Clang!
A metallic screech was heard as the Lightning Wings struck the claw Huangpu Qingtian easily used to defend.
Panting, Huangpu Qingtian tightened his claw, staring Zhuo Fan in the eye. Zhuo Fan met his gaze, bewildered. [Why couldn't the Lightning Wings pierce it?]
"I told you. You have no chance!"
Huangpu Qingtian's face twisted with savagery and tore off one of Zhuo Fan's wings.
Blood spurted from his back and Zhuo Fan broke out in sweat, falling down. The pain in his back blinded him for a moment, but he gnashed his teeth through the pain.
Ah!
Luo Yunchang cried out, tears falling like a river. The other women turned their heads away. They couldn't bear to watch.
Yet their eyelids never stopped trembling…
Zhuo Fan shook from the pain. He made a fist wanting to get up with his only arm but Huangpu Qingtian stomped on his other wing. Looking down on him, the savage dragon claw slowly lifted him up.
"Game over. The punk is done for!"
Leng Wuchang sighed, despite the stunned face he pulled, "That was too close. I didn't foresee the punk having so much of that strange purple lightning. If not for the eldest young master having that last move, I fear everything would have been in vain. Regent Estate's glory would've hit rock bottom and the vassals would no longer worship us."
He saw that the others now looked at the crippled Zhuo Fan with worry and lamentation.
As if to say, fighting Regent Estate was fighting heaven. The only outcome was death.
Leng Wuchang was pleased. This was exactly what he wanted.
Zhuge Changfeng looked on with regret, "A pity. With the kid's power, if he just wasn't so hot blooded and lost his mind, he would have had an even chance at victory."
"Ha-ha-ha, Prime Minister, is this how you work? There are no ifs in this world. Failure means annihilation!" Leng Wuchang smiled at him.
Zhuge Changfeng's eyes glinted, "I only mourn the loss of a talent. A pity for him to go down this way. Naturally, he only has himself to blame for this outcome."
"The Prime Minister is most right. We, the schemers, fear becoming berserk ourselves and digging our own graves."
Leng Wuchang and Zhuge Changfeng shared a look, then laughed…
On the battlefield, a shadow watched it all from a corner, finding himself at an impasse.
Out of Zhuo Fan and Huangpu Qingtian, he only wanted the strongest. And although they were equally powerful, Zhuo Fan had the greater potential.
But now Zhuo Fan had lost and was about to die. Should he go save him?
[Sigh, everything's so twisted.]
A headhunter feared not searching the world for thousands of miles yet to come out empty, but being forced to choose one of two prized horses.
[It's too vexing!]
But soon, the shadow came to a decision.
He wanted the strongest, that hadn't changed. Zhuo Fan had the greatest potential but defeat spoke by itself. He didn't pity him regardless of how great the kid was…
Huff~
Zhuo Fan and Huangpu Qingtian were panting, staring at each other in hatred. They both were spent of Yuan Qi, body riddled with wounds, but it was obvious that Zhuo Fan was far worse for wear.
"Zhuo Fan, your very existence is a threat to me. You must die!" Huangpu Qingtian moved a trembling dragon claw and aimed for Zhuo Fan's chest.
Squinting, Zhuo Fan's blood bubbled from his right arm and his back, His face ashen, but the fire in his eyes burnt strong, "Huangpu Qingtian, you will die for touching Ning'er!"
"Oh really? And how are you going to do that from under my heel?" Huangpu Qingtian mocked.
Huangpu Qingtian's heart seized the next second. He could see Zhuo Fan had no intention of dying, but he looked back like a wild animal ready to tear into him.
[There's still some fight left in him!]
Huangpu Qingtian's unease only grew. Even if he dismembered Zhuo Fan, as long as the man's eyes burned, the threat still existed.
With a roar, Huangpu Qingtian stabbed his claw at Zhuo Fan's heart.
Ah!
With a cry, Luo Yunchang could no longer bear to watch. Fang Qiubai squinted, overwhelmed by anxiety.
[Zhuo Fan's death proclaims the Regent Estate as the winner. It will only make them stronger.]
[Kid, you must live at all costs!]
