Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 471
Li Yao breathed hard and managed to finish the sentence. "I didn't know that I would have to pay such a high price in order to kill you!"
Li Yao opened his fingers and pressed the helmet of Hellsword's crystal suit. He suddenly exerted his strength!
Huala!
'Hellsword' Zhuang Ziyou, the scary Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator on Spider Den, could not withstand the pressure and kneeled down before Li Yao!
"You are the first Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator that I slew."
Looking down at Hellsword, Li Yao remarked, one word after another, "But you won't be the last."
Ka!
A terrifying explosion suddenly burst out in Hellsword's neck, as his entire spine was blown into powder.
When the Feathered Dragon Saber passed by, Hellsword's neck had been swept through by the aura of Li Yao's saber. His head seemed to be connected to his body, but the link between them had been entirely cut off. It was no different than beheading him.
Even a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator could not survive their head being separated from their body.
Besides, Li Yao's final pressing had poured a huge amount of spiritual energy into Hellsword's brain through the helmet of the crystal suit, which had completely wrecked his brain.
The dominating Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator finally bowed below Li Yao's feet and lowered his head, as dead as anyone could ever be!
Li Yao sniffed and rubbed his hands. He kicked down Hellsword's dead body. Greedy laughter echoed below his crystal suit, as if he were planning to rip off Hellsword's 'Black Horn' and search for trophies.
The moment he touched the Black Horn Battlesuit, however, Li Yao suddenly shrieked. The Feathered Dragon Saber that was left aside exploded into 999 sharp feathers instantly and raised a black storm on the floor again!
"Ahhh!"
A weird scream suddenly echoed in the air of the southeast corner. It sounded like the screams of ten thousand tortured souls in the deepest level of hell combined. Like a scorching iron needle, the sound stung Li Yao's brain!
A dark red phantom that looked both like dim fire and weird flowers gradually emerged in the air. As it formed, the phantom condensed into the shape of a human more than half a meter tall that looked both like a dwarf and like an infant.
Pierced repetitively by the Feathered Dragon Saber, the phantom was twisting in agony and gazing at Li Yao with the utmost hatred and fear!
"You—you knew that I was not dead!" shouted the dark red phantom.
Li Yao smiled. "The soul power of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators is far stronger than common Cultivators. It is more likely for them to turn into a spectral Cultivator.
"As for you, the well-known 'Hellsword' Zhuang Ziyou, mental attacks are your specialty, and you have a profound understanding about the studies of brains. Other than being a brutal bandit, you are also a great 'Meditation Healer'.
"Therefore, it is even more likely for you to turn into a spectral Cultivator than common Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
"I was merely testing, and I didn't expect that you would jump out so quickly."
Hellsword was squeaking in anger like fire onto which oil had just been poured. The flames of the phantom suddenly rose and almost licked the ceiling.
It was a pity that he had just died, and his soul had only managed to escape from his body through secret arts. His current state was very unstable because he was not a real spectral Cultivator yet. His capability was only one percent compared to when he was alive!
Although Li Yao was heavily wounded, the guy was still much stronger than he was.
He could only stall for a while longer so that his soul could stabilize. With a few minutes, he would be transformed into a spectral Cultivator from a wandering ghost. By then…
Hellsword pretended that he was deeply regretful and shouted, "What I chopped off just now was a false hand?"
"Of course, it was a real hand. For a lone wolf like you, it would have been impossible for you to not notice the difference between cutting into muscles, veins, and bones and chopping off a false hand, right?"
Li Yao opened his hands and replied, "It's just that the hand was not mine."
Hellsword was so furious that he was shaking violently. He shrieked, "So, your target since the very beginning has not been the Eight Blades of Black Spider but me? Crazy! You are crazy! Your maximum combat ability is in the Core Formation Stage at best, and you are insane enough to hunt a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator! Maniac! You are an out-and-out maniac!"
"If you don't have anything constructive to say, let's begin," Li Yao replied calmly.
He waved his right hand. Spiritual energy flooded over like a tide and formed a shining silver hand, grasping Hellsword's ghost by the throat.
When the wolf grows old, the crows ride him. If he were in his peak state, Hellsword, as a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, would have kicked Li Yao away like driving a stray dog, if not killing him instantly!
However, right now, Hellsword's ghost was like a hen whose throat was cut off. No matter how hard he struggled and shrieked, he could only be dragged to Li Yao in the end.
"What do you want?" shouted Hellsword in panic, half faked and half in real fear.
Every move that Li Yao took was beyond his expectation. He was no longer confident in the situation now.
Li Yao bound Hellsword's ghost to the front of his breastplate with his spiritual energy, making it a 'shield'. Then he smiled and said, "A Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator must be hiding a lot of precious Cultivation arts, techniques, magical equipment, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures on their body.
"I went through all the trouble and drained all my crystal suits and magical equipment to kill a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. Naturally, I want to search his body thoroughly and see what trophies I have earned.
"However, from a different point of view, if I were a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, I wouldn't want my body to be insulted by the successors and my collections to be looted by my enemy.
