Stranger Danger

The humanoid figure was a short and portly middle-aged man. He was wearing a wide smile on his face, though the myriad pimples covering his face and his abnormally large lips—they took up over half of his face—made him look odd, disturbing, yet somewhat joyful all at the same time.

There was a white mark on the man’s belly, and the energies rising from the mark felt deadly to say the least. However, they were slowly but surely diminishing under the man’s continuous rubbings.

Clearly, the middle-aged man was the River Devouring Toad Demon and the number three of the Seven Demons of Yandang.

On a related note, the Shadowless Leopard Demon was number sixth, and the Nine-headed Snake Demon number seventh.

The five Truemen narrowed their eyes and tried to suppress their shock. The draconic claw they just saw was the “Sky Dragon Claw” executed by Xin Mieqing herself, and as its name implied, it was as powerful as a sky dragon’s claw swipe and could destroy mountains like nothing. Confident in their strength they might be, none of them believed that they could take a “Sky Dragon Claw” from Xin Mieqing without suffering at least some injuries.

The River Devouring Toad Demon had taken a direct hit and looked no worse for wear, however. It was scary to say the least.

“You five will focus on stopping the Lampfire Palace. I’ll handle this man.”

On a street, Xin Mieqing slowly stepped toward the River Devouring Toad Demon with cold, dark eyes. “Anyone who offends the Seventy Two Water Land Alliance must die.”

“Sorry for the trouble, Vice Chief Xin!” The five Truemen saluted her before rushing off in the Lampfire Palace’s direction.

“You’re quite the boastful woman, Vice Chief Xin. Not even I with my huge mouth and belly would dare to make such a boastful claim!” The River Devouring Toad Demon beamed at her. “If you were the Dragonmount Duke, then I would be scared. But you? You don’t seriously think you can kill me, do you?”

“We shall see.” Xin Mieqing did not waste her breath on the River Devouring Toad Demon. She immediately charged him with murderous intent.

At the same time, two figures blocked the five Truemen’s path not long after they chased after the Lampfire Palace. They were a man and a woman.

The man was tall and muscular. His appearance was intimidating and dignified, and his face was covered in yellow fur. A 王 symbol—meaning “King”—could vaguely be seen on his forehead.

The woman was wearing a black outfit. She was gracefully tall and slim, her countenance was demonic yet beautiful. She also had eight arms growing out of her back just like a spider. Her torso suspended high up in the sky, she ran across the ground on all eight like the wind.

Even worse, she was flinging countless tiny spiders into the surroundings with every sway of her body. They were charging toward the surrounding rubble and biting anyone they could get their teeth on. Those unfortunate enough to be bitten would instantly turn green in the face, rot like a corpse, and transform into mindless beasts that attacked every living thing they saw.

Dragonmount City was already in chaos to begin with, but now, it resembled a living hell.

“Howling Heaven Tiger Demon, Eight Armed Spider Demon…!”

The five Truemen recognized the duo and blanched immediately.

“Hahaha! It is I!”

The Howling Heaven Tiger Demon’s laughter swept through the area like physical waves, crushing buildings and exploding heads in an instant. Even those standing far away from him abruptly bled from all orifices without warning.

If the clouds obeyed the dragon, then the wind obeyed the tiger. The sound wave wasn’t just crushing everything in its path, it also kicked a deadly gale that rapidly transformed into a tornado, trapping the five Truemen.

“You are courting death!”

The five Truemen roared and unleashed their respective Magia and secret arts at the tornado and the Howling Heaven Tiger Demon. There was an explosion, and the tornado was cut in half, and the Howling Heaven Tiger Demon was pushed back.

The five Truemen did not stay to fight. They knew that their first priority was to stop the Lampfire Palace from leaving Dragonmount City and retaking control of the Strange Artifact.

If the Lampfire Palace was allowed to leave Dragonmount City and escape their spiritual range, then they would not be able to reinforce the spiritual imprints they engraved within the Strange Artifact. Given their opponent’s power, it would only take them a short time to remove the spiritual imprints completely and truly take control of the Lampfire Palace.

If that happened, then all would be lost.

