With a pungent aura that bloated the sky, the dark red shadow swung his arm down, cleaving with a giant red sword as a deep chasm marred the lush and viridian vegetation near the torn entrance of the King's Lair repairing itself.
The chasm led to the development of a corrupted mist as the red mist started to cause rot and decay around. The land grew dry and the soil was poisoned with trees and grass audibly letting out pained shrieks for the first time from their beings before they began to rot at a pace visible to the naked eye and crumbled into dust.
*Ommmm*
A mighty chime reverberated from the sword that could be felt against the chest of every living being in the forest. A sense of devastating despair erupted from everyone without any reason as if the sword harbored nothing but destructive intentions for the forest in its entirety.
Wild killing intent overflowed from the wielder AND the sword as the man wrapped in a bloody red armor sliced forward with the sword once again, accurately cutting a 10000-year-old beast that was about to run away out of intense horror, and the flesh of the beast turned into putrid blood once again before getting absorbed into the sword as the reddish aura around the man and the sword grew a tad bit more intense.
At this moment, the pale individual furrowed his brows and scowled deeply. His intent met with an unsavory and 'pleasantly bright' intent that threatened to turn him into ashes. The operative word being threatened. If the being had the strength to meet the threat, that is. Yet, Slaughter King did not dare lose his caution. Not against THIS man. He knew this forthcoming adversary, of course. If it wasn't for this... the Overseer of the Sky, he would have long expanded his Slaughter City into an Empire with no one standing in the way.
{A/N: Slaughter King is weaker than Tang Chen even with the Asura Sword since the parasite could never present itself in the same ingenuity as Tang Chen.}
As his expression turned gloomier, a bright golden flash filled the sky, attracting everyone's attention but it was merely an afterimage as Slaughter King gazed in front of him, viewing the middle-aged man who had an earnest smile on his face with a solemn expression.
"It's our first time meeting each other in—" Qian Daoliu had only begun when... he choked back his words and silently stared at the Slaughter King in front of him. Truly, the two of them were meeting each other for the first time but... even if Slaughter King had a different skin tone and slightly shifted facial features, some things were simply undeniable.
Qian Daoliu knew the man in front of him. Surely, the person in front of him didn't have such a maddening bloodlust but was more dignified than anything as the Ruler of the Land would have it yet... the Grand Priest of the Spirit Hall silently glanced at the Divine Sword in his hand. Oh, Qian Daoliu had experience with artifacts of this nature for reasons too private to be shared with anyone including his son.
"Tang Chen," Qian Daoliu muttered in a muted tone as the Slaughter King's body shook, "I always knew geniuses are eccentric... never took you for someone who loves gothic makeup..."
Tang Chen... the man hailed as the strongest in the continent once upon a time who disappeared. The man who single-handedly raised the Clear Sky Clan to the zenith. A man who decimated the entire species of Giants just to further his strength and self-made spirit skills... A man whose self-made spirit skills would shock the entire continent.
Qian Daoliu finally found THIS man... in such an extreme Gothic makeover that his shoulders shook, and his mask of dignity was cracked by a humorous chuckle.
"Oi, Oi, Tang Chen... it really is you? Look at yourself, all rotten. You left to find a path to godhood, right? It looks like things backfired," Qian Daoliu goaded, "Ah, should I call you Slaughter King now? Man, you must be absolutely hollowed to actually get forced around by Spirit Hall. I also heard that you gained a taste for drinking blood? Serves you right!"
Qian Daoliu's jovial cackle reverberated through the entire forest. After becoming a rank 99 Demi-God of sorts and returning to this location, Daoliu was all but aware of an even more terrible entity that rested within the Emerald Lake. He couldn't make out what IT was but he didn't need to prod further anyway.
So, seeing his former rival in such dire straits really made Qian Daoliu too pleased.
He was already happy about Ja Sun's, Ah Yin's, and Bibi Dong's marriage. He supported their relationship since it simply made them happy and brought them too many benefits to not consider it in the first place AND now he got to poke fun at the failure in front of him who got HER favor once. Not that it mattered to Daoliu at this point. He wasn't some punk who couldn't move on. Well... he did move on from the crush but that didn't mean he moved on from making the only two humans that could match him back then... just feel regretful.
However, Daoliu's laugh was cut short with a haunting snicker escaping Slaughter King's thin red lips, "Tang Chen?"
He whispered oddly.
