Chapter 1496 - The power of pay-to-win

Illusory staves cut through the skies accompanied by ear-splitting winds.

As the staves hurtled past, they seemed to open up a rift, like a primordial demon tearing open the skies.

Bright red eyes stared through the whole. Anyone who looked at it felt their hair unwittingly stand on end.

Beneath this primordial demon’s gaze, Gu Li felt a chill from the depths of his heart. Then, he narrowed his eyes, letting out a puff of white breath.

“Petty tricks!” In the face of the Great Sage’s staff shadows, Gu Li dared not hold back in the slightest.

He knew that this monkey was an imperial-level expert, and his staff was eerie and strange.

A streak of starlight descended down to earth, gathering between Gu Li’s hands. Based on his expression, he seemed prepared to meet the Great Sage’s attacks head-on and bȧrė-handed.

“Holy Lord, wake up!” Just as Gu Li focused, he heard a furious roar from above. Suddenly, everything went clear, and both the Great Sage and his countless staves disappeared. Those demonic red eyes were gone too, and there was no longer any trace of fluctuating energy.

“You seem rather distracted, brother!” A brick flew through the air, crashing into the back of Gu Li’s head. It was just a brick, but don’t dismiss it.

Ye Zichen had obtained it after opening the third layer of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. It was a divine artifact-level cold weapon, capable of dazing opponents.

As for the Great Sage overhead, that was just yet another divine artifact’s effect.

The Spirit Illusion Pearl.

Ye Zichen was sure that Gu Li had reservations about fighting the Great Sage, which was why he’d chosen this particular combination of divine artifacts to break out of his predicament.

Gu Li had been completely focused on taking out the Great Sage, which was why he hadn’t even noticed Ye Zichen sneaking up behind him. He took the full force of the brick right at the base of his skull, putting him into an instant daze.

“Don’t you know? This is the power of pay-to-win.” Ye Zichen’s lips curled, and the surrounding demons gathered around him. Ye Zichen took out a few modified smoke bombs he’d prepared specifically for the occasion, then flung them to the ground.

Everything in a hundred mile radius filled with dense clouds of smoke. Not even divine sense could penetrate more than a hundred meters.

“If I weren’t in such a hurry, I’d just love to take my sword and gut you.” Ye Zichen rolled his eyes. He could sense that demons experts had already come within range of the smoke, so he didn’t dare delay in the slightest. He pressed off the ground with his toes and stepped into the sky, then charged right through the clouds.

As for the demons there….

“Taste my staff!” The Great Sage, who’d already scared Gu Li off twice, finally showed up for real. He raised his Ruyi Jingu Bang, like a heavenly god among mortals. The demons were all scared out of their wits.

Ye Zichen watched, vision blurred by clouds, as the Great Sage beat a demon diviner to death, then waved to him. “This way, Ye-zi.”

Of Gu Li’s subordinates, only the two who stuck to his side like glue worried the Great Sage. Ye Zichen had just smacked Gu Li into a daze, so his two guards must be frantic. They’d undoubtedly already entered the range of his modified smoke bomb. As for the demons outside, to the Great Sage, they were nothing but small fry. He’d fall over if he so much as breathed on them too hard.

“On my way!” Ye Zichen shouted, then rushed to the Great Sage’s side. By this point, it was hard to find even a single demon still capable of fighting in the skies over Jadewave City.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” The Great Sage was already wearing his Monkey King Armor. Combined with his staff, he truly resembled the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, the legendary figure.

It was really rather strange if you thought about it. This armor was a gift from the Heavenly Court, but its defensive prowess far exceeded the vast majority of divine artifacts.

Then there was his Ruyi Jingu Bang, the former Stabilizer of the Four Seas. It was stronger than most divine artifaces by an enormous margin.

It wasn’t just the Great Sage’s artifacts; Yang Jian’s Erlang Lance was comparably impressive.

“Hee, I’m doing great.” Ye Zichen peered through the smoke and down at the demons. He flipped his hand, revealing his brick. “My special-effect artifacts are enough to pack a punch.”

“You saved all the Zi clansmen, right?”

“Of course! They’re all in the Yao-Sealing Pagoda.”

“Then let’s hurry up and get out of here.”

The Great Sage knit his brows, then looked outside the city. “Are there demons outside too? I circled the place, but sensed no trances of demonic energy.”

No traces of demonic energy?

Given the Great Sage’s cultivation, not even a demon on roughly the same level, a Demon God, should have been able to hide their presence from him. Furthermore, this was the Great Sage! He had the Fiery Eyes of Truth, which were capable of penetrating any yao or demon’s disguise.

The reason the Great Sage hadn’t come right away was that Ye Zichen was worried about an ambush. As such, he’d asked the Great Sage to wait for him outside and clean up their escape route.

“Forget it. Let’s retreat.” Ye Zichen narrowed his eyes, then chose to flee.

They couldn’t possibly stay long; the brick and smoke bombs’ effects wouldn’t last forever, and once the clouds dispersed and Gu Li recovered, they’d find themselves in a passive state.

And yet, there was still something that bothered him.

Gu Li didn’t seem like the type to act without a clear goal, and Ye Zichen had already seen with his own eyes that he’d found a method to let demons disguise their auras and pass as members of other races.

But it was then that….

A fierce gust of wind howled by, dispersing the lingering smoke from the smoke bombs. At the center of where the clouds once were, Gu Li stood, his gaze clear and bright. He looked up into the sky and laughed.

Given the brick’s dizzying effects, it shouldn’t have been possible for him to recover so quickly. Ye Zichen glanced beside him.

There was someone lying there, someone who looked exactly like him. That must have been the person who’d really taken the brick’s impact.

“You think you have a lot of divine artifacts? Don’t forget, I’m one of heaven's chosen emperors too.” Suddenly, one of the people beside Gu Li transformed into a puppet.

Ye Zichen knew about this artifact; it was seventh on the auxiliary divine artifact leaderboards.

The Decoy Puppet!

If you nourished it with your blood essence, it could temporarily take its user’s form. The user could connect with it, controlling it and forming a perfect decoy to trick their opponents’ senses.

“As for the net entrapping you, I expect you recognize it too.”

The ninth-ranked auxiliary divine artifact, the Heaven and Earth Net.

As expected, when fighting someone as crafty and shrewd as Gu Li, there was no room for pride or letting down one’s guard.

“What I said earlier was true. At first, I really did fall for your tricks. Fortunately, I adjusted my plans and reacted accordingly. Well? From the look of it, it seems I win again.”

“Are you certain?” Yet at that moment, despite the circumstances, Ye Zichen chuckled. “Do you really think you’ve won?”

Before he’d even finished his sentence, an ice-cold staff appeared against Gu Li’s throat. The other of the two demon experts by Gu Li’s side transformed into the Great Sage. “General!”

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