248-256

Chapter 248 - Misunderstanding And Challenge

On the top floor of the Lancaster Workshop Tower, the airship was docked on one of the two spare ports of the four existing ones.

As Amelia Lancaster was located on a higher floor, she was notified of the airship's arrival ahead of time, while Duke Ignis had zero knowledge of the envoy's arrival.

When the people disembarked the airship, the Duchess was already waiting with her people to welcome them.

"Sir Hendrick, a rare guest we have. What brings you to the Capital today, General?" Amelia greeted, as her gaze slowly shifted towards the envoys beside him. She was blown away by their appearances. "And these two are…?"

"Greetings, Lady Amelia. These two are envoys of Elvengarde, The Supreme Elder, Haldir, and Fifth Princess Faelyn. They come to seek a friendly relationship with our kingdom." Hendrick introduced.

Amelia was amazed by the elves' existence and even better, their willingness to seek humans out for friendly relations, but she did not forget her noble etiquette as she offered them her own greetings.

"Welcome to the Lancaster's workshop and Capital of Crawford Kingdom, envoys of Elvengarde. It's an honor to meet you both, Supreme Elder Haldir and Princess Faelyn."

"The honor is ours."

"Before seeking the king, the envoys are interested in touring your workshop, Lady Amelia. I wonder if that would be permissible?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow and contemplated briefly.

"Apart from the middle floors and higher, which contain confidential research and projects, I don't mind if it's just the lower floor workshops."

The envoys had no problem with that arrangement. They were only curious about what human blacksmithing was like.

Everyone was in agreement. There was no problem.

"Very well. My husband should be on the first floor. Allow me to guide you along the way." Amelia said.

Hendrick nodded and gestured.

"Please."

The group made their way over to the elevator and entered. A button was pressed, gears began cranking, rushing steam was heard and the elevator descended.

…

After succeeding in forging the Scribing Pens, Leon was already proficient with the skills he had gained from the inheritance and moved onto interspatial storage forging. There was no more discrepancy between memory and action.

He had settled on a design and commenced work immediately. The design did not take much effort.

There were already existing designs of interspatial storages back in the Divine Realm, why bother thinking up a new one when he could use those as templates?

As such, he had easily settled on Interspatial Rings. They were small, convenient to wear, inconspicuous, and could not be any more portable.

The only challenge in creating Interspatial Rings was the demand for high-level dexterity and sight to engrave such minuscule runes on an already small object.

Magisteel and Star Meteorite were also used as the two defining materials of the Interspatial rings.

The Magisteel formed the core body before it was engraved and doused in liquid hot Star Meteorite before it was cooled in cold water to form the protective outer coating for the runes on the ring.

The entire process was more complicated than Scribing Pens, but each Interspatial Ring forged took less time than the first Scribing Pen.

At this point, Leon had already integrated with the memory from the inheritance.

Five shiny Interspatial Rings are laid out on the worktable.

Duke Ignis had assisted Leon throughout the process, but now that they were taking a break, he couldn't help but ask, "What are these for?"

"These are…"

The rotating gears of the elevating were easily heard as Leon and Duke Ignis had their attention drawn over.

In the Lancaster Workshop Tower, each person was assigned enough work that would keep them busy at their work stations throughout the day. Rarely do they have time to leave their work stations.

But for some time, the rotating gears of the elevator had been happening at irregular intervals and now it was finally reaching the ground floor they were on.

The elevator doors opened, and Amelia was the first to exit. Her gaze soon locked onto Duke Ignis in the large ground-level workshop as she knew where her husband's personal forging station was.

Her eyes lit up when she shifted gaze onto Leon, who was next to her husband and immediately made her way over.

After Amelia was the two envoys, followed by the general marquis and finally his crippled son last.

"You're back safely, my dear son-in-law!"

Amelia embraced him, not minding his sweaty topless torso. She naturally heard the news that something went wrong when the elite hunting expedition did not return after a week.

The Duke smiled bitterly at this scene.

Embracing your future son-in-law first instead of your dear husband… this is unfair treatment…

Suddenly, the Duke froze and began to sweat.

Oh no! I hope she doesn't see it…

Amelia's attention was not on Leon for long before it was attracted to a certain opened packaged that was left on the worktable behind Leon when the two were busy forging.

Her nose twitched twice before she released Leon and flashed over to the opened packaged to look at the contents.

"Ahaha! My good son-in-law, how thoughtful of you! Is this for me?" Amelia said with delight.

Noooo!

The Duke was inwardly screaming. His wife discovered it after all!

"T-That's mine…!"

"What did you say?" Amelia squinted.

"Nothing…"

The fighting spirit the Duke worked up was immediately deflated with defeat. Having been married for two decades, can he not know what that look in his wife's eyes was implying?

What's yours is mine, what's mine is also mine.

Duke Ignis sighed with melancholy.

Leon smiled wryly at how much the Duke and Duchess loved their tea.

The herbal tea leaves were only tier-1 spirit herb the first time he gifted it to them, but now it was tier-3 spirit herb. Wouldn't they become even more frenzied over it?

Thankfully, he was prepared.

"Ahem, that one is for father-in-law. This one is for you, mother-in-law."

Having said that, Leon pulled out another package of herbal tea leaves at the tier-3 spirit herb level.

"Oh my… you didn't have to."

Amelia accepted with glee and hugged them both close. Clearly, she didn't seem to have any intention of giving back the other package of herbal tea leaves to the Duke.

The Duke felt something breaking inside.

"Can you not be so selfish?" The Duke said wryly.

"Hmph! What do you know? These are for our daughter. We already ran out back at home." Amelia scoffed.

Hearing this, the Duke turned serious and no longer complained.

Leon noticed this and felt that the situation wasn't right. The herbal tea leaves he last gifted them was already finished? Even if they drank tea every day, it shouldn't be finished so soon, no?

Recalling his future mother-in-law's words, he realized something and asked, "Did something happen to Rachel? Right, which pill did she decide to take? Is she at the workshop right now?"

"That girl… Haiz, she is too stubborn. She's not here today. In fact, it's been a while since that girl left the house. You should visit her sometime." Amelia sighed.

Leon was taken aback by the vagueness, but he nodded.

At this time, the general marquis made his way over with his son and the envoys. He greeted them both as they both returned his greeting.

"We meet again, General." Leon smiled and offered a handshake.

"We meet again, Your Highness." The general accepted.

Leon swept his gaze past the general marquis and landed on the Princess Faelyn. His eyes lit up for a brief moment, but he recovered and refocused on the general marquis. "And these are?"

The general marquis secretly praised the prince but sighed when he compared his son, who had his eyes glued on the elven princess.

The conflicted look only appeared for a split second before the general marquis began another round of introduction for both sides.

"As the prince of Crawford, I welcome you both, envoys of Elvengarde."

Leon was surprised that there was a sudden elven race rocking up, but recalling that there were Elder Trees in the world and the World Tree Ascension event, he was no longer surprised and welcomed them both naturally without losing his bearing.

"We are honored to."

The Supreme Elder had learned the human etiquette in their short interaction in the Human Domain and took the initiative to give Leon a handshake.

He had been silent gauging the strength of humanity all this while. A 5-star General, 5-star Duke, and 6-star Duchess, but the prince?

No energy fluctuations could be felt, just like a mortal that never cultivated.

However, instincts told him that the prince was the strongest human out of those he had seen.

Sure enough, the Human Domain was not simple.

The Supreme Elder's action naturally piqued Princess Faelyn's curiosity as she studied the human prince while sneaking a few glances at his bare chest muscles.

This person was royalty just like her, but he was hardworking as one could see from the sweat oozing from Leon's body and he was also unmoved by her beauty.

Is he genuinely unaffected, or just feigning?

Princess Faelyn curiously thought. She was used to people's gazes and had an accurate read on their level of infatuation, but for some reason, she could not see through the human prince.

It was also Rowan's first time meeting the prince, but he was already disgruntled like he was meeting a love rival.

When a person becomes jealous of someone else, they start to look at all that person's shortcomings and flaws.

Rowan had heard from his father that the prince was heroic and a genius, who fought on the frontlines during the Capital Crisis, but why can't he see it?

Sensing the nonexistent energy fluctuation from the prince, Rowan silently sneered. Everything was a pack of lies. A person with zero cultivation can fight against those spiders? Bullshit!

The way he saw it, the prince was a vain person who spread false rumors to uphold his image when he was just a useless mortal who can't cultivate and can only turn to blacksmithing.

Feeling the Rowan's hostile and contemptuous stare, Leon was dumbfounded. What did he do to earn this person's hostility? It's not like he stole his wife or something.

"And this person is?" Leon asked quizzically.

The general marquis saw the look in his son immediately wore a dark look.

"This is my useless son, Your Highness. Don't mind him and just treat him like fart." Hendrick tried to respond calmly, but he was completely disappointed. He didn't mind too much when his son insisted to accompany the envoys but to be hostile against royalty…

As a hot-blooded youth, who was ready to show off in front of Princess Faelyn, Rowan could not stay quiet after hearing his father's words.

"Father! My limbs might be disabled but I am not useless! I am already a 9th step Awakener! At least compared to a useless someone who can't even cultivate but spread lies of his heroic deeds, I am much better!" Rowan retorted.

Boom!

Rowan's words were like a thunderclap in the general marquis's mind as he almost exploded on the spot.

No names were mentioned, but anyone could guess who the general's son was referring to. Amelia and the general marquis were shocked to realize that they could not sense Leon's cultivation, with the exception of Ignis.

Bastard!

Hendrick gnashed his teeth furiously. Without his guidance, how could his son even dream to reach the 9th step so quickly?

Not to mention up until three months ago, the prince was still missing and had been living in the Lower Districts that was no different to a slum!

Cultivation or no cultivation, to disrespect royalty, was treason!

My face has been completely lost because of you!

The envoy didn't express opinion towards this sudden situation, but the Duke and Amelia both wore ugly expressions.

"What a good son you have, General!"

One could hear strong sarcasm in the Duchess's voice.

Hendrick's expression grew worse. He looked at his disgraceful son and roared, "Apologize! Apologize to his Highness right this instance!"

