Chapter 283
Six High Priests, Peak Douluo
(TL by Bagelson)
Ten thousand Tang Army troops of course wasn’t enough to decide the outcome of this war, but they definitely opened a clear path for the Heaven Dou Imperial Army’s assault, and more and more soldiers poured into Jialing Pass.
Spirit masters really were powerful, capable of capable of facing the charge of tens of thousands heavy cavalry troops. If they were suitably prepared, they could kill countless. Especially those high level spirit masters that were already busy on top of the walls. At this stage, the battle had already transformed from a siege into a melee. And the millions of Heaven Dou Empire soldiers were also dashing into Jialing Pass like dried leaves in the wind.
The new Heaven Dou Emperor Xue Beng clearly understood that as long as a fifth of his army could enter Jialing Pass, this battle would come to an end. At that moment, the enemy wouldn’t have the strength for any resistance.
Even on top of the walls, Bibi Dong who was finding it more and more difficult to counter Tang San’s constant attacks now also felt like there was little hope left, and inwardly considered whether to order the retreat. But, if Jialing Pass was abandoned, then the Heaven Dou Imperial Army would have a wide open road into the Spirit Empire. If the Heaven Dou Empire cooperated with the Star Luo Empire to break the other pass, and the two great empires’ soldiers united, then the Spirit Empire might really be finished. No matter how powerful the spirit master, it was still impossible to face the charge of millions on the battlefield!
Just as the Spirit Empire was in desperate straits, retreating step by step inside the walls, and the two spirit master legions also couldn’t block that steel tide, suddenly, several long howls came from the distance behind Jialing Pass.
The howls were long and forceful, striking the heart and soul like a rolling tide. On this battlefield counted in units of ten thousand, the appearance of this howl actually suppressed the momentum of the Heaven Dou Imperial Army. The surging clamor resounded like rolling thunder.
Hearing this howl, while beating back the weakening Bibi Dong with the trident, Tang San’s expression instantly grew serious. Other people might not be able to differentiate that howl, but with his mental strength, he immediately sensed its enormous threat.
Those were the howls of six people. That’s right, just six. And they were also still ten li away from Jialing Pass, but the howl still so frighteningly appeared within Jialing Pass. And they were also approaching with astonishing speed. These people could cover ten li in just a dozen breaths. And how could powers capable of producing such an effect be ordinary? Faintly, even if he didn’t want to admit it, he could still guess their strength.
Even more frightening, these six people didn’t come alone. Behind them followed a crowd of people breathing urgently but moving equally swiftly. The quantity was no less than five thousand. Making Tang San most shocked was that the howl of these six people actually made even his level of mental strength seem dizzy, he could just examine the circumstances up to this point, but couldn’t keep searching. Those howls actually disturbed his mental strength. In fact, before this, ever since he’d returned from Seagod Island, only two people had accomplished the same thing. One was his great grandfather whose heart was invaded by madness, and the other was Bibi Dong in her prime.
And the direction of these voices was behind Jialing Pass, within the Spirit Empire. Without a doubt, they were on the Spirit Empire’s side. One word suddenly appeared in Tang San’s mind. Priests. Priests from the Spirit Empire’s Elder Palace.
Even though he had expected the Spirit Empire’s Elder Palace priests, especially that grand priest Qian Daoliu, he hadn’t anticipated they would arrive at this crucial moment. Especially when there were actually six. Fortunately Tang San didn’t sense any power on Bibi Dong’s level among them. In other words, the master of Elder Palace, Qian Daouliu wasn’t with them. But even so, this even more showed the strength of the Spirit Empire.
Only, Tang San very very quickly noticed a question. Bibi Dong actually also looked distracted when she heard these six howls. Clearly, she didn’t know about these six priests, and also didn’t know why they would come now.
Clenching his teeth, Tang San’s eyes radiated light. He had to kill Bibi Dong while those six still hadn’t arrived. With Bibi Dong’s death, even if the Spirit Empire still had large numbers of powers, future battles would still grow a lot easier.
