The Sunset Longbow

With Beirut's arrival, Fang Yun and Dylan naturally couldn't start fighting in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

But the Magical Beast Mountain Range was Dylan's "old home," after all, and he couldn't just hand it over to Fang Yun. Once he was sure Beirut wouldn't lock him in the Plane Prison, he challenged Fang Yun to a fight.

"Let's go to the South Sea."

Beirut was very much in favor of the battle between them. "The South Sea is vast enough for you two to fight. Whoever wins will decide who gets the Magical Beast Mountain Range."

For the past several thousand years, life on the Yulan Continent had been far too dull. Even fights between Saint-levels had become rare. Although life on the Yulan Continent had gotten more interesting since life from Blue Star began arriving, it still wasn't enough.

"Sure."

Fang Yun smiled. He had no reason to refuse.

He wasn't lacking in strength, but he was short on combat experience. Fighting a powerful opponent whose strength was close to his own would help him a lot.

Dylan's true form was Ni Suan, also known as the Heaven Swallowing Beast, an extremely powerful divine beast. He also possessed an Innate Divine Ability, making him one of the strongest among those at the same level.

Otherwise, an ordinary Lowgod couldn't have survived alone in the Plane Prison. Dylan had managed to survive on his own and protect his children. Even if he'd had to keep hiding and moving from place to place, that alone spoke to his strength.

If Fang Yun didn't reveal his Willpower, then even after becoming a god by fusing the Mysteries of Wind Element and Wind Space, he probably wouldn't be much stronger than Dylan. He might even be weaker.

However, he'd acquired a Highgod Artifact longbow in the Sunset Mountain Range, which greatly boosted the external strength of his Wind-style Divine Clone.

As for their divine power, Fang Yun had become a god only recently and hadn't accumulated much. But Dylan had spent five thousand years in the Plane Prison, where he'd used up far more divine power than he'd built up before. Naturally, he couldn't afford to expend it recklessly either.

Seeing how confident Fang Yun was, Beirut stroked his little mustache, ready to enjoy the show. "In that case, let's head to the South Sea."

The three of them immediately flew toward the South Sea.

Dylan's three children stayed behind in Mist Valley for the time being.

"I hope Father wins,"

one of the little kittens said.

"Don't worry. Father won't lose!"

The other two kittens spoke with certainty.

Since life from Blue Star had started arriving "frequently," the South Sea region had begun to grow more prosperous. Of course, this was only a small area of the South Sea near the mainland, not even one ten-thousandth of its total area.

The South Sea was practically boundless. Apart from the Teleportation Array leading to Blue Star, there were countless other stretches of ocean. Many powerful magical beasts lived there; in terms of their numbers, even the Magical Beast Mountain Range couldn't compare.

So the South Sea was the perfect battlefield for Fang Yun and Dylan.

The three made no effort to hide themselves. As they passed through the O'Brien Empire, the War God naturally noticed them.

"Lord Beirut!"

The War God flew out at once.

He'd heard of Fang Yun, but had never met him. As for Dylan, he'd never even heard of him. After all, by the time he became a god, Dylan had already been locked in the Plane Prison.

"O'Brien, why don't you come along too?"

Beirut smiled warmly. "It's been a long time since anything exciting happened."

Rather than saying O'Brien had noticed them by chance, it would be more accurate to say Beirut had deliberately let him find them. Otherwise, the three of them could have crossed straight through the Holy Union and the Dark Alliance without passing through the O'Brien Empire at all.

O'Brien was deeply shaken.

Apart from Hodan, the Plane Guardian, he'd always thought the only gods on the Yulan Continent were Lord Beirut and the High Priest, with Fang Yun, who'd just become a god, as a possible addition. But now, there was clearly another god he hadn't known about!

"Yes, sir."

O'Brien had no idea what they were going to do, but he obediently agreed.

The group then happened to arrive at the Temple of Life, where the High Priest joined them as well.

The High Priest naturally recognized Dylan and was secretly surprised. Had Lord Beirut released Dylan? He really was lucky.

While the High Priest was still wondering, O'Brien sent her a secret message. "Catherine, do you know who these two are?"

He had some idea who Fang Yun was, but he didn't know Dylan's identity.

The High Priest paused briefly, then sent back a secret message. "The strange young man with a vertical scar on his forehead is Dylan, a god who was locked in the Plane Prison by Lord Beirut five thousand years ago."

"As for the other one, he may be Fang Yun from the South Sea."

Five thousand years ago? The Plane Prison? Dylan?

O'Brien grew more wary.

