Chapter 73: Leixu
Chapter 73: Leixu
More than ten tiger-striped poison wasps, like sinister hidden weapons accompanied by a buzzing drone, fiercely charged towards an old verdant tree!
Snap!
A crisp, light snap sound was heard.
Amidst the snap, dark black patterns materialized mid-air, transforming into a coiling, roaring black serpent. It came tumbling forward with sorrowful roars and strange screams, a frenzied shockwave spreading wildly around it!
The black patterns swept past, the shockwave cracked the air, and a few scattered wasps fell headfirst, dropping to the ground.
“Hmm? Not bad…” The Scorpion-Faced Mage’s eyes flickered slightly with surprise.
His “Heart-devouring Wasps” were small and sharp, difficult to guard against, and rarely missed their mark.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spy. I just happened to be passing by and stumbled upon this…” Li Yi’s figure emerged from the tree trunk, his hands raised high. “I mean no harm, I’ll leave right away.”
Even as he spoke, he remained vigilant in his heart.
This opponent could actually see through the Tree Shadow Cloak, and his methods were so bizarre and strange, one had to be on guard.
“A Baxia Mask?” His gaze sharpened, the Scorpion-Faced Mage gasped, his surprise no less than Li Yi’s.
He knew perfectly well that someone who could wear such a mask must possess considerable strength.
However, the Scorpion-Faced Mage wasn’t afraid.
The mages of the Abyssal Erhai lineage, their strength didn’t lie in themselves, but in the Gu insects they raised. Because of this, they weren’t highly regarded in the Dragon’s Burial Ground.
His true combat power was definitely not as simple as the mask suggested.
“This person has quite a few pieces of equipment.” Several waves of Arcane Energy fluctuations reached him. The Scorpion-Faced Mage’s eyes glinted, a bit tempted. “If I snatch them…”
A cold glint flashed in Li Yi’s eyes. He curled his lip. His Sumeru Ring lit up, and with a roar, a fierce and savage ape puppet appeared beside him.
Reverse Halberd, Model Three!
This puppet had undergone a major transformation. It now resembled a mountain giant gorilla, with thick forearms and silver light flowing all over its body. Only its eyes were a sinister, cold green.
At first glance, the Scorpion-Faced Mage’s pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.
He clearly felt a terrifying aura of ferocity and resentment drifting from that puppet, making his hair stand on end.
The Scorpion-Faced Mage immediately changed his mind.
“I’m just a businessman, not a murderer. I don’t kill for free…” He chuckled, let out a whistle, and three Silver-backed Centipedes swarmed up to devour the Heart-devouring Wasp corpses.
“We of the Abyssal Erhai lineage are poor… This ‘Scarlet Shadow Scorpion’ needs to drink Purgatory blood every week; the ‘Twin-headed Yin-Yang Snake’ needs feeding once a month, and it won’t eat anything but a Demon’s heart; these three ‘Shade Shadow Silver Frost Centipedes’ are three bottomless pits…”
He complained endlessly while expertly and skillfully looting the corpses, clearly very familiar with the process.
After finishing, he gave Li Yi a deep look, then turned and left.
“Perhaps we’ll meet again. You can also hire me; my rates are very fair…”
Li Yi did not reply. He waited until the Scorpion-Faced Mage was far away before shifting his gaze to that corpse.
In just this short while, half of the corpse’s body had already sunk into the ground. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before it completely disappeared.
This Dragon’s Burial Ground seemed to be — eating people!
A strange feeling arose in Li Yi’s heart.
He squatted in place, closed his eyes, and contemplated this again.
The fighting style of Abyssal Erhai mages was completely different from ordinary mages. They had sturdy bodies and knew how to use various Gu insects. Their combat style actually resembled that of martial artists.
He could, perhaps, draw some ideas from this.
“Werewolf Mask, Stone Fist Gauntlets, Wind-Walking Boots, plus the Thousandfold Strategy…” Li Yi rubbed his chin, muttering to himself. “No need to be bound by whether it’s a martial artist’s or mage’s method. Black cat, white cat, catching the mouse is the good cat.”
He let out a long breath. The expression beneath his mask was somewhat grave.
He finally began to understand where that shadowy feeling in his heart came from.
Before entering, when that person bumped into him, his real purpose was to leave a magic Sigil on him for tracking.
And when Li Yi grabbed his arm, that Sigil had already been placed on him.
“A ‘Bone-Adhering Stinger’… what a hassle…”
Just as he was sighing, a giant fist howled through the air, carrying a violent wind pressure that stirred up a sky full of wind and sand, like dark clouds pressing down on a city, aiming to crush him from above!
