by <unknown>
However, he had made quite a few discoveries today by locating seven Children of the Nether World in a row and eavesdropping on the conversation of the guy lurking in the capital city who was probably Abyss.
Next, he needed to find a way to escape the Grand Desolate Plateau and find someone whom he could really trust!
Li Yao waited very patiently just like twenty years ago, when he lurked in the middle of the stinky garbage waiting patiently for the disposal starships that were fully loaded with treasures for him.
As the commander of the Dragon Horse Legion, Duanmu Ming was certainly not an inert idiot. After being enlightened by the other speaker, he soon realized what was going on. Cursing, he changed into a different crystal suit.
It was Li Yao's best opportunity of attack when Duanmu Ming was switching between the two crystal suits. If he attacked at that time, he was 90% sure that he could slay the guy.
However, he remained where he was.
Duanmu Ming was the best proof. He needed Duanmu Ming alive to prove the existence of the Children of the Nether World. Dead people would not say anything or plead guilty.
Moreover, if he assassinated Duanmu Ming right now, he would be confirming his identity as an 'assassin from the demon race' for the federal army. The situation would be much more chaotic, which might be a hindrance for his plans to come.
Just let the guy's head stay on his neck for another couple of days until he was trialed in a real court of law!
Black Wing was still rushing south unstoppably. After putting on the new crystal suit, Duanmu Ming went south, too. The lively forest of rocks a moment ago turned into an empty wasteland.
Li Yao waited for five minutes. After making sure that there were not any spiritual waves around, he leapt up from the depths of the smoke and fled northwest without looking back!
He did not disguise his existence at all. Instead, he blew out tremendous spiritual energy without any reservation. Like a cannonball installed with a spring, he left a giant crater that was several meters deep and leapt hundreds of meters forward after every stomp. In the blink of an eye, he was already a few hundred kilometers away.
Naturally, his blatant escape was discovered very soon. In less than twenty minutes, Duanmu Ming realized that he had been fooled and dispatched most of the troops to chase after him to the northwest.
Fast as Cultivators might be, they could not travel faster than crystal warships for an extended period of time. After all, the former could only consume the spiritual energy inside their body, while the latter could store tons of crystals that could be sent into the engine compartment when needed.
Li Yao had yet to summon the real Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. He was clearly no match for the crystal warships with two bare feet.
Less than half an hour later, he was caught up by a large batch of federal soldiers.
Gritting his teeth, Li Yao rushed forward. In the horizon behind him, overwhelming smoke was surging close. The exhaust flames of dozens of crystal warships large and small and almost a hundred armed shuttles interconnected with each other and set the boundless sky alight!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As clusters of translucent stun grenades were thrown toward him, the land around Li Yao was becoming increasingly unstable!
Li Yao was like a little mouse escaping in an earthquake. His speed and agility were much higher than his first escape. The magnificent blast turned into his wings and helped him accelerate again and again while he jumped between the canyons and the cliffs!
Even so, the distance between the crystal warships and him was still shortened bit by bit. Very soon, he would be within range of their main guns!
Li Yao clearly sensed that, dozens of kilometers behind, clusters of intense spiritual energy were being condensed like volcanoes that were about to erupt.
The troops of the federal army were like an enormous crab. Sharp tongs were being extended from the two flanks as they slowly drew close and limited his zone of activity.
In front of him, however, were…
Dark clouds and roaring thunder!
It was the thunderstorm area!
Li Yao bellowed and strode forward against the thunder and lightning!
Thunderstorms and tornadoes were common on the Grand Desolate Plateau. As the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector further melded, the range of the Dark Desolate Domain had significantly expanded. Even on the Grand Desolate Plateau outside of the Dark Desolate Domain, thunderstorms broke out much more frequently, too!
Just now, Li Yao had flown Neltharion to a high altitude, partly to observe the movement of the federal army and partly to look for the largest, fastest, and most active thunderstorm in the thousands of square kilometers nearby!
In the thunderstorms, tornadoes mixed with the lightning bolts, and crazy spiritual energy turbulence was everywhere. For large magical equipment like a crystal warship, if they barged in recklessly, there was a good chance that they would attract the lightning and even crash!
However, for Li Yao, thunderstorms were his home and paradise!
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Hundreds of flying swords pierced Li Yao in glamorous arcs from various directions.
However, after being pierced through, Li Yao gradually blurred, split, and dispersed, revealing its nature of a shadow!
The real Li Yao had dashed into the thunderstorm one step in advance!
In front of him, the tornado grabbed sand and rocks weighing billions of tons from the Grand Desolate Plateau and condensed into hundreds of violent tornadoes. At the end of every tornado was a dark cloud. The lightning amid the clouds hit the center of the tornado, only to be ripped into tiny electric arcs during the rapid revolutions, which rushed out of the tornadoes and interweaved into an overwhelming net of electricity!
Li Yao burst into laughter in great satisfaction. He stretched out his arms and legs and summoned the real Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit from his Cosmos Ring. It covered his body without the tiniest hole as if it were a living, black spirit!
Shua!
