“Thank you, Master Wei, for letting this old dog know what the world I have been living in truly is.” Xiahou Wuxin took a long breath in relief and smiled. “In the past, I always thought that the Land of Sins was a laboratory without exits, a transparent but enclosed cage that absolutely cannot be broken.
“But now that I look at it, not just the Land of Sins, even the Imperium of True Human Beings or the entire universe out there is still an enormous jail. Nothing more! Is there any difference between one who can escape and one who cannot?”
He sounded so frustrated that he truly seemed to have lost all his fighting will.
“It is not a jail but an army,” Wei Xiaotian said casually. “Concentrating the flesh, soul, and will of all human beings, building them into an invincible and unconquerable army, charging in the infinite sea of stars, and reshaping the greatness and pride of the civilization of mankind—this is the significance of the Imperium’s existence, and this is the value of your sacrifices!”
“The civilization of mankind…” Xiahou Wuxin chewed on the few words and smiled bitterly. Then he suddenly said in a low voice, “But in such a case, I am truly confused about something. Cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough!”
He lowered his voice and suddenly began to cough, attracting the attention of all the gray Exos including Wei Xiaotian.
At this moment, inside the sewer below their feet that was not very deep, Li Yao and the Fist King had micro-adjusted every component on their body. Every bearing and every chip had been set to the maximum state to ensure that the highest combat ability could be released.
Han Te and Liu Li found their target, too, which was an enormous warehouse two kilometers away from Xiahou Wuxin and the rest of them.
The elites of the ‘Godly Fist Union’ were confronting the main force of the defenders of Liberty City who were holding the warehouse.
Both parties were seasoned warriors personally trained by either the Fist King or Xiahou Wuxin. They were completely different from the mobsters that were temporarily drafted. Despite the collapse of order and the mayhem in the city, they still maintained some sort of discipline and combat ability under the control and command of their respective captains.
Both parties were trying to seize the seemingly large warehouse, which probably contained abundant assets, but they had recognized each other’s toughness and did not burst into a fight immediately.
That was because countless mobsters and rogue warriors were wandering nearby and craning their heads stealthily, like ravenous hyenas that were waiting for the result of the battle of two lions. They were even sitting on the fence, ready to take advantage of both of them.
Naturally, they would not allow the few bandits to get things their way, but they were reluctant to leave so quickly. For a moment, they were caught in an impasse.
Shocking changes took place at the two places almost at the same time.
When Xiahou Wuxin just raised his last question, and when he was coughing so loudly that he could barely stand steadily and vomited tremendous blood, he staggered and could not help but fall toward Xin Xiaoqi.
At this moment, Wei Xiaotian already had a warning.
But however acute his warning was, it was not as fast as Xiahou Wuxin!
Xiahou Wuxin seemed to have taken off a shell named ‘weakness’ and turned into the dominating, invincible leader of Liberty City again. He stopped in front of Xin Xiaoqi after only one leap and pressed her chest hard. “Xiaoqi, run now!”
He was going to sacrifice himself to clear a path of survival for Xin Xiaoqi!
The few auras that had locked onto Xin Xiaoqi tightly earlier were all disrupted by his fighting will that felt like a torrent. Five or so gray Exos were so shocked that they dashed to surround the duo, trying to block Xin Xiaoqi’s retreat.
Xiahou Wuxin, on the other hand, grinned hideously. Dozens of veins as thick as vipers immediately protruded out of his dry chest and arms. Exerting his strength, he punched back at a gray Exo with his flesh and blood, blowing the opponent to almost five meters away. The armor on the crystal suit’s arm was falling apart like petals!
Then, Xiahou Wuxin made a movement that was beyond everyone’s expectations.
He had clearly pushed Xin Xiaoqi toward the outside of the battle, and he had even intentionally roared, leaving everyone the impression that he was about to sacrifice himself to protect Xin Xiaoqi.
But out of everyone’s expectations, he suddenly sucked heavily. Some sort of swirl-like force came out of nowhere to his palm, and he pulled Xin Xiaoqi back and threw her at where the gray Exos were densest.
Then, he seemed to have grown wings. Waving his hands so crazily that they were cracking, he soared and dashed dozens of meters away from the battlefield. It seemed that he was about to dash into the burning and collapsing alleys inside the ruins in only a few bounds.
He had rambled on about so many things and pretended to be completely frustrated and desperate, but everything was just a disguise for himself to run away, even at the cost of the life of his only true disciple!
“Hehe!” Wei Xiaotian snorted. The look on his face was absolutely the same as before, but dim grayness shone around his crystal suit as dozens of tiny flying swords darted out at Xiahou Wuxin from weird angles in all directions.
