Chapter 206 - Number Ten
The tension between the Huyans and the Demon’s alliance was worsening, neither side was happy with the other’s proposal.
“Okay! Fine, I’ll hand it over!” Huyan Haoze’s face cringed, unwillingly forced each word out of his mouth. ‘I have to give to earn. Over time, the Drakehead is more valuable than all the treasures put together. I am making the right decision…’
‘I can still explain the situation to the elder’s council, I am not weak…’ Although trying his best to justify his act, Huyan Haoze was aware that he was in denial.
“You two! I require a heavenly oath for my safety!” He looked at the marks in his head then back to the demons and beasts.
“Sure!”
“We will not lay a finger on the Drakehead if you hand over the two sacred marks!” The Skeleton Demon King and the Quadwing Barren Beast made the hand seal and a symbol appeared on the back of each of their right arms.
“Okay. Take them!” Huyan Haoze wrapped the marks with his Qi and threw them over.
‘You idiot!’ Ye Wei thought, stared at the package as it flew across the air.
“It wasn’t that hard now, was it?” The Demon King clenched tight onto the marks and began to laugh hysterically. He turned his head to the side and said. “Wings, you know what to do.”
“Children, stomp this place!” The Quadwing Barren Beast cried with open eyes, his smile revealed his razor-sharp fangs. He had been waiting to give the order since the Demon King came up with the plan.
“What do you mean!?” Huyan Haoze stared at the rampaging pact and screamed. “Stop Them!”
“Kill them if they get in the way.” The beasts’ leader howled as he ordered.
“Drop your wishful thinking and don’t be an idiot.” The Demon King chuckled and said in a ruthless tone. “I didn’t specify who we are and we don’t have fingers, we have paws and claws.”
“By the way, I didn’t say anything thing about not killing you lot either. It’s funny how you humans pride yourselves in intellectual capabilities,” he swiped his fingers, added with a mockery overtone, “Get rid of them before they call for help.”
Huyan Haoze was furious but never nervous, he quickly drew a few complex runes and muttered, “Nice trap, idiot.”
The two marks in the demon’s hand were suddenly turned into two sparks, exploded and expanded to become a thirty-feet-wide fireball, engulfed the Demon King entirely within a second.
“I am too smart to think I am always the smartest, comparing demon intelligence to humans’ is a big mistake.” Huyan Haoze’s penetrating gaze was set on the blazing fire, he quickly covered himself with Qi and rushed in to deliver a devastating palm strike and retrieved the two marks from the stunned demon.
“I will end your life right here and now!” The Skeleton Demon King’s skin was melting and peeling off, the green glow in his eyes shone through the ball of fire as he screamed in agony.
“Bang!”
The demon dispelled the Qi and the flame on his body, lunged towards Huyan Haoze at extreme speed.
The opposing forces engaged into an all-out battle as their leaders fell out. The seven-star returned prime Warrior was able to gain a slight advantaged by the surprise attack, but strength between the Demon King and the Warrior was too vast, so much so that the royal squad had to support their leader instead of fighting with an advantage.
Meanwhile, the large pact of charging beasts had connected, immediately crushed the royal squad’s frontline. The team of human elites were pushed back against the pond, unable to retaliate.
‘Experienced as the Skeleton Demon King!’ Ye Wei could sense that Huyan Haoze had hidden a strange rune in the marks but kept quiet about it. ‘These people will do anything if it leads to what they want…’
‘Wanting is one thing, getting through Helian Jieyuan is another.’ Ye Wei smiled and drew a rune sequence under his feet. His figure faded into a belt of light, glided away from the heavy traffic of charging beasts.
No longer feeling comfortable being close to the pond as the battle intensified, Ye Wei escaped to a hill just ten miles away from the Drakehead.
‘Ha, I almost forgot how fun it is to watch fights. The beasts’ ferocity, the demons’ sharp eyes for weaknesses and the men’s ability to adapt and respond optimally…’ He calmly sat on the peak, learning from the wide variety of fighting styles.
“Howl!”
“Rawr!”
A large pillar of compressed water discharged from the pond when the pact of beasts were a hundred feet from the surface. The pillar exploded as it reached the clouds, waves and bolts of scalding water were shot to all directions, knocking the brawlers back for miles.
As the water strikes landed and evaporated, a golden rod was revealed. The pulsating runes on the rod joined its end, became a disc of energy.
After a muffled rumbled, the energy disc began to ripple and expand, completing a circular shape. The speed of the disc made the wild beasts look slow, its size made them look like a group of harmless critters. The entire group of charging beasts that was heading to the pond was now in a shrinking bubble.
The layer of golden energy was a web made of billions of fine runes, diced through the thick-hided beasts’ like hot wire through lard. They came out of the other side of the bubble eroded, as a mist of fine dust.
The horrific sight paused the brawl momentarily, the leaders of the three groups were all stunned, shaking as they felt and saw the lives of hundreds disappearing right in front of them.
“Rumble!”
Beams of golden light burst out of the calm wobbling pond surface, the runes within the beams rapidly climbed on top of each other,intertwined to knit a three-hundred-feet-tall statue.
“You lot are just rude and annoying! Leave! Or be removed!” Helian Jieyuan’s words physically shook the mountains, the outermost layer of crust was loosened, sprang like waves across a hundred miles radius.
“Bang! Bang!”
The stunned brawlers rained down from the sky, their bodies were covered in blood and bruises; the three leaders were able to resist for an instant but their bodies gave in after a few seconds, they too joined their inferiors, littered the ground and the mountains with small craters.
“That is Helian Jieyuan! The missing Grand Elder!” Huyan Haoze had known that face since he was a child when he visited the Helian’s palaces. He was told the stories behind each statues erected in the main palace. he gasped for air, screamed as his face became paler.
“Let’s go, we are not fighting this fight!” Seeing a legend that had not been seen in public for over a hundred years was as terrifying as seeing a ghost. The young Huyan tore a few healing scrolls, gathered the surviving and ran.
“Damn it!”
The Skeleton Demon King and the Quadwing Barren Beast were completely shocked, they crused as they climbed above ground. They all knew that just a flick of the statue’s finger could exterminate them all at once, escaped before the Grand Elder changed his mind.
“He dealt with all of them with just a howl…” Ye Wei murmured, felt a chill on his spine as he watched the powerful demons and beasts run for their lives. “I will catch up to your level one day.”
‘That’s my main concern dealt with!’ He slowly exhaled, felt grateful for Helian Jieyuan’s intervention.
***
Ye Wei stayed in the bay area for a few more days, after making sure the demons and beasts were gone for good, he began studying his sacred mark and was soon able to get a few clues on the treasure’s whereabouts.
On the sixth morning after the brawl, Ye Wei headed north. Stopped once he discovered the hidden valley where the sun rose and set on its ends. He soon found his way to a well-covered cliff at the bottom of the valley, discovered the opening of a deep and wide cave.
He followed the mark’s instruction, entered without hesitation. A gigantic, completely black structure appeared as he was two hundred meters deep, if it wasn’t for its lukewarm temperature he would have walked right into the gates.
The young Runemaster placed the sacred mark in his hand, then onto the gate.