Unfortunately, as soon as the five Truemen tried to move, they felt as if their energy flow was stuttering, and their bodies were trapped inside a quagmire. For whatever reason, they were moving at a snail’s pace.

It was only then they realized that the surrounding space was covered in countless invisible spider threads. Some were tangible, and some were intangible. The tangible spider threads were impeding their physical bodies, whereas the intangible ones were obstructing their energy flow.

They did not have the time to deal with the spider threads. It was because the Howling Heaven Tiger Demon had jumped back into the fray once more.

“What’s the rush? Entertain us before you leave, will you?”

Howling Heaven Tiger Demon laughed loudly and blocked their path. Then, he and the Eight Armed Spider Demon engaged them in a great battle.

The five Truemen were strong, but they were unable to break free from the Howling Heaven Tiger Demon or the Eight Armed Spider Demon immediately. They could only watch as the Lampfire Palace disappeared from view.

……

Tens of kilometers to the north of Dragonmount City, there was a tall mountain called the Fire Dragon Mountain.

The Fire Dragon Mountain was burning and echoing draconic roars all year long. As a result, no living being dared to get close to it.

Today, Fire Dragon Mountain was burning even fiercer than usual. The draconic roars were so loud that the mountain itself was shaking, and the pressure it gave off kicked off gigantic fire winds that looked potent enough to destroy heaven and earth. Not a soul could be spotted within ten kilometers of the Fire Dragon Mountain because of this.

That was the case until a while ago. Now, a man holding a sword was slowly walking toward Fire Dragon Mountain. He had a cold, indifferent countenance and wore a white robe. He had white hair and a pair of white eyebrows, and even his sword was as white as snow.

He looked like the incarnation of snow; cold, white, and clean.

The white-robed man walked very, very slowly. However, each step was as steady as it could get. Every time he took a step, the surrounding air would turn just a little colder, and tiny snowflakes would fall behind his back.

Scarlet flames that turned heaven and earth red burned in front of him,

And white snow that encased everything in ice fell behind him.

Fire and snow,

Hot and cold,

Red and white.

It was as if the world had been split into two, and the border between the two drastically different worlds was defined solely by the white-robed man, alone and unhurried.

The white-robed man finally came to a stop at the foot of Fire Dragon Mountain. At the same time, a voice erupted from the mountain, “It’s you, White Ape!”

“It is I,” the white-robed man replied.

The next moment, fiery clouds descended, and a dragon’s head emerged from within. It looked down on the white-robed man and asked, “You are the one causing trouble in my Dragonmount City?”

White Ape looked as tiny as an ant compared to the dragon’s head, but the man himself could not seem to feel the difference. He answered calmly, “That is correct.”

“You and your cohort must have a death wish then,” The dragon’s head—the Dragonmount Duke—commented without emotion.

“No, we don’t,” White Ape replied once more.

“If that is true, then why are you seeking death?” Dragonmount Duke asked.

“Just because we are seeking death doesn’t necessarily mean we will die.”

White Ape answered coldly, “And besides, we aren’t seeking death. They can’t die so long as I am here.”

“You’re here to stop me?” Dragonmount Duke asked.

“That is correct!” White Ape declared emotionlessly.

“You, alone?” Dragonmount Duke asked again.

“I, alone, am enough.” White Ape looked up and stared straight into Dragonmount Duke’s eyes.

“That’s what your master said back then. He died.” Dragonmount Duke said regretfully, “I guess you’ll be reuniting with him very soon.”

“My master died in your hands because he was arrogant and unskilled,” White Ape said indifferently, almost as if they weren’t discussing the man who had raised him since he was a wee, much less fall for Dragonmount Duke’s provocation and lose his cool.

“I will be different, for I am a Half Sage.”

“I see. No wonder you dared to show your face alone.” The Dragonmount Duke hummed approvingly. “It’s amusing. The higher you climb, the more you look like a human.”

White Ape countered, “You, on the other hand, look increasingly monstrous.”

“I’ll grant you one thing. You are definitely a better conversationalist than your master.”

Dragonmount Duke said emotionlessly, “I only hope that your skills won’t disappoint me like he did.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t.”

White Ape said slowly, “After all, I spent eighteen years preparing for this.”

“Oh? I look forward to it,” Dragonmount Duke replied.

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