Chapter 629: Blood Crow King
The entire world seemed to transform into a blazing red furnace, and the plants on the ground instantly turned to ash.
Standing on the back of the Crimson Blazing Crow King was an old man in a golden robe, holding a golden staff. From his chin hung a three-foot-long blood-colored beard, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his entire body exuded a faint aura of ferocity.
In addition, there was the corpse of a young man on the Crimson Blazing Crow King's back.
"The murderer who killed the Azure Star Envoy, Lin Yue, a disciple of the Liangyi Sect, has been slain by this old man and brought back to report," the golden-robed elder said. Then, his eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen, a gloomy expression appearing as he rasped, "Young Master, it seems you've encountered some trouble?"
"Blood Crow King, you've returned just in time. Come, take a guess—who is the person standing across from you?" Di Yi said with a smile.
The golden-robed elder was one of the most formidable experts under Di Yi's command, the Blood Crow King, whose status was even higher than that of Ice Demon.
Ice Demon was a master of ice-element spiritual power, while the Blood Crow King was a master beast tamer.
Whether the Azure Star Envoy had died at the hands of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist from the Liangyi Sect or was killed by the Crimson Desire Star Envoy, an explanation had to be given to the upper echelons of the Black Market.
Thus, Di Yi had dispatched the Blood Crow King to kill Lin Yue, intending to bring Lin Yue's corpse back to the Evil Emperor City and hand it over to the Black Market's high-ranking officials.
Di Yi had calculated that the Blood Crow King was about to return, which was why, when he used the sacred decree to flee, he chose to escape toward the direction of the Falling Divine Mountain Range.
After all, Qingyun Commandery was too far from the Evil Emperor City; even with a sacred decree, he couldn't escape back there.
On the contrary, by fleeing toward the Falling Divine Mountain Range, once the Blood Crow King returned, his strength would be enough to suppress Zhang Ruochen.
Hearing Di Yi's words, the Blood Crow King grew curious. His eyes narrowed, and a vertical eye appeared on his forehead, emitting a beam of heavenly eye light that shot forward, attempting to see through the mask on Zhang Ruochen's face.
Unfortunately, a powerful spiritual force on the mask blocked the heavenly eye's power, rebounding it back.
The Blood Crow King withdrew his heavenly eye and let out a soft exclamation of surprise. "Such formidable spiritual power—it should have reached the forty-fourth rank. Could this person be that great protector from the Red Willow Manor?"
Di Yi shook his head and laughed. "The great protector is indeed the great protector, but he has another identity—one far more impressive than that of a great protector. Have you heard of the Heir of Time and Space?"
The Blood Crow King's pupils emitted a dense blood light, and a hint of shock appeared on his face. "The Heir of Time and Space is supposed to be dead... Could it be... a feigned death?"
"Whether it's a feigned death, wouldn't we know the answer by removing the mask from his face?" Di Yi said.
The Blood Crow King also grew eager to learn Zhang Ruochen's true identity, rubbing his hands together with an expression of anticipation.
If the Heir of Time and Space truly hadn't died, it might reveal a massive secret.
Zhang Ruochen stared at the corpse on the Crimson Blazing Crow King's back, recognizing it as the young Liangyi Sect disciple, Lin Yue.
Back then, Zhang Ruochen had handed the Azure Star Envoy's corpse to him. For someone as fame-seeking as Lin Yue, it was indeed a good thing—it would not only make him famous but also grant him abundant cultivation resources.
As long as he returned to the Liangyi Sect, no matter how powerful the Black Market's forces were, they couldn't touch him.
But who would have thought that after so long, he still hadn't returned to the Liangyi Sect and had died at the hands of a Black Market evil path expert? It served him right.
Wanting fame wasn't wrong; the mistake was being too foolish.
Little did Zhang Ruochen know that after obtaining the sacred decree from the Azure Star Envoy's body, Lin Yue believed no one could kill him and thus grew reckless.
However, Lin Yue had encountered the Blood Crow King. Their cultivation levels were too far apart, and before he could even activate the sacred power within the decree, he was killed by the Blood Crow King.
In short, if you don't court death, you won't die.
Di Yi crossed his arms over his chest, a mocking look in his eyes. "Zhang Ruochen, since you failed to kill me, now it's your turn to die."
The Blood Crow King not only had a spiritual power level reaching the high rank of forty-fourth but was also a powerful beast tamer capable of commanding thousands of Crimson Blazing Crows.
With his strength alone, he could annihilate a hundred-thousand-strong elite army. Even five Fish-Dragon Ninth Change cultivators working together might not be his match.
Thus, Di Yi had every reason to believe that the Blood Crow King could suppress and kill Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head, smiled slightly, and also looked toward the sky.
"Whoosh!"
From the pitch-black sky above, a flash of sacred light streaked down like a meteor, transforming into a slender figure that landed beside Zhang Ruochen.
