Chapter 247: Fiend Lord of the Seventh Step (I)
Learning from the golden ball of light was simple. He only had to pour spiritual energy into it to accomplish that. Of course, it would require continuous training to understand it thoroughly.
The method to utilize it was indicated from the luster that made its way into Long Haochen’s mind, which was obviously part of the memories the Tower of Eternity bestowed upon him.
Without any hesitation, Long Haochen immediately learned the Asura Strike. Currently, he was lacking in offensive abilities. This Asura Strike’s formidable power was something he saw with his own eyes; if not for the vitality shared with his mates, that blow would have been fatal to him. The golden ball of light gradually disappeared after spiritual energy was poured inside, and the knowledge to use Asura Strike was sealed in Long Haochen’s mind. He simply tried it out and learned that although it displayed its tyranny, the consumption for launching this Asura Strike was also an astonishing 1,000 units of spiritual energy.
It appeared that its consumption wasn’t as huge as for a spell like Bright Rain, Thrusting Hibiscus, but one shouldn’t forget that Bright Rain, Thrusting Hibiscus was the additional ability brought by a weapon, and as such, it drew its strength from the weapon’s stimulation of the spiritual energy, and furthermore, it was not only its power but also its range that was great. As for the skill Asura Strike, its offensive range was limited to the reach of the spiritual energy and no more.
Of course, Asura Strike also had its good points, being able to disregard any evading ability used by the enemies within a range of five meters. This simple point was sufficient to make up for the defect of its huge consumption of spiritual energy. After all was said and done, this skill wasn’t simple to use, but in the offensive category, it should be one of the very best of the sixth step, a skill worthy to be used by warriors and knights. If the amplification brought by Ripples of Light was added, just what level could this attack’s formidable power reach?
When comparing his benefits, he figured that Asura Strike could admittedly increase his strength, but the most important reward was the information he got from the Tower of Eternity.
Spiritual energy was as important as abilities, but from the looks of it, the abilities that could be learned here weren’t limited to Holy Necromancer magic. And this information was undoubtedly more valuable than any treasure. If he could stay here to train, his strength would increase several folds faster than anywhere else.
Putting force in taking a deep breath, Long Haochen did his best to calm his impulses. It looked that he would need to think of a way to tell his comrades to accompany him here. If it was instead someone else, his first thought would perhaps have been to monopolize this place, but Long Haochen didn’t think so. Although coming alone would enable him to keep the secret and let himself ameliorate his strength faster, considering how powerful the demon force was, how could he face the seventy-two demon gods by only relying on himself? That would undoubtedly be nothing more than a foolish dream.
The Scion of Light was not only good and honest but had many more basic qualities. From beginning to end, Long Haochen didn’t think of coming here alone.
“Haoyue, let’s leave.” Long Haochen said in a low voice, jumping on Haoyue’s back.
Haoyue’s three heads let out simultaneous low-pitched roars, heading out of the Tower of Eternity through its gate. And at the instant they left the Tower of Eternity, Long Haochen felt as if the Pendant of Eternal Melody on his chest had become a piece of burning coals, as he couldn’t help but groan from the violent burning feeling he had from it. Immediately, an ear-piercing hissing sound burst forth from it.
A strong golden radiance burst forth from Long Haochen’s body, enveloping Haoyue and himself inside. The hissing sound could still be heard, but didn’t cause them to suffer any injuries. Turning his head to the opposite side, he saw that countless specters were swarming out from the direction of the Tower of Eternity at least tenfold faster than before. And the ash-grey color the Tower of Eternity released seemed as if it came from intense flames.
In a few blinks of an eye, those specters were already completely attached to the Tower of Eternity. The next instant, Long Haochen saw a scene that he would hardly forget throughout his whole lifetime. Just at the peak of the conical cave, an immense black hole slowly unfolded, violently shaking the whole cave as if sinking it as a whole. Immediately, the Tower of Eternity unexpectedly became illusory from the twists of the brilliant rays of light, producing a sound before disappearing completely from the cave.
The black hole then closed, and from its original wide shape, it suddenly disappeared from the cave. Then, the hissing sounds came to an end spontaneously.
The burning feeling disappearing from his chest, Long Haochen came to feel an indescribable feeling of connection from it. It seem that with no more but a single thought, he could connect with this bridge.
Haoyue bore Long Haochen’s weight, and Little Green casted a Floating Technique on him, lightening him and climbing the walls under Long Haochen’s guidance.
Although the time of descent had been dangerous, this was because Haochen was going down into an unknown place. But with Haoyue’s exceedingly resilient limbs, he managed to climb the walls effortlessly.
Suddenly, Long Haochen was filled with astonishment when he raised his hand to feel the Recording Gem in his waist. His expression suddenly looked unsightly, for the simple reason that with the shock he had from discovering the Tower of Eternity’s discovery, he had totally forgotten to shut it down. If everything inside of the Tower of Eternity was recorded, what would he say to the members of the 4th soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad? And how would he report back for this mission?
It wasn’t that he was afraid of having the secret of the Tower of Eternity revealed to the Temple Alliance, but the crucial point was that the Pendant of Eternal Melody, key to this tower, had already become a complete part of his body. This would undoubtedly put him in enormous trouble.
