Chapter 1287  Plunder (IV)

Wang Wei looked at this middle-aged man with a subtle aura of demons and beasts. He was composed, as if he was confident in his abilities. This was odd since [Artifact Insurgents] were often looked down upon. So, Wang Wei had to wonder about this man’s source of confidence.

“Who are you?” Wang Wei asked.

“A dead man does not need to know my name.”

“So, it’s Xin Tangtian,” Wang Wei added, having already divined this much information. However, his actions made this guardian frown. Wang Wei was a master at controlling a conversation’s rhythm, so with this simple move, the advantage was already on his side.

“So, Xin Tangtian, why are you so loyal?” Wang Wei asked. “Your oppressor is already dead. But instead of taking this opportunity to get some remuneration and running away, you’re still doing his bidding. Why is that?”

“What do you people know? This is only a temporary setback. Once the lord returns, none of you can survive his wrath,” Xin Tangtian sneered. “He will hunt all of you until the end of the earth.”

Wang Wei calmly looked at this man. “Your threat is not as intimidating as you think. As long as these plunderers hide in the Lawless Zone, they’ll be fine. Even if Blood Dragon returns, what can he do? With his terrible fighting ability and the rules of the Lawless Zone, he’ll be useless even if he invaded with all his troops.”

Xin Tangtian was immediately speechless. These words had some truths to them. The Lawless Zone rejected any form of intervention from the outside world, so these people might get away with it if they hide there.

“Not to mention that by the time he revives, there should be a few more Paragons in this world,” Wang Wei added, and Xin Tangtian’s face contorted. With all the resources plundered, he knew it was guaranteed that a few peak Empyreans would immediately attack the Paragon Realm after they left.

In the current political climate, one Paragon is enough to disrupt the situation—especially if it’s someone highly gifted in fighting or, worse, a Boundless Paragon. All these created a sense of urgency in Xin Tangtian’s mind.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Wang Wei said. “Why are you so loyal? The controlling method Blood Dragon used in your soul should have dissipated after his death — unless he went as far as using a Dao Mark as the basis of the technique. But even if he did, his weakened state should be enough for you to take the risk of removing it.”

“Why do you care?” Xin Tangtian snapped before summoning his Paragon Artifact — a bracelet. He activated it, transforming him into this golden ape with black armor, boxing gloves, and a terrible fighting intent. Xin Tangtian had turned into a Saint Battle Ape, one of the most powerful demon races in the Eternal Ascension World.

With hesitation, the ape punched Wang Wei. This was a simple punch, but it contained such a potent fighting intent that the surrounding space and time twisted; it was as if this battle intent’s purpose was to fight anything between heaven and earth — including conceptual existences.

“I like to figure people out, and your actions haven’t made sense to me yet,” Wang Wei calmly responded as he evaded the punch. “It seems that the fact that Blood Dragon allowed you to be one of the few tier 12 cultivators in the world has twisted your psychology, somehow, making you feel special. But is this enough to be this loyal? I don’t think so.”

Wang Wei evaded millions of punches, and during the entire thing, his eyes never left Xin Tangtian. The latter roared in anger and frustration before using even more potent battle techniques from the Saint Battle Ape clan. However, the result was the same.

“I see. Your loyalty is out of fear,” Wang Wei continued. “But is Blood Dragon so terrifying?” A ripple suddenly emanated from Xin Tangtian after hearing these words, and Wang Wei took this opportunity to read more about the latter’s fate.

“So, that’s what happened. He once faked his death to catch all the people who wished to betray him, so this fear remains in your heart,” Wang Wei nodded. He had to admit that his view of the dragon increased slightly after seeing how he put the fear of god into his subordinate after faking his death.

“Shut up, you damn rebel,” Xin Tangtian yelled before his fist turned golden, and he smashed down. Wang Wei calmly raised his staff to block that attack; it was so potent that he flew a few kilometers away before stopping. However, a smirk could be seen in the corner of his eyes.

‘It’s done,’ he thought before suddenly condensing millions of runes that rushed into the Paragon Array protecting the treasury.

