Chapter 195 - 193: The Celestial List Revealed
"Protect His Highness!"
The surrounding government soldiers and guards were all greatly alarmed, desperately guarding the Guard Palace.
On the rooftop, a volley of crossbow arrows shot towards the attacking Black Crows, but they could not harm these Black Soul Crow Fog Beasts in the slightest.
In the blink of an eye, the Black Crows swept over the rooftop, their large wings easily sending a group of government soldiers and guards flying away.
Just as they were about to dive into the palace, Duan Fangshuo leaped onto the rooftop below, his long knife slashing out a mass of blazing fire attribute blade qi, forming rings of fire that swept in all directions.
"What strong blade qi!" Song Changming saw this fire attribute blade qi from afar, his gaze involuntarily focused.
As expected, the Second Prince still had powerful people under his command.
This kind of blade qi far surpassed his own!
The group of Black Crows hit by this fire attribute blade qi mostly flew off course, tumbling out of the palace.
But some of the larger Black Crows, some two to three zhang in size, resisted Duan Fangshuo’s blade qi, flying towards him through the flames.
Their two large iron claws beneath, came down on Duan Fangshuo’s head.
It must be said, these Black Soul Crow Fog Beasts’ ability to withstand such level blade qi damage is far beyond that of ordinary high level Fog Beasts.
Song Changming estimated, this group of Black Soul Crow Fog Beasts are likely the last trump card Xiao Yanli holds.
Even if Xiao Yanli cultivated for another fifty or sixty years, his martial arts cultivation might never give him a chance to personally exact revenge on this Second Prince.
Therefore, taking an unconventional path, resorting to any means necessary for revenge, is understandable.
Of course, understanding is one thing, but the origins of Xiao Yanli’s mist gold and these Black Crows are probably not so simple.
According to Liu Dingsheng’s statements, they likely colluded with Outer Realm Evil Cults and made dark deals to obtain them.
Including the energizing of this mist gold, who knows how many lives were sacrificed to collect the essence blood needed to fog beastify these Black Crows smoothly.
If this is indeed the case, the sins of such actions judged by anyone would be unforgivable.
All for the sake of revenge.
Xiao Yanli has now fallen into extreme obsession, difficult to turn back.
Boom!
With a huge roar, a substantial blade qi like a pillar of fire soared into the sky, instantly burning two of the Black Soul Crow Fog Beasts into mere bones.
Duan Fangshuo stood at one corner of the palace roof, his body surrounded by blade qi, even his eyes blazing, as if the Fire God had descended!
"So powerful!" Song Changming was once again astonished by the destructive power of the opponent’s blade qi, intimidated by the opponent’s aura.
"The Northern Flame God Blade of past days! The celestial rank martial artist of those times, to think you have also fallen to become a royal lackey now!" A Qi Refining expert brought by Xiao Yanli suddenly shouted loudly.
Duan Fangshuo kept a cold face, still saying nothing, just staring at the group of Qi Refining enemies below and the remaining Black Soul Crow Fog Beasts in the sky.
"Celestial List Martial Artist..." Song Changming suddenly realized.
No wonder this person gave such a strong impression, just the words Celestial List Martial Artist exuded overwhelming pressure.
Even retired ’participants’ who once made the Celestial List can intimidate many martial artist powerhouses.
After all, reaching the Celestial List itself is an absolute symbol of martial strength.
Song Changming originally had high hopes for Xiao Yanli’s meticulously planned assassination. The process had been smooth, at least until now, gathering a significant force of martial artist powerhouses and successfully infiltrating the County City.
Even got cooperation from Gu Wenhui’s side to distract the Second Prince.
Everything had been arranged methodically.
Until they encountered Duan Fangshuo.
No wonder the Second Prince had such trust in this person, relying on him entirely for his safety.
This person indeed had the strength to be the final Gatekeeper, ensuring the Second Prince’s safety.
In a flash, the strongest Black Soul Crow Fog Beasts were all successively slain.
This made Xiao Yanli’s face extremely grim, even causing his breathing to become rapidly labored.
He couldn’t accept the failure after so much preparation.
The Qi Refining experts he brought, seeing the overwhelming Duan Fangshuo, secretly harbored thoughts of retreat.
They had all gathered for various reasons to kill the Second Prince, but none were as obsessively insane as Xiao Yanli.
If they saw the situation as hopeless, they wouldn’t risk their lives foolishly.
Xiao Yanli also realized the situation was unfavorable, about to be crushed by Duan Fangshuo alone!
"You forced me!"
Xiao Yanli gritted his teeth, his face twisted and hysterical.
