Chapter 457: Chapter 458: The Situation Worsens

Bang!

Yue Liqun was sent flying backward, slamming fiercely against the courtyard wall behind him. With a loud crash, his entire body flattened against it in a spread-eagled pose.

“Hiss!”

Yue Liqun, who had violently smashed against the courtyard wall, felt a searing pain in his back and gasped sharply for air.

Sliding down from the wall, Yue Liqun reached back to touch his spine, wincing with pain, his eyes full of shock and incredulity as he turned to examine the wall he had collided with.

In his eyes, the courtyard wall looked utterly ordinary, yet to his surprise, it was astonishingly sturdy.

Given the strength of his body at the moment, combined with Lin Qian’s knee strike, Yue Liqun believed that if he were to crash into a mountainside within the Ancient Forest World, it would likely cause a collapse.

“Stop looking; this floating courtyard was specially developed by the Fire Department of the Huaxia Empire for me. Even with your full strength, you can’t so much as shake the wall,” Lin Qian said, sparking Yue Liqun’s competitive spirit as he clearly saw what the latter was thinking.

“Don’t believe it? Why not give it a try yourself?” Upon seeing Yue Liqun’s somewhat unconvinced demeanor, Lin Qian pointed at the courtyard wall.

Yue Liqun nodded at Lin Qian, took a deep breath facing the courtyard wall, and conjured his Elemental Artifact Heart and Elemental Components. The artifacts assembled in his hands into a fiery red Fiery Flame Stick.

With Fiery Flame Soul Power fully ignited within him, Yue Liqun gripped the Fiery Flame Stick with both hands and, disbelieving, raised it high and smashed it hard against the wall.

Bang!

The deafening roar that ensued was tightly contained within the confines of the courtyard’s Array, unable to escape.

Crack!

A crisp fracture sound rang out as Yue Liqun’s Fiery Flame Stick shattered to pieces, and the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers split open, blood streaming out. The immense rebound force sent him flying backward.

Lin Qian couldn’t help but chuckle as he reached out to catch Yue Liqun, who was sent airborne, preventing him from flying out of the courtyard altogether.

When Yue Liqun, caught from mid-air by Lin Qian, fell to the ground on his buttocks, he still trembled as he rose to his feet.

“How does that feel?” Lin Qian asked with a touch of schadenfreude, looking at Yue Liqun.

Yue Liqun had a lamenting expression as he looked toward Lin Qian, “Numb!”

“One reaps what one sows; you didn’t listen to me,” Lin Qian said, suddenly turning and kicking back at Yue Liqun, hitting him square in the chest.

“Umph!” Yue Liqun grunted, once again sent flying backward, crashing bang into the courtyard wall.

Yue Liqun, who collapsed to his knees after sliding down from the wall, looked up at Lin Qian, utterly confused and feeling as if his bones were falling apart.

“Although it’s about using you as an experiment, I used so many good things on you. It would be too much of a loss not to tap into your potential,” Lin Qian said, standing tall after retracting his leg and looking at Yue Liqun, “In the past, many people have made leaps and bounds in strength under my special training. Considering your Talent, you shouldn’t be too bad, right?”

In fact, Lin Qian greatly admired Yue Liqun’s Talent.

After cultivating to the Life and Death Realm, then destroying his cultivation to start over, Yue Liqun’s actions were akin to forcibly setting his life to hardcore mode.

And yet, this man not only chose hardcore mode but also managed to beat it, re-cultivating to the Awakening Realm.

With such talent, coupled with the successful experiment with the Reset Crystal to reach Perfection, it would be a shame not to cultivate him properly.

As for the matter of Yue Liqun having offended him in the past, it wasn’t a great sin. The days ahead of special training torture could be considered retribution for his former reckless disrespect.

“I will personally train you. Do not disappoint me in the upcoming war.” When Lin Qian spoke these words, Yue Liqun caught his brutal gaze and shivered uncontrollably.

Logically, being specially trained by Lin Qian should be a great honor. Why then did Yue Liqun feel an inexplicable chill rising up his spine? He was perplexed by his own reaction.

“Achoo!”

In Coastal State, beside the seaside watching the distant sea view, one person suddenly shook his head.

Rubbing his nose, Lei Qian frowned, “How strange, why do I suddenly recall the days when the boss used to torture us during special training?”

“Chomp! Chomp!”

“But speaking of it, those days were really quite nostalgic.” Lei Qian lay on the beach chair invented by Lin Qian, leisurely blowing the sea breeze.

“Chomp! Chomp!”

“What was the boss thinking, choosing the beach as a place to relax? Beach chairs, cool drinks, beach volleyball… It’s really a good spot. The combination of work and leisure is truly beneficial for cultivation.” Looking around the bustling beach, Lei Qian again sighed.

“Chomp! Chomp!”

“…” Annoyed, Lei Qian sat up from his lounge chair and yelled at Gao Benli, “Can’t you eat your edible jade quietly for once?”

Gao Benli turned his head, his mouth suddenly expanding with a huge bubble growing bigger and bigger.

Pop!

Gao Benli’s whole face was covered by a semi-transparent elastic jade membrane, laughing merrily. Lei Qian, feeling helpless, slapped his own face and fell back onto the chair, “Dammit, idiot!”

Just as Lei Qian had finished speaking, a thin piece of jade membrane was slapped onto his face– it was even moist. He knew without having to think where it had come from.

“Gao Benli, I’m going to kill you!” Lei Qian’s body erupted with purple lightning bolts as he charged toward Gao Benli, wrestling with him.

However, the two had only fought for a short while before stopping, looking up toward the sea.

People who had been playing in the sea with the surfing game developed by His Majesty were now frantically rushing back to the beach.

In the distance, fully armed soldiers flew over and came to the sides of Lei Qian and Gao Benli.

They were all former Soul Martialists from the three sects and five schools, becoming the third army outside of the Huaxia Empire’s Imperial Army and War Beast Army: the Guardian Army!

“Lock down the nearby beach; all entertainment is suspended.” Lei Qian looked at the bloodstained sea water in front of him with a somber face, murmuring, “The situation seems to be getting more serious. It’s all on you now, boss, Southern Domain, Southern Nine Provinces!”

Gao Benli also frowned deeply, throwing a piece of edible jade into his mouth, “The current situation in Southern Domain, Southern Nine Provinces is even more severe than what’s recorded in ancient texts. A large number of Spirit Woods are dying off, and the concentration of Spiritual Energy is decreasing too rapidly.”

“The Heavenly Art Department has sent a message.” Lei Qian put away the Communication Token in his hand and looked at Gao Benli, “In two more years, the Spiritual Energy in the entire Southern Domain, Southern Nine Provinces may completely disappear.”

Hearing this, Gao Benli’s face showed rare seriousness, “If that’s the case, then Southern Domain, Southern Nine Provinces will probably be ruined.”

“The Empress has called us to a meeting; let’s go.” Lei Qian clapped Gao Benli on the shoulder and beckoned him.

“Then the matter must be really troublesome.” Gao Benli sighed and turned to follow behind Lei Qian as they soared into the air and flew away.