“No,” a woman’s voice emanated from the formation area, followed by an intense energy fluctuation. Unfortunately, it was pointless as the runes sealed core areas and minor flaws in the formation.

“What have you done?” roared Xin Tangtian. Wang Wei calmly looked at him. Now that his main objective was accomplished, there was no point in wasting time with this bastard. He suddenly appeared before the ape and punched it in the stomach. Xin Tangtian howled in pain. Then, to his horror, he swiftly transformed to his human shape.

Wang Wei took the bracelet from him and observed it. ‘An artifact with summoning and demon-controlling laws? Interesting.’ He realized the artifact’s primary purpose was to collect powerful creatures to summon in battles while also transforming into them to acquire their bloodline abilities. However, Xin Tangtian only had the ape inside, which showed how much trust the Blood Dragon had in him.

“Such a precious artifact was wasted on you,” Wang Wei shook his head. He was not saying that just because there was only one creature inside. The Saint Battle Apes were one the most powerful demons in this world, especially in the previous era when one of the Tribal Sacred Mountain’s two Primal Paragons belonged to them.

Whenever there was a conflict with the Primarch Origin Temple, this race was on the frontline, tearing the enemy apart. Their achievements in Body Refining and Fighting had reached the peak of the world. Xin Tangtian probably never experienced more than 10,000 battles in his life, perhaps less after becoming a Dao Monarch. How could such a person truly utilize the power of the Saint Battle Ape?

Wang Wei put the bracelet away before looking at the treasure entrance. His eyes were not looking at the door but at this woman surrounded by runes. When he arrived, he noticed two presences: Xin Tangtian and the Array Spirit of this treasury.

In the lower dimension, due to the intense nature of competition and the zeitgeist of self-reliance, most worlds/cultivation systems do not use things like artifact/array spirit. Instead, those artifacts are given limited intelligence while focusing on increasing their overall attack potency.

However, the upper dimensions have more room for leniency, so such methods are more common. Wang Wei was not surprised that this protective formation had a spirit that could control it. However, he also realized the danger of this spirit. It will be exponentially more challenging for him to forcefully break through the formation with a spirit controlling. More importantly, even if he did, the latter could destroy everything out of spite, and there would be nothing he could do about it.

So, Wang Wei had to lower her guard during his fight with Xin Tangtian, find its weakness/flaw, and seal them.

‘She is resisting so damn hard,’ Wang Wei thought while shaking his head. ‘I should warn the others if they encounter a similar situation.’ He didn’t want any of them to be careless and make him lose a substantial amount of resources.

Wang Wei sent the news but immediately sensed something. One of the protective measures he left on his men was activated. His eyes penetrated countless dimensions, and he saw someone pursuing the second prince. A look of shock and anger flashed in Wang Wei’s eyes as he saw that person.

He saw something that he thought was impossible: he saw a Heaven Will Paragon. Great Emperors who continue to absorb Heaven’s Will to cultivate have their paths cut off since 99% die at Empyrean’s Immemorial Tribulations.

Despite this low possibility, many people still succeed and become Heaven Will Empyreans. This world is too vast, there are too many resources, and there are too many cultivators, thus making it possible to give birth to Heaven Will Empyreans.

However, that’s how far this path goes. None of them should be able to survive the Paragon Tribulation.

“Damn it, that bastard Blood Dragon deserves to die by lynching,” Wang Wei cursed. He knew what it would take to cultivate such an entity. The first was countless Heaven Wills, and the number was not just to develop someone to 90% Grand Dao Source. No, Wang Wei could predict that this bastard had experimented with countless people before he succeeded. As such, the number of Heaven Wills wasted in such an experiment was astronomical.

The second requirement for this plan to succeed was talent. Only an extremely talented individual whose Dao Heart, mind state, and willpower had reached the peak would have a chance at surviving the Paragon Tribulation.

No person/group with a sane mind would waste such a talent and force them to walk the Heaven Will Path. But this bastard Blood Dragon did precisely that.

“Damn it, I want to revive this bastard to kill him again,” Wang Wei said with gritted teeth. Such a talent would be considered a Boundless Paragon Seed in any faction, but that dragon ruined it. As someone who loves talent, Wang Wei felt great pain.