Chapter 423 - Strength (Patreon)

Yang’s devastating spray of light was interrupted by the huge creature flying towards him. He rapidly shifted his energy from his attack to his evasion, stressing his meridians from the violent change and injuring himself in the process. The Law of Light didn’t allow someone to make devastatingly fast charges like the Law of Lightning or fly with the speed of a hurricane like the Law of Wind. Instead, once the required energy was gathered, the user would move to a new position with such instant acceleration and high speed it was nearly impossible to control. Such high speed was basically a teleport, but it took a very large amount of energy. 

Yang stressed his body to instantly activate his high speed movement technique, but it still wasn’t quite fast enough. A giant fist smashed against his back just as he disappeared into a flash of light. From the perspective of those watching the fight, a ten foot tall figure jumped out of the fog and with one fist knocked Yang away so fast he turned into a beam of light. A few hundred feet away, the injured man appeared again, tumbling through the air and falling down towards the ground. There was a loud thud as he smashed against the bare dirt. He’d fallen into an area of the heavy fog that wasn’t dispersed, and by the time he regained his senses and launched himself back up into the air it was too late. It felt like he’d just fallen into a jungle, the sudden extreme humidity causing him to instantly break into a sweat. Even as he cleared the fog, the feeling stayed with him. Almost instantly he was drenched in sweat.

Yin was worried for her brother, looking over to check his condition while she maintained the ropes and tendrils of darkness that trapped the giant snake like a web. That moment of distraction was all that Sage needed, opening his mouth and releasing a torrent of white flames, spilling them onto the ground beneath himself. The power of the Heavenly Flame, First Light, combined with the Divine Breath technique. The First Light was the bane of all things dark and evil, the first ray of dawn’s light that could chase away the night. Yin let out a scream, the white flames being such a bane to her Law of Darkness that it not only destroyed the web, but it also caused her pain. 

The white flames increased the smell of burning flesh, Sage choosing to injure himself in order to free himself from confinement with the greatest speed. A yellow glow rose up around his body and the ground separated in front of him. The giant cobra diving its head directly into the hole and quickly disappearing from sight once more. By the time Yin and Yang recovered from the attacks, the cobra was gone once more and they found themselves facing off against a crystalline knight. Standing at ten feet tall, the figure was wearing a suit of armor that had the distinctive look of Blue Icesilver. It looked like cloudy blue ice from head on, yet the edges and angles had the reflective shine of silver. With a closer inspection, they saw that familiar inky black fluid between the gaps in its armor and they immediately looked around for others. 

“I don’t sense any others, this must be the other twelve combined. Are you poisoned, Brother?”

Yin was direct in her observation and question, to which Yang nodded and then looked down at his hand. It had been shaking from the heavy sweating, but it steadied after a moment and he shook his head, “It only seems to work while you stay inside it.”

They both looked down at the armored hulk standing on the ground beneath them. They also realized that the fog they’d dispersed was already recovering, rising to the height of the enemy’s waist after only a few seconds had passed. Then their eyes swept over the rest of the space and they realized that the fog covered the whole extent of the sealed area and unless they could defeat that snake, it was only a matter of time till they would be trapped. Even if they blast the fog away, all they were doing was spreading it around, only when Yang used one of his strongest attacks had they actually destroyed the fog. 

“If we don’t kill that snake, it’s only a matter of time until all of our Disciples fall prey to the fog.”

Yang smashed a fist against the palm of his other hand, “Damnit! Stupid snake is ruining our perfect record. That armored thing hits even harder than the black ones. My Light is not very effective against the earth, so you’d have to dig him out.”

“I don’t think you can hold that thing back long enough for me to find that snake. We’ve already seen how slippery it is, he has some method to hide from Spiritual Sense.”

After a discussion, the two of them retreated back to the Fortress. Zhang Tu tried to plead with them, but they weren’t convinced. Wisps of dark energy were flowing constantly from Yin’s hands and coalescing into a large ball around the unconscious bodies of their weaker Disciples. Finally, the fifty foot tall ball of darkness sprouted eight legs and lifted itself into the air, stepping over the walls of the Fortress with the Yin Yang Twins and their four strongest Disciples standing on the dark spider’s back. Yang was fuming and could barely contain his anger and humiliation, while Yin suddenly called out in a loud voice, “You win! The Black White Army is leaving.”

The dark ball with legs traipsed away, holding its main body above the rapidly growing fog and walking towards the sealed perimeter. There had still been no response from their foe, but they continued moving. When they neared the barrier, Yang started to gather a ball of light in his fist, but before he released it the Million Scale Shell in that area disappeared and the Dragoon’s in front of them moved away, clearing the path. The Black White Army rode their skittering oddity and traveled smoothly away. The Dragoon’s moved back into position after they were a few miles away and the heavy fog stopped growing thicker. 

Inside the Fortress, Zhang Tu had lost all hope, the army of expert’s he’d hired at great cost had abandoned him. After seeing what had happened to Sage, years ago, he’d had his own crisis of faith. In the face of great benefits, even the most loyal could turn on you. So, he decided the only thing trustworthy was money. As long as he paid more than anyone else he’d never be betrayed. The Black White Army had the most pristine reputation of all the Mercenary Teams working for the Black Dog Company. They had never once failed a task, nor had they had any falling outs with any employers, and they had been in business for decades. How was it possible that they could be driven away?

Zhang Tu stood in the center of the Fortresses courtyard and faced the choices he’d made. He’d chosen to assist the conspirators with the mutiny to the highest degree, leading some of the most ferocious and dogged pursuers on the chase through many counties and provinces. His dedication earned him a higher ranking under Wu Chang and he used the resources he was rewarded to finally break through and become a Core Formation Cultivator. He used his Legion to make a fortune which funded his purchase of a secluded Fortress and the Black White Army to guard it while he trained. 

The ground in front of him suddenly split apart and the head of a giant snake slid out, no longer sliced up and burned like it had been. It’s scales once again looked pristinely clean, and Zhang Tu froze in place when its giant eye’s locked with his own.