Apocalypse Circular-Chapter 435: Meteor of Flowing Light (These days are 8K, ask for monthly pass)
"Ashbringer, huh!"
Lu Luo looked at the red and black greatsword, his eyes brimming with unstoppable joy.
Although this sword lacked the multi-stage transformation effect of Fenrir Type VI, its strength was clearly several levels superior to Fenrir’s.
Ashbringer, an artifact of the highest order of Sequence, other unknown...
Lu Luo was taken aback. "That’s it? What use are you?"
Without me, you would have been on your knees a long time ago.
Gripping the hilt tightly, the molten heat flowed through his body, and Lu Luo felt as though all the impurities in his body had been cleansed.
Was this sword actually nourishing him back? Was it because it had absorbed his blood and power before?
"Well, before admiring my new weapon, I should take care of that vine monster first."
The Treants around him were becoming more numerous; each seed of Hei Tengxi could turn a large tree into a Treant. These Treants kept gathering here, waiting for Lu Luo to appear. The moment Lu Luo emerged, they would swarm him, and even a Seventh Tier powerhouse would be exhausted to death.
Hei Tengxi’s plan was simple. She needed time to recover her strength, and these Treants were enough to delay an expert for a long time. If they could eliminate Lu Luo, then all the better, but if they failed to do so, she herself would be close to full strength by that point. It would just mean she’d have to handle it personally. In either case, there wasn’t much difference to her, so...
"Human, I am recovering my power as we wait. And you? What are you waiting for, death?"
At this moment, Hei Tengxi’s speech was much clearer than before. When she had first broken through the seal, she couldn’t even speak properly. Now that she could articulate a complete sentence, it was a significant improvement.
Lu Luo, still underground, also felt puzzled. This Hei Tengxi, with not much strength, had quite the audacity. Just moments ago, she was fleeing in panic, and now she starts posturing? Who gave her the courage?
"Let’s try it then, and let me feel your power."
Lu Luo weighed Ashbringer in his hand; the sensation of burning everything excited him. When he grasped Ashbringer, he could barely contain this surging sense of power.
"So this is what Qiao Xing left for me!"
Red steam mixed with a vast amount of red energy began to fill every corner of the tree hollow. The already substantial space was suddenly under intense pressure. The ground started to bulge and split. The Treants standing on the earth also toppled over due to the rising force.
Hei Tengxi, seeing the swelling ground, suddenly felt the urge to run away. But a Monarch’s dignity prevented her from doing so, because if an Exotic Species Monarch often ran away, the Exotic Species that obeyed her would cease to exist.
The red energy burst forth from the ground, and the tremendous heat incinerated several nearby Treants in an instant. This red signified an absolute scorch, and with the augmentation of heat, posed an absolutely formidable threat to the Treants.
As the red energy burst, the temperature of the air around started to rise. The Treants surrounding the burrow took a few steps back, as parts of their branches had already ignited. However, these Treants possessed basic intelligence; realizing they were on fire, they immediately started to slap each other to extinguish the flames as quickly as possible. But all their efforts were futile.
With another energy Outburst, Lu Luo burst forth from the earth, sword in hand. The heat brought by Ashbringer set more Treants, and even the surrounding trees, ablaze. If they were to fight under these circumstances, not to mention encircling Lu Luo, they probably wouldn’t even be able to get close to him before being burned to ash by the flames.
"Turn to ashes!"
Lu Luo held the sword in one hand, the heavy greatsword in his grasp as though it weighed nothing. Sword shadows began to overlap, and the power of steam rose around Lu Luo, who, at that moment, exerted his strength and speed to their fullest.
"Sword Heart Type Two - Covering Rain. Meteor Shower!"
Countless sparks, like meteors streaking across the sky, fell to the ground. These sparks, with their intense heat and impact, were like a doomsday judgment of fiery rain. With the attack frequency of Sword Rain, combined with the destructive power of the Ashbringer, what followed was cataclysmic.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each strike of the Sword Rain brought with it a tremendously powerful explosion. And then, great flames roared to life. The Treants had no chance to resist; they were obliterated in an instant.
Hei Tengxi watched the sky in horror; this was not the kind of power a normal human should possess.
