Chapter 717: Killing Trap

The opening of the Tomb of Heavenly Water created a commotion that startled all the martial artists and sorcerers in Heavenly Water City and its surrounding areas!

Li Fei, who was cultivating inside his room, sensed it at the very first moment.

"It opened so quickly?"

He looked toward the direction from which the fluctuations originated and frowned slightly.

After You Ming made his move this afternoon, Li Fei had immediately contacted the nearest Yanbo Prefecture City, ordering them to send people over at once.

The martial arts master sent by the Red Dust Pavilion was a Four-Divine-Ability martial arts master; as long as they did not face a Grandmaster, it was enough to protect the safety of Li Fei and Shentu Yue.

But when Li Fei discovered that the New Heaven Society might have designs on the Tomb of Heavenly Water, he immediately demanded that the General Inspection Court of Yanbo Prefecture send more experts, while also requesting that Yanbo Prefecture dispatch the Imperial Guard Army!

In terms of official authority, Li Fei could mobilize the people of the General Inspection Court, but he had no authority to mobilize the Imperial Guard Army of a region.

That was a power only held by the Garrison Commander.

However, since this matter concerned both the assassination case at the Altar of Heaven and involved a Dead Domain, Yanbo Prefecture dared not take it lightly and immediately dispatched one hundred Imperial Guard cavalrymen to rush toward Heavenly Water City at full speed!

And because Heavenly Water City possessed the Tomb of Heavenly Water, a force of over two hundred Imperial Guard soldiers had long been stationed there.

This Imperial Guard force had been guarding within the blockade zone the entire time.

It was just that before the Imperial Guard Army from Yanbo Prefecture could arrive, the Tomb of Heavenly Water had already opened.

Li Fei led his people and quickly left the city.

At this moment, everyone in the blocked mountain forest outside Heavenly Water City had begun to move.

Although the Tomb of Heavenly Water had already opened, the location of the rift had not yet been determined, and the government officials were searching with all their might.

Meanwhile, on a flat piece of ground, more than two hundred Imperial Guard soldiers wearing full armor, with sabers at their waists and long spears in their hands, had finished forming a formation and were channeling their military baleful energy.

A dark cloud hung over the sky of this mountain forest, with faint, dull rumbles of thunder sounding, bringing an intense sense of oppression to everyone!

This was to prevent the people of the New Heaven Society from using that flying magic treasure to suddenly descend from the sky and bring people into the rift, so the Imperial Guard soldiers stationed here had used their military baleful energy to shroud the sky above at the first opportunity.

A moment later, the location of the rift was determined, and this Imperial Guard force on the flat ground moved immediately.

They were all wearing silver armor that shone brilliantly under the moonlight; as the two hundred-plus men began to move, they looked like a silver river flowing rapidly through the mountain forest.

A few minutes later, this Imperial Guard force arrived near the rift.

With this, it was ensured that no one could suddenly break into the rift.

Another ten-plus minutes passed, and Li Fei and the others arrived at this location.

Everything was going very smoothly.

There were 11 people who were to enter the Tomb of Heavenly Water this time.

5 from the Red Dust Pavilion, 3 from Wu'an University, and 3 from the Heavenly One Tower.

It appeared that the Jianghu occupied 8 spots, while the imperial court only occupied 3.

But in reality, all 5 spots of the Red Dust Pavilion were occupied in the name of the imperial court—that is, the spots allocated to the provincial capital of Gan Province.

That Wu'an University was able to get 3 spots this time was largely due to the face of Li Fei, the Marquis of Jing'an.

In the past, Wu'an University either did not get any spots or could only get 1.

Now, because Zhu Fenghua had broken through to become a martial arts master, and the substitute personnel for the Heavenly One Tower had not yet arrived, this spot from the Heavenly One Tower was yielded.

In the end, a helmsman from the Cease-War General Court of Yanbo Prefecture obtained this spot.

