Imperial Crown.

Chapter 546 Fourth-Tier Magical Plant Spirit Bone Orchid
"Hermit, why do you always take so long to poop?"

The Behemoth orc Litanshi was utterly perplexed, scratching his head and asking earnestly. Since parting ways with the dwarf Giridar and the woman, he had traveled with the human hermit for over two months. Finally, they found the fourth-tier magical plant they desired, the [Elven Bone Orchid]. The so-called Elven Bone Orchid is a magical plant that absorbs the physical energy or soul essence of deceased elves. Its fruit is easily recognizable, resembling a sculpted elf figurine—lifelike and exquisite. Therefore, this magical plant is primarily found only within the Elven Empire. The reason they had to steal it from the Forbidden Zone was because it had another name—the Elven Sacred Fruit. The fruit's essence is equivalent to the spiritual totem of the elves, naturally making its sale and harvesting strictly prohibited.

“Lots of stuff,” Raven replied casually. He’d realized that Behemoth and the dwarf Gilida were essentially the same kind of people. One was all talk and no action, spouting nonsense without any substance. The other was a little cow making grand pronouncements, bragging without any substance. After their last parting, Raven had firmly decided not to go, but this blockhead had ended up coming with him anyway. Later, unable to shake him off, and without a map, Raven simply accompanied him to find the Elven Bone Orchid. Lux had given Raven a map, but back then she couldn’t even enter the Forbidden Zone, only operating in the Southern Region, a mere ten thousand miles away from it. Now, although they had found the Elven Bone Orchid, the situation was rather tricky. Three Tier 4 magical beasts—Spine-Peaked Rhinoceroses. Yes, the same magical beasts that had served as Silvermane’s mount. Now, there were not only three here, but all of them were Tier 3. The two had been standing here for several days, unable to come up with a solution.

"How many?" Litanshi asked, his neck stiff.

"About three pounds," Raven replied, speechless and frustrated. Because if he didn't answer, Litanch would keep asking.

"Three jin? What three jin?" Litanshi asked in confusion.

“It’s just over three pounds.” Raven rolled his eyes.

"Holy crap!" Litanshi stood up straight, utterly shocked. "More than three pounds?! I don't believe it, I have to go see for myself."

Raven: ...

In reality, Raven was secretly using his martial spirit to spy on the dwarf Girida and the woman behind Litanshi's back. Of course, he couldn't tell Litanshi about this. He could only use the excuse of needing to use the bathroom each time. Unexpectedly, after doing it so many times, it still aroused Litanshi's curiosity. "You're really sick. I buried it. Did you expect me to wait to be discovered?" Raven cursed.

Litanshi tapped his Godzilla head and said in deep agreement, "That makes sense. I'll have to bury it next time too."

"Hermit, think of a way quickly, how can we get those three Elf Bone Orchids?" Litanshi frowned.

"Well..." Raven said with a measured tone, "there's always a way. Tell me how you want to distribute it?"

“Fifty-fifty,” Litanshi said matter-of-factly.

“No, no, no,” Raven shook his index finger. “Think about it, this thing is only useful for fourth-tier plants. I don’t need it at all. I’m here purely to help you. So, I should give you two plants, one for you.”

Litanshi was a little displeased upon hearing this. He threw down the wooden stick in his hand and said with a hint of anger, "Aren't you bullying an honest person? Since you're helping me, why don't you give me all three? Next time I help you snatch treasures, I won't take them either."

"Huh?" Raven looked at Litanshi with some surprise, finding that this guy was incredibly clever whenever his own interests were involved.

"Stop pretending." Litanshi's eyes were full of resentment. "Once I couldn't help myself and secretly followed you. I found out that you actually take a dump. Who takes a dump sitting on the ground? And your battle aura fluctuations are at the fourth level! That means you are also a fourth-level transcendent, right? You still say that it's useless to you. Humans, indeed cunning and despicable."

Raven: ...

"Heh," Raven chuckled dryly, licking his lips. "Sigh, just a moment of greed..."

"How about we use the method we discussed before, a feint? I'll lure those three monsters away, and you can come and pick them. Afterwards, I'll keep two plants, and you keep one." Litanshi really didn't want to waste any more time like this.

"OK," Raven agreed without hesitation.

"Hey, you didn't just take the Elf Bone Orchid and run away, did you?" Litanshi stood up again and asked scrutinizingly.

"You can doubt everything about me, but you can never doubt my character," Raven said firmly. "I'm a man who believes in promises the most."

"Then how about we join forces and kill these three monsters?" Litanshi asked hesitantly.

