AZI Volume 5 Chapter 43

Covered in frost with much of its limbs damaged, the Machina Frame has half its body trapped beneath a layer of ice. 

"…"

Emerging from the Machina Frame, while dressed in a black set of attires with a helmet that covers their heads completely, Long Hua and Tian Cheng face forward. 

Through his eyes as a practitioner, Long Hua sees the laws of the Leng Bing Realm—in the form of chains, attempting to pull up the weapon spirit's soul into the heavens. 

"Tch. Fuck this world's stupid law…"

(*-laoban, I'd say you went overboard…)

Unwilling to just let this weapon spirit's soul get away, Long Hua grits his teeth, and raises his right hand towards it. 

Recalling what he had done as a "God" in front of "Long Hua," Long Hua mutters—

"Soul Extraction Art."

*...…!!!* for a brief instance, the entirety of the world seems to be trembling, and having seen what had happened, the Tai Xuan Emperor widens her eyes within the dreamscape.

(The hell is this? *-laoban, you actually had a divine art like this?)

Seeing the laws of the Leng Bing Realm—which takes on the form of chains, beginning to tremble, the three practitioners of the Ling Yuan family also widen their eyes with shock. 

"Wh-What did he do?"

"…?"

"Robbing a soul from the laws of this world?"

Glaring at the weapon spirit's soul, Long Hua clenches his right hand, and pulls back. 

With the soul pried away, the chains ring—before vanishing out of sight completely. 

"…"

Holding the soul on top of his palm, Long Hua looks at it with a pleased expression on his face. The form of this soul is that of a tiny faceless person, and towards it—

"Devourer."

Upon Long Hua's mutter, a giant phantom serpent's maw manifests behind him. Without any hesitation, he tosses the soul into it. 

*Pah!* as soon as the soul enters the maw, it snaps itself shut before chewing, and swallowing. 

"Oh…? Instantaneous refinement?"

Immediately, Long Hua feels the power of the water element coursing through his body, and with it, Cāng'è, the name of the weapon spirit appears in his head. 

In the same instance, the sea inside of his spiritual sea world gains a deeper shade of blue. 

"Refreshing."

Rather quickly, the smile on Long Hua's face vanishes, as he turns his attention to the three practitioners that are in the distance. 

"Not good!"

Realizing that they had been caught, Lin Yu Heng was the first to turn tail and run, to which, Qing Ming Yang asks—

"Surnamed Lin, why are you running? He should already be exhausted."

Despite asking this, Qing Ming Yang is quick to follow, while Xia Ri'er is the last. 

Towards Qing Ming Yang's question, Lin Yu Heng answers—

"Do you seriously think that a person who managed to wrestle a soul away from the laws of this world can be ordinary?"

"This…?"

Seeing the three attempting to flee, Long Hua raises an eye, and mutters—

"Looks like there's a smart one among them. Tai Xuan."

As the Machina Frame undergoes repairs, Long Hua stores it away in his storage pouch before turning to Tian Cheng. 

"We're chasing them."

"Understood."

Breaking into a run, the two leaped across the ice, as they closed in on the three practitioners. 

"Shit, they're fast!"

"Take to the air!"

As all of them are Core Formation realm practitioners, they are able to fly without a magic treasure's assistance. 

However—

"We can't!"

Their movement speed per the amount of spirit Qi expended cannot be considered efficient.

"This is the outer domain; the spirit Qi here is-"

"Hmph."

Before Lin Yu Heng can finish speaking, Long Hua points his index finger towards their direction, causing a black and white Immortal Suppression Palm to fall from above! 

"Uh…?!"

*Boom!!!* as the black and white hand smashes through the ice directly in front of them, the three are forced to halt their footsteps. 

Exploiting this opportunity, Tian Cheng summons out her dummy units, and surrounds the three—with Spirit Armaments aimed at them from four sides. 

Approaching the three with an air of leisure, Long Hua says—

"Since you three had bothered to wait for me to finish that weapon spirit off, why don't you all stay a while longer?"

"…"

Thoroughly surrounded by figures in black garbs, the three's expression darkens. 

"Wh-Who are you…?"

Towards Qing Ming Yang's question, Long Hua replies—

"Who I am doesn't matter, does it? What's important is, what are you three doing here?"

With a solemn expression on his face, Lin Yu Heng replies—

"…Elder Hou Chang Feng had assigned us to survey the Leng Bing Realm, and report anything out of the norm."

"Anything out of the norm, is it? Then… Would I count as one?"

Being asked the obvious causes the three to twitch their lips. 

"Ai…"

Looking at his right hand, Long Hua still feels a bit itchy—wanting to beat up a few more faces. 

However—

"I'm not an unreasonable person."

Hearing this, the Tai Xuan Emperor within the dreamscape looks utterly appalled, while Long Hua continues to say—

"How about this? If any of you can defeat me in a one-on-one, I'll let you all off. Shouldn't be too difficult since I've used up most of my spirit Qi to deal with that weapon spirit."

"…"

Exchanging a glance with Qing Ming Yang and Xia Ri'er, Lin Yu Heng asks—

"You mean to say that—so long as even one of us manages to defeat you, you'll let us all go?"

"Correct."

Simultaneously, the three turns around, with Qing Ming Yang beginning the conversation with—

"What do you two think? The odds aren't against us."

"True, but I still feel a bit… Off. The fact that this guy can suggest this, means he's confident."

Exchanging these words, Qing Ming Yang and Xia Ri'er turns to Lin Yu Heng, who has yet to speak. 

Momentarily—

"…Between the three of us, I should probably go last."

Towards Lin Yu Heng's suggestion, Qing Ming Yang and Xia Ri'er had to agree. 

Among the three of them, Lin Yu Heng boasts the greatest attack power. 

Throwing a glance at Qing Ming Yang, Xia Ri'er asks—

"So, who goes first?"

Gritting his teeth, Qing Ming Yang says—

"…I'm not an unreasonable person. I dragged you two into this, so… I'll go first."