by <unknown>
The second group was the siege team. It consisted of the core disciples of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, too. They were well-trained and fearless of death.
Their task was to surround and block all the Immortal Cultivators after the thunderous attack was launched.
Cultivators in the Nascent Soul Stage were all daunting super experts who would not be suppressed just because their enemy had an advantage in number.
The 'Black King', the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator of the Temple of Immortals, might not have been as strong as the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, but he was certainly better at stealth and assassination.
If such a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was determined to flee, three or even more Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators might not be able to stop him!
If he abandoned his escape when he ran into a dead end and decided to make some victims without considering the cost, ten Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators might not be enough to stop the tragedy in the central area of Heavenly Saints City!
Therefore, there were ten times the warriors on the Cultivators' side than those on the Immortal Cultivators'; nobody dared to be careless.
Cultivators of the siege group had made up their minds that they would stall the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators should they show up even at the cost of their own lives!
The third group was the leak-filling team.
The Cultivators who were temporarily summoned, including Li Yao, were mostly assigned to this team. They constituted the third defense line and guarded the entrances and exits of the first space ring that the enemy was most likely to attempt to escape from.
Heavenly Saints City was too large a metropolis. Other than the ten rings in outer space, the central area of the first space ring was itself an enormous central area.
The population of the city had soared because of the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting. To meet the need of visitors and participants of the meeting, countless assets were transported from the other nine rings to the central area. Therefore, a lot of temporary space ports and docks had been built, and more ships were commuting between the first ring and the other rings every day. The terrain was extremely complicated.
Therefore, it is necessary for the leak-filling team to stay alert in the places where the enemy might get away.
The 'Mist Clearing Operation' had been rehearsed in the Grand Illusionary Land countless times before a perfect plan with consideration of every factor was drafted.
Right now, the one who was hiding near the No.55 ventilation tube together with Li Yao was Ye Hongfei, a crystal suit expert in the Core Formation Stage and a young associate professor of the Battlesuit Department of Flying Star University who had communicated with him a lot.
Ye Hongfei was also Sand Scorpion's crystal suit teacher.
Two months ago, Li Yao had gone to the leadership of the school and stated that he had recognized the formidability of the super magical equipment known as crystal suits. He had expressed his interest in the arts of crystal suits.
As it happened, Ye Hongfei had a few matches with Li Yao before, and the two of them got along quite well. Therefore, he agreed to the assignment and taught Li Yao the rudimental knowledge about crystal suits in his spare time.
"Master Sand, are you a bit nervous?"
Ye Hongfei was watching the dozens of pictures on the light beam that were captured from the first person perspective of the members of the strike team and the siege team. It was meant to allow the leak-filling team in the outmost area to follow the progress of the Mist Clearing Operation.
"Nervous?"
A cluster of blood-red spread out in the depths of Li Yao's left eye and formed a demonic crimson ring around his pupil before it suddenly vanished. He licked his dry lips and replied, "I'm not nervous; I'm hungry, so hungry that I'm shaking."
Ye Hongfei replied, "Hungry? I have a few highly-condensed spiritual energy biscuits here. Do you want some?"
Li Yao shook his head. "Thanks, but no. It is not my stomach that is hungry. The biscuits are not going to feed me."
Ye Hongfei was dazed for a moment. Then he smiled and said, "I understand. You are not nervous; you are excited! When I went to participate in the unlimited crystal suit match in the Heavenly Sword Arena for the first time, I felt the same."
"You don't understand, Master Ye. This is different from the arena matches that you took part in."
Li Yao's expression became weird while he rubbed his left temple slowly. He seemed to be both expecting and enjoying something. His eyes half closed, Li Yao mumbled, "Master Ye, you were born in a noble family, and you have been a well-acknowledged prodigy since you were born. You grew up smoothly, went to the Battlesuit Department of Flying Star University smoothly, stayed to teach at the school smoothly, and advanced into the Core Formation Stage smoothly.
"The most brutal battle for you is perhaps an unlimited crystal suit match in an arena. No more!
"Therefore, you don't have any idea what I am expecting!
"The unlimited crystal suit matches that are held in designated arenas and watched by countless spectators are but child's play for me.
"Let me tell you what a real unlimited match is.
"The sky and the earth are the area, the billions of stars in the universe are my audience, and the sun and the moon will be the judges. Every last bit strength in my soul, cells, and life is exploited. Even death will not mark the end for the match!
"This is a real unlimited match and a game that I've been yearning for!
"Right now, the game is about to begin. How can I not be excited and hungry?"
Ye Hongfei was dumbfounded.
The Core Formation Stage Cultivator was deeply awed by the powerful, sharp, and mysterious aura that had suddenly burst out of Li Yao's body.
For a moment, he even felt that he was shuddering.
With a pale face, Ye Hongfei stammered, "Ma—Master Sand, what happened to you? You seem different from usual."
