by <unknown>
Wang Ji dodged out of instinct.
However, Li Yao was so fast that he reached Wang Ji's back after only one second. His battle saber savagely drew an almost perfect arc upward in the air.
More than half of Wang Ji's right hand was chopped off. His blood saber flew to the sky!
Wang Ji screamed miserably, as if his soul was going to be extinguished.
He didn't sound so wretched even when his heart was blown to pieces just now.
It seemed that the blood saber was an organ that was of paramount importance to him and was much more precious than his heart and his head.
After a shriek, Wang Ji exploded into a blood mist where black gas was popping up.
In the middle of the mist, a yellow brightness dashed to the far distance at an amazingly high speed, before it vanished into the derelict buildings in the ruins after a short moment.
Li Yao was going to chase after him, when the blood mist blocked his way as if it were a living creature.
In the middle of the blood mist, a blurred face slowly appeared, which belonged to, no less, Wang Ji who was on the run.
A hideous grin that even the ghosts at the deepest level of the hell couldn't possibly make appeared on the giant face, as it gnashed its teeth.
"You dare to steal my Red Jade Mist Mirage Saber? You are seeking your own death!
"Just wait for it!
"Very soon, I will find out who you are, before I skin you, mince you into pieces, and take back what's mine while stepping on your corpse!
"At that time, your soul will be extracted and locked into the Blood Soul Pearl by me, and I will savage you to the extent that you will think killing yourself right now is a better—"
Before he finished his speech, Li Yao had triggered the four floating Vulcan Machine Guns and fired at the middle of the face in the blood mist.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
"Enough trash talk," Li Yao scoffed. Then he looked at the so-called Red Jade Mist Mirage Saber.
Although it had lost connection to its master, it was still flying naughtily in the air. Now and then, blood aura would be released, indicating that it was still a fatal weapon.
Li Yao's hands quickly made a lot of gestures in the air with his unimaginably flexible fingers.
Many brilliant, octagonal runes appeared in the air.
For Cultivators at the peak of the Refinement Stage, they were already able to create runes with nothing but their own bare hands.
"Hoooo!"
64 runes made of spiritual gas rushed at the blood saber.
Like the most cunning demon beast, Red Jade Mist Mirage Saber knew that something bad was happening. The edge of the saber shivered, and it was going to flee, when a black laser darting from the back of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit collided with it.
It was Black Wing!
Not only did the crash make Red Jade Mist Mirage Saber dizzy and disoriented, the spiritual threads on Black Wing also took the opportunity to tangle it.
64 spiritual runes crowded in and suppressed the blood aura on the saber.
Li Yao waved his hand and triggered his Cosmos Ring. He had finally got this weird, exotic blood saber!
Chapter 347: Nascent Soul and Black Ocean |
"Poooo!"
As he stored the Red Jade Mist Mirage Saber into his Cosmos Ring, Li Yao finally couldn't help it any longer. A lot of black blood was vomited out as he collapsed on the ground on one of his knees and breathed heavily.
The pain deep down in his flesh and bones was throbbing over the endings of his nerves. He felt that his strength was pouring out together with his cold sweat.
From Wang Ji appearing on the top of his head to his enemy fleeing in a cluster of blood mist, it took less than twenty seconds.
But it was the most dangerous combat that Li Yao had ever been engaged in since his spiritual root was awakened.
Although Wang Ji had not reached the level of demon king yet, he was definitely one of the best high-level demon generals, which equaled to a Cultivator at the peak of the Building Foundation Stage.
Luckily, Li Yao had blown up the teleportation array in advance, which had seriously wounded him since part of his body was not sent over. But with the enhancement of the blood saber, his demonic energy was still too powerful for Li Yao to resist.
The blood aura from the saber would've invaded his body and melted his organs if Li Yao's body was not far sturdier than that of common Cultivators' and the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had not been significantly strengthened.
Li Yao had been gritting his teeth and suppressing his injuries.
Now that he had successfully grasped the blood saber, he was less focused than before. The internal injuries finally burst out.
The cold sweat on his skin turned from transparent to pink, and ended up being bright red.
This weird Red Jade Mist Mirage Saber seemed to be able to attack the hemopoietic system and make his body reject his own blood. Eventually, his blood would be all pushed out by his own body, resulting in massive loss of blood.
'If it goes on like this, I will die from blood loss shortly!'
Gold and black lights were flashing before his eyes. The sky and the earth were both swirling fast, which was a sign that his brain was suffering from oxygen deprivation caused by losing too much blood.
Gritting his teeth, Li Yao activated his spiritual energy and sealed his veins forcefully to prevent his blood from leaking out. In the meantime, he turned on the war mission system and tried to send distress calls to the command center and the Cultivators nearby.
However, before he was able to deliver his status and location, the light beam collapsed into pieces after weird vibrations.
'The Spiritual Nexus is jammed?
'The interference is intense, like a solar storm has burst out in this exact place. All the signals of the Spiritual Nexus have been cut off!
'What's happening?'
