Chapter 61: He Has What You Don't

He, too, possessed natural superhuman strength, forcefully shattering the large bed into pieces in mid-air. But no sooner had the bed cleared than another figure, rapidly growing in his vision, was already upon him.

Nian Songyu barely had time to raise his shield to block before he was struck with a loud bang and sent flying three zhang away. He scrambled to his feet, only then realizing that his attacker was a black demonic ape. Even hunched over, it stood seven feet tall, its entire body covered in exaggerated, bulging muscles that looked ready to burst. Its small eyes glowed red. It had no fur; its body appeared covered in a black, rocky shell, with dark red liquid, like lava, flowing through cracks of varying widths.

The demonic ape, still seemingly unsatiated, charged at Nian Songyu on all fours. As it drew near, it swung both arms and slammed them down with full force. Nian Songyu crouched, raising his large shield vertically in front of him. The ape's fists followed immediately, striking directly onto the large shield. With a clang, the shield fell, but there was no one behind it.

Having been tricked once, Nian Songyu wouldn't fall for it again. He had already used a deceptive step to flash behind it and, with a backhand swing of his blade, decapitated it! This move was swift and precise, a killing technique he had honed on the battlefield, requiring no wasted effort. Nian Songyu himself was quite pleased. No matter the monster, whether artificial or natural, its vital point was usually its head.

The headless ape stumbled two steps but didn't fall. Instead, it bent down, picked up its head, and reattached it to its neck. The lava at its neck flowed, and in just two or three breaths, its head was reattached, with red light glowing again in its eye sockets. This thing... is it unkillable?

Then Nian Songyu heard Sun Fuping call out to him: "Be careful, fall back!" One demonic ape after another pushed aside the debris and charged forward.

Nian Songyu decapitated two more. This time, his blade glowed faintly green, clearly indicating he had activated his Imperial Decree. As a military general commanding troops, his destiny was sufficient to directly suppress malevolent spirits and break many magical abilities. After these apes were decapitated or cut in half, the delay before their recovery significantly lengthened, and their movements became slower. However, they would eventually retrieve their heads and return to fight him for another three hundred rounds.

His always effective Imperial Decree was surprisingly suppressed, and Nian Songyu then realized the gravity of the situation: "Grand Master, fighting like this is not a solution!" He too was wounded; a gash on his left arm was deep enough to expose bone, and the exposed flesh was charred black. The demonic ape's claws were exceptionally sharp and as hot as a branding iron.

While Nian Songyu was being pummeled by the first ape, Sun Fuping had already scattered several beans on the ground. By the time other apes started causing trouble, these beans had grown into ten-foot-tall golden armored soldiers. These giants were as strong as the apes and protected him in their midst, giving Sun Fuping significant time. But as Nian Songyu said, the demonic apes could resurrect endlessly, slowly grinding down their invaders. Continuing to expend energy like this was not a solution. Moreover, the 'Boss' was still leisurely watching the spectacle from atop the city gate.

Sun Fuping conjured a drop of water in his hand. After he recited a long incantation, the water drop grew from small to large, finally solidifying into a duck egg-sized sphere. He threw the water sphere at a demonic ape's foot, then calmly stated, "The rules of this world are different from reality. Your destiny and my divine abilities are suppressed here!" In the real world, the water sphere he conjured would be at least twice the size of an ostrich egg, but here it had shrunk considerably. Yet, casting the spell required double the True Energy, and it was only possible because this space contained rainwater from the upper realm; otherwise, he couldn't have conjured it out of thin air.

Fortunately, when the water sphere hit the ground, it burst open, releasing over a dozen dark red water snakes, each targeting a demonic ape and rushing toward it. They truly were water snakes, composed entirely of liquid. The apes roared and tried to pull them off, but couldn't break them. Instead, the snakes climbed onto their heads and burrowed into their seven orifices. Nian Songyu heard continuous hissing sounds from within their bodies. As large amounts of white steam emerged, the lava flowing over their rocky bodies dimmed and then solidified. After a dozen breaths, they could no longer maintain their forms and crumbled into piles of charcoal.

Only then did Nian Songyu have time to take out a jade-green pill, chew it into a paste, and apply it to his wound. The wound immediately foamed with pale green bubbles, and Nian Songyu let out a long breath. This medicine could extract fire poison; otherwise, if the poison flowed into his heart through his bloodstream, it would be a major problem. Naturally, the medicine also stopped the bleeding. He moved his left arm and found his tendons were unharmed. Once the medicine took effect, he would fully recover in about ten hours. That is, if they could get out of here alive.

With the Grand Master by his side, he felt relatively at ease, inadvertently recalling the two scoundrels who had deserted them. That little bastard He must be hiding somewhere, watching the show, right? Once they returned to the real world, he would crush every bone in He's body, one by one, then slice off his fingers one by one, and force him to cook and eat them himself! As he thought this, the pain in his wound lessened considerably.

While the demonic apes were down, Sun Fuping turned to the black flood dragon atop the city gate and said, "My king is determined to obtain the Grand Square Kettle! You've been buried in the desert for years, long becoming an ownerless divine artifact. Why not come out with me, devour flesh and blood, and return to your peak?"

A divine artifact, in the end, is also a magical tool; it requires regular and meticulous maintenance. After Panlong City fell, Zhong Shengguang hid the Grand Square Kettle in the desert. Without maintenance for so many years, the artifact's divinity would surely erode bit by bit. However, a mere hundred years was too short for a divine artifact; if left derelict for thousands of years, it would eventually degrade into scrap metal. Divine artifacts possess spirits, and by instinct, they would want to escape this predicament.

"Well said," the black flood dragon chuckled, its coarse laughter echoing in everyone's minds. "What do you plan to do once you're out?"

"I will lead you to pacify bandits and quell border troubles, and re-establish the heavenly might of my Great Yuan!" Sun Fuping declared loudly. "Both you and the Three Corpse Worms will have your uses."

The black flood dragon tilted its head, looking at him. After a while, it spoke chillingly, "I don't believe you."

Sun Fuping frowned. "Why not?"

"You are not worthy," the black flood dragon said disdainfully. "You call yourself a Grand Master, constantly speaking of saving the country, yet why do I not sense a single trace of destiny entwined about you?"

Sun Fuping had no reaction yet, but He Lingchuan, not far away, changed his expression first. What did that mean? Sun Fuping was one of the three Grand Masters, responsible for allocating destiny for Great Yuan. Apart from the Son of Heaven, no other official had more abundant destiny than them. Yet the black flood dragon said he had no destiny?

The black flood dragon looked at Nian Songyu, then at Sun Fuping. "Destiny cannot be hidden from me. He has it, you do not."

Nian Songyu's reaction was calm, unlike He Lingchuan's astonishment. Sun Fuping sighed, "My words are true; it's just that my stance has changed. You are merely an artifact spirit, while I can borrow the means of the gods. You will surrender in the end anyway; wouldn't it be better if I spared you the initial disadvantages?"