The reason Tang San never went all out so far was in order to slowly wear down Bibi Dong’s mental strength and spirit power. After all, Bibi Dong was too strong, Tang San didn’t want to push her too hard, or her backlash at death's door would be extremely frightening. He always kept up a strong pressure, but never so far that Bibi Dong couldn’t hold up, and she wouldn’t make any desperate moves. After all, who didn’t want to survive? Even more when Bibi Dong still had that Undying Body ninth spirit ability. Bibi Dong of course also understood what Tang San planned, but at the same time she was waiting for a chance, waiting for the Angel Legion below to dominate the battle and help on the walls.
When the Heaven Dou Imperial Army killed their way into Jialing Pass, about to crush her hopes, and Bibi Dong was already determined to risk her life, pondering how to escape, those six howls promptly appeared. And it was also at this moment that Tang San’s attacks suddenly grew ferocious.
The Seagod Trident flared with golden light, no less than twice as intense as before. Bibi Dong’s main body and clone tightened at the same time, the Blue Silver Emperor’s first spirit ability Binding and second spirit ability Parasite launching almost at the same time. As these two spirit abilities leveled up to fifty thousand years, they could even halt someone on Bibi Dong’s level. At the same time as her Death Domain started and began to corrode them, large sharp blades ejected from her carapace, about to tear the Blue Silver Emperor to pieces.
Only, it was also in this instant’s pause that Tang San leapt up, his left hand instantly pushing in Bibi Dong’s direction. Intense golden light condensed into a barrier, enveloping Bibi Dong. She only felt her whole body sink, as if she had grown ten times heavier.
This was Tang San’s Titan Giant Ape left arm bone spirit ability, Gravity Control. The reason why spirit bones were so precious, besides granting another ability, was even more importantly because the majority of spirit bone abilities could be used instantly. The increase in gravity instantly slowed Bibi Dong’s efforts to break Binding and Parasite by half.
Unprecedentedly enormous pressure instantly gave Bibi Dong a choking feeling, but she still wasn’t that easily beaten. Tang San had never gone all out, and she had also kept her last trump card. Grinding her teeth, an intense red light abruptly burst from her chest, instantly spreading over her chest and back. That red light seemed extremely strange, as if it was bibi dong’s own bones that emerged from her body. There was only one circumstance that could produce such effects, that was that most important of the six spirit bones, the torso spirit bone. Judging by the color, Bibi Dong’s spirit bone was of the hundred thousand year level.
A hundred thousand year torso bone. Within the released red light, Bibi Dong’s chest carapace suddenly split open to two sides, intense red light condensed within. It felt as if her chest had grown a giant eye, and even more frightening was that this wasn’t just the actions of Bibi Dong’s main body. The two Bibi Dongs caught in Tang San’s Gravity Control both showed the same change. That contained red light made even Tang San’s soul tremble.
Only, Tang San in the air didn’t have the slightest intention of retreating. He clearly understood that if he fell back at this time, he might never have another chance to kill Bibi Dong. Those six howling people were already coming closer and closer. If they discovered Bibi Dong was in danger, they were bound to come save her first.
The golden silhouette appeared behind Tang San. Even though the silhouette was vague, the dignified presence it radiated, as well as the abruptly flaring light from the Seagod’s Heart on the Seagod Trident, still made Tang San’s aura reach an unprecedented level.
Still keeping up Gravity Control with his left hand, his right hand gripped the Seagod Trident, slashing out bizarre, very large golden circles in the air. They completely enveloped Tang San. It was also at this moment that two almost chi thick rays of bright red light abruptly shot towards Tang San.
Humm——
Unfixed Storm’s defensive rings met those two rays of red light. In that instant, the Seagod Trident in Tang San’s hand unexpectedly reverberated with a series of humming sounds. Tang San clearly felt how the golden light rings in front of him quickly shattered, the Seagod Trident actually suppressed and unable to launch any more attacks for a moment.
Bibi Dong’s eyes revealed vicious cold. She’d been waiting for this chance for a very long time. Her mental injuries weren’t fake, but her abilities were after all extremely deep. She didn’t understand why Tang San suddenly launched an all out attack, but she also exploited Tang San’s momentary impulsiveness, suddenly launching this attack. She had prepared this strike long ago, and it might be called a full strength attack. For this one attack, she’d even poured in all her remaining mental strength.
