Chapter 1222: Claiming an Emperor
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The newborn king spirit's face changed. With two purple swords, he repeatedly tried to slash Han Sen.
Dong!
The swords repeatedly collided with force of such magnitude that they produced shockwaves strong enough to blow away the approaching super creatures. The roof of the tower was blown off like a lid, as well.
The newborn king spirit was fierce, and he kept on swinging his swords without relenting for a moment. As he did so, he'd repeatedly called out and shouted.
Han Sen's eyes were on fire. There was a stark contrast between his white light and the purple of the spirit.
"Die!" Han Sen blasted.
The purple sword was cut in half by the angel sword. And as the spirit momentarily froze in shock, its guard dropped just enough for the angel sword to swing back and plunge itself deep inside the spirit's chest.
As victorious and relief-bringing as this should have been, Han Sen did not feel a triumph had been achieved just yet. Something felt oddly wrong. The king spirit's body did not feel solid when the sword cleaved through the flesh. The angel sword was able to pierce through without any resistance. It didn't sink through the flesh as it should have.
The king spirit laughed, and then he tried to strike Han Sen.
Han Sen moved forward. In that one step, he managed to get behind the king spirit.
Traveling with a manipulation of space was not considered actual teleportation, but the effects were similar enough to be almost indistinguishable. The purple sword hit nothing.
Han Sen then swung his angel sword with a blistering speed that made the weapon look as if it had disappeared. But it reappeared as it struck the king spirit. Han Sen swung again and again as the smoke of the spirit's figure began to tear.
Even so, it all looked pointless. After the king spirit was sliced in two, it recovered with ease.
The king spirit was further angered by Han Sen's actions, though. The purple smoke became a bunch of swords that again took on a will of their own and tried to kill Han Sen.
However, it wasn't enough to throw off Han Sen's roll. With another slight move, Han Sen was behind the king spirit once more. Han Sen did not hesitate to strike the king spirit with the angel sword again.
"You can't hurt me. Give it up," the king spirit mockingly called out.
Han Sen sliced the king spirit in two again, and after that, he dashed ahead.
But the king spirit instantly recovered again, telling Han Sen, "You can attempt this many, many times, but..."
Before he finished, his face had changed. Han Sen was in front of the spirit statue, with his hands touching the spirit stone.
"How dare you?!" The king spirit raced forward to Han Sen and tried to cut him down.
But without even paying him heed, Han Sen took the spirit stone in his hands.
Boom!
The purple blade that was about to strike Han Sen broke. The newborn king spirit froze, as his eyes fell on the sight of Han Sen, whose hands were now holding the stone.
"Do you want to live? Or do you want to die?" Han Sen turned to the spirit and gave him the ultimatum, as his fingers quivered as he thought about what he should do. He was tempted to break it then and there.
The newborn king spirit continued to stare at the spirit stone that was in Han Sen's hands. After a while of silence had elapsed, he lowered his wings and knelt. He said, "I, Purple Emperor, am willing to submit and offer absolute loyalty to a new master. I will become a faithful servant from now until eternity."
Han Sen was delighted to hear he was submitting, so he jovially placed the spirit stone inside the emperor's forehead.
Han Sen felt very nervous. He had been afraid the king spirit was going to self-destruct. After all, his super king spirit mode was not very intimidating, and it had obviously not been of sufficient strength to engage the spirit one-on-one.
The moment Han Sen put the stone on the spirit's forehead, a purple light bathed the entire tower in a dazzling haze. Then the spirit entered Han Sen's Sea of Soul.
Han Sen was exuberantly happy. But unfortunately, he did not have the time to examine the spirit any further. So Han Sen disconnected from Little Angel, an act that left them both feeling very weak.
Then, Han Sen used his Blood-Demon Dragon Wings to remain safely airborne. He then asked Disloyal Knight to help Thorn Queen.
The moment Han Sen took the stone, the creatures all disbanded and fled in a hurry. Thorn Queen had used her vines to trap one super creature and prevent it from escaping, though.
The vines were like a cruel cage, pinning the creature in place. The thorns had punctured deep into its flesh, like nails that had been hammered into it.
The creature spat and frothed out ice from its mouth in a futile bid to escape. But like hungry needles, the thorns sucked its blood and made it weak.
