When Green walked down from the field, his face was full of defeat. Seeing the gazes from Ye Chui and the others, he rarely blushed with embarrassment and lowered his head in shame. “It was an accident. This was definitely an accident. My will is not easily broken, but she actually created an illusion of Bosley…”
At this point, Green turned angrily to glare at the Selflessness God inheritor. “So cunning. I admitted defeat, yet she still did not let me see her take off her clothes…”
Ye Chui and the others: “…”
Ye Chui checked the remaining time on the pad upgrade. More than twenty minutes still remained. He looked helplessly at his companions, feeling an indescribable weariness. They either crushed the opponent instantly or got crushed instantly. What happened to stalling for time?
Only the final match remained. Best of seven, first to four wins. This would decide everything.
On the other side, only the Battlefield God inheritor had not yet fought. Without doubt, he was the Temple of Gods’ trump card, their leader, and by far the strongest.
In Stan World’s current state, who could possibly stand against him?
The Battlefield God inheritor drew a longsword from his waist and strode forward with imposing presence. He looked coldly at Ye Chui. “Now it is my turn!”
“We have fought so many matches. How about we rest for half an hour?” Ye Chui clasped his hands together and suggested amicably.
The Battlefield God gave a bold smile and glanced toward the temple behind Ye Chui. “You want a rest, but you are probably waiting for your artefact to recover. Though I do not know what happened to it, I can promise that even if it recovers, you will never be our equals.”
“Since you are so confident, why not wait half an hour?” Ye Chui tried again.
The Battlefield God shook his head coldly. “An artefact’s power is unpredictable. It might hold some devastating trump card. I will not give you the chance. For the final match, who will face me?”
Ye Chui looked helpless. Kuba, Dulong, Los, even Dragon Baby and others stepped forward, volunteering eagerly for the last battle. Debbie quietly comforted Ye Chui. “It is all right. Even if we lose, once the artefact recovers we can simply renege.”
“It is not that simple. They call themselves the Temple of Gods. They may have some mysterious way to control divine beings. They insisted on this contest, perhaps because victory forces us to obey them. We absolutely cannot lose this final match.” Ye Chui shook his head. Finally he gritted his teeth. This battle concerned the future of Stan World. As its true master, he had to shoulder the responsibility alone. “I will take the final match.”
As he spoke, he began loading himself with guns, grenades, and missiles.
Yet he knew these weapons would have almost no effect against a god inheritor.
By now the sky was fully bright. The golden sun slowly rose into mid-air. Ye Chui stepped forward with a heavy heart, ready for what would surely be an immensely difficult fight.
However, at that moment, Cass, who had been hanging his head after his defeat, suddenly sensed something. He jerked his head up and looked toward the eastern sky. “Hm? An invader at this hour?”
“Another invader?” Debbie turned east in annoyance.
“No, something is wrong…” Cass suddenly looked puzzled. “It is not an invader, but a world is indeed entering Stan World’s spatial range. Yet that world feels as though it originally belonged to Stan World…”
As he spoke, a hazy outline of a world appeared on the eastern horizon. The silhouette of a tall mountain could faintly be seen.
Dragon Baby stared in that direction and suddenly froze. Tears welled up uncontrollably in his eyes. “What is happening? I feel like crying… I seem to hear my own mournful wail…”
“That world… it looks like the Land of Buried Swords!” Guni, who had grown up there, reacted first and cried out in surprise.
Green soon noticed something else. “Not only the Land of Buried Swords. Look beside it… is that not the Palace of the Goddess of Wealth? The very first god relic we explored! The place where Dragon Baby fell!”
“Why have these two god domain fragments suddenly appeared?” Confusion filled everyone’s faces.
The next instant, a beam of white light flashed from the faintly visible fragment world in the sky. It swept across the heavens in a moment and landed beside Ye Chui and the others.
Within the white light stood an elderly figure.
Tall and stout, with a wild white beard and moustache, he carried a somewhat immortal aura. Yet his face showed astonishment. “It really is you? What is going on? Why has the Land of Buried Swords been summoned here?”
“Ancestor!!” Guni cried excitedly and threw herself into Godo’s arms.
This white-bearded elder was none other than the guardian spirit of the Holy Light Forest in the Land of Buried Swords, Godo.
Years ago in Wind Rock City, Ye Chui had helped Cass seize Windsor. They entered the Land of Buried Swords with many adventurers. But as the site where the Goddess of Wealth had once buried her swords, it possessed a strange barrier that caused temporal displacement. Wind Rock City guard captain Godo, Windsor’s attendant, and a few others entered centuries before Ye Chui’s group. Ye Chui’s group arrived hundreds of years later.
By then, Godo’s descendants had already established the Holy Light Forest tribe.
Godo himself had no exceptional talent. His swordsman skill was mediocre. The Land of Buried Swords sealed a devil that spawned monsters threatening the Holy Light Forest. To protect his people, Godo went alone to stop them. Powerful conviction sustained him, letting him break his own limits step by step until he reached the terrifying half-step Sword Saint realm.
Even after death, he became an unyielding undead spirit, sealing the monsters with his own body.
When Ye Chui’s group left the Land of Buried Swords, Debbie transformed Godo into a heroic spirit, making him the eternal guardian of the Holy Light Forest.
Now the Land of Buried Swords had been mysteriously drawn into Stan World on the Continent of Divine Sin. Godo therefore manifested beside Ye Chui and the others.
He was a formidable warrior.
Ye Chui, resigned to a fight to the death, saw Godo appear and felt shock swiftly turn to wild joy. He hurried to the bewildered elder and clapped his shoulder. “Your timing could not be better. We need you right now.”
Godo was not flesh but a spiritual guardian form, so his body felt like cotton, very soft. Perhaps that was why Guni clung to him and refused to let go.
