by <unknown>
Betrayal was anything but unusual for the Immortal Cultivators. Now that they had already started it, they'd better see the end of it. Many of them had already begun to fantasize about how many benefits they would earn if "that emperor" was really behind Li Linghai.
It was exactly at such a critical moment when "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi and "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen broke out of the black fog and appeared before everyone.
"Kill them!"
Informed of their arrival, Dongfang Wang urged the five Nascent Soul Stage experts in Colossi to charge at the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage.
The charge was different from the situation a moment ago when Li Linghai was the prey.
Besieging Li Linghai was only a regular mission issued by their families, and they could not gain much from it personally. Besides, the four Divinity Transformation Stage experts were the main force for the mission, and those in the Nascent Soul Stage were just here to help.
To be honest, even if they slacked off or even escaped, which led to dire consequences, what could the leaders of their families have done to them? No matter how severe the punishments were, it was not like they would be sentenced to death directly when they were all at the high level and peak of the Nascent Soul Stage and qualified to use a Colossus, right?
Although they were not in the Divinity Transformation Stage, they were all influential persons in their local areas, and they had a lot of connections in and out of the families. Who could demand that they be killed?
Therefore, they did not feel guilty and pressured at all when they hesitated back then.
But now that they had betrayed their families to take the sides of "that emperor" and killed their own partners, it would certainly be an unpardonable crime should it be exposed. None of their connections would be enough to save them.
Therefore, they had to kill "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi and "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen whatever the cost was!
Naturally, they were no match for the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage. But there were still Li Linghai and Dongfang Sheng. Even "Acyclic Earth" Yun Kuohai who was on par with them had been killed by them easily. Now that they had another five Colossi, the odds of success were rather promising.
The Immortal Cultivators were not cowards all the time. Were that the case, the Imperium of True Human Beings wouldn't have persisted for a thousand years.
Whether or not they were fearless depended on the odds of success and the returns if they succeeded.
The battle before them guaranteed a high chance of success. If they won, they would win the trust of "that emperor", which would certainly bring them infinite returns. More importantly, they could not afford the result of their failure, because they would have nowhere to run to at all. Naturally, they could only fight with all their strength!
Therefore, together with Dongfang Sheng and Li Linghai, seven Colossi burst out astonishing flames of light at the same time as when the five experts in the Nascent Soul Stage burned their souls to the maximum. They were like totally different persons from when they attacked Li Linghai a moment ago, and they crashed at the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage like seven shooting stars!
Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen were both greatly surprised.
They were the targets that Li Linghai paid the most attention to. Not only were the forces of interference and corruption from the array concentrated on them to disrupt their Colossi, but she had also spared half of her telepathic thoughts, trying to penetrate through their brains. Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen were both exhausted in the resistance.
After they finally got rid of the interferences of the great array, they were surprised that those who were coming at them were "their own people", who were mad and aggressive.
Through the communication channels, Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen meant to shout at everyone to make them stop, but there was nothing but background noises in the communication channels.
They intended to transmit information directly through telepathic thoughts and communicate with everyone to learn what was going on, but Li Linghai's mental attacks that felt like a raging flood were suddenly magnitudes greater and surging into their brains. They could barely catch their breath, much less having any chance to send any message!
It all happened too fast. The two Colossi at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage were soon enshrouded in stormy attacks!
"Those people have all betrayed us!"
Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen immediately understood everything. Fury and desperation tied their souls like two giant snakes.
A hundred clashes might take place in one second during a battle of Colossi. There was no time to think at all, and the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage launched the most daunting counterattacks immediately.
The nine Colossi were immediately mired in a dangerous battle. Everyone's soul was seething as they were doing their best—perhaps not including Li Linghai.
The five Colossi piloted by those in the Nascent Soul Stage were naturally no match for the experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage. However, Li Linghai's "Hellstar" was leading the charge and helping them to withstand more than half of the enemy's attacks, giving them the illusion that they could kill the two experts if they worked a little bit harder.
However, when "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi and "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen performed their ultimate skills at the risk of blowing up their bodies and souls, "Hellstar" suddenly rolled to their back like a high-speed gyroscope!
Greatly shocked, the five experts in the Nascent Soul Stage intended to flee, but they had been attracted by the domains of the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage tightly. In the meantime, the metal tentacles of "Hellstar" suddenly extended and pierced into the backs of their Colossi, fixating them to where they were at like five marionettes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of fireballs expanded abnormally in tens of thousands of colors that were beyond the recognition of the naked eye. Thousands of crazily dancing red snakes illuminated the entire dark world, but they did not shed any light on the path of survival.
The fierce battle was still going on in the fireballs that were almost ten thousand degrees. Now and then, it could be seen that the streaks of brilliance that were even brighter than the flames were colliding and splitting, only to be obliterated into nothingness. When the temperature gradually lowered, they turned into hideous black spots.
