Chapter 14: The One Who Dons The Kabuki Mask (2)

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“Surnamed Gan! Have you gone mad?! To dare attack me at my Sacred Demon Sect, you truly have a load of guts! Were you sent by your Sect to act as a spy?!” Fang De immediately roared as he glared at ‘Gan Long’. The earlier near-death experience still lingered fresh in his mind. Read more...

But it was the fact that he had been caught off guard by someone weaker than him, that had made him so angry. He refused to believe that a mere Heavenly Wang practitioner could have almost killed him, even if it was a sneak attack!

‘Gan Long’ smiled as he turned to face Fang De. “Oh? You are pretty good. To dodge an attack at such a close range, a Great Elder’s identity is truly not as useless as I thought. However, it is shame that you still have to die today.”

Fang De felt his anger rising as he growed in a low voice: “Then I would like to see you try!”

*Whoosh!*

Fang De took a step forward and his figure blurred before arriving in front of ‘Gan Long’. His right arm was already pulled back, ready to unleash a palm attack, when ‘Gan Long’ suddenly reached out and flicked Fang De’s head.

In a split second, ‘Gan Long’s hand was already in front of Fang De’s forehead, fingers arched in preparation.  

‘Gan Long’s’ hand had moved in an instant and at such a speed that Fang De was unable to even see its trajectory! Upon a direct impact, Fang De felt his head jerk backward as if his forehead was pounded by a giant hammer, sending his body flying crashing into the wall behind him.

Right afterwards, sounds of footsteps could be heard rapidly approaching the Fang De’s room. ‘Gan Long’, who was obviously Huang Xue in disguise, had a faint smile on his face.

“It’s getting a bit noisy now, maybe I should’ve set up a concealing formation earlier after all?…” Huang Xue muttered under his breath as he walked over to Fang De was getting up from the floor. Huang Xue had obviously held himself back when he attacked, believing it would be enough. But it seems like this Fang De fellow was quite sturdy...

“Master! Are you alright?”

“What was that loud noise, master? Is something wrong?!”

“Master, did something happen?”

Voices of concern rang out from behind the closed-door, but Huang Xue paid them no attention.

Fang De glared venomously at the approaching ‘Gan Long’, and angrily yelled: “You lot, scram! There is nothing wrong here! I will be out in a few moments!”

The Great Elder was thoroughly enraged now. He had initially attacked with his physical body due to the contempt he felt for his weaker opponent. There was no need to show any of his true cards. In the end, to think he was actually pushed back by a measly elder-level person!

But at the same time, he was still silently contemplating the entire situation. For an elder like Gan Long to even last a second in front of him was already an impossible feat, much less push him back! This was something fishy going on here!

Thinking up to this, the anger inside Fang De’s stomach was quickly suppressed, as his eyes narrowed with shrewdness and suspicion. As a Great Elder-level figure, he had many experiences. He understood losing to one’s emotion in battle was a fatal mistake.

“...Who are you?” Fang De asked he stood alert now, his aura slowing climbing up.

Huang Xue smiled but did not reply to the other’s question. Instead, he said in a casual tone:

“My next move should finish this up...”

However, this time Fang De did not get angry at Huang Xue’s words. Instead, he began to revolve the energy inside his Dantian as he gathered the power Darkness Dao inside his palms. This was a strong Dao of the Mo category, wielding the ability to draw strength from the darkness element in the world.

At the same time, the air around Fang De trembled and distorting, as ten 4-meters tall arched gray doors emerged from the airy ripples. Berserk energy and signs of life were rippling behind the closed sinister-looking gates. With the appearance of such portals, the originally spacious room now seemed much more congested than before.

“Oh? Those are...Spirit Gates?” Huang Xue looked on with interest as he watched the Fang De prepare himself.

