220 Death.
Shi Lang had frozen in his spot. At the same time, the drone displayed an empty spot. Hayley said, “General, we do not see anything on the monitor.”
The young man replied, “It is inside my brain. The final test is the test to face your worst fear. I am going to close the broadcast, I do not want any interference or disturbance.”
That said, he switched off both, the communicator and the drone cams. He was not in the mood to humor any of the people in the monitoring room. The reason was the images inside his mind. The formation he stepped inside seemed to be a mental attack. When he moved forward, he saw the biggest adversary from his past life.
Shi Lang was a talentless renegade as they called him. He never got inside any sects or joined any forces. A solo cultivator could not do much, so he spent his life living in cities with big sects. He would act like a cronie of the person, who was a cronie to the most talented disciples. Then he would vanish and wait for the right time to snatch the opportunities.
One of these opportunities led him to meet the person that appeared inside his mind, the supreme disciple of the strongest sect of the world, Long Shuyan. He could still recall that day vividly, a secret realm had opened up, it was said that this secret realm contained the blood of a fallen immortal. Just one whiff can make a person break through a major realm.
There was only one drop left, this drop if taken directly could change the talent of a person from trash to treasure. Long Shuyan wanted this drop of blood, and so did Shi Lang. So the two got inside the secret realm with countless others and began to explore the place.
Shi Lang was the first to discover the blood drop, just when he took hold of the blood drop, long Shuyan also appeared, he promised Shi Lang a good deal in exchange for the blood. However, Shi Lang was aware that as soon as he take out the blood, he will die. So, Shi Lang conned Long Shuyan.
He passed him a drop of blood and said, ‘This blood is sealed, the formation will deactivate when I crush the jade slip in my possession. you can take it away, and I will leave, but if I find that you have followed me, I will trigger the formation and destroy the energy in this drop of blood.’
Long Shuyan did not believe him and made Shi Lang take out everything from his space ring for inspection. Although humiliated, the boy still endured and did as he was asked. The drop of blood was confirmed to be in Long Shuyan’s possession and he let Shi Lang go. He did not know that the drop of blood was contained inside Shi Lang’s spirit storage tattoo. The sealing formation on the blood drop was obvious and thus he was able to get away with ease.
Shi Lang ran for a couple of days, and on the other side, the formation had vanished. The blood turned out to be a drop from a thunder tiger. Long Shuyan was enraged, he used a special skill and set out to find the conman. Shi Lang had already refined half of the blood drop when Long Shuyan reached him. The benefits this half drop had brought were indispensable.
Shi Lang had improved his talent, if he had the time to take down the whole blood drop, he could have been the most talented. However, Long Shuyan did not allow him much time and leisure. He attacked Shi Lang while he was cultivating. The process was disturbed and Shi Lang had almost died. He was not able to confront Long Shuyan for a few minutes before fleeing.
Since then, till the day Long Shuyan hunted Shi Lang, but in the end, someone took advantage of this and killed Long Shuyan by calling him over by using Shi Lang as bait. This sort of blind hatred was not good for anyone. Over the years of enmity, the two came face to face a lot many times, however, Shi Lang managed to survive, sometimes using his wit, and sometimes using his body.
The accumulation of injuries was also the reason why he was left behind even after his talent upgrade, he was not the crown jewel of a big sect to give him treasures, while Long Shuyan, not only hated him but even had his cronies hunt for Shi Lang. The life of a protagonist is not always happy and smooth after they violate the stronger antagonist.
At this moment, in Shi Lang’s mind, Long Shuyan stood in his golden plated armor, with a spear in his hand. His hair waved in the wind, and his sharp eyes revealed utter contempt for Shi Lang. This gaze had given him a lot of nightmares, and now it has followed him in this life as well. Shi Lang dropped the sword in his hand and took out the spear on his back.
The aura around him changed. If anyone else was to see this scene, they would have pissed their pants. Shi Lang was far from the happy-go-lucky kind fellow that he usually was. He was now in the state of mind from his past life. The savage who sought opportunities to kill those who stood in his path. He never spared an enemy, because in the world of cultivation, those who give enemies second chances, do not get a second chance by themselves.
While Long Shuyan was expressing his disdain inside Shi Lang’s mind, another phantom appeared outside in front of him. The phantom was the same as Long Shuyan in his mind. The puppet guarding the passage was now standing behind Shi Lang, still outside the formation observing the battle about to begin.
The puppet could tell that the phantom was not a common person, it was a strong enemy, but he could not tell how Shi Lang, a young man came across this person.
…
Shi Lang moved, and so did the phantom. The two stabbed the spears at each other and they were shaken back from the impact. However, the battle had just started. They exchanged blows, and the impact was getting higher. Shi Lang was completely soaked in it. He had no other thoughts in his mind, at this moment, he was the old Shi Lang, who was known as the Savage God in the world of cultivation.
The one who would take what he needed from anyone and anyhow. His reputation was not good but it was not bad either, he was often found helping those in need, and those who came to him sincerely would testify in his favor even if he faced heaven.
…
Jenkins had put on a battle suit and was about to walk out of the monitoring room. He was going to find and check if Shi Lang was okay. Hayley stood up in front of him and asked, with squinted eyes, “Where do you think you are going, Colonel Jenkins?”
Jenkins said, “Inside that hole to find the general.”
Hayley shook her head and said, “Do you think given your skills you will be able to keep up with the traps inside those passages? Do you think you can get through them and reach the final room without being hurt? If you have complete confidence, then you can leave and I will not stop you. However, if you have even the slightest doubt, then I command you to stand down. The general is fine. His vitals are still transmitting data.”
Jenkins had no response, he felt a twitch at the corner of his lips but then he came to stand behind the monitoring station and said, “If the vitals fluctuate too much, then I am going inside with or without your permission.”
Hayley did not respond, she was praying that they did not have to go inside.
…
Shi Lang was fighting with Long Shuyan without holding back a single shred of strength that he could derive from his core. The people moved fast when suddenly, Shi Lang was hit back by the shaft of the spear used by Long Shuyan. At the moment of impact, Shi Lang regained some clarity in his thoughts, and he figured out what was happening.
He stood up again and waited for the attack to come in again. This time he gave up on countering the attacks, he began to defend and keep himself intact, he did not suffer anything, and at the same time, he was concentrating on his breathing and thoughts to wake up from the illusion created by the formation.
Shi Lang saw a puppet moving under the figure of Long Shuyan, imitating all the moves precisely. This was all because the formation was accessing Shi Lang’s memories and using them to overlay a phantom of spirit energy to cover the puppet and make it look like Shi Lang was fighting with the most powerful enemy. This was all a trick, when you face your greatest fear, you develop doubts in your mind and those doubts will lead to your death.