A Card In Hand

Chapter 4: The Dagger of Purification

Hahahaha…

The shadowy figure laughed uproariously, head thrown back.

“This is what happens to those who oppose me.”

After his laughter subsided, he gathered his cloak and slowly shook his head.

“Young people these days,” he tsked, “get a little power and they swell up beyond control.”

The battle was over.

As he reached out to recall the Abyssal Golem, something unexpected occurred.

The Abyssal Golem had lost its psychic link.

Had it rebelled?

The shadowy figure was startled.

Wasn’t the contract supposed to tightly bind this greedy demon? What was going on?

“Ugh-ah-ah-ah!”

The Abyssal Golem, as if undergoing the most excruciating torture imaginable, began to howl uncontrollably.

The bone spurs on its body softened and bent, its scales peeled off, and the blazing abyssal flames quickly weakened, almost extinguishing.

This incredible transformation made the shadow’s scalp numb.

Damn it, what on earth happened?

Boom!

A grey-white shattered arm falls to the ground.

Following that, something resembling a jaw drops, smashing into two pieces, with uneven petrified substances that look like teeth still faintly visible on it.

The shadowy figure quickly retreats.

Retreating to a safe distance, he changes his angle.

Now, he sees clearly that the entire front of the Abyssal Golem has turned into grey-white stone.

The young man, who was supposed to be swallowed, stands in the broken mouth of the Abyssal Golem, one hand raised high.

Countless Abyssal energies surge towards the mysterious formation in his palm in an incomprehensible manner.

Lightning crackles around his body.

With each strike.

The gradually petrifying front half of the Abyssal Golem breaks a little more.

The pair of crimson eyes of the Abyssal Golem has long lost its original luster, turning into a dim stone.

Above the petrified pupils, endless fear is eternally frozen, much like the gaze of the shadowy figure at this moment.

Bone spikes fall off one after another.

The Abyssal Flames whoosh out completely.

The legs of the Abyssal Golem uncontrollably soften and kneel down, the body turning into pale rock fragments, continuously crumbling and scattering.

Of the once massive Abyssal Golem, only a huge head with its mouth open and eyes filled with fear remains, barely maintaining its former appearance.

Li Ao pressed his hand down slowly, activating the Celestial Formation powered by the force of time, which shone even more intensely.

A hole suddenly cracked open in the center of the forehead of the Abyssal Golem.

A fist-sized crystal core flew out from within.

Li Ao held it in the palm of his hand.

His fingers slowly tightened.

Inside the core, a consciousness seemed to struggle, almost as if it were pleading.

In the void, a faint sound of despair echoed, unceasingly lingering.

Li Ao remained unmoved by the events unfolding before him.

Calmly, he drew his fingers together, and as they clenched into a fist, the Celestial Formation burst forth in a dazzling display of white light.

The dark, ink-like Abyssal energy crystal was forcibly purified into a translucent black diamond… and the screams ceased in an instant!

“No!”

The shadowy figure was struck as if by lightning, his strongest bonded beast killed on the spot, the chaotic power of the bond crazily backlashing against him.

His body was severely injured.

Blood.

It spurted violently from his throat.

The body of the shadowy figure was rapidly disintegrating, his current state weaker than that of a sick person, his breaths weak and ineffective.

With just one move, he had killed his strongest beast. What kind of power was this?

He…

Was actually battling such a person.

The blood-spewing shadowy figure was so terrified he nearly wet himself.

He had always believed his leader was the most terrifying person in the world, but the young man before him was a hundred times more fearsome than his leader.

“What is that?”

Shadowy figure trembled all over, his teeth clattering.

He did not recognize the miraculous energy spiraling around the other’s finger, but he knew it was a kind of energy that completely countered the dark energy of the Abyssal Golem.

“This? The power of time, a somewhat higher-tier thing. It’s not surprising that you, Senior Youhuo, don’t recognize it!”

Li Ao said, his face warm with a spring breeze smile.

With a light wave of his hand, the brilliance and lightning all vanished, leaving behind only a dark gem with the attribute of pure darkness.

He tucked the black diamond into his chest and patted the fully petrified head of the Abyssal Golem. “Some things shouldn’t be consumed recklessly; remember that in your next life!”

He jumped down from the pile of rubble and looked at the trembling shadowy figure with a beaming smile: “Senior Youhuo just gave me a fun gift. It’s only polite to return the favor!”

Hearing this, the figure known as Youhuo was terrified to his core.

With his last bit of strength, he threw his cloak high into the air.

The two giant wolves, whimpering and unwilling to approach but compelled by their contract, charged at Li Ao from front and back.

The Stone Giant standing behind Li Ao stretched out his large hand.

With one slap.

He sent them flying.

Li Ao did not bother with them, but with a gentle tap of his forefinger on his forehead, he slowly drew out a dagger that had at some point transformed into the shape of a light tooth, The Dagger of Purification.

The floating cloak slowly fell to the ground.

And by the time it landed.

Youhuo had already melded into the shadows, disappearing without a trace.

Li Ao was in no hurry, casually tossing the light dagger formed of pure energy in his right hand as he stepped forward.

Just as he was about to step forward, the Dagger of Purification in his hand suddenly plummeted swiftly, stabbing straight into his own shadow.

Li Ao’s shadow emitted a desperate scream.

Immediately afterward.

Youhuo, unable to wait, burst out from within the shadow, trying to escape.

However, he ultimately collapsed powerlessly into the mud, gasping frantically like a dying wild beast.

“Why? How did you know my secret?”

Youhuo despaired.

He had never encountered such an opponent before, his advantage of stealth turning into the most fatal flaw in this man’s hands.

He could not understand how there could be someone in the world who could fundamentally counter him, an opponent who was naturally his nemesis.

“Why can’t I know your secret?”

Li Ao chuckled, “Senior Youhuo, do you think I would recklessly come to challenge you, who has an Abyssal Golem, if I were not completely confident? A Silver-rank beginner Abyssal Golem, with a combat power over 1400, but sadly, you can’t fully control it…”

With each word Li Ao spoke, Youhuo’s expression grew more desperate; his adversary seemed to understand him even better than he understood himself.

Finally, he knelt on the ground, tears streaming down: “Spare me! I’ll do anything you ask!”

Li Ao shook his head, “Did you ever spare anyone, senior?”

Youhuo struggled.

Trying to stand up again.

Sadly, his legs had already been paralyzed.

He mustered all his strength and screamed, “I will be a good person from now on, just let me go!”

Li Ao turned around, “Be a good person? Guess whether I believe that? You should have become a good person a long, long time ago. If you had, The Dagger of Purification wouldn’t hurt you; it might even have boosted your combat power! Now, you’d better pray that you haven’t done too many bad deeds in the past, otherwise the purification will feel extremely painful!”

Youhuo clenched his teeth and pulled the Dagger of Purification from his forehead.

The dagger shattered.

Turning into a dazzling light.

Sinking into Youhuo’s body.

Disappearing.

“Wu ahhhh…”

The condition of Youhuo, after removing the dagger, not only did not improve but worsened rapidly.

From the opened hole in his forehead, countless dark energies overflowed.

Faster and faster.

Eventually, countless twisted faces emerged—some sad, some angry, some desperate, some fearful, some resentful.

These twisted faces squeezed out from the hole in his forehead.

Their madness triggered an eruption of energy akin to a volcanic explosion.

After the eruption, all that was left of Youhuo was an empty shell.

He collapsed limply to the ground.

On that pale, twisted face, a strange mix of indescribable despair and pain lingered.