Zhou Ziwei suddenly straightened up, opened his arms, and laughed loudly. The laughter soared into the sky, its momentum astonishing, yet filled with boundless madness. Everyone nearby who heard the laughter felt their scalp tingle and their hearts grow cold.
Just now, Zhou Ziwei had wiped out a thousand-man squad of heavily armored spearmen in one fell swoop, and then, as if possessed, he charged into the Blue Armor Army's camp, killing anyone he saw. In just a short time, he had killed three or four thousand people.
Even the fiercest Blue Armor Army would be terrified out of their wits when faced with such a fearsome killing god.
That's why, when Zhou Ziwei stopped in place for the second time, not a single Blue Armor soldier dared to offend this terrifying god of death.
The Red Army knew that this Silver-Clad War God should be a strong figure on their side, so they naturally admired and respected him, but how could they dare to offend him easily?
However, at this moment, regardless of whether they were blue-armored soldiers or red-clad soldiers, upon hearing Zhou Ziwei's maniacal laughter, they all felt a chill run down their spines. When they looked at Zhou Ziwei again, almost no one dared to linger around him. They all turned around in unison and fled for their lives in the direction furthest from Zhou Ziwei, without regard for east, west, north, or south...
"Die! Hahaha... All of you, die! Hahaha..." Zhou Ziwei laughed maniacally as he gathered up all the wind-attribute energy that had almost slipped out of his control due to his complete focus on manipulating the transformation of soul power, and then divided it back into hundreds of small wisps of energy.
Human strength has its limits. Zhou Ziwei could manage to control a hundred energy clusters simultaneously, which he had previously found somewhat difficult. However, this time, with his total soul power reaching 400,000, he no longer felt any sluggishness.
As his soul power increased, his soul consciousness naturally became stronger as well. Now his soul power was about five times stronger than before, so manipulating a hundred energy clusters at the same time was no problem for him.
With a thought, Zhou Ziwei split the one hundred energy clusters into two hundred. Feeling that he still had the strength to control two hundred energy clusters at the same time, Zhou Ziwei then split the two hundred energy clusters into four hundred energy clusters.
Zhou Ziwei then realized that if he divided the four hundred energy clusters into eight hundred, it would be difficult to control them at will. So he stopped splitting the energy clusters and instead used his soul consciousness to control the four hundred energy clusters to fly in all directions.
After the energy cluster is divided into four hundred parts, the weight that each small cluster can bear is naturally reduced considerably.
It would be impractical to use such small air masses to control those stone projectiles, and even if it were managed, they wouldn't be very lethal.
So Zhou Ziwei chose the arrow, a weapon that was small in size, light in weight, but extremely lethal.
This is the battlefield where the two sides are fighting. Arrows, as a very effective medium- and long-range attack weapon in the era of cold weapons, are naturally plentiful. The two sides have been fighting on Wolong Mountain for most of the day. At this moment, the ground is littered with arrows that have been discarded. Zhou Ziwei casually directed four hundred small clouds of air to sweep across the ground, instantly gathering four hundred arrows, which then floated neatly in front of and behind him...
Everyone who kills here deserves to die; they should all become my soul energy.
The red light in Zhou Ziwei's eyes grew stronger, and a violent aura enveloped his entire body almost as if it were materialized.
However, just as Zhou Ziwei was attempting to manipulate the four hundred arrows around him to indiscriminately kill friend and foe, he suddenly heard a cry of alarm from above—
"Oh my god...blood...Ziwei, how come you have so much blood on you?...Are you alright?! Ah..."
Hearing the sound, Zhou Ziwei looked up and saw that the huge ostrich had once again flown more than a hundred meters above his head. Because it was afraid that someone below would attack with arrows, this was the limit. Although the old swindler was very worried about Zhou Ziwei's safety, he dared not let the ostrich descend too low.
At that moment, Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang were clinging to the ostrich's massive neck, peering at it and pointing at it while exclaiming in surprise. However, in their haste, they lost their grip and slipped, falling straight off the ostrich.
Zhou Ziwei was taken aback. He no longer cared about killing anyone. He hurriedly used his soul consciousness to control the four hundred small wisps of air to merge into one, then threw out the arrows wrapped inside. It then transformed into a huge tornado and flew into the air.
When Wang Xuewei was halfway down, she was finally caught by the tornado, and then Zhou Ziwei controlled her to slowly descend, allowing her to land safely beside him without any injury.