Bibi Dong saw that Tang San was the pillar of the Heaven Dou Imperial Army. Just like he wanted to kill her, if she could kill him, then the blow to Heaven Dou Imperial Army would be inestimable. Her main body and clone simultaneously launched spirit bone abilities. This in itself was something impossible, but Bibi Dong’s other spirit bones still had an ability similar to Oscar’s mirror spirit bone. Only Oscar’s cloned his main body, but her spirit bone cloned spirit abilities.
Therefore Bibi Dong spent all her strength to duplicate this spirit ability with her clone, partly to keep Tang San from telling her main body and clone apart, and partly also to completely destroy Tang San with this double attack.
This was also Bibi Dong’s trump card. In fact, with her level of cultivation, simultaneously launching two full strength attacks was enough to catch up to the gods.
The clone could admittedly also use her capabilities, but much weaker than her main body. Tang San also had all kinds of methods to weaken the possibility of cooperation between her main body and clone. If not for Tang San’s impulsive attack, it would be very difficult for her to find this kind of chance, and even more difficult for her to duplicate this attack, making it exactly the same as her main body attack.
Those rays of red light really weren’t focused attacks. One of them shot towards the Seagod Trident grasped in Tang San’s right hand, and the other attacked Tang San himself.
Over the course of several battles, Bibi Dong had discovered that Tang San was quite dependent on the Seagod Trident, and she had long since judged that Tang San’s trident was a genuine divine weapon, something she couldn’t destroy with her present level. But, that she couldn’t destroy it didn’t mean that she couldn’t suppress it for a moment.
Relying on her main body’s full strength spirit bone attack to temporarily keep Tang San’s Seagod Trident from being swung around, the other attack was absolutely fatal. Tang San’s cultivation was inferior to hers, he could only fight her by relying on the Seagod Trident. In suppressing the Seagod Trident and launching an all out attack, Bibi Dong didn’t hold back any energy. Unless Tang San still had the previous Invincible Golden Body left, and with Xiao Wu who blocked Bibi Dong’s attack last time far away, plus that Bibi Dong was so close to Tang San, there basically wasn’t any chance to save him from such an attack.
With an ear piercing ripping sound, the Unfixed Storm’s golden rings of light were instantly torn apart. In that moment, Tang San’s front side was already suffused with red.
“No——”
“Teacher, don’t!”
Xiao Wu and Hu Liena cried out almost simultaneously. But, their worry and the viciousness in Bibi Dong’s eyes and victorious smile, all disappeared the next moment. That ray of red light that should have struck Tang San’s chest unexpectedly rebounded, shooting high into the sky, reaching a full one thousand meters high. It disappeared like a dazzling meteor.
“Impossible.”
Although Bibi Dong had gone all out on that attack, already finding it difficult just to stand, she still couldn’t help crying out. She couldn’t understand how this happened. Her spirit power was of course still plentiful, but the mental strength expended in this attack already made her vision blurry. The last thing she saw was a half meter wide red crystal mirror on Tang San’s chest loudly collapse into fragments.
At the same moment, the Seagod’s Heart radiated golden light, making the Seagod Trident launch red beams of light like roaming dragons, transforming into a golden ring revolving once around Tang San, completely dissolving the aftermath of Bibi Dong’s attack. Tang San just seemed a bit pale, without sign of any serious injuries.
Would Tang San carelessly expose a flaw? Then he wouldn’t be Tang San. As a control type peak power, he would warn himself to stay calm at all times. Bibi Dong was waiting for a chance, so why wouldn’t he also be waiting? His previous impulsiveness was basically a feint for Bibi Dong. He naturally understood that Bibi Dong would guess his plan, so he might as well push the boat with the current and draw our Bibi Dong’s attack. And at that time Tang San focused all his strength on defense, basically without any intention of launching a strong attack.
Indeed, Bibi Dong’s spirit bone attack was extremely powerful, even the Seagod Trident was suppressed for a moment. But Tang San also had Tang San’s methods. Did he lack hundred thousand year spirit bones and spirit abilities?
Sheltered by The Seagod’s Light, Tang San’s Blue Silver Emperor eighth spriti ring brightened, launching the eighth spirit ability Blue Silver Evil Spirit Mirror’s Annihilation. Only, this time he didn’t let the mirror collapse, but rather completely focused the spirit ability’s energy on the location of Bibi Dong’s attack, forming a crystal mirror at an angle. It couldn’t block the attack head on, but reflecting it at an angle like this was a lot easier. Even though the Unfixed Storm’s rings of light couldn’t block the attack, they still gave Tang San enough time to react. Bibi Dong’s full strength attack only managed to shake Tang San’s spirit power, and with his powerful physique, that minor injury was nothing. But, after launching a full strength attack, Bibi Dong would be a lot more miserable.
