This was an astounding and unbelievable sight, because everyone could see King Xieluo cloaked in the radiance of the green pillar of light, but this ray of light still lit up within the green pillar of light, and with such frightening power no less.
Everyone looked at the green pillar of light, and inside it, there was now a gigantic black crack.
“Who’s that?” A single doubt flashed through everyone’s minds as they observed the black crack very closely with shocked eyes. Even King Xieluo was no exception.
And then, a figure also appeared from the black crack.
It was a frail-looking old man with clouded eyes. His bony fingers were covered in wrinkles, and he looked as though he could be blown to the ground by a mere gust of wind.
But this old man walked out from the black crack and stepped into the green pillar of light. The night wind ruffled the old man’s snow-white hair which danced freely in the air.
“It’s King Liqin!”
“It’s actually King Liqin?!”
“King Liqin actually came?”
Countless eyes turned towards King Liqin, revealing conflicted expressions. They were astonished by King Liqin’s appearance, and were looking forward to his appearance, but they were still slightly worried because …
King Liqin was already old!
Although everyone knew that King Liqin was the person who previously helmed the military forces, with countless achievements in battle under his belt, he has indeed grown old.
An old man who was near his end, an old man who no longer bothered with national affairs, an old man who has shut himself in his quarters all this while to tend to his flowers and birds – why did he appear here now?
And what could he even do?
“King Liqin?! That old duff still possesses such incredible strength?” Qian Wu noticed the figure emerging from the black crack.
He definitely heard King Liqin’s name before. He was a legend of the previous generation.
However, that was all in the past. Why would he bother with an old man awaiting death?
That was what Qian Wu assumed, as did everyone else. No one expected King Liqin to appear, and no one would have imagined that the attack moments ago was launched by King Liqin himself.
Even Lin Xinjue was shocked.
“How can this be? That attack … why is it this powerful?” Lin Xinjue’s fist was clenched tighter than ever. He didn’t wish for any other unexpected hiccups, especially not a hiccup such as this.
King Xieluo eyed King Liqin closely, staring into the latter’s clouded eyes, then revealing another smirk.
But then … it was not one of contempt, but of excitement.
“King Liqin? This is finally becoming fun!” King Xieluo clenched his fists. He didn’t wait for King Liqin to reach the ground, because he was always an impatient Demon King.
“Crack!”
The ground fissured.
King Xieluo has already arrived in front of King Liqin, his white robes drifting in the green light cloaking his body, his eyes growing more mystifying than before.
Close combat.
This was a battle strategy rarely employed by elites, but King Xieluo was using for a very simple reason. He was not underestimating King Liqin, and on the contrary, he held King Liqin in extremely high regard.
In that case … the best technique to use against a frail old man would be to pit their physical strength against each other, competing to see who had the faster reactions and stronger bursts of power under immense physical exhaustion.
His fist, enveloped by dark-green light, pummeled straight for King Liqin without any hesitation or reservation.
“This is bad!”
“Watch out, Old Master!”
“It’s dangerous, Old Master!”
Both the Royal Guards and the Dragon Protection Squad were riled with anxiety upon witnessing this nerve-wrecking scene. None of them expected King Xieluo to act so promptly and furthermore … to engage in close combat.
“Bang!”
A bony palm pressed on top of the fist. The feeble-looking wrinkled hand looked as though it could not take a single blow, so everyone had the same thought when it pressed on the fist.
Will it break?
But the sound of cracking bones was never heard.
On the contrary, the fist charging for King Liqin stopped, halting steadily before its target without moving a muscle.
“Demon King, you should not be here!” King Liqin stared at King Xieluo. A magnificent might emanated from his frail body.
“Is that so? I’m standing right here, what can you do about it? Hahaha …” A maniacal laughter followed. King Xieluo then thrusted his fist forward again, and at the same time, a layer of vicious black scales oozed from his fist, as though being melded from liquid metal.
King Liqin’s expression finally changed. His hand pressing on King Xieluo’s fist shuddered slightly as a drop of sweat dripped from his forehead.
“The greatest weakness of mankind is mortality!” King Xieluo exclaimed as he moved his other fist at the same time.
“Crash!” A deafening sound.
Both of them were finally separated.
King Xieluo was still standing where he was, but King Liqin was retreating swiftly.
“Crack!” When King Liqin collapsed onto the ground, a few more fissures opened in the ground. King Liqin managed to stand up again after much difficulty.
“Cough cough … you’re truly the Demon King!” King Liqin coughed gently and slowly straightened his body up. His expression was incredibly tense.
And when the Royal Guards and the Dragon Protection Squad watched this scene, they all let out sighs one after another. The difference in strength was presented very clearly with just a single exchange,
Ignoring the question of whether King Liqin’s strength could truly match that of King Xieluo, the difference in age was an inevitable fact.
“Uncle!” Lin Mubai screamed. He then expelled another mouthful of blood, “Don’t bother about me. Take Ping Yang away, quick …”
“Ping Yang?!”
“That’s right, where’s Ping Yang?”
“And where did Fang Zhengzhi go?”
Everyone finally realized that Fang Zhengzhi and Ping Yang had disappeared after hearing Lin Mubai.
This was a peculiar sight indeed.
No one noticed when Fang Zhengzhi and Ping Yang escaped, and most importantly, they were faced with a Demon King.
How did Fang Zhengzhi escape?
Didn’t he become useless after the Battle of the Southern Region?
Everyone had this doubt in their hearts because they all saw Ping Yang holding Fang Zhengzhi tightly in her embrace without any intentions of escaping.
So naturally, it was impossible for Ping Yang to be escaping with Fang Zhengzhi in tow. Instead, it should be Fang Zhengzhi who led Ping Yang away. But this way, it sounded even more absurd.
