[V6C52 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
The vampire fighting with Nighteye was a first-rank viscount. He was indeed higher than Nighteye by one rank and the latter was wounded, but being able to chase after her all the way and even injure her meant that he was a genius whose combat strength surpassed his rank.
Seconds later, the viscount clambered up and glanced at his surroundings. Then, with a cold laugh, he ran into one of the tunnels without delay. It was likely that he knew a tracking art and could clearly judge Nighteye’s movements. At the first fork in the tunnel, he rushed straight into the tunnel via which Nighteye had left.
The viscount had just rushed past a group of stalactites when a sense of alarm overwhelmed his heart and he immediately halted his steps! Before him, East Peak had appeared in utter silence and sealed his path forward. Had he been slightly slower to react, he would’ve rushed head-first into that jet black heavy sword.
The viscount, drenched in cold sweat, slowly turned his head. Only then did he see the young human and the hand holding East Peak. He was vigilant and focused at this moment but didn’t dare make a single move. The other party having arrived so close without his notice proved that he was extremely powerful.
Qianye sized the vampire up from head to toe, his gaze pausing slightly on the collar insignia. “Why is the Perth clan hunting down the Monroe clan?”
“It seems you know quite a lot about us sacred-blooded scions! Then you should know that, no matter who you are, the Queen of the Night’s business isn’t something you humans can interfere with. Now let me go and I’ll pretend this never happened!”
Qianye broke into a laugh. “I have zero interest in your internal strife, rest assured…”
The vampire viscount sighed quietly in relief. He felt, for some reason, an inexplicable pressure coming from this young human, so much so that he couldn’t even rally himself for a surprise attack. It was certainly for the best now that Qianye didn’t want to interfere.
But Qianye’s words that followed were: “I’m only interested in killing you.”
A tremendous pressure descended upon the viscount as though the ocean were weighing down upon him. The wounded vampire could even hear the vague rush of ocean waves as his legs gave in, and he nearly fell kneeling onto the ground.
A faint whistle rang out as East Peak fell from above!
The Perth clan viscount raised his sword with both hands in a frantic attempt to intercept the incoming blade. His sword, clearly an extraordinary item, remained intact even after the clash. However, the immense pressure exerted by East Peak wasn’t something the vampire could resist. Both man and blade were smashed down, completely deforming the viscount’s sword as well as his head.
Qianye plunged his vampiric blade into the viscount’s blood core, thoroughly ending his life.
He searched through the dead viscount’s body and found some origin grenades, crystal currency, and even a drop of origin blood. Although its quality was only mediocre, it was still a valuable item nonetheless. Qianye put everything away and followed the path Nighteye had taken.
The latter was indeed fast. Her remnant aura had already grown so faint during this short period that Qianye might’ve lost her if not for his True Sight. It was fortunate that he had ended the battle quickly without wasting much time on the Perth clan viscount.
Qianye began to frown after a while. Judging from the newest traces along the way, Nighteye’s speed was gradually decreasing, a clear sign that her injuries were acting up. However, that didn’t mean she could be easily caught up with.
Nighteye intentionally passed through the territories of powerful beasts. Qianye might’ve been stopped midway if it weren’t for him possessing the same Bloodline Concealment ability which allowed him to move past without alarming them. This was akin to walking on the razor’s edge because everyone would slip up at one point.
Nighteye was fighting a powerful wild beast when Qianye caught up to her. Apparently, she had been discovered.
It was a massive lizard-like creature with a thick shell on its back which moved with great agility despite its enormous body and used its long tongue to attack.
Nighteye changed directions with extreme speed and grasped the opportunity to release a volley of shots. However, her bullets had their trajectories shifted and flew toward the creature’s shell. She managed to remove several scales, but it was nothing but a scratch to the meter-thick shell.
It turned out that this rank-fifteen beast was able to exert a distortion field around its body and deflect incoming attacks. It could almost be considered an unconventional domain. Moreover, its shell—as thick as the plate armor installed upon the city walls—made it even more difficult to handle.
Moreover, its tongue could shoot out hundreds of meters at lightning speed and was extremely sturdy. Nighteye slashed at it several times but only managed to leave a number of negligible wounds while she herself was almost stabbed numerous times.
Qianye knew at a glance that Nighteye wasn’t a match for this beast even in her peak state. His own combat style, on the other hand, happened to restrain such heavily armored creatures. But even so, the outcome was uncertain because the level disparity between them was simply too great.
It was at this time that the giant beast’s tongue suddenly warped toward a strange angle—rolling back and switching from a stab to a whip. This time, Nighteye was caught completely off-guard and struck squarely in the back. She was flung out like a cannonball and crashed violently into a cave wall, nearly sinking into it.
Qianye hesitated no longer. The Twin Flowers appeared in a flash and merged into one as the golden wings behind him unfurled to the extreme. It was actually a golden feather that shot out from the muzzle!
Shot of Inception!
All sound and light within ten thousand meters were snuffed out and drained by the shot. Every living being felt an ineffable restlessness. It was as though they had heard the opening of death’s doors, yet it also felt like they had harkened to the blessings of heaven. That was an inexplicable experience.
