Star of Sanzang—Return from India
After finishing his thoughts, Li Ye suddenly shouted at the humanoid figures.
The puppet-like humanoids naturally did not respond to Li Ye. The one he wanted to speak with was not these puppets, but the presence behind them.
"The Holy Grail is right here. Are you planning to hide until the end?"
Li Ye swept his gaze around, confirming the positions of the humanoids that had appeared and the unnamed Servant.
Four Servant-class enemies in total—
And that ghostlike Magus had no idea how many spells he had set up in secret. Now, Li Ye felt as though not a single patch of ground here was safe.
I can fight them—
Li Ye had already figured out the unnamed Servant's limits. If they kept fighting, he would only be the victor. The backgrounds of the three humanoids were still unclear, but judging from their mana fluctuations, they were not especially powerful.
"Are you sure you want to keep fighting me?"
Still receiving no reply, Li Ye awakened his Dragon Blood once more, but this time, it far surpassed anything before.
Not only did the Dragon Blood within him awaken completely, but Li Ye also used the Holy Grail's mana as fuel, injecting it into the Dragon Core. The concentration of his Dragon Blood surged, and the might of its awakening was like the descent of the Red Dragon itself!
*?!*
A piercing pain struck him. Li Ye instinctively released the broken sword in his hand and staggered back.
This transformation surpassed every previous one. The only thing comparable to his Dragon Blood now was the blessing granted by the Lion King!
Not only had his eyes become vertical pupils, but even Li Ye's short black hair gradually transformed into sand-gold hair and began growing wildly!
What is this?
The pain was secondary. What truly shocked Li Ye was the power and immense mana surging from within him.
Unlike the mana supplied by the Holy Grail, this was Dragon mana that truly belonged to him!
"Guh!"
Li Ye clenched his teeth as a fierce gust rushed at his face. The unnamed Servant had attacked again!
The other three humanoids remained where they stood, completely motionless.
The sword's edge swept past, piercing straight through his neck. Blood erupted in an instant.
Li Ye abruptly raised his head, his pale golden vertical pupils staring in astonishment at the unnamed Servant right before him.
The image flashing through his mind looked exactly like the unnamed Servant's next move—
Instinct had evolved?
Still dazed, Li Ye slightly twisted aside, avoiding the sword that had nearly pierced his neck, and naturally threw a punch.
The unnamed Servant naturally noticed Li Ye's movement. He countered with his palm against Li Ye's fist, blocking it, then prepared to slash down at Li Ye again.
The instant fist and palm met—
A savage crimson glow burst forth, then instantly condensed into a single point!
There was no grand spectacle. First the palm, then flesh, organs, muscles, and bones—this eruption of violence met no resistance whatsoever!
Boom!
With a thunderous blast, the unnamed Servant's blood stained the sky.
When Li Ye's punch tore through the unnamed Servant's abdomen and sent him flying, the three humanoids finally seemed unable to remain still. They charged down the dune in unison, rushing straight at Li Ye!
And the unnamed Servant, whose abdomen Li Ye had punched through, ignored his wounds and charged again after being blasted nearly a hundred meters away!
He's recovering?
Li Ye barely made out that the bloody hole in the unnamed Servant's abdomen, which should have been fatal, was already being filled by wriggling flesh, as though it would soon recover completely!
As the three humanoids drew near, curses spread beneath the yellow sand once more, wrapping around Li Ye!
But Li Ye was not someone who sat and waited for death. Facing enemies from every direction, he shot forward in an instant.
He charged straight at the three humanoids!
In the blink of an eye, Li Ye grabbed the central humanoid and smashed it viciously into the sand!
The yellow sand trembled without end!
Gurgle, gurgle—
Starting from the humanoid beneath Li Ye, curses gushed forth like water, covering the sand in an instant.
Forced to retreat, Li Ye still looked dazed, as though he had not yet shaken off the effects of the Dragon Blood.
"Is this all the petty tricks you know!"
Still in a daze, Li Ye was about to fling this whole group away along with the sand when he suddenly sensed a familiar Saint Graph rapidly approaching.
