Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

If he fought without any restraint, Li Yao certainly would not be scared of the half-monster, half-machine guy.

However, he was surrounded by countless bandits and thugs, which probably had a lot of Immortal Cultivator players and tourists mixed in. As a ‘ragged’ spiritual puppet, did he have any reason to kill the guy instantly before everybody’s eyes?

The smoke above his head grew thinner and thinner. Any unexpected moves might be noticed by the Immortal Cultivators.

Anxious, Li Yao pretended to stagger and dodge the blasts of the powerful hammer somewhat clumsily again and again. His enormous body shook like a lone boat on a surging ocean due to the blasts and gravity interference. It seemed that he would be blown apart at any moment.

But it was not going to work out just like that.

With his camouflage, there was no reason he could have avoided so many attacks.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The enemy’s ten or so attacks failed to smash Li Yao into smithereens. He could not help but burst into fury. The honeycomb-type launcher at the front of his lower body raised a lightning storm and drowned Li Yao immediately.

Li Yao gritted his teeth in fury in the smoke and fire. He almost made up his mind to kill the guy. If he was left with no choice, he could only release abundant smoke grenades to disrupt the battlefield and blow the monster into a pulp in one attack.

However, such a decision would be very risky. Judging from the strength of the monster, he seemed to be a notorious expert on Liberty City’s side. Many people would pay attention to the cause of his death, which might bring Li Yao endless trouble. Li Yao’s plan to sneak into the City in the Sky might have to be aborted before it was carried out!

What could he do?

Right then, the lightning storm came to an abrupt end, and the whole world seemed frozen in steel.

A cluster of turbulence swirls, however, was generated right inside the frozen steel!

Li Yao’s soul spread out, only to discover that a great wall of steel had risen abruptly before him and stopped the enemy’s crazy bombardment.

After a slight daze, he realized that it was just his imagination caused by the daunting aura of the newcomer. The guy who fell from the sky and crashed between him and the monster was none other than ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie!

The Fist King’s brown cape had long been torn into shreds, and his metal shell had turned into hot, steaming redness, like a heap of iron that had been heated.

The intimidating air that felt almost tangible condensed into colorful swirls around him, making him look like not an individual but an army of thousands of soldiers!

On his iron shell, thousands of rune arrays had been carved densely. At this moment, every rune array was shining, quaking, and roaring, as if they were about to float from his body and form another layer of glittering, invincible rune armor!

The overwhelming pressure froze all the enemy’s tiny flying swords and explosive bullets in midair. Some of them were even detonated into a dazzling fire wall.

The opposing monster was apparently frightened, but he could not stop his body from waving the hammer at the highest speed and smashing it over like a rushing meteor because of the inertia of fury and bloodthirst.

Boom! Boom!

The earth below the Fist King’s feet exploded, and the rocks and mud rose like a spring. His immaculate body made of strengthened alloys was bent like an enormous dragon prowling in an abyss, and all his strength was poured into the fist on his waist.

Li Yao even felt as if the fist was alive. It was absorbing the strength of the mountains, the oceans, the sky, the earth, and the entire world while roaring with the utmost hunger and thirst!

The Fist King’s fist was activated!

There was no sound at all. The Fist King’s fist was much faster than sound when it hit the hammer right in front precisely. The force was not entirely destructive but simply blew the hammer backward in one piece.

Before the hammer was blown back to its master, the Fist King’s second punch had arrived.

After the acceleration of the waving during the first punch, that was his real fatal move!

After the punch, the air within dozens of meters seemed to have been pumped away. Even the ground collapsed quite a few centimeters, with countless cracks ripped out. Li Yao felt as if he had sensed the barrage of the main guns of a crystal warship right next to the shell of the turrets at the closest distance!

He looked at the opposite side, only to discover that the half-machine and half-monster bandit did not even have the time to scream before his upper body was blown into smithereens by the Fist King’s punch. The only thing left was a bloodstained chassis that was still twitching.

The Fist King’s strength, however, continued marching past the chassis, digging a ravine more than one meter deep with hot steam popping up nonstop.

In the punch’s effective range, which was almost a hundred meters, all the bandits were killed because of internal bleeding. Even a lot of bandits who were lashed by the blast from the side were blown away, vomiting blood with pale faces. Their combat ability was entirely gone.

That was only one punch. The Fist King truly deserves his fame!

Li Yao’s soul shook hard like a quickly-beating heart as he complimented in secret. ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie was truly the strongest spectral Cultivator he had ever seen. There was really no telling what kind of uncanny techniques or secret arts he had been practicing to grow to such a formidable level!