His grip around his strength grew tighter while Daoliu stopped and conjured a flaming golden sword in his hand as the temperature around the duo grew extremely high. The air around them rippled while the ground began to scorch and eventually burn away the corrosion brought by Slaughter King.
"Many years ago... Tang Chen was murdered," Slaughter King uttered, gazing intently at Qian Daoliu and expecting some good reaction only for the middle-aged Demi-God to shake his head with a disappointed expression, "Ah, that's a shame. I wasted my valuable time making fun of a corroded cunt instead."
Those who actually knew Qian Daoliu of the old would know that... he was never a dignified individual. He was petty and vindictive. Still is. Thus, whenever he fought someone he considered rivaling his own strength... Qian Daoliu's lips would evidently grow... loose.
Scoffing, Slaughter King slashed at Qian Daoliu and the man matched the blow with an equal intensity. Nine rings emerged around both of them as their domains unleashed. Meanwhile, Slaughter King brought out a large pitch-black hammer no worse than the sword in his hand.
"You really aren't Tang Chen," Qian Daoliu remarked as his golden-feathered wings erupted while his body melted into the giant ring of golden flames within which Slaughter King persisted with an unusually bloody domain!
"Stop saying that name!" Slaughter King snorted as both of them took to the sky as a pair of bloody wings emerged from his back, too.
"Tang Chen! Tang Chen! Tang Chen!" Daoliu would only do the opposite.
His actual domain, unlike the intent of comfort, released a giant ring of True Sun Fire on the same level as the Ultimate Fire attribute and suppressed his opponent and the domain was filled with potent yang that suppressed the dark, corrosive Slaughter Domain of the Slaughter King. Even if whatever this monstrosity Tang Chen had become was actually weaker than his prime state, Qian Daoliu didn't grow complacent. He couldn't.
While many beasts and the humans in the King's Lair saw a crimson domain barely emerging from the confines of a large ring of golden flames that filled the area with flames that threatened to reduce the King's Lair to ashes if not for Daoliu's control, it wasn't long after when a blood-red ray of slash divided the sea of golden flames into two halves.
An ominous and terribly sharp noise soon reverberated into the forest as trees bent backward due to a massive gust spreading out from the slash's remnant attack to the point that the calm surface of the Emerald Lake grew turbulent.
Yet, a wave of energy stopped the wedding decoration from getting ruined.
"I don't remember asking for fireworks... what a pleasant surprise," An impish cackle spread about yet even the trained eyes of the beast and others still near the Emerald Lake couldn't see how or when an elegant silver figure stood between the Angel Douluo and the Slaughter King. Yet, those who were perceptive grew fervent.
Zi Ji's lips parted in shock as she had felt an extreme familiar fluctuations. She had mastered a law of her own to some degree and she felt the same thing just a moment ago.
Bi Ji's lips curled slightly as she shook her head at his display. Their Beast God... really had a flair of his own.
Ja Yin smiled. She wasn't even close to mastering a law but she had a connection with Ja Sun and realized what those fluctuations meant and Ja Sun getting stronger only made her seek more and more improvement.
"That is a surprise..." Qian Daoliu raised his brows, "It seems my knowledge on aspects of cultivation is still lacking..." A deep gash marred Qian Daoliu's chest at this moment but he looked relatively healthy as his wound was already cauterized.
He felt it all too clearly. Without a single use of spirit ring, just to Ja Sun's whim, the space around them had come to a stunning stop for a second, and then it contracted wildly.
"Oh, yeah, that's true. I actually have a lot of info and will be eager to share it at a good price," Ja Sun chuckled. His figure... was spotless. Wearing a light grey suit with a black shirt and similar grey tie, his bulky frame was contained quite well. His tail swayed slightly, his hair pulled back similar to Ja Yin as his man exploded out after the confines of the dark green band while his hands were covered by the Vajra Gauntlets.
"Shouldn't you share crucial information with your master?" Qian Daoliu scoffed.
"Heh? I remember you admitting that we both are... on the same level now. So, of course, you can't fall back on your title, Master," He chuckled and gave a short bow, "But I suppose you officiating our wedding is just the right payment for some sweet information on the path ahead."
"You know it?" Qian Daoliu and Slaughter King's expressions changed.
"Sweet, right?" Ja Sun smirked and then looked at Slaughter King, "Oye, Goth Bitch. You've got buttons for your eyes or what? You stand in the presence of the Beast God."
