Chapter 755: Who Is Playing Chess?

At the moment this terrifying aura erupted, the isolated space rippled with infinite fluctuations, and the lake water churned, twisting and trembling into nothingness.

Clouds and mist rapidly churned across the sky of this space, forming a rumbling vortex. It connected with the mist hovering over the lake, seemingly linking heaven and earth, creating a tornado.

A shocking oppressive force enveloped the surroundings, and rain poured down in all directions.

The black rune floating before the mist swayed continuously amidst the terrifying aura emanating from the tornado. It couldn't heal itself, developing cracks from which dark blood flowed.

Cracks also appeared on the talisman paper that had transformed into a long street.

As if from the churning mist, an astonishing force erupted, exceeding the capacity of these two talismans, causing them to show signs of unbearable strain.

Inside the talisman paper, a blurry face materialized, staring intently at the mist where Xu Qing was located. Although the face's exact appearance was indistinct, the gloom in its expression was exceptionally strong.

Simultaneously, the fifty-two iron chains extending from within the lake shook violently. As a low roar echoed, the chains rattled and vibrated, and seven of them instantly snapped.

The lake water roared as the broken chains shattered bit by bit, turning into ashes. The lake silk within them met the same fate.

The tremendous struggling force emanating from the mist directly tore the chains apart!

Seeing this, the face within the black rune showed a hint of unwillingness. A strange sound emanated from its mouth.

"Dao Venerable asks: Water evil exchanged, ghosts extinguished, villains purged, what shall be done? Our multitude replies: Those who disobey our command shall be beheaded!"

A sound like ghost wails and wolf howls spread in all directions, causing the lake surface to churn and a long blade made of lake water to fly out from it. It violently slashed towards the mist surrounding Xu Qing!

Its speed was extremely fast, kicking up countless raindrops that shattered into nothingness.

At the same time, the black rune itself began to burn, with green flames rising, empowering itself to forcefully imprint.

The long street talisman also erupted, intensifying its curling motion!

Meanwhile, Xu Qing, as the source of all this, was now hunched and trembling violently within the storm of mist. He let out a non-human roar from his mouth.

An indescribable agony, like the collapse of heaven and earth, swept through his body and his spirit-ghost, tearing at his divine form and releasing even more poisonous mist!

In the blink of an eye, seven more chains binding him snapped outwards with cracking sounds!

Furthermore, fourteen soul-suppressing nails embedded in his body were forcibly expelled by him, rising with thudding sounds and shooting outwards.

As the thudding sounds spread, the water blade was directly pierced with twelve holes, heading towards the black rune and the long street talisman paper!

In an instant, it pierced the black rune again, leaving it riddled with holes. The long street talisman paper trembled, losing a corner. Their damage caused the sealing power to sharply diminish.

In that instant, the churning mist surged dramatically skyward. Amidst rumbling sounds, the remaining chains and nails successively collapsed and were rapidly expelled!

The shattered water blade continued to be pierced until it disintegrated completely upon entering the mist.

At this moment, the last chain, the last strand of lake silk, and the last nail all shattered in succession. The mist violently erupted outwards!

As it roared and expanded, the mist also rapidly contracted inwards. This expansion and contraction revealed a world-shaking figure within. Ancient darkness and slaughter were the first impressions this figure gave.

His entire body showed no skin, covered completely by black armor. Even his head was terrifying in this way. Particularly at the eyes, where a faint, eerie fire burned!

An aura of extreme coldness was clearly evident, enough to make anyone who saw it shudder.

Moreover, wisps of black mist curled up from the armor, rapidly converging behind him, instantly forming a black cloak that seemed capable of shrouding the sky.

The cloak fluttered with the vortex in the sky, covering this space. Decay and potent poison spread endlessly!

Like a demon!

This was Xu Qing's second layered divine state. In this state, it seemed as if all things would wither and perish before him.

The Yin-Yang Water Fiend Array was no exception!

Xu Qing raised his head and took a step forward. Heaven and earth trembled.

He appeared before the black rune. Raising his dark right palm, which resembled no human hand, he seized it.

The black rune burned fiercely, emitting black smoke like black dragons. They roared towards Xu Qing from eight directions, but the moment they drew near, their roars turned into shrieks!

Xu Qing's current state was so sharp it reached the limit of what he could manifest. It could infest all things.

Those black dragons were continuously affected and dispersed.

The dark helmet obscured Xu Qing's expression. Only his exposed eyes emitted an eerie fire. Ignoring the black smoke, he seized the black rune with his right hand and squeezed it fiercely!

With a crack, the rune disintegrated. The surrounding black dragons also turned into black blood, falling into the lake.

Xu Qing knew he couldn't maintain this state for too long. So, after crushing the rune, he coldly looked up towards the end of the long street!

A figure suddenly appeared on the tattered long street talisman paper. This figure was eerily not made of flesh and blood, but was a black paper puppet!

