Chapter 128: Decisive Battle (Part Four)

Rumble—

The sound of explosions rang out across the city.

"Zone A surveillance signal lost"

"Zone B surveillance signal lost"

One after another, reports came from the monitoring room.

"It's mass EMP bombs. Activate the backup combat-readiness system."

The moment the words fell, a piercing sound rang out across the floating island, a static so harsh even the hybrids could barely stand it.

Then…

A streak of orange light flashed across the sky, the earth split apart, buildings collapsed, and the flames of the blast nearly swept up into the heavens. Yet the world seemed to have been pressed into reverse—fire and flame rolled backward, and what had been devoured began to reappear.

The world returned to what it had been.

"Space-based weapons…" Old Lu glanced over. "So that's it. Trying to wipe this place straight off the map, are they?"

"We never heard anything about this!" the representatives of Extremis hastened to explain, trying to prove they had nothing to do with it.

"No matter."

In the drainage system beneath the floating island, a hybrid squad led by Xiao Yan advanced at top speed toward the central hub.

Tap-tap—

A man with drooping brows stepped out ahead. His body was already half-draconified, only his head still retaining a human appearance. Scales covered him like clanking iron armor, his joints bent backward, his fingertips razor-sharp.

"You can't outplay me with fire." Within the drainage corridor, a fluorescent glow lit up, and a tremendous draconic majesty enveloped everyone. Dragon-script runes were inscribed on the walls and floor, and countless circuits began to operate. "Especially not inside my Alchemy Domain."

"I suggest you surrender."

"Is that so." Tentacles began to sprout across Xiao Yan's face, splitting outward from the space between his brows. Countless translucent fleshy buds surged forth, and moments later, a delicate-featured face appeared before Old Tang.

Only then did Old Tang notice that every hybrid with him had a vacant, wooden-puppet-like stare.

"My apologies." Miss Kelaien pulled a top hat out of history and set it on his head: "I am not Xiao Yan."

Then he snatched five times in quick succession from the air, his arm tensing as though he had seized something immensely heavy.

As his right hand drew back, a figure swiftly took shape—a man with bronze-toned skin, medium build, black hair and brown eyes, gazing indifferently at everything before him.

This was once the regent of the Bai Lang Empire, a Sequence 2 Angel—Mr. Azik.

Under Old Tang's dumbstruck gaze, Miss Kelaien offered a bow and said politely:

"Let me see what manner of power the Long Wang of this world possesses. Please give it your all, my friend."

A lotus of flame bloomed in the eastern district of the city, its cold white fire burning against an illusory fortress that resembled an ancient citadel.

This was a high-tier matrix constructed from bloodline and Word Spirit power—Glazed City.

The Glazed City teetered on the brink of collapse. Xiao Yan—or rather, Medicine Elder—borne aloft on purple wings, was not finished. His soul departed from Xiao Yan's body, and flame swept across the black ruler in his hand. The Mystic Weight began to reveal its true form as white fire surged through the grooves along its surface.

He produced a rune inscribed with strange characters from his hand and murmured: "Yesterday."

Flesh regenerated from nothing, and a handsome white-haired man stepped into the void, standing upon empty air.

A terrifying pressure descended—different from the draconic majesty carried in a Long Wang's bloodline. This was the aura that accompanies the strength of a true powerhouse.

The Medicine White Zunzhe of old descended upon this strange world of dragons and men.

"Disciple, watch closely!" He glanced at Xiao Yan and gripped the Mystic Weight tightly.

"Flame Divide—"

"Wave-Severing Strike!"

"Hiss—" Su Lin drew a sharp breath. He stood atop a building, a landmark structure meant for surveying the whole city, styled much like the Oriental Pearl Tower.

"Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying!"

Feeling the pressure rolling in from that side, watching the fire that blotted out the sky and the shattered alchemical matrix, Su Lin kept muttering those words over and over.

Sizzle—

A curved spear pierced through his heart, pinning him to the wall before he could even react.

Su Lin stared dumbly at the spear in his chest, then looked in astonishment toward Zhongli.

"They gave that thing to you?!!"

Zhongli said nothing. Several Shi Zhu encircled Su Lin, and the immense pressure rendered him unable to move.

"No martial ethics." Su Lin forced his head up to speak, then his body crumbled into dust.

