Chapter 260 - Escape
With a pu sound, the shining broken sword stabbed into the chest of a sea clan noble lord. With a violent shake of the sword, he was dismembered, dying instantly.
Driven by a crazed blood-lust, Shi Hao was covered by blood as he fought his way around. He went into a killing spree. Precious techniques burned furiously and the broken sword shone resplendently as it struck and swept, causing large amounts of blood to splash everywhere.
He fought like a demonic god, summoning all kinds of bone texts and precious techniques. Bodies piled up all around him, and the blood of various creatures splattered high into the air before landing onto his body, turning him into a blood-covered figure.
Of course, Shi Hao had already been badly injured himself. He could not hold on much longer if he kept fighting like this.
Suddenly, Mo Shang went crazy, and Han Tian also charged again. Several supreme experts also summoned their formation array, planning for their final attack. Shi Hao immediately sank into a predicament.
The pure-blooded creatures of the Archaic divine mountain made their moves, charging forward together. The old ancestors of large sects and others also started to attack him. Interweaving symbols filled the entire sky.
Shi Hao was struggling to cope with the attacks. This time, he was sent flying into mid-air by the blast. He suffered many injuries, because it was too difficult to completely defend himself.
Moreover, right at that moment, he felt an aggressive aura lashing towards him. It came from mid-air and made his scalp tighten. Even his entire skull began to ache severely.
He immediately looked up, finding a pair of jet black and awe-inspiring iron claws before his eyes. They were extremely sharp and shone with a piercingly cold light, looking very threatening.
“Duo!”
Shi Hao made a soft shout and sprayed out rays of divine light from his mouth. They smashed into the claws, creating metallic sounds and sending sparkles flying everywhere. Fortunately, the claws were fended off and did not catch Shi Hao.
The claws belonged to a giant bird. Its entire body was jet black and it had eyes like blood-red moons. The bird was several hundred zhang long. As it circled high up in the sky, symbols flowed around it, sending off an incomparably powerful aura.
“It’s the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow!”
Shi Hao clenched his teeth. He was worried as well as enraged. This vicious bird was brutal and terrifying. It had slaughtered a land as wide as a hundred thousand li, and had also attacked the Heaven Mending Pavilion. It was directly responsible for the fall of that pure land.
“Kill!”
He roared and no longer care about anything else. Controlling his treasured artifacts, he flew up and charged at the vicious bird, desiring to fight to the death with it.
On any ordinary day, he definitely would be no match for this vicious bird. However, this was not a normal place and he had nothing to fear. He could tell from the transformed body of the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow, that it was far from its best state.
Back then, the devil bird had wings that could spread for tens of thousands li and cover the entire sky. Its symbols would pile up and pour down like torrents with unstoppable ferocity.
Now that its body was only several hundred zhang in length, Shi Hao felt strong enough to put up a fight.
From the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow’s perspective, Shi Hao was a talented youth who was holding the precious techniques passed down by Kun Peng, so he was its killing target. At the same time, it recognized the broken sword that it detested bitterly, so the bird was determined to kill the youth.
In reality, it was so superior that it wouldn’t have cared at all about a cultivator at Shi Hao’s level. As a result, it had no idea that Shi Hao’s hatred for it was even thicker.
Shi Hao flew high into the sky using his treasured artifacts and caught up with the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow. He took up the sword and struck at the bird.
The broken sword shone brightly, smashing into the boundless black feathers. With dangdang sounds, patches of feathers were cut down, swirling and drifting in the sky.
The Heaven Swallowing Sparrow was infuriated. It circled around and dove down towards Shi Hao. Black flames spurted out of its beak, threatening to burn down the sky.
At the same time, the crowd swarmed around Shi Hao and closed in on him, leaving him with no chance to escape. They rushed forward and attacked at once.
However, Shi Hao focussed his attention unshakably on the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow. Even if he was going suffer injuries, he was still going to risk his life fighting this devil bird. Blood splashed everywhere as the two fought intensely.
Peng!
