Where Immortals Once Walked

Chapter 538: An Unprovoked Attack

In Panlong City, He Lingchuan had fought in enough battles that, whether in the Martial Review Hall or on the battlefield, he had been blasted by intense light more than once. Two of those times had even gotten him killed outright.After suffering through that kind of punishment, his instinctive reaction to a sudden burst of blinding light was no longer to turn his head away. Instead, he raised his left hand at once, and the Soul-Stealing Shield appeared on the back of it, forcibly blocking the piercing white glare.

Whenever a blinding light descended, it was usually followed by a storm of attacks.

After all, once an opponent had finally created such an opening, why would they waste it?

At a moment like this, He Lingchuan had no time to wonder whether both the fireball and the white flash had come from Bai Ziqi.

In fact, less than a second after the white light hit the ground, it transformed into four giant serpents and lunged straight at the two fugitives.

Each serpent had a cross-section that was about 1.5 meters in diameter, and they were each nearly 33 meters long. These serpents were imposing and awe-inspiring. An ordinary person would probably be scared out of their wits at the mere sight of them.

Cheng Yu barely had time to resist before he was hurled away.

One of the giant serpents turned to go after Cen Boqing. Another two did not alter course, instead spitting out one ice bolt and one fire bolt respectively.

And both of them were aimed at He Lingchuan!

The last serpent paused to gather power for a moment longer, crackling with light in its half-open jaws.

Fortunately, before they launched their divine techniques, they first had to stretch their necks.

That tiny delay of barely half a second gave He Lingchuan the chance to recover from the flash.

His vision was still blurry, but the three enormous aberrant creatures now looming in front of him did not require particularly sharp sight to spot.

Especially since they were glowing brilliantly.

He Lingchuan sprang sideways, narrowly dodging the ice bolt.

The fire bolt came immediately afterward, as though it had calculated the exact point where he would land.

He Lingchuan poured strength into both arms and raised his shield to block it, only to be sent flying more than thirteen meters backward with a bang, crashing through a small tree as he went.

It struck like something blasted straight out of a piece of artillery, striking with terrifying force!

Luckily, after having gone through two rounds of imperial nectar, his physique had grown much sturdier. If he had taken a hit like that five months ago, both of his arms would have snapped instantly, and internal injuries would have followed.

Even so, his organs shuddered, and both arms were in agonizing pain.

But the one he focused on was the third serpent. Blue-white electricity crackled all over it. It had spent the extra moment charging, and now, when it opened its mouth, a bolt of lightning shot out.

This was several times faster than the ice and fire attacks. It was almost as if the light in its maw flashed once, and the lightning was already exploding right in front of He Lingchuan.

With a crackling blast, dirt and dust sprayed everywhere, and a crater over three meters wide appeared in the ground. The soil inside had hardened instantly, and its surface even glimmered faintly like crystal.

That lightning strike had not hit He Lingchuan directly, because a tall figure had suddenly appeared right in front of him—

The golden-armored guard!

This was the advanced form of the copper man, clad in armor and bearing weapons, larger, thicker, and sturdier than before. It carried a long spear in its right hand and a giant shield in its left.

That bolt of lightning slammed straight into the shield, making even the golden-armored copper guard tremble twice.

At that point, it became clear that the materials Fushan Yue had provided were genuine, and the royal smith he had sent had not cut corners. The resulting golden-armored guard was only numbed for a brief instant before charging straight toward the fire serpent and thrusting for its eye.

At the same time, He Lingchuan flicked out the Rising Dragon spear toward the lightning serpent and sprang away from where he stood, because the ice serpent was already upon him!

Wherever it passed, the ground froze solid with a thick layer of ice.

After He Lingchuan leaped clear, it turned and lunged at the golden-armored guard, coiling itself around one of the guard’s legs while it was still occupied with the fire serpent.

The golden-armored guard’s rear leg froze at once, and even its knee could no longer bend freely.

The lightning serpent ignored Rising Dragon entirely, allowing it to sink into one of its eyes while it lowered its head to bite at He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan raised his shield and blocked four times in under a second.

