The voice was indistinguishable as to whether it belonged to a man or a woman. I calmly surveyed my surroundings but found no discernible signs of anyone. I shouted back with a lion's roar.
"Who are you? Where have all the villagers gone?"
"Hehehe... If you're from the Anti-Heaven Alliance, I can't just let you be. This place will be your grave."
Anti-Heaven Alliance?
Before I could react to the incomprehensible words, plant stems sprouted from all directions. Each stem was about three zhang in size, and upon closer inspection, it seemed something was buried in the center of the village. The stems, resembling tentacles, moved at incredible speed and attacked me.
Swish
I split the stems with the Heavenly Thunder Technique, and the voice seemed surprised.
"Really? You have considerable skill."
"Are you a shaman? What did you do to Wangliang?"
"Hahaha... Nothing changes. Die!"
A mad laugh echoed as the plant stems shook violently and attacked me. If it were five years ago, I would have fled without even thinking of standing up to those monstrous stems.
"Hah!"
But I sneered and activated the Thundering Breath, then slashed straight through to the center. A flash of light swept past, and the stems burst, spewing fluids.
Splat!!
I then launched a Thundercloud Strike at the tuber in the center of the plant stems.
Boom
"Aaaaaah..."
A scream echoed. As I had suspected, the creature was controlling the plant stems from inside. The creature, whose body was scorched by the Thundering Breath, writhed and crawled out of the tuber. When I saw the shaman crawling out of the tuber, my eyes widened.
"......!!"
It was not human!
It had the appearance of an insect, more akin to a fly. The only reason I could guess it was human was because it had two legs; the rest of its body was a grotesque, monstrous form that was hard to describe as a fly. Tentacles oozed from its bright red mouth. Any ordinary human would be disheartened just by seeing this.
As I was stunned, the shaman hissed.
"This... How dare you look at this excellent body I received from the gods! Die!"
The creature, glowing with madness, writhed and leaped at me like a spring. It was far beyond the appearance of a human, and I was momentarily speechless before slicing it with one strike. Blue fluid splattered, and it eventually rolled on the ground.
"What's going on? What is this thing?"
I collected my confused thoughts and headed toward the residence of Wangliang, above the Jinlang Valley. On the way up the mountain, I realized that more bizarre monsters were attacking.
Squish!!
"Snakes?!"
They were humans with snake-like lower bodies and faces. They lunged at me with knives and tridents in their hands. I couldn't tell if they could speak human language, but they possessed a speed that would challenge even a skilled martial artist. I easily dodged their attacks and struck them, but they didn't cut as easily as I had hoped.
Thud
"Squish..."
The snake humans, due to their high durability, fell and died in a gruesome manner. I had intended to cleanly slice them into dozens of pieces, but they died with their bodies torn apart. Their innate physical strength seemed far superior to that of humans. Despite the continuous attacks of the snake humans, I noticed that the Fog Cloud Formation was still functioning powerfully.
'No. They're just forcing their way through in large numbers!'
I was astonished. The Fog Cloud Formation set by Wangliang was still active, but the snake monsters were continuously trying to break through it with brute force! It was a crude and primitive method, but with over a hundred snake monsters, it might be possible if enough time passed.
However, having studied the Art of Concealment, I could find the entrance without moving around like them. I broke through the Fog Cloud Formation and climbed to the top of the hut. There, I saw a familiar face.
"Wangliang!"
"You came just in time..."
Wangliang looked at me with a bitter expression. He had changed quite a bit from before, wearing all-black clothing like a crow. Moreover, he seemed to have absorbed the Black and White Lotus I gave him, as I could sense considerable peak internal energy.
I looked at the sky of Jinlang Valley, which was turning crimson, and asked.
"What's going on here? Who are these creatures?"
"It's because the Imperial Guard found the Seven Stars."
"What?"
Wangliang glanced at the Fog Cloud Formation.
"At least you, Baixiong, have reduced the number of snake people by half, giving us some time. But if demons come, they will break through, so we need to escape quickly."
"Explain quickly."
