by <unknown>
Soon, a shadow staggered out of the end of the pathway.
It was exactly the initiator of the operation to explore the mysterious Divine Palace, the mysterious Lead Eunuch Wang Xi!
How is it possible?
Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. He was truly baffled.
He saw with his own eyes that Wang Xi had crawled into the Nuwa warship from the engine tubes that were at the rear part of the warship. Unless he was absolutely familiar with the internal structure of this particular warship, how could Wang Xi have passed from the engine area through the complicated, labyrinth-like cabins on the warship to the command area after only half an hour?
At this moment, Wang Xi still had the appearance of a fair-skinned, beardless, middle-aged scholar, except that there was green brightness on his pale face, suggesting that he might have been poisoned.
There were blood stains everywhere on his body. A shocking wound could be found on his thigh, where the flesh was rolling up like the lips of a baby. The wound was absolutely vertical without the slightest slant. There was not even the error of a hair.
What a shocking sword aura! Li Yao secretly clicked his tongue.
He could not have been more familiar with the wounds of such a shape. Over the past months, he had witnessed identical wounds on many ferocious beasts that were used as targets for sword training.
In the entire Ancient Sages Sector, only Yan Liren's unstoppable sword auras could have left such a marvelous wound!
Wang Xi had a head-on clash with Yan Liren and appeared to have suffered an obvious setback?
That did make sense. Perhaps, Yan Liren was the only weirdo here who did not give a damn about the Cloud Qin Gold Statues. The sole reason that he had participated in the exploration of the Divine Palace was to practice his sword arts with the real experts.
Despite the wound on his thigh, Wang Xi had retreated in one piece when Yan Liren was attacking with all his might. It was evident enough of his remarkable Cultivation!
Wang Xi wobbled to the three silver gates. He craned his neck and observed for a long time. There was confusion on his face, and mysterious brilliance was flashing inside his eyes.
The magical equipment that the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan had once used was strewn across the ground, but Wang Xi did not even bother to look at the weapons. His eyes suddenly lost focus, as if he was caught in memories a long time ago.
Exactly like Li Yao just did, he touched the three silver gates for a moment before turning around and studying the barriers to open the gates.
Take your time to study them! Li Yao sneered. Let's see how exactly you are going to open the gates that even I can't!
Wang Xi pondered for a moment. Then, like Li Yao had done, he also activated the unlocking interface of the gates.
The first thing to pop up was the facial recognition procedure. A cluster of gentle bluish brightness, which looked like a beautiful jellyfish, slowly surfaced.
There was no telling what Wang Xi was thinking, but after a slight delay, he stuck his own face into it.
Li Yao almost laughed out aloud. What was the guy thinking of? Did he think that any random guy could just swipe their face and enter such an advanced Nuwa warship?
As expected, the cluster of blue light wriggled on his face for a while before it turned red. The gates remained closed, showing absolutely no sign of opening.
The identification failed.
Wang Xi was confused. He rubbed his face softly and paced back and forth for a while. Suddenly, he dashed back to the pathway and examined for a moment. He then established quite a few alarm rune arrays on the pathway tirelessly. One of them was almost deployed to the bottom of the armor that Li Yao was hiding behind. Li Yao was so anxious that he almost failed to stop his cold sweat from running out.
What was the guy trying to do after taking so many precautions?
After setting up seven alarm rune arrays to ensure that nobody would break in, Wang Xi returned to the identification magical equipment on the silver gates.
He suddenly bulged his eyes and took such a long breath that his chest was rising high.
A series of cracking noises echoed inside his body, which sounded both like his bones being weirdly twisted and like his muscles and veins breaking, growing, and condensing again.
As he slowly exhaled all the air from his body, a weird scene happened.
Ivory mist flowed out of every pore on his body and enshrouded him like a great cocoon.
Creepy chewing noises came from inside the cocoon, accompanied by low moans.
When the mists were gradually gone, his face, physique, and demeanor had gone through drastic changes!
He had changed from the handsome middle-aged scholar to the plain-looking but plump female assassin Long Yangjun!
What—what technique is this? This is too sophisticated. How can the guy transform freely from a male to a female so quickly? Is he a man or a woman? Is he half a man and half a woman?
Li Yao was so shocked that his eyeballs almost dropped to the ground.
The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators could control the secretion of hormones inside their bodies at will. If Li Yao stimulated the secretion of the estrogen in his body and suppressed the secretion of the androgens such as testosterone, perhaps he would be able to change his body figure as well and gain the secondary sex characteristics that were similar to a female.
However, the process would take months if not years before the preliminary changes took effect. Also, there would not be any fundamental difference except that he would look more feminine than before after the changes.
The mutation of Wang Xi or Long Yangjun had far exceeded what a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator could achieve.
"Hu…"
Wang Xi had no idea that somebody was peeping at his metamorphosis nearby. He looked quite relieved, as if he had gotten rid of a burden and a camouflage, and took a deep breath in relief.
Although the physique had changed, the female assassin Long Yangjun was tall and strong. Therefore, the previous clothes still fit pretty well.
