Chapter 199: The Plan (Part Three)
Chapter 199: The Plan (Part Three)
“What’s wrong, Master?”
The Azure Dragon asked via soul-voice, clearly confused.
“No, Ah Huang, don’t tell me yet. We need to leave this place first. We’ll come back when the battle is nearly over. It seems something interesting is about to happen—something momentously interesting!”
Tang Jinbiao had asked the Azure Dragon to bring him here merely to assess the situation. Discovering he couldn’t enter the Spirit Annihilation Array, he could only observe covertly. Now, hearing the Azure Dragon’s words, Tang Jinbiao seemed to grasp something. He ordered the Azure Dragon and prepared to depart again.
“As you command. But Master, what interesting thing have you noticed?”
The Azure Dragon cast one last glance—disgusted yet reluctant—at Young Master Ma in the sky. Whisking Tang Jinbiao away, it still couldn’t fathom what its master was thinking.
“Hehe, Ah Huang, just follow my instructions. You’ll find out soon enough!”
A cold smirk touched Tang Jinbiao’s lips as he glanced back at Young Master Ma and the Spirit Annihilation Array, speaking lightly.
“Oh, by the way, Ah Huang, do you recognize this?”
After speaking, Tang Jinbiao retrieved an object from his Storage Pouch and asked.
It was that black sphere—far larger than the Yin Pearl—obtained from Wei Wuya’s Storage Pouch. Though Tang Jinbiao didn’t know its use, an instinctive sense warned him it was lethally dangerous, so he’d kept it well-protected. Now, he felt the time to reveal it had come.
Rattle!
Even before laying eyes on the black sphere, the Azure Dragon Tang Jinbiao rode shuddered violently upon sensing it, turning its head in terror. When it finally saw the Black Pearl, horror deepened in its eyes.
“So, Ah Huang? Know what this is?”
Noticing the Azure Dragon’s reaction, Tang Jinbiao queried via soul-voice.
“Ah Huang doesn’t know. But this thing is unquestionably dangerous. If Ah Huang guesses right, what it contains can only be the power of lightning—likely collected and refined through secret means during the Tribulation Transcendence of the most powerful Cultivators in this realm. Its power could likely annihilate any existence beneath the Tribulation Transcendent realm instantly. Even a Tribulation Transcendent caught unprepared would suffer grievous harm!”
The Azure Dragon, currently only at the Great Perfection of Core Formation Cultivation Level, knew a direct hit would likely obliterate it immediately.
“What? That terrifying?”
Though Tang Jinbiao recognized its extraordinary nature, he never imagined it to be this monstrous. Apart from Zhang Tianyi and his Auntie, he hadn’t met any other Tribulation Transcendents. And while he’d encountered Nascent Soul and Nascent Soul Cultivators—all elders—he’d never fully grasped the vast gulf between cultivation realms.
Still, Tang Jinbiao understood instinctively that each major Cultivator Stage represented a chasm of power.
With fearful soul-voice, the Azure Dragon replied: “Yes. Its horror is exceptional. Master should use it with utmost caution. Even Ah Huang… if fully struck by this… would likely perish!”
“Hmm, I think I understand now!”
Instantly, Tang Jinbiao realized why Wei Wuya hadn’t used it before dying. Its detonation within such close quarters would have killed them both. Wei Wuya’s moment of hesitation had accidentally spared Tang Jinbiao’s life.
“Ah Huang, then tell me… what is this?”
Since Ah Huang recognized the Black Pearl, Tang Jinbiao produced another item obtained from Wei Wuya—one he couldn’t identify.
Tang Jinbiao retrieved the Parchment from his Storage Pouch, intending for the Azure Dragon to decipher it.
Thump!
Yet the very moment Tang Jinbiao revealed the Parchment, Young Master Ma’s heart lurched violently in the distance. He whirled around, his gaze snapping toward the direction where Tang Jinbiao and the Azure Dragon fled.
“Not good!”
Both the Azure Dragon and Tang Jinbiao sensed Young Master Ma’s gaze simultaneously. An inner alarm screamed within them. Tang Jinbiao reacted instantly, swiftly stowing the Parchment away.
“Hmm? An illusion?”
That feeling just now lasted only an instant, yet Young Master Ma clearly detected it. It vanished just as quickly, making his brows furrow deeply.