The general marquis was trembling with anger.

"I won't!" Rowan said defiantly.

Just you all watch! Even if he is the prince, I tear down his façade and show you all his true colors. You're all being fooled by his fake reputation and deeds!

Rowan looked Leon directly in the eye and said, "Do you dare accept my challenge to a duel?!"

Leon looked the general's son that was barking like a mad dog and understood the heart of the matter. There was some misunderstanding between them due to his unique situation.

However, he was a prince. He could explain to those close to him, but did he need to explain to everyone too?

Looking at the person's cultivation, Leon wouldn't even need to lift a finger. The other person wasn't strong enough to harm him, while he could finish the other person with one slap.

However, the other person was still the general's son so he should at least give the general some face.

Leon suddenly smiled and said, "I… refuse!"

Chapter 249 - Absolutely Not

Supreme Elder Haldir was disappointed the moment Leon refused the challenge. Not only was he interested in Leon's true strength, but he was also curious about how humans fought.

Princess Faelyn on the side, had her brows scrunched together. In Elvengarde, she had encountered this scene numerous times.

In order to impress someone, people would not hesitate to put down others and step on them to stand out among the masses.

This is something she abhorred. Only people with a weak heart would behave like that.

She wanted to immediately stop the matter from escalating, but she hesitated and ultimately gave up. The Supreme Elder was here for official matters and this was a dispute between two humans.

General Marquis Hendrick sighed with relief when the prince refused the challenge. He was still boiling with rage inside and glared at his son. "His Highness is magnanimous and doesn't take your disrespectful behavior to heart. You might be my son, but that doesn't make you above royalty. Now, step down!"

Being admonished by his father, grievance boiled in Rowan's heart and a stronger repulsion exploded out.

"I won't"

Don't you see it?! He refused my challenge because he is afraid of being exposed. Look at him walking away!

"Are you running away?"

The question was directed at Leon.

Leon was walking back to pocket the five Interspatial Rings on the worktable, but hearing this, he paused.

"You're too weak to challenge me." Leon turned his head back and said coldly.

Just because a lion doesn't show its might, do you think you can take it to be a sick cat? I was giving your father face!

"Hmph!"

Leon turned around and continued to pocket the Interspatial Rings with his back towards the general's son. He was allowing room for the general to handle his own son.

Rowan was completely ignored.

He was already not thinking straight, but after hearing Leon's contemptuous words, he lost all reasoning. The real reason for picking a fight no longer mattered. He just wants to teach this person a lesson.

Me? Too weak to challenge you?! I'll show you who the real weak one is!

Sitting in his wheelchair without any movements, wind condensed in front of Rowan and shot out a wind blade at Leon's back.

Everyone's expression changed at this moment. To attack behind someone's back was the lowest of the low!

A wind blade from a 9th step Awakener was fast and sharp. Even Transcendents wouldn't dare to take such an attack with their bare flesh!

In such close proximity, no one expected the general's son to be so daring to launch a sneak attack nor could they react in time.

The general marquis looked completely grim at that moment. What the hell was wrong with his son?!

Fortunately, Leon was prepared and swatted the wind blade away with the back of his hand. The power of his hand caused the wind blade to scatter to the surroundings.

Everyone summoned their protective layer of elements to shield themselves, but few forgery equipments was blown away and some benches were riddled with small cuts.

Before Rowan didn't think much about what just happened and was already summoning up another wind attack, but the general marquis had already exploded with fury.

Hendrick knocked his son unconscious and turned towards the prince for forgiveness while kneeling on one knee.

"Your Highness! I beg you to magnanimous and spare this useless son of mine!"

What his son did was nothing short of treason and deserved nothing short of death if it was pursued by royalty.

Even if it wasn't, his son had thoroughly offended the Lancasters for making a mess in their workshop and assaulting their future son-in-law.

"It's fine. No one was hurt. discipline him properly" Leon said coolly.

His hand was completely unscathed.

If it wasn't for Rowan being the general's son, a different result would have befell him.

Amelia and Ignis had their expression eased up when they saw that Leon was alright, but then everyone was soon shocked.

How could his hand be unscathed?

While everyone else was wonder what the heck Leon's hand was made of, the general was feeling gratified that he did pursue his son's matter. If his mother hears about this though…

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will be sure to educate him well, so he does not make the same mistake again!" Hendrick said firmly.

"Hmph!" Amelia and Ignis grunted with displeasure.

"I'm sorry for my son's lawless conduct. I'll be sure to repay you both for the damages later." Hendrick said to the Lancaster couple, before turning to the envoys, "Sorry, you had to see such an unsightly thing."

After that, Hendrick excused himself and sent his unconscious son back to the airship and tossed his son over to his men.

"If he wakes up, make sure he stays on this airship until I get back! If he doesn't obey, you may punish him according to the military!"

Hendrick slam down those words and returned to the ground floor. He had been too lenient with his son. It was time to administer some strict discipline.

The soldiers on the airship smiled bitterly. This was a difficult task. The general's son had a higher cultivation than them. If Rowan wanted to leave, they wouldn't be able to stop him. The only way was to watch him and make sure he doesn't wake up.

Back on the ground floor, after some further apologies, the general marquis was prepared to take the envoys to meet the king, but they realized that they had spent too much time in touring the workshop.

It was nightfall.

It was no longer an appropriate time to visit the king as visitings hours as close off. This was a time when everyone usually gets off work, have dinner, and relax.

After some discussions, they decided to find some accommodation in the Upper District to settle the envoys in and seek the king's audience tomorrow morning.

As they left, Leon didn't follow them.

The Elven Princess's beauty was too dazzling. Even after the envoys left with the general, the blacksmiths were still spellbound on her fading silhouette.

Leon did not doubt that more trouble will follow them while they are booking accommodations in the Upper District where there are countless young nobles and young masters. Perhaps, even the nobles will be tempted.

He did not want to be a part of such troubles and allowed the general to deal with it.

When he could no longer saw the silhouette of the envoys in the distance, Leon finally took out the Interspatial Rings and gifted each one to Amelia and Duke Ignis.

"These are Interspatial Rings. You can store items inside by using spirit energy." Leon explained.

If they sink their perception inside, they will find each ring to have a space of 30 cubic meters. Not a very big size to be a portable treasury, but more than enough to carry daily necessities.

Although, he said that runic circles were important, but if he actually had some material with spatial elements, he would have been able to forge Interspatial Storages with much larger storage capacity.

"So this is an Interspatial Ring… How miraculous." Amelia was beaming as she tested. Since it was a gift from her son-in-law, she would naturally not shy away and accept it forwardly.

The Lancaster couple had both practiced the breathing technique before and had some stored-up spirit energy in them.

It wasn't much since the cultivation technique he gifted before was revised for awakening cultivation.

Nevertheless, the little spirit energy they had cultivated on their own with the widespread breathing technique was enough to use the Interspatial Storages.

After some small talks, Leon bid them farewell. He had three Interspatial Rings left, not enough gift everyone but he would be back to forge more.

Leon went to find Aria's family, who had moved into the Upper District to live to check up on how they were doing.

They were doing very well. Nobles were willing to befriend them and even suck up to them with extravagant gifts.

Everyone knew that one of the two 'Saintess' was their daughter and that the Saintess and the prince were a couple.

By now, everyone also knows that the missing prince was a commoner named Leon Bradford. It was just a difference in the last name.

However, not everyone had seen what Leon looked like, so some would still fail to recognize him or even offend him.

Leon also had a preference over wearing common attire rather than royal and noble attire. Commoner attires wasn't as appealing and even uses cheap materials, but its selling point was comfort.

After visiting Aria's parents, he went to visit the Cromwells.

The guards knew who Leon was and didn't stop him from entering.

Inside the villa, the Cromwell family of three with the exclusion of Lynne was currently having dinner.

"Boy, so you still remember to visit this old man, huh? Come, sit down and join us for dinner." Dwight said with a pleasant surprise.

"Sebastian, please bring out another bowl and set of cutleries for my grandson-in-law." Dwight ordered.

"Right away, my Lord." Sebastian complied with a smile.

Looking at the lavish meal, Leon did not reject it. The long hours of forging and sweat had made famished again.

He had already changed into a new set of common attire, but there was still a faint odor surrounding him that wouldn't go away unless he washes up.

However, it wasn't strong enough to earn the Cromwell's displeasure as everyone looked at him with smiling faces.

He wondered if the relationship between Dwight and Lynne's father, Bromley had improved for them to be siting at the dinner table together.

"Don't hold back and eat as much as you want. We still have plenty more in the kitchen." Bromley said to Leon.

Leon glanced table filled with dishes and smiled wryly.

"With so much food, I don't think it's possible to finish it all with just the four of us. Isn't that too wasteful?"

"Not at all. Our servants and maids usually dine in after us and finish it for us." Bromley said as a matter of fact.

Eating leftovers?

Leon didn't know how the servants would feel about that, but then again, everything on the table were rare delicacy that regular people wouldn't be able to afford to eat on a consistent basis.

Everyone at the dining table were filled with smiles as they watched Leon devoured his food with great relish and even urged him to eat more.

As they talked over dinner, Leon stated the reason for his visit and in the blink of an eye, he had given out all the Interspatial Rings he had just forged for the day.

Everyone was delighted and amazed by the invaluable gift. Lynne's mother in particular was very happy with the gift.

"Boys your age are still in the growing period. Let me tell you this, girls do not like boys who are shorter than them. Although you are quite tall right now, it'll be a disaster if our Lynne ends up growing taller than you. Here, eat some more." Lynne's mother urged with enthusiasm.

"Please spare me, I really can't eat anymore…"

Leon didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Out of respect, he had eaten everything Lynne's mother had placed into his bowl, but he is finally at his wit's end.

He had already eaten more portions than the three of them combined.

Rumble…

Leon grabbed his stomach and looked Dwight for a split second before skipping the old man and turned to Lynne's father instead

"Can I use the toilet?"

Dwight's body trembled at the question.

"Just go for it. This isn't something you need to ask."

