Book 18, Highgod – Chapter 23, A Strange Situation

Multiple blurs shot through the mountain forests of the gray fog region of the Abyssal Mountain.

“Halt.” Linley growled.

Linley’s squad of five realized that no one had been able to catch up to them. “Those Highgods trapped in illusions...why are they chasing after us like madmen?” Bebe said, rather discontented. That effeminate man snickered, “They ARE madmen!”

“They are trapped in illusions!” The violet-haired youth, Bloan, barked rather angrily.

“I called them madmen, not you. Why are you so upset?” The effeminate man said with some surprise.

The violet-haired youth just gave a cold snort.

“Stop arguing.” Linley stared at the surroundings, then said in a low voice, “Regardless of whether they are madmen or just trapped in illusions, their souls are already abnormal thanks to the influence of this gray fog region. I didn’t expect that as soon as a battle started, they would be drawn here. It seems...we have to move faster and quickly leave this gray fog region.”

“No rush.” The effeminate man laughed. “Perhaps this gray fog region will have Abyssal Fruit within it.”

Linley glanced sideways at him.

The Abyssal Fruit might be at any place within the Abyssal Mountain, but of course, the chances of it being within the violet fog region was the greatest, while the chances of it being in the white fog region was the smallest.

“If you want to remain here in the gray fog region, I won’t oppose it.” Linley said calmly. “Let’s head out!” Immediately, Linley and Bebe continued advancing. Valette and the violet-haired Bloan didn’t hesitate either, immediately following after Linley. As for the effeminate man, he frowned unhappily, but after glancing at the surroundings, he still followed as well.

On the way over, gray fog swirled as far as they could see.

Linley’s squad of five carefully advanced. If they sensed that battles were occurring ahead of them, they would take a roundabout path and maneuver past it. Linley’s group realized that in the Abyssal Mountain, if they tried to walk in a straight line according to their senses, it would actually be impossible to reach their destination. If, however, one just walked about randomly and made multiple attempts, one might succeed.

One step at a time.

Although it seemed as though they were advancing slowly, in truth, all of them were very fast.

“Whoosh!”

A fiery blur suddenly descended from the skies, and space itself instantly began to boil and froth. An unstoppable aura suddenly pressed down towards Linley; the fiery blur had chosen to throw itself directly at Linley, the leader. Linley’s dark golden eyes swept towards the blur coldly, and from his body, an earthen yellow aura suddenly spread out, capturing the blur within it!

Blackstone Space – Repulsive Force!

At the same time, Linley swept out with his wrist. The completely translucent ‘Mirage’, with a slash, cut a large tear through the space above Linley, as easily as cutting through paper.

As for the figure which had been trapped within the Blackstone Space, his speed immediately lessened, and he was caught off-guard. Linley’s sword slashed directly through his skull.

One sword. Two halves!

He died!

The violet-haired youth Bloan, the effeminate man, and Valette couldn’t help but feel astonished. The aura of the ambushing attacker had caused even space to tremble violently; one could imagine how powerful the person was. But the attacker hadn’t been able to withstand a single stance of Linley’s!

“Let’s hurry.” Linley said calmly while accelerating! The others accelerated as well. After each battle within this gray fog region, they had to immediately leave the scene of the battle, as otherwise, in the blink of an eye, the crazed Highgods of the surrounding area would all immediately charge and attack.

“He really is powerful.” The effeminate man looked at Linley, frowning. “Given his strength, if I follow him, even if I encounter the Abyssal Fruit...I won’t be able to obtain it.” Although it was safer following Linley, if they ended up fighting over the Abyssal Fruit, they wouldn’t be able to overcome Linley. After all, even ordinary Seven Star Fiends who fell into the Blackstone Space would be slaughtered by Linley.

After having become a Highgod, Linley’s power was now close to that of an ordinary Asura of the Infernal Realm.

“Whoosh!” Linley’s group continued to advance. As soon as they sensed any spatial ripples, they would immediately change directions. This strategy resulted in them not encountering any more crazed Highgods for a time.

.............

With the mountain forests of the gray fog region of the Abyssal Mountain.

