Chapter 167: Strange crystal.
Yao Jun quickly reached the back of his squad, standing in an inconspicuous spot. While he swept the soldiers in front of him with a quick glance, his eyes happened to meet with Azemar's. Azemar's eyes looked slightly worried, but Yao Jun did not know exactly what it was he was worried about. Yao Jun gave Azemar a slight nod, letting him know that he was about to move into action. Azemar returned the nod, turning his eyes away from Yao Jun and back onto the enemies ahead of them.
Yao Jun also turned his gaze onto the enemies ahead of them, thinking about how he wanted to proceed. He decided that before he did anything else, he would test out his strength, checking what level it had reached. He took another step backwards, his own shadow rising up and swallowing him, his figure vanishing from sight.
After he hid himself, he started to walk forwards. He first tried to walk next to some of the soldiers in his squad, but none of them were able to discover him while he hid himself within the shadows. After ascertaining that they were unable to discover him, Yao Jun glanced at the orbs of fire that were falling down upon the soldiers around him. Thanks to the formation that the soldiers formed, most of the fire was blocked by their combined effort, but when a bit of fire occasionally broke through the formation, loud screams would sound out, the smell of scorched flesh filling the air.
Yao Jun placed his gaze upon an orb of fire that was heading straight for his location, raising his right hand and pointing at it from within the shadows. After he pointed at the orb of fire, he lowered his hand, the orb rapidly changing direction and slamming into the ground a good distance away from him. Seeing the result, a smile appeared on Yao Jun's face.
Yao Jun had absorbed Zhuyin, a true Fire Dragon. Very few creatures were better at controlling flames than her, so since he could control her powers, he had also acquired the same control over fire. Of course, he did not let it get to his head. He knew that the moment he met someone that was stronger than him, his control over fire would mean nothing, they could simply use their great amount of Qi to wrest control back. Just as Yao Jun was going to move on and test something new, the voice of Ba-Shei rang out in his mind.
“My lord, please allow me to leave the gate and participate in the battle.”
Yao Jun furrowed his brows slightly upon hearing Ba-Shei's request. He was now able to take human form, but Ba-Shei was still a Demonic beast, what's more, he was a Demonic beast with a ravenous hunger. Yao Jun did not want to deny him this chance to rampage a little, but when he thought about where they currently were, he hesitated somewhat.
“You want to participate? I know that the strongest person here is only at the 6th Houtian Sky, but that is still stronger than you. What if you get surrounded or caught?”
In response to Yao Jun's worries, the confident voice of Ba-Shei once again rang out within his mind, teaching him something that Yao Jun had yet to learn about his God Gate.
“There is no need to worry about that, My lord. I can simply hide in the shadows as I move, only striking when I am certain of victory. And even if I were to be caught, I can return to the God Gate with a mere thought.”
Yao Jun thought about it in silence for a short moment, the sounds of battle continuously ringing out around him. In the end, he gave a slight nod of his head, giving Ba-Shei a few reminders.
“Very well, at the smallest sign of danger, return to the gate. I don't care what you do with their bodies, but try not to eat their interspatial rings, we need all the resources we can get. And if you find someone who seems to be a leader, try to stay away from them, no point in risking your life.”
After speaking, a light flashed out from Yao Jun's chest, Ba-Shei appearing in front of him. Ba-Shei was carrying an excited expression, two long and thin daggers appearing in his hands as he kneeled in front of Yao Jun.
“Thank you, My lord.”
After he kneeled, Ba-Shei left the shadows, quietly dashing a short distance away from Yao Jun before he jumped back into the shadows. After Ba-Shei left, a few more voices rang out from within Yao Jun's God Gate.
“My lord...”
Yao Jun did not even let his other Demonic beasts finish their sentences, immediately rejecting their imminent request.
“You guys can't. It is fine if it is Ba-Shei, as he can easily hide himself, but you guys are far too noticeable. People will start to wonder where you came from, and you might even get attacked from all sides. Even if you can return to the gate with just a thought, what will we do if people start questioning where several Divine beasts suddenly came from?”
Besides Little Thunder and Ba-Shei, every other Demonic beast Yao Jun had was a Divine beast. Divine beasts were valuable all over the universe, so Yao Jun did not dare let others know that he had several. A dejected silence followed Yao Jun's immediate rejection, so he reassured them with a slight smile.
“Don't worry. Your time will come, it just isn't now.”
Yao Jun had never intended to keep Sirius and the others coped up within the God Gate, he had long planned on letting them out to rampage freely. He just had to find an opportunity for it. After he spoke, Yao Jun started to move again, heading towards someone from the Final Fire clan that had strayed somewhat from his squad.
He continued to slowly move closer, checking whether or not the person, who seemed to have a female figure, was able to detect him. When he got so close that he could reach out and touch her, but she had yet to notice him, he decided that he had checked enough. He rubbed the ring on his finger, activating the sword that Leylan had given him. The ring turned into a light green sword, and Yao Jun slashed at the throat of the woman in front of him.
He had to leave the shadows to attack her with the sword, so she noticed him the moment he stepped out of the shadows. But with how small the distance between them was, there was no chance for her to react in time. The sword hit her throat, a cracking sound ringing out as the sword dug into her throat, the black skin around her throat cracking and bleeding orange blood. As her head fell to the ground, Yao Jun quickly picked up her interspatial ring, stepping back into the shadows as he muttered to himself.
“Their bodies really are tough, feels like I just hit a boulder.”
Yao Jun clenched his fist slightly, the bodies of people from the Final Fire clan truly were as tough as Reyner had said. After killing the first one, Yao Jun placed his eyes on a small group of five Final Fire clan members that were located a small distance from him. He moved through the shadows, quickly reaching the rear of the small group.
