novelHalf-Ancient Sage Artifact
| ← Ch.1672 | Ch.1674 → |
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
Affected by the notion that the boxes were positioned to create some sort of mysterious formation, his thoughts didn't wander in such a direction earlier. However, under the discerning gaze of the Eye of Insight, he swiftly noticed an anomaly.
There was nothing wrong with the boxes individually. But when they were placed in a specific formation, it created a feeling which was strikingly similar to the sensation he felt when he entered a Seer Guild.
It was possible to use Spiritual Perception and all other means on a Seer Guild, but it was impossible to use divination arts on the Seer Guild!
Of course, this didn't mean to say that seers were unable to divine from within the Seer Guild. It only meant that it was impossible to divine anyone and anything within the Seer Guild. In a sense, it was similar to a one-sided mirror, where those within the Seer Guild were able to divine what was outside, but those outside were unable to divine what was within the Seer Guild.
Upper Nine Paths, Middle Nine Paths, and Lower Nine Paths; the word 'nine' in each of these terms symbolized the idea of the extremities. It didn't mean that there were only nine occupations in each of these paths. In fact, there were way more than thirty recognized official occupations in the world.
There were numerous occupations which Zhang Xuan had never learned before. Nevertheless, with the books he had read over the past year, he was still able to participate in a conversation regarding their technicalities. But when it came to seer... he really didn't know a thing at all!
He had attempted to learn divination art within a Seer Guild before, but as soon as he attempted to read them, countless bolts of lightning fell from the heavens.
The Library of Heaven's Path in his mind represented the heavens, and the seers who sought to peer into the secrets of the heavens were no different than thieves to them. Naturally, the Library of Heaven's Path wouldn't allow for the existence of any divination arts in its line of sight, which effectively made it impossible for him to learn them too.
It was because of this that he had no choice but to give up on the notion of learning anything relating to divination.
Nevertheless, he could still distinctly recognize the sensation he felt within a Seer Guild, and it was identical to what he was feeling at the moment.
I thought that the entire Seer Guild had colluded with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to help them sneak onto the Master Teacher Continent, but that might not necessarily be the case! Zhang Xuan thought.
Ever since the theft of Vicious' upper body, he had been thinking that the entire Seer Guild had betrayed mankind. Otherwise, they should have divined the arrival of the Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sages into the Master Teacher Continent and reported it to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters.
But thinking about it again, they didn't need the cooperation of the entire Seer Guild for that. All they needed was a 9-star seer to collude with them in order to create such artifacts. With these anti-divination artifacts, they would be able to conceal the Ancient Sages from the heavens, thus bypassing the divination of the entire Seer Guild!
But why would these anti-divination artifacts be here? Unless it's a prolonged war, our seers are unlikely to pose much threat to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe... Or could it be that they were planning to use it to assassinate the Xingmeng Sword Saints? Zhang Xuan's mind swiftly whirred into action.
With their ability to divine the future, seers were indeed troublesome individuals to deal with. However, they had their limitations too. They were only able to divine specific individuals or the general state of matters, so they wouldn't be of much help in uncovering crucial military intelligence such as the enemy's strategies and plans. As a result of that, their utility in massive and chaotic battles was severely limited.
For this reason, the Zhang Clan didn't bring any of its seers to the battlefield either.
The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe should have known this too, so it was likely that these boxes weren't prepared in order to deal with the seers.
And putting aside the seers, the only ones who would be affected by the anti-divination artifacts were the Xingmeng Sword Saints instead.
The Xingmeng Sword Saints were at Great Sage 3-dan Intuitive Impulse realm, which allowed them to instinctively sense danger and take actions to avoid it. The boxes would seal that ability of theirs too, thus making it much easier for them to carry out an assassination.
It's one thing if I am unaware of it, but now that I have discovered such a matter, I won't stand on ceremony then... Zhang Xuan thought as his lips crept up.
Others might still have to resort to physical attacks in order to destroy these anti-divination artifacts, but he was different!
All he had to do was to tap into his Library of Heaven's Path, and he would be able to bring lightning upon them...
I shouldn't rush into it first. I have already promised Little Tribulation that I would offer him some pointers. If I were to summon him over, I should at least offer him some guidance so he would be able to grow stronger. If I could make him strong enough to destroy all of these Otherworldly Demons, that would be for the best... Zhang Xuan thought.
It wasn't too easy to summon a lightning tribulation in the Subterranean Gallery, but with the provocation from these blasphemous artifacts, the heavens would surely answer the calls of the Library of Heaven's Path and bring retribution down upon these heathens!
