Chapter 352: Initial AspirationsTranslator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Born in an ordinary family in Oregon, the western part of the United States, Wald Jones showed strong athletic ability, was mischievous, and often fought. He was a problem child that worried his parents a lot.
As a teenager, Wald loved fantasy and science fiction. At the age of fourteen, he saw an animation called Spider-Man in Marvel"s fantasy comic magazine, which changed his life. Wald was crazy about Spider-Man. He envied his ability, and yearned to become a city hero and crack down on criminals just like Spider-Man. So, on a sunny afternoon, he caught a spider in the warehouse, let it bite himself, and then laid on the sofa in the living room waiting for the venom to take effect.
Woken up by his parents after they had come home from work, Wald slipped out of the room after dinner. He took a ladder and climbed to the roof of his house. Not a high building, three stories. In the vast and spa.r.s.ely populated western part of the United States, villas were the standard housing for civilians.
There was a big redwood tree in the yard. Fourteen-year-old Wald climbed onto the roof. He thought to himself, It"s time to test my real potential. He leapt and jumped. He wanted to jump from this building to that building like Spider-Man, but the conditions didn"t allow it. He could only jump from this building to that tree. It turned out that Newton"s opinion was not to be disregarded by just about anyone.
Wald was taken to hospital overnight, and doctors told his parents that he had intracranial hemorrhage. Even if he was resuscitated, there was a possibility that he would remain a vegetable. However, the next morning, Wald woke up and his wounds had healed. His physical and mental strength had greatly improved, and he had awakened.
Wald was very happy at that time. He thought that this was the credit of the big spider in his house. He had become Spider-Man in reality. Although the process was a little tortuous, the result was as he expected.
That afternoon, a group of people in suits and sungla.s.ses came to Wald. They were from the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings.
The people of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings told Wald that he was the awakened one with ancient demons" genes. He was a demon descendant. However, Wald didn"t think so. He said, “No, no, no. I"m Spider-Man. I"m not whatever you call a demon descendant.
The people of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings said that Spider-Man"s ability was not worth mentioning. They understood that he had aspirations to become a city hero. They also explained that the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings had always been an advocate for justice, living in the shadow of the city. They solemnly invited him to join them.
In this way, fourteen-year-old Wald joined the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings, intending to protect the city"s peace just like Spider-Man.
However, when he grew up, he found that there was no absolute good and evil in this world. The organisation operated both ways. In the daytime, his colleagues would fight criminals, but at night, they would rape female foreign species, or even young girls. They also had greed and desires. When they took off the staff card of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings, they were not better off than the despised criminals. His colleagues didn"t work for justice, they worked for their interests. This was the adult world.
Wald had lived the majority of his life. His initial aspirations were diluted with the pa.s.sage of time. As he reminisced about his teenage years, he found himself to be funny and childish. Spider-Man was also regarded as childish and absurd.
Swoos.h.!.+ The sculptures fell apart wherever the airs of qi from the sword travelled.
The weapon used by Wald was the Western narrow sword, also known as the n.o.ble sword. In medieval Europe, every adult n.o.ble male would carry such a sword. When they met someone who they found repulsive, or when fighting for the favor of a n.o.ble lady, they drew out this slender narrow sword to duel.
The footsteps were one in, one out. The scenes of people dueling were elegant and pleasant to the eye.
Wald"s teacher was such a n.o.ble from the English empire. Wald once saw his teacher stab through a ten centimeter thick steel plate with a sword, and his eyes widened with surprise. He thought that if it was Spider-Man, he might not be able to withstand such a stab.
In a blink of an eye, he had already surpa.s.sed his teachers and reached peak S-cla.s.s. He could stand on his own in any organisation in the world. He was where he was today not because he believed in upholding justice, but it was his desire of power instead.
This world, after all, was one that preached the idea of survival of the fittest.
The membrane winged monsters in the sky were so dense that they covered the sky and blocked out the sun. They threw out the weapons in their hands, and the hard, iron-like stone forks were smashed to bits as they hit Wald"s qi s.h.i.+eld.
