My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 181: Her Majesty Has Awakened
Have to admit, the system really doesn't lie.
"When it says high-risk, it truly means high-risk, absolutely no joke, damn it."
Li Rui spat out a mouthful of blood on the side.
That Thunder Shocking Earth did indeed take out the Blood Demon, but the Blood Demon was merely in its second form; he didn't expect this dumb boss to have a third transformation.
The outer layer of toxic blood light vanished, Zuo Qiutian returned to human form again yet, like a zombie, his exposed skin looked like a water-filled mummy, both withered and swollen; a single glance would make one vomit for three days.
Li Rui couldn't vomit anymore because he had just done so.
In the explosion shockwave of the Thunder Shocking Earth and the Blood Demon, the zombie Zuo Qiutian took advantage of his unpreparedness and suddenly drilled out, slamming a palm fiercely into his abdomen.
Luckily, the Shenxiao Thunderbolt Heart Sutra had been activated, allowing him to react rapidly. In an instant, he cast clay blocks, providing high defense and physical resistance, which prevented him from being outright killed by the palm strike.
At this moment, the Tree Spirit elders were already stunned.
Such a degree of battle was not something they could interfere with; rushing in would only cause more trouble.
They could only wave their tendrils, releasing green light from their bodies, then merging into Li Rui, offering some healing and anti-poison effects. Beyond that, they could only pray for the Lady's awakening.
However, no miracle occurred; the peach tree showed no change. Instead, a raspy voice came from the zombie's mouth.
"Who exactly are you?"
This question had been asked by the real Zuo Qiutian before.
Li Rui answered the same way.
"I'm your father."
As he spoke, endless activation began, and spiritual power started rapidly recovering.
Whoosh!
The figures of both vanished from their spots, reappearing continually at various locations within the Peach Garden, and whenever they appeared, they inevitably clashed at close quarters.
Zuo Qiutian adeptly used claw strikes; however, upon entering his third form, he switched from the Blood Demon's sheer forcefulness to agility and swiftness, matching Li Rui who was running on the Shenxiao Thunderbolt Heart Sutra.
Their figures constantly disappeared and reappeared, with the clash between the vajra umbrella and claws producing the sound of metal striking.
After countless rounds, the two separated, maintaining a wary distance from each other.
The zombie Zuo Qiutian snarled viciously, "A person like you is surely a scourge; today, even if it means my soul dissipating, I'll ensure you perish here."
Li Rui smiled faintly, "Since you're a doppelganger created by a broken soul, if I kill you, the real one will be severely wounded too?"
The zombie no longer responded but instantly restarted, charging forward.
Both sides knew that the battle was nearing its end; life and death would be decided at this moment, with no more dragging it out.
Bang, bang!
Li Rui unleashed two strikes of Submerged Dragon Lifts Head.
Against a third-stage doppelganger, ordinary attacks were useless. At the very least, this skill had to be included, alongside spending the final bit of spiritual power to elevate the Thunder Shocking Earth to its ultimate form.
Crash, crackle.
Amidst a dazzling bout of frenzied fighting, both their figures froze in front of the gigantic peach tree.
The zombie Zuo Qiutian's right palm clashed against Li Rui's vajra umbrella.
Both unleashed their ultimate moves; one where blood light consolidated into an Eight Trigrams Array, its integration with some cultivation technique unknown.
The other was a berserk Divine Thunder, the strongest form merging legendary talent with legendary skill.
Another surge of dazzling impact.
No technique involved, just sheer bashing with everything at disposal.
Within the poisonous blood light, Li Rui made his last two maneuvers.
Poison Barrier, activated.
Vitality Restores, activated.
Subsequently, he could see nothing, hear nothing, engulfed in agony, wounds constantly healing only to split again.
Rumble—
All dust, glow, flames, blood light, thunder dissipated away.
In a shocking twist, both indeed stood, the outcome still indiscernible.
"Master?!"
Tree Spirits whispered softly, but Li Rui was gravely injured, unable to move; he only managed to hold himself upright using the vajra umbrella, unable to reply.
On the other hand, Zuo Qiutian not only stood but moved, staggering forward with a shattered body, his face twisted like a paper figure, roaring incoherently.
"You understand nothing!"
"If you knew the truth of the Upper Realm! You'd see how heartless this Heavenly Dao is."
"For the sake of all beings under heaven, world unity, what's the harm in sacrificing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions? Those who benefit are countless billions, generation after generation!"
Zuo Qiutian even began to run, his withered hands already bloodless, yet ultimately at the breaking point.
"You!"
His left arm suddenly dropped from his shoulder, turning to ashes mid-air, swept away by the wind.
Thud, thud.
Lurching two more steps forward, he collapsed, half his body vanished too.
"You....."
Struggling, he crawled forward, stretching one hand frantically as if trying to seize Li Rui.
"One day you'll understand me....."
Whoosh—
His entire being vanished into the wind.
[World mission complete, calculating.]
[Level up!]
[You have.....]
Notifications appeared one after another, yet Li Rui lacked the energy to pay attention as he realized the level-up didn't heal his injuries; the attack from the Blood Evil Sect was too insidious, continually eroding his life force.
It seemed, if he truly perished here, perhaps his soul would disperse and even his consciousness might be lost.
At this moment, the Tree Spirit elders gathered around; they knew who the hero was, understood the hero's contributions to Peach Blossom Spring.
No, it wasn't a contribution anymore; he had saved every life here.
"Master! Little Master!"
They encircled him, waving branches like trying to awaken the Lady Peachtree; green light points emerged from their bodies, then flew toward the one who nearly single-handedly thwarted Zuo Qiutian's plot.
With the glow entering his body, Li Rui felt the pain and weakness significantly reduced, yet the erosion left by Zuo Qiutian's doppelganger was still unmatched.
His vision grew darker, blood ever colder.
Then, a coquettish voice suddenly spoke—that was Shen Huang.
"Everyone, come quickly!"
Li Rui strained his dim vision to look over, finding all Forest Spirits in Peach Blossom Spring gathering, connecting hands with the Tree Spirit elders, raising green light increasingly stronger, forming into a river in the night, enveloping him entirely.
He saw nothing now, surrounded by a sea of green, yet warmth within growing ever stronger, consciousness increasingly clearer.
Finally, he opened his eyes again, seeing that a crowd of Forest Spirits surrounded him, babbling excitedly, "So great, so great."
Li Rui couldn't help but laugh, these Forest Spirits were small in stature; from this view, he seemed like a teacher surrounded by kindergarten kiddies.
"Alright, alright, my injuries are healed."
Of course, this was not entirely true; but so long as he wouldn't die, once out of the Secret Realm, he wouldn't be impacted.
The Forest Spirits had made great merit, cheering in celebration.
Li Rui turned to view Zuo Qiutian, finding not even a corpse left, but a dark wind arose, a transparent shadow swirling and ascending rapidly, wailing upward into the sky.
A soul!
Li Rui struggled, wanting to stop that fellow, yet he barely clung to life, utterly powerless to pursue.
Right then, scattered peach blossom petals suddenly gathered into a tornado, rushing upward to envelop the escaping fragmented soul.
Thump, thump, a sphere of petals dropped to the ground, softly trembling, clearly imprisoning that fragmented soul.
Simultaneously, the giant peach tree began trembling, as other petals swarmed around the trunk, slowly shrinking into a human figure one zhang high.
Black hair inserted with a wooden hairpin, a captivating, slender form draped in light gauze, peach blossom eyes, arched brows; indeed from an elevated view, yet devoid of arrogance.
Then, the Forest Spirits erupted in joy.
"The Lady is awake!"
