Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 485
On the left side of their breastplates, 'Immortality' was painted in an ancient style.
Those people were not space pirates but the armed forces directly under the command of the Temple of Immortals. It was sort of the regular army of the Immortal Cultivators.
More than one year ago, when the Temple of Immortals revealed itself on Spider Den, it had recruited a lot of talents for its regular army.
However, the requirements of the 'Immortal Army' was quite rigorous. Most of the candidates were screened because they could not complete the tests.
Those who passed the tests were all one-in-a-thousand experts.
It was said that they had been further trained and cleansed by the Temple of Immortals after they were recruited with many secret arts from the era of the Flying Star coalition government that had been lost for thousands of years. After only a few months, they would be transformed completely!
Fengyu Zhong had summoned Li Yao to a training camp of Black Spider Tower.
There were already dozens of space pirates in the hall when Li Yao went into the training camp.
When they saw him, they did not hide the wariness and hostility in their eyes at all.
The most notorious bandits on Spider Den are all here!
Li Yao glanced around and found his heart beating faster.
After a quick look, he noticed several brutal persons who were not only on the top of the wanted lists of Cultivators but also intimidating enough even in the circle of space pirates.
A kind-looking old man whose hair and beard were white was standing on his left side. His name was Master Phantom Sea, and he had originally been an elder of the Silver Moon Clan, one of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City.
However, when his campaign to become the leader of the sect failed, he dealt with the new leader with poison in secret out of hatred. However, his scheme failed. The Silver Moon Clan sent quite a few experts to capture him. He slew one Core Formation Stage Cultivators and almost twenty Building Foundation Stage Cultivators, before he ran away from Heavenly Saints City to Spider Den.
From then on, he had become a great bandit roaming through space. He was absolutely merciless during his jobs, especially when he ran into the carriers under the name of the Silver Moon Clan. No living creatures would be left!
Standing next to Master Phantom Sea was a muscular man more than 2.3 meters tall. His muscles bulged out to an unbelievable degree, and his eyes looked like burning bronze bells. White air currents were spurting out of his nostrils nonstop. He looked like an infuriated ox that had been stuffed into the shell of a human being!
The man was carrying two crossed giant axes that were even broader than doors on his back. The edges of the axes were covered in dents and blood stains, a signal that they had devoured countless innocent souls. Just one glance at them was enough to make people feel creepy.
The muscular man was named 'Bloody Axe'. He was the champion of the underground arenas of Spider Den.
Space pirates were all brutal, but the underground arenas thousands of meters below the surface were lawless, cruel places, even for them. Even the strongest fighter might not be able to survive ten competitions when they were sent to the arenas.
'Bloody Axe', on the other hand, was the only expert who had fought a hundred battles in the underground arenas and retired alive over the past several decades.
Although he was merely in the beginning level of the Core Formation Stage, he would slash ruthlessly at those in the middle level of the Core Formation Stage or even at the peak when he went mad!
A short, lovely girl was hiding in the shadow behind Bloody Axe. Her clear eyes and her slender body made her absolutely unfit for the dirty environment. She was almost like a hostage that the space pirates had brought here.
But Li Yao knew for a fact that the woman who looked like a teenager in high school was at least seventy years old. She was known as 'Fairy Coral', and she was even more dangerous than the awe-inspiring 'Bloody Axe'.
The coral snake was the most beautiful and the most fatal!
When she first showed up, she was merely a mistress of the leader of a pirate gang. Everybody considered her to be a simple toy and did not think too much of her.
But soon, the pirate gang she stayed in had a clash with a bigger pirate gang. After the pirate gang was swallowed, she was naturally a trophy to serve the new leader.
Then, all the leaders of the pirate gangs who accepted her would suffer a uncanny disaster within the next year, as if she had been cursed. They were either swallowed by other pirate gangs, or assassinated, or executed by Cultivators when their hunting jobs were leaked out and they were captured.
In short, whichever pirate gang she stayed in, it would be destroyed soon after, and she was always able to take the most valuable treasures of the pirate gang.
Rumor had it that she was adept at the skills of enchantment and had been practicing a certain evil technique that could absorb other people's vitality to maintain her youth.
Many space pirates who were bewildered and fooled by her once united and went looking for vengeance, only to never be found again.
Therefore, the space pirates all honored her as 'Fairy Coral' when she was present and called her 'Witch Coral' behind her back.
Li Yao's most attention was focused on four space pirates. Other than the three of them, the fourth space pirate was a dwarf no higher than 1.3 meters with extremely short limbs.
The dwarf named 'Wang Haha' had a rarely-seen profession on Spider Den.
He was a thief.
Spider Den was a congregation of bandits. Yet, a thief had appeared in the home of the bandits, and he was not a random thief but a famous one. Everybody knew how he made his living, but he had still lived his life happily for decades.
Two things were obvious.
Firstly, his skills were good, to the point that other people could not catch him even though they knew that he was a thief.
Secondly, he was very strong. Even if a space pirate knew that their items had been stolen by him, they did not dare ask for them back.
