As Li Yao roared, the face of Wuying Qi, or Li Linghai, was more and more twisted, until it was impossible to tell who he or she was anymore!
The domination and cruelty of an emperor on the face where veins were bulging were replaced by demonic madness, and then by the gentleness and firmness of a mother.
His, or her, left hand grabbed the right hand and reached for Li Yao’s neck, as if it was trying to choke Li Yao.
However, the right arm cracked and dangled down, unwilling to attack Li Yao at all.
Even the raging long hair was divided into two armies, one red and the other white. Like snakes of different groups, they bit each other hard.
“You’re betraying me too?”
Wuying Qi’s roar of disbelief burst out, “You ungrateful wench! It was me who rescued you, it was me who taught you your skills, it was me who enabled you to seek revenge, and it was me who allowed you to dominate the royal palace, and this is how you’re repaying me?”
Li Linghai’s high-pitched voice burst out from the same throat as she snapped, “You promised me that you would let go of Li Jialing’s soul! You promised me!”
“That was if everything went well!”
Wuying Qi’s devastating voice came again. “But our plan has been ruined by Li Yao. It’s all his fault. If you want to preserve your son’s soul, don’t stand in my way as I try to kill him!”
“You can kiss my a*s!”
While Wuying Qi and Li Linghai were struggling with each other, Li Yao gathered the last bit of his strength and crashed into their chest. His spiritual energy surged into their body like sharp daggers!
“Ah!”
Wuying Qi and Li Linghai’s chest collapsed deeply, and the two souls both screamed.
“Well…”
Blinking his eyes quickly, Li Yao was anxious. “Your Highness, tell me what I can do to help you kill this jerk!”
“Hehehehe, that’s impossible!”
The cruelest countenance emerged on the hideous face again. Wuying Qi laughed. “My soul and this bi*ch’s have been so deeply entangled that killing me means killing her. What will you do, Cultivator Li Yao?”
Then, Li Linghai took charge of the face again. She stammered, “Kill… Kill… Kill me. Kill me!”
Li Yao’s face changed again and again. He had just grabbed three sabers from the ground through remote manipulation, but he couldn’t cut down.
He was an orphan who had no family except his foster father. Now, he had truly regarded Li Jialing as his little brother.
Although Li Linghai and he weren’t very close, she was the only woman that his pop ever loved, and she was Li Jialing’s mother.
Li Jialing risked everything to sneak into the capital just to save his mother, didn’t he?
It would’ve been easier if Li Linghai weren’t woken up, but now that she had free will again, Li Yao hesitated whether or not he should kill Wuying Qi and Li Linghai right now.
While he hesitated, his chest was pummeled again, as Wuying Qi had regained control over the body and flung him away.
“Hahahahahaha. This is exactly the Cultivators’ biggest problem. You’re too softhearted and undetermined!”
The bloody hair on the back of Wuying Qi and Li Linghai’s head was winning the competition of willpower and swallowing the newly-grown white hair. Wuying Qi laughed aloud. “You are too weak to lead mankind!”
“You’re right. He’s exactly a softhearted idiot.”
Someone called from Wuying Qi’s back, “But I’m not!”
It was Long Yangjun, who had congregated hundreds of sabers, swords, and magic items and darted them at Wuying Qi.
The struggle between Wuying Qi and Li Linghai significantly weakened Wuying Qi’s control over the bald experts who were not saturated with tenebrum energy yet. Without Wuying Qi’s control, they were crying in pain and could not resist Long Yangjun at all.
Long Yangjun finished the bald experts easily and attacked Wuying Qi’s critical parts with their weapons like a furious storm.
Long Yangjun was technically not a Cultivator. There was no bond between her and Li Linghai either. Naturally, she launched the deadliest moves as a swordmaster without any hesitation.
Wuying Qi was too busy resisting Li Linghai and Li Yao to take precautions against Long Yangjun on his back. By the time he sensed Long Yangjun’s array of blades, it was already too late. He could only wave his left arm and unleash a spring of blood from his body, which stood before him like a shield and stopped the incoming weapons.