Wald Jones rampaged his way through the battlefield. No one could withstand a blow from him. The qi aura from a peak S-cla.s.s could allow him to kill non-stop for one day and one night.
The monsters" swarming tactics couldn"t cause damage to him in a short time. When he was exhausted, he could easily escape.
However, other members of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings didn"t have such strength, so Wald stayed behind to fight the sculptures and create opportunities for the members under his hand to escape. No matter how strong he was, he couldn"t protect so many people.
If they didn"t go, they would die.
“I hope they can return to the bronze palace smoothly.” From afar, looking at the direction where Eric and the others departed, Wald prayed in his heart.
If he could, Wald would prefer to join forces with the major forces to resist the monster army, rather than turn to Baoze for help. However, at present, the major forces were scattered all over the place. Only Baoze had ten peak S-cla.s.s experts and sufficient ammunition. This was the only way for Eric and the others to live.
Wald was one of the people in the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings that was anti-Chinese. After the end of World War II, the poor, weak country rose rapidly in decades. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it became the largest Communist power in the world and the second largest economy in the world.
The cohesion and potential shown were obvious to all, which seriously threatened the status of the United States. In addition, in recent years, the United States" global dominance and influence had declined.
This Communist empire was regarded as a big eyesore.
From the perspective of the demon descendants" community, after 70 years of being led by monks, the first authoritative, powerful and official organization appeared in the demon descendants" community of China.
It was still very young and fledgling, and the Chinese demon descendants" community was still struggling for power with the va.s.sals. However, because it used to be a poor and weak country, the potential of Baoze was huge. The a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings collected data, investigated and a.n.a.lyzed them, and came to the conclusion that in another five years at most, Baoze Group could unify the demon descendants" community and centralize power.
At that time, the world"s largest demon descendant group would not be that of the United States.
In terms of international status, China still could not threaten the position of the United States as the world leader. So, in the demon descendants" community, it was inevitable that power would change hands.
The first reason was the population. The huge population base represented the number of demon descendants. Unlike India, which was also a densely populated country, the Chinese demon descendants were more orderly, but the latter was a mess.
The number of demon descendants was an important reference standard for strength.
Secondly, historical details. In the recent 100 years or so, the historical background of the Chinese demon descendants" community had been weakened repeatedly. Many unique skills had been lost. However, the skinny camel was still bigger than the horse. The endless variety of unique skills had drawn the American demon descendants" community"s envy even up to this date.
This gap in historical background could have been made up by science and technology. There was no science and technology in a demon descendants" community led by monks, but the emergence of Baoze Group perfectly filled up this gap.
As long as Baoze Group completed centralization, the Chinese demon descendants" community would become the world"s largest demon descendants" community.
Bang! Bang!
A series of explosions came from behind the monster army.
When Wald looked into the distance, he saw the sculptures disintegrating continuously. It was as if a big truck had crashed into a crowd, clearing out a pa.s.sageway for itself.
“So strong…” Wald frowned. Was it reinforcements? To save me?
This idea had just risen, but the uninvited guest had rushed to his front, and a human figure smashed all the sculptures along the way in a rude and unreasonable manner.
The long hair of the guest was floating. Looking at her body and face, she was lovely. Her mole at the corner of her right eye was like the finis.h.i.+ng touch, adding liveliness and a charming temperament.
Unparalleled War Spirit! In the legends, Unparalleled War Spirit"s body was the strongest in the world. It did not age, and was indestructible. She had no weapon in her hand, because she herself was the strongest weapon.
The Unparalleled War Spirit"s appearance here meant that Eric and the others had been rescued by Baoze"s reinforcements.
Wald Jones breathed a sigh of relief, swung his sword and chopped up the sculpture coming from behind, and smiled. “Are you here to help me?”
Great-Grandma stood in the sculpture group vividly and ignored their attacks. She let the stone forks stab her at will. She tilted her head and said, “No, I"m here to kill you.”
Wald"s scalp was numb and his mind exploded.
Great-Grandma"s air of qi danced around, shaking the sculptures aside. A gust of power appeared at her feet as the brown earth vibrated, releasing shadows in mid-air.