Bromley was taken aback but he recovered quickly and smiled.

At the same time, Dwight had stood up abruptly and slammed the dining table strongly.

"Absolutely… NOT!!!"

Chapter 250 - Battle Of Eastfell

Dwight's agitated behavior took Bromley by surprise.

"It's just the toilet, what's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal you say? Last time this brat used it; he clogged the toilet stank up the whole place!"

At the side, the servant, Sebastian trembled as he listened to his Lord's words and recalled the bad experience.

Others only had to put up with the bad smell or leave the villa until the smell is gone, but he had to enter ground zero and unclog the source of contamination.

"My Lord! Please don't let his Highness use the toilet again!" Sebastian pleaded on his knees.

The prince's turd was so solid and potent, it could probably burn better than coal and firewood.

"If you need to go, please do it somewhere outside away from this villa," Dwight said to Leon. He still had not got back at the darn brat from running off after the deed was done!

"You want me to do it outside?" Leon's lips twitched. How wild.

"Nonsense! Don't worry and just go use the toilet. If they stop you, I'll be the first to fight them!" Lynne's mother said to Leon, obviously taking his side.

"That's right, father. No matter how bad it is, I'll deal with it. After all, Leon had just gifted use three invaluable treasure." Bromley added, believing Dwight and Sebastian were being exaggerated and rude. How bad can it be?

"Remember those words. Hmph!"

Dwight flicked his sleeves. He wasn't completely unreasonable. His son was right. They just got some invaluable gifts and their relationship with Leon was very good, but the darn person's turd was too horrifying!

"Where are you going, father?"

"Outside!"

Bang!

The door slammed on his way out.

Bromley still found it incredulous and couldn't fathom the situation, but it would not be long before he regrets his word.

Unable to hold it longer, Leon rushed towards the toilet.

Having undergone one complete round of tempering, he did not struggle on the throne as the demon was expelled with ease.

However…

"As I thought, it's clogged again huh?"

Leon muttered wryly. He had given up after the second flush.

He could only sneakily make his escape out the window again.

His turd had become so solid, it was like a brick.

In the Divine Realm, some crystal excrement and metallic excrement of rare and powerful divine beast were used as top-grade forging materials.

Leon wondered if human turd could also reach such a lev—Ahem, he was thinking nonsense again.

Dwight saw a shadow fleeing in the night while strolling outside and paused before rubbing his new Interspatial Ring.

"Sebastian, make sure none of the servants and maids help him. He said he will deal with it, so deal with it alone, he shall." Dwight said to Sebastian, who followed behind him.

"Yes, my Lord."

Sebastian complied and left to inform the other servants and maids.

Shortly after, Bromley's horrific roar could be heard, while Lynne's mother was fleeing the stinky villa.

"What in the fucking world!!!"

In the distance, Leon heard Bromley's roar and fled even quicker.

…

Inside the Eastfell City, the battle between Valaran and Crawford soldiers continued to rage on as fire and smoke billowed through the night.

The Valaran soldiers were afraid of death and weren't just going to offer their necks. The morale of the Crawford soldiers was high, but they weren't having it easy at all. In fact, they were at a disadvantage.

In order to save the civilians, they had restrained themselves from using firearms while fighting an enemy army twice their size with sect members hidden among them.

In a situation where the odds were against them, they could only stay on the defensive and focus on rescuing the civilian, causing the battle to drag out.

They were buying time for someone who could deal with the sect members arrive.

Nevertheless, the situation was extremely chaotic as the civilians did not recognize the difference between Valaran and Crawford soldiers, and only know that soldiers were killing people.

Commoners and aristocrats alike ran for their lives, but with so many soldiers inside the city, there was hardly anywhere to go.

"Please don't kill us!"

"Have mercy, we are just defenseless folks who can't fight back!"

"Why do you want to kill us?!"

Seeing that their path of escape was cut off, they shouted with despair. With soldiers pursuing from behind and soldiers waiting in front, they were at their wit's end.

There were children and elderlies among as well as many adults. They fled together as a group, but they were united and only looked after themselves.

They only stuck together for a higher chance of survival.

Among the group of civilians, there was a young boy forced to carry his old grandpa and another young girl carrying her baby sister. Their parents were nowhere to be seen.

Some of the adults were overweight aristocrats that needed servants to carry them, while a few others were carrying valuables when they could be helping the young and old.

Uncomfortable feeling welled up inside the Crawford soldiers as they saw this.

"We are soldiers of the great Crawford Kingdom! We are here to help!"

"Right this way. The others have already been saved. These soldiers will escort you out!"

The soldiers began explaining with a volume that the group of survivors could hear and directed them.

Some were doubtful and some were not.

"Their uniform is different from the soldiers pursuing us! It must be true!"

The people's eyes soon lit up as they found hope.

"We're saved!"

"Praise the Lord! Thank you!"

Some began to weep as they were escorted by the soldiers.

They had no time to wallow in despair when the Valaran soldiers started killing people. They could only run with all their might. The ones that did wallow in despair were already killed by the soldiers.

"Is this the last batch of survivors?" A Captain inquired from his subordinates.

"The situation in the City is too chaotic. We cannot reach the inner district at all, but this should be the last group from the outer districts."

Outside the city, a temporary camp was set up for the survivors that numbered in the 2000s. They were being served with a big pot of stew that came from the soldier's own ration.

The army had rushed to help and only carried supplies and rations as much as their military vehicles and the single airship hovering above them could carry.

It was only enough to last the soldiers a few days. No one knows how long the battle would last, but they didn't hesitate to feed the survivors.

Inside the camp, they could still see survivors shivering from fear as they fail to hold their bowl of stew properly even though they had already escaped from the nightmare that was inside the city.

On the hilltop next to the camp, Brigadier General Rohan was overlooking the situation of the city with a frown.

The enemy entered from the east district gate, while his soldiers poured in from the west district gate.

The outer district was steadily brought under control, but the soldiers couldn't get close to the inner district of the city.

The vanguard was exploding rounds of gunpowder at the inner district, but they were being decimated by the sect members.

They were at a disadvantage.

They had strong firepower, but the other side had a numerical advantage and high cultivation.

"General, look! There's an army coming from the north! Could it be more reinforcements from the Queen?" A soldier pointed and reported excitedly.

"Hm?"

The brigadier general turned his gaze away from the city's inner district and focused on the northern outskirts.

A large shadow was inching ever closer from the distance. As it got close and got illuminated by the light of the burning city, their appearance was revealed.

There were roughly 15 thousand to 20 thousand soldiers. The brigadier general could not get an accurate read on the numbers at a glance, but his expression quickly turned bad with a big frown.

If the enemy had reinforcement, then he had no choice but to pull his troops out and retreat. He wasn't going to let his men get slaughtered for nothing.

"Valaran and Durham soldiers! This is bad!" The soldier exclaimed first as he paled with horror.

Did the Queen fail to defend the eastern borders? But that is impossible! The Queen is almighty!

"Hm?" Look again, there are some Crawford soldiers mixed in the army."

The brigadier general's brows relaxed. The Queen succeeded and sent reinforcement to help.

"What?!" The soldier's expression turned for the worse. "It's over! Even our own soldiers had jumped ship and joined enemy!"

"Nonsense!" Brigadier General Rohan roared and smacked the soldier on the back of the head. "Why the hell are you only assuming the worse? Can't the army soldiers surrender to our Queen instead?"

The arriving mixed army was the one led by Aria and Lynne.

When they arrived, the situation was terrible beyond their imagination. The east district was a dead zone. All the people in that district had already been slaughtered.

The west district's people were saved by the brigadier general's army, but there were still people fleeing for their lives in the north and south districts.

All sorts of screams and mad laughter could be heard echoing out from the city among the chaos. Some enemy soldiers had fallen into the dark side and gotten addicted to slaughtering defenseless innocents.

"How cruel! Those animals all deserve to die!" The usually quiet Aria said with biting coldness as killing intent radiated out of her.

Did these people enjoy stepping on other people's lives because they have the power?

"Let's go, Aria sister! Maybe we can still save some people!" Lynne urged.

Aria nodded strongly.

The two charged ahead of the army and dashed into the burning city of Eastfell.

"W-Wait! That's too reckless!"

The accompanying commander paled with fright. If something happened to these two ladies, he would not know how to explain himself.

"After them!" He roared to the soldiers.

Chapter 251 - Realm Of Sword Spirit

North district of Eastfell City had the greatest number of survivors than any other districts, totaling a count of 4000 people.

However, the inside was literal hell. One look was enough to make any normal person's blood boil with anger.

There were fewer Valaran soldiers in the north district, but it was a playground for the sect members.

Rather than slaughtering the innocents quickly, they enjoy watching the innocents struggle for their lives as they die a slow death.

The fire in the city burned violently and few buildings have already collapsed as a result.

The northern gate was not an exception and had collapsed into a bundle of burning hot charcoal that impeded the survivors from escaping.

Everyone who had attempted to escape through the northern gate had burnt to death without exception and became fuel for the broken gate.

The entire group of survivors was bundled together before the broken gate. All other paths had been blocked off by Valaran soldiers.

On a high building that had yet to catch fire, the sect members gather to watch the show. In truth, the original idea came from an inner sect member.

The outer sect members preferred to just refine the blood, but they were only subordinates of the inner sect members.

"This is getting boring. These vermins are not struggling. Let me help them!" An inner sect member of Bloodfiend Sect licked his lips and said cruelly.

The inner sect member bit his thumb and formed a glob of blood that rotated on the tip of his finger before taking aim like he was holding a firearm.

Bang!

The Blood Bullet was shot and whisked through the air.

A burning building that was already on its last leg in the distance was struck and collapsed.

"Nooo!"

"I don't want to die!"

The people next to the building began scrambling with horror but there was nowhere to go. They were already crowded together.

People began pushing, shoving, and even climbing over each other. Some fell and some were stepped on as they got away from the collapsing and flaming hot building.

A few unfortunate victims looked back with despair as the building enlarged in their pupils. Their bones were broken by the stampede.

"God, why is this happening?"

"What did we do to deserve this—"

Boom!

