Chapter 334 – Mantis Stalks the Cicada 1
Li Xingyun gathered over five hundred people. Sixteen of them were Heavenly Axis Realms, and thirty-six were Heavenly Star Realms. This was all in order to help Nie Li obtain that medium grade Deity’s Lake. You could say that Li Xingyun was doing his very best.
Nie Li said, “Brother Li, please tell your brothers that if we succeed, those who’ve accompanied us will earn two hundred spiritual stones. If someone dies, a Heavenly Fate Realm will receive an extra one hundred as compensation, a Heavenly Star Realm will receive two hundred, and a Heavenly Axis Realm will receive five hundred! I will be the one to pay them!”
Li Xingyun turned to Nie Li in shock as he thought about it. Right now, Nie Li was a moneybag, so of course he’d be generous about it. “In that case, I’ll thank you on behalf of my brothers!”
“That’s what I should be doing.” Nie Li lightly smiled.
Li Xingyun brought so many brothers to risk their lives in the outside world. Although all these experts willingly heeded Li Xingyun, there was certain to be complaints in their hearts if they weren’t given any form of compensation, even if they didn’t voice them aloud. Nie Li was helping Li Xingyun resolve the issue.
Li Xingyun felt that his interactions with Nie Li were just too good for comfort.
When everyone heard Nie Li’s announcement, they were extremely excited. Once they succeed, the reward would be extremely generous.
The group gradually moved deeper into the outside world.
As Nie Li and the group flew on, a different group of people followed them from a distance.
Their leader was Gu Heng, with a total of seven hundred people in tow. Quite a few of them were Heavenly Axis Realm and Heavenly Star Realm experts.
The Heavenly Axis Realm experts that Gu Heng sent to scout had returned.
Gu Heng looked at the Heavenly Axis Realm expert and asked, “Have you investigated their intentions?”
“Report, Boss Gu Heng, I’ve used the Sound Gathering technique to eavesdrop on their conversations. It seems that they’ve discovered a medium grade Deity’s Lake deep in the outside world and are preparing to take it down,” the Heavenly Axis Realm immediately reported.
A medium grade Deity’s Lake?
Gu Heng’s eyes lit up at the Heavenly Axis Realm expert’s report. A trace of smile smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “I never expected them to discover a medium grade Deity’s Lake! There’ll definitely be lots of Dragon Bloodline demon beasts guarding it! Li Xingyun can be the mantis stalking the cicada while we’re the siskin behind. 2 We’ll wait until they’ve taken down that medium grade Deity’s Lake, then we’ll take action and snatch it from them. Let them suffer a waste of effort!”
Hearing this, Gu Heng’s men became excited.
A medium grade Deity’s Lake has extraordinary value!
“Boss Gu Heng, Li Xingyun’s forces aren’t small at all. In fact, they’re comparable to ours. If we snatch their Deity’s Lake, wouldn’t it invite their vengeance?” one of his underlings voiced his worries.
“Fool! With that medium grade Deity’s Lake on our side, is there anything to fear from them? When we take that Deity’s Lake from them, there’ll certainly be a huge quantity of spiritual stones gathered there. At least tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or even millions of spiritual stones. There’ll still be lots of spiritual stone essences as well. With all those spiritual stones, we can recruit some experts to keep watch over that medium grade Deity’s Lake. After that, what could Li Xingyun possibly do to us?” Gu Heng’s brows twitched. Although Li Xingyun’s forces really weren’t small, Gu Heng had been the first-in-line successor to the Gu Clan for so many years. How could his force be inferior? How could he fear Li Xingyun?
Who asked him to protect Nie Li anyways?
Nie Li and Gu Bei, the two of them must die!
Gu Heng led his men after Nie Li and Li Xingyun.
Nie Li and Li Xingyun’s group flew on for a while before one of Li Xingyun’s underlings quickly flew to the front with a report.
“Boss Xingyun, we’re being followed!” the underling whispered in a soft voice.
“Followed? Who is it?” Li Xingyun asked with his brows frowned.
“We’re still unsure. There seems to be six to seven hundred people. After sensing them, I immediately came up to report and didn’t dare alert our enemy!”
“Well done.” Li Xingyun nodded as he exchanged looks with Nie Li.
Although they didn’t know who the other party was, their intentions were easy to guess. Most likely, the intel about the medium grade Deity’s Lake had been leaked. Someone was trying to pluck their peaches while their backs were turned!
“What are we going to do next? Since we’re already here, we can’t hide the medium grade Deity’s Lake anymore.” said Li Xingyun. Right now, it was too late to retreat.
The enemy would definitely find the location of the medium grade Deity’s Lake!
After pondering for a moment, Nie Li said, “There’s no reason to rush. Since our motive isn’t to occupy that medium grade Deity’s Lake, but to remove the Deity Root. The other party definitely won’t know our motive. They’ll think we’re struggling with the guardian of the Deity’s Lake. Since we’re on guard, they get won’t pull one over us!”
