Chapter 219 Day Four · Shackle
In the hot, repressing night, Dongcheng Rushi started to go back, while Li Tianlan was marching forward.
He could only march forward because there was no other choice.
The intense killing had lasted for a day and a night. Li Tianlan himself couldn’t remember when did he get separated with the others.
The village in the No. 3 defensive area was a mess. Till the real encirclement started, Li Tianlan realized there were other superpowers other than Jifeng Sword-reining School there.
After the Big Dipper and Wind Ghost died, they instantly launched the encirclement, but before they could rush out of the forest, East Island elites had come for them from all directions, including the elites from the village behind the forest. There were at least a thousand people rushing like flood and swallowing them instantly.
There was only killing left.
There was only fighting left.
The enemies were everywhere, and the killing intent was everywhere.
The ice and fire were roaring, the thunder was flashing, the airflow was surging, and the gunfires were booming.
Li Tianlan could only launch attacks according to the original plan. From night to daytime, till the moonlight faded away and the sun rose, Li Tianlan found out that he had lost contact with the people around him.
Sunset Shadow had died.
Deep Dream disappeared.
Dongcheng Rushi disappeared.
Du Hanyin also disappeared.
Just when he got out of an encirclement, he seemed to fall into another. The road back had been completely blocked. Under the blanket search of the East Island elites, Li Tianlan could only run away backward.
In a day and a night.
In the silent time when the fourth day was about to end, Li Tianlan, who was covered in blood, was taking care of his wounds quietly.
A large amount of blood had dried out in his body, but he was still bleeding in somewhere. Some of the blood belonged to him, but most of it was someone else’s blood. Looking from afar, Li Tianlan was completely a blood man.
He threw the torn shirt aside. On his back, there was a deep saber wound that showed his bones and seemed like it was carved there. The blood kept streaming down.
The saber wound was about thirty centimeters long, and a huge amount of blood gushed out from the wound. Li Tianlan casually ripped off a tree skin and bit it in his mouth. Then his whole body shivered.
A layer of fire started burning on his back. The fire reached his whole back and covered the whole wound.
“Huh!”
Li Tianlan bit the tree skin hard. With this horrible pain, his face turned distorted and pale, but his eyes still looked cold and disturbingly calm.
The wound, flesh, and blood were burnt and managed to stick together. Li Tianlan’s face looked cold. The fire lit up again on the tip of his finger. He burnt some mild wounds in his chest, arms and thighs, and the cold sweat kept falling down along his forehead. Li Tianlan’s face looked distorted, and his whole body smelt burnt, but there was a kind of crazy coldness in his calm eyes.
The flame burnt the last wound. Li Tianlan, who could collapse at any minute, moved his body and leaned on the tree behind him. He took out the tree skin that he almost bit through just now and ate it without looking at it.
It all happened in one day.
But Li Tianlan had been a completely different person.
In almost a day and a night, East Island had obviously set him as the main encirclement target and blocked his retreat route. And the people they sent to chase after him were also very powerful.
At first, there were just hundreds of people chasing after him, then two superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm joined the team.
In less than six hours, two more superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm were added in the team.
Then a superior of the Half-step Invincible Realm entered the scene.
The team of hundreds of people had finally gone. Then it became a hunting team of two superiors of the Half-step Invincible Realm as leaders, five superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm and nearly twenty superiors of the Fire-flaming Realm. All these efforts were just for hunting a young man. East Island was extremely serious about him.
Li Tianlan didn’t even remember how many people he had killed. He used Human Emperor to kill elites of the Qi-controlling Realm and Ice-condensing Realm one after another. He rushed to the highway from the forest, then entered the mountain area, and finally got into the forest again. He ran all the way to the edge of the battlefield, and the people who were hunting him were getting more and more powerful. This was totally the most brutal battle he had met since he came to East Island. He only remembered that he killed a superior of the Thunder-shocking Realm while he was running away, and the horrible wound on his back was from that fight.
That superior of the Half-step Invincible Realm launched the attack himself. The sword light of that strike lit up the whole forest and nearly cut his body in halves.
The crazy killing and fighting had made him release the killing intent and fighting desire he had been hiding inside. In this state, Li Tianlan’s every move was extremely sharp and dangerous. The high concentration of his willpower had improved his vigilance and combat instinct. While killing and running away, he got faster and faster, and his attacks were more and more powerful. In the flying blood and the sad crying, he seemed to put all the emotions apart from killing behind. He seemed to be waking up or metamorphosizing. His willpower kept breaking the limits, and his flawed Heavenly King Heart became closer and closer to perfection.
The unique technique of Xuanyuantai focused on mental state.
The 24 Moves of Sword, especially the most powerful moves of Absolute Sword demanded strong willpower more than anything. In the almost desperate environment, Li Tianlan saw the chance of making himself stronger. So he was running away, but he still kept improving.
Or else in this hunting, Li Tianlan at least saw the chance of him getting out twice. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but at least he could get closer to the elites of Zhongzhou State.
But he kept getting deep in the enemies and circled around the edges of the battlefield without anyone noticing.
