Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 240
Slaying the Evil Sand Priest & Awakening of the Sovereign Ancient God Beast
RUMBLE!
The megalithic stone gates engraved with the Blood Serpent Devouring Heaven motif shattered into hundreds of thousands of flying stone fragments. The gray dust cloud had yet to rise before it was violently swept away to both sides of the cavern walls by a roaring gale.
Lin Feng strode into the central hall of the Ancient King’s Mausoleum.
The dark campaign cloak behind him fluttered wildly. Tiny specks of golden embers emitted from the Primordial Dragon Flame Soul Seed hovered around his fingertips, scorching away all corrosive miasma in the air. Right behind him, Ye Qingwan tightly grasped her jade-green magic staff, her vigilant eyes sweeping across every dark corner. Major General Meng Zhan clutched his severely torn and bleeding left shoulder; the bronze magic spear in his hand still brimmed with unyielding fighting spirit even though the meridians throughout his entire body had begun to tremble from exhaustion.
A horrifying, breath-halting sight struck the three of them.
The vast central hall of the ancient crypt resembled a colossal underground subterranean square buried three thousand meters deep beneath the earth. The four cardinal directions were supported by dozens of pitch-black stone pillars as thick as five men could embrace, their surfaces crisscrossed with crimson artificial drainage channels.
At this moment, from thousands of grooves carved across the stone vaulted ceilings and walls, thick, viscous streams of blood poured downward frantically, emitting a sickening gurgling sound akin to the swallowing noise of a ravenous fiend. The entirety of that fresh blood originated from the tens of thousands of living beings who had just fallen on the red sand battlefield outside—including the blood of the divine-province desert garrison soldiers and the fishy, reeking plasma of mutated savage beasts.
All of this fresh blood surged toward a single destination: the thousand-zhang Blood Pool located right in the center of the hall.
The pool of blood boiled and bubbled furiously, its crimson air bubbles bursting and releasing an oppressive, foul stench mixed with the rusty metallic tang of oxidized iron and demonic sulfur.
Yet, what would cause anyone’s marrow to freeze from the very bones lay right in the center of that blood basin.
There stood a towering altar constructed from white bones, assembled from thousands of skulls of primeval giant beasts. Reigning supreme atop the altar was a colossal coffin carved of jet-black stone—the Black Steel Ancient Coffin!
The coffin was over thirty meters long, its surface as smooth as black jade yet radiating a chilling, evil aura that chilled one to the bone. Surrounding the coffin’s body, nine massive dark profound-iron magic chains coiled tightly around it layer upon layer, anchoring the coffin firmly to the surrounding four stone walls. Every single chain link was engraved with faint golden upper-ancient suppression runes, but right now, under the continuous corrosion of the surging crimson blood waves below, the golden light of the sealing runes was fading every single second!
Standing tall upon the summit of the white bone altar, right beside the black stone coffin, was a withered figure draped in a tattered, threadbare dark magic robe embroidered with blood-scorpion patterns.
The ringleader of the desert savage bandits colluding with the Netherworld Church—the Evil Sand Priest!
The old man’s face was as withered as rotting tree bark, his grayish skin tightly stretched over protruding cheekbones, and his pitch-black teeth sharp and jagged like a wild beast’s fangs. In his right hand, he tightly grasped a bizarre magic weapon over two meters long: the Blood Sand Demonic Blade. Its deep crimson blade, forged from desert fiend bone marrow, continuously exuded droplets of pitch-black blood that corroded the stone floor, rising into columns of pungent, sizzling toxic smoke.
Seeing the sturdy tomb gates smashed to pieces by Lin Feng in the blink of an eye, the Evil Sand Priest not only felt no fear, but his torn mouth suddenly split wide open up to his ears.
“Keke keke... Ha ha ha ha ha!”
His shrill, ear-piercing laughter—resembling metal scraping against a boulder—echoed throughout the underground hall, piercing everyone’s eardrums:
“You’ve arrived? You Divine Province ants have finally crawled your way here?!”
The Evil Sand Priest tilted his head up toward the cavern ceiling and roared, his bloodshot eyes crisscrossed with frenzied veins:
“But it’s far too late, you fools! Open your eyes wide and look! The blood of the frontier mages, the blood of a hundred thousand desert beasts... has completely filled the Blood Sacrifice Magic Formation! The thousand-year seal of the Ancient King has reached the moment to turn into ashes!”
