“You can do it. But you need to go through a small test, and you will definitely survive it!” The voice was firm.
“A test that I will survive? It is that easy?” Lyu Liang was quite suspicious about this, thinking that it was just too abnormal to be able to get such an invincible thing that easily.
“Though you can live through it, there are still some questions for you to choose. How to answer them will depend on you. And your answers would have some influence on the result of getting the Heaven Prestige Fortress. Now, just go…” As soon as the last two words were uttered, Lyu Liang fell into a faint immediately.
When Lyu Liang woke, he found himself still in the s.p.a.ce of the fortress. The voice that sounded like Shangguan Ying's, did not reappear.
At the moment, he noticed that the originally empty seat not far from him, now housed a thin, old man, who looked really friendly. He was the exact image of the Freedom Immortal Emperor, who had transmitted power to him!
“Senior Freedom Immortal Emperor? What… This is junior Lyu Liang. Thanks for your power transmission!” Lyu Liang was startled for a moment, then bowed to him.
“Well, you bowed to me before, and regarded me as your teacher. That is already enough for the transmission of Five Acts of Heaven Soul. Now, don't bother doing this. I'm Donghuang Chongyang and named myself Freedom. I've been living a free and leisurely life, so you don't have to be nervous. Just relax. Anyway, I have only this wisp of a remnant soul.” Freedom Immortal Emperor was nodding and smiling, looking exactly like a peaceful elder.
Lyu Liang thought to himself, “You are so out of my reach. How could I feel relaxed at all?”
In the previous vision, the battle was revealed only in light and shadow. There was no voice, no cultivation aura being felt, but in the brief description, the mountains and rivers were destroyed, horrible moves dimmed the sun and moon, and some awesome magic treasures were used, which indicated that these people at least, topped the Supreme Master.
Right now, Lyu Liang asked, with great respect, “Senior is this the test referred to, by the voice before?” Lyu Liang was astute enough to know that the Immortal Emperor had no reason to have a conversation with him here, for nothing.
“Haha. You are smart. Actually, brother Fang outside, is the first guard, and I'm here, as the final guard! Well, right, the cultivators in the emperor level are not supposed to be seen by you guys in the Mortal World ever, and you would not hear anything about them, neither. In fact, the emperors are just above the forbear, which are cla.s.sified with Great Emperor, Immortal Emperor and G.o.d Emperor. I'm just an Immortal Emperor. Would you like to fight with me? If you win, you take the Heaven Prestige Fortress. You may not be invincible in the universe with it, but being a leader in the world is predictable!” Freedom Immortal Emperor said this with a light smile, while twiddling his beard, as if he were speaking about a really easy condition.
“I… You… Senior, please don't tease me. I already have great difficulty in fighting the Early-stage of Tao Master. How could I be so stupid to fight with you?” Lyu Liang was really upset. This Immortal Emperor was old, but talked so casually. Stating this kind of condition was really showing how free and easy he was!
“Haha. What are you worried about? I know your greatest cultivation is at the Peak of Almighty Immortal. I won't give you a hard time for someone's sake. I'm going to change to a cultivation of the same level as you. If you could defeat me within the time it takes to burn five sticks of incenses, I will let you pa.s.s, OK?”
Lyu Liang was relieved. He was totally confident he could confront a cultivator with the same level, so he said without hesitation, “No problem! When are we going to start?”
Freedom Immortal Emperor gave him an enigmatic smile, and said, “Not so fast. I have something to say beforehand. You win only when you make this vision disappear totally. If you fail to do that within the set time, you will be trapped in this place for one million years. Are you willing to accept this?”
Lyu Liang gasped. The difference between winning and losing was too great. He did want to get the fortress to change the whole fighting conditions, but wasting one million years here was never his purpose!
“Of course, you can choose not to do it. It's just that you will die here!” Freedom Immortal Emperor said lightly, but Lyu Liang was instantly startled, as he actually felt a hint of vague killing intention coming from him.
Lyu Liang gritted his teeth and said loudly, “Senior, I'm willing to fight!”
