Astral Pet Store - Chapter 1560: Betrayal (1)
1560 Betrayal (1)
After all the dazzling lights from the River of Fate jumped out, the Golden Crow ancestor urged, “Let’s go. The Heavenly Dao has already noticed us. Let’s get this over with as soon as possible!”
The Mother of Chaos looked at Su Ping and said, “This time, we will fight side by side.”
Su Ping smiled. “As we always have, right?”
She nodded with glittering eyes. “That’s right.”
He then looked at the familiar faces that had gathered around him. Once the war ended, many of them would be permanently gone. The pain caused by war was excruciating even before it even started.
“Let’s go!” Su Ping said.
Clang!
The chains shook, and the three thousand warships sailed forth, carrying all of those people.
Joanna stared at Su Ping for a moment. She then turned around and boarded one of the warships. This time, she was going to fight by Su Ping’s side!
The people from the Heaven Path Institute glanced at Su Ping and also boarded the ships.
“The Heavenly Dao forces are deep inside the Ancestral Land. Let’s just go over there!” Yin Que suggested.
The Mother of Chaos nodded with a solemn face, then she pointed in a certain direction. The aura of chaos around her was suddenly gathered, forming a hazy channel that extended for billions of kilometers, going deep into the Ancestral Land of Chaos.
“Let’s go!”
Su Ping had already accommodated all the beings rescued from the River of Fate inside his warships, then gathered the latter to make a move. Yin Que was the first to step into the vortex; the Golden Crow ancestor was second; Ti Tuo was third; Shi Mang was the fourth. The Mother of Chaos—who had been waiting at the entrance of the channel—glanced at Su Ping and moved to his side.
Su Ping gave her a slight nod, and the two of them entered together.
The three thousand warships followed close and went into the vortex.
A stream of chaos power was working around him. They seemed to be flying and still at the same time. Very soon, the vortex disappeared and a bleak view received them.
There was a vast accumulation of debris before their eyes. The abundant aura of chaos was like smoke limiting Su Ping’s senses. Some lonely mountains could be seen through the gray smore, like trees rising from the ground, with strange branches stretching out, making them look like twisted bodies.
There was no time nor space in the origin of everything; they were insignificant variables incapable of creating any power.
Origin, Cycle, Creation and the other Great Daos were wandering around the place.
Everything was like the still water of a lake.
Su Ping could feel the powerful binding force of the region. Only Dao Heart experts and above would be able to move in such an environment. Normal Celestials would barely have the power to walk, let alone beings with lesser cultivation levels; they would be as powerless as the corpses found there.
Without the power of time, every moment there was eternal.
“You’re finally here,” said an indifferent and majestic voice right above them, dripping with the condescension to look down upon everything. Figures were stepping out from the hazy smoke. They were all Undying State Heavenly Dao beings, with identical looks and expressions.
At the center of the humanoid forces, there was a silver guy who wore an ancient robe, giving him a graceful and righteous look. With a dispassionate voice he said, “Still unwilling to give up?”
He looked slightly different from the other clone-like beings, seemingly… More alive.
“Humph. You’re not nearly enough to stop us. Get out of the way!” The Golden Crow ancestor’s eyes were cold. The scorching flames on its body burned the gray smoke and made it a lot thinner.
“You were born in chaos, but you failed to manage chaos well. You should die with them,” said the silver member of the Heavenly Dao.
“No need to talk. Just kill them!” said Shi Mang, releasing the overwhelming energy of death, as he was the first to charge forward, not wasting time talking.
Whoosh!
Sorcerer Ancestor Yin Que was the best when it came to attacking. It transformed into a dark shadow that darted towards the robed humanoid. Terrifying explosions instantly began to sound; the violent impacts shattered the dozens of Undying State humanoids nearby.
“Ultimate Hallucination!”
It was Sorcerer Ancestor Yin Que’s ultimate technique, a terrifying Dao power capable of destroying everything. A grand universe appeared, created by the combination of millions of universes; it was bigger than any universe known, the most powerful universe of chaos. Not even Undying State beings could break free from it.
The black light appeared faster than Su Ping could perceive it. He then saw Sorcerer Ancestor Yin Que fighting the silver-colored Heaven being. The power of time was circulating around them. In just one moment, they had fought from the past to the future, spanning through more than a hundred thousand years.
The special nature of such a battle was beyond the boundaries of common sense. Su Ping was secretly alarmed as he watched. He would have probably been incapable of fighting back if Sorcerer Ancestor Yin Que were the one blocking him before. The experts from the billions of species would have been killed, too.
Yin Que was the fastest Sorcerer Ancestor. No wonder it was able to survive the previous three wars!
“Let’s get this over with. They’ve only left one Chaos Heaven in this place; they don’t know what they’re doing!” said the Golden Crow ancestor when joining the battle, followed closely by Sorcerer Ancestor Shi Mang.
Ti Tuo produced a lot of clones that charged at the other Undying State humanoids. Each clone was powerful enough to slaughter the Heavenly Dao forces with ease, practically being invincible.
“That silver Heaven seems to be as strong as a Sorcerer Ancestor,” said Su Ping to the system who had yet to take action, “How many of those silver-level Heavenly Dao fighters are out there?”
“They are called Chaos Heavenly Daos, born after absorbing the power of mythical creatures. They are reincarnations of the Heavenly Dao’s power from the age of chaos,” said the system, “At first, there were thirty-two of them. I killed many of their kind in the previous wars. Right now, only eight remain.