Once he reached their rear, he stepped out of the shadows and launched his attacks. His left hand was surrounded by a thin and icy mist, while the sword in his right hand was surrounded by blazing flames. The group did not even have the time to react to his presence, before his attacks landed on their targets.
The man who was hit by his left hand felt his chest freeze, his hard skin and tough organs freezing and shattering. The man who was hit by his blazing sword fared far better, his skin cracking under the force, but the fire did not harm him in the slightest. He was just about to let out a loud shout, but the words froze in his mouth when he felt a strange pull on his heart. His chest split apart, a small orange crystal flying out and landing in the hand of Yao Jun. The man looked at the crystal with horrified eyes, his face freezing in that expression as he died.
After checking the efficiency of his attacks, Yao Jun pushed aside the fire that the remaining three people sent at him, quickly killing them by drawing out the crystal that they had in their chest, their hearts. Once all five were dead, he picked up their interspatial rings and returned to the shadows, an intrigued smile on his face as he looked at the four orange crystals he held.
“Seems like they are quite weak to ice and people who control fire, I gotta make sure to keep that in mind. And this crystal, it is very similar to a Demon Crystal. Does the Final Fire clan have some relation to Demonic beasts? Let's save it for later and check it out.”
The moment his ice came into contact with the skin of the person from the Final Fire clan, the hard skin had immediately frozen and shattered, rendering his tough defense void. But Yao Jun was far more interested in the crystals. When his sword hit the other person from the Final Fire clan, Yao Jun felt like there was a small orb of fire within the chest of that person. With a slight thought of his mind, he was able to control that orb of fire, pulling it out of that person's chest. He expected an orb of fire, not a crystal that seemed like it was filled with fiery energy.
Yao Jun stored away the crystals and the interspatial rings, hiding them within his God Gate. He then swept the surroundings for enemies that had strayed a little away from the main battle ground, as killing them attracted the least attention. After a short while, he spotted a tall and rugged man carrying two long axes. He was a short distance away from the nearest other enemy, so Yao Jun slowly made his way closer, silently muttering to himself.
“Now then, power of space, let me see how strong you are.”
When Yao Jun felt that he got close enough, he put all his focus onto the man in front of him. He had never used the power of space before, but he had an inkling on how to do it. Yao Jun's vision was filled with silver lines that moved through the air like waves, he simply stretched out his hand and grabbed onto one such line. He moved the line towards the tall man, who had realized that someone was nearby, and once the line entered the chest of the tall man, he filled the line with his Qi and gave it a slight pull. Once he saw the result, Yao Jun could not help but exclaim.
“Jeez. No wonder it is considered one of the strongest powers.”
When he pulled the line out of the tall man's chest, his entire body suddenly stopped moving. A thin line appeared on his chest, orange blood slowly dripping forth. After a short moment, the man's chest split into two, the upper separating from his body and falling to the ground, the rest of his body quickly following. His face held a somewhat clueless expression, forever unable to understand what had killed him.
Yao Jun picked up the interspatial ring of the man, storing it away and jumping back into the shadows. He wanted to pick up the crystal as well, but it had been sliced in half when Yao Jun killed the man. After entering the shadows again, Yao Jun turned his vision onto the main battle that was going on in the distance, a slight mutter ringing out from his lips as he started to move.
“Alright, I should stop now, I need to collect some heads.”
Yao Jun dared not relax his vigilance as he moved towards the main battle, heading directly towards the group of Final Fire clan people that were fighting against the squad he was part of. He activated his Crumbling The Nine Heaven's technique, pushing his strength to the peak and giving him greater control over the surrounding shadows.
The people from the Final Fire clan were also using a formation to strengthen themselves, so once Yao Jun got close to them, he drastically decreased his speed. He kept a close eye on the surrounding Qi, only moving when he felt that it was perfectly safe to step forward, slowly making his way into the midst of the group of Final Fire clan people. After he spent nearly three hours slowly moving, he reached what seemed to be the center of the formation.
At the center of the formation stood a woman, but she was clearly different from the rest of the Final Fire clan people around her. There was a crimson mark on her forehead, shaped like a ring of fire. She also had a higher cultivation than the others around her, reaching the middle stage of the 5th Houtian Sky. Yao Jun stretched out his right arm, his own sword appearing in his hands. His eyes locked onto the woman, a slight mutter ringing out from his mouth as he stepped out of the shadows.
“This seems to be the core of the formation that they use, so you should be the captain. Sorry, but I am going to need your head.”
Yao Jun started his attack before he even stepped out of the shadows, his sword already swinging when his body left the shadows. The silver lines that filled his vision gathered around the edge of his sword, a low screeching sound ringing out as space around his sword was pushed aside.
The eyes of the woman narrowed, a large brown hammer appearing in her hands as she turned towards Yao Jun and raised the hammer to block. But the quality of the hammer was lower than Yao Jun's weapon, which had been made using his own blood and Qi from the Demon God's Gate. His attack was also enhanced by the slicing power of space, so his sword moved through the hammer like a hot knife through butter, reaching the woman's throat without resistance.
Her hammer was unable to resist the attack, so how could her body? The sword easily sliced through her throat, separating her head from her body. In this battlefield, where the strongest person was only someone at the 6th Houtian Sky, there was no one that could truly stop Yao Jun. Yao Jun quickly reached out with his left arm and grabbed onto the head, dug out the crystal from the woman's chest, and snagged her interspatial ring, storing them away and stepping back into the shadows as the formation that the Final Fire clan people had set up fell apart, its core gone.
Without the support of their formation, the strength and defense of the soldiers within the group quickly fell, making it far easier for the soldiers of the World Tree clan to kill them. Most of the soldiers did not know why the enemy formation would suddenly collapse, but a few nearby captains happened to catch a quick glimpse of a youth with violet hair.