Chapter 14.2 (1/2)
Chapter 14: Skirt of the G.o.ddess (Part 2)
The soul beasts that broke through the surface of the waters cover the skies. The dripping sea water morphs into rain drops that fall towards the ground. The large and small black dots move around in the sky far away. Qi Ling stares through the pure white water plant enveloping them at the apocalyptic scene outside. He hears nothing in his ears apart from Tianshu Youhua’s breathing. It felt like the calmness of a forest after a blizzard. Qi Ling reaches out a hand and caresses the tendril-like water plant gently. He finds it unbelievable. “What are these white water plants?” He murmurs to himself. He didn’t think that someone, let alone Tianshu Youhua, would reply him.
“These are not water plants. When you look at them closely, you’d realize that they are strand after strand of silk. If I guessed correctly, these silk actually make up one very famous soul weapon known as the “Skirt of the G.o.ddess”. What makes it so spectacular is that, due to the interweaving of these silk, they move even without the wind, and in the area shrouded by the silk, any indirect attacks are invalid. For example, my soul weapon, the arrows from that the enormous bow of ice are considered to be indirect forms of attack. To the Skirt of the G.o.ddess, all these are ineffective.” Tianshu Youhua reaches out to caress the white silk that seems to be moving as if being pushed by the waves. The jealousy is obvious in her gaze.
“If it can only withstand against indirect attacks, then what’s the point. Won’t it be useless if the enemy comes nearer and attacks you directly? Won’t it be better if you wore a stronger armour. Maybe when the knife comes down you’d be able to last for a while longer.” Qi Ling glances in confusion at Tianshu Youhua.
“Although the nature of the weapon is a s.h.i.+eld, but the Skirt of the G.o.ddess is actually a transforming s.h.i.+eld. It not only considers bows and arrows and other form of distant attacks as indirect attacks, but also attacks of the elements, such as morphing the element of water into ice arrows, ice blades, ice vines and others. It also includes water in liquid form, so man-made tsunamis and other forms of attack are also considered to be indirect. Even the attack of soul beasts is considered to be indirect. To put it plainly, the Skirt of the G.o.ddess uses its ridiculously unreasonable nature of weapon and forcefully labels anything other than the attack of the soul master’s soul powers as indirect attacks. This is the reason why it has always been seen as one of the most powerful s.h.i.+elds in the territories of Aslan. It even out-ranks Nether’s s.h.i.+eld, Mirror of Dead Souls, that can be labeled as an attacking weapon.”
“Then what can harm the owner of this weapon?” Qi Ling asks seriously.
“Cutting with a knife, stabbing with a sword, biting with your teeth, kicking with your feet. Understand now?” Tianshu Youhua glares at Qi Ling angrily, but instantly blushes when she sees his handsome face only a few inches from hers.
“So amazing!” Qi Ling draws a deep breath, but as if suddenly remembering something, his face falls almost immediately after, “Then the half of a darned sword I retrieved from the Grave of the Souls seems like a kid’s toy in comparison to the Skirt of the G.o.ddess……” However, he then remembered that his talent is unlimited soul weapons, so he can bug Yin Chen until he succ.u.mbs and lends the Skirt of the G.o.ddess to him for self-defense. That sounds pretty good too. Thinking about that, he becomes arrogant again, “Then again, how come you know so much?”
“Didn’t I already tell you long ago that I’m an aristocrat with royal blood? Every single person in my family were officials that a.s.sisted the monarch. My mother was directly responsible for all the information and historical records of the territories of Aslan, and so I know a thing or two about basically everything that happened here. You’re a peasant and know nothing about the soul bending world, so of course you don’t know the status of the royal family in the territories of Aslan.
“I’ll put it simply for you. The royal system that the royalty represents and the soul bending system that the lords represent are like the relations.h.i.+p between the country and the military. The lords rule over the soul masters who protect the country like an army, and the royal family rules over the civilians who are not part of the soul bending world. The current monarch ruling over Aslan is ‘Ice King’ Alcaeus. Legends state that his abilities are neck to neck with the Top Lord Xiuchuan Dizang, and that his soul’s return circuit differs form those on the lords’ bodies. As to what the difference is, I’m not sure. However, what I can confirm is that it must be rare and unimaginable. Then again, in the royal family, only the Ice Kind has the soul powers that are of a lord’s level, the others are only soul master-leveled. And so, just factoring in soul powers, the lords and disciples are above the royal family when put together……as for the Silver Priests, they’re like the religious system of the country. The three of them are the deities in the hearts of soul masters.”
Before Tianshu Youhua finishes her sentence, the relaxed silk that surrounds them suddenly thickens and shoots towards the skies as if being blown by the wind. In the blink of an eye, they become white silk sheets a dozen meters tall. QI Ling’s gaze follows the flowing cloth and sees that the first wave of monstrous soul beasts has began their attack. The large sheet of silk starts to roll, as if layers upon layers of white flower petals, it wraps them in its center.
The first to be attacked are of course Nether and Shen Yin, both the ones standing at the forefront. Although there are countless soul beasts, but for people of their level, it may be impossible to speedily destroy these soul beasts but they can still easily protect themselves. In addition, do not forget that both of them are corroders, one relying on destroying soul beast’s soul’s seal to increase his soul powers, the other can withstand injuries that will only perfect her soul’s return circuit even more. And so, something like this uprising of soul beasts can be disastrous to others, but to the two of them, it’s like a practice arena for them to increase their soul powers drastically.