Han Sen looked at the super creature and noted how it was a white wolf with icy powers. It was rather strong, and it surprised him to see that it was so well restrained. He wondered if that was Thorn Queen's natural strength now, or if it was only possible through the power of the Equinox Flower she had just received.
Disloyal Knight jumped down to help her finish the beast off, but Thorn Queen had already sucked it dry and killed it herself.
"Super Creature Ice Wolf God killed. Beast soul gained. The flesh of this creature can be consumed, and you may also harvest its Life Geno Essence. Consume its Life Geno Essence to gain zero to ten super geno points randomly. Will you accept the beast soul?"
Han Sen wanted it, but a form of ice was already coming out of Thorn Queen. It was then placed in Han Sen's Sea of Soul, presenting him with an ice wolf.
Han Sen exited the tower but did not see any more creatures. There were some weak stragglers, but they weren't worth the effort.
Uninterested with anything more, Han Sen returned to the tower to examine his spoils.
Chapter 1223: Ice Wolf God Armor
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ice Wolf God's flesh and Life Geno Essence were great rewards, but Han Sen was happiest about gaining ownership of the Purple Emperor and the beast soul.
Han Sen looked at the beast soul with much joy.
Super Beast Soul Ice Wolf God: Armor Type
Han Sen hadn't found another super armor beast soul since his last one got destroyed, so this was a supremely beneficial gain. Han Sen summoned the Ice Wolf God armor to try it on. When it appeared, he was clad in ice-white armor that was skirted with fur. It was both stoic and beautiful.
Unfortunately for him, it was a light armor. Its defense was not as sturdy as the last armor he had obtained, but with that being said, it had immense ice and frost defense.
The armor glistened softly as the images of snowflakes were generated around him, giving the illusion that snow was perpetually falling in his proximity. It was gorgeous.
Han Sen could use it to block AoE attacks, and what's more, it was also great against fire.
He would have liked something a little more useful, but Han Sen wasn't willing to complain too much. This was already a brilliant find, and it sure had the looks.
After a while of self-admiration in the armor, he put it away and decided to get a good look at Purple Emperor. Just the mere thought of doing that made him giddy, as he never expected himself to be able to obtain an emperor so soon.
Han Sen did not bother reading his stats and just summoned him right away.
When Purple Emperor appeared in front of him, Han Sen told him, "Tell me what powers you possess."
Purple Emperor told Han Sen about himself without delay.
Han Sen was disappointed, ultimately. He had indeed opened ten gene locks, but his growth really had been stunted by nutrient deprivation. This made him weaker than the average emperor.
"Opening ten gene locks is harder than replenishing the nutrition he might not have received." Thinking it over, Han Sen's disappointment was alleviated somewhat.
Some king spirits actually managed to reach emperor status without opening ten gene locks. Purple Emperor was more than fine, and he had already proved his abilities in the fight earlier.
Purple Emperor was strong and intelligent, and the only thing it truly lacked was experience.
That was most likely because it had only just been born. So, aside from what resided in his instincts, he knew nothing. He was like a big baby, in some ways.
"It was fortunate of me to claim him now. With him being doe-eyed, it made my claiming much easier. If it was an emperor with much experience, I'd wager he'd rather self-destruct than submit." Han Sen was certainly warming up to him.
There were quite a few super creatures in the vicinity, so Han Sen planned to stay at the shelter and see if he could kill a few of them and perhaps max out his super geno point tally.
So, Han Sen had Purple Emperor, Thorn Queen, and Disloyal Knight remain at Tower Shelter while he returned to the Alliance.
Han Sen and Little Angel were still weak, so he thought it would be best if they took a small break to recover. Furthermore, upon returning to the Alliance, Han Sen's attention was brought to a number of messages he had received while away.
They had all been left by Lin Weiwei, and with the number of them there, the subject must have been an urgent one.
Han Sen opened the message to be greeted by an image of Lin Weiwei. She said, "Are you there?! Holy-Sword Shelter is under attack!"
The rest of the messages all dealt with the same matter, and almost immediately, Han Sen was greatly worried. With Xie Qing King there, whatever was attacking the shelter and causing such panic and distress had to be an obscenely powerful force.
