Chapter 1461: Blaze Sovereign

"So? What will be your disguise?"

The Eldritch Night Watchman Captain drooped his head like a girl who, after failing to resist her devious captor, decided that she might as well derive some enjoyment from the predicament.

I pointed to the distance and said, "Who else? Those Soul Collectors all wear big black robes that are perfect for concealing oneself. I’m going to disguise myself as a Soul Collector, and you will lead me into the soul goblet passage. If you refuse, I will simply kill you right here and now!"

"You devil!"

"Hmph. Move it!"

……

After we returned to the road, I picked up a discarded Soul Collector robe from the ground and put it on my person. It was so big that it concealed both my equipment luster and my face. I also picked up a basket from the ground to complete the disguise. Now, it would take an extremely discerning eye to notice that I wasn’t a Soul Collector. Finally, I pressed the dagger to the Eldritch Night Watchman Captain’s back and said, "Let’s go. Again, if you dare to disobey me at any point of our little trip, I promise I will end your life. Your friends may not necessarily be able to kill me, a god, but I absolutely possess the power to kill you."

The Eldritch Night Watchman Captain gritted his teeth, but he ultimately chose to lead me toward my destination.

On the way, we encountered many undead troops. Some were even division-sized armies with at least 10,000 undead soldiers in them. The Eldritch Night Watchman Captain was right to say that the Undying Realm was the Purgatory’s first defense line against the Human Realms. Lin Na was probably worried that Karinshan and the Silver Moon Alliance would invade them, but I personally thought that it was overpreparation. No one would enter the Purgatory unless they had no choice…

"Yo, Captain Zoro! Why are you alone?" an Eldritch Night Watchman greeted the captain.

His name was Zoro? It was a good name that didn’t deserve the person it was tacked onto.

I pressed my dagger harder against Zoro’s back, causing him to shiver all over and blurt, "I… I accidentally wandered off from those lazy maggots, so I had to debrief with just the soul goblets I currently have on my person. What did you manage to find this time, Orgone?"

The Eldritch Night Watchman smiled lustfully. "Oh, I managed to gather the soul of a baron’s daughter this time. I’m planning to offer it to the Lord Sovereign as tribute. With luck, he may promote me to a Red Officer this time…"

Zoro: "..."

I whispered, "Enough chit-chat. Let’s continue!"

Zoro immediately ended the conversation and continued onward. Meanwhile, I checked the undead armies on both sides of the road and thanked the heavens once more that I hadn’t brute-forced my way through. Otherwise, I could run out of Magic Repair Oils and still not defeat them all.

……

About an hour of walking later, we finally arrived at a tall mountain range that was shaped like a devil’s open maw. Below it was a passage where countless Eldritch Night Watchmen were escorting Soul Collectors to turn in their collected souls. Right now, they were everywhere around us.

Zoro was shaking all over with nervousness. He whispered, "Boy, I have completed my task. Isn’t it time you fulfill your promise and let me go as well? I have no wish to die under the Lord Sovereign’s axe…"

I let out a cold chuckle but withdrew my dagger. I said, "Sure. If you dare to try anything though, I promise you that you’ll die a horrible death. Now get out of my sight. Whatever happens next has nothing to do with you."

"In that case… take care not to die too horrible a death, kakakaka…"

"Get lost…"

After Zoro took off like the wind, I entered the passage with my basket of soul goblets. Hundreds and thousands of Soul Collectors were walking together with me. These ghosts who might as well be slaves kept quiet and performed their own duties.

It was at this moment a huge carriage appeared in front of me. The Soul Collectors immediately deposited the soul goblets they had collected into the carriage. The driver of the carriage was a fat beastman waving around a horse whip to spur his two long-tongued and venomous lizards. As expected of the Purgatory, even their transport was hardcore by design.

"You! The filthy maggot over there! Put your soul goblets on the carriage now and fuck off!"

One of the foremen rebuked me and swung his whip at me.

I wasn’t planning to keep myself hidden longer than this anyway, so I grabbed the barbed whip—thank goodness the Flying Dragon Wristguards were tough enough that the barbs couldn’t pierce its metal at all, or this would’ve been a very painful experience—and pulled the foreman up to me. Then, I pierced his body with the Xuanyuan Sword and unleashed Burning Blade Slash, killing him on the spot!

"Oh god, it’s a human! Kill him now!" The surrounding Eldritch Night Watchmen immediately panicked.

I smiled and charged forward. A cyclone of energy beneath my feet, I launched myself upward like a rocket and kneed the beastman driver right in the head, sending him flying into the air. Then, I smacked the two giant lizards with the back of my sword hard, causing them to let out yelps of pain and running forward at high speed. Now this was more like it!

I guided the lizards down the passage while carrying a cartful of soul goblets with me. At first glance, the downward path I was following seemed like it would lead me all the way to the second floor. This wasn’t how I imagined myself entering the Samsara Realm like this, but I wasn’t going to complain about it as a matter of course. There was one thing that kept me on my toes, however. Where was the guardian boss of the first floor? Entering the second floor couldn’t be this easy, right?

