1183 Open War

Yuji deliberately acted fearfully and paced back two steps, staying silent and trembling with fear.

She already knew that Kitagawa had broken free of Dragon Vanquisher Sage's control. She even knew more about other things than the monk, though she couldn't just blurt it out now. The reason why she spoke like that was intentional, to estrange the monks from the rest of the Joyous Palace experts around him.

It must be noted that Dragon Vanquisher Sage had cast the same seal on all the core executives of Joyous Palace, placing their lives under this monk's control. If they knew that there were means to undo that seal and free them from the monk's control, it was very likely for them to have other thoughts in mind.

Dragon Vanquisher Sage shot a look at the mysterious golden-masked man and said in a cold voice, "You had better be able to reap the lives of Kitagawa and Hidari after the battle begins. I must squeeze out the method they used to undo my seal from them!"

"Understood!" the masked man replied directly, but a surprised expression flashed in his eyes.

10 minutes later.

Dragon Vanquisher Sage's expression looked more sullen, but he was secretly relieved inwardly. He had fully figured out the number and overall strengths of the enemy through the Truth Listener Flags. Although the enemy's number was in the thousands with many strong experts, his Joyous Palace still had more experts than them and thus, exterminating the enemy was still achievable.

Nonetheless, his side would also suffer huge losses after they had General Fukuda and his force decimated. It would be very difficult to return to their peak without spending a decade or so.

'The answer is, killing! Besides, two tigers cannot live in the same mountain. Since exterminating General Fukuda and his Gene Camp is inevitable for my Joyous Palace to survive in Japan, then it shall be done. The loss may be bigger this time, but I'll become the facto sovereign of Japan later. Even if… both the military and government dare not comply, I'll just kill them and replace them.' The monk silently thought in his head.

At this time.

Both Dragon Vanquisher Sage and General Fukuda issued orders at the same time and dispatched sneak-attack experts to the frontline. And thus, the game of life-and-death in this forested mountain officially started.

Yuji was leading tens of her trusted maids as they took a detour to the mountainside. Although the sage ordered her to sneak into the Gene Camp, she didn't obey that order and quickly rushed down the mountain under the strange gaze of her maids.

"Master, are we going to disobey Palace Master's command by going down the mountain now?" a beautiful woman finally couldn't help but ask.

Yuji halted her ace and shot a look at the tens of maids who were neatly lined up before her. Then, she said in a deep voice, "You're my people who I have raised and trained since childhood. Now I'm asking you something. Do you want to pledge your loyalty to me, or to Palace Master?"

"We're loyal to you, Master!"

The tens of maids faintly realized something and answered in unison.

"Since you chose to side with me, then we have nothing to do with this battle now." Yuji nodded happily and said, "Also, do remember that we're no longer the Joyous Palace people from now on. We have to withdraw fast right away since we have other missions to accomplish."

"This…"

These maids were shocked, but they believed in Yuji. After exchanging quick glances, they rushed behind Yuji towards the mountain foot.

****

At the Gene Camp.

Ki Kitagawa was sitting cross-legged in his tent. Large drops of sweat trickled down his forehead, leaving a sheen his face. The veins on his temples wriggled as though they were worms while a white mist lingered above his head.

Puah…

He coughed up a mouthful of blood crazily and instantly opened his eyes. With a furious look flashed in his eyes, he quickly grabbed his chest and muttered to himself, "I can easily remove the seal of that Joyous Palace old bald ass, yet I'm helpless to crack the seal of that Tang asshole. It seems like I really have to follow all his orders since he has my life under control."

Immediately after, he took out a roll of fabrics from his sleeves arm and quickly wiped the blood on his lips. After adjusting his condition and breath for a few minutes, he floated up and appeared outside the tent. He swept over the surrounding with chilling eyes and a frosty look and found that most of his trusted men had disappeared, replaced by some strange and unfamiliar faces standing nearby. From these stranger's eyes who glanced at him once in a while, he realized that they were sent by General Fukuda to monitor him.

Don't blame me for your own heartlessness and unkindness, Fukuda. I've never coveted anything from you. Everything I do is to live on.

The thought crossed his mind and he shouted loudly, "Jun Yuchu, come here!"

From a nearby spot, a hunchbacked middle-aged man with a pale face quickly ran to Kitagawa and said with one knee on the ground, "What's your instruction for this one, Sir Kitagawa?"

"Where's General Fukuda? I must see him," Kitagawa asked in a deep voice.

"Those Joyous Palace vagabonds have begun attacking us, so General Fukuda led a troop of experts to rush over. Calculating the time, they should be fighting them at this moment," answered Jun Yuchu quickly.

