The hunched old man was the real wolf in sheep's clothing. Undoubtedly, he was the one who had silently prompted the second Dao elder to launch that first spear strike.
But as for Mo Lingtian... well, even the Empyrean was destined to become his chess piece.
For now, however, that destiny was far-fetched. If he died in this god-forsaken ocean, he'd just be another unfortunate, revenge-driven immortal.
Mo Lingtian stood perfectly still levitated in the sky. His simple dark robes fluttered gently against the turbulent sea breeze, a stark contrast to the devastating ruins of the ocean around him. He kept one hand casually behind his back, his posture entirely relaxed, exuding a terrifying calmness that did not match his Vessel Cleansing cultivation base.
"What a clever scheme," Mo Lingtian said, looking up at the hunched elder. "After you got rid of me, what were you planning to do with your companion?" he added with a light laugh, lifting a finger to point at the second Dao Realm elder who still controlled the thousands of energy-shaped spears.
The spear-wielding expert immediately backed off by several meters. He was a middle-aged man wearing azure Daoist robes embroidered with silver lines, but right now, his face was pale and slick with cold sweat. He looked at both Mo Lingtian and the hunched old man with intense wariness, watching them like a cornered panther.
The thousands of spears behind him, shaped from a colorless, shifting energy, vibrated continuously. They hummed with a sharp, metallic sound that slightly distorted the light and space around them, ready to skewer anything in their path.
Mo Lingtian simply smiled. The seed of discord was planted; all he needed to do was push the pieces a little further to buy enough time for another fusion of his two cores.
Deep within his sea of consciousness, the overbearing energy of his late-stage Devilish core was violently grinding against the newly formed power of his Vessel Cleansing Demon core. It was an unstable, agonizing process. Faint veins bulged on his neck beneath his collar, but his face remained completely indifferent as he forcefully suppressed the rampaging energy. He had to clear this mess quickly before a stronger foe stepped in. This was the outer lands of the Demon Realm, after all. Countless experts roamed this region.
"Fellow Daoist, have you forgotten how cunning he is? He is full of tricks but has no real power, at least not now. He is just trying to buy time, either for this dragon beast to finish its tribulation or for whatever artifact he wields to reload!" the hunched old man argued, stepping closer to his ally.
His tattered, oversized grey robes swayed heavily as he moved in the air. His bony, pale fingers tightly gripped a staff made of twisted, blackened wood.
But the spear-wielder only retreated further. Mo Lingtian's words had firmly taken root in his mind.
He wasn't a fool. The more the hunched schemer desperately tried to woo him, the more suspicious his past actions became. Every suggestion, every speculation that led them to attack Mo Lingtian had come indirectly from this old man. It was obvious Mo Lingtian was trying to divide them, but the trap only worked because the boy was telling the truth.
"Fellow Daoist, you're walking right into his trap! Strike now!" the hunched elder yelled, striking the solidified air beneath him with his blackened staff, sending visible shockwaves rippling through the sky.
But the spear-wielder only backed away, his eyes darting frantically between Mo Lingtian and his supposed ally, no longer trusting either of them.
"Do you think he doesn't know?" Mo Lingtian said emphatically, his dark green eyes locking onto the azure-robed elder. "He knows I'm sowing discord, and he knows I am currently just a cultivator at the Vessel Cleansing stage. But a weak man pretending to be strong shouldn't be as feared as a strong man pretending to be weak."
Those words shattered the final fragment of trust the early-stage Dao elder had left for his companion.
Almost immediately, the thousands of spears behind him angled their lethal edges toward the hunched old man. The energy waves radiating from the weapons cut across the sky.
The spectating cultivators observing the standoff hastily retreated to dodge the violent currents from the rattling spears, their robes whipping wildly in the turbulent wind.
How did this kid think of all this? they thought, stunned as they watched the killing intent entirely shift from Mo Lingtian to the two Dao Realm experts.
Gritting his teeth in anger, the spear-wielder slowly advanced his weapons toward the old schemer. "Old geezer, I was just seconds away from dying by your hands," he spat, menacingly locking eyes with him. The silver clouds on his azure robes seemed to flash with his rising aura.
The hunched old man sighed. There was no talking his way out of this. Mo Lingtian had forced him into a corner: show sincerity and sign a blood pact, or reveal his trump card and kill everyone himself.
Sharing the spoils was out of the question. He had both the wits and the power to take it all. But fighting a desperate foe in the same realm with Mo Lingtian still watching from the sidelines was risky. And worse, if he sustained injuries, the pack of cultivators behind him would tear him apart the second they caught the scent of blood.
He had no choice. He had to instantly slaughter everyone using a forbidden spell to temporarily boost his power to the Great Perfection stage, even at the cost of massive damage to his meridians. Hopefully, the dragon's body would provide more than enough compensation for his loss.
"So you have finally forced us onto your chessboard, haven't you?" the hunched old man said, closing his deeply sunken eyes. "To think you'd be this adept at turning the tables... truly eye-opening."
Suddenly, the energy around the old man grew immensely violent and disturbing. His hunched posture slowly straightened, his joints popping loudly. His tattered grey robes billowed out as if filled by a foul wind. The blackened staff in his hand glowed with a deep reddish light, emitting horrifying screams that directly attacked the mind.
Everyone in the vicinity clutched their heads as blood flowed freely from their ears, noses, and eyes. Several weaker cultivators lost consciousness entirely, plummeting from the sky and splashing into the ocean below. Only the spear-wielding elder and Mo Lingtian who for some reason possessed his own formidable soul-based defenses managed to block the piercing noise.
"At the end of the day, only absolute power can outsmart the grandest plot," the old man's voice boomed with a sigh, losing its raspy tone.
Behind him, his Dao intent manifested. The sky above him immediately darkened as the vague shape of a colossal skull forged from reddish, solid metallic energy materialized. The metal was pitted with ancient battle scars, and a corrosive dark red fire burned within its empty eye sockets. When the massive, rusted jaw of the skull opened, a terrifying, mind-wrenching, and soul-tearing shockwave blasted outward.
"The Great Perfection stage," the early-stage Dao elder whispered. He watched the old schemer levitate higher into the sky with the screaming metallic skull looming behind him.
"Tell me you have a backup plan now that you've pushed him into a corner," the spear-wielder asked Mo Lingtian nervously, his hands trembling slightly as he desperately steadied his thousands of energy spears.
Mo Lingtian just smiled, remaining perfectly composed on the sky.
"It is up to you if we can survive this time," he replied.