Chapter 312 – The King’s Fated Battle

Lu Yuan extended his two right arms, grabbing the shoulder and neck of a four-armed elephant man in front of him. With a swift movement, he lifted and smashed it down.

“Boom!”

The ground beneath instantly caved in, creating a massive crater.

Before the elephant man could get up, Lu Yuan’s four arms had already seized its two enormous elephant hooves. With a slight shake, he pulled them apart with force on both sides simultaneously…

“Rip-Boom!”

The massive twin-headed, four-armed elephant man was torn apart by Lu Yuan, like a small mountain suddenly exploding into pieces.

From the start of the confrontation to its brutal end, it all happened within the span of two blinks.

Lu Yuan’s moves were crude and savage, yet there was an inexplicable fluidity and natural grace in his every motion-dominant and resolute.

He was becoming more adept at fighting in his elephant man form.

The coordination between his Grandmaster skills and the Ming King’s Body was becoming more effortless.

Around the massive cairn lay black, rock-like severed limbs, resembling the ruins of a collapsed wasteland.

Standing amidst these ruins, Lu Yuan lightly touched his forehead, spreading his mental power.

Dozens of elephant man hearts were plucked out by an invisible force and flew towards him.

Lu Yuan looked at the dozens of hearts in front of him without much expression on his face.

With a slight movement of his eyes, the dozens of hearts burst simultaneously, their black, gleaming essence shooting at him like arrows, embedding into his body.

“Thump-thump-thump-thump-“

Lu Yuan seemed to hear the sudden acceleration of his own heartbeat.

Before he could react, the bulges beneath his ribs and on his neck swelled abruptly, then “bang,” new arms and heads grew out.

“Boom!”

As the third pair of arms appeared, an unprecedented surge of power welled up from within Lu Yuan.

His heart expanded mightily within his chest, and the black, demon mountain-like lines on his body rapidly extended. His body swelled, growing, his height breaking through from nine meters to ten meters…

“Whoosh-“

The terrifying aura generated an invisible hurricane spreading in all directions, causing the giant cairn beside him to tremble slightly.

Lu Yuan stood still, his eyes half-closed, with six arms extended.

His thick legs were deeply rooted in the ground beneath him, connected as if he were a towering demon mountain rising from the earth. The dense, majestic aura he exuded caused the surrounding air to solidify.

With every breath, a deep, dark shadow seemed to spread out silently like undulating mountain ranges around him…

The new Ming King’s Body had been constructed.

Ming King Stance with three heads and six arms!

Upon examining the progress of the [Elephant Deity. Ming King Stance (Extraordinary)] panel, Lu Yuan noted that the previously stagnant experience bar had broken through to 80% from 79%.

“A mere one percent difference in experience translates to a world of difference in power…”

Lu Yuan gave a slight shake of his arms, causing all six of them to tremble simultaneously.

At once, a large number of visible dark ripples flowed from his arms.

The transparent air quivered violently like cloth under these dark ripples, producing a series of dull, thunderous sounds.

When these dark ripples reached the giant cairn in front of him, it swiftly disintegrated into fine powder without a sound…

“Each ripple contains at least over three thousand tons of immense Strength, and this is far from my limit…”

While marveling at this astonishing power, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but ponder.

Compared to his previous double-headed four-armed state, his current three heads and six arms state had multiplied his raw physical Strength several times over.

Now, he could effortlessly tear apart his previous self.

Yet, this immense improvement complicated Lu Yuan’s feelings.

Although pushing the Ming King Stance’s experience bar from 79% to 80% required him to kill and absorb a significant number of elephant men, the process seemed a bit too easy.

“There’s none of the sense of solidity that comes from step-by-step progression in the [Martial Artist] and [Martial Arts Grandmaster] professions…”

Lu Yuan could clearly recognize this.

The power he had inherited came from the demon mountain and originated from the elephant deity.

Although, due to the existence of the panel, he wouldn’t become a follower of the elephant deity by merely accepting this power infusion, he could still only be considered a borrower of this power.

Just like the death energy from [Death Messenger (Extraordinary)] representing the power of the crow deity, the power from the elephant deity was also just a tool, a weapon for him-for he wasn’t intrinsically powerful.

With this in mind, Lu Yuan’s thoughts became much clearer.

Any slight indulgence brought by the significant enhancement of the Ming King Stance’s power dissipated like smoke.

Just as Lu Yuan was deep in thought, he suddenly felt the elephant deity curse on his chest become scorching hot.

This burning sensation was not uncommon since entering the elephant deity secret realm; it would occur from time to time.

But unlike before, Lu Yuan sensed that this time, the elephant deity curse on his body seemed to be rapidly expanding and deepening…

“Buzz, buzz, buzz-“

The ground beneath him began to tremble, and the massive cairn in front of him, which he hadn’t even had time to examine, abruptly collapsed.

Then…

“Boom-“

An invisible shockwave swiftly swept through Lu Yuan’s body.

In a sudden flash of vision, Lu Yuan saw a figure with three heads and six arms standing still and towering above him, looking down.

He couldn’t make out the full appearance of this figure, only a pair of dark, violent, and icy eyes.

These eyes were fixed on him, exuding an immense malice far greater than any he had felt before.

Previously, this figure’s malice towards him was more like the animosity one reserves for an intruder-cold and indifferent.

