Chapter 200: End of the Road

[Volume 3 - The Place Where My Heart Feels At Peace]

Wei Potian suddenly shouted, "Wu Zhengnan, you've actually fallen to evernight!"

This was precisely an indication of gradual demonization. One possibility was that Wu Zhengnan had long since fallen under the control of darkness origin power and was only using certain methods to deceive everyone. Another possibility was that the darkness origin power had become dominant because of the secret art he had used to suppress his grievous wounds. In any case, this signified only one thing—he had already fallen to evernight.

Wu Zhengnan's resentment gushed out as he said in fury, "Would I need to seek a method of survival from the dark side if the Combatant Formula hadn't damaged my foundation? You nobles have always cultivated your secret arts since childhood. How would you know the hardship of seeking a high-level cultivation art just so we could live on?"

He paused momentarily before pointing at Qianye with a sneer. "He's also cultivating the Combatant Formula. Do you really think a rank five fighter king is a good thing? The faster your progress, the shorter your life will be! You'll feel the constant pain from various hidden injuries within three years and die before the age of 30."

Wei Potian was flush with annoyance. He opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to say.

Qianye spoke unhurriedly, "Can't you apply for a cultivation formula once you've accumulated enough merit within the army?"

Wu Zhengnan seemed to have calmed down a little as he glanced at Qianye. He sneered, "You should be from the army too and probably know well that you'd have to line up for such special resources. Back then, they said my rank and achievements weren't enough, but I might've barely passed if I was of the landowning class. Qianye, your fate hereafter won't necessarily be any better than mine. Either you become a noble family's dog in exchange for a low-grade cultivation art or bet ten years of your life and see if you can accumulate enough merit before you die."

Qianye was silent. He could imagine Wu Zhengnan's despair when he was denied that day. Rank and status were strictly observed in imperial society. The distribution of almost every type of resources would be somehow related to one's family background. The imperial army could already be considered quite fair—whether it was a promotion or applying for equipment, everything was dependent on one's strength and accomplishments. Switching from the Combatant Formula, however, was an exception.

It didn't just involve a copied cultivation art. It included a complete set of medicines for repairing the body's internal injuries. They were not only extremely expensive but also the raw materials were quite difficult to obtain. The availability every year was thus extremely limited. As a result, family background inevitably became related to the qualifications for the distribution of such special resources. That was also why the Combatant Formula was considered a cannon fodder's art.

Wu Zhengnan let out a muffled laugh. "Tell me, how can I serve such an empire loyally?"

Qianye shook his head and replied in a resolute tone, "None of these things justify your fall to evernight and the harm you brought to your own race."

Wu Zhengnan was momentarily startled before he began to laugh madly, "You're truly an obstinate brat. Then have a taste of darkness origin power. It'll melt away your flesh and blood little by little until nothing is left of you but bones! This pain isn't much worse than the internal injuries brought about by the Combatant Formula."

Wu Zhengnan punched out from the distance. A blazing mist of alternating red and black shot toward Qianye and engulfed him. Its speed was so fast that it left no room for evasion.

"Little Ye!" Wei Potian seemed to have gained strength from god knows where and stood up violently. His body was once again covered by a layer of earthen yellow light. The light screen of the Thousand Mountains, however, was extremely dim like a candle flickering in the wind. He probably wouldn't last long even if he wasn't attacked.

Wu Zhengnan squinted his eyes and snorted coldly, "You overestimate yourself!"

He waved an extended hand to shoot out a misty blaze toward Wei Potian. The cluster of scarlet mist-like flames was viscous and thick. It stuck on firmly as soon as it came into contact with the Thousand Mountains and began to emit sizzling corrosive sounds.

The glow of the Thousand Mountains was completely nibbled away by the flames in the blink of an eye. A couple of remnant clusters landed on Wei Potian, eroding his high-grade armor to form a huge hole before sticking onto his skin and muscles. His skin was rapidly charred despite his origin power working continuously to resist.

Wei Potian was actually quite unyielding—he stood upright and endured the pain without so much as a groan. His clenched fist seemed to be flickering with specks of starlight.

Wu Zhengnan snorted as a sinister expression appeared on his face. He once again swung a fist toward Wei Potian while shouting, "I'll help you since you want to die so badly!"

Black and red origin power emerged from Wu Zhengnan's strike to form a meter long flame whip which lashed down at Wei Potian. Wei Potian roared and fearlessly brandished his own fist to receive the blow, but how could he block such an attack when he could barely stand?

A thin beam of azure light suddenly shone through the air. A single green leaf disappeared from the tip of Song Zining's finger and appeared in empty space—it split the dark red origin power flames in half and swept toward Wu Zhengnan with its remaining momentum.

Wu Zhengnan cried out loudly and staggered back a couple of steps. He doubtfully glanced down at his own body and saw that a thin stream of blood had appeared on his abdomen. The wound rapidly split open to become a terrifying wound, an injury that had almost ripped his chest.

Song Zining also spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as the green leaf-shaped pendant on his neck rapidly lost its color and turned a coarse grey.

Wu Zhengnan looked at his own wound and turned toward Song zining. "You actually have that many protective methods. Even I might not necessarily be able to capture you if I come across you again. Why are you so intent on throwing away your life?"

Song Zining laughed indifferently. "You won't understand."

