Chapter 239: Is There Still a Backup Plan?
Jiang Yun stood in the void with a faint smile, his body wreathed in dazzling flames. Seen from afar, he resembled a flame-wielding god of fire, radiating an indescribable, oppressive might.
Before his arrival, the demonic aura that had blanketed the world ever since Xin Kui's appearance was swiftly melting away.
"For a proud genius of the Heart Demon Clan to stoop to such underhanded sneak attacks—if word of this got out, wouldn't it damage the prestige of your mighty clan?"
Upon hearing Jiang Yun's words, wild elation flashed in everyone's eyes. He was here. There was still hope.
"It's Jiang Yun! He's out of seclusion!"
"Jiang Yun is here—we're saved!"
"That Yun Yi has vanished without a trace. It seems Jiang Yun already dealt with him. Perfect—now he won't have to fight two at once!"
Jiang Yun's appearance instantly put the panicked crowd at ease. Gaze after gaze shot into the sky, fixating on the familiar figure within those brilliant flames.
In an instant, nearly every face brimmed with excitement and ecstatic joy. Deafening cheers thundered across the realm. Many were so overcome that they fell to their knees. Hope born after despair brought tears of joy streaming down faces still bearing traces of fear.
After the repeated devastation wrought by Hun Tiandi, Yun Yi, and the Fire Evil Clan, Jiang Yun—the hope upon whom everyone pinned their faith—had clearly attained an unrivaled place in their hearts.
In the depths of despair, people need a pillar to lean on, and Jiang Yun's arrival filled that void perfectly. Even those who had never met him, who knew nothing of him before, now wore expressions of wild joy.
"Jiang Yun (Brother Jiang Yun)..." Zi Yan, Medusa, and the other women halted their attacks the moment he appeared, their beautiful eyes gazing at that figure in pleasant surprise.
"Honestly... using us as bait without even a heads-up, making us worry for nothing. Just wait until this is over—I'll make him pay." After the wild joy of surviving a brush with death came boundless grievance.
Remembering Jiang Yun's earlier words, Zi Yan bit down on her silver teeth, a face full of righteous indignation. Her little tiger fangs gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
"Sister Zi Yan, Brother Jiang Yun did it to trick our enemy. If we had known beforehand, we probably couldn't have put on such a convincing act," Qing Lin said, taking Jiang Yun's side and defending him.
"Still his fault! He made me shed tears for nothing!" But Zi Yan, at this moment, was in no mood to listen. Her expression screamed that everything was Jiang Yun's fault.
"Speaking of which... the one who was hiding in the shadows was actually him. If it's him, and we'd known the truth, he probably really would have seen through our act." Medusa, at this moment, was staring intently at Xin Kui as he emerged from the void, her expression grave.
"It is him!" Zi Yan also looked solemnly at Xin Kui, realization dawning.
Seeing that Medusa and Zi Yan seemed to recognize the man, Little Medical Fairy and Qing Lin began asking questions. Zi Yan and Medusa then gave them and the others a brief explanation of how they had once "stumbled" into the Relic Continent.
"In my view, there is no difference between methods so long as they achieve the greatest result at the smallest cost." Xin Kui walked calmly out from the dark void passage, his gaze fixed coldly on Jiang Yun.
Having said this, his eyes swept down over the Dou Qi Continent below. "I never expected you truly came from a Lower Plane. This plane is quite remarkable—not only did it produce a human genius like you, but it also hosts a Nine-Colored Devouring Heaven Python, a true dragon bloodline, and not a few bloodlines of Heavenly Sovereigns. Truly an extraordinary Lower Plane."
"In that case, why not stay awhile? We could explore this extraordinary continent together." Jiang Yun chuckled softly, his tone so amiable it seemed as if he truly wished to invite the other to remain on the Dou Qi Continent for quiet scholarly discussion.
"Amusing... truly amusing..." Xin Kui withdrew his gaze upon hearing this, looking Jiang Yun up and down. His pair of pale, sinister eyes studied him with an ambiguous half-smile before he spoke in an emotionless voice: "I don't know what method you used to convert this Lower Plane's energy into the spiritual power of the Great Thousand World, much less how you broke through to the Earthly Sovereign level. But as for wanting to keep me here..."
"I'm afraid you're simply not qualified."
"Qualified or not—won't we know once we try?" Jiang Yun faced the other with a relaxed expression, then continued, "I can see you too are on the verge of breaking through to Demon Emperor. I doubt you'd easily give up the Plane Seed of this realm. If you don't hurry, I just might succeed first. At that point..."
Boom—
Before Jiang Yun's words had fully faded, Xin Kui exploded into motion, launching a ferocious attack.
"Demonize Heaven and Earth!"
A furious roar rang out as Xin Kui took a sudden step forward. In that instant, ripples of blackness surged outward from beneath his feet like a colossal tide, sweeping madly in all directions.
