LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 32: The Chaos Bell
Di Jun's face completely darkened. "Even if the heavens forgive you, I, Di Jun the Heavenly Emperor, will not! This is the second time you have dared to interrupt Heavenly Court's important ceremonies!"
He sent Xihe into the safety of Heavenly Court. Although she had also entered the Quasi-Saint Realm, her realm wasn't stable. Her addition would be appreciated, but if she fell, then it would be a greater loss for the Starry Sky War Array.
Di Jun led the three demon emperors, ten demon sages, and ten legions of the Celestial Army to confront the Titan Tribe. Once they flew out of South Heaven Gate, he saw the Titan Tribe standing belligerently.
About an eon has passed since their last confrontation, and the Titan Tribe hadn’t fully recovered from their losses, but the Demon Clan's reproductive capabilities surpassed theirs, so their number had actually grown. On the surface, it seemed that Heavenly Court had the advantage.
But Di Jun frowned. He could see that the number of giants with the strength of Golden Immortals of the Great Firmaments had increased compared to the previous time. What was more worrying was that all twelve titans exuded the aura of a Quasi-Saint!
Including Xihe, Heavenly Court had six Quasi-Saints, half the number of titans. However, they also had their Corpses. With Corpses, Heavenly Court can be said to have fifteen Quasi-Saints powerhouses, but at the same level, titans held the greater advantage in power. Not to mention that they needed to use spiritual artifacts to compete with titans.
Nonetheless, Di Jun didn't show any weakness. "Di Jiang, last time, you could only flee with your tails behind your legs. This time, you won't be so lucky!"
"Big words from a flat-feathered beast! You seemed to have forgotten you were the one beaten like a dog. This time, I'll make it your last moments!" Di Jiang shouted back, his killing intent skyrocketing.
Di Jiang didn't want Heavenly Court to have time to digest their merits. The Titan Tribe could not see the usefulness of merit, but he recognized its influence over time. The number of giants growing in strength increased and at a faster rate than before they gained control of the land.
Di Jun split off his Good and Evil Corpses to face off against Di Jiang. Having already experienced Di Jiang's power, Di Jun wanted to finish this as soon as possible.
Di Jiang immediately teamed up with Jiuyin. Although he had entered the Quasi-Saint Realm, he dared not face Di Jun alone.
Di Jun held the Celestial River Diagram in hand and formed the Starry Sky behind him. First, the Supreme Yang Star and the Supreme Yin Star shone brilliantly and shot out two beams. The two beams entwined, creating an attack greater than the sum of its parts.
"Haha, Di Jun, do you only know this trick?" Di Jiang asked while laughing.
As the beams struck him, Di Jiang's body turned gray and dispersed into a gray fog. The gray fog twisted space wherever it went and, moments later, reformed into Di Jiang.
Jiyin was not any worse than Di Jiang. A silver light encased his form and he blurred. He shifted away, and the beam struck where he originally had stood a second ago.
When the twelve titans reached the Quasi-Saint Realm, their innate abilities had upgraded, allowing them to transform their bodies into their elements. Even if a giant were to reach the Quasi-Saint Realm, they would never be able to achieve the same feats.
Di Jun snarled, but he didn’t let up his attacks. Beams of starlight shone from the three hundred sixty-five major stars, and arrows of starlight rained down from the forty-eight thousand minor stars.
While Di Jun battled Di Jiang and Jiuyin, Fuxi confronted Shebisi again. These matchups weren't a coincidence. Both parties, especially the titans, wanted a rematch and to decisively defeat the other side.
The Fuxi Qin appeared in Fuxi's hands, and the apparitions of numerous other instruments, including a pipa, flute, and many more, appeared around him. Each one released a note that bypassed Shebisi's hard exterior and harmed his internals.
Shebisi frowned. Although Fuxi had not entered the Intermediate Quasi-Saint Realm, his power had at least doubled. Without delay, he transformed into a storm, raining down thunder, water, and wind.
Fuxi could dispel his clouds, repel his lightning, and shatter the rain, but as long as the thunderstorm remained, Shebisi could continuously supplement his energy and repair his injuries, allowing his strength to increase with time.
Western Emperor Xi frowned. He attempted to disperse the thunderstorm, but just when he started, Shebisi increased his offensive, forcing Fuxi to deal with him.
Fuxi grew concerned as Shebisi went all out and didn't conserve any energy, unlike last time, when he had to defend. If this continued, he would be pushed into a corner. He sighed, and his Corpse came to help deal with Shebisi.
