Chapter 558: The Smog Has Finally Dispersed, Worth Celebrating
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Since the third day of the tournament, the atmosphere finally cooled down. The shrewd fight scenes were no longer there, and the casualty rate had plummeted. It was actually better than when the two sides go all out, and it perfectly showed the spirit of competition, which won the appreciation from the audience. As for Moonless, she still had the same indifferent expression, but it was no longer dark anymore.
However, Wang Lu knew that the calmer Moonless was, the less time he had left for him.
As the organizer of the tournament, so far, everything had been according to his plan. This included the bloody and violent scene of the previous two days, along with the initial anger of Moonless. However, the situation had begun to get out of hand lately.
Wang Lu's purpose of holding the tournament was straightforward: Using Moonless' harem members to increase his own experience, and then wait for the chance to escape—these harem members, though inexperienced in actual combat, not to mention after quarreling with the other harem members for years, they had abandoned their brain, most of them still had the same origin: Monks of Temple of Heaven. Thus, their basic skills were quite solid, and their magical treasures were endless. Such an opponent, even if they were not a strong enemy, they also could not be said as trash.
However, there had to be a suitable excuse to use other people's harem to increase one's own experience. No matter how heartless Moonless was with her own harem, she would never allow her concubines to be slaughtered by others. Therefore, Wang Lu designed a life and death tournament. At the same time, in order to guide the mood of Moonless, he had specifically designed the scene of the first two days. On the surface, he designed the game to draw lots to decide the opponent, however, through secret operation, he paired those who had enmity with each other, especially for the first several matches where they had absolutely irreconcilable hate toward each other. Then, as the player of the first match, he crushed his opponent into mud by a very fierce means, which directly brought the bloody atmosphere into a fever pitch. Then, relying on inertia, the players after him would also fiercely kill each other.
This kind of inferior slaughter scene was deliberately caused by Wang Lu. And because this was out of Moonless' expectation, she was deeply dissatisfied with it. And in Moonless' dissatisfaction, the two battles of Wang Lu and Liu Li stood out from the rest and decisively won her interest.
Wang Lu's original intention was to let Moonless' interest drive her to watch, and as long as Moonless was interested in the battles of Wang Lu and Liu Li, they could safely kill their opponents in the tournament, until the all the harem concubines were killed. By that time, Wang Lu and Liu Li, who had enough experience, could also prepare to withdraw.
But now, they had to do this last step in advance. The performances of Wang Lu and Liu Li did arouse the interest of Moonless. However, the interest of Moonless had clearly exceeded his expectation. In particular, when he saw the greed in Moonless' eyes toward the immortal sword Skybreaker becoming more and more obvious… Wang Lu realized that he seemed to have underestimated the greed of Moonless in her capacity as a vassal lord.
He thought that with the previous sword strike, which was the result of the attack combination between him and Liu Li, he could virtualize a background great enough that would let Moonless refrain herself from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vases. However, unexpectedly, this vassal lord of the Palace of Heaven was already on the edge of losing her mind through material greed.
At the same time, as she was a political figure, Moonless was also still a cultivator. A powerful cultivator in Heavenly Earth. Although she was not a sword cultivator in the strictest sense, Skybreaker still had an unsurpassed attraction to any cultivator.
Wang Lu believed that her greed had become more uncontrollable when she witnessed Liu Li defeat Chi Qiongying with the power of Skybreaker.
That being the case, Wang Lu had to speed up the process. On the one hand, modifying the matches in the tournament, so that the appreciation of the tournament go straight up, to distract the attention of Moonless. On the other hand...
"Well played."
Wang Lu cupped his hand toward the kneeling woman in front of him, and then stepped down from the arena.
With primal chaos heaven splitting sword qi as his main attack and Non-Phase Sword Defense as his main defense, Wang Lu used one hundred and thirteen moves to defeat a low-level Yuanying Stage concubine. In order to win, the other party even burned a lot of innate vitality.
