Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Bryce’s face was flushed with pleasure as he panted heavily.
All his tree bark pulsed with his breathing, and the lush, green leaves on his head rustled as if they were crying for joy.
“What… what did you do to me?” Bryce finally recovered from the sense of extreme bliss, and he aimed a scorching gaze at Tobias.
A light smile appeared on Tobias’ face, but he didn’t say anything.
Bryce was extremely confused, but his body was extremely honest, and he chose to remain standing on the spot.
He couldn’t forget that feeling he had just experienced. That vast power of purification was imbued with boundless vitality and possibilities… He knew that this was most likely the most significant opportunity he would ever receive in his entire life, and this was not something he could give up no matter what!
Soon, an unfamiliar man in a black robe appeared before Bryce.
The man walked in a calm and collected manner, and Bryce could detect from his aura that he was a human.
“Holy Leader!” Tobias bowed respectfully.
Bryce’s expression shifted drastically.
The high and mighty Holy Disciple Tobias was being so respectful to a human? And he was referring to him as his Holy Leader?
Just who was this human?!
The man took off his hood to reveal his handsome, smiling face underneath. “Hello, my name is An Lin.”
“An Lin?” Bryce felt like this name was quite familiar.
He soon came to a realization as his heart jolted in shock. “You’re the one who beat the literal sh*t from La… Ptui, you’re the one who battled Laden at Huang Quan City?!”
“That’s me. Aside from that, the purification power that you experienced was from my blood. Oh, and Cassidy, Tobias, and Merlin are all my slaves who refer to me as Holy Leader!”
An Lin’s smile lingered on his face as he looked at the dumbstruck Bryce. “So now, you have two choices, the first of which is to establish a slave contract with me, after which I can take you to greater heights in your life; the second choice is to die.”
Bryce’s mouth gaped open, and he felt like he was dreaming.
After all, everything that had just taken place within the last few minutes was far too jarring for him to accept.
The high and mighty Holy Disciples of the Blood Tribe were all An Lin’s slaves? This would definitely be an earth-shattering headline if news of this was to escape into Tai Chu Continent.
Tobias added after seeing Bryce’s dumbfounded expression. “Do you know why we were chosen to become the Holy Disciples? It’s all thanks to the Holy Leader’s blood! Consider the options carefully, Bryce…”
Boom!
Tobias’ words were like a clap of thunder exploding in Bryce’s head.
Everything made sense now! He now knew why those three were chosen during the Holy Disciple Elections, why Laden would suffer such a brutal loss at Huang Quan City, and why these people would appear here…
“I understand… I understand…” Bryce turned to An Lin as a scorching reverent light burst forth from his eyes. “So that’s why… You are the real path, you are the truth, you are the God that is going to direct us forward!
“This lowly slave, Bryce, pays his respects to the Holy Leader!”
Bryce bowed toward An Lin in an extremely respectful manner.
He wasn’t a stubbornly loyal idiot, and just like the vast majority of cultivators in this world, he would gladly sacrifice everything for the chance to pursue the true dao. At that moment, his entire body and soul had all pledged allegiance to An Lin.
Bryce knew that this was not only his choice but also the Blood Patriarch’s choice!!
An Lin nodded with elation on his face. “Very good. It seems like you know what is truly important.”
Thus, An Lin and Bryce established a slave contract in an extremely smooth process.
Due to the surrender of Bryce, An Lin gathered everyone together to reassess their course of action.
Xu Xiaolan, Xuanyuan Cheng, and the others were all dumbstruck again as they stared at the Return to Void Intermediate Stage Bryce, who was standing obediently at An Lin’s side with a fawning expression.
“An Lin, you swindled another underling?” Xu Xiaolan’s eyes widened in shock, and she felt like she had underestimated An Lin’s efficiency.
“How could you call this swindling? He was attracted by my charisma and voluntarily chose to serve me!” An Lin replied with a smug expression.
“It is my utmost honor to be able to serve the Holy Leader!” Bryce’s head rustled, and it was quite clear that even his hair was in full agreement with his words.
Bryce’s head was quite unique. Although it looked humanoid for the most part, there was a hat on his head, which was actually a tree canopy. An abundance of lush green leaves grew from his canopy hat, making it extremely environmentally friendly.
An Lin stroked Bryce’s lush green canopy hat to find that the leaves had a finer texture than most leaves and exuded a light, fragrant scent.
“Little Bu, can you photosynthesize?” he suddenly asked.
Bryce faltered for a moment before nodding. “I can, but I’m not very accustomed to it…”
“I’ll introduce you to someone. She’ll make sure you become accustomed to it,” An Lin said with a serious expression.
Bryce nodded with a confused expression. He had tried cultivating through photosynthesis in the past, but the energy he could obtain from doing so was limited, so he quickly abandoned this method of cultivation.
With the inclusion of Bryce, everyone discussed their strategy again.
“This Blood Rakshasa True Yin Formation is able to simultaneously remove the residual chaotic lightning power within Laden’s body as well as heal his injuries.”
“Hence, the best time to strike would be at noon.”
“Is that because that’s when it’ll be the warmest?”
“Please don’t interject, Holy Leader! It’s because the power of yang is most abundant at noon, so the formation will be unable to suppress Laden’s injuries as well as it could during other times of the day. That will be when Laden is at his weakest, and therefore, it will be the ideal time to strike…”
At this moment, Laden was still completely oblivious to the fact that all his guards had perished with the exception of the most powerful one, who was currently in the process of plotting the best course of action forward to kill him…
He breathed in and out slowly and rhythmically in order to maximize the regenerative effects of the formation.
Emperor Yi Deng’s divine medicine would take a few days to arrive, so all he could do before then was to remove Emperor Tian Huang’s power from his body.
Everything was quite serene and peaceful, and the only sound reverberating through the air was the sound of his breathing.
The yin energy within the veins of the earth converged toward him in a powerful vortex.
“Pitter, patter, pitter, patter…”
The sound of familiar footsteps could be heard nearby.
Laden opened his eyes to find that it was his subordinate, Bryce.
Thinking back, he had paid quite a heavy price to earn Bryce’s allegiance. He had done a lot of things for him and finally managed to gain his loyalty after much trouble.
With this in mind, a gentle smile appeared on his face. “Do you need something, Bryce?”
“Hmm, I have something to say.” With an innocent expression, Bryce scratched his head with a haggard branch.
“Tell me. There’s no need to be so hesitant with me.” Laden could still hold a conversation as he continued his recovery process, but he still wanted to free himself from unnecessary distractions as soon as possible.
“Well… I severed all the important points of your spell formation…” Bryce said with a guilt-ridden expression.
“What did you just say?” Laden felt like he had misheard.
“Because there’s a block of soap1 there.” Bryce pointed to a spot in the distance.
Laden turned with a confused expression toward the direction Bryce was pointing in, only to find that there was nothing there.
Pfff!
A sharp tree branch pierced through the air before instantly puncturing Laden’s heart!
At the same time, the gargantuan Blood Rakshasa True Yin Formation seemed to have lost its power source as it suddenly ceased to function.