Nether stands against the wind, his hands capturing the air where the soul beasts were attacking. Continuous screeches can be heard across the sky, sounding like h.e.l.l on earth. Lord’s seals of various sizes emerge from different parts of the bodies of the soul beasts before bursting into golden pieces. The uncountable golden dust mixes with the beasts’ blood in the air as they are sucked towards Nether’s palms.
A wild look of elation graces Nether’s handsome yet evil face. His pupils are blurred in his half-conscious state, the excitement of critical chaos. And Shen Yin beside him has a mocking smile on her face despite the typoon-like surge of soul powers attacking her.
She resists the attacks in a lazy manner, always maintain the equilibrium of allowing herself to be harmed to the extend where not only she is not fatally injured but also allowing her soul powers to increase exponentially. The golden carvings cover her body. They glow in the dim lighting; the flow resembling golden distributaries.
Ni Hong stands a close distance from them. At this moment, Thalia has rushed after Lianquan towards the depths of the island and so there is only Ni Hong to counter the millions of soul beasts. However, it is obvious that Thalia is very aware of his true abilities, which makes her leave restfully. Or should we say, the one that we should be worried about are these soul beasts that are on the brink of insanity. Because to a certain extent, Ni Hong is no different from a beast. In face, he is even more cold-blooded, more cruel and more territorial than any beast. Looking from Qi Ling and Youhua’s location, although the soul beasts have tremendous forces, but when compared to Ni Hong, they seem to be doddering. As Ni Hong is much too fast, it is as if countless bolts of orange lightning are flas.h.i.+ng across the sky. What these bolts of lightning leave behind are the bodies of soul beasts being torn into countless pieces. The blood of the beasts that fall from the sky covers Ni Hong, turning him into a ma.s.s-murding devil. And yet, the innocent tenderness and lost pureness remains on his face. His angel-like features even makes Tianshu Youhua feel for him, “His attacks are the most direct and most primitive. Even G.o.dly-leveled soul weapons like the Skirt of the G.o.ddess can’t hold up against this kind of direct attacks.” She stares at Ni Hong’s typhoon-like stance at destroying the incoming soul beasts as she tells Qi Ling.
When the herd of beast bypa.s.s Ni Hong, they charge towards Qi La. However, after getting through Nether, Shen Yin and Ni Hong, these two lines of defense, the combat capacity of these soul beasts have diminished, and even the numbers dwindled from carpeting the skies to the sporadic few. And so, when Qi La unleashes his unrivaled array beneath his feet, all the soul beasts that rush into its vicinity suddenly becomes sleepwalking monsters in slow motion. Qi La’s movements are still light and agile, his moves are precise and at east. His handsome features as if gifted by the heavens, coupled with his stable and quick, dance-like movements causes Qi Ling and Youhua to stare at him in awe.
“Is this……the legendary abilities of the previous Top Lord……? This is so terrifying……” Tianshu Youhua is dumbfounded.
Lastly, the soul beasts that rush towards Yin Chen are defeated easily by the variety of soul weapons that Yin Chen carelessly puts into his hands. Qi Ling watches as Yin Chen twists his body and pulls a crystal clear thin sword out from the sleeves of his long robe. Through the process of thrusting this blade into the herd of soul beasts, in the blink of an eye, the sword splits into two, four, and an array of swords fill the s.p.a.ce between the heavens and earth like a large school of deep sea whitebait swimming at lightning speed, leaving behind blood and flesh in their wake. Unstoppable. When they turn to return to Yin Chen, they fuse together one by one and finally in its original state, Yin Chen puts it away. Qi Ling cries out: “Yin Chen! I’d never look down on you again! It’s no wonder you’re the Grand Angel!”
Tianshu Youhua looks at the hyperactive Qi Ling beside her before turning to look at Yin Chen who seems to be standing on a hill of soul weapon treasures. Surprised, she thinks, “Yin Chen’s whereabouts for the past few years has always been strange, almost no one can contact him. Unless in the past few years, he’s been constantly gathering various soul weapons that have been lost in the realm since the ancient times? If that is the case, then his actual strength is horrifying……in addition, no one knows if these soul weapons are currently empty or if they are already inhabited by unknown soul beasts.” Tianshu Youhua’s face ashen as she thinks about this.
Occasionally, one or two heavily wounded soul beasts manage to break through the layers upon layers of web casted by elite of soul bending in the world and barely manage to appear before Qi Ling and Tianshu Youhua. Tianshu Youhua scoffs coldly before turning to bring out her large bow. With a few loud smacks, three sharp arrows of ice appear in her hands. The soul beasts moving in from the distance drops the instant Tianshu Youhua releases the bowstring. Later on, Tianshu Youhua even realizes that she need not even take action herself. When soul beasts flew into the territory of the skirt, one of the silk strands will flow gently towards the beasts. The moment the silk comes into contact with the soul beasts, it morphs into a ball of white mist before dissipating in the air. Tianshu Youhua bites down her surprise as she stares at the few dozen large pieces of silk cloth surrounding Qi Ling and her.
“They seem to be no threat at all……” Qi Ling lets out a sigh of relief before putting down his half-blade sword and sticking it into the ground beside his feet.
“You’re thinking of it much too simply. You’re underestimating the gift of the Fifth Lord and disciple. Look into the distance at that dense concentration of soul beasts. The ones you’ve just witnessed are only the first wave of the weakest ones. Have you ever calculated how many soul beasts there are in the surrounding waters……” Tianshu Youhua stares at the second wave of incoming soul beasts. Her face is pale and her expression is tense.
Drip-----
Drip-----