Chapter 0658: Mutation

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhu Qinghuo and Ox Biaobiao's vicious duel was currently attracting the attention of everyone in House Luolan's Headquarters. With the two taking action, every response literally shook the heavens and the earth as their boundless resonant power imbued with worldly natural energy clashed, leaving behind countless aftershocks.

This exchange between experts luckily had not resulted in collateral damage that brought harm to those below and the outer world itself, partially due to the aid of the defensive ward. The truth was that the clash between the duo had mainly occurred within the Duke's world space. It existed as an independent spatial dimension, capable of resisting and absorbing their world-ending techniques. [1]

This was why everything around them had yet to turn into a ruined calamity.

Of course, Zhu Qinghuo similarly did not want to cause wanton destruction either. It wasn't because he wanted to protect House Luolan, but if the fighting became too fierce, accidentally destroying House Luolan's treasures wouldn't be to his benefit.

……

The Regent's Palace.

The Regent was currently standing in a pavilion with his hands behind his back. His gaze was focused in the direction of House Luolan, as though it could pierce through the void itself, taking in all of the sights.

"House Luolan's Duke is truly extraordinary. Zhu Qinghuo is a fourth-grade Duke and can be considered to be amongst the top in the Xia Kingdom. However, he doesn't seem to have any advantage over his opponent." The Regent observed dryly.

"This Ox Biaobiao person isn't some simple individual. Why would someone like him be willing to sequester himself away as a mere chef? Does Li Taixuan and Tan Tailan hold such sway over him?"

"The duo are quite the charismatic bunch. After all, how else could they have convinced Duze Yan to stick his neck out during such a critical moment for them? You are right to say that Ox Biaobiao is not a straightforward man. It's clear that in his prime, even you would not have been his opponent." A male figure strode out from the shadows behind the Regent. He was dressed immaculately and his skin was as smooth as that of an infant. He looked extremely young, but the profundity and indifference in his gaze betrayed the number of years he had gone through.

However, what was most striking about him was that he was born with two pupils in each eye. The pupils overlapped each other, one gold and one silver. He bore a simple and unadorned dark-red ring on his finger. Upon closer inspection, the surface of the ring was inscribed with an eerie eye with black eye-whites and a white pupil.

The Regent turned to glance at the figure. "Hmm... Ox Biaobiao has yet to reveal his Duke Bergfrieds. Perhaps they have been shattered by someone?"

"Very insightful of you," the young man complimented with a laugh.

The Regend continued, "Having shattered Duke Bergfrieds means Ox Biaobiao must have suffered from a serious injury that might very well have caused him to perish... the fact that he still managed to struggle on only demonstrates how impressive he is."

"Well, it's more than enough to deal with Zhu Qinghuo," the male continued.

"Zhu Qinghuo is just a decoy. It's time for Shen Jinxiao to play his cards. So long as Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e are dealt with, Ox Biaobiao will naturally restrain himself, and the battle for House Luolan will be over. At the same time, I can finally obtain what I want," the Regent explained.

"What if Shen Jinxiao fails? He's unable to personally act and is only able to borrow Pei Hao's body as a medium. He can't contribute with his true power," the young man said with a smile.

"Although he can't act at his full strength, a Duke's methods should be more than sufficient to tidy up a few bratty pests," the Regent indifferently replied.

The young male only continued to play devil's advocate. "Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e aren't common brats. The amount of mysteries hidden within them seem to be quite considerable..."

Despite that, the Regent was not annoyed, continuing to speak with his eyes slightly drooping. "Regardless of what happens, House Luolan's doom is nigh. I've waited so many years, and now I will get what I want."

The dual-pupil youth grinned. "The Little Emperor's coronation ceremony is in a few days. From what I hear, Pang Qianyuan has already borrowed the Dragon Bone Holy Grail to suppress the Ichythian King. If he succeeds, the cracks of the Umbra Cave will be filled up... and he will definitely rush over for the coronation ceremony. It would be as he promised the old Emperor, huh? If he turns up, your bitter efforts will unravel and collapse before your very eyes... After all, he is unparalleled in the Xia Kingdom."

