Chapter 543: Power of Divine Artifact, Bao Zheng the King of Hell!
“Oh no!”
“They’re surrounded!”
“Are they really losing their positions?”
The viewers on Earth became anxious again.
The situation was truly complicated.
It was already difficult enough for the navy forces of Dragon City to deal with the tremendous number of aliens and monsters in the sea.
At this moment, new aliens emerged in the river behind them and raised high tides. Countless sea creatures were attacking Dragon City’s last defense line from the back.
If they were attacked in the front and the back at the same time, the navy forces of Dragon City might be destroyed again as they did in the battle against the mermaids and mermen!
Boom!
Exactly at this moment, the broad river exploded, and something rose to the sky from the bottom of the river.
It was a monkey that was almost thirty meters tall. He wore red armor with golden threads, and electric arcs were glittering from his golden eyes!
“Sun Wukong!”
“Awesome, Monkey King!”
Seeing the majestic monkey, many people were already exclaiming in delight on Earth.
“Roar!”
The monkey, whose eyes were glowing, expanded continuously and was already a hundred meters tall when he fell back into the sea. He suddenly reached for the tides that were coming to him with his thick hairy arms.
Then, he clenched his fists and opened his arms.
“Hula!”
The tides that were hundreds of meters long and more than ten meters tall were ripped into halves by the enormous claw.
The scene was similar to when the Leshan Giant Buddha stopped the tides of the nuclear explosion with its hand, except that this was bloodier and more brutal!
It was because when the giant monkey clenched his fists, the tides were compressed by the invisible force. Tens of thousands of sea creatures were reduced into a mixture of flesh and blood.
Furthermore, even a Transcendent alien in the shape of a crocodile couldn’t resist the pressure. It was compressed and transformed into a giant “meatball” with countless fish and shrimps. Then, the giant monkey that had golden eyes threw it into his mouth that was full of tusks.
“Pew!”
The monkey chewed the meatball, and blood flowed crazily on its hair!
“Hiss, why is this Monkey King slightly weird?”
“Indeed. Is he so brutal?”
“Shouldn’t the Monkey King be based on the golden snub-nosed monkey? This looks like a white-headed langur!”
However, someone disagreed.
“What’s weird? This is exactly what Sun Wukong looks like!”
“The Sun Wukong you know has already been prettified. In fact, in the original novel Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was an aggressive, man-eating monster. He couldn’t have been purged of his brutality without the Buddhist sutras from our country!”
The people of Sandia who were aware of the language of Chidragon posted on the forum.
“That’s bulls*it. The image of the characters on the Land of Inheritance is based on most people’s impression of the civilization. For us, Sun Wukong is a strong and disobedient fighter. He can’t be such a monster…”
“Indeed. I watched Sun Wukong’s arrival. He looked nothing like this.”
“This is not Sun Wukong. It should be Wuzhiqi, Sun Wukong’s origin that was recorded in Classic of Mountains and Seas!”
A specialist who was familiar with ancient culture came up with a theory.
[Wuzhiqi]
[Level: Transcendent Rank-6]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Description: Wuzhiqi was an ancient demon that was born as a monkey with enormous physical strength. It was more than thirty meters tall and had the strength of nine elephants. It caused trouble when Yu tamed River Huai and got suppressed!]
[Note: Wuzhiqi once united the Dragon River and marched to Dragon City with a hundred thousand sea monsters. It fought Dragon City’s Master and failed. Then, it surrendered to be an important subordinate to the Dragon City’s Master.]
Yes, it was Wuzhiqi, not Sun Wukong.
It was a famous demon in River Huai and the creature that was recorded in Classics of Mountains and Seas. Sun Wukong’s image was likely to be based on it.
After surrendering to Ji Ye, Wuzhiqi became the god of the Dragon River that flowed through Dragon City. According to the arrangements of the strategic division of Dragon City, it was supposed to be an ambush for the sea monsters.
When the situation was too dangerous, and when aliens were rising from the river that was under its control, it burst into fury and joined the battle!
Boom, boom, boom…
However, unlike the battle in the sea, while there were plenty of sea monsters in the river, they were all in the Ordinary level. They were no threat to the Transcendent creatures even though they were large in number!
“Gurgle!”
On the other hand, after Wuzhiqi leaped out of the surface of the river, a swarm of Extraordinary monsters followed it out, including tortoises, lobsters, shrimps, etc.
As the god of this river, and since it used to be a great demon, Wuzhiqi had already subdued all the Extraordinary monsters before the battle!
As for the stronger monsters that were above the Transcendent level, the people of Chidragon, known as gourmets, would certainly not waste such food ingredients that could significantly strengthen them.
As the only king in the river, Wuzhiqi aggressively stared at the incoming Transcendent creatures with glittering eyes.
The monsters bellowed.