"Haah!"
A familiar feminine cry rang out. A black iron staff, thick as an iron pillar, swept across and sent the humanoid puppets flying!
The graceful figure flashing past Li Ye struck the unnamed Servant squarely in the chest with her palm!
Bang!
The explosive impact whipped up a violent gale, sending the unnamed Servant flying hundreds of meters with a single palm strike!
"Master Sanzang!"
The sight filled the dazed Li Ye with delight. Sanzang had finally finished her battle.
"Ah! Sorry to keep you waiting, young man!"
Sanzang's black hair streamed behind her as she turned back with a smile and gave him a playful wink.
"Huh? Did you always look like this, young man?"
After getting a clear look at Li Ye's face, Sanzang tilted her head in confusion, as though she had seen something impossible to understand.
Unable to grasp what Sanzang meant, Li Ye recovered himself and struggled to maintain the overloaded awakening of his Dragon Blood. "Master Sanzang, I'll have to trouble you with these people."
Before he finished speaking, Li Ye vaguely saw a strand of golden hair swing before his forehead—
*?*
Only then did Li Ye realize that at some point, his glossy black hair had vanished, replaced by a head of golden hair—the very same kind of golden hair as the Lion King's.
The Lion King?
Thinking of that, Li Ye's expression changed. The only source he could think of for this obvious physical mutation was his Dragon Blood, and the source of that Dragon Blood was the deity seated high atop the Tower of End.
Was this assimilation caused by the Dragon Blood?
Li Ye did not know what he looked like now. Could he have become somewhat similar to King Arthur?
He had expected the Dragon Blood to have side effects, but the assimilation of his appearance had not been among them.
Before Li Ye could continue pondering the changes in his body, Sanzang's bright laughter reached him.
"No problem! Leave it all to me!"
Before Sanzang finished speaking, she shot forward, charging straight at the unnamed Servant!
In an instant, she clashed head-on with him. The swordsmanship that had troubled Li Ye was utterly ineffective before the more seasoned Sanzang, and she suppressed him in fewer than a few exchanges!
Seeing the unnamed Servant restrained by Sanzang, Li Ye turned toward the three humanoids Sanzang had sent flying with one staff strike.
His body flickered, and Li Ye vanished from the spot.
He rushed toward the nearest humanoid!
As Crimson Lightning flashed past, Li Ye, already within striking range, punched the humanoid in the abdomen!
Bang!
The overwhelming force that burst through its body compressed the air to the extreme before abruptly exploding!
Almost at the same time, the other two humanoids attacked Li Ye from both sides!
Li Ye slightly turned his head, seized the humanoid before him by the neck with his backhand, and wrapped it in crimson mana in an instant before spinning and hurling it!
He actually used that humanoid as a weapon, smashing it straight into the humanoid on his left!
As the two humanoids collided, Li Ye twisted around to meet the last one, speaking at the same time. "Do you want the Holy Grail that badly?"
Crackle.
Crimson arcs danced over the yellow sand as Li Ye's long arm shot forth like a spear, punching through the humanoid's chest!
"The Holy Grail is not something you can possess—"
At that moment, the humanoid Li Ye had punched through slowly spoke. Blood flowed uncontrollably down its body, only to be vaporized in an instant by Li Ye's mana.
"Do you think you can succeed? You are nothing but cowards who barely escaped My King and cling to life—"
Li Ye, his golden hair whipping wildly, smiled at the humanoid as its life gradually faded away.
Suddenly, a surge of mana rose from the humanoid before him. Before Li Ye could cast aside the dead figure, an enormous fluctuation of mana also rose at his side, and the spreading curses nearly became tangible!
When Li Ye glanced to the side—
The other two humanoids, together with this one, were self-destructing!
Boom!!
A terrifying explosion laden with vast amounts of curses detonated beside Li Ye, sweeping across dozens of meters!
"Self-destruct, huh." Li Ye gave a slight nod.
Crackle—
Along with the spreading curses came that savage crimson glow, sweeping clean across the surroundings and reaching everywhere without limit!
