Chapter 36: Time of Carnage (Part 1)
"Nicholas's city is much deeper than we imagined."
In the guest hall of Marquis Sweet's mansion, Duke Audley spoke slowly with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Hmm, the black dragon's affair is definitely not as simple as he said, and that huge demonic beast that looks very much like a black dragon is also very similar to his other summoned beasts." Swite refilled the old duke's wine cup and sat down beside him.
"Ask him, he may not necessarily answer truthfully. If you press him too hard, it won't be pretty. Never mind, whatever the case, he has Hariman family blood flowing through his veins. If he achieves something in the future, it will be an honor for our family." Audric said, raising his glass and downing the red wine in one gulp.
"If it weren't for Laura's timely discovery, I wouldn't have gone to ask His Majesty the King for the notice of Blood-colored Ridge. The previous notices of Blood-colored Ridge were in high demand, but now they've become a flash in the pan. Ever since that inexplicable elimination match thirty years ago, people who wanted to go didn't dare to go, and those who dared to go weren't necessarily qualified to receive the notice. Except for some abnormal martial arts fanatics, those who could go..."
The old duke sighed and continued, "Well, I don't know who made this ridiculous rule, but all the major empires sent people to ask about it, only to be rejected. This Blood-colored Valley suddenly seems to be beyond the control of the major empires' power. Anyway, a black dragon summoning beast can add some weight to our family's influence, but it's still not enough. Even with my old bones, I have full confidence that I can kill Nikola under the attack of two black dragons, let alone other families' hidden experts."
"We're in a gamble, the Blooded Narrow Valley has an extremely high mortality rate, but with Nicholas having two black dragon summoning beasts, nothing should go wrong. In just a few years, our Hariman family's influence within the empire will increase greatly."
"What if he's dead?" Sweet thought to himself, looking at the master's somewhat excited face, but ultimately didn't dare ask.
"But they are all family weights..." Earl Sweetbert raised his wine glass and drank it in one gulp, and involuntarily thought of the scene where his daughter was unwillingly married into the royal family a hundred times, and sighed in his heart.
…………
On the edge of the Luoyue Mountains, an eighth-level magical beast, the Rock Thunderbird, was flying with its wings spread wide. Its massive body and wingspan of over 100 meters were awe-inspiring. On top of its head, two horns crackled with electricity, emitting a buzzing sound.
On the broad back of the rock ptarmigan sat two people, Randolph and Li Junshan, who had rushed for seven days.
Time waits for no man, the Bloodstone Canyon is only open to outsiders at this time of year. Just after Odric Duke and Li Junshan finalized their trip to Bloodstone Canyon, Li Junshan set off with Lundorf the next day, without even having time to visit his parents in Florence.
Sitting on the back of the Rock Thunderbird, Li Junshan's heart was heavy.
That day, inevitably, under the request of Duke Odreich, Li Junshan released the mutated black dragon, small black dragon and ordinary mutated creature. Odreich, Swite and Randolph all looked at Li Junshan with suspicious eyes, but in the end no one spoke up.
The external characteristics of the black dragon were too similar to those of ordinary mutants, and Li Junshan knew they had raised suspicions.
They didn't ask, and Li Junshan wouldn't explain either. The alien egg and the queen's affair mustn't be known to anyone at all costs.
Rendall surprisingly had two high-level summoned beasts, which made Li Junshan somewhat surprised. The eighth-level land turtle was already domineering on land, and he didn't expect him to have an airborne overlord as well.
A strong gust of wind hit Li Junshan's face, forcing him to narrow his eyes and gaze down at the endless Luoyue Mountains below.
He had only hunted magical beasts on the periphery of the Luoyue Mountains before, but now that he was flying high in the air, he realized that the vastness of the Luoyue Mountains far exceeded his imagination.
They flew for almost half a day and stopped halfway in the forest, casually ate some dried meat, drank a few mouthfuls of clear water from the river, and continued to fly deeper into the forest.
"Mr. Randolph, have you ever been to Blood Gulch before?" Li Junshan asked loudly.
"I've been there once, otherwise Duke-sama wouldn't let me bring you." Randolph replied, turning his head to the side.
"What's going on?"
Randolph hesitated for a moment before saying: "Anyway, you'll see it sooner or later. Leiyu's sister, Lei Yu, is the one I brought with Lei Wei."
"Lei Xuan's sister." Li Junshan's mind flashed back to the black-haired Lei Xuan, and he wanted to ask more, but saw Lundoff wave his hand and turn away, so he had to give up.
After flying for half a day, until the sun set in the west, Li Junshan saw dozens of fifth-level magic beasts, Thunder Eagles, suddenly flying out from the forest and surrounding him in mid-air.
"In front is a forbidden area, no one is allowed to enter without permission." A group of burly men wearing leather armor sat on the back of the Thunder Eagle, with the leader, a big-bearded man, coldly shouting out.
Randolph hastily directed the Rockruff to land on the ground. After they got off, he recalled the Rockruff back into its Poké Ball.
Dozens of thunder eagles also fell at this time, and the big-bearded man walked over vigilantly. Before he could speak, Randolph took out a sheepskin scroll from his bosom and handed it over respectfully.
The big-bearded man took it over, examined it carefully for a moment, looked at Li Junshan a few times, nodded and said: "Lance Empire's, hum, you're just in time, if you come later, you won't be allowed to enter."
That scroll was the Bloodstone Canyon's recruitment notice sent to each empire, and it is unknown what method Duke Odrech used, but he managed to get one back from the king in half a day.
"You can go back." The big beard didn't show any courtesy to Randolph just because he had an eighth-level Rockfowl, and Randolph smiled at the big beard with a look of taking it for granted, pulling Li Junshan away a few steps.
