Chapter 190: Stealing Away
Unfortunately, the other Seazombies were too far away to provide any help. In that critical moment, Vastworld howled, yet again summoning that jade coffin. Gritting his teeth, he activated the coffin, causing a sea of light to spread out. And this time, a finger stretched out from the coffin and into the light.
It pointed to the space right in front of Xu Qing, which caused cracking sounds to echo out. Xu Qing’s heart filled with a sense of imminent crisis, and his expression flickered. Without the slightest hesitation, he backed up, which was when Vastworld finally breathed a sigh of relief and also backed up.
Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior felt like he suffered a lot in this encounter, and was very anxious because of how many times the shadow had helped out. The patriarch was convinced that if he didn’t change the status quo, he would definitely end up as cannon fodder. Eyes bloodshot, he howled and detonated some of the lightning symbols to gain a burst of speed. A moment later, he managed to stab right through the arm of the shocked Vastworld.
As blood sprayed out of his arm, the Seazombie dao child’s face fell.
Meanwhile, the patriarch fled, his face lit with excitement.
From a distance, it was possible to see both parties backing away from each other. However, Vastworld seemed a lot more bedraggled, while Xu Qing seemed much more at ease.
Of course, Xu Qing wasn’t an arrogant person. He knew full well how spectacular Vastworld’s battle prowess was. Vastworld was only in this state because he had lost the initiative, and also because Xu Qing had attacked relentlessly and used the gruish tactics of his shadow along with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.
Although Xu Qing was confident that he could kill this opponent eventually, he also knew that he couldn’t afford to keep the fight going. Turning, he fled at top speed, his shadow and the iron skewer speeding along with him.
About half of the nearby Seazombie cultivators rushed over to Vastworld, while the other half prepared to chase Xu Qing. However, before any of them could take more than a few steps, their faces fell, and then they coughed up mouthfuls of blood. They had been poisoned!
The group who had gone to help Vastworld had also been poisoned. Flustered and exasperated, Vastworld pushed them aside, his eyes raging with killing intent, and his heart seething with humiliation.
In life, he had been a chosen from the Spiritjade people, and had sensed 120 dharma apertures within himself when reaching Foundation Establishment. After perishing, he had been zombified, after which the Seazombies had recognized his talents and placed him into the king’s echelon. After that, his hard work had enabled him to step into the four-flame level.
Regardless of when he had been a Spiritjade or a Seazombie, he had never suffered any humiliation, other than the occasion on which he died. Worse, the right side of his face had been melted off, including his ear. Given how much he cared about his physical appearance, he was now going mad with fury.
“I’m going to kill you!” he howled, rubbing his face. Then, flames erupted around him as he gave chase.
Off in the distance, Xu Qing looked over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed. He was actually itching to continue the fight, but at the same time, he had just sensed three auras on the horizon, all of which surpassed the Foundation Establishment level. They were Seazombie Gold Core experts, three of them, and they were heading in his direction.
Rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth, while the clouds stirred and winds screamed. It was like these three were causing an angry wave to sweep through the dome of heaven, seeking to punish all living beings.
Xu Qing inhaled sharply as a sense of crisis filled every fiber of his being. Without pausing for a moment, he pushed his cultivation base to its limits, and also tapped into everything his flesh and blood was capable of. Accelerating rapidly, he shot off into the distance.
Meanwhile, a different explosive rumbling sound could be heard behind Xu Qing, along with a howl of rage that echoed through all heaven and earth.
“Thief! I refuse to believe you can use some paltry invisibility technique to evade my Seazombie searching abilities!!”
Xu Qing recognized that voice. It was the Gold Core boy named Ying Ling, who had been chasing the Captain. Apparently, the Captain had managed to evade that pursuit without being killed.
Yet again, Xu Qing started to wonder at the truth of the Captain’s identity and cultivation base. At the same time, he was feeling very anxious. The Captain was the mastermind behind this whole event, and was obviously the center of attention. But if he disappeared, then that meant everyone would be focusing on Xu Qing.
Xu Qing looked at his iron skewer. Without any hesitation, the patriarch detonated several lightning symbols, creating a boost of speed that dragged Xu Qing forward rapidly.
With the help of the patriarch, Xu Qing shot along even faster. In an instant, he was 3,000 meters away, just outside the borders of the restricted area around the grotto.
As the Gold Core auras closed in, and as Ying Ling howled, his divine will sending terrifying fluctuations everywhere, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate for a moment to activate one of his entropic teleportation talismans.
In the blink of an eye, he started to fade from existence. However, just when it seemed like he would teleport away, a cold snort echoed through the air.
It was an enormous Seazombie with three heads and six arms, his Gold Core aura far stronger than that of the Ying Ling.
Though he was far away, he pointed at Xu Qing and said, “Confine!”
The single word caused the space around Xu Qing to be locked down. However, his entropic teleportation talisman was powerful, and couldn’t be locked down by a Gold Core confinement. It still activated, and the fluctuations of a teleportation began to roll out. Clearly, Xu Qing would disappear within moments.
