Chapter 173: The Other Side of the Astral Realm
Noticing the anomaly, Jiang Li raised his eyes in confusion, then paused. Xia Feng? Why was he here? Jiang Li was puzzled. He had intended to find Xia Feng after the Goddess’s projection descended, but he hadn’t expected the Eternal Day Holy Son to show up on his own. “Fine, that saves me some trouble,” Jiang Li thought with a slight joy, lowering his head and accelerating the ritual’s progress.
Archbishop Aus stood on a tall pillar, his aged eyes creased as he looked down at the man below. He had been anticipating the sudden arrival of the Peach Organization, but he hadn’t expected Xia Feng, just a young kid, to be the one to appear. However, the way this kid appeared just now was very bizarre. He had barely sensed any spiritual pressure fluctuations, which was only possible with a spirit artifact, and a high status one at that. So, was someone hiding in the shadows? With this thought, Archbishop Aus vaguely speculated that perhaps the Peach Organization had indeed arrived, but the person sent might not be strong, and out of caution, they were hiding and hadn’t made a move.
He looked down from above, his aged voice low and calm. “Why hide? Xia Feng, let the person behind you come out.”
“The person behind me? What person behind me?” Xia Feng smiled faintly. “Your Excellency, I don’t have any helpers. I came alone this time, just to take your head, Archbishop!” Saying this, he gestured towards the old man standing atop the pillar. “Come on, old man, if you’re a man, come down and duel me.”
Since the beginning was a failure, he could only fight. As long as he could touch the Archbishop during the battle, it would be a success! The old man looked down at the provocative Xia Feng, his calm gaze narrowing. The next moment, his figure suddenly vanished from his spot, and humanoid lightning flashed behind Xia Feng. In the Archbishop’s vision, Xia Feng’s evasive movements were like a snail’s crawl. He extended his lightning palm and struck directly at Xia Feng’s back, but instead of hitting flesh, he unleashed a lightning snake that directly swallowed Xia Feng. His body instantly turned scorched black amidst crackling electric currents, carbonized, and turned to ash.
Easily killing Xia Feng, the Archbishop slowly raised his head, his gaze indifferent, and shook his head. It seemed the Peach Organization was nothing special. Even now, they hadn’t sent a decent opponent. Perhaps they were short-handed. According to the intelligence they currently had, the Peach Organization had only four known members: Black Spade, Red Spade, Diamond, and Club, whose codenames seemed to be chosen from playing cards. There were only four suits in a deck of cards, so perhaps the core members of this organization were only four people in total?
While contemplating, Archbishop Aus stood in place and waited for a while longer, but no one else suddenly appeared. He scoffed inwardly, thinking he had overestimated the Peach Organization before. This organization had repeatedly thwarted his plans, clearly intending to confront him. But this time, it was uncharacteristically quiet, with no disruption. It was very likely they were powerless and knew they couldn’t stop him, so they gave up the idea of causing trouble. However, even so, he couldn’t let his guard down. He would only be truly safe when the Eternal Day Goddess’s projection descended. At that time, even if the core members of the Peach Organization arrived, they would be helpless.
“Jiang Li, how much longer?” the Archbishop asked again.
“Almost, almost! I can already feel the mighty divine grace of the Eternal Day Goddess!” Jiang Li had already removed his golden mask, revealing his pale face. His eyes were filled with worship and reverence, but his tone was frenzied. He grinned, dipped his finger in blood, and frantically drew complex patterns in the center of the formation.
Xia Feng, who had entered a nirvana state, hid in the shadows and observed the formation with curiosity. He had heard Tea Nai Xue mention this thing before, calling it the “Star Shadow Ritual,” a formation that could summon a believed Star God. The formation’s core was the Star Bone Glaze, from which starlight continuously dissipated, drifting towards the sky. Upon hearing the masked man mention this name, Xia Feng frowned. He remembered the divine name “Eternal Day,” but according to his textbooks, the Eternal Day Star God had already perished. What was the relationship between this Eternal Day Goddess and the Eternal Day Star God?
Well, forget it, now wasn’t the time to think about these things. Xia Feng shook his head. So, the Archbishop wanted to summon the Eternal Day Goddess to descend, thereby protecting him during the sacrifice phase? If that was the case… Should I stop this ritual from being completed? Xia Feng hesitated for 0.1 seconds before deciding not to interfere. Let’s take a gamble. Since he had decided to use the Black Crow Feather to drag the Archbishop into the Evil Dragon Space, to maximize his profits, pulling in another deity would be even more lucrative! After all, only one Black Crow Feather was left, and once used, it would be gone. Using it solely against the Archbishop was indeed a bit of a waste. The last time he used the Black Crow Feather, he had dragged in the Eight-eyed Nightmare God, Anubi. This time, he should at least pull in a Star God to whet Miss Evil Dragon’s appetite. The Eternal Day Goddess, this name sounded very delicious, and Miss Evil Dragon would probably love it.
Rumble!! Outside, the battle in the training grounds had entered its climax. “Damn it, there’s actually a Venerable guarding! Can’t I have a crushing victory for once!” the man with an unkempt beard roared, carrying Uncle Wei through the thunderous explosions. He arrived in the distant sky and stood alongside the Xuanwu Bureau Chief. A giant turtle shell floated above the Xuanwu Bureau Chief’s head, blocking all external attacks. On the other side of the clouds, Viper’s Blood-Eye Mask was tilted on his head, his vertical pupils gleaming. And beside Viper floated a golden humanoid figure constructed entirely of gold, also wearing a Blood-Eye Mask, exuding a terrifying aura of a Venerable.
“Lord White Dragon,” the golden figure’s voice boomed like a great bell, majestic and deep. “We have no intention of being enemies with the Yin Dragon Legion. Why don’t we each take a step back? Take Wei Shutong away, and I’ll pretend you and Xuanwu never came here.” The White Dragon Walker, though newly promoted to Venerable, was still very troublesome. The golden figure didn’t want any complications; he just wanted these two to leave quickly. The White Dragon clicked his tongue. This proposal was indeed good. They came here solely to rescue Wei Shutong. As for killing the Archbishop or exposing the Garden’s affairs, they couldn’t even think about it for now. But the White Dragon Walker just felt unhappy, this feeling of powerlessness made him feel as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly dropping.
Rumble!!! Just then, the sky suddenly darkened, and amidst the surging wind and clouds, a purple lightning bolt streaked across the sky. Everyone’s gaze converged as they looked up. Swish— In the castle hall, Jiang Li’s footsteps flickered, and he retreated from the formation’s core. All the divine-robed priests knelt with their hands clasped in prayer. They trembled, and under the terrifying pull of the golden formation, their bodies instantly disintegrated into bloody spiritual light, flowing along the formation’s winding patterns towards the glazed flower in the center. The Star Bone Glaze seemed to have received nourishment, growing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The petals fully bloomed, emitting gorgeous starlight. Twinkling fragments of light drifted upwards, like a galaxy, connecting the earth to the sky and reaching the unknown Astral Realm on the other side of the clouds.