Oh well, I would cross that bridge when it came to it. Right now, making sure that I didn’t crash the carriage was the immediate priority…

The two giant lizards ran like crazy. I bet they had never run this fast in their life until now. It was to the point where the soul goblets behind the carriage were constantly falling off and releasing the souls trapped within, scattering them across the entire road.

……

Suddenly, a group of halberd-wielding guards blocked in front. One of them shouted, "Stop that brat! Stop that insolent brat now!"

They were Level 320 deity-rank guards, but they might as well be paper to me!

I executed Burning Blade Slash + Thousand Ice Slash combo that encased every one of them in ice. While the carriage was passing through, I followed up with Summon the Storm + Myriad Storms Obliteration + Coiling Dragon Revolution combo that killed them all. There was no sense in leaving free experience behind, right?

My momentum was unstoppable, and I was able to reach the inner area in just a short time. After killing a dozen or so groups, I also gained a better understanding of my current strength. In the Purgatory, there were very few mobs that could actually pose a threat to me, an Asura God. Divine Deterrence was just too good a skill. It weakened the Level 320 deity-rank mobs so much that they couldn’t stop my little rampage even now.

……

It was at this moment I saw a blood-red barrier about a thousand meters away from me. My heart immediately leaped up to my throat. It was the entrance to the second floor of the Purgatory, the floor they called the Samsara Realm. I was slowly but surely getting closer to Xinran!

Suddenly, a deep voice entered my ears, "Keke, Asura God from the Human Realms, are you aware that I, Ace, am the guardian of the entrance to the Samsara Realm? You should check with me before you attempt to enter the second floor, you know?"

Whoosh!

A ball of flame descended from the sky. It was a battle axe that was wreathed in terrific heat. It instantly scattered the two giant lizards into dust, shattered the ground and caused such a tremendous shock wave that I was blown into a nearby wall. This guardian was no joke alright. At the very least, it was much stronger than the Sovereign Rank boss I had fought at the foot of Dragonbone Mountain Range!

A general about three meters tall and wreathed in deadly flames rose to his feet, cackling. "You must step over my corpse first before you can enter the Samsara Realm, brat. Unfortunately, that is simply impossible!"

……

Pa!

Ignoring his taunt, I zoomed toward the boss like a lightning bolt and stabbed his chest with Purple Frost Concentration, lowering his Defense by 31.1%. Then, I kicked his axe with all my might!

Bang! The boss stumbled two steps backward, shock running across his features. I had beaten him in a duel of strength!

Meanwhile, I had finally gotten the opportunity to observe his stats with Dark Pupils. All things considered, he was an acceptable opponent. I readied myself for battle.

Blaze Sovereign Ace (Sovereign Rank Boss)

Level: 322

Attack: 67,000~95,500

Defense: 110,000

HP: 900,000,000

Skills: Sovereign Arrival, War Crush, Feat of Strength, Champion Arrival

Introduction: Ace is an expert whose mastery of the element of fire had almost reached the level of god, and he was ordained by the Purgatory Ruler himself to become the guardian of the first floor of the Purgatory. In the countless years of his service, dozens of experts who had invaded the Purgatory perished under his mighty axe. His weapon is the legendary weapon of the Fire God himself, the Sacred Emperor’s Sun. It is said that the wielder of the Sun wields the power to burn everything to ashes.

……

I sucked in a deep breath. Ace was a Level 322 Sovereign Rank boss with nearly 100k Attack and 900 million HP, and my Divine Deterrence only managed to lower his stats by 29.4%. In short, he was an enemy that I would have to deal with carefully. To attempt to face-tank the boss would only result in horrible death, and even if it wasn’t, I only had so many potions and Magic Repair Oils to spare. This was just the first floor, and Ace was just the first guardian boss. There were at least six stronger guardian bosses waiting for me below!

Swhoosh!

The Blaze Sovereign buffed himself with Sovereign Arrival before letting out an imperious cackle. Then, he ran up to me, stomped the ground with one of my signature skills, War Crush, and followed up the skill with a powerful Feat of Strength. I tried to parry them all, but the skills easily shredded my efforts and triggered four damage numbers—

398,172!

412,734!

371,626!

518,723!

……

It was a devastating amount of damage to say the least!

In retaliation, I struck the boss with Universe Break + Burning Blade Slash combo that dealt around 2 million damage and restored 1 million HP. Then, I fired a blood-red claw at the boss's weapon, Sacred Emperor’s Sun. Disarm!

It was a success. For a short amount of time, the boss wouldn’t be able to use his weapon!

I chuckled menacingly as I kneed the shocked boss in the stomach. It immediately knocked him back by 10 yards and stunned him for 3 seconds. Man, Mad God Lunge was quickly becoming my favorite skill already!

I swung the Xuanyuan Sword and made the damage numbers fly all over the boss's armor.