The Crown Prince of Tianyun was overjoyed.
The other Martial Venerable powerhouses of the Tianyun Kingdom, however, felt a chill.
It was someone from the Tianyun Royal Family who had made a move.
Evil Tree Martial Venerable.
The second strongest expert in the Tianyun Royal Family, second only to the King of Tianyun.
The sky-filling branches shot out like countless divine chains, each carrying a dangerous fluctuation that could threaten early Condensing Core realm powerhouses. The countless branches converged to form a deadly trap from which there was no escape.
And this death trap.
Was aimed solely at Ling Fan.
Ling Fan's eyes reflected the myriad of branches. Suddenly, the Red Lotus Demonic Fire imprint in his pupils flashed, and terrifying flames erupted on each branch.
However, the toughness of these branches exceeded Ling Fan's expectations. They could momentarily withstand the scorching of the Demonic Fire Red Lotus. Although they crackled and hissed from the demonic fire, they did not burn up and continued to descend.
Ling Fan let out a cold snort. With a wave of his hand, his Tianyuan power surged out, shattering all the branches.
"Without revealing your true form, you cannot stop me."
Ling Fan's gaze swept towards the void. His Demonic Eye activated, as if he could see a strange, large tree deep within the Tianyun Palace.
This monstrous tree had countless branches extending into the void, and its terrifying spiritual power caused space to distort.
On the trunk of the tree, a human head was looking in Ling Fan's direction, their gazes meeting across the void.
Ling Fan withdrew his gaze, let out a cold laugh, and said, "Toad, let's go."
"This Tianyun Kingdom is merely a bunch of cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong."
Toad, having just devoured a Condensing Core realm Martial Venerable, was still somewhat unsatisfied. Hearing Ling Fan say they were leaving, he felt a pang of disappointment.
"Venerable Ling, when are we coming back to Tianyun Palace! I feel like my stomach can still hold two, no, three Condensing Core realm experts!"
Their conversation reached the ears of the Crown Prince of Tianyun and the other Tianyun Kingdom powerhouses, turning their faces ashen and making them furious enough to explode.
Ling Fan warned again, "On the day the Martial King Battlefield concludes, I will return to Tianyun Palace to pick up my wife. You had best not play any tricks, or I will flatten your Tianyun Kingdom!"
With that, Ling Fan and Toad transformed into two streaks of rainbow light and vanished from the floating Tianyun Palace.
"Ah! This infuriates me to death!"
Watching Ling Fan and Toad leave so arrogantly, the Crown Prince of Tianyun trembled all over, his expression furious. He smashed everything within his reach, and for a moment, everyone in Tianyun Palace was struck with fear.
...
At this moment.
Within the Martial King Battlefield.
This was a dark red, desolate world, permeated with an ancient and weathered aura.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was also very dense, several times more concentrated than in the outside world.
As soon as Xue Yi entered, she felt her bloodline subtly stir. Without needing to cultivate deliberately, her body began to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
A deafening roar suddenly echoed from the distance.
Two demonic beasts, each a hundred zhang tall, were locked in a life-and-death struggle. Their powerful demonic auras clashed wildly, demonic blood splattered, and the battle was incredibly fierce.
Soon.
A wolf-like demonic beast gained the upper hand, biting down on the neck of the other beast. The latter's struggles quickly weakened.
*Crunch*
*Crunch*
Horrifying gnawing sounds could be heard as the wolf demon began to devour the corpse of the other beast.
As it consumed the flesh and blood of its opponent, its aura visibly surged. It had completely entered the level of a Great Spirit Realm perfected demon king.
"So this is the Martial King Battlefield..."
"The strong remain strong, and the fate of the weak is to become nourishment for the strong..."
Xue Yi felt a sense of heaviness.
Having left Ling Fan's protection, she felt unaccustomed.
But soon, her gaze firmed.
She began to stride towards the depths of the Martial King Battlefield.
She wanted to become stronger!
She could no longer be a burden to Ling Fan.
...
"Venerable Ling, where are we going?"
After leaving Tianyun Palace, Toad asked blankly.
Ling Fan pondered for a moment and said, "You return to Liuyun Kingdom and help me guard Lan Family Fort. The formation of Lan Family Fort alone cannot withstand the Condensing Core realm experts of Tianyun Kingdom. Only with a Condensing Core realm expert stationed there can the formation's power be maximized."
"And you?"
Toad quickly asked.
"Me? I haven't decided yet, but I need to find a place to improve my strength."
"That Evil Tree Martial Venerable of Tianyun Kingdom is not weak, at least at the late Condensing Core realm. And the King of Tianyun above him is even stronger, rumored to have long been at the peak of the Condensing Core realm. Although he didn't appear today for some reason, I can sense his presence, and he is indeed very powerful."
"No one knows if he has advanced further after all these years. If he breaks through to the Quasi-Golden Core, or even the Golden Core realm, Xue Yi will be in grave danger when she returns from the Martial King Battlefield."
"Before that, I need to at least push my cultivation to the Great Spirit Realm perfected, or even the Nascent Core stage, to have full confidence in protecting Xue Yi."
"No, Venerable Ling, I don't want to guard Lan Family Fort. I have a feeling that if I don't go with you this time, I'll miss out on ten thousand opportunities! Please take me with you!"
"How about this, I'll hide your father-in-law's family first, ensuring Tianyun Kingdom can't find them, and then you can take me with you to seek opportunities. What do you think?"
Toad shrunk to half his normal size, clutching Ling Fan's leg with its front webbed feet, pleading with a snotty nose and tears.
Ling Fan said coldly, "You don't want to guard Lan Family Fort? Fine, I'll turn you, you foolish toad, directly into the formation spirit of Lan Family Fort. You have two choices, pick one."
Toad shivered instantly and quickly said, "I suddenly feel that returning to guard Lan Family Fort is a great and wonderful task. After all, I just need to lie in Lan Family Fort and wait for Venerable Ling's return! You won't shortchange me then, right?"
Toad said obsequiously.
"That depends on how well you do your job."
Ling Fan said indifferently.
Toad immediately stood at attention, patting its chest with its webbed feet, "Venerable Ling, rest assured, I will die before I let Lan Family Fort lose a single brick or tile! Just watch me!"
As soon as Toad finished speaking, it saw a blur before its eyes. Ling Fan's figure had already disappeared.
"I'm heartbroken, I can't follow Venerable Ling to enjoy the good life... I'd better honestly go back and guard the house for Venerable Ling. If anything happens to Lan Family Fort, Venerable Ling will definitely turn me into a dead toad."
Toad leaped up, transforming into a silver streak of light and vanishing in an instant.
...
Tianyun Royal City.
Tianbao Pavilion.
This was the largest trading hub for cultivation resources in Tianyun Royal City.
At the same time, it also sold various intelligence and posted various missions. In short, if you couldn't think of it, Tianbao Pavilion could trade it.
At this moment.
Tianbao Pavilion was much livelier than usual, with everyone chattering and discussing.
The topic of discussion was none other than the recently concluded opening ceremony of the Martial King Battlefield.
"Brother, did you go to Tianyun Palace to watch the opening ceremony today?"
"No, I drank too much yesterday, and my head is still spinning. What's wrong, what happened?"
"Damn! You missed a huge spectacle! I bet you'll never see such a scene again in your life."
"Damn, is it really as exaggerated as you say? What exactly happened, tell me, don't keep me in suspense, brother."