Chapter 220: Deep Waters, Meeting Again
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
About 100 kilometers away, somewhere far away from the crowd, and a great distance away from the roads…
A figure flying at high speed slowed down a little as if he felt that he was in a safe place now and didn’t need to be that anxious anymore.
The yellow light around him also faded significantly thereafter.
There were hints of joy on his calm and quiet countenance. The corners of his lips were also curled upward into a smile.
Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he instantly stopped moving. His eyes widened, and he tensed up all over, becoming incredibly wary.
His eyes bore into the figure that had suddenly appeared in front of him.
The figure wore black traditional robes with gold patterns on them. His long black hair cascaded past his shoulders, and he stood with his back facing the other.
It was just his back view, yet in that split second, it brought the person great pressure.
He was as though a great mountain that guarded the gates to the celestial palace, yet also as though the vast and boundless ocean.
A majestic and grandiose momentum weighed down upon the other person.
Tall and imposing, powerful, insurmountable, and irresistible—a feeling that made him feel small and insignificant instinctively welled up within him.
His original feelings of excitement turned into graveness right away.
“Who are you?”
In his nervousness, he subconsciously uttered the question. Then, he—who had experienced all kinds of trials and tribulations—calmed down. A familiar feeling welled up within him, and a hint of alarm and doubt flashed across his mind.
He cupped his fists and asked politely, “May I know what Senior is…?”
Although they were people from modern times, ever since the many alternate worlds had appeared…
The dressing style and mannerisms from ancient times had rapidly taken off in China, especially among cultivators.
This was because the experts from other species looked more or less similar to China’s ancient dressing style after they transformed into their Dao forms, even if humans didn’t exist in the many alternate worlds out there.
To communicate with the alternate worlds, the ancient style of dressing and mannerisms were unavoidable.
All the Chinese Third Realm cultivators had correspondingly learned some as well.
“You don’t recognize me anymore?”
His dispa.s.sionate voice was as if it carried a natural sense of high and mightiness, as well as an imposing might that overlooked and suppressed everything in the world.
Li Dao was astounded. It really was him!
At once, Li Dao heaved a sigh of relief, though he also became even more nervous at the same time.
An astonished look came over his countenance, and he asked with uncertainty, “May I know if… you’re His Excellency, the Tiger King?”
The figure turned around. A layer of golden light covered his facial features.
At the same time, Li Dao felt as if the pressure coming from this figure became even stronger.
At once, he became 90% certain. On the whole of Earth, only the Tiger King was capable of making him feel that way.
However, disappointment immediately surged up within him thereafter.
As one of the two ex-strongest experts of China, Li Dao—who had even just had an immensely huge serendipitous encounter—was naturally a prideful person.
Yet, all of his pride had been forcibly broken and dissipated right now.
He had just had an immensely huge serendipitous encounter, resulting in a huge boost in his combat power. Yet, the pressure that the Tiger King brought him hadn’t reduced in the slightest.
No, to be more accurate, it was precisely because of the huge boost in his combat power that he could now see even more. Thus, the Tiger King had brought him even greater pressure.
The pressure was irresistible and insurmountable.
In fact, had it not been for the serendipitous encounter, even he would be doubtful about whether he even still had the courage to attack that person or not.
Li Dao suppressed his astonishment and dejection and nodded. With some fear and reverence in his voice, he replied, “So, it really is His Excellency, the Tiger King, himself. Li Dao pays his respects to Your Excellency.”
As he spoke, he became even more nervous and wary.
“Not bad.” w.a.n.g Hu sized up Li Dao with an aloof look in his eyes and dispa.s.sionately complimented him.
Li Dao was about to give him a modest reply when w.a.n.g Hu’s voice rang out again. “You obtained that tomb’s legacy. Tell me about it.”
He didn’t bother being tactful at all. His voice reached him straightaway like an exceptionally sharp knife, yet even more like a divine mountain.
It made Li Dao feel as if he couldn’t refuse. The Tiger King’s domineeringness and hard-handedness alarmed him.