She smiled and touched her brand-new face before she leaned toward the blue light ball again.
Wang Xi's face was buried in the blue ball, leaving her graceful body outside. She had no idea at all that a highly dangerous enemy was lurking right next to her.
However, Li Yao did not plan to attack her immediately because he could not have been more curious about Wang Xi's uncanny behavior.
Beep!
A crisp beep echoed deep inside the blue ball a moment later. The ball then turned green, hinting that she may proceed to the next procedure.
She had passed the test of the facial features recognition!
Li Yao was utterly dumbfounded, as if he had been struck by lightning.
How was it possible?
The Nuwa warship had crashed there a hundred thousand years ago. Also, the bridge was under the protection of the highest level. It was certainly the case that only the few key crew members could pass the facial features recognition!
How was Wang Xi, a local of the Ancient Sages Sector who lived a hundred thousand years later and theoretically could not have had anything to do with the Nuwa warship, accepted?
Li Yao was baffled!
When he looked Wang Xi's face, even she did not seem to expect that she could pass the test. Both surprised and delighted, and with a hint of intense confusion, she even let out an exclamation.
Taking a deep breath, she put her hands into the light ball as per the instructions on the identification interface.
Li Yao felt that his heart was heavy again.
It was obvious that the operation menu of magical equipment on the Nuwa warship was written in the language of the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan.
Although it was somewhat similar to the common tongue of human beings nowadays, there were still major differences. Their language was constructed in a unique way by transforming three-dimension into two-dimension. The information contain
ed in one character could be more than ten times than in the common tongue of modern human beings.
The Star Glory Federation had collected a lot of primeval characters on Kunlun. After five years of arduous studies by historians and linguists, they had finally managed to get a general idea of the primeval language system and understand the basic meaning denoted in every character.
Even so, Li Yao had to resort to his guesses a lot when he recognized the characters, and he could only understand the general meaning.
Wang Xi, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble at all reading the instructions on the operation menu.
It reminded Li Yao of the map of the Divine Palace. How exactly did Wang Xi learn how to parse the map of the Divine Palace and how to operate on the layers of complicated menus?
Beep!
When Li Yao was thinking, Wang Xi passed the palmprint, voiceprint, and iris tests successfully. The only thing left was a dynamic password.
In front of the hundreds of glittering runes, she was dazzled and at a loss again.
However, her helplessness was soon replaced by weird epiphany a moment later.
The brightness inside her eyes grew clearer and clearer, and she was more and more at ease, as if something frozen inside her body for the longest time was thawing and about to break out of the shell.
Wang Xi's hands turned into two clusters of gray fog as she tapped the virtual runes as quickly as lightning as if it were her conditioned reflex. She inputted all the three dynamic passwords after only one second!
Hiss!
The largest silver gate in the middle, after uttering a high-pitched noise, split apart from the middle and retreated toward the center helically!
The gate to the bridge had been opened!
Chapter 1476: Trump Card vs. Trump Card! |
The gate began to shimmer, which should be certain inert gas that filled the room in order to keep the stable performance of the magical equipment during the long-time hibernation. At first glance, a splendid new world seemed to be hidden inside the bridge.
Wang Xi hesitated for a moment in front of the new world before she bit her lip and strode in.
Hardly had she set foot in the room when the gate was closing.
Li Yao's heartbeat was immediately beating at the highest speed from stillness. Even his ribs were aching, as if his heart was breaking them apart!
This was the only opportunity!
It concerned the control of a Nuwa warship, which could possibly take off later!
Wang Xi had been hit by Yan Liren's attack. Her combat ability must be at the lowest point!
It was definitely worth a try, even at the risk of exposing his identity!
Boom!
Li Yao lunged out of the corner as if he had stepped on ten thousand crystal bombs. Before the gate was fully close, he sprinted into the room and collided with Wang Xi's waist directly!
Having just opened the gate to the bridge of the Nuwa warship, Wang Xi was still overwhelmed.
Out of her expectations, something ferocious was coming at her from behind, and the seven alarm rune arrays gave no warning at all!
Wang Xi's face dropped. She immediately realized that her metamorphosis must have been witnessed by the stranger!
In her shock, she reacted much more slowly than she should have. Hardly had she turned around when Li Yao knocked her away. The two of them rolled into the bridge of the Nuwa warship, one in front and the other behind, with the gate finally fully closed behind them!
This was an enormous space that was as splendid and magnificent as a palace.
The floor was as smooth as a mirror, but a hundred giant pillars were standing. Every giant pillar was riddled with countless holes and connected together by thousands of crystal cables.
It was a certain crystal processor system of an unprecedented scale!
Despite the hibernation of hundreds of thousands of years, the crystal processor system was not entirely ruined. Instead, under the protection of the blue inert gas, they were releasing vague, glamorous colors, illuminating the bridge as if it were a natural paradise!
However, the paradise had turned into a hell of fighting!
