Chapter 212: Section 212: Beast Knight


    “Let’s get out of here fast!” someone cried, clutching their head.


    “Don’t panic, we still have some time,” Cang Xu remained calm throughout.


    Zi Di subconsciously took a deep breath, her eyes seemingly sparkling with the light of gold coins: “Time is limited, we not only need to leave here alive, but we must also strive to gain the greatest benefit! In Warehouse 12, there’s a Tower Spirit substitute, quick, bring it over. Hurry!”


    Everyone immediately sprang into action.


    The substitute for the Tower Spirit was a huge Crystal Ball, over a person tall.


    The Crystal Ball was pushed next to a crystal pillar where Zi Di, manipulating it, began the transfer of the Tower Spirit.


    ...


    By then, the crystal pillar had already disintegrated to half its original volume.


    The Tower Spirit was too weak to resist and was transferred into the Crystal Ball.


    Zi Di looked at the collapsing, emaciated pillar: “The memory bank and the data bank, along with the Tower Spirit, only a third has been transferred, a third has disintegrated, and there’s still one third left. Such a pity that we cannot preserve these highly valuable materials.”


    “Can we check for the truth about Mysterious Monster Island?” Cang Xu asked.


    “Of course,” Zi Di acted immediately, her spirit constantly probing the crystal pillar.


    Mysterious Monster Island was indeed the stronghold of the War Merchants, and it had suffered a sudden attack from the Blood Light Sanction Court squad. The War Merchants were caught off guard, they barely managed to seal the King of Flame Dragon, only to perish under a Legendary Weapon.


    The Holy Domain powerhouses from the Blood Light Sanction Court all perished as well.


    Both sides were nearly annihilated.


    “The mysterious treasure on the third layer is called the Blood Core. The War Merchants used it in conjunction with the Green Jade Gold Coffin on the first layer to mass-produce man-made magical beasts,” Zi Di’s words made the youth’s heart skip a beat.


    Just as the substitute youth was about to ask Zi Di about his own true origins and such, upon hearing this, he immediately changed his mind, urgently asking: “Is there more information about the Blood Core? How did the War Merchants create it? And how can it be controlled?”


    “I’m checking…” Zi Di furrowed her brows, focusing her spirit.


    But just then, with a loud bang, the crystal pillar completely shattered, turning into a pile of white dust that fell to the ground.


    Everyone was speechless.


    A few seconds later, Zi Di was the first to react: “Quick, gather everything we can.”


    “The raw materials still need refining, abandon them!”


    “The components for the Alchemy Puppets are too cumbersome; don’t take them either.”


    “Remember the shipment plaza? That’s where our needed munitions are!”


    “The Blood Core and Mermaid’s Fairy Tale are must-takes.”


    “Don’t forget those boxes of Magic Scrolls and this Tower Spirit substitute.”


    “Quick, quick, quick, get moving!”


    The ghost girl let out a piercing scream, directly taking the lead from the substitute youth, commanding everyone in an overwhelmingly assertive manner.


    Everyone moved swiftly.


    A vast amount of treasure was now collected together.


    Zong Ge frowned: “Wait, don’t forget the King of Flame Dragon. With the Alchemy Array destroyed by the self-destruction, it might break free, which would be disadvantageous for us; even if we have a ship, we won’t get far.”


    Zi Di said, “The self-destruction of the Alchemy Factory is extraordinary. It not only completely destroys the factory and Mysterious Monster Island but also induces space distortion, with effects like spatial exile. In other words, the ruins and slag, following the explosion, will be exiled through space, leaving nothing behind at the original site.”


    Zong Ge then asked: “Can the explosion kill the King of Flame Dragon?”


    Zi Di furrowed her brows, hesitating: “I don’t know, after all, I was only a Black Iron in my lifetime.”


    “Let me talk to it,” said the substitute youth, “We’ve killed a priest from the sect of the Holy Emperor and captured a noble heir. If we can negotiate successfully with it, perhaps it will let us go free of charge. But that means we will have to part with many spoils of war.”


    Everyone’s eyes lit up.


    “If we could be pardoned, that would be best.”


    “Yeah, who wants to be wanted by the Empire?”


    “Sir, I will join you!”


    The substitute youth shook his head: “No, I can go and come back quickly on my own. Most of the Alchemy Puppets in the Molten Lava Battlefield are directly under the War Merchants and can’t be controlled with factory authority; it’s very dangerous.”


    “Zi Di, I need you to command these man-made magical beasts to buy me time and space to talk to the King of Flame Dragon.”


    “No problem!” Zi Di immediately responded.


    The substitute youth entered the Molten Lava Battlefield once again.