Upon seeing the Corpse, Shebisi focused all his attack on it. If the Corpse perished, Fuxi would likely regress to the Great Firmament Realm, and it would be much harder to re-enter the Quasi-Saint Realm.
While Fuxi dealt with Shebisi, Nuwa faced off against Houtu, Xuanming, and another titan, Qianglian, the Titan of Thunder.
Nuwa frowned. She could sense that Houtu had already entered the Intermediate Quasi Saint Realm. Out of the twelve titans, she was the only one to do so.
Xuaming attacked first. Tens of thousands of raindrops emerged and shot towards Nuwa.
"Just the same trick," Nuwa said as she held her Treasured Lotus Lantern. Lotus-shaped energy flew out to block the raindrops and shot towards the Titan of Rain.
Unlike the last time, when the lotus shattered the raindrops, they turned into water vapor and condensed into a mist. The deeper the lotuses flew into the mist, the smaller they became as their energy was drained.
Houtu took this chance to attack and spikes erupted underneath Nuwa. Nuwa frowned. Her Treasured Lotus Lantern formed a green colored barrier to block it. But to prevent any more attacks like this, she decided to take to the skies.
At this time, Qiangliang appeared above her. He gave a devastating roar that sent ripples through the air and caused Nuwa to pale.
Houtu and Xuanming took this chance and attacked with the strongest move they could unleash as swiftly as they could. Qiangliang also clasped his fist together and smashed them down. His fists seemed to blur from the sheer vibration contained within.
Just as the three-pronged attack was about to connect with Nuwa, mountains and rivers grew from her body. She, herself, disappeared into the Mountain and River Diorama as the three attacks slammed into the spiritual artifact. It shook violently, but held strong.
A red blur shot out of the Mountain and River Diorama and slammed into Qiangliang's chest, knocking him back. His aura reduced by half, and his strength dramatically decreased. Just as the Red Hydrangea moved to hit Qiangliang again, earth and rain merged to knock the flower back.
The Mountain and River Diorama flew forward, smashing toward the three titans and revealing Nuwa standing in her original place.
Houtu raised the earth, and Xuanming shot gatling rain at it, but the Mountain and River Diorama absorbed the earth and rain, using them as nourishment. Upon seeing this, soil and rock emerged from the land and clung to the Titan of Earth.
Moments later, a colossal humanoid emerged. Its height reached over a hundred li, and it raised its fist above its head before bringing it down.
Nuwa grunted as the Mountain and River Diorama caved slightly from the punch. She inputted more qi into the Mountain and River Diorama, bolstering it against Houtu's oppressive might. While resisting Houtu, Nuwa resumed attacking Qiangliang with the Red Hydrangea.
She knew the difficult nature of sound-based attacks thanks to her brother, so she wanted to get rid of Qiangliang first. Although Houtu's strength increased, her speed had taken a hit, so it was the perfect chance.
Xuanming moved her body into the Red Hydrangea's path. Her body expanded, growing only slightly smaller than Houtu’s form. She had transformed into a mixture of water vapor and rain, and the only part not transformed were her eyes.
When the Red Hydrangea entered Xuanming's body, she shrunk by half, but the Red Hydrangea was trapped.
Nuwa frowned. A woman with seventy percent similarities to her appeared holding the Treasured Lotus Lantern. It was her Good Corpse. While she entangled Houtu with the Mountain and River Diorama, her Good Corpse attacked Xuanming to retrieve the Red Hydrangea.
By the time her Good Corpse retrieved the Red Hydrangea, Qiangliang had already recovered and joined Houtu and Xuanming in battling Nuwa. Their battle raged on.
Still, the most intense battle was between Taiyi and Zhurong, Gonggong, Rushou, Jizi, and Tianwu.
"Take my punch!" Zhurong yelled as he transformed into the incarnation of fire.
Taiyi snorted. He was the least afraid of fire attacks. The apparition of a three-legged golden crow appeared behind Taiyi as he rushed forward.
When Zhurong unleashed his flaming fist, Taiyi didn't directly take it. Instead, he shifted to the side and placed his palm on Zhurong's arm, and the Solar Truefire cultivated from the core of the Supreme Yang Star started to devour Zhurong's flames.
Zhurong recoiled as he ripped his own arm off. As his separated arm fell to the ground, Taiyi's Solar Truefire devoured it and flew behind Taiyi.
"Haha, and you call yourself the Titan of Fire?" Gonggong mocked Zhurong, who had regrown his flaming arm, still in his fiery state. "Watch me!"
