Chapter 118 – The Mantis Stalks The Cicada, Unaware Of The Oriole Behind
(Ignis: The title of this chapt is a classic saying, 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后. It means to pursue a small gain while neglecting a greater danger.)
Seeing the royal swordswoman dashing towards him with her large sword, the grey-robed man laughed strangely at the black-robed man: “I’ll deal with this little girl. My beast is coincidentally the nemesis of strengthening-type warriors.”
He grasped a strange looking purplish-black magic ball and flew towards the royal swordswoman.
When the royal swordswoman’s large sword was about to slash down, countless purplish-black rays of light erupted from the ball, forming a large circle. It actually caused him and the royal swordswoman to disappear at the same time. Yue Yang was startled. They were not in the Demon Abyss but in the Soaring Dragon Continent. How could such a Battlefield of Certain Death exist in here too? It looks like the Dimensional Research in the Demon Abyss was much more advanced than the Soaring Dragon Continent. It was no wonder that the teleportation orbs in the Demon Abyss had such a short activation time. When the black-robed man saw this, he cursed loudly: “That damned Lu Dun! He would go crazy as soon as he sees a woman. He is obviously useless, but he still liked to collect female corpses; what a perverted and abnormal hobby. You think that without your help I wouldn’t be able to handle a brat that is still wet behind the ears?”
“May I ask how you are going to deal with me?” Yue Yang curiously asked.
He could not understand it. How could a necromancer that had lost half of his body and was rotting all over, defeat him, who possessed a Gold-ranked Level 3 Bloody Queen?
The black-robed man ignored Yue Yang and summoned his grimoire out quickly instead. Upon seeing his Advanced Silver Grimoire, Yue Yang felt his heartbeat quickened. It looked like he would soon possess another silver grimoire himself. If he could form a contract with all the grimoires he found, and filled them all with beasts that his Spirit Guardian Beasts possessed, he would definitely be able to be triumphant everywhere…As Yue Yang continued to daydream in his mind, he suddenly saw the black-robed necromancer placed his black, bony hand onto his grimoire. In the next moment, black light pervaded the whole space as a Headless Horseman, who had a rotting body and a foul stench, was summoned.
Yue Yang observed with his [Divine Vision] and discovered that this Headless Horseman was actually a Bronze-ranked Level 5 Undead-type beast.
The Headless Horseman did not immediately attack Yue Yang. Instead, he rode his similarly rotting skeletal horse straight towards the group of Level 2 Bony Skeletons.
Raising his large black sword, the Headless Horseman slashed downwards with a heavy force, hacking apart and destroying all of those Bony Skeletons. Extending both of his hands, the Headless Horseman then gathered all the dark green energy orbs that emerged from the Bony Skeletons, before stuffing them into his dilapidated body.
Afterwards, he removed the skull of the Iron-boned Skeleton and fixed it onto his own neck.
The skull shone with a dark green blaze, which disappeared after a while.
Energy began igniting within the eye sockets of the skeletal head.
In an instant, it merged with the Headless Horseman’s body and transformed into a Death Knight. The Death Knight had a dark green body and was much stronger in power and capabilities.
The large black sword from before now burned with the green fluorescent light of the corpses, steaming into the air.
The Death Knight’s rank soared from it’s original Bronze-Ranked Level 5 to Bronze-Ranked Level 6. Yue Yang clapped loudly as he watched and praised: “Not bad. This method may be a bit weird but it is extremely effective. It looks like the Demon Abyss’ research on summoning techniques are indeed more advanced. The human race is lagging behind by a little.”
“You dare to be so arrogant when death is right in front of you?” The black-robed man summoned another gigantic black centipede, which was more than ten metres in length.
This was neither a skeletal beast, nor an Undead-type beast like the Headless Horseman. It was a living-type beast.
It was the Spirit Guardian Beast of the black-robed man.
Likewise, this large Giant Pincer Centipede was a Bronze-ranked Level 6 beast.
With these two Bronze-ranked Level 6 beasts working together against the Gold-ranked Level 3 Bloody Queen, it appeared the strength of either one of them were not inferior in any way. There was a slight disdain in the Bloody Queen’s expression, but she did not move to attack.