Her main body and clone simultaneously grew illusory, the two swiftly approaching each other. Bibi Dong swayed a moment, almost collapsing. Tang San had a sudden realization, no wonder he couldn’t tell which was Bibi Dong’s clone. Her spirit ability split her body into two parts, any one was true, and any one was false. If his all out attack hit one of them, it would very possibly turn the clone illusory. Only, right now Bibi Dong wouldn’t have the chance to do so.
Formidable mental strength rushed out like a tidal wave, Tang San gave a shout, and intense golden light instantly enveloped Bibi Dong’s bodies as they were about to combine.
With a muffled grunt, blood spurted from Bibi Dong’s mouth, nose and ears, flowing down like little rivulets, making her in the Soul Eating Spider Emperor form seem even more vicious. And the main body and clone were also forced together under this powerful mental shock, fusing.
It was also at this moment that Tang San’s right hand pointed forward, and he shot forward like a ray of golden light. The Seagod Trident’s golden light flourished, and at the same moment Bibi Dong, already completely targeted by Tang San, her soul wounded one step further, her mental strength on the verge of collapse, let alone resist, it wasn’t even possible to use her Undying Body spirit ability. The injuries to her soul were far more dreadful than her physical wounds.
In the distance, behind Jialing Pass, six powerful figures had already appeared, quickly charging in this direction like shooting stars. But, they didn’t have enough time to save Bibi Dong. The Seagod Trident’s intense divine light was just about to swallow her.
Just as Tang San was on the verge of success, the instant the Spirit Empire’s first emperor was about to be killed, suddenly, a figure charged in from the side, embracing Bibi Dong from the front and showing her back to the Seagod Trident’s sharp blades.
Tang San turned pale with fright, this attack not only had the imposing manner of only advancing, at the same time it was incomparably fast. Pulling back the attack was already extremely difficult. Subconsciously leaning over slightly, his left shoulder knocked against the trident, and the golden light instantly deviated slightly.
Blood sprayed out with a splattering sound, leaving a deep wound in the right shoulder of the person who protected Bibi Dong. Blood sprayed, and she completely collapsed over Bibi Dong from the divine force shock of the Seagod Trident. The person who suddenly appeared and offered her own body in place of Bibi Dong, was once again Hu Liena.
She had already lunged forward when Bibi Dong attacked Tang San before, secretly thinking to die for his sake. That was also absolution. But when she realized the circumstances suddenly changed, and the person in critical danger was her teacher, she unhesitatingly rushed forward and once again protected Bibi Dong. The ice cold sensation from her shoulder made her go completely limp, paralyzed falling in her teacher’s embrace, but her heart was filled with a sense of freedom. I died? He killed me? Perhaps, this is the best ending.
“Idiot girl, you……”
The blood spraying from Hu Liena’s shoulder spattered on Bibi Dong’s face, making her wake up a bit. Hurriedly pulling Hu liena close, her insane expression from before also finally calmed down a bit.
Having missed, Tang San had already lost the opportunity for another attack. Three of those six figures rushing over split from the group, rushing straight for the top of Jialing Pass. To be precise, they rushed towards Tang San. The formidable pressure made Tang San fearful of attacking Bibi Dong again, or even if he killed Bibi Dong, he was bound to be killed by those three peoples’ powerful attacks.
He had already made some judgements from the previous howl, but now that he was truly confronted with and even more deeply experienced the strength of the six people rushing over, they were even a bit stronger than he had imagined.
Practically the instant the pressure appeared, the three figured had already separated. Two of them pounced straight for Tang San, and the other landed in front of Bibi Dong. He was an old man with white hair and beard, as he protected Bibi Dong, he simultaneously swiftly poked Hu liena’s shoulder a few times, sealing her arteries, while patting Bibi Dong’s shoulder, somewhat restoring her nearly collapsing mind.
“Your Majesty, let’s retreat first.”
