Cha Ming glared but looked at the black document that floated his way. To his surprise, it even had a clause to prevent Zhou Li from cancelling the contract via his abilities. “I don’t see why I should listen to you,” he said, shrugging. “If you’re offering me this contract, it means you know you’re going to lose.”
Unexpectedly, Zhou Li laughed out loud. Then, seeing Cha Ming’s confused expression, he shook his head. “You seem to misunderstand what you are.”
“What I am?” Cha Ming asked.
“You,” Zhou Li said, pointing, “are a karmic anomaly. Your fate is undetermined, under your own control. As such, wherever you go, there will always be uncertainty. I’m not a gambling man, so I’d rather take a guaranteed victory. But believe me when I tell you that your situation is far from promising. Nine times out of ten, I will win. I’m giving you this opportunity to prevent that ten percent from materializing. It’s a tempting offer, no? With this, your greatest wish might even come true. You’ll get to see the love of your dreams regardless of what happens to this plane. We can both be happy.”
Cha Ming couldn’t deny he was tempted by the offer. So many paths had been closed off to him, and it was increasingly unlikely that he’d ever push past core formation. Recultivating was also out of the question; his core was coiled up like a spring, and if he moved to relieve it, he would never be able to cultivate again even if he survived.
Huxian, you’ve been holding back, Cha Ming sent, glancing briefly at the fighting demons. Battles with body cultivators were long and protracted affairs, but with enough power, they could achieve a swift victory. What are our odds if you go all out?
We’ll win nine times out of ten, Huxian said. There are eleven humans, but remember that you can take care of Zhou Li, and we’re not just ordinary demons. We could even take a few more of them on.
Then do it, Cha Ming said. Then he smiled at Zhou Li. “Thank you so much for the kind offer, but I think I’ll refuse. If you’re dead, so many of our problems will go away. I’ll find the right path myself.”
“A pity,” Zhou Li said. Then, sensing something, he rushed toward the group fighting Silverwing. At the same time, the giant falcon’s claws glowed with violet light as he reached for one of the cultivators. The cultivator tried to evade, but the wind pushed him back into the bird’s claws.
Just as he moved to crush the cultivator, however, a black chain wrapped around the Haijing royal and pulled him back. Silverwing cawed in frustration. His wings blurred to attack the escaping cultivator, but just as he was about to flap them, a black sword thrust toward his throat. It was too fast, and too close. There was no escaping the strike.
When the sword was only twenty feet away from hitting its mark, Cha Ming appeared in front of the falcon and deflected Zhou Li’s sword. Meanwhile, the water around Gua and Lei Jiang darkened. The darkness expanded, and before anyone knew what had happened, Lei Jiang and Gua appeared near Cha Ming and Silverwing. Gua swung his fan to entrap the champions and Haijing royals while Lei Jiang attacked Zhou Li with peals of lightning. Meanwhile, Cha Ming dove into the crowd of royals with his Clear Sky Staff, striking down with Crushing Chaos while Silverwing sent feathers of wind tearing down toward them.
Just as their attacks were about to hit, however, they bounced off a shield in midair. Cha Ming frowned as he realized that these shields were not black, like Zhou Li’s usual attacks, but gray. He then noticed another Haijing royal had joined the battle. He carried a set of gold-blue scales that caused space to fluctuate.
“Seventh prince, just in time,” Zhou Li said. “It will be difficult for them to eliminate us with the protection of your Sea God Scales.”
“It was naturally all thanks to Brother Zhou’s help,” the seventh prince said, bowing. “Besides—”
His voice cut off as everyone simultaneously looked toward Huxian. The air around him distorted as he began to move with otherworldly speed. His claws raked the surprised champions and Haijing royals. Two of them crashed down to the floor as blood seeped from their chests.
Meanwhile, Huxian grew, and massive jaws of light and darkness enveloped the remaining three. The seventh prince moved to direct his Sea God Scales, but Cha Ming was on him, rushing toward him with an Origin Strike. Just as it seemed like Huxian would succeed in devouring the three, however, a golden light shone.
It was from the third dais, where the Sea God Shell was located. The three cultivators Huxian tried to bite into glowed with a golden light. That light fended off his teeth long enough for them to regenerate and pull themselves out. Huxian glared as the fourth prince appeared in front of him with the shell-like shield on his left arm. The game had changed.
Six glowing gold cultivators rushed at Huxian, so the massive three-tailed fox blinked out of existence and appeared next to Cha Ming. He joined with Gua, Lei Jiang, and Silverwing and unleashed a massive suppressive domain. Sensing an opportunity, Cha Ming joined in with another Origin Strike toward Zhou Li.
However, in the time that had passed, he noticed the man had taken out a large painting. It was a painting of a black crow,