Gonggong transformed into an incarnation of water and smashed his fist toward Taiyi. Water extinguished fire, so Gonggong held an inherent advantage. But when Taiyi unleashed the Solar Truefire, Gonggong also recoiled and repeated Zhurong's action.
The only difference was that the Solar Truefire lost some of its mass after evaporating Gonggong's water.
Zhurong sneered. "Are you the Titan of Water? Why did you lose to fire?"
Gonggong glared at Zhurong but said nothing. Rushou sighed as his skin became metal. "Enough bickering. Let's kill him together."
As the master of metal, Rushou knew that Taiyi curbed him because of his mastery over fire. Fire melted metal, and unless his strength exceeded Taiyi's, Rushou couldn't see his chance of victory, but that didn't mean he would give up. In addition, he wasn't alone.
Tianwu, the Titan of Wind and Jizi, the Titan of Lightning, joined Zhurong, Gonggong, and Rushou to battle Taiyi. Even for Taiyi, the addition of five Quasi-Saint titans was a bit much. In the previous battle, Taiyi had held the advantage in realm. Now, things were on more even terms
Taiyi waved his hands, and the Chaos Bell appeared. It expanded rapidly and smashed down, trapping Jizi within it. The bell’s gong echoed throughout the whole battlefield, causing everyone to glance over.
They froze.
The Chaos Bell still had the same shape, but Taiyi had altered its surface. On one side, there was an engraving of a handsome man in his twenties. He wore noble robes and had a three-legged crow behind him.
The watchers would not have thought much if it was just this. Although engraving your image onto your artifact was a bit tasteless, they couldn’t dictate what others did to their own artifacts.
It was the engraving on the other side that stunned onlookers.
Engraved on the other side was a woman wearing billowing robes. Her hair fluttered, and she held an unsheathed sword, giving her a valiant air. It was Supreme Purity Tongtian of the Three Purities.
From the West,, Zhunti couldn't help but furrow his brows. "Senior Brother, did the Three Purities ally with Heavenly Court?"
Jieyin also furrowed his brows, thinking deeply of the implication. "I do not know. But it can be seen that Daoist Taiyi and Daoist Tongtian's relationship is not simple."
Not just them, but all the other guests and even heavenly officials and Titan Tribe couldn't help but speculate about the relationship between Heavenly Court and the Three Purities, especially between Tongtian and Taiyi.
"I'm going to kill him," Tongtian said as she picked up her Qingping Sword and moved to fly out of Three Purity Palace.
Although the Three Purities hadn’t attended Di Jun’s wedding, he was still the Heavenly Emperor acknowledged by the Way of Heaven, so they paid attention. They already had an inkling of the Titan Tribe's plan when they asked Yuanshi to speed up his refining of the formation flags.
What they didn't expect was the gall of Taiyi. His marriage proposal failed, so he directly engraved Tongtian and himself on the Chaos Bell. Not only was this an insult to Pangu, but it shamed them too.
"Third Sister, calm down!" Laozi said. He grabbed Tongtian's arm but was dragged along with her. He had focused on merging his three Corpses and didn't cultivate the Nine Revolution Arcane Art to the same extent as Tongtian, so her brute strength surpassed his.
Laozi turned towards Yuashi for help, only to see him gearing up with the Qiankun Cauldron and Three-Treasured Jade Scepter in his arms. "Second Brother, what are you doing?!"
Yuanshi sneered. "Since Taiyi dares to humiliate Third Sister like this, I'm going to end the Heavenly Court! I knew I should have plucked his feathers when I had the chance."
Laozi felt his wrinkles deepen as he felt the belligerent air around his two siblings. "Can't you two tell? The next tribulation is coming up, and the two protagonists are Heavenly Court and the Titan Tribe. If we muddy the water, we'll be dragged in! It's better to focus on understanding Grandmist Violet Qi or ascend to the Primordial Origin Realm."
His words brought clarity back to Tongtian’s eyes. She snorted. "I'll let him live a bit longer, but once I get the Chaos Bell, I'll definitely restore its former appearance. And if he is still alive, I'll pluck his feathers myself!"
"Third Sister, do you want me to refine an artifact to cook him? We'll slice him into a thousand pieces and feed it to the demons," Yuanshi said as he glared in Taiyi's direction.
Tongtian recoiled from Yuanshi's words. "You don't need to go that far."
Laozi sighed. As time passed, the secrets of heaven became more and more blurred, but he could still deduce that the war between Heavenly Court and Titan Tribe would erupt soon. Once it did, then the tribulation would begin.