Since Wang Xi's greatest secret was exposed, she could not have looked more hideous. Before she came to a stop after Li Yao's blow, she stepped on one of the giant pillars and swung back like a soft feather. Her crystal sword that had been hidden somewhere rushed out and evolved into a whip dozens of meters long, covering every part on Li Yao's body.
The bones on Li Yao's right arm cracked quickly, and the sharp claw, the bone spurts, and the energy-concentrating crystal all protruded out. After all, Wang Xi had already seen his apocalyptic body last time, and it would not hurt if she saw it again. In the meantime, he picked up a metal claw with his right hand and dealt with Wang Xi's whip with dozens of molecular mica threads!
The two of them boosted their spiritual energy to the maximum.
It was a pity that the blue inert gas inside the bridge seemed to boast a weird function to absorb the spiritual energy and restrain the magnetic field, which suppressed the flames of spiritual energy burning on the two of them into faint balls of light. Most of the auras that they launched were instantly swallowed by the blue gas before they hit their target.
Realizing that, the two of them chose close-distance combat, which was crueler and more dangerous, almost simultaneous. They turned into dozens of streaks of brightness and entangled each other like vipers.
Chi!
Li Yao's shoulder was pierced through by the rushing crystal cluster. The flesh around the hole the size of fingernail was in a weird translucent, crystallization state, as if it had been contaminated by an unseen virus.
Shua!
Long Yangjun's abdomen was also ripped with three bloody wounds by Li Yao's sharp claws. An inconspicuous attack of the Cell Obliteration Cannon almost boiled all her internal organs!
BAM!
Despite the heavy wounds, the two of them did not even bother to blink their eyes. They summoned all the spiritual energy inside their bodies and had a head-on clash without any fancy tricks. Their total weight was merely several hundred kilograms, yet two monolithic mountains seemed to have crashed with the most devastating landslides. Even the stagnating blue gas was rippling out due to their collision!
Li Yao and Wang Xi both grunted and were blown backward. They both felt that their veins and nerves were broken, their internal organs were burning, and their souls were shaking hard like a lone boat on a surging ocean!
This is not going to work out!
Li Yao gritted his teeth.
His Cultivation was on par with Wang Xi's. Although Wang Xi's leg had been cut by Yan Liren's sword earlier, now that she had gone on a rampage in her fury, it was not easy for Li Yao to execute her directly.
Moreover, Li Yao did not want to execute Wang Xi at all. He merely wanted to capture her alive and ask her about the backstory of everything. He was even hoping to learn the methods to control the Nuwa warship through Wang Xi!
I have no choice except to resort to my ultimate skill now!
With dangerous brightness beaming out his crimson left eye, Li Yao squinted. As the saying went, you might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. Wang Xi had been suspicious about his identity for a long time, and it was impossible for him to flawlessly explain everything. Besides, it was already extremely uncanny that he had appeared there. There was no way that he could fool a schemer of Wang Xi's level with any excuse.
It was not Li Yao's personality to be passively beaten, and he was not particularly fond of being suspected and interrogated while doing nothing. For the Nuwa warship and the factory of the Colossi, exposing the existence of his crystal suit was an acceptable cost!
Anyways, he should capture Wang Xi alive and take the initiative of the situation first!
Li Yao's eyeballs were rolling crazily as he inputted the distribution data of the hundred pillars into his brain and analyzed dozens of differ
ent tactics!
When the crystal sword pierced toward his thigh again, he pretended that he had no time to dodge, and he nearly tripped himself over because of the long wound on the external side of his thigh. He leaned to the right side, but he threw dozens of super tiny crystal bombs through the Thousand Fingers Soft Bones technique toward the route of Wang Xi's attack that he predicted!
The super tiny crystal bombs were the essence of the most advanced explosive magical equipment in the Star Glory Federation. Although they were only the size of fingernails, they were multiple times more powerful than the grenades of the Ancient Sages Sector. The bombs spurted out and exploded between Li Yao and Wang Xi, establishing a colorful wall of spiritual energy. Even if they could not wound Wang Xi, they would still be able to stop her for a second!
It was exactly the critical second that Li Yao was trying to buy himself!
"Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, implement!"
With everything progressing so far, there was no need for disguises. Li Yao tapped the center of his eyebrow with his fingers. His spiritual energy surged out together with his soundwaves. Dozens of black and red streaks of brightness darted out of his Cosmos Ring and condensed into an awe-inspiring crystal suit around his body!
My combat ability is on par with Wang Xi's. The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, which has been significantly upgraded through the technologies on Kunlun, will at least double my combat ability. When I catch her unprepared, I can definitely capture her alive!
With the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit on his body, the familiar feeling and the intense confidence filled Li Yao's chest again. After his roar, the eighteen power rune arrays on the two sides of the spine of the crystal suit spurted out dazzling flames, pushing the crystal suit forward to tear apart the aftershock of the previous explosion and crash at Wang Xi brutally!
If everything went as Li Yao had planned, the blast this time would definitely sabotage Wang Xi's spiritual energy circulation and briefly cast it into disorder. Then, he would be able to launch a series of dazzling follow-up attacks.
