Stranger Danger

Chapter 567: Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner

“Do you think this is enough people to kill all of you?” Xiong Kuohai watched Ji Donglei and Huo Ruyu with a smile that didn’t reach the eye. “If not, don’t worry. There’s more!”

As soon as Xiong Kuohai said this, a bad feeling suddenly gripped both Ji Donglei and Huo Ruyu. As if on cue, Wei Changhe suddenly pointed a finger at Ji Donglei’s back. It looked like he was drawing a straight line, when in reality it was multiple curved lines that joined together to form a sunset. The world was bright orange as the sun slowly sank into the horizon.

One did not need a brush to draw a sunset. A finger and a canvas of nothing was enough.

A sword didn’t always need to be a sword either. The sunset could be a sword. The reddened clouds could be a sword as well.

Next to Huo Ruyu, a gold ingot suddenly flew out of Gold Ingot’s sleeve. Sitting atop the ingot was a barefooted girl.

The girl’s whole face was covered in eyeballs. When they opened and closed, they emitted a powerful, impure light that slowed everyone’s reaction.

Grandmasters they might be, neither Ji Donglei nor Huo Ruyu were expecting this at all. Not only that, the impure light was slowing down their reaction as well. As a result, they were a tad too late to defend themselves.

In battle, losing the initiative could have quite the devastating effect. Wei Changhe’s finger struck Ji Donglei’s unprotected back, and the gold ingot smashed Huo Ruyu in the head.

A penetrating, fist-sized hole immediately appeared in Ji Donglei’s chest. Strangely, the wound wasn’t bleeding at all, and it looked shiny almost like some sort of translucent crystal.

His wound hadn’t turned into some sort of crystal, of course. It was an unbelievable amount of sword qi packed together so tightly that it looked like the wound had crystalized. Clearly, Wei Changhe had compressed his sword qi to the size of a finger in order to pierce Ji Donglei’s body in one strike.

That said, Wei Changhe’s success wasn’t without its cost. Right after he pierced Ji Donglei, the Sword Executor Elder turned his sword around and unleashed an “Annihilating Thundersnow”. Half of Wei Changhe’s hand was severed before he could pull away from the Grandmaster, and the sword qi continued forward and struck him squarely in the chest.

For a time, Wei Changhe writhed like a worm as lightning coursed through his veins. A muffled grunt of pain escaped his lips as he was pushed away.

On the other side, Gold Ingot’s gold ingot smashed into Huo Ruyu’s head and caused a loud, metallic clang. It was almost as if the Grandmaster’s head was made of steel.

That said, Huo Ruyu was still flesh and blood. Her head exploded as soon as contact was made. It wasn’t brain matter or blood that flew out of her head, however. It was a swarm of birds made of pure fire. The birds chirped melodiously as they surrounded the golden ingot and burned it in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, a person appeared behind Gold Ingot and threw a palm strike. The late-stage Spirit Master remained calm as a ripple of blue light escaped his Primal Origin Demon Suppressing Robe before the silhouette of the Primal Origin Demon Suppressing Heavenly Sovereign appeared above him.

The silhouette waved its horsetail whisk at the attacker’s palm in an attempt to fend off the attack. There was a disturbing buzz and a soundless explosion, and the silhouette of the Primal Origin Demon Suppressing Heavenly Sovereign... lost. Not only was it scattered in one strike, the Primal Origin Demon Suppressing Robe itself lost its magical luster and crumbled into ash like it had aged a million years in an instant.

Gold Ingot’s face turned ugly when the unexpected happened. Letting out a strange screech, he unleashed countless yellow talismans and Strange Artifacts from his sleeves to slow down the palm still traveling toward his face a little. The stalling tactic bought him just enough time to transform into a mosquito, escape from the attacker’s presence, and fly over to Xiong Kuohai’s side. He could not help but look at his almost-killer with fear and trepidation.

Gold Ingot’s attacker was, of course, Huo Ruyu. Unfortunately, she didn’t look too good right now. Her skin was rosy red in color, her entire body was steaming like she was on fire, and her aura kept fluctuating as if she was having trouble keeping it stable. Clearly, Gold Ingot’s gold ingot had dealt quite a bit of damage to Huo Ruyu.

Wei Changhe and Gold Ingot weren’t the only ones who had suddenly betrayed their compatriots. A good number of warriors who hadn’t lost themselves yet had suddenly attacked their closest allies and killed them. At least a dozen warriors were killed just like that.

Clearly, they served Xiong Kuohai as well.

“Gold Ingot, Wei Changhe, since when did you become Xiong Kuohai’s dogs?” Ji Donglei gripped his sword so tightly that veins were popping on the back of his hand.

