Chapter 1035: Self-immolating Heavenly Pearl
When Qin Yi executed her technique to deal with the ones who were being manipulated, Li Lingjing simultaneously shot forth in a beam of light.
Staff in hand, she charged towards the True Devil Other.
The Other's situation had changed drastically. Since it had originally relied on the sea of blood to circumvent the suppression effect of the Spiritual Resonance Cave, it could once again feel the cave hinder its strength as the blood sea was frozen.
Therefore, the terrifying pressure that used to emanate from the Soul Eater True Devil's body was steadily diminishing, and its strength was undoubtedly sharply reduced.
A viridian peal of poisonous light imbued with a mysterious fragrance pierced the sky, racing towards the True Devil Other.
Sensing the incoming attack, the Soul Eater True Devil's figure lurched as it stretched out its palm to intercept. The flesh and blood in the center of its palm wriggled, transmogrifying into a twisted human face, which opened its mouth and hissed, spitting out a sinister, umbral light full of corrupting breath.
The umbral light collided with the poisonous beam, quickly dispersing the technique.
Even though the True Devil Other was greatly weakened at this time, it was still far more powerful than Lingjing.
However, Li Lingjing was unperturbed, and she appeared directly in front of the Other in a flash.
The Soul Eater True Devil looked her in the eye, a hint of color appearing on its face. Its scarlet, serpentine tongue could not help but flicker as it licked its lips, saying grim voice, "Number Three, you and I are both Others, so why would you go so far as to protect a human? How ridiculous."
Li Lingjing's eyes were shadowy as she glared at Other Number One, flatly replying, "Don't compare me with the likes of you. You are just a wastrel who doesn't know its own name, nothing more than vermin. Do you even remember what you used to be called?
The True Devil Other was stunned for several moments, then a bewildered look emerged within its eyes. Indeed, it no longer remembered its own name, so who exactly was it?
The bewilderment lasted for a while and was accompanied by an outpouring of negative emotions. Its face became more and more twisted and grotesque, and its eyes salivated while staring at Li Lingjing. "Number three, you are indeed very unique, and because of that, I will definitely eat you today! After eating you, I will become the most perfect Soul Eater True Devil! In the future, I will even become the king of the Others!"
Finished speaking, the Soul Eater True Devil opened its mouth and spat out a crimson light spanning thousands of feet. A giant, pallid hand emerged from the light. The skin on the palm of the hand starting wriggling before an extremely sharp spike made of flesh and bone burrowed out from the center.
The spike shot out and pierced through the empty space, aimed straight at Li Lingjing.
The attack was so overbearing that space in the bone spike's path was torn apart. Although the True Devil Other had been weakened, this attack was still far too powerful for someone at the Lesser Heavenly Resonance Tier to block.
Li Lingjing beat a hasty retreat as countless rays of poison shot out from the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff. However, the rays immediately dispersed upon contact with the flesh and blood spike. The power disparity between the two techniques was undeniable.
Upon seeing this, Li Lingjing braced herself and took a deep breath. Her eyes began to gradually turn a fierce shade of crimson that harbored a savage murderous intent.
In the next breath, she formed a hand seal.
Her brilliant Heavenly Pearls began to vibrate uncontrollably, and specks of blood-red light diffused within them. After just a few moments, all nine Heavenly Pearls behind Li Lingjing had completely turned scarlet.
The nine bloody pearls started to rotate while radiating blinding, ruby rays.
Li Lingjing's long hair, which had been neatly tied up, was now pouring down like a waterfall, reaching down to her slender waist. Her hair moved with the wind, cutting a savage caricature.
A huge Abyssal Snake emerged from behind her. The snake's scales, which ertr initially glossy and black, were now tinted with the color of blood. From afar, it looked like a Heaven Swallowing Blood Python.
Evidently, Li Lingjing couldn't afford to hold anything back if she wanted to buy some time for Li Luo.
Li Lingjing grasped the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff in one hand as her slender figure moved to intercept the flesh and bone spike. Behind her, the blood-red Abyssal Snake slithered down and wrapped itself around the staff.
She swung the staff, imbuing it with imposing energy. The Abyssal Snake hissed before it hardened itself, preparing to take the spike head-on.
Clang, clang, clang!
Up on high, the two parties exchanged blows dozens of times within a few short seconds. Every collision between the staff and the spike resulted in a terrifying shockwave, causing even empty space to crack.
Every collision caused the blood python atop the staff to let out a painful hiss, but Li Lingjing did not let up on her attacks. Blood had welled up in her pupils, which were full of malicious killing intent.
After many unrelenting attacks, she gave a final, crazed swing. The flesh and bone spike finally reached its limit and burst into smithereens.
Li Lingjing leapt backwards, her long hair fluttering in front of her. The palm holding the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff was covered in blood. The final clash had caused her hand to fracture from the force of the recoil alone.
The Soul Eater True Devil stared peculiarly at Li Lingjing and said, "Number three, you are also existed in the darkness once. I never thought that you would be the type to get on your high horse to protect someone else. You know full well that there is a disparity in power between you and I. If you continue to fight, you will die.
"Although you insist on acting like a moral person, you are ultimately an unfeeling being, and this display of emotion is but a farce for you."
