Chapter 33: Removing the Armor

A huge boom, fire waves and electric light splashed everywhere.

Wu Tie grunted, was hit by Shi Lingqing and flown dozens of meters, collapsing headfirst before the hall's steps.

The blood-flame electric light that Shi Lingqing transformed into shot up into the sky, after circling at a height of several hundred meters, it resembled a huge drill spinning rapidly, whistling as it slammed into Wu Tie.

Wu Tie was dazed from the recent impact, not yet recovered from the violent collision, Shi Lingqing dove down from high altitude and struck him again.

The ground trembled violently, dirt sprayed up several meters high, Wu Tie grunted, even through his armor he was shaken so that his viscera churned, and he spat out a stream of blood.

The impact opened a pit several meters wide in the ground; the pond before the hall was affected, large sheets of sparkling water shot up, lotus leaves and petals were shattered and blown far away.

Wu Tie lay spread-eagled at the bottom of the pit several meters deep, his head tilted as he looked at Shi Lingqing.

Having seized part of Hong Laolao's life essence and used sorcery to take Shi Dian's awakened talent, Shi Lingqing's strength surged greatly in a short time, far surpassing Wu Tie, who had just broken through to the first layer of Foundation Establishment.

Seeing her maneuver and fly through the air with natural ease, Wu Tie could not tell what level she had reached.

"What comes after Foundation Establishment?" Wu Tie's head buzzed, unable to focus.

After being beaten by Shi Lingqing for so long, his head suffered a severe jolt, countless golden stars swam before his eyes, his head felt heavy and he wanted to vomit.

"Your tight-fitting armor is excellent." After a heavy strike, Shi Lingqing used the rebound to fly up dozens of meters, stepping on a faint fire cloud as she slowly descended, looking down on Wu Tie from above.

"I think it should be mine." Shi Lingqing smiled seductively: "Your armor is mine; your spear is mine; the ancient treasure in the hall is mine; the remains of this ancient sage should also be mine."

"Hee, if you're willing, you can also be mine." Shi Lingqing looked at Wu Tie with a chuckle: "How coincidental, even Ding is dead; I originally planned to take them as my confidants… but Shi Dian, I won't even mention—those household slaves who peek at their master deserve to die…"

"You're different. You can obtain the ancient treasure and inheritance, your luck is not bad, I like people with luck."

"You're also quite handsome, although you're a bit young, I don't mind…"

"Are you willing to become mine?"

Shi Lingqing smiled at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie staggered to his feet, tilted his head to look at Shi Lingqing, and seriously recalled everything that had happened since Shi Lingqing, Luo Lin and the others entered this secret realm.

He quickly went through each incident in his mind, and Wu Tie let out a sigh.

"You people are too terrifying; your affairs are too complicated." Wu Tie gripped his spear and pointed it at Shi Lingqing: "I fear I'll end up like Shi Dian, one day accidentally killed by you from behind."

"I just want to live a simpler life…" Wu Tie recalled the peaceful life he once had at the Wu family's stone fortress, and he said in a low voice: "Once I have the strength to avenge, once I have avenged my father and brothers, I will return to my own stone fortress."

Wu Tie recalled Wu Zhan's nagging expectations for their brothers, and he smiled saying: "I will find one or several virtuous women, marry them and have children to continue the bloodline… sorry, you are not virtuous at all."

Wu Tie did not know how powerful his words would be against a girl with extremely high self-esteem.

Especially, his age was several years younger than Shi Lingqing's.

He said Shi Lingqing was not a virtuous woman.

The so-called "innocent child speaks without restraint"—Wu Tie's words, straight from the heart, were even more devastating.

Shi Lingqing's face turned dark as iron, she let out an angry roar, rushed to a cluster of crystal over a meter thick, and repeatedly struck it with her palms.

Amid the loud noise, the crystal cluster burst out with blinding light; no matter how much Shi Lingqing exerted herself, the cluster remained unmoved and suffered no damage.

Wu Tie stared blankly, watching Shi Lingqing's hysterical actions, he chuckled: "Do you want to break off a piece to smash me? Heh, it looks like you're wasting effort? Isn't there something easier to get hold of here?"

Wu Tie laughed, then glanced back at the hall behind him.

Shi Lingqing let out a long howl, somewhat embarrassed she left that crystal cluster and rushed to the hall's doorway, where she wrapped her arms around a stone pillar as thick as a person's embrace beneath the eaves, then gave it a hard shake with both arms.

