Chapter 174: Underwater Cave
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
The explosion of over six thousand talismans at the same time, with each talisman capable of pouring out the power equally to the full force attack of a Human Immortal, what would it look like? Wu Qi had no idea, and he did not want to know either. In any case, he had now brought the catfish-flood-dragon and dove deep underground, transforming into a stream of Earth element gas and fleeing towards the Lake of Four Waters at top speed.
But for Ying Zheng and those who remained on the surface of the ground, it was a catastrophe that nearly wiped them out completely. With the explosion of over six thousand talismans, all the natural energies within a circumference of one hundred miles were instantly vacuumed out, and the chain reaction caused by the energy turbulence simply looked like the chain reaction caused by a nuclear warhead. The explosive forces from over six thousand talismans compressed into a golden energy ball of ten feet diameter. Five talisman treasures were seen wheeling a few rounds around the energy ball at high-speed. Then, everything exploded just like that.
There was no thunderbolt or lightning strike, no fireballs or poisonous gases, no attacks of any five elements that could be found, but only the explosion of pure energy. All the energies of five elements were transformed into the most violent and raging energies, a fearsome energy that reached almost to the stage of the void. Such energies exploded right before the face of Ying Zheng and his men. A towering red beam shot through the sky, as several dozens of mushroom clouds rose from the surrounding mountains. The entire area was filled with blinding lights and strong wind. All the mountains within ten miles from the center of the explosion vanished, and a huge sinkhole was produced.
At the moment when the talismans and talisman treasures exploded, Ying Zheng and his men had their face twisted into the most unsightly look. Bai Qi leaped forward and stood before Ying Zheng. A dazzling light was seen emanating from his body armor, spreading out and fully enveloping both him and Ying Zheng. The explosion force knocked both of them far, far away, throwing them deep into a lofty mountain. Then, the mountain shattered, and both men were once again blown into a far distance. Meanwhile, among all the soldiers and captains who stood not far from the center of the explosion, apart from those Earth Immortals who were protected by some magical treasures, nearly one hundred Gold Core soldiers were instantly evaporated. Not even a single soul of theirs could make the escape on time.
Bai Qitian was also standing very close to the center of the explosion. A figure of dark flood dragon suddenly shot out from his body, coiling around him and using its body bring him flying into a far distance. Three seconds later, the raging energies ripped the dark flood dragon into pieces. Nevertheless, Bai Qitian had already escaped death. The dark flood dragon was actually a life-saving nascent dragon which Ying Zheng personally infused into Bai Qitian's body after he contributed a great credit to the dynasty. It had saved his life today.
On the mountain peak far away, both Xu Fu and Li Si were wearing a grief-stricken face, as if they had just lost their parents. They were at a loss, as there was absolutely no way for them to get closer to the center of the explosion. In a shrill voice, both of them cried, "Majesty! Majesty!" All the practitioners and soldiers were bustling around in confusion as well. They were perplexed, not knowing what to do next, and could only keep staring at the area where the explosion occurred, a shattered land which looked like the end of the world. Their bodies trembled from top to toe, while cold sweat kept oozing out from every part of their skin.
Ying Zheng was the heaven and earth of Great Qin Dynasty. If anything bad happened to him, the Great Qin Dynasty would definitely crumble and fall apart!
While the panic-stricken Xu Fu and Li Si were crying out loud, Ying Zheng's voice suddenly came from afar, "Shut up! I'm not dead yet, and I don't need you to wail here! Li Xin, Li Xin, where are you? I had ordered you to lay ambush somewhere nearby, but are you just stay there to watch the show? Where is your divine shooting? Where is your bow? WHERE IS YOUR ARROW?"
As the loud roar of Ying Zheng echoed out, on the peak of a lonely mountain several miles away suddenly a General sprung out. He was clad in a silver body armor and carried a longbow in his hand. A pair of wings made from steel blades were seen mounted on his back. They flapped gently in the wind, as if they were just a pair of light-weight wings. Upon making his appearance, the General gave a cold laugh, then a straight eye opened up on his forehead suddenly, shooting out a golden beam that instantly covered an area of nearly one hundred miles in circumference.
Illuminated by the bright beam shot from the straight eye, the image of Wu Qi and catfish-flood-dragon fleeing at high speed nearly one thousand feet underground was clear and distinguishable. At this point in time, Wu Qi and the catfish-flood-dragon had almost reached the Lake of Four Rivers, and once they did that, they would reach the territory of the catfish-flood-dragon. With that, if Ying Zheng and his men wished to capture the catfish-flood-dragon in the lake, it would be at least one hundred times tougher than before.
