Chapter 1081: Chapter 43: Fateful Encounter
Trembling Body is similar to True God Dominant Body; both are Limit Breakthrough Level abilities that raise the upper limit of physical attributes when taking damage. However, aside from the limit-breaking effect, the combat power of True God Dominant Body is far stronger than Trembling Body, and it doesn’t have the restriction of only being able to Absorb energy attacks.
Trembling Body is a skill on a Vermilion Bird War God. Although its effect isn’t strong, as a Limit Breakthrough Level ability that can also serve as both a defense skill and a recovery skill, its overall performance is quite impressive.
When the Demigod was fusing skills, the Demigod Nurturing Vessel augmented this skill onto the Demigod, working hand in hand with True God Dominant Body, which actually fits the Demigod’s Skill System combo quite well.
Facing the Energy Light Blade Fang Bai swung out, the Demigod neither dodged nor avoided it, taking the move head-on. The instant the Energy Light Blade landed on his body surface, it was decomposed and absorbed by Trembling Body, raising his physical attribute upper limit by a pitiful 0.025 points... that part wasn’t worth mentioning; however, the effect of restoring injuries undoubtedly made the Demigod, who had been backlashed by Origin Energy, feel much better.
Inside his body, the energy that had already Withered surged out again. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for the Demigod to use for a while. What delighted him even more was that his stamina was continuously recovering.
As long as his stamina could recover to a certain level, with the Demigod’s physical attributes, even without using Active Skills, it would be more than enough to take care of Fang Bai in front of him.
As the dust gradually drifted down, the Demigod’s figure once again appeared in Fang Bai’s line of sight.
"Kuang... Kuangliu..."
The twin crescent blades halberd that had been raised high slowly drooped down. Looking at the familiar face in front of him, Fang Bai’s expression instantly turned dazed, and when he heard Fang Bai’s voice, the Demigod’s breathing paused, then he reached up and touched his cheek.
The mask on his face had already been ground to powder by the attack just now.
Still, this could be considered an unintended willow planted that grew into shade... he had almost forgotten the friendship he’d once shared with Fang Bai.
The Demigod’s mind flashed with inspiration, and he rapidly altered the battle plan he’d just set—originally he was going to intercept Fang Bai, but once this face was revealed, it seemed there might be a better solution...
So he slowly relaxed his tightly clenched fist and gave his brother-in-law a gentle smile.
"Fang Bai, long time no see..."
...
Old friends reunited—no matter how you look at it, it should be something to be happy about. Yet right now, Fang Bai only felt a bitter taste filling his mouth, his head spinning.
A dead man was once again standing in front of him, and on top of that were their opposing positions, their tangled grudges, love and hate intertwined. In this moment, Fang Bai even forgot his original purpose in coming out here—to find Lin Haifeng, and the new objective he’d set after seeing the Demigod—to beat him to death.
Unconsciously lowering the Weapon in his hand, Fang Bai watched the Demigod walk toward him without any defenses, yet couldn’t muster the slightest thought of attacking.
He only asked in a trembling voice, "How is it possible that you’re still alive..."
"Oh, you mean that? That’s a long story."
In this back-and-forth, the Demigod had already walked to within ten meters of Fang Bai—a rather dangerous distance. Then the Demigod spoke in a slow, drawn-out tone.
"The Demigod Project, you know about it?"
Fang Bai nodded.
"Lin Haifeng put my brain into the Demigod Nurturing Vessel, using it as a template to cultivate the current me. My memories, personality, basic cognition are all exactly the same as when I was alive. Mm, from a certain angle, the current Demigod should be considered a duplicant of the former Kuangliu—of course, the kind without a Soul."
The Demigod spoke lightly, but in Fang Bai’s ears, his tone was filled with a certain sorrow—dead men not allowed to rest in peace. Whether Lin Haifeng did this out of longing for his son or an urgent desire to strengthen the Yanjing Assembly Site’s military power, such actions in Fang Bai’s eyes could only be described as utterly shameless!
The living always bear more pressure than the dead, and face far greater cataclysms...
"But from your point of view, this probably doesn’t matter, right? Does it? Just like my dear sister, who never considered duplicants to be people."
The Demigod abruptly shifted his tone, the lingering gentleness gradually turning urgent.
"I heard I’ve got another duplicant—yeah, the one my sister poisoned to death. I remember you were there, right? You watched with your own eyes as your good big brother bled from all seven orifices and died from poison. What were you feeling back then?"
Fang Bai fell completely silent...
There were some things that family had done that wronged Kuangliu.
"But I really have to thank you. About my son—mm, he’s really been in your care all this time."
Fang Bai and Lin Que meeting every night on the Yanjing inner city zone’s walls was a tacit secret. Aside from Lin Tianxue, who no one knew what she kept so busy with every day, Lin Haifeng, Fran, and the Demigod were all perfectly clear about this.
"No need to thank me..."
Fang Bai’s lips twitched. After a long moment, he finally squeezed out this response that barely counted as an answer—he truly didn’t know what kind of expression he should use to face the current Lin Kuangliu.
Fortunately, in the next second, he no longer had to struggle with this question.
The ground under Fang Bai’s feet suddenly shuddered, then instantly turned into a swamp of mud. The solid earth became soft, runny mire, as though some unknown pulling force existed within, and in the blink of an eye, Fang Bai’s feet were firmly trapped. Then, the Demigod smiled and uttered four words to Fang Bai...
"Enemy of the Earth..."
In that instant, with Fang Bai at the center, within a ten-meter radius the ground suddenly trembled. Clods of dirt and Stone seemed to break free from the Earth’s nucleus’s gravity and floated up, then swiftly covered Fang Bai’s body.
The mud coiled and condensed over Fang Bai’s body, and in just a brief moment, it had completely bound and restrained him!
"Kuangliu, what are you doing?"
The Demigod’s sudden attack still didn’t pull Fang Bai out of the complicated emotions of this old-friend reunion. He only struggled with all his might, but the mud wound tighter and tighter. Only when there was just a face left exposed did the Demigod finally breathe a sigh of relief, then slowly walk up to Fang Bai.
"Looks like you’ve forgotten everything I taught you. On the battlefield, never let personal feelings get in the way. Just look at the state you’re in now. You seem to have forgotten that I betrayed Yanjing, betrayed Lin Haifeng, and, mm, even made your wife take the fall for me."
The Demigod, smiling from ear to ear, patted the mud prison that held Fang Bai, but was only met with Fang Bai’s complicated expression. The Demigod stared intently at Fang Bai’s face, then finally let out a sigh.
"No resentment, no anger at being played. Fang Bai, how should I put this... is it that you value bonds too much, too idealistic, or that I’ve changed too much..."
"You’re just lost, Kuangliu. Come back. Take off the mask, come back to us. Can’t we go back to how things were before?"
Even though he’d already been bound, Fang Bai still didn’t realize it, and continued speaking like some kind of life mentor, trying to persuade the Demigod. Until the Demigod gently shook his head, turned back to look at Fang Bai, and an indescribable light suddenly appeared in his eyes.
"Fang Bai, come with me. I’ll take you to the peak, to see a view you’ll never see otherwise."