However, how could he leak out information about the secret of that serendipitous encounter so easily?
He secretly gritted his teeth and said seriously, “Your Excellency, this is a serendipitous encounter and legacy that the human forebears left for their descendants.”
The cold and arrogant look in w.a.n.g Hu’s eyes was as if he had let out a disdainful scoff of laughter. “I’m not interested in those serendipitous encounters or legacies. All I want to know is whether everything that’s happening in this world is related to that tomb or not.”
Li Dao couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. Everything was fine as long as the Tiger King wasn’t here to rob him of his serendipitous encounter.
It made sense the moment he gave it some thought, though. What kind of existence was the Tiger King?
Moreover, he had even teamed up with China several times. Given his cold and arrogant temperament, he was unlikely to rob someone of their serendipitous encounter so openly and blatantly.
Now that his biggest worry had been a.s.suaged, Li Dao became a lot more relaxed. He said seriously, “Your Excellency, Li Dao is not aware of that. The tomb didn’t mention anything like that at all.”
w.a.n.g Hu raised an eyebrow slightly. In an instant, pressure capable of suppressing everything in the world like an army of armored cavalry came flooding out of him even more, mightily like a deluge.
“Your Excellency, Li Dao dares not hide anything from you. I really don’t know anything,” Li Dao hastily added.
With a sharp glint in his eyes, w.a.n.g Hu watched him quietly for a few seconds. It was only when Li Dao felt himself turning icy-cold all over that w.a.n.g Hu’s lips finally parted slightly. “Fine, I’ll just take it that you don’t know anything about that. Apart from the serendipitous encounter and legacy, what other information is there in the tomb?”
Li Dao was rather hesitant. After all, no matter what, the Tiger King wasn’t a Chinese citizen.
Even if there wasn’t much information in the tomb, it was nonetheless still China’s top-secret information. It wouldn’t do for it to be leaked to others so easily.
With an expression as though he was in a dilemma, he said, “Your Excellency, this concerns China’s confidential matters. I don’t have the authority to tell you about it.
“Besides, I cannot be sure that you’re the real Tiger King.”
w.a.n.g Hu laughed. After letting out a couple of mild and aloof laughs, as though unconcerned, he said, “Alright. If you don’t have the authority, then contact someone who does.
“As for your uncertainty about my ident.i.ty, how do you want to ascertain it?”
Li Dao felt as if he was caught between a rock and a hard place. However, because the other party hadn’t attacked him right away, he did count himself pretty lucky.
He said gravely, “Your Excellency, I’ll contact my superiors right away. As for ascertaining your ident.i.ty, the cell phone is more than enough.”
Then, he took out his cell phone and called Li Aimin.
He created a sound barrier and relayed word for word his conversation with the Tiger King just now.
Li Aimin was rather excited. To think Li Dao had been the one to actually obtain that serendipitous encounter and legacy. This was fantastic.
Then, he calmed down. After thinking about it briefly, he said, “I’ll contact the leader right away. As for the Tiger King, ask him politely to wait for a while. The leader will personally talk to him.”
Originally, he could’ve talked to the Tiger King himself. However, this concerned the serendipitous encounter and legacy, as well as its corresponding secrets. As such, Dong Pingtao would need to personally attend to it instead.
“Okay,” replied Li Dao.
After he hung up, Li Dao looked at the figure standing a short distance away and said seriously, “Your Excellency, the leader will contact you and talk to you very soon. Please wait for a moment.”
w.a.n.g Hu didn’t respond. This indirectly indicated tacit agreement.
He didn’t panic either. This matter was sure to reach Dong Pingtao and the others.
However, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to know some things, that was all.
He hadn’t overstepped his boundaries.
A few minutes later, w.a.n.g Hu’s cell phone rang. He picked up the video call.
“Your Excellency,” Dong Pingtao said with a friendly smile.
“Leader Dong,” w.a.n.g Hu replied dispa.s.sionately.
“Your Excellency, you’re intending to…?” asked the smiling Dong Pingtao.