He pointed the tip of the Blood Sand Demonic Blade straight at Lin Feng, his voice hissing through his teeth filled with extreme derision and utter contempt:
“The new king of the global tournament? The supreme magic prodigy of the Divine Province? Ridiculous! A wet-behind-the-ears kid who just hugged a fancy trophy in the West dares to charge headfirst into this forbidden Western Region wasteland?! Today, this old man will use the skull and magic blood of the absolute strongest of the Divine Province’s younger generation as the appetizer wine for the day of the Ancient God’s descent!”
With that, the Evil Sand Priest did not give the three of them any chance to react!
“NETHERWORLD BLOOD SACRIFICE — BLOOD SAND SOUL-SLASH!”
The priest shrieked madly, pouring all the wicked magic energy accumulated over his entire lifetime frantically into the Blood Sand Demonic Blade.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The thousand-zhang blood pool below seemed stirred by an invisible hand as thousands of blood rays shot into the air, transforming into countless wailing desert vengeful spirits before fully fusing into the blade. The demonic blade trembled violently, releasing a pitch-black blade aura over forty meters long carrying crimson light dense with primeval grievances!
The blade aura tore the underground space apart, leaving a pitch-black tear that vented toxic smoke. Its speed was so fast it surpassed visual limits, aiming straight at Lin Feng’s crown and hacking down with a might capable of splitting an entire mountain in two!
“Lin Feng! Careful! That’s a peak Advanced-tier soul-slashing forbidden technique, it cannot be blocked with physical flesh!”
Meng Zhan’s expression shifted drastically as he roared. Disregarding his aching chest, he swung his spear and lunged forward, desperate to block the blow for his young comrade. At the same time, Ye Qingwan tightened her grip on her staff, the silver light of Psychic magic erupting to weave a spiritual defense net.
However, Lin Feng gently raised one hand, signaling the two of them to stop.
He did not retreat a single half-step.
The young man’s angular face remained as cold as a winter lake, completely devoid of any ripples of fear. Facing the destructive blade aura surging with bloody waves just five feet away from his brow, Lin Feng merely raised his left hand slightly.
Within his boundless spiritual sea, the sixth spiritual sea—just recently unlocked and sublimated at the Parthenon Sacred Spring—suddenly rotated violently.
Chaos Element!
This was the most mysterious, bizarre, and heaven-defying magic system in all of human magic. It did not destroy matter with flames, nor did it crush opponents with lightning; instead, it manipulated and fractured the very rules of order, space, and physical trajectories!
“Chaos...” Lin Feng’s lips parted slightly, his syllables uttered steadily yet heavy as a thousand jun: “... Dimensional Detour!”
OZZZZ!
Right before the tip of Lin Feng’s shoes, space suddenly birthed a wondrous silvery-gray ripple. The silvery-gray void mirror surface wavered gently between two dimensions, rippling with wondrous water waves.
In the blink of an eye, the Evil Sand Priest’s ferocious, pitch-black blood-colored blade aura slammed squarely into that silvery-gray ripple.
Yet, the scene of flesh and bones shattering into nothingness did not occur!
The moment the forty-meter-long blade aura touched the epicenter of the Chaos vortex, its entire violent kinetic energy and original trajectory were instantly twisted by an invisible force into a pristine, perfect circular arc. The blade aura was as though imprisoned within a reversed-order current, spinning in a flash high above Lin Feng’s head with doubled acceleration, then at an unimaginable angle...
SWISH!
The pitch-black blade aura, carrying all its bloody-slaughter grievances, counterattacked in reverse, tearing through the wind straight toward the white bone altar!
“WHAT?!”
The Evil Sand Priest’s pupils contracted to the size of needle tips, his entire scalp going numb as if struck by lightning. He had never seen such bizarre magic in his life! He wanted to evade, but the counterattack speed of the technique—accelerated by the Chaos Element—had reached a level that tore lightning apart, granting him not even half a moment to cast a magic shield!
THWACK!
A clean, chilling slice through flesh and blood echoed horrifyingly!
