by <unknown>
Everybody had their own specialty, and every finger was of different length. Although he was a master of refining, he had never had much expertise on the arts of barriers. It was sort of one of his weaknesses.
Besides, he did not have several days. Mother White Lotus and the rest of them were no fools. After following Neltharion for dozens of kilometers, they certain would realize that something was wrong and immediately return!
Chapter 1456: Escape! |
Should I just leave the garbage components outside and carry the map core to run away immediately? Li Yao thought to himself, but he immediately disapproved of the idea.
The periphery device named Thousand Stars Tray boasted the technique to parse the map core, which involved many sophisticated techniques on barriers, spiritual energy, linguistics, and compression and decompression of telepathic thoughts.
Li Yao was not a god. He was best at small, single magical equipment for battle. Crystal suits and Colossi were his specialties. He was certainly not a man that could craft all kinds of magical equipment.
For example, he did not know much about decompressing and translating the information of the primeval civilizations.
To make matters worse, he did not have the help of the super crystal processors with immense computational ability on this relatively 'primitive' planet. He also did not have the professionals to assist him. It was practically impossible for him to craft a set of decompressing and translational magical equipment similar to the Thousand Stars Tray, much less compiling a sophisticated operation system with a brand-new rune system!
Without the Thousand Stars Tray, it would be impossible to display the map of the Divine Palace. Even if it was displayed one way or another, it would still be impossible to tell whether or not there were more secrets to the map!
Li Yao looked at Long Yangjun again.
He suddenly realized that, compared with 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu, Lead Eunuch Wang Xi was the true crux of the operation.
How exactly did Wang Xi discover the so-called 'Divine Palace', and how could Wang Xi's subordinate turn on the map of the Divine Palace so skillfully and perform all the complicated operations?
Also, Wang Xi had mentioned to Yan Liren before that the people stranded in the Ancient Sages Sector were the frogs at the bottom of a well.
Right now, Wang Xi had found the Divine Palace who allegedly led to the 'deities' realm'. The project had already begun more than ten years ago.
So, did it mean that Wang Xi had been working hard to jump out of the 'well'?
What was his purpose exactly?
Was the mysterious signal sent to the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector a hundred years ago related to Wang Xi to some extent?
Or maybe, was it because the scouts from the Imperium of True Human Beings were hiding behind Wang Xi?
Li Yao had planned to have a nice conversation with 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu first.
However, it was rather questionable whether or not Wan Mingzhu was of a mind to communicate with him peacefully now that he had eavesdropped on such a shocking secret.
Anybody would try to kill the eavesdropper to prevent the secret from leaking, right?
It was not like he could tell Wan Mingzhu directly that he was in fact a fellow Cultivator from a different world and that he was to some extent a 'deity' that they had been dreaming about, could he?
Even if Wan Mingzhu miraculously bought it, it would be quite awkward if the forces from the Imperium of True Human Beings or even more terrifying existences were lurking behind one of the Four Rapscallions.
Li Yao had never been a man who was willing to let someone else take control over his fate.
This place was Wan Mingzhu's home field. Nobody could tell how dominating she could be. Even if communication was truly necessary, it would be best that he talked with her in a place that was less passive for him.
He might as well find a place to chat with Wang Xi's special agent first and see what the previously powerful and now mysterious Lead Eunuch was up to exactly!
The more information that he grasped, the more likely he would be able to understand the general picture of everything. By then, he would be able to choose whether to expose his identity or to go to the Divine Palace as Master Spiritual Vulture.
"You, collect the Thousand Stars Tray and the map core. Follow me!"
Li Yao spoke to Long Yangjun aloofly.
"I am not supposed to disobey you, senior." Long Yangjun was not scared of Li Yao's cold eyes at all. "However, I have not fulfilled the mission that Lord Wang entrusted to me yet. I'm very curious about one thing. What can you use to threaten me? After all, senior, you should be very clear that I, as a member of Ghost Character and a special agent that Lord Wang picked in person to carry out the mission, am certainly not scared of death."
