Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Inside Orthodoxy Temple, Lei Gu, who was wrapped in Demon Qi, received the news at the exact moment Yang Kai and the others made their move. Turning his head, he glared at the Demon standing next to him and asked, “Are you certain?”
The Demon bowed, “Sir, there is no mistake. There are over two hundred people, each of them in the Emperor Realm.” This Demon was dressed in the attire of someone belonging to Orthodoxy Temple; moreover, he was a First-Order Emperor. He was most likely one of the Elders of Orthodoxy Temple, but it was clear that he was currently being possessed by a Demon Spirit.
Lei Gu’s eyes flashed as he frowned and muttered, “How is that possible?”
The trap he laid in the Southern Territory had been prepared meticulously and executed precisely. He had taken advantage of the Martial Gathering to secretly plot against hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and tens of thousands of elite disciples. He had been confident that it was foolproof, but contrary to his expectations, a crack appeared in his plan in the form of Yang Kai at the very last moment.
Lei Gu never imagined that Yang Kai, who had been missing for more than ten years, would suddenly appear to participate in the Southern Territory Martial Gathering. That was why he arranged for Yang Kai to be lured away and secretly assassinated, but who could have known that even ‘that’ person would fail at this mission? It frustrated Lei Gu to no end. Only now did he learn how adept a person proficient in the Dao of Space was at escaping and surviving; however, only a day had passed, so where did that bastard find so many powerful reinforcements!?
Unfortunately, the Demon subordinate sounded so confident that Lei Gu had no choice but to believe his words. To be on the safe side though, Lei Gu decided to take a look in person. After giving instructions to the other Demon, Lei Gu flew out to the main gate, and looking out into the distance, his expression turned grim.
Sure enough; Yang Kai, who had left less than a day ago, had returned. Moreover, he brought a lot of reinforcements with him. In addition to Shi Huo, who had remained in this place to monitor the situation, there were nine more Stone Men and hundreds of Emperor Realm Masters and Monster Race Masters gathered around Yang Kai.
Lei Gu looked to the left and then to the right. There were people standing in the air at fixed intervals outside the Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple, and when they noticed his arrival, they all looked over in his direction.
[They really are Emperor Realm Masters… And there are so many of them too!] Although Lei Gu was not sure how many people Yang Kai brought in total, it seemed that the report by that Demon earlier was fairly accurate.
[Where did he find so many Emperor Realm Masters? Only one day has passed! Even if he went to all the major Sects in the Southern Territory without rest and reported this news to them, it would still be impossible to muster up so many reinforcements in such a short period of time!] Lei Gu’s expression twisted into a grimace. He had the nagging feeling that the situation was about to turn against him. If the plan this time failed, it would definitely be because of Yang Kai. A great hatred welled up in Lei Gu’s heart. After so many years of planning, everything was about to fail because of one person, so how could Lei Gu not be vexed?
“It’s true. He’s been demonified,” Ji Yao stood beside Yang Kai and commented. When she saw Lei Gu, she couldn’t help feeling a little surprised as she stared at him carefully. It was her first time seeing Demon Qi or a cultivator who had undergone demonification. Even though she was only seeing it for the first time, that black Qi surrounding Lei Gu’s body gave her an extremely uncomfortable feeling. It was a kind of rejection that came directly from the depths of her soul. [Is that the Demon Qi? How abominable.]
“Lei Gu, today you die!” Yang Kai shouted through gritted teeth. Meeting his enemy left him feeling incredibly livid.
Lei Gu looked grim but did not make any kind of reply; instead, he turned around and left. He had no intention of saying a single word to Yang Kai. The only reason he came here was to see if the report he received was accurate, and since he had confirmed it was, there was no need to stay any longer.
Yang Kai was slightly surprised when he realized Lei Gu had decided to perish here as well before he immediately raised his voice and shouted, “Temple Master, are you there?”