He swallowed the mist gold in his hand in one gulp. At the same time, the last few Black Soul Crows suddenly went out of control, circling in the air once before swooping toward him.
Xiao Yanli spread his arms wide, appearing frenzied.
The next moment, the fastest-flying Black Soul Crow bit directly into his neck, flapping its wings as it flew into the air.
The remaining Black Soul Crows followed closely, biting into Xiao Yanli’s other limbs, and devoured him completely in midair!
The bloodthirsty scene was horrifying to behold.
Song Changming didn’t expect that when he saw Xiao Yanli again, the latter would end up in such a miserable fate.
And this seemed to be a conclusion he had chosen for himself.
After consuming Xiao Yanli’s flesh and blood, the final five Black Soul Crows emitted wave after wave of scorching mist energy from their bodies like blooming flowers, more intense than before.
Soon after, the five Black Soul Crows underwent a second mutation.
More chaotic feathers grew from them, making them look like pitch-black flying lumps of coal.
Among these feathers, strange black tentacles floated, resembling long whips or venomous black snakes.
Judging by their appearance, they bore little resemblance to the original crows, more like some malformed, bred monsters.
Without Xiao Yanli’s control, these five Black Soul Crows seemed to have inherited Xiao Yanli’s final obsession with revenge, still heading towards the Guard Palace.
Duan Fangshuo frowned, his big saber in hand slashing fiery red blades of sword qi in the air, relentlessly hacking at these second mutated Black Soul Crow Mist Beasts.
Under the night sky, it was like a string of fireworks exploding.
This time, Duan Fangshuo’s sword qi was no longer unstoppable. It couldn’t cut through the five mutated Black Soul Crows.
Yet, as these five lumps of coal approached, those tentacles lashed out like serpent eels, stabbing or coiling towards Duan Fangshuo continuously.
Duan Fangshuo swung his saber but could only slash out large amounts of scorching mist energy, unable to sever these tentacles, let alone kill these mutated Black Soul Crows.
"What the hell are these things!"
Everyone present was shocked by these flying lumps of coal.
The scorching mist energy continued to gather, spreading continuously in the air like a massive thundercloud.
Duan Fangshuo suddenly burst out from the blanket of scorching mist energy.
The five immortal Black Soul Crows abruptly changed direction, crashing through the palace roof.
The palace roof immediately caved in a large section.
Duan Fangshuo’s expression changed upon seeing this.
He thought all the malice of these five troublesome Black Soul Crows was directed at him, but unexpectedly, they made a feint and rushed inside the hall.
Fearing any mishap might befall the Second Prince inside, he dared not delay and immediately rushed in.
Soon, sword qi raged through the hall, and soon after, Duan Fangshuo jumped out a window from the other side of the palace with someone in his grasp.
Song Changming saw clearly, the person wore a King’s robe, and it was undoubtedly the Second Prince.
"Finally, he shows himself!" Song Changming muttered, slowly getting up.
The five lumps of coal swiftly flew out in pursuit, shrieking incessantly after the Second Prince.
It was as if they weren’t chasing Black Soul Crows but the dead Xiao Yanli.
In an instant, both the Black Soul Crows and Duan Fangshuo, along with the Second Prince, vanished from sight.
Leaving behind a group of Qi Refining Powerhouses still engaged in fierce fighting.
Song Changming thought for a moment, and stealthily flew into the Guard Palace.
The vast Guard Palace, after the destruction of the battle just now, was in ruins, with the bodies of several maids and servants strewn across the floor.
These bodies, without exception, were drained of their essence blood, left shriveled and decayed in death.
Song Changming paid no mind to the corpses and debris, his gaze scanning around, spotting some writings and paintings that seemed quite valuable.
There were also some glazed lamps, which looked quite expensive, but unfortunately, these precious items had all been destroyed.
"Tsk, what a waste," muttered Song Changming, who came to gather wealth, regretfully under his breath.
"Who goes there!" Suddenly, a guest of the Second Prince rushed into the Guard Palace, seeing the unknown Song Changming, he immediately shouted, drew his sword, and stabbed.
Anyone present in the Prince’s Mansion was either a guard or an enemy, requiring no second thought.
Song Changming didn’t care, backhandedly slapped, instantly sending that guest stumbling away, fleeing without hesitation.
Seeing that the Guard Palace didn’t seem like a place hiding treasures, Song Changming no longer lingered and flew away.
He was in no hurry to find the whereabouts of the Second Prince. Taking advantage of the chaos, he planned to roam around other places in the Prince’s Mansion first.