Chapter 165 - 164: Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion, Liu Ziyan’s Death

At that moment, Liu Ziyan’s spirit broke. She collapsed bonelessly to the ground, all courage to even fight back gone.

Luo Tian didn’t spare her a single glance.

From the beginning of the battle, it had seemed like he was facing an ambush of three.

But only the two fighters ranked second on the Human List were worthy of Luo Tian’s slight attention. He had completely ignored Liu Ziyan.

The outcome of the fight was a little surprising to Luo Tian.

’Two people ranked second on the Human List are this weak? They couldn’t even block a single one of my strikes.’

In truth, it wasn’t that Wang Tian and the purple-robed man were weak.

It was that Luo Tian was too strong!

The opportunities he’d found on Profound Spirit Mountain had raised his overall strength by more than two levels.

His Guiyuan True Qi, though only at the Half-step Spirit Sea Realm, could crush the proud disciples of the academies and was comparable to that of a Spirit Sea Realm Second Layer expert.

On top of that, he had reached Perfection in a Spirit Level Sword Technique, comprehended a sliver of Sword Intent, and possessed Divine Vein Power.

Any one of these achievements would be considered world-shaking for an ordinary genius.

When all of them were concentrated in a single person, the word "monstrous" was the only fitting description.

"Run! How could a monster like this appear in the Azure Cloud Kingdom?!"

The purple-robed man, having lost an arm, was pale as a sheet, his hair standing on end in terror.

SWOOSH!

Like a gust of violet wind, the purple-robed man fled.

However, Luo Tian was even faster. As light as smoke, he closed the distance in an instant.

SHIIING—BOOM!

Another Sword Qi Rainbow Light at the Star River Level flashed across the purple-robed man’s back.

The purple-robed man’s body stiffened.

A thin line of blood circled his waist.

THUD!

The purple-robed man’s body, severed in two at the waist, fell into a pool of his own blood.

The manor fell deathly silent.

The Third Prince and Seventh Prince were utterly stunned, their faces masks of horror.

The fighters ranked second on the Human List, who had been invincible in their eyes, were cut down by Luo Tian like vegetables—one per strike.

"Third Prince..."

The girl in the green dress, ecstatic, ran to untie the two princes.

Both princes had had their cultivation sealed.

With Luo Tian’s help, the seals were broken.

"You bitch! How dare you betray me!"

Once freed, the Seventh Prince roared and rushed over to Liu Ziyan.

SLAP! SLAP!

Two slaps left Liu Ziyan’s face red and swollen.

After the two of them were captured alive by the Qiu Yue Kingdom, Liu Ziyan had readily committed treason, offering her body to become Zheng Wei’s plaything.

"Seventh Prince, spare me! I had no choice that day! I’m willing to be your slave and serve you!"

Liu Ziyan’s eyes filled with tears, a picture of pitiable beauty.

"Pah!"

The Seventh Prince, Li Yao, looked disgusted.

"I invested so much in you and never even touched your body. In the end, you just threw yourself at someone else, becoming a tool for him to use and abuse."

A vicious hatred twisted Li Yao’s face.

RIP!

He walked over, tore Liu Ziyan’s clothes, and tied her to a pillar.

"You slut! I’ll make you die in a state of extreme pleasure and pain!"

Li Yao took off his own clothes, grabbed a dagger, and straddled her, about to commit a savage act.

Luo Tian couldn’t help but frown.

Although he also wanted Liu Ziyan dead, he had no sadistic tendencies.

"Luo Tian... save me..."

Liu Ziyan looked at Luo Tian, her eyes filled with pitiful terror.

"Just kill her," Luo Tian said indifferently, without a shred of pity.

"Luo Tian... you..."

Li Yao hesitated, a hint of displeasure crossing his brow.

He had invested so much in Liu Ziyan and planned to enjoy torturing her for a while before killing her.

"Did you not hear me clearly?"

Luo Tian’s face darkened, his gaze as sharp as a sword.

"Yes... I understand!"

Li Yao shuddered, feeling the chill of death wash over him.

Luo Tian had killed Wang Tian, ranked second on the Human List, with a single sword strike.

To kill him, half a strike would probably be enough.

In this world, strength was supreme.

Back in Qingchang City, Luo Tian had been threatened and humiliated by the Noble Families of a small city, unable to resist.

