radicalducati Chapter 422 Plotting to Kill Tang 3
Chapter 422 Plotting to Kill Tang 3
Not long after, north of Jialing Pass.
A transport army of the Martial Soul Empire is traveling overnight.
They were escorting provisions, medicine, and spare soul tools, preparing to deliver them to the front lines of the Heavenly Dou Empire.
The officers in the ranks looked tired, but they were not flustered.
The front lines have won a series of victories.
Angel Goddess Qian Renxue personally oversaw the operation.
In their view, the outcome of the war was already decided.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
A soldier frowned and said:
What was that sound?
The next moment, a dull hammering sound came from the depths of the night.
thump—
Immediately following, a second sound.
Third tone.
It was like thunder rolling across the ground.
On the road ahead of the transport army, six tall figures slowly emerged from the black mist. They held gray-black Haotian Hammers, their bodies were shrouded in Rakshasa death energy, their eyes were empty, and their expressions were stiff.
The leader has the most imposing presence.
It was the spirit of Tang Xiao.
The expression on the face of the Martial Soul Empire officer changed drastically.
"The Haotian Hammer?"
"No...they're not alive!"
He wanted to order a defense.
But Tang Xiao's undead spirit had already raised the Haotian Hammer.
The next instant, the giant hammer fell.
boom--!
The entire mountain road collapsed.
Dozens of grain trucks were smashed to pieces with a single hammer blow.
A scream rang out.
The spirits of the five Haotian Sect elders followed closely behind and charged into the army formation.
The Clear Sky Hammer was originally the number one weapon spirit in the world, but now that it has been corrupted by the death energy of the Rakshasa, it has lost some of its fierce and righteous energy, but gained more sinister and destructive energy.
With each hammer blow, a large swath of purplish-black death energy would be unleashed. Soldiers would not only be smashed away, but their souls would also be forcibly extracted by the death energy and sent flying towards the Rakshasa altar in the distant black mist.
In a short time, the transport corps completely collapsed.
The grain and fodder were destroyed.
The medicine was burned.
The escorting soul guides were all smashed.
The souls of those fallen soldiers became the nourishment for Tang San to restore his origins as a spirit of the dead.
The mountain peak in the distance.
Tang San watched this scene quietly.
The dragon god's claw mark on his chest faded a little more with the replenishment of a large amount of souls.
A hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.
"very good."
"The Haotian Hammer is indeed very useful."
"Tang Xiao, Uncle."
"You couldn't protect the Haotian Sect while you were alive."
"After you die, destroy the Spirit Empire for me."
Tang Xiao's spirit stood in the firelight.
The gray-black Haotian Hammer hung at his side.
His eyes were empty, devoid of any emotion.
Tang San looked towards the direction of Heaven Dou City in the distance.
There, Qian Renxue should still be forcing Tian Dou to surrender.
He smiled slowly.
"Thousand-foot Snow".
"The faster you fight, the faster I kill."
"You'll see when you look back."
"The city behind you has long since become my death ground."
The black mist surged again, and Tang San led the army of the undead into the night. Meanwhile, in the rear that the Spirit Empire had just conquered, an unexpected Rakshasa calamity had begun to ignite.
The Starry Sky Forest is a place of great danger.
This is the core and most mysterious area of the entire Starry Sky Forest.
Ancient, colossal trees blocked out the sky, their thick roots coiling across the earth like writhing dragons. The air was thick with an intensely rich life force, yet mixed within this life force was a pungent, putrid odor.
That was the deathly aura left behind by the Rakshasa's divine power.
Although Tang San has been defeated, the pollution he brought has not completely disappeared.
Large swathes of land remained black, the bark of many ancient trees cracked, and their leaves withered and yellow. Traces of the blood of a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast and the empty corpses left behind after the Rakshasa Demon Scythe had extracted their souls remained on the ground.
Further away, Brigitte was healing an injured soul beast. Emerald light emanated from her body, like a gentle spring rain falling on the scarred forest.
