“Blood pill!”
The cyan giant gazed at the huge blood sphere in the sky above the city, his eyes glimmering with desire.
For martial artists seeking to strengthen themselves, a blood pill refined from the life essence of hundreds of thousands of people was a powerful tonic for breaking through bottlenecks. Even if it couldn’t directly cause a breakthrough, it could still significantly advance one’s power.
If he obtained this blood pill, he was confident he could advance to the Second Rank within sixty years. But if the Prince of Pacifying the North got it, it would mean another Second Rank martial artist guarding the border – no longer just a thorn in their side, but a deadly threat.
After the Battle of Shanhai Pass, the barbarians’ second-rank expert had fallen, and they had suffered heavy losses among their mid to high-level fighters. The same was true for the northern demon tribes; they originally had two Third Rank experts, but now only Zhujiu remained.
The northern demon tribes and barbarian alliance urgently needed a Second Rank expert to emerge.
“You’ve come at just the right time, Prince of Pacifying the North. Is this blood pill the wedding dress you prepared specially for me?” Jili Zhigu laughed heartily.
“You don’t have that fortune,” the Prince of Pacifying the North snorted dismissively.
As they spoke, their blades clashed incessantly. Each close-quarters exchange was like a thunderclap exploding in midair, with shockwaves rippling out continuously. The soldiers on the city walls and the cavalry below felt as if they were caught in a tsunami.
One careless move and they could die from the aftershocks of the Third Rank experts’ battle.
“Break the city!”
Jili Zhigu roared, his six-meter-tall cyan body leaping up. The ground boomed, collapsing into a deep crater tens of meters in diameter.
The cyan giant in the air raised his door-sized greatsword high above his head. With a “swish,” the greatsword shot out a sword light tens of zhang long, slashing down fiercely.
This heaven-reaching sword energy seemed to split the sky and cleave the earth. The moment it fell, the soldiers on the city walls and the barbarian cavalry below felt their legs trembling uncontrollably, losing all fighting spirit. Just being able to stand firm was already heroic.
This was fear of power, the most primal fear.
The wall made a “bang” sound as stones shattered, creating a crack from the top of the wall to its base.
“Break for me!”
Jili Zhigu bellowed.
The sword’s energy intensified further.
With a rumbling sound, the city wall could no longer hold and began to collapse on a small scale. The unfortunate soldiers in that section screamed as they fell, buried by the debris.
“Charge in and seize the blood pill!”
The barbarian cavalry’s morale surged.
The soldiers on the top of the wall lifted the prepared battering rams, boulders, and arrows, attacking from their higher position to hinder the barbarians’ assault on the breach.
On the other side, seeing the blood pill condensing in the sky, the crimson giant serpent instantly went berserk. Its single eye shot out beams of golden light, hammering the city wall’s formation and causing the wall to crack continuously. However, the demon army found itself in a predicament. Not only did they have to face attacks from the city wall, but they also had to deal with their fallen comrades suddenly rising and attacking their ranks.
“How ruthless. Massacring the entire Chu State City for this blood pill. The Prince of Pacifying the North is far more ruthless than me. I wouldn’t dare do this; my northern demon tribe’s numbers are limited, and I can’t afford such losses.”
The giant serpent spoke in human language, emitting a buzzing cold laugh. It didn’t seem to be in a hurry, conserving its strength while continuously bombarding the city wall’s formation and entangling with the hidden witches.
…
As time passed, the blood sphere in the sky stopped expanding. Instead, it began to condense, becoming smaller in volume but more intensely radiant.
Waves of powerful elemental energy dispersed from it.
“Gulp…” Yang Yan swallowed, looking up, feeling it was the most tempting thing in the world.
Captain Chen and the other martial artists felt the same, staring up longingly.
In contrast, the ordinary Deputy Minister of Justice and the two Inspectors showed no unusual reaction, but they cautiously stepped back. The expressions of Yang Yan and the others at this moment were like hungry wolves in the cold wind, their eyes dripping with desire, their faces twisted with ferocity and longing…
Yang Yan felt an uncontrollable desire welling up inside him, a desire to obtain the blood pill, to swallow it.