Subconsciously, Wald prepared to fight with his sword. However, his heart cooled. As he thought of her indestructible body, being forced into close combat by her would only result in death. At this instant, his body tilted back, he tiptoed a little bit, and flew backward obliquely, smas.h.i.+ng the sculptures behind. At the same time, he swung his sword frantically, and the arc-shaped air of qi dashed towards the Unparalleled War Spirit, preventing her from pursuing him.
“Why? I didn"t offend you.” Wald opened the distance between them and stared at the Unparalleled War Spirit.
He didn"t understand. In the United States, which was far away from China, he had no dealings with the Unparalleled War Spirit and the Li family. The Unparalleled War Spirit and him were two parallel lines that he did not want to meet. There was no injustice in the past and no hatred in the recent days. There was no reason for this.
“I will kill you on behalf of Thieving Grandson,” Great-Grandma said.
Thieving Grandson was Great-Grandma"s favorite name for Li Xianyu.
Li Xianyu? Wald thought a little and realized what was up. His face became pale. “It"s Baoze"s intentions?”
He thought of several years ago, when those Baoze employees had secretly entered the United States to apprehend criminals. He knew what he had done. If Baoze wanted to kill him, this was the only thing.
Indeed, through the channel of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings, he found out the address of several employees of Baoze and revealed it to his informants. He also provided various conveniences to make the a.s.sa.s.sination missions of informants more smooth.
The informant was indeed a criminal, a cold-blooded and cruel murderer, but he needed someone like that to do things for him. After so many years of mingling in this world, he had understood the essence of the world. From ancient times to now, all the great men in history operated both aboveground and underground.
“Because of the few Chinese demon descendants?” Wald clenched the sword in his hand and thought quickly about any countermeasures.
He would be no match for the Unparalleled War Spirit if he were to fight her head-on. He knew this. Hence, the right strategy was to fight and run at the same time, and try to join up with the rest of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings. Since Baoze chose to a.s.sa.s.sinate, it meant that they would not want to let this incident come to light. Killing the vice-president of an official organization in the demon descendants" community of the United States would inevitably cause the demon descendants" community of the two countries to fight once this matter was exposed.
No, I can"t meet Eric. It will only make Baoze more desperate to kill people. I have to find other overseas forces and Chinese demon descendant families. No matter how insane Baoze is, they would not dare to kill everyone, because in this way, fools can see the problem. So many forces went in and were completely destroyed, but Baoze was fine?
The Unparalleled War Spirit"s powers came from her host, which was her great-grandson. Hence, it wasn"t him fighting with the Unparalleled War Spirit, but him fighting with her great-grandson.
“It seems that this is the case, but it doesn"t matter to me.” Great-Grandma licked her lips as her eyes were full of the joy of hunting, a cruel, b.l.o.o.d.y joy.
“I"m really happy. I haven"t killed Westerners in more than 100 years.” The eyes of the Unparalleled War Spirit turned scarlet, and her airs of qi became more powerful. Her demon blood was boiling.
Without hesitation, Wald decisively sent out a cross-shaped air of qi flying towards the Unparalleled War Spirit. The sculptures between the two people disintegrated upon contact with the cross. The vertical airs of qi ploughed a deep and thin sword mark on the ground, and the smoke was burning.
The Unparalleled War Spirit crossed her arms and directly smashed the cross. It was so simple and violent to the point that she was lawless. She didn"t even need to use her arms to block it. The reason for using her arms was to protect the La Perla bra under her clothes.
This was a top luxury brand in Italy. The price was exorbitant. The price of Great-Grandma"s bra was about equivalent to a month"s salary for white-collar women.
In the past, Great-Grandma didn"t care about all these. In terms of undergarments, as long as the size is suitable and comfortable, it was fine. However, as she had known Thunderbolt Battle Lady, the spendthrift, for a long time, her bad habits had rubbed off on her as well. For example, the more expensive things were, the better. When she went to shopping malls and specialty stores, she would not be happy if the sales attendant introduced products that were cheaper and more affordable.
