by <unknown>
During the time that he had snuck into the warehouse of the Colossi, almost thirty Cultivators had already kneeled around the black-skeleton-like Colossi.
Most of them were the elders and leaders of the six major sects. Some were the soldiers from the Heaven Battering Army, the White Lotus Cult, and Ghost Qin.
Everybody lowered their eyes in silence, not looking at the brothers and companions around them. However, the ecstasy and greed in their eyes were obvious.
It was a relief for Li Yao that none of the nine super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators—including the Three Saints, the Four Rapscallions, Emperor Phoenix, and Master Bitter Cicada—had kneeled down and pledged loyalty.
Of course, Emperor Phoenix was a special case. The young emperor had only just struggled from the barrier reactions that caused him an excruciating headache. He was still cramping subconsciously on the ground.
The little emperor seemed to have finally come to the realization that 'Deity Raincloud' was unlikely to be his ancestor and that he had been manipulated like a puppet by the guy. He was in a daze with a twisted and devastated face, as if the blow was too fierce for him to bear.
This is not good. Almost thirty high-level Cultivators have pledged loyalty to the special agent of the Imperium. There are also the Fiery Phoenix imperial guards equipped with the string-light crystal suits from the Imperium whom he has already controlled since the very beginning. The locals of the Ancient Sages Sector's advantage of numbers has been lost!
Li Yao calculated the comparison of the enemy's abilities and his and felt that the battle was going to be perilous.
To make matters worse, those guys who had not kneeled down and pledged loyalty to 'Deity Raincloud' yet were not necessarily reliable. Their decision was based on some very simple logic. The promise of 'Deity Raincloud' was that whoever kneeled and surrendered to him first would be rewarded with a Cloud Qin Gold Statue. However, thirty people had already kneeled down, and there were only twenty Cloud Qin Gold Statues in total.
So, for the latecomers, they did not seem to be in a hurry to show their attitude, and they could negotiate more about the possible benefits.
Gloomy chuckles came over from the black-skeleton-like Colossus. Deity Raincloud laughed and said, "Very good, the twenty-eight of you have proved your connections with the deities' realm. As long as you are loyal to me and obey my commands dutifully, I will certain fulfil my promise and grant all the Cloud Qin Gold Statues here to you after they are repaired!
"As for those who haven't made a decision yet, the twenty-eight Cultivators here will be your example! The Cloud Qin Gold Statues here have been claimed. But it doesn't matter. The Divine Palace is a large place. Relics from the primeval battles are everywhere. Naturally, more remains of the Cloud Qin Gold Statues can be repaired and made use of! As long as you surrender to me, I will certainly repair more Cloud Qin Gold Statues and give them to you!
"Even without the Cloud Qin Gold Statues, the divine armor that I have brought from the deities' realm is also priceless. You have seen their power just now, but I only have a limited number, too. Hehehehe. Not everybody will have the privilege of enjoying them!
"The Cloud Qin Gold Statues and the divine armor are both my generosity and a gesture of kindness from the heavens. If you refuse the gifts from the deities' realm time and time again, don't blame me for launching thunderous attacks to discipline you!
"Ascend to the deities' realm together with me or go to hell together with the few ignorant fools here—make your choice now, everybody!"
Both sweating hard, Qi Zhongdao and Han Baling roared at almost the same time, "Don't believe his bullsh*t!"
"He who offers generosity without any reason certainly has other ill intentions!" Qi Zhongdao shouted. "The fact that he promises such abundant rewards when we have just met proves that he is certainly up to something else. A great plot must be hidden behind all this. Whoever believes his words will be entirely devoured from the body to the soul without leaving the slightest residue. Even your sect, your family, your hometown, and even the entire Ancient Sages Sector may be doomed forever!"
Han Baling, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and said, "Let's attack together. There are so many Core Formation Stage Cultivators and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators here. If we work together to suppress him, we will still be able to elicit the secrets about the Cloud Qin Gold Statues and the deities' realm from him. The information will definitely be more trustworthy than what he deigns to tell us!"
