# Chapter 1075: Han Qiu's Condition
Two beast kings had fallen in succession, creating an extremely negative impact. If the Devouring Demon Dragon could not reverse the situation, it would certainly affect the morale of the various barbarian beast clans.
Therefore, the Blood God Sect's divine son had to die. Only with his blood could the human cultivators be intimidated once again.
Five to six thousand elite human cultivators had become prisoners.
Most of them had their legs broken, while others had their cultivation sealed. They were forced to kneel in a desert area a hundred miles outside Yingsha City.
Countless barbarian beasts gathered there, surrounding the human prisoners at the center, baring their sharp fangs, ready to pounce and devour them at any moment.
The blazing sun scorched, and yellow sand howled through the air.
This was an extremely humiliating scene, filling the human cultivators within Yingsha City with fury.
Centered around the Yingsha City base, extending outward for more than two hundred thousand miles, was an expanse of desert that occupied a considerable land area within the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm.
The natives of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm called it the Yinggema Desert.
In this Yinggema Desert, nearly a hundred barbarian beast clans had gathered. Their division of labor was clear: twelve barbarian beast clans besieged the human cultivators in Yingsha City.
The remaining barbarian beast clans were distributed across all directions of the Yinggema Desert, collecting heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Originally, the various barbarian beast clans had been fighting and killing each other internally, none willing to submit to another.
However, the Devouring Demon Dragon was simply too powerful. It had unified all the barbarian beast clans in the Yinggema Desert, joining forces to deal with the human cultivators.
This was why humanity had fallen into such a predicament.
In truth, no single barbarian beast clan was even remotely a match for humanity.
Of course, as waves of human experts continuously arrived at Yingsha City base through ruins realm ships, the twelve barbarian beast clans could no longer contain the human cultivators. Within just a few days, large numbers of human cultivators had broken through the barbarian beast encirclement.
Thus, the Devouring Demon Dragon summoned another twenty barbarian beast clans to Yingsha City, continuing to block the human cultivators.
They intended to plunder all the treasures of the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, leaving not even a single sacred stone for human cultivators.
Some beast kings had already arrived outside Yingsha City with their barbarian beast clans to join the Devouring Demon Dragon, while others were still on their way.
"How infuriating! Those barbarian beasts wouldn't dare act so arrogantly in the Kunlun Realm, yet here in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, they're oppressing human cultivators to this extent."
"In the Kunlun Realm, everyone lived too comfortably. That's why, upon arriving in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, they can't accept such cruel reality. If not for the Empress three hundred years ago, who alone charged into the desolate secret realm, slaying eight beast clan great saints in succession and intimidating all the beast emperors, how could the First Central Empire have enjoyed centuries of peace and prosperity?"
"In recent centuries, the younger generation of humanity has indeed become too fond of pleasure and lost their sense of crisis." An old man sighed.
Within Yingsha City, the morale of human cultivators had suffered a severe blow.
Of course, some human cultivators believed that the two realm sons would surely have countermeasures to stop the Devouring Demon Dragon's slaughter.
Unfortunately, this time, the two realm sons remained silent, taking no action.
Soon after, a rumor spread: "Gu Linfeng killed five commanders of the Lingxiao Heavenly King's Mansion, offending Chi Wansui. Therefore, the two realm sons will not intervene in this matter."
Although it was merely an unsubstantiated rumor that few believed, it still caused an extremely negative impact.
Everyone knew that with Gu Linfeng's tough and unyielding personality, he would never kneel and admit fault to the Devouring Demon Dragon. Even less would he walk into a trap to save a group of unrelated human cultivators.
Thus, human cultivators had placed their hopes on the two realm sons.
If the two realm sons wouldn't intervene, wouldn't they have to watch helplessly as five to six thousand elite humans were all brutally killed?
After this massacre, would human cultivators still have the confidence to fight the barbarian beasts?
Of course, some cultivators analyzed that the two realm sons weren't unwilling to intervene—they simply had no way to break the situation.
The trap laid by the Devouring Demon Dragon was a dead end from the start.
Not to mention two realm sons, even if all nine realm sons arrived simultaneously, it would still be unsolvable. Because with the Devouring Demon Dragon's cultivation, killing those defenseless human cultivators was merely a snap of the fingers.
Now, there was only one way to save those human cultivators—
Gu Linfeng would voluntarily kneel and admit fault to the Devouring Demon Dragon, exchanging his single life for the lives of thousands of elite humans.
That very night, Chi Wansui appeared at the most bustling and lively tavern in Yingsha City, saying, "Throughout the entire Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, only Gu Linfeng can save them. It's not that this king refuses to help—I truly am powerless."
Zhang Ruochen naturally heard the Devouring Demon Dragon's voice as well, but he remained calm, paying it no heed. He continued following his perception of the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, searching for Han Qiu's trail.
At dusk, Zhang Ruochen arrived at a region with extremely fierce wind and sand. He stopped and said, "I know you're nearby. Why don't you show yourself?"
In the desert, violent winds howled, producing a wailing sound like a giant beast roaring.
"Whoosh—"
On the ground, sand and gravel flowed rapidly, forming a massive whirlpool ten miles in diameter that sank deep into the earth.
A slender black shadow emerged from the center of the whirlpool, gradually rising to the surface.
