224 Chapter 223: Battle between the gods (1/2)

”Show-off,” I muttered under my breath as I struggled to withstand the potent aura of Shen Long. The Venerable Dragon God was really going all out now, conjuring a tremendous amount of qi to shroud himself in. I could see a majestic green dragon coiling around Long Shen, bestowing upon him its savage divinity.

”Hmm…impressive.” Tian Yu Di was the only completely unaffected by the godly aura that was suffocating everyone else. He grinned and stepped forward excitedly, his expression feral and delighted. ”Finally, someone with some backbone! I was beginning to think that this era was full of nothing but weaklings. I hope you can entertain me!”

His own aura flowed out and suppressed Long Shen's in an instant. Or to be more accurate, it was almost as if his qi consumed Long Shen's. Like a black hole, it ravenously devoured the divine qi, sucking the vast amounts of qi into a bottomless abyss. Everyone felt bone-chilling coldness washing over them and trembled unconsciously as they experienced the sensation of their soul being gradually flayed apart by something…monstrous…

”You… Just who the hell are you?!”

Even Long Shen went pale as he staggered under the suffocating presence of Tian Yu Di. If he was a divine dragon god, then Tian Yu Di was a demonic god emperor, his very presence alone sufficient to subjugate mere mortals and bring us to submission.

”Good! Very good!” Tian Yu Di cackled. ”You're still standing even under the effects of such power! Admittedly I am far from fully recovered, but for a single brat to withstand my divine demonic aura, you have potential!”

”This is the same as Tian Mo of yesteryear…” Song Si Yuan was just as pale as Long Shen, studying Tian Yu Di. ”It's almost the same level, but otherwise the techniques are related. Is he related to Tian Mo of the Heaven and Earth Sect?”

Suddenly, it occurred to me that Master Tian Mo shared the same family name as Ancestral Master Tian Yu Di – the surname Tian. It was highly possible that Master Tian Mo was actually the descendant of Tian Yu Di. I wouldn't be surprised if Tian Yu Di left a few offspring behind, who continued to propagate, which eventually led to the birth of Master Tian Mo almost a millennium later. If that was the case, then fate certainly had a funny way of bringing things full circle.

For now, I focused on the present. Thankfully, because I cultivated Heaven and Earth Formula, I was less affected by the demonic aura that Tian Yu Di was projecting. Taking a deep breath, I heaved myself back to my feet and raised my Azure Lotus Sword to a fighting stance.

It wasn't just me. Lang Xie and the Blood Blades martial artists, who had also practiced a somewhat incomplete Heaven and Earth Formula, were also able to resist the terrifying effects of the intimidating aura. Lang Xie's eyes flashed fiercely and he raised his Spirit Sword to rally all his subordinates to him.

”For Nine-Tailed Fox Sect! Even if we all perish today, we will take as many of the enemy with us! Till death!”

”Till death! Kill all the invaders!” the Blood Blades martial artists echoed. Even I joined the shout, since I was technically and officially a member of Blood Blades.

”Hmph. With me and Sect Leader around, who says your Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will be destroyed? As a branch offshoot of my Heaven and Earth Sect, you should have more faith in yourselves!” Tian Yu Di coldly snorted as he crossed his arms.

Lang Xie and the Blood Blades took no heed of his statement and charged into the reeling enemy, reinvigorated by the sudden reversal in the situation, and began slaughtering as many invaders and trespassers as they could.

”How dare you!”

Long Shen descended before them, and Xie Zhi Zhang forced himself to move, placing his body between the Blood Blades and the recoiling intruders. Refusing to lose, Ling Shen bellowed as he stood beside Xie Zhi Zhang, and increased his divine aura as much as possible, restoring the morale of the beleaguered attackers.

The Green Dragon that had been coiling around his body suddenly grew exponentially, its serpentine body thickening and lengthening rapidly. It towered over the steely Long Shen, now as tall and massive as a mountain, and its divine aura settled upon the entire city like a vast sea. It was even temporarily able to counteract Tian Yu Du's black hole effect, erasing the intimidation caused by his divine demonic presence and allowing the martial artists underneath his aegis to recover and stand again. Now that his allies had pulled through, Long Shen focused his attentions on the main threat, Tian Yu Di, and launched a cyan fireball the size of a house with a swing of his blazing sword. The gargantuan projectile seared a charred path across the plaza as it streaked toward Ancestral Master like a miniature sun.