When the explosion faded, the three humanoids had all turned to ash, leaving Li Ye standing there alone.
Sanzang's solitary figure also appeared before him. Clearly, the unnamed Servant had decisively chosen to retreat after failing to defeat her.
Even Master Sanzang had failed to keep the unnamed Servant behind.
"Ah, he got away—"
Sanzang puffed out her cheeks.
"You're Master Sanzang, right?" Li Ye asked with a smile.
"That's right, I'm Xuanzang Sanzang! A Servant who manifested here under the guidance of the Buddha Ancestor, and of course my class is Caster!"
Li Ye, who had expected this already, nodded slightly.
But Sanzang seemed not to notice his reaction. She stared at Li Ye strangely. "? No reaction? Oh well, I'll continue."
"I was summoned somewhere a few days ago. Following the guidance, I traveled here along the Silk Road.
To stop the unprecedented crisis of the Holy Land anomaly."
At this point, Sanzang said, "Honestly, since I'm a Heroic Spirit version of myself who was on the way home from India, I thought it was such a bother—
But since it was the Buddha Ancestor's guidance, I had no choice but to go.
So here I am!
I came to this land of the apocalypse, Shambhala, where sandstorms fill the sky!"
Li Ye raised a brow and finally could not help saying, "Strictly speaking, this is Egypt—"
Sanzang answered as if it were perfectly obvious. "Yes, anyone can see that! In other words, I got lost!
Well, little things like that do not matter. You should always keep an open mind, broad as the Ganges. That is the path to enlightenment, right?"
"As expected of Master Sanzang! Every word carries immense weight. I feel as if I'm about to reach enlightenment myself!"
After hearing Sanzang's words, Li Ye could not help giving her a thumbs-up. "But it seems Master Sanzang already knows something about this era, right? About the Holy Land anomaly crisis and all that."
"I don't know! I just got here! There are so many places I haven't even seen yet. How could I know what the anomaly is without looking?"
Sanzang held her head high and puffed out her chest as she said naturally, "What is your name, young man? Thank you for helping me in that critical moment just now."
"Just call me Li Ye. If you want to put it that way, we're fellow countrymen!"
Li Ye smiled.
Sanzang—a Buddhist monk from the Tang Dynasty in the seventh century, a native of the Celestial Empire.
"Li Ye, are you traveling here too?"
Sanzang tilted her head and smiled. As fellow natives of the Celestial Empire, how could she possibly fail to recognize Li Ye, even if his appearance had changed somewhat?
"More or less. If Master Sanzang has nowhere to go next, would you be willing to come to the Holy City with me?"
After thinking for a moment, Li Ye extended an invitation.
"Of course!
When I, Sanzang, receive kindness from someone, I always do my best to repay it!
And since Master Sanzang is a traveling monk, it is only natural for me to guide a lost traveler like you, right!"
Sanzang smiled at Li Ye.
"Meeting Master Sanzang has been my good fortune—"
Li Ye's tone was sincere. He truly believed meeting Sanzang was his good fortune. Not only did the Buddhist teachings emanating from her make him feel at ease, but the shared bond of being from the Celestial Empire made him feel even closer to her.
When one was far from home, what else could it be but good fortune to encounter a Heroic Spirit from the Celestial Empire?
"This isn't good fortune! It's the Buddha Ancestor's blessing.
You carry the Buddha Ancestor's blessing. More specifically, me!"
Sanzang said with immense pride, "Even though Sun Wukong, Wuneng, Wujing, and White Dragon are not here, and I cannot hear the Bodhisattva's voice, that is another matter!
I am the high-monk maiden, Xuanzang Sanzang, who will become a Buddha someday!
Watch carefully! I'll save you with a bang, just like the palm of Shakyamuni Buddha!"
I can tell. That's quite a unique method of salvation—
Hearing that, Li Ye could not help recalling Sanzang's valiant and dashing fighting style, wondering who exactly had been doing the fighting on the journey west.
Should we make a group chat?