Chapter 1410: The Coffin Rises
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Everyone was scared, on the precipice of tumbling into full-on panic. They all exhausted as much of their powers as they could trying to free themselves from the coffin, but nothing worked. They were well and truly stuck.
It was like the coffin wasn't just pulling their bodies, but it was siphoning their strength and power as well. Whenever they released some power as they tried to escape, it was as if they were feeding the coffin.
Wang Zhao watched his power bleed away, and he was unable to stop it.
Zhong Sanxiao summoned a sword geno core to batter the coffin into freeing him. But when his blade touched down on the spooky sarcophagus, the power and life of his weapon began to drain.
This occurred to the geno cores summoned by the others, as well. And when their powers were drained, the cores were pulled out of their hands and stuck to the top of the coffin. It was as if the cores had been dragged away by a magnet.
Everyone was shocked, unable to understand what was going on. And amidst this confusion, the symbols and scrawlings that adorned the coffin began to light up with a sinister neon hue.
"Why hasn't your power been absorbed?" Xu Yanmeng asked. His suspicions regarding Han Sen hadn't diminished, and now, they only heightened. To Xu Yanmeng, the fact that Han Sen was unaffected was proof enough that he was some sort of traitor.
Hearing this, they all turned to look at Han Sen, who was seemingly unaffected.
"F*ck! I knew something was up with him." Zhong Sanxiao was furious, thinking Han Sen had willingly betrayed them, and so he summoned a geno core and tried to attack him.
Han Sen let go of his grip on the coffin lid and dropped the pretense. He swiftly moved to evade the attack and pleaded, "Fine; I'm not trapped! But it's not like I tried to get any of you hurt. This is as unexpected for me as it is for you. I don't know what is happening."
Han Sen hurriedly took a few steps back. His former compatriots all had gemstone geno cores, and if the rest sought to attack him, Han Sen did not fancy getting surrounded.
"I knew we should have killed him when we had the chance," Xu Yanmeng proclaimed.
"Your body!" Old Qiu suddenly exclaimed.
Then, all the members of the party began looking at each other in fear. They were all aging at an extremely rapid pace.
Xu Yanmeng's hair turned white, and his skin began to gather wrinkles like weathered, coarse leather. He was like an old man.
Wang Zhao then shouted, "Mister Li, why are you not affected by this?"
Wang Zhao wasn't the only one to notice this, and when the group's enfeebled eyes looked over, they too saw him unaffected.
Mister Li smiled and took a step back, letting his fingers leave the cusp of the coffin's lid. "I wasn't trapped, either. And I won't be getting any older."
"Do you know why this is happening? Surely, there must be something you can do for us!" Everyone's face was turning grim, thinking they were on the verge of death.
"This is a coffin belonging to Blood Legion. The Nine-Life Cat was suppressing the power within; now that we've opened it, it is absorbing all nearby lifeforces to wake up what slumbers inside," explained Mister Li, with disturbing calm and resoluteness.
"What? How do you know all this? Is there a way you might save us?" Old Qiu pleaded.
Old Qiu was already an old man, hence the title. He had withered faster than the rest, and his skin was now not far off the stressed guttering of tree bark.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Mister Li. They knew his speech had taken on a different tone, and they had the suspicion that some veil had been removed. But still, they clung to their past vision of the man they had accompanied on their way inside. They desperately hoped he would know how to save them and act upon the ability to do so.
"I can save you, yes. But that would nullify my reason for coming here," Mister Li said.
"You... planned for this to happen?! You wanted to kill us?" The fear that had taken root inside Wang Zhao turned to wrath and rage. He was seething as he spoke, having suffered this betrayal.
"I am taking back what is owed. I already saved you all once, or have you forgotten? You said you were willing to lay down your lives in return, and now the time to do that has come. There shouldn't be a problem, should there?" Mister Li's tone had become cold and callous.
Wang Zhao found the situation incredibly disturbing, and as much as he wished to lash out and spite the man who had done this to them, he found himself unable to. The withering and brittleness of intense old age had settled in his bones, and merely remaining upright was becoming a trying task.
Han Sen, although he hadn't been backstabbed himself, was shocked by what was happening. He had never expected Mister Li to do something such as this. Everyone had placed their faith in Mister Li, and they left no room for doubt. Their blind, unwavering trust had led them to the situation they were in, and they cursed themselves for it.
Mister Li then turned to Han Sen and said, "Little Han, which part of Blood Legion do you belong to?"
Han Sen was taken off-guard by the question, and he wasn't sure how he might answer this. Han Sen knew there were two factions within Blood Legion. One consisted of the loyal, like Nan Litian; the others were considered traitors, like God's Retribution and Han Jinzhi.
He didn't formally belong to Blood Legion, so he wasn't sure if he could give an answer.
With no answer forthcoming, Mister Li didn't seem to dwell on his silence much. He moved on to say, "I need sacred-blood to wake up the coffin; you can help a bit."
Mister Li cut his own hand open with his nails, and blue blood dripped from the palm of his hand onto the coffin lid. The blue blood was almost as bright as that of God's Retribution.
"What is your title within Blood Legion?" Han Sen asked.
Mister Li answered, "Again, which side do you belong to? Did they not teach you about the leader?"
"You... are the leader?" Han Sen asked, with a quivering voice.
Han Sen had always wanted to know who the leader of Blood Legion was, but in his short time in this shelter, two possible candidates had made themselves known to him.
