novelThe Past is Hard to Trace
| ← Ch.1322 | Ch.1324 → |
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Big Luo looked at the void in the distance. What he saw first was a familiar face. When he was a teenager, that middle-aged man gave him much help and guidance.
Thinking back now, if not because he was running for his life from the Dragon Clan at that time, he would most likely have went on to become the disciple of that man.
The man's name is Mu Yu. He is the descendent of Luofu Mystical Island of the East Sea, the disciple of Luofu Holy Man's second apprentice, Huang Ming.
Together with Mu Yu was his master Huang Ming, as well as his master's brother, He Kuangping. He is the first apprentice of Luofu Holy Man, and the only other Immortal Soul cultivator on Luofu Mystical Island, besides Luofu Holy Man himself.
Big Luo has never seen Huang Ming in person, as he only saw the projected image through Mu Yu many years ago. On the other hand, Big Luo has seen He Kuangping in person before.
However, that memory was not exactly pleasant. When Big Luo, Mu Yu and their friends were being chased around by the Dragon Clan, Big Luo was killed. He then used the Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl to resurrect back as Hades, to the surprise of the members of the Dragon Clan there. He Kuangping, who arrived late, ran into this situation and schemed to kidnap Big Luo back to Luofu Mystical Island.
Knowing that He Kuangping harbored ill intentions to murder him, Big Luo, who was in a state of chaos, was triggered. The two of them almost fought at that juncture.
Ever since then, Big Luo never once returned to East Sea, and never reunited with Mu Yu and his friends. It has been a long time since that happened.
All these years, Big Luo resided in Penglai Celestial Mountain, out of contact with the rest of the world. He lived a life away from the crowd, as a hermit, feeling lost and confused about his past, as well as his future. Many a times, he also recollected his life as Luo Yao, as well as the things he did as a simple and most ordinary human cultivator.
Back then, although he was insignificant and did not see or know much, his life was simple and carefree. He was happy.
It all changed in a day's time. The change was revolutionary to his life and destiny. Even though Big Luo was usually cool and composed, he often sighed endlessly when he recalled that incidence.
He frequently missed Mu Yu and his friends. But he did not know how he could face them as person he was.
Now that they chanced upon each other, he was inevitably and visibly shaken.
He Kuangping was still at Immortal Soul Avatar level, while Hua Ming was at Nascent Soul Final Stage. Although they had the highest mastery level in their group, Luo Yao looked away from them after a quick glance.
His attention was mainly focused on Mu Yu, and on someone else.
She wore the same turquoise rob. She had the same soft and golden hair, glowing like the first light at dawn, dancing in the darkness of the void and binded simply by a silver band.
Although she had formed her Aurous Core, and her age was vastly different from when she was still a teenage girl, her appearance has not changed at all. It was all just as he remembered.
That was Mu Yu's disciple Yun Jinxi. When she was young, she grew up together with Luo Yao on the same island. They knew each other since young.
This time, she must have followed He Kuangping, Huang Ming and Mu Yu into the Void Battleground for combat practice, as well as collect artefacts indigenous to certain Void Battlegrounds.
Judging this group of people by their mana mastery and ultimate spell move, they are all disciples of Luofu Holy Man, from Luofu Celestial Island.
However, they were being attacked at the moment. The danger was not from the Void Battleground, but the Demon Clan members who were about to surround them.
Shockingly, there were a few Azure Dragons. Their leader was Verdant Cloud Dragon King, who had attained Undying Demonic Soul.
Many years ago, his heir was murdered by Huang Ming and Mu Yu to obtain the dragon's blood to formulate the Nine Spirals Golden Pill. This enraged the Dragon King, who led his army of Dragonkins to hunt down Mu Yu's group.
Their animosity has survived till present day. With this coincidental encounter, the Verdant Cloud Dragon King naturally seized the chance to strike.
Besides a few Demonic Lord level Azure Dragons following the Dragon King under his command, there was another who attained Undying Demonic Soul - Goldenrod Dragon King. The two Dragon Kings are allies, hence they were teaming up to attack together.
During the previous war of the two realms, the Dragon Clan had not been very successful in their crusade. It was their chance for revenge.
The Goldenrod Dragon King distracted the Immortal Soul stage He Kuangping, while the Verdant Cloud Dragon King went straight for Nascent Soul stage Huang Ming, as well as Mu Yu and the rest.
He Kuangping and the rest came to the Void Battleground with some preparations. After all, this was one of the few most dangerous places in the Grand Celestial World.
Before entering the Void Battleground, Luofu Holy Man lent one of his own Avatar level magic treasures to his disciple to bring into the Void Battleground, so as to ensure their safety.
Now that He Kuangping gave up using the magic treasure for himself and gave it to Huang Ming and the rest for protection, they are fortunately, barely able to defend themselves. Even then, the situation was dire for them.
Huang Ming, with his Nascent Soul final stage, was unable to fully unleash the power of that magic treasure. Going against the Verdant Cloud Dragon King, it was only a matter of time before they are completely exterminated.
Behind him, Mu Yu and Yun Jinxi were also revealing a sense of exasperation in their eyes.
Looking at this scene, Big Luo let out a sigh. He morphed into a river of purple light, flowing through the void.
With the release of his demonic power, the Verdant Cloud Dragon King, He Kuangping, Mu Yu and everyone else felt a chill going down their spines.
Then they witnessed a humongous Hades Beast stepping out of the void, gradually revealing his body, and emancipating an extremely dreadful aura.
Seeing the Hades Beast before them, not just the Verdant Cloud Dragon King and Goldenrod Dragon King, but even He Kuangping felt fearful in their heart.
