Xuan showed no sign of anger. He nodded, acknowledging HaoTian’s words. It seemed that he had known of HaoTian’s plan all along.
HaoTian was anxious and asked. “How could you know our plan? It was designed at a place beyond where you can sense. There’s no way for you to know. Furthermore, didn’t you die? I am certain I heard the notification of your death. The surveillance through the broken cellphone left in Helm’s Deep also confirmed your death… Is it a skill that can deceive God? Or is it a device or item that created an illusion on me?”
Xuan nodded. “You’re correct that I died. This body currently speaking to you is merely a zombie. The plan began since the information I obtained from Galadriel… Galadriel has a method of preserving the soul because the elves can come back to life once their souls return to Telperion. This method requires the presence of a high elf which I didn’t have. So I resorted to rely on the blessing of Galadriel. Secondly, souls can neither speak nor move. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything even if my soul continued to exist for twenty days. Something else was required to allow my body to move, to allow my soul to reside in my body, and to protect my body. This was the leaf of Telperion.”
Xuan touched his forehead. “I suspected you since your entrance to team China. Your actions were normal, nothing extraordinary. You could be seen as a new comer to this realm, except that you have a little knowledge of it. Unfortunately, you encountered team Celestial in your first movie. You wouldn’t have exposed your first flaw otherwise. You showed interest at an action that had no personal benefit to you. Hence I handed all the items to you.”
HaoTian pointed at the back of his head and gave a bitter smile. “This thing is your true intention. I pondered over the use of this thing but I never expected it to be a single use item… Then that means the Uruk-hai Nemesis are your baits. Nice scheme! You planned to feign death in the beginning, right? You deceived me so that I would send the message of your death to Adam. His paranoid personality will lead him to assume your death as fake. As a result, he would not send their strongest member, SongTian, to the siege of Minas Tirith because he and SongTian can easily survive the movie even if they lost the battle. They will find a place to stay until the of the movie. Thus, team Celestial would lose but not end in a wipe. While team China would be the big winner that overpowered team Celestial.”
HaoTian shook his head. He was wearing a silver metallic circlet. The circlet was the device used to hypnotize the Uruk-hai Nemesis. He used this device without worry after he learned of Xuan’s death in order to gain control of the Nemesis army. As to the other function of the device, it was a part of a bigger device which was in Xuan’s hands. The main device could control and destroy a person’s brain via strong electrical currents. The process of putting it on was fairly complex so it would only work when the wearer was willing to do so or he was captured. Unfortunately for HaoTian, he put it on willingly by himself.
“Partially. The rest of the movie is basically set after this victory when team Celestial was forced to hold back. They can now either confront us with the risk of being wiped or hide until the end comes. Having you put the device on is also a reason. You have a high chance of not doing so if I don’t die. And finally, this was someone’s request.” Xuan said calmly.
HaoTian was surprised and stared at him. “Someone’s request? Telling you to die?”
“No. He didn’t tell me to die.” Xuan shook his head. “He informed me of the number of members team Celestial has, each person’s combat level, and Adam’s location. His only request is for me to create a situation where he can fight SongTian one on one. I think Zhao ZhuiKong is on the way to team Celestial right now. We also have to hurry. It’s time to set out. All Uruk-hai Nemesis, Kampa, WangXia, and Gando, pick up your weapons and wipe team Celestial!”
On a mountain somewhere within Mordor, ZhuiKong smiled at the two people in front of them. These two were Adam and SongTian. SongTian gripped onto a plain looking singled edged Chinese sword (dao) with a stern expression. ZhuiKong held a delicate dagger in his hand. They were obviously in a stand off despite their contrasting expressions.
Adam touched his forehead and said. “… The dots are connected. Xuan was scheming like I described, correct?”
ZhuiKong shrugged. “How can I know what you psychopaths plan? And I am too lazy to guess what’s in your heads. Anyway, since my clone trusts him in team Devil, he should be someone capable instead of those boasting their intelligence. That was why I gave it a try. The end result actually developed to this point. I don’t even know how he did it. But whatever… Haha. SongTian, you took an arm from me in the last battle. Take another arm again today!” ZhuiKong laughed with insanity then he disappeared from their sights.
SongTian reacted immediately. He stabbed his sword forward. By this time, ZhuiKong reappeared in front of him. SongTian dragged the sword within the space between them. His speed grew increasingly fast then he slashed downward before ZhuiKong could close in on him. A whirlwind erupted. After it moved past, the ground was shredded. Wind sliced the rocks into pieces.
“Impressive infinitesimal control. Sweeping the wind with your sword. You confined every bit of force inside the whirlwind. SongTian, the power of your aura with swords have grown.” ZhuiKong stood on a boulder next to SongTian. His clothes were filled with cuts.
“Same with you.” SongTian replied. His clothes suddenly ripped apart as he spoke. ZhuiKong’s attack touched him but only his clothes.
ZhuiKong breathed out. “The stages of close combat goes from hitting with a weapon, to using techniques with the weapon, then to using aura. You’ve reached the stage of the aura of swords. What you need to do is to refine your strength and increased the power of your aura. Let the battle begin. I am getting excited already!”
Adam muttered. “Zhao ZhuiKong, why did you choose to cooperate with team China? Only for an opportunity to fight SongTian? Or is there another intention?”
ZhuiKong replied without turning his head to Adam. “I am an assassin, not a warrior. Do you expect me to come straight to you and get ganged on instead of finding the opportunity to challenge him? I know you are aware of the potential of Luo YingLong more than anyone else. He’s growing every single day. It’s only a matter of time before he surpasses SongTian. Although he isn’t strong enough to join the battle between SongTian and me right now, I have to admit that magical item he crafted can post threat to me. Get it? If the rest of your team don’t die, especially Luo YingLong, how I can fight you without worrying? How can I… wipe team Celestial without worrying?”
Zheng didn’t die. Luo YingLong suddenly died at that critical moment and the formation went out of control. Zheng felt forces pulling on his body as though they were going to rip him apart. He had to squeeze his body with all his might. He was still inside the fourth stage yet he somehow retained control over his consciousness. At this moment, he entered a profound and abstruse state.
He felt as though he could sense the structure of his DNA. This sensation wasn’t expressed in images nor numbers. Yet, the structure was extremely defined. Information regarding each gene appeared in his head, the weak genes, the strong genes, the genes governing bursts of strength, the genes governing endurance, the genes governing energy, the genes governing self-healing…
(It’s hot. I need genes that can withstand heat and genes that toughen the body.)
The eight flags stopped rotating. However, the purple flames did not. They flowed faster and faster then flashed in a bright light. The flames exploded.