Finally, he made his way onto the devil bird’s back. Wounds were covering his body, and they were worsening by the second. With the broken sword in hand, he stabbed at the hundred zhang tall demonic sparrow’s body.
With a hong sound, the unrivalled blade radiance pierced through the formidable black feathers, sinking deep into its body. The Heaven Swallowing Sparrow cried angrily and flapped its wings to fly higher up. It was shaking violently, trying to throw Shi Hao off.
The black light rose rapidly, and the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow shrunk at a tremendous speed. It turned into human form and fell into the crowd on the altar. Blood was spilling out from the injury it received on its back, forcing him down from the skies. Such a thing was normally unimaginable for a superior creature like itself.
The bird, however, never expected Shi Hao’s hatred for it to be so deep. He charged at it with such ferocity that it almost seemed as if he didn’t care about his own life.
The devilish brat went mad after seeing it, as if he had forgotten about everything else. Covered in blood, he dashed at the bird again.
Even the onlookers had realized that it was a battle of life and death. The two seemed to be closely stuck to each other, and those who dared to stand in Shi Hao’s way would end up in misery. The crowd relaxed a little bit, because this was a breather that was hard to come by. As a result, the sparrow ended up in a miserable state. It could not hide in the crowd even after transforming into a human form. Shi Hao had gone crazy, attacking it with everything he had.
At this moment, blood flew everywhere and precious techniques were used. Both parties had gone mad with bloodshot eyes, trying to kill the other as soon as possible. The Heaven Swallowing Sparrow turned into a black-clad middle-aged man. He seemed extremely robust and powerful. Holding magical artifacts in his hands, the man fought intensely against Shi Hao.
Pu.
Finally, with a slash of the broken sword, the middle-aged man cried out. One of his arms had been chopped off. Its eyes were full of anger and resentment.
Back then, the sparrow had almost been cut in half by ghost grandpa. Had the ghost grandpa not been in a terrible condition, it would have been killed. Who would know that several years later, it ran into this broken sword again and was injured a second time? Moreover, the opponent this time was a mere youth at the Spirit Transformation level. How could it swallow its anger?
However, it didn’t matter how angry the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow was. Shi Hao did not give up and continuously attacked it with everything he had. In the end, with a slash from the sword, he was sliced in half at the waist. Blood began to spill all over the ground.
“You… No!”
The Heaven Swallowing Sparrow cried out loudly, feeling like it had been too unlucky. It was the supreme expert of its region, commanding over the great wastelands and ruling everything under the skies. However, its spirit body was about to fall here.
He was not the only supreme expert here, but the devilish brat targeted only him, not attacking anyone else. It was absolutely furious, but there was nothing it could do.
Did this mean that it would miss the opportunity of obtaining the Kun Peng precious techniques? It was unwilling to accept this, and continuously roared.
“Go to hell!” Kicking away its lower half with one foot, Shi Hao stepped onto its chest with the other foot and looked down at it.
The Heaven Swallowing Sparrow was dumbfounded at first, but it soon erupted with fury. The experience of being sliced in half from the waist and then trodden on was unimaginable. This was worse than a public decapitation!
Who were we talking about here? Its vicious name was known throughout the great wastelands, and it could overpower all the experts under the heavens within its region. When its name was mentioned, who wouldn’t feel frightened? This was the the unrivalled Heaven Swallowing Sparrow!
However, it was now lying under the heel of a youth. Such shame and humiliation was inconceivable for a creature like itself.
In fact, it had never experienced something like this since birth. It had grown up ruling over everyone, never seeing such supreme youths in its childhood.
Yet now, it was tasting both frustration and shame.
“You…” It spat out a mouthful of blood and bellowed.
Shi Hao did not have time to waste, because the crowd was still attacking him. The sword struck down at once, decapitating the sparrow with a pu sound.
Filled with resentment and fury, the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow turned into a shower of light before disappearing. Its spirit body was destroyed.
At the same time, at the end of the sea, a giant black bird erupted with violent fury. The bird blotted out the sky and covered the sun as its body swept across the firmament. One could not tell its size as it soared within the sky.