Just as he was about to act, he suddenly saw several figures leap into the air, recklessly rushing towards the blood pill.
As soon as they got close, they rapidly turned into dried bones, their essence and blood devoured by the blood pill.
… Yang Yan snapped out of his trance, his whole body trembling. He realized this was not something he could covet. Approaching rashly would only lead to irreversible consequences.
“Don’t look! Lower your heads!” Yang Yan shouted.
His voice was like a thunderbolt, exploding in the ears of the martial artists in the embassy group.
Captain Chen and the others suddenly awoke, lowering their heads, not daring to look again.
At this moment, a silvery laugh rang out, echoing in every corner of Chu State City. The voice carried a strong allure, making people involuntarily feel love and desire to find its source.
Whether they were the soldiers defending the city, the attacking barbarians, or the living martial artists in the city, all men raised their heads to look at the sky.
An ethereal figure descended from the heavenly realm into the mortal world. She was beautiful, but her allure was even more captivating. The wind caressed her hair and lifted her skirt, making her appear as if she were about to ascend to the heavens.
Like a fairy from the nine heavens, she stepped into the mortal world.
Could there be such a peerlessly beautiful woman in this world… This thought simultaneously arose in the minds of all the men.
The fairy in flowing white robes walked on air, her voice coquettish and soft, possessing a bewitching quality. Like a lover whispering in one’s ear, yet reaching the ears of everyone: “Thank you, Prince of Pacifying the North, for preparing this wedding dress for my lord.”
“Well stolen! Haha, Prince of Pacifying the North, did you think I wanted to break your city? I was just toying with you,” Jili Zhigu laughed.
Swinging his giant sword, he attacked the Prince of Pacifying the North as if swatting flies. The latter gave no ground, and though he appeared much smaller, he unleashed terrifying strength, meeting the cyan giant head-on without yielding an inch.
“What a beauty. If only I could take her back to my tribe as a wife,” Jili Zhigu squinted at the heavenly beautiful woman in the city while fiercely battling the Prince of Pacifying the North, keeping him occupied. He grinned and said:
“How could a mere martial artist like you deceive us? Had we known you had help, to ensure absolute success, we invited the monarch of the Ten Thousand Demons Kingdom. Heh, your city wall can’t stop a nine-tailed celestial fox. After snatching your blood pill, I, she, and Zhujiu will divide it among ourselves.”
“Is that so?” the Prince of Pacifying the North sneered. “Then why don’t you think about who drew the grand formation in the city?”
In the northern part of the city, the Great Feng soldiers and demon troops with bloodshot eyes, controlled by the witches, suddenly froze, like puppets who had lost their master.
“Trying to escape?”
Seeing this, the vertical eye on Zhujiu’s forehead suddenly shot out a beam of black light. This beam had no substantial killing power, so it penetrated the city wall’s formation, striking a certain spot in the space within the city.
A figure fell out of concealment there, wrapped in a black robe with a hood.
He wasn’t harmed, but when struck by the black light, his whole body stiffened as if plunged into an icy cave, his thoughts and movements slowing.
This prevented the black-robed witch from stopping the woman in white from seizing the fruits of victory in time.
…
Above the sea of clouds.
A figure in flowing white robes stood on the clouds, looking down at Chu State City below. His features were blurred, his silhouette seemingly merging with the surrounding mist and clouds.
Standing there motionless, he was easily overlooked. His presence, like his appearance, was vague and low-key as if not part of this world.
“After the massacre, the souls were sealed back into their shells, and secret techniques were used to maintain the vitality of the flesh. Then, using the entire Chu State City as a pill furnace, with the blood essence and souls of living beings as ingredients, everything remained normal until the great pill was formed. The Wushen Cult’s secret techniques interfered with the heavenly mechanisms, while the grand formation in the city maintained the flow of fate. What a brilliant trick to deceive heaven and earth, what a clever Spiritual Realm witch.”
The entire city was like a pill furnace. The “spirit pill” containing the blood essence of 380,000 people had been refining for a full month and was finally approaching completion.
