Volume One: Awakening of the Dragon Soul Chapter 50: Upheaval!
The moment the alarm sounded, the entire crowd erupted into chaos.
“What? The Imperial City Special Police are here?”
“Hurry! Run for it!”
“Grab those auction items while you’re at it!”
“You want to get your hands on them too?”
“Let go! That’s ours!”
In the frenzy, the guests shed all pretense, revealing their greedy nature. Before Mo Xing’s eyes, a scene unfolded: desperados bickering, snatching, tearing at each other.
“Go get the Blade of Shifting Light!” the man beside Mo Xing urged. He vaulted over seats, agile as a martial artist, and tossed back, “That blade is crucial!”
“Ah!” Mo Xing snapped out of his daze, watching the man leap from chair to chair—his movements light as a feather, not so much walking on water as…
…dancing on chairs!
Mo Xing activated Divine Frost and rushed forward.
At the stage’s heart, chaos reigned. People argued, grabbed whatever they could, and the auctioneer, unable to protect the items, simply abandoned them and fled, clutching his head.
“Damn it, the Blade of Shifting Light is mine!” Scarred Ren led his pirate crew, bashing their way into the crowd.
“Bandit brothers, charge!” Fatty Gula Jia hefted his weapon and joined the fray.
“Gula Jia, it’s been five or six years, and you still use that battered Titan Sword?” Scarred Ren mocked the red-and-white giant sword in Gula Jia’s hands.
“Your Shark Tooth isn’t much!” Gula Jia swung his Titan Sword at Scarred Ren’s head.
The two clashed, unleashing their skills.
Ren’s pirate crew and Gula Jia’s air pirate gang had deep-seated grudges, stretching back generations. In turbulent times, Ren’s grandfather, Da Jian Ren, and Gula Jia’s grandmother, Gula Jia Fei Chang Xiang, tried to stabilize their factions through marriage. On the wedding day, pirates and air pirates from all over brought lavish gifts—the festivities were grand!
Yet Da Jian Ren abandoned Fei Chang Xiang and eloped with Tian Bu Tian of the mountain bandits, leaving Fei Chang Xiang and the air pirates humiliated. Thus, enmity brewed between pirates and air pirates, persisting to this day.
While pirates and air pirates fought bitterly, Skinny Marcus crept toward the crystal box, a sly grin spreading across his face.
“Fight all you want—I’ll take the Blade of Shifting Light while you’re busy!”
The mountain bandits had fallen on hard times, especially after Boss Tian was arrested, leaving them leaderless and scattered. If Marcus could seize the Blade of Shifting Light, he’d rally the mountain bandits anew!
With this thought, Marcus smiled even wider.
Suddenly, Marcus felt a powerful pressure from behind; before he could turn, a swift kick sent him flying into a pillar.
The others turned, stunned, glancing at Marcus slumped against the pillar, then at the masked figure by the crystal box.
“You didn’t pay anything, did you?” the masked man brushed dust from his shoes.
“You masked bastard, don’t think beating Marcus gives you free reign! I’ve got my pirate brothers!” Scarred Ren snorted, swinging his Shark Tooth to fend off Gula Jia.
“Hey, Masked Brother! Want to cooperate? Our air pirates will pay you double!” Gula Jia said, always shrewd—his grandmother had taught him: gather allies, strengthen ties, secure your interests.
Joining forces with the masked man might finally settle the feud with Ren’s pirates and fulfill his grandmother’s lifelong wish.
“Cooperate?” The masked man paused, eyes narrowing. “All right, let’s wipe out the pirates together.”
“Wipe out the pirates? Dream on!”
Scarred Ren raised his Shark Tooth, charging at the masked man, shouting,
“Brothers, attack! Capture the leader first!”
“Charge!” The pirates surged forward.
“Still reciting childish lines?” The masked man cracked his neck. “What era do you think this is?”
A surge of azure energy erupted; the front row of pirates were blasted back, only Scarred Ren managed to withstand it, his feet scraping across the floor.
“This… is terrifying!” The pirates behind fled in panic.
“Hey! Get back here!” Scarred Ren yelled. Only a few glanced back before bolting after the others.
“No fun at all…” The masked man turned to the crystal box, about to open it, when he froze.
Mo Xing, wielding Divine Frost, hurried toward center stage, marveling at the masked man’s ability to subdue so many pirates so quickly.
As Mo Xing descended the stairs, he saw the masked man staring at the crystal box, then suddenly shouting in his direction:
“Get down!”
In that instant, black mist erupted from the crystal box. The masked man teleported to Mo Xing’s side, summoning an azure shield to protect them from the mist.
As Mo Xing regained his composure, he saw the black fog form countless snake-like hands, binding the necks of Scarred Ren, Gula Jia, and others—they had no chance to struggle.
