Chapter 2845 - 92: Towering Walls of Resolve, Strength Born from Desire (Catch-Up Update 5/8)

A cliff rising a thousand fathoms—such mountain rock is strong of itself, not hardened by being free of desire.

What desire does mud have? Is it not just kneaded and trampled at will!

Only in the instant before his consciousness was extinguished did Yuan Mengji finally understand this truth.

He still had beautiful dreams of Heavenly Demon nobility and the true inheritance of Yuan Xianting; the shattering of those dreams came in a single moment.

At first he only felt the radiance of divinity shining upon him, then all manner of Divine Power surging.

The ecstasy of power swelling without limit is enough to destroy any resolve.

Yet he still clung to the desire to leave.

He would not take merit, would not accept reward, would not seek treasure; he only wanted to return intact, to cling to his Heavenly Demon grandfather’s thigh.

But he simply could not move.

The gap of absolute power cannot be bridged by will.

His body was destroyed and reassembled again and again, while his consciousness collapsed before his flesh!

But in the end...who was it that killed me?

This final question echoed desolately in his heart, then faded away.

Just as he had briefly shone, yet would in the end have his life judged as "stupid."

By now this giant ape was already a hundred zhang tall, massive as a mountain range, like a new peak rising atop the Divine Mountain, and still growing higher!

All the divine radiance in the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods was converging upon him without limit!

Lu Qilang stood in silence before the Bronze Cauldron.

As expected! Someone who holds the pieces is making a move through the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods!

He had long prepared for the Shenxiao game.

That sudden flash of inspiration in the common inn, and Yu Xin’s clumsy performance at Feiyun Tower, were merely to make his entry into the game feel all the more natural.

But before entering the Shenxiao World, he did not know the full plan of the ancestors.

Indeed, to avoid sparking inspiration too early and causing any commotion that might alert rival players, he had only been told that a secret trove would emerge in Mo Yun City.

At the beginning he did not even know the two characters "Shenxiao."

Not until that Human Race Master Xingnian crossed the Celestial River alone in his boat, and the Heavenly Demons gathered to block and kill him mid‑river, was Lu Qilang informed of the detailed layout.

Ji Xingkong sought the Knowledge and Hearing Bell.

Zhu Yi sought the Eternal Youth Spring.

Chan Fayuan wanted all of it.

Yet the ancestors’ arrangement had from the very start been set down within the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods.

But as the hidden apparatus secretly supported by the Ancient Imperial City for untold ages, the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods ought to have revealed itself only at the final moment of this journey.

Lu Qilang, too, should have followed the plan, and together with his own ancestor become the final victor.

But now the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods had been awakened ahead of time, Yuan Mengji had turned into this damned thing, and was near‑infinitely plundering Divine Power...how was the plan to proceed?

His hand resting on the sword hilt for several breaths, he still chose to endure.

This Yuan Mengji who was endlessly plundering Divine Power was not a threat to him alone. His inspiration told him besides that hidden in the dark, watching the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods, was more than just himself.

Leaning his back against the Bronze Cauldron, looking up at the giant ape’s Divine Appearance, Lu Qilang told himself in his heart that patience is a hunter’s virtue...

Then he heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air!

He twisted his head and saw Xiong Sansi suddenly draw his saber; without a word, he had already swung down at Ken Xihua!

In an instant his heart had already made its judgment. This was no act of impulse, nor blind slaughter without a target. Because the distance between Xiong Sansi and Ken Xihua practically spanned the entire Heaven Demon Dharma Altar; the two were standing almost at opposite ends of the altar.

For Xiong Sansi, attacking any other demon would have been far easier than going for Ken Xihua—this was also the key to how Ken Xihua tumbled and scrambled away from that first cut!

"Master, save me!"

Ken Xihua, panic‑stricken, ducked behind Yang Yu, and began to accuse in a harsh voice: "Xiong Sansi, are you insane? At such a critical juncture you still think about wiping out the competition, and strike first at your fellow travelers?!"

