Taking a deep breath, Zhuo Fan looked at the faint golden glow around himself and smiled sensing the golden dragon resting in his Dantian.
He had used Diamond Sand to temper himself and now he had Dragon Vein's dragon power and a king's dragon soul. Three great treasures for body cultivation combined in one vessel.
He simply needed to refine the dragon power and unite with the dragon soul and his body would soar above even Huangpu Qingtian's.
Speaking of which, he threw a condescending smile at those resentful eyes, "Weren't you calling yourself a rightful king, decreed by providence? Humph, I stole everything you had, including your destiny…"
Suddenly, Zhuo Fan fell silent and his heart felt uneasy.
[Is the dragon soul's shift heaven sent or a disaster?]
He felt something in the air had changed. As the dragon soul now resided within his body, he sensed the other factions' attitude shift. Especially the imperial family's.
Then again, which emperor out there would allow the one calling himself rightful king take his throne?
Huangpu Qingtian was so egotistical to spout it left and right because the Regent Estate had his back. For Zhuo Fan to keep his life…
[The time has come for the Luo clan to show its power!]
Squinting, Zhuo Fan sighed.
Then, a yellow pillar of light shot into the sky a thousand miles from him. Yan Fu paled, "Yan Bangui got away!"
Zhuo Fan glanced and merely shook his head, "An ant, nothing more."
Yan Fu stammered, but kept his trap shut despite the resentment.
"What, you have a bone to pick with him?" Zhuo Fan saw right through him.
Yan Fu only sighed.
Zhuo Fan patted his shoulder, his eyes glinting mysteriously, "Relax, you are with me now. I will definitely help you deal with it."
Yan Fu saw Zhuo Fan's cryptic smile…
Yan Bangui passed through the earth National Elemental Stone flustered, gasping and rejoicing for having escaped that living nightmare.
Yan Bogong almost broke down crying from joy.
[My family! I'm finally back. It wasn't easy escaping that monster.]
Yan Bogong saw Pill King Hall's most prized pupil return in tears. Of the six dragons, Zhuo Fan had reaped three, making the last survivor to be treated like a treasure.
The Pill King Hall rushed to console him and congratulate the safe return of their Plague Dragon.
After a short moment of joy, Hall Lord Yan Bogong turned to Zhuo Fan being reflected on the fire National Elemental Stone. His face grew dark and he said, "Bangui, we and Estate Lord Huangpu struck a secret deal. When the punk comes back we'll attack him together. Stay behind me and try to land the killing blow to wash the shame of betrayal. Let the world know of Pill King Hall's power."
Yan Bangui jerked, but when he saw Zhuo Fan all he had was deep rooted fear.
[Spare me, Hall Lord! I escaped that monster by the skin of my teeth and now you want me to die again?]
Yan Bogong knew what he was thinking and got angry, "Useless prick, are you that horrified after the punk gave you a little fright? Humph, relax. It will be us old fellows going first. You only have to go and collect his head and restore our image. This is an easy merit. What, you don't even know how to pick up a head?"
Yan Bangui was quite hesitant but nodded at the end.
Yan Bogong broke out into a smile, "That's our Pill King Hall's disciple, ha-ha-ha…"
Viewers turned their attention to the fire National Elemental Stone, waiting for Zhuo Fan and Yan Fu's return.
"It's time."
Zhuo Fan stood before the fire exit, viewers clueless of his meaning as was Yan Fu. But then, he looked at the sky and raised his palm as he muttered.
Yan Fu asked, "Steward Zhuo, what…"
"Yan Fu, weren't you vexed at letting Yan Bangui off? Ha-ha-ha, as a reward for your great service, and your welcome gift in the Luo clan, I, its steward, shall fulfill your cherished wish."
Zhuo Fan started to bend one finger at a time as he said, "Five, four…"
Everyone was puzzled just like Yan Fu.
Three, two…
"What is the punk playing at?" Yan Bogong looked at his allies.
Only Leng Wuchang was in constant pondering, then shouted at Yan Bogong, "Hall Lord Yan, get away from the kid!"
"What?" Yan Bogong was still out of it.
Just then, everyone heard, "One."
With the final word, Zhuo Fan made a fist.
Bang!
A ringing explosion came out of nowhere as Yan Bangui didn't even realize as he went boom.
The devastating power crippled the elders from Pill King Hall. Yan Bangui had just entered the Radiant Stage and his explosion took many elders down with him.
Even their vassals came out bloodied. Their casualties were in the hundreds.