Xiong Jun stood to the side, with several deep, bone-revealing wounds on his chest.
Its dark gold fur was corroded by the deathly aura of the Rakshasa, and in some places it was charred and cracked. Yet it still stood there, its eyes filled with barely suppressed rage.
The three heads of the Crimson King breathed heavily, and there were many wounds on his body.
Several cracks appeared at the edges of Zi Ji's dragon wings, and the aura of the Hellish Demon Dragon was clearly unstable. The King of Ten Thousand Demons, meanwhile, was rooted to the earth, manipulating vines to absorb and cleanse the land of the Rakshasa's death energy bit by bit.
Although the Star Dou Great Forest forced Tang San to retreat in this battle, the cost was not small.
Just then, a streak of light, a blend of cyan and gold, suddenly appeared on the distant horizon.
The streak of light was extremely fast. Wherever it passed, the plants and trees that had been contaminated by the Rakshasa's divine power trembled slightly, as if they had sensed some kind of extremely familiar aura.
Brigitte was the first to look up.
A hint of joy appeared in her eyes.
"He's here."
Xiong Jun also turned his head to look, exhaling a breath of hot air from his nostrils.
"Hmph, this kid isn't too late."
The Crimson King said in a deep voice:
"Hopefully he can really handle that madman."
The next instant, the stream of light fell into the ominous place.
There were no earth-shattering explosions.
There was no domineering divine power to oppress.
Holding the Trident of Poseidon, Tang Chuan slowly landed on the edge of the Lake of Life. Blue-gold Poseidon light flowed on the trident, while cyan-gold life energy slowly spread from his body.
As soon as he landed, the plants and trees around him, which had been contaminated by the death energy of the Rakshasa, began to recover their vitality little by little, as if they had been parched and then given a timely rain.
The blackened grass leaves turned green again, and new buds emerged from beneath the cracked tree bark.
The putrid smell in the air was also greatly diluted by the power of life.
Tang Chuan surveyed his surroundings, his gaze sweeping over the corpses of soul beasts, withered ancient trees, and wounded ferocious beasts. His expression gradually darkened as he asked:
"Tang San has been here."
Di Tian stood before the Lake of Life, not revealing his true form, but instead transforming into a man in black, his golden eyes deep and majestic, his body faintly radiating the ancient aura of the Black Dragon King.
Upon seeing Tang Chuan arrive, Di Tian slowly spoke:
"You're too late."
Tang Chuan stepped forward and looked at Di Tian.
"How is the situation?"
Di Tian did not answer immediately, but instead glanced at the ferocious beasts around him.
Brigitte gently flapped her wings and continued to heal the wounded.
Xiong Jun snorted coldly, but did not interrupt.
Di Tian then said, "Tang San led a group of undead Title Douluos into the Star Dou Great Forest. He first slaughtered soul beasts over ten thousand years old in the outer and middle areas, extracting their souls and life essence."
"No fewer than several hundred soul beasts have died, with the most severe losses occurring among soul beasts that were over ten thousand years old."
Tang Chuan's eyes turned cold.
Di Tian continued:
"He wasn't just killing people."
"He's trying to force us to show ourselves."
"Bear King made the first move, and Bi Ji also left the core area to treat the seriously injured soul beast."
"Tang San had anticipated this long ago."
"His real targets are Xiong Jun and Bi Ji."
Tang Chuan looked at Xiong Jun and Bi Ji.
Xiong Jun grinned, revealing his cold, menacing fangs, and said:
"That human is very cunning."
"They used a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast as bait to lure me out, and then used a heavily injured soul beast to force Bi Ji to show herself."
"If Di Tian hadn't intervened at the last minute, Bi Ji might have been seriously injured by him."
Brigitte sighed softly:
"Tang San's Rakshasa Scythe is very dangerous."
"It not only attacks the physical body, but can also directly tear apart the essence of life and the soul."
