Chapter 705: Drum of a Mountain God (3)

Seizing his body? Possession?

Qin Ye's eyes widened, "Isn't Brother Zhao already a Yin spirit? How can someone else possibly seize his body?"

The Harken stared at Zhao Yun as it explained, "Strictly speaking, it's not the usual possession that we're talking about. Haha... Have you already forgotten that the quickest means to a Yin spirit's advancement is to devour another soul? Put differently, another soul has appeared in Ghost King Zhao's mind right now. Two minds are vying for dominance and control of the being that we know to be Ghost King Zhao, and whoever comes out on top of this tussle will be known as the future Ghost King Zhao."

Qin Ye gasped, "Who could be so bold?"

"No idea." The Harken's hair stood on end as it spoke through gnashed teeth, "Stand back. His situation... doesn't look too good."

Zhao Zilong was just scrutinizing the silver speartip in his hands when he suddenly paused, and then raised his head placidly, "Who are you?"

But before the Harken could even respond, Qin Ye immediately coughed dryly, "Your fan."

The Harken turned and stared at Qin Ye as though it had seen a ghost.

Likewise, Zhao Yun paused for a moment and gazed deeply into their eyes. A split second later, the speartip in his hand appeared right at Qin Ye's throat!

It was quick! Quick as lightning!

Furthermore, the air about Zhao Yun had changed completely. If one were to say that the air around Zhao Yun was still that of an enigmatic existence just a little while back, then it was now that of a stinging storm, wrathful and overbearing.

That said, Qin Ye also immediately understood that the evil ghost that was making an attempt at dominating Zhao Yun's body was an existence no less than the famous heroes that had etched their names through the annals of history! They would be existences equal to only the greatest kings, such as Emperor Qin Shihuang himself!

Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to give these things much further thought. The speartip gleamed brightly like a menacing flurry of light. An Abyssal Prefect had access to speeds no different from the speed of sound, but the speed of Zhao Yun's strike was on a completely different level. Not even Qin Ye could see how the speartip first approached him.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The hair on the nape of his neck immediately flared up and stood on end. The bone umbrella immediately opened up and shielded his body. CLANG! With a deafening bang, a terrifying wave of Yin energy scattered in all directions. Qin Ye felt as though he had been struck by a towering mountain, and he was sent flying back tens of meters into the distance!

Clatter! His legs dug deep trenches into the soil as he ground to a halt. Meanwhile, the seven located in the heart of the village were in an even worse state. Without even realizing it, they were sent flying hundreds of meters back by the resultant shockwave, and they landed hard on the ground with dull thuds.

Pfft... Old Li clutched at his chest as blood spurted from his lips. He could appreciate that his injuries weren't too serious, but he didn't even bother examining himself. Instead, he simply stared aghast at the teenager who was still holding tightly onto his bone umbrella.

It was almost as though a bombshell had exploded, and wisps of Yin energy were still scattering from the surface of the umbrella. That said, what was most shocking was the fact that the person behind the umbrella... was completely fine!

"He... actually blocked a strike from that terrifying monster?!" A middle-aged man reeling from the aftermath of the shockwave wiped the blood from his mouth as he remarked in a daze, "He actually blocked it?! We... we're talking about the strongest of Yin spirits that we've ever seen, aren't we? I've... I've never even heard of something like that before!"

Old Li turned back, but he found himself completely flabbergasted. And he wasn't the only one. Each of the other survivors were likewise staring dumbfounded at the illogical sight, almost as though they were watching a sci-fi film!

That's an unstoppable god of war...

That's undoubtedly the stuff of nightmares, even for the top cultivators in the world...

And yet, someone actually managed to block his attack?!

But things didn't end there. A split second later, something happened that caused everyone's eyes to widen even more - so much so that their eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

BOOM!!!

Another source of Yin energy no less than Zhao Yun's Yin energy erupted. This time, it came from the tiny dog in the hands of the teenager. Its body swelled up rapidly, while the hair on its head promptly turned white before falling off, revealing the dazzling golden scales beneath. Moments later, the Harken roared at the top of its voice, declaring its descent into the fray!

This time, the Harken didn't even bother to conceal its presence. Therefore... the survivors within the village were completely petrified by the descent of yet another monster, until someone shuddered violently, "My god..."

It was only then that they realized how small they were.

It turns out that the monster within the village had never even begun to consider them as equals.

"Ghost King Zhao." The Harken's body was almost 20 meters tall, and it stared intently at Zhao Yun with an intense gaze in its eyes, "Do you still remember me?"

