Chapter 101: Floated Down

The pale blue figure loomed tall, its entire body sheathed in armor etched with countless mysterious runes. Its features were hidden beneath a helmet, indistinct save for two soul-piercing points of dim light.

An indescribable aura of majesty erupted from that figure in an instant, surging wildly in every direction. Beneath that terrifying pressure, both Luo Qi and the Turtle Prime Minister felt a chill race through their bodies, their limbs stiffening until they could scarcely move.

They stared at Liu Ping in horror, their eyes brimming with shock.

What kind of technique was this? How had it made the man before them so powerful?

"How is this possible... I am already half a step from Demon Marshal, and this fellow..." Luo Qi could hardly believe what she was seeing. Ever since she had fought Liu Ping, he had brought her one astonishment after another, but now astonishment had turned to dread. She had long suspected that Liu Ping might have some hidden trump card, but she had never imagined he possessed such terrifying strength. In an instant, her heart was filled with bitter regret.

Liu Ping rolled his neck, and the Water-Element Divine Demon rolled its neck as well. Right now, he had two points of view, two bodies. It was truly a strange sensation to control both at once.

"Please spare my life, young master! I will retreat at once!" Luo Qi pleaded without hesitation. Life mattered most; as for dignity, what was that worth?

"Hahaha, I am finally out. Quite fast, little master. Your talent is not bad at all!" The divine demon's face gradually grew clear, revealing a visage of perfection beyond compare. Its voice directly entered Liu Ping's sea of consciousness. "What is the situation now?"

Liu Ping smiled and relayed the situation directly in his mind.

"A mere half-step Demon Marshal, nothing more than an ant to be crushed at will! Still, Master, you had better kill her quickly. Your condition is not very good." The keen spiritual intelligence of the spell instantly discerned Liu Ping's bodily state. This descent of the divine demon was immensely powerful, but it also required a sufficient supply of spiritual energy.

"Yes, I know."

Liu Ping paid no mind to Luo Qi. The divine demon body stretched out a great hand and seized straight for her.

"No!"

Although Luo Qi had been shaken by the pressure, once she bit through the tip of her tongue and broke free of that state, she moved without hindrance. At once she burned through her origin essence and fled desperately.

Liu Ping frowned slightly. Under the burst of her origin power, Luo Qi's speed had actually increased considerably. With his own body in such poor condition, if he did not end this quickly, he might not be able to kill her.

"What a joke. You still want to run?" the girl formed of spell-spirit power sneered. Under her control, countless streams of water turned into dragons of flowing current, trapping Luo Qi within them.

With that brief obstruction, Luo Qi immediately found it difficult to escape.

Liu Ping paused, then smiled. "Much appreciated!"

As he spoke, the pair of enormous hands clamped down.

Staring at that giant palm, Luo Qi widened her eyes. Blood tears even began to stream from them. At that moment, she could clearly sense the breath of death. She flew into a frenzy, raised her head, and let out a shriek.

"Kill me, then! I will drag you down with me! Self-detonate the demon core! Die with me!"

She intended to self-detonate her demon core.

Not far away, the Turtle Prime Minister and the Blackfish General's eyelids twitched. Their hearts seized with terror. If the demon core of a half-step Demon Marshal exploded, the blast might reach them as well. Their scalps tingled, and they drew in sharp breaths, just about to flee.

But then they saw an image they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

The terrifying youth, now transformed into a divine demon, gave a cold laugh, his contempt utterly plain. Then he closed that great hand and instantly crushed Luo Qi into powder, her soul scattering to the wind. Even the demon core she had just begun to detonate was snuffed out on the spot.

"Is this real..." The Turtle Prime Minister, the Blackfish General, and the entire contingent of water troops were all stunned by what they saw. Though they had feared Liu Ping's strength earlier, it had not yet felt real to them. They had only thought him formidable. But now, watching him pinch a half-step Demon Marshal to death as casually as if crushing a fly, and doing so without the slightest disturbance even after she tried to self-detonate her demon core, they were deeply shaken by this incomparably domineering power. Too strong. Truly too strong.

