Chapter 1204: The Day of Uprising
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the rule domain, Shai Lowhe was beginning to see some hope. He could feel the rule domain constantly weakening under his resistance. It was starting to become illusory and was going to collapse!
His undead-dragon army had nearly all vanished. Only a few were left standing in front of him. There were also some cracks in the empty sky around him. He could even see the arena and the millions of spectators in the stands outside through these cracks!
Moreover, he could already clearly feel the expanding power of the Blood River Diagram on his body. He could once again feel his body, and he felt that as long as he wanted to, he could break away from the control of this rule domain with a single blow.
Success! He had succeeded!
A mere Earthling, a mere Solid Core, so what if you could comprehend the law of life and death? You simply weren’t able to fully control it! It’s time to increase my strength and end this Earthling in one shot!
Shai Lowhe’s brain started to process information faster, and his blood began to boil! The violent power of the Blood River Diagram poured into his body in an instant, and the entire rule domain was torn apart! He had become the new master of the arena!
However, in the next second, the collapsing world froze. The sky that was filled with holes was repaired in an instant, and the blurred and hazy Netherworld Path had also become clear. The only thing that had not changed was the dead bodies in front of him! Moreover, the remaining dozen bodies were also starting to disappear!
No, they were not disappearing. They were falling down, or rather, jumping down!
When his vision cleared, he realized that a vast and boundless abyss had appeared in front of him.
The abyss was dark and endlessly deep. There was no light in it, and an aura of stillness and death was emitting from it. All the undead who fell into the abyss did not even scream. No one could even hear the sound of their landing. They fell straight down and disappeared silently!
What was that?!
Before Shai Lowhe could recover from the shock, the last dead body in front of him had already disappeared, and the bottomless abyss appeared right before his eyes.
Shai Lowhe’s pupils immediately shrank.
No! I do not want to die!
He was screaming madly in his heart. At this time, his strong willpower was fighting against the laws of the rule domain, and his steps had forcibly stopped, preventing him from walking closer to the abyss!
At this time, a seemingly weak, withered hand gently pushed him from behind. It was the dead body behind him that was following him blankly. It was pus.h.i.+ng Shai Lowhe to go with it into the abyss.
Shai Lowhe was desperate. He was already doing his best to fight against the will of this rule domain, and all his energy was expended on resisting this will. He no longer had any strength to fight against this abominable hand…
BOOM!!
There was a loud noise, and blood rays fell from the sky!
Shai Lowhe’s world disappeared, and all of its will dissipated. These blood rays had physical forms that struck the arena!
A heavy body then fell from the sky and smashed into the ground like a meteor, causing the ground to shake endlessly!
It was the Blood Demon Ancestor!
Under his feet was the poor Blood Demon Prince, the youngest Gold Core of the Blood Demon Race and the future hope of the race. Yet, he had been directly squashed into a pool of blood by his Ancestor at this time!
The Blood River Diagram, which had formerly been held by the prince, had already fallen into the hands of the Blood Demon Ancestor.
“Useless waste.” The Blood Demon Ancestor’s voice was harsh and cold with anger. His face was flushed. “It was the shame of our Race to have let you control the Blood River Diagram!”
At this time, he held the Blood River Diagram in his left hand, while his right hand entered the void and grabbed a wandering undead soul.
“Ancestor! Ancestor, please show mercy! Ancestor, please show mercy!”
The wandering undead soul was Shai Lowhe!
He had been unconscious up till this point. Only after he had died was he finally free from the terrifying world of the dead. He didn’t even have the time to think about the cause of his death previously, let alone blame the Earthling who had killed him.
He was horrified and was trembling!
As someone close to the Ancestor, as his grandson and his disciple, he knew the temper of the Blood Demon Ancestor very well and could clearly feel his anger at this time. He had failed to win the battle on behalf of their Race and had pushed the entire Blood Demon Race to the edge of the cliff. It would only be weird if the Blood Demon Ancestor was not angry.
He also knew that his begging for mercy was a futile attempt. However, it was driven by instinct, and there was still the tiniest bit of hope that the Blood Demon Ancestor would let him go.
However, it was apparent that the hope did not come true.
“Keep!” The Blood Demon Ancestor snorted coldly, and the Blood River Diagram on his left hand unfolded. From the blood river, endless blood rays instantly surged, pulling Shai Lowhe’s terrified undead soul into this river.
