Silence fell over the rubble-strewn cavern, though it lasted only a heartbeat.
For someone like the Barbarian King, once the facts were assembled, a decision took merely a split second.
As Xu Yuan finished speaking, Chi Feng's armor-like chitinous chest rose and fell slightly before he ground out four words in stiff, unpolished Great Yan speech:
"We can work together."
At this answer, a faint smile had barely touched the corners of Xu Yuan's lips before he drew a soft hiss through his teeth. Narrowing his eyes with a wry grin, he stared into the Barbarian King's eerie blue irises.
"If we're working together, could you disperse those barbarian runes on your body first?"
Upon reaching adulthood, barbarians carved patterns into the chitinous layers growing across their bodies, etching the totem unique to their tribe according to ancestral customs.
Beyond that, if a barbarian showed exceptional valor on the battlefield, the tribal elders would etch special designs for them.
These carved barbarian runes did not enhance combat prowess; they served merely as honorary symbols of bravery, meant for decoration and religious indoctrination so that barbarian warriors would fight with even greater ferocity.
The runes that truly augmented combat strength were held exclusively by the upper echelons of a few select tribes and the priestly clans.
Every stroke of such a Barbarian God totem consumed vast amounts of resources. Under normal circumstances, only noble scions of the tribes or warriors of extraordinary merit could bear them.
Of course, within a race where the survival of the species superseded all else, absolute privilege did not exist.
Bearers of a Barbarian God totem enjoyed the highest honors, but on the battlefield, they were likewise expected to shoulder the heaviest burdens.
These very individuals were the source of those Barbarian God totems that had rivaled military arrays and sacred armaments on the northern front. Each time one was unleashed, it burned the user's very life force.
And right now, Chi Feng had already unsealed the totem runes that belonged to him as king of the barbarians.
Like water rushing into a canal, an eerie blue hue surged from Chi Feng's heart, rapidly spreading and flooding through the intricate markings across his body.
In the span of a breath, the eerie blue light traced the silhouette of a ferocious ancient beast upon the hard chitin covering him.
Chi Feng stared coldly at the Great Yan nobleman with whom he had now "cooperated" twice, his voice biting like an icicle:
"In any alliance, the stronger party naturally takes the lead. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Naturally." Xu Yuan grinned, entirely unhurried. "And how does the Barbarian King intend for us to collaborate?"
As he spoke, Xu Yuan lifted the Qingyu sword slightly higher, circulating his cultivation technique. As his vision was once more flooded with crimson, he felt an urge to curse under his breath.
Why did these damn bosses in Cangyuan always have a second phase just like in the game?
Perhaps it was the danger sense granted by his aberrant ghost body, but even though Chi Feng's Source Qi showed no outward fluctuation after releasing the barbarian runes, Xu Yuan could keenly perceive that his current self was almost certainly no match for the Barbarian King.
Even with this aberrant ghost physique, his odds of winning were grim.
Hearing his response, Chi Feng seemed to chuckle. Raising his sole arm, he spread his gauntlet-like palm and held it out before Xu Yuan.
"I am willing to believe your words, and I desire to leave this place. But I believe you must offer a pledge of allegiance to prove your sincerity."
Xu Yuan understood Chi Feng's meaning in an instant. Locking eyes with the eerie blue gaze, he asked, "You mean Li Qingyan?"
"Hahahahaha!"
Chi Feng boomed with laughter for several breaths, shaking the loose rubble across the ground.
As his laughter subsided, his gaze turned flat and indifferent. He enunciated every word to the frail Great Yan youth:
"As a young master of the Great Yan Prime Minister's Residence, you are clever. Hand Wuyuan over to me, and I can choose to trust you this once."
Xu Yuan paused in thought, then asked, "Do you intend to kill her?"
"No." Chi Feng shook his head slowly. "I will not kill her. Slaying her now offers me no benefit."
Xu Yuan's heart sank. Frowning, he asked, "Then you—"
Before the words finished leaving his mouth, Chi Feng abruptly clenched his fist, kicking up a sudden gale.
The ground quaked, rubble tumbled, and a wave of dust surged outward toward both sides of the pitch-black corridor before thinning and vanishing into the dark.
When calm returned, Xu Yuan raised a hand to lightly brush his cheek, only to find a smear of bright crimson on his fingertips.