"Sequence origin?"
Lu Luo frowned slightly. "What did you just say? I didn’t hear you clearly."
"You monster," Hei Tengxi retorted.
She’s cursing you.
I don’t need you to remind me.
The sword in Lu Luo’s hand finally stopped, but he wasn’t about to let Hei Tengxi off the hook. This time, he grasped the sword with both hands, red light gathering along the blade.
"Sword Heart Type Four - Soul Breaker!"
A sword that could turn everything to ashes fell from the sky.
Hei Tengxi tried to run, but Lu Luo’s tendrils wouldn’t give her the chance. The World Devourer’s core appeared, and a mass of tentacles trapped Hei Tengxi in place. While she struggled with the tendrils of the Devourer, the Ashbringer descended from above, slicing her in two.
BOOM!
The land and forest were cleaved apart, creating a vast chasm, and the flames relentlessly invaded the trees. Hei Tengxi was sliced in half, one part consumed by the power of ashes. The other side turned into a bare plant gumball.
Lu Luo walked over, picked up the gumball, shaved it with the greatsword, and placed it into a ring.
Monarch’s Heart - Plant.
"This thing is a Monarch? Does she really look like a Monarch? Never mind Nightmare Noah; she doesn’t even seem much different from a Seventh Tier Exotic Species from the Wasteland Alliance..."
Quit showing off. You’ve become stronger; it’s not that she’s weak. But she really is quite weak; for a Sequence Monarch to be this feeble, she must have been sealed for many years. If she wanted to recover her strength, she would probably need to absorb a lot of Dark Energy. You didn’t give her time to replenish her Dark Energy, so she seemed very weak.
"Is that so? Sounds not too bad."
His own venture out was quite complicated, but acquiring a Monarch’s Heart was still a gain. Last time, the Monarch’s Heart enabled the faithless to evolve. He wondered what effects this heart might have.
"Alright, that’s about enough. Time to go back to sleep! Let’s go. It will be good to talk to Wu Liji once I’m back, and by the way, tell her that I’ve dealt with the Grey Robed threat."
Hmm, that’s a good idea.
In the center of the Wasteland Alliance, Luo Dan stared at the flame on the table, lost in thought. This little thing, the heat it released just now nearly burned right through her palm. One should know, after inheriting Noah’s mechanical power, her defensive capability was not merely that of a human’s flesh. Yet this piece of iron actually burst forth with the power of Holy Radiance and a destructive aura, which truly surprised her.
"Fragments of Ash! I remember, wasn’t this thing found in my ring? When exactly did I get hold of something like this? Or... did Noah intentionally leave it for me? If it’s something he specifically left for me, then what’s the purpose of its existence?"
On the other hand, in the GuiXi District of the Imperial Coal Capital, at the Inspection Department. At this moment it was brightly lit, having entered a first-level combat readiness state. Last night, Her Royal Highness Princess Wu Liji suffered a very serious attack. There was a large number of casualties, but thankfully Princess Wu Liji’s personal strength was robust, resisting the band of robbers. The Imperial Inspection Department, cooperating with the security office, killed many unnamed Transcendents and arrested a large number of criminals with severed hands and feet. After a round of interrogation, it could be preliminarily confirmed that these people were all grey-robed men, the so-called Grey Robed Pilgrims. These cultists actually dared to attack the princess, truly courting death.
After cracking this major case, a series of investigations began to unfold vigorously. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Wu Liji was full of confusion. She had originally thought she was done for today, but after Zhang Changming arrived here and saw the bodies everywhere, he not only did not blame her but also concocted an explanation for her in a very short time. And he swiftly arranged for personnel to clean up the scene. In short, Zhang Changming’s actions were to extricate Princess Wu Liji from this affair as soon as possible. To put it simply, he was cleaning up the mess for her.
"Stop talking about that; it’s meaningless. Remember what I said tonight. When you speak, don’t give anything away. Your status as a princess is your best umbrella, but it could also be your poison," Zhang Changming reminded Wu Liji, but it seemed she wasn’t appreciative.
"Why are you helping me? We don’t seem to have any cooperative relationship, do we?"
"You must have reached some agreement with Lu Luo, right? I’m helping him, not you."
