Archfiend

Chapter 125: The Truth (1)

The two of them glared at their counterpart’s gaze, unblinking. Xu Yangyi was calm, but while Zhao Wuye’s cheeks were undisturbed, his heart was in tremendous shock! He had long since been able to hear that Xu Yangyi was young, however, he wholly hadn’t expected that the other’s youthfulness wasn’t just that; Xu Yangyi’s cards were not one bit weak! He moreover hadn’t anticipated that his own repeated succession of several masterstrokes would surprisingly be unable to injure Xu Yangyi! Especially… the other’s last divine ability. It was so mighty that it caused his heart to shiver and his flesh to crawl.

“Fellow Daoist, must you insist on this mortal gambling of lives?” Zhao Wuye was gloomy-faced as he questioned. His heart was a tangle of complex emotions. He was terribly worried. He had rushed a step ahead first and asked everything, killing Liu Shuren, yet Xu Yangyi just happened to come. It was already inconvenient of him to leave, so he thereupon straightforwardly served as bait, wishing to harness some of Xu Yangyi’s inside information. 

Once Xu Yangyi opened his mouth, Zhao Wuye had guessed it to be the Thousand Illusions, and at that time, the drum of retreat had been struck in his heart. A cultivator able to purchase the Thousand Illusions was one that he could not afford to provoke. Not to mention himself, the clan behind him couldn’t stand to offend such a cultivator.

But unexpectedly, he had on the contrary been recognized by the other. His first thought was to set into action without heed to rest, a cutting of weeds and elimination of roots. He had settled on a plan and executed his clan’s killing move. This move had a nickname, known as the Three Rings Encasing Moon. This was their clan’s most exquisite killing move, chained in succession. It was one move of three divine abilities. No matter whether the opponent countered, attacked, or escaped, there was a back-up. 

Nonetheless, never did he expect by any musing that this “root” would actually be so difficult to remove. It had already been ten years since he stepped into the middle stage, yet he couldn’t even catch this young little imp!

“Only a dead man can keep a secret.” Xu Yangyi’s expression was devoid of the slightest chance, and he said icily: “After I cleanly defeat you, I think you’ll be quite willing to speak of what you know.”

Arrogant! Zhao Wuye’s teeth clenched, and he laughed through his teeth: “Since that’s how it is, let's have our aces see to the true crescendo.”

“Hundred Soldier Hall…” Zhao Wuye sucked in a deep breath of air again, and his ten fingers formed claws that crossed over his chest: “Thousand Mountain Snow.”

Swoosh… Swoosh… Swoosh! Qi knives starting from a single blade counted up to ten and then over a hundred! In an instant, they converged behind him! 

Life Sacrification! Qi revolving around his entire body and Life Sacrification long since waiting and poised on a spear, Xu Yangyi understood that the attack of moments ago akin to thundering lightning didn’t reach its intended effect. What followed next was the proper face, the time of matching hard power. In concerns to his own hard power, he held extraordinary faith! [1]

Boom! Two orbs of raging fire burned in Xu Yangyi’s hands. This time, the insurrection of qi was even more fierce than just before! 

“Where did this little monster run out from?!” Zhao Wuye was both frightened and furious. The other’s voice so young; how could he possibly possess such a strong foundation? Daring not to spend more thought on this, he suddenly brandished both his hands and roared: “GO!!!”

Woosh woosh woosh! Countless sounds of breaking air echoed in an instant! Several hundred flying qi daggers arced forth like the shower of a tempest, even bearing remnants of white spiritual force in the air! As for Zhao Wuye’s hand, at this moment, it used the fastest speed to stretch into his pocket to grab something out.

“Ten Cardinals Red Lotus!” Bereft of the slightest hesitation, Xu Yangyi suddenly waved both his hands, and two fire dragons bearing heaven-shaking roars welcomed the rain-like curtain of knives!

Boom! In the next second, A great qi explosion erupted within the room instantaneously! This eruption was several fold more violent than the one from before! The entire two stories had completely turned into fine powder beneath this strike!

