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Chapter 768: Come From Behind
Chapter 768: Come From Behind
Chapter 768: Come From Behind
Yin Gua took a glance at the spot where his arm had been severed, then turned to Shi Chuankong with a sinister grin as he chuckled, "I'm terribly sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."
He then began to slowly make his way toward Shi Chuankong, who was looking on with tightly furrowed brows.
At this point, he had already released the Immortal Origin Stones in his hands and was making a strange hand seal. He could feel a burning pain on his back as a sealed rune began to appear on his skin.
Activating the rune would incur an extremely heavy cost, so it was only ever to be used as a last resort, and this was truly his final trump card.
Right as Shi Chuankong was steeling himself to make a final stand, Yin Gua's expression suddenly changed drastically as a rumbling thunderclap rang out from within his lower abdomen, following which a burst of silver light that was as radiant as the sun appeared.
Immediately thereafter, countless arcs of silver lightning erupted forth, tearing a huge gash open on his lower abdomen, following which waves of scorching silver flames surged out into the open.
A sharp cry rang out as a giant silver fire raven flew out of Yin Gua's abdomen, then circled around in mid-air before pouncing at his chest.
Standing on the fire raven's back was none other than Han Li, although he was looking very much worse for wear.
Everyone was completely astonished by this incredible turn of events, while Weeping Soul struggled out of the rock face, paying no heed to her own injuries as she stared intently at Han Li with an anxious expression.
Yin Chengquan's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, while Liu Qi was looking on with a combination of surprise and elation in his eyes, with the former far outweighing the latter.
A resounding boom rang out as the silver fire raven crashed into Yin Gua's chest, instantly setting his entire body alight with silver flames.
"What the hell is this thing?!" Yin Gua yelled in a horrified voice, and baleful lightning was surging incessantly over his body, but he was unable to struggle free from the silver flames.
Just like the silver lightning from the Baleful Cleansing Pond, these silver flames were extremely potent against him.
Unbeknownst to him, after devouring the three balls of Rainbow Fire Pill Sand, the power of the Essence Fire Raven's flames had already reached the High Zenith Stage. If Han Li hadn't forcibly awoken it prematurely, the power of its flames would've been able to reach at least the late-High Zenith Stage.
Furthermore, the Essence Fire Raven was a natural bane of baleful qi, and it had erupted from within Yin Gua's body, so it was naturally particularly potent.
Shi Chuankong and Fox 3 were naturally ecstatic to see this, while Yin Chengquan's expression darkened even further, and Liu Qi was observing Han Li with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Despite Yin Gua's desperate struggles, the silver flames refused to be extinguished.
Right at this moment, a streak of black light suddenly shot out of the fire, and a miniature black figure appeared within it, then vanished into thin air amid a flash of lightning before Han Li and the others could intervene.
Meanwhile, Yin Gua's body crashed to the ground, having already been reduced to a charred corpse.
Han Li jumped down from the Essence Fire Raven's back, then made a beckoning motion to retrieve the scattered Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords on the ground, but they were rather reluctant to return to him.
His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and only after placing more focus on his spiritual connection with the swords was he able to just barely draw them back into his body.
After that, he also drew the Heavenly Fox Bloodform Saber into his grasp before flying over to Yin Gua's body.
Following a brief examination, he discovered a white bone badge hanging from his waist, and he removed it before stowing it away.
Meanwhile, the Essence Fire Raven reverted back into a miniature silver figure before landing on Han Li's shoulder, still looking very sleepy.
"Are you alright, Master?" Weeping Soul hurriedly asked as she flew over to his side.
"I'm fine. How about you?" Han Li asked.
"I'm alright. He still seems to want to use me, so he held back against me, and my injuries aren't very severe," Weeping Soul replied with a sullen expression.
Right at this moment, Fox 3 hurriedly approached them with a concerned expression, then urged, "I'm sorry to call upon you right after such a grueling battle, Brother Li, but Patriarch Liu Qi still needs our help."
Han Li turned to discover that without Weeping Soul's assistance, the tables had been completely turned, and Yin Chengquan had gained a clear upper hand.
"I'll go help him, Master," Weeping Soul immediately volunteered.
"There's no hurry. Senior Liu Qi will be able to last some time on his own, so let's take this time to replenish our immortal spiritual power, then sever the third chain. If we can do that, Senior Liu Qi's powers will be drastically enhanced, and he'll be able to defeat Yin Chengquan even without our help," Han Li replied.
"Each successive chain seems to be more powerful than the previous one, are you sure you'll be able to sever this third chain, Brother Li?" Fox 3 asked with slightly furrowed brows.
"Rest assured, I'm 70% confident that I'll be able to sever the silver chain, but prior to that, I'll need to recover as much immortal spiritual power as possible," Han Li replied.