"Oh, you’re helping Lu Luo? Why would you help him? Are you that close with him? Is he your illegitimate son?"
"How could that be possible? How could I possibly have that kind of son." Though Zhang Changming said this, upon careful consideration, having a son like Lu Luo did seem to be quite a great thing. "Let’s leave it at that for today then. Remember, Your Royal Highness, this is an opportunity, a chance for you to break away from the grey-robed people. Your status as a princess has given you this chance. Whether to use this opportunity or not is up to you to decide."
"Hehe, Minister Zhang, you seem quite different from your usual public image. It seems Lu Luo is indeed very important to you. But do you know, if it weren’t for Lu Luo today, this wouldn’t have happened at all. My companions here were all personally killed by Lu Luo!" As Wu Liji spoke to this point, she seemed to have gritted her teeth a bit.
However, Zhang Changming alongside her didn’t care at all. The grey-robed ones were dead. Would he mind? Of course not; he might even clap and cheer. These cultists, it’s better if they die off quickly.
"It’s not important who killed these people, but they were grey-robed ones, Your Royal Highness. Grey-robed people hardly evoke any sympathy from the Inspection Department. When these people die, most of our brethren would only clap and say, ’Well done.’"
"You..." Wu Liji knew that it was impossible to gain sympathy from the Inspection Department. "Forget it, I need to rest now."
"Yes, Your Highness, do rest well. I hope you will not do anything foolish in the future; otherwise, even if Lu Luo does not take action, the Imperial Inspection Department will not let you off."
As their conversation was about to end, the Imperial Sequence Disk detector issued a series of shrill alarms.
"What is that noise?" Wu Liji was somewhat puzzled; the alarm at this time seemed abrupt!
"That sound, the Sequence Disk’s alarm, indicates the presence of a strong Sequence."
"A warning from the Sequence Disk? A strong Sequence is present? At this time..." Zhang Changming immediately rose, and Wu Liji followed suit.
When the two reached the balcony, they could directly see at the city’s edge, at the forest of the border, layers upon layers of fire were erupting.
"What is that?"
"This spread! Looks like it’s going to reach us." Zhang Changming, watching the flames, immediately felt a sense of foreboding. He quickly took out his phone and dialed a number. "Mobilize all the followers, as well as the security office personnel, and have the Water-type power users assemble immediately. The northeastern side has already caught fire; everyone assemble at the northeastern outpost in 15 minutes, be prepared to fight the fire."
Zhang Changming made several similar calls in succession. After finishing the calls, Wu Liji stopped him.
"I’m going with you."
"Your Highness, this is not the time for nonsense. At a moment like this, we don’t have time to look after you."
"Minister Zhang Changming, I, Wu Liji, am the thirty-third princess of the Imperial Family. Protecting the territory of the new empire is the duty of every princess and Prince. Moreover, as a Sixth Tier Transcendent, there are not many in GuiXi District who are stronger than me. It is both logical and reasonable for me to step up and contribute at this time. How can such behavior be called nonsense?" Wu Liji spoke sharply, with reason and evidence, leaving Zhang Changming unable to find a reason to refute her after hearing her out.
After a few seconds of pause, he could only agree. "Fine, I can take you there, but Your Highness, once we arrive, I hope you will follow the rules of the Inspection Department. You are a princess, after all, and I am responsible for your safety."
"I understand. I’ll follow your orders, Chief."
Personnel began to converge on the northeastern corner of Coal Capital, and the distant fire grew increasingly bright. Beyond the normal flames, people also felt a hint of red within the blaze.
Zhang Changming looked intently at the flames, his eyes flashing with uncertainty. "Such a level of Sequence Power is truly becoming more and more outrageous." He had also suspected whether Lu Luo was responsible, given that only a few in GuiXi District could cause such immense destruction. But now he had no way to confirm, and the abilities Lu Luo had previously revealed did not seem to include control over fire. "Forget it, let’s deal with the situation at hand first."
The personnel quickly assembled, and under Zhang Changming’s leadership, they began an orderly firefighting operation. As they approached the flames, the members of the Inspection Department made a new discovery. This pure red flame had a stronger burning capacity than regular flames; everywhere it passed, it left nothing but ashes. The main reason for this was the Sequence Force mixed within these flames. They devoured all life.