Standing on top of the mountain peak, the General of Great Qin, Li Xin, wildly pulled out three black arrows with their arrowheads fashioned into the shape of wolf's head, while the shafts were fully engraved with countless fine lines which looked like wolf hair. Then, he quickly pulled the bowstring, loaded the arrows, aimed right at Wu Qi and shot it straight into the direction.
Three shrill wolf howls echoed out, as three one-thousand-feet long dark beams shot out at top speed, transforming into three wolf heads with their mouths wide open, thrusting fiercely towards Wu Qi's direction. These dark beams bore through the towering flame generated by the explosion of talismans and talisman treasures, plunged straight into the ground, and within a blink of an eye, caught up with Wu Qi.
When Li Xin's straight eye opened up just now, Wu Qi had already felt a coldness all over his body, as if something that would threaten his life was approaching. Without the slightest hesitation, he quickly brought the catfish-flood-dragon and traveled three thousand feet straight down, and it was at that very moment the arrows shot out by Li Xin pierced through the earth and came very close to Wu Qi's back.
The extremely cold air and the enormous energies that came from the arrows made Wu Qi's body tense up and his flesh creep. This Li Xin was indeed an expert in archery, and his skill must have reached the acme of perfection. Instinctively, Wu Qi felt that no matter what methods he used to dodge, it was impossible to avoid all three arrows. Furthermore, whatever approach was used by Li Xin to discover Wu Qi's trace, he could surely see Wu Qi from far. Thus, Wu Qi did not want to use the silver lotus to save his life, as it was an extraordinary treasure that could easily make people covet it.
He had already offended Great Qin Dynasty, and if he again showed a few Innate-grade Spirit Items before them, that would be a true act of courting death. At that point in time, if the word was to spread, not only the people of Great Qin Dynasty, perhaps even the people from Great Yan Dynasty would covet his extraordinary treasures. If that really happened, he would have to face enemies wherever he went, and could no longer live the life he wanted.
He gave a wry smile, then shouted at the catfish-flood-dragon clenched in his hand, "Show your true form, if you wish to stay alive!"
The catfish-flood-dragon became very obedient now. Although she had no idea why Wu Qi asked her to turn back into her true form, she just followed the order, twisted her body and transformed back into the true form of a three thousand feet long catfish. *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* Li Xin's arrows hit right onto the catfish-flood-dragon's body, created three large holes ten feet in diameter each, and pierced through her entire body.
If such an injury occurred on Wu Qi's body, he would have died by now. But for the catfish-flood-dragon? It only made her howl painfully and quickly transform back into human form, while immediately breaking out into curses, "You rascal! How could you make me as your shield?! Who would save people like how you did just now?"
Wu Qi knew he was in the wrong. Thus, he did not say anything but kept running crazily forward while carrying catfish-flood-dragon in his hand.
On the surface, when Ying Zheng and his men saw what Wu Qi did down there through various mystic techniques, they immediately cursed at the same time, "How shameless!"
Only Li Si was nodding his head silently and murmuring under his breath, "This young lad does have a decent character, it suits me to the ground. If not because he had assaulted His Majesty, perhaps he could become my disciple… Tsk, crafty and ruthless, merciless when striking, even Xu Fu had suffered a great loss from him. What an interesting young lad!" Standing on the mountain peak with his hands clasped behind his back, Li Si's eyes followed Wu Qi as he made the desperate escape. Surprisingly, there was a joyful and approving look in his eyes.
Meanwhile, noticing all three arrows of his had missed the target, Li Xin's face turned extremely unsightly. He quickly took out a strange heavy arrow, three feet long and with a shaft as thick as an adult's arm, while the arrowhead had the shape of a black tortoise - Xuan Wu [1]. He placed it on the bowstring and was about to shoot it at Wu Qi.
At this point in time, at some distance ahead of Wu Qi and right beside the edge of the Lake of Four Waters, a golden-armored General suddenly leaped out from the water. He brought together a troop of several hundred elites soldiers, barring the access to the lake right at the point where the water and the land met. On the left hand of this General was held a bronze mirror one foot and two inches in diameter, emanating a dim green light that shone into the ground and reached to a depth of several thousand feet, just enough to cover Wu Qi's trace. On his right was hand held a golden-red spear, named 'The Lightning Spear of Coiling Dragons'. The General gave a fierce cry, "Quickly surrender yourself, you uncivilized young lad! Wang Jian [2] of Great Qin is here, and I'll never allow you to act recklessly before me!"
Then, from the peak of two mountains about a few miles to the left and right of Wu Qi, another two Generals jumped out.