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
Dazzling electric arcs roamed in the fog. The flying blades were frozen, but their tips were shivering crazily, as if they would break the obstacle and proceed to Wuying Qi anytime.
Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!
The fog of blood, as if scorched under high temperature, was dimming and restricting, exactly like Wuying Qi’s soul.
Long Yangjun and Wuying Qi immediately became pale. Wounds exploded near their eyes and spread out, making them look like two statues that were falling apart.
It was a pure competition of soul, energy, and vitality that was devoid of any trick. They were tearing at each other as they rolled to the abyss of doom.
Li Yao could even sense that their vitality was fading from not far away—no, it was not fading, but cascading!
After three seconds that felt as long as three years, the bloody fog and the flying swords between them finally exploded after a rapid constriction. The blast mixed with broken pieces of blades filled the place. Even Li Yao was blown back too.
“Long Yangjun!”
It was an aftermath after all and did not really hurt Li Yao. He searched and soon found Long Yangjun, only to discover that she was pale and her suit had cracked. She was barely breathing.
Li Yao hurried to take out a dose of medicine from his Cosmos Ring and injected it into Long Yangjun before he helped her digest the medical power with his spiritual energy.
Then, he looked back at Wuying Qi, only to see the most unforgettable scene.
The bloody fog was dispersing, and Wuying Qi, or Li Linghai, seemed to be standing on a cliff, with indescribable regret and resolution on her face.
Her long hair became flawlessly white again without the tiniest impurities, containing neither black nor red.
Her eyes were as pure as before too, which could see beauty and kindness in the dirtiest and darkest world.
It was not the eyes of the Li Linghai from a year ago, but those from a hundred years ago when she was still a girl who did not know her destiny in the next hundred years yet.
She smiled, like a flower that was falling from a cliff.
There was a certain power struggling at her throat and her chest, trying to regain control over her body, but she managed to use her left hand to grab a broken blade that was still sharp.
She looked at Li Yao thoughtfully, with indescribable regret and apology in her eyes.
“No—”
His blood freezing, Li Yao shouted subconsciously.
Li Linghai, however, turned a deaf ear to it. Her fingers were cut by the blade and hot blood flowed out, but she simply clenched its edge and stabbed it into her chest.
Chi!
She did not leave any hope for herself. The blade entered her chest and protruded from her back. She even twisted the blade to ensure that her heart was completely destroyed.
Her vitality had been greatly consumed to power the Gold Crystal Pyramid in the first place. Now that the heart was destroyed by her, her body was no longer usable for Wuying Qi even if the other organs were still intact.
“Ah!”
The serenity on her face was suddenly replaced by miseries. Wuying Qi’s scream burst out from the throat.
All the bulging veins seemed to be breaking free from the muscles. They were falling apart and spewing out pillars of blood.
Even the blade that minced her heart had been pulled out, and tremendous blood squirted from her chest.
The blood gradually gathered into a mist in midair in the shape of Wuying Qi’s angry face.
“This is Wuying Qi’s remaining soul!”
Long Yangjun struggled to shout, “Kill him! Don’t let him run away!”
Before she finished, the bloody face had glared at Li Yao and split into hundreds of streaks of light, dashing into the depths of the Gold Crystal Pyramid.
Li Yao reacted fast enough. He darted thousands of pieces of blades to the bloody streaks but only managed to block some fifty of them.
He was about to chase after Wuying Qi when the last batch of the bald experts arrived. They had lost Wuying Qi’s control, but they could still stall Li Yao for a while.
Li Yao was quick enough to kick them away and got back Li Linghai’s broken body.
“Your Highness, you can’t die like this!”
Holding Li Linghai’s body, Li Yao inputted spiritual energy into her crazily. “Li Jialing needs you. The future of the Imperium needs you. There’s also the secret of the Supreme Emperor’s mausoleum… Come on, hang in there. It’s just a minor heart explosion. Not a big deal!”