Beep beep beep!
But he had no time to ponder further. The last of the seven or eight bright lights on the immense Compass Disk behind him had faded away. The lights converged once more, emitting a soft hum.
“Haha, it’s done, Red Worm! Heaven’s crimes may be survived, but damned are those who damn themselves!”
Seeing all the spirit-devouring locusts consumed by the Red Worm, Young Master Ma ignored everything else. He stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, bubbling with ecstasy.
Clang clang clang!
Simultaneously, Young Master Ma mobilized the Spiritual Energy within himself. He began frantically tapping toward the Formation. Streams of Spiritual Energy injected themselves into different parts of the Compass Disk.
Boom boom boom!
As the Spiritual Energy flowed in, the crimson grand formation transformed once more. Enormous explosions erupted in waves from within. Fleeting flashes of lightning and thunder were faintly visible.
“Kill!”
Excitement blazed in Young Master Ma’s eyes. His hands worked furiously as he roared.
“You pathetic bitch, I hope you have enough luck to live through this! Otherwise, I swear I won’t let you escape!”
As Young Master Ma brimmed with excitement, Tang Jinbiao drifted slowly into the distance. He glanced back at Jia Longwu sprawled on the ground, his eyes filled with venom. Considering every angle, he chose not to strike now.
“Tang…”
But just then, Jia Longwu stirred slightly. An indistinct murmur escaped her lips.
“She’s saying my name?”
Though unclear what Jia Longwu muttered, Tang Jinbiao saw the shape of her lips and recognized his name.
……
The Azure Dragon bore Tang Jinbiao away. In moments, they fled thirty li.
A Deep Pool spanning more than ten zhang lay beneath them.
“Ah Huang, can you create a Restriction?”
Spotting the Deep Pool, Tang Jinbiao narrowed his eyes. He sent a soul transmission as he asked.
“What kind of Restriction does Master desire? Which Cultivation Level of Cultivator do you aim to trap? At present, Ah Huang’s Cultivation Level only reaches the Great Perfection of Core Formation. A temporary Restriction would likely fail to restrain even a Nascent Soul Cultivator!”
The Azure Dragon rolled its eyes, scheming to exploit the moment.
“No need for complexity. I simply require some Illusion Arrays to conceal the truth. Succeed today, and within three years, I’ll unravel your second layer of Seal!”
Tang Jinbiao detected the Azure Dragon’s scheme yet remained unruffled. He voiced his thoughts plainly, offering a glimmer of hope.
For Tang Jinbiao, a sudden wild impulse seized him. He refused to wait any longer. He intended to test a theory simmering inside him. This was not something he ever pondered during his former, mindless existence.
But now, a mad suspicion had taken hold. He prepared to weave a mighty trap. He yearned to answer the doubts plaguing his heart.
And it was to arm himself with the means to survive in this world!
A man ignorant of the vast world might progress step by step, steadily plodding his way to unsuspected heights one day.
But Tang Jinbiao was not that man. He had witnessed the width of the world outside, yet he floundered at its very bottom. Such souls endure horrors of challenge and suffering—thus must they withstand greater trials and hazards. For this reason, Tang Jinbiao resolved to gamble everything.
Triumph promised the rewriting of all fates. Defeat spelled the end of everything!
“Great, this is simple! Before Ah Huang became the Demon Emperor, he was most skilled at setting up Illusion Arrays and stealth—it’s simple!”
The Azure Dragon received the promise that Tang Jinbiao had given, felt great joy in his heart, and agreed directly without thinking.
“Hehe, good!”
Tang Jinbiao narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up at the sky, as if he could pierce through the firmament to the endless void. In his heart, he murmured to himself, “I have always doubted, and now I doubt even more. Whether all of this is real or false, the result will soon come! It’s almost time, almost time!”
Whoosh!
The Azure Dragon carried Tang Jinbiao and plunged down toward the deep pool on the ground.
A short while later, the Azure Dragon flew out again carrying Tang Jinbiao and shot toward a farther location. Each time after covering a stretch of distance, it was seen that Tang Jinbiao directed the Azure Dragon to land on the ground and then ascend back into the air.