The land below began turning pitch-black at a terrifying speed. Viscous demonic energy ceaselessly rose from the earth, and in just a few breaths, an area tens of thousands of li across had been transformed into demonic soil.
Within that vast region, all natural energy was tainted by demonic force. If anyone from the Dou Qi Continent inhaled it, even their own Dou Qi would be infected, and they would gradually transform into demonic husks. It was tyrannical, evil, and vile in the extreme.
Watching the demonic soil ceaselessly expand, Jiang Yun merely smiled, then extended a finger and tapped the empty air.
Whoosh!
With that single tap, a boundless, infinite sea of fire roared forth across the heavens and earth. The flames within this sea blazed in dazzling, vibrant colors.
Ssssss...
The brilliant sea of fire swept past, and wherever it went, the pitch-black demonic soil emitted piercing, sizzling shrieks, faint screams echoing within them. After the sea of fire passed, the demonic earth was forcibly scorched into charred wasteland.
In scarcely a dozen breaths, nearly half the demonic soil Xin Kui had created was annihilated by Jiang Yun's casual, almost effortless gesture.
Seeing this scene, even Xin Kui's eyelid couldn't help but twitch slightly. Throughout his life, he had not been without battles against fire-attributed cultivators.
In the distant past, he had faced countless fire-attributed experts from across the Great Thousand World. Closer to home, within their own Extraterritorial Evil Clan, leaving aside the Saint Heaven Clan, the Flame Demon Clan were themselves supreme practitioners of the fire path.
Among all those opponents, there was no shortage of individuals who had refined their flame spiritual power to absolute mastery. Yet even those people paled in comparison to the flames before him now.
The demonic soil was largely destroyed, but as Xin Kui stared coldly back at Jiang Yun, there was no real panic in his heart. Instead, he inhaled deeply and his hands began weaving a complex series of seals.
"Heart Demon Art—Heart-Soul World-Annihilating Hand!"
BOOM!
The ten-thousand-li expanse of demonic soil shattered apart completely at that moment. The earth split open, and countless pillars of demonic energy, each ten thousand zhang high, shot into the sky. Within that roiling demonic mist, an indescribably colossal hand reached up from the depths of the earth.
That giant hand was utterly black, exuding a boundless sense of evil. Its sheer size could blot out both sun and moon, and it radiated a world-destroying might.
Everywhere this boundless demonic hand passed, space crumbled into fragments, dissolving into absolute darkness.
Jiang Yun smiled faintly at the sight. "I've been meaning to test this move for a while. Let's see its power today!"
Hearing Jiang Yun's words, countless people turned questioning looks toward him. But upon witnessing his next action, their expressions shifted to shock, and then, one after another, they all turned and looked at Xiao Yan nearby.
High above them, after his words fell, Jiang Yun gently raised his palm. Brilliant flames came howling in, converging at his center palm into a dazzling ball of fire.
That ball of dazzling flame was exceptionally beautiful, as if it contained a myriad of colors. Yet beneath that mesmerizing, wavering beauty lay a terrifying power that could make one's heart seize with dread.
The brilliant flames churned, and every time a fiery tongue leaped up, the surrounding space collapsed further. The falling spatial fragments were incinerated into nothingness the moment the flames touched them.
In the next instant, Jiang Yun reached out with his hand and made a gentle grasping motion toward the Emperor Flame. Instantly, before the watching eyes of all, the Emperor Flame shattered and split into twenty-two different Heavenly Flames, each in a distinct form.
The multitude of Heavenly Flames writhed in Jiang Yun's grasp, then rapidly compressed. A few breaths later, an exquisite fire lotus, so delicate one could scarcely bear to let it go, had appeared in his hand.
The fire lotus was breathtakingly beautiful—so intricately formed it resembled a masterpiece of art. Its colors were dazzling and multi-hued. Looking closely, one would notice that every single petal of this lotus displayed a completely different color.
Each petal of the fire lotus was condensed from a unique Heavenly Flame. Individually, they possessed shockingly destructive power, yet in Jiang Yun's hands, they were tamed to the point of utter docility.
"Buddha Fury Fire Lotus..."
Jiang Yun and the astonished Xiao Yan below slowly spoke the technique's name in unison.
"The Dou Qi Continent has been ravaged by you people without cause. Now—feel the fury of the Dou Qi Continent!" Holding the fire lotus, Jiang Yun assumed a righteous and indignant air as he slowly addressed Xin Kui.
With those words, Jiang Yun flicked his finger, and the exquisite fire lotus drifted out. Its speed was neither fast nor slow, but as if capable of ignoring distance entirely, it simply flickered once and appeared directly before that ten-thousand-zhang demonic hand.
Compared to that demonic hand, the fire lotus was as tiny and insignificant as a speck of dust.
