Wang Chong!
Earlier, the High Priest had used just one finger to destroy Wang Chong’s ‘Blazing Sun Domain’. Not only that, he had also used some incredible power to pull Wang Chong’s consciousness out of his body and pull him into this ‘Forbidden Art Sea’.
In this dangerous world that was brimming with Psychic Energy, countless streams of energy were pressing in from all sides, their corrosive power whittling away at Wang Chong.
Wang Chong could only rely on his own Psychic Energy to defend himself, gathering it into a sun that protected him against the omnipresent threat of the Forbidden Art Sea.
“There’s no need for you to keep boasting. There’s no mental world that can’t be escaped or domain that can’t be destroyed. This world is made of Psychic Energy, meaning that it’s nothing but an illusion in the end. Since it’s an illusion, there’s nothing to fear. In the end, you’re still a human, not a god!”
Wang Chong’s blazing sun steadfastly protected him against the energy around him.
His voice was neither meek nor arrogant. Even though he was in this unfathomable world, even though he was facing Masil’s master, the most mysterious existence in the Arabian Empire who even the Caliph revered, Wang Chong felt no fear.
No matter how many transformations they went through, all things shared the same root. As long as one understood their beginning and end, what did it matter how many times they changed?
The High Priest’s ability might have been useful against other Psychic Energy practitioners, but not against Wang Chong.
“Is that so?”
The High Priest was not angered by Wang Chong’s words, and he softly chuckled. Boom! A violet-black bolt of lightning, as thick as a water tank, slashed down from the dark clouds.
Boom! This single strike immediately caused the blazing sun around Wang Chong to flicker, its light dimming.
Wang Chong’s heart tightened, and he immediately shut his mouth and focused on strengthening his blazing sun, eventually restoring its brilliance.
“In your battle with Masil, you once said that everything in the mental world is fake, that nothing is real, and that because it wasn’t real, it couldn’t harm you.”
The High Priest began to speak once more, motioning his staff as he slowly walked forward.
“Your words cannot be considered right nor wrong. This is the shallowest of understandings. Let me ask you: if the mental world is fake, why are you trying to stop it? Since it is all fake, for what purpose do Psychic Energy practitioners exist? Are they all master illusionists?
“And if we follow your train of thought, if the mental world is fake, consciousness is also fake, and then is the soul also fake?”
There was a hint of amusement in the High Priest’s voice.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, another violet-black bolt of lightning cracked down, turning Wang Chong’s sun into a lightless ball. Wang Chong said nothing, clenching his teeth as he continued to resist, but deep down, the High Priest’s words still resonated.
Psychic Energy was fake, otherwise, this sky, the lightning, the sea… if this was all real, the High Priest was a god, and Psychic Energy practitioners would be invincible. But…
Was Psychic Energy really fake?
What were the soul and consciousness, then?
Wang Chong’s mind was awash with thoughts, but he quickly found himself without the time to ponder them. Rumble! The sky darkened, and then countless violet-black lightning bolts appeared above the black ocean.
One, two… one thousand, two thousand… Everywhere he looked, he could see this divine lightning.
Splash! Splash! The sea waters frothed as a massive golden idol wielding a sword emerged, its expression somber and its body crackling with violet-black lightning. Splash! Several dozen li away, another terrifying idol emerged, and then a third, a fourth…
In just a few seconds, an army of thousands of golden idols had risen from the sea to surround Wang Chong.
These massive idols resonated with the lightning above, radiating extreme danger.
Wang Chong paled.
But anything he wanted to do was too late now.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning slammed against Wang Chong’s sun barrier, the first shot that signaled the beginning of the lightning barrage.
At the same time, the golden idols raised their arms and pointed them in Wang Chong’s direction. Crackle! Countless bolts of lightning burst forth.
“Whether it’s true or false, real or illusion, you can experience it for yourself! Why don’t we see whether this endless Forbidden Art Sea is really an illusion created by Psychic Energy? If you’re still alive after this!”
The High Priest’s voice became drifting and faint, and it soon faded into nothingness.
As the High Priest spoke, the lightning cracked down, obliterating Wang Chong and his sun barrier.
Buzz!
But a moment later, Wang Chong appeared once more. However, less than a second later, the divine lightning tore him to shreds.
Once, twice, thrice… in the face of the High Priest’s terrifying psychic assault, Wang Chong could only firmly cling to his conviction.
All arts are illusion! Everything is fabricated!
Wang Chong staunchly held this conviction, using it to resist the endless lightning and the frightening pressure of the Forbidden Art Sea.
Wang Chong had once used this conviction to break through Masil’s mental world, resisting the blow of the Abyssal Apocalypse, but things were different this time. The divine lightning bolts crashing down were not simple illusions. With each lightning bolt, Wang Chong could feel his soul tremble in pain. It was like the lightning really was striking his body.
How? How is he doing this?
Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil, seething with ideas and speculation.
The High Priest of Arabia was undoubtedly the most terrifying and most lethal Psychic Energy practitioner he had ever encountered. The various objects he had created out of Psychic Energy were not simply illusions. They had some of the power of the ‘real thing’.
