1580 Cid Raleigh

Bwahahahaha!

Xia Fan couldn’t help but laugh at the dark figure’s words. “I say, do you actually understand the Skywings? My clan has no interest in being kings or lords. They love freedom, and when they’re not fighting, they’re busy with their own matters. Politics, power, and all those other useless things are something they’ve never cared about.

“Do you know about our Grand Ancestor, Xia Gucheng? His venerable self is a wood artisan, and a pretty good one. From what I hear, the furniture he makes is exquisite and always fetches huge prices at auction.

“You say you’re going to look over the world as lords with these people? You would have them laughing so hard their teeth would fall out!”

As Xia Fan said all that, he actually felt a little helpless. That was because he had only heard about his father, Xia Gucheng, and Xia Laoshi from Xia Geng and Xia Yu. He himself had never met those legendary figures. He could only imagine what sort of attitude these eccentric people held toward life!

The dark figure chuckled. “I know everything that you’ve said, but destiny is powerful because it cannot be reversed. You were all born with the bloodline of Demon King Monsoon, who actually should have died in the last demon civil war. But he survived, left the Lower Realm, and went to an unknown universe, where he lived on and reproduced.

“You are the seeds sowed by Demon King Monsoon. When the seeds sprout, they are like ordinary weeds, appearing no different from other plants, but as time passes, the weeds will grow into mighty trees. When you look again, you will discover that the mighty tree of the Skywings is identical to that of their ancestor, the King of Resolve and Speed!

“Alright, enough. I didn’t come to find you today to discuss philosophy. Although I can control time, I can’t keep time frozen forever. Right now, you need to make a choice of whether you want to merge with me or not.”

Xia Fan shivered in revulsion. “No interest, no interest at all. If the goddess Nikai wanted to merge with me, I might have considered it, but you? Stand a little farther away. I’m a straight male, and my sexual preferences are very normal.”

It seemed like some other strange things had gotten in…

The dark figure awkwardly put a hand on his head, not expecting so many random things to be in Xia Fan’s head. Ever since Xia Fan had returned to the Skywings, something in his personality seemed to have been unleashed, and he had become livelier. That was probably the effect of his relatives’ love for freedom and a life without restrictions. Back in Ashen Moon, Xia Fan’s personality had been suppressed by a heavy burden.

“It’s not what you think,” the dark figure said in frustration. “What I mean by merging bodies is that I will temporarily loan you my power. When the battle ends, I will take it back.”

“You think Traveling Buddha and I are no match for the demonic dragon?” Xia Fan asked.

“That’s the Second Son of the Flame Soul. Killing it requires the power of a Demon Slayer. Even if you can severely damage his physical body, you can’t exterminate his soul. Demon Slayers are so-called because they eternally annihilate both the body and soul. You and Traveling Buddha might have infinite potential, but your present selves can’t wipe away souls yet.

“And if you can’t wipe away the soul of the Second Son, he will be reborn in the flames again and again, becoming a nightmare that will haunt you until you die.”

Xia Fan fell silent. His teacher Turan had explained to him once that the demons had broken through the barrier of the Law of Life, gaining eternal lives. The problem of destroying eternal beings was the biggest problem the Demon Subduer Army had faced since ancient times.

“Why do you want to help me?” Xia Fan asked.

The dark figure heaved a sigh. “Because it would be a great pity if you were to die. As I just said, you are essentially different from the rest of your clan. For countless epochs, the Skywings have always inherited the Bloodline of Speed, flying across the galaxy.

“But you are the first genetic aberration in Skywing history. To be blunt, even if I wanted to merge with your father’s body, I wouldn’t be able to do so. That is because his Bloodline power is too strong. If I attach to your father, I’ll be annihilated by his powerful genes.

“But I’m weaker, so I’m easier to bully,” Xia Fan grumbled.

“If that’s how you want to put it, I can’t do anything about it. But I prefer to frame it as you being more well-rounded. Your family possesses peerless speed, and has used that speed to dominate the Great Chiliocosm. But you will clearly never be able to reach light speed. However, you can use your ability to dabble in many aspects to open up your own world.”

Xia Fan said sternly, “Everything has a price. What is the price for you lending me your power?”

“One day in the future, I will need you to do something for me, and you cannot refuse,” the dark figure said solemnly.

Xia Fan shook his head. “Do you think I’m stupid? If you had me kill my family, I wouldn’t be able to refuse, right? Impossible. I can’t accept that condition!”

“What I will ask you to do in the future has nothing to do with your family or your friends. I can guarantee that. I can also guarantee that it will be nothing that goes against your character or principles. But it could put your life in danger. For example, I might have you go and kill some extremely terrifying person, and you might not be confident in beating him!”

Xia Fan sighed. “So you’re saying that the more I get, the more I have to pay. If you help me, I might have to use my life to fight for your sake in the future.”

“Precisely!”

“Can I think about it a little?”

