Quest Maker of Soul Land

Chapter 193: The God Paradox (2)

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The giant reverse waterfall was situated within a forested region and this simply happened to be Ah Yin's home field. Even without expending her own energy, her domain captured the vitality of the plants around her within the stretching domain and the crater with arcs of electricity was layered with lush blue silver variants yet again. If it was someone else, Ah Yin would have held mocking intentions but even she didn't dare look down on a Titled Douluo.

Hu Lana and others had retreated with Bibi Dong covering for them. If possible, she wanted Yu Yuanzhen to realize that the effort placed to kill them wasn't worth the benefits and the troubles that would follow soon. After all, aside from Tang Yuehua who had yet to reach her golden era, and Oscar who was a support master, only Hu Lana needed protection and that, too, because of her pregnancy. Otherwise, the vixen's abilities had only grown better.

In the middle of the retreat was Ah Yin. She kept herself covered in a dome of blue silver variants with added elemental resistance of her third spirit skill and controlled the vines to keep Yuanzhen busy while Erlong's and Ja Sun's bodies whistled about. Due to the pseudo-domain of True Fantasy, Ja Sun and Liu Erlong were in quite a great sync as their thoughts related to the battle were transferred in an instant.

Well, it was only true for Ja Sun. He kept his thoughts in line with battle but Erlong's feedback was more... brutal and all over the place.

"Get down!"

Liu Erlong's voice boomed as Ja Sun ducked, a sharp blue scaled claw waving through the spot where the back of his head passed by as Erlong's flames took the shape of large flaming jaws that bit onto Yu Yuanzhen.

The force of the attack barely hurt Yuanzhen, however, his expression only grew worse as his scales began to turn to ashes and every move caused him to feel a shuddering pain from his back.

On his back, his scales were neatly layered. Yet dozens of spots actually had raised deformations in the shape of a sphere. Every time Yuanzhen moved, his flesh, muscles, and even bones were made to forcefully contract around these spots and these areas seemed to be filled with something hard and unrelenting.

The dragon beard needles. As long as they are in contact with the user's spirit energy, they remain sharp and refined. The moment this contact is lost, the sharp hair-like crystal needles would contract into spheres, and given that these needles were nurtured in Ja Sun's own bloodstream, nobody aside from him could take care of these sets of needles and to take them out, a session of careful surgery must be performed in the impacted area.

'If only surgery existed here,' Ja Sun narrowed his eyes. His thoughts weren't remotely close with Bibi Dong's. She wanted Yuanzhen to retreat and Ja Sun wanted Yuanzhen to die. Nothing personal.

It was simply the rewards that attracted him. Even if unusable, the technique manual would further his base of knowledge and the value of spirit bone is known, no doubt about it. The allure of these treasures wasn't inhibited despite Ja Sun having many of them.

After all, there was a high chance that Yuanzhen had the specific spirit bone on his body, or else it wouldn't have appeared in the rewards and the value of two similar spirit bones above the level of 90000 years...

Ja Sun's gaze glinted and his body right arm without the complete augmentation of the Silver Burst was now layered with purplish mist.

His fourth spirit skill Heaven's Descent!

---

"Burn away!"

"No, I will not... gonna cry?"

Redstar's body below his neck was lit up with golden flames yet they couldn't cover his face. A smug grin kept on his face and he waved his hand nonetheless.

Qian Xunji and Redstar silently stared at each other with many thoughts transmitted instinctively.

'Go on, use your trump card. You won't die to meaningless attacks and I won't even begin getting serious unless I get to know what you're planning.'

'Damn you! Did you forget all the humiliation? Out of everyone, including her father, you're the one who wants me dead the most!'

Qian Xunji needed to 'fall' before having his meteoric rise and for that, Redstar needed to attack him seriously. Until now, all the attacks from Redstar might injure the likes of Chen Xin who had yet to reach their greatest potential but these were meaningless to Qian Xunji, and with the scope of transmission of the live feed, acting strangely might give away the entire situation.

