Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 949
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
As if enveloped in the sharpest fishing net, Li Yao's body was covered in hundreds of wounds, and his blood was flooding out!
Dozens of sword auras had closely entangled his hands, leaving him no chance at all to move his fingers and summon the magical equipment from his Cosmos Rings!
Li Yao's heart was almost frozen, but it was beating at a frequency of more than five hundred times per minute the next moment, accelerating the blood and spiritual energy circulation inside his body to the maximum!
It was the most dangerous battle after he had reached the Ancient Sages Sector, even more dangerous than the one between him and Yan Liren.
After all, at that time, Yan Liren had merely been testing his sword and did not mean to kill him.
However, Li Yao could perceive the infinite, sharpest killing intent from Long Yangjun!
Li Yao could only keep retreating until he was at the edge of the desolate island.
All the sharp-edged rocks on the desolate island had been cut apart by Long Yangjun's shocking sword auras, turning into thousands of pebbles.
Li Yao had no retreat now. Behind him was a cliff. If he jumped off the cliff, he would be in an awkward position where he lost balance for a brief moment.
Faced with a swordsman as terrifying as Long Yangjun, it was definitely an action no different from washing himself and sending himself to a chopping block!
Li Yao could only bellow. The blood spurting out of his body, mixed with the pebbles, turned into a saber of blood and slashed toward Long Yangjun!
Long Yangjun's lips curled into a cruel smile. There was not the slightest panic on her face at all. She looked like a cat that was playing with a mouse. She ran toward the saber of blood without any evasion, and after her body was cut in half by the bloody saber, those halves turned into two phantoms!
Below the cliff behind Li Yao, a cluster of even more intense sword auras were bursting out!
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. He had absolutely no idea when Long Yangjun had hidden herself below the cliff escaping his senses!
However, the next moment, he realized that it was another sordid scam. It was impossible for Long Yangjun to hide below the cliff. She had merely transmitted an astonishing aura and hidden it behind him while the storm of sword auras was raging!
It was the old distraction trick!
Long Yangjun was still in front of him!
But there was no time!
Li Yao tried his best to move to the left, but he still heard the noise of his ribs breaking apart and his blood flooding out!
He smashed into the edge of the desolate island, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. The sword auras were galloping inside his body, destroying all the spiritual energy circulation pathways. The spiritual waves that he released grew ever feebler, too.
It was not until this moment that all the starry brilliance dancing around the desolate island was finally condensed in Long Yangjun's hand, turning into a longsword that seemed to be made of countless brilliant diamonds!
Long Yangjun had heavily wounded Li Yao after only one attack, but she did not take the chance to pursue him. Instead, a streak of brightness jerked out of her Cosmos Ring and turned into a round piece of magical equipment the size of a goose egg. It was riddled with dense holes and looked like a queer honeycomb.
Weird sound waves were emanating from every hole of the honeycomb. The humming sounds would have made anyone who heard them extremely uncomfortable!
Judging from the color on the surface of the weird magical equipment, it was fashioned through the most cutting-edge technology and definitely not something that the natives of the Ancient Sages Sector could craft. Just like the map core, it seemed to be a product of the Nuwa Clan!
"This magical equipment is named Sound Nest. It is not used to attack the enemy but can release special sound waves that can block all Cosmos Rings in the hundreds of square meters nearby," Long Yangjun said with a smile. "You will not be able to store anything into them or take anything out.
"Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you are the well-known Grandmaster of Great Zhou and one of the best masters of refining in the Ancient Sages Sector. So, you certainly count on all kinds of peculiar magical equipment in your battle.
"Your Cultivation and mine are on par, and the outcome of our battle depends on the seemingly insignificant details. Right now, you are heavily wounded, and you cannot retrieve the magical equipment in your Cosmos Rings. How much confidence do you have that you can defeat me with my secret sword?
"Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you are a smart man. There's no need to act recklessly and ask to be killed now, right?"
"Cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough, cough!" Li Yao vomited a mouthful of blood. Licking his teeth that were covered in blood, he stared at Long Yangjun like a wolf that had fallen into a trap and shouted, "You are not Long Yangjun. Long Yangjun does not exist at all. You are Wang Xi!"
Wang Xi smiled. "Long Yangjun or Wang Xi, it is just a reference. A man like me certainly has countless identities and names. Are you surprised?"
"I should've seen it coming!" Li Yao smiled bitterly. "Wang Xi is a thoughtful, ambitious man. How could he have given ultimate treasures like the Thousand Star Trays and the map core to a random subordinate, and how could he have let a subordinate learn so many secrets about himself? Also, as a subordinate, you were too chatty!
"I'm just confused. If you are Wang Xi, why didn't you reveal in real capabilities in the beginning instead of being so disgraced?"
"As I said just now," Wang Xi casually said, "my Cultivator and yours are on par, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture. If we cannot find the enemy's fatal opening, there's nothing we can do about each other. Even if I had revealed my real capabilities in the beginning, the best I could've expected was to defeat you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture. But it would've been barely impossible to capture you!"
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. "You were planning to capture me from the beginning?"
