“Of course not. The tens of thousands of souls which we managed to reap earlier are barely enough to replenish what was depleted from the Death God Pagoda previously. Why should we stop Du Busi? Long Xiaoyao is a smart man. He knows when to give up and leave.” Ye Xishui gave the plainest reply possible. It was impossible to see any emotions in her eyes.
“I understand.” Zhong Liwu did not dare to add anything else. Even though he was the actual Supreme Leader of the Holy Ghost Church, everyone knew who called the shots.
As she watched the battle which was going on in midair, Ye Xishui remained extremely calm. A faint blood-red color occasionally flickered in her eyes. A large group of powerful cultivators from the Holy Ghost Church stood behind them. They had all gathered here and waited silently for instructions not long after Du Busi had emerged.
Ye Xishui definitely knew what her son was worried about. Her son feared that Long Xiaoyao might be angered by what had just unfolded. She also knew that Long Xiaoyao was calling for her. If she joined in the battle and helped Long Xiaoyao subdue Du Busi, he might just be unable to detonate his soul core.
However, why must I stop him? The deaths of millions of civilians would only be beneficial for the Holy Ghost Church. As a person who was only concerned about her interests, she would definitely not stop Du Busi.
Long Xiaoyao… Long Xiaoyao…!
As the battle grew in intensity, the flames on Du Busi’s body seemed to become material. Long Xiaoyao could no longer do anything about his mad attacks. All he could do was to try and stop Du Busi from descending.
“Long Xiaoyao, do you really think you can stop me? Stop shouting for her. Since I have dared to come today, I have already thought of everything. She won’t be coming to help you.” Du Busi let out a burst of eerie laughter.
Long Xiaoyao was taken aback by his words. He had a strange realization that Du Busi might not be as mad as he seemed.
“Du Busi, why must you do this? Do you really think you can kill Xu Tianran like this? He has so many Class 9 soul engineers defending him. Even if your self-destruction is super strong, it won’t be enough to kill him. The shield above the Sun Moon Sacrificial Altar alone is enough to shave off half of the impact from your self-destruction. Slaughtering millions of lives will only do the Holy Ghost Church good. You are just helping them become stronger. It’s not too late to stop. I can still help you to douse your burning fire of life and help you leave. How does that sound?”
Long Xiaoyao was very clear with his words, but Du Busi continued to laugh. In fact, he seemed very happy about something.
Suddenly, Du Busi’s voice became very soft. His words could only reverberate within Long Xiaoyao’s ears. “My old pal, of course, I know what you’re talking about. We have both lived for over two hundred years. Why would I not be able to consider that things that you’ve said? Our thinking is just very different. I can see that you are still a person with a heart. If not, you would never have turned up here. The truth is my action is but a small part of the entire operation. Do you really think I want to die? Of course not. But I have already sustained certain injuries which I cannot recover from back when I fended off the invaders from the Sun Moon Empire previously. I am already too old.”
“Just like Mu En who was just living out his life after sustaining a serious injury, I can feel my own abilities deteriorating every day. Let’s not talk about becoming an Ultimate Douluo. I’m not even confident of remaining a Transcendent Douluo in a few years’ time. I have at most ten more years to live.”
“Ten years is a long enough time for a normal human. But for people like us, it is nothing. That’s why I would rather not have these ten years. The most heroic death for a soul master is to die before the eyes of the public. In fact, I have already won. Do you know that?”
Even though Long Xiao was staring at Du Busi and listening to his words, both of them were still entangled in battle. However, there was no hatred or anger in his eyes. What remained was nothing but sorrow and melancholy. Is another person from my times really about to die?
It was almost as if Du Busi had finally found someone to converse with him as he continued. “My appearance today is part of a carefully crafted plan. There’s no chance of me dying in vain. In my eyes, since I am about to die, the rules no longer mean anything. Do you really think the millions of lives below us can be so easily taken away? You have spent a fair bit of time in the Sun Moon Empire. Do you really not know what trump cards they’re hiding under their sleeves? They will definitely try their best to protect their people. If not, the millions of deaths would shake the foundation of Xu Tianran’s rule. But whatever trump cards they deploy will most definitely take a lot out of them. In the future, when they have to face the other nations, they will definitely be a lot weaker.”
