by <unknown>
"This is all illusion. Don't be fooled!" This time, Long Yangjun was truly screaming in pain.
Li Yao's teeth were bitten so hard that they were almost crushed. Clusters of veins protruded out of his temples, too. His brain radiated, and his spiritual energy circulated in his heart, reminding himself that Ding Lingdang was right behind him, his family and friends were right behind him, and the Star Glory Federation was right behind him!
After a moment, the trap made of rotten organs vanished. What was left behind was just a messy, burning, and exploding cabin.
Every thorny vein around the Tartarean Skeleton became bright red. On the ends of the sharp stings on every 'thorn', dazzling light balls were condensed again. Hundreds of light balls were thrown away overwhelmingly, completely drowning Black Satan.
When the enemy's senses and probe magical equipment were greatly disrupted by Li Yao, Long Yangjun's Colossus 'Yin Yang' dived down. The soul of the elite warrior of the Nuwa civilization broke free from the swirl of horror and performed the most aggressive attacks from dozens of different perspectives with the black and white shadows. The unsubstantial shadows seemed to have pierced through Black Satan's body hundreds of times in an instant!
Neither Lu Qingchen nor Heiye Ming would have dreamt that they would encounter two freaks whose souls were so weird at once.
The effect of the mental attacks on them was less than one third of the attacks on the regular Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
In the emergency, the 'gyri' on the top of Black Satan's torso opened again, and the intensity of the black lightning unleashed from inside was ten times higher than before!
"This is exactly what I've been waiting for!"
Big Sword, Yan Liren's Colossus, launched the attack that would shock the universe and make the gods weep.
Yan Liren was perhaps not the strongest warrior there.
But his attack was certainly the most brilliant and unstoppable one in the entire battle.
The sword of ten thousand kilometers seemed enough to chop off all the stars in space!
Even Li Yao and Long Yangjun, as two 'bystanders', felt that their Colossi were about to be torn into shreds together with Black Swirl by the overwhelming sword aura.
Black Satan, as the primary target of the attack, was locked onto by the sword aura. The joints all over its body were uttering cracking noises, and the Colossus came to a brief halt!
Shua!
All the bloody, damp organs and the screaming skeletons as well as other terrible illusions dissolved, twisted, and vanished under the power of the attack!
Heiye Ming knew that he had lost the best chance to dodge after the moment of hesitation. He made up his mind immediately. The black lightning flooding out of the 'gyri' was a hundred times more intense than before as he devoted all of his soul power and spiritual energy!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The black lightning and Yan Liren's giant sword collided. The explosion and blast turned into hundreds of daunting tides that almost obliterated the head of Black Swirl. The cabins, walls, pathways, tubes, and magical equipment units within hundreds of kilometers were all blown into fragments the size of fingernails. The fragments were also burning furiously, like thousands of butterflies that were dancing a crazy dance!
The black lightning on Black Satan dimmed instantly, and Yan Liren's giant sword fell apart.
But that was not the end of the attack.
Although the giant sword was wrecked, the broken pieces, enshrouded by the sword aura, consolidated into the shape of flying sword and charged at the open skull of Black Satan like a meteor shower that could destroy a planet.
"Aooo!"
Inside Black Satan, ten thousand Heiye Mings seemed to be screaming at the same time. The black lightning, which had dimmed, revolved quickly and turned into a rapid tornado in a moment, blowing away the sword auras and the broken pieces of the giant sword and darting them through hundreds of walls to the outside of Black Swirl!
The shocking attack was gone.
However, from the dispersing aura of the sword, a streak of brightness that was a hundred times more dazzling dashed out like a swift dragon. It appeared late and drilled into the skull of Black Satan!
Compared to the giant sword that was dozens of meters long, the flying sword that led the brightness was rather short. It was no longer than half a meter and looked more like an overly-long dagger than a sword.
In contrast to the four Colossi, the 'dagger' was as inconspicuous as a needle.
