Forty millenniums of cul.., p.490
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 490
If I can combine the Dragon King Battlesuit and the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit by tearing off the eight 'dragon heads' and installing them on my crystal suit, well, wouldn't it be the best crystal suit in the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector?
Li Yao was hooked by the idea.
To save or to kill all depended on Bai Xinghe's strength.
Li Yao had not figured out the real status of his opponent yet. The scenes on the carrier occurred to him again. It was very clear to him that he was dealing with a ferocious tiger right now, and he could not be too careful.
Li Yao held the key to the dilemma here, so he was not afraid of waiting. In the end, Bai Xinghe lost his patience and said solemnly in the darkness, "I'm told that a brutal man named 'Bloody Vulture' who is adept at crystal bombs recently joined Fengyu Zhong's side. I trust that it is you.
"You were the first to charge at me a moment ago, but you helped me to escape indirectly by disturbing the vision and senses of Fengyu Zhong and the rest of them. Why?"
Li Yao replied, "If I say that I'm actually a worshipper of Boss Bai, and that I pretended to join Fengyu Zhong just so that I could make great contributions by rebelling at the crucial moment, would you believe it?"
"No," Bai Xinghe said.
After a 'oh', Li Yao continued. "Perhaps I felt that the benefits I would get by handing you over were less than those I would get by helping you hide, so I utilized a secret tracking skill on Boss Bai when I let you go on purpose so that I could swallow Boss Bai's trophies after I found you alone. Naturally, if Boss Bai does not try to keep me quiet with great treasures, I will sabotage Boss Bai's escape plan even at the risk of my death… I wonder, do you believe that?"
"This is a much more reasonable explanation," Bai Xinghe observed.
"Clever rabbits have multiple nests," Li Yao continued, "Boss Bai wouldn't tell all your secrets to your first true disciple, would you? After all, he was only your disciple, not your son. Speaking of which, I'm told that Boss Bai has even slain one of your sons before."
Li Yao tried to infuriate Bai Xinghe and find his weak spot, but Bai Xinghe did not seem offended at all. He said calmly, "That's a fair point. I indeed have several shelters where valuable items are stored. Cultivation arts, techniques, magical equipment, crystal suit… You name it. As long as—cough, cough—as you escort me to my shelter, I can give you whatever you want."
"Boss Bai, promise as you will, but please don't pretend that you are heavily wounded by coughing," Li Yao said. "However bad your injuries are, I believe that you can manage to suppress a few coughs.
"Of course, I desire your treasures. Escorting you to your shelter is not a problem, either. The real problem is how I can trust you.
"It is not far from the ground here, and you are heavily wounded right now. If we get into a fight, Fengyu Zhong's people will notice immediately. Therefore, even if you hate my guts, it's impossible that you fight me here.
"I'm absolutely safe in this place.
"However, when we reach your shelter, or rather, your secret base, there are bounded to be countless traps under your control. With your Cultivation in the Nascent Soul Stage, even though your internal organs are broken, they can be more or less repaired after some time.
"If you suddenly attack me by then, I will have no one to turn to at all.
"If the conundrum remains unsolved, our cooperation, or negotiation, will be completely groundless."
"Indeed. It is very considerate of you, my young friend Bloody Vulture," Bai Xinghe praised. "It is indeed a serious problem. Honestly speaking, my young friend, right now, I'm thinking about how I can skin you and mince you into pieces at the earliest chance. Hehehehe. You don't mind, do you?"
Li Yao smiled. "Not at all. I'm totally cool with it. It's perfect normal and understandable that Boss Bai thinks so."
Bai Xinghe nodded. "It seems that we are at an impasse right now. I'm like a piece of delicious meat but with bones stuck in your throat. You stomach will be hurt if you swallow me, but you will feel regretful if you spit me out. It's truly a dilemma.
"However, since you decided to come after me when you knew the dilemma, I believe you must have a perfect solution to it. I'm all ears."
Shua!