The other gray Exos realized what was going on. They also let go of the surveillance on Xin Xiaoqi, who was still staggering in midair, and began to lock onto Xiahou Wuxin, who was as quick as a ghost, lunging at him in roars after being fooled.
The third change took place when the tiny flying swords hit Xiahou Wuxin.
Xin Xiaoqi was supposed to be a ‘human shield’ that he threw at the gray Exos brutally, but right then, somebody seemed to have kicked her right in the bottom, and the propulsion magical equipment on her hands and feet spurted out tremendous air currents, allowing her to take a sharp turn and move out of the encirclement!
Xiahou Wuxin and Xin Xiaoqi were besieged by the more than ten gray Exos in the beginning. Their enemies were in such a neat position that there was no gap at all.
However, after Xiahou Wuxin’s three changes—pretending to sacrifice himself to save his disciple at first, running away himself with his disciple as a decoy later, and sacrificing himself to protect Xin Xiaoqi in the end—he finally tore apart a tiny gap in the enemy’s perfect battle formation and sent Xin Xiaoqi out of the siege!
“Hahaha!”
Dozens of flying swords hit Xiahou Wuxin at the same time. Smoke rose from fire and blood. But Xiahou Wuxin’s hoarse laughter echoed from the smoke.
One of the gray Exos dashed into the smoke. Then, a series of metal twists and bone fractures were heard, followed by nonstop explosions!
After the smoke slightly dispersed, in the middle of the boiling blood and the burning fire, a magnificent shadow even taller than the Fist King showed up!
It was almost a giant more than two meters tall. Maybe it was not a very shocking height in the Land of Sins that was frequented by monsters everywhere. But the shoulder of the giant was almost as broad as two meters. It was practically a pure square that was stuffed with muscles.
Muscles upon muscles, veins tied in veins, it was like a hybrid of rebar and cement.
The dense bone spurs that were embedded on the arms and the crimson eyes and the enormous nostrils from which anger was spurting out were even more ferocious than the iron-boned Fist King before!
“Hehe. Hehehe!”
He roared like a caged beast.
Everybody in the Land of Sins knew that Xiahou Wuxin, as the leader of Liberty City, was an expert in handling flying swords. He had always been focusing on agility, swiftness, and grace.
Nobody had ever seen Xiahou Wuxin in such an explosive form before, which was even more like a primordial beast than ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie!
Below the ground, Li Yao asked the Fist King in a low voice, “Is metamorphosis very popular in the Land of Sins? Do the big shots never greet other people until they have a second form or an ultimate one?”
“Well…” The Fist King’s crystal processor calculated quickly. “In such a case, everything makes sense now. The combat ability Xiahou Wuxin presented during the battle with me was obviously insufficient. It was at least forty percent lower than the data that I collected by analyzing his battle videos.
“Just now, I thought that he was frustrated and not determined to fight because he had long known the truth of the Land of Sins and that he was nothing more than a tool to be studied and played.
“But from what we’ve seen, it must’ve been done on purpose. He intentionally kept part of his strength.”
“Keeping part of his strength in front of such an unparalleled warrior like you?” Li Yao could not help but shudder hard for Xiahou Wuxin’s cunningness and thoughtfulness. He was about to ask why Xiahou Wuxin did that, but he realized the reason himself quickly.
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao said quickly, “Are you suggesting that Xiahou Wuxin was waiting for an opportunity to completely get himself, or at least his disciple Xin Xiaoqi, out of the surveillance of the sky.
“But as long as Liberty City was in peace and he was the leader of Liberty City, there was no way that he could get rid of the surveillance and manipulation of the sky. He could not escape at all.
“Therefore, although he had probably planned everything carefully in secret for decades, since the time when Xin Xiaoqi’s mother, his love, was killed by him, he had never dared to make any moves recklessly because there was no chance of escaping at all under peaceful circumstances.
“When you commanded a great army to attack Liberty City, it was a great opportunity for him to take advantage of the chaos.
“He pretended to be no match for you and get heavily wounded by you. Disappearing from everyone’s sight, he intended to run out of the city without alarming everyone. It is a shame that he’s been blocked by the Immortal Cultivators, who forced him to expose his real strength that he has never revealed in the past decades!”
“Yes,” the Fist King said. “My logical thinking circuits have analyzed all the known information comprehensively. There is a 93.3% likelihood that it’s true!”
“Great!” Li Yao’s crystal cameras’ shone, and his smile gradually turned hideous. “In such a case, we can be even more confident in keeping the entire gray squad here forever!”
On the ground, Wei Xiaotian’s eyes began to glitter in interest, too. “So, you were not wounded at all, and you even practiced brand-new techniques in secret. Such a perfect shape… What a pleasant surprise, Leader Xiahou!”
