Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1291 - 699: Defeated and Forced to Flee (Part 2)

Naturally, the four of them had the option to obliterate every last war puppet.

However, each individual harbored their own intentions, which inevitably led to divergent paths.

Zhao Sheng cast a look at the Yellow Cloud drifting above. Casting aside his doubts, he triggered a transformation; dense, diamond-shaped scales sprouted across his skin as his stature ballooned from nine feet to a staggering height of nearly twenty-eight feet.

The transformation continued!

As a radiant will descended, a secondary layer of deep purple armor manifested, encasing his entire frame.

An instant later, Zhao Sheng surged into the Kui Niu Dharma Image, adopting a stance of absolute defense.

“Do not wander off and lose your composure! Our primary objective is to ensure the Four Symbols Barrier remains intact,” Huo Dou barked via voice transmission to Wuzhiqi and Soaring Snake, himself remaining safely within his Divine Beast Dharma Form.

Before his warning could settle, the massive axe gripped by Soaring Snake erupted with divine radiance. With a swift, sweeping arc, the blade summoned a silver-white dragon tornado, dragging the encroaching war puppets into a vortex that reduced them to scrap.

Zhao Sheng felt a flicker of confusion, yet as he watched Soaring Snake maneuver with axe techniques that bordered on the divine transformation stage, he remained silent. He focused his efforts on holding the eastern flank against the puppet onslaught alone.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” A thunderous sequence of detonations shook the air!

While the western sector of the magic platform saw fierce combat, the puppets attacking that side suddenly seemed to be wading through a swamp. Their rapid movements turned sluggish, becoming stiff and heavy.

Sitting cross-legged, Emperor Jiang suddenly snapped his eyes open. “Hmm?! No, this... what is the meaning of this?”

Even as he spoke, a network of blood-red veins began to spiderweb across the magic platform’s surface in an intricate pattern.

Moments later, a faint crimson glow emanated from the floor, making the veins pulse as if they were actual vessels filled with flowing blood.

The change was noticed almost instantly by Zhao Sheng and the others, who turned toward Emperor Jiang and flooded him with urgent transmissions.

“Boss, has something gone wrong?”

“Brother Emperor Jiang, what is happening here?”

“Senior Brother, if the situation is untenable, we must retreat! As long as the green hills remain, we need not worry about firewood!”

“...”

Emperor Jiang offered a bitter smile and gestured toward the Yellow Cloud above with a heavy sigh. “How regretful! I had hoped to cleanse my sins, but it appears I have inadvertently disturbed the Grotto Heaven Mausoleum of an ancient, powerful figure.

The guardians of the tomb are arriving. We must defeat them if we hope to withdraw safely.”

“A Grotto Heaven Mausoleum? To use an entire Grotto Heaven as a final resting place... what an incredible display of power!” Zhao Sheng muttered, struck by the sheer scale of it.

Huo Dou, Wuzhiqi, and Soaring Snake initially looked disappointed by the setback, but that feeling was quickly replaced by intense fervor.

It was common knowledge that such a mausoleum would be overflowing with treasures and the most prized possessions of the deceased.

Anyone capable of claiming a Grotto Heaven for their tomb was undoubtedly a figure of legendary status.

Hardly two breaths after Emperor Jiang’s warning, pillars of white light erupted from the earth. Within the light, distorted shadows writhed, and faces resembling dead fish occasionally pressed against the edges.

The white beams soon shattered into a cascade of flowing light, and gray-white humanoid entities with crimson eyes lunged forward, targeting Zhao Sheng and his companions.

These creatures were encased in a stone-like gray shell. Most appeared as alien hybrids with the heads of beasts and bodies of men, while only a few possessed human countenances.

These were the tomb guardians Emperor Jiang had described.

Upon seeing them, Zhao Sheng froze in shock.

The resemblance was uncanny!

They looked far too similar to those stone statues!

Aside from having more complete forms, thinner stone shells, and a more potent aura, they were virtually identical.