Rubbles and flaming hot charcoal scattered, claiming the lives of dozens and seared the flesh of a few dozen more nearby survivors.

"Ahhh! It burns!"

"It hurts! Help me! I think my leg is broken!"

"Nooo! I'm stuck!"

Some got trapped under the rubbles of the ruined building and pleaded.

The cries of the victims sent waves of tremors through the rest of the survivors as they looked at the flaming hot broken gate with steely determination.

"Everyone! We can overcome this obstruction if we all rush at once!"

A commoner voiced the thoughts of many, but no one was the first to move. Everyone knew what the consequence of being the first runners was.

They would become sacrifices and stepping stones for others to climb over the broken gate safely, while they themselves will be suffering the agony of being burned alive until the last wisp of vitality leaves their dying body.

Boom!

Another building collapsed and the survivors no longer hesitated as a large group of people in the back began pushing forward.

"Noo! What are you all doing?! Stop pushing! Ahhh!"

People at the forefront could not hold back the strength of so many people and be helplessly pushing into the burning hot broken gate and used stepping stones for others to survive.

"Bahaha! This is it! Struggle, vermins!"

The inner sect member laughed insidiously.

"You are too mean." Another one smirked and enjoyed the cruel entertainment.

Mean? Mean was a severe understatement!

The outer sect members shivered. The cruelty of the inner sect members was on a whole different level.

Aria and Lynne saw what happened and trembled with anger. Others kill for survival but these sect members were hunting people for sport!

Lynne's sword glowed with a blueish hue before she slashed at the broken northern gate with a wave of cold air that snuffed out the fire and instantly cooled the surface of the broken gate.

Another slash was sent, and the entire broken gate obstruction crumbled into fine pieces.

"We're saved! Thank you, beautiful ladies!"

The people cheered as they found their saving grace and rushed out of the city.

Aria and Lynne did not say a single word and dashed over the northern wall.

"Hm? Where did these beautiful ladies come from? Did you both come to play?" An inner sect member said with a grin, while the rest chuckled and stared at the two fairies unrestrainedly.

Killing intent radiated from the two ladies. This was the first time both wanted to kill someone so badly.

The world was not for the weak-hearted. They have steeled their resolved and prepared to slaughter all these inhuman fiends.

Their future mother-in-law had taught them a few military tactics for commanding an army but the focus had always been on sword techniques and the [Formless Sword Art].

At the end of the day, the Queen was not a general, but a warrior.

If one's strength was sufficient, what do they have the need for strategies? Just sweep all obstacles with their sword!

The laughter died down in the group of sect members and looked at the two ladies seriously as they felt a powerful aura radiating from them.

The outer sect members only had cultivation between the 7th to 9th step, while the inner sect members were between 3-stars to 5-stars level.

"Be careful, these two women are very strong! We need to fight together!"

Aria and Lynne didn't feel a need to exchange words with such cruel people.

In a short instance, the two sides were already engaged in battle.

[Formless Sword Art]

Strong icicle element gathered to Lynne's sword and radiated with frigidness before she swept out with a sword wave imbued with her ice element.

Lynne knew her shortcoming. She had yet to master the sword and could only utilize her advantage at long-range combat.

"Dodge!"

An inner sect member shouted, but three outer sect members reacted too slow and got slashed in half from the waist.

It was instant death.

The frigid chill froze their blood and countered the strong blood vitality of blood cultivators.

"Kill her!"

The two ladies were surrounded by the sect members of the Bloodfiend Sect.

When Lynne attacked, an inner sect member at the 5-star level snuck behind and fire numerous Blood Bullets at her back, but Lynne did not even bother looking back.

Shing, shing, shing!

In a quick flurry of sword shadows, all the blood bullets were deflected by Aria. Lynne's back was completely covered by Aria as they worked together in tandem.

An equally powerful pressure exuded from Aria, but the sect members felt even more threatened by the sense of danger she was giving off than what they were getting from Lynne.

There was a certain sharpness in the way Aria stared at them like she was a sword and the sword was Aria.

"This sharpness…"

A knowledgeable inner sect member had an abrupt change in expression.

"Realm of Sword Spirit, she's a Swordsman!"

"What!"

The other sect members became shocked.

"How is this useless kingdom still able to produce such a young Swordsman?!"

The inner sect member had not guessed wrong.

Aria was a monstrous prodigy in the way of the sword. When she was given a sword, she only took one week to unite human and sword, comprehending the realm of sword spirit to become a Swordsman.

In the known Human Domain, a Swordsman might not necessarily be able to jump stages and fight those with higher cultivation, but they were almost invincible within the same stage of cultivation

The Queen was completely dazed at that time.

The realm of Sword Spirit was not hard to achieve, but even the most dedicated to the sword would take a year to achieve.

A genius could achieve it in less than half the time, but one week was unprecedented.

"Call the elder! We can't handle such a person on our own!"

An outer sect immediately ran to call for help, but the two ladies did not give them the opportunity.

Lynne's sword glowed with a blue hue and another icy Sword Wave was sent the outer sect member's way, bisecting the person in half.

Another instant death!

Everyone felt chill.

With a Swordsman guarding the back, they could not do anything to Lynne.

"Shit! Focus on the Swordsman first! I don't believe she can't take on so many of us at once!"

"Don't hold back on your blood vitality! It's do or die!"

…

At the Governor's mansion, the two hooded figures were still at the scene.

The Governor's mansion was the most central and highest point of the entire Eastfell City. The entire situation of the city could easily be seen from there.

"We have a sudden change in the situation. More reinforcements have arrived."

"The troops are from Valaran and Durham. The northern coalition army has failed. We failed."

The two hooded figures were both elders of the Bloodfiend Sect, except one was an inner sect elder while the other was an outer sect elder.

Both of them knew what it means for the northern coalition army to fail. The Grand Elder of their Bloodfiend Sect, a Blood Transcendent was killed.

"Hm? I sense a Swordsman in the north district, a particularly young one at that." The inner sect elder squinted.

"Seriously?" The outer sect elder kicked the empty husk of the Governor's corpse in annoyance. He was the one that made secret deals with the Governor over the years. "Useless thing can't even provide such important intelligence!"

"This changes a lot of things. We have all underestimated the Crawford Kingdom far too much. Any place would have their own hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Fortunately, we still have our Sect Master." The inner sect elder said with grimness.

"Send the signal. We cannot wait any longer."

The outer sect elder nodded and pulled out a large cylindrical object from his sleeve and pointed it towards the sky before lighting the rope attached at the end.

Very shortly, a fiery orb was shot into the sky before it exploded into a round of fireworks and formed the outline of a giant drop of blood.

The beacon was lit and the message was sent!

Chapter 252 - Kingdom In Chaos

The firework that was a giant drop of blood exploded in the sky was like a beacon in the night that sent a ripple throughout the kingdom of Crawford like a chain reaction.

After the first firework from Eastfell Region, three more rose from its neighboring region, followed by another five from the neighboring region of those neighboring regions until the giant drop of blood was seen above every major city and town in the kingdom.

Leon was scuttling on the rooftops of the Upper District when he saw the giant drop of blood in the sky above the nearest neighboring city of the north, Rainwallow City.

"What's going on here? A giant drop of blood in the sky?"

Leon used [Spirit Eyes] and scrutinized every direction and noticed similar firework in the sky.

"Could this be related to the Bloodfiend Sect?" Leon guessed with scrunched brows. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem like a good sign. The enemy has infiltrated the kingdom more deeply than I expected. I wonder if there are any rats hiding in the Capital…"

A whistling sound was suddenly heard hurling through the air.

Leon turned towards the direction of the Royal Palace and saw a fiery ball of intensely concentrated energy taking off at great speed.

In a short instance, it broke past the starting threshold of the Sky's Suppression and continued to fly higher and higher.

At the same time, it became shaky and unstable until…

Boom!

The fiery ball exploded in the high sky and a magnified sun was seen in its place.

The night sky was temporarily lit brightly.

"That's…"

Leon wasn't sure if he was hearing things, but he felt like he heard Grandpa Don's voice, shouting "explosion" with great gusto.

He immediately facepalmed.

"This is not a competition."

Leon's lips twitched and did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Somewhere in the dark alleys of the Capital, two hooded figures looked up at the brightly lit sun in the sky that started to fade as quickly as it came.

They looked at each other with confusion, while one of them was still holding onto a similar cylindrical object, not sure whether to fire the signal into the sky or not.

Was there another group in the Capital that they did not know about?

"To fire or not to fire…"

"Look, that's not the same as our beacon signal."

"That's right… it's just a blazing sun."

"Someone is messing with our heads."

Both were speechless.

"Right… so about this beacon signal..."

"Fire it."

"Okay."

The two hooded figures quietly discussed before a similar giant drop of blood appeared in the skies of the Capital after the fiery sun faded into the night.

"Sure enough, there are still rats in the Capital."

Leon locked his eyes on the location coldly. It was not far from him at all, still within the Upper West District. A black spear had already appeared in his hand.

"If I'm quick, I might be able to catch these rats!"

With that thought, Leon blinked from rooftop to rooftops, towards the location.

In a few instances, he arrived with a heavy thud.

The two hooded figures gasped with surprise. They did not think someone would arrive so quickly.

Leon studied the hooded figures in the dark alley with a sharp look. Nothing could be hidden from his eyes.

Their hidden features were revealed to him. Very grotesque but still very human. This was just the form. As for their nature, he had yet to find out.

"Are you both from the Bloodfiend Sect?" Leon asked coolly.

The two hooded figures did not answer and lunged at him with their drawn swords.

"Courting death!"

Leon swept away both their attacks with his spear like a dragon tail slap without holding back.

The two hooded figures were sent flying by the force of his swing and slammed into the concrete walls of an adjacent building with broken sternums and coughing blood.

In a single strike, he had already incapacitated the two hooded figures, who were obviously not his match.

The might of his spear sweep contained four echoes and reached a staggering 7200-jin worth of force. If kinetic energy were infused into his attack, his opponents might have died on the spot, but that was not what he wanted.