Not only him, Carloze was dragged in too! The remnant soul that was left after being defeated by the clown was also dragged in by the Blood Demon Ancestor!
Blood River Diagram specialized in collecting all kinds of remnant souls. Although Carloze’s soul was protected by his Gold Core, it was plainly meaningless under the power of the Blood River Diagram. A screaming shadow was directly pulled out of the Gold Core by a blood ray. Panicking and wailing, it soon turned into a part of the thousands of dead souls in the Blood River Diagram!
“Has Blood Shadow old one gone mad from losing?”
Even the bigwigs in the main stands were surprised.
The Blood Demon Ancestor’s sudden move previously had already made everyone a little surprised. Instead of attacking Mu Zi, he had directly killed Shai Lowhe. However, he was the master of the Blood Demon Race. Such a move was understandable. He merely helped Shai Lowhe admit defeat. However, what was he intending to do by using the Blood River Diagram to directly swallow up Shai Lowhe and even Carloze?
One must know that the Blood River Diagram of the Blood Demon Race was created many eras ago. It was like the colorful gla.s.s cover of the Heavenly Gates. It was a treasure of the G.o.ds that ranked above all the magical artifacts in the Land.
The souls imprisoned by the Blood River Diagram could never be freed by anyone in the Land. Their end was miserable. When other people died, they could wander freely in the Fifth Dimension, maintain their consciousness, and even reincarnate if they were lucky.
However, if they were imprisoned in the Blood River Diagram, they would immediately become part of it. They would be made to fight with other demented souls in the Blood River Diagram, mindlessly torturing each other, in order to generate resentment for the artifact. This was an eternal sentence, one that had no end.
Although Shai Lowhe and Carloze were defeated and made the Blood Demon Ancestor angry, they had also fought to the end for the Blood Demon Race. An almighty Gold Core expert had fought till death for the honor of his race. Yet, they did not get any respect? On the contrary, to vent his own anger, the Blood Demon Ancestor had even imprisoned their souls in the Blood River Diagram?!
“He should not be doing so purely because he wants to vent his anger.” Superintendent Erza seemed to have thought of something, and her gaze towards the Blood Demon Ancestor changed.
“That’s right…” The other bigwigs also recovered at this time, seeming to have also thought of a loophole in the rules of the Civilization War.
“I, Blood Shadow”—the voice of the Blood Demon Ancestor echoed coldly in the arena—”want to represent the Blood Demon Race in a final decisive battle! The winner shall be the king, while the loser shall lose their all. We will use one last battle to decide the results!”
Mu Zi, who was standing opposite him, scratched his head in confusion. He did not know what the Blood Demon Ancestor was implying.
But soon after, he heard a voice from the main seat of the stands: “Approved.”
There was a rule in Civilization Wars. Any party could initiate a life-and-death decisive battle at any time, and the victory would be determined by that one battle. In other words, the Blood Demon Ancestor only needed to win this one match to overwrite all the previous victories of Earth!
Of course, there were several preconditions.
First, the initiator must be from the higher-leveled civilization. This was another attempt to protect the interests of high-leveled civilizations. It made those lower-leveled civilizations who wanted to challenge those that were higher than them think again when considering whether or not to declare a Civilization War.
However, the more important condition was actually the second one: if one wanted to initiate a decisive battle, it meant that the battle would no longer be one-on-one! The opponent had already won several games with great effort. Wouldn’t it be completely unfair for the opponent if one could raise a request for a decisive battle when they were at a disadvantage? Thus, if one wanted to initiate a decisive battle, one had to face all the partic.i.p.ants in the opposing team at once!
“I want to fight all nine of you.” The Blood Demon Ancestor coldly looked towards the pa.s.sage. “Get out of there.”
One against nine!
The performance of Earth today was already strong enough to suffocate the other civilizations of the Star Alliance. Yet, at this time, the Blood Demons Ancestor’s actions were even more daring!
In the face of such a powerful team from Earth — the Arhat Mo Wen, Aiolos who had an undying body, the Great Magician Napier, and Mu Zi the Netherworld King who had already mastered one of the six supreme laws — he still dared to challenge all nine of them at once? Furthermore, there was even one who had not taken any action yet — w.a.n.g Zhong!
As expected of an almighty Gold Core expert! He was truly domineering!
The stands were quiet. Except for a few who were still immersed in Mu Zi’s life and death world and muttering to themselves, everyone else had been deeply shocked by the arrogance of the Blood Demon Ancestor.