"Are you kidding me?" Raven gave Litanshi a deep look. "That's a Ridgeback Rhinoceros, carrying the Cursed Mountain on its back. If it's fourth-tier, it'll cover at least a hundred meters. Anyone who steps in will be tainted by the curse. If you're not in a hurry, I'm leaving now." "Alright, alright," Litanshi sighed. "I really can't do anything with you." Actually, he didn't trust this human at all, but this human kept threatening to leave him. The key was that once he lost the human's help, Litanshi would never be able to get those few Elven Bone Orchids.

Without further hesitation, Lytannis's ring flashed, and a dark, heavy staff appeared in his hand. Without a word, he strode towards the direction of the magical beast. Raven, meanwhile, hid not far behind him.

"Shattering Spin Slash!"

An hour later, Litanshi finally arrived before the three-headed Ridgeback Rhinoceros. Without a word, he raised his staff from a distance and unleashed his battle technique. His battle aura shone brightly, his martial spirit clearly manifesting—he was a Behemoth that had reverted to its ancestral form! He let out a silent roar. The thick, dark staff in his hand also gleamed, spinning several times before being hurled violently. A sharp whistling sound filled the air, and in the pitch-black night, the expanding staff resembled a luminous mountain range, or a falling, burning meteorite, hurtling towards the three-headed Ridgeback Rhinoceros like a windmill!
Boom boom boom

Although the three Ridgebacked Rhinoceroses had sensed something was amiss as soon as Litanshi approached, Litanshi was far too decisive; a distance of several hundred meters was like a mere foot to a fourth-tier being. As its name suggests, the Ridgebacked Rhinoceros possessed the size of an elephant, yet was even larger and more terrifying, like an elephant magnified to twice its size. It had a rhinoceros-like horn on its forehead and camel-like humps on its back. This beast was so terrifying that even a single glance at it would send chills down one's spine, causing leg cramps. Its only weakness was perhaps the lack of scales. The two mounds on its back were even called the "Cursed Mountains," though Raven hadn't experienced them firsthand, it was indeed described in the books. A deafening explosion echoed as the staff, glowing with battle aura, crashed down like a mountain abyss, instantly snapping off the crescent-shaped horn of one of the Ridgebacked Rhinoceroses with a crack. Litanshi also benefited from the advantage of being in the shadows while the enemy was in the open. Another nighttime ambush.

Ouch——

The wounded Ridgeback rhinoceros let out a heart-wrenching roar. It retreated continuously, shaking its massive head. Blood and saliva mingled and spurted from its gaping maw. The other two Ridgeback rhinoceroses immediately launched an attack in the direction of Litanshi. The ground suddenly trembled violently, as if an earth dragon were turning over. "It's up to you!" Litanshi's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. He roared and immediately turned and ran! The other two Ridgeback rhinoceroses, as expected, gave chase, fleeing from their territory. However, what troubled Raven was that the wounded Ridgeback rhinoceros remained in the territory. It was unclear whether it had no intention of following them out or had stayed behind because of its injury.

"Brother Kun, let's go!"

Raven, intending to test the power of the fourth-tier magical beast, summoned Kun Ge and Xiao Heizi with a magic spell and shouted loudly.

"Gaga," Kun Ge had no vocal cords, so he could only make a crisp sound by colliding his exposed teeth and bones with each other. Then, he grabbed his giant axe and ran wildly toward the wounded ridge rhinoceros.

"Roar!"

The ridged rhinoceros roared, its body emitting an earthy yellow light, resembling a massive, luminous altar from afar! Its powerful, thick left forehoof shone even brighter, slamming into the ground like a pillar from the altar. With a loud bang, a foot-wide crack suddenly appeared in the ground, spreading rapidly and growing larger. Before Kun could even reach it, he fell into the crack. Then, the crack began to heal rapidly.

"Hmph!" Raven let out a cold snort, a small piece of his mental energy was immediately obliterated, and he also lost contact with Brother Kun! "Little Blackie!" Raven transmitted the command through his mental energy! It seems this is one of the legendary racial magics of the Ridge Rhinoceros—Shockwave Rift!
At Raven's command, Little Blackie leaped from the glowing vegetation, soaring high into the air. The giant bone bow in his hand emitted a shimmering white light, emitting a creaking sound of immense pressure as it was drawn to its full extent. With a whoosh, the bone arrow was launched, emitting a long, resounding whoosh as it pierced the air. The next second, the arrow tore through the night sky, landing with a muffled thud in the neck of the Ridgeback Rhinoceros! Raven frowned, his expression grave. Although the force was great, and the location of the shot was deadly and cunning, unfortunately… the damage was too small. The arrow only penetrated about a hand's length. It couldn't possibly budge the Ridgeback Rhinoceros's massive size. However, this was already an extremely impressive result. Keep in mind, Brother Kun and Little Blackie were merely summoned creatures of second-tier magic. Their strength was at most that of ordinary second-tier transcendents. And they hadn't even cultivated any combat techniques.