She flew at a low height, primarily hovering behind Yue Yang.
With the Dragon Slaying Dagger strapped to her waist and Yue Yang’s Crescent Blade in her right hand, she was waiting for an opportunity to strike.
She had the overwhelming aura of a Gold King Beast, but against higher leveled beast, the suppressing effect was not that obvious. Furthermore, the Death Knight was an undead, causing the suppressing effect to be reduced even further, making it almost insignificant. As for the Giant Pincer Centipede, it was a Spirit Guardian Beast. Under the command of the black-robed man, it was filled with battle intent and incessantly crawled around the stone ground. Its sharp limbs were like countless knives that flashed with cold glints. Its pair of enormous iron pincers that were even bigger than its head only needs to touch a stone slightly to crush them into powder.
The Bloody Queen did not have much of a suppressing effect on them. However, she was still a Gold King Beast. Even if she was three levels lower, the Death Knight and the Centipede did not dare to attack her rashly.
The black-robed man appeared arrogant, but was actually inwardly vigilant.
He had almost lost his life when he was previously ambushed by the Reaper Mantis.
Now that he was again ambushed by this human brat. He would be an idiot if he still did not increase his vigilance.
“Do you have a Lich Ring?” Yue Yang did not command the Bloody Queen to immediately engage in the battle. Instead, he couldn’t stop looking at the hands of the black-robed man.
Among all the treasures in the world, the Lich Ring was the one that Yue Yang was most concerned about.
The reason was simple. The Lich Ring was the same as Storage Rings and had a dimensional storage capability. The only difference was that the storage ring can store anything, including living things, while the Lich Ring could only store articles or corpses that was dead. Storage Rings were sacred treasures that even the Da Xia Empire’s Emperor, Jun Wu You did not possess, much less Yue Yang. However, Yue Yang still hoped for a Lich Ring.
Yue Yang was not only a beauty-con; he was also a treasure-con. He adored articles with dimensional storage capabilities, such as the Universal Pouch and the Xu Mi Mustard Seed.
(Ignis: The Qian Kun Bag appears in various Xianxia novels and stories, and has dimensional storage. Shiro – It is also mentioned in chapter 1. The Xu Mi Mustard Seed comes from a saying which the buddha contained the entire Mount Sumeru (Xu Mi) inside a mustard seed without it changing in size)
It was a pity that although he managed to snatch the old Daoist priest’s Universal Pouch it disappeared after he was transported to this world.
If it was assumed that the flying sword became the Heavenly Sword Goddess, then what about the Universal Pouch?
Yue Yang reckoned that it was temporarily safekept by his first wife, the Heavenly Sword Goddess. Or perhaps, that magical dream world that he always go to was actually inside the Universal Pouch.
Yue Yang could not ask the Heavenly Sword Goddess about the whereabouts of the Universal Pouch now. However, he still desired to have Storage Articles.
Storage Rings were essential equipment for family travels, murder and arson, killing monsters and treasure hunting.
How could he do without one?
If he really could not possess one, at the very least he must have a Lich Ring.
Lich Rings were actually the most inferior and the trashiest storage rings. Although the storage space of Lich Rings were not very big and could only hold inanimate objects, there were no such treasure present in the Soaring Dragon Continent. The main reason was because the special-type beasts that had the ability to produce special articles were simply too rare in the Soaring Dragon Continent. Human intelligence was even less capable of producing Storage Rings. For example, the Yue Clan was already quite amazing to be able to produce puppet beasts, thus making it one of the Four Big Clans. However, in the entire Yue Clan, aside from the ghost genius Yue Gong from several hundred years back, no one could figure out the principles behind storage rings… Although the ghost genius Yue Gong had left behind his research insights, nobody could make sense of them.
In comparison to producing puppet beasts, producing sacred level objects like Storage Rings had a difficulty that was worlds apart; it could not even be compared.
Even producing Teleportation Scrolls were extremely difficult for humans, much less producing Dimensional Storage Articles.
The difficulty of the technique was like scaling the sky, and could not be reached by the people of this world.
Thus, there were no storage rings in the Soaring Dragon Continent. Even the trashiest and the most useless Lich Rings were not sold anywhere.
