stonecrandall Chapter 1001 Blackmail, Cooperation? Do you think it's possible?
Chapter 1001 Blackmail, Cooperation? Do you think it's possible?
Not far away, behind a white marble pavilion weathered by time, Yi Xiaochuan slowly emerged. His handsome face remained, but the carefree spirit of the past was gone, replaced by a deep, unfathomable weariness and calculating cunning.
He did not come alone; behind him were dozens of guards dressed in tight black clothes, their aura sharp and cold. They were like ghosts blending into the darkness, silent and stealthy, clearly elite assassins chosen from among the best.
Gao Yao sneered inwardly. He knew that the person in front of him was not the Yi Xiaochuan he had first met, who had a modern mindset and was somewhat naive and innocent. Instead, he was the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan who had struggled repeatedly in the long river of time and had become mysterious and unpredictable. He might even be carrying a mission like himself.
As for how the other party was able to find this place so accurately, and even infiltrate the heavily guarded core of this underground palace so silently, Gao Yao wasn't too surprised. Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, let alone the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, who had been cultivating his territory for countless years and was determined to obtain Tianxing.
This underground palace is crucial to the survival of Tianxing; he could not possibly have only one passage, nor could he easily give it up. Gao Yao had already deduced seven or eight parts of Tianxing's importance from various clues—it might be the pivot that maintains some kind of balance in this world, or perhaps the key to a higher level of power.
“You’ve arrived,” Gao Yao said, his voice calm and unwavering, revealing no emotion whatsoever. “Heh, I really didn’t expect that!” He deliberately omitted the imperial self-reference of “I” or “I,” for in the face of an opponent of this caliber, those worldly titles seemed pale and laughable. The two had long since transcended a simple power struggle, entering into a confrontation concerning the very essence of existence. They knew each other inside and out, and there was no need for any hypocritical formalities.
The enigmatic Yi Xiaochuan seemed to see through the fleeting attempt by Gao Yao to send a signal, a knowing smile playing on his lips. His tone carried an undeniable threat: "Gao Yao, I advise you not to act rashly. You should know I don't appear without reason. I've already had enough explosives planted at the exit. If you dare to make any rash moves, or try to summon the ambush troops you've set up outside, I will immediately have them detonated. 'Boom!'—!"
The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan made an exaggerated gesture, his eyes flashing with a crazed light, "Let's be buried together in this dark and sunless depths of the earth, and sleep forever with this celestial star."
Gao Yao's expression froze slightly, and his pupils contracted imperceptibly. Under the guise of training troops, he transferred his most loyal and elite personal guard to the vicinity of Mount Li. Ostensibly, it was to train in field combat, but the core purpose was to guard against a sudden attack from the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan and ensure the safety of the underground palace.
Unexpectedly, the enemy seemed to know everything about the elaborate trap he had laid, and might even have used the gaps in his plan to infiltrate the core undetected. Gao Yao harbored doubts about the authenticity of the explosives; it might just be a bluff.
But the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan was right about one thing—Gao Yao dared not gamble. He dared not gamble on his hope of escaping this cycle, and even less dared to gamble on whether, in this completely sealed, structurally unknown underground palace, once the main passage was destroyed, he truly had the ability and luck to dig a path out with his bare hands before the oxygen ran out, or... to complete that seemingly impossible task of dismantling this incredibly hard celestial star with his bare hands?
Forcibly suppressing his inner apprehension, Gao Yao's face quickly regained its imperial majesty and coldness, even carrying a hint of contempt. His gaze, sharp as a knife, swept over the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan and the men in black behind him, his tone filled with powerful confidence: "Is that so? You mean, with just these people around you, you can keep me here?"
Even without relying on the encirclement that might have cut off all contact, the dozens of handpicked guards he had at this moment slightly outnumbered their opponents. Moreover, Gao Yao was no longer the same naive man he once was! Since ascending the throne and completing that crucial mission, the system's reward had arrived—the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill had reached an unprecedented fourteenth level!
At this moment, he felt his inner energy as vast as the sea, surging like the Yangtze River, his limbs and bones filled with terrifying power capable of uprooting mountains and conquering oceans. According to the system's vague prompts, his current martial prowess had likely already surpassed the limits of this low-martial-world, reaching an inconceivable level. Even if he were alone now, he had absolute confidence that he could completely keep this group of people, including the unfathomable and mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, here!
Sensing the undisguised, overwhelming aura emanating from Gao Yao, like a primordial beast awakening, Yi Xiaochuan's eyelids twitched violently. An indescribable bitterness and helplessness welled up within him.
Once upon a time, this person before him was merely a minor character in his plans, someone he could manipulate at will, someone who even needed his occasional guidance. But the trajectory of fate is so unpredictable; the other party has grown at a speed he could not comprehend at all, until today, he has grown to the point where even he finds him troublesome, and even feels a faint threat.
Circumstances dictate his actions. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil within him, and attempted to change tactics. His tone softened from its initial threat, even taking on a hint of coaxing: "Gao Yao, why bother? Do we really have to go to the point of mutual destruction?" He pointed to the celestial star slowly rotating on the altar, his voice filled with a seductive quality, "The celestial star is right here. It is our shared opportunity, and also our shared shackle. I can tell you clearly that without the celestial star, not only will this world lose its balance, but neither you nor I will truly survive. No matter how powerful you become, no matter how illustrious your authority, as long as you haven't escaped this world, you will never escape this predetermined cycle, and one day you will be destroyed along with the world, or fall into eternal silence."
He paused, carefully observing Gao Yao's expression, and continued to offer his bargaining chip: "And I, after countless attempts and explorations, have mastered a way to truly escape this world! Not through brute force, not through destruction, but a more secure and glorious path. As long as we can cooperate and share the secrets of the Heavenly Star, I can guarantee that we can leave this tedious cycle together, and while leaving, we will possess a near-eternal and powerful life force! How about it? Isn't this a million times better than that illusory system reward, or a mutually destructive ending?"
These words were spoken with sincerity, seemingly brimming with genuine desire for cooperation. Gao Yao listened quietly, his face expressionless, until the other party finished speaking, and the underground palace fell into dead silence once more, with only the faint light of the shifting stars illuminating his unfathomable eyes.