NOVEL WEB AZI Vol 3 Chapter 56 to Afterword
Chapter 56
“…”
Catching up to Wang Yongning—whose body is still a meter off the ground, and is continuing to fly backwards, Tian Cheng appears above him, and grabs him by the face.
(Truly, it’s been far too long since I’ve had the chance to fight.)
Thinking of this, the Tai Xuan Emperor raises a smile of excitement on the inside.
In the next instance—
*Boom!* smashing Wang Yongning down, the Tai Xuan Emperor proceeds to rotate her body, while dragging the former’s face along—prior to tossing him towards another direction.
“This speed and strength of hers is quite troublesome…”
Before he could fly more than ten meters away, Wang Yongning mutters this, as he manages to regain his balance, and halt his flight by stabbing his daggers into the ground, and sliding to a stop.
*Bak!* with a flash of electricity, the Tai Xuan Emperor appears in front of Wang Yongning, and sweeps her right foot towards his face!
Towards the incoming attack, Wang Yongning raises a single dagger off the ground, and positions it in front of the kick’s trajectory.
In response to her opponent’s reaction, the Tai Xuan Emperor lowers her foot, and shifts her position to get behind Wang Yongning—to cleave with Kun.
*Klang!* turning his body around in an awkward manner—that would normally dislocate a few bones, Wang Yongning raises his second dagger, and blocks off the cleave.
Having her attack blocked, the Tai Xuan Emperor inwardly thought—
(Hmm, compared to my original body, this combat body feels far too lackluster. Still, I shouldn’t be too surprised about that…)
*Klang! Klang! Klang!* continuing to pin Wang Yongning in a crouched position, the Tai Xuan Emperor slashes at the former with Kun repeatedly.
*Klang!* parrying another one of the Tai Xuan Emperor’s attacks, Wang Yongning readjusts his grip over the dagger in his left hand, and lunges it forward.
As the Tai Xuan Emperor leaps back to avoid the lunge, Wang Yongning rises off the ground, and leaps into the air while rotating his body.
In the same instance, the ribbons of Wang Yongning’s armor, which are shrouded in white flames, are swept towards the Tai Xuan Emperor.
“…”
Watching the flames—that are wrapped around the ribbons, expand in volume, the Tai Xuan Emperor narrows her magenta-colored eyes beneath her helmet.
Gradually, these flames dislodge from the ribbons, and are thrown towards her in a fan-shaped pattern.
“…”
Drawing on Long Hua’s sword Qi, the Tai Xuan Emperor divides the incoming flames, and as soon as they are divided, Wang Yongning advances with one dagger lunged outwards.
Just as it would seem like Wang Yongning’s attack wouldn’t be able to reach the Tai Xuan Emperor, flames erupt from the dagger, and assumed the form of a colossal blade.
(It’s over!)
Seeing the blade of white flames pierce through the enemy’s chest, Wang Yongning is assured of his victory.
Different from a Sinner—who is capable of Partial-Apotheosis, an Immortal isn’t capable of recovering from such a wound.
*Thud!* as the Tai Xuan Emperor’s body lands onto the ground, Wang Yongning heaves a sigh of relief.
However—
“Uh?!”
*Chi! Chi! Chi!* as electric energy spews from the Tai Xuan Emperor’s body, the flames—that are continuing to burn her, are brushed aside.
Simultaneously, the damaged portions of the combat body—melts, and reform themselves like soft clay.
Clicking her tongue on the inside, the Tai Xuan Emperor thought—
(I really need to make that surnamed * spend more resources, and get me an SSR rarity combat body.)
Due to her contract with Dao He Tian Xue, support in the form of making a move—to directly assist in the killing of Long Hua’s enemies is not allowed; however, killing an enemy through a combat body is still acceptable.
Raising a frown, and reassuming his combat stance, Wang Yongning can’t help but ask—
“What the hell are you?”