Wang Xuewei was also startled, but after calming down, she immediately grabbed Zhou Ziwei's shoulder and asked cautiously, "Ziwei, are you alright? I saw you up there and it looked like you were covered in blood, but now it's gone? Huh... your eyes are so red? Why... why are you staring at me like that? Are you alright?"
Zhou Ziwei's anger hadn't subsided, and he was just about to unleash a massacre when Wang Xuewei interrupted him. Just as he was about to lash out at her, Wang Xuewei said something unexpected, and he was slightly taken aback before suddenly understanding what was going on...
The malevolent energy... Just now, he had unknowingly allowed the malevolent energy attached to the souls he had just absorbed to control his will.
This wasn't the first time Zhou Ziwei had encountered something like this. If an ordinary person didn't die a natural death, their soul would inevitably carry some fierce energy. And since this was a battlefield, the souls of those who died in battle would naturally be tainted with even more fierce energy.
These malevolent energies would normally be purified by the halo formed by the Six-Syllable Mantra, but this purification has its limits. If the malevolent energy attached to the soul is too heavy, or if too many souls are absorbed at once, then it will inevitably be difficult to purify them completely, and the malevolent energy attached to these souls will be directly absorbed into the sea of souls as well.
And Zhou Ziwei just absorbed so many souls in one go... a full 20,000 souls... and each time he absorbed a large number of souls at the same time, the last time he even absorbed nearly 300,000 souls at once, which is about 15,000 souls.
With such rapid absorption, how could the malevolent energy in his soul be completely purified? This inevitably caused such a severe impact on his mind. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, Zhou Ziwei would not have acted so recklessly and wantonly, nor would he have attempted to kill all 500,000 people fighting here, regardless of friend or foe. Zhou Ziwei was not originally a ruthless and heartless person. If his mind had not been so severely affected by the malevolent energy, how could he have ended up in this situation?
After understanding the reason, Zhou Ziwei broke out in a cold sweat, and the red light flashing in his eyes gradually subsided.
He knew that his current situation was quite bad. If he could not dispel all the malevolent energy attached to these souls in the Sea of Souls as soon as possible, his mind would be increasingly eroded by the malevolent energy, and he would eventually become a demon who only knew how to kill.
This was certainly not the outcome Zhou Ziwei wanted. Even if things continued this way, he might become even stronger quickly, but if it meant losing his sanity in exchange for greater power, he would rather give it up.
From this perspective, the method Zhou Ziwei just mastered, which can quickly convert misty soul power into liquid soul power, may not necessarily be a good thing.
In the past, after absorbing enough soul power, he could only shut down his five senses and six consciousnesses, immerse himself in his own sea of souls, and use the six-syllable mantra to condense and liquefy the newly acquired soul power little by little. In this process, all the malevolent energy would naturally be worn away.
But now... by skipping this step, Zhou Ziwei could absorb more soul power in a short time, but he almost lost his mind as a result.
With a sigh of relief, Zhou Ziwei looked up at the scattered souls floating in the distant sky, gritted his teeth, and suppressed the urge to continue absorbing them. Then, he once again manipulated the tornado, lifting himself and Wang Xuewei up into the air, flying straight towards the giant ostrich beast in the sky...
Seeing that the god of death had finally left, the Blue Armor Army soldiers, who had long been terrified, burst into cheers, as if they had already won the war.
Zhou Ziwei leaped onto the broad back of the ostrich-like beast, glanced down at the chaotic battlefield bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, and at the countless people waving their weapons and cheering. Zhou Ziwei bit his lip hard until it bled slightly, then shook his head sharply and turned to walk into the tent set up on the ostrich's back. At the same time, he said in a deep voice to the old charlatan beside him who was about to say something, "I need to quietly cultivate in seclusion now. No one is to touch me until I wake up on my own... otherwise... I cannot guarantee the consequences!"
"Secluded cultivation?" The old charlatan was clearly unfamiliar with this term. After a slight pause, he quickly followed Zhou Ziwei into the tent and said, "But the Grand Elder of the Main Temple..."
Halfway through his sentence, he saw Zhou Ziwei sit down in a corner of the tent and glance at him. In that one glance, the old charlatan felt as if he were surrounded by a hundred hungry wolves. A chill ran through him, and he was so frightened that his legs trembled and he almost collapsed to the ground.
