Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 599
As he expected, a moment later, they appeared inside a devilish warship.
The warship was more than ten times larger than the sky-hunting warship of the Blade of Chaos, with endless pathways around that made it as complicated as a labyrinth.
Following 'Despot' and 'Swirl', Neltharion took multiple turns and passed through the solid defense lines made of the soldiers of the Nether World Watch before it reached a specially made prison cell at the end of a pathway.
The prison cell looked like the stomach of a certain enormous demon beast. It was sticky and damp, with green corrosive liquids filling up the lower part, blocked by rails that looked like tusks.
Li Yao noticed that 'Swirl' touched a piece of pinky meat that was next to the prison cell softly like a feather. Then, the tusks of the room immediately retracted themselves, revealing a hole that could only allow one individual to pass through.
Is this prison cell a living creature?
Li Yao memorized the special technique through which 'Swirl' touched the soft meat.
Despot and Swirl threw the Fire Ant King as well as the stretcher in into the prison cell.
Countless tentacles immediately grew out of the walls and held the stretcher in midair.
The tentacles were similar to the synthesized nerves, with neurons all over them, which made them extremely sensitive. Anything that approached them would trigger their reactions.
The lower half body of the Fire Ant King was soaked in the acids. Burning sounds were echoing nonstop, and black smoke was even popping up from the pool.
Half a day ago, the guy had still been dreaming about leading the Blade of Chaos to its rise, but right now, he had already ended up a prisoner.
His mind seemed to be even more devastated than his depressed face. He had completely lost his fighting will and lowered his head. His antennae dangled down from his forehead like two pieces of rotten wood.
The moment the tusk cage was to be closed, Li Yao riskily steered Neltharion in!
The tusk cage showed no response. Despot and Swirl did not notice anything wrong, either. They simply summoned a team of the Nether World Watch and reminded them of something before they walked away.
It appeared that they were quite confident in Elder Nether Spring's barriers.
Li Yao heaved a long sigh of relief. The most dangerous step had finally been accomplished, however dangerous the process was.
Right then, he heard the deafening noises of the functioning lifts leading to the floor that he was in.
Chapter 902: Invisible Strokes |
The Nether World Watch has come down to search for the remnants of the Blade of Chaos!
The few elites of the Blade of Chaos around Li Yao were all at a loss. Naturally, Li Yao would rather not wait to be captured by them there. He pretended to be panicked and screamed before he dashed into the darkness of the second floor.
The elites of the Blade of Chaos all realized that it was not good. Looking at each other in bewilderment, they shouted and dispersed.
In the darkness, Li Yao's bloody eye was glittering like a shivering red star while he rushed in the darkness.
At that moment, his 'eye' named Neltharion was still in the tusk cage that locked the Fire Ant King. So, it was impossible for him to detect the situation inside the temple, but thankfully, the Fire Ant King had transmitted a large number of maps of the Mausoleum of Chaos over to him, which made him able to find his way.
Maps…
Not good!
Li Yao thought quickly and soon realized that, since such a map was sent over to an ordinary member easily, it was certainly not the complete map.
Besides, if Li Yao had access to such a map, the elites of the Blade of Chaos must have the same map, too. Since they had mostly been captured by the Nether World Watch right now, as long as there were experts adept at mental attacks, the enemy would soon retrieve the map.
Then, the Nether World Watch only needed to follow the map if they wanted to clear every corner of the Mausoleum of Chaos easily.
I have to hide myself in a pathway or room that is not marked on the map!
Li Yao accelerated his speed to maximum and upgraded his optical cells and nerves. The darkness of the pathway was no longer a hinderance for him. While rushing forward, he calculated the route that he had just passed and checked it with the map that the Fire Ant King offered to him, trying to figure out a new direction.
Shouts and screams could vaguely be heard behind him. The few elites of the Blade of Chaos must have been discovered.
Li Yao had no doubt about their loyalty to God Chaos, but against the soul-searching techniques, it would be difficult for them to conceal the fact that one of their companions was still on the run.
He had to find a shelter quickly.
Half an hour later, after running around the maze-like Mausoleum of Chaos multiple times, and when the footsteps and the noises of shells rubbing the wall were drawing close to him, Li Yao finally found a pathway that was not marked on the map.
Without any hesitation, Li Yao crawled into the pathway, embraced by the damp, suffocating air.
Very soon, Li Yao realized why the pathway was not marked on the map.
It was because the pathway was a drainage canal.
The Mausoleum of Chaos had been built below the Star Swallowing Sea. The designers clearly considered what to do if the upper part of the mausoleum collapsed and the lake water poured in.
Therefore, a lot of drainage canals had been established on every floor of the Mausoleum of Chaos. Some of the main drainage canals that were larger in diameter were marked on the map, but the secondary drainage canals that were no larger than capillary vessels were simply ignored.
Since it was a drainage canal, the front would certainly not be a dead end, which met Li Yao's demands precisely. He stuck close to the wall of the drainage canal and turned off every pore on his body while minimizing his heartbeat and the movement of his internal organs. He even compressed his computational ability in order to reduce the flow of the blood in his brain and the heat that his brain emitted.