It roared and fought dozens of Transcendent crocodiles on its own. Although the aliens which looked like crocodiles attacked Wuzhiqi with their scales that were vibrating at a high frequency and wounds kept appearing on Wuzhiqi, those wounds were healed almost the moment they appeared.
It had gained the ability of healing after it signed a contract with Ji Ye.
At this moment, Ji Ye’s Healing talent had been further improved. It could even remotely heal his contracted creatures.
Wuzhiqi, as an ancient demon, was best known for its thirst for blood. Since it was constantly being healed, it was absolutely fearless of death.
The longer it fought, the braver it became. Even the water of the river turned dark in the battle.
“He’s so good. He’s probably as strong as the real Sun Wukong!”
“The master of Dragon City hasn’t participated in the battle yet. He only deployed one of his contracted creatures, and it has already stopped these aliens. How strong must he be?”
“That’s hard to say. Some people are very talented in contracting others. They’re not very strong themselves!”
Seeing that, the players of the other settlements who had returned to Earth to watch the battle remarked.
“I don’t know if he’s strong, but I’m certain of one thing!”
“Even if this monkey is shockingly strong, Dragon City is still doomed without the reinforcements from the other settlements.”
One of the beta testers seemed solemn.
Even though this “Primitive Sun Wukong” had blocked the alien crocodiles in the river, the aliens in the sea were attacking more and more fiercely, and the third defense line was collapsing in no time.
It must be noted that there was a branch settlement with a population of more than two hundred thousand not far away behind the third defense line. If Dragon City’s navy force lost, then the 200,000 residents would likely die. It was impossible to evacuate so many people even with the Hyperspace Transporter!
However, speaking of the Hyperspace Transporter…
Hum!
Exactly at this moment, the glow that represented teleportation flashed in the sky above the battlefield, and several strangers appeared!
The man in the lead was quite fat. He wore a dark golden robe, and he had glittering eyes. There was a crescent mark on his forehead that made him look inviolable and intimidating.
“Huh? This man looks rather familiar?”
“A crescent birthmark? Could he be…?”
“Lord Bao?”
“Justice Bao!”
Thanks to the obvious feature, most observers in Chidragon recognized his identity easily.
“Clause II in Dragon City Law: whoever brutalizes human beings in the territory of Dragon City shall be executed!”
Bao Zheng, wearing a long robe, widened his eyes in fury while the crescent moon on his forehead glittered. His voice wasn’t loud, but everybody could hear him.
Although the aliens couldn’t understand the human language, they could perceive the telepathic message.
However, they simply ignored the warning.
Instead, they simply drove the sea creatures to attack the third line of defense that was already collapsing at the cost of their lives!
“Guardian Zhan, present the royal decree!”
Facing the aliens, Bao Zheng declared with glittering eyes.
“Yes, sir!”
Behind Bao Zheng were several Transcendent guards who held weapons and ceremonial equipment.
One of them had a square face and eyebrows like swords. He wore a red tall hat and was holding a broad longsword.
There was a jade box that had golden dragon patterns on the surface in his right hand.
Hum!
The box released a dazzling golden light, and a royal decree that had some words and a golden “Ji” mark on it flew out.
A tremendous amount of the power of providence had been attached to the royal decree, which transformed into a tiny dragon and floated like a small sun!
“A royal decree?”
“Haha. Those people of Dragon City are hilarious.”
In a skyscraper in Jaipan, the leaders of the Once Piece settlement wore weird expressions.
Although they felt that they were slapped in the face when the Mazu sold so many soldiers earlier, they became scornful again.
“Royal decrees from the ancient dynasties indeed carry special power on the Land of Inheritance. However, the problem is that the royal decree clearly works on human beings only and won’t be as effective as aliens… They’re not the targets of the royal decree at all…”
The evil-looking stout player, while chewing the grapes that the maid sent, spoke in a mocking tone.
“F*ck!”
However, his small eyes were abruptly widened the next moment.
“Let the court start!”
In the sky, after the “royal decree” was presented, Bao Zheng waved his long robe.
Hum!
The royal decree suddenly radiated brilliantly, covering everybody including Bao Zheng, Zhan Zhao, and the other Transcendent guards, as well as a large area around them.
In the blink of an eye, a building similar to an ancient court was outlined. At the center of the hall, which was dozens of meters tall, was an enormous red desk. There was a gavel and a black-covered book on the left side of the desk and three badges on the right side!
At the top of the hall, there was also a blackboard on which three vague words were written.
“Huh? Don’t the court halls in ancient times usually have four words? Why does this board have three words?”
On Earth, many people widened their eyes, but they couldn’t see the three words clearly.
When Bao Zheng said “let the court start”, most people thought of the ancient courts in plays and TV series.
However, the hall that appeared out of nowhere in the air was much more splendid than any office in ancient times.
In fact, not just the environment, but the people who were covered in the golden light changed too.
Zhang Long and Zhao Hu’s tight clothes turned into black and white robes. They held rods and shackles in their hands.