Fang Qiubai shouted inside.
Divine Eye of the Void's 2nd stage, Void Annihilation!
As Huangpu Qingtian's claw inched forward, Zhuo Fan's right eye flashed with two golden halos and space warped.
Huangpu Qingtian's claw would take Zhuo Fan's heart at this rate, but so too would Void Annihilation punch a hole through the enemy's chest.
It truly was a life for a life.
But Zhuo Fan still had Blood Infant. As long as Blood Infant was in his blood, even without a heart, he wouldn't die. For him, it was more of a heavy wound in exchange for a life.
Even though Huangpu Qingtian was oblivious to these subtleties, he still didn't find it worth it to go down like this.
Startled by the warped space, Huangpu Qingtian dodged and his claw stabbed the ground next to Zhuo Fan. They both get to live a while longer.
Yet Void Annihilation brushed past Huangpu Qingtian's left arm and peeled his flesh. Blood oozed out like water.
Huangpu Qingtian had no time to react as Void Annihilation continued on its path and smashed into the array.
Boom!
Like a hole punched through the sky, the 6th grade array, Microcosmic Orbit Array, shattered. The 365 Profound Heaven experts acting as the core of the array, died on the spot.
They spurted up blood, their eyes rolled into their heads and they breathed their last.
[What… just happened?]
Huangpu Qingtian looked at the wound on his arm, then at the crumbling array, but was left dumbfounded.
He had no idea what had occurred. All that he knew was that Zhuo Fan landed a sneak attack on him.
But how could a mere sneak attack be so powerful?
Zhuo Fan gnashed his teeth in hatred. [He's still alive!]
Since he had failed, Zhuo Fan knew Huangpu Qingtian had to be on guard and a second chance wouldn't come. With his last attempt failing, he was all out of means to catch Huangpu Qingtian unaware.
[I have no choice but to use my last plan. Humph, Leng Wuchang, I didn't think it was you in the end who managed to outplay me. You may be the Unwonted Contriver, but not even you could foresee my last resort.]
Zhuo Fan's eyes flashed and he ignored the pain as he moved, ripping his last wing that Huangpu Qingtian had pinned down.
Huangpu Qingtian cried inside.
[He wants to run!]
And he pierced the dragon claw at Zhuo Fan's throat, just as Zhuo Fan vanished through the use of Shift.
With the array gone, Zhuo Fan had regained his freedom and no one could stop him now.
Void Annihilation overcame the flaw of Divine Eye of the Void's 1st stage by breaking any restrictions. Zhuo Fan didn't use it all this time because he had no intention of escaping, hellbent on finishing off Huangpu Qingtian.
The array had him trapped, but so too was Huangpu Qingtian. He could have run away anytime anyway.
Something that Huangpu Qingtian wasn't privy to and not even Leng Wuchang predicted this. It was unclear at this point who played who.
Whoosh~
Zhuo Fan flashed a thousand meters away and took out Qiao'er from the ring. He had it carry him as it flew away.
Not a moment too soon as Zhuo Fan blacked out.
Huangpu Qingtian took a few steps after him and spat blood. He glanced at the flesh gouged from his left arm seeping blood, then at the hellscape around him, littered with broken corpses.
They had ten thousand men, paid such a heavy price and still couldn't finish the job. The frustration fueled his raging howl.
Fang Qiubai eased his breath. Noone expected the kid to break the array. He had them scared.
Leng Wuchang was stunned and sighed, "The kid is far more treacherous than I gave him credit for."
"Sir Leng, it seems to me the kid has escaped with his life and your meticulous planning failed. Ha-ha-ha…" Zhuge Changfeng laughed.
Leng Wuchang shook his head. He didn't look too pleased yet his voice was calm, "Prime Minister, I thank you for your concern. The kid had exceeded my calculations, but I have taken this outcome into account. With him on his deathbed, he is like a fish in a barrel, waiting to be squashed!"
"Don't get so confident, Sir Leng. The kid is a true miracle worker, ha-ha-ha…" Zhuge Changfeng mocked. Leng Wuchang fell silent. But his eyes were completely focused on the National Elemental Stone, waiting for the next plan to come into play…