Li Yao was shocked and confused himself by what he had blurted out just now. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his left eye and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Master Ye. I must have been too excited to keep my tongue in order.
"But anyway, we've been assigned to a terrible location in the Mist Clearing Operation. The No.55 ventilation tube is the safest and most unlikely place for the Immortal Cultivators' escape. Are they not looking down upon us by sending us here?"
Li Yao only spoke half the truth.
Since this was the 'safest' and 'most unlikely place for Immortal Cultivators' escape', those around him were definitely not the super experts.
It meant that, if the super experts among Immortal Cultivators such as the Black King 'accidentally' chose to break out of the siege through the No.55 ventilation tube, Li Yao would have barely any teammates that would be of use!
"It can't be helped. The Mist Clearing Operation is truly a great undertaking. Not just you, even I have never seen so many experts gathering together in all my years as a Cultivator!
"This is a real war of Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators!"
Ye Hongfei was greatly relieved, seeing that Li Yao had returned to normal. He smiled bitterly and said, "Although I am in the Core Formation Stage, you were quite right about my lack of experience in real-life combat. I'm no match for the super experts who are all seasoned warriors. It's only normal that I was assigned to the most remote place."
Li Yao sniffed. "But my combat ability is as good as that of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, and I have abundant experience in real-life battles. Why was I ordered to this location, too?"
When he spoke the last sentence, Li Yao turned on the communication channel intentionally so that every member of the Mist Clearing Operation would hear it.
Ye Hongfei glanced at Li Yao's face and noticed that he was perfectly normal. He scratched his nose and said, "Master Sand, let's be honest here. It's true that your secret arts are indeed powerful enough to help you wield combat ability more
than ten times that of a Cultivator in the peak of the Building Foundation Stage. Normal Core Formation Stage Cultivators are no match for you, and you may even be able to survive one or two attacks from a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.
"However, that's only true when nobody is wearing a crystal suit!
"Crystal suits were the greatest invention of the modern Cultivation civilization. It is a super platform and the king of magical equipment! A Cultivator with and without a crystal suit can have a vastly different combat ability!
"Although I'm definitely no match for you when I'm not in a crystal suit, you've already seen me in a crystal suit in person. You don't need me to remind you of the results of our competitions, do you?
"As for the True Qi armor of Iron Plateau…
"Forgive me for being too blunt, but the difference between a True Qi armor and a crystal suit is similar to the different between a bull and a rhino. They may look alike, but their enhancements for combat are worlds apart!"
Li Yao glared at him. "About that!"
Ye Hongfei opened his hands and said, "I wouldn't have put it so straight if you were not an experienced refiner who participated in the refinement of the Unparalleled Extension and a bunch of other crystal suits. You should have a personal understanding about the formidability of crystal suits right now, no?
"Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone to the leadership of the school hoping to learn the arts of crystal suit in a hurry two months ago, would you?
"However, it's only been two months, and you simply devoted your spare time to it instead of practicing crystal suits full-time. I was only able to teach you the rudimental knowledge. So, I'm well aware of your skill in a crystal suit!"
Chapter 688: War of the Nascent Soul Stage |
Li Yao patted the armor on his body that was carved with glamorous spiritual stripes and looked like a ferocious insect. He said, "Of course, I know that my crystal suit techniques are not good enough. So, what I'm wearing is still the 'Sky Scorpion Armor', but it is now the 'universe strengthened version'!
"This armor has been modified by Master Xue Yuanxin and me together at the cost of a great many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. A lot of features of crystal suit have been added. Also, we redesigned the internal structure of the armor based on aerodynamics with special crystal processors. It is definitely not the same as the normal armor!"
Ye Hongfei chuckled and managed a smile. "Master Sand, you are the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. Nobody will doubt your combat ability when you are in your Sky Scorpion Armor. However, the battle today is too important. It concerns not only your honor as a warrior but also the lives of millions of people. Therefore, it is quite understandable that they are making such arrangements.
"Master Sand, it is also the qi-trainers' creed to protect ordinary people. You must know the thoughtfulness of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, right?"
Li Yao sniffed and stopped talking. He rubbed the Sky Scorpion Armor in silence.
His eyes glanced over between the downtown area far away and the No.55 ventilation tube.
Deep inside his brain, his computational ability soared as he drew up countless routes of escape and response strategies to cope with the Black King should the man appear.
Everything was ready.
The net was gradually tightened.
At 8:12:33 p.m., in the temporary market outside the main field of Edge Sharpeners' Meeting, a plain-looking young man dressed like a tourist was eating noodles slowly.
Two red-faced, drunk men who were leaning on each other staggered past him.
At 8:12:37 p.m., in a temporary hospital near the main field, several ambulances were blaring out high-pitched sirens while they carried a large number of patients who were all moaning on stretchers in agony. It was said that there was a large-scale food-poisoning incident.