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was brimming with demonic energy after all and looked a bit too aggressive. To disguise the demonic energy, Li Yao affixed the long cloak that he had once used in the Flying Star Sector onto the crystal suit again!
The bloody cloak dangled down from the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit's shoulders. It circled around the crystal suit at first and absorbed most of the demonic energy before it suddenly flew backwards hundreds of meters like blood red lightning and a crimson river, fluttering in the middle of the thunderstorm!
Half narrowing his eyes and taking a long breath, Li Yao was so excited that his lungs were about to explode.
Li Yao recalled that, when he learned to wear a crystal suit in the beginning, it was in a thunderstorm area amid lightning and tornadoes that he trained himself crazily. Then he finally created the first of his deadly moves, the 'Thunderous Tornado Saber Art'!
His saber was sharp enough to slay a tornado!
"Come on!"
Li Yao leapt into a tornado in the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, ascending in a spiral by the push of the tornado. Thousands of black feathers attracted endless bolts of dazzling lightning and produced an enormous saber that was surrounded by dancing electric arcs, which he pointed at the pursuers after him.
The pursuers had detected the highly active thunderstorm a long time ago, too. They were all hesitating. After a moment, the light crystal warships and the armed shuttles piloted by regular soldiers stopped outside of the thunderstorm. Only four heavy crystal warships broke into the thunderstorm unwaveringly after activating their spiritual shields to the maximum.
The heavy crystal warships were surrounded by dozens of shining light spots, which were the seasoned Cultivators in the federal army and the elite Exos.
Only they were brave enough to break into the thunderstorm.
They were also the main hunting force. Finishing them meant finishing most of his immediate problems.
Li Yao smiled and raised his saber. The spiritual energy all over his body was flooding out like a volcanic eruption. Entwining with the boundless lightning attracted by the saber, they extended an aura hundreds of meters long which slashed out like the giant axe that created the universe!
The attack was not aimed at the pursuers but the center of the thunderstorm area!
Infinite energy had been focused at the center of the thunderstorm area, which should have been unleashed slowly over the course of several days. But Li Yao's devastating attack was like a spark that fell into a powder cask and triggered all the energy stored!
The wind blew, and thunder roared. The intensity of the thunderstorm was levels higher than before. The sky and the earth were shattered in the gale, and the entire world seemed to be consumed by the thunderstorm!
The Exos of the federal army were flying randomly among the tornadoes like kites whose strings had been severed. Even the heavy crystal warships were shaking violently in the lightning storm. The spiritual shield out of the warships fluctuated, about to disappear like a candle in the wind!
In such a harsh environment, it was barely possible to keep themselves steady, much less chase after the enemy!
BOOM!
Two heavy crystal warships crashed into each other as their trajectories were diverted by the storm. Thankfully, their spiritual shields were both solid enough to prevent their shells from being broken on impact. However, the conflict of the spiritual shields pushed them away from each other, making it more difficult to control them.
One of the crystal warships landed to the ground, shaking, and dived into the sand. The power rune arrays on its back died down one after another. All the tubes were blocked by the sand, too.
The other heavy crystal warship, on the other hand, was like a scared buffalo. It struggled to change the direction in the tornado and retreated to the periphery of the thunderstorm!
Chapter 1073: Sneaking Into the Inland! |
Li Yao was in the thunderstorm what a fish was in water. The wings of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were opened to the largest extent. Every metal feather was adjusting its angle quickly, helping him to master the change of every air current. He was like the embodiment of the thunderstorm as he rushed and raged in the middle of the thunder and lightning!
Hiu!
Li Yao turned into a streak of brightness and dashed with lightning toward the Exos who were devastated by the thunderstorm!
The Exos were already dizzy enough after being swallowed by the tornadoes. Some of the less fortunate ones had even been hit by the lightning directly, which wasted many of the rune arrays and units on their crystal suits. There were only several minutes to go before they completely lost impetus.
Seeing that Li Yao was lunging at them like the craziest fiend, they were not able to put up much resistance except for yelling and shouting. But even their yelling and shouting soon died away under the scourge of the thunderstorm.
BOOM!
Li Yao bent his leg and kicked an Exo right in his breastplate, blowing him out of the tornado to the edge of the thunderstorm area.
The Exo's limbs and internal organs were also paralyzed, and his crystal suit was torn apart. His heart nearly skipped a beat. Having no courage to enter the thunderstorm area a second time, he turned around and flew out.
Li Yao took the opportunity to hover in the tornado and accelerate to the highest speed with the centrifugal force. Then he charged at the second Exo and kicked him away mercilessly like autumn wind sweeping a fallen leaf.
The Exo withdrew from the battlefield awkwardly, too.
Li Yao was not killing anyone but saving them.
Most of the Exos were federal soldiers who were unaware of the truth and simply carrying out the orders they had been given dutifully. Naturally, Li Yao could not wait and watch them run out of impetus and be swallowed by the thunderstorm.
"Off you go!"
Li Yao was zigzagging like a streak of lightning, leaving almost ten blurred shadows behind him, while he kicked the dozens of Exos out heavily as if they were cannonballs.