    Taking advantage of the chaos as the man-made magical beasts and Alchemy Puppets were entangled in battle, the youth hid in a secluded corner. Shielded by the huge rocks, he pulled out the second Blood Core from his chest.


    Such an important Divine Artifact was naturally guarded by him personally.


    A strong urge to absorb overwhelmed him, and without any prompt, he instinctively activated the Blood Core in his chest, which emitted a red light.


    The red light spread to the second Blood Core, which rapidly dissolved, becoming a mass of red light.


    The next moment, all the red light retracted.


    The two Blood Cores merged into one, and the Blood Core within Zhenjin’s chest seemed to have grown slightly larger.


    The intense and unbearable feeling of absorption that had been tormenting the youth in secret also completely disappeared.


    “Blood Core…”


    There was no time for the substitute youth to explore the new changes of the Blood Core, as the man-made magical beasts had gained the upper hand.


    The youth immediately appeared and ran to the edge of the Magma Pool.


    “King of the Flame Dragon!” he yelled, opening negotiations with the King of the Flame Dragon.


    The negotiations did not go well.


    Upon seeing the youth’s return, the King of the Flame Dragon instantly understood that the War Merchant was dead. Proud as it was, it did not wish to share the credit with these opportunistic little bugs.


    From its perspective, that was sensible.


    The Death of the War Merchant was caused by the powerful team from the Blood Light Sanction Court. The knight youth and his group had merely chanced upon the scene. Moreover, had the youth not been forced, he would not have come back to negotiate.


    “You bunch of scum have no choice!”


    “You wish to negotiate with me?”


    “Ha ha ha, laughable! On what basis? On the basis of your current freedom?”


    “Without my help, you will all die! Even if you don’t help me escape, I can still break free from this Alchemy Array, and when that happens, you will face my wrath!”


    “Now, I command you to open the Alchemy Array and allow yourselves to kneel and beg for mercy. Perhaps I’ll be in a good mood and spare some of your lives. Ha ha ha.”


    The negotiation with the King of the Flame Dragon had utterly failed.


    The substitute youth was helpless and anxious.


    If he mishandled the situation and the self-destruction did not kill the King of the Flame Dragon, the latter would surely become the reaper for the exploration team!


    What should he do?


    The Blood Core sent out a longing impulse again.


    But this time, the desire was not as strong as before.


    A thought struck the youth: “Perhaps, the Blood Core can…”


    Following the intuition in his mind, he began to use the Blood Core.


    The red light radiated, infiltrating the Alchemy Array and gradually spreading over the King of the Flame Dragon’s massive Dragon Body.


    “What are you doing?”


    “Heh heh heh, you think you can harm me?”


    “Pitiful insect, you cannot imagine the greatness of a Legend.”


    Over a minute later.


    “No, no!”


    “You can’t do this to me!”


    “You damned insect… Alright, alright! I admit you’re worthy of negotiating with me, let’s have a proper talk.”


    The youth’s face was cold: “No, we don’t need to negotiate anymore.”


    The red light completely enveloped the King of the Flame Dragon’s body, swiftly eroding its flesh.


    The King of Flame Dragons roared in fury, casting endless curses upon the knight youth.


    Then, it vanished.


    It completely transformed into a huge red orb of light, along with a large amount of carbon dust.


    The carbon dust was rapidly swallowed by the abundant molten lava, while the red orb retracted and merged into the youth’s heart, into the brand-new Blood Core.


    “I… I actually used this Blood Core to kill a Legend-level existence!” The youth was amazed by this outcome.


    Leaving behind a small number of man-made magical beasts and alchemy puppets still fighting, the youth hurried back to his companions.


    “The negotiation failed,” he said.


    This outcome cast a shadow over everyone, yet it was not much of a surprise.


    “Now, we just hope the self-destruct eliminated it.”


    “Or at the very least, cast it into a different space!”


    The people did not know that the King of Flame Dragons had already died.


    The substitute youth opened his mouth, but ultimately sighed in his heart; in the end, he did not reveal the secret of the Blood Core.


    The group, carrying their treasure, squeezed into three subterranean railcars.


    The railcars sped off and soon after, they stopped at an underwater platform.


    Here, they saw the Alchemy Ship.


    It resembled a large blue-gold fish.


    “It’s called the Deep Sea Monster Fish!” Zi Di, having full access, effortlessly led everyone through the boarding passage and into the Deep Sea Monster Fish.


    Through the ship’s surveillance equipment, the youth made a discovery: “So, this place is actually the desert Oasis!”


    He remembered the fierce battles he had fought here, observing the presence of the Fat Ball Flying Fish through the green lizard’s eyes, and also saw a terrifying heat source at the bottom of the lake.


    “This heat source turned out to be the Deep Sea Monster Fish!”