“…Heh, this Blood Shadow geezer… is finally being bold for once.” Even the Patriarch of the t.i.tans, who had always hated him, couldn’t help but admire him slightly.
Ignoring Napier and Aiolos, w.a.n.g Zhong had yet to even fight. No one knew how powerful he was or whether he still hid any trump cards. Just the Arhat Mo Wen and the Netherworld King Mu Zi from the previous matches were sufficient to threaten the many king-level Gold Cores seated in the stands.
It was true that everyone had already seen their abilities. For the real top masters in the Land, after some deliberate precautionary moves, they would not really fear these two people. However, if they were up against both of them at once, together with the other representatives from Earth who were also not weak…
To be frank, even t.i.tan Patriarch Tsarlozst did not have the confidence at all to go one against nine. Such an act was undoubtedly merely courting death.
“…This is the only opportunity for the Blood Demon Race.” Superintendent Erza had obviously understood the intentions and thoughts behind the Blood Demon Ancestor’s action. Indeed, if the fight had continued normally, against the opposing side who still had w.a.n.g Zhong, Vladimir, and even the sister of Arhat Mo Wen, the Blood Demon Race was almost certain to be doomed to lose. The only chance for the Blood Demon Ancestor to win was to choose to fight against all nine of them!
This was the last resort for the Blood Demon Ancestor. He had to give it all he had.
“Against the Earth, there is almost no chance of winning if he were to fight against all nine of them at once. Even if he is a king-level Gold Core…” Elder Yimo said solemnly. He admired the youths of Earth very much. It had only been a few years since they had joined the Star Alliance, within this short time frame, they had actually been able to develop the strength to threaten a Star Alliance king-level Gold Core! Even the most dazzling race in history, the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race, took thousands of years before they were able to reach such a level!
“No.” Patriarch Kalidan’s voice changed slightly. He knew much more about the Blood Demon Ancestor. He used to always be by his side. He was someone who had huge ambitions and a very cunning mind. If he was not confident of his strength, he would choose to give up the Blood Demon Race and stealthily sneak away by himself. He would definitely not put his life on the line. “He has the confidence to win.”
“Where does his confidence come from?” The t.i.tan Patriarch didn’t believe it. He could see the strength of the Earthlings.
“From the Blood River Diagram. He had just sacrificed two Gold Cores. Furthermore, they were Gold Cores from their Blood Demon Race. The same aura and the stronger resentment they had can make the Blood River Diagram exert its greatest power. And…” Patriarch Kalidan paused slightly and then said with a sneer, “…the Buddhist Arhat is no longer in fighting condition. His power is not so exaggerated. He was already extremely exhausted when he left the arena. He was merely acting strong and pretending to be fine. It’s obvious that Blood Shadow is also well aware of this.”
The bigwigs all became silent. It was not that they did not discover the true state of the Buddhist Arhat at that time. It was just that Earth had already won at that time. Under normal circ.u.mstances, Mo Wen wouldn’t need to appear again at all. Naturally, they hadn’t cared if he was acting, and no one would mention it.
But given the situation now… Among the remaining Earthlings, Aiolos and Napier the Clown might have sufficient combat power when faced with a king-level Gold Core. However, they had not reached the level where they could have true control of a law.
When confronted with masters of the almighty Gold Core expert level, the effect was not as great as in the previous battle. As for Mu Zi the Netherworld King, although he was a strong threat, the Blood Demon Ancestor had already seen his Netherworld Path. He had more than likely found a way to counter it and dared to face it. Among the only remaining variables, only w.a.n.g Zhong from Earth who hadn’t taken action yet remained.
The Blood Demon Ancestor was definitely not an impulsive person. One against nine, there was still a chance!
The opponent could bring up a decisive battle, but Earth could not refuse it. Such rules were specifically set up for the higher-leveled civilizations to benefit from their true top powerhouses. In the eyes of the Star Alliance or the Heaven, a billion ordinary living beings were far less important than a single top powerhouse! If one had sufficient strength to go up against nine, then your civilization should remain and not be the loser of the Civilization War!
The strong preyed on the weak, and the victor was king!
Of course, this naturally came with a big risk. For a civilization to be pushed to such a state where they needed to initiate a decisive battle… The nine representatives of the opposing force were definitely strong too. To go against all nine of them at once was a very high hurdle. However, if the one won, no one would have anything to say.
