Chapter 466: Chapter 184 Heluo God Reappears
Taiping Sect retreated very decisively and quickly, evacuating from the Two Saints Temple in no time and leaving chaos behind.
Even the body of Chu Yan was left behind.
The towering body was no longer recognizable; its flesh was almost completely incinerated by the "Sunshine in the sky" golden light, and it had become a charred corpse. Its feet were even melted into the ground, still maintaining an upright posture.
This was one of the prices Taiping Sect had left behind, and Chu Yan was treated as part of that repayment.
However, Chu Yan’s Dao Fruit had been taken away, which saved Taiping Sect some face.
Watching Taiping Sect believers retreat one after another, Zuo Qinghong finally lost his relaxed expression. His face darkened like water, and he couldn’t help whispering bitterly, "Unfilial."
The Upper Pure Sect had come to aid and support Taiping Sect. Instead of the supporters retreating, it was the supported who had withdrawn first, which Zuo Qinghong found intolerable.
"Senior Brother, should we leave or retreat?" Junior Brother Fang Yesheng asked tremulously.
Looking at Chu Yan’s body, the fear in his eyes was almost unmasked, without any of the previous bluster, which infuriated Zuo Qinghong.
’Rubbish.’
Zuo Qinghong cursed inwardly, then glanced at the charred corpse and said, "We leave."
With the fourth-rank of Taiping Sect gone, why should he, a fifth-rank, stay behind?
Moreover...
His arm holding the Peach Wood Sword trembled slightly, and a burning Flame Qi raged within his arm, turning it crimson.
During the earlier exchange, Zuo Qinghong had not emerged unscathed and had also been injured.
Sensing the intensity of the Flame Qi, Zuo Qinghong gestured slightly with his mind, and a white cloud formed under his feet, lifting him and Fang Yesheng into the air.
Riding on clouds was an ability common to all fifth-rank Immortal Fruits; although injured, Zuo Qinghong’s Dao Fruit was not affected. The two rode the auspicious cloud out of the temple and headed toward their Sect elder to report the situation and get help in removing the Flame Qi.
The cloud moved slowly but in reality was swift, covering more than ten li and entering a curtain of rain.
Due to the clash of three fourth-ranks, the heavy rain had been completely stopped near Two Saints Temple, but ten li away, it was still raining intermittently. The cold raindrops fell on the body, the moisture seeping into the arm, causing Zuo Qinghong to let out a muffled groan.
The Flame Qi met water and flared up as if it met firewood. Zuo Qinghong felt an intense burning sensation spreading throughout his body, his organs felt like they were on fire, and both his blood and True Qi seemed about to be scorched clean.
"Ugh—ah—" he shrieked in pain.
"Senior Brother!"
Fang Yesheng quickly supported Zuo Qinghong, but when his palm touched Zuo Qinghong’s shoulder, his fingers suddenly transformed.
They changed from normal fingers into strange tentacles with suction cups and scales, piercing through Zuo Qinghong’s vestment robe and deep into his flesh, as dark red blood streaks expanded under the skin.
"You..."
Zuo Qinghong looked incredulously at his shoulder, "Heluo God!"
"Indeed, it is I."
Fang Yesheng’s pale face had now become serene, his vermilion vertical pupils held a mocking look, and his voice, now neutral, spoke, "Senior Brother Zuo, you have taken care of me all this time. I always repay kindnesses, so I will help you end your torment."
Where the dark red blood streaks passed, the burning sensation rapidly dissipated, and the flesh quickly adapted to the high temperatures, creating a stronger physical body that withstood the backlash of the Flame Qi.
But with it, Zuo Qinghong was losing control over his physical body; the parts covered by the blood streaks felt completely numb, as if they were no longer his.
Among the nineteen Demons of the Devil God Sect, the Locust God was widely known for his ferocity, but Heluo God was infamous for his deceitful actions, specializing in possessing others’ bodies and usurping their identities for committing all kinds of evil acts.
At this moment, Heluo God undoubtedly intended to target Zuo Qinghong.
"So that’s it. After Junior Brother Fang returned from Yong Province and advanced in realm by leaps and bounds, I thought he had gained enlightenment through hardships. It turns out he was under your wicked manipulation."
While engaging verbally to draw attention, Zuo Qinghong desperately tried to mobilize his True Qi in resistance.
