Chapter 163: Determination
“The Moon Goddesses represent utmost sanctity; the Demon Emperor represents utmost evil; Shura represents utmost hatred. The blood of Moon Goddesses, the soul of the Demon Emperor and the tears of a Shura combined with the Scourge of the Moon, or the Lunar Scourge, can produce an effect that can go against the heavens, change the natural laws and let a being rise from the dead. However, because this is something that goes against the heavens, as well as the natural laws, the probability of this being a reality is very small. As such, this legend might just be a legend, and has never actually been tried by anyone.”
“Moreover, even if this legend is true, finding and obtaining each of those ‘ritual elements’ is more difficult than even reaching up to the heavens. With how powerful the Moon God clan is, it is almost impossible to obtain the blood of the three Moon Goddesses. As for the Demon Emperor, he was vanquished almost ten thousand years ago, so how can one obtain his soul? And lastly, Shura’s tears… Shuras are the rarest beings, as they are not ‘born’, but rather ‘made’. Moreover, once a Shura appears, widespread catastrophes and massacres occur; who would be able to obtain the tears of a Shura? The reason I told little master about this legend was because the fourth element is in your hands… however, the current Lunar Scourge is not enough, as it needs at least twelve orbs.”
Compared to the near impossible first method, this second method was an even more difficult method that was based off a legend. Normally, only those who were crazy would believe that rising from the dead would be possible. After listening to Qi Yue talk, Ling Chen thought for a while, then asked, “How long do you think Xi Ling can hold out for?”
Xi Ling considered his question, then answered, “If she stays in the Pet Dimension, perhaps two months. If she is called out, then maybe three days.”
“Two months…” This came as a pleasant surprise to Ling Chen. After all, Xi Ling was a powerful being, so she wouldn’t die that easily.
“Good!” Ling Chen had already made a resolute decision “Then, as long as I can find the Vermillion bird within two months, then there’ll be hope!”
“…Realistically, there’s only a very small chance of that happening, doesn’t little master understand at all?” To most people, Ling Chen’s decision would have sounded like the rantings of a madman. To find the Vermillion bird within two months… being the sovereign of fire, the place where it resided would definitely be a place of extreme flames. Other beings definitely would not be able to survive in such a place. Thus, even if he could live to see the Vermillion bird, he would have to convince it to destroy itself in order to save Xi Ling… no matter from what perspective, this just sounded ridiculous.
“I know,” Ling Chen calmly replied, “However, in order to save me… Xi Ling sacrificed herself twice for me! Thus, I am determined to do anything to revive her, no matter how small the chances are! Since there is even a slight possibility for the Vermillion bird to save her, I will definitely find the Vermillion bird within two months! Qi Yue, you’ll help me right? With your knowledge, I’m sure you know where the Vermillion bird is!”
Qi Yue maintained her silence.
Although she had only known Ling Chen for a short period of time, she knew what sort of person he was. He would often do or say things that normal people definitely would not do, and as soon as he made a decision, he would not go back on his word. As such, she did not ask him to give up, but rather said in a soft voice, “Well, you’re my little master, and I completely belong to you. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, so, when do you want to go find the Vermillion bird?”
“Not right now.” Although he had made a crazy decision, that didn’t mean he was going to hot-headedly rush off in search of the Vermillion bird immediately. Being the sovereign of fire, just a tiny spark from it was enough to kill Ling Chen over a hundred times. If he wanted to find the Vermillion bird, as well as confront it, he would need to quickly raise his own power. Ling Chen turned around, and looked towards the heart of the Forest of Bones. His face darkened and said, “Right now, is time for Xi Ling’s revenge.”
Xi Ling’s power was, without a doubt, incredibly strong. Apart from super strong bosses, she would go around insta-killing everything. With Xi Ling farming for him, even with the “Heaven’s Jealousy” debuff, Ling Chen’s levelling speed was still many times faster than other peoples’. However, this had caused him to develop complacency, as well as dependency on Xi Ling. As such, even if he wasn’t able to truly save Xi Ling, he would at least rely only on himself.
Exactly like how he was about to now go and face that gigantic skeleton by himself.
“Xiao Hui, let’s go!”
Gripping Soaring Cloud and the Zephyr Blade in his hands, Ling Chen did not leave the Forest of Bones, but rather returned towards the direction of the Eerie Castle.
Not too long after, the Warring Palace Skeleton appeared in his line of sight. It was still within the boundaries of the Eerie Castle. When Ling Chen had escaped, it had not chased him out of the boundaries. Evidently, it was unwilling or unable to leave the boundary it had been guarding for such a long time.