Just that... he had come encountered with the lightning tribulation that brought retribution to seers several times in the past, but unlike the wonderful indiscriminate area of effect devastation typical to cultivation ordeals, this lightning tribulation only struck specific artifacts or individuals... What did he have to do in order to summon a sufficiently large lightning tribulation to kill all of these Otherworldly Demons?
These Otherworldly Demons wouldn't be as 'law-abiding' as the cultivators from the Glacier Plain Court and Sanctum of Sages. If a lightning tribulation were to appear above them right now, they would dispel it right away before it could even grow into anything.
Against an entire army, there was no way a lightning tribulation could stand a chance. Otherwise, they could simply dispatch a random chap on the verge of a breakthrough into the heart of the enemy base and call forth a lightning tribulation to annihilate the enemy.
Besides, ordinary lightning tribulation wouldn't pose much of a threat to cultivators beyond Aureate Body realm as long as they were prepared for it. At their level, only heavenly flames would be able to pose some danger to them.
The Otherworldly Demon who had fought the Xingmeng Sword Saints to a draw was likely to be at Sempiternal realm at the very minimum, so ordinary lightning tribulations were definitely not of much use against him.
If I want to do it, I'll have to summon a sufficiently powerful lightning tribulation right from the start. Otherwise, I'll only alarm them... Zhang Xuan thought as he suppressed his urge to use the Library of Heaven's Path.
"Halt!"
Even though Zhang Xuan's thoughts were flying around the place, he was still able to continue walking in file with the other Otherworldly Demon soldiers. They traveled for over several li before General Auer finally raised his hand and halted them.
Seeing that the crowd had stopped their footsteps, Zhang Xuan didn't dare to display any anomaly either
"Place the boxes down here, and you may return!"
"Yes, sir!"
The crowd nodded their heads hurriedly. They quickly put down the boxes down before leaving the area.
Zhang Xuan left along with the departing Otherworldly Demon soldiers as well, but after traveling some distance away, he discreetly cast a spatial seal over himself, thus concealing himself from view, before sneaking back.
Shortly after he returned to the area, he saw a huge Otherworldly Demon walking over.
The huge Otherworldly Demon emanated an aura far stronger than the others, giving rise to an incredibly intimidating presence. The powerful killing intent he harnessed produced an ink-like manifestation around him. Even a glance at him would cause the killing intent to intrude one's mind, stripping one of one's fighting prowess.
An Otherworldly Demon Emperor! Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.
Just the sheer intensity of the killing intent emanated by the huge Otherworldly Demon had already surpassed that of the Qingtian Emperor. He had only felt something similar to this from Vicious and the Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sage he had killed. Of course, the presence of the Otherworldly Demon before him was far weaker as compared to those two, but it was still plenty formidable...
Even if he wasn't an Otherworldly Demon Emperor, he was likely to be very close to becoming one.
"Paying respects to the Commander!" General Auer hurriedly clasped his fist and greeted the tall Otherworldly Demon.
"Un!" the Commander nodded."You may take your leave now. I don't want anyone interrupting me."
"Yes, Commander!" General Auer nodded before swiftly leaving the area.
After ensuring that there was no one around, the Commander took a step toward the boxes. With a majestic wave of his hands, all of the boxes around him burst open, revealing the secrets hidden beneath them.
Within each of those boxes were stone platforms of equivalent height. A mirror was placed on top of each of these stone platforms.
These mirrors were veered at different angles. As light swiftly reflected off them, they swiftly formed a tortoiseshell-like hologram in the air.
The appearance of the hologram deepened the sensation Zhang Xuan felt. This was a sign that the concealment barrier against the heavens had grown even stronger. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have never guessed that there were such artifacts hidden in the boxes.
"There's still another box there..."
At this point, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but notice that there was another box in the middle that remained unopened.
The Commander closed his eyes and felt the aura around him before walking up to the box in the middle. He gently placed his hand on upon the box.
Kacha!
The box burst open as well, revealing a blood crimson saber floating quietly in the air. The handle of the saber was an elongated skull with a vicious face, and the entire weapon seemed to command a sinister presence.
What a formidable saber... It isn't on par with the Dragonbone Divine Spear, but it's indubitably an extraordinary artifact... Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.
The malevolent aura emanating from the saber was far stronger than the sword from Ancient Sage Zi Rong which Nangong Yuanfeng had given the Luo Clan!
"That is a Half-Ancient Sage artifact!" the voice of the Dragonbone Divine Spear sounded in Zhang Xuan's mind.
| ← Ch. 1672 | Ch. 1674 → |