Chapter 2: Kings vs. Kings (6)
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“This old coot has gone mad!”
“He wants to drag us down with him!”
It’s said that the timid fear the bold, and the bold fear the reckless.
Once Li Ying Tian resolved to d*e fighting, the situation fell into a deadlock faster than you could say “bad idea.”
Fu Yetian understood all too well that stuffing those ten disciples from Thousand Bird City into the cultivation pod wouldn’t change much—they’d last a few minutes at best before their weak little selves crumpled like wet tissue paper.
And those few minutes would’ve been enough for a speedy getaway from the Floating City, but thanks to the crazed antics of Li Ying Tian, executing their plan had become a comedy of errors.
While grappling with Li Ying Tian, Fu Yetian shouted, “Quick! Get Ru Yu over here!”
At this moment, the only thing that could completely subdue Li Ying Tian was the Evil Incarnation of the Monster King.
Ru Yu was already in a tizzy over the tilting Floating City. But with her “little brother” hanging around, she was feeling a bit more at ease than she’d expected.
Evil Shiyuan hefted a metal rod onto his shoulder. He was strangely pleased with the sudden disappearance of his counterpart, and even cracked a rare smile.
“Sis, don’t worry! If these guys bite the dust, we can just take over this Floating City! I’ll be the king, and you can be the queen. Anyone who disobeys will get a taste of my magic—like turning their heads into urinals!”
Ru Yu shot him a glare. “You’re way too optimistic!”
To be fair, Evil Shiyuan had made similar proposals before, and she couldn’t help but ponder whether she should ditch the Ji Shen organization. After all, ever since he called her “sister,” his attitude had improved—his terrible temper stayed intact, but he was obedient to her.
With Fu Yetian struggling against him, how could she continue to be a puppet for Ji Shen? Why should she wear someone else’s wedding dress?
Ru Yu was starting to feel tempted.
Right now, Fu Yetian was deep in enemy territory, and aside from a few weak guards, there was no one around. She could have practically walked out with Evil Shiyuan with no trouble at all.
But just then, Evil Shiyuan’s eyes narrowed.
“Sis, wait right here for me! I’ll be back!”
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Ru Yu panicked.
This was Evil Shiyuan’s first voluntary venture out of her sight since he had declared her his sister.
Her gut told her there was trouble brewing.
“Wait for me!”
With her skirt flowing behind her, she rushed after the quickly fading shadow of Evil Shiyuan, running as fast as her legs could carry her. She needed to keep a tight grip on this troublemaker—there was no way she could let him slip away.
Inside the restricted area,
As the battle raged and Li Ying Tian continued his rampage, cracks in the surrounding walls of the tunnel widened, threatening to collapse at any moment.
In this chaotic environment, a wisp of green smoke slowly drifted in from the tunnel entrance, shimmering with the forces generated by the ongoing conflict.
Eventually, it made its way into the circular chamber, settling atop the surface of one of the cultivation pods.
If Lin Nan were there, she would have been taken aback because lying inside was none other than the unconscious Shiyuan.
The pod’s tubes had been severed during the brawl, allowing the green smoke to flow easily inside, where it momentarily went still.
A guard sent to call Ru Yu stepped out of the tunnel, only to see a shadow flying from afar, crashing heavily above the restricted area.
“Boom!”
A deafening roar echoed as the tunnel collapsed halfway, and the guard was struck in the head by flying debris, dying on the spot.
The struggle between the three bosses had to reluctantly pause as they all stepped back, no one having a clue what just happened.
Amidst the rubble, the shadow morphed into a wisp of green smoke, drifting toward the circular chamber holding the cultivation pod.
Above, the ruined tunnel opened to reveal a long-lost starry sky, the bright moonlight illuminating the rising dust. No matter whether it was Li Ying Tian, Fu Yetian, or the Great King of the Split Land, their faces twisted with grimace.
Both the Ji Shen organization and Thousand Bird City seemed stuck in an unresolvable predicament.
Ji Shen wanted to take those twelve unknown identities; taking them meant the collapse of Thousand Bird City.
Meanwhile, Li Ying Tian was bent on a mutually assured destruction scenario.
Fu Yetian and his crew couldn’t even spare the time to escape.
No one could guarantee that, once the Floating City—suspended over a thousand meters in the air—crashed to the ground, these cultivators would be safe from the wreckage.
Even if someone survived, it meant the meticulous plan that Ji Shen had prepared for over a decade would go up in smoke.
Those twelve hidden in the restricted area would be crushed under the immense impact, turning to mush.
Originally, if the Nightmare Realm could keep them trapped in the black mist, everything would have gone smoothly since no one could break through the gap in the fog.
(The Nightmare Beast’s dream realm has its own set of rules. If anyone manages to escape, the collective dream ends instantly.)
But they never imagined that a masked woman, claiming to be one of the Extermination of Immortals’ four pillars, would wreck their entire plan.
She seemed to be a natural bane against the Nightmare World; the Nightmare Beasts—the ones invincible against mere mortals—fell as easily as dominoes before her, even when powered by five thousand of their might, they couldn’t take her down.
If not for that little hiccup, they wouldn’t be stuck in this awkward catch-22.
“Where’s Ru Yu?! Why hasn’t she shown up yet?”
Fu Yetian was dangerously close to losing his patience.
He wasn’t sure if Thousand Bird City had called for backup from any other immortal gates, and the Extermination of Immortals trying to sabotage the Nightmare World hadn’t shown up either.
Every minute dragged on, and risks multiplied like rabbits.
Not far away, Ru Yu stumbled her way toward where Evil Shiyuan had vanished, but upon hearing Fu Yetian’s furious shout, she stopped helplessly, fear bubbling up inside her.
“He’s gone!
He’s really gone!”
…
The once-cuddly group of Nightmare Beasts swelled tenfold.
Without the Evil Incarnation of the Monster King pressuring them, even the Nightmare Beasts that had been snoozing were stirring ominously.
While they couldn’t reconstruct a Nightmare World again in such a short time, simply by existing and possessing strength that could squash ordinary folks, they were sure to unleash carnage upon the human realm.
The guards assigned to watch over them were in a panic.
But their leader, Ru Yu, was MIA, and the boy who terrorized them daily with threats of turning their heads into urinals had also disappeared.
They had seen the true form of the Nightmare Beast once on East Sea Island, and countless brothers had died trying to capture it.
If the Nightmare Beast went awry, they wouldn’t have enough heads among them to keep it satisfied.
Just when they were debating whether to run for their lives,
A sudden, distinct sound of wings flapping echoed from above.
They looked up, fear gripping them,
And in the pitch-black night sky, a bright moon loomed majestically overhead. Against that silvery disk, a massive shadow rushed toward them.
Even more shocking, perched atop that enormous bird was a woman in a flowing black dress, her long skirt billowing like flames in the swift wind.
Even though they couldn’t see her face clearly, they felt a heavy, unprecedented pressure bear down on them.
Who… who is she?
…
P.S.: Breakfast is served!