But now, the malice was filled with intense loathing.

He was regarded as a mortal enemy, with a strong intent to eliminate him swiftly and decisively.

“Boom… Boom…”

Lu Yuan snapped out of his momentary daze.

He was astonished to find the distant plain shrouded in heavy black fog, parting gradually.

Within the fog emerged numerous ancient elephant deity creatures with ferocious expressions, along with faint silhouettes of elephant men.

These creatures had their sights locked squarely on him.

The hatred aura that had always surrounded him now seemed to have been magnified a thousand times, attracting all the elephant deity creatures within the secret realm to converge on him, charging with enormous momentum.

Lu Yuan gazed into the distance and saw, at the horizon of the black plain, a towering scarlet pillar of light that had somehow appeared unnoticed.

As he stared at that pillar of light, an extremely intense and inexplicable desire surged from deep within his blood.

At this moment, even without finding the continuation of the previous rock painting, Lu Yuan instantly understood a lot.

“In the same tribe, there can’t be two elephant men with three heads and six arms at the same time…”

“Between me and it, only one can survive…”

Lu Yuan looked at his current three heads and six arms Ming King Stance. Then he saw the ever-closer army of elephant men and ancient elephant deity creatures.

A thought began to form.

“So… is this the fated battle belonging to the king of the tribe?”

“Buzz-“

With a massive, muffled sound, an enormous black ripple spread out abruptly, centered around Lu Yuan.

His figure vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared…

He had already plunged into the oncoming army of attackers.

…

“Origin Blade Technique. First Form!”

Yin Muqing swung her silvery alloy long blade, the energy from the two star acupoints within her body surging violently, propelling the blade, which slashed out a tangible silver arc of light over ten meters long in front of her.

The silver blade light swept out, cutting down any elephant men and ancient elephant deity creatures in its path like a scythe through weeds, sending flesh and blood flying.

Terrifying ripples of energy spread in all directions, leaving deep furrows in the hard ground as if it had been plowed.

Even though the Flying Bear members following behind Yin Muqing were well aware of her exceptional combat power, their hearts still trembled at the sight.

However, the scene unfolding on the adjacent side of their formation was even more astonishing.

There were two figures, their appearances obscured, surrounded by radiant auras like a waterfall.

They moved like two meteors skimming the ground, dashing across the vast black plain at incredible speed.

Anything in their path-elephant men and ancient elephant deity creatures alike-were torn apart as if they were mere paper.

A long, splendid trail was left in their wake.

Yin Muqing saw the figures speeding ahead, her lips pressed together in a slight smile. Her eyes flashed quickly as she gave some rapid instructions to the Flying Bear Generals behind her. Then, with a burst of radiant light, she quickly sped toward the two figures.

She no longer attacked the elephant men and ancient elephant deity creatures below, only occasionally swinging her blade to clear the path in front of her.

Yet, the closer she got to the distant Scarlet pillar of light, the more she could feel the omnipresent, invisible force of suppression in the air.

All her energy came from the two star acupoints activated within her body.

Within the evil deity secret realm, the cosmic energy contained in her star acupoints could not be replenished. Additionally, the realm was filled with mysterious substances derived from the power of the Ancient Evil Deity, naturally exerting a suppressive force on her cultivation in the Starry Sky martial arts.

The denser the mysterious substance in the space, the stronger this suppressive force became.

At this moment, the disparity in strength between Yin Muqing and the two figures ahead became immediately apparent.

She had only activated two star acupoints, whereas the two supernova members from Javier’s side each had at least three star acupoints, and their levels of refinement far exceeded hers.

In such a suppressive environment, they could be more composed and unleash even greater combat power.

“The chances aren’t great…”

Yin Muqing’s eyes fixed on the approaching Scarlet pillar of light as she pondered silently.

The hope of snatching the evil deity’s treasure from the hands of these two powerful competitors seemed slim.

But she still had to try.

Even if she couldn’t get it, participating would allow her to negotiate some other form of compensation from Javier afterward.

With this in mind, Yin Muqing sliced through a layer of mist before her.

Suddenly, an entirely different scene unfolded before her eyes.

This was a vast black desert.

Each grain of sand in the desert was the size of a normal person’s fist, more like small boulders.

At the center of this desert stood a fifteen-meter-tall elephant man with three heads and six arms.

Its single eye on its forehead was wide open, emitting an intense blood-red glow.

Even from a great distance, Yin Muqing could feel the thick, icy killing intent radiating from that gaze.

“Roar!”

Perhaps the sudden intrusion of the three stimulated the elephant man’s nerves, as it raised its six arms and let out an enraged roar.

The terrifying soundwave stirred visible waves of black sand in the desert.

Simultaneously with the roar, the Scarlet pillar of light behind the elephant man suddenly vanished.

When it reappeared, the scarlet light had transformed into a massive red axe light, slicing horizontally towards the three.

In Yin Muqing’s pupils, she saw the red axe light chopping through the air, its mere residual waves grinding the black desert below into fine dust in circles.

Her heart pounded fiercely, and the two star acupoints within her body activated autonomously, channeling surging energy that manifested as two radiant light spots appearing subtly on her skin.

As she raised her blade into a defensive posture, a thought raced through her mind.

Setting aside how to divide the secret treasure…

Whether the three of them could even wrest the secret treasure from the six-armed elephant man seemed to be a major problem.