LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 48 - Are You Sure You're Not Just Making Trouble?
Chapter 48: Are You Sure You’re Not Just Making Trouble?
Youjin struggled painfully.
He waved his arms and legs, desperately trying to regain the freedom to breathe from self-asphyxiation.
His struggles were utterly ineffective; the tighter he struggled, the tighter the grip around his neck became.
Li Ao’s face was expressionless, as if the person struggling for breath in front of him was not a human but a mere insect.
Youjin forcefully pried at the hands around his neck with his hands, his legs kicking violently, exhibiting the painful appearance of someone suffocating and on the verge of death.
Unseen by anyone, a black, slender needle silently slid out from between his right middle and ring fingers.
He masked this move with his violent struggling.
The needle stood erect.
It slid silently.
Quickly pinched between Youjin’s thumb and index finger, it then secretly plunged deep into Li Ao’s wrist.
*Ping!*
After sparking a flame when it pricked, the black needle broke with a ping.
Youjin’s eyes bulged out, no wonder you previously dared to catch Long Ying’s giant sword directly with your hand.
It turns out that your hand is not normal flesh and blood, but a type of metal skin far harder than steel!
If you had a metal skin, that would be one thing, but why make it look like real skin? And even simulate the normal human body temperature and tactile feel… You really fooled me badly!
After the failed attempt to attack with a poison needle, Youjin had no choice.
He gave Li Ao a dry, bitter smile.
He pleaded in ventriloquism, “I give up, Great Demon Lord. I admit defeat. Can you please spare me?”
Without a word, Li Ao lifted him and then slammed him heavily onto the platform.
*Boom!*
Youjin’s small body created a web-shaped crack on the obsidian platform.
Just when everyone thought he would be the first to die at Li Ao’s hands, suddenly, a hole appeared in the platform beneath Youjin.
The seemingly dead Youjin silently slid into the hole, moving so quickly that no one had time to react.
Li Ao quickly reached out.
Similarly, he ventured into the hollow.
What was pulled out, however, was a wooden figure that looked somewhat like Youjin, with a mischievous, teasing face carved on it.
By the time Li Ao realized it was just a wooden figure, the figure stuck out its tongue, making a cheeky, taunting expression.
Smack!
Li Ao, expressionless, crushed the taunting wooden figure to bits.
A second later, Youjin appeared beside Shuanghan and Qian Nian, the top two contenders on the challenger list.
He rubbed his neck.
He was gasping for air frantically, as if he had just been rescued from drowning.
It took him a long while to catch his breath, and with a shake of his head and a sigh, Youjin said, “That was close, I nearly lost my life!”
Suddenly, Shuanghan threw him a line: “Why do the useless even bother to live?”
If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t beat him.
Youjin would have fought to the death with the venomous-tongued Shuanghan.
So, just because I’m not a genius means I don’t deserve to live? Although I’m not as monstrous as you, I’m still a once-in-a-century talent in our family! Why don’t I even have the right to live?
What truly stung Youjin was that Qian Nian, on the other hand, nodded in agreement: “This guy really is useless!”
How am I useless?
If it weren’t for the fact that Li Ao, that demon king, was so despicable as to have metallic skin on his wrists, a single poison needle would have taken him down!
Of course, there’s nothing to be said about a failed assassination; a failed assassin is worse than a chicken!
Youjin clenched his teeth and swallowed his rage.
Can’t I just endure it?
You’re the monstrous geniuses, aren’t you? You two fight then, I’m done!
Suddenly, Qiqu, sitting on a strange orb, reminded him, “Youjin, there’s something by your foot!”
Youjin was startled.
He looked down.
But there was nothing there!
There were no abnormalities in his legs, everything was normal, how could there be anything?
Shuanghan reacted swiftly, clenching his fist and hurling a blast of icy chill straight at Youjin.
Youjin was instantly encased in ice.
When he forcibly broke out of the ice, to everyone’s surprise, a transparent chain was found linked to Youjin’s ankle… It disappeared into the void, emerging from the exact spot on the platform where Youjin had previously used a hollow to escape, stretching all the way to Li Ao’s arm.
“Pfft!”
Huo Mei burst out laughing, holding her belly as she laughed uncontrollably, pointing at the dumbfounded Youjin: “Hahaha, it’s hilarious, this little dwarf thought he had escaped? Grew such a big head but not a bit of brain, ahahaha! Don’t tell me you only just realized you’ve been dragging a dog leash around your foot!”
“I’m not a little dwarf!”
Youjin, who hated being called a dwarf more than anything, had his eyes turn blood-red as his face twisted grotesquely.
“Don’t say you aren’t, even if you aren’t, if she says you are, then you are!”
Cang Yue appeared silently behind Youjin, her claw pressing him down onto the platform.
The ancient howl of the Cang wolves echoed continuously in the sky.
Facing the murderous Cang Yue.
Youjin cowered.
Ah! Why should I bother with such a capricious lady and impulsive fools? I am a mature adult!
Fearing that Cang Yue might deliver another claw, he quickly nodded: “Yes, yes, yes, Miss Huo Mei is right, I overreacted just now, I won’t do it again, I have reflected deeply, please let me go, we are teammates!”
Cang Yue snorted coldly: “You’ll only possibly be teammates if you survive!”
It was then Youjin remembered the transparent chain still linked to his ankle, his face scrunching up in misery, on the verge of tears.
Why me?
Why?
Li Ao the great demon had fought so many.
