Chapter 501 - 499: My Dear Concubine, Don’t Run

Luo Tian hadn’t expected the Crow to say something like that at such a critical moment.

The golden-haired man standing nearby was also dumbfounded.

The Tri-colored Finch in the sky instantly fixed its fierce eyes on the Crow, its killing intent flaring.

It had clearly understood what the Crow said!

SWOOSH!

The Tri-colored Finch unleashed a terrifying, heart-pounding aura. In a flash, it transformed into a streak of iridescent light and shot downward!

"Ugly Bird, get out of here!" Luo Tian roared.

The fearsome Tri-colored Finch was now targeting the Crow. If Luo Tian stayed with it, he would just be caught in the crossfire.

Even the golden-haired man, a Half-step Celestial Pool Realm expert, couldn’t withstand the Tri-colored Finch’s terrifying attacks. Naturally, Luo Tian couldn’t either.

"You two bastards tricked me into going in there. Now you can just wait to die!"

Seeing his chance, the golden-haired man took the opportunity to flee.

With his level of strength, he’d be lucky to last a few moves against the Tri-colored Finch alone before being killed.

Even if he joined forces with the silver-robed woman from the Sea Demon Palace and the other Half-step Celestial Pool Realm experts, they might not be able to stop it. Only Lü Hongyi stood a chance.

WHOOSH!

The golden-haired man departed swiftly, planning to find Lü Hongyi.

"KA KA KA! You’re trying to murder your own husband!"

Every feather on the Crow’s body stood on end.

The corner of Luo Tian’s mouth twitched. The moment they met, the Crow had boasted about wanting to sleep with the Tri-colored Finch, and now it was calling itself the finch’s husband.

"Kid, the Demon Emperor Bone! Quick, give me the Demon Emperor Bone!"

the Crow cried out, its whole body trembling.

"Here!"

Luo Tian tossed out a massive, pitch-black bone, then drifted backward to put some distance between himself and the Crow.

WHOOSH! CRACK!

A brilliant, sharp light sliced through the spot where he had been, carving several gashes more than ten meters long into the ground and sending dirt flying.

The Crow had miraculously survived, slipping through a gap in the Tri-colored Finch’s Attack.

"KA KA KA! I am the Ancient First Divine Beast! Do you think I’m that easy to kill?!"

With a loud caw, the Crow darted into the Red Palace.

The Tri-colored Finch immediately charged in after it.

Luo Tian took the opportunity to retreat some distance, using his Spiritual Sense to monitor the situation inside the Red Palace.

Just as he had predicted, the Tri-colored Finch was protecting the Red Palace. Once inside, it was constrained, and the power of its attacks was greatly reduced.

Thanks to the complex environment inside the Red Palace and the Crow’s freakish ability to dodge, it managed to narrowly avoid two more attacks.

"Kneel before me!"

Just then, the Crow stopped and faced the Tri-colored Finch directly!

BOOM!

The immense demonic aura from the Demon Emperor Bone suddenly erupted, engulfing the Crow’s entire body.

The Tri-colored Finch froze for a moment, a look of apprehension on its face.

Then, the aura around the Crow skyrocketed. A black mist swelled and billowed, forming a tall, imposing figure. It resembled a Divine Beast from ancient myths—part peacock, part Phoenix—exuding a boundless, domineering power that could intimidate all living things.

The Tri-colored Finch let out a terrified screech, its feathers trembling violently!

From a distance, Luo Tian observed the situation in the Red Palace.

’This Ugly Bird’s background really is something else...’

Luo Tian was stunned by the sight. Even the Divine Veins within his body began to thrum.

The Crow usually acted like a shameless, brain-dead idiot, but it clearly harbored many secrets.

Even if the Crow’s true identity wasn’t the Ancient First Divine Beast, it couldn’t be far from it.

The technique the Crow was using now was identical to how Luo Tian would simulate the Demon Emperor’s aura to intimidate Demon Beasts.

However, the Crow was a Demon Beast to begin with. Who knew what kind of terrifying existence it had been in its Peak Era? By using the Demon Emperor Bone to perform this technique, the effect was clearly far more authentic.

This incredibly powerful Celestial Level Demon Beast was scared stiff.

’Just scaring it won’t do much good...’

Luo Tian murmured to himself.

’The Tri-colored Finch will snap out of it sooner or later. When it does, the Crow is a dead bird.’

Just then, the Crow made its move!

"I curse you..."

The Curse Ability!

Luo Tian’s expression flickered, a trace of interest showing on his face.

He’d heard the Crow let this ability slip once, but he’d never actually seen it used. Now, the Crow was finally going to demonstrate it!

Cursing was an extremely mysterious and bizarre ability. This school of power had been exceptionally rare even in the Ancient Era, and now it was completely unheard of.

"I curse you... to be overcome with lust!"

When the Crow finished speaking, Luo Tian nearly lost his footing.

’What the hell kind of curse is that?’

After hearing this, the Tri-colored Finch was stunned for a moment. It grew suspicious of the Crow’s terrifying aura and began to come to its senses.

However, it immediately felt a wicked heat erupt and burn within its body, desperately needing release!

BOOM!

In its panic, the Tri-colored Finch shot a brilliant beam of light from its beak, blasting a large hole through the Red Palace.

"KA KA, my beloved concubine, just give in to me."

The Crow flew out from a nearby pile of rubble.

