Book 5 Chapter 32 – Massacre
"Yiming…" Liu Meng said worriedly. She knew that something was terribly wrong with Li Yiming.
The guardians surrounding Li Yiming and his friends paused their offensive and grouped up. The abilities of this man with long, white hair was completely unknown them, and from the looks of the attack that was just unleashed upon them, they deemed him to be someone not to be trifled with.
"What incredible speed… I almost thought he split himself in seven too… This isn't the power of Li Yiming. Who is he?" Stargaze mumbled with a frown.
"Hehe… Hehehe…" Li Yiming continued his maniacal laughter. He raised his right hand slowly and a ball of black thunder formed on top of his palm.
The guardians heightened their senses and prepared for Li Yiming's oncoming attack. Suddenly, right as he raised his hand before lowering it again, he completely vanished before his hand made contact with the ground. The next second, he appeared in the middle of a group of six guardians and commenced his attack.
"Shit!" The group of guardians Li Yiming chose as his target were all too slow to deploy their defenses, and the ball of thunder hit the ground before they could react.
A sizzling noise was heard, and the six guardians which stood around Li Yiming were enveloped by black sparks. Only one of them was quick enough to attempt to leap out of Li Yiming's area of attack, but he realized to his horror that a hand was clamped firmly around his ankle as he made his jump.
"No!" The guardian screamed in horror. The next moment, the world around him spun as he was thrown into the air.
As he reoriented himself with difficulty in the air, he could see his five comrades, standing still, their bodies scorched beyond recognition. The next moment, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back and a hand holding an orb of purple light grazed past him. His lower body was instantly blown into the distance.
"Hehe… Hehehe…" Li Yiming fell down slowly, his impassive smile conferring to him a demonic air.
The deadly blows Li Yiming had delivered in the couple of seconds after his awakening were enough to intimidate the group of guardians surrounding him, causing them to take a few steps back.
Even Eyeglasses and Qing Linglong were shocked at Li Yiming's display of strength and brutality. 'How strong… is he? What level is he?'
Eyeglasses, Liu Meng and Qing Linglong had only achieved over a dozen kills on the weaker of the bunch with their combined efforts, owing most of them to Liu Meng's phoenix fire, but Li Yiming had surpassed that number is just a few seconds.
As Li Yiming descended toward the ground, two more balls of thunder formed in his hands. The sparks which recoiled in his palms grew longer and longer until they took the appearance of dagger blades which Li Yiming held as weapons.
"A weapon made of thunder? He's a sage…" An old man said with a trembling voice. He had clearly not expected to encounter a third sage, especially one who was going to be their enemy.
Those around the old man heeded his words, and it became clear to all of the guardians that it was a fight that they could not win. While they did have their own sage on their side, the person in question was currently engaged in a battle against Li Huaibei. Even though Li Huaibei was expected to lose, it would take more time than Li Yiming needed to kill all of them.
"Run!" The guardians only had one thought in mind: a strategic retreat in the face of overwhelming odds.
The guardians each blasted away from the scene like a rocket. Li Yiming dove into the crowd, toward one particular young girl who seemed to have forgotten to flee.
“Qiaoqiao!" Qing Linglong gasped. Her sister, unlike the other guardians, did not run away, but Qing Linglong knew that Li Yiming did not have her younger sister's safety in mind when he leaped at her.
Qing Qiaoqiao had wisely remained hidden in the crowd until then, and although her abilities were limited, she played an important role in protecting her sister and her friends.
She was still immersed in the immense joy of seeing Li Yiming's waking up. It had nothing to do with her affection for Li Yiming, as she was simply happy at the sight of his well-being again, and she believed that the danger had passed. As she stared into Li Yiming's tenebrous eyes, she smiled, deaf to her sister's cry of horror. She knew that Li Yiming could protect her and she trusted him entirely.
As the blades of thunder traced a long arc in the air, leaving behind a trail of dazzling light, Qing Linglong closed her eyes in desperation. Liu Meng covered her mouth, and Eyeglasses raised his hand in Qiaoqiao's direction as they watched Li Yiming bring his weapon down unto Qing Qiaoqiao's neck.
Li Yiming's lightning dagger paused right as it grazed Qing Qiaoqiao's neck. The discharges of electricity burned Qing Qiaoqiao's hair, and even made some of the skin on Qing Qiaoqiao's neck turn black.
Li Yiming looked at the young girl in front of him with a frown.
"Yiming…" Qing Qiaoqiao ignored the dagger which touched her neck and stared back with love and happiness.
"Leave!" Li Yiming suddenly roared, and Qing Qiaoqiao was sent flying as Li Yiming threw his weapons away and put his hands on his forehead.
Qing Linglong caught her sister and made a swift retreat for the distance. Eyeglasses let out a sigh of relief and Liu Meng continued to stare concernedly at her boyfriend.
“You again…" Stargaze squinted and her irises lit up with the same light that the stars in the sky emitted. Her expression coldened as she performed a seal with her right hand.
"Ahhh…!" Li Yiming shook his head, his countenance distorted by an excruciating pain.
"Get OUT!" Li Yiming yelled, and another outburst of thunder cracked the ground beneath him.
“Get out of me!" Li Yiming suddenly raised his right hand and delivered a blow to his own chest. He spat out of mouthful of blood that had turned black as a white silhouette sprang out from his chest. The white creature extended its wings and landed right besides Liu Meng.
"Bai Ze?" Liu Meng yelled in surprise. It was Bai Ze who had stopped Li Yiming from doing something that he would undoubtedly regret his entire life.
"Go! This isn't him. It's Heaven's Punishment!" Bai Ze picked Liu Meng up before she could react and flew into the sky. Eyeglasses and Qing Linglong, who also understood that something was wrong with their friend, quickly left the scene.
"Hehe… Hehehe…" Li Yiming stretched his neck and laughed creepily once more. Black spots appeared on his face, forming an elaborate tattoo of strange symbols over his entire body. From time to time, smoke would come out of his skin, producing a stringent smell. Li Yiming looked less like a human and more like a demon, with his long, silvery hair and his transformed appearance.
"What happened to him?" Liu Meng's worry grew as she looked at Li Yiming, who seemed like a completely different entity.
"That's not him. That's the creature sent from Heaven's Punishment which has been hidden inside of him up until now." Bai Ze flapped her wings as hard as she could to gain more altitude.
"Then…"
"He should be fine. Otherwise I would be feeling it." Bai Ze could feel her weakness from being sealed for so long. In reality, she had become even stronger than before, which suggested that Li Yiming probably had also gained strength.
"He's become a sage?" A giant mecha arrived right next to Bai Ze with a deafening noise. Big Beard seized of the opportunity to retreat once Li Yiming intervened in the battlefield.
"Yes," Bai Ze answered.
Big Beard stayed silent and continued to observe Li Yiming. 'A sage…'
Somehow he not so happy at finding out that his captain had near invincible strength.
As his long, white hair fluttered in the wind, Li Yiming moved his fingers, and the two lightning daggers he had just dropped came back flying into his hands. He looked at the guardians had nearly disappeared into the landscape and licked his blackened lips.
Instead of chasing after his fleeing preys, he turned around and looked at the ruins of a Lianyun dwelling with a fiendish smile.
"Shit!" Stargaze cursed angrily and walked out from the opening she had just burst in the walls.
Is male vanity proportional to the size of one’s non-existent harem? (:thinkingface)