They wanted him dead.
He never thought about whether he would make it. In continuous hunting and fighting, his desire for greater strength became a priority and turned into an obsession. He chased after greater strength and perfect mind state out of instinct. This obsession had transcended life and death.
Somehow he felt repression or oppression.
There seemed to be an unknown or forgotten force that kept repressing his will of martial arts that was getting more and more perfect, like a constraint or a shackle.
Li Tianlan didn’t know what that was, but as his willpower and concentration kept surpassing the peak, in the deadly battles and killing, the shackle that he ignored and forgot started to fade away, then it shattered completely. It seemed to be right in front of him.
Li Tianlan quietly bit the tree skin in his hands. When there was no supply, he sucked the bitter juice of the tree skin and swallowed the crushed wood pieces. In a trance, he seemed to go back to many years ago; he went back to the time when he would rather eat tree skin than to drink that stinky porridge.
The hard and resilient tree skin cut the corners of his mouth. Li Tianlan’s eyes looked calm, but the bloody mouth of his was smiling grimly.
The weak aura in him felt rising.
The silent but hysterical madness was brewing in him with sharp edginess. Then he became wild and crazy.
At this moment, Li Tianlan was like a raging sun.
But he was radiating dark light.
…
“This bastard is too fast!”
In the mountain forest one kilometer away from Li Tianlan, a superior of the Thunder-shocking Realm that was in charge of hunting Li Tianlan gritted his teeth and cursed, but he didn’t slow down his footsteps.
After a whole day and a whole night of hunting, the person who was being hunted was tired, but it was also torture for the people who were hunting. In the hunting team, apart from the faces of the two superiors of the Half-step Invincible Realm being normal, the superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm including the two superiors at the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm all looked pale out of exhaustion, let alone the others. They drank sugary liquid while marching forward.
The hunting team became scattered six hours ago.
In the beginning, two superiors of the Half-step Invincible Realm were leading the team, five superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm were in the middle, and eighteen superiors of the Fire-flaming Realm were in the back.
But right now, only four or five of the eighteen superiors of the Fire-flaming Realm could barely follow the troop, and the rest were already left far behind. The formation had been messed up. The hunting team became a really small team. If it wasn’t for that saber strike that hit Li Tianlan hard, most of the members in the hunting team might lose their faith.
“There are two phrases in Zhongzhou State; an arrow at the end of its flight, and final radiance of setting sun. He won’t make it for long. Let the elites around encircle him from four directions. Let’s take it slow and don’t push him. Let’s try to catch him alive.”
A man that walked in the very front said slowly. He was extremely short, with a baby face, looking like a fourteen-year-old or fifteen-year-old kid. But this ‘kid’ had an extremely intense aura. The sharp and wild aura had made everyone around him keep their distance.
He walked in front alone, like a flash of saber light in the dark.
Sharp and dazzling.
His code name was Baby Doll.
He was one of the vice commanders of Divine Wind Force, an experienced superior that had been famous for almost twenty years and one of Shinichi Miyamoto’s most trusted confidants. With his strength, he was absolutely qualified to stay in the temporary headquarter on the hill, but Shinichi Miyamoto sent him out. He obviously wanted him to be an effective executor.
“That little bastard… wait till I catch him!”
A superior of the Thunder-shocking Realm mumbled to himself, and his eyes looked vicious and angry.
“What would happen if you catch him?”
Baby Doll laughed, and two deep dimples appeared on that baby face of his that could hide his age well, looking kinda cute.
The superior of the Thunder-shocking Realm that said something first froze, then stayed silent.
He also came from Divine Wind Force and had pretty high status. Standing on his position, he naturally knew more secrets than others did. He also knew how important Li Tianlan was to East Island.
They definitely couldn’t kill this person if they could capture him alive. The best situation was they could draw him to their side and make him surrender.
“It’s said that His Highness had made a statement that if Li Tianlan is willing to surrender after being caught, he can choose from the two princesses in the imperial family that haven’t gotten married and can even keep them around him. This is so…”
The other superior of the Half-step Invincible Realm said while thinking about something, then shook his head.
Everyone’s bodies shook at the same time.
Now the Mikado had three daughters. The eldest one Yukiko had gotten married, but the other two inner princesses still hadn’t and were a pair of worldly famous beauties. Everyone was drooling over them. The Mikado would let them follow Li Tianlan around to draw him to their side. This showed how important Li Tianlan was and also showed what an awkward situation East Island was in.
“It’s so funny.”
Baby Doll shook his head and made a comment with a special intention.
Another superior of the Half-step Invincible Realm with the code name of A Thousand Faces laughed but didn’t say much. This was a huge, strong man, but he was willing to stand behind Baby Doll, which indicated the difference of their strength.
Baby Doll was about to say something, then his phone suddenly rang.
He frowned and answered the call, but his face turned pale after he heard something.
He quickly hung up the phone.
His baby face instantly turned gloomy, and he stayed silent.
“What’s wrong?”
A Thousand Faces frowned and asked.