The Tri-colored Finch’s eyes gradually turned crimson, revealing a hint of crazed lust.

SCREEECH!

It threw its head back with a screech, then shot out through the hole and flew far away.

Its number one criterion for a mate was someone heroic and handsome—definitely not something as ugly as this Crow.

’It fled?’

Luo Tian was surprised.

WHOOSH!

He quickly flew over to the Red Palace.

"Nice work!"

Luo Tian praised it.

No matter how absurd the process had been, the end result was that the Tri-colored Finch had a breakdown and fled. That was good enough.

"KA... Of course. Don’t you... know who... I... am?!"

the Crow said, puffing out its chest.

"Hm? Your voice?"

Luo Tian noticed that the Crow’s voice was extremely hoarse; it was struggling to speak.

It only took a moment’s thought for him to understand.

This had to be a side effect of using its Curse Power. If the Crow were to use it again, it probably wouldn’t be able to utter a single word.

"The Thousand-leaf... Wandering Dragon Grass... is all mine!"

The Crow made an outrageous demand.

"You can have one! However, I’ll let you use the Demon Emperor Bone for a while longer."

Luo Tian immediately put away two stalks of the Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass.

"Fine!"

The Crow had no choice but to agree.

After looting the three pots of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass, the man and the bird immediately started grabbing the other treasures.

The quality and quantity of treasures in this Red Palace far surpassed those of any other.

Luo Tian didn’t have time to identify anything. If an item felt extraordinary, he stuffed it directly into his Storage Space.

Just a few seconds later.

Luo Tian sensed several powerful auras rapidly approaching.

...

"Miss Lü, this is the place!"

The golden-haired man had a grim expression as he and nearly ten other Martial Artists slowly approached the Red Palace.

Leading them was none other than Lü Hongyi.

"Miss Lü, be careful. That Demon Beast is suspected to be the Ancient Demon Beast, the Flowing Gold Illusionary Finch. It’s much stronger than the Celestial Level Spider we encountered earlier!"

the golden-haired man warned.

The others’ faces paled, and their bodies tensed as they proceeded with extreme caution.

A few of them even looked like they wanted to back out.

’A Demon Beast even more fearsome than that Celestial Level Spider... Can a small group like us really handle it?’

Lü Hongyi’s brow furrowed slightly.

If it was truly as the golden-haired man described, then the people they had with them were indeed not enough to deal with the Flowing Gold Illusionary Finch.

"No sound?"

one person said, straining his ears.

"...The Flowing Gold Illusionary Finch is probably hiding inside, preparing to ambush us. I was seriously injured because it ambushed me earlier!"

the golden-haired man said with conviction.

This made the group even more tense.

Such a terrifying Celestial Level Demon Beast also liked to ambush its prey. The slightest mistake could mean their deaths here.

The group held their breath as they slowly approached the Red Palace!

Just then, a figure appeared at the entrance of the palace!

"Everyone, be careful!"

the golden-haired man shouted. The others shuddered, and their expressions grew even more grim.

But in the next moment, everyone’s expressions froze.

The one walking out of the Red Palace wasn’t a Demon Beast. It was Luo Tian, followed by an incredibly ugly Black Crow.

"What are you doing here?"

The golden-haired man froze.

With the Tri-colored Finch’s immense power, killing the Crow and Luo Tian should have been easier than crushing an ant.

His round trip had taken over twenty breaths—more than enough time for Luo Tian and the Crow to have died a dozen times over.

The others were incredibly embarrassed.

They had been so fearful and cautious, only for Luo Tian to walk out. They flushed with a mixture of shame and annoyance.

They stared at the golden-haired man, their eyes filled with intense suspicion, as if to ask, ’So where is this Flowing Gold Illusionary Finch you were talking about?’

"The Demon Beast from before? Where did it go?"

the golden-haired man asked Luo Tian.

"It suddenly flew off."

Luo Tian answered truthfully.

"Suddenly flew off?"

The golden-haired man clearly couldn’t accept this answer.

’How could such a powerful Demon Beast just suddenly fly away? And even if it did, why weren’t Luo Tian and this Crow dead?’

But then the golden-haired man abruptly realized another, more serious problem.

’If the Flowing Gold Illusionary Finch is gone, the Red Palace is no longer dangerous, which means the treasures inside...’

WHOOSH!

The golden-haired man instantly charged into the palace.

The others immediately followed, all of them rushing inside.

What they saw next was a palace with an extremely simple, almost spartan, layout. A single glance revealed nothing of value!

"How can this be? It wasn’t like this before!"

The golden-haired man surveyed the room, and his expression darkened!

He had been inside this palace before. Although he hadn’t had a close look, he was certain the layout and decorations were completely different now!

And what’s more, the three pots of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass were gone!

"Luo Tian, where are the three stalks of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass?"

The golden-haired man whirled around to face Luo Tian, unleashing a surging, monstrous pressure.

He suspected that Luo Tian had taken the three stalks of Thousand-leaf Wandering Dragon Grass and looted all the other treasures as well.

He couldn’t tolerate the idea that he had gotten nothing, while a mere human at the Peak of the Earth Element Realm Fifth Layer had taken all the spoils.

"The Celestial Level Demon Beast took them before it left."

Luo Tian said, his expression completely earnest.

"You think I’ll believe that?"

The golden-haired man’s eyes glinted fiercely as a golden light flared around him. He bared his sharp teeth, looking as if he wanted to devour Luo Tian whole!