Chapter 1272: An Ominous Change in the Situation

Princess Suolun faced Yu Yanluo and said apologetically, “The situation comes before personal feelings. I must ask for your understanding.”

Yu Yanluo had fiend race blood within her, so she felt deep sympathy for Princess Suolun’s concerns. She didn’t get angry and said, “When one’s position is different, there’s no need to talk about forgiveness. Watch out.” She took out the World Painting as she spoke, sucking Princess Suolun directly into her art.

However, she didn’t feel the slightest bit of happiness, but instead looked in another direction vigilantly. With a purple flash, Princess Suolun instantly reappeared.

Yu Yanluo gave the painting a look and remarked, “Puppet arts?”

Princess Suolun broke out into a cold sweat. If she hadn’t seen the painting sucking in the Blood Explosion Technique previously, she would already have been done in just then. She felt even more ashamed, as it was clearly the skill that had saved her earlier. As such, she held back even more when she attacked.

…

Meanwhile, Qiao Heng was pulling his punches even more. He fought against the weak-looking Yan Xuehen, and yet there was no progress even after a long time. The other fiend race experts were all annoyed. Still, they didn’t dare to anger Princess Suolun and Qiao Heng at the moment. Stalling their opponents was already good enough for the time being, as it was still better than having them as enemies.

Just then, Jin Shi, the bear brothers, Prince Yi Shan, Duan Tiande, and Ma Huang took the initiative to surround and attack Zu An with their subordinates.

Zu An’s expression was cold as he used the Feathersilk Entangling Art to make the bear brothers’ weapons smash into each other. While their internal energies stirred uncomfortably, he sent them flying with kicks. He then froze Jin Shi’s legs with the Snowflake Sword, preventing him from abusing the Golden Peng race’s ridiculous movement skill. Then, he knocked Jin Shi down with a fist.

Right at that moment, a long and slender sword suddenly appeared from the shadow behind Jin Shi; it was a dark elf’s assassination weapon. In response, Zu An used Shining Finger to deflect the sword, then reached out to grab the other party’s head.

However, Duan Tiande reacted quickly. He shrank into the shadows and disappeared. After a moment, he instantly appeared behind Zu An. Such an opponent really was tricky to deal with.

Zu An released a cold snort. His entire body suddenly surged with flames, the fiery light making it so that there were no shadows around them at all. Duan Tiande had no choice but to withdraw in alarm.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Just then, Ma Huang unleashed an attack. He turned into a lump of blood and wrapped himself around Zu An’s arm. It quickly spread, trying to cover Zu An’s entire body.

Judging from the suction force around his arm, Zu An knew Ma Huang was trying to suck out his blood essence. He felt a wave of disgust when he remembered Mosquito Daoist. He immediately used the Heaven Devouring Sutra, turning his entire arm into a black hole.

Ma Huang was horrified. Not only was he unable to suck out Zu An’s blood essence, quite a bit of his own cultivation had even been taken. If he hadn’t been sure that Zu An was human, he would even have suspected him of being from the Blood race too!

He tried to leave in alarm, but unfortunately, no matter how he struggled, he couldn't free himself from the suction force. He felt despair, thinking, I’m finished! I chose to fight with an eagle and got my eyes pecked out instead…

Fortunately, the others’ attacks arrived at that time. Zu An was distracted from dealing with them, giving Ma Huang a chance to recover. The lump of blood split in two. One remained on Zu An’s arm, while the other eventually managed to successfully break free.

The part that had escaped turned back into Ma Huang, but his complexion was extremely pale. He was no longer as high-spirited as before, and he looked at Zu An in horror. During that interaction just then, twenty percent of his cultivation seemed to have been absorbed. It would be strange for him not to feel extremely weak.

When the others saw that they had saved Ma Huang, they all backed off. After that, they didn’t dare to act rashly anymore. There were so many of them fighting together, and yet they had ended up being easily beaten up by Zu An. Their side had suffered considerably from just the first exchange.

Even while they were all hesitating, Zu An frowned. With his current cultivation, he could win easily against any one of them one on one, but there were too many of them at the moment. When he took down one, others would immediately rush in, leaving him with no room to quickly decide the battle.