Ignoring the question, the Tai Xuan Emperor asks back—
“What would happen if I severed your head, and kicked that head of yours into the distance?”
Believing this to be the Tai Xuan Emperor’s intent, Wang Yongning raises his guard; however—
*Bak!* with a flash of electric energy, the Tai Xuan Emperor closes the distance between them, and sweeps Kun in from the right.
*Klang!* blocking the sword off with one dagger, Wang Yongning isn’t given a chance to catch his breath, as Kun’s scabbard appears in the Tai Xuan Emperor’s left hand, and is already headed for his neck.
Having read this move ahead of time, Wang Yongning manages to block it off with his second dagger, but—
“…!”
Dropping her hold over both Kun and its scabbard, the Tai Xuan Emperor wraps her hands around Wang Yongning’s neck.
“Ack!”
Applying strength into her hands, and pressing one foot against the enemy’s abdomen, the Tai Xuan Emperor mercilessly pulls Wang Yongning’s head off!
“…Truly does feel off.”
Directing a cold gaze at Wang Yongning’s head, the Tai Xuan Emperor frowns beneath her helmet.
Kicking Wang Yongning’s body off into the distance, the Tai Xuan Emperor then proceeds to turn the other way, and throws the former’s head in the opposite direction.
*Guuuuu!!!* looking up at the crystal cluster, which has been cleanly severed from the ceiling, the Tai Xuan Emperor smiles, while thinking—
(The amount of spirit Qi needed to activate this magic array—that rewinds time, couldn’t have been little. The fact that that crystal was able to contain the necessary amount—means it’s definitely a rarity.)
Maintaining her smile, the Tai Xuan Emperor begins making her way back to Long Hua.
Chapter 57
*Klang! Klang! Klang!* as Long Hua continues to exchange hits with Ye Chen and Shao Tianming, the Tai Xuan Emperor says—
(*-laoban, using them as your whetstone is fine and all, but get the crystal first!)
Despite having shrouded his entire body in Sword Armor, a few hits still managed to connect—causing blood to flow.
“…”
As the scent of his own blood fills the air around him, Long Hua smiles beneath his helmet.
Every strike that he managed to land onto Ye Chen and Shao Tianming would require an extra layer of effort—due to the gravitational field, that is constantly pushing down on him. This feeling of having to fight, while placing his own life on the line is both familiar, and—
(Wrong.)
Narrowing his eyes, the smile on Long Hua’s face vanishes.
*Klang! Siiiiiii!* blocking off Ye Chen’s blade, Long Hua slides Bai Zhe against it—while closing the gap.
“Uh!”
Grabbing Ye Chen by his neck, Long Hua rotates the Tranquil Heart Incantation, while the sword Qi—that shrouds his left-hand, cuts into the former’s neck, causing blood to spew!
“Surnamed Ye!”
As Shao Tianming approaches, Long Hua tosses Ye Chen aside, and turns to the former.
*Boom! Boom!* performing two Martial Emperor’s Steps, Long Hua swings Bai Zhe.
Towards the sofa sword’s approach, Shao Tianming swings his halberd with great force!
“…”
*Pah!* as Bai Zhe’s shattered blade fills the air in front of him, Long Hua rotates the Immortal Suppression Palm, and proceeds to drop the sword’s handle—prior to clenching his right hand into a fist, that is pressed onto Shao Tianming’s chest!
*Boom!!!* manifesting a dark handprint with this strike, Shao Tianming is thrown backwards!
“…”
As Ye Chen kicks off the ground, and closes in, Long Hua thought—
(My killing intent—in my past life, wasn’t formed for hedonistic reasons.)
Shaking off the mountainous weight—that is placed onto him, through gravity manipulation, Long Hua turns his attention to Ye Chen.
And performing another Martial Emperor’s Step, Long Hua clenches his left hand into a fist, while thinking—
(Selfish. I’m a very selfish person.)