It was the Demon Sect's Holy Maiden, Mu Lingxi.
Mu Lingxi put away the sacred decree in her hand, and the sacred light around her gradually faded, revealing her graceful figure as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Ruochen.
As the Holy Maiden of the Demon Sect, Mu Lingxi naturally carried a sacred decree as well.
Back when the Azure-Clad Star Envoy used a sacred decree to escape, Mu Lingxi could have used hers to pursue her, but the power of a sacred decree diminished with each use. The Azure-Clad Star Envoy was an enemy of the Crimson Desire Star Envoy, not Mu Lingxi's, so there was no reason to waste the sacred decree's power on her.
This time, however, was different. Mu Lingxi had used the sacred decree's power for Zhang Ruochen's sake, rushing after him at top speed to help him eliminate Di Yi once and for all.
"Another one coming to die," the Blood Crow King said with a cold laugh.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the Blood Crow King, his expression unchanged, and said calmly, "Is that so?"
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen took a fist-sized black iron ball from his space ring, channeled his true qi, and activated the inscriptions within the ball.
The black iron ball began to spin rapidly, emitting a crackling sound from within, and soon transformed into a three-meter-tall artificer warrior.
Zhang Ruochen flicked his finger, and a sacred stone flew from his hand, landing in a groove on the artificer warrior's chest.
"Clang!"
The sacred stone in the groove spun quickly.
The sacred qi within the stone was released, activating the inscriptions inside the artificer warrior. Instantly, a powerful aura erupted from the warrior's body, and two clusters of blue flames appeared in its hollow eye sockets.
"An artificer warrior."
The Blood Crow King showed a look of surprise, clearly not expecting Zhang Ruochen to have such a trump card.
His strength was indeed formidable—he wouldn't even fear a Fish-Dragon Ninth Change cultivator—but facing an artificer warrior still gave him a headache.
Di Yi, however, had a different thought. "Only those within the imperial court can possess artificer warriors. Could it be that Zhang Ruochen's death was faked, and he was secretly recruited by the imperial court?"
Di Yi strongly suspected that Zhang Ruochen had joined a secret organization of the imperial court, which was why the court had framed the Nine Nether Sword Saint for his death.
Only Mu Lingxi nodded in understanding, finally realizing why Zhang Ruochen had wanted to buy sacred stones. It was because he had an artificer warrior.
Only by using sacred stones could the artificer warrior unleash its full power.
Mu Lingxi chuckled lightly. "Di Yi, it seems that even with the Blood Crow King's help, you won't escape death today."
Di Yi snorted coldly. "Since you have an artificer warrior, this young master won't fight you to the death today. Blood Crow King, hold them off. I'll make my move first."
Now that Di Yi knew Zhang Ruochen's secret, he had no desire to fight him to the death. As long as he could escape this place, he would immediately spread the news that Zhang Ruochen was still alive.
Then, many people would naturally come to deal with Zhang Ruochen, and Di Yi wouldn't need to act personally.
The Blood Crow King released his spiritual power, emitting a strange sound wave from his mouth.
Driven by the sound wave, the sky full of Crimson Blazing Crows let out piercing cries, surging like balls of fire as they madly attacked Zhang Ruochen, Mu Lingxi, and the artificer warrior.
Even the weakest Crimson Blazing Crow was comparable to an Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection cultivator. Moreover, some had reached the fourth-rank savage beast level, with strength equivalent to Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists.
Thousands of Crimson Blazing Crows attacked simultaneously, completely engulfing Zhang Ruochen, Mu Lingxi, and the artificer warrior.
"Zhang Ruochen, our grudges will only truly be settled when we meet next time. I wonder if you can escape the Eastern Domain Evil Lands this time?"
Di Yi laughed loudly, once again taking out the sacred decree. He was about to channel his true qi to activate the sacred power within it.
Just then, a powerful suction force suddenly came from above his head, like a vortex pulling at his body.
"What is that..."
Di Yi looked up and saw a palm-sized Ruyi Treasure Bottle floating above him.
The powerful pulling force came from the bottle's mouth, as if trying to suck him inside.
Zhang Ruochen had already used space displacement to break out of the Crimson Blazing Crow swarm, standing just ten zhang away from Di Yi, channeling a pillar of true qi to control the Ruyi Treasure Bottle.
"Di Yi, I told you, you won't escape today. Once I deal with the Blood Crow King, I'll settle accounts with you. Collect!"
"No..."
Di Yi's face showed intense unwillingness as he immediately mobilized the sacred qi within his body, trying to manifest the "Heartless Black Hole" dharma appearance.
But Zhang Ruochen had already activated the Ruyi Treasure Bottle first. Before Di Yi could manifest his dharma appearance, his feet left the ground.
With a whoosh, Di Yi's body gradually shrank and was sucked into the Ruyi Treasure Bottle by Zhang Ruochen.