But now, with a single sharp word from Luo Tian, even a prince had to obey meekly.

In a special environment like the Royal Secret Garden, if Luo Tian wanted to kill a prince, it would be as easy as flipping his hand. He was the master of others’ lives.

"Bitch! You’re getting off easy."

Li Yao raised the dagger in his hand slowly.

"No! I don’t want to die... I’d rather be your slave!"

Liu Ziyan struggled in terror.

She would rather live a wretched life as a plaything than die.

"Luo Tian! Spare me—"

Liu Ziyan cast a pleading gaze at Luo Tian.

"I can tell you a secret, about the purpose of Zheng Wei’s trip to the Royal Secret Garden..."

’Zheng Wei’s purpose?’

A trace of interest showed on Luo Tian’s face.

Zheng Wei had come from the distant Chilong Dynasty and gone to great lengths to enter the Azure Cloud Kingdom’s Royal Secret Garden.

There was definitely something strange about it.

"Let her speak."

Luo Tian raised a hand to stop him.

Li Yao’s dagger froze before Liu Ziyan’s throat.

"You have to swear that you’ll let me leave the Royal Secret Garden alive. Only then will I tell you."

Liu Ziyan clung to this last straw, gritting her teeth.

"Heh."

Luo Tian shook his head and laughed mockingly.

He beckoned.

The Crow flew down from the sky and hovered over Liu Ziyan’s head.

"CAW CAW CAW..."

The Crow let out a demonic caw that sounded like scraping metal.

WHOOSH!

The scorched smoke emanating from its body enveloped Liu Ziyan.

"Ugh... COUGH COUGH..."

Liu Ziyan felt extremely unwell. Choking on the smoke, she became dizzy and her mind grew confused.

Soon, Liu Ziyan’s eyes went dull, and her pretty face was blackened by the smoke as if covered in charcoal.

"What is Zheng Wei’s purpose for coming to the Royal Secret Garden?" Luo Tian asked.

"I overheard Zheng Wei talking. He has a Treasure Map that supposedly leads to the Cave Mansion of the ancient Great Power, the ’Red Lotus Martial Venerable’. Inside the cave mansion is the Martial Venerable’s inheritance and great treasures," Liu Ziyan answered.

"The Red Lotus Martial Venerable?"

The two princes, Li Yi and Li Yao, were astonished.

On the Dongchen Continent, the Martial Artist Realms were divided into the Meridian Opening Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Earth Element Realm, and Celestial Pool Realm.

The Meridian Opening Realm was for low-level Martial Artists.

The Spirit Sea Realm was for Spirit Level Martial Artists.

The Earth Element Realm was for Earth Level Martial Artists.

The Celestial Pool Realm was for Celestial Level Martial Artists.

But the true path of Martial Arts was by no means limited to these four major Realms.

A Martial Venerable was a legendary existence above the Celestial Pool Realm.

If one were to say that traces of Celestial Level Martial Artists could still be heard of in recent centuries, then the level of Martial Venerable had completely vanished thousands of years ago.

"The Red Lotus Martial Venerable was a glorious Martial Venerable from ten thousand years ago, an overlord of that era," Li Yi exclaimed in awe.

That Wang Tian had obtained the inheritance of an Earth Element Realm Martial Artist, which was enough to change his destiny and let him climb to second on the Human List.

It was hard to imagine what kind of grand opportunities would be inside the legendary Red Lotus Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion.

"Where is the Red Lotus Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion located?" Luo Tian asked.

"Zheng Wei only confirmed a general area, somewhere to the southeast of the Secret Garden’s core," Liu Ziyan replied.

Afterwards, Luo Tian asked a few more questions, but Liu Ziyan’s knowledge was limited, and she couldn’t answer.

"That’s enough."

Luo Tian waved his hand, and the Crow flew back into the sky.

"Urgh..."

Just as Liu Ziyan regained her senses, Li Yao’s dagger plunged into her throat.

Liu Ziyan’s delicate body trembled.

In the moment before death, colors flashed in her eyes, replaying her entire life in an instant.

In that life, there was the scene of her going with her father to the Luo Family to propose marriage, only to be ruthlessly rejected.

There was her joy and desire for revenge upon awakening her Earth Tier Martial Vein.

After that, she was mired in resentment, instructing the Liu Family disciples to bully and suppress that floundering youth.