Li Yi looked up. A pair of sinister green eyes met his.
The attacker was none other than Reverse Halberd Model Three!
“Insolent!”
Li Yi snorted coldly. His Wind-Walking Boots glowed brightly. His feet moved in a chaotic pattern, and within a few steps, he became like a shadowy, elusive phantom, his body flickering as he dodged that furious punch.
The giant fist slammed into the ground. Force splashed outward, dirt flew, forming a ring-shaped impact pattern on the ground.
A cold light shone in Li Yi’s eyes. At his mental command, the sound of thunderous rumbling erupted continuously around Reverse Halberd’s head.
Reverse Halberd clutched its head, wailing loudly, yet it still resisted stubbornly, its arms flailing wildly, intending to launch another round of attack.
Li Yi snorted coldly again. Crackling thunder sounds rang out, one wave after another.
After a stalemate of about ten minutes, Reverse Halberd knelt on the ground, showing a submissive posture.
But Li Yi, with the Soul Contract on his forehead, knew clearly in his heart that this Reverse Halberd puppet was submitting outwardly, not inwardly.
“I thought too simply. This Reverse Halberd Model Three can only be an ornament now, basically useless…” Li Yi shook his head, greatly annoyed. After taking a deep breath, he consoled himself. “Forget it, just treat it as a lesson bought. In this world, how could everything go smoothly?”
In the Land of Light and Shadow, after devouring several Blood-chattering Imps, the Twisted Wraith advanced to become a Twisted Malice, its power skyrocketing.
Because of this, Li Yi had the idea to install this Malice into Reverse Halberd Model Three.
As a level 2 spectral monster, controlling a level 2 puppet would be well within its capabilities.
For this, Reverse Halberd Model Three underwent major modifications, with many components already close to level 2.
Furthermore, inside its “cockpit,” Li Yi also installed a thunderstrike array specifically to prevent a backlash attack.
He truly hadn’t expected the Twisted Malice to be so ferocious. Even with the Soul Contract and the thunderstrike array, it remained arrogant and difficult to tame.
The final result was that Reverse Halberd Model Three had power close to level 2, but the Malice wouldn’t obey commands, and Li Yi himself couldn’t control it manually. It was good to look at but useless in practice.
He absolutely dared not use Reverse Halberd in an intense battle. If it turned on him at a critical moment, he would only end up dead.
He sighed, retrieved the Malice, and took back the puppet. Without changing his direction, he continued forward, heading towards that towering giant skeleton.
“Since I already know someone’s tailing me, then I will choose the battlefield for the final confrontation!”
His choice was the bone of Leixu.
Li Yi understood too well that Leixu’s gravity Domain was a natural home ground advantage for him.
…
From up close, a feeling of breathtaking awe spontaneously arose.
It was like a miracle!
The skeleton lay sprawled, its gigantic form like layered mountain ridges. Entering from its mouth, a row of sharp teeth ahead resembled precipitous mountain peaks, neatly arranged in a row upon row.
Walking within this thousand-ren bone ridge, undulating and staggered, light shone through the gaps between ribs. The light and shadows were like giant piano keys, forming a uniquely symmetrical beauty.
Every inch of bone gave off a mystical feeling of containing the wonders of heaven and earth, its lines smooth and flawless, seemingly the product of Rule.
One could imagine how awe-inspiring it must have been when alive!
After observing for a while, Li Yi approached the skeleton, focusing his gaze on the golden patterns on its bones.
Dao Pattern!
Staring intently at those golden flowing patterns, Li Yi walked for a while, observing and pondering carefully, wanting to glean some insight.
But in the end, he licked his lips, revealing a bitter smile.
“As expected of Dao Pattern… but it’s also a bit too big…”
This Dao Pattern was completely different from what he had imagined.
This pattern was not formed by the convergence of countless tiny designs, but consisted of bold, simple, and massive strokes.
Just earlier, Li Yi followed one pattern line for over thirty meters, yet all that entered his view was still a single, monotonous, thick line.
This way, trying to see the whole from a small part was completely ineffective.
Unless one possessed some heaven-defying secret technique to shrink Leixu’s body, it would be absolutely impossible to discern anything from these thick lines.
But, shrink Leixu’s body?
That was undoubtedly a fantasy.
After resting for a while, Li Yi sat upright on the ground, waiting.
After another while, he grew somewhat bored, so he began to cultivate.
Mammoth Shakes the Mountain!
This technique not only drew in Earth Essence but also allowed one to listen to the sounds of the earth, serving a warning purpose as well.
As soon as he took a step and stomped down, Li Yi’s expression changed dramatically.
“This… what in the world is…”