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--- Chapter 424 ---
"This is... A Quasi-God entity?" Han Yuan, the Jade Phoenix Lord, and the White-Eyed Phoenix Lord gazed at the gray, swirling arms and green eyes appearing in the sky with solemn expressions.
"What is a Quasi-God entity?" The Snow Empress and Ice Empress tilted their heads in confusion.
Bi Ji approached the Ice Empress and whispered slowly, "A Quasi-God is like another realm of cultivation. As the name implies, any expert or entity in this realm is merely one step away from godhood."
"For humans, the level 99 Limit Douluo, also known as Ultimate Douluo, is the pinnacle of what their mortal vessel can achieve."
"Interestingly, that Ultimate Douluo realm is 'naturally' divided into three realms."
"Quasi-Demigod, Demigod, and Quasi-God!" Bi Ji explained. "Similarly, we spirit beasts have equivalent levels of prowess, which vary depending on our bloodline and years of cultivation."
"Strictly speaking, any ferocious spirit beast over 500,000 years old already possesses the might of an Ultimate Douluo."
"Unfortunately, to truly possess the might of a Quasi-Demigod, Demigod, or even Quasi-God, I believe only the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, Di Tian, that Eye Lord in the distant continent, and you have the potential to achieve that."
"The Quasi-God realm transcends mere numbers."
"It's about one's comprehension of heaven and earth—specifically, the laws and the soul that exist beyond the sky. That is what sets the Quasi-God realm apart from mortals."
Bi Ji chuckled inwardly, thinking, 'Of course, that doesn't count my Young Master! Even without reaching the so-called Quasi-God realm, he already possesses the power of gods!'
"Then... there's no way the 'Snow Empress' of this time can defeat that monster!" the Ice Empress said grimly, gazing at the monstrosity in the distance.
"That's not necessarily true," Han Yuan replied flatly to the Ice Empress. "What Bi Ji explained is about realms, cultivation, or simply put, personal strength."
"Even so, it doesn't mean there's no way to kill such a being."
"External assistance," the Snow Empress said calmly.
"The world is 'naturally' filled with inequalities, but weapons and minds can level the playing field for some."
The White-Eyed Phoenix Lord added, "At the current technological level of Glory City, it's possible to create a spiritual artifact that reaches divine levels."
"However, using that same artifact comes at a heavy price."
As expected, the White-Eyed Phoenix Lord's comment proved true once again. When the Demon Sage Emperor came to Glory City, the people were already prepared for him.
Although they didn't expect the mere arrival to cause such destruction, it didn't mean they were afraid.
The 'Divine Warriors' had positioned themselves around the Demon Sage Emperor when the rift let out a cold, indifferent voice.
"Humans, you broke into my home, slaughtered my people, and destroyed everything!"
"Today, I shall bring you destruction!"
The many green eyes in the air blazed with a spiritual flame, launching countless emerald arrows that rained down upon Glory City.
While they resembled arrows, they were so large that one could consider them spears.
Amidst this rain of arrows, one tall figure stood and summoned his martial soul. An enormous chessboard manifested in Glory City, and two of its rooks formed a black-and-white barrier that protected everyone.
"Land-Overturning Chessboard! It's the City Lord!" shouted the crowd in utter happiness.
While surrounded by two yellow, two purple, two black, one red, and two dark-red spirit rings, the city lord shouted at the swirling rift, "As long as I, Ye Zong, am here, don't even think about killing my people and destroying my city!"
"Sorry, everyone. I'm late."
Han Yuan rubbed his chin, saying, "Interesting, a tool-type martial soul with such a convoluted nature, yet it has developed to this extreme."
"And that seventh spirit ring—he actually utilized the Martial Soul Avatar as an amplification for this city-sized domain."
"He probably consumed a lot of spiritual energy from the Small Demon Grotto Plane to upgrade his seventh spirit ring."
"However, this level of power is not enough to stop a Quasi-God entity like this one."
Crack! Crack! Crack!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The city lord's barrier protecting everyone cracked as emerald arrows stacked upon one another. Finally, it shattered into pieces, causing devastating destruction in the city.
A massive hole formed where the city lord stood, causing everyone to gasp.
Fortunately, the city lord was safe because he teleported away from the center of destruction. He appeared in the sky, holding a broken pawn piece, which turned into fleeting dust.
"One pawn down..." The city lord grimaced.
"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! How dare an ant resist my slaughter!" The hoarse voice from the rift echoed once more.
The swirling gray arms expanded, forming bubbles that hardened and hatched butterflies. Nevertheless, these butterflies were no ordinary creatures. They devoured the mind, yes, even hope and dreams.
"Everyone, don't let the butterflies touch you!" A Divine Warrior shouted as he saw someone who had been touched by a butterfly and dropped dead on the ground.
One Divine Warrior also managed to catch other people affected by the butterfly, but found them lifeless on the ground, despair etched on their faces.
Unfortunately, the warning was too late.
The butterflies spread throughout Glory City, devouring the small hope of anyone with even the slightest thought of giving up, which resulted in the city's population being cut in half.
Yes, you heard that right—half of Glory City's population just died instantly!
Demon Sage Emperor, truly, Demon and Gods like entity!
While some individuals reacted and defended themselves with spiritual array, artifact, spirit skills, only those possessing spirit powers and a strong mind could withstand this judgment.
The city lord was dumbfounded that the ancient defensive spirit guidance tools deployed throughout the city had failed so miserably.
These tools could protect ordinary people from the Title Douluo experts, yet they collapsed against the Demon Sage Emperor's assault. It was as futile as using a paper umbrella in the rain, where the water simply soaks through and tears the paper apart.
"ARRRRGGHHH!" The city lord's tall figure trembled in the sky. He roared at the rift, and his spirit rings ignited one after another.
"Knight, March!"
"Rook, Trample!"
"Bishop, Pierce!"
"Queen, Destroy... All Invaders!"
In response to the city lord's commands, the chessboard glowed brightly and sent out seven pieces scattered across Glory City, incinerating all the butterflies with fiery red flames of fury. It was as if the chessboard itself was aflame, and the city mirrored that rage.
Thankfully, under the skillful control of the city lord, no humans were harmed.
The Divine Warriors also began bombarding the Demon Sage Emperor, unleashing a barrage of strikes that destroyed the green eyes and inflicted shallow cuts on the gray arms themselves.
Ye Ziyun charged at the swirling gray arms, slicing through three fingers in quick succession with her longsword. Her icy spirit powers prevented the fingers from regenerating, allowing others to prepare for her follow-up attacks.
"Hmph!" The Demon Sage Emperor clearly noticed that his fingers were not healing, but he was too occupied with fending off the city lord's annoying resistance.
Several older experts from Glory City assisted the city lord, successfully keeping the Demon Sage Emperor from inflicting more damage.
Regardless, the nightmare was just beginning.
While everyone was engaged in battle, several small rifts opened around Glory City, releasing demon beasts.
The city lord clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, "Curse you, Demon Sage Emperor! Invading us is just an excuse! You simply want that artifact!"
"What anger! What destruction! You're just greedy!"
"Hmm? That artifact?" Han Yuan and his companions exchanged surprised glances upon hearing this.