Chapter 1373: Hidden Valley
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The moment Han Sen entered the tangled complex that was Hidden Valley, he felt his Dongxuan Aura become overwhelmed. The knotted labyrinth was almost too much for it to process, and it suffered, becoming little more than a garbled transmission.
Of course, Han Sen did not need to use it like radar. He could still detect and sense the lifeforces of the land around him.
Thrusting into that messy region, Han Sen made sure to remain fleet of foot. Nan Litian was still pursuing, and he swung wildly at the plants that sought to slow his feet.
Han Sen was not slowed down by the brush, though. He utilized his Dongxuan Movement and Heavenly Go to sidestep every vine and leaf that reached out to slow him down.
Amongst the staggeringly tall trees and plants, vines wreathed their way through that wretched landscape, giving Han Sen flashbacks to his time in the Third God's Sanctuary. Many of those vines were so thick, not even Nan Litian could cut his way through them, and he had to clumsily dodge around them instead. For the first time that day, Han Sen was at an advantage. With the delicate grace of his maneuvering, he went for the deepest, furthest, creepiest reaches of Hidden Valley.
Green Cow told Han Sen there were many strange growths in the valley. There were trees composed of hideous, tangled snakes, and there were even vines that had bloodshot eyeballs that blinked ferociously.
Although most of the plants in that area were just there, and did not seek to bring harm to those brave enough to explore, the ones that did were extremely dangerous. Han Sen had to stay on his toes, not only for the enraged madman chasing him, but for what he might unwittingly find himself running into.
But this was sort of what Han Sen had hoped for. The last thing he wanted was to become swallowed by a man-eating plant, but he needed to lead Nan Litian into a hostile plant. If he was crafty enough, he could get the plants to free him from his pursuer.
Suddenly, Han Sen detected a nearby plant that possessed a mammoth lifeforce that blazed like the brightest bonfire. Han Sen ran towards it, ready to risk alerting its attention not to him, but to Nan Litian, who was still hot on his heels.
When he was ten meters away from that lifeforce, the knots of the overgrowth swarmed Han Sen's vision, obscuring where and what exactly that plant was. It was all a great mess.
This had forced Han Sen to slow down, and it had provided Nan Litian the opportunity to catch up. His enemy thrust forward with his sword, ready to deliver a final strike. When his sword found a target, though, the sound of a metallic drang rang out.
Han Sen raised his head, now alerted to Nan Litian's alarmingly close presence. When he searched for what his foe had hit, he noticed the jade-like trunk of a tree he had not seen before.
It must have just appeared there, and when Han Sen examined this tree, he looked down to observe the roots. There, half-submerged in the soil, were many jade bulls.
Only their heads were sticking out of the soil, and one of them had taken notice of Han Sen. The bull stared at him with red, frightening eyes.
Nan Litian must have struck the horn of one of those bulls, and Han Sen now noticed the fiery lifeforce he had previously detected was a combination of the tree and those bulls.
"Moo!"
Suddenly, the bull Nan Litian had struck made a sound.
The bull stomped its way out of the soil with the ground-shaking march of an elephant.
It lowered its head and exhaled a flame-tinged lung-full out of its twitching nostrils. It was mad, and it looked ready to chase down not just Nan Litian, but Han Sen, as well; making a fine kebab with its horns.
Its speed was terrifying. Before Han Sen could bring himself to dodge the creature, it was before him.
Han Sen only had the time to reach out and grab the horn. But when his fingers fell upon it, the bull lifted its head upwards, throwing Han Sen into the air, towards the twig-pricking tops of a tree.
He broke through several branches on his way upwards, but he found himself brought to a stop against something soft.
Han Sen felt himself fall into the center of a silver flower. The bud inside was around the size of a double-bed. It was plush and comfy; a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
Han Sen felt a wash of relief come upon him, and for a brief instant, he thought himself safer than he had been all day.
But he soon saw that this was not a place for respite. Han Sen's landing there was not a coincidence, for he saw Nan Litian also fare an upward launching. His nemesis of the day ended up on another flower exactly like his.
Han Sen wished to escape before something worse was to occur. That which was most wretched, often disguised itself as the fairest, after all. And as soon as he tried to make a move, that proved to be true. The pleasantness of the flower swiftly evaporated, as a number of vines reached upwards to tie Han Sen up with the ease of a shoelace. Han Sen turned his gaze towards Nan Litian.
And the same was happening to him. He too had been captured by a flower.
They were wrapped up so much, they now looked like mummies.
Han Sen thought it might have been a carnivorous flower, but after it wrapped him up, nothing else occurred. No digestive acid was released, and no chomping teeth were revealed.
"Moo!"
The bull shouted in their direction again; then, it returned to the soil.
The bull went inside head first, and all they could see was its tail, sticking out at the base of the tree like a stubborn root.
Han Sen could not imagine how strong and hardy the tree was.
But with nothing better to do, Han Sen was now able to examine it and record its finer details. He noticed there were eight bulls encircling the tree.
The tree also had many more of the silver flowers the two had been trapped inside.
Han Sen looked around and saw Nan Litian struggling in an attempt to escape. It was a far tougher wrap than even he anticipated.
"Why are you chasing me? Can you just tell me? Are you really willing to risk your life this much, if it means you get to kill me?" Han Sen asked.
Han Sen still had Super Spank, so if he wanted to escape, he believed he could.
But seeing as nothing else was going on, Han Sen thought it best to ask as many questions as he could, while his enemy was also restrained.
"I need to kill the traitor," Nan Litian coldly responded.