Han Sen contacted Lin Weiwei, and when she picked up, she was surprised and said, "Finally, you're back!"
"Yes. What's the issue?" Han Sen said.
"Some spirit brought a bunch of creatures to attempt to conquer us. Xie Qing King killed them all, and so we believed the issue to be over. But a little while later, another host of forces came. This time, the outfit contained a number of super creatures. Xie Qing King told us to teleport back to the Alliance, and if we couldn't get a hold of you, stay there." Lin Weiwei paused for a moment, in obvious worry. After taking a breath, she continued by saying, "Will Xie Qing King die by remaining there all alone?"
"I don't think that guy will go down without a fight; he won't go down easy. I'll go and check it out, you stay here safely." On the inside, Han Sen knew this had to be bad.
Xie Qing King was not afraid of anything, but if he told the other humans not to come back, it showed he lacked confidence. That was what was most disturbing about this affair.
After that, Han Sen returned to the sanctuary. He knew he had to hurry back to Holy-Sword Shelter.
It had been four days since the humans took refuge back in the Alliance, and so Han Sen feared it might be too late for him to save Xie Qing King if things had turned ill in his absence.
Han Sen rode Golden Growler back, bringing all his spoils with him.
When he arrived at Holy-Sword Shelter, all was quiet. The place was in ruin, but the fighting was over, that much was clear. Buildings had been toppled and walls had collapsed, so the place was in a right state.
When Han Sen entered, he was immediately brought great relief. There, he saw Xie Qing King sunbathing as if nothing had changed. On his chest rested a comic.
"You're fine! That is a relief." Han Sen smiled.
Xie Qing King sat up, and when the comic fell, Han Sen was given a fright. There was a big wound in his chest, one that had exposed his heart. You could clearly see the organ pump.
"What happened?" Han Sen knew that whatever damage he had incurred, Xie Qing King should have healed by now.
"The wound has been marked with a strange power. It... won't heal. But that's fine, don't worry." Xie Qing King composed himself and went on to say, "But they'll be back. And I'm sorry to say this, but when they do... I won't be able to stop them. Bring Lin Weiwei back and take them someplace else. Take them someplace they can be safe... yo."
"Who did this to you?" Han Sen frowned with much concern.
"Thunder Hell Emperor's cronies. He won't show himself, but whoever he sends is sure to be strong. And next time, they'll be even stronger. I can't fight them alone," Xie Qing King frowned and began to bleed again.
"You're not alone." Han Sen approached Xie Qing King and used silver lightning on his chest.
Chapter 1224: The Coming Storm
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Han Sen used his lightning-derived healing ability, the ability he had received from silver fox, to start healing Xie Qing King's wounds. It exhausted Han Sen, and if Xie Qing King was to fully recover, it'd take a few days.
Inside the shelter's palace, Han Sen brought out the Cruel Bottle and released Qing Jun.
As soon as she was released, the sprouts and vines resumed their growth. She did not know why Han Sen had summoned her, and she started to panic.
"Zero!" Han Sen called, wanting to see if the Asura Sutra could deal with the affliction.
There was going to be a battle, and if Han Sen could fix his bottled collection of spirits and creatures, they'd be of immeasurable help.
Zero approached Qing Jun in a fiesty rush, flailing her arms as if to attack her. As this occurred, Han Sen slipped behind Qing Jun and held her by the arms, restricting her movement.
Zero slashed her body, killing the invasive vine sprouts and eliminating their roots.
Dragon King was correct. The Asura Sutra was indeed able to destroy the vines.
Qing Jun and Dry Bone King had attempted to get rid of them over the course of their incarceration in the bottle. None of their attempts had yielded any positive results thus far. She was surprised a little human had again provided them a definitive answer to another one of their problems.
"Qing Jun, are you free from those Sky Vines?" Han Sen asked.
Qing Jun, released from his clutches, patted herself down to examine her body. Then she said, "Yes, actually! I don't think I feel them."
"Good. But you're out of the frying bottle and into the fire, I'm afraid. We're going to come under the assault of a terrible enemy. I need your help. Tell the others I will remove their vines, but only if they truthfully remain here to help in the defense of this shelter." Han Sen paused, and then went on to say, "And don't forget to mention the king spirits will have to provide me their spirit stones, and super creatures will have to sign a contract. That's by the by, but just make sure to mention it, so they understand the terms that will allow them to be free of the bottle and free of the vines."