Li Yao retrieved a piece of magical equipment the size of an egg, which was round, emitted a greenish color, and seemed to be carved out of jade, out of his Cosmos Ring and threw it over.
"Honestly speaking, I have always admired Boss Bai, and I've made countless plans of cooperation should I have the opportunity one day.
"Boss Bai is the Pirate Potentate. You are as tough as a tiger and as audacious as a lion. With a simple yawn, you can devour me, who is nothing but an insignificant sparrow!
"Cooperating with you is like putting one of my feet in hell. One moment of carelessness, and my head might be chopped off.
"Therefore, I thought hard for a long time and figured out a stupid approach.
"This is a middle-sized crystal bomb that contains a minor marrow crystal. It is connected to my brain through a telepathic thought reception array and can be detonated in three ways.
"Firstly, if I recite the spell in my brain, with a telepathic thought, it will be immediately detonated.
"Secondly, if my heartbeat stops, or my brainwaves no longer spread out, it will be immediately detonated.
"Thirdly, if the crystal bomb is more than a hundred meters away from me, it will be immediately detonated.
"Please take a look carefully, Boss Bai. This crystal bomb is my masterpiece. Layers of defense rune arrays have been carved on it to make sure that it will not explode unless one of the three conditions are met. It won't explode no matter how hard it is struck, crushed, or shaken!
"Now, will you open your mouth slowly and… swallow the crystal bomb?
"With Boss Bai's expertise, it is definitely possible to fix the crystal bomb in your stomach by controlling your muscles.
"After that, I will have a bargaining chip to contain Boss Bai. Our cooperation will be implemented based on mutual trust and reciprocity. Isn't it right?"
Bai Xinghe's warm and comforting voice gradually turned sharp, mixed with anger of being fooled. "Hehe. The world has indeed changed. Even a Building Foundation Stage Cultivator dares to play tricks in front of me now!"
Li Yao said calmly, "Boss Bai, there's no need to pretend that you are angry. We are both clear that the crystal bomb cannot kill a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.
"Even if you suffer fatal wounds, I believe you have a hundred methods to slay a minor Building Foundation Stage Cultivator before your death!
"Therefore, unless I've gone mad, I will never detonate the bomb if it is absolutely necessary.
"All healthy negotiations must be built on equal terms. If one party has a capability far higher than the other, their negotiation might break apart at any point.
"My proposal is only meant to avoid risks. If we can both kill each other at any time, we will be in a balance of 'mutual deterrence', or 'mutually assured destruction', if you will.
"If you do not want to succumb to such humiliation, it doesn't matter. Let's fight now and see if Fengyu Zhong and the Temple of Immortals' people can trace back to us by the explosions and noises!
"You may take your time to consider, but I cannot guarantee that I was not followed while on my way here. Chances are that Fengyu Zhong has already come down and is showing up at any moment."
Like a silent tortoise, Bai Xinghe pondered carefully for a long time. In the end, he smiled bitterly. "It seems that I'm truly old now. Bai Wulei at first, and Blood Vulture now.
"Spider Den in the future definitely belongs to the young people."
The Pirate Potentate was indeed decisive. Realizing that the situation was not in his favor, he picked up the crystal bomb, opened his facial cover, and swallowed it!
Patting his belly, Bai Xinghe asked casually, "My young friend, do you want to perceive with your spiritual energy and see whether I have swallowed the bomb or tricked you?"
"I already did. The crystal bomb is indeed in your stomach. Now, you can talk about our routes of escape, Boss Bai," Li Yao said. "The chamber is enclosed on all sides and full of poisonous gas. There is not a second exit. You are not planning to hide here for a year and a half hoping that Fengyu Zhong won't find you, are you?"
Bai Xinghe chuckled in a low voice and floated in midair with the help of the Dragon King Battlesuit.
Li Yao did not ease his vigilance at all after his opponent swallowed the crystal bomb. He stayed alert and prepared to summon the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit the moment anything went wrong.