Everybody on Spider Den knew that Wang Haha stole everything, including heads, especially those on necks that could still talk and laugh.
Li Yao looked around and was somewhat relieved.
Those who had been invited there were all lone wolves that did not belong to any organization and mercenaries who did their jobs for rewards.
For the pure combat-type Cultivators there, they were no lower than the peak of the Building Foundation Stage. Many of the experts there were in the high level of the Core Formation Stage, too.
For those lower than the peak of the Building Foundation Stage, they all had a certain specialty other than combat.
For example, he was an explosion expert, Fairy Coral was good at enchanting skills, and Wang Haha was an all-stealing thief.
While he was pondering, Wang Haha moved his stout body toward him in a very troublesome way.
As he was observing other people, other people were observing him, too.
Over the past month, 'Bloody Vulture' had been quite a resounding name in the circle of space pirates. Seeing that the newly-risen brutal guy had been summoned by Fengyu Zhong, too, those seasoned bandits were quite surprised.
"You are Bloody Vulture from Silver Wing City. Then you must know who I am. Hahahaha!"
Wang Haha extended his short hands and blinked, while he said, "I'm told that your hands are very fast, and you can plant crystal bombs on other people without them knowing. As it happens, my hands are fast, too, and I can take out anything from other people without them knowing!
"You put things inside, and I take them out. The two of us should hang out together more!"
Wang Haha's voice was high and sharp. He immediately attracted all the space pirates' attention.
The seasoned bandits all looked at them with great interest, looking forward to the competition between the two 'quick-hands'.
Fairy Coral observed Li Yao from top to bottom carefully. Weird brilliance beamed out of her eyes, as she tried to lean close to Bloody Axe.
But Bloody Axe quickly retreated as if she were a ghost. It was obvious that he did not want to have physical contact with the woman who could absorb other people's vitality.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. His lips curled up into a smile while he extended his right hand to Wang Haha.
Chapter 725: Fengyu Zhong's Promises |
Bo!
As their right hands touched each other lightly, explosions resembling the sound of an air tank being broken apart immediately echoed in the hall.
The space pirates whose eyes were not keen enough could only see that dazzling brilliance was breaking out of Li Yao and Wang Haha's hands.
Those who had sharper eyes, on the other hand, saw their ten fingers were enlengthened abruptly at the same time, as if they had grown another ten joints and as if all the bones on the fingers were gone. Their hands whipped and entangled each other like two infuriated octopuses. Every finger was like a serpent that tried to crush the opponent's fingers!
When the bystanders blinked and tried to see more clearly, after another 'Bo' sound, Li Yao's and Wang Haha's right hands were both thrown away, as if an invisible bomb had exploded between them.
Wang Haha carried out agility disproportional to his fatness and flew almost ten meters back like a balloon before he landed on the ground without causing a sound. He blew at his right hand that was slightly red and smiled. "Your right hand is indeed quite fast. Haha. Hahahaha!"
His right hand was slightly swollen, with steam popping up. But like a magic trick, his left hand waved and three eye-catching balls appeared in the gaps between his fingers.
Li Yao touched his pocket, and his face lost its color.
Wang Haha was still laughing. His left hand did not seem to be moving at all, but the three crystal balls, which were almost transparent, were dissected into tiny components that were swirling above his palm slowly. Three small crystals were glittering and emitting dangerous brilliance.
The space pirates gasped and realized that, while Wang Haha was competing with Li Yao with his right hand, his left hand had stolen three crystal bombs from Li Yao's pocket without any of the audience noticing. Moreover, he had dismantled the crystal bombs into the most fundamental components and completely disarmed them!
He truly deserved to be called an all-stealing thief!
For a moment, many space pirates were sneering.
They were all the time-tested bandits on Spider Den. Although they had their own conflicts, none of them liked the newcomer who had skyrocketed to fame in the past month.
Now that Wang Haha had taught Li Yao a lesson, the bandits were all gloating in great satisfaction.
Li Yao frowned. His eyes were cold, but he did not burst into fury.
After another two notorious bandits arrived at the hall, the illumination rune arrays on the ceiling gradually dimmed. A beam of light fell down and formed a vivid phantom.
It was exactly Fengyu Zhong, who had just entered the Nascent Soul Stage and was aiming to become the new dominator of Spider Den!
This was the first time that Li Yao had met the old, cunning bandit face to face. He could not help but feel a bit nervous.
In a black cloak, Fengyu Zhong hid most of his face in the shadow below his hat, making him even more mysterious.
He coughed and said unhurriedly, "Everybody here is a well-known hero of Spider Den. You are either long-known or only rose to fame recently—"
When he mentioned 'rose to fame recently', many space pirates looked at Li Yao.
Wang Haha even chuckled without trying to hide it.
Before his laughter stopped, a shriek suddenly burst out behind his neck!
The shriek was both like the cry of a ghost and the howl of a wolf. It sounded like a cat that fell from a room at midnight. He felt that a devil was lurking right behind his neck!
Every space pirate felt their head spin. They looked at Wang Haha in great surprise.