Lich Rings had always been a special treasure that only exist in the Demon Abyss. If humans wanted to possess them, they must first kill a Lich and seize the Lich Ring on the Lich’s hands.
Liches, who only contract with Undead-type beasts, needed to store a lot of materials, such as huge dragon skeletons, human skeletons, corpses, demon crystals etc. They required Lich Rings to solve this crucial necessity. Thus, a Lich would generally have a Lich Ring.
“No.” The black-robed man laughed coldly. This brat definitely thinks that Lich Ring are random goods that could be found in roadside stalls. How could they be so easily obtained?
“Then you can die now.” Yue Yang faintly smiled.
He was still smiling in one second, but in the next, he became a horrifying reaper.
Yue Yang’s image disappeared and a series of distorted images appeared in midair, as he went straight for the centipede with gigantic pincers. In the air, the Bloody Queen also flapped her wings, shooting out in preparation to form a pincer attack on the Giant Pincer Centipede with Yue Yang.
The black-robed necromancer coldly laughed in his heart. He had been waiting for this.
He ordered the Giant Pincer Centipede to leap highly into the air to welcome the attack. The exoskeleton of the Giant Pincer Centipede was extremely sturdy, hence it was not afraid of knives or axes. Even if it did not resist and just stayed still for this brat to attack, it wouldn’t be injured at all. Most importantly, his Giant Pincer Centipede was a Spirit Guardian Beast. Even if it was killed, it could be summoned again; it was not afraid of being hit at all.
“Poof!”
A section of a blade suddenly penetrated through the chest of the Death Knight, who was riding forwards to provide reinforcements.
Both he and the skeletal horse crazily shook together. Numerous black and green colored fluorescent light surged out from the wound.
The black-robed man was surprised. He steadied himself and examined, discovering that it was only an illusion that was rushing towards the Giant Pincer Centipede. The real figure of the brat had appeared behind the Death Knight, smiling like a demon. He had impaled the crescent shaped blade through the demon’s heart of the Death Knight. The Death Knight, who was produced from the corpse of a demon general, did not fear physical attacks at all. It’s only weakness was his demon’s heart, which was intentionally situated in the right side of the chest… Aside from himself, nobody knew this secret. How did this brat know about it?
The Hui Jin Magic Blade in Yue Yang’s hand was like a hungry tiger pouncing at food, absorbing the energy from the Death Knight’s devil heart madly.
No matter if it was the molten core or the demon dragon’s crystal, both were drawing energy from the devil heart and trying to restore themselves.
Besides the miniscule corpse qi that it didn’t need, the Hui Jin Magic Blade welcomed all other forms of energy.
The Death Knight was struggling for its life, but its struggles were futile.
“Bang!”
It’s skull split in an explosion, causing the energy in its body to greatly decrease. The Bronze-ranked Level 6 Death Knight reverted back into the Bronze-ranked Level 5 Headless Horseman. Following which, as it kept on losing its energy, it slowly turned to Bronze-ranked Level 4, Bronze-ranked Level 3, Normal Level 4, Normal Level 3…
When the Hui Jin Magic Blade had absorbed all of its energy, the initially awe-inspiring Death Knight became a pile of rotting meat and bones, collapsing into a scattered mess.
Even the skeletal horse was shattered into dust, becoming a pile of rotten bones and meat like its master…
The black robed necromancer was dumbstruck. Even in his dreams he did not imagine that this smiling murderer of a human brat could actually possess such a horrifying demonic weapon. This demonic weapon was definitely one that possess life. It should be the treasure that he had yearned for even in his dreams. If he could use it to make a Bone Formation Casket, he would probably be able to evolve into an Immortal Lich.
As the black-robed man jealously and greedily gazed at the Hui Jin Magic Blade, it flashed a wave of black smoke and purple flame, steaming continuously.
It slowly began to transform on its own, evolving into a form with greater perfection.
The molten core and the demon dragon’s crystal on the two sides began to merge, and vein-like patterns appeared throughout the entire body and edge of the blade.
Turned out that the Hui Jin Magic Blade, which was initially Silver-ranked, had successfully evolved into a Gold-ranked demonic weapon after absorbing the energy from the Death Knight’s demon heart.