Alchemists are experts at refining pills. For such a world-class great pill, refining for a month was not surprising.
The moment he saw the anomaly in the city, the alchemist, who was already skilled in calculation, immediately understood the cause and effect.
The Prince of Pacifying the North had colluded with the Wushen Cult. The latter helped him refine the blood essence, deceiving heaven and earth.
The Prince of Pacifying the North’s goal was clear: to devour the blood essence, push his cultivation to the peak of the Third Rank, and then seize the princess consort’s spiritual essence to advance to the Second Rank. So, what was the Wushen Cult plotting?
“It’s Zhujiu…” the white-robed alchemist suddenly realized.
Great Feng and the Wushen Cult had historical grudges, but because the northeastern countries were mainly populated by humans, the northeast was rich in resources and suitable for both hunting and farming.
Although there was some aggressive ambition due to population growth issues, they generally preferred to live in peace and prosperity.
Great Feng was the same, so they wouldn’t go to war easily. There were constant border frictions, but no large-scale wars.
In contrast, the northern demon tribes bordering the northeastern territories had strong aggressive tendencies and a fondness for devouring humans, often invading border areas and towns.
“Help the Prince of Pacifying the North advance to the Second Rank, then ally. Their joint forces would then march north to kill Zhujiu. But now it has come itself…”
The white-robed alchemist suddenly frowned: “No, this formation is not the work of the Wushen Cult.”
…
Just as the woman in the white dress reached out her hand towards the blood pill, about to seize the fruits of victory, an unexpected change occurred.
Below, a black lotus flower covering a range of tens of miles appeared, and then slowly bloomed. The lotus flower with a black, viscous liquid, each petal symbolizing corruption and evil.
The woman in white stiffened, her fingertips stained with a layer of ink-like color that rapidly spread. Her fair, delicate arms were dyed with an ugly black color, and her eyes uncontrollably turned red.
In an instant, she transformed from an ethereal fairy to an ugly, demonic witch.
Behind the woman in white, a large, fluffy fox tail appeared, followed by a second, a third, a fourth… With each fox tail that appeared, the blackness receded a bit. After all nine tails manifested, she had expelled all the corruption from her body.
The nine fox tails spread like a peacock’s tail, slowly swaying behind her.
In the center of the black lotus, the black viscous liquid gathered, forming a human shape. This figure, composed of pitch-black liquid, had eyes filled with a sinister light, brimming with malice and corruption.
The woman in white narrowed her eyes, staring at the black figure, and said in surprise: “Are you Jin Lian, the Earth Sect Patriarch?”
The black figure calmly replied: “I am Black Lotus.”
The woman in white clicked her tongue and said: “I didn’t expect you to finally succumb to demonic cultivation.”
Black Lotus coldly laughed: “Planting good seeds yields no good fruit. Darkness in this world is eternal, human nature is inherently evil. I am merely conforming to the times, born of destiny.”
The woman in white stood on the clouds, slowly waving her nine fox tails, covering her mouth as she laughed lightly: “If the Heaven Sect Patriarch heard you speak like this, he would probably want to debate philosophy with you first.”
Black Lotus snorted coldly: “I have already seized the greatest evil in the world, advancing further on the path of demonic cultivation. Sooner or
Later, I will unify the Taoist sects and reign supreme.”
The woman in white snorted: “Mere avatar, how dare you speak so arrogantly.”
Her fox tails stood erect and struck downward. In an instant, it was as if the sky had fallen. The entire Chu State City trembled slightly, buildings shaking.
In the center of the lotus, the black figure raised a hand while retorting: “A mere fox tail, how dare you be so brazen.”
The lotus petals spewed black light, emanating a power that could corrode and corrupt everything, rising to counter the woman in white.
The two forces clashed and collided in the air.
The shockwave turned into a fierce wind, toppling nearby buildings, lifting bricks and broken wood into the air, leveling a ten-mile radius area.
The confrontation between these two top experts created a scene resembling a natural disaster.
…
In the inn.