Spirit Gates were one of the main strengths of an Array Spiritualists. Only Spiritualists of at least Rank 3 would be able to use such function. And using these Gates, a Spiritualist could either summon a being from another domain or an evil beast him/her had tamed! Generally, it is very difficult to create Gates, and even the level of Gates vary depending on its size.

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A one meter sized Gate was the norm, while larger Gates usually meant that stronger beasts could be kept inside, or that the Array Spiritualist could summon even greater beings from another smaller world! These door sizes varied from person to person, and usually had to do with the strength of their soul and their affinity with in the Dao of Formations.

To be able to release ten 4-meters tall Gate at once already showed that this Fang De was indeed no ordinary person! Even a normal Rank 8 Array Spiritualist could barely bring out ten Gates of such size. A single meter increase in size is more than enough to create a large gap in power, especially between competing Spiritualists!

“If you don’t want to answer me, that is fine. I don’t know how you did it, but after I destroy your body and rip off that face, we’ll see then if I’ll be able to find out who you are!” Fang De growled. “All of you, come out!”

A shout rang from the Great Elder before the ten doors floating near opened. A second later, hideous broad evil beasts crawled out from within. Some of them looked like giant giants, while others looked something akin to mutated centipedes. There were even  two humanoid things, though their scaly features and green skin tone revealed them as anything but human. Each of the evil beasts gave off a pressuring aura, the amount of bloodthirsty aura in the room was so great that many elders and core disciples within five miles of radius were attracted to the Great Elder Fang De’s mansion.

Huang Xue could feel several strong auras approaching his location. He slightly frowned.

“Hmm...this is getting troublesome. I better finish this quickly...damn! I really should’ve set up a concealment formation beforehand…” Huang Xue thought in his mind. Initially, he had been thinking of getting a bit of information from Fang De before killing him and leaving. But in the end, he had underestimated the sturdiness of his target. After being a God-level expert for quite some time, he was now having trouble taking mortal cultivators in much regards…

“Let me see just who you are!” Fang De suddenly shouted as he thrust a black glowing palm towards Huang Xue. “Saint Demonic Arts 3rd Layer: Doom’s Nirvana!”

There were small stars seemingly revolving around his energy attack --a characteristic of Empyrean Hun cultivators!

At the same time, the sky above mansion instantly darkened and dark clouds swirled about, faint thundering sounds could be heard rumbling above. The mansion itself also began to gravitated upward due to the energy leaking from Fang De’s attack; black tiles flew up into the air as the entire room Huang Xue and Fang De was in began to crumble upward.

A peculiar scene of an old man in brown robe rushing in the air towards a calm Huang Xue, as the several evil beasts surrounded the latter, each in already punching towards the latter with their claws and widened jaws ready for a feast.

The monstrous growing aura burst forth from the breaking mansion, knocking back several nearby elders and core disciples who had come to investigate. All the core disciples and a few weaker elders spurt out a mouthful of blood and fainted on the spot, while the other stronger executives barely managed to resist.

Even the residue might from a Empyrean Hun practitioner was simply frightening! And when such a being attacks, the sky and earth changes before his might!

As Fang De’s palm attack and the evil beasts strikes were about to reach Huang Xue, time seemed to have slowed down as a strange silence seemed to have settled. The evil glowing palm and claws moved closer and closer…

But just as they were about to land on Huang Xue’s body, a young man’s voice suddenly resonated out in an otherworldly tone:

“...Since you like levitating things so much, let me give you a helping hand...”

A ghastly pressure immediately filled the entire room before a blinding golden light illuminated all that was in this space. Fang De felt his body become numb when he felt the pressure that was like a mountain pressing down upon him. The pain was excruciating.

The glow on his outstretched palm had already completely dissipated. Or more accurately, Fang De could not feel it anymore...he felt like all his five senses were quickly leaving him. Even his divine sense was useless now. Fang De’s sense of the world had instantly plunged into absolute darkness.  

By now, every living thing was laying on the ground amidst the dazzling light, unable to move and unable to see…a strong feeling of death loomed over them...