The plan to split up wasn't his idea, but Liu Xing's. Liu Xing had said he wanted to move alone at first without explaining why. Yang Jinyan suspected it had something to do with Liu Xing's earlier request for a method to cultivate while moving. Yang Jinyan agreed to Liu Xing's plan without a second thought. After all, Liu Xing proposed to let him run rampant, killing the abominations alone. This meant his clan members wouldn't face immediate danger.
He considered this a win for both himself and his clan, and even for Liu Xing, who seemed eager to carry out this plan. Still, Liu Xing thought it was only a matter of time before he'd need help, and when that time came, he would send them a signal.
"How long have we been standing here?" Yang Jinyan asked Hong'er.
"About twenty minutes," she answered promptly.
Yang Jinyan nodded, then whispered. "I hope we wait as long as possible. Even a day or two would be fine."
Hong'er wore a red robe with a maroon sash. It matched her sharp, red eyes, making her overall appearance striking. Hong'er was one of his retainers, one of the people he trusted, and also one of his lovers. Though she was stronger than him, he didn't want her to be in danger.
"That's too optimistic," Hong'er said, pressing her lips together. "You need to prepare for the worst."
"I know." He clenched his fist. He couldn't always hope for the best; he needed to start preparing for the worst in every situation. After all, he knew his brother's resentment toward him and their father. If he hadn't just shrugged it off, perhaps none of this would have happened.
They waited a while longer. His men were anxious and afraid, yet their eyes were resolute, intent on supporting him and carrying out his orders.
He glanced at the eastern part of the city, where Liu Xing had intended to begin his attacks. A faint rumbling sound came from that direction, along with a cacophony of screams and explosions. It had been going on for quite some time, and he wondered whether it was actually a signal from Liu Xing.
Then, he saw the statue of the first emperor in the distance turn black, as if something was painting it. A pillar of light descended and swallowed it, making the world tremble as if thousands of horses were galloping nearby.
Seeing this, Yang Jinyan's eyes widened. Was this Liu Xing's signal? Could a lower realm cultivator really create such a powerful attack, or even defend against it?
When he saw the pillar of light swallowing the first emperor statue, Yang Jinyan clenched his fist, his heart drumming in his chest, and a strange excitement filled him. This signal gave him a bit more confidence. After all, the attack was sent by his ally, and in these terrible times, a strong ally was exactly what he needed.
He turned his head to see his men with burning eyes. Some smiled confidently, as if proud to see this powerful attack. Others frowned, seemingly wanting to prove they weren't worse than Liu Xing. Some had neutral expressions, while others nodded, as if approving of what they saw.
"That's our signal. Let's go!" Yang Jinyan shouted. His men replied with a roar, and they departed, intending to head toward Liu Xing.
***
"Hopefully they'll come," Liu Xing muttered.
He dusted himself off in the middle of the crater he'd made. Looking around, he saw only rolling dust. No enemies as far as he could see.
It had happened faster than he'd intended. He'd thought he could move alone for several more hours, but it seemed he'd underestimated the sheer number of enemies. Still, it was all right. He was absorbing the qi of that abomination in the sixth stage of Lock Opening realm. He needed only a bit more time before he could open the seventh lock.
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Liu Xing jumped from the crater and landed on one of the roofs. Then he leaped into the air and began to maneuver using his shield. His destination was the flower hills—to meet with the Yang clan—but he suspected he would meet the Yang clan before he got there.
As he moved through the air, Liu Xing sensed a huge amount of qi moving together. He landed on his shield and turned toward the castle. There, he saw thousands of abominations rushing toward him. They moved on the streets, walls, and roofs. Some fell and were trampled by the others, while they all screamed, howled, and growled at the same time. Each had murderous red eyes, and they looked up at him as if they knew exactly where he was.
These weren't like the abominations that had been ambling around. These were controlled.
Behind this tsunami of abominations, he saw thousands more walking almost in rows. All of their right arms were human, holding white spears that gleamed in the sunlight. Their heads were those of animals—some monkeys, some dolphins, some boars, some snakes, some snails, and many more. Their left hands varied from pincers to claws to mushrooms, while their torsos were human, wearing shiny armor, while their lower bodies ranged from crabs to horses to cows and many other creatures.
This was obviously the more controlled army, but even in their rows, Liu Xing could see their bodies jittering and their eyes swimming, as if they wanted to rush like the civilian abominations. The abomination army was quite strong. All of them were at the seventh stage of Lock Opening realm.
Liu Xing looked to flower hills, then to the front where his opponents were rushing at him.
He cracked his neck and decided that the prince and his forces would have to come to this place themselves. He would be busy destroying that army.
Liu Xing's heart begins to beat faster, adrenaline coursing through his body, making him more alert to his surroundings.
Unconsciously, a huge grin spread across his lips. How could he not be happy? There were many adversaries in front of him. All of them were at a higher stage than him, which meant they would all give him six bullets of potent qi!
It reminded him of the situation in the Dragon Skull Forest. But now, it is slightly different. He is stronger, and he had a method to cultivate while moving.
Centering his mind, Liu Xing flared his qi, making the Lightning Cloak enhance him further, then he focused his eyes on the first wave. The civilian abominations had lower cultivation. While their numbers were great, they weren't too strong. Still, he couldn't jump toward the main dish before he reduced their numbers at least a little.
On his shield, Liu Xing took a stance. Gun in his left hand, his right hand ready to deliver a palm strike. He concentrated stable qi on his right gauntlet, creating a yellow spiraling line there. Then, he sent a lot of potent qi to his gauntlet, which worked diligently to create a lightning ball.
He sent more and more potent qi, making the lightning ball grow bigger and bigger. When it reached the size of a barrel, he unleashed a palm strike.
A white lightning bolt shot from the ball, then branched into two, then four, then eight, branching more and more until there were thousands of white lightning bolts spreading like a growing fan.
Each lightning bolt struck an abomination, instantly roasting and killing them. Some of his lightning missed, creating holes in the ground or destroying walls or making roofs explode. Still, the majority of his lightning struck their targets accurately.
He could imagine their point of view: the sky suddenly filled with branching white lightning, then struck them with power strong enough to kill them instantly.
A huge, continuous rumbling of explosions could be heard, and after about half a minute, the attack ceased, revealing many black corpses with white smoke floating above them. Some civilian abominations were still running, lucky enough to have evaded all of his lightning, but they numbered less than a hundred and were scattered in the streets.
Seeing this, Liu Xing nodded, smelling roasted meat in the air. He felt a bit guilty about how he'd killed them all. It was brutal, considering they were all victims. But he suppressed this emotion. After all, while he wanted to give them a kinder death, he didn't have that luxury.
He could see the army had stopped moving now. Their eyes were focused on the piles of roasted dead bodies in front of them, scattered in the streets and on the roofs. One of the buildings suddenly groaned and tumbled to the side, burying some of the piles of blackened corpses.
Liu Xing saw some of them widen their eyes, and he narrowed his own. That was a mark of intelligence, which could mean many things.