The fireballs that looked like man-made suns did not disperse like thousands of burning moths until one minute later.
The five Colossi used by the Nascent Soul Stage experts had been either twisted into wasted garbage or reduced to broken limbs.
Naturally, the fury of those in the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage was too much for the experts in the Nascent Soul Stage. The cockpits of the five Colossi were entirely empty, and the experts inside had all been burnt up into nothingness.
However, in order to slay the five Nascent Soul Stage experts under the pressure of Li Linghai's covetous "Hellstar" and Dongfang Sheng's "Smilodon" which might attack them at any moment, both "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi and "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen paid a miserable price.
The spiritual shields around their Colossi had only a thin, lackluster layer left, which covered their broken plate armor like the wrinkled skin of a snake.
Not only were the fuel and ammunitions of their Colossi running out, but their souls and spiritual energy were about to be exhausted too. At the very least, it would be barely possible for them to carry out the combat ability of the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage unhurriedly, and they could only keep themselves in the middle level of the Divinity Transformation Stage or even lower.
The overwhelming majestic air around Li Linghai, however, was still expanding. It was truly going to swallow the two of them like surging tides.
The four Colossi confronted each other in silenc
e in the black fog.
"Li Jianyi, Song Huanzhen—"
Li Linghai demanded, one word after another, with the soul-stirring and sacrosanct voice, "Kneel! Kneel before me!"
Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen looked at each other. Their broken Colossi shook hard.
Controlling "Smilodon", Dongfang Sheng raised his saber high again.
He was not nearly as strong as the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage in the beginning, but he was the one who learned the whole plan earliest. Therefore, when he pretended to be charging at the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage fearlessly, he had already made up his mind to use the five Nascent Soul Stage experts and their Colossi as his shield.
Right now, the five Nascent Soul Stage experts and their Colossi had significantly exhausted the strength of the two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage. In comparison, he hadn't suffered any serious wound since the beginning of the battle. The supplies of his Colossus, as well as his own soul and spiritual energy, were all kept at the best combat state. He was even somewhat stronger than Li Jianyi or Song Huanzhen right now.
"Kneel!"
The six faces on the surface of Li Linghai's "Hellstar" roared at the same time, and tides were rising in the black fog again, as if thousands of troops were hiding inside the darkness, giving unbelievable pressure. "I will not repeat twice. Kneel!"
After a grunt, Li Jianyi finally collapsed.
Known as "Devilish Abyss", he was a Meditation Healer who was particularly sensitive about mental attacks. So, he had the deepest perception of the horror of the overwhelming air around Li Linghai. It was truly like the arrival of the dominator of the galaxy!
Swallowing the blood in his mouth, he controlled the Colossus to curl the right leg and kneeled before Li Linghai on one of his knees.
After Li Jianyi kneeled, Song Huanzhen did not have any choice, or rather, did not have any psychological burden anymore. She quickly kneeled too.
The two experts at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage, in their Colossi, lowered their heads before Li Linghai at the same time and said, "Your Majesty…"
"Take off your Colossi."
Li Linghai said coldly, "Store them in your Cosmos Rings and give them to me!"
Greatly alarmed, Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering if they should follow the order.
"Do you know why I spared your lives but killed Yun Kuohai? Because you are smart people who have brains!"
Li Linghai said casually, "With your status right now, even if you are hiding in your Colossi, it will be more than easy for me to kill you. But there are still tremendous members of the Li family and the Song family that need your management.
"Right now, I am in dire need of hands. I promised that I would spare your lives, and I will not go back on my words.
"Your two ragged Colossi are nothing in my eyes. Now that you are judicious enough to do the right thing, I will certainly grant you more strength and better Colossi!"
Li Jianyi and Song Huanzhen were immediately glowing with interest.
It did make sense on second thought. Whether or not the person was Li Linghai or "that emperor", it was not like that person could achieve a great cause with no external help at all and entirely by him- or herself, right?
It might be easy to kill them, but how was he going to face the thunderous attacks of the four Kurfürst families?
After hesitating for a long time, the two of them gritted their teeth and crawled out of their Colossi, before they stored the Colossi in their Cosmos Rings obediently and allowed the metal tentacles of "Hellstar" to take them away.
Finally, the "riskless" siege carried out by five experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage and dozens in the Nascent Soul Stage had completely failed!
Chapter 2324: A Thousand Years Cannot Soothe the Pain! |
Li Linghai took away the Colossi of the three Divinity Transformation Stage experts but were not in a hurry to deal with them. Instead, she steered "Hellstar" to the depths of the black fog, where the black fog enshrouded a medical cabin with thousands of sticky tentacles, making it unable to move at all.
Naturally, it was "Silver Fox" Li Jiande, the most senior Kurfürst of the family, that was inside the medical cabin.