But it was precisely this dust-speck fire lotus that caused Xin Kui's face to change dramatically. A flicker of shock passed through his eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, he shot backward in retreat, and countless layers of demonic energy coalesced into hundreds of demonic barriers before him.
BOOM!
The fire lotus collided with the demonic hand. In that instant, an indescribable explosion of flame erupted. All of heaven and earth seemed to warp. That roiling demonic energy evaporated practically in a single breath, and the demonic hand itself was shattered to pieces by the terrifying impact of the flames.
After obliterating the demonic hand, the sea of fire swept onward toward Xin Kui with undiminished power.
The boundless, endless tide of brilliant fire surged through, madly tearing down those hundreds of demonic barriers. Finally, the shockwave pierced straight through space itself, engulfing even the rapidly retreating Xin Kui.
BOOM!
In that instant, the very world trembled. The patch of space where Xin Kui stood was violently blasted into a million fragments. The monstrous demonic energy was evaporated so completely that not a trace remained. The space in that area was now in a state of total collapse—a region tens of thousands of li across reduced to absolute darkness, as if everything within it had been annihilated by that explosion.
The endless, infinite waves of brilliant color spread rampantly, unleashing a devastating power so fearsome that even the very fabric of this world quaked madly in response.
The countless experts of the Dou Qi Continent watching the battle from a safe distance couldn't help but gulp at this sight, their eyes brimming with terror.
Clearly, Jiang Yun's attack had scared them witless. His previous strikes hadn't caused such cataclysmic destruction. One could only say that the visual impact of the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus was indeed far more devastating.
They had no doubt whatsoever—if a single tongue of those flames so much as grazed them, they would instantly be reduced to ash.
Gulp.
Xiao Yan couldn't help but swallow hard. As the creator of the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus, even he had never imagined this technique could possess such horrifying power. And for Jiang Yun to fuse twenty-two different Heavenly Flames together as if it were nothing... how could he possibly control such a thing?
His own limit was fusing ten Heavenly Flames. Twenty-two... he couldn't even fathom what level of strength that would require.
Ohhh... right. The other party is a Dou Di. Never mind, that explains it!
"That Xin Kui—he should be dead now, right?" Xiao Yan stared at the collapsed space and couldn't help but voice the question. In the face of that terrifying attack, even a genius of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan like Xin Kui must have suffered a fatal blow.
Yao Chen, hearing this, nodded as well. Such a frightening attack surely must have been enough to finish the opponent off.
Countless eyes across the Dou Qi Continent turned toward the collapsed space with tense anticipation. And then, their gazes abruptly froze. There, in the depths of that shattered space, a human silhouette was faintly visible.
That figure's body was covered head to toe in cracks and fissures. From a distance, he looked like a broken porcelain doll. Yet even in that state, he still emanated a formidable aura—a stark reminder to all that he was still alive, that he had not perished under that last attack.
"You Extraterritorial Evil Clan fellows... your strength might be nothing special, but your vitality is remarkably tenacious!" Jiang Yun, having also spotted Xin Kui, gazed at him with a grin and spoke in a mocking tone.
"Jiang... Yun..." Xin Kui's voice was hoarse and seething, squeezed through clenched teeth. His eyes were completely bloodshot, evidently enraged beyond measure.
To think that he, a proud genius of the Heart Demon Clan—one of the thirty-two great clans—had repeatedly suffered setbacks at the hands of someone from a Lower Plane. What enraged him even more was that this ant, whom just a few years ago he could have casually crushed (Note: without suppressed strength—Xin Kui was above Supreme level, and Jiang Yun's body was difficult to deal with), had now climbed to the same height as him. As a genius himself, how could he possibly stomach this?
"Did you really think you'd won?"
Gravely wounded and sensing the killing intent locked onto him, Xin Kui understood in his heart that the other party would not let him walk away today. His eyes gradually hardened with vicious resolve.
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Thanks for reading the chapter!
I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation story. It's a crossover of Toaru and One Piece... Well, the only Toaru element here is one cute Misaka. This is all that came of my desire to translate a Toaru fanfic, but I'm not complaining—even though I've only just started reading and translating it, I'm really enjoying the story. It has plenty of slice-of-life elements, and the pacing is quite slow and detailed. It's written in a sweet, positive way—at least for now. There likely won't be any romance, as there were no tags indicating such, but I won't say for sure until I've finished reading it myself. I'd recommend it to those who aren't craving violence, carnage, or excessive cruelty. In my opinion, it's a worthwhile story, though it's definitely a matter of personal taste—especially since the protagonist is a girl, which isn't everyone's cup of tea (though it doesn't really matter for now—at least as of 30+ chapters in, Misaka is still 6 years old). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I do.
One Piece: Railgun Misaka Misaka https://www.webnovel.com/book/one-piece-railgun-misaka-misaka_37195209600636405