Gu Hai’s retort caused the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor—who was about to erupt in anger—to pause for a moment.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor looked at the ice man coldly, a frosty look in his eyes.
“Humph!” the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor let out a cold snort. Then, he waved his hand, and his dragon vein charged straight towards Major Metropolitan City.
The danger was immediately resolved.
The Bat Ancestor, Archduke Xi Kang, and the Chang Clan elders let out bated breaths. That was a close call.
—---
Major Metropolitan City:
Imperial Emperor Xi Yu: “…”
“Your Reverence, did the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor attack Mister Gu?” A look of regret flashed in Mo Yike’s eyes.
“No,” Imperial Emperor said after taking a deep breath.
“Oh?” Mo Yike appeared slightly surprised.
Then, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu used his technique to show the scene in the distance again.
Mo Yike goggled. Then, his expression changed. “I understand now. This scene is a repeat of the events at Nine-Five Island.”
“Oh?” Imperial Emperor Xi Yu said, feeling confused.
“Mister Gu must have chatted with the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor for some time before this, using that to prove that the ice man is Your Reverence’s projection. Now, the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor already believes that without any doubt. That is why Mister Gu could resolve the earlier ‘misunderstanding.’ This was how he tricked the dragon crown prince, Ao Shun, at Nine-Five Island back then. This Mister Gu is really thorough,” Mo Yike said with a bitter smile.
“Humph! Thorough?” A cold gleam flashed in Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s eyes.
Boom!
Imperial Emperor Xi Yu used blessings to launch another saber strike.
Imperial Emperor Xi Yu believed that while the ice man could evade danger once, he could not do so forever. The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor had his pride and would not let the ice man keep provoking him.
Boom!
The manifested saber tore through space and instantly appeared outside Vacant City.
“Humph! Again?” The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor glared. This time, he truly got angry.
This wager is just a joke, right? Imperial Emperor Xi Yu is just mocking me.
Boom!
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor stood up, radiating an overwhelming murderous intent as he stared at the ice man. It looked like he no longer wanted to remain seated and talk.
“Oh no! Your Reverence, save me!” The Bat Ancestor’s expression changed as he immediately turned and flew into the distance.
“Gu Hai, you’ve brought harm to us!” Archduke Xi Kang’s expression changed as he turned to flee.
Rumble…!
The Chang Clan elders fled in fear with their subordinates.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s rage prompted them to abandon their plans in horror, not caring about anything and leaving Gu Hai to die.
“Your Majesty, they…they…” Bing Ji’s expression changed.
Gu Hai stared into the distance, not saying anything. He still had the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s body as insurance, so the situation was not dire yet.
Far away, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu showed a cold smile as he swung Blood Prison with even more ferocity than before.
When the Bat Ancestor, Archduke Xi Kang, and many of their subordinates fled, the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor suddenly paused. This scene is too strange. Why are they leaving Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s projection and fleeing?
However, the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor paused for only a moment. His face still radiated a murderous intent.
No one has ever dared to mock me like this. No one can escape! Then, an even more powerful Blood Prison image swung over. With a fierce expression, the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor cocked his arm back to shatter it with another punch.
Midway through the punch, a slender manifested palm suddenly appeared. The palm’s five fingers closed, instantly pinching the manifested Blood Prison.
Buzz!
The manifested Blood Prison stopped outside Vacant City, unable to proceed further.
However, the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s expression changed as he looked at the person who sent out that manifested palm. He interrupted his punch.
“Who is it?” The expression of Imperial Emperor Xi Yu in Major Metropolitan City changed.
This hand caught his manifested saber in the air before it clashed with the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor.
An interloper joined the battle between the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor and myself?
The Bat Ancestor, Archduke Xi Kang, the Chang Clan elders, Gu Hai, and the surrounding citizens raised their heads and looked at the person who sent out that manifested palm.
A red dragon carriage hovered in the air, pulled by a bone dragon and a nether fire dragon.
The red-imperial-robed Ba stood on a flat platform at the front of the carriage with her hand outstretched. She was the one who caught Blood Prison’s manifested saber, preventing it from going further.
