Chapter 212 (I): Origin Overdrive

The Astral Envoys and Nocturnal Specters in the back rows all caught the grief and bitterness in Elder Sun's voice. What did Elder Sun mean by that?

For a moment, it made no sense. Wasn't Yuanshi Tianzun the one who was finished? The sandy ground would reveal a Nocturnal Specter's invisibility and leave him nowhere to hide, and these thirty bronze puppets could hack Yuanshi Tianzun to death with a flurry of blades. Who exactly was the one who was finished?

If Yuanshi Tianzun were an Earth God, there would be no argument. But he was a Nocturnal Specter, and even with an Earth Wraith-class defensive item, he couldn't hold out under the blows of thirty war blades.

As Elder Hongying and the others pressed him for answers, Elder Sun said sourly, "I once repaired a pair of shoes..."

Shoes? The Taiyi Sect elders kept staring at him, baffled.

Right then, a sharp ping rang out across the arena floor, cutting off their conversation and drawing their attention back to the ring. Under the spirit servant's control, one bronze puppet had lurched and swayed its way forward in an odd but quick gait, closed in on Yuanshi Tianzun and hacked down brutally at him with its rusty longsword.

Quickly, Zhang Yuanqing raised his own blade to block, but what came crashing down did not feel like a blade at all, but the Monkey King's golden staff[1]. The webbing of his hand split immediately, and blood poured out.

Zhang Yuanqing nearly cursed out loud and called foul. Is this really a puppet? It's as powerful as a damn Fire Sage. No, this is the power of an Enchanting Demon!If just one puppet possesses such monstrous strength, then wouldn't thirty of them carve me into pieces with a storm of blades?

His chest tightened, and the hairs on his back stood up.

Seeing Yuanshi Tianzun pinned down by a single puppet, the crowd in the stands gasped. There were thirty puppets mobbing him. How was Yuanshi Tianzun supposed to fight that?

The onlookers grew more and more certain the match was over, that Yuanshi Tianzun would very likely fall to Zhao Chenghuang's counterattack.

"Get off!" Zhang Yuanqing snarled in a burst of fury.

The muscles of his arms went taut, and with an explosive burst of strength, he forced the puppet's war blade back through sheer power. As the puppet staggered back, black, viscous energy welled up in both his eyes, and his bearing turned sinister and regal.

He reached out, trying to grab the black thread over the puppet's head, but despite being a Nocturnal Specter himself, his hand passed straight through the thread, unable to grasp it.

What the fuck? I can't touch it? Zhang Yuanqing cursed, giving ground as the bronze puppet steadied itself and stabbed at him. If I can't grab the thread, then the only thing left to do is deal with Zhao Chenghuang's spirit servant.

He glanced at the spirit servant floating behind Zhao Chenghuang, and the fury on his face shifted, twisting into a cold, sinister sneer.

"Even if I die here today, I'm devouring that spirit servant of yours," he declared coldly.

Watching Yuanshi Tianzun's temper flip on a dime, Zhao Chenghuang frowned and said mildly, "You know full well nobody will die in an arena match. Are you just talking tough on purpose? It doesn't matter. I'll let you taste death by a thousand cuts soon enough!"

Zhang Yuanqing dropped his air of cold menace and let loose. "So what if I'm threatening you? I'm not just going to threaten you, I'm going to screw your ancestors!"

In the elders' seats, Elder Zhao, the ancestor in question, flew into a rage. "Insolent brat!"

Zhao Chenghuang closed his eyes a fraction, focusing on steadying his breath and recovering his stamina. Behind him, the spirit servant lifted its face, sending two shafts of ghostly black light shooting out.

The next moment, the thrity bronze puppets came running, blades in hand, swaying and tottering, stiff yet frighteningly quick, like some terrible swarm of warped creatures.

Faced with the pack of powerful enemies, Zhang Yuanqing gave ground again, and summoned his second item.

Two threads of dark red light wove and danced in the air, wrapping themselves around his feet. His running shoes vanished, and in their place appeared a brand new pair of oversized red dancing shoes.

Just then the first bronze puppet lunged, its left leg kicking back as its right leg drove forward, its upper body arched in exaggerated backward lean as its right arm hoisted its rusty war blade high. It hacked down with all its strength.

Zhang Yuanqing had meant to sidestep, but the Red Dancing Shoes had ideas of their own. With a flash of red light, it swept him about in a spin. An elegant spin, just like a ballet dancer.

The second bronze puppet arrived, its blade cleaving straight down. The edge shaved past Zhang Yuanqing's body, but the same graceful spin had already twirled him clear.

The third bronze puppet arrived, its blade also cleaving straight down. Then the fourth, and the fifth...

