Chapter 1039: Golden Blade Meets Blood Eye
When the golden blade slashed down, a trail over ten thousand feet long cut through the frozen, bloody plains below. It was akin to a force of nature, with power capable of splitting the heavens and earth.
Faced with this attack, a look of surprise finally appeared on the Spirit Eye Other King. As a King himself, he was well aware of the power contained within a Kingmark.
It wasn't some casual thing that just any King Stage expert could leave behind.
Not only did it require the King to put in an immense amount of effort and time, it also required an item that was seamlessly compatible as a catalyst.
As such, not many Kings would spend the time and effort to leave such a mark behind. Thus, the entire situation left the Spirit Eye Other King a little baffled.
"Did Li Jingzhe give this to you? But the energy seems a little different from his," the Spirit Eye Other King muttered to himself before he gave a soft sigh.
"I thought this would be a simple and easy trip, but it seems like I will have to get serious after all. What a farce... to be forced into such a state by a Heavenly Pearl brat."
With that, his eyes and attention shifted from Li Lingjing over to Li Luo for the very first time.
His aged face remained emotionless as he watched the golden blade light that had spilled across the world, severing everything in half. He then slowly closed his eyes.
At the moment his eyes were shut tightly, Li Lingjing could see the surroundings turning blood-red. Even the worldly natural energy in the area had been dyed red and could no longer be absorbed.
It seemed that the worldly natural energy itself had been imbued with a certain kind of consciousness.
It was the will of the Spirit Eye Other King.
In other words, everything in their surroundings was under the control of the Spirit Eye Other King now. Not even a Duke could harness the worldly natural energy here.
This was why Kings were so fearsome. They could imprint their consciousness into the areas around them and be the absolute monarch of a domain. Without worldly natural energy, even a Duke would weaken over time as their own resonant power depleted. In this blood-red space, only the golden blade light retained its dazzling shine. It was the only thing that had not been eroded or rejected by the hostile worldly natural energy.
Li Lingjing raised her head. An enormous, blood-red eye emerged In the sky above the Spirit Eye Other King. The eye was terrifyingly large and was slowly rotating while exuding an endless sea of fear to those who looked at it.
It was so immense that even someone like Li Lingjing couldn't help but tremble at the sight. Bloody tears slowly dripped down from the corners of the eyes, making her quickly avert her gaze. She knew that if she continued staring at it, she could very well be blinded and end up with her spirit shattered.
The bloody eye coldly stared at the golden blade light that seemed to penetrate even the heavens.
Flames resembling fresh blood dripped from the bloody eye as its sheer presence swept across the world with the force of an unrestrained wildfire, colliding directly with the golden blade light.
The world fell utterly silent at that moment. It was a clash of powers that people like Li Luo and Li Lingjing were too weak to observe directly. They could only use their other senses to feel the indescribable powers struggling against each other.
Deafening silence reigned as each and every moment dragged on. It felt like an eternity had passed.
When Li Luo and Li Lingjing regained control of their senses, the fight had concluded.
As Li Luo examined his surroundings in confusion, the frozen sea of blood had began to melt. The blood-red flames could be seen raging in every direction, burning soundlessly. Fueled by worldly natural energy, the flames seemed to be able to burn forever.
If nothing was done, the environment would turn into an eternally scorched world akin to a living hell.
Fortunately, the Spiritual Resonance Cave had its own protective mechanisms. Worldly natural energy was transformed into rain, automatically extinguishing the raging inferno.
Nonetheless, Li Luo was in no mood to worry about any of this right now, as he heard a faint and subtle crack.
When he looked down at the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade, he could see that faint cracks were beginning to spread on the body of the blade. He even seemed to have heard the sorrowful cry of an elephant.
Kacha!
The Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade shattered into pieces starting at the tip, each fragment clanking loudly when they hit the ground.
Li Luo felt his heart trembling. This treasured artifact had accompanied him through countless fights to date. Alas, it had finally given way. Although the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade was not a high-grade treasured artifact, it was much more beloved than the Heavenly Dragon's Sunchaser Bow as it had followed Li Luo for much of his cultivation journey.
Unfortunately, it had finally crumbled when they faced off against a King together.
He could tell that the Kingmark left behind by Pang Qianyuan had dissipated with this clash. He gradually lifted his head and watched the Spirit Eye Other King closely. The Spirit Eye Other King looked indifferent, but only one of his eyes was open. Where the other eye should have been was a deep gash, a parting gift left behind by the domineering Kingmark.
It was clear he had paid a heavy price.
