Chapter 566: The Forbidden Back Graveyard
The Back Graveyard was in essence a cemetery. Apart from the heroic spirits belonging to the deceased members of the academy, the evil spirits of those killed by the academy in the past also resided here. The heroic spirits and the evil spirits lived in two different parts of the cemetery, and Xiang Shaoyun was thrown into the region where the evil spirits resided.
The evil spirits in the Back Graveyard consisted of the souls of numerous races, including those of humans, demons, and devils. Each evil spirit was at least a Sovereign in life. Those weaker wouldn"t even be qualified to be locked here. The reason this whole evil spirit region was established by the academy was to serve as a place of punishment for disobedient disciples.
One could say that this was a severe and dreadful punishment. Regular disciples would have a hard time withstanding such punishment. Most of the time, they would turn mad afterwards.
Thus, it was clear how angry the princ.i.p.al was at Xiang Shaoyun"s stubbornness. After all, for the princ.i.p.al, it was a ma.s.sive wastage of potential for a nine-star physique to be used to cultivate nine different powers. If Xiang Shaoyun was unwilling to change his mind, he would probably have to spend the rest of his life in the graveyard.
While Xiao Wei was bringing Xiang Shaoyun here, he had already tried his best to persuade Xiang Shaoyun to change. He was unwilling to see Xiang Shaoyun ruin his future. However, Xiang Shaoyun remained stubborn, greatly angering Xiao Wei. But before Xiao Wei left, Xiang Shaoyun had still requested that he help settle the Han Clan sisters down. Xiao Wei did not agree, neither did he refuse. As for what he would do, Xiang Shaoyun had no idea.
Currently, Xiang Shaoyun was trapped in a place without any sunlight, a place filled with evil spirits. It was barren land with desolate mountains and nearly dry rivers. No other living beings could be seen, and every now and then, a cold gust of wind blew past, bringing with it an eerie whistling. Bones were scattered everywhere, further highlighting the graveyard"s eeriness.
A barrier isolated the place from the outside world, and if Xiang Shaoyun wanted to leave, he had to possess the strength to break the barrier. However, even if he immediately reached the Sovereign Realm, he still wouldn"t be able to break it. Thus, that thought never crossed his mind.
Looking at his barren surroundings, he grumbled in desperation, I was planning on showing off my extraordinary physique so the academy would properly cultivate me. However, this happened instead. There is really nothing I can do about it.
He did not blame the academy. After all, they had made it clear that they wanted to properly nurture him. However, he refused their demand, and thus, it wasn"t really anyone"s fault that he was in his current situation. In any case, he wouldn"t just sit around doing nothing after being dumped here. He would prove to the elders that his choice of cultivating nine powers was correct.
One could say that Xiang Shaoyun was extremely obstinate when it came to cultivating nine powers. Suddenly, the skeletons near him stood up and started walking toward him.
Crack! Crack!
As the skeletons moved, cracking sounds filled the air, giving off an eerie sensation that made one"s hair stand on end. The Back Graveyard was filled with a ma.s.sive number of bones from various races. For no apparent reason, these skeletal remains were suddenly charging Xiang Shaoyun.
The leader was a human skeleton wielding a bone saber, and it hacked at Xiang Shaoyun rapidly, displaying a strength no weaker than an Emperor. At the same time, a demon skeleton opened its mouth and bit at Xiang Shaoyun, and a devil skeleton tackled Xiang Shaoyun at a rapid speed.
"Is someone controlling these skeletons?" Xiang Shaoyun wondered as he retreated. Unfortunately, no matter how he tried to escape, he couldn"t escape the encirclement and was forced to counter attack.
Lightning Bolt Fist!
A punch with the prowess of a War Emperor was easily unleashed. This was an improvement brought by Xiang Shaoyun"s advancement into the eighth stage. Yet when the lightning fist blasted forth, it failed to destroy the skeletons. Rather, a large number of skeletons arrived near him after bracing the attack.
Although Xiang Shaoyun reacted quickly, there were too many skeletons, and he was unable to evade all the attacks, resulting in his shoulder and back being hit. The two hits were as powerful as the attacks of an Emperor, instantly throwing him into the midst of numerous skeletons, putting him in an even worse situation.
The skeletons started beating him up. Even a bone spike stabbed toward his face. In his fear of being disfigured, he quickly dodged the stab. All four of his limbs were grabbed, and spike after spike were stabbed into his four limbs. The spikes were at a level comparable to Sovereign-grade weapons, and not even the Six Goldplate Manual could defend against them.
"AHHH!"
When the first spike stabbed into Xiang Shaoyun’s thigh, he wailed in pain. Under such provocation, he erupted with all his strength, jolting the skeletons around him away. Fortunately, these skeletons weren"t living beings and lacked the flexibility of someone living. They also hadn"t confined him with energy attacks. Otherwise, he wouldn"t have been able to break free from them at all.
"Scram, all of you!" Xiang Shaoyun was completely infuriated. He swung his fists around repeatedly, sending the skeletons flying everywhere.
But since the skeletons were not living beings, they weren"t afraid of his punches. And since Xiang Shaoyun wasn"t strong enough to completely destroy them, they continued swarming him unendingly. To make things worse, when he wanted to fly, he found that he couldn"t. It was as if some sort of power had restricted the spiritual energy of this area, making it impossible to fly.
"The h.e.l.l? Is this even necessary? Are they really trying to make me die here?" Xiang Shaoyun cursed.
Unfortunately, nothing would change just because of his curses. The only thing he could do was to keep blasting the skeletons away, not allowing them to get near him. At the same time, he continued observing his surroundings as he gradually retreated toward a safe spot while attacking.
However, there were too many skeletons around that it wouldn"t be an easy feat to escape their encirclement. Just as he was about to be completely swarmed once more, he erupted with power and unfurled a pair of wings from his back. As he flapped the wings, he soared into the sky.
"Good thing I have the White Tiger Wings. Otherwise, I would be wasted to death by the never ending skeletons," muttered Xiang Shaoyun as he patted his chest in relief.
Ever since he had become a King, Xiang Shaoyun had completely stopped using the White Tiger Wings to fly. Now that he was using this ability once more, he found that the wings had become even more solid, slender, and long. The speed at which he could move the wings had also increased considerably. Just as he cheerily looked for a safe spot to land, devilish clouds suddenly appeared midair and enveloped him.
"Keke, what a surprise. I can finally feast on delicious fresh blood again!" a shrill voice rang out.