The moment that youth showed any sign of rising, killing intent would sprout in her heart. She plotted and schemed against him time and again, failing repeatedly, growing ever more crazed and hateful.

Unwittingly, her life had fallen into an abyss, beyond all redemption.

"If... only..."

Liu Ziyan died, filled with endless regret.

If she had left him even a sliver of a chance to live, when had Luo Tian ever provoked her?

All of this was her own doing, a result of falling prey to her own Heart Demon.

Witnessing Liu Ziyan’s death, Luo Tian felt his hatred assuaged, but also a mix of complicated emotions. He let out a long sigh.

"Brother Luo! Now that we’ve confirmed the news of the Red Lotus Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion, we can’t just hand over such a great opportunity to others," the Third Prince, Li Yi, said with a warm smile.

"What does the Third Prince suggest?" Luo Tian said calmly.

"Let’s cooperate! If this succeeds, Brother Luo will be a great hero to my Royal Family. I will personally ask my father, the King, to reward you handsomely."

The Third Prince was very polite, making his intention to win Luo Tian over clear.

"Third Prince, forgive me for being blunt."

Luo Tian sneered.

"You should be thankful just to have escaped the nightmare of being hostages. You’d be better off thinking about how to protect yourselves."

Luo Tian had no desire to drag two deadweights along.

As for these two princes, he didn’t have the slightest favorable impression of them. He had only rescued them on a whim, purely for the sake of the people of the Azure Cloud Kingdom.

After saying his piece, Luo Tian said no more and drifted away alone.

"You..."

The Third Prince, Li Yi, looked somewhat embarrassed.

His talk of cooperation was, to put it plainly, a ploy to borrow Luo Tian’s immense strength.

Without Luo Tian, they could barely protect themselves from the powerful enemies of the Qiu Yue Kingdom, let alone contend for the inheritance in the Red Lotus Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion.

"Third Brother, you’re dreaming! With his strength, why would Luo Tian bring two burdens along? Of course he’s better off going it alone," the Seventh Prince, Li Yao, scoffed.

He wasn’t so ambitious. He felt incredibly lucky just to have escaped his fate as a hostage.

SIGH!

Li Yi let out a long sigh. Weighing his options, he had no choice but to give up.

The subordinates he had bought before, Hong Peng and the others, were all dead.

Alone and without followers, and facing such a huge gap in strength, he was completely unqualified to interfere with matters concerning the Red Lotus Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion.

...

「Two hours later.」

Night had fallen.

Luo Tian arrived at the center of the Royal Secret Garden, near the general location Liu Ziyan had provided.

At this moment, Luo Tian spread out his Spiritual Sense and advanced slowly.

With his current strength, as long as he didn’t fall into an encirclement or ambush by the powerful enemies from the Qiu Yue Kingdom, his life wouldn’t be in danger.

Even if Zheng Wei himself appeared, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.

At a certain moment, an artificial lake appeared in the distance, four to five li in diameter.

"I see them. People from the Qiu Yue Kingdom..." the Crow reported as it patrolled the sky, using the cover of night.

"Don’t fly too close!" Luo Tian instructed. With his powerful eyesight, he could barely make out the blurry black dots of human figures on the opposite side of the lake.

Just then.

RUMBLE! SPLASH!

The water of the artificial lake churned violently, sending furious waves rolling.

Immediately after, an immense light-and-shadow image of a lotus, like a red sunset cloud, materialized above the lake, emanating a blazing, overwhelming pressure.

The waves continued to churn ceaselessly.

In the center of the swirling vortex, an ancient, dark-red Cave Mansion gradually emerged.

The entrance to the Cave Mansion was a distorted, pale-red wind tunnel, surrounded by dark-red coral rock.

"It really is the ’Red Lotus Martial Venerable’s’ Cave Mansion."

Luo Tian was quite surprised.

Zheng Wei had truly come prepared on this trip to have found the Martial Venerable’s Cave Mansion.

’Hmph! The Qiu Yue Kingdom tried to kill me and plunder my opportunities before. This time, I won’t be so polite.’

A sharp glint flashed in Luo Tian’s eyes.

WHOOSH!

The Dark Night Cloak on his back rippled strangely.

Then, Luo Tian’s figure vanished from his spot, completely hidden.

Because it was night, Luo Tian was able to activate the miraculous Invisibility effect of the Dark Night Cloak.