The princess consort sat at the dressing table by the window, lost in thought.
That young man had left at dawn, and it was now dusk. She had just asked the inn’s waiter and learned they were in Bin Prefecture, in the heart of Chu State.
It was over 300 li from Chu State City. Based on her intelligence, the princess consort judged that Xu Qi An would probably take three to four days to reach Chu State City.
He was still on the road, but she had already started to worry.
“Prince Huai is Third Rank, the peak in the eyes of Great Feng’s martial artists. Xu Qi An must not be reckless. If he dies, I…”
The princess consort suddenly paused, sitting blankly for a while before emphasizing to herself in the mirror: “I’ll have no one to rely on in the future. After all, I’m just a weak woman with no money. If he dies, what will I do?
“Yes, that’s it. I’m worried about my future.”
Finally, she sighed softly: “Punish the Prince of Pacifying the North, but remember to come back.”
…
Li Miaozhen rode her flying sword, descending into the valley.
She had originally planned to randomly capture a few barbarian cavalrymen, then leak the information to them, letting them report back to their tribe – a simple and crude way to complete the task of leaking intelligence.
But as she approached the border, she was shocked to discover that the Qingyan Tribe’s cavalry was marching south in large numbers, rushing towards Chu State City.
She had nearly been discovered by the Qingyan Tribe’s leader, or perhaps she had already been noticed, but the other party didn’t bother with her.
Out of caution, she continued flying north. On the official road tens of miles away, she saw the crimson giant serpent. It was crawling through the mountains like a crimson road.
Faced with this scene, Li Miaozhen instinctively made some deductions. After a quarter of an hour, she had deduced a series of question marks, then hurriedly rushed back to report her observations to Xu Qi An.
In the cave, hearing the commotion, Shentu Baili, Li Han, and others rushed out, looking alert. Seeing Li Miaozhen, they relaxed.
Li Miaozhen’s gaze swept over them and looked towards the cave. “Where’s Xu Yinluo?”
Administrative Commissioner Zheng walked out of the cave and said, “Xu Yinluo said he was going to Chu State City to investigate a case, and told us to wait again.”
“…”
Li Miaozhen’s mouth opened and closed, her expression frozen on her face.
For about three seconds, her eyes suddenly reddened. Before anyone could react, she flew away on her sword.
Stinking man, stinking man, stinking man… She gritted her teeth, feelings of grievance and fear welling up in her heart for no reason. The grievance came from feeling he had lied to her again, though being upset over a man was clearly problematic thinking, but she wasn’t in the mood to examine it deeply now.
The fear was of seeing a scene like in Yun Province again.
The image of that figure covered in arrows, leaning on his sword, standing atop a mountain of corpses, was still clearly etched in the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Sect’s heart.
Investigate the case if you must, but don’t be rash, don’t do anything stupid, she knew Xu Qi An’s personality and feared he would act as he did in Yun Province.
…
Clang!
After deflecting Jili Zhigu’s giant sword with one strike, the Prince of Pacifying the North no longer lingered in battle. He flew back into the city, rushing towards the increasingly solid blood pill that emitted an alluring aura.
Just as he approached the blood pill, a beam of golden light suddenly shot from the north, enveloping the Prince of Pacifying the North.
His heavy armor melted in the golden light, his skin turned red, showing signs of burning. But this couldn’t stop a Third Rank martial artist’s advance.
The Prince of Pacifying the North opened his palm, making a grasping motion. The blood pill shot towards him.
The woman in white reached out her hand, twisting qi to form a giant palm, grabbing at the blood pill from the side, attempting to intercept it.
The black figure made a hand seal, shooting out a stream of filthy, evil energy, corroding the semi-transparent giant palm, dissolving its qi.
“Whoosh…”
At that moment, just as the Prince of Pacifying the North was about to obtain the blood pill, the giant sword came spinning through the air. Its target was not the Prince of Pacifying the North, but the blood pill, which was about the size of an adult’s fist.
Bang!
The blood pill shot away, embedding itself in the ground, still emitting a silent blood-red light, undamaged.