“Awooo—”
They let out eerie cries, their bodies emitting black smoke as their bones and faces morphed into rodent-like visages.
“What’s happening to them?! What’s inside that crystal box?” Mo Xing was shocked. He’d seen similar scenes during the entrance exam—the berserk warrior was much like these, could it be—
“Forbidden drugs from the Cult of Kalentis!” the masked man replied. “The Blade of Shifting Light inside the crystal box was a fake; it held one of the seven forbidden drugs—KAITO, the blue potion of greed!”
“How do you know all this…?”
Mo Xing turned to ask, only to be stunned—the man’s mask had slipped off, and more importantly, his face was remarkably like Mr. Shen’s!
He was the spitting image of a young Mr. Shen!
“You… are you Shen…?”
Mo Xing couldn’t believe his eyes; he hadn’t suspected, from the start, that this man was—
“All right, I know you have questions.” Mr. Shen didn’t turn, just smiled sideways. “This is a special time. I’ll explain later. For now, follow my lead!”
“Mo Xing!”
“Yes!” Mo Xing bit his lip.
“First, fight our way out!” Mr. Shen unleashed wind element, repelling the encroaching monsters. “Don’t hold back!”
“Right… Pillar of Ice!”
Mo Xing channeled ice elements into his blade, summoning a ring of ice pillars.
“Roar!”
The rat-headed monsters broke through the ice, slashing at Mo Xing with their claws.
“Bang!”
Mr. Shen released an azure energy wave, blasting the monsters away, then admonished,
“Remember, they’re no longer human! Use your blade to cut them down!”
“Understood!”
Mo Xing steeled himself—these monsters were far from human, and hesitation would only embolden them.
“Icy Blade!”
Mo Xing struck the monsters ahead, sending sharp shards of ice through their bodies.
The wounded monsters emitted black smoke, instantly swept up by Mr. Shen’s summoned azure cyclone, like a kitchen hood filtering greasy air.
“To the stairs! Find a vantage point!”
Mr. Shen said, “Too close, I can’t unleash my full power!”
“Got it!” Mo Xing cut down the monsters ahead, following Mr. Shen up the stairs. Behind, the monsters chased with zombie-like frenzy, their twisted faces screaming “eat humans.”
They ran to the top of the staircase, reaching the casino hall.
“Mo Xing! Hold them off for a moment!” Mr. Shen suddenly called.
“Huh? How long?” Mo Xing asked, uncertain he could handle so many monsters alone.
“Five seconds!” Mr. Shen replied, drawing a giant bow of azure crystal from his storage ring, a whirlwind swirling around him.
“All right! Charge your ultimate—I’ll deal with these wild monsters! Damn—”
Mo Xing barely finished before a monster lunged at him; he reacted swiftly, slicing it down mid-air.
“Grasp of Coldwater!”
Mo Xing swung his blade, merging water elements to form a giant claw, uprooting sofas and hurling them at the oncoming monsters.
From the side, a hulking figure appeared—Gula Jia. His expression was grotesquely twisted.
Mo Xing hesitated, then gripped his blade and stabbed at Gula Jia’s mutated body.
“Awooo—”
Gula Jia let out a final howl, blood mixed with blue fluid spraying into the air. Mo Xing quickly retreated to avoid contact with the strange substance.
Divine Frost was no ordinary weapon—the blood on its blade froze instantly, then shattered into icy fragments on the patterned red carpet.
“Mr. Shen! Are you ready?” Mo Xing shouted, his hands trembling from the start. This life-or-death battle still frightened him; that damned mercy in his heart wouldn’t go away!
“Mr. Shen?”
Mo Xing saw no reply. He quickly turned, discovering Mr. Shen had vanished!
What the hell?
Damn! Mr. Shen ditched him?
“Awooo—”
The monsters surged forward. Mo Xing unleashed Coldwater Spiral Storm to clear a path, briefly flying to a new spot.
Honestly, he liked this Coldwater Spiral Storm move—a “bamboo dragonfly” paired with a “water truck,” disrupting enemy vision while escaping to safety.
“Awooo—”
Mo Xing realized monsters were crawling out from under several gaming tables, half-human, half-beast, shrouded in black mist; he was surrounded!
“Damn! So many ferret monsters!”
Mo Xing frowned, biting his lip, gripping Divine Frost as he faced these yellow-skinned, rat-headed, wolf-howling mutant gamblers, unsure how much chance he stood.
“Awooo—”
The “ferrets” lunged. Mo Xing swung Divine Frost, ice elements swirling in a storm around him.
======= Idle Talk by the Pit =======
The novel has finally reached Chapter 50. I hope everyone leaves lots of comments and suggestions~
[Warning!] High energy ahead! Non-combatants, please evacuate! (Real fighting coming!)