Chapter 266 - 265: A Person Who Doesn’t Know Their Limits

Chapter 266: Chapter 265: A Person Who Doesn’t Know Their Limits

"You... you let them go on purpose, didn’t you?"

Sun Yuting looked at the young man taking inventory of the storage bags and asked uncertainly.

After all, you killed several hundred people. How could you possibly let two of them get away!

It doesn’t make any sense!

’There must be more to Wu Chen’s plan!’

"That’s right. I let them go on purpose."

Wu Chen replied calmly, his hands never stopping as he rummaged through the storage bags the young woman had handed him.

Except for the Blood Envoy’s storage bag, the others weren’t worth much.

All told, it was worth no more than ten thousand silver.

"Have you forgotten that the Blood Palace is scheming in Cold Rain City?"

Wu Chen finished organizing the storage bags. Seeing the young woman was still confused, he offered a hint, "Since this is the Blood Palace we’re dealing with, do you really think this is their only demonic outpost?"

Hearing this, Sun Yuting had a revelation. "So you let those two go so they would lead us to the Blood Palace’s other outposts! We can follow their trail to find the others!"

Wu Chen nodded. "Exactly. Rather than torturing them for useless, false information, it’s better to let them think they barely escaped from me and have them lead us to the next outpost."

"Even if the outposts aren’t in direct contact, it shouldn’t be difficult for a Blood Palace demon to find other Blood Palace demons."

Every demon has a Blood Palace mark on them. If they can’t remove it, they have nowhere to go but to the Blood Palace.

So Wu Chen was confident the escaped demons would rush to the next outpost without stopping.

Otherwise, once word gets out that this outpost was destroyed and the Blood Palace investigates, if those two survivors can’t clear their names in time, they’ll surely be purged. They’d most likely even be refined into a part of a ’Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body’.

"In that case."

Sun Yuting looked out at the vast mountain forest. "Which way did the demons flee? Should we go after them now?"

Wu Chen shook his head. "No rush. They can’t escape. Let’s head deeper into the mountains first and see what this group of demons was really up to."

"These guys wouldn’t be hiding in the mountains for no reason. Whatever they’re plotting must be in here."

Immediately, the two of them sped towards the mountaintop.

After a short while, the trees began to thin out, and a large clearing appeared before them.

There was nothing unusual in the clearing, only a stone pool about five zhang wide.

There was no fire burning beneath the stone pool, yet the viscous, bright red substance inside was constantly churning.

"This is..."

Sun Yuting held her breath and stared intently. As the thick, soupy mixture churned, something that looked like a skull floated to the surface and then sank back down.

Sun Yuting recognized it at a glance—it was a human skull!

"So this entire pool is full of... UGH!"

Her face turned deathly pale and her stomach churned. She clapped a hand over her mouth and staggered back unconsciously as she stared at the crimson pool.

It wasn’t fear, but disgust.

After a few breaths, the color returned to Sun Yuting’s face. She stared at the stone pool and said in a daze:

"What in the world are these fiends trying to do?!"

"This is definitely not how you refine a Hundred Life Pill!"

"Captain Sun, take a look at this martial arts manual. Then you’ll understand what they’re doing."

Wu Chen looked at the pool full of blood and flesh and instantly understood what was going on.

He took the Blood Palace martial arts manual titled ’Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body’ from his storage bag and handed it to Sun Yuting.

RUSTLE! RUSTLE!—

Sun Yuting took the booklet and, as Wu Chen suggested, began to flip through it quietly.

As she turned the pages and the words entered her sight, the various methods described within caused her newly composed face to turn deathly pale again, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"These fiends are complete animals!"

Sun Yuting slammed the martial arts manual shut with a THWACK. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, but her body still trembled slightly.

She wasn’t frightened by the methods for forging flesh armor described in the manual, but by the fact that such a depraved martial art required the mass slaughter of living beings.

And the Blood Palace had set its sights on the common people.

This filled her with an unnameable rage!

"They’re worse than animals..."

Wu Chen’s composure was not disturbed by the scene or the manual. He said in a calm tone:

"The blood and flesh in this pool can be condensed into a Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Body, but not every demon can successfully refine it."

"Those Blood Palace demons who fail the refinement process suffer a backlash that destroys their bodies. They themselves become part of the pool of flesh, becoming a stepping stone for others."

"So, the Blood Palace demons are not only ruthless to others, but also to themselves."

"Truly a talented bunch!"

"..."

Listening to the young man speak so casually, while looking at the pool brimming with boiling blood and flesh, Sun Yuting was at a loss for words.

After a long moment, she finally murmured, "What are they trying to do with all this?!"

Wu Chen looked at the young woman of royal descent, chuckled, and asked in return, "What do you think?"

Sun Yuting’s expression grew bleak. She couldn’t answer, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.

Right now, outside Qingzhou City in the northernmost part of the Great Yun Dynasty, the Northern Barbarians were on an aggressive campaign.

Internally, the Zhao family had monopolized an entire state, constantly expanding its power.

The other major powers were either remaining neutral and observing, or colluding with the Demon Race, hoping to get a piece of the pie from the impending upheaval.

In a situation like this, how could a behemoth like the Blood Palace just sit still?

So, Sun Yuting actually already knew the answer in her heart, she just didn’t want to face it.

She didn’t even dare to imagine what would happen if the Blood Palace truly managed to refine three to five thousand ’Blood and Flesh Cast Armor Bodies’ at the Blood Coagulation Realm.

What city could possibly withstand such a terrifying assault!

"Then... should I send a message to Cangwu City now?"