Li Yao forced himself to become a cold rock and integrate with the environment.
When he finally adjusted his body temperature to thirteen degrees, which was the environment temperature, and closed the last pore on his body, hasty footsteps echoed outside of the drainage canal.
The next moment, a few black beetles flew in.
The beetles were only the size of thumbs, but their heads were embedded with bright yellow crystals that were shooting out beams of light like searchlights.
The interconnecting beams of light drove away the dark fog in front of the drainage canal. Except for the dry moss and the mud, nothing was found at all.
Li Yao appeared to be a frozen statue, but his heart was like a volcano that was about to erupt. The spiritual energy all over his body was ready. Should the light of the black beetles have passed him, he would have immediately crushed the beetles and launched his strongest strike to blow up the entrance of the drainage canal before running away from the other side of it.
Thankfully, due to the vastness of the Mausoleum of Chaos, in order to complete the search in three hours, the Nether World Watch had to increase their speed and could not scrutinize every nook and cranny.
One of the lights narrowly brushed past Li Yao's head and almost touched his hair. But very soon, the three beetles all flew back.
Li Yao maintained a frozen expression and posture. Even his eyelids seemed to have become made of iron. He did not move his body at all until ten minutes later when the footsteps gradually left the area. Finally, he expanded the pores on his body one by one again.
Sitting cross-legged, Li Yao took a deep breath. Although he was in the middle of a cold, humid drainage canal, he still put on a smile in great relief.
The enemy was in the light while he walked in the shadows. Elder Nether Spring thought that he had everything under his control. He would never expect that such a dangerous variable named Li Yao was still lurking in the depths of the Mausoleum of Chaos.
The game was finally back to the pace that Li Yao was familiar with.
Let's analyze the situation first.
Firstly, since Elder Nether Spring has put so much efforts into the Mausoleum of Chaos, he is clearly very interested in the legacy of Chaos, too. Chances are that he is even going to study the tomb on the spot and move all the valuable treasures within the Mausoleum of Chaos back to his place.
Secondly, with Elder Nether Spring's identity and social position, it is very unlikely that he will spend all his time in this place. In another few days, he will have to return to the Pantheon of Demons. Otherwise, the other demon emperors will certainly grow suspicious of him.
When Elder Nether Spring is away and all that is left is the Nether World Watch to defend the place, I will be able to do a lot of things.
After figuring everything out, Li Yao was even calmer than before. He took out a huge amount of high-nutrition food and refilled himself, planning to fight a protracted battle against Elder Nether Spring.
At this moment, he suddenly frowned because the other picture inside his brain was a bit weird.
On the devilish warship right above his head, inside the tusk cage, Neltharion had been lurking in a corner of the cage in absolute stillness, fearing that it might be discovered.
However, after the experts such as 'Despot' and 'Swirl' all left, the Fire Ant King, who had been as silent as rotten wood, suddenly raised his head.
There was still nothing but gloom and desperation on his face. Even his eyes had changed into a lethargic gray color.
But the pair of gray eyes now gazed at Neltharion without blinking at all.
At first, Li Yao thought that it was a coincidence.
But the Fire Ant King stared at Neltharion for more than ten minutes, without even moving his neck.
Li Yao could not help it any longer and steered Neltharion to move for one centimeter in midair.
The Fire Ant King's eyes moved 0.1 degrees and locked onto Neltharion again.
Have I been discovered?
Li Yao felt dizzy. He could not figure out at all why the Fire Ant King could perceive Neltharion when Elder Nether Spring, Despot, and Swirl all failed to.
However, Li Yao's plan required the cooperation of the Fire Ant King. Or rather, faced with the formidable enemies such as Elder Nether Spring and the Nether World Watch, it was inevitable that he got in touch with the Fire Ant King.
Even if the Fire Ant King did not find him, he would have to find a way to catch his attention through Neltharion, too.
However, how exactly were the two of them going to communicate?
In the beginning, Li Yao had not expected that the Fire Ant King would be locked up in such a weird cage.
If it were an ordinary prison cell, Li Yao could have flown Neltharion to the Fire Ant King's chest or back and communicated with him directly via writing.
But right now, the Fire Ant King's body was connected to highly-sensitive nerves. Chances were that his every breath and heartbeat would be recorded precisely. Any irregular movement would certainly raise the suspicion of the guards.
Right then, Li Yao noticed that the Fire Ant King suddenly blinked his half-closed eyes. Then, he bulged his eyes and coughed in great pain.
While he was coughing hard, his eyeballs were shivering rapidly, now to left and now to right.
What's the meaning of this?
Li Yao did not dare to ignore his action. After observing for a moment, Li Yao realized that the Fire Ant King's eyes were moving in a very special pattern.
If his pupils were regarded as the point of a pen, every movement of his eyes was actually writing a stroke!
Left, down, slash, backslash, dot. The closing of eyelids marked the end of a character.
Although there were dozens of combinations of the same strokes, Li Yao was able to deduce all the possible results with his tremendous computational ability and assemble them. After thousands of attempts within a breath, he read a sentence from the Fire Ant King's eyes.
