Bab 109: Assassination of a Lifetime (2)
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Many things became clear. Why Ground Devil's sea of consciousness was different? Why did Qian Daoliu did not consider Ground Devil a Titled Douluo even if he could reveal strength comparable to one?
A 100000-year-old beasttaken. And one belonging to a mysterious background with mysterious objectives. Aside from Hint of Evil, Ja Sun hadn't seen anyone else controlling the Beasttakens and given that even Ground Devil had some scruples, there must be someone stronger than him in the chain of command. If Ja Sun speculated the Hint of Evil with Ground Devil as a crucial member then it may not even be strange why Beasttakens suddenly emerged in great numbers and even seemed to be combining their tribes.
If Ground Devil had a hand in it, things will surely make sense but all this is just speculation that Ja Sun did while recovering because there was nothing else to do. After all, he wasn't facing the 100000-year-old beasttaken: A fusion of man and beast, and most probably, one of the rarest creatures on the continent itself.
"What? Cat got your tongue? Or is it a kid? *Sniff*, I don't smell any around here. Say, what's the best thing you can cook a human in? I'm interested," The left clone smiled and inquired with a sincere expression as Ground Devil eyed both of them coldly.
"Tell me something," Ja Sun continued, this may be the only chance, after all, "Are beasttakens beasts or humans? Can you cultivate both paths? What about spirit bones? How does a spirit beast condense a spirit bone and what does it represent?"
Hearing his questions, Ground Devil frowned. This did not sound like mocking. But what sound individual would ever try to satiate his thirst for knowledge in the middle of the threat that he surely cannot overcome? Or is it because Ja Sun cannot defeat him that he wanted to die with knowledge rather than being ignorant?
"If you have a spirit bone, can you use its ability, too? Or, if you absorb a spirit bone of lower value, say, 50000 years, does it grow with you? Eventually reaching 100000-year-old?"
Ground Devil now gulped. Even he hadn't tried that latter portion but his knowledge on spirit beasts was definitely high. After all, he was born of the fusion of two paths. The fact that he can even create spirit rings to break out of his bestial form and break the said rings to revert spoke volumes. In the end, what really are beasttakens?
"I will try it. Once I plunder spirit bones off of your corpse, I will try them out."
"I don't have spirit bones," Ja Sun suddenly spoke up.
"What?" Ground Devil frowned.
"I have already sent the spirit bones back to the Spirit Hall for contribution value. After the competition ends, I will get something else of equal value."
While lying and biding for time, one of the clones began to store a certain long-ranged attack and the other one continued, "So? What about the other questions?"
Ja Sun did care about these questions, but not enough to put his life on the line for them. All this... it was just to break Ground Devil's focus, shift his thoughts, and even maybe slow him down by putting other ideas in his head.
As if understanding the ploy, Ground Devil didn't speak anymore. Ignorant or wise, dead is dead. His task was simple: Getting rid of Ja Sun.
With a stomp of his hind paw, a brown ring of energy expanded and within a blink of an eye covered the two clones. A dome-shaped energy expanded further and further while outside the ring of light, Ja Sun held his breath. Ground Devil instantly launched his domain ability and Ja Sun could share the sensation of his clones due to mental connection and felt that they were being crushed by something in the air. It didn't feel like gravity since the pressure was omnidirectional but Ground Devil didn't seem intent on destroying the clones.
"Another pair of clones, huh?" with the domain boosting his senses, Ground Devil realized the truth and waved his hand. This was supposed to be his ninth spirit ring in the human form. But now, those restrictions didn't latch onto him and inside the domain, his strength multiplied greatly. Ah Yin's existence with her domain in a forest is already unreasonable so Ja Sun grew cautious of this ability. Either he could try and stall for more time or he could simply try and attack without any form of indication to injure Ground Devil just enough to not be able to use stronger attacks.
Ja Sun had confidence in the latter because he had achieved it once already.
The two clones were pulled forward but Ground Devil kept them in a distance. The sensation of the strange poison that made him unable to think clearly was still present in his mind. "Where is your real body?" He inquired with a cold expression and the two clones revealed a confused expression. It was at this moment, Ja Sun decided to use the oldest trick in both worlds. When used appropriately, even the most astute individual would fall for this trick. Even Ja Sun did in his past life, almost losing his life thanks to it.