"You, how can you be so strong?" A hooded figure wiped the blood from his cheek and asked with incredulity.

None of the two could fathom how Leon's physical strength could be so tyrannical. With the faint energy fluctuation, the boy was giving off, they thought he was a person who had only just stepped on the road of cultivation.

"Useless talk. Answer the question. What was that beacon signal for?" Leon frowned while having the two pinned against the cracked wall with his spear.

"Hehe, you answer my question first, then I'll answer yours." One of the hooded figures smirked, but that smirk was soon frozen for eternity.

Leon had snapped his neck with his spare hand without further thoughts.

The remaining hooded figure also froze at Leon's decisiveness. "You killed him."

"I only needed one person alive to answer my questions," Leon said nonchalantly.

How could he not see that they were buying time to heal their wounds?

The grotesque feature, the blood lust, and the strong blood vitality in their bodies. Leon had practically confirmed that they were blood cultivators from the Bloodfiend Sect.

"Unless you want to end up like him, you should answer my questions."

"Ptui!" The hooded figure spat a phlegm of blood at Leon and fearlessly said, "Do you think I am stupid enough to believe that you will let me go after? No need to ask. You will soon find out anyway!"

Leon had craned his neck and dodged the spit of blood. He frowned at the other party's words.

The person did not fear death and had completely accepted his fate.

Before Leon could torture the answer out of the person, his attention was drawn away by a sudden scream that ran through the open streets.

Looking back, he was greeted with a bloodstained grin.

"Looks like it has started." The person said.

Leon deepened his frown.

"Count yourself lucky. I don't have the time to let you experience a life worse than death."

With that said, Leon snapped the person's neck and gave him a quick death.

The two hooded figures were only 3 stars and 4 stars in cultivation, respectively. If Leon had to guess, they were probably inner sect members.

Leon searched their bodies, but found nothing of importance and quickly left to check what was going on outside on the streets.

"Ahhh! Don't kill me!"

"What do you want?! Money? I give you all of them! Please spare me, ahhh!"

"Nooo, I don't want to die!"

The street was filled with chaos.

The sect members of Bloodfiend Sect ran rampant through the streets, setting up fires, destroying buildings, and slaughtering people.

Leon instinctively had a bad feeling. The signal was to inform all Bloodfiend Sect members to wreak havoc and exterminate all life?!

"Goddammit! That damn evil sect! They've gone completely mad!" Leon gnashed his teeth with rage.

It was not hard for Leon to arrive at the conclusion that the Bloodfiend Sect was going through senseless killing in every city and town they had their people planted and lit with the beacon signal.

How many lives will be lost this night?! Some people just want to see the world burn! I will not condone such madness!

Leon gripped his spear and leaped onto a high-rise building to quickly observe the situation.

The city guards had been reformed and turned over a new leaf, performing dutifully to uphold the law and security of the Capital.

When the instance of chaos broke out, they were the first to rush out to dwell the chaos.

The city guards were currently locked in battle with the Bloodfiend Sect alongside some nobles, but they were clearly at a disadvantage.

Their cultivation wasn't as high and blood cultivators possessed a slightly more powerful physique, granted by their strong blood vitality.

Young nobles and misses were getting killed left and right, and their blood was absorbed by blood-reinforced weapons.

The hurried footsteps of palace guards could be heard as they arrived at the scene, but the strongest of the group was only at 3 stars, two levels weaker than the strongest member of the Bloodfiend Sect present.

Similar chaos was breaking out in other districts.

Out of nowhere, dozens of enemies had appeared in their Capital. So many bloodsuckers had been hidden right under their noses.

After resolving this issue, a Capital-wide heavy inspection is required to flush out the remaining rats. Evidently, there were hidden passageways and rooms they have no knowledge of in the Upper District.

"I need to help them." Leon voiced objectively. Rage was still burning in his eyes.

The palace guards arrived to help, but only ended up locked in a stalemate with the enemy.

Suddenly, the head of a 3-star level blood cultivator exploded as a jet-black spear pierced the cracked ground with a boom.

Soon after, Leon landed with a heavy thud and recollected his black spear and lunged towards his next closest target like a cheetah pouncing onto its prey.

He had always been tossing his spear around like a ballistic missile.

It had great killing power, but this was not the right way to use a spear that was considered the emperor of weapons in the Divine Realm.

With a quick swipe, Leon felled the head of another 3-star level blood cultivator.

For a moment, everyone had paused the battle to look at the new arrival. Leon, in turn, locked onto all the blood cultivators on the street.

He did not kill wantonly, but all these blood cultivators deserve!

Let all these inhuman fiends become sacrifices for my spear mastery!

Chapter 253 - Died With Grievance

Two swift kills were enough to freeze the entire battlefield on the streets of Upper West District momentarily.

The city guards, nobles, and palace guards were locked in a passive disadvantage against disciples of Bloodfiend Sect, but with Leon's timely arrival, the tides of battle were turned in their favor.

"It's the prince! The prince is here with us!"

A city guard rejoiced.

The spirits of the people were immediately lifted with the prince's presence. What an honor it was to fight alongside royalty.

"He is the prince? Forget the others and kill the prince! The head of Crawford royalties is worth more than the lives of ten thousand others!" A 5-star inner disciple barked with frenzy.

The subsequent attention of all ten outer disciples and four remaining inner disciples of Bloodfiend Sect were shifted to Leon. Their eyes glowed with crimson greed.

The sect will reward them handsomely for the death of every Crawford royalty they contributed towards.

In the entirety of the declining Crawford Kingdom, there were only three remaining Crawford royalties. The Queen was out of the question and the King was always secured in the safety of the Inner Palace, where another Transcendent resided.

They would not be able to find a better opportunity than now to earn some great contribution points!

Explosive strength burst out of their bodies as they kicked away their opponents and all charged at Leon from different directions.

[Burning Blood]!

Burning Blood was a secret skill of burning their blood vitality to gain a momentary burst of strength that exceeds their usual limits, allowing them to fight opponents one to two levels above themselves.

None of the Bloodfiend Sect disciples hesitated to use this secret skill in order to kill the prince! Their skin glowed with a crimson sheen and bloody steam oozed from their open pores.

"Hahaha! The first blood of Crawford royalty will be drawn by me!" A 4-star inner disciple roared in early celebration, completely unfazed by the two dead inner disciples.

Leon was just lucky to catch the two unfortunate 3-star inner disciples off guard. The art of assassination was just like that, allowing someone to kill stronger opponents through sneak attacks.

That was what every Bloodfiend Sect disciple was thinking. Nothing more, nothing less.

The 9th step outer disciples, on the other hand, did not have any hope of delivering the fatal blow and only hoped to gain contribution points by participating in the kill.

Being the center of the blood cultivator's concentrated attack, Leon frowned for a different reason.

Too weak!

Leon secretly complained. These opponents died too quickly for him to gain any insights into the Way of the Spear.

Only when he is fighting equally powerful opponents to his heart's content would he have a chance of increasing spear mastery.

"Your Highness, be careful!"

"Watch out!"

The city guard cried with alarm, seeing the prince had yet to move. He immediately regretted exposing the prince's status to the enemy.

Who knew that his words would attract all the enemy and cause the prince to fall into a dangerous situation?!

Just when countless blood-crimson blades were about to land on Leon, his body vanished from the spot in an instance.

Bam!

The asphalt ground cracked in his place.

"Where did he go?!" A 4-star inner disciple roared with frustration. So close! Just a little faster and the prince's head would have been his!

Everyone looked around furiously.

"Above! He is above!"

A 9th step outer disciple quickly shouted.

In the sky, Leon was gripping the black spear tightly over his head and descending with increasing momentum from a height of 100fts.

"Hahaha! foolish brat, you want to die that badly, huh?! Let me send you on your way then!"

The 5-star inner disciple guffawed.

It was very difficult to maneuver in the air without any accompanying skills or ability. Logically, this should be a rookie move, and the one on the ground should be the one holding the absolute advantage over the person in the air.

If nothing unexpected happens, the stupid brat was going to die very soon! At least, that what the inner disciple thought.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

The hearts of the inner disciples were beating harder, the closer Leon got to the ground for an unknown reason. A sign of impending doom filled their being with hair-raising chills and their expressions soon turned horrid.

Even the surrounding people from the Crawford Kingdom became appalled.

Oh no! The prince is going to sacrifice himself!

Everyone thought Leon was going to trade his life to take down the other.

He did not show any signs of slowing down. He had completely disregarded defense and focused entirely on his attack!

"Are you crazy?! You want to take us down with you?! Dream on!"

The inner disciples and outer disciples all retreated out of the way with abrupt changes in expressions, thinking they had decisively lost in a contest of guts against a brat!

Little did they know, Leon was completely confident in coming out unscathed even if they followed through!

He only needed to concern himself with the inner disciples. The 9th step outer disciples were completely incapable of inflicting any damage on his tempered body!

Bam!

Leon slammed into ground great force and sunk the already cracked asphalt ground into a small crater.

A glint flickered in eyes of the palace guards, nobles, and city guards at the opportunity the prince presented to them as the disciples of Bloodfiend Sect retreated towards them with their backs!

All sorts of attacks were made to target the heart, neck, and heads, while some attempted to directly bisect the evil bloodsuckers in half.

A few unfortunate outer disciples died on the spot after having a sword lunged into their brains, but many others managed to survive.

The inner disciples were alerted of the danger and managed to twist their bodies to avoid fatal blows, but the seven surviving 9th step outer disciples weren't so lucky.

Some had their hearts impaled, some had shallow cuts on their neck, and one of them had a sword lodged halfway through their waist as the blow was blocked a bit slow but not too late! At least, they still had half their waist to hold their upper and lower body together!

"Argh! You annoying fleas, I'll kill you first!"

The surviving Bloodfiend Sect disciples were enraged, while the few city guards, nobles, and palace guards all widened their eyes with horror.

What's going?! Why aren't these monsters dying?!

Before a few surviving bloodsuckers could counterattack, Leon had already followed up with his next attack by lunging forward and lop off the heads of one 9th step outer disciples and two 4-star inner disciples with the tips of his spearhead in a single clean twirling motion.