Formidable spirit power wrapped up Bibi Dong and Hu Liena. The old man soared up, bringing the master and disciple pair into Jialing Pass.
Tang San watched Bibi Dong being rescued, but right now he didn’t have any other choice, and he also faced the most difficult fight since leaving Seagod Island.
The two people attacking Tang San simultaneously were brothers. Even though the two were both old men with white hair, appearing in their eighties, they looked very similar and their spirits were identical. Each held a seven meter long Coiling Dragon Staff, golden dragons twisting around. The colors of the spirit rings on the Golden Dragon Staves were exactly identical, both with an ordinarily peak configuration of two yellow, two purple, and five black, nine spirit rings.
Most terrifying was the spirit power they released. That instant pressure made Tang San feel unable to breathe. This definitely wasn’t something common Title Douluo could manage. Tang San instantly judged that these two old men had spirit power that reached at least rank ninety six. They completely overpowered him in spirit power.
Moreover, having reached rank ninety six, their mental strength was unanimous and extremely condensed. Even though they couldn’t compare to him, if he wanted to find a chance to launch a mental attack on one of them while protecting himself, then he ould definitely be counter attacked by the other.
Dang dang, two cracks, and Tang San tumbled back several steps before catching his balance. Those two old men also stopped, revealing astonished expressions. Even though they beat Tang San back, the trembling of the Coiling Dragon Staves revealed they didn’t get any major advantage.
This of course wasn’t because Tang San’s spirit power could simultaneously contend with two rank ninety six Title Douluo, but rather because the Seagod Trident’s one hundred eight thousand jin weight blocked the opponents’ attacks.
But, to Tang San this wasn’t a good situation. What worried him the most was below the walls, those three old men that charged into the battlefield absolutely weren’t any weaker than these two. With such formidable reinforcements, the Heaven Dou Imperial Army’s circumstances might…...
WIthout giving him time to ponder on it, those two rank ninety six Title Douluo were already attacking again. Two Coiling Dragon Staves, one left and one right. One above and one below. Simultaneously striking towards Tang San. Their movements weren’t just swift, their cooperation was also perfect. The third spirit rings on the Coiling Dragon Staves released light, the entire staff expanding twofold, their imposing manner flourishing, unexpectedly showing a tendency to hide the golden light of Tang San’s Seagod Trident. As the staves swung, they even issued deep dragon roars, disturbing Tang San’s mental probing.
Tang San couldn’t help secretly grumbling while facing the attacks of these two formidable Title Douluo. If he was in peak condition, then he could still have fought them. These two rank ninety six Title Douluo might have perfect cooperation, but their strength put together wouldn’t match Bibi Dong at her peak.
But, recently he had matched blows with Bibi Dong twice in succession. He had admittedly almost killed her, but his own exhaustion was still enormous. His current strength wasn’t sixty percent of his peak, and facing these two cooperating rank ninety six Title Douluo’s all out attacks immediately gave him a feeling of insufficiency. Especially the imposing manner of the six old men as they appeared. Tang San didn’t need to look to know how the situation of the battlefield below the walls had changed. Distantly, at least five thousand spirit masters were already entering Jialing Pass from the rear, also moving towards the battlefield. Tang San understood that today’s battle might not end well for the Heaven Dou Empire. So much that whether they could escape was a question. If the Spirit Empire spirit masters forced them back, they might be pushed a thousand li.
On top of the walls, as all the Spirit Empire powers saw those two rank ninety six Title Douluo appear to bother Tang San, their morale shook, and their attacks immediately grew fiercer. After originally being at a disadvantage, they actually pulled back a bit.
Tang San suddenly drew a deep breath, all his bones making snapping sounds. His eyes turned as bright as stars, but the Seagod Trident’s golden light withdrew, again turning black.
Using the Seagod’s Light to support the Seagod Trident to use divine force was too taxing on his mental strength. Facing these two opponents that were possibly even more troublesome than Bibi Dong, he absolutely couldn’t exhaust himself too much. In terms of overall strength, these two old men added together might still be above Bibi Dong, but they absolutely couldn’t compare to her in explosive force. Therefore, Tang San didn’t need to worry about them releasing any certain kill attacks against him. To deal with them, his best choice was to rely on his recovery power that was stronger than any Title Douluo.