"I'm not entirely sure they'll agree to that," Qing Jun said.
"Ask and see what they say first," Han Sen told her.
Qing Jun returned to the Cruel Bottle. She started by telling the inhabitants of the bottle they could be cured, and Han Sen was willing to release them. This made them all very excited.
Their attitudes quickly soured when they heard they'd have to come into service beneath Han Sen.
"Why would we have to obey him? He is a weakling!"
"Pah! Who does he think he is? An emperor? No way!"
...
"Do you guys want to stay in this bottle forever or do you want to get out?" Qing Jun said sternly, looking into the eyes of each.
"Immortal Emperor will try to reach the Fourth God's Sanctuary, and when he does, we will be free, anyway," Ghost Eye said.
Qing Jun responded by saying, "Do you not realize the terms of your entrapment inside the bottle? You can't escape it by your own volition."
The super creatures were all shocked when they understood what that meant. Ghost Eye spoke again, asking, "Is Han Sen keeping us in here on purpose? Has he gotten us bottled up in here for this very reason?!"
"Yes and no. But try to leave by yourself. Go on. Try it." Qing Jun was making a good case.
The Cruel Bottle might have been their sanctuary, but it was a glass prison at the same time. If Han Sen didn't let them out, they'd be stuck in there, and they were only now becoming aware of that fact.
Water Fairy suddenly said, "Qing Jun, tell Han Sen I am willing to sign a contract!"
"Are you mad?!" Ghost Eye shouted.
"There is no harm going under his employ. Besides, anything is better than being stuck inside here, suffering the scent of your sweaty reeking," Water Fairy rebutted.
"But he's so... weak! Can you all not see that?" Ghost Eye said.
Qing Jun said, "You're a broken record; don't keep me going in circles on this. Again, can you remove the vines by yourself? Can you leave the bottle by yourself?"
"I wouldn't be here if I could," Ghost Eye admitted.
"A little girl accompanies Han Sen, and she can remove them," Qing Jun said.
All the super creatures, hearing this, were shocked.
"I will sign a contract with Han Sen! Me first. Tell him!" Water Fairy pleaded.
"Okay." Qing Jun nodded.
Han Sen was watching the bottle the entire time. Dry Bone King, Water Fairy, and Ghost Eye were willing to join up with Han Sen. Only Rock Giant refused.
Dry Bone King provided Han Sen with his spirit stone, while Water Fairy and Ghost Eye signed the blood contract.
King Spirits: Moment Queen; Thorn Queen; Dry Bone King; Qing Jun King; Purple Emperor.
Super Creatures: Blue Dinosaur; Metal Eater; Water Fairy; Ghost Eye; Snowball.
Han Sen had more power in his back pocket than the average king spirit shelter, not to mention his other companions. He still had Xie Qing King, Bao'er, Zero, Little Angel, Disloyal Knight, and even Ghost Baby and Golden Growler, if push came to shove.
Han Sen wished he had more knowledge of his opponent, and he wished he could view the troops they'd be sending, though.
If it was a king spirit coming for them, with a few super creatures in tow, Han Sen would laugh in the face of that adversity. He wouldn't be afraid. But if Thunder Hell Emperor himself was going to show, he would rather lose the shelter and not risk the battle.
Han Sen suddenly felt something move inside his Sea of Soul. The sound of a raven cawing was heard. The Gold Raven had finished evolving.
Gold Raven: Berserk Super Beast Soul Shapeshifting Type
Han Sen was delighted. He hadn't expected it to finish evolving in time for the fight, and having this meant he didn't have to risk using super king spirit mode.
"I will come with you," Xie Qing King said, as Han Sen was about to leave.
"I'm only performing some light reconnaissance to get a sneak peek at the guest list," Han Sen said.
"Why don't we move to meet with them, dude? Why not battle them out on the plains, instead of risking the ruin of the shelter? This crib has already suffered enough," Xie Qing King suggested.
"That's good thinking, actually. You may be right," Han Sen agreed, and so he led his host of minions to where Thunder Hell Emperor's forces were said to be.