They were also wearing black and white hats. One of the hats said “Fortune” and the other said “Peace”.
As for Wang Chao and Ma Han, their clothes turned into big beast-head armor. They held black shackles, and their heads turned into those of a bull and a horse. Black fire of souls flashed in their eyes!
“Are they… the Bull Head, the Horse Face, and the Black and White Ghosts?”
“What’s going on? Are they building a…”
Those from the cultural circle of Chidragon on Earth realized something.
The royal decree in the sky continued radiating, and the temple was getting more and more splendid. Black pillars rose to the sky. On them, a lot of soul-stirring couplets were written.
Whoosh!
Bao Zheng, who looked as intimidating as a god, sat behind the desk, and the words on the board finally became clear—Hell King’s Temple.
The human laws did only apply to human beings, but according to ancient tales, the King of Hell could interrogate all souls and decide their positions in the cycle of life!
Everybody knew that Bao Zheng was known as a defender of justice. However, very few people knew that, similar to Guan Yu and Mazu, Bao Zheng was a demigod hero.
It was said that he was chosen by the heavens when he was still alive to be a judge in hell. He even became the fifth king in the netherworld after he died!
At this moment, the Hell King’s Temple manifested, naturally for the purpose of giving the aliens and sea creatures a trial.
Whoosh!
The crescent moon on Bao Zheng’s forehead flashed, and he smashed the gavel so hard that everybody on the battlefield heard it!
“Overlord Squids, Sea King Jellyfish, Flying Fish, Shadow Fish… Altogether 91,816 creatures have violated the laws of Dragon City.”
Splash!
The Life and Death Book on the desk automatically turned pages and displayed the scenes where the sea creatures and aliens brutalized human beings and participated in the massacres.
Bao Zheng’s talent ability, “Judge”, could recognize if a person was guilty or evil!
It was actually a non-combat talent ability.
It was because the target had to commit a crime before they were deemed guilty. Also, Bao Zheng couldn’t punish criminals with his talent!
However, with the royal decree to which the jade seal had been applied, the talent became useful.
It was because the royal decree and the jade seal, as Quasi Mythological items, had the abilities to create rules and endow power.
They seemed quite simple.
However, on second thought, the two items were much more useful than the Legendary heavy treasures.
For example, on the battlefield down below, the third defense line was about to collapse under the attack of the sea aliens.
However, if a “restriction order” was issued with the royal decree, it would be possible to forbid the sea creatures from using Transcendent powers within the territory of Dragon City.
The rule applied to the entire continent that was under the cover of Dragon City’s power of providence.
Then, it would immediately change the situation of the battle.
It was even possible to give orders to a certain item or species.
For example, “the Overlord Squids shall die immediately” or “the Transcendent heroes of Dragon City shall be immune to the attacks of all sea creatures”.
It could largely turn the tables on a battlefield.
The power that the jade seal could endow was similar. It could give the power of a Transcendent hero or even a Legendary hero to an Ordinary person.
With the combination of “rule” and “power”, they were as powerful as the real “divine artifacts”.
For example, Wuzhiqi had been nominated as the God of the Dragon River exactly with a royal decree that the jade seal had been applied to.
Not everybody knew Bao Zheng’s identity as the King of Hell. He didn’t have all the Transcendent power of the King of Hell. He constructed this temple with the power of the royal decree and the jade seal too!
Of course, even the divine artifacts weren’t really invincible.
It was because even the Legendary players couldn’t use the heavy treasures of such a level on their own.
They couldn’t write on the royal decree or apply the jade seal to it without using the power of the providence of the settlement.
Also, the more advanced and sophisticated the rule and the power were, the more power of providence would be consumed!
For example, a rule such as “all aliens shall be executed when they enter Dragon City” seemed invincible, but undoubtedly, it was impossible to write such a royal decree if all Dragon City’s power of providence was consumed.
The simpler rules such as “the Overlord Squids shall die immediately” could be put into practice.
But the power of providence it consumed was probably more than what it would’ve consumed if several Legendary heroes attacked together.
Therefore, the two items should be used judiciously.
Dragon City’s strategic division’s decision was to attack some of the aliens at one time!
As the battle went on, it had been confirmed that the aliens weren’t united. Making the rules that “all murderers shall be killed” could impose great pressure on the aliens.
“In fact, this advancement test is not just a test on us but also one for these aliens.”
In the channel on the SkyNet, Elder Meng’s voice sounded.
“According to the strategic division’s analysis, those Transcendent aliens must be villains in their groups. They have to win the right to stay on the Land of Inheritance by defeating Dragon City…”
The aliens’ desire was exactly their weakness.
After all, instead of violating the rules and risking their lives in the fight, why shouldn’t they wait for other aliens to exhaust Dragon City first so that they could take advantage of them in the end?
Obviously, when all the aliens thought the same, they would be no threats to Dragon City at all.