Even with a Transcendent Realm physique, the sheer air pressure had grazed his skin.
What was more, the cut did not immediately knit shut.
Chi Feng's massive fist creaked as he clenched it tighter.
"Wuyuan is in the Origin Realm; she will not perish so easily, nor do I intend to take her life. If your claims are true and our Sacred City truly lies directly above this cavern, her life will serve as my finest bargaining chip against Marquis Wucheng. Of course, out of respect for her, I will cripple her first."
Saying this, Chi Feng took another step forward, bearing down on Xu Yuan with an overwhelming aura of crushing weight.
"Xu Changtian, you said it yourself just now—the Great Yan court is split between the imperial clan and the Prime Minister's faction. If I eliminate Wuyuan for you, it benefits your family. As long as you were telling the truth, you should have no reason to refuse my offer."
"..." Xu Yuan showed a contemplative look, remaining silent for a time.
Seeing this, Chi Feng let the glowing runes across his body brighten against the darkness. He opened his palm once more and rumbled, "Come. The Source Qi shockwave earlier must have come from your clash with the aberrant ghosts in these caves. As long as you hand Wuyuan over to me, our combined strength will easily crush every high-tier aberrant ghost down here."
"..." Xu Yuan remained in thought, still saying nothing.
"Why do you not answer me?" A glint of murderous intent surfaced in Chi Feng's eerie blue eyes. "Or was everything you said just an attempt to deceive me?"
"*Phoo...*"
Xu Yuan finally let out a long breath, lifting his gaze with a faint smile.
"To be honest, I really wanted to turn down your offer."
As he spoke, he slowly reached out and placed his hand into the Barbarian King's massive, chitin-armored palm, clasping it firmly. "But on second thought, I'll agree."
"Oh?" A flicker of surprise crossed Chi Feng's eyes.
Xu Yuan sighed, pointed at himself, and said with a chilling look, "The mastermind behind all this teleported her and me straight into your main camp hoping to use your hands to kill us. If both of us make it back alive, we can investigate the matter together. But if I'm the only one who returns, the blame will almost certainly fall square on my head."
Chi Feng's tone remained flat, entirely unmoved. "Then why change your mind?"
Xu Yuan pulled his hand back, pointing to the cut left on his cheek by the gust of wind.
"Even with the body of a Transcendent aberrant ghost, I'm no match for you. Compared to dying right here, I'd rather go back and wrangle with the imperial family."
Chi Feng narrowed his eyes, speaking with mild amusement:
"Judging by how you acted earlier, you seemed to care quite a bit about her. Furthermore, without Wuyuan, someone of your original cultivation would have died in these caves long ago. Are you simply abandoning her now?"
Xu Yuan spread his hands and looked at him with a laugh.
"Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost."
"A wretched, self-serving creature," Chi Feng spat out, a trace of regret in his heavy voice. "Wuyuan ought to have fallen on the battlefield, not to schemes like this..."
"You talk too much."
Xu Yuan turned his back, took two paces forward, and then glanced back over his shoulder at Chi Feng. "I will lead you to Li Qingyan. However, I'm only taking you to the general area; you can go in and deal with her yourself. Also, when we travel together later, make sure I don't see her."
Chi Feng took a step forward, grinding the rubble beneath his boot to powder.
"Useless sentimentality."
"She saved my life too many times along the way..." Xu Yuan lowered his eyes slightly, his voice tinged with complexity. "Heh, forget it. Pointless words. You can manage that much, can't you?"
Chi Feng watched Xu Yuan's back with indifferent eyes.
Just as he was about to speak, countless black tendrils erupted from the ground, lashing around the single arm that Xu Yuan had shaken only moments ago!
At this sudden turn, Chi Feng's expression didn't waver in the slightest.
He had never placed any trust in the words of this man named Xu Changtian. Until Wuyuan was thoroughly crippled, he had remained primed for battle at every second.
Though his movement was checked for an instant, his Source Qi erupted, instantly blasting the tendrils of black death creep into dust.
Yet in that single moment of delay,
the crimson-robed youth vanished into thin air without a trace right before Chi Feng's eyes.
In his place lay a sealed iron box resting quietly on the stone floor.
The Barbarian King: "..."
Chapter 299