The blood-colored blade aura grazed past the altar, cleanly slicing off the Evil Sand Priest’s entire right arm that held the blade along with half of his shoulder!
“ARGHHHHHHH!”
The heart-wrenching, soul-tearing scream of the Evil Sand Priest echoed throughout all corners of the cavern. His withered, severed arm flew high into the air, dragging a gushing fountain of foul black blood. The Blood Sand Demonic Blade slipped from his stumped hand, plunging deep into the stone altar floor, trembling and emitting mournful, plaintive wails.
The Evil Sand Priest staggered back several steps, his left hand clutching tightly at the bleeding wound on his shoulder. His wrinkled face distorted in extreme pain and profound shock, he stared fixedly at Lin Feng as if gazing upon a ghost:
“Chaos... Chaos Element?! You’re clearly dual-cultivating Lightning and Fire... How can you command a Chaos Element awakened at this realm?! Exactly what kind of freak of nature are you?!”
Meng Zhan, standing behind, stood stunned, dropping his spearhead to the ground with his mouth agape, speechless. The seasoned veteran general, who had witnessed countless top-tier mages across the realm, felt his chest pounding like beating drums at this moment. Deflecting a peak Advanced-tier blade aura to counter-kill his opponent... What kind of heaven-defying ability was this?!
Ye Qingwan breathed a sigh of relief, her clear eyes looking at Lin Feng’s back filled with boundless reverence and absolute trust.
Facing the enemy’s panic, Lin Feng stepped forward slowly, one stride at a time. He uttered no redundant words, his demeanor as aloof as a sovereign holding supreme power over life and death.
“Those who betray their compatriots and bow to desert fiends... have no qualification to know my name.”
Just as Lin Feng’s voice finished, a primeval giant dragon’s roar suddenly erupted from deep within his soul!
BOOM!
Behind Lin Feng, the Fire System Spiritual Sea erupted brilliantly!
Seven golden Star Orbs intertwined, transforming into seven magnificent Star Maps, then instantly connected into a majestic, resplendent Fire System Star Palace reigning amidst the void! The flames rising from Lin Feng blazed in supreme golden hues—the fire of the Primordial Dragon!
DRAGON FLAME DOMAIN — FULLY UNFOLDED!
The temperature inside the underground hall instantly skyrocketed to over three thousand degrees Celsius!
All humidity, stench, and wicked grievances in the air were completely incinerated into absolute nothingness by the golden flames in half a breath. The sand and stones beneath Lin Feng’s feet turned glowing red and quickly melted into a flowing stream of transparent liquid crystal. The water in the thousand-zhang blood pool boiled furiously, evaporating into thick, hazy columns of white steam.
“Primordial Dragon Flame — Obliterate!”
Lin Feng swept his sleeve downward!
ROAR!
A golden fire dragon over fifty meters long, condensed from primeval flames, shot forth from the Star Palace behind him. Its colossal dragon claws burned fiercely, carrying supreme dragon might that suppressed all space as it lunged straight toward the summit of the white bone altar!
“NO! ANCIENT KING, SAVE YOUR SERVANT!”
The Evil Sand Priest shrieked in despair, his remaining left hand frantically clawing at the void, condensing layers upon layers of black sand in a futile attempt to forge a final shield.
Yet, before the Soul Seed flame possessing the Dragon Clan’s ultimate Armor-Piercing and Soul-Scorching properties, his sand shield was as fragile as a torn sheet of paper!
SWISH! BOOM!
The golden fire dragon’s claws crushed the sand shield in the blink of an eye, slamming directly into the Evil Sand Priest’s chest. The surging golden flames completely swallowed the old cultist’s physical body. Amidst his unfinished, tragic death shriek, the Evil Sand Priest’s entire flesh, bones, and wicked intent were incinerated into absolute nothingness by the Primordial Dragon Flame, leaving not even a fragment behind!
A clean beheading of the ringleader! Crisp, overwhelming, leaving the enemy not a single ray of hope for survival!
Meng Zhan clenched his fists, shouting excitedly: “The priest is slain! Quick, destroy the altar and stop the blood from flowing into the pool!”
Yet, just at the moment when the golden flames were about to dissipate, a terrifying twist suddenly occurred.