Li Yao was alerted. He felt vaguely that two immense powers were rising up from two sides of the horizon, whose overwhelming pressure was sweeping over inch by inch.
At present, the bloodshed sunset had passed. A deep, dark, starless night had fallen.
But two diagonal giant swirls that looked like two nebulas illuminated the sky, like two giants in the sea of stars who had opened their only eye.
Two swirls revolved slowly, whose brilliant flames of light beamed out and dyed the half of the night sky into furious, twisted streaks of various colors like thousands of burning tentacles.
Despite the dense demonic fog, Li Yao was still able to see every detail of the two swirls.
Not because his eyes were sharp. It was because the two swirls were unleashing energy, intent, and pressure wantonly. Several of their telepathic thoughts even exploded directly inside his brain.
Li Yao seemed to be capable of seeing two figures standing in the center of the two swirls respectively.
The human figure in the south gave him a feeling of arrogance, stubbornness, and frenzy.
The phantom in the north, on the other hand, was a bizarre-shaped black sketch, which left an impression of nothing but cruelness, bloodthirst, and destruction!
'What strong telepathic thoughts!
'There must be hundreds of kilometers of distance between us, and their telepathic thoughts and intent are so clear that I feel that they are next to me. How powerful their soul power must be!
'They must be—
'A Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and a demon emperor!'
Li Yao's every nerve was twitching violently, not out of fear, but out of excitement.
Such powerful telepathic thoughts were too much even for Core Formation Stage Cultivators and demon kings. They must be the works of the best warriors in the two Sectors, Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and demon emperors!
In the sky, the combat between the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and the demon emperor had begun!
Hundreds of brilliant colors beamed out from the two
giant swirls which tore the sky apart and swept at the other side.
Silent and slow, they wriggled in the sky like thousands of colorful caterpillars.
But Li Yao was well aware that the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and the demon emperor were at two sides of the sky and there was a distance of hundreds of kilometers between them.
The seemingly wriggling caterpillars were actually the intensive waves when their attacks broke the sonic barrier and tore the air apart.
Several seconds later, the thousands of caterpillars crashed and boomed into dazzling lightning balls in the background of the night sky.
In the place where the lightning balls vanished, a giant hole was ripped apart on the night sky, revealing the shining stars behind it.
It was not until thousands of holes congregated and connected the stars together that the sound of air being torn apart in the beginning reached Li Yao's ears, which was closely followed by the explosion of the lightning balls.
The whole world started trembling.
Bullet shells, scraps of flying swords, dead bodies of demon beasts, and bricks, sand, and rebar in the rundown building… Everything was bouncing and dancing high in the sky with the continuous booms.
Li Yao opened his mouth, in case the sonic burst injured his internal organs.
Yet, he was gazing at the sky crazily. The fire in his eyes seemed to be burning a hole in the heaven.
'This is the power of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator? How marvelous it is!
'When can I enter the Nascent Soul Stage and wield such strength?'
Li Yao was somewhat lost. He gritted his teeth, while there was a hint of confusion behind the fire in his eyes.
The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and the demon emperor were colliding like two wild elephants, while he was nothing but a rat beside their feet.
He was reluctant to accept the fact. A strong desire was triggered in his heart.
Cheered up by the appearance of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and the demon emperor, all the human beings and demons on the battleground went crazy.
The explosions, roars, and screams were ten times louder than before. Red Lotus City was completely enshrouded in fire and death.
An endless beast tide appeared in Li Yao's eyesight.
Those low demon beasts were all spurred by the demonic energy from the demon emperor and turned mad. Their eyes were bloodshot, their skins cracking and unveiling the quickly expanding flesh below. Dense, sharp thorns were growing on the shells of many insect-type demon beasts.
Had Li Yao not been injured, he wouldn't even bother to look at those demon beasts.
But right now, he was seriously wounded. Almost half of his blood had been lost. Faced with the overwhelming beast tide, Li Yao felt that the corner of his eyes were twitching.
He was planning to drive Black Wing to fly away, when a silver mist suddenly appeared over his head and covered the sky and stars. A hand that was more than ten meters long extended from the silver mist and slapped at him.
"Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes!"
Li Yao was greatly alarmed.
He had met such kind of demon beast on the crystal train north to the Grand Desolate Plateau. To deal with them, seven Cultivators even sacrificed their own lives.
One Ghost Face Silver Mosquito was the weakest demon beast of all.
But when tens of thousands of Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes congregated, they would form a bigger creature with some sort of intelligence through telekinesis.
"Die now!"
Li Yao's eyes bulged. The moment the giant hand reached his face, a brightness of saber flashed and slashed it into two halves. Then, two crystal cannons flipped up on his shoulders and fired nonstop, blowing the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes which shaped the giant hand all into ashes.
But their numbers were endless. After a short moment, another eight murderous, hideous talons were formed and blocked Li Yao's every route of escape.
The boundless beast tide was also arriving at him.
"Come on!"
Dozens of blue electric arcs spluttered from his batter saber to almost ten meters away, before they tangled into a long saber of lightning which was surrounded by sparks and tornadoes.