And, after the flames extinguished, all that life and power flowed into Lu Luo’s body.
Lu Luo, sitting on the outskirts of the city eating late-night snacks, was also staring blankly at the distant firelight at the moment.
"Did I forget something?"
You forgot to put out the fire.
"I did extinguish it; I cleared a space, and after the fire burned through the trees, it should have gone out, right? Why has it grown so much?"
It seems this fire can even burn mud.
"Okay, so what is this growing energy all about? I didn’t use the Devourer, right?"
It must be the effect of the Ashen Flame!
After being silent for a while, Lu Luo said softly, "Should I go back and check? Isn’t this handling of the matter a bit too inhumane?"
To be honest, it really is.
Nobody knew about Lu Luo’s digression; at the front lines of the jungle, Zhang Changming continued to lead a group of Transcendents in fighting the fire. They discovered something very strange. The red flames that were burning could burn their energy as well. When enough energy was released into them, the flames would burn for a while before naturally extinguishing. This gave them more conditions and methods for extinguishing the fire. It was not just the water-type Transcendents who had to act.
"Everyone, put in more effort; the fire has reduced a lot."
"Alright!"
Whether it was for the love of their country or due to the good education of the Empire, in times of disaster, these people who normally didn’t see eye to eye could always exhibit an amazing collaborative spirit. The firefighting was well-organized.
Wu Liji silently carried out the tasks assigned by Zhang Changming. Just as she had said, regardless of whether or not she joined the Grey Robes Pilgrims, her primary intention was to see the country improve. As for a forest fire, especially one enhanced with Sequence Force, she, as a princess of the Empire, should indeed contribute her strength.
However, Wu Liji had some doubts in her heart; she felt somewhat familiar with this part of the forest. This direction!
Could it be the ancient tree?
Soon, the crowd arrived at the location of that ancient tree. And with her doubts, Wu Liji finally saw what she had been puzzled about before.
"The ancient tree... It’s gone?"
Around where the ancient tree stood, there were intense signs of battle; the pits created previously by the meteor shower still stood out on the ground one by one.
"These pits..." Zhang Changming was also surprised; the scale of the battle had to be at least at the Seventh Tier level. Could it really be Lu Luo? If it was Lu Luo, then what was it that he fought with? Such a battle...
As he pondered, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a shocked Wu Liji. If a princess showed such an expression, she must know something, right?
"Your Highness, do you have some understanding of what happened here?"
"I don’t understand anything." Wu Liji turned her head away, but Zhang Changming didn’t intend to let her off so easily.
"Your Highness, this matter has become more than just the concern of any particular organization or power. It’s about the livelihood of the Empire and the security of the state. I hope you can tell me what you know."
Wu Liji pursed her lips. "There used to be an ancient tree here, and that tree was once a base that the Grey Robes had in GuiXi District. One of the Elders of the Grey Robes has always been here."
"Is the Elder of the Grey Robes at the Seventh Tier?"
"Seventh Tier!"
Zhang Changming nodded; if the battle was between Seventh Tiers, it could indeed cause the situation as it was now. If one side was the Elder of the Grey Robes, the other side was very likely Lu Luo. The battle between the two of them could actually cause such great destructive power? When he had fought with Lu Luo before, he basically had no power to fight back. It seems that Lu Luo and that Grey Robed Elder are far stronger than him!
Could it really be necessary to request reinforcements from the Empire?
As Zhang Changming felt somewhat puzzled, Lu Luo himself had already scurried to the edge of the crowd.
"Wow, so many people! After such a long and tiring journey... I’m feeling a bit sheepish now."
Lu Luo’s mischievous appearance quickly drew the attention of others, and a member of the Inspection Department had already spotted him.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Erm, just passing by."
"Passing by? There’s a great fire here; why would you be passing by such a place? If you’re a commoner, you’d better leave quickly; it’s dangerous here. If you’re a Transcendent, you’re being temporarily conscripted. Hurry up and come help us extinguish the fire."
Looking at these busy figures, Lu Luo felt for the first time that the members of the Inspection Department might not be so detestable after all.
