Half-Human, Half-God

A playful smile touched Fear Heavenly King's handsome face. "If you can make it out of the Battle of Zhuolu dungeon, you're more than welcome to come kill me. Everyone needs a goal, don't they? Just like the person I want to kill will always be Fu Qingxuan." Demon Eye Heavenly King clicked his tongue. "Small-minded. Utterly narrow vision. All you see are your own petty grievances and desires. Fu Qingxuan has kept you pinned down for half your life, so now she's the only woman you can see. You dream day and night of killing her, surpassing her, and proving yourself. Fear, with a dainty, petty personality like yours, you'll never achieve anything great." He spread his arms, striking the grandiose pose of a martyr. "Unlike me. I possess noble ideals and lofty aspirations." The skin of Fear Heavenly King's face twitched, and he said coldly, "Just get lost into your dungeon." The Spirit Realm chime rang in Demon Eye Heavenly King's ears: [Ding! The Spirit Realm map is opening. Entering the Spirit Realm in 30 seconds. Your destination this time is "Battle of Zhuolu," Number: 09.] [Difficulty Rating: S] [Type: Solo (Lethal)] [Main Quest: Slaughter the Yan-Huang army and survive for ten days.] [Note: Non-Spirit Realm items cannot be brought in.] [Dungeon 09 Introduction: Under the leadership of Chi You, the Jiuli tribes defeated the Flame Emperor. To protect the faction's interests, the Youxiong clan led various tribes to confront Jiuli in the Zhuolu region.] Survive for ten days, huh? I'm familiar with this kind of quest... Demon Eye Heavenly King bared his teeth. Going by the dungeon introduction, this instance was very likely to involve demigod-level power. No wonder the lingering aura of a Great Being remained here. Thirty seconds later, Demon Eye Heavenly King vanished from the rustic, rudimentary loess cottage. Demon Eye Heavenly King's vision blurred. Before the scene gradually stabilized, his ears were flooded with roars, booming rumbles, and battle cries—a cacophony so deafening it felt as if he were trapped in the middle of a chaotic battlefield. No, not "as if"... Once his surroundings came into focus, he realized he truly was in the middle of a chaotic battlefield. There were warriors wearing beast-hide skirts, their coiled muscles exposed, donning bronze grimacing-ghost masks. There were warriors wearing woven wreaths of green leaves, riding giant tigers, black panthers, and mammoths. There were berserkers wreathed in flames, who detonated themselves at the drop of a hat. There were two-meter-tall stone golems composed of jagged boulders. What they all had in common was that they were draped in beast hides, and their weapons were fashioned either from stone or animal bones. Only the warriors wearing bronze ghost masks wielded bronze weapons. In addition, there were aberrant beasts such as three-headed wolves, four-eyed mammoths, six-tailed tigers, and one-legged birds of prey. This was a melee from an ancient era, an epic war—a clash between ancient Spirit Realm walkers. Water Ghosts, Earth Monsters, Wood Monsters, Fire Masters, Swordsmen... Demon Eye Heavenly King looked around, identifying the respective professions of the warriors. Naturally, that included the warriors in bronze masks—Bewitching Demons. The five major professions—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—were clearly on the same side, fighting together against the Bewitching Demons and the aberrant beasts. Some of those monstrous beasts possessed immense brute strength, some breathed fire, and some unleashed soul-tearing shrieks. Knowledgeable and experienced, Demon Eye Heavenly King recognized at a glance that these strange beasts originated from the First District's Aberrants—or more accurately, they were corrupted by aberrant mutation. Did Aberrants from the First District take part in the ancient Battle of Zhuolu? Whoosh! A fireball radiating scorching heat hurtled through the air, striking Demon Eye squarely in the chest. He staggered back two steps, feeling the searing agony in his chest. Looking down, he saw that his flesh was mangled, his skin melted, and his muscles charred to carbon, damaging his internal organs. What's going on? Even a random fireball hits this hard? Is this the Battle of Zhuolu?! In