Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 705: Settling the Dust (Seeking Subscriptions)

In mid-air, Suhabaru's body was severed by a sharp sword, his blood splattering the ground, yet his unyielding, heroic posture in battle moved everyone present. Even Pei Yan, who stood on the opposing side, couldn't help but genuinely admire his bravery. This newfound respect also shifted his understanding of the overall strength of the Divine Desire. If one Suhabaru was this formidable, then six others, including Mu Fanchen, their archenemy at the Office of Investigation, were equally intimidating.

Admiration is one thing, respect is another; but enemies are still enemies! Tonight, Suhabaru must be defeated. Pei Yan understood this, but he wondered if Lin Daozi understood it. Although the sequence of attacks, with each element reinforcing the next, inflicted mounting damage, Suhabaru couldn't be subdued by just such an attack. Was Lin Daozi oblivious to this?

Thinking this, Pei Yan looked up at Lin Daozi in the sky. He noticed the sly glint in his seemingly terrified and helpless eyes. Pei Yan was initially stunned but then revealed a playful smile. He no longer concerned himself with the battle's dynamics, and settled back to the ground, sitting in his chair, pulling out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket, lighting it up, and putting it in his mouth. He took a puff and completely relaxed.

He was relaxed, but Saraf was on edge, seeing that only a minute remained. Even though Suhabaru appeared to have been sliced up by countless swords, anyone could see he still had plenty of fight left in him. If the next attack followed the same pattern, it wouldn't be a problem for him to last the final minute. At that moment, Saraf was filled with regret, wishing he could jump in and replace Lin Daozi, finishing off Suhabaru immediately!

"Lin Daozi, if you stay so leisurely, the face of the Daoist Realm will be thoroughly lost by you!"

"Yes, yes, I know, I know!" Facing Saraf's roar, Lin Daozi first glanced lazily at Pei Yan, who was sitting leisurely, smoking quietly, watching his performance. With a sigh, he casually took out the last blue talisman and tossed it into the sky.

In an instant, the rain of swords vanished, replaced by a gentle drizzle that covered the entire city, floating calmly from above. After this, Lin Daozi didn't bother to look at the fallen Suhabaru. He elegantly floated to where his sword had dropped, bent down to pick up the sword, and sheathed it. Then, he approached the battlefield's edge, looking towards Pei Yan with a smile, asking, "Fellow Daoist Pei, if I lose this battle, do you intend to keep your promise to abandon this contest and return to the Keystone Plane for retraining?"

"Of course, a gentleman's word is his bond, just..." In the light rain, Pei Yan gently blew a smoke ring, leaning lazily on his chair with a regretful expression.

"Just what?" Lin Daozi, leaning against the defensive array at the battlefield's edge, asked with interest.

"Just that missing the opportunity for a fair fight with you would be my greatest regret on this journey!"

"Hahahahahaha!" Listening to Pei Yan's words, whether genuine or flattery, Lin Daozi shed his previous humble and polite demeanor, laughing heartily, each movement carefree and graceful.

"Lin Daozi, you still have the mind to laugh! There's less than thirty seconds left!" In the sky, Saraf, seeing Lin Daozi abandoning the battle to chat with Pei Yan, couldn't stop shouting angrily.

"This person is not worth worrying about!" Lin Daozi didn't even bother to glance at Saraf and continued looking at Pei Yan, "Please, Fellow Daoist Pei, announce the remaining time, so no one can say Lin Daozi broke the rules!"

"Alright!" Pei Yan agreed without further words, snapping his fingers. A beam of light projected into the rainy night sky, displaying the countdown: 30, 29, 28. Observing the numbers descending, everyone understood that this battle was about to reach its conclusion.

Watching the countdown, Suhabaru grew increasingly excited. He didn't know why Lin Daozi had given up attacking after summoning the drizzle, but he knew he was about to escape alive from this fierce battle!

He had fought numerous battles today. The first duel with Tao Yuanweng seemed effortless, but, like with Pei Yan, he was similarly harmed by fierce flames. Then came battles with Saraf and Pei Yan. During the fight with Pei Yan, he thought he would surely die, but Lin Daozi saved him, allowing him to fight again. However, no matter how miraculous the Immortal Elixir was, claiming to revive the dead, it truly was an illusion bought at the cost of significantly shortening Suhabaru's lifespan and potential. While the final battle process was strange, in the end, relentlessly overextending his life to go all out let him endure it!

As the numbers dropped below twenty, the exhausted Suhabaru, filled with excitement, dragged his weary body, fixing his gaze on Pei Yan, roaring, "I won! Pei Yan, I won! Hahaha! What's a Child of Origin! I! I... Uh... Uh... Ugh!"

At the ten-second countdown, Suhabaru couldn't finish his words because, to his horror, countless flowers bloomed from his mouth and ears, blocking his voice. Frantically, he tried to remove these foreign things growing from his body, but discovered too late that his entire body was covered in these flowers and plants. Any attempt to resist was futile. In mere seconds, his once proud, robust physique was sapped of all nutrients by these plants, shriveling into a desiccated shell. It became impossible for him to take even a single step forward, his body collapsing to the ground. In the end, Suhabaru, with eyes filled with despair, watched the enormous zero, representing the end of everything, through the fine rain as it came into view.

He ultimately lost!

"A cycle of Water Nurtures Wood comes to an end. You had everything planned from the start?" Pei Yan flicked away the cigarette butt in his hand. Facing this unsurprising outcome, he smiled and asked Lin Daozi.

"You could say that, just borrowing strength to wield strength. He didn't lose to me but to himself or perhaps to you all." Lin Daozi said, looking with regret at Suhabaru's emaciated body, overrun with flowers. "The continuous battles robbed him of reason and the ability to think calmly. He was too anxious to endure the time, neglecting the anomalies within himself. My killing move lay in the early stages of attack. The seeds, contained in the pollen he inhaled, took root and sprouted within him. Every time he strengthened his body and accelerated recovery, these seeds absorbed nutrients. The subsequent attacks merely pushed him to use his abilities more frequently. In the end, under the drizzling rain, these burgeoning plants drained the last bit of potential from his body. After today's battles, pushing the limits of life repeatedly, even if saved, he would be a wreck."

"Then I suggest you quickly dispatch someone to save him. There are many secrets in him that both of us are very interested in. At least find out what Divine Desire aims to do here!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

A living Suhabaru is more important to Pei Yan.