“After killing my spirit body, I will not let you off as long as I still have a breath in me!” This was the original body of the Heaven Swallowing Sparrow, and it was extremely angry. At this moment, it was not aware that it died at the hands of a youth, and thought that a supreme expert had killed it.
Waves undulated in the sea as an old grey Flood Dragon emerged from the water. Its endless body spread li after li, appearing extremely terrifying. The part above the sea surface alone was larger than a boundless mountain.
Meanwhile, mighty beings were appearing from all directions. A Bi’an stood tall in the sky and was shining brightly, resembling a deity worshipped by ancestors of the archaic time.
The outer regions of the restricted seas were no longer peaceful. Supreme experts had arrived from various regions to await the results. They called back their spirit bodies, which was of course to intercept anyone who received any real gains from this place.
They dared not enter in their original form. If they died inside, that would truly not be worthwhile.
No one was willing to give up, however. Beings as mighty as them all went crazy after hearing about the discovery of the precious technique. This was a supreme technique that could even tempt deities!
At this moment, even the relatively reserved grandfather of Yun Xi, the purple-clothed teenage girl of Heavenly Mountain had arrived, let alone the others.
Supreme experts of Southern Meteoric Divine Mountain, Mount Yi and Demonic Spirit Lake had all arrived. The mightiest beings of the Great Wasteland had all arrived to wait for the result, hoping their spirit bodies and descendants would obtain something in there.
These people could all command regions within the Great Wasteland and rule over endless lands. They had gathered here, waiting silently for the final result.
There were some who believed that there were supreme experts that entered in their original forms, but in reality, all of them were waiting outside.
Currently, the atmosphere within the northern sea was extremely tense. The creatures from all different clans were all deadly silent, not daring to reveal their presence. The sea area was incredibly terrifying, and waves of pressure were spreading in all directions.
The truly great event was about to happen!
If the Kun Peng precious techniques did show up, these people would fight until the heaven and earth were destroyed. Had the archaic deities still lived, they would definitely descend to this place and fight for such a treasure!
A violent storm was brewing. The atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense!
Needless to say, the North Sea would become chaotic, and the nine heavens would even be breached. The scene of a war among the mightiest experts would be apocalyptic.
At this moment, the battle was still going on inside the Kun Peng cavern. Atop that altar, Shi Hao’s body was in tatters. As powerful as he was, after going through so many bloody battles, he was on the verge of collapsing.
He sighed inwardly. Was he really going to flee for his life using the bone pagoda? However, he truly wasn’t willing! This was a one-time life saving opportunity. Wasting it like this was would be too much of a pity. He still wanted to make his way out on his own.
In reality, the crowd was even more reluctant to continue fighting. They were terrified by the might of this incredible youth. As he weaved in and out, countless creatures had died at his hand.
From among the supreme experts, four or five had already be hacked to death, dying miserably here.
If these news got out, the Great Wastelands would surely be thrown into absolute disorder. This was truly young supreme youth, and his fame was going to resound through the vast lands.
“No, something weird is going on.” Right when Shi Hao was about to use the little pagoda in his hair, he felt something peculiar.
He was still hesitating and making his last effort. With the Kun Peng’s primordial symboled bone in hand, he summoned the symbols only he was able to see previously from walking down the Kun Peng’s path.
Even though he could not understand it, he imitated and activated it within his palm. He poured them into the bone to see if anything miraculous would happen.
He felt that some kind of miraculous divine might might happen. After all, the item left behind by the Kun Peng was definitely not ordinary, so it must have some deeply profound meanings hidden inside.
Soon after, he became stupefied. The bone produced a paragraph of text that was projected into his mind. The text told him that the precious technique was not flawless, and that what was recorded was merely a third of the complete form.
Shi Hao almost went crazy in that moment. After risking his own life and nearly getting himself killed here, it was now telling him that the precious technique was incomplete? He truly felt rather unreconciled!
A wave of frustration filled his heart. One-third of the precious technique might still allow him to shake everything under the heavens and sweep through the Great Wastelands, but it was still fell short of his expectations.
