Chapter 264. Coercion, a Fight to the Death, Protect King Lu
Chapter 264. Coercion, a Fight to the Death, Protect King Lu
The aura of a Sage was unmistakable, and it instantly inundated every inch of space between heaven and earth. Every living being felt a crushing pressure that bore down on both their soul and body.When Earth's Awakened and the officials sensed that aura, shock rippled through them.
According to the plan, Lu Yuan wasn't supposed to appear this early. Elder Ji and the others knew that he was going to wait until the situation reached the critical juncture before showing up to suppress everything.
A Sage's aura... The Awakened's faces changed, and they all turned toward where the aura was coming from.
The beings from the Outer Cosmos seemed entirely unsurprised. This was all according to their plans, after all.
Right then, three figures rushed into view across the distant sky.
A middle-aged man dressed in black stood at the helm, and he gazed down on everything below. Two elders towering dozens of meters tall flanked him; the two elders looked like miniature versions of Dharma Avatars.
All three were clearly not human. They were from the Outer Cosmos, and without exception, they stood at the sixth stage of evolution—the Void Sage Realm.
"A Sage? How is that even possible? I thought Sages can't come here? How did they get down here?"
"The world is changing. They must have done something special to come here. There's no other explanation."
"Then what do we do now? Sages... we can't fight those."
The faces of all Awakened drained of color the moment the three Void Sages appeared. Unlike the incident involving Lu Yuan, these Sages were at full strength. They weren't being suppressed at all.
Earth's Awakened was already weak compared to those from the Outer Cosmos, but now, the gap had widened even further. If a real battle broke out, it would be a one-sided slaughter.
The Yin Sparrow leading the group stepped forward and offered a slight bow toward them. "Elder. Seniors."
The middle-aged Void Sage at the front was a Yin Sparrow. This had all been arranged beforehand. The other two were from the Nether Bull Clans, and they had all descended together.
As Sages, they could assume human form. Of course, they had to pay a massive price to descend here, but as long as it meant killing Lu Yuan, every bit of it would be worth it.
"This is what a real Sage looks like. You claimed that Lu Yuan has become even stronger, so where is he? That was clearly just nothing but empty boasting," the same Zhou Family grand elder remarked, his gaze shining with hostility.
Since Sages were backing him, his confidence swelled. The beings from the Outer Cosmos behind him also pressed forward.
Their forms and races varied wildly, but they had gathered at Mount Tai for a shared goal—kill Lu Yuan. Once it was accomplished, they could carve up the blessed lands of this world before the true powerhouses could descend here.
"Enough talking. Let's just go in. Dead or alive, we're going to drag that Lu Yuan out," said a Nether Bull Void Sage with killing intent thick in his gaze.
The Nether Bull Clan had been among the first to descend to Earth. They expected to reap enormous profits thanks to their head start over the others from the Outer Cosmos.
Unfortunately, Lu Yuan had ruined everything by slaughtering their people. If it hadn't been for the Celestials' orders to stay hidden, they would have lashed out long ago.
Now that Lu Yuan was severely injured and on the brink of death, they no longer had any reason to remain in the shadows. This time, they went all-out, deploying two Void Sages to deal with him, even if he were at full strength.
Having been suppressed for a long time, the beings from the Outer Cosmos emanated clear killing intent as they spoke up one after another.
"Exactly. Let's not entertain their bluffs."
"If that Lu Yuan were fine, he'd already be here. Let's go ahead and do it now."
"Delay only leads to trouble. We shall cut down everyone standing in our way."
However, the Yin Sparrow Race's Void Sage raised a hand, silencing them.
"You have two choices," he calmly said, "The first is to submit and hand over Lu Yuan. The second is to face the wrath of a Sage."
He was extremely arrogant, but it was warranted. Though he had taken human form, his violent aura remained. In fact, the mere sound generated from his voice alone made the nearby trees tremble.
Just then, an Awakened stepped forward. He was a young man. He was too weak—only at the Awakened Realm—compared to the beings from the Outer Cosmos, yet he was the first one to step up.
"If you want to get to King Lu, you'll have to get through me first," he said, his eyes burning with unwavering resolve. He knew he couldn't do anything here. Fear was also clawing at his insides, but his courage won over his fear.
"Same here! If you want to charge into Mount Tai, you'll have to walk over our corpses!"
"As long as we're still alive, we won't let you outsiders have your way!"
"That's right! It doesn't matter even if we die!"
One by one, the Awakened stepped forward. Every single one of them stood firm, and over ten thousand of them moved forward together. Even those hesitating found their courage at the final moment and walked out to join them.
Rumble!
Their auras flickered to life. Normally, they would have been scattered and disorderly, but at this moment, they merged into a single unified aura. Every one of them shared a single decision and goal—put everything on the line to protect King Lu.
Further back, Elder Ji and the other officials watched the scene unfold, and they were thoroughly moved. King Lu had protected all these people, and his efforts were not in vain.
In the end, Elder Ji and Elder Yun stepped forward together and sternly warned, "We will warn you one last time. Stop where you are!"
They hadn't expected to see Sages here, but so what? Back when King Lu was still in the fifth stage of evolution, he defied everyone's expectations and slaughtered a few Sages, but he had gotten significantly stronger since then.
In other words, there was no need to be afraid.
Still, they made themselves look like they were prepared to go down fighting. To the beings from the Outer Cosmos, their actions certainly looked like desperation.
The Yin Sparrow Void Sage lost his patience. They were mere ants in the Milky Way Starfield, and how many he killed wouldn't matter at all. His gaze turned cold as he slowly said, "All right, I will personally send you all to the afterlife. It won't be too late to kill that Lu Yuan afterward!"
As soon as his words fell, he shed his human form, revealing wings spanning a thousand meters, and terrifying black flames roared to life across him. The violent aura he exuded was so strong that it even warped the clouds overhead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At the same time, the two Nether Bull Void Sages revealed their true forms as well. They were truly as massive as mountains, and they resembled beasts from ancient times.
To make matters worse, there was also the horde of beings from the Outer Cosmos. Their numbers seemed to exceed the number of Awakened gathered here.
They charged forward in unison, and their killing intent bloomed at once. It seemed they were determined to overwhelm even Mount Tai itself with their killing intent alone.
Just then, a calm and young voice echoed somewhere in Mount Tai.
"Since you all insist on seeing me, it would be rather rude of me not to come out."