"Passing through this forest is a must for new students, but it's full of killing intent. The entrance will only open in three days, and by then, only the ten survivors will be qualified to enter the Blood Valley. Be careful later, don't release the Black Dragon unless you have no other choice. In this place, keeping a trump card to save your life is more important than anything else."
Li Junshan nodded and said, "Mr. Lendof, my friend Fati is still studying magic at George College, I'm afraid he'll be bullied, so please take care of him more often."
"Don't worry about that." Randolph said, patting his chest: "I can still handle this kind of thing. Besides, you're in a special position in the Harriman family now. Even if I don't take care of it, Marquess Sweet will."
"That's all right, nothing else, you can go back first." Li Junshan smiled gratefully at him.
Randolph waved his hand and summoned a Rockruff to sit on it. Before long, they disappeared into the dense forest above.
"Go ahead and go in." The big bearded man said somewhat impatiently: "Now the new people who come are one worse than the other, I think you'll become a corpse after walking just a few hundred meters inside."
Li Junshan looked at him and asked: "How much longer will this place be closed?"
The big-bearded man frowned and said: "What are you asking this for? It's almost time."
Li Junshan ignored him and walked over to lean against a tree trunk, taking out dried meat to eat slowly.
Big Whiskers saw Li Junshan ignoring him and felt somewhat embarrassed, so he angrily walked over and cursed: "Still not going in?"
"Will killing someone here go unpunished?" Li Junshan carefully chewed on the dried meat, looking up to ask Big Beard.
"Kid, you're quite arrogant." A thin man ran over and said: "Within the Blood Color Canyon's allowed range, killing people is not punishable, but if you are killed or injured by others, you will be severely punished. If you die, it goes without saying."
As they spoke, he reached out and grabbed Li Junshan's neck.
Li Junshan slightly dodged and asked: "What if I kill you?"
The big bearded man's face changed, and he said coldly: "You little brat still has some guts. In the past four days, I've received over 30 new people, and you're the first one to dare ask this question. According to the rules, we can't lay a hand on you now, but there's no rule that says you can't kill us. However, don't think we have no way to deal with you..."
The big-bearded man hadn't finished speaking when a thin, wiry fellow on the side impatiently waved his hand in front of Li Junshan's face.
"Ah!"
The big-bearded man was stunned, and the companion in front of him had a thing that shone with cold light like a sharp blade piercing through his occipital bone, splashing brain pulp all over his face.
The unstoppable, big-bearded body shook violently, he waved his hand to block the oncoming companion, swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and stretched out his neck to look at the demon beast that suddenly appeared in front of him.
Three meters tall, streamlined skull, full of soft bones filled with flexibility and strength, two rows of sharp teeth in the open huge mouth, saliva like a river, long tail bone disappearing at the forehead of its companion.
Dozens of golden eagles smelled the bloody smell, flapped their wings restlessly and cried out loudly. Those big men took out dried meat to calm them down quickly.
"For hundreds of years, you are the first person to dare to lay hands on the Blood-colored Ridge's messenger." The big-bearded man's face twitched, wanting to say a few more harsh words, when he saw that the demon beast quickly withdrew its tail bone and stood upright in his direction. He couldn't help but be shocked, and quickly retreated several steps.
"Don't bother with him." The big bearded man returned to his companions, saying in a hateful tone: "There will be plenty of opportunities later."
Li Junshan released the alien and killed that thin man, but didn't take it back. Instead, he let it stand beside him and closed his eyes to rest.
This killing had nothing to do with intimidation or bloodthirsty indifference, but rather that Li Junshan felt very uncomfortable in his heart and felt extremely oppressed.
He didn't like the feeling of being controlled or manipulated by others, and now, with the large hat of the Hariman family on his head, he felt very uncomfortable.
"The Harris family, using? Maybe now they can, but what about in the future?" Li Junshan said to himself with a cold smile, and relaxed his mind to rest.
That forest may still have some dangers lurking within, but Li Junshan had been traveling for a day and didn't want to enter with his somewhat tired body.
Also, don't know how long it took, Li Junshan suddenly heard a clear cry in the air, opened his eyes and looked up, a huge arrow wing bird slowly fell from the air, vaguely visible two people sitting on it.
The Arrow Wing Bird is an 8th-level magical beast. This giant magical beast can not only cast flame magic like a Cambi mage, but also has the special ability to shoot its feathers out with great force in an instant during battle, with extremely shocking power, and can grow back in a very short time.
"Sorry, Escort Master, we came from the Baywater Empire and the journey was too long, so we arrived a bit late." An old man with white hair got off the arrow feather bird, looking embarrassed as he spoke to Big Beard.
By his side stood a blond-haired youth of eighteen or nineteen years old, whose body seemed very weak, but Li Junshan noticed that when he walked, his footsteps were extremely light and almost silent.
The big bearded man took the notice and looked at it, then waved his hand and said: "Hurry up and go in, in a while this place will be sealed off and no one can get in."
The old man with white hair thanked him repeatedly, then pulled the young man aside and instructed him for a while. The young man nodded constantly, his strange eyes drifting over to Li Junshan.
Li Junshan didn't respond. Before long, the white-haired old man watched as the young man entered the forest, and only then let out a long sigh and flew away on the wings of an arrow-finned bird into the sky.
"Everyone disperse, anyone who comes again will be strictly prohibited from entering." The big-bearded man raised his head to look at the darkening sky and shouted loudly.
Li Junshan finally got up and climbed onto the back of the strange creature.
"How many people went in this time?" Li Junshan drove the alien to Big Beard's side.
The big-bearded man took a glance at the grotesque alien and couldn't help but shudder, subconsciously replying: "Including you, there are thirty-four people in total."
"Whoosh!" The deformed body streaked out a residual shadow, carrying Li Junshan straight into the forest.
It's time for carnage!