Redstar knew of this fact, too. He was deeply aware of Qian Xunji's final goal... well, it's a goal shared by almost top-level experts of the continent. It's just the process that made Redstar curious and since it involved his own skills, Redstar wouldn't give Qian Xunji the satisfaction of easily having his goals achieved unless Redstar himself gets to know things in detail.

Just the fact that Redstar would rather keep smiling and suppress Qian Xunji's True Sun Flames below his neck made the Pope realize that making the devil move without his wishes wasn't as easy as imagined. Then again, he would have been deluded to underestimate Redstar and his sheer desire to foil his plans.

'He won't easily get riled up by words. He won't take the bait to my attacks. I cannot rely on my father after having him back off. Bibi Dong isn't here and using her would be counterproductive in the long run anyway. But... there are three eager pieces around me, why wouldn't I make use of them?'

Qian Xunji snorted and waved his flame sword towards the outskirts of the arena. Multiple pillars of flames precisely struck the few remaining subordinates that Qian Xunji himself assisted in their disguises.

'How shameless!' Dai Laohu and others thought in an instant.

The Supreme Pontiff had chased Tang Peng off and took the task of dealing with Redstar himself yet his actions slyly placed every remaining Titled Douluo against Redstar. After all, without any remaining subordinates to keep them busy, Tang Peng, Dai Laohu, and Chen Xin could only place their focus on Redstar and this attack revealed the depth of Qian Xunji's skills as he took out multiple opponents at once. Of course, his attributes were a direct counter to most of the evil spirit masters and the attack came out of nowhere but it still gave the trio a reason to be cautious of Qian Xunji.

"What a pathetic excuse of a god you'll become," Redstar compressed his voice, physically unable to voice the part of Qian Xunji's plans. Still, his words felt like a stab to Qian Xunji's heart as the man clad in golden flames narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Redstar Douluo, you have caused massacres since the very beginning of your life. You are the cause of Beasttaken Tides in the South and you are the cause of the death of many citizens in the villages of the Heaven Dou Empire including Trims, Kilp, and such!

You are going to be judged here and now!"

"Oh, well," Redstar hummed thoughtfully, "I don't ever remember devouring the Kilp village. I guess, I did commit other stuff."

Redstar chuckled loudly.

'Kilp... Kilp... Hm? Isn't that my own home village... ah... yeah, that should be on me,' Ja Sun's clone was viewing the battle from the nearest village that had the set-up of receivers for feedback, and the information was shared directly, making his lips twitch.

To be precise, the destruction of Kilp Village was a joint effort of the 6-year-old Ja Sun who knew nothing of Evil Title, the very angry Devilgod Tiger, and an incomparably incensed Qian Xunji.

"How could you laugh at this?" Chen Xin frowned.

"It's just blood, it's just lives," Redstar smiled calmly as the flames around him seemed to have been infected by a blood-red component that served to turn its color to a more corrupted amber.

"And I have never been charged with the act of discrimination. I honestly abhor gender inequality. As such, I kill men and women with the same expression and the same thought in my heart.

That reminds me, your disciple is engaged to the Successor of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, right? When I survive this, I promise to kill them both together," Redstar grinned and then looked at Dai Laohu, "The same goes for your kid and his partner... hmm, I'm a little sad that she's pregnant though.

And the three of your children, too," Redstar glanced at Tang Peng.

'Corruption Wave~!'

Redstar's body suddenly exploded and the reddened flames shot out.

"Don't let it touch you," Qian Xunji warned timely but his expression was gloomy once he saw the absolute killing intent boiling within the three other Titled Douluos.

"Too bad I can't hunt little bastards from your Spirit Hall. They found a rather unnerving backer," Redstar's voice boomed as the blood of his subordinates suddenly began to shift and multiple Redstars were now formed. They surrounded the four as the previous situation of the four surrounding Redstar was reversed.