The Harken was clearly questioning the existence in front of him. After all, it was clear that Zhao Zilong's consciousness had taken a backseat for the moment.

"Zhao Yun" looked straight at the Harken with a cold expression, "And what are you supposed to be?"

"What am I?" The Harken smiled menacingly. But before anyone could realize it, the Harken sprung into action with such immense ferocity that easily exceeded the speed of sound. The space in front of it distorted wildly, followed by the rush of an intense wind, "God of Nine Vitalities, the Harken!"

There was a bright flash, and the entire space around trembled wildly. Boom!!! When the dust finally settled on their next exchange of blows, everyone could see that Zhao Yun had held his own against the Harken's ferocious claws. In fact, he even raised his brows with the most dashing expression on his face, "So, the legend actually exists."

"But it's also a little bit disappointing."

The Harken chuckled.

"If only your bite was as fierce as your bark." A split second later, both the Harken and Zhao Yun vanished in a blur, followed closely by the flickering afterimages of their rapid exchange of blows and a cacophony of clashing iron in the air. The speed and might of their attacks were simply out of this world!

Within moments, countless cracks began to appear on the ground, spreading and growing just like a spiderweb. And then, as soon as the pieces became small enough, plots of land began to drift up from the ground, almost as though they were being suspended in the air, before finally imploding on themselves!

Rings of shockwaves spread everywhere throughout the mountaintop, causing the entire mountain range to tremble wildly, and sending avalanches occurring elsewhere across the Yin Mountains. Countless birds screamed and flew off into the distance.

Qin Ye sighed.

These were Yama-Kings.

He knew exactly why their exchange appeared so peculiar to his eyes. They were already moving well past the speed of sound, so much so that he couldn't even begin to capture their movement. And that was not to mention the distortion of the air and space around them that made it seem as though the two Yama-Kings had completely vanished.

At the start, it was only the Harken's paw that had vanished. But soon, that changed into the disappearance of the Harken's entire body. Neither held back as they struck at each other, blow for blow. The incessant roar of their wrathful exchange was the only proof that they were still in the midst of trading blows.

This was an invisible battle, in all senses of the word.

It was taking place right before his eyes, and yet he simply didn't have the means to process the battle.

Then, with yet another loud bang, both sides finally appeared once more. The Harken had all four paws on the ground, and majestic Yin energy was pouring out of its body like a terrifying dragon. Even its claws were glowing red with karmic flames. On the other hand, Zhao Yun appeared to glance down at his own body in shock. His camouflage uniform had been torn apart by the Harken's strike, leaving in its wake a bone-deep wound that appeared right across his chest. Endless Yin energy poured right out of it.

"You're not a Yama-King." The Harken licked its lips and chuckled coldly, "You're nearly there, but unfortunately, you haven't managed to pass through Hell's Gates for your official appointment of title. And without that, you're no match for me."

"If you agree to leave Ghost King Zhao's body right now, I'll promise to spare you from eternal death!"

But Zhao Yun remained silent. It was only after several seconds that he suddenly snorted, "I've heard that Emissaries of Hell are supposed to be able to crush an equal Yin spirit in an instant."

"So why have I been able to hold out for such a long time? You're not undefeatable. At least, not under my hands."

Qin Ye peeked out from behind the huge boulder, before immediately shrinking back and frowning deeply.

The Harken wasn't an official Emissary of Hell right now.

Qin Ye was only an Abyssal Prefect, and it was for that reason that he couldn't officially confer a title upon the Harken right now. Therefore, the Harken was at best a reserve Emissary of Hell, deriving its power and status from its appointment back in the old Hell. Unfortunately, the authority of the old Hell was dwindling. How could it possibly suppress the mighty Yin spirit before him?

"What gall..." The Harken smiled menacingly. Then, before anyone realized it, the Yin energy billowing around the Harken suddenly swirled into action, coalescing at once into a terrifying balck hole that bore the illusory appearances of the Harken.

"Dawn of the Brilliant Darkness."

"Shit..." Qin Ye immediately glanced around. It was still daytime just a little while ago, and yet everything had suddenly turned dark. That said, he could see neither the moon or the stars in the sky. Instead, everything around them appeared to be consumed with boundless darkness. At once, he sprung into action and boomed at the survivors in the village with a thunderous voice, "Take cover if you don't want to die!!"

He didn't need to say any more than that. After all, everyone had already been taking cover ever since the two monsters began trading blows.

Darkness filled the skies, and countless Anitya Hellguards of the Black and White emerged from the darkness, brandishing their spirit streamers and aiming it straight at Zhao Yun. At once, they ignited a great formation array of Emissaries spanning a ten-thousand mile radius around them.

