Chapter 294: That Light That Illuminates The Sky
“So they still came after all.”
Xie Feina looked at the sky battleship above Chiyue Town, her crescent brows furrowing slightly.
Although she had already received word that Earth Star Pharmaceuticals would take action, she had not expected Earth Star Pharmaceuticals to gather so many experts. Just the Bone Forging Realm experts numbered more than four thousand, and among the dozen or so people standing beside Bai Shou Kalad, each one was clearly a Blood Condensation Realm expert.
Among these Blood Condensation Realm experts, there were even two faces she knew.
One was a woman of the Ape Clan in blood-red battle armor, her whole body hair also blood-red: Meliya, the blood-stained general, the only lone operator in the Mercenary Alliance, who had entered the Four Regions Youth Competition ten years ago and placed in the top fifty, and was counted among the top five experts in the entire Mercenary Alliance.
The other was a man of the Three-eyed Tribe in dark blue battle armor, with tri-colored heterochromatic pupils. No one knew his real name, but the outside world all called him the Sky Eye Tyrant. He was one of the three ace assassins the Red Moon Merchant Guild could mobilize in the Wushan Region. Although, like Meliya, he was only a Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level martial artist, he had been one of the assassins the Red Moon Merchant Guild sent to kill Zhuo Gu back then.
Even if she herself broke through to Initial Stage Blood Coagulation in the future, she would not dare claim she could beat these two experts.
If the two of them attacked together, even an ordinary high-level Blood Condensation Realm martial artist would fall.
While Xie Feina marveled at the scale of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals’ move, the experts of the various major factions present were likewise more and more shocked in their hearts the more they observed the figures on the sky battleship.
“So this is the strength of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals? Besides the blood-stained general and the Sky Eye Tyrant, they even invited hidden forces like the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest. Just what benefits has this Earth Star Pharmaceuticals given these people?” Hu Lei looked at the Blood Condensation Realm experts on the giant ship, unable to help but suck in a cold breath.
The Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest were a hidden faction that had long secluded themselves in the southern Silent Forbidden Forest, and one of the hidden factions that all the major powers of the Wushan Region dreaded.
Among the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest, there were a full twelve Blood Condensation Realm experts, nearly half of them at the Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level. Although no one knew why these people remained in the Silent Forbidden Forest, living there, they never contended with the world and almost never interacted with other factions or cities, so in the Wushan Region many factions simply ignored the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest.
Now that the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest had arrived in full, if they truly made a move, they would probably be even more troublesome than the blood-stained general and the Sky Eye Tyrant, who had made their names in the Wushan Region for many years.
The blood-stained general and the Sky Eye Tyrant were both lone operators, with records mainly against Blood Condensation Realm experts, but the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest were a team that could hunt Catastrophe Level monsters. Some of the Catastrophe Level monster materials he held had been obtained through transactions with the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest.
Catastrophe Level monsters, even the weakest ordinary ones, were something that even Zhuo Gu of the Holy Blood Mercenary Group, strong as he was, could do nothing about, unable to kill at all. As for the even stronger High-Level Cataclysmic Monsters above ordinary Catastrophe Level monsters, experts like Zhuo Gu could only preserve their lives. Yet the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest had materials from High-Level Cataclysmic Monsters for sale, which showed the strength of the Twelve Eccentrics of the Forbidden Forest.
“Senior sister, what do we do now?” Precia could not help but ask Xie Feina at this time, her eyes full of worry. “If Earth Star Pharmaceuticals starts a fight, the other factions present will probably take the opportunity to stir up trouble and seize those guard robots. With just a few of us, we likely have no chance at all.”
They had originally thought this auction was in the bag, but unexpectedly Earth Star Pharmaceuticals had gone utterly mad, inviting so many Blood Condensation Realm experts. Now they had no chance even to bid, let alone to fight for anything. The only person they could field was one senior brother at Blood Condensation Realm Intermediate Level, far too ordinary among so many Blood Condensation Realm experts, with no chance at all.
She really did not know what Lin Qi had been thinking. If he had sold directly to their domain city back then, everything would have been fine.
Now they had not earned anything from the cultivation method, and might lose the guard robots and the entire Chiyue Town as well.
On this, Xie Feina fell into silence.
The way things had developed had truly exceeded her expectations, both for the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall and for Earth Star Pharmaceuticals, and the preparations of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall were clearly somewhat inferior to those of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals.
If only the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had been willing to trade a few guard robots, she could have persuaded her teacher back then to invite several high-level Blood Condensation Realm experts to sit in town. Together with the strength of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, it would not have been difficult to keep things under control. But matters had obviously gone beyond the point where that was possible.
Just as everyone inside Chiyue Town was discussing heatedly, an announcement rang out from the sky battleship, echoing through the entire town.