Perhaps the Immortal Cultivators were also interested in the answer to the question. That was why they had instigated chaos in secret and arranged the Battle of Liberty City.

“Xiahou Wuxin!” Lei Zonglie blew up countless hostile warriors in the hundred square meters after only one punch and stopped the enemy from further pursuing them outside of the city. Then, he roared thunderously at Liberty City’s direction, “I’ll spare your life today, but if you still do not dare to duel with me outside of the city tomorrow, don’t blame me for razing the entire Liberty City to the ground!”

As the thunderous declaration rumbled out, none of the defenders, excluding the Immortal Cultivator players, had the courage to move forward and challenge the Fist King.

“Fall back!”

The Fist King looked at Li Yao and waved his hands, personally covering the retreat so that the army could evacuate from the battlefield in order.

Li Yao shuddered in coldness, feeling that the Fist King’s eyes were particularly thoughtful.

Perhaps his pretend clumsiness but actual casualness when he dodged the monster’s attacks had been seen through by the Fist King.

…

Han Te and Liu Li finally woke up, only to discover that they were in the secret chamber on the top floor of Great Iron City, where the Fist King collected his spiritual puppets.

‘Grandpa Yao’ was next to them, and ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie still sat on the throne of gears majestically and stared at them without saying anything.

Other than them, there was not another person in the room.

The two little fellows were alarmed. They looked at Li Yao in confusion at the same time.

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know what is going on either!” Li Yao’s soul was almost soaked in cold sweat. “The attack has come to an end. Just now, the Fist King took action in person and saved us from a monster. Then he ordered his subordinates to bring us here. Who knows what he is up to? I estimate that he has probably grown suspicious of me. You looking at me with such confusion and eagerness for answers is essentially telling the Fist King that there is something greatly wrong about me!”

The two little fellows were dazed. It was not until then that they realized that they had made a great mistake. Not knowing how they should make up for it, they became extremely awkward.

Compared to a giant of the Land of Sins like ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie, the two of them were too insignificant, to the point that they were absolutely incapable of fighting back.

Li Yao was secretly considering what ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie was up to exactly.

He reached a similar conclusion because of his senses and intuition. The Fist King seemed to have a certain uncanny ‘interest’, if not subtle ‘fondness’, in him.

He can’t really be a pervert, can he?

Li Yao’s soul felt creeped out.

Seeing that the two little fellows had woken up and their subtle interaction with Li Yao, the Fist King appeared even more thoughtful. He said casually, “The monster I killed in one punch just now was named ‘Bloody Butcher’ Lei Kuang, one of the seven most famous thugs under Xiahou Wuxin.

“Although we failed to break into Liberty City today, we have figured out the details of the enemy’s battle formation and slain a general as famous as ‘Bloody Butcher’ Lei Kuang. So, it is essentially a minor victory for us.

“It shouldn’t have been as easy to kill such a tough person. It was all thanks to your effective distraction that he burst into fury and made a bad call. He did not notice my arrival, which gave me the opportunity to kill him in one punch. So, the two of you have made a major contribution!”

Han Te had Liu Li looked at each other in bewilderment, not having the vaguest clue what the Fist King was talking about.

Li Yao thought to himself quickly. The Fist King was apparently making an excuse to speak to them, or rather, to him, in private.

In fact, considering the world-overturning punches that the Fist King had launched, if he had made up his mind to kill ‘Bloody Butcher’ Lei Kuang, unless the leader of Liberty City had shown up in person, or dozens of players of Immortal Cultivators attacked him at the same time, how could the guy have not been killed?

“I believe in giving rewards when rewards are due. Whatever your origins and background are, as long as you have made contributions, you must be rewarded properly!”

Staring at the two little fellows, the Fist King suddenly changed the topic. “However, you two look rather young and juvenile, and you do not seem the same as the other members of the Red Viper Squad, right?”

Regarding their origins, Han Te, Liu Li, and Xin Xiaoqi had long agreed on a standard answer. They immediately replied half truthfully and half falsely, “For your information, Fist King, we were indeed not the same team at the beginning, but we were all joining your army from different directions. When we were attacked by the Flying Leopard Hall on our way, they saved us. As it happened, we had an invitation card with us. So, we decided to make a team and look after each other.”

Such temporary teams had been established all the time during the Fist King’s recruitment. It was not strange at all.

“That explains a lot.” The Fist King’s voice became even gentler, which was rather incompatible with his intimidating body size. “Don’t get me wrong. I have known Xin Xiaoqi for a long time. She also once took quests from me and helped me deliver invitation cards to many major forces. So, I’m not suspicious about you, just curious.

“You must be very hungry after a day of fierce fights. Come on. Let’s eat while we talk!”