Chapter 713 The Gatekeepers
Ding Hao did not expect so many masters from the two clans here.
They had a.s.sembled with murderous intent in their hearts. This did not seem like a large-scale carnage. Instead, they appeared to be engaged in some kind of organized duels.
Ding Hao and Uncle Tianshu’s arrival only attracted the attention of a few warriors. Their eyes did not stay on them for long. Instead, they soon turned to the spiral staircase leading to the 96th floor of the Towering Buddha PaG.o.da.
Ding Hao looked in the direction of their gazes.
He found two figures standing quietly by the spiral staircase.
One was an expert of the Human Clan. He was dressed in a black suit that glittered with a misty aura. Obviously, it was a defensive armor similar to a Precious Weapon. He was of medium height, his body bulging with muscles that seemed carved out of stone. His black hair cascaded like a waterfall, flowing in the air without any wind blowing.
This brawny man looked to be in his 30s. Two long crimson swords hovered in front of him like coagulated blood, emanating a terrible aura. His squarish face was angular, and his eyes were as keen as lightning.
There were more than a dozen bodies lying in front of him, all dead Demon Clan experts.
Not far from him stood a Demon Clan expert with a wolf head and a human body.
The hair on the Wolf Demon’s head stood on end like steel needles, glittering darkly. His lupine eyes were as red as two pools of blood, with bloodily ripped flesh and bleached bones still dangling around the twirling cold aura, gleaming sharply. His wolfish claws were clutching the torn arm of a Human Clan expert, as blood dripped to the ground.
In front of the Wolf Demon lay the bodies of 30 to 40 Human Clan experts. They were all mangled like shredded scarecrows.
The Wolf Demon looked fierce and mighty. He looked up at Ding Hao and Tianshu. His eyes, which were like pools of blood, had a savage and provocative expression in them. He stuffed the bloodily ripped arm into his mouth, and started chewing and swallowing it.
The experts of the Human and Demon Clans on the 95th story surrounded the squarish-faced man and the Wolf Demon. Fear was in their eyes, but they were unwilling to retreat.
“What are these experts doing?”
Ding Hao wondered in his heart.
At this moment…
“I’ve already come this far, so how can I retreat? As a warrior, even if I have to die, I must resolutely go on in spite of the dangers. I must climb to the next level of this celestial tower. Black Wolf Demon Emperor, please permit me, Xiang Tianwen, to challenge you to a fight.”
Someone shouted.
A burly Human Clan expert stepped out from the crowd, wielding two huge war hammers twirling in purple light. They quaked the void like two mountains, smas.h.i.+ng toward the Black Wolf Demon Emperor, who was chewing the ripped arm of the dead Human expert.
The purple war hammers were obviously extraordinary Precious Weapons. They glowed with a purple mist, sealing off the surrounding s.p.a.ce.
“Hahaha… I have fresh food again!” The Black Wolf Demon Emperor gave off shrill creepy shrieks of laughter, wiping blood off the corner of his mouth. His eyes, which resembled pools of blood, were savage. He did not take Xiang Tianwen’s twin hammers seriously at all.
Seeing his twin hammers about to hit the Wolf Demon, a flicker of joy flashed across Xiang Tianwen’s eyes.
At this moment…
“Roar!”
The Black Wolf Demon Emperor raised his head and let out a fierce bellow. Then, his figure suddenly disappeared.
The next moment when he reappeared, he was already in front of Xiang Tianwen. His lupine claw struck out like lightning, like a fire tong clamping a tender piece of tofu, instantly penetrating Xiang Tianwen’s chest…
His lupine claw penetrated through Xiang Tianwen, his junior. A red-hot, throbbing heart appeared in it, steaming with heat.
“A Human heart is surely the most delicious tonic in the world. Hee hee hee!” The Black Wolf Demon Emperor guffawed grotesquely, retracted his sharp claw, and stuffed that throbbing heart into his mouth, chewing it.
Blood spurted out from the corner of his mouth.
Xiang Tianwen collapsed limply to the ground.
A glimmer flashed across Ding Hao’s eyes. The Black Wolf Demon Emperor was indeed extremely cruel and sinister. His black demonic power had spread, instantly destroying Xiang Tianwen’s soul and consciousness. Had it not been for that, this Martial Emperor expert might still be alive, since only his heart had been shattered.
The Black Wolf Demon Emperor laughed out loudly and provocatively.
He lifted his leg and kicked Xiang Tianwen’s body into the pile of ripped limbs behind. Looking at the other Human experts around him, he said with a grim, provocative smirk, “What an awesome feeling! It’s been a long time since I’ve killed miserable Humans. The flesh of a Human warrior contains infinite energy, and is as good a tonic as magical elixirs and precious herbs. Haha!”
The surrounding Human Clan experts were all filled with anger.
Yet for a moment, no one dared to make a move.
Among the experts of the Demon Clan, a Great Demon with a wolf head and a human body stepped out, walking toward the burly square-faced, black-haired man. He laughed. “According to the rules laid down by our absolute masters, if I defeat you, Lu Tianhua, or manage to take ten strikes from you, I have the right to go up to the 96th level. But what if I kill you?”
“You can try.” The black-haired, square-faced Human expert, Lu Tianhua, sneered.