"Of course, you are not scared of death, but you are scared that you mission will fail." Li Yao said coldly. "Leave with me now. One more word, and I will destroy the Thousand Stars Tray and the map core. We'll go separate ways!
"I don't care. I was just roaming for fun while I was unoccupied before I somehow wandered to this place and overheard your secret!
"Fascinating as the Divine Palace and the Cloud Qin Gold Statues sound, I will suffer no loss even if I cannot find the precise map to explore them!
"Your master Wang Xi, on the other hand, has planned the mission for decades. Who do you think will find the loss more intolerable, him or me?"
The smile on Long Yangjun's face gradually froze, and the fear of losing control over the situation was popping up in her eyes.
Sneering, Li Yao generated a greenish fire in his hands. The fire was burning more and more fiercely in cracking noises.
Without further ado, holding back the excruciating pain caused by the shackle, Long Yangjun raised her hand. The Thousand Stars Tray and the map core turned into hundreds of streaks of brilliance and dived into her four Cosmos Rings!
"Excellent!" Li Yao nodded in satisfaction. He snapped his fingers, shooting three sparks from the ghostly fire to three key parts on the shackle on Long Yangjun's body. The thorns that pierced deeply into her veins were slightly retreated so that she could summon part of her spiritual energy.
"You are a smart person. Don't do anything stupid. Your life is worthless, but the map of the Divine Palace is invaluable. Don't do anything that gives me a reason to destroy it!"
Li Yao's voice was utterly unemotional, as if it was made by the gears and bearings inside a machine.
Long Yangjun nodded obediently. At Li Yao's gesture, she walked in front of him.
When the two of them left the White Lotus Island without a sound, the skeletons and remaining souls guarding the place did not know what had happened yet.
However, in the seawater not far away, a surging undercurrent was returning with the utmost fury.
Mother White Lotus had realized that she had been tricked and was rushing back at full speed!
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The jellyfish floating around the White Lotus Island suddenly grew agitated. They all opened their transparent bodies as if they were balloons being blown!
Under the illumination of their colorful mystic rays, Li Yao and Long Yangjun no longer had nowhere to hide.
The round jellyfish all drifted toward the two of them. Some of them even exploded without any warning when they collided.
"Let's go!"
Li Yao pushed Long Yangjun's back heavily. His spiritual energy flooded out of every pore on his body, turning himself into a jet submarine, which allowed him to crawl out of their siege before the hundreds of jellyfish surrounded them!
The hundreds of jellyfish exploded like fireworks, providing even more impetus for Li Yao. He was able to dash forward abruptly. Then, he retrieved dozens of bizarre-shaped components from the Cosmos Rings and wore them on his limbs and his back. Like enormous fins, all the components could be moved freely.
Shua!
Whil
e Long Yangjun stared at him in the utmost astonishment, Li Yao controlled the 'fins' precisely while he dragged her to move straight upward, leaving ripples behind in the ocean!
This place was still within the range of the continental shelf. So, the ocean was shallow. After only one moment, the two of them had already leapt out of the water!
On the surface of the ocean, however, were thunder, lightning, and surging tides. The world was occupied with extremely furious spiritual waves. The weather could not have been rougher!
It was the harbinger of a febrile typhoon.
Qi Zhongdao had informed them earlier that two febrile typhoons would attack the offshore area one after the other.
The first febrile typhoon had already caused great natural disasters. Right now, the second febrile typhoon was coming at the area aggressively!
"Senior Spiritual Vulture!"
Glancing at the sky that was filled with dark clouds and purple lightning, Long Yangjun raised her voice and shouted, "You don't really belong to the world of the Cultivators in the Great Qian Dynasty, and you have nothing to do with the Great Qian Dynasty. There is absolutely no reason for us to be hostile to each other. Why can't we sit down and have a nice talk?"