Heluo God, upon hearing this, revealed a mocking smile and was about to speak. However, before he could voice a word, the auspicious cloud under their feet suddenly disappeared, causing the two to plummet from the sky.
Zuo Qinghong revealed joy, about to seize the opportunity to break free.
Although the clone of Heluo God could move independently, it was three grades lower than his original form, which was at the Seventh Rank. At such a realm, even though Zuo Qinghong was currently injured and restrained, a counterattack wasn’t entirely impossible.
However—
"You think I am at the Seventh Rank?"
Heluo God said with a full face of mockery, "Everyone knows my clone is three grades lower than my original form, but what they don’t know is that my clone can also merge."
The tentacles formed by his fingers swelled and rapidly drilled in, completely suppressing Zuo Qinghong’s counterattack.
Each tentacle represented one clone; now, Heluo God was a merge of at least five clones.
"Come down."
Heluo God firmly controlled Zuo Qinghong, carrying him down to the top of a nearby mountain, where the tentacles writhed, continuously merging into Zuo Qinghong’s body. Beneath the skin, countless blood threads densely intertwined, permeating each inch of flesh.
Zuo Qinghong’s attempt to muster True Qi failed, instead aggravating his injuries and accelerating Heluo God’s invasion. Seeing the mockery on Heluo God’s face, he realized his plan was completely transparent to this Devil Cultivator, and he had been outmaneuvered.
The physical injuries and mental blows continuously led Zuo Qinghong towards defeat. Despite not having given up resistance, he was powerless to stop the accelerating invasion.
Meanwhile, Heluo God continued his psychological attacks, "Your Junior Brother was scared witless by Jiang Li, and had it not been for me, even if he had survived and returned, he would have been a wreck. Didn’t you notice I was exceedingly cautious today, unlike my usual behavior? It’s because Jiang Li was here. I feared being exposed, hence didn’t act in a way typical of Fang Yesheng, but alas, you failed to notice."
"And Jiang Li has long since forgotten about that useless Fang Yesheng, thus sparing me the danger of being exposed, truly a stroke of divine luck······"
Heluo God’s voice stopped abruptly.
For he saw, not far in front, under a giant rock, a little red dog was squatting, tilting its head and looking at them both. In its blood-red eyes, there seemed to be mockery similar to his own.
Clearly, this was a dog with spiritual intelligence.
More importantly, Heluo God had not detected this dog before. This meant either he, Heluo God, had been careless enough to overlook a mere dog, or this dog was as strong as him.
"It’s not heaven helping you, it’s me, Jiang Li, helping you."
A faint undulation emerged from the red dog’s body, with mists of Qi forming behind it, transmitting Jiang Li’s voice.
"Heluo God, it’s been a long time."
This dog, it was Jiang Li’s dog.
Heluo God wasn’t aware of Jiang Li using the dog to bite the Eldest Prince, but he had heard that Jiang Li seemed to have a dog. He had never imagined someone would keep a Fifth Rank dog.
"As it turns out, humans are not as good as dogs."
Thinking of the difficulties he met when initially advancing to Fifth Rank, Heluo God sighed, while discreetly continuing to erode Zuo Qinghong.
However, with his actions, the Flame Qi within Zuo Qinghong’s body seemed to come alive, fiercely igniting his blood and True Qi, causing large areas of Zuo Qinghong’s body to emit steam.
"Evil Luo Sheng."
Heluo God instantly frowned, as evil energy followed his tentacles into manifestation, forming multiple tiny skulls that rushed into Zuo Qinghong’s body.
Vast blood vessels spread from the shoulder downwards, while the red Flame Qi had already invaded his torso, opposing the blood threads.
As the two forces met, a hint of malevolence flashed across Heluo God’s eyebrows, as the skulls wildly scurried inside Zuo Qinghong’s body.
Jiang Li wasn’t physically there, whereas Heluo God, a merge of several clones with strength also at the Fifth-grade Realm, held a significant advantage. He didn’t believe he couldn’t suppress a mere Flame Qi.
As expected, the evil energy overpowered the Flame Qi, and the blood threads kept expanding, but then—
"Ow-woo."
Suddenly, Heluo God felt a pain in his calf; the little red dog had, with the swiftness of lightning, bitten down on his leg.