That meant Dylan was likely stronger than he was. As for Fang Yun, he wasn't particularly concerned. So what if he'd become a god on his own? How strong could someone who'd only just become a god be?

Before long, the five of them flew into the South Sea.

"Let's do it here."

Beirut stopped and looked at Fang Yun and Dylan with a warm smile. "We're already deep in the South Sea. You'll have plenty of room to fight."

"Lord Beirut, this..."

The High Priest spoke cautiously.

Neither she nor O'Brien knew what was going on.

Beirut chuckled, as if he'd only just remembered, and said with a smile, "Oh, you should know Dylan. As for the other one, he's Fang Yun, who became a god recently. By the way, he's from Blue Star."

The High Priest and the War God both knew about Blue Star, so they weren't surprised by Fang Yun's origins.

Dylan, on the other hand, was puzzled. Blue Star?

Five thousand years ago, he'd never heard of any place called Blue Star on the Yulan Continent. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that.

"This battle will also decide who gets the Magical Beast Mountain Range."

Beirut briefly explained the situation, then looked at the High Priest and O'Brien. "You two can serve as witnesses."

Only then did O'Brien and the High Priest understand. Fang Yun was going to fight Dylan!

There hadn't been a battle between gods in five thousand years.

Still, they both understood that whoever won, the situation on the Yulan Continent would be completely changed.

"All right, get started."

Beirut looked at Fang Yun and Dylan and spoke plainly.

Fang Yun smiled, then flew off first. The divine longbow he'd acquired earlier appeared in his hand.

Since he was only using the power of a Wind-style Lowgod, Fang Yun would have to use the longbow if he wanted to keep Dylan at bay.

Fang Yun didn't know much about the longbow. Still, he could tell it was a Highgod Artifact made from excellent materials, and that it possessed a powerful aura of life. Its former owner must have been an expert in the Life Law.

Few people in the Divine Planes used longbows as weapons. Even though Fang Yun had read the original work from beginning to end, he couldn't recall any powerful expert who used one.

So if he wanted to learn the longbow's origins, he'd have to investigate them himself. Still, he did have a lead: its former owner was an expert in the Life Law who used a longbow. Perhaps that expert had some connection to the Elf Race of the Life God Realm.

After all, elves were skilled with longbows.

He could visit the Life God Realm when he got the chance.

When they saw the longbow in Fang Yun's hand, the High Priest and Dylan were both visibly shocked. "The Sunset Longbow!"

Both of them had lived through the World Destruction battle ten thousand years ago. Back then, countless experts from other planes had descended, including innumerable gods. Among them were many super experts whose mere presence had left them too afraid to resist.

At the time, they could only hide far away, not daring to show themselves for fear of being killed.

Even so, they'd heard of those super experts. The most famous was naturally the Purple Blood Demon.

But besides the Purple Blood Demon, there were many other terrifying beings. One of them was the Sunset Elf!

All they knew about the Sunset Elf was that she was a super expert from the Life God Realm, one of the Four Higher Planes, and every bit as powerful as the Purple Blood Demon. They knew nothing else about her.

The Sunset Longbow had been the Sunset Elf's weapon.

Everyone on the Yulan Continent now thought the Sunset Mountain Range had been named after Sunset Peak. But the High Priest and Dylan knew very well that the real reason it was called the Sunset Mountain Range was the Sunset Elf.

Legend had it that whenever the Sunset Elf drew her bow, a god was sure to fall. The number of gods who had died at her hands was nearly as high as the number slain by the Purple Blood Demon.

Sunset Peak was said to be the place where the Sunset Elf had finally fallen. Of course, they didn't know whether the story was true.

After the Sunset Elf's death and Lord Beirut's subsequent capture and purge of the gods on the Yulan Continent, the Sunset Longbow had vanished. They never expected it to end up in Fang Yun's hands!

The Sunset Longbow?

O'Brien frowned when he heard them.

He also focused his attention on the longbow in Fang Yun's hand, wondering if it was a powerful artifact from ten thousand years ago. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't be reacting like this.

Fang Yun actually had the Sunset Longbow...

Dylan's expression darkened.

A powerful artifact could greatly increase its wielder's strength. When two experts were evenly matched, the one with a powerful weapon could easily kill the other.

And the Sunset Longbow was no ordinary artifact.

He was confident he wasn't weaker than Fang Yun, and might even be stronger. But if Fang Yun had the longbow, he couldn't guarantee he'd win.

By now, Dylan was already beginning to have second thoughts.

After all, compared to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he valued his life more.

I'll post two chapters a day for now. The book may go on sale on the eleventh, so I need to prepare some chapters in advance.