"Therefore, I would certainly set up all kinds of traps inside my crystal suit and even hide aggressive magical equipment inside my body. If anybody was going to tear open my crystal suit by brute force and damage my body, then… BOOM! They would pay a good price!
"In the meantime, I would also deploy numerous self-destruction programs in all my Cosmos Rings. If anybody opened the Cosmos Rings by force, the programs would be automatically activated and turn the Cosmos Rings into useless stones!
"The hunters are coming close, and my time is limited. As a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, you are probably not scared by my threats and interrogation. So, I will save the nonsense and simply use you as my shield.
"If there are any traps on your crystal suit and your body, you will be the first to take their blow once they are triggered!
"After all, I am protected by this super crystal suit that boasts amazing specifications, with a lot of additional layers of Super Bendable Steel at the critical areas. With the ghost of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator as my shield, I will not necessarily die even if the traps are triggered.
"However, you are in front of me, and you have no crystal suit or clothes to protect you. The adventure might not be as safe for you, no?"
"Wait. Stop now!" shouted Hellsword, who was struggling crazily.
But Li Yao did not care about him at all. He crouched on one of his knees. The Feathered Dragon Saber flew back to his left arm, but almost a hundred feathers were left and protruded to the front, forming three sharp claws.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao raised his left arm high and was about to stab the claws into the breastplate of Hellsword's crystal suit.
"No. There are traps in my crystal suit and my body. They will explode if you tear them apart!" screamed Hellsword desperately, having no other options.
Chapter 703: You May Die Now |
"I don't like to force people to do anything."
The claws extended by the Feathered Dragon Saber scratched on Hellsword's crystal suit in screeching noises, as Li Yao replied casually, "Say it or not, the choice is all yours. I will get the trophies either way."
"I will. I will."
Hellsword was about to burst into tears.
If he had teeth right now, he would be biting them so hard that they would have crumbled to nothing.
It was true that powerful magical equipment and attack rune arrays had been deployed on his crystal suit and his body. The enemy was bound to trigger the traps once they looted them.
His original plan had been to hide in the darkness as a ghost and attack Li Yao's brain when Li Yao was wounded while searching his body.
But he did not know that the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau was so cunning that the guy not only guessed that he might become a ghost but also took him as a shield!
Is this maniac really an Iron Plateau native who has more brawns than brains?
Hellsword felt like crying.
Deep in thought, he quickly worked out a new scheme now that the previous one had failed. He listed all the traps hesitantly.
"Below the left side of the breastplate, there is a poison vesicle that is controlled by a rune array. If it is touched, it would explode and vaporize all the venom. The solution is…"
"The helmet cannot be ripped off, too. If it is ripped off by brute force, the entire super compressed crystal reactor will explode. The power of the explosion should be enough to blow up the entire building…"
Hellsword suddenly turned obedient and revealed all the traps on the Black Horn Battlesuit.
He had thought that, even if he pointed out all the traps, it would take Li Yao twenty minutes or even longer to dismantle such a complicated and precise crystal suit.
Yet, Li Yao's hands turned into two clusters of black mist in which countless black feathers were flying. After a series of clanging sounds, the Black Horn Battlesuit turned into the most fundamental components and covered on the ground in less than one minute.
Looking at his dead body, Hellsword's ghost shuddered and further concealed his killing intent.
Li Yao eyed the magical equipment on the ground in great satisfaction and complimented, "You do have a lot of treasures with you. The 'Black Horn Battlesuit' is already one of the most expensive crystal suits of the Flying Star Sector, but judging from the plugins here, the money you spent on modifications is almost twice its original price!"
Hellsword was furious, but he noticed the greed in Li Yao's voice. He thought of something and suddenly asked, "I would like to surrender!"
Li Yao could not help but chuckle. "I said exactly the same thing a few minutes back, and we both saw what happened next, didn't we?"
"I know you find it hard to believe, but I'm different from you," Hellsword replied quickly. "You are a big hero with no fear of death, but I am just a selfish Immortal Cultivator. I will do anything in order to survive!
"What I'm about to say is exactly the same as you said. As a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, not only am I familiar with many secrets on Spider Den, I am also aware of the details of the Temple of Immortals. I am very valuable and definitely worth giving a chance!
"If you do not believe me, I can tell you a big secret first as a signal of my sincerity!
"Mountain Sea Black Lotus, the four kings of immortality. The assault on Heavenly Saints City is supervised by the 'Black King', but I am not the Black King!"
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Hellsword's ghost bounced weirdly and condensed hard without alarming anyone, trying to transform into a real spectral Cultivator, while he threw out a piece of shocking news to shift Li Yao's attention. "Just think about it. Although I'm in the Nascent Soul Stage, I always come and go alone, and I don't have any skills in management and administration. How could I plan and implement such a large-scale operation?
"As for who the Black King is exactly, naturally I can't tell you right now. But as long as you accept my surrender and give me a chance to make things right, I will definitely tell you everything that I know."
Li Yao smiled. His hands moved as quickly as wind as he searched Hellsword's body carefully. Eventually, he found four Cosmos Rings.
