Rise of Humanity

Zhong Yue smiled and said, “Be at ease, although Realm Monarch Helian Yunshan is smart, he is witnessing myself initiating the challenge at the Pure Yang lightning zone. Thus, no matter who he suspects, he will never think it was me.”

King Geng was even more surprised, he exclaimed in shock, “You were in the Pure Yang lightning zone challenging the lightning tribulations?”

Zhong Yue nodded, he couldn’t explain more and said, “The Heaven Court would have noticed the situation by now already. Time is of the essence, we have to leave now!”

The two of them sped out of the Abyss and headed to A’Bi City.

Zhong Yue gave a long whistle as a signal to An who was suppressing Hell Emperor to hide in the Sea of Oblivion. As soon as An heard the whistle, he dashed toward the two.

Since the battle started, Hell Emperor was suppressed so severely that without the help of the Sea of Oblivion, he had no chance of fighting back. When he saw An dashing away, the furious Hell Emperor immediately rushed out of the Sea of Oblivion along with his Soul Reaping Bell.

Zhong Yue and King Geng continued to speed away while An and Hell Emperor were exchanging move a short distance behind them.

After some time, they reached Yan Mo City where Bi was entangled in a battle with the Heaven Court’s eighteen emperors. Although he couldn’t suppress them by himself, they also couldn’t break through his defense either, only being able to constrain him to a corner.

Seeing the emperors in sight, Zhong Yue suddenly raised his speed toward the battlefield. The eighteen emperors were immediately alerted by his intense aura and felt uneasy, especially the celestial emperor that Zhong Yue rushed at, and so the former then promptly tried to move out of the way.

But right as the celestial emperor moved out of the way, Bi saw a flaw in the emperors’ formation and he laughed loudly. He seized the fleeting opportunity and flashed out of their encirclement.

“Let’s go!” The group united and raised their speed, leaving the eighteen emperors and Hell Emperor far behind them.

“Slow them down, they must not leave!” Hell Emperor’s Soul Reaping Bell shuddered violently with a loud din. The sound carried the power to shake one’s soul out of them, any slight distraction could lead to the dispersal of their soul. Hence, Zhong Yue and the company was forced to divert part of their attention to resist the bell’s din.

“Senior martial brothers, help me in casting the treasure’s full power!” Hell Emperor shouted, “We can’t gain any merits, but we mustn’t commit any fault by letting them escape! Slow them down until the reinforcements from the Heaven Court arrive!”

The Heaven Court’s eighteen emperors gave a stern yell and poured their arcane energy into the Soul Reaping Bell. The bell sound relentless attacked the prison breakers, and it was much stronger this time that even the stars around were quivering.

Zhong Yue and the company struggled to resist the bell’s power. The Soul Reaping Bell was indeed an exotic treasure; its sound could always find a way into their ears and shudder the stability of their souls, indirectly affecting their powers as well.

As the group slowed down, the eighteen emperors and the Hell Emperor sprinted over, quickly closing the distance between them.

Along the Bridge of Helplessness, the two parties were constantly exchanging bouts. It had greatly dragged their speed down and at this rate, Zhong Yue and company wouldn’t be able to return to the Heaven Realm without a few years’ time.

All of a sudden, Bi and An simultaneously gathered their arcane energy and cast out half a skill each. The skill was divided into two halves, and each half itself was powerful but still not exceptionally strong.

However, as the two of them each cast out half of the skill and combined the parts together, the skill’s power was boosted by over more than a dozen times.

Crack—

A clear cut extended horizontally across the Bridge of Helplessness before it soon splintered into halves. At the line where the bridge was severed, a vast amount of condensed space reverted to their original distance and pulled them far away from their pursuers!

Zhong Yue’s heart skipped a beat, the skill’s power was simply completely beyond his current understanding!

“The imperial-level skills!” King Geng couldn’t contain the shock in his voice and shouted, “This is definitely an imperial-level skill! Who are you two!?”

Bi and An exchanged a look and the two suddenly spun vigorously as they left Zhong Yue and King Geng behind them.

“Little brother, don’t mind them,” Zhong Yue led King Geng in the front and he said, “They have their own concerns over their true identities.”

King Geng couldn’t get rid of his shock, he stared blankly at Zhong Yue’s back and pondered. Not only is Zhong Yue protected by an innate god, he still has two existences who can cast imperial-level skills by his side!

And just before this, King Geng was still unwilling to become sworn brothers with Zhong Yue, thinking that the latter was not qualified to be his elder brother. But now, it was starting to seem like he was the one who wasn’t qualified to be Zhong Yue’s younger brother.

Ever since we’ve became sworn brothers, I’ve never given him any help before. Instead, it has always been the other way round. He is the one taking care of me, like an elder brother.

A slight warmth emerged in his heart as Zhong Yue reminded him of his elder brother, the late Realm Monarch, who has also given him comprehensive care and love.

“I have ordered the Eighteen Emperors of the Heavenly Cloud headed to the border of the Heaven Realm. There, an ancient teleportation formation that happens to be intact will be waiting for you.” Zhong Yue said solemnly, “When we arrive, I will recover the emperors’ eyes and your retaliation will then begin. Leave this world for a new one, and only return when you have enough strength to take Realm Monarch Yunshan down of his throne.”

King Geng remained silent.

The two sprinted for dozens of days before they finally returned to the Heaven Realm. Then, they took a turn and headed to a remote corner far from the center of the Heaven Realm. By this time, the messengers of Hell had only barely arrived at the Heaven Court to report the matter.