“Half an hour ago, Azure Dragon Gongsun Qi launched a sudden attack on our number six stronghold, and eighty elites were wiped out! In addition, the Polar Ground Alliance and the Heroes’ Club also joined the battle.”
Baby Doll sounded cold.
“Gongsun Qi?”
A Thousand Faces was surprised. In the whole Dark World, Azure Dragon Gongsun Qi of Zhongzhou State seemed to have the tendency to be the first superior under the Invincible Realm. This kind of person was supposed to be the crucial force that could change the situation in the final moment. But now he had made his move when the final battle just broke out. Obviously, they were determined to save Li Tianlan. Gongsun Qi did this half an hour ago. Now, maybe Tribulation and Firmament were about to do something.
Number six stronghold was not far away from the village where Li Tianlan first got ambushed. But that wasn’t a stronghold. Around the village, there were about a thousand East Island Special Warfare Elites guarding there!
A Thousand Faces suddenly looked pale.
In order to rescue Li Tianlan, Zhongzhou State actually planned to rush straight toward the area they were guarding?
Did they think this was the moment of the final battle?
This was absolutely an accident.
But there was more than one accident. The Polar Ground Alliance and the Heroes’ Club joining the battle was also a huge variable.
A Thousand Faces looked nervous and worried. He gritted his teeth and asked, “What should we do now?”
“Let’s go back to help!”
Baby Doll’s face looked ferocious. There was nothing to hesitate about. They came to catch Li Tianlan for the victory in the final battle of Changdao. Now Zhongzhou State launched huge attacks on their land, and even people like Gongsun Qi joined the battle. If they didn’t go back and help them, it would be hard to predict the consequences. What was worse, the Heroes’ Club and the Polar Ground Alliance were preying on them, so they would never help East Island. Possibly, they would also attack them.
He and A Thousand Faces were both in the Half-step Invincible Realm and were powerful enough to change the situation of the battle. But now they were trapped here because of Li Tianlan. What a shame.
And the Li Tianlan right now wasn’t worth their efforts.
“Ice Bird, Black Shield, you two continue to chase after Li Tianlan. Ice Bird takes over the leadership of the surrounding area and gives orders of encirclement to the elites nearby. The rest, follow me.”
Baby Doll said straight to the point. He took an unwilling look deep at the forest, let out a regretful cold laugh, and said, “Relax, I hit him with my saber, so he won’t make it for too long. Right now, any one of you can beat him. When you catch him, immediately bring him back to the headquarter.”
“Ice Bird got it!”
Among the five superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm, a woman with a pretty, cold face stepped forward and said in a low voice.
She and Black Shield were both superiors at the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm. Either one of them could make Li Tianlan at his peak go all out when fighting. Now Li Tianlan was seriously injured, and there were many elites who could coordinate with them, so it would be so easy to catch Li Tianlan.
The unwilling expression appeared in Baby Doll’s eyes again, but he didn’t want to waste any more time. He soon rushed backward with A Thousand Faces and the other three superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm.
Because Ice Bird was too excited, her pretty face suddenly turned red, delicate and charming like a flower.
She knew what Baby Doll was clinging on. They had been chasing after Li Tianlan for a whole day and a whole night, but none of them gave up. It wasn’t because Li Tianlan was worth their efforts, it was because of the reward when they caught him.
And as Baby Doll and A Thousand Faces left, this reward would belong to her.
Baby Doll and A Thousand Faces disappeared at the furthest place that eyes could see.
Ice Bird took a deep breath and turned around rapidly. Then she took a look at Black Shield who was quiet aside and said without hesitation, “Let’s go!”
Somewhere dozens of meters behind Ice Bird and Black Shield, the void moved slightly.
“Idiots.”
Evil, the only assassin of the Invincible Realm right now in the Dark World, let out a cold laugh, then took in all his aura and followed them behind quietly.
As a superior of the Invincible Realm, he could be one of the people who first found out Li Tianlan’s location. The closest distance he got to him was twenty meters.
But Evil did nothing about it.
He actually didn’t lie to Shinichi Miyamoto. In Li Tianlan, this young Heavenly Son with low strength, he indeed felt a faint sense of danger. This feeling was weird, but it kept him from doing anything to Li Tianlan.
Right now, Li Tianlan was seriously injured.
It would be nice to let these two idiots to try him first.
Evil’s body was completely hidden in the void. He was holding an emerald disk and getting closer and closer to Li Tianlan.
Under a tree a few hundred meters ahead.
The calm eyes of Li Tianlan, who just swallowed the last piece of tree skin, suddenly lit up.
The footsteps of two people got closer and closer to him.
There were only two people.
In the dark, he held the Human Emperor and got up quietly. The wild killing intent instantly flew around him.
When his willpower totally focused, he felt the unknown shackle again, but he also saw a chance.
He lifted his arms and held the spear.
Li Tianlan took a step toward the direction which the pursuing troop was coming from.
This was a small step, but also a big step.
As he landed his feet, Li Tianlan’s aura suddenly rose; he went from the stabilization phase of the Ice-condensing Realm straight to the peak.
The fourth day was about to end.
The shackle of his willpower would be crushed.
