Chapter 749: Power and Influence (2)
As a Void Underworld Heavenly Devil with the best survival ability, Lu Sheng had no qualms when he learned that the Green Branch Sect gave him a territory that belonged to the frontlines. Perhaps it would be more apt to say that he insisted on having the frontlines.
With his Qianshen Undead Body Capacity, there would never be a chance of killing him, unless his opponent overpowered him, bound him, and killed him continuously thousands of times over.
A fortnight later.
In Green Mountain Planet’s imperial capital, Yunhe City.
Lu Sheng wore his clean white robes while holding an emerald staff in hand as he strolled along a bright and long suspended tunnel.
Two of the most powerful cultivators in the galaxy followed behind him at a respectful distance.
The tunnel was lined with war puppet guards in full silver armor at intervals. The ceiling and the floor flickered with rows of mighty security runes.
“The Mother of Pain’s frontline forces have been acting strange lately. They had retreated slightly out of fear before this, but now, they’re back in shape already…” The planet king Ouyang Ling was one of the two most powerful experts. He was reporting to Lu Sheng in a low voice at the moment.
“No matter,” replied Lu Sheng drily. He walked slowly on. Before he knew it, he was already at the part of the tunnel where the ceiling opened to the skies.
This open segment had no walls or ceiling. Only the floor beneath their feet continued on.
Lu Sheng slowed to a stop. He peered over the edge.
The pathway was built at an alt.i.tude of several thousand meters. Lu Sheng looked down from where he stood.
The snow-white clouds billowed. The sun poked out with some difficulty in the distance. The skies were azure, and a cold wind was blowing.
Their robes flapped in the wind.
“My orders were to gather the greatest experts. Are they ready yet?” Lu Sheng asked.
“Taoist Lord, including the Green Mountain Planet, we’ve gathered 61 Weapon Grandmasters from three planets. Three of them are of the Confusion Realm tier. That’s all the forces we could gather,” Ouyang Ling reported swiftly.
“61 Weapon Grandmasters…” Lu Sheng muttered to himself. This was the collective strength of three major planets. He was slightly filled with emotion. He had once looked up to the Weapon Grandmasters, but currently, they were but replaceable p.a.w.ns to him.
He gathered the experts with the wishes of gaining some results for the Green Branch Sect as soon as he could to display his own capabilities.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to justify himself after gaining three planets without anything to show for it.
“Have everyone gather at Shenhui Planet tomorrow. Wait for me at the frontline base. I’ll be there in time,” Lu Sheng ordered after giving it some thought.
Although he had no military authority, the others were smart enough to understand. The moment the Green Branch Sect sent Lu Sheng over to take the helm, the three planets, Green Mountain Planet included, were as good as his.
“As you wish.”
The two of them hastily acknowledged the order.
Lu Sheng said no more. He merely looked at the sea of clouds in the distance. He felt neither joy nor sadness.
***
The Yellow Springs Planet Galaxy. Dark Prison Planet.
Dark Prison Planet was situated at the back of the Yellow Springs Galaxy. At the same time, it was one of the Mother of Pain’s five major bases where troops were stationed. Also, it was where the Devil Art Masters and Mirror Spirit Masters replenished their Pain Origin Qi.
For the Devil Art Masters and the Mirror Spirit Masters, Pain Origin Qi was the fundamental power they relied upon for survival and to fight.
This Origin Qi could negate most Capacities and arts. It could also provide them with an extremely formidable stock of energy and maintain the regenerative capabilities of the Black Membrane.
The only drawback was that the Pain Origin Qi only existed in the World of Pain, which was only found in the Yellow Springs Galaxy.
Like the other bases, there was a walkway extending out of the Dark Prison Planet’s surface.
The walkway resembled a tower with a tip that was connected to a peculiar ma.s.s of flesh that looked like an octopus.
The ma.s.s of flesh had countless thick tendrils which flailed blindly at its surroundings.
The person in charge of this base was one of the Devil Art Master lords, Artha. He was frowning at the Mirror Spirit Master Kong Sha before him.
“I reject your request for reinforcements.”
“Why?! Uncle, this isn’t my fault! That’s a Void Underworld being! No matter who you send there, the outcome will be the same!” Kong Sha complained with contempt.
“Being unlucky is also a sin,” said Artha.
“I can’t bypa.s.s the other lords in the matter of deploying troops, but—”
“Bam!”
Suddenly, a faint cras.h.i.+ng sound reached them as it bounced along the walls.
Artha paused mid-sentence. He narrowed his eyes.
“Someone dares invade this place?”
***
On the left side of the octopus ma.s.s of flesh, two figures hovered calmly before a hole the size of a man.
The two of them wore white robes with the Green Branch Sect’s clover emblem. One of them wore a jade crown and had a muscular build. Even the baggy white robes could not hide the sense of power he exuded.
These two were Lu Sheng and Ouyang Ling. They had slipped past the enemy’s defensive lines.
Ever since Lu Sheng joined the battle in the nick of time and saved Ouyang Ling, he had submitted himself willingly. He was the first planet king who actually handed over his military authority to Lu Sheng.
“Is this the largest soldier base on the frontlines?” Lu Sheng stepped slowly into the opening. His feet felt the soft fleshy floor.