“This is my first objective. As long as Xu Tianran isn’t mentally retarded, he will definitely help me achieve it. My second objective is naturally you. I knew Ye Xishui would definitely not come after starting this commotion. However, I was sure you would. I was purposely shouting around in that manner previously to attract someone else’s attention. Do you really think I still don’t know you well enough? You must have a reason for staying around her. I don’t want to know the exact reason. All I know is that now that you are on the opposing side, you won’t feel too good after I die. I don’t think you can deny that, right?”
“My third objective pertains to Ye Xishui. She must be lurking around somewhere with her disciples and grand-disciples, waiting to pounce in and reap the fruits of our hard work. The sheer number of souls from the dead people would be too enticing for them to turn down. I have considered how they would not be able to resist this temptation before deciding to do what I am doing now. I have now successfully drawn Ye Xishui and her underlings here. The greed of evil soul masters will be their downfall.”
“Once I am done with my three objectives, I can allow my old body to die. I am not the only one here this time around. Once my objectives have been achieved, the remaining ones will naturally be accomplished by the others. I have already attracted enough firepower, right? Hahahahaha!”
After hearing Du Busi’s words, Long Xiaoyao became very quiet. Du Busi has really drafted a very well-crafted plan this time round. He has managed to predict how we would all act. Xu Tianran. Ye Xishui. And me. All of us.
It was because he had already known how they would all act based on how events would unfold that he was willing to give up his life to gather everyone here.
But then what is his true objective?
“Long Xiaoyao, I have always been very easy-going and carefree all my life. Failing to defeat Mu En is one of the biggest regrets in my life. However, I have managed to live longer than him. In the future, if you want to describe me as a despicable person, I will gladly accept it as praise from you. Time is almost up. I want you to help me see how big an explosion I can create with my abilities. Oh yes, I actually have a fourth objective. I want to assassinate Xu Tianran. No matter whether I succeed or not, I want to try. If not, how can I rest in peace, right?”
After finishing his sentence, Du Busi suddenly burst into a fit of mad laughter. Following which, his body suddenly froze in mid-air.
It was as if the entire sky had frozen, and all the energy pulses stopped at this very instant. Even Long Xiaoyao was no exception.
Just as Long Xiaoyao’s eyes widened in shock, a dense layer of black started to vanish in the next instant. A mysterious ring of silver-white light started to appear around him.
That ring of white light rubbed and collided against the static space around it vigorously.
Du Busi revealed a sly smile as he took a last look at Long Xiaoyao. Following which, his thousand meter-tall body shrank rapidly towards the center of his stomach.
At that very instant, it was as if a black hole had formed in the middle of the sky. Copious amounts of natural qi of heaven and earth gravitated towards the center of the black hole.
Because of how suddenly Du Busi’s body had shrunk, everyone present, including the millions of civilians of the Sun Moon Empire, felt as if they were being sucked by something in the air. The tens of thousands of people that were closer to the Sun Moon Sacrificial Altar were even lifted into the air by the force of attraction. Their feet left the ground as they floated a couple of meters into the air.
Just when some of these people started to regain their composure, chaos broke loose again as screams and shouts could be heard everywhere as they tried to struggle against the force of attraction.
Du Busi had vanished, and what had replaced him was a huge piece of crystal, entirely jade-green, and radiating a jade-green glow onto its pitch black surroundings. It seemed as though it could swallow all the darkness around it. Even the silver glow from Long Xiaoyao’s body was being consumed by it.
Long Xiaoyao revealed a bitter smile. You are truly remarkable! He could sense this soul core had been enhanced to the level that belonged to an Ultimate Douluo. The only difference was how an Ultimate Douluo had two soul cores, and Du Busi only had one.
Du Busi had burned all of his power and energy, including his soul. At this very instant, everything turned silent. But it was merely the calm before the impending storm.
Is it coming now? Everyone stopped breathing as they looked up into the sky. They could sense that a catastrophe was about to hit them.
However, at this very instant, the air in the direction of Radiant City suddenly became illuminated. Four gentle white beams of light shot up into the sky without any warning.
These four pillars of light were initially not particularly noticeable. They were only as thick as water pails, but they immediately began to expand at an unbelievable rate.
Very soon, these four beams had a diameter of over a hundred meters as they pierced deep into the sky, their powerful light unimpeded by the grey clouds.
The energy bound within the jade-green soul core seemed to be agitated by the white light, as it started to emit a low humming sound. The space around the soul core started to show signs of cracking.