Chapter 605: Life and Death
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
A Hui's body could not move at all. When his consciousness awoke and he learned about the condition of his body, he was flabbergasted.
What was the golden radiance?
Eh? Its aura was somewhat familiar!
At the instant that Lou Lan discovered Ai Hui had awoken, he quickly told him everything that had happened previously. The situation in Ai Hui's body was complicated, and outsiders could not interfere with it at all. However, Lou Lan could help Ai Hui by obtaining more information.
Lou Lan did not talk very fast as he described every single detail with clarity to Ai Hui. He also told Ai Hui his own conjectures as a reference.
After telling Ai Hui everything, Lou Lan calmed down and kept watch over Ai Hui on one side. The red glow in his eyes flickered nonstop as he continued to observe Ai Hui's condition.
When Ai Hui finished listening to Lou Lan's recount, he realized what was going on and immediately thought of someone.
One Thousand Yuan! [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art]!
That was because the blood plum blossom had disappeared.
Ai Hui was very scared of this alluring girl who dressed in red. Like a viper that was hiding in the dark, she would bite him by surprise.
After calming down, Ai Hui put the issue of One Thousand Yuan aside for the time being. The disappearance of the blood plum blossom signified that the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] had been removed. He heaved a sigh of relief. All this time, the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] had been his biggest worry.
Right now, he needed to think about the terrible situation going on in his body.
Blood of the demonic god!
After listening to Lou Lan's conjectures, Ai Hui realized what was going on. No wonder he found the golden radiance's aura somewhat familiar. He had used the other drop of the demonic god's blood on the stone statue, which eventually turned into the demonic god armor.
He had not expected One Thousand Yuan to possess the blood of demonic god too.
Lou Lan had told Ai Hui before that demonic god's blood and God's blood differed by only one word, "demonic." It was likely that both of them were related to each other. Looking at what was happening now, it seemed that Lou Lan was right.
When Ai Hui learned about the appearance of the blood eye on the bandage and heard that the previously domineering golden radiance became gentle in nature, he understood that the bandage had saved his life once again.
Now that Ai Hui thought about it, he felt that the dreamland that he entered previously might be real. The demonic god armor, the demonic god's blood, and the bandage were closely linked to each other.
Unconsciously, Ai Hui's mind wandered.
He did not know for sure whether the mysterious ancient demonic god truly existed or not. All three items, the demonic god armor, the demonic god's blood, and the bandage, were extremely mysterious and powerful.
Just the bandage alone had saved his life several times.
Plus, every time he thought of how the bandage saved his life, he would think of his master and mistress.
A faint tinge of nostalgia lingered in his heart. His master and mistress's smiling faces appeared in his mind. The anxiety that he felt was relieved gradually. No matter how difficult the situation was, he would not lose his courage to fight on. After all, he was very lucky to able to survive for so long.
Lou Lan did not know how Ai Hui would handle the news, but he discovered that the terrible situation in Ai Hui's body had alleviated significantly.
Ai Hui was indeed Ai Hui!
Lou Lan was very happy. He always had a mysterious confidence in Ai Hui. Lou Lan's eyes slightly squinted into two crescent moons. However, he quickly clenched his fasts and widened his eyes. Following which, his eyes flickered rhythmically with a red glow.
He had to record every single change taking place in Ai Hui's body and let Ai Hui refer to them.
When Ai Hui calmed down and looked at the condition in his body, he felt that it wasn't as bad as he had thought. A problem would always remain as a problem. Sometimes, one had to look at the problem from a different perspective. By doing so, he or she would have a new outlook on it.
Ai Hui began to ponder over the problem.
His first target was the demonic god's blood. Having a serious attitude when solving a problem was exceptionally important. After pondering over the demonic god's blood, Ai Hui sensed something was different.
After all, he had personally used a drop of the demonic god's blood before.
The golden radiance in his body seemed to have weakened significantly. It did not simply become more gentle, but rather, its amount was reduced. Ai Hui conjectured that the golden radiance in his body contained only 20% to 25% of a drop of the demonic god's blood.
Ai Hui rejoiced in his heart.
If it had been a full drop of the demonic god's blood, his body would have exploded, and he would not be alive now.
After Ai Hui determined the amount of the demonic god's blood in his body, he placed his attention on the nature of the golden radiance. The bandage caused the previously domineering and violent golden radiance to become gentler and more restrained. However, its ability to temper his flesh had not changed.
Apparently, the golden radiance did not belong to any power that Ai Hui knew of. It wasn't elemental energy or blood spiritual force. Luckily, he was considered very experienced in the field of the unknown.
The sword embryo and lightning were both brand-new types of power.
When Ai Hui faced an unknown, he would think daringly, carry out trials prudently, and sort it out meticulously. This methodology was derived from his experience in dealing with unknowns.
He tried to channel the golden radiance, but it wouldn't move a single bit.
Ai Hui wasn't surprised. Even though the bandage had reduced the destructive power of the golden radiance, the golden radiance was from the demonic god's blood after all, so its base level was extremely high. Perhaps he could channel the golden radiance if he wore the demonic god armor? It was a pity that he could not move his body or talk at all. This conjecture could only be tested in the future.
Since he could not channel the golden radiance, he tried to channel the other two powers.
He could channel the sword cloud very smoothly. He was able to carry out the Imbuement of Sword Cloud with a mere thought. Usually, when he was executing the Imbuement of Sword Cloud, he could move any part of his body as he pleased, but at this moment, he couldn't do so.
He could channel the primordial life force from the Vitality Branches as well, but similarly, he could feel an invisible hindrance.