Han Baling truly deserved to be a rising hero on the prairies. His words were much more seditious than Qi Zhongdao's.
Even if 'Deity Raincloud' was not a real deity, he still looked intimidating enough when he controlled the Colossus.
However, Han Baling was not in the least frightened. He was even trying to persuade everybody to defeat and interrogate the 'deity' by taking advantage of the weakness of humanity!
The situation was caught in an impasse again.
Those who were qualified to appear in the warehouse of the Colossi were all high-level Cultivators above the Core Formation Stage. Naturally, none of them were easily tricked.
Everybody knew that Deity Raincloud's additional promise was too inflated. It was true that other Cloud Qin Gold Statues might exist in the corners of the Divine Palace. However, from what they had seen on their way there, most of the Cloud Qin Gold Statues had been shattered and were beyond repair. Some of the remains had even heavily rusted.
Even if the Cloud Qin Gold Statues could truly be repaired, they would not be nearly as powerful as the twenty Cloud Qin Gold Statues there.
That was the thing about humanity. They had all surrendered, except that some surrendered faster than others did. As a result, the rewards they would be given were of different qualities. Also, the rewards were super magical equipment that concerned a Cultivator's life. Nobody would find such an outcome acceptable. Their minds that had lost balance needed time to recover.
Many people began to carefully think about Han Baling's proposal.
Was it possible that they would get more valuable intelligence if they suppressed this 'Deity Raincloud' together and interrogated him?
The things that Deity Raincloud offered to say were highly untrustworthy. Perhaps only one out of a hundred statements would be true.
However, if he fell into the hands of the many Cultivators there, they would have all the time in the world to dig out whatever information was inside his head!
The air immediately grew intense.
The Cultivators standing and kneeling, even if they were next to each other, seemed to be divided by bottomless chasms!
The brothers and life-and-death companions a moment ago were all releasing unmistakable killing intent.
Li Yao looked for opportunities in the invisible forest of killing intent.
He glanced at the other floor of the warehouse, only to discover that a 'corpse' was slithering slowly and quietly toward the maintenance platforms.
It was exactly Long Yangjun who had transformed into the form of 'Wang Xi'.
Time to work!
Li Yao licked the black-skeleton-like Colossus with his eyes affectionately.
He still could not quench his desire for this particular Colossus.
He secretly made up his mind that he would kick Deity Raincloud brutally and occupy the dream Colossus!
Li Yao calmed himself down and adjusted the angle of the probe camera, scanning the few Colossi on the maintenance platforms near the exit of the energy transmission tube.
There was a small Colossus around fifteen meters tall on a maintenance platform to his left. Although the left arm had been shattered, the rest of the body was still intact. Also, Li Yao had used Draconic Phoenix with only one arm before. With his abundant experience in using a crippled Colossus, he was seventy percent certain that he could activate it!
There was also a super heavy Colossus in the corner to his right, which was about twenty-five meters tall but more than twenty
meters wide, making it look like an enormous tortoise that had stood up on its feet. The Colossus was also very tempting, but it was too far away. Li Yao was not confident that he could sneak into the place safely without alerting anyone.
As for their performance differences, it was not the most important factor. Based on Li Yao's abundant experience in dealing with Colossi, it would take at least a year and a half to familiarize oneself with a brand-new Colossus.
The special agent of the Imperium had only just accessed the black-skeleton-like Colossus. Chances were that he had not figured out the basic operation menus yet.
It would be impressive if he could activate ten percent of its combat ability!
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Thousands of routes and ten times more data entries popped up in front of Li Yao's eyes, congregating into seven different operation plans!
A battle was to break out soon. He had to take action immediately!
Taking a deep breath, while the black-skeleton-like Colossus was dealing with Qi Zhongdao and Han Baling with its back against him, Li Yao extended his head out of the fracture of the energy transmission tube!