Indeed, their aim wasn’t to win the medium grade Deity’s Lake, but to remove its Deity Root. That was something that the other party definitely wouldn’t think of!
Li Xingyun pondered for a brief moment, then and his eyes lit up with a sudden idea. If they wanted to follow, then so be it! He, Li Xingyun, wasn’t someone who feared others!
Their group advanced further in the outside world. Along the way, they carefully hid from the Dragon Bloodline demon beasts that would occasionally streak over the sky.
A majestic Deity’s Lake appeared in front of them at a distance. The size of this Deity’s Lake was roughly three times that of the Ling Jade Deity’s Lake. This floating mountain had a densely packed forest with many scarlet winged snakes entrenched in it. Some of these demon spirits were roughly a dozen metres long, while others were only a few metres.
At the mountain’s summit sat a gigantic Infernal Lightning Winged Snake that was dozens of metres in size. Its scales were a dazzling scarlet luster.
“Those are Infernal Lightning Winged Snakes. They’re extremely irritable and they’re extremely territorial. If any living creature, other than their own, approaches, they’ll take the initiative to attack.” Li Xingyun continued, “One of the Infernal Lightning Winged Snakes is at Dao of the Dragon Realm. Its extremely strong and commands over thirty Heavenly Axis Realms.”
Nie Li looked into the distance and said, “We’ll go in as originally planned. Send some Heavenly Axis Realm experts to lure them from the west side. They only need to lure, no need for a hard battle. After that, take a small group and escort me in!”
“Alright, leave it to me,” Li Xingyun said as he nodded.
As Li Xingyun and his group closed in on the Deity’s Lake, Gu Heng’s men slowly enveloped them. However, they were just watching from afar and carefully concealing themselves. They didn’t plan to move just yet.
Gu Heng’s heart was filled with excitement as he looked at the medium grade Deity’s Lake from a distance. After all, all the lakes that they’d occupied in the past were low grade Deity’s Lakes. A medium grade Deity’s Lake was extremely hard to obtain. Who knew how old this Deity’s Lake was? Who knew how many years it’d gone unharvested?
After Li Xingyun and his group finished making preparations, they began taking action.
Gu Heng and his men waited for a long time; however, there weren’t any movement in the distance.
“What are they doing?”
“No idea. It doesn’t look like they’re trying to take down that medium grade Deity’s Lake!’
Gu Heng couldn’t understand Li Xingyun’s actions anymore. They weren’t intending to attack it from the front. He suddenly thought of a possibility. Could it be that they weren’t interested in taking down the Deity’s Lake, but instead only wanted to stealing the accumulated spiritual stones?
Gu Heng furrowed his brows. If that was the case, then there was nothing in it for him!
When Li Xingyun and his group successfully removed the spiritual stones, they’d place it into their interspatial rings. Even though Gu Heng had so many people on his side, trying to stop Li Xingyun would still be difficult.
“No. We’ll follow up and obstruct them in their retreat!” Gu Heng said solemnly after some thinking.
Under Gu Heng’s lead, the group slowly approached the medium grade Deity’s Lake.
Li Xingyun and Nie Li stood beside the lake and exchanged glances with light smiles.
“Let’s begin!” said Nie Li.
On the west side of the Deity’s Lake, six of Li Xingyun’s Heavenly Axis Realm experts charged at the Deity’s Lake and started their attacks.
Those six Heavenly Axis Realm experts killed several low grade Infernal Lightning Winged Snakes with their strength, causing a disturbance among the demon spirits as those demon spirits charged at them.
A group of Infernal Lightning Winged Snakes were attracted. Not long after, another group of six Heavenly Axis Realm experts charged into the Deity’s Lake, attracting the attention of another batch of Infernal Lightning Winged Snakes.
Tssss! Tssss!
The Infernal Lightning Winged Snake Emperor that on the summit swept an eye over the area. Those few Heavenly Axis Realm experts weren’t enough to make it feel threatened. However, it still remained on alert.
Demon beasts and humans alike wanted to snatch this Deity’s Lake from it. Who knew if there might be some expert concealed in the area!
If these humans thought that it’d fall for their trick so easily, then they’ve seriously underestimated its intelligence!
On the east side of the Deity’s Lake, Nie Li and Li Xingyun exchanged glances. If that Dao of the Dragon Realm Infernal Lightning Winged Snake Emperor didn’t leave, it’d be hard for them to reach the heart of the Deity’s Lake!
However, they still patiently waited for their chance. This was just the beginning of their plan!
1. Pursuing a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger behind.
2. The mantis preys on the cicada while the siskin preys on the mantis. While Li Xingyun and his group are after the Deity’s Lake, Gu Heng’s men will be waiting for them from behind.