After speaking, Ye Chui firmly pulled Guni away.
“Ye Chui… you seem to be in grave danger. Tell me what you need.” Though deeply puzzled, Godo nodded at once.
Ye Chui pointed straight at the Battlefield God inheritor. “Fight him!”
“Very well.”
Godo was a man of few words. He raised his sword and charged toward the Battlefield God without further ado. chapter_content();
The Battlefield God inheritor looked surprised, unsure where Godo had come from. But he was clearly an ally of Ye Chui’s group and had chosen to help without hesitation. So the Battlefield inheritor wasted no words either and swung his longsword toward Godo.
“I sense you are no inheritor. You are not even human… you are a spirit?” the Battlefield God inheritor asked.
“Inheritor? I do not know what that is. Spirit… yes, I suppose so. I am the guardian spirit of the Holy Light Forest. I do not know what grudge you bear against Ye Chui, but since he needs me to fight you, I must. My apologies.” Godo’s voice carried faint regret. He raised his rusty sword, yet it seemed to hold boundless power. “Be careful. I am quite strong…”
As he spoke, his body appeared beside the Battlefield God.
The Battlefield God inheritor’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly parried with his longsword.
The two clashed in several rapid exchanges, sword energies ringing out with sharp clashes.
“Godo does not seem restricted by the Continent of Divine Sin’s rules?” Cass said in astonishment.
“No, his power is restricted, but the strength Godo wields now is identical to a [Believer] here,” Lesa said, eyes shining. “Godo exists because of the offerings from the Holy Light Forest residents. That is faith power. Like me, who gathers faith to fight, the Continent of Divine Sin does not seal faith power. So Godo can unleash his full strength.”
“Half-step Sword Saint… truly remarkable,” Cass said with admiration. In the more than a year separated from Ye Chui’s group, Cass had reached Sword Master realm, yet Sword Saint remained far away. Godo’s power would rank near the top even on the entire Castro Continent. In this sealed world, Godo exerting his full strength was practically cheating.
A half-step Sword Saint spirit sustained by faith. Such a being was extraordinarily powerful.
The battle raged on. More than ten minutes passed in an instant.
The Battlefield God inheritor’s face grew increasingly grim. His divine inheritance was the strongest in the Temple of Gods. Yet this ghostly swordsman who had appeared from nowhere possessed no inheritance power, yet matched him almost blow for blow.
He was inwardly shocked. Godo, too, felt some surprise.
Of course, Godo was not shocked by the Battlefield God’s strength, but by this strange world.
He sensed its peculiar nature. Magic flowed sluggishly here. Yet he relied on faith power. The restricted magic actually let him receive his descendants’ faith more smoothly. Here, he felt even stronger.
His power manifested more freely.
While they fought, Ye Chui kept watching the pad upgrade. He now understood that the sudden appearance of the Land of Buried Swords and the Wealth Goddess Palace must be closely tied to the pad upgrade. This filled him with eager anticipation. What level of power would the fully upgraded pad reach?
The progress had reached ninety-nine percent. Only a few minutes remained.
At that moment, the Battlefield God inheritor suddenly let out a terrifying roar.
“Careful! The Battlefield God rules battlefields. He possesses a fearsome domain that summons the battlefield itself. Anyone within it suffers massive weakening!” Celty warned urgently.
But the warning came too late.
Godo had sensed the shift when the Battlefield God prepared his ultimate move and began retreating swiftly. Yet the domain spread rapidly, forming a barrier over ten metres across that fully enveloped Ye Chui and everyone else. Under this dreadful domain, every person felt their bodies grow impossibly heavy. Even standing upright became difficult.
“The stronger one’s own power, the greater the suppression within the battlefield domain!” Celty continued. Turtle Treasure, holding her head, had half-crouched to the ground. Her head rolled away.
Godo’s condition was even more dire. His body could scarcely remain upright, forced to bend and tremble constantly. White mist began to disperse from him, as though he might collapse at any moment.
The Battlefield God inheritor panted heavily, gripping his longsword as he approached Godo. Deploying the domain had cost him dearly too. His voice slightly breathless, he said, “Admit defeat. This is a divine domain. Mortals cannot resist. Persist, and you will surely die…”
“Ancestor!” Guni cried anxiously.
Ye Chui also looked worried.
Godo’s voice grew faint and hollow, yet utterly resolute. “No. How could I admit defeat? Ye Chui helped me immensely. I have never properly thanked him…”
“But you cannot defeat me. Within the battlefield domain, I am the absolute god. Here, I am the absolute master.” The Battlefield God inheritor reached Godo and levelled his sword at his chest.
Godo looked at the blade against his chest and suddenly smiled.
“Why do you smile?” the Battlefield God inheritor asked curiously.
“I saw it again…”
“Saw what?”
“That door.”
Godo spoke words no one understood, yet his bent body suddenly straightened.
That door. The door to the path of Sword Saint.
In the Land of Buried Swords, Godo once had the chance to step into Sword Saint realm. But he had faced a choice. Becoming Sword Saint would have required abandoning his Holy Light Forest descendants. To protect them, he gave up the opportunity and remained only half-step Sword Saint.
His talent was mediocre, so in the centuries that followed he never encountered such a chance again.
Now he faced a powerful enemy. On the Continent of Divine Sin he felt his descendants’ reliance and worship even more keenly. Here, nothing blocked his path to Sword Saint. The battlefield domain was a desperate crisis. Unless he unleashed greater power, death was certain.
Thus the door that had vanished for centuries opened before him once more.
He stepped through.
Boom.
The Battlefield God inheritor’s domain shattered with a thunderous roar.
The next instant, Godo’s sword rested against the Battlefield God inheritor’s neck.
“I am Sword Saint Godo. Pleased to meet you.”
