"The phoenix is a bird. How can it have teeth?" w.a.n.g Zhong wanted to slap him.
"d.a.m.n…" Simba was dumbfounded. He pouted and refuted w.a.n.g Zhong, "We have never seen a phoenix. Who knows? Let's go. This place is strangely empty. Let's go there and see if there are any changes. It would be best if an escape path appears. That's right. We can ask our captive here! That— what was its name again?"
Simba shouted. It had only been one night, but he was already addicted to scaring Tatamu. He was someone who held grudges. Although the eight-clawed creature did not torture them now, it had treated w.a.n.g Zhong like an animal and conducted research on him. Luckily, Simba was soft-hearted. If not, the first thing he would have done was to cut this eight-clawed creature into eight pieces, instead of allowing it to blabber here.
But before he could scare Tatamu, the eight-clawed monster who only had seven legs left had thrown itself in front of w.a.n.g Zhong. It hugged w.a.n.g Zhong's leg and said, "Master! Almighty Master!"
When Tatamu was collaborating with them, it felt very depressed. After all, it had given up on the chance to serve the deities just to become a minion for a human? However, it had no choice but to lower its head. In fact, if it was too slow to speak, a leg would be chopped off. How many legs could it spare for these humans to chop off? Thus, it had no choice but to cooperate. It had to endure this hardship and serve these humans in order to strengthen its resolve.
But now, it had entered the restricted area even when it was not supposed to be able to. Even if it made it out alive, most of the Octopus people would not let it off. This meant that it would be stuck with w.a.n.g Zhong no matter what. Its escape route had been blocked off. It had to follow w.a.n.g Zhong even if it did not want to.
What else could it do? Rather than worrying about its chopped-off leg, it would be much better to make the best of this situation. It treated this situation as a change in master. After all, Sauron was not its first master either. Furthermore, this human was so strong that Tatamu worshiped him. This human could ignore the restrictions that the royal family had put in place! With such a powerful and respectable existence, it did not seem like much of a disgrace if Tatamu had no choice but to follow him.
"Your mighty light illuminates Tatamu. Tatamu—" Tatamu's expression was full of respect. It wanted to make up for its faults by bootlicking.
"Cut the nonsense." Just as it was about to fawn on w.a.n.g Zhong, w.a.n.g Zhong waved his hand and cut it off. "Tell me everything you know about this restricted area."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Tatamu had a miserable expression on its face. Its new master did not seem to like being fawned on. However, it was best at bootlicking! How, how would it adjust to this… Tatamu did not even dare to show a bit of dejection on its face. Its new master was rather pragmatic. It quickly responded to its master's request and sorted out information related to this s.p.a.ce in its head.
"It is said that this s.p.a.ce was made out of the Phoenix G.o.d's skeleton and divine sense. It is so ma.s.sive that there are no borders. There are also many mystical crystals that contain great amounts of energy. There is even blazing gra.s.s that contains pure energy. All these are the products of the Phoenix's Will that the Phoenix G.o.d bestowed upon the Octopus people before it ascended to heaven—"
"Stop speaking. Come and see this." w.a.n.g Zhong had walked through the gate. There were no visible changes in his surroundings, but he discovered a ma.s.sive engraving of a phoenix totem on the ground. From its appearance, it was very similar to what he had seen when he looked up at this skeletal s.p.a.ce from the peak of the mountain. There was a line of words written in the Mizobudapi language. w.a.n.g Zhong could not understand these words.
"Yes, yes, yes…" Tatamu obediently caught up. It took a look at the engraving and was pleasantly surprised. "This is a map of the restricted area! Look!"
It pointed to the totem engraving. There were traces of flames on two different parts of the phoenix's body, one on its head and one on its heart. At the same time, there was a glowing spot on its back; it was most likely where they were standing now. "Tatamu remembers when the abominable Sauron said that he had stood on the head of the Phoenix G.o.d. Back then, he had followed the royal family to offer a sacrifice to the heavens. The flame at its head is definitely the place where the royal family offered their sacrifice and buried the past emperors! As for the heart, it is definitely the treasure vault of the Octopus people! The words have even specified the directions. The orientation of the engraving is the same as the orientation of the skeleton."
It excitedly made comparisons. The head area was probably the area before the two ma.s.sive pillars. But right after, it discovered something even more exciting.
"Not only is this a map, it is also a transmission array! The transmission array can be activated using the royal bloodline. We can transport to the three places indicated on the map. How great! We… hm? Why is there no exit?"