These were all the best of the various fiend races’ younger generation, and they were different from ordinary ninth rank experts. Their trump cards and methods were a cut above the rest. When such opponents worked together, they would naturally be a bit tricky to deal with.

Jin Shi said seriously, “We’ll attack together and retreat together. Don’t give him the chance to take us down one by one!”

“Fine!” the other fiend race experts replied. They were all valiant individuals. Their fighting spirit had been roused. With the way things were, there was already no room for reconciliation, but if they risked it all, things might take a turn for the better. They might even be able to obtain the deity-grade ki stone, or even the eternal medicine below. If they backed down and this human took down one by one, they would all die tragically here.

After realizing that, they all charged forth with a roar.

Zu An was starting to get annoyed, and no longer held back. Soon, bitter screams rang out one after another as several of the bodyguards were killed. Even so, the bodyguards were still rather tough; they acted like deathsworn soldiers, using their own bodies to prevent Zu An from having a chance to attack their masters.

The fiend race cultivators were growing more and more horrified. At the same time, they were starting to regret their decision. At this point, however, they could only brace themselves.

Blood and flesh soon flew in all directions, dyeing the place red. Then, as if guided by something, it flowed down the translucent stairs along inconspicuous grooves, toward the pond where the Three Three Flower was. The previously impenetrable barrier acted as if it didn’t even exist, allowing the blood to flow in. Then, the once bright and clear pond gradually turned red.

However, the people above were still fighting and didn’t notice that small change.

…

As they continued fighting, the fiend race cultivators only began to experience even greater terror. Their opponent was just way too powerful, as if he were a war god! Even if they really did win, most of them would probably lose their lives here. No one wanted to become one of those sacrifices.

Duan Tiande was still the sharpest of them in the end. He knew that defeating Zu An in direct combat would be a bit difficult, so he shifted his attention to the women.

The woman who fought using the dao of art was extremely profound. Even if Princess Suolun hadn’t been holding back, she wouldn’t be easy to defeat.

As for the fierce woman, she was holding Princess Changning down while smacking her face ferociously. Although Princess Changning’s cultivation was nothing to scoff at, she was like a small child without any power to resist, and was being beaten miserably. Duan Tiande shivered when he saw that. This tigress is best left unprovoked.

As such, his attention quickly landed on Yan Xuehen. Her aura was the weakest, as she had seemingly been injured quite badly. Judging from her previous performance, she only had knowledge and didn’t seem to be good at fighting. As for Qiao Heng, who was fighting her, he was really pulling his punches quite heavily.

Duan Tiande jumped into the shadows, then reappeared next to Yan Xuehen through her shadow. He thrust his sword at her neck, intending to use her to threaten Zu An.

However, the weak-looking woman seemed to have anticipated Duan Tiande’s move ahead of time. She turned around and deftly evaded his attack. At the same time, her snow-white sleeves swept out.

Duan Tiande felt a gentle force spread across his longsword, and he almost lost his grip on it. He was horrified. What is up with this woman? Why are her skills so profound?

Just then, an arrow flew toward him. He was on his guard and quickly evaded it. He stared at Qiao Heng, exclaiming furiously, “What are you doing?!”

Qiao Heng said with a grim expression, “This is my opponent; I won’t allow anyone else to interfere.”

Duan Tiande was so angry he laughed. He retorted, “Anyone can see that you’re not even trying. Taking her as a hostage is what’s most important right now. Otherwise, all of us will die!”

The other fiend race experts were also unsatisfied with what was happening on that end. They all began to curse, telling Qiao Heng to remember who he was, and to quickly deal with his opponent before helping them out.

Qiao Heng’s expression changed several times. His slacking off had been exposed, and yet he couldn't really take a side.

Suddenly, a terrifying aura surged from below. The pond around the Three Three Flower had turned red, becoming a bloody pool. The blood inside seemed to be boiling, spilling out and spreading in all directions. Soon afterward, it covered the entire floor of the palace, and it seemed as if it would continue to climb higher.

Then, the entire platform they were fighting on, as well as the translucent stairs, suddenly disappeared. The ones who had been fighting on it immediately lost their center of gravity and fell toward the blood pond.