Chapter 553: Oro, the Lionheart Emperor
Returning to the restriction boundary, Xia Fei made his way to the foot of the pyramid with furrowed brows.
“Strange. All the Ice Spiders outside are gone. Even that guy who has set his heart on killing me is gone, too. Something’s not right.” Xia Fei purposely wondered out loud. Old Sable’s mental energy monitored the entire planet, so he most definitely knew just what caused the Ice Spiders’ disappearance.
Old Sable chuckled. “This was originally a very peaceful place, but you and the other man’s sudden appearance broke this peace, so of course the old monsters who live here in the Ice Plains would all be drawn out.”
“Monsters?” Xia Fei pondered over Old Sable’s use of the term ‘monsters’, which very clearly meant that there was not just one. He could not help but become vigilant.
“Would you like to know what’s going on?” Old Sable asked with a smile.
“I do.”
“Then let’s do a trade.”
“What kind of trade?” Xia Fei asked. After waiting for all these days, the old recluse of the Demon Race could finally stand it no longer and spoke, which was exactly what Xia Fei had expected. The fact that he could hold out for so long already showed sufficient patience on his part.
“Kill me,” Old Sable said solemnly.
Xia Fei was slightly taken aback. This demon actually wanted Xia Fei to kill him? In his over twenty years of life, this was the first time Xia Fei had heard of such a request.
“My body has been heavily injured, and there’s no way for me to make a full recovery in this lifetime. That is why I must die, allowing me to be reborn and cultivate from scratch again, train my body, and learn law,” Old Sable very earnestly said.
Xia Fei let out a bitter laugh. “Dying to experience rebirth; experts are truly a different breed altogether; we mortals would rather live wasted lives than die, yet you are seeking death. The power of the Law of Life truly makes others envious.”
“I have to do this because I’m an immortal!”
Old Sable suddenly displayed his outstanding temperament, stating his words with such ease even as he showed his disdain for mere mortals! This was most likely his true personality.
Xia Fei lit a cigarette. “After you are reborn, I’ll still have to bear the anger and ire from peak powerhouses. This is a poor transaction for me, so I won’t do it.”
“I can impart you the Law of Life, the secret law unique to the Demon Race! If you miss this chance, you can forget about ever acquiring it in this life.”
Xia Fei froze slightly. This was a very valuable bargaining chip—a price so high that it was practically priceless!
Humans were a race that stood on the side of the G.o.d Race, so even if he were to go up the ranks as per convention, Xia Fei would start from the Yu family before rising to join one of the Nine Great Clans, and ultimately becoming a member of the G.o.d Race. Even if he reached the Universal Gate, there would not be any chance for him to come into contact with the Demon Race’s laws.
Of course, this was under ideal conditions. Given Xia Fei’s current understanding of the Law Realm, the difficulty of such a feat far outstripped that of the Alliance. There was no telling when he might fall into another’s trap. Eking a living out in this circle which lacked any righteousness whatsoever was tough, and becoming a powerhouse was even tougher; too many unseen hands in the dark, and too many hidden enemies that kept to the shadows.
Friends? There was no such thing as a friend in the Law Realm!
The chance to learn a law from the Demon Race was an opportunity that was hard to come by. All he had to do was use his disruptive force and break this restriction boundary, releasing the Demon Old Sable from within. It was hardly anything difficult, but what would happen after he released him?
“The Law of Life is very good, but I still can’t accept it. The price is too high.”
Old Sable somewhat angrily barked, “What price? I’ve already seen you use that strange law you have. Though I have no clue what sort of law it is, it is definitely not something to be underestimated! As long as you cultivate it sufficiently, even the Law of Ternary Spectrum, a top-tier law power of the Light-type, can’t be a match for it. Let me out and kill me after. You can practically do all that with a lift of your small finger!
“Doing such a small act in exchange for the great Law of Life that belongs exclusively to the Demon Race—the price you’re paying isn’t high at all; rather, it’s insignificantly small!”