Now that she knew the Blood Palace’s plot, Sun Yuting looked at the young man, her voice trembling as she asked for his opinion. "Should I have them dispatch the Demon Suppression Guard and the City Defense Department to take over Cold Rain City?"

"There’s no problem with calling for reinforcements."

Faced with the young woman’s question, it was clear she saw him as her pillar of support. Wu Chen didn’t answer immediately, but instead asked coolly:

"If you call for reinforcements, how many should you call? A thousand? Two thousand? Or should you dispatch the entire Demon Suppression Guard?"

"And how many from the City Defense Department? How many would it take to completely annihilate the Blood Palace demons in Cold Rain City?"

"How can you guarantee that the Blood Palace and the Northern Barbarians don’t have a secret arrangement?"

"What if, while Cangwu City’s defenses are weakened, the Northern Barbarians break through Qingzhou, drive straight south, and then breach Cangzhou? What will happen to the million citizens of Cangwu City then?"

"And if the Blood Palace demons in Cold Rain City then coordinate with the Northern Barbarians, attacking from both inside and out, what chance of survival would the Demon Suppression Guard and City Defense Department soldiers sent here have?"

"This..."

The series of rhetorical questions left Sun Yuting speechless.

But Wu Chen wasn’t just being an alarmist. From what he had seen and heard since fleeing the famine on the road from Qingzhou, the Great Yun Dynasty was visibly in decline.

The various powers were currently in a delicate balance.

The moment any one party breaks this balance, the winds will rise and the clouds will surge—a time for all factions to make their move.

And this was something Sun Yuting, a child of the Royal family, could not see.

She only knew the situation was critical, but she had never considered that any single action could affect the entire body. A single misstep could turn hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of common people into dried bones.

For a moment, Sun Yuting’s face was etched with sorrow.

’If I were just a hedonistic heir, I could ignore this. If I were an idiot, I could pretend I didn’t know.’

But she had come, she had seen, and there was no way Sun Yuting could pretend she hadn’t.

"But what should I do? What can I do?!"

’The soldiers can’t be dispatched, and there’s no one in Cold Rain City I can use.’

’Am I supposed to just watch as hundreds of thousands of people are turned into blood and flesh?’

Sun Yuting’s fingertips trembled, the panic in her eyes unconcealable. She had clearly lost her composure.

Just as her mind went blank, unsure of what to do, Wu Chen’s gentle voice sounded by her ear:

"Didn’t I tell you? I’ll take care of everything."

As he spoke, a warm hand rested on the young woman’s shoulder.

Sun Yuting’s wavering heart instantly steadied. She lifted her pale face to look at the young man before her.

"But there’s only one of you..."

Sun Yuting wanted to say that he was alone and outmatched, while the number of Blood Palace members was unknown.

But then she thought of his strength as a Grandmaster and the corpses of the several hundred demons in the forest. It seemed he really might have the power to turn the tide against impossible odds.

So, the words that came out of her mouth were:

"But why are you trying so hard?"

Sun Yuting looked at the young man, feeling that she understood him less and less.

’To earn great merits in exchange for martial arts?’

’But you have to survive first!’

’That’s the Blood Palace! Not some second- or third-rate faction, but a behemoth that’s been entrenched for a century!’

"You can just think of me as someone who overestimates himself, trying to turn the tide..."

Facing the young woman’s question, Wu Chen smiled gently and said:

"Actually, I’d love to say that, but unfortunately, it sounds too grand, too empty, too fake. It’s hard for people to believe."

"So, what I really want to say is..."

He paused for a moment, building the suspense.

His actions piqued Sun Yuting’s curiosity. "What is it you want to say?"

Wu Chen slowly leaned closer to the young woman, his larger frame pressing in on her petite figure. The movement made her heart suddenly race.

Watching his handsome face draw nearer inch by inch, caught between retreating and dodging, the young woman chose to close her eyes.

But just as she was about to shut them, she saw Wu Chen raise a finger and place it on her delicate nose, right between her eyes.

Sun Yuting’s eyes went cross-eyed trying to look at it. With a confused, cross-eyed expression, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"One martial arts manual."

Wu Chen straightened up, and the pressure on the young woman instantly vanished.

He looked at her with a serious expression. "When this is all over, I want a Dragon Transformation Realm martial arts manual!"

"Captain Sun must know how urgent the situation in Cold Rain City is. A Dragon Transformation Realm manual shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?"

"A Dragon Transformation Realm manual is, of course, appropriate..."

Faced with the face that had suddenly pressed close and then retreated, Sun Yuting’s heart was pounding. She was in no state of mind to haggle.

Besides, she knew that with the current situation in Cold Rain City, there was no room for negotiation.

She could only let him name his price.

Furthermore, for a Dragon Transformation Realm martial arts manual, getting a Grandmaster to take action... Sun Yuting felt it wasn’t a loss at all. In fact, she felt she was getting a bargain.

One had to remember, the Blood Palace was the one plotting in Cold Rain City!

And the Blood Palace also had Grandmaster-level figures in its ranks!

Therefore, Sun Yuting felt this was a very good deal.

"However..."

Sun Yuting looked at the young man and told him the truth, "Dragon Transformation Realm martial arts manuals aren’t kept in the Demon Suppression Bureau’s inventory. They’re in the Royal City."

"Once the matter in Cold Rain City is resolved, I will return to the Royal City and bring the Dragon Transformation Realm manual back for you."

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Captain Sun!"

Wu Chen trusted Sun Yuting’s character. He knew that since she had agreed, she would not go back on her word.

A trace of delight flashed in his eyes.

’One Dragon Transformation Realm martial arts manual, secured!’