The stone pillar, several meters long, snapped; Shi Lingqing lifted the pillar, cursed loudly, and lashed Wu Tie with it.

With a huge boom, the stone pillar shattered; Wu Tie was blasted upward by the violent impact over a hundred meters, he crashed headfirst into a crystal cluster, his body rebounded back dozens of meters, twitching and unable to move for a while.

The old Lao Tie lying on the ground slightly lifted his head and sighed softly: "No wonder he's my carefully trained disciple… this foul-mouthed skill has reached thirty percent of my power… hey, he's really foul-mouthed!"

Wu Tie lay on the ground unable to move for a while; the fine lines of light flowing over his tight armor, accompanied by a faint "hiss" sound, turned the armor into flowing molten metal that slowly peeled off his body.

With a "thud", the tight armor became a pallid white metal ball the size of a human head, which lightly fell to the ground.

Wu Tie stared blankly.

Shi Lingqing looked at the pallid white metal ball, both surprised and delighted: "Ha? Without this armor, can you still escape my grasp?"

Wu Tie looked at Lao Tie, both startled and afraid: "Lao Tie…"

Lao Tie remained motionless, lying on the ground like a pile of scrap copper and iron.

Wu Tie's shout caught Shi Lingqing's attention; she looked at Lao Tie, then swung her arms, releasing thick bolts of electricity that spat blood-colored flames, whistling as they struck Lao Tie.

Lao Tie was sent rolling across the ground, electricity crackling all over his body.

He writhed like a lifeless object, rolling and jumping on the ground, with no reaction or sound.

"Is he dead?" Shi Lingqing gave a small smile, studied Lao Tie for a moment, then let out a relieved breath.

Shi Lingqing walked toward Wu Tie with a light laugh.

Wu Tie struggled to his feet, spear in hand, gritted his teeth and stared at Shi Lingqing, instinctively stepping back step by step; he knew full well he could not match the current Shi Lingqing.

"Are you afraid?" Shi Lingqing smiled at Wu Tie, continuing to step closer; a faint shimmer glimmered in her eyes, an indescribable charm quietly emanating: "Why be afraid? Actually, if you just kneel before me now…"

Shi Lingqing extended her bare feet, chuckling: "Look at my feet, white and tender… if you kneel, lick my feet, and promise to serve me wholeheartedly, please me, and obey any of my commands, I can let you enjoy everything a man could imagine…"

Shi Lingqing narrowed her eyes, the moisture in them nearly spilling over: "Our Changsheng Sect excels at fulfilling everyone's deepest desires… whether man or woman… as long as you want something in your heart, we can satisfy it…"

"Obey me, join the Changsheng Sect, you won't regret it… I'm very optimistic about your potential… handsome young lord!" Shi Lingqing laughed triumphantly.

Wu Tie took a deep breath, then said in a low voice: "You are not virtuous at all… in fact, you could be called a truly wicked woman… therefore…"

In a flash, Shi Lingqing appeared before Wu Tie.

Wu Tie instinctively thrust his spear forward; in the faint sound of tearing air, the spearhead grazed past Shi Lingqing's shoulder.

Shi Lingqing swung both hands at once, and in the snap of a finger dozens of hard slaps struck Wu Tie's face.

Wu Tie's head was shaken violently side to side, the soft tissue in his mouth torn apart by his teeth, a large amount of blood spurted out, blood sprayed several feet from the corners of his mouth, and copious blood and saliva kept flowing, staining his upper body bright red.

After dozens of slaps, Wu Tie was nearly unconscious; immediately his shoulders screamed in pain as Shi Lingqing mercilessly slammed her palms into them, shattering his shoulders.

"A young lord who doesn't taste hardship won't know regret." Shi Lingqing laughed brightly: "You still have a little time to think carefully—will you obey me, or die here?"

"If you wish to obey me, lick my feet… furthermore, hand over the ancient inheritance you obtained." Shi Lingqing looked at Wu Tie with a hint of greed: "You are only at the first layer of Foundation Establishment, yet your physical strength can easily suppress those like Luo Lin whose cultivation far exceeds yours…"

"Your inheritance should be mine, and only I, Shi Lingqing, as the ultimate victor, am worthy to enjoy all of this."

"The ancient treasures in the hall, the remains of the ancient sage, your armor and spear, and the inheritance you obtained……" Shi Lingqing grabbed Wu Tie's neck and rushed into the hall without delay: "Everything is mine…… Only I, who laughs last, am worthy to enjoy all of this."