"Of course!" Wang Xi smiled. "Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you are an extraordinary person who has risen to fame in less than half a year. When I said that I'd admired you for a long time, I wasn't lying. Besides, you are proficient in the arts of refining, which will be a great help during the exploration of the Divine Palace. If you join the great cause, our mission's odds of success will be significantly increased!
"Therefore, I've been waiting for the best opportunity so that we can talk with each other nicely and uninterrupted!"
Li Yao gnashed his teeth. "Wasn't it the best opportunity when Mother White Lotus chased after us?"
"No." Wang Xi shook his head. "For those with our Cultivation, they might not be captured even when they are terribly outnumbered. Qi Zhongdao and the other experts attacked Mother White Lotus together and failed to kill her. How could I be confident that I could stop you if Mother White Lotus and I dealt with you together?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why didn't you attack in the febrile typhoon?"
"It was still not the best opportunity." Glamorous brilliance beamed out of Wang Xi's eyes as he laughed. "Besides, even I did not foresee that you would be insane enough to crash into the febrile typhoon. There were too many unexpected factors back then, and I was still not a hundred percent sure that I could suppress you!
"The best opportunity was when you eased your wariness after we reached the place and even considered removing the shackle on my body!
"According to my plan, I should've been able to suppress Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture after only one move, but I didn't know that you had such sensitive natural instincts. As a result, I was forced to go through additional trouble!"
Staring at the shackle in a daze, Li Yao mumbled, "How did you break free from the shackle? Nobody, even a Cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, could've broken free from my shackle so easily!"
The brilliance inside Wang Xi's eyes were brighter and brighter, as he declared, one word after another, "Nothing can ever trap me. Not just a tiny shackle, even this world cannot keep me in custody!"
Li Yao's facial muscles were twisting as he said in a hoarse voice, "Now that I have fallen into your hands and am completely at your mercy, I wonder, how are you going to deal with me?"
"Believe it or not, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, I am sincerely inviting you to join the operation to explore the Divine Palace!" Wang Xi said. "After all, none of the other three of the Four Rapscallions are easy to deal with. Even if I honestly hope that the team will work out eventually, I'm not confident that they do not have other plans to themselves. It will be excellent if I have additional help on my side!
"However, I know that you are certainly not going to cooperate with me dutifully and work as my assistant without complaint, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture.
"Even if you swear to the heavens that you will cooperate with me, I will not believe any of it.
"Therefore…"
Chapter 1460: One Step Close! |
Wang Xi's eyes were like a saber with hooks that were passing through every critical part on Li Yao's body. His smile grew more and more intense as he unhurriedly said, "Only if I plant a minor barrier inside your body to ensure that you won't do anything stupid that will harm the both of us can we expect to strike a deal."
"A barrier?" Li Yao rolled his eyes and immediately understood everything. He could not help but sneer. "You are trying to turn me into your lackey who will do the dirty and dangerous work for you.
"Right. You are not cooperating with Qi Changsheng, Han Baling, and Wan Mingzhu sincerely, either. After all the secrets about the Divine Palace are excavated, you'll figure out a way to eradicate all of them!
"It's a pity that dealing the three of them by yourself is too tricky, but if I serve as your lackey, and if we attack them one by one when they are not prepared, chances are that we will be able to eliminate them one after another. This will be my greatest usage!"
Wang Xi replied without giving consent or disapproval. "Even if I say that there is no plan to eliminate Wan Mingzhu, Han Baling, and Qi Changsheng, you still won't believe it, will you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?"
"It doesn't matter to me at all whether or not you want to eliminate the three of them. I only want to know how I can be assured that you will not eliminate me after the job is done so that you can swallow all the gains. After all, if you plant a barrier inside my body, my life will be completely at your mercy!"
Opening his hands, Wang Xi said in a seemingly genuine way, "I don't have any fundamental conflicts of interests with you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture. Why do I have to eliminate you?
"Han Baling, Wan Mingzhu, and Qi Changsheng are all leaders of a great force. Their ambitions are not just about themselves but to overturn the entire world! If you accuse me of planning to eliminate the three of them, I think that it at least makes sense.
"However, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, you are a relatively simple Cultivator. You do not seem to be interested in power!
"If we cooperate with each other, we can both take what we need. Everything inside the Divine Palace that is related to the primeval refining arts will be yours. You will also be allowed to study the Cloud Qin Gold Statues freely. In the future, if I build an army of Cloud Qin Gold Statues, you will be responsible for all the refining work. Wouldn't it be terrific?"
"Sounds like a plan," Li Yao said coldly. "However, your promise is too weak and unconvincing. I am not willing to let somebody else gain control over my life in any case!"
Wang Xi's voice grew even colder. "You don't have a choice!
"You can let me plant a barrier in you and cooperate with me obediently. Chances are that you will have some lucky encounters during the exploration of the Divine Palace that allow you to reverse the situation. Maybe, I will truly fulfil my promise and set you free in the end!
"Or, you can die now!"
Grabbing his crystal sword, Wang Xi pushed close to Li Yao, one step after another.