Including Wu Ying, who also sneak-attacked, yet unscathed, why is there a chain only on my ankle?
What…
What did I do wrong?
Initially, Ling Long had somehow handed Youjin over to Li Ao using some secret method. Just when Youjin had managed to escape, Li Ao had tied him with a transparent chain around his ankle.
Could there be anyone more miserable than him on the challenge list?
What should he do next?
Surrender?
But he had already deceived Li Ao once before, and if he surrendered now, Li Ao definitely wouldn’t believe him.
If only he had genuinely surrendered earlier!
Unable to come up with a countermeasure, Youjin was slowly dragged back by Li Ao.
First, Li Ao dragged Youjin into a void passage he had prepared, then forcefully pulled him out of it like a dead dog.
The transparent chain slowly dragged Youjin in front of Li Ao.
Automatically wrapping around.
Tightening.
It bound Youjin securely as if tying up a pig.
“This chain is a bit strange!” Dou Guang whispered to Chang Chi beside him.
“It transforms too quickly, yet it doesn’t seem to possess its own sentience. If all this is Li Ao’s doing, then his control is quite terrifying!”
Chang Chi frowned. If Li Ao truly had such formidable control, then he and Dou Guang, both supervisors, might not be assured of victory if they faced him alone.
“Let’s wait and see. Li Ao’s attack frequency isn’t high. He appears very powerful, but that’s actually masked by his slow attack rate,” Dou Guang shook his head.
If he faced Li Ao alone, he was confident of a definite victory.
Li Ao excelled at absorbing others’ energy for counterattacks.
But his rate was very slow.
The newcomers on the challenge list were frightened by him.
They preserved their strength and did not all attack together.
The relay tactic used by Shuanghan and the others was not compact enough, which allowed Li Ao to exploit opportunities to break through the targets one by one.
Dou Guang believed that Li Ao was undoubtedly the strongest newcomer of this session, but to say that he could simultaneously overpower twenty people on the challenge list.
He didn’t quite agree.
This Li Ao.
He must have had detailed information about the top twenty on the challenge list very early, or his talent is the kind that can see through others’ hands.
Otherwise, Li Ao could not possibly crush twenty people on the challenge list simultaneously with his current strength.
He relied on an external aura to suppress his opponents’ maximum performance.
The newcomers on the Challenge List were far from united; they lacked the synchrony needed to work together as one, sometimes even infighting.
Each attacked individually, merely creating openings for their opponents to strike, which made Li Ao appear like an invincible demon lord.
To view this battle from a higher perspective, Li Ao indeed possessed great strength.
But he was far from the invincibility he seemed to display at this moment!
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Li Ao swung the chains to his left and right.
Using the balled-up Youjin as a meteor hammer, he ferociously slammed it onto the platform.
Initially, everyone thought Youjin would soon be finished, but after Li Ao hammered away for a long while, aside from screaming and showing slight weakness, Youjin showed no signs of dying.
Only then did everyone realize that this shameless little dwarf, who liked to sneak attack, actually had the real strength to be on the Challenge List.
At the very least, ordinary strikes couldn’t inflict any fatal damage on him.
If it had been someone else being flung by the chains in such a manner by Li Ao, ten lives wouldn’t have been enough to spare.
“Seems I can’t help much with the fighting, so I’ll help everyone regain some strength instead!”
Tang Guo habitually displayed her sweet smile in a cutesy manner, her pale fingers elegantly dancing through the air, as if playing an unknown enchanting melody.
Countless candy fireworks flew out from where her fingers pointed, and no one could clearly see what war beast she had summoned.
Everyone, under that dazzling, colorful light, bathed joyfully in a dreamlike radiance, almost forgetting the ongoing battle.
The colorful light’s enhancement.
The tired instantly regained their strength.
The injured saw their pains significantly lessened.
Summoners like Tie Zheng and Man Huang, who mainly relied on physical combat, gained the most benefits.
The two roared simultaneously.
Bellowing loudly.
Roar~!
Under the shower of colorful light.
Tie Zheng and Man Huang were not only thoroughly exhausted and healed from their injuries, but they also gained at least fifty percent more strength.
Unfortunately, the rainbow radiance that Tang Guo blessed everyone with was temporary, lasting only about ten minutes. Otherwise, everyone felt confident with her support by their side, not worrying about defeating the formidable Li Ao…
Wait a second.
Why was Li Ao also shimmering with light?
“Exactly!” Li Ao, at the center of the arena, was also enhanced by the colorful light, his aura booming and rising, surpassing his peak condition.
“What are you playing at?”
Lie Feng, who had barely been saved back to the platform by his war beast and covered in wounds, wanted to praise Tang Guo, but when he saw that Li Ao could also recover and boost, he immediately became enraged.
Li Ao’s original state alone was enough to beat everyone senselessly, and now you’re enhancing him too? Are you hoping we all get killed or what?
“There’s nothing I can do, it affects everyone in the area, friend or foe alike!” Tang Guo spread her hands, showing she had no control over it!
“…”
Shuanghan was speechless.
“…”
Qian Nian looked to the sky.
“…”
Qiqu held his forehead, not knowing what to say.
Tang Guo, are you sure you’re seriously competing? Are you sure you’re not just causing trouble?
It would be better if you hadn’t done anything at all! Without your intervention, everyone might just struggle a bit, but now, with your help, Li Ao, the great demon, gets more of a boost than anyone else.
How are we supposed to fight him?