"And?" Slaughter King growled, "You destroyed my city! If this is forest is yours—"
Before he could finish, Slaughter King felt his body seized as Ja Sun's palm gripped his face before he threw Slaughter King to the ground and stepped down, arriving on the ground the next second. Still, not a single spot marred his suit.
"And?" Ja Sun mocked as he touched his furry silver ears and exhaled a comforted sigh, "Bow."
The three of his eyes landed on the Slaughter King... no, the beast was barely worth mentioning. Ja Sun looked at the sword and narrowed his eyes. It wasn't a coincidence that the Slaughter King could find him here... for reasons Ja Sun was quite aware of, this sword was actually tracking him down.
"Master, what's his deal? You know him?"
Ja Sun inquired as Qian Daoliu stepped down. For a second, Qian Daoliu felt complicated but he shook his head, "Not him, no..."
"The sword is right... your blood will be supremely delicious," Slaughter King stepped out of the crater with a manic expression.
"I have a wedding to consummate... and I have no reason to prolong this battle. You should have hit up any other day," Ja Sun advised, "How about this? Return a week later. We can have some fun. Maybe crash some mountains, destroy ponds and lakes? But if we do this now... I assure you, it will be dull and tasteless for both of us."
"Shut—" Before the Slaughter King could say anything else, Ja Sun shrugged and attacked. He could speak all he wanted but that didn't mean Ja Sun would allow others to run their mouths. Seeing him move instead of relying on his strange use of spatial forces, Slaughter King attacked with the blood-red sword in his hand as he threatened to tear the very fabric of space!
Yet, Ja Sun's hand held a pitch-black sword. It was the sword he plundered from Di Tian that held the might of a dragon yet when the two swords clashed, Slaughter King cleaved through the Black Dragon Sword as if a hot knife passing through melted butter. Frowning, Ja Sun didn't stop at all. He intended to end this entirely pointless confrontation, due to the lack of any quests, in one blow, and that he did as Slaughter King's expression changed when an Icy blue saber gave a mighty dragon's roar and managed to clash with his sword.
A Divine Artifact!
All dragons in the King's Lair felt anxious for a second as Ja Sun revealed the Water Dragon King Saber. It was admittedly slightly low i. quality when compared to the red sword in Slaughter King's hand but Ja Sun wielded the saber better than the Slaughter King utilized his sword.
The next second, Slaughter King's expression twisted and crumpled as he let out a high-pitched shriek.
Absorbing back the Water Dragon King Saber, Ja Sun confidently held the blade of the sword as his body instantly threatened to burst into a cloud of bloody mist, stopped only with his fourth spirit ring suddenly exploding and delivering Ja Sun with outstanding power, he grinned cruelly and stabbed his other hand into Slaughter King's chest and tore his heart out.
It was all it took.
One swift and lethal strike.
Crushing the heart, Ja Sun let the mangled piece of flesh turn into a small bat before it disappeared while Slaughter King began to vomit a stream of pitch-black blood.
Yet... he didn't let go of the sword.
Neither did Ja Sun.
Narrowing his eyes, Ja Sun smiled, "Although you have an hour or two to live... I did free you from the damnable parasite. About time you let go of the sword."
"It..." the figure's body began to shudder. The once lanky frame began to fill in and color returned to him, "Wants you dead... I can't have my savior dying."
"Oh..." Ja Sun muttered and simply snatched the sword from the 'Slaughter King.'
Only one look was necessary for Ja Sun to determine that the Slaughter King was a parasite holding this body a hostage and needed large volumes of blood to sustain itself as its internal organs were long decayed.
Even now, this man's brain was rapidly decaying.
The moment Ja Sun entirely held the sword under the startled gaze of Qian Daoliu,
*Chiiiiii*
An ominous pressure exuded from the sword as Ja Sun couldn't help but chuckle, "Ah... Divine Tools like you are fucked in the mortal realm. Especially in my hands. Don't worry... I will refine you soon and see what your God wants with me." With that, Ja Sun's massive spirit energy that already held a divine quality temporarily sealed the sword in his hands and he stored it away without another thought. He had to get some compensation for his destroyed Black Dragon Sword, after all.
"That... spirit ring explosion technique," the figure in front of him was beginning to ease up, "Who taught you that?"
But before Ja Sun could reply, Qian Daoliu called out, "Tang Chen? For crying out loud. Is it you or not?"
"... aye, it's me..."
***
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