“So many odd things have happened on Earth. I want to find out what exactly is happening,” w.a.n.g Hu replied simply.
Dong Pingtao fell silent for a while. Although the other party had taken rather aggressive actions, the request wasn’t an unreasonable one. It was understandable why he had done that.
With a serious look on his face, Dong Pingtao said, “Your Excellency, China doesn’t know why exactly all of these are happening either. We also wish to get down to the bottom of it.
“How about this? Since you have questions, then we’ll get Li Dao to answer them.
“However, please let me join the conversation as well. I’d also like to listen in.”
w.a.n.g Hu didn’t object to it. For the sake of the big picture, all of them were tacitly taking a step back.
Unless absolutely necessary, w.a.n.g Hu didn’t wish to break the tacit understanding between them.
At the sight of w.a.n.g Hu’s unspoken agreement, Dong Pingtao smiled politely and nodded. Then, he hung up and gave Li Dao a video call.
“Leader.”
Li Dao picked up the call and said respectfully.
“Yes. Li Dao, why don’t you answer some of His Excellency’s questions? It’s just as well that I can listen in, too,” Dong Pingtao said with an amicable smile.
“Understood,” replied Li Dao. At last, he became confident again.
Firstly, he became a lot more confident with the leader around. He didn’t need to be overly worried that the Tiger King would attack him.
Secondly, he also knew which questions he could answer and which he shouldn’t.
He looked at the person opposite him and said respectfully, “Your Excellency, I am very sorry to have affronted you just now.
“However, I really don’t know much. What would Your Excellency like to know?”
“I told you. Apart from the serendipitous encounter and legacy, what other information is there in the tomb?” w.a.n.g Hu asked directly.
Li Dao paused briefly as though he was contemplating. Upon seeing that Dong Pingtao wasn’t intending to speak, he said cautiously, “Your Excellency, apart from the serendipitous encounter and legacy, the tomb doesn’t mention much.
“It only mentions simple information about the tomb’s owner. Apart from that, there isn’t anything else.”
w.a.n.g Hu mentally tensed up. That was exactly what he wanted to know about.
His tone, however, didn’t change. He asked aloofly, “Who’s the owner of the tomb?”
After another pause, Li Dao replied, “He’s likely one of the forebears of us humans. His name is Li s.h.i.+min.”
“His ident.i.ty?” w.a.n.g Hu sounded the same as ever.
As usual, Li Dao paused for a moment before he replied, “I’m not sure either, but he’s likely an emperor.”
w.a.n.g Hu looked at Li Dao quietly without saying anything.
Li Dao, who understood what he meant, went on when he saw that Dong Pingtao didn’t react either. “From various aspects such as the legacy and so on, I concluded on my own that Mr. Li was an emperor of a place known as the Tang Empire and had attained extraordinary achievements.”
w.a.n.g Hu let out a soft sigh inwardly. He had thoroughly verified it by now.
It really was that Li s.h.i.+min.
Even though the two Li s.h.i.+mins might not be the same person, one could still link a lot of things to him by a.s.sociation.
There was a lot going on in this world after all.
So much so that chills crawled through him even at his current prowess.
Despite the complex thoughts going through his mind, there was nothing out of the norm on the surface. He continued to look at Li Dao quietly.
Helpless, Li Dao could only say sincerely, “Your Excellency, apart from the serendipitous encounter and legacy, this is all that I know.”
w.a.n.g Hu frowned slightly, revealing some doubt about his claims.
However, he didn’t say anything. After letting out a soft snort, he turned and left, transforming into a golden light that streaked across the sky.
Li Dao truly felt rather aggrieved. He knew that the Tiger King was displeased.
However, that was all that he knew. Everything else was related to the serendipitous encounter and legacy.
On the screen, a calm and unruffled Dong Pingtao said amicably, “Don’t think too much about it and just make your way back for now.”
“Yes, Leader,” Li Dao immediately replied.
Putting aside how the cabinet immediately held a meeting about this, w.a.n.g Hu was currently flying back home.
