Chapter 1749 - 898: Eagle Torture

All I can say is, bad luck's really riding me—these days you can even chip a tooth just drinking water.

After playing with ghosts for so many years, the Xu Family has finally met a real ghost!

The Xu Family and East City move as one; them getting involved to take a swing at Ji Jue at this juncture isn't surprising. But who would've thought, the moment they toss out a single "Western White Emperor Dragon King Summoning Seal," their entire old foundation is about to get flipped!

Nothing to be done; I've got cheats.

That's the kind of gold content a Master of Glory carries—and strictly speaking, when it comes to gold content, a Master of Glory might not even be as hard as the mantle of Ye Xian, that Contemporary Swordsmith!

And ever since Ji Jue entered the path, what Ye Xian taught him and what he studied boiled down to a single word: "dismantle." — He started with entry-level Dissociation Technique, and after grinding through the countless real problems Ye Xian had stockpiled, he'd already stepped through the threshold. Now that he's entered the Realm of Jingzhen, his skill is downright consummate. Whatever Creation he runs into, he doesn't flinch; he can go straight for the core on instinct and experience alone.

The Xu Family's Curse Prohibitions might be very strong and very esoteric, but no matter how complex the packaging and verification, they still can't stand up to Ji Jue's brand of hardcore cracking. Not to mention he's got Zhanlu drilling holes and sampling, plus the Hanging Elephant Mirror constantly reflecting and analyzing on the side!

The more he writes, the more Ji Jue's brows dance with delight; now he finally tastes the exhilaration his teacher had back then.

See something you can take apart, take it apart and you understand it; understand it, and you can lean on Alchemy to rack your brains and "harvest strengths from all sides." So the more you fight, the more you learn; the more you learn, the stronger you get; the stronger you get, the harder you hit...

Isn't that just how the snowball starts rolling?!

Now that East City's formation is getting bigger and bigger, he's actually even more excited. He's been making enemies all over, churning things up like his life depended on it—wasn't it all just for this!

Pity he still cares too much about his reputation; without a proper excuse he's embarrassed to make a move on people.

So he can only fish.

Man, fishing really is endless fun...

Only as he keeps writing, his pen suddenly pauses; he feels his train of thought snag, his brows slowly knitting.

Feels like something's missing. There's a gap in the theory and derivation that shouldn't be there, like he glanced away for a second, missed something someplace, and suddenly can't find it anymore.

But when he goes back and starts derivation again, trying to touch that blank spot in the theory, his thoughts get more and more scattered, and a chill of dread creeps up on him.

In that sudden daze, it's as if a vast darkness rises out of his own mind; within the darkness, a vague shadow leans down in overlook, issuing a cold warning.

The hallucination flickers and vanishes, swiftly blurring out.

Ji Jue, however, can't help but burst out laughing.

They're panicking!

The other side's starting to panic!

They didn't just bring in ether and blow an unknown amount of resources to re-conceal and scrub away a portion of critical variations he'd deduced in the underlying principles; they even slapped another Curse Prohibition onto the relevant line of inheritance!

— Those without permission may not know; those who force knowledge and pry into it shall be punished!

The Xu Family straight up laid a curse on that strand of inheritance!

From now on, the related theories and doctrines are not only locked to the practitioner alone; if you try to force exploration, you'll invite the entangling backlash of the countless Ghost Gods the Xu Family has accumulated!

Only, with a Curse Prohibition this exaggerated, it must've alerted the Heavenly People—made that Great Master Youquan grit his teeth, bleed resources, and personally step in, no?

Even if Ji Jue at best just half-guessed and half-fumbled his way into putting forth the theory and its feasibility, with realization still far out of reach and the highest tier of Sealing God Magic even more out of sight, if it keeps spreading like this, who knows how many peers would step in for kicks!

Especially with the Lou Family watching like a tiger; that Old Deng Lou Suwen has quietly hammered out a Suppression Technique that's nothing short of pinnacle. If he doesn't seize this chance to viciously kick the Xu Family's one good leg out from under them, he's basically wasted his whole life.

Not only did he immediately team up with the Tong family to maximize the Xu Family's losses, they've now managed to lay down this Curse Prohibition and scrub and hide the relevant phenomena—and there's no telling how much Blood they've burned just to deal with him!

So much so that... before Seven Cities and East City have even officially started brawling, while both sides are still flexing and probing, the Xu Family, who've just been playing side drums, get cracked over the head with a club first.

What the hell kind of logic is that?!

Now, feeling that old bastard Lou Suwen is still probing around his Forbidden Technique, trying to stir up some big flashy mess, Xu Youquan's blood pressure can hardly stay stable; he's so furious he wants to file suit all the way up to Central City.

"Meng Fengzuo, just what are you stirring up!!!"

Inside the mirror's Illusion Light, a blurry dark figure floats up out of nothing, roaring in accusation: "You took the Xu Family's assets to probe Ji Jue's bottom line, tossed up a mess like this, and you still don't know how to rein it in!

The Dharma Master is already enraged. If this keeps up and provokes a major upheaval in the Underworld, can you shoulder the consequences!

Is Han Hui trying to tear his face off with my Xu Family or what!"

"Brother Ling Yi, don't rush; calm yourself for now."

Meng Fengzuo's expression twitches for an instant, then he can only let out a helpless sigh: "What Ji Jue has done truly wasn't within my expectations. But now that things have come to this, you should understand—do you really think stopping now would help?

We've sunk this much capital in; in the end it has to yield some effect. If we just cut it off halfway, I'm afraid everything we've invested will go completely to waste."

Xu Lingyi's shadowed face looks even uglier: "And if we keep maintaining it, will that somehow help? Did you even manage to injure him in the slightest?"