“Ba?” Gu Hai felt slightly startled. Why is she here?
Nearby, Archduke Xi Kang, the Bat Ancestor, and the Chang Clan elders gaped. It’s her?!
This is Ba? The woman who scared the Great Light Sovereign Deity into abandoning the holy Dao scripture and running away by counting to three?
Ba looked down and tightened her fingers.
Bang!
The five fingers instantly crushed the manifested Blood Prison into powder.
Major Metropolitan City:
When Imperial Emperor Xi Yu’s manifested saber exploded, a shock wave surged through Major Metropolitan City.
Boom!
The shock wave pushed Chang Sheng, Qin Zibai, and Mo Yike back several steps.
“Your Reverence, what’s wrong?” Mo Yike’s expression changed.
After all, while Imperial Emperor Xi Yu swung his saber using blessings, the battle occurred far away. What force could possibly backlash all the way to Major Metropolitan City?
Imperial Emperor Xi Yu narrowed his eyes and stared at Ba in the scene displayed.
Ba flung out her sleeves and turned her head to look at the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s face sank.
Just this one move demonstrated this woman’s strength. Even though the great distance had significantly diminished the power of that saber strike, it could not be crushed so easily.
The five million Divine Blood Army soldiers suddenly felt restless.
Ba’s gaze appeared calm, as though she had not done anything significant.
Then, she turned her head and looked at the surroundings.
The Bat Ancestor and the others had already fled far away in horror, leaving only the ice man facing the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor.
“Oh? You again?” Ba looked at the ice man.
That gaze seemed to possess a penetrative power that allowed her to see Gu Hai, who was inside the ice man.
This was already Ba’s third time seeing Gu Hai. The first time was at Dragon Vein City. At that time, Ba casually looked around. Gu Hai was just one of the many people there. However, she remembered everyone there, given her memory.
The second time was when Ba scared away the Great Light Sovereign Deity not long ago. She had once glanced at Gu Hai, not thinking much of it, and just considered his presence a coincidence.
This was now the third time meeting Gu Hai. This was no mere coincidence anymore.
Inside the ice man, Gu Hai’s pupils constricted.
Even the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor could not look into the ice man and see him. To think that she could!
Perhaps Gu Hai seemed too weak in Ba’s eyes, but she no longer paid attention to him after feeling slight suspicions. Instead, she turned to look at the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor.
“Who are you?” the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor asked.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor suddenly sensed that the woman before him possessed a strange strength. This strength even made him feel threatened.
“Your Holy Eminence, I sense that she is here to deal with us,” Ma Sanyan said as his expression changed.
“Your Holy Eminence, this subordinate feels the same. It seems she is targeting us,” a battalion commander said as his expression changed.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor suddenly narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sky.
“Is this karma? Is she our tribulation? Did heaven send her to deal with us?” The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s expression changed.
“What?” The expressions of Ma Sanyan and the others changed.
Far away, on the dragon carriage, Ba smiled coldly. “Heaven sent us? You overthink. Sinful blood souls? That is great nourishment for us!”
“Kill!” Ma Sanyan shouted. Then, he led a group of subordinates charging into the sky while holding their weapons upraised. From the moment Ba appeared, everyone felt like they had met their nemesis. This woman seemed to counter them specially.
Great nourishment? This woman before me clearly wants to deal with us, Ma Sanyan thought as he charged over.
Ba smiled coldly. Then, she flung her wide sleeves behind her and suddenly opened her mouth.
Buzz!
Two crimson canines sprang out in Ba’s mouth as she released a ferocious and baleful aura.
[TL Note: As mentioned in a previous TL Note, the Chinese zombie (Jiangshi or stiff corpse) is sort of a cross between western zombies and vampires. While the lore behind the Chinese zombies states that they absorb vital energy, Qi, or souls, some modern depictions show them drinking blood, likely due to western influence. Chinese zombies also are more bestial with low intelligence, similar to western zombies.]
“Hah!” Ba suddenly roared, and the surrounding space shook.
