Chapter 104: Buckton’s Moment of Enlightenment

Three thousand years of distance had changed the foundations of power far too much; with my newly ascended body as the King of Demon Corpses, I was still no match for Light, let alone the ten of them. My only goal now was to get Bark out alive.

Just as the blade was about to reach Light’s body, and while the others were still stunned and dazed, I suddenly twisted my course and shot furiously toward the cave entrance.

“Damn brat, you dare play me? Stop him! Don’t let him get out!” With that cry, the Emperor Blade in his hand unleashed a detached burst of power that clung tightly to Bark and me in pursuit.

“Damn it, you bastard, you’re using a tracking attack right behind me. Who would stand there and die?” I cursed, dragging Bark along as I ran.

Light was enraged beyond measure. The priceless treasure he had almost had in his grasp was torn away without mercy. Anyone would have been furious. But I believed that the energy within Brut had surged into Bark’s body by its own will; there was destiny in that. Bark was the one chosen by that pure power of the Tribe of the Demon Corpses.

Still, no matter how fast I flew, I could not outrun Light’s detached power. The moment I thought of it, I was reminded of the immortal arts in Chinese mythology dramas. Damn, they were terrifyingly strong. No matter how cleverly you dodged, in the end you still had to face that strike head-on.

Just as the detached power was about to catch my feet, and I was preparing to turn back and disperse it, a miracle happened.

The unknown ring I had dug out from within Brut’s body, worn on the middle finger of my right hand, suddenly burst into glorious light. It looked like a broken shield made of brown tree bark, frail at first glance, as if a gust of wind could shatter it. Yet the ancient runes carved upon it gave one the feeling that this shield had endured untold hardships.

“Brother, this won’t do! Are you telling me that this is all you’ve got, summoning a lousy shield and calling it a day?”

No sooner had I spoken than Light’s detached power slammed into the broken shield. I had expected it to be blasted to pieces, so I had already prepared my defenses behind it, though I knew full well that the power of the Tribe of the Demon Corpses could still break through my barrier.

But miracles always appear at the most desperate moments. That miserable shield from within Brut’s body actually blocked Light’s ferocious strike with effortless ease.

I stared at the wooden shield, tree-bark dry and dead as if carved from withered timber, and stood there for a moment in a daze. Then I gently stroked the skull ring on my hand and murmured, “What a treasure. Damn, you really scared me just now!”

With that, I carried Bark out of this subterranean world of bottomless abyss, then on the way above the tree hollow, I snapped a towering ancient tree and drove it brutally into the entrance of the underground world.

Afterward, all I heard was Light and the others shouting from within the blocked cave: “People of the Demon Corpse tribe, we are sworn enemies forever!” But they did not rush out of the cave to continue the pursuit. Instead, they chose to retreat back into the underground world. I thought they were probably waiting for their strength to break through before emerging into the world above. After all, the Tribe of the Demon Corpses currently had no king; to appear before the world now would be to announce the beginning of their extinction.

Bark was still in a state of enlightenment, and I had no idea how long it would last. Besides, I could not so casually take him into the city. If a hulking brute like him entered the urban district, who knew what kind of chaos it would cause.

By then night had already fallen, and I could not even tell what day it was, or what hour. I only knew that the sky was crowded with stars, and pale moonlight slipped through the leaves to fall slantwise over the pitch-black soil. Blue ghostly flames drifted through the air, and the ancient trees all around made this place feel like the home of some old witch in a fairy tale: gloomy, eerie, and strange.

Scattered upon the ground were ancient bones, armor, swords, and blades of all shapes and forms. Hollow eye sockets overflowed with resentment, as though asking why no one knew they had once fought a war here against another race.

Dark violet energy now radiated from Bark’s body. It seemed his enlightenment was entering its final stage, and from the look of it, this breakthrough could only benefit him. So I stayed by his side and waited the whole night. It was not until sunlight pierced through the lush gaps in the trees that the dark violet aura around Bark slowly faded. Then he opened his large eyes, let out a turbid breath, and said, “Amazing. I feel like my whole body is filled with power now, and it seems I’ve gained a special ability too!”

As he spoke, Bark raised his left hand, and a thread of dark violet flame formed in his palm, hovering about four inches above it.

“Hey, Bark, congratulations on your successful enlightenment!” I said, patting his sturdy shoulder, only to have my hand pricked painfully by the spikes there.

“Oh, right, Xiaodong,” Bark said with a puzzled expression. “I remember I was in Prince Brut’s cavern while watching you take the treasure. So why did I end up here?”

I did not know how to answer him. I merely sighed. Instead of speaking, I raised the ring in my hand. A beam of light shot from the empty eye sockets of the skull ring, forming an image in the air. It was exactly what had happened before.

In truth, this skill had been transmitted into my mind by the ring itself. I had no idea how to activate it. I only felt a stream of consciousness pierce through my skin from the ring, travel along my nerves, and enter my brain. Even lifting the ring in my hand felt as though I had been controlled.

But in the end, I forced that stream of consciousness back into the ring. I suspected it might be the lingering will of Brut. If one truly wanted to uncover the secret of this ring, that residual consciousness would probably be the key.

“I never would have thought it. I really never would have thought it. Grandfather Light—no, that old bastard Light—is actually this kind of person!” After seeing the image, Bark blasted an ancient tree to pieces with a furious punch.

From that single blow, it was clear Bark’s strength had increased by more than a little. He had probably already reached the initial stage of the seventh rank of Demon Corpse power. The tree he had smashed apart had been a towering ancient giant that would have taken dozens of people to encircle, and he had shattered it into fragments with one strike.

“Bark, don’t be angry. I can’t swallow this either, but we’re not strong enough yet. We need to wait for the right moment. When the time is ripe, it won’t be too late to take our revenge.” After saying that, I motioned for Bark to follow me, spread my wings, shot into the sky, and flew toward City Z, with Bark trailing behind me.

But for Bark, who had only just gained the ability to fly, moving through the air was far harder than walking on the ground. Watching his massive body sway left and right, I truly laughed, especially with that honest, flustered look on his face and the way he cried out in the air. The whole man looked comical, like a bear trying to fly through the sky.

“Bark, you can’t possibly enter the city looking like that. Why not turn into someone like me?”

“All right, then I’ll become a human. Even though I don’t like the weakness of humans, I can’t go around frightening them, can I?” As soon as Bark finished speaking, his body began to contract. The cracking and popping sounds were like his bones were changing too.

After a few minutes of transformation in the air, Bark became a young man of firm resolve and iron will, then followed me toward Uncle Mao’s home.

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