When he had been searching for Zhongli's position, he had used a new Historical Projection, channeling power through his Light God avatar—which was why Zhongli realized that the Su Lin wielding divine power was still a fake.

"Indeed the same kind of ability as Miss Kelaien's." Zhongli stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I think I understand why the books describe the Bizarro Sorcerer pathway as so annoying."

"What nonsense is a shield-bearer like you spouting." Su Lin forced a mirthless smile and summoned a pillar of light several kilometers tall—scorching, blinding, cascading down like a waterfall. This was pure light-element manipulation, and the light ceaselessly scoured the shield around Zhongli.

Light and shadow interweaved. The avatar-splitting technique appeared once more. Amid a field of pure white, they charged at Zhongli wielding blades, swords, axes, and halberds with the fury of a storm. Bolstered by spells, every strike could cleave mountains and shake the earth.

Zhongli chose not to retaliate. He merely closed his eyes, sensing something, as dense cracks spread across the Jade Shield.

At a point ten kilometers away, Su Lin's Light God avatar stood on a street, gazing up at the horizon. The Spear of Judgment condensed into shape in his hand, and rings of light-element magic arrays rose in parallel. With a forceful throw, in less than a second the spear of light pierced through Zhongli's shield and shot straight toward his brow.

The spear also carried a mental-interference effect.

Without any warning, space twisted. The spear of light veered off course, shooting toward the sky and leaving a white arc above the Earth.

"Found you."

A sword of rock, mountain-sized, descended from the heavens. Its blade carried a cyan glow, and a rain of cyan sword filaments arrived first.

The Blue Origin Sword Art?!

Ripples appeared in the surrounding space. Stone ridges burst forth from sky and earth alike, and the rock-element constructs locked down the space, restricting Su Lin's movement.

This was the immortal art of Zhongli's own world. Even though the immortal Dao was incomplete, when it came to pioneering the use of spatial power, they could still be considered outstanding.

Geng-metal qi clung to a spear woven in mystic gold and dark gold. Zhongli held nothing back. Earth gives birth to metal, and the Geo Archon's mastery of such killing methods among the five elements was already extremely refined. The immortal Dao accumulated over endless years had begun to accelerate his growth the moment it came into contact with another world's cultivation methods, carrying Zhongli in a leap along the immortal path.

He is himself an immortal!

In an instant, Zhongli crossed the spatial distance and arrived before Su Lin, the Spear of Destiny in his left hand and the Halberd Piercing the Rainbow in his right, beginning a bitter, hard-fought battle with him.

A colossal sword of stone descended upon the city below like the Gao Zhijian Damocles, passing judgment.

Lu Mingfei: "I thought they were on pretty good terms."

Inside the chat group, Lu Mingfei had the livestream function on, watching the changes on the battlefield through Old Lu's point of view.

Watching Zhongli and Su Lin go at it as though each was out to wreck the other, Lu Mingfei felt that if a Long Wang went in there without using his Word Spirits and tried to brawl with these two, he'd be on his knees within seconds.

Luffy: "So amazing! These two are way too strong!"

Luffy: "Su-bro was clearly really weak just a few months ago, right? How did he suddenly get this strong?"

Xiao Yan: "I'd suggest you scroll back through the chat logs. Eat less meat, spend more time idling in the group."

Xiao Yan was basically Yao Lao's accessory right now—his own master was out front returning to his peak and cutting a swath through everything, while he trailed behind chatting and idling in the group.

Ye Fan: "These two don't slack off at work at all? They actually go all out just because they're being paid?!"

He knew the two of them each had their own employers, but everyone here was a group friend, so he'd figured they'd stop at just touching each other lightly. Yet judging by how their fight kept growing fiercer, something felt off.

Han Li: "Daoist Zhongli is the God of Contracts, so him going all out doesn't surprise me. But Daoist Su—I didn't expect him to have this kind of personality either."

Han Li had always had a pretty good impression of Su Lin: generous and open-handed in his dealings, friendly and honest with people, and whenever he came across an opportunity, he'd share it with everyone.

Now, seeing the way Su Lin fought with everything he had, Han Li's evaluation of him climbed another notch.

Han Li: "Daoist Su's character is truly rare in this world."

Lu Mingfei: "?"