by <unknown>
Right then—
A dazzling ball of light suddenly burst out from the depths of the escape center and expanded to a kilometer away instantly, swallowing all the scraps of magical equipment and the debris of war within the range!
The remains further beyond, motivated by the blast, darted around in scorching metal torrents!
The escape center that had been quiet for hundreds of thousands of years was now completely awakened by the hot waves and the ear-splitting explosions. The last bit of remaining spiritual energy inside a lot of magical equipment was activated in resonation, too. The battlefield was as chaotic as a pot of boiling soup of particles!
Su Changfa's devastated screams echoed in the public communication channel of the four of them.
The great world-shaking explosion took place exactly where he and Tang Qianhe were!
Like a shocked bird whose wings were broken, Tang Qianhe was blown backward by the blast, her crystal suit shattered. She flew toward the two of them in desperation. While flying, she shrieked in the communication channel, "Not—not good. Master Su has been—"
She seemed to be too shocked to speak right now, but her distance from Kou Ruhuo was shortened significantly.
"Don't say anything!" Kou Ruhuo bellowed at Li Yao in the private channel before he rushed toward Tang Qianhe.
Li Yao heard the bald man's anxious voice in the communication channel. "Xiao Tang, what has happened?"
Instantly, Li Yao understood what was going on.
Something was definitely wrong about Tang Qianhe. Su Changfa had probably been ambushed by her!
Right now, she was still preparing to ambush Kou Ruhuo.
Fortunately, Kou Ruhuo had made up his mind quickly enough, too. He pretended that he did not know anything about it and prepared to ambush Tang Qianhe!
Those Immortal Cultivators are indeed foxy, sordid, and most importantly of all, top-tier actors!
Squatting nearby, Li Yao watched the internal strife of the Immortal Cultivators.
There was only the last five hundred meters between Tang Qianhe and Kou Ruhuo.
Li Yao could vaguely see tiny sparks condensing around the power rune arrays on the back of Kou Ruhuo's crystal suit.
It was a sign that the power rune arrays were about to output the most impetus and accelerate the speed to the highest!
When Tang Qianhe was about to step into the deadly trap, she seemed to be suddenly alarmed. As if being slapped right in the face brutally, she flipped around without a sign and fled backward!
Kou Ruhuo bellowed and could only activate his long-prepared Erratic Light Cannons in a hurry. Hundreds of colorful whips of light spurted out of his shoulders, chest, and hands and stabbed toward Tang Qianhe in unpredictable arcs!
Li Yao had thought that Tang Qianhe was merely in the Core Formation Stage. However, the flames of spiritual energy that surrounded her expanded to the level of the Nascent Soul Stage within a moment.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The superstring light from the both of them collided heavily, resulting in broken glimmers in various colors, before they expanded into glamorous bubbles and rose up!
Tang Qianhe resisted Kou Ruhuo's critical attack with her immense spiritual shield. She showed no intention of dawdling at all. Without any hesitation, she rushed to the other end of the escape center in the blink of an eye!
As it turned out, she had been concealing her capabilities the whole time. Judging from her movement, which was as swift as a ghost and her thick superstring shield, even if Kou Ruhuo and Li Yao had attacked her at the same time, they might not have been able to stop her!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
She had somehow planted countless smoke bombs and interference bombs among the debris on the battlefield without anybody noticing. The bombs had been so delicately deployed that they had even escaped Li Yao's attention!
Now that all the bombs were detonated, the entire escape center was covered in a black fog that looked like sticky glue. Li Yao's crystal cameras and probe magical equipment were all jammed. There was nothing but snowflakes and waves on the light beams. No usable information was distinguishable at all!
Gritting his teeth, Li Yao released his telepathic thoughts despite the intense interference, spreading them out and locking onto Tang Qianhe.
He immediately gasped!
Tang Qianhe had snuck to the member of the Pangu Clan who was caught in the hibernation state under the cover of the smoke bomb and the electromagnetic interference!
