Chapter 429: Chapter 147: Truths and Lies, Illusions and Realities
"I incidentally played the Flying Divine Sword, shattering the foremost peak of Zhongnan."
Sword Light glittered, as if embracing heaven and earth, and wherever the sword tip struck, it would sever mountains and cleave peaks!
What a terrifying sword strike!
The Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath, his mind too preoccupied to care whether it was real or fake, having to muster all his strength to block every attack that came his way.
"True Dragon Nine Strikes."
A ten-zhang long dragon roared, its claws stirring the wind and clouds, with waves churning, its body flexible and bursting forth with colossal dragon might. Its form no longer resembled that of a lesser dragon, but was nearly indistinguishable from a True Dragon.
The Crown Prince lashed out with both claws, with the violent wind and clouds swirling tumultuously, wielding some sort of dragon-shaped martial arts technique. Each move’s form and intent integrated perfectly, blending with the momentum of the storm, achieving Magic and Martial Unification, the might of which was not inferior to the ultimate techniques of the Dinghu Sect.
The violent current slammed into the Sword Light, and in an instant, waves of Qi roiled, transforming into dragons, nine in total, rushing forth on the waves to strike.
"Boom!"
The Sword Light cleaved through the waves, the nine dragons roared, encircling and collectively striking at the Sword Light, their Dragon Claws all reaching out, firmly grasping at the Sword Light, but then...
"Empty?"
The Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince felt resistance against his Qi Force, yet the seemingly fierce Sword Qi could not withstand his Extreme Move attack, his Strength rushing directly into it. "Fake?!"
He realized what was happening, his heart momentarily relaxing.
And in that brief moment of easing up, the Sword Light had already pierced through the Nine Dragons’ Qi Force, cleaving across the Flood Dragon.
No, it was real!
The techniques of the Moluo Sword Manual could turn illusion into reality, and reality back into illusion. Not only did it cloak the abnormalities in Jiang Li’s movements as he cultivated, enabling him to use the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill and the "Qi Tomb" unimpeded, and in coordination with the Sword Manual to achieve inconceivable transformations—one dividing into ten, and then materializing into a hundred-zhang body—it deceived the enemy, leading the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince to misjudge.
It seemed as though the sword had been drawn, but in reality, the stroke was faster than what the Crown Prince had seen; Sword Light had already passed, and the collective strike of the Nine Dragons was in vain.
This subtle difference resulted in the Crown Prince being struck by the fantastic sword light.
One could see that when the Sword Light was still three feet from the Flood Dragon, the Crown Prince, as if having taken a heavy blow, bent backward, his long dragon body folding, and a gruesome sword wound appeared on his abdomen, blood spraying out.
"The swordsmanship is complete for you to take elsewhere, wherever there be Flood Dragons, slay the Flood Dragons."
The distant voice reached one’s ears, and victory had been decided.
"Thump!"
The pavilion was smashed through, broken walls and wood tumbled down, clear ripples appeared in the air, pushing the Flood Dragon against the mountain’s wall behind.
A long slash manifested on either side of him, tearing through the rock of the mountain wall and embedding the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince within, countless fragments of rock tumbling down.
The nine dragon-shaped Qi Forces, having lost their target, collided with one another, unleashing violent gusts, sweeping across the Divine Demon figure that then began to slowly fade away.
"It was fake..."
The Crown Prince, embedded in the mountain wall, grew furious at the sight, another mouthful of fresh blood spewing out, mixing with the blood from his abdomen, staining the rocks red.
Reality interlaced with illusion, truth intertwined with falseness, impossible to distinguish clearly. From the beginning, the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince had fallen into Jiang Li’s trap.
His Perception was firmly controlled by Jiang Li from start to finish, led by the nose, and despite being a higher Grade than Jiang Li, he still ended up utterly defeated.
The advantage his Grade provided him might only be the constitution that allowed him to survive that one sword strike.
Even though his body was slashed more than halfway through and blood flowed freely, he remained brimming with vitality, even as the muscles at the wound started to knit together, stemming the flow of blood.
Jiang Li’s figure appeared after the Divine Demon Body vanished, moving through the Qi ripples, the long sword in his hand channeling Sword Qi, murderous intent chilling to the bone.
"Do you intend to kill me?" the Crown Prince asked through clenched teeth. "My father is the Huai River True God, and my mother is the Dragon Palace Princess. If you kill me, my parents will scour the world for vengeance, and you’ll never have peace!"
"What does it have to do with you?"
Jiang Li replied indifferently.
You come from a powerful background; your parents are some of the strongest in the world. But what does that have to do with you?
A person who is killed will die, and upon death, they lose everything. Even if the Huai River True God Wuzhiqi scours the world to hunt down the murderer, what would it matter to a dead man like you?
Moreover, this identity is but a disguise. Even if Fourth-Grade Experts wish to hunt me, what does it matter?
Even if one steps back and my identity is revealed, it’s not like there aren’t Fourth-Grade Experts in this world who want Jiang Li dead. One more Wuzhiqi doesn’t make much of a difference.
