Chapter 1048: Cooperation

Guggleras, true to his inherent nature, seemed to snap out of it after being scolded by his stunning maid. He chuckled, scratched his head, and stood up again with a renewed sense of confidence.

"You're right, girl," he said. "While I may never be able to compare myself to Boss Xu Yang, I, Guggleras, am still a formidable figure when stacked against others. With the intelligence I command, no one in the entire Western Regions of Yingzhou Continent can rival me. This advantage is truly irreplaceable."

Having come to this realization, the portly Guggleras seemed to instantly regain his self-assurance. He stood up with a simple-minded grin, drawing unanimous looks of disdain from Lister and the others nearby.

Little did they know that Xu Yang, in his inaugural use of the Ghost Valley Qimen method within the void domain, had also pushed his innate primal energy to its absolute limit. While activating nine qi spirals simultaneously wasn't what he would call "strenuous," it certainly unleashed his true physical potential to its maximum extent.

Since Xu Yang had not yet managed to comprehend the activation of the tenth qi spiral, the nine spirals represented the peak of the physical power he could unleash. This was also his very first attempt to deploy the Ghost Valley Qimen Grand Formation within the void domain.

To his surprise, this first attempt achieved monumental success. Even the rules governing the surrounding space and the original flow of time were altered in response to his deployment of the ultimate profound principles.

Ultimately, the reason Xu Yang's move caused the heavens and earth to change color and time-space to undergo various alterations was that his technique was, at its core, a pinnacle of moral evolution connecting to the fundamental laws of the cosmos. At that moment, for everyone immersed in Xu Yang's created rules, the world in their eyes was no longer the objectively existing reality of the Endless Sea.

Xu Yang's primary target for this technique was naturally the Two-Headed Giant Crab. Consequently, the creature had been forcibly pulled into the space-time rule construct woven by Xu Yang and was now profoundly lost within it.

At this very moment, from the Two-Headed Giant Crab's perspective, the world it perceived was not only consumed by darkness but also devoid of any seawater beneath its feet. It still found itself frantically gathering energy, poised for self-destruction.

"Heh, haven't you always intended to self-destruct and take everything with you?" Xu Yang scoffed. "I'm giving you that chance now. But your fantasy of dragging other sea creatures down with you is truly naive. If I can't even prevent this, then every opponent I face in the future will choose self-destruction in their moments of despair. Before long, the entire Endless Sea, and even the Yingzhou Continent, would be annihilated through such means. If I can't prevent that, what would be the purpose of my existence?"

Xu Yang's words thoroughly jolted the Two-Headed Giant Crab awake. It had never anticipated Xu Yang possessing such astonishing abilities, yet after witnessing Xu Yang's miraculous and heaven-defying techniques, the creature wasn't as surprised as expected. It quickly regained complete clarity, pondering how to proceed: should it continue with its meaningless self-destruction, thereby wasting its entire cultivation, or explore another path? It needed time to think.

Seeing its indecision, Xu Yang couldn't help but sneer. "Since you can't make up your mind, I can offer a solution. It's quite simple: I'll help you establish an energy conduit, and you can channel half of your life essence out of your body. This way, you'll preserve your original vitality.

Your spiritual power will merely drop a few levels, but at least you'll save your life. And, seeing that you haven't brought chaos to other nearby races and can no longer pose a threat to my team or me, I will grant you a chance to cling to life. Isn't this a perfect win-win solution?"

Indeed, the Two-Headed Giant Crab was swayed by Xu Yang's proposition. It truly seemed like a perfect solution. Yet, a moment later, with a suspicious expression, it couldn't help but murmur, "Would you really be so benevolent? If I truly release half of my life essence, my power would plummet to the early Blue Tier. Wouldn't you then be able to crush me effortlessly with a single toe? How would I defend my right to exist then?"

Xu Yang burst into laughter. "If I genuinely wanted you dead, you wouldn't even know where you'd meet your end. Would I waste so many words on you? As a condition, you only need to voluntarily offer one of your front claws as dinner for me and my teammates tonight, and I will release you back into the depths of the Endless Sea. This is my promise to you."

Xu Yang took a step forward, suddenly extended a finger, and pointed towards the void above. A brilliant bolt of lightning gently descended, connecting itself to Xu Yang's finger. This was a unique method for cultivators to seal a promise.

Should this promise be broken, the maker would face retribution from the Heavenly Dao. Although the Two-Headed Giant Crab even began to question whether the Heavenly Dao's power within the Yingzhou Continent could truly overcome Xu Yang, did it have any other options now? In Xu Yang's presence, it was, at its core, nothing more than an utterly insignificant creature.

Finally, the Two-Headed Giant Crab made its decision, opting to end this battle by sacrificing a limb to survive. Without hesitation, it severed its right front claw, and an incessant stream of life essence poured forth from the stump of its broken right arm.

Unbeknownst to it, at that very same moment, Xu Yang, within the space-time domain he had created, materialized a void gate to connect to the deck of the Black Pearl. This particular maneuver was also established with the assistance of Vortex Wulang, who was located not far away in the void.

After all, when it came to constructing void gates, Vortex Wulang was the true master. With the expertise of the Glory Squad's chief architect, the energy transfer channel was swiftly completed, and a full half of the life essence from the Two-Headed Giant Crab, one of the three overlords of the Endless Sea, thus fell into the possession of Xu Yang's Glory Squad.

"My goodness, Boss, he is truly incredible!" Guggleras exclaimed. "Today, he actually devised a way to make the Two-Headed Giant Crab willingly surrender half of its life essence. If that essence were used to cultivate our individual strengths, what kind of immense improvement would that be?"

In his excitement, Guggleras couldn't help but drool, only to be sharply slapped on the neck by Lister standing beside him. "You idiot, you absolutely must not entertain such thoughts! What belongs to the Boss belongs to him. If he gives it to you, then you may take it. But if he doesn't offer, none of us are worthy of such a power inheritance."