Beneath an enormous tree that would need five or six men holding hands to embrace its trunk, dozens of figures were seated in the meditative posture. These people had bloodshot eyes which held madness in them, but they didn’t fight against each other. They were seated in different locations beneath the trees. When they looked at each other, they seemed like wild animals vigilantly watching other wild animals.

“Whoosh!”

Multiple blurs suddenly flashed past at high speed.

In almost an instant, those dozens of people silently seated in the meditative posture all looked over. And in that moment....the gazes of these people and of Linley’s squad of five intersected.

“Eh?” Linley’s squad of five was stunned.

The expressions on the faces of these dozens of figures became twisted, and they all shot out from the ground, flying forward as fast as lightning.

“Let’s go!” Linley immediately bellowed.

It wasn’t that he feared these people; rather, he was afraid that these people would slow them down, with the resulting battle attracting hundreds or thousands of crazed Highgods who would attack. That would be truly disastrous! To be able to survive here meant that these crazed Highgods were all powerful experts, most approaching at least the Six Star Fiend level of power.

“Haaa!” A violet-haired woman wildly brandished a scythe, chopping down with it. A circular arc of black light immediately sprang out towards Linley’s group at high speed.

“Grr!” A muscular, armored warrior also wildly struck out with his fist. When his fist punched out, round ripples of power sprang forth from his hand, piercing out in a straight line at high speed towards Linley’s group.

In that instant, those dozens of figures had all launched their most powerful attacks. And, without question, these were all material attacks.

These varied, beautifully multicolor types of material attacks caused multiple cracks in space to appear. Other attacks were translucent or blurry...the attacks completely surrounded Linley’s squad of five. No matter how fast they were in fleeing, they weren’t faster than the speed of these attacks.

The dozens of attacks, because they were focused on a region rather than a person, were rather spread out. Thus, each person only had to face three attacks. In this group, Bebe naturally had it the easiest. He just casually used his fist to smash apart the oncoming attacks. As for Linley, by relying on his godspark weapon, he was also able to easily resist.

But the other three were in terrible shape.

“Flee!” The violet-haired youth just barely managed to block two attacks, with the third attack injuring his left arm. He bellowed while flying forward at high speed.

“Bastards!” The effeminate man let out a growl as a black blur flashed in his hands as he chopped apart a ray of black light that was attacking him.

The effeminate man’s chest had been pierced through as well, but he still gritted his teeth and fled.

The worst off was poor Valette! Valette specialized in soul attacks, and clearly he found it rather difficult to defend against these material attacks. He was barely able to defend against the first one, but of the two successive attacks, one slashed past his lower body while the other slashed past his shoulder. Instantly, one of his legs was torn off and sent flying, while his right arm was severed as well.

But Valette continued to frantically fly forward at high speed.

“Faster.” Linley barked, while at the same time setting up his Blackstone Space. Linley’s squad of five advanced forward at high speed. As for tens of maddened Highgods, they continuously howled as they chased after the squad of five without resting, as though they were chasing after their most hated enemies.

Giant trees could be seen everywhere throughout the Abyssal Mountain. On the leaf of one large tree in particular, a green serpent suddenly appeared, staring at Linley’s fleeing squad of five.

Moments later, Linley’s group of five re-emerged in the space between the white fog region and the gray fog region. Clearly...the route they had taken was wrong, and they had not reached the violet fog region.

“We’re back.” Bebe said helplessly.

“It’s fortunate that we made it out.” Valette let out a sigh of relief. He hurriedly seized the opportunity to heal the wounds on his body. The violet-haired Bloan and the effeminate man also began to heal themselves. That wild flight had indeed caused them to be extremely nervous. If they had been surrounded by a second group of Highgods, it would have been disastrous.

Fortunately, as they fled frantically, they had quickly emerged from the gray fog region.

“Make your preparations. In a while, we will re-enter.” Linley said.

“You can go in. I’ll travel by myself.” The effeminate man said with a calm laugh. “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Linley...but I’m still more used to being by myself. In addition, a squad of five is too large a target and easily attracts more enemies.”

“Eh?” The violet-haired Bloan and Valette both looked at him.

“As you wish.” Linley said calmly.

Bebe glanced at him, snickering. “Oh, by yourself? As I see it, you want to find the Abyssal Fruit.”