Li Yao's breath became more and more hasty, and the blood flowing around his body had almost froze into crimson amber. He suddenly gnashed his teeth. "Wait. I can cooperate with you, but I have to know more about the Divine Palace!"
Wang Xi stopped, apparently not expecting Li Yao to propose such a weird request. Deep in thought, he looked at Li Yao suspiciously.
"I'll calculate the odds of me being killed to keep my mouth shut after the exploration of the Divine Palace based on the information about the Divine Palace so that I can decide whether or not I should cooperate with you!" Li Yao explained. "If I will certainly be killed after the job is done, is there any need for me to be humiliated for a longer time? I might as well put up one last struggle right now!"
Wang Xi narrowed his eyes into two coldly shining stars as he declared, one word after another, "As I said, you don't have a choice!"
"I don't, but you do!" Li Yao gnashed his teeth. "You can choose to tell me everything about the Divine Palace. Then, it is possible that you will gain the full hearted supported of a top-tier expert who is on par with Qi Changsheng, Han Baling, and Wan Mingzhu. My refining arts will certainly prove to be of great use during the exploration, too!
"Alternatively, you can choose to kill me here and now. As a result, not only will you lose a potential lackey, you might also suffer irreversible wounds!
"You don't think that I don't have any way to hurt you without my magical equipment, do you?
"If I may remind you, during the exploration of the Divine Palace, you will have to be involved in competitions of wisdom and strength with some of the most brutal people in the world. It won't be good if you suffer certain uncanny 'minor injuries' before the job, right?"
Li Yao cackled like a crow.
Wang Xi stared at him for a long time. His brow furrowed, loosened, and furrowed again. "Alright. I stand by what I said. I am truly meaning to cooperate with you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture. The barrier that I am to implement on your body is just a helpless choice. To show my sincerity, I would like to tell you the backstory of everything."
"Then, speak now." Li Yao licked his bloodstained lips and pricked his ears. "I'm all ears!"
"The so-called Divine Palace…"
Wang Xi's eyes suddenly lose focus, as if he were mired in remote memories a long time ago.
However, the next second, his eyes refocused, sharpened, and shone again!
With a grave face, he bit his lips, and vague confusion was circling his face. He sniffed the air carefully, as if he had perceived something highly dangerous!
"Something's not right!" Wang Xi mumbled. He focused his eyes on Li Yao again, especially his left arm, which was dangling behind him softly because the veins and nerves inside seemed to have been cut off.
"Show me your left hand!" Wang Xi yelled. His crystal sword was humming, and the starry brilliance was all set to be launched!
Li Yao appeared slightly dazed. There was bafflement on his face, as if he did not understand what Wang Xi meant.
There was a deep bloody hole on his left shoulder, which suggested that the shoulder bone and the joint had been minced apart by the sword auras earlier. His left arm had been entirely crippled.
Since crashing into the land earlier, his left hand had been folded behind him the whole time.
At this point, he could only pick up his left hand with his right hand. While reaching for it, he grunted, "I think my left arm is bro—"
Before he finished the last word, a series of explosions suddenly echoed deep inside Li Yao's left arm, as if a soft-skinned snake whose bones had all been crushed was turning into the most ferocious dinosaur!
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The skin on Li Yao's left arm turned black and green. Then, it grew a layer of greasy scales. Bone spurs were also ejected from his flesh like sharp blades.
His five fingers expanded in size in that moment, too. The round crystal in the middle of his palm was boosted because of the energy triggered by the mitochondria!
"Cell Obliteration Cannon, attack!"
The moment that he crashed, Li Yao had ordered the mental devil to activate as many as possible primeval cells inside his left arm, repair the body at the highest speed, and accumulate the power of the Cell Obliteration Cannon bit by bit!
With just another half a minute, and nothing more, the Cell Obliteration Cannon would have been brimming with enough energy to cover the entire desolate island!
It was beyond his expectations for Wang Xi's sense of danger to be so keen, capable of catching the vague demonic energy flowing in the air. Li Yao was forced to change his plan and attacked in a hurry!
Hiu!
A pillar of the purest, ivory light rushed out of Li Yao's palm right toward Wang Xi's face!
The two of them were very close to each other.
Although Wang Xi noticed that something was not right, he did not anticipate that Li Yao, as a master of refining, could launch such a violent attack without magical equipment!
As a result, even though he managed to tilt his head, avoiding the frontal bombardment of the Cell Obliteration Cannon, his cheek and temple were still brushed by the blast, as if a bucket of magma had been poured on his face!
After an ear-splitting shriek, Wang Xi made the most sensible decision—retreat without caring about anything!
Li Yao grinned hideously. Tusks were growing crazily inside his mouth. His left eye had dyed demonic red. Fresh tissue was crawling out of the seeming terrible wounds all over his body. The result of the crazily exploding primeval cells was that his body was recovering at a visible speed. In the end, he was as strong and formidable as a primeval beast!
Wang Xi had taken everything into account, but there was something that he did not know!
With the 'apocalyptic body' modified by the mental devil, and after five years of close-distance battles with Ding Lingdang in outer space, Li Yao was definitely one of the most horrendous slaughtering machines, even without resorting to any magical equipment!
