novelraw Chapter 603 - 602 - Weakness
Chapter 603 - 602 - Weakness
Xing had been screaming at the foolish reports she got from the other 5 empires. Beasts were beyond her power to touch but Soulmancers were not without weapons. Yet, failure continued to be the bane of her existence!
Once content to stay in their own territories, Moon and even Sun Tier aether beasts had come out of nowhere to make the paths between empires near impassable.
The weakness of depending on trade now reared its head and teleportation had to be authorized which drained Qi stones very quickly. Sky Stones simply could not cope with the demand.
Xing had to issue the far more rare Heaven Stones as a last resort but it was not a long term solution. The cache of stones was not bottomless!
"Is my sister still alive?" Linghu dared to ask a question but then his body was allowed to fall limply to the floor.
"If I wanted stupid questions I would still be talking to those oh so mighty Emperors!" Xing's normally placid and calm face was long gone. Linghu had seen the truth too. Xing was not human!
Her real features were seared into his mind but she treated his like air so he had no concern yet, but eventually she might wonder.
How could such beauty be so disgusting at the same time?
Suddenly, both of them felt a pulse throughout the Core Hall. Xing paled as she pulled out the crystal seal. Linghu's eyes narrowed as, unlike the others, he knew that was the ultimate controller of the Law Binding.
If he or Shi could ever get ahold of it, they would be free!
It was impossible but Xing had tortured him enough to see the basics of how it worked. He was confident that if he controlled his body long enough, he could use it but it was hopeless. His body was no longer his to control at all.
If he got within a certain radius of Xing, he just collapsed!
"HOW?!" Her shout brought him back to the present as her mask slipped ever so briefly but they were not alone at the moment.
The 2 new replacements for their council blanched but then died instantly. Linghu never saw her move!
"Damn it! One thing after another!" She glanced at him but the darkly beautiful form was covered up once more in the plain Xing.
She touched a few sigils on the seal and a display snapped up. Usually, it had 7 to 8 spots glowing on it feeding into the Law Binding, but one had gone dark! Linghu had no idea what it meant but a feeling of fear entered his soul as he saw Xing shake with rage.
"How dare he?! How dare he take what is mine?!" Linghu saw her almost toss the seal in her rage!
"W-what does that mean?" She glanced at him as if recalling he was there only then. He was only background to her!
"It means the central node of the Dar Empire had been refined! It has been broken away from the Law Binding and can no longer be reached!" She spoke and then seemed confused.
"How could a Moon Tier do that? Fifty years is too soon to even become a Sun Tier let alone an Immortal?" Her words made his hair stand on end but he quickly understood. The 6 empires were not simply left to their own devices.
There were control hubs for the Law Binding to draw power from. It could be thought of as a way to keep the Law Binding supplied with energy. The Soulmancers collected them every chance they could get to infuse more souls into it. It was how Xing maintained her power and thus the Soulmancers as well.
No one knew of the truth but even if they did, there was little they could do with the brands on their dantians.
"Impossible, none have existed since before the Cataclysm." Linghu felt more shock as Xing seemed to know something from back then. How long had she been alive?!
Most Soulmancers, even with constant consumption of souls, would be lucky to make it to 150,000 years. Some had gone far longer but the strain of refining souls had a cost. A poor foundation also made it worse.
Only Linghu and Shi avoided the issue since Xing took them in as her apprentices over 200,000 years ago. While Shi was forced to consume souls in front of him as punishment, it also added to her life. Linghu was just an extension of Xing so he had been violated by the process any number of times.
He looked younger due to Xing's fine control but the horror of it gave him nightmares.
"You know what I am?" Her question made him break out in a sweat but he did not delay nodding his head. Delays meant punishment. She smirked at his clear thoughts.
"I was there, when Suzen escaped into this shell of a place. He betrayed us, who had done so much for his pathetic life. He was gifted as a weaver though, that was real. Heaven was blind to give him such a gift." She spoke of things that were blasphemous to most but Linghu was far beyond caring about it.
"Why him?" Linghu simply wanted to distract her a bit from the bad news but her frown showed he may have stepped on a trap.
"It is rare, but some weavers can touch on elements outside their natural ones. If they comprehend enough, they can make weavings of demonic or Fiend Qi." Linghu was shocked. Xing then pointed at him. "You have such a gift. You are very close too. Your sister is not bad as a weaver, but you are the real treasure."
