After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 61: Chapter 62: He Has It, You Don’t

He too possessed superhuman strength, shattering the large bed to pieces in mid-air.

However, the moment the bed was out of the way, another figure, rapidly growing larger in his vision, was already upon him.

Nian Songyu barely had time to bring his shield around to block before a loud BANG sent him flying thirty feet away.

He scrambled to his feet and finally got a clear look at his attacker: a black Demon Ape. Even with its back hunched, it stood seven feet tall, its entire body covered in taut muscles so exaggerated they looked ready to burst.

Its small eyes glowed red. It was hairless; its body seemed to be covered in a black, rocky shell. A dark red liquid, like magma, flowed through cracks of varying widths.

The Demon Ape, apparently not yet satisfied, charged toward Nian Songyu on all fours. As it closed in, it raised both arms and brought them smashing down.

Nian Songyu ducked, raising his large shield in front of him.

The Demon Ape’s fists followed immediately, crashing down on the large shield.

CLANG! The shield fell, but there was no one behind it.

Having been caught off guard once, Nian Songyu wouldn’t fall for it again. He had already sidestepped behind the creature and, with a backhanded swing of his saber, lopped off its head!

The move was swift and clean, a killing technique honed on the battlefield. It wasted not an ounce of effort; Nian Songyu himself was quite pleased.

’No matter the monster, man-made or natural, the weak spot is usually the head.’

The headless Demon Ape staggered two steps but didn’t fall. Instead, it bent down, picked up its head, and placed it back on its neck.

Magma flowed up and down the seam of its neck. In the space of two or three breaths, its head was reattached, and the red light shone once more from its eye sockets.

’This thing... it can’t be killed?’

Then, Nian Songyu heard Sun Fuping shout, ”Be careful! Fall back!”

One Demon Ape after another burst from the ruins and charged toward them.

Nian Songyu cut down two more. This time, the edge of his saber glowed with a faint green light; he had clearly used his Society Command. As a Military General who commanded troops, his personal providence was enough to suppress demons and ghosts, and could even break many Divine Techniques.

After being beheaded or bisected, the Demon Apes took noticeably longer to revive, and their movements became sluggish. But eventually, they would still retrieve their heads and come back for a long, drawn-out fight.

His usually infallible Society Command was being suppressed. Nian Songyu finally sensed how bad the situation was. ”National Preceptor,” he shouted, ”we can’t keep fighting like this!”

He was injured as well. A gash on his left arm was so deep the bone was visible, the torn flesh around it already charred black. The Demon Apes’ claws were exceptionally sharp and seared like a branding iron.

While Nian Songyu was getting pummeled by the first Demon Ape, Sun Fuping had already scattered a few beans on the ground. By the time the other apes attacked, the beans had grown into ten-foot-tall Golden Armored Soldiers. These behemoths were a match for the Demon Apes in strength and formed a protective circle around Nian Songyu, buying Sun Fuping a considerable amount of time.

But as Nian Songyu had said, the Demon Apes could revive indefinitely, capable of wearing down any attacker to death. A battle of attrition was no solution.

Besides, the boss was still leisurely watching the show from atop the city gate.

A bead of water condensed in Sun Fuping’s hand. After reciting a long Mantra, the bead grew larger and larger, finally stabilizing at the size of a duck egg.

He smashed the water ball at a Demon Ape’s feet before saying calmly, ”The rules of this world are different from reality. Your providence and my Divine Techniques are both suppressed here!”

In the real world, the water ball he conjured would have been at least twice the size of an ostrich egg, but here it was drastically smaller.

Yet, reciting the Mantra consumed twice the True Power, and that was only because this space had received the Pool Well’s rain from the Upper Realm. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to conjure it from thin air at all.

Fortunately, the water ball burst upon hitting the ground. More than ten dark-red water snakes shot out from within, each targeting a Demon Ape and lunging.

These were true water snakes, composed entirely of liquid. The Demon Apes howled as they tried to pull them off, but the snakes couldn’t be broken. Instead, they slithered up the apes’ heads and burrowed into their orifices.

Nian Songyu heard a continuous SIZZLING from within their bodies. As clouds of white steam billowed out, the magma flowing over their rocky skin dimmed and then solidified.

A dozen breaths later, they could no longer maintain their forms and crumbled with a loud CRASH into piles of charred remains.

Only then did Nian Songyu have a moment to take out a bright green Pill, which he chewed up and applied to his wound.

A mass of light-green foam immediately bubbled up from the wound, and Nian Songyu let out a long sigh of relief. The Pill could draw out fire poison; if the toxin had spread to his heart through his bloodstream, he would have been in grave danger.

Naturally, the Pill also stopped the bleeding. He moved his left arm, finding the tendons unharmed. As long as the medicine worked its magic, the wound would heal completely in about ten double-hours.

That was, of course, assuming they could get out of here alive.

He felt relatively at ease with the National Preceptor by his side, but his thoughts inadvertently drifted to the two bastards who had deserted them.

’That little bastard, Hee, is probably hiding in some corner enjoying the show right now.’

’When we get back to the real world, I’m going to crush every bone in that bastard Hee’s body, bit by bit. Then I’ll slice off his fingers one by one and force him to cook and eat them himself!’

The thought alone lessened the pain in his wound considerably.

With the Demon Apes down, Sun Fuping turned to the Black Flood Dragon atop the city gate. ”My king is determined to obtain the Grand Square Pot!” he called out. ”You have been buried in the great desert for many years, long since becoming a masterless Divine Artifact. Why not come with me, devour flesh and blood, and return to your peak?”

A Divine Artifact, after all, was still a type of Magical Artifact and required regular, meticulous maintenance. After Panlong City fell, Zhong Shengguang had hidden the Grand Square Pot in the great desert. With no upkeep for so many years, the Pot’s divinity was bound to erode bit by bit. However, a mere century was too short a time for a Divine Artifact. If left neglected for thousands or tens of thousands of years, it would eventually degenerate into useless scrap.

Divine Artifacts possessed spirits and would instinctively seek to escape such a predicament.

”Well said.” The Black Flood Dragon laughed, its coarse chuckle echoing in everyone’s Sea of Consciousness. ”And what do you plan to do after we get out?”

”I will lead you to quell rebellions and wipe out threats at the border, re-establishing the divine might of my Da Yuan!” Sun Fuping declared in a clear voice. ”Both you and the Three Corpses Insect will have a chance to show your power.”

The Black Flood Dragon tilted its head to look at him. After a long moment, it said in a sinister voice, ”I don’t believe you.”

Sun Fuping frowned. ”Why not?”

”You are not worthy,” the Black Flood Dragon said, its voice dripping with contempt. ”You call yourself a National Preceptor and talk endlessly of saving the nation, yet I cannot sense a single shred of providence about you.”

Sun Fuping had yet to react, but not far away, Hee Lingchuan’s expression changed drastically.

’What did that mean?’

’Sun Fuping was one of the three great National Preceptors, responsible for allocating providence for Da Yuan. Aside from the Emperor himself, none of the court officials had more of it than they did. And yet the Black Flood Dragon claimed he had none?’

The Black Flood Dragon looked from Nian Songyu to Sun Fuping. ”Providence cannot be hidden from me. He has it. You do not.”

Nian Songyu remained calm, not at all shocked like Hee Lingchuan. Sun Fuping sighed. ”I always keep my word; it is merely that my position has changed. You are just an Artifact Spirit, but I can borrow the power of Deities. You’re going to submit in the end regardless. Why not let me save you the trouble of suffering a loss first?”