“Yes, Taoist Lord. This is the supply point the Mother of Pain set up here. Eggs of Pain would be sent out from here at fixed intervals. The various experts gathered from the other planets and the World of Pain would be hatched from these Eggs of Pain. However, they would be under the control of some binding contract, and can only serve the Mother of Pain. Also, we’re running out of time. According to our data, we only have a 15-minute-long window…” Ouyang Ling explained swiftly.
“That’s enough,” Lu Sheng cut him short.
He strode further into the ma.s.s from the opening. He was faced with a fork in the pa.s.sage to the left and right. Lu Sheng raised a hand without even changing his expression.
“Boom!”
A pillar of faint yellow light penetrated the wall of flesh before them in the blink of an eye. It bore through the wall and created a third pathway between the two pre-existing ones.
“Let’s go.” Lu Sheng walked forward slowly.
“Die!” Suddenly, several specters shot out from the wall of flesh on the right. These specters wielded curved blades which burned with black flames. They bore down on Lu Sheng with red eyes.
“Boom!”
Lu Sheng raised a hand, and the specters which met his palm reeled. They rammed into the wall as if they were being tackled by some heavy object. They stuck to the wall. Their bones and flesh were crushed to a mush.
Lu Sheng extended his arm again and unleashed another skill. The flaming blades in the specters’ hands flew toward his palm.
“Half-complete Divine Weapons and Devil Blades…” Lu Sheng could tell what these weapons were with a single glance.
Half-complete weapons were of no use to him. They were the latest models at that. He tossed the curved blades aside and continued forward.
“Hiss!”
Black fleshy tendrils suddenly sprang from the walls and floor before them. The tendrils, which were as thick as a person’s wrist, had countless boils and suction pads. They were covered in a kind of dirty spiritual light as they crashed toward Lu Sheng.
However, the tendrils barely made it to one meter from Lu Sheng when they immediately melted away into sticky goo which dropped to the floor and vanished.
Several other tendrils attempted to skirt around Lu Sheng to attack Ouyang Ling behind him, but they were unsuccessful.
They melted when they got near. Ouyang Ling was still frightened by them.
Lu Sheng continued along the pathway he created at a casual pace. They soon reached a wide main pathway.
Shortly after, footsteps could be heard. A group of cultivators in red armor hurried over from the left.
When the group of cultivators saw Lu Sheng, they quickly produced their strange weapons from their own pouches.
“Kill him! You dare trespa.s.s into the Nest of Pain!?”
When the red-armored cultivators saw the two of them, they glowed red. Gray Pain Origin Qi flowed out from the slits of their armor, and they charged toward them.
Lu Sheng merely walked toward them.
He raised his left arm.
“Boom!’
A terrifying contorting force field erupted between them.
The red light was torn to shreds. Gray Origin Qi was instantly swept away. The flesh and blood splattered onto the floor, forming thick layers.
Ouyang Ling swallowed. The enemy cultivators who had been roaring at them seconds ago were now reduced to a carpet of flesh under his feet.
Although he was a veteran on the battlefield, when he saw this cruel scene, he could not help but find it hard to accept.
Lu Sheng was expressionless as he continued striding forward.
Several waves of red-armored cultivators charged toward them along the way. However, Lu Sheng clapped his hands, and they exploded into blood and flesh. In the face of this terrible force field, not even their powerful regenerative powers could put up a fight.
The two of them went deeper into enemy territory. They soon reached the true core of the ball of flesh.
“Are these the Eggs of Pain?” This was also Ouyang Ling’s first time setting eyes upon these things.
On the walls of flesh above them, countless black eggs were jammed.
The black eggs wriggled and jerked. It was as if they would hatch at any moment.
Lu Sheng appeared calm as he shone with yellow light.
“Pooh, pooh, pooh…”
In the blink of an eye, the densely packed Eggs of Pain erupted into dark yellow goo which stuck on the walls.
“Intruder! Die!” At the end of the pathway, a burly skeleton with blue flames for eyes slowly rose from its seat.
It wore a pitch-black armor and a helmet with bull’s horns on its skull. It brandished a twisted black blade which wailed as it sailed through the air.
“It’s at the Confusion Realm tier!” Ouyang Ling’s expression changed. “Look out for its undead body!”
“Boom!”
His voice barely faded when Lu Sheng narrowed his pupils. A formless distortion force field expanded around the skeleton.
The skeleton exploded into bone fragments that scattered everywhere.
Even so, the fragments quickly collected themselves and reformed the skeleton’s figure in no time.
“I—”
“Boom!”
There was another explosion. The newly formed skeleton exploded again. Where it stood, the s.p.a.ce was distorted for a moment before returning to normal.
The skeleton’s soul vanished. The bone fragments immediately fell to the floor. They no longer showed any signs of regeneration.
“T-this…!” Ouyang Ling had witnessed the other Void Underworld deputy sect masters deal with the undead bodies of Confusion Realm beings before. However, he had never seen someone kill a Confusion Realm expert this easily before.
“Let’s go.”
Without waiting for him to respond, Lu Sheng had already walked away.
Ouyang Ling collected his thoughts and quickly caught up.