Chapter 78: Siege
Yao Shen was exposed to a new tactic moments into the second wave unleashed by Gavrils Domain.
Six of the ten Nascent Soul level blood constructs led the charge to encircle him, their weapons wreathed in the scarlet blood flames. Yao Shen was forced to rapidly evade the onslaught, clearly wary of the inextinguishable flames as he chose to use a burst of wind to blow back a dual scimitar wielding human cultivator before erecting an earthen wall behind him to guard against a blood flame arrow.
Coming out on top of the engagement bought Yao Shen a moment, one which he utilized to tweak the tempo of battle a little more in his favor by striking the Nascent Soul construct nearest to him with an arcing flame slash of his own.
He just needed a few more moments to break out of the encirclement, but that was a tall order when he was being besieged by multiple cultivators that had no need for a sense of self-preservation. Yao Shen grimaced as a halberd wielding Dwarf blood construct crashed down on him from above, forcing himself to retreat inwards, back into the range of the three remaining Blood Constructs that hadnt attacked him yet.
Damn it, Yao Shen thought, as he actively willed the wind around him to still in abeyance before reshaping itself in a sphere that fully enclosed him. A second later the flowing wind was replaced by hundreds of razor sharp wind blades and then, without any warning, the sphere expanded outwards.
The Nascent Soul Blood Construct closest to him was instantly shredded to blood splatters, while a second lost an arm. This time, Yao Shen was thorough as a gust of wind wrapped around every droplet of the viscous red liquid his divine sense could track before he raised his right hand, releasing a powerful gout of flames that incinerated the blood until nothing remained.
This isnt enough, Yao Shen thought through gritted teeth. The reason why hed immediately chosen to drive a sword through his own chest upon being inflicted by the inextinguishable blood flames was because he didnt know how much information they were capable of transmitting back to their wielder.
An Esoteric Dao like the Human Dao could be described as eclectic or bizarre, depending on how the cultivator viewed it. But if there was one thing it was not, it was absolute. There was no such thing as an absolute domain. Merely because the Nascent Soul Cultivators of the three divisions could not understand how his domain worked, did not mean that a cultivator as powerful and experienced, not to mention as ruthless as Gavril, wouldnt.
I have never fought a wielder of the Esoteric Daos before, Gavrils malevolent voice echoed from all directions, making sure that Yao Shen was aware of its presence. And for good reason. I do value my life quite dearly, you see.
Yao Shen once again found his rage resurfacing, as he registered the derision in Gavrils words. The whole reason he had pursued power, strived for strength on the grand road of ascension was because Yao Shen did not want his dreams and ambitions to be trampled on by others by the sole virtue of their strength.
He had thought that by attaining the Soul Emperor stage, by surpassing every living being in the Azlak Plains, he had succeeded in that goal. There should have been no one capable of forcibly bringing the Modern Sects plans to an abrupt halt.
Man proposes. The Heavens contemptuously laugh in return.
However, you are far too green. A Soul Emperor without a Soul Blade, that is certainly a first, Gavril revealed, the amusement in his tone only rising. All things considered, I dont believe your domain to be capable of granting your physical body temporal immortality. So that leads me to a simple question, Yao Shen. Where are you hiding?
At that very moment, the four Nascent Soul Blood Constructs that had been hiding in the periphery of the Inherited Domains fog, burst out into Yao Shens Domain.
He only had time to fire off a single earth spike towards the slowest blood construct before being inundated with attacks from the five remaining Blood Constructs, forcing him to focus his attention on them.
As he had suspected, the newly arrived blood constructs didnt attack him, instead choosing to focus their attention on the faceless farmers that had been toiling away on the fields.
Physical attacks simply phased through the faceless farmers, though the Blood Constructs continued to fruitlessly attack them repeatedly for a few minutes.
Even a barrage of blood fire had no impact on the faceless farmers or the golden-brown stalks of wheat, serving no purpose except giving Yao Shen the opportunity to disembowel one of the Blood Constructs.
That only left the small, dainty wooden house in the distance.
So its the house. How sentimental, Gavril noted, his words signifying another shift in the battles tempo.
Yao Shen had only managed to truly slay one of the ten Nascent Soul Blood Constructs, the one whose remains he had chosen to incinerate. The disemboweled Blood Construct had simply reformed after a minute or so and now all nine chose to converge on his location.
At the same time, a deafening roar was unleashed as the card Gavril had been holding back was finally mobilized, now that the Domains weakness had been discovered.
What in the world is that? Yao Shen thought as the pressure of the second Soul Emperor crashed down upon him.
Snaking through the skies was a six-winged serpentine creature, its state unlike anything Yao Shen had seen before. Its wings pitched tents of flesh that allowed it to effortlessly glide in the skies, three elliptical pupils resting over a crystalline iris that encompassed its entire lens focusing on the wooden hut in the distance. Unlike the blood constructs, the creatures body, with their distinctive silvery-copper scales was largely intact.
Two large gashes that had been rent into its body along with a hole in one of its wings and a broken part of its crystalline maw had been repaired with, or rather, patched over with a generous infusion of blood, but for the most part, the creatures eyes seemed lifelike as the exhibited the pressure of a predator seeking its pray.
Then Yao Shen noticed the build up in its gullet.
Oh no.
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