"Young master, handsome young master, think well, should you give your inheritance to me?" Shi Lingqing lifted Wu Tie up, lightly kissed his cheek: "I don't want to use violence on you."

Having said that, Shi Lingqing punched Wu Tie in the abdomen.

A huge force surged, his viscera convulsed violently, piercing pain made Wu Tie's tears flood, his stomach churned, and a large mouthful of blood mixed with gastric juice spurted out, his mouth filled with bloody taste and an indescribable strange flavor.

Part of the gastric juice surged back into his nasal cavity, causing unbearable soreness, intense nasal pain, Wu Tie's body convulsed violently, thick fluid continuously sprayed from his nose and mouth, he was in such agony he nearly fainted.

Standing at the hall's entrance, Shi Lingqing glanced at the kilometer-tall Cow Hero, swallowing hard.

"You are mine. Wait for me." She reached out, making a grasping motion at the Cow Hero's massive body, Shi Lingqing laughed softly, pinching Wu Tie's neck, dragging him, who could neither move nor speak, into the hall.

On the futon, the sole remaining golden skeleton sat cross-legged, faint light mist continually spraying from cracks all over its body, gradually dissipating into the air.

On the broken golden lotus, strands of faint golden mist tightly wrapped that fragment of bone.

The thumb-sized fragment of bone rotated slowly, like a sated caged bird, not anxious to escape the golden lotus's confinement.

Wu Tie strained to widen his eyes, watching the bone fragment hovering above the golden lotus.

It was this strange bone fragment that sucked away his blood.

Shamelessly, it absorbed and then fled.

Shi Lingqing threw Wu Tie to the ground, lifted her foot, and stomped hard on his knee. Wu Tie jerked, letting out a miserable scream.

Shi Lingqing violently crushed his knee, his shoulders also shattered; now he lay on the ground unable to move, only able to barely lift his head to watch Shi Lingqing's next move.

She cautiously approached the golden lotus, squatted down, and eagerly looked at that bone fragment.

"What a strange ancient treasure; although I don't know what it is, it must…… be very precious."

Shi Lingqing spoke gently: "The ancient sages outside, this cave, the extremely hard crystals in the cave, this hall, these golden skeletons in the hall…… If I'm not mistaken, they all exist for its sake."

"Then, what exactly are you?" Shi Lingqing looked at the bone fragment, cautiously reaching out.

"What benefit can you give me?" Shi Lingqing trembled with excitement all over.

Wu Tie lay beside her, his clothes burned clean by blood-red flames, revealing Shi Lingqing's body in full view; he saw her skin covered in goosebumps, hairs standing on end, obviously her emotions had reached an extreme.

As Shi Lingqing's hand was about to touch the bone fragment, she suddenly stopped.

"These ancient treasures, especially those untouched by human hands, always carry unpredictable risks." Shi Lingqing turned her head with a smile, nodding at Wu Tie: "The Changsheng Sect in the Cangyan Realm once surveyed three ancient sites, obtained four ancient treasures, suffering over a thousand elite casualties."

"I don't want to die here." Shi Lingqing laughed brightly: "I still have a wonderful life to enjoy…… But if you die, it's no loss to me…… Of course, I'll shed a couple tears for you, after all, young master, you're so handsome."

Shi Lingqing roughly grabbed Wu Tie's neck, her sharp nails unhesitatingly cutting his throat, directing his wound toward the bone fragment.

The bone fragment struggled violently; amid a faint cracking sound, the pale light mist confining it in the golden lotus was torn open more than half, the bone fragment slammed onto Wu Tie's wound, his blood surged throughout his body, a large amount of blood rushed wildly toward the bone fragment.

"Ah, it's sucking blood." Shi Lingqing's body trembled violently, she laughed excitedly: "Good, good, I didn't touch it recklessly."

"Yo, young master, your blood vessels are shriveled, your blood is about to be drained dry? Hey, you must hold on, before this treasure is satisfied, you absolutely must not come to harm!"

Shi Lingqing looked at Wu Tie with a smile, light rippling in her eyes, watery as if about to drip.

Wu Tie's body convulsed, his blood continuously drawn away by the bone fragment, his vision suddenly went black, he fainted completely.

The blood remaining in his body had already exceeded the warning line, reaching a life-threatening level.