Chapter 423: Lava Forest
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Sword World was the sword skill founded by Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor after he had entered the realm of sword path with Village Chief's guidance. It was different from his previous sword skills, for in the past, he had only come to the gate of sword path. He hadn't yet entered the sword path.
Even if his sword skills had been strong then and he was known as Sword God who had founded the three basic sword forms, without entering the sword path, he could never be on par with Village Chief. But after he entered the sword path, his battle power rose by a lot.
He had unmatched talent and his abilities had no shortcomings. The sword path he had comprehended was different from that of the person he admired.
Village Chief commemorated the martyrs and founded Sword Picture, which cherished the memories of the path. Imperial Preceptor, on the other hand, was opening up new horizons and pushing ahead with his reform, possessing a great spirit and broad mind.
That latter one determined his achievements. Village Chief's generation was already gone while he was just starting with his.
His Sword World had just been founded, so only the first chapter was finished, and it was Boundary.
It set the boundaries for the mountains and rivers, for the empire, quelled the chaos in the four seas, swept the disasters in the six directions and eight wildernesses, starting a world of peace and prosperity. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's will and ambition were hidden within his sword, and it was the most supreme sword skill he could found at that moment in time!
When the one-eyed god was stabbed in the eye by his sword, Boundary was actually hidden inside his head.
The one-eyed god had been scheming, for he didn't only have one eye. He had two, but since his techniques were special, he had extraordinary attainments on the path of creation. With the mysterious creation, he shifted one of his eyes to the center of his brows. In the meantime, the other eye was shifted to the back of his head. It was usually covered by his hair, so people would think he only had one eye.
No one knew he could see things in front and behind. He knew Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a formidable opponent and was also the main person in charge of Eternal Peace Empire's reform, thus even if he had to sacrifice an eye, he wanted to send him on his way!
Even though he was a sly old fox and sacrificed an eye, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was a level higher than him in mind games.
Boundary, which was hidden in the wound, exploded, and cracks appeared on the head of the one-eyed god. Lines of snow white sword light spilled out from those cracks.
His eyes, ears, mouth, and nose suddenly became snow white in color, then sword lights came pouring out of his facial orifices. More and more cracks spread through his head and more sword lights came shining out from within them. In a split second, the snow white rays lighted up the snowy mountains as though it was daytime!
Thump.
The fist of the one-eyed god landed heavily onto Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's body, and the ground instantly fissured. Cracks stretched in all directions, their distance too great to be counted.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor vomited blood as he heard the sound of his bones snapping.
Everything from the one-eyed god's neck upwards had completely vanished. His corpse swayed before collapsing onto the floor.
In the pit below, Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor couldn't move at all. With his lingering breath, he pleaded, "Jade Face Poison King, save me…"
At that moment, Cripple was sprinting with Apothecary on his back, escaping frantically from the rings of battle. Apothecary was refining medicine without stop, at a speed that was much faster than that of Qin Mu. He constantly threw poison at the gods of High Heavens and medicines at Village Chief and the rest of his cohort. "Cripple, faster, faster! Go faster! Didn't you brag that your speed is the first in this world?"
"If I didn't carry you, I would be the first in the world!" Cripple was flustered and exasperated. "If you have the ability, why don't you try getting your legs chopped off and reattached? Twice, my legs got chopped off twice! They were just reattached again so I'm afraid if I run any faster, they will leave my upper body, abandoning me to run away by themselves!"
"It's fine. Mu'er's craft is very good; they won't break so easily. Run faster, the god behind us is almost catching up," Apothecary said in consolation.
Behind them, a three-headed god was running in a frenzy. Apothecary had long released the 'little babies' he had raised, and numerous venomous creatures pounced frantically toward the god like a flood.
The venomous creatures had been raised by Apothecary using spirit pills, miraculous medicines, and all kinds of poisons for many years. All of their abilities were strong, and they transformed as they ran. In just a few moments, their bodies expanded, causing their muscles and bones to bulge outward, turning them into fiendish behemoths that could swallow clouds and spit fog along with fire, water, and poison.
Even so, they could only slow the three-headed god.
He was extremely terrifying, smashing the venomous creatures into smithereens, turning them into lumps of colorful bug juice as their broken limbs flew in all directions. They were blown away by his roar before they could even get close.
Even if he got poisoned, one of the three heads would blaze furiously, alighting in flames. The god would burn from inside out, using divine fire to temper his body. The divine fire would flow through his body over and over again, incinerating the venom.
His other head in the meantime would turn sapphire blue. The rays of light from it would cleanse his body over and over again, discharging the toxin from his body instantly.
Apothecary's poison could be said to have met its nemesis.
Furthermore, without the venomous creatures, Apothecary's personal abilities could be said to be the weakest in the village. He was merely on Celestial Being Realm as all his time was spent on poison and his venomous creatures.
If one took his poison and venomous creatures into consideration, his battle power was impossible to judge. He could poison a god to death, but would also die from a slap.
When Cripple had to carry someone, his speed was inferior to that of his peak. He also had to avoid the possible sneak attacks from the other gods, so their situation was made even worse.