But Bai Xinghe went directly to the ceiling and groped for something carefully.
Li Yao was dazed. He turned on the lights of his crystal camera and looked at the ceiling.
Mud, stone, and moss were falling off. On the bare ceiling, a complicated rune array was gradually revealed.
Bai Xinghe took out a bizarre-shaped crystal that looked like a cat paw and pressed it into a hollow on the ceiling. After a click, the crystal melded with the ceiling flawlessly.
Zi… Zi…
After the crystal was embedded, the rune array seemed to be woken up. Glamorous brilliance was beaming out, like the shining stars in a night sky.
"You are truly lucky," Bai Xinghe said solemnly. "I agreed to cooperate with you not because I was scared that Fengyu Zhong would be attracted here before I killed you, but because I was scared that our fight might destroy the transportation array on the ceiling!"
Chapter 733: Great Array of Gold Threads! |
Watching the glittering octagonal rune arrays dangling down from the ceiling, Li Yao secretly wiped his sweat.
He was truly lucky. Since Bai Xinghe's internal organs were exposed to the air because of his heavy wounds, it had taken him longer to pass through the sewage processing poll.
For Li Yao, with the help of the 'Ice Butterfly Powder', he did not waste a second in the hunting.
If he had been three to five minutes late, perhaps Bai Xinghe would've rune away through the secret teleportation array!
Judging from the complexity of the runes on the teleportation array and the energy level of the crystal that Bai Xinghe had inserted to drive it, it was a middle-sized teleportation array that could send people to almost twenty kilometers away.
Capital Nest was a big place. Li Yao would never find him again if he ran twenty kilometers away from here!
Gazing at the teleportation array, Li Yao reminded him, "Don't forget that we cannot be more than a hundred meters away from each other, Boss Bai. We should enter the teleportation array together."
Bai Xinghe smiled and set his hands in a certain gesture, while his telepathic thoughts surged into the teleportation array along with his spiritual energy.
A deep blue, cone-shaped pillar of light was immediately triggered inside the teleportation array.
Bai Xinghe eyed Li Yao and made a 'let's go' gesture.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao raised his alertness to the maximum, and he stood right next to the strongest, most brutal bandit on Spider Den.
He was too close to the Pirate Potentate. Although he had other trump cards and had made full preparations, he still found it hard to breathe.
Bai Xinghe chuckled in a low voice. "An expert in the high level of the Building Foundation Stage, adept at the arts of explosion and with such a sharp head, has never been known before? Even though you are new to Spider Den, you should have been a famous guy in space before.
"I wonder, which face is hiding behind the name of 'Bloody Vulture'?"
Li Yao was surprised, knowing that Bai Xinghe had sensed his psychological weakness. He was even more alarmed now.
Before he replied, the blue brightness was denser than ever. They seemed to be placed in the middle of certain thick blue liquids.
In a trance, Li Yao found himself in a completely different space.
It was a dry cave, with withered plants everywhere on the ground. Other than the teleportation array under their feet, there was only a zigzagging gap leading to nobody knew where.
After the two of them walked out of the teleportation array, Bai Xinghe punched back and destroyed the transportation array with his surging spiritual energy.
Now, even though Fengyu Zhong could find the teleportation array on the other side, it was impossible for them to jump over through it.
Li Yao glanced around. They could not have jumped to more than twenty kilometers away. Judging from the environment here, it should be—
The underground of Spider Den!
Li Yao thought of something and asked, "Is this the underground fortress of Spider Den?"
"This is just one of the entrances," Bai Xinghe replied casually. "I explored the fortress as a 'treasure hunter' from the age of seven. I know every maze inside the place as clearly as I know the back of my hand. This place is more comfortable to me than my own bed. Is there a better place to serve as my last base?"
Li Yao was curious. "If you can establish a teleportation array, why didn't you teleport us to the control center of the underground fortress directly? For the purpose of confidentiality?"
