Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)
chapter-455

Yang City was bustling with noise and excitement as usual. From the constantly moving streams of people on the streets, one could see just how the popular the city was.

However, some newcomers would fail to detect the now somewhat different atmosphere in Yang City.

Those who were familiar with the original distribution of power in Yang City would stare at the few lofty towers at the center of the city with a slightly complicated look on their faces. Those towers originally belong to the Lingyun Empire and Great Yuan Empire. However, these two former powerhouses were forced to give up these properties because they were now owned by a more powerful master.

The Devil Cliff Empire.

A genuine high rank empire. The Devil Cliff Empire possessed an illustrious reputation even amongst the other high rank empires. Although this kind of reputation was not always a positive one, it still struck fear in the hearts of the other empires. In the ancient battlefield, strength was the most important after all.

In the past, the distribution of power in the Yang City was rather well-proportioned. Even if other empires dreaded the Lingyun Empire and Great Yuan Empire, they were not too fearful of them. That kind of balanced atmosphere satisfied everyone. However, ever since the arrival of the Devil Cliff Empire, the well-balanced atmosphere of the Yang City had been officially broken. When that particular Nirvana stage practitioner stepped onto the tower and looked down at the entire city, his sinister and tyrannical voice imbued fear into numerous people.

“Sigh.”

Some people could not help but sigh when they thought of the current situation in the Yang City. Indistinctly, there seemed to be prudent whisperings spreading around the city quietly.

“Members from the Iron Empire, the Great Tang Empire and the Black Cloud Empire have been captured by the Devil Cliff Empire. Reportedly, they are captured because of their past affiliations with Lin Dong, who disappeared in the Thunder Granite Valley after obtaining the Mysterious Ancient Key.”

“The Devil Cliff Empire is simply too despicable. They actually want to use such means to force Lin Dong to surface.”

“That Lin Dong is no fool. The Devil Cliff Empire is extremely powerful and even some high rank empires do not dare to offend them. How could Lin Dong dare to oppose the Devil Cliff Empire single-handedly then?”

“That’s true. However, the most unlucky ones are Mo Tie and his counterparts. Given the despicable nature of the Devil Cliff Empire, if Lin Dong does not appear soon, Mo Tie and his counterparts will not be easily let off…”

“Sigh, the Yang City is no longer peaceful anymore, it’s time for us to look for another place.”

While these people whispered in the dark, their gazes were thrown towards the base of the tower in the city central at the same time. At this moment, there was a commotion at the spacious plaza that was located in front of the tower. Onlookers surrounded the the plaza and there were so many people that even the end could not be seen.

While the onlookers gathered, there were a lot of sympathetic gazes being thrown in the direction of the plaza. In the middle of the plaza, there was a massive metal cage. However, instead of locking up some kind of beast, the cage actually confined red-eyed individuals whose faces were filled with rage and resentment. There were three figures sitting cross-leggedly in front of these people. They were Mo Tie,Tang Xuan and Liu Xuan.

Right now, the gloominess on the three persons’ faces had reached a terrifying level. They stared at the members of the Devil Cliff Empire with bloodshot eyes while a unresolvable bitterness was surging through their eyes.

In their opinion, the act of locking them up in a cage and showcasing them to the public like an animal, was worse than killing them.

Outside of the metal cage, there were black-clothed members from the Devil Cliff Empire. At the centre of the plaza, there was a man sitting on a stone chair. Meanwhile, he was looking at the metal cage with a sadistic yet indifferent tinge in his eyes.

That man was not Chen Mu, instead, he was the Nirvana stage practitioner who previously fought with Lin Dong over the Heaven Symbol Spirit Tree.

His name was Li Pan and he held a reasonably high position in the Devil Cliff Empire. He was still brooding over the fact that he got taken advantage by Lin Dong previously. Initially, he thought that he could get back at Lin Dong by obtaining the Mysterious Ancient Key. However, the Mysterious Ancient Key eventually landed in Lin Dong’s hands. Furthermore, the most important point was that Lin Dong actually disappeared after he obtained the Mysterious Ancient Key. That undoubtedly pissed off Li Pan.

Luckily, they still had some tricks up their sleeves and were able to take control of the empires that had affiliation with Lin Dong. Unfortunately, the three guys who came to the Yang City together with Lin Dong managed to escape.

Within this one month, Li Pan had tried many method to humiliate Mo Tie and his counterparts in a futile attempt to force Lin Dong out of his hiding place. Yet the results only left him dejected and angry. That was because within this month, Lin Dong’s shadow did not appear, let alone his physical body.

“I want to see how long can this coward hide. These people are your friends. If you don’t come and save them, sooner or later, your reputation will be tarnished. Hehe, you will definitely be criticised for keeping treasures for yourself while leaving your friends here to suffer,” Li Pan mumbled and laughed sinisterly as a tigne of chilliness flashed across his eyes.