Li Yao said unhurriedly, "Senior Zhuang, I fear that you're mistaken about something.
"I'm from Iron Plateau. I do not feel very happy that you are causing a mayhem in Heavenly Saints City, but it is not enough for me to burst into outrage without caring about anything.
"You want to make things right, but does it have anything to do with me? I don't care about who the real Black King is at all, either!
"Right now, as a tiny ghost, you are completely at my mercy. I can spare your life or kill you instantly!
"If you want to surrender, give me something I'm interested in!"
"You are not interested in the Black King's identity?" Hellsword shrieked.
"Cultivators may be, but not for me," Li Yao replied. "How about this. The 'Hellsword Arts', your ultimate skill, is indeed marvelous. Despite all the unfavorable circumstances, you managed to cut open such a giant wound on my chest. If I didn't have my left hand, you definitely would have beaten me!
"The sword arts of yours are very creative. I like it!
"Give me your arts, and I will consider your request.
"However, listen up. You only have once chance. Do not try to fool me. The Hellsword is hidden below your foot. Therefore, the sword arts probably originated from a weird kicking skill and are totally different from normal sword arts. I can see through it immediately.
"You said yourself that I am an out-and-out maniac. You don't want to know what a maniac will do when he gets mad, do you?"
Hellsword was dumbfounded, as if Li Yao had dug a hole on his chest and cut his heart away.
Li Yao frowned. "If you would rather not, forget it. A true gentleman does not take away other people's favorites."
"I—I'm willing to!" Hellsword was secretly overjoyed, and yet he shrieked in depression. "My sword arts are in the Cosmos Ring that you found in my hair.
"But the Cosmos Ring has been set with a password and divided into three overlapping rooms. Only after you open the first room can you open the second, and there's a secret rune array below the third room. The passwords for each room are different.
"One wrong password, and the Cosmos Ring will destroy itself immediately. Nobody will get anything from it!
"My sword arts are not kept in the innermost room, but in the jade chip of the ledger in the outermost room after being encrypted!"
Li Yao chuckled and said, "A trick to fool the smart. Normal people would think that the most valuable treasure was hidden in the most inconspicuous room, but you have placed it in the very first room. How cunning of you!"
"Not as cunning as you!" Hellsword replied unhappily. He paused for a moment, and as if admitting his failure completely, he said, "Fine. Struggles are futile now that I've fallen into the hands of such a brutal man like you. I can tell you the passwords of the four Cosmos Rings, they are…
"You can try them yourselves and see if I'm lying.
"Come on. Try the Cosmos Rings, and you will know that I'm genuine. But don't regret. You must accept my request if you take my treasures. You will garner fame and fortune and do other Cultivators a great favor by doing that.
"If you go back on your words, I will not let go of you even if I die!"
Li Yao pondered for a moment and nodded. "Alright!"
While 'alright' was still echoing in the air, the Feathered Dragon Saber suddenly exploded into dozens of black feathers and darted at Hellsword's ghost!
The attack far exceeded Hellsword's expectation. He had thought that Li Yao would not attack him until he verified all the passwords of the Cosmos Rings!
Why now?
The ghost was split into multiple parts before it had the chance to scream. It was not until ten seconds later that the divided ghost was condensed again. But he was feebler than ever now.
Hellsword was dumbfounded. He did not believe that Li Yao was brutal enough to attack without any warning!
Hellsword was totally confused. He shouted angrily, "What—what are you doing?"
"I have a few best friends who are spectral Cultivators."
Li Yao's voice turned extremely calm with no sign of greed at all. He said, "Through them, I have learned a lot of secrets about spectral Cultivators.
"For example, it takes less than ten minutes for an expert like you to transform from a ghost into a spectral Cultivator and restore part of your combat ability. Since you do not have a real body, your attacks will become weirder and more unpredictable than when you were alive.
"Therefore, I made a bold assumption that you did not mean to surrender.
"Since the very beginning, you've been rambling on, and you gave up all the traps on the crystal suit and your body without much struggling.
"In the end, you even told me the secrets of the Hellsword Arts and the passwords of your Cosmos Rings…
"Your only purpose was to buy you more time so that you could be transformed into a real spectral Cultivator. Then, you would launch a fatal attack and reverse the situation!
"Three minutes and fifty-eight seconds have passed since your soul left your body. I was in much more danger right and did not dare to let you condense it any longer."
Hellsword had worked hard for four minutes and was about to be transformed into a real spectral Cultivator, only to be slashed back to the starting line. He was so mad that blue smoke was popping up. "You—you knew it since the beginning. You've been acting!"
"Indeed. You are not the only one who can pretend." Li Yao smiled. "The Hellsword Arts are indeed marvelous. Why would you tell me the passwords of all your Cosmos Rings and the location of the Hellsword Arts honestly if I did not act?
"Right now, I have got everything I want. You may die now. As for your threat, hehe, you think you can ever come back to me now that you've fallen into my hands?"
Li Yao raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
After every snap, a Six-barrel Vulcan Machine Guns would appear in the air. Sixteen guns surrounded Hellsword's ghost, and the bullets were jumping maliciously inside the magazines.