"Damn it, why did this Hades Beast appear out of nowhere? Besides, his Abhijna demon power is unbelievably strong!" Verdant Cloud Dragon King thought to himself and cursed. Trying to maintain his composure, he stopped what he was doing. After carefully deliberating his words, he asked, "how may we address your mightiness?"
Although the Dragon Clan and Hades Clan were never really at peace with each other, when the Hades royal family made their debut in the Barren Expanses, there were few from the Dragon Clan who dared to leave the Black Sea.
However, at the ultimate stage of this previous war between the two realms, the Human Clan had an overwhelming advantage, continuously pushing the bounds of the Barren Expanses. To halt the advances of the humans, the Dragon Clan, Hades Clan, and Ancient Ape Demon Clan joined forces, albeit to a small degree, to prevent the Human Clan from encroaching into their land.
Even now, the relationship between the Dragon Clan and Hades Clan are not exactly friendly. But under the immense pressure exerted by Lin Feng and Divine Lands, they were controlling their emotions. Both party were careful in avoiding conflicts.
"We can hand over the Immortal Soul cultivator to you, but these Nascent Soul stage humans killed my son and extracted his blood to formulate potions. There is no way I can just let them go. They must die in my hands."
As the Verdant Cloud Dragon King spoke, the Hades Beast before him let out a deep howl. Without giving a reply, the beast lifted his paw and waved it in the air.
Suddenly, five harrowing purple cracks appeared in the void. Due to the distortion of the cracks, there was almost a void hurricane brewing over the Void Battleground.
Seeing the immense power from a simple nonchalant wave of his hand, the Verdant Cloud Dragon King and Goldenrod Dragon King's faces darkened. They thought to themselves, "even for a member of the Hades Clan, such strength can only come from someone above the Undying Demonic Soul stage."
Usually, to uphold the pride of the Dragon Clan, even when facing off against a much stronger opponent, a dragon will never back down.
But everything has its limits. When the opponent overpowers oneself by too much, such that all of one's resistance and effort would only seem like child's play, a dragon would not dig his own grave. A life is only worth risking if there is still hope.
However, the grudge of his son being murdered was absolutely irreconcilable for the Verdant Cloud Dragon King. Even though Big Luo was in his way, he straightened his face and did not plan to retreat.
But the Goldenrod Dragon King stepped forward and stopped the Verdant Cloud Dragon King in his track. He said, "falling into the grasp of this Hades Beast, these people are dead anyway. Though you cannot kill you nemesis with your own hands, they are receiving the punishment they deserve. We should not get in the way and get ourselves killed alongside the humans. Let's go!"
The Verdant Cloud Dragon King was unconvinced and grinded his teeth in anger, but his body was stiff and he was forced into retreat by the Goldenrod Dragon's twister. The other members of the Dragon Clan hurriedly followed suit and escaped.
Their departure did not ease the discomfort of He Kuangping, Huang Ming, Mu Yu, Yun Jinxi and the rest.
The Verdant Cloud Dragon King and his Dragonic Demon companion already gave them such a hard time. They were on the verge of being massacred on the spot. Despite the retreat of the Dragon Clan, there was an even more terrifying Hades Beast instead, such that even He Kuangping was feeling dreadful from the bottom of his heart.
Speaking of the past, because the Hades Clan went into refuge for more than four millennia, the younger generations of cultivators in the Divine Lands had no concrete idea of how scary this horrifying demonic clan was. But after this previous war between the two realms, even though the humans won, everyone had a renewed understanding of the terrifying powers of the Hades Clan.
If not because of the leader of the Celestial Sect Lin Feng, who saved the world with his four swords, exterminating the demons en masse, the final outcome of this war was unimaginable to most people.
The descent of Hades, rape of Mount Taihua and Mount Baiyun, was like the sky was falling and the world was taken over by darkness. The frightening scene long haunted everyone and was forever etched in their memories.
Honestly, even within the Hades Clan and Hades Beasts of similar stages, there are Beasts of varying degree of strength. Some far exceeding the progress of their peers, while others are just mediocre. But even those who are relatively mediocre, compared to other demonic clans, as well as most human cultivators, are extremely terrifying nightmares.
Together with the Verdant Cloud Dragon King, they witnessed the continuous distortion in the void, as well as the five claw marks that never seemed to recover. He Kuangping and the rest would have been foolish to not realize that the Hades Beast before them, even within the Hades Clan and compared to those of the same stage, was an unrivalled existence. It might even be more powerful than they imagined.
How could they not despair?
But as the Hades Beast slowly walked forward, it stopped in front of them. The purple glow gradually dissipated and the silver fur covering him also disappeared.
The gigantic figure reduced in size as he took his steps, eventually becoming similar to that of a normal person's. Although he was bigger than an ordinary person, it was considered to be within the normal range.
Upon seeing that familiar, yet strange face, both Mu Yu and Yun Jinxi were shocked. Then they each sported perplexed expressions.
Mu Yu's eyes revealed a certain degree of joy from the reunion, as well as relief from seeing that his friend was alright, which warmed the heart of Big Luo.
Although it was inevitable that Mu Yu's eyes also betrayed a sense of caution and alertness, Big Luo was not surprised. After all, despite his same appearance in his human form now, he was no longer the teenager that Mu Yu watched growing up.
As long as there was no hatred or fear in Mu Yu's eyes, Big Luo already delighted in his heart.
But as soon as his exchanged a look with Yun Jinxi, the glistening in Big Luo's eyes dimmed.
Her eyes harbored an intrinsic fear and caution, as well as an extremely obvious enmity and discrimination.
The group of people stood there quietly as Big Luo was lost for words. After a while, he finally sighed softly.
| ← Ch. 1322 | Ch. 1324 → |