“Argh!”
“My head!”
Countless citizens, the Bat Ancestor, Archduke Xi Kang, and the Chang Clan elders immediately clutched their heads in pain. Ba’s roar seemed to contain an excruciating, demonic sound.
Bing Ji also covered her ears in pain.
However, the Heaven Suppressing Divine Imperial Seal in Gu Hai’s forehead space trembled, suppressing this sound wave attack.
Sound wave? No. When Ba opened her mouth, she created a suction that instantly caught Ma Sanyan and the one hundred thousand Divine Blood Army soldiers charging over. Then, it pulled them into Ba’s mouth with great force.
Rumble…!
Ba swallowed one hundred thousand Divine Blood Army soldiers in the blink of an eye.
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s expression changed. “You bastard!”
The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor launched an attack at Ba. A huge manifested palm formed in the air.
“Hah!”
Ba did not stop roaring. The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s palm strike quickly entered her mouth as space trembled intensely. Furthermore, the suction strengthened, pulling at the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor and trying to consume him.
“What?” The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s expression changed.
The Divine Blood Army soldiers by the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s side could not resist the suction; they also got pulled into Ba’s mouth.
This suction targeted the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor. As such, even his figure wavered as though he would get sucked in.
“That’s impossible!” The expression of Imperial Emperor Xi Yu in Major Metropolitan City changed.
Nearly everyone in the surroundings felt startled. In just mere moments, Ba had swallowed close to one million Divine Blood Army soldiers.
An overwhelming flame surged around Ba as a torrid aura instantly spread out.
“Hurry! Close the ritual array! Close the ritual array! Defend against the outside!” The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor’s expression changed.
Rumble…!
Some Divine Blood Army soldiers immediately operated the Nine-by-Nine Sun Sealing Ritual Array and closed it.
Even so, Ba’s suction remained unobstructed by the Nine-by-Nine Sun Sealing Ritual Array as she continued sucking.
Rumble…!
More Divine Blood Army soldiers got pulled into Ba’s mouth.
“Your Holy Eminence, save me!”
“Your Holy Eminence! No!”
“No!”
The Divine Blood Army soldiers shouted endlessly as they entered Ba’s mouth.
“No! No! No!” the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor roared with a ferocious expression.
Ba’s suction was simply too strong, so strong that even he could not hold on for much longer.
When the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor turned his head, he suddenly saw that the roar had shattered the distant ice man, revealing Gu Hai and Bing Ji.
When the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor saw Gu Hai and Bing Ji, his expression changed dramatically.
He is a sham? That is not Imperial Emperor Xi Yu? So, the earlier wager is a sham as well? It’s all a sham?!
I got tricked by that man and woman? I opened the Nine-by-Nine Sun Sealing Ritual Array only because I got tricked, exposing myself. That caused the real Imperial Emperor Xi Yu to attack and attracted this female demon?
“You tricked us! You tricked us!” The Slaughter Heavenly Emperor suddenly glared at Gu Hai.
Far away, Gu Hai frowned and looked over as he hugged Bing Ji, who was covering her ears.
“Hah!”
Ba’s roar increased in pitch and volume.
Suddenly, the Divine Blood Army soldiers who had regained their bodies trembled. Then, their souls came out of their bodies and got pulled into Ba’s mouth.
“No! No! We do not accept this! We do not accept this!” the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor roared in rage.
Rumble…!
Now, the last of the Divine Blood Army soldiers and the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor left the ground and got sucked into Ba’s mouth.
After swallowing the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor and five million Divine Blood Army soldiers in one mouthful, Ba stopped roaring. As she stood in the sky, her wide imperial robes fluttering in the breeze, her body shone with an overwhelming crimson light.
Buzz!
Space stopped shaking, and everyone regained their hearing. However, no one could speak. They just trembled as they raised their heads and looked at the dragon carriage in the sky.
This woman had swallowed the Slaughter Heavenly Emperor and five million Divine Blood Army soldiers in one mouthful.
Just one mouthful and she consumed them all?