Right then, out of the blue, a Cultivator standing on the ground accidentally raised his head and noticed Li Yao.
There were more than a hundred Cultivators with the keenest senses below him. Li Yao could not wait until everybody was lowering their head before he crawled out.
Li Yao was about to jump out, when he perceived the stare. He immediately felt cold sweat coming on. He zipped his mouth at the Cultivator, hinting for him not to talk.
Speaking of which, he had once met the Cultivator from the Thunderstorm Valley before and even helped the guy adjust his flying sword.
The astonishment on the elder of the Thunderstorm Valley flashed and soon disappeared. He slightly nodded in acknowledgement before he took a deep breath, widened his eyes, and shouted at the top of his voice, "If I may inform the deity, somebody is up there!"
Chapter 1499: Fight! Fight! Fight! |
"Damn you!" Li Yao roared and retreated quickly. The thorough and detailed plans in his head exploded before they reintegrated in fierce collisions and vibrations!
Now that he had already been exposed, there was nothing to be scared of anymore. Without caring about the sharp residue inside the tube, he went back to the turn of the tube in the blink of an eye, before his spiritual energy burst out and detonated the entire tube like a crystal bomb, pushing him out!
Boom!
The next moment, an enormous hand more than two meters both in length and width passed the end of the tube brutally. It kneaded the messy rubes and rails in the dome of the warehouse and dragged them down!
Deity Raincloud had attacked furiously in the black-skeleton-like Colossus!
Had Li Yao not reacted promptly enough but dawdled for half a second longer, he might have been grabbed by the enormous hand of the Colossus, with his flesh and blood pressed together with the steel residues!
Li Yao had no time to curse the vile snitch. He was still drifting in midair and had not landed.
The thirty-meter-tall Colossus was right next to him. Compared to the out-and-out black iron tower, he looked truly insignificant.
It was like a battle between a mouse and an elephant.
As it happened, the 'elephant' was also entangled with countless extensible crimson vipers that could be long or short as it desired!
After Deity Raincloud missed the first attack, the whips on the torso and the arms darted out in ear-splitting noises again, evolving into dozens of sharp spears that bit the critical parts all over Li Yao's body!
Looking at the fang-like thorns on the crystal clusters, Li Yao felt that he had been terribly bitten by the vipers!
Li Yao's body immediately turned into a cluster of gray mist as he activated his small-scale movement techniques to the maximum.
Yet, quite a few crimson whips, with their hooks and thorns, ripped almost eighty bloody wounds on his body ruthlessly and took away many a piece of his flesh along the way.
After the dozens of whips passed by, Li Yao was immediately soaked in blood!
Li Yao and Deity Raincloud's confrontation only happened for one moment, but it was like a bucket of oil added toward the sparking ambience!
"Attack!" Qi Zhongdao and Han Baling roared at the same times. Their flames of spiritual energy soared dozens of meters high instantly and almost formed giants similar to the size of the black-skeleton-like Colossus!
The Heaven Flipping Seal, the best magical equipment of the Ancient Sages Sector, was rotating at a super high speed again. Silver, glittering brightness was spreading out between the silver balls and the round rails. The super high gravity pressed down like an invisible mountain. The air around the black-skeleton-like Colossus almost entirely froze!
Han Baling shook his hammer that looked like a bear-claw in the air, too, and a layer of translucent, golden light was dancing around the weapon. He clenched the rear end of the hammer with both hands and bashed it on the ground brutally with a bellow!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Invisible spiritual waves moved toward the black-skeleton-like Colossus below the ground and did not burst out until they reached the target's legs. They erupted like invisible firecrackers and exploded at the knees of the Colossus.
The technique to consolidate spiritual energy, transmit it below the ground, and keep it condensed until it jumped out and exploded in midair in order to cause the greatest damage to the target showed Han Baling's most subtle control over his spiritual energy. Li Yao could not help but feel amazed while holding his head and running in a hurry!
As the two super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators attacked with their full might, the rest of the top experts launched their techniques!