Wangliang began to explain slowly.
"During this time, I cultivated my internal energy with the Black and White Lotus you gave me, learned martial arts, and mastered various spells. With the synergy, I reached a level where I could contribute significantly, and I gained confidence and headed to Liaodong."
"Liaodong?"
"The old land of Bohai was nearby. I found clues to the Phoenix Fragment there and discovered something astonishing."
Wangliang extended his hand, revealing a shattered, or rather, originally fragmented, silver Phoenix Fragment. After staring at the fragment for a while, he said.
"This was a diagram that had to be dismantled in a specific order. It also contained the reason for the fall of Bohai, left by the last king of Bohai. Bohai fell due to a massive volcanic eruption, but the cause of the eruption was the Seven Stars."
"Was something like the Water Star Sword Muye in that area?"
I asked, recalling the massive rain that came when I unsealed Muye. Wangliang nodded.
"The Earth Star's divine treasure was the first Bagua, bestowed by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. It was more accurately called the Bagua Map. When someone took the Earth Star's secret treasure from the seal, the earth veins, which were stabilized by the Bagua, were disturbed, leading to the fall of the Bohai Empire due to the volcanic eruption."
"......!!"
It was an unbelievable and incredible story. No matter how powerful the secret treasures of the Seven Stars were, could they really move the earth veins and cause a volcanic eruption to destroy a country? As I gaped, Wangliang continued.
"During my investigation, I found out who took the Earth Star's secret treasure."
"Who was it?"
"Exactly the Imperial Guard... More precisely, a clan that has been secretly operating behind the emperor for hundreds of years. They have been obsessed with gathering the Seven Stars, changing dynasties over the centuries. It's likely that the current Imperial Guard is also under their control."
"......"
"I have been calling their organization the Demon Suppression Hall."
I was overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information, my head spinning. But one thing was clear: the Imperial Guard had not been idle during the five years I was in seclusion but had been gathering the secret treasures of the Seven Stars and plotting.
Wangliang continued.
"To understand the true nature of the Demon Suppression Hall, I formed an organization called the Anti-Heaven Alliance and have been active for the past few years. Righteous people have helped me during this time. However, it seems the Imperial Guard and the Dongchang have successfully deciphered the Mysterious Priest Scripture and are now cultivating spellcasters, making it difficult to stop them..."
"You mean the bizarre shamans and snake humans outside?"
"They are the power summoned by the Demon Suppression Hall's members using the Mysterious Priest Scripture."
I was dumbfounded.
"But... Wasn't it impossible to decipher the Mysterious Priest Scripture after the interdimensional shaman escaped?"
"It seems not. The Demon Suppression Hall likely summoned another interdimensional being to replace the shaman."
"......!!"
I was shocked. Another monstrous being had been summoned, just as terrifying as the one I had faced?!
Wangliang, hearing the hissing of the snake humans outside, muttered in despair.
"They seem to have obtained enough interdimensional power that they no longer need human sacrifices. They likely discovered one of the Seven Stars in the past few years..."
"Does the discovery of one of the Seven Stars lead to this?"
"Don't you know what blessings we received by offering the Seven Stars? If the power of the Seven Stars is used properly, this is nothing..."
"......"
I clenched my teeth.
I thought it was over, but it wasn't. Wangliang continued.
"Due to the pressure from the Imperial Guard, which is moving on behalf of the Demon Suppression Hall, I called you to Jinlang Valley to inform you before it was too late. But they seem to have moved one step faster."
"You can still escape. Follow me."
"... Please."
I took Wangliang and descended below the Fog Cloud Formation. As we descended, snake humans lunged at us with metallic sounds, but I continuously slashed through them. Normally, I would have struggled against their combined attacks, but I hadn't trained in martial arts at the Qinglong Martial Hall for nothing. I killed over fifty of them in an instant, occasionally using Thundering Breath.
Wangliang was amazed by my martial arts.
"You are truly remarkable. Each of these snake humans is a first-class expert, and even they find it difficult to handle..."
"Hmph, do you think first-class experts would even catch my eye now?"