"It would seem that you really can't sense us completely, right?" The one who had condensed his mental energy to the absolute then gazed at the distance. Not at Ground Devil, but behind him, a meaningful smile stretched atop the clone's lips. The meaning was clear. There was someone behind Ground Devil.
A sense of incredulity filled Ground Devil and he hurriedly turned back but the moment he found empty and barren land, instinctively, he erected a wall of ground behind him but it was too late.
The clone gave a sharp golden glow and visible but intangible golden needles, hundreds and thousands of them shot out and instantly entered Ground Devil's head.
Ja Sun needed direct contact for Heaven's Descent. But this wasn't the limitation of using the Mental Acupuncture Technique as a makeshift attack. Even though weaker, Ground Devil's mental energy was at the realm of Titled Douluo and even this quantity of needles only made his roar in pain as spikes grew from the ground, stabbing into both the clones but the strange pressure on the duo had been reduced.
Without wasting any time or feeling the pain of their hearts pierced due to their man-made origins, both the clones held each other's hands. Ja Sun hadn't tried this move yet due to the extremely small period of gaining his fifth spirit ring but this was a good time as any, right?
Twins have the highest probability of Spirit Fusion. What about clones?
But Ja Sun's wild fantasy fell short as he realized that... for some reason, the spirit fusion wasn't achieved. The reason came to Ja Sun soon after as he realized that the clones also couldn't copy one important thing— Soul Origin. This is the source of strength behind every martial soul and spirit master. Soul Origin also happened to be the crucial point of study for Ja Sun because of Violet's dilemma but this was neither the time to admire the failure or wallow in one of his greatest attacks possible simply not existing in the first place.
Instead, both of their arms turned purple with mist circling around. The clones never released any spirit ring for their spirit ability and pulling themselves up, blood pouring from their wounds, they shot towards the trembling Ground Devil who continued to hold his head with the bloodcurdling pain of his sea of consciousness being pierced by countless needles.
It was too much!
"It was nice to meet you," both the clones snickered and slapped Ground Devil's shoulder. In an instant, the cruel drug of a poison entered Ground Devil's veins and began eating away on Ground Devil's already damaged Sea of Consciousness.
Ground Devil had to go through such a painful experience to finally recognize the fact that Ja Sun's mental prowess simply outclassed him. But while one clone disappeared into purplish mist due to exhausting mental and spirit energy, the other one barely stood straight. Waiting.
For what?
Ja Sun only wanted to make the best use of the clone as much as possible and began to condense the needles once again.
This was a prime opportunity that Ja Sun would regret not making the best use of.
"Fuck you!"
Ground Devil roared, not even giving the clone another chance as a thick spike shot from the ground right beneath the clone, tearing him from the middle as all the collected energy dissipated.
*Rrrrraaahhhhhhhhhh!*
With his arms spread, Ground Devil roared and revealed his face. Marred with countless bulging veins, almost all of them bleeding as the tiny vessels of his eyes already holding a purple tint due to the poison, Ground Devil had a hard time focusing and his wretched expression would shock everyone.
This was the result of fighting his opponent deceitfully.
Ja Sun sighed. This is why he is worried. His fifth spirit ability: Fantasy Clone, is as heaven-defying as Bright World. And with the Sigh of Immortal, this technique can show its true wonders. But right now... this mission's difficulty did not feel like an S-ranked one. True, dangers are at every corner. But with his truly potent abilities and distinct lack of shame, taking Ground Devil on happened to be much easier than expected.
Now, Ja Sun only wished that Ground Devil is important enough to be considered an S-ranked objective.
After all, there are only two ways Ja Sun knows about gaining S-ranked objectives: Difficulty in achieving the goals and the status of the target marked as an objective.
"Where are you?!" Ground Devil howled and he instantly clawed at his face as purple blood flowed out like an unending river. With this act, Ground Devil instantly felt better by a lot. The pain of his face almost peeled and blinded in one eye allowed him to finally expel a huge amount of poison by this boorish act and the pain of the needles subsided greatly. This was the act of focusing on a greater pain to forget the other affected region.
But even blindness isn't enough to stop a Titled Douluo.