If not for Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy, five times greater than an ordinary Subtle realm expert, he would have been obliterated in the first wave. Even so, the endless barrage of lightning was wearing away at his Psychic Energy.
Chapter 1874 - Danger! The Center Falls!
Chapter 1874: Danger! The Center Falls!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong could sense that the barrage of attacks was as normal as breathing for the High Priest, a thought which terrified him.
“You truly deserve the title of Child of Destruction. Even under this sort of assault, you are able to instantly regather your mind again and again. In this aspect alone, few Psychic Energy practitioners over the last several thousand years can compare to you.”
The High Priest spoke in a calm and unruffled tone, but the barrages of lightning and the attacks from the idols only intensified.
Rumble! Wang Chong sensed something and looked up. Several thousand kilometers above, a massive dragon head manifested, and then the body, claws, tail, scales, and finally, fierce flames around its body.
In the blink of an eye, a massive black dragon with a savage visage had appeared. And then a second, a third, a fourth…
In less time than a breath, the sky was packed with hundreds of thousands of black dragons.
Roooar!
With a mighty roar, the cloud of black dragons spewed black flames at Wang Chong from the high heavens.
Boom! A massive black flame exploded in the air, destroying Wang Chong’s mental body several times, and this was only the beginning.
Black phoenixes manifested in tens of thousands, followed by countless vicious beasts of bizarre form. And in the black sea, tens of thousands of weapons of all kinds appeared and hurtled toward Wang Chong.
The High Priest had strengthened the assault against Wan
g Chong, and the number of attacks seemed to only be rising.
It’s no good! If this continues, my defeat is certain! I might even die here!
Wang Chong’s heart was heavy. He had always believed that he was about equal with the High Priest when it came to Psychic Energy strength, but it was now apparent that this was far from the case. Moreover, the High Priest’s Psychic Energy was unique in that each attack could inflict some degree of actual harm.
With a thought from Wang Chong, a blazing light brimming with endless heat erupted from Wang Chong’s body.
Supreme Art, Blazing Sun!
Wang Chong rapidly formed a massive sun that proceeded to almost instantly explode. The immense power of this sun fiercely clashed against the divine lightning.
Explosions rippled through the Forbidden Art Sea.
“It’s useless. In the Forbidden Art Sea, everything will be absorbed and transformed into my power. Cease your pointless struggle,” the High Priest casually said. Just as he had predicted, the massive sun Wang Chong had created soon disappeared.
That powerful attack had done no damage to this world.
And after a brief pause, the lightning, the dragons, phoenixes, weapons, and giant idols restarted their fierce assaults.
Wang Chong’s mental body was pulverized and torn to shreds…
Everything was repeating!
And just as the High Priest had said, after this attack, Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy immediately noticed that the Forbidden Art Sea had gotten slightly stronger.
No good! I can’t beat him!
As the second barrage of lightning came down, Wang Chong closed his eyes. Borrowing this brief moment between ‘life’ and ‘death’, he sent countless thoughts through his mind.
Wang Chong was no weakling, and he had already learned all of the Psychic Energy techniques in Masil’s mind and refined them to be even more powerful. In terms of ability, Masil would have no longer been able to defeat him.
Alas, Wang Chong had encountered the High Priest, whose attainments in the mental domain were far greater.
The gap is too great! If I can’t break his Forbidden Art Sea, I’ll only be able to hold on for fifteen minutes at most. If I lose all my Psychic Energy, I’ll die here! Wang Chong said to himself.
Although his mind was imprisoned, he still had his Subtle realm Psychic Energy. He could sense that the Forbidden Art Sea truly was as the High Priest described, created from Psychic Energy arts. Each Psychic Energy art was a ball of light.
And all of them together had created a sea of light!
The High Priest’s store of knowledge had reached an unimaginable level, over ten thousand times as many techniques as Masil’s. If he could obtain the Forbidden Art Sea and the knowledge within, Wang Chong’s mastery of the mental domain was certain to soar.
This was an unimaginable fortune.
But all this rested on the basis of Wang Chong defeating the High Priest. Otherwise, no matter how tough Wang Chong’s mind was or tenacious his will, no matter how times he could ‘reincarnate’ in this Forbidden Art Sea, he would eventually be defeated, and all his Psychic Energy would become soil for the High Priest to increase his strength.
Every person has a flaw, and every art has a weakness. The Forbidden Art Sea is no exception. But how do I do this…
Wang Chong’s mind rapidly worked. He didn’t have much time left. During this battle, he had consumed more than half of his Psychic Energy, and he was going to be ‘assimilated’ by the High Priest soon.
……
While Wang Chong was imprisoned in the Forbidden Art Sea, blasted by tens of thousands of bolts of violet-black lightning, in the real world, the battle between the Great Tang and Arabia continued to intensify, numerous soldiers on both sides dying at every moment.
But death was not enough to make either side retreat. All it did was make the battle even more gruesome and callous, each person determined to kill their foe.
In front of the golden tent, Khatabah’s trusted aide suddenly said, “Hierophant, the enemy’s five Great Generals have all entered the battlefield, and that King of Foreign Lands is being held down by the High Priest!”