Li Lingjing was slightly discouraged, but her scarlet pupils rumbled violently, overflowing with killing intent. As she gripped the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff tightly, the cold touch from the staff caused a single emotion to rise from the deepest part of her heart.
The True Devil Other before her eyes could never hope to understand this feeling.
It was precisely because she had experienced the darkness that she would give everything to preserve the last ray of light.
That last ray of light was a mark of hope and trust.
Back in the deserted backyard of the Western Region's Li family, when she was sitting in a wheelchair, a young man suddenly appeared before her eyes while she was waiting for her sanity to erode.
At that moment, he became her shining ray of hope. As such, she retrieved a jade ornament, her heart set on putting it all on the line.
Her ray of light was Li Luo. If she were to lose that light, she would cease to exist as Li Lingjing; she would just become an Other.
Li Lingjing gripped the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff tightly, her face expressionless as one of the nine blood-red Heavenly Pearls behind her suddenly produced a loud crack.
A Heavenly Pearl seemed to have compacted in on itself and eventually collapsed. But as soon as it did, an extremely terrifying energy exploded from within.
Li Lingjing had given up a Heavenly Pearl!
This was a last resort for someone at the Heavenly Pearl Tier. In exchange, they would receive a short burst of unimaginable power.
The Soul Eater True Devil shook its head as it stated indifferently, "You reckless fool, you'll never learn."
The two black horns atop its forehead shuddered, causing two bloodshot eyeballs to slowly form at the tips of the horns. Pupils seemed to constantly emerge from them like an endless, twisted kaleidoscope.
"Infinite Eyes of Death!" The bloodshot eyeballs started to vibrate, then a jet-black light spewed out. Everything was annihilated wherever the light passed through; even worldly natural energy was reduced to a state of death and silence, devoid of vitality.
Li Lingjing took a deep breath and summoned the violent energy wrought from the shattered Heavenly Pearl. She then corralled as much of the energy into the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff as she could.
Responding to the massive influx of energy, the three violet eyes on the staff began to shine exuberantly. A moment later, the shaft of the staff began to wriggle! It had transformed into a gargantuan jade python.
The jade snake coiled itself around Li Lingjing, protecting her from all sides.
Jade Python Throne!
Bang!
The black light arrived, directly blasting on top of the coiled snake. Immediately after, the snake hissed in agony as its scales began to rapidly melt.
Li Lingjing's eyes darkened, then she once again destroyed a Heavenly Pearl without hesitation!
Bang!
Unrestrained energy surged out, empowering the jade snake.
"A dying struggle." A twisted and hideous grin surfaced on the Soul Eater True Devil's face, and another ray of deathly light shot out from the eyes on its horns, directly ripping open a huge gash on the jade snake.
Despite the terrifying attack of the Soul Eater True Devil, Li Lingjing remained expressionless. Even as blood spilled from the corners of her mouth, she stood firmly, unmoved.
She then started destroying her Heavenly Pearls one after another.
Bang! Bang!
The deafening explosions set off by the Heavenly Pearls resounded again and again.
In the distance, Qin Yi, who had been dealing with the others, could not help but cast a concerned gaze towards Li Lingjing.
"Isn't she afraid of permanently hurting her foundation? Is Li Luo worth such a sacrifice?"
Qin Yi stared quizzically.
After Li Lingjing had self-detonated her fourth Heavenly Pearl, she knew that she was in a dire situation. Scarlet blood spewed from the corners of her mouth, dripping down along her sharp chin in rivulets.
Bang!
This time, the ray of death completely tore the jade python to shreds.
Li Lingjing knew that detonating another Heavenly Pearl would not be enough to block further attacks, so she reached for another jade bottle with her hand.
Bang!
The death ray pierced through, disintegrating all that was left of the jade python. It then promptly transformed back into the Aquamarine Bamboo Python Staff, falling from the sky.
The aftershock sent Li Lingjing tumbling backwards. All she could do was stare at the pitch-black light closing in on her. Enduring the violent churning of blood essence and qi in her body, she prepared herself to crush the jade bottle and devour the Number Two Other sealed within it. The dark ray grew in size in Li Lingjing's vision as it rapidly approached.
It was at this moment that she suddenly felt herself collide with something while she was moving backwards. A muscled arm wrapped around her waist, simultaneously dispersing the raging and berserk energy within her body. Li Lingjing raised her head in surprise, instantly recognizing that familiar, handsome face.
Li Luo had arrived.
But this version of Li Luo was imbued with the ferocious energy of the wolf. His silver hair had been dyed scarlet, and a regal but ruthless energy surrounded him like a raging hurricane.
With one arm wrapped around Li Lingjing and the other holding a blade, he casually slashed downwards. Whoosh!
In that instant, a vermilion blade light appeared, towering a hundred feet into the air. It was accompanied by a wolf howl that was filled with an aura ferocious enough to shake the very sky.
It was as if the heavens had been split asunder.
The blade light filled the void and collided with the deathly ray.
Upon impact, the death ray dispersed into glittering lights that littered the sky.
A savage wind swept across the battlefield as Li Luo stood floating in the sky, sword brandished. He glared at the True Devil Other with a gaze full of malice and venom as his voice rang out like thunder.
"Arrogant vermin, had your fun?
"If so, it's my turn!"