"Fly to my chest."
Li Yao pondered for a moment. It was necessary for him to establish communication with the Fire Ant King under the noise of the Nether World Watch, and if the Fire Ant King coughed hard and rolled his eyes for a long time, even a moron would know that the prisoner was up to something.
Li Yao had no choice but to steer Neltharion to approach the Fire Ant King's chest, passing through the highly-sensitive nerves one after another prudently.
Then, Li Yao sensed that a stream of vague demonic energy leaked out of the Fire Ant King's chest and touched Neltharion's shell softly like cotton.
Demonic energy?
The Fire Ant King can still trigger the demonic energy? How is that possible?
Li Yao was greatly surprised.
Everything was now easier now that the Fire Ant King could still trigger his demonic energy. Neltharion was a training ship in the Star Ocean Imperium and equaled to a mini version of Sparkle. It boasted all the functions that a real crystal warship did.
When Li Yao was in the Building Foundation Stage, he could only activate the most fundamental functions and let Neltharion serve as a scouting ship in the stealth mode.
Now that Li Yao was close to the Nascent Soul Stage, he was able to activate more functions on Neltharion.
Neltharion was enveloped by the invisible demonic energy. Because of the short distance, the precise changes of the demonic energy could form simple strokes like just before, and Li Yao could observe them to form complete sentences.
In the same way, there were a lot of turrets and stabilizer fins on the surface of Neltharion that could stand for different strokes when they were moving, too!
Li Yao span, moved three turrets and stabilizer fines, and gave a specific stroke to every movement. By drawing, he slowly finished a sentence.
"Do you understand?"
The changes of Neltharion could be accurately fed back to the Fire Ant King's demonic energy. After groping for more than ten minutes, the Fire Ant King rubbed the shell of Neltharion with his demonic energy. "I do!"
Every sentence of the communication would consume a huge amount of time and computational ability.
But in such a way, the two of them finally reached out to each other right under the nose of Elder Nether Spring!
Chapter 903: Divine Blood of Chaos |
After figuring out the mechanism of communication, the Fire Ant King could not wait but shiver his demonic energy, asking, "Who are you? Be clear about the situation!"
"I'm the only one who can save you right now," Li Yao snapped mercilessly, "so I'm going to ask the questions, and you will answer them!"
The Fire Ant King blinked. There was indifference that resulted from the deepest desperation on his face, but his demonic energy trembled rapidly and formed a silent refutation. "Hilarious. You have escaped the attention of Elder Nether Spring and the Nether World Watch, indicating that you must be in the demon emperor stage.
"Would a demon emperor jump out of nowhere and risk offending Elder Nether Spring and rescuing me just because of his sense of justice?
"You are here to rescue me because it concerns your own interest. Therefore, you are not my life-saver but merely a partner for me."
Li Yao sneered. "Even if we are partners, you are now on the weak side and have no chips to bargain with me at all!
"You have only one chance. It depends on you whether we make a deal or not. If we split apart right now, naturally, I will suffer losses, but your losses will certainly be no less than mine."
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and then replied frankly as soon as he made up his mind. "Alright. You ask, I answer!"
"You are certainly not as feeble as you appear to be." Li Yao immediately said. "You are concealing part of your strength. Why?"
The former part of the sentence was not a question but a statement. Li Yao's real question was only the reason.
"It's simple," the Fire Ant King replied casually. "The moment Elder Nether Spring showed up, I knew that I was already crushed.
"Nether Spring must've been preparing traps since a long time ago. Right then, since he came to openly fight against me, he certainly had thorough plans. Even if I tried my best to counterattack, I would have been screwed anyway. Why would I struggle so hard if so?
"It was obviously a better idea to reserve part of my strength and mislead Nether Spring. Should there be any new changes later, there would be a slim chance that I might reverse the outcome of the battle.
"Look—"
Although the communication with shivering air could not express the action of 'laughing out aloud', Li Yao could feel the delight in the Fire Ant King's information. "Hasn't a change appeared now already?"
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "I can deal with Elder Nether Spring together with you, but I have to know the relationship between two brothers and Chaos first."
"It's too complicated," the Fire Ant King replied. "Where do I begin?"
"From the very beginning. You are free to tell lies, as long as you are confident that your theory makes sense," Li Yao said coldly.
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and sighed. "It all began a long, long time ago in a place far, far away.
"At that time, Nether Spring and I were not dominators of the Insect Clan yet—merely two generals fighting on the frontline.
"In this world, the strong prey on the weak, and the final winner will be the king. Even without the total war against the Heaven's Origin Sector, the internal strife has been unceasing, with blood shed everywhere.
"Nether Spring and I were silver-blood demons on the surface, but we were the side descendants of a big family. Because of our distinguished capability, the main descendants were wary of us and even framed us up by assigning a suicidal mission to us.
"During the perilous mission, we were ambushed by the elites of the enemy, and our troops were entirely wiped out. Nether Spring and I managed to break out of the siege, but we were separated from each other because of the havoc of the battlefield.