Yang Kai’s voice, which was supported by his Emperor Qi, sounded like the rumbling thunder and transmitted into the depths of the Orthodoxy Temple easily.
A hearty laughter immediately came from inside along with a shout, “I’m not dead yet!”
“Temple Master, hold on a bit longer. I’ll rescue you soon,” Yang Kai shouted again.
Wen Zi Shan’s voice rang out, “Good!”
Although he did not know what the situation was like on the outside, Yang Kai must have brought back reinforcements since he had returned after leaving. All their hopes of being rescued lay on Yang Kai’s shoulders, so they could only choose to trust him unconditionally.
“Little Brat, hurry up! Your Temple Master is going to become a Demon if you waste any more time!” Ma Qing’s frustrated voice also rang out.
Wen Zi Shan snapped, “Nonsense! You’re the one who is going to be demonified!”
Yang Kai grinned at those words. [This is good. If they can still quarrel, then it means that the situation inside has not yet become dire.]
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Collecting himself, Yang Kai lifted one hand up high and his voice sounded in all directions, “Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
A loud clanging sound rang out as swords were unsheathed and countless Emperor Artifacts were summoned. Monster Qi and Emperor Qi surged up and condensed.
The hand Yang Kai held up in the air was brought down in one swift motion while he shouted, “Attack!”
The moment the word left his mouth, a pitch-black Moon Blade slashed forward and struck the surface of Orthodoxy Temple’s Sect Defending Array. A crackling sound rang out where the blade struck against the light curtain, and a slight dent was formed. Countless ripples spread out from where the curtain of light sunk inward.
In the next moment, hundreds of attacks of various shapes, sizes, and colours blasted at the Sect Defending Array from all directions, causing the light curtain to sway and flicker. For a moment, the sky went dark, and the surrounding World Energy became chaotic as various Principles intertwined like a great storm.
Before the surface of the Sect Defending Array could be stabilized, it flickered unsteadily from the continuous rain of attacks. It looked like it was about to collapse at any moment, but contrary to expectations, the light curtain managed to resist the initial barrage of attacks and did not immediately shatter.
The Sect Defending Array of Orthodoxy Temple was truly extraordinary. If somebody was presiding over the Spirit Array, they might be able to repair it quickly; however, the Spirit Array was relying on its own defensive capabilities at the moment. It didn’t even have a host. For that reason, the self-repair effects were minimal.
It wasn’t that Lei Gu was unwilling to remain here and preside over the Spirit Array, it was just that he knew that the tides had turned against him. With so many Masters working together, the Spirit Array would not last any longer even if he was supporting it. Rather than wasting his time here, it was better to do something useful instead. Who knows? There might still be a chance of turning things around.
The first wave of attacks had just ended when the second wave of attacks began. Moreover, it was even fiercer than the previous round. The entire world dimmed as the Heavens and Earth seemed to invert. An indescribable sense of enthusiasm surged up in the hearts of these Emperor Realm Masters. There had never been an instance where so many Masters worked together before, so the prestige alone was terrifying in and of itself. As part of this historic moment, the reinforcements brought by Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment.
A rumbling sound rang out before the Spirit Array collapsed. The curtain of light that had been protecting Orthodoxy Temple for thousands of years burst apart like a soap bubble that had been popped.
“Charge!” Yang Kai roared as he raced to be the first to rush inside.
Following closely behind him was Ji Yao. Her figure was ethereal; however, she turned her head to look to the side as she rushed into Orthodoxy Temple. The corpse of a woman was sprawled across a small slope there. That woman had a curvaceous body and beautiful looks, but unfortunately, she had died with her eyes wide open.
Ji Yao did not know who this woman was or how she was related to Yang Kai; however, Ji Yao clearly noticed him glance in this fallen woman’s direction for a moment, and a look of pain had flashed across his eyes when he saw her corpse. Ji Yao’s eyes flashed slightly as she pointed a finger out. A snowflake floated from her fingertip and landed lightly on the woman’s corpse. The snowflake did not melt, however, and instead released an extremely cold energy, sealing that woman’s corpse in a block of ice in the blink of an eye.