While the lucky ones who survived didn't get to enjoy their fortune as Yan Bangui's blood landed on them, eating their flesh and bone alike.
Everything around Pill King Hall was thrown into chaos, with corpses littering the ground. Pill King Hall instantly lost eight elders, a crippling blow.
Yan Bogong crawled from beneath a pile of corpses and shook at the carnage laid before him. [What happened? Why are Pill King Hall's experts almost all dead?]
Looking at the corpse pinning him down, Yan Bogong panicked as he pushed it away, seeing it was eaten by Yan Bangui's blood, a trait of the poison body. If not for the guy taking the fall for him, he'd be dead right now.
The other houses saw the horror and fled from Pill King Hall.
No one could understand why the peach-perfect Yan Bangui just popped.
But a malicious cackle grated their ears.
Hi-hi-hi!
Zhuo Fan held his forehead as he laughed. Noone got the joke and neither did Yan Fu, "Uh… Steward Zhuo, what's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, only laughing at a bunch of morons. Did they actually think I'd let him live?"
Yan Fu blinked, to which Zhuo Fan explained, "From the start, I made sure to come prepared. The Bloodworms are connected to me so I made sure to arm them. As long as any of those dumbasses left Beast King Mountain, they were to self-destruct in ten minutes. What a stroke of luck, they always believed they had a way out and they gave their all in reaching the exit. All of it was just a grand act, a joke of epic proportions, ha-ha-ha…"
"This entire game was never meant to have a winner!" Zhuo Fan's eyes glinted.
Yan Fu's heart froze. Going by his words, Yan Bangui became a ticking time bomb the moment he stepped in Dragon Cloud City. He must be in pieces by now!
Zhuo Fan grinned, knowing what was going in that head of his, "You guessed it, the brat is toast, cooked. A Radiant Stage expert's self-destruct ought to have taken many lives with him as well. As for how many, he-he-he, care to guess?"
Was there even a point? Almost none from Pill King Hall could escape. Yan Bangui was put in the center moments after returning.
Finding out that the rotten senior brother of his who always mocked him was toyed to death by the demon himself, Yan Fu should be happy. But no joy reached his heart.
For some odd reason, he felt safe around Zhuo Fan, true, but the fear was up to par by comparison. It was unnerving. Even when his most hated enemy suffered at the hands of the demon, what he felt instead was a bit of sympathy.
[True to his words. 'You can mess with the king of hell, but never with this steward!']
Offending the king of hell, at the worst you'd just die. Offend Steward Zhuo, and you'd find that even death would be a luxury.
In Dragon Cloud City, everyone looked at Zhuo Fan in dread.
Yan Bangui ran with such zeal thinking he'd escape, but Zhuo Fan cooked a little something for Pill King Hall and sent him off with a package. This creepy method and insidious plot left the survivors shuddering.
Even Leng Wuchang, a renowned mind in the empire, looked at the snickering figure in fear. Zhuo Fan had long surpassed Zhuge Changfeng and became his biggest enemy.
"Well, time to head back."
Zhuo Fan returned to his cool demeanor, but his eyes hid a deep and heavy sorrow as he walked towards the red glow. Yan Fu nodded.
Whoosh!
The two stepped through and were back.
The people treated him like a demon, shaking in fear. Only the girls were happy seeing him alive and went to welcome him.
Then it happened.
Explosions sounded as four men attacked the pair. A great pressure fell on the people, making them fall back in panic.
The four were none other than Huangpu Tianyuan and his allies, all peak Profound Heaven house lords.
Fang Qiubai was about to block them but stayed his hand. After careful consideration, he picked neutrality.
Dugu Zhantian watched it all with a cold eye and a lament.
[Perhaps… it's for the best.]
Only Luo Yunchang and Chu Qingcheng were devastated. They wanted to give a helping hand.
"Zhuo Fan, you'll pay for what you did to my son!" Huangpu Tianyuan roared his righteous excuse, punching straight for Zhuo Fan.
Yan Fu, behind Zhuo Fan, could barely breathe from the power display. The other three house lords unleashed their own might as well.
Zhuo Fan, heavily wounded, was besieged by four experts on all sides. Escape was not an option.
Not that he was worried.
With a twisted grin, he said, "Sorry, but you're a little late in getting revenge for Huangpu Qingtian."
An explosion followed as a black figure slammed the four into the air.
Zhuo Fan's eyes glinted and he smiled, "As I live and breathe, Elder Li…"