After ingesting the medicine, Jian’s body bulged up noticeably, and his giant sword released radiant flames! He raised the blade above his head, ready to deliver the final blow!
However, his movements froze, and he never managed to deliver the slash.
There was a giant hole in his chest, within which hung a beating heart. The flesh around the organ had vanished entirely.
“Murderous Crossbow…” He tried turning toward Lady Ye, but before he could do so, he heard the sound of a crossbow shot. His heart was gone.
Jian’s body stood petrified in place.
Lord Riverglance would never let go of this opportunity. He stepped forward with a full swing of Teia and took off Jian’s head. Just as he was wondering whether or not he should join the battle against Xu Ran, Zhang Boqian shouted, “Take the sword, retreat!”
Riverglance came to his senses. He immediately put Teia and Vanquisher of Evil together before leaving with Zhang Boqian. This sword was excessively powerful, and he had experienced its strength first hand. If it were to fall back into Xu Ran’s hands, the situation would change quite a bit.
Xu Ran could no longer care about Lord Riverglance at this point. He was pointing at Ye with a trembling finger, speechless in anger.
Ye clenched her teeth and pulled the trigger once more. The last bolt in the crossbow disappeared as soon as it left the weapon. The only indication that the weapon had done its work was Xu Ran’s pained expression and cries.
The emissary coughed up a mouthful of blood. “You wretched slave! How dare you scheme against me! Who instructed you to do so?!”
“No one.”
“Impossible! Why would you betray me when I’ve treated you so well?”
Ye refused to reply. Instead, she drew her dagger and charged at Xu Ran.
The man had taken a blow from the Murderous Crossbow, but the injury did little to hinder his movements. Seeing the lady charging over, he swung his palm at her like a blade. This palm-blade transformed into countless shadows that drowned Ye out entirely!
The lady let out a muffled groan amidst the tempest of blades, but she managed to hurl her dagger at Xu Ran, striking him squarely in the shoulder.
This was a trade of blows. No one knew what enmity she had against the man that she would put her life on the line like this. The emissary was utterly furious. He brought his fingers together like a sword and roared, “Overwhelming Sword Energy!”
All of a sudden, a wisp of black fire flew over from behind. This fire didn’t look all that eye-catching, but Xu Ran felt threatened by its very existence. He had no choice but to swing around and fire the sword energy at the black flame. Not only did the sword energy extinguish the flames entirely, but it also pierced through Progia who had fired it.
A wave of demonic energy surged around Progia, protecting him and the Sable Blessing as they retreated to the Sacred Mountain.
After a continuous barrage of attacks, Xu Ran’s expression was as gloomy as still water. “You people still don’t know the price of offending me. My accursed jade can taint your familial bloodline, cursing all of your future generations. The weak will die young, while the strong perish immediately. Who wants to try it?”
The Empire was unfazed, but the Evernight experts were shocked. They had relied on their bloodlines for tens of thousands of years, so this curse was the bane of their existence. They might not fear their own death, but they were hesitant after hearing that their descendants might be eradicated.
Xu Ran’s blood jade was a genuine treasure, and there was no need for him to lie. Thinking about the powerful treasures he had deployed previously, it wasn’t hard to guess that this one wouldn’t be too far off. The man’s bow had injured two supremes and killed the Wolf Sovereign, after all. No bloodline would be able to withstand the jade’s curse.
Only Qianye took a step forward. “I’ll fight you.”
Xu Ran revealed a sinister smile. “Just what I wanted.”
He crushed the jade without further words. A black blood curse rose from his hands and made straight for Qianye’s forehead. A hint of darkness appeared as Qianye stared at the incoming attack. He was about to use the Book of Darkness to resist it.
A dark figure flickered beside Qianye at this moment, ramming into the curse like a bolt of lightning!
It was actually the lady, Ye!
“You…” Xu Ran didn’t know what to say for a moment.
As the curse entered her body, a curse mark appeared on the woman’s face. It was similar to the rune on Xu Ran’s hand.
“Very well. Since you’re willing to let your descendants suffer the curse, so be it!”
At this moment, a curse mark also appeared on Qianye’s forehead, but it was so faint that one could barely see it clearly. A similar curse mark also appeared in the River of Blood, a mark so big that it looked like a dam amidst the raging waters. It was attempting to lock down the river’s flow.
It was just that the River of Blood was a manifestation of countless worlds and timelines. A single slam of its majestic tides shattered the curse immediately.
The mark on Qianye’s forehead also vanished. Ye coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground, but her mark also faded away.
Xu Ran hadn’t imagined such an outcome. For some reason, the curse had spilled over to Qianye and then downstream into the River of Blood. As the first drop of blood, a curse on his bloodline was akin to cursing the river. This feat wasn’t something ten of Xu Ran could achieve.
This worldly power wasn’t something a single life-form could destroy.
Xu Ran roared, “If something happens to me, the sun will go out of control and destroy this entire world! If you all kneel down and recognize me as your master, I might be merciful enough to shift the sun away, saving this world from sure destruction.”
“We won’t trouble you with that. I’ve finished calculating the new trajectory, and all we need to do now is to send you off.”
Anwen appeared on the Sacred Mountain. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a star map containing a new trajectory far from Evernight.
Xu Ran scanned the battlefield. “Very well, I admit defeat. However, it’s quite the delusion you have if you think you can kill me. I will return to the Immortal Heavens and report this to the dao court. Thirty years later, I will return with a great army, and you will face annihilation!”
The book under Xu Ran’s feet flew open and countless pages flew out. The pages surrounded him as he slowly rose into the sky.
Qianye wanted to attack, but to his surprise, he couldn’t lock onto the emissary. Under the protection of those pages, it felt like Xu Ran was both in this world and not in this world. Qianye didn’t feel that frustrated even when he was facing the cauldron.
Xu Ran let out a burst of long laughter. “The ability of an immortal is not something you people can imagine!”
“Not necessarily!” A cold voice resounded as eight azure pillars appeared around Xu Ran, slowing down his ascent.
The emissary’s expression shifted drastically. “You’ve managed to brush the surface, but unfortunately, you’re not a heavenly monarch. I might not be able to leave if you were.”
Zhao Jundu walked out of the void, holding a shockingly long rifle. The weapon was simple, ancient-looking, and covered in runic carvings. Also, it looked like this old weapon could only fire once. The name on its stock read: Soulrender.
Zhao Jundu said nothing more. He simply raised his gun and fired!