“All those of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, listen up. I am Kalad, plenipotentiary representative of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals. In view of the evil deeds of your Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, I am giving you the final notice: disband the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, hand over Hall Master Lin Qi and all guard robots. Everyone else may become part of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals, and we will no longer hold anyone else accountable.”
“I give you only one minute to consider. Once the minute is up, we will proceed to purge all members of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in Chiyue Town. You now have 59 seconds left!”
Kalad’s voice, in the language of the Human Race, was loud as a great bell, echoing throughout Chiyue Town. At once, everyone in the town was set boiling, especially the members of all the major factions, some of whom could hardly believe their ears.
“Is Earth Star Pharmaceuticals really being this generous? They actually only want the main culprit handed over. Is this really the Earth Star Pharmaceuticals I know?”
“They are probably targeting the geniuses of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Earth Star Pharmaceuticals lost many geniuses before. If they can take the geniuses of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall for their own use, that will make up for some of the losses. But those people of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall sure are lucky. It is not easy to join Earth Star Pharmaceuticals normally. Aside from the children of internal members and the places under their own control, everyone else who wanted to join would have to be investigated for three generations of ancestors, and even then, without sufficient talent it was impossible. Now everyone can join; those ordinary disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall have really struck it rich.”
“But Earth Star Pharmaceuticals is too greedy. Going after the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall is one thing, but they even want to take away all the guard robots. Do the major powers have no objections to that?”
“The major powers will probably be allocated a portion later. After all, no matter how formidable Earth Star Pharmaceuticals is, it is still in the Tianhe Region. It is we small factions who are miserable; this trip was for nothing.”
…
After hearing the announcement, the members of the major factions all spoke one after another, feeling helpless about this outcome. Some members of certain factions even felt somewhat envious of those apprentices who had only recently joined the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
Under normal circumstances, even high-level martial artists found it difficult to join Earth Star Pharmaceuticals. Yet now, those wilderness nomads who had joined the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall could follow them into Earth Star Pharmaceuticals and from then on enjoy all kinds of treatment from Earth Star Pharmaceuticals, treatment that geniuses of ordinary factions could not even dream of.
“Damn it. Kalad actually pulled this move.” Wu Zhuoqun’s expression instantly turned dark the moment he heard this.
Most of the people who had joined the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall were wilderness nomads and the scions of city families. These people had joined the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to cling to a powerful thigh, not to mention the Bone Forging Realm experts who later joined the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Now, with Earth Star Pharmaceuticals making such promises, these people would be absolutely overjoyed.
The garrison of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was still in training and had no real loyalty. Even if they switched allegiance to Earth Star Pharmaceuticals, it would not be surprising.
But the most crucial group was the grey-robed disciples.
Among these grey-robed disciples, many were strong, and quite a few had already reached the Bone Forging Realm Intermediate Level, just like Hall Master Lin Qi. If these people rebelled, then Hall Master Lin Qi would be utterly finished.
As Wu Zhuoqun thought of this, Yinuo among the crowd also realized this possibility. As the only Blood Condensation Realm expert in the entire Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, Yinuo immediately rushed toward Lin Qi to guard against any rebellion from the grey-robed disciples.
“Hahaha, this Kalad is truly ruthless. No wonder they call him Bai Shou, fierce as a lion, sinister as a viper, swift as a leopard, strong as a bear, cunning as a fox.” In the Auction Plaza, Mo Xiao could not help but look toward Lin Qi at the front gate of the venue and let out a laugh. “Now this Hall Master Lin must be panicking. Faced with immense profit and future prospects, how many of those grey-robed disciples can he guarantee will hold fast, and will not stab him in the back later?”
Isaac, at his side, also looked at Lin Qi and smiled.
As a former gang leader, he knew his subordinates’ thoughts all too well. Even those who had followed him for decades would betray him in the face of immense profit, and the only reason he had been able to keep control of the White Feather Gang was absolute strength, leaving his subordinates no room for such thoughts.
But now the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s cultivation of its disciples was too good, while Hall Master Lin Qi’s strength had not kept up. It would be strange if those disciples had no hidden thoughts.
However, when Isaac and the others turned to look at the thousand or so grey-robed disciples lined up at the front of the auction venue, curious about when these grey-robed disciples would make a move against Lin Qi, the words spoken by those grey-robed disciples left even Isaac, who understood the Human Race language, utterly dumbfounded.
“What is that guy up there saying? Is he crazy? Telling us to go against the master of the pavilion?” Yi Ye Fu Yun said excitedly. “This damn Earth Star Pharmaceuticals actually wants to test my loyalty to the master of the pavilion. Brothers, enough talk, it is time to offer our hearts to the master of the pavilion!”
