(t/n: 一山不能容二虎, a common saying referring to how two strong people won’t be able to coexist in one place)
Translated by Yan of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
“Pfft….”
White smoke suddenly came up from the cauldron, spiraling upward and disappearing in the atmosphere.
You XiaoMo looked at the pile of black crumbs leftover from the magic herbs which laid ruined inside the cauldron and silently wiped away the blood that covered his face. He was speechless for a long time because this was already the second time he failed.
The first time, after going through an endless distilling, it took him four days to finish extracting all the magic herbs. But then a tiny mistake happened during the refining stage, and he failed. The second time, or this time, also had a mistake occur during the refining stage. Moreover, it was when he was about to finish. It took him eight days total, but he failed at the last second!
Fu CangQiong only gave him three portions of ingredients. Now there was only one portion left. If he failed again, he would either have to ask for more from Fu CangQiong or go look for them by himself. He had already gathered quite a bit in his dimension, but…
When You XiaoMo thought about failing, he felt very ashamed.
Back then, when he heard about how Cang Alliance’s Master Lai also failed many times while refining the Samsara Pill, he didn’t pay much attention to it. As a result, reality brutally smacked him in the face. You couldn’t be too arrogant, or else you would end up like this!
At the beginning, he only thought that it would take about ten or so days, but now almost half a month had already passed. You XiaoMo sat and rested for half an hour before taking out the third portion of ingredients. He imagined what he had to do in his mind first before acting.
An enormous amount of magic herbs fell, scattered, into the cauldron.
……
In the Black Spider’s headquarters.
The TongTian Emperor stared at a palace hall on a distant mountain peak with an unreadable expression on his face. He felt more and more that coming to Xi Jing with Lin ShaoYi was a mistake.
The reason was very simple. They were merely an alliance made from mutual interest. It was best if this kind of alliance was established on a foundation of equal strength; once that fulcrum of equality was lost, he would become the sheep that sent itself into the tiger’s mouth. If Lin ShaoYi’s plan succeeded, it was hard to ensure that he wouldn’t abandon the TongTian emperor afterwards.
“Heavenly Emperor, I still believe that it would be best if we left immediately,” a trusted aide couldn’t help but suggest upon seeing the Emperor pacing back and forth with a furrowed brow.
“Even you think that?” the TongTian Emperor stopped walking and looked at him with hesitation.
The trusted aide nodded. “Heavenly Emperor, the current situation is disadvantageous for us. What kind of person is Lin ShaoYi to be able to establish a powerhouse like the Black Spider? He must be someone who is vicious and merciless. As soon as his strength surpasses the Heavenly Emperor’s, he definitely won’t allow you to remain on equal footing with him.”
The TongTian Emperor’s face was dark. What the trusted aide was saying was indeed exactly what he was thinking in his mind.
He only learned on the day that he joined hands with Lin ShaoYi to kill Ling Xiao that Lin ShaoYi was actually exchanging his own blood, wanting to become the person from the legend of the Four Ancient Beast Clans. This kind of behavior was even crazier than his own former plans!
Furthermore, what made him afraid was that Lin ShaoYi’s plans were already about seventy percent accomplished. He already had the Qilin Clan, Demon Phoenix Clan, and True Dragon Clan’s bloodlines. The only one he didn’t have was the Black Turtle Clan’s bloodline. Once he succeeded, nobody would be his match anymore, and this alliance of theirs wouldn’t be of any use either.
This was the Black Spider’s headquarters with the holy maiden Zu Ma personally protecting it. If the TongTian Emperor wanted to launch a surprise attack on Lin ShaoYi and stop him, it would be nearly impossible.
What’s more, he still couldn’t confirm whether Lin ShaoYi was actually exchanging his blood in secluded cultivation right now. What if it was a trap that he purposefully set?
“Heavenly Emperor, don’t hesitate any longer. It doesn’t matter if it was a trap that Lin ShaoYi set or not, we can’t continue to stay in this place. This subordinate even suspects that the only reason Lin ShaoYi collaborated with the Heavenly Emperor was most likely because he wants to absorb the manpower that the Heavenly Emperor possesses.” The trusted aide hastily explained.
His worry wasn’t unfounded. In recent years, the Black Spider had suffered great losses during their past wars. Even though the Black Spider had fresh blood that could replace the manpower that they lost, in the end they still hadn’t fought before, which would cause many problems without enough experience.
“Alright then.” The TongTian Emperor finally still agreed.
He had long since expected the danger of asking someone for the impossible, but he just hadn’t expected it to come so fast. At the time, he really shouldn’t have agreed to Lin ShaoYi, nor should he have come to Xi Jing with him.
The trusted aide continued, “Heavenly Emperor, since you’ve already decided, let’s keep observing for a few more days and make certain that Lin ShaoYi is really in secluded cultivation. When the time is right, we’ll leave. Even though Zu Ma is powerful, she’s definitely not a match for the Heavenly Emperor.”
“Let’s do that!” After resolutely saying that, the TongTian Emperor didn’t notice that when his trusted aide was looking away, his eyes flashed briefly with a bit of a strange expression in their depths, which disappeared immediately.