By now, Ai Hui had confirmed that the base level of the golden radiance was comparable to that of the sword cloud and primordial life force.
The golden radiance roamed around Ai Hui's body freely. It was the main culprit of the situation in his body was in. The sword cloud and the primordial life force had roughly reached a balance. Now that the golden radiance was roaming around his body freely and creating chaos everywhere, the sword cloud felt threatened and released lightning bolts repeatedly. The destructive aura from the lightning bolts set off fear and trepidation in Ai Hui. Meanwhile, the primordial life force was picking up after the sword cloud and the golden radiance. It followed behind the golden radiance and the sword cloud, continuously repairing the damage that the other powers had inflicted on Ai Hui's body.
The three completely different types of power could not coexist with each other.
They were like three equally powerful elementalists who disliked each other and were fighting in a deathmatch.
The exuberant primordial life force, the destructive lightning, and the unknown demonic god's blood…
Suddenly, Ai Hui's mind jolted.
The primordial life force represented "Life" and the lightning represented "Death"…
Six words appeared in his mind: [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art]!
Ai Hui suddenly became excited!
Having been threatened by the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] for a long time, Ai Hui had spent a lot of time and effort dealing with it. He had experienced both the positions of flower slave and flower master. As a result, he had developed his own understanding of the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art].
Life and Death represented two opposite extremes, like the South Pole and the North Pole.
Yet, Ai Hui knew the that relationship between Life and Death was extremely profound. If he had to compare this relationship to something, he would think of Han Li's "Yin and Yang." However, "Life and Death" was much more profound than "Yin and Yang".
Even though it was very difficult to find areas in this world where Yin and Yang coexisted, they could still be found. On the other hand, no one knew any places where Life and Death coexisted.
Life and Death were two completely different states. If he wanted to bring them together, he had to find a medium. Only an extraordinary medium could bring these two completely different states together!
Without any hesitation, Ai Hui targeted the demonic god's blood.
This bold and unusual idea excited Ai Hui. Theoretically speaking, this idea was flawless and ingenious.
However, how could he bring these three entirely different powers together?
Ai Hui suddenly thought of the image of the blood plum blossom.
Essence blood! His mind jolted.
Did he have anything that contained his essence blood? Yes!
The bandage!
Just as this idea appeared in Ai Hui's mind, the bandage that wrapped around his body began to move. Like a nimble white snake, it entered Ai Hui's body through one of his fingers.
*****
Ai Hui's coma had caused dark clouds to loom over the defensive line.
Nevertheless, the three combat divisions could not care about it anymore at this point in time. Everyone felt extremely tense. The arrival of the horde of enemy reinforcements implied that a final battle was about to begin.
The Hellfire Pagoda Cannons on the God-subduing Peaks had been changed to Beehive Heavy Cannons.
Thick, bright-red cannon barrels were pointing majestically toward the sky. Barrels of snow lava were poured into the fire reservoirs, causing the air to turn scorching hot. Fatty was walking to and fro, inspecting every pagoda cannon to make sure nothing would go wrong during the battle.
Beehive Heavy Cannons were built using six Zi fire reservoirs and one Mu fire reservoir. This number ensured that the Beehive Heavy Cannons could fire for a very long time. It also reduced the time needed to set up synchronized attacks. Other than replenishing the Mu fire reservoir with snow lava, the Zi fire reservoirs also increased the firepower of the Beehive Heavy Cannons.
Every Zi fire reservoir was guarded by three soldiers. With the addition of a main pagoda cannon gunner and a vice pagoda cannon gunner, every Beehive Heavy Cannon would need a twenty person crew.
On the God-subduing Peak that was manned by the Spear of Heavy Cloud, there were 100 Beehive Heavy Cannons. These cannons were deployed on the surface of the God-subduing Peak and looked extremely spectacular. This was the first ever pagoda cannon formation. However, no one was sure whether or not it could ward off the enemy forces.
The earth-shaking number of blood fiends also brought with them an immense pressure that the defenders had never felt before.
When fighting a siege battle, what the attacking army needed the most was quantity, not quality. Without enough manpower, it was very hard for the offensive side to break through a heavily guarded defensive line.
The number of reinforcements that the enemy had received was terrifying. They were capable of fighting a battle of attrition.
The gigantic blood fiends struck an intense fear into every elementalist. Any experienced veterans could tell that these enormous blood fiends would cause huge trouble in the upcoming battle.
Even Fatty felt jittery. He did not know whether or not the Beehive Heavy Cannons could ward off these blood fiends.
On the surface, he was still mocking and ridiculing the blood elementalists. Fatty's timid nature had changed a lot, but his mouth had become much more vicious at the same time. It just so happened that the pagoda cannon crews subscribed to his style of leadership. Fatty's curses were utterly savage. Every now and then, the members of the Spear of Heavy Cloud would roar with laughter, loosening up the anxious atmosphere significantly.
Fatty was not the only one who felt nervous. Everyone was on high alert.
Shi Xueman was no longer keeping watch outside Ai Hui's tent. The situation was critical, and she had to oversee her God-subduing Peak personally. The Pagoda Cannon Alliance could not yet be deployed in battle, but the former Surveillance Division elites led by Xiao Shan were already on standby and prepared to provide reinforcement at any moment.
Time passed bit by bit in the frozen air.
The troublesome enemy scouts that bugged them previously had disappeared. The encampment opposite them was silent, looking like a fearsome beast that was gathering its strength before it pounced on them later.
In the morning two days later, before the sun rose, the blood elementalist encampment was already buzzing with activity. One could even hear the roars and hisses of the blood fiends.
The battle was about to begin.