Linghu suddenly felt a premonition. The reason he was so tightly controlled while his sister was merely restrained by artifacts.
"You want me to replace Suzen?" Xing smiled wide and clapped.
"The one weakness of a Law Binding is the Immortal who cast it. Once they die, and they can die, a new Immortal has to take its place. I can't change the Law Core myself, but you can under my control. The Core Hall is the only place a new Immortal Realm can be born!" Linghu realized the day that happened, he would effectively die.
"However, another had come who beat you to it at the Moon Tier. A Perfect 6th Circle we call them. While still in the Moon Tier he can touch on the edge of grade 7! It explains so much about how he can affect the brands and avoid my sight!" Xing felt ecstatic.
Then her frown returned.
"Unfortunately, he is beyond my ability to control. Something is wrong with him, or rather, something is odd as he should not have been able to ascend here at all." Linghu knew about that too. Only the ascension pool inside the Core Hall worked.
No one could arrive save from the Mortal Realm they were connected to by it. Yet, someone had.
What made that man different?
"Still, this makes you very valuable to me in a different way than before. I have no doubt that simpering sister of yours can win over such a weak man. Maybe you will have a brother in law by the time you see her again?" Xing sneered at him but Linghu actually smiled back at her.
"I would count myself lucky!" He did not know where the courage came from but the world tilted as he was locked inside his body once more. He could not speak or move a muscle yet he could see and hear. She had left him that much.
"Just because I need you does not mean you can defy me! Never forget I can kill her with a thought!" She brought up the crystal seal and Linghu panicked but then the crystal hummed strangely before she did a thing.
Her eyes narrowed and Linghu felt control return. Whatever was happening freed him enough to regain control!
"Impossible!" Her voice was a whisper before the sigils glowed brightly and a man was projected into the room. He had emerald eyes and looked very tired. His youthful face shocked Linghu.
"Ah, so this does work, good." A smile cracked at last but then he looked at Linghu and frowned deeply. "So, you are her puppet but not damaged in the soul. She needs you intact for something. Not good."
Linghu wondered what was going on when a gray skinned woman appeared to throw vile Qi in the air but it passed right through the projection.
"So, you are a Fiend. I found your little control node and I must say I am disappointed. I have killed so many Fiends that were more terrifying than you. You might as well have rolled out a red carpet and left the door open with those pathetic weavings." His words enraged Xing more but then Linghu felt a pressure from above.
Instantly the plain face and form of Xing returned.
"Ah, so that is why you stay indoors, you are hiding!" A sneer crossed the man's face. "Anyway, I thought I should let you know I absorbed the Dar Empire. It is gone. The slaves are freed and the Soulless will be restored shortly. How are the buffet lines going with the aether beasts?" Linghu felt impressed.
That man had pushed Xing so far and yet still lived. Further, he seemed to be intentionally trying to rile her up.
"I will flay you alive and slowly consume your soul! I will find your family and do the same to them once I am free of this place!" The man frowned and looked at Linghu once more.
"That filled in an important gap, thank you. Now, I can't keep this up long so I will make this short. Recall all troops from my border and the attacks of the beasts will stop save in regards to the Two Rivers Empire." Xing shook with rage but she could do nothing.
They were already boxed in and had no cards to play.
"I will kill him. I have–" Xing tried to threaten but laughter came back at her.
"You do not have time. I just quintupled my forces at minimum. While they have issues, they all agree on one thing. The 6, well now 5, empires must burn. You sowed the seeds for all of this, I am just harvesting the crop." The man then looked at Linghu sadly.
"I am sorry. I tried to free your sister, but the artifacts killed her instantly. She had one message. 'I love you brother, even in my next life I will find you.'" He looked truly sad before the image flickered away.
Both Xing and Linghu were shocked but for different reasons. Xing saw her plans falling apart when she was so close! A few more centuries and Linghu would have become an Immortal Realm under her control!
Linghu felt hollow but then slowly smiled. Shi was free. She was finally free! He wept but did not care if Xing saw. She could no longer use him against her!
"I love you too, Shi." His whispered words were followed by pain but he still smiled as Xing raged. He might die the next moment but the beginning of the end had come. Xing was going to die!