109: Chapter 109 Negotiation?
Faced with this sudden snatching attempt, Lin Yuan's face showed no surprise; instead, he let out a cold sneer that suggested he had seen through everything long ago.
"You dare to try and snatch my things?"
Clang!
Instead of scrambling for the crystal, Lin Yuan flipped his wrist. The slaying abyss blade, which had just been sheathed, was drawn back out in a fluid backhand upward slash!
Looking Back at the Moon!
A sharp, peerless blade qi slashed directly toward that pale palm!
Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao!
If the hand wasn't pulled back, it would be lost!
"Hmm?"
A soft exclamation of surprise came from the void.
Clearly, Thousand Faces had not expected Lin Yuan to maintain such sharp reflexes at a time like this, nor did he expect this newly evolved blade to be so sharp that it could even cut through his protective telekinetic power.
Clang!
Thousand Faces was forced to change his move. With a flick of his finger, a telekinetic barrier blocked the blade qi.
Taking advantage of that momentary distraction, Lin Yuan's left hand made a grasping motion toward the void.
Telekinesis: Object Retrieval!
Whoosh!
The Starry Sky Key instantly changed direction and flew into Lin Yuan's palm.
Whoosh—
The wind died down.
In the sky, two figures confronted each other from a distance.
Lin Yuan held his blade in one hand and toyed with the starlight-emitting crystal in the other. He stepped upon the void with a playful expression.
Ten meters opposite him, the figure of City Lord Thousand Faces, dressed in purple robes and wearing a bizarre mask, slowly emerged.
At this moment, the expression on the mask was frozen on the grim character for "Wrath."
"Alliance Leader Lin."
Thousand Faces' voice was still magnetic, but it held a hint of irrepressible chilliness.
"That is my prey."
"Give it to me."
Then he extended his hand, the terrifying pressure of a Seventh-Rank Grandmaster released without reservation in an attempt to force Lin Yuan to submit.
"Consider it a favor I owe you."
The daggers were drawn.
At this stage, both sides knew that the thin veil of being "allies" had been torn away.
Faced with the threat of a Seventh-Rank powerhouse, Lin Yuan merely smiled. He tossed the crystal high into the air and caught it steadily.
"Yours?"
"If you call its name, will it answer?"
"Or rather..."
Lin Yuan pointed at the crystal.
"Does it have your name written on it?"
Thousand Faces' aura instantly became dangerous. "Lin Yuan, do not be ungrateful. You should know the consequences of offending a Seventh-Rank City Lord."
"Consequences?"
Lin Yuan pocketed the crystal and tightened his grip on slaying abyss.
"I only know that once something is in my pocket, it's mine."
"You want it?"
"Trade your life for it."
Below, with the fall of the Beast Emperor, the beast tide began to recede like the tide, but no one in the city cheered.
Everyone was watching the two figures confronting each other in the sky, not daring to even breathe.
One was a ruthless man from Earth who had just slain a god with a single strike.
The other was the unfathomable Seventh-Rank City Lord.
Everyone realized one thing:
From this moment on, the Yanhuang Alliance was no longer an ordinary gang.
It truly possessed the qualifications to stand as an equal against the City Lord's Mansion!
High in the air, Lin Yuan felt the scalding "Titan Ruins Key" in his pocket, his heart surging with waves of shock.
"Titan Ruins..."
"It seems this is the real reason this Seventh-Rank Grandmaster deigned to stay in this broken city."
"Wanting it all for yourself?"
"Not a chance."
The cold wind howled, carrying the scent of blood across the sky.
The twin purple moons hung high above, casting a pale light over the land that had just endured a catastrophe.
Ten thousand meters in the air, the atmosphere was frozen to the extreme.
Two figures stood in opposition.
On one side was Lin Yuan, who had just slain a Seventh-Rank Beast Emperor with a single blade strike and was at the peak of his momentum.
Ten meters opposite him,
City Lord Thousand Faces floated in the void, his magnificent purple robes fluttering despite the lack of wind. The bizarre mask on his face currently showed no expression, only the eyes hidden behind the mask revealed a chill that could freeze the soul.
As a veteran Seventh-Rank Telekinetic Grandmaster, his mental power had long since transformed into invisible tentacles, completely sealing off the space within a thousand-meter radius.
Not even a fly could hope to escape.
"Lin Yuan."
Thousand Faces' voice was no longer magnetically elegant as it had been at the banquet; instead, it was filled with the pressure of a superior and was beyond question.
"I will say this one last time."
"Give me the key."
"That is the core hub for activating City No. 36's Great Guardian Array, concerning the safety of millions of lives in the city. It is not something you can take, let alone something a Fourth-Rank Martial Artist like you can control."
Thousand Faces extended a pale hand, the power of Seventh-Rank laws faintly circulating within his palm.
"Hand it over, and I can let bygones be bygones. I might even count it as a great service on your part."
A threat.
A blatant threat.
Faced with such terrifying pressure from a Seventh-Rank Grandmaster, any ordinary Fourth-Rank or even Sixth-Rank powerhouse would likely have been scared into kneeling and offering the treasure.
But unfortunately, he had met Lin Yuan.
A madman who never played by the rules.
"Great Guardian Array?"
Hearing Thousand Faces' high-sounding excuse, Lin Yuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"City Lord Thousand Faces, we're both old foxes here, so don't try to play me with these fairy tales."
"If this thing were the core of the Great Guardian Array, why didn't I see you use it when the beast tide came just now?"
"If I'm not mistaken..."
Lin Yuan's gaze suddenly became sharp.
"This is the key to opening some Titan Ruins deep within the Ancient Path, isn't it?"
Thousand Faces' body shook slightly, and a flash of killing intent crossed his eyes behind the mask.
How could this kid know?!
This was the secret he had guarded in this broken city for fifty whole years!
"Since you know, then you should understand even more that this is not something you can touch."
Thousand Faces stopped pretending. The killing intent on his body erupted like something physical, preparing to seize it by force.
"Some things will burn your hands if you take them."
"Is that so?"
Facing the Seventh-Rank powerhouse who was about to strike, Lin Yuan not only didn't flee but instead made a move that caused Thousand Faces' heart to stop.
His two fingers gripping the crystal suddenly exerted force!
Crack, crack, crack!
Under Lin Yuan's finger strength, which was enough to crush alloy, several fine cracks actually appeared on the surface of the crystal!
"Since I can't have it and it'll burn my hands..."
Lin Yuan looked at Thousand Faces, smiling brilliantly like a naughty child about to smash a favorite toy.
"Then nobody gets it."
"STOP!!!!"
A heart-wrenching scream instantly shattered the dignified aura of the high-altitude powerhouse.
City Lord Thousand Faces' mask, which previously only had a cold expression, instantly transformed into an extremely distorted "Terror" face!
He panicked!
He was truly panicking!
This key was his only hope after fifty years of guarding this Broken Star Ring!
It was the key to his promotion to the Eighth-Rank and even his departure from this hellhole!
If it broke, his half-lifetime of effort would be completely wasted!
"Don't move!! Lin Yuan! Let's talk this out!!"
Thousand Faces dispersed the lethal blow he had just gathered, his voice trembling.
"Don't squeeze it! Whatever you do, don't squeeze! That's a Titan Crystal; if it breaks, it's gone forever!!"