Li Luo heaved a heavy sigh as exhaustion surged throughout his body. He had tried his best. Even though this was not the true body of his enemy, it was an utterly hopeless struggle in the face of his overwhelming power.
Taking out an eye was the best he could do against the Spirit Eye Other King even though he had the Kingmark as his ace.
Perhaps this should have been expected. After all, a Kingmark was simply a remnant trace of a King's power. The Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade's quality also capped the amount of energy that Pang Qianyuan could imbue into it. Additionally, the Spirit Eye Other King was clearly not any weaker than Pang Qianyuan.
Feelings of powerlessness and futility welled up within Li Luo as he was struck with the revelation of just how puny he was.
Over in the distance, Qin Yi was also staring blankly at them. She had hurried over as soon as she sensed the unusual surge in energy earlier and witnessed that heavenly strike.
It was truly terrifying. Perhaps even her own mother was not capable of such a thing. Though the most frightening fact was how the mysterious old man had blocked it.
"A King..." An almost desperate cry welled up from within Qin Yi. She could not understand why so many unusual developments had cropped up within the Spiritual Resonance Cave.
Even such an expert had been drawn into the fray.
Qin Yi smiled bitterly. There weren't even thoughts of escape as she knew it would be completely pointless before a King.
Her only hope now was that other elites standing guard outside the Spiritual Resonance Cave could sense this change and come to their aid.
"What a fierce little brat..." the Spirit Eye Other King said as he touched the scar left behind on his eye. The monstrous sword intent that lingered on the wound caused his face to sting. Li Luo and the others could not tell what was going on, but he knew that the sword's intent was still struggling violently in his bloody eye. This clash would likely make it difficult for him to open his eye for quite a while.
The Spirit Eye Other King glanced at Li Luo. He seemed to be smiling, but it was the smile of an unfathomly terrifying, giant beast. "The Bloodline of Heavenly Emperor Li has gotten a wonderful seedling."
He did not kill Li Luo off at this point. Instead, he looked over to the pale Li Lingjing and said gently, "No 3."
“My name is not No. 3! I have a name! It is Li Lingjing!" Li Lingjing screamed back with hatred and anger. However, the Spirit Eye Other King did not seem angered by her response. Rather, he seemed pleased as he replied, "Yes, indeed. Only you were able to preserve your sense of self despite falling deep into an abyss of desperation. Only you are worthy of attaining the perfection that I have looked forward to. Compared to you, all of my previous works were trash! You will become the masterpiece that will be the culmination of my life's work!"
Fanaticism was evident on his old face as he scrutinized Li Lingjing like a work of art without any flaws.
"Come with me, Li Lingjing. I will lead you on a path to perfection that no one else will ever be able to attain," the Spirit Eye Other King continued in a warm voice.
"No...!" Li Luo shouted immediately. However, he noticed a cold gaze coming from the Spirit Eye Other King as soon as the words came out of his mouth. At that moment, he knew that the control he had over his body had been stripped away. It was as though the world had fallen silent, and he remained completely immobilized.
Qin Yi, despite being quite a distance away, was similarly affected. In fact, her situation was worse, as her eyes started bleeding and she felt as though she had descended into the abyss.
Only the King and Li Lingjing could speak at this point.
The Spirit Eye Other King smiled and continued, "Li Lingjing, you must know your own heart better than anyone else. You should know which path suits you the most. After this incident, you will definitely bear the brunt of endless suspicion and disdain when you return to the Dragon's Fang Lineage. Do you really think that such a place fits a perfect being such as you? You actually hate the Dragon's Fang Lineage. You hold no control over your own life when you are there. Li Lingjing, I know that you are ambitious. The Dragon's Fang Lineage will never take you in as their own."
He spoke slowly in an effort to tempt her, the same way the devil would.
"Do you think I am a naive kid? When it comes to being disdained and evil, no one even comes close to a monster like you. How many lives have you ruined by creating Others?" Li Lingjing replied coldly.
The Spirit Eye Other King did not take her words seriously. He simply said with a smile, "For the sake of the path I am pursuing, I will not hesitate even if all living things in the world are sacrificed. Li Lingjing, come with me. You will become the most perfect being in the world in the future, someone that transcends even me. I know that you hate me, but it's precisely because of this that you should come with me. You will never find such an opportunity in the Dragon's Fang Lineage. Most importantly..."
The smile of the Spirit Eye Other King became gentler as he said, "If you do not come with me, I'll... erode your will. And afterwards, I'll use your very hands to kill him."
He stretched out his dry finger and pointed towards Li Luo.