“That is right. The master of the pavilion is the person I respect most in this world. Whoever dares touch the master of the pavilion, I will make them bleed!” Twilight of the Gods also shouted. “Brothers! Offer your hearts to the great master of the pavilion!”
With Yi Ye Fu Yun and Twilight of the Gods shouting passionately, over a thousand players present echoed them in unison, shouting madly about offering their hearts to the master of the pavilion. Their voices shook the sky, their qi and blood surged upward, and everyone around them could feel that fervor.
Before anyone could even recover their senses, more than a dozen high-level martial artists suddenly burst out from the crowd. With a stomp of their feet, they shot up to the sky battleship in an instant, a terrifying aura of life erupting from their bodies. Their strength was far beyond that of Extreme Advanced Level Bone Forging Realm martial artists, and they shot toward the people on the sky battleship like cannonballs.
The instant these people landed on the deck, each of them shouted.
“Long live the master of the pavilion!”
“For the master of the pavilion!”
“Let the world feel pain!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, these people exploded, and waves of terrifying internal force swept across the entire sky battleship, leaving the members of all the factions in Chiyue Town dumbstruck.
Even Mo Xiao and Isaac and the others, who had been ready to watch a show, were left gaping.
They had seen many members utterly loyal to a faction, but those were usually suicide squads. Even so, not even suicide squads could compare to the decisiveness of these grey-robed disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Not only did they immediately use self-detonation, but their eyes did not show the slightest hesitation toward death, as if even a moment’s hesitation would be a blasphemy against their loyalty to Hall Master Lin Qi.
“What in the world are these people?”
On the sky battleship, Bai Shou Kalad looked at the dozen or so grey-robed disciples who had blown themselves up without a word, his eyes full of confusion and shock.
He had seen people who did not care about their lives, but never people this reckless. They had not even waited for his countdown to end before charging up here to show their loyalty to that martial arts hall’s Lin Qi. He even suspected these people were actors hired by Lin Qi to mess with him.
This sudden self-detonation by more than a dozen people had caught many of the Bone Forging Realm experts on the battleship completely off guard. Even with Tier 2 battle armor weakening part of the shockwave, hundreds were still killed; the losses were enormous.
As for this astonishing display by the grey-robed disciples, Huang Lang and Alec in the Auction Plaza watched with complete calm.
Or rather, they were already used to it.
Self-detonation by grey-robed disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was routine. It was nothing worth making a fuss over.
“Damn! Those guys are so sneaky! Do they not understand first come, first served?”
“Damn it! Too slow! I was a step late!”
“Damn! I am just a newbie, I never even learned self-detonation. This is blatant bullying of honest people! I strongly demand that those just now not count; we must redo it!”
…
The players in front of the auction venue were furious as they watched the players who had suddenly jumped up and self-detonated.
Everyone was trying hard to act, and then someone jumped the gun. How could they endure that?
In an instant, over a thousand players in front of the auction venue leaped up together, swarming through the air like locusts, and quickly surrounded the sky battleship midair.
“That is levitation!”
“I must be dreaming. That is levitation! How can so many people know levitation?”
Whether it was the people of Chiyue Town below or Bai Shou Kalad on the sky battleship, all of them stared in disbelief at the grey-robed disciples of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall surrounding them in midair.
Levitation.
This was normally an ability only Blood Condensation Realm experts possessed, yet now over a thousand people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall were using levitation. It was as if God were playing a joke on them.
“Brothers, do not rush. Let me fire off one shot first to test the waters!”
Fang Zhen, seeing the people of Earth Star Pharmaceuticals still in shock, could not help but activate his transcendent state. He raised his spear with both hands and spun, and a gigantic phantom over three hundred meters tall appeared in midair, overlooking the entire sky battleship.
With the appearance of this gigantic phantom, all the major factions in Chiyue Town were stunned.
“A qi and blood phantom!”
“That is a qi and blood phantom?”
Anyone who had seen a Sequence Transcendent Martial Skill now stared, their mouths hanging open at the three-hundred-meter-plus phantom. Even Xie Feina and the others familiar with the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall were shocked as they looked at the gigantic phantom in midair.
A normal phantom would be only a bit over a hundred meters tall, a manifestation of one’s qi and blood. Even high-level Blood Condensation Realm experts would only be a few dozen meters higher. But the phantom before them was more than twice as tall, its total qi and blood several times greater.
Such terrifying qi and blood was simply not something the Blood Condensation Realm could reach.
“Go.”
As Fang Zhen spoke, he hurled his spear and had the gigantic phantom smash a fist down toward it.
Extreme Super-Class Martial Skill, Super Electromagnetic Cannon Type 2 Modified.
Boom!
In an instant, a radiance that lit up all of Chiyue Town pierced through the clouds, and the solid large sky battleship was completely punched through and split into two halves, slowly falling toward the ground…