"If he strikes a vital point, my life essence will probably be forcibly stripped away."
Tang Chuan gripped the Trident of Poseidon tightly.
"He has already begun collecting the essence for the ninth test of Rakshasa."
Di Tian nodded and said calmly:
"That's right, he admitted it himself. The ninth trial of Rakshasa requires devouring the life essence of a 100,000-year-old soul beast to condense the Rakshasa Divine Armor."
"The stronger the target, the deeper the resentment, and the more complete the divine equipment. Xiong Jun, Bi Ji, Chi Wang, Zi Ji, Wan Yao Wang, and even me are all on his kill list."
Tang Chuan paused for a moment, then asked:
"Where are the undead?"
Upon hearing those two words, the faces of all the ferocious beasts turned ugly.
Murasaki said coldly:
"It's troublesome. The spirits around Tang San have no sense of pain or fear, and even if they are broken, they can be pieced back together by the power of the Rakshasa God."
Xiong Jun took over the conversation, his voice filled with anger:
"I tore them to shreds several times."
"But those things are like mud; they can break and then get back up."
"If it weren't for Di Tian's Dragon God Claw being able to destroy their origin, we would have really been worn down to death by them."
Tang Chuan looked at Di Tian.
"You used the Dragon God Claw?"
Di Tian nodded.
"I used it."
"The Dragon God's Claw can destroy their undead origins."
"With a single claw strike, I shattered all eleven undead spirits."
"At the same time, through their connection with Tang San, they injured Tang San's physical body."
Tang Chuan's eyes flickered slightly.
"Are you badly injured?"
Di Tian said calmly:
"It's not light."
"The Dragon God's Claw left a wound on his chest."
"He won't be able to fully recover in a short time."
"But the problem is, those spirits didn't really disappear."
Tang Chuan frowned slightly.
Di Tian continued:
"Tang San bound the core imprints of those undead spirits to the Rakshasa Altar."
"After I destroyed their undead bodies, they were resurrected by the Rakshasa altar."
"Although my aura is weaker than before, I can still fight."
"As long as the Rakshasa altar remains standing, those spirits will be very difficult to truly eliminate."
A cold glint flashed in Tang Chuan's eyes.
"In other words, the core of the altar inside Tang San's body or in the Rakshasa Space must be destroyed."
Emperor Tiandao:
"good."
"Simply killing the undead is pointless."
"They will revive once they are killed."
"Tang San can even replenish their power again by continuing to devour souls."
Tang Chuan nodded slowly.
He finally understood what was truly troublesome for Tang San.
It's not just the power of the Rakshasa God, nor just the Rakshasa Demon Scythe; he has established a cycle centered on the souls of those who slaughtered cities, the origins of soul beasts, and undead puppets.
Kill and devour souls to repair the dead.
The undead fight, the slaughter continues.
Collect more souls to advance the ninth test of Rakshasa.
As long as this cycle is not interrupted, Tang San's power will only grow stronger.
Di Tian looked at Tang Chuan, his golden eyes flickering slightly.
"Tang Chuan, your aura has changed."
"You pulled out Poseidon's trident?"
Tang Chuan did not hide anything and raised the divine weapon in his hand.
"The eighth test of Poseidon has been passed."
"The affinity with Poseidon has also reached its peak."
"But the final succession is not yet complete."
Di Tian's gaze fell on the Trident of the Sea God. After a moment of silence, he said, "No wonder. I sensed the divine power of the sea from you, and also a stronger life force."
Xiong Jun snorted.
"Still a little short of becoming a god?"
Tang Chuan nodded.
"Just a few more steps."
Xiong Jun frowned:
"Then can you kill Tang San now?"
Tang Chuan did not answer immediately.
He looked into the depths of the ominous land, and then at the soul beasts being healed by Bi Ji.
After a moment, he slowly said:
"If it were just Tang San as he is now, I could kill him."
"But the prerequisite is that he cannot escape into the Rakshasa Space."