Most of the hundreds of spiritual puppets were under Su Changfa's control, but now that Su Changfa's life status was unknown, and because the spiritual puppets were not designed to attack those on their side, they were all standing by in a daze when they could not make clear what the situation was!
A small proportion of the spiritual puppets were controlled by Tang Qianhe and Kou Ruhuo respectively. They were immediately divided into two groups and started brutalizing each other!
Tang Qianhe, however, triggered an enormous 3D control menu in front of the single escape capsule of the Pangu Clan under the cover of the hundred or so spiritual puppets on her side.
Although the control menu was designed for the members of the Pangu Clan and was not suitable for human beings' smaller stature, Tang Qianhe was flying up and down fluently and skillfully like a colorful butterfly!
"What—what's she doing exactly?"
Seeing that Tang Qianhe had inputted dozens of runes already, Li Yao and Kou Ruhuo both felt so cold that their souls were nearly frozen.
They knew the answer precisely.
Tang Qianhe's purpose could not have been more obvious.
She was going to wake up the member of the Pangu Clan who was in the hibernation state!
Chapter 1280: She Is a Demi-Human! |
Goosebumps rising all over his body, Li Yao immediately understood what had happened.
Professor Mo Xuan, the Fire Ant King, and he had come to 'Kunlun' because of the guidance of the 'minor apocalypse' of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
The reason the 'minor apocalypse' of the Imperium of True Human Beings changed direction in the end, on the other hand, was because Tang Qianhe, the navigator, received pulse signals that were indistinguishable for normal people!
Of course, it could be explained by the fact that Tang Qianhe had received professional training before, which allowed her to tell the useful information from the meaningless noises in the universe.
However, there could also be another explanation.
The single escape capsule, in which a hibernating member of the Pangu Clan was kept, was not aware that the Pangu civilization had long perished. Since ages ago, it had been sending out distress calls to the outside world incessantly and dutifully according to the preset programs.
It might have been because Tang Qianhe heard 'Pangu's calling' that she intentionally led Su Changfa and Kou Ruhuo to the place. Li Yao and the rest of them had been attracted to the place because of her, too!
Everything had been under her control.
She had known their final destination since the very beginning. That was why they had discovered so many perfectly preserved cities and relics on their way and were 'fortunate' enough to discover a living member of the Pangu Clan!
Seeing Tang Qianhe's performance in front of the escape capsule of the Pangu Clan, which looked like a bizarre dance, Li Yao felt that his lips were cramping uncontrollably. He suddenly felt that their earlier use of the word 'fortune' could not have been more ironic.
Without any hesitation, he raised his crystal cannon and activated the Erratic Light Cannon, joining the fight!
The competition of beliefs between the Cultivators and the Immortal Cultivators could be left aside for a moment because there would be dire consequences if a member of the Pangu Clan was reincarnated!
With Li Yao's participation, the firepower was immediately doubled. Many spiritual puppets under Tang Qianhe's control were immediately riddled with holes and
on the brink of destruction.
However, Tang Qianhe's skills in manipulating the spiritual puppets had significantly soared, too. The hundred or so spiritual puppets under her control formed the solidest wall, stopping Li Yao, Kou Ruhuo, and their spiritual puppets from coming close, while resisting their overwhelming wrath.
"Tang Qianhe! Tang Qianhe!" Kou Ruhuo was roaring like a prehistoric animal. "You betrayed the Imperium! How dare you betray the Imperium!"
Tang Qianhe heard none of it because she was busy on all fours. Her limbs were like the fingers of the member of the Pangu Clan as he tapped on the 3D control menu at a fixed speed. Every tap would raise ripples of light, as if she were dancing the most incredible dance in the middle of a bright golden ball.
Boom!
Kou Ruhuo fully burst into fury. His hands condensed seals quickly while the flames of spiritual energy flooded out of his body, turning into an enormous giant almost twenty meters tall! The face of the giant was similar to his own. It was also roaring furiously with veins bulging out!