Tatamu blabbered on but was suddenly stunned. They were not here to offer sacrifices or look for treasures. Instead, they were here to escape. It remembered when Sauron said that after they finished their sacrifice, they did not go back via the route they had used to go there. Instead, he followed the royal family through a spatial pathway and returned directly to the Imperial City. Tatamu had thought that it would be able to follow w.a.n.g Zhong and find the spatial pathway here, but there were no signs of the spatial pathway on this map.
"Spatial pathway? Since they offered sacrifices at its head, wouldn't the spatial pathway be at the head?"
Tatamu shook its head. "Definitely not. That place is where the Octopus people offer sacrifices to the heavens and their ancestors. It is a very solemn place and would not allow anyone to travel through s.p.a.ce."
"You are definitely lying." Simba threatened Tatamu and hoped that it would fight back. After all, it would be interesting to cut off two of its legs. However, this fellow suddenly grew very proactive.
Tatamu panicked. "Impossible! Tatamu's loyalty towards Master is very obvious! We Polylegs are the most loyal creatures in this world! Furthermore, Tatamu is…"
"You just betrayed the Octopus people." Simba fiercely interrupted it. This eight-clawed monster was very uncooperative. Fight back! If it continued being proactive, Simba would feel bad chopping off its leg.
"How is this a betrayal? This is leaving the darkness for the light! This is because Tatamu has finally found the light in the sea of suffering!" Tatamu proudly stood beside w.a.n.g Zhong. "Only great creatures like Master are worthy of Tatamu's true loyalty!"
As w.a.n.g Zhong watched the two of them bring the conversation further and further away, he felt helpless and quickly waved. This seemed to be a random action, but his consciousness had been shrouding Tatamu. Now that Tatamu was standing very near to him, he could clearly sense Tatamu's heart rate. If it was lying, w.a.n.g Zhong would have seen some discrepancies. It seemed like the spatial pathway was not at the head. "Stop your nonsense. We will go to the treasure vault."
They would try their luck. Would there be a transmission array at the treasure vault? Even if there was no transmission array, they could take some treasures from the Octopus people. These treasures might be able to make him stronger, allowing him to kill his enemies in one shot.
After asking Tatamu to translate the activation instructions beside the transmission array at the map, w.a.n.g Zhong was about to head to the treasure vault. Suddenly, he saw a figure appear out of thin air in front of him.
That was the place he had landed when he first entered this place. Had the soldiers caught up with him?
The moment the figure materialized, the powerful aura of a Heavenly Soul hit w.a.n.g Zhong in the face. It was the Sword Saint who had climbed up the mountain stairs! Tatamu, who had been full of vigor and was prepared to escape with w.a.n.g Zhong, was speechless. Its seven legs were trembling, and it was as quiet as a cicada in winter.
Beads of sweat could be seen on Pievrov's forehead. He had sprinted at full speed on the last stretch of the white jade steps. Even he had been fatigued by the journey. Activating the transmission array exhausted even more of his energy and caused him to drop to a mid-leveled Heavenly Soul. However, he still had enough strength to spare to fight a Heroic Soul human.
"Wonderful." Pievrov panted, but a smile appeared on his face. He had finally caught up. It had been worthwhile spending his energy and taking the risk of losing his way to rush here.
This was not Pievrov's first time in the restricted area. There was a golden spark of light. Then, in the blink of an eye, Pievrov had arrived several meters away from w.a.n.g Zhong. "You have trespa.s.sed the restricted area of my race. How do you want to die?"
"This—this has nothing to do with me!" When faced with the pressure of a Sword Saint, Tatamu trembled in fear. It chose to betray its master for a second time without any hesitation.
"I'd say that this fellow is not dependable." Even as a mask, Simba did not stop his insults.
w.a.n.g Zhong focused all his attention on the Sword Saint who had barged in. This Sword Saint was different from Heinrich. Although he felt that this fellow was much stronger than Heinrich outside, for some reason, he sensed that the Sword Saint was now around the same level as him; they both had the power of mid-leveled Heavenly Souls.
A mere mid-leveled Heavenly Soul had no right to act powerful in front of him. With the divine sword in hand, w.a.n.g Zhong's energy surged forth in a continuous stream. He had been chased and tortured for a very long time. Even someone like him would get angry. Perhaps he would be killed in battle today, but definitely not by the person in front of him.