Boom! Boom, boom, boom!
Thunderous explosions were rumbling in the ocean behind the two of them. An enormous bone dragon hundreds of meters long, made of countless corpses of the undersea demon beasts, surfaced and opened its bloody mouth, roaring at Li Yao in the most deafening sound. Bluish flames spurted out of its throat and darted into the clouds brushing past by Li Yao's hair. After a cracking sound, the cloud was almost ripped apart!
Between the giant horns of the bone dragon, 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu was gazing at Li Yao with the utmost fury!
Li Yao looked at Long Yangjun.
"I was wrong. You can run away now, senior!"
Licking his lips, Li Yao dragged Long Yangjun to fly into the sky toward where the spiritual energy was most chaotic, the lightning was most dense, and the thunder was loudest!
Long Yangjun's head was dizzy. Her hair was all standing up because of the stimulation of static electricity. She shouted, "Senior, senior, we are probably going to run into the febrile typhoon ahead!"
It was exactly what Li Yao wanted.
The sky above the ocean had absolutely no shelter where he could hide or dodge.
If he was all by himself, he was confident in running from Mother White Lotus.
However, he was carrying a great burden named Long Yangjun. If he went in a straight line, Mother White Lotus would certainly catch them!
Running into the febrile wind was their only way to escape!
The febrile typhoon indeed looked intimidating, however, it was not Li Yao's first time training himself in a thunderstorm or suppressing the enemy with the power of lightning to secure the final victory!
Back in the old days in the Flying Star Sector, he had not even been scared of the furious turbulence unleashed by the supernova outbreak in the 'Wraiths' Wrath'. What could a tiny febrile typhoon do about him?
Releasing thousands of spiritual threads and sensing the incoming direction of the febrile wind, Li Yao roared and crashed right into it while dragging Long Yangjun!
Mother White Lotus, on the other hand, was chasing after him closely on the enormous bone dragon, followed by countless ghost soldiers and the experts from Ghost Qin and the Heaven Battering Army!
Chapter 1457: Possibility of Cooperation |
Gloomy winds passed by Li Yao's head and ears, only to be ripped into shreds by the turbulent spiritual energy and the crazily dancing lightning between the sky and the earth!
In such a violent magnetic field, the army of ghouls became the most vulnerable victims due to the lack of the protection of a body.
With that advantage alone, Li Yao had managed to get rid of ninety percent of the pursuers.
Only Mother White Lotus and a few experts were still tailing him.
However, it was impossible for them to persist for long, either.
Boom! Crack!
They entered the area of storm.
The rain on the ocean was smashing down like hail, turning the entire sky into yet another ocean. The vision, hearing, and senses of the pursuers were serious affected!
Li Yao was still wearing the bizarre-shaped fins, except that some of the fins assembled each other after a period of cracking noises and turned into a piece of broader magical equipment to support flying like wings!
Dragging Long Yangjun in midair, Li Yao seemed to be holding nothing at all. He was drawing the most spectacular curves in the middle of the thunder and lightning, making best use of the power of the rain and the magnetic field. He drifted unpredictably like a dry leaf in a blowing wind, without any pattern that the pursuers could follow.
Mother White Lotus' roars and attacks brushed past him time and time again, and he was drawing closer and closer to the febrile typhoon!
In the dark ocean up ahead, a violent storm could already be vaguely seen, as if a gap leading to the deepest depths of hell had been ripped open in midair, from which the eternally burning fire of destruction was spurting out!
It was the febrile typhoon!
Even Li Yao did not dare engage head-on with the febrile typhoon without the protection of a crystal suit!
He was not planning to crash into the febrile typhoon boldly, either, but merely cut slightly into the edge of the febrile typhoon to make use of the centripetal force as if he were 'surfing'!