The giant waved the fists and smashed the spiritual puppets that were controlled by Tang Qianhe. The spiritual puppets were blown into smithereens before they had time to scream!
Kou Ruhuo was going all out!
He was now burning his life and unleashing his soul power without bothering about anything else, demonstrating his Nascent Soul where his infinite Cultivation had been condensed in the most glamorous and brilliant way!
Li Yao had once seen several fellow Cultivators unleashing such unbelievable strength during the riot of the Immortal Cultivators in the Flying Star Sector!
According to the ancient Cultivators, it was known as the 'departure of the Nascent Soul'!
The fury of an expert in the Nascent Soul Stage was definitely not to be underestimated. The remaining spiritual puppets were not able to hold on any longer and were all ripped apart as if they were made of paper.
Li Yao gritted his teeth so hard that they were creaking. He pondered whether or not he should utilize the strength of the Nascent Soul Stage, too, in order to disrupt Tang Qianhe's 'waking ritual' together with Kou Ruhuo.
However, the firepower behind him was suddenly enhanced. The last few spiritual puppets on Tang Qianhe's side were wiped out with none left!
The spiritual puppets that had been idling in midair, not knowing what to do, a moment ago all came back to life!
It was Su Changfa!
The old cunning fox was not dead yet!
It appeared that, even if he had failed to recognize Tang Qianhe's trap in time, his sharp senses had still helped him survive the disaster!
However, he could not have looked more miserable!
His right arm and his right leg were both cut off from the joint, and the wounds were temporarily sealed by clusters of bluish gel. There was such a shocking hole on his abdomen that Li Yao could put his arm through his stomach without meeting any obstacle!
His crystal suit was like a hedgehog, with colorful pieces of crystals stabbed all over it.
The destructive shrapnel from crystal bombs seemed to boast the weird ability of stopping the body from being recovered either by the crystal suit or the body itself. With Su Changfa's expertise in the Nascent Soul Stage, he should have been able to seal his veins, muscles, and skin easily. However, at that moment, even his tiniest movement would cause tremendous blood to flow out of the gaps of the crystal shrapnel. The flood turned into red, round pearls in the environment without gravity and floated around him!
Despite his heavy wounds, Su Changfa still extended his right hand and almost stabbed his middle finger and his index finger into his forehead, while he tried his best to activate his telepathic thoughts to control the spiritual puppets!
Li Yao, Kou Ruhuo, and Su Changfa bombarded crazily at the same time!
All the spiritual puppets under Tang Qianhe's control were blown into ash and powder until there was nothing left!
However, Tang Qianhe, who was dancing within the gold ball of light, finished her last step!
Hum!
The escape capsule of the Pangu Clan slightly shivered. The shell that was originally translucent, even a bit dirty, was now getting more and more clear and bright!
Uncanny forces were being released from the depths of the escape capsule, forming an immaculate sphere barrier around the escape capsule and Tang Qianhe!
Li Yao observed carefully, only to discover that the sphere barrier was made of billions of runes, each of which was shining brilliantly in octagonal shapes while they integrated and changed!
"Ahhh!" Kou Ruhuo roared. He drove the giant that was made of his Nascent Soul to crash into the sphere barrier.
After an ear-splitting noise, the hundreds of runes around the point of impact were suddenly enlarged. Hundreds of colors in different shades were unleashed, with ripples spreading out. All the runes that were involved in the ripples were enlarged, too. Eventually, the blast was passed out and shouldered by the billions of runes together, causing no actual damage at all!
The sphere barrier was as perfect as before!
Kou Ruhuo's giant Nascent Soul, on the other hand, was blown away by the counterforce. Its color was much more lackluster than before!
Kou Ruhuo vomited a mouthful of blood, too. His moan could be heard in the communication channel!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Having no time to care about his bleeding wounds, Su Changfa maneuvered hundreds of spiritual puppets to rain their firepower upon the sphere barrier.
Ripples were spreading out everywhere on the sphere barrier, and it was shaking all the time. Yet, it did not collapse no matter how hard they tried!
