The Asura King's Fury

The Asura King, having reached the Perfected Man realm, could hardly find an opponent among the kings. But his formidable instincts screamed a warning, and he stabbed upward with the white bone banner.

Although this supreme treasure could not unleash its full destructive power at present, being struck by it was still a terrifying matter. Legend said that during its forging, one or two bones of Ancestral Gods had been added to the White Bone Sovereign Banner, making it all the more dreadful.

But the Asura King had miscalculated. Suddenly, he felt his hand lighten—the White Bone Sovereign Banner had vanished from his grasp. He looked up to see a mischievous snow-white beast, its eyes glittering with delight, cheerfully toss the treasure into its divine garden.

"Courting death!" The Asura King was incandescent with rage. The banner he had fought and bled for, snatched away so easily by a tiny beast? How could he not be furious?

"Ya-ya!" The snow-white beast protested indignantly, then once again called down Paradise Lost, casting its shadow over the Asura King. The divine garden spread across the heavens, covering all directions.

The Asura King, though enraged, was not blinded by his fury. He knew full well the strangeness of this little beast—it had used this very garden to cut off the retreat of all the alien kings before, leaving them helpless.

Swoosh!

The Asura King slipped through space in the span of a breath, vanishing and reappearing over a hundred yards away. He was far stronger than the Fallen Angel King, and Paradise Lost had not been able to trap him.

If he let a tiny beast steal the Sovereign Banner, the Asura King felt he would be unworthy of the title Heavenly King. At this moment, he unleashed his full, dreadful power without reservation.

"Asura Heavenly Way!"

His shout rent the void. A world of Asura manifested—seas of blood surged, millions of Asura soldiers and generals raised their blades and roared at the heavens. It seemed both illusion and reality, yet an overwhelming, genuine power flooded down from the sky.

It was actually trying to seal this region, transforming it into an Asura killing ground, the advent of an Asura world!

"Go!"

Xiao Chen shouted to the little beast, charging outward first. They could not delay—once the alien kings broke out and learned the banner had changed hands, he and Keke would become targets for everyone.

"Ya-ya ya-ya!" The snow-white beast furiously shook its little fist at the Asura King, then turned into a streak of white light and fled without looking back.

"The Asura King swallowed the Sovereign Banner! Come, hunt him down!" Xiao Chen shouted as he fled, sowing discord.

The Asura King was furious. He gave chase without pause, determined to kill Xiao Chen and the snow-white beast.

They soon reached the underground palace's exit.

"None of you will escape!" The Asura King's blood-red hair seemed to come alive, stretching dozens of meters long like a forest of blood spears, stabbing toward Xiao Chen and Keke ahead.

Each crimson strand became as thick as a finger. Tens of thousands of them pierced the void, their terrifying power enough to chill the heart, threatening to destroy the entire underground palace.

Boom!

All the crimson strands struck through every obstruction ahead. Anything solid was shattered. The palace entrance collapsed in a thunderous roar; tens of thousands of pounds of rubble shot into the air, dust billowing like the worst earthquake.

The underground palace began to crack apart, all thanks to the Asura King's single blow.

"Fellow kings, stop your infighting and come out quickly! The Asura King wants to shatter the palace and seal it!" Xiao Chen suddenly changed his tactics. No longer fleeing, he let Keke hide in the shadows, ready to strike at any moment, and shouted: "The Asura King swallowed the Sovereign Banner and wants to escape. Kings, come help me! I can't hold him much longer!"

"%#@…" The Asura King roared in fury. "The banner was clearly taken by you, and you frame me!" He charged forward with his thirteen divine cables, wishing he could annihilate the man before him.

In truth, the kings had already rushed out on their own, no need for Xiao Chen's shout.

Seeing Xiao Chen indeed locked in a desperate battle with the Asura King, no one hesitated—they all charged forward together.

Even though the Asura King lowered himself to shout explanations, no one believed him. Everyone had seen him flee with the Sovereign Banner. And how could a yellow-diamond skeleton king snatch a holy artifact from a Perfected Man realm Heavenly King?

"I…!" The Asura King wanted to curse his mother. Being falsely accused was a terrible feeling.

Of course, not everyone believed Xiao Chen. Some alien kings surrounded him as well, and a chaotic melee erupted.

"Brother Zombie King, Brother Wraith King, come help me! Let's reclaim our clan's Sovereign Banner!" Xiao Chen shouted to the two death-world kings not far away.

"Skeleton King, didn't you say you were giving us the Sovereign Banner?" the Zombie King demanded.

"Of course, I keep my word. It's yours now. Come help me kill the Asura King!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Wraith King and Zombie King charged forward, joining the chaotic battle. Xiao Chen instantly felt the pressure ease; even when alien kings struck at him, he was no longer at death's door.