"Alright, I’ll come and help." Lu Luo stepped forward, observing the fire extinguishing efforts and feeling that it all seemed too slow. And those red flames in front of him seemed...
Try it?
"Try it, then."
Lu Luo sneakily drew out his Ashbringer, and as the great sword appeared, the temperature around dramatically rose. The other Transcendents looked around in all directions, trying to find out what exactly was causing the air to heat up.
Lu Luo didn’t care about that; the fire was his doing. Although it was the result of his battle with Hei Tengxi, he felt it was also his responsibility to clean up the mess. Grasping the hilt of Ashbringer, Lu Luo closed his eyes.
"Everything in this world shall return to ashes, to the blade."
All the flames gradually extinguished after Lu Luo uttered those words. The extinction was from the source. The crowd, which was still putting out the fire, was somewhat baffled; how had that fierce fire suddenly died down so rapidly? But the extinguishing of the great fire was, after all, a good thing, better than letting it burn on indefinitely.
People began to cheer, and Lu Luo, hearing the crowd’s cheers, quickly stowed away the Ashbringer. If people found out he had done this, who knows how they would have blasted him. Yet, seeing the joyful expressions on their faces, Lu Luo’s mood equally brightened.
Does this count as an unnamed hero? Doesn’t seem like it, does it? This whole mess was my doing; at most, I’m making up for my mistakes, repairing the damage after the fact. What kind of hero am I, damn it!
Lu Luo smiled and headed towards the center of the ancient tree, where he happened to bump into Zhang Changming and Wu Liji approaching from the opposite direction.
"What a coincidence, you two."
"Quite a coincidence indeed," Wu Liji pursed her lips.
Zhang Changming, on the other hand, didn’t speak. For some reason, upon seeing Lu Luo, he felt an inexplicable anger. But this wasn’t the time for an Outburst; the fire had just been extinguished, and there was still much to do.
"Lu Luo, come with me."
"Uh, okay."
Lu Luo followed Zhang Changming to a deserted place. Of course, Wu Liji also followed, and her look at Lu Luo was quite unfriendly at the moment. After all, Lu Luo had disrupted the Grey Robed ones’ actions before, and not just once, but twice. Even though their second attempt was successful, many of the Grey Robed brothers had been killed by Lu Luo.
"Hmph."
"Hmph your ass!" Lu Luo wasn’t about to indulge Wu Liji; although she was an Imperial Princess, she had no right to disrespect him like that.
"You’ve killed so many of my brothers. It looks like you don’t want to cooperate anymore?"
"If you won’t cooperate, then don’t. Do you think I’m your dad, who’d cater to your whims?"
The two clashed, but Zhang Changming wasn’t interested in their conversation at all. "Enough, put your issues aside for now. Let’s talk about the fire today. I sensed a strong Sequence Force in that fire. Lu Luo, we’ve sparred before, and though this Sequence Force is somewhat different from yours, it’s still very similar. You know what I mean. Did you have anything to do with this incident?"
"It was me."
Lu Luo’s straightforwardness left both Zhang Changming and Wu Liji taken aback.
"It really was you!"
But Zhang Changming’s mood wasn’t good; he was so angry he wished he could hammer Lu Luo right then and there. After thinking it over, though, it seemed like a one-on-one fight wouldn’t be in his favor against Lu Luo. Considering the damage Lu Luo could cause, his strength... must have reached an unfathomable level. Besides, he himself wanted to know what exactly had happened here.
"Go on, explain how this came about."
Lu Luo nodded and looked at Wu Liji. "It all starts with her."
"What does it have to do with me?"
"You know very well whether it’s related to you."
Just as the two were about to argue again, Zhang Changming directly stopped Wu Liji. "Your Highness, could you let him finish his story? This issue is very important."
Seeing Zhang Changming’s sullen face, Wu Liji finally fell silent. "Go ahead, talk."
"Previously, I found those in grey robes at the government building. I didn’t know they were Grey Robed individuals. I just thought they were there to assassinate Wu Liji. Since we’d just reached a cooperation agreement, I wanted to have a look. If there was any way I could help, I would lend her a hand. When I got there, we ended up fighting, and well, you know the rest. The Grey Robed were weak; I killed them all. But ultimately Wu Liji stopped me, allowing one of the Grey Robed people to escape – a Sixth Tier."
