Chapter 1108: Thunderclap
Qi Xia knew that in the time to come, Xuanwu could not possibly defeat Qinglong.
After all, Xuanwu had already used all her strength, yet Qinglong seemed to be merely toying with a powerless monkey.
At this moment, all the wounds on Qinglong's body were rapidly healing, while Xuanwu appeared to have no ability to regenerate. She stood there, slightly out of breath.
If the battle continued like this, sooner or later Xuanwu would turn into a pile of writhing flesh and blood fragments.
Qi Xia turned his head to look at Qinglong's expression. Although Xuanwu had not injured Qinglong, it seemed that all this was worth it for now.
How could rapid bodily recovery have no effect on Qinglong?
His increasingly deranged expression was becoming more pronounced. The deeper his conviction went, the greater the impact on Qinglong.
His mind would gradually become deranged, and this would have a positive impact on the upcoming plan.
Xuanwu stared at Qinglong for a moment, then moved her hand to adjust the strange "weapon" in her grip.
Her thoughts were very simple: since she could wound Qinglong once, she could certainly wound him a second time.
Since she could wound him, then Qinglong could die.
It wasn't a question of difficulty, but a question of whether she herself would put in enough effort.
Xuanwu dragged her right arm, which in turn dragged her spine. The combination formed a structure like a bizarre scythe.
The spine scraped across the ground, emitting a strange, piercing sound.
"Haha..." Qinglong grinned. "A mere 'Immortal' and 'Divine Power'... how exactly are you going to kill me?"
"I'll kill you eventually..." Xuanwu murmured softly. "I just need to try a bit harder."
Qinglong felt he had heard this absurd argument more than once. No matter how difficult something was, there were always those who believed the reason they couldn't accomplish the task was "not trying hard enough."
Xuanwu was like that, and so was Qi Xia.
They believed that with enough time and enough effort, even mortals could triumph over heaven.
But Qinglong always found it laughable. If mortals could overcome heaven, then what use was heaven?
"Xuanwu... from now on, I'll show you what 'difference' really means."
"Differ...ence...?"
With a deranged expression, Qinglong raised his hand and pointed to the sky. Xuanwu, cautious, lifted the strange "scythe" in her hand, ready to guard against Qinglong's attack.
But a scene she never expected suddenly appeared.
Within the entire "Cangjie Chess" venue, strange dark clouds began to gather out of nowhere in the pitch-black heights.
The clouds rolled like waves, swirling and surging in the midair, with countless flashes of lightning flickering within.
Xuanwu slowly widened her eyes, as if remembering something. This was Qinglong's "Thunderclap."
It was a bizarre ability that all "Divine Beasts" and "Zodiacs" had heard of but never truly witnessed—probably Qinglong's most terrifying and powerful "Immortal Art."
[Rumble].
"Xuanwu, if you admit your mistake and leave now, continuing to be my dog, then nothing will have happened," Qinglong said.
Perhaps to anyone else, Qinglong's words would not have swayed them, but Xuanwu hesitated at this moment.
She had already defied Qinglong so greatly, not only fighting him fiercely, but even splitting his skull with his own spine... Could he really pretend nothing had happened?
If what Qinglong said was true, then leaving now would be the best choice for her.
Because facing Qinglong in this state, Xuanwu was already panicked.
She felt that she was doing something extremely dangerous. For decades, she had moved through "Taoyuan" like a walking corpse. She could strike anyone, but had never felt a moment of panic.
"It's hard," Xuanwu said.
"Hmm?"
"Life is hard, Taoyuan is hard, and defeating you is hard," Xuanwu said. "Now, even standing in front of you feels hard."
"If you can't hold on, you can fall," Qinglong said with a smile. "I'll have the 'Twin Flowers' on the 'Train' continue to treat you. But if you truly continue to defy me, these wounds will never recover."
[Rumble].
"But I've finally gotten this opportunity," Xuanwu slowly raised her head, cold light shooting out from her long hair. "In decades, this is the only chance I've had to defy you. Do you know how precious this opportunity is to me...?"
"Even if you end up shattered to pieces, it doesn't matter?" Qinglong asked again.
"In Taoyuan... the first person I wanted to kill was myself, and the second was you," Xuanwu said in a low voice. "I never had the chance to kill myself, but I do have the chance to kill you... How could I give that up?"
[Rumble].
Thunder rolled across the venue, as if the entire sky was enraged. Alternating bright and dark lights flickered over the figures of the two, like follow spots on a stage.
"Not quite," Qinglong shook his head with a smile. "In my opinion, the first person you want to kill is me, and the second is yourself. Otherwise, when you were fighting me, you wouldn't have bothered to protect your vital spots."
"Is that so..." Xuanwu nodded ambiguously. "The best outcome... maybe I can die here together with you... but that's hard..."
Qinglong revealed a smile and was about to deliver a killing blow, but once again he looked up in a daze.
That strange feeling came again...
Those terrifying and absurd illusions began to flood his mind.
He saw himself collapsing in the locomotive.
All his convictions crumbled at that moment, and all his "Immortal Arts" instantly failed.
But Tianlong was sitting there unharmed and had not acted, so how could his own convictions collapse?
Xuanwu precisely caught the moment when Qinglong was distracted, and immediately "Leapt" out.
Qinglong snapped back to reality, and in his agitation, casually struck out with a palm. Xuanwu caught the palm with one hand but staggered backward, almost tripping over her own long hair and falling.
Qinglong's face darkened extremely. He felt that he should find a way to go to the "locomotive" to see what was happening.
If illusions kept coming from the "locomotive," it could only mean something was happening there.
Therefore, Xuanwu in front of him needed to be dealt with immediately. Once a flaw really appeared in his plan, regardless of how things were going with Qi Xia, his plan to kill Tianlong would be ruined.
With that thought, Qinglong immediately raised his hand to the sky and then clenched it into a fist.
A low roar came from the sky, then a tremendous rumble sounded. Countless sparks of electricity burst out, as if a huge bolt of lightning was about to strike.
Xuanwu looked up with a hint of fear. She knew that even if she possessed "Immortal," being struck by lightning would not be without consequence.
After all, the most powerful thing she had ever seen in her life was the lightning that struck the village.
"Too hard..." Xuanwu murmured. "All of this is too hard..."
She moved her feet, trying to think of a way to use "Leap" to dodge this huge lightning bolt at the critical moment.
But before her foot could land, her entire body was once again controlled by "Soul Capture."
[Boom]!
A huge flash of lightning lit up the venue, illuminating it like daylight.
Qi Xia endured the intense light and forced his eyes open, seeing that there were indeed many "doors" in the sky above.
(Sorry, everyone, I've been on the road all day today, flying from Chongqing to Beijing. Since I left home on June 15th, I haven't been back or had a break. Every day I'm busy and overwhelmed. The next chapter is being written. Although the update schedule is so unstable, on average I'm still doing two chapters a day. Please forgive me...)