Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 671 - 604: Take Action

"An Externalized Body, assimilating demons? Ha, well played. Pu Liuxuan has taught a good student indeed. But no matter what, you shouldn’t have come to the Mountain Master’s study, exposing yourself before an Academic Palace Director."

Xi Yangyu trod upon the water’s surface, his eyes narrowed. "In fact, I’m quite curious as to what happened that made you take such action."

The Mountain Master’s study was filled with numerous Prohibitions and housed a large amount of Mutated Objects. As an Academic Palace Director, Xi Yangyu had temporary authority to access some of them. Li Ang would have known this. Disguised as Lian Xuanyao, he had shown up in the Mountain Master’s study with a high risk of exposure, yet still, he came.

"Are you a spy from another country? An undercover agent? Or perhaps a sleeper agent from Taihao Mountain?"

When Li Ang did not answer for a long time, Xi Yangyu stroked his beard and spoke to himself, "It doesn’t seem likely. Forces like the Zhou Kingdom, Jing Country, and Taihao Mountain wouldn’t send you. Could you be from Zhao Ming?"

In a sense, I do indeed carry Zhao Ming’s token.

"Mr. Xi," Li Ang said gravely after pondering for a moment. "The Mountain Master already knew about this Externalized Body during the last Zhao Ming attack on Chang’an City. Ati, the Puppet Servant in Dongjun Tower, was also privy to it. I do indeed have an urgent matter and must access the Bronze Box Fragments that hold the Dream Eater. Unable to contact the Mountain Master and get the necessary permissions, I was forced to sneak into the Academic Palace."

"Is that so?" Xi Yangyu spoke indifferently. "To create an Externalized Body of this level, your physical body must have been severely eroded by demons, becoming almost inhuman, right? Even your mind is being affected by the demons, causing your thinking to become unlike your own. I can’t believe the Mountain Master would allow you to stay in Chang’an after knowing this."

"...What do you intend to do?"

"Control your Externalized Body here. After I leave, I’ll find a suitable reason to stop the wedding, detain your true body, and wait for the Mountain Master to return for further disposition."

Xi Yangyu’s tone remained calm. Personally, he wished to reveal the truth, confine Li Ang in the Supervision Department’s dungeon, and drag Pu Liuxuan down with him, settling new and old grudges. However, as an Academic Palace Director, he also had to consider things from the Academic Palace’s perspective. He could not directly interrupt the wedding ceremony and declare that Li Ang had become a demon. Li Ang, an Inspector, transforming into a demon would greatly undermine the Academic Palace’s reputation and legitimize Taihao Mountain’s justification for war. A cover-up was necessary; another reason had to be found.

So, this is how it is?

Li Ang sighed deeply in his heart. He had guessed Xi Yangyu would likely act this way. He wouldn’t be quickly ruined or killed but would instead be detained by the unaware Supervision Department until the Mountain Master returned.

What he lacked most right now was time. The feeling of losing something precious was fading with each passing moment. After tonight, Li Ang might even lose this sense of loss, no longer interested in verifying or retrieving that precious thing, unknown even to himself.

"Is there no room for compromise?"

"No room for compromise."

If that’s the case, let’s begin.

The lake’s surface suddenly shattered. Li Ang vanished from his spot, darting across the lake and charging directly at Xi Yangyu. With the disguise as Lian Xuanyao now useless, the Ink Silk Clone reverted to a human silhouette, a Radiant Crossbow in hand thundering a shot.

WHIZZ—

Xi Yangyu waved his right hand lightly, lifting dark ripples devoid of light in front of him, sketching out a barrier pattern.

The Cloud Dream Lake here was boundless and shoreless, so there was no need to protect the Mutated Objects in the room as there had been in the Mountain Master’s study.

BOOM!

The light spheres from the Radiant Crossbow struck the telekinetic barrier, instantly igniting. The emitted bright light and fierce flames desperately eroded a small portion into the barrier, turning into faint flames. Most of it, however, continued along the barrier’s curved surface, charging forward and transforming into burning gas jets that struck the lake surface hundreds of meters away. A large amount of lake water evaporated from the high temperature, forming a thin mist of steam that rose.

This shot was just a feint. Li Ang retracted the Radiant Crossbow and activated the Water Travel Talisman and Swift Movement Talisman embedded in his arms, skimming over the lake’s surface. His human silhouette flattened and smoothed further to reduce air resistance. Simultaneously, the ink-colored silk threads forming his arms dispersed and fragmented, creating hundreds of densely packed, sharp spikes that extended twenty meters to stab directly at Xi Yangyu’s face.

Xi Yangyu didn’t dodge or evade, quietly watching the countless spikes shorten inch by inch as they neared his forehead.

Then,

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The spikes collided with an invisible wall, crumbling and snapping one after another, flying backward. Li Ang’s momentum was undiminished, though his arms had turned to powder.

"A basic Mind Study technique, Rock. You lad, did you ever listen seriously in class?" Xi Yangyu said indifferently, flicking his index finger casually.

As if hit head-on by a high-speed bullet train, the Ink Silk Clone hurtled back to the lake surface faster than it had come, stirring up towering waves.

"If that’s all you’re capable of, it would be better to surrender willingly. Cooperate with the Supervision Department. Clarify when and where you were contaminated by the demon. We could still give you a relatively good outcome... Eh?"

Xi Yangyu’s brows involuntarily furrowed. Beneath the slowly calming lake water, there was nothing; Li Ang’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

The next instant, an explosion erupted from the clear bottom of the lake. The human silhouette’s right arm, holding a long-handled Horse-slaying Saber, slashed upward from below, taking advantage of the upward momentum.

CLANG!

The Horse-slaying Saber struck the invisible barrier, and the tough blade immediately fractured with two cracks. Yet Li Ang, unconcerned, turned his right hand; the completed upward slash reversed its course, chopping down again. At the same time, a second, third, and fourth arm grew from the back of the human silhouette, each also holding a Horse-slaying Saber, all slashing at Xi Yangyu together.

The clashing sounds of gold and iron were incessant. Water droplets, shaken into the air by the fight’s shockwaves, were hit by the sonic impact and broke down into even smaller droplets.

Did he realize this so quickly?

Xi Yangyu narrowed his eyes. The boundless lake created by Cloud Dream Heavenly Sound resembled the Ghost Realm, lacking any Spiritual Energy supply. The Spiritual Energy released from the Qi Sea would vanish into thin air over time. This meant that fighting here severely tested the efficiency of Spiritual Energy use. The telekinetic barrier created by the Candle Cloud Telekinesis Master, although it could stably block these attacks, meant that as the defender, his Qi Sea consumption was much greater.

"Hmph." Xi Yangyu shook his head, his right forefinger slicing forward. As it shattered Li Ang’s chest and sent him flying, the finger hooked back.

A dense, subtle sound arose, and the dark lake water condensed into more than ten Ice Spears. These spears, though seemingly fragile, were reinforced by Telekinesis to be tougher than steel and faster than lightning, instantly piercing through Li Ang’s body.