There was the shadow that seemed to imply himself to be the leader, but Mister Li was now insinuating that he himself was the leader.
"Why is there more than one leader now?" Han Sen wondered.
Chapter 1411: Battling Blood Legion's Leader
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The group that had been betrayed were nothing more than skeletal husks now, frail shadows of their former selves that clung to the most meager tethers of life. They were so brittle and aged, they could not even stand.
"Come. Deliver thine blood," Mister Li coldly said.
"What happens if the coffin is... revived?" Han Sen wanted to continue feigning he was a member and avoid invoking the ire of the possible-leader of Blood Legion, but he feared what might happen if he was to give his blood.
Mister Li walked over to Han Sen and grabbed him by the neck, then dragged him over to the eerie sarcophagus. Han Sen hadn't realized what was happening until it was too late; he had no hope of avoiding the man's grasp.
But it wasn't an ordinary grip that held his neck, either. He felt the tingling sensation of electrical currents running through his body, paralyzing his ability to resist. It was like he was suddenly chained up.
Mister Li pushed Han Sen down on the coffin and readied himself to slit Han Sen's throat with his dirty, overgrown fingernails. Han Sen swiftly understood the direness of the situation, and so his eyes flashed white. His black hair became a gown of milky silk. His body glowed brightly.
With that strength, Han Sen did not hesitate to pull away and perform Super Spank on Mister Li.
Pang!
Mister Li stumbled backwards in shock, staring at Han Sen and his new form.
Unfortunately, Han Sen was unable to break Mister Li's sequence structure. Trying to do that was like trying to pry steel with bare hands. He had gotten free as he had hoped, but he could hardly believe how strong he was. Mister Li had to have the strength of a super creature.
Han Sen turned around and began to flee. He knew he'd die if he tried to remain and fight an enemy so far beyond his own abilities.
"The power he possesses is magnificent, but unbridled and not honed. Still, the coffin demands the sacrifice," Mister Li spoke aloud coldly, as he moved forward to catch Han Sen.
But Han Sen knew he wouldn't be allowed to leave so easily, and he was prepared to react when the moment was right. When the full extent of the powers given by his super king spirit mode was enabled, he was faster than a sudden bolt of lightning.
With his Bulwark Umbrella, Han Sen shielded himself from Mister Li's incoming grip and summoned his crystal egg.
Boom!
Mister Li came into contact with the umbrella with the force of a comet. The umbrella cracked, and the crash of the impact sent Han Sen hurtling through the air. The egg was headed in Mister Li's direction as this occurred, but it did nothing. Mister Li grabbed the egg and with the sound of a pang, crushed it in his hands.
Still, this prompted the Jade Skeleton to appear. The pigmy was quick to scramble out of its ruined shell, and it delivered Mister Li a firm punch before flying over to Han Sen.
This was an unexpected turn of events which took Mister Li by surprise, and where his palm had been struck by the creepy little skeleton, he had turned to crystal. This crater in his palm began to expand and web across the entirety of his hand and beyond, turning him into a jade-like statue.
Over the course of a few seconds, though, Mister Li's body turned entirely blue. It overlapped the spreading jade and vanquished it, removing the effect of the pigmy's punch.
"That is rare! You are the first I have witnessed use such powers in a sanctuary." Despite his desire to slit Han Sen's throat as a sacrifice, Mister Li complimented him.
Survival was the best Han Sen could hope for in such a dire situation, but he couldn't contemplate a way in which he might ensure a getaway. Han Sen's power was far inferior to Mister Li's, and he only possessed bronze geno cores. There was no hope of fighting back, or even repelling the man.
"Why are the people in Blood Legion struggling to adapt to life in the sanctuaries?" Han Sen asked, wanting to stall his nemesis.
Mister Li knew Han Sen was asking nonsense, hoping to buy himself time. But he answered anyway, saying, "Blood Legion members can absorb geno points, but they cannot possess special powers. While we can use geno points to become stronger, it is impossible for us to change our elemental alignment. Your blood is too light and impure, which is why you can do so like the rest. Who are you? Which generation do you belong to?"
"You know my name is Han," Han Sen said.
"There is no one named Han amongst the thirteen." Mister Li looked genuinely curious.
"There was; my great-grandfather was called Han Jinzhi," Han Sen said.
"That is impossible! He joined the legion, but he was an outsider. His heirs cannot possess holy blood," Mister Li denied.
Now Han Sen was thinking Nan Litian and Baby Ghost were telling the truth, and Han Jinzhi had been forced into Blood Legion.
"If you say he is an outsider, why would he possess the relic?" As Han Sen spoke, Han Sen employed his Dongxuan Aura to determine the best possible escape route he could use. While doing this, Han Sen noticed the Nine-Life Cat sitting upon the palace's rooftop. It was staring right back at him, swinging its tail.
"It's still here?" Han Sen did not expect to see it there.
Mister Li answered the former question by telling him, "If you know of the relic, you must belong to the lineage of one of the thirteen. Are you from the Qin family, perhaps?"
"How did you know?" Han Sen pretended, with a put-on tone of exaggerated surprise.
"The Qin family left Blood Legion a long time ago, so light sacred blood is to be expected." Mister Li paused for a moment, before saying, "I cannot believe the Qin family is returning to the legion. This is a most splendid thing to learn."