Their destination was the ruins of an ancient building, it was also where the teleportation formation was situated. The portal was damaged, but it was still repairable to someone like Zhong Yue.

The formation was divulged by the Eighteen Emperors or Heavenly Cloud. After all, they’ve been here all their life and Zhong Yue was still new to the Heaven Realm.

As the ancient ruins came into their views, King Geng broke the silence and said, “Brother, if you’ve released the brothers’ and sisters’ eyes from Queen Shi Ji’s seal, wouldn’t that alert her? If it did, I’m afraid none of us will be able to leave.”

Zhong Yue was puzzled, he asked, “You mean?”

“Queen Shi Ji is extremely powerful. If she is alerted that her seals were broken, she will definitely trace it back to us. By then, none of us will be able to leave from her clutches, and even you would be in danger,” King Geng answered solemnly, “As I see it, there is no need to risk it. I will leave, but on my own. You and the Eighteen Emperors of the Heavenly Cloud should stay.”

Zhong Yue stopped before asking, “You alone?”

King Geng nodded as he smiled, “If the seals are broken, Queen Shi Ji will be alerted immediately. But when the seals are still there, she still can more sense their locations. Thus, the only choice is for me to leave without bringing anyone along. The brothers and sisters are blinded, I plead elder brother to take care of them.”

Zhong Yue frowned as King Geng’s intention was clear as crystal to him. He didn’t leave the Eighteen Emperors of Heavenly Cloud back to be taken care by Zhong Yue, but to take care of Zhong Yue.

If the Eighteen Emperors of Heavenly Cloud were by his side, that was tantamount to Zhong Yue having a great force at his disposal!

When they arrived at the ruins, Zhong Yue took out another mask and handed it to King Geng. King Geng put it on and when he took it off again, they returned from the dimension of Hell to the real world.

Indeed, the Eighteen Emperors of Heavenly cloud were already waiting in front of them. The reunion sparked tears and joy to all, and they bowed as they greeted, “My King!”

King Geng bowed back and they enjoyed a fleeting moment of happiness. Then, King Feng told them of his plans, he said, “A long journey lies ahead of me, but brothers and sisters, I regret much that I cannot bring you all along. Thus, I can only entrust my elder brother with your well-being. You shall treat him as you treated me. Someday in the future, I will return, and we will be reunited!”

The emperors kept quiet for moments, then Heavenly King Lu said in a hoarse voice, “My king, be at ease. From now on, King Zhong will be our lead, just like you, we pledge the same fealty we’ve given you!”

King Geng bowed again, and the crowd bowed back.

Meanwhile, Zhong Yue was still in the Hell dimension. His arcane energy surged through the dimension barrier and cast out the ancient teleportation formation.

From the ashes of the ancient ruins, stone pillars covered with totem patterns rose and glimmered brightly.

To the others in the real world, the stone pillars appeared to emerge on their own, they couldn’t feel Zhong Yue’s presence at all.

After some time, the ancient teleportation formation was recovered to its operational state.

“Little brother, it’s time….” Zhong Yue’s voice rumbled through the dimension barrier and reached them.

King Geng traced the voice and looked over, he bowed solemnly and thanked, “Elder brother, thank you for everything!”

Zhong Yue returned the bow.

King Geng walked into the teleportation formation and cast it. He turned around and looked at the crowd with a pair of eyes filled in mixed feelings. Suddenly, he laughed loudly and said, “Elder brother, brothers and sisters! I will be back, and when I am, the sky of this world will topple against my will!”

The teleportal brightened up and the man disappeared along in the beam of lights.

“Brothers and sisters, follow me and return!” Zhong Yue’s psyche rumbled through the dimension barrier.

The Eighteen Emperors of Heavenly Cloud nodded and left, with the one-eyed Celestial Emperor Qian Shan leading the way.

At the same time, Zhong Yue rushed back to his mortal body, he thought, The flow of time differs between the two dimensions. A year in Hell is just a day in the real world. I’ve only stayed for about two months in Hell, that translates to just four hours or so in the Heaven Realm. It’s too short a period of time for Xin Huo to stir up any trouble.

Soon after, he arrived in the Pure Yang lighting zone and the intensity of the lightning tribulation he now felt had far surpassed his expectations!

It was the power of the 48th Pure Yang lightning tribulation!

It was just four hours, and Xin Huo had fought through the lightning tribulations through to the 48th level!

This brat Xin Huo, didn’t I tell him to lay low? Why is being like this?!

Beads of sweat rolled down Zhong Yue’s forehead. It would be a great achievement already to fight through the first lightning tribulation in just four hours, and yet Xin Huo took him all the way to the 48th level!

That means ‘he’ made it through the first lightning tribulation in just seconds; just how terrifyingly fast was that!?

Little did he know that Xin Huo didn’t fight through the lightning tribulations but literally just swallowed them. The lightning could even unleash their full power and half of it would be devoured away already!

Meanwhile, the messengers from Hell had arrived at the Heaven Court, the matter was immediately reported up the chain of command, and in just moments, the news reached Realm Monarch Yunshan.

Realm Monarch Yunshan’s face changed slightly. He couldn’t care to watch Zhong Yue challenging the lightning tribulations anymore. He instantly gathered his subordinates and said, “My dear subjects, will anyone follow me to take down the rebels?”

The strong and powerful existences who were watching at Zhong Yue seconds before now all swarmed over and self recommended to seize and capture the running rebels.

At the same time, Zhong Yue has returned to his mortal body and took the mask off.

“Xin Huo, I am back… Oh my heavens, my mortal body… it’s so damn strong!”