The dragonship hovered in the air above the Totemic Castle and remained arrogantly within the turrets’ firing range. Although fortress cannons held a natural advantage over airship cannons, the dense artillery array on the Martyr’s Palace was simply too shocking. Many of them were cruiser-grade main cannons.
With its natural altitude advantage, the dragonship wasn’t at a disadvantage in terms of range. Most of its auxiliary cannons could bombard the Totemic Castle, but only the castle’s main turrets could reach the airship.
No one who saw the faint screen of light on the dragonship would think it was just there for decoration. It was clearly a defensive force field.
The expressions of the werewolves in the castle were unsightly. This feeling of being bullied was not good; the last time they had experienced it was when the Wolf King challenged Zhang Buzhou and lost.
“I’ll go up and destroy him!” A werewolf became furious.
The great shaman knocked on the ground with his staff, immediately interrupting the warrior’s transformation and calming him down.
The shaman pointed at the dragonship, saying, “You can’t reach the airship. You’ll make the chief lose face if you act impetuously.”
The werewolf calmed down after hearing the shaman’s words, but he still glared fiercely at the dragonship.
Qianye appeared on top of the Martyr’s Palace and walked down step by step, almost as though there was a ladder stretching toward the ground. He was still far away, but his terrifying aura bore down from the sky. That aura of ancient Evernight was the sign of a true high expert.
Many young werewolves inside the castle began to tremble, even those who were known for their bravery. The fear ingrained in one’s bloodline was the most difficult to withstand.
That shaman who was too old to even walk looked on with complicated emotions. These men might not be very strong, but they were highly experienced. Everyone understood when they saw Qianye’s stance and felt his aura.
What Qianye had revealed was an aura born of the purest darkness origin power. In terms of bloodline, he was comparable to the highest level members of the Evernight Council. The Wolf King’s bloodline was more mixed comparatively.
When Qianye landed inside the castle, a number of old shamans came to offer their respects.
Qianye nodded. “Paying your respects to the darkness grand-origins, I see. Where is the Wolf King?”
“The Great Chief requests that you go see him.” The old shaman didn’t convey the Wolf King’s message word-for-word but didn’t express too much weakness, either.
Qianye laughed coldly. “Fine, I’ll go see him right away.”
“This way, please!” The Great Shaman led the way personally, leading Qianye into the main building of Totemic Castle.
There was no one else in the great hall apart from the Wolf King. He was standing beside the tall ceiling-height window, gazing at the distant cliffs and Eastern Sea.
The moment Qianye walked in, the Wolf King turned around and roared, “You dare to come? Aren’t you afraid I’ll finish you off now?”
Qianye replied calmly, “It’s not like this is the first time I’m here. You failed to kill me last time, so you can forget about it this time.”
The Wolf King glared at Qianye, steam gushing out of his nostrils. “Looks like you’re growing more confident about your fleeing skills.”
“Even if I don’t run away, you might not be able to kill me now. The best result would be mutual destruction.”
The Wolf King’s eyes narrowed. All of a sudden, he stretched out his large claw and swiped at Qianye’s chest!
The latter made no move to evade. He actually grabbed the Wolf King’s hand and began applying pressure.
A thunderous rumble shook the entire main building, sending stone and gravel showering down. The tower atop the structure creaked, groaned, and became somewhat tilted.
The strength of an ancient vampire glorious marquis versus that of a werewolf vice-duke. This was a contest of brute strength with no fancy moves!
With a muffled groan, the Wolf King took several steps backward before coming to a stop. Qianye also moved backward involuntarily. The Wolf King stared at Qianye intently, his eyes narrowing when he noticed that the latter had taken one step more than himself.
Qianye’s blood energy was an entire rank below that of the Wolf King. The difference between a marquis and a duke was much greater than experts within the same major rank. Despite that, Qianye was only somewhat inferior in a contest of strength, and the disparity was almost negligible. This was truly shocking.
Qianye had taken an extra step backward, but to begin with, a vampire constitution was inferior to a werewolf’s in sudden bursts of strength. This didn’t signify anything. The vampire physique would not lose out in terms of speed and agility, but they were far superior in terms of first-rate talents and abilities.
Every burning crest inside the River of Blood signified a terrifying talent ability. There were less than three types of comparable abilities in the entire werewolf race. This proved that the declining vampires still held an overwhelming advantage in this field.
As a former enemy, the Wolf King understood Qianye quite well. At the very least, he had experienced how frightening the Shot of Inception was. Spatial Flash was also a supreme power both for launching surprise attacks and running away. This man—with such powers and constitution at his disposal—was only slightly inferior in a competition of brute strength. There was really no telling who would win in a fight to the death.
Qianye grinned, revealing his white teeth. “It looks like mutual destruction really is the best outcome.”