"These blood cultivators all have strong blood vitality! You have to cut off their heads to kill them swiftly!" Leon warned the others.

The people beamed with enlightenment, while the remaining six outer disciples and two inner disciples had changes in expression.

Swoosh!

Another three heads belonging to two 9th step outer disciple and one 4-star inner disciple suddenly flew through the air.

A split-second distraction was all it took for Leon to quickly reap another three lives.

"Fucker!"

The last surviving 5-star inner disciple roared with indignation. He blasted the palace guard obstructing him away with a palm strike and quickly turned with a horizontal slash.

If not for Leon already lunging at him, he would have had time to kill the palace guard otherwise.

The trajectory of the blood-crimson sword from the 5-star inner disciple was aligned with Leon's own neck, but all he did was swap the black spear to his left hand and lunge it towards the 5-star inner disciple's head while raising his own right arm to block the sword blow.

"You're fucking crazy!"

The 5-star inner disciple almost had his eyes popped out.

Madman! You are a fucking madman! Do you think your right arm is made out of Obsidian Metal?! Because of you, we are both going to die!

Anyone would have retreated in Leon's situation, but not him. The defensive capability of his right arm was after all, comparable to 9-star graded materials.

Clang! Poof!

Two subsequent sound was heard. One loud like the clashing of metals and one was soft like the drilling of steel through flesh.

The 5-star inner disciple plopped dead on the ground with his eyes wide in disbelief and indignation. He had died with grievance.

None of the opponents had ever fought the way Leon did. In fact, no one was capable of such a feat unless they had a monstrously tough physique like Leon.

It was simple and straightforward, but also savage and unrefined like barbarians.

The surrounding people were shocked silly and stared at Leon dumbly.

"Finish off the rest of them!"

Leon's voice in their ears, before they snapped out of their stupor.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Only the 9th step outer disciples were left, and this was something the palace guards could handle.

Shortly after, all the disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect within the Upper West District were killed thereafter.

They had all gathered at this particular street for some reason, but the chaotic situation in the other districts was more widespread.

He was not worried about the Royal Palace with Grandpa Don there, and no chaos seemed to have broken out in the Lower Districts.

The Lower District was just recently rebuilt. There was no place to hide there, but the number of bloodsuckers that had been hiding in the Upper District made Leon's heart run cold.

There hadn't been any reports of missing people or homicide cases in the Upper District after the Capital Crisis incident with spiders, meaning these blood cultivators hadn't been secretly sucking people's blood for their cultivation.

Leon didn't think these blood cultivators could resist such temptation for so long unless they had a supply of Blood Pills or simply been put to sleep until now.

The thought of all these blood cultivators suddenly appearing during Capital Crisis made Leon sweat. Although Don would have been able to eventually eradicate them all, the casualty up until then would have been very great.

Leon rummaged through the dead bodies of the blood cultivators and found a more advanced version of the [Blood Refining Art] on the body of the 5-star inner disciple. There were also some basic versions of the [Blood Refining Art] on the dead bodies of the outer disciples.

He pocketed them all into his Worldspace. It would become a headache if someone secretly took one and cultivated it in secret.

"Hm?"

Leon glanced at the corpse of an outer disciple, who was one of the first to die after having his heart pierced.

He made his way over and stepped on it and felt the corpse slightly shivered. His eyes grew cold and raised his spear.

"Nooo!"

The 'corpse' suddenly cried in alarm under Leon's foot, but the struggling ceased after Leon embedded his spear into the person's head.

Leon gave the outer disciple some credit. He had almost overlooked this outer disciple that pretending to be dead in a very inconspicuous spot.

"Clean up these bodies. Make sure to cut off the heads of any intact corpse."

After giving out his instruction, Leon waste no further time and departed immediately to assist the other districts.

Chapter 254 - Lending A Hand

Upper North District.

On the street outside the Lancaster's workshop, one topless man holding a hammer of fire and one black-robed man wielding a blood-crimson sword was currently having a face-off.

Surrounding them were a few dozen corpses of both Upper District residents and disciples of Bloodfiend Sect.

The residents were killed by normal sword wounds and having their blood emptied out of their bodies, but the disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect had strangely died from mushed brains after having their heads bashed in as it could be seen from their concaved forms.

Further away, a ring of blacksmiths, city guards, palace guards, and other residents of Upper North District gathered at the scene.

"The Bloodfiend Sect sure is fearsome to have hidden so many disciples in this city for so long. Tell me, exactly what does your sect intend to accomplish with this move of yours? Did you expose yourselves only to kill innocents? Ha, I don't believe it even if you were to say that was the case." Duke Ignis said to the black-robed man, the last 5-star inner disciple in this particular area.

The other disciples had all been killed by him with a simple smack on the head with his hammer that resembled the weapon of a mythical lightning god, but coupled with his current overall appearance, he was like some god of fire and smithing.

The 5-star inner disciple gave the Duke a nasty look, but it was also wrought with disbelief as he stared down at sword hand that was still trembling from an exchange of blows.

His body was glowing red and bloody mist could be seen subtly oozing from his body.

It was clear that the 5-star inner disciple had activated his secret skill [Burning Blood], yet he had still lost in a contest of strength against Duke when their cultivation was equal.

It was not evident at the start, but the longer the battle was drawn out and the effectiveness of [Burning Blood] was burning out, it became crystal clear. But how was that possible?

"You, how are you overpowering me? I should be the one overpowering you after using my secret skill!"

Duke Ignis did not hold much hope that his opponent would answer his question. Thus, he was not bothered. Only an idiot or an overconfident fool would spill their secret objective.

He shrugged nonchalantly before looking up with a profound gleam and asked, "What do you think is the most important aspect of utilizing an Awakener's elemental ability to optimize their battle strength?"

The 5-star inner disciple was thinking of ways to get out his current predicament. When he heard the Duke's question, he sneered. "Isn't that obvious? It's secret arts."

Duke Ignis shook his head. He was no longer interested in telling his answer.

True, secrets arts can help an Awakener unleash power beyond their ordinary means, but it does not optimize one's battle strength.

The answer was control.

Only when control had reached the pinnacle, will an Awakener be able to utilize every ounce of their energy without any waste in the process.

Only when control had reached the pinnacle, will an Awakener be able to compress their power to terrifying levels.

Fire was destructive by nature and when gathered in large quantities, the destructive power would naturally increase accordingly. But if the same quantity were compressed very densely, the increase in destructive power would be exponential and no longer as simple as one plus one equals two.

This was the difference between using crude attacks and using a technique, an art, or simply a secret skill. There wasn't much difference between the three.

Going one step further than that, if all that power were compressed into a single weapon that could hold it like the Duke was doing, then they would not be losing any battle strength no matter how many times they attack with their weapon.

On the other hand, the 5-star inner disciple would only grow weaker after the time limit of his secret skill expires.

It seems that all future battles would place great emphasis on the weapon compatibility with the Awakener. At least, that is what the Duke believes.

Originally, Ignis would not have achieved perfect control over his fire element so soon, but the revised [Fiery God Manual] provided a truly clear, effective, and systematic way of achieving it.

"Never mind, let's not waste any more time and get this over with. There are still places that require immediate assistance." The Duke said.

His wife had rushed home to check on their daughter, but there were three other places in Upper North District that were being attacked by disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect.

The flaming hot hammer was raised with ease, but the 5-star inner disciple dared not to underestimate the crushing weight behind it. He had already experienced it firsthand. It was enough to stun him.

But before the 5-star inner disciple could prepare himself, he was struck with a wave of weakness as his body lost its red glow.

The duration of [Burning Blood] was over.

"W-Wait."

The 5-star inner disciple panicked. He was already a disadvantage. Now that his battle strength had plummeted, he would just be a fish on the chopping board.

However, Duke did not stop. The hammer fell and the pupils of the 5-star inner disciple finally constricted with fear. He gritted his teeth and raised his sword to defend.

Time seemed to have been slowed as the hammer grew larger in his field of vision, but before the hammer could make contact, a sudden sharp pain assaulted him, and his consciousness slipped into oblivion instantly.

Boom!

Everyone else only saw that the 5-star inner disciple's head suddenly exploded before a black spear was inserted into the ground in between the Duke and the headless corpse that soon fell to the ground not long after.

"This spear…"

Duke Ignis paused his attack and inspected the spear. He naturally recognizes a weapon he had forged himself, but looking around he didn't see the person he was expecting.

"Come out, Boy. How dare you steal my thunder?" The Duke raised his voice to the surrounding, but he was not angry.

Leon's laugh soon followed before he jumped from a nearby rooftop and retrieved his black spear from the ground. "You were taking too long, so I thought I should lend a hand, father-in-law." He joked.

"Well, you sure picked quite the timing to 'lend a hand', huh?" The Duke glared at him.

Leon smiled sheepishly before he turned serious and asked, "Where's mother-in-law?"

"She went home to look after the house." Duke answered, before adding, "Alright, we can talk later. I still need to clear out the remaining enemy in the district."

"There's no need for that. I already finished them off while you were busy here. There's only Upper East District and Upper South District left that are still in trouble."

The Duke was speechless.

This boy was really efficient.

That was what the Duke thought, but Leon wouldn't think so. Before coming, he already took a detour through the Cromwell's villa and the residential area of Aria's parents.

He also knew that Upper North District would have no problem with the Duke and Duchess around, but he still came to the north first on the off chance that something might go wrong.

It was his priority to confirm the safety of his close ones first, before helping others in need. He was no saint, though there was once a time when he did aspire to be one.

Nevertheless, he was still quick to arrive and help.

"Then I will go help the next district after I'm done here." The Duke said.

The bodies of the disciples of Bloodfiend Sect were quickly reduced to ashes, while the other dead bodies were sorted and brought back to their families. The streets were cleaned up to avoid plague and a funeral will likely be held in memory of the deceased.

…

Central District.

A central district didn't actually exist in the Capital. When one talks about the central district, they are referring to the one to two streets' worth of buildings that lay right on the outskirts of the Royal Palace.