Now, all 11 people were gathered near the rift, preparing to enter the Tomb of Heavenly Water.

The reason there were 11 people was that it had been calculated beforehand based on the fluctuations of the Dead Domain:

The rift that appeared this time could accommodate approximately 11 people entering it before the rift would disappear.

Of course, since it was a calculation, there was bound to be inaccuracy, and since the rift could only allow one person to enter at a time, the order of entry was very important.

Who went in first and who went in later mattered, as those ranked at the back might end up with no spot at all.

Such a situation had occurred in the past, where it was calculated beforehand that there were 10 spots, but the rift disappeared after only 8 people had entered.

In the past, the people from the Red Dust Pavilion were always the first to enter, and the others could only enter one after another after their people had finished.

But the situation was different this time.

"Marquis of Jing'an, you take the people from Wu'an University and go first."

Shentu Yue said to Li Fei.

The Red Dust Pavilion had taken the initiative to do Li Fei a favor.

"Very well."

Li Fei did not stand on ceremony and was the first to walk out.

Normally, the first person to enter the Tomb of Heavenly Water would bear the greatest risk, because no one knew what the situation was like inside.

Therefore, Xiang Dongliang had suggested that he go in first.

But Li Fei had refused.

"My strength is the greatest, so naturally I should be the one to lead the vanguard."

Li Fei had said as much.

Walking forward a few steps, a rift about seven or eight meters long and two meters wide appeared on the ground.

Pale blue light emerged from the rift, looking extremely mysterious.

This was the rift of the Tomb of Heavenly Water.

The Tomb of Heavenly Water, this Dead Domain, was located underground, so the rift appeared on the ground.

Although Li Fei was confident, he did not act arrogantly.

He first activated the full defensive form of the Golden Thread Jade Scale Armor, and the golden scales wrapped around his entire body.

Afterward, he channeled "Tyrant Body" and "Jade Bone," stimulating the "Golden Body Jade Marrow."

Finally, he used the Hunyuan Diamond Force to form the Hunyuan Star Armor.

After finishing all this, Li Fei held the Ghost-Slaying Saber and jumped into the rift.

After he jumped in, the light of the rift flared intensely, and the shape of the rift also began to change constantly.

This was a normal phenomenon; one had to wait for the rift to stabilize again before the second person could enter.

This process usually required waiting for a few minutes.

On a hillside in the distance, three figures stood.

Zhu San kept his head lowered, looking at the talisman paper in his hand; when the talisman paper ignited without fire, he immediately raised his head and said:

"Li Fei has gone in!"

You Ming, who was beside him, heard this and took a short, emerald-green blade from his bosom.

This short blade looked as if it had been carved from jade; it was translucent throughout and emitted a bone-chilling coldness.

You Ming poured his Daoist force continuously into the short blade in his hand and then slashed at the ground.

Fluctuations exactly the same as when the Tomb of Heavenly Water opened were generated immediately, and invisible "ripples" spread in all directions.

This immediately drew the attention of the group of experts in the distance.

"It is that martial arts master from the New Heaven Society."

Zhu Fenghua suddenly spoke up.

In order to prevent the New Heaven Society from having any designs, although he could not enter the Tomb of Heavenly Water, he had still come to the scene.

It was unknown how he had determined it, but in any case, he had sensed You Ming's force from far away.

"They really have a way to create a rift; Commander Chai, quickly have the Imperial Guard Army make a move!"

Xiang Dongliang said to the Imperial Guard Army commander, Chai Wei, who was beside him.

From such a distance, even a martial arts master might not be able to directly interfere over there; only the Imperial Guard Army had such means.

Chai Wei's expression was grave; he dared not be careless.

At any other time, he might have had to deliberate, as controlling a military formation would cause wear and tear to both the baleful weapons and the soldiers themselves.

But the Marquis of Jing'an had just entered the Tomb of Heavenly Water, and Chai Wei dared not let anything happen to him under any circumstances.