his shock, a warrior mounted on an enormous striped tiger plowed through several bronze-masked warriors, charging right in front of him. The massive bone club in the warrior's hands smashed down toward his head. The air whistled shrilly. Demon Eye Heavenly King instantly manifested his three-headed, six-armed dharma body, raising two arms with weapons to parry. Bang! The blast wave erupted like an exploding missile. The weapons Demon Eye Heavenly King had conjured shattered on impact, and his knees buckled, nearly forcing him to kneel. At the same time, the warrior who had thrown the fireball emerged from expanding flames, his bone blade blazing with fire as he drove it straight into Demon Eye Heavenly King's chest. With a squelch, the bone blade pierced through his chest. The wound was dark red, devoid of blood. Demon Eye Heavenly King gave a savage grin and snapped his head around, firing a beam of golden-red light from his forehead. The Fire Master froze, the flames enveloping him churning and dancing wildly out of control. Demon Eye Heavenly King used four arms to drive back the striped-tiger rider, while his other four arms seized the Fire Master's shoulders and skull, exerting tremendous force. Rip! The Fire Master was torn limb from limb. Instantly, pure crimson energy seeped out of his flesh and blood, pouring continuously into Demon Eye Heavenly King's mouth and nostrils. Demon Eye Heavenly King shook his arms, and reddish-gold eyes opened across his body, unleashing beams suffused with depravity and corruption. In an instant, the battlefield was overwhelmed by an aura of depravity. Surrounding warriors clutched their heads, screaming in agony as they fell into madness. ... The battle raged from dusk until nightfall. Corpses piled in every corner of the valley, and blood soaked the soil with a metallic reek. Bathed in blood, Demon Eye Heavenly King stood proudly atop a mountain of corpses, calming the surging murderous intent and battle frenzy that lingered after the clash. Once the Bloodthirsty Rampage skill was activated, calming down required immense willpower. Especially after hours of slaughter on a battlefield, a Bewitching Demon could easily devolve into a mindless killing machine. Having subdued their Bloodthirsty Rampage, the thousand or so warriors wearing bronze masks took off their masks and sat sprawled on the ground, grabbing the severed limbs of wild beasts around them and feasting voraciously. Their faces were noticeably broader than those of modern humans, their facial muscles defined, and their untrimmed beards thick and wild—just like a band of savages drinking blood and eating raw meat. Demon Eye Heavenly King swept his gaze across the warriors and was shocked to discover that the lowest among them were Mist Lords. Peak Saints were a dime a dozen, and Dominator-rank Ancient Gods of War numbered well over ten. And this was merely the tip of the iceberg of the Battle of Zhuolu. Just how absurd were the main forces of Chi You and the Yellow Emperor? A clash of gods! Just then, an Ancient God of War walked over, built like an iron tower and pitch-black all over. His ebony skin gleamed with a metallic sheen; eight arms swung at his sides; and from his neck rose three heads with wide mouths and fangs, eyes like bronze bells, resembling a yaksha. At the sight of this towering figure, corresponding information surfaced in Demon Eye Heavenly King's mind: One of the chieftains of the Jiuli tribe, named Man—a brother of Chi You! Or rather, all the Ancient Gods of War present, including Demon Eye Heavenly King's current persona, were brothers of Chi You. Chi You had eighty-one brothers, each with heads of bronze and foreheads of iron, drinking blood and eating raw flesh, skilled with staves, blades, halberds, and crossbows... Fierce and battle-hardened, unmatched by any. These descriptions referred precisely to the Ancient Gods of War. "Yu, did you receive the chieftain's blessing?" Man scrutinized his brother, blood-red light flashing in his bell-like eyes. He reached out an iron-like hand, slapping Demon Eye Heavenly King's shoulder with heavy clangs. He spoke an ancient tongue Demon Eye had never heard before, but thanks to the Spirit Realm's translation, he understood it effortlessly. Demon