“Why are you stealing my lines?”
The bigwigs were still talking when they suddenly heard a playful voice ringing off the arena.
A young Earthling had walked out of the pa.s.sage from the Earth’s waiting room alone.
It was w.a.n.g Zhong of course!
He smiled and looked at the Blood Demon Ancestor. “Merely a c.o.c.kroach trying his best to struggle.”
If he dared to allow the Machinery Race to agree to the Civilization War between Earth and the Blood Demon Race, how could Lao w.a.n.g be completely unprepared? He had already thoroughly studied the various rules of the Civilization War. It could only be said that today’s situation was completely beyond his expectations and was far better than what he had predicted. If Earth had continued to win, the Blood Demon Race would be completely erased from the Star Alliance. The laws of the Star Alliance were unshakable. After all, it was the basis of maintaining order among so many civilizations.
“There’s no need for nine. I’m enough to deal with you,” w.a.n.g Zhong smiled and said. When his voice fell, he was already by Mu Zi’s side. “Let’s do it one on one. This shall be the decisive match!”
As he said his piece, he patted Mu Zi on the shoulder lightly. “Leave it to me.”
Mu Zi understood what Lao w.a.n.g wanted. In fact, in fights at this level, numbers were not very useful.
Mo Wen was still lying in the lounge and hadn’t woken up. He looked much better now, but the consumption of his energy previously was not small. The Netherworld King was also injured, and the Coffin of Life and Death also had certain restrictions that prevented him from using it continuously.
As for Aiolos, Napier, and Vladimir, their personal combat power could be considered extremely high, but they had not yet gone far in comprehending the laws. Mo Xingchen, Julienne, Grai, and the others were even less worth mentioning. If they went up together, a small act of carelessness was likely to cause a large number of deaths and injuries when faced with the confident Blood Demon Ancestor. They would then become a burden to him.
Life was like that. If it wasn’t for the Blood Demon Race, w.a.n.g Zhong would not have summoned all his brothers, let alone made Ma Dong use the entire Earth as a gambling stake. It could be said that being able to face the Blood Demon Ancestor alone was the best situation that w.a.n.g Zhong had envisioned before the Civilization War!
“Be careful. I’ll be waiting for you to return in triumph.” Mu Zi just nodded and turned to leave, walking back very carefreely.
At this time, the stands were silent once again.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Not just the ordinary spectators, even the many king-level Gold Cores on the main stands, Ma Dong and the others, and all of Earth’s allies were all left tongue-tied.
w.a.n.g Zhong turned down the nine-against-one offer? Did he understand what he was doing? Did he think that even if he lost, Earth would still retain the opportunity to fight nine against one?
The Blood Demon Ancestor was also taken aback. Shortly after, he wanted to laugh! However, he managed to hold back and didn’t laugh out loud. He was afraid that this idiot would regret and take back his words!
“w.a.n.g Zhong.” Superintendent Erza’s voice sounded from the main stands. “Since the Blood Demon Race has proposed a decisive battle, then this will be the last match. If you give up the opportunity of sending nine against one and lose this match, Earth will really lose. All the previous efforts put in by your people would all be in vain. Do you understand this?”
“Yes…” Another voice sounded at the same time. It was from Chief Judge Lyune. Earth’s performance today was even better than he had predicted, but w.a.n.g Zhong’s choice at this time was indeed… w.a.n.g Zhong had such an advantage. He really couldn’t bear to watch the Earthling die in vain. “w.a.n.g Zhong, the conditions for a decisive battle are much more relaxed than you think. You don’t have to worry about your impaired teammates. The Earth can choose nine representatives regardless of whether they are listed in today’s matchups. This even includes the Earth immigrants who were not allowed to fight before!”
The Machinery Race was the rule maker and naturally knew the rules best. Chief Judge Lyune could clearly see the source of w.a.n.g Zhong’s concerns — the exhausted monk, Mu Zi who had consumed a lot of energy in the arena, and Aiolos who had consumed a lot of life origin. These people were already in a very poor state after the hard-fought battles. Perhaps only the clown Napier’s condition was better. Chief Judge Lyune speculated that w.a.n.g Zhong was worried that these people would become the primary targets of the Blood Demon Ancestor because of their condition once they came onto the arena. He was worried that these people would be injured or even killed in the upcoming battle.