The lightning serpent was unbelievably agile, with none of the clumsiness such a giant body ought to have possessed. Fortunately, the mirror reflected part of its attacks back at it, injuring the serpent itself in the process.

It also had a long tail, which curled around from behind He Lingchuan.

Its entire body crackled with electricity. Any part of it that touched him would be no joke.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan had kept a clear head from the beginning. The instant those giant serpents began their assault, he had already shouted, “Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai, save me!”

This was no time to care about pride or appearances.

These giant serpents had appeared out of nowhere. They were not living flesh-and-blood creatures, and on top of that, their whole bodies radiated white light, making them look majestic and holy. He refused to believe they had nothing to do with Bai Ziqi.

Bai Ziqi had also come up by then. The moment he heard He Lingchuan call for help, he immediately raised that stub of white-and-gold candle and beckoned. “Enough of this nonsense! All of you, come back!”

At once, the three giant serpents abandoned both He Lingchuan and the golden-armored guard, turning into streaks of light that flew into Bai Ziqi’s hand.

Three soft hissing sounds followed, and the candle wick lit up.

The pale white flame wavered a few times, then steadied.

So it really was true. These three giant serpents, too, had been transformations of the lamp spirit.

“My apologies. These little fellows still aren’t very obedient. The moment they see living creatures, they get overexcited and can’t stop themselves.” Holding the candle, Bai Ziqi walked over, looking genuinely contrite. “Are you alright?”

He Lingchuan panted several times and shook his numb hands. “Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai truly has excellent methods.”

Those lamp spirits were genuinely hard to deal with. In only two exchanges, they had put him in real danger.

If Bai Ziqi had taken even a few breaths longer to stop them, He Lingchuan would have been forced to bring out the last of his hidden cards.

Just then, He Lingchuan gave a slight shudder as faint blue currents of electricity ran over his body.

The residual charge still had not dissipated. He felt numb all over.

Looking at his own ragged state, then at Bai Ziqi’s calm and effortless manner, He Lingchuan could not help but wonder,

He Lingchuan’s words had carried a double meaning, but Bai Ziqi simply pretended not to notice and instead smiled at the golden-armored guard. “That golden puppet is very well made. It’s exceptionally nimble.”

The golden-armored guard followed its master’s instructions absolutely, which in truth made it equivalent to a larger external body for He Lingchuan. Training the ability to split his attention in that way had not been easy.

And the handling of the golden-armored guard was far better than that of the old copper man. The moment he gave an order, it responded. Its agility, offense, and defense were all on an entirely different level.

Ah, indeed, one got what one paid for.

He Lingchuan recalled the golden-armored guard, because the other giant serpent had already caught up with Cen Boqing and was using its favorite method to coil around him so tightly he could scarcely breathe.

After all, Cen Boqing was still a Lingxu City official, with rank and title. Bai Ziqi had not used lethal force against him.

Cheng Yu, on the other hand, was in miserable shape. He had been fleeing in front, and the earlier blast of blinding light had struck mostly at him. Both he and his mount had been hurled over thirteen meters away and were now unconscious.

It was basically the same as being hit by a cannon shell.

The wolf puppet that had absorbed most of the impact for him rolled across the ground and then lay still, its fur already catching fire and smoking with a hiss.

Bai Ziqi flicked his hand, and the giant serpent loosened its grip on Cen Boqing.

Cen Boqing immediately bent over, gasping desperately and coughing several times.

Only then did Bai Ziqi stroll over, hands clasped behind his back, and look down at him. “You still thought you could struggle stubbornly to the end? Under these vast skies, there is nowhere left for you to hide.”

Once Lingxu City had marked someone as a criminal suspect, there was nowhere to run!

Cen Boqing took two steps back, his legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.

He was, strictly speaking, uninjured. His fighting strength remained intact. Yet from the moment he had fallen from the wolf’s back, not the slightest shred of fighting spirit could rise in him anymore.

At this point, he had reached the end of the road. What meaning was there in struggling further?

He was drowning in despair.

Only then did Bai Ziqi wave lightly at the giant serpent again.

“Alright, be good. Come back now.”

In the next moment, the giant serpent turned back into a tiny lamp spirit, drifting slowly back toward Bai Ziqi’s hand, crawling up onto the candle wick, and merging once more into that little flame.