Zhou Ziwei snorted coldly. Under the influence of his murderous aura, he had almost wiped out hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty. How could he possibly take some Grand Elder of the Temple of Gods seriously? If the old charlatan continued to ramble on in front of him, he really couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't just kill this old charlatan who had always been quite respectful to him... Hmm... Since this old charlatan is an elder of the Temple, his soul energy must be much stronger than that of an ordinary warrior!
Zhou Ziwei glanced at the old charlatan with some malice, but under the restraint of reason, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to do something so inhumane.
However, before completely shutting down his five senses and six consciousnesses, Zhou Ziwei first gathered a large amount of attribute-free energy from his middle dantian and injected it into the alloy armor on his body.
This alloy suit contains a large amount of precious blazing iron, which is why it emits those scorching dark red rays under the control of the independent soul entity. However, these rays require a large amount of heat energy, which was originally contained within the blazing iron. But after the burst of energy just now, the heat energy in the blazing iron has been completely consumed.
However, Zhou Ziwei possesses the ability to manipulate energy, so he can naturally replenish the heat energy of the Blazing Iron at any time, allowing the alloy suit to regain its powerful self-defense function.
After injecting three streams of heat energy into the alloy iron in one go, consuming about half of the attribute-less energy Zhou Ziwei had absorbed over the past two days, Zhou Ziwei calmed his mind, gradually shutting down his five senses and six consciousnesses. Then, he began to refine and condense the nearly 400,000 units of soul power he had newly absorbed in his sea of souls...
Volume 2: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 413: God Child or Devil?
When the ostrich's enormous body landed on a spacious plaza, it was already pitch black. However, dozens of huge fireballs were burning in the air above the plaza, illuminating the entire area.
Hundreds of fully armed soldiers in red uniforms quickly emerged from all corners and immediately surrounded the ostrich-like beast.
Then the crowd parted, and a dozen or so old men leaning on canes walked out from the crowd, their steps faltering.
The first man, a white-haired old man with a gloomy face, looked at the old charlatan who was climbing down the rope ladder that had fallen from the ostrich beast. He snorted and said, "Elder Chen, you are late."
The old charlatan scrambled down the rope ladder to the ground, then said with a wry smile, "Elder, we were attacked by the Blue Armor Army while passing through Wolong Mountain. To eliminate any future trouble, the Divine Child risked his life, leaping down from the body of an ostrich to personally kill thousands of Blue Armor soldiers and destroy all their heavy iron crossbows, which allowed us to pass safely... That's why we're late. Please forgive us, Elder..."
"Oh...Is that so..." The Grand Elder's expression softened slightly upon hearing this, but he still frowned and said, "You just said...that...cough...possibly the Divine Child...that he actually managed to personally kill thousands of Blue Armored Soldiers? Is that true? Even if he possesses divine power, it's impossible for him to face hundreds of thousands of troops alone and kill so many enemies independently, right? Hmph...Alright, I'll verify this later. Um...where is the Divine Child? Why hasn't he come down to pay his respects to this old man yet?"
"This..." The old swindler replied with a bitter face, somewhat embarrassed, "After the great battle, the Divine Child is exhausted, both physically and mentally. He... he said he needs to go into seclusion to cultivate and cannot be disturbed for the time being. Elder, do you think... perhaps we could let the Divine Child stay on the ostrich beast for a while longer, and once he comes down on his own, I will immediately take him to see you, Elder..."
"What!" The Grand Elder's face darkened upon hearing this. He snorted coldly and said, "Whether he is the divine son mentioned in the prophet's prophecy has not yet been verified. How can he... already put on airs of being the divine son so quickly? Hmph... With the rebel army pressing in and the country in crisis, we have so many important matters to attend to. How can we let some unknown brat delay our important matters? You don't need to spout any more nonsense about seclusion. Quickly bring him down to me. If he refuses to come down, have someone forcibly drag him down. No matter what, we must have the thirteen elders of our main hall verify his identity immediately... Hmph, even if he really is the divine son mentioned by the prophet, it is just an empty title. In this main temple, it is not up to a young upstart to act arrogantly."
"Elder, you mustn't... The dignity of the Divine Child cannot be offended!" The old charlatan trembled with fear when he heard the elder order him to forcibly drag Zhou Ziwei down. This reminded him of the look Zhou Ziwei had given him, a look filled with boundless murderous intent. Just thinking about that look sent a chill down his spine.
Even though the Grand Elder held immense authority in his eyes, he would never dare to forcibly drag Zhou Ziwei down, because he knew very well that it would be suicidal.