It was simply beyond belief. How could a cultivator only at the Human Immortal realm be this powerful?

When Shi Tuo saw Luo Qi being killed so effortlessly, his entire body shuddered. His gaze gradually cleared, and he immediately understood the situation. Terror filled him at once. He was just about to flee when darkness suddenly crashed down before his eyes, and a great hand pressed from above.

Boom!

The Shi Tuo who had seemed impossible to kill no matter what, as though he possessed an undying body, died beyond all possible doubt in an instant.

"Hu."

Liu Ping let out a breath of relief, then suddenly turned to look at the water troops.

Under his gaze, the Turtle Prime Minister and the Blackfish General both felt a coldness seep through their bones, their hearts miserable with dread.

Could this cultivator, having gone blood-red with killing intent, want to kill them as well?

At the thought, they could not help shivering. Just as they were about to beg for mercy, their vision suddenly blurred, and the cultivator's spell seemed to vanish?

After a while, there was still no movement...

What was going on?

Hm? The cultivator also seemed to be gone.

Full of doubt, the Turtle Prime Minister and the Blackfish General exchanged a look and carefully went over to investigate. To their shock, Liu Ping really was gone.

"What is this? Where did he go? Did he leave already?" the Blackfish General asked in confusion.

"No..." The Turtle Prime Minister looked down at the shattered array beneath the water and said with a bitter smile, "He was drawn inside."

"Drawn inside?" the Blackfish General asked, puzzled.

The Turtle Prime Minister breathed a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto the water's surface, sitting there as though having escaped disaster by a hair's breadth. With weak resignation, he said, "That was a teleportation array. It was damaged in the earlier attack, but arrays of that sort can still be used one final time even after breaking. That man was pulled in just now. Better that way. If he had truly gone bloodthirsty and decided to silence everyone..."

At this, the Blackfish General and the nearby water troops could not help shuddering, their hearts filled with relief.

"Damn it! Hurry back! The protective barrier of the Water Palace was damaged in the battle just now!" The Turtle Prime Minister suddenly thought of this and cried out, "Back at once to repair it!"

A clear stream flowed swiftly along, the water crystal clear to the bottom. Egg-sized pebbles lay across the riverbed, with a sparse blade or two of water grass growing among them. A school of small fish darted through the current, playing with one another. Then, two fair little hands descended, and the fish scattered in alarm.

A gentle young girl cupped a basin of water in both hands and bent her head to drink. Feeling the faint sweetness of the stream, her gloomy mood improved considerably.

She looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, with bright eyes and a lovely face. She wore plain white robes, like a fairy descended to earth. At her temple, faint scales could be seen. Now she smiled, revealing two tiny dimples, sweetly adorable, and called out, "Uncle Kong, this water is good. It's very sweet. Come and have some."

Beside her stood a middle-aged man, well over six feet tall and imposing in the extreme, with a square face and sharp, well-defined features. At her words, his hard expression softened somewhat.

"Young lady, you need not address me like that. Just call this old servant by name. I shall drink in a moment."

Then he turned and looked at the five armored soldiers sprawled nearby, coldly reprimanding them, "What are you five doing sitting here? We've only traveled such a short distance, and you're already exhausted to the point of collapse. What sort of example is that? Hurry up and fill your water skins!"

"Yes, yes." The five armored soldiers did not dare disobey and quickly agreed, taking out their water bags to fill them.

"Uncle Xu, there is no need to be so stern. They are working very hard already," the girl said with a smile. "We have already gone a full day and night without rest. Come, all of you, drink some water here. We will reach the border gate very soon, so there should not be any accidents."

"Before we deliver you to the Water Palace and completely refine the Water God Seal, we absolutely cannot let our guard down for even a moment. You do not know how many eyes are watching us from the shadows..." Uncle Kong said, shaking his head.

"All right, all right, I know that naturally. Uncle Kong, you're already so tired. Come drink some water. This water really is good."

Just as her words fell, one of the armored soldiers who had come over to draw water suddenly cried out in alarm, staring into the stream.

The girl was startled and turned around.

Upstream, a human figure was drifting down along the current...