All combatants engaged in fierce battles within ten thousand meters became absent-minded for a split second.
William, in his giant wolf form, staggered and missed his mark, biting into the coarse stone pillar in front of him and snapping it in half. The imperial lieutenant general who was fighting with him stared on with an odd expression.
That stone pillar was so thick that it would take at least two men to wrap their arms around it. William’s wolf form was only the size of a wild wolf—one that could be found anywhere on Evernight Continent—yet he was able to bite through such a thick stone pillar.
This imperial lieutenant general was a shrewd veteran. He immediately turned and fled while William was busy spitting out the stone pieces in his mouth. His actions could be considered decisive and efficient. By the time William had finished cleaning the debris from his mouth, his opponent had long since vanished. He was momentarily dazed at the sudden development and soon let out an unhappy roar.
In another direction, Bai Aotu’s accurate fist-strike halted midway, and that misty Sky Demon avatar on the other side also came to a standstill. This resulted in Bai Aotu’s fist barely grazing the latter’s body.
However, the momentum of that strike continued forward and punched a hole through the cave wall. The defect was at least dozens of meters deep, and its edges were as smooth as a mirror.
Sky Demon’s avatar twisted around in a weird manner, much like a person turning to glance at that hole. The distortion suddenly intensified as it scattered and reformed into a wisp of smoke which then shot into the defect produced by Bai Aotu’s fist strike and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Bai Aotu was also startled. She hadn’t expected that the Sky Demon avatar, which she had chased down so brazenly, would escape at this point. But her reactions were as quick as lightning. Her left hand rose and blasted another wave of fist energy into the cavity, eliciting an indistinct cry of misery from its depths. It would seem that the strike had found its mark.
However, Bai Aotu wasn’t happy at all. Even though the avatar had been badly wounded, the fact remained that she had allowed it to escape.
Bai Aotu’s expression was frosty as she glanced toward a different direction. If there was a way to catch a bird’s eye view of the entire cavern, one would see that she was looking in Qianye’s direction.
She would have certainly struck the avatar and gravely injured it if not for that bizarre moment of palpitation. Her loaded left hand would then force it to remain here for eternity. Now, the avatar had escaped successfully and it wouldn’t be so careless the next time.
Bai Aotu pondered for a moment but still couldn’t figure out what that palpitation was about. Moreover, there was a hint of power in it that caused her to feel apprehensive. As bold as she was, Bai Aotu decided against going in that direction in the end.
In a different battlefield, another one of Sky Demon’s avatars, as well as Zhao Jundu who was facing it, slowed down ever so slightly. The avatar recovered first and immediately pulled back in a bid to leave the place. It had never once managed to extricate itself since the beginning of the battle. That blue light blade in Zhao Jundu’s hands filled it with dread, and it was unwilling to so much as touch it.
But just as the avatar was stepping back, the once calm environment began to surge with violet energy. Two pillars of violet flame—the top parts suffused with a tinge of azure—appeared behind its back. The Sky Demon avatar didn’t have enough time to react and crashed right into them, screaming wretchedly as it was burned between the interlocking pillars.
It would seem that Zhao Jundu’s violet qi was able to deal exceptional damage to Sky Demon’s avatar. Even the black mist that formed its body was ignited by the violet flame pillars.
Arrows of black mist shot out in every direction as the Sky Demon avatar screamed and struggled. The violet flame pillars were immediately punched full of holes, and the entire landscape was on the verge of collapse. But at this moment, a wave of blue radiance washed over like a collapsing wall and enveloped the avatar.
The avatar’s screams increased by an octave. A black figure half its original size shot out from the blue light and vanished into the depths of the tunnel.
A pale Zhao Jundu remained standing in place as his face became abnormally flushed for a split second. He was ambushed by the avatar while exploring the cavern, but Zhao Jundu’s combat technique was known for being almost flawless—there wasn’t a single advantage to take. The only problem was that the Sky Demon avatar managed to retain its full combat strength in this suppressed world, and the level difference between the two was too great.
Disadvantaged as he was, Zhao Jundu fought calmly and without a single opening. His recovery was even quicker than Sky Demon’s avatar when that throbbing sensation arrived. He immediately availed himself to the opportunity and used the Omniscient Seal to heavily injure the avatar. However, chasing it down or destroying it was beyond his power.
A light flickered in Zhao Jundu’s eyes as he looked toward the source of that throbbing sensation—no one knew what was going through his mind. Moments later, he turned around and chose a path far away from the source.
Meanwhile, in the cave where Nighteye was attacked by the giant beast, Qianye was flung backward. The Twin Flowers turned dim and became shrouded in a layer of haziness.
The feather of inception turned into a beam of golden light which shot through the giant creature like an indiscriminate arrow. The shell Nighteye was helpless against could do nothing at all to block the assault.
The giant beast’s body began to swell up, soon reaching a point where there were cracks all over its body and countless beams of light were shooting out from between the breached skin. Soon afterward, a circle of golden light spread out silently and washed over the entire cavern.