"What? The dignity of the Divine Child is inviolable, but my dignity can be offended at will?" The Grand Elder was furious. However, seeing the old charlatan's pale face and trembling body, he figured it was unrealistic to force him to drag Zhou Ziwei down. So he waved his hand and made a gesture, immediately summoning several temple guards to board the ostrich beasts. He ordered them to "invite" the Divine Child down immediately, no matter what.
Upon receiving the Grand Elder's order, the four temple guards immediately responded in unison, "Yes!" and then leaped over the old charlatan, nimbly climbing onto the ostrich's back.
Seeing this, the old charlatan wanted to stop them, but seeing the elder's gloomy face, he could only sigh and step back, secretly praying for the four poor guards.
"You...you are Protector Mo?" The four guards climbed onto the back of the ostrich and were about to crawl into the tent when a person covered in charred soot struggled to crawl out.
The group was startled at the sight, but they quickly recognized the black charcoal.
When Zhou Ziwei punished this kid, he was relatively lenient. He only let the lightning ravage Mo Hufa's body, but spared his still somewhat handsome face, preventing him from being completely disfigured. Otherwise, even Mo Hufa's own father probably wouldn't recognize him.
When Protector Mo saw that the four people who came to greet him were his own guards, he was like a child who had been wandering for many years seeing his mother. He rushed to the four people with great excitement and cried out in a hoarse voice, "Kill him...kill that divine son! He...he is not a divine son, he is a devil...a devil!"
This Protector Mo wasn't stupid. After regaining consciousness, he recalled what had happened and began to feel a chill run down his spine. Although he had been hypnotized by Zhou Ziwei, he still retained a faint trace of consciousness and could remember what he had done. He remembered that his body was completely controlled by another person, and his words and actions were entirely beyond his control.
Protector Mo was a staunch atheist. Although he knew the events that had befallen him were extremely bizarre, he resolutely refused to acknowledge that they were genuine divine intervention. If it wasn't divine manipulation, then it could only be Zhou Ziwei's doing. He clearly remembered that just before he lost control of his mind, Zhou Ziwei had clasped his hands together and said, "God said... all those who blaspheme will be punished in the unseen realm..."
Protector Mo had lived in the main temple for a long time and had a father who was an elder of the main temple. Naturally, he could understand some of the so-called divine language. That's why he believed that Zhou Ziwei was behind all of this.
However, he knew that he was no match for Zhou Ziwei with his skills, so even after he had fully regained his senses, he continued to lie there pretending to be crazy in order to avoid attracting Zhou Ziwei's attention.
Upon returning to the main temple and seeing his family, he could no longer suppress his hatred and immediately ordered the four guards to kill Zhou Ziwei to avenge him.
However, the four guards did not have the same courage as Protector Mo. Regardless of whether this person was indeed the Divine Child, it still needed the Grand Elder and the others to confirm. If they were to chop Zhou Ziwei up on the back of this ostrich without distinguishing right from wrong, they would surely be sent to the Divine Punishment Altar and burned alive tomorrow.
So the four of them could only try to appease the aggrieved Protector Mo while humming and hawing in agreement. One of them first sent the seriously injured Protector Mo off the back of the ostrich without saying a word, while the other three slowly walked towards Zhou Ziwei.
"Stop..." The three had only taken a few steps when two figures suddenly jumped up from beside Zhou Ziwei, each standing in front of him, and shouted sternly, "He's busy right now and can't be moved. If anything happens, he'll come looking for you when he wakes up."
The three guards were taken aback upon hearing this. Although they also worked at the main temple, they couldn't understand a word of this legendary divine language. Because the light inside the tent was dim, they couldn't see the other person's appearance clearly. In their confusion, they could only ask a couple of questions in the language of the Great Xia Dynasty. Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang couldn't understand what they were saying either, and the two sides immediately became deadlocked.
However, not long after, the elder's urging voice could be faintly heard from below. The three guards no longer cared about being gentle with the ladies and immediately shouted angrily. At the same time, relying on their strength, they charged straight at Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang.
"Get out of the way..." Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang shouted in unison, and then started fighting without saying a word.
Although Chu Qiutang was a military doctor, she had also received rigorous special forces training. Her martial arts skills were nothing compared to Zhou Ziwei's, but she was not much weaker in dealing with these guards.
She was confronted by a guard, and the two immediately began to fight. The guard did not know Chu Qiutang's background or identity, and dared not use his weapon. For a time, he was unable to do anything to Chu Qiutang.