For a moment, Li Yao had the same feeling of satisfaction that Guan Xiong must've had when he charged at the rising beast tide by himself.
It was indeed… refreshing!
"Even though I'm not as strong as a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, I will still unleash the most dazzling brilliance that I can!
"You want to kill me? Let's see who dies first!"
Li Yao laughed. He clenched his battle saber so hard that it almost shattered. Every rune array on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was fully activated.
Li Yao waved his saber and was ready to fight his last battle, when earsplitting noises boomed behind him.
The beast tide in front him seemed to be devoured by an invisible giant beast. Almost ten holes appeared in the middle of it, making it seem much crappier than before.
In the meantime, the talons made by Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes started burning, before they break up in cracking noises.
Li Yao blinked his eyes. The crystal camera on his back had shot what happened behind him without him turning around.
The first thing to be seen was a Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars Flag, which was still flying in the raging wind like an undying torch despite the excessive corrosion from acids and venomous fog.
Then, countless soldiers of the federal army who were wearing black combat uniform and carrying chainswords and storm bolters surged in like a black ocean under the cover of crystal tanks.
The captain who had been in charge of the Taiyi Lightning Railgun that Li Yao repaired was grinning at Li Yao on one of the crystal tanks with two storm bolters in hand. His white teeth were glittering in the smoke.
Mediocre demon beasts could constitute an overwhelming beast tide that even Cultivators such as Li Yao may find challenging.
On the other hand, ordinary people who did not know the first thing about Cultivation could form an invincible ocean of iron and blood with devotion, courage and strong magical equipment.
A new, lightning-like understanding suddenly struck on Li Yao's mind.
As a Cultivator, he could manipulate powerful spiritual energy. Yet, it was with the assistance of thousands of ordinary people that he was able to deal with the overwhelming beast tide.
Strong as the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator in the sky may be, he wouldn't be able to twist the situation of the war single-handedly without thousands of common Cultivators such as himself, would he?
Ordinary people, common Cultivators such as himself, Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators… Everyone had pushed themselves to their limits, so that the human civilization could be shining more brightly than ever.
"My compatriots stronger than me and weaker than me are all fighting side by side with me.
"I am in need of them as much as they are in need of me.
"We are… not alone!"
The new understanding refilled scorching strength in Li Yao's veins which had almost run dry.
Gold brightness scattered by blood flowed out of the gaps of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and consolidated into sharp wings and feathers, as Li Yao dashed into the beast tide and led the charge.
Behind him, the roaring black ocean rushed close and crashed into the beast tide which was already on the verge of collapse.
Chapter 348: Building Foundation! |
The fierce battle didn't come to an end until midnight. The burning city cast redness to the entire sky.
After the endeavors of the valiant Cultivators and the federal army, the downtown area which the demon clan occupied had been taken back. Many teleportation arrays had been destroyed.
However, the remaining demons were still resisting desperately in the business district where there were a lot of skyscrapers. The interconnected underground became a sea of demon beasts, too.
Li Yao k
ept fighting into the late night. It was not until an earthshaking boom echoed in the sky of the north, as if the space had been ripped open where melted lightning flowed out, that Li Yao retreated from the battleground after the protracted urges of the war mission system.
Later, he learnt more facts about the two experts fighting in the sky. The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was Luo Wunian, Honorary Chairman of Violet Glow Sect which was one of the top five sects in the federation, who was known as the best sword master of the entire federation; the demon emperor, on the other hand, was Ming Xinyi, who ranked eighth on the 'Deadliest Demons List'.
Both of them were first-rate experts in their respective worlds.
For experts at such a high level, they were usually hesitant to confront each other face-to-face.
Once they full activated their strength and fought in their ultimate forms, their strikes, such as the hundreds of attacks breaking the sonic barrier simultaneously not long ago, could be too draining both for their bodies and for their souls. They risked being seriously wounded by each other at the same time.
In the meantime, enemies might set up traps nearby and assault the hostile expert with strong demonic equipment or magical equipment when the expert in question was at the weakest moment when their soul may have entirely burnt up.
This was exactly the case of today's battle.
The fight of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator versus the demon general had been a trap for Ming Xinyi in the first place.
The federal army deployed 19 Heaven Splitters out of Red Lotus City, as well as more than twenty pieces of the best magical equipment from various sects.
When the fight between Luo Wunian and Ming Xinyi reached the most intense moment, all the magical equipment was activated at the same time.
Although Ming Xinyi was not killed on the spot, it created a great opportunity for Luo Wunian, who slashed off the Gold Blood Demon Horn on Ming Xinyi's head and forced him to flee back to the Blood Demon Sector.
The earthshaking sound that Li Yao heard previously was the consequence of the salvo.
Although the demon emperor was seriously wounded, Luo Wunian's soul almost dried up because he stayed in the level of the Nascent Soul Stage for too long and triggered excessive telepathic thoughts. He wouldn't be able to return to the Nascent Soul Stage for a long time.