"To think the one traveling from Ancient Nan Mountain is also a disciple of Tiger Taisui!" Xiong Sansi leaped forward with saber in hand. "It was I who underestimated you, Ken Xihua; only now do I see your methods!"

Yang Yu raised his palm to block. "Layman, be calm. What proof do you have to..."

"Calm your grandma’s leg!" Shujia Lan drove a kick straight over. "Ken Xihua is obviously a hidden pawn of Tiger Taisui. When enemies meet, eyes turn red! If it were you, could you stay calm?"

He had given several subtle hints before, but none had been answered. Even now he did not know what plan his Great Bodhisattva and Xiong Sansi had in mind, but stopping Yang Yu was certainly right.

And he had to raise the banner of righteous vengeance high, so that the bald head from Ancient Nan Mountain could also taste what it feels like to be looked down upon from on high.

The two Monks, with old hatred and new, were already hacking into each other; over there, Ken Xihua was still fleeing for his life.

"Absurd! If you want to kill me, at least bother to find a proper excuse. I’ve grown this big and have never even seen Tiger Taisui! If I’ve spoken half a word of falsehood, may my entire Ken Xihua family die out!" Seeing Yang Yu held back, Ken Xihua ran toward Zhu Lanruo’s side instead. "Miss Zhu, save me! We are of one lineage from The Sky Sloth Wilderness, of one breath and one branch—you can’t just watch me die!"

Yet no matter how he fled, the distance between him and Zhu Lanruo could never be drawn closer.

For Zhu Lanruo was withdrawing outward at almost exactly his speed.

"Miss Zhu?!" Ken Xihua sprang up and down, shocked and furious. "My Mo Yun Dog Family has served your Spider Family for generations, and you can actually harden your heart and watch me die?"

Zhu Lanruo did not bother explaining anything to him; she merely swept the broken string in her hand across: "I don’t care who you are. But if you dare take another step forward, the one to cut off your head will not be Xiong Sansi, but me, Zhu Lanruo."

Ken Xihua stared at her in fury and terror; in those beautiful eyes, he did not see the slightest wavering.

"Fine."

He suddenly spoke with such calm.

The panic on his face vanished in an instant, the surging in his eyes fell silent in a heartbeat.

His steps halted as well, then he suddenly whirled around!

"I only wanted to ferret out that Furry God who slipped into this realm, I couldn’t be bothered to do anything to you, yet you insist on forcing me to strike now!"

For the first time, he faced Xiong Sansi head-on; the black, sinister demon mark on his left cheek writhed like a living thing, in a blink covering his entire face!

His already gloomy features, under the shroud of the demon mark, became all the more grim and terrifying. His five fingers darted out like lightning, and actually seized Xiong Sansi’s blade edge!

He, Ken Xihua, actually possessed the strength to confront Xiong Sansi in a frontal clash!

Then what need had he, in days past, to vie with Quan Xizai? Setting aside that True Monster Quan Yingyang of Zhaoyun Peak, his strength alone would have sufficed to overturn the entire Mo Yun Dog Family!

Yang Yu, locked in combat with Shujia Lan, felt cold sweat bead along his spine. With such a powerhouse disguised among their entourage, and he had not guarded against him more—if Ken Xihua harbored any Evil Thought toward him, the consequences would be simply unthinkable.

Xiong Sansi held the blade in one hand, slowly exerting force in a downward chop: "If you hadn’t been so impatient to rouse the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods, I truly wouldn’t have discovered you. Ken Xihua, just how many methods has Tiger Taisui prepared?"

"Call me Lingxihua." Ken Xihua was not as tall as Xiong Sansi; he had to tilt his head slightly up to look straight into Xiong Sansi’s eyes, yet at this moment he bore a chill, sharp aura of his own, not inferior to any Demon King. In a likewise extremely slow tone he said, "I’ll repeat myself once more: I don’t know any Tiger Taisui. I am the child of the Three Evil Tribulation Monarch. I am also, between Heaven and Earth, the very first of the Spirit Clan!"