Yin energy filled the sky, while the entire mountain peak transformed into a domain of desolation. Finally, the Harken spoke, "Kill."

At once, the Emissaries of Hell hurtled straight towards their target. Lightning and netherflames filled the air with an intense chill as they sprung forth in a concerted fashion to seize a single soul!

"By Hell's Dictum, all rabble shall disperse!!"

Silence.

Deafening silence. Time seemed to come to a complete standstill, almost as though a nuclear bomb had been dropped on earth, bringing utter destruction to all things around.

Then, what came next was an otherworldly brilliance.

Boundless dark light erupted, engulfing both heaven and earth as it ravaged everything around it. Meanwhile, Qin Ye could only hear a terrifying buzzing sound in his ears, and then... nothing.

He dared not look.

It was a dazzling brilliance representing the killing formation array formed by thousands upon thousands of Emissaries of Hell.

Nor did he dare to listen any further.

It was a deafening sound that tore asunder the fabrics of the three realms.

Qin Ye hugged his head tightly as he waited with bated breaths for the aftermath. After what felt like an eternity, he finally stood up.

"Hello?" He called out as loudly as he could, but his voice felt empty and bleak. Fortunately, his sense of hearing was still intact.

Then, he looked up at the heart of the battlefield, and then immediately gasped in horror.

And he wasn't the only one.

Everyone who saw the incredible sight was stunned beyond words.

The mountaintop... had been reduced to a complete wasteland.

The ground was covered with countless grains of yellow sand. There were no longer houses or trees, or abandoned carts and farming equipment.

The ruins of the Martyr's Shrine were still standing in the middle of the desert, but everything else had been reduced into nothingness!

This was the might of a Yama-King!

"Holy shit..." Qin Ye cursed under his breath and immediately turned to look at Zhao Yun and the Harken. He could vaguely make out a golden ball of light right in the middle of the dissipating clouds of Yin energy. And the golden ball of light revealed countless runic symbols of Yin Talismans surfacing endlessly on it. That said, the golden lustre of the ball soon faded away, revealing the ragged image of Zhao Yun within it.

Tsk, tsk, tsk... Look at that figure... Those pectoral muscles and those abs... Qin Ye couldn't help but glance down at his own body in dismay.

No wonder a certain silicone doll goes crazy over him...

"Are you still not going to come out?" The Harken's pupils narrowed, "This is your last and final chance. Leave Ghost King Zhao's body and submit to the new Hell, and you may be spared for the attempted assassination of a Yama-King!"

Unfortunately, the only response that the Harken got was a cold snort, followed by the image of Zhao Yun's body transforming into wisps of black smoke that was quickly sucked into the Martyr's Shrine.

As soon as he vanished, the Harken's body immediately reduced in size, and Qin Ye dashed over to catch the falling Harken in time, "How did it go?"

"Bloody hell..." The Harken gnashed its teeth and cursed, "That wasn't even 10 minutes... 7 minutes tops. I can only do this once per week right now. And even then, I can't even go all out. That shrine is where Ghost King Zhao's soul resides. Cough... Let me rest for a little bit first. Go ask around with those villagers. They might know a thing or two..."

Qin Ye nodded. He picked up the Harken, and then curled his fingers. At once, he could hear several cries of surprise. The villagers glanced down, only to realize that an iron chain had at some point appeared right around their waists, and they were being dragged somewhere.

Heavenly Dragnet.

Clatter, clatter... Everyone stood in front of Qin Ye with pale faces and great trembling.

They knew full well that the "teenager" in front of them could very well be an old demon that was hundreds of years old!

After all, they would most certainly have heard the Harken's conversation with Zhao Yun.

Finally, the old man couldn't hold back any longer, "You... What..."

"Emissary of Hell, Prefect Qin." Qin Ye pulled out his Abyssal Prefect token and waved it around, "No need to be afraid. I'm not going to kill you. In fact, you might even have the opportunity to accrue for yourselves some Yin virtue for your afterlife."

He swept a placid glance around the seven survivors, "If you don't wish to face eternal suffering after death, then you'd do wise to speak out."

"Where do you come from, and what happened over the last few years? Also, what's with the claims of the drumbeats of the mountain gods? And what's with the war cries that we heard earlier, together with the sound of slaughter in the darkness around us? Finally, I want to know if there's anything particularly noteworthy after having observed these things over all these years."

"Tell me everything, and leave nothing out. Oh, and by the way, you should know that I'm a person who bears grudges..."