With eyes lit up, Kitagawa inquired. "What about the Black-robed Guards?"

The humpbacked middle-aged man looked anxious and replied, "General Fukuda took all of them. Everyone else except for me has rushed to the battle for the Gene Camp's victory."

Kitagawa was so resentful inwardly. He knew why General Fukuda only left Jun Yuchu with him. That man definitely believed that Jun was just a weak hunchback, so he might as well leave Jun to him. But those Black-robed Guards were his trusted men. He took them all so he could order his men to charge through the enemy lines. That man would never care even if they were all dead!

"Have you been successful in condensing your Buddhist Sarira, Jun?"

The hunchbacked middle-aged man's expression slightly changed. He quickly glanced at the tens of people around and respectfully said, "I've completed it 2 years ago."

Kitagawa happily nodded. He unsheathed the long katana on his back and instantly bolted to the two genetic warriors a little more than 10 meters away. The blade slashed forward and directly beheaded those two genetic warriors who didn't react fast enough.

"No need to hide anymore since you've completed it, Jun! Let's kill them all and leave." Kitagawa fiercely shouted.

The hunchbacked middle-aged man quickly flashed to another direction several meters away like light smoke. Several objects that were instantly shot from him instantly pierced and ripped the throats of three genetic warriors directly.

The slaughter was carried out in an extremely fast manner. The duo killed a total of 46 genetic warriors in just 2 minutes.

The hunchbacked man wiped the blood on his machete before he came to Kitagawa's front and respectfully asked, "What do we do next, Sir Kitagawa?"

Kitagawa glanced around and, after making sure there were no living people left in the surroundings, he coldly said, "General Fukuda has begun to distrust me, so we no longer need to stay here anymore. He's a heartless man and I'm not that better than him either. He and I are the same breed. Pity I have no means to save those Black-robed Guards he took with him to their deaths, though. Let's leave! We'll hike down the mountain to carry out other missions somewhere else."

"Other missions? We still have other missions?" asked the hunchbacked man in surprise.

A hint of helplessness flitted across Kitagawa's face as he nodded. "There is, in fact, another fearsome force in Japan. This force is no way worse than the Joyous Palace and the Gene Camp. The battle between these two parties now was due to their machinations as well. And now we are taking orders from them to preserve our lives."

A horrified look appeared on the hunchbacked man's face. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever expect that a third cultivation force existed in Japan. He had been serving under Kitagawa for decades and knew the man inside out. A fearless man who had never been afraid of anything now had a hint of helplessness when he mentioned that force. He could also sense a bit of fear in his voice, which made him secretly shocked.

****

Up ahead in the mountain top.

Tang Xiu calmly stood in silence atop the pine tree while watching members of the Joyous Palace and combatants from the Gene Camp appear. He had activated the Invisibility Charm, completely restrained his aura, and even closed off the pores all over his body. Shortly put, he no longer produced any fluctuation of energy exchange. That was the reason nobody from both sides was able to detect him.

"KILL…"

"KILL…"

Then… the sight of thousands of experts going berserk and crazily engaging in fights filled the mountains. The intensity of the battle was so insane that it was out of the average people's imagination.

Buzz…

Buzz…

Buzz…

Coming from three directions, three spiritual senses rapidly transmitted to Japan. A few breaths were spent as these three perceptions scanned the whole mountain and "watched" the battle there. Obviously, some super-powerful experts from other countries sent their spiritual senses to watch it.

****

The United States of America.

In an unusual separated pavilion in San Francisco, an old man, who was covered in black fog that made his figure faintly discernible, was facing a glittering crystal ball that emitted out soft white light, which he kept injecting the black fog into.

Whoosh…

A figure flickered and bolted like lightning from afar and appeared in front of the old man in less than a minute. Eyes filled with intense shock, he directly knelt on the floor and quietly waited.

"That's quite an interesting sight."

The black mist-covered old man opened his eyes and spoke with a contemptuous smile. The moment he opened them, it was like a dazzling substance burst out and shot the floor in front of him, creating a 2m wide and half-meter-deep dark pit.

The Caucasian man who knelt there suddenly looked up and asked, "What exactly happened, Grand Wizard?"

The old man shook his head and smilingly said, "A flock of ants is fighting each other, but two of those ants are quite remarkable… for ants."

"A battle? Where is it?" asked the Caucasian man hurriedly. "And who are they? Would you like me to head over there immediately? You told us before to rush to any large-scale battle if possible since we can benefit from it."