Wang Haha jumped up instantly, his face so twisted that even he would not have recognized himself. As if he had installed springs on his arms and legs and removed their joints, their lengths were suddenly doubled while he groped on his back. He jumped up and down and searched for a long time before he took a round ball off his back!
Everybody could tell that the round ball looked exactly the same as the crystal bombs that Wang Haha had just stolen from Li Yao's pocket.
"When did Bloody Vulture plant the bomb on Wang Haha's back?"
"Thankfully, it was just a shriek. If it had detonated instantly…"
Wang Haha's face was even redder than a pig's liver, while he glared at Li Yao in both fear and shock, with cold sweat all over his face.
Li Yao smiled. "Don't be scared. It's a false one. The real bomb is in somewhere else."
Wang Haha was relieved when he heard the first half of the sentence, but the latter half made him jump up again and fumble hard all over his body with a pale face.
"Five seconds remaining."
Li Yao announced the countdown calmly. "Five… Four… Three…"
All the space pirates were dumbfounded. They could not believe that Li Yao had planted two micro crystal bombs on Wang Haha during the short competition, nor could they believe that he would be so insane as to detonate the bomb right in front of Fengyu Zhong!
But judging from his confident and casual appearance, the guy did not seem to be bluffing.
Wang Haha was waving his hands and legs crazily, his tears almost flowing out. His coolness a moment ago was entire gone.
Like a monkey that was trying to scratch the lice on its body, Wang Haha's hands and feet turned into a gray blur. He almost wished that he had a tail to help with the search now. He was about to take off his shirts and pants, but he failed to locate the crystal bomb!
"Two… One…"
Li Yao dragged his tone.
The space pirates were secretly alarmed. "Is—is he lying to Wang Haha? How could he have planted a second crystal bomb on Wang Haha without Wang Haha noticing?"
Wang Haha's face lost its color. He screamed and crossed his hands. Then, he tore off a piece of man-made skin the size of a fingernail from the back of his right hand!
Below the man-made skin was a black 'millet' seed. There was no telling when it had been stuck to the back of his hand. He was in so much of a hurry to search for all his body parts that he did not realize it was right on his hand!
Wang Haha hurried to toss the fake skin to the ground.
BOOM!
The floor that was made of solid granite was left with a hole more than half a meter deep.
Cold sweat was popping up on every space pirate's forehead.
Half a second later, and Wang Haha's right hand would've been wasted, if he was not killed on the spot!
"This Bloody Vulture's capability is more terrifying than in the rumors. He planted two crystal bombs on Wang Haha in the blink of an eye in such a sordid way!"
"But how did he do it?"
"Wang Haha is an almighty thief. His hands must be more sensitive than his mouth. How did he not feel anything wrong when his hands were stuck with fake skin?"
Looking at the smoke rising up from the ground, Wang Haha collapsed into his seat, all his strength gone. He licked the back of his hand and mumbled, "Snake Hemp Flower?"
The space pirates immediately realized what had happened. Snake Hemp Flower was an anesthetic material. The liquids purified from the Snake Hemp Flower could serve as ingredients for thousands of different anesthetics.
It was obvious that Bloody Vulture had smeared the anesthetic refined from Snake Hemp Flower on the fake skin and stuck it to the back of Wang Haha's hand while the thief was too busy stealing his crystal bombs.
Wang Haha's right hand was red and swollen after the fierce competition just now. Because of the burning heat, his sensitivity had been significantly reduced. Together with the numbing of the Snake Hemp Flower, Wang Haha did not realize that a foreign object was on the back of his hand.
All the space pirates swallowed hard.
Even the all-stealing thief who counted on sensitivity and alertness such as Wang Haha was ambushed by Bloody Vulture without him knowing. If it were them…
No other space pirates dared eye Li Yao in a scornful way anymore. Few of them had the courage to look back when he looked at them.
The weird brilliance in Fairy Coral's eyes, on the other hand, became even brighter. She looked at him and did not hide her interest in him at all.
Wang Haha breathed hard and glared at Li Yao in fury, but he lowered his head helplessly, knowing that he had been crushed in the competition today!
Fengyu Zhong's phantom observed the situation without saying anything, and he did not intend to stop them at all. It was not until this moment that he smiled. "It is beyond my expectation that so many great heroes answered my call to gather in this place. Whatever grudges you had in the past, you are at least comrades on the same boat at this moment. We should work together against the common enemy!
"Time is precious. I will explain the situation as quickly as possible."
"Over the past two months, Bai Xinghe betrayed us and launched his counterattack. He has been killing and robbing on Spider Den to expand his forces. Many flip-floppers chose to join his side again, too.
"Tomorrow night, he will be organizing what he calls a 'Meeting of Heroes in Space'. Every well-known space pirate has been invited to attend. He claims that he will bring out all the Cultivation arts and secret treasures he excavated from the underground fortress of Spider Den as rewards in the battle!
"It is not hard to guess that, after the meeting, all the space pirates on Bai Xinghe's side will attack with all their might and fight the final battle with us!