But even Li Yao and Long Yangjun could not help but take a few steps back and cover the critical parts on their bodies when the 'needle' glowed.
It was Yan Liren's fourth sword, the one that had never been unsheathed!
Boom!
Big Sword, Yan Liren's Colossus, landed on the ground heavily on one knee, with its back facing Black Satan, as if it were breathing heavily in exhaustion.
But it did not seem concerned that Black Satan, which was nearby, would launch an assault at him.
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
Black Satan was more than twenty meters tall, and Yan Liren's fourth sword was no longer than its finger. Yet, it seemed to have been frozen by the 'needle'. All its limbs were cramping uncontrollably, and the opening on the skull did not close after a long time. The black lightning was entirely gone, replaced by the silver ripples of sword auras that were popping up nonstop!
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Joints falling apart, metal being twisted, and devices being destroyed echoed inside Black Satan nonstop. The seven limbs shivered and unfolded. The Colossus crouched on the ground and completely collapsed.
Looking at each other in bewilderment, Li Yao and Long Yangjun launched their most deadly skills at the same time.
Now was definitely not the time to give a speech or make a witty quip. The best time to kill an enemy was when they were sick. To deal with such a great devil, it was the only logical to shoot another ten thousand times to make sure that it was dead!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The head of Black Swirl was completely ruined by the fight of the four Colossi. It collapsed entirely as if it had been shot in the head by a gun against its temple. The gravity control rune arrays had stopped functioning a long time ago. The glittering pieces dispersed to all directions like burning dandelions. Black Satan was also drowned by the ocean of violent spiritual energy, and the broken plate armor was all melted.
Under the collective attack of three experts at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, the commander of the Black Wind Fleet failed to let out another roar of fury and regret.
"Is—is this the end?"
The three of them breathed heavily in the communication channel.
"No… It isn't!"
Li Yao's pupils and heart constricted to the minimum at the same time. Although the commander of the Black Wind Fleet had lost all the vital signs under the suppression of their violent spiritual energy, another strength that was more evil, scorching, and unrestrained replaced him and broke out of the shell!
Was this the real strength of Lu Qingchen or the extraterrestrial devil?
The shining ocean of spiritual energy was immediately polluted by the 'virus' and turned into an ocean of tenebrum energy that was as dark as ink. The black tides where purple and red electric arcs were dancing licked Li Yao like the tongue of an abyssal beast.
The Tartarean Skeleton dodged the tides of tenebrum energy, but it could not get away from the overwhelming devilish fire. From the depths of the ocean of tenebrum energy, a Black Satan that was thousands of times larger and more hideous than the one just now slowly crawled out.
"How is this possible?"
Li Yao was dumbfounded. Compared to the enemy's body, whose height was too large to be measured, his Tartarean Skeleton was like a tiny ant—or rather, they were as different as a firefly and the sun!
This is not the real world. Everything in f
ront of my eyes is an illusion. I've been dragged into the Spiriters' Realm again!
Li Yao thought quickly and immediately realized what had happened.
Those wretched extraterrestrial devils are not fond of real-entity attacks. Their favorite move is to sneak into a human's brain and drag the soul into the Spiriters' Realm for torture!
"Long Yangjun! Yan Liren!" Li Yao shouted in the communication channel, only to be greeted by scornful chuckles, which made him realize that the Spiriters' Realm was devised by the extraterrestrial devils solely for himself.
Long Yangjun and Yan Liren must have been trapped in different Spiriters' Realms. The connection between the three of them had been cut off.
What a chaotic Spiriters' Real it was!
The head of Black Swirl had completely collapsed. He found himself in the middle of a burning ocean of debris, and he could see the gory space battlefield around.
However, the picture of the space battlefield was different from when Li Yao and his companions charged into Black Swirl. It was not just one battlefield but a combination of dozens of different battlefields!
