Chapter 31 – God King’s Arrival
At Ström Fortress
When Mu Zi went against the Monster King, Zhan Hu, Xiu Si, Dong Ri, Xin Ao, and Gao De watched the scene worriedly. They felt incredibly useless as they watched the constant killings from the Monster King. No matter how much they wanted to help, however, after their cultivation was hurt during the divine will inheritance, they didn’t have enough strength to assist the Human race. After a while, they saw a tiny figure fly towards them. It was Xiao Rou. She thought of following the last order of her Master, which was to protect his brothers.
Xiao Rou dejectedly said, “The current situation is really bad. We need to get away from here as soon as possible so you can recover your strength. Then you may have the opportunity to deal with Master. But with my current cultivation, I can only carry two people with me. Other than Dong Ri, none of you will be able to fly by yourselves at this moment, so I have to leave a few behind. I’m sorry.” Upon saying that, she sheepishly glanced at the five of them as she awaited their decision on who would be staying and who would be leaving. Furthermore, since the situation had changed drastically, there weren’t any ways of gathering the brothers from the God Protector Domain. Large explosions could still be heard, so they could only rely on themselves to get out of this situation.
After a long moment of silence with the five of them staring at one another, Xin Ao said with determination, “My cultivation is the weakest among the group, so I am willing to stay behind. I would just be dragging the team down. You must succeed in making Zhang Gong regain his will.” Xin Ao showed an imposing grandeur as he looked resolutely at his brothers.
“I’ll also stay back. Xin Ao, it can’t be that with our long relationship, you still think I can casually leave you behind, right? I don’t mind where I go, as long as I’m with you.” Gao De said that with hidden affection in his eyes.
“Can there be any other way to allows us to leave together? I really can’t bear for us brothers to be broken apart just like that. Right, there’s Xiao Jin. We can try and call out for him! But the problem is how,” Xiu Si said.
“How about just calling him as loud as we can? With his sensitive hearing, he might be able to hear us. We’re on our last straw, so we should at least try this method before following Xiao Rou.” Zhan Hu said this as he looked at his brothers. The five of them then simultaneously called Xiao Jin’s name in hopes that he could hear them.
It was as though their cry was heard as they saw a golden speck flying rapidly towards them. It slowly enlarged. Zhan Hu and the rest were elated as they watched Xiao Jin’s descent.
“Xiao Jin, can we ask you a favour? We want to head out of the fort to recuperate in order to have a chance to battle against the Monster King that has possessed Zhang Gong. We aren’t able to fly on our own, however. Can you please help us?” Dong Ri pleaded while looking at Xiao Jin’s enormous eyes.
“I can help you, but I won’t be able to let you ride on my back. My back can only be ridden by Master. I can fly you out with my claws though. But with this way, I can only carry two people with me,” Xiao Jin replied with slight difficulty as he knew they didn’t have other alternatives. They had gone for his help, but he still couldn’t make an exception as he was the interim Dragon King now.
“That’s great, Xiao Rou can also carry two people with her. Now that you can carry two people, while I can fly on my own, we can all escape together. Thank you so much Xiao Jin!” Dong Ri exclaimed. Upon saying that, Xiao Rou used her magic to support Zhan Hu and Xiu Si as she flew away from the fort. Xiao Jin gently grabbed Xin Ao and Gao De in his claws and flew alongside of Xiao Rou. Dong Ri flew along with them and they headed for a place to recuperate.
On the other hand, Mu Zi had turned into a black fog that formed a halo around Zhang Gong and started to tighten up. When the halo fully constricted Zhang Gong’s body, the black fog suddenly dispersed and entered Zhang Gong’s body.
Zhang Gong, who was still in his own world, suddenly felt his vision shake once that black fog entered his body.
“Zhang Gong!” Zhang Gong heard someone distinctly call for him. Even though it wasn’t clear, Zhang Gong knew it was Mu Zi’s voice. Yet, Mu Zi was currently sleeping in this illusion. He closed his eyes to focused on his surroundings. Mu Zi’s voice sounded clearer this time. “Zhang Gong, please wake up. What you’re seeing now are just illusions the Monster King is showing to you. I didn’t think you were so weak as to be defeated by this measly illusion!”