The black air currents dispersed, revealing Han Qiu's slender figure. Her bright eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen as she laughed softly: "I guessed you must have left a hidden mark on the Meteor Invisibility Cloak. But it took you so long to find me—I'm quite disappointed."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Since you knew I left a trace of aura on the Meteor Invisibility Cloak, why didn't you refine it away?"
Han Qiu walked toward Zhang Ruochen, her two crystal-clear red lips curving into a charming arc. "Why should I refine it away? I'm going to return the Meteor Invisibility Cloak to you anyway. It's right here on my body... how about you come and take it off yourself?"
After comprehending the Path of Darkness, Han Qiu's personality had undergone a great change.
When Zhang Ruochen first met Han Qiu, her personality was similar to Huang Yanchen's—quite cold, with a hint of pride.
Although she did have some feelings for Zhang Ruochen, she would never have been so proactive as she was now.
Moreover, in Zhang Ruochen's view, she was being proactive to an excessive degree.
At this moment, Han Qiu had already walked right up to Zhang Ruochen, only a single step away. Her jet-black hair hung straight down to the ground.
No matter how fierce the wind around them, it couldn't stir a single strand of her hair.
Zhang Ruochen stared into her pupils, feeling as if those beautiful eyes were like two black holes, trying to pull his spirit and soul inside.
However, Zhang Ruochen was no ordinary person. He immediately averted his gaze and said, "Are you wearing the Meteor Invisibility Cloak on the inside or the outside?"
"Naturally, on the very inside." Han Qiu's words were filled with amusement.
Zhang Ruochen extended a palm, reaching toward the front of her robe. Just as it was about to make contact—
A cold light flashed at his fingertip, and a sharp sword qi surged out, pointing toward Han Qiu's brow.
With this finger, Zhang Ruochen directly infused the artistic conception of Sword Five, his speed as fast as a beam of light, causing sparks to fly from the air itself.
"Whoosh—"
Han Qiu's figure transformed into a mass of black mist, vanishing from her original position.
Zhang Ruochen's finger had only pierced through her shadow.
The next moment, Han Qiu's figure re-materialized to Zhang Ruochen's right, her expression aggrieved. "I knew you were a man who doesn't understand romance."
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his finger and said, "I also knew you've been hiding your cultivation all along. With your current strength, compared to a beast king, you're probably stronger, aren't you?"
Han Qiu had cultivated the Path of Darkness, excelling at concealment. Hiding her cultivation was not a difficult task.
In the Scroll World, Zhang Ruochen had provided Han Qiu with an endless supply of divine blood. With the devouring speed of the Path of Darkness, she had already refined all the divine blood.
Moreover, Han Qiu had continuously devoured the life qi emitted by the Sky-Connecting Divine Tree and the death qi from the tree stump, raising her cultivation to the sixth-order Half-Saint realm.
Later, at the bottom of the earth fissure, she absorbed a large amount of sacred source spiritual qi, pushing her cultivation to the peak of the seventh-order Half-Saint realm.
In the past few days, she had absorbed the power of the Seven-Colored Sacred Flower, achieving another breakthrough.
When Zhang Ruochen found her, she had just broken through to the eighth-order Half-Saint realm.
It could be said that Han Qiu, possessing a Dark Body and having comprehended the Path of Darkness, could devour all energy in the world.
Her cultivation speed was unmatched by any other cultivator.
With Han Qiu's current strength, even Zhang Ruochen might not be her match.
Han Qiu's eyes blinked gently, and she smiled like a little fox. "If not for Your Highness's full support, Han Qiu could never have achieved what I have today."
Zhang Ruochen's face showed no smile. "Give me the sacred source spiritual spring."
"As long as you agree to one condition of mine, I can give you anything."
Han Qiu withdrew her smile, and in an instant, a bone-chilling coldness emanated from her body, transforming her into an icy beauty.
Perhaps this was the real her.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You want to negotiate with me?"
"Do you think I'm not qualified to negotiate with you now?" Han Qiu countered.
Zhang Ruochen was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Speak. As long as your condition isn't too excessive, I can agree to it."
A Dark Body combined with the Path of Darkness—in any era, such a person would become a ruler of their time.
Such a figure could never submit to anyone.
Zhang Ruochen believed that Han Qiu also understood the weight she now carried, which was why she no longer wished to be his follower and intended to negotiate with him.
Han Qiu stared intently into Zhang Ruochen's eyes, her voice firm. "I want to be the Crown Princess of the Holy Bright Central Empire, not the prince's servant."
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. He observed her carefully, seeing that she was completely serious, before slowly speaking: "Your condition is a bit excessive. It would be best if you chose another."
Han Qiu shook her head, a softness appearing in her eyes. "I'll say it again: without your repeated help, there would be no me today. I never thought of rebelling against you—I just don't want to be subordinate to anyone. Is such a simple condition really too much?"
"Zhang Ruochen, at Demon Ridge, you once saved me. We cultivated the Yin-Yang Two Forms Sword Array together, and you guided me to join the Liangyi Sect. I went, and I learned the 'Taiji Innate Skill.' You asked me to leave the Liangyi Sect with you, and I followed."
"In your eyes, am I merely a servant who obeys your orders? Can't you feel the emotions I have for you?"
"Let me be clear: I don't want to be your servant. Now, I want to fight for what I deserve."