    The Deep Sea Monster Fish continued to dive, escaping from Mysterious Monster Island through an underground river.


    Ten nautical miles away, the island self-destructed.


    The colossal explosion resounded through the heavens and earth, raising gigantic pillars of water. Sёar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Soon after, the space shattered, the seawater vanished, and the myriad of man-made magical beasts’ disintegrated corpses, along with the island’s ruins, were all dragged into the spatial black hole, exiled to a different space.


    Inside the Deep Sea Monster Fish, everyone watched with bated breath.


    Until space returned to normal and the sea calmed down, they did not see the King of Flame Dragons reappear.


    “It seems it either died or was banished!”


    “Woohoo! We survived.”


    “It’s fantastic, we succeeded!!”


    For a moment, the entire Deep Sea Monster Fish was inundated with wild joy.


    However, ghost Zi Di swayed unsteadily and floated down toward the floor.


    “Zi Di, what’s wrong with you?” The youth was immensely anxious.


    “She needs to rest immediately. It’s like when a person is tired and needs sleep. After all, she’s just a newly born ghost. Fortunately, her body is still intact, so she can rest and recuperate for a while,” Cang Xu said.


    Hearing Cang Xu’s words, the youth finally relaxed. “Zi Di, get some good rest. I have a lot to talk to you about.”


    “Me too,” the ghost girl stroked the youth’s face, but her hand passed right through.


    She returned to her body within the ice coffin and fell into a deep slumber.


    Several months later.


    A calm sea surface suddenly illuminated with an intense brightness.


    A vast Teleportation Array, covering dozens of meters, appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared.


    Three human race powerhouses hovered in mid-air, looking down at the sea surface.


    They were all dressed in bright red robes, adorned with iron gloves, Iron Boots, and iron masks.


    On the front and back of their blood-red robes, a platinum-colored nine-pointed star was depicted.


    They were from the Blood Light Sanction Court!


    “Is this the place?” The leading powerhouse’s Life Breath was impressively at the Legend-level.


    “I’m sure!” Another powerhouse, with a long black braid, exuded a Golden Level Life Breath, his male voice hoarse, “He’s been here; I can smell him, he definitely came here!”


    The leader nodded, “Then let me take a good look.”


    In the next moment, he activated Divine Arts to retrospect time. This Divine Art could replay past sounds and images, directly conveying them to the core of the leader’s heart.


    The leader suddenly trembled.


    This tremor was keenly perceived by the others, causing immediate astonishment in their hearts. They had never seen the leader so unsettled.


    The next moment, the Legend-level powerhouse spoke solemnly, “The effect of the Divine Art is very poor; a powerful force is obstructing my further investigation.”


    “I can barely hear some voices.”


    “I heard the terrifying roars of beasts, heard a priest of the Holy Emperor chiding, heard a noble’s surrender, heard the King of Flame Dragons’ despair before death…”


    The other two powerhouses were greatly shocked, exclaiming in unison.


    “What?!”


    “My lord, what do you mean?”


    “That’s right, our court’s third team went missing here. There was once an island here—Mysterious Monster Island! This was a lair for War Merchants!!”


    Upon receiving the intelligence, the two powerhouses were once again in an uproar:


    “The Alchemy Grandmaster War Merchant?!”


    “There was a battle here, Mysterious Monster Island sank, and everyone died?”


    The leader wasn’t quite sure about this; the Divine Art was nearing its end.


    He calmed himself and continued to listen.


    Soon, he heard a few fragmented, very vague conversations.


    “We should leave…”


    “As for the captain, I only acknowledge you.”


    “No, to be precise, we all acknowledge you, my lord.”


    “But I am just a beast…”


    “No, no one thinks that. You led us; you are our acknowledged leader. You are a true knight!”


    The dialogue faded away as quickly as a dream.


    With a sigh, the leader knew there would be no more to gain; he let the Divine Art come to rest.


    “Some survived, they likely got a lot of spoils, the legacy of the War Merchant!” said the leader.


    “Who are they?” the two asked eagerly.


    The leader shook his head, expressing deep regret, “I cannot be sure… I can only confirm that a leader has emerged among them, and this leader has high prestige.”


    “If even you cannot be certain, there’s probably no one else in the Empire who can find out more,” the other two said, dejected.


    The leader snorted coldly, “A dark mist may shroud for a moment, but it will eventually be pierced by light. These people cannot hide forever. One day they will be exposed.”


    “Let’s continue our mission; you go back and report this intelligence to the court.”


    “Start a manhunt for these people!”


    “Yes, my lord. May I ask, what’s the codename for the wanted notice?”


    Since they didn’t know the names, they would use code names. War Merchant was one such code name.


    After thinking for a moment, the leader said, “Beast Knight.”


    (End of Volume One)