With so many locked in combat, the outer parts of the underground palace completely collapsed.

Rumble…

Heaven and earth shook. Baleful energy shot into the sky as over twenty figures burst out of the underground palace, emerging onto the surface.

"Asura King, hand over the Sovereign Banner!" The Golden Giant King hefted a battle-axe of over a hundred thousand jin, bursting with blinding golden divine light as he brought it down in a cleaving strike.

Crack!

The terrible aura from that hundred-thousand-jin axe covered heaven and earth. The ground split open in dozens of crevasses several yards wide, spreading into the distance.

Boom!

Several low hills in the distance could not bear the immense force transmitted through the earth and crumbled. This showed how terrifying the Golden Giant King's axe was.

He was like a great golden war god, unstoppable in his might.

Even the Asura King, powerful as he was at the Perfected Man realm, was sent flying backward by the blow. The thirteen divine cables, which had been stretched taut, clattered to the ground.

This showed the Golden Giant King's overwhelming strength. In terms of raw divine power, who among the hundred race kings could rival him?

The Asura King, calling himself Heavenly King, had been sent flying by a single strike—naturally, he was furious. The thirteen iron cables in his hand snapped taut in an instant, then stabbed toward the golden-blooded Giant King like divine spears.

The thirteen cables were netherworld divine artifacts. No one knew how many years they had been refined. Passed down to the Asura King, they had been forged into peerless baleful weapons, long since awakened to sentience. If he could evolve to the Half-Ancestor realm, this baleful weapon would surely become a Half-Ancestor holy artifact.

Clank, clank…

The thirteen blood-red cables each became as thick as a water barrel, piercing through the void. Some coiled around the Asura King's body, some vanished into nothingness, while others appeared before the Golden Giant King, penetrating toward him like blood-colored great serpents.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The enormous golden battle-axe clashed with the blood-red divine cables, producing thunderous sounds that numbed the ears.

But the Asura King had reached the Perfected Man realm after all. His divine skills were unmatched, as could be seen from his control of the divine cables—they traversed space to strike the enemy, impossible to defend against.

Puff! Puff!

The thirteen cables danced wildly between heaven and earth. The Golden Giant King, though divinely strong, could not withstand the Asura King at the Perfected Man realm. Two blood cables slipped past his axe and in an instant pierced his massive body. Golden blood sprayed like a fountain.

Golden blood—sacred like divine essence—scattered across the sky, blazing with dazzling brilliance. The Giant King roared in fury and swung his axe to chop. The two divine cables withdrew like venomous snakes.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Sparks flew as the axe and blood cables clashed, producing sounds that could split metal and stone.

Puff! Puff! Puff! In the blink of an eye, three more bloody holes—pierced clean through—appeared on the Giant King's body. The blood-red divine cables were truly impossible to guard against.

If not for the other alien kings also attacking the Asura King, the Golden Giant King would surely have been doomed.

Just then, the Golden Lion King and the Five-Colored Peacock King also burst out from underground. The two were mortal enemies, having once fought a great battle in the Southern Wastes' Heavenly Emperor City. Now they met again, and seemed to have forgotten the treasure hunt, locked in a life-or-death struggle inside the palace before finally emerging now.

The Basde Ancient Spear and five chaos divine feathers were evenly matched. The two fought in a frenzy that blotted out heaven and earth. In the end, the Five-Colored Peacock King showed signs of defeat and withdrew.

By now, all the kings had reddened eyes. Many alien kings wanted to use the chaos to eliminate rivals. Seeing the Five-Colored Peacock King covered in blood, someone immediately attacked him.

But five-colored divine light surged into the sky, and the ambusher was sent flying.

"How dare you!" The Five-Colored Peacock King was outraged. He pressed the attack, and in moments, brilliant divine light tore the ambusher apart. His combat power was plain to see, immediately discouraging others who had been tempted.

The Golden Lion King's dominance was clear to all. As he flew out, some tried to take the chance to kill this great enemy, but he shattered them with a blood spear in an instant.

Still, the kings did not retreat because of this. He held the Basde Ancient Spear, and many coveted it. Everyone had come to seize the supreme treasures—how could they not strike now?

The battle grew even more chaotic. The Asura King and the Golden Lion King were both surrounded. At this time, the War God King and the Blood Infant also burst out together. The War God King was furious; the banner had clearly been taken by another, yet this Blood Infant would not let him go. They were still locked in a death struggle, an absolutely irreconcilable situation.

Chaotic battle—kings fighting for their lives!

As he fought, Xiao Chen gathered corpses. Every king here was extraordinary, the ruler of their race. The life essence they contained was simply unimaginable.

For Xiao Chen, this was a rare treasure trove. In a brief quarter-hour, four alien kings had already fallen, and he had collected every one into his spatial ring.