One of the black-armor-clad General shouted, "Wang Ben [3] of Great Qin is here!"
And the other general, also clad in a black armor, gave a shout in a cold voice, "Wang Li[4] of Great Qin is here! I swear I'll kill this criminal!"
Wang Jian, Wang Ben, Wang Li, the three Generals from Wang clan who served in Qin State during the Warring States period were all here. The grandfather, father, and son were holding an identical bronze mirror in their hands, each emanating a bright light of different colors: green, white, and blue. Three blinding lights pierced through the earth and tightly locked down Wu Qi's every movement. With that, Wu Qi's speed suddenly became many times slower, as he was trapped by a force stronger and tougher than the gravity force of earth's core, causing him to not be able to even move his fingers.
The pleased laugh of Ying Zheng was heard coming from afar. "Do not slack in your duty and quickly capture this little thief. I am curious to know why he is so brave to fight against us, the Great Qin Dynasty! Also, do not hurt that catfish-flood-dragon."
All the generals of Qin army answered him together. Bai Qi and Li Xin also strode forward with weapons in their hands, surrounding Wu Qi from all directions. Xu Fu and Li Si rushed over as well, bringing together many practitioners with them who cast out countless restrictive runes that poured down like a heavy downpour, turned the earth around Wu Qi as hard as diamonds. On top of that, Li Si continuously wrote a total of 108 'mountains', bringing out a tremendous Earth element energy that tightly repressed Wu Qi from above.
Ying Zheng's laugh sounded even more happier. "I knew that you little thief will definitely follow behind me and try to ruin my plan. But that's fine, as I can now kill two birds with one stone. That catfish-flood-dragon will aid me in completing my cultivation… As for you, the little thief, I'll need some confessions from you! Hahaha!" Ying Zheng kept laughing pleasingly, and with the help from a few practitioners, he changed into a clean set of Imperial outfit, rode on a cloud and rushed towards Wu Qi's direction.
Three thousand feet below the surface, Wu Qi looked at the catfish-flood-dragon, whose body trembling because of fear. He gave her a wry smile and said, "I still have a way that could bring us out from here, but it will cause a great loss to my blood essence. If you can promise me that you will give me thirty percent of your blood essence, which I can use to temper my corporeal body, I'll save you from the disaster."
Gnashing her teeth while tears rolled off her face because of pain, the catfish-flood-dragon said, "Save me, and I'll give you thirty percent of my blood essence! If that is not enough, I can teach you a body strengthening technique used by the clan of flood dragon, which is given to me by Wanying Dragon King."
Wu Qi's heart suddenly trembled. What an honest and kind catfish! Not only was she willing to give Wu Qi thirty percent of her blood essence, she even offered him a body strengthening technique! It happened that Wu Qi lacked a powerful magic technique that could strengthen his corporeal body and allow him to fight the enemy with pure muscle strength. It seemed the body strengthening technique used by flood dragon clan was a good choice. But, he was wondering at the same time if a human cultivated such a technique, would he transform into something strange?
Nevertheless, now was not the time to ponder further, as Ying Zheng was about to arrive. Hastily, Wu Qi began burning his own blood essence.
He had activated the escape art of blood burning which he learned from Scroll of Stealing. Ninety percent of Wu Qi's blood instantly turned into nothingness, and he felt as if his body was hollowed. He saw nothing but only blackness, and nearly fainted on the spot. The immense energies generated from the burning of his blood essence were now rolling and rocking violently in his meridians. Without hesitation, Wu Qi gnashed his teeth and recited a few magical incantations, performed an incantation gesture and cast it out at top speed.
A crimson gleam flashed around his body. While holding the catfish-flood-dragon in his hand, Wu Qi broke suddenly away from the trap formed by the blinding light shot out from the mirrors in Wang Jian and his offspring's hand, then pierced through the restrictive mechanisms deployed by Xu Fu and Li Si like a stream of light. In a blink of an eye, he plunged heavily into the Lake of Four Waters. Then, guided by the catfish-flood-dragon, both of them kept flying at top speed for over two thousand miles, and finally, dove into a hidden underwater cave.
[1] Xuan Wu - One of the Four Symbols of Chinese astronomy (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tortoise)
[2] Wang Jian - He was a military general of the State of Qin during the Warring States period. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Jian_(Qin))
[3] Wang Ben - He was a general of the state of Qin at the end of the Warring States period. He was a son of general Wang Jian. He played a key role in the Qin's wars of unification. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Ben)
[4] Wang Li - He was Wang Jain's grandson.