"I thought you wanted my Nine-Life Cat pendant?" Han Sen asked.
"Who would want that? It's just a trinket belonging to your family." Nan Litian spoke in a voice that suggested he was humiliated by the question.
Han Sen eyed him queerly, thinking his reaction to be strange.
Chapter 1374: Super King Spirit Ultimate
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Why wouldn't you want your Blood Legion relic back?" Han Sen asked with a frown.
Nan Litian's face turned dour, and he returned the question with one of his own. "Tell me: are you Han Jinzhi's heir?"
"My great-grandfather is Han Jinzhi, but not the one from the Blueblood Special Forces," Han Sen said.
Nan Litian frowned, as if he was thinking of something.
"Is he really not the heir of Han Jinzhi?" Nan Litian murmured to himself. He paused before addressing himself once more, saying, "But if he wasn't, why would he have the relic? And there's no way he could carry that on him."
"You still didn't tell me why only my family wants it," Han Sen said, thinking his enemy's self-narration was a little creepy.
"It doesn't matter, if you're not Han Jinzhi's heir. But you know my identity, and that is a transgression that does not allow me the pleasure of letting you live. You must die for this," Nan Litian said, summoning a dagger he could try to cut Han Sen with, on the adjacent flower.
They were both trapped like mummies, and there was nothing Han Sen could do to dodge. He only had his Demon Heart Ring, his Crystal Egg, and his Bulwark Umbrella. He summoned the umbrella to block the mind-controlled dagger.
The dagger flew against the umbrella, and it could not break the established defense.
Nan Litian summoned his green sword then, and had it propped to take aim at Han Sen's throat. Han Sen did not have the time to reposition the umbrella to block the green sword that was now coming for him, and he was left exposed to its attack.
With Super Spank, he tried to pull and unfurl the vines that had wrapped him up. Unfortunately, no matter what he tried, the plant did not budge. He then believed it to be a sacred-blood tree, but that didn't mean much right now, given the circumstances.
Seeing the sword come for him, only one viable option remained for Han Sen to try. He activated super king spirit, in the hopes it would provide enough of a boost in power to free him.
Han Sen's body, his eyes, and his hair all turned white, the latter growing extremely long. It floated menacingly all around him, as if he was underwater. But before Han Sen used his strength to tear off the vines and bring ruin to the flower that had trapped him, they decided to let him go free.
At first, Han Sen believed it to be an act of self-defense, not wanting to let itself get hurt when it detected the power he now wielded. But then, the vines that had encased him moved over to the sword that was alarmingly close to decapitating him, and tangled it up. It had done so to protect him.
"What's going on?" Han Sen thought this was extremely strange. A tree that had gone to lengths to wrap them both up was something he believed to be hostile.
The flower then created a platform for Han Sen to step on.
Nan Litian looked on in shock, unable to believe a powerful geno plant would side with Han Sen, as it was doing now,
"Why do you have the aura of a spirit? And... why do you smell like a creature?! What... are you?" Nan Litian had never seen anything like this before. He was well and truly flabbergasted.
Han Sen looked at his super king spirit body now, and he saw how it propagated the sense of him being both a creature and a spirit. The sense of countless different creatures filled him up, many of which were ones that not even Han Sen himself could recognize.
Han Sen's thoughts suddenly turned to the name super king spirit. Ordinarily, a level that was higher than a king spirit was dubbed emperor.
The term super was a tier-definition given to creatures. It wasn't until now that Han Sen realized it could harness the power and aura of a creature, as much as a spirit. The spirit in the title of this form was more likely a general term, a synonym for energy, soul, or essence. It didn't exclusively mean he became an actual spirit, of the sanctuary's definition.
"Who I am does not matter. Due to your repeated attempts of murder, your life is forfeit unto me." Han Sen walked back towards Nan Litian, harnessing and manipulating the shock his nemesis had just experienced.
Under Han Sen's feet, the flower continued to generate platforms for him to walk upon. More and more platforms came as swiftly as Han Sen moved, forming a perfectly safe walkway for him to tread. They guided him to Nan Litian.
Han Sen came before his foe and asked, "Who are you in Blood Legion? What are you regarded as?"
Nan Litian, who was still trapped, said, "I am a successor of Li Hen."
"Are you one of the thirteen?" Han Sen asked.
Although Nan Litian was strong, Han Sen did not think he was as strong as God's Retribution.
"I am not him; I merely carry his torch," Nan Litian rushed to speak.
"Is there a difference?" Han Sen didn't know too much about how Blood Legion worked, so it was a legitimate question.
"You need the purest blood to become one of the thirteen, and I don't have it," Nan Litian answered.
Han Sen suddenly heard a noise. Turning to look at where it had come from, he saw Bao'er riding Red Pony, coming his way.
Red Pony had delivered Bao'er to Han Sen safely, it seemed.
Not wanting the bulls to hurt them, in case those wild creatures sought to give them the same treatment, Han Sen leaped down to meet with them on the ground of the valley.
"Dad!" Bao'er jumped into Han Sen's arms as soon as she could. Red Pony had Han Sen's Gold Dragon Lock clipped to its behind. Han Sen wondered why, then realized that it had dragged the black unicorn here on Han Sen's behalf.
Han Sen was delighted, not expecting Red Pony to be so kind as to do that for him.
Red Pony dropped the Gold Dragon Lock to the ground so Han Sen could take it back. When Han Sen examined the state of the black unicorn, he wagered it must have tried to wrestle its way free. The binding ropes of the lock had dug deeply into the creature's flesh. It was a ghastly sight.