The War God King battled the Blood Infant; the Asura King fought the assembled kings; the Golden Lion King clashed with the Five-Colored Peacock King and other alien kings. The scene was bloody and violently intense to the extreme.

Clang!

A deafening sound rang out. Five of the Asura King's divine cables shattered the Golden Giant King's battle-axe. Then three more blood cables shot into the sky and, in a hair's breadth, coiled around the Giant King's neck.

Puff!

Golden blood sprayed into the sky. The Golden Giant King's neck was severed clean through by the Asura King. His enormous head rolled to the ground, like a small mountain, shaking the earth with its fall.

Golden blood scattered everywhere. The huge headless corpse crashed down into the forest, golden blood dazzling to the eye.

Everyone was shaken. A Golden Giant King had been slain just like that!

Xiao Chen naturally would not miss this opportunity. He shook off his opponent, rushed to the ground, and stored the enormous golden corpse into his spatial ring. This was precious material that could help him be reborn. Even if he had not obtained the Sovereign Banner today, he was still a great victor.

Clatter…

The blood-red divine cables stabbed toward Xiao Chen. The Asura King loathed this man to the core. Now, all words were superfluous; only truly killing the enemy was the best retaliation.

Xiao Chen activated the 'Weng' Heavenly Sound to meet the attack—an unmistakable, supremely powerful technique that shattered the sky itself.

Other alien kings might not have thought much of it, since the Skeleton clan commanded such abilities. But not far away, Yan Qingcheng and Yin Ying showed expressions of disbelief. Both had experienced the great false-god calamity in the Nine Provinces and naturally recognized this technique of Xiao Chen's. The two women stared intently at the yellow-diamond skeleton, uncertain.

"Fellow kings, join forces and kill the Asura King! I would rather give up the Sovereign Banner to all of you than let this evil king keep it!"

Xiao Chen shouted, attacking first.

At the word 'Sovereign Banner,' all the kings struck with full force. Regardless, if they could take the opportunity to eliminate the Asura King—a terrifying expert who had already reached the Perfected Man realm—it would surely count as a great achievement.

"ROAR…"

From the distant forest came a heaven-shaking roar. The entire primeval mountain range trembled, and the earth shook violently.

A colossal figure over ten meters tall came charging, its entire body covered with black fur over a foot long, looking extraordinarily savage.

It was a giant—the Dark-Furred Giant who had come with the Golden Giant King!

In his hands, he held a pitch-black iron cudgel weighing over a hundred thousand jin, moving like a whirlwind. The ground cracked open in terrible fissures with his every step.

The Dark-Furred Giant sensed that the Golden Giant King had fallen. Seeing the Asura King's divine cables, he instantly knew who the murderer was, and his face showed terrifying fury.

With the momentum of Mount Tai crashing down, he swung the black iron cudgel at the Asura King.

Thump!

The Asura King—a dignified Perfected Man realm expert—was smashed into the earth by that single blow. This result surprised everyone.

Boom!

The ground shattered. The Asura King shot into the air, glaring at the Dark-Furred Giant.

At the same time, the Dark-Furred Giant underwent a startling transformation. The black fur on his body began to shimmer with seven-colored radiance. In this moment, he seemed wild and overbearing, swinging the black iron cudgel to sweep and kill in all directions.

"This is… the Dark King of the Giant clan, one who awakens through fate, a successor surpassing the golden bloodline!"

Everyone was astonished.

The Asura King was in serious trouble. The Dark-Furred Giant possessed both divine strength and godlike agility, and his pitch-black iron cudgel shattered the void, sweeping in every direction. He was like an invincible demon god.

At this point, Xiao Chen was driven back into the underground palace by several alien kings. He said to Keke in the shadows, "Let's go to the blood pool. King's blood—how can we let it go to waste? That too is a supreme treasure. Let them fight. We'll clean up the mess later."

Two pursuers followed him inside, but once deep in the underground palace, Xiao Chen had no more scruples. He called the little beast to help, and soon both were killed in Paradise Lost.

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged on the ritual platform composed entirely of skulls and began to meditate quietly. Strands of blood essence slowly rose from the blood pool, shrouding Xiao Chen's yellow-diamond skeleton.

"As expected of king's blood. Truly a peerless treasure of death-world beings!" Xiao Chen rejoiced. "Keke, guard me. I will refine the king's blood here!"

"Ya-ya!" Keke nodded seriously, like a good baby, sitting not far away, staring at the passage entrance. But sitting still for too long was truly hard for the little creature. Before long, it opened Paradise Lost, pulled out a pile of spirit fruits, and sat on the ground eating them with relish—while of course not forgetting to stand guard for Xiao Chen.