The cyan giant, taller than a house, walked over slowly, reaching out to recall the giant sword, grasping it in his hand.
From the north, the crimson giant serpent crawled onto the city wall, quickly slithering along the wall-walk. The raised parapet crumbled like paper, the wall constantly breaking under its body, on the verge of collapse at any moment.
The protective formation of Chu State City had broken.
This was expected; they never hoped the formation could hold off Third Rank experts indefinitely.
The Earth Sect Patriarch, the new monarch of the Ten Thousand Demons Kingdom, Great Feng’s Prince of Pacifying the North, the Wushen Cult’s mysterious expert, the barbarian Third Rank expert, the demon tribe’s crimson giant serpent… The gathering of these powerful figures in Chu State City created a terrifying aura that made the surviving martial artists in the city tremble and fall to their knees.
“So this is where your confidence to challenge the Second Rank came from. You had helpers,” said the cyan giant Jili Zhigu, his large eyes sweeping over the enemy lineup. He snorted coldly, “That witch looks no more than Third Rank. Unmatched in commanding troops, but in one-on-one combat, not even worth my one hand. As for this Earth Sect Patriarch, relying on filthy power without restraint, he’s like a maggot in a cesspool – disgusting, but not much of a threat to us.”
Zhujiu vibrated its throat, emitting a hoarse sound: “A witch’s essence is just a chicken rib, but better than nothing. The northeastern Wushen Cult has a grudge with us demon tribes, so I’ll handle this Third Rank witch.
“Jili Zhigu, the Earth Sect’s methods are tricky, and this one has fallen into demonic cultivation, making him even more troublesome. You go against the Prince of Pacifying the North, let our monarch deal with the Earth Sect’s demonic cultivator.”
At Zhujiu’s arrogant tone, the mysterious witch sneered and slowly said: “Today is auspicious for pill refining, for warfare, and for slaying Zhujiu.”
The Prince of Pacifying the North suddenly smiled. Then, Zhujiu, Jili Zhigu, and the woman in white saw him open his left hand that wasn’t holding a weapon and say: “Sword!”
Rumble… From a distant city tower, a golden streak of light whistled through the air, falling into the Prince of Pacifying the North’s hand.
It was an ancient-looking bronze sword, with old patterns engraved on its spine. The blade was wrapped in a layer of pale golden light, like a thin membrane.
The moment the Prince of Pacifying the North grasped the bronze sword, it emitted a joyful tremor, as if it had found its master.
“The Nation-Stabilizing Sword!!”
Jili Zhigu cried out in shock, his eyes flashing with tangible fear and hatred.
“Hiss…”
The giant serpent on the city wall raised its head high, not to strike, but suddenly recoiling as if startled.
The nine-tailed woman in the air quickly ascended, her exquisitely beautiful face extremely serious as she stared at the bronze sword in the Prince of Pacifying the North’s hand.
Wasn’t the Nation-Stabilizing Sword in Great Feng’s capital? When was it secretly sent to Chu State… Her delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly, her eyes full of wariness.
The Prince of Pacifying the North, holding a saber in one hand and the sword in the other, smiled as he swept his gaze over the enemy experts, saying: “Since I decided to advance, how could I not make foolproof preparations?
“It’s fine if you didn’t discover Chu State City’s secret, I would have advanced smoothly. And if you did learn the secret of Chu State City, it doesn’t matter, the Nation-Stabilizing Sword is here waiting for you.
“Now that the princess consort’s whereabouts are unknown, lacking her spiritual essence, I’ll just have to make up for it with one of you.”
The black-robed, hooded witch smiled coldly: “I divined today and found it to be very auspicious, otherwise why would I have stayed here?”
As his words fell, he raised his hand, pointing at the giant serpent on the city wall, and said leisurely: “Die!”
Puff puff puff…
The scaleless giant serpent’s body kept splitting open, blood flowing, dyeing the top of the wall red.
For high-level witches, the death curse no longer needed a medium and could be used as an infallible offensive technique. Of course, if they had the target’s flesh or hair, the death curse would be even more powerful.