The febrile typhoon was still developing, but it was already hundreds of kilometers in diameter. Naturally, the periphery was rotating at the highest speed. The wind was blowing so fast that it seemed to be able to extinguish the sun.
Hu!
Li Yao shook arms and legs. His 'fins', or 'wings', instantly doubled in size. Picking up the febrile wind, they became round and puffy, like the sails of a boat in full wind. His speed was immediately doubled!
Bound by a chain, Long Yangjun was pulled behind him like a kite. She could not help but scream hard in the middle of crazily roaring wind.
Mother White Lotus was residing inside a puppet body. The combination of a ghost and a puppet could never be as tight as the combination between a living person and their soul. If she barged into the febrile typhoon recklessly, it was possible that her soul might be blown out of the puppet!
Even if she was known as the mother of all ghosts, it would be impossible for her to persist for long inside the rampant febrile typhoon without the protection of a shell.
The bone dragon came to an abrupt halt at the periphery of the febrile typhoon and spurted out dozens of clusters of dazzling fire toward the depths of febrile typhoon, which exploded inside the febrile typhoon and turned into enormous flowers of light. However, they were not even close to Li Yao before they were shredded and obliterated!
Mother White Lotus was not as insane as Li Yao, restraining from galloping into the febrile typhoon after him.
It was needless to mention Han Yuantai, Qi Changsheng's representative, and the rest of them, whose Cultivation was much lower than the two of them. They could only gaze at Li Yao and Long Yangjun reducing in size in the violet storm until they were gone in the end!
Crack!
Wan Mingzhu was so exasperated that she crushed the horns on the bone dragon that were as thick as thighs!
"Who—who is this guy exactly?" she shrieked in the most high-pitched voice.
…
The following morning, the febrile typhoon had already passed. As if all the dirt in the world had been cleaned, the sky was clear and cloudless, and a red sun was rising up in radiating glow!
Not far away from the shoreline, there was a desolate island that was surrounded by sharp-edged reefs.
Such desolate islands were anything but unusual in the offshore area.
Most of the desolate islands were less than half an acre in coverage. They were essentially rocks that were larger in size. Also, they wer
e surrounded by cliffs and hidden reefs, lacking ports with deep water and flat beaches. So, it was not worth investing in exploiting them.
Even the lawless pirates would not consider such places as their den.
Only the birds would rest in such places. Therefore, most of the islands had already been buried in the stinky, gray struvite.
Deep inside the desolate island, the previously rough, uneven place had been crushed and paved by Li Yao into a flat ground the size of a grain-sunning field.
"Ow!"
Long Yangjun was shaking and gagging on the ground, wet from head to toe.
There was no telling whether it was because she had drunk too much rainwater or because she was intimidated by the power of the febrile typhoon and the thunderstorm.
The super assassin of the Ghost Character looked like a half dead fish right now. Her face was pale and full of fear, and her calmness from when she dealt with Li Yao last night had vanished.
Li Yao had intentionally taken her to break into the febrile typhoon partly to shock her and collapse her mental defense line.
Judging the outcome, the tactic had worked out pretty well!
Li Yao was sitting cross-legged in a corner of the desolate island with his eyes half closed as he rested in silence. Bright green flames of spiritual energy were dancing around him, adding to his mysteriousness.
Breaking into the febrile typhoon had been extremely exhausting, even for him, especially when he was carrying the huge burden named Long Yangjun.
He was quite close to the main continent, and it was broad day with a bright sun.
Qi Zhongdao and the other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators would be searching for Mother White Lotus and him. Under such circumstances, it was highly unlikely that Mother White Lotus would chase after him with a large batch of ghost soldiers.
However, one could never be too prudent. The sooner he recovered his spiritual energy and returned to his peak combat ability, the better!
While Long Yangjun was not paying attention, Li Yao injected a powerful recovery drug that he had brought from the Star Glory Federation into his body. The effect of the drug was many times better than the best recovery pill in the Ancient Sages Sector!