Inside Jialing Pass, three loud sounds erupted simultaneously. Three more than thirty meter in diameter giant holes suddenly separated the Spirit Army from the Heaven Dou Army. Ruined limbs and snapped arms flew through the air, suddenly bringing the Heaven Dou Empire’s momentum to a halt. Those three old men stood proudly in front of the army with grave manner.
As the Angel Legion and Sacred Dragon Legion’s remaining spirit masters saw them, they immediately fell to one knee, calling:
“Greetings lord priests.”
Whether the three people that appeared on the walls before, or these three right now, they were all dressed exactly the same. Different from the black of Spirit Douluo and red of Title Douluo, they wore golden robes, and each of them moreover had different designs embroidered in silver thread, representing their spirits. Golden gowns with silver embroidery represented Spirit Hall’s Elder Palace priests.
Spirit Hall had operated for years, and their depths was something now spirit master sect could compare to. They originally had more than twenty Title Douluo level elders. Even if a few were dead, there was still a huge number remaining. And even more formidable were the priests of Elder Palace.
All original Spirit Hall priests rose from the ranks of Elder Palace elders. The requirements for being promoted were very simple, but also incomparably difficult. They needed to break through rank ninety five, reaching rank ninety six spirit power to become priests.
But after becoming priests, they possessed paramount positions in Spirit Hall. They didn’t even need to take orders from the Supreme Pontiff, they only listened to the master of Elder Palace, the grand priest. Unless it was something extremely important, they absolutely wouldn’t easily mobilize, only quietly cultivate inside Elder Palace. This was also why Tang San and the others had seen so many Spirit Hall Spirit Douluo, but never seen any above rank ninety five.
There were altogether only seven priests within Spirit Hall’s Elder Palace, led by the grand priest, rank ninety nine supreme Douluo Qian Daoliu. The six that appeared here really didn’t include Qian Daouliu, but they could still be said to represent the Spirit Empire’s greatest strength. Six powerful Title Douluo priests above rank ninety five. Their appearance was undoubtedly a force that could reverse the situation. That was why Tang San had realized the situation had turned for the worse when he heard their howl before, and wanted to hurry and kill Bibi Dong. Even if they lost today’s battle, it would still be worth it. The total strength of these six peak Title Douluo added together surpassed Bibi Dong, But they after all weren’t the former Spirit Hall’s Supreme Pontiff, let alone the ruler of the current Spirit Empire. If Bibi Dong died, the entire Spirit Empire would definitely fall into chaos. But now she was still alive, and everything was more complicated.
What Tang San saw, Grandmaster naturally also saw. He hadn’t joined in the battle before, and now that he saw the situation change, he immediately passed down orders.
“Tang Army replenish, hold the gates, all forces retreat.”
Grandmaster almost shouted himself hoarse for this. Xue Beng and marshal Ge Long were still outside the city, they didn’t see what happened inside Jialing Pass. Suddenly hearing Grandmaster order the retreat, the emperor and marshal couldn’t help staring blankly.
“Your Majesty, the State Preceptor……”
Marshal Ge Long looked puzzled at Xue Beng.
Xue Beng equally didn’t understand what had happened, and his expression changed slightly. The circumstances he saw were good, so how could he be willing to retreat like this? But, since Grandmaster shouted himself hoarse like this, the circumstances on top of the walls had changed somehow. Tang San’s opponents had changed into two powerful old men, clearly the situation inside the walls had changed.
Xue Beng was after all young, and knew even more deeply the importance of breaking through Jialing Pass. Clenching his teeth, in spite of Grandmaster’s orders from the top of the walls, he spoke in a low voice:
“Marshal Ge Long, pass on my orders, spare no expense, take Jialing Pass.”
“Yes——”
Marshal Ge Long exulted, the enormous merit of taking Jialing Pass might end up in his hands. A million soldiers surged forward. Even if Spirit Empire reinforcements had appeared inside the walls, how many could they be? He didn’t believe that such a good situation would change.
Even if Grandmaster was the State Preceptor, he was only in charge of the spirit masters. The Heaven Dou Empire spirit masters that had already charged inside the walls heard his orders and saw those three peak Douluo’s terrifying strength, and immediately carried out the retreat. But just at this moment, the wardrums sounded the charge outside Jialing Pass.