*Boom!!!* in the next instance, Long Hua’s fist lands onto Ye Chen’s face, but the latter’s blunt blade—also manages to land a hit in, on the former’s chest.
As his feet slides backwards from the impact of Ye Chen’s attack, Long Hua thought—
(I’m… I’m someone who never knew the face of their own mother.)
Digging the heels of his boots into the ground, Long Hua halts the slide—before closing the gap between Ye Chen and himself.
Picking Bai Zhe’s handle off the ground, Long Hua repairs the weapon through the Divine Weapon of Tai Xuan, while loosening the grip of his left hand—forming a Heart Sword within his grasp.
(Due to my mother’s absence, I was raised by my father. But… By the time I appeared in the Zang Luo Realm, my father was already dead.)
With lightning like swiftness, Long Hua swings both swords at Ye Chen—forcing the latter to take a step back with every exchange.
(I do not hate the killer of my father… That person… Is a realm’s ultimate existence.)
As both the Heart Sword and Bai Zhe shatters—amidst his blade dance, Long Hua crushes the Heart Sword’s handle in his grip, to form a fist.
(He told me… To become a selfish existence because…)
“Ugh!”
Pushing Ye Chen back with a punch, Long Hua continues to recall his personal history.
(Because… Becoming a selfish existence was and still is the only way that I could continue—to hope, for a chance at living…)
Detecting the presence of Shao Tianming behind him, Long Hua doesn’t do anything to respond, but instead—
(Hence, I became an existence—that could sacrifice thousands, for the sake of personal gains!)
………
(What is that…?!)
Despite the enemy having their back wide open to him, Shao Tianming abruptly freezes—amidst the process of cleaving his halberd down.
Emanating from the enemy’s body is a dangerous air; and within the blink of an eye, this air—
“…?!”
Assumes the form of a colossal serpent—that lunges its head towards him, with the intent to swallow him whole!
“Dammit…!”
Instinctively, Shao Tianming leaps back.
Planting his feet onto the ground, Shao Tianming exhales a long breath.
Beneath his armor, cold sweat flows from every pore—causing Shao Tianming to pant with a pale complexion beneath his helmet.
………
Having felt the same sort of dread as Shao Tianming—
*Thud…* Yu Ji falls onto her knees, and mutters—
“…This is an Immortal?”
(Immortal? What exactly is an Immortal? That’s nothing more than a monster…)
Similarly, Qing Yue reacts in the same manner, as a bead of cold sweat—rolls down the side of her head.
………
“…”
Further away from the scene, Li Xue’s right arm trembles with fright.
She has seen many Immortals on the frontlines, but this one in particular—feels very different from those, that she had encountered in the past.
………
“That Immortal is at least level three, but he’s extremely close to falling into the category of level four…”
“…Un.”
Watching from a distance as well, Li Zi Xiang feels a chill creeping down her spine, whereas Chen Lan—who had woken up a few moments ago, gulps down his own spit.
………
“…”
Straightening his back, Long Hua repairs Bai Zhe’s shattered blade through the Divine Weapon of Tai Xuan.
Being able to regain a small portion of his previous life’s killing intent can only be seen as—
(*-laoban, are you happy now? So long as you’re happy, things are…- Not good at all! There’s less than two minutes left on that talisman! Hurry up, and get the crystal!)
“…Tch.”
Towards the Tai Xuan Emperor—who had ruined his mood with these words, Long Hua clicks his tongue, as he turns towards the direction of the crystal cluster.
*…!* performing a Martial Emperor’s Step—while rotating his cultivation base, along with the Tranquil Heart Incantation, Long Hua slides two fingers across Bai Zhe’s blade.
(For the sake of survival…)
Rearing his killing intent plainly, Long Hua swings his sword repeatedly—causing numerous flower petals to manifest around him, which in turn, creates a ring of petals to hide his figure away from sight!
And giving Bai Zhe a final swing—
“Kill!”
Long Hua sends the ring of petals forward!