What do you mean? Looking down on me, Unparalleled War Spirit?
My great-grandson has money. Great-Grandma didn"t know what luxury goods were. Yes, this bra was recommended by Thunderbolt Battle Lady. Just a few days ago, after finis.h.i.+ng the task of Great Demons" Alliance, Li Xianyu took his harem to the shopping mall when he was free.
Thunderbolt Battle Lady rambled, “Great-Grandma, your outfit is not bad, but your bra is still that of a civilian brand, which is not worthy of your status. Like me, I don"t wear undergarments that cost below a five-figure sum.”
At that time, Li Xianyu was very unhappy and said, “Excuse me, which concubine from which dynasty are you? We have been ordinary civilians for the past three generations. Being alive, we have wasted air and land. Oh, sorry for that.”
However, people were used to his venomous tongue, so no one paid attention to him.
Thunderbolt Battle Lady originally meant to show off her taste to the old witch, the Unparalleled War Spirit. However, Great-Grandma thought about it and thought that she should keep up with the times. She couldn"t be despised by Thunderbolt Battle Lady, a vixen.
It was really outrageous to wear a cheap set of undergarments beneath a set of expensive clothes. Hence, she said, “I heard that Victoria"s Secret is not bad. Let"s go to the specialty store to have a look?”
Thunderbolt Battle Lady covered her mouth in disdain. She laughed and replied, “That"s the common goods among the high-end brands. It"s rampant. They got famous just because of sales.”
He remembered when she said these words, a certain Great-Grandma who had no regard for his wallet gave her the thumbs-up and said, “Battle Lady is right!”
The price of Victoria Secret"s underwear was affordable but it had been criticized for its poor material and workmans.h.i.+p. Just like Starbucks, once popular with small investors, it had become so rampant that everyone can buy a drink and pretend to be a basic b.i.t.c.h on the street.
Now, the petty bourgeoisie didn"t like to go to Starbucks anymore. Instead, they went to some Western-style dessert shops with elegant environments and high prices.
Ice Shards was the kind of woman who obviously had everything but still liked to look good. When she was in university, she liked to take Li Xianyu to sit in these kinds of shops and pretend to be a basic b.i.t.c.h. She didn"t give a chance to men at all.
Great-Grandma despised Westerners on the surface, but it turned out that she was a hypocritical piece of trash as well. Hence, Thunderbolt Battle Lady led her into the shop. Great-Grandma went into the dressing room and tried on some clothes. She found that it was really good, with a good feel and comfortable wearing.
The retail a.s.sistant asked her, “How do you feel?”
Great-Grandma said, “It"s good.”
The retail a.s.sistant smiled happily and said, “I"ll wrap it up for you.”
Great-Grandma replied, “I"ll take ten sets.”
A big smile appeared on the retail a.s.sistant"s face.
The guests and the host were all happy. Thunderbolt Battle Lady also felt happy because her taste had been recognized by the old witch. Only Li Xianyu was not happy. He came in with a helpless expression, but left with a ferocious one.
…
The cross failed to block the ferocity of the attack of the Unparalleled War Spirit. In a blink of an eye, she crossed the distance of tens of meters between the two of them and hit Wald with a fist. The fist seemed to implode the air and created a deafening roar.
Wald greeted her fist with his sword. The sharp point of the sword made contact with Great-Grandma"s fist, bending to form an exaggerated arc. This priceless magic weapon had excellent tenacity and withstood one blow from the Unparalleled War Spirit.
Wald didn"t plan to fight head-on. He used the strength from his sword to float backwards like a wild goose. At the same time, he opened his left palm and shouted, “Light!”
The light particles flooded into the pupils of Great-Grandma like thousands of invisible filigree needles. Her eyes ached and tears rolled down her cheek.
Wald"s ability could manipulate light particles. He could condense a glimmer of light in the dark. He could also disperse light particles within a certain area.
However, the first two methods were ineffective when dealing with the Unparalleled War Spirit. He moved in the opposite direction, gathering powerful light particles to disturb her vision. The effect was similar to s.h.i.+ning a flashlight on your eyes suddenly.