Although Wang Xuewei had not learned any martial arts, her physical fitness had been enhanced by three drops of the Reincarnation Water, making her far superior to ordinary people. She single-handedly blocked two guards, relying on her innate strength to refuse to give an inch.
The three guards panicked and had no choice but to draw their waist knives and brandish them fiercely, which immediately frightened Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang, causing them to take several steps back.
Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang exclaimed in surprise, and were about to draw their weapons to fight back when suddenly three dark red beams of light shot out from Zhou Ziwei's body, striking the waist knives in the hands of the three men. The scorching rays instantly melted the three long waist knives into pools of molten iron, and the scorching temperature did not dissipate. In one fell swoop, the arms of the three guards holding the knives were completely burned away before gradually dissipating.
These three temple guards were nothing like the spearmen in the Blue Armor Army. With their arms burned away, the three of them immediately let out screams like pigs being slaughtered. They dared not be brave anymore and turned to flee for their lives. After losing an arm, they could not even hold onto the rope ladder and fell from mid-air one after another, falling half to their deaths.
"What happened? What happened to you all..." The elder was stunned to see that the four guards he had sent up, apart from the one who helped Protector Mo down first, were all in such a disheveled state, and each of them had lost an arm.
"Elder, something terrible has happened."
Of the three guards who fell, two hit their heads first and were immediately knocked unconscious. The remaining one, still somewhat conscious, scrambled to the Grand Elder and knelt down, saying, "That...that Divine Child sat there and wouldn't move, as if he were asleep. We...we tried to go forward and invite the Divine Child down, but...we were all struck by three beams of light emanating from the Divine Child, and even the sabers in our hands were completely melted away in that red light..."
"You mean... the light emanating from that person was red, not white?" The Grand Elder's expression grew even more sinister upon hearing this, and he asked in a deep voice, "Are you sure?"
"Yes... I can confirm it without a doubt," the guard replied decisively.
"He is not a divine being at all, but a messenger of the devil!" The Grand Elder roared, his expression agitated. He slammed his cane on the ground, his whole body trembling as if he had suffered a stroke. He turned and pointed at the old charlatan, saying, "Elder Chen, you are fully responsible for this matter. Just wait! After we capture that messenger of the devil, our elders will then judge your blasphemy!"
The old charlatan trembled with fear upon hearing this, exclaiming, "Impossible... He is clearly the Divine Child! Just as the prophet foretold, he was struck by the source of divine power in front of everyone, yet he not only survived but also absorbed that source of divine power and received the inheritance of divine power..."
"Nonsense." The Grand Elder said coldly, "If he had truly gained the approval of the divine source, then only white light would have emanated from his body just now, so where did the red light come from? He... is clearly a demon. Elder Chen, I think you must have been bribed by the demon and are already preparing to betray the temple!"
The Grand Elder first accused the old charlatan of being a traitor to the gods without any explanation. Then, he waved his withered hand and shouted sternly, "Disciples of the Temple, listen to my command! The day is the day to eliminate the demon and protect the gods! All disciples of the Temple, regardless of their status or position, whoever can personally kill the demon messenger will be promoted to the position of Temple Elder and granted a thousand acres of land."
"Yes—" Upon hearing the Grand Elder's public promise, the hundred-plus temple guards immediately seemed to have taken stimulants, howling and climbing onto the ostrich beast's back from all directions.
Fortunately, after the ostrich landed, the rope around its neck was tied securely to a boulder in the square. Otherwise, if the hundred or so people had suddenly gone mad and climbed onto its back, the timid and cowardly ostrich would have been scared into flying away.
The ostrich was naturally terrified. It flapped its wings a few times but couldn't take off. In its panic, it buried its big head deep into the thick feathers on its chest, trying to avoid seeing or hearing anything.
Hundreds of temple guards and protectors, each armed with weapons, excitedly rushed onto the back of the ostrich. Unfortunately, although the ostrich was huge, it could only carry a dozen or so people at most. The remaining people were very anxious, but the ostrich was already full of people, so there was nothing they could do.
"Crack—" Several temple disciples worked together to dismantle the luxurious animal skin tent that was draped over the ostrich's back, revealing Zhou Ziwei, Wang Xuewei, and Chu Qiutang.
Zhou Ziwei remained motionless in his original spot, his eyes slightly closed as if he were fast asleep. Wang Xuewei and Chu Qiutang, on the other hand, each drew a dagger from their equipment and stood guard firmly in front of Zhou Ziwei, refusing to budge an inch.
What a beautiful woman...