At 8:12:47 p.m., outside the No.2 air cleaning station on the perimeter of the central area, a team of Cultivators wearing invisible suits dispersed and moved toward the station from various directions. They were like black mercury that was rolling slowly under the dark night.
In a high tower not far away, the scope of a spiritual energy sniper had locked onto a worker inside the air cleaning station who was drinking tea and chitchatting casually.
According to the intelligence, the worker next to the third window to the left was a spy of the Immortal Cultivators!
At 8:13:01 p.m., on the 16th floor of a luxury hotel in the northwest corner of the downtown area, two cleaners were doing their job with the dust-absorbing magical equipment on the circular corridor that was paved with extravagant carpets.
A young man in fashionable clothing, hugging a chuckling girl who was wearing barely any clothes and had a pair of sexy eyes, went to his own room.
It seemed that he had failed to hold back his libido. He pressed the girl to the wall and started kissing her before he went into the room.
Without anybody knowing it, the two passionate lovers and the two cleaners were all near Room 1608.
In the seven high buildings near the luxury hotel, experts in the Nascent Soul Stage were monitoring the situation closely.
Countless pieces of magical equipment, rune arrays, and barriers were ready and locked onto the hotel.
Cold sweat was rolling down every Cultivator's head.
Although the trap seemed lethal, nobody could confidently say that they would be the winners. They felt that cold waves were surging forward inside their hearts even though magical equipment that had been piled up like a mountain was right behind them.
It was because their target was also a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator!
At 8:13:27 p.m., three seconds were left before the activation of the Mist Clearing Operation.
One of the two drunk men in the night market suddenly fell to the ground because of an obstacle and started throwing up until his clothes were all dirty.
His companion burst into laughter and did not look at the tourist who was having noodles at all.
In the temporary hospital, many doctors and nurses were as busy as bees.
Most of the patients who suffered acute intoxication as well as the doctors who came with the ambulances gradually surrounded one of the nurses without alarming anyone.
In the high tower outside the No.2 air cleaning station, the shooter softly applied pressure with his finger on the trigger.
Complicated spiritual stripes were emitting dim brightness around his long finger and gradually melted with the spiritual stripes on the sniper, making the sniper an appendix of his body and soul.
On the corridor of the 16th floor of the luxury hotel, the sexy girl was moaning hungrily, but there was nothing except coldness and sharpness in her eyes, which seemed to be watching an invisible clock and waiting for the second hand to pass the last three slots.
Tick-tock, tick—
Suddenly!
1.5 seconds before the Mist Clearing Operation was to be activated, the corridor on the 16th floor of the luxury hotel exploded!
In the flooding light and heat, a lot of soul attack rune arrays targeting Cultivators were triggered. The corridor immediately turned into a hell where devils were shouting and screaming!
BOOM!
Beside the kissing lovers, a man-shaped hole was blown out of the wall of the corridor. A black shadow dashed out like a demon saber flying out of the nether world!
The black shadow neither fled to the side nor leapt out of the window. Instead, he stomped on the ground and jumped up, blowing up the ceiling above his head and reaching the corridor of the 17th level!
The entire hotel had been heavily surrounded with traps everywhere.
However, in order not to alarm the Black King, the siege was not very close to him, nor was it very big.
The corridor on the left and on the right, the stairs, the floors below and even outside the window had all been installed with the most delicate traps.
The floors above had the weakest defense!
But the sexy girl suddenly bulged her eyes, which were now bloodshot. There was shock and desperation in the blood streaks there!
Chi!
An appalling aura exploded out of the girl's large breasts, leaving a black hole behind. Her entire heart had turned into black powder!
As it turned out, the black shadow slashed at her without anybody knowing when he was running out and blew her heart up!
The girl stumbled forward two steps, before she fell to the ground and began seizing.
Like a balloon that had been pierced by a needle, the spiritual gas that was all set to go turned into colorful smoke and leaked out of her dead body.
In the profile database of the Immortal Slayers, only one person had such terrifying saber arts.
Zhuang Ziyou, one of the three Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators on Spider Den, was known to boast the most unpredictable and the most devastating saber arts!
"The Mist Clearing Operation, activate!"
"Activate!"
"Activate!"
The operation had been seen through by the hostile Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator 1.5 seconds in advance. There were no other options except to activate it immediately.
In the night market, the drunk man who was vomiting, his companion, and three other customers who were enjoying their noodles suddenly lunged at the unattractive tourist!
In the hospital, dozens of white sheets flew to the air, only to be torn apart by the surging spiritual energy, blossoming like flowers.
Outside the air cleaning station, the shooter pulled the trigger as calmly as when he was breathing, sending out a bullet made of an entire marrow crystal with eleven attack rune arrays. In the meantime, more than a hundred members of the strike team took action and decisively stuck the air cleaning station where most of the liquefied Heart Gnawing Mist was stored!