The eyesight of demon descendants was more than ten times powerful than that of ordinary people. In essence, the five senses were sensitive. The eyes were even more sensitive to light. With this intensity, it was enough to blind her for a second.
Wald didn"t want to try to fight back, because it was impossible to fight against her. All attributes of this monster were in the Gokudo Path. Although she had been sealed and restricted and that her powers were not the same as before, hardware like her body could not be sealed.
Taking advantage of the momentary blindness of the Unparalleled War Spirit, he turned around and changed his escape route.
“I can use my ability to stall for time. As long as I drag until Li Xianyu is exhausted, she will also be exhausted. I will be safe,” Wald said.
At that time, the Unparalleled War Spirit was just a stone in a thatched hole. Although she stank and was hard, she would not pose a threat once she had lost her strength.
When Great-Grandma opened her eyes, she found that she was chasing in the wrong direction. It was Wald who changed his direction. The noise and confusion of the lizardmen sculptures became the best cover for Wald and affected her judgment.
“Hmph!” Great-Grandma gave a cold snort and her expression was not happy.
During the running, her body swelled in the wind, and in an instant, she became a giant of thirty meters tall.
Heavenly Dharmakāya!
After decades of painstaking practice, the Ape G.o.d, who had only reached the limit of sixteen meters, would cry out if he saw this scene.
The dark brown earth trembled when Great-Grandma ran, and the sculptures along the way were like ants, crushed by her footsteps.
Great-Grandma"s fighting style had always been simple and rough. She didn"t learn Taoism or Buddhism. When she was young, she was a famous genius in the family. She was proficient in all kinds of martial arts, but later on, she used few unique moves.
Just like Dugu Qiubai in the novels, she went from having a signature move to not having one. She simplified the complex and rediscovered pureness. Buddha Head of twenty years ago would not have been able to attain this level.
However, if she were to encounter some troublesome situations, she would still use Taoism techniques. Although she had gotten rid of the fancy moves and unique skills at her level, at some times, strange spells could also allow her to gain miraculous effects, such as now.
Wald turned his head and took a look. The colour on his face was drained, and the distance between the two sides was very close. He couldn"t win a foot race with legs that were tens of metres long.
“Light!” Wald executed his old skills again, as light particles attacked Great-Grandma"s eyes. However, this time, Great-Grandma was already on guard. She protected her eyes and attacked wildly.
The a.s.sault of Great-Grandma!
The light particles did not successfully disturb Great-Grandma, but this was still within Wald"s expectations. The Unparalleled War Spirit covering her eyes was the outcome he wanted, because the effect was the same as that of blindness.
You still have to be on guard against my powers. Great-Grandma smiled coldly, closed her eyes and recited a formula with both hands clasped. The positive and negative charges dissociated in the air and collided violently. Wald"s head was covered with twisted, blue electric currents.
If a Taoist"s thunder skills was to kill the enemy with a thunderbolt, then Great-Grandma"s thunder skills was to drop a power grid to kill the enemies.
Wald"s scalp was numb, his short hair stood up, and his body was paralyzed by intensive lightning. After half a second, he used the power of his body to dispel the negative effect of the thunder, and continued to escape.
Boom!
At the front, the earth suddenly heaved up and formed a wall, blocking the way.
The secret skill of Taoism: the Five Arts of Xuanxue! The chant of mountains, the mountain moving mantra!
I"m finished… Wald was in despair. He clenched his teeth as his eyes and veins bulged, hitting the wall with brute force. It was too late to jump or turn. In two or three seconds, Unparalleled War Spirit could catch up with him and trample him to death.
Bang!
His body collided with a hard, iron-like wall, but it failed to break. It cracked, then collapsed.
Wald felt a chill.
The Unparalleled War Spirit caught up and stepped on him. Wald raised his sword to stab her. If he could not escape, he would have to fight head-on.
The narrow sword was broken under the trample of Unparalleled War Spirit. Wald raised his arms to block her stamp again. A huge pressure fell on both arms. He had the illusion that the sky was falling down and he was carrying it. The thing was that he could not carry it.