Perhaps those statues were merely prototypes or practice runs for these guardians.

These guardians were likely the tomb owner's perfected creations.

Realizing this, a cold shiver ran down Zhao Sheng’s spine.

He recalled his inability to defeat the Mad Woman, who had also emerged from that group of stone statues!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Two guardians were upon him in a flash. A flurry of claw strikes and fist shadows tore through the air, creating sharp whistles that echoed in the void.

Zhao Sheng endured an endless barrage. Despite his formidable Cultivation and powerful will, the pressure was becoming unbearable. His face paled, his will armor shattered, and several of his scales were torn away.

He struggled against the two guardians but found it impossible to gain an advantage, realizing with horror that his original spirit power was ineffective against them.

It wasn't that the power vanished, but rather that the gray-white stone shells absorbed over ninety percent of his spiritual sense attacks, using that very energy to thicken their armor.

The remaining ten percent of his power was as useless as scratching an itch through a thick boot; it couldn't touch the flesh beneath.

Without the support of the original spirit, the Divine Beast Dharma forms became hollow shells. Their attacks were either significantly weakened or entirely neutralized by the guardians.

In terms of raw physical Cultivation, Zhao Sheng and his group were outmatched. These ancient creations moved with the speed of lightning and possessed terrifying strength, but their most frightening trait was their near-indestructible bodies.

To him, they seemed like the legendary “Drought Demons” come to life!

That single layer of gray stone had effectively neutralized half of their combat effectiveness. If word of this reached the outside world, no one would believe it.

Yet, the impossible had become a grim reality.

“Smash through the stone shells!”

“Flee!”

Two commands came in rapid succession from Emperor Jiang, though his tone had shifted drastically between them.

In the short window between those orders, more guardians clawed their way out of the ground. Their numbers quickly swelled past thirty, with more joining the fray every second.

Trapped between the tomb guardians above and the war puppets below, Zhao Sheng and the others were caught in a pincer movement. The situation was falling apart.

Within mere moments, the group was pushed to the brink of death, their hearts filled with dread.

“Ah!”

A pained scream erupted from Soaring Snake as a pack of guardians swarmed him, dragging him into the earth. His presence vanished instantly.

Despite his usual foresight and success, he had finally met his match and suffered a terrible fate.

Soaring Snake was the first of the five divine beasts to fall.

Seeing Soaring Snake disappear, Emperor Jiang’s expression finally broke, and he shouted the order to retreat.

“Escape!”

To Zhao Sheng’s ears, the word was like a heavenly reprieve. Without a moment's delay, he flickered and vanished from his position.

He reappeared at a previous waypoint—a crumbling palace located on the fringes of the ruins.

Simultaneously, the others utilized their own secret arts to flee the death trap.

Emperor Jiang made his exit smoothly, bringing Huo Dou along. Wuzhiqi barely escaped with his life, forced to self-explode his four limbs to break free.

No one could have predicted that the renowned five divine beasts would be forced into such a pathetic and hurried retreat.

Regardless of the reasons, a loss was a loss. No amount of excuses could hide the fact that they had failed twice in a row.

Zhao Sheng sat cross-legged against a wall, sending out threads of spiritual sense to scout the area.

Through his perception, he saw that the Law Yellow Cloud remained stationary. It neither grew nor faded, hanging there with an eerie stillness.

Beneath the cloud, a brilliant “light point” hovered hundreds of feet above the platform, radiating a presence so powerful it was impossible to miss.

The moment Zhao Sheng sensed it, he knew: that was the gateway to the Grotto Heaven Mausoleum.

Observing the prominent Yellow Cloud, he whispered to himself, “Emperor Jiang, you’ll return, won’t you?”

During the skirmish, it was clear that Emperor Jiang had held back, not exerting his full strength. Had he fought seriously, the group might not have been routed so easily.

What was his motive? Had he uncovered a secret while connecting to the Grotto Heaven that made him act so strangely?

Suddenly, a daring thought took root in Zhao Sheng’s mind.