With that, everyone quickly sat down with their legs crossed and began to focus on rest and recuperation.
......
At the conference venue.
The atmosphere was still as tense as ever, and things were beginning to get a little awkward.
Huang Fuyu's brows furrowed slightly as he proposed, "Regional Monarch Yin, at this point, there's no reason to delay things any further, so let's get to the vote."
However, Yin Chengquan didn't seem to have heard him at all, and he was sitting in silence with a thoughtful look on his face while playing with the gray ring on his left pinky finger.
"Palace Master Huang is right, Regional Monarch Yin. Everything that needs to be discussed has already been discussed, so let's commence the vote," Xiao Buye echoed in a slightly louder voice.
Only then did Yin Chengquan suddenly snap back to his senses, and a slightly stiff smile appeared on his face as he said, "According to the conference schedule, it's still not time to vote yet, so let's wait a while longer."
As soon as his voice trailed off, his right hand suddenly shot back into his sleeve as if he had been stung, and an incredulous look flashed through his eyes as he looked down at the ring on his left hand, where the silver mark had suddenly began flashing slightly.
He had done well to conceal this sequence of actions, but it hadn't escaped Huang Fuyu's notice.
At this point, Huang Fuyu was beginning to feel a little bewildered. He had come into this conference feeling very apprehensive, thinking that the Infernal Tribe was up to no good, but at this point, Yin Chengquan was currently the one looking the most uneasy out of three leading figures at the conference, and it seemed like the Infernal Tribe was truly dealing with a lot of trouble.
Yin Chengquan was just about to rise to his feet when his expression changed once again, and this time, he was so shocked that he had even forgotten to conceal his own astonishment.
"What's wrong, Regional Monarch Yin? Has there been a turn in the situation over at the Soul Cleansing Area? If you require assistance, I'm sure all of the regional monarchs present would be willing to lend you a hand," Huang Fuyu said with a smile.
"That won't be necessary. This is an internal affair of our Infernal Tribe, so I won't bother all of you. I was only thinking about the proposition that you had just raised," Yin Chengquan replied as his expression returned to normal.
Huang Fuyu raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, then suddenly asked through voice transmission, "Wyrm 3, have our spies in Asura City unearthed any more information?"
"There have been some further updates, but we still don't know exactly what's happening. All I've been told is that there's been a major crisis in the Soul Cleansing Area, and the nearby Tarmin Area, Hundred Treasure Area, and Bitter Lake Area have all been placed under lockdown.
“The Great Encompassment cultivator stationed in the Bitter Lake Area, Yin Lin, has also traveled to the Soul Cleansing Area, but it seems like the situation over there is only continuing to escalate," Wyrm 3 replied.
"Judging from Yin Chengquan's reaction, things must really have taken a drastic turn for the worse," Huang Fuyu mused with a faint smile.
"Are you considering following Palace Master Huang's proposal to commence the vote now?" Xiao Buye asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"There are still a lot of conflicting opinions, so I don't think this is the best time to be holding a vote. How about we temporarily adjourn the conference, then continue our discussion some other day? After all, this conference concerns the future direction of our Gray Realm, so a decision should not be made lightly," Yin Chengquan replied with a smile.
Xiao Buye immediately shook his head vigorously upon hearing this.
"Asura City is not a readily accessible place for us all, and many of us have had to make very long journeys to get here. In light of that, it would be far too unreasonable to adjourn the conference and expect everyone to make the same journey again some other time."
"That was never my intention, Regional Monarch Xiao. The next time the conference recommences, I suggest holding it in your Black Rope Region," Yin Chengquan replied.
"That would still be far too inconvenient for everyone, Regional Monarch Yin. It's not like we're in a hurry to reach a decision, we could easily just extend the conference. As long as we can arrive at a decision that satisfies the majority, I'm sure everyone would be willing to wait a few more days," Huang Fuyu said, and all of a sudden, it seemed that he was no longer in a hurry.
A subtle hint of displeasure flashed through Yin Chengquan's eyes upon hearing this, then turned to Xiao Buye asked as he asked, "What do you think, Regional Monarch Xiao?"
The drastic turns in the attitudes of Yin Chengquan and Huang Fuyu had tipped Xiao Buye off to the situation at hand, and he pretended to consider the question for a moment, then gave a response that he had already prepared in his mind.
"Both proposals have their merits, but our Gray Realm has already been fractured for a very long time, and the lack of consensus on what course of action should be taken against the Immortal Realm has long been a source of unease and contention.
“My concern is that if we keep delaying things, our Gray Realm will only continue to become more fractured and divided, to the point that things could become untenable. Hence, I think we should make a decision right away and not postpone the decision to another day."