Soul Power surged forth as Pievrov's expression grew serious. He seemed to have completely misunderstood the situation. His enemy was not a Heroic Soul, but a mid-leveled Heavenly Soul. But even so, his enemy did not stand a chance. They were evenly matched in terms of strength, but Pievrov was a genuine Sword Saint, while his enemy was merely a mid-leveled Heavenly Soul. Their strength might be the same, but they were on wholly different levels.
When he saw the treasure of the Sword Faction, Pievrov's expression turned grave.
"You will pay the heaviest price for dirtying that sacred item!"
w.a.n.g Zhong smiled. His Soul Power seeped into the surroundings. The Nebula Sword in his hands started to shine just like a real nebula. Not only was the sword engulfed by the light, even his surroundings seemed to be engulfed by a nebula. It was as if he was standing in a boundless universe of stars. The divine sword in his hands was the center of this universe!
w.a.n.g Zhong never thought that the Nebula Sword would change like this. He had gained the approval of the divine sword and was able to control it. He could sense the connection between him and the divine sword, but this had never happened when he used the sword before. Was it because the Soul Power in his divine cells and his body had undergone a purification and transformation after that trial? It seemed like the item in his hands was no ordinary object. The Octopus people had not gotten outraged just to save their image.
w.a.n.g Zhong was about 50-60% confident, but as he sensed the flourishing energy from the divine sword, w.a.n.g Zhong was now exploding with confidence. "I always thought that only humans would have a strange sense of superiority, but we are nothing compared to you guys. There are times when I am doubtful. You have such good conditions, but what have you been doing all these years? You are truly backward."
The Mizobudapi people existed in the Fifth Dimension, which meant that they were one dimension above humans. Their civilization had existed for a longer time as well, but they had developed into this hideous state. If they were humans, they would have started killing people everywhere.
The murderous intent on Pievrov's face had turned into doubt, then anger and disbelief.
There were two things that the Mizobudapi people held with great importance: the phoenix that represented conviction, and the sword that represented the soul. The latter was particularly important to swordsmen. Although there were many good swords in the Mizobudapi World and they had long mastered forging techniques, there were only 10 divine swords in this world. The Nebula Sword could be considered one of the top three swords. Frankly speaking, if it were not for Heinrich's special ident.i.ty, he would not have had the right to use such a treasure, let alone display the true power of the Nebula Sword. Simply put, the fact that the Nebula Sword did not reject Heinrich did not mean that Heinrich could control it. However, this human in front of him had achieved resonance with the divine sword!
A mere human, a lowly being.
He could not allow this human to live!
Capturing him alive for a reward was nothing in comparison to the reputation of the Sword Faction.
His murderous intent instantly exploded and filled the surroundings. It had even started to materialize. w.a.n.g Zhong could see dazzling gold lights on Pievrov's body, causing the sea of stars formed by the Nebula Sword to grow dim. He was going to kill w.a.n.g Zhong.
In a flash, the gold lights shone brightly and dazzled!
Humm humm humm humm…
The sound of the sword seemed to echo Pievrov's desires. His divine sword trembled and buzzed in its sheath as if it could not wait to be released.
Zeng!
He did not wait for the sound of the sword to disappear. The gold light continued to shine, but Pievrov had disappeared. His speed could not be seen with the naked eye.
He moved as if he was teleporting. The explosive power of a Sword Saint during close combat was definitely their most fatal move. Simba and Tatamu were still looking at the golden light, but the divine sword was already aimed at w.a.n.g Zhong's chest.
This was different from w.a.n.g Zhong's previous fight with Heinrich. Back then, he had depended on confusing his opponent, his luck, and his opponent's limits. But this time, there was no hesitation in his eyes. On the contrary, there was unparalleled clarity in his eyes.
His vision, senses, and divine cells had not grown stronger in an unbalanced manner. Instead, his growth had been very comprehensive. His eyes could follow his opponent, even at his explosive speed. He could see how his enemy crossed a long distance and arrived right in front of him. He could even see when his enemy started and stopped running as well as when he unsheathed his sword. Nothing could escape him.
He had now mastered the Divine Circuit. Furthermore, after going through extreme trials and training, both the divine cells in his body and the overlapping Soul Power Circuits had undergone transformations under this pressure and integrated with each other. w.a.n.g Zhong no longer needed to stack the Circuits again and again. The Circuits seemed rough and straightforward, but there were countless dense connections with every single divine cell that the Circuits pa.s.sed through!
This was more effective, more succinct, and what w.a.n.g Zhong wanted.
