Chapter 973 - The Fiend Under the Cherry Blossom Tree

Translator: BOTA Fireteam

Huiyue Palace was an impressive sight. The guards were fully armed and armored, with a crescent moon insignia on their breasts. They stood in a neat line, and were mostly of the divine moonrace. Some had their totems out as they patrolled the skies. From the entrance, the palace compound looked just like a paradise, especially with the clouds, moonlight, cherry blossoms, and pristine white and pink walls.

Though the guards put up a threatening front, they mellowed considerably when Tianming mentioned Huiye Shi's name. They knew that Feiling was an ascendant and felt that Tianming's aura was also rather impressive, so they didn't throw their weight around too much. They just asked them to wait as they entered to make the report.

Soon, Tianming saw Huiye Shi running toward him with a blissful expression. When she spotted Feiling beside him, she immediately pouted. "Huh? Old vixen? You seem… uglier? Hmmm, I guess your age is catching up to you."

"Stop messing around and come with us. I have something to ask you," Tianming said.

"Where are we going?"

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Anywhere will do."

"Then let's go inside to my room," she said with a shy smile, then turned to Feiling. "You know you want to."

"Do that again and I'll beat you up," Feiling snapped furiously.

"Haha…" She even dared to poke her tongue out. Then again, following her inside wasn't the worst idea. The palace was the best place on the entire moon for cultivating, after all. If they could gain access to the divine moon hall, they'd definitely make rapid breakthroughs.

Right after they entered, Huiye Shi suddenly recalled what had just happened. "Hey, I think we have trouble!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know how Liu Yizhao did it, but he figured out what happened to my brother! Now, he's lusting after my young, nubile body and using that to threaten me! Tianming, you forced me to do it, so you’d better take responsibility," she said in a manufactured pitiful tone of voice.

"You're still singing your own praises at a time like this?" Tianming was impressed.

"Hehe, that's called being cute."

Tianming and Feiling exchanged glances at the sheer wonder of how weird she was.

"So what do I do?"

"Just satisfy him then. It won't be a problem then, right?"

"Hmph, you're heartless."

"Or kill him."

"Nonsense. He can crush me with two fingers."

"Leave that aside for now. I have other questions for you."

"Alright!" She continued leading the way to her private quarters.

……

As night fell, a relaxing breeze blew through the pavilions of the Glowmoon Compound. The blooming cherry trees and tall walls glowed faintly under the moonlight. Liu Yizhao had drunk quite a bit and was feeling a little tipsy. He lay against his chair and opened his arms, waiting for the young bunny to crawl into his embrace.

All of a sudden, he seemed to turn a little angry. It seemed that someone had come. The liquor he’d been drinking had been brewed with the finest spirit herbs using a complicated process. Rather than alcohol, it was more like a spirit potion that was so potent that it slightly dulled his consciousness.

He opened his arms and smiled as he said, "Come, sit down! Let daddy see how impressive you are!"

Even though there was no response, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Almost immediately, it felt like billions of ghouls had assailed his body. He immediately snapped open his eyes and gasped, his gaze and moustache shuddering at the sight of the white-robed man before him. The man was pale, sickly, and completely hairless. However, there were thousands of stars within his pale-white eyes. He looked just like a saint, but his savage aura made him seem like he was perpetually surrounded by countless vengeful wraiths. It was a fiend that stood atop a sea of blood. A single look was enough to send a chill down Liu Yizhao's spine.

"Bodhi!" He recognized him immediately. It was someone he hadn’t bothered with and had almost forgotten, yet that person had come to the Divine Moon Realm and was right before him. The instant he realized his intruder’s identity, he was forced to his knees by a terrifying force.

Immediately, Liu Yizhao summoned his totems, but he didn't think Bodhi would be so savage. Almost immediately, he gripped Liu Yizhao's shoulder and pulled on his right arm with force, plucking it from his body.

"Aaaaaaagh!" His eyeballs were about to pop out as his body twitched. Yet, strangely, his shriek didn't seem to have disturbed the relative peace of the pavilion at all. Bodhi had ensured that not a single sound would be able to leak out. For that to be possible, it meant Bodhi's power was a few leagues above Liu Yizhao's.

Liu Yizhao recalled that Bodhi was at the fourth level at best, and couldn't even defeat Huiyue Yin. Terror, fear, and disbelief immediately filled his mind as he watched Bodhi crush all four totem bane-rings on his severed arm with a cold, disdainful look.

"No, it's impossible… You were on a dying planet! How could you have gotten so much power?!"

Bodhi was far stronger than the other specters. Once, Liu Yizhao had made Bodhi kneel, but now Bodhi was holding his lifeless arm and toying with it like a clown.

"Don't kill me, I beg you! Spare me! You win!" Liu Yizhao yielded fast. Even without his totems, as long as he lived, he would still have a modicum of power, although he would be no different from a normal human. But once he was dead, he would have nothing.

"I have a question for you," Bodhi said with a tragic expression.

"Ask away!"

"Who else but you knows that I'm here?" he asked.

"If I tell you, will you spare me?"

"I won't, but at least you’ll die a more pleasant death."

Liu Yizhao despaired.

"Little You, come," Bodhi said, waving. A girl came walking out from a corner.

"Daddy." As she approached, countless hairs sprouted from her body. By her third step, she had turned into a gigantic white wolf. The sight of that was so shocking that Liu Yizhao couldn't even say a word. He watched as the wolf devoured his severed arm bite by bite.

"If you tell me, you won't be eaten like that. I’ll give you a short moment to decide," Bodhi said plainly.

"Bodhi! I can tell you a secret. It relates to the truth of the slaughter of the specters. If I tell you who the real culprit is, will you spare me?" Liu Yizhao begged with tears and snot flowing from his face.