Zhang Yuanqing spun elegantly, and around him, war blades fell one after another like guillotines. Every single blade nearly caught him, yet and every one missed by a hair. He looked to be in constant danger, but he was in fact perfectly composed, twirling gracefully through the thicket of blades.

If he'd brought the Cat King Speaker along, it would surely be playing "spin and leap with my eyes shut..."[2]

As he thought of all the people watching, Zhang Yuanqing's face went red. Don't play that, it's embarrassing!

The first form of the Red Dancing Shoes was a rule-type ability that made it unstoppable, unshakeable and indestructible, and it was the one Zhang Yuanqing had leaned on most in the past.

The second form, by contrast, he rarely used. But as his enemies grew stronger and the Red Dancing Shoes' attack power slowly waned in comparison, the second form's usefulness came to the fore instead.

This second form provided him evasion and the ability to ignore terrain when running. It was best suited to just such a situation, a chaotic melee, allowing him to pass through a thousand blades without shedding a single drop of blood.

As he watched Yuanshi Tianzun don the dancing shoes and calmly slip past the puppets' encirclement, Zhao Chenghuang's cold face abruptly darkened, and a prickle of irritation rose from the bottom of his heart. Why did he still have cards to play? Why was he so tenacious? Why couldn't he just be broken outright?

For the first time, Zhao Chenghuang felt a real sense of wariness toward this opponent.

In the stands, the crowd stared wide-eyed at the scene. What kind of reflexes did he have, and what kind of agility was needed to be able to dodge so elegantly through the concerted assault of thirty bronze puppets?

"Those red dancing shoes are the same item that made an appearance in yesterday's dungeon match!"

"They're what's giving Yuanshi Tianzun that stunning evasion..."

"It can hunt you down and help you run away... What a divine artifact. Who was it that said Yuanshi Tianzun had no top-tier items? That's the second one now. Where's that Grand Scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion? Come out here, I'm going to beat you to death!"

Wave after wave of amazement rolled through the stands, and the Five Elements Alliance's official Walkers perked up. A moment ago, their faces had been full of worry; now, their brows danced with delight. ℴℴ𝘮

Over on the Taiyi Sect's side, the Nocturnal Specters and Astral Envoys frowned, one after another. This Yuanshi Tianzun was genuinely tenacious, pulling out item after item after item. They were sure he'd been put in a situation where death was certain, but he somehow still clung to life.

"It's those shoes," Elder Sun said dully.

He'd touched the Red Dancing Shoes before and seen their attributes. Therefore, the instant he saw that Zhao Chenghuang's trump card was the Puppet Soldier Storage Box, Elder Sun had known things were about to go wrong.

In the face of this sort of group beatdown, this assault of overwhelming numbers, any other Transcendent-tier contestant would have no choice but to throw in the towel. Even Earth God ran the risk of being hacked to death by a flurry of blades. But Yuanshi Tianzun alone had those Red Dancing Shoes.

Elder Zhao's face went dark after seeing the red dancing shoes' marvelous movement.

"What are these shoes?" he demanded, sounding worried.

Elder Sun sighed. "Sheling Tunnel!"

Elder Zhao stayed silent a while, then let out a slow breath. "So it's that item."

Elder Hongying and the others recalled the item as well. In the past, to try to clear Sheling Tunnel, the Taiyi Sect had stationed two Nocturnal Specters in Songhai for the long term. Though the two disciples unfortunately returned to the Spirit Realm, they'd sent back vital intelligence, revealing the fact that the Sheling Tunnel dungeon held a stray rule-type item.

***

Sheling Tunnel, and the Red Dancing Shoes... In the back row, Yin Ji seemed to remember something. Her lovely frame trembled faintly, her lips pressed tight beneath her veil, a watery shimmer rippling within her beautiful eyes. A voice from long ago, all but forgotten, echoed in her ear.[3]

"When I was very weak, I once went into Sheling Tunnel. There was a very interesting pair of dancing shoes there. Dear sister, ever since I met you, I've often had the thought that, if I could go back to Sheling Tunnel, I'd definitely get my hands on them and give them to you."

"You've been inside Sheling Tunnel? What nonsense! Sheling Tunnel is an uncleared dungeon."

"I never said I cleared it."

"More nonsense. Then how did you get out?"

"That's a secret I can't tell. Give me a kiss and I'll tell you."

"Pah!"

1. This is in reference to the legendary Chinese novel, Journey to the West. The Monkey King Sun Wukong was an unbeatable fighter who wielded a massive staff that could change dimensions. ☜

2. These are lyrics from a song 舞娘 (Dancer) by the singer Jolin Tsai. It’s often used in Chinese memes because of how catchy and dramatic the lyrics sound. ☜

3. Yin Ji is a Saint-tier character from the Taiyi Sect, previously introduced in chapter 179. She was one of Demon Lord's ex-lovers. ☜