Xia Fei smiled upon hearing that, “First, you call yourself Old Sable, and there’s no way I can trust someone who isn’t willing to reveal his real name to me. Second, you already have an immortal body, and that means your cultivation is very high, meaning that I will still be lacking in cultivation if I go up against your enemies. On that point alone, I will be taking on severe consequences for letting you go. When that time comes, perhaps they’ll be the one having an easy time destroying my very soul.”
Old Sable was surprised. Xia Fei had indeed thought about the offer thoroughly and figured out the pros and cons from when they first met. That was the reason why he had not begged Old Sable from the get-go; he knew that if they were to make a deal, it would be a big undertaking, and the risk he must bear would be unprecedented.
Going by Xia Fei’s theory of price that he lived his life on, he would be willing to make a deal as long as it did not go against his personal principles, but the key had to be an equal transaction in terms of payment and reward.
Warriors were essentially a profession that lived their days with their heads tied to their waistbands, where living and dying was a daily part of life. Xia Fei was not afraid of dying, but he had no intention of courting death, either. Letting Old Sable go was evidently a deal that would cause him to lose his head. No matter how powerful a law could be, no matter how much money was offered, Xia Fei was not about to do something that would just result in him taking whatever benefits to his grave.
Old Sable heaved a long sigh. He had waited for millions of years before finally getting a chance at being reborn, meeting Xia Fei and his Law of Primal Chaos, but it just so happened that Xia Fei was a calm and obstinate person, not the sort who would lose his cool when tempted by potential benefits. Old Sable could not help but feel very dejected. Why was Xia Fei someone so headstrong?!
“My name’s Oro Wrej, a Black-armored War G.o.d of the Demon Race and the Supreme True Emperor of the Lionheart Clan,” Old Sable said. He knew that the t.i.tles he said did not mean anything in front of Xia Fei, so he did not bother hiding them from him.
Xia Fei was somewhat stunned. Black-armored War G.o.d? Supreme True Emperor?
These t.i.tles sounded very imposing, but Xia Fei did not show his surprise in the least. In this time, even if someone claimed to be a Tyrant King, the t.i.tle itself proved nothing.
Oro extended a hand to take off his mask, and the ice casket he was encased in was too small for his frame, so he had quite a tough time before he managed to touch his face.
Shock!
Oro actually had a lion face! With his large nose and a mouth full of sharp fangs, his golden mane was dishevelled, looking far more stupefying than a real lion!
“The Lionheart Clan never reveals our true form to outsiders, so the fact that you’ve seen mine makes you a comrade of mine from here onward!” Oro declared in a deep voice.
Xia Fei did his best to endure the shock he was feeling. There were plenty of other sapient races out there, but this was the first time Xia Fei had heard or seen someone from a so-called Lionheart Clan. It was no wonder Oro wore an entire suit of black armor, covering himself so airtightly. It turned out that his true visage was this frightening!
A majestic lion that stood seventeen to eighteen meters tall! Just how scary would it be if such a huge head walked among the crowd?
“We of the Lionheart Clan act as we speak; let me out and I’ll give you eternal life!” said the Lionheart Emperor Oro decisively in a very dignified tone.
Xia Fei chuckled. “Eternal life? Don’t you mean never have a chance to experience rebirth? If I Iet you out, that is.”
“I can hand you the concealment technique, so no one could ever find any trace of you. No one will know where you go. Set me free.”
Xia Fei sighed, “That’s very tempting, but I’ll still have to say no.”
“If I kill you and you get reborn immediately, there’s no way for me to explain it when your enemies come after me, and who even knows if the concealment technique you’ll teach me actually works.”
The Lionheart Emperor Oro suddenly realized that convincing Xia Fei was truly a difficult task, and that the human would not fail to point out any potential flaw to the plan he proposed.
Phantom was curious. “If this Lionheart Emperor is so insistent on getting himself killed, even willing to offer the Law of Life just so he can die, why hasn’t he killed himself yet?”
Xia Fei laughed. “He probably will be more than happy to, but the physical body he inhabits has already been trained to the point where no matter how much effort Oro spends, he will have a tough time succeeding in killing himself.”