As the final two words, "Spirit Clan," fell.

Terrifying powers collided together.

Their upper garments burst apart almost simultaneously!

Revealing Xiong Sansi’s upper body, bearing bone arm armor demon marks, and demon fog coiled about his waist and abdomen.

Also revealing Ken Xihua’s lithe body, covered in backward-growing bone spurs.

Clearly they were "creations" of the same place, both birthed from the Thousand Tribulations Cave.

It was no easy feat for Ken Xihua, with such a body, to have traveled with Yang Yu earlier, yet even while covered in wounds, not a single injury showed any flaw.

"Oh." Xiong Sansi’s bone arm armor slowly spread to cover his whole body; a dry rasp sounded from his throat: "So you’re a mongrel."

"What did you say!?" If some other Demon had cursed him thus, Lingxihua might still have understood; but hearing such words from Xiong Sansi’s mouth filled him with rage and absurdity: "You and I bear the same blood, are born with the same kind of flesh shell!"

By now Xiong Sansi was armored from head to toe; in an instant, killing intent surged, like sweeping a thousand armies on the battlefield: "But my heart has not been crossbred!"

His blade edge was still clutched in Lingxihua’s grasp. Yet the cataract-like blade-light hewed out of the void in an instant submerged Lingxihua!

...

Now then, the Divine Appearance giant ape catalyzed by Yuan Mengji’s Flesh Body had long since lost its footing atop the Cloud Platform, tumbling into the sea of clouds below, jostling the surrounding Divine Statues askew and crooked.

Though only half its body protruded above the cloud sea, it still towered like a mountain, its height piercing the clouds.

Fangs jutted out, red visage like blood, golden pupils motionless, it gazed down upon the crowd of Little Monsters on the Heaven Demon Dharma Altar.

The ceaseless waves of divine radiance rippling through the cloud sea were the outward manifestation of its continual siphoning of Divine Power from the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods.

It in fact had little to do with Tiger Taisui.

Over the endless ages, the Ancient Imperial City’s God Enthronement Platform had poured untold Power into the Shenxiao World. That vast Power gathered into a sea; as the years endured, it gestated "spirits."

It was the most robust among them, having slain the others and claimed the treasure ground for itself.

Though it possessed vast Power, it still could not yet be called a "Deity," nor counted as a living being.

For it held only Power, yet lacked all else that Heaven and Earth bestow on life—including flesh shell and Spirit.

There is a relatively fitting term for it—called a "Divine Infant."

It did not possess complex wisdom, but over the long course of its growth, it had already developed the instincts of life. It instinctively desired to become a complete living being.

When the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods had just surfaced and the Divine Statues were rising and sinking, there was a terror method rooted on the level of Standards. It was marshaling the Power of the Sea of Ten Thousand Gods to call forth Deities.

It lurked at the bottom of the sea, not daring to stir.

But instinctive fear did not last; it did not even have enough memory to remember such a sensation.

As soon as that Standards-based method slightly dissipated, it immediately sprang out to "feed," invading and seizing Yuan Mengji, who was closest and easiest to deal with.

The entire Sea of Ten Thousand Gods was its rear garden. The Shenxiao World was its home.

It was the Heaven’s Destiny child of this world; whatever it did would be sheltered, "law" was merely a kind of instinct.

It merely instinctively and discreetly invaded a flesh shell to bear more Power; "concealment" had already taken shape, and none of the Demons within this arena sensed a thing.

After devouring Yuan Mengji, its wisdom had grown a little by now.

Though it could hardly be called clever, it could vaguely understand that this cluster of tiny Little Monsters on the Heaven Demon Dharma Altar should soon be coming to attack it.

Thus it gazed down upon them with cold indifference.

But what was happening now? Why were they fighting among themselves?

Its mind was still somewhat muddled, unable to process such a complex issue. Hence it craved more wisdom; its enormous palm came crashing down, covering the entire rotten Heaven Demon Dharma Altar!