As Lu Luo spoke, Zhang Changming glared at Wu Liji. Under Minister Zhang’s pressure, the princess could only lower her head and keep quiet.
"Continue."
"I’m a reasonable person. Once a fight starts, I naturally want to eliminate future threats. Otherwise, wouldn’t I be miserable if others retaliated against me?"
Zhang Changming’s mouth twitched. Lu Luo’s use of ’retaliation’ was quite a stretch. Obviously, it was Lu Luo’s own intent to nip the problem in the bud, yet he pretended as if he was the victim. "And then?"
"Then, of course, I had to pursue. I left a mark on that person. Upon following it here, I initially thought this place was just a common cultist stronghold. But as we fought, from underneath a large tree and its lake, a plant creature suddenly sprang out. That thing could not only manipulate vines but also control Treants. It was quite formidable. I had no choice but to go all out in battle, and that’s how this place ended up like this."
Wu Liji, standing to the side, expressed disbelief. "You’re making things up. Where is this lake you speak of, and what plant creature? I’ve been here for so long and have never seen the things you’re talking about. There’s a right way to fabricate stories. If you want to slander the Grey Robed Pilgrims, at least be more plausible."
She was getting flustered! Wu Liji’s demeanor was like that of someone whose beloved idol had been maliciously maligned, more upsetting to her than if she had been killed.
But Lu Luo was puzzled. What was so good about these Grey Robed individuals? "Everything I’ve said is the truth. Why are you panicking? And I don’t understand. Why would you, a princess, defend a group of cultists like this? What’s so good about these people? ’United in penalty’? ’A guaranteed sentence for every word spoken’? Or perhaps, ’One look and you’re thinking of warrants’? To me, they seem quite good at delivering ’sentences.’ Everything they do has a ’cutting-edge.’ Don’t you agree, Minister Zhang?"
Lu Luo shot a knowing look at Zhang Changming, but Zhang Changming didn’t engage with him, instead dwelling on what Lu Luo had just mentioned. "Everything you’ve just said, is it all true?"
"Truer than pure gold."
"That plant creature, what’s its level of strength?"
After pondering for a moment, Lu Luo slowly replied, "Roughly... a slightly weaker Eighth Order."
Wu Liji was speechless. Zhang Changming, too, looked incredulous.
They don’t believe you.
"Why are you guys looking at me like that? I’m really not bragging." Lu Luo felt insulted, as killing an average Eighth Order didn’t require any boasting—it was something easily handled.
"This lake you mentioned, what was it like?"
"Blue, emitting light, with very special water. I even took some specifically to study later." As he spoke, Lu Luo took out some of the Mirror Lake water he had collected earlier.
When Wu Liji and Zhang Changming saw the Mirror Lake water, their eyes narrowed simultaneously.
"Mirror Lake water!"
"Mirror Lake water? What’s it for?" Lu Luo was curious, as it looked like both of them knew about its uses.
"This stuff is for sealing the supernatural." As the head of the Inspection Department, Zhang Changming was all too familiar with the uses of Mirror Lake water. It was used for sealing supernatural entities, reshaping Sequence, and manufacturing Sequence Devices. But Mirror Lake water was extremely precious; even within the Imperial Inspection Department, it was a scarce commodity.
"So you said, this water formed a lake? How big was the lake approximately?"
At that point, Lu Luo got a bad feeling. He might have missed something significant. "This water, it’s not something valuable, is it?"
"Indeed, it’s quite valuable. It’s one of the vital materials in Transcendent alchemy."
Lu Luo’s face immediately looked distressed. He spread his arms wide, speaking with a whiny voice, "The lake back then was this big; the water was plentiful everywhere. I thought it was just ordinary glowing lake water. If only I had known!"
Lu Luo pounded the ground in frustration, while Zhang Changming ignored him. He turned to Wu Liji, who was beginning to doubt herself, and asked, "To need a lake’s worth of Mirror Lake water to seal a creature... Just how powerful is that plant creature? Your Highness, don’t you want to give an explanation for the Grey Robed Pilgrims?"
