Book 6, Chapter 51: Loyalty
Dying Wish was a Forbidden Bloodline Skill.
Its effect was unique and incredibly powerful. Any vows made under its influence would actualize into reality, and there would be consequences for reneging on one’s word.
This kind of ability was impossible to explain through logic alone.
But the world was vast, and anything was possible.
There would always be certain special powers that were impossible to explain through just logic.
And even the things that could be explained with logic usually had some mysterious components shrouded in mystery as well.
This was just how the world worked. Mysterious powers existed, and they were naturally impossible to understand or analyze.
Dying Wish was one of the things that Su Chen had no way of currently understanding.
Thankfully, he was not the one under the effects of a Dying Wish — Lin Mengze was.
Long ago, he had sent a woman to probe Long Pojun, but she had actually ended up falling for Long Pojun. Even though she was able to find the information that he desired, she had forced Lin Mengze to promise not to harm Long Pojun before she was willing to divulge the information.
Lin Mengze had promised.
As an emperor, he didn’t believe in the principle of emperors not going back on their word. He didn’t bother keeping any of these trifling matters in mind.
After all, he was merely making a small promise. It wasn’t really that significant.
But he was wrong. Surprisingly, this imperial subject of his had been so bold as to even use a Dying Wish on him.
And when Lin Mengze reneged on his word, he had subsequently fallen under its curse.
This curse was similar to a nightmare. It would only manifest in his dreams. Every time Lin Mengze fell asleep, all the people that he had ever killed would come for him, seeking revenge.
At the very beginning, Lin Mengze didn’t care. After all, even in his dreams, he was a powerful Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator. He was able to easily tear those nightmares apart.
However, he gradually began to discover that something was wrong.
Because those nightmares came without end.
Regardless of what he did to kill the nightmares, they would soon reappear and continue to fight with him without fail.
Every night, Lin Mengze would have to battle these creatures. Over time, his consciousness began to be affected, and even his physical condition started declining.
It was only then that Lin Mengze realized that something was terribly wrong. So just the act of fighting in his dreams affected his consciousness.
He was an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator. His sea of knowledge was boundless, he had consolidated Yin and Yang within his body, his consciousness was reinforced by eight Divine Palaces, and his soul was extraordinarily powerful. Even if his physical body was destroyed, his soul would be able to survive and revive by just finding another physical host. The lifespan of 1800 years referred to his consciousness, not his physical body.
But now, his consciousness was being continually damaged. In other words, his lifespan had been greatly shortened.
This greatly shocked Lin Mengze, and he began desperately trying to find a way to free himself from these nightmares.
But no matter what he did, he was unable to resolve the problem. Those nightmares had been planted deep inside his heart and were actually being birthed from he himself. As long as he was alive, the nightmares would continue.
Every night, Lin Mengze was forced to battle against these nightmares. His consciousness slowly eroded away, as was his lifespan, and even his physical strength.
He had already tried avoiding sleep.
At Lin Mengze’s cultivation base, it wasn’t a big deal to never sleep. He could recover his mental energy just by sitting still. For him, the act of sleeping was more of an act of habit, and even a kind of cultivation.
But Lin Mengze found that he was unable to avoid the nightmares even if he avoided falling asleep.
At twilight, the nightmares would infallibly appear, and Lin Mengze would spontaneously grow tired. The timing was incredibly precise. No matter what he did, this would happen, and the more he struggled, the more difficult he found it to extricate himself from it. It would usually take him at least two hours to escape from the nightmarish creatures.
This meant that it was impossible for him to completely stop sleeping. If he was fighting with someone at around that time, then his combat strength would greatly decrease at that precise moment in time.
Lin Mengze felt fearful.
But there was nothing he could do.
The nightmares essentially forced him to fall asleep, and once he started dreaming, he would need to constantly stave off these nightmares. The Dying Wish made it impossible for him to do anything.
He had tried asking the Li Clan for help.
Li Wuyi had personally intervened, attempting to use the Dream Beauty Bloodline to enter the dream realm that Lin Mengze was thrust into every night.
Under the Dream Beauty’s imposing might, the nightmares had hid themselves, unwilling to appear in the open.
However, as soon as Li Wuyi left, the nightmares would return once again.
It was impossible for Lin Mengze to ask Li Wuyi to act as his personal “dream bodyguard,” so he could only continue to withstand the attacks on his own.
As time passed, his consciousness erosion grew more and more severe, and his ability to withstand the pressure began to decrease.
At this moment, he seemed totally fine, but that was only a superficial disguise. If he deactivated his concealment technique, then the black circles around his eyes would become glaringly conspicuous.
An Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator, the ruler of an entire country, had been put into such a sorry state by a bloodline curse.
Lin Mengze had gone through all the possibilities he could think of, eventually coming to the realization that the only solution was Long Pojun yet again.
As long as he killed Long Pojun and absorbed his Blood Fiend’s Bone, he would be able to break into a higher realm, a realm supposedly belonging to the immortals.
Once he became an immortal, he would definitely be able to escape from these nightmares.
And even if that wasn’t possible, he would at the very least extend his lifespan.
It was under these circumstances that the idea to attack the Boundless Sect had taken root.
Because of his failure with the Ravagers, Lin Mengze actually didn’t hold much hope for success.
But against all odds, Long Pojun had actually revealed himself this time.
As he gazed at Long Pojun, Lin Mengze chuckled. “As an imperial subject, you should be willing to die for your king. You have an important treasure in your possession, and yet you refuse to hand it over. I personally came to demand it from you, but you dared to hide from me. This kind of disloyalty borders on treason!”
Long Pojun laughed angrily. “So it’s my fault for not handing my life over to you?”