How could a powerless wastrel who took a direct blow from a Demon King possibly escape with Ping Yang?
“Are you all looking for me?” Then, a voice sounded. It was not too loud, but it certainly shook everyone.
“It’s Fang Zhengzhi?!”
“He … he actually fled!”
“How is that possible, he took a direct blow from the Demon King. He didn’t die?”
Everyone looked in the direction of the distant voice with eyes wide open. No one could believe what they saw.
But … the truth was still the truth.
Fang Zhengzhi was standing there with Ping Yang beside him. Ping Yang’s eyes were wide open in disbelief.
“You … How did you do that?!” Ping Yang glared at Fang Zhengzhi, slightly spellbounded.
Even so, she knew for sure that Fang Zhengzhi had rescued her from King Xieluo’s grasp, but she could not figure out what exactly happened in that instant.
It was too quick!
At first, when she sensed the terrifying aura creeping up behind her, she was prepared for certain death, but Fang Zhengzhi suddenly opened his eyes. And in that moment, she felt an arm holding her.
And after that … there was nothing after that.
Because, she was already at her present location, and Fang Zhengzhi was standing beside her again, albeit with a pretty pale face.
“You’re asking me? I took a direct hit, what were you doing hugging me so tightly?” Fang Zhengzhi blurted without hesitation upon hearing Ping Yang’s question.
What was the feeling of bitterness? This was!
It was obviously impossible to confront King Xieluo directly, and he could only invent unorthodox ways of battle to score a victory. To this end, Fang Zhengzhi racked his brains and waited for King Xieluo to approach.
And to his pleasant surprise, King Xieluo did approach him.
In that instant, Fang Zhengzhi saw the light at the end of the tunnel and prepared to use his greatest ‘secret weapon’. But then, tragedy unfolded.
Although he declared that he should be the only one to face King Xieluo, Yan Xiu and Shan Yu also charged in without any prior notice.
Fine … Yan Xiu and Shan Yu ignored his pleas, but what was that girl Ping Yang thinking? She hugged him in the heat of the moment.
In that moment, Fang Zhengzhi felt like dying. And true enough, he took a direct blow from King Xieluo.
After that, he was prepared to fake his death with much effort and wait for a chance to launch an sneak attack. But then, Ping Yang pressed his down without any hesitation.
Although her petite body was not that heavy, her grip was as tight as an octopus’, pinning him down to the ground.
How could he execute his plan? There was no way to do it!
Watching as King Xieluo was about to strike him to death, he was relieved when Chen Feihua attacked King Xieluo in desperation. Lin Mubai, Yan Xiu and Shan Yu also attracted King Xieluo’s attention.
In that instant … Fang Zhengzhi saw hope again.
It was certainly a miraculous opportunity for a sneak attack. The enemy was above him, and as long as he could land a kick on King Xieluo’s feet … Just thinking about it felt so good!
But just as Fang Zhengzhi prepared to launch his kick, a giant black crack appeared above him. It was a crack that charged down speedily from the heavens, and most importantly, a ray of light leaked out from within that crack.
Fang Zhengzhi was flabbergasted. There was someone else in the ‘sneak attack business’?
In that moment, he was presented with two choices: either to work with his ‘compatriot’ to land a successful sneak attack, or to leave this chance to his ‘compatriot’.
There was nothing much to think about. Fang Zhengzhi immediately opted for the second choice and escaped with Ping Yang.
Everything then flowed into place. His compatriot’s sneak attack failed, and King Xieluo was still standing there unharmed.
There was no other way around it. He couldn’t possibly run up to King Xieluo and say, “Hello, let’s talk about life, shall we? Come closer, just a little closer …”
King Xieluo would have dealt him a deathblow before he even attacked.
Demon King!
Was he of a similar existence to a Sage?
Fang Zhengzhi’s heart shuddered just thinking about that old man’s terrifying strength, He was not that idiotic to confront a Demon King with the strength comparable to a Sage directly.
Fang Zhengzhi felt that it was time to run.
And this time, he was really prepared to run, never to turn back. He didn’t care about claiming the credit for slaying the demon to save the Great Xia Empire from catastrophe. Furthermore, since King Liqin already arrived, how could Fang Zhengzhi be the person to claim the credit?
Just as he prepared to flee … Ping Yang held him again, with both her hands grabbing his wrists in a deadlock. Her small face was red, and her crystal-clear eyes were flickering with excitement.
“You haven’t been wasted, right? You were totally fine after the Battle of the Southern Region, right? Your strength is still there, right? It must be, it must be. That’s great, that’s really great. Quick, quickly kill that Demon King. I believe you!” Ping Yang exclaimed as she shook Fang Zhengzhi’s arms, completely ignoring the fact that her breasts were rubbing against his arms non-stop …
The Royal Guards, Dragon Protection Squad, Palace Guards and the Southern Region Army heard Ping Yang’s words and stared at Fang Zhengzhi in shock.
“Fang Zhengzhi was not wasted?!”
“How is that possible?”
During the Battle of the Southern Region, didn’t he consume all of his Dao Fruits? How can he still possess his strength?”
“Surviving was already a miracle. It’s impossible for him to still retain his mastery levels!”
“But if his strength was really drained, how did he escape from King Xieluo’s grasp just now?”
“Could it be that he still possesses his strength?”
“My god, if that’s true, then … what state is he in now?”
Everyone stared at Fang Zhengzhi with eyes wide open because they knew that, if Fang Zhengzhi really did retain his strength … it was an absolutely terrifying prospect.
Ignoring Fang Zhengzhi’s future accomplishments, someone who crossed swords the Demon Canyang a year ago would certainly be a force to be reckoned with in this battle.