Clunk clank clank. An immeasurable amount of wood and glass went flying everywhere. These two divine abilities had canceled each other out! All that remained was the violent qi fluctuating in the sky!

For the first time, coldness was born in Zhao Wuye’s heart. It seemed to be a casual taking of turns, incredibly intense, but Zhao Wuye clearly understood himself. Of divine abilities, he knew three moves. Presently, all three had been exhausted, simply unable to deal with Xu Yangyi. As for the other, from the beginning to end, Xu Yangyi had used this one move, a single force to cleave through a myriad methods!

Does he have other hidden trumps? If he does, how am I going to deal with them? Zhao Wuye’s heart was in chaos, so in the instant these two divine abilities collided, he was absent of any thoughts at all and fished out a white talisman. Sticking it on his leg, he faced the opposite direction and fled without delay! This little imp… His backer is astonishing and so is his strength! Continuing to duke it out here with him is too unwise! Especially… the danger of also losing here… 

This thought flashed through his mind like a swiftly pricking needle.

Swoosh! His figure was like a tornado. Under the reinforcement of the Spirit Traveling Talisman, Zhao Wuye had obtained a degree of speed where only an afterimage was seen. However, just as he escaped ten meters, he seemed to be like a car that stepped on the brakes all of a sudden. It was an abrupt halt.

Drip… A drop of cold sweat landed on the ground. Zhao Wuye’s face appeared to somewhat cramp, and bean-sized beads of sweat desperately seeped out from his head. His mouth slightly ajar and his eyes wide open, he was rigidly nailed into place like so. A feeling of life-or-death crisis came spreading from behind him. Such clarity and such turmoil caused him to feel as if there was a terrible demon beast standing at his back!

Ba-dum… Ba-dum… His heart seemed to throb at the side of his ears. He understood very well that as long as he moved, he was bound to lose his life on the spot!

Azure Dragon Seeks Cauldron! As the Ten Cardinals Red Lotus rumbled, Xu Yangyi had already condensed this move. Amidst the following qi fluctuation and the flames come about from the Ten Cardinals Red Lotus’s eruption, Zhao Wuye simply hadn’t paid attention to all the qi here as he departed wholeheartedly. All of it was being madly channeled into Xu Yangyi’s fist. A spiritual pressure that caused Zhao Wuye’s mind to tremble unwaveringly took aim at him.

“Escape?” 

A young man’s voice was heard from behind him. Zhao Wuye rigidly clenched his teeth and took a long sigh, raising both of his hands: “Fellow Daoist, stay your hand! If you stop, I’ll tell you everything you want to know!”

The kid actually still has a divine ability! How old is he?! His voice shouldn’t be over thirty years old! Which great clan’s genius is he?

Xu Yangyi calmly looked at Zhao Wuye’s back. He didn’t want to immediately kill the other. There were too many points subject to suspect in this matter. How had the other found this place? A coincidence? He didn’t believe it to be a coincidence. 

At worst it’s… A wisp of killing intent flashed through Xu Yangyi’s eyes. If Zhao Wuye was a person of Floatingcloud… then he had to die. 

“The police will come soon.” Xu Yangyi’s voice rang out from behind: “At most in ten minutes. I’ll give you an opportunity to continue living.”

Zhao Wuye’s heart ached as if it was dripping blood. Never did he expect by any conceivability that he would kick an iron plate! However… his purpose in coming was too horrifying. If he spoke of it, he would extremely unreconciled! In his heart, heaven and man waged battle, and his complexion suddenly paled and whitened. His temple veins pulsed a good few times, and his mouth closed and opened, opened and closed, yet not a word came out.

“Ten.” At the same time Zhao Wuye hesitated in decision, an apathetic voice rang out from behind.

What should I do?! Zhao Wuye’s face was wet with cold sweat.

“Nine.” Xu Yangyi said neither slowly nor swiftly.

“You!” Zhao Wuye shouted angrily. How could Xu Yangyi be so shameless?! Had ten seconds passed?!

Xu Yangyi’s gaze carried not a sliver of emotion, and he looked at Zhao Wuye like a dead man: “When I get to zero, I will cripple your qi sea.”