"But it hurts me. Even the continent can see the hypocrisy hidden behind your acts. You value honor but would rather surround a lone man instead of fighting me squarely?"

The eleven Redstars spoke at once, their voices mixing and turning strange as the four Titled Douluos felt uncomfortable by the sync of his voice.

"A devil doesn't deserve honor!" Dai Laohu growled. His giant body crouching.

"Says the Emperor who makes his children fight over a chair with a better title," Redstar smirked.

"I'll kill you!" Dai Laohu howled.

"I doubt it," Redstar seemed at ease when countless needles made of blood tore from the ground underneath and stabbed into his furry underbelly.

"Tsk, tsk, too lacking," The devil snickered as Dai Laohu felt the blood in his veins getting seized. Finally, Redstar's right crimson pupil seemed to be sporting a very dull but crimson ring barely perceivable and Dai Laohu's body turned and swept his claws in Tang Peng's direction.

Gritting his teeth, Tang Peng barely defended the blow, but it still pushed him back. He only glared in Redstar's direction and didn't consider the possibility that it was Dai Laohu attacking him voluntarily.

The apparitions of Redstar remained silent and smiled eerily without moving. Just their existence pressured the four Titled Douluo as one of them already danced in the palms of Redstar.

'Still not enough,' Qian Xunji and Redstar thought simultaneously.

This wasn't enough to beat Qian Xunji to the ground thus his cards still remained hidden.

'Do I need to kill one of them?' Redstar clicked his tongue. If possible, he didn't want to remove Qian Xunji's enemies. There was still a great chance that he might not survive today's ordeal and he wanted to leave as many thorns to Qian Xunji's side as possible.

While Redstar considered his options, a thought struck him.

'No matter what, the foundation of his future plans and hope are completely dependent on his reputation. Although I haven't had any contact with faith energy, he must have better insight regarding this and might be the reason why he wishes to consolidate his position as the savior of the continent...

But what if his abilities are overshadowed? What is the supposed reverence planned to be in awe of his abilities turned into lingering fear of destruction I can cause?'

The more Redstar thought of this, the confident he grew. Of course, he only had contact with spirit energy and a form of vital energy that emerges within the blood itself so he couldn't be 100% certain of his speculations. But Qian Xunji's past actions had allowed Redstar to gain some insight regarding this.

But there was a problem with this plan. Redstar's final objective, if possible, wasn't to foil Qian Xunji's plan but to kill him and he didn't want to waste his energy unnecessarily.

At this moment, a pitch-black portal opened up behind him and a tall and pale-faced man wearing grey and bony armor reached out with his long arm.

*Ka-cha*

Surprisingly, his arm reached Redstar's neck and broke it. The remaining apparitions instantly turned into pools of blood but before the assailant could smile, a shout broke his train of thought.

"Bone! Hurry and escape!"

It was Chen Xin.

The Sword Douluo suddenly rushed towards his partner Bone Douluo's side and struck out with his sword. Numerous streams of sword energy materialized and the area was dazzled with the silver glow.

"What the-"

Bone Douluo gasped as he suddenly felt an attractive force pull him out of the portal and an amused tone was sent directly to his head, "To use your spatial element to find the differences between my clones and attack my real body... hehe, the only difference is the addition of soul but with so many individuals, I guess, I can give that up, too!"

'Giving up... soul?'

Everyone's pupils constricted and Redstar's figure seemed to be growing out of the splash of blood on Bone Douluo's arm.

"I don't think so!" Bone Douluo snorted. His body made strangely eery crunching noises as his arm was... 'popped' out. It was as if Bone Douluo's body was made out of resounding clicks of puzzle-like bones that could be broken at his wishes.

In tandem, Chen Xin sliced off the arm neatly but no blood flowed out. Instead, from the area of impact, a disc of bone could be seen covering the opening of the shoulder.