After Li Pan finished his sentence, he reached out his hand and took over a cup of hot tea from a servant. He then squinted his eyes and looked at Mo Tie and his counterparts in the metal cage and beamed, “Mo Tie, don’t put on a vengeful face. Instead of hating me, you should be hating that coward, Lin Dong. Because of him, all of you are in this mess now .”

“Scumbag, you had better pray that I do not have the opportunity to leave here, otherwise, I will bite off your flesh bit by bit!” Mo Tie stared fixedly at Li Pan while his eyes were bloodshot. Suddenly, the former laughed sinisterly with his face looking twisted.

“Hehe.”

Upon hearing Mo Tie’s words, Li Pan gave an extremely cold cackle. He then shot Mo Tie a glance and spoke softly, “It seems that I have failed to mellow down your bad temperament during this one month. Do I come off as too good-natured?”

Li Pan suddenly stood up after he finished his sentence. With a clap of his hands, three daggers that were flickering with a cold deathly flash came swishing out from behind him.

“Ah! Argh! Ahh!”

As the daggers flew out, three mournful, blood-curdling screeches broke out in the metal cage at the same time. Three guys behind Mo Tie had their palms pierced by the daggers before dark-red fresh blood flowed out of their wounds.

The corners of Mo Tie’s eyes were twitching while his fists were clenched tightly. As he heard those ear-piercing screams, his eyes gushed with fury.

Outside of the plaza, it was completely silent. Fury was surging through the eyes of many people. Apparently, these people were enraged by Li Pan’s despicable actions. However, even though they were angry, they could only clench their fists. Furthermore, once they remembered how terrifying the Devil Cliff Empire was, all of them slowly unclenched their fists.

Standing on the outskirt of the plaza, Liu Yuan’s face was ashen when he witnessed this sight. He clenched his fists so tightly that creaking sounds were produced. Just as he was about to lose control and say something, Lingyun grabbed him by his side and shook his head.

“Don’t be foolish, it’s useless,” Lingyun spoke with a gloomy and powerless voice. The Devil Cliff Empire is far too powerful, so much so that they had no way to resist them.

“After today, I shall bring my men and leave the Yang City. I’m going to attack the Nirvana stage!” Liu Yuan’s body trembled slightly before he calmed himself down and replied with a hoarse voice.

The sight before him made him understood the cruel reality of the ancient battlefield thoroughly. The Lingyun duo had a tight relationship with Lin Dong as well. If not for the fact that they were both quasi-Nirvana stage practitioners, they would be locked up in the metal cage.

Lingyun remained silent as he nodded his head. In the Ancient Battlefield, only by attaining the Nirvana Stage, could one have the right to speak. Otherwise, the sight before them might happen to them in the future as well.

Meanwhile, in the plaza, Li Pan was scanning his surroundings with a malevolent look. Anyone who made eye contact with him felt dreadful and left the place quickly. This put a twisted smile on Li Pan as he liked the dominance that he was exhibiting.

“Mo Tie, my patience is running out. From tomorrow onwards, I shall kill one person each day until Lin Dong appears. Therefore, you better pray that Lin Dong stops being a coward. Otherwise, this cage shall be your final resting place,” Li Pan sneered.

“Li Pan, you are a total bastard. Lin Dong will not appear. However, should he really appears, trust me, your ending will be hundred times more miserable than us!”

Suddenly, Mo Tie’s previously twisted face became unusually calm. He stared at Li Pan as his voice remained composed yet contained a tinge of chilliness.

The sneer on Li Pan’s face froze. He then looked at Mo Tie and started chuckling. However, a cold killer intent could be seen surging through the former’s eyes, displaying the fury in his heart.

“Since you are so stubborn, let’s start today then.”

Li Pan smiled. With a wave of his palm, vigorous Yuan Power gathered and transformed into an extremely sharp spear in his hand. With a jolt of his arm, the spear ripped through the air with an ear-piercing whistling sound and flew towards Mo Tie with a lightning speed!

The speed of the spear was so fast that it created fear in one’s heart. The energy that it emitted was enough to make even a Nirvana stage practitioner like Liu Yuan to tremble with horror. It was clear that Li Pan intended to kill Mo Tie.

“Scumbag, just you wait!”

Even at this moment, Mo Tie was laughing balefully while showing no fear in his eyes.

“Swoosh!”

As the spear entered the cage, it appeared before Mo Tie in a flash. The shock wave from the spear created a bloody gash on his face. However, just before everyone thought that there was going to be a splash of blood spurted out, the spear oddly froze in the air.

The spear froze in the air as if there was an invisible yet powerful force grabbing it. Then, the spear detonated completely with a loud explosion.

At this moment, Mo Tie, who had previously closed his eyes to await his imminent death, opened his eyes abruptly. He then saw a beastly, familiar figure appeared before everyone’s astonished gazes outside of the metal cage.