Phantom pouted. Becoming an immortal powerhouse sure was troublesome; unable to kill himself the moment he lost the cultivation to do so. It was really quite preposterous.
Getting up, Xia Fei made his way to leave the boundary.
The Lionheart Emperor Oro became fl.u.s.tered. “Where are you off to? Are you agreeing to this deal or not?”
Xia Fei answered, “I want to say yes, but I don’t want to be courting death, either.
“Since you’re not willing to tell me what those spiders are up to, I’ll have no choice but to see with my own eyes. Meanwhile, I can mull this over, see if I can find a perfect solution to this.”
With that, Xia Fei walked off. That great immortal war G.o.d was, thus, left alone with his sadness. Even his Law of Life could not grant him death!
No one would seek to die in this universe, and the tragedy that Oro faced was one where he could not even die even if he begged for it.
All those millions of years lying here in this desolate icy plains, Oro had practically lived a life no better than death, and he even began to somewhat regret cultivating to become an immortal.
Phantom could not help but ask, “Xia Fei, I don’t think that the huge lion was lying. You’ll hardly be the one losing out here if letting him go will allow you to obtain the Law of Life!”
Few would not be moved with the benefits right in front of them. Phantom had already been very much tempted by the conditions that the Lionheart Emperor had set. This was the Law of Life, after all! It was a supreme law that could practically extend life to last an eternity!
Xia Fei said, “Give it a bit more time. He’s already been stuck here for many, many years. He’s a lot more anxious than I am.”
Phantom suddenly realized that Xia Fei had decided to stifle the Lionheart Emperor Oro a bit more, meaning that he already had an idea in mind, or else he would not have spoken with such ease.
“Does that mean you’ve already decided?” Phantom was surprised. He had no idea how Xia Fei had managed to come to a balance between the dangers and benefits for this deal. There was no doubt that he would be hunted down if he let the Lionheart Emperor go, while failing to do so meant that there was no way he could learn the technique to become immortal. To say that the balance between these two options was elusive would hardly be an understatement!
“This thought has been on my mind for more than just a day or two, and the only reason why I haven’t explicitly offered it is that what’s offered isn’t high enough.”
Phantom was astonished. “He’s already offering the Law of Life; how is that not high enough? Xia Fei, aren’t you being a bit too black-hearted yet?”
Xia Fei smiled. “Thank you for the compliment.”
“It’s not a compliment,” Phantom muttered with mild annoyance.
“Whatever. I’m taking it as a compliment. Wait a while more and then I’ll let you know what’s true black-heartedness.”
Phantom was unimpressed. He knew Xia Fei’s thinking ability like the back of his hand, and he could not help but feel worried for the immortal war G.o.d, Lionheart Emperor Oro, lying inside that pyramid.
Truth had proven, time and again, that people whom Xia Fei ended up thinking about would more often than not end up miserable.
“Looking at you, I’m afraid that Lionheart Emperor Oro will be made poorer doing a deal with you,” Phantom said.
Xia Fei cracked a sinister smile. “Made poorer? Please, you’re underestimating me. He’ll more likely go broke.”
…
Leaving the boundary, Xia Fei was no longer smiling. Instead, he was serious, his eyes alert as he swept his gaze around the area, reaching out with his keen senses.
This was how he was. He would never go easy on anyone when fleecing somebody, not even letting a being of Oro’s stature off. When it was time for him to be serious, he would focus all his concentration on the matter at hand, not at all negligent in the slightest.
Carefully observing along the ice surface, he noticed that there was not even a single trace of any spiders for several hundreds of miles.
“Something’s not right!” Xia Fei blurted out in a low voice. “There were still tens of thousands of Ice Spiders two days ago, so there’s no way that they could all disappear overnight.”
All of a sudden, Xia Fei vigilantly squatted low and placed a hand on the icy surface as his expression turned grim.
“What happened?” Phantom asked in alarm.
Xia Fei placed a finger over his lips. “Quiet. There are tremors beneath the surface!”