Chapter 189: Shock Over a Hundred Li (1)

Inside Fangcun Mountain, as time passed, the safe zone of the entire battlefield continuously shrank.

After one day, the entire battlefield shrank by half.

By the end of the second day, only one-tenth of its size remained, with the remaining location at the border of the various nations' capitals.

As the final countdown approached, the entire battlefield shrank further, leaving only an area of one hundred li.

Even this remaining hundred-li range was slowly collapsing inward.

Only after a single survivor emerged from the slaughter would this shrinking stop, after which the final five could divide the remaining Light of the Soul.

In the underground chamber, Fang Can, having returned to normal, was slowly stretching his muscles, warming up for the coming great battle.

As his body moved bit by bit, postures transcending human limits were performed, and within the blood vessels of his body, the sound of a river surging ceaselessly could be heard.

After warming up for the duration of one stick of incense, Fang Can finally stood still; the number above his head, after the recent loosening of his bones and muscles, settled at 11000.

He gently turned his head to look at the maiden and said, "You have cultivated inside my body for two days; are you ready?"

"Rest assured, since you truly have not broken through to the First Turn, this Imperial Princess will naturally keep my promise and compose a poem for you," Xiang Ziyu replied.

Then the maiden blinked her purple eyes lightly and said, "However, this Miss is quite curious: how will you, a mere tenth-level of the Profound Threshold, turn the tables?"

Fang Can said nothing, merely walking toward the steps.

He pushed open the sealed lid above his head, letting the light from outside pour in.

At this moment, at the very center of this safe zone.

Hundreds of martial artists were now gathered together, speechless as they gazed at the dark clouds overhead.

After searching for two days straight, they hadn't even seen a hair of Fang Can's; instead, other Great Expansion martial artists had been killed off batch by batch.

By now, basically all the remaining martial artists from the various nations' competitions had joined them.

Because all those who disagreed with joining had already been killed.

'Where exactly is that Fang Can? Did he choose some inheritance ability that grants invisibility, just watching us fight to the end from right beside us?'

One martial artist looked to the sky and sighed mournfully, raising his hand to pick up a stone and throw it into a distant pool of water.

"Where is the Daoist Priest? Get a Daoist Priest to cast a divination, to calculate Fang Can's location."

"Enough, this old Daoist already cast a divination yesterday. I cast it over twenty times, and every single divination result was completely different," said a youth draped in a Daoist robe.

Just as they were exchanging words, a few drops of rain without roots fell from the sky, sprinkling upon the crowd and dampening their clothes.

"Ugh, so annoying. My mood is bad, and now it's raining."

Some martial artists looked up at the sky, where a fine drizzle was falling, and water droplets were slowly wetting the ground.

Facing the droplets, the Daoist Priest who had just been lying on his back suddenly sprang to his feet and took out a divination compass from his robe.

Immediately, a cry of delight came from the Daoist Priest's mouth: "Hey, this rain perfectly matches the Xu Hexagram!"

"What does that mean?" the surrounding martial artists looked over, curiosity in their eyes.

"The upper trigram of the Xu Hexagram is Kan, symbolizing clouds; the lower trigram is Qian, symbolizing heaven. Clouds gather in the sky, waiting for rain to fall. The image of this Xu Hexagram is simply an extremely auspicious omen!"

"Our gathering point was specifically chosen at this lakeside; encountering water is extremely auspicious."

"Plus, after a long drought comes a timely rain; this rain has come at just the right moment. As long as the rain continues, our fortune will be as endless as the living water in the lake."

The Daoist Priest's tone was excited, causing the surrounding martial artists' irritability to subconsciously ease.

And Xiang Longtao, looking at the continuous fine rain and listening to the Daoist Priest's explanation, also subconsciously smiled:

"Fang Can, heaven is seeking your destruction. Let's see how your Great Sun Indestructible Demon Body functions in the rain."

Just as everyone was rejoicing, a clear voice like a bell entered everyone's ears.

"Journey Through the Great Desert"

"The Gobi's proud sun flows like fire, when will the yellow sand's scorching waves cease?"

"Clouds steam over the great desert with no shade, the sun burns the common people, their sweat becoming oil."

"Heaven and earth are a furnace, humans become charcoal; mirage vapor rises, shadows grow even more obscure."

"Suddenly, the distant camel bells of the vast sea are heard; camels buried in gravel and soil expose ancient skulls."

'That voice!!!'

Hearing the familiar voice coming from his ear, Xiang Longtao's face suddenly changed drastically.

As the words fell, the next moment—

The thick curtain of dark clouds was pierced by a sword-like, blinding Jin Guang, and sunlight once again covered the earth.

The land, just now immersed in continuous fine rain, had its wet soil rapidly covered by light and heat; surface moisture gradually evaporated, rising as wisps of light smoke.

The air was filled with the freshness and fragrance of sun-dried earth.

Then the sunlight grew more and more intense, gilding every inch of land with dazzling golden radiance, transforming the earth into dry sand!

Immediately, a wail of agony came from the mouth of the old Daoist Priest who had just divined: "Heaven-slaying scoundrel! Who messed with my Xu Hexagram? My great auspiciousness has turned into great misfortune!"

Everyone subconsciously looked up at the sky, seeing that with the poem's interference, the entire sky was now cloudless for ten thousand li.

The sun's light fell without any obstruction; everywhere were water vapor rising from evaporation.

And in the distance, within the lake water, a youth was holding a long spear and coming over the waves.

The youth's steps were neither fast nor slow, but the lake water beneath his Cloud-Walking Shoes was like flat ground, actively bearing his steps and lifting his body.

Watching the youth walking toward them amidst the rising mist, Xiang Longtao's eyes burned with anger; the humiliation from two days ago surged to the top of his head.

With extreme rage, Xiang Longtao did not attend to Fang Can immediately.

His gaze passed over the youth to the slender figure in the lake pavilion, and he spoke word by word:

"Xiang Ziyu! Are you still of the Great Chu Imperial Clan? Have you already betrayed the Emperor?"

Compared to Fang Can, who had been an enemy from the start, the betrayal of his own kin hurt Xiang Longtao more, so he directly opened his mouth to question and blame.

As for Xiang Ziyu, her mindset was far more stable.

If not for these days of enduring humiliation and holding back Fang Can's breakthrough, my elder brother might already have been killed like a stray dog.

Delaying Fang Can's first transformation for the benefit of Da Chu—this is loyalty!

Obeying Father's command, disregarding danger, and joining my elder brother to kill Fang Can—this is filial piety!

Resisting temptation while cohabiting with the Great Expansion Succubus yet never overstepping boundaries—this is propriety!

Keeping my promise despite knowing him as an enemy, following my heart—this is righteousness!

With all four virtues—loyalty, filial piety, propriety, and righteousness—present, even a Confucian gentleman here would have to say: upright and beyond reproach!

Thus, the girl with her calm and steady mindset faced her elder brother's questioning as if brushed by a gentle breeze.

Gazing through the mist, Xiang Ziyu unconsciously asked, seeing her elder brother's current appearance:

"Elder brother, why is your head… pointy?"

Angered, Xiang Longtao yanked his hood over his bald head. His gaze fell on Fang Can approaching from ahead—he froze, then unconsciously said:

"What's going on? Why is your power so weak?"

Everyone stared at the boy standing atop the lake, the number 11,000 hovering above his head stirring instinctive alarm in their hearts—this value was wrong!

(End of Chapter)