Zhang Gong shouted, “Where are you? Mu Zi?! Why can’t I sense you?”
After a short moment of silence, Mu Zi solemnly said, “Zhang Gong, please don’t be mad at me. I used a spell that would enable me to communicate with you in exchange for my life. I don’t have much time left as I’m trying to resist the Monster King’s efforts in trying to throw me from your body. Please awaken my beloved!”
Zhang Gong was at a loss as he cried out in tears, “Why did you do such a silly thing? I won’t blame you for doing it, but how am I going to continue living on without you and Hai Shui? You might as well have left me in here. I could at least live with you two here.”
Mu Zi rebuked furiously, “Zhang Gong, do you know what your current body is doing now?! It has already killed off more than half of the world’s population with the might of the Monster King that has possessed you. It cannot be that due to your selfishness, you want to kill off the world with you, right? I can’t hold on any longer. I’m sorry Zhang Gong, I’ve got to go.”
“No! Mu Zi, please don’t go!” No matter how many times he shouted, however, he didn’t get a response from Mu Zi.
After a long while of calling out, Zhang Gong calmed down a little and thought about what Mu Zi had said. ‘I’ve been possessed by the Monster King? That’s right, no wonder I felt that something had initially been amiss. Yet, my mind made me think that this was reality. The task of regaining the world’s peace and harmony lies on me. This was the task given to me by the God King. I have let him down as I’ve killed so many innocent people due to falling under the Monster King’s spell.’
Zhang Gong started to circulate the dim Holy Sword in his body in the hopes of recovering his body. The Monster King started to groan in pain from the response of Zhang Gong’s circulation of the Holy Sword. It might be due to the Holy attribute that negated Monster King’s ability to cancel out the effects of the usual elements, as he was now in great pain.
The Monster King immediately tried to suppress the Holy Sword that was circulating within his body, but he felt a scorching pain whenever he tried to suppress it. The more he tried to suppress, the faster the Holy Sword circulated. It had reached the point where the Monster King couldn’t continue to stay in Zhang Gong’s body. Thus, he transformed into a black fog that tried to escape Zhang Gong’s body. Once he did so, however, time seemed to still as the world turned hazy white. An intense ray of white light shone into being, causing the black fog to quiver. The Monster King gave a mournful shriek as it was covered by the light before slowly disappearing.
A familiar, benevolent voice sounded. “Zhang Gong, my child. You have suffered. I’m sorry that I could not come in time and that your beloved had to sacrifice her life for you. I had originally planned to invite you to the God’s race after you had accomplished this task. Alas, you have accumulated a great deal of sin under the hands of the Monster King. Even though it wasn’t by your will, these sins are still yours, making it impossible for me to fully convert you into becoming a full fledged God. I can only return you half of the life force you had burned in the battle with the Monster King and return you back to the Human realm.”
Just as Zhang Gong wanted to question the God King, his vision turned white and he found he was already near the fort. He looked up and saw the damages to the fort. He immediately flew towards it and was shocked to see the aftermath of the Monster King’s attack while he used his body. When he landed, everyone looked at him with hatred and fury. Some even started to chant offensive spells against him. This greatly hurt Zhang Gong. Even though he knew the reason why he was treated with such animosity, he still couldn’t bear to see those gazes from the people, causing him to fly away from the fort. He didn’t have the face to look for his brothers.
While he flew, he suddenly remembered reading about an ancient, legendary artifact in the world that could be used to mass revive the dead in exchange for the caster’s soul. However, it hadn’t been seen before. Currently, Hai Shui and Mu Zi had left him, and the Demon Emperor would definitely kill him once he saw him. Death was easy, but living was hard for Zhang Gong now. Yet, he didn’t want to waste Mu Zi’s sacrifice, so he must persist in living on. Thus, Zhang Gong, the previously exalted Child of Light, started to embark on another journey in search for a legendary artifact that could be used to reduce his guilt and sins from the mass slaughter conducted by the Monster King with him as his vessel.