Even with Cripple's unmatched speed, it was extremely dangerous to travel through all the world-shaking divine arts. Any carelessness would result in both of their deaths.
"Imperial Preceptor has lost his power to fight. We need to save him first!"
Cripple carried Apothecary to where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had fallen. Yet at that moment, the three-headed god suddenly shook his body, and two heads flew across the sky, sweeping toward them with fire and water!
Cripple hurriedly avoided the attacks, but the land in front him suddenly became incomparably hit, turning into boiling lava instantly. The entire snow mountain sank continuously while a god stood on it with a clear mirror in his hand. The mirror floated up and hung in the sky, shining toward the lava with its wide surface.
The underground seemed to become a clear lake that could hide nothing.
That god had a goat's head with a pair of curved goat horns. His gaze was sharp as he scanned the underground.
Suddenly, the mirror light shone onto Tuxing Feng. He was running through the ground, but when he was caught by the mirror's light, his body instantly slowed. He had been traveling freely underground, but the mirror light could actually restrain him, limiting his speed.
"Die!"
The goat-headed god sneered, and the horns on his head left it to rush into the lava, aiming straight for Tuxing Feng.
At that moment, the lava suddenly rose up to form a huge face. It opened its mouth to swallow the goat-headed god. "I'll drag you down even if I die!"
Cripple and Apothecary looked underground and saw Tuxing Feng fixed in place by the shine of the clear mirror. The two horns had stabbed into him from the front and the back.
Tuxing Feng's divine art sank the goat-headed god into the ground, bringing him to the depths of the earth.
"Cripple, steal that mirror!" Apothecary shouted in a hurry.
Cripple sprinted over and executed Heaven Pilfering Sun Switching Hands. The clear mirror vanished without a trace, hidden away by him.
Tuxing Feng who was underground immediately could move and attacked the goat-headed god with all his strength. Yet without the mirror's light, Cripple and Apothecary couldn't see the situation underground.
Lava boiled and emanated with heat waves. Suddenly, it rose into the air and formed a huge palm which rapidly solidified. What followed after it was palms, fists, hammers, and legs bursting out from the lava. They were all fixed in the sky, shaken to the core.
Cripple hid behind Apothecary to avoid damage while shouting into the ground. "Three Inch Nail, stop fighting and come out quickly. Let Apothecary treat your injuries…"
Apothecary gently patted his shoulders and said in a low voice, "No need to call him out. Let him fight to his heart's content. When he was fixed in place earlier, the goat horns had nailed his primordial spirit. He's only left with his last breath now. Once it finishes, he will…"
He didn't continue.
Cripple was stunned for a moment, then gritted his teeth and sprinted to where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had fallen without looking back.
The sea of lava was still trembling non-stop, and all kinds of weird rocks rose from the ground. The desperate battle below was beyond what one could imagine. But suddenly, it calmed down. What was left was the strange rocks from the sea and the shapes of all kinds of palms and fists.
Whoosh.
The lava split into two, and the goat-headed god slowly walked out, his body growing taller and taller.
Thump, thump, thump.
He walked out of the sea of lava, and it flowed down his body, turning into pitch black rock when it landed on the ground. His eyes were blank and he looked extremely miserable. However, he was still full of astonishing fighting spirit.
Cripple and Apothecary were shocked. Yet at that moment, the goat-headed god collapsed onto the ground, a sharp horned hammer lodged in the back of his head. Tuxing Feng's short body fell while holding onto his hammer, the two goat's horn still stuck in his body.
The scarlet fire in the eyes of the chief of Earth Travelers was slowly dimming.
"The taste of Flaming Fruit of the underground is just like that of strong wine. When it flows down your mouth, your throat allows you to relive your life again." The scarlet fire in his eyes gradually went out as he muttered, "I feel that taste again, so I guess my life is coming to an end… I shouldn't have answered the summons of Human Emperor's Seal, but our ancestor made an oath, and Earth Travelers will never defy the oath of their ancestor…"
He closed his eyes and sank into the lava with the goat-headed god. They were both slowly swallowed by it.
Cripple carried Apothecary to Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's side. Apothecary was doing emergency treatment when incomparably bright light burst forth from the darkness. They raised their heads and saw Sun Ship sailing in. A heavenly god-like figure was standing on the ship with her hands holding onto chains, guiding a sun over.
"It's the girl that Mu'er had brought over! She's Sun Guardian!" Apothecary immediately recognized Yan Jingjing and couldn't help being astonished. "Sun Guardian, come and help, quickly!"
Yan Jingjing shifted her gaze down and her arms pulled on the chains. The sun high up in the sky was immediately affected by the brute force, coming down from the sky.
On Sun Ship, the expressions of the tens of thousands of sun herders changed drastically. All of them shouted in unison, "Sun Guardian, no!"
"Little ancestor, you can't learn from His Highness—" Sun Herd Chief shouted out.
The sun faltered halfway, freezing in place. From below it, rays of extremely sharp golden light shot toward the gods of High Heavens!