Despite the shortness of Yan Liren's sword, it was unleashing an overwhelming aura that was more than ten meters long. This time, he was not pursuing agility but simply improved the 'damage' to the maximum. It was almost like he was smashing a ferocious tornado toward the black-skeleton-like Colossus!
There was no telling what Deity Raincloud's concerns were, but it appeared that he did not want to have a head-on clash with Yan Liren's secret sword.
However, Master Bitter Cicada's pearls and 'Heaven Battering King' Qi Changsheng, who had turned into burning flames, were attacking him, one from the left and the other from the right. As a result, he reacted more slowly than he should have.
After an ear-splitting boom, a surging tide was raised on the red shield around the black-skeleton-like Colossus. It was almost like Yan Liren had slashed apart a bottomless ocean!
"Ahh!"
Deep inside the breastplate of the black-skeleton-like Colossus, in the middle of the spiritual residence, Deity Raincloud roared in anger and embarrassment.
The attack might not necessarily have hurt him, but he was definitely shocked and humiliated. He shouted in the utmost fury, "Die! You will all die!"
Ba Xiaoyu the Beggar and Mother White Lotus Wan Mingzhu's fighting styles were both swift and unpredictable. The two of them were hovering around the black-skeleton-like Colossus in two streaks of brightness, one translucent and the other solid, like two buzzing flies. No matter how furiously Deity Raincloud bellowed and how hard he shooed them away, he was not able to get rid of them. Instead, they were launching attacks toward the Colossus' head to disrupt Deity Raincloud's senses!
The Three Saints, the Four Rapscallions, and Master Bitter Cicada should have been standing on two incompatible sides. However, under the daunting oppression of the mysterious 'Deity Raincloud', they had to let go of their grudges and conflicts for the time being and fight against the common foe together!
They were all Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators whose fighting sense had reached the peak. Although it was the first time that they had cooperated, they seemed to have rehearsed their moves hundreds of times. Their attacks were incessant and flawless. Deity Raincloud was barely able to defend himself in the flurry!
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With the assistance of the many super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, Li Yao was finally able to get away from the weird bloody claws of the black-skeleton-like Colossus. He took a breath in relief before he suddenly had a weird feeling.
Something… was not right!
If this 'Deity Raincloud' was truly a special agent of the Imperium of True Human Beings, his combat ability seemed too weak with a Colossus!
Li Yao's heart suddenly pounded. He immediately realized that the black-skeleton-like Colossus was likely extremely difficult to pilot and would put a heavy burden on the pilot's spiritual energy and soul. Or maybe it had certain hidden problems that were yet to be fixed. It was also possible that the Colossus had been installed with mysterious barriers and locks. All in all, the special agent had not completely seized control of the Colossus yet. He had not even brought out five percent of the Colossus' combat ability!
This was an opportunity!
Li Yao had planned to crawl into another Colossus nearby to join the battle.
However, after noticing that the special agent's capabilities were not as high as he had imagined and that the situation was so chaotic, he changed his mind.
The Colossi on the maintenance platforms nearby might not be functional. Now that he had been exposed, it would be practically impossible for him to get a few uninterrupted minutes to crack the operation system of a brand-new Colossus.
Since the enemy's capabilities were not as high as he had imagined, and almost all the super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were united against the special agent of the Imperium, maybe he could…
Crawl into the black-skeleton-like Colossus and launch attacks toward the special agent directly!
Should he have a try?
Li Yao observed the whole battlefield calmly from the dome like a black ape whose feet were clutching the gaps on the ceiling.
The warehouse of the Colossi had completely turned into a simmering ocean of fighting will. The situation could not have been more chaotic!
Although Deity Raincloud was unable to annihilate the super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators with the black-skeleton-like Colossus instantly due to the uncanny restraints, he was certainly not alone but assisted by more than ten Fiery Phoenix imperial guards, who were wearing the string-light crystal suits and loyal like puppets!