Gold Ingot transformed back into a human and ducked behind Xiong Kuohai with a cheeky grin on his face. “Hehe. I’m a businessman. It’s my natural responsibility to serve the highest paying customer. I hope you won’t fault me for acting according to my nature, Elder Ji, Vermillion Bird Envoy.”

“He’s my employer,” Wei Changhe responded much more simply and succinctly.

“So? Do you think this is enough?” Xiong Kuohai took one step forward and grinned maliciously at Ji Donglei and Huo Ruyu.

“We need to run!”

“Let’s make a run for it together! If we manage to escape from Blissful Peak, then we might yet survive this trap!”

Everyone who was still conscious and in control of themselves immediately rushed down the mountain with wanton abandon.

At this point, it was clear that staying at Blissful Peak was a death sentence. In that case, they might as well make a run for it and pray for the best.

“All Sword King City disciples, heed my call! Disengage from battleas soon as possible and escape this instant! The sect must learn of this betrayal!” Ji Donglei declared suddenly.

“All Earthfire Palace of Demons disciples, heed my call! Escape from Blissful Peak and report back to the sect!” Huo Ruyu also ordered.

As long as there were survivors, then it was only a matter of time before Sword King City and Earthfire Palace of Demons learned of this heinous trap. They did not think they would survive, but at least Xiong Kuohai would be joining them in the underworld!

“You’re dead if even one person manages to make it out of Blissful Mountain, Xiong Kuohai!” Huo Ruyu uttered through gritted teeth.

“Oh my, I’m sooo scared!”

Xiong Kuohai did not seem worried at all, however. He continued to grin mockingly at Huo Ruyu while saying, “Here’s a question for you: what if no one makes it out of here alive?”

“Taiping...”

As soon as he said the word “Taiping”, a banner abruptly appeared in the sky. Woven from blue and green fabric, one side of the banner was etched with the image of the five sacred beasts—the Azure Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the White Tiger, the Black Tortoise and the Qilin—and the other side was etched with the image of three hundred sixty stars. Together, they formed a perfect, harmonious circle.

“Heaven Sealing...”

Xiong Kuohai made a hand seal, and the banner suddenly grew rapidly in size. It wasn’t long before it blotted out the sky itself and enveloped the world in darkness.

Three hundred and sixty stars slowly appeared in the black sky. After that, the Azure Dragon rode the wind to the east, the Vermillion Bird scorched the skies to the south, the White Tiger stood on a patch of clouds to the west, the Black Tortoise rode the waves to the north, and the Qilin ran like the wind at the center.

“The Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner?!” Blurted Ji Donglei as his eyes bulged in disbelief.

“You have a keen eye, Elder Ji. That’s right. It is none other than the Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner.” Xiong Kuohai complimented the old man with a wide smile on his face. “I told you that none of you are leaving. Do you believe me now?”

“The Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner is one of the three sacred treasures of the Way of Taiping! You’re one of them?!”

Ji Donglei was speechless. The Way of Taiping owned three sacred treasures, and they were the Yellow Sky Will Rise Crown, the All Is Well Seal, and the Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner. They were all Disaster-class Strange Artifacts.

The Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner possessed no offensive capabilities whatsoever, but it was capable of locking down space. The five sacred beasts corresponded to the Five Phases—Wood, Fire, Metal, Water and Earth—and the three hundred and sixty stars corresponded to the concept of circle; of wholeness. The Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner was capable of suppressing the Five Phases and the circle, meaning that all things of the Five Phases or the concept of circle weren’t allowed to enter or leave the restricted area. It was beyond powerful to say the least.

To put it in simpler terms, the Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner could lock down an area and cut off all connection to the outside world. Anyone and anything of the Five Phases or the concept of circle would not be able to enter or exit the area. Communication between the two areas were also impossible.

The only exceptions to the rule were beings who had surpassed the boundaries of the world such as a Sage or a living god, or alien beings who were neither of the Five Phases or the concept of circle. Otherwise, nothing and no one could pierce through its restriction.

The Way of Taiping had used the Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner to commit many, many atrocities. For example, they had used it to assassinate the ninth Grandmaster of the Earth Champions Ranking, the Dao Equal of Heaven; annihilated one of the thirty six unorthodox sects, the Ten Directions Pavilion of Annihilation; sealed off an entire commandery of Chu so they could convert its hundreds of thousands of citizens into worshipers of the Way of Taiping; and more.

As a result, there was no one in the entire jianghu who hadn’t heard of the Taiping Heaven Sealing Banner. It was ranked twenty-second on the Strange Artifact Register.