Eye Heavenly King grunted in agreement and let it stand, offering no further explanation. His Bewitching Demonic Eye could affect demigods, surpassing the Dominator level. If he claimed it came from his own cultivation, the ancient Gods of War of the Jiuli tribe might not understand. Man hauled over a severed human leg, gnawing on it voraciously, and handed an arm to Demon Eye Heavenly King. His voice rumbled like muffled thunder: "Hurry and eat. The Flame Emperor's remnants have been wiped out completely. Tonight we march to Zhuolu to battle the Youxiong clan. Dammit, the chieftain wanted to swallow up the Flame Emperor's forces first, growing our strength before fighting the final battle against the Youxiong clan. But curse them, the Flame Emperor and the Youxiong clan actually made peace! The enmity between them shouldn't have been resolved so easily. Something is definitely wrong." The Flame Emperor and the Yellow Emperor had a blood feud? Demon Eye Heavenly King's thoughts stirred, and he asked, "What feud could the Flame Emperor possibly have with the Youxiong clan?" Chewing on the leg, Man said, "The Flame Emperor commands the Fire Spirit, while the Youxiong clan possesses the twin virtues of Wood and Earth. Whoever slays the other and seizes their spiritual essence will become the overlord of the Nine Provinces, standing alongside Empress Wa. They fought a battle at Banquan, and the Flame Emperor lost. The chieftain led our Jiuli brothers to drive back the Youxiong clan, rescuing the Flame Emperor. The chieftain intended to take advantage of the Flame Emperor's severely weakened forces to annihilate him in one fell swoop, but who would have thought Yan and Huang would join forces?" Demon Eye Heavenly King's thoughts raced. Yuanshi Tianzun had once mentioned that Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth could combine into one, giving rise to chaos. During last year's incident with the Twin Gods of Wind and Thunder, it was precisely because the five alliance leaders comprehended the Secret of the Five Elements that they thwarted the evil faction's plot. So the root cause of the Battle of Banquan was the Flame Emperor and the Yellow Emperor vying for demigod authority? The Jiuli tribe helped the Flame Emperor because they didn't want to see the orthodox faction produce an unprecedented demigod! As expected of an S-rank dungeon. These pieces of information alone are invaluable. Demigods and peak Dominators truly hold the core secrets of the Spirit Realm! Demon Eye Heavenly King thought to himself. By then, Man had finished gnawing on the leg. He tossed aside the bone clinging with shreds of meat and bellowed, "Warriors of Jiuli, follow me to Zhuolu! Aid the chieftain in wiping out the Youxiong clan!" The Bewitching Demons stopped eating one after another. Putting their bronze masks back on, they mounted their aberrant beasts, left the field of corpses behind, and charged into the distance. ... Sunlight, sandy beach, waves, birdsong... Zhang Yuanqing woke from a deep sleep to find himself lying under the dancing shade of trees. Not far off were the beach and the ocean. In his arms lay a blonde maiden with milky-white skin and exquisitely refined features devoid of the slightest blemish. Her breathtaking body made his mouth go dry. Evidently, he and the maiden in his arms had just engaged in an intimate, thoroughly deep exchange that left no secrets between them. He had generously bestowed his essence of life upon the maiden, and she, in turn, had repaid him with an overflowing spring. Zhang Yuanqing clearly remembered the ecstatic experience from the night before. Right—he had entered the dungeon yesterday, and soon afterward, owing to his unique constitution, he had become intimate with the maiden. His identity was that of an illegitimate son born to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty, and a mortal. Unfaithful to both her husband and her lovers, Aphrodite had dared not reveal his existence, raising him on Paphos Island under the guise of a slave. —Paphos Island was the birthplace of Aphrodite and her earthly palace. His name was Amini, and he was a demigod—the half-human, half-god kind of demigod. And the maiden beside him was an attendant goddess (handmaiden) of Aphrodite.