While Li Jiande's vision and other senses were blocked by the black fog a moment ago, preventing him from seeing the progress of the battle, he knew exactly that he had failed now that he saw his brother Li Jianyi and the rest of them had taken off their Colossi and floated in the midair obediently, and the remains of countless crystal suits and Colossi were spreading around them. He simply heaved a sigh, apparently in the deepest regrets.
"Hellstar" extended two metal tentacles and dragged the medical cabin to right below the gigantic faces. The soul-stirring eyes all stared at him gloomily, as if they were trying to collapse the former prime minister of the Imperium from the bottom of his soul.
Under the pressure that felt like billions of water, "Silver Fox" Li Jiande was utterly not scared but simply laughed aloud. "Idiots! Idiots! What a bunch of hopeless idiots! They will know how stupid their retreat today is when they die the most miserable death one day!"
Li Linghai had covered the space around the medical cabin with her spiritual energy, and therefore, she was not scared that Li Jiande's voices and telepathic thoughts would spread out. She sneered, "Why are they stupid?"
"Even if you have been possessed by a thousand-year-old ghost, you cannot be Blackstar the Great in his prime days!"
"Silver Fox" Li Jiande's eyes were bloodshot, and his hair and beard were flying. With the courage as if he were fighting all the stars in the universe, he finally shouted out the name of "that emperor". "The real Blackstar the Great died a thousand years ago. Even if part of his soul lingered till this day, it must be terribly weak! Even though you have attached yourself to Li Linghai and nurture yourself through her flesh and soul, it is impossible that you have recovered 100% of your strength. It will already be incredible if you can recover twenty or thirty percent of your strength!
"You may boast the combat ability of the Divinity Branching Stage, but you can't be higher than the middle level of the Divinity Branching Stage. But the three of them are all at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage! If they truly summon their courage to fight you, you can kill one of them at best before you are suppressed by the other two!
"Besides, you have not completely possessed the body, and it's only part of your soul that is temporarily residing inside Li Linghai's body. There will be great damage for both your remaining soul and Li Linghai's physical body if you bring out the combat ability of the Divinity Branching Stage for a long time, won't there? It must be noted that your enemy includes not only the five experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage and dozens in the Nascent Soul Stage here but also everybody else of the four Kurfürst families! So, how could you have been bold enough to fight with your best? You cannot afford the risk of being heavily wounded at all!
"Those idiots who have more brawn than brains could've figured it out as long as they gave it some thought! Hehe. If you can really unleash your expertise in your prime years, why on earth have you been hiding inside Li Linghai's shell stealthily, too gutless to let the world know your existence, and why did you play those tricks and divide and conquer us with the advantage of the array? Wouldn't it have been much easier to simply suppress all of us?
"I suspect… Haha, I suspect that your spiritual energy has almost been exhausted after you slew the first guy in the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage, or maybe there's something wrong with the melting of your remaining soul and the body, and it's impossible for you to kill a second expert at the peak of the Divinity Transformation Stage, is it not? What a shame! If they had slightly summoned their courage and attacked you together, they would've cut you into pieces and removed the hazard once and forever!"
Li Linghai listened in silence and did n
ot burst into fury even when she heard Li Jiande's vicious curse in the end. Instead, she laughed aloud. "Isn't it only logical? Today is not like the old days. The Imperium at the sunset is no longer the Imperium a thousand years ago!
"A thousand years ago, when the Star Ocean Republic was corrupted by the Cultivators and catching the last breath, the first-generation Immortal Cultivators were all transformed from the Cultivators who were of honor and integrity and who were worried about the future of mankind.
"They were all the real Immortal Cultivators with dreams and ambitions! Only such Immortal Cultivators could sacrifice for the civilization of mankind fearlessly under my lead without caring about their own interests!
"But today, after a thousand years, the Imperium of True Human Beings has contracted the exact same disease that killed the Star Ocean Republic. The Immortal Cultivators today have retrograded into selfish, shortsighted, and conspiratorial guys that are no different from the pigs in the bloated parliament of the Star Ocean Republic a thousand years ago!
"You can only see yourselves in your eyes. You have no dreams, and you do not know what you are fighting for. You are just a bunch of worms carrying the banner of the Immortal Cultivators but actually under the control of your instincts. You are talking about 'unity' and 'sacrifice'? Such people in the Divinity Transformation Stage without beliefs are all gaudy counterfeits. Not just four, even if a hundred had come today, I would still have grasped your weakness and suppressed all of you!"
"Silver Fox" Li Jiande was rendered speechless. His inviolable courage a moment ago was entirely gone, and his body began to shrivel. Like a drowning person, his face was covered in lifelessness as he mumbled, "… Your Majesty, I-I'm willing to surrender!"
"You are a rarely-seen smart person. You were once the prime minister of the Imperium. You are rather prestigious nationwide. By logic, I should give you an opportunity to correct your mistakes because I am in dire need of hands right now."