Five days later, the trusted aide heard that Lin ShaoYi was indeed in secluded cultivation.
Most likely because he had been provoked by the bloodlines in Ling Xiao’s body, Lin ShaoYi felt extremely threatened and decided to finish the remaining part of his plan as fast as possible in the upcoming period of time. The Black Spider headquarters was guarded tightly. It was very hard to get close to the mountain with the main palace. Because of that, the trusted aide had no choice but to pry out everyone else’s true intentions.
After confirming over and over, they finally made their move when the patrols changed shifts.
The TongTian Emperor didn’t actually bring that many people with him this time. Including him, there were only fifteen people total, so it wouldn’t be too conspicuous. Moreover, even the ones with the lowest cultivation base among their group were still at Divine Realm level. He carried this self confidence all the way up until they were cut off. TongTian Emperor couldn’t understand; he was clearly already being very careful, so how were they discovered?
The TongTian Emperor stared at the handsome, tall and elegant man standing across from him with an ugly expression on his face. Didn’t they say that Lin ShaoYi was in secluded cultivation? Why would he appear here? Where did the mistake happen?
“TongTian-xiong, where are you preparing to go?” Lin ShaoYi smiled widely as he looked at the TongTian Emperor, who had a face full of disbelief. He grew even happier.
The TongTian Emperor’s expression suddenly darkened. “This is the trap that you set up.”
Lin ShaoYi was all smiles. “Correct. If you obediently stayed here, I might not have made a move against you. But since you aren’t content with that, then I have no choice but to personally come out and deal with you myself.”
The TongTian Emperor snorted coldly, but his expression grew even uglier. He said, “From what I can see, you don’t have any intention of letting me go whatsoever. I’m guessing that your plan has already succeeded, right? The so-called secluded cultivation was just so you could lure me out and force me to act.”
“You’re right.” Lin ShaoYi didn’t plan on hiding that. On the contrary, he said kindly, “However, that’s not the entire truth. My plan hasn’t succeeded yet, it’s still lacking the very last part.”
An ominous premonition abruptly rose in the TongTian Emperor’s heart.
Lin ShaoYi chuckled, but there was a malicious, sly look mixed in with his smile. “Why did you think I tricked you into coming to Xi Jing? Did I really want you to help me? You’re also a high-level expert. You should know that one mountain cannot hide two tigers. There’s no way I could’ve allowed a threat like you to remain at my side.”
“What exactly are you planning to do?”
The TongTian Emperor’s face went ashen. For some reason, the more Lin ShaoYi spoke like this, the more he felt as if there was a kind of danger that was already looming over his heart, as if there were dangers hidden all around him, making his blood run cold.
This kind of feeling was too unusual!
For better or worse, he was still a seven star expert. Even if Lin ShaoYi wanted to do something to him, the two of them would be at a draw at the very most. He could also leave his body, but even with that self-confidence, he kept feeling as if something wasn’t right after seeing Lin ShaoYi’s calm and relaxed appearance.
“You’ll find out very soon.” Lin ShaoYi drew back the corners of his mouth, his expression growing even more arrogant. It was as if his mouth belonged to that of a predator, and he was about to swallow the TongTian Emperor down in one bite.
The TongTian Emperor violently clenched his fists, his hatred against the Qilin Clan growing even more. First it was Ling Xiao, now it was Lin ShaoYi. One after another they played him like he was a monkey. He definitely wouldn’t forget this easily; if he could escape from here, he would absolutely wreak havoc against Lin ShaoYi and Ling Xiao to the point that they wouldn’t even have a body to bury!
At that moment, the TongTian Emperor suddenly opened his eyes wide. Across from him was Lin ShaoYi, who was wearing an expected smirk.
The TongTian Emperor slowly lowered his head. A sharp sword had pierced through his chest, and fresh blood dripped from the point of the sword onto the ground. Sword? A sword that had pierced him from behind?
The only person who he wouldn’t be vigilant against in the slightest was his trusted aide. Now, when he recalled the trusted aide giving him advice, he suddenly discovered that the first person to be bribed was his trusted aide.
“Heavenly Emperor, don’t blame me!” the trusted aide’s indifferent voice came from behind him. “The winner takes all; you’re the one who understands this logic the most. I only want to follow the real expert, but ever since you lost to Ling Xiao, you were already doomed to be a loser!”
“Haha!” Lin ShaoYi started to laugh madly. It was as if the sound of his laughter had been magnified by several times, as it resounded all around them endlessly. His expression made him seem a little crazy. After a long while, he finally stopped. “TongTian-xiong, no need to be polite, I’ll accept your body. If my plan succeeds, ShaoYi will definitely be very grateful for your generous gift.”
The TongTian Emperor spat out a mouthful of blood. His body swayed before he finally unwillingly and slowly toppled over.
The winner takes all!
Of course he understood that line of logic, only he had never expected that he would be the loser. He even more so hadn’t thought he, who had stood far above everyone else on the pyramid, would meet his end this way. After rushing about for many years through all sorts of planes of existence, he hadn’t expected it to have actually ground away his vigilance to the point that he really believed that his trusted aide wouldn’t betray him.
The TongTian Emperor was very unwilling. He should be the one who’s the Almighty!