In the meantime, protected by thousands of runes, the escape capsule was shining more and more brightly.
Li Yao could vaguely feel that the thick, deep-blue fluids inside the escape capsule were bubbling crazily. They were getting thinner and thinner, as if all the energy and nutrition inside were being absorbed by the member of the Pangu Clan!
He is indeed not dead yet! He is now devouring energy crazily in order to wake up from the prolonged hibernation! Li Yao was greatly appalled.
Tang Qianhe had finished all the operations. The rapid movements a moment ago seemed to have drained all her spiritual energy and even her vitality. She opened her arms and closed her legs, floating in the zero gravity like a cross.
If measured with a piece of magical equipment, it would be easy to find that her arms and her torso was in the most perfect right-angle without the slightest error!
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The crystal suit on her body dismembered one piece after another. Eventually, her elegant body, which was shivering slightly, was revealed. There was no telling whether she was fatigued or anxious.
In the end, Tang Qianhe's mysterious face appeared in front Li Yao and the Immortal Cultivators.
Li Yao did know how he should describe the face.
Generally speaking, with such a great scheme working out, she should have been blushing and gloating in excitement, if not bursting into crazy laughter, should she not?
However, there was none of such expressions on Tang Qianhe's face. She was only wearing an eternal, enigmatic smile, as if a certain strange force had pumped away all her feelings and emotions and only left the last one percent!
She was eyeing the three of them completely unlike a hunter eyeing the prey that had fallen into the trap. There was no satisfaction, delight, or fear. Instead, her eyes were full of brilliance of pitifulness and sacredness.
She seemed to be looking at three lambs that had been lost, or three sinners who were waiting to be saved from their ignorance.
Li Yao sniffed.
He did not like being observed in such a way. Not at all.
He would rather face an enemy who roared, laughed, gloated, or went on a rampage—such as Yan Xibei, Xiao Xuance, Elder Nether Spring or Lu Zui—than confront such a… holy and yet hollow face!
"Tang Qianhe, why did you b
etray us? Why?"
Kou Ruhuo crashed into the sphere barrier time and time again, only to be blown back without any exception. His giant Nascent Soul was getting dimmer and weaker.
Devastated, he howled like a wounded animal.
"Save your strength!" Su Changfa gnashed his teeth. "She has joined the Covenant Alliance. She wouldn't hear anything that you are saying!"
"Tang Qianhe works for the Covenant Alliance?"
Kou Ruhuo paused for a moment. In disbelief, he shouted, "Impossible. It's impossible! Before we left, we all received the most rigorous 'Ring-Tu Test'. How can she be a spy of the Covenant Alliance?"
"It means that the Imperium's 'Seventh-Generation Ring-Tu Test System' has been deciphered by the Covenant Alliance!" Su Changfa declared in hatred. "Those wretched puppets are upgrading themselves incessantly, too. The latest generation of demi-humans are already able to simulate ninety-nine percent of the feelings and the ways of thinking of human beings. The 'Ring-Tu Test' is our last defense line. If it is cracked, it will be more than simple for them to infiltrate us!"
With the proof right before their eyes and the peril that they were in, they had no time to brag about the invincibility of the Imperium of True Human Beings to Li Yao anymore and spoke part of the truth.
Inside the sphere barrier, Tang Qianhe was still looking at them with a pair of eyes that were full of pity. The curve of her lips was precise and had absolutely no change at all during the time.
Kou Ruhuo's roar did not move her at all. She kept smiling while she said, "Betray you? No, I am your salvation."
Chapter 1281: Infection and Wildness |
"Just look at the Imperium of True Human Beings. What state has the civilization of mankind ended up in under the government of the Immortal Cultivators?"
Compared to a moment ago, Tang Qianhe's voice was hollow, peaceful, and unhurried. It sounded both like a brook and the roaring thunder that was piercing through the sphere barrier and dwarfing the noises when Li Yao and the Immortal Cultivators were raining their firepower on the sphere barrier crazily!