The scaleless giant serpent roared in pain. The moment its flesh exploded, it immediately returned to its original state, not causing too much damage, but the pain was unbearable.
It quickly slithered along the city wall, then suddenly leaped, jumping over half the city district, pouncing towards the witch. In the process, the vertical eye on its forehead burst with golden light.
The black-robed witch couldn’t dodge the lightning-fast golden light. His entire body was enveloped in the golden light, his limbs showing signs of melting.
The witch remained calm, making hand seals to summon a not-quite-real shadow from the void, merging with it. At the same time, the blood qi around him surged, his muscles bursting through the black robe, transforming into a giant several zhang tall.
Ninth Rank Blood Spirit: Maximally stimulates one’s potential, with the degree of amplification depending on personal cultivation; activates blood qi, making life force no less than a martial artist’s, with the degree of activation depending on personal cultivation.
Fifth Rank Sacrifice: Can summon wandering spirits of heroes from the world or ancestral spirits, making them one’s own.
Note: Usually only able to summon spirits of martial artists, demon tribes, and ancestors of one’s own system.
Unable to summon spirits of Buddhist experts; summoning Confucian spirits will result in being counterattacked by the spirit; cannot summon the spirit of the first Controller, as it would be erased by the current Controller.
Summoning spirits of Taoist predecessors is possible but dangerous, such as summoning the spirit of an Earth Sect Patriarch who has fallen into demonic cultivation, or a Human Sect Patriarch entangled in karmic flames. There has never been a successful summoning of a Heaven Sect Patriarch’s spirit.
The high-level experts on both sides engaged in fierce battle, turning Chu State City into ruins.
No one went to seize the blood pill, but everyone was focused on it. Whoever forcibly picked it up would invite attacks from all sides.
On the city wall, Que Yongxiu, who had just cleaved through a Qingyan Tribe warrior, felt joy rather than anger at seeing Chu State City, which he had guarded for over a decade, turn to ruins.
Destroy it.
Chu State City was turning to ruins at the hands of the barbarians and demon tribes. The people of Chu State were being obliterated in the battle of high-level experts. All traces would be buried in this battle.
What did this have to do with him, Que Yongxiu?
And he, guarding Chu State City, fighting bravely alongside the Prince of Pacifying the North, would achieve great merit and become famous throughout the land.
As multiple experts battled, the aftershocks reached the top of the city wall. The soldiers would die from the terrible shockwaves if they were the least bit careless.
Yang Yan led the embassy group, having already retreated to the base of the city wall, trying to escape through the nearest city gate along the wall.
…
With the unexpected move of the Nation-Stabilizing Sword, the Prince of Pacifying the North gained the upper hand, leaving wound after wound on Jili Zhigu with overwhelming force. He could even occasionally assist the witch, using the Nation-Stabilizing Sword to slice through the giant serpent’s body.
“Clang, swoosh…”
The Prince of Pacifying the North brushed past the cyan giant. Jili Zhigu’s giant sword broke, and a deep sword wound appeared on his chest and abdomen, faintly revealing his internal organs.
The wound didn’t heal, as pale golden flames quietly burned, destroying his vitality.
Jili Zhigu let out a painful roar.
“Zhujiu, we’re done for this time. This Nation-Stabilizing Sword killed my father back then, and today it’s going to kill me.”
Jili Zhigu kept retreating, roaring in anger.
“What are you yelling about? Back then, so many of my elites were slain by this deadly weapon too,” Zhujiu raged, its enormous body rampaging through the city. Its terrifying strength was far beyond what the witch could withstand, but it knew that the situation of this battle was extremely unfavorable for their side, even to the point of being trapped.
“I’m not reconciled! I haven’t even advanced to the Second Rank yet. This Prince of Pacifying the North, this yellow-haired brat, if it weren’t for Wei Yuan backing him up back then, I would have swallowed him hundreds of times already,” Zhujiu kept roaring.
“Wei Yuan?” The Prince of Pacifying the North sneered:
“He’s just a coward who abandoned his martial arts. Back then, I hadn’t risen to power and merely worked with him. Do I need his backing? Ridiculous.”