Amidst this swing, the friction—that is created from Bai Zhe rubbing against the air, causes its blade to be gradually shaven off.
However, to Long Hua, this minor inconvenience is more than worthwhile, as the ring of petals gradually takes on the form of a colossal serpent—that soars through the air, and coils itself around the crystal cluster’s base!
*Siiiii!!!* as the sword Qi—in serpent form, tightens itself around the cluster’s base, shards of crystal rain from above; and upon severing the mass away from its base completely—
*Guuuuu!!!* the cluster falls from the city’s ceiling!
Responding to the crystal cluster’s fall, Long Hua immediately breaks off into a run.
“After him! Zi Xiang, Chen Lan, find out what happened on Yongning’s side!”
Following Shao Tianming, Ye Chen chases after Long Hua as well.
Epilogue – Pity Reached
Meeting up with Tian Cheng on the way towards the crystal cluster—
“Master, surnamed Wang has been dealt with.”
“How?”
“I ripped his head off, and casted the two portions of his body in opposite directions.”
Under the effects of the Tranquil Heart Incantation, Long Hua doesn’t feel any need to make a remark on how violent Tian Cheng’s method had been, and simply replies—
“I see, so the most effective means to deal with these Sinners in Partial-Apotheosis is to seal them, or to keep them from reconnecting their head and body back together.”
Saying this, Long Hua repairs Bai Zhe through the Divine Weapon of Tai Xuan once more—prior to sheathing it away.
Using his divine senses, Long Hua can see the figures of Shao Tianming and Ye Chen giving chase.
As for the amount of time that is left on the clock—
(Not much longer until this magic array expires. I need to get into that building before everyone else, and ditch this attire. Being able to regain a bit of my past life’s killing intent—while gauging the strength of Partial-Apotheosized Sinners, I suppose it was worth something?)
The Sinners and the practitioners that were summoned into this city—via the magic array, have dwindled by a significant amount; however, their current count is still effective in giving Long Hua an image of what the frontline of this world would be like.
(If practitioners are considered tigers, then these Sinners are basically a pack of wolves. Their ability to not die as easily—under the effects of Partial-Apotheosis, makes them difficult to handle in large groups… Cutting their head off, and separating it from their body is one method, but… Against a whole group, it’s less than ideal. I’ll need to see if I can find some large-scale divine art that can seal them.)
Leaping from building to building, Long Hua and Tian Cheng gradually closed in on the falling crystal cluster; however—
“…Uh?”
Flying towards the two—like a disk, is Ye Chen’s greatsword, and as it approaches them, a mountainous force of weight pushes them towards the ground.
In the same instance—
“…”
Shao Tianming appears over them, while plunging downwards with his halberd.
“Tch.”
Unable to move as effectively—due to the mountainous force that is pushing down on their shoulders, Long Hua clenches his right hand the moment he lands.
And rotating the Immortal Suppression Palm to its current limit, Long Hua pushes his right hand upwards, and conjures a dark handprint—to block off Shao Tianming’s halberd!
*Chiiiii!!!* just as Shao Tianming’s halberd is blocked off, Ye Chen resummons his greatsword into his hands, and plunges down from above as well.
*Boom!!!* with the addition of Ye Chen onto the dark handprint, a crater opens beneath Long Hua’s feet.
Turning his gaze towards Tian Cheng, Long Hua orders—
“Get the crystal.”
“Understood.”
Nodding her head, electricity spews from Tian Cheng’s body, as she forcefully tears through the gravitational field.
*Boom!* stomping the ground with a Martial Emperor’s Step, Long Hua presses his left hand upwards—conjuring a second dark handprint.
As the two dark handprints overlap with one another, they merge into one, and—
*Boom…!* the force emanating from this combined handprint manages to push both Shao Tianming and Ye Chen upwards by a few meters.
“Nn…!”
“…!”