Just as he was being distracted, magical artifacts summoned by several supreme experts arrived and smashed onto his chest. With a kacha sound, the devilish brat received several injuries in succession, and even his bones were broken.
Those were extremely powerful magical artifacts from the archaic era. It was already quite amazing that he wasn’t smashed into pieces on the spot. This was due to his strong physical body.
Chi!
A spear was flew at him, almost piercing through his body. Blood splashed outwards, and Shi Hao cried aloud as he stumbled backwards. He sank into a desperate state.
Frantic attacks came from all sides as the powerful individuals all attacked him.
Shi Hao’s eyes flashed with coldness as he quickly fended off these attacks. He was frustrated and unwilling. Using all of his effort, he operated the symbols in his palm. Why was there only a third of the legacy?
Hong!
Right at that time, the Kun Peng bone in his hand lit up. The center of the altar exploded, and it turned out that this was where the precious bone was being displayed.
With several wenglong sounds, rivers of stars appeared and surrounded the entire altar. Spiritual and divine aura filled the place, astonishing everyone.
Giant majestic-looking stars circled around, as if a stellar sky had descended and emerged above the altar. The crowd felt they were brought into the cosmos.
At the same time, a black cave appeared at the place where the altar used to be. The words ‘Devil Refining’ was inscripted at the entrance of the cave. Gruesome wuwu sounds came out of the cave.
“It’s… the Devil Refining Cave of the Kun Peng! Heavenly ranked vicious beasts and archaic deities caught by Kun Peng were all thrown into the cave and suppressed to death!” The crowd shuddered.
They did not expect to see the legendary devil cave here. All of them became horrified.
The cave was pitch-dark and unusual roars were coming out from it. It was as they had travelled through time and space from the archaic ages.
Compared to the glistening star river above, it looked like a black hole connecting to hellish abyss, creating a stark contrast.
“Let’s deal with it later. Kill him first!” The crowd charged forward again to attack Shi Hao.
A group of people rushed over to suppress Shi Hao. This time, it seemed like he could no longer fend them off and was smashed away. Blood gushed out of his mouth, and he lost hold of the Kun Peng bone, which split into six pieces and fell into different directions.
The agitated crowd rushed forward in a frenzy.
Shi Hao seemed seemed to be in a extremely weak state. He could not stand still and kept stumbling backwards.
“You should go down there!” The spirit body of the Elder Flood Dragon appeared. His palm struck over, and at the same time, there were a few other old characters and supreme experts that took action. They summoned their symbols and smashed Shi Hao down into the Devil Refining Cave.
Many sighed. The supreme youth was finally taken out. This was truly not an easy accomplishment. How many people did he single-handedly kill? Even supreme experts had become corpses at his hand.
“Haha, we finally killed him!” Someone released a carefree laugh. That youth was absolutely dreadful. If they let him reached adulthood, few would be able to restrain him then.
Even the supreme experts sighed with relief. Had the supreme youth managed to rise to greatness, even they themselves would have to bow before him. To let him die like this was the best situation.
Killing the supreme youth had lifted a heavy load from the minds of many sect ancestors and supreme experts. The youth had given them so much pressure and was exceedingly terrifying.
Some felt sorry that such a talented youth had blossomed so briefly. He had only started to shine before being exterminated.
Yun Xi, the purple-clothed girl, sighed as well. The savage kid was truly rather frightening, possessing an incomparable talent in cultivation, yet he had died at such an early age.
The crowd on the altar was only emotional for a while before they threw themselves into the great battle again. The place was boiling as the crowd fought and ravened crazily over the six pieces of Kun Peng bone.
Inside the Devil Refining Cave, Shi Hao was still falling. Wind whistling by his ears. He was not angrily at all. Instead, a smile even appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He did not fall down because he was drained of strength. He could fly back there if he really wanted to. The reason for his fall was because he had seen through the secret of the Kun Peng bone and purposely allowed the attacks of the others to send him down.
“You guys can fight all you want. Better still, fight until the heaven and earth are destroyed and the supreme experts from divine mountains even come. I’m finally free.” Wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, the devilish brat smiled happily.