“They are as strong as the ultimate Heavenly Dao, but technically speaking, they’re slightly weaker. After all, Sorcerer Ancestors have the Chaos Qualifications. In any case, it’ll take a long time for Yin Que and the others to kill the Chaos Heaven being.”
She added, “There’s no concept of time in the Ancestral Land of Chaos; there are only Chaos Years. It’s like the petals of a flower; the fall of a petal is an indicator that some time has passed!”
“Chaos Years?”
“That’s right. It differs from the normal time, given that time is linear and has an order: past, present and future. Existences like us can easily manipulate this vulnerable Dao power. Besides, time is too weak to change anything in the Ancestral Land of Chaos. Everything you see here is immortal.
“However, Chaos Years are different. If you regress from a hundred years to fifty, there will be no turning back!
“We all have Chaos Years; this place has its own Chaos Years, too. Once they run out, it’ll be the time we die.”
“Die?”
Su Ping felt dazed. Although he had yet to understand what a Chaos Year was, it seemed to be a combination of power and time. Their lives would end when it was over.
“Yin Que won’t need a lot of years to kill the fellow while counting with the Golden Crow’s help,” said the system, “We are still in the periphery of the Ancestral Land of Chaos. The Heavenly Dao forces have marched deep enough, so we must hurry. Follow me.”
“Okay,” said Su Ping.
All of a sudden—there was a violent attack moving towards them.
Su Ping narrowed his eyes and hurriedly raised his defenses to resist with all his strength.
In all the group, the Inferno Dragon was the fastest to respond, instantly roaring and denting the scale on its forehead. All of its other scales were instantly stacked, protecting Su Ping and the pets.
The dragon blocked the attack with its body. Su Ping and the others felt the immense energy blast. Fortunately, Su Ping was now able to deal with the power that leaked in, all thanks to the Inferno Dragon’s selfless blocking.
Once the power was disposed of, Su Ping quickly looked and then saw the most astounding scene.
The system’s body had been pierced through by sharp stings. The attacker was actually Sorcerer Ancestor Ti Tuo who was moving at the front!
Explosions echoing in the battlefield further ahead at the same time. Then, there was a long roar. The Golden Crow ancestor and the other Sorcerer Ancestors attacking the Chaos Heaven fellow were forced to retreat.
One silver figure after another appeared next to the Chaos Heaven they were confronting.
Four more showed up. There were five Chaos Heaven in total!
Next to the five Chaos Heavens were three scary, gargantuan figures!
Three Sorcerer Ancestors!
Su Ping narrowed his eyes. All of this happened too fast for him to react.
The situation had been instantly reversed, bringing them utter despair!
“Ti Tuo, what are you doing?!”
The Golden Crow ancestor looked back and roared, with furious flames burning in its eye sockets.
“Bloody bastard!” Yin Que shrieked in fury. They realized that something was wrong with Ti Tuo, right when they saw the three Sorcerer Ancestors and the extra four Chaos Heavens. Of the twelve overlords, Ti Tuo was the best at observation. Even though Yin Que was the fastest, it could not hide from Ti Tuo’s perception; all actions would be observed.
Ti Tuo’s keen observation had helped them see through the Heavenly Dao’s ambushes and made great contributions in the previous wars!
Those Chaos Heavens had most likely been hiding for a long time and Ti Tuo should have noticed them since the very beginning. However, no alert was raised.
Betrayal!
“Mother!” Sorcerer Ancestor Shi Mang roared and turned around, charging to face Ti Tuo.
But the next moment, the latter chuckled and disappeared from Shi Mang’s attack range. His original body was swapped with a clone that had been sent to attack the Heavenly Dao expert at the beginning. He then stepped forth and joined the opposite side.
“Sorry, but I don’t want to be an idiot again.” Ti Tuo chuckled. “I never forgot how we lost the previous two wars, and I don’t want to end like a dog working for the Heavenly Dao.”
“But you’re acting like their dog right now!” the Golden Crow ancestor roared furiously.
“No, no. The Heavenly Dao has given me the Chaos Origin Stone. Once chaos is restarted, I will be acknowledged by the Ancestral Land of Chaos to control the world along with the Heavenly Dao!” Ti Tuo chuckled.
“Hey, hey, Ti Tuo, are you saying that we’re dogs working for the Heavenly Dao?” The three Sorcerer Ancestors approached Ti Tuo, and their words didn’t sound very amiable.
Ti Tuo chuckled and said, “I didn’t mean it. Don’t misunderstand me; we are comrades right now. My previous attack has probably wounded Mother badly. This is a great opportunity; we shouldn’t be wasting time anymore.”
“No, we should not waste any more time,” said the biggest Sorcerer Ancestor with indifference. However, the next moment—it suddenly opened its bloody mouth and swallowed Ti Tuo.
“Kun Peng!”
Both the Golden Crow ancestor and Yin Que changed their expressions, witnessing the act in shock and fury.
“Sorry. The Heavenly Dao asked me to hand both him and the Origin Stone. I’ll be taking my leave now,” said Kun Peng in a casual tone, then flapped its wings and soared away.
The other two Sorcerer Ancestors were Hun Yu and Xuan Qi.
Su Ping had once met Hun Yu in the Remains of High Heavens that the system had recreated. Although an illusion, the majestic figure that covered the retreat of billions of mythical creatures had left a deep impression on Su Ping.
Alas, that Sorcerer Ancestor was a cold enemy at the moment.
“Mother, drop the act; the Heavenly Dao is already aware of your plan. This matter should end now. You don’t have a lot of capital left right now, do you? Hei Xiang and Hao Tian were smart enough to stay away from this mess,” said the Sorcerer Ancestor coldly.