He decisively issued the order and began to control the military formation.

The dark cloud shrouding the heads of the crowd immediately changed, flying toward the hilltop where You Ming and the others were located at an extremely fast speed.

At the same time, Zhu Fenghua suddenly soared into the air.

He could not fly, and the new divine ability he had practiced was not a flight-type divine ability.

However, he had flying swords, and more than one.

When his leaping body began to fall, a sword light appeared beneath his feet.

Zhu Fenghua stepped heavily onto the flying sword, and his body borrowed the force to move upward and skim forward.

When the momentum was about to end, another sword light appeared just in time beneath his feet, giving him a new point of leverage.

Just like that, Zhu Fenghua simultaneously controlled three flying swords as points of leverage, "treading on swords to walk" in the air, riding the void, and skimming toward the distant hilltop at an extremely fast speed!

This scene stunned many people present.

For a Great Mage of the Possession Realm who possessed flying swords, in theory, they could indeed "fly on swords" like Zhu Fenghua.

But in reality, the physical fitness of these Great Mages of the Possession Realm was not much stronger than that of ordinary people; they simply did not have the skills of Zhu Fenghua.

Only someone who cultivated both magic and martial arts could possibly do such a thing.

Before Zhu Fenghua arrived, the dark cloud formed by the baleful energy had already reached the sky above You Ming and the others.

Boom!

A silver lightning bolt as thick as a water bucket descended from the sky, striking toward the three of them.

This lightning was not true thunder; it was merely simulated by baleful energy, but its power was absolutely not something a Dao Foundation martial artist could withstand!

The moment the lightning fell, You Ming first used his 【Heart Sword】 to slash at this lightning, significantly weakening its power.

Baleful energy was a combination of force and phantom intent, so a divine ability like the 【Heart Sword】 could also directly affect it.

After the lightning was weakened, Ye Zhao, who was standing to the side, immediately took action, shrouding the three of them in a water curtain to block the strike of lightning.

At this moment, a crack had already appeared on the ground.

The interior of the crack was also emitting a blue light, identical to the crack that Li Fei had entered.

"Enter!"

Zhu San raised his flying boat, carrying Ye Zhao directly into the crack.

Even with two people entering at once, this crack did not show any fluctuations; it was actually more stable than the naturally formed crack.

Rumble—

The second bolt of lightning descended, and You Ming raised his hand to strike out an identical bolt of lightning.

The two bolts of lightning collided in mid-air and cancelled each other out.

You Ming looked up at Zhu Fenghua, who was riding a sword and rushing toward this side, and revealed a mocking smile.

Subsequently, a layer of pale blue light emerged on the surface of his body, the same as the light emanating from the crack.

Under Zhu Fenghua's astonished gaze, You Ming jumped into the crack!

Rumble—

The third bolt of lightning descended, and the earth shook.

This small hillside was almost razed to the ground!

Zhu Fenghua descended from the air and looked at the large pit on the ground.

After You Ming jumped into that crack, the crack vanished along with him.

Zhu Fenghua finally understood why You Ming had wanted to stop him from entering the Tomb of Heavenly Water.

If the Tomb of Heavenly Water was a killing trap aimed at Li Fei, then the opposing side would want to weaken Li Fei's lineup as much as possible.

And Zhu Fenghua was undoubtedly the most threatening one.

Against any martial artist at the Dao Foundation realm, Zhu Fenghua did not think Li Fei would be in any danger.

But now, a Martial Arts Master had gone inside!

Zhu Fenghua had crossed paths with You Ming and knew the prowess of this dual-supernatural-ability Master; if he did not have a breakthrough on the spot, he would certainly not be able to defeat the opponent.

And Li Fei had not yet integrated all his implants, so there was simply no possibility of a breakthrough on the spot.

"Is there still a chance to meet again?"

Zhu Fenghua looked at the large pit on the ground and fell into silence.

(End of chapter)