Since the opening of the tournament, this was the most exciting fight. Jindan Stage Wang Lu fought against a Yuanying Stage opponent. Although the process was 'more scared than hurt', it was not at all relaxed. Therefore, the harvest was also unprecedentedly rich. Wang Lu clearly felt that his primordial spirit became more concise, Jade Mansion more stable, and golden core shone more brightly… This fight was even better than training in seclusion for a month. However, the problem was that, according to this momentum, Wang Lu's next opponent would be the head concubine Xiao Yun.
Of course, this was also the result of his secret operation. Otherwise, Concubine Xiao Yun should've encountered Liu Li in the next round.
Concubine Xiao Yun, of course, had already guessed that there was Wang Lu's behind-the-scene-operation. However, she didn't care. In her opinion, whether it was Wang Lu or Liu Li, it was all the same. The two were the people of the same group and of the same breed. And regardless who her opponent would be, she had enough confidence to win.
Concubine Xiao Yun was different from the other harem members. She was the "official" consort of Moonless, the undisputed head of the harem, noble-born, and strength stronger than her peers. If Moonless was of the same stage as her, Moonless probably would not be her opponent. It was also by her tacit consent that allowed Moonless to open her harem wide. If that was not the case, regardless of how overbearing Moonless was, the harem would not have been able to open.
Concubine Xiao Yun had already seen through the real strength of Wang Lu and Liu Li. If they were on the same stage, she was far from being their opponent. However, she was now a middle-level Yuanying Stage, with more than one hundred years of cultivation life, as well as numerous magical treasures… Even this training field of Moon Capital, when it was constructed, she also participated in it.
With conditions all in her favor, even if Wang Lu was strong, so what?
—
"In view of this, please allow me to go outside to purchase some props and pieces of equipment for the fight preparation."
In the inner hall of Moon Capital, Wang Lu petitioned for going out from Moonless.
Moonless was reclining on her throne, while the red light from her left skeleton pupil carefully scrutinized Wang Lu. She then sneered and said, "Bad reason. Do you think I will give you the chance to escape?"
Wang Lu avoided the doubt of Moonless and instead insisted on his own opinion, "Although the stocks are abundant in Moonless Capital, the props that I need are not here."
Moonless sneered, "Make a list of what you need, and I'll buy them for you. There are no things that I can't buy in the Palace of Heaven."
Wang Lu said, "The authority of Moonless Harmonious Heaven is unquestionable in the Palace of Heaven, I deeply understand this. But the Palace of Heaven is not only your Palace of Heaven. As the head concubine, Concubine Xiao Yun's authority is second only to you. I'm worried that if I reveal my list, it would not be long before my list falls into her hand, thus my cards would be exposed to Concubine in advance, which is extremely disadvantageous to me."
"Oh, clever and eloquent." Moonless continued to sneer, "Then try to overcome that disadvantageous conditions in the fight. You are a sword cultivator, when there are challenges ahead, overcome all difficulties with your willpower."
Wang Lu said, "That's why now I'm trying to overcome your obstruction, for my own chance of winning… I know that you are worried that I might run away, so I will leave a hostage here in Moon Capital. My Junior Sister Liu Li will remain here. If I don't return, she would be at your mercy."
"Ridiculous, aren't you two already at my mercy?"
Wang Lu tactfully avoided the threat from Moonless and just continued, "Moreover, if I can win, wouldn't it be a great benefit to you? There's no need for Moon Capital to have two masters, and a harem doesn't need a slightly authoritative principal consort. Unfortunately, there are some things that are not convenient for you to directly make your move by yourself, but everything is possible in the life and death tournament. And all you have to do is to give me a chance."
Moonless suddenly opened her right eyes. "Very well, I'll give you a chance. But if you fail to do what you promise…"
Wang Lu laughed and said, "It's easy for you to take away my life."