His legs submerged into the brown soil, knee-deep.
When Heavenly Dharmakāya was lifted, the Unparalleled War Spirit successfully approached him. First, she hit Wald out of the ground with her knees. Then, her fists rained down on him, and the sound of bones breaking was continuous.
In just ten seconds, Wald suffered hundreds of blows. Unexpectedly, he didn"t feel pain. It was akin to a pedestrian being suddenly run over by a truck and killed on the spot without any pain. He would pa.s.s away peacefully (probably).
However, Wald didn"t die on the spot. He had one breath left. The vitality of a peak S-cla.s.s expert was extremely strong, and he could not die at will. However, even if one were a peak S-cla.s.s, one"s outcome would be the same if Unparalleled War Spirit targeted you.
When Li Xianyu was still at the bottom of S-cla.s.s, Great-Grandma could handle two peak S-cla.s.s experts, as shown during the mission of the Great Demons" Alliance. However, with Li Xianyu"s current prowess which was middle S-cla.s.s, Great-Grandma"s powers would be greatly boosted.
“Don"t kill me, don"t kill me…” Wald"s mouth was full of blood, and his voice was intermittent. “You don"t have a sense of belonging to Baoze, right? The Unparalleled War Spirit will not have a sense of belonging towards any forces. It"s Baoze who wants to kill me. I have no enmity with the Li family. As long as you let me go, I can repay your descendants 10 times, even 100 times. I"m the vice president of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings. My power and financial resources can be yours.”
Great-Grandma was silent.
“Twenty years ago, your descendant was forced to die by the Chinese demon descendants" community, and now they still want to target your current great-grandson. The Great Deities Palace is different from what the outside world thinks of it. Without any treasures, all major forces are doomed to return empty-handed.”
“Would they settle? At this time, Li Xianyu, who owns Li Wuxiang"s and Demonic Priest"s treasures, will become the target of the public. The temptation of Gokudo Path to demon descendants is too great. When they know that they will never get what they want in the Great Deities Palace, the only hope is Li Xianyu.”
“At that time, do you think you can still frighten people all over the world by threatening to break your own pearl?”
Wald knew the Li family comprehensively. As a myth of the Chinese demon descendants" community, the Unparalleled War Spirit, like the Great Wall of China, was a living sign. This time, when the Great Deities Palace was opened, Li Xianyu was deeply involved in it. His information and materials would be the first information that foreign forces would collect.
“I"ll deal with the Li family myself.” Great-Grandma"s face was calm as she raised her hand and flicked her fingertips.
A torrent of blood oozed out from Wald"s chest. Wald"s heart was destroyed and his life, along with his vitals, was completely cut off.
Even so, the vice-president of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings still didn"t die immediately. He looked at the light gray sky as his pupils gradually dilated.
His life stories flashed across his mind. People would remember their lives before they died, and this phenomenon is commonly known as the walking lantern.
One night in summer, when he was fourteen years old, with the wors.h.i.+p and yearning for superheroes, he jumped for faith. From then, he awakened and joined the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings. Starting from the bottom of the rank ladder, he was regarded as a disciple by the old n.o.bles of the English empire"s immigrants at the age of twenty, and he was taught swordsmans.h.i.+p.
At the age of twenty-five, he became a team leader. At the age of thirty, he became the mayor. At the age of thirty-five, he became the governor. And at the age of forty-five, he was promoted to the vice-president of the a.s.sociation of Superpowered Beings after he attained peak S-cla.s.s.
If his life were to be written as an autobiography, it would probably be the best-selling book of the year in the United States" demon descendants" community.
However, in fact, it was very simple to sum up. He was a child with a hero"s dream. After achieving his dream and gaining his power, he had become the person he hated most after mingling in a society where one was easily influenced.
On his deathbed, Wald Jones saw a familiar and strange sign emerging in the sky. It was the design of Spider-Man"s chest and the badge of Spider-Man.
He saw it as ridiculous to see such a childish thing before he died. He moved his fingers, maybe to embrace the sky, as well as the sign. However, in the end, he didn"t do anything, as his consciousness faded away for an eternity.