The brown-layered domain instantly expanded laterally. Ja Sun meanwhile quietly flew in the air. He realized that it was Ground Devil's turn to stall. The situation had grown too dangerous that Ground Devil cannot retreat due to his injuries. But similarly, Ja Sun cannot leave easily because of all the planning it took to get to this situation and he also couldn't enter the domain easily without getting himself crushed. The initial game of chase had settled, Ja Sun had gained a massive advantage over his opponent in the first round but Ground Devil wasn't dead. And if his domain was anything like Ah Yin's, then he must be trying to catch his breath and quicken his recovery.
Seeing that there was nothing in his most practiced techniques and skills that can force Ground Devil from his shell, Ja Sun frowned. There was a high chance that insults won't work and even if Ja Sun called out to Ground Devil, the probability of Ground Devil enduring the insults and storing his anger for a proper thrashing, later on, was highly likely.
Looking around, Ja Sun spread his mental energy and closed his eyes. His task was clear: Exhausting Ground Devil. With a devious smile, the devil prayed to the god and pulled out a corpse of a bounty hunter. Taking out a small vial of poison, Ja Sun dripped a few drops in its body and threw it down towards Ground Devil before changing positions.
"Hmm?" Ground Devil's existing eye opened and he looked up to find a naked corpse falling in his direction at a breakneck pace. But, before this corpse could even land, another one appeared out of nowhere and descended!
One, two... five... ten...
It was raining corpses.
Poisoned corpses, to be precise.
After entering Bibi Dong's tutelage, using his trait, there was one thing Ja Sun had an excess of: Poisonous substances. And after the beasttaken tide, the assassination of bounty hunters, and his rampage in Disorienting Ghost Canyon, there was another category Ja Sun could provide a wide selection of: Corpses.
Especially the corpses of rotten maggots filled with the stench of death and rotten yin poison of the Ghost Canyon.
Ja Sun always wanted to unload them but for a fair price.
Forcing a 100000-year-old Beartaken seemed a price fair enough to Ja Sun.
*Splat*
*Splat*
Naturally, from such a high fall, the landing of the corpses wasn't a pretty sight and smashed into the ground with their bodies being crushed as meat patties with blood and organs flailing out. Ground Devil frowned while seeing this. The strange rain seemed without any target and all of the corpses landed in his domain. Why would his opponent throw so many corpses? Ground Devil couldn't help but fell in a small daze. The pain of his almost shredded Sea of Consciousness slowly returning but it was manageable still.
The answer to this particular doubt came in the form of a scent as Ground Devil found the meat patties and the disturbing sight of flesh and organs being corroded with dark green poisonous mist. It wasn't only green.
Yellow, pink, purple, orange, red, and even blue!
Colorful tendrils of mists began seeping out of the almost two hundred corpses Ja Sun had accumulated over his entire stay in this world and Ground Devil's expression changed once again.
Poison. Too many of them and of various kinds!
The ground beneath him trembled and instead of acting against the poison, Ground Devil's body simply submerged into the ground. This move made Ja Sun scowl. After all, it was perfect! Ground Devil wouldn't be affected by the poison. He can still recover, and it seemed like the earth was his domain so Ja Sun cannot entire without a proper plan. Even if he brought his teammates out, this would end in a ruin.
His glaring weakness came to light.
'In the end... I made mistake by planning too much, but all is not lost.'
Ja Sun instantly called out to one specific ally.
He had sent the clone controlled by the Death Astral Combatant as a form of foresight but now the situation had changed. Ja Sun needed to bring out the full potential of his mental energy and the suicide bomber needed to be present right here.
---
"It's silent," Ah Yin whispered. Their group was still waiting in the forest but they could hear the sounds of clashes and even Ground Devil's furious roars which were enough for the group to realize what kind of situation Ja Sun was facing. However, for a few minutes now, everything was quiet. Eerily so.
Until...
*Swish*
A silver figure shot into Ah Yin's range and she silently guided the fellow towards their locations.
"Can any of you fly for a long period of time? Maybe a skill that you may have forgotten for all this time?" Ja Sun inquired through his Death Astral Combatant. With Ground Devil's domain, it was simply a fruitless task to bring his group if they couldn't fly. Everyone looked at each other before Bibi Dong frowned, "What's going on? And... why is your clone... so lifelike?"
'Huh? Her mental energy is surprisingly high,' Ja Sun made note before explaining the situation and everyone fell silent.