The Regent emotionlessly stared back at the youth. "Well, isn't that why you're here? I don't believe you'll let Pang Qianyuan escape from the Umbra Cave so easily after so many years. In any case, once I control the Kingdom Protecting Formation, even Pang Qianyuan will not be able to deal with me."

"If you want to control the Kingdom Protecting Formation, you're still missing a few more pieces of the puzzle. I believe you require the assistance of House Luolan's treasures, right?"

The youth chuckled. The Regent nodded slightly as he continued to observe the fight over House Luolan. "Thus, I will take the first step of my plan today! How can I possibly afford to fail here?"

……

Bang!

Berserk resonant power rumbled and tossed across the skies above House Luolan.

Countless massive, burning rocks began to descend from the sky, akin to a destructive meteor shower that rained down upon Ox Biaobiao.

It was a sight to behold, and countless individuals raised their head to watch, only feeling abject terror instead of amazement.

If this apocalyptic display of prowess weren’t taking place inside the Duke world space, perhaps half of Xia City might already have been devastated.

Weng!

However, just as the flaming boulders were about to strike, the piercing howl of a knife rang out. In a blink, the tyrannical knife soared through the void, directly slicing them apart and leaving behind distortions in space.

As the knife slashed past the rocks, they fragmented into mere grains of sand before continuing to disintegrate into dust.

The impassive Zhu Qinghuo had a frosty expression as he glared at Ox Biaobiao's pig-butchering knife. For the first time, a tinge of fear could be seen within his eyes. The knife was not some common tool found off the streets... No, it was definitely a violet-eye treasured artifact as the blade energy contained a hint of disintegrative force. If he were to be struck directly, it would affect him like a plague, seeking to decompose him into nothingness.

In all of the previous offensives, none of his attacks had achieved even the slightest of results. This was in part due to Ox Biaobiao's terrifying physique, but also the fiendish pig-butchering knife.

Although the other party had never revealed his own Duke Bergfrieds, he was more than capable of achieving a stalemate.

It seemed that normal methods were insufficient.

Zhu Qinghuo's gaze turned cold and he clasped his hands together, forming a rapid series of hand seals. At this moment, fiery-red clouds began to condense in the sky, turning it crimson.

A moment later, they were torn apart by a thousand-meter-wide crimson palm that crushed downwards.

"Duke Art, Heavenly God of Flame's Palm!"

As Zhu Qinghuo demonstrated his Duke Art, Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e were inevitably captivated by it. This was a Duke exerting the full might of a Duke Art. It was invincible, capable of rending both the heavens and the earth!

But as they immersed themselves in the majesty of the Duke Art, they suddenly felt a dangerous presence attacking in their direction.

Jiang Qing'e reacted the quickest, directly swatting Li Luo away and slamming a palm strike in retaliation. Immediately after, copious amounts of light resonant energy poured out from her like a tide, directly forming layer upon layer of light mirrors.

Crack!

But the mirrors made of light were only able to hold on for a brief moment before fragmenting.

A blast of exceptionally mighty and daunting resonant power then surged towards her, directly clashing with Jiang Qing'e's own resonant power.

Bang!

The explosion caused a shockwave, blasting the ground apart and sending Jiang Qing'e backwards countless steps, her blood churning.

Li Luo was a little shell shocked from being knocked to the side as he shouted, "Sister Qing'e!"

She waved her hand, indicating that she was fine. Instead, she focused intently in the direction the attack had come from.

Their expressions warped upon seeing who the attacker was.

Not too far away, they saw the previously pale and heavily injured Pei Hao stiffly stand up, his face still streaked with bloody holes. Immediately after, he dashed right towards Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e with a deathly smile.

"Did you really think things were over just like that? Huh?"

1. TL Note: So we can see several "layers" of the world now. We have the outer world, also known as space, the normal dimension. Next we have the world spaces, which are the worlds which Dukes create, a separate spatial dimension. In between that, the link between these two dimensions will now be termed the void. ☜