"Too bad, too bad!"

Redstar's body continued to grow and his fleshy wings tore out of his back once again. There was a cold look in his eyes at the moment and if observed, tiny spirit rings appeared all around him.

*Roar*

Dai Laohu roared painfully but another pitch-black shadow reached his controlled body and Redstar suddenly felt his connection cut off. Instead, a massive pressure descended while Dai Laohu's body gave off a vortex of spirit energy before growing further. A pair of white wings sprouted on his back and his layer of furry coat had a golden undertone.

'Hell White Tiger!'

The pitch-black shadow was none other than his wife Rank 87 Spirit Douluo Zhu Yin.

The sudden fusion technique made Redstar's eyes lit up. Wholly unbothered, he flipped his hand and revealed a fist-sized blood-red core and Qian Xunji retreated without hesitation. A fearful look finally streaked past his eyes.

"What's that?" Tang Peng frowned.

"Attack with full force!" Chen Xin quietly transmitted and the Bone Douluo already regretted his actions of arriving here to assist this rag-tag band of Titled Douluos.

A phantom of bone dragon materialized behind his back and he distinctly felt the space around him locking up.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Redstar grinned and every drop of blood in his surroundings fell into his control.

The fusion of Dai Laohu and Zhu Yin revealed a pained expression. Bone and Sword Douluo felt pale as they lost all control of their bodies and even Qian Xunji and Tang Peng were stopped in their tracks.

---

"Oh? Forcefully overdrawing your core to raise the level of your domain above the realms of possible rank 99 peak," Qian Daoliu narrowed his eyes as he watched with interest high in the air. He felt the bloody aura even close in on him before retreating voluntarily.

"He has two cores... one related to spirit and the other one related to the concept of blood... a truly talented one. However, even if he survives this, his cultivation would fall," Qian Daoliu hummed thoughtfully. In his memories, there was only one individual as crazy as this... well...

His gaze fell in a certain direction with a wry smile.

'There are two... Oh, god, I still feel so lucky to accept a kid as crazy as that bastard... hehe, I should just send him to the Seas and let her know who's gonna rule in the future..." A sense of petty vengeance rose in his hearts and he began to snicker sharply.

---

"I want you all to stay down," Redstar chuckled.

The bodies of every being in his vicinity fell on the ground and Redstar began walking towards Qian Xunji. The expression on Qian Xunji's face couldn't be worse.

'He should know I have a trump card up my sleeves... but he still did this. He either wants to truly trample on my reputation and kill me with this attack or he has an even greater ace up his sleeves,' Qian Xunji couldn't help but grit his teeth before sighing deeply.

'But it would not be strange that he's trying to pursue the peak... to break from my control, he must need that strength, and to reach that peak, he must break out of my control. Oh, Redstar, you're stuck in the same paradox as I am...

Isn't that right father?

To be praised as a god, one must be a god. But without being a god, the quality of faith will always be rudimentary and thus, this is the vicious cycle we, who cannot even reach rank 99, are stuck in...'

Unknowingly, a beautiful dharma statue of an angel with serene and enchanting facial features, the size of a palm, appeared above him.

What was even stranger was that aside from those within the vicinity, nobody could see it through the recording devices as if the item itself didn't exist. Or the recording devices couldn't even capture the shape of the thing due to the strangely calm but frightening energy rolling off of its surface.

Feeling this energy, Redstar's eyes widened with a look of greed. Tang Peng and others were deeply frightened and Qian Daoliu had a bitter expression.

Some envied this state of energy. Some were instinctively fearful. And the other was deeply frustrated by it.

Only one had utmost reverence and respect.

'To reach that stage... whether foe or ally, they deserve the utmost respect.

Oh, Goddess.

You, whose essence shackles the likes of me and my father.

You, whose essence has also served to be our glory.

The rival of seas, the Protector of Sky...

Descend!'