONE!!! Save…”

The chain came from the shadow, linked to the top of the Heavenmend Stone. And yet Bloodblade was pulled close to the shadow at lightning speed! At this moment, Xu Yangyi’s gaze flashed. He stepped forward, nimble as a monkey! In the blink of an eye, his speed attained the peak of that which he was capable of!

Ding! A brittle sound rang out!

The Heavenmend Stone had been steadily caught in his hand. As for his other hand, it was holding a little chest.

The Animus Armament had unexpectedly sundered the chain, however, he didn’t save Bloodblade. Instead, he merely chopped off the part of the chain connected to the Heavenmend Stone and grabbed on to it. In a second, the look in Bloodblade’s eyes changed from pleasant surprise, to alarm, and then bitter resentment. His voice grunted to a halt.

Like so, Bloodblade was dragged in by the chain without a further sound.

The situation was too strange. To the extent that Xu Yangyi’s hand gripping the Heavenmend Stone actually hadn’t incurred everyone else’s attacks.

Silence. After a few seconds, Ye Old Four regained his wits. His gaze was fiery as he looked at Xu Yangyi. “Fellow Daoist Xu, you…”

He didn’t finish speaking.

Because… at this time… the entire earth started to rumble!

Swish swish swish… All the wilted leaves were chaotically shaken into the air. It was like a level four or five earthquake had violently erupted in this limitless space!

No one found steady footing. At this juncture, nobody was in the mood to pay any further attention to the Heavenmend Stone. On the contrary, they looked under their feet in shock. The entire region had almost fallen apart from the earthquake!

“It’s too late…” Xu Yangyi sucked in deeply and tightly grabbed onto Fang Cheng. “It… has already awakened.”

Before his voice even fell, all the light dots on the surface of the two hard shells in his and Sister Nine’s hands released a dazzling radiance. At the same time, nine light pillars shined upwards from the earth, indistinguishable from first or last! They lead straight to the horizon!

BUUUZZZ! The entire night was dyed by three colors: white, azure, and blue. As these light pillars brightened, the box in Xu Yangyi’s hand began to frantically vibrate!

Xu Yangyi’s hand was relaxed, but the Animus Armament… brought his finger towards a place!

It… was the very first thing he had seen, the place where the giant white entity was located!

“Fang Cheng!” As the earth quaked, he turned his head back and gritted his teeth. “Take everyone and leave this place!”

“What about you?!” Fang Cheng asked worriedly.

The demon slayer paused, “I still have something I must do.”

“Junior Brother!” Fang Cheng was itching to slap Xu Yangyi. “Are destinies important or is life important?!”

“You don’t understand…” Xu Yangyi was silent for a few seconds, and a trace of unyielding resolve was revealed in his gaze. “There’s something… I NEED to clearly understand.”

“GO!!!” He kicked fiercely, knocking Fang Cheng away. As for him, he exhausted all of his power and dashed towards the white object that he first saw!

The earthquake… was progressively becoming greater!

If said the earthquake was still only a level four or five moments ago, now it had already reached level seven or even eight!

“Fuck!” Sister Nine shouted angrily. Both her feet gently tapped the ground, and her hair split into several parts. Each part swept up a person of the Ming Clan. On her back, two butterfly-like wings shockingly grew out! She forcibly dragged her clansmen and flew up four to five meters above the ground!

However, in the next second, her complexion changed.

Crash… The ground tore open with fissures. As for these fissures, countless streams madly rushed out like a tsunami! BOOM! A loud echo reverberated throughout the entire realm. Countless water pillars, tens of meters to even a hundred meters in thickness, suddenly torrented out! They scattered in the sky and formed a terrible rainstorm!

It wasn’t just one… but tens! A hundred! Even a thousand! As if this land of wilted lotuses was going to transform into an ocean in an instant!

1. “Three Suns Open Tai” This move is based off a Chinese phrase related to the Eight Trigrams. The phrase describes the coming and going of the sun; spring comes and winter leaves. The “three suns” is based on the idea of when the sun comes and goes with the seasons. I deliberated how to translate “Tai”, but decided to leave it as is. In Chinese, there is a level that goes over the Eight Trigrams called the Sixty-Four Hexagrams, which involve the eight trigrams times themselves to produce sixty-four charts. “Tai” is known as the “Pervading” hexagram.