A group of Demons wrapped in black Qi came rushing towards the charging Masters suddenly, every one of them wearing a wooden expression, seeming as though they had no sentience. They were no different from walking corpses that were dressed in different attires, but they were clearly disciples of various major Sects in the Southern Territory. Waving the weapons in their hands, they fearlessly rushed at the Emperors and Monster Kings.
Yang Kai was the first to reach the line of battle. His figure shifted erratically, passing the Demons one by one, reaching out and lightly striking them in the back of their necks as he flew by. A group of Demons instantly fell out of the sky like dumplings and crashed into the woods below. He did not kill them as he knew that these people were infected by Demon Qi and had undergone demonification which, while incurable for most, was not for him. If a massacre were to take place here, the Southern Territory would surely suffer severe damage to its foundation. Be that as it may, Yang Kai had no time to look after these disciples one by one, so he could only knock them out as quickly as possible. Fortunately, they were not flying too high. Falling from this high would not be deadly. Not to mention, there were trees below to break their fall.
The people following Yang Kai imitated his actions. While using their Emperor Qi to protect themselves and prevent the Demon Qi from invading them easily, they knocked out the enemies in front of them in rapid succession.
The Demons that were rushing at them were all below the Emperor Realm, so there was no way they could pose any real threat. Even if these Demons did not fear death after their demonification, they were still no match against Emperor Realm Masters in a fight. One by one, the Demons fell unconscious and crashed to the ground. It was quite a sight to behold.
Even so, there were too many Demons. A rough estimation showed that there were at least a thousand of them. This was still only in the direction of the gates. If all the Demons from other parts of Orthodoxy Temple were included in the count, Yang Kai estimated that the number of disciples from the Southern Territory that had been demonized in this one day had reached tens of thousands.
More than ten people, with Yang Kai in the lead, plunged into the ranks of the people who had undergone demonization like a sharp knife, leaving a path of bodies behind them wherever they went.
“This is too easy!” One of the Elders of Full Sky Sect in the First-Order Emperor Realm laughed loudly. [Yang Kai gathered so many Masters together and made things seem so grand and dangerous that I couldn’t help feeling nervous at first. I thought that these Demons would be something terrible, but after fighting against them, it’s clear they’re nothing special. It seems that strength is the root of everything, whether they be Demons or not.]
He was not the only one who had this kind of mindset as most of the reinforcements who came into contact with the Demons for the first time were thinking similar thoughts.
The Demon Qi coming from the bodies of those Demons was indeed strange, possessing a strong corrosive aura filled with malice and madness; however, these people were protected by their Emperor Qi. Furthermore, many of them had donned Artifact Armour. They had nothing to fear against that flimsy Demon Qi.
The liberators progressed forward smoothly like they were chopping melons and slicing vegetables. Although these ten or so people were surrounded by thousands of enemies, they were talking and laughing as usual while manoeuvring through the crowd. The Demons might have been numerous, but with the power of these ten or so people, they could probably knock out all these Demons within a quarter-hour. If they regrouped with the others after that, they would be able to head straight to the depths of the Orthodoxy Temple and Lei Gu would have no place to escape to.
Unexpectedly though, many of the Demons suddenly flushed bright red and swelled up like they were balloons. Their stomachs expanded like they were ten months into a pregnancy and torturous and pained voices sounded of their throats. The Demon Qi in their bodies also began to fluctuate wildly.
The sudden change shocked many, and their movements slowed down considerably. Nevertheless, they all felt an imperceptible sense of crisis looming over them.
“Be careful!” Yang Kai’s expression changed, grabbing one of the Demons that was experiencing these changes as he shouted, trying to knock them unconscious. However, the Demon’s eyes bulged as he glared straight at him, its swelling body showing no signs of stopping whatsoever.