The Wolf King’s chest rose and fell as his breathing grew heavy. He finally calmed down his emotions and said, “This is my home ground. I have special mechanisms to defend against vampires. Your fate won’t be very pretty if we fight here.”
Qianye glanced around the hall, randomly kicking away a rock that had fallen near his foot. “A trap for vampires, eh? That’s quite the investment. If I’m not wrong, you must’ve built them to deal with the Throne of Blood, right? Are you afraid he’ll come visit your castle?”
The Wolf King’s eyes flickered with ferocity, but he managed to keep himself contained. With anti-vampire measures built into his own lair, no one would believe him if he claimed he wasn’t afraid of the throne.
Qianye noticed that the Wolf King seemed like he wanted to say something but ultimately kept quiet. He also realized something after some thought. “You said you’ve set something up, but it’s not quite possible to deal with the Throne of Blood and his Shattered Moment. The best outcome would be to injure him, but what if he recovers and returns? Besides, this isn’t your style. It’s not the werewolves’ style, to be precise.”
Since Qianye had pointed it out, there was no longer a need for the Wolf King to hide it. “Indeed, I wasn’t the one who set it up.”
“If it’s not you, then it’s Zhang Buzhou. He wants to use your place as bait and set a trap for the Throne of Blood, right? Then… you’re also part of the bait.”
The Wolf King remained silent in tacit agreement.
Qianye said calmly, “The Throne of Blood is no idiot. Even if he doesn’t know about the trap, there’s no way he’ll enter enemy territory without absolute confidence. The trap here might not be used for many years, or ever. Zhang Buzhou is just afraid of the Throne of Blood.”
The Wolf King sighed. “It has been so many years, you’re the first to dare utter such words.”
“This isn’t the first time I said it.”
The Wolf King’s eyes flickered. “Going by what you said, you dared to come and see me alone, does that mean you have full confidence that you can escape?”
Qianye only smiled.
The ferocity in the Wolf King’s eyes receded after giving it some thought. “I can’t deal with that spatial ability of yours, unless I overwhelm and restrain you. You’re not inferior in a head-on confrontation, either, so I definitely can’t detain you.”
Qianye replied calmly, “I might not need to escape, either.”
The Wolf King’s pupils shrank. “You still have backup? If it’s Song Zining or that girl… wait, it can’t be them. They can’t match your rate of advancement, that kind of speed only appears in sacred-blooded races who have awakened their bloodlines. Then… the one in the Martyr’s Palace is Caroline!”
“Smart.”
The Wolf King fell into silent thought.
Caroline herself was fairly powerful, and the Thunderfrost Temple had more than just one divine champion. She had a brother who was even more powerful, someone the Wolf King had no confidence in defeating.
This alliance between the Thunderfrost Temple and the current Qianye was enough to suppress the Wolf King entirely. The Totemic Castle wasn’t a match for the Martyr’s Palace that could move at will.
At the thought of this, the Wolf King smiled wryly. “So much talking, but it turns out you’re here to discuss. Just speak openly.”
Qianye replied, “Good! I’m heading out to Fort Continent very soon. Southern Blue will be empty, and there’s no one to look over Tidehark. The factories in Southern Blue can’t be abandoned, either. So, I want to make sure you don’t target Dark Flame while I’m gone. If there’s anyone else targeting us, I want you to convince them otherwise.”
“Convince?”
“Don’t you have many methods of convincing people?”
“But only one that’s absolutely effective.”
“Use whatever is most effective.”
The Wolf King said, “What if I fail to convince them?”
Qianye replied, “I’m no saint right now. Whoever that person is, I will cut off whichever limb he stretches into my territory once I’m back.
The Wolf King said, “I understand. If someone does reach in, they’ll probably have Zhang Buzhou behind them.”
Qianye replied, “Convince him all the same. I’ll have a way to deal with Zhang Buzhou once I’m back. Even if I can’t do anything to him, no one else in his household will survive, not even his wife and children.”
The Wolf King’s eyes turned serious. “You have such a means?”
“Why would he let me have Tidehark if I don’t?”
After some thought, the Wolf King said, “This means I’ll be betraying Zhang Buzhou and joining your side.”
“You’ve been wanting to rebel all this time, haven’t you?”
“What words are those? How can I be such a person?” The Wolf King laughed out loud. “I never had a good opportunity.”
Qianye laughed as well. “That’s settled then.”
“I never said I agree.”
“I don’t need you to. I’m just letting you know that I’ll be back sooner or later, as well as what I’ll do once I am.”
The Wolf King shrugged. “Maybe some people will feel lucky enough to think they can escape when things go south.”
Qianye said coldly, “Run away? Ha! Defeat in my hand means death.”
The Wolf King was shaken. Only at this point did he remember that Spatial Flash wasn’t just a powerful ability for escaping; it was also a peerless skill for chasing people down.
