Volume 4: Super-Tier Awakening & The Ancient Capital Calamity
Chapter 357
The Dark Legion Blocks the Way: Red Cardinal's Ambush
The atmosphere inside the dark jade corridor of the Ancient Emperor’s shrine was thick, chilled to the point where black, viscous frost condensed tightly across every ancient mural. Heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed from the depths of the darkness like sledgehammers striking against the chests of everyone in Lin Feng’s squad.
Every single step was accompanied by the creaking sound of demonic beast bones grinding together, alongside the spine-chilling screech of rusted metal dragging across the marble floor.
Lin Feng narrowed his eyes, his hand tightening around the hilt of his battle blade as he instantly signaled a halt. He squinted forward, where the first magical torch flared to life, illuminating a massive and deadly ambush formation.
Along the hundred-meter-long corridor, over a hundred elite members of the Black Vatican stood silently like statues of death. They wore dark blue and ash-gray robes that completely concealed their faces within deep hoods, revealing only pairs of bloodshot eyes gleaming with a manic, brutal light. Each of them gripped an evil weapon in their hands: some wielded blood-dripping daggers cursed with dark sorcery, others clutched bubbling, sizzling vials of poison, while some were bare-handed with claws elongated and razor-sharp, shrouded in toxic dark miasma.
Standing at the very front, guarding the sole passageway leading into the central hall, were none other than three high-ranking Blue-Executioners. They radiated the terrifying pressure of peak Advanced-Mages, their momentum churning like an undercurrent ready to erupt, compressing the surrounding air until it grew heavy and stifling.
Yet what truly shocked Lin Feng and Tang Yue was the towering figure standing at the very center, surpassing even the three Blue-Executioners.
That individual wore a cloak as crimson as fresh blood, the edges embroidered with ominous skull-and-crossbones motifs woven in dark thread. Emanating from that cloak was a malevolent, bone-chilling pressure that made the surrounding magical torches tremble, their illumination shrinking into feeble, flickering rings.
He slowly stepped out from the poisonous mist, his face as pale as a millennium-old corpse, his cheeks sunken, and his deep-set eyes flashing with eerie light. In his hand was a scepter crafted from a human spine, topped with a screaming, silent skull whose eye sockets oozed thick, dark blood.
— Red Cardinal Deputy, Yuchi Xiong!
The moment that name flashed in her mind, Tang Yue shuddered slightly, every drop of blood in her body threatening to freeze solid. A blazing fire of absolute hatred ignited in her eyes, her hands clenching into fists so tight that her nails dug deep into her flesh, fresh blood oozing out unnoticed.
Yuchi Xiong! A notorious name echoing across the magical world of the Southern territory, a notorious Super-Mage of both the Poison and Curse elements renowned for his extreme cruelty. He was the very monster who had participated in countless bloody massacres, wiping out multiple branches of the Judgment Court in the South throughout the past decade. That towering debt of blood, the agonizing memories of fallen comrades dying in pools of blood beneath his hands, had never faded from Tang Yue’s mind.
Yuchi Xiong halted, sweeping his fish-like, murky eyes across each member of Lin Feng’s squad. When his gaze landed on Lin Feng’s resolute, youthful face, a distorted, chilling smirk blossomed on his dry lips.
“Young Major Lin Feng...” Yuchi Xiong’s voice scraped out hoarsely, resembling two blocks of metal grinding together, echoing through the dark jade corridor. “Did you really think that a few shallow tricks outside could shatter the grand plan of the Black Vatican? Did you imagine that destroying a few peripheral altars could save this miserable Ancient Capital from impending doom?”
He laughed loudly, his sharp, piercing laughter echoing with arrogance and utter contempt for the efforts of the righteous side.
“You are gravely mistaken, you arrogant little brat!” Yuchi Xiong raised his skull scepter higher, dark miasma erupting from its crest into an unholy halo. “The true focal point, the ultimate energy source of the blood-sacrifice grand array, lies right inside the Ancient Emperor’s shrine, right behind me!”
