Chapter 453: The Altar

Chapter 453: The Altar

Region 1, Elder Mountain.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, something suddenly split open, and a figure appeared out of thin air.

His appearance was quite coincidental, right beside Zhang Zhao and the others. They were the first to witness this figure's emergence.

In the moment they saw clearly, their hearts skipped a beat.

"Li Wu? How can it be Li Wu? Isn't he already dead?"

"Impossible, I saw him die with my own eyes. How can he still be alive? How can he appear here?"

These two, who had just considered themselves gods, were now pale with fright at Li Wu's sudden appearance.

As they were startled, their reactions were equally swift.

"The fragments!"

"No matter the reason, we can't let him take the fragments!"

"Even if he's not dead, what can Li Wu do? We can crush him like an ant once we get the fragments!"

Zhang Zhao quickly recovered and rushed towards the five Gateway Fragments.

No matter what, they must retrieve the fragments before Li Wu.

For Epic-class powerhouses, a distance of ten meters was nothing.

If they wished, they could traverse multiple regions in a matter of minutes, circle the Alliance in a couple of hours, and a distance of ten meters was a mere blink for these two Epic Rank 3 powerhouses.

In an instant, they reached the Gateway Fragments and grabbed them.

"Success!"

"With all five fragments in hand, we're invincible!"

Zhang Zhao's faces lit up with joy, but their smiles had barely formed when a calm voice spoke in their ears.

"Though I don't know what happened, I appreciate your contribution."

Appreciate? Contribute? Zhang Zhao was taken aback, unsure of Li Wu's words. Suddenly, a force struck Zhang Mingrui and Zhao Xuen, leaving them bewildered as to its origin.

This sudden force was incredibly bizarre.

They couldn't fathom its source; it just mysteriously appeared and affected them.

What made them more uncomfortable was the mysterious force's overwhelming power.

"Pfft!"

This attack was unstoppable, and they could only take the blow. Blood spurted from their mouths, and Zhang Zhao was knocked away.

The strike sent Zhang Zhao flying.

Li Wu turned to glance at Yuan Hua and Sun Kongkong, who were in the midst of a sacrificial ritual.

He intended to just glance, but among the group, he spotted several familiar figures: Yuan Hua's sister, Yuan Qingqing, Liu Qingyuan from Capital University, and the Ninth Apostle from the Zero Organization...

Yes, these were mostly related to Li Wu's scumbag father.

Seeing them, Li Wu's gaze lingered for a moment, and he took the time to help them break free from the sacrifice, saving their lives.

For Li Wu, it was a casual act.

For them, it was a life-saving grace.

Not only did Sun Kongkong feel saved, but Zhang Zhao on the other side also felt the same.

They had been badly beaten by Li Wu's two attacks that ignored defense.

If Li Wu had put in a little more effort, he could have taken them down and seized the Gateway Fragments.

But Li Wu chose to save people first, giving Zhang Zhao an opportunity.

They seized the moment Li Wu was distracted, focusing their time and energy on the Gateway Fragments.

The five refined fragments, combined with their original one, formed a super-large fragment.

When the fragments merged, a powerful force surged from within, infusing Zhang Zhao's bodies.

This was the power of the fragments, the power of the divine.

As the energy coursed through them, an unprecedented strength and confidence erupted.

Their initial fear, caused by Li Wu's sudden appearance and bizarre attacks, subsided. Now, Zhang Mingrui and Zhao Xuen felt invincible.

"Kid, you're quite capable. Last time, you survived that situation. You're one lucky fellow!"

"What a pity, you're unlucky. Why did you have to show up now? Just as you got your life back, you're about to lose it again!"

Zhang Zhao's words drew Li Wu's attention.

Li Wu surveyed the two men before him, narrowing his eyes. "The power of the Gateway Fragment...?"

"Yes, and we have you to thank for it."

"If not for your plan, we wouldn't have been able to refine these fragments. And if not for the time you gave us, we wouldn't have been able to form this plan."

"You're our patron!"

"So, how should we properly thank you?"

The two men squinted, a slight smirk on their lips. "Well, let's start by returning the grand gift you just gave us!"

As they spoke, two forces landed on Li Wu, their attributes identical to the one he had just unleashed. It was impossible to perceive the direction or nature of the attack, making defense futile.

This was an attack that ignored defense and directly affected the target.

It was also an assault of fragment power.

Zhang Zhao and his companion had only discovered this after merging six fragments.

They now understood what they had just experienced and realized Li Wu's foolishness.

Having attained such power, he should have seized the opportunity to subdue them, yet he gave them time to breathe, and now he had trapped himself...

"Crack!" "Crack!"

As Zhang Zhao's thoughts raced, Li Wu casually flicked his fingers, and two crisp sounds, like shattering glass, rang out.

The two forces, which should have been unblockable and traceless, with no perceivable direction, shattered.

"Impossible!"

"This is the power of the fragments, the combined might of six fragments. How could you shatter it so easily?"

Zhang Zhao was dumbfounded.

This wasn't how they had envisioned the scenario.

At that moment, Li Wu's deep voice, laced with mockery, echoed in their ears, "Did you think I wouldn't notice your little schemes?"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhao's scalp tingled, and they instinctively stood up to flee.

They weren't sure if Li Wu was bluffing or genuinely terrifying, but they were genuinely afraid and panicked.