There was nothing pressing at the moment, so he wasn’t in a hurry. He flew at normal speed.
His mind was completely occupied by thoughts about the tomb.
A tomb…
Li s.h.i.+min…
The Tang Empire…
A legacy…
And all of China’s peculiarities all this time…
All of these and more, including things from his past life, as well as the Map of the Universe in his mind…
Everything came together in him and interwove with one another, making him unable to calm down.
As for the displeasure that he had displayed earlier, he actually wasn’t angry.
It was enough for him that he confirmed that the Li s.h.i.+min of the tomb was the same Li s.h.i.+min that he knew of, even if they were just similar to each other.
As for the other things, none of it was important—no matter whether Li Dao was lying to him or not.
Li Dao wasn’t obligated to tell him about it. Neither was China an existence with whom w.a.n.g Hu could casually do as he pleased.
Therefore, he wasn’t angry at all.
He had merely displayed displeasure because that was a normal reaction to have.
Besides, it might even make China give in to him in certain things the next time.
n.o.body would ever think that they were receiving too many benefits.
If he could get some just by acting a little, of course, he wouldn’t mind doing so.
As for acting, he believed that he was highly proficient in it and that he didn’t lose out to anyone at all.
He contemplated things while he flew.
A brief moment later, he focused and dispelled all of his thoughts.
Then, he let out an icy snort. A cold look started to form in his eyes.
d.a.m.n it, I’ve not cursed for so long, yet all of you simply have to force me into it.
No matter what all of you are scheming, if you really set your sights on me, then we’ll just wait and see.
He clenched his fists a little and stopped thinking about it.
It was still pointless to think too deeply into it at this point.
It would do as long as he more or less knew what was going on. Once he became strong enough, nothing would be a problem anymore.
He didn’t speed up even after he reined in his thoughts and continued to fly back home at a normal speed just like that.
He rarely got to go out anyway. It wasn’t a bad idea to look around some more.
Besides, in this dangerous world, one would be a fool to waste divine power if there wasn’t a need to.
Constantly keeping oneself in good condition so that they were ready to attack anytime was the most important instead.
A few hours later…
He flew over to Beijing, a city in Northern China.
He didn’t look at the large city much either and continued to travel home.
After traveling dozens of kilometers away from Beijing, w.a.n.g Hu suddenly felt something.
An inexplicable feeling arose in him.
With a frown, he turned and adjusted the direction he was going.
A few minutes later, as he looked somewhere a short distance away, his frown deepened.
That’s…?
A familiar feeling arose in him.
Suddenly, as though he had thought of something, a look of astonishment formed in w.a.n.g Hu’s eyes.
…
In a forest dozens of kilometers away, two parties were currently in the midst of a showdown.
One of them consisted of two wolves.
The other was a cat and a cyan-blue bird.
Both wolves had an enormous stature and stood at a shoulder height of over five meters tall.
In comparison, the cat and the cyan-blue bird couldn’t get any smaller than that.
However, the two wolves had a very cautious and grave look on their faces at the moment.
The cat and the cyan-blue bird didn’t back down in the least either.
The cyan-blue bird flapped its wings fiercely and shouted very angrily, “Don’t go too far, stupid wolves. This is our home. Why should we allow you to chase us away?”
With a savage look in his eyes, one of the wolves replied coldly, “Hmph, the wolves are the only presence that this mountain needs. There’s no place for another two Second Realm beings here.”
“We sisters aren’t fighting with the wolves for food at all,” said the cat quietly. A milky-white color all over, the cat was very clean and had a sort of tranquil quality around it.
“The two of you certainly aren’t fighting with us for food, but you’re nevertheless still a threat. Only by driving the two of you away can we show off how strong the wolves are, such that other Second Realm beings won’t dare to come over and fight with us.
“There aren’t many forests in the mountains suitable for living anymore in the northern lands. This place belongs to the wolves. Everyone can forget about fighting with us for it,” the other wolf said in a deep voice.