Chapter 1313: Wait for Me
Zhang Shan and Qinglong were both baffled by Qiao Jiajin's strange behavior, but Qiao Jiajin didn't care in the slightest as he walked forward.
As he passed by Qinglong, he waved at him with a smile. "Little Greenie, don't get so worked up. We're going to kill Tianlong."
"Hold on... wait a minute..." Zhang Shan quickly ran forward and, under Qinglong's cautious gaze, slowly ascended the steps of Tianlong's throne alongside Qiao Jiajin.
Qinglong narrowed his eyes, watching their backs, completely bewildered as to what these two were planning.
Although their exchange had been brief, he could tell that these two were reckless brutes without any real strategy. Could it be that they had been intimidated by his "Thunderclap" and had now suddenly changed their minds?
But then again... the aura emanating from them...
As he watched the two approach Tianlong, Qinglong suddenly felt something was off. "Wait..."
The moment the words left his mouth, Qiao Jiajin grabbed Zhang Shan and bolted.
Qinglong was about to leap forward but hesitated and stopped in his tracks.
Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan reached Tianlong's throne, taking their positions on either side of him before turning back around.
"Little Greenie!" Qiao Jiajin shouted from beside Tianlong. "I've changed my mind! What are you gonna do about it?"
Qinglong's expression instantly darkened. After all, these two would inevitably discover sooner or later—in this room, he had been fighting the entire time while burdened by a massive liability.
"Go ahead and strike! Bring Little Reddie along. The four of us will die together." Qiao Jiajin said nonchalantly. "It's not like I can dodge it anyway, so we'll all just take the hit together."
Qinglong stared at the two, halting his movements, but the storm clouds above his head did not disperse. They remained gathered there.
"You've got some nerve, tattoo boy..." Zhang Shan grinned. "But what do we do now?"
"No idea," Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "This Little Greenie is like the 'Terminator.' Normal methods won't work on him. Let's focus on staying alive for now."
"The 'Terminator'...?" Zhang Shan nodded. "With the lightning strikes and the self-healing, he might even be a bit stronger than the Terminator."
The three could only stand there, motionless, with no one able to make a move.
Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan would suffer a fatal attack the moment they left their spot, and Qinglong knew these two wouldn't lay a hand on Tianlong. The situation had reached a stalemate.
"But if you drag this out any longer... you'll still be the ones to lose," Qinglong said. "Do you really intend to just wait here forever?"
Qiao Jiajin nodded. "Little Greenie, even if we keep waiting and end up losing, you can't win either, right? In a situation where neither side can claim victory, it just comes down to who has more patience."
Qinglong was genuinely frustrated by these two. This was likely his best chance to kill Tianlong.
If he missed this opportunity... would he have to wait another few decades?
Even if these two wouldn't attack Tianlong, as long as he could kill them both, he could then use that method to temporarily sever the connection of the "Twin Blossoms" on his body and kill Tianlong with his own hands.
Afterward, he could frame these two for Tianlong's death... making everything seem perfectly logical.
This scheme could fool his own "Conviction" and also deceive all the "Heavenly Grades" and "Earthly Grades."
This was the best solution Qinglong could think of at the moment, but killing Tianlong with his own hands would take a lot of time, so he had to get rid of these two immediately.
A faint thought stirred within Qinglong, and his eyes flickered with a pale green glow. Sensing trouble, Qiao Jiajin immediately spoke up. "Hey, Qinglong... no cheating!"
Qinglong remained expressionless as a flash of white light passed over his body, yet his eyes were still a vivid emerald green.
Qiao Jiajin paused, feeling that his warning wasn't strong enough, so he quickly added, "Qinglong, you're not allowed to do anything."
But this statement didn't cause any reaction. No other light shone from Qinglong's body. It seemed that, just like before, the effects of "Shattering Myriad Laws" on him had already reached their limit.
"Too bad... you still haven't learned your lesson..." Qinglong let out a soft laugh before slowly walking forward.
Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan both furrowed their brows as their legs involuntarily began to move, step by step, down the stairs.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
"Tianlong doesn't have 'Heavenly Endeavor,'" Qinglong said with a smile. "This time, let's make sure the 'Thunderclap' doesn't hit him, just the three of us. How about that?"
The two's eyes gradually widened, but they were completely powerless to resist the domineering force of "Heart-Seizing Soul."
In no time at all, the three met at the bottom of the steps, and the storm clouds in the sky now loomed directly above their heads.
Arc flashes crackled within the clouds. If this strike came crashing down, the only option would be to endure it with Zhang Shan's "Heavenly Endeavor."
They should have realized this problem from the start. Once Qinglong began using his "Celestial Arts," the battle would quickly come to an end.
Even if the two of them possessed "Heavenly Endeavor," "Shattering Myriad Laws," and "Twin Blossoms," they could ultimately only rely on their fists to attack Qinglong, but Qinglong's methods extended far beyond that.
Qiao Jiajin gritted his teeth and tried to move his limbs, only to find that every organ in his body no longer belonged to him. He felt like a remote-controlled doll with a human brain, capable of thinking but completely unable to act on his own will.
To ensure the two couldn't escape, Qinglong would undoubtedly maintain "Heart-Seizing Soul" until the very moment the "Thunderclap" landed, never releasing it.
Now, it all came down to whose "Heavenly Endeavor" could recover faster—just like two boxers knocked down at the same time, the first one to get back up would be declared the winner. It was a pure contest of "Conviction."
Qiao Jiajin moved his eyes, glancing at Zhang Shan from the corner of his vision. He knew full well that Zhang Shan's mastery of "Heavenly Endeavor" was slightly inferior to Qinglong's... Trying to heal both of their bodies quickly under these circumstances was far too difficult.
"Big guy, can you take it?" Qiao Jiajin asked. "This lightning stuff looks pretty intense."
"Never taken it before," Zhang Shan replied indifferently. "If I survive this, I'll have something to brag about. If I don't, then I'll just die."
"Come on, Big Guy, pull yourself together." Qiao Jiajin racked his brain to encourage Zhang Shan. "You said you have great endurance!"
Zhang Shan rolled his eyes upward, looking at the storm clouds in the sky. "You... call this thing 'endurance'?"
"Just think of it that way," Qiao Jiajin said. "A hit is a hit, a strike is a strike."
Qinglong's gaze turned cold as he reached his hand toward the sky. The thunderclouds above seemed to activate, churning violently.
"Come on... let's see whose 'Heavenly Endeavor' is stronger..."
Qinglong slowly bared his teeth, and the thunder in the sky blazed with blinding light at that moment.
Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan struggled desperately to move their limbs, but they still couldn't control their own bodies.
An intense aura of death descended upon them.
Just as the "Thunderclap" was about to strike, a woman's voice inexplicably flashed through Qinglong's mind:
"Qinglong, wait for me."
A single sentence passed through his mind, and his "Conviction" instantly fell into chaos. The "Heart-Seizing Soul" pressing down on the two of them actually disappeared for a brief moment.
Both Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajin were seasoned fighters. They seized the fleeting instant before the thunderbolt landed, leaping to opposite sides as a deafening roar filled the air.
But the "Heart-Seizing Soul" had been withdrawn a moment too late. In that split second, their legs were instantly charred to cinders by the scorching thunder, while Qinglong himself was struck head-on.