With that, Yuchi Xiong pointed straight toward the massive doors carved with demonic dragon motifs at the far end of the corridor. From beyond those doors, wave upon wave of gloomy, muffled vibrations pulsed like the heartbeat of a gigantic creature, carrying a pressure that made heaven and earth change color.
“Lord Cardinal Salan is inside right now, finalizing the ultimate ritual. Millions of souls of the Ancient Capital will become the stepping stones for his ascension!” Yuchi Xiong licked his lips, his eyes flashing with ferocity. “And you... you certainly know how to pick your timing. Breaking in right now is no different from walking straight into a tiger’s den. You four will make the finest blood offerings to sacrifice to the Ancient Emperor and complete the final step of the grand array!”
The air in the corridor grew suffocatingly dense after that arrogant declaration. The pressure of a Super-level Poison-Curse powerhouse pressed directly against their faces, making everyone’s breathing heavy.
Yet Tang Yue’s reaction completely defied Yuchi Xiong’s expectations. She did not back down, nor did she flinch before the terrifying pressure of a Red Cardinal Deputy. Instead, she stepped forward, the fire of wrath in her eyes blazing as fiercely as erupting magma.
“Yuchi Xiong!” Tang Yue’s voice rang out, cold, razor-sharp, and carrying the weight of ten thousand buried sorrows. “You’ve finally stuck your beastly face out!”
Yuchi Xiong raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, then his smile grew even more mocking. “Oh? Isn’t it the stubborn little woman of the Judgment Court? Tang Yue, I thought you had crawled into some rat hole to hide after the massacre in Jiangnan all those years ago. To think you still dare to bring your pathetic life here to throw it away.”
“The blood debt in Jiangnan, the deaths of hundreds of brothers and sisters in the Judgment Court, every single tear and grievance of the innocent... I have engraved them in my heart day and night!” Tang Yue gritted her teeth, every word dripping with glacial ice and raging fire. “Today, in this cursed place, I will act on behalf of heaven and settle every single debt with you!”
“Settle the debt?” Yuchi Xiong threw his head back in wild, hysterical laughter, his voice dripping with utter contempt for her strength. “Just you? A mere Advanced-Mage scraping together pitiful amounts of spiritual power dares to act so brazenly before this seat? Exactly how many lives do you think you have to challenge the authority of a Super-level Poison Mage?”
He reined in his laughter, his gaze turning as vicious and cold as a razor blade. He swept his crimson cloak outward, barking a ruthless execution order to the entire ambush force lying in wait behind him:
“Kill them all! Leave none alive!” Yuchi Xiong roared, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold-blooded smirk. “Especially that silver-haired girl and this stubborn Judgment Court bitch... Keep their bodies intact for me! I want to personally dissect them and see just how stubborn their souls really are!”
“Understood! We obey Lord Deputy’s command!”
Over a hundred members of the Black Vatican roared in unison, their spine-chilling cries blending into an evil shockwave that shook the dark stone walls of the corridor.
Instantly, hundreds of cultists raised their weapons simultaneously, chanting ancient dark incantations. The surrounding space began to warp and distort. Pitch-black magic circles reeking of deathly aura surfaced beneath their feet, intertwining to form a gigantic energy net that sealed off all directions, cutting off any retreat for Lin Feng’s squad.
“Hmph, a bunch of stubborn fools who don’t know their own limits.” Lin Feng stood at the vanguard of the formation, his expression utterly devoid of panic or fear. He slowly raised the battle blade in his hand, a dazzling, majestic, and supremely righteous light erupting from his body, contrasting sharply with the corrupt dark miasma around him.
“Since you’re so eager to serve as fertilizer for the Ancient Emperor’s shrine, I’ll send all of you to hell together!” Lin Feng said in a deep voice, his gaze as sharp as a sword’s gleam locking onto Yuchi Xiong.
“Kill!”
Yuchi Xiong swung the skull scepter high, issuing the general assault order.
In an instant, a barrage of pitch-black curses, winding dark serpents, and tens of thousands of venomous bugs with iron-hard carapaces crawled densely like a tidal wave, tearing through space and roaring straight toward Lin Feng’s squad with world-destroying momentum! The hook of destiny was cast, and the life-or-death battle officially erupted!