Many Exos were deeply confused because they soon realized that he was not malicious. Some of the other Exos were opening fire randomly in their dizziness, but their bullets and flying swords were blown to nobody knew where by the violent force of nature!
At this moment, the only remaining heavy crystal warship was still persisting in the thunderstorm. The main gun on the head of the crystal warship was about to be fully charged. An extremely dazzling ball was shining there!
In the middle of the tornadoes, the heavy crystal warship activated its spiritual shield to the maximum. Trying to stabilize its posture, the main gun was moving up and down as it tried to lock onto Li Yao.
Li Yao sniffed and blinked to the top of the crystal warship as if he were capable of instant movement. The Blood Moon Dragon Hunting Saber drew a distressing curve in midair and, as if a real blood moon had appeared weirdly, slashed toward the main gun of the heavy crystal warship!
"Listen to my explanation!"
With a bellow that eclipsed the thunder and made the ears of every Exo hum for a long time, the unstoppable blood moon flashed in front of the main gun, and the three barrels of the main gun were chopped off instantly!
"I am a f*cking good man!" Li Yao roared. The spiritual energy and demonic energy all over his body raged out like a flooding river, and he stomped on the head of the heavy crystal warship, his two legs turning into two shooting stars!
BOOM!
The spiritual shield at the front of the heavy crystal warship was left with two enormous holes. The strengthened plate armor that was made of super alloys and crystals had a dent several meters deep because of Li Yao's attack. The heavy crystal warship was like an animal that had been shot right in the face and crashed to the ground!
Li Yao's attack was much faster than the speed of sound. It was not until a moment later that the sound of metal being seriously twisted came over from the strengthened plate armor, as if the iron beast was moaning in pain!
The heavy crystal warship smashed into the sand and was unable to fly out again.
Suppressing a heavy crystal warship on his own with brute force!
The incredible scene dumbfounded all the Exos who were watching at the edge of the thunderstorm area.
Li Yao glanced at them coldly. The bloody cloak was flapping in the middle of the tornadoes unpredictable like a burning torch!
For half a minute, none of the Exos dared set foot in the thunderstorm.
Li Yao finally turned around. The Blood Moon Dragon Hunting Saber became two wings again as he flew into the depths of the thunderstorm and disappeared amid the thunder and lightning, leaving the blood cloak that was drawing spirals behind him.
Soon, the spirals became a red spot before the red spot was gone several seconds later.
It was not until this moment that somebody finally stammered a few words, breaking the silence in the communication channel of the federal army. "What—what—what did the monster say just now?"
"He—he is a good man?"
…
Three days later, south of the Giant Blade Pass, in the heartland area of the Star Glory Federation that had sterile soil and four distinct seasons, a tired traveler was walking on the street of a small city named North Tranquility.
His face was young, his eyes were clear, and he was wearing a plain but clean school uniform. The pattern on the back of the school uniform had more or less faded, but 'Grand Desolate' could still be vaguely seen, although the name of the specific school was obscure.
At first glance, it was a young man around twenty years ago and an immigrant from the Grand Desolate Plateau who could be seen anywhere inland.
Ever since the federal government implemented the leave-nothing-to-the-enemy strategy, countless natives of the Grand Desolate Plateau had been forced to migrate inland in whole towns and cities. North Tranquility City had accepted a lot of refugees, too. Suc
h young men were not rare on the lively street.
However, when the puji critters, wearing the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars badge that suggested that they were property of the federal government, were patrolling on the street and scanning the citizens as a daily routine, the young man always evaded their crystal cameras at the perfect time as if he could predict their movement.
The young man was, of course, Li Yao.
Three days ago, he had successfully trapped several heavy crystal warships of the Dragon Horse Legion in the thunderstorm area. Many more forces had been diverted in a bid to rescue the heavy crystal warships.
Then, Li Yao detoured to the north under the cover the thunderstorm and joined Black Wing before they took a large turn and went all the way to the south.
He travelled prudently at night and rested during the day. When he passed defense lines that were heavily guarded by the federal army, he even resorted to the drill of mystic rays and passed them by digging underground.
The Grand Desolate Plateau was too vast and unpopulated after all. Boundless no man's land constituted much of the plateau. No matter how many soldiers were dispatched on alert, they were like salt that was thrown into an ocean. It was impossible for them to keep every inch of the land under watch.
With Li Yao's capability and the assistance of Black Wing and Neltharion, few people in the entire Star Glory Federation could stop his infiltration.
At dawn that day, he finally snuck into the heartland from the east side of the Giant Blade Mountain!
But his heart was still heavy.
Li Yao had detected quite a few enormous war bases on the Grand Desolate Plateau that were being constructed sparing no expenses. Countless assets were being shipped from the heartland and stored in the bases, too.
He also observed several high-level live-fire drills, which were clearly for the purpose of aggression and not pure defense.
They were all the omens that the federal army was going to shift from 'strategical defense' to 'strategical attack'.
Right now, the demon race did not hold any land on the Heaven's Origin Sector. The only target of the 'strategical attack' could only be an expedition to the Blood Demon Sector.