The effeminate man’s facial muscles twitched, but he still said with a laugh, “Abyssal Fruit? That’s completely a matter of luck. I can’t find it just because I want to find it.”

Bebe let out a snort, not saying anything further.

Moments later, Linley looked towards Valette and the violet-haired Bloan. Their wounds were already healed. Linley spoke out. “The two of you should be ready now. Then let’s head out!” Valette and the violet-haired youth both followed Linley and Bebe, once more advancing into the gray fog region.

When Bebe entered the gray fog region, he even turned his head to glance at the effeminate looking man, chuckling disdainfully.

The effeminate man maintained his smile, watching the four leave.

“Hmph!” The effeminate man let out a cold snort. “Finding the Abyssal Fruit isn’t just a matter of strength, but also luck. You are currently more powerful than me, but if I end up finding the Abyssal Fruit, my power will greatly improve. Once I acquire a Sovereign artifact...then at that time...!” The effeminate man became covered by a layer of swirling black energy, causing him to become very indistinct and blurred.

Like an illusion, the effeminate man silently slipped into the gray fog region.

Linley’s group continued to advance carefully, not daring to move too quickly.

“So these maddened Highgods aren’t always fighting. Sometimes, they will quietly hide somewhere.” Linley vigilantly watched his surroundings. “These maddened Highgods are just like the magical beasts of the Yulan continent’s Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, savage and ruthless.”

As he moved through the Abyssal Mountain, Linley suddenly felt as though he were in his younger days, adventuring through the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.

Only, back then, what he had to deal with were magical beasts. But now, what he faced was...a group of maddened Highgods! And the place he was at was the number one mountain of the Netherworld, the residence of a Sovereign...Abyssal Mountain!

“Look!” Bebe suddenly let out a low breath.

Linley’s group immediately looked over. Right in front of them, a corpse was hovering there, caught by some branches. On this journey over, Linley’s group had seen quite a few corpses. But...this corpse was of a familiar person. That effeminate man!

“Him?” Linley frowned, drawing closer.

The effeminate man’s face was ashen, and there was a hole in his forehead.

“It was the green snakes!” Linley instantly deduced, and Bebe snickered, “This fellow always had an incredibly arrogant attitude about him. He thought he was so amazing, and wanted to go find the Abyssal Fruit for himself...hmph, I didn’t expect that he wouldn’t even be able to deal with a single green snake!”

Linley secretly shook his head as well.

If he hadn’t even been able to deal with a green snake by himself, why travel alone? He was perhaps too self-confident.

“Let’s go. Be careful on the way.” Linley continued to advance.

Valette and the violet-haired Bloan also gave the effeminate man’s corpse a vigilant look as they, too, shook their heads inwardly. And then, they advanced as well.

But what Linley’s group hadn’t noticed was...

There was more than just a single hole on the effeminate man’s body. His chest and thigh had them as well. Three holes in total! If they had noticed all three holes, Linley’s group probably would have become even more vigilant.

“Boss, I feel as though something is off.” Bebe sent mentally.

Linley’s expression was solemn. “I have the same feeling. There’re no sounds of slaughter in this region.” After having become accustomed to the angry shouts of battle, now that everything was silent, it did indeed feel strange. As for the black-robed, violet-haired youth, Bloan, as well as Valette, they too looked around vigilantly as they continued to follow Linley in slowly advancing.

In the surrounding area...

On the green leaves of one large tree after another, one green snake after another was secretly staring at Linley’s group. The number of green snakes was so high...that Linley’s group would have gone numb in fear had they known. Unfortunately, Linley’s group wasn’t able to detect the presence of the green snakes in the slightest.

“Boss, a green snake!” Bebe suddenly sent mentally, his gaze staring towards an unremarkable tree in front of them. A green snake was stealthily staring at them from it. But when the green snake realized that Bebe was staring back at it, it instantly vanished, transforming into green energy which merged into the leaves of the tree and disappearing.

“It disappeared? It was able to merge into the leaves?” Linley couldn’t help but feel astonished.

Linley had a sudden suspicion, and he instantly turned to look. His gaze flashed lightning-fast towards the leaves of the surrounding trees, and as he looked carefully, what he saw caused his face to change dramatically...

This single visual sweep turned up more than ten green snakes!