Tian Yu Di threw out both hands to parry the green fireball, only for the fearsome fireball to explode instantly upon contact. A conflagration similar to a thermonuclear explosion blossomed across the plaza, and it was only because I conjured Snow Aegis to cast a barrier over a wide area that the rest of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect wasn't caught up in it.

”No way…”

I gaped at the expanding explosion in dismay. There was no sign of my Ancestral Master. He had been utterly enveloped and consumed by the highly destructive flames, which were so powerful they actually overwhelmed and blocked out Tian Yu Di's qi signature. My heart thudded in panic when I considered the possibility that he might have perished in the attack.

”Evil will never prevail,” Long Shen announced, as hypocritically oblivious to the irony as all the other antagonists were. Even so, I was in no position to make a retort as his presence continued to strengthen following the seeming demise of our most powerful asset.

Long Shen's aura was so potent that it actually affected the weather, dispersing the dark clouds that had gathered above Tushan City and allowing bright golden rays of the sun to shine through, illuminating the usually gray Flame Volcano in bright yellow.

So fearsome was the divine aura of Long Shen that even his allies couldn't help but be overawed by it.

”The divine might of the Venerable Dragon God! Even the heavens submit to his power!' Xie Zhi Zhang couldn't help but look up briefly and marvel. It was all he could do to prevent himself from literally falling to his knees in reverence to worship the godlike existence and its tremendous strength.

”With such power, how is Elder Long not the sect leader of Green Dragon Sect?” Song Si Yuan murmured. ”This manifestation of divine power can only be executed by those who have mastered the ultimate techniques of the Green Dragon Sect! With his current strength, Elder Long can even suppress an entire army on his own!”

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.

”Ouch…very impressive. I didn't think you'll actually succeed in burning me.”

My heart leaped up in hope when I heard the familiar voice from within the blazing inferno that Long Shen had caused. Tian Yu Di emerged from the flames, shaking his hands gingerly. They seemed reddened and somewhat singed, but otherwise the great elder of the Heaven and Earth Sect was otherwise unscathed.

”Impossible!” one of the trespassers shouted, his voice filled with fright at the unexpected sight. ”How did that monster survive the Venerable Dragon God's attack?”

Long Shen didn't seem to care, however. His brow furrowing, he attacked without hesitation or question, swinging his sword down in a ferocious manner.

”Green Dragon Flaming Flash!”

A fiery blast of qi was unleashed from his divine blade, incinerating the very space between them as it scorched a destructive trail toward its target. Not taking anything for granted, especially after the last attack failed to end his enemy, Long Shen released a barrage of gigantic fireballs, slinging them all at an apparently indifferent Tian Yu Di.

Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo, Su Bai Xue and many of the invading martial artists couldn't even stand straight at this moment. They trembled in awe as they witnessed the top martial artist of the Great Zhou Empire unleash his fury upon the enemy. His divine might was so oppressive that they found it difficult to even breathe.

I wouldn't be surprised if those idiots actually started prostrating themselves on the floor to worshp the Venerable Dragon God and beg him for his forgiveness.

”This is the pinnacle of all martial artists! A Nascent Soul Stage practitioner!” Wu Tuo seemed to be yelling crazily inside his heart as he watched in soul-striking awe. ”The terrible might that can only be unleashed by someone who has attained the Nascent Soul Stage!”

”One day I will reach this level as well. One day, I will surely become just as powerful as the Venerable Dragon God!” Su Bai Xue's eyes glittered greedily as she drank in the heady scene, drunk on the power emanated by her superior.

In contrast to their worshipping reactions, Tian Yu Di merely laughed.

”Heh! Not bad! Not bad at all! I knew following Sect Leader will allow me to experience such joy in combat! For the first time in almost a millennium!”

Tian Yu Di grinned and laughed in delight, almost insane from the excitement. He raised a hand, unfurled his fingers and then thrust his arm out.

”Heaven and Earth Palm Strike!”