“Haha, good! There are always young people willing to be heroes! Well then, just go now! Come back here when you win! You are not doing this because I forced you to!” Freedom Immortal Emperor laughed, which made Lyu Liang really speechless.
Moments later, Lyu Liang disappeared on the spot. Freedom Immortal Emperor had a divine expression coming out of his eyes. With an intriguing smile on his face, he thought, “Ying'er, let me see what kind of person the man you speak highly of, really is! And also, I will figure out if he will be a good successor of my Five Acts of Heaven Soul and whether I trusted the wrong man!”
…
“I've pa.s.sed out so many times…” Lyu Liang woke up from his faint helplessly, again. Then he found himself in a heath, where there was already a person standing in front of him.
This person was clad from head to toe, in a black robe, and even the face was covered by a veil. He was even unable to guess the gender, except for the surging cultivation aura, swirling all around this person.
“This is the vision that I have to defeat?” Lyu Liang was wondering how to deal the first blow, while looking at this mysterious person.
“Start now. Kill that person within the time it takes to burn five sticks of incenses!” The drifting voice of the Freedom Immortal Emperor rose. Without any hesitation, Lyu Liang directly broke out the Soul Breaking Palm, aiming to kill the vision as soon as possible!
Brilliance flashed from the black-robed person, and a purple Dragonic Shield rose from his head, which blocked the thundering palm just in time!
Lyu Liang was stunned and looked at the shield steaming with purple gas, knowing that it was a magic treasure of Pure-yang. The black-robed person was not any ordinary vision at all!
The best moves Lyu Liang had mastered were basically for close combat, especially the new developed big weapon. He had been inspired by the Cannon and created it himself, based on the characteristics of Void Crystal.
The Cannon gathered up a ma.s.sive amount of Primordial Qi. Then it compressed and discharged all of it, in an instant. So once it hit its target, the force was very huge.
After some research, Lyu Liang used this theory for the creation of his killing moves. At last, he simulated a similar bomb made of Primordial Qi, which had been put to actual use in two instances already. Both results were pretty good.
This time, Lyu Liang intended to do it the same way. First he threw out several Xuanyuan Sword Formations, and then exerted Kun Peng Skill and Devil Thunder Wing at the same time. They instantly converged to a site, about less than twenty feet from the vision.
The black-robed person seemed to be aware of his intentions and retreated abruptly. Meanwhile, this person produced five small flags, which flew around and blocked the exploding Xuanyuan Sword Formations, which was swirling around him.
Meanwhile, the Field Domain of Law of Lyu Liang, also surged ahead violently. And the five black suns immediately shrouded the black-robed person, and emitted a destructive aura, which flew toward him.
“Is he only capable of defending?” Lyu Liang had some doubts, but he didn't stop at all. One hand rubbing the Primordial Qi bomb, he suddenly drew out the Wanshen Lock and threw it out!
The black-robed person was withstanding the Power of Law, with all his strength. When he saw the Wanshen Lock, he naturally separated one flag to ward it off. As soon as the two objects collided, the black-robed person looked as if he had been struck by lightning, and literally stopped for the time of a breath.
Although the process was extremely short, it was already enough for cultivators of their level to determine the winner and loser!
Right now, Lyu Liang was already in front of him and threw the Primordial Qi bomb, which he held in his hand. Crying out miserably, the black-robed person flew backward, landed on the ground, and lay there, motionless.
Lyu Liang withdrew all his moves the second the win was decided. Then he looked at his fallen opponent, and his own hands, and his eyes were filled with some panic.
“What are you waiting for? The time it takes to burn four sticks of incenses has already pa.s.sed. Go kill the vision and this will get you the Heaven Prestige Fortress that you've always been dreaming about!” The tempting voice from the Freedom Immortal Emperor could be heard, but now Lyu Liang started to run hurriedly toward the black-robed person.
He could feel that it was a girl, the moment he touched the body! And the screaming he heard, sounded extremely like Shangguan Ying's.
In a state of disbelief, Lyu Liang ran to the side of black-robed person, and held her right away. When he ripped away the veil, he was dumbfounded at first and then tears fell from his eyes; Under the veil, it was indeed the beautiful face of Shangguan Ying, who was now spitting blood and in the throes of death.