He suddenly changed targets, abandoning Jili Zhigu and turning to Zhujiu, seemingly because Zhujiu’s words had displeased him.
This was a trap, a hunt. The Prince of Pacifying the North not only wanted to advance to the Second Rank but also to slay the barbarian expert and make a name for himself throughout the world.
The 380,000 people of Chu State City were stepping stones on his martial path, necessary sacrifices for him to reach the pinnacle. Their deaths were worthwhile.
“Come on then!”
Zhujiu suddenly twisted its head back, its vertical eye shooting out a black light that enveloped the Prince of Pacifying the North.
The latter’s body suddenly stiffened, his thoughts slowing, his joints becoming stiff.
Seizing this opportunity, the woman in white’s nine fox tails swelled in the wind, like tentacles, wrapping around the Nation-Stabilizing Sword, pulling hard.
Jili Zhigu charged forward, raising his fist as he ran, twisting his waist and swinging his arm, unleashing a punch.
In that instant, due to the extreme speed, his fist ignited with a layer of flames from friction with the air.
The Prince of Pacifying the North’s head took the punch, his body flying like a cannonball, crashing through buildings and into the ruins.
At this point, the sound of the punch and the “bang” of hitting the Prince of Pacifying the North’s head belatedly rang out.
The Nation-Stabilizing Sword spun away, embedding itself in a collapsed ruin in the distance.
“Huff… huff…”
Jili Zhigu breathed heavily, taking the opportunity to repair the wounds on his body that were burning with pale golden flames.
Zhujiu and the woman in white finally got a precious moment to catch their breath.
The current situation was extremely unfavorable. If they continued to fight for the blood pill, someone would inevitably fall. But if they retreated now, after the Prince of Pacifying the North consumed the blood pill, he would surely come wielding the Nation-Stabilizing Sword to kill them and take the essence of either Jili Zhigu or Zhujiu.
He wouldn’t miss this opportunity to advance to the Second Rank.
They were caught between a rock and a hard place.
The Prince of Pacifying the North stood up from the ruins, dusting himself off, and sneered: “The Nation-Stabilizing Sword has a spirit, it’s not a mere object. Only members of the Great Feng royal family can use it. Your struggle is futile, you’re just delaying the inevitable.”
Having said this, he stretched out his right hand, as if to demonstrate to everyone, and shouted: “Sword, come!”
Jili Zhigu, Zhujiu, and the woman in white felt their scalps tingle. As strong as they were, they couldn’t help but feel powerless at this moment.
Just then, a hand with long, slender fingers grasped the sword hilt and pulled it out.
The Prince of Pacifying the North looked at his empty right hand, then turned his head in shock to look in the distance.
The Prince of Pacifying the North’s stern face showed rare shock, anger, and bewilderment… For the first time, he saw someone outside the royal family draw the Nation-Stabilizing Sword.
The heavily injured cyan giant first tensed up, as if facing a great enemy, but then realized the Nation-Stabilizing Sword hadn’t returned to the Prince of Pacifying the North’s hand. He turned his neck in confusion, his bewildered gaze looking over.
The witch and the giant serpent both stopped fighting. The former retreated several li, his gaze fixed in one direction, on one place, where the Nation-Stabilizing Sword was.
The latter raised its head, adjusting its serpentine body. Its golden vertical eye couldn’t help but narrow, as if feeling that one eye wasn’t enough to see clearly.
In the center of the lotus, the black figure stared maliciously at the Nation-Stabilizing Sword and the person holding it.
Only the woman in white had a complex expression, gazing dazedly at that figure, her expression seeming both joyful and sorrowful.
The one gripping the Nation-Stabilizing Sword was a man wearing green clothes, with an utterly ordinary appearance. He pulled out the Nation-Stabilizing Sword as if it were an insignificant act.
His eyes were fixed on the Prince of Pacifying the North, the corners of his mouth slowly spreading into a smile that seemed fierce, angry, and grief-stricken all at once.
“Very good, I can use this sword too.”