Lin Mengze pompously replied, “Yes, it is your fault. I am the emperor, and my commands are the commands of the Heavens. You disregarding my orders is disgraceful and rebellious, perhaps even traitorous. I will personally claim your life as the rightful punishment, and to serve as a warning to others.”
After he finished pontificating, he wasted no more time and jabbed his finger at Long Pojun.
A violent blast of wind surged past Long Pojun.
Long Pojun growled as he unleashed a punch. His iron-like fists descended like a mountain upon Lin Mengze.
His Blood Fiend’s Bone had hardened his body to the extreme, causing his skin to be like iron. Even Origin Skills with especially penetrative properties would have a hard time piercing his skin.
However, under Lin Mengze’s finger jab, Long Pojun suddenly felt the hair on his scalp stand on end as a numbness began to permeate through his body. This numbness was not painful, but it felt as if someone was directly reaching into his body.
At the same time, the Blood Fiend’s Bone in Long Pojun’s body suddenly began to pulsate, slowly moving towards the finger’s attractive force.
“Why resist?” Lin Mengze sighed lamentfully. “You and I originate from the same source in the first place. It’s normal for us to become one.”
The Blood Fiend’s Bone, however, ignored him. A violent, bloody aura surged forth from it, spilling out of Long Pojun’s body and gathering around Long Pojun’s fist. This blood-red fist then careened towards Lin Mengze.
Lin Mengze casually stepped to the side, easily dodging Long Pojun’s attack. “Your offensive prowess is far weaker than your defense.”
As he spoke, a boundless pressure began to emanate from his body once again. The clouds began to roll towards Long Pojun as if they had minds of their own.
Long Pojun felt the air around him suddenly constricted, making it hard for him to move.
This skill was somewhat similar to Shi Kaihuang’s Sumeru Void. Strictly speaking, this skill originally belonged to the Lin Clan. Shi Kaihuang had merely appropriated it for his own use.
Lin Mengze’s Sumeru Void was far stronger.
Long Pojun’s physical body was incredibly strong, but Lin Mengze was using a soft approach to counteract Long Pojun’s hard strength.
While Lin Mengze’s finger probed around in Long Pojun’s body, his Sumeru Void kept Long Pojun firmly in place, making it hard for him to move.
Next, Lin Mengze exhaled.
His breath congealed to form a string that wrapped around Long Pojun. This skill was somewhat similar to Su Chen’s Air Tentacles.
Long Pojun roared and grabbed the Air Tentacles, ripping them all in two.
However, Lin Mengze’s Air Tentacles were not rigid but soft and flexible.
These tentacles constantly reformed themselves and continually wrapped themselves around Long Pojun. They were less like ropes and more like strands.
Like the silk strands of a spider’s web.
One strand turned to multiple strands, which turned into a handful of strands.
As more and more of them appeared, they grew stronger and stronger.
Long Pojun tore them apart by the handful, but even more Air Tentacles surrounded him, reaching out to constrict him.
Because Lin Mengze wanted the Blood Fiend’s Bone, he needed to keep Long Pojun alive.
This was why he was using skills that allowed him to capture Long Pojun alive.
Even though Long Pojun was frighteningly powerful, he wasn’t a match for an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator, especially not one with a Desolate Beast Bloodline. Lin Mengze was even stronger than Zhong Zhenjun.
Long Pojun fought as hard as he could, but he was still merely a bug caught in a spider’s web. No matter how hard he struggled, he only wrapped himself in the web tighter.
Lin Mengze’s attacks were incredibly simple. He had chosen to use a soft approach to dull Long Pojun’s hard physical strength.
During this period of time, Lin Mengze made no further moves. He merely stood with his hands behind his back, watching Long Pojun struggle futilely.
Once Long Pojun had been completely wrapped up like a dumpling, Lin Mengze said, “You are like a mantis trying to stop the advance of a war chariot. What’s the point? If you had handed over the Blood Fiend’s Bone obediently, I would have considered you a very loyal subject.”
“To hell with your loyalty!” Long Pojun cursed.
Lin Mengze did not respond. “I am a Son of Heaven, and my way is the way of the Heavens. My actions are righteous and justified without prejudice.”
As he spoke, he reached out to take Long Pojun away.
At that moment, a harsh red light suddenly began to glow from Long Pojun’s body. The Blood Fiend’s Bone appeared as if it was about to break free from the control of these Air Tentacles.
Lin Mengze frowned. “So it’s still able to resist, even after all that.”
He clawed out, this time using seventy percent of his strength. His plan was to disable Long Pojun and capture him once and for all.
At that moment, however, Lin Mengze’s expression suddenly shifted. “Not good!”
He temporarily gave up on Long Pojun and shot forward, his figure turning into a streak of light.
A palm narrowly whizzed past Lin Mengze’s back, leaving behind an afterimage.
Lin Mengze reappeared off in the distance, and he turned around with an expression full of rage. “Lin Zuiliu?”
“Hahahaha! Brat, we meet again,” Lin Zuiliu guffawed. At the same time, Long Pojun roared and tore himself free from his fetters, once again regaining his mobility.
“Pu!” Lin Mengze spat out some blood.
Even though Lin Zuiliu’s attack hadn’t directly landed, his palm energy had still infiltrated Lin Mengze’s body, affecting him quite significantly.
“You…… tricked me?” Lin Mengze accused as he viciously glared at Long Pojun.
If it weren’t for the fact that Long Pojun had purposefully allowed Lin Mengze to try and capture him, occupying all of his attention, then Lin Zuiliu wouldn’t have been able to launch an ambush so easily.
Long Pojun cracked his neck. “Don’t you want to escape from the suffering that her Dying Wish cursed upon you? If you die, then you won’t have to worry about it ever again.”