For a moment, everyone thought of retreating. Even Ah Yin was no different this time. The advantage of domain, especially those related to nature is simply unreasonable and if it is equipped to a Titled Douluo then this fight has grown from nightmarish level to hellish.
But, seeing Ja Sun's eager gaze, for the first time, even Xie Xan didn't have the heart to deny. This was a rare sight where a person like Ja Sun would expect something from others. It showed unimaginable trust and expectations. Even Bibi Dong pursed her lips before sighing softly.
"Ah Yin, take care of the group until I return."
With that, a formless wave of spirit energy spread out from Bibi Dong's body as three pairs of thin wings emerged from her back, attached to a purplish hinge that was embedded on her spine and even took its shape for as long as it extended. The three pairs of wings had a rather beautiful form. With the topmost and lowest pair of wings being larger than the middle pair of wings. They seemed to be made out of purple light and like a fairy, dust particles seemed to be escaping the edges of her wings.
"When I hunted down the Purple Winged Spider Emperor for my sixth spirit ring, I was lucky enough to get an external spirit bone in the form of wings. These are called Six Purple Light Wings," Bibi Dong smiled but seeing the strange expression on everybody's face, she couldn't help but inquire.
"What is it?"
"Teacher, when you were explaining all that, Ka-ul's clone took off," Hu Lana pointed behind Bibi Dong and the pinkish-blonde-haired successor to the Spirit Hall scowled before turning around and flying at an even greater speed to catch up.
Among all his teammates, the most useful now would be none other than Bibi Dong, and seeing her ability to fly, Ja Sun was more than pleased. External Spirit Bones are the rarest of the spirit bones because of their ability to grow but that wasn't the point. The fact that these were wings was simply a godsend!
As the duo left, Liu Erlong turned around and kicked against a tree.
"Fuck! I want to fly, too!"
She stole the words right out of everybody's lips and also expressed what was left unsaid.
They couldn't even participate in this battle even if they were supportive of it.
And this realization left a bad taste in everybody's mouth. Even Ah Yin's. After all, listening to Ja Sun explaining the abilities of Ground Devil and his origin was already shocking enough. All their training had made the group extremely confident, especially Liu Erlong who now had a spirit bone and also mastered her realm of self before anyone else except for Ja Sun. And surely, they were talented, but simply talented fishes in a pond so vast that their current status meant nothing.
"Keep sharp. The last thing we need to demonstrate is not being able to help when required because we were busy... being angry at ourselves," Xie Xan muttered and stood straight with attentiveness. Ah Yin may be stronger than him, but fell short in battle experience as a backup itself.
---
"What's the situation now?" Bibi Dong and Ja Sun's clone reached within a few minutes and Ground Devil still hadn't emerged. Ja Sun was only sure that Ground Devil hadn't escaped because of the remnants of his mental energy on the dangerous bloke.
"He's hiding and most probably recovering. I have no way to break his domain and since you do have a domain, I thought maybe you can figure a way out," Ja Sun stated the truth.
Bibi Dong glanced at Ja Sun and gave a short smile before sighing softly.
"Domains are of two types, as you already know. Innate domains attached to martial souls and domains that originate from certain spirit skills, like your True Fantasy which is similar to a domain. But the difference between—"
"My knowledgeable Sister Dong," Ja Sun sighed and groaned, "Every breath we lose means that fat bastard is recharging. Can we keep the explanation for later?"
Crossing her arms and scoffing, Bibi Dong mumbled, "What I mean is, as a Beasttaken that takes after a spirit beast, Ground Devil's domain must have reached its peak evolution. My domain could have worked but... it's only against individuals like you or Ah Yin."
"So, there is no way?" Ja Sun frowned. If there was no way to break the domain, he could only risk it with his clone.
"Even if there is a way, the ground is our opponent's domain. There is simply no way we can compete anymore," Bibi Dong pursed her lips.
"And he may also have spirit bones abilities that can be used in an instant," Bibi Dong pursed her lips and Ja Sun sighed deeply.
Just a single domain truly broke apart all of Ja Sun's planning.
"Let me try smoking him out," Ja Sun mumbled, "Stay here, maybe Ground Devil doesn't know you're already here and may give you a chance to land a strike."
Bibi Dong nodded as Ja Sun descended. Even the clone stayed next to her and patiently waited.
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