Bai Xinghe smiled and explained, "The fortress of the Star Ocean Imperium is much more complicated than you think. The center of the fortress is enclosed by a very powerful rune array based on the mother lodes below the ground, which can block all the space jumps.
"It is like an invisible shell that enshrouds the entire underground fortress. You cannot be teleported into it and can only walk into it on your feet.
"Such a design is meant to avoid the scenario where the enemy appeared right inside the fortress through certain mysterious teleportation techniques.
"Now, let's get going."
Bai Xinghe lowered his head and crammed into the zigzagging gap in an extremely awkward posture.
Li Yao frowned.
For some reason, although everything had been under his control after he found Bai Xinghe, he had a stronger and stronger sense of danger now.
Endless pictures and sounds turned into crazily dancing butterflies inside his brain. They were about to condense into a mottled image, when they crumbled all of a sudden at the last moment!
Seeing that Bai Xinghe was about to disappear into the gap, Li Yao perceived the crystal bomb and found it still inside Bai Xinghe's stomach, functioning. He made up his mind and followed Bai Xinghe into the gap.
The gap was precisely the size of the skull and limbs of a human being. Once someone crammed into it, they would not be able to move their head and limbs at all and could only move forward slowly, boosted by their power rune array.
After wriggling forward for more than half an hour, the path was gradually broadened, and Li Yao could crawl on all fours.
After crawling for another twenty minutes, a metal tube with a fracture on it appeared on the side of the path.
They struggled into the metal tube through the fracture. Five minutes later, the two of them appeared in a dim metal pathway.
The air was so stuffy that it seemed to have been frozen here for ten thousand years. One could even squeeze rust out of the air there.
Li Yao glanced around and suddenly asked, "Wait a moment. Boss Bai, the map of the underground fortress and the Spider Key to deactivate all the traps have all fallen into Bai Wulei's hands together with your broken hand?
"Or rather—"
Li Yao finally realized the source of his unease. "Are there really such things as the map and the Spider Key?"
Bai Xinghe chuckled in a low voice again, which was echoing in the dark pathway. "Of course there are. Don't presume that the Temple of Immortals is made of fools. They have been carefully planning for I don't know how long. Even my most trusted first true disciple has been converted to their side. I have truly suffered a brutal failure. What's there to say?
"The path we are currently on is not the main road of the underground fortress, but a shortcut that I explored myself. We won't be discovered if we go this way.
"The underground fortress is made of countless complicated mazes. It is a hundred times larger than Capital Nest. The space pirates have been exploring it for hundreds of years and they haven't covered all the area yet. Are you worried that you might run into Fengyu Zhong and Bai Wulei?"
While talking, Bai Xinghe walked forward. After a short while, he took out a bottle from his pocket and squeezed two drops of ointment before smearing them on his eyelids. Then, he threw the bottle to Li Yao.
"Smear the ointment on your eyelids. It will be good for you."
Li Yao straightened his arms and kept the bottle as far away from himself as possible, while he observed and probed the bottle carefully with his spiritual threads.
As a refiner who had read a lot of classics in the Heavenly Refining Tower on the ancient materials, he knew a thing or two about most Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
The right gold ointment did not seem poisonous.
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao closed his left eye and rehearsed for the combat mode where he only used his right eye. Then, he opened his facial cover and smeared a drop of the ointment on his left eyelid.
Shua!
After the cool ointment leaked into his eyelid, countless narrow, golden threads immediately popped up in the dark pathway ahead of him.
The threads were like snakes in a sea. They were floating, hovering, and entangling each other in midair. Occasionally, dozens of gold threads would condense together and blossom like a flower, only to split up abruptly and dart out like electric arcs at an amazing high speed!
Li Yao vaguely felt that the activity of the gold threads was patterned. But after calculating for a while, he found that it was too complicated for him to get a result.
Closing his left eye and looking ahead with his right eye, which was not smeared with the ointment, Li Yao found that the hallway was absolutely empty.
Li Yao was secretly alarmed. It must be a certain defense array that was still functioning after ten thousand years.