Despite possessing the power of six fragments, they still lacked the courage to face Li Wu.

However, as they turned to leave, they found themselves unable to move.

A force had restrained them.

This alone was terrifying enough.

What shocked them further was that when they attempted to harness the fragment's power to resist this restraining force, they discovered it was the fragment's power that held them.

Specifically, it was the power of the super fragment they held in their hands.

In other words, their fragment had restrained them.

"How is this possible?"

The fragment they had refined was now beyond their control.

"You can't seriously believe I shared the refinement method out of kindness, can you?"

Li Wu approached with narrowed eyes.

Watching him draw near, Zhang Zhao's fear intensified.

Gone was the composure and confidence they had displayed before Sun Kongkong, acting as if they were deities.

Now, they were utterly disheveled.

Frantically, they manipulated the fragments, attempting to unleash greater power, to break free from their bonds, to vanish from Li Wu's sight.

But the more frantic they became, the more their control over the fragments slipped away.

Their restraint tightened.

If this situation persisted, they would eventually be forced to watch helplessly as Li Wu approached, took their fragments, and eliminated them.

Zhang Zhao duo was on the brink of despair.

Suddenly, a surge of power erupted, and their control over the Gateway Fragment instantly reached a hundred percent.

This turn of events caught them off guard.

Unprepared, Zhang Zhao seized control of the fragments, momentarily stunned, but mostly elated.

They seized this opportunity, unleashing the fragment's power with full force.

This time, their eruption wasn't to slay Li Wu but to escape.

The combined might of the six Gateway Fragments propelled Zhang Zhao thousands of kilometers away in an instant.

(End of Chapter)

The aftermath of the power surge at Elder Mountain was devastating, reducing half of the mountain to rubble. Yet, Li Wu emerged unscathed from the initial blast.

With narrowed eyes, he scanned the area, his gaze following the retreating figures of Zhang Zhao. Although the attacker had vanished without a trace, Li Wu sensed that it was none other than Tie Hong.

"I was just wondering where to find you, and here you appear on your own." Li Wu murmured, his eyes narrowing.

In an instant, he vanished from Elder Mountain, leaving Yuan Hua and the others bewildered by the aftermath.

Meanwhile, Zhang Zhao, who had just escaped with the Gateway Fragment, found themselves thousands of kilometers away, temporarily evading Li Wu. They faced a difficult decision.

They were well aware that Li Wu had gained control of the fragment they held, and possibly another individual had control over it as well. This was an unbearable situation for them, akin to pursuing a goddess only to find she was still in contact with two other suitors, and might even choose one of them.

In this circumstance, abandoning the fragment seemed like the most rational choice. But they couldn't bear to part with it.

As countless lives had been lost, the lesson was clear: hesitation leads to disaster.

While Zhang Zhao deliberated, the Gateway Fragment, once entirely under their control, suddenly rebelled. In an instant, they lost all command over it.

A powerful binding force restrained them, immobilizing Zhang Zhao. Simultaneously, an ancient figure appeared out of thin air.

"Tie..." Zhang Zhao's faces paled as they recognized the newcomer. They managed to utter a single word before a formidable power overwhelmed them.

The next moment, the two remaining elders of Elder Mountain were torn apart right before their eyes. It was as if the lives of the commoners they had disregarded were being casually snuffed out.

After disposing of the two elders, Tie Hong picked up the fragment and vanished.

Almost immediately, Li Wu appeared at the scene. His first sight was the dead bodies of Zhang Mingrui and Zhao Xuen. Li Wu's eyes narrowed.

"Too late?" he muttered, waving his hand. He exerted a force upon the bodies of Zhang Mingrui and Zhao Xuen.

Under this force, the two, who had been torn apart and nearly dead, began to heal. Soon, they were revived from the brink of death.

The scene was eerie.

Zhang Mingrui and Zhao Xuen, now resurrected, were utterly bewildered. It took them a while to comprehend what had transpired.

Tie Hong had killed them, and now Li Wu had brought them back to life.

Although they didn't understand why Li Wu had resurrected them or how he had done it, they knew that Li Wu seemed to be their only hope for survival.

The two elders couldn't help but express their gratitude with fawning expressions, preparing to thank Li Wu.

"No need for words," Li Wu interrupted. "I just thought you didn't suffer enough, so I'm giving you a chance to die again!"

With a snap of his fingers, Li Wu caused Zhang Zhao's faces to turn deathly pale. Despair and agony overwhelmed them, and a decaying aura enveloped their bodies.

Zhang Zhao could only watch as they decayed, inch by inch, until they perished.

After this, Li Wu turned and left without haste.

On the other side, Tie Hong, having obtained the fragment, arrived at a mysterious crypt.

Upon entering the crypt, he slowed down, forced to proceed on foot. It took him over half an hour to traverse the crypt, walking from the entrance to its depths.

Deep within the crypt stood a massive altar. Tie Hong placed the recently acquired fragment on it.

On the altar, alongside the fragment, were countless other fragments, at least thirty of them, each the size of a Gateway Fragment.

Witnessing this, Li Wu was stunned. He had only intended to track down Tie Hong, yet he had stumbled upon this treasure trove.

Li Wu even suspected that all the Gateway Fragments might be gathered here!

(End)

Chapter end