Wu Zhengnan said with a deep voice, "It doesn't matter. In any case, I won't need to know after I kill you all."

It was at this time that Qianye, who was struck down by the dark red flames, suddenly groaned and clambered up. The remnant viscous flames on his body were originally about to die out but they suddenly flared up once again as if they were stimulated by something. Large patches of flesh were scorched and smoldered wherever the flames passed.

However, Qianye's situation was extremely bizarre. Fresh blood gushed out continuously from his wounds as he moved to stand up, the dense vitality therein was absolutely astonishing.

If one were to look closely, the blood flowing out from Qianye seemed to be alive. They didn't drip to the ground but were climbing and flowing autonomously. They would immediately extend toward wherever the misty flames were, rapidly extinguishing them amidst sizzling white fumes. Clusters of granulation tissue grew out at a visible rate and closed the wounds within the blink of an eye, leaving only sheets of pale scars. Streaks of gold and purple would flash past from time to time within the blood swarming toward those bone-deep wounds.

For unknown reasons, an intense sense of uneasiness and alarm suddenly filled Wu Zhengnan's heart after seeing the current Qianye—it was as if he had met a natural predator. His expression sunk as he inhaled deeply. Only a long uneven scar was left of the wound on his abdomen. He slowly raised his right palm on which the black and red origin flame mist appeared once again.

Qianye raised the Twin Flowers, and following which, the patterns on the guns lit up in succession. Scarlet origin power radiance emerged from his arms mixed with specks of floating golden light.

The blood boil energy within his body was completely emptied in order to resist Wu Zhengnan's flaming mist. The dark red blood energy and purple blood energy had crawled into his heart, listless and dispirited. Only the golden blood energy remained barely usable. During this life and death crisis, the golden blood energy once again resonated with what little remained of Qianye's daybreak origin energy as they rushed into the Twin Flowers.

Qianye suddenly sighed heavily. "Wu Zhengnan, you paid such a high price but only managed to obtain this kind of lowest grade vampire bloodline?"

Wu Zhengnan was startled. He didn't understand why Qianye said these words but the sense of danger lingering in his heart was magnified by hundreds of times. His instincts were screaming for him to take immediate action, and as such, he struck out with a loud roar!

Qianye's fingers steadily pressed down on the trigger. Following which, two crisp bangs were heard as if something had just shattered.

The twin-colored flowers that bloomed in the sky swayed just as before but a completely new origin array had appeared on the gun frame. A mist formed by the interweaving of the countless specks of golden light draped a cloak of sunlight over the illusory flowers.

The origin power bullets that materialized within the Twin Flowers' barrels were also light golden in color. They were like an inconspicuous ray of light shining through the window and falling onto a corner of the room. Wu Zhengnan's black and red flame mist, however, melted away immediately after coming into contact with the flowers. It was akin to spring water breaking through the ice.

The light golden origin power bullets weren't weakened or delayed in the least after breaking through the flaming mist. In fact, they immediately bombarded Wu Zhengnan's body!

The golden light rapidly expanded and covered the greater half of Wu Zhengnan's body. He let out an indescribable cry as if he had experienced the most profound pain on earth. His steel-like body struggled and twisted continuously, but his originally sturdy flesh was like wax before the flames—it rapidly melted, pieces of it broke off, and even the bones were being eroded at the same time.

Wu Zhengnan collapsed in the blink of an eye and was broken down into a puddle of indescribable substance.

"Is it over?" This was Qianye's last conscious thoughts. He knew nothing from there on out.

The large ruined courtyard suddenly became silent.

Wei Potian indeed possessed thick flesh and skin. He was the first to clamber up after a few moments of gasping for breath and made his way toward the puddle formed from Wu Zhengnan. It seemed like molten wax but clear outlines of certain organs and bones could be seen within. Even a daring person like him couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end after witnessing such a bizarre scene.

Flames suddenly streaked past Wei Potian while he was staring absentmindedly and landed right on Wu Zhengnan's remains. The spark ignited to form a violent flame the very moment it came into contact with its target. The blaze shot up tens of meters in height!

Wei Potian was caught off guard and almost had his brows singed—he swiftly stepped back and turned back to find that Song Zining had stood up. The latter was holding the crystalline short spear in hand with flaming sparks still lingering in the air.

The Song clan secret art, Fueled Fire Spear, was capable of shooting out virtually inextinguishable origin power flames. The especially flammable remains were incinerated into black dregs within the blink of an eye.

Wei Potian was shocked and immediately became enraged. "What the hell are you doing!? This is proof! This is proof that Wu Zhengnan has rebelled!"

Song Zining spat out yet another mouthful of blood but his expression seemed to have recovered a little. He couldn't be bothered to address Wei Potian. He walked toward Qianye with swift steps and knelt on one knee. A hazy azure radiance flashed on his hands as origin power washed down on Qianye's wound-riddled body like a misty rain.

Thin streams of blood were still crawling aimlessly over the surface of Qianye's body. They immediately shrunk back like living creatures once they came into contact with Song Zining's origin power mist. Those remaining bone-deep wounds wiggled slightly and started to close up.

Wei Potian's expression changed many times before he finally calmed down and stood there observing in silence. Song Zining only raised his head after washing away all the blood on his body. "Now you can call for help. Please also inform my guard squad on the way."