"Roar!" The already injured Ridgeback Rhinoceros let out a resentful growl. While the arrow wasn't particularly damaging, it was undeniably an insult to it, thoroughly enraging it! The next second, the light emanating from its body shone even more blindingly, and its two fleshy peaks erupted with rings of pulsed light waves. Just as Raven thought the injured Ridgeback Rhinoceros might unleash a curse, unexpectedly, it suddenly opened its mouth wide, and a sharp, yellowish-brown earth spike shot out with lightning speed towards Little Blackie! With a loud crack, Little Blackie was struck in the blink of an eye, its already tattered armor and ribs turning to dust. The power was astonishing! But what shocked Raven even more was what happened next. On the yellowish-brown earth spike was something as thick as a forearm, resembling a chain! As the "glowing chain" continued to retract, Little Blackie's massive skeletal body was suddenly jerked, its body stretched into an exaggerated "(" crescent shape. It was dragged back! The Ridgeback Rhinoceros opened its massive jaws and with a snap, bit Little Blackie into a pulp! "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" However, the next moment, the Ridgeback Rhinoceros seemed to have eaten a pile of excrement, and began to vomit violently. While vomiting, it shook its head wildly and kept letting out miserable "moo" cries. The scene looked quite comical.

Raven couldn't help but grin. This must be the Ridgeback Rhinoceros's second racial magic—[Earth Spike Melting]! It's somewhat similar to the meteor hammer from his previous life! There are chains at the back and a round hammer covered in countless spikes at the front. Just by looking at this Ridgeback Rhinoceros, Raven knew that thanks to this racial skill, it must have eaten quite a lot of good food! Eating a skeleton without meat and moldy armor was probably a first for it in its beastly life. That's why it looked so unlucky.

"Hoo Hoo Hoo"

The next moment, the injured Ridgeback Rhinoceros became enraged. As the two cursed mountains on its back exerted their power, wisps of red smoke began to emanate, spreading evenly in all directions. This seemed to be the Ridgeback Rhinoceros's third racial magic—the Ridgeback Curse! The red mist spread at a visible speed, neither too fast nor too slow, but Raven steadily retreated, quietly observing. The cursed red mist expanded for nearly 200 meters, stopping at approximately 180-190 meters. Clearly, the skull it had just bitten into had alerted the Ridgeback Rhinoceros to something amiss, so it released the curse, completely covering the three Elven Bone Orchids to prevent anyone from sneaking close.

"almost."

Having observed for so long, Raven had basically figured out the racial magic of this magical beast, and it was time to take action and eliminate it. In the distance, Litanshi's urging and wailing echoed continuously. He was clearly struggling to handle two fourth-tier magical beasts. Raven's gaze darkened as he took out a magic rune stone from his ring. With his battle aura activated, Raven flicked it out.

A palm-sized magic runestone emitted a dazzling light, silently flying through the night sky, seemingly possessing no power whatsoever. Only when it reached the top of the Ridgeback Rhinoceros's head did it suddenly explode! In an instant, a massive amount of magical elements within a radius of several miles were stirred and overturned, emitting a thunderous explosion. The next moment, a dark cloud rapidly formed above the Ridgeback Rhinoceros's head! The Ridgeback Rhinoceros, a magical beast, was already terrifyingly large, but the area of ​​the dark cloud was even more frightening! Crackling sounds filled the air as purple-silver snakes, as thick as water vats, disappeared within it. This was none other than the fourth-tier lightning magic stored within Raven—Titan's Wrath! Fourth-tier magic is inherently incredibly powerful, and this one was made of lightning. From afar, the entire area appeared to change color, the earth trembled, and everything shook. This was undoubtedly a true description, not an exaggeration.

"Roar!" The ridged rhinoceros roared, but the fear emanating from its mouth was palpable. The roar wasn't a defiant declaration of war, but rather a desperate cry for help before death. It paced restlessly, stamping its four thick, pillar-like hooves as it ran and moved cautiously within the cursed area shrouded in red mist. Yet, it couldn't bear to leave the three elven orchids it had guarded for so many years. Its gaze shifted constantly, sometimes looking up at the sky, sometimes down at the orchids. Its inner struggle, its inner turmoil, its inner conflict, was vividly displayed in this moment. After a short while, it seemed to have made up its mind and charged towards the elven orchids, its mouth agape as it ran.

"Oh no!" "This beast actually tried to devour my Elf Bone Orchid!"

Seeing this, Raven's expression changed drastically, and he roared. He had planned everything meticulously, but he never expected this beast to have such a trick up his sleeve at the last moment!
……

(End of this chapter)