"The effect is right in front of you, isn't it?"

Meng Fengzuo says solemnly: "To be frank, the White Emperor Dragon King Seal is indeed precious, but I originally didn't expect it to accomplish much of anything..."

Before Xu Lingyi can speak, he cuts in decisively: "Even if all it does is consumption, that's enough. Do you really want to face a Crown Craftsman at peak condition with zero fatigue?"

Consumption.

That's Meng Fengzuo's aim; even if he lost this round tactically, in terms of overall direction, he's already won a hand!

This whole massive, spectacular calamity was, from the start, nothing more than consumption and probing.

If Ji Jue had just lain there like a dead dog and let them blow their wind and pour their rain, or turned around and ran immediately, then Meng Fengzuo really would have had no way around it. But now he dared to bring out the Prosperity to resist the calamity summoned by the White Emperor Dragon King Seal, overestimating himself to wrestle with a Heavenly Calamity, to fight this war of attrition against East City—Meng Fengzuo was more than delighted!

Attrition?

With East City's material strength and accumulation, could Meng Fengzuo possibly be afraid of attrition!

And even if the Prosperity were piled full with Spiritual Crystals, how long would that really be enough for Ji Jue to burn through? The harder Ji Jue consumed now, the fewer situations and variables they would have to face afterward.

"Keep going, don't stop!"

Meng Fengzuo stared indifferently at the Prosperity cutting through the waves in the Mirror, let out a cold snort: "I don't believe it. Don't tell me his spiritual reserves can't be exhausted!"

One hour passed, Meng Fengzuo's expression remained unchanged.

Three hours passed, Meng Fengzuo showed no reaction.

Five hours passed, Meng Fengzuo's brows slowly furrowed…

Nine hours passed, Meng Fengzuo's expression twitched once, his eyes widening.

Twelve hours passed, Meng Fengzuo's eyes were already bloodshot, dark and ferocious.

And amid the howling wind and pounding rain, the Prosperity was still steadily holding up that tranquil domain, whereas the Heavenly Calamity summoned by the White Emperor Dragon King… was gradually showing signs of flagging, already unable to suppress Giant Que as frequently as at the beginning.

An entire night went by.

At nine o'clock the next morning, Meng Fengzuo finally couldn't sit still.

He couldn't hold out any longer.

Even for someone as stubborn as him, forcing himself through such massive attrition up to now, he had to see some result.

Besides, time was already running out.

He shook the Bell in his hand.

Ripples faintly surfaced in the void, a door opened wide, revealing an old assassin kneeling in the darkness.

"Any progress?" Meng Fengzuo asked.

Within Circle Realm· Eternity, the assassin Schelbach of the Xing Jiao Series slowly shook his head.

"No. I can't find any opening to strike."

Eternity existed independent of reality, not even belonging to space itself, but was a unique domain transformed from Schelbach's soul and flesh, nearly something that could be regarded as non-existent.

Precisely because of that, he could come and go freely, without disturbing any change in reality, calmly probing the false and the real.

Yet after more than ten hours of harassment and attrition, Schelbach hidden in Eternity and squatting behind Ji Jue still hadn't found a single moment when the man's mind wandered or he slipped up.

Not even the slightest wavering.

He'd been on guard since the very beginning.

Meng Fengzuo hesitated for a moment and asked, "Can't you at least run a few probes first?"

Schelbach shook his head: "His Perception is no worse than White Deer's, maybe even surpasses it. I don't have absolute confidence.

Besides… Eternity has already been used right in front of him once. If he senses it again, he'll definitely prepare countermeasures, maybe even bait us."

Everyone knew exactly how filthy a craftsman's mind was, let alone someone like Ji Jue, a Crown Craftsman who'd thrown the entire West Sea into chaos. Against a man like that, any attempt to belittle or demonize him was as good as praise.

He even suspected Ji Jue had been guarding specifically against him!

If he struck rashly, even if he managed to inflict serious damage, it might not achieve much. Worse, it would turn a hidden threat into an open one, losing the deterrence that "once we act, it hits."

"Probing and attrition probably don't mean anything anymore."

Schelbach brought bad news: "The Prosperity's spiritual reserves have dropped by less than one-third… According to the Association's information, the reversal of Three-phase Alchemy can directly extract Materiality and spiritual substance. Under mere Heavenly Calamity harassment, it might even end up replenishing Ji Jue instead."

Meng Fengzuo didn't speak again.

After a long moment, he let out a soft sigh, slowly turning around to look at the man seated in the shadows behind him, calmly drinking tea. He cupped his hands in salute: "We've gone to all this trouble and still failed to make any contribution.

Now it seems we can only rely on Lord Kasu. It's just… for the sake of absolute certainty, if some things aren't handled perfectly, I must ask your indulgence."

"Heh, that Han Hui guy always does things straightforward and clean. How come you, his subordinate, prefer putting on a show?"

Kasu grinned, baring beastlike fangs, glanced at the faintly visible Xu Lingyi, and said carelessly: "Isn't it just a siege? Whatever. The Luzhi line has never bothered with all that crap, as long as it doesn't get in the way.

Only…"

He paused, then said slowly: "Life and death are on fate. If my skills aren't good enough and I die, then I die for nothing, has nothing to do with you.

But if it's someone else who's going to die, don't expect someone like me to have any 'team camaraderie' or advance and retreat together with you."

"Heh…"

Xu Lingyi let out a cold laugh, not bothering with a war of words.

Only, as he was about to speak again, his vision suddenly emptied… The chair where Kasu had been sitting cross-legged a moment ago was now instantly vacant, and even his Ascension Series Transcendent Vision hadn't caught the slightest trace.

Kasu had already vanished.