“I will definitely… kill you!!!”
Ling Chen charged towards the Warring Palace Skeleton. The moment he entered the boundaries of the Eerie Castle, the Warring Palace Skeleton had become aware of his presence. It raised its sword, walked forwards, and sent a “Earth Splitting Slash” towards Ling Chen.
When it was still Heaven’s End grade, even if Ling Chen was on his Cloud Stepping Mare, he would not be able to safely dodge it. However, the Earth Splitting Slash of the Celestial Warring Palace Skeleton only had an AOE of 10 metres rather than 20 metres. Thus, the AOE was a whole 4 times smaller!
Boom!!!
As the giant sword smashed into the ground, tremors rippled out and large stones were thrown into the air behind Ling Chen. The AOE of the Celestial grade Earth Splitting Slash was just small enough for Ling Chen to avoid. Although he had barely dodged it, he did not receive any damage.
The amount of time between each attack was fairly long. In those precious seconds, Ling Chen rushed to its feet and sent two “Ling Tian Bursts” towards its feet.
Bambam!!
The sound of the two Ling Tian bursts striking the skeleton’s feet sounded like they were hitting bedrock. The two damage numbers that resulted from the attacks also caused Ling Chen to frown. Although the Warring Palace Skeleton had fallen to Celestial grade, he was still unable to break through its Defence without using buffs.
“Soul Sacrifice!!”
With Soul Sacrifice, Ling Chen’s attack power considerably increased, and he once again sent two “Ling Tian Bursts” towards the Warring Palace Skeleton.
Boom!Boom!
-5040，-5051！
The two sounds were completely different to those from before, and even caused the Warring Palace Skeleton’s left foot to be pushed back by about one metre. His attacks with Soul Sacrifice had completely ripped open the Warring Palace Skeleton’s Defence, and Ling Chen was able to immediately calculate its Defence from the damage figures… its tough body could block up to 1,000 base attack damage. That meant as long as Ling Chen’s base attack power was above 1,000, he would be able to break through its Defence without using Soul Sacrifice.
This conclusion caused Ling Chen to understand that even though the skeleton was now Celestial grade, the current him still could not defeat it… although he had Soul Sacrifice, this giant skeleton had its Baleful Shield. It would automatically activate when the Warring Palace Skeleton’s HP fell below 50%, and 10% of all physical damage would be reflected to him. Even if he could survive until he reduced the Warring Palace Skeleton’s HP to 50%, he would not be able to break through its Defence without Soul Sacrifice, and if he did use it, his HP would be reduced to ‘1’, and the reflected damage would immediately kill him.
The Warring Palace Skeleton’s stare locked in on him. It raised its sword, and prepared to bring it down on him. Ling Chen looked up, worked out the sword’s trajectory and prepared to dodge. However, at this moment, a black glow appeared around his body, and his entire body felt as if it had been weighed down by heavy weights.
“Ding… you have been restricted by the “Darkness Lock”, your Movement Speed, Attack Speed, Jumping Ability and Evasion have been lowered by 30% for 30 seconds, no effect on your Hit Rate.”
“Ding… you have been restricted by the “Underworld Lock”, you cannot use any active skills for 30 seconds.”
There wasn’t just the Warring Palace Skeleton, but also the semi-spirit girl!!
The semi-spirit girl’s Darkness Lock and Underworld Lock were all activated so stealthily that even Ling Chen did not notice until he had been restricted by both. By the time the sword was descending towards him, he had already determined that with how heavy his body felt and the decrease in his speed… it would be impossible for him to dodge this strike. He frowned, and raised his right hand.
“Moon Shadow!”
The black light of the Moon Shadow expanded out from Ling Chen, and covered himself and the giant sword, fixing it and the Warring Palace Skeleton in place. Ling Chen put away his weapons, and ran as fast as he could out of the boundaries of the Eerie Castle.
If Xi Ling was still able to battle, all it would take would be three Red Lasers to kill the Celestial grade Warring Palace Skeleton. Although its Baleful Shield could reflect physical attacks, it could do nothing against magic attacks. Without Xi Ling by his side, Ling Chen was forced to rely on himself to defeat it.
Standard hundreds of metres outside the Eerie Castle, Ling Chen stared at the giant skeleton, and took out a teleport scroll while saying, “In not too long, I’ll be back. Next time I come here will be the time you die!”
After speaking, he shattered the scroll and left the Forest of Bones.