—
After Wang Left Moon Capital, he went straight for the barren mountain along the border. The secret agent of Palace of Heaven who followed him was left without a trace after only a short while. When she wanted to follow again, two primal chaos heaven splitting sword qis, coming from out of nowhere, struck at her to block her path.
In desperation, the secret agent had to turn back and pray that she would not be slapped to death by the angry Lady Harmonious Heaven.
Back in Moon Capital, the secret agent was not killed by Moonless. She listened to the agent report in silence and then left the throne for the harem bedroom in a flash.
Clear as jade, the young girl sat erect on the futon with her back straight as a sword, closing her eyes in meditation, cultivating her spirit as well as the sword in peace. The Skybreaker was laid flat in front of her chest. The person and the sword formed a mysterious connection.
What a good brilliant sword heart, and a good ancient sword Skybreaker… Seeing this scene, there was a slight glimmer of envy in the heart of Moonless.
If I can have such a qualification and this kind of immortal sword, perhaps I would no longer be the current "I". Vassal lord Harmonious Heaven sounded awe-inspiring, but what was it compared to those who walked at the highest end of the immortal path?
However, while Moonless was momentarily lost in thought, the girl in front of her had become erratic and vaguely turned translucent.
In the twinkling of an eye, Moonless rushed over to the bedroom, but what was left there was only a brilliant illusion, which could not be maintained when approached by a Deity Stage cultivator. As for the real Liu Li, no one knew how far she had gone away.
Moonless' anger flared up. "... What an extremely daring girl!"
The next moment, her left white bone hand came forward, and the power that symbolized death shrouded everything in the bedroom. In the bedroom, there appeared to be the mourning cries of a million souls, and the figure of Liu Li broke and then disappeared without a trace. In her original place floated the immortal sword Skybreaker. Feeling the impending force of death, the sword emitted a sharp buzz, which in the twinkling of an eye crushed those wailings of ghosts, and also turned Moonless' Jade Mansion in turmoil.
What a good immortal sword. Even without its master to control, it could still shake a Daoist Master of Deity Stage using its own power alone… However, nevertheless, it was just an ownerless object.
Moonless retracted her left hand and the symbol of life on her right hand came out, which then directly touched the sword hilt of Skybreaker. Immediately, a buzzing sound of the backlash force came out, but after the complete reversal of the force of death to the force of life, the strength of this backlash force had been weakened by a lot.
Moonless concentrated and quickly suppressed the Skybreaker. Then, looking at the empty bedroom, a ridiculous feeling welled up in her heart.
The two little girls used an immortal sword to play the cicada shedding its carapace trick? What an extremely daring and decisive action.
If the immortal sword was not here, as the owner of Moon Capital, how could Moonless not have noticed that the aura of Liu Li had disappeared from Moon Capital? Even the way she escaped could be guessed by Moonless—it must have been after Wang Lu left with her Skybreaker, by which she changed places with the Skybreaker using her person-sword swap move, allowing her to escape.
However… leaving the Skybreaker meant that Moonless didn't suffer a loss. It was just that, for some inexplicable reason, she felt like she still had miscalculated a move somewhere?
However, when Moonless was about to further explore the Skybreaker, the sword suddenly swayed, and then the quaint and simple sword disappeared, replaced by a flaming flying sword.
Moonless was momentarily startled, and then angrily crushed the flaming sword with her skeletal left hand.
Liu Li could not only swap position with her sword, she could also freely swap the position of different flying swords. Just a day prior, she used this trick to let Chi Qiongying suck in the Skybreaker into the Solidifying Jade Bottle. But now she once again used this palm-civet-turned-into-crown-prince trick!
"...You two, have done a very good job."
Moonless muttered to herself. Her voice was trembling, and her body was shaking, which in turn shook the entire Moon Capital and Palace of Heaven.
"In three days, I will take the lives of you two!"
The resolution of a Daoist Master of Deity Stage caused a thunderbolt to fall from a clear sky.