“You can, but I’m afraid that you don’t have much time.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The reason is simple. The Second Son of the Flame Soul is after you. Look at how he moved past the three talents of Subduing Demon City and aimed straight for you. It definitely isn’t because of Traveling Buddha, nor could it be because of Le Jiajia or Jiang Zhibei, right? The real reason is you. The ability you’ve Awakened can threaten the demons. The Second Son has decided to eliminate you no matter the cost. You are in grave peril!”

“The battle hasn’t started. Traveling Buddha and I aren’t guaranteed to lose.” Xia Fan raised his head, resolve appearing on his face. The golden pair had never once lost, and Xia Fan felt like they wouldn’t lose today, either!

The dark figure shrugged. “You can try. The reinforcements from Subduing Demon City will arrive in fifteen minutes. If you can’t last that long, you can consider summoning me for help. This deal is very fair. If you’re not willing to deal, I won’t force you.”

As the voice faded into the distance, Xia Fan saw that time was beginning to flow again. Traveling Buddha was lunging at the demon dragon, and the demon dragon was slowly opening his mouth.

“Wait. How am I supposed to summon you?!” Xia Fan shouted without thinking.

“Call my name in your mind: Cid Raleigh!”

Cid Raleigh…

The voice disappeared, and the world in front of Xia Fan suddenly returned to normal. Nobody knew that Xia Fan had had a destined encounter in that brief period of time. That fellow who had kidnapped him twenty years ago and taken him into the Great Chiliocosm, making him into a wandering orphan, had reappeared and offered Xia Fan a new contract!

Now, with the contract in hand, all Xia Fan needed to do was nod.

What was he doing? This was no time to be lost in thought!

Xia Fan shook his head vigorously. At this moment, Traveling Buddha had leapt forward while glowing with golden Light, lunging at the savage demon dragon. All Xia Fan could do was carry out his duty as a brother and work together with Traveling Buddha to stop the Second Son of the Flame Soul.

“Traveling Buddha!” Xia Fan shouted.

“I’m here!”

“Let’s kill him together!”

“Understood!”

The flame of conviction was a fire that could never be suppressed. Traveling Buddha threw his head back and howled. Although Xia Fan was acting a little unusual today, he was still the brother he trusted the most. When brothers were united, they were sharp enough to break steel!

Following Traveling Buddha, Xia Fan also burst forward.

But at that moment, a pair of slender hands grabbed his arm.

Looking back, he saw Le Jiajia’s worried face. Clenching onto Xia Fan’s right hand, she said in a trembling voice, “You need to be careful!”

“What’s going on? Why are you like this?” Xia Fan suddenly felt a wave of emotion. Le Jiajia was like a girl sending off her boyfriend to the battlefield, inwardly reluctant while putting up a strong face.

Having a beautiful maiden caring about him was something a man could be proud of, but Xia Fan felt confused instead. Was his relationship with Le Jiajia that good? Ever since the war of words they’d had, their relationship had always been very strained. Could it be that Le Jiajia was truly interested in him but had been too embarrassed to say it, and now that he was heading off to the battlefield, her love had suddenly bloomed?

Rumble!

There was no time for these random thoughts. A golden beam of light shot forward like a heaven-piercing sword, pulsing with terrifying energy. It was Traveling Buddha’s full-power strike.

“Such power!”

“It’s comparable to Jia Yuntian’s Sword of Heaven!”

Everyone cried out in surprise. They had never imagined that Traveling Buddha’s chubby body could unleash such terrifying power. The Sword of Heaven was a Demon Slayer’s ultimate move, but when Traveling Buddha drove his arms forward and flashed with golden Light, he could create a power comparable to a Demon Slayer!

Traveling Buddha had the Vajra Symbol on his arm. So besides the Invincible Vajra Body, he also had long-range attacks?

This was too scary! The legendary Vajra was a master of close combat, the kind that got up close to the enemy to fight. This way of sending out golden Light was just too shocking! It blasted through the demon dragon’s head, instantly punching a big and bloody hole through his brain!

The black behemoth suddenly stopped. The Second Son of the Flame Soul was presumably also confused. A golden little man had suddenly jumped down the mountain and waved his arms, and now his head had a hole in it? What was going on?

But the Battle Buddha’s Golden Light still had a weakness. The moment Traveling Buddha fired off the protective golden light, the Light safeguarding him would disappear. For the next few seconds, he would be defenseless. Of course, Traveling Buddha could choose to send out only a small part of the golden light, both attacking and defending, but that would reduce the effects of the attack.

Thus, Traveling Buddha had chosen to make a full-power long-distance attack, temporarily abandoning his defense. It meant that using this move a second time would no longer be very good. The Second Son was a smart creature, so once Traveling Buddha gave up his defense again for a long-ranged attack, the Second Son would use the chance to swipe at Traveling Buddha with a claw. After all, he would have used almost all of his protective golden Light.

“Awooo!~” the Second Son of the Flame Soul howled furiously, and the canyon began to crumble, the earth quaking and debris flying.

The monster still wasn’t dead. Conversely, he was utterly enraged now, his eyes almost spitting flame!