“I… I'm not your Ying'er. I'm just… just a vision to test you. Kill…Kill me. Quick…” The black-robed person was very weak, but her face was full of anxiety.
“This is the test for me? Are you kidding!” Lyu Liang knew that this was not the real Shangguan Ying, but his eyes were filled with blood. He realized that, once Shangguan Ying was involved, he would jump into any trap without any hesitation, even though he knew it.
“The time for the burning of four… four sticks of incenses has pa.s.sed. Hurry… Hurry up! I… I can't kill myself due to the restriction of law. You… You need to help me…” Tears were falling from the face of the black-robed person, due to her anxiety.
Lyu Liang was pretty sure that she was a fake, but she was acting so realistically and kept talking, for his own good. Even under the pressure of “wasting one million years” here, he just couldn't do it.
“You are so like my Ying'er, so soft and caring about me. If I kill you now, I will never overcome my Inner Devil when I see the real Ying'er one day.” Lyu Liang said with a smile and shook his head. His voice was light but very firm.
“You care so much, even for a vision? You really want to be trapped here for one million years?” The Freedom Immortal Emperor said this is a calm tone and in good time, as there was left only the time it took to burn less than half incense
“Thanks for your the reminder, but I am unable to do this, even if there is time to burn another five sticks of incenses. This fight, I quit! I accept it, the ‘being here for one million years'. But, could you please let me tell my companion not to wait for me any longer? She can deliver a message about me in the outside world by the way,” Lyu Liang said, lightly.
“Haha. You are a man with such affection and faith! Good, very good! You pa.s.sed the test! If you did kill this vision, you still would not get the Heaven Prestige Fortress. I may let you live, but I will trap you here for more than ten million years!” The tone of the Freedom Immortal Emperor was still light, while Lyu Liang's head was starting to sweat.
Fortunately, he had somehow held back the force when rubbing the Primordial Qi bomb. That was because the person kept defending and never attacked him, so he didn't intend to kill her. If he had killed the vision with one blow, this Immortal Emperor who liked making fun of people, was probably going to trap him here still.
“Then I…” Lyu Liang tried to ask him.
At this moment, the scene changed back to the s.p.a.ce of the fortress. The black-robed person had already disappeared. The Freedom Immortal Emperor was gone, too. Only an empty seat was left.
“Now, you already have the control over the Heaven Prestige Fortress. From now on, you are the keeper of the Civilization Mecha. Good luck with everything…” The voice of the Freedom Immortal Emperor became faint, until it eventually faded into nothing, in the end.
Then a huge amount of information flew into Lyu Liang's Divine Soul, and he was instantly very clear about what he had to do.
Lyu Liang took the seat and stretched his hand to press a raised b.u.t.ton on the left side. Then he heard a deep grating sound, and felt a light vibration next.
After that, a layer of light curtain shrouded Lyu Liang. With that, a dazzling red light appeared and soon engulfed the whole s.p.a.ce of the fortress.
“What, the fortress disappeared?” Liu Jiawen appeared on the bare ground with her face full of suspicion. Then a white light flashed in front of her, and a smiling Lyu Liang emerged from it.
“Ah, you… you made it?” Liu Jiawen smiled in surprise.
Lyu Liang nodded lightly, his eyes sharply alert, and said, “Let's go. We will go back to the Chaotic World. It's time to end this meaningless battle!” After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and a small Heaven Prestige Fortress of more than one hundred feet wide, appeared in the air.
“Come on, come inside!” Lyu Liang smiled and pulled Liu Jiawen with him, and both of them disappeared on the spot.
Later, the Heaven Prestige Fortress rose slowly, with ripples drifting on its surface. The next minute, it vanished into thin air.
…
At the same time, Zhu Yan was alone in the tomb of the Immortal Emperor, and staring at one thousand corpses that were strewn all over the ground. Then he suddenly raised his head, his misty eyes looking far away and his mouth murmured, “Dude, be strong. The real test is actually starting now…”