Praying for a fluke, Long Haochen poured spiritual energy into the Recording Gem, examining the contents recorded inside.
A radiance shot up from the Recording Gem, turning into an image whose diameter was one meter appearing in front of Long Haochen. The record starting from his entrance into the cavern started to unfold, and controlling his spiritual energy, Long Haochen controlled the speed of visualisation of the records.
Because it was hung onto Long Haochen’s waist, the Recording Gem naturally couldn’t possibly record the process of Long Haochen’s comprehension of the Ripples of Lights, only recording the process of Long Haochen resisting the hissing sound at every occurrence.
Under Long Haochen’s control, the gem finally reached the moment Long Haochen had arrived at the cavern’s underground. All that was recorded was the moment those two specters threw themselves at him.
After this point, the scene suddenly became vague, and everything stopped at that.
Nothing more? As he stared at the Recording Gem and poured one more time his spiritual energy inside to give it a look, the results were exactly the same. The image finally stopped at the scene that showed Long Haochen being assaulted by the specters.
The Tower of Eternity was unexpectedly screened out of the Recording Gem’s recording ability.
Just as Long Haochen was continuously surveying the contents of the gem, at the entrance of the Desolate Hissing Cavern, the scene wasn’t as calm was one would expect…
“There’s someone.” Taking responsibility for keeping watch, Han Daosi suddenly arrived at the cavern’s entrance.
This was a cavern that they had personally sealed, and because of the shape of the mountain’s formation, it could only accommodate everyone in a sitting position. Of course, after Haoyue left, the space inside of the cavern increased by a large amount.
At this moment, the outside was as before, pitch-black, and dawn was about to arrive.
“It’s Fiend Demons. I didn’t dare approach, there are roughly thirty. They are led by a Fiend that is even more powerful than the Fiend Commander we disposed of. They just came out from this side of the mountain, and it seems that they discovered our presence.”
Han Daosi had a particular ability, which enabled him to increase his vision at night time, which was how he saw all the movement from the counterpart’s side of the mountain.
“Prepare for battle. Luc Xi, I am not into commanding group battles, so I leave the battle for you to command. No matter what, our top priority is to hold out until Haochen gets back.” Cai’er declared in a low-voice.
None of them expected those fiends to come out so soon, but no matter how the fiends got the information of their presence, they had to meet the enemy head on, at least until the time of Long Haochen’s return.
A type of Fiend even more powerful than a Fiend Commander obviously wouldn’t be easy to handle. Cai’er’s exquisite eyes shone brilliantly in the dark night, sparkling strongly as it filled with determination.
Seeing that Long Haochen wasn’t coming back after so long, she appeared like she stayed cool-headed and calm, but inside she was more anxious than anyone else. It was fortuitous that they had the Soul Linking Shackles which enabled her to be sure that Long Haochen wasn’t exposed to any mortal danger, otherwise she would have gone to find him long ago.
Luc Xi knew that now wasn’t the time to be modest, and nodded in response, “Without Long Haochen’s presence, we are short of a core Guardian Knight. At the time of the battle, we will have to resolutely defend our position in the cave. Let’s attract them for now! Mage vocations will stay inside of the cave while close quarters vocations will defend its entrance. Cai’er, Han Daosi and you will harass the enemy outside. Li Xin, you stay outside too, backing us up with the help of your Rose Unicorn’s ability of flight.”
Luc Xi wasn’t lacking in ability as a commander, perhaps he could not compare with Long Haochen’s ability of foresight and analysis of the general situation, but he could still be considered as talented enough to command a group in times of battle.
Han Yu, Dian Yan, Wang Yuanyuan and Sima Xian came out of the cavern, Han Yu knew of his responsibilities before being told by anyone, and rapidly put on his attire, and Cai’er and Han Daosi gradually vanished into the darkness.
Li Xin was a Retribution Knight, and defending one’s position wasn’t her forte, but she acted in accordance to Luc Xi’s instruction, putting in display the Rose Unicorn’s excellence.
However, so as to avoid exposing herself, she chose to climb atop of the cave, making preparations to summon her Rose Unicorn at anytime. After all, the Fiends didn’t know how many enemies were in the cave.
Han Daosi kept hold of a pitch-black dagger in each of his hands, making an exquisite choice of location to conceal himself, just behind a rock at the upper side of the Desolate Hissing Cavern. But just at this time, he discovered that Cai’er disappeared.
Immediately, he thought to himself, “What a difference in strength!” He had never thought of Cai’er like a goal; since the formerly blind Cai’er was already so strong, that was to say nothing of the current her who regained her vision. Even though he was part of the Assassin Temple just like her, he only knew vaguely that it was because of her past training method which was particularly special that Cai’er had become blind.
Blending into the darkness, Cai’er didn’t stop in the vicinity of the cavern but stealthily walked in the direction of the mountain. In times of battle, an assassin’s uses would be limited, as in the end, Assassin weren’t the most expert in attacking head-on, but the current situation was exactly the most fitting for her. Going by herself, she didn’t have to worry about her teammate’s safety, and was able to display her fighting strength to its fullest.