*Kakaka!* gritting their teeth, and putting more force downwards, the two managed to cause cracks to appear on the dark handprint, to which, Long Hua remarks—
“I’m starting to get sick of you two.”
Narrowing his eyes beneath the helmet—
“…Impervious to a thousand blades.”
Long Hua shrouds his entire body in Sword Armor, and without any hesitation—
“Detonate!”
*Boom!!!* commanding the dark handprint to detonate, a devastation explosion throws all three of them back!
“…”
Emerging from the dust cloud, Long Hua’s figure can only be described as rather miserable with his clothes torn in a few places.
But similarly, neither Shao Tianming nor Ye Chen had been any better, as they had both lost an arm from the explosion, or rather, that should have been the case; however—
“Ai…”
Heaving a sigh, Long Hua glares at his opponents, as particles of light gather towards their wounded shoulders—causing their missing limbs to begin to show signs of being regenerated.
(What the hell? Even after blowing their arms into nothing, they can still regenerate them?)
Just as Long Hua is thinking of this, Shao Tianming asks—
“Surnamed Ye, how much longer can you last?”
“However long it takes to kill this bastard.”
“Hahaha, very good!”
“…”
Just as Long Hua wraps his hand around Bai Zhe’s handle—
(Crystal’s secured!)
The Tai Xuan Emperor’s voice rings in his head, and using his divine senses, Long Hua sees her vessel having touched the crystal cluster, and within the blink of an eye, the object vanishes from sight.
Immediately, the gacha system interface appears in front of Long Hua—prompting him to start pulling.
Seeing as how there isn’t much of a response from Shao Tianming and Ye Chen, the interface is probably invisible to their eyes.
Towards the ten-roll button that is on the interface, Long Hua hammers it with his left hand—while closing the gap between his enemies and himself.
(Another physical strength boosting talisman! It’s in your pouch right now!)
Drawing the talisman out of his storage pouch, Long Hua crushes it, and reapplies the strengthen buff, while also hitting another ten-roll.
(No SRs this time!)
“Fucking piece of shit, can’t you be faster with this?!”
Swinging Bai Zhe, and pushing both Shao Tianming and Ye Chen back, Long Hua curses aloud.
(That’s a bit…)
“Make it so that I can do a 50-roll instantly!”
(…)
Wordlessly giving into this demand, the number ten that is on the interface pixelates, and turns into a fifty.
“Piss off!”
Launching an Immortal Suppression Palm—to prevent Shao Tianming and Ye Chen from approaching, Long Hua also hits the 50-roll button in the same instance.
As a shiny gold capsule appears on the interface, the Tai Xuan Emperor’s vessel returns.
(It’s a-!)
“I don’t care what it is, just get it out!”
(Ai, quite demanding of you, *-laoban…)
Appearing a few meters behind Long Hua’s back is a giant sphere of light.
“What’s that?”
“Is it an Immortal art of some kind?”
Immediately, Shao Tianming and Ye Chen’s attention are drawn towards it.
*Pah!!!* as the sphere of light explodes, a colossal humanoid figure—that is seven meters in height, emerges from within, and lands behind Long Hua with a knee down.
The landing of this heavy giant causes the earth to tremble, and as a result of it, Shao Tianming and Ye Chen nearly lost their balance.
Blinking their eyes, the two remarks—
“This is…?”
“An…?”
“………”
Turning around to look at the dark humanoid that had landed, Long Hua is a bit speechless.
A body of metal that can only be described as skeletal-like—with a narrow waistline that is almost no different from the spine of a human body.
What stands out the most on this mechanical giant would have to be the large blue gem—that is embedded into its chest, and takes up much of its upper body area.
As for its head, the face of this giant is covered in what seems to be a visor, along with a half-mask.
“Suuu…”
Sucking in a deep breath of air, Long Hua can feel his blood rushing to his head, as he shouts—
“Qie, you piece of shit, I needed a magic treasure—that can wipe their faces off this earth, and you ended up sending me a worthless MAU?!”