Yet every time they rose and fell like this, some strikingly evident spiritual energy fluctuations were left on the ground.
…
Hundreds of miles away on another side of the Spirit Annihilation Array, a flying vessel about one zhang in length was moving rapidly toward the direction of the Spirit Annihilation Array at an extreme speed.
At the bow of this flying vessel stood three Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The leading one radiated a Mid Foundation Building Stage cultivation level. His face was filled with anxiety and an unsettled air. This cultivator was named Tang Feng. He was a disciple of the Tang Family under the Southern Faction in Suzhou, but not any core member—merely an outer disciple. Hence, he served at a rear base where little profit could be gained.
Behind him were two Early Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. However, those two cultivators wore confused expressions, appearing utterly bewildered.
Of these two cultivators, the slightly plumper one was called Li Qing, a friend of Tang Feng’s, while the slightly slimmer one was Ma Hong.
The three had a good relationship, with Tang Feng as the boss. Of course, Tang Feng having a higher cultivation level than them was one reason, but mainly it stemmed from his status—he was both a student of the Divine Wind Academy and a member of the Tang Family.
Naturally, they too were Divine Wind Academy students. To outsiders, they all bore a halo of genius, but they themselves knew well: that was merely an external impression. What their actual identity and status were, they understood acutely.
“Senior Brother Tang, what exactly happened? Why did you borrow Instructor Ye’s Cloud-Soaring Chariot, and why such frenzied haste?”
The slightly chubby Li Qing smiled, narrowing his eyes to thin lines as he inquired.
“That’s right, Senior Brother Tang, what’s going on? You haven’t said a word for quite some time now!”
The other, the slender Ma Hong, also opened his mouth and asked.
“Something occurred, a major event! Damn it, our status is too low; we completely failed to contact those old monsters at the academy!”
Tang Feng’s gaze remained locked on the direction of the Spirit Annihilation Array as he muttered like a soulless being.
Thump!
Li Qing and Ma Hong’s hearts skipped a beat upon hearing this, feeling somewhat uneasy.
If someone else had said it, they wouldn’t have believed it. But coming from Tang Feng, they had no choice but to trust him, for Tang Feng seemed born with a gift for foresight. Whatever he predicted would inevitably happen.
Just like several years prior, when they first entered the Divine Wind Academy. Tang Feng decisively prophesied that in the coming years, momentous events would unfold in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, potentially shaking the entire Divine Wind Continent. At the time, no one believed him, dismissing it as raving.
But sure enough, not long after he spoke, news erupted of demon beasts surging in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. Immediately after, various sects began continuously dispatching people deep into those mountains.
At the absolute crucial juncture, Tang Feng predicted again that a mighty power in the Divine Wind Continent would be wiped out. True to form, before long, word spread through the whole Divine Wind Continent that the Tang Family had been eradicated overnight.
Thus, Li Qing and Ma Hong held unwavering faith in Tang Feng’s prophecies, especially since they shared the same courtyard.
Each dwelling in the Divine Wind Academy accommodated four individuals. Likewise, they lived four to a suite. One resident with them had been foretold by Tang Feng to die before they journeyed to the Hundred Thousand Mountains; they refused to believe and broke ties with Tang Feng. Inevitably, soon after entering the mountains, that person was slain by a demon beast.
Now hearing Tang Feng declare that a great calamity loomed, how could Li Qing and Ma Hong not feel terror-stricken?
“Se-Se-Senior Brother Tang, won’t our lives be spared?”
“Yes! Yes! We won’t die, will we?”
Li Qing and Ma Hong both thought first of their own survival. Trembling with fright, their words stumbled out.
“Died, died, all are going to die!”
Tang Feng turned back around; his eyes held no emotion whatsoever, utterly hollow as he murmured.
Thump!
“No, Senior Brother Tang, you must be deceiving us, right?”
“Senior Brother Tang, you’re for sure tricking us!”
Hearing this, the pair were so terrified they crashed down onto their rear ends. Their faces turned ashen, eyes brimming with despair.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Yet at that very moment, in the sky about ten li ahead of the Cloud-Soaring Chariot, a fierce beam of escape light abruptly flashed into view.
“Hope! She is hope!”
As Tang Feng glimpsed that radiance ahead, his unseeing eyes instantly lit up. He cried out loudly…