Zhao Wuye’s heart was madly beating! Ruthless… For a cultivator, wasting the qi sea was even more difficult to suffer than death! Nonetheless, he didn’t persist with his line of thought because in the next instant, he heard a hellish voice. 

“One.”

What? What about eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one?! At this very moment, Zhao Wuye’s heart suddenly descended to the freezing point. He clearly sensed an orb of terrible qi boiling behind him!

“Zero.”

“I’ll speak!” Between life and death, Zhao Wuye almost had no choice whatsoever, even crowing as he screeched. In the next second, he only felt his throat sweeten. A majestic tsunami-like spiritual force, seemingly only the size of a fist, suddenly sealed itself on his back!

The frightening spiritual force tide exploded within his body, and with a retching sound he vomited a mouthful of blood. This blow had completely sapped his battle strength! Nevertheless, the sighed gently. Xu Yangyi hadn’t killed him. This was the result that the other could loosen this moves’s might...

“There’s still eight minutes.” XU Yangyi stood in place, and coldly looked at Zhao Wuye: “Last chance.”

“...” Zhao Wuye sensed his bosom’s blood and essence turn and  flip over, and he continued to the suppress the chaotic and roving pain of the spiritual force inside his body. Resolutely calming his emotions, he gasped for air, staring deathly at Xu Yangyi: “I’m the deputy clan elder of Longsu’s Zhao Clan. I’m known as Zhao Wuye. In the northwest, I’m famed for my power.”

“...” On the contrary, Xu Yangyi founded these words somewhat unexpected and swept an eye over Zhao Wuye: “Deputy clan elder?”

“...” Zhao Wuye was so angry that he nearly spat out another mouthful of blood! What’s the meaning of such a skeptical expression? Fine, even if I fell head first in your hands, can’t you a be a bit perceptive? You think everyone’s like you? Less than thirty years old, but capable of mastering two super-powerful divine abilities? Is a Core Formation master your dad or granddad?!

Zhao Wuye was none the wiser that he was confronting a true provincial paragon, the commander of an A-rank legion. If Xu Yangyi fell into the hands of an unknown deputy elder of a minor clan in the northwest border, to say it would be truly ridiculous, laughter revealing teeth. 

However, he had guessed one point incorrectly, as well. Xu Yangyi’s divine abilities weren’t two, but four. Merely, Xu Yangyi still wasn’t familiar with the last two. Divine abilities were also divided into grades. Zhao Wuye clearly understood that the two divine abilities in Xu Yangyi’s hands were absolutely not some street good. They were unconditionally prime products among prime products!

“Yes.” His temple veins throbbing disorderly, Zhao Wuye gritted his teeth and laughed: “Liu Shuren had his own path of death to take. Fellow Daoist, you know, I’m only the first to come. If not me that came, even a Foundation Establishment senior would come hurrying in less than a week.”

“He posted the item he was decrypting for you online.” Zhao Wuye’s laugher was cold: “To ordinary people’s thinking, this doesn’t matter. He was uncertain about what the heck this object was, so he posted it on the web on a famous antique forum for advice. If he posted it ordinarily, no one would’ve paid attention to this, but he messed up. Shouldn’t have put it out there now…”

Xu Yangyi raised a brow and lifted his chin, indicating for Zhao Wuye to continue.

“Hold on… Fellow Daoist…” Zhao Wuye wiped a bloodstain at the corner of his mouth, his laughter strange: “Soon, the cultivation world is going to face a great storm…”

Xu Yangyi calmly looked at Zhao Wuye. After ages, he then laughed: “If you don’t pick up the pace a bit, I guarantee you’ll get to experience what a true storm is like very quickly.”

Zhao Wuye choked back on a mouthful of blood surging upwards in his throat and licked his lips. He forced down his anger and said: “This business happened three days ago.”

[1] “Long since waiting and poised on a spear”. This is an idiom that originates from the annals of Jin dynasty text. The intention behind this is an idea that one uses ones spear as a pillow to rest and waits to attack their foe at daybreak.