For the convenience of meeting the king in the following morning, the general got people to arrange for their accommodation in the closest building that offered such services.

Currently, the two envoys were staring down at the situation outside from the balcony of a luxurious apartment on the top floor alone.

The general had already left to eliminate the enemy in the area and quell the chaos.

"Is the Capital of a kingdom usually this rowdy in the Human Domain?" The Supreme Elder asked rhetorically with indifference like the problem outside had nothing to do with him.

Princess Faelyn observed the outside quietly with concern. The occasional screams outside made her uneasy. "Can you help them, Supreme Elder?" She requested.

"No, don't forget why we came here. We are seeking an alliance with humans to get closer to the World Tree, but at the same time, we are studying the strength of humans. If they are so weak that they cannot even handle such a small problem, then there is no need to talk about an alliance."

The eyes of the Supreme Elder glinted with sharpness. If humans were so weak, why do they need to resort to an alliance when they can just take everything for themselves?

At the same time, he felt doubtful.

The humans of this kingdom were clearly very weak. The Capital could be considered the heart of this kingdom, but he had hardly seen a single person at the latter stages of the Ranked Awakener realm, and he had only felt the presence of one Transcendent.

Everyone basically practices the same cultivation technique. The only person he could not see through so far was that boy the humans considered their prince.

That person was practicing differently from the rest. He would not forget how Leon blocked Rowan's sharp wind attack with bare flesh without suffering a single wound. That was something only the beasts could do.

"Continue to observe for now." The Supreme Elder said.

Princess Faelyn silently sighed.

Meanwhile, the other cities and towns in the Crawford Kingdom were experiencing hell on earth. They did not have anyone powerful enough to fend off the sudden attackers.

Two figures high in the clouds frowned while they observed the situation of each place.

"A lot of people will die if we just watch and not act." One of the figures said.

"Why don't you act then? I only came to watch because I was curious. Personally, I do not care who rules this kingdom as long as they continue to guard against the west. I am just the overseer of the Durham Kingdom, not the Valaran Kingdom. This one is on you. I don't want to get punished overstepping my boundaries." The other one said. "Alright, I need to head back before 'they' realize I am gone for too long."

A-CHOO!

The Durham Overseer sneezed as he left.

"Hmph!" The Valaran Overseer expressed his dissatisfaction with the Durham Overseer's answer, but he soon smiled when he looked down at the city below.

"I didn't see anything." He said to the distance.

The Durham Overseer heard that and smiled.

It was a phony sneeze, but to the people below, it was like heaven answering their pleas for help.

A rain of icicles had suddenly dropped out of the sky and impaled all the disciples of Bloodfiend Sect to death.

Chapter 255 - The Mountain Of Corpses In The Forest

With the darkness of the night as cover, the icicle attack came quickly and without warning. None of the targets were able to escape their fates and neither were there any innocent casualties caught in the middle of it.

It was quick, subtle, lethal, and so overwhelmingly precise that even among Transcendents, not many are able to pull off.

Shortly after the hail of icicles barraged a single city and wiped all the disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect, The Durham's Overseer voice trickled through the air, "One city is enough. The rest is yours."

The Valaran's Overseer froze after sensing the Durham's Overseer was gone for good that he proceeded to sigh.

"Wasn't I asking for your help precisely because you are skilfully undetected in your attacks? What's the point of only saving one city?"

The Overseer shook his head.

"Aish, forget it. It was my oversight that led to this situation. Those other geezers are going to question me for it anyway."

With that, the figure kicked against the air and disappeared, before reappearing in the sky of a different city under attack.

A wave of his hand and a sudden downpour rained on the city before all the disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect rampaging in the city died mysteriously.

The people originally screamed and ran with fear, but the moment the wicked laughter suddenly halted, they glanced back and found their motionless body dropped dead with a single pin-size hole in their heads.

Upon investigation of the deaths, nothing would be found inside their heads except a few drops of water.

The Overseer did not stop and repeat the same process until he cleansed every rampaging disciple of the Bloodfiend Sect in every other defenseless city and town.

There were some outer disciples that he did not kill. These lucky survivors were the minority few that still had a conscience and did not mercilessly kill innocents, nor had they refined human blood before.

That was the only reason they still had a conscience.

[Blood Refining Art] was a cultivation art with two existing methods. One was to cultivate with human blood, and the other was through beast blood.

The refinement of human blood offered steep growth in their cultivation but also corrupt their minds negatively with the resentment and despair of the dead, twisting their morality and principles.

Beast blood also contains the resentment and despair of the dead, but a blood cultivator would have an easier time purifying it through refinement.

Of course, this only applies to the blood of less intelligent beasts. The blood of highly intelligent beasts is no different from humans.

Once upon a time, the Bloodfiend Sect was once a sect that the Kingdom of Valaran respected and treated as an orthodox sect, but as the Bloodfiend Sect grew and expanded, so did their lust for power.

The allure of quick cultivation growth was hardly something they could resist, which ended up making them what they are today.

Even if the descendants of the Denholm Royal family wanted to destroy the Crawford Kingdom, they would not have involved the innocents as they did.

Their twist beliefs and vengeance-driven minds when corrupted by the resentment and despair of the dead they refined, they were pushed to new extremities.

"We… we are still alive?"

The outer disciples muttered in shock are seeing all the inner disciples in his surrounding suddenly fall dead silent.

At the same time, every other Transcendent in the Crawford Kingdom sensed the disturbance in the energy of heaven and earth due to their heightened perception of the Laws as Transcendents.

…

Grassland Region.

Elder Evergreen looked to the west with a profound light in his eyes, before shaking his head. "That boy most likely has no idea the Human Domain had such terrifying experts. A Paragon was it? No… but that person is infinitely close.

"Humans are not to be underestimated." The elder sighed, before directing his gaze to the far east.

…

Capital City.

Grandmaster Don stood up with shock and looked towards the eastern sky. Shortly after, it was shifted to the south, the west, and finally the north. Each change was closer than the last.

The Overseer's traveling speed between the cities was nothing to scoff at.

Don had no idea who was causing the disturbance in the energy of heaven and earth, but he instinctively knew that this person was much stronger than him.

Ever since he reached Transcendence, he knew there was a higher realm, but he never imagined the difference would be so great and felt so inferior.

The Overseer's full power could not be determined with his casual act of cleansing the filth from the Crawford Kingdom, but his mastery over the Water Law was enough to put pressure on those who had yet to reach the same level of mastery.

At the same, the Overseer wanted the other Overseer to act precisely because he was not good at masking his usage of the Law like the other.

On the top floor of the luxurious apartment building in the central district, The Supreme Elder's body stiffened.

Princess Faelyn looked over questioningly.

"Haiz…"

"Supreme Elder?"

"That alliance… we must definitely go through with it." The Supreme Elder said firmly.

Princess Faelyn widened her eyes in surprise as she had no idea what had suddenly caused the Supreme Elder to change his attitude from 'quietly observe and accordingly' to 'ally with the humans at all cost.'

Nevertheless, if they could avoid any form of conflict, that would be great. The Princess smiled sweetly. "That would be for the best."

The Supreme Elder nodded and watched the outside scene with rekindled interest, but his mind still lingered on the power he felt in the distant skies of the surrounding cities.

'The Human Domain really cannot be underestimated. That expert is still not at the level of the chiefs of the high-rank tribes, but at the very at least, that expert is stronger than me.' The Supreme Elder silently thought.

Little did he know that expert was not a person affiliated with the Crawford Kingdom, but he would not act in a manner that would make them hostile against humans even if he knew.

That person was willing to help the Crawford Kingdom when humans are fighting amongst themselves. There was no reason why they would not help again if the Crawford Kingdom was suddenly invaded by a foreign race.

…

"Your Majesty?"

A high-ranking soldier looked at the Queen questioningly, while the rest looked around with alert, thinking her Majesty's sudden pause was due to her having detected nearby enemies.

Elizabeth was looking back but could not see anything but mist and tall trees. She shook her head afterward.

"It's nothing. Let's continue. I can sense a dense smell of blood up ahead. Be on alert."

"Yes, your Majesty!"

The Queen and her army followed along the Azure River running through Extreme Misty Forest.

Soon, the shadow of a bridge was seen, and Elizabeth narrowed her eyes into slits, but not because of this bridge.

The bridge was something she had already anticipated after receiving information that the enemy would be sneaking through the cover of the forest.

What caused her to narrow her eyes were the large shadowy mountains and the sudden pervasiveness of blood in the area.

"There's something up ahead. Be careful of an ambush."

"Yes, sir!"

As the army drew closer, the shadowy mountains became clear. They were mountains of corpses. Strings of webs also tied numerous dangling corpses in the air and blood soaked the ground like running rivers.

"What in the world… happened here?"

"This is the enemy army that secretly tried to invade us? Who could have done this? Or rather… what could have done this?"

"I'm sure everyone would also like to know that."

"No… not really…"

The army broke into a commotion immediately. Many gulped with shock and fear as they had never seen such a more gory sight.

It was like they had just stepped in the lowest level of icy hell and could not help but shiver with chills running down their spines and in their hearts.

An army of 20 thousand Durham soldiers was wiped out just like that, and no one knew the answers to how they died.

This was an army led by a Transcendent!

Everyone's instincts were practically screaming 'danger' and 'get out' immediately. Their nerves were tense and felt like any sudden movements would scare the shit out of them.

The howling whispers and screams of the vengeful spirits of the forest only served to put them further on edge.

Anyone who grew up in the northern parts of the Crawford Kingdom would know about Extreme Misty Forest and the stories surrounding it, ghosts!

They can fight beasts and enemy soldiers without fear because that was what they had trained for, but no one had taught them how to fight ghosts!

Who do you even fight something that was intangible to the physical touch?! Unless you were Awakener, the words 'you are fucked' could not be said enough times.

Elizabeth could sense danger, but not to the level that her own life was threatened.

"Check the corpses. Make sure they aren't pretending to be dead." She said grimly, although the chances of this being the case were practically zero.

"Yes, your Majesty!" the soldiers complied with gulps of fear.