As they spoke, Jiang Li raised his sword again, the Sword Qi about to be unleashed, ready to use the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince’s life to aid his own cultivation.
However, before this sword could be swung, an ethereal, pale hand appeared on Jiang Li’s back, and as if it were an insect’s shadow, it invaded his body.
"Hmph!"
He let out a stifled grunt, seemingly in disbelief, and turned his head only to see a figure dressed in black robes, draped in a cloak, standing silently behind him like a ghost.
The Locust God!
The one who revealed "Li Qinglian" for using the Book of Luo Formation, indirectly causing the scene before them, was striking at this moment, launching a surprise attack on Jiang Li right as he was about to slay the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince, and managing to hit Jiang Li’s vital spot with a palm.
"You... indeed harbor ill intentions!" Jiang Li forced his True Qi to circulate, speaking in a choppy manner.
The Locust God, however, was silent, not fitting the stereotype of a chatty villain at all, showing no intention of resolving Jiang Li’s confusion. He merely activated his techniques, tiny Rune Insects spreading within Jiang Li’s body, gnawing at the flesh, devouring the Essence Element, and even causing the Divine Essence to wither and the True Qi to vanish.
Jiang Li’s body visibly became gaunter at a speed visible to the naked eye, and through the skin one could see countless insects crawling frenetically.
Upon closer inspection, one could realize these were not mere insects, but some kind of runes.
Countless runes had transformed into insects, invading Jiang Li’s body like parasites, eroding everything.
Wait, something seemed off.
"Be careful!" The Flood Dragon implanted in the cliff face exclaimed loudly upon noticing.
Something was amiss; not only was Jiang Li’s skin becoming transparent, but even his clothing was turned translucent. Could it be that those rune insects could also digest his clothing through his body?
As the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince was giving his warning, the Locust God also sensed something was wrong, but—
It was too late!
A soft click sounded, and a sword tip penetrated his chest from behind. The Locust God looked down and saw a section of the sword blade protruding from his chest, in the exact same spot where he had stealthily attacked Jiang Li.
The Five Vile Qi surged along the sword, spreading a decaying aura throughout his body, snatching away all traces of life.
You ambush me, I ambush you. Return like with like, it’s exactly the same.
"When did it happen?" The Locust God said with difficulty.
"And when did you start to have the illusion that it was my true body?"
A lingering voice entered the ears, the sword twisted, and the Five Vile Qi formed a pitch-black hole at the heart.
And in front of the Locust God, the original Jiang Li was gradually fading, turning into mist-like Qi that dissipated slowly, leaving countless Rune Insects behind, writhing and flying in the distance.
Like the Locust God, Jiang Li too was well-versed in the principle that if you can land a killing blow, there’s no need for excessive chatter. The reason he had spoken with the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince was not to cause his adversary to die with resentment, but simply because he wanted to draw out the person hiding in the shadows.
’What a pity...’
Jiang Li thought somberly, swung his sword, and the Locust God’s body was directly bisected diagonally.
Then, both halves of the body astonishingly turned into countless locusts that fell amidst the Five Vile Qi.
The Locust God was also deeply skilled in the ways of survival; when ambushing someone, one didn’t use their true body, but would instead use locusts to transform into an avatar, manipulating from afar.
Otherwise, had he been struck through the heart by that sword just now, not only as a fifth-rank but even as a fourth-rank, his fate would not have been good. Although it’s certain a fourth-rank would not have been pierced through the heart by Jiang Li’s sword...
’But I did gain something.’
Looking towards the dispersing Rune Insects, Jiang Li’s gaze was murky, ’Your caution, in the end, was still inferior to mine.’
When the Locust God’s surprise palm strike hit Jiang Li’s back, he perceived it as a success and without hesitation sent his killing move into Jiang Li’s body. However, he failed to recognize that this was Jiang Li’s false body, thus exposing his true foundation.
The Nine Insect Technique!
The cultivation technique used by the Fourth Prince, now appearing with the Locust God, the connection between the two was self-evident.
Moreover, according to the deductions of Jiang Li and Tianxuan later on, the Nine Insect Technique was very likely not created by the Fourth Prince, but rather by the person who helped him conceal his cultivation—King Yue, Ji Wen.
That is to say, the Locust God was related to King Yue.
At the same time...
’And also related to the Huai Water Dragon Palace.’ Jiang Li glanced at the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince.
With the Locust God revealing the matter of the Book of Luo Formation, and the Flood Dragon’s Crown Prince sending an invitation, the two had seemingly coordinated well. Sadly, due to stupidity and Jiang Li’s rashness, their plan failed outright, even exposing the secret relationship at this moment.
And this son of the Huai River’s True God probably still did not know that his warning had exposed something, now thinking about how to suppress his wounds and break free from the cliff.
It seemed that the foolish sometimes did have their uses.
Indeed, even a piece of toilet paper had its purpose, let alone a fifth-rank, who was also the eldest son of the Huai River’s True God.
Not far away in mid-air, a sinister shadow quietly surfaced, holding a long banner that fluttered in the wind, the locust evil god writhing with the fabric, seemingly ready to fly out from the banner at any moment and devour someone.