In a single attack, he shattered Long Shen's Green Dragon Flaming Flash. The shockwave from his palm strike reverberated across the plaza and smashed apart the barrage of fireballs following closely behind, tearing them apart and scattering them into harmless embers.

”Heavens!” Shi Jing Yun cried out in utter disbelief. ”How is that possible!? That old demon countered the Venerable Dragon God's attack with just a single simple palm strike?! What the hell is he?!”

However, Long Shen didn't seem surprised. He had actually anticipated that, or so it appeared, as he was already launching yet another attack. And the power of his current attacked surpassed his Green Dragon Flaming Flash by several magnitudes.

”The hell?” I complained. ”Instead of steadying increasing the power of your attacks as each one gets countered, why don't you just use your most powerful techniques from the start?! Otherwise you're just wasting everyone's time!”

”No, this is a smart move. It would be stupid to reveal one's trump card right from the start. If any enemies survive and witnesses it, they will be able to come up with countermeasures against your most powerful technique later. Moreover, it is reckless to expend all your energy right at the start – if you fail to kill your enemy, or reinforcements and new enemies show up, then you'll regret not having conserved your energy and will be forced to fight an uphill battle.”

To my surprise, it was Lang Xie who replied. I blinked, and then nodded grudgingly, feeling some sense of shame. Well, yeah…I guess that was common sense. I had gotten carried away, thinking that I was the straight man here, but it seemed that there were a lot of things I have yet to learn. That was only natural.

I wasn't a Mary Sue who was always right, or a Mary Sue who already knew all the answers.

”Green Dragon Solar Sword Strike!”

An apocalyptic surge of qi rushed forward like a tsunami, seeming large enough to engulf not just the plaza but the whole of Tushan City. I glanced at Ancestral Master, wondering if he had anything up his sleeve to deal with this.

Evidently, he did.

”Grand Disciple.” Tian Yu Di grinned as he addressed me. Surprisingly, not as his sect leader, but his grand disciple. The reason was clear soon enough. ”Watch closely and learn. I'll probably only demonstrate this once.”

Raising a hand, he performed what seemed like a complicated gesture before punching at the incoming torrent of catastrophic destruction.

”Heaven and Earth Reversal.”

”?!”

Long Shen's attack rippled once, and then suddenly reversed direction. No, it didn't simply reverse direction – it was consumed by the golden qi that Tian Yu Di unleashed, its tremendous power adding into the already formidable power of that golden blast. The new, golden blast funneled across the plaza, demolishing large chunks of the place. In fact, I imagined that the plaza was only still mostly intact because of the arcane powers of the Spirit Engraved Pillar containing the immense destruction and keeping it in check.

Otherwise we would all be swimming in the lake by now.

”AAAAAH!”

”NOOO!”

”Watch out!”

”Run!”

The invading martial artists who had arrived along with Long Shen, or had arrived while pursuing the retreating Blood Blades martial artists, quickly turned tail and fled, instinctively recognizing the danger that this reversed attack would deal.

Just a single touch would be enough to rip them into shreds.

”!!!!”

Long Shen realized just how much danger he put his comrades in. Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward and slashed at the golden torrent of qi with his sword.

The golden tornado erupted, engulfing the Venerable Dragon God in an enormous explosion that caught several of the fleeing intruders and incinerated them, even searing the plaza. The Spirit Engraved Pillars glowed briefly, their Spirit Diagrams coming to life as they sought to protect themselves and the plaza they stood guard over with mystic barriers, otherwise minimizing the damage.

”Huff…huff…”

Long Shen crashed out of the inferno, blackened and singed. He glanced up through a blistered eye, blood trailing from his mouth. That was the only sign of blood, not because he was relatively unhurt, but because most of his severe injuries had been cauterized by the superheated flames that he had just been caught up in.

”That technique…you didn't just overwhelm my Green Dragon Solar Sword Strike. You somehow incorporated my attack into your own and used it against me!”

”Yeah, I combined it with my Heaven and Earth Strike.” Tian Yu Di grinned. ”How was it? I'm sure you enjoyed the taste, no?”

”I knew it…I don't know how you survived, but you're a member of Heaven and Earth Sect!” Long Shen coughed as he shrank back. ”Those techniques – they are definitely Heaven and Earth Formula! How did you get your hands on it?!”