Book 5 Chapter 25 – Dying

"Are you sure about this?" Eyeglasses and Sai Gao exchanged a glance as Li Yiming walked toward the Bai Ze statue outside of the city gates.

"It should work. At this point, it would be near impossible to break it due to how stable it is, but if we disrupt its balance, the formation should collapse. After that, we just need to leave the hard work to the three other beasts who should naturally be resisting the formation." Sai Gao said as he stared at Li Yiming

"You’ve tried something like this before?" Eyeglasses was not fully convinced.

"I don’t see any problems with it. Bai Ze is Li Yiming’s innate summon, meaning that they share the same soul. Using my technique, Li Yiming should be able to call upon Bai Ze’s consciousness and establish some kind of link with her, which will force the formation to direct its energy toward him and break its entire balance." Sai Gao glanced furtively toward the South. ’Teng She... just wait a bit longer, I’ll get you out of here soon. I hope Li Yiming will be able to last...’

"I hope you’re right about this." Eyeglasses glanced at Li Yiming again, with an ominous feeling about the plan.

Li Yiming slowly approached Bai Ze’s statue, gradually softening his stare. ’Aren’t you one to cause trouble...’ His palm lit up with a weak, white glow; this was the technique that Sai Gao had just taught him, and he knew from the moment he touched the statue that he had a genuine chance of awakening Bai Ze.

Although Bai Ze was still dormant, Li Yiming could feel her presence. As he closed his eyes, he felt as if he was touching Bai Ze, only that she was simply asleep.

’Oh?" Li Yiming suddenly felt an influx of energy from his palm. It was something unlike Li Yiming had ever felt before, and it brought vitality and strength to his limbs. ’So this is life energy?’

Li Yiming clenched his fists as rays of blue glow ran down his veins. His hair was starting to grow at a visible speed on his bald head.. However, the sense of comfort was short-lived. The next moment, Li Yiming felt an unstoppable flow of energy gushing toward his whole body, just like a dam being broken down.

"Ugh!" Li Yiming spat out a mouthful of blood. It was nearly impossible for him to handle what was destined for an entire city.

"Yiming!" Eyeglasses yelled in surprise and rushed to his direction.

"You can’t go right now." Sai Go pulled Eyeglasses back.

Li Yiming struggled to raise his hand just to signal that he was all right. He could now feel the connection between himself and the formation, as well as the changes that occured within it.

’It’s working...’ Li Yiming gritted his teeth, held his breath, and embraced himself for the blow that was soon to come.

Above Lianyun City, a violent gust of wind suddenly materialized. Its intensity slowly reshaped the clouds that floated peacefully above the city.

"It’s begun..." Sai Gao looked up and clenched his fists.

"Yiming..." Eyeglasses stared anxiously at Li Yiming, who was clearly in pain. He could also feel the subtle changes happening around the city at that very moment.

Li Yiming’s limbs were shaking violently by now. His veins grew more and more visible by the minute, and his newly grown hair swayed in the wind. However, his mind was sharper and clearer than ever. Despite having to endure excruciating pain, Li Yiming felt more excited than anything. He could feel the effectiveness of Sai Gao’s plan, as the changes in the city’s formation became apparent. More importantly that that, he could also feel himself become stronger, and he knew that it would not be long before he could reach level six with his Heavenly vein.

Liu Meng laid Lin Lu on Xu Yurong’s wooden bed. She looked at Shen Jianming, who was busy preparing water, unsure of what to say, but her attention was soon attracted by the anomaly in the sky. ’... The elements are disturbed, what’s going on?’

"Come on...." Sai Gao held onto Eyeglasses’ arm tightly. Although his eyes remained fixed on Li Yiming, his senses were completely directed to the south of the city.

"We did it!" Sai Gao suddenly yelled out and smashed the stone wall with his fist. The entire structure trembled, and fissures appeared in the closest segment of wall.

Right as Sai Gao spoke, three beams of light shot up into the sky from the South, the West, and the North. A low roar rung in the heads of every resident of the city.

"The guardians of the city?"

"What happened?"

"Surely something big, since the spirits has been awakened..."

"Quick, we need to get back home..."

Everyone in the city ran toward their home instantly.

Liu Meng frowned as she looked at the busy street empty itself in a matter of seconds, without any kind of panic or accident, right after the three pillars of light appeared in the sky. ’This kind of anomaly, and yet they seem to not be scared at all?’

"Someone’s breaking the formation?" Li Huaibei looked at the sky with a grave countenance.

"It shouldn’t be enough to destroy the formation but... who is it? Li Yiming?" Stargaze had a deep frown as she stood in front of the turtle statue outside of the Western Gate.

Eyeglasses turned back in surprise, not at the three columns of light, but at the golden wok nxt to Bai Ze. It suddenly exploded with golden light, and the oppressive feeling it brought made Eyeglasses’ heart tighten. The three pillars of light merged together in the sky and descended on the Eastern gate like a lightning bolt.

"What?" Sai Gao’s eyes widened.

"What is it?" Eyeglasses asked with a nervous voice.

"That’s... that’s impossible! Teng She wouldn’t act like this..." Sai Gao mumbled as he stared at the incoming ray of light. It was as if he had lost his soul.

"What are you talking about?" Eyeglasses knew that something was wrong. He grabbed Sai Gao by his collar and pressed on.

"The five elements have been disturbed, and the formation is unstable, but the three beasts, they have not chosen to break out... they..." Sai Gao said with a panicked voice.

"They’re protecting the formation..." Eyeglasses pushed Sai Gao away. "Yiming! Come back!"

However, it was already too late. The waterfall of blue light had already reached Bai Ze’s statue.

Li Yiming spat out another mouthful of blood and fell on his knees, but he kept his right hand on Bai Ze’s statue.

In fact, Li Yiming was the first to have noticed the changes within the formation, as well as the threat of the light that came from the three other sides of the city. But he held onto his effort precisely because of that. He could feel Bai Ze’s seal weakening enough to be ruptured soon, and, more than anything, the strengthening of his vein made him reluctant to let it go. Liu Meng’s sacrifice to save him and his battle with Bing Shuai had fueled his thirst for power more than ever.

The blue light had now covered him entirely, and Li Yiming could feel life energy fill up every corner of his body. However, he soon reached his limit; he had reached the completion of level five in a second. Li Yiming had made the mistake of overestimating his capabilities, and now, vitality was quickly becoming too much. The energy sought a place to stay, and since there was no more space left inside of Li Yiming, it was going to find a way out by itself.

The flesh on Li Yiming’s upper body splintered, starting with his shoulders, and then his abdomen. Instead of a crimson, bloody mist that one would have expected, it was an emerald gas came out of his wounds.

"Yiming!" Eyeglasses tried to rush to aid his friend, but the wind that was created from the burst of energy prevented him to getting any closer.

"Ah...!" Life energy gushed out of Li Yiming. Not only did it stop the accumulation of energy inside of his body, but it also pulled what little energy Li Yiming initially had inside of him. Li Yiming’s long hair slowly turned white, and he experienced the most indescribable pain of his life all while having his soul sucked out of him.

Even though he was going through all of this suffering, Li Yiming still kept his hand glued to Bai Ze’s statue, as he was certain that he was that close to breaking the seal.