Yue Yang lifted it up, channeling his innate qi into it. Upon urging the energy in the blade, the purple flame with black smoke surged wildly, as if it wanted to burn the heavens. The energy flames also took the shape of a blazing armor on Yue Yang’s arm. Besides increasing his defence, it also greatly increased and added to the strength of his arm.
“That’s impossible!” The black-robed necromancer was practically going mad with jealousy.
How could this brat be this lucky?
Not only did he possess a Gold-ranked Level 3 Bloody Queen, he also possessed such a demonic weapon that was able to absorb energy and evolve on its own…
Kill him. Kill him. He must kill the brat himself. He must seize the demonic weapon and refine it into an Bone Formation Casket, that would turn him into an Immortal Lich. Greed filled the black-robed necromancer’s entire heart. Suddenly, he heard a miserable screech. When he turned his head to watch, he discovered that there was a dagger impaled into the head of his Giant Pincer Centipede and it was flipping in pain. In an instant, it transformed into a black ray of light, returning into his Silver grimoire.
If it wasn’t a guardian beast, it would have definitely died.
The dagger that was impaled into it was the Dragon Slaying Dagger. It can even inflict serious damage on gigantic dragons with just one hit.
Where did this Dragon Slaying Dagger come from?
Before the black-robed necromancer could take the time to comprehend, he felt a huge surge of pain from his back. His whole body was then sent flying outwards, falling heavily onto the ground.
In the air, a leg descended, covering the whole sky…
Yue Yang stepped on the black-robed necromancer but did not immediately kill him. Instead, he looked into the distance and laughed: “I guess you must be the Master Suo Ge? I think you have watched quite a bit, aren’t you going to come down to save your underling? Although your concealing ability is not bad, please take note of the flow of the air. Next time don’t stand in the direction of the wind. Otherwise, it will be easy for people to catch a whiff of the corpse stench on you. I say, next time, if you manage to survive today, why don’t you learn from this lesson?”
“You sure are good at talking. But if you think I am like the Lu Ben whom you are stepping on, then you have made a huge mistake.”
There was an aged and haughty voice that resounded through the open space.
There were a few hissing sounds.
It was as though a protective screen had been removed from the sky. In front of Yue Yang’s eyes, there was a Silver-ranked Level 7 Zombie Dragon. It’s wings were tattered and its body was corroded. Coupled with the deeply diluted and lifeless eyes, it was evident that it was once a gigantic dragon.
The gigantic dragon might have been dead, but its residual aura still existed.
Although it had became a zombie, its level was still a high Silver-ranked Level 7.
Riding atop the Zombie Dragon was an elderly man with a wrinkled face. He wore a long purple-black robe and wielded a skeletal bone staff that flickered with a red light.
He arrogantly looked down at Yue Yang in a haughty manner: “Although you may have defeated Lu Ben, in my eyes, you are just a little worm. I am a lich that has cultivated for 500 years. With a wave of my hand, I can pinch you, little brat, to death like a tick. What does defeating Lu Ben even count for? He is only my undead servant, a human shaped tool that can breathe. You think you can use him to threaten me?”
“I’ve never thought of using it to threaten you. I only thought of keeping it and slowly interrogate it to obtain the information I require.” Yue Yang coldly slashed down at the black-robed necromancer Lu Ben’s skeletal skull with his demonic blade. He then kicked away Lu Ben’s skull away by more than 10 metres.
“You’re overestimating yourself. You want to oppose me? You will immediately understand what is called a mantis trying to stop a chariot.” Lich Suo Ge arrogantly snorted.
“Nope. It should be ‘mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind’.”
Yue Yang laughed as a shadow was pouncing downwards from the sky, in a manner that was faster than lightning, with both arms like the scythes of a reaper.
It was actually the Reaper Mantis who had all along been hiding itself.
It’s original target might have been Yue Yang. However, it’s focus had now shifted to the Zombie Dragon and the afterimage of Yue Yang disappeared from the ground. When Lich Suo Ge used his perception and managed to locate him, he discovered that the brat had already appeared directly underneath. He was approaching like the Reaper Mantis, and in his hands, he wielded the steaming flaming purple demonic blade. It’s killing intent was not any lesser than the scythes of the Reaper Mantis.