“Hahaha, alright then. let me challenge your Blood-coagulating Twin Swords.” The wolf-headed Great Demon snickered. Steel needle-like black hairs kept sprouting from his body. He was turning into a giant wolf. An invisible, brutally violent aura emanated from him.
“Come here, pup. Let me cut off your canine head, and let those ignorant little Demons know they have to pay a price for killing us Humans.” Murderous malice appeared between Lu Tianhua’s eyebrows.
He stabbed out two fingers, adopting a sword stance.
The two blood-red long swords, hovering in front of him, started to buzz and gleam brightly.
The Human Clan crowd immediately cheered, in support of the man.
Beside him, a cold glimmer flashed across the Black Demon Wolf Emperor’s eyes, which resembled pools of blood.
Lu Tianhua’s words were obviously meant for him. That was because that Wolf Demon who attacked the Human Clan’s gatekeeper was also an expert of the Black Wolf Demons.
By now, Ding Hao had quite understood.
From the looks of things, Lu Tianhua and the Black Wolf Demon Emperor must be gatekeepers of this celestial tower’s 96th level. A Human Clan expert must be able to take ten strikes from the Black Demon Wolf Emperor before he could climb to the next floor via the spiral staircase. Likewise, the Demon Clan experts had to challenge that brawny black-haired man, Lu Tianhua.
This must be what those absolute masters from the two clans had agreed upon, after ascending the tower.
Why did they make such a rule?
Did they want some experts to retreat from this tower?
Looking at the bodies lying on the floor, one could see there had been countless brutal duels. There were already 40 to 50 Martial Emperor experts slain on the ground.
While Ding Hao was pondering, the duel opposite him came to an end.
Lu Tianhua’s Blood-coagulating Twin Swords were indeed powerful. The swords gleamed with a blood-crimson light, flickering indistinctly. They completely suppressed his opponent, leaving two deep blood marks on that Demon Royal of the Black Wolf Demons, and almost hacked off one of his lupine claws.
But in the end, the Wolf Demon still managed to take ten strikes from Lu Tianhua, and was qualified to go up to the 96th level.
“Haha, Lu Tianhua, I know that you would like to kill me. You want to avenge your slain friends and fellow Humans. But what a pity, you aren’t strong enough…” The Black Wolf Demon started to guffaw.
Lu Tianhua remained silent.
Under his cascading black hair, his eyes glimmered. He was clearly trying his best to suppress his murderous thoughts.
“Hahaha, great, just great.” In the distance, the Black Wolf Demon Emperor could not stop laughing either. He casually grabbed the body of a Human expert he had just slain, now lying behind him in a pool of blood, and hurled it over. “Cousin, don’t waste your time here. Heal your wounds now, and go up to the 96th floor right away.”
The Black Wolf Demon received the corpse with a hearty laugh. He started devouring the body as blood spurted out. Then, he circulated his Demon Power inside his meridians to refine the essence of the corpse. His wounds closed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The surrounding Human experts were all fuming, gritting their teeth in anger.
However, the strength of the Black Wolf Demon Emperor was truly brutal and powerful. So many Human experts had died in his hands, and not one of the Humans present was confident that he could defeat him.
“Haha, thank you, cousin.” The Black Wolf Demon saluted the Black Wolf Demon Emperor with cupped hands, thanking him. He threw the Human experts around him a provocative look, before turning toward the spiral staircase leading to the 96th floor.
At this moment…
“Wait.”
A voice rang out from behind.
The crowd heard the voice and looked in its direction. Ding Hao, who was clad in a black iron armor, stepped out slowly and walked toward the Black Wolf Demon Emperor.
“Boy, how dare you challenge me!” The Black Wolf Demon Emperor fixed his eyes on Ding Hao.
“Challenge you?” A disdainful smile curled up on Ding Hao’s lips. “I’m only here to kill two dogs.”
“Woof, woof, woof!” The black puppy in the distance barked unhappily. If it were Uncle Tianshu saying that, it would have rushed up and bitten him on the ankle.
“Uh… Well, I’m here to kill two wolf pups.” Ding Hao rephrased his insult to make it more precise.
Only then was the black puppy somewhat appeased.
“You reckless fella, I’m going to tear you into pieces.” The Black Wolf Demon Emperor was peeved by this, hopping mad.
His bizarrely diabolical eyes, which were like pools of blood, glimmered with a savage light. An aura reeking of blood stench spewed out from his mouth full of fangs. A cruel snicker appeared on his lips.
At this moment, the eyes of all the Human experts were focused on Ding Hao.
Could this man be an absolute master of the Human Clan?
“Great. Someone can finally deal with this savage Wolf Demon.”
But very soon, quite a few were disappointed.
They did not sense from Ding Hao the powerful fluctuations of an absolute master. On the contrary, they could clearly feel his Qi power almost completely suppressed into his Dantian, unable to circulate in his meridians at all.
Moreover, Ding Hao’s crude black iron armor had cracked in a few places, showing that he was a warrior of inferior status. A true master would have less vulgar taste, nor would he choose a piece of armor that would only appeal to second or third-rate mercenaries.
Ding Hao’s burly two-meter-tall build gave many Human Clan experts the initial impression that he only all brawn.
Only his body was well developed. He lacked both the brains and talent.
How could such a man defeat the Black Wolf Demon Emperor?
“He’s courting his own death, isn’t he?
“Hasn’t the Human Clan suffered enough humiliation?”
Well, it was certainly true that the ignorant were fearless.