It stood on the curling talisman paper, with drawn eyes that gleamed with cold indifference. Staring at Xu Qing, it slowly began to speak!

"I follow the laws of the ghostly realm, rivers and sun..."

As these ambiguous words emanated, without waiting for it to finish, Xu Qing burst forward without hesitation. His aura was terrifying as he charged directly at the paper puppet.

The paper puppet's expression remained unchanged; it tilted its body backward, lying directly on the talisman paper and instantly merging with it. It continued to speak!

"...Mountains, seas, and stars are in my palm. I command light to be light, and darkness to be darkness. The spell is urgent, by my decree."

The voice dissipated the instant Xu Qing arrived. The long street talisman paper now churned violently, erupting from both ends and rapidly curling towards Xu Qing!

It was like a colossal wave, exuding terrifying pressure!

Seeing this, Xu Qing raised his right hand and pressed it fiercely onto the ground! The moment it struck the water's surface, this space shook violently. Everything around him was decaying, being corrupted.

The lake water instantly turned black. The rules of this place were also forcefully corrupted in an instant.

Everything transformed into a poisoned forbidden zone. A portion was controlled by Xu Qing, erupting simultaneously. The vortex in the sky of this space also descended at this moment, merging with the poisonous mist, fiercely suppressing this talisman paper the size of a long street.

A roaring sound echoed like a great bell in all directions. The sound of the Yin-Yang Water Fiend Array shattering also resonated.

The sealed isolation directly collapsed!

In Xu Qing's eyes, the world returned to normal at this moment!

The long street was still the long street! The rain was still falling!

Only black paper fragments fell from the sky. They shattered and melted into the rain. One piece was caught by Xu Qing's raised hand.

His body also recovered at this moment, and as he deactivated his divine state, blood immediately spilled from the corner of Xu Qing's mouth!

Meanwhile, whistling sounds came from afar at this moment. Such a magical duel within the Imperial Capital, despite being obscured by a sky-concealing method, could not last long and had now been detected!

Xu Qing remained still, his vigilance fixed on the front. At the same time, he took out a jade slip and began transmitting a message.

Soon, figures appeared one after another, all of them Sword Holders.

They were patrolling the area, which was why they arrived immediately. Upon seeing Xu Qing and the black paper falling around him, their expressions changed. After exchanging glances, they realized this was a serious matter.

After all, this was the Imperial Capital; an assassination here was extremely serious.

Especially since the assassination target was Xu Qing, the matter was dire from the start!

They immediately began collecting traces here!

Not long after, two long streaks of light rapidly flew from different directions. They appeared on the long street and headed directly towards Xu Qing!

One was Zi Xuan, the other Li Yunshan!

Upon seeing the two, Xu Qing felt a sense of relief.

Li Yunshan's face was grim as he looked around. Zi Xuan arrived with anger in her expression, but her look softened slightly after confirming Xu Qing was unharmed.

Just as Li Yunshan was about to speak, Xu Qing shook his head.

"Let's talk back at the residence!"

Li Yunshan nodded. So, under their escort, Xu Qing quickly departed and safely returned to Ning Yan's mansion.

Upon their return, the mansion's defenses were stringent. The Captain of the Blade Squad, who had been missing for several days, had also returned, his expression solemn. Zi Xuan and Li Yunshan both looked at Xu Qing!

"This was a pre-arranged scheme!" Xu Qing stated calmly. "Meng Yunbai invited me to the Mortal World Tower, and everyone who knew my whereabouts is a suspect!"

"The Imperial Son of the Star Emperor Supreme Sect in the Mortal World Tower had a subtle conflict with me; he could also be a suspect!"

"Furthermore, everyone I encountered on this trip, including Huang Kun, is suspect."

"But these are just the obvious points; there might be other parties in the dark, conducting this assassination for different reasons. For example, the Seventh Prince has a motive."

"The assassin was a black paper puppet, intentionally devoid of life, more like an avatar. Its cultivation was not Spirit Hide, but Return to Void..."

"Also, its magical technique claimed to be a Daoist spell, with a sense of the ghostly realm, but it was too obvious, suggesting an attempt to frame someone."

"This assassination also has several suspicious points. Why would they dare to assassinate me in the Imperial Capital? My death would not benefit any faction in the Imperial Capital, yet all parties were noticeably slow to react!"

"Secondly, while the assassin appeared powerful, based on everyone's understanding of me – knowing I possess the Sun of Dawn and a series of battle achievements – they should not have sent merely this level of assassin!"

"During the battle, I had a premonition that the opponent was more like a suicide operative, intending for me to self-detonate the Sun of Dawn. But it's hard to tell if this feeling was intentionally induced by them to disrupt my thoughts!"

After Xu Qing finished recounting all the details and suspicious points of this assassination, he raised his right hand, revealing a piece of black paper in his palm!

"The final impression this assassination gave me was that it wasn't truly meant to kill me, but rather to use this method to turn me into a chess piece, to make me take the step that the mastermind desires!"