At a glance, He Lingchuan could see that the candle was almost burned down to its stub.

Bai Ziqi noticed where his eyes had gone and explained, “It doesn’t matter. This is only one small split-off incarnation of the eternal lamp spirit.”

He Lingchuan looked sincerely impressed, and even a trace of reverence showed on his face. “Truly formidable.”

Just one split-off avatar of an eternal lamp spirit had flattened both Cheng Yu and Cen Boqing, and it had beaten He Lingchuan into a wretched state.

If the giant serpents formed from the lamp spirit truly had been disobedient, would Cheng Yu and Cen Boqing still have been alive?

They had treated those two fugitives with a light hand, but had instead poured out a storm of attacks on him, the entirely innocent special envoy of the State of Chiyan. If Bai Ziqi had not directed them, He Lingchuan simply did not believe it.

But no matter how much he bristled or resented it now, it was pointless. He could only swallow the loss.

Looking at the expression on his face, Bai Ziqi’s smile grew even warmer.

Zhongsun Mou, Cen Boqing, and the Fan brothers had all been frustrated one after another by this young man. That had probably led him to think Lingxu City lacked capable people.

No matter how poor those people had been, they were still officials of Lingxu City. How could some outsider be allowed to teach them lessons?

Whoever it was, as long as they stood on the soil of Beijia, they ought to feel deep reverence toward Lingxu City.

Of course, a light punishment for the young man would suffice.

As expected, He Lingchuan obediently hauled Cheng Yu back over and dropped him beside Cen Boqing. “Arrest complete. That wraps it all up!”

Bai Ziqi gave him a glance, then suddenly raised the eternal lamp candle and shone it at Cheng Yu’s face.

At once, the flame turned into a dim green glow, and the sight of it sent a chill up He Lingchuan’s spine.

What was more, in the area illuminated by the green light, the very air of vision seemed to blur.

He Lingchuan asked sharply, “What’s happening to him?”

Bai Ziqi merely swept the green light once across Cheng Yu’s face, holding it so near it almost brushed his nose, then withdrew it again.

In that brief moment that was barely as long as a single breath, He Lingchuan found that he could suddenly see through Cheng Yu. Inside the man’s skull, a transparent figure flickered.

Before He Lingchuan could examine it more closely, Bai Ziqi lowered the candle, blew it out in one breath, and smiled. “His body and soul are both a bit injured, but it’s nothing serious. He’ll live.”

He Lingchuan turned his head as if casually, while inwardly muttering,

Fortunately, when he had first gotten his hands on Cheng Yu, he had not used the Soul-Stealing Mirror to seize the man’s soul directly. If he had, wouldn’t this single sweep of the lamp have exposed everything?

This Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai was so meticulous that it made one’s skin crawl.

He Lingchuan then looked back toward the stag beetle swarm, only to find that the insects were all lying docile on the ground, crawling about on their six little legs. Not one of them was flying.

They were all packed across the earth, an undulating black mass.

He Lingchuan asked curiously, “What’s wrong with them?”

“Their wings aren’t much use. They can’t fly anymore.” Bai Ziqi bent down, picked up the cloth doll from the ground, brushed off the ash and grass, and examined it carefully. “This, though, is quite a good item.”

There was a slit in the doll’s belly. Bai Ziqi reached inside, rummaged a little, and pulled out a golden stag beetle.

This one was brightly colored, but smaller than the others, only about the size of a thumb, and it struggled frantically in Bai Ziqi’s palm.

“This is the insect king.”

With the insect king captured, the swarm of stag beetles on the ground immediately stirred restlessly. They all began crawling toward Bai Ziqi, and not slowly, either.

Bai Ziqi smiled at He Lingchuan and said, “If you can tame the insect king, then this whole nest of little insects is yours. How about it?”

He Lingchuan did not refuse. “I can try.”

Bai Ziqi might look down on this swarm of stag beetles, but He Lingchuan thought they were rather nice.

Bai Ziqi stuffed the insect king back into the doll and tossed it casually to him, clearly intending to see exactly how he meant to tame it.