Starships of different eras, styles, and forms were engaged in a fierce fight. Humans, demon beasts, demons, extraterrestrial devils, ancient Cultivators, modern Cultivators, Immortal Cultivators… Everybody mauled each other brutally.
There was the space battle that was currently taking place. There was also the final battle between the troops loyal to the Supreme Emperor and those loyal to the Blood God in the collapse of the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years prior. The war between the demon army led by Ba Yanzhi and the ancient Cultivators and even the ultimate collision between Pangu and Nuwa in the primeval era hundreds of thousands of years earlier could be seen, too!
The enormous starships and the corpses of the primeval giants who were even more enormous than the starships floated around Li Yao slowly. Together with fire, blood, and abnormal explosions, they constituted the stage for the final battle!
Chapter 1826: Collection of Extraterrestrial Devils! |
Black Satan, which spanned the entire space field, extended countless tentacles with the surging devilish fire that looked like black lightning. At first glance, it was almost like a black star that was swallowing the universe, and the tentacles were the fire that it had spurted out.
A low, deep chuckle echoed from the center of the black star. "Li Yao, this is the second time that we have had a competition in such a battlefield, isn't it?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. Then he immediately realized that the 'first time' the enemy mentioned was the final battle between him and the star child in the virtual world during the insurgency of the Immortal Cultivators in the Flying Star Sector.
Yes. The star child must have already been corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils at that time. That was why he had been able to build a similar virtual battlefield.
However, the battlefield this time had gone through major upgrades. Both the magnificent scale and the vivid details were apparently much more impressive than the previous battlefield.
If the last illusionary battlefield was a frozen picture, the battlefield this time would be a burning swirl and an inferno where the fire never died out!
"You have finally given yourself away," Li Yao said coldly. "Just admit it. You are an extraterrestrial devil. Both Professor Mo Xuan and Lu Qingchen are just your puppets!"
"Of course, I am an extraterrestrial devil, but I am also Lu Qingchen and a human. This is the real form of mankind, the free, strong, and ultimate form after we are extricated from all restraints and seals!"
A few flames from the black star entangled into a furry arm and extended toward Li Yao. "I don't understand. Why do we have to fight each other? The extraterrestrial devils feed on immense emotional fluctuations. Human beings enjoy the happiness, curiosity, and sense of enterprise and ambition that are brought forth by their emotions, too. It is the fuel that builds the civilization of mankind today and the precious treasures that we are unwilling to lose!
"But the despicable Pangu Civilization believes that emotions that are too scorching will destroy the entire universe. They try to deprive us of our emotions and change us into simple tools and lifeless machines.
"The Pangu Civilization is our mutual enemy. Shouldn't we work side by side to destroy the Pangu Civilization together?"
"Cut the cr*p!" Li Yao bellowed. "It's true that the Pangu Civilization tries to exterminate mankind's emotions and turn human beings into heartless, emotionless, and tearless tools, but are the extraterrestrial devils any better? You have been playing with humans' emotions blatantly, stomping on our most precious treasures, and regarding our souls as your food. You are even more unpardonable than the Pangu Civilization!"
Lu Qingchen's gloomy sigh came over from the black star. "You're wrong. You're really wrong. Everything that I've done is not meant to play with or manipulate anything. I am only trying to find out the 'limits' of a human's soul after it is activated by infinite emotions!"
Pausing for a moment, Lu Qingchen slowly opened his fingers, each of which was longer than a starship. "What are human beings? Where do human beings come from? Where will they go? You must be interested in the answers to those questions, too, Li Yao. Join me and explore the answers together.
"Your soul is strong and weird like I've never seen before. You are a natural-born member of us. I'm sincerely inviting you to embark on the journey to pursue our origins. We can go to the central area of the Imperium of True Human Beings, search for the relics of the battle between the Supreme Emperor and the Blood God ten thousand years ago, excavate the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum and the Blood God's heritage, and finally unravel the ultimate mysteries of the civilization of mankind.