Di Tian's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The Rakshasa Space is indeed troublesome."
"When he was defeated, he used the Rakshasa Scythe to tear open space and escape."
"Before my second Dragon God Claw had fully landed, he had already vanished into it."
Tang Chuan said:
"Therefore, to kill him, we must first seal off the Rakshasa space."
"Otherwise, even if he is severely injured, he can still escape, then go on to slaughter cities and devour souls to recover."
Brigitte said softly:
"But how can we seal it off? The Rakshasa God's power is adept at shadows, resentment, and spatial rifts, and Tang San also has the divine artifact, the Rakshasa Demon Scythe."
Tang Chuan looked down at the Trident of Poseidon in his hand.
"The Trident of Poseidon can suppress space."
"My Blue Silver Emperor can cover the earth's life network."
"Di Tian's Dragon God Claw can destroy the very essence of the undead."
"If the three work together, they might be able to trap him."
A sharp glint flashed in Di Tian's eyes.
"You mean, use Blue Silver Grass as a net, the power of the Sea God to suppress space, and the claws of the Dragon God to sever the connection between the dead and the altar?"
Tang Chuan nodded.
"right."
"Tang San's biggest trump card right now is the Rakshasa Altar and the Legion of the Dead."
"The undead are invincible because their core imprint remains within the altar. Once the connection between the undead and the altar is severed during combat, your Dragon Claw can truly destroy them."
"I will use the Blue Silver Emperor Life Domain to purify the Rakshasa death energy within them, weaken the altar's pull on them, and then use the Sea God Trident to suppress Tang San's Rakshasa Space."
"That way, he won't be able to escape so easily."
Di Tian pondered for a moment.
"But if Tang San senses something is wrong, he might not necessarily start a direct battle with us."
"He now prefers massacring entire cities, launching surprise attacks, and forcing troops to divide their forces."
Tang Chuan's eyes turned cold.
"Therefore, we cannot let him lead us by the nose."
"If he wants to devour souls, he must kill people."
"To complete the ninth trial, he must continue searching for the origin of a 100,000-year-old soul beast. If he wants to heal the wounds caused by the Dragon God's Claw, he will go to densely populated cities or continue hunting high-level soul beasts."
What we need to do is make sure he has nowhere to kill.
Xiong Jun frowned and said:
"Nowhere to kill?"
Tang Chuan raised his hand.
In the palm of his hand, a Blue Silver Emperor appeared.
A bluish-gold light spread from the leaves.
Immediately afterwards, all the blue silver grass around the ominous place lit up.
Faint yet continuous ripples of life spread along the earth outwards from the entire forest.
"Blue Silver Grass is everywhere on the Douluo Continent."
"From now on, I will have all the Blue Silver Grass monitor the Rakshasa Death Qi."
"As soon as Tang San appears, I can sense him immediately. Here in the Star Dou Great Forest, we can also establish a life barrier through the resonance between the Lake of Life and the Blue Silver Grass."
"If he dares to enter the forest again, he will be exposed immediately."
Surprise appeared in Brigitte's eyes.
"You can do that?"
Tang Chuan nodded.
"I couldn't do it before. But after pulling out the Trident of Poseidon, my control over life and the ocean has improved a lot. The ocean connects to the edge of the continent, and Blue Silver Grass covers the interior of the continent."
"Give me a little time, and I can set up a life-sensing network covering the entire continent."
Di Tian nodded slowly.
"This can indeed restrict Tang San's movements."
Murasaki spoke:
"But the Spirit Empire is at war with two other empires."
"Human cities are in chaos, with many dead and injured."
"Tang San will likely take advantage of the chaos to circle around and continue devouring souls."
Tang Chuan's eyes darkened, and he said:
"It's already happening."
Di Tian looked at him.
Tang Chuan closed his eyes and sensed for a moment.
Through the Blue Silver Grass, he had already faintly detected the deathly aura emanating from afar. (End of Chapter)