“Hmm?” The Gold Core Seazombie’s pupils constricted, and then he tossed out a pearl which he crushed. “Sever!”
The moment the word left his mouth, the power of the pearl connected to the entropic teleportation talisman, and then severed the teleportation link. Not only was Xu Qing incapable of teleporting away, but also, he had been hit by the Seazombie’s divine ability.
A powerful will of destruction immediately began to eat away at his flesh and blood, causing them to wither.
In that moment of crisis, Xu Qing pulled out another entropic teleportation talisman and activated it.
He had originally possessed three such talismans. The first he used to escape the dragon chariot. The second had just been destroyed. This was his last one.
At the same time, his dharmaskiff appeared to defend him, only to immediately crumble. However, it had some of Joine’s flesh in it, and that managed to block the power of destruction from the divine ability. As a result, what would have been a deadly blow only ended up injuring him. Blood sprayed from his mouth as every bone in his body was crushed. His life flames were extinguished, and he began to rot away. As he tumbled away, the spot he had just occupied collapsed into nothing. Even his soul seemed to be damaged.
However, thanks to that last-minute defense, his final entropic teleportation talisman fully activated. The Gold Core cultivator was closing in fast, and preparing to attack. However, the entropic teleportation talisman was a gift from the vice-peaklord of the Seventh Peak, and it had been created by a Nascent Soul cultivator. It was no ordinary talisman.
On this second attempt to escape, teleportation power surged out, wrapping around Xu Qing’s blood-soaked form. Then he vanished!
The moment he was gone, the Gold Core Seazombie arrived, causing intense rumbling to fill the area.
A teleportation talisman created by a Nascent Soul cultivator. And he had two of them. He’s obviously an important person. However, given the level of his cultivation base, my Spiritdepth Curse will kill him in three days or less.
Looking irritated, the Gold Core turned and went back into the restricted area.
The events that had played out were already stirring the Seazombies into a fury. A mad hunt was underway.
***
Some distance away in a wide open space, there were some very faint ripples. They were so faint no one could see them, but the reality was that they were there because of the Captain.
He was covered with wounds. One arm had been severed, and he had a wound on his waist so severe that it had almost cut him in half. His aura was very weak. His one remaining hand held a seven-colored conch shell which made him completely invisible, and also concealed his aura. He had vanished without a trace. That was how he had evaded his Gold Core pursuer.
Yet, right now he was somewhat flabbergasted. He had watched in shock as Xu Qing snapped an entropic teleportation talisman and vanished. He had previously been thinking of calling out a greeting, but seeing what had played out caused him to shiver.
Gone? He left? He teleported away? I....
Inside, the Captain was howling. Everything about this endeavor had suddenly gone sideways. All the Captain had done was take a bite of that statue’s toe. How could the nose have exploded? Even now, he found it all somewhat hard to believe. It wasn’t that he didn’t consider Xu Qing could have been involved. But the fact that the explosion happened right after he took that bite seemed to indicate that the two events were connected.
The old man didn’t mention anything like this happening. Nothing so crazy played out the time he came here....
Scowling on the verge of tears, he prepared to leave, when suddenly, a bit of pride sparked to life in him.
That said, if you think about it, this just proves I’m way more formidable than the old man. This thing... was actually awesome!
Feeling a bit smug, he looked around at all the commotion, including all the Gold Core auras. There were even traces of Nascent Soul auras on the way.
Looking down at his prone body, he tried to move a bit. On the one hand, he wanted to find a place to hide. On the other hand, he was worried that he might rip his lower half off.
Worst case scenario, I’ll just leave my lower half behind....
***
Three days passed.
As the matter festered in the hearts of the Seazombies, they got angrier and angrier. Their mad hunt continued. To them, this was a vile matter that was humiliating in a way that words couldn’t even describe.
The situation Ying Ling had most feared ended up happening. The seventh zombie ancestor’s nose never grew back.
Right now, Ying Ling stood in front of that statue, his face ashen.
A middle-aged cultivator stood next to him. This cultivator wasn’t human. He had two wings. And though his aura was retracted, as he stood there, Ying Ling trembled from head to toe.
“Marquis An, this whole thing—”
“Ying Ling, the king is very, very angry.” Marquis An was studying the noseless divine likeness, as well as the Seazombies investigating the area. There was also a team trying to fix the nose.
In response to his words, Ying Ling trembled even harder.
Before long, the leader of the team that had been inspecting the nose came over to Marquis An.
“Marquis, the divine likeness was damaged by some very bizarre power. There’s nothing we can do. The only way we might be able to fix it would be to get the missing pieces back.”
Marquis An was silent for a moment. Then he sighed.
“You’re telling me that one of our most holy Seazombie items, the seventh zombie ancestor divine likeness, will henceforth have no nose? And all Seazombies will know this? Is that what you mean?”