Before being completely incinerated by the Dragon Flame, a drop of primordial heartbeat-blood of extremely bizarre pitch-black hue was blasted upward from the exploding chest of the Evil Sand Priest, caught by the shockwave. That black droplet traced a lethal arc, plunging straight toward—
DRIP.
The black blood droplet struck dead-center onto a demon-eye-shaped emblem carved right in the middle of the thousand-year-old black stone coffin lid!
The underground space plunged into absolute silence.
One second...
Two seconds...
All movement died away in an instant. The sound of boiling blood beneath the pool abruptly ceased, and Lin Feng’s flames wavered gently.
CRACK! CRACK!
A crisp yet chilling sound rang out from atop the Black Steel Ancient Coffin. The demon-eye emblem, after absorbing the final heartbeat-blood, suddenly burst into a blinding crimson halo!
From that demon-eye, a glowing red crack traced along the body of the thirty-meter-long black stone coffin, and like a demonic chain reaction, hundreds of thousands of other cracks frantically spread like a spiderweb!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The nine human-sized profound-iron chains wrapped around the coffin simultaneously emitted ear-piercing metallic screeches, and the golden suppression runes shattered into massive fragments!
“This is bad! The seal is being broken from within!” Ye Qingwan shrieked, her complexion turning ashen white as she tightly grasped the sleeve of Lin Feng’s robe.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The ground beneath the three of them began to shake violently. The entire Ancient King’s Mausoleum rattled as if a magnitude-ten earthquake were occurring! Dozens of massive black stone pillars surrounding them began to crack, and tons of heavy stone blocks from the vaulted ceiling plummeted crash after crash into the blood pool, raising waves of blood tens of meters high!
BOOM!
A deafening explosion that shook the entire Western Region sky resounded!
The hundreds-of-tons black stone coffin lid was blasted high into the air by boundless internal strength! The colossal stone block shot upward toward the ceiling of the three-thousand-meter-deep cavern, colliding with the granite layer above and shattering into tens of thousands of debris pieces falling like a torrential downpour!
“ROARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sovereign-tier upper-ancient might resembling a broken tsunami surged straight out from the heart of the coffin!
This oppressive might was so heavy, brutal, and saturated with primeval murderous intent that the air throughout the entire underground hall instantly froze solid into an invisible mire. The ground surrounding the altar caved in by over ten meters.
Major General Meng Zhan—a battle-hardened Advanced Mage—upon touching this wave of oppressive might, felt his chest slammed by a thousand-ton chariot. His entire body’s blood surged wildly, a streak of fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as his knees nearly buckled onto the cracking ground!
Lin Feng instantly crossed a step forward, shielding himself in front of Ye Qingwan and Meng Zhan. The Primordial Dragon Flame and Dragon God might within his body erupted frantically, erecting a golden halo of light to withstand the terrifying demonic pressure bearing down on them. The joints throughout Lin Feng’s entire body cracked under the invisible pressure, his gaze condensing as he stared fixedly into the wide-open core of the black stone coffin.
Deep beneath the crimson toxic miasma rising from the coffin’s interior, two bizarre red flames flared to life, condensing into a pair of giant beast eyes!
A pair of blood-red eyes resembling two colossal ancient blood-moons, cold, brutal, viewing all living beings in heaven and earth as mere grass and dirt, slowly opened from the profound, thousand-year darkness!
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
A gigantic hand covered in deep crimson dragon scales and molten lava reached out from inside the coffin, gripping the stone edges. Sharp claws dug deep into the solid black stone as if piercing through tofu!
The desert ground a thousand miles above began to collapse in massive chunks. Red sand cascaded downward into the earth like a roaring waterfall!
“ROARRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
The age-shaking roar of the primeval desert overlord—the Blood Sand Flame Demon Emperor—burst forth, tearing through the darkness at the bottom of the mausoleum, piercing straight through three thousand meters of thick earth and sand, and echoing back up into the nine heavens of the Western Region wasteland!
That roaring sound carried a thousand years of suppressed world-destroying flames, traveling thousands of miles and causing all thirty thousand soldiers and civilians making their last stand at Western Town Fortress to tremble in despair.
The most terrifying calamity in the history of the Western Region... had officially awakened!