The smell and rivers of blood cannot be faked, and the mountain of corpses would crush those beneath.

"Dead…"

"They are all dead."

The soldiers confirmed.

As if sensing one of the corpses suddenly moving, one of the soldiers nearby flinched.

"Hahaha! Look at your scared look! You are so paranoid, brother!" A soldier teased.

The surrounding soldiers joined in and laughed, but laughed nervously.

"I wasn't paranoid! I swear something just moved!" The paranoid soldier refuted.

"Something just moved? Are sure it wasn't one of us moving?"

The surrounding soldiers began to laugh harder like it would ease their tension and nervousness.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahaha… aaaAAHHHH!"

Midway through their laughter, one of the soldiers suddenly screamed with fear after a half a body belonging to one of the corpses dangling in the air suddenly dropped on him.

The laughter soon died down completely, and the place was filled with nothing but silence. Only the distance howling and wailing of vengeful spirits were heard, and a greater fear gripped their hearts.

Finally, growls were heard and the mountain of corpses began to move... even the dangling corpses began to struggle from their bind.

"The corpses… The corpses are coming to life!"

"Ghouls!"

Chapter 256 - Burning Heaven Makes A Move

"Did someone say, ghouls?"

The notion of ghosts filled the entire army with dread, but when the words "the corpses are moving" were uttered, the fear in their hearts was diminished by half.

Reanimated corpses were something they could at least fight against with their firearms. Nevertheless, a minority of the soldiers still got spooked by the corpses coming back to life.

Sniff… hmm?

"There's a strange smell in the air."

A new pungent flavoring was added to the rich and heavy scent of blood that pervaded the area. A quick look around, and the soldiers spotted a wet patch on another shivering soldier's crotch area.

"What the hell, brother? C'mon, man. Did you really just piss yourself?"

"Not cool, man, not cool."

"Damn, son. Haven't seen an adult man piss himself before. How old are you?"

All sorts of attention and questions were directed at the soldier, much to his embarrassment as the wet soldiers blushed with shame, but one cannot blame him for this. He was one of the surrendered soldiers from the Valaran Kingdom.

The common people of the Valaran Kingdom had never been in contact with Extreme Misty Forest and was not familiar with it.

Before the wet Valaran soldier could answer, a loud authoritative voice rang in his ears.

"Silence! Retreat into formation immediately and prepare for battle! Underestimate these ghouls and you'll be sorry."

The soldiers were all spread around the several mountains of corpses, but once the order was issued, they immediately retreated with all-time seriousness.

Elizabeth floated in the air and looked on calmly as the commanders issued orders for defensive formations.

Time passes and the mountains of corpses began to wiggle more strongly. Soon, corpses began tumbling down from the top one after the other before they stood up with growling noises.

By this point, the soldiers were all in positions. The vanguard had their firearms locked and loaded. Little fear could be seen on their serious faces as they realized none of the undead ghouls had intact bodies.

Some were missing a limb or two and some were crawling on the ground with just their upper bodies.

…As for the headless corpses on the ground, they had not moved a single inch and remained motionless since the start.

It was not long before a round of fire initiated the battle between ghouls and men.

Elizabeth did not participate but spectated from above. A battle of this level did not require her personal intervention.

Rather, it was a good tempering experience for the Crawford soldiers and a chance for the surrendered soldiers of Valaran and Durham to earn merits to redeem themselves.

There was no doubt that such a huge army of undead ghouls would cause future headaches for the Human Domain if they were left unchecked. Thus, they had to be eradicated before the problem festers.

Even so, ghouls with incomplete bodies were the least of the Queen's worries. Even the Transcendent corpse of the Grand Elder of the Illusory Butterfly Sect did not concern her. It was one of the many headless corpses. There was no chance of it reviving as an undead ghoul through vengeful spirit possession. Undead

What did concern her was what killed them all.

The strings of webs were one of the distinctive traits of spiders, but she recalled that the spiders had all been eradicated back during Capital Crisis.

Upon further thought, she shook her head.

No one could guarantee that the spiders had all been eradicated when the underground was uncharted territory and infinitely vast as the continent itself.

There were far, far too many passageways to explore the entire first floor. They had only occupied the main cave that was almost as big as the Capital itself while leasing out a few passageways and underground plots to some interested nobles. The rest of the passageways were sealed off.

Even then, the spider queen had been killed back then.

What else could have been strong enough to slay a Transcendent and slaughter the entire army? Furthermore, it wasn't interesting in eating the corpses and left it as is.

Elizabeth had no idea what it could be, but Extreme Misty Forest had always been an unsettling place of uncertainties. It was not wise to overstay their welcome.

It could become dangerous if the thing that slaughtered everyone came back for them.

Once Elizabeth's thought arrived at this point, she was firm to leave once the ghouls were eliminated.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected occurred during the battle. The newly risen undead ghouls had not had any time to grow before they were slaughtered swiftly under the suppression of firepower.

Their missing limbs further made it difficult to maneuver properly.

Apart from their numbers, which was already less than the mixed army to begin with, the soldiers did not face much pressure when they engaged in close combat after raining bullets on the ghouls.

After the last ghoul had its head chopped off, Elizabeth did not want to linger in the forest any longer.

"Fall back into formation. We are leaving."

In any case, whatever they set out to do, someone or something had settled it for them. There were still problems to resolve back in the kingdom.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The soldiers with absolute obedience.

None of the soldiers wanted to stick around in such a haunted place either.

…

At the heart of the Valaran Kingdom was the Blood Moon Mountain.

It once went by a different name, but ever since the Bloodfiend Sect took over and made it their headquarters, the name was lost to time and the only thing that remains was deep-rooted fear that struck the hearts of the people when the Blood Moon Mountain was mentioned.

A dark, gloomy, and oppressive feeling surrounds the Blood Moon Mountain all year round and there was never a time when there was a shortage of disciples entering and leaving the mountain. At least, not until now.

Although disciples could still be seen, the number was only a fraction of the past and not a single inner disciple or anyone higher in the echelon of the Bloodfiend Sect could be seen for that matter.

In the Royal Palace of Valaran City neighboring the mountain, the king sat on his throne while listening to the report from his subjects on the matter but expressed no opinions.

The king was a 9-star earth-user, a powerful Awakener that was just one step short from Transcendence and was supposed to carry a strong presence, but none of that could be felt.

The eyes of the king were dull, uninterested, and without spirit, like he was just listening to another report on civil disputes and management.

He was already used to being a puppet ruler, a king without real authority while the eyes and ears of the Bloodfiend Sect were spread everywhere. They could even be secretly listening in on their meeting right now.

All the older generation royalties were killed in cold blood for resisting the tyranny of the Bloodfiend Sect while his wife, heir, and daughter were all taken away to the mountain as hostages.

20 years have passed since then. It was uncertain whether they were dead or alive.

"The Blood Moon Mountain is the quietest it has ever been. All the inner disciples and higher-ranking members of the sect are all missing. I suspect that they have all left to join the war efforts against the Crawford Kingdom, including the sect master himself. This could be our chance to liberate ourselves from their control, my King." The royal advisor said.

"Please give us your order, your Majesty."

The officials all bowed and said synchrony. They had all been living under the tyranny of the Bloodfiend Sect, but unlike the king, their hearts had not died yet and the flames of hope were still burning inside them.

The Valaran King looked at them with gloomy eyes and said, "And what orders do you want me to give exactly? What you said were just speculations. It's too risky and would just invite a meaningless death."

"But your family is still on that mountain, sire. Don't you want to save them?"

"My family are all dead! There's no one left to save!"

A rare trace of venomous anger sparkled in the king's eyes when his family was mentioned before it faded and become listless again.

In his mind, there was no doubt that they had long been played to death and wrung dry of their blood to aid those fiends' diabolical blood cultivation.

A devil's promise could not be trusted.

Even if his family was not used for cultivation, they would have committed suicide to not hold him back. Such were the words of his wife before they separated.

But without his family, there was no meaning in living.

The officials before him might still have a future if the Crawford Kingdom wins, but for his Valaran Royal family, there was no longer any future.

The Crawford Kingdom will most likely point their swords at his kingdom in the name of removing the evil fiends, and he will likely be removed as well.

The Crawford Kingdom would not allow such an incompetent king to continue running the kingdom. Communication had long been severed between their kingdoms and tributes had ceased. Whatever existing relationship they had between them had also ceased.

Death did not sound so bad. Perhaps, he would be able to reunite with his family.

At this point, he was simply waiting for death. The only thing stopping him was he could not die until he saw the Bloodfiend Sect fall with his own eyes.

The royal advisor opened his mouth, but no words came out. The king's heart was already dead. It was impossible to convince the king.

He bowed and quietly leave as did the rest of the officials. The king had given up, but they still haven't.

���

Ishaan Kingdom.

Being the neighboring kingdom of the Valaran Kingdom, the Burning Heaven Sect had always been secretly keeping tabs on the Bloodfiend Sect's actions.

The news made their way back quickly to Burning Heaven Sect as they held a council meeting of the highest level to determine the direction of their sect.

"Sect Master, the Bloodfiend Sect has been severely weakened. Now is the chance for us to expand our influence on the Valaran Kingdom." An inner elder said.

"That's right. The Bloodfiend Sect has always been a thorn in our eyes. We should take this chance to destroy them once and for all. Those people have completely lost their minds and walked down the wrong path."

"I agree, the Human Domain will do better without them. Not to mention, they had completely disregarded the warning from 'above' and attacked the Crawford Kingdom. They will be destroyed sooner or later, but if we can save them the efforts of having to personally act, we could get them to owe us a favor. This would put us in a favorable position for the future."

The other three inner elders also chimed in.

The Sect Master contemplated silently as he stared at the map on the round table in front of everyone.

"Mobilize all the available disciples in the sect to the north. No need to recall the other disciples on a mission." The Sect Master said after some thought.

The inner elders were all excited. They could finally get some action!

"However! We will only be targeting the Bloodfiend Sect. Immediately recall all disciples back to the sect after the Bloodfiend Sect is destroyed." The Sect Master added.

The inner elders all froze with the same thought.

Why?