"If you are not satisfied about what I've been doing, I can even make certain compromises in regard to the reform of the Star Glory Federation, as long as you agree to join with me…"
"Enough!" Li Yao shouted back angrily. "I would rather die than join with you!"
"I'm afraid… it's not for you to decide!" Lu Qingchen's voice was suddenly ten thousand times sharper than before. The overwhelmingly huge hand snatched the Tartarean Skeleton as if it were a butterfly and clenched the Colossus in its palm hard, with squeaky noises coming out.
"Come on. Open your mind, liberate your soul, accept the real true path, and become one of us!" Lu Qingchen grinned hideously. "We will figure out the problems together. Why are such small beings like us born in such a vast universe? What are we to the universe? Are we really meaningless dust? I don't believe it. I don't believe it!"
"Argh!"
Brilliance that looked like crimson swords beamed out of the fist that was almost as gigantic as a planet after being clenched. One, two, five, dozens, and hundreds of streaks of redness interconnected with each other and revolved crazily, tearing the enormous fist into shreds. The Tartarean Skeleton leapt out of the suppression of the black star in the most daunting gesture, and its body size expanded together with thunderous roars.
"Stop bluffing. You can't intimidate me, regardless of whether you are Lu Qingchen or the extraterrestrial devil!" Li Yao laughed aloud. "Your scheme has been completely disrupted, yet you are acting like you are confident of your victory? Without the enhancement of the three 'Gai'-level super crystal processors, and now that the mainframe crystal processor of Black Swirl has been blown up by us and all the devils were released by you to corrupt the Black Wind Fleet and frighten the federal fleet, are you really as strong as you appear to be after all your trump cards are out?
"Since this is the Spiriters' Realm, an illusionary land where one's soul and will are what really matter, let me show you the determination of real human beings!"
In his laughter, the Tartarean Skeleton expanded nonstop exactly the same as the enemy. The plate armor on its body was ripped apart again and again, only to be replaced by the boundless crimson fire spurting from deep inside the body, which constituted a second, a third… a thousandth layer of ar
mor that was even stronger. In the end, the Tartarean Skeleton became a universal giant with stars above its head and a galaxy below its feet, as enormous as the black star!
The red giant and the black star confronted each other in silence on the two sides of the overlapping space battlefields.
The black star had been monolithic at the beginning and seemed enough to devour the entire space battlefield. But the red giant was even larger. Or rather, in the competition of will, Li Yao's aggressiveness eclipsed Lu Qingchen's confidence.
"Of course, we will look for the origins of mankind and our purpose in this universe!" The red giant sprinted at the black star and waved its hands. Countless starships were attracted to its arms like pebbles, condensing into two sabers that were enough to chop apart the galaxy in front of his arms. "But we are going to create our future with our belief on our own!
"The path to the future lies in our own hands. The Pangu Civilization, the extraterrestrial devils, or any other seemingly smart and brilliant dictator, none of you will ever control us, restrain us, or decide our future for us!"
The two sabers where Li Yao's whole spirit, determination, and hot blood were concentrated slashed deep into the black star, making Lu Qingchen shiver from the bottom of his soul even though he had been emotionless when he went through all the torture and extreme painful environments.
"Our goals are the same although our means are different. We are moving toward the same destination from two different directions!"
Thousands of black fiery snakes darted out of the black star, snatching tremendous debris of starships and primeval species on the space battlefield and smashing it at the red giant.
Light as dazzling as the big bang of the universe rose from the body of the red giant. Li Yao's soul was heavily wounded to such an extent that it was almost vaporized.
"Stop being a stubborn fool!" Lu Qingchen bellowed. "Accept my path, and you will know that everything I've said is true! Human beings are a type of extraterrestrial devil in a unique form. We are the lords of the devils! Only after countless extraterrestrial devils are condensed will the soul of an ordinary person be constituted. Otherwise, what do you think your soul is exactly?"
