Chapter 1922: Why!

Quru Hai instinctively reached out, and the spear returned to him, but his heart sank to the bottom of a valley.

My strongest battle technique couldn't even tear through a mere cloak of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor?

After twenty years of cultivation, I have never felt so utterly powerless.

That cloak still filled his vision when, unexpectedly, a long spear thrust out from a gap and pierced his brow.

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor returned the courtesy.

Quru Hai raised his shield to block, but the opponent's spear tip suddenly erupted with immense force, directly knocking him off his horse!

With a crisp "crack," the armor shield shattered into pieces, like a biscuit crushed by hand.

This treasure shield finally could not withstand the high-intensity impact and piercing, meeting its end.

Shield fragments flew like in slow motion, one even nearly shooting into Quru Hai's eyes. Without the shield's defense, the Teng Long Spear advanced unimpeded.

Originally, this spear would have pierced his chest, but at the last moment, the Nine Abysses Great Emperor twisted his wrist, the spear tip slightly deviating, and pierced his shoulder!

At the same time, Bai Yan also bit through another spirit vessel.

The battle between the two was like lightning and flint, making it hard for onlookers to keep up.

"Left Sect Leader!" cries rang out from all around.

Before the Luo Dian warriors could come to his aid, Quru Hai was pinned to the ground by the Nine Abysses Great Emperor!

Under the gaze of all, the Nine Abysses Great Emperor drew his blade with his other hand, pressing it against Quru Hai's throat: "All retreat, or else your Left Sect Leader's head will fall."

Just those words caused the Luo Dian elite who were about to pounce to hesitate, fearing to harm their own.

Not far away came two elephant-like trumpets, like steam whistles—this was the mammoth leader Pang Sen communicating with the Nine Abysses Great Emperor:

"They've awakened!"

Yes, after enduring over forty breaths of chaotic confusion, the Luo Dian people's main force finally broke free of madness and gradually regained clarity.

He Lingchuan knew the time limit had arrived.

After the Luo Dian people regained their senses, they found their own army thrown into chaos, dust and smoke rolling everywhere, enemy forces everywhere.

Moreover, a grand voice echoed across the entire field:

"Quru Hai defeated and captured, Luo Dian people lay down arms and kneel, resisters killed without mercy!"

Strictly speaking, this voice resonated in everyone's heart, with no possibility of not hearing it.

Here, Quru Hai was stepped on by the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, knowing the situation was lost, himself unable to turn the tide.

He was defeated by the Nine Abysses Great Emperor on the battlefield. In this battle, the opponent was open and aboveboard, and he also felt genuine respect.

He had given his all, yet still lost.

So when the Nine Abysses Great Emperor asked him, "Surrender or die," Quru Hai endured the pain and said:

"I surrender."

On the Flash Gold Plains, victory and defeat are truly just common matters of war; at this moment, even if he died heroically, it would mean nothing.

With the commander surrendering, the Luo Dian army, still shaken, could only discard their weapons and kneel to the ground, prostrating in surrender.

This battle came and went swiftly, yet the Luo Dian legion suffered over 1,700 casualties, most of them inflicted by their own side.

While the Black Armor Legion controlled the battlefield, Quru Hai was also stripped of his weapons and brought before the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

The evening wind made the opponent's cloak behind him flap loudly; from afar, it looked like a living thing extending tentacles.

Strangely, Quru Hai seemed not to recall whether the Nine Abysses Great Emperor wore this cloak when he first appeared.

He looked up at the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, his mind fixed on one question: "Are you He Xiong, or not?"

The army had already withdrawn; before the Nine Abysses Great Emperor lay only mountains and valleys, so he casually removed his mask.

Indeed, it was that familiar face.

Quru Hai gave a bitter smile.

The last time they met was still at the Yao Wang's birthday banquet, when they shared drinks and conversation; now recalling it feels like another lifetime.

At that time, Quru Hai was the Luo Dian Left Sect Leader, while He Xiong was merely a major merchant from the Yang Shan Islands;

Only a few months had passed, and he had become the other's prisoner, while He Xiong was surrounded by strongmen and even held a title that echoed across the Flash Gold Plains—

Nine Abysses Great Emperor!

The He Lingchuan he had seen before mostly wore a warm, courteous smile; now that the other no longer smiled, he realized how stern and severe that face was—like two different people.

Quru Hai also happened to notice another familiar face beside He Lingchuan:

The young patriarch of the Long Ye tribe, Wu Xu Yang.

On today's battlefield, there were also people from the Sha Sha and Long Ye tribes, so the urgent order from the capital was correct—these two tribes had also submitted to He Xiong.

Wu Xu Yang just looked at him expressionlessly.

"Why?" Quru Hai's face was pale from blood loss, "He Xiong, I have never offended you, Luo Dian has never offended you—what exactly do you want to do!"

No mistake, no omission, no single character missed—every detail observed!

After seeing the other's true face, he asked the question again.

In fact, he knew the answer; he was simply too unwilling to accept it.

Luo Dian had grudges with many neighbors, having previously fought the Sha Sha, Long Ye, various tribes, and even frequently harassed the Yao State.

But Luo Dian and Yang Shan had no grudges at all, nor time to develop any—this force was simply too young.

This is truly a good question, for in the future, every power swallowed by the Nine Abysses Great Emperor will angrily question him in this way.

He Lingchuan will not discuss grand ideals with the "victims," for they will never understand. He merely stated another truth indifferently:

"The unification of Flash Gold is the inevitable trend. Victor and vanquished, ancient and modern—always the same. If you must blame, blame your own weakness and that of Luo Dian."

If you can't win, you can't win; if you lose, you lose.

To lose and still argue reason is nothing but the weak's lament.

Quru Hai coldly laughed: "If you have the ability, go find Bai Tan's misfortune. Wanting to take Flash Gold, if you can't beat him, you're just dreaming awake!"

"Don't rush, it'll be his turn soon."

Qu Ruohai opened his mouth, not knowing whether to curse loudly or retort, and for a moment grief welled up from his heart.

He forced down the bitter water: "What method did you use, exactly, to drive my army mad?"

Besides divine powers, what other ability could achieve this?

He seemed to understand why the army of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor could advance southward through Luo Dian's territory with unstoppable force—he had the power to drive soldiers mad, and Luo Dian was utterly defenseless!

He Lingchuan gave a faint smile, looking down from above: "You won't die just yet, and you know it."

Why did the Luo Dian army suddenly go mad for no reason?

Naturally, it was the work of the Three Corpses Worms!

Over a hundred years ago, this was Panlongcheng's weapon for resisting strong enemies from all directions; when He Lingchuan first entered the Panlong world, he saw the Red General deploying Three Corpses Worms on the battlefield.

This thing is formed from condensed human nature, not a divine ability or technique, and even primordial power cannot dispel it.

But it has a natural weakness:

It can only appear at night or during overcast weather, because that bit of filth in the human heart cannot withstand the trial of the sun's true fire.

The Three Corpses Worms are formless and invisible, not easily seen by people; Panlongcheng's opponents suffered greatly for a long time before figuring out how to deal with them.

He Lingchuan had long coveted these things, but the Three Corpses Worms exist only within the Great Square Vessel—precisely speaking, they parasitize on Hun Dun—and back then they could only be used on the Panlong Wasteland.

Who would have thought that after he left the Inverted Sea, the Great Square Vessel seemed to have undergone many changes, one of which was that the Three Corpses Worms could now be released remotely, and the medium was not a divine artifact necklace, but the Great Expansion Heavenly Pearl!

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