These were all understandable. But since the Blood Demon Ancestor had proposed the “decisive match”, Earth did not have to send the same nine people listed in today’s matchups to fight. According to the rules, Earth could choose any nine people even if they were not on the list before. Even immigrants were included! After all, the principle of the decisive match was to let a single powerhouse domineeringly defeat a whole civilization! Otherwise, on what basis could one propose a tiebreaker when one was about to lose? Were the efforts of the fighters from the previous matches all for naught?
“I am willing to fight for Earth!” In the stands, beside Ma Dong, many Gold Cores from the Mirror World stood up.
The Blood Demon Ancestor narrowed his eyes and looked up with a contempt that could be seen in the corner of his mouth.
Out of these nine Gold Cores, only two were considered almighty Gold Core experts. The others were merely normal Gold Cores. With their rich combat experience, they could be considered experts in their realm. However, in front of himself, they were no different than ants.
To be honest, compared to these exiled Gold Cores, the Blood Demon Ancestor was more concerned about the weird Solid Cores from Earth! If he was allowed to choose, he would rather face these Gold Cores than face even the injured Mu Zi, Mo Wen, and the others.
Everyone’s eyes were now focused on w.a.n.g Zhong. Even people who didn’t understand w.a.n.g Zhong’s decision before came to a realization after listening to Chief Judge Lyune’s explanation. He merely wanted to save the companions he valued. But Chief Judge Lyune had also said that even immigrants to Earth could partic.i.p.ate! At this time, all nine Gold Cores in the stands were actively asking to fight. Why would he not let them join? w.a.n.g Zhong had no reason to refuse. He was also not personally close to the exiled prisoners from the Mirror World!
“There is no need for that.” w.a.n.g Zhong refused the proposal once again, his voice filled with a powerful confidence that made people unable to refute him. His eyes never looked away from the Blood Demon Ancestor.
Were the prisoners from the Mirror World not living beings? If he couldn’t deal with the Blood Demon Ancestor himself, letting them go up was just a suicidal move.
What was more, he had never been as confident as at that moment. If this confidence was shaken, it would cause even more trouble than adding on several burdens onto the arena.
Lao w.a.n.g said lightly, “The decisive match shall be one on one.”
After a brief silence, the stands exploded.
Even G.o.d couldn’t save one if one wanted to die!
Why would you do that?!
Many people had originally admired w.a.n.g Zhong and felt that he was infinitely talented and had high potential. For him to be regarded as their leader by the many mysterious powerhouses from Earth, how could his strength be underestimated? Furthermore, he would rather take the risk alone than put his companions in danger.
But Chief Judge Lyune had said that it didn’t have to be a person from Earth. Immigrants were allowed to partake in the battle on Earth’s behalf. There were even nine Gold Cores in the stands. Why wouldn’t you use them? Everyone was absolutely sure that if the Blood Demon Ancestor was in w.a.n.g Zhong’s shoes at this time, even if he was a king-level Gold Core, he would definitely agree to the proposal of his side sending nine up to battle.
You’re a mere Solid Core. Why are you so arrogant?
“w.a.n.g Zhong.” Superintendent Erza couldn’t help it anymore. She couldn’t bear to watch w.a.n.g Zhong ruin the advantage he had. The Blood Demon Ancestor held the Blood River Diagram, which had the sacrifice of two Blood Demon Gold Cores. Even the bigwigs would try to avoid battling the Blood Demon Ancestor at his current state! w.a.n.g Zhong was simply being too conceited. “Don’t be arrogant. This is not only your battle. It also concerns the rise and fall of the entirety of Earth.”
This was the second time that Superintendent Erza had spoken, and her tone was as if she was advising a friend. Furthermore, she did so in an arena with a million people and in front of the entire Star Alliance. Such an att.i.tude could be said to be unique and special. This went to show how much the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race looked fondly upon Earth and w.a.n.g Zhong.
The hubbub that had just sounded in the stands subsided again, and everyone looked towards w.a.n.g Zhong.
However, Lao w.a.n.g merely smiled.
“Today is the day when Earth shall rise. If anyone gets in the way…” His tone was not filled with excitement, nor did he deliberately say it loudly. Yet, his voice was domineering enough to make everyone shut up. “Let alone a Blood Demon Race, even if G.o.d was blocking the way, I would still kill him. If Buddha was blocking the way, then I would kill Buddha!”