As the most legendary existence of Arabia, Khatabah was often said to have ‘Ten Servant Generals’. Lucis and Adnan had already gone onto the field, and the remaining generals were waiting in reserve for Khatabah’s orders.
Khatabah nodded in reply.
“Begin!”
Everything was going roughly according to plan. He had pushed the Great Tang into dire straits, to a point where they no longer had the strength to fight back. This eastern empire had committed almost all its soldiers, but Khatabah still had power to spare.
Arabia was now fighting on the battlefield it was used to.
The moment Khatabah spoke, a string of orders began to be issued. In the middle of the intense battle on the front line, few people noticed the subtle shift taking place.
Boom!
Without any warning, two groups of Arab cavalry on the right flank changed direction and attacked the center Tang army.
This was so abrupt that the Tang soldiers were caught completely off guard. Plush! Plush! They were slain by attacks from two sides, their ranks falling into disorder.
If this were all, it would have been a meaningless development on a battlefield involving millions of soldiers, but the abrupt assault from the right flank was only the beginning.
Neigh!
At almost the same time, a group of cavalry that had already penetrated into the Tang defense line suddenly turned around and attacked the Tang soldiers, joining together with a second group of cavalry to almost instantly obliterate nearly one thousand Tang soldiers.
No force could resist being attacked on both the left, right, and front. This force of nearly one thousand soldiers, a mix of axemen, sabermen, cavalry, and shield soldiers, was swiftly brought down in pools of blood.
One area, two areas, three areas… in the long strip over which the Great Tang and Arabia battled, several hundred such abrupt attacks occurred.
When ‘quantity’ reached a certain point, it became ‘quality’, and the situation instantly transformed.
“Not good!”
In the rear of the Tang army, King Song paled, the first to notice the abrupt shift on the battlefield.
In a mostly unnoticed development, the Arabs had suddenly created a U-shaped encirclement on the left flank, almost instantly wiping out tens of thousands of Tang soldiers.
A similar development had occurred on the right flank. In the space of a few seconds, nearly one hundred thousand Arab soldiers had simultaneously advanced on the left and right flanks, joining together in a ‘V’ and surging toward the Nine Dragon Army in the center, encircling Wang Zhongsi, Zhangchou Jianqiong, An Sishun, and their soldiers.
The center army was the soul of the army, the supporting pillar of this battlefield. It was also the army personally led by the commander and the primary force on the battlefield.
Once the center crumbled, no matter what advantage the left flank and right flank had, they would be defeated all the same.
Worst of all was that, in order to kill Saleh and counter the effects of the Moon God Tree, Wang Zhongsi, Zhangchou Jianqiong, and the others had already plunged deep into the battlefield. Retreating now would be too late.
Not only that, in many parts of the defense line, while the Arabs seemed to be purely fighting their own battles, even the Behemoth Army, it was now apparent that all of this randomness had been planned.
Now that Khatabah had given his order, other than the Behemoth Army, almost all the Arab soldiers on the battlefield suddenly changed direction and charged at the Tang center army. If the Nine Dragon Army and the three Tang Great Generals within it could be destroyed, the Great Tang’s defeat was ensured.
“Kiiill!”
War cries came in from all sides, and the three Tang Great Generals and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were swiftly surrounded.
“Not good! Hurry and reinforce the center!”
Gao Xianzhi grimaced, and he immediately prepared to order Cheng Qianli, Xi Yuanqing, and Lou Shiyi to assist the center army. But at this moment, a grandiose saber energy, pitch-black and several hundred feet long, hurtled toward Gao Xianzhi.
Chapter 1875 - Atonement!
Chapter 1875: Atonement!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Heh, Gao Xianzhi, you don’t think you have the time to break away from a battle with me to assist others, do you?”
Abu Muslim heartily laughed, a mocking expression on his face.
Hierophant Khatabah was the true commander of this battle, as he always had been. If the Tang had underestimated anyone in this battle, it was Khatabah. How could a legend who had forged Arabia through his own sweat and blood possess such little ability and only know how to blindly dispatch soldiers?
In the first battle, the Hierophant had used two hundred thousand soldiers to numb them, and in the next battle, he had used several dozen Behemoths and a seemingly mindless assault to further numb them!
These people had underestimated the Hierophant too much and fallen completely into his tempo!
Upon hearing Abu Muslim’s words, Gao Xianzhi’s expression fell.
Zhangchou Jianqiong and An Sishun also grimaced. They glanced over to the front and saw that the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian was still being held down by Adnan and the Blade of Mukala. Adnan was madly laughing as he swung again and again at Wang Zhongsi.
Even the slowest person could now see that they had fallen into Khatabah’s trap. All his casual orders had been precisely for this moment. But at this moment, they were vastly outnumbered, and neither Zhangchou Jianqiong nor An Sishun could do anything about it.
“What do we do? What do we do?”
King Song was stricken with worry. The only ones who could assist the center were Gao Xianzhi and Abusi, but Gao Xianzhi was being held down while Abusi and his Tongluo Cavalry were still busy fighting with the two hundred thousand cavalry that had approached from the rear.
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